a League wherein the King of Sweden entred by which these three Powers oblig'd themselves to cause the two Crowns to lay down Arms if not to declare against that which would not lay them down This League was call'd the Triple Alliance and was in the Issue so fatal to the Hollanders as I shall shew in due place that for ought I know they quickly repented their having had any hand in it A Man of Rochel is said to have been the Person who laid the first Foundations of it after having made all those Powers sensible how distrustful it became them to be of the ambition of France Be it as it will France which never easily pardons those who have once offended it knowing this Man was in Swisserland where he endeavour'd to insinuate the same thing into the Cantons sent thither the two Muzels the eldest of whom was a Captain of Cavalry and the other Gentleman of the Horse to Mon. Turenne to endeavour the seizing him The Affair was ticklish and of a strange consequence for the Muzels if what they came to do had been discovered in Swisserland but having had the cunning to conceal their design and to trapan their Man as he was passing from one City to another they brought him into France where he was broke alive upon the wheel after he had endeavour'd to baulk the execution by an action more resolute than Christian For having found in the Dungeon where he lay a piece of glass he made a shift with it to cut off his privy members and hid them under his straw bed for fear the Gaoler should chance to take notice of what he had done But not having been able to stanch the blood so well but that there still trickled down some drops the Gaoler would needs see from whence this proceeded add to this that his Colour did sufficiently speak him not to be in good health at length the Gaoler having perceived what he had hidden under the straw bed with a great quantity of blood beneath he gave the Judges notice of it and as he was designed for a publick spectacle they hastened his sentence Whereupon he was condemned to be broken and they fearing he would not have strength sufficient to go as far as the place where they put other Criminals to Death and perhaps too he would not be alive if they deferr'd his Execution until the Afternoon as is the common practice they raised up a Scaffold before the Prison Door and he was Executed the same instant The Triple Alliance which France had not foreseen did so startle that Crown that though it had promised it self the Conquest of the better part of Flanders it was nevertheless obliged to lay down Arms not but that it had above a hundred thousand men on foot but as England and Holland arm'd powerfully by Sea and that France had not a Fleet capable of resisting such great Forces that Crown was afraid that while its Arms were busied in Flanders the English joyn'd with the Hollanders would make a descent either into Britany or in Normandy and cast a terrour into the very heart of the Kingdom France being thus brought as it were by force to make a Peace began to contrive how to resent this outrage and principally upon those who had most contributed thereunto And as people did generally attribute to the United Provinces the Repose then enjoyed through all Europe all the French resentment fell upon it But it was very cautious of letting it appear yet a while For as Holland was as yet in good Terms with England and Sweden a way was first to be found out to separate it from those two Powers which were still capable of being re-united together for the interrupting its Designs as it only watcht for an occasion it quickly met with a very fair one by a Controversy which happened between England and Holland about Commerce far was it then from offering its Mediation as at other times it had done to accommodate the difference on the contrary it endeavoured still more and more to irritate the King of England and mean while caused a Treaty underhand to be proposed with the Hollanders that so they might not entertain any thoughts of making their Peace with England The Hollanders who had often found the assistance of France when they had any variance with England still expected the same kindness and the more for that the French King still amuz'd them with a Treaty But when they thought to have come to a Conclusion with him to oppose the King of England they were strangely surprized to hear that the French King had joyned himself to him and that while the English attack'd them by Sea the French were to attack them by Land with such numerous and such amazing Forces that it had not of a long while been known that France had had the like The United Provinces were then very much perplexed for though they were extreme Potent in Ships and Mony they had no Soldiers just ready to Oppose the French King whose Troops were already on their March though the Land of Cologne which was the way he took to attack them Now to have gone about raising any in their own Country besides a long Peace which the Provinces had enjoyed for several years had rendred their Subjects more capable of Commerce than of War there was no great feats to be hoped for from them the new Soldiers not being over-fit to resist Disciplin'd Troops Whereupon the Hollanders sent into Germany to make Levies there and to treat with some Princes from whom they were in hopes of Succours But all Europe was so startled at the prodigious Preparations of France that each was willing to keep his own Troops at home not knowing yet but that under the Pretext of attacking Holland the French King might invade Germany The Hollanders had hardly more than five and twenty thousand Men for though they had distributed Commissions to all those who proffered themselves to serve them yet as those new Troops were not on Foot there was no reckoning upon them until they were come to the Rendevouze But what still more and more weakned the State is that de Witt Pensioner of Holland who had much Credit in the Republick had ever excluded the Prince of Orange from Affairs and as he was a better Politician than a Soldier and yet would be medling in all Affairs went on very disorderly and in great Confusion There was still another thing which did not a little contribute to the ruine of the State but which was then unknown namely that the French King knew all that passed in the Country by the means of one Mombas who was in the Service of the Commonwealth that had confided in him a considerable trust in the Soldiery A Frenchman he was by Nation so that the King found it an easy matter to gain him to his Interests by the means of Desroches Captain in the Prince of Conde ' Guards and being his
