第900章 CHAPTER XIX(1)

Foreign Policy of William--The Northern Powers--The Pope--Conduct of the Allies--The Emperor--Spain--William succeeds in preventing the Dissolution of the Coalition--New Arrangements for the Government of the Spanish Netherlands--Lewis takes the Field--Siege of Namur--Lewis returns to Versailles--Luxemburg--Battle of Steinkirk--Conspiracy of Grandval--Return of William to England--Naval Maladministration--Earthquake at Port Royal--Distress in England; Increase of Crime--Meeting of Parliament; State of Parties--The King's Speech; Question of Privilege raised by the Lords--Debates on the State of the Nation--Bill for the Regulation of Trials in Cases of Treason--Case of Lord Mohun--Debates on the India Trade--Supply--Ways and Means; Land Tax--Origin of the National Debt--Parliamentary Reform--The Place Bill--The Triennial Bill--The First Parliamentary Discussion on the Liberty of the Press--State of Ireland--The King refuses to pass the Triennial Bill--Ministerial Arrangements--The King goes to Holland; a Session of Parliament in Scotland WHILE England was agitated, first by the dread of an invasion, and then by joy at the deliverance wrought for her by the valour of her seamen, important events were taking place on the Continent. On the sixth of March the King had arrived at the Hague, and had proceeded to make his arrangements for the approaching campaign.284The prospect which lay before him was gloomy. The coalition of which he was the author and the chief had, during some months, been in constant danger of dissolution. By what strenuous exertions, by what ingenious expedients, by what blandishments, by what bribes, he succeeded in preventing his allies from throwing themselves, one by one, at the feet of France, can be but imperfectly known. The fullest and most authentic record of the labours and sacrifices by which he kept together, during eight years, a crowd of fainthearted and treacherous potentates, negligent of the common interest and jealous of each other, is to be found in his correspondence with Heinsius. In that correspondence William is all himself. He had, in the course of his eventful life, to sustain some high parts for which he was not eminently qualified; and, in those parts, his success was imperfect. As Sovereign of England, he showed abilities and virtues which entitle him to honourable mention in history; but his deficiencies were great. He was to the last a stranger amongst us, cold, reserved, never in good spirits, never at his ease. His kingdom was a place of exile. His finest palaces were prisons. He was always counting the days which must elapse before he should again see the land of his birth, the clipped trees, the wings of the innumerable windmills, the nests of the storks on the tall gables, and the long lines of painted villas reflected in the sleeping canals. He took no pains to hide the preference which he felt for his native soil and for his early friends; and therefore, though he rendered great services to our country, he did not reign in our hearts. As a general in the field, again, he showed rare courage and capacity; but, from whatever cause, he was, as a tactician, inferior to some of his contemporaries, who, in general powers of mind, were far inferior to him. The business for which he was preeminently fitted was diplomacy, in the highest sense of the word. It may be doubted whether he has ever had a superior in the art of conducting those great negotiations on which the welfare of the commonwealth of nations depends. His skill in this department of politics was never more severely tasked or more signally proved than during the latter part of 1691 and the earlier part of 1692.