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HISTORY OP ENGLAND.

chap, that he was charged with a petition requesting them instantly■ jegg. to declare the Prince and Princess of Orange King and Queen.He was asked by whom the petition was signed. “There areno hands to it yet,” he answered; “but, when I bring it herenext, there shall be hands enough.” This menace alarmedand disgusted his own party. The leading Whigs were,in truth, even more anxious than the Tories that the delibera-tions of the Convention should be perfectly free, and that itshould not be in the power of any adherent of James to allegethat either House had acted under force. A petition, similarto that which had been entrusted to Lovelace, was broughtinto the House of Commons, but was contemptuously rejected.Maynard was foremost in protesting against the attempt of therabble in the streets to overawe the Estates of the Realm.William sent for Lovelace, expostulated with him strongly,and ordered the magistrates to act with vigour against allunlawful assemblies. * Nothing in the history of our revolutionis more deserving of admiration and of imitation than themanner in which the two parties in the Convention, at thevery moment at which their disputes ran highest, joined likeone man to resist the dictation of the mob of the capital.

Letter of But, though the Whigs were fully determined to maintaintheCon- or< ler and to respect the freedom of debate, they were equallyremicm. determined to make no concession. On Saturday the secondof February the Commons, without a division, resolved toadhere to their resolution as it originally stood. James, asusual, came to the help of his enemies. A letter from him tothe Convention had just arrived in London. It had beentransmitted to Preston by the apostate Melfort, who was nowhigh in favour at Saint Germains. The name of Melfort wasan abomination to every Churchman. That he was still aconfidential minister was alone sufficient to prove that hismaster’s folly and perverseness were incurable. No memberof either House ventured to propose that a paper which came

* Citters, Feb. T V 1689; Clarendon’s Diary, Feb. 2. The story isgreatly exaggerated in the work entitled Revolution Politics, an emi-nently absurd book, yet of some value as a record of the foolish reportsof the day. Grey’s Debates.