1677. THE King saw, with regret, the violent discon- CHAP. tents which prevailed in the nation, and which LXVI. seemed every day to augment upon him. Desirous by his natural temper to be easy himself, and to make every body else easy, he sought expedients to appease those murmurs, which, as they were very disagreeable for the present, might, in their consequences, prove extremely dangerous. He knew that, during the late war with Holland, the malcontents at home had made applications to the Prince of Orange; and if he continued still to neglect the Prince's interests, and to thwart the inclinations of his own people, he apprehended lest their common complaints should cement a lasting union between them. He saw that the religion of the Duke inspired the nation with dismal apprehensions; and though he had obliged his brother to allow the young Princesess to be educated in the protestant faith, something farther, he thought, was necessary, in order to satisfy the nation. He entertained, therefore, proposals for marrying the Prince of Orange to the Lady Mary, the elder Princess, and heir apparent to the crown, (for the Duke had no male issue) and he hoped, by so tempting an offer, to engage him entirely in his interests. A peace he purposed to make; such as would satisfy France, and still preserve his connexions with that crown: And he intended to sanctify it by the approbation of the Prince, whom he found to be extremely revered in England, and respected throughout Europe. All the reasons for this alliance were seconded by the solicitations of Danby, and also of Temple, who was at that time in England: And Charles at last granted permission to the Prince, when the campaign should be over, to pay him a visit. THE King very graciously received his nephew at 10th Oct. Newmarket. He would have entered immediately upon business; but the Prince desired, first to be acquainted with the Lady Mary: And he declared that, CHAP. that, contrary to the usual sentiments of persons of his LXVI. rank, he placed a great part of happiness in domestic satisfaction, and would not, upon any consideration 1677. of interest or politics, match himself with a person disagreeable to him. He was introduced to the Princess, whom he found in the bloom of youth, and extremely amiable both in her person and her behaviour. The King now thought that he had a double tie upon him, and might safely expect his compliance with every proposal: He was surprised to find the Prince decline all discourse of business, and refuse to concert any terms for the general peace, till his marriage should be finished. He foresaw, he said, from the situation of affairs, that his allies were likely to have hard terms; and he never would expose himself to the reproach of having sacrificed their interest to promote his own purposes. Charles still believed, notwithstanding the cold, severe manner of the Prince, that he would abate of this rigid punctilio of honour; and he protracted the time, noping, by his own insinuation and address, as well as by the allurements of love and ambition, to win him to compliance. One day, Temple found the Prince in very bad humour, repenting that he had ever come to England, and resolute in a few days to leave it: But before he went, the King, he said, must choose the terms on which they should hereafter live together: He was sure it must be like the greatest friends or the greatest enemies: And he desired Temple to inform his master next morning of these intentions. Charles was struck with this menace, and foresaw how the Prince's departure would be interpreted by the people. He resolved, therefore, immediately to yield with a good grace; and having paid a compliment to his nephew's honesty, he told Temple, that the marriage was concluded, and desired him to inform the Duke of it, as of an affair already resolved on. The Duke seemed surprised; but yielded a prompt obedience: Which, he said, was his constant maxim to whatever CHA P. he found to be the King's pleasure. No measure, LXVI. during this reign, gave such general satisfaction. 1677. All parties strove who should most applaud it. And 23d Oct. even Arlington, who had been kept out of the secret, Marriage told the Prince, "That some things, good in them- of the "selves, were spoiled by the manner of doing them, Orange "as some things bad were mended by it; but he with the "would confess that this was a thing so good in Lady itself, that the manner of doing it could not spoil Mary. " it." THIS marriage was a great surprise to Lewis, who, accustomed to govern every thing in the English court, now found so important a step taken, not only without his consent, but without his knowledge or participation. A conjunction of England with the allies, and a vigorous war in opposition to French ambition, were the consequences immediately expected both abroad and at home: But to check these sanguine hopes, the King, a few days after the marriage, prolonged the adjournment of the parlia ment from the third of December, to the fourth of April. This term was too late for granting supplies or making preparations for war; and could be chosen by the King for no other reason, than as an atonement to France for his consent to the mar riage. It appears also, that Charles secretly received from Lewis the sum of two millions of livres on account of this important service ". Prince of THE King, however, entered into consultations Plan of with the Prince, together with Danby and Temple, peace. concerning the terms which it would be proper to require of France. After some debate, it was agreed that France should restore Lorrain to the Duke; with Tournay, Valenciennes, Condé, Aeth, Charleroi, Courtray, Oudenarde, and Binche, to Spain, in order to form a good frontier for the Low Countries. • Sir John Dalrymple's Appendix, p. 112. D 2 The 1677. CHAP. The Prince insisted that Franche-comté should likeLXVI. wise be restored, and Charles thought that, because he had patrimonial estates of great value in that province, and deemed his property more secure in the hands of Spain, he was engaged by such views to be obstinate in that point: But the Prince declared, that to procure but one good town to the Spaniards in Flanders, he would willingly relinquish all those possessions. As the King still insisted on the impossibility of wresting Franche-comté from Lewis, the Prince was obliged to acquiesce. Negotiations. NOTWITHSTANDING this concession to France, the projected peace was favourable to the allies; and it was a sufficient indication of vigour in the King, that he had given his assent to it. He farther agreed to send over a minister instantly to Paris, in order to propose these terms. This minister was to enter into no treaty. He was to allow but two days for the acceptance or refusal of the terms: Upon the expiration of these, he was presently to return: And in case of refusal, the King promised to enter imme diately into the confederacy. To carry so imperious a message, and so little expected from the English court, Temple was the person pitched on, whose declared aversion to the French interest was not likely to make him fail of vigour and promptitude in the execution of his commission. BUT Charles next day felt a relenting in this assumed vigour. Instead of Temple he dispatched the Earl of Feversham, a creature of the Duke's, and a Frenchman by birth: And he said, that the message being harsh in itself, it was needless to aggravate it by a disagreeable messenger. The Prince left London; and the King, at his departure, assured him that he never would abate in the least point of the scheme concerted, and would enter into war with Lewis, if he rejected it. LEWIS received the message with seeming gentleness and complacency. He told Feversham, that 1677. the King of England well knew that he might always CHAP. be master of the peace; but some of the towns in LXVI. Flanders it seemed very hard to demand, especially Tournay, upon whose fortification such immense sums had been expended: He would therefore take some short time to consider of an answer. Feversham said, that he was limited to two days' stay: But when that time was elapsed, he was prevailed on to remain some few days longer; and he came away at last without any positive answer. Lewis said that he hoped his brother would not break with him for one or two towns: And with regard to them too, he would send orders to his ambassador at London to treat with the King himself. Charles was softened by the softness of France; and the blow was thus artfully eluded. The French ambassador, Barillon, owned at last, that he had orders to yield all except Tournay, and even to treat about some equivalent for that fortress, if the King absolutely insisted upon it. The Prince was gone who had given spirit to the English court; and the negotiation began to draw out into messages and returns from Paris. By intervals, however, the King could rouse himself, and shew still some firmness and resolution. Finding that affairs were not likely to come to any conclusion with France, he summoned, notwithstanding the long adjournment, the parliament on the fifteenth of January; an unusual measure, and capable of giving alarm to the French court. Temple was sent for to the council, and the King told him that he intended he should go to Holland, in order to form a treaty of alliance with the States; and that the purpose of it should be like the triple league, to force both France and Spain to accept of the terms proposed. Temple was sorry to find this act of vigour qualified by such a regard to France, and by such an appearance of indifference and neutrality between the parties. He told the King, that the resolution agreed on, was to D 3 begin |