as they had formerly done for the Swedes having notice of their designs and ready received and charged them so rudely that they forced them to save themselves by flight within their Works five of their men being taken prisoners and several of them slain The following Month they made another attempt Apr. 28. but with no better fortune for they were repelled in the Kings presence and lost threescore foot which they had taken with them to strengthen their Horse The Swedes also had designed the surprising of the City Cattle which fed under the Walls May 17. to which purpose they hastened thither with all their Horse but their intent being likewise known the Cattle were secured and the Enemy forced by the Cannon from the Ramparts to keep at a distance They yet returned some dayes after with a thousand Horse May 21 and threw down a Breast-work not far from the ruined Suburbs on the West side of the Town which annoyed them the which was again raised by the Coppenhageners two dayes after The Sweaes were also busie in other parts of the Kingdom for having gathered some small Vessels upon the Coasts of Holsteyn they landed by Nysted but being repelled thence they resolved to try their fortune on the Isle of Fameren though not with better success for the Danes having retired their Troops into a strong double Ditched Fort which they had there contained themselves in it until they were re-inforced by fresh supplies out of Holsteyn which obliged the Enemy to retire to their Ships again But Denmark was not alone the stage of War neither was it here only that the treaties for Peace were in agitation Poland the seat of so many miseries was at length delivered from the oppression of their infesting Enemies by the Treaty of Oliva This Treaty was chiefly managed by the French their Embassadour being the only Mediator admitted in it The Dutch had indeed sent an Extraordinary Deputy to the Polish Court but he was received there without Ceremony scarce civility upon pretext they were not acquainted with his Character it being a new thing with them His Mediation was likewise waved the French influence the Queen being Ascendant being too strong and the jealousies which they began to entertain of the Imperialists not a little formed Neither was he more acceptable to the Swedes his visit to their Plenipotentiaries being but repayed by a complement by their Secretary upon pretence he was lodged in Dantsick an Enemies Town and his interposition wholly refused being looked upon as a party so that he was but an idle Spectator as to the main in the said Treaty But for all the States exclusion the Emperour and the Electour of Brandenburg were not only included in the said Pacification but the old Friendship and Concord renewed by a new Act of Oblivion betwixt them and Sweden Only King Frederick for whose sake they had armed their own business being now done seemed forgot in that Treaty the Commissioners giving this reason for it that the Danish affairs could not commodiously be decided at that distance being also at that time treated in Denmark it self not without great hopes of success But the Danes troubled to be thus abandoned by their Allies were so much the more desirous of Peace They were indeed supported at present by the Forces of the United Provinces and with hopes out of England of more powerful Succours the Scene being there changed by the happy restitution of King Charles the Second to his hereditary Dominions This great Princes restauration did indeed contribute much to the present reconciliation for the English Commissioners fore-seeing their authority would quickly expire and loth to quit their Province without effecting what they came for urged it the Swedes considering the ties of blood and friendship betwixt the two Kings Charles and Frederick did desire it And truly the same reason prevailed with the Dutch but upon another accompt to wit lest they should be pressed by this great King to continue the War until Frederick his Friend and oppressed were restored to his entire Dominions which the victorious Swedes had so miserably mutilated Only the Danes the only sufferers were thought not so forward especially being obliged by this second Treaty once more to quit all their pretensions which they had so lavishly divested themselves of in the former War But they fore-seeing that the ayds from England the King being not yet fully established in his Kingdoms could not be sudden and that the vast expences which they were daily at in feeding so many Armies within their Country would necessarily ruine it seemed to prefer a certain Peace before the uncertainties of a War All parties being then agreed and that happy day which by a hopeful Peace was to put a period to this unhappy War being come the two Kings Commissioners and all the Mediators if they may be properly called so who seemed interessed asperties met in the Tents again where the Treaty elaborated with so much industry and pains was signed first by the Mediators and afterwards by the Commissioners of the two Kings and then exchanged and delivered in the mid way betwixt the Danish lodges and the Swedish Tents by the Mediators themselves a little before Sun set to the Commissioners of both Kings This being done the Assembly broke up the Swedes returning to their Camp and the Danes into the City where both from their Walls as also from their Fleets which lay before the Town witnessed their joy for this happy Accommodation with the more pleasing noises of their great and small shot The Peace was proclaimed the same night in all the publick places of the City by a Herald with his Scepter and Coat of Arms with the tintamar of Drums and Trumpets whilest every individual published his satisfaction with more than usual signes of joy The following dayes the Swedes came into the Town and the Danes went into the Camp without exception neither satisfying their greedy eyes and their curiosities with the contemplation