66 j'ofe prier V. R. de "l'affifter de vos con"feils, pour bien faire "fa cour, lors qu'il fe"ra ce voyage. S'il "eut voulu changer de Religion, il auroit fort " bien reüffi dans ces "affaires aupres de "l'Empereur, mais il a de fon oncle, trop "le Prince Rupert, "pour n'eftre pas ferme dans fa Religion. Il "eft vray qu'elle porte "le nom de Luthere, "mais nos Ecclefiaf"tiques d'Hanovre la difent conforme à la Religion Anglicane, " & auroient voulu me "donner le Saint Sa not to be firm in his Religion. It is true, "it bears the name of "Luther, but our Di"vines at Hanover say, " 'tis conformable to "that of the Church "of England, and "would have given me "the Holy Sacrament " in the Belief I am in. "But I would not give "any fcandal to thofe of ઃઃ my Religion, which " I believe you will approve. However, I "ought to congratulate "crement, dans la "Croyance où je fuis. "Mais je n'ai pas vou"lu donnier de fcan"dale à ceux de ma "Religion, dont je "crois que V. R. apແ prouvera. Cependant je dois la feliciter, qu'il a plu à Dieu de st vous donner un Roi " & une Reine d'un "merite infini: Je le "prie de vous les con"ferver, & de donner "à moi la fatisfaction, "de temoigner à vous, " & à tout ce qui vous ་ you, upon its having "pleafedGod togiveyou "a King and a Queen "of infinite merit: I pray "him to preserve them "to you, and to give "me the fatisfaction of teftifying to you, and every one that is dear "to "eft cher, par des fer"vices agreables, com"bien je fuis "Tres Affectionée " à vous fervir, "SOPHIE PALATINE. Herenhaufen, 22 Juin, 1701. YOUS avez bien de la bonté, "Monfieur, de prendre part a tout ce qui regarde la grandeur de "la maison, où je fuis "entrée: Et je dois "vous remercier en par❝ticulier de l'affection, sc que vous m'avez te moigné, dans l'affaire "de la fucceffion, qui "exclut en meme temps "tous les Heritiers Ca "to you, by agreeable "fervices, how much "I am 66 "most affectionate Herenhaufen, 22 June, 1701. You are very ob liging, Sir, to "take part in every thing, that regards "the grandeur of the "houfe, into which I am "married; and I ought "to thank you in par ticular for the affec"tion, which you have "teftified to me, in the "affair of the fucceffion, "which excludes at the "fame time all Catho"lick Heirs, who have "always caufed fo many "diforders in England. "I am unfortunately "too old, ever to be "ufeful to the nation, "and to my friends, " which if I could be, it "would make me much "in love with life. How ever, I shall wish, that " thofe who are to come "after me, may render "themselves worthy of "the honour they will "have: And that I The original is in the Editor's hands. may Our author maintained an unfhaken credit with King William and Queen Mary, during their whole reign; indeed the King's favour was fometimes interrupted, with fhort difgufts, at the uncourtly liberty he took of speaking his mind, even upon fome fubjects that he perceived were difagreeable; but the real esteem thofe Princes had for him, will appear beyond conteft, from feveral facts in the Hiftory, too. numerous to be recapitulated here, and from fome others, which I fhall hereafter have occafion to mention. The ufe he made of this credit, is the principal point, a writer of his life must be concerned for: It is that alone, muft fettle his real Character, which I am fatisfy'd has been too commonly mistaken; and never more egregiously, than by thofe who have reprefented him as an inveterate Partyman. That he was ftedfaft to his first princito Party- ples; that in all his conduct relating to the PubMatters. lick, he was rigidly ftrict to thefe; is a truth too His cha racter as much to his honour, for me to difpute: But it will be eafy to demonftrate, that his own particular way of thinking, as to Party-Matters, had no influence over him, either in his friendships, in his charities, or in his preferments, where the Publick was not immediately concerned. It might be tedious, I am fure it would be voluminous, here to infert all the evidences in my hands, from whence it appears, how frequently his whole intereft was exerted in favour of men, who neither from their publick nor their private conduct, had any reafon to expect fuch fervices from from him. * Some inftances of this nature, I fhall have occafion elsewhere to produce; but I shall content myself here with one, which is very remarkable, and may alone be fufficient to eftablish his reputation on this head. Some of the harshest treatment, he had met with in the two former Reigns, had pass'd through the hands of the Earl of Rochefter; no two men ever differed more widely in their principles, both in Church and State; yet the first good offices done that Earl, with the King and Queen (after all other applications for introduction had failed) their entire reconciliation to him, and the firft advantages he reaped in confequence of that reconcilia tion, were owing to our Author. And when the Earl of Clarendon was afterwards unhappily engaged in the confpiracy, against the Government, in 1690; and fome hotter Whigs were for the feverest methods, the Bishop became a hearty and fuccefsful advocate in his favour. Thefe matters are but curforily mentioned in the Hiftory, but will more fully appear from the four following original Letters; the firft written by the Countess of Ranelagh, the other three by the Earl of Rochefter himself. • The hiftory mentions the fhare the Bishop had in Sir John Fenwick's trial; this Letter, of which the original is in the editor's hands, fhews how ready he was to do acts of personal kindness to those whofe defigns he had the greateft averfion to. Newgate, January 20 "My Lord, "My wife has acquainted me with your charitable affistance yesterday, for an order for Bifhop White to come to me, for " which I humbly thank your Lordship; but much to my trou"ble to day, fhe tells me, I am refused him. I cannot think the King would do fo hard a thing to a dying man, as to refufe "him one, he can have moft fatisfaction in, for the good of "his Soul. Since I did not intend any offence to the Govern "ment in asking for him, your favour in procuring an order for him to come to me will much oblige "Your Lordsbip's most humble Servant, J. Fenwick. My My Lord, * Y OUR Lordship knows that by my Lord Rochester's defiring me to help him to thank you, for your forwardnefs to do him favours "with their Majefties, (out of the sense he had, "that he ought to be more grateful for them, "because he had not at all deferved them from 66 your Lordship) he had informed me, that you "had done him fuch favours: And when, pur"fuant to his defire, I began to give you hum"ble thanks for him (who is a person in whom I "can be very fenfibly obliged) I told your Lord fhip I was pleafed in paying this duty, as "much upon your account, as upon his Lord cr fhip's, as having attempted to conquer him by "weapons, fit to be ufed by one of your pro"feffion and character; and I hoped he might be advantaged, as well by being gained by you, as by reaping good fruits of your Media"tion, with their Majefties. And now I present your Lordship, in the enclofed, with what ap-. ' pears to me an Evidence; that my hopes of his making ingenuous returns, for your gene"rous advances towards a friendship with him, were not groundlefs. Since he would fure ne"ver have pitched upon you, to manage an appli❝cation of his, about an intereft wherein the vifible "fubfiftence of his family is fo deeply concerned, "if he did not firmly believe the reality of your "intentions towards him; though he have no merits of his towards you, or any thing elfe, but your Chriftian beginnings towards him, ἐσ to build that faith upon. Nor can he, in my poor opinion, give you a clearer proof of his "being already overcome by you, than in chufing you to be the perfon, to whom he would "in fuch an intereft be obliged: Since he thereby puts himself upon the peril of being faith 46 The original is in the Editor's hands. د fully |