made at Bovignes by a company of Souldiers Quarter'd there they sent to Brussells the French Lieutenant of Tournay to declare to the Governour of the Netherlands that having Forces in Dinaut they would not permit Bovignes being so near it to be Fortified and that if they ceas'd not Forifying on this warning they would imploy Force to stop them And though they were made sensible that Fortification was nothing and that they might be convinc'd by a sight of it on the place they were not satisfied but disposed of their Troops in readiness to enter his Catholick Majesties Countries and forc'd the Governour to take away the Palisade Though in the mean time they Fortifie where they please have rais'd a regular Fortification at Menin near Courtray and cannot pretend the Town of Dinaut to be theirs but the Bishops of Liege to whom they are obliged to restore it and have by the Cardinal of Bouillon solicited the Chapter of that Bishoprick not to consent it should be exchang'd and separated from their Church that by this means they may have the Town of Charlemont and retain Dinaut also the better to block up the Town and Province of Namur The constant success they have in these Attempts and Violences and the inability of the Spanish Netherlands to oppose them makes them look upon the whole Country as a place invested by their Arms to be harrass'd on all sides that it may at last wholly fall under their Power New Violences in Namur by taking the Towns and Places of his Catholick Majesty 'T was not on any other account that the seventeenth of May 1681. they prohibited the Inhabitants of Arbre and Lesues belonging to his Catholick Majesty as part of the Baylywick of Bovignes in the County of Namur to pay his Majesty any more Taxes upon pain of being chastis'd as disobedient to the Orders of the most Christian King And that on the twenty sixth of June 1681 they granted to him that gave most the Great and Small Tithes of the Village of Bioulx and the Neighbouring Places between the Sambre and the Meuse In July 1681 they possess'd themselves of the Villages of Biesmes Gerpinnes Villers-la-posterie Acos Ioncret a la Stache Orez Gougnies Bois de Sart-Villers Romree and Furnau Dependents of the Bayliage of Bovignes and forc'd the Mayors and Inhabitants of the said Villages to come to Biesmes and there swear Allegiance to the most Christian King They seiz'd also the Bayliage of Anthee between the Sambre and the Meuse with all its Dependences and possess'd themselves of them particularly Morville Fontaine Meanvoye Sierville Flavions Rosee Kestrevins Metz Wespins Melins River Somer Ontraye Wellien and other places all unquestionably belonging to his Catholick Majesty as Earl of Namur They extended their Usurpation over the Forest of Marlaigne which is part of his Catholick Majesties Demaines over six hundred Bonniers more and forbad all the Chapmen of the Fellettes to fall any of the Woods sold them or to make any use of them without paying their Commissary for them In Hainalt They continued their Violences in the Province of Hainalt where the fifth of April 1681. they possess'd themselves of the Villages of Vaux Fontenoy Veron Maubray Bras-maisme and Bourgeon though unquestionably belonging to his Catholick Majesty as part of the Castlewick of Aeth as was agreed by the Procurators and Commissioners of both Crowns at the Conference at Lille in Execution of the Treaty of Aix la Chappelle where it was Decreed by consent That these Villages should continue in the List Exhibited by the Procurator of the most Christian King who enjoy'd them on that account till by the Treaty of Nimmighen he was ingag'd to restore them to his Catholick Majesty in pursuance whereof he caused them to be Evacuated with the rest of that Castlewick that his Catholick Majesty might have free Possession of them wherein he continued till the said fifth of April 1681. New and horrible Violences in taking all the Towns in the Territory of Luxemburgh except the Provostship of the City Their Principal Designs have always been against the Province of Luxemburgh for its great extent as well on their side as on the side of the Empire and the Netherlands to the Province of Namur and their Exhorbitances to bring it under their power have been greater than the Disorders and Enormities committed in other Places For under pretence that the County of Verton had some Ages past been holden of the Bishop of Verdun and that the Counts had done Homage and other Services to the Bishop for that County the French without Colour of Jurisdiction in the Name of the pretended Lord of that place caus'd his Catholick Majesty in the Person of one of his Officers to be Summon'd to appear in their Chamber of Re-union Established at Metz to do his Service due for the County of Verton upon pain of Forfeiture Which pain they not only Decreed but would have Executed by Force of Arms in the Territories of his Catholick Majesty Having sent the thirteenth of March 1681 the Count De Bussy with a Troop of Horse and Dragoons into the Dutchy of Luxemburgh where he presented himself at the Gate of Verton and Summond him who Commanded there for his Catholick Majesty to quit the place with his Garrison The Commander declaring he could not do it without Order from the Governour of the Province the Count De Bussy with about two thousand five hundred Horse Quartered in the same Province and continued there till thet wenty fourth of April following having in that time committed several Acts of Hostility by the Spoil and Ruine of the Estates and Effects of his Catholick Majesties Subjects by taking away their Cattel and other Moveables and imprisoning their Persons and putting them to the Ransom without desisting his violent Enterprizes till his Catholick Majesty had ordered his Garrison to be drawn out of Verton And though this was done the eighteenth of April 1681 the Count De Bussy not satisfied therewith continued his Violences till the Spaniards Evacuated St. Mard though a Dependent of another Provostship The same Count possess'd himself of the Seigniories and Castles of Tour la Val Gomeriers and Mont Quintin having sent towards this last place a Company of Granadeers to drive out the Spanish Garrison thence and damnified the Province by his Spoils and Oppressions to the value of a hundred and fifty thousand Crowns They seiz'd also the Provostship of Orchimont and several Lordships included in it and Neighbouring to it And forc'd the Officers both of State and Justice the Lawyers and other Inhabitants to swear Allegiance to the most Christian King and forbad them to pay any Aids or Taxes to the States of Luxemburgh They possess'd themselves also of the Castles of Rochfort and Beaurain where they have plac'd a Garrison though these Places are part of the Dominions of his Catholick Majesty in Right of his Dutchy of Luxemburgh to which they have belonged several Ages And
