displacement of James and Clifford by the test left him, as he thought,
dominant in the royal council, and gave him hopes of revenging the
deceit which had been practised on him by forcing his policy on the
king. He was resolved to end the war. He had dreams of meeting the
danger of a Catholic successor by a dissolution of the king's marriage
with Catharine and by a fresh match with a Protestant princess. For the
moment indeed Charles was helpless. He found himself, as he had told
Lewis long before, alone in his realm. The Test Act had been passed
unanimously by both Houses. Even the Nonconformists deserted him and
preferred persecution to the support of his plans. The dismissal of the
Catholic officers made the employment of force, if he ever contemplated
it, impossible, while the ill success of the Dutch war robbed him of all
hope of aid from France. The firmness of the Prince of Orange had roused
the stubborn energy of his countrymen; the French conquests on land were
slowly won back; and at sea the fleet of the allies was still held in
check by the fine seamanship of De Ruyter. Nor was William less
successful in diplomacy than in war. The House of Austria was at last
stirred to action by the danger which threatened Europe; and its union
with the United Provinces laid the foundation of the Grand Alliance.

[Sidenote: Shaftesbury's dismissal.]

Charles indeed was still firm to continue the war. He had gathered an
army on the coast for a descent upon Holland, and he again sent his
fleet to sea under Prince Rupert to clear the way for its landing. But
the gallantry and seamanship of Tromp forced Rupert to withdraw after an
indecisive engagement, and the descent on the Dutch coast had become
impossible when the Parliament again met in October. The House was
resolved upon peace, and Shaftesbury was as determined to end the war as
the House itself. It was for this purpose that he threw himself into
hearty alliance with the Country party in the Commons and welcomed the
Duke of Ormond and Prince Rupert, who were looked upon as "great
Parliament men," back to the royal council. It was to Shaftesbury's
influence that Charles attributed the dislike which the Commons
displayed to the war and their refusal of a grant of supplies for it
until fresh religious securities were devised. It was at his instigation
that an address was presented by both Houses at the end of 1673 against
the plan of marrying James to a Catholic princess,