The peace of Ryswick, which put an end to the war between William and Louis, and detached the latter from the cause of James, dispelled for awhile the visions which had tantalized and disappointed the nonjuring party; for the treaty, sanctioned by France, Spain, and the United Provinces, recognized the constitution of England, and William as a constitutional King. Some Clergymen, wearied by the bootless resistance of eight long years, now came to terms, and swore allegiance to the reigning Sovereign, adopting at last the principle which they had denounced, that a settled Government, though illegitimate in its origin, is binding in its authority.
PEACE OF RYSWICK.
Immense joy arose on this occasion; it prolonged itself during the month of November. The anniversary of the landing at Torbay of course set in motion peals of bells, lighted up candles in windows, kindled bonfires in market-places, and evoked shouts of glee from assembled multitudes. The 14th of November, the day of Williams return and landing at Margate, became an additional season of joy. On the 16th, which turned out a bright morning, he entered his capital in state, attended by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, with a measure of the splendour which on past occasions brightened the City’s dark and narrow streets; although some of the spectators of the sight noticed a decline in the splendour of the pageantry.[300] The triumph of the day was complete when the University of Oxford, to the unutterable chagrin of the Nonjurors, struck its colours, and in an adulatory address did homage to the hero. This tide of joy flowed into the following month. The 2nd of December was held as a day of thanksgiving for the peace. The King and Court attended Divine service in the Chapel at Whitehall, where Burnet preached, or, as one who heard him says, “made a florid panegyric,”[301] founded on the words, “Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God: because thy God loved Israel to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.” The same day St. Paul’s Cathedral was opened for Divine service, and William would have been there, instead of being in his own Chapel, but for fear lest the multitude, thronging the streets, should render his approach almost impracticable. The Corporation of London appeared in their civic pomp; Compton ascended his throne, just enriched by the carvings of Grinling Gibbons; and he afterwards preached from the appropriate text, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go up into the house of the Lord.”[302]
1698.
A new Parliament, of a decidedly High-Church stamp, assembled on the 9th of December, amidst an atmosphere of hypocrisy and intrigue rarely equalled. A sermon preached before the Commons by the Rector of Sutton, in Surrey, upon government originating with the people, and good government alone being the ordinance of God, gave vast offence to the Tories, and occasioned the passing of a curious resolution, that no one should preach before the House unless he was a Dean or a D.D. A Committee of the Lower House formally complained of Dissenters being made Justices of the Peace; whereas it turned out on inquiry that not two of their number were placed on the roll, besides such as had become occasional Conformists. Some zealots went so far as to propose, that an address should be presented to the King, to remove Burnet from the office of Preceptor to the young Duke of Gloucester; but as this was too absurd a proposal to find much support, it had to be withdrawn.[303] Under pretence of patriotism and economy, a strong opposition party carried one measure for a reduction of the army, which compelled William to part with his Dutch Guards, the sorest sacrifice he ever made; and another for the recovery of Irish estates, bestowed by the Monarch on his supporters, a proceeding which ended in the aggrandizement of its inventors.
PARLIAMENT.
The peace of Ryswick had brought “a great swarm of priests”[304] to England, who held up their heads with so much insolence, that some foolish Protestants and some cunning politicians absurdly declared, the articles of peace favoured Popery, and the King was a Papist in disguise. Soon the new Parliament, stirred by a gust of wind which threatened a “No Popery” tempest, set to work upon a Bill obliging every Popish minor succeeding to an estate, immediately to take the oath of allegiance, and, as soon as he attained his majority, to submit to the Test Act,—otherwise his property would devolve on the Protestant next of kin. The Bill also banished Popish priests, and adjudged them to perpetual imprisonment in case they dared to return; the reward for conviction being £100. The Bill is said to have been partly a trick contrived by the Tories to perplex the Whigs, who prided themselves on being the champions of Toleration; but when they saw the Whigs supporting it, they indicated a desire to drop the measure. With a view of provoking defeat, they introduced additionally severe and unreasonable clauses; yet, contrary to their expectations, the Lords, under the influence of an anti-Popish fever, accepted what came up to them, and the Bill, unamended, not only passed the Upper House, but received the Royal assent. Burnet supported it, and endeavoured to defend himself against the charge of injustice and inconsistency. “I had always thought,” he says, “that if a Government found any sect in religion incompatible with its quiet and safety, it might, and sometimes ought, to send away all of that sect, with as little hardship as possible. It is certain that as all Papists must, at all times, be ill subjects to a Protestant prince, so this is much more to be apprehended when there is a pretended Popish heir in the case.” The new law happily proved a nullity. Some of the terms were so vague, and the provisions were so oppressive, that the “Act was not followed, nor executed in any sort.”[305]
1699.
Complaints of growing immorality had been repeatedly made; proclamations to check it had been often issued; and on the 28th of November, Parliament requested the publication of a new one. Upon this, the Archbishop of Canterbury addressed a pastoral letter to each of his Suffragans, requesting them to stir up the Clergy to a more zealous discharge of their duties. The good effects of pastoral diligence had been made apparent in London; now Ministers in general were exhorted to imitate the admirable example. Let them by their consistent lives recommend the doctrines which they preached. The family and the parish were spheres of usefulness, to be filled up by the discharge of the duties included in a Christian walk and conversation; persons in holy orders ought to be pre-eminently holy. Enemies were seeking objections against Christ’s religion, its friends therefore ought to be diligent in its defence, acquainting themselves with the grounds on which it rested, and the modes of sophistry by which it was assailed. Frequent meetings of the Clergy for conference on religious matters might do much good, especially if Churchwardens and others of the laity could be brought to co-operate. Obstinate offenders should be subjected to ecclesiastical censure, and the assistance of the magistrate should be sought when it was likely to be effectual; people were not to shrink from exposing crime and securing its punishment, through fear of being denounced as informers. Finally, since education laid the firmest basis for morality and religion, it became the parochial clergy to be sedulous in the catechizing of children. In this way the Archbishop, through the medium of Diocesans and their Clergy, endeavoured to promote the interests of the Church.[306]
CHURCH PREFERMENTS.