their own Interest as do those States should permit Lewis the XIV to advance one Foot of Ground more than he is already being but too forwards all that Monarchs fair Promises and his kind assurances of Friendship remaining without effect not being able to win them to be deceiv'd And perceiving that his Credit was at an end â—n those Provinces that all the Propositions of the Count d'Avaux his Ambassador were suspected â—nd that he was still entertain'd with much Circumspection as Lions are fed still pulling the hand back finding himself discover'd â—nd cried down not to lose any more time to flatter and amuse â—he said States being not able to â—ccomplish his ends that way he â—esolv'd to ruine them at the same time that King James the II. got on the Throne he knowing well his Genius was satisfied that there wanted nothing but a Golden Apple to amuse him and to follow that itching desire which that Prince had to render himself Absolute Master over all his Kingdom to alter the Laws and the Religion of it and to feed him before hand with the hopes of the Spanish Indies that he might no longer find himself oblig'd to Assemble his Parliament who approv'd not of his Proceeding noâ— of that great Alliance he had with France which under what shape soever it was represented to them did always appear hiddeous During all that long Interval anâ— till there were a fair occasion tâ— perform that great Design thâ— French Emissaries did continually pour their cold Poison in the English Court which was quaff'd oâ— in large Draughts by some of thâ— Grandees which they endeavour'd to Digest without noise seeing that at the same time they thus under-hand set forward their Masters Interest others who were not at such a distance provided themselves with an Apple against draught as did many others in all the Courts of Christendom It was in this contagious time so infected with the French Lewis D'Ors that Europe was to tremble and that all honest people that concern'd themselves in the common Cause of the good of Christendom were to shake at the very sight of that weight which was going to crush Europe to pieces seeing that its general loss had immediately follow'd that of the Seventeen United Provinces the Emperor nor the King of Spain not being then able to prevent nor put a stop to that Torrent which had chang'd it self into a Deluge from which not England it self had been Exempted in its time if afterward it would not have danc'd to the French Flutes and obey'd the Orders of its Ambitious Monarch I am willing to make use of these Terms seeing that all those that are Pensioners of France are so but to Execute his Orders and to Work to increase the Grandeur of Lewis the XIV not to oppose his Interests but on the contrary Sacrifice their Honour and their Lives to them so oft as the Good and the Interest of France should require it If ever Lewis the XIV had obtain'd his end and had made himself Master of the Forces of the Seventeen Provinces as he plotted it in his greedy Imagination through the King of England's Means there had then been no ways left for this last to retire though he should perceive his Error as Charles the II. had done and he must either by fair or fouâ— means have gone on with that he had begun through a weak Complacency and then the Most Christian King had rais'd his Voice and Arm at the same time and had spoken in Magisterial Terms to all the Princes of Europe neither had that of England been left for the last but had been oblig'd to submit to the same Fate with all the others as a Reward for all the good Services that he should have render'd him I once again repeat that the Designs of France were not new that long since Lewis the XIV had had them before him even before that James the II. had got on the Throne and during his Brother's Reign he luckily made use of the Dutchess of Orlean's Management who was Sister to both the Kings Charles and James But the First of them who had continually before his Eyes the Tragical end of his Father and who was still very sensible of the sufferings and troubles of his Exile had much to do to resolve upon it and the Apprehensions which he had of his People did retain him and hindred him from Assisting France in all things as he was solicited to do and he at last did abandon it as we did see by the Peace which he had made with the States of the United Provinces and then he seemingly did relinquish the Interests of his Ally not to Prorogue his Parliament who very plainly did forsee the danger in which the Nation was going to fall had France continued its Progress as it had began in 1672. and the years following After the Peace of Nimeguen the Kings great Design against the United Provinces remain'd as buried during the remnant of King Charles his Reign but he soon rais'd it again for at King James's Ascending the Throne France gather'd new Vigour and beholding there so good a Friend with whom he was tied in Religion and Inclination Lewis the XIV fail'd not to strike the Iron while it was hot and during the Three or Four Years of his Reign the French Emissaries gave divers Assaults and set all Hands to work the French Ambassador Barillon made great Largesses to all those whom he thought propper to do his Master Service the Curtisans tasted of the Cake as well as divers Ministers at Court thus all unanimously did labour to perswade James the II. so soon as he was King to second Lewis the XIV in his Designs divers not knowing them there needed no great Perswasion to attain it because that Prince was already sufficiently inclin'd to it of himself and at that time of all Employs that of Messenger was the most necessary there was nothing seen but such kind of Persons on the Road from London to Paris and from Paris to London till the Treaty was finish'd of which the