the whole Garrison having retreated into the Cittadel and the Duke of Orleans who till then had only held St. Omers blocked up caused at the same time the Trenches to be opened But upon notice that the Prince of Orange marched with a great Army to the relief of St. Omer the King detached from his Army the Mareshal of Luxembourg with Eight Battalions the two Troops of his Musquetiers and some Dragoons reserving only so many of his forces as were necessary for forcing the Cittadel of Cambray This Detachment came in the nick of time to strengthen the Duke of Orleans his Army for on the eleventh the two Armies engaged near to Mont-cassel and had a sharp dispute but after a vigorous resistance made by the Dutch-Infantry the French got the day and the Dutch in that defeat lost eight thousand men that wert killed or made Prisoners many Colours eight pieces of Cannon two mortar-pieces all their gross Baggage and many Waggons laden with Arms and Ammunition for the relief of St. Omers which was the chief fruit of the Battel The news of that victory the taking of Cambray on the eighteenth and of St. Omers on the twentieth stunned the Confederates and so many Conquests in six weeks time and before the usual time of the Compagn made the Spaniards despair of being able to preserve any thing in Flanders if peace did not put a stop to those progresses but that which troubled them most was that by these Conquests tâ—ey lost all the Contributions which they raised on the Frontiers of France and which was the surest way they had to pay the small Army that they entertained in the Low-countries In the mean time the Elector of Brandenbourg being come to Wesel there was a great Conference held there concerning the Enterprises which the German forces were to undertake in three several places The Ambassadour of Denmark went thither from Nimâ—eguen the Pensioner Fagel and Admiral Van Trump were there for the States-General the Envoys of the Electors of Cologn Treves Palatine of the Princes of Brunswick and Bishop of Munster were also at that Council of War and the Duke of Newbourg was there in person But the great advantages that the French King had just then obtained diverted the designs which the Confederates had again formed upon Maestricht and Lorrain Many were perswaded that the loss which the Dutch had then sustained would incline them to treat about a separate Peace if the States-General were as desirous of it as the people and all that wished well to the publick seemed impatient to see themselves delivered from so troublesome a War They could not have a better pretext for it than the loss of the battel of Mont-cassel and the sudden return of the Heer Beverning who upon that news came presently back to Nimueguen confirm'd the conjecture that some had of a particular accommodation betwixt Holland and France That Ambassador appeared always so zealous for the real interest of his Countrey that if there was any separate Treaty to be expected it could no ways be managed but by his means and if different interests had not always divided the States-General it would not have been long before they had broken off from the Confederates whose hopes daily vanished though they could not resolve to save themselves from the misfortunes of War by a good Peace which appeared to the Dutch to be the most speedy and safe way to remedy the present Evils and prevent those wherewith they were threatned After this short but no inglorious Campagn the French King dispersed his Forces into quarters of refreshment and being at Dunkirk sent the Duke of Crequi to compliment the King of England and to carry him a Letter whereby his Majesty declared That though his willingness to come to peace did not at all promote the conclusion thereof yet he was ready amidst the prosperities wherewith Heaven was pleased to favour him to consent to a general Truce for some years as the surest means of restoring tranquility to Europe provided that the King of Sueden was of the same mind And seeing his Majesty could have no free correspondence with that Prince he prayed the King of England to inform himself of his intentions not doubting but that he was sufficiently persuaded of the sincere desire he had to second the good offices of his Mediation yea and to contribute all that in him lay for the procuring of a General Peace though he might have ground to expect considerable advantages from his Armies In the mean time it was the common discourse that the French King did but make formal demonstrations of desiring a Peace whilst he found himself so successful and so powerful as to make himself Master of all the Low-Countreys that if he did really consent to a Truce he must either think himself too weak to bear up against the efforts that were preparing to be made against him in Germany and Catalonia or that he intended some enterprise into which they could not dive Some gave out that the French King's Letter was but a politick fetch whereby he gave occasion to the King of England to wave the Declaration which his Parliament so urgently solicited and that the condition of the King of Sueden's consent would be always a sure pretext to stave off the proposition of the Truce whenever France though it convenient The same day May 1677. that that Letter was brought to Nimueguen the Dutch Ambassadors having demanded audience of the French came all to the House of the Marshal D' Estrades whither they brought the project of a Treaty of Commerce the Articles of which were extracted out of the last Treaties which they made with France But the people said publickly That that was but to amuse them to no purpose that it was much better to conclude a Treaty of Peace than a Treaty of Commerce The States General in the mean time sent three hundred thousand Crowns to the Prince of Orange to raise recruits for their Forces publishing that the loss they had sustained at Mont Cassel should not hinder them from rigging out a Fleet which they designed for the assistance of Sicily and Denmark The Confederates nevertheless began to take umbrage at the Negotiation of the Dutch the disposition they found the Sieur Beverning in to treat separately gave them the greater cause of fear in that that Minister ceased not to press them and to complain of their slow proceedings And the Duke of Zell finding himself sollicited to send five thousand men to join the Confederate Army as he had done the year before he made some difficulty and demanded of the States-General an hundred thousand Crowns and as much from the Spaniards and insisted upon this That the Emperor would cause the title and rank of Ambassadors to be given to the Ministers which the House of Brunswick should send to Nimueguen These conditions gave ground to suspect that that Prince and some others of Germany had not the same
