of the French King's Intentions to Invade those Provinces or the unpreparedness of the Court of Spain to send an Army to oppose the Torrent of a French Power advantageously poured into those Countries The Town Surrendered upon Articles on the 28. of August and Lewis who then was in the Army entered into it Notwithstanding the Spaniards during the Siege made some Attempts to Relieve it but their Forces being small they were frustrated In the Year 1668. for the Glory of his Arms Lewis XIV thought of another Enterprize which was to take into his Possession by Force the French Comte which as a kind of a Palatinate or separate Principality had enjoyed many Privileges and Immunities which being altogether unarmed or capable of Defence upon such a Surprize the Inhabitants were forced to send to the King's Deputies to treat of Yielding thereby to prevent the Spoils and Ravage of a Hunger starved Army However in the midst of the Treaty Besanson was possessed by a forced Surrender on the Sixth of February Salines was also Surprized and many other places not being sufficiently Garrisoned or provided with Stores were obliged to their Gates Dole only was capable of making a shew of Resistence but the French Army being numerous and suddenly possessing themselves of the Out-works they were forced to accept of such Terms as were offered by the French King and thereupon they sent him the Keys of the City It may be guessed what little Expectation this Country had of a French Army when in the space of Twelve Days so many strong Places Yeilded that were capable of holding out many Years had they had timely Notice and well provided But it has ever been observable that this King gains most of his Advantages by this way or the force of golden Pistols charged into the Governours Pockets The French King perceiving that the Dutch weary of his Alliance who had done so little for them and pretended so much were inclined to make a Peace and join with the Spaniards and thinking he had gained sufficiently if he could keep what he had got Overtures of Peace where thereupon proposed and Monsieur Colbert was sent to Aix la Chapelle to meet the Ministers of the Mediating Princes And accordingly the Articles of Peace between France and Spain were signed on the Sixth of May and made Publick at Paris and Brussels Yet Lewis was not well pleased to be frustrated in his Expectation of swallowing the Spanish Provinces attributing his disappointment to the Dutch who declaring for the Interest of Spain had obliged him to this Peace But his Threats were retarded by another Enterprize It so happened that the Turks with a nurous Army had besieged the City of Candia situate in the Island formerly called Creet belonging to the Venetians So that may of the French Nobility who had prepared their Equipages for the ensuing Compaign and being prevented by the Peace the French King was forced to comply withal went thither and upon their Return gave an account of the place Insomuch that Lewis thinking to have the Honour of relieving that Bulwork of Christendom which had held out a long doubtful and bloody Siege and upon the Event of which the Eyes of all Europe were fixed sent an Army of French men under the Command of the Dukes of Beaufort and Navailles consisting of 10000 Men who without any detriment entered that City which was laid almost in Ruines with the Bombs shot in by the Infidels Whereupon it was concluded in a Council of War that it could be no longer tenable without performing some extraordinary Exploit and after a farther-Consult it was agreed That a vigorous Sally should be made in Order to the raising of the Siege The French indeed were very forward and to give the Duke of Beaufort his Due he behaved himself like a man of good Courage and Conduct The Sally was accordingly made with great Resolution and the Turks at first were beaten out of their Trenches But the Christians possessing themselves of a Magazine of Three hundred Barrels and Sacks of Powder whether by Matches laid on purpose by the Enemy or fired by chance it blew up and destroyed almost one whole Regiment in which it was thought the Duke of Beaufort was killed and buried by the overthrowing of the Earth for his Body was not afterwards found Which terrible thundercrack so dismayed the French-men who were the foremost in the Sally that they retired in great confusion thinking by the Earthquake it made that all the Ground was hollow and charged with Mines So that the Turks Rallying and being reinforced with great Numbers that came pouring from the Hills the Belieged were driven into the City and the French never after that could be persuaded to make any other Sally or so much as to stay for the Defence of the Place although the Governour almost with Tears besought it But the Duke of Novailles who now Commanded in Chief pretending Orders from his Master took Shipping and with those Forces he had left returned to France which was not for the Glory of the King 's Arms. For had they stayed and done what became Soldiers that famous City had undoubtedly been saved which by this Defeat was in a short time after delivered to the Turks with whom Lewis XIV has since had a better Correspondence as will appear in due Place and Order In the year 1669. the Duke of Lorrain grieved that he had so easily parted with his Countries hoping it was not yet too late to retract he required Aid of the Emperor and King of Spain labouring to engage them against France Whereupon Lewis sent the Mareschal de Crequi with an Army of 18000 Men into his Country who dismantled and pulled down the Walls of divers Towns making great Ravagement though he found little or no opposition For only the little Towns of Epinal and Chate made some shew of a Resistence But there being no Army that could promise them Relief they were compelled to surrender and the old Duke to fly his Patrimonial Country and foregoe those vast Promises the French Court had made him The Eyes of all Europe being upon this unfair dealing and greatly Regretting it to keep the Inhabitants quiet he ordered they should be treated with somewhat more Mildness than is usually observed in the French Conquests as they term them though for the most part got by Surprize or Treachery And finding the Hollanders were no way satisfied with his proceedings for he had infringed upon their Commerce he resolved to begin first and having visited and strengthened his Towns in Flanders and upon the Frontiers he by a subtil Negotiation as some Historians will have it of Henrietta Duchess of Orleance who had an Interview with her Royal Brothers at Dover drew the King of England into an Expensive War against the States But whether by the means of that Princess who died upon her return into France or otherwise we determine not However it is certain that great
Majesty's Friendship but could not enter into any such Alliance as he required However he persisted to encroach upon the Empire suffering his Troops that should have been withdrawn to quarter at discretion eating up that little the Inhabitants had left them to subsist withal winking at the many Complaints that were made and proving deaf to the Cries of the People This occasioned the King of England to complain by his Ambassadors but this prevailed little or nothing till he found a Defensive Alliance was carrying on against him and then under pretence of Winter Quarter he drew off some of his Troops Let us look a little back upon the Proceeding of Lewis le Grand in the Principality of Orange a place of Sovereign Right for some Ages belonging to the Illustrious House of Nassaw and the Inheritance of his present Majesty of Great Britain This Principality and City of Orange is very advantageously Situate exceeding fruitful and for the most part Inhabited by Protestants These Considerations made the French King Long to be Master of it for he seldom troubles himself to War on the Alps or in cold barren Countries Whereupon during the Minority of the Prince without the least Title or just Pretence to warrant his Actions he sent an Army to take Possession of it in the Year 1660. exercising a great deal of Cruelty and Inhumanities upon the Subjects contrary to the Law of Arms and of Nations demolishing the Bastions and strong Fortifications thereby purposing to himself if he should be obliged by the Princes who looked upon him as an Intruder and an Oppressor to relinquish it he might with more Ease repossess himself of it as he saw occasion Nay so far extended his Malice that he not only ruined the Cittadel but caused the Magnificent Monuments of Prince Maurice's Greatness to be laid in Ruines And indeed in the Year 1665. he was obliged to Relinquish that Principality and the Sieur Zuilychem to take Possession of it for his Master When in April that year as a presage of the Prince's good Fortune and future Greatness a Crown of Light darting Rays appeared over the City of Orange hanging as it were in the Air over the Palace or place of State appointed for his Reception to Consolate his distressed Subjects who for five years had groaned under the Tyranny of France But their Tranquillity lasted no longer than the Year 1673 for then the French King supposing to make his Arms the Terrour of Europe that so he might at pleasure become the