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 pean policy. Yet for some time further William not only continued to avoid giving cause of offence, but through Fagel advised moderation to his parliamentary friends in England; he was, however, accused of scheming a protestant religious league by James, into whom Skelton on his return from the Hague instilled divers other suspicions (January 1686) (, iii. 156). Rumours of a secret Anglo-French alliance continued to be rife, and William's message to the states of Holland through Fagel (1 Aug.) shows him to have by this time completely mistrusted James (, iii. 229). His meeting at Cleves (August) with the great elector of Brandenburg, which was chiefly concerned with the Orange succession (, iii. 3, 803), had no connection with the contemporary conclusion of the league of Augsburg, the significance of which French policy succeeded in both exaggerating and perverting (see, Die Augsburger Allianz von 1686, Munich, 1893; and cf. , iii. 247; account, ch. vii., like those of most modern historians, errs accordingly). William had no concern with this defensive compact, and was at the time still anxious to avoid any overt act which might have hastened the action of James. Undoubtedly, however, his mistrust was gradually ripening towards action on his own account. In the summer of 1686 the presence at the Hague of Gilbert Burnet [q. v.], besides counteracting the efforts of another visitor, William Penn [q. v.], in favour of a religious toleration in England which should prevent the omnipotence of the church, led to a full consideration of the situation there (, iii. 136). In January 1687 the Marquis d'Albeville arrived as English ambassador, with instructions to persuade the prince and princess of the expediency in their own interests of the repeal of the Test Act. He obtained the removal of Burnet, but it was a long time before he saw either prince or princess (ib. p. 173). About the time of d'Albeville's arrival, Dykvelt was sent to England, with instructions which Burnet says were drawn by him, but were inspired by a bona fide intention of improving relations with the king. On 4 April, in direct disregard of William's advice, James issued his first declaration of indulgence; and, according to Burnet (ib. p. 160), William was speedily implored by several clergymen and friends of the church, who afterwards were among his bitterest enemies, to come to her aid. He made no secret of his opposition to the suppression of the protestant security laws (ib. p. 176; and ap., ch. vii.). Dykvelt, through whom Sunderland had hoped to convert William to the religious policy of James, by holding out a promise of ‘closer measures’ against France, now directed his attention to bringing about an understanding with the leading adversaries of the king's measures. In May the Princess Anne assured William and her sister of her adherence to the protestant faith; in June Dykvelt brought back letters expressing confidence in the prince, and from September onwards these were followed up by visits to the Hague from some of the writers. [The further transactions of the year 1687 and the earlier half of 1688, affecting the relations between James and William, are summarised under .] Although preparations for an expedition were in progress in Holland from March onwards, when a grant of four millions of florins was made by the states of Holland, the stadholder's action was still purely executive; his correspondence mentions no definite plans; nor, perhaps, were any such actually in existence. In May his popularity was increased by rumours of a design against his life (see as to the supposed revelations of Gronsfeldt,, iii. 108). Early in the same month, or near the close of April, Edward Russell (afterwards Earl of Orford) [q. v.] was at the Hague, and to him William signified his willingness to undertake an armed expedition to England, provided he received a signed invitation from a limited number of responsible persons. The news of the second declaration of indulgence (27 April), and of the proceedings against the bishops which ensued, seems at that date not to have arrived in Holland (, p. 23 n.) The management of the business was, by the prince's desire, entrusted to Henry Sidney (, iii. 277); and on the day after the acquittal of the bishops (July 1) the invitation, signed in cipher, was safely conveyed to William by Admiral Herbert (for a summary of it see, chap. ix.)

William, who, agreeably to a remonstrance in the letter of invitation, caused the prayer for the Prince of Wales to be omitted from the English service in the princess's chapel, now had to overcome the unwillingness to engage in the expedition still felt at Amsterdam (see, iv. 37, as to his discussions with the friendly burgomaster Witsen), and, while taking the ultimate responsibility upon himself, to carry on his preparations with as much secrecy as possible. Through Bentinck he secured from the new elector of Brandenburg, Frederick III, as well as from the Duke of Celle and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, the promise of troops amounting to ten thousand men, to be left behind under the command of Waldeck (, iv. 1, 29;, vol. vi. appendix). On 3 Aug. the prayer for the Prince of Wales was restored in reply to an indignant inquiry by King James (, ii. 161); but the preparations continued (see the graphic description in ), and from England came further promises of