HOUSE OF STUART RESTORED.

Charles II.

D. He was the son of Charles I. B. at St. James’s Palace, 1630. M. Catherine, daughter of John IV., of Portugal. Dd. at Whitehall, Feb, 6, 1685. R. 24¾ years (1660 to 1685).

1660. The system of military tenures abolished by parliament, and an excise tax on beer and other liquors imposed in its stead. Ten of the regicides executed. The Convention Parliament dissolved.

1661. A new parliament, sometimes called the Pension Parliament, met, and sat for seventeen years. Corporation Act passed. Savoy Conference, between some of the bishops and leading presbyterian divines.

1662. Act of Uniformity passed. Iniquitous execution of Sir Harry Vane. Dunkirk sold to the French.

1664. Conventicle Act passed. Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam (now New York) surrendered to the English.

1665. War with the Dutch. The English gained a great victory over them off Lowestoft (June 3). The Great Plague raged in London, and carried off more than 100,000 victims. Five Mile Act passed.

The Corporation Act, the Act of Uniformity, the Conventicle Act, and the Five Mile Act are called the Clarendon Code. The Corporation Act required all persons holding offices in municipal corporations to take the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper according to the rites of the Church of England—to renounce the Solemn League and Covenant—and to swear that they believed it unlawful to take up arms, upon any pretence whatsoever, against the king. The Act of Uniformity required all clergymen to declare their assent to everything contained in the Prayer Book, and all schoolmasters were obliged to have a licence from the bishop. About 2,000 clergymen declined to subscribe, and were ejected from their livings: and, receiving no compensation from the state, were, in many cases, reduced to the utmost poverty. The Conventicle Act declared all meetings of more than five persons, except the household, for religious worship not according to the Prayer Book, seditious; and all persons above sixteen years old, who attended, for a first offence were to be fined or imprisoned for three months; for a second, fined or imprisoned for six months; and for a third, transported for seven years. The Five Mile Act required all dissenting ministers to take an oath similar to that imposed by the Corporation Act, and, in case of refusal, they were not to approach within five miles of any borough or place where they had ever preached, nor to act as schoolmasters, under a penalty of £40 and six months’ imprisonment.

1666. Louis XIV. of France joined the Dutch against England. The Dutch defeated the English off the North Foreland (June 1-4), but were afterwards vanquished in the same neighbourhood (July 25). Great Fire of London: the loss caused by the fire estimated at more than £7,000,000. Some of the presbyterians rose in Scotland, and were defeated on the Pentland Hills (Nov. 28).

1667. The Dutch sailed up the Medway, and burnt several ships; and for some time insulted our coasts. Treaty of Breda, between the English, Dutch, and French (July 21). Lord Clarendon, the king’s chief minister from the beginning of the reign, dismissed and banished. The Cabal ministry formed; the chief ministers being Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale.

1668. Triple Alliance between England, Holland, and Sweden, to check the aggressive policy of Louis. Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.

1670. A new act passed against conventicles. Secret treaty concluded between Charles and Louis at Dover.

Charles agreed to declare himself a Catholic, to support Louis’s foreign policy, to receive a pension, and to be aided by foreign troops in case of a rebellion. But, on account of the temper of the country, he was afraid to carry out the first stipulation.

1672. Charles shut up the exchequer, and thereby ruined a large number of persons whose money was in the hands of the government. He issued a declaration of indulgence to Catholics and Protestant Nonconformists, but it was withdrawn the next year, at the request of parliament. England and France declared war against Holland, and the Dutch were defeated off Southwold Bay (May 28).

1673. Test Act passed. The duke of York, being a Catholic, resigned his office of lord high admiral. Sir Thomas Osborne, better known as the earl of Danby, became chief minister.

By the Test Act all officers of the Crown were required to take the oath of allegiance and supremacy, to take the sacrament according to the usage of the Church of England, and to declare their disbelief in transubstantiation.

1674. Peace concluded with Holland.

1677. The statute for burning heretics repealed. William, prince of Orange, married Mary, daughter of James, duke of York.

1678. Titus Oates’ plot. He falsely asserted that the Catholics were plotting against the king’s life, and several persons were executed for their alleged share in the plot. Impeachment of the earl of Danby; but the proceeding was stayed by the prorogation of the parliament, which was dissolved in 1679.

1679. Charles called a third parliament.[2] A new ministry formed by Sir William Temple, of which the earl of Shaftesbury was president. HABEAS CORPUS ACT passed.

