England was again betrayed and necessitated to declare War first and to expect the Assistance of his Confederate afterwards Nor is it less observable that the French King in conjunction with a Protestant Prince to render him odious among all the States and Princes of Europe whether Protestant or Roman Catholick gave it out that the War against the United Provinces was a War of Religion undertaken merely for the Propagation of the Roman Catholick Faith and as the French Minister expressed it in a Solemn Speech to the Emperor's Council that the Hollanders being Hereticks who had forsaken God all good Christians were bound to Unite to their Extirpation To confirm which the more the French Ministers no doubt not contrary to their Instructions declar'd and assur'd many Princes that to let all the World see how far their Master was from any such Ambitious designs as were laid to his charge and to satisfie the World that he entred into the War merely out of a Religious Zeal and for the Glory of God he was ready to part with all his Conquests and to restore to the Hollanders all the Towns he had won from them if they would but re-establish the True Worship they had banish'd out of their Dominions Such is the Most Christian King who scruples not to falsifie with Heaven so it may but support and colour his falshood upon Earth Well the Most Christian King having by his Ungodly Policy thus engaged us in a Bloudy War with Holland pursues his own design by Land with all the Vigour Imaginable in so much that the swiftness and force of his Motion seem'd to be somewhat Supernatural but all this while he leaves us to doe our own work by Sea 'T is true his Fleet appeared among us and made up a third Squadron under white Colours but under that Colour of Innocence they thought it such a crime to shed Bloud that they always kept out of harms way Rather they did us more mischief than good in regard that when our Admirals encountr'd the Enemy in hopes of their Assistance they always left the English in the Lurch to bear the Brunt of the Engagement against the superiour Numbers which it was their Duty to have attack'd A peice of Treachery so insupportable that only they who suffer'd it would have endur'd it by which the whole English Navy was absolutely betrayed by a faithless Allie and by which the Lives of great numbers of the English were lost which by their Conjunction might have been sav'd So that it was apparent that those sacred Ships of the French were a sort of Noli me Tangere's not sent to assist their Confederares but only to sound the English Seas to spy our Ports to learn our Building to contemplate our way of Fighting to consume ours and preserve their own Navy to encrease their Commerce and to order all so that the two great Naval Powers of Europe having crush'd one another he might remain sole Lord of the Ocean and by consequence Master of all the Trade of the World Thus it happen'd that after three Engagements of Ours against the Dutch Fleet in one Summer while nothing was tenable at Land against the French it seem'd that as to us every thing at Sea was Impregnable which was not to be attributed either to want of Courage or Conduct but was only to be imputed to our unfortunate Conjunction with the perfidious French like the misfortunes that happen to Men by being in ill Company This Misbehaviour of the French rais'd the Indignation of the English to such a Pitch that the Parliament resolving to give no more Mony for the continuance of the War the King was persuaded to make a Peace with Holland which was concluded accordingly towards the latter end of the Year 1673. And to shew that the King of England had all the reason in the World so to doe we are to take a little farther prospect of the uprightness of the Most Christian King to his Friend and Allie who had at such a â—â—aâ—t expence of Treasure espous'd his Quarrel For the French Army having passed the Wale caus'd such a General Consternation all over Holland and the Confusion they were in was such they could hardly resolve whether to yield or continue to defend themselves The States therefore sent away several of their Deputies some to the King of England others to the Most Christian of Princes to know of both upon what conditions they would be willing to make Peace and Agreement Those that were sent to the King of England to shew how justly he intended to have dealt with the French or whether it were out of Fear of giving him any Jealousie or Offence were met as far as Gravesend and being forbid their approach to White-Hall were conveigh'd to Hampton-Court and there as it were honourably confin'd till his Majesty of England could hear from the Most Christian King whether those Deputies might be admitted But the other Deputies no sooner arriv'd at the French Court but two Secretaries of State were sent to them who without farther delay demanded in the first place what Power they had to Treat and next what Proposals they had to make in order to a speedy Peace The Deputies answered they came not to make Proposals but to receive Conditions from his Most Christian Majesty as it better became them Upon which to hasten them to a Conclusion the French Ministers told them in short That whatever his Most Christian Majesty had conquer'd in their Dominions he lookt upon as his own already and therefore would not part with it without an Equivalent as well for what he might farther subdue before the conclusion of the Treaty as for what he had already in Possession With this Answer Monsieur De Groet one of the Holland Deputies posted back to the Hague and with no less speed was sent back again with full Instructions and Authority jointly with the rest of his Colleagues to treat and conclude a Peace with them No sooner was he return'd but Monsieur Louvoy one of the French King's Secretaries gave the Deputies a Draught of a Treaty or rather the Pretensions of the King his Master upon the granting of which he was both willing and ready to return to his former Amity with the States and to conclude a firm Peace with them Upon which two things are Observable First that the Conditions themselves were such which if granted would have made the French King as perfectly Master of the Country as if he had Conquer'd it by the Sword And in the Second place That in all the Articles there was not the least word relating to England nor any more notice taken of the King of Great Britain than if he had not been at all concern'd in the War And farther to demonstrate that it was never the design of the Most Christian Prince that the King of England should be a gainer by the War Monsieur De Groet declared at his second return to the
given to my Words After that having made his demands he again calls Jupiter to Witness and thus proceeds Si ego injuste impieque illos homines illasque res dedier Nuncio Populi Romani Exposco tum Patriae Compotem me nunquam sinas esse if satisfaction were not given by the Prince or People to whom he was thus sent within three and thirty days the Fecial return'd again and denounc'd War after this manner Audi Jupiter tu Juno Quirine Diique omnes coelestes vosque terrestres vosque inferni audite Ego vos testor Populum istum injustum esse neque jus persolvere c. Thus the more noble Heathen Romans before they invaded the Borders of their Enemies invok'd the Gods to Witness the Justice of their Cause and the Wrongs and Injuries of those that had incens'd them to take Arms. On the other side the Most Christian King not regarding either God or Man unexpected unprovok'd nay after he had given assurances that he had no such design in his thoughts thunder'd into his Neighbours Territories under the Protection of League and Amity and like a sudden Tempest with Sword and Fire levels all before him Burgundos Fraude Petivit Such an Ignoble and Unprincelike way of entring into Hostility as looks more like Robbing upon the High-way than a generous Method of War For that it was a base and ignominious surprizal against the Faith and Honour of a King besides the Breach of Treaty is apparent from two Circumstances the one that pass'd at Paris between the French King himself and the Marquess De la Fuente Extraordinary Ambassadour from Spain who being upon his return into Spain upon the Death of the Old King and not a little apprehensive and jealous that the vast Preparations made in France were intended against the Queen and the Young Prince was very importunate with his Most Christian Majesty to give some new and greater Assurances to the Queen of Spain of the reality and sincerity of his Intentions though it were but only to quiet and settle her mind against all the contrary Advices she receiv'd from all Parts Upon which the Most Christian King with all possible Asseverations engag'd his Faith and Royal Word to the Queen in the Person of her Ambassadour that he would religiously keep the Peace and continue a most faithfull Friendship both to Her and her Son Another circumstance was that of the Arohbishop of Ambrun who after the French Army was already in the Field and had possess'd Charleroy some four or five days before the News of it came to Madrid protested and vow'd in Verbo Sacerdotis and by all that was Sacred among the Roman Catholicks that his Master intended nothing less than what