ground. Immense sums had been drawn
out of the Treasury: yet the pay of the troops was in arrear. Hundreds
of horses, tens of thousands of shoes, had been paid for by the public:
yet the baggage was left behind for want of beasts to draw it; and the
soldiers were marching barefoot through the mire. Seventeen hundred
pounds had been charged to the government for medicines: yet the common
drugs with which every apothecary in the smallest market town was
provided were not to be found in the plaguestricken camp. The cry
against Shales was loud. An address was carried to the throne,
requesting that he might be sent for to England, and that his accounts
and papers might be secured. With this request the King readily
complied; but the Whig majority was not satisfied. By whom had Shales
been recommended for so important a place as that of Commissary General?
He had been a favourite at Whitehall in the worst times. He had been
zealous for the Declaration of Indulgence. Why had this creature of
James been entrusted with the business of catering for the army of
William? It was proposed by some of those who were bent on driving all
Tories and Trimmers from office to ask His Majesty by whose advice a
man so undeserving of the royal confidence had been employed. The most
moderate and judicious Whigs pointed out the indecency and impolicy
of interrogating the King, and of forcing him either to accuse his
ministers or to quarrel with the representatives of his people. "Advise
His Majesty, if you will," said Somers, "to withdraw his confidence
from the counsellors who recommended this unfortunate appointment. Such
advice, given, as we should probably give it, unanimously, must have
great weight with him. But do not put to him a question such as no
private gentleman would willingly answer. Do not force him, in defence
of his own personal dignity, to protect the very men whom you wish him
to discard." After a hard fight of two days, and several divisions, the
address was carried by a hundred and ninety five votes to a hundred and
forty six, [526] The King, as might have been foreseen, coldly refused
to turn informer; and the House did not press him further, [527] To
another address, which requested that a Commission might be sent to
examine into the state of things in Ireland, William returned a very
gracious answer, and desired the Commons to name the Commissioners. The
Commons, not to be outdone in courtesy, excused themselves, and left