This officer having received instructions to make an attempt upon Dunkirk, sailed round the Downs, where he was joined by M. Meesters, with six and tweaty Dutch pilots. On the twelfth of September he appeared before Dunkirk; and next day sent in the Charles galley, with two bomb-ketches, and as many of the machines called infernals. These were set on fire without effect; and the design miscarried: then Shovel steered to Calais, which having bombarded with little success, he returned to the toast of England; and the bomb-ketches and machines were sent into the river Thames. ADMIRAL RUSSEL RELIEVES BARCELONA. DURING these transactions, admiral Russel, with the grand fleet, sailed for the Mediterranean; and being joined by rear admiral Neville from Cadiz, together with Callembergh and Evertzen, he steered towards Barcelona, which was besieged by the French fleet and army. At his approach, Tourville retired with precipitation into the harbour of Toulon; and Noailles abandoned his enterprise. The Spanish affairs were in such a deplorable condition, that without this timely assistance the kingdom must have been undone. While he continued in the Mediterranean, the French admiral durst not venture to appear at sea; and all his projects were disconcerted. After having asserted the honour of the British flag in those seas during the whole summer, he sailed in the beginning of November to Cadiz, where, by an express order of the king, he passed the winter, during which, he took such precautions for preventing Tourville from passing the Straits, that he did not think proper to risk the passage. CAMPAIGN IN FLANDERS. Ir will now be necessary to describe the operations on the continent. In the middle of May king William arrived in Holland, where he consulted with the States-general. On the third day of June be repaired to Bethlem-abbey near Louvain, the place appointed for the rendezvous of the army; and there he was met by the electors of Bavaria and Cologn. In a few days a numerous army was assembled; and every thing seemed to promise an active campaign. On the third day of June the dauphin assumed the command of the French forces, with which Luxembourg had taken post between Mons and Maubeuge; and passing the Sambre, encamped at Fleurus: but on the eighteenth, he removed from thence, and took up his quarters between St. Tron and Wanheim: while the confederates lay at Roosbeck. On the eleventh of July, the dauphin marched in four columns to Oerle upon the Jaar, where he pitched his camp. On the twenty-second, the confederates marched to Bomale: then the dauphin took the route to Vignamont, where he secured his army by intrenchments, as his forces were inferior in number to those of the allies; and as he had heen directed by his father to avoid an engagement. In this situation both armies remained till the fifteenth day of August, when king William sent the heavy baggage to Louvain; and on the eighteenth made a motion to Sombref. This was no sooner known to the enemy, than they decamped: and having marched all night, posted themselves between Temploux and Masy, within a league and a half of the confederates. The king of England resolved to pass the Scheld; and with this view marched, by the way of Nivelle and Soignies, to Chievres; from thence he detached the duke of Wirtemberg, with a strong body of horse and foot, to pass the river at Oudenarde, while the elector of Bavaria advanced with another detachment to pass it at Pont de Espieres. Notwithstanding all the expedition they could make, their purpose was anticipated by Luxembourg, who being apprized of their route, had detached four thousand horse, with each a foot soldier behind the trooper, to reinforce M. de Valette, who commanded that part of the French line. These were sustained by a choice body of men, who travelled with great expedition, without observing the formalities of a march. Mareschal de Villeroy followed the same route, with all the cavalry of the right wing, the household troops, and twenty fieldpieces: and the rest of the army was brought up by the dauphin in person. They marched with such incredible diligence, that the elector of Bavaria could scarce believe his own eyes, when he arrived in sight of the Scheld, and saw then 'n trenching themselves on the other side of the river. King William having reconnoitred their disposi tion, thought it impracticable to pass at that place; and therefore marched down the river to Oudenarde, where a passage had been already effected by the duke of Wirtemberg. Here the confederates passed the Scheld on the twenty-seventh day of the month; and the king fixed his head-quarters at Wanneghem. His intention was to have taken possession of Courtray, and established winterquarters for a considerable part of his army in that district: but Luxembourg having posted himself between that place and Menin, extended his lines in such a manner, that the confederates could not attempt to force them, nor even hinder him from subsisting his army at the expense of the Castellany of Courtray, during the remainder of the campaign. This surprising march was of such importance to the French king, that he wrote with his own hand a letter of thanks to his army; and ordered that it should be read to every particular squadron and battalion. THE ALLIES reduce HUY. THE king of England, though disappointed in his scheme upon Courtray, found