The Revolution of 1688 in England

179 Pages·1972·22.066 MB·English

by  J.R. Jones

The tRevolution of
REVOLUTIONS IN THE MODERN WORLD
General Editor: JACK P. GREENE, John Hopkins Universiry
I688 in England
]. R. Jones
e
Professor of English History in the University of East Anglia
\. \J1 )
Weidenftld and Nicolson
J Winslry Street London W
1
l~1J.)
© 1972 by Professor J. R.Jones
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the copyright owner.
To Sheila, Peter and Deborah
•
ISBN o 297 99467 o cased
ISBN o 297 99569 3 paperback
Printed by Willmer Brothers Limited, Birkenhead.
Contents
PREFACE lX.
PRINCIPAL PERSONAGES Xlll
~ [ Introduction) 3
(- ) The Working of Politics 18
.James and the Political Nation, 1685-6 5I
4 -The Catholic Factor
75
5 The Politics of Toleration -98
.6 ""fhe Campaign to pack Parliament 128
7 The European Context 176
8 William's English Connection
209
9 Policies and Decisions in· I 688: James,
Louis and William
Io The Invasion
- "1 The Revolution Sett ement 311--
BIBLIOGRAPHY 332
INDEX 339
Preface
Map
The Low Countries in 1688 T HE REACTION OF MOST professional historians and many
intelligent students, on learning that I was engaged in
this study, was to wonder whether there was sufficient
scope to justify a new study of the Revolution of 16 88 which has
traditionally been given the title of the Glorious Revolution. They
assumed that the general lines of interpretation established well
over a century ago by T. B. Macaulay were still valid, and had
stood the test of subsequent research, so that a few factual amend
ments, or minor modifications of his judgements, were the most
that a new study could expect to achieve. Indeed there would
have been little point in writing a new account of the Revolution
of 1 688 along orthodox lines. The justification for this book is
that it is in part an essay in historical revisionism, with an inter
pretation which is provocatively and designedly different from
that which most historians have accepted. In order to achieve this,
I have tried to detach myself entirely from Macaulay's finely writ
ten and still potent work, by disregarding what seem to me to be
his basic and fundamentally erroneous assumptions: that
James n's defeat and the collapse of his policies, and the success
of the Revolution and the Revolution Settlement, were all
historically inevitable. In order to elaborate this argument, a sub
stantial historiographical section has been included in the Intro
duction. It may also be noticed that the footnotes contain no
x PREFACE PREFACE XI
references whatsoever to his History as a source; this is quite Dates are given in Old Style (with the year beginning on
deliberate. 1 January) when they refer to events in Britain, in New Style when
Secondly, this book is intended to draw the attention of readers they refer to continental Europe. Where confusion might arise,
and students away from the over-crowded, over-emphasized and
both dates are given.
heavily worked period of the 'English Revolution' of the mid The use of the words 'the Revolution' should be taken as refer
seventeenth century, to the still neglected topics and problems of ring to 1 688; purely for purposes of differentiation, the 'English
the period after 1660. It is my thesis that the events of the 1640s Revolution' should be read as meaning the events of 1640-60.
and 1650s had not been decisive or conclusive, that the major I am greatly indebted to the criticisms and suggestions made
constitutional and political issues were still open and undecided by Professor Jack P. Greene, the general editor of this series, and
in James's time, and that the victory of parliament, representa by Donald S. Lamm, vice-president of W. W. Norton and
tive government and the common law was by no means pre-deter Company, Inc. I wish also to acknowledge helpful suggestions
mined or inevitable. In this book I argue that James had intelligible made by John Miller of Caius College, Cambridge, Mr S. Groen
reasons for adopting the policies which he tried to implement, veld of the University of Leiden, and Mr K. I. Milne of the Univer
and that not only he but his opponents believed that they had a sity of East Anglia. Above all else, I am grateful for the patience
good chance of success. These policies and their effects are ex which my own family have shown throughout the period while
amined in detail, but there are some aspects of the events leading
this book has been in progress.
up to the Revolution where it has been possible only to put ques
tions, and frame hypotheses. Full answers to these questions must University of East Anglia J. R. JONES
await further research, for instance on the personnel and politics
of the army, on James's economic policies and his relations with
the commercial and financial sections, on French influences in
Britain and British attitudes towards France and French systems
(the subject to which I hope to turn in a future book), and, above
all, on politics in the municipalities - in my view the key feature
of late seventeenth-century politics, and the one that differentiates
them from those of the early Stuart period.
After much thought, and with reluctance, it has been considered
necessary, so as to keep this study to a manageable length, to omit
any detailed consideration of James n's policies and the Revolu
tion in Scotland, Ireland and the North American colonies. While
it can be said that these were essentially peripheral areas, and that
all the major decisions were made in England, nevertheless it
must be stressed that the events of r 687-go were of decisive
importance for the future development of all three.
