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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him as with a brother by blood.
A fatal attachment sprang up. The high spirit and strong passions
of Lady Henrietta broke through all restraints of virtue and
decorum. A scandalous elopement disclosed to the whole kingdom
the shame of two illustrious families. Grey and some of the
agents who had served him in his amour were brought to trial on a
charge of conspiracy. A scene unparalleled in our legal history
was exhibited in the Court of King's Bench. The seducer appeared
with dauntless front, accompanied by his paramour. Nor did the
great Whig lords flinch from their friend's side even in that
extremity. Those whom he had wronged stood over against him, and
were moved to transports of rage by the sight of him. The old
Earl of Berkeley poured forth reproaches and curses on the
wretched Henrietta. The Countess gave evidence broken by many
sobs, and at length fell down in a swoon. The jury found a
verdict of Guilty. When the court rose Lord Berkeley called on
all his friends to help him to seize his daughter. The partisans
of Grey rallied round her. Swords were drawn on both sides; a
skirmish took place in Westminster Hall; and it was with
difficulty that the Judges and tipstaves parted the combatants.
In our time such a trial would be fatal to the character of a
public man; but in that age the standard of morality among the
great was so low, and party spirit was so violent, that Grey
still continued to have considerable influence, though the
Puritans, who formed a strong section of the Whig party, looked
somewhat coldly on him.325
One part of the character, or rather, it may be, of the fortune,
of Grey deserves notice. It was admitted that everywhere, except
on the field of battle, he showed a high degree of courage. More
than once, in embarrassing circumstances, when his life and
liberty were at stake, the dignity of his deportment and his
perfect command of all his faculties extorted praise from those
who neither loved nor esteemed him. But as a soldier he incurred,
less perhaps by his fault than by mischance, the degrading
imputation of personal cowardice.
In this respect he differed widely from his friend the Duke of
Monmouth. Ardent and intrepid on the field of battle, Monmouth
was everywhere else effeminate and irresolute. The accident of
his birth, his personal courage, and his superficial graces, had
placed him in a post for which he was altogether unfitted. After
witnessing the ruin of the party of which he had been the nominal
head, he had retired to Holland. The Prince and Princess of
Orange had now ceased to regard him as a rival. They received him
most hospitably; for they hoped that, by treating, him with
kindness, they should establish a claim to the gratitude of his
father. They knew that paternal affection was not yet wearied
out, that letters and supplies of money still came secretly from
Whitehall to Monmouth's retreat, and that Charles frowned on
those who sought to pay their court to him by speaking ill of his
banished son. The Duke had been encouraged to expect that, in a
very short time, if he gave no new cause of displeasure, he would
be recalled to his native land, and restored to all his high
honours and commands. Animated by such expectations he had been
the life of the Hague during the late winter. He had been the
most conspicuous figure at a succession of balls in that splendid
Orange Hall, which blazes on every side with the most
ostentatious colouring of Jordæns and Hondthorst.326 He had
taught the English country dance to the Dutch ladies, and had in
his turn learned from them to skate on the canals. The Princess
had accompanied him in his expeditions on the ice; and the figure
which she made there, poised on one leg, and clad in petticoats
shorter than are generally worn by ladies so strictly decorous,
had caused some wonder and mirth to the foreign ministers. The
sullen gravity which had been characteristic of the Stadtholder's
court seemed to have vanished before the influence of the
fascinating Englishman. Even the stern and pensive William
relaxed into good humour when his brilliant guest appeared.327
Monmouth meanwhile carefully avoided all that could give offence
in the quarter to which he looked for protection. He saw little
of any Whigs, and nothing of those violent men who had been
concerned in the worst part of the Whig plot. He was therefore
loudly accused, by his old associates, of fickleness and
ingratitude.328
By none of the exiles was this accusation urged with more
vehemence and bitterness than by Robert Ferguson, the Judas of
Dryden's great satire. Ferguson was by birth a Scot; but England
had long been his residence. At the time of the Restoration,
indeed, he had held a living in Kent. He had been bred a
Presbyterian; but the Presbyterians had cast him out, and he had
become an Independent. He had been master of an academy which the
Dissenters had set up at Islington as a rival to Westminster
School and the Charter House; and he had preached to large
congregations at a meeting house in Moorfields. He had also
published some theological treatises which may still be found in
the dusty recesses of a few old libraries; but, though texts of
Scripture were always on his lips, those who had pecuniary
transactions with him soon found him to be a mere swindler.
