â—o unskilful in Government as the Name they gave them did import 'T is indeed not to be doubted but that the Division made of the Empire by Theodosius between his Two Sons Arcadius and Honorius into the Eastern and Western did very much precipitate the Ruine of it For tho' the former for many Ages after made a Shift to keep up yet it came infinitely short of the Ancient Roman Empire for Power and Splendour and was so harassed by degrees with the Insults of the Neighbouring Nations and diminished by the Conquests of the Bulgarians over one part of it by the Saracens subduing Palestine Syria Egypt and Cilicia by the City of Trebesond and the Neighbouring Countries withdrawing themselves from under the Obedience of it and chusing an Emperor of their own as Greece set up divers petty Princes to govern the different Parts of itâ— That the poor Remains thereof was not only swallowed up at length by the Turks but most of the said conquer'd or revolted Divisions to other very great Acquisitions of their own made both before and after fell under their Dominion also which made them for a Time more formidable in Power than any other single Dominion known to us in those Parts of the World But the Fate of the West Part of that divided Empire came on a pace the same becoming a Prey to the Germans and Goths who about this time came in prodigious Numbers to change their poor Habitations for the pleasant and fertile Provinces of the Romans Britain became a Prey to the Saxons Spain fell to the Share of the West-Goths The Goths Burgundians and Franks made bold with dividing France between them Rhoetia and Noricum were conquered by the Suevians A great part of Pannonia and Illiricum fell into the Hands of the Huns The Vandals fixed their Habitations in Africa And one part of the Goths set up a Kingdom in Italy and did not think Rome once Mistress of the World and the common Mother and Habitation of Mankind a fitting Place for their Kings to reside in The Empire being thus mangled and rent into so many different Pieces the next Thing according to the Course of a corrupted and vain World these Invaders went upon after some tolerable Settlement in their respective Acquisitions was to incroach upon their Neighbours and to endeavour to introduce such a Dominion again upon the Earth as might in Imitation of that glorious Empire which all of them in their several Turns had given an Helping-hand to overthrow over-top all others and merit the Name of a Supream and Universal One But there have hitherto in the Course of Divine Providence such Rubs been laid in the Way of this Design that it could never be accomplish'd tho' divers Princes have attempted it with the greatest Application and some seeming Probability of Success As Islands are not so liable to be invaded as those Kingdoms and States that lie upon the Continent So neither are they on the other hand so proper to make Conquests of others and to enlarge their Territories And if Great Britain has come in any respect short of other Countries in this Particular this is a sufficient Reason for it But there were other Causes and Considerations which we shall a little consider before we go any farther Tho' tho Saxons made an entire Conquest of the best and fruitfullest Part of Britain yet neither the most Northern Parts of the Island possessed by the Picts and Scots nor the Southern known since by the Name of Cornwall much less the ancient Habitation of the Britains wrongfully called Wales could they subdue in a long time nor the first indeed at all entirely Add to this That the Saxons themselves had no less than Seven Dynasties or petty Kingdoms amongst them known all together by the Heptarchy which took them up from their first Landing under Hengist by Alliances and the Power of their Arms not much less than 400 Years to unite them into one Monarchy which happen'd under K. Egbert about the Year 800. But tho' this Conjunction of Seven into One was very considerable and that now some grand Efforts might have been made for reducing the remaining Parts of the Island under one Head the Danes now a very Potent and Sea-faring People in the very same King's Reign invaded Britain Between whom and the English there were continual Wars for the Space of 240 Years and the former so far prevailed that Three of their Kings reigned successively over England for 26 Years when the Government returned again into the Hands of the English But it was so weak and feeble that in a short time it fell into the Hands of Will surnamed the Conqueror and his Normans in whose Son 's Reign Henry I. by Name the Dukedom of Normandy was annexed to the Crown of England This so considerable Accession of Strength upon the Continent came yet short of a Compensation for the still remaining Disjunction of Scotland and Wales from the rest of Britain which the succeeding Kings little minded to effect For tho' Henry II. was the greatest King at this time in our Western World as being besides K. of England and Duke of Normandy by Inheritance Duke of Anjou and by Marriage Duke of Aquitain and Poictou yet he was so far from going through stitch with his intended Conquest of Wales or reducing Scotland that his chief Aim was upon the Conquest of Ireland which tho' a noble Design and in a very great Measure effected yet it was misplaced and should have followed the Reduction of the other two Yet what came to Henry upon the Continent by Right of Inheritance his Son King John and his Grandson Henry III. in a manner totally lost But of all the Kings of England to this Time Edward I. was the only Prince that seemed to have a right Notion of Extending his Dominions and therefore he never gave over till what by fair and foul Means with an Intermixture of Policy he entirely united Wales to the Kingdom of England and made in a manner by the same Methods a perfect Conquest of Scotland which nothing humanely speaking but the Weakness of his Successor obstructed the Consummation of So that henceforward all the Thoughts of our Warlike Kings were the Recovery of that Right they alledged to have to the Kingdom of France whose Conquests there if they had been as wisely secured as they were valiantly made had added a much greater Glory to the English Name than our Annals would otherwise admit of But that which our Kings would not or could not add to their Dominions by Conquest within the Island it self I mean the Scotch Kingdom which always obstructed the Progress of their Arms upon the Continent at length fell in of it self in the Course of Succession So that England Scotland and Ireland were in the Person of King James I. united under one Head In the mean time one of our Neighbour-Nations was arrived to that Pitch of Greatness and another of them in
to stay Tho' the Emperor as believing himself much stronger thought to delude Henry of his projected Proportion the other grew too cunning for him for being in expectation that Henry would have advanced and so both of them hem in the French Army on each side he sent him Word He would not stir from Bologn and Monstreville till he had made himself Master of them which made Charles recoyl and clap up a Peace then he turned all his Thoughts upon the Reduction of the Protestants and with them the Liberty of Germany wherein tho' he went a great length yet he was at last so baffled by Maurice Elector of Saxony at Inspruck that he was glad to make a Peace with them also So that now being diffident of ever attaining his Ends and wearied with the Toils of Empire and the Infirmity of his Body he resigned up the Empire to his Brother Ferdinando who having been before chosen King of the Romans would not consent it should come to his Son Philip This Philip had at the same time all his Father 's Hereditary Dominions put into his Hands and being a Prince as Politick as Powerful and withal Married to Mary Queen of England had it not been for his Father's Error in dividing the Power of the Austrian Family by separating the Imperial Crown from the Spanish Monarchy I cannot see if we speak after the Manner of Men what could have hindred this Philip II. from attaining to the Dominion of Europe in a short time But besides this other Accidents quickly intervened and as Politick as this Prince seemed to be those very Methods he took to attain still to his desired Ends of Supream Sovereignty by introducing the Inquisition and an Arbitrary Power into the Netherlands and his Attempts to reduce the Kingdom of England under his Power proved to be the very Things that ruined his Empire and gave Rise to that State that for a long time gave an helping hand to bring Spain low but since the Peace of Munster in 1648. has proved the greatest Support of that Remainder of the Monarchy still continuing in the Netherlands against her growing Neighbours of any in the World We might here assign other Reasons for the Cadency of Spain as the bloody Inquisition the Depopulating of the Country by the Discovery of the West-Indies c. But waving this at present we shall enquire a little distinctly into the French Proceedings upon the said Account and take in somewhat of other Nations as they occur to our Purpose before we come to draw the whole into a Conclusion The Ancient Gallia which was of every extensive Bounds but subdivided into divers petty Kingdoms or Dynasties as indeed the State of the Infant World seemed every-where to be so fell under the Yoak of the Roman Empire under the Conduct of Julius Caesar and continued under the said Dominion till that vast Monarchy began to totter and then was one of first of those Countries that felt the Rage of those barbarous Nations the Goths and Huns but most of all the Franks out of Germany who about the Year 424 beginning to break in upon it did by degrees make themselves Masters of the greatest part of it and withal changed the old Name of Gaul into that of France The first Race of their Kings were valiant and brave Princes but some of them being too much taken up with the prevalent Humour of those Times made such a Division of the Kingdom as they had Number of Sons to govern them But being united again this Merovingian Family now at length strangely degenerating from their ancient Valour gave way to the Rise of the Carolovinian Race in the Person of Pepin and was so called from the Famous Charles Martel Mayor of the Palace in the last King's Reign and Father to this Pepin who proved a Warlike Prince and did great Feats in Italy against the Lombards He was succeeded by his Son Charles surnamed the Great who extended the French Monarchy beyond the Bounds even of the ancient Gallia For he made himself in a Manner Lord of all Italy by the entire Conquest he made of the Kingdom of the Lombards and overcame the Saxons and subdued Germany beat the Sclavonians Danes and Huns routed the Saracens and reduced Spain as far as the River Iberus under his Obedience and at Rome was proclaimed Emperor of the West And in Truth he was the greatest Prince that ever was in this Part of the World since the Dissolution of the Roman Empire and had his Successors been as Wise and Valiant as he and pursued the Steps he took I cannot see any Thing that could have hindred them in the Revolution of a few Years from erecting an Empire as extensive and formidable as that of old Rome it self But Charles his Successors falling into the Error of their Predecessors disjoined the Empire of Germany from the Kingdom of France and part of their Dominions being invaded and possest by the Normans and the Royal Authority decaying by degrees this Race also being enfeebled with Age tho' they were not yet 240 Years old made way for Hugh Capet to ascend the Throne This Man thinking to make amends for the Badness of his Title by the Goodness of his Concessions to the Nobles of his Kingdom that had been very Instrumental in his Advancement remitted a great many of the Ancient Royal Prerogatives and gave them the Titles of Dukes and Earls of the Provinces they govern'd upon Condition they should acknowledge themselves his Vassals but yet not to be obliged to depend absolutely upon his Commands Hence arose besides the Dutchy of Normandy on which also depended that of Britany the Dutchies of Burgundy Aquitain and Gascoigny the Earldoms of Flanders Champaign and Thoulouse to which if we add that the Counties of Vienna Provence Savoy and Dauphine belonged to the Kingdom of Arelate which was part of the German Empire we shall find the French Monarchy reduced from those most extensive Bounds it had in the Days of Charlemaign to a very narrow Compass and to reunite those again has been mainly the Struggle and Endeavour of the succeeding Kings of France About some of which they had a long and terrible Contest with the English which yet the French effected in a great measure by the Time of the Reign of our K. Henry VII when Charles VIII married Anne Inheritrix of the Dutchy of Britany tho' she had been solemnly married before to Maximilian K. of the Romans and afterwards Emperor And the Suffering of this to be accomplish'd was a foul Blot in K. H's Politicks and lesned very much the Reputation he had gained of being a Prince of great Wisdom and Foresight But though France thus strengthned her Vital Parts by the Acquisition of Britany which she took Care to retain even by the Marriage of Charles's Successor Lewis XII to this Ann of Bretaigne his Relict in Expectation of Issue though without Success and that notwithstanding this Francis I. Lewis's
and would gain his Point in favour of Dissenters at leastwise as to the gaining his Prerogative in Westminster-Hall and when he thought he had gone pretty far that way he granted a Commission of Ecclesiastical Affairs which yet was not opened till the 3d of Aug. though it had been Sealed some Months before But at last out it came and whereas I have never yet seen it Printed but once and lest the same should be forgotten I shall insert it in this place and it runs in the following Terms JAMES the Second by the Grace of GOD King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. TO the most Reverend Father in God our Right Trusty and Right Well-beloved Councellor William Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan and to our Right Trusty and Well-beloved Councellor George Lord Jefferies Lord Chancellor of England and to our Right Trusty and Right Well-beloved Councellor Lawrence Earl of Rochester Lord High-Treasurer of England and to our Right Trusty and Right Well-beloved Cousin and Councellor Robert Earl of Sunderland President of our Council and our principal Secretary of State and to the Right Reverend Father in God and our Right Trusty and Well-beloved Councellor Nathaniel Lord Bishop of Duresme and to the Right Reverend Father in God our Right Trusty and Well-beloved Thomas Lord Bishop of Rochester and to our Right Trusty and Well-beloved Councellor Sir Edward Herbert Knight Chief Justice of the Pleas before us to be holden assigned Greeting We for divers good weighty and necessary Causes and Considerations Us hereunto especially moving of our meer Motion and certain Knowledge by Force and Virtue of our Supream Authority and Prerogative Royal do Assign Name and Authorize by these our Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England you the said Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Chancellor of England Lord High-Treasurer of England Lord President of our Council Lord Bishop of Duresme Lord Bishop of Rochester and our Chief Justice aforesaid or any three or more of you whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one from time to time and at all times during our Pleasure to Exercise Use Occupy and Execute under Us all manner of Jurisdiction Priviledges and Preheminences in any wise touching or concerning any Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions within this our Realm of England and Dominion of Wales and to Visit Reform Redress Order Correct and Amend all such Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities whatsoever which by the Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm can or may lawfully be Reformed Ordered Redressed Corrected Restrained or Amended to the Pleasure of Almighty God and encrease of Vertue and the Conservation of the Peace and Unity of this Realm And we do hereby Give and Grant unto you or any Three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one thus by Us Named Assigned Authorized and Appointed by Force of our Supream Authority and Prerogative Royal full Power and Authority from time to time and at all times during our Pleasure under Us to Exercise Use and Execute all the Premises according to the Tenour and Effect of these our Letters Patents any Matter or Cause to the Contrary in any wise notwithstanding And we do by these Presents give full Power and Authority unto you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the Lord Chancellor to be one by all lawful Ways and Means from time to time hereafter during our Pleasure to enquire of all Offences Contempts Transgressions and Misdemeanors done and committed contrary to the Ecclesiastical Laws of this our Realm in any County City Borough or other Place or Places exempt or not exempt within this our Realm of England and Dominion of Wales and of all and every of the Offender or Offenders therein and them and every of them to Order Correct Reform and Punish by Censure of the Church And also we do Give and Grant full Power and Authority unto you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one in like manner as is aforesaid from time to time and at all times during our Pleasure to enquire of search out and call before you all and every Ecclesiastical Person or Persons of what Degree or Dignity soever as shall offend in any of these Particulars before-mentioned and them and every of them to Correct and Punish for such their Misbehaviours and Misdemeanours by Suspending or Depriving them from all Promotions Ecclesiastical and from all Functions in the Church and to inflict such other Punishment or Censures upon them according to the Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm And further we do give full Power and Authority unto you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one by Virtue hereof and in like Manner and Form as is aforesaid to enquire hear determine and punish all Incest Adulteries Fornications Outrages Misbehaviours and Disorders in Marriage and all other Grievances and great Crimes or Offences which are punishable or reformable by the Ecclesiastical Laws of this our Realm committed or done or hereafter to be committed or done in any Place exempt or not exempt within this our Realm according to the Tenour of the Ecclesiastical Laws in that behalf Granting you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the Lord Chancellor to be one full Power and Authority to order and award such Punishment to every such Offender by Censures of the Church or other lawful Ways as is abovesaid And further We do give full Power and Authority to you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one to call before you or any three or more of you as aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one all and every Offender and Offenders in any of the Premises and also all such as by you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one shall seem to be suspected Persons in any of the Premises which you shall object against them and to proceed against them and every of them as the Nature and Quality of the Offence or Suspicion in that behalf shall require and also to call all such Witnesses or any other Person or Persons that can inform you concerning any of the Premises as you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one and them and every of them to examine upon their Corporal Oaths for the better Tryal and Opening of the Truth of the Premises or any part thereof And if you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one shall find any Person or Persons whatsoever obstinate or disobedient in their appearance before you or any three
Coaequation and that his Pension be reserved to him That for the Sum which he promised to pay some Ensigns out of his own Money the same should be taken out of what should arise from the four Quarters The Artillery was to be paid out of the Revenue of Lipiuski Germoreski and Winosopski till the succeeding Dyet of which the General of the Artillery was to give an account to the succeeding Dyets at hand That the Artillery should be laid up in the Arsenal of Wilna from whence it was not to be taken out but to be employ'd against the Enemies of the Republick That Protection should be granted to the Lithuanian Tartars as well for their Estates as Persons upon Condition that they took forthwith the Oath of Fidelity to the King and the Republick Having thus dispatch'd the Affairs of the North I shall not amuse the Reader in this place with the Naval Fight that hapned between the Venetian and Ottoman Fleets in the Waters of Mitylene on the 20th of September since I cannot with any Certainty assign what Loss was sustained or the Victory to either side so various have the Reports been tho' the former laid a Claim to it but design now to resume the Negotiations of the Peace with the Turks already mentioned but because the same has spun out into the new Year before the final Conclusion of it I shall here according to my Custom briefly touch upon the Remarkables of the last Towards the beginning of February dyed Frederick Casimir Duke of Courland at Mittau the place of his Residence who was succeeded by his Son Frederick Casimir a Child of of about Six Years Old During whose Minority Prince Ferdinand his Uncle who has embrac'd the Popish Religion would have taken the Guardianship and Administration upon him But the States have interposed and the young Prince is to be bred up a Protestant The third of the same Month was also fatal to Ernestus Augustus Elector and Duke of Hanover and Bishop of Osnaburg who departed this Life at Hernhausem He was born November the 10th 1629. being third Son to George Duke of Lunemburg and Anne Eleonora Daughter of Landgrave Lewis of Hesse-Damrstadt He was married in 1659. to the Princess Palatine Sophia Daughter to Frederick Elector Palatine and Elizabeth Stuart Daughter of King James I. and Sister to King Charles I. by whom he had several Children and whereby it appears the present Elector his Son is next in Succession after the Royal Family here by the present Constitution of the Government that no Roman Catholick shall inherit to the Crown of England By the Peace of Westphalia the deceased Elector was designed Bishop of Osnabrug which is a very considerable Country when the Alternative was settled for one time a Roman Catholick and next time a Prince of the House of Lunemburg of which he took Possession in 1668. upon the death of the Cardinal of Wirtemburg the last Roman Catholick Bishop The Emperor was no sooner informed of the Elector's death but that in pursuance to the said Treaty he dispatch'd away a Commissioner to be present at the Election of a new Bishop for which there were divers Candidates and about which the Capitulars were extreamly divided But at length April the 14th they all united in favour of Charles Joseph Ignatius of Lorrain Bishop of Olmutz the Duke of that Name 's Brother who was advanced to that Dignity And now we have mentioned the Death of two Illustrious Persons we shall take notice of as many marriages One was in the North at the Swedish Court between the Duke of Holstein Gottorp and Hedwig Sophia Princess Royal of Sweden which was Consummated at Carelsbourg on the 12th of June without any Solemnity But the other between the present Duke of Lorrain and Elizabeth Charlotte Daughter to the Duke of Orleans the French King's Brother was performed upon the 12th of October at Fontainbleau with so much Pomp and Ceremonious Observances that I have no great Stomach to relate the Particulars and as little to call to mind the death Ferdinand Joseph Electoral Prince of Bavaria who departed this Life February 16th N. S. 1699. not long after as was given out and that very probably the King of Spain had settled the Succession of that Crown upon him and the French King 's Memorial at Madrid upon that Subject was a manifest Confirmation of it And the Truth of it is if there was a Right of Succession any where it must be in the Person of this young Prince by vertue of the Seventeenth Article of the Pyrenean Treaty Which undoubtedly must have stood good in Point of Justice whatever others have said against it in favour of another Person else we must account Don Lewis de Haro one of the wisest Ministers of State that ever Spain bred a â—ool and no Treaties how solemnly soever made of any Validity But now to draw to a Closure we are to remind you that the Plenipotentiaries on either side both Christian and Turk with the Mediators met at Câ—rlâ—â—itz in order to terminate so long and expensive a War by a Peace or at least a Truce for some term of Years It was the â—th of November when the Mediators delivered to the Turkish Plenipotentiaries the Preliminary Articles which mainly in Substance contained That each Party respectively should retain what he had got and the following days till the 12th were spent in preparing Matters upon which they were to enter in Conference that day On the 13th the Imperial and Turkish Plenipotentiaries caused several fair Tents to be set up on the sides of the House appointed for the Conferences and by Nine in the Morning the first arrived at the Mediators Lodgings whither the Turks also repaired at the same time and from thence went altogether to the House of Conference where after mutual Civilities they took their Places in the midst of the Tent which had four Doors two whereof being opposite to one another served for the Entrance of the Mediators and the other two for the Imperial and Turkish Plenipotentiaries The Count of Oâ—â—inghen had the right of the former and Reis Effendi of the latter The Mediators Secretaries and those of the Imperial Embassy were placed behind and the Turkish Secretary who stood up-right before sat down upon the Floor And this was the manner of the opening of the first Conference after pronouncing of these Words God-Grant an happy Pâ—â—ce There was a Table in the midst between the Mediators and Plenipotentiaries And the Conference lasted from half an Hour after Ten till Three in the Afternoon when the Mediators and Plenipotentiaries went out in the same order as they entred But all the while they were within the Emperor's and Turkish Guards besides a great Number of Officers of both Nations environed the Tent. The Conferences were renewed in the same manner the three succeeding days with good Success And among other things they conferred about the Regulation of
so growing a Posture that such a Tripple Conjunction seemed only seasonable upon this Account in that the same tended to our Safety But by what Methods these our Neighbouring-Nations have attained to that Greatness it will be necessary to enquire into And first we shall begin with Spain which upon the Declension of the Roman Empire fell into the Share of the West-Goths and other barbarous Nations who for a Time laboured under the same Inconveniencies of a divided Dominion as the Saxons did in Britain But towards the Year 586 their Empire was arrived to the highest Pitch of Greatness as comprehending not only the Neighbouring-Provinces of France and part of Mauritania in Africa but also all Spain except a small Part possessed yet by the Romans who held not that long neither From thence the Gothick Empire declined apace and all fell into the Hands of the Saracens But their Affairs began to revive again about the Year 726 and one Pelagius who was said to have been descended from the Race of the Gothick Kings prevailed mightily both against the Moors and Saracens as divers of his Successors did also However these turmoiled Times gave Original to several Kingdoms within the Boundaries of Spain For besides the Kingdom of Oviedo or Leon which were all one in Effect there arose also others as those of Navarre Arragon and Castile But all these Kingdoms which also professed Christianity were united in the Person of Sanctus Major II. whereby an Opportunity was given the Christians to root out the Moors now divided amongst themselves and to restore Spain to its ancient State yet Sanctus tho' otherwise a brave Prince had no more Wit than to divide them amongst his Sons and gave each of them the Title of King These not being able to confine themselves to their respective Proportions made War upon one another with various Success as it gave the Moors also some Advantage in their Proceedings till in a manner all was united again under Alphonso VIII who play'd the same Trick of dividing Castile Leon and Gallicia between his 3 Sons so that they and their Successors had so much to do with the Moors within Spain and such mutual Jealousies of one another that they could be able to do little any where else under the Notion of Conquest Things were at length brought to such a pass that Spain to say nothing of Portugal and the Kingdom of the Moors in Granada was reduced into Two Kingdoms only to wit Arragon and Castile and these again were united by the Marriage of Ferdinand the Son of John II. King of Arragon whom his Father had declared King of Sicily to Isabella Sister to Henry IV. King of Castile By this Conjunction Spain became mighty Powerful And Ferdinand after he had set his Affairs in Order began now to entertain great Thoughts And well knowing it would be in vain to undertake any Thing Abroad while he had a powerful Enemy within the Body of Spain it self at his Door he undertook an Expedition against the Moors of Granada which cost him so much Time and Expence to conquer being no less than 10 Years engaged in the Work that he could perhaps have sat down contented herewith at least for a time had not something else fallen in his way But Ferdinand by aiming to make sure of his Conquest deprived his Country in some succeeding time of the Benefit of it for he thereupon banished no less than 170000 Families of Jews and Moors out of Spain and thereby dispoiled his Country not only of vast Riches but a great Number of Inhabitants wherein consists the Power and Support of a Nation But whatever Designs Ferdinand might after a little breathing Time have concerted to have undertaken Abroad now he was freed from the Evil that had hitherto diverted him from any Foreign Expedition the French who now found themselves under the same Circumstances as being rid of the English that had stuck so long and so close upon the Skirts of them as not to be able to move elsewhere thought to be before-hand with Ferdinand in the Reduction of the Kingdom of Naples which the other notwithstanding they gave him up Rousillion in order at least to let them proceed unmolested being not able to brook it came to an open Rupture And after divers Conflicts Ferdinand carried the Day and with it the Kingdom of Naples to which if we add the Discovery of America and the rich Mines there about this time and the Kingdom of Navarre which Ferdinand possest himself of upon the Pope's Excommunicating John d' Albret King of that Country at the other's Instigation we shall find this Monarchy grown to a prodigious Grandeur In this State Ferdinand left it to his Grandson Charles who being as well elected Emperor of Germany as he was Hereditary King of Spain and withal a very active Prince Tho' he did very great Things whilst he held the Rains of Government yet it may still seem a Wonder he had not done much more This was indeed an Age fruitful for several brave Princes and here I cannot but admire the Wisdom of God that this Charles V. who was so vastly Potent should have for his Cotemporaries a Harry VIII in England a Francis I. in France and a Solyman the Magnificent in Turky who were all Men of great Souls as well as Power and especially the last of them not inferior to Charles upon any account However such was the Conjuncture that Charles to his vast Dominions added still more by routing Francis and taking him Prisoner and thereby bringing him to make a Surrender of the Dutchy of Burgundy to renounce the Sovereignty over Artois and Flanders and to quit all his Pretences upon Naples and Milan which last the French had for some time been in Possession of But Francis having got his Liberty disclaimed the Agreement and this occasioned a new War which ended in Francis his being forced to confirm the Main of the said Treaty and left Charles at Liberty to add to the Conquests his Grand-father Ferdinand had made in Africa of Bugia and Tripolis that of Tunis and Goletta to which if we add the Sovereignty of Vtrecht of the Provinces of Over Issel Geldren Zutphen Groninghen c. consigned about this Time into his Hands it must still be allowed a mighty Accession of Strength to that vast Empire Wherefore to compleat as he thought his great Work of attaining to an Universal Monarchy in these Western Parts he cunningly lays aside the Contest about the Divorce between Henry VIII King of England and his Aunt Katharine and entred into a League with the said King of invading France the Emperor by the Way of Champaigne and the King thro' Picardy to compleat the Conquest of that Noble Country In order to which the Emperor advanced as far as Espernay which occasioned such a Terror and Confusion in Paris that the Citizens were for leaving the City if the King by his Presence had not incouraged them
about the latter End of Sept. surrendred up to the Imperial Army for want of Provisions having been blocked up and besieged from the Beginning of June And this indeed happened as much against the common Opinion and Expectation as the contrary Event did in the Siege of Maestricht The Affairs of Denmark and Brandenburg prospered all this while against Sweden who was in Alliance with France and that with much Advantage in most of the Sieges and Encounters that passed between them this Summer and the first part of the succeeding Winter So that the Swedes seemed to be losing apace all that they had been so long in Possession of in Germany But the Imperial Forces tho' joined with those of the several Princes upon the Vpper Rhine had for all that made but little Progress in their designed Conquests there and were forc'd to seek their old Winter-Quarters upon the German side of the River which was no less a true and indisputed Decision of the small Success of this Campagne than it was a powerful Motive to incline some of the Confederates to think more seriously of a Peace and particularly the Dutch who began now to grow very impatient after it especially in that they found France would make no great Difficulty in granting them any thing in Contest between them seeing they privately made Offers by their Emissaries especially at Amsterdam of such a Reglement of Commerce as they themselves could wish for the Restitution of Maestricht and all the Satisfaction imaginable to the Prince of Orange that he could pretend to upon the account of his Losses and their Seisure in the Course of this War year 1677 To return therefore to the Business of the Peace It was about the middle of Feb. 1677. N. S. before the Assembly was compleatly formed the King of England's single Mediation by all Parties accepted and that of the Pope's finally rejected the several Acts signed put into the Hands of the Mediators and by them exchanged among the several Parties And all these Preliminaries of the Treaty being thus dispatch'd the respective Embassadors did also by Agreement put into the same Hands their several Propositions or Pretensions which on the Emperor's part were That the King and Kingdom of France should restore to him and to the Empire and to all his Allies whatever they had taken from them during the Course of this present War make Reparation for all the Damages they had suffered and that a Peace should be established upon the best and surest Grounds that could be devised France in theirs seemed to demand little of the Empire only they said That the King having desired nothing more passionately than the Religious Observation of the Treaties of Westphalia his Majesty would gladly see Germany a second time owe the Re-establishment of its Repose to the Observation of the same Treaties and for that Effect he demanded they might be fully and entirely re-established The Spaniards insisted upon the Restitution of all the Places they had lost and Reparation for all the Damages they had sustained from France since the Year 1665 whether by Sea or Land by demolishing burning or otherwise and that the French King should give compleat Satisfaction to all the Confederates and by three different Articles demanded the same thing of the Swedes Whereas France on the other side said That their King being contrary to Justice and the Obligation of the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle attack'd by the Catholick King his Majesty had reason to pretend that in respect to that Crown all things should remain in the Condition the Fortune of War had put them without Prejudice to the King 's Rights which were to continue still in full Force and Power The Danes insisted That France should give them compleat Satisfaction and reimburse all the Charges of the War and by Four Articles required of the Swedes That betwixt the Two Kings and Two Kingdoms all Things should be restored in the same State they were in before the War that was ended between the Two Nations by the Treaties of Westphalia That the Treaties of Rochilde and Copenhagen should be abolished That all the Provinces which had been dismembred from Denmark and Norway should be restored to the Danes That all that the Swedes possess'd in the Empire should be taken from them That Wismar and the Isle of Rugen should remain in the Possession of the Danes And that for the Security of his Danish Majesty and his Kingdoms they might be allowed to put Garrisons into all the strong Places of Sweden that lay upon the Frontiers of the Two Kingdoms But France on her side proposed That seeing the King had not declared War against the King of Denmark but that his Danish Majesty running contrary to the Treaty of Copenhagen made in the Year 1660 for Performance whereof the King was Guarrantee had attack'd Sweden his most Christian Majesty was willing to desist from all Hostilities on his part provided that the foresaid Treaty and those of Westphalia were re-established As to what concerned France and the States-General tho' in truth Things were as good as agreed between them before the latter demanded that Maestricht Dalen Fangumont with all the Dependancies of the first should be restored to them A Reglement of Commerce with a Renunciation of all Pretensions each Party might have upon the other And as for the greater Damages they had sustained and whereof they might demand Reparation they were willing for the publick Tranquility to sacrifice them all provided Satisfaction might be given to their Allies To this were added Sixteen Articles concerning a full Satisfaction to be made the Prince of Orange in regard to what depended on the Crown of France and particularly the Restauration of the Fortifications of the City of Orange that were ruined in the Year 1660 and of the Castle demolished in 1663 the Rights of Toll upon Salt and other Commodities as well upon the Rhosne as through the Principality of Orange the Prerogative of Coining Money of Laick Patronage for Nomination to the Bishoprick together with the Exemptions Priviledges and other Immunities granted to the Inhabitants of the said Principality and particularly by Lewis XIII And as for Sweden they required no more but that the future Treaty might contain some Regulations for obviating the frequent Inconveniencies that happened concerning Commerce between the Two Nations To which France on her part answered That seeing the Union that had always been between the Crown of France and the States was only interrupted upon account of some Causes of Discontent which were easie in the present Posture of things to be removed and for the future prevented His Majesty was very ready to restore the States to his former Amity and to hearken favourably to all Propositions that might be made to him on their part both in respect to their Demands of Restitution Treaty of Commerce and the Re-establishment of the Prince of Orange tho' the French Embassadors occasionally opposed
the Pretentions of the Count d'Auvergne thereunto demanding That his Marquisate and Town of Bergen-op-Zoom should be restored to all the Rights of Sovereignty which the other Towns of Holland enjoyed conform to the Treaties of the Pacification of Chent The Elector of Brandenburg demanded That France should make Reparation for the Damages his Territories had suffered by the French Forces during the Course of this War That all Security should be given him for the same Territories And that all his Allies should be comprehended in the general Treaty But the French had no Propositions to make to the Elector besides those that were made to the Emperor and the Empire which comprehended the full Performance of the Treaties of Westphalia And as what concerned the Swedes in all the Proposals they made to the Emperor the Kings of Spain and Denmark the States-General and the Elector of Brandenburg besides the Renovation of their former Amity and good Correspondence their whole Demands consisted in the Execution of the Treaties of Westphalia and Copenhagen which in effect contained the Restitution of all that had been taken from that Crown The Duke of Lorrain's Pretensions were also put into the Hands of the Mediators Seal'd as the rest were but they did not open them upon the French his acquainting them That they had not received any Counter-Pretensions from Court in relation to that Duke whereof they believed the Reason to be that no Minister of his had yet appeared at the Congress Tho' another Pretence was afterwards started for the Rejection of the Duke's Offers from the Confederates refusing to admit of the Sieur Duker the Bishop of Strasburg's Envoy into the Assembly whereas the Danes did the same by the Ministers of the Duke of Holstein Gottorp for his being an Ally of Sweden protected by France and so standing dispossess'd by the King of Denmark Indeed their Pretensions against Lorrain had never yet been made since the Death of the late Duke and would have been hard to draw up by the ablest Ministers or Advocates themselves and therefore they thought fit to decline and reserve them for the Terms of a Peace when they should be able to prescribe rather than to treat upon them However they came afterwards to be known and were to this Purpose That as Heir to his Predecessors the Duke hoped from the Justice of the King that he would restore to him the Dutchies of Lorrain and Bar with their Dependencies his Titles Records Movables and Effects taken from him and make Reparation for the Towns Boroughs Castles and Villages that were ruined throughout all his Dominions Neither were the Propositions of the Dukes of Brunswick and Lunemburg made publick because the Ministers of those Princes kept incognito pretending to the Character and Rank of Embassadors But notwithstanding all the Instances that ever they made no Crowned Head would give way to their Demands From all which Proposals put together it easily appeared to the World what wise Men knew before how little Hope 's there were of a Peace from the Motions of this Treaty in the present Circumstances of Affairs and how wholly dependent it seemed to be on the Course and Influence of future Events in the Progress of the War In the mean time the Dutch's Pulse beat high for a Peace notwithstanding the joint Efforts of the Prince of Orange the Pensionary Fagel c. at Home to stave it off in the present Circumstances of it and the former's Endeavours by the Intervention of Sir William Temple to enter into such a Confidence with the King of England his Uncle in relation to it as might bring it about upon better Considerations and with greater Security to the Spanish Netherlands But it was his Misfortune to find little Security or Sincerity on that side and the Project that was sent him from thence gave so little Satisfaction that he resolved rather to continue the War at any rate saying That tho' he expected a very ill Beginning of the Campagne and to make an ill Figure in it himself and to bear the Shame of Faults that others would commit yet if the Emperor performed what he had promised the Campagne would not end as it began that however he was in and must go on and when one is at High Mass one is at it He must stay till it is done because of the Greatness of the Crowd which will not let him get out sooner But how slow soever the Confederates were in the Advances they made towards finishing this Work the French thought fit to quicken them towards the very beginning of the Year by blocking up of Cambray and Valenciennes and having provided sufficient Magazines in the Winter for the Subsistance of their Troops they began to break into Flanders and those Parts of Germany that are on the other side of the Rhine with such Devastations of burning and destroying as not only had not been used by either Party since the Commencement of the War but such as can hardly be parallel'd in History and yet they softned it with the Name of Putting the Frontiers of Germany out of a Condition of being able to furnish Provisions to any great Army with which they were from thence threatned and the Complaints of the Allies to King Charles of this new Manner of making War while a Peace was treating under his Mediation signified just nothing For the Thing was done and their Point was gained which was to prevent the early March of the Germans into Alsatia that would divert those Forces the French resolved to employ this Spring in Flanders before the Dutch could take the Field and march to the Relief of those Places they intended to attack Valenciennes having been for some time blocked up as abovesaid the Trenches were opened before it the 9th of March following the French King being at the Siege in Person and after the usual Approaches there were Orders given to attack the Counterscarp with the two Half-Moons that flanked a Crowned Work and that the Men should make a Lodgment on the Front of that Work which covers another that is before the Gate of the Town But the Troops marching cross those Half-Moons attacked that great Crowned Work both on the Front and â—ides and after some Resistance enter'd it on all Hands slaying 〈◊〉 before them and pursued those that fled so far that they gained the Bridge and Second Work and by a Wicket where they could not pass but singly made themselves Masters of the Town-Gate So that in about half an Hours time that considerable Fortress fell into the French Hands which was on the 17th Eight Days after the opening of the Trenches From hence the King marched with a mighty Army and with one part of it laid Siege to Cambray which after Five Days Trenches open was surrender'd to him upon Articles as the rest of the Spanish Towns had been tho' the Cittadel held out some Days longer While the other part of his Forces under the Command
of his Brother the Duke of Orleans invested St. Omers In the mean time the Dutch having received their Payments due from Spain and finding the French vigorous in the Prosecution of their Designs upon Flanders whilst the Treaty of Peace served only for an Amusement resolved to go on with the War for another Campagne being kept up to this Resolution by the Vigour and Constancy of the Prince of Orange in pressing them to the Observance of their Treaties and pursuit of their Interests in the Defence of the Spanish Netherlands The French had no sooner made a Motion this Season but the Prince prepared to do the same by that of the Dutch Troops and pressed the Spaniards to have theirs in a readiness to join him and with all imaginable Endeavours provided for the Subsistence of his Army in their March through the Spanish Territories which the other took no care of But notwithstanding all the Application that could be used he was not able to come time enough to the Relief either of Valenciennes or Cambray However not to be wanting what in him lay to save the rest he marched with the single Forces of the States and without either Troops or so much as Guides furnished him by the Spaniards directly towards St. Omer bent upon raising the Siege with the Hazard of a Battle tho' labouring under never so many Disadvantages for it which the Duke of Orleans on his part did not decline For having left a few Troops to defend the Trenches he marched with the rest of the Army to meet the Prince and in the way was reinforced by the Duke of Luxemburg with all the Troops the French King could spare out of his Army leaving only enough behind to continue the Siege of the Cittadel of Cambray which was not yet surrender'd Both Armies engaged with a great deal of Bravery at Mount Cassel where after a sharp Dispute the First Regiment of the Dutch Foot began to break and fall into Disorder but the Prince rallied them again several times and renewed the Charge yet he was at last bore down by the plain Hight of his Men whom he was forced himself to resist like Enemies and fall in among them with his Sword in Hand and cutting the first cross over the Face cried aloud Rascal I 'll set a Mark on thee at least that I may hang thee at last But all that ever he could do could not inspire any Courage into his dispirited Countrymen and therefore being forced to yield to the Stream that carried him back to the rest of his Troops which yet stood firm With them and such of the rest as he could gather together he made a Retreat that wanted little of the Honour of a Victory However the natural Consequence of this Battle was the Surrender of St. Omer and the Cittadel of Cambray which happened about the 20th of Apr. and a more eager Desire in the Dutch Provinces after the Conclusion of a Peace seeing they had been left alone by the Spaniards in this Brunt and that they conceived no great Hopes of the Conference that had been held at Wesel between the Elector of Brandenburg the Danish Embassador Pensionary Fagel Admiral Van Trump the Envoys of the Electors of Cologn Treves Palatine of the Princes of Brunswick and Bishop of Munster besides the Duke of Newbourg who was there in Person concerning the Operations of the Campagne on the German side However France observing every Motion both of her Friends and Enemies and more particularly the Temper of the English Parliament who were mightily allarm'd with the Progress of her Arms and had Addressed the King to concert Measures for the Preservation of Flanders had so much regard to the Jealousies raised both in England and Holland of their designing an entire Conquest of the rest of Flanders that the King after having gained those three important Frontier Towns so early in the Spring and dispersed his Army into Quarters of Refreshment went to Dunkirk from whence he sent the Duke of Câ—equi to Compliment Charles II. and to carry him a Letter containing in substance That tho' his willingness to come to a Peace did not at all promote the Conclusion thereof yet he was ready amidst the Prosperities wherewith Heaven was pleased to favour him to agree to a General Truce for some Years as the surest means of restoring Tranquility to Europe in case his Ally the King of Sweden was of the same Mind And seeing he could have no free Correspondence with that King he pray'd his Britannick Majesty to inform himself of his Intentions not doubting but he was sufficiently perswaded 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 a General Peace tho' he might have Ground to expect considerable Advantages from his Armies There were various Constructions made of this Letter and it was generally believed to have been a Politick Fetch of the French King to put the King of England upon waving the Declaration which his Parliament so urgently sollicited and Monsieur Beverning the Dutch Plenipotentiary who was the most forward of any for a Peace yet resented it to that degree that he said openly the French were to be commended who never neglected any thing of Importance nor so much as Amusement That France had given her Blow and would now hinder the Allies to give theirs That the Reserve of Sweden's Consent would be always a sure Pretence of staving off the Propositions of a Truce if the Allies should accept it That this it self could not be done because Flanders would be left so open as to be easily swallowed up by the next Invasion having now no Frontier on either side That the Towns now possess'd by France would in the time of a Truce grow absolutely French and so be the harder to be restored by a Peace or a War That for his part he desired to see the Peace concluded contrary to the Politicks of Monsieur Van Benningham and the other Ministers of the Allies in England affirming always That notwithstanding all their Intelligences and Intrigues there he was well assured That the King of England would not enter into the War to save the last Town in Flanders In pursuance of this Confidence of his he made all the Paces imaginable to compleat the Work and such as were thought by some to be forwarder than his Commission and very ill concerted with those of his Allies So that about the beginning of the Month of July all Points were adjusted between the French and Dutch and Monsieur Beverning began to play the part of something more than a Mediator pressing on his Allies towards a Peace in a somewhat rough manner tho' but with very small effect for there was little more done of any moment towards it the rest of this Summer save the Messages that were carried to and fro about the Business of the Duke of Lorrain
whose Cause the whole Body of the Allies interested themselves in so far as to press for an Answer to his Pretensions delivered in by President Canon But the French finding now that their former Exception of his wanting a Minister at the Congress would not do raised another to stave off the foresaid Instances and declared They could give no Answer about Lorrain till the Bishop of Strasburg's Agents were received by the Allies Upon this the Emperor made an invincible Difficulty declaring He would never treat with a Vassal of his own and in these Conferences about Lorrain the French Embassadors began to insinuate to the Mediators That their Master never intended that Matter to be treated as a Principal but only as an Accessary to the Treaty As they did also shew themselves positive in having full Satisfaction and Restitution made to the Swedes before they would conclude the Peace It was believed since it was much discoursed of that there was a new Alliance entred into between those two Crowns at Paris and that it was by Concert between them that this Attenite was given by the Swedes to the Congress Neither was there any Decisive Action in the course of the rest of this Campagne which was ended in Flanders by a successless Attempt made by the Prince of Orange to surprize Charleroy And if on the German side the French thought they had the Advantage by taking of Fribourg in Octob. this Year by a Feint of the Mareschal de Crequi before the Duke of Lorrain could come up to relieve it the City of Stetin's falling into the Hands of the Duke of Brandenburg this same Month after a most vigorous Resistance of its Garrison left the Scales even as they were before between the two Leagues The Campagne being ended as aforesaid the Prince of Orange who had long desired to take a Tour into England and had to that purpose the June before sent Monsieur Bentink over to make way with the King for such a Journey who at length granted him leave tho' with great Indifferency and Difficulty enough did upon the 9th of Octob. Land at Harwich and rid Post from thence to New-Market where the Court then was and where he industriously declined to enter upon any Conferences about the Peace or War as being resolved first to see the Young Princess which made the King to humour him leave that place sooner by some Days than he designed The Prince upon his Arrival in Town had no sooner set sight on that Incomparable Princess our late Sovereign Lady but he was so pleased with her Person and all those Signs of such an Humour as had been before described unto him that he immediately made his Suit both to the King and Duke which was very well received and assented to but upon Condition That the Terms of the Peace abroad might be first agreed on between them which after many Contestations on both sides the Prince would ne'er agree to saying The World would believe he had made that Match for himself at their Costâ— and that he would never sacrifice his Honour to his Love He grew at last to be so sullen upon the matter that he desired a Friend to tell the King That he designed to stay but two Days longer in England if things continued still on the same Foot That it repented him he had ever come over And that the King must choose how they were to live hereafter for he was sure it must be either like the greatest Friends or the greatest Enemies This so wrought upon the King who at the same time expressed the great Opinion he had of the Prince's Honesty that he ordered Sir William Temple the Messenger to go immediately to carry hâ—m the News That he should have his Wife Accordingly the Match was declared that Evening at the Committee before any other in Court knew any thing of it The Marriage was no sooner consummated but they very quickly fell into Debate upon the Terms of the Peace and had various Discourses of the Ambition of France the Necessity of a good Frontier to Flanders and it was at last agreed upon these Terms That all should be restored by France to the Emperor and Empire that had been taken in the War the Dutchy of Lorrain to that Duke and all on both sides between France and Holland and to Spain the Towns of Aeth Oudenard Courtray Tournay Conde Valenciennes St. Gillaine and Bince That the Prince should endeavour to procure the Consent of Spain and the King that of France To this Purpose he was to dispatch away a Person immediately over with the Proposition who should be instructed to enter into no Reasonings upon it but demand a positive Answer in Two Days and then forthwith return and my Lord Duras a Favourite of the Duke's was at last the Person pitched upon and sent But he after the Delivery of his Message was prevailed with to stay longer than his time and after all came away without any positive Answer From which manner of Procedure we may discover foul Prevarication somewhere and so the Business came to be drawn out into so many Messages and Returns from France that at last it dwindled into nothing especially after the Departure of the Prince for Holland who had spirited the Vigour of the whole Resolution which Departure happened to be with his Princess on the 21st of Nov. However the News of the Match had got to Nimeguen some time before and if the Confederates did before this begin to hope more than ever that it would not be long before England declared in their Favours they made no doubt of it now But it had quite another Effect in Holland especially at Amsterdam where the French Emissaries found the Secret of raising Jealousies of the Measures taken between the King and Prince upon this new Alliance as dangerous to the Liberty of their Country and to make it there believed that by the Match the King and Duke had wholly brought over the Prince into their Interest and Sentiments whereas the Prince went indeed away possess'd of having drawn them into his tho' they were all equally mistaken But how different soever their Apprehensions abroad might be of Things the King in England quite receded from his Engagements to the Prince of entring into the War with all the Confederates in case of no direct and immediate Answer from France upon the Terms of the Peace and contented himself to send Mr. Thynne over into Holland with a Draught of an Alliance to be made with the Dutch in order to force France and Spain into a Compliance with the Propositions agreed on year 1678 and to consign the same into the Hands of Mr. Hyde then at the Hague which was done and the Treaty Signed on the 16th of Jan. tho' not without great Difficulties and much Dissatisfaction on the part of the Prince of Orange who was yet covered in it by the private Consent of the Spanish Minister there in behalf of his
