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Solicitations for places

[B. XIII. he was reduced to for conscience sake, which every man pretended to be his case, with submission and content, till it should please God to buoy up the king from the lowness he was in; who in truth suffered much more than any body else. But whilst there are courts in the world, emulation and ambition will be inseparable from them; and kings who have nothing to give, shall be pressed to promise; which oftentimes proves more inconvenient and mischievous than any present gifts could be, because they always draw on more of the same title and presence; and as they who receive the favours, are not the more satisfied, so they who are not paid in the same kind, or who, out of modesty and discretion, forbear to make such suits, are grieved and offended to see the vanity and presumption of bold men so unseasonably gratified and encouraged.

The king found no benefit [of this kind] in being stripped of all his dominions, and all his power. Men were as importunate, as hath been said before, for honours, and offices, and revenues, as if they could have taken possession of them as soon as they had been granted, though but by promise: and men who would not have had the presumption to have asked the same thing, if the king had been in England, thought it very justifiable to demand it, because he was not there; since there were so many hazes that they should never live to enjoy what he promised. The vexations he underwent of this kind cannot be expressed; and whosoever succeeded not in his unreasonable desires, imputed it only to the ill nature of the chancellor of the exchequer; and concluded, that he

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in the king's court.

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alone obstructed it, because they always received very gracious answers from his majesty: so that though his wants were as visible and notorious as any man's, and it appeared he got nothing for himself, he paid very dear in his peace and quiet for the credit and interest he was thought to have with his master.

The lord Wilmot had, by the opportunity of his late conversation with the king in his escape, drawn many kind expressions from his majesty ; and he thought he could not be too solicitous to procure such a testimony of his grace and favour, as might distinguish him from other men, and publish the esteem the king had of him. Therefore he importuned his majesty that he would make him an earl, referring the time of his creation to his majesty's own choice; and the modesty of this reference prevailed; the king well knowing, that the same honour would be desired on the behalf of another, by one whom he should be unwilling to deny. But since it was not asked for the present, he promised to do it in a time that should appear to be convenient for his service.

There were projects of another kind, which were much more troublesome; in which the projectors still considered themselves in the first place, and what their condition might prove to be by the success. The duke of York was so well pleased with the fatigue of the war, that he thought his condition very agreeable; but his servants did not like that course of life so well, at least desired so far to improve it, that they might reap some advantages to themselves out of his overplus. Sir John Berkley was now, upon the death of the lord

24 Sir J. Berkley designs mademoiselle [B. XIII.

Byron, by which the duke was deprived of a very good servant, become the superior of his family, and called himself, without any authority for it, Intendant des affaires de son altesse royale; had the management of all his receipts and disbursements; and all the rest depended upon him. He desired, by all ways, to get a better revenue for his master, than the small pension he received from France; and thought no expedient so proper for him, as a wife of a great and noble fortune; which he presumed he should have the managing of.

There was then a lady in the town, mademoiselle de Longueville, the daughter of the duke de Longueville by his first wife, by whom she was to inherit a very fair revenue, and had title to a very considerable sum of money, which her father was obliged to account for: so that she was looked upon as one of the greatest and richest marriages in France, in respect of her fortune; in respect of her person not at all attractive, being a lady of a very low stature, and that stature no degree straight. This lady sir John designed for the duke; and treated with those ladies who were nearest to her, and had been trusted with the education of her, before he mentioned it to his royal highness. Then he persuaded him, " that all hopes in England "were desperate that the government was so "settled there, that it could never be shaken; so "that his highness must think of no other fortune "than what he should make by his sword: that "he was now upon the stage where he must act "out his life, and that he should do well to think of providing a civil fortune for himself, as well as a martial; which could only be by marriage:"

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1652.] de Longueville for the duke's wife.

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and then spoke of mademoiselle de Longueville, and made her fortune at least equal to what it was; which," he said, "when once his highness was possessed of, he might sell; and thereby raise money to pay an army to invade England, and so might become the restorer of the king his "brother: this he thought very practicable, if his highness seriously and heartily would endeavour it." The duke was not so far broken with age as to have an aversion from marriage, and the consideration of the fortune, and the circumstances which might attend it, made it not the less acceptable; yet he made no other answer to it, "than "that he must first know the king's and queen's 'judgment of it, before he could take any resolu"tion what to do." Upon which sir John undertook, with his highness's approbation, to propose it to their majesties himself, and accordingly first spoke with the queen, enlarging on all the benefit which probably might attend it.

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It was generally believed, that the first overture and attempt had not been made without her majesty's privity and approbation; for the lord Jermyn had been no less active in the contrivance than sir John Berkley: yet her majesty refused to deliver any opinion in it, till she knew the king's: and so at last, after the young lady herself had been spoken to, his majesty was informed of it, and his approbation desired; with which he was not well pleased; and yet was unwilling to use his authority to obstruct what was looked upon as so great a benefit and advantage to his brother; though he did not dissemble his opinion of their presumption who undertook to enter upon treaties

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The queen consults the chancellor [B. XIII.

of that nature, with the same liberty as if it concerned only their own kindred and allies: however, he was very reserved in saying what he thought of it. Whilst his majesty was in deliberation, all the ways were taken to discover what the chancellor of the exchequer's judgment was; and the lord Jermyn spoke to him of it, as a matter that would not admit any doubt on the king's part, otherwise than from the difficulty of bringing it to pass, in regard the lady's friends would not without great difficulty be induced to give their consent. But the chancellor could not be drawn to make any other answer, than, "that it was a subject so much above his comprehension, and the consequences

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might be such, that he had not the ambition to "desire to be consulted with upon it; and that less than the king's command should not induce "him to enter upon the discourse of it."

It was not long before the queen sent for him; and seeming to complain of the importunity, which was used towards her in that affair, and as if it were not grateful to her, asked him, what his opinion of it was? To which he answered, that he "did not understand the convenience of it so well,

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as to judge whether it were like to be of benefit “to the duke of York: but he thought, that neither “the king, nor her majesty, should be willing that "the heir apparent of the crown should be married " before the king himself; or that it should be in any woman's power to say, that, if there were "but one person dead, she should be a queen :" with which her majesty, who no doubt did love the king with all possible tenderness, seemed to be moved, as if it had been a consideration she had

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