indictment. For the trial of peers, all peers having a right to sit and vote are to be summoned. The act was to come into force March 25, 1696.

An act passed for improving the coinage [7 & 8 Gul. III. c. 1], the sum of £1,200,000 being raised by a houseduty to defray the expense of withdrawing the clipped coin ".

The commons remonstrate against a grant of the lordship of Denbigh and other manors to the earl of Portland, and the patent is ultimately cancelled. The Sovereign of the Seas, a large man of war built in 1637 with the ship-money, accidentally burnt at Chatham, Feb. 2. Injunctions for Church unity issued, Feb. 3.

A plot to kill William, near Turnham-green, is disclosed to the government, Feb. 14.

It seems certain that some desperate ruffians had formed designs against the life of William, and hence this is usually known as the Assassination Plot; but, as in the case of the Ryehouse plot, many persons of consideration were implicated, whose object was merely to overthrow the government, not to commit a foul assassination; in this limited sense, King James seems to have been cognisant of it.

King James comes to Calais, Feb. 18, to be ready for an invasion in case of the success of his adherents'. The fleet, under Admiral Russell, threatens the coast of France, and prevents the embarkation of troops.

Charnock, Rookwood, and several other of the Assassination plotters, apprehended, Feb. 24.

An Association, binding the subscribers to preserve William, or to avenge his death, is proposed, Feb. 27, and is very generally signed.

This improvement had long been needed. Evelyn remarks in his Diary (June, 1694), "Many executed at London for clipping money, now done to that intolerable extent, that there was hardly any money that was worth above half the nominal value.'

See A.D. 1683.

. See p. 497. t See A.D. 1695. "The lord-keeper Somers removed from the commission of the peace all the magistrates who neglected to sign it; a step which was afterwards severely censured by the House of Commons. A similar document was signed by the parliament of Ireland, Dec. 2, 1697.

Their trial was hurried forward with indecent precipitation, in order, apparently, to deprive them of any advantage that they might have derived from the assistance of counsel, which they would have been entitled to on the following day (March

25), when the new act came into force.

An act [7 & 8 Gul. III. c. 27] embodying the Association for the security of William's person and government is hastily passed, and the signing of the Association rendered imperative on the holder of any civil or military employment ".

The Habeas Corpus Act suspended, [c. 11].

The affirmation of quakers allowed to be received in certain cases instead of an oath, [c. 34].

Calais is bombarded by Commodore Benbow, who is wounded, March.

Several of the parties to the Assassination Plot are tried. Charnock, King, and Keys are convicted March II, executed, March 18. Sir John Friend and Sir William Perkins are convicted, March 24'; they are examined in prison, but refusing to make any disclosures, are executed, April 3. Jeremy Collier, a nonjuring divine, publicly absolves them on the scaffold.

William refuses his assent to a bill for regulating parliamentary elections, April 10.

Rookwood, Lowick, and Cranbourn are condemned as concerned in the Assassination Plot, April 21 (though defended by Sir Bartholomew Shower, in virtue of the new act concerning treasons), and executed, April 29. Cook and Knightly are also convicted, but Knightly is pardoned and Cook banished".

William goes to Holland, May 7, and heads his army, but no operation of importance takes place.

Sir John Fenwick is seized in dis guise, and under the assumed name of Thomas Ward, at New Romney, June He is sent to the Tower, June 19, and kept there without being brought to trial.

II.

* He was assisted by two other clergymen (Cook and Snatt). The archbishop of Canterbury and several other bishops censured their conduct, and bills of indictment were found against them. Collier concealed himself, and was in consequence outlawed; Snatt and Cook were imprisoned for a time, but the prosecution was eventually abandoned.

y According to the account of Brice Blair, one of the plotters who saved his life by confession, the notorious Ferguson (see A.D. 1685) was concerned in this plot. Blair says in his deposition (March 17, 1696) that "he heard Ferguson say he thanked God he had grace and time to repent of the villanies he had committed against King Charles and King James," and as a proof of his repentance he induced Sir John Friend, a wealthy London brewer, to advance money; Ferguson was in consequence committed to Newgate, but was soon set at liberty again, Friend, like many others, having lost his life by listening to him.