induce him to continue in Possession of Lorrain is willing that Prince Charles be restored to it upon one of these two Alternatives of which he gives him his Choice First That he be restored according to the Articles expressed in the Pyrenaean Treaty without any Change or Alteration in any of them Or Secondly That he be restored generally to his whole Estate except the Town of Nancy which his Majesty will retain with Plenary Right of Sovereignty and excepting such a Way as was agreed upon at the Treaty of 1661 to pass from the Frontiers of France into Alsatia and all such Ways as shall be necessary to pass from France to Nancy and from France to Metz Brisac and Franche Compte upon Condition nevertheless that to make him some Compensation for the Town of Nancy his Majesty shall restore to him that of Toul considerable for its Extent and Situation and much more in respect for its Bishoprick His Majesty demands likewise That Long-Wic and its Provostship be quitted to him but offereth withal to recompense the Prince of Lorrain with another Provostship of equal Value of one of three Bishopricks And whereas Marsal having been quitted to his Majesty by a particular Treaty is not at present any part of Lorrain so it is not to be understood to be comprised in this Restitution These are the Terms which may and ought to make the Platform of a General Peace and upon which his Majesty hath long ago declared himself to the King of Great Britain His Majesty desires they may be imparted to the Assembly at Nimeguen and that his own Plenipotentiaries propose them to the Consideration of the rest as containing the lowest Conditions he can admit and upon which his Enemies may make Choice either of War or Peace Given at St. Germains the 9th of Apr. 1678. The Imperialists of all others seemed the least inclinable to yield to the foregoing Conditions and the Strain of requiring full Satisfaction to Sweden was insupportable to the Northern Princes yea the Spaniards and other Confederates looked upon them so hard that they said They would hazard all rather than accept of them Tho' after all those Articles that concerned Holland and Spain having been before privately agreed upon with some Leaders of the principal Towns they proved the Plan of the Peace both for Holland and all the other Confederates engaged in the War Yet when the French Embassadors carried these Conditions to Sir Lionel Jenkins then sole Mediator in order to be communicated by him to the Confederates he made Answer He could not do it as a Mediator but that he would atquaint the Parties with them in Discourse as a matter to which he promised no Answer and this he did because of the other Terms that had been agreed on between England and Holland for forcing of France to a Compliance on the 10th of Jan. foregoing which tho' they proved to be of little use in the Course of this Peace yet they had one good Effect upon the Affairs of Spain and this was That notwithstanding all the French Intriguing in England and Holland the Fears they had that the King at length might be in earnest and punctually perform the Conditions of this League and well knowing that if it came to that they should have occasion for all the Force they could make and perhaps find all little enough they abandoned Messina and all their Conquests in Sicily and that at a time when every body thought the Mareschal de Fevillade had been sent into that Kingdom with fresh Forces upon the Design of some new Enterprize Whereas indeed he went thither to fetch off the French Troops that were there which he did after he had first declared to the Senate the King's Orders and the present Necessity of them and with whom a vast Number of the Messines who dreaded the certain Revenge of the Spaniards took also the Opportunity to retire But that the French might stave off the Blow from England if possible they at length bethought themselves of a Srratagem that had more charming Obligations in it than any other made with the Prince of Orange when in England or with the States-General afterwards and that was an Offer of Money For you must know Mr. Montague the King's Embassador at Paris after a long Conference with M. Louvois by his Master's Orders wherein the Latter represented to him the Measures that had been already concerted for a Peace upon the French Terms in Holland and that since they were agreed there it was hoped his Britannick Majesty would not be against it but that however he had Orders to make him a Tender of a great Sum of Money for his Consent tho' a thing already accepted by the Dutch and wherein his Majesty consequently was not concerned was desired to give the then Lord Treasurer of England an Account hereof by a Packet which Offer tho' very relishing at any time with the Humour of our Court yet the violent Dispositions of the Dutch to run into the Peace at this time whatever came of it and such a fatal and mutual Distrust as there was both in Court and Parliament that it was very difficult to fall into any sound Measures between them made the King look upon it as a very profitable Proposal saying That since the Dutch would have a Peace upon the French Terms and that France offered him Money for his Approbation of that he could not help he knew no Reason why he might not get the Money and so required Sir William Temple to treat with the French Embassador about it But that Gentleman had more Honour and Honesty than to engage in so dishonourable a Thing and did thereupon retire from Court You have heard before that the 10th of May was the time limited by the French Project of Peace for the Allies to accept of the Terms or no and to which they appeared positively engaged but there being a Necessity of somewhat a greater Confidence between the Dutch and French upon this Occasion least such a Sâ—iffneâ—s might produce that Alteration in the Pace of Affairs at the Expiration of the Term that might prove a Disadvantage to one or the other side the Heer Beverning sent secretly to acquaint the French Embassadors That the States did accept of the King's Offer However that he might not by such a Pace allarm the Allies he gave the Count d' Avaux also notice That he was very desirous to discourse with him in private and for that end would fetch a Walk alone upon the Ramparts of the Town about 7 in the Morning where they met accordingly and between whom all Matters were in a manner fully concluded The Consequence thereof was the granting of Ten Days longer for the Dutch to endeavour to perswade their Allies to accept of the Conditions proposed as themselves had done In this time the Estates received a Letter from the French King from his Camp at Deinse wherein he made some further Concessions
and invited them to send Deputies to him at Ghent But because the Reader will be better pleased to peruse the Letter it self I shall here insert it DEINSE the 18th of May 1678. Most dear great Friends Allies and Confederates OVT of the sincere Affection which we have always born to the the promoting the Peace of Europe we are very much satisfied to understand by our Plenipotentiaries at Nimeguen the Account given unto them in your Name by one of your Ambassadors concerning your Thoughts upon the Conclusion of so great a Work which you had imparted to them by one of your Embassadors We are glad to understand that the Terms which we proposed at that Assembly appear to you to be reasonable and that you are fully perswaded of the Sincerity of our Mind in a matter of so great Importance And it is with the greater Satisfaction to our selves that we confirm the same unto you by this Letter that notwithstanding those Advantages which we have already acquir'd by our Arms and may justly hope for by the Prosecution of the War yet we place our chiefest Glory in making all the Steps we can towards a Peace But because it appears by the Discourses that have been made to our Plenipotentiaries by your Order that how desirous soever you are to conclude the Peace yet there remains some Scruple with you concerning the 7th Article of the Treaty of Commerce which has been debated at Nimeguen between our Embassadors and yours and Trouble of Mind lest we should make an entire Conquest of the Low-Countries in case Spain should reject the Terms we have offered we are willing to impart our Thoughts unto you upon these two Points We cannot do it more favourably as to the 1st of them than by granting that the 7th Article should be as your selves desire it and in taking such Measures with you upon the 24 Point as may ease you of the Fear you express for the Loss of Flanders And this we will then do when Spain having refused to consent to the Peace there shall be a Treaty concluded between us and you upon such Terms as have been already propos'd with relation to your selves and that you shall have returned to our Alliance and shall oblige your selves to continue Neuters during the War We shall be always reddy for your sake to grant to Spain the same Terms with relation to Flanders which they are at liberty now to accept And we are further willing to assure you that in all that time we will not Attack any one Place in all those Provinces Thus ye shall always find us reddily inclined not only to form that Barrier which you think so necessary for your own Safety but to secure it and to let you enjoy together with the Re-establishment of Commerce whatever other Advantages you can expect from our Friendship And if for the Prosecuting this Negotiation you shall think it necessary to send Deputies to us they will find us near Ghent till the 27th of this Month and in the same Dispositions we have declared to you in this Letter In the mean time we pray God to take you most great dear Friends Allies and Confederates into his Holy Protection Your good Friend Ally and Confederate LOVIS Underneath was Signed Arnauld The States after 4 Days Consultation did on the 25th of the same Month send a Letter in Answer to the King 's by a Trumpeter of their own to his Camp and after having complimented him upon the Honour he had done them by writing to them and rejoiced at the sincere Desire they conceived to be in his Majesty for the Peace of Europe They pray'd he would be pleased to give Credit to the Heer Van Beverning their Extraordinary Embassador whom they would send to him to inform him how desirous they were on their part to give him fresh Assurances of their sincere Intentions also for Peace Beverning attended upon the French King accordingly and concerted Measures so well that he obtained a Cessation of Arms for 6 Weeks in Flanders to the end the Dutch might endeavour to get the Spaniards to enter into the Peace upon the Terms they proposed for them which Truce extended it self to the 15th of Aug. following and upon his return he told his Masters whether really or designedly is a Question That he found the French King as well informed of the Condition of his Enemies and of the Places he might attack as he was of his own Affairs England in the mean time was grown pretty indifferent in the Matter of the Peace and Spain seemed well inclined to accept her part of it But the Emperor King of Denmark and Elector of Brandenburg fell into the highest Declarations and Reproaches against the States that could well be invented ripping up all they had ventured and suffered in a War wherein they had engaged for the sole Preservation of Holland But that now they were abandoned by them under a Pretence of concluding a Peace and that upon imperious and arbitrary Terms for them without then Consent That they were not backward to treat with France and make a Peace upon any safe and equitable Conditions but would never endure to have them imposed as from an absolute Conqueror and would rather venture and expose all than accept them especially those for the Duke of Lorrdin whose Case was the worst treated tho' seemingly the most favoured by the Confederates and the least contested by France Yet for all these Storms from their Allies the States were little moved but held on their Course having little Regard to the Satisfaction of any other than Spain in what concerned the Safety of Flanders and the Necessities of that Crown made them easie tho' as little pleased as the rest Wherefore on June 22. they sent their Embassadors Orders to Sign the Peace with France before the End of the Month And the very same Day wrote to the French King by the Sieur Lanoy one of their Officers who passed thro' the Camp and delivered a Letter from them to the Mareschal de Luxemburg whereby they acquainted him That they had given the foresaid Orders to their Embassadors at Nimeguen about Signing the Peace and at the same time communicated to him the Sence of the Letter they wrote to his Majesty But notwithstanding all this Tendency both in Spain and Holland to give the finishing Stroke yet an unforeseen Accident fell out which had like to have overturned the whole Fabrick and renew the War with greater Vigour and more equal Forces by engaging England in a Share of it in Favour of the Confederates which they had been long practising without any Success and were quite out of Hopes thereof For in the Conditions which the Dutch had made for the French restoring the 6 Towns in Flanders to the Spaniard there was no particular Mention made of the Time of that Restitution the Dutch understanding as well as the Spaniards that it was to be upon
Princes that France shall give up to them all that she has taken from them at present and that the rest remain as it was before the War That Lorrain be restored to the Duke of that Name in the State it is in now or if that cannot be done in the State it was when seized by France his Majesty and the States mutually and really obliging themselves to the Observation of this Point I. His said Majesty and the Lords the States-General promise to do their utmost and if it may be to use all sorts of Means to constrain the most Christian King to give Satisfaction in these Terms without being at Liberty to make a Peace with him if he do not give his Consent to them or to some others as shall be agreed on between his Majesty and the States according to the Success of the War II. His Majesty and the States-General do engage themselves further for the obliging France to consent to these Conditions or to such as the Princes concerned shall find convenient and in short for bringing of that Crown to comply with it that his Majesty shall furnish One Third more by Sea and a Third less by Land in the Low-Countries than the Lords the States all by a Provisionary Way till it be otherwise provided by the Allies III. It is also stipulated That if his Majesty of Great Britain and the most Christian King make War upon one another one of the Confederates cannot separate from the other by any particular Treaty without that other's Consent IV. But if the Negotiation of the Peace which is held at Nimeguen comes to be broke up and that the Parties should agree upon any other Place to treat of it or of a Truce that cannot be done without the Consent or Agreement of the other Allies and without at the same time one of the Parties in the Confederacy procure also to the other the necessary Pasports to pass freely and without Danger to the Place appointed for the Treaty where he ought also to communicate to him all that passeth in that Negotiation And in the mean time they shall not have Power to consent to any Peace or Truâ—e but according to the Conditions stipulated by the 1st Article or such other as they shall agree upon and without his Aâ—y be re-established in the full and entire Possession of all the Lands Towns Places and Immunities which he enjoyed at the Signing of this Treaty in Europe if it be not otherwise agreed on between his Majesty and the States V. But if the Peace in Hand terminate happily between the most Christian King on the one Hand and his Catholick Majesty and the States General on the other whether by the Propositions which France hath made her self or by such other as they can agree to his Britannick Majesty and the States will not only be Guarrantee in the best and surest Form that may be but also its free for other Kings and neighbouring Princes who shall have any Interest in the Repose of Christendom and the immutable Tranquility of the Low-Countries to be so 'T is with this View that his said Majesty and the States would agree upon the Troops and Means that are necessary to bring the Party who shall violate the Peace to make Satisfaction for the Damages he shall do another any manner of way VI. These Articles and the full Contents of them are to be Signed and Ratified within 3 Weeks or sooner if it may be and the Ratifications exchanged at the same time Given at the Hague the 26 th of July 1678. Signed W. Van Henkelom de Van Wiugaerden Fagel D. Van Heyden Van Leewen J. de Maregnault Jean Baron de Reed A. ter Borght Temple After the Treaty had been thus concluded and signified to France all the Artifice that could be was used on that side to elude it by drawing the matter into a Treaty or at least a greater length which had succeeded so well in England that they offered to treat upon it at St. Quintin then at Ghent where the French King himself proposed to meet such Embassadors as the Dutch should send into either of them Towns But the States were stanch not to recede from their late Treaty and continued in that Mood till about 5 Days before the Expiration of the time then came one De Cross from England with a Packet for Sir William Temple commanding him to go forth with to Nimeguen and there to endeavour from the King to perswade the Swedish Embassadors to let the French know That for the Repose of Christendom they did not any longer desire the French King to insist upon the Detention of the Towns and consequently hinder the Peace upon the sole Regard and Interest of the Crown of Sweden and to assure them that after the Conclusion of the Peace the King would employ all his Endeavours that the Towns and Countries which their Master had lost in the War should be restored unto them How this Dispatch of Du Cross was gained was never known but 't is sufficient to believe that France had the greatest Hand in it since 't was transacted all one Morning in Portsmouth's Apartment by the intervention and pursuit of Barillon the French Embassador Yet for all this when Sir William Temple arrived at Nimeguen which was but 3 Days before the Expiration of the Term fix'd by the late Treaty between our King and the States either for the French to evacuate the Towns or for carrying on the War conjointly against France there was but little Disposition that the Peace would be Signed but rather the quite contrary appeared by the Stiffness shewed on both sides to adhere firmly to their respective Demands And the Dutch Embassadors remained peremptory That there could be no Deputation for the securing of the future Satisfaction of Sweden as the French demanded before the Term expired and no other Remedy upon that but that the War must go on With this View and Expectation all the Parties seemed to be when the fatal Day came wherein either a suddain Peace or a long and bloody War was to be reckoned on in Christendom on the Morning whereof Monsieur Boreel who had been sent from Amsterdam to the Dutch Embassadors at Nimeguen went to the French Embassadors and after some Conference with them they immediately went to those of Holland and declared they had received Orders from their Master to consent to the Evacuation of the Towns and thereupon to Sign the Peace but that it must be done that Morning At this the Dutch seemed to be surprized but immediately entred into a Conference with them thereupon which lasted for 5 Hours and ended in an Agreement upon all Points both of Peace and Commerce between France and Holland It was certainly thought the French Embassadors had received no Power to Sign the Peace and 't was said Sir William Temple himself did advise those of Holland to press them to it out of a real Belief as well as the
obtain not such Security When the Prince of Orange was made acquainted with this Procedure of England by Mr. Hyde who went on purpose to Hounslerdike to do it he was no sooner withdrawn but the Prince lift up his Hands two or three times and said to Sir William Temple then present Was ever any Thing so Hot and so Cold as this Court of yours Will the King that is so often at Sea ever learn a Word that I shall never forget since my last Passage When in a great Storm the Captain was crying out to the Man at the Helm all Night Steddy Steddy Steddy If this Dispatch had come 20 Days ago it would have changed the Face of all Things in Christendom and the War might have been carried on till France had Yielded to the Treaty of the Pyrenees and left the World in Quiet for the rest of our Lives but it is my Opinion as it comes now it will have no Effect And indeed the Event proved answerable to the Prince's Judgment It s true all Appearances for the present seemed very different from both the Proceedings of the Dutch and Spaniards too whereof many of the Deputies of the former appear'd so ill satisfied with their Embassadors having Signed the Peace that they inclined to the King's Proposals and framed severral Articles against Monsieur Beverning's Proceedings the five Principal whereof were these First That in the Preface the French King seemed to be the Protector of the States Secondly That the Neutrality to which the States-General were engaged by that Treaty was indefinite and by consequence might be extended beyond the present War Thirdly That he had exceeded his Commission in having obliged the States to warrant the Neutrality of Spain Fourthly That he had omitted an Article of Amnesty and Oblivion which ought mutually to be stipulated in all Treaties of Peace And Lastly That he had forgot to mention the Barrier which the French King granted to Spain in Consideration and for the Security of the States-General As for the Embassadors of the latter notwithstanding the French after several Debates and Conferences did demit in their Pretentions yet they raised new Scruples about the Castellany of Aeth and other Things their Confederates upon the Continent and the daily Transportation of English Forces into Flanders heightning their Stiffness as well as the Expectation they had of the States going on again with the War upon this new Turn of Things But after Matters had continued for about 3 Weeks in this uncertain State France thought the Conjuncture of too much Importance to let it hover so long and therefore first dispatch a Courier to their Embassadors at Nimeguen with leave to satisfie the States as to those Clauses in their Treaty wherein they seem'd justly to except against Beverning's Conduct And therefore to cover the Credit of that Minister who had been so affectionate an Instrument in the Progress of it and so gradually softning their Rigour as to the remaining Points contested by the Spaniards they at last dispatch'd a Courier who brought Letters to Nimeguen on the 8th of Sept. impowering their Embassadors to remit all the Differences that obstructed or retarded the Conclusion of the Treaty between that Crown and Spain to the Determination and Arbitrage of the States themselves which was a piece of Confidence towards them on the part of France that several Towns and Provinces proceeded with a general Concurrence to their Ratifications that they might lie ready in their Embassador's Hands to be exchanged when the Treaty with Spain was Signed which was done on the 17th at the Dutch Embassadors House and wherein Sir Lionel Jenkins the Kings Mediator had no part and so the Designs of the Court of England were once more Eluded and Mr. Hyde had the Mortification to return re infecta This Treaty with Spain is very long and for that Reason I had Thoughts once to leave it quite out but considering the Treatise would have been imperfect without it and that a much better Estimate may be made by it of the present Posture of the Spanish Affairs upon the late Peace than otherwise could be done I have altered my Mind and given my Reader the Particulars The TREATY of PEACE betwixt France and Spain Concluded at Nimeguen Sept. 17. 1678. IN the Name of God the Creator and of the most Holy Trinity To all present and to come be it known That whereas during the Course of the War that arose some Years since betwixt the most High most Excellent and most Mighty Prince Lewis XIV by the Grace of God most Christian King of France and Navar and his Allies on the one part and the most High most Excellent and most Mighty Prince Charles II by the Grace of God Catholick King of Spain and his Allies on the other part their Majesties have desired nothing more vehemently than to see it end in a good Peace And whereas the same desire to put a Stop as far as in them lay to the Ruine of so many Provinces the Tears of so much People and the shedding so much Christian Blood hath induced them to comply with the powerful Offices of the most High most Excellent and most Mighty Prince the King of Great Britain to send their Embassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries to the Town of Nimeguen So it is come to pass through an Effect of the Divine Goodness that hath been pleased to make use of the intire Confidence that their Majesties have always reposed in the Mediation of the said King of Great Britain that at length the said Embassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries to wit on the behalf of his most Christian Majesty the Sieur Count D' Estrades Marshal of France and Knight of his Majesty's Orders the Sieur Colbert Knight Marquess of Croissy Councellor in Ordinary in his Council of State and the Sieur De Mesmes Knight Count De Avaux Councellor also in his Majesty's Councils and on the behalf of his Catholick Majesty the Sieur Don Pablo Spinola Doria Marquess de les Balbases Duke of Sesto Lord of Gminossa Casalnosetta and Ponteucrone Councellor in his Council of State and chief Protonotary in his Council of Italy Don Gaspard de Tebes and Cordova Tello Guzman Count de Venazuza Marquess de la Fuente Lord of Lerena of the House of Arrucas of the Isles of Guadalupa and Matalione Perpetual Master de la Victoire Perpetual Major and Recorder of the Town of Sevil Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to his Imperial Majesty one of his chief Council of War and General of his Artillery Don Pedro Ronquillo Knight of the Order of Alcantara Councellor in his Council of Castile and of the Indies and Don John Baptisse Christin Knight Councellor in the high Council of Flanders near to his said Catholick Majesty's Person and one of his Council of State and of his Privy-Council in the Low-Countries by Virtue of Letters and Commissions which they have communicated to one another and the Copies whereof
Brandenburg into the Countries of Oldenburg and Delmenhurst which put all the Country under Contribution and wrought such an Effect upon the Danish Envoy at Paris that the Treaty was fully concluded between France Sweden and Denmark on the 2d of Sept. at St. Germains M. Pompone having full Power from the French King to that Purpose The Treaties of Roscheld Copenhagen and Westphalia were the Ground-work of this Peace with Denmark as will better appear by this Abstract I. THAT there be a firm Peace between the said Kings and all Things during the War to the Offence of either forgotten II. That all Alliances made by either of the Three Kings to the Prejudice of the other shall cease and be abolished and they shall not make any which may be so for the future III. That Hostilities do cease within a Fortnight reckoning from the Day of the Signing except in Norway where 3 Weeks shall be allowed because of the Distance IV. That the Treaties of Roscheld Copenhagen and Westphalia shall be confirmed with all the Instruments to them appertaining V. The King of Denmark promises to restore whatever he hath taken from the Swedes during the War viz. Landscroon Helsenburg Monstrand and Wismaâ— with the Isles of Rugen and Gothlaend and all their Dependances VI. In like manner the King of Sweden promises to restore what he has taken from Denmark during the War VII That Commissioners shall be appointed by the Two Northern Crowns who shall meet within 6 Months a Minister from the most Christian King being present and shall endeavour to compose all Differences arisen on occasion of Priviledges and Immunities which the Swedes pretend to in the Sound and the Baltick provided that the said Priviledges and Immunities do remain in full Force and Vigour the Abuses only to be corrected VIII The Places to be restored to Sweden shall be delivered up in the same Condition as they are at present viz. Helsenburg Landscoon and all other Places possessed by the King of Denmark in Schonen Pleiâ—ing and Holland together with Carelstadt and the Fort on the River Swinge within 2 Weeks Wismar and the Isle of Rugen within 3 Marstrond and the Isle of Gothland within 4 Weeks to be reckoned from the Day of the Exchange IX The King of Denmark may take out of the Places to be restored what Cannon he caused to be brought into them since they were in his Possession but the Cannon that were in the Places when taken and still remain there to be restored with the Places But if the King of Denmark hath formerly taken out of those Places the Cannon that belonged to the Swedes he shall restore the one half thereof X. All Goods and Estates confiscated during the War shall be restored XI All Persons shall be restored to the Rights and Priviledges they enjoyed before the War XII The Country of Rixengen belonging to the Count Ethlefelt Chancellor of Denmark confiscated during the War shall be restored to him XIII All Prisoners to be set at Liberty XIV All such Princes as desire it shall be comprehended in this Treaty XV. The most Christian King promises that the King of Sweden shall ratifie this Treaty within 3 Months XVI The most Christian King promises to ratifie the same within 6 Weeks But of all other Points conceded by the Dane in this Treaty none seemed so hard as this last relating to the Duke of Holstein Gottorp who for being an Ally in this War to the Swede Denmark had stripped of all his Dominions but is now forced to re-instate him in as ample Form as could be and he pretend to unless it were the Damage which his Territories had sustained during the War by the vast Sums of Money which the King of Denmark had raised therein as being one of the best Countries in all the North. And thus ended this long and bloody War in Europe but with as much Dissatisfaction to almost all the Allies as it was advantageous to France who was left in a Condition by it to do what she would as we shall have occasion to note hereafter It was very hard upon all the Allies harder yet to the Elector of Brandenburg but to none more than the King of Denmark who had no manner of Compensation for all the Conquests he had made in the Course of it and I think was no less dishonourable to England every way whose Mediation though continued even to the last yet through some evil Aspect or other had not the Happiness of Signing any one of the Treaties And as for the Duke of Lorrain as he had nothing in Possession so he lost nothing but his Expectation which in the Sequel appeared to be ill grounded tho' upon the direct and frequent Engagements both of the Confederates and Mediator And so that noble tho' unfortunate Prince was wholly left out of the Treaty and without any visible Hopes of ever recovering the Dominion of his Ancestors And here we shall at present leave it and return to see what has been doing all this while in England About the 29th of Sept. the preceding Year which was 1678 Dr. Oats seconded after by Tongue and Kirby made a Discovery of an horrid Plot carried on by Jesuits and others of the Roman Communion against the Life and Person of the King Protestant Religion and Established Government and for a further Confirmation of his Testimony Oats referred himself to Coleman's Papers who was Secretary to the then Dutchess of York But though the Court could not but enquire into the Truth of this yet they made such slow Paces in it that Coleman had time enough to convey away all the Papers of the 2 last Years with his Book of Entries of them However those Letters that were found amazed the major part of the Council and thereupon several Persons were examined and committed viz. Sir George Wakeman the Queen's Physician Coleman Langborn of the Inner-Temple Tho. Whitebread Provincial of the Jesuits in England James Corker and Thomas Pickering all Jesuits Priests and Monks with divers others And not long after William Earl of Powis William Viscount Stafford Henry Lord Arundel of Warder William Lord Petre and John Lord Bellasis were sent Prisoners upon the same Account to the Tower of London But tho' these and other Circumstances made the Matter pretty clear yet the Murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey a Justice of the Peace before whom some of the Depositions had been taken and who appear'd zealous against all Male Practices against the King and Government soon after viz. on the 12th of Oct. rendred the Conspiracy in the Sight of most Men to be past all doubt And therefore the Parliament who met upon the 21 st of Oct. after having appointed a Secret Committee to enquire into the Bottom of the Plot did upon the 1st of Nov. following come to this Resolution Nemine Contradicente That upon the Evidence that hath already appeared to this House this House is of Opinion that there
made good and a safe Conduct to be granted to some of their Number to address themselves to the Duke in that Matter To this the Duke answered That he would not treat with them upon their Declaration but if they would readily lay down their Arms he would receive them into the King's Mercy With which Answer they went back desiring some time to deliberate upon it which the Duke granted But about half an Hour after in return they sent a Paper by a Drummer representing That being informed that his Grace came from England with Terms to be offered to them they desired to know what he had to propose that they might advise whether the Terms were such as they could accept of Whereupon the Duke finding they trifled sent them Word He would receive no more Messages from them While things passed thus between the Duke and them his Cannon with some Horse and Foot were brought down from the Body of the Army and posted not far from the Bridge which he immediately commanded to play and which was no sooner perceived by the Covenanters but they threw themselves upon the Ground to avoid the Shot Those of them that were posted on the Bridge fired at first very briskly but after five or six Shot of Cannon they all ran away they upon the rising-Ground running first The Duke then advanced and his Men seizing upon the Bridge threw their Barricadoes of Stones Cart-wheels and the like into the River took one Piece of Cannon and pursued them up the Hill but the Covenanters perceiving their Numbers to be small they rallied and faced about yet would not venture to come down upon them tho' the Duke's Men retired back to the Bridge In the mean time the Duke passed the Army over the Bridge and drew them up on the rising-Ground which took up some time and upon whom the Covenanters advanced in very good Order before the other had time enough to do so but upon their approach espying the Cannon at the Head of the Duke's Army they immediately sifted their Order and opened in the middle thinking as 't was supposed they were obliged to shoot streight forward yet the Cannon being turned upon them as they then stood and 3 or 4 times discharged they began to run their Commander Robert Hamilton being one of the first and the Dragoons advancing upon them it was a perfect Rout they flying and being pursued all Ways there being between 7 and 800 of them slain but a far greater Number taken Prisoners Thus ended this extravagant Undertaking of the Scots which served only to make their Chains the heavier as doubtless the imploying the Duke of Monmouth to suppress them was intended for no good to him neither his Court-Enemies thinking thereby to render him odious to the Presbyterians and other Dissenters in England but there their Politicks failed them for the Fears of Popery and a Popish Successor at this time had very deeply possessed Men's Minds and the Duke's Person after the King 's was the only visible One they had to rely upon to stave off the dreadful Monster and of this the Popish Faction were mighty jealous and so much the rather because there was a Pamphlet printed and handed about that the King had been married to the Duke of Monmouth's Mother and rumour'd Abroad That Sir Gilbert Gerrard had a black Box wherein the said Marriage was fully proved and made out And indeed the Fears of the Duke of York's succeeding to the Crown were such that the People were willing to lay hold on any Twig and so to be very easie of Belief in the Particulars of this Story But he the Matter as it will the Tories and Popish Party had such an Influence at Court that the King began now to appear Heart and Soul theirs and so made Three Declarations the first in the Presence of W. Cant. H. Finch C. H. Coventry and J. Williamson the 6th of Jan. 1679. wherein he declared That they who should say he was married or contracted to the Duke of Monmouth's Mother were neither his nor the Duke's Friends and declared in the Presence of Almighty God That he never was married nor contracted to any other Woman whatsoever but his Wife Queen Catharine Upon the 3d of March following he caused this Declaration to be entred into the Council-Book being all written and sign'd with his own Hand in a Paper he delivered in at the Board to be kept in the Council-Chest viz. FOR the avoiding of any Dispute which may happen in time to come concerning the Succession of the Crown I do hereby declare in the Presence of Almighty God That I never gave nor made any Contract of Marriage nor was married to any Woman whatsoever but to my present Wife Queen Catharine now living Whitehall March the 3d. 1679. Charles R. And because they might make sure Work of it the same Thing was again repeated on the 2d of June 1680. with Asseverations to the same Purpose wherein he called the Report of his Marriage or Contract with Mrs. Walters alias Barlow the Duke of Monmouth's Mother false and scandalous and charged all his Subjects not to presume to utter or publish any such Thing and all those were published together by his special Order which tho' distant in Time I thought fit to mention together year 1680 to avoid an interrupted Discourse as much as possibly I was able And that the King might further gratifie that Faction as well as he had done the Nation in sending the Duke of York out of it he sent the Duke of Monmouth away also The King towards the latter end of Aug. fell ill at Windsor and his Indisposition in a little time proved to be an Ague I will not deny but Monmouth did at that time double the Guards and shew more Activity than ordinary in the Management of Things and for my part I do think if the King had gone off suddenly the Duke would have bid very fair for the Crown However the King was in no Danger tho' his Brother the Duke of York apprehended himself to be so in that Conjuncture and therefore he had no sooner Notice of the King's Illness which was early enough but he posted to Court with all Expedition and on the 2d of Dec. arrived at Windsor the Consequence whereof was the Duke of Monmouth's Banishment who thereupon retired to Vtretch as his Unkle the Duke of York did in a little time back again to Brussels but this last without any Design to stay For on the 12th of Oct. he with his whole Family arrived at St. James's to the Surprize of most People The other was resolved not to be long behind him for being informed that Banishment is a Punishment which the King cannot inflict upon any Man unless he be convicted of some ill Crime he returned also on the 27th of Nov. at Night to London at which the Citizens express'd a mighty Joy by Bonefires and Ringing of Bells all the
French Embassador at the Hague and the Dutch one at Paris And this being effected the Subjects of their Republick should have alone the Trade in that King's Dominions to the Exclusion of all other Nations This was soon after seconded with a Memorial by the French Embassador concerning an Alliance the King his Master offered to enter into with the States to be founded upon the Foot of the Treaty made An. 1662. which Offers were further enforced by representing unto them as well the Advantage that would accrue to them upon their accepting as the Inconveniencies that might follow upon their refusal of it and telling them that any Delay in the Affair would be looked upon as a Refusal and that his Master would regulate himself accordingly But the States taking some time to deliberate and demurring upon the Matter they received Letters in the mean while from their Embassadors at Paris importing That being sent for by Monsieur Colbert and going to him he had put them in mind of the many Obligations the States had to the King his Master and of the particular Demonstration he had given them of his Affection in offering them a Peace in the midst of his Conquests upon the Terms he did That he had since expected Overtures from them of a nearer Alliance But they having been wanting he had himself for some time since made an Offer of the same by his Embassadors at the Hague That it had been debated in the Assembly of the States of Holland and that the said States had Adjourned themselves without coming to any Resolution therein That the King was much surprized to find them make so small an Account of an Alliance which they themselves had sought for some Years before by an Extraordinary Embassadors now the same was offered them That this Alliance proposed was only Defensive which the States could receive no Prejudice by but much Advantage That his Majesty understood that the King of England did oppose them while he pretended to make himself an Alliance with them and that his Majesty would have great Cause to be dissatisfied with the States if they should refuse the Overtures made by him and instead thereof close with those of the King of England concluding That his Majesty as his Embassador the Count d' Avaux had already told them would take their Delay for a Refusal That however he would keep the Peace with them but would at the same time look upon them as a State that did not deserve to live in good Amity with him and would not favour their Commerce Mr. Henry Sidney the King's Embassadors in Holland as I told you and now Earl of Rumney was no sooner informed of the foresaid Memorial and Proceedings of France but he put in a like Memorial to the States shewing That the King his Master having understood the Proposals that had been made them by the French Embassadors could not believe that the States could so far forget their own and common Interests of Christendom as to accept of them That his Majesty particularly would have Cause after their having refused the Act of Guarranty which he lately offered to enter into with them for securing their present Peace to resent their entring into any new Engagements with France especially since his Majesty might have just Cause to be jealous that the same could have no other end than to enable the French King to shew his Resentments of the Peace his Majesty had made with the States in 1674 and of what his Majesty did afterward in order to the procuring a more advantageous Peace for them and their Allies than that which was made at Nimeguen That such a Resolution in the States would certainly prejudice that strict Union and Friendship that was established between him and them and oblige his Majesty to take other Measures But that his Majesty for his part would not only punctually comply with what was stipulated and agreed in the Defensive Treaty made between England and Holland the 3d of Mar. 1678 if they would reject the French Alliance but also stand by them to the uttermost if they should be attack'd by France Mr. Sidney's Address and Diligence in the Prosecution of this Matter was admirable and succeeded so well that the States determined civilly to refuse the Alliance proposed by France But the French King having declared he was not satisfied therewith his said Embassador made another Effort to divert the States from their intended Resolution shewing That he had received further Orders from the King his Master to acquaint them That his Majesty was extreamly astonished at their manner of Proceedings in the Matter of the Alliance by him proposed and highly resented it That he was commanded to expect some Days longer their final Resolution in that Affair but that afterward he should say no more of it nor accept any Act which they should offer and that then they must expect his Master would take such Measures as he thought necessary for the Good of his Kingdoms and the Advantage of his Subjects in their Commerce That Mons Colbert had told their Embassadors at Paris The King his Master wonder'd extreamly to find all Persons in Holland full of Hopes which their Letters had given them That his Majesty would not depart from the Execution of the Peace and that if they would not enter into that Alliance with him they should only suffer somewhat in their Commerce That the Sense of what he had then told them from the King his Master had been wrong delivered by them and worse interpreted at the Hague That his Majesty did not threaten them with his Indignation but the Dissatisfaction which he had conceived at their Proceedings might perhaps be the Occasion of greater Prejudice to them than the Indignation of others and that they would do well to consider what had happened to them within 8 or 10 Years past the Beginnings whereof had been less considerable than the just Dissatisfaction which their present Conduct gave the King his Master D' Avaux had no sooner ended but Mr. Sidney was ready to oppose who after he had take notice to the States of the great Earnestness of the French to press them into their Alliance he thought fit to repeat his Instances to disswade them from it That the King his Master did not pretend to make use of Threats of which the Memorials of the French â—mbassador were full but would leave them wholly to be guided by the Consideration of their own Interests That his Majesty did perswade himself that after the Assurances of Assistance he had given them in whatever might happen they would not enter into any Engagements which his Majesty should have Cause to look upon as intended against him and that the Instances of the French King which were too sharp and pressing for a Free Republick would not divert them from their true Interests and from that strict Friendship that was between his Majesty and their State and of which his Majesty had
during the Life of the said James Duke of York this Act shall be given a Charge at every Assizes and General Sessions of the Peace within the Kingdoms Dominions and Territories aforesaid and also shall be openly Read in every Cathedral Church and Parish Church and Chappels within the aforesaid Kingdoms Dominions and Territories by the respective Parsons Vicars Curates and Readers thereof who are hereby required immediately after Divine Service in the Forenoon to Read the same twice in every Year That is to say on the 25th of Dec. and upon Easter-day during the Life of the said James Duke of York But the Lords Rancounter to the Commons in this Bill tho' they made a Sift upon the others Impeachment to Try and Sentence William Lord Viscount Stafford to Death for the Popish Conspiracy who on the 7th of Dec. was executed accordingly For after the Reading it the First time in the Upper-House the Question being put Whether it should be read the Second time it was resolved in the Negative by above a double Majority of Votes and so this great Affair dropp'd The Commons imployed much of their Time to prosecute and impeach all those that had countenanced the Popish Plot or were Abhorrers of Petitioning the King for the Meeting of the Parliament in the several Prorogations of it and voted That it ever had been the undoubted Right of the Subjects of England to Petition the King for the Calling and Sitting of Parliaments and Redress of Grievances And that to traduce such Petitioning as a Violation of Duty and to represent the same to his Majesty as Tumultuous and Seditious was to betray the Liberty of the Subject and contributed to the Designs of subverting the ancient Legal Constitutions of the Kingdom of England and introducing Arbitrary Power The first that fell under their Lash was Sir Francis Withens since a Judge a Member then of their own House whom they voted to be a Betrayer of the undoubted Rights of the Subjects of England and for that his high Crime expelled him the House receiving first the Sentence at the Bar upon his Marrow-bones Sir George Jefferys was the next then Recorder of London who for the present by Virtue of the House's Address to the King for that End was put out of all publick Offices tho' we have seen him since act the Tyrant in the highest Station the late King his good Master could advance him to but at last being left in the Lurch by him was found in a Seaman's Habit at Wapping and died in the Tower because he had not Courage enough to live a little longer to be hang'd Several others were censured upon the like Account and among the rest the House voted That it was a sufficient Ground for them to proceed against Sir Thomas Jones one of the Judges of the King's Bench and Sir Richard Westone a Baron of the Exchequer for high Crimes and Misdemeanors because they had advised and were assisting to draw up a Proclamation against Petitioning for the Sitting of the Parliament The like was passed against Sir Francis North Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas for the same who for murdering poor Stephen Colledge under Colour of Law at Oxford had the Great Seal of England committed to his Custody and therewith the Care of the King's Conscience who had none at all of his own All this while we hear nothing of the King's Business which was to get Money for the Preservation of Tangier and Perfecting the Alliance made with Spain But the Commons had Three Reasons why they would not comply with his Majesty in his first Demand One was for that the State of the Nation was such at that time that their giving any Money for that End might augment the Strength of the Popish Party and further endanger the Nation 's Safety Another was Seeing there were several Regiments besides Guards in England then in Pay they might be transported to Tangier with little Charge and be maintain'd there as cheap as at Home which Two Reasons they clench'd with this Third That that Garrison was the Nursery of Popish Officers and Soldiers And if Things went ill with the King on this Head he is like to fare no better with the other For the House had as many Reasons for not giving him Money for the Alliance of Mutual Obligations of Succour and Defence which he pretended to have made with Spain For first they seemed to be jealous of the King's Sincerity therein and the more because he had not declared to them what manner of Alliance that was and that it might be more to the Prejudice than Benefit of the Kingdom or if it should have been to the Advantage of it they could have no more Assurance of the Performance than they had of the Triple League That which was made with the Prince of Orange when he was in England Or that between the King and States of Holland by Mr. Hyde on the King's Part which were all broken almost as soon as made Besides it was impossible any great Benefit should arise to England and Spain by such an Alliance For if all Christendom after the separate Peace made by the Dutch at Nimeguen could not uphold Spain and the Spanish Netherlands from falling under the Dominion of France how could the King in the feeble and distracted State of the Nation be in a Condition to support it without them Add to this the Unreasonableness of giving Money upon such an Account For tho' the Kings of England have frequently demanded Supplies for maintaining vast Wars yet never any one of them before demanded Supplies for making Alliances And indeed whatever Alliance the King had made with Spain it will be found before his Reign has spun out that it was very ill performed on his part And if the Commons were not a little mortified at the Proceedings of the Lords and of the Court in respect to the Bill of Exclusion the King could not be well pleased to be sure with the Methods they took to answer his Demands of a present Supply in the ordinary way but was undoubtedly much more nettled at their Resolutions to hinder him from being relieved by extraordinary Methods afterwards For the House considering the weak and dangerous Condition of the Nation as well by the Debt the King had contracted by shutting up of the Exchequer as by his squandering away almost all the ancient Revenues of the Crown did in order to prevent the like upon the Revenue settled upon the King since his Restoration on the 17th of Jan. resolve 1. That whosoever should lend or cause to be lent by way of Advance any Money upon the Branches of the King's Revenue arising by Custom Excise or Hearth-money should be adjudged an Hinderer of the Sitting of Parlaiment and be responsible for the same 2. That whosoever should buy any Tally or Anticipation upon any part of the King's Revenue or whosoever should pay such Tally hereafter to be struck should
