[661] Macpherson, 50; Life of James, 441.
[662] De Witt was apprised of the intrigue between France and England as early as April 1669, through a Swedish agent at Paris. Temple, 179. Temple himself, in the course of that year, became convinced that the king's views were not those of his people, and reflects severely on his conduct in a letter, December 24, 1669. P. 206. In September 1670, on his sudden recall from the Hague, De Witt told him his suspicions of a clandestine treaty. 241. He was received on his return coldly by Arlington, and almost with rudeness by Clifford. 244. They knew he would never concur in the new projects. But in 1682, during one of the intervals when Charles was playing false with his brother Louis, the latter, in revenge, let an Abbé Primi, in a history of the Dutch war, publish an account of the whole secret treaty, under the name of the Count de St. Majolo. This book was immediately suppressed at the instance of the English ambassador; and Primi was sent for a short time to the Bastile. But a pamphlet, published in London just after the Revolution, contains extracts from it. Dalrymple, ii. 80; Somers Tracts, viii. 13; Harl. Misc. ii. 387; Œuvres de Louis XIV. vi. 476. It is singular that Hume should have slighted so well authenticated a fact, even before Dalrymple's publication of the treaty; but I suppose he had never heard of Primi's book. The original treaty has lately been published by Dr. Lingard, from Lord Clifford's cabinet.
[663] Dalrymple, ii. 22.
[664] Id. 23; Life of James, 442.
[665] The tenor of the article leads me to conclude, that these troops were to be landed in England at all events, in order to secure the public tranquillity without waiting for any disturbance.
[666] P. 49.
[667] Bolingbroke has a remarkable passage as to this in his Letters on History (Letter VII.): it may be also alluded to by others. The full details, however, as well as more authentic proofs, were reserved, as I believe, for the publication of Œuvres de Louis XIV., where they will be found in vol. ii. 403. The proposal of Louis to the emperor, in 1667, was, that France should have the Pays Bas, Franche Comté, Milan, Naples, the ports of Tuscany, Navarre, and the Philippine Islands; Leopold taking all the rest. The obvious drift of this was, that France should put herself in possession of an enormous increase of power and territory, leaving Leopold to fight as he could for Spain and America, which were not likely to submit peaceably. The Austrian cabinet understood this; and proposed that they should exchange their shares. Finally, however, it was concluded on the king's terms, except that he was to take Sicily instead of Milan. One article of this treaty was, that Louis should keep what he had conquered in Flanders; in other words, the terms of the treaty of Aix la Chapelle. The ratifications were exchanged 29th Feb. 1668. Louis represents himself as more induced by this prospect than by any fear of the triple alliance, of which he speaks slightingly, to conclude the peace of Aix la Chapelle. He thought that he should acquire a character for moderation which might be serviceable to him, "dans les grands accroissemens que ma fortune pourroit recevoir." Vol. ii. p. 369.
[668] Dalrymple, 31-57. James gives a different account of this; and intimates that Henrietta, whose visit to Dover he had for this reason been much against, prevailed on the king to change his resolution, and to begin with the war. He gained over Arlington and Clifford. The duke told them it would quite defeat the catholic design, because the king must run in debt, and be at the mercy of his parliament. They answered that, if the war succeeded, it was not much matter what people suspected. P. 450. This shows that they looked on force as necessary to compass the design, and that the noble resistance of the Dutch, under the Prince of Orange, was that which frustrated the whole conspiracy. "The duke," it is again said (p. 453), "was in his own judgment against entering into this war before his majesty's power and authority in England had been better fixed and less precarious, as it would have been, if the private treaty first agreed on had not been altered." The French court, however, was evidently right in thinking that, till the conquest of Holland should be achieved, the declaration of the king's religion would only weaken him at home. It is gratifying to find the heroic character of our glorious deliverer displaying itself among these foul conspiracies. The Prince of Orange came over to England in 1670. He was then very young; and his uncle, who was really attached to him, would have gladly associated him in the design; indeed it had been agreed that he was to possess part of the United Provinces in sovereignty. But Colbert writes that the king had found him so zealous a Dutchman and protestant, that he could not trust him with any part of the secret. He let him know, however, as we learn from Burnet, 382, that he had himself embraced the Romish faith.
[669] Dalrymple, 57.
[670] P. 68; Life of James, 444. In this work it is said that even the Duchess of Orleans had no knowledge of the real treaty; and that the other originated with Buckingham. But Dalrymple's authority seems far better in this instance.