Louis XIV. detaches the duke of Savoy from the alliance, and then intimates his desire for peace.

William returns to England, Oct. 8. The parliament meets Oct. 20, and sits till April 16, 1697.

The chief business of the session was the extra-judicial proceeding against Sir John Fenwick. He had been long known as an opponent of the government, and he had been imprisoned for more than a year soon after the accession of William and Mary. He was indicted in March, 1696, as concerned in the Assassination Plot, but was not apprehended until June. The law now required two witnesses, and as one (Cardell Goodman), who had given evidence against him before the privy council, had absconded, no trial could be had. A bill of attainder was therefore brought in against him, which, after fierce debates, was eventually carried by a majority of thirty-three in the Commons, but of only seven in the Lords, Jan. 11, 1697, [8 & 9 Gul. III. c. 4]. It recited the charge of attempting the life of William, and endeavouring to procure foreign aid, "of which treasons," it authoritatively declared, "the said Sir John Fenwick is guilty ;" and he "is hereby convicted and attainted of high treason, and shall suffer the pains of death, and incur all forfeitures as a person convicted of high treason." Sir George Barclay and ten other persons, who had escaped capture, were also attainted, in case they did not

The intention of converting the old royal palace of Greenwich into an hospital for wounded seamen had been announced almost immediately after the battle of La Hogue, but it was not till May 5, 1695, that the first meeting of the commissioners appointed for that purpose took place. The origination of the plan seems to belong to Mary, and its execution to William, who designed it to serve as a monument to her memory.

This imprisonment was continued to Jan. 1, 1698, by a second act [9 Gul. III. c. 4), and by a third, in 1698, [10 Gul. III. c. 19,] during pleasure. The act for their detention was renewed as a matter of course at the accession of each new monarch, and one of their number, Bernardi, survived till the time of George II. He died in Newgate, Sept. 20, 1736, aged 80.

b He was attended on the scaffold by Thomas White, the deprived bishop of Peterborough.

A paragraph appeared in one of the newlyestablished newspapers (the "Flying Post," edited by John Salisbury), which affected the credit of the exchequer-bills issued by the government. A bill was in consequence brought in, prohibiting the

1697; and John Bernardi and five other prisoners in Newgate were to be confined until Jan. 1, 1697 a.

A.D. 1697.

The privilege of security from arrest enjoyed by the Savoy, Whitefriars, the Mint, and other so-called sanctuaries, abolished, [8 & 9 Gul. III. c. 27].

Sir John Fenwick is executed", Jan. 28.

The Bank of England lends a sum of £1,001,171 10s. to the government, and obtains an extension of its charter to Aug. 1, 1711, [8 & 9 Gul. III. c. 20].

A revival of the licencing of the press is attempted, but is defeated by a vote of the House of Commons, April 1.

Sir John Somers is created a peer (Lord Somers), and made lord-chancellor, April 22. Several others of the Whig party receive higher titles, and Sunderland is made chamberlain, and one of the lords justices during William's absence from England.

William goes to Holland, April 24, but no military operations are undertaken.

Negotiations for peace are opened at Ryswick, May 9. In September and October treaties are concluded. by which Louis relinquishes most of his conquests, and acknowledges William as king. William, on his part, abandons the cause of the French Protestants".

The Czar Peter comes to England.

publication of news without the licence of the secretary of state (as had been done under the Commonwealth-see A.D. 1655), but it was rejected on the second reading.

d See A.D. 1692, 1707.

"Having a mind to see the building of ships," the Czar hired Mr. Evelyn's house at Says Court, Deptford, and remained there nearly three months. Mr. Evelyn's servant gives him the following account of his tenant:-"There is a house full of people, and right nasty. The czar lies next your library, and dines in the parlour next your study. He dines at 10 o'clock and 6 at night, is very seldom at home a whole day, very often in the King's Yard, or by water, dressed in several dresses. The king is expected there this day; the best parlour is pretty clean for him to be entertained

in.

