New-York tribune., 1888-08-25
WILLIAM THE THIRD.
,. :, ,,u.rrpAcT1vE PORTRAIT.

III.
wSosv.r attempts to write the life OF William
,bc Third must come into comparison or INV =.
retition with Macaulay. To prepare q mvn' s,.;.s
80 Oh. ompact character prescribed py 'hc ""l'
of this SERIES and to make OF II as oo"'' 49,
r,cte and vivid q portrait as the grea' ....
has drawn. would require genius eNen .' ~
than his. Mr.. Trail has done his pest ou' n'S
hest Is not very good, and the Po'u,o " -,
,.s. unfinished No doubt the requirement Vi
rros.rtiny William mainly as n statesman i',"'-
.,.r.a ,b. biocmphcr and caused hlm 10 empn"-
49,. on. eide of his heros character somewhat un-
Al, Mr. TraiIl has evidently undertakeh w
80. aou,r what he considers the exuDerahce OIL
Nr..rIor,s nraise and TO find sooer muoie
ros;.ion between Whig super-laudatioh anu ioiS
Ultra -dcpreciation. But the omission OF many
leading facts in Williams early life weaRens 'he
SIGNIFICANCE Of the Judgment delivered IN seVer"i
instances For instance, in considering the piacN.
Get cpisodc in Williams reign the Massacre Vi
Glencoe. Mr. Trail opposes Macauiay IN main
tanning that the King must be heid respoh'''''
for the crime TO the extent at least OF oeihe "a
accessory after the fact, inasmuch as he refnSeu
n take proceedings against the assaSsns WIN |
the whole of the facts were known to him. DuV
had Mr. Traill referred to much carrier inciooho
IN Williams career he might have found arsu-
rcnts 10 support even severer censure. "heh
,ho Pensionary De Witt was foully siam, the
vourc Prince of Orange, the ad man hereui-
tsrv rival sheltered and supported the muruclers,
Whatever may be said for WllDam al'er""ru
this fact throws sinister light upon his character
ard reveals in him disposition quite capable
of deliberate consent TO even so drcaolul ueeu
as the massacre of Glencoe. There Is lndeeu no
evidence that he ever manifested horror at IL, ara
his condonation of the infamy is too PLAIN 10 nc
nlA nD6
of Macaulay.
,Ir Traill argues that he could not have had
any knowledge of the intended trcachcry against
thc Clan Macdonald but he does not deny that
the King signed the order for their eXtirpatlon
l,nowinrlv Now y9ien tribe is TO be eXtirpated
which means the slaughter Of men, women ana
child-cn-surely il is than puerilc to boggie
at little stratagcm. The greater cruelty lncnoeS
the less and there can be no difficulty whatever
in believing that a ruler capable of signing an
order for the determination OF whole chn IN
cold blood might approve the base device by
which the work Of butchery was facilitated Ger
tainly it. cannot he said that the patron OF Dc
Witt's murdcrcrs was too high-minded to do such
= thing On the contrary it is perfectly apparent
that he was not above even worse actor his
behavior in the De Witt case gave color TO the
current rumor that the murder Of the Pensionary
was MANNED or consented to by him, who had most
TO gain from the atrocity PartiSanship has, how
ever warped every view of Williams character
and career and it is hardly too much to say TINT
the post hoe ergo proptcr hoe has been so apphec
in his behalf as TO procure for him the credit OF
originating matters which simply happened to oc-
cur without any volition of his. But perhaps INC
most curious thing is the insistance upon his as
pcct as a constitutional ruler. in face Of the fac
that few sovereigns acted in more open disregard
OK
the direction of absolutism.
William was ambitious. a stanch liollander
fierce hater of Louis the Fourteenth, rigid Gal
whist mediocre captain, q shrcwd diplomatiSt
His military capacity has been greatly eXagger
ated Mr. Trail is hardly dealing fairly with his
tory in ignoring altogether the long career o
hlundcrs and disasters which preceded the captur
Of Namur-reallv his first decided success. 1h
Battle OF the Boyne was gained by veteran trooT
over an army two-thirds of which consisted Q
ragged undisciplined Irish llernes; and even ther
William lcssened the effectiveness of his victor
Nv rejecting the sound advice of Marshal Schon
berg. The Prince of Orange, in truth. acceDtc
the crown of England. not because he loved {
cared for the English at all. but because he sa
that from the throne offered him he could bette
defend his own country and strike at his enem,
Louis Undoubtedly he did Europe and En2lan
q great benefit in lowering the pride and power
the French monarch but his motives ought to
taken into account. and when they are it becom
rather questionable whether he is entitled to
place as an English statesman. European stat
craft indeed was his forte. but he used his posltlt
as King Of England TO strengthen his diplomat
influence, and lie conducted the foreign affairs
the kingdom so personally that they might ha
been his private concerns for all his Ministers
the Parliament knew of his purposes or acts.
alla ad
consulted "a Minister. lie never vouchsafed al
information to Parliament. The sole function
the latter it seemed TO him. was TO furnish t
means Of carrying on war.
That the tendency of his mind was toward an
thing but constitutional government Is clear
shown, not only by his conduct of foreign affai
but by his utterly lawless disposition of the Iri
forfeiturcs The country having expended It's bio
and treasure IN putting down armed rebellion
the island, the King coolly portioned out I
greater part of the forfeited lands among his pt
sonal favorites. lie did not even make the large
grants to men who had done public service.
he heaped estates upon more courtlers 1hls W
more than Parliament could endure, and it broue
him TO a realizing sense OF his true position
making him restore all the forfeited lands. great
10 his humiliation This among his ma
couses of complaint against his people, but. in IA
A. was not reasonable in him to suppose that
could change conditions which had been Growi
up during centuries. and eliminate that party spi
which had its roots in mutual injuries and hatr'
extending back for generations. lie tried to ma
government easier for himself by admitting rep
sentatives OF both parties to the adminstrat
Naturally this did not operate very smoothly, a
presently he made what was then the new depa
ure OF putting the Government altogether IN
hands OF one party. Mr.. Trail points out u
st. is incorrect TO term this experiment the oe.
ming Of party government. lnaSmucn as IL w"
wholly tentative essay. and. moreover was
adopted as a system. but was discontinued al
-. - ~ .,0o,od 90 lansc IL WAS not