tion of the bill impossible, in revoking what has been granted so long ago; the others believing that those articles in which some difficulties should be found would be left untouched, and that they would begin by demanding payment on those grants which are the clearest; that is to say, those which have been made during this reign.* A Frenchman named Bussy † has been arrested, * The opposition had soon revived the plan of resuming the grants, though not in its full latitude, for now it was only proposed to apply the fourth part of their value to the service of the public. But one party having insisted on beginning with the grants of King Charles II. and King James II. the persons affected by that proceeding joined themselves with those affected by the like proceeding against the grants of King William; in consequence of which concert, so many petitions were presented and so many difficulties were raised, that it became no very difficult task to set aside both. "I know not whether your Majesty ever heard of one de Bussy, a Frenchman, who married my lord Newbury's mother: he was afterwards a captain in my lord Macclesfield's regiment of horse, and having been a busy French papist, he left the kingdom at the Revolution, and is now lately come over again. Great notice has been taken of his being here, and I have taken him up upon suspicion of treason, and he is now in the custody of a messenger. It is supposed he is a denizen, but without reason. I think I should be justifiable if I took up all the French papists now in England, since their ambassador owns there is an assassin among them, and does not think fit to declare who he is." Mr. Vernon to the King, April 7. (O. S.) -Bussy was committed to Newgate a few days after for high treason. He was, says Mr. Vernon in another letter," the great companion in his lewdness of the Carmelite Friar," who brought the letter to Count Tallard, and could not be arrested. Mr. Vernon had also signed a warrant for apprehending four other French Carmelite Friars. on account of some affairs of five or six years' standing, which concern the government, by whom he is vehemently suspected. A female of some rank (Mrs. Hansard) has declared that the pistol which was found in St. James' Chapel, five days ago, was brought there by a man who intended to make use of it against the King's person. She added, that she hindered him from doing so; that she knows him, but that she loves him, and will not reveal his name till she has the promise of his pardon. This is a very strange business. LOUIS XIV. TO COUNT TALLARD. Marly, April 23. 1698. I have received your letter of the 16th of this month, and I have minutely examined the line of conduct which you had to follow in the conjuncture of which you inform me. It is certain that you ought to act in such a manner that the king of England might be persuaded that I desire to keep up a perfect understanding with him; that the least exertion which he can expect is, that you should inform him of a plot against his person, when you have knowledge of it. I am, therefore, very far from disapproving, in the main, of what you have done; but I could have wished that the manner in which you gave the information had been different. There appears to me to have been too great eagerness on your part, in writing yourself to the king of England on an affair so very obscure. It should not be supposed that, even in time of war, any one has dared to make proposals to me which excite so much horror. I cannot imagine that any person will believe it; and yet it is not impossible that the step which you have taken may be considered affected, and with a view to persuade the king of England of the sincerity of my intentions. It is not on this occasion that he must be made to perceive that my intentions are such as I have promised him, since I was actuated by the same motives when I was his enemy, and would do the like if the war continued.* I could, therefore, have wished, that instead of writing to the prince him One * If Louis XIV., or his ministers, had been sincere, they would perhaps not have been able to deny all participation in, or at least connivance at the project of killing King William, constantly entertained by the Court of St. Germains, or its agents in England; and it would be a very difficult thing to prove that they did not at least lend an ear to that execrable design. It is plain that on this occasion Louis XIV. does not speak of it with the indignation which it deserved. cannot forget that the commission of King James to C. (Crosby or Charnock ?) printed, though very inaccurately, by Mr. Mazure, authorising and requiring that individual "to seize and secure the person of the Prince of Orange, and to bring him before us," a language, as Mr. Hallam remarks, nothing else than an euphemism for assassination, was found in the papers of the then secretary for foreign affairs, M. de Croissy. However, it must be acknowledged that the sentiments expressed by Louis XIV. in this letter, were in the main correct, and his fears not without foundation, for the conduct of Count Tallard, in this delicate conjuncture, was not regarded by the English government as in justice it ought to have been. - self, you had merely sent to the Secretary of State the letter which you had received, with the remark that you were persuaded that the person who wrote it was labouring under some mental delusion, but that the life of the king of England is so precious that every thing that concerns it must appear important. It would even have been useless, on this occasion, to speak of my sentiments towards the King; it was sufficient merely to give the information in the manner I have indicated. It is to be feared that the eclat which you have made may lead to fresh applications on the subject of residence of King James at St. Germains, or perhaps that it may afford a pretext to the king of England to annoy the Roman Catholics in his kingdom, especially if you have denounced the person who delivered this letter. I wish you may have changed the resolution which you had formed to name him; and you are to conceal his name, if you have not already divulged it when you receive this despatch. There is a strong appearance that he did not know the contents of the letter which he delivered to you, and what you have said may cause an irreparable prejudice to the missions. WILLIAM III. TO THE PENSIONARY HEINSIUS. 13. Newmarket, April 1698. 23. I do not believe that Denmark seriously thinks of engaging itself any further, or of making an alliance with us. I do not see in what manner the numerous objections could be obviated which Link has made to you on the question of the project. You will, however, be better able to judge after another conference with him. I very willingly consent to ally myself more closely with Sweden. I have already said so to Bonde. Be so good on your part as to accelerate the affair as much as you possibly can. Time presses; and the more so, as it might perhaps be a means of preventing the alliance with France. According to the last letters I have received here from the Earl of Portland, he had an audience of the king of France, who, on being informed of the conversation I had had with Tallard, gave me to understand that it would be reasonable to satisfy the Emperor in Italy, and to increase the barrier of the Spanish Netherlands. This is farther than I thought the French would have advanced at first. The Earl of Portland was to have another audience the next day, and thought he should then be able to communicate more particulars, which I hourly expect. Count Tallard has also arrived here to-day, probably to speak with me, of which I will inform you by the next post. P.S. Since I wrote the above, Count Tallard has |