The king met his English parliament on the 19th of May, and their proceedings were marked by a servility almost equal to that of Scotland. Without adverting to an unqualified menace, which the king held out to them in his speech, of making the frequency of their meetings dependent on their behaviour, i. e. their supplies to him ; and, without noticing the illegality of the king's levying the revenue, that revenue was granted. The king's assurance was recognised as a sufficient security for the national religion, and the liberty of the press was de stroyed by the revival of the statute of the 13th and 14th of Charles. In a bill which was passed for the preser vation of the king's person, it was made treason to as sert the legitimacy of Monmouth's birth, or to propose, in parliament, any alteration in the succession of the crown.
In his first address to this parliament, James had been obliged to announce to them the intelligence of Argyle's having landed in Scotland, and there erected the stand ard of insurrection. The unjust sentence of this noble man, (whose real offence was his having insisted, on the occasion of the test, that the royal family should not be exempted from taking it,) and his escape from prison having been already related, the duke of Monmouth, whose share in the cabal, to which Sidney and Russel were martyrs, has been also mentioned, had been natu rally drawn, during his exile in Holland, to a connection of designs with Argyle, and the other banished patriots both of Scotland and England. The chief of these exiles were Fletcher of Salton, Hume of Polwarth, and Sir John Cochrane, Scotsmen ; Lord Grey of \Vark, and Rumbold, a maltster, from whose house the Rye-house plot took its name, were the mos: distinguished Eng lishmen in the enterprise. When these men had con sulted on the project of redressing the stiff, rings of their native country and themselves, Argyle's counsel, backed by Lord Grey and Monmouth's other advisers, and op posed by none but Fletcher, was to invade the two king doms at one time. It was so determined, and Argyle had a loan of 10,0001. from a rich widow in Amsterdam, and Monmouth had raised some money by his jewels. Argyle and his Scottish friends, together %% ith Rumbold the malster, sailed from Vly in three small vessels, and, taking a circuit round the Orkneys, were discovered long before they made a landing, w Melt was at last ef fected on Argyleshirc. Ilere Argyle was joined by some of his clan ; and his numbers at one period amount ed to 2000. But being overrated in all his plans by his own officers, and unable to establish himself in Argyle shire, he passed the Leven a little above Dumbarton, and proceeded eastward towards Glasgow, rather yield ing to the despair of others than led by his own hopes. When his forces reached Kilpatick, after narrowly escap. ing from a formidable body of the king's forces, his num bers had fallen off to 500, and he was at last left deserted and almost alone, by the resolution of Sir Patrick Hume and Cochrane, to cross the Clyde, with such as would follow them, and proceed into Renfrewshire. Unable to conceal himself, or to effect his retreat to his own _ountry, w here he still cherished hopes of making a stand, he was at last seized in the habit of a country man, conveyed to Edinburgh, and consigned to execu tion. Monmouth set sail from Holland shortly after
Argyle, and landed at Lyme in Dorsetshire, on the 11th of June. Here he published a manifesto, proclaiming James a tyrant and usurper, and promising to the peo ple the renovation of short parliaments, the restoration of charters, a militia to be governed by the parliament, and a general toleration to Protestant dissenters. From scarcely an hundred, his followers soon rose to the num ber of 6000, and he now did not hesitate to proclaim himsell king. At Taunton, the people strewed his way with flowers, followed him with acclamations and prayers, adorned their walls with green boughs, and threw open their houses to his army. But these were delusive pro mises of success. lie was joined by none of the superior gentry. llis slow approach struck no terror, but gave time for his enemies to prepare ; and he unfortunately lost Fletcher of Salton, the only man of commanding genius in his army, in consequence of that gentleman having rashly killed a citizen in a dispute. James, in the mean time, got his army increased to 15000 men, and obtained from parliament a grant of 400,0001. After some unimportant skirmishes with the king's troops, and a variety of movements, which marked his indeci sion and perplexity, Monmouth at last determined to risk his fortunes in a pitched battle with the forces of the king's generals, Feversham and Churchill, who were posted to receive him at Sedgemore, in the neigh bourhood of Bridgewater. Here his undisciplined troops drove the royal infantry from the ground, and seemed on the point of complete victory, when the cowardice of Grey, who commanded the horse, brought all to ruin. That worthless nobleman fled at the first onset ; and the rebels being charged in flank, were slaughtered, during an unavailing resistance, for three hours, during which they lost about 1300 men. Monmouth fled above twenty miles from the field of battle, till his horse stink under him. He then alighted, and exchanging clothes with a shepherd, fled on foot with a single attendant, till, exhausted with hunger and fatigue, they both lay down in a field, and covered themselves with fern. The coun try was searched with bloodhounds, and James at last had the satisfaction of hearing that his nephew was found in a ditch, half concealed by weeds, with sonic raw peas in his pocket, a sustenance on which he had fed for two days. He burst into tears when seized by his enemies. For some time the unfortunate Duke sought his life with importunity ; but, when James received his entreaties with all the sternness of his implacable cha racter, he recovered himself with dignity, and behaved, in his last moments, with magnanimity, though perse cuted on the scaffold by his religious assistants. The executioner struck the blow so feebly, that lie only slightly wounded him ; and Monmouth raised his head from the block, and looked him in the face, as it to up braid him, but said nothing. After two other ineffec tual blows, the executioner threw down the axe in horror, and declared he could not finish the deed. The sheriffs threatened him ; he was forced to proceed ; and, at two more strokes. severed the head from the body. He perished in his 36th year.