1696 conspirators, who postponed their attempt to the following Saturday. But before that time De la Rue also turned informer, and on the Friday night, Prendergrass gave the names of the chief conspirators to the King, on condition that his evidence should not be used against any of them without his own consent, which the King granted. Next day the assassins were all in readiness, having heard that the King would certainly go to the hunt. But during the morning, they received a message from their sentinels that William had changed his mind. This Day news disconcerted them, and several stole away in alarm. conspirators. Charnock, however, assembled the more desperate men at one of his numerous lodgings in the city, with the intention of falling upon the King at Hyde Park Corner, on his way to chapel on the Sunday; but he was arrested during the night. Rookwood and Bernardi were taken on Tower Hill somewhat later; and seventeen more were seized before noon. of the London all astir. The plot was now known throughout the city. On Monday the train-bands were under arms; and the King went in state to the House of Lords to report the whole proceedings to the assembled Houses. The Habeas Corpus Act was forthwith suspended; it was enacted that Parliament should not be dissolved by the death of William, and an instrument was immediately drawn up on the motion of Montague, which every member signed, and by which each and all of them solemnly recognised William as rightful and lawful King, and bound themselves to stand by him and by each other against James and James's adherents. This document, which received the name of The Association, was afterwards circulated through the whole country, and "The signed by the great majority of those who were able to Association." write their names; and it was afterwards resolved by both Houses that no person should sit in the Legislature, or hold any civil or military office without signing it. The Jacobites, in derision, called it the "New Solemn League and Covenant."* The news of the conspiracy soon spread through the country, and aroused the most patriotic feelings. Two fleets fully manned were immediately got ready in the Thames, and at Spithead the militia of all the southern maritime counties was put under arms; the gates of the city of London and of every walled town The Conin the kingdom were closed, the high-roads were placed hunted ont. under the supervision of armed men, and the strictest search was made for those conspirators who were still at large. By Macaulay, VII., 316, 318. spirators CHAP. I. these means all of them, except Barclay and a few others, were quickly discovered and placed in custody. Their trial and execution. Charnock, King, and Keyes were brought to trial on the 11th of March, and although they pleaded for a postponement of their trial till after the 25th, when the new act would give them the assistance of counsel for their defence, the judges would consent to no delay, and they were all found guilty and executed. Friend and Parkyns suffered the same fate. Rookwood, Cranbourne and Lowick were not tried till after the 25th, when the new system was in operation; but their counsel could make no defence on the merits of the case; the jury returned a verdict of guilty, and they also were executed. Here the executions stopped, for although Porter had been as guilty as any of them, the Government consented to spare him at the request of Prendergrass.* letter con his guilt. 48. Attainder and Execution of Sir John Fenwick.-These executions did not suspend the search for Jacobite conspirators; and Sir John Fenwick, who had been deeply engaged in Berwick's invasion plot, and many other schemes besides, was seized at New Romney in the course of the summer, just as he was preparing to sail for France. He was conveyed forthwith to London and brought before the Lords Justices, whom William had appointed regents during his absence in the Netherlands. He stoutly denied Fenwick's the charges brought against him, until he was shown a taining a tacit letter which he had written to his wife (the sister of the admission of Earl of Carlisle), containing the statement that he was a dead man unless his friends, by dint of solicitation obtained a pardon for him, or managed to bribe a juryman or two to starve out the rest, and so prevent an adverse verdict. This letter had been secretly written on his way to London, and had been intercepted; and its production now utterly disconcerted him. He then addressed himself to the Lord Steward Devonshire, offering to disclose all that he knew of the Jacobite plots. Devonshire accepted this offer, with the King's permission, and Fenwick wrote out a long confession. But instead of giving information respecting the plots in which he himself had been concerned, his narrative was made up of stories about the intrigues of Marlborough, Russell, He accuses and others. Shrewsbury, Godolphin, and others who were now, at least, hearty in their support of William. Fenwick's object in this confession was to construct such a story as might possibly earn his pardon without injuring his friends, while at the same time it would fill the Court, the Council, and the Macaulay, VII., 280-313. 1696 Noble Parliament, with fears and animosities. But all the information it contained had been long known to William, who had with politic and generous dissimulation affected not to know it. When he read the confession, therefore, he at once saw through the writer's designs, and hastened to assure those who were conduct of accused that he trusted them none the less, and that the the King. charges had made no impression upon him. But this assurance did not satisfy the minds of the accused statesmen ; and Shrewsbury, who was of a remarkably nervous temperament, retired to his country seat in Gloucestershire, and could not by any means be persuaded to meet the King on his return. Godolphin resigned his office; Russell vowed vengeance against the informer, and Marlborough, who was not in place, regarded the matter with indifference. When the Parliament met, the Whigs, who now formed a well-disciplined party, such as had never before been known, resolved upon bringing Fenwick before the Fenwick House of Commons and have him examined. But when before the he was brought to the bar, he refused to give any further House of account except on the condition of a full pardon, on which it was moved that his confession was false and scandalous. meantime Goodman, who was the only witness besides Porter, that could be produced against Fenwick, had disappeared, and it became impossible to convict the accused of high treason under the terms of the new Act. The Whigs therefore determined to have recourse to a Bill of Attainder, and a motion to this effect was carried in the Commons, by 179 to 61. But its further progress met with the greatest opposition in both Houses. The Tories fought for the unhappy prisoner with unflinching tenacity, and at the third reading in the Commons, the Bill was only carried by 189 to 156; while in the Lords, after a most vehement debate, there were only 68 Contents against 61 Non-contents. Two months (November and December) were thus occupied by both Houses; on the 11th of January, 1697, the Bill received the royal assent; and on the 28th, Fenwick was executed on Tower Hill. 5.