THE HISTORY OF THE TREATY AT Nimueguen WITH REMARKS ON THE Interest of EVROPE In relation to that Affair Translated out of French LONDON Printed for Dorman Newman at the Kings Arms in the Poultrey 1681. The Translator to the Reader Reader WHEN I have told you that the Author of this History is a French-man and that he hath dedicated the Original to Monsieur Colbert one of the active French Plenipotentiaries at Nimueguen I suppose without other notice you 'l expect to find in it some affectations I will not say partialities such as are usual to Authors who write of Affairs wherein their Countrey have the greatest share though to speak evenly my Author does not seem very culpable in this kind The General peace that was concluded at Nimueguen attests the truth of the most substantial matters contained in this Treatise And the respect that is due to so many great men as were present at the Negotiation makes it almost incredible that an ingenuous person such as the Author seems to be who in his Epistle to the Reader wishes that he had not been a French man that so he might have avoided the suspition of partiality would publish any falshood concerning the compliments and ceremonies which could not be spared amongst so many publick Ministers when be might so easily and with shame be by the many parties concerned convicted of the Imposture You need not then doubt but that this Book presents you with the true lineaments and features of the substantial affairs that were treated in that famous Assembly though probably the lights and air may be French and the frame which sets them off a-la-mode de Louis You know as well as I that it is usual for subjects and lovers of a victorious Prince to attribute even the most extorted and unvoluntary actions of their Master to his free choice and meer good will and pleasure and in this strain you 'l find our Author speak throughout this whole Book yet I make no doubt but that many know how much other influences besides the French Kings good inclinations to give peace to Europe and particularly the English Forces sent over into Flanders have had their effects in producing that Serenity which is at every turn attributed to his pleasure But seeing it is usual in all great atchievements wherein many are concerned that the several parties assume to themselves the glory of being the chief instruments in bringing them about I think if the dish be good you need not be much concerned at the manner of garnishing it but please your self according to your humour or skill Now Reader what advantage this Book may afford yoâ— you 'l find by the perusal of it And if your Stars have not destin'd you for such a publick person as that it may prove practically useful to you if they have at least endowed you with a love of speculation and knowledg you will therein certainly meet with somewhat that may gratifie your curiosity Farewell A Table of the Mediators Plenipotentiaries Ambassadors and Envoys mentioned in this History MEDIATORS On the Popes part SEignior Bevilaqua On the King of Great Britain's part My Lord John Berkley Laurence Hyde Sir William Temple Sir Lionel Jenkins AMBASSADORS For the Emperor The Bishop of Gurck The Count of Kinski Mr. Stratman For France The Mareshal D'Estrades Monsieur Colbert The Count D'Avaux For Spain The Marquess de los Balbases The Marquess de la Fuente Don Pedro Ronquillo Mr. Christin For Sueden The Count of Oxenstiern Mr. D'Oliver Krantz For Denmark Count Anthony of Oldembourg Mr. Heugh For the States-General The Heer Beverning The Heer Odyke The Heer Haren For the Elector of Brandenburgh Mr. De Somnitz Mr. De Blaspiel Plenipotentiary Envoys For the King of Denmark Mr. de Meyerkron Mr. Petkum For the States-General The Heer Boreel For the Elector of Brandenburgh Mr. Meinders For the Duke of Savoy The Count of Provana For the Duke of Lorrain The President Canon For the Bishop of Osnabrug The Baron of Platen For the Duke of Zell and the Princes of Brunswick Mr. Muller Mr. Schutz For the Bishop of Munster Mr. Termeulen For the Bishop of Strasbourg Mr. Duker For the Duke of Holstein Gottorp Mr. Vlkers Mr. Wetterkorp For the Elector of Mayence and Treves The Baron of Leyen For the Prince and Chapter of Liege Mr. Charneux Mr. Vanderveck For the Elector Palatine Mr. Spanheim For the Duke de la Tremouille Mr. Sanguimere For the Mareshal of Luxembourg Mr. De Villewrat THE HISTORY OF THE TREATY AT Nimueguen THE Treaty begun at Cologn in the year 1673 under the Mediation of Suedeland gave hopes that a general Peâ—ce would speedily put an end to the War that raged then in Europe when the seizure of Prince William of Furstemburg and Forty thousand Crowns taken out of the Waggons of the French Ambassadors in a Neutral City discomposed affairs in such a manner that the Negotiation so happily begun was quite broken off The violence committed on this Prince by the Emperors Ministers and the injury done to the French King gave ground to many to fear that Peace would not suddenly be restored again to Europe and that his Majesty would never consent to the renewing of the Treaty unless reparations were made for those two injuries Nevertheless at the instance of the King of England whose Mediation was generally embraced by all the Princes concerned in that War and at the solicitation of the Bishop of Strasbourg who publickly declared That he preferred the advantages of Peace before the liberty of his own Brother The King made the reasons of glory and interest stoop to the inclination which he had of contributing to the Peace of Europe And Nimueguen being pitched upon as the place of Treaty his Majesty resolved instantly to send thither his Ambassadors Plenipotentiaries and therefore on the 17 of Febr. 1675 named for that effect the Duke of Vitry Monsieur Colbert and the Count D' Avaux Seeing all the allied Princes appeared not at first to be of the same disposition as to Peace there was no advance made towards the forming of the Assembly at Nimueguen until the month of November that the King of Great Britain disposed all the Interest-powers to send with all expedition their Ambassadors to Nimueguen The French King was the first and gave order to his Plenipotentiaries before the end of December to set out for the place of Conference his Majesty having allowed them but eight days to provide their Equipage Accordingly on the 28 of December Monsieur Colbert and the Count D' Avaux parted from Paris not staying for the Duke of Vitry whose sickness would not permit him to undertake a journey in the severity of the Winter-season On the third of January they came to Charleville hoping there to find Passports from all those Princes that were concerned to give them and especially from Spain and Holland that they might come down to Nimueguen on the Meuse but the Passports
Colbert at that time had only the character of Envoy Extraordinary for mediating the differences that were at that time betwixt the States General and the Bishop of Munster and Monsieur Colbert being in the Electors Countrey it was not his part to raise any dispute upon that head The Ambassadors of the Emperor complained also of the publick refuse which the French made of the visit of Mr. Stratman The cause of those misunderstandings was imputed to the Spaniards who finding themselves always thwarted in the equality which they so strongly pretend to with France contend not for it with other Crowns to the end they may unite them all and so oppose themselves with greater force to the precedency which France claims or at least to disturb it as much as they can in the possession of an advantage which they cannot obtain for themselves There was an innovation made at Nimueguen of what was practised at Cologn in regard of the Mediators to whom in that quality all the Powers had granted the precedency in the affairs that concerned the Mediation And the Mediators on their parts being desirous to prevent all occasions of quarrels which frequently happen upon occasion of Livery-men especially when many of different Nations meet together in one place perswaded all the Ambassadors in the first place to command their Pages and Lacqueys to wear no swords which was punctually observed And seeing most of the streets of Nimueguen are so narrow that two Coaches can hardly pass a breast the Mediators drew up a writing to be signed by all the Ambassadors by means whereof they did sufficiently obviate all the inconveniences which were to be feared during the Treaty That writing bore That in consideration of the