was reported of him and that he would never break with the King of Spain nor invade his Dominions as long as he was under Age. And when the March of the French Army and the Hostilities which they committed so little agreed with the Promises of the Most Christian King answer was made that it was no Breach but only a taking Possession of what belong'd to him But the only way to surprize Men is to take them unprovided and the only way to take them unprovided is to swear with all the Asseverations imaginable that you never intend to doe them any harm And this is one of the Most Christian Kings ways of making War upon his Neighbours so far from giving them thirty three Days Notice of his coming that he will hardly allow them thirty three Minutes But it is a meanness in a Prince instructed by so great a Tutor as Mazarine to be a slave to his Word for which reason Fides Gallica is of late become Fides Punica no sooner given but as soon broken True it is that the French Academy has been long endeavouring to refine their Language by leaving off the use of some obsolete Words by introducing others of a new Coyn and enriching it with several quaint Expressions of a fresher Date but how they could alter the signification of Words and call War by the name of Peace is a thing not easie to be understood And therefore it were to be wish'd they would explain to the World what they mean by the word Rupture and how they can make a violent Invasion with Men and great Guns to agree with the Observation of a Treaty which forbid all manner of Attempts by armed Force and was stipulated and contracted to no other end but to prevent them That they would explain which way it is possible for Peace to consist with the Fatal effects of War and how it is to be imagin'd that wanting the Formality of a Herauld to Proclaim the Hostility it should lose all its Terrors and Injustice since most Men of ordinary Reason believe that to be a Rupture which opposes the very Essence and Being of the Peace ranverses the very Foundations and discomposes all the Harmony of it Now the Causes that mov'd the two Crowns to make the Pyrenaean League were the desires of the Welfare repose and ease of their Subjects The effect was to put an end to the many mischiefs of the War to forget and extinguish all the Causes and Motives which occasion'd the War and to establish a Sincere Entire and Durable Peace between the two Kings and their Successors All which was ranvers'd by the first Invasion of the Spanish Netherlands which disturb'd the Welfare and repose of the People renew'd the Publick Calamities and rekindl'd all the Causes of the past Wars But to come to Particulars the abandoning of Portugal was one of the essential Fundamentals of the Peace without which it never could have been treated nor concluded In reference to this the Sixtieth Article runs thus For that His Majesty meaning the Most Christian King hath foreseen and fear'd lest such an Engagement should be an unsurmountable Obstruction to the conclusion of Peace and consequently reduce the two Kings to the necessity of a parpetual War And a little lower in the same Article he goes on in these Words Although in consideration of the Peace and considering the absolute necessity his said Most Christian Majesty has been in to perpetuate the War by the Rupture of the present Treaty which His Majesty found to be unavoidable in case he would have any longer insisted upon prevailing in that affair with His Catholick Majesty to have obtain'd other conditions than such as he offer'd In the second place it is plain that the King of Spain to shew how resolv'd he was that France should abandon Portugal rejected the French King's offering besides the places he was bound to restore by the present Treaty to his Catholick Majesty all the rest of the Places and Conquests generally made by his Arms during the preceding War provided that the Affairs of the Kingdom of Portugal might be left in the same condition as they were then as by another part of the same Article it appears So that when nothing else would
Honest and Christian dealing from the unbelieving Turk than from the Most Christian King 'T is true that after the Peace of Breda the King of England was at liesure to consider how the French King had abus'd him by engaging him in a War with his Protestant Nighbours and how he had seemingly taken their parts to prolong the War that while they were battering and bruising and weakning one another he might have the fairer Opportunity in violation of all the most solemn and sacred Oaths and Treaties to invade the Spanish Netherlands and observing with what a rapid Torrent of Victory he bore down all before him thought fit to interpose before the flame that consumed his next Nighbour should throw it's sparks over the Water and therefore sent into Holland to invite them to a nearer Alliance and to enter into such farther Counsels as were most proper to stop the Fury of the French King which offer being by the Dutch embraced with open Arms a defensive League was concluded in five days time between Holland and England together with another for the repressing the farther Progress of the French Armes in the Spanish Netherlands In which the Sweeds afterwards making a third Party concern'd gave it the name of the Triple League This was no way pleasing to the French King however for a while he dissembled his resentment of the Affront though from the first moment he resolved to make use of all his Charms and Golden Magick to dissolve this Triple Knot whatever it cost him To this purpose the Duchess of Orleance is said by the French to be sent over hither believing no Instrument so proper as the King of England's own Sister to prevail with her Brother King Charles met her at Dover where their endearments one to another were so much the more reciprocally prevailing by how much it happens that Princes more rarely than private Persons enjoy their Relations And when they doe yet their kind Interviews are many times attended with some fatal disaster of which though there was no appearance here in England yet the first News we heard of her upon her Return to France was that she was dead However the Affair was so dextrously managed that a French Ambassadour was forthwith dispatch'd out of France and an English Ambassadour sent to Paris and as the French gave out a private League was clapt up to the ruine of the Triple Alliance to all the highth of Intimacy and Dearness as if upon dissecting the Princess there had some State Philter been found in her Bowels or that a Reconciliation with France could not have been celebrated with a less Sacrifice than that of the Bloud-Royal of England This supposed Treaty was a work of Darkness not to be div'd into in a great while but afterwards the French King caus'd it to be made publick as we shall see by and by 'T is true the Knowledg of this was of great Importance to England but the discovery was the most apparent Demonstration in the World of French Perfidiousness so enormous as it could not be imagined to have entred into the Breast of a Most Christian King so treacherously to expose the Secrets of his dearest Confederate after he had drawn him in by all the Assurances of his assistance imaginable And the reasons that induc'd him to make the detection were no less Impious though agreeable to the Practice of the French King who after he has made it his business to decoy in Princes that lend an easie ear to his Enchantments or with too much facility suffer themselves to be overcome by his Alluring Engagements into any unseemly and dishonourable undertaking believes he has them then safely tack'd to his Interests and that they will not dare to flinch from his Desings for fear of being exposed to their People which he takes care in due time to have artificially instill'd into their Ears a Maxim of Christianity which lies conceal'd from all other Men but the most Christian of Princes And thus it was that the French King having amus'd the Emperor with the Noise of a Treaty and at the same time brought the Turk into Hungary to joyn the Malecontents to excite his Private Confederate the King of England to follow his steps in Government Bare-faced causes a little Book to be Printed and Published with the Privilege Du Roy Entitl'd The History of the Transactions of this Age and therein ordered the Dover Treaty as they call'd it to be inserted and to that purpose furnish'd his Historiographer with Notes and Directions by the Hands of his Secretary Colbert to the end that the King of England being truly as he design'd set out in his Colours and despairing of being ever after trusted by his People might be enforced to take such Resolutions as Despair and Fury should inspire him withall to the Destruction of those he had so highly disoblig'd there being nothing more than the Subversion of England which the French King aim'd at 'T is true he was so kind as to recall the Book upon the loud complaint of the King of England's Ambassador however it was an apparent Demonstration to all the World how little trust or reliance there was in French Amity and plainly shews that there is no way to bind this mighty Sampson by Oath Promises Treaties or by any other the most Religious Ties and Considerations which are no more to