innocence, and unwilling to disturb the tranquility of the state, the chancellor made no defence, but quietly submitted to his sentence. And this cruel treatment of so good a minister, by a kind of tacit combination of prince and people, is a striking example of the ingratitude of the one, and of the ignorance and injustice of the other; for if Clarendon was not a great, he was at least an upright, and even an able statesman. He was, to use the words of his friend Southampton," a true protestant, and an honest English"man;" equally attentive to the just prerogatives of the crown, and to the constitutional liberties of the subject, whatever errors he might be guilty of either in foreign or domestic politics.

The king's next measure, namely, the triple alliance, was no less popular, and more deserving of praise. But before I speak of that alliance, we must take a view of the state of France and Spain.

Lewis XIV. who assumed the reins of government nearly at the same time that Charles II. was restored to the throne of his ancestors, possessed every quality that could flatter the pride, or conciliate the affections of a vain-glorious people. The manly beauty of his person, in which he surpassed all his courtiers, was embellished with a noble air; the dignity of his behaviour was tempered with affability and politeness; and if he was not the greatest king, he was at least, to use the words of my lord Bolingbroke, "the best actor of ma"jesty that ever filled a throne44.” Addicted to pleasure, but dccent even in his sensualities, he set an example of elegant gallantry to his subjects; while he elated their vanity, and gratified their passion for shew, by the magnificence of his palaces and the splendour of his public entertainments. Though illiterate himself, he was a munificent patron of learning and the polite arts; and men of genius, not only

44. Letters on the Study and Use of History.

in

in his own kingdom, but all over Europe, experienced the fostering influence of his liberality.

Dazzled with the lustre of so many shining qualities, and proud to participate in the glory of their young sovereign, the French nation submitted without murmuring to the most violent stretches of arbitrary power. This submissive loyalty, combined with the ambition of the prince, the industry and ingenuity of the people, and her own internal tranquillity, made France, which had long been distracted by domestic factions, and overshadowed by the grandeur of the Spanish monarchy, now appear truly formidable to the neighbouring kingdoms. Colbert, an able and active minister, had put the finances into excellent order; enormous sums were raised for the public service; a navy was created, and a great standing army supported, without being felt by that populous and extensive kingdom.

Conscious of his power and his resources, the French monarch had early given symptoms of that haughty spirit, that restless ambition, and insatiable thirst of glory, which so long disturbed the peace of Europe. A quarrel having happened, in London, between the French and Spanish ambassadors, on account of their claims to precedency, Lewis threatened to commence hostilities, unless the superiority of his crown was acknowledged; and was not satisfied till the court of Madrid sent a solemn embassy to Paris, and promised never more to revive such claims. His treatment of the pope was still more arrogant. Crequi, the French ambassador at Rome, having met with an affront from the guards of Alexander VII. that pontiff was obliged to punish the offenders, to send his nephew into France to ask pardon, and to allow a pillar to be erected in Rome itself, as a monument of his own humiliation. Nor did England escape experiencing the lofty spirit of Lewis. He refused to pay the honours of the flag; and prepared himself with such vigour for resistance, that the too easy Charles judged it pru

dent

dent to desist from his pretensions. "The king of England," said he, to his ambassador d'Estrades, "may know the "amount of my force, but he knows not the elevation of 66 my mind. Every thing appears to me contemptible in "comparison of glory45,"

These were strong indications of the character of the French monarch; but the first measure that gave general alarm, was the invasion of the Spanish Netherlands.

Though Lewis XIV. by the treaty of the Pyrenees, had solemnly renounced all title to the succession of any part of the Spanish dominions, which might occur in consequence of his marriage with the infanta Maria Theresa, he had still kept in view, as a favourite object, the eventual succession to the whole of that monarchy; and on the death of his fatherin-law, Philip IV. he retracted his renunciation, and pretended that natural rights, depending on blood and succession, could not be annihilated by any extorted deed or contract: Philip had left a son, Charles II. of Spain, a sickly infant, whose death was daily expected; but as the queen of France was the offspring of a prior marriage, she laid claim to a considerable province of the Spanish monarchy, to the exclusion even of her brother. This claim was founded on a custom in some parts of Brabant, where a female of a first marriage was preferred to a male of a second, in the succession to private inheritances; and from which Lewis inferred, that his queen had acquired a right to the sovereignty of that important duchy.