chief matter and knot of the Business was the ruine and destruction of the United Provinces All the Religious Orders and above all the Jesuits did take a great Interest in that Business and already cried out The Town was their own there was a perpetual motion among them the Ships that cross'd the Seas on both Parties were throng'd with those Zealots and Apostolick Postilions thus were all things in motion for the Good of France and for the Advancement of its Monarchs Designs some through Interest some through Zeal and others through meer Ignorance This Business thus built up with Lime and Stone concluded and resolv'd on betwixt the Two Kings Lewis the XIV the better to compass all things was desirous to strengthen himself towards the North but having lost the friendship of the Sweeds for having fail'd in keeping those Treaties which had formerly pass'd between the
at least permit the raising in their Territories a like number of Men by the Emperor and his Allies it being pre-suppos'd that a State can never be counted Neuter so long as it furnishes Forces to one of the Parties that are in Wars together besides such a Neutrality is of evil consequence to the others that pretend to the same There are but very few States that are not glad to see their Neighbours weaken'd that they may draw advantage from their Disorders and get to themselves the Trade and to see them from a secure place ruine one another while their Neuter Subjects enrich themselves and improve by the spoil as the Archbishop of Mentz did think to do if he had not been cheated by France to his great sorrow he has made tryal of Lewis the XIVth's Maxims who has no sooner laid his finger on a place but that he endeavours to thrust in his whole body and to drive from thenee the Lawful Lord. Though all has known this yet divers hitherto have been surpris'd with it they call out for help when they thiink themselves lost as we have seen in divers little States which he has appropriated to himself and he had done the like to Geneva had not the Laudable Cantons oppos'd themselves to it The Switz perceiving that his most Christian Majesty did by that design to smooth a Path for himself into their Country and into the States of the Duke of Savoy if they durst but have stirr'd never so little after that Conquest I now pass to the Cantons of the Switzers by reason of their Proximity to the Empire and Alliance with the Emperor they have no cause of being better satisfied than many others are of Lewis the Great if they would but return from that blindness wherein they are and make some Reflections on what has pass'd only since his Reign how that he amuses them on the one side while he is undermining of their Union on the other together with their Liberty and their Power incompassing them so close on all sides as if he would so girt them in that they should not be able to stir themselves His Design is to make them Tributary not of Money but of divers thousands of Men when he has occasion for them and when they should be of most use to him to that particularly tends the Usurpation of the French County which was formerly their Barr the Fortresses of Hunning and of Crensack and so many other Forts and Bridges which the King has caus'd of late to be built round their Countrey It is that way do the Lewis d'Ors tend which the French Ambassador does so freely scatter about in the Cantons and so many fair promises and French Compliments with which the Lords are fed to rock them asleep but in the mean time I humbly desire that those Gentlemen would make a serious Reflection on the ill Treatment and Contempt lately put on their Ambassadors and by that they shall judge whether they have any great cause to reckon on and to trust to the Friendship and Promises of that King and let them not flatter themselves if the King could have made them submit to the French Yoak long since had he done that business because he well knows the need he has of them that the Cantons can supply him with a great number of good Souldiers and that he can build and reckon on their Alliance I know that in Switzerland as well as elsewhere there are Mercenary Spirits that would willingly Sacrifice their Country to their proper Interests who promise much to France without considering well what they do and if the King had enter'd into Germany as he had purpos'd to do as I have before mention'd the Cantons had had great cause to fear that divers Towns whose Magistrates had been brib'd had follow'd the fatal Example of Strasbourg To this purpose the King has always endeavour'd to divide them in their hearts as well as in their Religion But some will say that Things have not happen'd so and that they are still in a good Condition I grant that and I answer that the pass'd danger ought to render us wise for the future the Swallows know their times why should Men neglect theirs Wherefore above all the Switzers ought not to let slip so fair an Occasion by which they may set themselves at rest for ever I Conjure them to it by that which they hold most dear in the World their Liberty Religion their Children and their own Preservation let them remember they are born free that they depend but on God alone and on their Valour and that they ought to maintain themselves in those fair Priviledges which their Ancestors have acquir'd to them by their Swords and their blood being arriv'd at the moment in which they may preserve them they ought not to fall asleep at the sound of the French Gold it is not with this as with the Tide which returns every day and it may be that England shall never again be Govern'd by a King replenish'd with such good Sentiments and that shall be so well fix'd to the General Interests of all Christendom as is that Prince who Reigns there at this present It is a good fortune