CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



address to William, Prince of Orange, calling upon 

 him to come over with an armed force, and aid 

 them in protecting their faith and liberties. This 

 prince, who feared that England would soon be 

 joined to France against the few remaining Prot- 

 estant powers, and also that his prospects of the 

 succession in that country, as nephew and son-in- 

 law of the king, were endangered, listened readily 

 to this call, and immediately collected a large fleet 

 and army, comprising many persons, natives of 

 both Scotland and England, who had fled from 

 the severe government of the Stuart princes. The 

 preparations for the expedition were conducted 

 with great secrecy. When James, who had at first 

 disbelieved the reports regarding the expedition, 

 was assured of their truth, he ordered a fleet and 

 large army to be collected, and, that he might re- 

 gain the affections of his subjects, he abolished the 

 Ecclesiastical Commission, called a parliament, 

 and undid many of his late measures. It was now 

 too late, however, for such concessions to be of 

 any avail. 



On the loth of October, the Prince of Orange 

 set sail with 50 ships-of-war, 25 frigates, 25 fire- 

 ships, and 500 transports, containing 15,000 land- 

 troops. A storm occasioned some damage and 

 delay ; but he soon put to sea again, and pro- 

 ceeded with a fair wind along the British Channel, 

 exhibiting from his own vessel a flag, on which 

 were inscribed the words, 'THE PROTESTANT 

 RELIGION AND THE LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND,' 

 with the apposite motto of his family, Je main- 

 tiendrai 'I will maintain.' The English fleet 

 being detained at Harwich by the same wind 

 which was so favourable to the prince, he landed 

 (November 5) without opposition at Torbay, and 

 immediately proceeded to circulate a Declaration 

 stating that he had come to protect the liberties 

 of England, and to secure the calling of a free 

 parliament to redress grievances and inquire into 

 the truth of the Prince of Wales. 



Being almost immediately joined by many per- 

 sons of consequence, the prince marched towards 

 London. The king saw himself deserted by his 

 nobility, his chief military officers, and even his 

 daughter Anne, who, with her favourite, Lady 

 Churchill, joined the insurgents. In great per- 

 plexity, he summoned a council of peers, by whose 

 advice writs were issued for a new parliament, 

 and commissioners despatched to treat with the 

 prince. A kind of infatuation now took posses- 

 sion of the king; and, after one unsuccessful 

 attempt, he got, with the connivance of the 

 supporters of William, whom his presence in the 

 country would have embarrassed, on board a 

 ship, which conveyed him to France, having 

 previously sent his queen and her infant to the 

 same country. He was most kindly received by 

 Louis XIV. 



The same day that the king left Whitehall for 

 the last time, his nephew and son-in-law arrived at 

 St James's. The public bodies immediately waited 

 on him, to express their zeal for his cause ; and 

 such of the members of the late parliaments as 

 happened to be in town, having met by his invita- 

 tion, requested him to issue writs for a convention, 

 in order to settle the nation. He was in the same 

 manner, and for the same purpose, requested to 

 call a convention in Scotland. The English con- 

 vention met on the 22d of January 1689, and I 

 during its debates the prince maintained a mag- 1 



15* 



nanimous silence and neutrality. The Tory party, 

 though it had joined in calling him over, displayed 

 some scruples respecting the alteration of the suc- 

 session, and seemed at first inclined to settle the 

 crown on the princess, while William should 

 have only the office of regent ; but when this 

 was mentioned to the prince, he calmly replied, 

 that in that event he should immediately return 

 to Holland. A bill was then passed, declaring 

 James, by breaking the original contract be- 

 tween the king and people, to have abdicated 

 the throne. To the bill was added what 

 was called a Declaration of Rights namely, an 

 enumeration of the various laws by which the 

 royal prerogative and the popular liberties had 

 formerly been settled, but which had been violated 

 and evaded by the Stuart sovereigns. WILLIAM 

 and MARY, having expressed their willingness to 

 ratify this Declaration, were proclaimed king and 

 queen jointly the administration to rest in 

 William ; and the convention was then converted 

 into a parliament. 



In Scotland, where the Presbyterians had re- 

 sumed an ascendency, the convention declared that 

 James, by the abuse of his power, had forfeited all 

 right to the crown a decision also affecting his 

 posterity ; and William and Mary were imme- 

 diately after proclaimed. By a bill passed in the 

 English parliament, the succession was settled upon 

 the survivor of the existing royal pair ; next, upon 

 the Princess Anne and her children ; and finally, 

 upon the children of William by any other consort 

 an arrangement in which no hereditary principle 

 was overlooked, except that which would have 

 given a preference to James and his infant son. 

 The sovereignty of Ireland went with that of 

 England. 



By the Revolution, as this great event was styled, 

 it might be considered as finally decided that the 

 monarchy was a human institution dependent on 

 the people, and established and maintained for their 

 benefit. Many advantages, of smaller importance, 

 though of more direct and practical utility, resulted 

 from the change. The Episcopal Church, which 

 in Scotland had occasioned incessant discontent 

 and disturbance for the last twenty-eight years, 

 was abolished in that kingdom as an establish- 

 ment, and the favourite Presbyterian forms were 

 established. Dissenters from the church in Eng- 

 land were freed from the severities to which they 

 had been exposed during the last two reigns. The 

 royal revenue, which had formerly been fixed 

 at the beginning of each reign, was now settled 

 annually by the House of Commons, so that the 

 king was more under the control of his people 

 than formerly. The independence and impartiality 

 of the judges were now secured by their being 

 appointed for life, or during good behaviour, 

 instead of being removable at the royal pleasure 

 as heretofore. 



RESISTANCE IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 



The new government was at first extremely 

 popular in Scotland ; but one portion of the people 

 was much opposed to it. This consisted of the 

 Highland clans a primitive race, unable to appre- 

 ciate the rights which had been gained, pre- 

 possessed in favour of direct hereditary succession, 

 and of such warlike habits, that though a minority, 

 they were able to give no small trouble to the 