means to make some advantage of his superiority in number. He drafted troops from the garrison of Liege and Maestricht; and on the third day of September reinforced his body with a large detachment from his own camp, conferring the command upon the duke of Holstien-Ploen, with orders to undertake the siege of Huy. Next day the whole confederate forces passed the Lis, and encamped at Wouterghem. From thence the king, with part of the army marched to Roselaer; this diversion obliged the dauphin to make considerable detachments, for the security of Ypres and Menin on one side, and to cover Furnes and Dunkirk on the other. At this juncture, a Frenchman being seized in the very act of setting fire to one of the ammunition waggone in the allied army, confessed he had been employed for this purpose by some of the French generals, and suffered death as a traitor. On the sixteenth day of the month, the duke of Holstein Ploen invested Huy, and carried on the siege with such vigour, that in ten days the garrison capitulated. The king ordered Dixmuyde, Deynse, Ninove, and Tirlemont, to be secured for winter-quarters to part of the army: the dauphin returned to Versailles : William quitted the camp on the last day of September; and both armies broke up about the middle of October. The operations on the Rhine were preconcerted between king William and the prince of Baden, who had visited London in the winter. The dispute between the emperor and the elector of Saxony was compromised; and this young prince dying during the negotiation, the treaty was perfected by his brother and successor, who engaged to furaish twelve thousand men yearly, in consideration of a subsidy from the court of Vienna. In the beginning of June, mareschal de Lorges passed the Rhine at Philipsburgh, in order to give battle to the imperialists, encamped at Hailbron. The prince of Baden who was not yet joined by the Saxons, Hessians, nor by the troops of Munster and Paderborn, despatched couriers to quicken the march of these auxiliaries, and advanced to Eppingen, where he proposed to wait till they should come up; but, on the fifteenth, receiving undoubted intelligence, that the enemy were in motion towards him, he advanced to meet them in order of battle. De Lorges concluded that this was a desperate effort, and immediately halted to make the necessary preparations for an engagement. This pause enabled prince Louis to take possession of a strong pass near Sintzheim, from which he could not easily be dislodged. Then the mareschal proceeded to Viseloch, and ravaged the adjacent country, in hopes of drawing the imperialists from their intrenchments. The prince being joined by the Hessians, resolved to beat up the quarters of the enemy; and the French general being apprized of his design, retreated at midnight with the utmost precipitation. Having posted himself at Ruth, he sent his heavy baggage to Philipsburgh: then he moved to Gonsbergh, in the neighbourhood of Manheim, repassed the Rhine, and encamped between Spires and Worms. The prince of Baden being joined by the allies, passed the river by a bridge of boats near Hagenbach, in the middle of September; and laid the country of Alsace under contribution. Consid- | particular, that a stop was put to the progress of ering the advanced season of the year, this was a rash undertaking; and the French general resolved to profit by his enemy's temerity. He forthwith advanced against the imperialists, foreseeing that should they be worsted in battle, their whole army would be ruined. Prince Louis informed of his intention, immediately passed the Rhine; and this retreat was no sooner effected, than the river swelled to such a degree, that the island in the middle, and great part of the camp he had occupied, was overflowed. Soon after this incident both armies retired into winter-quarters. The campaign in Hungary produced no event of importance. It was opened by the new vizier, who arrived at Belgrade in the middle of August; and about the same time Caprara assembled the imperial army in the neighbourhood of Peterwaradin. The Turks passed the Saave, in order to attack their camp, and carried on their approaches with five hundred pieces of cannon; but made very little progress. The imperialists received reinforcements; the season wasted away; a feud arose between the vizier and the cham of the Tartars; and the Danube being swelled by heavy rains, so as to interrupt the operations of the Turks, their general decamped in the night of the first of October. They afterwards made an unsuccessful attempt upon Titul, while the imperial general made himself master of Giula. In the course of this summer, the Venetians, who were also at war with the Turks, reduced Cyclut, a place of importance on the river Naranta, and made a conquest of the island of Scio in the Archipelago. PROGRESS OF THE FRENCH. WE have already observed, that the French king had determined to act vigorously in Catalonia. In the beginning of May, the duke de Noailles advanced at the head of eight and twenty thousand men to the river Ter, on the opposite bank of which the viceroy of Catalonia was encamped with sixteen thousand Spaniards. The French general passed the river in the face of this army, and attacked their intrenchments with such impetuosity, that in less than an hour they were totally defeated. Then he marched to Palamos, and undertook the