which must be taken hold of by the foretop for fear she flyes away It is not to be doubted but that at this very present the French Ambassador does indefatigably Labour with the Cantons and that he offers much more than his Master designs to perform and he fails not to tender also the Arrears due to them provided the Cantons will permit the raising of new Forces or only accept of a Neutrality As if the King did offer them any thing more than their own which he ought to have pay'd them long since I very well know that divers Persons whose eyes this Reimbursement causes to be open would willingly grant what the King requires of them in the belief that they might observe a Neutrality with that just as if the Emperor had granted it and at the same time permit Forces should be given to his Enemy which would be two things very incompatible and which no Monarch would ever endure if he were in any Condition to prevent it Wherefore I once more repeat that the Cantons ought to make serious Reflections on the present State of France in particular and on that of Europe in general and rouse up from that dullness and Mercenary humour in which they are kept in the fear the French King has that the Switzers should awaken on the sudden and open their eyes to their true Interest It lyes at present but on a strong and generous Resolution to get out of all dangers prevent ever relapsing into them again and set themselves in a Condition to depend on none but themselves To this purpose they ought to joyn themselves to the Empire and then require from the King that he should demolish those Fortresses which he has caus'd to be built contrary to former
Treaties and in case of a refusal by an authentick and general Decree recall their Forces and with those very Troops that are so well Disciplin'd and those they have already go themselves and execute that which France refuses them and pull down those stone Tables which he has set up Besides let the Lords of that Republick consider that the more Souldiers they lend to France the more Men they lose whose hearts are insensibly alienated from their own Country by Death by Offices by Pensions by Mariages and some by the Change of Religion and these last are young Vipers which will one day gnaw their own Mothers bowels I know that the Switzers with divers others have some years since fear'd the Forces which France has to make it self dreaded allways kept in readiness after Peace and after the Truce also which Forces made it to speak with Confidence and required nothing but with threatnings being the only Prince in Europe that did see himself in a Condition to Undertake and to Act before others were in a Condition to Defend themselves which made him to be fear'd by his Neighbours and procur'd him Alliances but particularly that of King James with which he thought himself sufficiently strong to overcome all Europe beginning as I have already said by the United Provinces I doubt not but all these Considerations might have a great influence over the Cantons and oblige the Switzers to grant to France that which perhaps they had not done at any other time but now the storm is blown over the Cause of that Pride with which the King did threaten being vanish'd into smoak the fear ought to cease also and there ought not to remain any consideration capable to retain the Switzers under the Rod of Lewis the XIVth Let them return to their pristine Liberty and to their right Interest Let those Gentlemen know that Kings are Great no longer than they are happy and that they are fear'd no longer than their good fortune lasts I therefore maintain that that Imperiousness with which France was us'd to draw advantages from the Cantons is at an end now that it finds it self over-whelm'd from all sides that all its Alliances on which it founded all its new Usurpations are vanish'd and that at this present he has almost as many Enemies as there are Princes in Europe If they have not yet all declar'd they will not stay long they only wait to see the Dance begin to joyn themselves with the Allies as we have lately seen the Republick of Liege which has scorn'd its threatnings and embrac'd that Party which it apprehended to be the most advantageous and the most necessary for its State. Which sufficiently shews the small regard that it had at present for the French King who is no longer in a Condition of doing any great Damage in an open War since England has turn'd the Muzzle of her Cannons against him and that the Prince on whose Alliance he so strongly built his hopes is no longer in a Condition to do any good or hurt to Europe for in lieu of succouring his Allie he himself stands in need of him he drains France the Calf in time will kill the Cow with drawing her too hard it is a new Charge to Lewis the XIV and that Unfortunate Prince sees himself on the brink of a Precipice which by a special Grace from Heaven he may yet avoid by retiring into some Convent The Laudable Cantons ought to make other Reflections and have other Considerations at present than they formerly had they should too lift up their Eyes towards England and behold His Britanick Majesty William the IIId as their Friend and Allie professing the same Religion and who during His Reign will make it a point of Generosity and of Honour to Succour them against all the Assaults of the French King. If they declare themselves both through the Tye of Communion and that of Esteem which that Great Prince has for them even His great and generous Designs ought to serve to make them return to their ancient Rights and Liberties cause their aincent Limits to be made good again for greater security but then they ought not to remain quiet all the while with their arms folded but labour with all their power and assist to bring about so great a good and