The king pays for all he has." Evelyn afterwards visited his house and grounds, and found the damage done greater than even by a former "uncivil tenant," Admiral Benbow. On the certificate of Sir Christopher Wren, the clerk of the works, and the royal gardener, £150 was allowed him for repairs from the Treasury.

(1.) Romanist ecclesiastics were ordered to leave Ireland before May I, 1698, and if they returned they were to be executed as traitors, [9 Gul. III. c. I']; Romanists and Protestants were forbidden to intermarry [c. 3], the Protestant husband being considered a "popish recusant," and as such disabled from any office of trust or public employment, unless his wife were converted within a year; persons who had borne arms against the government, and had left Ireland, were forbidden to return without licences, under the penalties of treason; the royal power of reversing attainders was restrained, so as to prevent more than the lives of

who had died in arms before the surrender of Limerick were, on the inquest of twelve men, liable to be pronounced traitors, and the possessions of their heirs confiscated, [c. 5].

(2.) The articles of the surrender of Limerick were confirmed [c. 2] in a strange fashion; that is, "so much of them as may consist with the safety and welfare of the kingdom." This act limits the benefit of the articles to the persons who had been actually in arms against William, although it was notorious that those parties, when surrendering their strong posts, did so on the understanding that the favourable conditions that they obtained were to be extended to all their countrymen.

St. Paul's Cathedral, London, is opened for divine service on occasion of the thanksgiving for the peace of Ryswick, Dec. 2.

The parliament meets Dec. 6, and sits till July 5, 1698.

Corresponding with "the late king, James," and his adherents declared treason, [9 Gul. III. c. 1].

The Commons vote the disbanding of the army, Dec. II.

A.D. 1698.

The subscribers of a loan of £2,000,000 are incorporated as a rival East India Company, [9 Gul. III. c. 44]. A charter is in consequence granted to them, with very ample powers, Sept. 5.

The parliament is dissolved, July 7. William goes to Holland, July 20. Secret negotiations are carried on by him with Louis XIV. for the eventual partition of the Spanish monarchy.

By this act, interment in ruined abbeys, no longer used for divine service, was forbidden. This wanton attack on the feelings of the old native families could not be carried out, although the enactment was not repealed until 1824 [5 Geo. IV. c. 25), and the practice prevails to this day.

The first Scottish expedition for Darien leaves Leith, July 26.

The earl of Marlborough is again received into favour, and is appointed governor to the young duke of Gloucester, the son of the princess Anne.

A return is made to the Irish parliament, Oct. 19, which shews that thirtytwo peers stood outlawed at that date, beside others, whose titles, having been bestowed by King James since his abdication, were not recognised.

Romanist solicitors stated to be "common disturbers," and as such forbidden to practise, unless they make certain oaths and declarations, and bring up their children as Protestants, [10 Gul. III. c. 13].

The new parliament meets Dec. 6, and sits till May 4, 1699; Sir Thomas Littleton is chosen Speaker. It presses for the disbanding of the army, which William is very unwilling to accede to.

Societies for the reformation of man

If licence were granted, the parties were to enter into a bond of 100 to pay 40s. yearly to the bishop of the diocese, for the support of schools. That is, a portion was temporarily opened. The building was not completed until 1719. i See A.D. 1689, 1693, 1695.

ners founded; as also the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts .

The East India Company purchase two small villages in Bengal, and erect a fort' on the Hooghly.

In 1693 the Scottish parliament gave its sanction to the formation of a company to trade to the Indies and Africa, and William Paterson, the originator of the Bank of England, threw himself with ardour into the project. He had passed several years in the West Indies and America", and from his personal observation he devised a magnificent scheme of commerce and colonization, which if it had been carried out would have given altogether a new aspect to some of the most important regions of the globe: it failed, however, and beside entailing misery and ruin on thousands in his native country of Scotland, left there a deep dislike of William's person and government, which has not altogether died out even at the present day.

