sermons, and in some printed treaties, they charged 1672. the judges with corruption, who had carried the sentence no farther than to banishment: and compared the fate of the De Wits to Haman's.

of Orange

I need not relate the great change of the magi- The prince stracy in all the provinces; the repealing the per-made stadtpetual edict; and the advancing the prince of O- holder. range to be stadtholder, after they had voided the obligation of the oath he had taken, about which he took some time to deliberate. Both lawyers and divines agreed, that those to whom he had made that oath, releasing the obligation of it, he was no longer bound by it. The States gave him, for that time, the full power of peace and war. All this was carried farther by the town of Amsterdam; for they sent a deputation to him, offering him the sovereignty of their town. When he was pleased to tell me this passage, he said, he knew the reason for which they made it was, because they thought all was lost and they chose to have the infamy of their loss fall on him, rather than on themselves. added, that he was sure the country could not bear a sovereign; and that they would contribute more to the war, when it was in order to the preserving their own liberty, than for any prince whatsoever. So he told them, that, without taking any time to consult on the answer to be made to so great an offer, he did immediately refuse it. He was fully satisfied with the power already lodged with him, and would never endeavour to carry it any farther.

He

The prince's advancement gave a new life to the whole country. He, though then very young, and little acquainted with the affairs of state or war, did 327 apply himself so to both, that, notwithstanding the

lish ambas

sadors were

wholly in

1672. desperate state in which he found matters, he neither lost heart nor committed errors. The duke of Buckingham and the lord Arlington tried to bring the king of France to offer them better terms; but The Eng- in vain. That prince was so lifted up, that he seemed to consider the king very little. While he the interest was so high on the one hand, and the prince of of France. Orange so steady on the other, the English ambassadors soon saw, that all the offices they could do were ineffectual. One day the prince (who told me this himself) was arguing with them upon the king's conduct, as the most unaccountable thing possible, who was contributing so much to the exaltation of France, which must prove in conclusion fatal to himself; and was urging this in several particulars. The duke of Buckingham broke out in an oath, which was his usual style, and said, he was in the right; and so offered to sign a peace immediately with the prince. Lord Arlington seemed amazed at his rashness. Yet he persisted in it, and said positively he would do it. The prince upon that, not knowing what secret powers he might have, ordered the articles to be engrossed. And he believed, if he could possibly have got them ready while he was with him, that he would have signed them. They were ready by next morning: but by that time he had changed his mind. That duke, at parting, pressed him much to put himself wholly in the king's hands and assured him he would take care of his affairs, as of his own. The prince cut him short : he said, his country had trusted him, and he would never deceive nor betray them for any base ends of his own. The duke answered, he was not to think any more of his country, for it was lost:

if it should weather out the summer, by reason of 1672. the waters that had drowned a great part of it, the winter's frost would lay them open: and he repeated the words often, Do not you see it is lost? The prince's answer deserves to be remembered: he said, he saw it was indeed in great danger: but there was a sure way never to see it lost, and that was to die in the last ditch.

ter of Fa

The person that the prince relied on chiefly, as The characto the affairs of Holland, was Fagel: a man very gel. learned in the law, who had a quick apprehension, and a clear and ready judgment. He had a copious eloquence, more popular than correct: and was fit to carry matters with a torrent in a numerous assembly. De Wit had made great use of him: for he joined with him very zealously in the carrying the perpetual edict, which he negotiated with the states of Frizeland, who opposed it most: and he was made greffier, or secretary to the states general, which is the most beneficial place in Holland. was a pious and virtuous man: only he was too eager and violent, [and out of measure partial to his kindred.] He was [vain, and] too apt to flatter himself, [and not ill pleased when others flattered him.] He had much heart when matters went well; but had not the courage that became a great minister on uneasy and difficult occasions.

He 328

deck.

Prince Waldeck was their chief general: a man Prince Walof a great compass and a true judgment: equally able in the cabinet and in the camp. But he was always unsuccessful, because he was never furnished according to the schemes that he had laid down.

zi. e. very fat. S.

1672. The opinion that armies had of him, as an unfor

Dickvelt.

And Hale

wyn.

tunate general, made him really so: for soldiers
cannot have much heart, when they have not an
entire confidence in him that has the chief com-
mand.

Dickvelt, on his return from England, seeing the
ruin of the De Wits, with whom he was formerly
united, and the progress the French had made in
Utrecht, where his estate and interest lay, despaired
too soon; and went and lived under them. Yet he
did great service to his province. Upon every vio-
lation of articles, he went and demanded justice,
and made protestations with a boldness, to which
the French were so little accustomed, that they
were amazed at it. Upon the French leaving
Utrecht, and on the re-establishing that province,
he was left out of the government. Yet his great
abilities, and the insinuating smoothness of his tem-
per, procured him so many friends, that the prince
was prevailed on to receive him into his confidence:
and he had a great share of it to the last, as he well
deserved it. He had a very perfect knowledge of
all the affairs of Europe, and great practice in many
embassies. He spoke [as almost (all) the Dutch
do] too long, and with too much vehemence. He
was, in his private deportment, a virtuous and reli-
gious man, and a zealous protestant. In the ad-
ministration of his province, which was chiefly
trusted to him, there were great complaints of par-
tiality and of a defective justice.

Halewyn, a man of great interest in the town of Dort, and one of the judges in the court of Holland, was the person of them all whom I knew best and valued most and was the next to Fagel in the

!

prince's confidence. He had a great compass of 1672. learning, besides his own profession, in which he was very eminent. He had studied divinity with great exactness; and was well read in all history, but most particularly in the Greek and Roman authors. He was a man of great vivacity: he apprehended things soon, and judged very correctly. He spoke short, but with life. He had a courage and vigour in his counsels, that became one who had formed himself upon the best models in the ancient 329 authors. He was a man of severe morals. And as he had great credit in the court where he sat, so he took care that the partialities of friendship should not mix in the administration of justice. He had in him all the best notions of a great patriot, and a true Christian philosopher. He was brought in very early to the secret of affairs, and went into the business of the perpetual edict very zealously. Yet he quickly saw the error of bringing matters of state immediately into numerous assemblies. He considered the States maintaining in themselves the sovereign power, as the basis upon which the liberty of their country was built. But he thought the administration of the government must be lodged in a council. He thought it a great misfortune, that the prince was so young at his first exaltation; and so possessed with military matters, to which the extremity of their affairs required that he should be entirely applied, that he did not then correct that error, which could only be done upon so extraordinary a conjuncture. He saw the great error of De Wit's ministry, of keeping the secret of affairs so much in his own hands. Such a precedent was very dangerous to public liberty, when it was in the