great Arbitre of Peace and War he on a sudden and very unexpectedly entered it with his Troops And although after by an express Article of the Treaty of Nimeguen the Principality of Orange was restored and the King of England was Guarrantee of that Peace yet the unwearied Incroachments of the French Troops of Provence and the Intrigues of the Popish Bishop of Orange rendered daily the Subjects of the Principality more uneasie till in the Year 1682. Lewis XIV in a time of full Peace as well with the States as Confederate Princes commanded a powerful Army to take possession of it without any manner of colour or pretext but the Turkish Motto viz. Sic Volo sic Jubeo stat pro Ratione Voluntas This I will this I command My Will it does for Reason stand And thereby his booted Missionaries or Dragoons acted inhumane Barbarities on the Inhabitants unparallel'd in any Reign but his own And here for an Essay of his insupportable Vanity or rather of a Kindness unusual amongst Princes and derogatory to Majesty it self we must not omit That in a Breve in Favour of the late Prince of Conde as Administrator of the Duke of Long aville Lewis XIV had the foolish Confidence to treat his present Majesty of Great Britain with the Title of Messire William Count of Nassaw living at Amsterdam in Holland as if thereby he had entailed upon himself the Principality of Orange which at that time was the Supream Title of King William As for the Actings of the French King in this Principality we shall give you a brief Account in the words of Monsieur â—e Chambrun viz. The dismal Cruelties says he acted upon my unhappy Country and the City of Orange so famous by the Greatness of its Princes is at this day nought but a dismal Heap where one cannot enter without treading upon its Ruines She is at this day a doleful Monument of Cruelty and Injustice I cannot persuade my self that the Ruines of Troy or Carthage were more terrible than these I have mentioned since to one that beholds them at a distance they appear the Habitations of Ostriches and Owls If Posterity shall enquire the cause of this horrid Desolation as certainly it must the Account that shall be given of them will no doubt tend to the dishonour of France History will not forget to hand down to succeeding Ages the heroick Vertues of our Prince when she comes to relate the Ruine of his Territories and Desolation of his Subjects and when they shall understand that the Justice the Sincerity the Valour and indefatigable Care of maintaining the Liberty of Europe were the only Motives that induced the French King thus to treat an Illustrious Prince doubtless they will say This has been the most dismal and most corrupt of all Ages since that which ought to have been the Admiration of the Great Ones of the Earth was the Object of their Aversion and Hatred If this great Prince would have consented to the overturning of the Government of his Country as he was earnestly courted so to doe if he would have taken part with those that aim at the enslaving Europe In a word If he would have betrayed his Country and broken his Faith to his Allies he might have mounted a Throne then offered him But because he loved his Country better than his Interest and preferred his Honour to the richest Advantages and the Liberty of Europe to a Crown it behoved his great Actions should be regarded with Hatred and followed with the unjustest of Treatments But although this Conduct has been blamed in all the Courts of Europe yet nothing has been done to oppose it And I am forced to say 'T is the dishonour of all Europe to have suffered a great Prince to expose so often his Life with the greatest Bravery for its Good and Liberty and at the same time to abandon his Interest with such an unaccountable Neglect England was obliged to protect and assist this Prince not only as being the Guarrantee of the Peace of Nimeguen but from the Principle of Blood and Alliance And indeed what Honour can Accrue to England to see a Sovereignty wrested by unjust violence from a Prince that had Married the Heiress of Three Kingdoms As for me I cannot think of the Desolation of my Country without saying amidst my Tears with Jeremiah How doth the City sit solitary c. Is it nothing to you all you that pass by
Pincers would he confess who inspired him to doe it but remained obstinate in the midst of the most horrid Tortures which demonstrated that he had been decoyed by such as made him believe the Fact was no less than Meritorious and that Eternal Life was entailed upon him for the Deed. And no boubt Lewis XIV is not fearless notwithstanding his Bravadoes of some such Fate if he should reject them and their Counsels which makes him so far comply with their Maxims as to involve the Nations in Blood and carry Fire and Destruction where-ever his Armies come and make himself the very Phaeton of the World Some will object in their Excuse that Lewis XIV dares not keep his Armies Idle for the Soldiers having been so long trained up in War by a long Ease would grow Luxurious and be apt like the Roman Pretorian Soldiers at every little disaster to Mutiny or if that he should disband them they for the most part being Incapable of any other Imployment than the Sword would infallibly shake his Throne by joining with those his Tyranny has reduced in a manner to Despair However any Reasonable Man might think he might employ them in other matters as fortifying his Inland-Towns and building Piramids to his Glory as the Kings of Egypt did to keep their People from Idleness upon the same Score as most Historians conjecture whose Labour produced those Lasting Monuments whose Aspiring Tops are said to penetrate the Clouds But Lewis XIV is of another Mind he is for building a Structure with the untempered Mortar of Rapin and Violence and Cementing it with Christian Blood wishing no doubt that all who oppose his designs had but one Neck as Heliogabulus did by the People of Rome that himself as a Lasting Monument of his Glory might have the Honour of cutting it off which shews the very Spirit of Jesuit-Counsels Pardon Reader this Digression if it may be so termed in a History of this Nature for where a Man pretends Conscience he is inclined to one side or other and ought to have the Awe of Religion of what persuasion soever he be upon his Mind favouring that party to which he inclines But Lewis XIV is of a contrary Temper having his Hand against all whilst all mens Hands are more justly against him We will not determine what Orders he would give in relation to Turkish Mosques or Mahomets Religion But sure we are in all the Progress wherever his Arms have carried Destruction the Christian Churches of whatsoever persuasion have felt the Marks of his Irreligion and Sacrilege Nay it is affirmed upon credible testimony that when the numerous Host of Infidels over-ran Hungary and the Success was doubtful whether the Loss or Relieving Vienna should hazard or save the Eastern part of the Empire and Prayers were put up almost every where for the Success of the Christians Anno 1683. the Most Christian King 's Intendent at St Omers gave a severe Reprimand to the Bishop for having ordered publick Prayers to be put up and a Fast to be held on that occasion And when this Inundation of Barbarians were entered Christendom carrying Fire and Sword into most of the Emperor 's Herediditary Provinces with Slaughter Bondage and all the Outrages that can be Imagined insomuch that the flaming Towns and Villages seemed but one great scene of Fire and the cries of the miserable People rent the Skies which blushed with the Ascending Heat and Reflexion of Blood even then when all good Men were overwhelmed with Sorrow Lewis XIV brought down his huge Armies on the Front of the Empire to over-awe the Little Princes and keep their Troops for the Defence of their own Territories that they might have no share in the Glory by assisting the Emperor against the Infidels And Monsieur Seppeville was a Spie upon the Emperor's Affairs giving Lewis his Master from time to time an Account of the Progress of the Turks and of their Success and that the League between him and Mahomet IV. Emperor of the Turks might be as much shadowed as it was possible Monsieur Fouchay persuaded him to make a Diversion in the Spanish Netherlands thereby to divert the Forces of the King of Spain from Aiding the Emperor And here under pretence of Dependencies and other Matters frivilous and groundless in the Opinion of the Neighbour-Princes he swep'd away many Towns though even the Turks themselves had they determined impartially could not but have judged it not only Vnchristian like but also unreasonable Or else what could any unbiassed Man conjecture but that the Turks and the French King had combined to share the Empire between them Yet it would not have been so easie to have stopped an Inundation of Barbarians flushed with Victory as Lewis XIV imagined And who can tell but if they had prevailed they might have been by this time in the Heart of France and shewed him play at his own Weapons How unjustly this King took Luxemburgh and other Places in the Netherlands few are ignorant even when it was least suspected any Hostilities would have happened But that great City could not suffice the Ambition of this Prince for he sent