advantange which the Heavens offers them To that purpose they should Exemplarily punish all those Mercinary Persons whose hands and their Honours have been defiled with the French Money Incessantly cause their Forces to return which are in the French Service in case of disobedience declare them Rebels and Confiscate their Means oblige those Fathers who have Children there to call them home on great Mulcts never to admit to any Employ nor Dignity either in Church or State all such as shall contradict these Orders and never cease 'till the Fortresses are demolish'd and Burgundy the French County Alsace and Lorain restor'd to their ancient Masters and Soveraigns that they may be as so many Bulwarks to the Cantons all which they can easily do in this Conjuncture which at this present so favourably offers it self and which they ought not to let slip seeing there is at this present between the Protestant and the Catholick Cantons so good a Harmony and firm Union that the Pope is wholly inclin'd to cause those of his Party to keep it strictly as a neecessary good for the quiet of Christendom and the safety of Europe as well as to abate the Pride of France All this will happen in Declaring for the Emperor and Empire I come now to Spain formerly their Soveraigns Govern'd from within their Closets a good part of the World but since Philip the IId its great Power has began to decay and that of the Kings of France to increase at the same time that that of the Catholick Kings decreased I shall not seek after the Causes of it because that is beside my Subject I shall only say by the by that the Liberty of Conscience in France has much contributed to its Elevation and that contrary-wise the privation of it in Spain has caus'd there great Evils and the loss of Trade which is the Soul of States and Kingdoms The Marriages which the Kings of Spain have Contracted with France have been so many Levens of Discord and of War which have always prov'd very hurtful to Spain and not to go back any further than to the late Queen who was a French Woman as much by inclination as she was by Birth who by the subtle and dextrous Counsel of the King her Uncle's Ambassadors had always some new business to propose to the King her Husband who most tenderly lov'd her By those means that Princess had acquir'd a great ascendent over the King's mind sometimes prejudicial to the good of his Kingdom for whose prosperity she had not all the Consideration she ought to have had for having no Children to Succeed to it and still in fears that remaining
Pontificate either in his own Person or in that of his Legates even upon the dead Corps of one of them The extinction of the Regalia in France is also a great grief to the Holy See as well as the violence us'd against divers Convents for having address'd themselves to the Pope and taking advice of his Holiness The change of divers Abbies into Commanderies by the King 's own and proper motion is also a Contempt which he has aggravated by the forbiddance he has made to the Bishops not to Consult the Holy See even in Cases of Conscience and in such businesses as wholy concern Religion but the most sensible of all was that blow given to the Pope's Authority in the Year 1682. by the Clergy Assembled at the King's Command that being with the Infallibility the finest Flowers of the Triple Crown The Insolent Discourses held in a Plea by Monsieur Talon by which he accus'd Pope Innocent the XIth the most worthy that has for divers years been seated in St. Peter's Chair of being a Schismatick and a Supporter of Hereticks And this for not having receiv'd Monsieur Lavardin as Ambassador at Rome who made his Entry into that City in such an offensive and proud manner that no Ambassadours of Obedience durst ever have done the like having caus'd himself to be accompany'd by a small Army rather than a Retinue as if he would have Besieg'd the Vatican And though this Marquess is at full Liberty at Rome the Nuncio Ranucci is detain'd in a place call'd St. Lazarus for fear he should retire from Paris incognito Finally the unjust seizure of the City and County of Avignon threatning besides all this to send some Troops into the Ecclesiastick State to oblige the Pope to revoke the Bull for the abolition of Quarters and that for his Confirmation of Prince Joseph Clement of Bavaria to the Archbishoprick of Cologne After so much insulting which the Pope had receiv'd of which one might make a whole Volum either in his own Person his Authority or in the Person of his Legates the Pope has judiciously done to shew his Resentment against Lewis the XIV not to relinquish any of his Rights but maintain the Rank which he has in the Church and in the World by that Spiritual and Temporal Power which God has put into his Hands and in having till now so generously and justly oppos'd himself to all the French Violences by which he has acquir'd a Glory which shall last as long as the World amongst all Parties and his Memory will be Rever'd even after his Death He ought to go on in those right Paths which he has begun and as Common Father Exhort all Catholick Princes to put themselves in a Condition to abate the Pride of the French King as a means to bring him into a way of Salvation To this purpose the Pope ought with all his Power to Assist the Catholick Princes that he may co-operate in so good a Work as his Holiness has done to the Empire against the Turks and to solicite the Switz-Cantons of the same Religion by his Legates to Join themselves to the Emperor and Empire to confirm that Deliverance which Europe begins to enjoy Thus the Pope being restor'd to his former Dignities Veneration and Authority let the King his most devout Son make him some Reparations and Attonements for those Faults he has committed and be so humbled that