him than Spiders Webs but by an absolute clipping off the Locks of his Power and disabling him so as never to rise more But to return to the Triple League In the end the French King by his wicked Policy so contrived the matter as to cause a new Rupture twixt the Dutch and the English and as if he had intended to be the Master of Iniquity and to make the King of England as bad as himself nothing would suffice till he had prevail'd with the King to attack the Dutch Smyrna Fleet returning home and dreaming of no such matter which as it was contrary to the Genius of the English Nation and to the Nature and Gentle Disposition of the King of England himself is wholly to be attributed to the Wiles and wicked Temptations of the Most Christian Prince who never ceas'd pealing it into the King of England's Ears that if he could but master the Wealth of the Smyrna Fleet he should never want Mony again And being thus betrayed by wheedling French Hallucination what can the French expect but the Severity of England's just Revenge wherein we may venture with the greater hopes of Success as being engaged with all in the common Cause of Christendoms Tranquillity Add to this that when the French King thought the King of England was engaged so far by the Smyrna Attack as that he must needs go forward the Most Christian King then openly declared 't was none of his Quarrel and that he only engaged in it to assist the King of England merely in respect to His Person By which means the King of
Hague when he carryed the King's Project along with him that when the French Ministers were ask'd what was to be done with England they made Answer that the States might doe as they pleas'd with England and come off as cheap as they could for that the French were not bound by their Treaty to procure them any Advantages A great Happiness in the mean time for the King of England to be engaged in such a War with such a False and Treacherous Allie for it is plain that the Dutch had no sooner signifi'd their desires but the Most Christian Prince had it presently in his Head to have cheated the King of England For could the Most Christian King in that same dreadful Consternation of the Dutch have got the Possession of the United Provinces by the more concise and less expensive way of Treaty he would soon have found an expedient to have defrauded his dear Confederate of any share in them Which was the reason the Most Christian Sophister spurr'd on the consternated Dutch with so much haste and with such a clandestine speed pursu'd his Advantage that the King of England might not have a Moment's time to provide for himself But the King of England having serv'd the Most Christian Prince more justly in his kind by a separate Peace with Holland and the sudden Advancement of His Highness the Prince of Orange attended by the Fall of the De-witts quash'd all the lofty Frenchman's hopes of gaining either by Treaty or by Conquests what his thoughts aspir'd to So that now as if he had been arriv'd at the Tropick of his Fortune he was forc'd to roll back again with the same swiftness as he ascended to the highth of his success However that he might not lose his old wont as a mark of his displeasure and as it were to punish the English Nation for his disappointments notwithstanding the Peace that was still firm between the two Crowns he let loose his Privateers among the English Merchants to that degree of Treaty-Violation that from that time for near two years together Peace all the while if French Peace may be call'd Peace there was no security of Commerce or Navigation but at Sea they Murther'd Plunder'd made Prize and Confiscated all they met with The French Pickaroons lay before the Mouths of our Harbors hover'd all along our Coasts took our Ships in the very Ports so that we were in a manner Blockt up by Water And if any made Application at the Sovereign-Port of the Most Christian Solyman for Justice they were most insolently baffled except some few who by Sir E. L's interest were redeem'd upon somewhat easier Composition For evidence of which the following Papers return'd by certain Members of the Privy Council in Pursuance of the King's Order as also the Register which was annex'd to it of the several Vessels that were then complain'd of to be taken are a Memorial not easie to be cancell'd So loud and so thick were the daily complaints of the English Merchants of their losses sustain'd by the French Privateers in the Year 1674. and 1676. notwithstanding the Publick Amity between the two Nations that the King referr'd the Examination thereof to several Lords of the Committee of Trade who upon due Examination of the Affair observ'd that the Petition of the Merchants presented to the King the 31st of May 1676. was grounded upon these Heads First That their Ships and Goods though mann'd according to the Act of Navigation and furnish'd with all necessary Passes were daily seiz'd carry'd into Dunkirk Calais Sherbrook and other Ports the Masters and Owners kept close Prisoners to force them by hardship to abuse their Owners or else for the relief of their own private Necessities being commonly Stripp'd and Plunder'd to enter into the Privateers Service which great numbers had done with very pernicious Effects Secondly That the delay and charge of prosecuting the Law in France did commonly make the Owners become losers of half the Value when ever they were successfull Thirdly That there was no reparation ever gotten from Privateers for what they Plunder'd and Imbezl'd which made them freely seize upon all they met and perpetually molest the Navigation of the King's Subjects for which Reasons they humbly implor'd His Majesty's Relief and Protection Thereupon the King was pleas'd to command that some of his Frigats should sail forth to clear the Coast of those Privateers seize them and bring such as had offended to make Restitution Moreover the King order'd that the Lords of the Committee of Trade should take good notice of the particular Cases and Complaints depending that such as were of weight and merit might be fitted for his Gracious Recommendation for Relief As also to survey the whole number of Seizures which had been made upon his Subjects in order to lay before his Majesty what hardships had been sustain'd at Sea and what sort of Justice had been administer'd in France In Obedience to which command they brought in a List of such Ships as had been seiz'd to the number of fifty three and the Cases wherein the Owners had repair'd to the King for relief Which as in the General it suppos'd a Justice in such complaints so it left a suspition of great hardships in the Methods of Redress besides that the number of Captives was no small proof of the facility of Condemnation While the Lords were in the midst of this Examination there was presented to the Committee as it was receiv'd from Monsieur Courtin the French Ambassador an Extract of a Letter from Monsieur Colbert to Monsieur Pompone one of the French King's Secretaries dated June 28th 1676. in these Words FOr what concerns the Prizes it would be a difficult matter to answer all the Cases contain'd in Monsieur Courtin's Letter What I can say to it is That the Council for Marine Affairs sits every day at St. Germaines That all Privateers and Reclaimers know it That Sir Ellis Leighton nominated by the English Ambassador hath always notice of it and is always present at it That not a week passes but I give him two or three Audiences and oftentimes I send for him on purpose That his Reasons are all read reported and committed as likewise are all Petitions of Reclaimers and I shall tell you more I acquaint him with the Reasons upon which Judgment is given In giving Judgment all Vessels which have any Appearance of being English are releas'd and very often and almost always though we are satisfied that the Ships are Dutch yet they are releas'd because there is some appearance of their being English and every thing is judg'd favourable for that Nation And it is no less true that all Ships that are taken are Dutch Built that they never were in England that the Masters and all the Equipage are Dutch that the Cockets are for Persons unknown and which are not oft-times so much as nam'd that they carry with them only some Sea Breifs from Waterford or some
