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 splendid, 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.

A. D. The last battle fought in favour of James was at 1691. Aughrim. 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 five 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 Roman catholics, 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.

A. D. 1

James was now reduced to the lowest ebb of despon16.92. dence; 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 seven 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 Jamnes quis. Nacer otra expedicion. se cambource on to Hoque, el Mu rante ungles musets to devisto

friends in England. He died on the sixteenth day of September, in the year 1700, 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.

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.

A. D.

:} The war with France continued during the greatest 1697. part of this king's, reign; but at length the treaty of Ryswick put an end to those contentions, in which England had engaged without policy, and came off without advantage. In the general pacification, her interests seemed entirely deserted; and for all the treasures 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, in riding to Hamptoncourt 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 diarrhoea, 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 fifty-second year of his age, after having reigned thirteen years.

NNE, married to prince George of Denmark, ascended

A the throne in the thirty-eighth year of her age, to the

general satisfaction of all parties. She was the second daughter of king James, 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 Marlborough generalissimo of the allied army. And it must be confessed, that few men shone more, either in debate or action, than he; serene in the midst of danger, and indefatigable in

the cabinet; so that he became the most formidable enemy to France that England had produced since the conquering times of Cressy and Agincourt.

A great part of the history of this reign consists in battles fought upon the Continent, which, though of very little advantage to the interests of the nation, were very great additions to its honour. These triumphs, it is true, are passed away, and nothing remains of them, but the names of Blenheim, Ramelies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, where the allied army gained great, but (with respect to England) useless victories.

A conquest of much greater national importance was gained, with less expence of blood and treasure, in Spain. The ministry of England, understanding that the French were employed in equipping a strong squadron in Brest, sent out Sir Cloudesley Shovel and Sir George Rooke to watch their motions. Sir George, however, had farther orders to convoy a body of forces in transport ships to Barcelona, upon which a fruitless attack was made by the prince of Hesse. Finding no hopes, therefore, from this expedition, in two days after the troops were re-embarked, Sir George Rooke, joined by Sir Cloudesley, called a council of war on board the fleet, as they lay off the coast of Africa. In this they resolved to make an attempt upon Gibraltar, a town then belonging to the Spaniards, at that time ill provided with a garrison, as neither expecting nor fearing such an attempt.

The town of Gibraltar stands upon a tongue of land, as the mariners call it, and is defended by a rock inaccessible on every side but one. The prince of Hesse landed his troops, to the number of eighteen hundred, on the continent adjoining, and summoned the town to surrender, but without effect. Next day, the admiral gave orders for cannonading the town; and perceiving that the enemy were driven from their fortifications at a place called the South Mole-head, ordered captain Whitaker to arm all the boats, and assault that quarter. Those officers who happened to be nearest the Mole, immediately manned their boats without orders, and entered the fortification sword in hand. But they were premature: for the Spaniards sprung a mine, by which two lieutenants, and about one hundred men, were killed and wounded. Nevertheless, the two captains, Hicks and Jumper, took possession of a platform, and kept their ground until they were sustained by captain Whitaker, and the rest of the seamen, who took a redoubt between the Mole and the town by storm. Then the governor capitulated; and the prince of Hesse entered the place, amazed at the success