628 "Lord! how this world is given to Lying!" We We never entertained a high opinion of the critical sagacity of Samuel Weller Singer (however we admire the more celebrated Samuel Weller of avowed fiction), or his personal political opinions. Therefore we feel no surprise at his asserting his own belief in the intriguer if there is to be any faith reposed in the honour of Princes;' although that Prince be the wily one of Orange. Certainly William "doth protest too much," and would no more "keep his word" than the Player-Queen in Hamlet. The original letters are in French, from William to Laurence Hyde, given in Clarendon Correspondence, but the English translation may here suffice. From Dieren, on April 8, 1685, the Prince of Orange writes to the Earl of Rochester assuring him that he does not know that the Duke of Monmouth is in Holland; although it was impossible he could fail to know this, if he chose to enquire through his many agents. "I am much obliged to you for the frankness with which you let me know your opinion, in which course I beg you will continue. I can assure you, on the word of a man of honour, that I have not known, nor know to this moment, whether the Duke of Monmouth is in Holland. [Je vous puis asseurer, en homme d'honneur, que je n'ay point sceus n'y ne scait jusques a present, si le Duc de Monmouth est en Hollande.] It is true that it has been said that he was wandering between Rotterdam and Amsterdam, and even that he had been at the Hague; but although I have done what I could to be informed of the truth, I have not been able to ascertain it, and thus much less to find means to have him told to leave Holland, which was certainly my intention, knowing that it was not right for him to be in a place so near to where I was. and if I can discover him I will execute my first design. I beg you to be assured that I am always entirely yours.-Guillaume.” It is not probable that King James was deceived by all these protestations; he affected to believe them. On June he replied to one from the Prince that had been written a week earlier. It contained an offer to lend the three Scotch regiments quartered in Holland, so that they might be sent to Scotland against the rebels there, with a proposal of William to come over himself and repress the insurrection (!). James quietly declined the white elephant, and said, "I take it very kindly of you, what you offer concerning yourself; but besides that you cannot be spared from where you are, this rebellion of Argyle's is not considerable enough for you to be troubled with it: however, I am as much obliged to you as if I had accepted of the offer you made me as to your self." It is beautiful to behold this loving correspondence of mutual distrust. Bentinck, from Honslaerdyck, May, thus wrote to Laurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, concerning the proposed insurrections: 66 These people are too wary to discover themselves: As you may judge, Sir, since they have been able to cause three vessels of burthen to be prepared and laden with so large a quantity of arms and ammunition, without its being discovered(!). I have informed Mr. Skelton of what I have been able to learn, and shall continue to do so, as the means by which I obtain my information is to be relied on. Unless these people are deceived by flattering themselves in their wicked designs, they should have news by the first ordinary of the Bentinck's pious prayers, and equivocating letters. 629 commencement of a rising in Scotland, which is to be followed by one in the West of England. God be pleased to confound their designs! I beg you to believe me, ever, Your very humble and very obedient Servant.-W. Bentinck." This was the well-understood system of avoiding being compromised by events. Nobody was ever to know anything. Eyes were to be shut, a deaf ear turned, and no information given until-a little too late. Bentinck managed the intrigues, while innocent Orange publicly disavowed all knowledge of them; but was told everything, and made profit by the treachery himself. Later, he created William Bentinck Earl of Portland, two days before his own coronation, on the downfall of James II., against whom they had continuously plotted for many years. It is scarcely to be thought probable that there were many letters of an incriminatory character passing from important families in the West to the care of Robert Ferguson, immediately before the descent of Monmouth on the coast of Dorset. We entertain no doubt that he was communicating secret intelligence to the Government, so that if persons of weight were