to Courtray to put an amicable end to all differences that should arise about Execution of the Treaty Their refusing to treat of any business at the Conference But they have made it evidently appear they intended no such matter nor sent their Deputies to Courtray for any other end than meerly to make a show and amuse the Neighbouring Princes and States without any the least effectual satisfaction Difficulty rais'd about the Title of Duke of Burgundy For the Commissioners of the two Crowns having met in December 1679 the French rais'd a Preliminary difficulty about the Title of Duke of Burgundy inserted in the Commission from his Catholick Majesty pretending that Dukedome had been granted to the most Christian King by the Treaty of Crepy And though there be not any ground for the Objection but on the contrary the said Treaty mentions not any otherwise than Conditionally and Alternatively That the Netherlands should be granted with a Renunciation of the Dutchy of Burgundy to Prince Charles younger Son of Francis the First in case he should Marry the Daughter of Charles the Fifth Or that the Dutchy of Milan should be granted to that Prince if he Married the Daughter of Ferdinand King of the Romans at the Election of the Emperour That the Emperour determined his Election by the Marriage of his Daughter with Ferdinand that the intended Marriage of the said younger Son of France was prevented by his sudden Death and consequently the condition of the Grant was not fiulfill'd in which case the Title and pretension to the Dutchy of Burgundy was expresly reserv'd in that as in all following Treaties that relate to it Besides it was made appear the discussion of this point was out of the Power of the Commissioners which was limited to the Execution of the Treaty of Nimmighen which mentions it not And that there was so much the less reason to raise this Objection in a place where they were obliged to disallow and oppose it for that this Title belongs to his Catholick Majesty by Birth right That since the Union of the House of Austria with that of Burgundy all the Princes of both Branches as well that of Spain as Germany have us'd it and use it to this day That with the full privity and without any contradiction of France it hath been constantly inserted in all the Treaties made since that of Crepy for an Age and a half that it is found in the Powers granted for the present Treaty of Peace the Execution whereof is the sole matter in question as also in the Ratification of the Articles and the Proxy for the Espousals given by his Catholick Majesty to the most Christian King who accepted it without scruple and by vertue of it substituted the Prince of Conty in that Affair Notwithstanding all this they persisted in their Demand and the third of May 1680. caus'd it to be declar'd to the Spanish Commissioners that if they did not procure themselves another Commission to the satisfaction of the French within the Term limited for that purpose the most Christian King would order his Commissioners to retire from the Conference and possess himself of all the places he should judge ought to belong to him by vertue of the Treaty And though this difficulty ceas'd since September 1680. and that the Commissioners of France the fifteenth of that Month dclar'd they were satisfied with the Powers Communicated to them that day and that they were content to enter upon the business yet they sought out several pretences to delay the Affair for several Months And when they could not find any more but expressed themselves satisfied with the Reasons of the Spaniards 't was but in appearance and meerly to amuse them for they continued to decide all by the way of Arms eluding all instances made to the contrary And when the Commissioners of his Catholick Majesty desired to Treat at Courtray of the Affairs of Luxemburgh the Commissioners of France declared openly they had not any Commission or power to Treat of them there and that they concerned the Execution of the Treaty of Munster and not that of Nimmighen though they very well knew neither his Catholick Majesty nor any on his behalf intervened in the Treaty of Munster nor in that of Nimmighen as relating to that of Munster the one and the other having been made seperately between the Plenipotentiaries of the Emperour and the most Christian King And as to the restoring his Catholick Majesty to the Possession of the Places and Countries Usurp'd from him by Force since the Publishing of the Peace the French have been so far from doing his Majesty Right that they have incessantly acted new Violences and Injuries and formed other pretensions at the Conference not only destitute of Ground but any appearance of Reason Insomuch that they insisted the most Christian King had Right over the Towns and Countries of Alost Niuoue Gramont and abundance of other Places to the very Lands of the States of the United Provinces And demanded an Equivalent for them from his Catholick Majesty pretending that by the taking of Ghent their Arms had given them Right of Entry into those Countries and that they had had some kind of Possession of them Whereas in truth they are open places and have so continued