his Dragoons Abroad when Spain was altogether unprovided and under Pretence of Dependencies swept away whole Provinces compelling the miserable Villages who had been ruined by a lingering War to part with the small Subsistence they had reserved for the Preservation of Life under pretence of Contribution by which means many of them perished in their Houses and in the Fields when they had eaten all the Unclean Things they could find and those that refused had their Houses fired about their Ears and their persons Tortured to make them confess where they had hid their Treasure or Goods so that some of them died under the Tormentors Hands By which it appears that Lewis XIV shewed his Zeal to the Church in Dragooning as well the Papists as the Protestants and even those of Flanders which above all are accounted the most zealously Devoted to the Romish Superstition and this by way of Surprize whilst the Emperor of Germany and the other Princes his Confederates as has been hinted were acquiring Glory at the point of their Swords For this Monarch cares little for ingaging his Armies it ever having been seen that he has gained little or nothing by the fair dint of the Sword And indeed if we consider how easily many strong Towns have been delivered up to him by Garrisons that were able to defend them the World cannot but conclude false underhand Dealing has been a main Advancement to his Conquests by which Methods his vast Treasures have been frequently shrunk and his Subjects Estates stretched upon the Tenters to recruit them Upon this a French Rhimer descants as it was found in a Billet laid on the King's Dressing Table and Englished thus Thy Grandsire Harry the Name of Great he bore Thy Father Just but thou' art Lewis d'Ore A Lewis d' Ore is a piece of
THE MOST Christian Turk Or a VIEW of the LIFE and Bloody REIGN OF LEWIS XIV Present King of FRANCE CONTAINING An Account of his Monstrous Birth the Transactions that happened during his Minority under Cardinal Mazarine afterwards his own unjust Enterprizes in War and Peace as Breach of Leagues Oaths c. the blasphemous Titles given him his Love-Intrigues his Confederacy with the Turk to Invade Christendom the cruel Persecution of his Protestant Subjects his Conniving with Pirates his unjustly Invading the Empire c. laying all Waste before him with Fire and Sword his Quarrels with the Pope and Genoieze his Treachery against England Scotland and Ireland the Engagements of the Confederate Princes against him with all the Battles Sieges and Sea Fights that have happened of Consequence to this Time LONDON Printed for Henry Rhodes near Brideâ—an End in Fleetstreet 1690. Behold the Christians Scourge by fortune hurâ— Like Damn'd Pandoras Aoâ—â— to plague the worâ— No Leagues nor oath's bind this Leviathan With fire and Sword he madly rushes on LICENSED â—ecemb 6th 1689. THE PREFACE THE Reader at first View may suppose this History to be written by some prejudiced hand and therefore it may Savour of too much Partiality but if he more deliberately consult the Actions of this Monarch and the Reflexions the Calmest Spirits of Europe and even his own Subjects have made upon them we hope the Censure may pass over us For there be few who allow him not the Epithet of Troubler of the Peace of Europe in which least Part of the Earth he has caused more Blood to be shed since his mounting the Throne of France than many Ages before had seen and made so many Towns and Villages sink in Fire that no barbarous Nation dares venture to reckon with him on that score Nero was a Heathen and yet we have him painted in the blackest shape for setting Fire to Rome and Persecuting the Christians What then could have been expected from those Historians had they been to set forth the Actions of Lewis XIV who is styled The Most Christian King who has not only Destroyed one Town or City but laid whole Countries and Provinces Waste with Fire and Sword Persecuted and Destroyed a Million of Christians and joined with Infidels to bring Destruction even upon Christendom it self and as he Phrases it Scorning to be a Slave to his Word has counted the most sacred Leagues and Oaths as Trifles to be made and broken at pleasure or things only framed to serve his purpose and no longer durable than his Interest requires Therefore we hope the Candid Reader will not impute iâ— too great a Boldness in a Historian of these times to lay down in a brief buâ— compact Series undeniable Truths thaâ— have attended his Birth and Reign A VIEW of the LIFE and ACTIONS OF LEWIS XIV The present King of France c. NOT doubting but many are unacquainted with the Life and Actions of Lewis XIV of France especially as to sundry Periods and Particulars we have undertaken to compile what has materially happened relating to that Prince who has for many Years but especially of late made such a noise and bluster in the World to the damage and disturbance of all Christendom and has as it were fatted himself with Christian Blood After a tedious War between France and Spain which began in the Reign of Henry IV. and continued by Truces and Intervals in the Reign of Lewis XIII nothing was thought more Expedient to put a stop to the Progress of those Miseries that equally afflicted both Kingdoms than a Match and both Parties agreeing a Marriage was made between Lewis XIII styled by some The Just and Anne of Austria the Infanta of Spain But although they were both in the Flower of Youth they deceived for a long time the Expectation of the world living together in mutual Society Twenty-three Years without any Appearance of the Queen 's ever being with Child Insomuch that France and all Europe suspected one or both of them Defective or Stiril but at the end of these Years when all were out of hopes a Crotchet came into the Queen's Head supposed to be put into it by Cardinal Mazarine who Ruled all at Court To go in Procession barefooted to the Chapel of the Virgin Mary near Paris whom the Papists hold for a very Lucina to demand of her a Son and Heir to the Crown of France And indeed when a Man sends his Wife abroad to ask for a Child 't is but just she should bring one home with her if she can get it But to the purpose As if this as a Miracle was to be ascribed to the Blessed Virgin and an Effect of the Answer of the Queen's Prayers according to the time of Childing the Queen was brought to bed of a Son in September in the Year One thousand six hundred thirty and eight And that the Miracle might be increased or the better to hush some Scruples and Doubts in Court the Parliament of Paris welcomed him into the World with the Salutation of Dieu donne or Given of God conceiving a Birth as indeed all Europe did though perhaps in another sense to be Miraculous after so many Years passing over without any Child and the Father at that time being Indisposed c. Some things were whispered abroad at the Birth of this Prince and although Mazarine laboured to still them yet notwithstanding several of the Blood-Royal who had promised themselves great Advantages upon the Death of Lewis XIII who appeared to them very Infirm as well in Body as Mind could not forbear speaking aloud And as a presage of Cruelty as it happened to our King Richard III. of England and others who have delighted in Blood This Prince contrary to the Rules of Nature was born with long and sharp Teeth which made many of the Grandees of France look upon so unusual an Accident as the fore-runner of ill Luck to the World and upon that consideration Monsieur Bassampeire a very Judicious Man and a great Favourite of the Father wrote to the Bishop of Greenoble in these Words My Lord IN my last I gave you the good News of the Queen's being brought safe to Bed of a Dauphin All that I tell you at present is that her Majesty Recovers every Day and the Child is strong and lusty and seems to promise a long Life There is one thing of him much taken notice of by some That his Gums have Teeth pointing out already and there is scarce a Woman that can suffer him to suckle He sucks so eagerly that he brings Blood with his Milk and upon this account he has had two Nurses changed already I pray God this may not be an ill Omen to France We need Princes of a healing and mild Temper Corrosives not agreeing with the good of this Monarchy The Prince is to be named Lewis Dieu donne Given of God as his Majesty was pleased yesterday to declare in Council I