be adjudged to hinder the Sittings of Parliaments and be responsible therefore in Parliament Things being brought to this desperate pass between them without any visible Hopes of a better Understanding the Thoughts of the Court now began to think of a Prorogation or Dissolution and the Commons were it seems aware of it For on Monday Jan. the 10th before the Usher of the Black-Rod came into the House to command their Attendance on the King in the House of Lords they had resolved That whosoever advised the King to prorogue this Parliament to any Purpose than in order to the Passing of a Bill for the Exclusion of James Duke of York was a Betrayer of the King the Protestant Religion and of the Kingdom of England a Promoter of the French Interest and a Pensioner to France Which was no sooner done but they were Prorogued to the 20th of Jan. and upon the 18th he Dissolved them And so ended this Sessions of Parliament with which having run out a few Days into the new Year we conclude the Year 1680 only we shall note first two or three Particulars On the 30th of July this Year died at Whitehall the Right and truly Honourable Thomas Earl of Ossory Son and Heir apparent to his Grace the Duke of Ormond after some few Days sickness of a violent Feaver whose Heroick Bravery and forward Zeal to serve his King and Country on all commendable Occasions was manifested by many brave and generous Actions Which as they made him be honoured and esteemed by all while living made him dying to be as generally lamented He was the Father of his Grace the present Duke of Ormond who to his great Glory has been so far from degenerating from him that he hath to the Height express'd his Vertues and Excellencies both in Peace and Way and is a Person that deserves as much and if all Circumstances be considered a great deal more of his Country than any other Nobleman whatsoever Sept. following was remarkable for the Death of Two Electors of the Empire viz. on the 2d John George Duke of Saxony dying at Friburg after a long Indisposition in the 68th Year of his Age leaving only one Son by his Wife Magdaline Sibille of Brandenburg Ansbach John George the Third of that Name who succeeded him in his Dominions and Dignities And but 5 Days after departed also this Life Charles Lovis Count Palatine of the Rhine suddenly in the Way between Manheim and Frankendal after a light Indisposition of 2 or 3 Days he was 63 Years old and left by his Wife Charlotte Daughter of William Landgrave of Hesse one Son Charles then in England and to whom an Express was immediately dispatch'd to give him advice of his Father's Death and a Daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Wife to the now Duke of Orleans And towards the middle of Nov. appeared a Comet with a prodigious Stream of Light in the West The Star from which the Blaze proceeded was but small and when first discovered seemed to be not much above the Horizon but every Night afterward it appeared higher and higher in the Beginning of the Night and consequently setting latter and latter its Magnitude and Lustre also proportionably decaying year 1681 The Nation at the Dissolution of the last Parliament upon the 18th of Jan. as already mentioned were strangely amazed and began now in general to be very doubtful of any good Issue in their common Concerns which the Court was not unaware of and therefore in some measure to allay Things the King summoned another to meet on the 21st of March following at Oxford which was no sooner publickly known but it rather heightned than alleviated the Jealousies of the more intelligent Persons that there might be some hidden Design nourished in the Court that might have dangerous Influences both upon the Nation and Parliament Whereupon several of the Nobility after mature Consideration of the Matter resolved to petition the King against the Meeting of the Parliament at the forementioned Place which Petition was delivered by the Earl of Essex with which he made a short pithy Speech and both which we have hereunto subjoined May it please your Majesty THE Lords here present together with divers others of the Peers of the Realm taking notice that by the late Proclamation Your Majesty has declared an Intention of calling a Parliament at Oxford and observing from History and Records how unfortunate many Assemblies have been when called at a Place remote from the Capital City as particularly the Congress in King Henry the II's Time at Clarendon 3 several Parliaments at Oxford in Henry the III's Time and at Coventry in Henry the VI's Time with divers others which have proved fatal to those Kings and have been followed with great Mischief on the whole Kingdom And considering the present Posture of Affairs the many Jealousies and Discontents that are among the People they have great Cause to apprehend that the Consequences of a Parliament now at Oxford may be as fatal to Your Majesty and the Nation as those others mentioned have been to them Reigning Kings And therefore we do conceive that we cannot answer it to God to Your Majesty or to the People if we being Peers of the Realm should not on so important an Occasion humbly offer our Advice to Your Majesty that if possible Your Majesty may be prevailed with to alter this as we apprehend reasonable Resolution the Grounds and Reasons of our Opinions are contained in this our Petition which we humbly present to Your Majesty TO THE KING'S most Excellent MAJESTY The Humble PETITION and ADVICE of the Lords undernamed Peers of the Realm Humbly Sheweth THAT whereas Your Majesty hath been pleased by divers Speeches and Passages to Your Houses of Parliament rightly to represent to them the Dangers that threatned Your Majesty's Person and the whole Kingdom from the mischievous and wicked Plots of the Papists and the suddain Growth of a Power unto which no Stop or Remedy could be provided unless it were by Parliament and an Union of Your Majesty's Protestant Subjects in one Mind and one Interest And the Lord-Chancellor in pursuance of your Majesty's Commands having more at large demonstrated the said Dangers to be as great as we in the midst of our Fears could imagine them and so pressing that our Liberties Religion Lives and the whole Kingdom would be certainly lost if a speedy Provision were not made against them And Your Majesty on the 21st of Apr. 1679 having called unto Your Council many Honourable and Worthy Persons and declared to them and the whole Kingdom that being sensible of the evil Effects of a Single Ministry or Private Advice or Foreign Committee for the general Direction of Your Affairs Your Majesty would for the future refer all Things unto the Council and by the constant Advice of them together with the frequent Use of Your Great Council the Parliament Your Majesty had hereafter resolved to govern the
Arms was so much the more engaging in that besides 18 Pieces of Cannon 400000 Pounds of Powder and good store of Provisions which they found in the place they took it with the â—oss only of 150 Men after it had been 78 Years in the Possession of the Turks Soâ—â— Thoughts there were after the laking in of Gran to march directly and attack Buda but the Season being far advanced it was not judged adviseable tho' perhaps considering the Consternation the Turks were under on every side that important place might have then been easily carried which proved afterwards the Work of two Campaigns Wherefore after the Army had possessed themselves of some other small Places in the Neighbourhood of Gran and elsewhere they went into their Winter Quarters concluding the Actions of this Year on that side as we do also with all others that have happened within the Circumference of it having nothing remarkable to super-add in this place save that great and memorable Frost which began about the latter end of November and lasted for the space of Ten Weeks year 1684 What was left unfinished before in relation to the Prosecution of the pretended Presbytenian Plot was compleated amongst us this Year And where there could be no colourable Pretence to touch Life and Limb they were sure to be even with the pretended Criminals by Imprisonments and exorbitant Fines there being hardly any County in England wherein some were not severely swinged off for Riots when they were indeed legally standing up in Defence of their Charters and Civil Liberties whilst others did as basely betray them And because His Royal Highness should be as absolute again at Sea as he had shewed himself by Land both in England and Scotland His Majesty was pleased to revoke the Commission for High Admiral and to commit it into his good Brother's Hands again who took Care to require him well for it But give me leave to tell you once again that the Tories of this Time did not so much magnifie His Majesty's Conduct and Government as he was diminutively Little in the Esteem of neighbouring Princes I have given you some time since an Hint of the French Pretensions in relation to the Re-anions and am now to acquaint you that notwithstanding the French Complement to the Emperor last Year upon their quitting the Blockade of Luxemburg That it was done that the Christians might take no Umbrage at such a Conjuncture when the Infidels were threatning the Empire with an Invasion Yet the Year was not expired but that in pursuance to the said Pretensions they surprized Courtray and Dixmude Wherewith the Court of Spain was so incensed that they re-called their Ambassodor ordered the French Minister to retire home and seized all the Effects belonging to the French in their Dominions Yet the Dutch States were not so hot upon the Matter and therefore they proposed the King of England's Mediation herein but the Spaniards would by no means hear of it saying There was but too much Reason to suspect that Prince since iâ— did appear he had more closely linked himself with France than ever Hereupon the French King prepared an Army to invade the Spanish Netherlands while he sent another to infest the Spaniards on the side of Catalonia And if Luxemburg by an odd Circumstance of Time or what shall I call it had the good Luck to escape a Siege last Year she shall be sure to have her Share in this and be attacked in Form The Prince of Orange according to his usual Foresight had proposed pretty early to the States the Levying of 16000 Men and to bring all the Troops of the Country into the Field as a Means to give the French some Umbrage and to prevent their proceeding to an open Rupture But he was still opposed in his Designs by the Artifice of the French Ambassador the Count d'Avaux who put in several Memorials to the States upon account of the Conjuncture Insomuch that at last the City of Amsterdam would not consent to the said Levy but absolutely rejected it Which tho' it utterly broke the Prince's Measures yet it did not his Courage for he took the Field tho' to little purpose Because the French who were too quick to let slip the Opportunity brought a great Army before Luxemburg towards the latter end of May. And tho' the Place in the Circumstasnces it was then made a good Resistance it was on the 10th of June surrender'd upon Articles And now France having got what she desired proposed a Truce afresh for 20 Years to which the States did not seem averse So that they made the matter up quickly both for themselves and Spain as they had been wont to do in a manner upon the French Terms Whereof take the following Abstract wherein you will find the King of England's Name mentioned but mostly for Form sake I. THE States General oblige themselves to employ all sorts of good Offices to induce the King of Spain to accept of the Truce for 20 Years proposed by his most Christian Majesty during which all Hostilities shall cease between the said Kings as well by Sea and Land in all their Countries and Dominions II. The most Christian King shall during the said Truce remain possessed of the City of Luxemburg and the Provostry thereof with the 14 or 15 Villages and Hamblets depending thereon and Beaumount and the 3 or 4 Villages that remain on its Dependance Bouvois which has none and Chimay with the 12 or 14 Villages belonging to it III. If within 6 Weeks from the Date of this Convention the Catholick King shall agree unto and in due Form ratifie the Articles contained therein and shall consent to the said Truce of 20 Years upon the Condition proposed the most Christian King so soon as the Ratifications are exchanged shall restore to the Catholick King Courtray and Dixmuyde after having demolish'd the Fortifications with the Dependencies of those Places IV. His most Christian Majesty shall likewise restore to the Catholick King after the Exchange of the Ratifications all the Places he hath promised himself since Aug. 20 1683. except Luxemburg and the other Places mentioned in the Article And for the rest the most Christian and Catholick Kings shall remain in the Possession during the said Truce of what they held at the raising of the Blockade of Luxemburg and no Pretension shall be moved or Re-union made on the one side or the other on Account of Dependencies or any other Pretence whatever V. After the Exchange of the said Ratifications of Spain all Acts of Hostility shall cease and the most Christian King shall withdraw his Troops out of the Countries of the King of Spain wheresoever situated the King of Spain doing the like on his part VI. If any Contest shall happen concerning the time of Possession or the Extent of any Places that are to remain to either side during the said Truce the Determination thereof shall be referred to the
the Town This gave the Christians an Opportunity not only to advance but to possess themselves of an Hill near the Place And this was succeeded with a Summons from the General to surrender But the Governour Saban Basha who was gone to put himself at the Head of a Body of Turks to observe the Motion of the Christians as not believing they durst undertake the Siege of Prevesa The Officer that commanded in his Absence would not receive the General 's Letter but rudely fired upon the Person that carried it Thereupon they landed 4. Pieces of Cannon and as many Mortars on the 22d and next Day shot above 300 Bombs into the Town which burnt several Houses and before Night dismounted all the Enemies Cannon but one and had all this while but one Man killed and few wounded On the 24th they made a Lodgment in the Ditch and began to Mine under the Great Tower of the Place towards the Terra Firma but they were somewhat disturbed by a Sally of the Turks who yet had no great Success So that the Besiegers the 3 following Days advanced their Works notwithstanding the Enemy plyed them very warmly with their small Shot so far that the Mine being ready by the 28th and a considerable Breach made by the Cannon Orders were given for a general Assault But next Morning the Turks prevented them by hanging out a White Flag and sending 5 Deputies to capitulate who required the same Conditions as had been granted to Sancta Maura But the General would allow them no other save that 30 of the most considerable of the Garrison should march out with their Arms and Baggage and the rest without Arms taking only along with them what they could carry which the Turks were forced to submit to And so they marched out of the Place on the 30th of Sept. leaving 44 Pieces of Cannon 14 whereof were large and would shoot a 50 Pound Ball with a considerable Quantity of Ammunition and Provisions to the Conquering Venetians who after this went to Winter at Corâ—u But their Troops in Dalmatia did not yet do so they and the Morlaques under the Dominion of the Republick had all along the War been very successful not only in several Rencounters with the Turks but in divers Incursions into their Country from whence they always returned with good Booty besides possessing themselves of some Places in those Parts But my Design will not admit me to descend to such Minute Particulars and therefore I shall only observe that before the Expiration of this Year they took in the Isle of Narenta and the Castle of Narini And were thereupon joined by a great many of the Neighbouring Greeks But the advanced Season confined them now to their Winter Quarters as I am also confined to close up the History of this Year without superadding any remarkable Adventure as I have hitherto been â—ted to do There is nothing occurs year 1685 worthy of Consideration this Year before the Death of Charles II. King of England who was seized as they gave out of a violent Fit of an Apoplexy on Monday the 2d of Feb. and on the 7th departed this Life in the 37th Year of his Reign computing it from his Father's Death after he had lived 54 Years 8 Months and 8 Days His Character I will not attempt it has been done so well already by a Learned Pen But for his Religion if we believe his Brother that succeeded him he was however otherwise he appeared outwardly in his Life Heart and Soul a true Roman Catholick not only by his Dying in the Communion of the Church of Rome and other Ceremonies of that Church But the Papers taken out of his Strong Box and which his Brother took Care to Publish to the World plainly proved him to be so in his Judgment However be this as it will he had little Regard to any Thing that favoured of Sincere Religion for he would occasionally in his ordinary Conversation ridicule most Opinions and that Religion most of all wherein it was said he died I know not whether it be to his Praise to say He was a Prince the most fit to Govern of any other and applied himself the least to it which was great pitty since he had such an Insight into Men and Things that no Monarch of his Age could pretend to compare with him besides a mild Disposition which made him at his Death be so universally lamented by all sorts of his Protestant Subjects but more by those that dissented from the Publick Church out of the Fear they had of the Religion and Temper of his Successor than any real Kindness for his Government which of latter Years especially had not been very mild towards them But for my part I think a witty Quaker made a truer Judgment of that Conjuncture than any other for appearing very merry and jovial when all about him discovered all the Marks of Sorrow imaginable for the King's Death and being asked the Reason of it he replied He had no Occasion to grieve but the Contrary for that having two to deal withal before 〈◊〉 God be thanked there was but one And now James Duke of York ascends the English 〈◊〉 and having the same Day of his Brother's Death assembled the Council he declared to them That since it had pleased God to place him in that Station to succeed so good and gracious a King as well as so kind a Brother he thought 〈◊〉 to Declare his Endeavours to follow his Brother's Example more especially in that of his great Clemency and Tenderness to his People and make it his Business to preserve the Government both in Church and State as by Law established Commended the Church of England's Principles and Members and said He knew the Laws of England were sufficient to make the King as great a Monarch as he could wish and therefore as he would never depart from the just Rights and Prerogatives of the Crown so he would never invade any Man's Property It was well enough spoke of him and as well acted that he did not dissemble his Religion which was Popish and for which some in his Brother's Reign were severely used for but saying he was so for the very next Sunday after his Brother's Death he went publickly to Mass But his taking the Customs and Excise granted only for the Life of his Brother before they were given him by Parliament did ill Correspond with that part of his Speech that he would never invade any Man's Property and as little did the severe and barbarous Usage of Dr. Oates whom they endeavoured to prove Guilty of Perjury tho' the Contrary has since manifestly appeared by Ben. Hinton's Books agree with his saying He would imitate his Brother in his Clemency and Tenderness to his People But to leave these Things pass His Majesty being solemnly Crowned the 23d of April at Westminster he appointed a Parliament to meet the 22d of May to whom after having
repeated much the same Things as he had told the Council before he proceeded to tell them That after having given them such Assurances he could not doubt but of a suitable return on their part and particularly in what related to the settling of his Revenues as he called it as it was in his Brother's time That he might use many Arguments to them for enforcing his Demand from the benefit of Trade supply of the Navy the necessity of the Crown and the well-being of the Government it self which he was not to suffer to be precarious That he foresaw there was one popular Argument which might be used against what he asked from the inclination Men had for frequent Parliaments which some might think would be best secured by feeding him from time to time by such proportions as they should think convenient But that Argument it being the first time he spake to them from the Throne he would answer once for all that that would be a very improper Method to take with him that the best way to ingage him to meet them often was to use him always well and therefore he expected a speedy Compliance with his Demands now that he might meet them again to all their Satisfactions But tho this was a very odd way of caressing a Parliament yet they being in a manner fashioned before to his hand they were so far from taking notice of it and what was more of the most grievous and dangerous State of the whole Nation as it was left by King Charles that instead of representing the same to the now King or redressing any Grievance they immediately gave him a Revenue to enable him to ruin the Church and State upon the Foundation his Brother had laid for him for besides their settling the Customs and Temporary Excise upon him as they were before upon his Brother They laid a new Imposition upon Wines and Vinegars made an Act to lay more Custom upon Sugars and Tobacco another laying an Imposition upon all French Linnens and all East-India Linnen and several other Indian Manufactures also upon French Wrought Silks and Stuffs and all Brandies And that there might be a nearer Conjunction between His Majesty and France tho the Nation thought them always before too great the Act for prohibiting the Importation of French Wine Vinegar Brandy Linnens and Cloth Silks Malt Paper or any Manufacture made or mix'd with Silk Thread Wool Hair Gold or Silver or Leather being of the Growth or Manufacture of France was now fully repealed There was also five Shillings per Tun granted upon every Voyage which any foreign Ship should make from Port to Port in England and Twelve-pence per Tun for every Voyage which a Foreign built Ship not free should make so that in short this Revenue with the Hereditary Excise and other Revenues of the Crown have been computed to amount to 2400000 l. per Annum to which if you add 15000 per Annum which the King had when he was Duke of York the whole will amount to 2550000 per An. which was 3 times more than any King of England except Henry VIII had before the King's Brother But before this Sessions was over they heard of something not only from the North but also from the West that did not a little terrifie the greatest part of them The King in the Close of the fore-mentioned Speech the very Day of the Opening of the Parliament told them That he had News that Morning from Scotland that the Earl of Argyle was Landed in the West Highlands with the Men that he had brought along with him from Holland and that there were Two Declarations Published one in the Name of all those in Arms there and the other in his own He said in general of both that he was charged in them of Usurpation and Tyranny but gave no Particulars of the Former the Court contenting themselves to put it by piece-meals into the Gazzette with what Animadversions they pleased but the last of them he presently communicated unto them and was in Substance this that follows A DECLARATION of Archibald Earl of Argyle Lord Kintyre Cowall Campbell and Lorn Heritable Sheriff and Lieutenant of the Shires of Argyle and Turbette and Heritable Justice General of the said Shires I Shall not Publish my Case Published already in Print in Latin and in Dutch and more largely in English nor mean I to repeat the Printed Declaration emitted by several Noble Men Gentlemen and others of both Nations now in Arms because the Sufferings of Me and my Family are therein mentioned I have thought it fit for me to Declare for my Self that as I go to Arms with those who have appointed me to Conduct them for no Private and Personal End only for those contained in the said Declaration which I have concerted with them and approved of so I do claim no Interest but what I had before the pretended Forfeiture of my Family and have a sufficient Right to And that I do freely and as a Christian forgive all Personal Injuries against my Person and Family to all that shall not oppose but joyn and concur with us in our present Undertaking for the Ends mentioned in the said Declaration and hereby I oblige my self never to pursue them in Judgment nor out of Judgment And I do further declare That obtaining the Quiet and peaceable Possession of what belonged to my Father and my Self before our pretended Forfeitures I shall satisfie all Debts due by my Father and my Self as any Heir or Debtor can be obliged And as my Faithfulness to his late Majesty and his Government hath sufficiently appeared to all unbyassed Persons void of Malice so I do with Grief acknowledge my former too much complying with and conniving at the Methods that have been taken to bring us to the sad Condition we are now in though God knows never concurring in the Design I have now with God's Strength suffered patiently my unjust Sentence and Banishment 3 Years an half and have never offered to make any Uproar or Defence by Arms to disturb the Peace upon my private Concern but the King being now dead and the Duke of York having taken off his Mask and abandoned and invaded our Religion and Liberties resolving to enter into the Government and exercising it contrary to Law I think it not only just but my Duty to God and my Country to use my utmost Endeavours to oppose and repress his Usurpations and Tyranny And therefore being assisted and furnish'd very nobly by several good Protestants and invited and accompanied by several of both Nations to lead them I resolve as God shall enable me to use their Assistance of all kinds towards the Ends exprest in the said Declaration And I do hereby earnestly Invite and Obtest all honest Protestants and particularly all my Friends and Blood Relations to concur with us in the said Declaration And as I have written several Letters so having no other way fully to
Cast and Executed as much lamented for a Man of his Quality and with such severe Censures from the Generality of People upon the Hardship and Injustice done him as any other in our Age whatsoever And I have heard it said That even King James himself some time after express'd somewhat of Regret concerning it But though Cornish his Case seemed to have been resented more particularly by the People in this Turmoil of the Times yet the violent and rigorous Proceedings of the King and his bloody Agents did not pass unobserved and left such Seeds of Discontent in the Minds of most that though they did not presently bud forth yet other Occasions made them in time appear to purpose All this the Court could not not or would not discern so that they kept on their Pace though yet a little more covertly in England But the Popish Designs appeared by this time bare-faced enough in Ireland for the King was no sooner settled in his Throne but he began to turn out some Officers there who had been most zealous for his Service and deserved better at his Hands meerly because they had been counted firm to the Protestant Religion and English Interest particularly my Lord Shannon Captain Robert Fitz-Gerald Captain Richard Coote Sir George St. George and put into their Places one Kerney a Ruffian that designed to murder Charles II. Anderson an obscure Fellow Sheldon a profest Papist Graham and some more of the Stamp and at the same time sent for the Duke of Ormond very abruptly and divested him of the Government of that Kingdom to make way for Colonel Richard Talbot a Man of all others most hated by the Protestants to model the Army and one who had been named by Oats in his Narrative Years before for this Service So that many who before believed nothing of the Plot gave Credit to it now saying That if Oats were an ill Evidence he was certainly a good Prophet Talbot was no sooner invested with his Office but he prosecuted it in such a manner as might best be expected from a Man of so insolent a Temper exercising at the same time so much Barbarity and Falshood that if the Army had not been the best Principled with Loyalty and Obedience in the World they had Mutiâ—â—ed or at least sent him packing into another World He would take an Officer in the Morning into his Closet and with all the Oaths Curses and Damnations that were never wanting to him profess all Friendship and Kindness to him and promise the Continuance of his Commission to him but when the Afternoon came would casheer him with all the Contempt and Disgrace imaginable Nay perhaps while he was thus caressing him he had actually given away his Commission to another And if he thus Brutishly used the Officers you cannot think he could be kinder and more mannerly towards the Soldiers and Troopers whose way with them was to march them from their usual Quarters to some remote Place where he thought they were least known and would be put to greatest Hardships and there he would strip them the Foot of their Cloaths for which they had paid and the Troopers of their Horses Boots and Accouterments bought with their own Money and set them to walk bare-footed an 100 and an 150 Miles to their Homes or Friends if they had any It s true he would sometimes promise them something for their Horses but then they must go to Dublin for it and if any were so credulous as to go to demand the small Pittance he had promised them or Arrears of Pay he contrived it so that they were obliged to wait till they had spent there as much as they expected though most of them after all got nothing By this mean 2 or 300 English Gentlemen who had laid out all or great Part of their Portions or contracted Debts on Commissions were left not worth any thing and turn'd out without Reason or Consideration and 5 or 6000 Soldiers sent a begging and yet Bishop Tyrrel so early as in July this Year recommended this Talbot to the King as a most fit Person to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and in some time he obtained it besides the Dignity of Earl of Tirconnell King James by his wicked Instrument Talbot finding he might do what he would in Ireland thought he had now his great Rival was taken off a clear Field to do the same in England he had found his Parliament last Sessions extraordinarily plyable to his Desire and therefore at their next meeting in Nov. he told them That the Militia so much before depended on was not sufficient for his Occasions and that nothing would do but a standing Force of well disciplin'd Troops to defend him from all such as either at Home or Abroad were disposed to disturb the Nation That therefore the Concern he had both of his own and Subjects Tranquility made him think it necessary to increase the Number as he had done That he owed this as well to the Honour as Security of the Nation whose Reputation had been so infinitely exposed to all its Neighbours by being laid open to the late wretched Attempt that it could not be repaired without keeping such a Body of Men on Foot that none might ever have the Thoughts again of finding them so miserably unprovided That therefore he required a Supply answerable to the Expence and that he could not doubt but what they had begun so much to the Honour and Defence of the Government would be continued by them with all the Cheerfulness and Readiness that was requisite for a Work of so great Importance But then he came to the Nice Point and said That no Man should take Exception that some Officers in the Army were not qualified for their Imployments according to the late Tests for that he must tell them those Gentlemen were most of them well known to him and having formerly served him on several Occasions and always approved the Loyalty of their Principles by their Practice he thought them now fit to be imployed under him and that he would deal plainly with them That after having had the Benefit of their Services in such a time of Need and Danger he would neither expose them to Disgrace nor himself to the Want of them if there should be another Rebellion to make them necessary to him Then he cajol'd them with what Feats he had already done for the Nation and how much more he would do still even to the Hazard of his Life in the Defence and true Interest of the Nation and hoped no groundless Fears and Jealousies should put a Stop thereunto with something more to the same Purpose which I shall not trouble my self nor the Reader with but come to tell him that both Houses entered into a Debate upon the Speech Some of the Lords were against returning his Majesty Thanks for it and spoke pretty smartly to the Matter but the Majority were for it
and it was said the late Marquess of Hallifax should say That they had now more Reason than ever to do it since the King had been so plain with them and discovered what he would be at But it did not pass so hastily with the Commons for they debated it Paragraph by Paragraph and because the Militia had not been so serviceable as the King would have them they Voted they would take it into Consideration how to make them more useful for the future and on the 16th of Nov. Addrest the King wherein they represented to him that they had taken his Speech and particularly that part of it relating to the unqualified Officers into their Consideration That for what was past they were preparing a Bill to pass both Houses for the Royal Assent to indemnifie them from the Penalty they had incurred by Law but because the Continuance of them in their Imployments might be thought to be a dispensing Power with that Law without Act of Parliament They therefore humbly besought him that he would be pleased to give such Directions therein that no Apprehensions or Jealousies might remain in the Hearts of his good and faithful Subjects But what do you think was the Consequence of this Address 'T was no other than first a Prorogation and then the Dissolution of the Parliament and the King left at Liberty to pursue his Designs in the best Methods he could for the Introducing of Popery and Arbitrary Power and where at present we leave him It s a long Step from England to Hungary I confess but there being no considerable Affairs in Motion now nearer Home we are necessitated to look so far and here to remind you first of the ill Success of the Imperial Army before Buda last Year which after such Repulses and so many Weeks Siege they were forced to quit at last And now we are to see whether they have not made a better Progress this Campaign to which End I am to acquaint you That the Duke of Lorain arrived in the Imperial Camp between Neuheusel and Barkan June 13 where after divers Consultations it was resolved at last formally to Besiege Neuheusel which in some measure had been block'd up ever since the Winter before In pursuance thereof the Army July 4 began a slow March towards the Place which had a good Garrison in it and is a large Fort situated upon a firm Foundation though the Plain about it is full of a Morass and Fenny Grounds which made the Town almost unaccessible as its Strength was almost invincible having 6 Bastions lined with a very good Stone-Work without which there was a vast Ditch of about 10 Foot deep and 20 broad The River Neutra runs on the East not above a Pistol shot from it as the Danube is on the South about 2 Furlongs distance and the River Schit on the West The whole Imperial Army with the Auxiliary Troops of Bavaria and Lunemburg being posted with some Difficulty about the Place the Trenches were opened July 11 at Night by 3000 Foot on whom the Besieged fired all along without doing any great Execution and by the 13th they were carried on within 50 Paces of the Ditch when they had also finished a Redoubt But next Day the Enemy made a Sally with a Party of Horse upon the Bavarian Guard yet were quickly beaten back into the Town with some Loss and that â—ight the Besiegers finished another Redoubt on the Left and the Line of Communication between the Trenches in the middle whereof they began to raise a Battery of 10 Pieces of Cannon and at the same time began a false Attack on the South opposite to the true one which gave the Besieged a Diversion that way On the 15th they played upon one another briskly with their Cannon and at Night the Besiegers got to the Ditch in several places both on the Right and Left but with considerable Loss and on the 16th the Imperialists began a new Battery against the Pallisadoes before the Gate which set fire to them and forced the Turks to abandon that Place They continued also their Works next Day and prepared Things to fill the Ditch to which End the Duke of Lorain ordered the Lunemburghers on the Left to cut a Canal to let the Water out of it into the Neutra when at the same time receiving Advice that the Turkish Army was marched towards Gran he sent Colonel Heusler out towards Vicegrade with a Body of Horse to get Intelligence and 500 Dragoons under the Count of Stirum to pass one of the Bridges near Comorra and to post himself near Gran and 5 Days after upon further Advice commanded the Dragoons of Bavaria and Brunswick together with the Imperial Dragoons making in all about 5000 Thousand under the Command of the Count de Lodron to march towards Comorra to cover the Bridges which his Highness had caused to be laid there over the Danube while he in the mean time bestirred himself with wonderful Activity to push on the Siege being every Day present in the Trenches and upon the Batteries to give all necessary Orders as being very desirous to be Master of this Place But notwithstanding all his Industry and the continued Advances that were made in the Siege the Turks defended themselves so well that the Month of July spun out and the Additional Presence and Assistance of Prince Waldeck and the Elector of Bavaria who by this time were got to the Camp were little enough to keep up the drooping Spirits of the Besiegers who began to be very much dejected with the frequent Losses they had sustained by the Cannon of the Place and the frequent Sallies of the Besieged and the Duke had not his End effected before he was obliged with the greatest Part of the Army to march and fight the Enemy For on the 1st of Aug. having received certain Advice that the 500 Foot he had detached under Major Rounkell had happily got into Gran but that the same day the Serasquier Basha with an Army of between 50 and 60000 Men had begun to besiege that Place he immediately thereupon called a Council of War where many were of Opinion that the Governour of Gran being so well provided that he could easily defend the Town for two Months it were their best way vigorously to pursue the Siege of Newheusel and not to meddle withthe Turkish Army till they had something weakned themselves before Gran But the Majority concluded it most advisable to march with the greatest part of the Army to fight the Turks and to leave a sufficient Body to carry on at the same time the Siege of Newheusel Whereupon an Officer was sent to Vienna to acquaint the Emperor with the said Resolution who returned again on the 3d to the Camp with the Emperor's Approbation of what they had resolved on The Duke in the mean time having ordered several Retrenchments to be made for the greater security of those that
or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Chancellor to be one at your Commandments or else in not obeying or in not accomplishing your Orders Decrees and Commandments or any thing touching the Premises or any part thereof or any other Branch or Clause contained in this Commission that then you or any three or more of you as aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one shall have full Power and Authority to punish the same Person or Persons so offending by Excommunication Suspension Deprivation or other Censures Ecclesiastical And when any Persons shall be convented or prosecuted before you as aforesaid for any of the Causes above expressed at the Instance or Suit of any Person prosecuting the Offence in that behalf that then you or any three or more of you as aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one shall have full Power and Authority to award such Costs and Expences of the Suit as well to and against the Party as shall prefer or prosecute the said Offence as to and against the Party or Parties that shall be convented according as their Causes shall require and to you in Justice shall be thought reasonable And further our Will and Pleasure is That you assume our Well-beloved William Bridgman Esq one of the Clerks of our Council or his sufficient Deputy or Deputies in that behalf to be your Register whom we do by these Presents depute to that Effect for the Registring of all your Acts Decrees and Proceedings by Virtue of this our Commission and that in like manner you or any three or more of you whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one by your Discretions shall appoint one or more Messenger or Messengers and other Officer or Officers necessary and convenient to attend upon you for any Service in this behalf Our Will and express Commandment also is That there shall be Two Paper Books indented and made the one to remain with the said Register or his sufficient Deputy or Deputies the other with such Persons and in such Places as you the said Commissioners or any three or more of you whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one shall in your Discretion think most fit and meet in both which Books shall be fairly entred all the Acts Decrees and Proceedings made or to be made by Virtue of this Commission And whereas our Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and divers Cathedral and Colleg ate Churches Colleges Grammar-Schools and other Ecclesiastical Incorporations have been erected founded and endowed by several of our Royal Progenitors Kings and Queens of this Realm and some others by the Charity and Bounty of some of their Subjects as well within our Universities as other Parts and Places the Ordinance Rules and Statutes whereof are either imbezilled lost corrupted or altogether imperfected We do therefore give a full Power and Authority to you or any five or more of you of whom we will you the afore-named Lord Chancellor always to be one to cause and command in our Name all and singular the Ordinances Rules and Statutes of our Universities and all and every Cathedral and Collegiate Churches Colleges Grammar-Schools and other Ecclesiastical Incorporations together with their several Letters Patents and other Writings touching or in any wise concerning the several Erections and Foundation to be brought and exhibited before you or any five or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one willing commanding and authorizing you or any five or more of you as aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one upon the Exhibiting and upon diligent and deliberate View Search and Examination of the said Statutes Rules and Ordinances Letters Patents and Writings as is aforesaid the same to Correct Amend and Alter And also where no Statutes are extant in all or any of the aforesaid Cases to devise and set down such good Orders and Statutes as you or any five or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one shall think meet and convenient to be by us Confirmed Ratified Allowed and set forth for the better Order and Rule of the said Universities Cathedrals and Collegiate Churches Colleges and Grammar-Schools Erections and Foundations and the Possessions and Revenues of the same as may best tend to the Honour of Almighty God increase of Vertue Learning and Unity in the said Places and the publick Weale and Tranquility of this our Realm Moreover our Will Pleasure and Commandment is That our said Commissioners and every of you shall diligently and faithfully execute this our Commission and every part and branch thereof in Manner and Form aforesaid and according to the true Meaning hereof notwithstanding any Appellation Provocation Priviledge or Exemption in that behalf to be made pretended or alledged by any Person or Persons resident or dwelling in any Place or Places exempt or not exempt within this our Realm any Law Statutes Proclamations or Grants Priviledges or Ordinances which be or may seem to be contrary to the Premises notwithstanding And for the better Credit and more manifest Notice of your doing in Execution of this our Commission our Pleasure and Commandment is That to your Letters Missive Processes Decrees Orders and Judgments for or by you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid to be awarded sent forth had made decreed given or pronounced at such certain publick Places as shall be appointed by you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid for the due Execution of this our Commission or some three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Chancellor to be one shall cause to be put and fixed a Seal engraven with the Rose and Crown and the Letter J. and Figure 2. before and the Letter R. after the same with a Ring or Circumference about the same Seal containing as followeth Sigillum Commissiariorum Regiae Majestatis ad Causas Ecclesiasticas Finally We Will and Command all and singular other our Ministers and Subjects in all and every Place and Places exempt and not exempt within our Realm of England and Dominion of Wales upon any Knowledge or Request from you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid to them or any of them given or made to be aiding helping and assisting unto you and to your Commandment in and for the due executing your Precepts Letters and other Processes requisite in and for the due Executing of this Our Commission as they and every of them tender Our Pleasure and Will to answer the Contrary at their utmost Perils In witness c. It s not so easie perhaps at first sight to discern the Flaws and Deficiences included in this Commission neither shall I rake further into it only I 'll observe with a Learned Gentleman First The Archbishop of Canterbury who was first named in it refused to Act so that the Bishop of Chester was put in though not
blasted by both Houses of Parliament if there had been any need of it for it was very well known before that a Papist cannot have a Commission but by the Law is utterly disabled and disarmed Will you exchange your Birth-right of English Laws and Liberty for Martial or Club-Law and help to destroy one another only to be eaten last your selves If I know you well as ye are English Men you hate and scorn these Things and therefore be not unequally yoaked with Idolatrous and Bloody Papists Be valiant for the Truth and shew your selves Men. The same Considerations are likewise humbly offered to all the English Sea-men who have been the Bulwark of this Nation against Popery and Slavery ever since 1588. This Address is so plain as to need no Remark upon it and therefore I shall only tell you before I pass to Foreign Affairs that Colonel Talbot formerly mentioned was doing what he would all this time in Ireland while the King himself had settled Affairs so in Scotland when he was High Commissioner and now Argyle was cut off that he did not question but to carry on his Designs more bare-faced there than he had done in England And therefore tho' he did not call a Parliament in that Kingdom till April this Year yet in his Letter to them he took no notice at all of the Protestant Dissenters but recommended to them his innocent Roman Catholick Subjects who had with their Lives and Fortunes been always assistant to the Crown in the worst Rebellions and Usurpations though they lay under Discouragements hardly to be named These he heartily recommended to their Care to the End that as they had given good Experience of their true Loyalty and peaceable Behaviour so by their Assistance they might have the Protection of his Laws and that Security under his Government which others of his Subjects had not suffering them to lie under Obligations which their Religion could not admit of by doing whereof they would give a Demonstration of the Duty and Affection they had to him and do him most acceptable Service And this Love he expected they would shew to their Brethren as they saw he was an indulgent Father to them all This was very kind indeed on the King's part to those of his own Religion and in this kind Mood we will leave him at present and prosecute a little the mighty Affairs of the Campaigns abroad where their Armies were doing much better Feats than ours in England whose greatest Talent was Cursing and Swearing and Riding the Country as themselves pleased I shall make no Recapitulation in this Place of the Progress of the last Campaign in Hungary nor of the Siege of Buda with the ill Success of it the preceding Year viz. 1684 but come to tell you That the Duke of Lorain having joined the Imperial Army in June marched now again towards Buda and by the 21st in the Morning the Imperialists began their Approaches at about 500 Yards distance from the Walls of the Lower Buda making use upon this Occasion of their old Trenches and continued their Works all that Day and the following Night tho' with considerable Difficulty from the Badness of the Earth and the Enemies firing out of the Town from whence a Pole taken at the Siege of Vienna made his Escape with the Basha's Horse 2 Scymiters and his Commanding-Staff who reported to the General That their coming before Buda was very surprizing that the Garrison was not near so strong as when it was besieged before and that the Turks had Intelligence that the Christians had formed a Design upon Alba Regalis and Erla which was true in Fact for it was not concluded to attempt Buda till the 20th of June at a general Council of War hold at Comorra And 2 Days after the Pole came a Janizary out of the Town also and surrender'd himself upon a Dream he had had the Night before that the Christians would become Masters of the Place and put all the Sword as they had done last Year at Neuheusel and that if he fled to the Christians he might find Merty Adding withal that the Garrison was not above 6000 strong This Intelligence made the Germans re-double their Diligence so that the same Day with a Battery of 6 Pieces of Cannon which they had raised they made a Breach in the Wall of the Lower Town which was 5 Foot thick of about 15 Paces which made the Turks fear an Assault that very Night and they prepared for it accordingly but it was deferred till the Day following when after the Basha's Women and about 10000 Pounds in Money had been taken as going by Water from the Town to Belgrade there were a Party of Granadeers commanded to discover whether the Breach were accessible or not which upon their Report of its being so was stormed at Night with such Confusion that if the Turks had kept their Posts they might have cut off all the Assailants But they were so far from that that they not only retired into the Upper Town and by their Proceedings did not think themselves secure there neither for they made a Fire against the New Port that they might see if the Germans attempted any thing by Petard This the Germans did not do but only contented themselves to make a Lodgment upon the Breach From the 25th to the 29th the Besiegers were busie in raising more Batteries and making a Line of Communication between the Lodgment and the Angle of the Wall looking into St. Paul's Valley which they finished and placed 4 Mortars there notwithstanding the Turks in 2 several brisk Sallies endeavoured to hinder them and in their continual firing from the Town all manner of destructive Instruments upon them yet this did not hinder the Besiegers by the 1st of July to raise a Battery to fire upon the Angle of the Round Tower which looks towards St. Paul's Valley and to carry on their Trenches by the Help of that and another Battery so as to take in a Turkish Mosque from whence they returned with an Angle and Parallel Line with Buda till they came to the Right-hand Way leading to the North Part at which the 3 Lines met by the Favour of a Wall and a deep Road under which the Besiegers were covered who now mounted 4 Mortars more with which they continually played upon the Town Their Cannon also by this time had made a considerable Breach which by their advancing another Line from the Place where the 3 Lines met so as to flank the outermost of them and join the Wall of the old Town looking into St. Paul's Valley where they made a Place of Arms capable to hold about 300 Men they now by the 4th were got within 50 Paces of it where they covered themselves from the Enemies Fire The Brandenburghers the same Day arriving in the Camp they took up their Quarters to the Left of the Germans and advanced 2 Parallel Lines to communicate with the others
King's Foragers which greatly perplexed him So that understanding at last that the main Body of the Tartars commanded by Sultan Nuradin was come near his Camp yet without being able precisely to learn the Place where they were he caused it to be published among the Moldavians That whoever brought him certain Intelligence of them should have the Reward of 200 Crowns Whereupon one that was well acquainted with the Country went into the Enemies Camp and having observed it returned and gave the King an Account that they lay within a Mile of his Army and that a Party of 4000 Tartars was advanced at some distance from the rest The King being thus informed of the Posture the Enemy were in detached the Court-Marshal and the Court-Treasurer about Midnight to attack those advanced Troops and followed himself with the whole Army This Detachment with the Help of the Moldavian who was their Guide came upon the Enemy before they had time to retire to their main Body and after a sharp Dispute entirely routed them taking about 300 Prisoners among whom were several Murza's and other Persons of considerable Note among the Tartars While this was doing the King also advanced and attacked the Serasquier and Sultan who not knowing of the Defeat of their advanced Troops expected they would have fallen upon the Poles in their Rear and Flank and with this Encouragement they put themselves into a Posture to oppose him However they were deceived and after a short fight were routed and forced to flee leaving a great many Slain and Prisoners behind them but not without Loss also on the Poles side there being several Officers and Persons of Quality and particularly the Palatine Podolskie among the Number of the Slain But while these Things were doing by the Polish Army abroad the Country nearer Home was cruelly ravaged by the Garrison of Caminiec who made frequent Incursions into the Polish Territories Which together with the King 's marching homeward after this last Action and demolishing the fore-mentioned Forts in his Return which he had raised as he went onwards made this Expedition to be little thought of and as little Advantage to redound to the Poles from it as they hitherto had reaped by their Alliance with the Moscovites who made a mighty Smoak this Campaign but very little Fire of whom we shall have more Occasion to talk hereafter year 1687 Now we are come to another Year and the Affairs of England fall of Course under our Consideration And as we left off with taking Notice of the King's Kindness to his Roman Catholick Subjects in a more particular Manner in the Letter he wrote to the Parliament of Scotland we are now to tell you of a more general Act of his and that was upon the 12th of February to issue out his Proclamation for a Toleration of Religion unto all Wherein by the by you are to observe that he exerted his Absolute Power which he said his Subjects ought to obey without Reserve But the Toleration he allowed his Roman Catholick Subjects in Scotland he would scarce allow to his Protestant Subjects in Ireland for Tyrconnel so did Talbot merit for reforming the Army was not only made an Earl but Lord-Lieutenant in Ireland to boot in the room of my Lord Clarendon and one Fitton an infamous Person detected for Forgery not only at Westminster but Chester too was brought out of the King 's Bench Prison in England to be Chancellor and Keeper of the King's Conscience in Ireland Sir Charles Porter being turned out to make way for him Now Talbot being thus advanced in Honour and Office began to exert his Authority and his first Proclamation towards the End of Feb. imported a Promise to defend the Laws Liberty and Established Religion but fairly left out the Preservation of the Act of Settlement and Explanation However though at first he only left them out being resolved to out the Protestants first and to let the Irish into their Forfeited Estates yet he did not stop there We told you last Year what Efforts were made to propagate the King's Power in Westminster-Hall and what Instructions the Judges had in their Circuits to dispense with the Penal Laws and Tests against Dissenters from the Church and now these Things being brought pretty well to bear upon the 25th of April out came the King's Declaration for Liberty of Conscience which was conceived in the following Terms His MAJEETY's Gracious DECLARATION to all His Loving Subjects for LIBERTY of CONSCIENCE JAMES R. IT having pleased Almighty God not only to bring Us to the Imperial Crown of these Kingdoms through the greatest Difficulties but to preserve Us by a more than ordinary Providence upon the Throne of Our Royal Ancestors there is nothing now that We so earnestly desire as to Establish our Government on such a Foundation as may make Our Subjects happy and unite them to Us by Inclination as well as Duty which We think can be done by no Means so effectually as by granting to them the free Exercise of their Religion for the Time to come and add that to the perfect Enjoyment of their Property which has never been in any Case invaded by Us since Our coming to the Crown Which being the Two Things Men value most shall ever be preserved in these Kingdoms during our Reign over them as the truest Methods of their Peace and Our Glory We cannot but heartily wish as it will easily be believed that all People of Our Dominions were Members of the Catholick Church yet We humbly thank Almighty God it is and hath of long time been Our constant Sense and Opinion which upon divers Occasions We have declared that Conscience ought not to be constrained nor People forced in Matters of meer Religion It has ever been directly contrary to Our Inclination as We think it is to the Interest of Government which it destroys by spoiling Trade depopulating Countries and discouraging Strangers and finally that it never obtained the End for which it was employed And in this We are the more Confirmed by the Reflections We have made upon the Conduct of the Four last Reigns For after all the frequent and pressing Endeavours that were used in each of them to reduce this Kingdom to an exact Conformity in Religion it is visible the Success has not answered the Design and that the Difficulty is invincible We therefore out of Our Princely Care and Affection unto all Our Loving Subjects that they may live at Ease and Quiet and for the Increase of Trade and Incouragement of Strangers have thought fit by Virtue of Our Royal Prerogative to issue forth this Our Declaration of Indulgence making no doubt of the Concurrence of Our Two Houses of Parliament when we shall think it convenient for them to meet In the first Place We do declare That We will Protect and Maintain Our Archâ—bishops Bishops and Clergy and all other Our Subjects of the Church of England in the free
