a II. 1685. and attestation of his dying a Catholick pub lished. drawn by Dr. Sprat, Bishop of Rochester. The princi- CHAPTER pal drift of this publication was, to load the memory of Sidney and Russel, and to blacken the character of the Duke of Monmouth, by wickedly confounding the consultations holden by them, with the plot for assassinating the late King, and in this object, it seems in a great measure to have succeeded. He also caused to be published, an attestation of his brother's having died Roman Catholick, together with two papers, drawn up by him, in favour of that persuasion. This is generally considered to have been a very ill-advised instance of zeal; but probably James thought, that, at a time when people seemed to be so in love with his power, he might safely venture to indulge himself in a display of his attachment to his religion; and perhaps too, it might be thought good policy, to show that a Prince, who had been so highly complimented as Charles had been, for the restoration and protection of the church, had, in truth, been a Catholick, and thus, to inculcate an opinion, that the Church of England might not only be safe, but highly favoured, under the reign of a Popish Prince. Dissenters. Partly from similar motives, and partly to gratify the Persecution of natural vindictiveness of his temper, he persevered in a most cruel persecution of the Protestant Dissenters, upon the most frivolous pretences. The courts of justice, as in Charles's days, were instruments equally racter. II. 1685. CHAPTER ready, either for seconding the policy, or for gratifying the bad passions, of the Monarch; and Jefferies, whom the late King had appointed Chief Justice of England, a little before Sidney's trial, was a man entirely agreeable to the temper, and suitable to the purposes, of the Jefferies' cha present government. He was thought not to be very learned in his profession; but what might be wanting in knowledge, he made up in positiveness; and indeed whatever might be the difficulties in questions between one object and another, the fashionable doctrine which prevailed at that time, of supporting the King's prerogative in its full extent, and without restriction or limitation, rendered, to such as espoused it, all that branch of law, which is called constitutional, extremely easy and simple. He was as submissive and mean to those above him, as he was haughty and insolent to those who were in any degree in his power; and if in his own conduct he did not exhibit a very nice regard for morality, or even for decency, he never failed to animadvert upon, and to punish, the most slight deviation in others, with the utmost severity, especially if they were persons whom he suspected to be no favourites of the Court. Richard Baxter persecuted. Before this magistrate was brought for trial, by a jury sufficiently prepossessed in favour of Tory politicks, the Rev. Richard Baxter, a dissenting minister; a pious and learned man, of exemplary character, always re markable for his attachment to monarchy, and for leaning to moderate measures in the differences between the church, and those of his persuasion. The pretence for this prosecution was, a supposed reference of some passages in one of his works, to the bishops of the church of England; a reference which was certainly not intended by him, and which could not have been made out to any jury that had been less prejudiced, or under any other direction than that of Jefferies. The real motive was, the desire of punishing an eminent dissenting teacher, whose reputation was high among his sect, and who was supposed to favour the political opinions of the Whigs. He was found guilty, and Jefferies, in passing sentence upon him, loaded him with the coarsest reproaches and bitterest taunts. He called him sometimes, by way of derision, a saint, sometimes, in plainer terms, an old rogue; and classed this respectable divine, to whom the only crime imputed, was the having spoken disrespectfully of the bishops of a communion to which he did not belong, with the infamous Oates, who had been lately convicted of perjury. He finished with declaring, that it was matter of publick notoriety, that there was a formed design to ruin the King and the nation, in which this old man was the principal incendiary. Nor is it improbable that this declaration, absurd as it was, might gain belief, at a time when the credulity of the triumphant party was at its height. CHAPTER II. 1685. CHAPTER 1685. nation. Of this credulity it seems to be no inconsiderable testimony, that some affected nicety, which James had Credulity of the shown, with regard to the ceremonies to be used towards the French ambassadour, was highly magnified, and represented to be an indication of the different tone that was to be taken by the present King, in regard to foreign powers, and particularly to the court of Versailles. The King was represented as a Prince eminently jealous of the national honour, and determined to preserve the balance of power in Europe, by opposing the ambitious projects of France, at the very time when he was supplicating Lewis to be his pensioner, and expressing the most extravagant gratitude, for having been accepted as such. From the information which we now have, it appears that his applications to Lewis for money were incessant, and that the difficulties were all on the side of the French court.* Of the historians who wrote prior to the inspection of the papers in the Foreign Office in France, Burnet is the only one who seems to have known that James's pretensions of independency with respect to the French King, were, (as he terms. them,) only a show; but there can now be no reason to doubt the truth of the anecdote which he relates, that Lewis, soon after, told the Duke of Villeroy, that if James showed any apparent uneasiness concerning the * Vide Appendix passim. + Vide Burnet, Vol. II. p. 302. balance of power, (and there is some reason to suppose he did,) in his conversations with the Spanish, and other foreign ambassadours, his intention was, probably, to alarm the Court of Versailles, and thereby to extort pecuniary assistance to a greater extent; while, on the other hand, Lewis, secure in the knowledge, that his views of absolute power must continue him in dependance upon France, seems to have refused further supplies, and even in some measure to have withdrawn those which had been stipulated, as a mark of his displeasure with his dependant, for assuming a higher tone than he thought becoming.* CHAPTER II. 1685. the Prince of Whether with a view of giving some countenance to His advances to those who were praising him upon the abovementioned Orange. topick, or from what other motive it is now not easy to conjecture, James seems to have wished to be upon apparent good terms, at least, with the Prince of Orange; and after some correspondence with that Prince, concerning the protection afforded by him, and the States. General, to Monmouth, and other obnoxious persons, it appears that he declared himself, in consequence of certain explanations and concessions, perfectly satisfied. It is to be remarked, however, that he thought it necessary to give the French ambassadour an account of this transaction, and in a manner to apologize to him for entering into any sort of terms with a son-in-law, who * Lewis's Letter to Barillon, April 24. Appendix. |