་ as settled by the claim of right, and for preserv- BOOK V. ing and securing the peace and safety of the king- 1702. dom; and seeing the said ends are fully satisfied by her majesty's succession to the crown, whereby the religion and peace of the kingdom are secured; we conceive ourselves not now warranted by the law to meet, sit, or act, and therefore do dissent from any thing that shall be done or acted." Then the duke and seventy-nine of the members, Alarming being above two-fifths of the number present, mentary withdrew, leaving the majority to sit and act by themselves; and as they passed from the parliament house to the High Cross, they were saluted with loud and universal acclamation. Unmoved by this formidable secession the duke of Queensberry delivered the queen's letter to the parliament, declaring "her firm resolution to maintain and protect her subjects in the full possession of their religion, laws, and liberties, and of the PRESBYTERIAN GOVERNMENT of the CHURCH; then acquainting them with the just causes of declaring war against the French king, and earnestly recommending to them, both the providing competent supplies for maintaining such a number of forces as might be necessary for disappointing the enemy's designs and preserving the present happy settlement, and the consideration of an union between the two kingdoms of England and Scotland, which was recommended to Parlia Secession, 1702. BOOK V. them by the late king." The parliament demonstrated on this trying occasion great firmness and spirit. They passed an act declaring it to be high treason to impugn the dignity and authority of their proceedings; an act for securing the protestant religion and presbyterian church government; an act for a supply of ten months' cess upon all land-rents; and an act for enabling her majesty to appoint commissioners to treat concerning an union. And they assured her majesty in their address in answer to the royal letter, "that the groundless secession of some of their members should increase and strengthen their zeal for her majesty's service." They also expelled a member of the house, sir Alexander Bruce, for his audacity in affirming "that presbytery was inconsistent with monarchy-that, like vice and hypocrisy, and other pests of mankind, it spread and flourished most in turbulent times of anarchy and rebellion; and that order and decency in the church were to be preferred to the pride and infallibility of a pope in every parish." The dean and faculty of advocates having passed a vote in favor of the protest of the dissentient members, they were summoned for the same before the house, and received a severe reprimand for their presumption. On the other hand, the queen transmitted a letter to the lord commissioner, in which she declared her resolution "to own and 1702. maintain this present session of parliament, and BOOK V. the dignity and authority of the same, against all opposers." And the dissentient members having deputed the lord Blantyre to present an address to her majesty in vindication of their proceedings, she peremptorily refused to receive it; and on the 30th of June 1702 the parliament was adjourned, after a short but vigorous and important session. of Union. The queen having, in pursuance of the power First Treaty vested in her by the parliaments both of England and Scotland, appointed commissioners for treating concerning an union of the kingdoms, the persons named in the commission met for the first time on the 22d of October (1702), at Whitehall; where after the necessary preliminaries were settled, the queen made a speech to them in order to quicken and invigorate their proceedings. The treaty seemed for some time in a prosperous train; but when the Scottish commissioners gave in their proposals for preserving the rights and privileges of their company trading to Africa and the Indies, such difficulties arose as put a stop to all farther progress, and in the sequel the commission was altogether annulled*. "Although," says a respectable and judicious historian of this period," the proceedings of the commissioners did not advance to maturity, yet they certainly contributed to the happy BOOK V. 1702. inFlanders. In the absence first of the earl of Rochester and then of the duke of Ormond, successively lords lieutenants of Ireland, that kingdom was placed under the government of lord Mount Alexander, general Erle, and Mr. Knightley, as lords justices. Meantime the trustees for the forfeited estates were continued in the exercise of their formidable authority. Campaign Such was the state of affairs at home, when the war on the continent commenced, agreeably to the advice of the earl of Marlborough to the States, with the siege of Keisarswart, a well fortified town, situated on the Rhine, some leagues below Dusseldorf. Keisarswart belonged to the elector of Cologne, who had put the French into possession of all the strong places in his dominions; and whilst in their hands, it exposed both the circle of Westphalia and the eastern provinces of the states to alarming inroads. The trenches were opened before the town on the 18th of April (1702), the prince of Nassau issue of this business when it was afterwards resumed. The great outlines of the treaty were now drawn, and the general principles of it established; and as the same persons were afterwards appointed commissioners for that purpose, they had, during the interval between these two transactions, directed their thoughts and inquiries to the most proper expedients for removing the difficulties and misunderstandings which impeded their progress at this time."-SOMERVILLE'S History of Q. Anne, 4to. p. 161. Keisars wart. Saarbruck conducting the operations of the BOOK V. siege, and the earl of Athlone commanding the 1702. covering army. Maréchal de Boufflers, the French general, having drawn his troops together, passed the Macse with a view to relieve the fortress; and count Tallard, having posted himself with his flying camp on the opposite side of the Capture of Rhine, succoured the garrison from time to time with fresh troops, ammunition, and provisions, The place was defended with great vigor: but the fortifications being almost destroyed by the artillery of the besiegers, and the ravelin and counterscarp carried by assault with horrible slaughter, the garrison were compelled, June 15, to capitulate, and were allowed honorable terms; the besiegers losing not less than 7000 men before the walls of the town. The maréchal de Boufflers, finding all his attempts to relieve Keisarswart rendered abortive by the vigilance of the earl of Athlone, decamped from Zanten on the 10th of June, and directed his march without beat of drum or sound of trumpet towards Nimeguen, purposing to take a position between that place and the confederate army. The earl of Athlone, upon the first intelligence of this design, alarmed for the safety of that important city, put his troops in motion, and made good his retreat under the cannon of Nimeguen-resisting and repulsing the various |