Just to check: your voting character has changed parties, correct?
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Just to check: your voting character has changed parties, correct?
Higher Education Bill: Nay
Militia Bill (1692): Aye
Taxation Bill: /Nay
Surplus Resolution: Aye
[House of Commons]
[Independent]
"My objection to the education bill is that it establishes two universities in England, with no provision at all for Wales, Scotland or Ireland."
Militia Bill (1692): Aye
Taxation Bill: /Nay
Surplus Resolution: Aye
[House of Commons]
[Independent]
"My objection to the education bill is that it establishes two universities in England, with no provision at all for Wales, Scotland or Ireland."
((Well Wales then. But I thought that England's Parliament over rules all the others. Do taxes in Ireland not get pumped into the English budget?))
((My bad, I meant Tory))
New Ballot:
Higher Education Bill: Nay
Militia Bill (1692): Nay
Taxation Bill: Nay
Surplus Resolution: Nay
[Commons]
[Tory]
No, Baboush is correct; Westminster legislates for England and Wales, and has the power to legislate for Ireland should it wish. Edinburgh is independent, merely happening to have the same head of state.
As for taxes, I honestly have no idea. My numbers aren't exactly highly detailed, but I've been taking them as representing England and Wales.
))
((Well chalk it up to the new Earl not understanding how things work))
Higher Education Bill: Aye
Militia Bill (1692): Aye
Taxation Bill (1692): Aye
Surplus Resolution: Aye
[Commons]
[Whig]
Militia Bill (1692): Aye
Taxation Bill (1692): Aye
Surplus Resolution: Aye
[Commons]
[Whig]
The Rt Hon Thomas Milnes, PC
High Sheriff of Glamorgan
Member for Cardiff
High Sheriff of Glamorgan
Member for Cardiff
Higher Education Bill: Aye
Militia Bill (1692): Aye
Taxation Bill (1692): Aye
Surplus Resolution: Aye
[Commons]
[Whig]
Militia Bill (1692): Aye
Taxation Bill (1692): Aye
Surplus Resolution: Aye
[Commons]
[Whig]
Voting closed about 25 minutes ago. Because I hadn't made any such declaration before TJDS voted, I'll count his ballot. Also because it ups the Commons turnout. I'd already tallied everything up before the extra ballot, so I'll put the numbers up just to give you all anidea of what happened. The end results won't be changed, though the numbers will:
All numbers are now correct, so here they are:
Happy politicking!
All numbers are now correct, so here they are:
Aye/Nay/Abstain
The Commons
Higher Education Bill: 297/45/0
Militia Bill: 327/15/0
Taxation Bill: 297/45/0
Surplus Resolution: 327/15/0
Turnout: 342/513 [66.67%]
The Lords
Higher Education Bill: 49/0/0
Militia Bill: 49/0/0
Taxation Bill: 49/0/0
Surplus Resolution: 49/0/0
Therefore:The Commons
Higher Education Bill: 297/45/0
Militia Bill: 327/15/0
Taxation Bill: 297/45/0
Surplus Resolution: 327/15/0
Turnout: 342/513 [66.67%]
The Lords
Higher Education Bill: 49/0/0
Militia Bill: 49/0/0
Taxation Bill: 49/0/0
Surplus Resolution: 49/0/0
The Higher Education Bill passes, receiving Royal Assent as the Higher Education Act.
The Militia Bill passes, receiving Royal Assent as the Militia Act (1692).
The Taxation Bill passes, receiving Royal Assent as the Taxation Act (1692).
The surplus resolution passes, meaning the treasury is now bound to put all surplus into the war effort.
Update will be either later today or tomorrow. If anyone has any orders they haven't got in yet (and remember that anyone can submit stuff,) then now's your chance to change that.The Militia Bill passes, receiving Royal Assent as the Militia Act (1692).
The Taxation Bill passes, receiving Royal Assent as the Taxation Act (1692).
The surplus resolution passes, meaning the treasury is now bound to put all surplus into the war effort.
Happy politicking!
