prince was born. It was delayed until the
issue was decided between the crown and the Church. The associates
assured William that the Prince of Wales was an imposture, and that he
must come, in order to secure his own birthright, as well as the
liberties of England. William of Orange had not intrigued that the
crown should pass to his wife before the time, and had given his uncle
much good advice. For him it was everything that England should not
be against him in the struggle with Lewis XIV. For that, he had the
Habsburgs on his side, and it was essential that they should still be
with him if he obeyed the call of his friends. He had been preparing
for it ever since he sent Dykvelt over in 1687, and had asked the
States of Holland to hold twenty-five men-of-war and 9000 sailors in
readiness, to meet the danger which threatened from France.

James took alarm, and warned William that the succession was not
absolutely safe. Lewis, who much dreaded the prospect of having his
ablest and most formidable enemy at Whitehall, wished the Princess
Anne to precede her elder sister. To strengthen her claim with her
father he proposed that she should become a Catholic, and sent over
books of controversy for that purpose. James, on the other hand, told
William that there would be no crown to inherit, but a commonwealth in
England, if he did not succeed in his endeavour to make himself
master. Dykvelt had conducted the secret negotiation which ended in
the invitation of 30th June.

A still more delicate negotiation was pursued on the Continent.
William could not allow it to appear that his expedition implied a war
of religion. He would forfeit the alliance of the Emperor, which was
the very pivot of his policy. Leopold was a devout and scrupulous
man, and it was uncertain how he would regard an enterprise which was
to substitute a Protestant dynasty for a Catholic dynasty in England.
There was only one way of ensuring his assistance. In order to have
the support of the Empire it was requisite to obtain the support of
the Papacy. In a religious question Leopold would follow the pope.
William sent one of his generals, the Prince de Vaudemont, to Rome;
and, through Count Dohna, he opened a correspondence with the Vatican.
He represented that the Catholics would obtain from him the toleration
which they could never be sure of under James. There would be not
only a serious political advantage gained by the detachment of En