siege of that place, while at the same time it was blocked up by the combined squadrons of Brest and Toulon. Though the besieged made an obstinate defence, the town was taken by storm, the houses were pillaged, and the people put to the sword, without distinction of age, sex, or condition. Then he invested Gironne, which in a few days capitulated. Ostalric met with the same fate, and Noailles was created viceroy of Catalonia by the French king. In the beginning of August he distributed his forces into quarters of refreshment, along the river Terdore, resolving to undertake the siege of Barcelona, which was saved by the arrival of admiral Russel. The war languished in Piedmont, on account of a secret negotiation between the king of France and the duke of Savoy; notwithstanding the remonstrances of Rouvigny, earl of Galway, who had succeeded the duke of Schomberg in the command of the British forces in that country. Casal was closely blocked up by the reduction of Fort St. George, and the Vaudois gained the advantage in some skirmishes in the valley of Ragelas: but no design of importance was executed (5). England had continued very quiet under the queen's administration, if we except some little commotions occasioned by the practices, or pretended practices, of the jacobites. Prosecutions were revived against certain gentlemen of Lancashire and Cheshire, for having been concerned in the conspiracy formed in favour of the late king's projected invasion from Normandy. These steps were owing to the suggestions of infamous informers, whom the ministry countenanced. Colonel Parker and one Crosby were imprisoned, and bills of treason found against them: but Parker made his escape from the Tower, and was never retaken, though a reward of four hundred pounds was set upon his head. The king having settled the affairs of the confederacy at the Hague, embarked for England on the eighth of November, and next day landed at Margate. On the twelfth he opened the session of parliament, with a speech, in which he observed that the posture of affairs was improved both by sea and land since they last parted; in the French arms. He desired they would continue DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP TILLOTSON AND WHILE this bill was depending, Dr. John Tillotson, archbishop of Canterbury, was seized with a fit of the dead palsy, in the chapel of Whitehall, and died on the twenty second day of November, deeply regretted by the king and queen, who shed tears of sorrow at his decease; and sincerely la mented by the public, as a pattern of elegance, ingenuity, meekness, charity, and moderation. These qualities he must be allowed to have possessed, notwithstanding the invectives of his enemies, who accused him of puritanism, flattery, and ambition; and charged him with having conduced to a danger. ous schism in the church, by accepting the archbishopric during the life of the deprived Sancroft. He was succeeded in the metropolitan see by Dr. Tennison, bishop of Lincoln, recommended by the whig party, which now predominated in the cab inet. The queen did not long survive her favourite prelate. In about a month after his decease, she was taken ill of the small-pox, and the symptoms proving dangerous, she prepared herself for death with great composure. She spent some time in exercises of devotion, and private conversation with the new archbishop; she received the sacra ment with all the bishops who were in attendance; and expired on the twenty eighth day of December in the thirty third year of her age, and in the sixth year of her reign, to the inexpressible grief of the king,who for some weeks after her death could neither see company, nor attend to the business of state. Mary was in her person tall and well-proportioned, with an oval visage, lively eyes, agreeable features, a mild aspect, and an air of dignity. Her apprehension was clear, her memory tenacious, and her judgment solid. She was a zealous protestant, scrupulously exact in all the duties of devotion, of an even temper, and of a calm and mild conversation. She was ruffled by no passion, and seems to have been a stranger to the emotions of natural affection: for she ascended, without compunction, the throne from which her father had been deposed, and treated her sister as an alien to her blood. In a word, Mary seems to have imbibed the cold disposition and apathy of her husband; and to have centered all her ambition in deserving the epithet of an humble and obedient wife. [See note ́l, at the end of this Vol.] RECONCILIATION BETWEEN THE KING AND THE PRINCESS OF DENMARK. THE princess Anne being informed of the queen's dangerous indisposition, sent a lady of her bedchamber to desire she might be admitted to her majesty; but this request was not granted. She was thanked for her expression of concern; and given to understand, that the physicians had directed that the queen should be kept as quiet as possible. Before her death, however, she sent a forgiving message to her sister: and, after her decease, the earl of Sunderland effected a reconciliation be tween the king and the princess, who visited him at Kensington, where she was received with uncommon civility. He appointed the palace of St. James for her residence, and presented her with the greater part of the queen's jewels. But a mutual jealousy and disgust subsisted under these exteriors of friendship and