unhappy he is reported to have uttered this prophetical Speech of him 'T is true answered he he is as unhappy as brave but yet for all that he would in time prove a General as formidable to France as his Fore-Fathers had been to Spain such was the judgment of this great and knowing Enemy of his growing Honour and blooming Glory And what Alexander King of Macedonia said to a certain Queen that sent him most delicious and Fare Junkets curiously prepared may at this time be truly applied to our illustrious Prince Respondit seipsum habere meliores obsoniorum artifices ad prandium quidem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Nocturnum Iter ad Caenam vero 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. tenue prandium Finding himself then balkt in his Heroical Designs and main Ends and Scope against the French Army by the opposition of the Imperial Officers suspected strongly to be caused by French Intrigues and Insinuations His Highness the Prince of Orange moves towards Grave the last remaining and strongest receptacle of the Gallicans in Holland and the most resolutely defended by a stout Garrison of between 4 and 5000 Men and took it in the space of about 16 days after his Arrival where he found 450 pieces of Cannon whereof 100 were mounted besides an infinite quantity of Corn and other Provisions and of Powder Ball Granado's and all warlike Ammunition the French having hoarded up in that place almost all they had brought away from their deserted Conquests and thus he happily and gloriously ended that Campagne After this he faced more than once the main Power of France led by the King himself who tamely suffer'd himself to be by him even with advantage provoked to Battle without daring to accept the Challenge and it cannot be denyed had most certainly been attacked by him in despight of all his precautions before Bouchain had not the Town contrary to Expectation with too much inconsiderateness and precipitation furrendred before he could possibly execute his great and noble Design and indeed it must be acknowledged that he all along made much more vigorous and resolute Efforts to relieve the besieged Spanish Towns than the Spaniards themselves did in defending them whose Officers were too often either corrupted by French Gold or not sufficiently provided for by the fault and negligence of their General Governours or else through the grand negligence and dilatory proceedings of the Spanish Court it self whose Motto may well be Festina lente What he did afterwards in the Seige of Maestricht is sufficiently demonstrated to the World that had the promised Re-inforcements arrived to him from the Dukes of Lunenburg and Bishop of Munster upon which he depended he had not failed through God's blessing reducing it Yet so formidable was his Courage and Conduct more than the number of his Forces or the quality of his Army to the wary French General Schomberg then sent against him that he was contented only to relieve the Town without accepting Battel though offered it as much fatigued and diminish'd as were his Enemies Troops at that time The next Year the French King making use of the great advantage his absolute Command over a formidable Body of experienced well-disciplin'd and hardened Soldiers and over the Purses of all manner of Persons in his Realms and Dominions had above those who acting in the Confederacy met with a thousand delays caused by different Counsels and Interests and the Poverty and want of Power in some of their Allies falls in the very depth of Winter with numerous and prodigious Forces into the Spanish Netherlands and taking the strong Town of Valenciennes with an astonishing Celerity sits down before Cambray takes the Town distresses the Castle and at the same time sends his Brother the Duke of Orleans with another potent Army to besiege St. Omers which were all three Towns of mighty Importance that formerly extreamly galled the Frontiers of France and this before any of the Confederate Forces could be got together but such as might be drawn out of Holland and some Neighbouring Spanish Garrisons Yet notwithstanding these grand Disadvantages at this time our gracious and truly publick Spirited Prince not willing the Interest of his Allies and of his Country should so deeply suffer without some attempt to repell the dreadful Storm he assembles such an Army as he could possibly in so short a time and in such haste draw together as we have said of Dutch and Spanish Forces and though he understood the Duke of Orleans leaving only some Regiments to guard his Trenches and keep the Town blockt up had posted the rest of his Army in and about all the Avenues and Passages to the place which were difficult to force and were besides that strongly guarded with two Rivers one behind the other yet he passed the first River with such speed and silence that all his Army were got over before the Enemy perceived them and afterwards though the French were all drawn up in Battalia not far from the very Banks of the second River yet he most successfully made himself Master of the Abby of Pienes on the other side and lodged his own Regiment of Dragoons in it which provoking the Enemy to march out from an advantageous post to dislodge them brought the Armies at length to a Battel wherein the Duke of Orleans found himself so hardly press'd by the Prince that his best Troops about his Person gave at one time so much way that as I have been credibly informed some persons of Note that were of his own party in that Battel reported that when Prayers and Menaces would not avail or do he had once Recourse to Sighs and Tears to make them return to the charge against the Enemy For which he could not escape the Raillery even of the King his Brother at his coming back who could not forbear smiling at his Conduct tho perhaps Lewis the 14th would have been as much frighted at the Danger had he himself been there as the other Certain it is the French much exceeded in Number and Quality of Troops having received the very night before a Re-inforcement of 15000 choice Men from the Kings own Army so that by the impartial report of the French themselves the Prince of Orange withstood that day no less than 39 Battalions of Foot and an 100 Squadron of Horse And though the loss on the Confederate side was very considerable yet several Squadrons of the Enemy were most roughly handled in so much that the Adversaries themselves scrupled not to say and own That if the Prince's left Wing had fought with equal courage to the right he might in all probability have relieved the Town and obliged the Enemy at that time to have quitted the Siege if he had not entirely routed them but a Regiment of new raised Soldiers planted or posted in that Wing were the real cause that his Highness had not all the Success in that Battel which indeed his wise Conduct
undaunted Courage and indefatigable Industry deserved However all relations agree in this That he performed all that was possible to be done with such a small Army and in such a place and juncture against such a puissant Enemy by the most Prudent Courageous and daring Leader in the whole World And that in the main Battel were he himself commanded in Person he did Wonders leading on his Men at the very head of his Troops to the Charge and hazarding himself to that degree that he received two Musket Shots in his Armour After the end of this Campagne Heaven determinating to lay the Foundation of his present Grandeur and Glory by giving a very precious Gage and Pledge of the Possession of those Crowns it intended as the due reward of his truly Royal Vertues and indefatigable pains for the weal of Christianity so influenced the heart of our late King Charles the second of England that in spight of the French Intrigues and the secret Inclinations of the then Duke of York her Father to the Contrary and to the surprisal and mortification of the French King he bestowed upon Him in sacred Marriage the no less Virtuous and Accomplished than the beauteous Princess his Niece the Presumptive Heiress of the British Monarchy an alliance of a much more dreadful prospect to the Aspiring Monsieur than the loss of all his late Conquests in Holland Flanders Brabant and elsewhere and which threatn'd France it self with an unpleasant Retaliation in due time for all her notorious Violences This illustrious Alliance was solemniz'd on the 4th day of November 1677. being the joyful Birth-day of his illustrious Highness at eleven at Night but so privately that the People not knowing till the Morrow or next Day being the Anniversary of the Gunpowder Treason made it a double Holy-day And since that he hath made it a threefold Holy-day or day of Rejoying by his most happy Landing at Tor-Bay c. as well upon the usual occasion