of those unaccustomed sights whilest both admired and secretly condemned those things which they had found by experience to have been hurtful to them But this entercourse did not last long for the fourth day after the signing of the Peace the Prince of Sulsbach did according to the Articles of the Treaty draw all his Forces which were 3000 Horse and Foot out of the Camp and putting them into Battle array betwixt that and the City made a stand there exposing his Army and himself to the view of the Danes who flocked thither in multitudes to see so goodly a sight A while after having commanded his Cannon and all the Muskets and Pistols of his Army to fire twice round he left the City to its pristine Liberty and the Camp to the Danes disposal and marched with his whole Army towards Rotschild THE END The Articles of the Treaty of Peace betwixt the Two Northern Crowns concluded and subscribed by the Mediators and the Commissioners of
thereby their friends as well as their enemies For the Princes of the nether Saxon circle declare the invâ—ding of the Dutchy of Bremen to be a breach of the peac◠〈◊〉 the Empire and a violation of the Instrument of Peace for the observation whereof they stood reciprocally engaged By this time King Charles was advanced as far as Hamburgh with his harassed and ill accoutred Troops without opposition where he mounted and cloathed and armed them by the favour of that Ciâ—y jealous of its own Lords greatness and the assistance of good supplies of moneys which he received there upon the French accompt It seemed strange what was become of the Danish Army but that however sixteen thousand strong In stead of fighting the enemy in Pomerania or Mecklenburg or any where before they reach'd Hambourg still retired before them but whether affrighted with the reputation of these glorious Ruffians or betrayed by their own dissentions I will not determine though it be certain that King Charles had his Ulefeld in Denmark as well as his Radizeuski in Poland The Swedes being thus refreshed and lusty grew also very numerous by the accession of such whom the hopes and liberty of pillage daily added to their party They followed the retiring Danes as far as Frâ—dericks-ode which they also after some time took by assault under the conduct of Marshal Wrangel Fredericks-ode is seated upon the lesser Belt a new Town endowed with many priviledges to invite Inhabitants and fortified on the land side though the Works were not fully finished after the modern fashion the Sea was esteemed a sufficient guard on that side it watered being strengthened with Pallisadoes from the adjoyning Bulwarks as far as deep water But the Swedes under favour of the darkness and some false Allarms in other places broke down this wooden Fence and rushing in on that part up to the Saddle skirts in water wheeled about the Bastion and entred the Town rendring themselves Masters of the same without any considerable resistance This victory equalled a gained battle for they made above 2000 prisoners besides the slain which amounted to as many more well nigh 200 Officers 33 Colours and above fourscore pieces of Cannon with other store of Ammunition and plunder This success rendred them also absolute Masters of Holstein except Krempen and Gluckstadt and Rensbourg gave them the plunder and contribution of all Jutland and the communication betwixt the North and East Seas by the lesser Belt It was thought strange that so strong a place as Fredericks-ode and so well provided with Garrison and provisions should be taken by a number scarce equal to them within Andrew Bilde Marshal of the Kingdom was Governour of this important place but whether he lost it by his fate or by his folly by his cowardise or by his treason is still disputeable However it was it cost him his life he being mortally wounded in the attack which did not yet suffice to clear his memory from obloquie and a suspition of disloyalty The Swedes themselves contributed much though accidently to this rumour for they sent his body richly vested without ransom over into Funen which encreased the ill reports or him though it might as well have been thought an argument of their generous humanity as his perfidie as they will hereafter evince in the person of Vice Admiral De Witt slain in the Sound and returned with no less honour and pomp King Frederick hearing of this great loss quits Schonen where he had in person twice beaten the enemy by Helmstat and flies into Funen to give orders for the conservation of that Island the second of Denmark Which done he leaves his Bastard Brother Guldenlew there with 3000. men and returns to Coppenhagen to struggle with the divided factions of his Nobles which did not end but in theirs and their Countries Ruine But leaving the Danes to their dissentions and the Swedes posted in their new conquests let us step back a little to take a short view and prospect of the civil transactions contemporary with the former England had too great an interest in the Baltick which may not improperly be called the Mediterranean of the North to sit still without making reflection upon the great commotions in those parts And besides the concerns of a free and undisturbed Commerce England being at that time in an open War with Spain had much rather that the Swedish Arms had been at liberty to give a check to the other Austrian Branch in Germany than to have been diverted by a Warre with Denmark Upon this account two Gentlemen are made choice of to endeavour a Reconciliation betwixt the two Kings Mr. Meadowe being sent to the Court of Denmark and Mr. Jepson to that of Sweden The former arrived in Denmark in the beginning of September 1657. much about the time that the Swede entred Jutland He was received far above his Character being that of Envoy Extraordinary to the regret of other forreign Ministers But the conjuncture of time and affairs obliged the Danes by all possible waies and means to ingratiate themselves with the English So that the Envoyes Proposition for a Mediation after he had declared the ruinous effects of a War Sep. 25. 