Mr. Speaker,
This Parliament has, in my opinion, served its purpose, it has facilitated in the staving off a French invasion with the Militia Bills and has both balanced the income and the expenditure of the Government and reliefed the poorest in our cities with its acts, eventhough the Other Place was quite evident in their resistance of the latter bills. Therefore I motion that this House disbands itself and calls for new elections, so that the Commons can once again successfully serve His and Her Majesty in the war against the French and Papists across both the Irish Sea and the English Channel, the former of whom was defeated by this Parliament and I have no doubt that the latter of whom will be defeated by the next Parliament.
- The Rt. Hon. Treasurer of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell
This Parliament has, in my opinion, served its purpose, it has facilitated in the staving off a French invasion with the Militia Bills and has both balanced the income and the expenditure of the Government and reliefed the poorest in our cities with its acts, eventhough the Other Place was quite evident in their resistance of the latter bills. Therefore I motion that this House disbands itself and calls for new elections, so that the Commons can once again successfully serve His and Her Majesty in the war against the French and Papists across both the Irish Sea and the English Channel, the former of whom was defeated by this Parliament and I have no doubt that the latter of whom will be defeated by the next Parliament.
- The Rt. Hon. Treasurer of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell
I have the domestic side of the update basically finished, but its completion is being hampered by a lack of real idea as to what the military will doing for the next couple of campaign seasons. Therefore, seeing as I'd rather not put out a half-finished update that I'd have to fill in later, I'd very much appreciate it if William (so Sneakyflaps) could get some orders in as soon as possible. TJDS, if you also want to send in some naval instructions, I'll happily use them.
Thanks a lot,
DB
DB
I could, but I won't. I'd much rather be able to give you one complete update, taking us from 1692–3 in one go, than two incomplete updates taking us there on two separate occasions.
Nevertheless, I've now got all the required orders so I'll have an update some time in the next 24 hours. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
I second the calls for new elections made by my honourable friend, the member for Launceston.
-- Sir David Eyrie, Bt., MP for Plympton Erle
-- Sir David Eyrie, Bt., MP for Plympton Erle
This came in tandem with the passing of Milnes' amendment to the Militia Act, which technically lifted the bar on Catholics serving in defence of the Kingdom, instituting an oath of loyalty to be sworn by all those engaged in England's defence. Primarily aimed not at the small Catholic segment of the population, but rather at the comparative Dissenter demographic (largely supportive of the Whigs,) the act represented the first real overtures made by the Williamite regime to the Dissenting population, whose support had hitherto remained unsolicited. William had, since his accession to the throne, been occupied with cementing his position amongst the Anglican ascendancy in Westminster, and therefore made little effort to broaden his reach. With renewed fears of a French-supported Jacobite invasion curtailed by naval successes at Barfleur and La Hogue, however, the Calvinist king was at liberty to go beyond simple consolidation. The severe minority of the Dissenting group in England and Wales meant that their support would never be a viable replacement in the event of the loss of Anglican backing (as had happened to James, who himself had tried to court the Dissenting favour with mixed results,) yet their recognition by Westminster, as well as the loosening of various discriminating checks against them, helped to bring a general resurgence in Whiggish support in the regions.
Since the election of 1690, the Tories had been subject to decreasing support in the Commons. Their central role in William's ministerial coalition remained unthreatened, and had even been bolstered by the ejection of Norfolk from the ruling cabal, but a mixture of general apathy from many Tory members (most of whom had been ushered into Parliament by benefactors in the landed gentry); a more widespread culture of low turnouts in Parliament on a daily basis; and a strong Whiggish response to the electoral defeat had seen party representation in the Commons slide in the succeeding two years. Contemporary witnesses report days on which the Tory interest would be represented by perhaps half of its members, giving the Whigs a nominal Parliamentary majority in many cases. The party's domination of the Lords was in little doubt, but many observers in London's clubs and coffee houses predicted that the next election would likely see something of a Whiggish resurgence after the rejection of two years' prior.
