Opening the text

Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 3 of 3Hallam, Henry

History

Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 3 of 3

Name: Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 3 of 3
Author: Hallam, Henry

Hallam, Henry

Constitutional history -- Great Britain

_Great disaffection in the kingdom._--The strong symptoms of
disaffection which broke out in a few months after the king's
accession, and which can be ascribed to no grievance, unless the
formation of a whig ministry was to be termed one, prove the taint of
the late times to have been deep seated and extensive.[336] The
clergy, in very many instances, were a curse rather than a blessing to
those over whom they were set; and the people, while they trusted that
from those polluted fountains they could draw the living waters of
truth, became the dupes of factious lies and sophistry. Thus
encouraged, the heir of the Stuarts landed in Scotland; and the spirit
of that people being in a great measure jacobite, and very generally
averse to the union, he met with such success as, had their
independence subsisted, would probably have established him on the
throne. But Scotland was now doomed to wait on the fortunes of her
more powerful ally; and, on his invasion of England, the noisy
partisans of hereditary right discredited their faction by its
cowardice. Few rose in arms to support the rebellion, compared with
those who desired its success, and did not blush to see the gallant
savages of the Highlands shed their blood that a supine herd of
priests and country gentlemen might enjoy the victory. The severity of
the new government after the rebellion has been often blamed; but I
know not whether, according to the usual rules of policy, it can be
proved that the execution of two peers and thirty other persons, taken
with arms in flagrant rebellion, was an unwarrantable excess of
punishment. There seems a latent insinuation in those who have argued
on the other side, as if the jacobite rebellion, being founded on an
opinion of right, was more excusable than an ordinary treason--a
proposition which it would not have been quite safe for the reigning
dynasty to acknowledge. Clemency however is the standing policy of
constitutional governments, as severity is of despotism; and, if the
ministers of George I. might have extended it to part of the inferior
sufferers (for surely those of higher rank were the first to be
selected) with safety to their master, they would have done well in
sparing him the odium that attends all political punishments.[337]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 3 of 3Hallam, Henry

History

Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 3 of 3

Hallam, Henry

Constitutional history -- Great Britain

_Great disaffection in the kingdom._--The strong symptoms of
disaffection which broke out in a few months after the king's
accession, and which can be ascribed to no grievance, unless the
formation of a whig ministry was to be termed one, prove the taint of
the late times to have been deep seated and extensive.[336] The
clergy, in very many instances, were a curse rather than a blessing to
those over whom they were set; and the people, while they trusted that
from those polluted fountains they could draw the living waters of
truth, became the dupes of factious lies and sophistry. Thus
encouraged, the heir of the Stuarts landed in Scotland; and the spirit
of that people being in a great measure jacobite, and very generally
averse to the union, he met with such success as, had their
independence subsisted, would probably have established him on the
throne. But Scotland was now doomed to wait on the fortunes of her
more powerful ally; and, on his invasion of England, the noisy
partisans of hereditary right discredited their faction by its
cowardice. Few rose in arms to support the rebellion, compared with
those who desired its success, and did not blush to see the gallant
savages of the Highlands shed their blood that a supine herd of
priests and country gentlemen might enjoy the victory. The severity of
the new government after the rebellion has been often blamed; but I
know not whether, according to the usual rules of policy, it can be
proved that the execution of two peers and thirty other persons, taken
with arms in flagrant rebellion, was an unwarrantable excess of
punishment. There seems a latent insinuation in those who have argued
on the other side, as if the jacobite rebellion, being founded on an
opinion of right, was more excusable than an ordinary treason--a
proposition which it would not have been quite safe for the reigning
dynasty to acknowledge. Clemency however is the standing policy of
constitutional governments, as severity is of despotism; and, if the
ministers of George I. might have extended it to part of the inferior
sufferers (for surely those of higher rank were the first to be
selected) with safety to their master, they would have done well in
sparing him the odium that attends all political punishments.[337]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 3 of 3

Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 3 of 3

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