Exercise of their Religion as by Law Established and in the Quiet and full Enjoyment of all their Possessions without any Molestation on Disturbance whatsoever We do likewise declare That it is Our Royal Will and Pleasure That from henceforth the Execution of all and all manner of Penal Laws in Matters Ecclesiastical for not coming to Church or not Receiving the Sacrament or for any other Non-conformity to the Religion Established or for or by Reason of the Exercise of Religion in any manner whatsoever be immediately suspended And the further Execution of the said Penal Laws and every of them is hereby suspended And to the End that by the Liberty hereby granted the Peace and Security of Our Government in the Practice thereof may not be indangered We have thought fit and do hereby straitly Charge and Command all our Loving Subjects That as We do freely give them Leave to Meet and Serve God after their own Way and Manner be it in Private Houses or Places purposely Hired or Built for that Use so that they take especial Care that nothing be Preached or Taught amongst them which may any ways tend to Alienate the Hearts of Our People from Us or Our Government And that their Meetings and Assemblies be peaceably openly and publickly held and all Persons freely admitted to them And that they do signifie and make known to some one or more of the next Justices of the Peace what Place or Places they set apart for those Uses And that all Our Subjects may enjoy such their Religious Assemblies with greater Assurance and Protection We have thought it requisite and do hereby Command That no Disturbance of any kind be made or given unto them under Pain of Our Displeasure and to be further proceeded against with the uttermost Severity And forasmuch as We are desirous to have the Benefit of the Service of all Our loving Subjects which by the Law of Nature is inseparably annexed to and inherent in Our Royal Person And that none of Our Subjects may for the future be under any Discouragement or Disability who are otherwise well inclined and fit to serve Us by Reason of some Oaths or Tests that have been usually administred on such Occasions We do hereby further declare That it is Our Royal Will and Pleasure that the Oaths commonly called The Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance and also the several Tests and Declarations mentioned in the Acts of Parliament made in the 25th and 30th Years of the Reign of Our late Royal Brother Charles the Second shall not at any time hereafter be required to be Taken Declared or Subscribed by any Person or Persons whatsoever who is or shall be imployed in any Office or Place of Trust either Civil or Military under Us or in Our Government And We do further declare it to be Our Pleasure and Intention from time to time hereafter to Grant Our Royal Dispensations under Our Great Seal to all Our loving Subjects so to be Imployed who shall not take the said Oaths or subscribe or declare the said Tests or Declarations in the above-mentioned Acts and every of them And to the End that all Our Loving Subjects may receive and enjoy the full Benefit and Advantage of Our gracious Indulgence hereby intended and may be acquitted and discharged from all Pains Penalties Forfeitures and Disabilities by them or any of them incurred or forfeited or which they shall or may at any time hereafter be liable to for or by reason of their Non-conformity or the Exercise of their Religion and from all Suits Troubles or Disturbances for the same We do hereby give Our free and ample Pardon unto all Non-conformists Recusants and other Our Loving Subjects for all Crimes and Things by them committed or done contrary to the Penal Laws formerly made relating to Religion and the Profession or Exercise thereof Hereby declaring That this Our Royal Pardon and Indemnity shall be as good and effectual to all Intents and Purposes as if every individual Person had been therein particularly named or had particular Pardons under Our Great Seal which We do likewise declare shall from time to time be granted unto any Person or Persons desiring the same Willing and Requiring Our Judges Justices and other Officers to take Notice of and Obey Our Royal Will and Pleasure herein before declared And although the Freedom and Assurance We have hereby given in relation to Religion and Property might be sufficient to remove from the Minds of our Loving Subjects all Fears and Jealousies in relation to either yet We have thought fit further to declare That We will Maintain them in all their Properties and Possessions as well of Church and Abby-Lands as in any other their Lands and Properties whatsoever Given at Our Court at Whitehall the Fourth Day of April 1687. In the Third Year of Our Reign The Generality of Protestant Dissenters having for near 7 Years together been so severely treated by the Tory Party were as forward to congratulate the King for his Indulgence in several Addresses as the Tories were in King Charles his Time in their Addresses of Abhorrence to Petition the King to call a Parliament to settle the Grievances of the Nation However this Declaration was drawn up so in sight of every Bird that most part of the Thinking sort of Dissenters did dread and detest it But yet to make it more passable Popish Judges were made in Westminister-Hall and Popish Justices of the Peace and Deputy-Lieutenants all England over while the Privy-Council was filled up with Popish Councellors nay the Savoy was laid open to instruct Youth in the Popish Religion and Popish Principles which gave Occasion to that good Man Dr. Tenison now Archbishop of Canterbury and it ought to be remembred always to his Honour to erect his Free School at St. Martins in opposition to it But this would not stop the Popish Zeal for other Schools to the same End were encouraged in London and all other Places in England and 4 Foreign Popish Bishops as Vicars Apostolical were allowed in Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction all England and Wales over And because his Majesty would not be wanting to pay his Duty as well as other Catholick Princes to the common Father of them all the Pope the Earl of Castlemain was sent Embassador to Rome to tender the King's Obedience to the Holy and Apostolical See with great Hopes of extirpating the Northern pestilent Heresie In return whereof the Pope sent his Nuncio to give the King his Holy Benediction and that without sending before-hand as his Predecessors were wont to do for leave to enter the Kingdom To all this we may add that the Judges in their Circuits had their private Instructions to know how Men stood affected towards the King's Dispensing Power and those who shewed the least Dislike of it were turned out of their Offices and Employments without any more ado And that these Things might be acted with Security Tyrconnel having disbanded the English Army in
Designs he proceeded now to shew how Absolute he would be in them and therefore on the 4th of May he passed an Order in Council that his Declaration of Indulgence should be Read in all Churches and Chappels throughout England and Wales in Time of Divine Service and that all the Bishops in their respective Diocesses should take Care to have the same accordingly performed There is no question to be made but they understood the King's Meaning well enough and that under a Shadow of Favour to be intended hereby to Protestant Dissenters all the Good imaginable was meant to the Roman Catholicks and that whatever was intended by it there was no Good meant to them nor their Church and therefore it was their Business to ward off the Blow which 7 of them endeavoured to do in an humble Petition to the King wherein their Reasons were set forth why they could not comply with the Order of Council But they were so cautious in the Matter that after it was drawn up they would let no other see it before it was presented And the same was as also the King's Answer to this Effect TO THE KING'S Most Excellent MAJESTY The Humble PETITION of William Archbishop of Canterbury and divers of the Suffragan Bishops of that Province now present with him in behalf of themselves and others of their absent Brethren and of the Inferior Clergy of their respective Diocesses Humbly Sheweth THAT the great Aversness they find in themselves to the Distributing and Publishing in all their Churches Your Majesty's late Declaration for Liberty of Conscience proceeds neither from any Want of Duty and Obedience to Your Majesty our holy Mother the Church of England being both in her Principles and in her constant Practice unquestionably Loyal and having to her great Honour been more than once publickly acknowledged to be so by Your Gracious Majesty nor yet from any Want of Tenderness to Dissenters in relation to whom we are willing to come to such a Temper as shall be thought fit when the Matter shall be considered and settled in Parliament and Convocation But among many other Considerations from this especially Because that Declaration is founded upon such a Dispencing Power as hath been often declared Illegal in Parliament and particularly in the Years 1662 and 1672 and in the Beginning of Your Majesty's Reign and is a Matter of so great Moment and Consequence to the whole Nation both in Church and State that Your Petitioners cannot in Prudence Honour or Conscience so far make themselves Parties to it as the Distribution of it all over the Nation and the solemn Publication of it once and again even in GOD's House and in the Time of His Divine Service must amount to in common and unreasonable Construction Your Petitioners therefore most humbly and earnestly beseech Your Majesty that You will be pleased not to insist upon their Distributing and Reading Your Majesty's said Declaration And Your Petitioners as in Duty bound shall ever pray c. Will. Cant. Will. Asaph Fr. Ely Jo. Cicestr Tho. Bathon Wellen. Tho. Peterburgen Jonath Bristol His MAJESTY'S ANSWER I Have heard of this before but did not believe it I did not expect this from the Church of England especially from some of you If I change my Mind ye shall hear from me If not I expect my Command shall be obeyed But how unpleasing soever the Petition might be to the King which is sufficiently evinced by his Answer and what Revenge soever he might ruminate within himself to take upon the Bishops for it the Chancellor though he thought his Ecclâ—siastical Commission big enough to suspend the Bishop of London and the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge and to expel the Master and Fellows of Magdalen College in Oxford yet is seems he did not believe it sufficient to suspend these Bishop And therefore it was said he advised the King to Try them upon an Information of High-Treason at the King 's Beneh-Bar In order to this they were committed Prisoner to the Tower and that on the Day before I think the Legendary Birth of the Prince of Wales who came to Town on Sunday Morning the 10th of June that they might not have the Opportunity as it was the Place at least of some of them to be present thereat and make any Inspection into that pious Fraud But though the Nation was mightily alarm'd at their Commitment and more particularly with the Time and Circumstance of it and that this Discontent might have been read in the Faces of almost all Men â—â—ve Romanists yet the Court unconcerned held on their Pace and accordingly the Bishops were Tryed in Trinity Term following at the King 's Beneh-Bar upon an Information of High-Misdemeanor as aforesaid for their Petition to the King But how secure soever the King and his Chancellor thought themselves of the Judges and though Sir Robert Wright who was Chief Justice and Sir Richard Allibone a known Papist were Two of them yet they were not all of a Piece for Mr. Justice Powell both learnedly and stoutly defended the Cause of the Bishops And though I believe the Jury of themselves upon considering the Merit of the Cause were sufficiently disposed to acquit them as they did accordingly yet surely if they had done otherwise I question whether all the King's Guards could have secured them from the Fury of the People who were not a little chafed with these Proceedings and wrought such Seeds of Discontent in the Minds of most Men that afterwards broke forth with a Witness And though it is not to be doubted but the Great Men of our Nation began before this to look about them and to have a watchful Eye upon every Motion of the Court yet this awaken'd them to purpose to seek for a Remedy against the impending Evil by such Methods and from such Persons as were most interested to divert the Course of them But of this we shall more particularly speak hereafter the Course of our History leading us 〈◊〉 to the Prosecution of Foreign Affairs and Campaigns 〈◊〉 ready to begin And first we shall again begin with Hungary We left off last Year with the Surrender of Agria a most pleasing Piece of News to the Imperial Court as was that of the Fortress of Mâ—ngaâ—z early this Spring no less grateful to it Famine and no other Reason was the Occasion of the Surrender of this Place as well as the preceding one The Fortress had been held out by the Princess Ragotzi Count Tecâ—eley's Lady in a manner ever since the Beginning of the War But now dire Necessity constrained that Noble Lady to surrender both it and her self into the Emperor's Hands as it appear'd evidently by her saying when the Capitulation was brought from Count Caraffa to be signed by her Must I Sign my Husband's Death For I am perswaded that as soon as the Turks come to know I have abandoned this Place they will take off his Head The Terms of
Doge who shall have 500 Ducats a Month and Entertainment and shall act and do as the Doge may do receiving his Revenues defraying his Charges and reserving what shall be due to him till he returns But as if Fortune had been now glutted in heaping up of her favours upon Morosini by adding to the many Victories and Conquests he had made the highest Dignity his Country could confer upon him he did nothing that was memorable this Campaign having been beyond most Mens expectations extreamly baffled in the Enterprize he undertook upon Negropont nor indeed ever after this comparatively to the great feats he had done in the preceding part of his life So that besides the taking of Chir in Dalmatia by General Cornare about the beginning of Sept. and that small Victory which the Albanians who had now put themselves under the protection of the Republick got over some thousands of Turks Commanded by the Basha of Scutari and their taking the Town of Maduna thereupon there was nothing else of any great consideration that fell out on that side And as for Poland he that can find any thing extraordinary there for the breaking up of the Diet held at Grod now this Year in Confusion and the Incursion of the Turks into the Province of Pocusia I do not take to be such let him do it and I shall pass on to somewhat of greater Moment Now it may be remembred in what uncertain state and imminent danger we left both the Civil and Religious Rights of Britain there were some concurring causes that made those of Europe appear to be little less so France by the Interval of the Peace was grown wonderfully potent and if the Altercations between the Imperial and French Ministers about the later's Fortifying of Traerback foreboded no good to the Empire the Death of the Elector of Cologn which hapned June 2d this year manifestly tended to an open Rupture The two Candidates for the Electorate were young Prince Clement of Bavaria the Elector's Brother of that Name whose interest was supported by Germany and the Cardinal de Fustemburg whose pretentions were backed by the Crown of France But though the former made a shift to carry it and that his Election was confirmed afterwards by the Pope who was at no good terms with France at this time yet the French K. concerned himself so far in the matter as to make it an occasion to begin the cruellest War that ever happn'd in this part of the world this was seconded with a Manifesto from the French K which indeed in the right course of things should have been first setting forth the Justice of his cause But I hope the world is still at liberty to believe as little of it as they please However it cost Germany this Season besides the incredible sums paid for Contribution no less than the loss of the Fortress of Phillipsbourg taken by the Dauphine in Person Manheim Spire Mentz Creusenack Baccarack Heidelburg and several other places as far as Hailbron besides Bonn secured by the Cardinal de Furstemburg towards the beginning of the dispute about the Election But before all this happened and even soon after the foresaid Elector's Death there was an interview and even a long Conference held at Minden in Westphaliâ— between the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg the Landâ—grave of Hesse Cassell the Princes of the House of Lunemburg and the P. of Orange under pretence of the Affair of Cologn as it was in part but much more about concerting methods to divert the Storm hanging over our British Isle without disjoynting of which from the French interest and securing of its Religion and Liberties there was but little likelihood of preserving the rest of Europe and confining France to the Bounds set unto it by former Stipulations and Treaties The Consequence of this Interview was the making mighty Preparations in Holland both by Sea and Land without any visible Appearance who they designed to make War upon And tho' it was said the Heer Van Citters the States Ambassador at London assured the King England had nothing to fear from it and did insinuate that France had much more Reason to be allarm'd than he the Design was penetrated into another way Mr. Skelton while Ambassador in Holland had gained some Glimmering of it by the Interception of some Letters to a certain Person in the Family of the Princess of Orange But being soon after sent in the same Quality to France he got a much clearer Light thereof from one Verace a Genevese by Birth The Story whereof is such as deserves a more particular Recital This same Person had been formerly Captain of the Guard to the Prince of Orange but happening to kill a Man in a Duel he was put out of his Master's Favour However Mr. Skelton found a Way by the Interest of the Earl of Clarendon who had bred up his Son my Lord Cornbury at Geneva and was obliged to Verace for many Services he had done him there to make his Peace again The Genevese being thus re-established in his Master's Favour he had a greater Share of it than ever and was more particularly intimate with Monsieur Bentink the Prince's Favourite I could never learn how he put himself out a second time But so it was that he withdrew and was upon his Journey to Geneva when upon the Noise of the Preparations in Holland he writ to Mr. Skelton then at Paris that he had something to communicate to the King his Master that concerned nothing less than his Crown and to let him know a Son-in-Law whom he was not mistrustful enough of But for the rest he would not explicate the Secret to any other than the King himself if he were pleased to send him Orders to come and wait upon him Upon this Mr. Skelton writ several Letters to England but did not receive an Answer suitable to the Occasion which made both himself and the French Court much concerned at it Yet when they had in a manner entirely acquiesced and left the King to take his own Measures since he seemed to reject theirs and the Assistances offered him it hapned one Day that Monsieur de Croissi being in Discourse with Mr. Skelton and interrogating of him concerning the then State of Things in England the other answered He had nothing more to do in the Matter and durst not inter meddle any farther But added That he believed if the Most Christian King would order his Ambassador to declare to the States the Part he took in the Affairs of the King his Master and to threaten to attack them in case they attempted any thing against him that he would quickly put a Stop to them and break the Measures of the Prince of Orange thereupon c. Monsieur de Croissi took the Proposal presently and he no sooner acquainted the King with it but he sent Orders to the Count d' Avaux to acquaint the States-General with his Mind And this occasioned
the following Memorial and unravelled the Mystery of Skelton's being recalled and sent Prisoner to the Tower for discovering the King's Secrets My Lords THE sincere Desire the King my Master has to maintain the Tranquility of Europe will not suffer His Majesty to see the great Preparations for War both by Sea and Land made by Your Lordships without taking the Measures that Prudence the continual Companion of all His Actions inspires Him with to prevent the Mischiefs these War-like Preparations will certainly draw after them And although the King perswaded of the Wisdom of Your Counsels would not imagine that a Free State should so easily resolve to take up Arms and to kindle a War which in the present Juncture cannot but be fatal to all Christendom Nevertheless His Majesty cannot believe Your Lordships would engage Your Selves in so great Expences both at home and abroad to entertain in Pay so many Foreign Troops to put to Sea so numerous a Fleet so late in the Year and to prepare so great Magazins if You had not a Design formed answerable to the Greatness of these Preparations All these Circumstances and many others that I may not here produce perswade the King my Master with Reason that this Arming threatens England Wherefore His Majesty hath commanded me to declare to You on His part That the Bands of Friendship and Alliance between him and the King of Great Britain will oblige Him not only to assist him but also to look on the first Act of Hostility that shall be committed by Your Troops or Your Fleet against His Majesty of Great Britain as a manifest Rupture of the Peace and a Breach with His Crown I leave it to Your Lordships Prudence to reflect on the Consequences that such Actions may have His Majesty not having ordered me to make You this Declaration on His Part without His sincere Intention to prevent as I have already had the Honour to tell You all that may trouble the Peace of Europe Given at the Hague Septemb. 9 1688. But for all this Things were in England in the utmost Disorder and Security all that ever the King or Country could do could not keep the Army within any tolerable Bounds And tho' there was so great a Storm gathering in Holland yet so stupid were the Popish Drivers that nothing would serve them but filling the Army with Irish Men who were likely still to be more disorderly and more hated But this was vigorously opposed by Lieutenant-Colonel Beaumont and other Officers in the Duke of Berwick's Regiment The former in the name of the rest making the following speech to the Duke upon the occasion Sir I am desired by these Gentlemen with whose Sense I concur to inform your Grace that we don't think it consistent with our Honours to have Foreigners imposed upon us without being complain'd of that our Companies were weak or Orders to recruit them not doubting but if such Orders had been given us We that first in very ill times raised them Hundreds could easily now have made them according to the Kings Complement We humbly Petition we may have leave to fill up our Companies with such men of our Nation we may judge most suitable for the Kings Service and to support our Honours or that we may be permitted with all imaginable Duty and Respect to lay down our Commissions Of this an Account was forthwith transmitted to the King then at Windsor who immediately ordered a Party of Horse down to Portsmouth to bring them up in Custody and a Court-Marshal was ordered to proceed against them And if the Memorial of the French Ambassador had not come in that very Morning to shew them their Danger they had in all probability lost their Lives for it but now they contented themselves with only casheering of them By this time there was certain Intelligence brought that the Preparations in Holland were designed against England And the King in his Proclamation of the 28th of Sept. gave convincing Proofs that himself believed it and so he ordered new Levies to be made and began to turn Cat in â—an by declaring in Council Octb. 2d that he would restore the Charter of the City of London And the Ministers were by this time become so sensible of their Danger that they procured a General Pardon On Wednesday October the 3d. the Archbishop of Canterbury Ì„Ì„ and the Bishops of London Winchester St. Asaph Ely Chichester Rochester Bath and Wells and Peterborough all in a Body waited upon the King when the Archbishop spoke thus to him May it please Your Sacred Majesty WHen I had lately the Honour to wait upon you you were pleased briefly to acquaint me with what had passed two days before between your Majesty and these my Reverend Brethren by which and by the Account which they themselves gave me I perceived that in truth there passed nothing but in very general Terms and Expressions of your Majesties gracious and favourable Inclinations to the Church of England and of our reciprocal Duty and Loyalty to your Majesty Both which were sufficiently understood and declared before and as one of my Brethren then told you would have been in the same state if the Bishops had not stir'd one foot out of their Diocesses Sir I found it grieved my Lords the Bishops to have come so far and to have done so little and I am assured they came then prepared to have given your Majesty some more particular Instances of their Duty and Zeal for your Service had they not apprehended from some words which fell from your Majesty That you were not then at leisure to receive them It was for this Reason that I then besought your Majesty to command us once more to attend you all together which your Majesty was pleased graciously to allow and encourage We therefore are here now before you with all Humility to beg your Permission that we may suggest to your Majesty such Advices as we think proper at this Season and conducing to your Service and so leave them to your Princely Consideration Which the King being graciously pleased to permit the Archbishop proceeded as followeth I. Our first humble Advice is That your Majesty will be graciously pleased to put the Management of your Government in the several Counties into the Hands of such of the Nobility and Gentry there as are legally qualified for it II. That your Majesty will be graciously pleased to annul your Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs and that no such Court as that Commission sets up may be erected for the future III. That your Majesty will graciously be pleased That no Dispensation may be granted or continued by Virtue whereof any person not duly qualified by Law hath been or may be put into any Place Office or Preferment in Church or State or in the Vniversities or continued in the same especially such as have Cure of Souls annexed to them and in particular that you will be graciously pleased to restore the
President and Fellows of St. Mary Magdalen College in Oxford IV. That your Majesty will graciously be pleased to set aside all Licenses or Faculties already granted by which any persons of the Romish Communion may pretend to be enabled to teach Publick Schools and that no such be granted for the future V. That your Majesty will be graciously pleased to desist from the Exercise of such a Dispensing Power as hath of late been used and to permit that Point to be freely and calmly debated and argued and finally setled in Parliament VI. That your Majesty will be graciously pleased to inhibit the four Foreign Bishops who stile themselves Vicars Apostolical from further invading the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction which is by Law vested in the Bishops of this Church VII That your Majesty will be pleased graciously to fill the vacant Bishopricks and other Ecclesiastical Promotions within your Gift both in England and Ireland with men of Learning and Piety and in particular which I must own to be my pecular boldness for 't is done without the privity of my Brethren That you will be graciously pleased forthwith to fill the Archiepiscopal Chair of York which has so long stood empty and upon which a whole Province depends with some very worthy Person For which pardon me Sir if I am bold to say you have now here before you a very fair Choice VIII That your Majesty will be graciously pleased to supersede all further Prosecution of Quo Warranto's against Corporations and to restore to them their ancient Charters Priviledges and Franchises as we hear God hath put into your Majesties Heart to do for the City of London which we intended to have made otherwise one of our principal Requests IX That if it please your Majesty Writs may be issued out with convenient speed for the calling of a free and regular Parliament in which the Church of England may be secured according to the Acts of Unformity Provision may be made for a due Liberty of Conscience and for securing the Liberties and Properties of all your Subjects and a mutual Confidence and good Vnderstanding may be established between your Majesty and all your People X. Above all That your Majesty will be graciously pleased to permit your Bishops to offer you such Motives and Arguments as we trust may by God's Grace be effectual to perswade your Majesty to return to the Communion of the Church of England into whose most holy Catholick Faith you were baptized and in which you were educated and to which it is our daily earnest Prayer to God that you may be re-united These Sir are the humble Advices which out of Conscience of the Duty we owe to God to your Majesty and to our Country We think fit at this time to offer to your Majesty as suitable to the present State of your Affairs and most conducing to your Service and so to leave them to your Princely Consideration And we heartily beseech Almighty God in whose hand the Hearts of all Kings are so to dispose and govern yours that in all your Thoughts Words and Works you may ever seek his Honour and Glory and study to preserve the People committed to your Charge in Wealth Peace and Godliness to your own both temporal and eternal Happiness Amen We do heartily concur H. London P. Winchester VV. Asaph W. Cant. Fran. Ely Jo. Cicestr Tho. Roffen Tho. Bath VVells Tho. Petriburg And because the King would seemingly remove all Jealousies from the Church of England he on the 5th of Oct. declared that he would dissolve the Commission for Ecclesiacal Causes and gave Directions to the Lord Chancellor accordingly to cause the same to be forthwith done But at the same it was not declared to be illegal which was the only Way to give Satisfaction in respect of it And because Magdalen College in Oxford was no less aggrieved with the High Commission than the Bishops themselves were the King after having Oct. 12th declared his Resolution to preserve the Church of England in all its Rights and Immunities did as an Evidence of it signifie his Pleasure to the Bishop of Winchester as Visitor of the said College to settle the College Regularly and Statutably Who accordingly on the 16th caused a Citation to be fixed on the College Gate to re-call Dr. Hough and the former Fellows of that Society by the 2d of Nov. following and the Bishop went down accordingly to re-instate them and was received with abundance of Joy But pray mind the Temper of this King For an Account coming that very Post that the Dutch Fleet had suffered very much in a Storm on the 16th of the same Month. N. S. and that they would hardly be able to sail till the Spring the Bishop was re-called to London and the Restitution deferred Yet soon after that false News being contradicted the Affection to the Church revived and so the Business of the College was effected on the 24th of the said Month. About this time the Queen-Dowager and others that attended at the Queen's Delivery as also the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London and divers Peers of the Land were ordered to attend to hear what the former could say concerning the Birth of the pretended Prince of WALES But now all Men's Tongues were let loose against the Government And my Lord Sunderland's being dismissed from his Office of prime Minister and Secretary of State made a mighty Noise That my Lord is a person of vast ability is a matter not to be doubted and that how various soever the reports then since have been concerning the cause of his being laid aside I think it 's good manners for us to listen to the account he was pleased to give himself in his Letter of March 23d 1689. which will fall pertinently in this place The Earl of Sunderland's Letter to a Friend in London published March 23d 1689. TO comply with what you desire I will explain some things which we talked of before I left England I have been in a Station of a great noise without Power or Advantage whilst I was in it and to my Ruin now I am out of it I know I cannot Justifie my self by saying though it is true that I thought to have prevented much Mischief for when I found that I could not I ought to have quitted the Service Neither is it an Excuse that I have got none of those things which usually engage men in publick Affairs My Quality is the same it ever was and my Estate much worse even ruin'd tho' I was born to a very considerable one which I am ashamed to have spoiled though not so much as if I had encreased it by indirect Means But to go on to what you expect The Pretence to a Dispensing Power being not only the first thing which was much disliked since the Death of the late King but the Foundation of all the rest I ought to begin with that which I had so little to do with that I
never heard it spoken of till the time of Monmouth's Rebellion when that the King told some of the Council of which I was one that he was resolved to give Employments to Roman Catholicks it being fit that all Persons should serve who could be useful and on whom he might depend I think every Body advised him against it but with little effect as was soon seen That Party was so well pleased with what the King had done that they persuaded him to mention it in his Speech at the next Meeting of the Parliament which he did after many Debates whether it was proper or not In all which I opposed it as is known to very considerable Persons some of which were of another Opinion for I thought it would engage the King too far and it did give such Offence to the Parliament that it was thought necessary to prorogue it after which the King fell immediately to the supporting the Dispensing Power the most Chinerical thing that was ever thought of and must be so till the Government here is as Absolute is in Turkey all Power being included in that one This is the Sense I ever had of it and when I heard Lawyers defend it I never changed my Opinion or Language however it went on most of the Judges being for it and was the chief Business of the State till it was looked on as settled Then the Ecclesiastical Court was set up in which there being so many considerable Men of several kinds I could have but a small part and that after Lawyers had told the King it was Legal and nothing like the High Commission Court I can most truly say and it is well known that for a good while I defended Magdalen College pâ—rely by Care and Industry and have hundreds of times begged of the King never to grant Mandates or to change any thing in the regular Course of Ecclesiastical Affairs which he often thought reasonable and then by perpetual Importunities was prevailed upon against his own Sense which was the very Case of Magdalen College as of some others These things which I endeavoured though without Success drew upon me the Anger and Ill will of many about the King The next thing to be tried was to take off the Penal Laws and the Tests so many having promised their Concurrence towards it that His Majesty thought it feasible but he soon found it was not to be done by that Parliament which made all the Catholicks desire it might be dissolv'd which I was so much against that they complained of me to the King as a Man who ruined all his Designs by opposing the only thing could carry them on Liberty of Conscience being the Foundation on which he was to build That it was first offered at by the Lord Clifford who by it had done the work even in the late King's time if it had not been for his weakness and the weakness of his Ministers Yet I hindred the Dissolution several Weeks by telling the King that the Parliament in Being would do every thing he could desire but the taking off the Penal Laws and the Tests or the allowing his Dispensing Power and that any other Parliament thoâ— such a one could be had as was proposed would probably never repeal those Laws and if they did they would certainly never do any thing for the support of the Government whatever exigency it might be in At that time the King of Spain was sick upon which I said often to the King That if he should die it would be impossible for His Majesty to preserve the Peace of Christendom that a War must be expected and such a one as would chiefly concern England and that if the present Parliament continued he might be sure of all the Help and Service he could wish but in case he dissolv'd it he must give over all Thoughts of Foreign Affairs for no other would ever assist him but on such Terms as would ruine the Monarchy so that from Abroad or at Home he would be destroy'd if the Parliament were broken and any accident should happen of which there were many to make the Aid of his People necessary to him This and much more I said to him several times privately and in the hearing of others But being over-power'd the Parliament was broke the Closetting went on and a new one was to be chosen who was to get by Closetting I need not say but it was certainly not I nor any of my Friends many of them suffered who I would fain have saved and yet I must confess with grief that when the King was resolv'd and there was no remedy I did not quit as I ought to have done but served on in order to the calling another Parliament In the midst of all the preparations for it and whilst the Corporations were regulating the King thought fit to order his Declarations to be read in all Churches of which I most solemnly protest I never heard one word till the King directed it in Council That drew on the Petition of my Lord the Archbishop of Canterbury and the other Lords the Bishops and their Prosecution which I was so openly against that by arguing continually to shew the Injustice and the Imprudence of it I brought the Fury of the Roman Catholicks upon me to such a degree and so unanimously that I was just sinking and I wish I had then sunk But whatever I did foolishly to preserve myself I continued still to be the Object of their hatred and I resolv'd to serve the Publick as well as I could which I am sure most of the considerable Protestants then at Court can testifie and so can one very eminent man of the Country whom I would have perswaded to come into business which he might have done to have helped me to resist the violence of those in Power But he despaired of being able to do any good and therefore would not engage Sometime after came the first News of the Prince's designs which were not then look'd on as they have proved no body foreseeing the Miracles he has done by his wonderful Prudence Conduct and Courage for the greatest thing which has been undertaken these thousand years or perhaps ever could not be effected without Vertues hardly to be imagined till seen nearer hand Upon the first thought of his coming I laid hold of the opportunity to press the King to do several things which I would have had done sooner the chief of which were to restore Magdalen College and all other Ecclesiastical Preferments which had been diverted from what they were intended for to take off my Lord Bishop of London's Suspension to put the Counties into the same hands they were in some time before to annul the Ecclesiastical Court and to restore entirely all the Corporations of England These things were done effectually by the help of some about the King and it was then thought I had destroyed my self by enraging again the whole Roman Catholick Party to such
steering a Channel Course Westward the Wind at E. N. E. a fresh Gale and on the 5th passing by Dartmouth it being hazy Weather they overshot Torbay where the Prince designed to Land But about 9 a Clock the Weather cleared up and the Wind changed to W. S. W. and the Fleet stood Eastward with a moderate Gale being about 4 or 500 Sail whereof there was 51 Men of War and 18 Fireships This Change of Wind was observed by Dr. Burnet to be of no long Duration but it immediately choped into another Corner when it had executed its Commission While the Prince was landing his Army and advanced to Exeter the King was vainly endeavouring to sooth the People by redressing the Disorders committed by the Soldiers and Promises of a Parliament which several of the Bishops and Nobility petitioned might be a Free Regular one in all its Circumstances wherewith His Majesty to discover his good Disposition did not appear by his Answer to be well-pleased And all Endeavours were used to make the Prince and his Army contemptible in the sight of the People by Printing a List of them and giving out That none of the Nobility and Gentry but only a few Rabble appeared for him and that the Prince's Declaration might be kept close from the Knowledge of the People yet it did not continue so long with the Prince whose Army was considerably augmented by the Junction of divers Persons of good Quality with him Neither could the Court any longer keep the Declaration suppress'd and therefore they suffered the same to be Printed with a Preface and some modest Remarks as the Author pretends on it VVhich Declaration was this that follows The Declaration of His Highness WILLIAM HENRY by the Grace of God Prince of Orange c. of the Reasons inducing him to appear in Arms in the Kingdom of ENGLAND for preserving of the Protestant Religion and for Restoring of the Laws and Liberties of England Scotland and Ireland I. IT is both certain and evident to all Men That the Publick Peace and Happiness of any State or Kingdom cannot be preserved where the Laws Liberties and Customs Established by the Lawful Authority in it are openly transgressed and annulled More especially where the Alteration of Religion is endeavoured and that a Religion which is contrary to Law is endeavoured to be introduced Upon which those who are most immediately concerned in it are indispensably bound to endeavour to maintain and preserve the Established Laws Liberties and Customs and above all the Religion and Worship of God that is Established among them and to take such an Effectual Care that the Inhabitants of the said State or Kingdom may neither be deprived of their Religion nor of their Civil Rights which is so much the more necessary because the Greatness and Security both of Kings Royal Families and of all such as are in Authority as well as the Happiness of their Subjects and People depend in a most especial manner upon the exact Observation and Maintenance of these their Laws Liberties and Customs II. Upon these Grounds it is that we can't any longer forbear to declare That to our great Regret we see that those Counsellors who have now the chief Credit with the King have overturned the Religion Laws and Liberties of these Realms and subjected them in all things relating to their Consciences Liberties and Properties to Arbitrary Government and that not only by secret and indirect VVays but in an open and undisguised Manner III. These Evil Counsellors for the Advancing and Colouring this with some plausible Pretexts did invent and set on Foot the King 's Dispensing Power by Virtue of which they pretend that according to Law he can suspend and dispense with the Execution of the Laws that have been enacted by the Authority of the King and Parliament for the Security and Happiness of the Subject and so have rendred those laws of no effect though there is nothing more certain than that as no Laws can be made but by the joynt Concurrence of the King and Parliament so likewise Laws so Enacted which secure the Publick Peace and Safety of the Nation and the Lives and Liberties of every Subject in it cannot be repealed or suspended but by the same Authority IV. For though the King may pardon the Punishment that a Transgressor has incurred and for which he is condemned as in the Cases of Treason or Felony yet it cannot be with any colour of Reason inferred from thence that the King can entirely suspend the Execution of those Laws relating to Treason or Felony unless it is pretended that he is cloathed with a Despotick and Arbitrary Power and that the Lives Liberties Honours and Estates of the Subjects depend wholly on his Good Will and Pleasure and are entirely subject to him which must infallibly follow on the King 's having a Power to suspend the Execution of the Laws and to dispense with them V. Those Evil Counsellors in order to the giving some Credit to this strange and execrable Maxim have so conducted the Matter that they have obtained a Sentence from the Judges declaring That this Dispensing Power is a Right belonging to the Crown as if it were in the Power of the Twelve Judges to offer up the Laws Rights and Liberties of the whole Nation to the King to de disposed of by him Arbitrarily and at his Pleasure and expresly contrary to Laws Enacted for the Security of the Subjects In order to the obtaining of this Judgment those Evil Counsellors did before-hand examine secretly the Opinion of the Judges and procured such of them as could not in Conscience concur in so pernicious a Sentence to be turned out and others to be substituted in their Rooms till by the Changes that were made in the Courts of Judicature they at last obtained that Judgment And they have raised some to those Trusts who make open Profession of the Popish Religion tho' those are by Law render'd incapable of all such Employments VI. It is also manifest and notorious that as His Majesty was upon his coming to the Crown received and acknowledged by all the Subjects of England Scotland and Ireland as their King without the least Opposition tho' he made then open Profession of the Popish Religion so he did then promise and solemnly swear at his Coronation That he would maintain His Subjects in the free Enjoyment of their Laws and Liberties And in particular That he would maintain the Church of England as it was Established by Law It is likewise certain that there have been at divers and sundry times several Laws Enacted for the Preservation of those Rights and Liberties and of the Protestant Religion And among other Securities it has been Enacted That all Persons whatsoever that are advanced to any Ecclesiastical Dignity or to bear Office in the University as likewise all others that should be put into any Employment Civil or Military should declare that they were not Papists but were
Ecclesiastical Affairs By levying Money for and to the use of the Crown by pretence of Prerogative for other time and in other manner than the same was granted by Parliament By raising and keeping a standing Army within the Kingdom in time of Peace without Consent of Parliament and Quartering Soldiers contrary to Law By causing several good Subjects being Protestants to be disarmed at the same time when Papists were both arm'd and employ'd contrary to Law By violating the Freedom of Elections of Members to serve in Parliament By Prosecution in the Court of King's-Bench for Matters and Causes cognizable only in Parliament and by divers other Arbitrary and Illegal Courses And whereas of late Years partial corrupt and unqualified Persons have been returned and served on Juries in Trials and particularly divers Jurors in Trials for High-Treason which were not Freeholders And excessive Bail hath been required of Persons committed in Criminal Cases to elude the Benefit of the Laws made for the Liberty of the Subject And excessive Fines have been imposed And illegal and cruel Punishments inflicted And several Grants and Promises made of Fines and Forfeitures before any Conviction or Judgment against the Persons upon whom the same were to be levied All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known Laws and Statutes and Freedom of this Realm And whereas the late King James the Second having abdicated the Government and the Throne being thereby vacant His Highness the Prince of Orange whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the Glorious Instrument of delivering this Kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power did by the Advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and divers principal Persons of the Commons cause Letters to be written to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal being Protestants and other Letters to the several Counties Cities Vniversities Buâ—â—oughs and Cinque-Ports for the chusing of such Persons to represent them as were of right to be sent to Parliament to meet and sit at Westminster Jan. 22d 1688. in order to such an Establishment as that their Religion Laws and Liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted upon which Letters Elections have been accordingly made And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons pursuant to their respective Letters and Elections being now assembled in a full and free Representation of this Nation taking into their most serious Consideration the best means for attaining the Ends aforesaid do in the first place as their Ancestors in like Cases have usually done for the vindicating their Ancient Rights and Liberties declare That the pretended Power of suspending Laws or the execution of Laws by Regal Authority without Consent of Parliament is illegal That the pretended Power of dispensing Laws or the executing of Laws by Regal Authority as it hath been assumed and exercised of late is illegal That the Commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes and all other Commissions and Courts of the like Nature are illegal and pernitious That levying of Money to or for the use of the Crown by pretence of Prerogative without Grant of Parliament for longer time or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted is illegal That it is the Right of the Subjects to petition the King and all Commitments and Prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal That the raising and keeping a standing Army within the Kingdom in time of Peace unless it be by Consent of Parliament is against Law That the Subjects being Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Condition and as allowed by Law That the Election of Members of Parliament ought to be free That the Freedom of Speech or Debates and Proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any Court or Place out of Parliament That excessive Bail ought not to be requir'd nor excessive Fines imposed nor cruel and unusual Punishments inflicted That Jurors ought to be duly impannell'd and return'd and Jurors which pass upon Men in Trials for High-Treason ought to be Freeholders That all Grants and Promises of Fines and Forfeitures of particular Persons before Conviction are illegal and void And that for Redress of all Grievances and for the amending strengthening and preserving of the Laws Parliaments ought to be held frequently And they do claim demand and insist upon all and singular the Premises as their undoubted Rights and Liberties and that no Declarations Judgments Doings or Proceedings to the prejudice of the People in any of the said Premises ought in any wise to be drawn hereafter into Consequence or Example To which demand of their Rights they are particularly encouraged by the Declaration of his Highness the Prince of Orange as being the only means for obtaining a full Redress and Remedy therein Having therefore an intire Confidence that his said Highness the Prince of Orange will perfect the Deliverance so far advanced by him and will still preserve them from the violation of their Rights which they have here asserted and from all other Attempts upon their Religion Rights and Liberties The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster do resolve That WILLIAM and MARY Prince and Princess of Orange be and be declared King and Queen of England France and Ireland and the Dominions thereunto belonging to hold the Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdoms and Dominions to them the said Prince and Princess during their Lives and the Life of the Surviâ—or of them and that the sole and full Exercise of the Regal Power be only in and executed by the said Prince of Orange in the Names of the said Prince and Princess during their Lives and after their Deceases the said Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdoms and Dominions to be to the Heirs of the Body of the said Princess and for default of such Issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark and the Heirs of her Body and for default of such Issue to the Heirs of the Body of the said Prince of Orange And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do pray the said Prince and Princess of Orange to accept the same accordingly And that the Oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by all persons of whom the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy might be required by Law instead of them and that the said Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy be abrogated I A. B. Do sincerely Promise and Swear That I will be Faithful and bear true Allegiance to Their Majesties King WILLIAM and Queen MARY So help me God I A. B. Do Swear That I do from my Heart Abhor Detest and Abjure as Impious and Heretical this damnable Doctrine and Position That Princes Excommunicated or Deprived by the Pope or any Authority of the See of Rome may be deposed or murthered by their Subjects or any other whatsoever And I do declare That no Foreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction Power