for the future he may be Wiser and out of Power of doing the like again nor of Insulting over the Popes and Soveraign Pontifs of the Catholick Church and in case the Pope found no amendment in that King nor no likelihood of bringing him back to his Duty he ought while he is busie in a War to lance forth his Excommunications against him and to give his Kingdoms over to the Spoil of his Enemies the male-contented Ecclesiasticks with which his Kingdom is fill'd will reduce him by Reason and will make him repent having ever meddled with the Rights of the Church The Emperor and the Princes of the Empire have more Reason than all the other Powers of Europe to keep the French King in such a condition that he may no more annoy them nor aspire to the Imperial Crown Lewis the XIV has a long time endeavour'd to turn the Empire into the French Family as in the time of Charlemain it being a great step for him to rise to that of all Europe that is the Reason why since Francis the First the French Kings have always cross'd the Emperors Elections But Lewis the Great could find no way to that Conquest but by the total Ruine of the United Provinces to which he could not attain but by the assistance of England thus his Imperial Majesty and all the Princes of the Empire being fully satisfied of this Truth and that nothing but that Revolution which has lately happen'd on the Brittish Throne could cause the rash Designs of the French King to Miscarry The Emperor ought no longer to remain in suspence nor put off to another time those Advantages which the Heavens present to him at this time to recover all that France has Usurp'd from him To this purpose his Imperial Majesty should begin by a Truce which he ought without delay to conclude with the Port seeing that they offer it on very honourable and advantageous Conditions and let the Emperor hold as suspicious Persons all such as shall Advise him to the contrary they are Persons that sin either through Ignorance or Malice who understand not the true Interests of the Empire or too much those of France he is not to doubt but that all the Princes of the Empire will concur to the same Design of abasing the Greatness of the French Monarch of which there are but very few Powers in the Empire that have not great cause of complaint and just pretensions to frame and perhaps more to pretend to than ever to recover again if France be not kept in a condition of never offending them more of domineering any longer nor of boasting any more that it can give Peace to Europe when ever it pleases This last War by the rupture of a Truce which the French King had sought after with so much earnestness because it confirm'd Luxemburg to him and a part of Flanders during Twenty Years and which he has infring'd without any Cause than his desire to come to the Assistance of the Grand Seignior who was going to ruine by the vast Conquests which the Emperor made on that Infidel His Most Christian Majesty was going hand over head to his Assistance finding himself supported with a close Alliance with James the II. formerly King of Great Britain this Rupture has given new pretensions of War to all the Princes of Germany by the most barbarous and inhumane proceedings which the French Troops have done there and I doubt much whether a just Parallel could be drawn from the Cruelties and Desolations that this King has caus'd to be committed
in the Palatinate with those that the Grand Seignior has made in Hungary and though this last place has been for a long time the Seat of War yet at the Retreat of the Infidels they have not committed any thing near the like Extortions nor us'd the same violence that the French have done in those places that they have abandon'd in the Palatinate and in the Country of Juliers and of Cologne and if there were no other cause but this though there are but too many more there would need in my Opinion nothing but the sad spectacle of the French barbarousness to animate all the Princes and Members of Europe to a good and firm Union with the Emperor which will be the only means to preserve themselves and to prevent France from doing the like hereafter Though France is brought low through the opposition of England in all its Designs yet has it not forgot its ancient Maxims which have formerly succeeded so well it will not fail to put into practice all the ways imaginable to corrupt some Member of the Empire and to break that Chain of Unity there is amongst them to endeavour thereby to put a stop to the Success of their Arms as it frequently happens that a broken or rotten Pin disorders a whole Carriage and hinders its March. France's Crafts and Deceits being already so well fore-known it is requisite that the Princes of Europe should provide against that plague of Corruption which has so freequently infected divers Courts of Christendom divers are to expect that not only Presents will be offer'd to them as well as Pensions but equivalents also to their Pretensions only to remain Neuter But the Example of the Archbishop of Mentz is yet so fresh before our Eyes that it ought to be a fair Mirror for the Princes of the Empire to Represent to them to the Life the Character of France and of its Soveraign which all that proceeding represents in Lively Colours with the breaches of Faith of that Prince even to those that Side with him If ever any Soveraign did Act against his true Interest and that of the whole Empire it was that Prelate but then again never was Prince worse rewarded nor had greater cause to repent of his Fault by the ill usage he has had in his Estate which had reach'd to his Person also if he had not shelter'd himself from the Threats of the French Envoy But he is not the only Living and Speaking Example the whole Series of time that has pass'd since the Peace of