steady, and a new one raised, amounting together to near forty thousand men.

As soon as the season would permit, he went to lay siege to Londonderry, a town of small importance in itself, but rendered famous by the stand it made on this occasion.

The besieged endured the most poignant sufferings from fatigue and famine, until at last relieved by a store-ship, that happily broke the boom laid across the river to prevent a supply. The joy of the inhabitants at this unexpected relief was only equalled by the rage and disappointment of the besiegers. The army of James was so dispirited by the success of this enterprise, that they abandoned the siege in the night, and retired with precipitation, after having lost about nine thousand men before the place.

On 1st July 1690, the two armies came in sight of each other upon the opposite sides of the river Boyne, and both were inflamed with all the animosities arising from religion, hatred, and revenge. The Boyne at this place was not so deep, but that men might wade over on foot; however, the banks were rugged, and rendered dangerous by old houses and ditches, which served to defend the latent enemy. William, who now headed the protestant army, had no sooner arrived, than he rode along the side of the river in sight of both armies, to make proper observations upon the plan of battle; but, in the mean time, being perceived by the enemy, a cannon was privately brought out, and planted against him where he was sitting. The shot killed several of his followers, and he himself was wounded in the shoulder.

Early the next morning, at six o'clock, king William gave orders to force a passage over the river. This the army undertook in three different places; and after a furious cannonading, the battle began with unusual vigour. The Irish troops, though reckoned the best in Europe abroad, had always fought indifferently at home. After an obstinate resistance, they fled with precipitation, leaving the French and Swiss regiments, who came to their assistance, to make the best retreat which they could. William led on his horse in person; and contributed, by his activity and vigilance, to secure the victory. James was not in the battle, but stood aloof during the action, on the hill of Dunmore, surrounded with some squadrons of horse; and at intervals was heard to exclaim, when he saw his own troops repulsing those of the enemy, "O spare my English subjects."

The Irish lost about fifteen hundred men, and the protestants about one third of that number. The victory was splen

did, and almost decisive, but the death of the duke of Schomberg, who was shot as he was crossing the water, seemed to outweigh the whole loss sustained by the enemy.

The last engagement in favour of James was at Aghrim, on the twelfth day of July 1691. The enemy fought with surprising fury, and the horse were several times repulsed; but the English wading through the middle of a bog up to the waist in mud, and rallying with some difficulty on the firm ground on the other side, renewed the combat with great fury. St. Ruth, the Irish general, being killed by a cannon ball, his fate so dispirited his troops, that they gave way, on all sides, and retreated to Limerick, where they resolved to make a final stand, after having lost above four thousand of the flower of their army. Limerick, the last retreat of the Irish forces, made a brave defence: but soon seeing the enemy advanced within ten paces of the bridge-foot, and perceiving themselves surrounded on all sides, they determined to capitulate; a negotiation was immediately begun, and hostilities ceased on both sides. The papists, by this capitulation, were restored to the enjoyment of those liberties in the exercise of their religion, which they had possessed in the reign of king Charles the Second. All persons were indulged with free leave to remove with their families and effects to any other country, except England and Scotland. In consequence of this, above fourteen thousand of those who had fought for king James went over into France, having transports provided by government for conveying them thither.

James was now reduced to the lowest ebb of despondence; his designs upon England were quite frustrated, so that nothing was left his friends but the hopes of assassinating the monarch on the throne. These base attempts, as barbarous as they were useless, were not entirely disagreeable to the temper of James. It is said he encouraged and proposed them; but they all proved unserviceable to his cause, and only ended in the destruction of the undertakers. From that time till he died, which was about nine years, he continued to reside at St. Germain's, a pensioner on the bounties of Lewis, and assisted by occasional liberalities from his daughter and friends in England. He died on the sixteenth day of September, in the year 1701, after having laboured under a tedious sickness; and many miracles, as the people thought, were wrought at his tomb. Indeed, the latter part of his life was calculated to inspire the superstitious with reverence for his piety. He subjected himself to acts of uncommon penance and

mortification. He frequently visited the poor monks of La Trappe, who were edified by his humble and pious deportment. His pride and arbitrary temper seemed to have vanished with his greatness; he became affable, kind, and easy to all his dependants; and in his last illness conjured his son to prefer religion to every worldly advantage, a counsel which that prince strictly obeyed. He died with great marks of devotion, and was interred, at his own request, in the church of the English Benedictines at Paris, without any funeral solemnity. His daughter Mary, queen of England, predeceased him, having been cut off by the small pox in 1694, before she had completed the thirty-eighth year of her age and sixth of her reign.

