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94 prince, and ardently desirous of his re-establishment.

The joy which manifested itself at the Hague on the departure of the stadtholder will occasion some astonishment, when we consider how much that village was indebted for its splendour to the fostering care of the house of Orange. From the death of William I. towards the close of the sixteenth century, it had been, with few intervals, the residence of the court, and the seat of government. The ample revenues of the stadtholder were principally expended here, and the persons attached to him through interest or principle were numerous in every class of society. His splendid establishment gave easy employment and support to multitudes, and the extensive patronage which he enjoyed in consequence of his high offices in the state, if attended with some degree of envy, afforded him the ready means of conciliating many friends.

In the personal character of the prince, and the circumstances of the times, we shall