ds
were agreed. The King could not be suffered to remain where he was. That
one prince should fortify himself in Whitehall and the other in Saint
James's, that there should be two hostile garrisons within an area of
a hundred acres, was universally felt to be inexpedient. Such an
arrangement could scarcely fail to produce suspicions, insults, and
bickerings which might end in blood. The assembled Lords, therefore,
thought it advisable that James should be sent out of London. Ham, which
had been built and decorated by Lauderdale, on the banks of the Thames,
out of the plunder of Scotland and the bribes of France, and which was
regarded as the most luxurious of villas, was proposed as a convenient
retreat. When the Lords had come to this conclusion, they requested
the Prince to join them. Their opinion was then communicated to him, by
Halifax. William listened and approved. A short message to the King was
drawn up. "Whom," said William, "shall we send with it?" "Ought it not,"
said Halifax, "to be conveyed by one of your Highness's officers?" "Nay,
my Lord," answered the Prince; "by your favour, it is sent by the advice
of your Lordships, and some of you ought to carry it." Then, without
pausing to give time for remonstrance, he appointed Halifax, Shrewsbury,
and Delamere to be the messengers. [600]

The resolution of the Lords appeared to be unanimous. But there were
in the assembly those who by no means approved of the decision in which
they affected to concur, and who wished to see the King treated with
a severity which they did not venture openly to recommend. It is a
remarkable fact that the chief of this party was a peer who had been
a vehement Tory, and who afterwards died a Nonjuror, Clarendon. The
rapidity, with which, at this crisis, he went backward and forward from
extreme to extreme, might seem incredible to people living in quiet
times, but will not surprise those who have had an opportunity of
watching the course of revolutions. He knew that the asperity, with
which he had, in the royal presence, censured the whole system of
government, had given mortal offence to his old master. On the other
hand he might, as the uncle of the Princesses, hope to be great and
rich in the new world which was about to commence. The English colony
in Ireland regarded him as a friend and patron; and he felt that on the
confidence and attachment of that great interest much of his importance
depended. To such considerations as th