Cromwell, having expelled, without distinction, all the native Irish from their three principal provinces, Munster, Leinster, and Ulster, had confined them to Connaught, and the county of Clare. And although those who had thus been expelled were generally Catholics, many of them were altogether innocent of the massacre which had drawn so much odium on their country. men of that religion. Several Protestants, too, and the duke of Ormond among the rest, who had uniformly opposed the Irish rebellion, were also attainted, because they had afterward embraced the king's cause against the parliament. To all these unhappy sufferers, some relief seemed due after the restoration but the difficulty was, how to find the means of redressing such great and extensive grievances.

The most valuable lands in Ireland had been already measured out and divided, either among the adventurers who had lent money to the parliament for the suppression of the popish conspiracy, or among the soldiers who had accomplished that business. These men could not be dispossessed; because they were the most powerful and only armed part of the inhabitants of Ireland; because it was necessary to favour them, in order to support the Protestant and English interest in that kingdom; and because they had generally, with seeming zeal and alacrity, concurred in the king's restoration. Charles, therefore, issued a proclamation, in which he promised to maintain their settlement: and he at the same time engaged to yield redress to the innocent sufferers.(1)

There was a considerable quantity of land still undivided in Ireland; and from this and other funds, it was thought possible for the king to fulfil his engagements without disturbing the present landholders. A court of claims was accordingly erected, consisting altogether of English commissioners, who had no connexion with any of the parties into which Ireland was divided; and the duke of Ormond, being supposed the only person whose pru dence and justice could compose such jarring interests, was created lord-lieutenant. The number of claims presented spread universal anxiety and alarm; but after a temporary ferment, all parties seemed willing to abate somewhat of their pretensions, in order to obtain stability. Ormond interposed his authority to that purpose. The soldiers and adventurers agreed to relinquish a fourth of their possessions: all those who had been attainted on account of their adherence to the king were restored, and some of the innocent Catholics.(2)

In consequence of this settlement, Ireland began to acquire a degree of composure, when it was disturbed by an impolitic act, passed by the English parliament, prohibiting the importation of Irish cattle into England. Ormond remonstrated strongly against that law. He said, that the trade then carried on between England and Ireland was extremely to the advantage of the former kingdom, which received only provisions, or rude materials, in return for every species of manufacture; that if the cattle of Ireland were prohibited, the inhabitants of that island had no other commodity with which they could pay England for their importations, and must therefore have recourse to other nations for a supply; that the industrious part of the inhabitants of England, if deprived of Irish provisions, which made living cheap, would be obliged to augment the price of labour, and thereby render their manufactures too dear to be exported with advantage to foreign markets.(3)

The king was so well convinced of the force of these arguments that he used all his interest to oppose the bill, and declared that he could not give his assent to it with a safe conscience. But the commons were obstinate, and Charles was in want of supply: he was therefore impelled by his fears of a refusal to pass it into a law. (4) The event, however, justified the reasoning of Ormond. This severe law brought great distress upon Ireland for a time; but it has proved in the issue beneficial to that kingdom, and hurtful to England, by obliging the Irish to apply with more industry to manufactures, and to cultivate a commercial correspondence with France.

(1) Carte's Life of the Duke of Ormond, vol. ii. Hume, vol. vii. (3) Carte, ubi sup.

(2) Id. ibid.

(4) Parl. Hist. vol. xxiil.

These grievances and discontents in all the three kingdoms, and the little success in a war from which the greatest advantages were expected, induced the king to turn his thoughts towards peace. The Dutch, whose trade had suffered extremely, were no less disposed to such a measure; and after some ineffectual conferences, held in the queen-mother's apartments at Paris, it was agreed to transfer the negotiation to Breda. The English ambassadors, lord Hollis and Henry Coventry, immediately desired, that a suspension of hostilities should be agreed to, until the several claims could be adjusted; but this proposal, seemingly so natural, was rejected through the influence of the penetrating De Wit. That able and active minister, perfectly acquainted with the characters of the contending princes, and with the situation of affairs in Europe, had discovered an opportunity of striking a blow, which might at once restore to the Dutch the honour lost during the war, and severely revenge those injuries which he ascribed to the wanton ambition and injustice of the English monarch.(1)

The expense of the naval armaments of England had been so great, that Charles had not hitherto been able to convert to his own use any of the money granted him by parliament. He therefore resolved to save, as far as possible, the last supply of one million eight hundred thousand pounds, for the payment of his debts. This sum, which was thought by his wisest ministers too small to enable him to carry on the war with vigour, afforded the profuse and needy monarch a pretence for laying up his first and second rate ships. Nor did that measure appear highly reprehensible, as the immediate prospect of peace seemed sufficient to free the king from all apprehensions of danger from his enemies. But De Wit, who was informed of this supine security, protracted the negotiations at Breda, and hastened the naval preparations of Holland. The Dutch fleet, under De Ruyter, took possession of the mouth of the Thames; while a squadron, commanded by Van Ghent, assisted by an east wind and a spring tide, after reducing Sheerness, broke a chain which had been drawn across the river Medway, and destroyed three ships stationed to guard it; advanced as far as Chatham, and burned the Royal Oak, the Loyal London, and the Great James, all first rates, and carried off the hull of the Royal Charles.(2)

