Upon receiving information of William's descent upon the English coast, King James mustered an army of 30,000 men, and marched towards Salisbury to oppose him. On the way, Lord Cornbury, under pretence of attacking an outpost of the enemy, took his own regiment and three others and abandoned the royal cause: further on, the Duke of Grafton, Colonel Barclay, and Lord Churchill, Lieutenant-General of the Guards, openly deserted. Seeing the defection continue, the king retired to Andover, whence Prince George of Denmark, the young Duke of Ormond, and other distinguished personages, fled in the night, and joined the standard of the invader. Overwhelmed with shame and confusion he returned to London, but here he found that his daughter, Anne, under pretence of fearing his anger on account of her husband's defection, had left the palace and taken refuge with his enemies. He had always been a most affectionate and indulgent father. The ingratitude of his elder daughter, though it pressed heavily on his heart, was borne with becoming fortitude, but that of the younger, not having the same extenuating causes, outraged all the dearest sensibilities of the father; his spirit was broken, and, weeping in his bereavement, he exclaimed: "God help me, my own children have forsaken me!" His queen and infant son demanding his first attention, he committed them to the care of the Count de Lausun, by whom they were conveyed in safety to France, and dispatching Lord Feversham with a letter of remonstrance to William, he determined to remain in London himself, and bide the issue of events. But contrary to honorable usage, Feversham was imprisoned, the palace was surrounded by Dutch guards, in the night, and the king was notified that he should quit London by 12 o'clock next day. Accordingly, he was sent under arrest to Rochester, whence he escaped to Picardy, and arrived at St. Germains on the 25th of December, deserted by all his family but the Duke of Berwick, and the Grand Prior Fitzjames. The departure of the king was a signal for the uprising of the London mob; the Catholic inhabitants were forced to seek refuge in flight; their property was marked out for destruction; the houses of the Spanish and Florentine envoys were rifled, and William entered the city by the blaze of the few religious houses which had been erected during the short reign of the expatriate king. He lost no time in arranging his terms of settlement with his new subjects and in opening negotiations with the leaders of the Church party in Ireland and Scotland. On the 12th of February, the Princess Mary joined him in England, and they were proclaimed king and queen; the Prince of Wales was debarred the right of succession, William was invested in the administration, and his children by Mary--should he be blessed with any--were to be endowed with the right of succession. CHAPTER III. EVENTS PRECEDING HOSTILITIES IN IRELAND.--THE PREPARATORY MEASURES OF TYRCONNELL.