Places corrupt her People with Money and one being taken passing through her Countrey was by her command laden with Irons and severely punish'd Nevertheless they took other Roads and had frequent private enterviews with Valentin Nemessan Peter Jagel and other particular Friends and Allies of Teckely They made it their Business likewise to have more and more frequent conferences in Transilvania sending first one and then another to Paris with ample Accounts of their Proceedings and for farther Instructions Of all these things the Emperours Ambassador in the Court of Poland complain'd to his Majesty and desir'd that no French Man not being an Ambassador or bearing some other Employment might be permitted to stay in his Dominions Upon which the King gave Notice to the French Ambassador to order Akakia and Du Vernay to withdraw The Senate also told the same Ambassador that they well understood that the French were they who had stirr'd up the Troubles in Hungary that they knew what Money had been given for it what Cabals they had held and what the Sieur du Vernay kept â—very day They declared him to be a Spie and that he had no other business to detain him about Leopold but only to treat with the Turks and Mahometans about drawing the War into Hungary The Ambassador answered that Vernay was sent with him into Poland to manage the Affairs of the Most Christian King his Master and deny'd that either Vernay or he had any commerce with the Hungarians or Turks But the Spanish Ambassador having made new Discoveries renew'd his complaints to the King who gave him Audience in the presence of Vitry the French Ambassador and before the whole Senate where he spoke a long time against the abominable Methods and Practices of the French carry'd on by Vernay to promote the Troubles of Hungary and bring the Turks into Christendom but then it was that Vitry having no way to avoid it declar'd Vernay to be joint Ambassador with him from the French King by that means to shelter a Traitor to Christendom under the Protection of the Law of Nations Much about the same time the Castellan of Primislau perceiving that neither His Majesty of Poland nor the Senate expâ—ll'd the French Spies and moreover that their designs still succeeded better and better refus'd to permit Vernay to enter his Village of Nimoravia but forced him to pass another way Vitry was highly incens'd at this and going directly to Court laid before the King the Affront and Indignity offer'd to his Associate Vernay and was so bold as to demand the Imprisonment of the Castellan for satisfaction but the King not enduring his Confidence told him plainly that it was to no purpose to couch Vernay under the Quality of an Ambassador for that the Tragedies he acted under the vain pretence of an Ambassador were too well known that all the devices of the French and their contracts with the Turk were discover'd that the places which Vernay had corrupted were named their Resolutions and Designs known that he could exactly tell how much Money had been remitted from France to Hungary and how they had us'd Violence Deceit and wicked Practice against the Emperour to the misfortune of Christendom The Ambassador would have pretended to have clear'd himself of these things which he said were wrongfully charg'd upon his Nation But the King growing hot would not hear him only told the Ambassador he would lay Ten Thousand Pistoles with him that he would undeniably prove all that he had said to be true At which the French Ambassador stood amaz'd and by his silence sufficiently confirm'd the thing The rest of the French that were present also in a Consternation fix'd their Eyes upon the Ground not lifting them up but to gaze upon one another as it were accusing themselves So certain it is that the inward reproach of Conscience and the secret Power of Truth put the most fierce and confident out of Countenance and by reducing the Guilty to a shamefull Silence force them to make some sort of confession of their Crimes Besides what has been recited there were several Letters intercepted which clear'd up the Truth of the French correspondence with the Turks and Hungarian Male-Contents One from Monsieur Vernay to Count Teckely wherein the French Spie tells him that he had receiv'd with great joy the Letters which he sent him from the Camp before Filleck enclos'd in the Packets of the French Ambassador at Constantinople That he had endeavour'd to send Jaygell what he had promis'd him and what he had receiv'd but wanted an Opportunity farther he desir'd the Count to order it so that his Messengers should come to him by Night and directed him which Road they should take to avoid the Searches of the Polonians concluding that he should take care in all things that the Count should be pleas'd to command him Another Letter from Count Teckely to Vernay wherein the Count gives Vernay thanks to his faithfull Agent Valentine Nemessani and promises him to acknowledge it as occasion should serve gives him an account of his taking Cassovia and Filleck and how he intended to prosecute his good Success Another Letter from Peter Jaygell Governour of Cassovia to Monsieur Vernay wherein Jaygell gives Vernay an Account of the taking and dismantling of Filleck that Teckely had been Proclaim'd King of Hungary and confirm'd in that Quality by the Great Turk who sent him from the Port a Hat instead of a Crown a Standard and a Sceptre He tells Vernay farther that Nemessani was gone to treat of Affairs at the French King's Court and presses Vernay to hasten the supply promis'd by the French King Sufficient Proofs of the pernicious and Most Anti-Christian Treacheries of the Most Christian King to the ruin of Christendom After all this to shew the extent of French falshood you shall see that if it stand with his own Interest the French King will not stick to betray himself and discover his own Treasons for that at the beginning of the Dutch War when he saw the Emperour arming himself in good earnest to assist the Dutch to dissuade and divert him from his purpose and to engage him had it been possible not to concern himself in the Quarrel he very fairly offer'd to deliver into the Emperour's hands all the Original Letters and Papers he had receiv'd from time to time from his brib'd Friends and Creatures in Poland and Hungary to the end that both his Imperial Majesty and the King of Poland might take such Orders as they thought fit with those Traitors whiâ—â— may serve as a fare warning and determent to all those that prefer French Money before their Loyalty and the true Interests of their Country 'T is true that for some time the Most Christian King made the raising of his Seige from before Luxenburgh a great Argument of his Christian. Zeal and Generosity to his Imperial Majesty not to assail him when the Turk was at his Doors but the true ground of
he did the King of England By which it was plain that all the Kindnesses and Remuneration which the Most Christian Lewis intended the King of England for all his Services was only that he should have been the last that for all his Services and Assistences given to the French Crown to the over-sight of his own Interest and his True it is that notwithstanding the Convulsions that threatned his Kingdom during his Minority yet Mazarine having by a Conjunction with Cromwell surmounted all those difficulties much increased his Power and inlarged his Conquests by new Acquisitions For Cromwell whom for his pains Mazarine was wont to call a Fortunate Fool gaping after the Golden Mines of Peru to supply his empty Coffers contrary to all the Rules of English Policy was altogether for pulling down the distant Monarchy of Spain and advancing the neighbouring power of France Mazarine had the length of his Foot and therefore resolv'd to make the best of him by pampering up his Gold craving humour and fostering his Animosities against the Spaniard And so cunning was Mazarine that he granted the heedless Usurper whatever he demanded considering that when Cromwell had assisted him to doe his work in bringing under the House of Austria and by that means casting the Balance of Europe on the French side he should afterwards have leisure enough to recover what he had seem'd to part with which was afterwards too unhappily verified by the easie regaining of Dunkirk Thus Cromwell being the first that rais'd the Grandeur of the French to which he contributed not a little by the War which he made at the time with Spain the two Princes that succeeded him were so wheedled and bewitched by the French Kings specious pretencees and fair Promises that they did tho undesignedly too much assist him to get up to the Pinicle of Universal Dominion as if this Most Christian King had made use of Charms and Philters to fascinate their Eyes and Ears neither to see themselves so often abus'd nor to hear the advices of their most faithfull Counsellours How happy was the King of England at his first Restauration belov'd by his People ador'd by his Parliament and in perfect Union with his Nighbours the Dutch What might not those two Potentates in close Confederacy have done France trembled at the thoughts of it and despair'd of grasping Universal Empire unless she could divide this solid opposition so pernicious to her soaring Projects The French King well understood that the King of England would he but put himself to the trouble of knowing his own strength and making a true use of it was in a condition not only to mediate but to force a Peace among all the Potentates of Europe For by a strict Union with the Hollanders he was absolute Master of the whole Ocean and consequently of the Riches of the World insomuch that the Mines of America were not safe to the King of Spain but by his Permission and by sending to the weaker side the assistance of his Land Forces formidable as well for their Courage as their Discipline he was able to have turn'd the scales of Victory which way soe'er he pleas'd Now then in regard that by the common Rules of Policy and Fore-sight the French King could not but be well assur'd that whatsoever Princes he assail'd the other would be as certain in the weakness of his Condition to have recourse to the two Grand Fortresses of Europe Potent at Sea and no less powerfull by Land