The design was to found a settlement in Darien, on the coast of Mexico, in about nine degrees north latitude, and seventyeight degrees west longitude, a tract of country thus glowingly described in a "proposal" which Paterson circulated through Scotland, and also wherever Scotsmen were established, about the year 1694 :— "Darien lies between the golden regions of Mexico and Peru; it is within six weeks' sail of Europe, India and China; it is in the heart of the West Indies, close to the rising colonies of North America. The expense and danger of navigation to Japan, the Spice Islands, and all the Eastern world, will be lessened one-half; the consumption of European commodities and manufactures will soon be doubled. Trade will increase trade; money will beget money; and the trading world will need no more to want work for its hands, but hands for its work."

"Darien possesses great tracts of country as yet unclaimed by any Europeans. The Indians, original proprietors of the soil, will welcome to their fertile shores the honest, honourable settler. Their soil is

A corporation "for the promoting and propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ in New EngLand," was established by an act of parliament under the Commonwealth (cap. 45 of 1649), which was allowed to exist after the Restoration, and numbered among its patrons the Hon. Robert Boyle. The societies mentioned in the text, however, were mainly the result of the unwearied labour of Dr. Thomas Bray, (born in Shropshire, 1656, educated at Hart-hall, Oxford, and died 1730,) a man of indefatigable energy, unbounded charity, and exemplary life. Beside passing over to Maryland to establish the Church there, he laboured at home to prepare missionaries for the colonies, gave great help in the establishment of parish libraries and charity schools, and was one of the earliest of the benevolent men who have devoted their attention to alleviate the condition of debtors and other prisoners.

rich to a fault, producing spontaneously the most delicious fruits, and requiring the hand of labour to chasten rather than to stimulate its capabilities. There crystal rivers sparkle over sands of gold: there the traveller may wander for days under a natural canopy formed by the fruit-laden branches of trees, whose wood is of inestimable value. The very waters abound in wealth; innumerable shoals of fish disport themselves among coral rocks, and the bottom of the sea is strewn with pearls. From the first dawn of creation this enchanted land has lain secluded from mortal eyes; to the present generation, to Scottish enterprise it is now revealed; let us enter and take possession of the promised land. There a new city, a new Edinburgh, shall arise: the Alexandria of old, which was seated on a barren isthmus, and grew suddenly into prodigious wealth and power, by the mere commerce of Arabia and Ind, shall soon yield in fame to the Emporium of the World."

To carry into effect these mighty objects, a joint stock of £900,000 was proposed to be raised, being £200,000 in Holland and Hamburg, £300,000 in England, and £400,000 in Scotland, and this last sum, though estimated at full half the money in the country, was speedily raised by contributions from every class"-" a proof," says a writer of the time, "that Scotland was neither so poor nor so disunited as other nations imagined;" the Scots indeed embraced the scheme with an ardour which proved ruinous. A royal charter was obtained, in addition to an act of the Scottish Parliament, and everything promised well, when the English and Dutch merchants took the alarm, being unwilling to have such active competitors for the commerce of the East as the Scots were likely to become, and they prevented the subscriptionlists in their respective countries from being filled up, William's government lending itself to their views in a discreditable manner.

1 This was named Fort William; the villages are now lost in the site of Calcutta, the capital of British India.

m What were his occupations there was warmly debated; his friends asserted that he was a missionary, his opponents made him a buccaneer and a slave-trader. He was the son of a tenant farmer in Dumfries-shire, was born at Skipmyre in 1658, and died in London in January, 1719. From the number of legacies in his will he would appear to have been in easy circumstances, and not to have died in poverty, as is usually said.

"The subscriptions ranged from £3,000 to £100. Nearly 40 of the nobility and baronetage appear in the list, as well as the Society of Advocates, several merchant companies, and the corporations of Edinburgh, Glasgow, &c.

