please Charles the Gross with his want of Sincerity during the whose course of his Reign and the paltry Artifices he made use of to rid himself of his Enemies he never alter'd his Conduct nor his Maxims so long as he had the Power in his Hands he was always the same and it may be said that he never began to live in Repose and to become wise till he was Banish'd into a Village of Swabia with a very mean Pension where he Died for Grief Lothair the Son of Lewis Oultremer the XXXIV King of France was a Prince the most Perfidious and the most Turbulent that ever ascended the Throne of the French Monarchy and as he liv'd so he dy'd and retain'd his abominable Principle to his Death So that we may safely say That so long as the most Christian King continues as Potent as he is at present he will never suffer his Neighbours to be at Quiet and the Confederate Princes must be always preparing themselves for new Combustions after the conclusion of a Peace Which will be fo far from lessening his Forces that it will acquire him new degrees of Glory and Grandeur Since then 't is so absolutely necessary to reject the present Offers of the Most Christian King and that there is no other way to obtain a firm Peace but by the continuance of a brisk War in order to bring down the Power of this Monarch there is no time to lose within a MOnth or six Weeks his Armies will be in the Field and if we may believe him he will be no longer bound to stand to his Royal Word which he gave the 15th of March. The Duke of Luxemburg begins to Liquor his Boots and is preparing in earnest to shew us some new Trick of his Necromancy And this same Marshal whom the Prince of Conde was wont to call L'Enfant perdu or a Child of the forlorn Hope in referrence to his turbulent and sanguinary Genius has promis'd his Majesty that tho' it cost him his Life he will make him Master this Campaign either of Liege or Mastricht or at the worst of a second Field-Victory no less Glorious then that of Landen out of a confidence that one of these Events will force the Confederates in despight of their Teeths to accept the Peace which he Offers But to return to the Battle of Landen I cannot forbear to write a pleasant Passage which is reported of the Marshal So soon as the Battle was over seeing himself inviron'd with a crowd of Lieutenant Generals Camp-Marshals Brigadiers Major-Generals and other Officers of the Army who came all to Congratulate him for the signal Victory he had own Ha! Boys said he How shall we call this Battle Upon which while every one stood gaping one upon another not knowing what to Answer and that some were of Opinion to call it be the Name of the Place where it was Fought according to Custom the Marshal replied No Gentlemen we will call it the Bavin-Battle instead of calling it the Battle of Landen we must call it the Battle of Bavins And indeed he had reason enough to call it so However if he deceiv'd the Confederates by Attacquing an Army of no more then Forty Thousand with another of a Hundred and twenty Thousand let him take heed he be not deceiv'd in his turn if ever he be forc'd to Fight upon equal Terms as in all probability he may be this very Campaign Nevertheless we may be bold to tell him this That if he acted like a Master in the Art of War in time of Fight he committed the fault of an ignorant Apprentice in not pursuing his Victory and reaping no Fruit of so much Blood as had been shed But to return to the Subject Boufflers another Favourite of the French Monarch promis'd him Mountains and Wonders and for a greater proof of his Zeal and Devotion to his Majesty's Service he has already caus'd his Sword to be Whetted and his own and the Arms of the French Guards together with the Flambeaux for the House-Burners to be Bless'd by the Arch-Bishop of Paris with a resolution to fight like a Termagaunt and to lay Waste all before him with Fire and Sword Catinat also no less famous for the Lawrels he gather'd in the Field of Marsaglia makes as great Promises to the King his Master and if his Majesty will believe him the Duke of Savoy runs a great hazard of losing the rest of his Dominions and of hearing French Te Deums Sung in the Cathedral of Turin The Dauphin also who is to Command in Germany if he be not Countermanded wants neither Courage nor good Will He has given signal proofs of both upon several Occasions and if we may believe him Lewis of Baden's Business is only to seek for an Asylum and a Camp that may secure him from the loss of a Battle like that of the last Campaign And as an accumulation to the Vauntings of so many Hero's that labour by Concert for the Honour of their Prince and to draw Dun out of the Mire there wants nothing but a second Smyrna Fleet and Tourville Admiral of a French Navy to render him as Glorious by Sea as the other Generals pretend to be by Land We are then in great expectation of some extraordinary Event which must decide the good or bad Fortune of so many Princes which the Most Christian