Mostly, however, this reversal of partisan affairs was not used to any great political gain. Rather, for much of 1692, Parliament concerned itself with matters that were either quite regular, or that represented various schemes for the foundation of various institutions across the country. Most famous of these were two colleges, St. George's in London and St. Cuthbert's in Bristol, which were inaugurated in October 1692 and began teaching in the spring of the next year. Known together as the "Williamite Colleges", they were the first non-religious (though that is not to say secular) institutions of higher learning founded in England since a body of disgruntled Oxford academics travelled to Cambridge and set up a university there in 1209. This in itself was controversial at the time. Both Oxford and Cambridge reacted indignantly at the inception of the two colleges, feeling that their existence devalued their own prestige. This impasse contributed to the struggle after the colleges' foundation to obtain the requisite royal charters to bestow degrees of any value. (No legal bar existed to prevent degrees being awarded, but without a charter it was supposed that awards from the colleges would be held in little regard.) It would not be until 1697 that charters would be granted, with Oxbridge finally consenting to the colleges' use of the bachelor of the arts degree on their own pattern afternoon initial fears of academic usurpation were assuaged.
The foundation of the Williamite colleges had been driven largely by the proactive financier the Earl of Mulgrave, who was granted the dignity of being the inaugural Chancellor of both of the colleges in honour of his instrumental role in their formation. Abroad, however, Mulgrave's continued business ventures in the North American colonies were not as successful, nor, indeed, dignified. Conflicts between French and English settlers had erupted with the Revolution of 1688 and continued as "King William's War", the name usually granted to the War of the Grand Alliance in American historiography. Centred mainly around New England, the disturbances had had a severe impact on the fur trade, still vital to the American colonies despite its usurpation by the West Indian sugar trade in global importance. Skirmishes had also previously forced Mulgrave out of New England, where plans to open another bank in Boston had to be scrapped after significant losses of capital in the aborted establishment of a settlement in New Hampshire. Undeterred, the Earl sought to recover his losses by establishing a new settlement in the contested region of Georgia, whose ownership was disputed by Spain and England. As with its ill-fated namesake, Mulgrave's settlement of New Sheffield was also abandoned following hostile encounters with the indigenous population.
In the Spanish Netherlands, William was enjoying better luck. Returning to the Allied encampment at Brussels to resume the campaign with 30,000 fresh troops in June 1692, William came dedicated to striking a decisive counter-blow to his arch-rival Louis, whose Grand Plan of the previous year had, on land, proven highly effective. In conference with his Dutch generals, it was agreed that the objectives for the campaign season would be centred around pushing Louis out of Namur and so regaining the upper hand. Initially, it was decided that major engagements with Luxembourg's 100,000-strong army were to be avoided, despite the relative parity on which the Maritime Powers now met the French in the Low Countries, though a fortuitous intervention of fate for William allowed this doctrine to soon be disregarded. In September, after a summer campaign of attrition, Marshal Luxembourg took ill and was forced to retire to Paris. He would die there on the 6th of October.
Luxembourg was succeeded in Flanders by the Duke of Villeroy, who would go on to be created a Marshal of France in early 1693. Villeroy was not a commander of Luxembourg's stature, and William found him to be a much easier opponent to best. The Allied forces first did so at Neerwinden, where, after a series of feints, William met Villeroy not only as his numerical superior, having compelled him to detach various groups along the French lines, but also having induced him to cross the River Gete and so forfeiting any means of retiring easily. Villeroy therefore entrenched his army along the river from the village of Laar, though Neerwinden to the village of Landen. When the two forces ultimately engaged on the 10th March, William outnumbered Villeroy by a ratio of about three to two.