-CLOSE OF THE FRENCH WAR. Commons. In the 49. Robert Harley's Land Bank.-A commercial crisis followed the calling in of the hammered money, on the 4th of May, 1696, and to meet the pressure as well as to commercial damage his political opponents, through the Bank of England, Robert Harley, one of the leaders of the Tory party, crisis, 1696. CHAP. I. revived a project formerly proposed, of establishing a Land Bank, whose special business should be to advance money on the security of land. The projectors offered to lend more than two millions and a half to the Government at 7 per cent., in return for an Act of Parliament which should incorporate the Company. As the Bank of England had only advanced one million in return for its charter, the scheme received the royal approval, while it was supported by the country gentlemen of both parties. A rush was accordingly made upon the Bank of England; but the directors met the emergency by making a call of 20 per cent. on the proprietors, and with the sum thus raised, paying every applicant in milled money, 15 per cent. of what was due to him, and then returning his note with a memorandum upon it to that effect. The Land Bank soon proved to be a delusion, for the country gentlemen made no contributions, while the capitalists and money lenders regarded it as a project for diminishing their profits, and lowering their influence. The Bank accordingly collapsed, and the Government, almost in England despair for want of supplies, applied to the Bank of Government. England, the proprietors of which made an extraordinary effort, and provided a loan of £200,000. One of the most effectual schemes for relieving the panic was the issue of Exchequer Bills bearing interest at the rate of 3d. a day on £100. The issue of this species of paper money, which was suggested by Montague, created what was called the Unfunded or Floating Debt, to redeem which, the South Sea Company was afterwards incorporated. The Land Bank scheme fails and the Bank of relieves the 50. Circulation of a New Coinage and Revival of Public Credit. -In the meantime strenuous exertions were making to hasten the manuacture of the new coinage. Newton was appointed Warden of the Mint; under his direction mints were established at Bristol, York, Exeter, Norwich, and Chester, and the weekly issue of new coins rose from £15,000 to £120,000. Yet the newly stamped silver did not make its way into general circulation, because many persons hoarded it as fast as it came from the Mint, in the hope that Parliament would lower the standard and make nine pennies the legal payment for a shilling. By this device they expected to be able to pay off their debts at a discount of 25 per cent. The distress of the people therefore during the summer was very great, in consequence of the scarcity of money. When Parliament reopened, therefore, on the 20th of October, 1696, the House of 1696-97 Commons, on the motion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, passed three memorable resolutions, declaring 1. That they would support the King against all foreign and domestic enemies, and enable him to prosecute the war with Montague's vigour. 2. That the standard of money should not be altered in fineness, weight, or denomination. resolutions 3. That they would make good all the deficiencies of all coinage. Parliamentary funds established since the King's accession. Within a fortnight five millions* were granted for the army and navy; the milled money, now that the Commons had notified their fixed determination not to alter the standard, came forth into circulation from the private hoards; trade and public credit revived, and the French king at length began to entertain Effect of the conviction that there was no chance of King James's these restoration, and that the recognition of William III. on the war. would be the only means of obtaining a peace. measures Promotion of The session closed on the 16th of April, and was followed by a number of promotions. Somers was created Baron Somers of Evesham, and his office of Lord Keeper digni- ministers. fied with the title of Chancellor; Russell became Earl of Orford and Viscount Barfleur in honour of the victory of La Hogue; Wharton, Comptroller of the Household, also received the lucrative office of Justice in Eyre, South of the Trent, and his brother, Godwin Wharton, was made a Lord of the Admiralty. Montague became First Lord of the Treasury, Sir Thomas Littleton was also placed on the Board; and Sunderland succeeded Dorset in the office of Chamberlain. † 51. The Treaty of Ryswick.-The British Islands had not been so free from internal troubles for the last ten years as they were at the close of this session, and to add to this there was now a prospect of speedy peace. The campaign in the Netherlands was indeed opened in May, 1697, but there was an evident unwillingness in both camps to run any great risk, since the French king had, early in the spring, spontaneously offered fair and Spain and the honourable conditions to his foes. Spain and the Empire unwilling to were very reluctant to agree to any terms, although they conclude a had borne the least share in the burdens of the war; but a Congress was at length arranged to be held at Ryswick under the mediation of Sweden. When the various ambassadors met (9th of Empire peace. This amount was raised by the imposition of new taxes, the continuance or augmentation of old ones; and an increase in the Stock of the Bank of England. The plan thus carried out, of raising the revenue, was popularly known as Montague's Mortgage. (Macaulay, VII., 364.) Ibid., VII., 404-414. |