The History of England, from the Accession of James the Second - Volume 1 by Thomas Babington Macaulay (diy ebook reader .txt) π
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to oppose the insurgents.
On the thirteenth of June the red regiment of Dorsetshire militia
came pouring into that town. The Somersetshire, or yellow
regiment, of which Sir William Portman, a Tory gentleman of great
note, was Colonel, was expected to arrive on the following
day.364 The Duke determined to strike an immediate blow. A
detachment of his troops was preparing to march to Bridport when
a disastrous event threw the whole camp into confusion.
Fletcher of Saltoun had been appointed to command the cavalry
under Grey. Fletcher was ill mounted; and indeed there were few
chargers in the camp which had not been taken from the plough.
When he was ordered to Bridport, he thought that the exigency of
the case warranted him in borrowing, without asking permission, a
fine horse belonging to Dare. Dare resented this liberty, and
assailed Fletcher with gross abuse. Fletcher kept his temper
better than any one who knew him expected. At last Dare,
presuming on the patience with which his insolence had been
endured, ventured to shake a switch at the high born and high
spirited Scot Fletcher's blood boiled. He drew a pistol and shot
Dare dead. Such sudden and violent revenge would not have been
thought strange in Scotland, where the law had always been weak,
where he who did not right himself by the strong hand was not
likely to be righted at all, and where, consequently, human life
was held almost as cheap as in the worst governed provinces of
Italy. But the people of the southern part of the island were not
accustomed to see deadly weapons used and blood spilled on
account of a rude word or gesture, except in duel between
gentlemen with equal arms. There was a general cry for vengeance
on the foreigner who had murdered an Englishman. Monmouth could
not resist the clamour. Fletcher, who, when his first burst of
rage had spent itself, was overwhelmed with remorse and sorrow,
took refuge on board of the Helderenbergh, escaped to the
Continent, and repaired to Hungary, where he fought bravely
against the common enemy of Christendom.365
Situated as the insurgents were, the loss of a man of parts and
energy was not easily to be repaired. Early on the morning of the
following day, the fourteenth of June, Grey, accompanied by Wade,
marched with about five hundred men to attack Bridport. A
confused and indecisive action took place, such as was to be
expected when two bands of ploughmen, officered by country
gentlemen and barristers, were opposed to each other. For a time
Monmouth's men drove the militia before them. Then the militia
made a stand, and Monmouth's men retreated in some confusion.
Grey and his cavalry never stopped till they were safe at Lyme
again: but Wade rallied the infantry and brought them off in good
order.366
There was a violent outcry against Grey; and some of the
adventurers pressed Monmouth to take a severe course. Monmouth,
however, would not listen to this advice. His lenity has been
attributed by some writers to his good nature, which undoubtedly
often amounted to weakness. Others have supposed that he was
unwilling to deal harshly with the only peer who served in his
army. It is probable, however, that the Duke, who, though not a
general of the highest order, understood war very much better
than the preachers and lawyers who were always obtruding their
advice on him, made allowances which people altogether inexpert
in military affairs never thought of making. In justice to a man
who has had few defenders, it must be observed that the task,
which, throughout this campaign, was assigned to Grey, was one
which, if he had been the boldest and most skilful of soldiers,
he would scarcely have performed in such a manner as to gain
credit. He was at the head of the cavalry. It is notorious that a
horse soldier requires a longer training than a foot soldier, and
that the war horse requires a longer training than his rider.
Something may be done with a raw infantry which has enthusiasm
and animal courage: but nothing can be more helpless than a raw
cavalry, consisting of yeomen and tradesmen mounted on cart
horses and post horses; and such was the cavalry which Grey
commanded. The wonder is, not that his men did not stand fire
with resolution, not that they did not use their weapons with
vigour, but that they were able to keep their seats.
Still recruits came in by hundreds. Arming and drilling went on
all day. Meantime the news of the insurrection had spread fast
and wide. On the evening on which the Duke landed, Gregory
Alford, Mayor of Lyme, a zealous Tory, and a bitter persecutor of
Nonconformists, sent off his servants to give the alarm to the
gentry of Somersetshire and Dorsetshire, and himself took horse
for the West. Late at night he stopped at Honiton, and thence
despatched a few hurried lines to London with the ill tidings.367
He then pushed on to Exeter, where he found Christopher Monk,
Duke of Albemarle. This nobleman, the son and heir of George
Monk, the restorer of the Stuarts, was Lord Lieutenant of
Devonshire, and was then holding a muster of militia. Four
thousand men of the trainbands were actually assembled under his
command. He seems to have thought that, with this force, he
should be able at once to crush the rebellion. He therefore
marched towards Lyme.
