Page:Diary of the times of Charles II Vol. I.djvu/361

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THE TIMES OF CHARLES THE SECOND.

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21st.⁠Monsieur Campricht and Monsieur Huneken dined with me; at night I was with the Prince, he told me that he had read the King's letter at the Committee of Intelligence, and that it was much liked.

26th.⁠I received letters out of England for the Prince. I carried them to him ; he saw plainly that the Parliament would be prorogued but to April, which he was very glad of.^[1]

27th.⁠Mr. Ellis, my Lord of Ossory's secretary, dined with me; he told me how slow they were in his Lord's affairs, and he thought he would be fain to quit. The Prince sent for me, and desired me to write again to Lord Sunderland about making

↑ "The King," says James, "doubted not by this short prorogation, and having the Parliament always at a call, that he should keep France from invading Holland, and Holland from joining with France, which otherwise that people's aversion to war would have forced the States to consent to. He resolved, therefore, he said, to keep such a countenance in the matter as to persuade the world that the difference between him and his Parliament was not irreconcileable, that he durst meet them, and by that means keep his neighbours so well composed, that in reality he should not need to meet them at all, which was certainly the properest medium in this conjuncture, and what be most desired; for, in the bottom, the King never intended they should then meet to do business, unless the exigency of his foreign allyances forced him to it."—Life of James II., i., 586.

[1] "The King," says James, "doubted not by this short prorogation, and having the Parliament always at a call, that he should keep France from invading Holland, and Holland from joining with France, which otherwise that people's aversion to war would have forced the States to consent to. He resolved, therefore, he said, to keep such a countenance in the matter as to persuade the world that the difference between him and his Parliament was not irreconcileable, that he durst meet them, and by that means keep his neighbours so well composed, that in reality he should not need to meet them at all, which was certainly the properest medium in this conjuncture, and what be most desired; for, in the bottom, the King never intended they should then meet to do business, unless the exigency of his foreign allyances forced him to it."—Life of James II., i., 586.

[1]