am My Lord Your very humble Servant Bassampeire This Letter is found in the Cologne Edition of Mareschal Bassampeire's Memoirs page 134. in French But to return Lewis XIII made great Joy for the Birth of this Son and all France shined with Fires of Triumph And no sooner was he Christened but he was Inaugurated into his Principality as Dauphin of France and had given him his Officers and Attendents the chief of which were his Governess a Lady of a Masculine Spirit and Hardovine de Perefexi who since obtained to be Bishop of Rhodes and after that Archbishop of Paris This Man served in the nature of his Tutor being very cunning and politick Whilst Lewis XIV lay in the Cradle as we may term it nothing of Weight or Moment can be expected But scarce was he capable of distinguishing Right from Wrong before the Sceptre of France dropp'd into his Hand For Lewis XIII declining more and more at the End of Four Years and a few Months after the Birth of this Son left the Stage of this World to sleep with his Ancestors He was the Eldest Son of Henry IV. of the House of Bourbon to whom the House of Valois had given Place by the Death of Henry III. who was slain by one Clement a Jocobine Monk with a Consecrated Dagger in his Tent when surrounded by his Army His Mother was Mary de Medicis of the House of Medici of Florence The King before his Death published a Declaration bearing Date April 12. 1643 by Virtue of which he appointed the Queen as Regent during the Minority of his Son as likewise Governess of the Kingdom and the Duke of Orleance was made her Lieutenant The Chief of the Council were the Prince of Conde and Cardinal Mazarine the latter swaying all with the Queen Monsieur Seguire Chancellor of France Monsieur Bauthlier and Monsieur Chauvigny And the Conduct of the Army on Foot was given to the Duke of Enguin afterward Prince of Conde So that Lewis XIII giving up the Ghost on the Fourteenth of May 1643. this Order prevented the Contests that would have happened in the Court about Priority However a Calm did not ensue for the King was no sooner in his Grave but Discontents that in respect to him seemed stifled broke out both People and Grandees being dissatisfied with the Cardinal's management of Affairs and too great Influence upon the Queen who Acted all by his Advice and he being an Italian proceeded to impose an Italian Government in many things which were highly disgusted So that they proclaimed their displeasures at the Head of an Army with the Noise of Trumpets Drums and the thundering of Cannon c. of which the Spaniards taking the Advantage endeavoured to enlarge their Dominions in the Low Countries where Don Francisco de Melo the Vice-Roy besieged Rocroy but his Army was beaten off by the Duke of Enguin General of the French Forces and a considerable Defeat given them which happened six days after Lews XIV came to the Throne And to flush him with this Success the Colours taken were spread before him at Paris and several Applauses of Triumph made And to say true this Victory proved a Check to Spain and gave the French Army an Opportunity to enter into their Territories and take several Towns and Fortresses as Maubeuge Borlemont Aimmerikt Binch and Thionville with others Yet the small Castle of Cirke stopped the Course of the French who before rolled on like a Torrent to the endangering of all Flanders But they had not the like Success in Germany fore there the Mareschal de Guâ—briant General of the French Forces was slain and his Army worsted with the loss of a great many brave Men which drew off Enguin from Flanders But however the War ceased not for the War with Spain engaged most of the Princes of Europe in the Quarrel The Trumpets carried the Noise of War round the Borders of Savoy as likewise in Italy Navar Catalonia Germany Alsatia Flanders and other Places Nor were the Seas free from Blood for the Duke of Breze being Admiral for the French in the Straights he twice engaged the Spanish Fleet. Nor did this War end without Rivers of Blood Burnings Plunderings and great Devastations and then the Misery it had occasioned in Europe moved the Princes to send their Plenepotentiaries to Munster to compose the Differences and agree a general Peace For the Countries were so wasted and Impoverished in many Places that more died by Famine than the Sword so that Lewis XIV began early to build his aspiring Greatness upon Ruine and Desolation which threatned the World with a turbulent Prince To this Treaty which was absolutely necessary for the preventing an universal Famine the Queen Regent of France sent the Count d' Avaux and Monsieur Servien to manage the Interest of France and the Duke of Longueville soon after followed them So that after many Debates and the Interposition of the uninterested Princes on the Twenty fourth of October 1648. a Peace was concluded and the Monarchs of Europe agreed to lay down their Arms that Plenty might be restored by Peace And this had been done sooner had not the French according to their accustomed Manner even in the midst of a Treaty when others depending upon the publick Faith thought themselves secure surprized several Places and suddenly brought their Arms into Germany Lorrain Flanders Catalonia and Italy at once as they did early in the Spring 1645. which so exasperated the Spaniards that they requited it before the Peace was concluded by setting upon the French Fleet over against Naples putting it to Flight with the loss of a great many Men and some Vessels the Admiral being killed with a Cannon Bullet and the Mareschal de Gassion a great General of France as he laid Siege to Lens was wounded and being carried to Arras there died and the Spaniards recovered many considerable Towns in Flanders and other Places as Fuens Courtray and Lens and the French Army suffered very much However the Peace held not in France for the Prince of Conde with divers others of the First Quality being grieved that Mazarine once a poor Priest and of mean Birth should play the King of France making his young Pupil Lewis XIV do what he pleased Impoverishing likewise the Kingdom by sending vast Treasures into Italy to enrich his poor Kindred insomuch that his Father who had never seen such Summs before imagined it rained Gold in France These things I say and the Insolence of that proud Priest made them take up Arms to Reform Abuses in the Government publishing their Manifesto's to justifie their Proceedings and remove the Cardinal from the Young King So that the great City of Paris declared for them resolving to defend their Interest to the utmost as did many other Towns Insomuch that the Crown was visibly at Stake nor could the Cardinal's Policy have saved it had not the Courage and prudent Conduct of the Mareschal de Turin put a stop
extreamly strengthened and fortified at the Expence of vast Treasure lying at the same time so Commodious for Trade and other Advantages The pretences the French King made were That there was an Agreement with Oliver Cromwell that upon the Payment of a certain Summ of Money it should be delivered to the French But no body as we can hear of was privy to this Contract but himself However contrary to all Mens Expectation his French Pistols gained that strong Town which all the Cannon and Forces of France had the King of England defended it could never have done But now we Experience the damage of that Oversight when too Late For Dunkirk was delivered for Money and Lewis had the unexpected Pleasure of entering into it in Triumph on the Second of December in the Year 1662. These Successes flushed his Ambition to greater Attempts nothing less now than the Dukedom of Lorrain will serve his turn and thereupon he sent his cunning Sophisters to wheedle the Duke out of it by Threats and Promises First That he had an Army ready to fall into it if it were refused Secondly That he would consign him Lands more secure in Lieu of it in another place And to make the old Duke more fond promised to declare him Heir to the Crown of France in Case the Family of Bourbon failed although there was a Dauphin born of the young Queen These and other inveiglings between Force and fair Means wrought so powerfully that the Agreement was made the Sixth of February 1662. and in March following confirmed in the Parliament of Paris to the apparent Wrong of Prince Charles the present Duke of Lorrain who though of years was no ways consenting to his Father's Act. And upon this Agreement the French Troops were immediately sent who seized upon all the Cities and Country of that fertil and spacious Dukedom except Marsal which being garisoned and influenced by the young Prince opposed their Progress This made Monsieur storm and immediately he ordered his Generals to be ready for an Expedition to make War as he term'd it for the Glory of his Arms and came on so terribly in the Head of his Forces that the old Duke though he repented of what he had done foreseeing the ruine that would insue to his People if he opposed and being altogether unfurnished by the surprize of his Towns to Encounter a great Army thought it his best way to submit to his Misfortune And thereupon in an humble manner he went to Metz in Lorrain to excuse himself to Lewis who received the venerable old Man after a haughty manner and would hear of nothing but the surrender of Marsal which not being able to hold out against such a powerful Army as he had brought into the Country it was put into French hands on the Third of September 1663. Much about this time Lewis fell a cavelling like an Unchristian Son with his Holy Father at Rome and the Manner was thus Monsieur de Crequi his Ambassador in that City bearing himself with too high a hand and putting Abuses even upon the Pope himself it so enraged some of the Pope's Guards that whether willingly or by chance remains doubtful a Harquibus was shot into his Coach which wounded some of his Servants This Affront made such a noise in the Court of France that Lewis instead of going in Devotion immediately prepared to make a Procession to Rome with his Dragoons which so frighted Pope Alexander II. that then held the Chair that he was forced to send and meet his Army