But when, on the afternoon of Monday the fifteenth of June, he
reached Axminster, he found the insurgents drawn up there to
encounter him. They presented a resolute front. Four field pieces
were pointed against the royal troops. The thick hedges, which on
each side overhung the narrow lanes, were lined with musketeers.
Albemarle, however, was less alarmed by the preparations of the
enemy than by the spirit which appeared in his own ranks. Such
was Monmouth's popularity among the common people of Devonshire
that, if once the trainbands had caught sight of his well known
face and figure, they would have probably gone over to him in a
body.
Albemarle, therefore, though he had a great superiority of force,
thought it advisable to retreat. The retreat soon became a rout.
The whole country was strewn with the arms and uniforms which the
fugitives had thrown away; and, had Monmouth urged the pursuit
with vigour, he would probably have taken Exeter without a blow.
But he was satisfied with the advantage which he had gained, and
thought it desirable that his recruits should be better trained
before they were employed in any hazardous service. He therefore
marched towards Taunton, where he arrived on the eighteenth of
June, exactly a week after his landing.368
The Court and the Parliament had been greatly moved by the news
from the West. At five in the morning of Saturday the thirteenth
of June, the King had received the letter which the Mayor of Lyme
had despatched from Honiton. The Privy Council was instantly
called together. Orders were given that the strength of every
company of infantry and of every troop of cavalry should be
increased. Commissions were issued for the levying of new
regiments. Alford's communication was laid before the Lords; and
its substance was communicated to the Commons by a message. The
Commons examined the couriers who had arrived from the West, and
instantly ordered a bill to be brought in for attainting Monmouth
of high treason. Addresses were voted assuring the King that both
his peers and his people were determined to stand by him with
life and fortune against all his enemies. At the next meeting of
the Houses they ordered the Declaration of the rebels to be
burned by the hangman, and passed the bill of attainder through
all its stages. That bill received the royal assent on the same
day; and a reward of five thousand pounds was promised for the
apprehension of Monmouth.369
The fact that Monmouth was in arms against the government was so
notorious that the bill of attainder became a law with only a
faint show of opposition from one or two peers, and has seldom
been severely censured even by Whig historians. Yet, when we
consider how important it is that legislative and judicial
functions should be kept distinct, how important it is that
common fame, however strong and general, should not be received
as a legal proof of guilt, how important it is to maintain the
rule that no man shall be condemned to death without an
opportunity of defending himself, and how easily and speedily
breaches in great principles, when once made, are widened, we
shall probably be disposed to think that the course taken by the
Parliament was open to some objection. Neither House had before
it anything which even so corrupt a judge as Jeffreys could have
directed a jury to consider as proof of Monmouth's crime. The
messengers examined by the Commons were not on oath, and might
therefore have related mere fictions without incurring the
penalties of perjury. The Lords, who might have administered an
oath, appeared not to have examined any witness, and to have had
no evidence before them except the letter of the Mayor of Lyme,
which, in the eye of the law, was no evidence at all. Extreme
danger, it is true, justifies extreme remedies. But the Act of
Attainder was a remedy which could not operate till all danger
was over, and which would become superfluous at the very moment
at which it ceased to be null. While Monmouth was in arms it was
impossible to execute him. If he should be vanquished and taken,
there would be no hazard and no difficulty in trying him. It was
afterwards remembered as a curious circumstance that, among
zealous Tories who went up with the bill from the House of
Commons to the bar of the Lords, was Sir John Fenwick, member for
Northumberland. This gentleman, a few years later, had occasion
to reconsider the whole subject, and then came to the conclusion
that acts of attainder are altogether unjustifiable.370
The Parliament gave other proofs of loyalty in this hour of
peril. The Commons authorised the King to raise an extraordinary
sum of four hundred thousand pounds for his present necessities,
and that he might have no difficulty in finding the money,
proceeded to devise new imposts. The scheme of taxing houses
lately built in the capital was revived and strenuously supported
by the country gentlemen. It was resolved not only that such
houses should be taxed, but that a bill should be brought in
prohibiting the laying of any new foundations within the bills of
mortality. The resolution, however, was not carried into effect.