At length he turned his attention almost entirely from theology
to the worst part of politics. He belonged to the class whose
office it is to render in troubled times to exasperated parties
those services from which honest men shrink in disgust and
prudent men in fear, the class of fanatical knaves. Violent,
malignant, regardless of truth, insensible to shame, insatiable
of notoriety, delighting in intrigue, in tumult, in mischief for
its own sake, he toiled during many years in the darkest mines of
faction. He lived among libellers and false witnesses. He was the
keeper of a secret purse from which agents too vile to be
acknowledged received hire, and the director of a secret press
whence pamphlets, bearing no name, were daily issued. He boasted
that he had contrived to scatter lampoons about the terrace of
Windsor, and even to lay them under the royal pillow. In this way
of life he was put to many shifts, was forced to assume many
names, and at one time had four different lodgings in different
corners of London. He was deeply engaged in the Rye House plot.
There is, indeed, reason to believe that he was the original
author of those sanguinary schemes which brought so much
discredit on the whole Whig party. When the conspiracy was
detected and his associates were in dismay, he bade them farewell
with a laugh, and told them that they were novices, that he had
been used to flight, concealment and disguise, and that he should
never leave off plotting while he lived. He escaped to the
Continent. But it seemed that even on the Continent he was not
secure. The English envoys at foreign courts were directed to be
on the watch for him. The French government offered a reward of
five hundred pistoles to any who would seize him. Nor was it easy
for him to escape notice; for his broad Scotch accent, his tall
and lean figure, his lantern jaws, the gleam of his sharp eyes
which were always overhung by his wig, his cheeks inflamed by an
eruption, his shoulders deformed by a stoop, and his gait
distinguished from that of other men by a peculiar shuffle, made
him remarkable wherever he appeared. But, though he was, as it
seemed, pursued with peculiar animosity, it was whispered that
this animosity was feigned, and that the officers of justice had
secret orders not to see him. That he was really a bitter
malecontent can scarcely be doubted. But there is strong reason
to believe that he provided for his own safety by pretending at
Whitehall to be a spy on the Whigs, and by furnishing the
government with just so much information as sufficed to keep up
his credit. This hypothesis furnishes a simple explanation of
what seemed to his associates to be his unnatural recklessness
and audacity. Being himself out of danger, he always gave his
vote for the most violent and perilous course, and sneered very
complacently at the pusillanimity of men who, not having taken
the infamous precautions on which he relied, were disposed to
think twice before they placed life, and objects dearer than
life, on a single hazard 329
As soon as he was in the Low Countries he began to form new
projects against the English government, and found among his
fellow emigrants men ready to listen to his evil counsels.
Monmouth, however, stood obstinately aloof; and, without the help
of Monmouth's immense popularity, it was impossible to effect
anything. Yet such was the impatience and rashness of the exiles
that they tried to find another leader. They sent an embassy to
that solitary retreat on the shores of Lake Leman where Edmund
Ludlow, once conspicuous among the chiefs of the parliamentary
army and among the members of the High Court of Justice, had,
during many years, hidden himself from the vengeance of the
restored Stuarts. The stern old regicide, however, refused to
quit his hermitage. His work, he said, was done. If England was
still to be saved, she must be saved by younger men.330
The unexpected demise of the crown changed the whole aspect of
affairs. Any hope which the proscribed Whigs might have cherished
of returning peaceably to their native land was extinguished by
the death of a careless and goodnatured prince, and by the
accession of a prince obstinate in all things, and especially
obstinate in revenge. Ferguson was in his element. Destitute of
the talents both of a writer and of a statesman, he had in a high
degree the unenviable qualifications of a tempter; and now, with
the malevolent activity and dexterity of an evil spirit, he ran
from outlaw to outlaw, chattered in every ear, and stirred up in
every bosom savage animosities and wild desires.
He no longer despaired of being able to seduce Monmouth. The
situation of that unhappy young man was completely changed. While
he was dancing and skating at the Hague, and expecting every day
a summons to London, he was overwhelmed with misery by the
tidings of his father's death and of his uncle's accession.
