28 James Muilenburg 



to make provision for its improvement. Since the beginning of his rule, he had 

 discharged the old commission, to whom this work had been intrusted, and had 

 appointed others, who, under the supervision of His Majesty, performed their 

 duty more satisfactorily. The fleet ought by this time to be in a pretty fair condi- 

 tion. 



His field troops were also reorganized. Both the repair to the fleet and the 

 reorganization of the army had served to maintain peace and tranquility. He 

 should be glad if the States would do the same thing on land and sea. But His 

 Majesty would grieve if such actions would be taken as a precaution against him 

 because he did not have the slightest intention of declaring war against our land. 



Here, again, Dykvelt sought to win the favor of the Deputies. 

 He had heeded their request to find out exactly the attitude of 

 the English King towards them. On the sixth of March, Citters, 

 the regular Dutch ambassador at the English court, wrote to the 

 States that the King of England was extremely pleased with them. 

 Moreover, he was now entirely undeceived of his bad impressions. 

 He no longer believed they had sent Dykvelt to England to put 

 him at odds with Parliament. 118 



According to a letter of Rachel Lady Russell, the private con- 

 ference lasted a half hour; 119 according to a letter of Ellis a few 

 days later, it lasted an hour. 120 The discrepancy is slight. The 

 account of Mackintosh, 121 De Grovestins, 122 and others is mis- 

 leading. Their implication is that differences of some moment 

 arose in this first interview between the King and Dykvelt. With 

 this exception, their story is the same as Burnet's. 123 The latter 

 makes no specific reference to the time of the interview. He re- 

 lates, indeed, the story of these differences, but they are given as 



118 Avaux, p. 46, March 6, 1687. 



"Citters manda aux Etats-Generaux que le Roi d'Angleterre etait extreme- 

 ment content d'eux, et qu'il etait entierement detrompe des premiers impressions 

 qu'il avait eues que le Sieur Dickveld allait en Angleterre pour brouiller S. M. 

 Britannique avec son Parlement." The Editor of Mackintosh found this letter of 

 Citters' in the Dutch Political Correspondence. See Mackintosh, p. 455. 



119 Letters of Lady Rachel Russell, vol. i, p. 216, February 25-March 8, 1687. 



120 Ellis, The Ellis Correspondence, vol. i, p. 251. 



121 Mackintosh, p. 455. The Editor of Mackintosh clearly bases his account 

 upon the story of Burnet. 



122 De Grovestins, Guillaume III et Louis XIV, vol. v, p. 353. 



123 Burnet, p. 451. 



112 



