III. A. D. 1670. England. May 17. CHAP. rate from her husband, and to fix her residence in Charles received her affectionately, and laboured to gratify her with presents and entertainments; but on both points he resisted her prayers and her reasoning; the French ambassador reluctantly consented to subscribe the treaty as it had been drawn May 22, by the English commissioners, and Henrietta, with a heavy heart, returned to her state of splendid misery in the court of France.1 Of this treaty, thus at length concluded, though much was afterwards said, little was certainly known. All the parties concerned, both the sovereigns and the negotiators, observed an impenetrable secrecy. What became of the copy transmitted to France is unknown; its counterpart was confided to the custody of Sir Thomas Clifford, and is still in the keeping of his descendant, the Lord Clifford of Chudleigh. The principal articles were: 1. That the king of England should publicly profess himself a Catholic at such time as should appear to him most expedient, and subsequently to that profession should join with Louis in a war against the Dutch republic at such time as the most Christian king should judge proper. 2. That to enable the king of England to suppress any insurrection which might be occasioned by his conversion, the king of France should grant him an aid of two mil 1 Life of James, i. 448. Macpher. i. 54. Louis was prepared to make every sacrifice to engage Charles in his "grande affaire,”—the war against the States. When Colbert, his ambassador in London, made financial objections to the yearly payment of three millions for the grande affaire, particularly as that affair might last for some years, and draw a considerable quantity of specie out of the realm, he answered, on May 2, "Je sais que vos raisons sont bonnes; je "les connois pour telles. J'ai mandé qu'il falloit combattre jusqu'à "la fin; mais, au pis-aller, ne pas manquer la grande affaire." Œuvres, v. 466. DEATH OF DUCHESS OF ORLEANS. 183 III. lions of livres, by two payments, one at the expiration CHAP. of three months, the other of six months after the A.D. 1670. ratification of the treaty, and should also assist him with an armed force of six thousand men, if the service of such a force should be thought necessary. 3. That Louis should observe inviolably the treaty of Aix-laChapelle, and Charles be allowed to maintain that treaty in comformity with the conditions of the triple alliance. 4. That if, eventually, any new rights on the Spanish monarchy should accrue to the king of France, the king of England should aid him with all his power in the acquisition of those rights. 5. That both princes should make war on the United Provinces, and that neither should conclude peace or truce with them without the advice and consent of his ally. 6. That the king of France should take on himself the whole charge of the war by land, receiving from England an auxiliary force of six thousand men. 7. That by sea Charles should furnish fifty, Louis thirty, men-of-war; that the combined fleet should be placed under the command of the duke of York; and that, to enable the king of England to support the charge of the naval armament, he should receive every year of the war the sum of three millions of livres from the king of France. 8. That out of the conquests which might be made, his Britannic majesty should be satisfied with Walcheren, Sluys, and the island of Cadsand; and that, in separate articles, provision should be made for the interests of the prince of Orange, so that he might find his advantage in the war. 9. And that, to unite more closely the interests and affections of the subjects of both crowns, the treaty of commerce already commenced should be speedily concluded.1 1. See Note (B). It is plain, from comparing the treaty itself with CHAP. June 2. June 20. From Dover, the king repaired to London, his sister A.D. 1670. to the palace of St. Cloud; and in less than three weeks from the time of their parting the fair and fascinating Henrietta, at the age of twenty-six, was, after a very short illness, numbered with the dead. The report that, to punish the infidelity of her husband, she had indulged in similar infidelities, was solemnly contradicted by her in her last moments; and the suspicion that she had been poisoned by his order, with a cup of succory-water, received no support from the appearance of the body when it was opened after death.' Henrietta left a favourite maid, Mademoiselle de Querouaille. Whether it was through his recollection of her beauty, or through regard for November. his departed sister, Charles, after some time, invited her to England, and appointed her maid of honour to the queen. In a short time she became one of the royal mistresses.2 the account of it in the life of James, that that prince, or the compiler of the life, was but ill acquainted with the true history of these transactions. He states erroneously that the treaty was concluded and signed, and some of the money paid, in the beginning of the year, and that Henrietta succeeded in persuading the king to waive his right, and to commence with the war against the Dutch. It is remarkable that James left London with Charles for Dover; but on the road was sent back to take care of the metropolis, under the pretence that some disturbance might be caused by the shutting up of conventicles. He reached Dover three days later, and seems to have suspected that Charles wished him out of the way. James, i. 448. Macpher. i. 54. 