to prevent the Ravage of his Territories whether the Dictates of Achitophelism and Matchavillinism might not in some measure justifie the most Christian King in pursuing the best Methods he could to separate such a Conjunction so prejudicial to his aspiring Ambition and Self-interest may not be so much perhaps the Question but whether he is not to be look'd upon as the worst of the whole Race of Cain and as a Mischief and Pest which all Mankind ought to eschew who besides the most unchristianlike ways by which he sought to subdue his Enemies treated his most faithfull Friends and Allies with that Infidelity that Treachery that base and scornfull Ingratitude as he did the King of England By which it was plain that all the Kindnesses and Remuneration which the Most Christian Lewis intended the King of England for all his Services was only that he should have been the last that for all his Services and Assistences given to the French Crown to the over-sight of his own Interest and his Peoples welfare should have been rewarded with Invasion and Conquest To make this Separation therefore between England and Holland the most subtile Mercuries of France were sent abroad with their Silver Wands to lull the British Argos asleep and prevent his watching over the Hesperian Garden of European Liberty or rather with a deeper Intoxication of Aurum Potabile Draughts to allure his Ministers into a downright Falsification of their Trusts Nor was it possible for all of them to escape being befascinated or to resist those Golden Temptations but like People that must go through with what they have taken money to perform presently several artificial insinuations of Injuries receiv'd from the Dutch as to Amboyna and the Fishery were whisper'd about in England while at the same time the freedom of the Sea and the preservation of Trade were with the same subtilty to be disputed in Holland on purpose to exasperate the jealousie of those People Things that might so easily have been adjusted where there had been the least Condescentions to Reason that it was undoubtedly above the reach of most Mens understanding that the Policy of Great Britain should prefer a trivial Quarrel about Sprats and Herrings for the business of Amboyna had been compounded long before above the common safety of three Nations and that a Protestant Kingdom without being constrained thereto by some unavoidable necessity should ever fight with so much Rage and Fierceness for the Destruction of the Protestant Interest Or that English Counsellors should advise their Prince to run the Fortune of a French King without any rational Prospect of Advantage to himself But it was plain that the Most Christian King was then laying his most Vnchristian Trains for the Destruction of England and as palpable it was that the Dutch War was design'd by the French to ruine the naval strength of both Nations and thereby to break the Balance of Europe It was a Mystery beyond unfolding that the Chief Ministers of England should take such strange Measures so to mislead their Sovereign that in order to the making good his Title to the Kingdom of France he should enable the French King to invade all Christendom and to extend his Empire beyond all bounds or that to secure to himself and his People the Sovereignty of the Seas he should with so much industry endeavour to force all the Dutch Ships with all their Naval Power into the Arms of the French and rejoyce at their
doe it was by the same Article concluded and promised as follows His Majesty will no farther meddle with that Affair and obliges and engages Himself and promises upon his Honour and upon the Word of a King for Himself and his Successors not to give unto the said Kingdom of Portugal either in General or to any Persons in particular of what Dignity State Condition or Quality soever they be now or hereafter any Help or Assistence Publick or Secret Directly or Indirectly of Men Arms Ammunition Victuals Ships or Money upon any pretence or any other thing whatever either by Land or Sea or in any other manner As also not to suffer that any Levies of Men be made in any parts of his Kingdom or Dominions nor to grant Passage to any that may come from other States to the Assistence of the said Kingdom of Portugal One would think that nothing could have been more authentickly expressed or in terms more clear or more particular beyond the power of Nicety to find a flaw or to make any other interpretation of the words contrary to the sense and meaning of the Parties at that time And yet the Most Christian King found out a way to fail in all the Points and all the circumstances of his Promise For notwithstanding his Honour and the Word of a King before the Treaty was sign'd Cardinal Mazarine sent privately the Marquess of Cheases into Portugal to assure them that tho' in order to the conclusion of the Treaty then on foot with Spain the French were forc'd to leave them out and to engage not to assist them yet whatever they promis'd they would never forsake them but would still protect them against Spain as they had done before And they kept their word with Portugal because it was to the prejudice of Spain To which purpose the Peace was no sooner concluded but they suffer'd several Bands of Soldiers secretly to convey themselves into Portugal which being complain'd of by the Marquess De la Fuente such was the Punic Faith of France that openly they sent Publick Orders to the Governours of their Ports not to suffer any Soldiers to embark for Portugal but underhand gave them other Orders to let them pass by way of connivance Soon after M. Turenne made publick levies of Men for the relief of Portugal which the Spanish Ambassador representing to the Council of France receiv'd a cold and scornfull answer that it was a particular Act of Marshall Turenne wherein the Court was no way concern'd Nor did the French cease to furnish the Portuguieses with Corn and all sorts of War-like Ammunition and Provision Moreover Letters were intercepted by the Spaniard by which they were ascertain'd that all along after the Peace was concluded the French fomented and encourag'd the obstinacy of the Portuguieses and diverted them from accepting the advantageous conditions that were offer'd them by animating them with the hopes of potent Succours not only for their own defence but also to carry an offensive War into the heart of Spain Other Letters were likewise intercepted Written from the Arch Bishop of Ambrun and Monsieur Lienne confirming the continual correspondence which was between them in favour of the Portugals Nor was this all for the D. of B. was presently after the Treaty sent to lie with the French Fleet upon the Coast of Portugal and stay'd there a whole Summer to secure the coming and landing of Provisions and Ammunition of which the Portuguieses were then in extream want and this at the same time that the French offer'd to mediate an Accommodation between Spain and Portugal Nor was it long after the conclusion of the Pyrenaean Treaty that Monsieur Colbert made several Voyages into Portugal to encourage them against the Spaniards and to enter into secret Alliance with them And sometime after the Spaniards took a French Vessel wherein was found an account of the succours which France had sent from time to time into that Kingdom by which it appear'd that France had paid at her own expence a standing Army in Portugal to support a War against Spain And to compleat her Perfidy at length she concluded a League offensive with that Kingdom of which these were the principal Conditions That they would be the Friends of each others Friends and Enemies of each others Enemies England only excepted That France should furnish them with as many Men as should be necessary to carry an offensive War into Spain both by Sea and Land and should advance by way of Loan the one half of the Pay for the maintenance of the Auxiliary Troops That France moreover should pay them every Year by way of Loan the summ of 300000 Crowns and that all the Ports which should be taken from the Spaniards upon either Sea should be put into the hands of the French and that they should not treat either of Truce or League without joynt consent This League to continue Ten Years By so many several Instances let all the World be judges how little credit there is to be given to the Punic Faith of France or what any other Prince can expect from his Honour or his Promises in any matter whatsoever who thus foully forfeited such a most Solemn Engagement to the Crown of Spain For that a Treaty carry'd on between two Princes in order to a Marriage which is one of the most Solemn Negotiations that can be handled among Men and confirm'd by an Oath sanctifi'd with all the most sacred Mysteries of Christian Religion for a punctual obligation of performance should be thus inhumanly violated is not to be parallell'd by any Example or Instance in History That noble example of the Roman Consuls who bid Hanno not to fear the Publick Faith secur'd him is a thing of late unknown in France where there is no security or trust in the Honour or Royal Promise of the Prince For his truth to Portugal was only self-interest to support the Portuguieses against Spain as formerly the French were wont to league with Scotland against England so that whether the Character of Amurath the first Emperor of the Turks who is said to have been Homo fallax qui datam fidem ex opportunitate proferendi imprimis metiebatur bella pace simulato Egregius may not fitly be apply'd to the Most Christian King is left for them to determine who have felt the smart of his broken Leagues which brings us to the second Breach of the Pyrenaean Treaty It is said and acknowledg'd by the Plenipotentiaries in 33d Article of that Treaty that the particular Capitulation of Marriage between the French King and the Eldest Daughter of Spain bearing date with the General Treaty was of the same force and vigor with the Treaty of Peace as being the chiefest part thereof and the most worthy as well as the greatest and most precious Earnest of the security of its Duration The Queen Mother of France and Aunt to the Infanta desiring nothing more than the happy and