compromised, there would have been after-results of prosecutions. Yet punishment fell almost solely on those whose overt acts openly exposed their seditious partialities. John Trenchard and the Spekes were the most outspoken of all, in welcome of a landing, but their opinions carried little weight proportionate to their own self-conceit. Their influence had been over-rated. That the nobility and gentry had given scarcely any encouragement seems to be absolutely certain. The lukewarmness of Monmouth and the doubts regarding his ultimate designs would check those persons who had much to lose. Battiscomb had not returned from the West with any detailed report, after having been sent thither when Dare's selection of that locality was accepted. Money was not being remitted to Holland. Francis Charlton and Major Wildman had been busy there, during previous months, disseminating sedition, with vague hints of what was to come. Few people ventured to embark life or fortune in their schemes. That attention was directed to Monmouth and his small party so soon as Argyle's expedition had started, and still more after the Scottish landing became known, was inevitable. There were but eighty-two followers. The sixty-seven sailors who assisted their voyage are not included, because they did little after arrival in Dorset, and were non-combatants. The frigate with arms on board was avowedly chartered for a Spanish port, Bilbao. Customs' dues had been paid for two months. The Dutch seized one of the three tenders, as a blind. The Monmouthites were not scrupulously veracious, any more than the Orange William. Colonel Foulkes had been recently cashiered, at desire of King James, and he had been raising recruits at Bois-le-Duc for the expedition, but deceived Tillier and other men as to their destination, stating that they were intended for the service of the Duke of Brandenburg. When Col. 630 Recruits impressed by fraud and force. Bevil Skelton remonstrated against Foulkes, William pretended to believe the excuse about Brandenburg. Of course, he was never the man to be hoodwinked so easily. John Tillier declared later that, after Foulkes taking him to Anthony Busse, colonel of the pretended regiment for Brandenburg, he was conveyed on board ship, made a prisoner, and guarded. When seen by Monmouth, Tillier was offered liberty, on condition of accepting the post of lieutenant. He found himself thereafter debarred from pardon, as having been one who had come from Holland. Captain Kidd was entrapped in the same manner. Dr. Temple was engaged by the Duke as his surgeon to go to the West Indies, and was several days at sea before he was undeceived."1 66 66 Barillon had on May duly communicated to his master Louis XIV. the sailing of the three vessels, known to be laden with arms and refugees, but their destination only guessed. This was Argyle's expedition. Some thought that Monmouth was on board. But Monmouth did not sail until the 24th of May: next day Orange despatched a Memoir in Dutch, of the designs of the Scotch and English refugees, for King James's perusal." He was consistent in his duplicity; for he declared, "I must confess to you, that I never should have believed the Duke of Monmouth capable of such an action, after the assurances he made to me of the contrary when he took leave of me. I believe he is no longer in this country; at least, after all the pains that I have taken to ascertain it, I have been unable to discover that he is." (Clarendon Corresp., i. 127.) S. W. Singer coolly accepted this disavowal as conclusively exonerating William, which is more than we can possibly do, although he made the enquiry, "Who, after this [self-exculpation, false or true], will believe that the Prince of Orange was privy to Monmouth's design?" The self-complacent Philistine! A goodly number of students of history, no doubt, must so "believe" if they examine the evidence carefully for themselves. The following Loyal Song belongs to May 29th, 1685, before Monmouth's expedition had arrived, but evidently while it was expected, and with distinct mention of "hot brain'd Argyle." We must leave unexplained the curious mixture of Restoration-Day, May 29th, with the Martinalia of November 11th. Let it suffice that we follow our printed exemplar. The ancient festivals in honour of Bacchus were held at a time corresponding with our November Martinmas; and these may have been specially remembered in the revelry of the "Song on Restoration-Day," in honour of the Stuarts. 