JAMES II. 759

of Hesse - Caffel, and with the whole house ofLunenburgb. It was agreed, that these princesshould replace the troops employed against Eng-land , and should protect the United Provincesduring the absence of the prince of Orange.Their forces were already on their march for thatpurpose : A considerable encampment of the Dutcharmy was formed at Nimegucn : Every place wasin movement; and though the roots of this con-spiracy reached from one end of Europe to theother, so secret were the prince’s counsels, andso fortunate was the situation of affairs, that hecould still cover his preparations under other pre-tences ; and little suspicion was entertained of hisreal intentions.

The king of France, menaced by the leagueof Augsburgh, had resolved to strike the firstblow against the allies; and having sought aquarrel with the emperor and the elector Palatine,he had invaded Germany with a great army,and had laid siege to Philipsburgh. The electorof Cologne, who was also bishop of Liege andMmaster, and whose territories almost entirelysurrounded the United Provinces, had died aboutthis time; and the candidates for that rich succes-sion were prince Clement of Bavaria, supportedby the house of Austria , and the cardinal ofFurstemberg, a prelate dependent on France.The pope , who favored the allies , was able tothrow the balance between the parties , and princeClement was chosen; a circumstance which con-tributed extremely to the security of the States.

H A FI.XXI.

1638 .