1657. was accepted off The Dane declaring that he was ready to enter upon a Treaty of a sure and honourable peace under the Mediation of England and that so soon as the King of Sweden should testifie a suitable concurrence on his part This Declaration was transmitted to the Swede with all possible diligence and drew from him a reply dated at Wismar in October following in which offer many expostulations how injuriously he had been dealt with 19. 1657. intermixt with some language which the Dane resented as opprobious He declares likewise his assent to enter upon a Treaty under the Mediation of France and England and that the preliminaries as to place of treating number of Commissioners sale conducts c. should be adjousted according to the transactions betwixt the two Crowns in the year 1644. upon the confines of the two Kingdoms This reply produced another Declaration from the Dane Nov. 5. That he consents also to the transactions in 44. only as to the place of the future Treaty conceives Lubeck or some other in that neighbourhood to be most commodious That the Treaty should commence under the Mediation of England and also of the States General and so soon as France should offer him their Mediation he would accept of that likewise But that the designed Peace be not restrained to the two Crowns only but that the King of Poland and the Elector of Brandenburg be comprehended in the same It was easie to see how this comprehension of the Pole insisted on by the Dane would trouble the scene of affairs which obliged the English Mediatour to remonstrate it to be a novel Proposal and how that it would render the so much desired peace tedious and difficult if not impossible for that
Treaty that no Agreement is like to be made thereupon Then Sir Philip Meadow as We have directed him by your Instructions to him shall in Our name propound the Treaty of Rotschild to be the Terms of a Peace to be now setled between them with such Alterations as shall be found necessary upon occasion of the War since faln out between the said two Kings perswading both of them to center therein as that which is the likeliest means as affairs now stand to put an end to this unhappy and unchristian War And this you as Admiral of the Fleet shall also let both the Kings know And also that you shall be obliged by your Instructions to oppose that Party which shall refuse a reasonable Peace upon these grounds We holding our self engaged to propound this Treaty in respect We were one of the Mediators thereof 4 In case the said two Kings can be brought to a Treaty then a Cessation of all acts of Hostility is to be endeavoured between them in which Cessation it is to be expressed that no part of the Forces under the Command of the Elector of Brandenburg and that Confederate Army be transported into Zeland Funen or any other of the Isles where now the King of Sweden hath footing and that no relief of Men or Shipping be put into Coppenhagen nor any attempt made upon either of the said Kings by the Forces of any Prince or State whatsoever And you are authorized to use your endeavours that the Terms of the said Cessation be observed and to oppose whomsoever shall go about to break the same 5 And whereas We find that One great difficulty which the King of Denmark makes about treating separately with Sweden is because of his engagement to his Allies We have directed the said Sir Philip Meadow to let him know That this Peace being once concluded yea whilest it is Treating We shall use Our best endeavours to reconcile the King of Sweden unto the King of Poland and the Elector of Brandenburg and do not doubt but something very effectually may be done therein But we conceive it of absolute necessity in the first place to agree the said two Kings without which it is impossible to imagine that any peace at all can any way be concluded on And we hope that the States General of the United Provinces will likewise agree herein 6 You shall also take the first opportunity to deal very seriously with the King of Sweden touching his present War in Denmark letting him know that We apprehend it very dangerous both for him and all his Allies in respect of the great Combinations that are made against him both by Land and Sea which in all probability he will not be able to defend himself against And that whosoever comes in to his assistance must expect to engage himself in a War with Holland and those other States which are the Allies of Denmark being a War which at this time this Nation is in no condition to engage in nor is the Parliament now sitting satisfied so to do And that therefore the Counsell which We as his true Friend and Ally do find necessary to give him at this time is That he will apply himself to make a reasonable Peace with the King of Denmark upon the Treaty of Rotschild which We at his own desire did in some sort become the Garranty of Letting him further know that in case his Majesty shall not think fit to follow this Counsel We cannot satisfie Our self to give him any assistance the consequence whereof will be so great upon this Nation And in case the Dutch will be perswaded to say as much to the King of Denmark We doubt not but matters will be brought to a happy issue in those parts 7 In case the King of Denmark shall refuse to treat upon the Terms before expressed you shall let him know That although We have not interested Our self in this present War but have carried Our self as Neuter betwixt him and the King of Sweden Yet now We find the Interest of this Commonwealth so much concerned in this War That We held Our self obliged to make use of all the means God hath put into Our hands to put an end thereto And that having done what lies in Our power by Our Ministers in a friendly way without success We have found Our self necessitated to