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 received the project coldly, and it fell to the ground (ib. pp. 411–13; cf., i. 234-5).

After his departure from Ireland James did not altogether abandon his schemes, but by 1692 (Life, ii. 472 seqq.) he seems to have become less confident of a speedy return. About this time he placed his court upon a more permanent footing (ib. ii. 411 n.; and cf. Les derniers Stuarts, i. 31 seqq.). His most confidential dealings with Versailles are said to have been conducted through the Abbé Thomas Innes [q. v.] (, p. 172). There is reason to distrust the current description of the life at St. Germains, which the literary and artistic tastes of James and his consort can hardly have left in persistent gloom (see Les derniers Stuarts, i. 44 seqq.). On 28 June 1692 Mary bore James a daughter; he had summoned a number of ladies from England to be present on the occasion (Life, ii. 474–5;, iii. 102).

James did not again take an active part in the conflicts of the time. In the months preceding the discovery of Preston's plot (31 Dec. 1690) he was distracted more than ever by the factions at St. Germains, by demands for money from Scotland and Ireland, and by the quarrels between Tyrconnel and his opponents (Life, ii. 421–41). To this time probably belongs the preamble of a declaration averring the king's experience to be adverse to the making of any further declarations at all (, i. 385). But the intrigues with English Jacobites continued, and between January and May James was in actual correspondence with Marlborough. The scheme was, however, betrayed (January 1692), and came to nothing. The correspondence between James and Marlborough was not broken off, and led to a letter from Anne to her father, which he did not receive till he was at La Hogue. This reconciliation, together with the fall of Mons (October 1691) and the death of Louvois, favoured the resumption of James's scheme of an invasion of England; and early in 1692 he pressed it upon Louis XIV in two elaborate minutes (ib. i. 400–11). In the spring an expedition on a large scale was accordingly fitted out by the French government. James also trusted in the supposed disaffection of the English fleet and the discontent of its commander, Edward Russell (Orford), with whom he had been in correspondence. Before leaving St. Germains (21 April) he issued a declaration excepting from the prospective indemnity a number of persons, including the fishermen who had insulted him at Faversham (, iv. 288; State Tracts under William III, vol. ii.). At La Hogue James found all the Irish regiments in the French service, besides ten thousand French troops, while Tourville lay at Brest with forty-five men-of-war and numerous transports. The French fleet was defeated (19 May), and (24 May) thirteen ships were destroyed on the shore of La Hogue under the very eyes of James. Dangeau (iv. 98) says that he was unable to conceal his satisfaction at the gallantry of the English. After this catastrophe Louis XIV sent forth no further armament on behalf of James, but the exile continued to receive most honourable treatment at St. Germains.

On 17 April 1693 James issued a declaration in accordance with propositions brought by the protestant Middleton from some English Jacobites. It promised various concessions as to the dispensing power and so forth. James had taken the opinion of ecclesiastics, including Bossuet, before signing it (Life, ii. 506 seqq.), but it gave deep offence to the advocates of an opposite policy (, i. 446; cf. An Answer, &c., in State Tracts under William III, ii. 349 seqq.;, iii. 109). The victory of the ‘compounders’ over the ‘non-compounders’ was marked by Middleton's supersession of Melfort as prime minister. The news of Queen Mary's death (20 Dec. 1694) was received by her father without emotion (, p. 189), and he requested the French court to abstain from the customary mourning. The event inclined his daughter Anne to a reconciliation with King William, while it increased the activity of the Jacobite plotters. After the fall of Namur (4 Aug. 1695), direct encouragement was given by Louis to a plan for the invasion of England. Ultimately, Berwick was sent over to prepare an insurrection (Mémoires de Berwick, i. 392), and learnt of the Assassination plot against King William. One of the conspirators was Sir George Barclay [q. v.], whom James had commissioned in November 1695 ‘to do from time to time such acts of hostility against the prince as should most conduce to the royal service’ (Life, ii. 547). Berwick returned to France without delay. At Clermont he met his father on his way to Calais, where a French fleet had assembled (Lexington Papers, p. 177). A signal was expected from England but it never arrived, and James, at the request of Louis (, i. 394), remained on the French coast with Middleton, hoping in vain from the beginning of March to the end of April. According to the ‘Life’ (ii. 545), James had no complicity in the Assassination plot, which is said to have marred all his projects, and three cases are mentioned in which, during 1693–5, he re-