with Protestation of his Trouble for what had happened and that he should have any satisfaction This stopped his Carier a little and Pisa was pitched upon as the City to examine the matter And on the Twelfth of March 1664. it was agreed between the French and Pope's Deputies a thing that the Pride of the Popes of Rome never submitted to for many Hundred years viz that Flavio Chigi the Pope's Nephew should come to the King and beg the Pope's Pardon so that it seems the Great Pardoner was forced to creep at this Time for a pardon from one of his Sons And farther That a Monument should be raised in the place where the Affront was done with an Inscription declaring the Cause of its being erected This was performed but it did not satisfie For whilst it was a doing the French fell into the Pope's County Palatine of Avignon drove out the Garrisons and without respect to St. Peter Mother-Church or Father Pope plundered his Patrimony for which the most Christian King highly applauded them But soon after the Queen-Mother of France died and now Lewis XIV began to take his pleasure without Regard to the young Queen Wherefore though it may be looked upon as a digression it may not be amiss to see a few of Lewis the Great 's Intrigues with his Little Mistresses for you must understand his Inclinations have been as well to Love as Glory Since Lewis XIV was Married to Maria Theresa of Austria daughter of Spain the first Mistress though the Queen was charming enough young brisk and lively that he publickly owned was Madam de la Valliere and that she might come up the better to his Humour he made her Duchess of Vaujour And although the Queen grew jealous and the Queen-Mother very much reproved his over-fondness of this Woman yet he little regarded their Reproaches Whereupon they used many devices to draw off his Affections but those not succeeding one Father Anat a Jesuit and at that time his Confessor was prevailed upon to reprove him So that he took upon him boldly to represent to him the Scandal and bad Effects such a loose way of Living occasioned by making an ill Impression upon the Minds of the People and that if he did not Reform he must enjoin him sharper Penance at his next Confession But the most Christian King little satisfied with this Discourse coldly replyed That he thanked him kindly for his good Advice and his past Service but that for the future he would make use of no other Confessor but the Parson of the Parish And so the old Fellow was turned out of Service for his Ill timed Preachment which made the Society of Jesuits curse him for being so scurvy a Politician on such an occasion which he might have Improved to their Advantage But however though this was Cashiered yet others of the Society more cunning and facetious made a shift to creep into the King's Bosome making their own Advantages by embroiling a great part of Europe And the more to flatter his Ambition contrary to the Rules of their Order they took away the Name of Jesus from off the Gates of one of their Colleges in Paris and placed the King's Name instead of it which occasioned this Distich Abstulit hinc Jesum posuitque Insignia Regis Impia Gens Alium non habet Illa Deum They Jesus name have ta'en from their Aboad And plac'd the King's he only is
1685 it was Registered and Published by the King's Attorney General And in order to its being put in Execution and the Copies being examined and compared it was sent into the several Bailiffwicks and Courts of Justice Sherifs-Courts Districts c. there to be Registered and Charge given to the Deputies of the Attorney General to take care they were put in Execution with all Imaginary Force and Rigour and to certisie the Court thereof at Paris in the Court of Vacation on the 22d of October Lewis XIV when he did this had it seems forgotten that he had on the Word of a King Ingaged the contrary or he concluded it was no dishonour for a King to break his Word whenever he pleased Wherefore before we begin to take a view of his persecuting his best Subjects it will be convenient to Insert his own Letter in Answer to a Letter of the Duke of Brandenburg's on the behalf of the Protestants Lewis XIV's Letter to his Electoral Highness of Brandenburg Brother I Would not have discoursed the matter you writ to me about on the behalf of my Subjects of the Pretended Reformed Religion with any other Prince beside your self But to shew you the particular Esteem I have for you I shall begin with telling you That some Persons disaffected to my Service have spread Seditious Pamphlets among Strangers as if the Acts and Edicts that were passed in Favour of my said Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion by the Kings my Predecessors and Confirmed by my self where not kept and executed in my Dominions which would have been contrary to my Intentions For I take Care that they be Maintained in all the Privileges which have been granted them and be as kindly used as my other Subjects To this I am engaged by my Royal Word and in Acknowledgment of the Proofs they have given me of their Loyalty during the late Troubles in which they took up Arms for my Service and did vigorously oppose and succesfully Overthrow the ill Designs which a Rebellious Party against my Authority Royal c. This one would think was sufficiently binding but as it appears by a Clause in the Decree bearing date long since this Letter the King never intended to be as good as his Word viz. Whereas says the Decree That it hath pleased God to grant that our Subjects enjoy a perfect Peace and we our selves being no longer taken up with the Cares of protecting them against our Enemies are now in a Condition to make good use of the said Truce viz. of Nimeguen which we have on purpose facilitated in order to the applying our selves entirely to the searching out of means which might succesfully effect and accomplish the Design of the Kings our said Grand-father and Father our Intentions ever since we came to the Crown we see at present notwithstanding a just acknowledgment of what we owe to God on that account that our endeavours have attained the end we proposed to our selves forasmuch as the greater and better part of our Subjects of the said pretended Reformed Religion have already Embraced the Catholick and since by means thereof the Execution of the Edict of Nantes and all other Ordinances in favour of the said pretended Reformed Religion become useless we judge that we can do nothing better towards the entire effacing the memory of those Troubles Confusions and Mischiefs which the Progress of that False Religion have been the cause of in our Kingdom and which have given occasion to the said Edict and to so many other Edicts and Declarations which went before it or were made since with reference thereto than by a total Revocation of the said Edict of Nantes and particular Articles and Concessions granted therein and whatsoever hath been Enacted since in Favour of that Religion c. By this 't is evident That when he passed his Word to the Elector and approved the Loyalty of his Protestant Subjects he had it in his thoughts upon his first coming to the Crown to suppress them But this is the very Genius of Lewis XIV and now let us see how gently he deals with them and what Reward they have for their Fidelity and the Expence of their Blood and Treasure to keep him in the Throne against a powerful Faction under the Prince of Conde and others who were at the point of supplanting him why those that were to see the bloody Decree Executed fell to Consulting how they should raise theâ—r Malice high enough in Cruelty against People that had never injured them whilst the Protestants like the Jews when Ahasuerus's Decree went forth mourned their hard Fate and made their Application to the King but Hester's Tears could not prevail with his Most Christian Majesty though they had power to make a Heathen relent The Intendent of the Vpper Guienne who Resided at Montauban summoned the Chief Protestants of that City to appear before him and let them know That it was the unalterable Pleasure of the King to have but one Religion in his Kingdom and that they must prepare to comply with it giving them time to assemble themselves in the Town-house where they unanimously agreed rather to die than violate their Consciences and by one deputed by the rest sent their Resolution when the following Day a Batallion of La Ferre consisting of Sixteen Companies entered the City and were followed by a greater Number The Protestants thereupon consulted each other and resolved to submit to what should befal them not caring for the Spoil of their Goods so they might preserve their Religion resolving to rely on Providence and the Richer agreed to help the Poorer to the last of their Substance But whilst they were thus consulting the Dragoons entered their Houses like the Locusts of Egypt and having eaten up all they found fell to destroying their Goods suffering their Wines and other Liquors to run about the Cellers scattering also their Corn in the Streets And when they grew even weary of this wasteful Destruction they carried Linnen Plate Puter and other things to the Market-place and offered it to Sail where the Jesuits and Popish Priests bought them for trivial Prices and encouraged the Lay-Papists to do the like So that the Protestants in four or five days lost to the value of a Million yet they might be said even to take joyfully the spoiling of their Goods But when this availed not to shake their Constancy these Missionaries of Lewis XIV very proper Fellows to convert Souls fell to Out-raging their Persons with Cruelties and Barbarities worse than Death One Bervois they dragged to the Guards and there for a whole Night the Soldiers continued in turns to kick and buffet him Monsieur Solignack's Hand they bound to a Spit and forced him to turn it till by the Excessive Fire they made he himself was near Roasted to Death And to shew their farther Malice made a Stable of his Dining-room where the Furniture was worth Ten thousand Livres which they afterward destroyed