1 Both of these men, John Kidd and Benjamin Temple, M.D., with Major Abraham Holmes, Christopher Battiscombe, William Hewling, and eight more, were afterwards executed at Lyme Regis, on the 12th of the following September, having been sentenced by Sir George Jeffereys. Busse the Brandenburgher was released soon after capture, partly because of being an alien, but chiefly from his having given information that led to the speedy seizure of Monmouth. See p. 673. A Song on St. Martin's Feast: [Restoration Day,] May the 29th, 1685. He Cannons all roaring, and Trumpets sounding, TH The hills and the valleys with th' ecchoes rebounding, Two Brothers and Monarchs restor'd in a day! May our Festival triumphs new trophies still bring 's, Great Jupiter was born in, So the old Cretan Boys sung with homage and wonder, 'Tis all hallow'd ground, for great James was born here. The whole Monarch below He left, his great Heir, for blest Mortals t' adore him, But ere we begin our last Adoration, Let's first blush away the whole shame of a Nation; To see such bright Glories, and worship so late! Whilst the whole God shines out, and the clouds blow o'er. Let's cry out Amen, Boys; Allegiance and Loyalty, Heav'ns first creation, And make all Divine e're the World's first foundation. 18 The Angels themselves i' th' Celestial Chorus, [Cf. p. 624. E're Lucifer fell, were all loyal before us. Let hot-brain'd Argyle then from Holland launch o're, [N.B. Till James, our Great Jove, Shall the black Storms remove, Whilst like the last Trump his dread voice shall confound 'em, To Judgement shall call, and confusion shall sound 'em. [In White-letter. Printed for Nat. Thompson, May 29, 1685.] 632 James II.'s correspondence with William of Orange. We know from Barillon that King James complained to him, on the 21st of May, because William of Orange had permitted Argyle to sail from Holland. A fortnight earlier James had said that "he was to keep on fair terms with the Prince only till the session of Parliament should be over." Still later he rejoiced at having had "no occasion for trying the fidelity of the regiments which the Prince of Orange had sent over in the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion; for that most of the officers were disaffected." (Dalrymple's Memoirs, ii. Appendix, p. 136.) Nevertheless, James continued regularly to write letters to his Dutch son-in-law, detailing the progress of events. On June 12th he had heard nothing of Monmouth since he sailed from the Texel, but expected him to be encountered by some royal frigates if he were following Argyle. By the 13th, Saturday morning, James knew that Monmouth had landed at Lyme on previous Thursday evening. Such news travelled quickly, even in those early days. On the 15th James knew that Monmouth had declared himself King, and he was straightway Attainted. By the 17th James was aware that Monmouth had broken through the militia and reached the " very factious town" of Taunton, "where he may increase his numbers." Lord Churchill (afterwards Marlborough) with some of the dragoons were soon afterwards to unite with the Duke of Albemarle and his Devonshire militia, and Lewis Duras, Lord Feversham, "with three battalions of the foot-guards, one hundred and fifty of the horse guards, sixty grenadiers on horseback, two troops of horse, and two of dragoons, to march against the rebels." There was no lack of zeal and proffered service to the King from nobility and gentry, and he took the insurrection calmly. On July 7th he sent news of the victory at Sedgemoor; by the 10th, that Monmouth was taken prisoner along with the Brandenburgher [Busse], "whose name I do not yet know." Three days later he thus saw Monmouth: James the End to the Prince of Orange, describing his interviews with Monmouth and Lord Grey. Whitehall, July 14, 1685. Have had yours of the 17th, and now the Duke of Monmouth is brought up I hither with Lord Grey and the Brandenburgher [Captain Busse]. The two first desired very earnestly to speak with me, as having things of importance to say to me, which they did, but did not answer my expectations, in what they said to me the Duke of Monmouth seemed more concerned and desirous to live, and did behave himself not so well as I expected, nor so as one ought to have expected, from one who had taken upon him to be King. I have signed the warrant for his execution to-morrow. For Lord Grey, he appeared more resolute and ingenuous, and never so much as once asked for his life: his execution cannot be so soon, by reason of some forms which are requisite to be complied with. 'Tis so late that I have not time to say more, but that you shall always find me as kind to you as you can desire. [James.] |