The Embassy of Everaard van Weede 69 



While Dykvelt was getting ready to return to Holland, James II 

 was preparing memorials for Albeville, which were to be presented 

 to the Prince and to the Princess separately. 332 But when Albeville 

 presented the letter from his master, the Prince and the Princess 

 expressed themselves more enthusiastically than ever "with a 

 tone of resentment which excluded all reasonable hope." 333 At this 

 time Avaux was acting with Albeville to draw France and England 

 into a close alliance, but again he met with resistance, for the 

 Prince listened with eagerness to the reports of Dykvelt. 334 James 

 II himself ascribed the Prince's conduct to the influence brought 

 to bear through Dykvelt of the factious leaders of the opposition 

 in England. 335 And when the Prince of Orange repeated his 

 sentiments against the repeal of the Test Act and Penal Laws in 

 his letter of June 17, 336 the King was enraged, and told of Dyk- 

 velt's dealings with the opposition. 337 The close of the letter is 

 interesting, for it is no longer "I shall be as kind to you as you can 

 desire,'" as all the previous letters ended, but it is now "I shall be 

 as kind to you as you can expect" (The italics are mine.) 



After the departure of Dykvelt there was a period of quiet in 

 England. 338 It was the quiet that precedes a storm. A study of 

 the letters in Dalrymple from the first of June, 1687, to the sending 

 of the invitation on June 30, 1688, shows a gradual culmination 

 of affairs in England. Very shortly after Dykvelt's return to the 

 Hague, William sent Count Zuliestein to England on a mission of 

 condolence to the queen at the death of her mother. 339 Zuliestein 

 was not nearly so strong a diplomat as Dykvelt, 340 and the letters 



332 Avaux, Negotiations, June 12, 1687, p. 53 f. 



333 Mazure, p. 257. 



334 Avaux, Negotiations, June 12, 1687, p. 54; June 19, 1687, p. 55. 



335 Dalrymple, Letter from King James to the Prince of Orange, May 28, 1687, 

 from Windsor, p. 183. 



336 Ibid, Letter from the Prince of Orange to King James, June 17, 1687, p. 184 f. 



337 Ibid, Letter from King James to the Prince of Orange, June 27, 1687, from 

 Windsor, p. 185. 



338 Ibid, Letter from Lord Halifax to the Prince of Orange, August 25, 1687, 

 from London, p. 207 f. 



339 Burnet, p. 479. 



340 Macaulay, History of England, vol. ii, p. 906. 



153 