Superiority Preheminence or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual within the Realm So help me God This Declaration being tendered to the Prince and Princess of Orange and the Conditions being accepted by both they were soon after proclaimed King and Queen of England according to the Tenor of a Proclamation drawn by the Convention for that very purpose and so they took a peaceable Possession of the English Crown the few Soldiers of Dumbarton's Regiment that sometime after revolted being quickly brought to submit and no other Punishment inflicted upon them than to be sent into Holland without any deâ—alcation of their Pay But the King having now done his Work in England 't was his next Thoughts to make sure of Scotland whither he had sent a Body of Men sometime since under the Command of Major General Mâ—ckay and where notwithstanding the Duke of Gourdon still held Edinburgh Castle and that there was a disposition in the Northern Inhabitants of that Kingdom to adhere to the late King a Convention met also and notwithstanding King James writ to them as well as King William yet the formers Letter was so far from having any effect upon them in his Favour that the Throne of Scotland was declared vacant and an Act of Recognition drawn up in the Form following THat whereas James the Seventh being a professed Papist did assume the Regal Power and act as a King without ever taking the Oaths required by Law whereby every King at his Access to the Government was obliged to swear to maintain the Protestant Religion and to Rule the People according to the laudable Laws and by the Advice of wicked Counsellors did invade the Fundamental Constitutions of the Kingdom of Scotland and alter'd it from a Legal limited Monarchy to an Arbitrary and Despotick Power and in a publick Proclamation asserted an Absolute Power to annul and disable all Laws particularly by arraigning the Laws establishing the Protestant Religion and to the Violation of the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom By erecting publick Schools and Societies of the Jesuits and not only allowing Mass to be publickly said but also converting Protestant Chapels and Churches to publick Mass-Houses contrary to the express Laws against saying and hearing of Mass By allowing Popish Books to be printed and disposed by a Patent to a Popish Printer designing him Printer to his Majesty's Houshold Colledge and Chappel contrary to Law By taking the Children of Protestant Noblemen and Gentlemen and sending them abroad to be bred Papists and bestowing Pensions on Priests to pervert Protestants from their Religion by Offers of Places of Preferments By disarming Protestants while at the same time he employ'd Papists in Places of the greatest Trust both Civil and Military c. and entrusting the Forces and Magazines in their hands By imposing Oaths contrary to Law By exacting Money without Consent of Parliament or Convention of Estates By levying and keeping up a Standing Army in time of Peace without Consent of Parliament and maintaining them upon free Quarter By employing the Officers of the Army as Judges throughout the Kingdom by whom the Subjects were put to death without legal Trial Jury or Record Bp imposing exorbitant Fines to the value of the Parties Estates exacting extravagant Bail and disposing Fines and Forfeitures before any Process or Conviction By imprisoning Persons without expressing the Reason and delaying to bring them to Trial. By causing several Persons to be prosecuted and their Estates to be forfeited upon Stretches of old and forfeited Laws upon weak and frivolous Pretences and upon lame and defective Proofs as particularly the late Earl of Argyle to the Scandal of the Justice of the Nation By subverting the Rights of the Royal Boroughs the Third Estate of Parliament imposing upon them not only Magistrates but also the whole Town Council and Clerks contrary to their Liberties and express Charters without any pretence of Sentence Surrender or Consent So that the Commissioners to Parliaments being chosen by the Magistrates and Councils the King might in effect as well nominate that entire Estate of Parliament Besides that many of the Magistrates by him put in were Papists and the Boroughs were forced to pay Money for the Letters imposing those illegal Magistrates upon them By sending Letters to the Chief Courts of Justice not only ordering the Judges to stop sine die but also commanding them how to proceed in Cases depending before them contrary to the express Laws and by changing the Nature of the Judges Patents ad vitam or culpam into a Commission de bene placito to dispose them to a Compliance of Arbitrary Courses and turning them out of their Offices if they refus'd to comply By granting personal Protections for Civil Debts contrary to Law All which were Miscarriages of King James utterly and directly contrary to the known Laws Freedoms and Statutes of the Realm of Scotland Upon which Grounds and Reasons the Estates of the Kingdom of Scotland did find and declare That K. James the 7th being a profess'd Papist did assume the Regal Power c. as at the beginning whereby he had forfeited the Right of the Crown and the Throne was become vacant Therefore in regard his Royal Highness then Prince of Orange since King of England whom it pleas'd God to make the glorious Instrument of delivering these Kingdoms from Popery and Arbitrary Power by Advice of several Lords and Gentlemen of the Scots Nation then at London did call the Estates of this Kingdom to meet upon the Fourteenth of March last in order to such an Establishment as their Religion Laws and Liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted The said Estates being at that time assembled accordingly in a full and free Representative of the Nation taking into their most serious Consideration the best Means for attainâ—ng the Ends aforesaid did in the first place as their Ancestors in the like Cases had usually done for the Vindicating and Asserting their Ancient Rights and Liberties declare That by the Law of Scotland no Papist could be King or Queen of the Realm nor bear any Office whatever therein nor that any Protestant Successor could exercise the Regal Power till he or they had sworn the Coronation-Oath That all Proclamations asserting an Absolute Power to null and disable Laws in order to erecting Schools and Colledges for Jesuits converting Protestant Churches and Chappels into Mass-Houses and the allowing Mass to be said That the allowing Popish Books to be printed and dispersed was contrary to Law That the taking the Children of Noblemen Gentlemen and others and keeping them abroad to be bred Papists the making Funds and Donations to Popish Schools and Colledges the bestowing Pensions on Priests and the seducing Protestants from their Religion by offers of Places and Preferment was contrary to Law That the disarming of Protestants and the employing Papists in the greatest Places of Trust both Civil and Military c. was contrary to Law That the imposing
an Oath without Authority of Parliament was contrary to Law That the raising of Money without Consent of Parliament or Convention was contrary to Law That the imploying Officers of the Army as Judges c. was contrary to Law That the imposing extraordinary Fines c. was contrary to Law That the imprisoning of Persons without expressing the Reasons c. was the same That the prosecuting and seizing Mens Estates as forfeited upon stretches of the old and obsolete Laws c. was contrary to Law That the nominating and imposing Magistrates c. upon Burroughs contrary to their express Charters was the same That the sending Letters to the Courts of Justice ordaining the Judges to desist from determining of Causes and ordaining them how to proceed in Causes depending before them c. was contrary to Law That the granting of personal Protections c. was the same That the forcing the Subjects to depose against themselves in capital Causes however the Punishment were restricted was contrary to Law That the using Torture without Evidence or in ordinary Crimes was contrary to Law That the sending of an Army in a Hostile manner into any part of the Kingdom in time of Peace and exacting Locality and free Quarter was the same That charging the Subjects with Law-burroughs at the King's Instance and imposing Bonds without Authority of Parliament and the suspending Advocates for not appearing when Bonds were offer'd was contrary to Law That the putting Garrisons into private Mens Houses in time of Peace without Authority of Parliament was illegal That the Opinions of the Lords of the Sessions in the two Cases following were illegal viz. That the concerting the demand of Supply of a forefaulted Person although not given was Treason That Persons refusing to discover their private Thoughts in relation to points of Treason or other Mens Actions are guilty of Treason That the fining Husbands for their Wives withdrawing from Church was illegal The Prelates and Superiority of any Office in the Church above Presbyter is and has been a great and unsupportable burthen to this Nation and contrary to the Inclinations of the generality of the People ever since the Reformation they having reformâ—d Popery by Presbytery and therefore ought to be abolish'd That it is the Right and Privilege of the Subject to protest for remedy of Law to the King and Parliament against Sentences pronounc'd by the Lords of the Sessions provided the same do not stop executions of the said Sentences That it is the Right of the Subject to petition the King and that all Prosecutions and Imprisonments for such petitioning are and were contrary to Law Therefore for the redress of all Grievances and for the amending strengthening and preserving the Laws they claim'd that Parliaments ought to be frequently call'd and allow'd to â—it and freedom of Speech and Debate allow'd the Members And then they farther claim'd and insisted upon all and sundry the Premises as their undoubted Rights and Liberties and that no Declaration or Proceedings to the prejudice of the People in any of the said Premises ought in any wise to be drawn hereafter in Example but that all Forfeitures Fines loss of Offices Imprisonments Banishments Prosecutions Persecutions and rigorous Executions be consider'd and the Parties redress'd To which demand of their Rights and redress of their Grievances they took themselves to be encourag'd by the King of England's Declaration for the Kingdom of Scotland in October last as being the only means for obtaining a full Redress and Remedy therein Therefore Forasmuch as they had an entire Confidence that His Majesty of England would perfect the Deliverance so far advanc'd by him and would still preserve them from the Violation of the Rights which they had asserted and from all other Attempts upon their Religion Laws and Liberties The said Estates of the Kingdom of Scotland had resolv'd That William and Mary King and Queen of England be declared King and Queen of Scotland to hold the Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdom to them the said King and Queen during their Lives and the longest Liver of them and that the sole and full Exercise of the Power be only in and exercis'd by him the said King in the Names of the said King and Queen during their Lives And after their Decease that the said Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdom be to the Heirs of the Body of the said Queen Which failing to the Princess Anne of Denmark and the Heirs of her Body which also failing to the Heirs of the Body of the said William King of England And then withal they pray'd the said King and Queen to accept the same accordingly It was also declar'd by the Instrument That the Oath hereafter mention'd should be taken by all Protestants by whom the Oath of Allegiance or any other Oaths and Declarations might be requir'd by Law instead of it and that the Oath of Allegiance and all other Oaths and Declarations should be abrogated The Oath was but short and conformable to that which was prescrib'd in England I A. B. Do sincerely promise and swear That I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to Their Majesties King William and Queen Mary So help me God This Act being brought to perfection the Earl of Argyle with other Commissioners were dispatch'd away with it for London to present it to the King and Queen and to take their Oath which being done the same day as Their Majesties were Crowned King and Queen of England they were also proclaimed King and Queen of Scotland and May 11th the Earl of Argyle with other Commissioners tender'd the Coronation Oath to their Majesties which was distinctly pronounced word by word by the Earl while their Majesties repeated the Sentences after him holding up their Right-hands all the while according to the Custom of Scotland but when the King came to that Clause in the Oath We shall be careful to root out Hereticks he declared that he did not mean by those words that he was under any obligation to become a Persecutor To which the Commissioners replied That neither the meaning of the Oath nor the Law of Scotland did import it Whereupon the King said That he took the Oath in that sense and called the Commissioners and other 's there present to be Witnesses of his so doing Then the Convention was turn'd into a Parliament who abolish'd Episcopal Church-Government and restor'd the Presbyterian one which with other concurring Causes made things somewhat uneasie in that Kingdom for a time For tho Edenburgh Castle was June 13th surrender'd to Sir John Lamier yet Dundee gathered strength in the North for the late King between whose Party and Mackays past several Actions and the first was July 16th near Blaine in the County of Athol where Mackay with 4000 Foot and 4 Troops of Horse and Dragoons attack'd Dundee who had 6000 Foot and 100 Horse on his side and between whom there was a
very obstinate Fight which lasted till night But though Mackay lost the Field and retreated that night to Sterling after having lost a great many Men yet the Death of Dundee who was slain in this Battel did more than compensate the other's Loss seeing he was the Life of that Party who dwindled away ever after and were worsted every where and particularly once and again at St. Johnstown in the last Conflict of which the single Regiment of the Earl of Angus under the Command of Lieutenant Colonel Cleeland gave so entire a Defeat to their whole Power which amounted to near 4000 Men that they never appeared in any considerable Body ever after and many of the Chief of them thereupon made their submission though this hapned with the Death of that brave Lieutenant Colonel who if it had pleased God deserved a better Fate But how prosperous soever King William's Affairs went in Britain where still there were a little rascally Conspiracies against him they did not do so in Ireland for there Tirconnel was setting all things in order to secure that Kingdom for the late King with whom Hambleton a profest Papist who by a fatal Mistake was sent over from England to induce him to lay down the Sword traiterously joined in and so the Opportunity for the present was lost and an advantage given to the late King to endeavour that way to regain the rest of his lost Dominions since he was like to receive little Assistance from any other Prince save what the French King might do For the Emperor to whom he wrote his Complaint and whose Assistance he craved was so far from complying with his Desires that though he pittied his Condition yet he reprimanded him for his Folly as you may see by his Letter to him upon the Occasion which was to this purpose The Emperor of Germany's Account of K. James's Misgovernment in joining with the K. of France the common Enemy of Christendom in his Letter to K. James LEOPOLD c. WE have received your Majesties Letter dated from St. Germains the 6th of February last by the Earl of Carlingford the Envoy in our Court by whom we have understood the Condition your Majesty is reduced to and that you being deserted after the landing of the Prince of Orange by your Army and even by the Domestick Servants and by those you most confided in and almost by all your Subjects you have been forced by a sudden flight to provide for your own safety and to seek shelter and protection in France lastly that you desire Assistance from us for the recovering your Kingdoms We do assure your Majesty that assoon as we heard of this severe Turn of Affairs we were moved at it not only with the common sense of humanity but with much deep impressions suitable to the sincere Affection which we have always born to you and we were heartily sorry that at last that was come to pass which though we hoped for better things yet our own sad thoughts had suggested to us would ensue If your Majesty had rather given credit to the friendly Remonstrances that were made you by our late Envoy the Count De Kaunitz in our Name than the deceitful Insinuations of the French whose chief aim was by fomenting continual Divisions between you and your People to gain thereby an opportunity to insult the more securely over the rest of Christendom and if your Majesty had put a stop by Force and Authority to their many infractions of the Peace of which by the Treaty at Nimeguen you are made the Guarantee and to that end entred into Consultations with us and such others as have the like just Sentiments in this matter we are verily perswaded that by these means you should have in a great measure quieted the minds of the People who were so much exasperated through their aversion to our Religion and the publick Peace had been as well preserved in your Kingdoms as here in the Roman Empire but now we refer it even to your Majesty to judge what condition we can be in to afford you any assistance who being not only engaged in a War with the Turks but finding our selves at the same time unjustly and barbarously attack'd by the French contrary to and against the Faith of Treaties they then knowing themselves secure of England and this ought not to be concealed that the greatest Injuries which have been done to our Religion have flowed from no other than from the French themselves who not only esteem'd it lawful for them to make perfidious Vows with the sworn Enemies of the Holy Cross tending to the Destruction both of us and the whole Christian World in order to the checking our endeavours which were undertaken for the Glory of God and to stop those Successes which it hath pleased the Almighty God to give us hitherto but further have heaped one Treachery upon another even within the Empire it self The Cities of the Empire which were surrendred upon Articles signed by the Dauphin himself have been exhausted by excessive Impositions and after their being exhausted have been plundered after plundering have been burned and raced the Palaces of Princes who in all times and even in the most destructive Wars have been preserved are now burnt to the ground the Churches are robb'd and such as submitted themselves to them are in a most barbarous manner carried away as Slaves In short it is become a Diversion unto them to commit all manner of Insolence and Cruelty in many places but chiefly in Catholick Countries exceeding the Cruelties of the Turks themselves who having imposed an absolute necessity upon us to secure our selves and the holy Roman Empire by the best means we can think on and that no less against them than against the Turks we promise our selves from your Justice readily to assent to this that it ought not to be imputed to us if we endeavour to procure by a just War that security to our selves which we could not hitherto obtain by so many Treaties and that in order to the obtaining thereof we take measures for our mutual Defence of Preservation with all those who are equally concerned in the same Design with us It remains that we should beg of God that he would direct all things to his Glory and that he would grant your Majesty true and solid Comforts under this your great Calamity We embrace you with the tender affection of a Brother At Vienna the 9th of April 1689. But though his Imperial Majesty declined to give him any helping hand and that other Catholick Princes in imitation of his Example made it no difficulty to do so too yet he was so elated with an Opinion of the Bravery and Fidelity of the Irish that he embark'd at Brest and landed in that Kingdom March 12th with about 1800 Auxiliary French This pace of the French besides the English Nation 's desire the King's Obligations to his Allies and many other weighty Reasons brought
forth a Declaration of War against the French King which was to this purpose Their Majesties Declaration against the French King WILLIAM R. IT having pleased God to make Us the happy Instrument of Rescuing these Nations from great and imminent Dangers and to place Us upon the Throne of these Kingdoms we think our selves obliged to endeavour to the uttermost to promote the Welfare of our People which can never be effectually secured but by preventing the Miseries that threaten them from abroad When we consider the many unjust Methods the French King hath of late years taken to gratifie his Ambition that he has not only invaded the Territories of the Emperor and of the Empire now in Amity with us laying waste whole Countries and destroying the Inhabitants by his Armies but declared War against our Allies without any Provocation in manifest Violation of the Treaties confirmed by the Guaranty of the Crown of England we can do no less than joyn with our Allies in opposing the Designs of the French King as the Disturber of the Peace and the common Enemy of the Christian World And besides the Obligations we lie under by Treaties with our Allies which are a sufficient Justification of Us for taking up Arms at this time since they have called upon us so to do the many Injuries done to Us aud to our Subjects without any Reparation by the French King are such that however of late years they were not taken notice of for Reasons well known to the World nevertheless we will not pass them over without a publick and just Resentment of such Outrages It is not long since the French took Licences from the English Governour of Newfound-Land to Fish in the Seas upon that Coast and paid a Tribute for such Licences as an Acknowledgment of the sole Right of the Crown of England to that Island and yet of late the Encroachments of the French upon our said Island and our Subjects Trade and Fishery have been more like the Invasions of an Enemy than becoming Friends who enjoy'd the Advantages of that Trade only by Permission But that the French King should invade our Charibbee Islands and possess himself of our Territories of the Province of New-York and of Hudson's Bay in a hostile manner seizing our Forts burning our Subjects Houses and enriching his People with the spoil of their Goods and Merchandizes detaining some of our Subjects under the Hardship of Imprisonment causing others to be inhumanely kill'd and driving the rest to Sea in a small Vessel without Food or Necessaries to support them are Actions not becoming even an Enemy and yet he was so far from declaring himself so that at that very time he was negotiating here in England by his Ministers a Treaty of Neutrality and good Correspondence in America The Proceedings of the French King against our Subjects in Europe are so notorious that we shall not need to enlarge upon them his countenancing the Seizure of English Ships by French Privateers forbidding the Importation of a great part of the Product and Manufactures of our Kingdom and imposing exorbitant Customs upon the rest notwithstanding the vast Advantage he and the French Nation reap by their Commerce with England are sufficient Evidences of his Designs to destroy the Trade and consequently to ruin the Navigation upon which the Wealth and Safety of this Nation very much depends The Right of the Flag inherent in the Crown of England has been disputed by his Orders in Violation of our Sovereignty of the Narrow Seas which in all Ages has been asserted by our Predecessors and we are resolv'd to maintain for the Honour of our Crown and of the English Nation But that which must nearly touch us is his unchristian Prosecution of many of our English Protestant Subjects in France for Matters of Religion contrary to the Law of Nations and express Treaties forcing them to abjure their Religion by strange and unusual Cruelties and imprisoning some of the Masters and Seamen of our Merchants Ships and condemning others to the Gallies upon pretence of having on Board either some of his own miserable Protestant Subjects or their Effects And lastly As he has for some years last past endeavoured by Insinuations and Promises of Assistance to overthrow the Government of England so now by open and violent Methods and the actual Invâ—sion of Our Kingdom of Ireland in support of our Subjects in Arms and in Rebellion against Us he is promoting the utter Extirpation of our good and loyal Subjects in that our Kingdom Being therefore thus necessitated to take up Arms and relying on the help of Almighty God in our just Undertaking We have thought fit to Declare and do hereby Declare War against the French King and that We will in Conjunction with our Allies vigorously prosecute the same by Sea and Land since he hath so unrighteously begun it being assured of the hearty Concurrence and Assistance of our Subjects in support of so good a Cause hereby willing and requiring our General of our Forces our Commissioners for executing the Office of High Admiral our Lieutenants of our several Counties Governours of our Forts and Garisons and all other Officers and Soldiers under them by Sea and Land to do and execute all acts of Hostility in the Prosecution of this War against the French King his Vassals and Subjects and to oppose their Attempts Willing and Requiring all our Subjects to take notice of the same whom we henceforth strictly forbid to hold any Correspondence or Communication with the said French King or his Subjects And because there are remaining in our Kingdoms many of the Subjects of the French King We do Declare and give our Royal Word That all such of the French Nation as shall demean themselves dutifully towards us and not correspond with our Enemies shall be safe in their Persons and Estates and free from all molestation and trouble of any kind Given at our Court at Hampton-Court the 7th day of May. 1689 in the first Year of our Reign God save King William and Queen Mary I shall not meddle with the Declaration nor pretend to defend the Justice of it for I think it carries its own light with it but return to the late King who upon his Arrival in Ireland found himself not mistaken as to the Number of his Party which was indeed very strong and almost all the Country at his Devotion the greatest part of the Protestants having before upon their disappointment of Arms Ammunition Commissions and some Forces from England either deserted it or those that staid behind very unable to make any Resistance However they made some shew of forming an Army but were quickly routed by Lieutenant General Hamilton at a place called Drummore Mar. 15th which gave occasion to the late King and Tirconnel to take away the Arms and Horses of the rest of the Protestants except those that fled to Londonderry and some few that went towards Iniskilling who about
March 25th had Arms and Ammunition brought them by Captain James Hamilton and who demeaned themselves with the greatest Bravery that ever Men did under their forlorn Circumstances It would be too tedious to enter upon the Particulars of the Siege of Derry and how much they baffled the Irish Army almost in all their Encounters with them I shall only observe that Major Baker whom they chose Governour after Colonel Lundy had play'd the Rogue and was turn'd out and Mr. Walker the Minister who was entrusted with the Stores behaved themselves beyond expectation and so did Colonel Mecklenburg who succeeded Governour after Baker's Death and will with the rest of their brave Officers and Soldiers be for ever remembred by all true Englishmen with the greatest deference and respect as they themselves will have occasion while they live with indignation to think of Lundy's baseness in preventing the Relief sent them of two Regiments under Colonel Richards and Colonel Gunningham who returned back out of the Lough of Derry without doing any thing and were both broke for their pains Yet for all this misfortune neither a formidable Enemy without nor a more terrible one that had crept within their Walls viz. Famine which daily swept away multitudes of the Garison could bring them to yield but they outbraved all till the long-delay'd Succors at last under the Command of Major-General Kirk arrived in the Lough But alas they were now in worse plight than before for like Tantalus they had the sight of the desired Fruit but could not reach to eat for whether through the crossness of the Winds as was given out or for some other base ends the Ships lay at least two Months in the Lough before the Dartmouth Frigat at last forced her way and got to the Town which was followed with the raising of the Siege which happened on July 31th This was no small mortification to the Irish who met with as bad Success in another Enterprise of theirs against the Iniskillingers For but the day before about 6000 of them being upon their March under the Command of Major-General Mackarty an experienced Officer among them the Iniskillingers advanced near 20 miles to meet them and at a place called Newton Butler fought and routed them took Mackarty Prisoner and kill'd and drowned nigh 3000 of them though themselves were not above 2000 in all and lost not above 20 Men with about 50 wounded While these things were doing in Ireland the King gave out Commissions in England for raising 18 Regiments of Foot and 5 of Horse for the Irish Service with that Success that the Levies were almost all compleat in 6 weeks and in July most of them were commanded for Chester in order to be shipped off for Ireland On Thursday August 8th being about 10000 Men Horse and Foot and Duke Schomberg for their General they were embarked at Highlake but by contrary Winds were detained there till the 12th when the Wind coming fair the Bonadventure Frigat Captain Hopson Commander and Commodore fired a Gun and put his Light in the Main Top-mast Shrouds as a Signal for sailing They were about 90 Vessels in all of all sorts and were under fail by 6 in the morning steering directly toward Carrigfergus and on the 13th in the Afternoon arrived in that Bay where the Army presently landed and after the General had sent out several Parties to discover the Posture of the Enemy and to scour the Country he marched the Army to Belfast and on Wednesday May 20th and the day following senâ— several Regiments towards Carrigfergus with some Cannon and Mortars which took up their Posts about the Town Upon this the Enemy beat a Parly and sent out their Propositions which the Duke rejected and so order'd the Town to be attack'd Whereupon the Trenches were drawn and the Mortars and Cannons play'd furiously upon the Town and the Half-moon that was to the right of the Castle which made the Besieged on Friday the 23d to desire another Parley but the General would not allow them to march out with the usual Ensigns of Honour and so they broke off and the Siege was carried on with great Vigour Next day Colonel Richards the Engineer being wounded in the Trenches the night before was carried to Belfast when one Mr. Spring making his Escape out of the Town acquainted the Duke that all the Soldiers lay continually on the Walls so that the Bombs only plagued the Protestants in the Town as also that Mackarty Moor and Owen Mackarty were the only 2 that hindred the Surrender of the Town and that they resolved if he stormed the Place to retire into the Castle and had to that end laid up Stores of Provision there but that they were straitned Sunday the 25th and the day following the Siege went on and the Guns had made considerable Breaches which the Irish after other shifts had â—ailed them thought to make good by driving a great number of Cattel on the top of them and which whilst we killed them there with our firing they covered with Earth Stone and other Rubbish so that at last after the refusal of another Parley which they desired of the Duke they hung out a white Flag and sent their Proposals that were finally agreed to and they were to march out with their Arms and some Baggage and to be conducted to the next Irish Garison which was Newry Colonel Wharton at the Parley lay before the Breach with his Regiment and was ready to enter when the Duke sent to command his Men to forbear firing which with some difficulty they agreed to The Articles were scarce agreed on when Mackarty-Moor was got into the Duke's Kitchin in the Camp which made the Duke smile and forbear inviting him to Dinner saying If he had staid like a Soldier with his Men he would have sent to him but if he would go and eat with Servants in a Kitchin let him be doing Sir William Russel a Captain in Colonel Coy's Regiment who was appointed to guard the Irish Garison to Newry had much ado to secure them from the Rage of the Country People whom before they had plundered and things went so far that the Duke himself was forced to ride with his Pistol in his hand among the Irish and Scots to hinder them to murder them But when that was over he march'd the same day which was the 28th to Belfast and 2 days after his own French Regiment of Horse consisting of 500 Men joined the Army which on Saturday the last of August was muster'd being as follows Horse my Lord Devenshire's Regiment my Lord Delamere's Colonel Coy's Duke Schomberg's and Colonel Levison's Dragoons Foot one Batallion of Blew Dutch Carelsoon's White Dâ—tch Colonel Beaumont Colonel Wharton Lord Drogheda Lord Lisburn Lord Meath Lord Râ—scommon Lord Lovelace Lord Kingston Duke of Norfolk Colonel Herbert Sir Edward Deering Sir Thomas Gower Colonel Earl La Millieneir Du Cambon and La Callimot The
way towards the introducing the Popish Religion into the Nation they took especial care to prevent the like for the future by Enacting in concurrence with the Royal Authority That the Kings and Queens of England should be obliged at their coming to the Crown to take the Test in the first Parliament that should be called at the beginning of their Reign and in the Bill of Succession added a Clause That if any King or Queen of England should embrace the Roman Catholick Religion or Marry with a Roman Catholick Prince or Princess their Subjects should be absolved from their Oaths of Allegiance They also annull'd the pretended Parliament in Ireland and also ordained That all those who should take up Arms against the King after the 24th of Feb. or should hold Correspondence with his Enemies should be guilty of high Treason And granted the King 2 Shillings in the Pound upon Land with the necessary Clauses and Restrictions and appropriated Part of the Mony for Payment of the Seamen and setting out the Fleet. After this being prorogued to the 12th of Apr. they were by Proclamation dissolved upon the 6th of Febr. and the King by the same Proclamation called a Parliament to meet on the 30th of March to whom he delivered himself to this Effect That being resolved to omit nothing on his Part that might contribute to the Peace and Prosperity of the Nation and to that end believing his Presence absolutely necessary in Ireland for the Reducing of that Kingdom he had called them together to desire their Assistance that he might be in a Capacity to carry on the War there with Speed and Vigour To which purpose he desired them to hasten the settling of the Revenues of the Crown and that he might have a Fund in the mean time settled upon the Credit whereof he might raise Mony for the present Exigences of the Nation Then he recommended to them the passing of an Act of Oblivion such as he had ordered to be drawn up for the preventing the loss of time usually spent in Deliberations of that kind and wherein but few were excepted that his Subjects might see he had no other Intentions but such as were conformable to the Laws of the Land and to leave those without Excuse that should go about to disturb the Government in his Absence And lastly recommended to them the Vnion with Scotland and then informed them That he intended during his Absence to leave the Administration of the Government in the Hands of the Queen and desired them to prepare an Act to that Purpose concluding with an earnest Desire that they would be as speedy in the Dispatch of Business as possibly they could in regard his Expedition into Ireland would not admit of any long Session The Parliament went roundly to work upon this Speech of the King 's yet so that it took up some time before they could bring all their Matters to bear But at length the Act of Oblivion after many Difficulties removed and so long desired by the King was approved and past so was another for putting the Administration of the Government into the Queen's Hands not only during the King's Absence in Ireland but when-ever his Affairs should call him out of the Kingdom They also found out Ways to raise the Subsidies that were granted settled the Revenues and divers Persons did in the mean time advance Money for the King 's present Occasions and that nothing might happen to the Prejudice of the Government while the King was absent the Deputy-Lieutenants of the Counties were authorized to raise the Militia in case of necessity and all Roman Catholicks ordered to repair to their places of Abode and not to stir above 5 Miles from thence without leave and all that held any Imployment in the State tho' never so inconsiderable to swear Fidelity to the King and Queen Thus Matters being brought to a good Conclusion his Majesty after returning them his Thanks Prorogued them to the 17th of June and then hasted for Ireland where he arrived on the 14th of the same Month and where at present we shall leave him and see what was doing nearer home The Rebels in Scotland under the Command of Colonel Cannon tho' not otherwise considerable for their Strength then by the unaccessible Places they possess'd in the Highlands yet continued still in a Body and took their Opportunity to make frequent Incursions into the Low-lands to plunder and spoil more like a Company of Banditti than Regular Troops over whom the Government there however kept a vigilant Eye and detected some Correspondence held between them and other Persons in Edenburg and elsewhere who before pretended to be Friends but it ended in the close Confinement of them Yet notwithstanding all this they could not prevent them from receiving some Succour from without For King James notwithstanding the Delay of the French Succours which did not arrive in Ireland before the 4th of March yet built so very much upon them that tho' he had neither Ammunition nor Provision to spare he caused in the mean time two Frigats to be rigged up at Dublin laden with Cloaths Arms and Ammunition and sent them away to his Friends in Scotland having besides on Board them Colonel Buchan Colonel Wauhup and about 40 Commission-Officers more who had all the good Luck to get safe into the Isle of Mull. With this Reinforcement they were so incouraged that sometime after that they adventured to the number of 1500 to march as far as Strathspag in the County of Murray which Sir Thomas Levingstone no sooner understood and being unwilling to give them any Opportunity for a farther Accession of Strength in being joyned with other Malecontents but he took along with him 800 Foot 6 Troops of Dragoons and 2 Troops of Horse and fell upon them so suddenly that the Horse and Dragoons entring their Camp put them into such an immediate Confusion that they betook themselves to flight leaving between 4 and 500 of their Number slain upon the Spot an 100 taken Prisoners and among them 4 Captains 3 Lieutenants and 2 Ensigns nor had any of them escaped had not a thick Mist fell in the height of the Execution This was no sooner done but Sir Thomas advanced to the Castle of Lethirgdey commanded by Colonel Buchan's Nephew and having lodged a Mine under it quickly brought the Garrison to surrender at Discretion Neither was Major Ferguson less successful in the Isle of Mull where he landed and destroy'd several Places belonging to the Enemy forcing them to desert the Castle of Dewart and betake themselves to the Hills Nor yet was the Blow given them by the Scotch Parliament of less Importance for besides their Passing an Act to restore the Presbyterian Ministers that were thrust from their Churches since the 1st of Jan. 1661. they made another declaring all those Rebels that were actually in Arms against the King and Queen But notwithstanding the ill Success of the Jacobites in
Scotland the whole Party would not seem thereby to be discouraged especially those in England who thought it a very opportune Season while the King was absent to attempt something considerable to the Advantage of their Cause And therefore having timely concerted Matters with their Friends on the other side of the Water it was so agreed That while part of the French Fleet should bear up into the Thames to favour and assist the Designs of those that were in London who were very numerous by the flocking of a great many of the Conspirators from all Parts of the Country thither they were to have made an Insurrection in several Places at once Certain Persons were to have taken upon them the Administration of Affairs till the Return of King James who was to leave the Command of his Army to his Generals and hasten with all Speed into England The other part of the French Fleet having joyned their Gallies was to have landed 8000 Men at Torbay with Arms for a greater Number after which the Gallies and Men of War were to Sail into the Irish Sea to hinder the Return of King William and his Forces Their Party in Scotland was to have revolted at the same time in several Parts of that Kingdom But however the Matter was in reality the whole Contrivance seems to have been founded upon a Presumption if not Assurance of the English Fleet being first beaten by the French of which whether they had any foresight otherwise than from the inequality of the Strength which was considerably at this time to the Advantage of France I am not able to unriddle Yet the Conspiracy by the timous Discovery of it proved a vain Contrivance tho' the Grounds upon which the Formation thereof seemed to depend proved but too successful For all the French Fleet having entred the Channel as before concerted they veered some time upon the English Coast as expecting the Effect of the Conspiracy which was to have broken out the 18th of June of which the Queen had no sooner notice but she sent the Earl of Torrington who was Admiral Orders to fight the Enemy what-ever befel him as knowing they could have no good Design by coming so near us But how dishonourable soever this Action seemed to be to the English Nation yet there was one Circumstance that attended it that was somewhat favourable For the People generally were possess'd with an Opinion of the English Seamens Courage and Bravery above those of the French and many with so high a Conceit of the Admiral that Commanded them that it was some days before they could be brought to be perswaded of the Truth of what had happened And their Concern about it even then was much alleviated by the good News we had of his Majesty's Success in Ireland at the Battle at the Boyne which was fought the day after and of which by and by But we must first return where we left off in Ireland and that was to the Army going from Dundalk into their Winter Quarters and take a short View of the State of things there till the King's Arrival Dundalk Camp was not the only the Place that proved fatal to our Army in Ireland for they died in great numbers both Officers and Souldiers after they got into Quarters and among the former Colonel Langston departed this Life of a Fever at Lisburn and my Lord Hewet and the Lord Roscommon of the same Distemper at Chester So that about the beginning of the new Year several Regiments were broke into others and the Officers continued at half Pay till Provision could be made for them in other Regiments whilst others went over into England for Recruits However Sickness by degrees abating about the beginning of Febr. they found both Men and Horses such as survived in pretty good Heart when the General being informed that the Enemy were drawing down some Forces towards Dundalk and that they had laid in great Store of Corn Hay and other Provisions with a Design from thence to disturb our Frontier Garrisons sent a considerable Body of Horse and Foot that way himself following them on the 11th towards Drummore in order to wait the Enemies Motion But the Irish designs at this time lay another way For while the Duke was upon this Expedition there was Notice given Colonel Woolsâ—ey that they had a Design to fall upon Belturbet which he had taken from them a little before and that to that end a considerable number of them were advanced to Cavan and more to follow who thereupon marched diligently from Belturbet with 700 Foot and 300 Horse and Dragoons in the Evening towards them as thinking to surprize them next Morning ealry they being not above 8 Miles off But he met with so many Difficulties in his March that instead of being before day light at the Place he designed it was not only half an hour after break of day before he came in sight of it but also the Enemy had got notice of his coming So that instead of surprizing them he might well have been surprized himself For the first thing he saw was a Body of the Enemy drawn up in good Order and might consist of about 4000 Men but there being no retreating now either with Honour or Safety the Colonel was resolved to stand stoutly to it and therefore having first told his Men the Advantages of being brave and the inevitable Ruin of the whole Party if they proved otherwise and thereupon finding them very compliant to his Desire he sent a Party of Iniskilling Dragoons towards the Enemy who were presently charged by a great Body of their Horse and beat back past the Front of their own Foot who were so enraged at them that some of Major General Kirk's Men and Colonel Wharton's fired upon them and killed 7 or 8 of the number but some of the Enemies Horse pursued them so far that many of them were killed by our Foot as they endeavoured to get off By this time the Body of the Party was advanced near the Irish who were posted upon the top of a rising Ground not far from the Town and who as our Men advanced up the Hill fired a whole Volley upon them and then set up an Huzza but scarce killed a Man their Shot flying over them Our Men however went on till they came within Pistol-shot and then fired which so galled the Irish that they immediately retired towards the Town and entred into a Fort they had there and from whence they sallied and made a very fierce Attack upon the English who had too speedily fallen to Plunder But Woolsley having 250 Foot and about 80 Horse for a Reserve the Enemy were beat off again their Horse flying quite beyond the Town and the Foot retiring to the Fort again The Soldiers got good store of Shoes and other things in the Place but their Ammunition was blown up and their Provisions destroy'd for the Colonel was forced to set the Town on
fire to get his Men out in the time of the Sally as not knowing what might happen The Enemy's Loss in that Action was considerable and so much the more advantageous to the English in that it broke the Neck of a Design the Irish had of drawing together a Body of 10000 Men at Cavan to fall upon Belturbet and other Places and gave Colonel Woolsley about the beginning of Apr. an opportunity to take the Castle of Killishandra with whose Services the General was very well pleased who upon that sent him a Battalion of Danes that were lately landed in Ireland to reinforce him at Belturbet About the same time Sir John Lanier with a Party of a 1000 Horse Foot and Dragoons made an Attempt upon Dundalk took Bedloe Castle and the Ensign that Commanded there and brought from beyond the Town and about it about 1500 Cows and Oxen. The Ensign was carried to Lisburn and brought before the General into his Garden where he commonly used to walk before Dinner who before he asked him any Questions gave him a pretty Caution to be sincere in his Answers saying You have a Commission and for that Reason if not otherwise you are a Gentleman This obliges you to speak Truth which if you do not I can know it by examining other Prisoners and then I shall have no good Opinion of you But for all this and what-ever else he told him afterward in private he could get little or nothing out of him that was Material But King James did not seem to be so sensibly concerned at these Disadvantages so remote from him in the North as he was at the loss of the only Man of War I think he had in his Possession and of which though in it self no such considerable Action as might merit a room in this Treatise Yet there are some Circumstances belonging to it that are engaging enough and will not permit me to pass it over in silence Sir Clovesly Shovell being about the 12th of Apr. arrived at Belfast as Convoy to divers Ships that carried over Necessaries for the Army and there having Intelligence of a Frigat that lay at Anchor in the Bay of Dublin he set sail on the 18th being Good-Friday to the Mouth of the said Bay And there leaving the Monk and some other great Ships he took the Monmouth-Yatch and one or two more with several long Boats and went up to Polley where the Frigat lay being one half of the Scotch Fleet that was taken in the Channel the preceding Year carrying 16 Guns and 4 Pattereroes King James when he was advertised of it said It was some of his Loyal Subjects of England that were returning to their Duty and Allegiance But he was quickly convinced of his Mistake when he saw them draw near the Ship and heard the firing and therefore he rid out towards Rings-End where a vast croud of People of all sorts gathered together and several Regiments were drawn out to kill if it were possible those bold Fellows at Sea who durst upon such a good day perform so wicked a Deed as they phrased it Captain Bennet who Commanded the Frigat run her a ground and after several firings when they saw a Fire-ship coming in which Sir Clouvesly had given the signal for the Men who were about 40 of which they lost 6 or 7 in the Action quitted her and our Men took her but in her going off one of her Hoys run aground and was dry when the Tide was gone out tho' the rest of the Boats were not a far off being full of armed Men and a Frenchman of K. James his Guards coming nigh the Boats to fire his Pistols in a bravado had his Horse shot under him and was forced to fling away his Jack-boots to run away in his Stockings to save himself leaving his Saddle and Accouterments to some of the English Seamen who would go ashoar to fetch them off King James went back much concerned at the Adventure and 't was reported he should say That all the Protestants in Ireland were of Cromwell ' s breed and deserved to have their Throats cut which if true argued no great Stock of Discretion in him however all the Protestants that walked that way during the Action were secured in Prison and only two of them made their Escape to the English Boats But to return again to the Affairs of the North there was but little more of any moment done there before the King's Arrival besides the taking of the Castle of Charlemont a â—trong place both by Nature and Art as being seated upon a piece of Ground in the middle of a Bay and only accessible by two ways which the Irish had partly broke down but what was designed by the Irish for its relief and security proved the loss of it For Mack-Mahon with a Detachment of between 4 and 500 Men having in the Night got over the Bogs into the Place with Ammunition and some small Quantities of Provision Monsieur Davesant Cambon's Lieutenant Collonel having notice of it and that they designed to return in a small time divided his Men into 3 parts When the 3d Night after their going in they were marching out again near to Captain la Carry's Post who had 40 Men with him He let their Van pass him and then fired upon their main Body killing 8 of them with an Officer and forcing the rest into Charlemont who for hast left 110 Muskets 6 Halbards some Drumms and several other things behind them the same ill success they met with in the other Attempts then made But when the Blockade was re-inforced from the General who some said knew of Mack-Mahou's going in and ordered them to suffer him to pass that their stay might bring the Garrison the sooner low and so be forced to surrender The Irish made no further Attempt to escape but it had almost been as well for them to have fallen into the Hands of the English as to be beat back as they were For old Teague O Regan the Governour was so angry with them for it that he swore If they could not get out they should have no entertainment nor lodging within And he was as good as his Word for they were forced to make little Huts in the dry Ditch within the Palisadoes and upon the Counterscarp few or none of them being permitted to go within the Gates of the Castle so that between the one and the other the poor Fellows were in a miserable plight The General being resolved to possess himself of the Place sent several Regiments that way who encamped almost round it having some time before sent old Teague a summons to surrender but he was then very surly and bid the Messenger tell his Master from old Teague O Regan That he was an old Knave and by St. Patrick he should not have the Town at all At which Answer the Duke only smiled saying He would give Teague greater reasons to be angry in a short time and
Commalin Castle-Durmont and so beyond Carlow from whence he sent forward a Party of Horse under the Command of the Duke of Ormond to take Possession of Kill-kenny and so to secure the Protestants and other Inhabitants of the adjacent Countries from being plundered by the Enemy for by this time some of them begun to look behind them and to return to take along what they had not Time nor Conveniency to carry of at first From Carlow the Army passed on to Kells thence to Loughland-bridge and so to Bennet's Bridge 3 Miles to the N. E. of Killkenny and upon the 19th of July His Majesty dined with the Duke of Ormond at his Castle of Killkenny which had the good Luck to have been preserved by Count Lauzun with all the Goods and Furniture and left in a good Condition not without the Cellar well stored with what they had not time to drink at their going off Munday the 21st the Army encamped at Carruck from whence Major General Kirk with his own Regiment and Colonel Brewers as also a Party of Horse were sent towards Waterford more Forces designing to follow When he came before the Place he sent to summon the Town by a Trumpet who at first refused to surrender there being 2 Regiments then in Garrison However their Refusal was in such civil Terms that their Inclinations were easily understood for soon after they sent out to know what Terms they might have which were the same with Drogâ—eda But not liking those they proposed some of their own which were rejected and the heavy Cannon drawn down that way and some more Forces ordered to march When the Irish understood this they agreed to march out with Arms and Baggage on the 25th and were conducted to Mallow The Fort Dunâ—annon a strong and regular Place and well fortified with Guns was also surrendred into his Majesty's Hands upon the same Terms with Waterford which last place was view'd by the King the day it was given up who took great care that no Persons should be disturbed in their Houses or Goods and here the Lord Dovâ—t was admitted into a more particular Protection from his Majesty as having formerly applied himself when the King was at Hillsborough by Major General Kirk's means to desire a Pass for himself and Family to Flanders July the 27th the King left the Camp at Carrick and went towards Dublin in order for England which occasioned various Speculations and some fears that the Affairs of this Kingdom were in no pleasing Posture He left the Command of the Army to Count Solms lay that Night at Carlow and upon some Advice from England exprest himself doubtful whether to go over or return to the Army However he went on to Chappell Izard and spent there some time to hear divers Complaints and redress several Grievances He publish'd a second Declaration to confirm the former and ordered a weekly Fast But having a further Account from England that several wicked Designs were discovered and prevented the loss at Sea not so considerable and that the French had only burnt one small Village in the West of England and so gone off again he resolved to retuâ—â— to the Army which he did on the 22d of Aug. at Golden-bridge and by the 27th â—eached Carrigallis where Lieutenant General Douglas joined him next day and on which in the Morning early my Lord Portland and Brigadeer Stewart were sent towards Limerick with 700 Horse and Foot who advanced within Cannon-shot of the Town with little Opposition from the Enemy and before whose return the King himself accompanied by the Prince my Lord Overkirk Lieutenant General 〈◊〉 and divers other great Officers with about 300 Horse went very near the Town and drove in a Party of the Enemy's Horse who made a shew of opposing them On the 9th the whole Army made its approach in excellent Order For no sooner had the Pioneers cut the Hedges that were in the way but the Men advanced which made the Enemy draw backwards till they came to a narrow Pass between a Bogs within half a Mile of the Town which was not above 150 Yards and this full of Hedges and other Incumbrances Herein however there were Lanes that led to the Town the middlemost being the broadest where stood the Irish Horse To the right and left of which the Hedges were lined all with â—â—â—squeteers of whom the English Foot were now got within less than 200 Yards The detacht Party of Foot was upon the Advance towards the Center The Horse a little to the right of them the Danes to the left And the blew Dutch with several English Regiments upon the right And all this in such Decorum that though the Hedges were very thick and troublesome yet the Front kept all in a Line except the advanced Party who went always some distance before Whilst these things were going on thus the King ordered 2 Field-pieces to be planted towards the left where they could bear upon the Enemy's Horse and fired from thence with so good Success that the Enemy soon quitted that Post And it is very remarkable our English Foot were so little concerned that tho' they knew the Enemy to be in the next Hedges yet whilst the Pioneers were at work they would sit down and ask one another whether they thought they should have any Bread that day for they began to want their Breakfasts tho' some few of them went into the other World for it while the Danes to the left stood with all the Care and Circumspection in the World and some of them observing the Posture of our Men and hearing what they said they thought they had no mind to fight But they were quickly convinced to the contrary for the Hedges were no sooner down and one Front advancing in a narrow Field and that the Irish fired a whole Volley upon them from the neighbouring Hedges but some of the English cried out aloud Ah you Toads are you there We will be with you presently and so they ran without any more ado along the Field directly towards the Hedges where the Irish were planted who thereupon quitted one Hedge after another So as that the Danes advancing on the left and the blew Dutch with the English on the right and the Horse coming on in the Center the Irish in less than half an hour after the Volley were driven under their very Walls and not a dozen Men lost on our side in all the Action which if the Irish had managed their business well would have cost us a great many more But as soon as they got under their Walls they plyed our Forces with their great Guns that killed several as they marched in which the whole Army did before 5 in the Afternoon and most of them incamp'd within Cannon-short Orders were given forthwith to draw 4 Field-pieces to Cromwell alias Iâ—eton's Fort to play upon the Town and Out-works The Danes according to their Post encamped to the left where
