To
give this latter statement a flavour of reality he, assuming an
air of fright, betook himself one night to the city, and sought
refuge in the house of a fanatic, in order, he said, that he
might escape the catholics, who had planned to cut his throat.
A tempest, dark and dangerous, was gathering fast, which the
court felt powerless to subdue. The king's assurance to
parliament that "he would endeavour to satisfy the world of his
steadfastness for the security of the protestant religion," had
little avail in soothing the people. Many of them suspected him
to be a catholic at heart; others knew he had accepted the bounty
of a country feared and detested by the nation. Deeds, not
words, could alone dispel the clouds of prejudice which came
between him and his subjects; and accordingly he set about the
performance of such acts as might bring reconciliation in their
train.
The first of these was the confirmation, according to the
Protestant Church, of the Lady Mary, eldest daughter of the Duke
of York, and after him heir presumptive to the crown; the second
and more important was the marriage of that princess to William
of Orange. This prince was son of the king's eldest sister, and
therefore grandson of Charles I. As a hero who, by virtue of his
statesmanship and indomitable courage, had rescued Holland from
the hateful power of France, he was regarded not only as the
saviour of his country, but as the protector of protestantism.
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