If the object of William was to strike the imagination of the
French people, he completely succeeded. The stately and gorgeous
appearance which the English embassy made on public occasions
was, during some time, the general topic of conversation at
Paris. Portland enjoyed a popularity which contrasts strangely
with the extreme unpopularity which he had incurred in England.
The contrast will perhaps seem less strange when we consider what
immense sums he had accumulated at the expense of the English,
and what immense sums he was laying out for the benefit of the
French. It must also be remembered that he could not confer or
correspond with Englishmen in their own language, and that the
French tongue was at least as familiar to him, as that of his
native Holland. He, therefore, who here was called greedy,
niggardly, dull, brutal, whom one English nobleman had described
as a block of wood, and another as just capable of carrying a
message right, was in the brilliant circles of France considered
as a model of grace, of dignity and of munificence, as a
dexterous negotiator and a finished gentleman. He was the better
liked because he was a Dutchman. For, though fortune had favoured
William, though considerations of policy had induced the Court of
Versailles to acknowledge him, he was still, in the estimation of
that Court, an usurper; and his English councillors and captains
were perjured traitors who richly deserved axes and halters, and
might, perhaps, get what they deserved. But Bentinck was not to
be confounded with Leeds and Marlborough, Orford and Godolphin.
He had broken no oath, had violated no law. He owed no allegiance
to the House of Stuart; and the fidelity and zeal with which he
had discharged his duties to his own country and his own master
entitled him to respect. The noble and powerful vied with each
other in paying honour to the stranger.