King has enforc'd to betake themselves to Arms. And the Confederate Princes are so much the rather enclin'd to terminate the Differences by the Sword because they find it impossible to obtain by any other means an Accomodation with France Which is no more then what the most Christian King has made most clearly apparent by the ridiculous Proposals offer'd by the Ministers of the Northern Crowns So that War being indispensably necessary it behoves 'em to prepare for it in good earnest If we may believe the News that is brought us from some Persons residing in the Court of France 't is said that his Most Christian Majesty was in a pelting Chafe to hear that his Offers were rejected with so much Scorn and there was not a day past over his Head that he did not confer with Marshal de Luxemburg about what Enterprize was fiâ— to be undertaken and where it was most proper to open the Campaign For the King well knowing of what Importance it would be to his Affairs would fain have something done Remarkable to raise the drooping hope of his dejected People and which might aâ— the same time uphold the Reputation of hiâ— Arms and constrain the Confederates aâ— length to accept the Peace which he Offer ' em All these Considerations put him to a great Nonplus To begin in Flanders with the Siege of some Place of Importance would not be amiss But as ill Luck will have it there are no more Mons's and Namur's to take there remain two Places only be worthy the Presenceof so great a King Liege and Maestriecht But the
have made the Court of Spain tremble considering the Misfortunes that threatned the Kingdom being carry'd to Don Lewis de Haro never put so much as a Minutes stop to the Negotiation True it is that de Haro had a deep sense of it but Mazarin who had his Prospects redoubl'd his Importunities and hasten'd more then ever the Conclusion of the Treaty When the Kings of France had the Misfortune to make Alliances that were likely to prove fatal to 'em and which infallibly would have prov'd the Ruin of their Dominions what did they do to break ' em Witness the Conduct that Lewis XII observ'd upon the like Occasion He had concluded a Treaty of Confederacy with the Emperor Maximilian The second and third Article of which Treaty imported that the two Princes should engage themselves to ratify and confirm the Contract of Marriage concluded between Charles Duke of Luxemburgh Son of Arch-duke Philip and Madam Claudia of France the most Christian King's Daughter Lewis promis'd that in case he died without Issue Male that the Dutchies of Milan Genoa as also the Countries of Ast and Blois and all the other Lands and Signiories of his Demesnes should be deliver'd up after his Death and immediately after the Consummation of the Marriage of the Duke of Luxemburgh with Madam Claudia of France into the Hands of that Princess his Heiress to enjoy to Perpetuity upon condition that if she happen'd to have any Sisters she should allow 'em a Dowry in Mony proportionable to their Birth The Ministers of Lewis XII after they had seriously consider'd how disadvantagious this Marriage was to France and how powerful the House of Austria was like to grow set all their Engins at work to break it To which purpose by the King's consent there was an Assembly order'd to be summon'd which was held in the year 1506. at Plesses-Les-Tours where the King was present and by a knack of Policy as daring as well found out they order'd underhand a famous Doctor of the University of Paris to appear upon the Stage who came and made a Speech to the King beseeching him in the Name of all the States of France to match the Princess his Daughter with the Duke of Valois presumptive Heir of the Crown This Doctor with so much Eloquence set before the King the Misfortunes that suddenly threatned France if he suffer'd Madam Claudia to marry Charles of Austria or any other Foreign Prince that from that very moment the Match was brok'n off and by that manner of Proceeding Lewis XII disingag'd himself from his Word and Oath and the Treaty which was made in 1501. and confirm'd by another three Years after at Blois was declar'd null and void There 's no Question to be made but that Lewis the XII himself was the Person who order'd the Duke of Valois to be nominated to him by all the States of the Kingdom to the end that by that means he might bring himself off fairly from his Agreements with Maximilian and Philip his Son who had reckned upon the word of that Prince as upon a thing that was irrevocable This is an Example past all Contradiction besides a great number of others that might be found in History sufficient to justifie the Reasons which the Court of Spain had then has she minded her own Interests to have refus'd the Marriage of the Iufanta to Lewis XIV who was a Foreign Prince that they might have bestow'd her upon the Emperor's Son who was of the House of Austria and had demanded her at the same time However it were Mazarin in this particular acted the part