France dismiss'd their Guard of Switzers which were the chief security of their City But no sooner were the Switzers departed but Monsieur Louvoy with a powerfull Army invested the City and forc'd them to surrender upon such Conditions as he was pleas'd to prescribe them After which the French King made no scruple to violate those pitifull Articles which they granted them and to treat them as Slaves like the rest of his Subjects The Treaty of Nimeguen began in the Name of the most holy and indivisible Trinity and the end of it was that there should be an immoveable and unshaken Peace between his Imperial Majesty and the French King to stop the desolation of so many Provinces and the Effusion of so much Christian Bloud yet no sooner was the Emperor engag'd against the Turk and that Spain and her Allies had laid down their Arms and disbanded the greatest part of their Forces relying upon the Faith of the Treaty of Nimeguen but the Most Christian King fell in upon Flanders with a more than Turkish Fury Burning Plundring and Levelling with the Earth whole Towns and Villages on purpose to constrain the People to revolt and to become his Vassals to preserve themselves from utter ruin The Correspondence of the Most Christian King with the Ottoman Port is too well known and how it was at his Most Christian Importunity that the Grand Seignior broke the first Truce which he had made with the Empire to second the designs of Count Teckeley whom France out of a particular Zeal to the Catholick Religion assisted with Men and Money and that prevailing charm it was that wrought upon the Port to send back Count Caprara and reject the Propositions of Peace which he carry'd along with him Of which the Marquess of Seppeville then the French Ambassador at Viena fail'd not with all diligence to give his Master Notice who with no less sedulity dispatch'd another Person to the Grand Visier to oblige and encourage him to contrive the Seige of Vienna urging him that it was for his Honour not to quit it That the City was at its last Gasp and that it behov'd him to take it whatever it cost him for the sake of his Reputation and the publick Good of the Port for that the Seige having made such a noise in the World he could not leave the prosecution of it without Eternal Infamy to the Ottoman Empire and the Grand Vizier adding withall that to facilitate the taking of the Town and to divide the Emperors Forces his Master would enter into Flanders with a Puissant Army which would infallibly oblige the Princes of the Empire to recall their Forces for their own Security And in that point he was as good as his Word to the Turk entring Flanders at the same time with Fire and Sword as if he had been second to Mahomet But when Vienna was reliev'd he was so far from partaking in the general Joy of the rest of the Christian World that he forbid his Ecclesiasticks to observe any Thanksgiving for the Victory of the Christians upon pain of incurring his High Displeasure Nor is it only by the assistence of open and profess'd Infidels that the French King fights the Emperor abroad but by the means of his pretended Friends and nearest Counsellors who having finger'd the Gold of France become Traitors to their Lawfull Prince and betray his very Cabinet Secrets This occasion'd the misunderstanding that happen'd between the Duke of Brandenburgh and Montecuculi General of the Imperial Forces in the Holland War For in the Year 1672. when all Europe look'd upon the Vnited Provinces near the brink of Destruction the Elector of Brandenburgh fore seeing the consequences to be expected from the successfull enterprises of France took the Field with a considerable Army at what time Montecuculi was on his March with a design to act jointly Upon which Turenne was sent to oppose those two Armies but by the several Marches and Counter Marches which the Elector made Turenne's Army was so tir'd and harrass'd that about the end of the Campaigne it was in so miserable a condition that all Turenne could doe was to defend himself which caus'd the Elector to make a vigorus Remonstrance of all things to be made to the Imperial Council Which wrought so effectually that positive Orders were sent Montecuculi to join the Elector and fight Turenne without farther loss of time so that nothing but Treachery the mode of France could have prevented the Total Ruine of Turenne's Army But the French Instruments in the Imperial Court so order'd the matter that Montecuculi's Orders were chang'd and an express command sent him neither to joyn the Elector nor to fight Turenne The Elector who had receiv'd from the Court of Vienna a formal Letter which gave him an Account of the true Order which the Emperor had sent his General to joyn him and fight the shatter'd Enemies wonder'd when Montecuculi being by him summond to execute the Order refus'd to obey it But Montecuculi who knew nothing of the Letter sent the Elector could do no less than follow his own Instructions The Elector was concern'd in Reputation to make the Emperor sensible of Montecuculi's proceedings and if Montecuculi was strangely surpriz'd when at his return to Vienna his Imperial Majesty call'd him to a strict Account why he neither join'd the Brandenburgher nor fought Turenne the Emperor was no less amaz'd when his General produced for his discharge an Order in exact form forbidding him to doe either the one or the other This was a perfect Mystery however afterwards it was found out to have been a contrivance between the French Emissaries and some of the Imperial Ministers who having easily found a way to intercept the Original Order and in the same Dispatch to transmit a false one under a counterfeited Hand and Seal And thus perhaps it was that General Souches after the Battle of Senneff drew off from the Prince of Orange and left him in the Lurch under pretence of not having order to doe any more than what he had done Tarbrack was a Town upon the Borders of Germany that stood conveniently for the purposes of the French King and therefore he resolv'd to fortifie it On the other side the Imperialists complain'd of it to the French King as a Truce and Treaty both at one time but all the Answer they could get was that the Royal Chamber of Mets had irrevocably decreed it to belong to the Crown of France and therefore the Imperialists had no reason to complain of a Sovereign Monarch's fortifying his Frontier Towns His very proposals of Marriage are only snares to entrap such Princes as will accept of his Matches and because his main design is at the Empire therefore he strives to scatter his Circes and Medias among the Princes of Germany Believing Wives to be the fittest Instruments to betray their Husbands and the nuptial sheets to be the securest Harbours for Treachery Thus after
the Marquess of Bethune's Sister was married to the King of Poland jealousies between the King her Husband and the Emperor were fomented and Factions set up in that Country by the means of those Golden Rays which the Sun of France displays in that Court by the Hands of the Bankers of Hamburgh and Dantzick And the more to encourage her to play her Gaime according to the French Instructions his Most Christian Majesty made her Father a Duke and Peer of France and promis'd to receive her as a Queen and not as a Subject if she return'd a Widow in her own Country Thus he thought to have caught the Young Duke of Bavaria with one of his natural Daughters but that Heroick Prince despis'd the Motion And if the French King were assur'd that the Young Prince of Poland should succeed his Father there is another natural Daughter of France ready prepar'd for him for otherwise it would be a Daughter merely thrown away if she could not be in a Station to serve her own Country For that the main end of the French King in giving French Wives to the King of Poland and the several Princes of Germany is to divide the strength of the Empire and lessen the Authority of the Emperor by separating from his interest the particular Princes of the Empire by private Intrigues and distinct Treaties which though it be contrary to the Treaty of Munster yet that signifies nothing to a Prince who has no such Veneration for Leagues as to think them worth observing As for the French King 's dealing with the Duke of Nieuburgh it was somewhat Barbarous for that after the French King had caus'd him to