If some of the members of the Council gazed at each other in astonishment to find themselves included in one body, still more was that the case with the Ministry. Danby, though a Tory, was made President of the Council; but whilst this offended others, who remembered that he had opposed the idea of the throne being vacant, though he had resisted the appointment of a regency, he himself was woefully disappointed in not receiving the White Staff. But William neither now nor till the end of his reign entrusted the office of Lord High Treasurer to a single person, but put it in commission. On the other hand, Halifax, who had not joined William's party till the last moment, received again the Privy Seal, and was continued Speaker of the House of Lords, to the great disgust of the Whigs, who remembered how long he had deserted them, and how successfully he had opposed them on the question of the Exclusion Bill. To add to their chagrin, the Earl of Nottingham was made Secretary of State. Nottingham had been foremost amongst those who had maintained the doctrine of passive obedience; who had denied that the throne could for an instant become vacant; who had declined to give up James or to call in William, but had also led this party in submitting to the decision of the Convention in favour of William and Mary, on the ground that we are enjoined by the New Testament to be subject to the powers that be. The other Secretary, the Earl of Shrewsbury, was indeed a Whig, and in the highest favour with that party. He had been foremost in calling in William; but then he was a mere youth, only eight-and-twenty years of age. Admiral Herbert expected to be appointed Lord High Admiral, and to have the entire control of the Admiralty; but he had the mortification to see a number of others placed at the Board of Admiralty to share his authority, though he bore nominally the name of First Lord of it. Churchill expected to be made Master of the Ordnance for his treason to James; but William had too certain evidence that he was at this very moment a traitor to himself; was in correspondence with the Court of St. Germain's, and believed that he would be one of the first to run if any future success warranted a hope of James's restoration. He was therefore appointed only to a post in the household, along with Devonshire, Mordaunt, Oxford, Dorset, Lovelace, and others; whilst the gallant foreigner Schomberg was made Master of the Ordnance.

Whilst the leaders, therefore, were deeply disappointed, all aspirants to favour were extremely jealous of the three staunch Dutch adherents of William—Bentinck, Overkirk, and Zulestein—whom William kept about him with a very natural feeling, for they had been faithful to him through all his arduous struggles in his own country, and were now, indeed, almost the only men in whom he could put implicit confidence. The main thing in which Danby, Halifax, Nottingham, and Shrewsbury agreed was in complaining that William did not make them his confidants, but preferred the secret advice of Bentinck, whom he soon made Earl of Portland, and the counsel of Sidney, whom he created Lord Sidney. William had but too much cause for keeping the knowledge of his thoughts and intentions from those around him, for many amongst his privy councillors and chief ministers would have betrayed them at once to the exiled monarch. Danby had been heard to say, even after James had quitted England, that if he would only abandon his priests, he might come back again; and others besides Churchill were in regular traitorous correspondence with James's Court. With all William's caution, not a thing was discussed in his council but was immediately transmitted to St. Germain's. To his trusty countrymen already mentioned William gave profitable offices near his person. His great friend Bentinck was made Groom of the Stole, with five thousand pounds a year; Overkirk Master of the Horse; and Zulestein had charge of the robes.

These arrangements being made, on the 18th of February, William, for the first time, addressed the two Houses of Parliament. It is remarkable that the very subject which he introduced to them was a demand for liberal supplies to carry on the war on the Continent. He had, he said, no choice in the matter, as France had already begun war on England.

William reminded them, too, that their domestic affairs would demand serious attention, and especially the condition of Ireland, where a strong feeling was known to exist for the fallen dynasty, through the interests of the Catholic religion. He exhorted them, moreover, to take immediate measures for securing the despatch of business. This alluded to the settlement of the great question whether the Convention could continue to sit legally after the deposition of the monarch who had called it. The question had been debated in the Council, and now, on the king's retiring, the lords immediately laid on the table of the House a Bill declaring the Convention a valid Parliament. It was speedily carried and sent down to the Commons; but there it excited a warm debate. The Whigs were vociferous for it; the Tories, who believed that the calling of a new Parliament would be in their favour, were as vehemently against it. The depositions of Edward II. and Richard II. were referred to and strongly argued upon; but the case in point was the Convention which recalled Charles II., and continued to sit and act long after. Sir John Maynard moreover contended that, as they were like men who found themselves in a trackless desert, it was not for them to stand crying, "Where is the king's highway?" but to take the track that would lead them out of it. That track was the precedent of Charles II.'s reign. The House passed the Bill without a division, and it received the Royal assent on the tenth day after the accession.

