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William III by his will made his cousin, John William Friso of Nassau-Siegen, his heir.
Maurice, as stated above, was stadholder in five provinces; Frederick Henry, William II and William III in six; the seventh province, Friesland, remaining loyal, right through the 17th century, to their cousins of the house of Nassau-Siegen, the ancestors of the present Dutch royal family.
Maurice succeeded to that of Groningen, but the Frieslanders remained faithful to the house of Nassau-Siegen and elected Ernest Casimir, the younger brother of William Lewis, as their stadholder.
Lamartine's Histoire des Girondins vi., p.22. Letter of the Prince de Nassau-Siegen to the Russian Empress Catherine, Feuillet de Conches, iv., p. 316; of also Madame de Campan, ch. xxi. Letter of the Princess to Madame de Bombelles, Feuillet de Conches, v., p.267. "N'est-il pas bien gentil, mon enfant?" Mémoires Particuliers, p. 235.