The short bibliography, mostly of recent works, is intended as
a guide to further reading. The older and primary sources used
in this study appear in the footnotes, fully described either on
their first mention or in the list of abbreviations.
Principal Personages
AILESBURY, Earl of. Friend of Charles II, remained loyal to
James and went into voluntary exile; wrote Memoirs.
BARRILLON, Paul. French ambassador since 1677. A central
figure at court, personally intimate with James and his
queen, who tended to see things through their eyes and
those of the Catholic faction.
BA TH, Marquis of. Lord lieutenant and dominant election
manager in Cornwall and Devon; a firm Anglican.
BEAUFORT, Duke 0£ Lord lieutenant and magnate in Glouces
tershire, Wales and Herefordshire; of unimpeachable
loyalty but his influence was being eroded by inertia and
incompetence.
BENTINCK, Willem. William's chief confidant and servant,
employed on every type of political task; created Earl of
Portland in 1689.
BRENT, Robert. Catholic lawyer and confidential agent;
J ames's chief electoral organiser, I 687-8.
BUTLER, Sir Nicholas. Humble origins, customs commissioner;
after conversion to Catholicism was made a privy council
lor; electoral agent.
BURNET, Gilbert. In exile in Holland, 1686-8; indiscreet and
opinionated, especially in his History, but an important
influence on Mary, if not William; made Bishop of Salis
bury, 1689.
XlV PRINCIPAL PERSONAGES PRINCIPAL PERSONAGES xv
CARE, Henry. Journalist; had been heavily fined for Whig DANBY, Earl of. Later Marquis of Carmarthen and Duke of
pamphleteering, but in 1686 switched to support James Leeds. Former lord treasurer, the most experienced
and his toleration policies, becoming a Catholic. political fixer and manager. Yorkshire magnate. Had
CARLINGFORD, Earl of. Catholic soldier and diplomat; arranged William's marriage to Mary in 1677. One of the
virtually a French auxiliary while envoy at Vienna 1688-9; Seven who invited William.
killed at the Boyne, 1690. DARTMOUTH, Earl of. Naval officer, personal friend of James,
CARST ARES, William. William's trusted adviser and confiden commanded fleet against invasion 1688, but refused to ship
tial agent for Scottish affairs. the infant Prince of Wales to France.
CASTLEMAINE, Earl of. Generally despised husband of Charles D' Av Aux, Count. French ambassador at the Hague, 1678-88;
II's first titled mistress. Disastrously inept as ambassador ruthless, astute and observant, but his Memoirs are in part
to the Vatican, 1687. a self-justification.
CHURCHILL, John. Later Duke of Marlborough; second in DELAMERE, Lord. Whig firebrand, who had tried to help
command of the army, he owed his rise to James's favour Monmouth in 1685. Honest and determined but a poor
but his stubborn Protestantism was endangering his chancellor of the exchequer, 168g-90. Influential in the
position by 1688; defected to William. north west. Created Earl of Warrington, 1690.
CITTERS, Aernout Van. Ambassador in England for the DEVONSHIRE, Earl of. Former Whig; fined for court incident
States-General from 1680; observant, and trusted by by James; one of the Seven; influential in north midlands.
William. DIJKVELT, Evaraard van Weede. Dutch soldier and diplomat,
CLARENDON, second Earl of. Son of the historian; recalled as one of William's most trusted servants.
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1687. Leading Anglican. DovER, Earl of. Newly created Catholic peer, privy councillor
Surprisingly joined William in 1688, later a non-juror. and Treasury lord, alleged to be using offices primarily for
COLCHESTER, Lord. Heir of Lord Rivers, former Whig corrupt gain.
exclusionist. Army officer and plotter. F AGEL, Gaspar. William's trusted collaborator as Pensionary
COMPTON, Henry. Bishop of London; aristocratic and of Holland; as important and burdened as Bentinck; died
ambitious clerical politician, but also one of the few 15 December 1688.
leading Anglicans to take an active interest in European FEVERSHAM, Earl of. Officer and diplomat of French birth,
Protestantism. One of the Seven who invited William. Turenne's nephew, naturalised 1665, a Protestant;James's
CoRNBURY, Lord. Clarendon's heir; army officer, defected to trusted servant for twenty-five years; commanded army in
William. 1685 and 1688.
CREWE, Nathaniel. Bishop of Durham, 1674-1721, unscrupu FURSTENBERG, Bishop of Strasbourg. French diplomatic
lous time-server, in James's favour but rallied to William agent and candidate for electorate of Cologne; Cardinal
after the Revolution. 1686.