narrowness of the streets when two Coaches going contrary ways should meet that Coach which should be least advanced into the street should put back without any consequence to be drawn therefrom or prejudice to any ones pretensions that he that should most punctually obey that order should be held to be the most inclined towards the peace the matter being thus concerted for no other end but for avoiding all occasions of quarrelling and to keep those who laboured for the restauration of the publick repose in goodintelligence together The French Ambassadors were the first who signed that writing the Swedish did the like and the Danish Ambassadors followed their example but the matter went no farther so that it was to be feared that some unhappy accident might afterwards happen amongst so many Ambassadors but the order that was made for preventing any disorder amongst servants was punctually put in execution There happened at that time long debates concerning the manner of treating about the affairs of the peace and that matter was not easily adjusted all the Confederates were for having it managed only by writing The French Ambassadors maintained that having given in their first propositions in writing the way of treating by word of mouth with the Mediators was the shortest The Confederates would not condescend to this but made very long answers in writing to the French propositions which seemed rather invectives than answers to the proposals of peace But the French waving all these disputes which produce always strife gave their answers verbally by the Mediators the Dutch were the first that approved this method and all the Confederates at length yielded to this way of treating as the most expedient for diispatching in a short time Don Pedro de Ronquillo continued still incognito at Nimueguen whither Mr. Christu arrived on the 18th of March. This Third Ambassador of Spain is a Fleming Doctor in the Laws and Counceller in the Flemish Council in Spain who hoped to have the Office of Chancellour of Brabant in recompence of his services In the mean time the News of the siege of Valenciences before which the King came the first of this Month made all people very impatient to know the success of that enterprise it being known what care and circumspection had been taken for the preserving of that place but the news that came of the Trenches being opened the Ninth in the night time was quickly followed with the taking of the place on the 17th about Nine in the morning The manner of taking Valenciennes surprized all men and daunted the Spaniards The King commanded the Counter-scarp to be attacqued with two Half-moons that flanked a Crowned work and that they should lodg on the front of that work which covers another that is before the Gate of the Town But the Kings forces marching cross those Half-moons attacqued that great Crowned-work on the front and sides and entered it on all hands killed or made Prisoners all that opposed them and pursuing those that saved themselves in the Town gained the Bridg and second Work and by a Wicket where they could not pass but one after another they made themselves masters of the Town-gate so that in less than half an hour the King saw a place of that consequence taken by force April 1677 The Confederates hoped that the siege of Valenciennes begun in so bad a season would have ruined a great part of the Kings forces but that Conquest with others that were foreseen would follow much disheartened them Nevertheless the Treaty of Peace went on but very slowly for all that The Confederates grounded their hopes on the great Exploits that the German Forces were to perform in Alsatia and on the Declaration of England which they expected in their savours not doubting but that the Parliament would sollicite the King to join with them for opposing the progress of the French but the Confederates at that time found themselves much disappointed in their Expectations The two Houses of Parliament represented to the King of England the necessity of putting a stop to the progress that the French made in the Low-countries The King answered those that made him the Address from the Parliament That it was the thing he had in his thoughts and that he should take care that the French should not be in a condition of giving jealousie to his Subjects and that his Subjects should have no cause to have any His Majesty of Great Britain was afterwards informed that Don Bernardo de Salinas Envoy from Spain gave it out that his Majesty had called the Authors of that Address Rogues The procedure of that Minister so much the more offended the King of England as that in so nice a juncture it might have produced dangerous effects in his Kingdoms and therefore he sent order to Don Pedro de Salinas to keep within doors and to make ready to depart out of the Kingdom within twenty days The Ambassadors in the mean time remained at Nimueguen like Spectators and all that was done there was to consider and observe what passed in the Low countries where after the taking of Valenciennes the King made himself Master of Cambray on the third of April five days after the Trenches were opened the Governour with
was never any good understanding betwixt him and his Colleague the Count of Kinski nor the Marquess de los Balbases His allowance was 3400 German Florins a Month and he had always several persons of Quality in his Retinue Count Anthony of Oldembourg arrived at Nimueguen on the seventh of September but as he was preparing to give the Mediators and all the other Ambassadors notice of his arrival the Imperial Ministers acquainted him that they expected to be preferred before the English Mediators That Ambassador perceiving this to be contrary to the custom that was established at Cologn would not consent to the Imperial pretensions He well foresaw that not only the Mediators would not have admitted his Visit but likewise the French and all the other Ambassadors who maintained the honour of the Mediation and therefore he gave no notice of his arrival gave nor received no Visit and continued still incognito at Nimueguen but that hindered not but that he met at conferences and especially at all places where they played That Count is the Natural Son of the last Count of that name to whom the King of Denmark was heir as being of the same family but the present Count hath obtained a vast Estate from his Majesty with the Government of the County of Oldembourg he is of the Order of the Elephant and very handsome his presence courage rich equipage and vast expence shewed him to be a great person but his civility and free humour made him beloved of every body insomuch that the Assembly of Nimueguen lost much by his departure which was eight months after his arrival The end of the Campagn drawing now near the Confederates did not think that the French forces would effect any considerable Enterprize Nevertheless the Mareshal de Crequi assured the King that he would make him Master of Fribourg if his Majesty pleased The design appeared extreamly difficult But the Mareshal having obtained permission and all that was necessary for carrying on so great an Enterprize endeavoured to make the Duke of Lorrain believe that he intended some design upon Sarbruck and at the same time made a considerable body of men pass the Rhine at Brisac which on the ninth of October invested Fribourg and marching thither in great haste he forced the place to render before that the Duke of Lorrain could come in time to relieve it Octob. 