pretty flat The King gave order that the Counterscarp should be attackt that Afternoon and had it not been for one Errour which yet could not well be avoided the place had been infallibly carried However to shew you the bravery of our Men upon this occasion we will give you a few particulars About half an Hour after 3 the signal being given by firing 3 Pieces of Cannon and the Granadeers standing in the furthermost Angle of the Trenches they leapt over and ran toward the Counterscarp firing their Pieces and throwing in their Granadoes which gave the Irish the Allarm who had all their Guns ready and discharged great and small Shot upon them as fast as possible who were not behind with them in either so that in less than 2 Minutes there was such a terrible Noise that you would have thought the Skies ready to rent in sunder Captain Carlile of my Lord Drogheda's Regiment ran on with his Granadeers to the Counterscarp and though he was wounded twice between that and the Trenches yet he went bravely on and commanded his Men to throw in their Granadoes but leaping into the dry Ditch under the Counterscarp an Irish Man below shot him dead However the Lieutenant encouraged the Men and they boldly mounted the Counterscarp and all the rest of the Granadeers were as ready as they which so daunted the Irish that they began to throw down their Arms and ran as fast as they could into the Town our Men perceiving this entred the Breach with them pell-mell and above half the Earl of Drogheda's Granadeers with some others were actually within that Place and they had certainly carried it had not the Regiments that were to second the Granadeers upon the Counterscarp stopt there as having no orders to go any farther For the Irish were all running from the Walls quite over the Bridge into the English Town but seeing there were but a few of the English that entred they were with much a-do perswaded to rally And those that were in finding themselves not seconded and their Ammunition spent thought of nothing now but to retreat But some were shot others taken and very few of the rest who came out again but were wounded which so elaâ—ed the Spirits of the Irish that they ventured upon the Breach again and from the Walls and every other where did so pester our Men upon the Counterscarp that after nigh 3 Hours resisting Bullets Stones broken Bottles from the very Women who daringly stood on the Breach and were nearer our Men than their own and whatever else could be thought on to destroy it was at last thought safest to return to the Trenches But this was not our only Loss for while this Work was at the hottest a Brandenburg Regiment who behaved themselves very well being got upon the Black-Battery the Enemies Powder happened to take fire which unhappily blew up a great many of them the Men Faggots Stones and what not flying into the Air with a most terrible Noise and tho' my Lord Cuts who was commanded by the Duke of Wirtemberg to march towards the Spur at the S Gate beat in the Irish that appeared on that side yet he lost several of his Men and was himself wounded For he adventurously approaching within half Musket-shot of the Gate all his Men lay open to the Enemies Shot who lay secure within the Spur and the Walls The Danes demeaned themselves also gallantly at their Post but the mischief on 't was there was but one Breach The Action was very brisk every where and there was one continued fire both of great and small Shot from half an hour after 3 till 7 insomuch that the Smoke which went from the Town reached in one uninterrupted Cloud to the Top of a Mountain at least 6 Miles off The King who stood nigh Cromwel's Fort all the time when the business was over return'd to his Camp very much concerned at the Disappointment as indeed was the whole Army where a mixture of Anger and Sorrow might be seen in every body's Countenance as foreseeing the taking of the Place and the Reduction of the Kingdom would cost the Charge and Fatigue of another Campagne to say nothing of the present Loss which amounted at least to 500 slain upon the Spot besides wounded which were not less than double the number Wherefore the King resolved to raise the Siege and to that purpose after he had constituted the Lord Sidney and Thomas Conningsby Esq since Lord Conningsby Lords Justices of Ireland left the Command of the Army to Count Solms who some time after going for England it was conâ—igned into the Hands of the brave Lieutenant-General Ginkle He embarked with the Prince of Denmark and several other Lords at Duncannon on the 5th of 〈◊〉 arrived the next day in the Evening in Kings-Road near Bristol and on the 9th aâ— Windsor not without a more than ordinary Joy all over the Kingdom leaving the Army in Ireland to march into their Winter-Quarters and so at present we shall leave them and see what was doing in England all this while The Apprehensions of the Disaster that befel us from the French Fleet was no sooner over but the Queen set all hands on work and in a very short time fitted up such a Fleet of Men of War that the Enemy were so far from looking it in the Face upon the Main that they began now to be very apprehensive of their own Coast And indeed it was a general Supposition in England that there were some Designs formed at that time upon France it self and it might for ought I know be contrived so on purpose to amuse such as wished us not well For I remember very particularly that People were somewhat surprized to hear that the Fleet was arrived in Cork-Harbour in Ireland and that my Lord of Malburrough was landed there the 21st of Sept. with the Forces under his Command where on the day following 5 or 600 Seamen and others of the Marine Regiment were imployed to draw the Cannon along and to mount them before the Town which they did with great Cheerfulness and Bravery with the Duke of Graâ—â—on at the Head of them tho' 2 Troops of Dragoons and a Body of Foot appeared without the Town who upon our Mens firing some Field-pieces upon them retired The Eaâ—l was to act upon this Expedition in Concert with some other Troops that were towards that Part of Ireland before and therefore that very Day the Duke of Wirtemberg sent Dean Davis unto him and to Major-General Scravenmore to whom my Lord upon his Arrival had dispatch'd an Express that he would forthwith joyn him to give them an Account that he was upon his March to joyn them with a Detachment of 4000 Foot And because there was a Report that the Duke of Berwick design'd to raise the Siege Major-General Scravenmâ—re sent the Dean back to hasten the Duke's March and the day following ordered a Party of Horse to go and
that day Here after he had given the necessary Orders for the Security of his new Conquests he re-imbark'd the Army with a design to make himself Master of Durazzo but falling sick by the way and the Winds proving contrary he returned again on the 29th of Sept. to Vallona where after 9 days Sickness that brave Man died on the first of Oct. which the Council of Venice was no sooner informed of but they appointed Seignior Mocenigo to succeed him The Venetians did not only prove Victorious by Land this Campaign but they had considerable Success also by Sea For General Delphino having Orders to Convoy the Garrison of Napoli di Malvasia to Cande with the Squadron which was under his Command did upon the 18th of Aug. join with Captain Contarini who had 12 Men of War and 2 Fire-ships with him and on the 29th of the same Month being arrived not far from Andros he understood that the Admiral Basha who had with him 27 Gallies 32 Ships and 6 Galleons was resolved to attack him wherefore he put out to Sea and being on the 7th of Sept. got near to Cape St. Mary he had sight of the Ottoman Fleet which was about 20 Miles from thence In the Night he got the Weather-gage of the Enemy and the next day being the 8th bore directly upon the Enemy who on their part also endeavoured to gain the Wind and to come close up to him Delphino took the Van-guard himself and gave the Rear-guard to Contarini and he was hardly come up in his single Ship with 12 Turks Men of War but they were becalm'd Whereupon the Turkish Gallies fell into the Rear and the Captains of Constantinople Algier Tunis and Tripoli bore up the Van and seemed as if they intended to board the Christians But the Venetian Gallies fired so thick upon them that several of the Enemies Vessels were shot through and through General Delphino had his Hand shot off in the Action which yet did not hinder him to keep in his Station till the Fight was over two other Vessels bearing up at the same time to relieve him The Turks hereupon would needs fall upon the Rear-guard but were so warmly received by Contarini there also that they were forced to fly much damnified to Metelin from whence they made all the sail they could to Focis which General Delphino seeing and being not able to overtake them he steered away for the Morea now entirely conquered by the Venetian Arms and which they took all the Care imaginable the remainder of this Season to secure by fortifying the Isthmus of Corinth the only way there was left to attack them Having run through the several Actions of this Season and in the close of the preceding one told you of the Death of one Pope and the Election of another we are now briefly to acquaint you That the differences about the Franchises and other things done by the French Clergy as was esteemed in Prejudice of the Holy See were this Year amicably composed between the two Courts of France and Rome The French King making in a manner all the Concessions on his Part to effect it and the old Dad to make him some Recompence for it laid a Design to reconcile the Emperor and France The Republick of Venice as well for their own Interest as to please his Holiness joyfully as was said concurring with is Holiness in his pious Project But all his Endeavours could never bring the Emperor to relinquish the Alliances he had so solemnly entred into as well for his own as the rest of Europe's Security And so his Project fell to the Ground And therefore I have no more to do now than to recapitulate with a learned Pen and in his own Words and Order the several Remarkables or at least the most notable of them that have happened within this annual Revolution The preceding Year says he was remarkable for five Considerable Battels fought as it were in a huddle in every one of which there was something worth particular Observation The first in Transilvania where Treachery contributed as much to the Victory as Valour One in Flanders wherein Surprize had a great Share One upon the Sea where only Number got the Advantage One in Ireland where Fortune declared in Favour of true Merit and Prowess And one in Savoy where want of good Intelligence and the small Experience of the Vanquished gave the Fortune of the day to the Victors We are not here to forget the Death of the Elector Palatine in a good old Age nor of the Princess of Portugal of a lingring Sickness which in all probability terminated some Disputes that in time might have arisen concerning the Succession of the Crown of that Kingdom The beginning of this Year is remarkable for the famous Congress of the Confederates that was held at the Hague where besides a greater Number of illustrious Persons that appear'd there more than upon any other Occasion they were adorned with the Presence not only of two Electors and other Foreign Princes of Germany but that of William III. King of England whom the Rigour of the Season and the great Dangers of a tempestuous Sea but a more dangerous Icy Shoar could not hinder from going thither to further the great Deliverance of Europe that he had so gloriously begun and already so far carried on as we have in some measure traced in our foregoing Discourse and where he represented to the Congress That the Imminent Dangers they found themselves in sufficiently discovered the Errors that had been committed so as there was no other Admonition than that necessary for their taking more just and better Measures That it was not a time to deliberate but to act in the Circumstances they were in That the Enemy was Master of all the chief Fortnesses that were the Barrier of the common Liberty And that he would very quickly possess himself of the rest if a Spirit of Division Slowness and particular Interest continued among them That every one ought to remain perswaded that their respective particular Interests were comprized in the general One That the Enemies Forces were very strong and that they would carry things like a Torrent before them And that it was in vain to oppose Complaints and fruitless Clamours or unprofitable Protestations against Vnjustice That it was neither the Resolutions of a Barren Dyet nor the Hopes of some Men of Fortune arising from frivolous Foundations but Soldiers strong Armies and a prompt and sincere Vnion between all the Forces of the Allies that must do and these too must be brought to oppose them without any delay if they would put a stop to the Enemies Conquests and snatch out of his Hands the Liberty of Europe which was already held by him under a heavy Yoke That as for himself he protested to them That he would neither spare his Credit Forces nor Person to concur with them in so just and necessary a Design And
that he would come in the Spring at the Head of his Troops faithfully to make good his Royal Word which he had so solemnly passed unto them But tho' this heartening Speech and generous Resolution in the King brought every one of the Assembly to promise for his own part to furnish as many Troops as he could to oppose the Enemy and to concur unanimously in the Execution of so noble a Design this did not discourage France For the French King thinking the only way he could take to divert the Counsels that had been taken against him was if it were possible to strike a Damp into the Confederates and by some signal Action thro' the Terror of his Name and his Arms to keep back the rest of Europe that was not yet engaged against him he divided his Armies into two formidable Bodies and early even in March the first of them advanced both by Sea and Land and came to the Territories of Savoy with a Resolution to besiege Nice of which we shall give you a short Account before we come to the other Body in Flanders The Army under Monsieur Catinat invested the Place on the 13th of the said Month from whence he sent 3 Batallions to Villa Franca who basely surrendred after the firing of only one Cannon which killed a Captain but the Castle which is seated upon a Rock and environed with good Bastions and a large Moat stood it out yet and so the French invested it on the side of the Sea but could carry on no more than a simple Battery raised of great Barrels Faggots and Sacks of Earth upon which they planted their Mortars and great Guns This the Garrison observing after two days march'd out with all Ensigns of Honour and the disciplined Soldiers were sent by Sea to Final On the 24th the Fort of St. Auspice was also given up without making any Resistance and upon the same Condition as Villa Franca Another Fort called the Montalban did the same thing after they had stood a Battery of one day which now gave the French an Opportuny to attack Nice in earnest wherein they met with a greater facility than they expected For on the 26th the Consuls of the City sent their Deputies to Catinat who agreed with him at a certain Hour and upon certain Signals to receive the French King's Men into the City without the Governour 's Privity of which the other having notice attempted to make himself Master of one of the Gates to prevent the Design But the Citizens being resolved to secure their Houses from the Ravage of the Bombs had taken their Measures and being got to their Arms fired upon the Governour 's Detatchments and then having given their signal the French entred and took possession of the City about Mid-night having promised the Deputies before that the City should enjoy all their Privileges and Immunities as formerly The Governour of the Castle finding how things went endeavoured to fire the City-Magazine but failed and being threatned that if he shot against the City the Garrison should have no Quarter that did not deter him but that he plaid all the 27th day upon the chief Governour 's House and one of the Convents But the French made 3 Attacks upon the Castle which were carried on with great Vigour notwithstanding the badness of the Way and on the 30th one of their Magazines set fire to a Magazine of Powder therein which spread it self in a Moment through all the Castle and blew up not only a good part of it but killed above 600 of the Garrison and about 50 of the Besiegers in their Trenches by the Pieces of Stone and Timber which the Powder carried thither So that the Governour what with this sad Disaster and that the French had made themselves now Masters of the covered Way and second Inclosure thought it high time to capitulate which he did on the 2d of April and after all got honourable Terms But the French did not conceive what was doing in Savoy to be enough and therefore to give the Confederates a convincing Proof of their readiness not only to answer but to attack them in a most sensible Part They invested the strong City of Mons on the 15th of March before which Place the French King notwithstanding all the disswasions as was said of Madam de Maintenon to the contrary arrived the 21st in Person and took a round about the Town being accompanied by the Dauphin the Duke of Orleans and the Duke de Chartres Whereupon next day the Trenches were begun for draining the Morass and other Trenches were begun to divert the Course of the Troville and to force it to run on the other side By the 26th the Trenches were advanced within an 150 Paces on each side and the same day the Mill of Hion was attack'd with the redoubt that covered it and after a double Repulse was carried by the French by main Force with considerable Loss on each side But things did not end here for the French having raised large Batteries with at least 25 Mortars they play'd both from the one and the other incessantly and made terrible havock in the Town and notwithstanding the stout Resistance of the Besieged the French were advanced so far by the 1st of Apr. year 1691 as to be able to fill up the Moat of the Horn-work and attack it which began about 3 in the Afternoon and after the Loss of a great many Men began their lodgement thereupon But when it was almost half done the besieged headed by some of their stoutest Officers attempted to beat them off and in effect constrained the Granadeers and the Guards to give way yet at last the Besiegers with the loss of about 200 Men regained their Post and push'd on the Siege with great Vigour and the rather because they heard the King of England was come to Vilvord with the Confederate Army with an intention when the Forces came up to attempt to relieve Mons though indeed there was little likelihood of it all things being so unprovided as they were and not so much as the necessary Carriages ready for the Expedition which neglect was laid to the Charge of the Marquess de Castinaga Governour of the Spanish Netherlands But the Besiegers had not for all that by the 8th of Apr. and probably could not in several days longer have made such a Progress in the Siege as necessitated the Garrison to capitulate tho' the last beat a Parley that very day But the Truth of the whole Matter was That they could not do well otherwise For first the Monks and Ecclesiasticks who were known to be Friends to France and by their instigation the Burghers of the Town were importunate with the Governour to capitulate and upon his refusal threatned to open the Gates to the Enemy and deliver both him and his Garrison into the Besiegers Hands so that in short notwithstanding all his and Colonel Fagel's efforts to the contrary
for their March they paying for the said Provisions or else that they may take it out of their owâ— Magazines XII THAT all the Troops of Horse and Dragoons that aâ— in the Counties of Cork Kerry and Clare shall have the Benefit of this Capitulation and that such as will pass inâ— France shall have Quarters given them in the Counties 〈◊〉 Clare and Kerry a-part from the Troops commanded by General Ginckle until they can be Shipped and within theâ— Quarters they shall pay for all things excepting â—orragâ— and Pasture for their Horses which shall be furnished Grâ—â—is XIII THOSE of the Garrison of Sligo that are joyn'd to thâ— Irish Army shall have the Benefit of this Capitulation anâ— Orders shall be sent to them that are to Convoy them 〈◊〉 to bring them hither to Limerick the shortest way XIV THE Irish may have Liberty to Transport 900 Horse including Horses for the Officers which shall be transportâ— Gratis And as for the Troops that stay behind they shâ— dispose of themselves as they shall think fit giving 〈◊〉 their Arms and Horses to such Persons as the General 〈◊〉 appoint XV. IT shall be permitted for those that are appointed to take care for the Subsistence of the Horse that are willing to go into France to buy Hay and Corn at the King's Rates where-ever they can find it in the Quarters that are assign'd for them without any Lett or Molestation and to carry all necessary Provisions out of the City of Limerick And for this purpose the General will furnish convenient Carriages for them to the Place where they shall be imbarked XVI IT shall be lawful to make use of the Hay preserved in the Stores of the County of Kerry for the Horses that shall be imbarked and if there be not enough it shall be lawful to buy Hay and Oats where-ever it shall be found at the King's Rates XVII THAT all Prisoners of War that were in Ireland the 28th of September shall be set at Liberty on both sides and the General promises to use his Endeavours that the Prisoners that are in England and Flanders shall be set at Liberty also XVIII THE General will cause Provisions and Medicines to be furnished to the Sick and Wounded Officers Troops Dragoons and Souldiers of the Irish Army that cannot pass into France at the first Imbarkment and after they are cured will order them Ships to pass into France if they are willing XIX THAT at the Signing hereof the General will send a Ship express into France and then besides will furnish two small Ships of those that are now in the River of Limerick to Transport two Persons into France that are to be sent to give Notice of this Treaty and that the Commanders of the said Ships shall have Orders to put a Shore at the next place of France where they shall make XX. THAT all those of the said Troops Officers and Others of what Character soever that would pass into France shall not be stop'd upon the Account of Debt or any other Pretence XXI IF after Signing this present Treaty and before the Arrival of the Fleet a French Packet-Boat or other Transport-Ship shall arrive from France in any other part of Ireland the General will order a Pass-port not only for such as must go on board the said Ship but to the Ships to come to the nearest Port to the Place where the Troops to be Transported shall be quartered XXII THAT after the Arrival of the said Fleet there shall be a free Communication and Passage between it and the abovesaid Troops and especially for all those that have Passes from the chief Commanders of the said Fleet or from Monsieur Tumeron the Intendant XXIII IN Consideration of the present Capitulation the Town of Limerick shall be delivered and put into the Hands of the General or any other Person he shall appoint at the Time and Days hereafter specified viz. the Irish Town except the Magazines and Hospital on the Day of Signing the present Articles and as for the English Town it shall remain together with the Island and the free Passage of Thomond-Bridge in the Hands of those of the Irish Army that are in the Garrison or that shall hereafter come from the Counties of Cork Clare Kerry Slego and other Places above-mentioned until there be Convenience found for their Transportation XXIV AND to prevent all disorders that may happen between the Garrisons that the General shall place in the Irish Town which shall be delivered to him and the Irish Troops that shall remain in the English Town and Island which they may do until the Troops be imbarked on the first 50 Ships shall be gone for France and no longer they shall intrencâ— themselves on both Sides to hinder the Communication of the said Garrisons And it shall be prohibited on both Sides to offer any thing offensive and the Parties offending shall be punished on either Side XXV THAT it shall be lawful for the said Garrison to march out all at once or at different times as they can be imbarked with Arms Baggage Drums beating Match lighted at both ends Bullet in Mouth Colours flying Six Brass Guns such as the Besieged will choose two Mortar-pieces and half the Ammunition that is now in the Magazines oâ— the said Place And for this purpose an Inventory of all the Ammunition of the said Garrison shall be made in the presence of any Person that the General shall appoint the next day after the present Articles shall be Signed XXVI ALL the Magazines of Provisions shall remain in the Hands of those that are now imployed to take care of the same for the Subustence of those of the Irish Army that will pass into France And that if there shall not be sufficient iâ— the Stores for the Support of the said Troops while they stay in this Kingdom and are crossing the Seas that upon giving Account of their Number the General will furnish them with sufficient Provisions at the King's Rates and that there shall be a free Market at Limerick and other Quarters where the said Troops shall be And in case any Provisions shall remain in the Magazines of Limerick when the Town shall be given up it shall be valued and the Price deducted out of what is to be paid for the Provisions to be furnished to the Troops a Ship-board XXVII THAT there shall be a Cessation of Arms at Land and also at Sea with respect to the Ships whether English Dutch or French design'd for the Transportation of the said Troops until they be return'd to their respective Harbours and that on both Sides they shall be furnish'd sufficiently with Pass-ports both Ships and Men And if any Sea Commander or Captain of a Ship or any Officer Troop Dragoon Soldier or other Person shall act contrary to this Cessation the Persons so acting shall be punished on either side and Satisfaction shall be made for the Wrong done Officers shall be sent to the Mouth
of the River of Limerick to give notice to the Commanders of the English and French Fleets of the present Conjuncture that they may observe the Cessation of Arms accordingly XXVIII THAT for the Security of the Execution of this present Capitulation and of each Article herein contain'd the Besieged shall give the following Hostages And the General shall give XXIX IF before this Capitulation is fully executed there happens any change in the Government or Command of the Army which is now commanded by General Ginckle all those that shall be appointed to command the same shall be obliged to observe and execute what is specified in these Articles or cause it to be executed punctually and shall not act contrary on any Account whatsoever Octob. 91. Baron De Ginckle To say nothing of other things in this Place you see that â—s many of the Irish Army as were willing of themselves to â—e transported into France might freely do it But the General on the 5th of Oct. receiving a Letter from a Lieuâ—enant-Colonel in the Irish Army wherein he complained â—e was imprisoned for denying to go into France he took it â—ery ill and ordered 4 Guns to be carried down immediately and planted upon Bolls-Bridge saying in some Heat He would teach them to play Tricks with him which Sarsfield hearing he came to the English Camp and several sharp Wordâ— passed between the General and him Sarsfield saying aâ— last That he was then in the General 's Power Not so replied the other but you shall go in and do the best you can But at last all things were quiet and the Prisoner enlarged and as many of the Irish as would go were some time after shipped off for France where upon their Arrival they were saluted with a comforting Letter from the late King James directed to Lieutenant-General Sheldon then the Oâ—ficer in Chief with them which was to this Effect JAMES REX HAving been informed of the Capitulation and Surrender 〈◊〉 Limerick and of the other Places which remained to 〈◊〉 in our Kingdom of Ireland and of the Necessities which foâ—â— the Lords Justices and the General Officers of our Forces theâ— unto We will not defer to let you know and the rest of the â—â—â—ficers that come along with you that we are extreamly satisâ— with your and their Conduct and of the Valour of the Soldieâ— during the Siege but most particularly of your and their Decâ—â—ration and Resolution to come and serve where we are And 〈◊〉 assure you and order you to assure both Officers and Soldiers 〈◊〉 are come along with you that we shall never forget this 〈◊〉 Loyalty nor-fail when in a Capacity to give them above othâ—â— particular Marks of our Favour In the mean time you are 〈◊〉 inform them that they are to serve under our Command and 〈◊〉 our Commissions and if we find that a considerable number is 〈◊〉 with the Fleet it will induce us to go personally to see them 〈◊〉 Regiment them Our Brother the King of France hath alreâ—â— given Orders to Cloath them and furnish them with all Necesâ—ries and to give them Quarters of Refreshment So we bid 〈◊〉 heartily farewel Given at our Court at St. Germâ—â— the 27th of November 1691. And thus ended this famous Irish War with so much 〈◊〉 more Glory and Advantage to the English in that the 〈◊〉 were so powerfully supported in it by the French Kiâ—â— who thought it much to his Interest to divert their 〈◊〉 that way whose Ancestors had done such terrible things 〈◊〉 his Country and had sent a good Fleet of Men of War 〈◊〉 Store-Ships to the Relief of this last Town which arriâ—â— in Dingle-Bay but a day or two after the Articles were 〈◊〉 The Scotch Affairs were so inconsiderable this Season thâ— there is nothing worth mentioning from thence neithâ—â— was there any thing extraordinary hapned by Sea tho' the Fleets on each side were very powerful and that one should think the French elated with their last Years Success might have adventured a second Fight now But they knew what they did well enough for they had another-guess Force and Admiral too to deal with now and they had another Game to Play which was to intercept our Turkey Fleet which was exceeding Rich and to that end cruised a long time upon the Irish-Coast But as Providence would have it they had been gone but about 10 days from hovering about Kingsale before the other came having all that time been held back by contrary Winds in their Passage from Cales The English Grand Fleet all this time kept another Course but it was not for want of Zeal or Fidelity in the brave Admiral but of Intelligence Yet as soon as the brave Admiral Russel now Earl of Oxford understood that they were got safe into Kingsale he took all the care imaginable for their being convoy'd safely to their respective Ports whither they were bound and then set sail in quest of the Enemy whom he was inform'd were turn'd to their own Coasts But being come within some Leagues of Brest he understood they lay at Bell-Isle secured in such a manner that it was impossible to attack them and so returned towards the English Shore but met with such tempestuous and stormy Weather that the Coronation a brave Ship and to the best of my Remembrance one or two more Ships of less Consideration were lost and the Admiral himself had much ado to get the rest of the Fleet safe into Harbour where now we leave them and come to see where King William was all the while We have already given you an account of the Congress at the Hague the Progress of the French Arms in the Spring both in Savoy and in Flanders and how the King could not engage them then in the latter and so he went for England where he made no long stay before he returned again into the Netherlands to head the Confederate Army which in Foot was somewhat superiour to that of France but in Horse the latter was stronger But tho' his Majesty did all that Man could do to bring Monsieur Luxemburg to an Engagement by several Marches and Countermarches he made as well as Umbrages he gave him of attacking Maubâ—ge or Mons yet all would not do the other as industriously avoiding fighting and would give no Opportunity for it but upon the greatest Disadvantage so that the King after he had first blown up the Fortifications of Beaumonâ— marched the Army towards Aeth from whence he parted on the 16th of Sept. for Loo leaving the Forces under the Command of Prince Waldeck who continued about the aforesaid Place for some time But moving off about the 17th of Sept. towards Benair Monsieur Luxemburg thought it a good Opportunity to fall upon their Rear with a good Body of Horse and the best in France and continued his design'd March so swiftly that upon the 19th he came up with their Rear-guard as they were marching towards
good Officers but of the Infidels they reckoned no less than 18000 Men to have perished in this Battle and almost all their Officers were killed wounded or taken Prisoners and to compleat this terrible Loss there were found not only the Serasquier and principal Aga of the Janizaries among the slain but even the Grand Visier Cupergli who was the most accomplish'd Person in all the Ottoman Empire And this great Defeat of Mahomet's Followers was so much the more remarkable in that their overthrow has been many Years ago calculated by the Learned Brightman out of the Revelations for the present Year However the Successes that attended this great Victory were not so considerable as might have been expected 't is true General Caprara retook Lippa and the Duke of Croy in Sclavonia after he had possest himself of the Castle of Broda march'd to Grandisca which the Turks abandon'd and fir'd upon his Approach as they had done before by Possega and from thence he went to Bagaros whose Garrison after some small Resistance were made to surrender at Discretion by which means all Sclavonia became entirely reduced under the Emperor's Obedience Yet there was but little Progress made in the Siege of Great Waradin tho' the Imperial Troops attack'd it with much Vigour which after all they were forced to turn into a Blockade With this ended the Campaign in Hungary during which Sir William Hussey the King of England's Embassador at the Ottoman Port was negotiating a Peace between the 2 Empires tho' with but little appearance of Success There being nothing at all either considerable as to the War or otherwise memorable as to the Venetians this Year I shall pass on from them to the Poles whose King at the Head of his Army that were about 20000 strong once more fell into Moldavia with a further design of marching that way into Budziack yet the Poles had not advanced far into the former Country but that they were informed a great Body of Tartars had taken the Field and roam'd about their Camp to snap their Convoys which made the King send Prince Lubomirski Mareschal of the Crown with 1500 Horse to observe their Motions Of this the Tartars having Intelligence they laid an Ambuscase for him which succeeded so well on their part that the Prince found himself quickly invironed on both sides and no possibility of retreating without cutting his way thro' Wherefore he sent to give the King immediate Information of his Condition who judging well there was no time to lose set forwards towards the Tartars with all speed But they retreated so fast that he could but do very little Execution upon them Hereupon the Polish Army advanced to Jassi which the Hospodar had again quitted and who stood still firm to the Turkish Interest for all the King of Poland could do to bring him off of it and of which Place the Poles not only took Possession but also of divers others as Roman Nimick and Novacran and after having provided for the Security of them the King thought it convenient to retreat with the whole Army the Season being too far spent to advance any further so that his principal design which was to fall into Budziack came to just nothing However the Castellan of Chelm after having with a Body of Cossacks routed 4000 Tartars who came to relieve it took the Fortress of Sorock seated upon the Neister and this was all that was done before the Army went into Quarters So that now having run through the Course of the Progress of the several Armies this Season there is nothing more remaining but to observe a few Remarkables this Year On the 1st of February died Alexander VIII Pope of Rome being aged 81 Years after he had sat 15 Months and 21 Days in St. Peter's Chair as they call it being Elected the 16th of October 1689. And after 5 Months and an halfs Dispute Cardinal Pignatelli was on Thursday the 12th of July chosen into his Room being then 76 Years and 4 Months old He took the Name of Innocent XII upon him in remembrance of Innocent XI who had promoted him to the Cardinal Dignity on the 1st of Sept. 1681 and of whose Inclination and Interest he had been a long Observer The 16th of July has been very noted for the Death of Monsieur Louvois chief Minister and Secretary of State in France and tho' without Contradiction one of the ablest Heads in Europe yet the Confederates did not find such an Alteration in the French Politicks upon it as some have expected which clearly shews France is a Country not barren of great Statesmen as well as brave Soldiers to say nothing of his Capacity who is at the head of them all The Death of this great Man was sudden for having dined with the Prince d' Espinoy and Madam de Soubize and found himself ill in the King's Chamber he retired to be let Blood but not finding any ease by bleeding in one Arm and being extremely oppressed he would needs be bled in the other and died at the same time This Year was also fatal to John George Elector of Saxony who having the Command of the Confederate Army upon the Rhine dyed at Tubing on the 22d of Sept. He had by Anna Sophia Daughter of Frederick III. King of Denmark John George IV. that succeeded him who was born on the 17th of Oct. 1668. and Frederick Augustus born on the 12th of May since by the Death of his Brother become Elector of Saxony and now confirmed King of Poland year 1692 Now again in conformity to the method we have all along pursued we shall inspect a little into the Affairs of our own Country in the first place before we look into those abroad In Nov. last Year the Parliament began to sit before whom the King laid the Success of his Arms in the intire Reduction of Ireland hoping it was an earnest of future Successes which their timely Assistance to him might procure to them then he urged to them the necessity of a strong Fleet and lastly recommended to them Dispatch of Business which if neglected an opportunity would be lost which could never be reasonably hoped for again But tho' the Parliament upon this occasion promised the most speedy Supplies that could be yet his Majesty did not think there was hast enough made answerable to his Designs abroad and therefore as early as the 10th of Jan. this Year he was pleased after returning his hearty thanks to the Houses for what they had already done to quicken them in their pace with such cogent Arguments that all Bills were ready for signing by the 5th of March when his Majesty passed several Acts and among others one for raising Mony by a Poll-tax and then having told his Parliament of his Intentions to go beyond Sea the two Houses were given to understand that it was his pleasure they should adjourn to the 12th of April The King in
conformity to his Resolutions went for Holland accordingly where he landed on the 16th of March and after some stay at the Hague went to Loo and thence to the Army but of this more by and by Now you are to understand that the King had no sooner turn'd his back but it was rumoured up and down every where that the late King was ready to land in England with a great Army whither he had sent his Declaration setting forth his Right inviting People to joyn him and threatning all that opposed him with severest punishment and that Party was thereupon as uppish as they had been ever impudent The Queen did hereupon give immediate Orders for hastning out the Fleet having the Militia in a readiness and some Forcesd esigned for Flanders were countermanded which together with other Troops remaining then in the Kingdom did in some time after form a Camp near Portsmouth In short 't is not to be doubted but the late King had real thoughts of throwing off the Abdication at this time having a considerable Army posted on the Coasts of Normandy ready to embark as soon as the French Fleet which was hourly expected up the Channel did appear It was thought also that there had been some bold attempts made about this time to infest the Fleet however it were the Admiral 's address and vigilancy kept them clear and brought the Officers unanimously to sign an Address to her Majesty with utmost assurance of their Loyalty which indeed they failed not to shew upon the occasion that now quickly presented it self unto them Whether it was King James and his Irishmens Impatience to possess the Estates of England or some other Intelligence the French King might have to jog him on I know not but Monsieur Tourville with the Fleet had Orders to make up to the Channel and to fight the English and Dutch tho' he was not yet joined by the Thoulon Squadron under d' Estree But when Tourville came there he met with an Entertainment which perhaps he did not dream of The first Intimations whereof we at London had in a Letter from Admiral Russel to the Earl of Nottingham Secretary of State wherein he said THat upon the 19th of May by Three of the Clock in the Morning Cape Barfleur bearing S. W. and by S. Seven Leagues off his Scouts made the Signal for seeing the Enemy the Wind Westerly That by 11 the French bore down and engaged him at some distance and both Fleets continued sighting till half an hour past 5 in the Evening at which time the Enemy towedt away with all their Boats and the English after them That abou 6 there was a fresh Engagement to the Westward of him which he supposed to be the Blue That he could give no further Account at present but only that the French were beaten and that they were steering away for Conquest-Road having a fresh Gale Easterly but extream foggy But tho' it hapned to be a Calm all that Night and Foggy the next Morning yet about 11 it beginning to clear up a little they saw the French Fleet about 2 Leagues from them very much lessened in their Number not seeming to be above 36 Sail after whom they made all the Sail they could but about 10 it grew calm again and about 3 the two Fleets came to an Anchor but weighed about 11 at Night anchored next Morning sailed on the 31st again against the Enemy the Admiral steering towards Barfleur and the Durck and Blue Squadron towards the Race of Alderney thro' which part of the French Fleet escaped the other thinking it not adviseable to hazard the Men of War in the pursuit of them through that dangerous Road tho' Sir John Ashby was afterwards questioned in Parliament about it But Sir Ralph Delaval Vice-Admiral of the Red had better Success for he on the 21st of May burnt under Cape de Wick near the Shoar the Royal Sun wherein was Count Tourville Admiral of the French Fleet carrying 104 Guns the Admirable 102 the Conquerant 80 with 3 more of a lesser Rate while Admiral Russel himself was no less successful in pursuit of another part of the French who hawled in for la Hogue in which Bay he anchored the 21st and next Day stood in so far as that he saw 13 Ships hawled in close with the Shoar Whereupon on the 22d he sent in Vice-Admiral Rook with several Men of War and Fire-ships with the Boats of the Fleet to endeavour to destroy them But the French had got their Ships so very near Land that not any of the Men of War except the small Frigats could do any Service However that Night 6 of the Men of War were burnt and the next Day the other 7 besides several Transport-ships whereof 6 were Three-deck'd Ships and the other carrying from 60 to 76 Guns only one had but 56 and that Ship was overset and utterly lost The Attempt was very difficult and dangerous but it was made with that Conduct and Resolution and the Seamen in the Boats behaved themselves so bravely that they took possession of several of the Enemies Ships and drave the French with their own Guns from their Platforms on the Shoar This Action was so much the more glorious as well as advantageous to the English since it was done in the sight of the French and Irish Camp ready to invade us and the late King was so mortified with the present Disappointment that he seem'd by his Letter to the French King for ever out of hopes to compass his Designs that way and because some may be curious to read it take it as follows Monsieur my Brother I Have hitherto with something of Constancy and Resolution supported the Weight of all the Misfortunes which it has pleased Heaven to lay upon me so long as my self was the only Sufferer But I must acknowledge this last Disaster utterly over-whelms me and I am altogether Comfortless in reference to what concerns your Majesty through the great Loss that has befallen your Fleets I know too well that my unlucky Star it is that has drawn down this Misfortune upon your Forces always Victorious but when they fought for my Interests And this is that which plainly tells me That I no longer merit the support of so great a Monarch and who is always sure to Vanquish when he fights for himself For which Reason it is that I request your Majesty no longer to concern your self for a Prince so unfortunate as my self but permit me to retire with my Family to some Corner of the World where I may cease to obstruct the usual Course of your Prosperities and Conquests which only my Misfortune could interrupt It is not just that the Potentest Monarch in the World and the most flourishing above all others should share in my Disgrace because you are too Generous 'T is better much that I shall only retire till it shall please Omnipotent Providence to be more propitious
du Mont had been formerly engag'd in the same design by the Marquess of Louvois when he was living propos'd it to him again by the order of the Marquess of Barbesieux the Son of Louvois upon which several Projects were drawn up and several Conferences held to have brought it to pass the last Campaign 1691. But being then disappointed they still went on with their Design Granvale being employed to write to du Mont then retir'd to Hanover and encourage him to a second Attempt this present Campaign Soon after Granvale discover'd his Designs to one Leefdale at Paris who seem'd willingly to comply with him but gave notice of it to his Friends in Holland that they might inform his Majesty as du Mont had done to the Duke of Zell who acquainted the King with it But Granvale knowing nothing of all this departs from Paris with Leefdale gives du Mont a Meeting at Vden in Ravestein having in his way at Brussels imparted his Design to one John d' Amours and coming to Einchoven was there seized and carried to Bois le Duc with his Companions Leefdale being first examined declared all the Circumstances of the Conspiracy Granvale's sending du Mont 200 Pistols the last Winter to keep him steady and 10 Duckets from Brussels by Bill of Exchange John d' Amours depos'd That Granvale told him at Brussels he had a great Business to do and being asked what it was and whether he had any thing to say to the King of England he replied To break his Neck and that being warn'd of the Difficulties of the Attempt he answer'd That he had given his Word to the Marquess of Barbesieux and would do it and that he went into the Jesuits Church at Brussels to say a Pater Noster that God would bless his Undertaking Du Mont upon his Examination own'd the Matter of Fact in every Circumstance adding withal That Madam Maintenon was acquainted with the Design and that he acquainted Monsieur Bedal the King of France's Minister at Hanover with it who told him it would be a good Business if it could be done and lent him 50 Crowns for his Encouragement Granvale was the last examined who finding the Business discovered and his own Letters ready to be produced against him confessed all the Circumstances of the Design Upon this Granvale was carried to the Army and put upon his Tryal upon which the Evidence appeared so clear that Granvale himself confess'd so much without naming the Rack that after the Judges had met several times they at last gave Sentence That whereas Bartholomew de Liniere Sieur de Granvale a Native of Picardy had confessed before the Court Martial without any Constraint And it farther appeareth that the Marquess of Louvois late Secretary to the King of France had agreed with du Mont about the Murder of King William upon which the said du Mont presented the Marquess with a Draught of the manner how it might be done That upon the Death of Louvois his Son and Secretary also to the French King the Marquess of Barbesieux revived the said Conspiracy with du Mont and paid him 30 Pistols which his Father had order'd in his Life-time That the Prisoner came acquainted with du Mont at Monsieur Rebenac's House where Monsieur Paparel saying That du Mont would be a fit Person to carry off the King du Mont replied with Execrations That he would carry off the King alive or dead as he had promised Louvois That du Mont having delivered the same or another Project to Barbesieux the Prisoner to prompt the Design had had several Conferences with Barbesieux and Paparel and being told That he should inform du Mont that the King of Great Britain wore a Coat of Mail with which he acquainted du Mont du Mont reply'd 'T was no matter he would kill him for all that That the Prisoner was engaged with one Parker a Colonel to the late King James to execute the same Design and that the said Parker told him he had laid the same Design with the Marquess of Louvois That the Prisoner with the said Barbesieux Paparel Parker and du Mont did agree upon the manner of executing the Design viz. That he and Parker should meet at the grand Guard of the Duke of Luxemburg who was to furnish him with 1500 Horse that du Mont was to watch when the King of England went to Visit the main Guard and there shoot him and that the Prisoner and Parker was to bring him off with the 1500 Horse and that Barbesieux gave the Prisoner an Order to the Duke of Luxemburg to supply him with such a Detachment as he should think requisite for the design That the Prisoner by Order of Barbesieux received 80 Louidores from Paparel and by Barbesieux's Directions gave du Mont 55 out of the Summ. That Barbesieux promised the Prisoner an Annual Revenue of 20000 Livres and to make him a Knight of the Order of St. Lazarus in case the design took Effect That the Prisoner took some measures in order to the design with Monsieur Chamlays Quarter-Master General to the French King That in the mean time Leefdale came acquainted with the Prisoner by the means of one Sterck and discover'd his design to him toward the latter end of March 1692 and afterwards carried him to Barbesieux and Chamlays who told Leefdale in the Prisoners hearing That he should have a great Reward if the Business succeeded and that Barbesieux and Paparel both knew of the Reward which was promised That the Prisoner together with Leefdale and Parker went to St. Germains April 16. 1692. to speak with the late King James about the design who knew of it before And that the Prisoner spake with the late King the late Queen being present at which time King James told him That Parker had acquainted him with the Business adding this farther If you and the rest do me this Service you shall never want That du Mont's Wife delivered several Letters to Barbesieux which she receiv'd from her Husband at Hanover where the Prisoner continuing his Correspondence with him engaged him by Letters of April 20 25. and 12 of May to meet him at Vden in order to take their final Resolution That the Prisoner with Chamlays and Leefdale agreed upon the manner of perpetrating the Assassination That when the King should pass along the Lines or ride out to take a View or when the Army should decamp that du Mont should lie in Ambush and when the King came within 100 Paces he should fire upon him And that Chamlays should be ready with 3000 Horse to bring him off That the Prisoner and Leefdale left Paris the 17th of April last and arrived at Mons within a few days after where they waited for Chamlays but he not coming they resolved to set forward to the place of the general Meeting after which the Prisoner with Leefdale were apprehended at Einhoven All which being maturely examin'd and
to bethink themselves of a new Captain General and this Trust and Honour they unanimously devolved on the serene Doge Morosini who had formerly served the Republick so successfully and which nothing now but his great Age made him seem unwilling to accept of As for the Polish Army I think they made a shift to get into the Field by Sept. and in Oct. to block up Caminiec and 't is well had they done that to purpose for as to any thing else they never went about it And now having run thro' the several Transactions of Europe it 's time to close this Year with a few Particulars About the beginning of the Year died the famous Robert Boyle Esq who was a Philosopher under a particular Character as being addicted to the Study of Natural Philosophy and perhaps never any Man dived so deep into the Knowledge of Nature as himself which yet was so far from being attended in him with that Atheism that is too too usual for such speculative Heads that he was always in his Life time esteemed a very pious Man and sincere Christian of which he gave a most convincing Testimony at his Death by the Legacy he left to have a Monthly Sermon preached against Atheism On the 7th of June hapned a most terrible Earthquake in the Island of Jamaca in the West-Indies which did most prodigious Damage especially at the Town of Port-Royal the best of all the English Plantations and the greatest Mart in that part of the World which was in a manner entirely ruined and not only so but 't was computed no less than 1500 People perished in it And upon the 8th of Sept. following about 2 a Clock we felt an Earthquake also in England and particularly in London the like no Man living knew before but blessed be God it did no harm with us nor upon the Continent where it was felt in the same time and manner On the 24th of Dec. died the most serene Electress of Bavaria at Vienna in the 23d Year of her Age after she had undergone several Discomposures from the 28th of Oct. when she was brought to bed of an Electoral Prince This Year was also fatal to Prince Waldeck Camp-Master-General to his Imperial Majesty and the States and on whom the Emperor conferred the Dignity of a Prince by reason of his Merit for he was a Politick and Able as he was unfortunate and the Services he had done him in Hungary and other places but the same died with him Neither ought we to forget that this Year the Duke of Hanover a Protestant Prince had been advanced to an Elector of the Empire and so a Ninth Electorate constituted thereby year 1693 It may be remembred we left King William in the close of the Campaign going to his Diversions in Holland from whence he returned into England before whose Arrival things were so managed in Ireland by my Lord Sidney Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom that the Parliament there made not only an Act of Recognition of their Majesty's title to that Crown and another to get other Protestants to settle in that Kingdom but one for an additional Duty of Excise upon Beer Ale and other Liquors for the Support of the Government And Scotland seemed very zealous and forward to contribute new Levies or whatever else their Majesties desired And to be sure the Parliament of England that had hitherto on all occasions been ready to promote the King's just designs would not be behind-hand now but took his Majesty's Speech so effectually into their Consideration that before the end of Jan. they passed the Act of Granting to their Majesties an Aid of 4 s. in the Pound for carrying on a vigorous War against France and soon after another that granted certain Rates and Duties of Excise upon Beer Ale or other Liquors for securing Recompences and Advantages in the said Act mentioned to such Persons as should voluntarily advance 1000000 l. for the purposes declared in the Act by paying into the Receipt of his Majesties Exchequer the fore-mentioned Summ before the 1st of May 1693. upon the terms expressly mentioned in the said Act neither did they stop their Handâ— here but proceeded chearfully to other Methods for compleating the necessary Supplies and by the 14th of March the King among others signed two Mony Acts more viz. An Act for Granting to their Majesties certain additional Impositions upon several Goods and Merchandizes for prosecuting the present War with France and an Act for a Review of the Quarterly Pole granted to their Majesties the last Session of Parliament After this the King made a Speech to thank them for what they had done to recommend the Publick Peace to them and Equity in levying what they had so freely given then prorogued the Houses to the 2d of May and in the mean time went himself for Holland But before his Departure did by what Advice I will not determine lay aside Admiral Russel who had beaten the French Fleet last Year and received the Thanks of the House of Commons for it whereof he was then a Member but since made a Peer by the Stile and Title of Earl of Oxford and last Year one of the Lords Justices of England and constituted Henry Killigrew Esq Sir Ralph Delavall and Sir Clovesley Shovel to command the Fleet this Summer The Fleet was numerous and ready pretty early as was also a great Fleet of Merchant-men near 400 Sail in all of English Dutch Hamburgers c. prepared to sail to the Streights under the Convoy of Sir George Rook with a strong Squadron of Men of War with whom the grand Fleet was to keep company till they came to such a Latitude or as was given out in those times by some till they had certain Information where the French Fleet was Which made their Orders discretionary and Sir George who seemed to have some foresight of the Danger exprest himself very loath to part with them But however seeing he could not help it he sailed on and leaving by the way the Vessels bound for Bilboa Lisbon Sr. Tubes and other Ports under Convoy of 2 Men of War which made Sir George have no more with him than 21 now The account of his Expedition as himself sent an Express of it was briefly thus That indeed he had discovered the French Fleet about 20 Leagues short of Cape St. Vincent which made him call a Council of War wherein it was resolved that the Wind being fresh Westerly and giving a fair opportunity to hasten their Passage to Cadiz the Merchants should make the best of their way That upon the Discovery of the Enemies whole Fleet upon the 16th he brought too and stood off with an easie Sail to give what time he could to the heavy Sailors to work away to the Windward sending away the Sheerness to order the small Ships that were under the Shore that they should endeavour to get along the Shore in the Night