give assistance to the King of Sweden as Our Friend and Ally who having declared himself willing to make Peace upon the Terms of the Rotschild Treaty We thought it not for the Common good nor for the interest of England to suffer him to be opprest and totally ruined by the conjunction of so great and powerful Forces against him 8 And upon this state of the case and having by your self or Sir Philip Meadow Our said Envoy used your best endeavour as aforesaid for making a Peace And if the King of Sweden shall give satisfaction upon the Terms of Assistance you shall then with the Fleet under your Command assist the King of Sweden in a defensive way in the manner expressed in the following Article 9 You shall with the Fleet under your Command either alone or in conjunction with the Swedish Fleet hinder what in you lies the transporting of any part of the Confederate Army under the Command of the Elector of Brandenburg or by whom else the same is commanded into the Isles of Zeland and Funen or into any other of the places now possessed by the Swedes And if any attempt shall be made to do it you shall use the force that is in your hand to withstand and prevent it by whomsoever it shall be attempted 10 In case the Fleet of the King of Sweden shall be attempted by the Dane or by the Fleet of any other State separately or in conjunction with the Dane you shall use the Force which God hath given you to defend him 11 You shall also labour by the Fleet under your Command to hinder the carrying of any Succour or relief into Coppenhagen until the King of Denmark shall be willing to Treat upon the Terms expressed in the former Article and are hereby impowred to fight with any such as shall endeavour to carry in any such relief as aforesaid And are also impowred to authorize such number of the Fleet as you shall judge necessary under the Flag of Sweden to joyn with the Fleet of Sweden to pursue and assault his enemies for the better accommodating of the Termes of Peace as aforesaid 12 And because Our intention is to manage this business by Counsel and Correspondence with the States General of the United Provinces as also to prevent any further Engagement between the King of Sweden and the Lords the States in a Hostile way We have directed our Resident at the Hague to propound to the said States General that they will joyn with England and France in the making of this Peace upon the grounds of the Treaty of Rotschild and that in order
shall be in Amity with those Confederates or either of them 8 That all the Ports Rivers Roads Harbours and Countryes of Sweden shall be free and open for the English Ships and men to come into reside in and go forth of from time to time as there shall be occasion without any molestation and shall be assisted and furnished with provisions and other necessaries at the same rates that the People â—nd Subjects of the King of Sweden are â— That all reasonable endeavours shall be used by these Confederates â—o withdraw the Elector of Brandenburg and all other Princes â—â—d States from any conjunction with the House of Austria and to Unite them against the said House â— That the said Fleet set out by His Highness as aforesaid shall be continued forth for the purposes aforesaid for so long time as the present season of the year shall permit with respect to the safety of the Fleet and no longer â—he English Admiral was bound up not to admit of any alteraâ—â—â— in the Treaty and the King of Sweden how great soever his â—eed of Englands help was yet immoveably persisted in refusing to sign the Treaty upon these Points First that he could not admit the English the Priviledges in Sweden that all Swedes have because he alledged some sort of Ships were built there in a form particular to be useful in his Wars and for lading Salt also in consideration whereof they had special immunities But he offered to make them equall with the rest of the Nation 2 That he could not exclude their Enemies out of the Baltick Sea For it was not possible for the English alone to suffice for the Commerce of it and if they could yet it was giving them to much advantage in Trade upon his own people and all the bordering Nations upon the Baltick Sea to make them Monopolizers thereof Whilest these things are in discoursing in the Sound the change of Government happened in England and the English Fleet thereby taken off from the prosecution of its first design was made to wait the new directions of the Power then in possession whose Interest differing from the former seemed to espouse that of Holland by undervaluing the Swedes to their very great prejudice But however affairs went in Denmark the struglings at the Hague were no less remarkable which ended at length in a League betwixt the three States to wit England France and the United Provinces Whereby they resolved to perswade or enforce the warring Kings and that against their wills or without consulting with them to a Reconciliation and Peace The Articles of this Convention wherein its Authours shewed they no less minded their own than their Neighbours interest were in all nine The first was May 22 11. 