[The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II. by Tobias Smollett]@TWC D-Link book
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II.

CHAPTER II
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On the sixteenth, however, he embarked at Gravesend with a numerous retinue, and set sail for Holland under convoy of twelve ships of war commanded by admiral Rooke.

Next day, being informed by a fisherman that he was within a league and a half of Goree, he quitted the yacht and went into an open boat, attended by the duke of Ormond, the earls of Devonshire, Dorset, Portland, and Monmouth, with Auverquerque and Zuylestcin, Instead of landing immediately, they lost sight of the fleet, and, night coming on, were exposed in very severe weather to the danger of the enemy and the sea, which ran very high for eighteen hours, during which the king and all his attendants were drenched with sea-water.

When the sailors expressed their apprehensions of perishing, the king asked if they were afraid to die in his company?
At day-break, he landed on the isle of Goree, where he took some refreshment in a fisherman's hut; then he committed himself to the boat again, and was conveyed to the shore in the neighbourhood of Masslandsluys.

A deputation of the states received him at Hounslardyke: about six in the evening he arrived at the Hague, where he was immediately complimented by the states-general, the states of Holland, the council of state, the other colleges, and the foreign ministers.
He afterwards, at the request of the magistrates, made his public entry with surprising magnificence; and the Dutch celebrated his arrival with bonfires, illuminations, and other marks of tumultuous joy.

He assisted at their different assemblies; informed them of his successes in England and Ireland; and assured them of his constant zeal and affection for his native country.
HE ASSISTS AT A CONGRESS.
At a solemn congress of the confederate princes, he represented in a set speech the dangers to which they were exposed from the power and ambition of France; and the necessity of acting with vigour and dispatch.


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