He landed with 14,000 troops on the shore of Torbay, Devonshire. (See
map facing p. 334.) It was the fifth and last rgeat landing in the
history of England.[1] He declared that he came in the interest of
his wife Mary, the heir to the throne (S477), and in the interest of
the English nation, to secure a free and legal Parliament which should
decide the question of the succession. James endeavored to rally a
force to resist him, but Baron Churchill, afterwards Duke of
Marlborough (S509), and the King's son-in-law, Prince George, both
secretly went over to William's side.
[1] The first being that of the Romans, the next that of the Saxons,
the third that of St. Augustine, the fourth that of William he
Conqueror, the fifth that of the Prince of Orange.
His troops likewise deserted, and finally even his daughter Anne went
over to the enemy. "Now God help me!" exclaimed James, in despair;
"for my own children forsake me!" The Queen had already fled to
France, taking with her her infant son, the unfortunate Prince James
Edward, whose birth (S490) had caused the revolution. Instead of a
kingdom, he inherited nothing but the nickname of "Pretender," which
he in turn transmitted to his son.[2] King James soon followed his
wife.
[2] Prince James Edward Stuart, the so-called "Old Pretender," and his
son, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the so-called "Young Pretender."
See, too, Genealogical Table, p. 323.
As he crossed the Thames in a boat by night, James threw the Great
Seal of State into the river, in the vain hope that without it a
Parliament could not be legally summoned to decide the question which
his adversary had raised.[3] The King got as far as the coast, but
was discovered by some fishermen and brought back. William
reluctantly received him, and purposely allowed him to escape a second
time. He reached France, and Louis XIV, who had long had the
treacherous King in his secret pay, received him at the court of
Versailles. There could be now no reasonable doubt that James's
daughter Mary (S477) would receive the English crown.
[3] On the Great Seal of State (S145).