Peace and bring along Disorder instead of the repose which all enjoy should be verifyed by Parliament which nevertheless was only instituted to be watchful for the Preservation of the People Let us rather say that this Custom of thus verifying Treaties of Peace was only introduced since it was Enacted that Royal Gifts should be verified in Parliaments and that those which were not so should be of no consideration and this to hinder Kings who are commonly inclined to liberality from giving away all their Patrimony and so compelled for want of means to vex and oppress the People Let us I say conclude that the Parliament seeing that by some Treaties of Peace considerable Alienations had been made and principally under John the first to retrieve them out of the hands of the English and since under Francis the first to retrieve them out of the hands of the Spaniards had attributed to it self the Authority of verifying Treaties to hinder thence forward the Dissipation of the Crown Lands But there 's more which is that tho' it were a Law receiv'd in France that the Parliament may find fault with those Treaties it has not verified this ought to be understood if the Treaties were not made in the forms or that they were prejudicial to the Crown In what remains there 's no saying that France receives any prejudice by the Treaty of the Pyrenees not but that this Treaty was concluded with all the usual Formalities In regard of the Formalities they had been so far observ'd that this had kept the matter much longer depending than was necessary for the repose of the People who after so long a War only breathed after Peace For they thought it not sufficient that Lienne Pimentel had set their hands to the Treaty but for the rendring it the more August to future Ages Cardinal Mazarine and Don Lewis de Haro Prime Ministers of the two Crowns would needs sign it themselves too so as that one may say it was the most solemn and authentick Treaty that has been of a long while Besides they had observed therein all the Circumstances imaginable namely as holding the Conferences in a place which belonged neither to France nor Spain which however is Note-worthy For this shews they were willing then Spain should go Peer-with France but since it will not be allowed as I said just before one may say it had been Ratified but what rendred this Treaty free from all manner of scruple not only by the King but also by all France In effect the Principal among the Clergy and Nobility had signed the Contract of Marriage between the King and the Infanta wherein was contained the abovementioned Renunciation so as that it was a mistake to say that the Parliament which can at most but represent the Orders of the Kingdom would not approve a Treaty which was already approved on by the King by the Clergy and by the Nobility In regard of what I said before that this Treaty brought no prejudice to France that will be also easy for me to prove For tho' France had then much the advantage over Spain yet it is nevertheless to be considered that this advantage might one day turn against it self being obliged to share his Conquests with England which was then in its alliance Now without specifying by retail what are the dangerous Consequences which I might draw from this sharing it 's sufficient for me to say that the interest of France was not to give one foot to the Englishman in Flanders who was a much more dangerous Enemy than the Spaniard Besides by this Treaty France made sure of the greatest part of its Conquest and changed into a certain Right the Right of Nations which was a Right subject to all the divers events of Fortune In regard of what was objected that the Dauphin had not ratified the Renunciation of the Queen this is a feeble objection and such as merits no answer For tell me I beseech you a Father and a Mother do not they engage their Children when they sign a Contract And why had the Dauphin more right to disclaim what the King and Queen had signed than those had who live under the same Laws and same Monarch All these considerations do sufficiently shew that all that was in the Treatise of the Queens Rights was only to impose upon the common people and particularly those of Flanders who being once perswaded that the Queen had some right to their Provinces were capable of fomenting a Rebellion to which they had other provocations through the ill treatment they received from the Spanish Souldiery who for want of pay broke out into several violences Thus as it was a point of prudence to prevent all ill consequences of this kind by undeceiving them with the soonest the Baron d'Isola one of the Ministers of the house of Austria set pen to paper and made a small treatise to shew the nullity of the consequences which the Author of the tract of the Queens Rights pretended to draw And a great number of Copies were distributed both in Flanders Germany and other places of the neighbourhood Nay some were transmitted into France but the Court thinking fit that their Nation should make its ambition an Article of their Faith made an exact search after the Stationers who had distributed them two or three of whom were sent to the Bastile and were in great danger of their Life for as it was not allowed in that Kingdom to write truth in matter of Religion so too in matter of Policy it was not allowed to speak it or hear it from any one soever For which reason as well those who bought this Book as those who vended them were obliged to skulk as if they had done some great crime But the more they endeavoured to constrain Peoples wills the more they strove to render themselves free so as all worthy People not minding the prohibition that had been made sought to satisfy their Curiosity By vertue of these imaginary pretentions the King failed not to send to summon the Governour of the Low-Countreys to remit into his hands the places he pretended to belong unto the Queen And as he did a little doubt this Governour would not comply with his demands with a powerful Army he follow'd the Person he had sent to him in order to the seizing them His Envoy bringing him back word that the Governour of the Low-Countreys had order from the King his Master not to yield up the least he entred Flanders took Charle Roy At h Courtray Oudenarde and Lisle while that the Marshal d' Aumons with another Army attack'd such Cities as Bordered next upon the Sea. These Conquests which were made with great rapidity amaz'd all the Neighbouring Potentates They thought it their interest to stop the Course of these progresses especially the United Provinces who had no mind to so formidable and so ambitious a Neighbour Whereupon they engag'd with the King of England to sign