esteem. The two houses of parliament waited on the king at Kensington, with consolatory addresses on the death of his consort: their example was followed by the regency of Scotland, the city and clergy of London, the dis. senting ministers, and almost all the great corporations in England (7). NOTES TO CHAPTER IV. Dame, a church in which 4 Burnet. Fouquieres. Life 5 In the course of this year, M. births, and burials, bachelors, and widows. They passed an act for laying additional duties upon coffee, tea, and chocolate, towards paying the debt due for the transport ships and another, imposing duties on glass ware, stone, and earthen bottles, coal, and culm. 7 The earls of Rochester and Nottingham are said to have started a doubt, whether the parliament was not dissolved by the queen's death; but this dangerous motion met with no countenance. CHAPTER V. WILLIAM. Account of the Lancashire Plot-The Commons inquire into the Abuses which had crept into the Army— They expel and prosecute some of their own Members for Corruption in the Affair of the East India Company-Examination of Cooke, Acton, and others-The Commons impeach the Duke of Leeds-The Parliament is prorogued-Session of the Scottish_Parliament-They inquire into the Massacre of Glencoe They pass an Act for erecting a trading Company to Africa and the Indies-Proceedings in the Parliament of Ireland-Disposition of the Armies in Flanders-King William undertakes the Siege of Namur-Famous Retreat of Prince Vaudemont-Brussels is bombarded by Villeroy-Progress of the Siege of Namur-Villeroy attempts to relieve it-The Besiegers make a desperate Assault-The Place capitulates-Boufflers is arrested by Order of King William-Campaign on the Rhine, and in Hungary-The Duke of Savoy takes Casal-Transactions in Catalonia-The English Fleet bombards St. Maloes and other Places on the Coast of France-Wilmot's Expedition to the West Indies-A new Parliament-They pass the Bill for regulating Trials in Cases of High Treason-Resolutions with respect to a new Coinage. The Commons address the King, to recall a Grant he had made to the Earl of Portland-Another against the new Scottish Company-Intrigues of the Jacobites-Conspiracy against the Life of William-Design of an Invasion defeated-The two Houses engage in an Association for the Defence of his Majesty-Establishment of a Land-Bank-Trial of the Conspirators-The Allies burn the Magazine at Givet-Louis the Fourteenth makes Advances towards a Peace with Holland— He detaches the Duke of Savoy from the Confederacy-Naval Transactions-Proceedings in the Parlia ments of Scotland and Ireland-Zeal of the English Commons in their Affection to the King-Resolu tions touching the Coin, and the Support of Public Credit-Enormous Impositions-Sir John Fenwick is apprehended-A Bill of Attainder being brought into the House against him, produces violent Debates-His Defence-The Bill passes-Sir John Fenwick is beheaded-The Earl of Monmouth sent to the Tower-Inquiry into Miscarriages by Sea-Negotiations at Ryswick-The French take Barcelona-Fruitless Expedition of Admiral Neville to the West Indies-The Elector of Saxony is chosen King of Poland-Peter the Czar of Muscovy travels in Disguise with his own Ambassadors-Proceedings in the Congress at Ryswick-The Ambassadors of England, Spain, and Holland sign the Treaty -A general Pacification. ACCOUNT OF THE LANCASHIRE PLOT. TH HE kingdom now resounded with the complaints of the papists and malcontents, who taxed the ministry with subornation of perjury, in the case of the Lancashire gentlemen who had been persecuted for the conspiracy. One Lunt, an Irishman, had informed Sir John Trenchard, secretary of state, that he had been sent from Ireland, with commissions from king James to divers gentlemen in Lancashire and Cheshire: that he had assisted in buying arms, and enlisting men to serve that king in his projected invasion of England: that he had been twice despatched by those gentlemen to the court of St. Germain's, assisted many jacobites in repairing to France, helped to conceal others that came from that kingdom; and that all those persons told him they were furnished with money by Sir John Friend, to defray the expense of their expeditions. His testimony was confirmed by other infamous emissaries, who received but too much countenance from the government. Blank war rants were issued, and filled up occasionally with such names as the informers suggested. These were delivered to Aaron Smith, solicitor to the treasury, who, with messengers, accompanied Lunt and his associates to Lancashire, under the protection of a party of Dutch horse guards, commanded by one captain Baker. They were empowered to break open houses, seize papers, and apprehend persons, according to their pleasure; and they committed many acts of violence and oppression. The persons, against whom these measures were taken, being apprized of the impending danger, generally retired from their own habitations. Some, however, were taken and imprisoned: a few arms were secured; and, in the house of Mr. Standish, at Standish-hall, they found the draft of a declaration to be published by king James at his landing. As this prosecution seemed calculated to revive the honour of a stale conspiracy, and the evidences were persons of abandoned characters, the friends of those who were persecuted found no great difficulty in rendering the scheme