inevitable, and either its success or
defeat must be equally fatal to William should he refuse to put himself
at its head. If the rebels were victorious, their resentment at his
desertion of their cause in the hour of need would make Mary's
succession impossible and probably bring about the establishment of a
Commonwealth. On the other hand the victory of the king would not only
ruin English freedom and English Protestantism, but fling the whole
weight of England in the contest for the liberties of Europe which was
now about to open into the scale of France. From the opening of 1688 the
signs of a mutual understanding between the English Court and the French
had been unmistakeable. James had declared himself on the side of Lewis
in the negotiations with the Empire which followed on the Treaty of
Augsburg. He had backed Sweden in its threats of war against the Dutch.
At the instigation of France he had recalled the English and Scotch
troops in the service of the States. He had received supplies from Lewis
to send an English fleet to the coast of Holland; and was at this moment
supporting at Rome the French side in the quarrel over the Electorate of
Cologne, a quarrel which rendered war inevitable. It was certain
therefore that success at home would secure James's aid to France in the
struggle abroad.

[Sidenote: William's Acceptance.]

It was this above all which decided the action of the Prince, for the
ruling passion in William's heart was the longing to free Europe from
the supremacy of France. It was this too which made his enterprise
possible, for nothing but a sense of their own danger would have forced
his opponents in Holland itself to assent to his expedition. Their
assent however once gained, William strained all his resources as
Admiral and Captain-General to gather a fleet and a sufficient force
under pretext of defence against the English fleet which now appeared in
the Channel, while Brandenburg promised to supply the place of the Dutch
forces during their absence in England by lending the States nine
thousand men. As soon as the news of these preparations reached England
noble after noble made his way to the Hague. The Earl of Shrewsbury
brought L2000 towards the expenses of the expedition. Edward Russell,
the representative of the Whig Earl of Bedford, was followed by the
representatives of great Tory houses, by the sons of the Marquis of
Winchester, of Lord Danby, of Lord Peterborough, and by Lord
Mac