CuTTs,John. Former friend of Monmouth's. Colonel in Dutch GEORGE, Prince. Anne's devoted husband, but otherwise
service 1688, later lieutenant-general. Nicknamed the unimportant and neglected.
'Salamander'. GoooLPHIN, Sidney. Future lord treasurer. Treasury lord
D' ALBEVILLE, Ignatius White. James's surprise appointment 1679, commissioner 1687; remained with James in 1688 )
as envoy at the Hague, 1687-8; disreputable, despised and although he had supported exclusion in 1680 and was a
obtuse. long-standing correspondent of William.
XVl PRINCIPAL PERSONAGES PRINCIPAL PERSONAGES xvii
GRAFTON, Duke of. Ambitious naval officer, son of Charles II; MELFORT, Earl of. Able and thrusting, but unreliable and
favoured William. Killed in capture of Cork, I690. unpopular minister; ruled Scotland for James with his
GuY, Henry. Secretary to the Treasury, I679-88, and parlia brother the Earl of Perth. A Catholic extremist.
mentary manager. MIDDLETON, second Earl of. Secretary of state, I684-8, and
HALIFAX, Marquis of. Politician and political writer; the later in exile at St-Germain. A moderate, but with little
'Trimmer'. Opposed Exclusion, lord privy seal, I682-5, influence on James.
I689-90; lord president February-October I685. Speaker MONMOUTH, Duke of. Charles II's favourite son; disgraced in
of House of Lords, I689-90. 1679 but never out of hopes ofrecovering his father's favour.
HAMPDEN, John. Grandson of the celebrated opponent of In Holland I684-5. Invaded I685, proclaimed himself
Charles I; in France, 1682, convicted of treason but bought king. Defeated and executed.
a pardon I685-6; radical Whig. Suicide I696. MORDAUNT, Lord. Later the 'great' Earl of Peterborough and
HAMPDEN, Richard. Father of above. Senior radical Whig, Earl of Monmouth. First exile to suggest an invasion to
manager in convention, treasury commissioner I689, William; I 689 privy councillor and Treasury lord. An
chancellor of the exchequer, I69o-g5. extreme Whig in 168g-91, later an extreme and erratic
HERBERT, Arthur. Naval officer dismissed by James in 1687. Tory.
Commanded the invasion fleet in I688; defeated off NEWCASTLE, Duke of. Pompous, self-important, but incom
Beachy Head, I690. Created Earl of Torrington. petent north-country magnate and multiple lord lieutenant.
HERBERT, Edward. Younger brother. Chief justice who N oswoR THY, Edward. Former Whig extremist who began to
opposed James over Magdalen College case, but went into invade Bath's west-country constituencies as a political
exile with him. manipulator, I688.
HUTTON, John. Mary's Scottish physician; one of the chief NOTTING HAM, Earl of. Anglican and constitutionalist,
managers of William's English and Scottish correspondence. influential in politics, I672-1716. Refused to participate in
JEFFREYS, George. Created Lord Wern, I685. Lord the Revolution, but secretary of state, 1689-g3.
chancellor, September I685. His name a by-word for ORMONDE, second Duke of. Later a Jacobite, but in I688
judicial infamy but in practice the scapegoat because of his hurriedly elected Chancellor of Oxford University so as to
friendlessness. An alcoholic. Died in the Tower, I689. preventJames installing a Catholic; army plotter.
J OHNSTONE,James. Son of Covenanter Archibald Johnstone of PENN, William. The Quaker; trusted friend of James and
Warriston, important secret agent for William in England. champion of toleration, tried to obtain William's and
Envoy to Berlin, I 689; secretary ofs tate for Scotland, I 692-6. Mary's approval, I686.
LANGSTON, Thomas. Lieutenant-colonel, agent for William in PETRE, Edward. Ambitious and well-connected Jesuit and
the army. politician; cast as the villain by contemporaries, very little
LouvoIS, The French war minister, who influenced Louis is in fact known of his influence on James. Fled to France,
towards aggressive and direct policies. 1688.
LOVELACE, Lord. Aggressive Whig peer. Arrested November PowLE, Henry. Former Whig exclusionist; chairman of 1688
I688 at Cirencester while rallying to William. Assembly and Speaker of Convention, 168g-90.