the Pireneans is but a continued Thread of the falsehood of France So that whoever shall catch at the Golden Bait which the King lays for them will have time to Repent themselves as the Elector of Mentz has done and divers others who have fair'd no better But if by a Fatal Chance it should so happen that some Member of the Empire were so unadvis'd as to be Corrupted by France and separated from that Union which is its true Interest though it is not to be expected now that those Princes are so well enlightned that Person ought to be consider'd as a rotten Member Discarded and Treated as an Enemy though he would remain Neuter on this ground drawn from the Holy Gospel Qui non est pro nobis est contra nos Of Truth the Union of the Empire is of great Importance and I must confess that all its United Forces may be very powerful but they would be much more if the Emperor could resolve to grant a Peace to the Grand Seignior that so having no longer any thing to fear from that Part his Imperial Majesty may have his Hands at liberty against the Second which has been much more formidable and more dangerous than the First and consequently cause all his Forces to Advance towards the Rhine which would produce Two Effects the one that such considerable Armies would increase that Terror in which France is already Secondly it would by that means much better maintain that Union which is already in Europe with their Allies Besides it is a general Rule which the Emperor ought always to observe never to have Two Wars to maintain at the same time especially when he can avoid one of them as it is in his power to do at this present with great Advantage and Glory It is not to be doubted but that the French King does highly dread such a Truce that he will openly and most powerfully Act with the Turk and the King of Poland and that he will have his Emissaries conceal'd at the Court of Vienna that will labour under-hand and on deceitful Pretences to prevent the Imperial Council from concluding any thing with the Turks Envoy at this present at Vienna To be sure he will neither spare Money nor Religion to attain his end therein To the Grand Seignior he Promises to enter into Germany with a Powerful Army to Ransack there as he has done already thereby to draw the Emperors Forces on that side and give the Great Turk the means and leasure to breathe again and to Assemble new Forces to endeavour to regain what he has lost To Teckeley and the Princes of Transilvania Walachia and Moldavia without enquiring of what Religion they are he assures considerable Sums to continue the War begun he has frequenly sent some to the First and if the others would break off with the Emperor and join with the Grand Seignior he would furnish them wherewith to Pay their Forces As for Poland that will perform enough for France if its King will but remain quiet and not attempt any thing as he has done since the two last Campaigns and prevent by great pretensions the Conclusion of a Truce with the Port. Lewis the XIVth has Springs that are sufficiently strong to detain him and to obtain what he pleases of that Crown perswading it that it is not suitable to her Interest to have the Emperor prosper so much c. At the Court of Vienna the French Emissaries Labour through indirect means to perswade the Emperor's Councellors that his Imperial Majesty may with ease maintain the War against the Turk and France and that it concerns his Glory not to slacken in so fair a Course that he ought to go and plant the Cross of Christ on the very Battlements of the Seraglio at Constantinople but such pretences are at great distance from their Masters thoughts for it is very certain that the French King had rather see once more the Crescent on St. Stephen's Church at Vienna than the Cross on St. Sophia at Constantinople Lewis the XIVth at this time is like to a Man in great extremity of danger that is ready to sink he makes Vows and promises all things to get out again and takes hold of all that comes in his way to keep himself some moments longer above water Thus this Monarch has turn'd himself all manner of ways to find out a Mediator that would assist him to get out of
Barren after some considerable time she might be Divorc'd according to the Laws and Statutes of that Kingdom All the study of the said Queen was but most particularly a little before her death to labour hard for the advantage of France and at the last her greatest business was to intercede with the King for that Money which was come to Cadiz on the French Account in the last Fleet that was come from the Indies And we have seen that contrary to the right Policy and the true Interest of Spain the Queen succeeded in it for that Money ought to have been sequestred under the King's Seal 'till the Council had seen what Course the Affairs of Europe had taken in these present Conjunctures Spain had no want of pretences it had just cause to have kept back without blame those 14 Millions which of truth were Counterbands seeing that no strangers have the liberty to negotiate in the Spanish Indies under pain of Confiscation 'till his Catholick Majesty had seen what satisfaction he should receive from France on all his other Demands and Pretensions and in case he receiv'd none he then might have been his own Pay-Master as it is frequently practis'd even amongst private Persons but what I say here is after Death the Physician seeing the Birds are flown there is no remedy for this time but for the future the Persons concern'd will consider better Another of the late Queens application was to bring the Catholick King to accept of a Neutrality which France offer'd him that joyn'd to the recovering of the Money we lastly mention'd was the only business of the Ambassador Rebenac But while they were thus acting against the