least as great as ours and 't is only to their Numbers that the Victory is to be attributed We have of their Prisoners Col. Montrevel Quarter Master-General of the Horse the Marquiss de Montmorenci Colonel and other Officers as well as a great many private Soldiers We have likewise taken divers Colours Standards and Kettle-Drums and except in the Left Wing the Victory was on our side to the last The Troops who are most of them again rallied have Orders part of them to stay at Moncalier and the rest to encamp before this City The Enemy have not made any motion since their Victory and are still in their Camp they have only burnt some Houses about Bainasco This Day was brought hither from Villa Franca by the Po the heavy Artillery that was made use of against Pignerol We apprehended the Enemy would have sent a Detachment thither before it was embark'd All the Baggage which was likewise sent from Villa Franca is come to Moncalier As I am closing my Letter I understand that Col. Montaubon is arrived with about 500 Horse which he rallied and brought from Villa Franca along the Po to cover the Artillery I just now mentioned Turin Octob. 5th But while France was thus Triumphing every where over the Confederates she felt a most dangerous Enemy within her own Bowels that swept away a multitude of her Inhabitants which was Famine which for all the Care the King could take made the Face of the Kingdom look with a most ghastly Countenance and which with something else made her pretty early make Proposals of Peace to the Emperor that in themselves were not contemptible But it was impossible to disjoin him from his Allies and therefore finding it would not do that way it was given out then and I am apt to believe it was so or raised with an Intention that it should be so That new Proposals of Peace were made to the King of Spain the Empire King of England and the Duke of Savoy by which it was offered to restore all the Places taken since the Treaty of Nimeguen and withal to surrender some as they were then fortified But whatever there was in it the Event shew'd it came to nothing And now having in a manner done with the Affairs of the Allies and France we 'll see a little how the Emperor and his Confederates have fared with the Turks this Campaign As for the Poles and Venetians they were so far from doing any thing memorable in their respective Stations against the Insidels that the former instead of favouring the Designs of the Imperialists in Hungary and keeping tight to their Obligations seemed inclinable as was supposed by the Instigations of the King of France to clap up a Peace with the Port And to make such a Disingagement the more plausible the Polish Embassador at Vienna made some odd Propositions by way of Complaint to the Emperor the Purport whereof we can no otherwise give than by the Answer his Imperial Majesty made in these Words HIS Sacred Imperial Majesty our most gracious Lord by the Relation humbly made to him has been acquainted with the Proposals made to his Imperial Ministers at the Conference upon the 8th of May last by the most Serene King of Poland's Extraordinary Embassador the Lord Samuel Proski Knight of Malta and Commendador of Posonia and first with a deep Sense of Gratitude he acknowledges the Glorious Inclination of your Royal Majesty to carry on and indefatigably continue this Sacred War and that Succour so seasonably afforded at the Siege of Vienna Which nevertheless in the most prudent Judgment of your Royal Majesty was deemed more advantagious and more necessary than any other Expedition for the Preservation and Security of the Kingdom of Poland it self However his Imperial Majesty considers it as a Kindness solely conferred upon himself and shall to perpetuity recain the Memory of it most ardently wishing that the same Danger may never so nearly threaten the Kingdom of Poland and more especially Craccovia the Metropolis of it yet faithfully engaging himself to be most ready upon all Occasions even with the Hazard and Detriment of his Provinces to repay the same Assistance and Favour according to the Claim of mutual Confederacy as has not only been formerly granted by him in the most desperate Extremities of the Polish Affairs at what time the said City with the Effusion of much Blood was ransom'd to the Kingdom as many are living yet to remember but what he has the Satisfaction to prove not only by the Testimony almost of all the World but of his own Conscience that is to say That in the present War he has not fail'd in any Duty of a Sincere Friend a Neighbour and Confederate Wherefore though that same unexpected and so little deserved yet so plain an Accusation has been laid to his Charge wherein for so many and much greater Acts of Royal Fraternity as the Lord Embassador alledges no reciprocal regard has been had to the Demands of the most Serene King but that he could enumerate many and those not ordinary Specimens of most Cordial Love Friendship and Good Will Nevertheless though such Commemorations diminish rather the Merit of the Benefit than augment the mutual Correspondencies of Friendship his Imperial Majesty setting those aside has commanded several Answers to be given to the rest of the Heads of the Lord Ambassador's Propositions But whether this or somewhat else gave the K. of Poland full Satisfaction or that some other Accident diverted that Crown from proceeding in the separate Negotiation of a Peace with the Turks there was little more heard of it But which way soever things stood with the Imperial Court in relation to their Allies they were not a whit daunted but after having carried the Fortress of Jeno in Vpper Hungary towards the beginning of the Summer they made all things ready to besiege Belgrade The Duke of Croy had the chief Command of the Imperial Army this Year who towards the latter end of July invested the Town but the Trenches were not opened till the 13th of Aug. at Night which were carried on towards the Counterscarp the Besieged the same Day making a numerous Sally as they did also on the 17th but were repulsed both times with considerable Loss as they were also the two following Days upon the same occasion while the General in the mean time ordered a strong Detachment of Horse and Foot to go and lay a Bridge over the Danube and to raise 5 Forts on each side the River to stop the Enemies Fleets On the 21st they began to build the said Bridge from whence as well as from the Imperial Fleet they play'd furiously upon that of the Enemy while they carried on their Trenches within 100 paces of the Counterscarp and finished a great Battery on which they planted 32 Cartouches and some other Pieces of Cannon which being on the 25th reinforced with 10 Mortars they battered the Place next Day with
extraordinary Vigour and good Success and so on till the 27th when the Fort on which the Turks had planted Cannon from whence they play'd with great Fury on the Besiegers was utterly ruined And this encouraged the latter to work hard on a Battery which they had begun to raise on the Left Hand to ruine the Out-works of the Turks on that side and though the Turks made stout Resistance and made no less than 14 Mines 11 of them were discovered and the Besiegers discontinued their Works till they had found the other 3 which yet did not discourage the Turks who hourly expected Relief to come up Of this the Imperialists were sensible also so that on the 31st of Aug. a Council of War was held and Two Expresses sent away one to General Veterani and the other to Colonel Kiba with Orders for the latter to march with all the Men under his Command near Minoviza for the Security of that River and in the mean time the Siege went on and on the 7th of Sept. a General Assault upon the Counterscarp was resolved on But all things not being ready till it was late though the Attack was made with wonderful Bravery the Turks who had in the mean time Intelligence of it and had made Provision accordingly made such an obstinate Defence that what with that and the Darkness of the Night they failed to carry it Whereupon the General understanding the Grand Visier with 80000 Men was marching up it was on the 10th resolved in a Council of War to raise the Siege which was done accordingly and the Retreat made without so much as the Loss of one Man though the Enemy failed not to pursue them The Grand Visier having thus gained his Point sat down contented without undertaking any Enterprize And so the Campagne terminated without any other Action saving that the Ban of Croatia was said to have taken a considerable Town in Bosnia which I do not find named any where and that the Count of Heidersheim routed a considerable Body of Turks and Tartars near Guila killed several of them burnt all their Provision and took above 2000 Camels and Horses from them We have made so little a Digression about the Affairs of Europe on the Turkish side that it will be needless here to recapitulate what has been already said of things nearer Home in order to a better View of the little that is yet remaining only I desire it may be remembred how successful the Frenâ—â— King's Arms have been by Land and unfortunate our Fleeâ— at Sea which the States of Holland were so sensible of thaâ— they took an early Resolution considerably to augment boâ—â— their Army and Navy for which the King thanked them 〈◊〉 their Assembly before his coming over for England and after his Arrival to shew particularly the Dislike he had of the Sea-Proceedings did the Day before the Meeting of the Parliament declare in Council That he had appointed the Right Honourable Edward Russel Esq to be admiral of the Fleet and on the 7th of Nov. which was the Day of the Parliament's meeting delivered himself to them in the following Speech My Lords and Gentlemen I Am always glad to meet you here and I could heartily wish that Our Satisfaction were not lessened at present by Reflecting upon the Disadvantage We have received this Year at Land and the Miscarriages in our Affairs at Sea I think it is evident that the former was only occasioned by the great Numbers of our Enemies which exceeded Ours in all Places For what relates to the latter which has brought so great a Disgrace upon the Nation I have resented it extreamly And as I will take care that those who have not done their Duty shall be punished so I am resolved to use My Endeavours that Our Power at Sea may be rightly managed for the future And it well deserves Our Consideration Whether We are not defective both in the Number of Our Shipping and in proper Ports to the Westward for the better Annoying our Enemies and protecting Our Trade which is so essential to the Welfare of this Kingdom My Lords and Gentlemen I am very sensible of the good Affection wherewith you have always assisted Me to support the Charges of this War which have been very great And yet I am perswaded that the Experience of this Summer is sufficient to convince Vs all That to arrive at a good End of it there will be a Necessity of encreasing Our Forces both by Sea and Land the next Year Our Allies have resolved to add to Theirs And I will not doubt but you will have such regard to the present Exigency as that you will give Me a suitable Supply to enable me to do the like I must therefore earnestly recommend it to you Gentlemen of the House of Commons to take such timely Resolutions as that your Supplies may be effectual and Our Preparations so forward as will be necessary both for the Security and the Honour of the Nation The House of Commons quickly came to an unanimous Resolution to support Their Majesties and likewise shewed a good Disposition to comply with the King's Desires in the Increase of his Forces both by Sea and Land But at the same time they did not forget to spend some time in the Examination of the Mis-carrying of the Smyrna Fleet conâ—erning which they came to this Resolve That the House was of Opinion that there had been a notorious and treacherous mismanagement in that Affair But it is great pity the Rogues had not been found out and hanged for their Pains However Bembow's Bombing and Burning some part of St. Maloes about this time gave some sort of Contentment to Mens Minds tho' it was no Reparation of the Loss With this Action we shall close up the Year on the last day whereof the brave Prince Lewis of Baden landed at Gravesend from whence he went to Whitehall and thence to Kensington to wait upon his Majesty who received him with great Civility and Respect year 1694 His Majesty while the Parliament was deliberating upon Raising the necessary Supplies for the Navy and Standing Army and such Additional Force as was to be levy'd was pleased to entertain this Prince with the Diversions of Hunting Hawking and other the like innocent Recreations to say nothing of the weightier Affairs of the War concerted between them And the Bill of 4 s. in the Pound for carrying on a vigorous War against France being ready he gave the Royal Assent to it on the 25th of Jan. as he did some Days after to a Bill for Granting several Rates and Duties of Excise upon Beer Ale and other Liquors for Securing certain Recompences to such Persons as should voluntarily advance the Summ of 1000000 l. towards carrying on the War against France But before the Signing of any more Acts came the unfortunate News of our Loss in the Mediterranean which tho' a most melancholly Story yet it is not
Grand Master of the Tutonick Order to be their Prince and Bishop both which sent to the Emperor and Court of Rome about it and this was as likely to imbroil the Confederates Affairs as any thing that had yet hapned the last named of the Candidates or Princes Elect being no less than Brother-in-Law to the Emperor who we might reasonably suppose would espouse his Cause with all the Interest he had as the other was Brother to the Elector of Bavaria who besides his own Interest that was considerable had 't was generally believed that of the King of England and the States of Holland on his side But while things hung thus in suspence and that particularly both Parties were expecting the Decision of the See of Rome Heaven decided the Contest in an unexpected manner by the Death of the Grand Master of a certain contagious Distemper that had for some time been rise in the City of Liege and so the Elector of Cologn in some time after got the peaceable Possession of the Principality which together with the great Power of the Confederates in Flanders made things look with an ill Aspect upon the Affairs of France For the Confederate Army now under the King's Command encamped at Mont St. Andrew where they all joined amounting in Horse and Dragoons to no less than 31800 Men all very well Mounted and Armed and of the Dragoons more especially it may be said that such a Body either for Number or the good Order they were in has hardly ever been in the Field and in Foot to 51000 besides a Body of about 7000 Men under the Command of Count Thien near Ghendt But tho' the French were not far inferiour in Number yet the Dauphine used all his Endeavours to decline Fighting and the King put him hard to it so that the French Army was in a manner couped up by him for a time under the Walls of their Garrison of Huy and reduced to considerable streights where we shall leave them and the Confederates in their respective Camps and where they continued while the English Fleet in the Channel were Bombing the Maritime-Towns of France to the great Consternation of the poor Inhabitants as well as their utter Ruin And what good Mein soever the French Court put upon it it was a business that made them Heart-sick as afterwards appeared when they came to Bombard Brussells Diep in Normandy was the first Town that felt the Fuâ—â— of the English Bombs before which my Lord Berkley oâ— the 12th of July brought the Fleet as near as possible and sent 6 Ment of War and 9 Bomb Galliots away to take their Stations and from that day at Night till 4 the next Morning they threw into the City 1100 Bombs and Carcasseâ— that set the Houses on Fire in several places so that the Townsmen not knowing whither to run and despairing to quench it took a fright and began to run away in Disorder which made the Marquess of Bearon send 2 Battalions of the Militia of Bretaign to encourage the Inhabitants but the Disorders were so great and the Fire so terrible that the Soldiers fled with the rest So that if the Confederates had known what had passed they might in all probability have possest themselves of the Place however they so ruin'd it that there was hardly a House left unshattered but the greatest part were intirely reduced to Ashes From hence the Fleet allarming all the Coast sailed towards Havre de Grace where on the 26th about 3 in the Afternoon they begaâ— to approach the Town under the Direction of Captain Bembâ— into which between 4 and 5 they began to throw their Bombs which they continued till next Morning when the Wind blowing hard they gave over shooting but tho' Havre de Grace was not entirely ruined as Deâ—p was yet a great part of it was Burnt and so considerable Damage done to the Place as was not soon repaired And if the French were thus put to it on the Coast their Army was not a little streightned by that of the Confederates in the Netherlands for though the Dauphine declared he had received Orders from his Father not to budge from his Camp at Vignamont as long as the Confederates continued at theirs at Mont St. Andre yet being not able possibly to subsist there any longer he resolved to decamp first and though he thought to have concealed his design by sending forth several little Bodies of Horse under Pretence of Forraging to reinforce the Marquess of Harcourt's Body on the other side of the Meuse who was to seize the advantageous Post of Picton and by that means get before the Confederates yet the King who was aware of the Design decamped before him on the 8th of Aug. and soon gained the Posts of Picton where there was not Forrage for above 4 days and being informed of the Enemies March moved towards Neville thence to Lessines having sent Orders before for the Baking of Bread at Ghent and Aeth On the 12th the Army posted it self at Chieere from whence that Evening a numerous Detachment of Horse and Foot with some Pieces of Cannon went to possess themselves of a Post upon the Scheld and the Army followed on the 14th with an intention to have passed the River at Pont Espeires But tho' the Confederates made great haste to get thither the French made more to prevent them For on the 15th the Elector of Bavaria having advanced towards Pont de Eschaieâ—â—e with a numerous Detachment in order to attack the Passage of the River he found the French to the number of 30000 Men entrenched on the other side up to their Teeth so as that he did not think it convenient to proceed But that hasty March of the French cost them more Men and Horses than they have been willing to own they had lost in some of their Battles However it must be said it was a business that was worth while to hinder the Confederates to enter into French Flanders where if they had once done so they would in all probability together with some important Conquest have secured some Winter Quarters at least Besides other losses that would almost inevitably have followed And this the French King was so sensible of that he writ a Letter with Orders for the reading it at the Head of the Army wherein he returned thanks in the first place to the Princes of the Blood then to the Mareshal de Luxemburg as having a principal share in the Conduct to the rest of the Marshals of France and all the General Officers and lastly to all the French and Swiss Infantry Regiment by Regiment beginning with that of the Guards and acknowledged how much beholding he was to their Zeal and infinite Diligence for the Preservation of their Country Lives and most inportant Places on the Sea-side and assured them he would acknowledge upon all Occasions that same Testimony of their Affection and desired a continuation of it But
side and 3 Squadrons of Eâ—pinger's Horse upon the other All this was so contrived by the Prince from the Right to the Left that the Army disappeared all at once just as if it had vanished out of the Enemy's sight The Prince and the Duke of Wirtemberg with other Generals kept to the Retrenchments till all were marched off forming with their own Domesticks and Attendants a little Body of Horse still to impose upon the French and followed the Army as soon as it was all got off The Enemy finding themselves thus so strangely amused did what they could to overtake the Confederates and fall upon their Rear And particularly Montal endeavoured to attack that Body which was commanded by my Lord Overkirke whom he overtook with some Squadrons of Horse and Dragoons but the Defiles were good and Brigadeer Collier had ordered all the Grenadiers of his Brigade to the Rear of all to face the Enemy from time to time as they advanced in their Defiles which was so well contrived that the Grenadiers with their Fire kept the French at a Distance and made good the Retreat They attempted the same thing upon the Rear of the Body of Foot commanded by the Count de Noyelles with the like ill Success However two Squadrons of their Dragoons putting green Bows in their Hats which was the Confederates Signal of Battle and speaking some French some English as if they had been some of their own Rear-Guard did by that means towards Evening come up close to their Rear and marched along with them a little way till they came to a convenient place when they fired upon them first and then fell in with their Swords which put the first Battalion into some Disorder But the other facing about immediately constrained them to retire after they had killed a few Men which was inconsiderable in Comparison of this great and renowned Retreat which was as fine a piece of Art of War as can be read in History and can hardly be parallell'd in it and which shewed more the Art Conduct and Prudence of a General than if the Prince had gained a considerable Victory And this was the Sense His Majesty was pleased to express of it in a Letter he writ to Prince Vaudemont on this Occasion which is the same that follows COUSIN YOU cannot believe how much your Letter of Yesterday-Noon which I received this Morning by Break of Day disturbed me On the other side how joyful I was upon the Receipt of the other Letter dated from Marykirk near Ghent this Day at 3 in the Morning I am much obliged to you for in this Retreat you have given greater Marks of a General consummate in the Art of War than if you had won a Battle I absolutely approve your Conduct upon this Occasion and hope it will hinder the Enemy from undertaking any more of the same nature Nevertheless I shall be impatient till I hear which Way they bend their March since this Blow has failed them I remain always c. The Prince having made his Retreat in this Order and the Army being posted at Deynse where a Garrison was left under Brigadeer O Farrell as Dixmude was with a good Number of Men committed to the Care of Major-General Ellenburg and got as far as Nivelle in his Way to Ghent there were Orders given to halt and rest there that Night But the Prince as he himself afterwards said remembring a Maxim of that great General Charles the Fourth Duke of Lorrain his Father That when an Army is upon the Retreat it must be sure to retreat out of the Enemy's Reach they were ordered to decamp again and the whole Army by 2 next Morning were got to Marykirk under the Walls of Ghent from whence the Prince sent a Reinforcement for the Security of Newport And here at present we leave him as we do the French Army at Roselaer to see what is done at Namuâ— which we shall now prosecute in as concise a manner as we can with little or no Intervention of other Actions till the Surrender of the Town The Besiegers as it has been said having already invested the Place and begun to raise their Lines of Circum vallation this Work because of the great Circuit of Ground it took up kept the Soldiers and Pioneers employed from the 3d of July to the 10th so that on the 11th at Night the Trenches were opened against the Town in two Attacks the one along the Meuse and the other upon the adjacent Rising Grounds the Enemy at the same time making a Sally but they were repulsed with Loss Next Night the Trenches were carried on considerably with no Loss and so on to the 15th when their Batteries were raised And next Day the Trenches next the Meuse were advanced from one side to the other and the Day following they advanced 300 Paces farther at what time the Besieged fired very furiously and made a Sally and after some Resistance retired But upon the 18th they made another Sally about 3 in the Afternoon with 1200 Horse and 4 Squadrons of Dragoons and crossing the Meuse they fell upon the Trenches on the Right Hand of the Bridge belonging to that River took a Re-doubt that was unfinished and only stuffed with Sacks of Wool and fell with great Fury both in Front and Flank upon the Besiegers who were forced at first to give way But resuming fresh Courage they were beaten back with the Loss of 300 of their Men Yet the Combat was also bloody to the Besiegers However the King finding that very Day that the Trenches were advanced within Fuzil-shot of the Counterscarp he ordered the same to be stormed that Evening an Hour before Sun-set which was done by 5 Battalions of the Foot-Guards commanded by Major-General Ramsey seconded by 9 Battalions more of English and Scotch and on the Left by 8 Dutch and other Regiments under the Command of Major-General Salish The Attack was made with extraordinary Bravery and such Success that the French after a Dispute of near 2 Hours were beaten out of their Works The King according to his usual manner remained upon the Place during the whole Action and had divers Persons slain about him and particularly Mr. Godfrey Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England who was come into the Camp to wait upon His Majesty about Mony for the Payment of the Army The Confederates Loss was not very great considering the Resistance the French made but it was too much the Killed and Wounded amounting to near 800 Men. But this did not in the least daunt their Courage so that their Trenches were on 19th advanced to the Village of Bouge towards St. Nicholas Gate The same thing being done also on that side next the Meuse as well above as below with a Design to draw two Parallels along the River on that side next the Suburbs of Jambe and opposite to the Castle-Bridge which made the French who were apprehensive of the Design to set
of the House of Commons that I promise My Self an happy Conclusion of this Session unless you suffer your selves to be mis-led into Heats and Divisions Which being the only Hope Our Enemies have now left I make no Doubt but you will entirely disappoint them by your Prudence and Love to your Country We will leave the Parliament to deliberate upon the mighty Affairs contained in this Speech as we do Admiral Sir George Rook to go into the Streights in the room of Admiral Russel now come home with our great Ships and observe according to our Custom in the Conclusion of the Year what has fallen out that was particularly remarkable in the Course of it that could not well be introduced into the Body of the Story and we find only this that Anselm Francis Frederick de Angelheim Bishop of Mentz departed this Life on the 30th of March being extreamly aged after having held that Bishoprick about 16 Years and was succeeded in the Bishoprick and Electorate by Lothair Francis de Schonborn his Coad jutor and Bishop of Bemberg year 1696 Now we begin with another Year and without the least Recapitulation of what preceded we come to take notice That though our Arms had triumphed abroad in the manner already related yet never was a Nation under such unhappy Circumstances as England at this time where Guineas were at an exorbitant Price and our Silver Coin through the Wickedness of Villanous Men reduced to such a state that nothing but the Wisdom of such a Parliament as then sate and of him that was at the Head of them could possibly have gone through with the Amendment of it But though the matter was managed with admirable Prudence and Celerity so as that an Act was ready and Signed early in Jan. for the remedying the ill State of our Coin Yet it put such a general Stop to Trade and gave such an occasion of Uneasiness to all in general and such an opportunity for the Malecontents to be practising their Villanies against the Government that I dare avow it would have been endured in no other Reign save that of our good and heroick Kingâ— nor so well then neither save something that happened in consequence of it which gave an opportunity to secure all that were suspected to be troublesome and which turned the worst of Mischiefs to the best Effects according to the Disposition of Divine Providence that had always appeared very remarkable in the preservation of that Sacred Life whom we shall never sufficiently value But to give a little Sceach of what was preludious to the Discovery of that damnable Design against His Majesty's Person we are to understand that the French finding themselves considerably upon the losing Hand last Campagne not only made divers new Levies this Winter but divers Troops filed off daily towards the Sea-Coast which gave great Umbrage to the Confederates and especially to Holland as fearing they might be designed to infest the Coasts of Zealand and Flanders But the Design was quickly unravel'd for many Days in February had not been gone but that it was a publick Discourse in France That the Intent was to re-establish the late King upon the Throne and that the Design was so far concerted that nothing more remained but the Winds and the Waves to do their part In order to this the late King on the 18th of February took Post for Calais and immediately upon his Arrival the Troops Artillery and Stores were ordered to be put on Board with the utmost Diligence while News was impatiently expected from England to set Sail And so Cock-sure were they in France of the Success of the Enterprize that the Duke of Orleans in consideration of his near Alliance with the Duke of Savoy and with an assured Prospect of the Overthrow of most of the Confederates sollicited that Prince in a very pressing manner to make his Peace betimes But if they were so mightily alarmed before on the other side of the Water at these Preparations they were much more now when they heard of the late King's Arrival at Calais which made the Duke of Wirtemberg immediately to dispatch one of his Aids de Camp for England to give his Majesty notice of all this The Prince de Vaudemont who was then at Brussels with the Elector of Bavaria both dispatched Expresses also to the King by way of Holland upon the same account But the Duke of Wirtemberg's Messenger going directly by the way of Newport with great Difficulty in escaping the Enemy got to Court first which was on the 22d of Feb. and acquainted his Majesty that the Duke had stopped all the Ships in the Harbor and Canal of Ostend as well as that of Bruges in order to transport the Forces over for his Service And 't was further said he should send word That in case he did not hear quickly from his Majesty he would run the hazard of bringing them over The States of Holland made the like Preparations at Sas van Ghent But notwithstanding all the Expedition used by the Duke of Wirtemberg's Aid de Camp the King had received before some certain Intimations not only of the Invasion but also of the Conspiracy against his Person But because such desperate Designs as these are cannot be thought to be concerted in a Day it will be necessary to look a little back and search into the very beginning of it as far as could be discovered from such Hellish Darkness It was as early as the latter end of 1694. that the Embrio of the Villany was contrived and because some might be brought to engage in such an Assassination who otherwise scrupled it unless they had a Commisssion from the late King for that purpose it was agreed that one Mr. Waugh should go visit his Friends the Jacobites in England and to give those of them he most confided in an Account that their Friends in France thought the killing of King William the most effectual means to restore their old Master Jemmy And in order to assure them of his Concurrence in the Fact they should have a Commission from him to command the doing it and an Order to all his general Officers then in England to be aiding and assisting in it To corroborate this Assurance Major Crosby came at the same time over and affirmed he saw the Commission Signed and under Seal in France that it was sent away before him and if it was not already come he was certain it was upon the Road. But however it came about and that the Project was to cut the King off before he went to Holland blessed be God it took not effect Yet that it was really intended is manifest from the Lady Mary Fenwick's Petition praying a Reprieve for Sir John her Husband delivered afterwards to the House of Lords But though His Majesty got safe and escaped the intended Fatal Stroak the restless Spirits of those wicked Men some whereof were born to be hanged would not let
them give over their Villany and therefore they had several Meetings about it and one particularly where were my Lord Aylsbury my Lord Montgomery Sir John Friend Sir William Perkins Sir John Fenwick Mr. Charnock Mr. Cook Captain Porter and Mr. Goodman who came in after Dinner There they consulted of the best way to restore the late K. James and all agreed to send a Messenger over to the late King to desire him to procure of the French King 10000 Men viz. 1000 Horse 1000 Dragoons and 8000 Foot Mr. Charnock was the Person to manage this Affair who said he would not go on a foolish Errand and therefore would know what the Company would do if Foreign Forces could be procured whereupon they all unanimously promised if the late King would come over with such a number of Men as was desired they would meet him at the head of 2000 Horse where-ever he would appoint At the latter end of June 1695. or the beginning of July they had another meeting when after many publick Discourses and private Whisperings Mr. Charnock desiring the Company to acquaint him whether they continued their former Resolutions they assured him they did and would meet him with the number of Men promised at the former Meeting Upon which Mr. Charnock told them he would begin the Journey in a few Days The Invasion being thus promoted by dispatching Mr. Charnock into France that the Assassination might not lag behind it some of the Assassins called to mind that nothing would be attempted in that kind till the Commission which Crosby said was upon the Road was come to their Hands Captain Porter and Mr. Goodman communicated the Project to Sir George Barclay who was then in England and upon his Departure for France telling him what Difficulties they laboured under for want of it and that a longer Delay of the Commission would extreamly embarrass the Affair Sir George not only approved but commended the Design and that such an hopeful Project might not miscarry he promised to use all his Interest when he came to St. Germain's that such a Commission should no longer be wanting This Encouragement from so considerable a Favourite as Sir George Barclay whose Bigottry to the Romish Perswasion and the late King's Interest would prompt them to any thing in favour of him employed all their Heads and opened all their Purses to contribute the last Assistance for the Accomplishment of the Assassination The Beginning of Aug. 1695. brings Mr. Charnock again to London with the unwelcome News That the French King was not in a Condition to spare the Jacobites such a Number of Men as they desired Which being imparted to the Chief of that Unruly and Blood-thirsty Faction the two Branches of the Conspiracy to overthrow the established Government were both laid aside till the approaching Winter should give them another Resurrection But in Nov. 1695 Sir George Barclay with several Officers and Soldiers and 800 l. in Mony came into England and and brought with him a Commission from King James all written with his own Hand to seize King William which Sir William Perkins confessed to a Committee of Parliament he saw But neither Sir George Barclay nor the Commission being yet in the Hands of the Government and the Jacobites ashamed to set up their late King and themselves under the infamous Title of Murtherers they minced the Matter into more relishable Terms and that it was only To levy War upon the Prince of Orange and all his Adherents Others said it was to attack the Prince of Orange in his Winter-Quarters All which are meer Tricks and Evasions invented by the Party to disguise the Horrour of the Action for the very Gloss which they themselves put upon it sets it in its true Light for all the Party knew the meaning of Attacking of the Prince of Orange as appears by Monsieur de la Rue's Oath who deposeth That when the Musquettoon was lent by Mr. Porter to Mr. Pendergrass which would carry six or eight Bullets Mr. King desired him when he shot at His Majesty not to be afraid of breaking the Glasses Sir George Barclay after his Arrival at London lodged in Covent-Garden and kept himself very private till he could speak with Sir William Perkins Captain Vaughan and Mr. Charnock and that the 22 Men who were sent by King James out of France and appointed to obey his Orders were come to London also And now they endeavoured to strengthen their Party by the Addition of more Friends as Mr. de la Rue Mr. Pendergrass Mr. Rookwood Major Lowick Mr. Knightley Mr. Bertram Chambers Durant Cramburne Kendrick Grimes Waugh and Goodman some of which were engaged in the designed Assassination the Year before and were now again confirmed in it As for Captain Porter who has now so honourably and honestly attoned for his former Offences they were sure of him already But to others in whom they had no more than ordinary Confidence they discoursed of the Assassination at a distance and if they found in them any Reluctancy or Indisposition to the Assassination they turned them over to the Invasion-Plot and desired them to be ready to meet their old Master at his Landing But to those whom Wickedness had made fit for any Impression they imparted their Villany in Words at length and so secured the whole Party either to be Rebels or Murtherers Those that came from France knew not what Affair they were sent upon till they arrived at London but were kept in a blind Obedience to Sir George Barclay's Orders as appears by the Depositions of Mr. George Horn who saith That he this Deponent was an Ensign of Foot under the late King James in Scotland and has since served in the Second Troop of Guards in France And about the 14th of Jan. 1695 King James sent for this Deponent and Michael Hore his Comrade and in the Queen's Bed-Chamber told him That he had now an Opportunity of doing something for him as a Reward of his faithful Services That he would send him into England where he should be provided for and that he should follow Sir George Barclay's Orders and in so doing he should take care of him That he had ordered them Mony for their Journey which they should receive from Mr. Caryll the late Queen's Secretary And he farther told this Deponent That he should find Sir George Barclay every Monday and Thursday between Six and Seven at Night in Covent-Garden Square whom they should know by a white Handkerchief hanging out of his Pocket He also told this Deponent That when he came to England he must go by the Name of Jenkins and his Comrade Hore by the Name of Guiney And farther this Deponent saith That Colonel Parker was present and heard all that the late King said and went with this Informant and his Comrade to Mr. Caryll and told him that the King had ordered each of them Ten Lovis de' Ors which would be sufficient to carry them
a Line of Battle passing by Dover-Castle from whence he was saluted by the Earl of Rumney with his Guns and standing over directly for the Coast of Calais and Dunkirk more to the Terror and Amazement of the Enemy than the sudden News of their design was to us And here again I cannot but remark the wonderful Providence of Almighty God for our outward-bound Merchant-ships and their Convoys together with the Squadron design'd for the Streights had been a long time detained by contrary Winds which was very afflicting to our Merchants and all were sorry Sir George Rook could not for this Reason be so soon reinforced as was necessary to enable him to defend the Passage of the Streights against the Naval Preparations that were made at Thoulon But at the same time that they appeared so much concerned at the Obstinacy of these Westerly Winds that had now been fix'd for 2 Months God who sees all things and even the most secret Machinations and Designs of Men provided them for our safety and made that wholsome Physick for us which we imagined to be Poison Thy Way O God! is in the Sea and thy Paths in the great Waters and thy foot-steps are not known In the mean time while these things were doing upon the Sea and that the Admiral was bearding of the French upon their own Coast who durst not now as much as peep out of their lurking Holes The King thought fit to acquaint the two Houses of Parliament with the Conspiracy and what he had done in order to obviate the same and this he did in the following Speech My Lords and Gentlemen I Came hither this Day upon an extraordinary Occasion which might have proved fatal if it had not been disappointed by the singular Mercy and Goodness of God and may now by the Continuance of the same Providence and Our own prudent Endeavours be so improved as to become a sufficient Warning to Vs to provide for our Security against the pernicious Practises and Attempts of Our Enemies I have received several concurring Informations of a Design to assassinate Me And that Our Enemies at the same time are very forward in their Preparations for a sudden Invasion of this Kingdom I have therefore thought it necessary to lose no Time in acquainting My Parliament with these Things in which the Safety of the Kingdom and the Publick Welfare are so nearly concerned that I assure My Self nothing will be omitted on your Part which may be thought proper for Our present or future Security I have not been wanting to give the necessary Orders for the Fleet and I hope We have such a Strength of Ships and in such a Readiness as will be sufficient to disappoint the Inventions of Our Enemies I have also dispatched Orders for bringing home such a Number of Our Troops as may secure us from any Attempt Some of the Conspirators against My Person are already in Custody and Care is taken to apprehend as many of the rest as are discovered And such other Orders are given as the present Emergency of Affairs do absolutely require at this time for the Publick Safety My Lords and Gentlemen Having now acquainted You with the Danger which hath attended Vs I cannot doubt of Your Readiness and Zeal to do every thing which you shall judge proper for Our common Safety And I perswade my self We must be all sensible now necessary it is in Our present Circumstances that all possible Dispatch should be given to the Business before You. The Parliament were so far from being backward to congratulate His Majesty upon the Deliverance that they lost no time in going upon such Methods as might secure him against the like Villanous Attempts for the future To which end they did on the 25th of February enter into an Association to defend his Person and revenge his Death And to that of the Commons the King was pleased to give this Answer That he took it as a most convincing and acceptable Evidence of their Affection and as they had freely associated themselves for their common Safety he did himself heartily enter into the same Association and would be always ready with them and the rest of his good Subjects to venture his Life against all those who should endeavour to subvert the Religion Laws and Liberties of England But because they thought this was not sufficient they proceeded to make other Laws more binding for the King 's and Our Security And First That such as should refuse to take the Oaths of Fidelity to His Majesty should be subject to the Forfeitures and Penalties of Popish Recusants Convict Secondly To inflict Penalties on all that by Writing or otherwise declared that King William was not lawful and rightful King of England Thirdly To ratifie and confirm the Association to disable any from being capable of any Office of Profit and Trust that should not Sign the Association and that whenever it should please God to afflict these Nations by the Death of his present Majesty that the Parliament then in being should not be dissolved thereby but should continue till the next Heir to the Crown in Succession should dissolve them Which last was undoubtedly as great a Stroak to our Enemies abroad as any thing that has fallen out since the Revolution For it cannot be thought the late King should ever flatter himself to that degree of being restored by a Free Parliament But while we were thus securing our selves within the Parliament was not unmindful of raising the necessary Supplies to carry on the War abroad and therefore there were several good Bills prepared for that purpose and signed at several times by his Majesty before the end of April While in the mean time divers of the Assassins were Tried And first Robert Charnock Edward King and Thomas Keys came to their Tryals on the 11th of March and upon a full Hearing and Evidence were all found Guilty of High Treason and having received Sentence of Death accordingly they were upon the 18th of the said Month executed at Tyburn But before they were turned off each of them delivered a Paper to the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex wherein every one of them respectively confess'd himself Guilty of the Crime he was accused of But for the fuller Satisfaction of the Reader and in pursuance to the Design of this Treatise we 'll give you their Papers delivered by them to the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex at the Place of Execution March the 18th Mr. CHARNOCKE's Paper THAT I might avoid Distractions and be Composed as much as possible at the time of my Execution I thought it much more proper to Communicate This to the Sheriffs than to give my self the Uneasiness of speaking leaving it to them to publish if they think convenient for the Satisfaction of the World and in what I have to say I have taken as much care as I could to be short that I might not lose time in my greatest Concern As concerning an
Invasion intended by King James upon England and that there was certain Intelligence of it from Abroad I presume every Body was satisfied and to the facilitating of which I own that my Self and some Others did agree upon the Undertaking To Attack the Prince of Orange and his Guards for which I am now to Suffer but I think my Self obliged by all the Tyes imaginable both of Conscience and Honour to declare That as for any Order or Commission of King James's for Assassinating the Prince of Orange I neither saw nor heard of any but have had frequent Assurances of his having rejected such Proposals when they have been offer'd I confess I did hear that there was a Commission arrived for Levying of War and which was natural to believe if the King was in such a readiness to come over as was reported but if there was any such Authority as that I declare I never saw it As to what regards the Body of the Roman Catholicks I must do them the Justice and which I dare to be positive in That they had no manner of Knowledge of this Design nor do I believe it was Communicated to any other Party of such as are reputed the King's Friends but carried on meerly by a small Number without the Advice Consent or Privity of any Parties whatsoever I ask forgiveness of all the World for what Offences or Injuries I have done to them and I am I bless Almighty God in perfect Charity with all Mankind Robert Charnocke Mr. KING's Paper I Am now within a few Moments of Eternity brought to this Place by the Just Hand of God in Punishment of all my Crimes but particularly of that of which I have been lately Arraigned and for which I stand here Condemn'd but I hope that Goodness of God which has given me a Sense of my Wickedness will accept my Repentance and shew Mercy on me which I hope to obtain thro' the Passion and Merits of my Redeemer upon whom I intirely cast my self And that I may find his Mercy I think my self oblig'd to do Justice to my Neighbour that so none may suffer wrongfully on my Account and therefore as I am soon to Answer the Truth of what I say before the Tribunal of God I First declare That I never saw any Order or Commission of King James's promoting the Asâ—â—ssination for which I am Condemned Neither do I know of any such Order or Commission Secondly That this Design was not undertaken with any General Knowledge or Approbation of any Body of Men either Catholick or Protestant Lastly That I did not engage in it on Presumption of any King-killing Principles that cou'd justifie such an Undertaking but was drawn into it by my own Rashness and Passion for which and all other Sins I heartily beseech God to forgive me And I hope that such who think the Misfortune of their Imprisonment or Trouble is deriv'd from my having been engaged in this Enterprize or such to whom it has any ways given scandal that they will admit me to their Pardon as I freely and heartily forgive all Mankind In this Disposition of a sincere Repentance and true Charity I commend my Soul into the Hands of God and hope to find Mercy from him And for this I beg all your Prayers Edward King Mr. KEY 's Paper I Am now going to appear before the Living God I trust in his Mercy that he will forgive all my Sins committed to this last moment of my Life God is just in all his Judgments and I accept of this Death as the Punishment of my Iniquities I forgive all my Enemies and hope through a hearty Repentance and the Merits of my Saviour to obtain Mercy Have Mercy on me O Father of Mercy and through thy only Son forgive me all my Sins Thomas Key The next turn was Sir John Friend's and Sir Will. Perkins both Tried Condemned and Executed in like manner for the same complicated Fact of the Assassination and Invasion which was owned by them also as appears by their own Words the first in these Terms Sir JOHN FREIND's Paper KNowing that I must immediately give an Account to God of all my Actions and that I ought to be especially careful of what I say in these last Hours I do solemnly profess That what I here deliver is from my very Soul with all the Heartiness and Sincerity of a dying Christian The Cause I am brought hither to suffer for I do firmly believe to be the Cause of God and True Religion and to the best and utmost of my Knowledge and Information agreeable to the Laws of the Land which I have evermore heard to require a firm Duty and Allegiance to our Sovereign and that as no Foreign so neither any Domestick Power can alienate our Allegiance For it is altogether new and untelligible to me that the King's Subjects can depose and dethrone him on any account or constitute any that have not an immediate Right in his Place We ought I think not to do this and surely when it is done to assist him in the Recovery of his Right is justifiable and our Duty And howsoever things may seem at present I do believe I am sure I heartily pray That he shall be one day restored to his rightful Throne and Dominions As for any sudden Descent of his Majesty upon these his Dominions in order to the Recovery of them I declare I had no certain knowledge of it nor can I tell what Grounds there was to believe it so little Reason had I to be in a present Preparation for it I suppose it is not expected I should endeavour to clear my self out of the Assassination which was not the thing alledg'd against me however it was mentioned through what means I know not As it was insinuated to my disadvantage I forgive such as were therein instrumental And I do also from the very bottom of my Soul freely forgive and beg of God to do so too suce as were any ways accessary towards the taking away my Life which I really look upon to be their Misfortune more than mine I profess my self and I thank God I am so a Member of the Church of England though God knows a most unworthy and unprofitable part of it of that Church which suffers so much at present for a strict adherence to Loyalty the Law and Christian Principles For this I Suffer and for this I Die Though I have a perfect Charity for People of all Professions and do heartily wish well and would endeavour so to do to all my Fellow-Subjects of what Persuasions soever And indeed I have met with a great deal of Uprightness and Sincerity among some People of very different Opinions in Religious Matters And I hope and desire it may not be taken as an uncharitable Censure or undue Reflection that I objected to the Legality of the Popish Evidence being advised so to do for my better Security upon the Foundation of a Statute-Law Having own'd
my self a Member of the Church of England I must take this Opportunity and I do it for God's Glory to apply my self to you that are Royalists of that Church of the same Faith and Principles with my self and I beg of you for God's sake and the Love of your Souls to be very constant and serious in all Religious Offices and holy Duties of Divine Worship and Service which I have too much neglected as I own to my great Sorrow Let no Excuse no Dangers prevent or hinder you in these most necessary and serious Matters and be I beseech you very careful and circumspect in all your Actions Behaviour and Conversation as I earnestly exhorted all that came to me I have I thank God a great deal of Satisfaction in my present Sufferings and have found it so ever since I have been under them And blessed be God it doth continually increase upon me And I do now lay down my Life with all Chearfulness and Resignation in sure and certain Hope of a Resurrection to Eternal Life through our Lord Jesus Christ through whose Merits alone I hope for the Pardon of my Sins and the Salvation of my Soul And so O Lord into thy Hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of Truth And I do heartily and humbly beseech thee Almighty God and my most Gracious â—ather to forgive and bless this sinful Nation deliver it from the Guilt of Rebellion Blood and Perjury 〈◊〉 is now on all sides more than ever and from all those other heinous Sins which cry aloud Preserve and bless this Church Comfort our distressed King Restore him to his Right and his mislead Subjects to their Allegiance Bless also his Royal Consort our Gracious Queen Mary his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales That he may grow in Stature and in Favour with God and Man Support and Strengthen all those that suffer in any kind for a good Cause give them Patience under all their Afflictions and a happy Deliverance out of them Forgive all mine Enemies Pardon my former Neglect and remissness in Religious Worship and Holy Duties and all the Sins I have been guilty of to this very moment Consider my Contrition accept my Tears And now Thou art pleased to take me hence take me into thy Favour and grant that my Soul may be without Spot presented unto Thee through the Merits of thy Most dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen John Freind Sir WILLIAM PERKYNS's Paper IT hath not been my Custom to use many Words and I shall not be long upon this Occasion having Business of much greater Consequence to employ my Thoughts upon I thank God I am now in a full disposition to Charity and therefore shall make no Complaints either of the Hardships of my Tryal or any other Rigours put upon me However one Circumstance I think my self oblig'd to mention it was Sworn against me by Mr. Porter That I had own'd to him that I had Seen and Read a Commission from the King to Levy War upon the Person of the Prince of Orange Now I must declare That the Tenour of the King's Commission which I saw was General and directed to all his Loving Subjects to Raise and Levy War against the Prince of Orange and his Adherents and to seize all Forts Castles c. which I suppose may be a customary Form of giving Authority to make War but I must confess I am not much acquainted with Matters of that Nature But as for any Commission particularly levelled against the Person of the Prince of Orange I neither saw nor heard of any such It 's true I was privy to the Design upon the Prince but was not to act in it and I am fully satisfied that very few or none knew of it but those who undertook to do it I freely acknowledge and think it for my Honour to say That I was entirely in the Interest of the King being always firmly persuaded of the Justice of his Cause and looked upon it as my Duty both as a Subject and an Englishman to Assist him in the Recovery of his Throne which I believed him to be deprived of contrary to all Right and Justice taking the Laws and Constitution of my Country for my Guide As for my Religion I die in the Communion of the Church of England in which I was Educated And as I freely forgive all the World so who-ever I may any ways have Injured I heartily ask them Pardon April 13. 1696. William Perkyns Here the Bigottry of these poor and wretched Men cannot but be admired and pitied that they should justifie their Treasons to the last Gasp which hot-headed Charnock did not think fit to do But this can be attributed to nothing else save the blind Zeal and rebellious Principles of those Clergy-men that were with them and who fairly if they had had their Desert should have been hang'd for Administring Absolution to them without any precedent Confession in direct Opposition to the Laws of that Church whereof they would be thought Members which thereupon was condemned by 14 Bishops being all that were then in London and assented to by all the rest that were Absent It 's well they liv'd under so mild a Government though they were unworthy of it had they been guilty in the late Reigns of any that had come near the pitch of their Crime they had infallibly swung for it when Julian Johnson was so severely Whipped and barbarously Used for his honest Address to the English Soldiery and Seamen The other 3 that followed viz. Cranborn Rookwood and Lowick all confessed the Crime though in a different manner but the 2 latter who were Roman Catholicks somewhat more modestly than the former tho' a pretended Protestant who called it a righteous Cause for which he suffer'd The Papers they deliver'd were these Major LOWICK's Paper In the Name of the most Holy Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost Amen IN the first place I die in the Religion I was Baptized viz. Roman Catholick and humbly beg the Prayers of all Good People for a happy Resurrection and of all Catholicks for the Good of my Soul As for being ingag'd in this for which I die it was never so positive that I had a Horse from the beginning to the very last nor never see any allotted me or the two Men I was to provide as was sworn against me at my Tryal nor had I any on that Account nor was I at any of their Meetings when they settled any such thing And as for any Order of Commission from King James I never see any since I came last into England which is now above 5 Years and I am confident none that knows King James will believe he would give any such Order Indeed I must confess I believe King James was a coming to assert his own Right and I should if on Shore have done any thing in my Power to have assisted him and in order to
