Selected quad for the lemma: england_n
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A35780
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The Designs of France against England and Holland discovered, or, The intrigues of that crown for the utter ruine of both those nations, laid open.
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1686
(1686)
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Wing D1177; ESTC R197
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13,358
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14
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any likelihood of engaging therein with safety and being seconded upon occasion of which indeed there is but little probability as long as affairs shall continue in the condition wherein they are at present This indeed is the thing which of all others France would be very loth to see because the hearty Union of these two Governments would in all probability put a stop to the French Kings undertakings overturn all his designs and put him into an utter incapacity of attempting any thing against the Peace of Nimeguen or the Truce with the Emperor But France carries a watchful eye to prevent this Capital inconvenience and that by an assiduous fomenting and cherishing feuds and animosities between those two Nations and improving every occurrence to this purpose of which we have a fresh instance in the business of Bantam which had been long ago made up but that France who finds it best fishing in troubled waters thinks it more for his Interest that it should remain undertermin'd which is the very reason why it was never made an end of but kept as a reserve for a quarrel upon occasion That there can be nothing so evidently destructive of the French Designs as this Union between England and Holland is very apparent England can when it pleases overturn the projects of France against the Spanish Netherlands neither could that King ever have taken Luxemburg if the late King of England had had the least inclination to oppose him in that attempt but the French King so well knew to take him by the blind side that he did not perceive the mischief till the City was taken It was a Capital Error for England to part with Dunkirk a place that open'd a passage for them to France and the Low Countries but it would make the matter much worse if all those Countries should be fain to submit to the Tyranny of Lewis the Great and he by this means should join Newport and Ostend to Dunkirk for then would Flushing follow by Consequence and that King be put into a condition to dispute the Soveraignty of the Sea with his British Majesty and destroy the Navigation and Commerce of this flourishing Kingdom Having got thus far he would proceed to an entire conquest of the Vnited Provinces which point being once gain'd by him England would have but little reason to flatter it self with the hopes of a better Lot Renowned Queen Elizabeth of happy Memory was so sensible of what is here alledged that she told Monsieur de Sully the French Kings Ambassadour at her Majesties Court that neither France nor England nor any other Prince or State whatsoever ought to lay any claim to the Low Countries and that she would never suffer the King his Master to make the least attempt that way Upon which Monsieur de Sully sent word to his Master Henry the Fourth that notwithstanding the opposite sentiments of the Queen his Majesty might by means of great forces keep his friends within their own bounds and possess himself of such Territories and Cities in the Low Countries as should be necessary to joyn France and the United Provinces wholly and inseparably together which was said he the only way to restore France to its Primitive Grandure and glory and pitch it above the rest of Christendome for if by any means the Provinces of Luxemburg Juliers Mark Mons Aix and Cleves were once Vnited to France there was no doubt but the rest of the Country would be forc'd to follow their example being deprived of all communication and correspondence with the rest of the world Sure it is France has always inclin'd this way since they have observed that they could not compass their design by Italy as the Romans of old which Conquest tho it be the interest of all Princes of Europe to prevent as much as in them lies yet it is evident that these two States who are nearer at hand and can better do it are the most of all concern'd to put a stop to the Progress of the French in the Low Countries which would not fail to be attended with dismal consequences to them as before mention'd As for Spain it is a Body deprived of the use of its Limbs and to which nothing remains but that of its Tongue viz. To pray and entreat its good Friends and Allies not to forsake it But none can do more than England towards the Preservation of the Low Countries and if his British Majesty had not promised to stand still Luxemburg would still be in the State wherein it was formerly and a Bone for France to pick. The French King is so well aware of this that he takes all the care he can to keep the King of England on his side or at least to remain Neuter in case he will not declare himself for him To which purpose he spares nothing neither Presents Pensions nor Arts to keep all safe on that side But alas this Money and those Presents of France are like a Snake hid under Rose-leaves This is a Smiling Lip which hereafter will prove a deadly Sting They are Iron Chains gilded o're to deceive the Eyes of those who now admires what hereafter they will have occasion to lament if they do not betimes discover the Cheat of him who designs to enslave them England subsists by ballancing the Crown of France and Spain and keeping them in equal poise wherefore it must needs be the Interest of that Kingdom by all means possible to prevent the Low Countries from becoming an occasion to the overweight of France lest by this means it should be incapacitated to maintain the Balance of Europe for time to come For if ever by ill Fortune the French King should make himself Master of all the 17 Provinces as 't is his great Aim and may easily be brought to pass if the States be not seconded what condition will England then be in France will be stronger than they at Sea and in the Indies and consequently interrupt their Commerce and Navigation by keeping a great Fleet abroad especially in the Channel so that nothing shall be able to stir out of the English Havens but by their leave and upon the least occasion the total Conquest of England must needs ensue and that without Remedy there being no body in a condition to stave off their final Ruin Moreover the true Interest of England is to keep France low as well to preserve the Dominion of the Sea as to find a favourable occasion to recover those ancient Dominions the French King keeps from them as are the Dukedoms of Britany and Normandy Poictou Languedoc nay France it self for of the Marriage of the King of England with Margaret Daughter to Philip the Fair was born Henry the Fifth King of England who had the same Right to France as the Dauphin has to Spain The Three Sons of King Philip the Fair viz. Lewis Hutin Philip the Tall and Charles the Fair died all without Issue Male And it was not