The left of Villeroy's line (the section from Laar to Neerwinden, as viewed by the French) gave both sides a good amount of cover as the ground was broken. It was therefore heavily garrisoned and saw the bulk of the fighting. During the battle, the French attacked with the majority of their force between the two villages and enjoyed initial successes, with Villeroy securing the achievement of capturing a colour within the battle's first hours. William soon regrouped and led a heavy counterattack, however, expelling Villeroy's army from both Laar and Neerwinden and pushing them back towards the Gete. A second French assault was held at bay with similar tenacity. Meanwhile, the Anglo–Dutch army held back the French cavalry in the centre of the line with sustained fire over the morning, forcing Villeroy to ultimately second the centre detachment to join the left flank in holding against the English. The remnant cavalry would form the nucleus of one final assault on Neerwinden, which had become the main arena of fighting. Even with the centre flank as reinforcement, however, the French were unable to penetrate William's line of control; Villeroy ordered the retreat and the French lines began to fall back steadily along the river towards Ezemaal, still giving a good defence to the pursuing English vanguard.
By the evening, William had secured a solid victory, though little in the way of a decisive encounter from a political standpoint. Once able to regroup, Villeroy would be able to salvage most of his control over southern Wallonia and William would be left having stalled the French advance but otherwise having made little in the way of substantive progress. As with many battles of the period, it was a failure to act upon success, more than a failure to achieve success, that halted advances.
The Anglo–Dutch force were spared such inconclusiveness by the Duke of Ormonde, who was serving under William as a major-general. Ormonde observed the French retreat to Ezemaal and led a detachment of cavalry towards the village, where he meet the French and forced them to give fresh battle. The exhausted French army having been totally surprised by Ormonde's manoeuvre, Villeroy was forced to order a costly retreat across the Gete – by now the only path away from the Allies. Villeroy himself led a stubborn rearguard defence against the renewed Allied pursuit, which did much to save the French army. The Allies were afforded a degree of morbid pleasure when it was later learnt that the Duke of Berwick, James' illegitimate son, was killed in the retreat. Irish general Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan in the Jacobite peerage, also died three days after the battle after having sustained a shot to the chest.
Ormonde's initiative had given William the decisive action he had craved since the war's start four-and-a-half years prior. The Battle of Neerwinden had been bloody on both sides, with total casualties of around 22,000 (15,000 for the French, 7,000 for the Allies) but it had given the Maritime Powers the front footing. Going into the summer campaign of 1693, William was very well placed to continue with his recapturing of the Low Countries, whose continued possession by friendly powers had been a central tenet of English foreign policy since the days of Henry V. Slowly, Louis' hitherto not inconsiderable luck was starting to run out.
There you go. One update, completed as desired. (Well, it will be when I add the pictures later…) Thanks to TJDS and Sneakyflaps for being so prompt in their sending of orders. It is very much appreciated.
We're now in May 1693, and it's business as usual. I'll be away over the weekend, though I dare say in a position to put a vote up if need be on Sunday, so we'll aim for then.
Oh, and Dadarian: that promised update might be tomorrow. Otherwise I can't see it coming before Monday, I'm afraid.
Happy politicking!
We're now in May 1693, and it's business as usual. I'll be away over the weekend, though I dare say in a position to put a vote up if need be on Sunday, so we'll aim for then.
Oh, and Dadarian: that promised update might be tomorrow. Otherwise I can't see it coming before Monday, I'm afraid.
Happy politicking!
The Sailing of the Sophia
- Notes from Norfolk -
- Notes from Norfolk -
Painstakingly constructed at the Woolwich Dockyards, the Sophia was crafted from strong timbers and, equipped with eighty guns arranged along her double decks, was designed to blend speed, manoeuvrability and firepower. A year or so ago, in February 1692, the vessel – a third-rate ship-of-the-line, commissioned by the Duke of Norfolk – had put to sea on her maiden voyage, sailing along the coast and through the Strait of Dover to rendez-vous with the Channel Fleet.
Sketch of the Sophia at the Woolwich Dockyard
The Sophia had, quite understandably, declined to take part in the Battle of Barfleur. Whereas Norfolk’s antecedent had served with distinction as Admiral of the Fleet, the present duke had only recently been accustomed to captaining a craft when the battle commenced. The vessel’s crew, a motley collection of newfound sailors, was scarcely prepared for such an engagement. Nevertheless, a year of rigorous training has drilled the crew into worthy seamen, poised to harass French shipping and engage enemy vessels.