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

298 THE PEINCESS HENRIETTA ANNE. [1670.
The absence of the Duke of York, which had been pur-
posely contrived by King Charles, to rid himself of his ill-
judged zeal for the Church of Rome, whose tenets he had
recently embraced, was favourable to the ratification of the
secret treaty. Charles, who was then, of no religion,
whatever, had repented of the article which engaged him
to avow himself of that creed, and do his utmost to induce
his subjects to imitate his example ; had, resolved to
withdraw his consent from that absurd and impolitic clause,
which would be sure, if attempted, to plunge his realm
into a bloody civil war. Louis, who had engaged to
assist him in case of resistance from his subjects, per-
ceiving that he should risk involving himself in an ex-
pensive and long-protracted course of hostility with the
people of England, if he insisted on Charles fulfilling
this article of the treaty, determined to place the con-
quest of Holland in the foreground. The main object
of Henrietta's mission, was to insist on that point. She
presently perceived that Charles was inclined to back out
of that portion of the treaty which affected his changing
his religion.
He pleaded the aversion of his people to popery, and
told her he had many misgivings on that subject himself,
so that she was convinced of his determination to remain,
as he had sworn at his coronation to be, a defender of the
Protestant faith. It was on this account, that he had
secured the absence of his more honest brother, James,
who, inspired with all the zeal of a young and fiery
convert, would have endeavoured to commit the King
to the declaration of his affection for the unpopular creed
of the Church of Rome.
The treaty was, however, signed and sent off to Paris,
for Louis's full assent, on the 1st of June, before the
return of the Duke of York, and Charles released from