William Iii William Iii and Mary

WILLIAM III. AND MARY, WILLIAM III., In England the Convention turned itself into a parliament in order to avoid the risks of a general election at a time so critical. The Declaration of Right was converted into the Bill of Rights, which gave the succession to Anne in default of issue of William and Mary, and excluded Catholics from the throne. By the Tolera tion Act all Protestant Nonconformists other than Unitarians ob tained freedom of worship. The mutiny of a Scottish regiment gave occasion for the first Mutiny Act, which placed soldiers under a special law and special tribunals. It was enacted only for a period of six months, as parliament wished to keep control of the army. A new parliament in 1690 granted the customs duties to William and Mary, not as heretofore for life, but for a term of four years. It also assigned certain branches of revenue for the expenses of civil government, and others for maintaining the army and navy. The help given to James by Louis made war in evitable. England joined the coalition of which the emperor, Leopold I., the king of Spain and the Dutch republic were principal members. The war lasted eight years. The French were generally successful in battles, but the wealth of England and Holland gave the allies greater power of endurance. War completed William's dependence on parliament and made necessary the national debt. Hitherto, when loans were needed, they had been raised on the credit of the Crown. But William was not secure in his kingdom and the sums needed were beyond all precedent. In 1693, there fore, a loan was raised on the faith of an act of parliament, and this became the type of all subsequent loans. Largely in order to assist the raising of loans, the Bank of England was founded in 1694. The currency was reformed in 1696. A bill limiting the life of a parliament to three years was passed in 1694 and a bill to reform trials for treason in 1696. The expiry of the last Licensing Act in 1694 left every man free to publish what he would, subject to the risk of prosecution for libel. A noteworthy increase of newspapers and pamphlets ensued.

The Partition Treaties.

The war was not popular, its bur thens were heavy and William gave offence by his ungracious man ners and Dutch favourites. But the naval victory of La Hogue (1692) ended the fear of invasion and the detection of a plot to assassinate William aroused loyalty. At length Louis became will ing to treat. The Peace of Ryswick virtually restored the state of things before the war. Thus was seen the importance of English help to the enemies of Louis. Soon afterwards Louis sounded Wil liam about the Spanish succession. Charles II., king of Spain, a childless invalid, was visibly near his end. Spain was almost powerless to defend her enormous dominions. As Louis himself, the emperor Leopold and the little son of the elector of Bavaria all had claims by descent, another European war seemed likely. Therefore William and Louis framed two successive treaties for the peaceable partition of the Spanish empire on the death of King Charles. These treaties became known and exasperated the Spaniards. Finally Charles made a will bequeathing all his do minions to Philip, duke of Anjou, second son of the dauphin. A little later he died. Louis accepted the Spanish crown for his grandson. As no power could then offer effective resistance, Philip took quiet possession of his kingdom.

Meantime William had found it hard to govern England. After the Peace of Ryswick the Tories became powerful. The Commons insisted on reducing the army to a few thousand men, called in question William's grants of forfeited Irish land, and impeached some of the ministers for their share in the partition treaties which were unpopular. When the death of Anne's last child made necessary the Act of Settlement, which gave the succession to the next Protestant heir, the electress Sophia of Hanover, grand daughter of James I., they inserted clauses further restricting the power of the Crown. (See SETTLEMENT, ACT OF.) Thus William could not interpose with effect in European affairs. But Louis, who controlled the actions of Philip, irritated the Eng lish by refusing them any commercial privileges in Spanish Amer ica, and by putting French garrisons into certain fortresses of the Spanish Netherlands. He thus enabled William to conclude with the emperor and Holland a treaty sometimes termed the Grand Alliance, whereby the parties undertook to procure certain satis factions for one another. By promising James II., then on his deathbed, that he would recognize his son as king of England, and thus breaking the Treaty of Ryswick, Louis ensured a war. Wil liam's health had long been declining and a slight accident brought on a fatal illness. On March 8, he died.