1659. that a Peace should be made betwixt the two Kings upon the foundation of the Rotschild Treaty 2 That the second Article of the said Treaty by which all Forreign hostile Fleets were prohibited to pass the Sound should be wholly exploded and left out or so couched that no Vessels or shipping whatsoever belonging to any of the three States should be comprehended in that restriction but that on the contrary they should be permitted to pass the said Streight at pleasure without any let or interruption 3 That the English Fleet should not joyn it self to either of the two Kings Fleets nor affist nor offend either of them for the space of three whole Weeks counting from the day that notice hereof was given to the Commander in chief of the said Fleet And likewise that the Dutch Fleet which was to be sent for Denmark should observe the same and not joyn with Opdams Fleet who was also to act nothing in prejudice of the Swedes for the said three Months time and that the Fleet to be sent thither should not go to Coppenhagen nor enter the Baltick Sea either by the Sound or by either of the two Belts 4 That the said three States should withdraw all manner of ayd and succours from that King who should refuse equitable terms of Peace and continue so to do until he had declared the contrary 5 That the three States should stand bound for ever for the executing and keeping of the made peace 6 That all Ships whatsoever belonging to the Subjects of the three States as also their Merchandise and lading should be free and exempted in the Sound and both the Belts from any new Impositions or Tolls 7 That England and France should undertake to remove all diffidences and mis-understandings arisen betwixt the King of Sweden and the States General and cause the Treaty of Elbing with its elucidations to be ratified 8 That the three States should use their utmost endeavours to compose the War with Poland as also the difference betwixt the Elector of Brandenburg and the Swedes 9 Lastly that the Articles of this Treaty should be ratified and duly observed by the three States And thus this Treaty notwithstanding the main opposition of the Emperor the Danes and the Brandenburgers Ministers was agreed upon by the three States But being those of England and France did refuse to sign it at present under pretence of waiting further and more plenary Orders from their Principals the States General dispatched an Express to the King of Denmark assuring him that their Fleet. notwithstanding the arrival of Forreign Fleets in the Sound April 29. should follow with the forty Companies designed for his assistance with all possible speed and that they would omit nothing whereby they might remove that oppression that his Kingdom did at present groan under There was no industry omitted for the hastening out of the Dutch Fleet all forreign Commerce and traffick by Sea being forbidden and wholly prohibited until the same were furnished with Marriners This unusual Embargo did extreamly trouble the Merchants especially the Green-land Farers for the season to fish for Whales drew nigh and the loss would be as well great as irrecoverable if it were neglected Seeing therefore that Seamen came but slowly in as unwilling to engage in a War where nothing was to be expected but blows and that they would not be prest as inconsistent with the freedom they pretend they were forced to hire them at excessive rates the price heightening even to forty Guilders a man every moneth At last though with much ado they levied twelve hundred Seamen which were dispersed amongst the Navy which by this time was ready consisting of forty brave Ships of War And now their Land-forces being likewise embarked May 10 3â— they set sail towards Denmark The Danish Agents which resided in Holland had hired several Fluyts and Galliots to carry provisions to Coppenhagen and to transport the Confederate Armies out of Jutland into the Islands but wanting both monies and credit they were stayed behind to the prejudice and dis-reputation of them who were concerned Michael de Ruyter Vice-Admiral of Amsterdam had the present Command of this Fleet for Opdam was absent and
yet General Montague declared in the name of his Colleagues that being the Dutch Commissioners would not define according to the Conventions betwixt the two Commonwealths how many of their Ships should joyn with an equal number of English men of War and how many of both Fleets should after the said conjunction be returned home they were resolved wanting also provisions for so great a multitude to send their whole Fleet back into England This he said they did not with an intent to depart from the Conventions betwixt the two Commonwealths or that they had any new design on foot but really forced to it through want of necessaries for the subsistence of so great a Fleet. The Dutch seemingly endeavoured to divert the English from this resolution and shewing them where and in what manner they might procure what provisions they pleased they besought them being the common Interest was to be carried on with common and conjoyned power they would not withdraw theirs seeing that could not be without a diminution of the dignity and credit of the two Commonwealths a weakening of their Mediation with the two Kings and a manifest retarding of the present Negotiation After this several Propositions were made concerning the number of Ships to be left behind and the English were invited to leave only fifteen of theirs whilest the whole Dutch Fleet continued there until further Orders from the States General but yet with this restriction that they should attempt nothing without communication of Councels with the English Plenipotentiaries and being the English were averse from such odds and so them a solemn Instrument of Assurance under their hands and seals and that one of their Commissioners should as a further testimony of their candor and sincerity not only trust his person in the English Fleet but continue in the same to communicate Councels with Montague and deliberate of what should concern the generality of their affairs according to emergencies Sidney did hereupon confess Sept. 5. that they had no Orders to send away their Fleet at all but on the contrary commands to observe the Hagues Convention But Montague of whose mind Honniwood and Boon also was being urged to declare himself answering very ambiguously broke the conference and next day leaving Coppenhagen went to the Sound and having saluted King Charles at Cronenburg where he was royally treated and all his chief Officers and Captains honoured with Presents he sailed with his whole Fleet towards England then full of Commotion and tumult The sudden departure of the Admiral surprised and troubled the minds of all parties