of a great Politician and not to mention other Important Services which he did the French Monarch it may be said that tho' he had done nothing else during the whole course of his Ministry this alone was a thing that never ought to be forgot by France So that he made no scruple to write to Monsieur le Tellier immediately after the signing of the Treaty That there was great Reason to hope a long continuation of the Treaty in regard that both Parties were equally satisfy'd But that in his Opinion the King had reason to be more contented because that all the advantage was on his side And besides that there was also this farther Benefit that Don Lewis believing he had don his Business admirably well would never dream of laying hold upon Opportunities for the furture should they present themselves to repair the great Prejudices that Spain had receiv'd by the Conclusion of that Peace However had France stook to this Treaty how disadvantagious soever it was for Spain and had not transgress'd the Limits that were prescrib'd him we should not have now beheld all Eurpoe in Arms and the Princes of the August League unanimously resolv'd not to surcease the War till France has restor'd to every one what she has wrested from 'em since the Conclusion of that Treaty Her want of Faith and Sincerity not only transported her to declare her self the Irreconcileable Enemy of the House of Austria by vertue of those Rights which she pretends to claim as yielded up to her by vertue of that Peace but has openly invaded the Dominions of other Sovereigns of Europe and without any other Right and Title then the Challenges of her Ambition and Power she has run her self into those Excesses that now make her lookt upon with Detestation and Abhorrency We have shew'd ye the Fault never to be repair'd that the Court of Spain committed in consenting to the Marriage of the Infanta with Lewis XIV and to a Treaty of Peace so disadvantagious to her Interests Now let us see the fatal Event that attended 'em and begin with the Bounds that were prescrib'd to France by the Treaty which done we will examin the Conduct which she observ'd to extend those Limits as far as we see 'em now extended And lastly we shall conclude with representing to the Princes of the League the necessity of being inexorable to the Importunities of France for Peace unless extreamly to their Advantage Their Interest to keep inviolably united together and never to listen to the Proposals of France unless she makes Restitution of all that she has usurp'd since the Pyrenean Peace All the World knows that the main thing that obstructed the Pyrenean Treaty was the Accommodation of the Prince of Conde We shall not therefore trouble our selves to recite all the Particulars that pass'd in the great number of Conferences between the Ministers of the two Crowns upon this Subject as being otherwhere to be met with 'T is sufficient to say that Mazarin had the Honour of the Triumph and that he obtain'd of Don Lewis all that he could expect So true it is that the Right and Justice of a good Cause are not battry proof against the Artifices of a Crafty Minister and that Honesty and Sincerity frequently become the Cullies of wily Cunning. Don Lewis demanded that the Prince in consideration
THE Bounds set to FRANCE BY THE Pyrenean Treaty And the Interest of the CONFEDERATES Not to accept of the Offers of Peace Made at this Time by the FRENCH KING To which are added Some short Reflections shewing How far England is concern'd in the Restitution of that Treaty Together with a List of the Towns and Countries that the French have taken since that Time LONDON Printed for R. Baldwin at the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane 1694. THE BOUNDS OF France c. FOUR Things have contributed to render France so Potent and Formidable as we behold her at this day In the first Place the ill observance of her Word in reference to Treaties of Peace or Truces concluded with other Soveraign States and which she has violated in a little time after the Exchange of the Ratifications which has been the Original of all the terrible Misfortunes that have turmoil'd Europe for above these Thirty Years and which perhaps will hardly end but with the Princes Reign that first began the fatal Disturbance The second Cause of the Grandeur of France was the easiness she met with to give her Ambition its full Swinge by pushing forward to the utmost of their Extent her Exorbitant Pretensions to the Territories and Dominions of her Neighbours with a Resolution to confine 'em within no other Bounds then those of all Europe unless a greater Force oppos'd her The third Cause of her Grandeur is the Arbitrary Power and the Soveraign Authority which the Reigning Price has made himself Master of by degrees by encroaching upon the Liberties of the People and the Authority of Parlaments And the fourth is the extraordinary Means she makes use of to encrease her Teasury and the good use she makes of it through the