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HISTORY OP EKGLAKD.

CnAP.

xvm.

1G91 .Openingof tboParlia-ment,

CHATTER XVIII.

On the nineteenth of. October 1691, William arrived at■ Kensington from the Netherlands.* Three days later he openedthe Parliament. The aspect of affairs was, on the whole,cheering. By land there had been gains and losses: but thebalance was in favour of England. Against the fall of Monsmight well be set off the taking of Athlone, the victory ofAghrim, the surrender of Limerick and the pacification of Ire-land. At sea there had been no great victory; but there hadbeen a great display of power and of activity; and, though manywere dissatisfied because more had not been done, none coulddeny that there had been a change for the better. The ruincaused by the foibles and vices of Torrington had been repaired:the fleet had been well equipped: the rations had been abun-dant and wholesome; and the health of the crews had conse-quently been, for that age, wonderfully good. Russell, whocommanded the naval forces of the allies, had in vain offeredbattle to the French. The white flag, which, in the precedingyear, had ranged the Channel unresisted from the Land’s Endto the Straits of Dover, now, as soon as our topmasts were de-scried twenty leagues off, abandoned the open sea, and retiredinto the depths of the harbour of Brest. The appearance of anEnglish squadron in the estuary of the Shannon had decidedthe fate of the last fortress which had held out for King James;and a fleet of merchantmen from the Levant, valued at fourmillions sterling, had, through dangers which had causedmany sleepless nights to the underwriters of Lombard Street,* Loudon Gazette, Oct, 22.1601.