1677 such was the consternation at Nimueguen among the Germans and all the Ministers of the Confederates that even after the taking of that place they could hardly believe that the Mareshal de Crequi durst have undertaken the siege Fribourg has a Cittadel strong by situation and fortifications the Town is great and well peopled because of the University that is there and the Emperour received a very considerable revenue from it but the consequence of that conquest was better known afterwards than at that time The Voyage that the Prince of Orange was preparing to make into England gave ground of various conjectures On the 17 of Octob. he Embarked at the Brill being accompanied with the chief of his Family and the Heer Odyke the Extraordinary Ambassador of the States-General who had not as it was given out given him a full power to conclude a Peace or make a new League On the 19th the Prince arrived in England where his Marriage with the Princess Mary Eldest Daughter to his Royal Highness the Duke of York was carried on so secretly that the first news that they had of it at Court was the conclusion thereof The news of this Marriage came to Nimueguen the 29th and seeing all the Confederates began to hope more than ever that England would not be long before it declared in their favours they made no more doubt of it after this Marriage And therefore all the Ministers of the Confederates complimented thereupon Ambassador Jenkins and my Lady Temple also who remained at Nimueguen after the departure of her Husband of which no man doubted but that the Marriage of the Prince of Orange was the cause whereof till then they were ignorant The affairs of the North went daily worse and worse for the Suedes especially in Pomerania Stetin was besieged from the beginning of Summer and was extreamly straitned The Danes had taken the Isle of Rugen And though Count Koningsmark routed them there and beat them wholly out of it yet the Town of Stetin deprived of all kind of relief and out of hopes of receiving any was at length forced to render to the Elector of Brandenbourg having given demonstrations of great Lovalty to Sueden and left to posterity an extraordinary instance of constancy and resolution Affairs were wholly at a stand at Nimueguen there was no meeting but for Play Dancing and Collations at the houses of the Ambassadors of France Spain Sueden and Denmark but the League which was signed at the Hague the tenth of Jan. 1677 8 betwixt England and the States-General to oblige the French King to make Peace on the terms they had agreed upon made all the Confederates hope that the countenance of affairs would quickly change to their advantage and that France would be at length forced to stoop or be overpowred by the multitude of enemies England in effect seemed inclined to an open declaration and the King thought it not sit any longer to reject the sollicitations of his Parliament wherefore he made a Speech to them in a quite different strain from that which was mentioned before he acquainted the two Houses with the League that he had made with the States-General for the preservation of Flanders and obliging those to a Peace who would not accept of the conditions that they had judged reasonable He laid before them the necessity of money for compassing those great designs He gave them some account of the moneys which he had received for the building and equipping of Ships and consented that the Supplies which the Parliament did give upon this occasion should be laid out by such persons as they should nominate But of all things his Majesty put them in mind of the advantages which England had reaped and still did reap from the peace it enjoyed whilst all Europe besides were in actual War For preserving so much happy success it was necessary that the French should be still prosperous and that by breaking the measures of the Confederates they might make their Ambassadors change their tone The taking of the Isle of Tobago of all the Vessels that were in that Port and the Ammunition which was in the fort the death of Binkes Admiral of Zealand and the utter ruin of that Colony were sensible blows to the States-General as the taking of St. Guillain during the rigor of Frost and Snow had terrified the Low-countries By these means the French King thought he might overthrow the projects of his Enemies Febr. 167 8 Monsieur de Somnitz Ambassador and Plenipotentiary from the Elector of Brandenbourg on February 25. died at Nimueguen in the sixty and
them so hard that as they said they would hazard all rather than accept of them And when the French Ambassadors carried these conditions to my Lord Ambassador Jenkins to be by him communicated to the Confederates he made answer That he could not do it as Mediator but that he would acquaint them with them in discourse as a matter to which he promised no answer That Mediator refused to treat on these Conditions because in the League that on the 10th of January was concluded betwixt England and Holland the King his Master had made other conditions with the States-General to which they resolved to force France But he did not foresee that by refusing to present the French Kings Conditions to the Confederates which would prove the cause of as many treaties as there were Princes and States engaged in the War he excluded himself in effect from the Mediation The news came about that time that the French had abandoned Messina and all their Conquests in Sicily People were strangely â—â—rprised to see that the Mareshal de la Faâ—â—â—â—ade who was thought to have been sent into that Kingdom with fresh Forces upon design of some new enterprise was only gone thither to fetch off the Forces that the King had there The abandoning of Sicily was imputed to the suspition that the French had of England's declaring where considerable Levies were already making Some wondered that the French King should so easily abandon a Countrey the yeilding up of which might have stood him in stead in the Treaty of Peace with Spain Others on the contrary thought it more glorious for him so to recall the succour which he was pleased to give the Messineses without having had any hand in their revolt than to forsake by a Treaty people that had implored his protection It was not to be doubted but that the present juncture of affairs would oblige the King to provide against all accidents and therefore the Marshal de la Favillade having declared to the Senate his Majesties Orders grounded on the need that he stood in of all his Forces caused his Troops to embark But many of the Messineses dreading the certain revenge of the Spaniards came in so great number on board of the French Fleet that if there had been more ships there Messina had been wholly disserted The Confederates had their eyes fixed solely upon England as the only place from whence they might expect any considerable relief Hence it was that many Ambassadors left Nimueguen Don Pedro de Ronquillo went to Brussels to return no more but it was thought the reason was because he would not be inferior to the Marquess de la Fuentes who came as it were only accidentally to Nimueguen Don Pedro de Ronquillo who passed for one of the sharpest sighted men that was in all that famous Assembly could not forbear to tell a French Gentleman upon occasion of the conditions of Peace which the French King had proposed That he admired the prudence of that great Prince and that the success of his conduct would well appear by the necessity they were like to be brought to either of making peace or of maintaining the War alone The Baron of Platen Envoy of the Prince of Osnabrug went likewise to Brussels Mr. Spanheim on the 27th of April set out for England with the quality of Envoy Extraordinary from the Elector Palatine The Count of Oxenstiern a few days after embarked