in

any of the towns of Holland." Among other individuals who identified the cause of the Prince with their own, was a Dutch Jew of Amsterdam, named Schwartzaw. This person actually presented himself before William, bringing with him the large sum of one hundred thousand pounds "If you are fortunate," he said to the Prince, "I know you will repay me if you are not, the loss of my money will be the least of my afflictions."

The manner in which, at this period, William contrived to obtain a sum of money from Pope Innocent the Eleventh, to assist him in the invasion of England, though affording sufficient proof of his ingenuity, is, perhaps, not altogether to his credit. Innocent, like William himself, had strong reasons to be exasperated with the French King, and was ready and eager to join any project which seemed likely to humble or embarrass that monarch. Accordingly, as soon as it had become known in Europe that the Dutch were engaged in making great military preparations, the object of which, however, the world was then in ignorance of,-William had adroitness enough to persuade his Holiness, that, in conjunction with the Emperor, he was about to undertake an expedition against France. Innocent fell unsuspectingly into the snare, and by this means William was enabled to extract from him a considerable sum of money, which was

afterwards employed in dethroning a Roman Catholic prince, whose establishment on the throne it was the primary object of the Pope to uphold.*

In the mean time, the people of England appear to have anticipated with an extraordinary degree of apathy the invasion which was almost daily expected; and to have regarded, with equal indifference, the threatened expulsion of their legitimate Prince, the probable horrors of a civil war, the subversion of an odious government, and the advantages which were held out to them in the manifestoes of the invader. In London, indeed, where the King was personally residing, where the news of the day was more quickly circulated, and where the proceedings of the Court were matters of immediate interest, a considerable degree of excitement appears to have prevailed amongst the populace. The citizens are described as neglecting their ordinary occupations; as rising in the middle of the night, and collecting in small parties in the streets, inquiring eagerly the news. At other times they are mentioned as anxiously gazing from their doors and windows at the nearest vane, to ascertain, from the direction of the wind, whether the elements were favourable or not to the approach of the Dutch fleet. One circumstance which

* Letters from Cardinal D'Etrées to Louvois and Louis XIV-Dalrymple, vol. i. p. 198.

tended greatly to inflame the already feverish state of the public mind, was the fact of the Prince of Orange having positively forbidden the departure of any vessel for England; and as the state of the wind retarded for a considerable period the sailing of the Dutch fleet, the general apprehension which prevailed in the minds. of men, at least in the metropolis, was rendered almost intolerable from suspense.

At length, the wind changing suddenly to the north-east, on the 16th of October, 1688, the Prince met the States in council, and bade them a solemn and affectionate farewell. After warmly thanking them for all the kindness they had shown him from his earliest youth,-"I take God to witness," he said, "that since I have been intrusted with the affairs of this Commonwealth, I have never entertained a wish that has been opposed to its interests. If I have erred, I have erred as a man; my heart at least was not to blame. I trust to Providence for the result of my enterprise. But if anything fatal should happen, to you I bequeath my memory; this, our common country; and the Princess, my wife, who loves that country as she does her own: my last thoughts shall be upon you and upon her." During the delivery of this touching appeal, many of the senators are described as moved even to tears; and while all were variously affected, William alone remained calm and unmoved.

CHAPTER IV.

Embarkation of William and his troops at Helvoetsluys.-Dispersion of the fleet by a storm.-Ships refitted, and William again sets sail for England.-Arrival of the fleet at Torbay. -William lands on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. -Anecdote from Burnet.-March of the Dutch troops to Exeter. William enters that city at the head of a magnificent procession. He is coldly received by the people, and is greatly disheartened.-Sir Edward Seymour, the Earl of Abingdon, and other influential personages join his standard.—Movement in favour of William gradually spreads.— He is joined by Lord Cornbury, son of Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. The father's anguish on the occasion. And subsequent flight to the invader.-Lord Churchill, afterwards the great Duke of Marlborough, joins William.-Anecdote of Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham.-Royal army encamped at Salisbury. James the Second retires with a portion of them to London, and is closely followed by William.-Anecdote of William.-James's secret flight from Whitehall.—Is discovered, and brought back to London.-Is conducted by a Dutch guard to Rochester, and ultimately embarks for France.

WILLIAM had already assembled his land and sea forces at Helvoetsluys; the latter consisting of sixty-five ships of war, seventy vessels of burden, and five hundred transports; the former of about eleven thousand infantry, and five thou

VOL. I.

E

sand cavalry.* Among this force were six British regiments in the Dutch pay, and about three hundred French officers, exiles on account of their Protestant principles,

who re

membered the persecution which they had suffered in their own country on account of their religion, and appear to have been as eager to fight against a Roman Catholic Prince, as if they were enlisting for a crusade.

The magnificent scene of embarkation was witnessed by the vast crowds at Helvoetsluys, with overwhelming interest and almost painful enthusiasm,—with anticipations of national glory, mingled with personal anxiety for relatives and friends, - such as words would with difficulty describe. At length, the last regiment was safely embarked, and on the night of the 19th of October, this memorable fleet departed on the most important naval service which had been known in modern times. The Prince, who was almost the last individual to go on board, selected as his station the centre of the fleet. Herbert, the English admiral, led the van, and Evertzen, a Dutch admiral, brought up the rear. On

* Such appears to be the true computation of the force with which William invaded England. Hume, however, casually places the total number of the fleet at five hundred vessels, of which, according to his account, about four hundred were transports: the army also he reduces to fourteen thousand men.-Hist. of England, vol. viii. p. 281.