Another Person they dragged to Mass and because he hung back and cryed out He would never do it they beat him to Death But should we come to particular Persons the Numbers would fill a Volume as large as those of the Martyrs Monsieur de Garrison a Venerable Man who had done great Kindness for the Intendent went to wait upon him in this extremity to intreat his Protection but he like a true Papist who holds no Faith to be kept with Hereticks notwithstanding he offered him all his Goods not only rejected his suit but caused him beyond what he had suffered to be dragged through the Streets and miserably misused as a means to deterr others from Petitioning him This sort of converting was not only used in this City but throughout all the Dominions of the King though in different Methods of studied Cruelty Some they tossed from one Soldier to another kicking buffeting and beating them with Rods three or four Days and Nights together to keep them waking and when at any time they fainted or sunk down then they used them in that manner on the Ground or on Beds and when they had rested roused them again Some they hung up by the Heels and smoaked them with burning wet Straw till they were almost dead Some again they blew up almost to bursting by putting a pair Bellows into their Fundaments They basted the Soles of the Feet of others with Lard and held them to a Fire till almost Roasted One Isaac Favin a Citizen of Negroplisse they hung up by the Armpits a whole Night and pinched off his Flesh with Pincers yet could not prevail to make him abjure These Cruelties and many more were committed not only upon Men but also upon Women and even upon Children that were of any Years The younger Infants were every where taken from their Parents by force and thrust into Monasteries and Nunneries Wives Widows and Virgins were in many Places Ravished and Deflowred Some Children though of very tender Years they kept fasting till they fainted and then brought them before their Parents as imagining they would rather turn than see their Children Perish Many times the Priests would persuade some to Abjure declaring it should be only seemingly to comply with the King's Decree but when they had unadvisedly done that in hopes of some respite then they compelled them to torment their Friends and Relations into an Abjuration the which if they did not in three Days or so much time as was given them the Booted Apostles are sent to them again upon a scruple of their not being thorowly Converted Sometimes they bind the Mothers that give suck to Posts and lay their Infants to perish in their sight unless they will Abjure And when these Dragoons were weary of tormenting and inventing new manner of Torments tired with the patience of the Sufferers and despairing to bring them to their Terms the Officers Rate them and send them back to torture them worse saying The King has Commanded it and it must be done bawling out That the King intends to have but one Religion in his Dominions These are the pleasant Paths by which Lewis XIV invites his Protestant Subjects to enter into the Bosom of Mother-Church exceeding those of the Heathen Emperors for they only killed and made way for the triumphing Martyr to enter into Glory but here they have a lingering Death and by a Series of Torments above what humane Nature is able to bear their Hearts are sometimes forced to give their Tongues the Lye Some Persons they tortured with Engines and put brass Pans or Kettles over the Heads of others and with continual beating upon them made the Party in a manner distracted Those of the better Sort fled to Paris thinking the Dragoons would not come so near the King's Palace But alas there they found no Reâ—uge for a Decree was set forth commanding them to depart the City and retire to their respective Habitations on greater Pains and Penalties Nor did these Monsters of Converters only spightfully misuse their Persons but likewise shewed their Malice upon the poor Cattle as if the King had commanded them to bring the Hogs Cows Sheep and Oxen over to the Church as well as their Owners for some of them they Hoxed and so suffered them for want of Legs to go to perish in the Fields others they killed out-right and suffered to rot on the Ground Some again they drove into Rivers and drowned They cut down the Timber and burnt it destroyed their Vineyards and sold their Houses drew their Fish-ponds and threw their Fish into the Street These Missionaries exceeding the Barbarity of Tartars were attended by a multitude of Rascally Friars and Priests to take Confessions and Abjurations as likewise by a Bishop before whom they were to be Examined And when those that through Torments and being tired out had Abjured were at Mass they had Spies set upon them and if it appeared that they did it not sincerely then they were thrown back into their former Misery And although these Loyal People as the King himself confessed them to be would have left all they had and forsaken the Country yet that was forbid them on strict Penalties as even Death or perpetual Imprisonment The Ports were strictly watch'd and Ships on pain of Forfeiture forbidden to take them in yet through Providence many escaped into England Holland Germany c. and found Succour and Shelter Their Ministers only found the Favour to be Banished but to leave behind them their Wives Children and Relations Nay they hardly escaped sending to the Gallies for such are the Vnchristian Ways of the Most Christian King that he will have it a Crime in his Country for Men to be Learned and Vertuous So by this means a Million of Families were ruined and many Thousands perished through Want Torture and in Prisons for all the Gaols of the Provinces were filled with these distressed People Nor did their Malice and Cruelty stop here for although the Ministers had Liberty to go into Banishment under the hardest of Conditions yet the King's Ministers on the Frontiers frequently stopped them under frivolous pretences till the time given them to depart was expired and then charged them with breaking the Orders in not departing within the limited time and that they must go to the Gallies by which means they stripped them of all that little they had left and well they thought it if they so escaped to wander in strange Lands and relie upon Providence which indeed did almost every where plentifully provide for them The Elector of Brandenburgh put out a Declaration in Favour of them inviting and encouraging as many as would or could Escape to take up their Habitations in his Territories commanding all his Subjects to Comfort Harbour Cherish and Entertain them and gave Order to his Ministers to see it carefully observed in all his Cities and Towns throughout his Dominions The like in effect was observed in England Holland and other
which of these Turks they ought most to fear Though Lewis XIV out of a seeming pretence for the House of Austria had made an offer to assist the Emperor but this was only shadow as appeared afterwards by his violent falling upon the Spanish Netherlands whereby the Forces of the King of Spain were hindered from Assisting in the common Cause And although most of the Princes of Europe used their Interest with him though all Christendom in a manner lay at stake nothing would prevail till he perceived the Turks could not effect what they purposed For in the Year 1683 they were totally Routed and beat off from the Siege of Vienna the principal City of Austria when it was at the last Crisis and could have held out but a few days longer It is no wonder that the Jesuits who on all Hands are detested and accounted the Incendiaries of Christendom by the moderate Roman Cotholicks have so great an Influence in France since Father Maimburgh and Father La Chese have had so great an Influence over Lewis XIV to whose fiery Spirit they labour to add Fuel and plunge him into Cruelty without Remorse or distinguishing Protestants from Roman Catholicks And these were the blessed pair that laid the Foundation of the Misery of his Subjects of the Reformed Religion by persuading him That by Rooting the Protestants out of his Kingdom he would render himself greater than his Ancestors who were never able to accomplish that matter and that if he could bring it to pass it would render his Name Immortal in the Roman Kalendar And no doubt as many Instances affirm these Locusts who seek to devour every thing that is pleasant have had as great an Influence in the Ruine of the Neighbouring