courage than in quitting
England to fight James in Ireland at a moment when the Jacobites were
only looking for the appearance of a French fleet on the coast to rise
in revolt. The French minister in fact hurried the fleet to sea in the
hope of detaining William in England by a danger at home; and he had
hardly set out for Ireland when Tourville, the French admiral, appeared
in the Channel with strict orders to fight. Orders as strict had been
sent to the allied fleets to engage even at the risk of defeat; and when
Tourville was met on the 30th of June 1690 by the English and Dutch
fleet at Beachy Head the Dutch division at once engaged. Though utterly
outnumbered it fought stubbornly in hope of Herbert's aid; but Herbert,
whether from cowardice or treason, looked idly on while his allies were
crushed, and withdrew with the English ships at nightfall to seek
shelter in the Thames. The danger was as great as the shame, for
Tourville's victory left him master of the Channel and his presence off
the coast of Devon invited the Jacobites to revolt. But whatever the
discontent of Tories and Nonjurors against William might be all signs of
it vanished with the landing of the French. The burning of Teignmouth by
Tourville's sailors called the whole coast to arms; and the news of the
Boyne put an end to all dreams of a rising in favour of James.

[Sidenote: Intrigues in England.]

The natural reaction against a cause which looked for foreign aid gave a
new strength for the moment to William in England; but ill luck still
hung around the Grand Alliance. So urgent was the need for his presence
abroad that William left as we have seen his work in Ireland undone, and
crossed in the spring of 1691 to Flanders. It was the first time since
the days of Henry the Eighth that an English king had appeared on the
Continent at the head of an English army. But the slowness of the allies
again baffled William's hopes. He was forced to look on with a small
army while a hundred thousand Frenchmen closed suddenly around Mons, the
strongest fortress of the Netherlands, and made themselves masters of it
in the presence of Lewis. The humiliation was great, and for the moment
all trust in William's fortune faded away. In England the blow was felt
more heavily than elsewhere. The Jacobite hopes which had been crushed
by the indignation at Tourville's descent woke up to a fresh life.
Leading Tories, such as Lord Clarendon and Lord Dartmouth, opened
co