During the night which followed the arrival of the news, those
who lodged near him could distinctly hear his sobs and his
piercing cries. He quitted the Hague the next day, having
solemnly pledged his word both to the Prince and to the Princess
of
A fatal attachment sprang up. The high spirit and strong passions
of Lady Henrietta broke through all restraints of virtue and
decorum. A scandalous elopement disclosed to the whole kingdom
the shame of two illustrious families. Grey and some of the
agents who had served him in his amour were brought to trial on a
charge of conspiracy. A scene unparalleled in our legal history
was exhibited in the Court of King's Bench. The seducer appeared
with dauntless front, accompanied by his paramour. Nor did the
great Whig lords flinch from their friend's side even in that
extremity. Those whom he had wronged stood over against him, and
were moved to transports of rage by the sight of him. The old
Earl of Berkeley poured forth reproaches and curses on the
wretched Henrietta. The Countess gave evidence broken by many
sobs, and at length fell down in a swoon. The jury found a
verdict of Guilty. When the court rose Lord Berkeley called on
all his friends to help him to seize his daughter. The partisans
of Grey rallied round her. Swords were drawn on both sides; a
skirmish took place in Westminster Hall; and it was with
difficulty that the Judges and tipstaves parted the combatants.
In our time such a trial would be fatal to the character of a
public man; but in that age the standard of morality among the
great was so low, and party spirit was so violent, that Grey
still continued to have considerable influence, though the
Puritans, who formed a strong section of the Whig party, looked
somewhat coldly on him.325
One part of the character, or rather, it may be, of the fortune,
of Grey deserves notice. It was admitted that everywhere, except
on the field of battle, he showed a high degree of courage. More
than once, in embarrassing circumstances, when his life and
liberty were at stake, the dignity of his deportment and his
perfect command of all his faculties extorted praise from those
who neither loved nor esteemed him. But as a soldier he incurred,
less perhaps by his fault than by mischance, the degrading
imputation of personal cowardice.
In this respect he differed widely from his friend the Duke of
Monmouth. Ardent and intrepid on the field of battle, Monmouth
was everywhere else effeminate and irresolute. The accident of
his birth, his personal courage, and his superficial graces, had
placed him in a post for which he was altogether unfitted. After
witnessing the ruin of the party of which he had been the nominal
head, he had retired to Holland. The Prince and Princess of
Orange had now ceased to regard him as a rival. They received him
most hospitably; for they hoped that, by treating, him with
kindness, they should establish a claim to the gratitude of his
father. They knew that paternal affection was not yet wearied
out, that letters and supplies of money still came secretly from
Whitehall to Monmouth's retreat, and that Charles frowned on
those who sought to pay their court to him by speaking ill of his
banished son. The Duke had been encouraged to expect that, in a
very short time, if he gave no new cause of displeasure, he would
be recalled to his native land, and restored to all his high
honours and commands. Animated by such expectations he had been
the life of the Hague during the late winter. He had been the
most conspicuous figure at a succession of balls in that splendid
Orange Hall, which blazes on every side with the most
ostentatious colouring of Jordæns and Hondthorst.326 He had
taught the English country dance to the Dutch ladies, and had in
his turn learned from them to skate on the canals. The Princess
had accompanied him in his expeditions on the ice; and the figure
which she made there, poised on one leg, and clad in petticoats
shorter than are generally worn by ladies so strictly decorous,
had caused some wonder and mirth to the foreign ministers. The
sullen gravity which had been characteristic of the Stadtholder's
court seemed to have vanished before the influence of the
fascinating Englishman. Even the stern and pensive William
relaxed into good humour when his brilliant guest appeared.327
Monmouth meanwhile carefully avoided all that could give offence
in the quarter to which he looked for protection. He saw little
of any Whigs, and nothing of those violent men who had been
concerned in the worst part of the Whig plot. He was therefore
loudly accused, by his old associates, of fickleness and
ingratitude.328
By none of the exiles was this accusation urged with more
vehemence and bitterness than by Robert Ferguson, the Judas of
Dryden's great satire. Ferguson was by birth a Scot; but England
had long been his residence. At the time of the Restoration,
indeed, he had held a living in Kent. He had been bred a
Presbyterian; but the Presbyterians had cast him out, and he had
become an Independent. He had been master of an academy which the
Dissenters had set up at Islington as a rival to Westminster
School and the Charter House; and he had preached to large
congregations at a meeting house in Moorfields. He had also
published some theological treatises which may still be found in
the dusty recesses of a few old libraries; but, though texts of
Scripture were always on his lips, those who had pecuniary
transactions with him soon found him to be a mere swindler.