The Swedes were grieved that the Sound their Havens and the Sea lay now open to the prevailing Dutch whilest the Danes interpreting all things in the worst sense fancied that Montague was therefore gone because he would not now war against the Swedes now openly refusing Peace and that all those Truces extorted hitherto from the States General had been prolonged in favour of their Enemies The Dutch also seemed to condemn this with-drawing of the English as happening contrary to their Treaties and even then when they were to act by vertue of them But this was but in outward shew for they did inwardly rejoyce that this Imperious Fleet was gone and they at length at liberty to act without controul But Sidney and his Colleagues were more really trouble at the absence of their Forces not being ignorant how weak their disputes were like to prove against an armed Mediation They were also more nearly grieved at the Admirals return as sensible of the great forces he commanded and his averseness to the present Government And truly they were not deceived for whilest all England weary of the tyranny of the Regicides prepared to vindicate their Liberties by Arms requiring tacitely their Prince but openly a Free Parliament Montague being invited and commanded by the King of Great Britain into whose grace and favour he had lately been restored hastened thither with his Naval forces to assist those just however unfortunate endeavours The day after Montague's departure the Commissioners met again in the Tents where the Danes demanded an Answer to their former Proposals declaring withall that their King induced by the desires and perswasions of the Mediators had consented to and would willingly accept of their Project for Peace so far forth as it agreed with the Hagues Conventions They therefore desired to know whether the King of Sweden had likewise done it protesting they would otherwise proceed no further The English and Dutch Embassadours pressed the same urging the Swedes to declare what Orders their King had given in answer to their just Propositions Rosenhaen being thus put to it replied that they had indeed delivered their King the Mediators Project professing further that His Majesty would omit nothing on His part for the compassing of an equitable and honourable Peace to which end he declared that the Mediatours endeavours should be most acceptable to him provided they interposed only when they were required and that as friends not Arbitrators leaving the disposing of affairs to the Commissioners of both Kings This he said was His Majesties resolution who could not chuse but wonder to see that a Treaty made at the Hague by the three States and that without his knowledge should be also obtruded upon him and that without his consent He further added that it was a thing wholly unpractical that Common-wealths should prescribe Laws to Kings at pleasure and never heard of in History that Mediatours should undertake to press or compel dissenting Princes even against their wills to accept of their fancies and conceptions as Laws This therefore being so his Majesty could not answer to those kind of proposals But if they would treat after the old fashion and according to the method hitherto observed betwixt the Northern Crowns he did not doubt but the way to the so much desired Peace would be plain and easie Monsieur Terlon the French Embassadour arrived there at the same time and declared to the Mediators that the Commissioners had truly and fully told them the Kings sense in order to the present transaction as he himself had understood it from His Majesties own mouth at Cronenburg from whence he came adding that he was very angry with Rosenhaen and Bielke for receiving their Project without his orders and had not pardoned them if he had not mainly interceded for them The Dutch Embassadours being returned to Coppenhagen sent Orders to De Ruyter and Everson to act with all their Forces both by Sea and Land against the Swedes and make war upon them where-ever they met with them The next day they gave the English and French Ministers notice of what they had done which could not at all as they affirmed retard the Peace which was being it could not be procured otherwise to be thus sought for according to the intention of the three States In the mean time they perswaded them to continue their endeavours and that with joynt advice
the Rotschild Treaty or forthwith dispatched some other person or persons to pursue the same it had certainly issued to a Peace For England France Sweden yea and Holland too being at accord concerning the Medium of the Peace it was not possible that the Dane should stand it out long But no persons appearing from England and I having no authorities from the Parliament the Dutch Deputies began to seek evasions When I urged upon them that they ought not to assist the refusing King their only Reply was this that by the first Article of the Treaty at the Hague the Ministers upon the place were to use their utmost diligence and endeavour with both the Kings which said they I had done with the King of Sweden but not with the King of Denmark which was a meer shift because they knew I could not at that time go to Coppenhagen being destitute of Creditives And now they held themselves no longer obliged by the Treaty at the Hague but de Ruyter with a new Fleet of forty men of War enters the Belt joyns with Admiral Opdam passes on to Coppenhagen all which was expresly against the letter of the said Treaty True it is that about the middle of June 1659 I received a Letter from the Councel of State directed to my self authorizing me to continue my Negotiation with the two Kings as formerly till further order from the Parliament or Councel of State but I neither had Creditives nor Commission nor any thing to exhibit to either of the Kings whereby to constitute and legitimate me as the publick Minister of this Commonwealth And now the Negotiation for