during the War So that France could not on that account gain any right to them nor hinder his Catholick Majesty from accesse to them and consequently from preserving his Right and Possession as he hath done And that the most Christian King after the taking of Ghent pretended not to them but as Dependences of that City which he is particularly and expresly obliged to restore to his Catholick Majesty Besides after the Publication of the Peace the French were Quartered in those Countries as Places belonging to his Catholick Majesty to Force Spain to pay the Residue of the Contributions as pretended to by France And when they were paid as is mentioned before the most Christian King drew his Forces out of those Places at the time he Evacuated Ghent that his Catholick Majesty might be left in the peaceable Possession of them Add hereto that these Places are essential Parts of the Barriere for which the most Christian King hath obliged himself to rest satisfied with the Cession of certain Places agreed to be given him in exchange And that in the List of Places named in the Treaty to be given in exchange of the Barriere the Places we speak of are not compriz'd And that after the Enumeration of Places to remain in the Possession of either Crown or to be restor'd to them an Article was added by way of enlargement that all Towns Place Postes c. should be restored that had been or should be possess'd by either Party till the Publication of the Peace as appears by the seventh Article of the Treaty More Contraventions and Violences in Namur and Haynault After all this they gave us to understand they were not
and when it should be made appear at the Conference that they belong'd to his Catholick Majesty he should without difficulty be put into Possession of them After this Answer it was expected they would have at least abstain'd from Force but the fifteenth of November 1679. they took those places again and farm'd out the Toll of the Bridge of Esperange belonging to his Catholick Majesty and without any regard to the Protestation made by his Attorney General and accepted by him they had constituted Commander of Rodemacker they order'd the Ancient Farmer of that Duty under his Catholick Majesty to pay it to the use of his most Christian Majesty and let the Governour of Luxemburgh know they would not permit his Catholick Majesty to receive any Aids or Impositions from the places they had oblig'd to swear Allegiance to the most Christian King and that they would make the Subjects of his Catholick Majesty pay double what should be so imposed or received on his part In January 1680. they seiz'd Ryaville and seventeen Villages annext to it pretending they were Dependents of Metz though in truth they are not but belong to his Catholick Majesty and depend absolutely on his Dutchy of Luxemburgh Their proceedings as to the Seigniories and Lands of Russy Putlange and Presche are yet more enormous for the fifth of May 1680. the Count de Bussy presented himself at the Frontier of Luxemburgh with a Body of French Horse and Dragoons with resolution to enter that Province on the morrow if the Souldiers his Catholick Majesty had in those Castles did not retire thence in the mean time which to prevent greater inconveniences they did And the Count de Bussy immediately possess'd himself of the Places plac'd French Garrisons in them and forc'd the Province of Luxemburgh to pay the Charges the Victuallers of his Troops said they had been at and imprisoned the Provost of Verton till he had Compounded with them for a hundred Pistols These Violences were the more surprizing as grounded on no other pretence than an imaginary Dependence of those places on Thionville and Rodemacker Though Russy be a County and Seigniory held immediately of the Person of his Catholick Majesty to whom it does Homage and other Services which it performs to his Majesty in the Person of his Governour-General of that Province to whom alone under his Majesty it is oblig'd to pay them having always been a place independent of any other and its Inhabitants subject to the immediate Jurisdiction of the Council Provincial of Luxemburgh Besides it is Registred as a County and more ancient than Thionville and Rodemacker as appears by the Surveys and Admissions particularly of the years 1270 and 1563. The Castle of Putlange is also a Seigniory in Chief holden immediately of his Catholick Majesty as Duke of Luxemburgh and the Territory of it is under the Jurisdiction of the Provostship of Luxemburgh with which it hath been always tax'd and contributes to all Charges publick and private ordinary and extraordinary as appears by the Registers of Fires in the years 1552 1563 1624 1656 and 1659. By the Original Assessments the Accounts of the Provostship and the Sentence given in the point the last of June 1624. And that the Lordship of Preische consisting in a Castle and some Farms hem'd in and incompassed with Villages of the provostship of Luxemburgh is a distinct Fiefe and Seigniory holden in Chief and depending immediately on his Catholick Majesty as Duke of Luxemburgh as appears by many Admissions of Tenants and Surveys particularly those of 1563 1597 and 1624. Breach as to Charlemont By the Treaty of Peace his Catholick Majesty was to have his Election to yield up to the most Christian King the Town of Charlemont or in lieu thereof to procure Dinaut to be yielded to him with the consent of the Prince of Leige the Emperour and the Empire within a year from the Ratification of the Peace between the Emperour and his most Christian Majesty The Catholick King having determin'd his Election by choosing the Cession of Dinaut The Ministers of France without any scruple publickly us'd all the means in their power to deprive his Catholick Majesty of the Effect of his Choice And two Months before the year was expir'd imploy'd open Force to possess themselves of Charlemont The year was to begin from the Ratification of the Treaty between the Emperour and France being the twenty eighth of April 1679. the day the