A bill introduced to exclude the duke of York from the throne, but frustrated by the dissolution of parliament. Insurrection in Scotland; the duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of the king, defeated the rebels at Bothwell Bridge (June 22). Meal Tub Plot, so called because some documents relative to another plot were placed in a meal tub. The earl of Shaftesbury (Ashley) removed from the presidency of the council, and Sir William Temple and other ministers soon resigned.

The Habeas Corpus Act was passed to prevent the illegal and indefinite imprisonment to which persons obnoxious to the government could be subjected. By its provisions—1. All persons except those charged with treason or felony could demand from one of the judges a writ of Habeas Corpus, directing the jailor to bring them before him, so that the validity of their detention might be tested. 2. All persons charged with treason or felony must be tried at the next sessions after commitment, or else admitted to bail, and if not tried at the second sessions they must be discharged. 3. No person could be recommitted for the same offence. 4. No person was to be imprisoned beyond sea. 5. Heavy penalties were imposed on those who violated the provisions of the Act.

1680. A fourth parliament, summoned in 1679, did not actually meet till Oct., 1680. The Commons passed a bill for excluding the duke of York, but it was rejected by the Lords, and the parliament was dissolved in the following January.

1681. A fifth parliament met at Oxford, but as the Commons resolved to introduce an exclusion bill it was hastily dissolved. Shaftesbury charged with high treason, but the grand jury threw out the bill. The king’s government became very despotic.

1683. The Rye House Plot discovered: some of the principal parties concerned—as the duke of Monmouth, Lord Russell, and Algernon Sidney—had apparently discussed the feasibility of compelling the king to establish a constitutional government, but some of the inferior persons implicated had formed a design to assassinate him. Russell and Sidney tried for high treason, and executed. Monmouth was pardoned, but withdrew to Holland.

1684. Titus Oates convicted of having libelled the duke of York, fined £100,000, and imprisoned in default of payment.

James II.

D. He was the brother of Charles II. B. at St. James’s, 1633. M. (1) Anne Hyde, daughter of Lord Clarendon; (2) Mary d’Este, sister of the duke of Modena. His reign ended Dec. 11, 1688. Dd. at St. Germains, Sept. 6, 1701. R. 3¾ years (1685 to 1688).

1685. Catholic worship publicly celebrated in the palace. Meeting of parliament; the majority of the members very favourable to the king. Rebellions of Argyle and Monmouth: the earl of Argyle landed in Scotland, and attempted to raise a rebellion, but was taken and executed; and the duke of Monmouth landed in Dorsetshire, raised a rebellion, and assumed the title of king, but was defeated at Sedgemoor, in Somersetshire (July 6), and afterwards executed. Jeffreys’ bloody campaign, during which he condemned a large number of persons for their share in the rebellion. Persecution of Dissenters. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in France. The parliament was prorogued because it disapproved of the king’s violation of the Test Act, and of his maintaining a standing army.

1686. The judges servilely decided that the king could dispense with penal laws in particular cases—a decision which enabled him to confer offices in church and state on Catholics, contrary to the Act of Uniformity and the Test Act. Establishment of a court similar to the High Commission Court.

1687. Rochester, the king’s brother-in-law, deprived of the lord-treasurership because he would not become a Catholic. Declaration of Indulgence published, allowing Catholics and Protestant Dissenters to perform their religious services openly. The universities resisted the king’s attempts to infringe their rights.

1688. He re-issued the Declaration of Indulgence, and ordered the clergy to read it in the churches. Seven of the bishops presented a petition to him, praying that he would not insist on their distributing and reading the Declaration, and were on that account prosecuted for libel, but acquitted, to the great joy of the nation. Birth of the Old Pretender. William, prince of Orange, being invited to invade England, landed at Torbay; and James, distrusting his army, tried to escape from the country, but failed. Close of his reign (Dec. 11). THE REVOLUTION.

1688. William arrived in London, and James escaped to France. The peers, and a second chamber, consisting of members who had sat in Charles II.’s parliaments, together with the aldermen of London, and a deputation from the Common Council, requested William to call a Convention, and to take on himself the executive administration in the interim.

1689. The Convention declared the throne vacant, and offered the crown to William and Mary, the former of whom was to exercise the executive power; they also drew up a Declaration of Rights, which was subsequently embodied in the Bill of Rights. William and Mary accepted the crown (Feb. 13). THE REVOLUTION COMPLETED.

William and Mary.

D. William was the son of William, prince of Orange, and of Mary, daughter of Charles I. B. at the Hague, 1650. M. Mary, daughter of James II. (b. 1662). Dd. at Kensington, Mar. 8, 1702. Mary. Dd. at Kensington, Dec. 28, 1694. R. together 5 years (1689 to 1694). William reigned alone 8¼ years (1694 to 1702).