as to testifie their Joy for so Blessed and Glorious a Match from which even then the whole Protestant Church throughout Europe began cheerfully to hope for the crushing of the Popish and French Power as if the Protestants had known by some Prophetick Instinct that Heroick Prince unfeignedly espousing their Interest as well as their religious Princess would one day become their most wellcome and glorious Deliverer and Defender and make the memorial of the famous 5th of November once more sacred and dear to them by publick Benefits no less signal than those by which it was first ennobled above the common days After which the Prince well remembring how very necessary his presence would be in Holland return'd thither with all the haste he could with his most rich and gracious Acquest that since has produced so much good to the common Cause and the benefit of the Confederates as well as of the two most potent Sea-Nations of Europe where both He and his Royal Bride were received with a Magnificence suitable to their High and august Quality and with all the expressions and Demonstrations of Joy that could be expected from a People sensible of their great Happiness in so illustrious and powerful Alliance Upon their first publick entrance into the Hague the Bridge was crowned with Garlands of Triumph and an Arch was builded through which they passed and on it was written Vxori Batavis vivat Nassovius Hector Auriaco Patriae vivat Britannica Princes And another Arch with another Motto Auriaci his Thalamis Batavis dos Regia pax est Soon after his return the French King being alarm'd at this Alliance and the consequent preparations made by the King and Parliament of England to oblige him to a just and reasonable Peace with his Neighbours he himself with all speed dispatcht away a project of Peace to Nimeguen and getting it after some Demur consented to by the States of Holland by the influence of a Party that still covertly opposed the Prince and by the discouragement the then posture of Affairs in England really gave the States occasion'd by the Disturbances raised and fomented there by the same French intrigues to prevent the dreaded effects of the late Marriage a Treaty was concluded soon after that gave some respite to our renown'd Prince for several years from his military Fatigues and wearisome Nights And now to signalize himself no less by the Prudent and advantageous reformation of abuses and regulation of things relating to the Civil State of his Countrey than he had been vigorous and successful in the maintenance and defence of its Territories but however before that work was perfectly finisht the delays and new difficulties made by the French King to sign the Treaty though according to his own proposals caused a new League to be made between the States and King of great Britain and gave the Prince opportunity once more to shew his wise Conduct and matchless Prowess against that insolent and powerful Enemy in a more glorious and successful manner than ever before and well near to have made the French King pay dearly for his over refined and ill timed Politicks with the loss of his now darling General Luxemburg's whole Army for the strong City of Mons having been long blockt and very much distress'd by the French and the Duke of Luxemburg having taken his march that way to hinder all Succours from it his Highness made haste to the Army then near the Canal of Brussells where the rest of the Confederate Forces had newly join'd the Spanish and Dutch Troops and pursuant to a resolution taken for that Effect in a council of War march with an intention to attack and dislodge Luxemburg after he was joined a little beyond Brussels with a re-inforcement of 6000 Brandenburghers and Munsterians but upon Advice of the Princes March Luxemburg quitting his Camp took up his head Quarters in the Abby of St. Denys which was a Post he thought inaccessible there being no coming at him but through Woods and Defiles surrounded with Precipices yet for all this our redoubted Prince advanced to that Abby with his left Wing and with his Right faced Casteau which the French likewise were posted in and which was as difficult to force as the other and as soon as ever he had ranged his Army he first of all drove the Enemy from a certain Hillock and then with some Canon played upon another Party of them briskly that endeavoured to maintain themselves on one side of a Cloister near St. Denys who not being able to resist the vigour of the Confederate Dragoons who drove them from their holds and mastered the Cloister whilst Adjutant General Collyers back'd by General Delvick filed his men silently and speedily through the narrow Passages and sliding with an undaunted Courage down the Precipices repulsed the Enemy in spight of all the resistance within their own lines In the very midst of which our renowned Prince with eager warmth and spirits enflamed cryed out aloud
For our Good Theodosius was always prevalent with God in Prayer And Vbi Deus ardenter invocatur victoria stat a Bona causa Therefore as Marcellinus and Claudianus Spake or Sang of this Battel we may of this Irish War c. O nimium dilecte Deo cui militat aether Et conjurati veniunt ad Classica venti At last the Irish had strongly Fortified and Barricado'd the River leading to it But notwithstanding all that Distress'd Town was Reliev'd by Major General Kirk after the Dartmouth Frigat had forced her way to it over all those Impediments and the Siege was effectually rais'd The day before which by another Strange Accident inconsiderable in it self But by the Guidance of Heaven made Instrumental to the further Mortification of our Enemies A choice Body of about 6000 Irish Commanded by one of their best Officers Major General Mackarty were defeated by about 2000 Inniskillingers by occasion of a mistake of the Word of Command among the Irish For it seems Mackarty perceiving the Courageous Inniskilling-Men Charge the Right Wing of his Irish very desperately ordered some of his Choice Men to Face to the Right and March to the Relief of their Companions but the Officer who carried the Orders mistook and Commanded the Men in stead of Facing to the Right To Face to the Right-about and so March upon which the Irish in the Rear seeing their Front look with their Faces towards them and move thought they had been running and so immediately in a Terror threw down their Arms and run away which the rest seeing run after them for Company and so were most of them cut off or Drown'd in Lough's and Bogs and Mackarty himself taken Prisoner Afterwards when Duke Schomberg went over but with a small Army of new raised Men though as it usually happens to English Armies new-raised when they first came into a strange Countrey many of our Men died and the whole Army was brought into a low condition by bad Weather Lodging and Diet nay and by their own Laziness in great part in not Hutting themselves like Men more used to War Yet the Enemies had not the Policy or Courage to make use of the many advantages they had over us in that long time that our Army was thus languishing But trifled away their opportunity in hopes of the effect of a Plot laid by some French Traitors among us which God seem'd to have permitted in order to encourage them for to flatter themselves with vain hopes and to make them pass over or slip those other seasonable and likely opportunities they had to have destroyed us Would they have been contented to use fair Force rather than Treachery odious to God and Man But to pass by all those lesser events and hasten to the main Action in which His Gracious Majesty was present And which gave the Great Turn of the Scale towards the Reducing of that Kingdom The next year being 1690 His Majesty King William being fully resolv'd to push the Irish War to an end or fall in the Attempt that so he might have liberty solely and wholly next year against his Capital Enemy the French Tyrant who had brought so many Miseries upon all Europe and had occasion'd all the Misfortunes of his Deluded Ally King James and having by the Death of Dundee supprest in great measure the Insurrection or Stirs in Scotland left Kensington the 4th of June 1690 and Embarking at Highlake on the 12th arriv'd on the 14th safely at Carrickfergus And on the 27th of June following assembled a Royal Army of about 36000 as Brave Men as Europe or the World could shew of English Dutch Danes Germans and French provided as well with all Necessaries both for the Mouth and War as could be desired So much of Life and Circumspection had his Excellent Majesty's Presence given to all Needful Orders for that purpose When he was arrived at his Army he was continually in action and observing the Goodness of the Countrey as he rid along he admired the Fertility of