LUMLEY, Lord. One of the Seven who invited William; PRESTON, Lord. Envoy to France, 1682-5; parliamentary
converted to Protestantism, I 687; north country magnate; manager I685, replaced Sunderland as lord president,
I 690 created Earl of Scarborough. October I688.Jacobite, arrested 1689 and 1690.
xvm PRINCIPAL PERSONAGES PRINCIPAL PERSONAGES xix
QuEEN MARY of Modena. James's second wife. A fervent William's most intimate English adviser, created Earl of
Catholic whose marriage had been arranged by Louis. Romney I 694, secretary of state, I 69()--9 l
Never lost hope of a restoration after I688, but her SKELTON, Bevil. Envoy to Holland, I685-6; to France,
intransigence hampered her son's chances. I 686-8; recalled for suggesting the D' Avaux memorandum
RIVERS, James. Secret agent for William, travelling between September l 688. Hated by William.
England and Holland. SPEKE, Hugh. Whig propagandist and agent for William in
RocHESTER, Earl of. Not the poet (died I68o) but the first 1688, son of a prominent Whig, his brother had been
Earl of Clarendon's second son. Tory and Anglican leader. executed in 1685.
Treasury lord, I679-85; lord president, I684; lord treasur STRICKLAND, Sir Roger. Catholic admiral, commanded fleet
er, I685-7. until September 1688, then vice-admiral to Dartmouth.
RussELL, Edward. Naval officer; friend of James but dis SUNDERLAND, Earl 0£ Secretary of state, I679-81 (dismissed
affected after execution of his cousin Lord William for supporting Exclusion) and I683-5. President of council
Russell in I683. One of the Seven who invited William, and 1685 to October I688, when dismissed by James as part of
confidential agent; admiral, treasurer of navy, and Earl of his policy of concessions. Fled to Holland, returned 169 l.
Orford after the revolution. Private adviser to William; lord chamberlain, 1697.
SANCROFT, William. Archbishop of Canterbury from I678. TEMPLE, Sir William. Diplomat and writer; adviser to William
Scrupulous, pious and largely non-political. Refused to but refused secretaryship of state, I679 and 1689.
serve on Ecclesiastical Commission under James, or take T1Tus, Silas. Whig exclusionist, made privy councillor by
any part in public life after his flight. Suspended August James 1688, which he accepted to ensure repayment of
I689, deprived February I690. debts owing him from crown.
SAWYER, Sir Robert. Prosecuting counsel in trials of Whigs, TREVOR, Sir John. Cousin and rival to Jeffreys. Speaker 1685
I683 and London charter; attorney-general until Decem and 169()--95 (removed for taking bribes) and master of the
ber I687. Defence counsel for the Seven Bishops. rolls; privy councillor, 1688.
SEYMOUR, Edward. Ambitious and aggressive Tory politician; TURNER, Francis. Chaplain to James, by whose favour he
firm Anglican; speaker I673, opposed Exclusion and became Bishop of Ely 1684; prospective archbishop of
James's policies in I685. Treasury lord, I69I-4. Canterbury, able and masterful. Suspended 1689, active
SHAFTESBURY, Earl of. Author of Exclusion and leader of the Jacobite, but had been one of the Seven Bishops prosecuted
first Whigs; had died in Amsterdam, January I683. in I688.
SHARP, John. Chaplain to James; Dean of Norwich; sermon TYRCONNEL, Earl 0£ Irish Catholic soldier and courtier,
led to Compton's prosecution. I69I-I7I4 Archbishop of long-standing associate of James. Earl 1685, lieutenant
York and ecclesiastical adviser to Queen Anne. general 1686, lord deputy I687. Died at Limerick just
SHRE wsBUR Y, Earl of. Dismissed as lord lieutenant and colonel before its surrender, 1691.
by James, I687. One of the Seven who invited William; WADE, Nathaniel. Former Whig agent, invaded with Mon
secretary of state, I689-90. Able, but periodical aversion to mouth. Turned King's evidence and became electoral
politics. Lord treasurer, I7I4. organiser for James.
SIDNEY, Henry. Soldier, diplomat and playboy; younger WHARTON, Thomas. Able and aggressive Whig, later Junta
brother of Algernon, uncle to Sunderland and possibly leader. Part-author of hit song of the Revolution, Lillibur
lover of Lady Sunderland. Envoy to Holland, I679-85. lero, a doggerel verse deriding the Irish.
xx PRINCIPAL PERSONAGES
WILDMAN, John. Elderly radical, former Leveller and Whig.
In exile in Holland, 1685-8. Postmaster, I689-91.
of
The Revolution I688 in England
WILLIAMS, William. Lawyer and Whig, personal rival to
Jeffreys. Speaker 1680-8I, heavily fined for a libel on
James. Solicitor-general, I687-8, prosecuting the Seven
Bishops. Created baronet by James. Helped draft Bill of
Rights, I689.
ZuYLESTEIN, Willem. Dutch officer and William's confiden
tial agent. Major-general in invading army 1688. Created
Earl of Rochford, 1695.