

The Embassy of Everaard van Weede 73 



writing to the Court of things which had not yet taken place!" 3 His diplomatic 

 methods were base, and he resorted to the meanest bribery to gain his ends. 



The Negotiations, then, as Vander Heim points out in his introduction to the 

 At chief Hensius, must be accepted with great care. 



2. Burnet, Gilbert, History of His Own Time, (from the Restoration of Charles II 

 to the Treaty of Peace at Utrecht in the Reign of Queen Anne), London, 

 1838. 

 Ranke has criticized Burnet's History of His Own Time in his History of England, 

 vol. vi. The following paragraphs summarize his work, and especially his treat- 

 ment of the Revolution: 



"Burnet's History of His Own Time is above all tbings a noting of what 

 was remarkable in his own life. It is a strange mixture of rumour and error 

 with knowledge and truth, of credulous impartiality and the effort to be 

 impartial; — subjective truthfulness one cannot dispute in our author; but 

 the objective of the facts which he handles one must often deny. 



"This is especially the case in his account of the reign of James II, of 

 which, being out of England, he was not an eye-witness, and only knew 

 the events by report at second-hand, as they spread about in all the world 

 by James' enemies. . . . His narrative becomes more untrustworthy 

 and partial in proportion as the events gain in importance. 



"Although we are obliged in this as in so many points to set aside Burnet's 

 report of what took place in England, yet on the other hand his account of his 

 stay at the Hague is invaluable. . . . Burnet's report of the preparations 

 of the Prince of Orange for his English expedition is by no means entirely 

 sufficient, but still it is the best that we have left from the period itself." 



3 Vander Heim, Hct Archief van den Raadpensionaris Antonie Heinsius, In- 

 troduction, lviii, note 



Wat d'Avaux zelf in zijn uitgeven Negotiations vermeldt moet met groote 

 omsichtigheit worden aangenomen. Hij zelf verklaarde, toen zijne brieven 

 onderschept werden, dat hij wel eens aan zijn hof meldde wat noch niet geschied 

 was. In 1692-1697 was d'Avaux in Zweden. Van Heeckeren, onze gezant aldaar, 

 schreef toen eens aan Hensius (April 20, 1694) hoe het bleek dat Avaux aan zijn 

 hof raaporten deed over staatslieden, die hij met geld hat gewonnen, en van ge 

 heime brieven, die hij ontving, zonder dat er een woord waarheid in was. 



For a careful and exhaustive criticism of Burnet's History, see H. C. Foxcroft, 

 Supplement to Burnet's History of His Own Time, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1902. 

 Foxcroft had access to all three of the famous manuscripts of Burnet. References 

 to Burnet's History should be compared with the valuable corrections of Foxcroft 

 in his Supplement. The Supplement is derived from Burnet's Original Memoirs, his 

 Autobiography, his Letters to Admiral Herbert, and his Private Meditations. 



157 



