il s'est trouvé, there happened to be

3. au coup d'œil juste et prompt, quick to see things as they are.

4. le lui rend bien, pays her back in the same coin (" returns her hatred with usury ").

5. leur est acquise, (is theirs) == they have gained the majority.

6. son frère, i.e. her half-brother, James Edward, son of King James II and Mary of Modena. Queen Ann was the offspring of the first marriage of the king, her mother being Anne Hyde, daughter of Earl Clarendon.

Page 17. — 1. aussi . . ., and so (almost the same as " hence").