Page:History of the Nonjurors.djvu/59

Rh Queen had passed the age "at which it was usual for Italian women to bear children." Yet the Queen had several children afterwards. In short there was much truth in the following passage from "Observations on the Revolution;" "By which Declaration, whoever observes, that the shoe pinches chiefly in the point of the Prince of Wales, who put the Prince of Orange by his hopes of succession even more if it were true than if it were fictitious; and that therefore (at that time especially when it was not to be imagined that the crown could be got upon any other foot) it was absolutely necessary to make him appear fictious if possible."

Upon the whole, we must regard the Prince's conduct, respecting the Prince of Wales, as a blemish in his character. Nor can any impartial person, however he may be impressed with a sense of the advantages which we are still reaping from the Revolution settlement, fail to acknowledge, that ambition mingled largely with the motives by which William was influenced. We cannot be surprised, therefore, at the strong feelings of some of the Nonjurors towards his Majesty, regarding him, as they did, as the supplanter of their lawful sovereign.

There is another question, upon which a remark may be made, namely, King William's views re-