iation, can there be for such an enormous outrage to our common
humanity? It has truly been said that "the intrigues which led to the
murder of the unfortunate Henrietta of England present such a scene of
accumulated horrors and iniquity, that, for the honour of human nature,
one could wish that the curtain had never been raised which hid them
from our knowledge."

The last political act of the Duchess of Orleans was one of decisive
import, and calculated to secure for a long time the subjection of the
English nation. Although seriously afflicted by the death of his sister,
the thoughtless Charles seemed especially occupied with the design of
bringing over to England the attractive maid-of-honour who had made such
a lively impression upon him, as had been intended, during the short
visit to Dover already mentioned. On the melancholy tidings of
Henrietta's death reaching England, the profligate Duke of Buckingham
was despatched to Paris as envoy extraordinary, ostensibly to inquire
into the particulars of that catastrophe but in reality, as Burnet
says, to conclude the treaty. This he accomplished; France agreeing to
give two millions of livres (L150,000) for Charles's conversion to
popery, and three millions a year for the Dutch war. Large sums of money
were also distributed to Buckingham, Arlington, and Clifford.

Buckingham, that complaisant companion of "the merry monarch," who,
"everything by turns and nothing long," having been the first to observe
the impression the mignonne maid-of-honour had made on the King's
susceptible fancy, had little hesitation in attaching to his diplomatic
office the very undignified one of Sir Pandarus, and therefore with a
brave defiance of decorum bent all his efforts to overcome the scruples,
if any there might be, lingering in the mind of Louise with regard to
transferring herself to the service of the Queen of England, poor
Catherine of Braganza. As she was then placed through the death of the
Duchess of Orleans, a convent was the only retreat Mademoiselle
Querouaille could look forward to in France; and as religious seclusion
was not at all congenial to the lively nymph, she was not found
impracticable to Buckingham's overtures. Nor were the latter's efforts
entirely disinterested in the matter. He had lately had a fierce quarrel
with "old Rowley's" imperious mistress, the Duchess of Cleveland, and
having sworn hatred and revenge against that profligate beauty, sought
to turn the