■TAMES THE SECOND.

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could say what effect such severity as Clarendon recommended cn £ p -might produce on the public mind of England? Was it im- 1688ipossible that the loyal enthusiasm, which the King’s miscon-duct had extinguished, might revive as soon as it was knownthat he was within the walls of a foreign fortress? On thesegrounds William determined not to subject his father-in-law topersonal restraint; and there can be little doubt that the de-termination was wise. *

James, while his fate was under discussion, remained atWhitehall, fascinated, as it seemed, by the greatness andnearness of the danger, and unequal to the exertion of eitherstruggling or flying. In the evening news came that theDutch had occupied Chelsea and Kensington. The King,however, prepared to go to rest as usual. The ColdstreamGuards were on duty at the palace. They were commandedby William Earl of Craven, an aged man who, more thanfifty years before, had been distinguished in war and love,who had led the forlorn hope at Creutznach with such couragethat he had been patted on the shoulder by the great Gustavus,and who was believed to have won from a thousand rivalsthe heart of the unfortunate Queen of Bohemia. Cravenwas now in his eightieth year; hut time had not tamed hisspirit.**

It was past ten o’clock when he was informed that three Thebattalions of the Prince’s foot, mingled with some troops of noopshorse, were pouring down the long avenue of Saint James’sPark, with matches lighted, and in full readiness for action, hail.Count Solmes, who commanded the foreigners, 6aid that hisorders were to take military possession of the posts roundWhitehall, and exhorted Craven to retire peaceably. Cravenswore that he would rather be cut in pieces: but, when theKing, who was undressing himself, learned what was passing,he forbade the stout old soldier to attempt a resistance whichmust have been ineffectual. By eleven the Coldstream

* Burnet, i. 800.; Conduct of the Duchess of Marlborough; Mul-grave’s Account of the Revolution. Clarendon says nothing of this underthe proper dale; but see his Diary, August 19.1689.

*• Harte’s Life of Gustavus Adolphus.