whose Demands vere still higher and greater The Ambassadors of Holland being returned to Zeist and having met with the Ambassadors of England a new Treaty of Peace was proposed but still very difficult to conclude For beside that England did not bate the least of its first Pretentions those of France were so exorbitant that it had been much better for the State to have perisht than to have granted them France demanded a Medal every year in form of Tribute with all the Charges of the War which it made to mount to immense Sums England demanded to have several things in the Indies which belonged to the Republick yielded to it so as I have said the State had almost as good have abandoned all as to have concluded so disadvantageous a Treaty The Republick having notice of all those things by their Ambassadors who came home again from Zeist without having effected ought resolved to break the Dikes of the Sea which was as I hinted before their last recourse in the utmost necessities But what made them the more willingly proceed to this resolution was that the People rejecting the Disasters of the State upon those who had the Conduct of it had Massacred the Pensioner of Holland with his Brother so as that they were in hopes that as the State had Chang'd its Master so also its Fortune would be Chang'd The States proceeding to that extremity as to break their Dikes gave them time to think of their Affairs They sent to the Princes of Germany the Propositions of Peace made them by the two Kings for the better possessing their minds in what they imagined of the Ambition of France They represented to them the piteous estate they were reduced to and that if they deferred longer affording them assistance it would be perhaps too late when they should be willing to do it That the Waters indeed saved them for the present but that they would not save them always That the Winter being come the French would pass over the Ice to attack them and that since they had not been able to resist them while the Provinces had been so flourishing there was little likely hood they could do it now being fallen so low from their ancient Reputation These Remonstrances the truth whereof was undoubted seeing the sad Estate the Republick was reduced to affected the Emperour the Marquiss of Brandenburg and several other Princes of the Empire The Marquiss of Brandenburg as being one of the most Potent first took the Field to succour it and as the King knew he had to do with a brave determinate Prince and besides a great Captain he decamped from Zeist and returned to France But first he thought fit to try if he could render himself Master of Boisle-duc which was shut up on one side by the Garrison of Crevecceur and on the other by that of Endeven Boisle-duc is a place situated just in the midst of a Marsh yet it is as weak in its outworks as it 's strong in its situation Nevertheless there 's a Cittadel on the side which looks towards Holland with two Forts on the side of the Mastricht Gate but all this would not be reckoned for any great matter if as I have said its situation did not render it almost inaccessible The lying establisht his Quarters at Boustel but while he was preparing all things for the Siege God who had begun to take Holland into his Protection sent Rains which continued for four or five days without ceasing so as the Country is low and level it was immediately filled with water that a body would have said they had opened the Sluces The King thinking the fair Weather might return staid eight or ten days longer at 〈◊〉 but seeing it did not leave off raining he decamped and returned home The Prince of Orange who after the Death of the Pensionary had all the Authority consided in him seeing the People in some manner of repose by the French Kings Departure thought of contenting them farther by the punishment of Mombas whose death they had long demanded He had been Conducted from Vtrecht to Woerden and from Woerden to Nicurbruk whither the Army of Holland was retreated There the Prince of Orange called a Council of War and began to examine his Affair which appeared daily worse and worse for him In short as his Conscience did not leave him any repose and that he thought himself absolutely ruined he was contriving how to make his escape which nevertheless was very difficult for he was carefully Guarded having People always with him Sentinels at the Door and at the Windows of his House As he was musing after what manner he should go to Work to get away one of his Friends got a Letter conveyed to him by which he gave him notice that he had but three days more to live if he found not the means to escape That the Council of War was resolved to make him serve for an example to others and that it was his part to take his measures thereupon 〈◊〉 seeing himself menaced at this rate spoke the same day to one of his Keepers who promised him in conâ—â—deration of some Money he gave him to let him escape out at the Window when he should be set Senrinel at that Post which happened on the morrow This Affair being done Mombas caused a Spanish Officer to be founded who was to be upon the Guard the same day at an mundation to know whether he would let him escape that way and get him a Guide ready The Officer loving Money as well as the Guard before-mentioned agreed for a hundred Pistols with him who made him this Proposition in consideration of which he promised to get him a Guide ready and to let him pass when he pleased This Bargain being thus struck Mombas have one called Villate a hundred Pistols this Villate having been his Gentleman oâ— the Horse and the Manager of this Affair to carry 'em to the Spaniard but Villate instead of giving them him went away with them whether that naturally he was inclined to pilfering or perhaps there remained something due to him from his Master and that he was content to pay himself with his own hands be it as it will as Mombas was still reckoning upon this Bargain all his Care now was to deceive those that kept him in sight to do which he went this way to work First He began to complain of a great pain in his Leg sent for a Chirurgeon shew'd him his Leg which by a wound he had formerly had remained lagger than the other and ask'd him what was to be done with it He caus'd also a Request to be made to the Prince of Orange that he would send him one of his Chirurgeons and these two Chirurgeons the one as ignorant as the other concluded a Plaister should be laid on 't and accordingly sent him one to be applied for that purpose By this means he kept his Bed without giving any suspicion and the day