Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 36.djvu/407

Mary court festivities on the occasion of a recent alliance between France and Holland, and presided over an entertainment given by her husband to the French envoys. With the struggles of her father against the parliament she warmly sympathised. In December 1646 a Dutch man-of-war put in at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where the King then was, bringing him a letter from Mary; she urged him to take the opportunity of escaping to Holland. With her aunt, Elizabeth, queen of Bohemia, Mary lived on terms of warm friendship; but with her mother-in-law, Amelia de Solms, her relations were never cordial.

Prince William at his father's death, on 14 March 1647, was elected stadtholder, and in 1648 welcomed to Holland his brothers-in-law, Charles, prince of Wales, and James, duke of York. In 1650 he was foiled in an attempt to seize Amsterdam in order to make himself absolute, and he died on 6 Nov. in the same year, leaving his widow pregnant of a son, afterwards William III, king of England, who was born on 14 Nov. following. The Princess-dowager Amelia, grandmother of the infant prince, wished to become his guardian, on the plea that Mary was still in her minority; but by a decree signed on 15 Aug. 1651 it was settled that Mary should be tutrix of the person of her son, and should dispose of all vacant offices about him and in his possession; while his grandmother and the elector of Brandenburg, his uncle, should be joint inspectors of his property. The States, however, refused to reinstate the prince in the honours enjoyed by his father, and, by contrivance of the princess-dowager, Count Dona was confirmed in his office as governor of the town of Orange by the States-General, although he had taken solemn oath to Mary's husband to maintain the place for her in case of his death, and to obey no orders but hers.

Mary's chief confidants were Catherine, lady Stanhope, who had accompanied her to Holland as governess, and who remained with her as chief lady of honour, and Lady Stanhope's Dutch husband, Heenvliet, who held the post of superintendent of the princess's household. M. de Beverweert, a Dutch counsellor, swayed her opinions in political matters. She was always unpopular in Holland, and did not trouble to learn Dutch. She disliked the people on account of their general sympathy with Cromwell, and declined to employ any Hollander in her son's service. In conjunction with the Duke of York and the queen of Bohemia, Mary sought to celebrate the first anniversary of her father's death (30 Jan. 1650) as a solemn fast, but the proceeding was prohibited by the States of Holland as being offensive to the English parliament. A little later, when ambassadors from the English parliament were received by the States-General, she retired to her dower residence at Breda, but to the influence of her party was attributed the failure of the envoys to conclude an alliance with Holland. In October 1651 Charles II landed at Helvoetsluys, and Mary secretly domiciled him in one of her country houses at Teyling, until he left for Paris. Her readiness to assist her brothers liberally from her own resources, and to bestow money or office on their adherents, roused the jealousy of the States, who at length forbade her receiving her relatives in Holland at all. Mary's court and that of the queen of Bohemia, it was reported by their opponents, were nests of vipers, in which were hatched all plots, not only against Dutch freedom, but also against that of England; and schemes for the assassination of Cromwell were rumoured to originate there (, State Papers, ii. 319, 344). The outbreak of war between England and Holland in May 1652 led to a reaction in favour of the house of Orange in many of the states of the Dutch republic. Mary's son, William, was formally elected stadtholder by Zealand and several of the northern provinces, but De Witt, the republican leader, succeeded in excluding him from the state of Holland, and Cromwell, upon negotiating a treaty of peace with the Dutch commissioners, insisted that William should be declared incapable of succeeding to his father's military dignities, and that all enemies of England should be expelled from Holland. Mary passionately declaimed against these proposals, and drew up a remonstrance. But De Witt stood firm, although the country was divided and civil war seemed to threaten it; the treaty of peace containing the offending clauses was signed on 27 May 1654.

Mary's health suffered under the growing anxieties of her position. To save expense in the interests of her brothers, she announced her intention of resigning two of her palaces, retaining only Breda and Honslardyke (ib. ii. 284). In July 1654 she set out for Spa, and passed several weeks there; she afterwards moved to Aix-la-Chapelle, and subsequently visited Charles II at Cologne. She returned to Teyling in October, but again visited Charles at Cologne in July 1655, and took a trip incognita to Frankfort fair, setting out on her journey home on 15 Nov. In January 1656 she visited Paris, where she was royally received.

Mary had not been without suitors in