on the same design Mr. Oliver Krantz soon after did the same Which made some think that the Suedes intended to take other measures fearing lest France in the sequel might not be powerful enough to buoy up Sueden from the low condition into which it was sunk Thus from all parts came bellows to blow the fire that was kindling in England and which already threatned France In the mean time the Parliament that was then sitting was prorogued until the 9th of May and in the Assembly of the States of Holland which were at that time met the Towns were divided as to the continuation of the War The propositions which the French King made to the States-General seemed so reasonable that notwithstanding the powerful faction of the ill affected Amsterdam Leyden Harlem and all North-Holland were absolutely for peace May 1678. The Province of Holland being the most considerable of all the rest always turns the balance of deliberations so that Deputies were sent to London and Brussels to represent the impossibility that the States-General were in of continuing the War And it appears by the three printed Memoirs of the Heer 's Boreel and Weede the Extraordinary Deputies of the States to the Duke of Villa Hermosa Governour of the Spanish Netherlands of the 8.14 and 27. of May that the reasons of that impossibility were no less founded on the power and strength of France than on the weakness of the Dutch and Spaniards and the unprofitableness of all their efforts At that time there began to be some hopes of Peace what aversion soever all the Ambassadors of the Confederates seemed to have to it The time prefixed by the King was near at hand and on the fifth of May the French Ambassadors received orders to declare that his Majesty required that the Messineses who were come for refuge into France should by the Treaty of Peace with Spain be restored to and maintained in the possession of their Estates and that they might dispose of them at their pleasure The Ambassadors were enjoined to insist upon that point as a matter that his Majesty concerned himself much in but that demand being made after that the conditions were proposed it could not create an obstacle sufficient to hinder the conclusion of the Peace Nevertheless it afterward produced a very considerable difficulty seeing it lasted long after the signing of the Treaty and was one of the causes that were alledged of the long delay that Spain made in exchanging the ratifications Though it was no new thing to hear of the success of the French forces nevertheless men were strangely surprized at the news which a Courier brought from Maestricht that on the sixth of May a Detachment of that Garison commanded by the Sieur de la Breteche had surprized the fort of Leew situated in a Marsh with a double Ditch well pallisado'd The barrels of Wax-cloth which were prepared at Maestricht for the Execution of that Enterprize had not the success that was expected but forty swimmers joining valour to stratagem had the greatest share in that fortunate exploit in so much that in an hours time the French were masters of a very strong place and very easie to be maintained The States-General in the mean time began seriously to reflect on the advantage of making Peace upon the conditions which the French King had offered them The Town of Amsterdam which has the same esteem amongst the Towns of Holland that Province has among the other six was of that opinion and backt it vigorously that Town hath always
occasion some disorder published next day an Order under the pain of corporal punishment That no body should say or do any thing to any person whatsoever whatever Ecclesiastical habit they should see them wear But Don Pedro de Ronquillo thought it not fit that that Jesuit should appear any more abroad in that manner The Nuncio himself left two Capucins of his houshold at Cleves and suffered them not to come until he was assured that they should enjoy a full liberty Don Paolo Spinola Doria Marquess de los Balbases first Ambassador of Spain arrived at Nimueguen the 4th of June and seeing he came from Germany he took passage down the Rhine as the Nuncio had done That Ambassador is a Genoese a Grandee of Spain and Grandchild to the great Spinola he hath been General of the Cavalry of Milain and since Governour of that State for a time He came from the Extraordinary Embassy of Vienna where he had continued seven years He is a tall lean man most civil and well bred and married the Sister of the Constable of Colonna Their eldest daughter is married to one Spinola Duke of St. Peter one of the richest Gentlemen in Italy and who lived at Nimueguen until the conclusion of the Treaty This Ambassador had another Daughter with him married by Proxy to the Marquess Quintana Son to the President of Castile He had likewise an only Son ten years old who was called Duke of Sesto This great Family made a very numerous Train yet among so many servants there were not above five or six native Spaniards When the French Ambassadors came to Nimueguen finding that the Catholicks though under the Diocess of the Bishop of Ruremond followed the old stile according to the practice of Guelderland they resolved likewise to conform to it The Catholicks of the Countrey have a dispensation so to do to the end they may celebrate Easter and the chief Festivals of the year at the same time the Protestants do and not appear singular in a Countrey where they are with much pain and difficulty suffered The French Ambassadors followed the same stile that they might not seeem to make a kind of Schism betwixt themselves and the Catholicks of the Town and that their Chappel where five or six Masses were said a day might serve for the devotion of the Catholick people The Imperial and Spanish Ambassadors did not at first conform to that stile but the Nuncio resolved at Cologn to follow it and even kept the Rogations at Nimueguen according to that custom Nevertheless next day about ten of the clock at night he sent to acquaint the French Ambassadors That he was to observe the New Stile according to which the next day was the Vigil of Pentecost The Ambassadors sent the Nuncio back word That having taken the Old Stile upon very pressing considerations and particularly that they might conform themselves to the Orders of the Bishop to whom the Catholicks of the place were subject they could not leave it off The Nuncio made answer That it was not his intention to oblige any body and that what he did concerned only his own Family Nevertheless he altered his opinion eight days after The Imperial and Spanish Ambassadors and all the Ministers of the Catholick Princes followed the example of the French Ambassadors and all the Chappels observed only one stile At that time the Nuncio rendered his visits of ceremony to the Imperial and French Ambassadors on one and the same day The French met at the house of the Marshal D' Estrades to receive him resting satisfied with that single visit instead of having each of them one as the Nuncio offer'd though he afterward saw them severally His Train made a great show he had three Coaches with six horses and many servants in Livery cloathed after the Roman fashion with hanging sleeves some laced all over and others of Velvet with long cloaks But all the other Ambassadors had their Equipage after the French Mode My Lord Barclay having at that time obtained leave to return to England by reason of his age and indisposition parted from Nimueguen the fifth of June The truth is the Negotiation was at such a stand that there was no discourse of any affairs then and both Mediators and Ambassadors had time to play At the same time news came from England