Interests of Spain God has taken that Queen away in the prime of her Age before she could render that last piece of service to her Uncle the French King which was so necessary to him at this present How can it be help'd I confess that it is a very great loss for France but it must comfort it self as Spain has done for parting with the 14 Millions France ever slye and cunning made use of a specious pretence to oblige the King of Spain to accept of the Neutrality endeavouring to perswade him that by that means he should become a Mediator betwixt France and the Empire as if the Most Christian King did not know the strict Union there is betwixt those two Monarchs which make but one House and Family Thus their interest being but one and that of the Emperor being the same with that of the King of Spain which is well known to his Christian Majesty let any judge whether France being certain of that Truth which is not to be doubted had a desire to referr her Concerns into the hands of the Catholick King except she were at the very last gasp not knowing what Saint to Pray to But the most probable and the most receiv'd Opinion is that the French King makes his last Efforts to diminish the number of its Enemies and though Spain should be so weak as the French Partisans would make us believe it is and that at most it could but stand on the Defensive part The French must have two Armies on foot to prevent the Spaniards from advancing The one in Catalonia and the other in Flanders and peradventure a third in Navarre which might take him up at least Fifty Thousand Men which he might have employ'd elsewhere If Spain had accepted of that Neutrality and if Lewis the Great mean time had overcame the Empire what would have become of Spain afterwards after all what assurance has it that France would more religiously observe the Neutrality than it has the Peace and the Truce and who had been its Caution that when the French King had had an opportunity he had not fallen on some place of the Netherlands and it may be on Navarre and Mentz all at one time when the Governours were fallen asleep in the arms of a Neutrality as in a deep Lethargy as they did presently after the Peace of Nimeguen in which the Marquess of Grana was reposing at ease filling his Purse by sparing the entertaining of a number of Forces which were so necessary to him while he had to do with so dangerous a Neighbour who no longer remember'd Treaties than while he Sign'd them because they were at that time of use to him he never wanting afterwards Pretences when he would break them A Neutrality in this juncture of time is very hurtful to Spain and to its Allies but above all to the Emperor and to the Empire Spain would do as if when Two Brothers were Attack'd one should look on his Companion with foulded Armes while he was divested of all expecting his turn to be next whereas if they both defended themselves at once they might either overcome their Enemy or drive him away What assurances has Spain that if the French King could overcome the Empire he would not Attack it next as he would doubtless do Wherefore his Catholick Majesty ought to make a last Effort in this present Conjuncture he ought to consider that France has taken from him Lisle Valiencienne Cambray St. Omer Erre and many other places in the Provinces of Flanders Namur Hainau Luxembourg and in fine the City of Luxembourg which was as a Bullwork to the rest of Flanders and of Brabant as well as to the other Provinces while England remain'd with folded Arms against its own proper Interest having been brib'd to let France do what it pleas'd King James as zealous a Catholick as he was did consent that Lewis the XIV should seize on the remainder of the Netherlands while he should fit himself with the Spanish Indies as his Ally had promised him he should thus did they without any scruple divest their Catholick Neighbours of their Rights and shar'd them amongst them without casting of Lots If that Prince had not abandon'd the Throne that Neutrality might have been very considerable but now the Case is alter'd in quitting of the Crown he has Disarm'd himself he is now but like a Wasp without a Sting which buzzes about but cannot sting Spain has lost in him a conceal'd Enemy and a false Ally who sold to France that which belong'd not to him and that consented to the seizing on Goods wherein he had no share but God who laughs at the design of Men would not permit that those of James the II. should come to perfection Providence for the safety of Europe has bestow'd his place to another Prince and has conducted as 't were by the hand William the III. to the Throne he according to all appearance is to be the Instrument through which God will give rest to Christendom Thus Spain in lieu of an Enemy which it had in James the II. late King of England recovers in his Successor a good Friend and Ally faithful to his Word and who being join'd to his Allies may all together labour effectually to establish the King of Spain in