Ratifications were exchang'd and to end the same day in the year 1680. But the French were so impatiently eager to be Masters of that Town that two Months before they drew down many Forces to the Frontier and declar'd to the Governour of the Spanish Netherlands that if that Town were not Evacuated in February 1680 they would right themselves by Arms Pretending it sufficient the Ratification of the Peace by the most Christian King was Dated in February 1679 though the Ratification by the Emperour and the Exchange was made after This proceeding was more unjust as contrary to the Nature of Treaties which is grounded on the mutual consent of Parties Which the Ministers of France thought so necessary in regard of the Ratification of the Treaty with Spain that the delay of it by his Catholick Majesty for a time agreed on for that purpose serv'd them for a pretence to force his Majesties Subjects to pay them Contributions two Months beyond the term agreed on And though their pretences were wide from the purpose it being evident that the time for demanding the Cession of Dinaut was not to begin till the Ratification of the Peace by the Emperour without which the Instances of his Catholick Majesty in the Empire could not be effectual yet the Representations made on this Subject by the Spanish Embassador and those of England and Holland were altogether vain And his Catholick Majesty was obliged to comply with them to prevent the Oppression of his Country by their Troops which in default of compliance with their pleasure had order to fall into his Majesties Countries four several ways More Contraventions in Luxemburgh and Namur They were no sooner in possession of Charlemont but they made themselves Masters of several Places of Luxemburgh and Namur as Dependents of that Town which is but a Fortress or place of Arms having not any Dependent nor mentioned in the Treaty Under this pretence Fifty Men under the Command of Count Montbron took the Castle of Agimont and forc'd the Spanish Garrison to quit it though Agimont be so far from being a Dependent of Charlemont that on the contrary Charlemont hath been always a Dependent and reputed part of Agimont till separated from it by Charles the Fifth The Protestations against this proceeding were altogether fruitless and his Catholick Majesty conniv'd at the Attempt to prevent the irruption his Countries were threatned with in case of opposition The same time they seiz'd Givet and afterwards possess'd themselves of above thirty Villages belonging to
concluded and ratified committed great spoil and excessively wasted the Province of Namur by Marches and Counter-Marches of purpose wherein they were Guilty of disorders in abundance using the Spanish Subjects at discretion Robbing their Houses and forceing them to ransom their Persons as in the heat of the War The Chevalier de Sourdis who pursuant to the Treaty concluded with the Elector of Brandenbourgh brought back the French Forces from the Dutchy of Cleves through the Provinces of Gueldres and Luxemburgh abstained not from the like disorders haveing forc'd his Catholick Majesties Subjects of Welst and Breehdorf to Build a Bridge over the Roer for carrying over his Ammunition the Officers of his Dragoons haveing compelled the same Subjects to furnish them with Victuals and Forrage unpaid for This was certainly against the Laws of Nations and of Hospitality For though this passage had been granted them on the account of the Elector of Brandenbourhg and the States of the United Provinces to rid the Country of the former of these Forces and the States of so dangerous Neighbours they ought to have been content with the liberty of passage and not have forc'd the Subjects of his Catholick Majesty to bear their Charges Breaches by invading and taking Towns and Places of his Catholick Majesties These Contraventions usher'd in an inundation of others that quickly followed in several parts of the Provinces subject to his Catholick Majesty wherein the French took several Towns and open places many whereof they had quitted and restored into the possession of his Catholick Majesty in pursuance of the Treaty In Hainault The Town of Chevre in Hainault holds immediately of his Catholick Majesty and the Soveraign Court of Mons The most Christian Kings Attorney at the Conferences held in execution of the Treaty of Aix la Chappelle which granted to France the Town and Castlewick of Aeth had inserted the Town of Chevre in his List of the Dependences of that Castlewick and pretended it belonged to the most Christian King as a Member of the Castle of Aeth His Catholick Majesties Attorney maintain'd the contrary The Commissioners of the two Crowns were divided in Opinion those of his Catholick Majesty insisting it ought to continue his as holding immediately of him and the Court of Mons The French urg'd it belonged to their King as a dependent of Aeth pass'd to him by the Treaty of Aix la Chappelle And thought the matter was put out of question by the Retrocession of the said Castlewick of Aeth to his most Catholick Majesty by the last Treaty so that it must of right belong to him whether you allow the opinion of the French or Spanish Commissioners and Attorneyes of the Crowns Yet in December 1679. Count Monbron Lieutenant General of the Armies of France was sent with considerable Forces of Horse and Foot with Engineers to make himself Master of that Castlewick by force of Arms in a time of full Peace and when the Commissioners of the two Crowns were actually met for Execution of the Treaty They possess'd themselves the same time of about twenty Villages lying within the Castlewick of Aeth intermixt with the Members of it and called Free Lands for that they are not dependents of the Castle but are holden immediately of his Catholick Majesty as Earl of Hainault Notwithstanding this the French pretended to them since the Treaty of Aix la Chappelle and took possession of them as dependdents of the Castle of Aeth though his Catholick Majesty had also the perception of the Rights