Mortgage the greatest part of his Estate almost beyond the hopes of Redemption in expectation of the Polish Crown to which France had promis'd to advance him by the assistence of a strong Party which she had in that Kingdom contrary to the Treaties as well with the Duke as with the Elector of Brandenburgh and to his reiterated Promises and Vows both by word of Mouth and in Writing he underhand by his Creatures and Agents oppos'd the Duke's pretensions and endeavoured with all the industry and importunity imaginable to have the Prince of Conde preferr'd before him and all the rest of his Competitors a sufficient warning to all Princes how they relie upon the broken Reed of French Integrity The Elector of Brandenburgh was environed with French Emissaries and Spies and some of his Principal Ministers so intoxicated with the Elixirs of France that nothing was said or done in his Palace of which the French Envoy had not swift Intelligence And the World was well inform'd of all the Intrigues and large Presents which Monsieur De Rebenack scatter'd about in that Court of which the Agent himself was so unwary or so foolish as to make his boasts The Elector of Saxony better understood his own Interest and therefore would not bite at the Golden Hook as one that disdain'd the treacherous Offers of France but the French King endeavour'd by other ways to raise him disturbances in his own Family and to set him at Variance with his Neighbours which would have strangely imbroild him had not the Emperor in time provided against those Mischiefs However lest it should be said there was any Court in Christendom wherein the French King had not some Plough or other going he forbears not to send into Saxony such as know how to accommodate themselves to the Humour of the Country more especially the stoutest Drinkers he can find out who by that means making themselves familiar at the Tables of the Great Persons watch their opportunities in the highth of Jollity and Compotation to draw the Worms out of their Noses and dive into the bottoms of their open'd hearts The Palatine Electors neither Father nor Son would close with the Interest of the French and therefore his most Christian Majesty sacrificed the depopulated Cities of that Country to his Fury even to the compassion of some that were the Executioners of his Rage a Depopulation which none but such Monsters of Men as the Most Christian King employs would have undertaken Men so impious and fearless of God that one of them being mildly reprehended for the burning of a fair Town reply'd That he would burn God in Heaven if his Master the King of France commanded him to doe it But perhaps the Most Christian King is of the Opinion of the Antient Galls believing there is no way to give peace to a Country but by rooting out the Inhabitants according to that of Tacitus Galli ubi solitudinem fecerunt pacem appellant Nor could the Bishop of Munster as cunning as he was preserve himself from being out-witted by the French infidelity For that being comprehended in the League of the Rhine when he found himself attack'd by the States of Holland within the Empire he implored the Aid of France according to the Guarranty but in vain for which when he was about to make his complaint he was of a sudden overwhelm'd with the Forces of France and had not his Enemies us'd Moderation toward him more than his own Allie his Territories though the Patrimony of the Church had been laid in Ashes before now When the French King broke Faith with Holland to the surprize of a great part of their Country he was so far from assigning any Cause true or false for his Actions that he only publish'd a Declaration of War without any other Reasons than only the Ill satisfaction which His Majesty had of the behaviour of the States General toward him being risen to that Degree that he can no longer without Diminution of his Glory dissemble his Indignation against them c. Therefore he had resolv'd to make War against them by Sea and Land c. And commands all his Subjects courir sus upon the Hollanders for such is Our Pleasure Certainly it was never known that in any Age or Nation in the World the Sword was drawn upon no better Allegations a style so far from being Most Christian that nothing but some French Romance could parallel the Expression All that can be said 't was A-la-mode de France But Holland had no reason to wonder at these proceedings considering what a Prank the French King had plaid them before when he pretended to joyn with them in the War against England At what time France by virtue of a Treaty of Guarranty with the States of the United Provinces after several requests ineffectally made by the States found her self oblig'd to make a shew of undertaking to defend them against England among the rest of the Articles there was one by which it was concluded and agreed in express terms that the Allies should not Negotiate much less conclude any Peace or Truce with the common Enemy without the consent of the other and without procuring the same satisfaction for his Allie as he would for himself The States tied themselves with that Integrity to this Obligation
that Nation cannot long endure the Calms of a Lazy Peace so that if you cannot find employment for them abroad they will be framing Commotions and Disturbances at home The Eldest Sons of all their Noble Families carry away the Estates without leaving any thing to the Younger but an empty Title and their Swords so that being little addicted to Learning and disdaining the life of Mechanicks nothing remains but War or Thievery to rescue them from Misery which is the reason that the Politicks of France oblige her to be continually picking Quarrels with her Nighbours to evaporate those Flames which otherwise would prey upon her own Bowels Their second Maxim is to insinuate themselves into all sorts of Affairs on which hand soever it be and to make themselves Vmpires in all business either by Force or Subtilty by Threatnings or under pretence of Friendship to wriggle themselves into Treaties of Peace where they are Parties interested as they did in that of the Bishop of Munster and afterwards in the Assembly at Breda There never was any Quarrel wherein they had not the cunning to pretend some Interest or Right and never any People shew'd the least inclination to rebell but they always made them their Allies But experience tells us that they never took part in any War but to enflame it the more nor ever interpos'd in any Peace to Sow the Seeds of new Differences Their third Maxim is to make Interest of State the only rule of all their Actions without having any regard to the Faith of Treaties or the Sanctity of Religion or any other Ties of Parentage or Friendship according to the Fundamental Principle of the D. of Rohan That Princes commanded the People and Interest commanded Princes So that all that the Turks have gain'd upon Europe from the time of Francis the First till this time they owe to their Alliances with France and the Diversions she had made in their favour by giving disturbance to those that enterpriz'd any thing against the common Enemy Their fourth Maxim is to keep as much as in them lies all Foreign States employ'd and divided at home or else engaged in Foreign War of which England in particular has found the sad Effects and under pretence of assisting sometimes one sometimes another to seek their own Advantages in the Troubles of others These are the Maxims of Men that make haste to be Rich in Ignoble Conquests and the infallible marks of a profound and vast design that must be stopp'd in time to stop the spreading of the Ambitious Grangrene for from a Royal and powerfull Professor of such Maxims as these there is no Prince that can be safe in his Dominions Among private Persons it is the most difficult thing to deal with a Man of a large Conscience how much more a most Herculean task it is to cope with a mighty Potentate whose Conscience is no less wide than his Ambition is Vast who having eleven Millions of Sterling Pounds torn from the Bowels and Mouths of his poor and wanting Subjects at command to maintain his Wars and bribe his way to Conquest through all the Fences of Religion Morality and Common Justice values not the tremendous Anger of Heaven nor the Violation of all the Laws of God and Nature nor the preservative Constitutions of Men to attain his ends It is said of Tamerlane though a Scythian and Barbarian that to one who earnestly importun'd him in behalf of Bajazet he made this answer that he did not punish a King but an impions and nefarious Man The same justification have the Princes of Europe that they fight not against the Most Christian King but an Anti-Christian Vsurper who conquers to oppress and oppresses merely to support his Oppression and shew the Grandeur of his Power England has more just pretences to his Dominions than perhaps he has himself at least far more just than what he has to the conquests which he has wrested out of the hands of the Spaniard and the Emperor England has the greatest Reason in the World to recover her Antient and till lately uncontested Glory and assert her long continued Dominions of the Seas usurp'd by the Assistence of a purchas'd Navy which if once destroy'd nothing but the same opportunities could