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the early years of this uneasy peace, Louis strove to strengthen his frontier
by building with all the appliances which science at that time possessed
the strongest fortresses. But, on the other hand, he quarrelled with the
Jansenists, a school which, while within the Roman Church, contained the
most pious and learned men of that communion, and strove to extirpate
the Huguenots. He gave himself up entirely to the advice of the Jesuits,
but insulted, plundered, and irritated the Pope. He continued his attacks
on the Spanish Netherlands, and captured city after city. He bombarded
Genoa, simply because it had been on good terms with Spain, and constrained
the Doge of that ancient city to sue for peace at Versailles, under insulting
conditions. Every state in Europe was irritated and alarmed at his pretensions
and his actions.
Many of the French
nobles and a large section of the French people had embraced the Reformation
and had accepted the teaching and the discipline of Calvin, the form of
religion which had been adopted in Holland. The Huguenots, as these sectaries
were called, had formed the mainstay of Henry IV. Without their aid, their
grandfather of the French king, the grand monarch, as his contemporaries
called him, would never have worn the crown of France. They were, as a
rule, loyal to the monarch of their choice, even after he had deserted
the creed in which he had been brought up, and which he long professed.
Henry saw, or thought he saw, no chance for his final victory, unless
he was reconciled to the Roman Church. He suffered himself to be converted,
foreseeing that he could thus win the Malcontents, without seriously affronting
his own friends. But he accorded the Huguenots toleration, by the famous
Edict of Nantes, and allowed them to retain in their own hands certain
fortresses, and even districts, colleges, and churches.
It was the policy
of Richelieu to consolidate the power of the French monarchy, to diminish
the privileges and weaken the political independence of the French sectaries.
In course of time, many of the nobles of the Huguenot party deserted the
creed which their fathers maintained, and like the king whom they had
fought for, reconciled themselves to the Church. But the great body of
the sectaries remained faithful to their creed. They naturally dwelt in
towns, and became the principal manufacturers, artisans, and merchants
of France. The Huguenots were the people whom the policy of Colbert had
favoured, and their enterprise and wealth enabled them to establish in
France those industries which were the mainstay of French trade, and the
source of the king’s revenue. These men possessed the largest part
of that wealth which is the life of manufacturers and commerce.
The Hollanders and
the English had a profound interest in the fortunes of the Huguenots.
It was a matter of common religious feeling, for some of French sectaries
had been among the most famous and competent of the generals whom Louis
employed. it was these persons whom Louis wished to drive into the Church
of Rome by force, and after a time, when they refused compliance with
his will, to drive from France. He quartered soldiers on them, and harried
them by exactions, he destroyed their churches and schools, he bribed
those he could into compliance with his wishes, and he punished with the
greatest severity those who relapsed into their ancient creed. In time
districts once almost entirely peopled by the reformed sectaries were
coerced into conformity.
Finally on October
2, 1686, he revoked, amid the applause of the Jesuits and the congratulations
of the Court bishops, the famous Edict of Nantes. Then came a gigantic
emigration of the wealthiest, the most industrious, and the most vigorous
of the French people. The emigration of the Huguenots was nearly as disastrous
to France as the expulsion of Moriscoes in the beginning of the century
had been to Spain. The manufacturers came in great numbers to England
and Holland, where they were heartily welcomed, bringing with them those
arts of which France had previously a monopoly. The subscriptions collected
in the English churches on behalf of these refugees were exceedingly large,
and mightily vexed Louis and James, who had now succeeded Charles. Men
who had grown grey in the military and naval service of the French king
now joined the armies of his most implacable enemies, and did eminent
service in the struggle which now became imminent. Such men were Marshal
Schomberg and Ruvigny. Thousands of trained soldiers and skilful seamen
left the country which persecuted them and transferred their services
to those who welcomed them.
But not only did
Louis weaken himself and lessen the resources of his kingdom by the persecution
of the Huguenots, but his pride and violence was raising enemies against
him on all sides. He put forward claims to the Palatinate, he forced one
of his creatures on the Pope, and strove to make him Bishop of Cologne;
he even entered into a personal quarrel with Innocent XI., and made him
incline to the alliance which was gradually forming against France. The
occasion of this quarrel is curious and instructive. In all civilized
countries the person and the domicile of an ambassador are inviolable.
It is obvious that it would be impossible for an envoy to perform his
functions, unless as long as he resides in a country which is still friendly,
he has complete power over his own actions. When countries go to war,
the system is suspended. The ambassador is withdrawn. Now every one of
the Catholic Powers had an envoy at Rome. There had grown up a custom
among these personages of insisting on the privilege of their office being
extended to all persons whom they might employ and even harbour, and as
many of these envoys at the Papal court thought proper to surround themselves
with a large retinue and sometimes large bodies of troops, the quarters
in which they resided became an asylum to all the bad characters in Rome.