and Profits belonging to him When their pretended Title by the Treaty of Aix la Chappelle ceas'd by that of Nimmighen wherein they agreed to restore Aeth and its Castlewick to his Catholick Majesty the same time that they drew out of Aeth and its Castlewick they did without difficulty evacuate those Villages leaving them in the full and free possession of his Catholick Majesty as agree'd by the Treaty But after about a years time they enter'd again upon the Castlewick of Aeth and took actual possession of it and for want of other reason pretended they had right to it for that they had in the last War taken and possess'd it by force of Arms and that the most Christian King in his Proposals for Peace had not only demanded the Cession of the places there mentioned but added this Clause In a word the Places and Countries he was in Possession of except only those he should think fit to restore And though this general Clause was rejected by the Act of acceptation and the Treaty thereupon and that by the mediation of the States-General it was agreed That all places to remain in the possession of France should be particularly exprest and named in the Treaty of Peace and a general Clause inserted That all that had been or should be possess'd till the Publication of the Peace except the places to remain by the Treaty in the Possession of France should be restored And that besides this agreement the Castlewick of Aeth and its Dependents were expresly named among the places to be restored to his Catholick Majesty whereby all the right and pretence of the French was absolutely annull'd Notwithstanding all this and that they had not any colour to claim again their pretended possession having devested themselves of it and of the Title they had made use of as the sole ground of their possession Yet within twelve Months after evacuation of those places pursuant to this Treaty the French without right and contrary to the Treaty possess'd themselves of the same places by force of Arms They possess'd themselves also of the Town of Fountain L'Evesque which holds of his Catholick Majesty as Earl of Hainault And in December 1679. they seiz'd the Towns of Fumay and Revin situate on the Meuse and belonging to his Catholick Majesty as Dependences of the County of Beaumont for which seizure they had not nor pretended any right other than that they had found that about nine hundred years ago those Towns had been reputed part of France At the same time they made themselves Masters of Bourg D'Estrun the Villages of Feron and Roully and afterwards that of Rock and other Hamlettes pretending them to be Dependences of Maubenge though in truth they are part of the Principality of Chimay belonging to his Catholick Majesty under the immediate Jurisdiction of his Soveraign Court of Mons. An Order dated the sixth of February 1680. was sent to those of Cerfontain Tirimon Bersilly Le Val and Audrelu to force them to swear Fealty to the most Christian King Under pretence they had found some old Registers wherein those Villages were mentioned as Dependences of Maubenge Though in truth they neither were nor are so but the four first of those Villages have ever since the year 1518 been United to the Provostship of Beaumont and Andrelu to that of Binch Breaches in the Province of Flanders The Violences done by the French in the Province of Flanders are no
places where there are not any Enclaves or Lands surrounded as aforesaid The French Subjects need no more than the Countenance and Assistance of an Interstant to defraud without fear of Punishment His Catholick Majesty of these and other Rights in his Countries where this Establishment is not contradicted and to be discharg'd of the Forfeitures and Confiscations they have incurr'd and the Compositions they have agreed to This hath been made appear on several occasions particularly in December 1680 in the Dutchy of Luxembourgh when a Merchant of Marville who would have convey'd severel Stuffs from Luxembourgh into France without bringing them to the Staple without Entring their Quantity or Quality and without paying the Duties of Importation or Exportation or that of Safe-Conduct which is generally due for whatever goes out of Luxembourgh and had Treated with the Officers of his Catholick Majesty to pay fourscore Patacoons to discharge himself from the Penalties incurr'd He no sooner address'd himself to the Intendant of Metz under pretence of a Priviledge granted those of Marville by Arch-Duke Albert to bring thither their Merchandises in their passage through his Dominions without paying any Duties but the Intendant declar'd his pleasure the Merchant should be absolutely discharg'd otherwise that Right should be done â—â—m by way of Reprizal which he gave the Governour of Thionville order to make upon the Inhabitants of Luxembourgh So that to stop his course the Officers of Spain were forc'd to restore to the Merchant the four-score Patacoons pay him his Costs of Suit and to give him two hundred and four-score Crowns Dammages Though the Priviledge granted the Inhabitants of Marville when under the Obedience of Arch-Duke Albert could not take place after it had past into the subjection of France and that it was declar'd before it extended not to the said Duty of Safe-Conduct and consequently cannot warrant the Contraventions against his Catholick Majesties Placarts By prohibiting them to Alien their Estates without Licence They have not only ill us'd the Subjects of his Catholick Majesty and particularly the Nobility but have taken their Measures to take from them the Liberty of Alienating the Lands they have under the Dominion of France For under pretence there was heretofore an Order that the French must purchase Licence to sell their Lands in any part of the Low-Countries particularly in Artois and Cambresy they made a general Ordinance the fifth of December 1679. Prohibiting the Subjects of his Catholick Majesty to Alien their Estates in any part of the French Dominions to the use either of French or Strangers without Licence