MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE AGE. 153 government. Both were men of high principle and of incor- Ch.13 ruptible integrity. Nothing could save these illustrious per- A. D. sons from death. They both suffered with great intrepidity; 1660 and the friends of liberty have ever since cherished their to 1684. memory with peculiar fondness. roads. Mr. Macaulay, in his recent History, has presented a graphic picture of the manners and customs of England during this disgraceful reign. It is impossible, in this brief survey, to enumerate those customs; but it is well that attention should be directed to them as affording evidence of the manifest and glorious progress which has been made since that time in all the arts of civilization, both useful and ornamental. Travelling was then difficult and slow, from the badness of the The roads and the imperfections of the carriages. Highwaymen were secreted along the thoroughfares, and, in mounted troops, defied the law, and distressed the whole travelling community. The transmission of letters by post was tardy and unfrequent; and the scandal of coffee-houses supplied the greatest want and the greatest luxury of modern times, the newspaper. There was great scarcity of books in the country places, and the only press in England north of the Trent seems to have been at York. Few rich men had libraries as large Literaor valuable as are now common to shopkeepers and me- ture. chanics; while the literary stores of a lady of the manor were confined chiefly to the prayer book and the receipt book. The drama was the only department of literature which compensated authors, and this was scandalous in the extreme. The city clergy were most respectable; and the pulpits of The London, occupied by Sherlock, Tillotson, Wake, Collier, clergy. Burnet, Stillingfleet, Patrick, Fowler, Sharp, Tennison, and Beveridge, men who afterwards became bishops, and who still rank as ornaments of the sacred literature of their country, were probably never more creditably filled. But the country clergy, as a whole, were ignorant and depressed. Not one living in fifty enabled the incumbent to bring up a family comfortably or respectably. Nor was the condition of the 154 CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. A. D. Ch. 13 people satisfactory. They had small wages and many privations. They were ignorant and brutal. The wages of laborers 1684. only averaged four shillings a week, while those of mechanics were not equal to what some now ordinarily earn in a single Condi- day. Both peasants and artisans were ill paid and ill used; the they frequently died miserably and prematurely, from famine people. and disease. Sympathy for the misfortunes of the poor tion of was then rarely manifested. There were no institutions of public philanthropy. Jails were unvisited by the ministers of mercy, and the abodes of poverty were left by a careless generation to become the dens of infamy and crime. Such was England two hundred years ago; and there is no delusion more unwarranted by sober facts than that which supposes that those former times were better than our own, in anything which abridges the labor, or alleviates the miseries of mankind. REFERENCES.-Of all the works which have yet appeared, respecting this interesting epoch, the new History of Macaulay is the most brilliant and instructive. Mackintosh's fragment on the same period is, however, more philosophical, and possesses great merit. Lingard's History is also valuable on this reign, and should be consulted. The lives of Milton, Dryden, and Clarendon, should be read in this connection. Hallam has admirably treated the constitutional history of these times. Temple, Pepys, Dalrymple, Rymeri Fœdera, the Commons' Journals, and the State Trials, are not so easily accessible. ACCESSION OF JAMES II. 155 CHAPTER XIV. THE REIGN OF JAMES II., AND THE SECOND ENGLISH ANOTHER instructive chapter in English history must be Ch.14 presented before we can view with advantage contemporaneous A. D. events on the Continent. During nearly the whole reigns of 1685. Charles I., Cromwell, Charles II., James II., and William III., France was governed by a single monarch, Louis XIV., whose influence on English politics was both great and baneful. We shall turn thither when we have completed that portion of the domestic history of England which especially relates to the progress of those royal encroachments which eventually hurled the Stuarts from the throne. sion of Charles II. died on the 6th of February, 1685, and his Accesbrother, the Duke of York, ascended the throne, without oppo- James. sition, under the title of James II. He retained most of the great officers who had served under his brother. Rochester became prime