"That her majesty did not only consent, but desire, to have a plan settled for carrying on the war, as soon as the negotiation of peace should begin; but expected to have the burden more equally laid, and more agreeable[1] to treaties: and would join with the States in pressing the allies to perform their parts, as she had endeavoured to animate them by her example."
Mons. Buys seemed to know little of his masters mind, and pretended he had no power to conclude upon any thing. Her majesty's minister proposed to him an alliance between the two nations, to subsist after a peace. To this he hearkened very readily; and offered to take the matter ad referendum, having, authority to do no more. His intention was, that he might appear to negotiate, in order to gain time to pick out, if possible, the whole secret of the transactions between Britain and France; to disclose nothing himself, nor bind his masters to any conditions; to seek delays till the parliament met, and then observe what turn it took, and what would be the issue of those frequent cabals between himself and some other foreign ministers, in conjunction with the chief leaders of the discontented faction.
The Dutch hoped, that the clamours raised against the proceedings of the queen's ministers toward a peace, would make the parliament disapprove what had been done; whereby the States would be at the head of the negotiation, which the queen did not think fit to have any more in their hands, where it had miscarried twice already; although prince
- ↑ It should be 'more agreeably to treaties,' to correspond with the other adverb 'more equally.'
