Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A39387
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The emperour and the empire betray'd by whom and how written by a minister of state residing at that court to one of the Protestant princes of the empire.; Empereur et l'empire trahis, et par qui & comment. English. 1682
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Cerdan, Jean-Paul, comte de.
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1682
(1682)
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Wing E716; ESTC R27323
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33,952
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136
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THE EMPEROUR And the EMPIRE BETRAY'D By Whom and How Written by a Minister of State residing at that Court to one of the Protestant Princes of the Empire Published for the satisfaction of all good Protestants LONDON Printed for B. M. at the Duke of Lorrain's Head in Westminster 1682. TO THE READER THE extraordinary Conduct of the Imperial Court and Council for some years past having rais'd the Curiosity of a great Prince of the Empire to find out at any rate the true Causes and Grounds of Counsels and Actions that had so much surprized him he made choice of a Minister whom he judged best capable to execute this Design and having given him Instructions for the purpose dispatched him privately under other pretences to the Emperours Court at Prague The Minister acquitted himself well and gave his Master an ample account of his Business by Letter of the 13. of February 1680. The Master a right German and truly generous Prince laid his Commands on me to publish those important Secrets the value whereof will soon appear by the reading from which I will no longer detain you Farewell THE EMPEROUR AHD THE EMPIRE Betrayed AND By Whom and How In a LETTER My Lord 'T IS the duty of a Servant not to conceal any thing from his Prince and Master especially when he is pleased to honour him with his Confidence as your Higness hath done in sending me to this Court To clear my self from the Guilt and Reproach of having been wanting to this Duty I take the liberty to give your Highness a faithful and candid account in Writing what I have discovered most pertinent and Essential to the business you were pleased to employ me in I shall do it with the less scruple and reserve having sent this Letter by an Express in whom I have entire Confidence and doubt not but he will according to my order deliver it into your Hands To begin with the best part of what I have to deliver I am to inform your Highness that His Imperial Majesty is in my Opinion a pious Prince good natured and of a sweet and gentle Disposition and not at all inclined to contend with the Princes his Neighbours or make War on his Inferiors That pursuant to this natural Inclination for Repose and for Peace this Prince hath an Antipathy against any thing that disturbs or opposes his quiet Disposition and hath eased himself wholly of the management and direction of his Affairs of State and of War by committing all to the Conduct of his principal Ministers 'T is hard for a Prince to intrust a Minister with Affairs of this mighty Importance without opening to him all his Mind and imparting the greatest and deepest of his Secrets And from hence I believe it hath unhappily followed that this Prince having by degrees accustomed himself to leave the greatest part of his Affairs to the Conduct of his Ministers hath reserved to himself only the Title and Pomp the Splendour and Name of the Dignities and Grandeur proper to his Character In a Word had his Imperial Majesty never so little minded his great Affairs he would never have yielded to sign that shameful and ignominious Peace with France subscribed by the Imperial Embassadours at the Congress ad Nimiguen the unhappy Effects whereof we have seen in seven Particulars of great importance First His Imperial Majesty by those few strokes of his Pen hath in all probability lost for ever the Esteem the Friendship and Confidence of the Princes his Friends and Allyes who would have generously defended and preserved him from ruine by the force of their Arms. Seconldy That his own Troops have been shamefully forced to quit all the Countries of the Empire while those of France have been actually there and continue to this day insulting and Domineering as they please over the Princes the Cities the Countries and Provinces of the Empire Thirdly That by the Execution of this Peace the Estates the Persons and the Courts of the three Ecclesiastical Electors of the Empire and of the Elector Palatine of the Rhine stand in a manner expos'd every hour to the violences and irruptions of the Arms of France and consequently in case of an Election of a King of the Romans we may probably find by their Suffrages what may be expected from Slaves to that proud and ambitious Crown Fourthly That his Imperial Majesty having by that Peace tacitely consented to the late Cession on made by Spain of the County of Burgundy to the Crown of France It follows that if His Imperial Majesty in Case of failure of Issue in the House of Spain should in his own Right or in the Right of the Arch-Dutchess his Daughter the Heir to the Estates of that Monarchy he hath by that Article of the County of Burgundy released his Right to it and deprived his Successors and the Empire of the Convenience that Country might upon a favourable Revolution have afforded them to lead an Army without opposition into the heart of France And should Lorrain be ever restored to the Empire yet this Article will be an infallible means for France to maintain continually an Army on the Frontiers of Germany and invade it as often as it shall appear to be for the Interest and Grandeur of the French to attack the Germans Fifthly That though Swizzerland be throughly convinced by the building the Fortress of Hunninges of the Ambitious designs of France and consequently concerned and inclined to make a League with all or part of the Princes of the Empire in defence of the Common Liberty yet the unfortunate Session of the County of Burgundy hath furnished the Pensioners of France whom no Counsel or Caution of that Republick is free from with a plausible argument to perswade that Republick not to stir in its own defence till it be perhaps too late and out of its power to help it self For say they What shall we do The Cantons of Bern Fribourgh and Sollurre cannot subsist without the Salt of that Province Besides the Forces his most Christian Majesty keeps actually on Foot there may justly alarm us to be cautious to the utmost what measures we take and consider all things before we ingage in any By such discourses as these though groundless if we suppose an Union of the Forces of the Empire with the Swisse which would infallibly draw in many more it may fall out that this Republick if the lowest party prevail not against those Traytors to their Country may to its own mischief and the ruin of others lye still and look on as unconcerned and consequently be a Member wholly useless to the Publick for defence of the Common Liberty which would be in the present Conjuncture of more mischievous Consequence han most are aware of Sixthly That by this peace the Duke of Lorrain who hath had the honour to Marry a great Queen eldest Sister to his Imperial Majesty hath found as little respect in this Peace as if he had married
