If the object of William was to strike the imagination of the French people, he completely succeeded.  The stately and gorgeous appearance which the English embassy made on public occasions was, during some time, the general topic of conversation at Paris.  Portland enjoyed a popularity which contrasts strangely with the extreme unpopularity which he had incurred in England.  The contrast will perhaps seem less strange when we consider what immense sums he had accumulated at the expense of the English, and what immense sums he was laying out for the benefit of the French.  It must also be remembered that he could not confer or correspond with Englishmen in their own language, and that the French tongue was at least as familiar to him, as that of his native Holland.  He, therefore, who here was called greedy, niggardly, dull, brutal, whom one English nobleman had described as a block of wood, and another as just capable of carrying a message right, was in the brilliant circles of France considered as a model of grace, of dignity and of munificence, as a dexterous negotiator and a finished gentleman.  He was the better liked because he was a Dutchman.  For, though fortune had favoured William, though considerations of policy had induced the Court of Versailles to acknowledge him, he was still, in the estimation of that Court, an usurper; and his English councillors and captains were perjured traitors who richly deserved axes and halters, and might, perhaps, get what they deserved.  But Bentinck was not to be confounded with Leeds and Marlborough, Orford and Godolphin.  He had broken no oath, had violated no law.  He owed no allegiance to the House of Stuart; and the fidelity and zeal with which he had discharged his duties to his own country and his own master entitled him to respect.  The noble and powerful vied with each other in paying honour to the stranger.

The Ambassador was splendidly entertained by the Duke of Orleans at St. Cloud, and by the Dauphin at Meudon.  A Marshal of France was charged to do the honours of Marli; and Lewis graciously expressed his concern that the frosts of an ungenial spring prevented the fountains and flower beds from appearing to advantage.  On one occasion Portland was distinguished, not only by being selected to hold the waxlight in the royal bedroom, but by being invited to go within the balustrade which surrounded the couch, a magic circle which the most illustrious foreigners had hitherto found impassable.  The Secretary shared largely in the attentions which were paid to his chief.  The Prince of Conde took pleasure in talking with him on literary subjects.  The courtesy of the aged Bossuet, the glory of the Church of Rome, was long gratefully remembered by the young heretic.  Boileau had the good sense and good feeling to exchange a friendly greeting with the aspiring novice who had administered to him a discipline as severe as he had administered to Quinault.  The great King himself warmly praised Prior’s