that the Parliament being assembled the fourth of June had made a pressing Address to his Majesty of Great Britain to incline him to make a League offensive and defensive with the States of the Vnited Provinces for opposing the progress of the French Conquests The King was displeased at this Address and made them answer That it did invade so essential a Prerogative of the Crown that the like had never been done but during the Civil Wars That it did not belong to the Parliament to prescribe to him what kind of Leagues and far less with whom he should make them That it seemed rather that he should engage in it by their permission than at their sollicitation That foreign Princes might have cause to doubt whether the Soveraignty was in his person and refuse to treat for the future with a King that had only the bare name In a word that he could not suffer that prerogative to be invaded which no consideration should ever make him to renounce seeing it was the foundation of the Crown and Government And hereupon he dismissed the Parliament without having obtained from them the Supplies he demanded for procuring the satisfaction and safety of his subjects June the 23. the Marquess de los Balbases who desired to begin to appear in publick sent on his own and Colleagues parts to compliment all the Ambassadors of the Princes but the French received and rendered them the first of all The substance of the compliment that was made to every Ambassador in particular by a Gentleman accompanied with two others was That the Ambassadors of Spain upon their arrival at Nimueguen sent to salute their Excellencies to testifie the joy they had to find themselves in so illustrious an Assembly and to have occasion of treating with persons of so known worth as their Excellencies were and that his Master impatiently expected that his Colleagues were in a condition to be treated according to their character that he might come in person to testifie his joy to their Excellencies The Marquess de los Balbases gave thereby to understand that Don Pedro de Ronquillo and Mr. Christin had not as yet the quality of Ambassadors but it was known that the Court of Spain had sent to the Duke de Villa Hermosa Plenary Commissions in divers forms and left to the Marquess his disposal the characters that he pleased to give them but he being no Native Spaniard and being to treat about an affair of so great importance for Spain which he well foresaw would not prove advantageous for that Crown it was his interest as well as the dignity of his Embassy that the
Court should authorise his Colleagues that the event might be the less laid at his dore The French Ambassadors sent three Gentlemen to return his compliment in the like terms of esteem and civility whom that Ambassador answered in French The same Gentlemen had Orders also to go wait upon the two other Spanish Ambassadors and to compliment them apart But it being just before insinuated that they had not as yet the character those Gentlemen were advertised not to give them the title of Excellence and for that reason Din Pedro de Ronquillo was not at home thô they went twice to his house and at dinner-time But Mr. Christin received the compliment without the least difficulty The Nuncio made no doubt but that if in the first steps that the French and Spaniards made there happened any thing that might give discontent to the French the Treaty might thereby receive great prejudice and therefore for preventing the same inconveniences to which the conduct of the Imperial Ambassadors towards the French had given occasion he so ordered mâ—â—tes that the carriage of the Spaniards should give the French no cause to complain So that that Mediator extremely zealous for the repose of Christendom hoped that by bringing the French and Spanish Ministers to a good and familiar correspondence together the affairs of the Peace would the more successfully be promoted Though the Marquess de los Balbases remained still incognito yet the French Ambassadors sent to compliment my Lady Marchioness and to desire audience of her They visited her separately and without much ceremony and so did all the other Ambassadors and their Ladies expecting till they could render her their publick Visits Of all the Ambassadors Ladies that were at Nimueguen the Marchioness de los Balbases was the only Lady that spoke not French but seeing she understood a little of it and that the other Ladies had no great difficulty to understand Italian from conversation and play they had no need of any Interpreter The progress that the French Tongue had made in foreign Countreys appeared at Nimueguen for there was no Ambassadors house where it was not almost as common as their Mother-tongue Besides it became so necessary that the Ambassadors of England Germany Denmark and other Nations held all their Conferences in French The two Danish Ambassadors agreed that even their common Dispatches should be made in that tongue because Count Anthony of Oldembourg spoke good High Dutch but not a word of Danes which his Collegue did Insomuch that during the whole course of the Treaty of Peace nothing hardly but French Writings appeared strangers chusing rather to express themselves in French in their publick ceremonies than to write in a language that was not so much in use as it July 1677. The Assembly now beginning to be formed and many strangers being with the Ambassadors at Nimueguen the Mediators on the second of July thought fit to renew the Writing that was spoken of before concerning the means of avoiding the inconveniencies which might happen upon the meeting of Coaches they likewise intreated the Ambassadors to command their Gentlemen upon severe penalties not to fight any Duels and all their servants not to make any disorder in the Town neither by day nor by night This was approved hy all the Ambassadors because of some Duels that had been already fought The Nuncio who was no less zealons for preservation of peace amongst the families which were to procure a general peace to all Europe made a like Writing in Italian which was signed by the Ambassadors in the same manner as that of the English Mediators was In thâ— mean time the Confederates raised all their Batteries in England and were not discouraged Their Ministers made new instances to the King of Great Britain That it would please him to recall the Forces that he had in the French Service representing to him that they were the cause of the loss of Mont-cassel His Majesty made them answer That in that Engagement there were none of his subjects in the French Army but the single troop of the English Gen d'arms wherein there were but seventeen English all the rest being French and that on the contrary the Dutch had two Regiments of Scots who had behaved themselves better in that action than any others of the whole Army That besides he could not recall his Forces from the French Service without declaring War against France seeing he had sent them thither before he was received to be Mediator and that desiring to retain that quality and only labour to procure peace he could not recall the one unless he likewise at the same time recall the others that he had in their service The Confederates had nothing to say to so just and reasonable an answer as that was and they found themselves disappointed of their hopes seeing that that powerful German Army that was to enter into France was put to a stand on the frontier by the Forces which the Marshal de Crequi commanded and so distressed for want of provisions and the parties of the neighbouring Garisons that it was obliged to retreat They conceived also so great jealousie of the King of