so dilicate I say as to what the Empire in general and particular is no expect from the present state of affairs we are to believe his most Christian Majesty unless notably changed in his dispositions would boldly and couragiously carry on his business I mean his pretension to make his Son the Dauphin King of the Romans His Marriage with the Princess of Bavaria the Envoys and magnificent Presents he sends to the Electoral Courts of Saxony and Brandenbourgh and his arming so furiously signifie sufficiently two things First His Contempt of the Alliances and Oppositions His Imperial Majesty may make against him Secondly That he will certainly pursue his pretension 'T is of extream importance for the Empire in general and particular to know whether it be for the interest of the Empire to favour this pretension or to oppose it This with your Highnesses leave I intend briefly to examine and to observe some order It is to be considered 1. Whether it be better for the Empire in general and every Member of it in particular to live according to the ancient Customs Rights and Priviledges under which they have lived for many Ages or that the Empire without striking a blow submit voluntarily to the Yoke of a Government which acknowledges no Law but that of a Power purely Despotical and Absolute 2. As a Dependent on the former Point Whether it be better as to the Revolutions since the Wars for Religion that the Empire live occording to the Concordats and Agreements in the Peace of Munster or Osnabrug and the last Capitulations with His Imperial Majesty since his Election or without regard to the one or the other that the Empire engage anew in a Civil War which by a final Victory may decide the Quarrel in favour of one of the parties concerning the Concordats and those two Treaties of Peace or the late Capitulations as if never agreed or capitulated I think it the more necessary to examine before hand these Points for that we may hold it for certain As to the first Point In case the Dauphin be ever Elected King of the Romans that from the days of that Election whatever Capitulations shall be signed to the contrary the German Empire will be annexed to and made an Hereditary Province of the Crown of France To justifie this you need only read several French Authors who have treated of the Rights and pretensions of France upon the Empire particularly that of the Advocate Awbrey for though he hath with good reason been laughed at for his Writings yet if that Election take effect we shall find his discourse solid and well grounded Besides you may soberly weigh what France hath already practised upon that part of the Empire which hath fallen to its share and the Neighbouring Parts both in Temporals and Spirituals as to the Temporal Concerns France seizes all boldly and openly in the Face of the Sun without pretence of other Law or Right but that of convenience with as much freedom and confidence as it would take possession of any ancient Patrimony of that Crown The Dukes of Lorrain and Deuxponts Mentbeleuard and the Ten free Towns of Alsatia sufficiently prove this as to Spiritual matters you need only read the publick Ordinance of the Bishop of Metz against the Lutherans of those Countries For the Clergy in general all the free Chapters of the Empire whether Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbots Deans or Priors may assure themselves if this Election take place they must go to France e're they come to those Dignities for to imagine the free Suffrages of the Chapters shall be continued is sortishness and folly The Bishopricks of Metz Toul and Verdun and I doubt not for the future Cambray which were heretofore Principalities of the Empire may teach us that under a French Government the only way to those Dignities is by a Writ of Presentation by the Kings and consequently all that seek or depend on those Bishopricks must be Courtiers and Slaves Not but that I believe if the Dauphin be chosen King of the Romans his Council is too cunning not to make him promise expresly to maintain the Privileges and Ecclesiastical Benefices of the Empire And that till he be fully setled they may be content to write Letters to the Chapters to chuse the person the Court shall recommend but in such a manner there will be no fear of refusal Yet this course is not to be expected to hold ten Years to an end Which I believe the rather for that France pretends as hath been declared at large by several politick Treatises that most of the great Benefices in Germany have been founded by Emperors Kings of France and that consequently the Court of France is the true Patron of them The Princes of the Empire Ecclesiastical and temporal of what Rank or Degree soever may from the day of that Election provide for three things which will certainly follow First they shall be reduced to the natural Rents and Revenues of their ancient Patrimonies which cannot with Probability be denied to depend upon the ancient Kingdom of Austrasia which the Ministers of France suppose to be part of the French Monarchy and consequently all natural Rights there being subject to the Law Salique admit neither of Alienation nor Prescription For as to the Taxes and Contributions now paid these Lords by their Vassals and Subjects there is no doubt but they will be obliged to disclaim them and consent with a very good Will that the Head of the Empire shall in this Case Order what Taxes and Exactions he please to be Levied and all for his use To pretend Capitulations or Reasons to the contrary will be to insist on Trifles or commence Suits to be decided only by Military Execution Secondly They will be Disarmed it being against the Honour of the policy of France to permit any Prince or Lord under their Dominion to have the Power to defend himself by force be his Right to do so never so ancient and authentick Thirdly To gain the favour of the Head of the Empire the Head of every House of the Secular Princes must actually wait on His Imperial Majesty at an excessive Expence or send in his stead his Brothers or Sons to make his Court or to receive Orders and Caresses and sometimes Repulses and Checks And the Empire being full of Divisions and Jealousies there is cause enough to fear the Princes will strive who shall be most Officious as the Princes and other Great men of France have done to their utter Ruin and total Consumption of their Estates As for the Counts and Barons and all Gentlemen of the Empire who are Vassals to Electors and particular Princes my Heart bleeds to think how certainly and strangely their Condition will be chang'd if ever a French King be made Emperour Is it probable the Ministers of France will have more pity of the German Nobility and Gentry than the Dukes Marquesses Counts Barons and particular Nobility of their own Country