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about the proposed marriage.

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not thought of before; and said, with some warmth,

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that she would never give her consent that it "should be so." However, this argument was quickly made known to the duke of York, and several glosses made upon it, to the reproach of the chancellor: yet it made such an impression, that there were then as active endeavours to find a convenient wife for the king himself, and mademoiselle, the daughter of the duke of Orleans, by his first wife, who, in the right of her mother, was already possessed of the fair inheritance of the duchy of Mompensier, was thought of. To this the queen was much inclined, and the king himself not averse; both looking too much upon the relief it might give to his present necessities, and the convenience of having a place to repose in, as long as the storm should continue. The chancellor of the exchequer had no thought, by the conclusion he had made in the other overture, to have drawn on this proposition; and the marquis of Ormond and he were no less troubled with this, than with the former; which made them be looked upon as men of contradiction.

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They represented to the king, "that, as it could "administer only some competency towards his "present subsistence, so it might exceedingly prejudice his future hopes, and alienate the affec"tions of his friends in England: that the lady was elder than he by some years; which was an exception amongst private persons; and had "been observed not to be prosperous to kings: "that his majesty must expect to be pressed to "those things in point of religion which he could "never consent to; and yet he should undergo

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The parliament send

[B. XIII. "the same disadvantage as if he had consented, by many men's believing he had done so." They besought him" to set his heart entirely upon the recovery of England, and to indulge to nothing "that might reasonably obstruct that, either by making him less intent upon it, or by creating new difficulties in the pursuing it." His majesty assured them, that his heart was set upon nothing else; and, if he had inclination to this marriage, "it was because he believed it might much facili"tate the other: that he looked not upon her 'fortune, which was very great, as an annual support to him, but as a stock that should be at "his disposal; by sale whereof he might raise

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money enough to raise a good army to attempt "the recovery of his kingdoms: and that he would "be well assured, that it should be in his power to "make that use of it, before he would be engaged

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in the treaty that he had no apprehension of "the pressures which would be made in matters of religion; because, if the lady did once consent 'to the marriage, she would affect nothing but "what might advance the recovery of his dominions; which she would quickly understand any unreasonable concessions in religion could never do." In a word, his majesty discovered enough to let them see that he stood very well inclined to the overture itself; which gave them trouble, as a thing which, in many respects, was like to prove very inconvenient.

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But they were quickly freed from that apprehension. The lady carried herself in that manner, on the behalf of the prince of Condé, and so offensively to the French court, having given fire herself to

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ambassadors to Holland.

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the cannon in the Bastile upon the king at the port St. Antoine, and done so many reproof-full things against the French king and queen, that they no sooner heard of this discourse, but they quickly put an end to it; the cardinal having long resolved, that our king should never owe any part of his restitution to any countenance or assistance he should receive from France; and, from the same conclusion, the like end was put to all overtures which had concerned the duke of York and the other lady.

There was, shortly after, an unexpected accident, that seemed to make some alteration in the affairs of Christendom; which many very reasonably believed, might have proved advantageous to the king. The parliament, as soon as they had settled their commonwealth, and had no enemy they feared, had sent ambassadors to their sister republic, the States of the United Provinces, to invite them to enter into a stricter alliance with them, and, upon the matter, to be as one commonwealth, and to have one interest. They were received in Holland with all imaginable respect, and as great expressions made, as could be, of an equal desire that a firm union might be established between the two commonwealths: and, for the forming thereof, persons were appointed to treat with the ambassadors; which was looked upon as a matter that would easily succeed, since the prince of Orange, who could have given powerful obstructions in such cases, was now dead, and all those who adhered to him discountenanced, and removed from places of trust and power in all the provinces, and his son, an infant, born after the death of his

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The parliament make

[B. XIII. father, at the mercy of the States even for his support; the two dowagers, his mother and grandmother, having great jointures out of the estate, and the rest being liable to the payment of vast debts. In the treaty, Saint-John, who had the whole trust of the embassy, being very powerful in the parliament, and the known confident of Cromwell, pressed such a kind of union as must disunite them from all their other allies: so that, for the friendship of England, they must lose the friendship of all other princes, and yet lose many other advantages in trade, which they enjoyed, and which they saw the younger and more powerful commonwealth would in a short time deprive them of. This the States could not digest, and used all the ways they could to divert them from insisting upon so unreasonable conditions; and made many large overtures and concessions, which had never been granted by them to the greatest kings, and were willing to quit some advantages they had enjoyed by all the treaties with the crown of England, and to yield other considerable benefits which they always before denied to grant.

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But this would not satisfy, nor would the ambassadors recede from any particular they had proposed so that, after some months' stay, during which time they received many affronts from some English, and from others, they returned with great presents from the States, but without any effect by the treaty, or entering into any terms of alliance, and with the extreme indignation of Saint-John; which he manifested as soon as he returned to the parliament; who, disdaining likewise to find themselves undervalued, (that is, not valued above all

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the act of navigation.

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the world besides,) presently entered upon counsels how they might discountenance and control the trade of Holland, and increase their own.

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Hereupon they made that ordinance, that “in"hibits all foreign ships from bringing in any merchandise or commodities into England, but such as were the proceed or growth of their own country, upon the penalty of forfeiture of all such ships.' This indeed concerned all other countries; but it did, upon the matter, totally suppress all trade with Holland, which had very little merchandise of the growth of their own country, but had used to bring in their ships the growth of all other kingdoms in the world; wine from France and Spain, spices from the Indies, and all commodities from all other countries; which they must now do no more. The Dutch ambassador expostulated this matter very warmly, as a breach of commerce and amity, which could not consist with the peace between the two nations; and "that his masters could not look upon it otherwise "than as a declaration of war." The parliament answered him superciliously," that his masters might take it in what manner they pleased; but they knew what was best for their own state, and would not repeal laws to gratify their neighbours;" and caused the act to be executed with the utmost rigour and severity.

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The United Provinces now discerned, that they had raised an enemy that was too powerful for them, and that would not be treated as the crown had been. However, they could not believe it possible, that in the infancy of their republic, and when their government was manifestly odious to

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