Powerful men who had land in the suburbs and who hoped to see new
streets and squares rise on their estates, exerted all their
influence against
On the thirteenth of June the red regiment of Dorsetshire militia
came pouring into that town. The Somersetshire, or yellow
regiment, of which Sir William Portman, a Tory gentleman of great
note, was Colonel, was expected to arrive on the following
day.364 The Duke determined to strike an immediate blow. A
detachment of his troops was preparing to march to Bridport when
a disastrous event threw the whole camp into confusion.
Fletcher of Saltoun had been appointed to command the cavalry
under Grey. Fletcher was ill mounted; and indeed there were few
chargers in the camp which had not been taken from the plough.
When he was ordered to Bridport, he thought that the exigency of
the case warranted him in borrowing, without asking permission, a
fine horse belonging to Dare. Dare resented this liberty, and
assailed Fletcher with gross abuse. Fletcher kept his temper
better than any one who knew him expected. At last Dare,
presuming on the patience with which his insolence had been
endured, ventured to shake a switch at the high born and high
spirited Scot Fletcher's blood boiled. He drew a pistol and shot
Dare dead. Such sudden and violent revenge would not have been
thought strange in Scotland, where the law had always been weak,
where he who did not right himself by the strong hand was not
likely to be righted at all, and where, consequently, human life
was held almost as cheap as in the worst governed provinces of
Italy. But the people of the southern part of the island were not
accustomed to see deadly weapons used and blood spilled on
account of a rude word or gesture, except in duel between
gentlemen with equal arms. There was a general cry for vengeance
on the foreigner who had murdered an Englishman. Monmouth could
not resist the clamour. Fletcher, who, when his first burst of
rage had spent itself, was overwhelmed with remorse and sorrow,
took refuge on board of the Helderenbergh, escaped to the
Continent, and repaired to Hungary, where he fought bravely
against the common enemy of Christendom.365
Situated as the insurgents were, the loss of a man of parts and
energy was not easily to be repaired. Early on the morning of the
following day, the fourteenth of June, Grey, accompanied by Wade,
marched with about five hundred men to attack Bridport. A
confused and indecisive action took place, such as was to be
expected when two bands of ploughmen, officered by country
gentlemen and barristers, were opposed to each other. For a time
Monmouth's men drove the militia before them. Then the militia
made a stand, and Monmouth's men retreated in some confusion.
Grey and his cavalry never stopped till they were safe at Lyme
again: but Wade rallied the infantry and brought them off in good
order.366
There was a violent outcry against Grey; and some of the
adventurers pressed Monmouth to take a severe course. Monmouth,
however, would not listen to this advice. His lenity has been
attributed by some writers to his good nature, which undoubtedly
often amounted to weakness. Others have supposed that he was
unwilling to deal harshly with the only peer who served in his
army. It is probable, however, that the Duke, who, though not a
general of the highest order, understood war very much better
than the preachers and lawyers who were always obtruding their
advice on him, made allowances which people altogether inexpert
in military affairs never thought of making. In justice to a man
who has had few defenders, it must be observed that the task,
which, throughout this campaign, was assigned to Grey, was one
which, if he had been the boldest and most skilful of soldiers,
he would scarcely have performed in such a manner as to gain
credit. He was at the head of the cavalry. It is notorious that a
horse soldier requires a longer training than a foot soldier, and
that the war horse requires a longer training than his rider.
Something may be done with a raw infantry which has enthusiasm
and animal courage: but nothing can be more helpless than a raw
cavalry, consisting of yeomen and tradesmen mounted on cart
horses and post horses; and such was the cavalry which Grey
commanded. The wonder is, not that his men did not stand fire
with resolution, not that they did not use their weapons with
vigour, but that they were able to keep their seats.
Still recruits came in by hundreds. Arming and drilling went on
all day. Meantime the news of the insurrection had spread fast
and wide. On the evening on which the Duke landed, Gregory
Alford, Mayor of Lyme, a zealous Tory, and a bitter persecutor of
Nonconformists, sent off his servants to give the alarm to the
gentry of Somersetshire and Dorsetshire, and himself took horse
for the West. Late at night he stopped at Honiton, and thence
despatched a few hurried lines to London with the ill tidings.367
He then pushed on to Exeter, where he found Christopher Monk,
Duke of Albemarle. This nobleman, the son and heir of George
Monk, the restorer of the Stuarts, was Lord Lieutenant of
Devonshire, and was then holding a muster of militia. Four
thousand men of the trainbands were actually assembled under his
command. He seems to have thought that, with this force, he
should be able at once to crush the rebellion. He therefore
marched towards Lyme.
