pay of England, low as it must seem to our generation,
was much higher than the pay of France. At the same time, it was a great
object to deprive William of so fine a brigade. After some weeks of
correspondence, Barillon was authorised to promise that, if James would
recall the British troops from Holland, Lewis would bear the charge of
supporting two thousand of them in England. This offer was accepted
by James with warm expressions of gratitude. Having made these
arrangements, he requested the States General to send back the six
regiments. The States General, completely governed by William, answered
that such a demand, in such circumstances, was not authorised by the
existing treaties, and positively refused to comply. It is remarkable
that Amsterdam, which had voted for keeping these troops in Holland when
James needed their help against the Western insurgents, now contended
vehemently that his request ought to be granted. On both occasions, the
sole object of those who ruled that great city was to cross the Prince
of Orange. [274]

The Dutch arms, however, were scarcely so formidable to James as the
Dutch presses. English books and pamphlets against his government were
daily printed at the Hague; nor could any vigilance prevent copies from
being smuggled, by tens of thousands, into the counties bordering on
the German Ocean. Among these publications, one was distinguished by
its importance, and by the immense effect which it produced. The opinion
which the Prince and Princess of Orange held respecting the Indulgence
was well known to all who were conversant with public affairs. But, as
no official announcement of that opinion had appeared, many persons who
had not access to good private sources of information were deceived
or perplexed by the confidence with which the partisans of the Court
asserted that their Highnesses approved of the King's late acts. To
contradict those assertions publicly would have been a simple and
obvious course, if the sole object of William had been to strengthen his
interest in England. But he considered England chiefly as an instrument
necessary to the execution of his great European design. Towards that
design he hoped to obtain the cooperation of both branches of the House
of Austria, of the Italian princes, and even of the Sovereign Pontiff.
There was reason to fear that any declaration which was satisfactory to
British Protestants would excite alarm and disgust at Madrid, Vienna,
Tu