odious to the nation. They even employed the pen of Ferguson, who had been concerned in every plot that was hatched since the Rye-house conspiracy. This veteran, though appointed housekeeper to the excise-office, thought himself poorly recompensed for the part he had acted in the revolution, became dissatisfied, and, upon this occasion, published a letter to Sir John Trenchard on the abuse of power. It was replete with the most bitter invectives against the ministry, and contained a great number of flagrant instances, in which the court had countenanced the vilest corruption, perfidy, and oppression. This production was in every body's hand, and had such an effect upon the people, that when the prisoners were brought to trial at Manchester, the populace would have put the witnesses to death, had they not been prevented by the interposition of those who were friends to the accused persons, and had already taken effectual measures for their safety. Lunt's chief associate in the mystery of information was one Taafe, a wretch of the most profligate principles, who finding himself disappointed in his hope of reward from the ministry, was privately gained over by the agents for the prisoners. Lunt, when desired in court to point out the persons whom he had accused, committed such a mistake as greatly invalidated his testimony; and Taaffe declared before the bench, that the pretended plot was no other than a contrivance between himself and Lunt, in order to procure money from the government. The prisoners were immediately acquitted, and the ministry incurred a heavy load of popular odium, as the authors or abettors of knavish contrivances to ensnare the innocent. The government, with a view to evince their abhorrence of such practices, ordered the witnesses to be prosecuted for a conspiracy against the lives and estates of the gentlemen who had been ac cused; and at last the affair was brought into the house of commons. The jacobites triumphed in their victory. They even turned the battery of corruption upon the evidence for the crown, not with out making a considerable impression." But the cause was now debated before judges, who were not at all propitious to their views. The commons having set on foot an inquiry, and examined all the papers and circumstances relating to the pretended plot, resolved, that there was sufficient ground for the prosecution and trials of the gentlemen at Manchester; and that there was a dangerous conspiracy against the king and government. They issued an order for taking Mr. Standish into custody; and the messenger reporting that he was not to be found, they presented an address to the king, desiring a proclamation might be published, offering a reward for apprehending his person. The peers concurred with the commons in their sentiments of this affair; for complaints having been laid before their house also, by the persons who thought themselves aggrieved, the question was put, whether the government had cause to prosecute them; and carried in the affirmative; though a protest was entered against this vote by the earls of Rochester and Nottingham. Notwithstanding these decisions, the accused gentlemen prosecuted Lunt and two of his accomplices for perjury, at the Lancaster assizes; and all three were found guilty. They were immediately indicted by the crown, for a conspiracy against the lives and liberties of the persons they had accused. The intention of the ministry, in laying this indictment, was to seize the opportunity of punishing some of the witnesses for the gentlemen, who had prevaricated in giving their testimony: but the design being discovered, the Lancashire-men refused to produce their evidence against the informers: the prosecution dropped of consequence, and the prisoners were discharged. INQUIRY INTO THE ABUSES IN THE ARMY. WHEN the commons were employed in examining the state of the revenue, and taking measures for raising the necessary supplies, the inhabitants of Royston presented a petition, complaining, that the officers and soldiers of the regiment belonging to colonel Hastings, which was quartered upon them, exacted subsistence-money, even on pain of military execution. The house was immediately kindled into a flame by this information. The officers, and Pauncefort, agent for the regiment, were examined: then it was unanimously resolved, that such a practice was arbitrary, illegal, and a violation of the rights and liberties of the subject. Upon further inquiry, Pauncefort and some other agents were committed to the custody of the serjeant, for having neglected to pay the subsistence-money they had received for the officers and soldiers. He was afterwards sent to the Tower, together with Henry Guy, a member of the house, and secretary to the treasury; the one for giving, and the other for receiving, a bribe to obtain the king's bounty. Pauncefort's brother was likewise committed, for being concerned in the same commerce. Guy had been employed, together with Trevor the speaker, as the court-agent for securing a majority in the house of commons: for that reason he was obnoxious to the members in the opposition, who took this opportu❘ nity to brand him; and the courtiers could not with any decency screen him from their vengeance. The house having proceeded in this inquiry, drew up an address to the king, enumerating the abuses which had crept into the army, and