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

( 83 )
CHAPTER V.
The widowed Princess of Orange, lived most econo-
mically herself, and aided to support her impoverished
brothers, their destitute followers, and several of the
divines of the Church of England, who had sought refuge
in her court.
She would have settled very closely at the Hague,
amidst all the unquiet factions stirred up by rival parties
in that court; but her mother, Queen Henrietta Maria,
in consequence of a conversation with the Queen-regent of
France, intimating, that the young King of France was
inclined to marry her, wrote to press her to come over to
Paris, bat omitted to mention the fact, that Louis XIV.
was passionately attached to Mademoiselle Mancini, the
beautiful niece of Cardinal Mazarin, the prime minister
of France ; and that it was in consequence of this ill-
assorted love affair, that the Queen, his mother, desired to
see him transfer his affections to his royal cousin, Mary of
England, who would doubtless have made a desirable
Queen for France, although much older than Louis. The
Avorst of the business was, the Princess gave such ex-
tensive orders for dress and equipage, to appear suitably
at the gay court of France, that she much out-ran her
ability of payment.
Before the end of November, she received so angry a
G 2