D'Estrées retorted with the declaration that Rupert, owing to his aversion to the war, had not pushed the first battle so far as he could have done.[[90]] But, said a contemporary, "it is as impossible to make any Englishman suspect the Prince's courage, as to persuade him that the French have any, at sea."[[91]] De Martel boldly seconded Rupert, and wrote to his own government: "If Count D'Estrées would have fallen with a fair wind upon De Ruyter and Banckert at their first engaging, when in numbers they much exceeded the Prince, they must, of necessity have been enclosed between His Highness and Count D'Estrées; and so the enemy would have been entirely defeated."[[92]] For this unwelcome candour he was sent to the Bastille, upon which Rupert swore furiously that Charles ought to defend him, by force of arms if necessary.[[93]] And the more the Prince raged and stormed, so much the more was he adored by the people, who admired him "to such a degree," said a cynical observer, "that it would be impossible for him to do anything amiss, so long as he opposes the French, or as they think he does."[[94]]
Ever since the Restoration he had been exceedingly popular, and as early as 1666 there had been rumours of an abortive plot to place him on the throne. The statement of the witness who revealed it, is as follows: "William Hopkins doth depose that he heard Edward Dolphin of Camphill, near Birmingham, say these words, or to that purpose, viz.: 'The Papists should be uppermost for a time...' and said he could tell me more, for he cared not if he were hanged so he could serve the country. Then, speaking low, he said, (as I suppose,) 'The King and the Duke of York are Papists, and the King hath been at Mass underground within this week or fortnight, and I can prove it.' And when I contradicted him, he said the King's wife was a Papist, and that a royal G. should rule over us. And when I demanded if he meant not George Monck, he replied it was Prince Rupert he meant. Then I said he was no G., so he answered G. stood for a German, and Prince Rupert was a German Prince, and declared he meant Prince Rupert should be above the King, and said all should be willing to it, and venture lives and fortunes to vindicate the cause of the said Prince Rupert."[[95]] The whole plot probably existed only in the ravings of a lunatic, but insignificant though it is in itself, it is an indication of the country's feeling.
That Rupert would have listened for a moment to any disloyal scheme is, of course, incredible. Indeed the only time, after the Restoration, that he played any part in politics was in this year of 1673, when he was forced into the position of popular leader, and carried away by his wrath against the French. Feeling against "Popery" was, just then, keen, the nation having been stirred by the Duke of York's open adhesion to the Roman Church, and his marriage with a Roman bride, believed by the ignorant, to be the Pope's own granddaughter. "What will the Prince say?" was the popular cry, on all occasions;[[96]] and the position contrasts oddly with the attitude of the populace towards Rupert in the Civil War. Then he was "atheistical, popish, heathenish, tyrannical, bloodthirsty;" now the country turned to him as a true patriot, the staunch upholder of the Anglican Church, the defender of the rights of Parliament.
Shaftesbury, the prime mover of all the agitation against James, hastened to ally himself with the Prince, and together they formed an anti-French party, which stirred up the Commons against the French alliance. "Prince Rupert and he are observed to converse much together, and are very great, and indeed I see His Highness's coach often at the door. They are looked to be the great Parliament men and for the interests of old England."[[97]]
The result of all this was, naturally, a coolness between Rupert and the King, but it was not of long duration. The Prince was really too loyal to suffer his connection with the country party to carry him to any great lengths, and it soon ceased altogether.[[98]] In the iniquitous Popish Plot he had no share, nor would he countenance the attempts to exclude James from the succession in favour of Monmouth. True he lent Monmouth his house at Rhenen, when that unsuccessful schemer had been forced to retire abroad, but the loan was entirely a private matter, and quite apart from politics.[[99]] Rupert had no liking for intrigues, and he held himself equally aloof from those of Shaftesbury, and those of the Cabal. To the members of the Cabal he was always hostile, which, says Campbell, was no wonder, seeing that they were "persons of the utmost art," and the Prince was "one of the plainest men that could be."[[100]] Yet, in spite of his objections to the King's ministers, Rupert always retained the King's friendship, steering his way amongst factions and intrigues so tactfully, and yet so honestly, that he was beloved and respected by all parties.[[101]]
[[1]] Campbell's Admirals, II. p. 242.
[[2]] Pepys Diary, 4 June, 1664.
[[3]] Pepys Diary, Sept. 3, 1664.
[[4]] Ibid. Sept. 5, 1664.
[[5]] D. S. P. Sept. 13, 1664.