The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II. Continued from the Reign of William and Mary to the Death of George II.

The constitution of England had now assumed a new aspect. The maxim of hereditary indefeisible right was at length renounced by a free parliament. The power of the crown was acknowledged to flow from no other fountain than that of a contract with the people. Allegiance and protection were declared reciprocal ties depending upon each other. The representatives of the nation made a regular claim of rights in behalf of their constituents; and William III. ascended the throne in consequence of an express capitulation with the people. Yet, on this occasion, the zeal of the parliament towards their deliverer seems to have overshot their attachment to their own liberty and privileges: or at least they neglected the fairest opportunity that ever occurred, to retrench those prerogatives of the crown to which they imputed all the late and former calamities of the kingdom. Their new monarch retained the old regal power over parliaments in its full extent. He was left at liberty to convoke, adjourn, prorogue, and dissolve them at his pleasure. He was enabled to influence elections, and oppress corporations. He possessed the right of choosing his own council; of nominating all the great officers of the state, and of the household, of the army, the navy, and the church. He reserved the absolute command of the militia: so that lie remained master of all the instruments and engines of corruption and violence, without any other restraint than his own moderation, and prudent regard to the claim of rights, and principle of resistance on which the revolution was founded. In a word, the settlement was finished with some precipitation, before the plan had been properly digested and matured; and this will be the case in every establishment formed upon a sudden emergency in the face of opposition. It was observed, that the king, who was made by the people, had it in his power to rule without them; to govern jure divino though he was created jure humano: and that, though the change proceeded from a republican spirit, the settlement was built upon tory maxims; for the execution of his government continued still independent of his commission, while his own person remained sacred and inviolable. The prince of Orange had been invited to England by a coalition of parties, united by a common sense of danger; but this tie was no sooner broken than they flew asunder and each resumed its original bias. Their mutual jealousy and rancour revived, and was heated by dispute into intemperate zeal and enthusiasm. Those who at first acted from principles of patriotism were insensibly warmed into partizans; and king William soon found himself at the head of a faction. As he had been bred, a Calvinist, and always expressed an abhorrence of spiritual persecution, the presbyter-ians, and other protestant dissenters, considered him as their peculiar protector, and entered into his interests with the most zealous fervour and assiduity. For the same reasons the friends of the church became jealous of his proceedings, and employed all their influence, first in opposing his elevation to the throne, and afterwards in thwarting his measures. Their party was espoused by all the friends of the lineal succession; by the Roman catholics; by those who were personally attached to the late king; and by such as were disgusted by the conduct and personal deportment of William since his arrival in England. They observed, That, contrary to his declaration, he had plainly aspired to the crown; and treated his father-in-law with insolence and rigour; that his army contained a number of foreign papists, almost equal to that of the English Roman catholics whom James had employed; that the reports so industriously circulated about the birth of the prince of Wales, the treaty with France for enslaving England, and the murder of the earl of Essex-reports countenanced by the prince of Orange-now appeared to be without foundation; that the Dutch troops remained in London, while the English forces were distributed in remote quarters; that the prince declared the first should be kept about his person, and the latter sent to Ireland; that the two houses out of complaisance to William, had denied their late sovereign the justice of being heard in his own defence; and that the Dutch had lately interfered with the trade of London, which was already sensibly diminished. These were the sources of discontent, swelled up by the resentment of some noblemen and other individuals, disappointed in their hopes of profit and preferment.

ACCOUNT OF THE NEW MINISTRY.

William began his reign with a proclamation, for confirming all protestants in the offices which they enjoyed on the first day of December; then he chose the members of his council, who were generally staunch to his interest, except the archbishop of Canterbury and the earl of Nottingham, and these were admitted in complaisance to the church-party, which it was not thought adviseable to provoke. [001] [See note A, at the end of this Vol.] Nottingham and Shrewsbury were appointed secretaries of state; the privy-seal was bestowed upon the marquis of Halifax; the earl of Danby was created president of the council. These two noblemen enjoyed a good share of the king’s confidence, and Nottingham was considerable as head of the church-party: but the chief favourite was Bentinck, first commoner on the list of privy-counsellors, as well as groom of the stole and privy purse. D’Averquerque was made master of the horse, Zuylestein of the robes, and Sehomberg of the ordnance: the treasury, admiralty, and chancery were put in commission; twelve able judges were chosen;* and the diocese of Salisbury being vacated by the death of Dr. Ward, the king of his own free motion filled it with Burnet, who had been a zealous stickler for his interest; and in a particular manner instrumental in effecting the revolution. Sancroft, archbishop of Canterbury, refused to consecrate this ecclesiastic, though the reasons of his refusal are not specified; but, being afraid of incurring the penalties of a premunire, he granted a commission to the bishop of London, and three other suffragans, to perform that ceremony. Burnet was a prelate of some parts, and great industry; moderate in his notions of church discipline, inquisitive, meddling, vain, and credulous. In consequence of having incurred the displeasure of the late king, he had retired to the continent and fixed his residence in Holland, where he was naturalized, and attached himself to the interest of the prince of Orange, who consulted him about the affairs of England. He assisted in drawing up the prince’s manifesto, and wrote some other papers and pamphlets in defence of his design. He was demanded of the States by the English ambassador as a British fugitive, outlawed by king James, and excepted in the act of indemnity. Nevertheless, he came over with William in quality of his chaplain; and, by his intrigues, contributed in some measure to the success of that expedition. The principal individuals that composed this ministry have been characterized in the history of the preceding reigns. We have had occasion to mention the fine talents, the vivacity, the flexibility of Halifax; the plausibility, the enterprising genius, the obstinacy of Danby; the pompous eloquence, the warmth, and ostentation of Nottingham; the probity and popularity of Shrewsbury. Godolphin, now brought into the treasury, was modest, silent, sagacious, and upright. Mordaunt, appointed first commissioner of that board, and afterwards created earl of Monmouth, was open, generous, and a republican in his principles. Delamere, chancellor of the exchequer, promoted in the sequel to the rank of earl of Warrington, was close and mercenary. Obsequiousness, fidelity, and attachment to his master, composed the character of Bentinck, whom the king raised to the dignity of earl of Portland. The English favourite, Sidney, was a man of wit and pleasure, possessed of the most engaging talents for conversation and private friendship, but rendered unfit for public business by indolence and inattention. He was ennobled, and afterwards created earl of Romney; a title which he enjoyed with several successive posts of profit and importance. The stream of honour and preferment ran strong in favour of the whigs, and this appearance of partiality confirmed the suspicion and resentment of the opposite party.