its foil and pleasing Aspect of its Landskips and said it was well worth fighting for And now understanding that the Irish Army was retired over the Boyn He Marched with all speed and diligence after them And being advanced near the River hard by a Pass called Old-Bridge he was so Adventurous as to stand on the side of a Bank within Musquet-shot of the Ford to observe the posture of His Enemies Which though he saw well-fenced and a River not easily passable and that was well-fortified with Canon and other strong Defences against him Yet knowing that the safety of Europe in great Measure at that Juncture depended upon some bold Master Stroke in that Countrey without which all that he had hitherto done and ventured for our Rescue and Security would be but lost He resolv'd therefore to venture through all Difficulties whatsoever obeying the Great Call of Providence rather than that so Noble and Happy a Revolution should fail for want of Courage in him Who is acknowledged by his Enemies to be a Prince of no small Spirit and Valour and had made it appear to the World in all the Course of His Life After he had with those Intentions viewed them a while he was pleased to sit down on the Ground to Refresh himself which some Principal Persons of the Enemies side having observed they caused a small Party of Horse to advance flowly upon a Plowed Field over against where His Majesty was and slily to drop two Field-pieces undiscover'd by a Hedge in the same Field and so retired leaving only some Gunners to Manage them who lay sculking still and quiet till His Majesty was Re-mounted and Dreaming of no Danger at all was Riding softly back again But then the Rogues Fired furiously and at the first shot killed two Horses and a Man about 100 yards from the King and at the second had like to have given a very fatal Stroke both to these Kingdoms and the whole Confederacy by Quenching the Light Joy and Hope of our Israel the Bullet Grasing upon the Bank of the River and thence Rising towards the King with a slanting Motion glanced over His Right Shoulder taking off a Piece of His Coat Tore part of the King 's Anointed Body But being turn'd off short by the hand of some Guardian-Angel Commission'd by the Lord Jehovah touched not His Precious Life nor so much as gave him any wound grievous enough to hinder Him from continuing with His Army and Ordering the Remarkable Action that soon followed For as soon as he had changed His Coat and had His Wound dressed He spent the most part of the remainder of that Day in Disposing His whole Army for the next day's Work and then on the Morrow being Tuesday the first of July following early in the Morning with full Trust in the Protection of the Lord of Hosts Himself which He had found so signally attended His Royal and Sacred Person He very
Army of about 24000 strong towards the Country of Leige in order to fight or at least to remove the French Army there under the Count de Duras from the Quarters about the Meuse in which expedition he had such remarkable Success that though his Army was composed of several Nations and that his March was in the very depth of Winter into an Enemies Country and along very bad ways yet he effectually removed that older and more experienc'd General Duras out of his Post or rather strong hold and hunted him up and down as a Partridge till he retired to Stassemburgh Terrified two strong Garrisons to the purpose and then return'd with the Prisoners and Booty of two fortified places and all this was acted in the space of nine daies with very inconsiderable or no loss of his own Men besides the terrour he at the same time struck in the Bishop-Elector of Cologne who thought himself secure neither at Bonne nor any other part of his Dominions so long as so very active and vigilant a Chieftain as our Prince was quarter'd with his whole Army thus near to him After this having repuls'd the Duke of Luxemburg who at that time by favour of the Ice and Frost had made an incursion into Holland towards the City and University of Leyden in which Parts and the adjacent Villages he had made no small Havock nor committed little Spoil and Barbarity these devastations of a Country being the peculiar pleasures of his Disposition which is no less crooked than his deform'd Aesopian Body and forc'd him to retire in all hast with the loss of above six hundred Men and no small hazard of his own Life Moreover he most happily and withall very expeditiously recover'd from the Bishop of Munster then leagued with the French the strong and well fortified City of Coevorden accounted by those who pretend skill therein one of the noblest pieces of Portification in all the Low Countries which place had fallen into the hands of that Bishop not long before by Treachery But now was regain'd with such astonishing Valour and surprizing Gallantry together with most signal Concurrence of the Divine Providence that though it formerly repuls'd Verdugo the Spanish General after a fruitless Siege of one and thirty weeks and was now at this time well furnisht and stored by the Bishop of Munster with an exceeding great Magazin of all sorts of Provisions for the Mouth as well as Ammunition and Artillery for Defence Nay he had in it even then a Garrison of nine hundred effective Soldiers yet was it in one hours time Storm'd and retaken by a party only of nine hundred and sixty with the loss only of sixty of the Assailants as the History of those Wars most plainly demonstrates Whereas quite contrary to what happens almost in all other Seiges there was slain one hundred and fifty of the Defendants besides Officers and four hundred and thirty taken Prisoners among whom also were many Officers the rest escaping out of the Town when they perceived that it was absolutely lost The consequence of the regaining this important Place was so exceeding great as to cast the Enemies then very much down and put them into such a dreadfull Consternation that presently after that they deserted several of their Garrisons even upon the first news of it and dispers'd themselves here and there every man being glad to shift for himself Whereas on the contrary it redounded so very much unto the Reputation of our illustrious Prince and so exceedingly enhans'd his Estimation and Honour among all sorts of People in Holland and the united Provinces that finding such a continued and unexpected Advancement such a happy chain of good Successes and withall so very prosperous an Alteration to happen upon his illustrious Highnesses being advanced to the supream Management of their Affairs they could not but attribute them to the visible Benediction of the most righteous Jehovah upon the justice they had so lately done to the most ancient and warlike Progeny of their first and chiefest Founders and without any Flattery greatest Benefactors and upon the most diligent and vigorous Efforts of that Courageous and prudent Prince whose Noble and Divine Talent they had sometime despised and set at nought nay they themselves cannot deny but that they were most grosly ignorant of his enestimable worth like the Cock in the Fable of his precious Gemm till angry and provoked Heaven by very amazing Judgments rouz'd them up to distinguish and employ his Royal Virtues and most noble Accomplishments Neither was he less happy in conquering Domestick Jarrs and Differences than foreign Foes but gave the World a most important proof of the mighty Effects of that sparkling golden Authority that is gain'd over the very hearts of Men by Sweetness and Moderation and of that grand Awe Majesty and Reverence that is so deeply impress'd and inculcated by an unfeigned Affection or undissembled Love For when the mortal Feuds and Dissentions between the old and new Magistrates of Friezland were grown to that prodigious height and degree that representing the Sovereignty of that Province they held then separate distinct Assemblies and gave contrary Orders each to other to the very imminent danger of the publick at the same time and would in no wise suffer themselves to be reduced into any good Order neither by the Governour of Friezland nor his Mother yet upon the very arrival of the Commissioners dispatcht to them by the Prince of Orange those heats were suddenly dissipated and the Breaches made up again and the whole Province soon restored to its former Vnity and Love And afterwards going himself in Person to pacifie the growing differences in Zealand He no sooner appeared in the Assembly of their States at Middleburg but their Dissentions assoon vanisht away like a smoaky vapour in the Air and all things thereupon were suddenly resettled for the defence and safety of the Country to the full and general content and satisfaction of all Persons and his illustrious Highness's very great Praise and Glory By these Beginnings having now given the World sufficient Proofs of his great Capacity in the Art of Civil as well as of Military Conduct and Policy He was called daily to greater and more glorious Actions and Atchievements For not only his own Country-men but even Foreign Princes after this being so fully satisfied of his most incomparable Abilities that they scrupled not in the least to intrust Him with the sole command of their Armies and to adventure them and their Fortunes at Stake in his most victorious and successful hands Neither can it be possibly instanc'd that ever he deceived their Hopes or that kind Providence ever failed his Rocky and firm expectations in any occasions were a full confidence was wholly repos'd in Him and that he was well seconded by his Allies We shall only touch briefly upon some of the most important of the rest of his glorious Atchievements passing by all lesser Occurrences and