from the most Christian King contrary to what was agreed by the Treaty of Peace That every one should be restored to the full property and enjoyment of his Estate which consists principally in the liberty to dispose as one thinks best of his own By drowning their grounds In the time of full Peace they damm'd up the Waters at Conde and afterwards opening the Sluces laid under Water all the Lands of Bernissart the Meadows and greatest part of the Lands of Harchies Preau Tiuvette Hensy Neufville Sarty and a great part of Pommerevil all under the Dominion of his Catholick Majesty This done Bonnier is a measure of Land somewhat above the French Acre or Arpent they laid a Tax of fifty Florins on every Bonnier of Land and Meadow under Water for redeeming the Inundation and threatned the Proprietors to seize upon the Meadows and Unite them to the Crown of France in default of payment of the Tax And several not submitting to this Oppression they caus'd those Meadows to be Mow'd in July and October 1680 and let them out to Farm to the use of his most Christian Majesty for the Term of seven years This Violent and Notorious Usurpation upon the Soveraignty of his Catholick Majesty is the more surprizing for that the French pretend to a Right to oblige the Governors of his Majesties Places in the Netherlands by way of Reprizal to open their Sluces when their Subjects suffer the least inconvenience by the stopping them They made the Sluces of Newport be open'd at the first demand for the benefit of the Meadows of Furnes And during the Peace of Aix la Chappelle they made use of a pretence of some Dammage receiv'd in their Lands by the Inhabitants of Bernissart by the stopping of the Waters of Conde to seize upon the Effects of several of the Nobility and other Subjects of his Catholick Majesty and disinterested the said Inhabitants from any Concern in the Affair taking the matter wholly upon themselves And though in the year 1680 the Waters of Courtray were let down at their request beyond the usual marks so that his Catholick Majesties Customary Mill where his Tenants in those Parts were obliged to bring their Grists could not Grind of a long time only that they might be furnished with the Water they said they wanted for working more easily in some Foundations of the Fortifications of Menin Not satisfied with this they would have made the Governour of Coutray responsable for the inconveniences they suffer'd by the Rains and on another occasion sent him word that if he did not let down the Waters to a greater height than they were at they would send Forces into the Castlewick of Courtray to Quarter at discretion and that Count Montbron had received Orders to that purpose So that the Governour of Courtray was obliged to desire the French to send some Persons to Courtray to inform themselves of the Truth and be convinc'd upon sight that they had done all in their power to pleasure them that he might prevent the Reprizal they were going to put in Execution and whereof they make use every moment even in private Affairs By stopping the course of Justice For for a Sentence pronounc'd in the Court of Mons against a Person the Intendant Faultrier pretended to belong to the Dominion of France they seiz'd Goods of the Spanish Subjects amounting to above a hundred times the value of the Sum in Question The Burgomaster and Sheriff of Zenecon were imprisoned for having exacted a Labourer in the Land of Agimont If a Robbery or any disorder be committed in their Country 't is enough if they can suspect it hath been done by the Subjects or Souldiers of the Neighbouring Spanish Garrisons this serves them for ground sufficient not only to demand Justice but to do themselves the Right they pretend to by way of Reprizal as they did in Luxembourgh and Flanders in December 1680 so that the States of those Provinces were obliged to charge themselves with Restitution of what the French said had been taken from them Contraventions and Violences on the account of Palisades at Bovignes If they apprehend any Fortification of Places belonging to his Catholick Majesty or have not a mind they should go on they proclaim Reprizal beforehand as was done the beginning of the year 1681. When being alarm'd at the News of some Palisades
that they might seize the Territory of the County of Chiny and so open a way to invade the rest of that Province they have search'd out a pretence of Tenure that Homage ought to be paid to his most Christian Majesty for that County Which in truth is part of the Ancient Demeans of his Catholick Majesty as Duke of Luxemburgh and hath been many Ages in the Possession of his Majesty and his Predecessors independent of any other Power True it is the Dukes of Lorain pretended a Right to have Homage done them as Dukes of Barr for a Moiety of that County and several Conferences were had on that Subject toward the end of the last Age and the beginning of this betwixt the Deputies of Arch-Duke Albertus and those of the Duke of Lorrain and Barr But 't is as true and appears by the Treaty had in pursuance of those Conferences That it was agreed the County of Chiny should be absolutely exempted from the Fealty and Homage pretended to for it by the Duke of Lorrain and Barr who granted to the said Arch-Duke and his Successors all the Right he had or could have to it in consideration of a Release the Arch-Duke made to him of the Services due for some places of the Dukedom of Barr. Notwithstanding this the French Summon'd at a House of an Officer of the said County the pretended Count of Chiny to appear in the said Chamber of Reunion at Metz which hath not any Authority or Jurisdiction in the Case to do Homage to his most Christian Majesty as being in Possession of the Dukedom of Barr without any Grant And though this Summons and Proceedings thereupon have been Vacuated by the Councils of his Catholick Majesty as Judges of the Territory the French have not ceas'd to pursue their Point And the better to gain it in a place where could be no contradiction the most