throne of his uncle. At first the cause of the duke
seemed prosperous. His army swelled from hundreds to thousands; but,
owing to his lack of energy and fondness for pleasure, he delayed and
gave the royal armies time to recruit. He was attacked at Sedgemore,
near Bridgewater, and, owing to the perfidity or cowardice of Gray, his
cavalry general, the rebels were defeated. Monmouth was captured, and
his uncle ordered him beheaded, which was done.

Then commenced the most barbarous punishment of rebels ever known. An
officer named Kirk was sent by the king to hunt down the Monmouth
rebels, or those sympathizing with them. His atrocious deeds would fill
a volume, and are so revolting as to seem incredible. Another brutal
ruffian of the time was Judge Jeffries. The judicial ermine has often
been disgraced by prejudiced judges; but Jeffries was the worst monster
that ever sat on the bench. He hung men with as much relish as did
Berkeley of Virginia. His term was called the "bloody assizes," and to
this day the name of Judge Jeffries is applied in reproach to the
scandalous ruling of a partial judiciary.

The accession of James II. made fewer changes in the American colonies
than was anticipated. Perhaps, had his reign been longer, the changes
would have been greater. The suppression of Monmouth's rebellion gave to
the colonies many useful citizens. Men connect themselves, in the eyes
of posterity, with the objects in which they take delight. James II. was
inexorable toward his brother's favorites. Monmouth was beheaded, and
the triumph of legitimacy was commemorated by a medal, representing the
heads of Monmouth and Argyle on an altar, their bleeding bodies beneath,
with the following: "Sic aras et sceptra tuemur." ("Thus we defend our
altars and our throne.")

"Lord chief justice is making his campaign in the west," wrote James II.
to one in Europe, referring to Jeffries' circuit for punishing the
insurgents. "He has already condemned several hundreds, some of whom we
are already executed, more are to be, and the others sent to the
plantations." The prisoners condemned to transportation were a salable
commodity. Such was the demand for labor in America that convicts and
laborers were regularly purchased and shipped to the colonies where they
were sold as indented servants. The courtiers round James II. exulted in
the rich harvest which the rebellion promised, and begged of the monarch
frequent gifts of their condemned co