good Conduct of those who are entrusted with the management of it As to the first of these Causes which is The Violation of Treaties and which we have made choice of for the Subject of this Discourse All the World knows the Condition to which France was reduc'd before the Conclusion of the Pyrenean Peace or to descend a little lower during the King's Minority She could hardly then bring an Army of above thirty thousand Men into the Field and â—ind Mony proportionable to pay ' em For proof of which the Queen Mother has been often heard to say talking Face to Face with her prime Minister Mazarin Good God! where shall we find Men to continue the War and Mony to supply so many pressing Necessities And a little while after did we not see M. de Turenne reduc'd to melt down his Plate and as it were strip himself to the last Farthing to keep his Army from Perishing So hard a thing it was to get Mony from the Court for that many times the Chequer was quire drain'd and utterly unable to pay the Soldiers It may be said that the French Monarchy was supported then by the Cunning and Policy of her Ministers rather then by her own Forces Witness what Mazarin said one day to the King Sir said he in respect of the Treasure Your Majesties Conquests in your Cabinet are without all Contradiction far the greater Number then those of your Armies In a word the Negotiations and Alliances which were made during Mazarin's Ministry and afterwards under the Marquiss of Louvais contributed more to the Aggrandizing France and extending her Limits then the Force of her Arms. France then having extreamly suffer'd during the space of several Years that the War with Spain lasted she was reduced to a lamentable condition by reason of her Teasure's being exhausted and the oppression of her Subjects and it may be said that notwithstanding all the Polities of Mazarin the King was fain to put a good Face upon a bad Matter which is a thing frequently practis'd among the French Tho' at the same time she made a bouncing shew of nothing less then of being inclin'd to Peace a Conduct quite opposite to what she observes at this day And yet the Proceedings of Mazarin made it plainly appear that France had a greater Inclination to it then Spain In a word that Minister had hardly time to bid the Queen adieu so earnest he was to be upon the Frontiers of the Kingdom But some will object against this the Pains that Don Antonio Piemontel took at Paris to perswade Mazarin to hearken to the Propositions of Peace The great number of Conferences which the Cardinal had with Don Lewis de Haro the Delays and Difficulties that occurr'd before the Points of that Peace could be agreed to all which things manifestly prove the contrary and that France was not so low as I represent her to be But I answer that this was only a Master-piece of Mazarin's fine-spun Politicks who made use of all the Shifts and cunning Artifices imaginable to incline Don Lewis and Don Piemontel the Spanish Plenipotentiaries to grant him all those Advantages which he look'd for In a word Experience shews us that he was not deceiv'd since the Project which he had drawn up at Court was follow'd point by point and every way to the Advantage of France The greatest Fault that Spain at that time committed was that she did not make choice of a Plenipotentiary more sharp-sighted and more nimble-witted then Lewis de Haro who was mifinform'd of the Rights which the Princes had who were most remarkably concern'd in that Peace Don Lewis made a World of Oversights in that Negotiation and had committed many more but for the Assistance of M. d' Aigremont whom the Prince of Conde sent away Post out of Flanders to instruct him in many things of which he was ignorant It was to have bin wish'd that for the good and repose of all Europe and for the particular Interests of the House of Austria that Spain had been more circumspect in an Affair of that great Importance wherein the high Dispute was not only about concluding a solid and lasting Peace but the Marriage of the Infanta And I am persuaded that if the King of Spain had had any Idea of good Policy he would have taken juster Measures then he did since it was impossible but he must have foreseen that by that Alliance he went about to lay the foundation of the utter Ruin of the House of Austria Nor did he want any other Example then that of Lewis XIII to teach him that the Matches of the Infanta's of Spain with the Kings of France had bin always fatal to the Spaniards It must be acknowldg'd that the Spanish Court at that time labour'd under a most terrible Blindness that while they were moyling at the Negotiation of Peace and the Marriage of the Infanta one of the two young Infant Princes happening to die there remain'd no more then the Reigning Price to suceed to the Crown and he so young and so sickly that 't was much question'd whether he would out-live the third Year of his Age. Nevertheless the Tidings of that young Prince's death which ought to