Christian Kings Attorney made use of those Evidences only which had been exhibited in the said Conferences on the part of the Duke of Lorrain and Barr without mentioning the Evidences Exhibitied on the part of Arch-Duke Albertus nor the Treaty concluded Pursuant hereto the said Chamber of Metz upon a pretended default gave Judgment the twenty first of April 1681 whereby the pretended Count of Chiny was condemn'd to hold the said County of the Dukedom of Barr and to do Homage for its Appurtenances Dependences and places annext to it upon pain of Forfeiture to be incurr'd within a Month without further Order This Judgment was sent into almost every place of the said Province though altogether independent of Chiny and Prohibition added in the Name of his most Christian Majesty that no Money should without express Order from him and the appointment of the Officers of the Generalship of Metz be rais'd or impos'd on the Inhabitants of those Places nor any Quarter or Subsistence allowed there for any Officers or Souldiers of any Nation whatever without like Order and Appointment on pain of a thousand Livers And as these strange Orders being absolutely null by the Makers want of Jurisdiction and Authority within the Territory and Dominions of his Catholick Majesty could not be obey'd there the count De Bussy entred again into the Province of Luxemburgh the tenth of July 1681. with a Body of Horse and Dragoons and caus'd the Commander of Chiny for his Catholick Majesty to be Summoned to draw his Garrison out of Chiny and leave the place to the French adding Threats in case of refusal The Commander Answering his Duty permitted him not to comply with the Summons the Count De Bussy first Quartered his Troops in the County of his Catholick Majesty about Chiny and afterwards at Neuf-Chasteau in the Country of St. Hubert Mirwart Marche Durbuy and other Places having not only forc'd the Inhabitants to receive the said Troops but obliged some of them to swear Allegiance to the most Christian King Afterwards he went with the same Troops to Ortheville Asnonlez Bastoigne Martelange Ell and then to Mersch having posted himself between Mersch and Lintgen till the thirteenth of August Yet the Ministers of France thought this a Proceeding not brisk enough and therefore the sooner to attain their end sent an Envoy to Brussels to signifie to his Highness the Prince of Parma Governour of the Netherlands that if within eight days he caus'd not the Spanish Garrisons to be all drawn out of the County of Chiny and all its Dependences they would make a further Irruption into the Lands of his Catholick Majesty in Flanders and Hainalt with two Bodies of Horse Commanded by Count Montbron and the Chevalier de Sourdis whom they had order'd to March for that purpose to the Frontiers of both Provinces So that to prevent the total overthrow of his Catholick Majesties Interest in the Netherlands the Spanish Garrisons were drawn out of Chiny and all its Dependences Yet all this would not satisfie them but to compass their Design of making themselves Masters of other places in Luxemburgh as Dependents of Chiny though in truth they were not nor had their Chamber of Reunion Decreed any thing in that point they let his Highness know further the two Bodies of Horse above-mentioned should fall into his Catholick Majesties Country unless he would Evacuate all those places the Count de Bussy should name to be Dependents of Chiny having order'd the said Troops to forrage in the interim in Flanders and Hainalt upon the Lands belonging to his Catholick Majesty into which they caus'd their forragers to enter and forc'd the Subjects to prevent their Ruine to carry to the French Camp the Forrage they demanded being double the quantity they needed and to pay in the Country subject to France the Subsistance of those Troops To these Violences they added the Usurpation of his Catholick Majesties Soveraignty over his Subjects prohibiting them by Proclamation to carry their Effects into his Majesties Wall'd Towns on pain of Confiscation which they Executed in some places Besides all this they forc'd the Spanish Subjects to make Presents to the Commanders of these Troops for their Oppression and Injuries as the Effects of the Amity and fair Correspondence they had promised to observe by the Treaty of Peace So that to put a stop to those Violences they had delivered up to them besides Chiny and its Dependences all the Towns Lordships and Countries of the Dutchy of Luxemburgh demanded by the Count de Bussy except the City of Luxemburgh and the Provostship thereof with some Lordships included Whereby they have not only extended their Power over a large quantity of Ground containing above a thousand Towns Burroughs and Villages but also opened the way for subduing Luxemburgh especially by continuing the measures they have taken to stop the Importation of Necessaries for its subsistence All which is directly contrary to the Treaty of Peace whereby to prevent all occasions of proceeding by force it is agreed by the fifteenth Article that Commssioners should be sent
them the Bailiffs Burgomasters and Sheriffs of Harlebeck Thielt and Deinse the Provost of Harlebeck the Baron of Winghene several Curates and other Gentlemen of the Country whom they us'd ill and imprisoned them at Menin among the common Malefactors where they indured very great incoveniences the Sieur Voorden Commissioner for France at the Conference of Courtray having declared to a Deputy of the said Castlewick that the pretension insisted on by France was to have payment from the Subjects of Spain of the Sum of sixty thousand Florins for Interest and Dammages pretended to have been suffered by them in the Country of Luxemburgh and of three and thirty thousand Patacoons for the Charges of the Execution above mentioned And that if these Sums were not presently paid the Marshal d'Humieres would send orders for making more terrible Executions and taking persons of greater Quality than those who were then Prisoners To make it appear yet more