We pass on to the 18th of December, when William, having Schomberg[1] beside him, drove to St. James’ Palace, and took up his quarters there. On the 11th of February 1689, the Princess Mary arrived; and on the 13th, the crown was accepted from the Estates of the Realm by King William III. and Queen Mary. The year, according to the style then in use, was still 1688; and it was not till the 25th of March that the year 1689 began. The descendants of the French refugees, in arranging chronological notes concerning their ancestors, must remember that the summer, which followed February 1688 (old style), was not 1688 but 1689, and also that there were only three campaigns in Ireland, namely, those of 1689, 1690, and 1691.
On the 3rd of April 1689, Schomberg was made a Knight of the Garter, and was installed on the 11th, along with the Earl of Devonshire. On the 18th of April, “Frederic, Comte de Schomberg, Due et Maréchal de France,” was made Master-General of the Ordnance.[2] The duties of the Master-Generalship were to be discharged either personally or by deputy; and the office was to be held (habendum, tenendum, gaudendum, occupandum et exercendum) in the same manner as it had been by his predecessor George, Lord Dartmouth. He was made General of all their Majesties’ forces, and a Privy Councillor. He was also elevated to the English Peerage, and received the titles of Baron of Teyes, Earl of Brentford, Marquis of Harwich, and Duke of Schomberg.
During this spring and the beginning of summer, he had the only days of quiet and relaxation that he was destined to spend as an English subject. A few recollections of him at this period have been preserved. Bishop Burnet told him of his plan to leave behind him a history of his own times. “Let me advise you,” said the old soldier, “never to meddle with the relation of military details. Some literary men affect to tell their story in all the terms of war, and commit great errors that expose them to the scorn of all officers, who must despise narratives having blunders in every part of them, and yet pretending to minute accuracy.” The Right Reverend listener remembered the advice, and followed it. Cotemporaries[3] preserved the following reminiscences of Schomberg, applicable to this date:— “He was of a middle stature, well proportioned, fair complexioned, a very sound hardy man of his age, and sat a horse the best of any man. As he loved always to be neat in his clothes, so he was ever pleasant in his conversation, of which this repartee is an instance. He was walking in St. James’s Park amidst crowds of the young and gay, and being asked what a man of his age had to do with such company, he replied, ‘A good general makes his retreat as late as he can.’”
In the House of Commons he was highly eulogised. The debate about voting him a grant of money (which led to the king undertaking to make a grant of £100,000) has been preserved. 1689, April 24th. Sir Robert Howard began, “The Duke of Schomberg, one of the greatest captains in the world, under His Majesty the then Prince of Orange, had his estates and pension all seized in France, and he has waived all things in this world to serve you and his religion. He has been solicited by the Duke of Brandenburg, and by the emperor, to be their general. He has quitted all to serve this king and kingdom; hither he comes, and the king is not in a condition to reward him, otherwise than with the honour of the Knight of the Garter. The king’s condition is not equal to his desires to reward him. There cannot be a greater misfortune than to lose such a captain. I hope the House will do something for his fortune, as the king has done for his honour.”
Mr. Garroway said, “I have as high esteem as anybody for Marshal Schomberg. Though we have no present use for him, yet we may have. But how to raise money upon the people, and have it immediately given to Marshal Schomberg, I know not that precedent.” Sir John Guise suggested, “If you declare those who assist King James rebels and traitors, I doubt not but that the King, out of their estates, will give a reward to Marshal Schomberg for his service.”
Mr. Harbord said, “The king told me that he had told Marshal Schomberg that he being not in ability to gratify him, he would recommend him to the consideration of this House; and I doubt not you will be able to find out on Monday some way to do it.”
- ↑ “December 18, about 3 in the afternoon, his Highness the Prince of Orange came to St. James’s, attended by Monsieur Schomberg, and a great number of the Nobility and Gentry, and was entertained with a joy and concourse of the people that appeared free and unconstrained, and all the bells in the City were rung and bon-fires in every street.” — "History of the Desertion,” p. 107.
- ↑ The first compiler of the list of Masters-General must have written “Duc de Schomberg” indistinctly. Hence the name appears in some lists as “David Schomberg.”
- ↑ Boyer’s History of William III.; Story’s Wars of Ireland.
