The uncertainties indeed of Charles's conduct were so multiplied,
and the jealousies on both sides so incurable, that even those who
approached nearest the scene of action, could not determine, whether the
king ever seriously meant to enter into a war; or whether, if he did,
the house of commons would not have taken advantage of his necessities,
and made him purchase supplies by a great sacrifice of his authority.[A]
The king of France knew how to avail himself of all the advantages which
these distractions afforded him. By his emissaries, he represented
to the Dutch the imprudence of their depending on England; where an
indolent king, averse to all war, especially with France, and irresolute
in his measures, was actuated only by the uncertain breath of a factious
parliament. To the aristocratical party he remarked the danger of the
prince's alliance with the royal family of England, and revived their
apprehensions, lest, in imitation of his father, who had been honored
with the same alliance, he should violently attempt to enlarge his
authority, and enslave his native country. In order to enforce these
motives with further terrors, he himself took the field very early
in the spring; and after threatening Luxembourg, Mons, and Namur he
suddenly sat down before Ghent and Ypres, and in a few weeks made
himself master of both places.
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