to me to me to encourage the coming up of the Regiments that were to back the foremost this fight on the left Wing continued till night with a great vigour besides which Count Horn drew near and played with his Canon upon some French Batallions in the Valley with no small Execution From thence the Prince advanced to Casteau which was Assaulted by the Spaniards in the Right Wing where his Highnesses Foot Regiment of Guards and a Body of English through Fire and Smoak after an obstinate Fight of Five hours Chased the Enemy at last from a Post they thought altogether impregnable and pursued them a Quarter of a League through a Field and down a Precipice where the River Haines runs toward the farther side of Casteau And our brave Lord of Ossory did surprising things with his English at a little distance from the Guards where the French are said to have lost more Men than any where else Nor were there any other of the Generals that acted not like Heroes But more especially the undaunted Prince who through whole showers of Bullets thick as Hail and Clouds of Fire and Smoak adventured so very far and press'd on with so much vigour in the Crowds that he had been in all appearance slain had not the brave Lord Overkirk interposed between him and a daring Captain that was running full tilt at his Highness and laid the bold Champion in the silent Dust for his attempt The Cavalry in this Fight had no convenience to be serviceable because of the Narrowness of the Passages and steep Descents of the Ground but all was acted by the Foot and Dragoons The Night alone put a period to the Bloody Fray and parted the Furious Assaults of each Valiant Captain under the Covert of which the poor Surprised and Astonished Luxemburg retreated with silence and extream Confusion nearer to Mons to secure himself between a Wood on one side and a River on the other leaving to the Prince of Orange the Marks of Victory as the Field of Battel and most part of his wounded Men and part of his Tents Baggage and Match Powder and Ammunition The States-General on the News of this Fortunate Blow to such a proud and fierce Enemy sent Commissioners to his Illustrious Highness to Congratulate his happy Victory which he had won with so much Renown and to thank him for his most Careful and Prudent Conduct in such a long Bloody and Obstinate Action and also to Conjure him in tender Consideration to the Prosperity and Tranquility of his Country and Wellfare of the Reform'd Religion which seem'd as 't were to be tied to the thread of his precious Life that he would be more careful of his own most dear Person And accordingly to shew the World how great a value they set upon his Preservation they presented the Lord Overkirk who had so Valiantly Defended him and saved his highly esteemed Life with a Rich Sword hilted with Massie-Gold a pair of Pistols Richly and Curiously Inlay'd with Gold and a pair of Horse-Buckles of the very same Nor had our brave Prince contented himself only to have obliged Luxemburg to retire without further pursuing his Advantages had not he whilst he was consulting what to do Received Advice That the Peace was really made and Ratified between the French King and the States some days since which made the French draw off to the Sambre and the Prince towards Nivelle from whence he returned to the Hague applying his Care thence forward solely to the Management of the Civil Government till the breaking out of this last Perfidious War upon Occasion of the Manifest violation of both the said Peace and Succeeding Truce by the most Unjust Violences of the French and their Grand Barbarities Renewed in the Palatinate and the Diocess of Cologne and by the Siege and Surprisal of Phillipsburg But that which advances the Mighty and Glorious Atchievements of this now most excellent Monarch to a pitch of Glory and Greatness above those of any other Heroe of this present Age or perhaps of any former is that he has given such Convincing Proofs and Undenyable Testimonies to the whole World of their flowing merely from a pure and untainted Principle of zeal to his Countrey to true Religion Virtue and the Publick Good That he has left neither Friends nor Enemies any room to doubt of it or call it in Question since in the very lowest Ebb of his Fortune neither the multiplyed and insulting Injuries and repeated Affronts of an Ungrateful Countrey Nor the small prospect he had of saving even his Patrimonial Estate any other way nor all the fair ample and magnificent Promises of two Mighty Kings could make him accept of Grandeur at the Expence of the Liberty and Privileges though of a very unthankful People that had sometime stript him of his Ancient Hereditary Rights and Dignities and since no Motives at all could possibly prevail with him to accept of Soveraignty in a Free-State that his Glorious and Renowned Ancestors made and himself found so Neither from the full Grant of a Conquering Invader Nor yet from the Free Donation of the People themselves And though the French Tyrant even since the Peace of Nimeguen and the following Truce and before the breaking out or eruption of this last War most contrary to the express Treaty very Notoriously oppress'd spoiled and ravaged not only his Soveraign Principality of Orange but all his other Lands and Lordships Dominions and Privileges in the Netherlands and elsewhere yet such was his Princely Mindedness and Patience that he did never move the States into any New quarrel to redress his own wrongs Nor so much as put them upon proposing any New Articles in his particular Cause or Favour Even at the very making of the Peace though all the Transactions of it were managed in his Presence and his Advice still asked about them Yet I say such was his goodness never did he insist upon any peculiar Articles to be inserted for himself That might be thought peradventure to retard the Conclusion of a Treaty but with a Generosity without and beyond all Example while others preferr'd points of Honour and private Interest before the Common Peace and Good He even Quitted his own Pretensions and Postpon'd the most Just Demands of Reparation for the Devastation of his own proper Demeans and Territories to the Necessities of his Countrey like another Codrus in some sense laying down his Prerogatives and Privileges for their Benefit and Jeoparding his own Life for their Good And what is said of that Noble Consul Publius Decius may well be applyed to him who when he saw his Army greatly discomfited and almost Overcome redoubled his Valour Courage and was most ready and willing to hazard his own precious Life to save his Countrey from danger and destruction How exceeding happy were it for their People if all Princes and how wonderful happy for all Princes if all private Persons were but half so publick-spirited
