Page:Diary of the times of Charles II Vol. I.djvu/35

Rh did not last long. The decided favour of the Prince soon rendered his continued stay in England something more than painful and irksome to him; and Burnet says, "he was so apprehensive of the dangers that he might be cast into, that he travelled nearly a whole year in Italy."

As matters however ripened in England, and prepared the way for the Prince of Orange, Sidney moved nearer to the scene of action, and fixed himself in Holland. He became the chief agent of communication with the disaffected in England, and the great promoter of the Revolution. Notwithstanding which, he hazarded a return to England so late as June, 1688, when he wrote the letter to the Prince, advising him to secure the services of Mareschal Schomberg; and he accompanied Zuleystein, who had been sent to congratulate the King on the birth of the Prince of Wales, on his return to the Hague. It was upon this occasion that he carried with him the invitation and declaration of adherence to the Prince, signed by the members of the Association, which consisted of the Earls of Shrewsbury and Devonshire, Lord Lumley, the Bishop of London, Admiral Russel, and himself.

Sidney, with Burnet, Herbert, Schomberg, and Rh