1689. The Convention turned into a parliament. First Mutiny Act. Civil War in Ireland, where James landed to recover his crown. War declared against France. Toleration Act passed. Battle of Killiecrankie, in Perthshire, in which William’s troops were defeated, but Dundee, the Jacobite general, was slain (July 27). Siege of Londonderry raised by General Kirke (July 30). BILL OF RIGHTS passed.

The Toleration Act exempted Dissenters from the penalties of the existing statutes on religion, and enabled their ministers to conduct public worship on making certain subscriptions and declarations. The Bill of Rights declared—1, That it is illegal to suspend laws without consent of parliament; 2, That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, as it hath been exercised of late, is illegal; 3, That the commission for creating the late court of commissioners for ecclesiastical causes is illegal; 4, That it is illegal to levy money without consent of parliament; 5, That subjects have a right to petition the king; 6, That it is illegal to maintain a standing army in time of peace without consent of parliament; 7, That Protestant subjects may have arms for their defence; 8, That election of members of parliament ought to be free; 9, That freedom of speech and debate in parliament ought not to be questioned in any place out of parliament; 10, That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted; 11, That juries ought to be impartially selected; 12, That grants of fines and forfeitures before conviction are illegal; 13, That for the redress of grievances parliaments ought to be held frequently. It was further enacted, that every English sovereign should, in full parliament, repeat and subscribe the declaration against transubstantiation; and that if a sovereign should marry a papist, the subjects should be absolved from allegiance.

1690. William went to Ireland, and defeated James at the battle of the Boyne (July 1). James returned to France. The English and Dutch fleets were defeated by the French off Beachy Head (June 30).

1691. The nonjuring bishops (those who refused to take the oaths to William) deprived of their sees. General Ginkel captured Athlone, gained the battle of Aghrim (July 12), and besieged Limerick, which capitulated (Oct. 1).

1692. Massacre of the Macdonalds in the valley of Glencoe. The French fleet defeated by the English and Dutch fleets off La Hogue (May 19). Foundation of the National Debt.

1694. Bill passed for holding triennial parliaments. Incorporation of the Bank of England. About this time a Cabinet Ministry was first established.

William III.

1695. William besieged and captured Namur, in Belgium (Aug. 26). Statute passed for regulating trials for high treason.

Prisoners were to be allowed counsel; and two witnesses were required to prove each overt act.

1697. A bill of attainder passed against Sir John Fenwick, for participation in a plot for assassinating the king, and he was executed accordingly. He was the last person condemned by bill of attainder. Treaty of Ryswick, between England, France, Spain, Holland, and the emperor of Germany (Sept. 20).

By this treaty William was acknowledged king of England; and nearly all the places in the Spanish dominions conquered by France were to be restored.

1698. First partition treaty between William and Louis for dividing the Spanish dominions on the death of Charles II., king of Spain. A second treaty was concluded in 1700.

The purpose of these private treaties was to prevent the disarrangement of the balance of power which would ensue in case the whole of the Spanish dominions fell into the hands of Louis’ son, the dauphin. By the first treaty they were to be divided between the electoral prince of Bavaria, the Dauphin, and the archduke Charles, all of whom had pretensions to the Spanish throne. On the death of the electoral prince (in 1699) they were to be divided between the survivors. Charles, on his death, left the whole to Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis, who determined, in spite of his agreement with William, to support his grandson; and hence ensued the war in the next reign.

1700. Death of the duke of Gloucester, son of the Princess Anne, and heir presumptive to the throne.

1701. ACT OF SETTLEMENT passed. William formed a grand alliance against France in behalf of the Archduke Charles, whom the allies recognised as king of Spain. Death of James II., whose son James was acknowledged king of England by Louis XIV.

By the Act of Settlement, Anne was to succeed William; and if she died without issue, the heirs of William were to succeed: in failure of these, the Electress Sophia (granddaughter of James I.), the next in succession who held the Protestant faith, was to become sovereign. Several provisions were inserted which were to take effect from the accession of the new line:—1. The sovereign must join in communion with the Church of England. 2. The nation shall not be obliged to go to war for the defence of any dominions not belonging to the English crown. 3. No English sovereign shall leave the kingdom without consent of parliament. 4. All important matters of state are to be transacted in the privy council, and all resolutions adopted signed by such of the privy council as shall advise and consent to the same. 5. No foreigner shall hold any office, civil or military, or receive any grant from the crown. 6. No person, holding any office or place of profit under the crown, and receiving a pension therefrom, shall be capable of sitting in the house of commons. 7. Judges shall hold office during good behaviour, but they may be removed on address of both houses of parliament. 8. No pardon under the great seal shall be pleadable to an impeachment by the Commons. The third provision was repealed in the first year of George I.’s reign.