1 For the first report, see Temple, ii. 125; for the second, James, i. 451. Montague, the ambassador, says in his letter to Charles, of July 15, "I asked her then if she believed herself poisoned; her "confessor that was by, understood that word, and told her, Madam, you must accuse nobody, but offer up your death to God as a "sacrifice. So she would never answer me that question though I "asked several times, but would only shrink up her shoulders."See a letter of condolence from Louis to Charles in the appendix, Note (C). 66 2 Evelyn (ii. 332) says, "I saw that famous beauty, but in my "opinion of a childish, simple, and baby face, Mademoiselle Que III. It was thought dangerous to confide the secret of CHAP. the late treaty to a man so unstable in his counsels, so A.D. 1670. reckless in his resentments as Buckingham; yet it could not be carried into execution without his aid, and that of his friends and colleagues, Ashley and Lauderdale. The expedient which was adopted does credit to the ingenuity of the two monarchs. The marshal de Bellefonds was sent to England to condole June 30. with Charles on the death of his sister, and Buckingham was despatched to France to return the compliment to Louis. The duke was received with dis- August 1. tinguished honour: the king consulted him on his intended war against the States, and held out to him the prospect of the command of the auxiliary force, if he could persuade his sovereign to join as a party in the campaign. This was a bait which the vanity of Buckingham could not refuse. On his return he urged Sept. 13. the subject on the consideration of the king and of his colleagues; he obtained permission to open a nego- Nov. 19. tiation with the French ambassador; he amused the two monarchs by complaining of the apathy or infidelity of Arlington and Colbert, who had been instructed to raise objections, that they might irritate his impatience, and entangle him more deeply in the intrigue; and, at length, the dupe had the satisfaction of concluding a treaty, of which he vainly deemed himself the author, but which in reality was a copy of the former, with the omission of the article respecting the king's profession of the Catholic religion.1 "rouaille."-See also 349. The maids of honour were Henrietta Maria Price, Winefred Wells, Louisa de Querouaille, Margaret Blagg, Dorothy Howard, and Sophia Stuart. 1 Dalrymple, ii. 68-77. Euvres de Louis, v. 471, 474. By the second treaty Charles was to receive five instead of three millions of livres, but, in a secret article unknown to Buckingham, he 1671. Jan. 23 CHAP. To this farce was added another. When the first A.D. 1670. instalment became due, Louis inquired of his good III. brother, whether he was yet prepared to make the Sept. 18. declaration of his catholicity. Charles replied, that he thought it advisable previously to consult the pope, and to obtain such conditions as might render the change less objectionable to his people. This answer was approved, and, in consequence, a vigorous attempt was made to induce him to join in the war first, and publish his conversion afterwards. But the king was inflexible, and to a second requisition replied, that he could discover no person fit to be trusted with so delicate a negotiation. Louis offered the bishop of Laon, Oct. 13. whose services were accepted; but, in a few days, it occurred to Charles that the reigning pontiff was old and infirm, and that it would be more prudent to wait Nov. 7. till the accession of his successor; next he determined to employ an Englishman, and spent some time before he named the president of the English college at Douai; then he contrived to obtain a delay of three months, under pretence of framing and amending the instructions to be given to this envoy; and at last 1671. honestly declared that existing circumstances compelled him to postpone the execution of his design to some more favourable opportunity. A year later Louis returned to the same subject, and Charles objected re1672. ligious scruples, which made him desirous of consulting some celebrated theologian, but a theologian also skilled in chemistry, that the subject of their conversations might be supposed to be his favourite science. June 7. Soon afterwards he determined to make the celebration Feb. 15. March II. acknowledged that two out of the five were the sum which by the former treaty he was to receive for professing himself a Catholic.Dalrymple, 77 |