Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 4.djvu/110

96 of as a miserable and insufficient sum. These men were now informed that they must put themselves under the orders of Barclay, and they would easily discover him at evening walking in the piazza of Covent Garden, and might recognise him by his white handkerchief hanging from his pocket. Meantime, Barclay had begun to open communication with the most determined Jacobites. The first of these were Charnock, who had originally been a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, but had apostatised, become a violent papistical agitator, and finally an officer in James's army; and Sir William Parkyns, a lawyer and officer of the court of chancery, for whilst plotting against the king, he had sworn fidelity to him, and was receiving his pay. These men most gladly united with Barclay, for they had been engaged in the very same design for some time. They assured him that there was no chance of effecting an invasion without preceding it by dispatching William. But to do this they wanted first an authority from the king, James, and to know that it would be followed up. Hereupon Barclay showed them his commission from James. This commission, according to the Jacobite Memoir of James itself, ran thus:—".—Our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby fully authorise, strictly require, and expressly command our loving subjects to rise in arms and make war upon the prince of Orange, the usurper of our throne, and all his adherents, and to seize for our use all such forts, towns, strongholds, within our dominion of England, as may serve to further our interest, and to do, from time to time, such other acts of hostility against the prince of Orange and his adherents, as may conduce most for our service, we judging this the properest, justest, and most effectual means of procuring our restoration and their deliverance; and we do hereby indemnify them for what they shall act in pursuance of this our royal command. Given at our court of St. Germains en Liege, the 27th of December, 1695."

Louis, James, and the Jacobites contended, when the conspiracy was discovered, that this commission gave no warrant, and was intended to give none, to assassination, but only to general warfare; but it spoke as plainly as the royal authors of such a scheme could venture to speak; it was immediately understood by those to whom it was shown to mean killing William by any "act of hostility" that should best serve; and that this was more fully explained by private instructions, there can be no doubt. The whole proceeding turned on this proposed murder. The army and fleet at Calais waited for it; James and Louis waited for it before putting these in motion, and when the attempt at assassination failed, James abandoned the intended invasion in despair, thus showing that the whole hope of success depended on the assassination. As Barclay's myrmidons arrived from France his hopes grew high; he called them his Janissaries, and said he trusted they would win a star and garter for him. He wanted forty for his purposes, and these men made up at once half the number. One of the earnest persons to whom the plot was confided, was Sir John Friend, a great brewer, who was a flaming Jacobite, and had received a colonel's commission from James; but Friend, though ready to promote an invasion, would have nothing to do with assassination, but promised to keep the secret. Charnock, however, promised to bring in eight or ten stout conspirators, and amongst these was George Porter, a low, debauched fellow, given up to all kinds of filthy dissipations, and supposed to be both a clipper of coin and a highwayman. Barclay endeavoured to decline such an ally, whose character was too notorious to be concealed, but Charnock and his friends declared that their lives were as dear to them as Barclay's was to him, and that they would not have trusted Porter if they knew him to be a drunkard and a blab. Porter was accordingly admitted, and expressed the utmost zeal in the undertaking. But he had a servant, Thomas Keyes, who had been a trumpeter in the Blues, and had been out in Monmouth's insurrection. He was declared by Porter to be a most desirable coadjutor, for he had still acquaintance amongst the Blues, who were inclined, unlike other household troops, to disaffection, and could bring them accurate news of the king's movements. After Keyes, came in Lowick, who had been a major in James's Irish army, and captain Knightley, who told Barclay that himself, one Durance, and others had for some time had a design to kill the king as he went to hunt in Richmond Park; that they had surveyed the ground several times and found it admirable. He introduced Durance, and the three went to the place, and found it a hunting-house kept by one Latten.

Barclay did not approve of the place, but proposed another, and they were joined by one captain Fisher, who lived in King Street, Westminster, and who proposed to kill one of the coach-horses with his own hand. Knightley now introduced King, and King a Frenchman named De la Rue, a blustering, gambling fellow.

It was evident that the number of conspirators was getting far too numerous, and far too indiscriminate in character for safety. It was necessary to use dispatch, and Barclay tells us that he was constantly studying how and where best to accomplish their object. He set Durance and another to haunt the neighbourhood of the palace, and to learn through Keyes the king's motions; that he went to Kensington and to every place which William frequented, to find out the best spot and opportunity. A major Holmes was his chief companion on these occasions. At last they fixed on Turnham Green as the best for their purpose. They learned that when William returned from hunting he crossed the river there by the ferry-boat, not getting out of his carriage, and that he did not wait for his guards, but drove on from the water-side till they overtook him. It was a low, swampy place, hidden amongst bushes at the western end of the green. The conspirators were now thirty-five, while the king had rarely more than twenty-five guards with him. The day fixed was Saturday, the 10th of February, for it was on Saturdays that William made these hunting excursions. As soon as they knew that the king went, the conspirators were to follow in different bodies, and from different directions, so as to avoid observation. They were to remain at small public-houses near the crossing-place, and as soon as their scouts gave them notice of the king's party approaching the Surrey side of the river, they were to put themselves in side lanes, to be ready to intercept him. They were to divide into four sets, one headed by Porter, one by Charnock, a third by Rookwood, and the fourth by Barclay himself. Two parties were