Stratagems laid against the Rights of those Dear and Heaven-beloved Princes the hope of the Protestant Church throughout Christendom as well as against their own present Civil and Religious Liberties and especially receiving perfect intelligence of the whole process of that Imposture of putting upon them now a Supposititious Heir and had not King James himself and his too precipitate Councellors taken very much pains to convince them that the Spanish Intelligence was very true to a Tittle in all particulars and had not the League with France to destroy Holland and the manifest steps made then by our Court towards its Execution beyond all Contradiction demonstrated to them that such Chains were of a truth prepared for them as would not be of a few years continance but would be very lasting and impossible to be shaken off if once wholy put on And that they were just going to be thrown about their necks if not prevented without further dallying in that very Nick of time For at the same time a pretended Prince of Wales was started up they found their Pillars of the Church namely the Reverend Bishops and the main Body of their Clergy fiercely attack'd Ireland and the Protestants there put wholly under Despotick Power Arbitrary Dispositions and the merciless Mercy of cruel implacable Irish Papists Scotland wholly subjected allready under an open faced Despotick Authority the brave English Protestant Nobility those Ornaments of our Kingdom for the most part slighted and their Sage advices not at all heeded in Council but all ruled by a Popish French Cabal headed by P. Petres and Mr. Barillon and all Church of England-men already displaced or going to be removed not only from Civil Employments but as we have shew'd from Military ones too both in the Fleet and Army and when the Army it self which was to have back'd all these proceedings saw that for only opposing the foisting in of Irish and French Papists among them their most Eminent Captains and Officers though highly deserving in the late time of need against the Duke of Monmouth were treated no better than the Bishops That the illustrious Princess Ann of Denmark her self was so imperiously and disdainfully handled and neither she nor any Person from their Serene Highness's the Prince and Princess of Orange though so very highly concern'd suffered to be present at the Birth of the pretended Prince of Wales But that on the contrary War was plainly preparing against the Hollander in pretence forsooth but in reality and indeed against the precious Persons of the Prince and Princess of Orange whom they lookt upon at least as their Sovereigns in Reversion and that they were to be sent over Seas they knew not where to fight French and Popish Quarrels never more to return whilst their places were to be supplyed here by French and Irish and other Popish Forces I say when the Army saw themselves thus treated and were convinced there were further designs laid as deeply and maliciously against them as against any other body of men in the three Kingdoms and saw an Image of their future fate by what they beheld already done to the late standing Army in Ireland and to some of the best of their own Officers and when they saw they began already to be distrusted and yet that the Court had gone so far in the affairs of the Bishops and the body of the Church of England both Clergy and Gentry that in all appearance the Lawyers having refused to do them the Justice pretended in the Tryal of the Right Reverend Prelates they would now have recourse to a French Army assoon as ever they had seen but a good part of the present one gone away and the Post new Modell'd They viz. the English Army readily concurr'd with the rest of the Nation that is to say Those of the Clergy Nobility and Gentry in sending intentionally if not actually to the Heroick Prince of Orange to come and immediately under the Lord of Hosts to undertake their Relief and Deliverance and thus a good part even of the whole Nation and of the Army and Fleet too even by the very proceedings of their Enemies though much contrary to their Intentions disposed to wish success to the most generous undertaking of our modern CONSTANTINE who in Compliance with their hearty desires and the powerful Call of Self-preservation as well as the Defence of his own Rights with the zealous Assistance of the States of Holland and of the most Serene Prince the Elector of Brandenburg and some other generous Allies provided a brave Fleet consisting of Sixty five Men of War five hundred Fly-boates ten fire Ships sixty Pinks and as many Scheling Boats c. A good Army to be before hand with the French and their Creatures in England too set sail in the midst of Winter from the Brill and whilst he was coming and after his first Landing was still further favour'd by the following Actions and Behaviour of his Enemies I. For upon the News of his Highness's intended coming King James to augment his Army sending for considerable Numbers of the Irish Papists and some Scotch Highlanders and visibly shewing more confidence in them than in his own Native English made an end perfectly of alienating the hearts of his English Army from him and gave them most just grounds to fix their affections on the expected and blessed Prince the hope of England's best People nay caused thém now to believe entirely all that had been told them of the late King James and his Jesuits Designs and Frenchified Priests Intrigues against them II. When our mighty Prince had set sail the first time and was repuls'd by a grievous Tempest the good Providence of the Lord turn'd even that to his Advantage for having had the Prudence to publish in the Harlaem and Amsterdams Convent that his losses and detriment by that grievous Tempest were greater much than they in reallity were And making a face of things as if his grand Design was thereby quite balked it was very eagerly and readily believed especially by the Court Cabal of Jesuits and Priests nay they imagined them still greater than was reported and thereupon became so very secure in their own thoughts that they concluded all danger past and thereby still more and more alarm'd the whole Nation and kept their inclinations the more firm and close unto their Great and Heaven inspired Deliverer For that hot headed party now as openly bragg'd in every Coffee-house that God had defeated the Hereticks and that the Noise of that Expedition had only given the King a fair opportunity to increase his Army wherewith he would now make himself Absolute and by the help of them and the French together chastice the proud Bishops as they foolishly call'd them and the whole Church of England and their Abettors the Lawyers too rout out the daring Prince out of the Netherlands and exterminate the States of Holland as an unsufferable President of prosperous Rebellion and of pernicious
forced a while to stay on this side the Seas till Matters in the Two Kingdoms of England and Scotland were so composed that it might not be unsafe to leave them And so could not appear for some time in Action against the Common Enemy Yet he defeated the Gallick Tyrant of his Two great Expectations viz. 1. Of seeing the Force of England once more turn'd against Holland And 2dly Of seeing a Civil War ensue in England which might give him a fair opportunity under pretence of Assisting King James of throwing in such a Force that might in the sequel Enslave us all Which disappointment made the Monsieur to fret in his Grease to think that by his neglecting when time was to Alarm the Dutch Frontiers with his Army he had thereby given scope to his most dangerous Enemy to take free and full possession without hardly any Resistance on the Kingdoms of his most Devoted and Powerful Ally and now at best he could no way possible divert him from turning his Force directly against France but by Fomenting a War in Ireland which would be more difficult and expensive to him to maintain at that Distance than to King William Yet still he had Giant-like hope to keep him in play at least some years till the Confederates should be wearied out on the other side and he might by that means retrieve all again in England and Re-establish his Ally King James with the higher hand But even here too Providence deceiv'd him and did that Work as it had done the others before For our Victorious King William much Quicklier and by more effectual and successful Means than our Great Heroe himself or any of us all did or could in Humane Reason or Prudence expect But though the Almighty Creator was pleased generally to give a most surprizing Success to all that our truly Pious and Valiant King enterprized in Person Yet least those Prosperities should lift up our hearts too high and make us Attribute too much to our own Strength they were allayed by some Rubs in some other Rancounters where His Majesty was not nor could be present As were sufficient to convince us That though God did indeed favour the Just Cause and Well-intended Designs of our Gracious Prince whom His own Arm had placed over us Yet he was still Angry both with us and our Allies since neither their nor our Arms were ever observ'd to prosper so well under any other Chieftain as that Great Prince whose Exemplary Vertues we might as safely Imitate as His Civil and Warlike Qualifications England 't is true had now by this time excepting a very inconsiderable and disarm'd Party unanimously Ranged it self under the Willing Obedience of Their present Majesties happy Government But Scotland was still disturb'd by the Influence of the late Viscount Dundee And poor Irelrnd was in a manner totally under the Enemies Power and provided with such an Army of Disciplin'd Natives â—nd so well-furnish'd with Warlike Necessaries and Officers from France that it perhaps could never boast the like and