登陆注册
5246300000348

第348章 CHAPTER VII(30)

It was therefore determined to kidnap him. Ruffians were hired with great sums of money for this perilous and infamous service.

An order for three thousand pounds on this account was actually drawn up for signature in the office of the Secretary of State.

Lewis was apprised of the design, and took a warm interest in it.

He would lend, he said, his best assistance to convey the villain to England, and would undertake that the ministers of the vengeance of James should find a secure asylum in France. Burnet was well aware of his danger: but timidity was not among his faults. He published a courageous answer to the charges which had been brought against him at Edinburgh. He knew, he said, that it was intended to execute him without a trial: but his trust was in the King of Kings, to whom innocent blood would not cry in vain, even against the mightiest princes of the earth. He gave a farewell dinner to some friends, and, after the meal, took solemn leave of them, as a man who was doomed to death, and with whom they could no longer safely converse. Nevertheless he continued to show himself in all the public places of the Hague so boldly that his friends reproached him bitterly with his foolhardiness.263While Burnet was William's secretary for English affairs in Holland, Dykvelt had been not less usefully employed in London.

Dykvelt was one of a remarkable class of public men who, having been bred to politics in the noble school of John De Witt, had, after the fall of that great minister, thought that they should best discharge their duty to the commonwealth by rallying round the Prince of Orange. Of the diplomatists in the service of the United Provinces none was, in dexterity, temper, and manners, superior to Dykvelt. In knowledge of English affairs none seems to have been his equal. A pretence was found for despatching him, early in the year 1687, to England on a special mission with credentials from the States General. But in truth his embassy was not to the government, but to the opposition; and his conduct was guided by private instructions which had been drawn by Burnet, and approved by William.264Dykvelt reported that James was bitterly mortified by the conduct of the Prince and Princess. "My nephew's duty," said the King, "is to strengthen my hands. But he has always taken a pleasure in crossing me." Dykvelt answered that in matters of private concern His Highness had shown, and was ready to show, the greatest deference to the King's wishes; but that it was scarcely reasonable to expect the aid of a Protestant prince against the Protestant religion.265 The King was silenced, but not appeased.

He saw, with ill humour which he could not disguise, that Dykvelt was mustering and drilling all the various divisions of the opposition with a skill which would have been creditable to the ablest English statesman, and which was marvellous in a foreigner. The clergy were told that they would find the Prince a friend to episcopacy and to the Book of Common Prayer. The Nonconformists were encouraged to expect from him, not only toleration, but also comprehension. Even the Roman Catholics were conciliated; and some of the most respectable among them declared, to the King's face, that they were satisfied with what Dykvelt proposed, and that they would rather have a toleration, secured by statute, than an illegal and precarious ascendency.266The chiefs of all the important sections of the nation had frequent conferences in the presence of the dexterous Envoy. At these meetings the sense of the Tory party was chiefly spoken by the Earls of Danby and Nottingham. Though more than eight years had elapsed since Danby had fallen from power, his name was still great among the old Cavaliers of England; and many even of those Whigs who had formerly persecuted him were now disposed to admit that he had suffered for faults not his own, and that his zeal for the prerogative, though it had often misled him, had been tempered by two feelings which did him honour, zeal for the established religion, and zeal for the dignity and independence of his country. He was also highly esteemed at the Hague, where it was never forgotten that he was the person who, in spite of the influence of France and of the Papists, had induced Charles to bestow the hand of the Lady Mary on her cousin.

Daniel Finch, Earl of Nottingham, a nobleman whose name will frequently recur in the history of three eventful reigns, sprang from a family of unrivalled forensic eminence. One of his kinsmen had borne the seal of Charles the First, had prostituted eminent parts and learning to evil purposes, and had been pursued by the vengeance of the Commons of England with Falkland at their head.

