Lives of the last four princesses of the royal house of Stuart

"38 MARY, PRINCESS-ROYAL. [1650.
the sovereign of that realm resolved to sign a peace with-
out delay, and also to court his friendship by costly
presents, botli to himself and his consort. For "William
they selected ten peerless Spanish horses, the worst of
which cost three hundred pounds sterling ; for the Princess-
royal, also, a costly present of plate and jewels, and hang-
ings of perfumed leather, with other rarities calculated to
please a lady. All these valuable offerings they designed
to send by the British ambassadors to the Hague, but they
were so long in choosing them, that they were too late.
Mean time the Scotch sent deputations to the young
King Charles II., the brother of the Princess-royal,
soliciting him to put himself into their hands, and promis-
ing to place him on his father's throne ; but as he was not
only without money, but credit, it seemed impossible for
him to comply with their requisition. The Prince of
Orange generously lent him twenty thousand pounds, and
enabled him to liquidate all the many annoying debts he
and his so-called ministers had contracted at the Hague ;
and as the murder of Dorislaus had rendered his abode
there displeasing to the republican party, the Prince
offered him an asylum at Breda, his own personal territory.
There he was supplied by the generous consort of his
sister with all he required, received the Scotch com-
missioners, and finally embarked for Scotland in a Dutch
man-of-war, with a suitable convoy, 3rd of June.* Instead
of recounting his unsuccessful attempts to regain the crown
of his royal ancestors, we must relate the struggle of the
Prince of Orange with the Dutch republicans, headed in their
senate by the able and popular magistrate, Cornelius Bicker.
Cornelius, perceiving that the Prince was adored by the
army, through whose favour it was suspected he contem-
plated converting the United Provinces into a kingdom,
* Clarendon.