they seem'd at least irrecoverably to have Rent that Kingdom from the English Empire When it pleased Allmighty God to animate a handful of Men inconsiderable for all things but Undaunted Courage and Zeal to their Religion and Ancient Liberties when all the rest of the Kingdom was already Subjected to shut their Gates against a Power which then ruled every where else about them And even at a time when they could have little or no hope of Relief from England or elsewhere vigorously to Defend a Town but meanly Fortified and worse Provided with a kind of Supernatural and Wonderful Valour against a Numerous and Well-furnisht Army headed by their King himself and able General-Officers from France Renown'd for their Conduct and to hold it out against all Disadvantages to the Amazement of the Whole World till Relief though very strangely by many causes delayed much longer than 't was thought possible they could stay for it was brought them and by that means a Way open'd to deliver that very Kingdom from the Oppressours when they thought themselves most secure and firmly Posted And indeed whosoever well considers the Vigorous Actions of the Men of Derry and of those of Inniskilling who took Arms about the same time cannot but think they were influenc'd by something more than Humane Courage Whilst their Enemies at the same time were not only Infatuated in their Councils but palled in their Valour though they had some very good Troops among them both English Scotch and French by the unexpected daring Magnanimity of a few true Zealots for Religion and Liberty whom looking upon as Desperado's they durst not fight with and yet were as much afraid to let alone They were Infatuated I say in their Counsels For by the very best Relations it appears That if they had Besieged Derry with their whole Army and employed their best Disciplin'd and most Warlike Troops to make the Attacks they might easily have taken it before any succour had come Or if they had altogether let it alone or contenting themselves only with keeping a Blockade before it and had sent a good part of their Army into Scotland to the Assistance of the late Viscount Dundee who was a Commander both of Courage and Conduct and who had by his Great Interest in the Highlands and other parts Raised no despicable Opposition against the Government I say 'T was the sense of very Understanding Men as well of our Own as the Enemies side That if they had in stead of Amusing themselves before Derry sent Timely Assistance to Dundee as he often and earnestly press'd the Lord Melfort they had at least removed the Seat of the War out of their own Countrey and found so much Work for King William nearer home that it had been impracticable for Him to send any Succours at least that year to the Protestants any where in Ireland So that Derry and the Iniskillingers too must needs have been Reduced at last of Course and by Necessity with little or no Fighting But some of the Irish Officers forsooth must needs in their profound Wisdom Advise the late King James to a Medium by making a slow and regular Siege with his worst Troops under pretence of teaching these Men to be better Soldiers thereby till by it he quite balkt and spoiled his poor Teagues at first dash and lost his Opportunity of Assisting so brave a Servant as Dundee was and carrying the War into Scotland if not into England it self Which must be confess'd by all sober Christians was another Instance how the Divine Providence as it had begun so continued still to Over-rule the Actions and Councils of the Enemies of our Blessed Joshua and Mighty Deliverer and to make them all Contribute to the Accomplishment of that Great and Glorious Work it design'd by him in such a Manner that the Finger of God might appear in it of more clear efficacy than the Power and Policy of Man
Correspondents of those two Roman Catholick Kings and by telling them what Sea-officers they had gain'd and how generally the English Sea-men were alienated from their Majesties King William and Queen Mary for want of Pay c. which perswaded them to send Express Orders to their Fleet though scarce 50 Sail of Capital Ships without staying for their Tholoun Squadron to fall upon ours which was much superiour in Number and much more in Quality of Experienc'd and Courageous Officers and Seamen which proved an almost incurable Blow to their power at Sea and dasht all their Projects upon England into pieces losing them 25 of their biggest Ships some thousands of their best Sea-men and particularly their gawdy Sea Idol the Golden Sun that had been the work of twenty years and had cost more than the Revenues of some Kingdoms which was Sacrified to the Flames in a few Minutes as an earnest perhaps of the Future Fate of that presumptuous Phaaeton its Master who so injuriously to the Bright Sun in the Firmament and its most glorious maker has so long usurp'd the Title and Character of the Sun though like the youngster he imitates he has been Famous for nothing but setting the World in a consuming Blaze and laying stately Palaces and Cities into ruinous heaps And lastly as for the Plots against both Their Sacred Majesties Royal Persons which had they succeeded had proved more fatal to these Kingdoms nay to the Common Interest of Europe than all the rest Can we pretend to have detected them by any foresight of ours If any of us do it is more than I am confident Their Majesties themselves will who thankfully own that even when they thought of no such matter the Execrable Design and Diabolical Plot against His Majesties Royal Person was very Providentially Discovered by one of the Accomplices I pray Who detected it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the All-seeing-Eye and Searcher of the Heart when 't was so very nigh its Execution That it strikes a Great Horrour in good and honest Men and makes my hands to shake and joynts to tremble but to think of it So that the French Nero had some reason to brag his Measures were so surely laid that none but Almighty God could defeat them For I conceive 't is plain and without Controversie That none but the Almighty Being could Mollifie one of those Obdurate Sons of Violence and bring him to so much Remorse or Compunction as generously to detect his Comrade in Iniquity Who to the shame and eternal Ignominy of that Grand Engine of Satan the French Tyrant sufficiently proved by his Chief Minister of State 's own Hand who set them on Work And had not this Discovery so closely laid as 't was been timely made Alas What would our Fleets or Armies have signified but to Contribute the more to our Swift Destruction by the Mutual Jealousies and Divisions attended with Confusion that would have ensued among them upon so very Dismal an Accident The same Providence is no less Remarkable in the Detection of the other Plot against our Vertuous and Pious Queen and the Government here Yet so very Gracious and Merciful have their Majesties been even to a kind of Crime That none but their Princely Hearts would Pardon c. That none but Granvale himself that Hell-hound who was to have Assassinated our Sovereign King William was Executed for all these Horrid Contrivances And therefore as we are in Duty bound to Pray So we may with Assurance hope from thence That those Darlings of Heaven who are so very averse to all Cruelty will never fall by it But that the Angel of the Lord will still Encamp round about their Sacred Persons to Protect them from all Dangers c. Thus all these Four Fine Projects to the Great Grief of that False Court were rendred Abortive by the Care of Heaven However the French King what by the help of his Golden Lewisses and Intestine Treachery And the unseasonableness of the Weather hindring our Great Prince from approaching to Attack him took Namur God not being willing perhaps to destroy this Grand Enemy of His Truth and Peace at once for Reasons known to himself but to let this Proud Pharaoh have some encouragement still to venture upon some other Enterprise till the Harvest of his Abominations is full ripe for the Sickle and to make his final Ruine and Destruction so much the more Remarkable as it is longer deferr'd However that very same year at the ensuing Battel of Steenkirk Our Heroical King shewed Monsieur Lewis's General Luxemburg That neither Hedges nor Ditches or any other Fences were always sufficient Obstacles against True Valour once Resolv'd and fully Provoked and made the French feel that day that He was Born on Purpose to be a Scourge to their Insolence and beat down their Pride Since with but a part of His Army he had put them so much in danger of a Total Defeat that had not some Accidents or Mistakes hindred the coming up of the rest of the Confederate Forces the Date of the Greatness of Lewis the XIVth had in all