England's equipping of a Fleet that they were in doubt whether on that side they had not as great cause to fear as to hope On the 13th of July there was an extraordinary Courier from England having Orders to Ambassador Temple to repair forthwith to London and accordingly on the fifteenth about five a clock in the morning he embarqued for that Voyage Every one had his several reasons concerning the hasty departure of that Mediator and could not agree whether it was a good or bad presage for the desired peace On the 16. the Marquess de los Balbases returned from Holland not well satisfied with the people of Amsterdam from whom he received not that favourable reception which he expected by reason of an opinion which that people had that the Spaniards for their own particular interests were the only cause of the continuance of the War Mr. Vlkens Envoy from the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp a Prince in League with the King of Sweden and who hath been dispossessed of his Territories by the King of Denmark rendered his first Visits to the French Ambassadors on the third of August and the same day the Count of Kinski and Mr. Stratman the Imperial Ambassadors visited publickly the Ambassadors of Spain who returned the Visit the same day The Nuncio ought to have been dissatisfied at those publick Visits made before the performance of that which was due to him as Mediator and Nuncio of the Pope Besides the French Ambassadors declared that at the very instant that the civility which was due to the English Ambassadors as Mediators was not rendered to them and that the Ambassadors of that Crown suffered those of the Emperour to have the precedency they would likewise re-assume the rank which they pretended to be their due without any respect to the Mediation
sixth year of his age He was a fat man of great judgment and had done his Master very good service in several imployments Mr. de Blaspiel his Colleague remained sole Ambassador at Nimueguen he is as honest and civil a man as lives and loves company and good cheer but his best quality is that he perfectly understands the interests of the Elector his Master and is wholly devoted thereunto The Elector of Brandenbourg having defrayed the charges of his Ambassadors by a Steward of the Embassie which for the first year amounted to forty thousand Crowns their allowances were regulated for the future In the mean time the French King began the Campagn with his whole Houshold which never appeared in better order nor richer Equipage but the better to cover the design which he intended he carried with him the Queen and all the Ladies of Court as far as Metz whilst several bodies of his Armies kept at the same time Luxembourg Namur Charlemont Mâ—ns and Ypres the best provided places of the Low-countries as it were blocked up in so much that the Confederate-forces being divided for the preservation of these Towns were in no condition to bring relief to any of them March 1677 8 the French themselves were no less surprized than all the Confederates were when the King leaving the Queen crossed so many Countrys in so great haste that on the fourth of March he came before Ghent which by orders from him was invested the first of that month The besieged to no purpose cut their Dikes and drowned part of the Country for the King lodged his forces and pressed so vigorously the siege that in a few days the Town and Cittadel were both carried It is hard to be expressed what trouble the taking of Ghent put all Holland into They saw to their astonishment that the French who were remote on the one side approached on the other At London all the Confederates exaggerated the importance of that loss that they might excite England to a speedy and open declaration whilst the French King pursuing his conquests caused Ypres to be besieged on the 15 of March and in a few days took it though the Garison made a brave resistance The Treaty was now more than ever damped at Nimueguen so great prosperities stopt the mouths of all the Confederates Ambassadors though the French seemed nothing elevated thereby The same prosperities had great impressions on Holland the people tired out with the War and alarmed by the conquests that were made on their frontiers minded nothing but peace They reflected on the flourishing condition that the United Provinces were in before the War they saw their Treasure exhausted and the inhabitants unable any longer to support the great Impositions and Taxes of the Two hundred peny which had been raised seven times in one year And therefore the Heer Beverning pressingly urged the Ambassadors of the Confederates being vexed to see them still flatter themselves with vain hopes when the only refuge they now had was the declaration of England and indeed that was the thing they wholly applied themselves to without advancing one step towards the peace Mr. Oliver Krantz who the year before went into Suedeland to receive new Instructions from the King his Master with whom the Danes hindered the commerce of Letters was come back to Nimueguen where he found affairs as backward as when he parted from thence and besides a great driness betwixt his Colleague and the French Ambassadors by reason of a difference that had happened between the Countess of Oxenstierne and Madam Colbert the Countess after her Lving-in having been pleased to render her first visit to the Ambassador of Spain's Lady That procedure offended Madam Colbert who twice afterward refused the visit of my Lady Oxenstierne upon pretext of feigned indispositions which hinder'd her not at the same time to receive the visits of several other Ladies This published the ground of the difference which might easily have been adjusted had it happened between persons of other humours of whom the gravity of the one and the frank humour of the other would hardly agree together And that was the reason that the difference of those two Ladies and the driness betwixt the French Ambassadors and the first Ambassador of Sueden lasted even till the end of the Treaty The Tragical death of the Ambassador of Denmark's Ladies brother was also the cause that that Lady visited my Lady Oxenstierne no more Her brother had a Settlement in Schoâ—en where he was accused of keeping inteâ—â—igence with the Danes against the service oâ— Sueden he was brought before a Council of War and there sentenced to be shot to death by four Ensigns The King of Sueden offered him a pardon if he would have acknowledged himself guilty of Treason but the poor Gentleman chose rather to dye and with extraordinary generosity caused fifty Ducats a piece to be given to the four Ensigns that shot him to death The news of that did so afflict the Ambassadors Lady that afterwards she could not so much as endure the sight of a Suede The Baron of Platen Envoy from the Duke of Osnabrug arrived on the 30th at Nimueguen but seeing the House of Lunenbourg had not obtained the title and rank of Ambassador for their Ministers Baron Platen thought that taking the title of Plenipotentiary Minister he might obtain an equality with the Ambassadors of the Powers that came after Crowned heads But he succeeded not in his pretensions though by a liberal expence he did his Master credit April 1678. At the time when there was no tâ—lk at Nimueguen but of the disposition that was in England of openly favouring the Confederates and reducing France to receive the Law it may be said that the French King at the same time gave it to all Europe by the Propositions that he made the 9th of April wherein he declared the conditions on which he was willing to make peace with all those with whom he was engaged in War and whereupon his Majesty fixed as the last point he would condescend to and upon which his Enemies might chuse Peace or War provided they did it before the tenth of May beyond which time he would not be engaged to stand to those conditions I will not here insert a particular relation of these conditions neither of the Memoirs of the Treaty nor of the Treaties that were concluded because they have been already published I shall only say that the Propositions of the 9th of April were the beginning of the Negotiation of peace and the scantling according to which all the Treaties have been concluded and signed though at first nothing appeared more remote from it nor yet afterward until the day that the conditions were in general accepted The Imperialists of all others seemed the least inclined to yeild to those conditions The first which required full satisfaction to be made to Sueden was insupportable to the Northern Princes The Spaniards and other Confederates found
