venient, and then join Louis in a war against the Dutch Republic: that should Charles's profession occasion an insurrection in England, Louis should grant him an aid of £200,000, and an armed force of six thousand men: that Louis should observe the treaty of Aix la Chapelle: that Charles should aid Louis in any new rights which might accrue to him on the Spanish monarchy: that both parties should make war on the United Provinces, and neither should conclude peace without the other: that the whole charge of the war by land be paid by Louis, the English aiding with six thousand men; that by sea, Charles should furnish fifty and Louis thirty ships of war, and the entire be commanded by the Duke of York, the French king paying £300,000 a year towards the expense of England: that of the conquests to be made, England should be satisfied with Walcheren, Sluys, and Cadsand; the Prince of Orange to be provided for in separate articles: and that the subjects of England and France be more closely united by a treaty of commerce to be hereafter concluded. The treaty was signed by Arlington, T. Arundell, T. Clifford, and R. Bellings. A second treaty, with the omission of the first article was subsequently signed by Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale.

For this war

SECTION V. THE THIRD DUTCH WAR, 1672-1674. 1. The cause of the third Dutch war. Charles assigned the following reasons:-the unwillingness of the Dutch to agree to regulations for the commerce of the two nations in the East Indies: the detention of English traders in Surinam : their refusal to honor the English flag in the narrow seas and their repeated insults to him personally by medals and defamatory publications. The real cause is to be found in the treaty of Dover.

2. Events in the third Dutch war.

(1) THE WAR IN 1672. Before the war was actually declared, two events occurred deserving of notice. To obtain an addition to the supplies voted by parliament, it was suggested by Clifford and Ashley, that the payment of moneys advanced to the government by bankers and capitalists, on the security of the forthcoming public revenue, should be suspended for twelve months. By this breach of public faith £1,300,000 was obtained, but it was dearly purchased, for many of the bankers failed, the commercial credit of the country was shaken, and many annuitants and others reduced to great distress. The second event was equally disgraceful to Charles and his Cabal. It was the attempt to seize the Levant fleet of Dutch merchantmen in their passage up the English Channel. The Dutch were not without their suspicions of the faithlessness of the English king, and had therefore taken such precautions as they could. When the Levant fleet appeared in sight, it was found to consist of sixty sail, pretty well armed, and under convoy of seven ships of war; the defence made was so vigorous, that Holmes, the English admiral, was completely baffled the first day. Receiving a reinforcement, the English renewed the action, but only one ship of war and four merchants were

captured, a result which greatly disappointed the king, and procured for Holmes a lodging in the Tower.

After war was declared, De Ruyter put to sea with seventy-five ships, besides many fire-ships, and took his station in the Straits of Dover, to prevent the junction of the English and French fleets. The Duke of York, who had left the Nore with only forty sail, managed to pass under cover of a fog, and at St. Helens awaited the arrival of the French. The combined fleets found the Dutch before Ostend, but failing to bring them to an engagement, the English returned to Southwold Bay. Here they were nearly surprised a few days after, and a general engagement ensued, May 28. The English fought with desperation against great odds, and suffered severely till joined by a reinforcement, when the Dutch withdrew. Of the French squadron none took part in the action. In this battle, the English lost one ship, the Dutch three; Montague, Earl of Sandwich, perished, and thousands of men. The Dutch after the battle were chased and compelled to take shelter in the Wierings.

In this year, the storm of war broke with terrific violence on the States. Louis, Condé, and Turenne, at the head of a hundred thousand men, wrested three provinces from the Republic, and advanced their outposts to the vicinity of Amsterdam. The courage of the Dutch rose with their danger; the young Prince of Orange was declared captain-general, and promises of aid were obtained from the Emperor, Spain, and Brandenburg. In the French army, served the Duke of Monmouth, at the head of six thousand British soldiers. An attempt was made to induce the Dutch to accept terms; they refused, and opening their dykes, arrested the progress of the enemy. Under the influence of public excitement, the two De Witts were barbarously murdered by the mob, and the Prince of Orange elected Stadtholder.

(2) THE WAR IN 1673. In this year considerable changes took place. The parliament compelled the king to withdraw the declaration of indulgence published in the preceding year. Suspicions had been awakened by the fact that the Duke of York had embraced the Catholic faith; and the alliance with France, a Catholic state, against Holland, a Protestant state, was held to prove the existence of some conspiracy against the Reformed Churches; and it was further maintained that the declaration of indulgence was but the first of a series of measures to accomplish this purpose. Under these impressions, the celebrated Test Act was passed, which compelled the Duke of York and Clifford the treasurer to retire from office. The place_of the latter was filled by Sir Thomas Osborne, afterwards Earl Danby, the former by Prince Rupert.

A fleet of ninety sail of English put to sea, commanded by the Prince. Three actions were fought with De Ruyter off the Dutch coast, in the months of May, June, and August, but in neither was anything done worthy of notice; after alarming the coasts, Rupert returned with his honor somewhat tarnished.

3. Results of the third Dutch War by Treaty of Westminster, Feb. 9, 1674. Several reasons led Charles to end a war which tended so little to his advantage in any way. The English Commons were indisposed to grant supplies; by sea the English

had met with no success commensurate with the outlay; the States of Holland were forming powerful alliances; and the French compelled to retreat to the frontiers. The States were anxious to separate England from France, and made an offer of peace to Charles through the Spanish ambassador; this led in a few days to the treaty of Westminster. By this treaty, the Dutch consented to honor the English flag (by lowering their flags and topsails to English ships of war, on the seas between Cape Finisterre in Spain, and Van Staten in Norway), as a matter of right and not of compliment: that the English settlers in Surinam should have liberty to sell their effects and retire: that the disputes between the two East India Companies should be referred to arbitrators: and that the Dutch should pay to Charles £200,000 in lieu of all claims except those relating to India. On the conclusion of this peaee, Charles offered his mediation to the different powers at war, though without effect; the war went on till 1678, when a peace was concluded at Nimeguen, by which Louis obtained Franche-comté and sixteen fortresses in the Netherlands.

