CHAPTER LV.

The Prince of Orange Captures Bonn.--The King Captures Orange.--The
Calvinists of Orange Offer Resistance.

Since Catiline's famous hatred for Consul Cicero, there has never been
hatred so deep and envenomed as that of William of Orange for the King.
For this loathing, cherished by a petty prince for a great potentate,
various reasons have been given. As for myself, I view things closely
and in their true light, and I am convinced that Prince William was
actuated by sheer jealousy and envy.

It was affirmed that the King, when intending to give him as bride
Mademoiselle de Blois, his eldest daughter and great favourite, had
offered to place him on the Dutch throne as independent King, and that to
such generous proposals the petty Stadtholder replied, "I am not pious
enough to marry the daughter of a Carmelite nun." So absurd a proposal
as this, however, was never made, for the simple reason that Mademoiselle
de Blois has never yet been offered in marriage to any prince or noble
man in this wide world. Rather than to be parted from her, the King
would prefer her to remain single. He has often said as much to me, and
there is no reason to doubt his word.

The little Principality of Orange, which once formed the estate of this
now outlandish family, is situate close to the Rhone, amid French
territory. Though decorated with the title of Sovereignty, like its
neighbour the Principality of Dombes, it is no less a fief-land of the
Crown. In this capacity it has to contribute to the Crown revenues, and
owes homage and fealty to the sovereign.

Such petty, formal restrictions are very galling to the arrogant young
Prince of Orange, for he is one of those men who desire, at all cost, to
make a noise in the world, and who would set fire to Solomon's Temple or
to the Delphian Temple, it mattered not which, so long as they made
people talk about them.

After Turenne's death, there was a good deal of rivalry among our
generals. This proved harmful to the service. The Goddess of Victory
discovered this, and at times forsook us. Many possessions that were
conquered had to be given up, and we had to bow before those whom erst we
had humiliated. But Orange was never restored.--[This was written in
1677.]

When, in November, 1673, the Prince of Orange had the audacity to besiege
Bonn, the residence of our ally, the Prince Elector of Cologne, and to
reduce that prelate to the last extremity, the King pr