A clause in this Bill provided that, after the 1st of March, no person could sit or vote in either House until he had taken the new oath of allegiance to their majesties. Great excitement was occasioned by this oath. It was hoped by the Tories and High Church there would be found a sufficient number of persons of influence who would refuse the oath, so as to render the seat of the new monarchs unstable, and open the way to the return of James. Care was taken to consult the prejudices of the adherents to the old notions of right divine as much as possible, and the words "rightful and lawful sovereigns," after deliberation were omitted; but this did not prevent many from refusing it. As the day approached for taking the oath, the capital was full of rumours. It was said that the Duke of Grafton had escaped to France in order to reconcile himself to his uncle; and numerous other persons were supposed to have followed his example. When the day arrived, however, Grafton was one of the first to present himself; and the number of the lords who declined it, amongst them the Earls of Clarendon, Lichfield, and Exeter, with the Archbishop of Canterbury and some of the bishops, was small. Of the bishops, five were of those who refused to obey the commands of James to publish his Indulgence, and had been sent to the Tower. Rochester, the brother of Clarendon, was expected to refuse the oath, as he had adhered to James after Clarendon had abandoned him; but Clarendon's income was secure from his estate. Rochester had a pension of four thousand pounds a year, which he would lose if he refused the oath—a strong argument, which seems to have proved convincing, for he took the oath. Four hundred of the Lower House had taken the oath on the 2nd of March, and amongst them Seymour, who had led the Tory Opposition; but when the oath was extended to the clergy and other individuals in office, above four hundred of the clergy, including some of the most distinguished dignitaries, refused it; and thus began the great schism of the non-jurors, who long continued to figure as the unswerving advocates of divine right.

The next great question was that of the revenue. The Parliaments of Charles and James had been exceedingly munificent in their grants of income. In the heat of their loyalty at the Restoration, the Commons forgot all the salutary fears of their predecessors, and gave up every point for which they had contended with Charles I. Tonnage and poundage were granted for life, and afterwards confirmed to James. They settled on these monarchs half of the excise in perpetuity, and half for life. The fixed revenue of Charles and James had been one million two hundred thousand pounds, but the actual revenue had been a great deal more. It was now found by examination of the accounts that James had been in the annual receipt of no less than two millions, of which ninety thousand pounds had been expended in secret service money. William had, since arriving at Whitehall, been in the habit of collecting and applying this magnificent revenue as chief of the State; and seemed to expect that it would be now settled on him. The first question discussed was, whether an income granted to a monarch for life could be received legally by his successor in case of his abdication so long as he lived. Many of the chief lawyers contended that the revenue was granted to the monarch in his political capacity, and not to the man, and that, therefore, the prince who came to discharge his official duties so long as he lived was rightfully in receipt of it. But the more common sense opinion prevailed, that the prince who superseded another by the call of the nation must receive all his rights as well as his call from the nation. The House therefore passed to the question of the amount of the revenue, and they did not appear very much disposed to use the same lavish folly towards William as they had done towards the late monarchs. Instead of granting him a life revenue, they granted him one million two hundred thousand pounds, the sum allowed to Charles II., but only for three years, one half of which was to be appropriated to the civil list, the other half to the public defences. William was sensibly chagrined by this caution, and complained much of want of confidence in him, and of unusual parsimony. He presented a claim of seven hundred thousand pounds from the Dutch, the cost of the expedition which had placed him on the throne. The Commons consented to pay six hundred thousand pounds, and William received the sum for his careful countrymen with a very ill grace. The Commons did not the less displease him by reducing his demand for the navy from one million one hundred thousand pounds to seven hundred thousand pounds, and by granting the supply for the army for only six months; Sir Edward Seymour all the time warning them that it was the foolish liberality of Charles II.'s Parliament which enabled him to enslave the nation as he had done.

WILLIAM III.

[[See larger version]]

One thing which did William great credit, however, was the recommendation to the Commons to abolish the abominable hearth-tax. As he had advanced from Torbay to London, the people had importuned him on all sides to set aside this detestable tax, which had been farmed out to rapacious collectors, who treated the people with every species of insult, cruelty, and violence in enforcing payment of it. It was a most unequal tax, which fell with disproportionate weight on the very poor; for as it was levied, not by the value of the property, but by the number of chimneys, the peasant in many cases paid nearly as much as a man of really great substance; and where the money was not ready when called for, the tax-gatherers forced open even bedrooms, and sold the very bed from beneath the sick, and the table at which the family sat. William was much impressed by its injustice, and, at his special desire, the Act was repealed.