demanded immediate redress. He promised to consider the remonstrance, and redress the grievances of which they complained. Accordingly, he cashiered colonel Hastings; appointed a council of officers to sit weekly and examine all complaints against any officer and soldier; and published a declaration for the maintenance of strict discipline, and the due payment of quarters (1). Notwithstanding these concessions, the commons prosecuted their examinations: they committed Mr. James Craggs, one of the contractors for clothing the army, because he refused to answer upon oath, to such questions as might be put to him by the commissioners of accounts. They brought in a bill for obliging him and Mr. Richard Harnage, the other contractor, together with the two Paunceforts, to discover how they had disposed of the sums paid into their hands on account of the army; and for punishing them, in case they should persist in their refusal. At this period, they received a petition against the com missioners for licensing hackney-coaches. Three of them, by means of an address to the king, were removed with disgrace, for having acted arbitrarily corruptly, and contrary to the trust reposed in them by act of parliament. Those who encouraged this spirit of reformation, introduced another inquiry about the orphan's bill, which was said to have passed into an act, by virtue of undue influence. A committee being appointed to inspect the chamberlain's books, discovered that bribes had been given to Sir John Trevor, speaker of the house, and Mr. Hungerford, chairman of the grand committee. The first being voted guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor abdicated the chair, and Paul Foley was appointed speaker in his room. Then Sir John and Hungerford were expelled the house: one Nois, a solicitor for the bill, was taken into custody, because he had scandalized the commons, in pretending he was engaged to give grea sums to several members, and denying this circum stance on his examination. The reformers in the house naturally concluded that the same arts had been practised in obtaining the new charter of the East-India company, which had been granted so much against the sense of the nation. Their books were subjected to the same committee that carried on the former inquiry, and a surprising scene of venality and corruption was soon disclosed. It appeared that the company, in the course of the preceding year, had paid near ninety thousand pounds in secret services; and that Sir Thomas Cooke, one of the directors, and a member of the house, had been the chief manager of this infamous commerce. Cooke, refusing to answer, was committed to the Tower, and a bill of pains and penalties brought in, obliging him to discover how the sum mentioned in the report of the committee had been distributed. The bill was violently opposed in the upper house by the duke of Leeds, as being contrary to law and equity, and furnishing a precedent of a dangerous nature. Cooke, being agreeably to his own petition brought to the bar of the house of lords, declared that he was ready and willing to make a full discovery, in case he might be favoured with an indemnifying vote, to secure him against all actions and suits, except those of the East-India company, which he had never injured. The lords complied with his request, and passed a bill for this purpose, to which the commons added a penal clause; and the former was laid aside. EXAMINATION OF COOKE, ACTON, AND OTHERS. WHEN the king went to the house, to give the royal assent to the money bills, he endeavoured to discourage this inquiry, by telling the parliament that the season of the year was far advanced, and the circumstances of affairs extremely pressing: he, therefore, desired they would despatch such business as they should think of most importance to the public, as he should put an end to the session in a few days. Notwithstanding this shameful interposition, both houses appointed a joint committee to lay open the complicated scheme of fraud and iniquity. Cooke, on his first examination, confessed that he had delivered tallies for ten thousand pounds to Francis Tyssen, deputy-governor, for the special service of the company; an equal sum to Richard Acton, for employing his interest in preventing a new settlement, and endeavouring to establish the old company; besides two thousand pounds by way of interest, and as a further gratuity; a thousand guineas to colonel Fitzpatrick, five hundred to Charles Bates, and three hundred and ten to Mr. Molineux, a merchant, for the same purpose; and he owned that Sir Basil Firebrace had received forty thousand pounds on various pretences. He said he believed the ten thousand pounds paid to Tyssen had been delivered to the king by Sir Josiah Child, as a customary present which former kings had received: and that the sums paid to Acton were distributed among some members of parliament. Firebrace being examined, affirmed that he had received the whole forty thousand pounds for his own use and benefit; but that Bates had received sums of money, which he understood were offered to some persons of the first quality. Acton declared, that ten thousand pounds of the sum which he had received was distributed among per sons who had interest with members of parliament, and that great part of the money passed through the hands of Craggs, who was acquainted with some |