The destruction of the ships at Chatham drew the city of London into the utmost consternation. It was apprehended the Dutch would next sail up the Thames, and that they might carry their hostilities even as far as London bridge. Nine ships were sunk at Woolwich; five at Blackwall; platforms were built in many places, furnished with artillery; the country, was armed, and the train-bands of the city were called out. These precautions, and the difficult navigation of the Thames, induced De Ruyter to steer his course to the westward. He made a fruitless attempt upon Portsmouth, and also on Plymouth; he returned to the mouth of the Thames, where he was not more successful; but he rode triumphant in the channel for several weeks, and spread universal alarm along the coast.(3)

These fears, however, were soon dispelled by the signing of the treaty at Breda. In order to facilitate that measure, so necessary in his present distressed situation, Charles had instructed his ambassadors to recede from those demands which had hitherto obstructed the negotiation. No mention was now made of the restitution of the island of Polerone in the East Indies, which had formerly been insisted on; nor was any satisfaction required for those depredations, which had been assigned as the cause of the war. England, however, retained possession of New-York; and the English settlement of Surinam, which had been reduced by the Dutch, was ceded to the republic.(4)

(1) Basnage.

(2) Clarendon's Life. King James's Mem. Captain Douglas, who commanded on board the Royal Oak, perished in the flames, though he had an easy opportunity of escaping. "Never was it known," said he, that a Douglas quitted his post without orders!" Temple, vol. ii.

(3) Clarendon's Life. King James's Mem.

VOL. II.-N

(4) Clarendon, ubi sup

But this pacification, though it removed the apprehensions of danger, by no means quieted the discontents of the people. All men of spirit were filled with indignation at the improvidence of government, and at the avarice, meanness, and prodigality of the king, who, in order to procure money to squander upon his pleasures, had left his kingdom exposed to insult and disgrace. In a word, the shameful conclusion of the Dutch war totally dispelled that delirium of joy which had been occasioned by the restoration; and the people, as if awaking from a dream, wondered why they had been pleased. Charles, who, amid all his dissipations, possessed and even employed a considerable share of political sagacity, as well as address, resolved to attempt the recovery of his popularity, by sacrificing his minister to the national resentment. The plan in part succeeded, as it seemed to indicate a change of measures, at the same time that it presented a grateful offering to an offended people.

Though the earl of Clarendon had for some time lost the confidence of his sovereign, by the austerity of his manners and the severity of his remonstrances, he was still considered by the public as the head of the cabinet, and regarded as the author of every unpopular measure since the restoration. The king's marriage, in which he had merely acquiesced; the sale of Dunkirk, to which he had only given his assent as one of the council; the Dutch war which he had opposed; and all the persecuting laws against the different sectaries, were universally ascribed to him. The Catholics knew him to be the declared enemy of their principles, both civil and religious: so that he was exposed, one way or other, to the hatred of every party in the nation. This general odium afforded the king a pretence for depriving him of the seals, and dismissing him from his councils; and the parliament, to whom Charles ungenerously gave the hint, first impeached, and then banished him.(1) Conscious of his own innocence, and unwilling to disturb the tranquillity 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 Englishman;" 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 vainglorious 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 majesty that ever filled a throne."(2) Addicted to pleasure, but decent even in his sensualities, he set an example of elegant gallantry to his subjects; while he elated their vanity, and gratified their passion for show, 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 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

(1) King James's Memoirs. Clarendon's Life.

(2) Letters on the Study and Use of History.

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 prudent 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 my mind. Every thing appears to me contemptible in comparison of glory."(1)

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 father-in-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 mo narchy, 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 dutchy.

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 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 feet."(2)

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 (2) Voltaire, Siècle, chap. vii.

(1) D'Estrades's Letters.

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 their frontier towns. The Spaniards, though apprized 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 them.(1)

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 counsels of the king of England. Contrary to all expectation, however, the English monarch resolved to take the first step towards a confederacy, which should apparently have for its object the restraining of the power and the ambitious pretensions of France. 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 the last campaign, or of receiving instead of them Franche-Compté, 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 it.(2) 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 somewhat surprising, that the same confederacy which was concerted to put a stop to the conquests of Lewis XIV., did not also require a positive renunciation of his unjust pretensions to the Spanish succession; for if his former renunciations were no bar to the supposed rights accruing to Maria Theresa his queen, on the death of her father Philip IV., they could be none to the rights that would accrue to her and her children on the death of her brother Charles, whose languishing state of health left no room to hope that he could ever live to have offspring. But our surprise on this account ceases, when we are told that the king of England was actuated by no views of general policy; that to acquire a temporary popularity with his subjects, to ruin De Wit, by detaching him from France, and, in consequence of his fall, to raise the family of Orange, were Charles's only motives for standing forth as the head of the triple alliance. (3) It gave, however, at the time,

(1) Voltaire, Siècle, chap. vii. The citadel of Lisle was the first fort constructed according to his new principles.

(2) 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 extremnities rather than submit. Temple's Memoirs, parti.

(3) Mem. de Gourville, tom. ii. See also Macpherson's Hist. of Britain, vol. i. and Dalrymple's Append.