Roman Catholicks For from the Wideness of his Conquests they could not but promise to themselves great Advantage where they have so great an Influence over the Conqueror as to have his very Conscience in their keeping and dispose We have not of late heard that any like Father Ante have reproved him for Exorbitancy of Lust or other Vices but rather encouraged him therein that they might reap the profit at the Price of his Eternal State And of this we may give some hints as we find it in a Letter that has of late been frequently Printed and held to be Authentick sent from La Chese Confessor to the French King to Father Edmund Petre late Great Almoner to King James II. though fatal in his Counsels to the repose of that unfortunate Prince Wherein amongst other matters undertaking to give the Jesuit directions to put forward affairs by his Counsels Interest and Power with King James and others great at Court he thus proceeds Most Reverend Father TO satisfie the desire I have to show you by my Letter the Choice you ought to make of such persons fit to stir up c. I will in few words since you desire it inform you of the Genius of the people of our Court of their inclinations and of them we make use of that by a Parallel you make between them and your English you make use of you may know them Therefore I shall begin with the Chief I mean our Great Monarch It is certain he is naturally Good and loves not to doe Evil unless desired to doe it This being so I may say he never would have undertaken the Conversion of his Subjects without the Clergy of France and without our Society's Correspondence abroad He is a Prince Inlightned who very well observes what we put him upon is contrary to his Interest and that nothing is more opposite to his great Designs and his Glory he aiming to be the Terrour of all Europe The vast number of Malecontents he has caused in his Kingdom forces him in time of Peace to keep up three times more Forces than his Ancestors did in the greatest Domestick and Foreign Wars which cannot be done without prodigious Expence The Peoples Fears also begin to lessen as to his aspiring to an Vniversal Monarchy and they may assure themselves he has left those Thoughts nothing being more opposite to his designs than the method we enjoin him His Candour Bounty and Toleration to the Hereticks would undoubtedly have opened the door of the Low Countries Palatinate and other States of the Rhine and even of Switzerland whereas things are at present so altered that we see the Hollanders at present free from any fear of Danger the Switzers and City of Geneva resolved to lose the last drop of their Blood in their defence Beside some Diversions we may expect from the Empire In case we cannot hinder a Peace with the Turks Sir His Majesty's Brother is always the same I mean he takes no notice of what passes at Court It has sometimes happened the King's Brothers have acted so as to be noted in the State But this we are sure will never do any thing to stain the Glory of his Submission and Obedience and is willing to lend a helping hand for the Destruction of the Hereticks by the Instance he makes to his Majesty who now has promised him to cause his Troops to enter the Palatinate the next Month. The Dauphin is passionately given up to Hunting and little regards the Conversion of Souls and therefore we do not care to Consult him how or which way the Hereticks shall be destroyed He openly laughs at us and slights all the Designs of which the King his Father makes great Account The Letter goes on to Characterize the Dauphiness in her witty Humour and Hatred to the Protestants as likewise Monsieur Lovois the Archbishop of Paris and others who labour to Agrandize Lewis XIV by following the Methods of the Society of Jesuits who have always been held the Foxes with Fire-Brands at their Tails who have laboured to promote Violence War and Bloodshed in all Places where they come Henry IV. Banished them France and demolished their Houses for setting one of their Pupils to kill him in his Presence-chamber amidst his Nobles because he would not hearken to their Counsels but detested their pernicious Ways Yet knowing them to be Sycophants fraught with Malice and Revenge after he had frustrated many of their Attempts that great Prince who had faced Death in all its Shapes fearing their wicked Purposes thought fit to make fair Weather with them and to recall them which being opposed by a Lord of his Council who alledged how pernicious they were in all Kingdoms States and Governments the King passionately broke out into this Expression viz. Secure me my Life then And indeed this King who had remained safe in forty Battels found his Death as has been said in the midst of his Capital City amongst his Friends and Guards Nor could the Obstinacy of the Assassinate and Paricide denote any thing else but that he was set on by these Men. For Raviliack the bloody Actor neither sought to fly nor excuse the Fact nor when his Flesh was plucked off with hot
French Gold Coin by which we may understand that the Poet such as he was insinuated That he gained more by his Gold than by Valour or Vertue The King was surprized at this and dissembled the Affront seemed to praise the Author and promise if he would discover himself not only to give him a pardon but reward him But it seems he had more wit than to trust himself in the Lyon's Paws upon such slender Security Yet not to give over his Poetical Whimsey there was soon after found in the same Place a Distich in English thus Lewis the thing cannot be known I writ it when I was alone Hitherto we have endeavoured to shew the World the State of Affairs relating to France since the coming of Lewis XIV to the Crown who has in all Parts answered the Prodigie of his Birth living as we may term it in a perpetual Tempest of War to the Scourge of Christendom Few Kingdoms or Estates there are that can boast themselves exempted from the Damage received by the Calamities that have frequently happened on that Occasion Nay where his own Power has not reached so effectually that of others has been imployed not to mention his engaging the Northern Crowns of Denmark and Sweden though Protestant Kingdom in a tedious and expensive War but even soliciting the Pirates of Argier and Tripoly to Invade the Traffick of the Christians by hindring Navigation and taking their Ships offering them his Ports lying advantageous for the purpose and as it were cajolling Nests of Thieves and the Off-scum of Mankind with whom it is not for the Glory of so great a Monarch as Lewis XIV would be thought to be to have any Converse withall But we see Ambition will stoop low when it hopes to soar aloft Lewis XIV when he committed these Outrages and disturbed the Repose of Christendom had little regard to his Oath and the Credit of his Ambassadors who concluded the Peace at Nimeguen nor of the Honour of the King of England Charles II. who was Guarrantee of that Peace nor were the States of the Vnited Provinces less abused who had so great a hand in bringing that memorable Treaty to pass wherein the Ministers of all the Princes of Christendom were concerned and at which place most of them were in Person But to give a farther Light into this Matter take the following Proclamation of Peace published by the States BE it known to all Persons that to the Honour and Praise of God the Lord Almighty to the Welfare and Furtherance of the Common Good of these Vnited Netherlands in General and the good Inhabitants thereof in Particular a good sure faithful and lasting Peace was made at Nimeguen the Tenth Day of August in this present Year 1678. betwen the King of France on the one side and the States General of the Vnited Netherlands on the other and that the Ratification on both sides were exchanged in due Form at Nimeguen aforesaid on the Twentieth of this Instant September And that in pursuance thereof all Acts of Hostility and Enmity as well at Sea and in fresh Water as at Land in all Cities and Places under their Respective Dominions without Exceptions as likewise between their Subjects and Inhabitants of what Condition soever they be must cease and determine after the respective Terms hereafter mentioned to wit after four Weeks to reckon from this Day the publication of the Peace hath been made in the Hague that is after the 26th of October next in the East and North Seas from the Ness in Norway to the Lands End of the Chanel and after Six Weeks that is after the 9th of November next from the said Lands End in the Chanel to the Cape St. Vincent and after Ten Weeks that is after the 7th of December from Cape St. Vincent to the Line and lastly after Eight Months that is after the 28th of May 1679. in all Places of the World Wherefore all and every one as well Subjects and Inhabitants of the several Provinces of the Netherlands as those that are under their High and Mighty Dominion and Obedience are expresly Charged and Commanded inviolably to Maintain the Peace pursuant to the said Treaty and not to Act in the least contrary thereunto on pain of being punished as Disturbers of the Publick Peace without Favour or Connivance Done in the Assembly of the States General in the Hague September 22th 1678. This may sufficiently demonstrate the good and honest Intentions