1693.1 PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. 159 bishop. The Pastoral Letter in which the doctrine was held was written in 1689. There could be no impeachment; for there had been an Act of Grace in 1690. The House of Commons has never failed to rejoice in any exhibition of the power of some member to make a bad joke. At the cry of " Burn it, burn it," the book was sent to the flames at Charing Cross. There were two attempts made in this Session to produce what may be called a Reform in Parliament. The Commons passed a Bill excluding all placemen from sitting in the House who should be elected after February, 1693. Men holding office of every kind, civil and military, were in Parliament. It was unwisely proposed to exclude all persons who should in future hold office under the Crown. It was prudently determined by the sitting members not to exclude themselves. They passed no "Self-denying Ordinance." The Lords rejected this measure by a very small majority. A Bill providing that the existing Parliament should end on the first of January, 1694, and that no Parliament should in future sit more than three years, was introduced to the House of Lords, by Shrewsbury, who represented the Whigs. It passed both Houses. On the last day of the Session, the king rejected the measure, in the words of Norman French which would now be the most fatal words ever spoken by a sovereign. The Constitution has worked itself clear of such contending powers. The use of the Veto was not then thought "an exercise of prerogative which no ordinary circumstances can reconcile either with prudence or a constitutional administration of government." The Bill for triennial parliaments was passed in the next year, without opposition from the Crown. The most memorable circumstance connected with the Bill which William rejected was, that having asked the advice of sir William Temple, that advice, to pass the Bill, was communicated to the king by the humble friend of the retired statesman, his secretary, Jonathan Swift. Slightly connected with the political transactions of the beginning of 1693 was a tragical event that occasioned great public scandal. "After five days' trial and extraordinary contest, the lord Mohun was acquitted by the lords of the murder of Mountfort, the player, notwithstanding the judges, from the pregnant witnesses of the fact, had declared him guilty. But whether in consideration of his youth, being not eighteen years old, though exceeding dissolute, or upon whatever other reason, the king himself present some part, and satisfied, as they report, that he was culpable-sixty-nine acquitted him, only fourteen condemned him.+" The people cried out that when blood was shed by the great there was no justice for the poor. Members of the House of Commons rejoiced that, in the last Session, they had so strenuously opposed an extension of the privileges of the peers, who thus sheltered one of their own guilty members. William Mountfort, the player, according to Colley Cibber, was in tragedy the most affecting lover-in comedy, he gave the truest life to the fine gentleman. In 1694 he was in his thirty-third year—" tall, well-made, fair, and of an agreeable aspect." Nine years before, he was patronised by Jeffries, when at the height of his power; and at a lord mayor's feast the jovial chancellor made Mountfort "plead before him in a feigned cause, in which he aped all the great lawyers of the age in their Evelyn. "Diary," Feb. 4 * Hallam. "Constitutional History," chap. xv. 100 MURDER OF MOUNTFORT, THE PLAYER. [1693. tone of voice, and in their action and gesture of body"-very much to the scandal of sir John Reresby, who records the fact. This accomplished actor was the favourite of the town. But Mrs. Anne Bracegirdle was "the darling of the theatre." She was "the universal passion," but she admitted no favourite. Amongst the rakes and fops who frequented the one theatre that now enjoyed the monopoly of the drama, it was a fashion "to have a taste of tendre for Mrs. Bracegirdle." Amongst those who toasted this lively brunette over their bumpers of claret, were a captain Hill, and his friend and admirer, the debauched young peer. The captain had addressed the actress in terms which she rejected with contempt. He became jealous, and his jealousy fixed upon Mountfort; for Hill had writhed at seeing the handsome actor in love scenes, when the lady smiled upon her admirer with all the semblance of real passion. Hill, with the assistance of his noble friend, determined to carry off Mrs. Bracegirdle. They also determined to have no more trouble with the presumptuous player. They forced the actress into a coach as she was coming out of a house with her mother; but she was rescued, and the courtly pair departed, vowing vengeance on Mountfort. They loitered about the player's house till midnight. As he approached his home lord Mohun met him in Norfolk-street, entering into friendly conversation. Hill came behind, struck Mountfort on the head, and then ran him through the body. The Grand Jury found a true bill against Mohun and Hill for the murder. Hill escaped. The judges, at the request of Carmarthen, who presided at the trial, had given the opinion upon the case to which Evelyn alludes. *Cibber's "Apology." Ministerial Changes-Preparations for the Campaign-Louis and William with their ArmiesLouis returns to Versailles-Battle of Landen-Naval Miscarriages-A Ministry formedGovernment by Party-Preponderance of the Whigs-Financial difficulties-Establishment of the Bank of England-Expedition against Brest-Illness of the Queen-Her Death. KING WILLIAM had closed the Session of the English Parliament on the 14th of March. He had made some important changes in official appointments. Sir John Somers had been promoted to the dignity of Keeper, the great seal having been so long in commission, that "all people were now grown weary" of the dilatory and expensive proceedings in Chancery.* Russell was removed from the command of the fleet; for, in consequence of fierce differences between him and Nottingham, the Secretary of State, they could Burnet, vol. iv. p. 187. VOL. V. M 162 PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN. [1693. not have held office together. At this juncture Burnet notices the formation. of a party "that studied to cross and defeat every thing." One of the principal leaders of this party was sir Christopher Musgrave, who "upon many critical occasions gave up some important points, for which the king found it necessary to pay him very liberally."