the Peace was at a long pause and our Fleet in the mean time at an Anchor in the Sound Only because His Majesty of Denmark had always insisted upon an Universal Treaty in reference to a general Peace His Majesty of Sweden gave me a Declaration in writing which I sent to the Councel of State June the 28 in which he also declared himself willing to treat a general Peace This he did of his own accord not at my instance for all my Instructions directad me only to a particular Treaty betwixt the 2 Crowns His Majesty told me moreover that in case England and France would obtain for him a general Peace in which said Peace he propounded to himself no more than that things betwixt Him the Emperour and the Electour of Brandenburg should return to their former estate without any further demands on either side and for the Pole he should only give him some equitable recompence for the places he should surrender to him in Pruss He would not only admit the Dane to the Rotschild Treaty but release something considerable in the said Treaty in consideration of a general Peace But in case of a separate Treaty with Denmark he would remit nothing of the Rotschild Treaty The 20. of July 1659. The Commissioners Plenipotentiary arrived in the Sound which was three months after the Change of the Government here in England I was put out of the Commission for the Mediation and had Creditives sent me only as Resident A little before this viz. the fourth of the said Moneth a new Treaty was made at the Hague by which the King of Sweden was to restore not only what he had gaine upon the Dane by this last War but also the Island of Bruntholm with the Government of Drontheym in Norway with all its appurtenances a Country of near 200 English miles extent which was formerly granted him by the Rotschild Treaty and by authentick Acts of State incorporated in the Crown of Sweden Besides the remission of the 400000 Ryxdollers which the Dane had formerly promised to pay for satisfaction of damages done to the Swede in Guinea The King of Sweden was also to admit the States General to the Treaty made at Elbing and the Elucidations thereof made at Thoren and both States viz. England and Holland reciprocally oblige themselves not only not to assist the refuser but to compel by joynt force of Arms to an acceptance of the foresaid conditions And thus the State of Affairs was quite altered and new obstacles interposed in the way of the Peace For I. Both Kings were highly dis-satisfied with this manner of proceeding For whereas the first Treaty at the Hague of the eleventh of May was never propounded to either of the Kings as that which should bind or oblige them but only made use of by Me as a private Instruction this was not only publikely propounded but was to be obtruded by a compulsory force England and Holland making themselves not Mediators but Umpires and Arbitrators of the quarrel betwixt the two Kings which they interpreted to a diminution of their Soveraignty by erecting a superiority over them But the King of Sweden was most of all disgusted because England without any concert or communication had with him enters into a Treaty with his open Enemies for so at that time he reputed the States General to impose upon him by a conjoint force Laws and Conditions which he judges altogether unreasonable II. Whereas the King of Sweden had already accepted of the Rotschild Treaty conform to the Agreement made at the Hague of the eleventh of May though not under the notion and formality of the Treaty at the Hague as obligatory upon him but as the counsel and advice of England his faithful Allies and upon the King of Denmark's refusal had in prosecution of the War gained notable advantages upon him the King of Sweden expected both to have profited by his acceptance of the Peace at the instance of England and by the advantages of the War he having after the refusal of the King of Denmark reduced Moenen Falster and Laland Whereas a new Treaty is made at the Hague of the fourth of July in prejudice of the accepting King to clog the Peace on his part with new and burdensome conditions and these to be forcibly imposed upon him in favour of the Refuser Besides that England recoils from their own Agreement and sayes the King as they have made a second so they may still make a third and a fourth Treaty at the Hague III. The tedious and unnecessary delayes which have been used have been a great obstruction in the way of the Peace For if the Peace betwixt the two Crowns had been concluded in the Spring of the year the King of Sweden had had time enough to have transported his Army into Pomeren to have taken the Campagn there to have prevented the infal of the Imperial Army and to have provided Winter quarters for his Troops But the Summer being almost pass'd before the arrival of the Plenipotentiaries and the Peace to be begun anew upon another foot which would necessarily require some longer time The King of Sweden was to seek what to have done with his Army to disband them was not reasonable because though he had made Peace with Denmark yet he had still War with the Emperour Pole