and France to the two boles of a pair of Scales that that side weigh'd it down on which he lean'd He spoke justly for the Monarchs of that Kingdom being well united with their Parliaments may stile themselves the Arbitrators of Christendom It is not without reason then that France has flatter'd them during the two Reigns that have preceded this and Lewis the XIVth thought himself at the top of all his Designs when he did see James the IId on the Throne making open profession of the Roman-Catholick Religion perhaps with a little more passion than became a King but that was the weak side by which the French King would catch him and detain him in his Bonds for that Prince ever subtle and crafty did hit him on that side on which he was most sensible to the prejudice of his Honour and against the inclination of the Nation and the Parliaments expectations Mean time Lewis the XIVth had so well manag'd his Allie that it may be said he already Triumph'd over him and that through all his Managements Intreagues and Lewis D'Ors he was become Master of King James his Fortune by the subtlety of his Ministers who lull'd him asleep on specious Offers of Sixty Millions and of 60000 Men to support him against his Enemies and even against his own People if they would have resisted and set themselves free France little caring for the evil consequences that this Commerce could not but produce so it did its own Business and render'd that Prince odious to his Allies and to his Neighbours as well as to his own Subjects who began to feel the smart of a pernicious Council either in their Liberties Laws or Religion and seeing themselves press'd down by a Tirannical Authority and Despotick Power of an obseded and gained King by France and wholly devoted to its Interests the English have found themselves constrain'd to prevent their falling into the same Predicament their Neighbours were in to have recourse to their Liberator that in being themselves deliver'd they might deliver all Europe also from that slavery in which it was going to fall and to that purpose offer the Throne to the Prince of Orange and to the Princess his Spouse as the lawful Heirs to the Three Kingdoms and God having granted the Nations Vows and Petition he has so well conducted that Great Prince's Enterprise that it may be said he has led him by the Hand and seated him on that Throne that was designed for him without any effusion of Blood. This Miracle we have seen but our Off-springs will scarce believe it it is an happy and more than happy change seeing that it will render a calm and quiet to all Christendom and that he restores to Europe its Liberty It was William the III. that Providence had design'd through the Assistance of the States of the United Provinces to be the glorious Instrument of so great a Work capable to cause once more the dumb Son of Cressus to speak if he were yet living But in the place of that Prince Europe that was become in a manner Dumb through those great Evils that it suffer'd before-hand has set up the Standard of Liberty and of Deliverance Since that Prince and Princess of Orange have been Seated on the Throne all Christendom begins as it were to revive again Catholicks and Protestants all raise up their Heads against their Oppressor as when a Tree is fallen every body runs to take their share of the Bows But to accomplish the Work Two Things are requir'd First a good and firm League amongst the Christian Princes who have under-gone and who still fear to fall under the French Kings Usurpation should he get off of this present danger so that nothing may be able to dissolve that Union and that no private Interest nor Eldership should prevail over the general Good and that he who shall separate from that Union so necessary to Christendom should be look'd upon as a Perturbator and a common Enemy and set in the number of the Turks and the French to be set upon as a Deserter and Traitor to the general Good of Europe That Neutrality have no Place in Christendom that he who is not for us is against us Assuredly that League being so well Cemented all the offers of France nor the satisfaction that it might give to some of the Pretenders not being able to break the Union it is most certain that all will bow to the Allies that they shall enter Drums beating and Colours flying into their Enemies Country where they ought by all means to take up their Winter Quarters the next Season to prevent Lewis the XIV's Forces from entring into the Country of the Allies as he designs and to give him at Home so much Business that he may not go seek for some elsewhere For if they enter not into France but that the Allies content themselves with taking some Places which he has formerly seiz'd on with a design to amuse them to get time as Mentz Bonn Keiserwaert and others that are about his Kingdom that would be doing nothing at all seeing the King has still his end and that he holds those Places but to busie the Allies during this first Campaign either to tire them or to drain them through length of time or to Alienate some That is Lewis the XIV's chief end and the best Advice that he could take in such a pressing juncture in which he finds himself at present But if that for his good and for the ill of Europe he can break down the Dike though the Breach be never so small he will drown all Christendom and the last evil would be worse than the first To avoid this mischief no Prince of the League ought to suffer any French Emissary in his Territories they ought to be Banish'd as Infected Persons and not Pardon the very first that shall be found not sparing even the Church Men those are flying Plagues who like stinking flesh Flies infect all places they light on it is a dangerous Seed which is to be rooted quite up The Allies ought not to be concern'd at the great number of Men there is in France they are young Vipers that will eat a Passage through their Mothers Belly to get at Liberty Nor the Tenth Part of that great People have cause to be contented and the most sound part waits but for its Deliverance on what Side soever and it may be said that Lewis the XIV is not better belov'd in his Kingdom than James the II. was in his It is certain that when the Prince of Lorrain shall appear before his own Subjects they will receive him with the same Joy that the English have receiv'd the Prince of Orange I say the same of Burgundy and of the French County and of divers other People who wait but for the happy Moment of their Liberty The Second thing to be done is a powerful Fleet which the King of England is to keep continually at Sea