[Sidenote a:  A.D. 1656.  Sept. 1.] [Sidenote b:  A.D. 1656.  Oct. 24.]

himself that, if the house of Stuart was to be restored, it must be through the aid of France; and he hoped, by the addition of this secret article, to create a bitter and lasting enmity between the two families.  Nor was he content with this.  As soon as the ratifications had been exchanged, he proposed a more intimate alliance between England and France.  Bordeaux was instructed to confine himself in his reply to general expressions of friendship.  He might receive any communications which were offered; he was to make no advances on the part of his sovereign.

CHAPTER VII.

Poverty And Character Of Charles Stuart—­War With
Spain—­Parliament—­Exclusion Of Members—­Punishment Of Naylor—­Proposal
To Make Cromwell King—­His Hesitation And Refusal—­New
Constitution—­Sindercomb—­Sexby—­Alliance With France—­Parliament Of
Two Houses—­Opposition In The Commons—­Dissolution—­Reduction Of
Dunkirk—­Sickness Of The Protector—­His Death And Character.

The reader is aware that the young king of Scots, after his escape from Worcester, had returned to Paris, defeated but not disgraced.  The spirit and courage which he had displayed were taken as an earnest of future and more successful efforts; and the perilous adventures which he had encountered threw a romantic interest round the character of the royal exile.  But in Paris he found himself without money or credit, followed by a crowd of faithful dependants, whose indigence condemned them to suffer the most painful privations.  His mother, Henrietta, herself in no very opulent circumstances, received him into her house and to her table; after the lapse of six months, the French king settled on him a monthly allowance of six thousand francs;[1] and to this were added the casual supplies furnished by the loyalty of his adherents in England, and his share of the prizes made by the cruisers under his flag.[2] Yet, with all these aids, he

[Footnote 1:  Clar. iii. 441.  Thirteen francs were equivalent to an English pound.]

[Footnote 2:  His claim was one-fifteenth, that of the duke of York, as admiral, one-tenth.  See a collection of letters, almost exclusively on that subject, between Sir Edward Hyde and Sir Richard Browne.—­Evelyn’s Mem. v. 241, et seq.]

was scarcely able to satisfy the more importunate of his creditors, and to dole out an occasional pittance to his more immediate followers.  From their private correspondence it appears that the most favoured among them were at a loss to procure food and clothing.[1]