The Bravest of the Brave | Page 8

throwing themselves into the besieged town, and continued the defense

with vigor, and Mordaunt again distinguished himself; but he soon
wearied of the monotony of a long siege, and before the end of the year
found opportunity to return to England, where he plunged into politics
and became one of the leaders of the party formed to exclude the Duke
of York from the throne.
Although a close friend of Lord Russell and Algernon Sidney he had
fortunately for himself not been admitted to the fatal privilege of their
private councils, and therefore escaped the fate which befell them. He
continued his friendship with them to the last, and accompanied
Algernon Sidney to the scaffold. But even while throwing himself heart
and soul into politics he was continually indulging in wild freaks which
rendered him the talk of the town.
On the accession of King James he made his first speech in the House
of Peers against a standing army, and distinguished himself alike by the
eloquence and violence of his language. He was now under the
displeasure of the court, and his profuse generosity had brought him
into pecuniary trouble. In 1686, therefore, he quitted England with the
professed intention of accepting a command in the Dutch fleet then
about to sail for the West Indies, When he arrived in Holland, however,
he presented himself immediately to the Prince of Orange, and first
among the British nobility boldly proposed to William an immediate
invasion of England. He pushed his arguments with fiery zeal, urged
the disaffection of all classes, the hatred of the Commons, the defection
of the Lords, the alarm of the Church, and the wavering loyalty of the
army.
William, however, was already informed of these facts, and was not to
be hurried. Mordaunt remained with him till, on the 20th of October,
1688, he sailed for England. The first commission that King William
signed in England was the appointment of Lord Mordaunt as lieutenant
colonel of horse, and raising a regiment he rendered good service at
Exeter. As soon as the revolution was completed, and William and
Mary ascended the throne, Mordaunt was made a privy councilor and
one of the lords of the bedchamber, and in April, 1689, he was made
first commissioner of the treasury, and advanced to the dignity of Earl
of Monmouth. In addition to the other offices to which he was
appointed he was given the colonelcy of the regiment of horse guards.
His conduct in office showed in brilliant contrast to that of the men

with whom he was placed. He alone was free from the slightest
suspicion of corruption and venality, and he speedily made enemies
among his colleagues by the open contempt which he manifested for
their gross corruption.
Although he had taken so prominent a part in bringing King William to
England, Monmouth soon became mixed up in all sorts of intrigues and
plots. He was already tired of the reign of the Dutch king, and longed
for a commonwealth. He was constantly quarreling with his colleagues,
and whenever there was a debate in the House of Lords Monmouth
took a prominent part on the side of the minority. In 1692 he went out
with his regiment of horse guards to Holland, and fought bravely at the
battle of Steenkirk. The campaign was a failure, and in October he
returned to England with the king.
For two years after this he lived quietly, devoting his principal attention
to his garden and the society of wits and men of letters. Then he again
appeared in parliament, and took a leading part in the movement in
opposition to the crown, and inveighed in bitter terms against the
bribery of persons in power by the East India Company, and the
venality of many members of parliament and even the ministry. His
relations with the king were now of the coldest kind, and he became
mixed up in a Jacobite plot. How far he was guilty in the matter was
never proved. Public opinion certainly condemned him, and by a vote
of the peers he was deprived of all his employments and sent to the
Tower. The king, however, stood his friend, and released him at the end
of the session.
In 1697, by the death of his uncle, Charles became Earl of
Peterborough, and passed the next four years in private life, emerging
only occasionally to go down to the House of Peers and make fiery
onslaughts upon abuses and corruption. In the course of these years,
both in parliament and at court, he had been sometimes the friend,
sometimes the opponent of Marlborough; but he had the good fortune
to be a favorite of the duchess, and when the time came that a leader
was required for the proposed expedition to