Murders and robberies were committed and the perpetrators shielded from
the consequence of their acts. Smugglers took up their bode in these sanctuaries,
and the papal revenue was seriously compromised by contraband trade. Innocent
was determined to put a stop to the scandal, and found it not difficult
to induce the Catholic Powers to restrain within reasonable limits the
licence which had been customary. But Louis insisted on continuing the
obnoxious system in the person of his ambassador, and sent an envoy with
a small army to Rome, whom the Pope refused to admit to an audience. In
revenge for this Louis overran the territory of Avignon, and united it
to his dominions.
From the peace of
Nimeguen onwards, William of Orange had striven to procure a confederation
of the European Powers, ostensibly to secure and maintain the provisions
of the peace, but really as a counterpoise against the menacing ambition
of France. But the principal ally whom he hoped to secure was his uncle,
Charles of England, and he seems to have been unacquainted with the secret
engagements which that utterly unprincipled sovereign had made with the
French king. The States of Holland, however, entirely distrusted Charles,
and feared to provoke Louis, who, as it appears that they believed, might
be anxious to remain on good terms with the Republic. They were merely
anxious to maintain the peace.
The action of Louis
himself soon disabused the Dutch of their confidence. Louis insisted on
securing some towns of the Spanish Netherlands which had been expressly
restored at the peace, he attacked Luxemburg, he occupied Alsace, he got
possession of Strasburg, and fortified it for himself. On these acts came
the persecution and expulsion of the Huguenots, and Louis succeeded in
alienating from himself those states and cities of Holland which had been
hitherto anxious to maintain a good understanding with him. Under these
circumstances William found that the efforts which he was making to secure
the formation of a league against France were more likely to be successful.
He contrived to induce the King of Sweden to enter into the alliance,
and he used every effort to induce Charles of England to take the same
step. But Charles refused, and William induced the Emperor of Spain and
some the German princes to join in the alliance. William hoped that at
last he should be able soon to enter into a fresh struggle with France,
but the obstinate refusal of the city of Amsterdam to back up his policy
foiled him. He succeeded, however, in inducing the States to strengthen
their navy, and to keep an effective army.
In February, 1685,
Charles of England died and his brother James, the father-in-law of William,
succeeded. James put on a show of vigour, declared that he would maintain
the European balance, and though he was not above receiving the French
king’s money, exhibited more sense of personal dignity and national
feeling than Charles did. He even affronted Louis, and by doing so prepared
his own ruin. Meanwhile William kept on good terms with his father-in-law,
whose succession he had good reason to expect, and sent away Monmouth
from the Provinces. It is alleged by some that he was privy to Monmouth’s
invasion. Certainly he must have been as dissatisfied with the assumption
of the royal title by that adventurer as James was. He not only disavowed
it, but sent six regiments in the Dutch service to co-operate with James
against the rebels. Meanwhile William had at last contrived to establish
an agreement between those who were alarmed at the progress of France
under the name of the league of Augsburg.
It is not easy to
see when the scheme first took shape of dispossessing James from the English
throne. Burnet, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury, had quitted England, now
no safe place for him, and was soon as deeply in William’s counsels
as any man ever was. On the other hand, William sent one of his most trusted
adherents, Dykvelt, over to London in order that he might enter into an
understanding with the English nobles, disabuse them of any impression
which they might have as to his sympathy with his father-in-law’s
theories of government, and at the same time to assure James of the good
will of the States. There is little doubt that Dykvelt was trusted by
the English malcontents, who had by this time thoroughly mistrusted James,
and were gradually forming those plans which eventuated in the English
Revolution. At last William ventured on publishing and circulating his
opinions about what James was bent on, the repeal of the Test Act, and
the indulgence to Protestant Dissenters. The publication of this document,
though it angered James, increased the popularity of William in England.
The birth of the
Prince of Wales, known in later history as the Old Pretender, destroyed
all William’s hopes of the succession to the English throne, which
he may have contemplated, and was a serious blow to what William certainly
had at heart, the creation of a powerful league against the French king.
With England friendly to France, or neutral in the coming struggle, it
was justly feared that the alliance would be powerless. It might succeed
if England were to declare on the side of the Allies. At first William
recognized his infant brother-in-law, but when it was reported that the
child was supposititious, and the report was believed, William ceased
to have the child’s name mentioned in public worship. William must
have joined in the popular belief; else it is difficult to see why he
should have given James what was a practical warning that he would claim
his wife Mary’s inheritance by force of arms. To disallow the Prince
of Wales was to claim the English throne. The birth of the Prince was
the fatal offence of James.
William had sent
Zulestein to congratulate the English king and queen on the event, and
Zulestein brought back the invitation from the English nobles to William,
that he should invade England and liberate it from the Government which
was violating the law, and suspending the constitution. William was ready
enough, but the difficulties were great. He had to carry out his project
in secret, to hoodwink James and Louis, and to induce the United Provinces
to acquiesce in his plans. Fortunately for William, Louis had been affronted
by James, and was at the height of his quarrel with the Pope and the Emperor,
while William was making his preparations. Just at the eve of the enterprise
of the Prince of Orange, Louis declared war against the emperor and sent
his forces to the Palatinate, far away from the Dutch frontier and thus
left the sea open to William.
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