1688. on the one hand, was afraid of hazarding, by violent CHAP, measures, an inheritance which the laws ensured LXXI. to the Princess; and the English protestants, on the other, from the prospect of her succession, still entertained hopes of obtaining at last a peaceable and a safe redress of all their grievances. But when a son was born to the King, both the Prince and the English nation were reduced to despair, and saw no resource but in a confederacy for their mutual interests. And thus the event, which James had so long made the object of his most ardent prayers, and from which he expected the firm establishment of his throne, proved the immediate cause of his ruin and downfal. ZUYLESTEIN, who had been sent over to congratulate the King on the birth of his son, brought back to the Prince invitations from most of the great men in England, to assist them, by his arms, in the recovery of their laws and liberties. The Bishop of London, the Earls of Danby, Nottingham, Devonshire, Dorset, the Duke of Norfolk, the Lords Lovelace, Delamare, Paulet, Eland, Mr. Hambden, Powle, Lester, besides many eminent citizens of London; all these persons, though of opposite parties, concurred in their applications to the Prince. The whigs, suitably to their ancient principles of Coalition liberty, which had led them to attempt the exclu- of parties. sion bill, easily agreed to oppose a King whose conduct had justified whatever his worst enemies had prognosticated concerning his succession. The tories and the church party, finding their past services forgotten, their rights invaded, their religion threatened, agreed to drop for the present all over-strained doctrines of submission, and attend to the great and powerful dictates of nature. The non-conformists, dreading the caresses of known and inveterate enemies, deemed the offers of toleration more secure from a Prince, educated in those principles, and accustomed to that practice. And thus all faction was 1688. CHAP. was for a time laid asleep in England; and rival LXXI. parties, forgetting their animosity, had secretly concurred in a design of resisting their unhappy and misguided Sovereign. The Earl of Shrewsbury, who had acquired great popularity by deserting, at this time, the catholic religion, in which he had been educated, left his regiment, mortgaged his estate for forty thousand pounds, and made a tender of his sword and purse to the Prince of Orange. Lord Wharton, notwithstanding his age and infirmities, had taken a journey for the same purpose. Lord Mordaunt was at the Hague, and pushed on the enterprise with that ardent and courageous spirit, for which he was so eminent. Even Sunderland, the King's favourite minister, is believed to have entered into correspondence with the Prince; and at the expence of his own honour and his master's interests, to have secretly favoured a cause, which, he foresaw, was likely soon to predominate ". THE Prince was easily engaged to yield to the applications of the English, and to embrace the defence of a nation, which, during its present fears and distresses, regarded him as its sole protector. The great object of his ambition was to be placed at the head of a confederate army, and by his valour to avenge the injuries, which he himself, his country, and his allies, had sustained from the haughty Lewis. But while England remained under the present government, he despaired of ever forming a league which would be able, with any probability of success, to make opposition against that powerful monarch. The ties of affinity could not be supposed to have great influence over a person of the Prince's rank and temper; much more as he knew, that they were at first unwillingly contracted by the King, and had never since been cultivated by any essential u D'Avaux was always of that opinion. See his negotiations 6th and 20th of May, 18th, 27th of September, 22d of Novem ber, 1688. On the whole that opinion is the most probable. favours 1688. favours or good offices. Or should any reproach CHAP. remain upon him for violating the duties of private LXXI. life; the glory of delivering oppressed nations would, he hoped, be able, in the eyes of reasonable men, to make ample compensation. He could not well expect, on the commencement of his enterprise, that it would lead him to mount the throne of England: But he undoubtedly foresaw, that its success would establish his authority in that kingdom. And so egregious was James's temerity, that there was no advantage, so great or obvious, which that Prince's indiscretion might not afford his enemies. THE Prince of Orange, throughout his whole life, was peculiarly happy in the situations in which he was placed. He saved his own country from ruin, he restored the liberties of these kingdoms, he supported the general independency of Europe. And thus, though his virtue, it is confessed, be not the purest which we meet