MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF ENGLAND. WILLIAM THE THIRD. CHAPTER I. Preliminary remarks.-League of Utrecht formed by the Netherlands in 1579.- Character and Constitution of that League.-William of Nassau, first Prince of Orange, appointed its head, by the title of Stadtholder.-His character. His assassination in 1584.- His son, Prince Maurice, succeeds to the office of Stadtholder, and is successful against the Spaniards.-Dies, and is succeeded by his younger brother, Henry Frederick. - Acknowledgment by Spain of the independence of the United Provinces.-Character of William the Second, fourth Stadtholder.-Abolition of that office. -Prince William Henry, son of William the Second, afterwards William the Third of England, born in 1650.-Is nephew to Kings Charles the Second and James the Second. -His early studies.-Sir William Temple's favourable opinion of his capacity. He visits England in his twentieth year, and is entertained by the University of Oxford.-Probable motives of his visit.-Entertaining anecdote.-Charles the Second's distrust of William, and the latter's politic conduct while in England.-League between France and England against the States of Holland. THE history of William of Nassau is so closely connected with that of his native country, that, VOL. I. B in order fully to comprehend the causes of his extraordinary rise, and to appreciate the services which he performed,-not only for his fellow citizens, but for Europe at large, it is necessary to introduce a few remarks respecting the constitution of the Dutch Republic, and the position of the Nassau family in Holland at the birth of the last of heir line. When the Netherlands, after a long and noble struggle, threw off the yoke of Philip the Second of Spain, they formed, in 1579, the celebrated League of Utrecht, which laid the foundation of that powerful confederacy, since so well known and respected as the Republic of the United Provinces. In furtherance of their great object, it was stipulated, by common agreement, that each of the seven revolted provinces should send a fixed number of delegates to a general council; that each province should guarantee to the other its respective rights; and that the assembled body of representatives should conjointly have the power of declaring war, levying taxes, and otherwise conducting the general affairs of the new Commonwealth. At these meetings each deputy presided in turn; the members assembled at a long table, the president being seated in the middle: the greffier, or secretary, took his seat at one end, and on the admission of a foreign ambassador, or any eminent person, a chair was provided for him opposite the president. By the wisdom of this deliberative assembly the affairs of the Republic continued to be successfully carried on, till Philip, inflamed with rage against his revolted subjects, and thirsting for dominion, again poured forth his vast armies, and threatened to crush the infant Commonwealth almost at its very birth. It was then that the States appear for the first time to have made the discovery, that however firmly they might be united by bonds of mutual interest and affection; however determined to resist tyranny and oppression to the last; yet that the protracted deliberations of a large body of men served unfortunately to retard expedition and to clog the machinery of the state; and, further, that, in a crisis like the present, it was to the energies of a single individual that they must confide their sacred cause, and trust for delivery from their imminent peril. The important office, which the States thus found themselves compelled to constitute,-and which was in some degree similar to that of a dictator in ancient Rome,-was eventually conferred on William of Nassau, first Prince of Orange; and, as the preference came from a people at once prudent and sagacious, it implied the proudest and most flattering distinction. The selection, however, was as well-merited as it was judicious. William, a man of considerable wealth, and of great natural abilities, though descended from one of the proudest families in Germany, and possessing the inheritance of a sovereign family in France, had for some time fixed on Holland as the country of his choice. Here he had fought nobly in the cause of freedom, and by his services, both as a statesman and a soldier, had been long the darling and main-stay of the States. In addition to the office and title of Stadtholder, he received the appointment of Captain-General of the forces of the Republic both by sea and land, with the entire disposal of all commissions in both services. He was allowed a seat, though without a voice, in the Assembly of the States General; and, during a period of war, a council, composed of deputies from the several provinces, was associated with him, who attended him closely throughout the campaign, and deliberated with him respecting the requisite operations. Under the auspices of this celebrated person the States recovered from their almost desperate situation, and after a protracted and bloody warfare, the Provinces were entirely evacuated by the Spanish troops. William, as is well known, was assassinated at Delft, on the 10th of July, 1584, by one Balthazzar Gerhard, a native of Burgundy. At his death, the States conferred the Stadtholdership on his son, Prince Maurice, a person in no degree inferior to his illustrious parent regarding either the energy or the prudence of his measures, and even superior to him in military capacity. During his administration, the violence and usurpation of the Spaniards were again successfully resisted; and at his decease, the States a third time honoured his family with the Stadtholdership, in the person of Henry Frederick, his younger brother, a Prince who inherited many of the admirable qualities of his predecessors. He distinguished himself, on several occasions, by his victories over the Spaniards, and it was during his administration that the Spanish monarch renounced his claims on the United Provinces, and acknowledged them to be a free people. Such were the services, and such the claims of the family of Nassau on the illustrious Commonwealth of Holland. The race of Nassau was by Heaven designed The successor of Henry Frederick in the Stadtholdership, and the fourth Prince of Orange on whom that high honour was conferred, was William the Second, who married the Princess Mary of England, and became the father of King |