NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. ix. JAK. 17, 101*
It is pretty certain that William III.
never really wavered in his loyalty to the
memory of his dead wife. In 1696, when
the hopes of his expectant fathers-in-law
waxed highest. Stepney wrote to Secretary
Trumbull from Loo on 24 Aug./3 Sept. :
"I have beene told that a Gentleman of easy accesse to the King, being about to entertain His Majesty with what com'on report said of this match, was answered very short That tho' they might have so soon forgott ye Queen He had not."* Nor was he likely to be enticed into double harness by the Princess of Brandenburgh, an unformed and unattractive girl of sixteen. Prior described her as " not ugly, but disagree- able ; a tall miss at a boarding-school, with a scraggy, lean neck."f To this Stepney added that " her conversation is not great or her air noble " ; while providently re- marking that she had " very good principles of religion, and may make a reserved, devout and dutiful wife.' ; J:
William had gained plenty of experi- ence in the matrimonial market, and was in general perfectly able to take care of himself. But the Elector pressed the matter so earnestly that in 1696 things began to look serious. Diplomatic circles in Eng- land and on the Continent were all a-flutter over the rumours. William had promised to pay a visit to the Brandenburgh family at Cleves. But the Elector's indiscretion had brought matters to such a pitch that a confidential meeting between the two rulers would give an official sanction to the common report of the marriage. If William rejected the union at that stage, he would inflict a rankling wound on his cousin's self-esteem. On the other hand, the un- favourable accounts of the Princess had quite cured him of any thoughts of sacrifi- cing himself to reasons of State. An in- genious expedient was thought of for turn- ing the visit into a brief ceremony in which nothing private could be discussed.
"To soften ye matter in respect of ye Lady [wrote Stepney to Trumbull], and that this sudden resolution may not pass in ye world as ye effect of Coldness and neglect, a point of Ceremony may chance to be laid hold of, which may render ye Kings visiting ye Elector next door to impractic- able ; for you know, Sir, wherever His Majesty appears He is seat'd in an arm'd chair, which he does not allow even to ye Elector of Bavaria [the commander of the Spanish forces in the army of the Allies] when ye Elector comes to visit him at
- S.P. Foreign, Military Expeditions I.
t Hist. MSS. Comm. Rep., ' MSS. of the Duke of Buccleuch at Montagu House,' vol. ii. part ii. p. 1.
$ S.P. Foreign, Military Expeditions I., Step ney to Trumbull, Sept. 8/18, 1693.
bis own Quarters ; and when he returns the visit*
it is standing that ye Elector may not seat himself
in an arm'd chair likewise, and for this reason they
never eat together : Now ye same difficulty will,
subsist in respect of ye Elector of Brandenburgh,
who without doubt stands upon ye same point of
ceremony as ye other Elector, alledging that ye
honour of an arm'd Chair is allowd him by the
Emperor, when they meet at Elections and other
such like ceremonious occasions, and ought much
less to be disputed him atCleves which is a sort of
his own Residence ; But His Majesty (if he have a
mind to avoid ye Rencontre) may be apt to insist
upon what has ever been practised by our Kings of
England, and will not think it reasonable to let
fall what he has hitherto so firmly maintained
in respect of ye Elector of Bavaria : However if
Passion prevails, it will break through these
nicetyes by pretending to be incognito, like Jupiter
in disguise, and you 'le give me leave to apply in.
this case Non Dene conveniunt ntc in una sede
morantur Majestas et Amor. But we had best
suspend our thoughts for three or four days, and!
by that time wee may perceive whether ye King or
the Lover getts ye best on 't."*
The King easily conquered the lover, and 1 the event was much as Stepney had pre- dicted. Taking his friend the old Duke of Zell with him as chaperon, "that the World may not continue to report that there is any Passion in this Civillity,"t William III. paid a flying visit for Saturday night only to Cleves. He saw the Elector merely at meeting and parting, and during a walk in the gardens. J The rest of the time was pretty equally divided between meals, to which " the Elector could not be admitted because of ye point of ye Armd chair which I have formerly mentioned," a lengthy game of ombre, and an " indifferent sermon "in the King's own room, from both of which he was absent for the same reason. The game of ombre was played in the Electress's bedroom, and lasted four or five hours, the King sitting in an armchair, the Duke of Zell in an ordinary one, and the Electress compromising by perching herself on the bed.
"The Poore Princesse stood all ye while as a Spectator without being askd to sit down, though- M r K(eppel) [the King's assistant at the game] had a chair, whereat I perceive some people who mind Ceremony are offended. "
Though Prior could report that "as far as I could guess he does not much mislike
- S.P. Foreign, Military Expeditions I., 3 Sept.
24 Aug., 1696, from Loo.
t Ibid., 10 Sept./31 Aug.
Another account of the visit, which confirms the above in all particulars, is given in Prior's 'Journal 'in the 'MSS. of the Marquis of Bath,' vol. iii. p. 508 (Hist. MSS. Comm. Rep.).
S.P. Foreign, Military Expeditions j., Stepney to Trumbull, Loo, 8/18 Sept.