and Brandenburger In Sweden there was no subsistence for them to transport them into Pomeren and there take the Field he could not for the Imperial Army was much superiour to his in strength and had already seized the principal Passes of the Country and was absolutely Master of the Campagne And to have put them into Garisons which above two parts in three consisted of Horse the want of forage had ruined them in few days So that now the King of Sweden holds close to Denmark First as a quarter to his Troops Secondly as a place of refuge and security putting himself upon the Defensive as it were intrenched within those Islands not having strength sufficient to appear before his Enemy upon the Terra firma Thirdly as a Gage or Pledge for the restitution of what he had lost in Pomeren And I have reason to believe that as things now stand the War betwixt Denmark and Sweden will hardly be accommodated but by a general Peace In the mean time I humbly conceive that England in the management of this business hath departed from their proper Interest and that upon these following grounds I. We have wholly dis-obliged the Swede who is Englands counterpoise against the Dane and Hollander The Hollander is sure that the Dane will alwayes side with him against England witness the Arrest of our Merchant-men in the Sound in 1653. We ought to be as sure of the Swede and though not to assist him in the conquest of Denmark yet so to have managed the business of a Peace as to have firmly engaged him in our Interests II. We have lost our reputation It had been honourable for England to have maintained the Rotschild Treaty in which we were Mediators But to equip a mighty Fleet of forty of our best men of War and to keep them out at Sea six Months together to the amazement of all our Neighbouring States without effecting any thing failing of our End and Design is wholly inglorious III. We have lost our Expences The King of Sweden never supposed that England would be at all those vast charges without expecting any return from him but freely propounded several advantages in point of Trade and Commerce by way of recompence and amongst others propounded that the Pitch and Tar and the whole growth and production of Sweden which is for the apparel and equipage of Shipping should be sold at a regulated price to English Merchants only by which means London might have become the Staple of those Commodities But we on the contrary have barr'd our selves from accepting any thing of priviledge or advantage though it be only ratione oneris upon the accompt of our expences and so to be considered as a re-imbursement For by the Agreement of the Hague of the fourth of July England is to compel the King of Sweden to admit the States General to the Treaty at Elbing And by the express letter of the Treaty of Elbing the King of Sweden is obliged to admit the people of the United Netherlands to the same priviledges and advantages which he either hath or shall hereafter grant to any other Forraign Nation whatsoever IV. We oblige cour selves to force the King of Sweden to admit the States General to the Elbing Treaty notwithstanding that by that Treaty the former Treaties made betwixt Queen Christina and the States General one at Stockholm 1640 and the other at Suderacre 1645 are expresly renewed and re-confirmed Both which are Treaties of mutual Defence and by vertue of which in case England become hereafter engaged in a War against Holland the King of Sweden will be obliged to assist Holland against us with four thousand men at his own charges V. We have lost our Opportunity of making the Peace England was once in a manner Arbitrator of this whole affair England propounds the Rotschild Treaty as the Medium of the Peace Holland though very unwilling yet is necessitated to assent thereto For to think that Holland who was in actual War with Portugal and Sweden would at the same time break with England when back'd with France especially his most confident Ally the Dane being reduced to that extremity as to become instead of a help a charge and burthen is to suppose that which is Morally and Politically impossible But as the case now stands England is the least in this business all that we pretend to is to be included in the States Generals Treaty of Elbing wherein they are Principals and we but Accessories VI. We play advantages into the hands of the Hollander our Rival State and that only which stands in the eye and aym of England's greatness For besides the Treaty of Elbing which we engage to obtain for him The Hollander obliges us also to see Drontheym restored to the Dane In which the Hollander consults his own utility for Schonen is the Country which the King of Denmark would have restored but the Hollander profits more by Drontheym when in the King of Denmark's hands than the King of Denmark himself both in point of Trade and in Levies of Men For during the late War betwixt England and Holland the Dutch had seldome less than two or three thousand of those Norwegians in the service of their Fleets Besides that the greatest part or the whole of the Revenue of Drontheym is oppignorated to the Merchants of Amsterdam for debt And indeed the whole Kingdom of Denmark is become so obnoxious upon the accompt of vast Debts that it is in a manner at the disposition of Holland The States General have steered an even and direct course to their Interest They have maintained their Ally they have not only secured Denmark from the power of Sweden but secured it to themselves And being secure of Denmark are now assuring Sweden to themselves also having already weakened the near Amity and correspondence which was betwixt England and Sweden Whereas we after all our Expences are so far from being sure of the friendship of either of the Kings that we are sure of the ill-will of both Of the Dane for appearing with an armed Fleet in the Interests of Sweden of the Swede for no sooner appearing but deserting him They have also obtained their Treaty at Elbing which in rigour of justice they could not pretend to for they themselves formerly refused to ratifie it in due time And to crown all they have heightened their reputation by rendring themselves Masters of their Design We on the contrary have lost our Friend lost our Expences lost our Business lost our Reputation From whence I conclude that in the management of this Affair we in England have departed from Our proper Interest FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printed for and are to be Sold by Thomas Basset at the George in Fleet-street near Cliffords-Inn Folio ' s. 1. COsmography in four Books containing the Chorography and History of the whole World and all the principal Kingdoms and Provinces Seas and Isles thereof By P. Heylin Printed 1669