with in history, it will be difficult to find any person, whose actions and conduct have contributed more eminently to the general interests of society and of mankind. THE time, when the Prince entered on his enter- Prince's prise, was well chosen; as the people were then in prepara the highest ferment, on account of the insult which tions. the imprisonment and trial of the Bishops had put upon the church, and indeed upon all the protestants of the nation. His method of conducting his preparations was no less wise and politic. Under other pretences he had beforehand made considerable augmentations to the Dutch navy; and the ships were at that time lying in harbour. Some additional troops were also levied; and sums of money, raised for other purposes, were diverted by the Prince to the use of this expedition. The States had given him their entire confidence; and partly from terror of the power of France, partly from disgust at some restraints laid on their commerce in that kingdom, were sensible how necessary success 1688. CHAP. in this enterprise was become to their domestic LXXI. happiness and security. Many of the neighbour ing Princes regarded him as their guardian and protector, and were guided by him in all their counsels. He held conferences with Castanaga, governor of the Spanish Netherlands, with the electors of Brandenburgh and Saxony, with the Landgrave of HesseCassel, and with the whole house of Lunenbourg. It was agreed, that these Princes should replace the troops employed against England, and should protect the United Provinces during the absence of the Prince of Orange. Their forces were already on their march for that purpose: A considerable encampment of the Dutch army was formed at Nimeguen : Every place was in movement; and though the roots of this conspiracy reached from one end of Europe to the other, so secret were the Prince's counsels, and so fortunate was the situation of affairs, that he could still cover his preparations under other pretences; and little suspicion was entertained of his real intentions. THE King of France, menaced by the league of Augsbourg, had resolved to strike the first blow against the allies; and having sought a quarrel with the Emperor and the Elector palatine, he had invaded Germany with a great army, and had laid siege to Philipsbourg. The Elector of Cologne, who was also Bishop of Liege and Munster, and whose territories almost entirely surrounded the United Provinces, had died about this time; and the candidates for that rich succession were Prince Clement of Bavaria, supported by the house of Austria, and the Cardinal of Furstemberg, a prelate dependent on France. The Pope, who favoured the allies, was able to throw the balance between the parties, and Prince Clement was chosen; a circumstance which contributed extremely to the security of the States. But as the Cardinal kept possession of many of the fortresses, and had applied to France for succour, the neighbouring territories were CHAP. full of troops; and by this means the preparations of LXXI. the Dutch and their allies seemed intended merely for their own defence against the different enterprises of Lewis. 1688. ALL the artifices, however, of the Prince could not entirely conceal his real intentions from the sa→ gacity of the French court. D'Avaux, Lewis's envoy at the Hague, had been able, by a comparison of circumstances, to trace the purposes of the pre parations in Holland; and he instantly informed his master of the discovery. Lewis conveyed the intelli gence to James; and accompanied the information with an important offer. He was willing to join a Offers of squadron of French ships to the English fleet; and France to to send over any number of troops, which James the King. should judge requisite for his security. When this proposal was rejected, he again offered to raise the siege of Philipsbourg, to march his army into the Netherlands, and by the terror of his arms to detain the Dutch forces in their own country. This proposal met with no better reception. JAMES was not, as yet, entirely convinced, that rejecteds his son-in-law intended an invasion upon England. Fully persuaded, himself, of the sacredness of his own authority, he fancied that a like belief had made deep impression on his subjects; and notwithstanding the strong symptoms of discontent which broke out every where, such an universal combination in rebellion appeared to him nowise credible. His army, in which he trusted, and which he had considerably augmented, would easily be able, he thought, to repel foreign force, and to suppress any sedition among the populace. A small number of French troops, joined to these, might tend only to breed discontent; and afford them a pretence for mutinying against foreigners, so much feared and hated by the nation. A great body of auxiliaries might indeed secure him both against an invasion from |