SECTION VI. POPISH PLOTS AND POLITICAL DISHONOR.

1. England ruled by foreign gold. The period from 1674 to 1678 was full of disputes between the two Houses, fostered by moneys sent over by other states. Although Charles had separated his policy from that of Louis, he continued to receive a yearly pension from that monarch. In the quarrelsome session of 1675, £200,000 are said to have been spent in bribing the Commons, part of it advanced by the Dutch and Spanish ambassadors, to obtain the recall of the English regiments serving in Flanders. To put an end to this disgrace, a test was proposed, to be taken by each member, disclaiming any bribe or pension, but the motion was got rid of. Lingard says, "it is a fact that several among those who claimed the praise of patriotism for their opposition to the court were accustomed to sell their services for money. It seemed as if the votes of the members of parliament were exposed for sale to all the powers of Europe. took money even from Louis, at the very time when they loudly declared against Louis as the greatest enemy of their religion and liberties for that prince, notwithstanding the recent treaty (another secret treaty with Charles concluded in 1676), did not implicitly rely on the faith of Charles: he sought in addition the good-will of those who, by their influence in parliament, might have it in their power to withdraw the king from his promise of neutrality".

... some

The names of Lords Russell and Hollis, Algernon Sydney,

Littleton, Hampden, and others, are mentioned as leaders of the popular party who lent their influence to France, most of them receiving gratuities for their services. This dishonorable course was defended on the ground that their views were patriotic and honorable, to detach France from the king; to procure the disbanding of the army, the dissolution of a corrupted parliament, and the dismissal of a bad minister". On this unnatural connexion Hallam remarks: "They were concerting measures with the natural enemy of their country, religion, honor, and liberties whose obvious policy was to keep the kingdom disunited, that it might be powerless; who had been long abetting the worst designs of our court, and who could never be expected to act against popery and despotism, but for the temporary ends of his ambition". These intrigues with France become more prominent as the reign advances.

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One redeeming act of Danby's should not be forgotten; it was his influence which brought about the marriage of the Princess Mary with the Prince of Orange (1677), "the seed of the revolu tion and the act of settlement".

2. Oates's popish plot, 1678. Titus Oates during the Commonwealth had left his loom to become an Anabaptist preacher, and at the Restoration, having conformed to the church of England, held successively two or three curacies, besides a chaplaincy on board a ship of war, all of which he was forced to quit by reason of improper conduct. Going abroad, he professed himself a convert to Romanism, and obtained admission into the English colleges at Valladolid and St. Omer, from both of which he was expelled. While in residence however, he had gained some knowledge of the names of the chief Romanists in England, and that the Jesuits had lately held a private meeting in London. These particulars, on his return to England, he communicated to Dr. Tonge, rector of St. Michael's in Wood Street, a credulous man whose imagination was haunted with visions of plots and conspiracies. By this pair a long statement was drawn up, to the effect that the Jesuits had held an extraordinary meeting to consult respecting the assassination of the king, and the subversion by force of the Protestant religion. This was communicated to Charles, who, after a private interview with Tonge, referred him to the lord treasurer. Danby required proof, and was told that certain letters addressed to Bedingfield, the Duke of York's confessor, would afford it, but they turned out evident forgeries. There was now a chance of the scheme falling through. To prevent this, Oates made affidavit to the truth of what he had stated, before Sir Edmondbury Godfrey.

Oates was now ordered to appear before the council, where he

stated that the plan of the Jesuits included besides England, the countries of Ireland, Scotland, and Holland: that they had plenty of funds that an attempt had already been made to assassinate Charles that they had now organised three sets of assassins, and in addition had offered to Wakeham, the queen's physician, £15,000 to poison the king: that he had first discovered the plot by opening letters with which he was intrusted: that they had expended seven hundred fire-balls in nourishing the fire of London in 1666 and that the pope had already named to all the bishoprics and dignities of the Church of England., Oates, on being challenged to produce documentary evidence, admitted that he had none whatever, but could produce abundant evidence, if warrants were issued for the seizure of the persons and papers of the accused. Warrants were issued.

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The papers of Harcourt, the provincial of the Jesuits, discovered no trace of a plot, but it was otherwise with those of Coleman, secretary to the Duchess of York. This person had offered his services to Father La Chaise, the confessor of Louis XIV., in favor of the catholic religion; and had been moreover a paid agent of the French ambassador, both in procuring information of parliamentary proceedings, and dispensing money among the members to strengthen the French interest. Among his papers were found copies of his correspondence with France, and the attention of the council was particularly directed to a proposal which he had made to La Chaise, that Louis should furnish him with £20,000 to be employed for purposes conducive to the interests of France and of the Catholic church. In Coleman's correspondence occurred the following suspicious sentences: Success would give the greatest blow to the Protestant religion that it had received since its birth. . . . . They had a mighty work on their hands, no less than the conversion of three kingdoms, and by that perhaps the utter subduing of a pestilent heresy, which had so long domineered over great part of the northern world... there never was such hope since the death of Queen Mary". Coleman and others were committed to prison, for it was evident there was a plot, though not Oates's plot.

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3. Murder of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey, 1678. This magistrate, before whom Oates had sworn to the particulars of the plot, had been for some time depressed in spirits, apprehending that he should become the first martyr; he left his house without returning, and six days after was discovered, October 15, in a dry ditch by Primrose Hill. On examination it was found that his body had been run through with his own sword, which having passed through the heart came some inches out at the back. There was no blood on his clothes, or about him; his money was