* The memory of this senator has been preserved from the utter oblivion to which such patriotism is best consigned, by four lines of the great satirist of the next reign : : "Once, we confess, beneath the patriot's cloak, The amount of business done in this way was very considerable. The bribe at Kensington was too often found necessary to neutralise the bribe from Versailles. William grew more and more cynical and sullen under these degrading affairs of state-craft, and gladly rushed away to hunt in Holland or to fight in Belgium. His Most Christian Majesty-" Jupiter en personne "-is again about to take the field. What privations he is now to undergo for the glory of France! He is fifty-seven years of age. He had been fifty-two years king; but his real sovereign power did not commence till the great minister, Mazarin, had closed his long career of intrigue. Then the magnificent sovereign burst forth in all the grandeur that can result from the implicit belief of one man that he is born to uncontrolled command, and that all that remains for millions of subject beings is to obey. The first maxim of government that Louis laid down was that kings are absolute lords; that all property was theirs; that the lives of their subjects were theirs also. He had the old feudal nobility of France at his feet. Their political power had burnt out in the wars of La Fronde. All that was left to them were their exclusive privileges, and their capacity of grinding the occupiers of land by every variety of exaction. They had nothing in common with the great body of the people; they had no common rights to maintain; they were no longer the protectors of the vassals from a greater tyranny than their own. All the miseries of feudalism remained, with none of its security. The great lords of the soil had all become the slaves of the court. They were yet, to a certain extent, brave and warlike. They fought in their embroidery at Steinkirk, as their fathers had fought in their armour at Agincourt. But their reckless gallantry had no higher principle for its support than that of the liveried menial whose bravery is founded upon the arrogance and ostentation of his master. Their adulation of their grand monarque was in some respects a trade. He was the fountain of all honour and all preferment; the grosser their flatteries the more certain their rewards. He was the sun that imparted life to all within its sphere. Where that sun did not shine, there was one universal thick darkness. But where did it not shine? It was the great central power that vivified all France. The sun rose upon France when the chief valet went forth from the royal bedchamber and said, "the king is awake." Then the princes of the blood, and the dukes and counts who were waiting in the antechamber, enter in solemn state, with the pages of the * Burnet, vol. iv. p. 190. Pope, "Epistle on the Use of Riches." 1693.] LOUIS AND WILLIAM WITH THEIR ARMIES. 163 wardrobe, who bear the surtouts and the wigs, with other inferior habiliments that majesty may condescend to wear. As the sublime operations of shaving and hand-washing go forward, those who have the privilege of "la première entrée" gather round to behold how the Phoebus of France is gradually unfolding its beams. As that sun becomes more and more brilliant, “les grandes entrées" take place, and marshals and bishops look on with humble adoration while a duke hands Louis his shirt, and a marquis assists him to pull on his stockings. The waistcoat, the coat, the blue ribbon, and the sword, complete the courtly investiture of this more than mortal, who stands in the relation of Providence to France.* Such was the morning opening of the terrible routine day of Versailles-of its dreary etiquettesits heartless splendours-its odious profligacies-the absolute king himself the merest slave of the artificial life which he enforced as the basis of his power. From such a monotony the king of France is about to seek relief in once more looking upon the pomp and circumstance of war. He departs from Versailles with his vast cavalcade of ladies, of cooks and valets, of actors and musicians. He puts himself at the head of the army of Boufflers, whilst Luxemburg with another army is near at hand. On the 24th of March William left London to embark at Harwich. The wind was contrary, and he returned for a few days to Kensington. The court life of that suburban residence is as striking a contrast to the court life of Versailles, as the little villa is insignificant itself when compared with the proud palace of the French king. The Kensington which William bought of lord Nottingham was then surrounded with only twenty-six acres of plantations and gardens-"a patched building," says Evelyn. Another observer of the time says, "the walks and grass are very fine." Queen Mary directed the laying out of the gardens, and William rejoiced to watch the growth of the evergreens in which he delighted. It was a seat well suited for a king of simple tastes. Versailles was well suited for an ostentatious king, who counted it amongst his great works to have expended ten millions in subjugating nature by art-building a vast palace, and creating magnificent gardens, in a desert of sand and swamp.t A few days' quiet, and William is again hurrying with small retinue to the Hague. He has, as usual, to unite the discordant members of the confederacy; to soothe the rivalries of princes who each wanted some supreme command; to tempt some with money, some with promised honours. At the beginning of June Louis was with the army of Boufflers, who had taken up a position at Gembloux. The ladies of the court were left in safety within the walls of Namur. The other army commanded by Luxemburg was only half a league distant from that of Boufflers. William had entrenched himself near Louvain. He had thus posted himself to prevent an advance of the French upon Liège or upon Brussels. However inferior in numbers, be was resolved to hazard a battle if the enemy should advance. He took no sanguine view of his situation when such a mighty force was so near, having a perfect command of supplies. St. Simon, who was serving in this campaign as a captain of cavalry, says of William, "we have since known that he wrote several times to his intimate friend, the De Tocqueville says of the centralising system, "The French Government having thus assumed the place of Providence." St. Simon. |