clearly that France scruples not any sort of Contravention against the Treaty of Peace An Ordinance was issued dated the twenty seventh of November 1681 whereby they caused all the Lands in Artois belonging to the Subjects of his Catholick Majesty to be seiz'd with prohibition to the Farmers or Receivers to pay thenceforward any thing that should be due to the Proprieters for Arrears or growing Rents till further order In pursuance whereof they caused all the Lands Signiories and other Effects belonging to the Baron of Couriers Governour of Audenard to be seiz'd though by the Treaties of Peace the Subjects of the one King unquestionably may and ought to enjoy peaceably their Estates within the Dominion of the other Till then we were ignorant of the cause of these Seizures But the Ministers of France have since sufficiently explained themselves having by Order of the most Christian King caused a general seizure to be made of all the Estates Lands and Signiories of the Subjects of his Catholick Majesty situate in any Country yielded to France and having settled Commissioners to receive the Profits and Revenues thereof and pressed the Receivers to pay them what was already accrewed Declaring further that those Estates should continue under seizure till the Ministers of his Catholick Majesty at Brussels made Reparation to the Prince d'Isenghien for the vexation he had suffered though what they call vexation is but the Sentence and Execution given and awarded by Competent Judges whom the said Prince petitioned to have Assigned in a Cause wherein he was Plaintiff and acknowledged their Jurisdiction from the time of the Action brought to the decision of the Cause having Personally or by his Lady or Agents constantly solicited the dispatch of the business procured the assistance of the Commissioners who attended the Inquests tax'd the Costs and made up the Report of the Proceedings It was afterwards observed also as to the Office at Esseneux spoken of before that the Ministers of France had no other design but to destroy it and utterly ruine the Province of Limburgh as well as the rest for under several feigned pretences purposely set on foot and principally for that the Officer at Esseneux had made the Tradesmen of Leige pay the Duties for Importation and Exportation who to defraud his Catholick Majesty pretended themselves Subjects of France though their being so would have been so far from exempting them that it obliged them to pay Yet on this pretence principally they first threatned high and afterwards Plundered and â—uined several Villages of Limburgh which they also pretend to under the false Title of Dependences of the County of Chiny and others These Attempts and Violences being endless they exacted two hundred Measures of Oats from the Bank of Sprimont in the same Province threatning to Plunder the Boares if they did not presently deliver the Oats and would have obliged the Count d'Esseneux Lord of Sprimont to swear Allegiance to the most Christian King though that Lordship is notoriously known to be holden of the Dutchy and Soveraignty of Limburgh In a word it clearly appears by all these proceedings that all hitherto done by France and its Ministers is not to be justified either in form or substance For as to form the whole World hath seen and known they have not acted otherwise than by Force but have violated the Law of Nations and broke that Seal of sincerity and truth affixt so solemnly to the Treaty of Nimmighen to declare it was intended to be made firm and stable and to be perpetually observed As to the substance and ground of the pretensions of France it hath been made appear they have not any Foundation of Title Possession or Colour of Right And that on the contrary the Title Possession and Right of his Catholick Majesty are so fully justified and so clearly made out that they are really unquestionable and not to be contradicted with Reason or Truth Yet for further satisfaction to the World as to Luxemburgh and Namur we have thought fit to deduce more particularly the lawful Right and Possession of his Catholick Majesty in all the French have possess'd themselves of in those two Provinces since the Publication of the Peace A PARTICULAR DEDUCTION OF THE EVIDENCES and PROOFS OF The Right and Possession of His Catholick Majesty IN AND TO All the Places France hath taken actual Possession of in the Province of Luxemburgh since the Publication of the Peace of Nimmighen The Castle Borrough and Signiory of Rodemacheren with twenty Villages its Dependents 1. FRance began with the Castle and Borrough of Rodenmacheren of which the French possess'd themselves the thirtieth of December 1678. and afterwards of twenty Villages in which the Lordship of Rodenmacheren consists though the said Lordship Castle and Borrough be a particular and distinct Signiory in cheif depending only of the Duke of Luxemburgh and held immediately of his Person as appears by the admissions of the Tenants and Feoffees thereof particularly in the years 1302 1314 1532 1562 1605 and several others as also by the Gift of the said Signiory made by Maximilian King of the Romans the fifteenth of November 1492 to Christopher Marquess of Baden with condition that he and his Heirs Lords of the said Signiory should upon every Descent or Alienation do the Services due for their admission and hold it in Fee of the Duke of Luxemburgh of whom the said Signiory is holden of old with all Royalties Jurisdictions Fees and Rights possessory as express'd in the Grant It appears further by the Register of Fires in the years 1552 1553 and others Notwithstanding all which and that Rodenmacheren hath not been granted by any Treaty to the French yet have they possess'd themselves of it as aforesaid The Castle and Lordship of Hesperange and four Villages 2. In October 1679 the French seiz'd the Castle of Hesperange distant only halfe a League from the City of Luxemburgh pretending it to be a Dependent of Rodenmacheren and forc'd the Inhabitants of Hesperange and four Villages that make up