probability Expired with the end of that fierce and Bloody Battel Which by the loss of so many Officers Nobility and Gentry as were there slain made the Drapers of Paris regain no inconsiderable part of the loss of Trade they had suffered by the War and secretly Sing Jubilate to the Courageous King William of Great Britain their Benefactor whilst their Lordly Customers Sung a Melancholick De profundis Neither was Providence in this hot Action one of the Bloodiest and Fiercest since the War less mindful of His Majesties Royal Person so dear to a Multitude of Nations than it had been upon all other Occasions tho he was exposed to the continual Fire both of the Great and Small Shot of the Enemies and was as deeply as any Engaged in the Warmest part of the Medley from the Beginning to the end And now His Majesty with a Victorious Navy and more Powerful Army than ever yet already â—â—usht in French Blood and Fired with Indignation because they were last time so unluckily Robb'd of their Victory that was before them had not some of the Confederates made a False Step is Prepared once more to March against the same Enemies and to Attack them briskly in their most sensible part even in their own Countrey of whose Heroical proceedings if any Prognosticks may be made without offending the Most High God I think in Humane probability we may promise our selves all prosperous Success if the National Crying Sins do not hinder it since Providence has already been pleased to give us some Earnests and Pledges of the Continuance of her usual Favours that seem to me to Promise Greater Prosperity than ever to our Mighty Monarch's Vigorous Endeavours for the Common Good Since the Monsieurs have been terribly baffled at Rhineberg by the Excessive Rains that gave time for Succours to advance and the Troops of Hesse to come up And the rest of their Winter-Work in Flanders has been utterly spoiled by the sudden and Prodigious fall of the late Snows And their Detestable Plots the one upon Piedmont and the other upon the Spanish Fleet in the Post of Naples most strangely discover'd just in the Nick of Time The one by false steps of some of the Plotters and the other as we hear and are inform'd by Advice from the Pope Himself as much Frenchified as some report him to be but six bare hours before the French Squadron appeared there And their Mediterranean Fleet almost as roughly handled and as much Damag'd by another late Dreadful Tempest as 't was the last year by our English Navy being now driven back again in a very ill Plight to Thoulon Where it must Refit before it can Rejoyn their Fleet in the Ocean to the Great Retarding and I Hope and Pray to the Total Defeating of their Principal Designs at Sea this year And their Land-Forces are in such ill-plight by the Foresaid Disappointments that through God's Mercy to these Nations they never were so backward in the Field as now And therefore having lost the Sole Advantage almost they had always over us of taking Places as well as the Field before us We may justly hope that the French Pharaoh and his Armies are near an Overthrow and their Prosperities not far from a Period And that the Eternal God whose Eyes run too and fro throughout the whole Earth will still be pleased to shew Himself Strong in the Behalf of our Gracious King whose Heart no doubt is perfect towards Him and make all His Noble Enterprizes to Succeed till He hath once more added the Ancient Crown of France to the Three British Ones which He already has Given Him Or at least that God of His Great Goodness will lower it so that it may pay Due Homage to England again And be out of a Condition any more to Disturb the Tranquility of God's Church and the Civil State of Europe GOD Save KING WILLIAM And QUEEN MARY AMEN FINIS
Memory after having furmounted numbers of sundry Obstacles thought indeed to be insurmountable and with a prodigious and undaunted Resolution Conduct Prudence and Constancy laid the Foundations of a flourishing Republick that now sends forth Ambassadors daily upon equal terms to the most puissant Kings in the habitable part of the Earth and even to the King of Spain himself who accepts the alliance and assistance of those his quondam Subjects whom not content to rule as such his haughty and impolitick Progenitors sometime treated as Slaves and Abjects And how his Warlike Great and Famous Uncles and Grand-fathers by the continued course of their Victories fixt and established the dear-bought liberty and greatness of their Country by the hazard of their Lives and Fortunes and the vast expence of their Treasures is amply set forth by many florid and learned Pens Nor have even the Writers of their very Enemies side been able to be silent of their Praises and noble Acts so manifest to the whole World And therefore we judge it altogether superfluous to say any more here on this Subject Nam Genus proavos quae non fecimus ipsi Vix ea nostra voco Our main and chief design in this small 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being only to show how our present illustrious Prince after that he had no less miraculously retrieved not only the very Being but even the prosperity and greatness of the same State when through the Treachery and sottish negligence of its then Governours it seem'd as t' were to the World's eye to be tumbled down to the very Foundations and laid all in Rubbish by the thundring and surpassing fury of a more powerful Monarch than the former Roboam of Spain has still providentially advanced by most glorious and successfull steps against that formidable and too much prevailing Nero of the West and alone given life to almost if not all the efforts that have been made against his uncontrollable power which else would like an irresistible Tyde or Sea where the Banks are broken down have deluged even all Europe And how at length in recompence of so many hard Toils and Perils of his precious Life for the Publick Good the almighty Lord of Battels particularly for the glory of his holy Name and the well-fare of his suffering Church hath by a series of Providences more wonderfull than all the rest exalted Him to a station that 's above many of his noble Ancestors and placed Him on the Sovereign Throne of the most Military and Formidable Kingdoms of the West and bestowed upon him yearly still new and fresh earnests or specimens of his having really elected Him to compleat like the great Constantine whose Sovereign power likewise had its first rise in the warlike British Isles the full deliverance of his oppressed Children and the Re-erection of his Church in a Triumphant State both of Purity and Prospirity by at least the crushing under if not the utter subversion of that Babilonish Power and Authority which has been so long the Bar which letteth the growth of the Truth of the Gospel and the right understanding of the great Mysteries of Godliness as well as the Plague and Terrour of all quiet and peaceable Christians This glorious Prince I say as if indeed God of his great Mercy and Goodness had removed all humane Tutelage and Protection on mere purpose that he might shew us and all the World that he himself took Him under his own immediate and peculiar care and Guardianship as a mighty Heroe by whom he graciously intended to work or bring to pass some Signal and Extraordinary Deliverances to his own Israel was most unhappily deprived of his Father a Prince of a truth of most hopeful and surpassing Courage Prudence Piety and all other very noble Endowments even before he was brought forth into the World Being taken off by that common Distemper the Small Pox in the very Spring of his Days or flower of his Age being but twenty four years Old when he died And our blessed Prince coming into the World not till some few days after his renowned Father's decease viz. on the fourth of November Anno 1650. He was verily observed in his tender Years or youthful Days to discover a Discretion Moderation sweetness of Temper and a Reservedness much beyond or above his Age. And his Prudence Valour and other Princely Virtues increasing daily with his Stature He gave his Relatives and Friends as well as those about him all the Appearances of an extraordinary share of Courage Conduct and all other Dispositions that could possibly be desired in a Prince in order to qualifie him As for an affectionate Father so also for a most powerful Defender of his Rights and Country And it is most peculiarly observable that though God hath permitted sundry mighty endeavours to have been made by Domestick Factions even from his very Cradle in order to have opprest his growing Greatness and several horrid and execrable Plots and Devices to have been carried on with great Secresie both by them and the Intrigues of Foreign Princes to defeat his