History of King Charles the Second of EnglandAbbott, Jacob
History
History of King Charles the Second of England
Abbott, Jacob
Charles II, King of England, 1630-1685
He remained, however, in Paris for a short time, endeavoring to find
some way to retrieve his ruined fortunes. Anne Maria was still there,
and he attempted to renew his suit to her. She listened to the
entertaining stories which he told of his dangers and escapes in
England, and for a time, as Charles thought, encouraged his attentions.
In fact, at one time he really believed that the affair was all settled,
and began to assume that it was so in speaking with her upon the
subject. She, however, at length undeceived him, in a conversation
which ended with her saying that she thought he had better go back to
England, and "either get his head broken, or else have a crown upon
it." The fact was, that Anne Maria was now full of a new scheme for
being married to Louis XIV. himself, who, though much younger than
she, had attained now to a marriageable age, and she had no intention
of regarding Charles in any other light than as one of the ordinary
crowd of her admirers. She finally extinguished all his hopes by coolly
requesting him not to visit her so frequently.
In addition to his other sources of discomfort. Charles disagreed with
his mother. She was a very decided Catholic, and he a Protestant, from
policy it is true, and not principle, but he was none the less rigid
and inflexible on that account. He and his mother disagreed in respect
to the education of the younger children. They were both restricted
in their means, too, and subject to a thousand mortifications from
this cause, in the proud and haughty circle in which they moved.
Finally, the king decided to leave Paris altogether, and try to find
a more comfortable refuge in Holland.
His sister and her husband, the Prince of Orange, had always treated
him, as well as all the rest of the family, with great kindness and
attention; but now, to complete the catalogue of his disasters, the
Prince of Orange died, the power of the government passed into other
hands, and Mary found herself deprived of influence and honor, and
reduced all at once to a private station. She would have been glad to
continue her protection to her brother, but the new government feared
the power of Cromwell. Cromwell sent word to them that England would
consider their harboring of the fugitive as tantamount to a declaration
of war; so they notified Charles that he must leave their dominions,
and find, if he could, some other place of retreat. He went up the
Rhine to the city of Cologne, where it is said he found a widow woman,
who received him as a lodger without pay, trusting to his promise to
recompense her at some future time. There is generally little risk in
giving credit to European monarchs, expelled by the temporary triumph
of Republicanism from their native realms. They are generally pretty
certain of being sooner or later restored to their thrones.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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