o favored the allies, was able
to throw the balance between the parties, and Prince Clement was chosen;
a circumstance which contributed extremely to the security of the
states. But as the cardinal kept possession of many of the fortresses,
and had applied to France for succor, the neighboring territories were
full of troops; and by this means the preparations of the Dutch and
their allies seemed intended merely for their own defence against the
different enterprises of Lewis.

All the artifices, however, of the prince could not entirely conceal his
real intentions from the sagacity of the French court. D'Avaux, Lewis's
envoy at the Hague, had been able by a comparison of circumstances,
to trace the purposes of the preparations in Holland; and he instantly
informed his master of the discovery. Lewis conveyed the intelligence to
James, and accompanied the information with an important offer. He was
willing to join a squadron of French ships to the English fleet; and to
send over any number of troops which James should judge requisite for
his security. When this proposal was rejected, he again offered to raise
the siege of Philipsbourg, to march his army into the Netherlands,
and by the terror of his arms to detain the Dutch forces in their own
country. This proposal met with no better reception.

James was not, as yet, entirely convinced that his son-in-law intended
an invasion upon England. Fully persuaded himself of the sacredness
of his own authority, he fancied that a like belief had made deep
impression on his subjects: and notwithstanding the strong symptoms of
discontent which broke out every where, such a universal combination
in rebellion appeared to him nowise credible. His army, in which he
trusted, and which he had considerably augmented, would easily be able,
he thought, to repel foreign force, and to suppress any sedition among
the populace. A small number of French troops, joined to these, might
tend only to breed discontent; and afford them a pretence for mutinying
against foreigners, so much feared and hated by the nation. A great body
of auxiliaries might indeed secure him both against an invasion from
Holland, and against the rebellion of his own subjects; but would be
able afterwards to reduce him to dependence, and render his authority
entirely precarious. Even the French invasion of the Low Countries might
be attended with dangerous consequences; and would suffice, in these
jealous times, to revive