At length he turned his attention almost entirely from theology
to the worst part of politics. He belonged to the class whose
office it is to render in troubled times to exasperated parties
those services from which honest men shrink in disgust and
prudent men in fear, the class of fanatical knaves. Violent,
malignant, regardless of truth, insensible to shame, insatiable
of notoriety, delighting in intrigue, in tumult, in mischief for
its own sake, he toiled during many years in the darkest mines of
faction. He lived among libellers and false witnesses. He was the
keeper of a secret purse from which agents too vile to be
acknowledged received hire, and the director of a secret press
whence pamphlets, bearing no name, were daily issued. He boasted
that he had contrived to scatter lampoons about the terrace of
Windsor, and even to lay them under the royal pillow. In this way
of life he was put to many shifts, was forced to assume many
names, and at one time had four different lodgings in different
corners of London. He was deeply engaged in the Rye House plot.
There is, indeed, reason to believe that he was the original
author of those sanguinary schemes which brought so much
discredit on the whole Whig party. When the conspiracy was
detected and his associates were in dismay, he bade them farewell
with a laugh, and told them that they were novices, that he had
been used to flight, concealment and disguise, and that he should
never leave off plotting while he lived. He escaped to the
Continent. But it seemed that even on the Continent he was not
secure. The English envoys at foreign courts were directed to be
on the watch for him. The French government offered a reward of
five hundred pistoles to any who would seize him. Nor was it easy
for him to escape notice; for his broad Scotch accent, his tall
and lean figure, his lantern jaws, the gleam of his sharp eyes
which were always overhung by his wig, his cheeks inflamed by an
eruption, his shoulders deformed by a stoop, and his gait
distinguished from that of other men by a peculiar shuffle, made
him remarkable wherever he appeared. But, though he was, as it
seemed, pursued with peculiar animosity, it was whispered that
this animosity was feigned, and that the officers of justice had
secret orders not to see him. That he was really a bitter
malecontent can scarcely be doubted. But there is strong reason
to believe that he provided for his own safety by pretending at
Whitehall to be a spy on the Whigs, and by furnishing the
government with just so much information as sufficed to keep up
his credit. This hypothesis furnishes a simple explanation of
what seemed to his associates to be his unnatural recklessness
and audacity. Being himself out of danger, he always gave his
vote for the most violent and perilous course, and sneered very
complacently at the pusillanimity of men who, not having taken
the infamous precautions on which he relied, were disposed to
think twice before they placed life, and objects dearer than
life, on a single hazard 329
As soon as he was in the Low Countries he began to form new
projects against the English government, and found among his
fellow emigrants men ready to listen to his evil counsels.
Monmouth, however, stood obstinately aloof; and, without the help
of Monmouth's immense popularity, it was impossible to effect
anything. Yet such was the impatience and rashness of the exiles
that they tried to find another leader. They sent an embassy to
that solitary retreat on the shores of Lake Leman where Edmund
Ludlow, once conspicuous among the chiefs of the parliamentary
army and among the members of the High Court of Justice, had,
during many years, hidden himself from the vengeance of the
restored Stuarts. The stern old regicide, however, refused to
quit his hermitage. His work, he said, was done. If England was
still to be saved, she must be saved by younger men.330
The unexpected demise of the crown changed the whole aspect of
affairs. Any hope which the proscribed Whigs might have cherished
of returning peaceably to their native land was extinguished by
the death of a careless and goodnatured prince, and by the
accession of a prince obstinate in all things, and especially
obstinate in revenge. Ferguson was in his element. Destitute of
the talents both of a writer and of a statesman, he had in a high
degree the unenviable qualifications of a tempter; and now, with
the malevolent activity and dexterity of an evil spirit, he ran
from outlaw to outlaw, chattered in every ear, and stirred up in
every bosom savage animosities and wild desires.
He no longer despaired of being able to seduce Monmouth. The
situation of that unhappy young man was completely changed. While
he was dancing and skating at the Hague, and expecting every day
a summons to London, he was overwhelmed with misery by the
tidings of his father's death and of his uncle's accession.
During the night which followed the arrival of the news, those
who lodged near him could distinctly hear his sobs and his
piercing cries. He quitted the Hague the next day, having
solemnly pledged his word both to the Prince and to the Princess
of
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