42 James Muilenburg 



Prince 183 is by far the most daring of all those that the Dutch 

 envoy bore upon his return to Holland. It is singular to observe, 

 moreover, that the Tory letters out-number those of any other 

 party or faction. Macaulay remarks with justice that the most 

 pressing calls to the Prince of Orange came from the Tories, 

 "who, upon this occasion, discovered, that they and their oppo- 

 nents in party had hitherto differed, not so much about the right 

 to resist, as about the degree of provocation which justified 

 resistance." 



Dykvelt's activity with the Catholics gives an insight into his 

 character as a diplomat. When he arrived in England, he found 

 them aroused over the King's dismissal of Rochester. They had 

 seen that this impolitic move of the King had greatly exasperated 

 the Protestants, and that the latter would now lay aside their non- 

 resistance. It was clear to Catholics and Protestants alike that 

 James was designing to expel all Protestants from office. 184 More- 

 over, the King's later "closetings" and his constant disregard 

 of the Test Act and Penal Laws bred fear and consternation 

 in the ranks of the moderate Catholics, who were content to live 

 undisturbed. 



By the time that Dykvelt approached the Catholics, the latter 

 had already determined upon a course of action in a secret coun- 

 cil. 185 If Dykvelt should make any overtures to them they 

 would place before him the condition of a sine qua non. This 

 was the formal consent of the Prince to the repeal of the Test 

 Act and the Penal Laws. If Dykvelt argued that he could 

 scarcely meddle with the affairs of England, they would respond 

 to him that he might, nevertheless, intimate to the leaders of the 

 Parliamentary party his position. Barillon, from whose corre- 

 spondence the historian Mazure obtains the account, considered 



183 Dalrymple, Letter of Danby to the Prince of Orange, May 30, 1687, p. 194 ff . 



184 Mackintosh, Appendix, December 31, 1686- January 10, 1687; or page 233 ff. 

 of the History. 



"Presentamente pare che gli animi suono inaspriti della voce che corre tra il 

 popolo d'e sser cacciato il detto ministro per non essere Cattolico, percio tirarsi al 

 esterminio de Protestanti." 



185 Mazure, Histoire de la Revolution de 1688 en Anglckrre, vol. ii, p. 199. 



126 