Though their means were thus reduced to less than one-half, Paterson and his friends determined to persevere. Three stout ships and two tenders left Leith amid general rejoicings, July 26, 1698, conveying, beside women and children and the ships' crews, a body of 1,200 men, mostly soldiers just disbanded on the conclusion of the peace of Ryswick, and including at least 300 gentlemen. They took with them 50 pieces of cannon, and a large supply of warlike stores; but, expecting to be well received by the English colonists, their store of provisions was far more scanty than it should have been. On November 3 they arrived, though with the loss of several of their number from sickness, at their destination. This was a point of land still called Punta Escoces, about twenty miles north-west of Cape Tiburon. They named the country New Caledonia; and whilst Paterson and a few more visited the interior, and established friendly relations with the natives, the stores were landed, and a small fort, styled Fort St. Andrew, erected. Under the powers of their charter a council of government was established, which (Dec. 28, 1698) proclaimed freedom of trade and of religion, "so that the Sabbath be not unhallowed," nor the Trinity denied. A parliament was also assembled, which held two sessions, and enacted a number of statutes to regulate civil and criminal proceedings. Dissensions, however, soon arose, and fever broke out, which caused many deaths, and incapacitated Paterson for government. Famine next appeared, as in their eager search for gold no one could be induced to cultivate the land, and the English colonies were forbidden to trade with them, even for food. A supply vessel sent from Scotland was lost on the voyage, but as they knew nothing of its despatch, they conceived themselves abandoned, and at last in June, 1699, they forsook their colony after only a seven months' stay, and attempted to make their way back to Scotland. Paterson was one who succeeded in so doing, but he found on his arrival that the English government had taken very effectual steps to ruin the project.

Availing itself of complaints from the Spaniards, that the settlement was an infraction of the peace recently concluded at Ryswick, orders were issued, very soon after the sailing of the first expedition, to the governors of the various West Indian and American plantations to circulate proclamations against any intercourse with it, the

A.D. 1699.

John Archdale, a quaker, chosen meniber for Chipping Wycombe, de

government "not being acquainted with the intentions and designs of the Scots in Darien." The council of the company, however, sent a fresh expedition, of two ships and 300 men, in May, 1699, and a still larger one, of five vessels and 1,300 men, in the following September; making a total of nearly 3,000 soldiers. The first expedition arrived only a fortnight after the colony had been abandoned, and they endeavoured to re-establish it; but one of the vessels was accidentally burnt in the harbour, and the other sailed away to Jamaica. In November the second expedition arrived, but this only made matters worse, by bringing a greater body of discontented men together. Rival leaders claimed authority, mutinies and executions followed, and at length, in February, 1700, a Spanish force made its appearance, and summoned the colonists to surrender at discretion.

They

Though fever-stricken and starving, the Scots prepared for resistance, and the Spaniards did not venture to attack them; they, instead, blockaded the settlement, which through famine was surrendered to them on the 30th of March. On the 11th of April, all that remained of the adven turers embarked in seven small vessels, and finally abandoned the enterprise. were so feeble when they left Darien, that the Spaniards were obliged to weigh their anchors for them; they were becalmed on the coast, and harshly treated at Jamaica; and it was only after the loss of nearly half their number that they reached New York; how many eventually came back to Scotland is unknown; a contemporary account says but thirty.

William had before this (Nov. 2, 1699), when apprised of the ruin of the settlement, in consequence of his orders, professed to 'very much regret the loss sustained," but he made no offer of compensation. The matter, however, was warmly debated by the commissioners for the Union in the next reign, and the sum of £398,085 os. 10d. was in consequence voted to the sufferers out of the "equivalent moneys;" seven years later (July 10, 1713), the sum of £18,241 10s. 10jd, was also voted to the projector Paterson, "for his sufferings and losses in connection with the African and Indian Company of Scotland," but the bill was rejected in the House of Lords. sum was again voted to him shortly after the accession of George I., but it does not appear that it was ever paid.

The

clines to take the oaths. His election is declared void, Jan. 6.

The act for disbanding the army is