同类推荐
  • 梦鹤轩楳澥诗钞

    梦鹤轩楳澥诗钞

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 玄风庆会录

    玄风庆会录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 家诫要言

    家诫要言

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 清微神烈秘法

    清微神烈秘法

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 拳意述真

    拳意述真

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 修仙传奇录

    修仙传奇录

    一个猎户的儿子,村中最年轻、最有前途的神射手,在一次不经意间与正被人类修真者追杀、国色天香的九尾灵狐相遇,懵懵懂懂的他被不怀好意的丹药师掳走,无力反抗之下只有屈从,但世事弄人,从此他却走上了一条无法想象、无可企及地修仙之路。
  • 净土或问

    净土或问

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 血隐狂刀

    血隐狂刀

    何为江湖?有人的地方就是江湖!有江湖的地方就注定会有纷争……
  • 我的绝色冰山总裁老婆

    我的绝色冰山总裁老婆

    【无敌爽文】他是国之利器斩魂杀神,杀尽犯华夏者。他是四神之一地狱邪神,战无不胜,天下无双,名号响彻世界。他更是神龙体继承者,他杀过两个神,炎帝和阿波罗神,继承神位,至强无比,成为不可忽视强者。他就是牧辰,女人的情圣,男人的恶梦,开启最强都市热血之路。……书友群611092872。推荐我的新书《绝代神主在都市》。
  • 诀蝶

    诀蝶

    没有人知道神武山庄在哪?正如没有人知道神武山庄是谁创立。但世间所有的人都知道,神武山庄随便出来游历的弟子,都比任何一个门派的最强者强!青年武夜来,于青山深处,驾青鸾而出。正道,魔教,纷纷侧目。故事从这里讲起。
  • 别笑,我是高考零分作文(第2季)

    别笑,我是高考零分作文(第2季)

    最雷人、最搞笑、最荒诞、最天才的零分作文,高考一族的减压零食,都市白领的幽默早餐!另附小学生爆笑“撒谎作文”必杀篇,绝对挑战你的想象极限!《央视新闻频道》等28家电视台,《新华日报》《南方日报》《重庆晨报》等120家报纸、数千家网站报道推荐!
  • 桃花蛊

    桃花蛊

    前十七年,她是翩翩少年郎。前二十年,他是江家三公子。她与他桃树下结缘,相识亦相知。风吹桃花,页翻过。少年转罗裙,公子变皇子。花轿、红烛。挚友结鸳盟,不知碎了多少草心,芳心。“不过是桃花蛊,帮你引了就是引了,不需要你负责。”她口是心非。
  • 情真话自直(最受学生喜爱的散文精粹)

    情真话自直(最受学生喜爱的散文精粹)

    《最受学生喜爱的散文精粹》从喧嚣中缓缓走来,如一位许久不见的好友,收拾了一路趣闻,满载着一眼美景,静静地与你分享。靠近它,你会忘记白日里琐碎的工作,沉溺于片刻的宁谧。靠近它,你也会忘却烦恼,还心灵一片晴朗。一个人在其一生中,阅读一些立意深远、具有丰富哲学思考的散文,不仅可以开阔视野,重新认识历史、社会、人生和自然,获得思想上的盎然新意,而且还可以学习中外散文名家高超而成熟的创作技巧。
  • 独步惊华

    独步惊华

    她,顾若云,青龙国有名的废物,父母双亡,天生懦弱,丢尽了整个将军府的脸面,最终因与人纠纷而被亲身爷爷将毫无过错的她活活打死!再次睁眼,脱去了那一身懦弱,她再非昔日的废物小姐!身怀至宝,契约四大神兽,便是青龙国第一高手都抢着要成为她的跟班……丹药?算什么,她随手可以炼制一把。低阶灵器很强大吗?就连她手下使用的都是高阶灵器。你有高级灵兽?抱歉,她身后的圣兽已成千军万马,力压一切豪雄!只是谁能告诉她,这个强大妖孽的男人是怎么回事!为何却死皮赖脸的纠缠着她,更是誓不罢休!----------推荐新文《鬼帝狂妻:纨绔大小姐》依旧女强,妹子们收藏下,么么哒
  • 困兽法则

    困兽法则

    我就是一名传统刺青师,这些年来,我给客人们刺青遭遇诸多怪事,压抑着心里恐怖的秘密辗转难眠,现在给你娓娓道来我的亲身经历。