again recover It is said that the Portcullis was added to the Royal Badges of the Crown of England to signifie that the Kings of England had a just Right and Title at pleasure to shut up and open the Sea when they thought fit and it may still be prov'd by several substantial Evidences that the King of England's Title to the Propriety of the Sea is as good and perhaps better than any Title the French King has to any part of his Dominions by Land And the Letters are still to be seen in the Paper-Office at White-Hall if not remov'd Written by this King's Grandfather with his own hand to King James to ask leave for some few Vessels to Fish for Sowles as he should have occasion for his own Table and it ought to be so agen for it is only fit that England should guard the Seas that so well defend and guard Her Justice it self now loudly calls to England to demand satisfaction for the illegal and vexatious Depredations and Practices committed upon her Merchants even at the time when she was in strictest League and Combination with her to the ruine of her Trade which is the Apple of her Eye and the main support of her Wooden Walls her chiefest Glory and next under Heaven her chiefest Safeguard and Protection She ought in Justice and Honour to resent the Indignities and Affronts so lately put upon her in making her that ought to be the Balance of Europe the Derision of her Enemies and only the Pity of her Friends such a generous Animosity and Resentment as this would wean the English Nation from that fond Dotage upon French Baubles French Fashions and French Vermin to the loss of above Sixteen Hundred Thousand Pounds Yearly to this Kingdom there having been Yearly so much more imported of French Commodities than exported of ours which only serves to enrich the Capital Foe to our own Ruine and to fit us for the Yoke of French Slavery For this is a certain Rule that the first step to the subducing of a Nation is to insinuate into them a good liking or rather a dotage of those that are to be their subduers and therefore it was that the French King observing that while the English were under the Conjunction of the Triple League there was a general humour in the Nation in opposition to Frence insomuch that they had thrown off the French Mode and put on Vests to the end we might look the more like a distinct People and not be under the servility of Imitation which alwaies pays a greater reverence to the Original than is consistent with that Equality which all independent Nations should pretend to I say the the French King observing this
Victories as if by Conquering the Land the French did not at the same time become Masters of the Havens Rivers and Fleets of the Dutch And yet such was the vast Predominancy which French Treason and the hidden Conspiracies of French Counsels had over these great Politicians and the Asscendent which they had over the King of England that he was so kind to the French King for setting him together by the ears with the Dutch that he sent him his Vice Admirals and other Sea Officers to encourage and promote the setting out of his Fleets and in pity of their want of experience in Sea Affairs took his raw Seamen by the hand train'd them up in his own Fleets among the best of his Seamen and taught them that skill which the English had been many Ages a learning and all this in hopes to enable the French King to assist him in beating his best and most secure friends wherein the French according to their wonted Treachery fail'd him too when they were put to the Tryall All the World would have thought the King should not have so soon forgot the Punic Faith of France in their kindness to his Person while he was abroad in Exile among them or if then they might pretend the Interest of their Kingdom and palliate their faithless and inhumane Dealing with him by necessity of Self preservation yet no such necessity constrain'd him to forget the French King 's opposing his Restauration with so much violence as he did and his Caballing with his greatest enemies to keep him out of his Kingdom more especially since he was then so sensible of it when it was recent in his Memory that upon his coming into England he commanded away Monsieur Bourdeaux the French Ambassadour and would not suffer him to come into his presence But the Most Christian King knew full well how to work himself again into the King of England's favour and at length by throwing a French Dalilah into his embraces quite cut off the Locks of the British Sampson All on a sudden France seem'd to be remov'd into England nothing but French Baubles and Gugaws pleased our English Gentry A French Faction prevailing at Court French Mountebanks for Physicians French Fashions French Hats French Lackeys French Fidlers French Dancing-Masters French Tooth-Drawers French Barbers French Air in our very looks French Legs French Compliments French Grimaces and French Debauchery to fit us for French Slavery And had the French Disease been then unknown in England 't is to be questioned whither it would not have been entertained with as general a Consent as the Sichemites submitted to the Pain of Circumcision though to the hazard of being all destroy'd by the French Simeon and Levi while sore and driveling under the Distemper Nor is it to be doubted but the French Christianity would have as easily made tryall of such a Design as they did of the rest of their Tricks had they thought it would have taken effect It is well known that before the first Dutch War was entred into the King of England sought to make Alliances with France and Spain but the Spaniards were so Cock-sure of the French Promises that they would not make any Approaches to Friendship with England without the giving up of Dunkirk Tangier and Jamaica As for the French a Project of a Treaty was offer'd them and promoted with all earnestness by the Lord H s at Paris but it was plainly discern'd that the principal designs of the Most Christian King was only to draw the King of England into such an Alliance as might advance his design upon Spain and therefore so soon as he had set the Dutch and us together by the Ears and saw that thereby the Balance of Europe was broken he no longer minded Alliance with England But after many Proposals of Leagues and many Arts used to highten the jealousies between Us and the Hollanders he at last sided with the Dutch though to so little purpose that his Intentions plainly appeared to be no other than to see the two most Potent Obstacles of his Ambition destroy one another to the end he might with less Opposition invade his Nighbours and increase his own Naval Strength Nay the Juggle went much farther for that in the heat of all the War he still kept Negotiations on Foot and made overtures and proposals of Peace by means of the Queen-Mother whom in the end he so far and so treacherously deluded as to ascertain her and by her means to assure the King of England her Son that the Dutch would not set out any Fleet the ensuing Summer and yet underhand press'd the Dutch with all the Vigor and Importunity imaginable to fit out their Men of War again with a promise rather than fail that he would joyn his Fleet with theirs against the English Now it was upon a Supposal that the Most Christian King was at that time a good Christian and true to his Word in pursuing his pretended Proposals of Peace and upon that faithless French Paroll it was that the King of England put forth no Fleet to Sea that Year upon which followed that Fatal surprize of our Ships at Chatham then which a greater Dis-honour never happened to the Nation since the memory of History But at last as we had been oblig'd to the Craft and Treachery for the War and the Shame we received by it so we were glad to receive the Peace that ensued from his favour which was concluded at Breda between England France and Holland By this Treaty of Breda the French were oblig'd to restore St. Christophers to the English in the same manner and form as is exprest in the Articles but instead of performing their Engagement according to the true intent and literal meaning of the Articles they from time to time upon several unjust and frivolous Pretences deluded and delay'd the English Commissioners that were sent to take Possession of it till finding there was a necessity to comply with us in so small a matter while we were preparing to venture a second quarrel in their behalf it was at last surrendred after four year's baffling to Sir Charles Wheeler However to shew the perfidiousness of French dealing before they deliver'd it they destroyed all the Plantations laid the whole Island waste and left it in a much worse condition than if it had never been planted And as if the seizure and detaining of the King of England's Territories had not been sufficient they interrupted also the Trade of his Subjects in those Parts and assuming to themselves the Sovereignty of those Seas would not suffer any Ships but their own to sail either by or about those Islands but as if it had been Criminal so to doe took and confiscated several Vessels upon that account From all which a Question will arise easie to be resolv'd whither any thing be recorded of the old Carthaginians more perfidious than this and whether the King of England might not have expected more