Anne.

D. Anne was the second daughter of James II. B. at St. James’s, 1665. M. Prince George, of Denmark. Dd. at Kensington, Aug. 1, 1714. R. 12½ years (1702 to 1714).

1702. The earl of Marlborough appointed captain-general of the royal forces. Lord Godolphin made treasurer—Marlborough and he became ascendant, and, though nominally Tories, were supported by the Whigs, who approved of their war policy. WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION: War declared against France and Spain.

1703. The duke of Marlborough captured Bonn and other towns.

1704. Gibraltar taken by Sir George Rooke (July 23). Marlborough and Prince Eugene gained a splendid victory over the French and Bavarians at BLENHEIM, in Bavaria (Aug. 13).

1705. Barcelona captured by the earl of Peterborough (Sept.).

1706. Marlborough gained a great victory over the French at Ramilies, in Belgium (May 23).

1707. Act of Union passed between England and Scotland. The English and their allies disastrously defeated at Almanza, in Spain, by the duke of Berwick (April 25). First United Parliament of Great Britain met (Oct. 23).

The chief provisions of the Act of Union were—1, That the succession of the crown should vest in the Princess Sophia and her heirs, being Protestants; 2, That both nations should have full freedom of trade, and should enjoy equal rights and privileges, except where otherwise agreed; 3, That Scotland should retain the presbyterian church, her own municipal laws, and her own courts of justice; 4, That the united kingdom should be governed by one parliament; 5, That 16 peers and 45 commoners should represent Scotland in parliament; 6, That the regulations relating to trade, customs, and excise, should be the same in both countries, and that Scotland should only pay one-fortieth of the land tax paid by England.

1708. The French defeated by Marlborough at Oudenarde, in Belgium (July 11). Conquest of Minorca. Lille surrendered to the allies after an active siege. Mrs. Masham was gradually supplanting the duchess of Marlborough as the queen’s favourite, and was intriguing to bring the Tories into power.

1709. The French defeated by Marlborough and Prince Eugene at Malplaquet, in Flanders, but the loss of the victors was greater than that of the vanquished (Sept. 11).

1710. Dr. Sacheverell tried and convicted for publishing sermons reflecting on the revolution and the Protestant succession; but the lenity of the sentence was regarded as a triumph by the High Church party. Mrs. Masham obtained a complete ascendancy, and the duchess of Marlborough was dismissed at the beginning of the next year. Lord Godolphin and the other Whig ministers dismissed; Harley made chancellor of exchequer, and St. John secretary of state (Aug. 8). The allies, under General Stanhope, gained the battles of Almenara (July 27) and Saragossa (Aug. 20), but he was afterwards compelled to capitulate at Brihuega (Dec. 9), and General Staremberg, though nominally victorious at Villa Viciosa (Dec. 10), was obliged to make a forced retreat.

1711. Harley created earl of Oxford, and appointed lord treasurer. Marlborough forced the lines of the French, and took Bouchain, but was afterwards removed from office.

1713. Treaty of Utrecht: between France, England, and all her allies, except the emperor; a treaty most discreditable to the English ministry (April 11 and July 13).

The terms of this treaty were very much more favourable to the French than they could have reasonably expected, and than they would have been, had the Whigs remained in power. Among the principal terms that concerned England were—1, That the French and Spanish crowns should never become united; 2, That the Protestant succession should be acknowledged by France; 3, That the fortifications of Dunkirk should be destroyed; 4, That Hudson’s Bay, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Gibraltar, and Minorca should be ceded to England. The principal object of the war—the exclusion of the Bourbons from the throne of Spain—was not secured. At the close of the war the national debt was about £38,000,000.

1714. Death of the Princess Sophia. Schism Act passed. Harley removed from office, and succeeded by his colleague St. John, created Viscount Bolingbroke. He plotted to restore the Pretender on the death of the queen, but her sudden illness enabled the dukes of Shrewsbury, Somerset, and Argyle, three of the Whig leaders, to thwart his intentions, for the lord treasurer’s staff was bestowed on the first-mentioned peer—“the only individual who mainly assisted in both the great changes of dynasty of 1688 and 1714.”

The object of the Schism Act was to prevent Dissenters from acting as tutors or schoolmasters; but it did not come into operation, on account of the death of the queen.