g on, were exposed in very severe
weather to the danger of the enemy and the sea, which ran very high
for eighteen hours, during which the king and all his attendants were
drenched with sea-water. When the sailors expressed their apprehensions
of perishing, the king asked if they were afraid to die in his company?
At day-break, he landed on the isle of Goree, where he took some
refreshment in a fisherman's hut; then he committed himself to the
boat again, and was conveyed to the shore in the neighbourhood of
Masslandsluys. A deputation of the states received him at Hounslardyke:
about six in the evening he arrived at the Hague, where he was
immediately complimented by the states-general, the states of Holland,
the council of state, the other colleges, and the foreign ministers.
He afterwards, at the request of the magistrates, made his public entry
with surprising magnificence; and the Dutch celebrated his arrival with
bonfires, illuminations, and other marks of tumultuous joy. He assisted
at their different assemblies; informed them of his successes in England
and Ireland; and assured them of his constant zeal and affection for his
native country.

HE ASSISTS AT A CONGRESS.

At a solemn congress of the confederate princes, he represented in a
set speech the dangers to which they were exposed from the power
and ambition of France; and the necessity of acting with vigour and
dispatch. He declared he would spare neither his credit, forces, nor
person, in concurring with their measures; and that in the spring he
would come at the head of his troops to fulfil his engagements. They
forthwith resolved to employ two hundred and twenty-two thousand men
against France in the ensuing campaign. The proportions of the different
princes and states were regulated; and the king of England agreed to
furnish twenty thousand. He supplied the duke of Savoy so liberally,
that his affairs soon assumed a more promising aspect. The plan of
operations was settled, and they transacted their affairs with such
harmony that no dispute interrupted their deliberations. In the
beginning of March, immediately after the congress broke up, the siege
of Mons was undertaken by the French king in person, accompanied by the
Dauphin, the dukes of Orleans and Chartres. The garrison consisted
of about six thousand men, commanded by the prince of Bergue: but the
besiegers carried on their works with such rapidity as they could
not withstand. King Willia