minister, Sunderland kept possession of the Seals, and Godolphin was made lord chamberlain. the The Commons voted him one million two hundred thousand Vote o. pounds, and the Scottish Parliament added twenty-five thousand Compounds more, with the Customs for life. But this sum he did mons. not deem sufficient for his wants, and therefore, like his brother, applied for aid to Louis XIV., and consented to become his vassal, for the paltry sum of two hundred thousand pounds. James received the money with tears of gratitude, hoping by this infamous pension to rule the nation without a parliament. The transaction was, of course, a secret one. 156 Ch. 14 A. D. MONMOUTH LANDS IN ENGLAND. He was scarcely crowned, before England was invaded by the Duke of Monmouth, (natural son of Charles II.,) and Scot1685. land by the Duke of Argyle, with a view of ejecting James from the throne. The Both these noblemen were still exiles in Holland, and both were justly obnoxious to the Government for their treasonable intentions and acts. Argyle was at first unwilling to engage in an enterprise so desperate as the conquest of England; but he was an enthusiast, was at the head of the most powerful of the Scottish clans, the Campbells, and trusted that a general rising throughout Scotland would enable him to strike a blow for liberty and the Kirk. Having concerted his measures with Monmouth, he set sail Duke of from Holland on the 2nd of May, 1685, and landed at KirkArgyle. wall, one of the Orkney Islands. But his objects were well known, and the whole militia of the land were under arms to resist him. He, however, collected a force of two thousand five hundred Highlanders, and marched towards Glasgow. There he was miserably betrayed and deserted. His forces were dispersed, he himself was seized while attempting to escape in disguise, and shortly after he was beheaded in Edinburgh. His followers were treated with great harshness, but the rebellion was completely suppressed. Land Mon mouth. Monmouth had agreed to sail in six days from the deparing of ture of Argyle; but he lingered at Brussels, and did not land in England until the middle of June. He immediately issued a proclamation, but failed in attracting many adherents. He was unprovided with money, generals, or troops. A few regiments were hastily raised from the common people, and with these he advanced from, Dorsetshire, where he had landed, into Somersetshire. At Taunton he received a flattering reception, all classes received him with acclamations, and twenty-six young ladies presented him with standards and a Bible, which he kissed and promised to defend. But all this enthusiasm was soon to come to an end. He made innumerable blunders, wasted his time in vain attempts BATTLE OF SEDGEMOOR. 157 to drill the peasants and farmers who followed his fortunes, Ch. 14 and then slowly advanced through the west of England, where A. D. he hoped to be joined by the body of the people. But all men 1685. of station and influence stood aloof. Discouraged and dismayed, he reached Wells, and pushed forward to capture Bristol, then the second city in the kingdom. He was again disappointed. He then turned his eye to Wiltshire; but when he arrived at the borders of that county, he found that none of the bodies on which he had calculated had made their appearance. of At Phillips Norton a slight skirmish took place, which Battle ended favorably for Monmouth, in which the young Duke of SedgeGrafton, natural son of Charles II., distinguished himself moor. against his half brother; but Monmouth was discouraged, and fell back on Bridgewater. Meanwhile the royal army approached, and encamped at Sedgemoor. Here a decisive battle was fought, which proved fatal to the rebels. Monmouth, when all was lost, fled from the field, and hastened towards the British Channel, hoping to gain the Continent. He was found near the New Forest, concealed in a ditch, and exhausted by hunger and fatigue. All that was now left him was, to prepare for death. But he clung to life, with singular tenacity. Abjectly and meanly did he sue for pardon from one who never forgot or forgave a political offence. He was transferred to London, lodged in the Tower, and there executed. Monmouth's rebellion was now completely suppressed, and signal vengeance was inflicted on all who were concerned in it. No mercy was shewn, on the part of government, to any party or person. of Of the agents of James in punishing those who had been Agents concerned in the rebellion, two stand pre-eminent for cruelty, James. Colonel Kirke and Judge Jeffreys. By the former one hundred captives were put to death during the week which succeeded the battle. By the latter was carried on a more systematic slaughter under the sanction of law. James wished |