Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/655

WILLIAM III. (ENGLAND) ted, which was to lessen the power of France, which under Louis XIV. had become danger- ous to all Europe, and the most dreaded foe of Protestantism. The prince consequently strove to sever the relations between England and France, a desigu approved of by most Englishmen. A breach was inevitable, how- ever, between him and his father-in-iaw, when- ever the full bearing of his plan should become known to the latter. James, on ascending the throne (1685), was determined to restore the old religion and to establish arbitrary power. Holland became the place of refuge for all the discontented English. The national dissatis- faction having reached its height, the prince of Orange was on June 30, 1688, invited by a number of prominent English statesmen to enter England with an army. He assembled a large fleet and an army 15,000 strong, and landed at Torbay, Nov. 5. Soon the whole country was at his side, and James was a fugi- tive. A convention of the estates of the realm of England, in February, 1689, called William and Mary to the throne. In Scotland his cause was equally triumphant. The early part of William's rule was unfortunate. The adherents of James availed themselves of troubles in Scotland to work against the new sovereigns, and James himself went to Ireland, where his coreligionists enthusiastically received him, and nearly the whole island came again into his pos- session. England joined the coalition which William, as stadtholder of Holland, had formed with Austria, Spain, and other states against France, and declared war, May 7, 1689. In Ireland, notwithstanding the raising of the siege of Londonderry and the victory at New- ton Butler, the year closed favorably to James. But in 1690 William himself took command, and at the battle of the Boyne, July 1 (O. S.), James was defeated, and fled to France. Wil- liam was, however, repulsed before Limerick, the French were victorious at Beachy Head, and the forces of the coalition were beaten at Fleurus. Quiet was restored in Scotland after the death of Dundee, the only capable leader of the highlanders. The measures taken for the maintenance of peace in that wild country, under Sir John Dalrymple, led to the massa- cre of the Macdonalds in 1692, a transaction usually thought to have left a stain on Wil- liam's reputation. (See GLENCOE.) Ireland was subdued by Ginkel in 1691, and William went to the continent, where the war was continued till the autumn of 1697 with but little advantage to the allies, who lost Namur, and were defeated at Steenkirk in 1692, and in the battle of Neerwinden or Landen in 1693. In both the latter actions William commanded, and his genius and energy shone bright in de- feat. A powerful French fleet was destroyed at the naval battle of La Hogue in 1692. Queen Mary (see MARY II.) died on Dec. 28, 1694, and William became sole sovereign. He re- took Namur in 1695, and concluded peace at Kyswick in September, 1697, both parties being WILLIAM IV. (ENGLAND) 631 exhausted, and neither having gained much. During the whole war William had been dis- turbed by Jacobite plots, some of them against his life. The bank of England had been cre- ated, and ministerial responsibility recognized. The liberty of the press was established, the coinage purified, a standing army constitution- ally formed, and the independence of the ju- diciary secured. During a period when most English statesmen were corrupt, and while many in William's service were in correspon- dence with James, the English constitution was placed on a firm basis. The remainder of Wil- liam's life was passed in disputes with parlia- ment or in continental diplomacy, his chief ob- ject still being to check the power of France and to strengthen that of the Netherlands. He was the chief agent in the negotiations pro- viding for the settlement of the Spanish suc- cession. The terms of the second treaty wero broken by Louis XIV., who accepted the Span- ish crown for his grandson the duke of Anjou. Still further, on the death of James II. Louis acknowledged his son king of Great Britain and Ireland. This enraged the English, and William was preparing for war when he was thrown from his horse, Feb. 21, 1702, and re- ceived injuries which caused his death. Wil- liam, having no heir, promoted the act of set- tlement, calling the house of Hanover to the throne, which was adopted by parliament in 1701, and completed the English revolution. His immediate successor in England was his sister-in-law Anne, while in Holland the stadt- holderate was suspended for many years. Wil- liam was wary, thoughtful, and taciturn, hiding a naturally fiery temper under a phlegmatic exterior. Pie was courageous and fond of busi- ness, cared little for pleasure, was little inter- ested in letters, and was decided in his theo- logical opinions, yet not illiberal. WILLIAM IV. (WILLIAM HENRY), king of Great Britain and Ireland, fifth sovereign of the Hanoverian line, born in London, Aug. 21, 1765, died at Windsor, June 20, 1837. He was the third son of George III., and entered the navy June 15, 1779, as midshipman, on board the Prince George, which, being attached to Admiral Rodney's fleet, took part in two ac- tions against the Spaniards. He served again in the channel fleet and in the fleet sent in 1781 to relieve Gibraltar, and in 1782 arrived at New York in the Prince George. Subsequent- ly he served in the West Indies, having been transferred to the Warwick. In June, 1785, he was made a lieutenant, and in April, 1786, post captain in command of the Pegasus, and served under Nelson in the West Indies. Hav- ing gone north without orders, he was punished on his return to England by confinement with- in the limits of Plymouth garrison, and by being sent abroad again to the Halifax station and the West Indies. He returned to England early in 1789, was made duke of Clarence, and took his seat in the house of lords on June 8. An income of 12,000 was settled upon him by