till after this when the King of England prosecuted his Right to the Kingdom of France that the Salick Law was made upon a Speech of the Bishop of Beauvais's in the Assembly of the States in which he endeavoured to make out from an allusion to that place of the Gospel The Lillies Spin not that the Crown of France ought not to fall to the Distaff But that Law could not prescribe to time past but only to that which was to come and consequently could not invalidate the King of England's Pretensions After this Henry the Fifth entring France with a powerful Army and having defeated the French in several Battels Married Catharin Daughter to Charles the Sixth and in the Year 1441 it was concluded that Henry should be King of France Isabella also who was Queen of France and Mother to Catharin Queen of England made her last Will in Favour of her Son in Law declaring him therein the sole Heir of all her Estate and of the Crown which encreases the just Pretensions and strengthens the Rights of England to the Kingdom of France Had the French King but half the Pretensions to England which the King of England has to France the World would soon hear of nothing but Manifesto's to prove them just as he calls all he does So that the King of England ought upon all occasions and in all respects to suspect France and to beware of him as a most dangerous Enemy who flatter'd and humour'd his late Majesty only to lull him asleep that he might play his game without being disturb'd or interrupted by him who whenever it shall please him to mind and be true to his own Interest will undoubtedly carry the greatest stroke in the Affairs of Europe 'T is therefore no wonder that King Lewis the Fourteenth spared nothing that might supply the Necessities or provide for the Pleasures of the late King Charles the Second as Monsieur Barillon and the Dutchess of Portsmouth can Witness But I must tell you that the French King confiders no Body whether Prince or private Person any further than as they may be servicable to promote his own ends Yea Vertue it self is not esteemed by him except it go hand in hand with his Interest Do but confider what account he made of the Princes and Princesses of England in Cromwels time were they not obliged to leave France and to seek for Entertainment elsewhere And it is notorious that he never contributed any thing towards the late Kings Restauration till it was past his skill to hinder it So that upon the whole neither the Resentment of the Royal Family nor the Interest of England will allow of such strict Alliances with France as might tie up the King of Englands hands and make him an idle Spectator whilst Lewis the Great makes himself Master of the Low Countries but on the contrary he must always be ready to oppose any the least Attempt he shall make toward it making use in the mean time of the Six Regiments he has in Holland which the States will not deny him on that account till he can send some other Troops over to Flanders I am perswaded that those Six Regiments will be able to make Head against double the number of Frenchmen and when England shall thus be pleased but to shew its Teeth all Europe will thereby be safe Resist the Devil and he will fly from you but if you fear him he will make you his Slaves France has cut out work enough for King James the Second and the business that he hath taken in hand is so great that many people fear and others hope he 'l never compass it 'T is not a time to alter old Laws when the Enemy is at the Gates 't is not always seasonable for a King to act the Missionary but much more requisite that he shew himself a brave Soldier and good Politician All the World was in expectation of great things from his Majesty his Courage put all Europe in hopes of an universal Relief and some Respite for Spain but how has he frustrated and befool'd their Hopes whilst his sole Study is to please the Jesuits and to kindle a Fire in his own Kingdom which probably he will never be able to quench when he would as long as he dares not Convene a Free Parliament As Spain became depopulated by the departure of the Moors so is France greatly weaken'd and impoverished by the Dragoon Conversions and flight of the Protestants and the French King would fain see England brought to the same pass 'T is a high Presumption to rob God of his Right 't is to him the Honour of Converting does belong that work surpassing the Power and Activity of a Creature So leaving that care to God the King of England ought to lay out his Endeavours about preserving his Dominions from becoming a Prey to that Ambitious Prince by obliging him to keep within his own bounds and not to encroach upon his Neighbours Territories and in so doing the King will make good the Hopes and Expectation Europe had conceived of him The Designs of France against theVnited Provinces AFter the States of the Vnited Provinces had by their Powerful Arms constrained Spain to acknowledge them a Free State who owed Allegiance to none but God alone they were for a time the Object of their Neighbours Admiration and Envy every one endeavouring to Court and make Alliances with this growing State which began to be lookt upon as the Umpire of Europe But this high Reputation of theirs has suffer'd a notable Eclipse since the War of 1672 when France having brought them to the very brink of Destruction pleas'd himself with the thoughts of seeing them tumble headlong into the Pit he had digged for them neither would he have been mistaken in his hopes had not the people given a sudden and unlookt for turn to the face of Affairs by declaring the Prince of Orange Stadthouder the Providence of Almighty God at the same time concurring with their Endeavours to preserve that small Spot of Ground by confounding and daunting their Enemies who after the taking of Naerden were struck with such a Panick Fear that theâ— ran away none pursuing them Now what contributed most to the Mischiefs they were involved in at that time was that besides the Treasonable Correspondences which France held with some principal Members of that Government they had neither any good Troops nor a Commander in Chief and relying on the Peace and fair Promises of France they were well nigh lull'd asleep by that fatal Melody whilst that King was hard at work to undermine the Foundation of their dear bought Liberties and Government We find in time of Peace the Soldiers grow Idle as well as their Arms rusty Ease pleaseth and flatters us and Men are soon perswaded to lay aside the Exercise of Arms to betake themselves to a more gainful way of Living so that when the Enemy approached they are readier to embrace shame