Such an ambitious claim was more fit to be adjusted by military force than by argument; and, in that kind of dispute, the king of France was sensible of his superiority. He had only to contend with a weak woman, Mary Anne of Austria, queen-regent of Spain, who was entirely governed by father Nitard, her confessor, a German jesuit, whom she had placed at the head of her councils, after appointing him

45. D' Estrade's Letters.

grand

grand inquisitor. The ignorance and arrogance of this priest are sufficiently displayed in his well known reply to the duke of Lerma, who had treated him with disrespect: "You ought to revere the man," said he, "who has every day your God in his hands, and your queen at his "feet46."

Father Nitard and his mistress had left the Spanish monarchy defenceless in every quarter; but had the towns in the Low Countries been more strongly garrisoned, and the fortifications in better repair, the king of France was prepared to overcome all difficulties. He entered Flanders at the head of forty thousand men; Turenne commanded under him; and Louvois, his minister for military affairs, had placed large magazines in all the frontier towns. The Spaniards, though apprised of their danger, were in no condition to resist such a force. Charleroy, Aeth, Tournay, Furnes, Armentiers, Courtray, and Douay, immediately surrendered; and Lisle, though well fortified, and furnished with a garrison of six thousand men, capitulated after a siege of nine days. Louvois advised the king to leave garrisons in all these towns, and the celebrated Vauban was employed to fortify them47.

AUG. 27.

A progress so rapid filled Europe with terror and consternation. Another campaign, it was supposed, might put Lewis in possession of all the Low Countries. The Dutch were particularly alarmed at the prospect of having their frontier exposed to so powerful and ambitious a neighbour. But, in looking around them, they saw no means of safety: for although the emperor and the German princes discovered evident symptoms of discontent, their motions were slow and backward; and no dependence, the States thought, could be placed on the variable and impolitic councils of the

46. Voltaire, Siecle, chap. vii.

47. Id. Ibid. The citadel of Lisle was the first fort constructed according to his new principles.

king of England. Contrary to all expectation, however, the English monarch resolved to take the first step toward a confederacy, which should apparently have for its object the restraining of the power and the ambitious pretensions of France.

A. D. 1668.

Sir William Temple, the English resident at Brussels, received orders to go secretly to the Hague for this purpose. Frank, open, sincere, and superior to the little arts of vulgar politicians, Temple met, in de Wit, with a man of the same generous sentiments and honourable views. He immediately disclosed his master's intentions; and, although jealousy of the family of Orange might inspire de Wit with an aversion against a strict union with England, he patriotically resolved to sacrifice every private consideration to the public safety. Lewis, dreading a general combination, had offered to relinquish all his queen's rights to Brabant, on condition either of keeping the conquests he had made last campaign, or of receiving instead of them Franche-Compte, Aire, and St. Omer. De Wit and Temple founded their treaty upon that proposal: they agreed to offer their mediation to the contending powers, and to oblige France to adhere to this alternative, and Spain to accept it48. A defensive alliance was at the same time concluded between England and Holland; and room being left for the accession of Sweden, which was soon after obtained, that kingdom also became a principal in the treaty.

This alliance, which has always been considered as the wisest measure in the disgraceful reign of Charles II. restored England to her proper station in the scale of Europe, and highly exalted the consequence of Holland. Yet it is some

48. Temple at first insisted on an offensive league between England and Holland, in order to oblige France to relinquish all her conquests; but this de Wit considered as too strong a measure to be agreed to by the States. The French monarch, he said, was young, haughty, and powerful: and if treated in so imperious a manner, would expose himself to the greatest extremities rather than submit. Temple's Memoirs, part i.

what