1685. and was supported by Lord Grey, but it was easily CHAP, III. run down, as Wade expresses it, by those who were against it, and whom, therefore, we must suppose to have formed a very considerable majority of the persons deemed of sufficient importance to be consulted on such an occasion. These circumstances are material, because if that credit be given to them which they appear to deserve, Ferguson's want of veracity becomes so notorious, that it is hardly worth while to attend to any part of his narrative. Where it only corroborates accounts given by others, it is of little use; and where it differs from them, it deserves no credit. I have therefore wholly disregarded it. tion at Taunton. From Chard, Monmouth and his party proceeded His recep to Taunton, a town, where, as well for the tenor of former occurrences, as from the zeal and number of the Protestant Dissenters, who formed a great portion of its inhabitants, he had every reason to expect the most favourable reception. His expectations were not disappointed. The inhabitants of the upper, as well as the lower classes vied with each other in testifying their affection for his person, and their zeal for his cause. While the latter rent the air with applauses and acclamations, the former opened their houses to him and to his followers, and furnished his army with necessaries and supplies of every kind. His way was strewed with flowers: the windows were thronged with spectators, all anxious to participate in what the warm feelings of the moment made them deem a triumph. Husbands pointed out to their wives, mothers to their children, the brave and lovely hero, who was destined to be the deliverer of his country. The beautiful lines which Dryden makes Achitophel in his highest strain of flattery, apply to this unfortunate nobleman, were in this instance literally verified: CHAP. III. 1685. He is joined by no great families. "Thee, Saviour, thee, the nation's vows confess, "Swift unbespoken pomps thy steps proclaim, "And stammering babes are taught to lisp thy name." In the midst of these joyous scenes, twenty-six young maids, of the best families in the town presented him, in the name of their townsmen, with colours wrought by them for the purpose, and with a Bible; upon receiving which he said, that he had taken the field with a design to defend the truth contained in that book, and to seal it with his blood if there was occasion. In such circumstances it is no wonder that his army increased; and indeed, exclusive of individual recruits, he was here strengthened by the arrival of Colonel Basset with a considerable corps. But in the midst of these prosperous circumstances, some of them of such apparent importance to the success of his enterprize, all of them highly flattering to his feelings, he did not fail to observe that one favourable symptom, (and that too of the most decisive nature,) was still wanting. None of the considerable families, not a single nobleman, and scarcely any gentlemen of rank and consequence in the counties through which he had passed, had declared in his favour. Popular applause is undoubtedly sweet; and not only so, it often furnishes most powerful means to the genius that knows how to make use of them. But Monmouth well knew that without the countenance and assistance of a proportion, at least, of the higher ranks in the country, there was, for an undertaking like his, little prospect of success. He could not but have remarked that the habits and prejudices of the English people are, in a great degree, aristocratical; nor had he before him, nor indeed have we, since his time, had one single example of an insurrection that was 1685. successful, unaided by the ancient families and great CHAP. III. landed proprietors. He must have felt this the more, because, in former parts of his political life, he had been accustomed to act with such coadjutors; and it is highly probable, that if Lord Russel had been alive, and could have appeared at the head of one hundred only of his western tenantry, such a reinforcement would have inspired him with more real confidence, than the thousands who individually flocked to his standard. cerns. But though Russel was no more, there were not He declares wanting, either in the provinces through which the himself King. Duke passed, or in other parts of the kingdom, many noble and wealthy families, who were attached to the principles of the Whigs. To account for their neutrality, and, if possible, to persuade them to a different conduct, was naturally among his principal conTheir present coldness might be imputed to the indistinctness of his declarations, with respect to what was intended to be the future government. Men zealous for monarchy, might not choose to embark without some certain pledge that their favourite form should be preserved. They would also expect to be satisfied with respect to the person whom their arms, if successful, were to place upon the throne. To promise, therefore, the continuance of a monarchial establishment, and to designate the future monarch, seemed to be necessary for the purpose of acquiring aristocratical support. Whatever might be the intrinsic weight of this argument, it easily made its way with Monmouth in his present situation. The aspiring temper of mind which is the natural consequence of popular favour and success, produced in him a disposition to listen to any suggestion which tended to his elevation and aggrandizement; and when he could persuade himself upon reasons specious at least, that 1685. CHAP. III. the measures which would most gratify his aspiring desires, would be, at the same time, a stroke of the soundest policy, it is not to be wondered at, that it was immediately and impatiently adopted. Urged therefore, by these mixed motives, he declared himself King, and issued divers proclamations in the royal style; assigning to those whose approbation he doubted, the reasons above adverted to, and proscribing, and threatening with the punishment due to rebellion, such as should resist his mandates, and adhere to the usurping Duke of York. tion which it occasions. Dissatisfac- If this measure was in reality taken with views of policy those views were miserably disappointed; for it does not appear that one proselyte was gained. The threats in the proclamation were received with derision by the King's army, and no other sentiments were excited by the assumption of the royal title, than those of contempt and indignation. The commonwealthsmen were dissatisfied, of course, with the principle of the measure: the favourers of hereditary right held it in abhorrence, and considered it as a kind of sacrilegious profanation; nor even among those who considered monarchy in a more rational light, and as a magistracy instituted for the good of the people, could it be at all agreeable that such a magistrate should be elected by the army that had thronged to his standard, or by the particular partiality of a provincial town. Monmouth's strength therefore, was by no means increased by his new title, and seemed to be still limited to two descriptions of persons; first, those who from thoughtlessness or desperation, were willing to join in any attempt at innovation; secondly, such as directing their views to a single point, considered the destruction of James's tyranny as the object which, at all hazards, and without regard to consequences, they were bound to 1685. pursue. On the other hand his reputation both for CHAP. III. moderation and good faith was considerably impaired, inasmuch, as his present conduct was in direct contradiction to that part of his declaration, wherein he had promised to leave the future adjustment of government, and especially the consideration of his own claims, to a free and independent parliament. Taunton. The notion of improving his new levies by disci- Delay at pline, seems to have taken such possession of Monmouth's mind, that he overlooked the probable, or rather the certain consequences of a delay, by which the enemy would be enabled to bring into the field, forces far better disciplined and appointed than any which, even with the most strenuous and successful exertions, he could hope to oppose to them. Upon this principle, and especially as he had not yet fixed upon any definite object of enterprize, he did not think a stay of a few days at Taunton would be materially, if at all prejudicial to his affairs, and it was not till the twenty-first of June that he proceeded to Bridgewater, where he was received in the most cordial manner. In his march the following day from that town to Glastonbury, he was alarmed by a party of the Earl of Oxford's horse; but all apprehensions of any material interruptions were removed, by an account of the militia having left Wells, and retreated to Bath and Bristol. From Glastonbury he went to ShiptonMallet, where the project of an attack upon Bristol Design to atwas first communicated by the Duke to his officers. tack Bristol. After some discussion, it was agreed that the attack should be made on the Glocestershire side of the city, and with that view, to pass the Avon at Keynsham-bridge, a few miles from Bath. In their march from Shipton-Mallet, the troops were again harrassed in their rear by a party of horse and dragoons, but lodged quietly at night at a vilage called Pensford. Y |