particularly informed of his Majesties intentions That Ambassador would willingly have excused himself but the States Order being renewed on the 29th he set out from Nimueguen in Laid-coaches The reluctancy of the Heer Beverning was attributed to the fear he had of disobliging the Prince of Orange whose Interests did not admit of the Peace till that time this Ambassador was reputed a very good Republican but afterward he was thought wedded to the concerns of the Prince of Orange though it could not be affirmed whether fear or inclination were the cause of that engagement He is a man of a penetrating wit who knows what is good and always pursues it by just means He is assiduous and painful and hath been employed by the States in many Embassies and in all the Treaties that have been made since the year 1650 but he loves retirement and it was not without trouble that he left his Country-house near Leyden to come to Nimueguen The Heer Haren his Colleague is a Gentleman of Friesland of much credit in that Province and addicted to the interests of the Prince of Nassan Governour and Hereditary State-holder of the Provinces of Friesland and Groninguen The Heer Beverning arrived on the 30th at Antwerp and there found a Trumpeter who stayed for him to conduct him to the French Camp where having seen Monsieur de Pompone he had Audience of his Most Christian Majesty He found him so sincere in his intentions towards the Peace and so favourably inclined towards the States-General that on the first of June he left the Camp but in the account that he gave his Superiors of his Negotiation he told them that he found the French King as well informed of the condition of his enemies and of the places that he might attack as he was of his own affairs About the same time the Marquess de la Fuente gave notice of his arrival to the French Ambassadors but seeing he had already visited those of the Emperour in publick without giving the same declaration that his Colleagues had given to the Mediators to whom all the Ambassadors gave the precedency the French Ambassadors ordered a Gentleman to tell the person that came from him that they could not see him unless he first performed what was due to the English as Mediators By that the French Ambassadors obliged Ambassador Jenkins to whom they had given their promise constantly to maintain the honour of the Mediation It was alledged that it was to no purpose for the Marquess de la Fuente to give that particular declaration since that instead of one which might suffice for the three Ambassadors of Spain they had already given two But the French Ambassadors maintained that for the same reason they ought to have a third and that no consideration should hinder the Marquess de la Fuente from following the example of his Colleagues in that matter that on the contrary they had great cause to wonder that by such a refusal he would in some measure seem to condemn their conduct so that for want of that declaration the French Ambassadors saw not the Marquess de la Fuente during the whole course of the Treaty unless at the meetings of the Ladies where he used to come as the other Ambassadors did The news from England were at that time very tumultuary they advised that the King of Great Britain had Prorogued the Parliament to the third of June promising at that time to give them good news of the Peace Seeing a Prorogation of it self cuts off all that hath been proposed and treated in preceding Sessions without being concluded and confirmed this Prorogation put a stop to some pert Addresses which the House of Commons had made to his Majesty of Great Britain such as that whereby they desired the King would declare who they were that had counselled his Majesty to give the answers which he made in the mouth of May the year before and in the Month of January of the present June 1678 The Marquess de la Fuente who had not as yet communicated his plenary Commission caused on the first of June a copy thereof to be given which was collationed by the Nuncio's Auditor The French Ambassadors found it not to be in the form that it ought to be because all the four Ambassadors of Spain being named therein and being Posteriour in date to that of the three Ambassadors who were approved it seemed that by that means the Spaniards might disown when they should please all that they had done till then since that that new plenary commission might annul the former And therefore the French Ambassadors refused to accept of it and pretended that the Marquess de la Fuente should have one apart or that this last should be of the same date with the former without which they declared that they would not acknowledg him for an Ambassador In the mean time they were in great impatience at Nimueguen to know what had been the success of the deputation of the Heer Beverning who to the trouble of the Confederates went from thence to the French Camp not doubting but that all these proceedings would at length terminate in a Peace with the Dutch They thought it a matter of so much importance to divert that blow that for that end they set all engines at work but on the fourth of June a Courier from the Camp brought the French Ambassadors a copy of the answer which that King had made to the Letter of the States-General and another of the Memoir that his Majesty had caused to be given to the Heer Beverning The King by that Letter testified the pleasure which he had to see the States-General in a disposition towards Peace that his Majesty was willing to condescend to several things in favour of their Allies and how joyful he would be by restoring to them his ancient amity to enter with them into such engagements as might for ever secure their repose and liberty It can hardly be believed what good effect the word Liberty produced in the minds of the Dutch that word was so agreeable to them and so sensibly affected them that in all the impressions that have been made of that Letter in Holland the word Repose is left out to make that of Liberty sound the louder They talked publickly that whatever secret or publick enemy they might have for the future they would not fear the loss of their Liberty in which the present War had made so great a breach By the Memoir given to the Heer Beverning the French King at the desire of the States-General granted a Truce for six weeks to begin the first of the ensuing Month which extended that Truce until the fifteenth of August to the end that the States might have all the time they wished for to perswade their Allies to consent to the Peace in consideration whereof the States should promise not to assist them in any manner during the whole course of that War if they would