grand Designs and to bereave him of his most Just Lawful and Hereditary Rights and Honours or of his precious Life it self Yet still thanks be to God for it and adored be his holy Name the many oppositions and hellish Machinations of his implacable and undeserv'd Enemies have been by good Providence made to serve even against their original intention only to his far greater Glory and Exaltation causing his noble Virtues to be more seen in the World as the Stars shine brightest in the darkest night For though the Faction of Barnevelt continued and upheld afterwards by the De-wits prevail'd upon the States General in those daies most ungratefully and ungenerously to deprive our accomplisht young Prince of all his Hereditary Dignities and Employments yet at the same time they thus took care to depress the Prince they were so infatuated and blinded with inveterate malice against him that they minded not at all to what Dangers they then exposed their State or Country To which end they committed the greatest Blunders imaginable in Politicks for after the Peace of Munster foolishly believing they had no more Enemies to fear but the Ancient and Warlike House of Nassau whose greatness they conjectured if not timely depress'd would be a perpetual Obstacle to their unjust and ambitious designs of grasping the Government entirely into their own hands they therefore rashly and without any consideration disbanded all their hardy Veteran Forces and well experienced Commanders by whose valour and hard toil their Country had been raised to that flourishing condition it was then in only for that very reason because they looked upon them as too much affected to his Highness the Prince of Orange and this was done too without the least care to procure or provide any other old experienc'd Troops in their Room Moreover they gave the chiefest Employments in their Armies and Garrisons at that
time to the Sons of Burgher-Masters or Deputies of Cities that were very raw and not well experienced in Martial Discipline being most of them such as had never seen the face of an Enemy in the Field and so as unfit to Command as to Obey By which means it shortly came to pass that when they were afterwards contrary to their vain hopes invaded by a very subtil and powerfull Enemy even whole Cities and Towns though of a truth some of them were both Naturally 〈…〉 â—â—â—â—ally well Fortified Stored 〈…〉 with numerous Garrisons 〈…〉 or five thousand Men a piece besides Horse proportionable yet yielded up even without the least opposition upon the first appearance or summons of the Enemy not so much as striking a stroak or firing one Gun against them And thus Faction and cursed Self-interest with private Ambition having reduced that but very lately flourishing Republick to the very brink of ruin and destruction It gave the sore affrighted People of that Country a fair opportunity for to see plainly into what dreadful Dangers or Quick-sands their new Hair-brain'd Governours which were but of Yesterday and knew nothing out of mere Spight and Malice to an Ancient and very illustrious Family were now driving them and their late happy Common-wealth and so inspired them with Boldness as well as Fore-sight at this time to apply a seasonable and fit remedy by the quick destruction of those notorious Domestick Vsurpers who had been the real occasion thereof and intrusting Him again with the recovery of their very much shattered and lost State who was the true genuine Issue of its first glorious and fortunate Founders and by sacrificing his most ungrateful Enemies to the very angry and inraged genius of the poor injured Country Neither can it be fairly denied but that the French King even Lewis the 14th himself as great and mortal Enemy as he is to our renown'd King William yet notwithstanding by Gods over ruling Providence as he hath done since to that in England did though the World knows most contrary to his own Inclination and Intention contribute as much or more to that first Revolution in the united Provinces and the subsequent Exaltation Grandeur and Glory of the Prince of Orange than all other concurrent Causes put together for having by mere subtilty far over-reach'd those self designing States-men that then swayed so much in Holland and induced them by his most specious promises and alluring pretences to stand firmly by them upon all occasions as well as in their late Usurpations totally to neglect as we have said their old expert and harden'd Soldiers and their frontier Garrisons to turn all their Counsels and Attempts wholly towards the famous Orangian Family and the brisk Trade and power of England upon the vain confidence of effecting which the crafty Monsieur had already made them to build themselves a fools Paradise for he all of a suddain leaguing on the contrary with England attacks them most sharply on their blind and defenceless side and meeting with very little or no resistance from such raw Soldiers and totty headed Commanders as he then knew to have the main Guards of their Garrisons and places over-run their Country with so rapid and surprizing a swiftness that he then forc'd the People of necessity to have recourse to their last but surest refuge under God to wit the valiant Prince of Orange and to restore Him whom their wicked and treacherous Guides blinded with Ambition had before so ungratefully and impolitickly rejected And so by half ruining a flourishing Republick they gave a meet opportunity to his Illustrious Highness to shew in the open sight of the admiring World the wonders of his Prudence Policy and Magnanimity in restoring it to its former Power and Splendour And withal to let his ungratefull and uncivil Country-men know and see that the great Triumphs of their cruel Enemies were caused for the most part by the wild attempts that had been made upon Him and his Rights and that the doing justice to the ancient and warlike Progeny of the real Founders of their State was the true and only way unto its Restauration But the last lift that was given towards the advancing and securing his Authority and Power still more and more in the united Netherlands was the discovery of the horrid Plot laid against him by the two De-wits viz. Cornelius and John who finding well that there was no possibility for them of stemming the strong and violent tide of the Peoples great Affection tending wholly to the advancement of the Prince which was to them an insupportable Mortification they thereupon endeavoured to corrupt a certain Chyrurgion with the promised Reward of no less than 3000000 Franks or 25000 pound Sterling to take away his most valuable Life which matter being disclosed or providentially coming to light and firmly attested made out and ratified by the said Chyrurgion the foremention'd De-wits were by the great fury of the vulgar People not content with the milder and slower Proceedings of the Magistrate torn presently all to pieces and miserably put to Death after such a manner as now all the World knows Namely That they were hung up by the Heels in the Market-place and being cut to pieces their Joints and Flesh sold by piece-meal at great rates which were carried away by the Buyers in a Triumph of Revenge And the Prince himself not long after most firmly fixt in the Hereditary State-holder-ship of all the united Provinces and Captain General of all their Forces by Sea and Land with much more advantage than any of his famous Predecessors enjoyed it before Thus the Almighty and most wise Disposer of the World return'd the Malice and Wickedness of the Princes Domestick Foes upon their own Heads for they fell by the Snare which they had laid for Him according to the tenour of the holy Oracles Nec lex est justior ulla Quam necis artificis arte perire sua And thus the just Judge of all Men and avenger of all wrongs punish'd the perfidious and ungrateful and at the same time deliver'd the Innocent Yea mortified all the Foreign Enemies by his own victorious Arm and rewarded at last even far beyond all his hopes or desires his unshaken Patience and unparallell'd Generosity in having born so long a time with a forbearance beyond Humane Example the many base affronts and injuries daily offer'd him by the envious and self designing De-wits and their upstart party Nor were the people although they chose him in a great heat and sudden fright to conduct the shattered and wheather beaten Bark of their present forelorn and distress'd State into a safe Harbour or Port in the least deceived in their expectations of him The false and misguided steps of their late unhappy Governours had now by the rule of Contraries instructed them in a few moments space in the very best and right measures that could possibly be taken And the furious alarms of the French Armies had