William, upon accepting of the crown, was resolved to preserve, as much as he was able, that share of prerogative which still was left him.

But at length he became fatigued with opposing the laws which parliament every day were laying round his authority, and gave up the contest. He admitted every restraint upon the prerogative in England, upon condition of being properly supplied with the means of humbling the power of France. War, and the balance of power in Europe, were all he knew, or indeed desired to understand. Provided the parliament furnished him with supplies for these purposes, he permitted them to rule the internal policy at their pleasure. For the prosecution of the war with France, the sums of money granted him were incredible. The nation, not contented with furnishing him with such sums of money as they were capable of raising by the taxes of the year, mortgaged these taxes, and involved themselves in debts, which they have never since been able to discharge. For all that profusion of wealth granted to maintain the imaginary balance of Europe, England received in return the empty reward of military glory in Flanders, and the consciousness of having given their allies, particularly the Dutch, frequent opportunities of being ungrateful.

The war with France continued during the greatest part of this king's reign; but at length the treaty of Ryswick, signed 20th October 1697, put an end to those contentions, in which England had engaged without policy, and come off without advantage. In the general pacification, her interests seemed entirely deserted; and for all the treasures which she had sent to the Continent, and all the blood which she had shed there, the only equivalent she received, was an acknowledgment of king William's title from the king of France.

William was naturally of a very feeble constitution, and it was by this time almost exhausted by a series of continual disquietude and action. He had endeavoured to repair his constitution, or at least to conceal its decays, by exercise and riding. On the twenty-first day of February, 1701, in riding to Hampton-court from Kensington, his horse fell under him, and he was thrown with such violence, that his collar-bone was fractured. His attendants conveyed him to the palace of Hampton-court, where the fracture was reduced, and in the evening he returned to Kensington in his coach. The jolting of the carriage disunited the fracture once more, and the bones were again replaced, under Bidloo, his physician. This in a robust constitution would have been a trifling misfortune; but in him it was fatal. For some time he appeared in a fair way of recovery; but falling asleep on his couch, he was seized with a shivering, which terminated in a fever and diarrhœa, which soon became dangerous and desperate. Perceiving his end approaching, the objects of his former care still lay next his heart; and the fate of Europe seemed to remove the sensations he might be supposed to feel for his own. The earl of Albemarle arriving from Holland, he conferred with him in private on the posture of affairs abroad. Two days after, having received the sacrament from archbishop Tenison, he expired, in the year 1701, in the fifty second year of his age and thirteenth of his reign.

EXERCISES.

In what year did William III. ascend the throne of England, and how long did he reign? What were the first acts of his government? What country acknowledged the authority of James II., and in what year did he arrive there? Relate his transactions in that island. Where did the hostile armies first come in sight of each other? Who gained the victory? Where, and on what day, was the last battle in favour of James fought? What privileges were granted to the papists by William III. after that victory? Relate the future life of James II. In what year did his daughter Mary die? Upon what condition did William III. admit of every restraint upon the royal prerogative? What was the result of the extravagant sums granted him by the nation? What did England receive in return for such profuse supplies? What put an end to the war with France? On what day was the treaty of Ryswick signed? Of what nation were the interests entirely neglected in the general pacification? To what accident may the death of William be attributed? What object engrossed his attention in the last days of his life? With whom did he converse in private on the state of affairs abroad? In what year did he die?

NNE, married to prince George of Denmark, ascended the throne in the thirty-eighth year of her age, to the general satisfaction of all parties. She was the second daughter of James II. by his first wife, the daughter of chancellor Hyde, afterwards earl of Clarendon. Upon coming to the crown, she resolved to declare war against France, and communicated her intentions to the house of commons, by whom it was approved, and war was proclaimed accordingly.

This declaration of war on the part of the English, was seconded by similar declarations by the Dutch and Germans, on the same day. The French monarch could not suppress his anger at such a combination; but his chief resentment fell upon the Dutch. He declared, with great emotion, that as for those gentlemen pedlars, the Dutch, they should one day repent their insolence and presumption in declaring war against one whose power they had formerly felt and dreaded. However, the affairs of the allies were no way influenced by his threats. The duke of Marlborough had his views gratified, in being appointed general of the English forces; and he was still farther flattered by the Dutch, who, though the earl of Athlone had a right to share the command. appointed MarlL