of the States General who could not think but the Word of a King and the Most Christian King as Lewis the Great styles himself would continue Sacred and Inviolable But alass his Ambition and Interest weigh down his Words and Oaths and in Conclusion it appeared that he only did it to bind up their Hands whilst that he might the more securely prey upon the Spanish Netherlands a Country the most pleasant and fruitful in Europe and for which many of his Predecessors have heartily longed but never undertook the Methods he has observed to bring it under his Subjection However this Great Monarch has failed in his Expectation and has frequently been baffled when his numerous Armies have thought themselves most sure Yet by the way we may Mark out a peice of French Treachery though of an Elder date by which we may see it is in a Manner the very Genius of the Nation though more superabundant in Lewis XIV It so happened in the Year of our Lord 1551. that the Protestants in Germany being greatly oppressed by the Emperour Charles I. Henry II. King of France pretending to compassionate them sent Monmorency the Constable with four thousand Horse and Foot as it were to Relieve them who demanded with many Insinuations and Promises of Protection a Passage through the City of Metz a City under Protestant Government The People in hopes to be delivered from the Ravages the Imperial Soldiers committed in their Territories joyfully consented and in Gratitude spread Tables in the Streets ready furnished with Provision for the Soldiers to eat as they Marced through bringing Barrels of Wine and other Liquors to Accommodate them the Magistrates waiting upon the Constable with all Imaginable demonstrations of Kindness and Respect who seeing his time feigned to be troubled with a sudden Fit of the Gout and other Indispositions and thereupon intreated the Magistrates that he might have the opportunity of a Place of Retirement for some time and that he not knowing what might befal him in the Wars or by that Sickness was desirous to make his Will The Good-meaning Magistrates were highly satisfied with the Favour he would doe them and began to contend which of them should have the Honour of entertaining him But their Joy was soon turned into Mourning for when the Magistrates and most of the Gentry were assembled in his Chamber whilst the Scrivener was making his Will to which they were to be Witnesses he gave private Orders for seizing the Gates And as soon as
he knew it was done rising up in a fury he suddenly stabbed the Mayor of the City to the Heart with his Dagger which being the Signal to his Guards they fell upon the rest that were in the Chamber and put them to the Sword This being known the French Soldiers over-ran the Streets crying out The City is won and thereupon fell to plundering the Shops and Houses So that this City like the flying-Fish in the Indian Seas whilst it thought to Escape one Mischief fell into another as great if not greater For of this kind of Fish Sailors report that being pursued by the Dolphins and finding it self ready to be devoured by help of its long Fins that serve for Wings it shoots into the Air and flies a great many paces till the Fins grow stiff by dryness and then falls into the Sea but frequently whilst it is flying the Cormorants and other Ravenous Fowl that haunt those Seas catch them and by them they are devoured A Second Instance of Later Date we may mention in Lewis XIII Father to the present King when he designed to seize upon the Dukedom of Lorrain he by the Advice of Cardinal Richlieu sent for the old Duke to come to him at his Town of Lyons who dreading no such Treachery left Nancy the Place of Security and went to Complement the King who was at the head of his Troops and after he had payed him that Homage and respect he conceived was due to him he prepared to return but found himself mistaken for he was Arrested by the Captain of the King's Guards upon frivolous Pretences and Claims and made him deliver up Nancy into which he entered as a Conquerour the surrender of which occasioned the Loss of the whole Duchy Many Instances of the Like Nature even the French Historians give us who make the Actions of their Kings appear as fair and candid as they can But now we come to Lewis XIV The Peace as we have said being made and all Christendom Relying on it and firmly keeping it except the French King he thought this his time to play his Game as thinking he had Charmed the Princes or made them fear the Consequence of a Rupture He soon forgot his Word as appears by the Emperour 's early Complaint against his Proceedings by several Letters and Memorials That contrary to the Peace of Nimeguen 1. He continued his Troops in the Empire 2. Remaining possessed of Places they ought to Evacuate 3. Requiring Contributions 4. Obliging the ten Towns of Alsace to take a new Oath thereby pretending a Sovereignty over them Erecting a new Court of Appeals and forbiding any Addresses to be made to the Imperial Chamber of Spires 5. Requiring an Oath from the Vassals and Nobles of Alsace 6. Setting up Pretentions upon the Vassals of Metz Toul and Verdun as likewise upon other Imperial States and Countries 7. Consiscating the Rents and Revenues of the Chapter of Strasburg 8. Making new Fortifications at Sciestadt and Hunningen 9. Not Restoring Monpelgard 10. The slighting Daxburgh 11. The Taking Hamburgh and Bitseth And other Matters Upon this the Diet of Ratisbone to whom the Complaint was made after some Deliberation came to a Resolution That the proceedings of the French King were directly contrary to the Treaties of Westphalia and Nimeguen that therefore the Emperor shall be prayed by Letter or by Embassie in the Name of himself and the Empire to demand of the Most Christian King Reparation for the same and that in the mean time the French Ministers residing at the Imperial Court and here shall be made acquainted with this Resolution of the Diet and that it shall be represented to them For what concerns the two first Points That the same are directly contrary to the 27th of the Treaty of Nimeguen and the First Second and Fourth Articles of the Instrument afterwards signed by the Ambassadors for the Executing the said Treaty that have been Religiously observed by the Emperor That the Third Point is contrary to the 30th Article of the said Treaty and the 8th Article of the said Instrument That for what concerneth the Fourth Point it is known that the Third Article of the Treaty of Munster says that the Countries of the Vpper and Lower Alsaces and the Lordship of Haguenaw shall be yeilded to France with an Express Exception of the 10 Imperial Towns and their Rights and Privileges and that the French King shall pretend no Superiority over them or require any Oath or Fidelity from them and in pursuance of the Agreement made at Nurenburgh in the Year 1650. Haguenaw Landaw and other Places and other of the said ten Towns more Actually Evacuated by the French without pretending then and several years afterwards to any Sovereignty over the said Towns or requiring any Oath of Fidelity from them That afterwards in 1665. Complaints were made to the Diet of the French setting up new Pretensions whereupon Arbitrators were chosen on the Part of the Empire and of France Amicably to determine the same who were several Years employed in that work which was put to an end by the French possessing themselves of the said Towns even before the War That the Treaty of Nimeguen Confirms that of Westphalia and consequently that the said Towns ought to have restored to them the Rights and Privileges which that stipulates for them That for the Fifth and Sixth Points they likwise directly contervene the said Treaties That as to the Seventh they expect farther Information in it That for the Eighth they cannot Imagine what Right the French have to Fortifie Sclechstadt considering what is abovesaid of those Free Towns For the Ninth and Tenth the French have acted notoriously contrary to the Westphalian and Nimeguen-Treaties For the Eleventh that Hamburgh belongs to ths Count of Nassaw as appears by the Treaty of Osnaburgh That concerning Bitseth they expect farther Information And lastly They hope the King will not prejudice the City of Strasburgh in its Rights or Privileges and particularly in that of fortifying Kiel so necessary for its Security This so Early Breach of the Peace that had been so long laboured for by the Princes of Christendom much displeased them and filled many with Detestation observing that Lewis XIV went beyond the Bounds of the Decree of the Council of Constance which says That no Faith is to be kept with Hereticks but he neither regards his Faith with those the Romans unchristianly term so nor with Roman Catholicks However having a mind to secure what he had belonging to the Empire or Princes dependent as appears by the Resolution of the Diet in his detaining some and imposing on others contrary to the Articles agreed on he sought to bring the States of the Vnited Provinces into an Offensive and Defensive Alliance against which all the Provinces but Groningen and Friesland Excepted who did not so long and their Resolutions were publish'd declaring They intended to keep inviolably the Peace and Esteem they had for his