But when, on the afternoon of Monday the fifteenth of June, he
reached Axminster, he found the insurgents drawn up there to
encounter him. They presented a resolute front. Four field pieces
were pointed against the royal troops. The thick hedges, which on
each side overhung the narrow lanes, were lined with musketeers.
Albemarle, however, was less alarmed by the preparations of the
enemy than by the spirit which appeared in his own ranks. Such
was Monmouth's popularity among the common people of Devonshire
that, if once the trainbands had caught sight of his well known
face and figure, they would have probably gone over to him in a
body.
Albemarle, therefore, though he had a great superiority of force,
thought it advisable to retreat. The retreat soon became a rout.
The whole country was strewn with the arms and uniforms which the
fugitives had thrown away; and, had Monmouth urged the pursuit
with vigour, he would probably have taken Exeter without a blow.
But he was satisfied with the advantage which he had gained, and
thought it desirable that his recruits should be better trained
before they were employed in any hazardous service. He therefore
marched towards Taunton, where he arrived on the eighteenth of
June, exactly a week after his landing.368
The Court and the Parliament had been greatly moved by the news
from the West. At five in the morning of Saturday the thirteenth
of June, the King had received the letter which the Mayor of Lyme
had despatched from Honiton. The Privy Council was instantly
called together. Orders were given that the strength of every
company of infantry and of every troop of cavalry should be
increased. Commissions were issued for the levying of new
regiments. Alford's communication was laid before the Lords; and
its substance was communicated to the Commons by a message. The
Commons examined the couriers who had arrived from the West, and
instantly ordered a bill to be brought in for attainting Monmouth
of high treason. Addresses were voted assuring the King that both
his peers and his people were determined to stand by him with
life and fortune against all his enemies. At the next meeting of
the Houses they ordered the Declaration of the rebels to be
burned by the hangman, and passed the bill of attainder through
all its stages. That bill received the royal assent on the same
day; and a reward of five thousand pounds was promised for the
apprehension of Monmouth.369
The fact that Monmouth was in arms against the government was so
notorious that the bill of attainder became a law with only a
faint show of opposition from one or two peers, and has seldom
been severely censured even by Whig historians. Yet, when we
consider how important it is that legislative and judicial
functions should be kept distinct, how important it is that
common fame, however strong and general, should not be received
as a legal proof of guilt, how important it is to maintain the
rule that no man shall be condemned to death without an
opportunity of defending himself, and how easily and speedily
breaches in great principles, when once made, are widened, we
shall probably be disposed to think that the course taken by the
Parliament was open to some objection. Neither House had before
it anything which even so corrupt a judge as Jeffreys could have
directed a jury to consider as proof of Monmouth's crime. The
messengers examined by the Commons were not on oath, and might
therefore have related mere fictions without incurring the
penalties of perjury. The Lords, who might have administered an
oath, appeared not to have examined any witness, and to have had
no evidence before them except the letter of the Mayor of Lyme,
which, in the eye of the law, was no evidence at all. Extreme
danger, it is true, justifies extreme remedies. But the Act of
Attainder was a remedy which could not operate till all danger
was over, and which would become superfluous at the very moment
at which it ceased to be null. While Monmouth was in arms it was
impossible to execute him. If he should be vanquished and taken,
there would be no hazard and no difficulty in trying him. It was
afterwards remembered as a curious circumstance that, among
zealous Tories who went up with the bill from the House of
Commons to the bar of the Lords, was Sir John Fenwick, member for
Northumberland. This gentleman, a few years later, had occasion
to reconsider the whole subject, and then came to the conclusion
that acts of attainder are altogether unjustifiable.370
The Parliament gave other proofs of loyalty in this hour of
peril. The Commons authorised the King to raise an extraordinary
sum of four hundred thousand pounds for his present necessities,
and that he might have no difficulty in finding the money,
proceeded to devise new imposts. The scheme of taxing houses
lately built in the capital was revived and strenuously supported
by the country gentlemen. It was resolved not only that such
houses should be taxed, but that a bill should be brought in
prohibiting the laying of any new foundations within the bills of
mortality. The resolution, however, was not carried into effect.
Powerful men who had land in the suburbs and who hoped to see new
streets and squares rise on their estates, exerted all their
influence against
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