that I should have been very glad to have had a Horse but never had any And as for being concern'd in any Bloody Affair I never was in my Life but have done my Endeavour to prevent as much as I could on all Occasions and if the Killing the most miserable Creature in the World or greatest Enemy would now save my Life restore the King and make me one of the greatest Men in England I first would chuse to die because against the Law of God If any who are now Sufferers on this Account think I have been too forward and a Promoter of this Design I do now declare it was never my Inclination to do any rash thing However I beg their Pardons and of all the World I have offended either in Thought Word or any Action whatsoever and do freely forgive my Enemies and hope through the Mercy of my Saviour Jesus Christ to have Remission of all my Sins Good God preserve the King Queen Prince and Princess and all that Royal Blood of Stewards and may England never want one of that direct Line to Govern them and make them once more Happy I have had the Honour to serve my Royal Master in several Commissions and the last as Major and strove ever to serve him to the best of my Power and even to be Just to those who I had the Honour to Command Lord Jesus into thy Hands I recommend my Spirit O Jesus receive my Soul Robert Lowick Brigadier ROOKWOOD's Paper HAving committed the Justice of my Cause and recommended my Soul to God on whose Mercies through the Merits of Jesus Christ I wholly cast my self I had once resolved to die in Silence but second Thoughts of my Duty to others chiefly to my True and Liege Soveraign King James moved me to leave this behind me I do therefore with all Truth and Sincerity declare and avow That I never knew saw or heard of any Order or Commission from King James for the Assassinating the Prince of Orange and Attacking his Guards but I am certainly inform'd That he the best of Kings had often rejected Proposals of that Nature when made unto him Nor do I think he knew the least of the particular Design of the Attacking the Guards at his Landing so much talk'd of in which I was engaged as a Soldier by my immediate Commander much against my Judgment but his Soldier I was and as such I was to obey and act according to Command These twelve Years I have served my true King and Master King James and freely now lay down my Life in his Cause I ever abhorr'd Treachery even to an Enemy If it be a guilt to have complied with what I thought and still think to have been my Duty I am guilty No other guilt do I own As I beg all to forgive me so I forgive all from my Heart even the Prince of Orange who as a Soldier ought to have consider'd my Case before he Sign'd the Warrant for my Death I pray God may open his Eyes and render him sensible of the much Blood from all Parts crying out against him so to prevent a heavier Execution hanging over his Head than what he inflicts on me Amb. Rookwood But I confess after all that the Shouting of the People at the Execution of some of these wretched Assassins was cruel and inhumane and two base a Triumphing over Misery which always deserves our Christian Compassion As soon as the News reached Flanders that the King was safe and England happily delivered from the two bloody Tempests that threaten'd her the Generals and it was thought to be the particular Contrivance of Prince Vaudemont bethought themselves of making an extraordinary Bonfire for Joy by burning the French Magazine at Givet To which End after several Orders and Countermands given to the Garrison of Namur the greatest part of them were ordered to march with Provision for six Days and being joined by several other Troops they crossed the Meuse on the 12th of March and were followed the next Day by the Horse under the Conduct of the Earl of Athlone and Major-General Cohorne and having crossed the River Leile the Earl with one part of this Body marched towards Dinant while Cohorne with the rest sate down before Givet And having got all things ready by the 16th in the Morning he began his Work about Seven a Clock with Bombs and Red-hot Bullets which first set fire to the Forage and at the same time a certain Number of Soldiers were commanded to enter the Town with lighted Flambeaux in their Hands who fired the Cazerns and other Edifices where the Magazines of Oats and other Provisions lay So that that vast Magazine was utterly consumed and all this performed with the Loss of not above 9 or 10 Men. But notwithstanding this considerable Advantage to the Confederates the Conspiracy in England and other more than ordinary Affairs before the Parliament had spun out so much Time that the King could not be so early in the Camp this Year as was designed who was himself also unwilling to leave his Kingdoms till the Arrival of the Fleet from Cales under Sir George Rook who had upon occasion of the first breaking out of the Plot Orders sent him to return home and safely came upon the Coast towards the latter end of April to the dissipating of the great Fears we were in lest the French Fleet from Thoulon should overtake and ruine him And indeed they were not far behind for before the Junction of those Men of War we had then in the Downs with some of Sir George's Squadron and that he could get upon the Coast of Brest in order to intercept and fight them they were got safe into that and the other Harbours of France So that the French took the Field before the Confederates to whom they were superiour at first in number till the Junction of the German Troops who ever came late which was at all times a prodigious Disadvantage to the Confederates So that what with these things but most of all for the extream Want of Mony to pay the Army now our Coin was called in the Confederates could not act Offensively as they had done the preceding Year But about the time that the King arrived at the Hague there happen'd something to fall out which began to savour of somewhat else than the Toils and Inconveniences of War for Monsieur Caillieri was come thither from France with Proposals towards concluding a general Peace by setling such Preliminaries as might be a sufficient Basis to ground a Treaty upon I do not know whether there was any real Disposition in the French Court to a general Peace before the Year 1695 but the loss of Namur Casall and other Disadvantages did without all doubt powerfully operate towards it and nothing could have retarded their Motions in order to it but the Plausibility of the Invasion against England and that in such an hazardous Juncture when our Coin was
His Royal Highness for his part will contribute all in his Power thereunto who likewise flatters himself that this Treaty lately signed with his most Christian Majesty may be a Means to divide these Princes whose Vnion will infallibly oppose your Majesty's Return to your Dominions which may facilitate a general Peace the first Effects of which will undoubtedly be your Majesty's Re-establishment on your Throne This has been the Occasion Sir of his Royal Highness's withdrawing from the Allies and which he hopes will be thought fully to answer his promises to your Majesty's Ministers seâ—t to sollicite him in that behalf This he would have perform'd sooner but Your Majesty may be inform'd from the most Christian King what Reasons inclined him to the contrary These Sir are the sincere Protestations of his Royal Highness which he will endeavour to make appear by his continued Prayers for the Prosperity of your Sacred Majesty But to return the French King in Conformity to his Articles made a formal Resignation of all manner of pretentions to Savoy and the Dukes Territories whilst his Royal Highness upon the expiration of the Truce on the 15th of Sept. put himself at the head of the French and his own Troops to drive his Friends the Allies out of Italy or to accept of a Neutrality for it A strange Metamorphosis and such as I think cannot be parallel'd in any History Ancient or Modern that one and the same Prince who equals himself to Crown'd Heads should successively in one and the same Campaign Command the two Armies of two Enemies This was a pace none of his Ancestors ever made though they shewed themselves unconstant enough between the French and Spanish Crowns upon divers occasions But so it was that the Duke marched at the head of his Army and laid Siege to Valentia a Citty in the Dutchy of Milan belonging to the King of Spain which was carried on with much Vigour while the Treaty was agitated on both sides by the Prince of Fundi from the Emperor Marquess of Leganez on the part of the Spaniards the Lord Gallaway for the King of England and the Marquess de St. Thomas for the Duke of Savoy and many Conferences were held before they could be brought to any Conclusion But though the French and Savoyards were so eager to take Valentia they found an harder thing of it than was expected having lost above 3000 Men before it and the approach of the bad Weather and the Winter Season made the matter very Dubious at last and things on all hands were brought to this Crisis on both sides whether the French should run the hazzard and Dishonour that would accrue to them of raising the Siege or whether the Confederates would venture the losing of it and with that protract the War in Italy But all Parties having considered the advantages and disadvantages the Neutrality was agreed to and signed upon the 7th of October containing chiefly the following Articles I. That there shall be a Neutrality or Suspension of Arms in Italy till a General Peace II. That the Imperial and French Troops shall depart out of Italy and return into their own Countries III. That in lieu of Winter Quarters which the Princes of Italy were otherwise oblig'd to allow the Imperialists they should furnish them with 300000 Crowns that is to say One third before their Retreat and the remainder at a time prefix'd upon sufficient Security IV. That so soon as the Imperialists should begin to March off with some part of their Troops the French should proportionably do the like V. That the Treaty should be ratifyed within two Days by the Duke of Savoy by the Emperor within a Month and within two by the King of Spain Hereupon the Count of Thesse and Marquess de Vins were sent Hostages to Turin by the French is were also the Prince of Trivultio and the Marquess de Burgomaniero by the King of Spain and the Marquess of St. Thomas to Milan by the Duke of Savoy Things being thus concluded on in Italy in respect to that particular Peace there was a mighty Discourse all the while of a general One with the rest of the Confederates and Monsieur Dickvelt's going about the same time to the King's Camp when News came to him of the former made the same hotly Discoursed of People supposing he came to His Majesty to give an Account of his Negotiations about that important Affair And that which confirmed Men more in this Opinion was That Monsieur Dickvelt made this Journey more than once between the Camp and the Hague but this matter we shall pursue no further at present it being time we should proceed to see the Operations of the Campaign in Hungary this Year The Armies on each side were Commanded by the same Generals as the preceding Year the Grand Seignior pretty early in the Summer came to Belgrade at the head of very numerous Troops while the Elector of Saxony about the beginning of June joined the Imperial Forces whom he found to be so good that according to all the Intelligence at that time of the Enemies Numbers he might be able to fight them or if they refused to sit down before some considerable place Whereupon several Counsels of War were held according to Custom wherein it was resolved at length to Besiege Themeswaer but whether it were really designed for a formal Siege or that it was only a feint to draw the Mahometans to a Battle is uncertain However the Duke approached the place viewed it raised Batteries and in some measure made a formal Attack upon the Town while advice came in the mean time thick and three-fold that the Sultan was preparing to cross the Danube with his whole Army which made the Elector glad of the News rise from before Themeswaer and immediately to set forward to meet the Infidels But this proving to be a false Rumour the Elector returned to attack the place again though this was thought to have been done that the Turks might be more eager to follow him and indeed the Stratagem took For the Sultan to divert him from the Siege came on amain which made the Elector to make some small motion towards the Enemy to the end he might take his measures to observe their Countenance and the Scituation of their Ground So that the Imperialists continued their march when on the 21st of August by break of Day they found the Turkish Chavalry begin to appear in very great Numbers which made the Elector and General Capara to cause the Army to march in order of Battle But at the same time the Infidels came pouring down upon the Christians from several parts with extraordinary Fury But they met with such Vigorous resistance from every Quarter that after a sharp Recounter they were forced to retreat and the Germans pursued them close at their Heels with an intention to drive them upon their Infantry in hopes to have come up with them the same Day and
Quantity of Silk and Silver Stuffs So that every Soldier of the 2000 had for his Share 6 Piasters the rest being divided among the Officers and other Soldiers the Czar reserving only the Cannon and Ammunition to himself This being happily effected the Siege of Asoph was carried on with great Application which all the Endeavours of the Turks and Tartars could not relieve by Land they being routed in the Attempt and a great many of their Number slain So that it was surrender'd to the Czar upon Articles on the 28th of July in pursuance of which the Garrison consisting of 3000 Men besides Tartars marched out with their Arms and Baggage and presently the Muscovites marched in and found 90 Pieces of Cannon together with a great Quantity of Ammunition in the Town But want of Provisions hasten'd the Surrender of it The News hereof no sooner arrived at Constantinople but it occasioned a great Consternation there and more especially for fear of losing those Supplies of Provisions which usually come to that City by the Euxine Sea which the Loss of that Place opened a Gap for the Moscovites to be Masters of But now after so long a Peregrination 't is time we should return homewards and take notice That the State of Affairs in Flanders this Year being already given an Account of it gave the King an Opportunity of returning to England somewhat sooner than usual and the Parliament to meet about the middle of Octob. to whom his Majesty said That he thought it our Happiness considering the Disappointments in the Funds and other Difficulties we laboured under that Things had passed without any Disadvantage That this was a convincing Proof of the good Disposition of his Army and steady Affections of his People That the Enemy's Hopes had been hitherto frustrated in respect to the difficult Conjuncture we were in and that their unanimous Proceedings was the Way to have the same continued That the Business before them was very great and our Occasions pressing That he could not let slip the Occasion to tell them That some Overtures had been made towards setting up a Negotiation of a General Peace But that the best Way to Treat was with our Swords in our Hands and by shewing our selves prepared to make a vigorous and effectual War Wherefore he recommended earnestly to the Commons to take Care for Raising the necessary Supplies with Speed As he did also the Remedying of some Inconveniences still remaining in Relation to the State of the Coin And so he concluded as we shall also conclude the Year with leaving the Parliament to take care in the first place of this last Clause of his Majesty's Speech about the Coin and to make a strict Enquiry among other Things into the late Conspiracy which took them up much Time And of which but very briefly before we hasten to give an Account of the General Peace Yet we will observe first as we were wont to do That this Year proved fatal to Mary Anne of Austria Queen-Mother of Spain who departed this Life on the 17th of May after she had been long tormented with a Cancer in her Breast Her Death being no less considerable a Loss to the Confederacy in general than to Spain in particular considering her great Influence over the Spanish Counsels to make them take such Resolutions as were conformable to the Interests of the Common Cause For which Reason she was but little beloved in France and gave Occasion for a great Prince of that Nation as was reported to say when he heard of the dangerous Distemper which had seized that Princess That he could have wished she had died Ten Years ago year 1697 Tho' this Year produced a General Peace between the Allies and the French Monarch yet our Parliament before the Close of the last in pursuance to his Majesty's Pre-monition to them in his Speech at the first Opening of the Session proceeded vigorously to other Methods for carrying on the War But they had not been long sate when they met with a considerable Interruption therein by the Business of Sir John Fenwicke who was one of the Conspirators in the late Plot for invading the Land and taking away the King's Life and was designed to have been tried at the Common Law as the rest had been But there were some Accidents fell out which made his Case extraordinary and brought it into Parliament of which take this short Account Upon Sir John Fenwicke's Apprehension which was in Kent as he designed to have made his Escape that way beyond Sea it did appear by a Letter of his writ to his Lady thereupon and which hapned to come in the Governments Hands That he was so far sensible of his Guilt and Danger that he proposed no other way for the present to Escape than by either getting a Jury Pack'd that would be Obstinate and not bring him in Guilty or making Friends to the King for a Pardon or Reprieve at least to gain Time But after his being brought to Town Commitment to Newgate and farther Consulting with his Friends the said Methods being found not very Practicable there was another Topick resolved upon which had a much more apparent Prospect of Success and that was to set up a Counterplot by accusing a great many of the King 's best and greatest Friends to have been guilty of Conspiring against him which startled a great many People at first not knowing who and who was together And tho' the same in the dilatory Managements of it did for a time with Sir John to gain him Space to have his Tryal put off yet he could not be but sensible it would not do always and therefore there was another Game for him to Play before he could conceive himself out of Danger which was to seduce away one at least of the Evidences that had swore the Treason against him as well knowing according to the late Act one was not sufficient in Cases of High Treason And this being also effected in the Person of Cardell Goodman who privately withdrew into France the Danger seemed now to be quite over tho' they could have been glad both for his and others sake that Captain Porter also had been got to the same or a worse Place and made Overtures to him by a rascally Irish-man one Clancy by Name to that end But he proved stanch against the great Temptation and made a Discovery thereof unto the Government So that the Government thereby finding it self horribly abused by these Clandestine Proceedings and no room left to bring the Criminal by the ordinary Course of Law to a Condign Punishment The King thought fit to give leave to Admiral Rassell to acquaint the House of Commons and lay before them the several Papers which were given in by Sir John Fenwicke in the Nature of Informations against himself and several Persons of Quality and desired that the same might be read that so he might have an Opportunity to justifie himself or
Arbitrators shall adjudge to her in case they do adjudge any thing at all but if so be they adjudge nothing or less than the said Sum then there shall be a restitution and this compensation allowance or restitution as also the fund and charges of the Process shall be regulated by the Sentence of the Arbitrators But if Madam the Dutchess of Orleans do not give satisfaction to the form of the Compromise either in the Instruction of the Process or in the Answer that shall be produced by the Elector Palatine or if she delays it the course of the said yearly payment shall be interrupted only during that same time the Process going on still according to the form of the Compromise Done at the Palace of Ryswick the 30th of October 1697. 'T is not my Business to answer the foolish Objections some ill-willed Persons have made against the stability of this Peace However I shall observe That tho this Peace with the Empire was not so advantageous to it and the Restitution of Lorrain not in so ample a manner as could have been wished for yet if it be considered that France has given up very considerably on this side and some places she had long been possessed off particularly Brisac which hath appertained to that Crown for very near 60 Years That by the Taking of Casal and the Peace with Savoy she is entirely precluded out of Italy that the same Barrier is left in Catalonia as before And that there is a stronger Frontier in the Low Countries by her Restitution of all she took since the beginning of the War with the Addition of Dinant and Luxemburg If these be put together it 's not likely that Crown will begin another War in hast whatsoever our Male-contents at home or any Enemies we have abroad may â—atter themselves with especially considering the inward weakness of that Kingdom and the strong Union there is between the Crown of England and the Republick of Holland whose Naval Powers are so Formidable and Interests so great in all the Parts of the World Over and above all this we are to note His Most Christian Majesty is now in an advanced Age which is usually attended with an ill Habit of Body and too wise a Prince easily to be brought to engage himself in the Toils and Uncertainties of another War especially in that there was so little gained or I should have rather said so much lost by this To say nothing of that Regard he will undoubtedly have to the Interests of his Posterity as well as his Dominions whose Affairs at his Death he will be very unwilling to leave embroiled with those of their Neighbours It remains therefore now that I take notice that his Majesty King William staid in Holland till all was over and after having very Honourably paid off all the Forreign Troops who by this time were Marching to their respective Homes after the Toyls of this long War He returned to England and upon the 16th of November at the Citizens request made His Publick Entry thro' London being attended by all the Men of Quality in very great State and never I am sure in one Day saw so many People and all of them His own Subjects in all His Life-time and in whose Affections He Triumphed as much as ever he had done at any time over His Enemies and may He always do the first and never have occasion for the second but may we long live under the Benign Influence of His Reign who hath Rescued our Religion and Liberties out of the Jaws of Hell and Destruction so intrepidly â—ought our Battles for us and now at length restored unto us the Comforts and Blessing of a Firm and Honourable Peace Having now run thro' all the Transactions both of War and Peace that fell out within the revolution of this Year we shall draw towards a closure of it with the meeting of the English Parliament December the 3d And see how his Majesty was pleased to deliver himself to them upon this Conjuncture and this he did in these Terms My Lords and Gentlemen THE War which I Entred into by the Advice of my People is by the Blessing of God and their Zealous and Affectionate Assistance brought to the End We all proposed an Honourable Peace which I was willing to Conclude not so much to Ease My Self from any Trouble or Hazard as to free the Kingdom from the Continuing Burden of an Expensive War I am heartily sorry My Subjects will not at first find all thâ— Relief from the Peace which I could wish and they may expect but the Funds intended for the last Year's Service have fallen short of Answering the Sums for which they were given so that there remain considerable Deficiencies to be Provided for There 's a Debt upon the Account of the Fleet and the Army The Revenues of the Crown have been anticipated by My Consent for Publick Vses so that I am wholly destitute of means 〈◊〉 support the Civil List and I can never distrust you 'll suffer thâ— to turn to My Disadvantage but will provide for Me during my Life in such a manner as may be for my Honour and for the Honour of the Government Our Naval Force being increased to near double what it was at My Accession to the Crown the Charge of maintaining it wilâ— be proportionably augmented and it is certainly necessary for the Interest and Reputation of England to have always a great Strength at Sea The Circumstances of Affairs Abroad are such that I think My Self obliged to tell you My Opinion that for the present England cannot be safe without a Land Force and I hope We shall not give those who mean us ill the Opportunity of Effecting that under the Notion of a Peace which they could not bring to pass by a War I doubt not but you Gentlemen of the House of Commons wil take these Particulars into your Consideration in such a manner 〈◊〉 to provide the necessary Supplies which I do very earnestly Recoâ—mend to you My Lords and Gentlemen That which I most delight to think of and am best pleased 〈◊〉 own is That I have all the Proofs of My People's Affection th◠〈◊〉 Prince can desire and I take this Occasion to give them the 〈◊〉 Solemn Assurance That as I never had so I never will nor 〈◊〉 have any Interest separate from theirs I Esteem it one of the greatest Advantages of the Peace that I shall now have leisure to rectifie such Corruptions or Abuses as may have crept into any part of the Administration during the Wâ— and effectually to discourage Prophaness and Immorality and I shall employ My Thoughts in Promoting Trade and Advancing 〈◊〉 Happiness and Flourishing Estate of the Kingdom I shall conclude with telling you That as I have with the Hazard of every thing Rescued your Religion Laws and Liberties when they were in the Extreamest Danger so I shall place the Glory of My Reign in preserving them
Entire and Leaving them so to Posterity The Hearty Addresses of Both Houses to his Majesty hereupon could not be more acceptable to him than it was then strange to the generality of People to read it in our Gazette that his Majesty had received Letters from the French King and the Dauphine acquainting him with the Duke of Burgundy's Marriage and that the Duke of St. Albans was thereupon ordered for France to return the Complement seeing there had been no Communication between England and France now for so many Years and such a rooted Enmity between both Nations to say nothing of those at the Head of them that the so sudden disappearances of it made it to vulgar Minds in some sort unconceivable And as the Year thus happily began to close in England it did the same also in Ireland where after that Parliament had past divers good Bills and among others one for granting an Additional Duty upon Tobacco besides a supply granted to his Majesty by way of a Poll they were Prorogued to the 10th of May ensuing And for Scotland all things went there also Easy and Peaceable So that we have nothing more to observe save two Things the Death of Queen Eleanor Dec. 17th in the 45th Year of her Age She was Married to Michael Wisnowiski King of Poland and afterwards to the late Duke of Lorrain She was Daughter to the Emperor Ferdinand III. and Sister to the Emperor now Reigning it was the Conjecture of some that the Grief She conceived to find her Son the young Duke was not to be restored to the Inheritance of his Ancestors in as ample a manner as She expected might hasten her End but however it were She died lamented by all for her rare Qualities and Endowments 2d The Czar of Muscovy Peter Alexowitz his beginning his Travels into Forreign Courts this Year for the Improvement of himself and too barbarous Subjects in Arts and Sciences a rare Example in a Prince but whether a Pattern for other Princes to follow I cannot determine but of this Prince we shall have occasion to say some more before we close up this Treatise year 1698 It was some mortification to us the beginning of this Year to have one of the King's Pallaces consumed for on the 4th of January White-Hall by what accident is vaâ—iously reported took Fire in one of the Lodgings in the Body of the Structure and in a short time got to such an Head that it could not be mastered till the whole Body of the Pallace with several other adjoyning Lodgings was laid in Ashes However this was but a Flea-bite to what the Nation had gone thro' in the course of the War and so our Parliament went tightly to work upon the Affairs of the Nation and finding the business of our Coin pretty well remedied as also the currency of any hammered Silver Mony would be any longer a grievance they made an Act to prevent it and for the Recoining of such as was then in being as also for making out new Exchequer Bills where the former Bills were or should be filled up by Endorsements It was moreover farther considered by them that whereas now by the Peace there would be a free intercourse between England and France it was enacted there should be no Correspondence held with the late King nor his Adherents upon any account They also took care to discharge and satisfie the Arrears of several Annuities that incurred between the 17th of May 1696. and May 17th 1697. But that you may not think they forgot the disbanding of the Army paying of Seamen and such things they gave to his Majesty no less than the Sum of 1484015 l. 1 s. 11 d. 3 1 f. to which we may add the granting of several Duties upon Coal and Culm The Continuation of Duties upon Coffee c. to pay off the Transport Debt for the Reduction of Ireland Besides a great many other useful Bills They further settled the East-India Trade and thereby raised two Millions of Money at 8 per Cent. and that in less time than any Nation in Europe could pretend to at that time of day And that all due regard might be had to his Majesty's Honour and Support they granted a Subsidy upon Tunnage and Poundage for the raising of Seven Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year for the Service of his Houshold Abundance of other Business was indeed done by this Sessions which terminated upon the 5th of July When his Majesty was pleased to tell them he could not take his leave of so good a Parliament without publickly acknowledging the Sence he had of the great things they had done for him and his People recapitulated to them what every Session had done by the Association Remedying the Coin restoring such Supplies for the War as produced an honourable Peace Provision for satisfying the publick Debts with as little burden as could be All which would give a lasting Reputation to that Parliament and be the Subject of Emulation to them that should come after He thanked the Commons also for the Establishment of his Revenue profess'd the Esteem and Love he had for his People for whose Sakes he had avoided no Hazzards in War and should make it his Study and Care to continue unto them the Advantages of Peace This being done the Houses were for the present prorogued and July 7th dissolved by Proclamation another Parliament being at the same time called to meet at Westminster August the 24th but by several Prorogations they did not sit till November But while these things were transacted mutual Embassies passed between England and France in which last Country no Embassador perhaps ever carry'd it with greater Prudence Honour and Magnificence than my Lord Portland did or was ever so much carress'd and respected And the French themselves instead of pretending that Count Tallard ever came up with him have endeavoured occasionally to put it off with siftless Excuses The Business of Parliament was but a few days over when his Majesty was pleased to declare in Council his Intention of going for a short time into Holland and constituted the Abp. of Canterbury the L. Chancellor the L. Privy Seal the L. Steward of his Houshold the Earls of Dorset Marlborough Romney and Orford with Mr. Montague first Commissioner of the Treasury to be Lords Justices of England for the Administration of the Government during his Majesty's Absence On the 21st of July his Majesty landed safe in Holland from whence we leave him to go to and return from the Court of Zell and will not pretend to unravel the Mystery of that Journey being content to esteem it as a performance of a Promise the King had made to visit the old Duke who he was wont to call Father tho' by the Orders given the French Embassador here to attend him it should seem they should suspect some-what more than that in it but return to tell you that in the mean time viz. July
is not to be forced in Matters of Religion and so regulate their Actions accordingly But however it may prove with these of the Popish Communion and how rigorously they may be still bent to extripate that which they mis-call by the Name of Heresie and how great soever the Demerit of our Suffering Brethren may be the general and solemn Days of Humiliation and Prayers appointed for their Deliverance by almost the Universal Authority of all the Protestant Princes and States of Europe is one good sign that their Salvation draweth nigh The INDEX A. ABstract of Peace between the Empire and France Page 58 c. between France Sweden and Brandenburgh 66. between France Sweden and Denmark 71 c. Ackmet Sultan of the Turks his Death 534. Aeth besieged and surrender'd to the French 593. Agria surrendred to the Imperialists 235. Aghrim a Relation of the Battle there 429 c. Albania ravaged by the Turks 407. Alba Regalis surrendred by the Imperialists 249. Alexander VIII Pope his Death 456. Allâ—es endeavour to keep Spain out of the Peace 38. Altercations about the Basis of the Reswick Treaty 595 and 599. Ann Princess her Letter to the Queen 289 c. Argyle E. of lands in Scotland 267. his Declaration 268 c. taken and beheaded 269. Articles of Alliance between England and Holland 23 c. of Peace between Holland and France 28 c. between France and Spain 41 c. between Strasburgh and France 113 c. between France and Savoy 565 c. Of Neutrality in Italy 575. Of Peace between England and France 603 c. between Holland and France 609 c. between France and Spain 619 c. between the Empire and France 647 c. of Alliance between France and Sweden 676 c. Assassination discovered 541. Assassins tried and executed 552 c. Association at Exeter for the Prince of Orange 285. Athens submits to the Venetians 242. Athlone besieged in vain by the English 375. besieged again 425. taken 427. Avaux Count de his Memorial at the Hague 259. Ausburg the League there 131. B. BAden P. Lewis of defeats the Turks at Brod 254. made General in Hungary 336. defeats the Turks at Patochin 337 c. At Nissa 333. reduces Transylvania and expels Tekeley 414. beats the Turks at Salankemen 453 c. Barkan the Battle there between the Christians and the Turks 147. taken by the Germans 148. Bavaria Elect. of arrives with his Troops before Buda 158. made General in Hungary 250. his Letter to Osman Basha 252. takes Belgrade by storm 254. Beaumont Lieutenant-Colonel his Speech refuses Irish Soldiers is imprisoned c. 260. Belgrade besieged by the Imperialists 250. taken by Storm 254. besieged again by the Turks 411. taken by Storm 412. besieged again by the Imperialists 489. Siege raised 490. Berghen Prince of his Letter to Villeroy 522. Beverning Dutch Plenipotentiary his Saying of the French 11. of the King of England ib. Acts the Mediator ib. complies with the French 19. Articles against him 40. Bill of Exclusion 91 c. rejected by the Lords 94. Bishops seven their Petition to King James 245 c. imprison'd and acquitted 246 c. Advice to him 261 c. Black Box the story of it 80. Bonne besieged and surrendred to the Elector of Brandenburgh 335 c. Boufflers Mareschal de seized at Namur 530. released 531. Boyle Robert Esq his Death and Character 475. Boyne the Battle there 369 c. Brandenburgh Elector of solicits Peace in France 62. Fails and endeavours to embroil the Peace of the Empire ib. his Letter to the French King 64 c. receives Money of France 67. his Demands of the States ib. his Death 305. this Letter to Elbing 684 c. Brussels bombarded by the French â—22 Buda besieged by the Imperialists 156. the Siege raised 159. besieged a second time 208 Battle there 205. the siege continued 209 taken by storm 211. C. CAlais bomb'd by the English 561. Catamata abandoned by the Turks 195. Cambray surrendred to the French 9. Caminieck relieved by the Tartars 507. Canea besieged by the Venetians in vain 475 c. Canisia surrendred to the Imperialists 408. Carignan the Action there between the French and Confederates 403. Carigfergus besieged by the English and surrendred 324. Carmagnola besieged and taken by the French 449. retaken by the Confederates 451. Casal the siege of it and taken by the Confederates 532. Castle-Nuova besieged by the Venetians 240. surrendred 239. Charlemont Castle surrendred to the English 365. Charleroy besieged by the French and surrendred 482. Charles II. King unconstant to his Engagements to the P. of Orange 13. tempted with Money from France 18. concludes an Alliance with Holland 22. his Letter to the Duke of York 75. constitutes a new Council ib. unconstant 76. disclaims any Marriage with Monmouth's Mother 80 c. his Different Demeanour to the Addressors for Parliaments and Abhorrers of Petitioning 82. his Speech to the Parliament 90 c. petitioned by several Lords for the Sitting of the Parliament at Westminster 97 c. dissolves the Oxford Parliament and his pretended Reasons for it 108. prosecutes Protest-Dissentors 115 his Methods to get Charters surrendred and his design therein 129. demolishes Tangier that cost him so much 130. contemptible abroad 149. his Death and Character 165. Charnock his Paper at his Execution 552 c. Chialafa besieged by the Turks in vain 216. Churchill Lord his Letter to King James 289. Ciclut taken by the Venetians 505. Colledge Stephen tried at Oxford and Executed 110. Congress at the Hague 421. Comet appear'd 97. Commons the House of debate King James's Speech 184. address him to turn out the Popish Officers ib. Conferences about Peace renewed at Nimeguen 55. Coni besieged by the French 449. relieved 450. Conspiracy in the Army in Ireland 328. in England 458. Conti Prince of goes from Poland and his Letter to the Republick 640. returns 641. Corinth abandoned by the Turks 241. Cork besieged and surrendred to the English 384 c. Cornish Mr. tried 181. executed 182. Coron besieged the Battle there 192 c. taken by Storm 194. Coin remedied 540. Courland Duke of his Death 689. Cross du his Message from England to Holland 25. contriv'd in Portsmouth's Lodgings 26. Czar of Muscovy his Travels 682. D. DAngerfield Thomas whipp'd and kill'd 203. Dauphine Married 87. Debates of the Lords and Commons about Abdication 307 c. Declaration for Liberty of Conscience 224. at Nottingham in favour of the Pr. of Orange 286 c. of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal at Guildhal 297. of Right in England 308 c. of Right in Scotlandâ— 312. English Declaration of War against France 320 c. of the Protestant Princes against the 4th Article of Reswick 643 c. Deynse surrendred to the French 520. Delamere Lord rises for the P. of Orange in Cheshire 284. Demands of the Allies at Nimeguen 5 c. Denmark Ambassador of enrag'd at
him 202. Lords Justices of England the Names of the first of 'em 509. Lorrain D. of retreats with the Imperial Army out of Hungary into Austria 134. his Letter to the Emperor concerning his Beating the Turks 157 c. overthrows the Turks at Gran 187. his answer to the Turkish Aga 189. marches towards Esseck 228. his endeavours to draw the Turks to fight 231. deheats the Turks 234. marches to Transylvania and reduces it ib. besieges and takes Mentz 331 c. his death 398. Louvis Monsieur his death 457. Lowick Major his Paper at his Execution 558 c. Luxemberg the Duke of his Saying upon the Battle of Flerus 396. falls upon Waldeck's Rear 448. his death 509. Luxemburg the City of besieged by the French and surrendred 150. M. MAestricht besieged by the Pr. of Orange in vain 3. 4. Mahomet IV. deposed 194. and the manner of it 235 c. Mainotes submit to the Venetians 194. Marsaglia an Account of the Battle fought there 435 c. Memorial English to the States 39. Spanish about Maestricht 69. of the Emperor to the Diet at Ratisbonne 89. Mentz besieged and surrendred to the Confederates 331 c. The Elector's death 540. Messina abandon'd by the French 18. Minden an interview between divers Princes there 258. Modon besieged and surrendred to the Venetians 217. Mohatz the Battle there 232. Mongatz surrend to the Imperialists 247. the Articles of surrendry 248 c. Monmouth Duke of routs the Scotch Covenanters 79. banished by the King but returned 81. Lands in England and his Declaration 170 c. His Letter to K. James 178 c. Beheaded 179. Mons besieged 423. surrendred to the French 424. Montmellian Fortress surrendred to the French 451. Morosini Capt. Gen. successful against the Turks 195. made Doge of Venice 255. his death 505. Muscovites rout the Turks and take Asoph 581. Mustapha Sultan takes Lippa and Titul 535. defeated at Zenta 633. N. NAmur besieged by the French 460. surrendred 461. besieged by the Confederates 511. its Siege continued to the surrender of the Town 516 c. It s Castle and Fort surrendred 529. Nants the Edict of revoked 196. Napoli di Malvasia blockaded by the Venetians 356. supplied by the Turks 416. besieged and taken by the Venetians Ibid. Napoli di Romania besieged by the Venetians 218. surrendred 219. Navarino Old surrendred to the Venetians 216. Navarino New taken by the Venetians 217. Nowheusel besieged by the Imperialists 132. and its Siege raised 132. besieged a second time by them 181. taken by storm 188. Nice besieged and taken by the French 422. Nimeguen the Description of it the Treaty and the Congress formed there 1. Nissa taken by the Imperialists 353 surrendred to the Turks 410. O. OGingski defeated in Lithuania 682. Omer St. besieg'd by the French 9. surrendred 10. Orange Pr. of his Resolutions to continue the War 8. Fights the D. of Orleance at Mont-Cassel 10. arrives in England 12. K. Charles's Opinion of him is married 12 13. Concerts the Terms of the Peace ib. Returns for Holland ib. dissatisfied with K. Charles's Embassie 14. Deâ—eats Luxemburgh at Mons 36. How censured for it 38. His Censure of the English Court 40. Promotes the League of Ausburgh 131. Takes the Field 150. His Offers to K. James râ—jected 177. Lands in England 269. His Declaration 270 c. His additional Declaration 281 c. His Letter to the Officers of the Army 283 c. The third Declaration 291. c. Prevails both in England and Scotland 290. His Answer to the King's Proposals 295. His Message to K. James 301. Arrives in London 303. takes the Administration of the Government upon him 304. His Letter to the Convention 305 c. Proclaimed K. of England 311. Proclaimed K. of Scotland c. 317. Osman Bassa of Aleppo his Letter to the Elector of Bavaria 253. Ossory the Earl of dies his Character 96. P. PActa Conventa of Poland 636 c. swore to by the King 638. Palamos taken by the French 501. Palatin the Elector of his death 97. Another's death 421. Parliament long dissolved 75. Another sits and is dissolved 77. Meet 90. prosecute the Abhorrers 94. Reasons against giving King Charles Money 95. Vote against lending him Money upon the Revenues 96. Meet at Oxford 107. dissolved 108. Prodigal in giving King James Money 166. dissolved 184. Prorogued and dissolved and another called 358. Meet 457. and Adjourn 476 c. Their Proceedings more 492 and 508. Dissolved and another called 538. Their Proceedings upon the Coin 540. upon the Association 551. Farther Proceedings and against Sir John Fenwick 583 c. more 674. Patrass abandon'd by the Turks 241. Peace separate at Nimeguen between Holland and France obstructed by the French Pretensions 21. Protested against by the Allies 28. Signed with Spain 41. Difficult to conclude it between the Empire and France 57. Agreed to by the Imperialists and French 58. Protested against by the Danes and Brandenburghers 62. Signed between England Holland and Spain and France at Reswick 602. Concluded 671. Peers their Orders about the Irish 300. Perkyns Sir William his Papers at his Execution 557. Peter-Waradin deserted by the Turks 250. Phillipsbourgh surrendred to the Imperialists 4. Plot Popish discovered 73. Plot pretended Presbyterian discovered 116. Podolia ravaged by the Tartars 191. Poland King of relieves Vienna 144 Takes Jaslowick 161. Routs the Tartars ibid. Invades Moldavia 221. routs the Turks and Tartars 222. Tempted to make a Peace with the Turks c. 415. Invades Moldovia again 456. His death 581. Ponti Mons an Account of his Expedition 617 c. Portland Earl of Interviews between him and M. Boufflers 602. Preliminary Articles of Peace 591 c. Prevesa besieged by the Venetians 163. surrendred 164. Primate of Poland submits to the new King 680 his Speech to him 681. Q. QUeen Mary her Death and Character 507 508. Queen Mother of Spain her Death 583. R. REswick the Treaty there 592. Re-unions Chambers of how set up and managed by France 130 c. Rheinfield besieg'd by the French in vain 472. Rocosche of Poland their Proposal to the new King 678 c. their Articles of Agreement 680 c. Rookwood Brigadeer his Paper at his Execution 559 c. Rugen the Island of taken by the Brandenburghers 56. Rupert Prince his Death and Character 115. Russel Lord tried condemned and beheaded 117. His Speech ibid. c. His Paper to the Sheriff 118 c. Russel made Admiral 447. His Letter to the Earl of Nottingham 458. Beats the French Fleet ib. Sails with the Fleet for Spain 494. S. SAint Malo bombarded by the English 520. Saint Martins bombarded by the 61. Saint Ruth Monsieur General of the Irish 427. His Speech to them 428. Killed 432. Salankemen the great Battle there 453. Salusses the Battle there between the French and Confederates 404. Surrendred to Catinat 405. Sancta Maura besieg'd by the Venetians 162. Surrendred ib. Savoy Duke of
enters into the Confederacy c. 387 c. His Articles with the Emp. 389 c. with the King of Spain 390 c. invades the Dauphinate 472. His Sickness and recovery 473 c. His Letter to the States of Holland 533. Makes a separate Peace 563. His Envoy's Harangue to the late King James 574 c. Saxony the Elector of his death 96. Another General of the Confederates on the Rhine dies 457. Another's death 507. Fights the Turks 577. Chosen King of Poland 594. His Letter to the Polish Republick 638. His Declaration to his Saxon Subjects 639 c. Schultz General successful in Vpper Hungary 160. Defeats Count Teckley ibid. Schomberg Duke of lands in Ireland 324. Scinta a Battle there 215. Scio taken by the Venetians 506. quitted 536. Scotland an Insurrection there 77. Covenanters murder the Archb. of St. Andrews ib. Their Proclamations 78. Proposals to Monmouth ib. are routed 79. Segedin besieg'd by the Imperialists 214. surrendred 215. Serasquier his Letter to the Duke of Lorrain 189. Shaftsbury the Earl of committed to the Tower 111. Sidney Mr. his Embassy into Holland and for what 83. His Memorial to the States 84. Makes a defensive League with 'em 86. Sidney Col. his Trial 124. Execution and Papers to the Sheriff 125 c. Sign besieged by the Venetians and taken by storm 220. Besieg'd by the Turks and relieved by the Venetians 238. Skelton Mr. discovers the Pr. of Orange's Intention 258. Solyman made Em. of the Turks 238. Spaniards sign the Peace with France 41. Their Ambassador resents the States Answer about Maestricht 70. Prevail in Catalonia 531 c. Staremberg Count Governour of Vienna prepares for its Defence 135. His Letter to the Duke of Lorrain 139. His other Letter to the Duke of Lorrain 141 c. States General their answer to the French King's Letter 20. displease the Confederates ib. Order their Embassador to sign the Peace 21. Exclaimed against by the Northern Confederates 38. their Answer to the Elector of Brandenburgh's demands 68. To the Spaniards for Maestricht 69. A Letter from an unknown hand to them 83. Their resolution as to the Invasion of England 283. Steenkirk the Battle there 462 c. Stetin taken by the Brandenburghers 12. Strasburg how possest by the French 112. Sunderland Earl of his Letter to a Friend 264 c. Syclos taken by the Imperialists 213. T. TAlbot Col. disbands the Protestant Army in Ireland 182 c. Tartars attack the Germans Baggage 133. ravage Poland 415. Teckley Count makes himself P. of Transilvania 409. Themeswaer besieg'd by the Imperialists 576. Tyrconnel Earl of made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 223. His Proceedings ibid. dies at Limmerick 434. Toleration of Religion to Papists in Scotland 205. in England 223. Tour the President de la his Speech to King VVilliam 407. Transilvania revolts from the Emperor 233. reduced 234. Truce signed between France Denmark and Brandenburg 63. expired 64. between France and Spain c. for 20 Years 150 c. Turks advance to Austria 132. waste the Frontiers of Hungary and Austria 134. besiege Vienna 135. beaten from before Vienna 145 c. routed at Barkan 147. beaten at Gran 187. routed at Scinta 215. beaten at Chialafa by the Venetians 216. defeated at Navarino 217. Reasons of their not succeeding against the Germans 504. Turkey the Revolution there 253 c. V. VAlentia besieg'd by the French and Savoyards 575. Vallona besieg'd by the Venetians 418. deserted by the Turks 419. Vaudemont Prince his gallant Retreat 515. Vaudois persecuted 397. rout the French 356. Venetians make Incursions into the Turkish Territories 162. take the Isle of Narenta c. 164. possess themselves of the whole Province of Mayna 195. rout the Turks 241. their Letter to the new Doge and Instructions 255 c. beat the Turks at Sea 419. defeat the Turks at Argos 537. beat the Turks by Sea 580. Verace discovers the P. of Orange's Designs upon England 258. Vicegrade besieged and taken by the Imperialists 154. taken by the Turks 187. Vienna in great Consternation 133. besieged by the Turks 135. a Journal of the Siege 136 c. it siege continued 142 c. relieved 145. Villeroy Marshal de his Letter to the Governour of Brussels 521. fails to relieve Namur 529. Virovitz taken by the Imperialists 159. Vrgel taken by the French 448. W. VVAisen surrendred to the Imperialists 155. Walcour the Action there 329. Waterford surrendred to the English 377. Weesell a Conference there between the Allies 10. Wheeler Sir Francis cast away in a Storm 492. Whitchal burnt 673 c. Widin surrendred to the Imperialists 354. surrendred to the Turks 411. William III. King his Speech to the Parliament 358. lands in Ireland 366. wounded 368. Victorious over the Irish Army at the Boyn 370 c. his Proceedings in Ireland 378 c. goes for England 383. his Speech to the Congress 421. his Speech to the Parliament 457 c. his Speech to the Parliament 491. signs several Bills 493 his Letter to Prince Vaudemont 514 c. his Speech to the Parliament 538 c his Speech in Parliament concerning the Assassination 550. another Speech to the Parliament 582 c. his Speech at the Conclusion of the Peace 670 c. another Speech 674. goes for Holland 675. Y. YOrk Duke of withdraws to Flanders 75. returns 81. sent High Commissioner into Scotland ib. his cruelty to the Earl of Argyle 111. Z. ZEnta the great Battle there 633. FINIS July 1676. Maestricht besieg'd by the Prince of Orange Siege raised Philipsburg surrender'd to the Imperial Army The Demands of the several Princes Valenciennes besieg'd The Battle of Mount-Cassel The Fr. K.'s Letter to K. C. 11. Ghent besieg'd and taken K. Charles II. tempted with Moncy by France The States Answer The Confederates angry with the States The Dutch order their Embassadors to Sign the Peace The Peace obstructed The Treaty of Alliance between England and Holland Du Cross's Message The Peace between France and Holland Signed The Battle of Mons. Mr. Hyde's Memorial to the States Prince of Orange's Censure of the English Court. Articles against Mons Beverning The Conferences renewed Rugen taken Denmark and Brandenburg's Remonstrance to the Imperial Embassadors The Imperial and French Embassadors agree to Sign the Peace The Abstract of the Imperial Articles of Peace The Elector of Brandenburg's Demands of the States The Spaniards demand Maestricht of the Dutch The States Answer The Spaniard rejoinâ— The Spanish Ambassador resents it Popish Plot discovered Godfrey murdered K. Charles II's Letter to the Duke of York K. Charles II chooses a new Council Insurrection in Scotland The Scotch Rebels Proclamation Their Second Proclamation They make Proposals to the Duke of Monmouth The Duke of Monmouth fights and routs the Covenanters The Story of the black Box. K. Charles II. disclaims any Marriage with the Duke of Monmouth's Mother K. Charles II. sick and the Consequence of it Duke of Monmouth
out of favour K. Charles II's different Carriage to the Addressors Mr. Sidney sent Embassador into Holland and for what K. Charles makes a Defensive Alliance with Holland The Dauphine intended to marry Dauphine married to the Princeâ—â— of Bavaria The Emperor's Memorial to the Diet at Ratisbone concerning the French Infractions The Result of the Diet. The Empire complain of France Parliamenâ— met The Bill of Exclusion The Bill thrown out of the House of Lords The Parliament prosecute the Abhorrers of Petitioning The Resolution of the Commons against lending the King Money The Earl of Ossory's Death The Death of the Electors of Saxony and Palatine The Earl of Essex's Speech to the King The Lords Petition to the King Fitz-Harris his Libel The Oxford Parliament dissolved The King's Declaration after the Dissolution of the Parliament Stephen Colledge Try'd The Earl of Argyle's Case Articles granted Strasburg Protestant Dissenters Prosecuted The Charter of London questioned The pretended Presâ—byterian â—ior Earl of Essex's Death Lord 〈…〉 Speech Col. Sidney Try'd Col. Sidney's Paper Methods used to get the Charters of Cities surrender'd The League of Ausburg The Carriage of the French upon the Turks invading Hungary The Emperor prepares against the Turks Newheusel besieged by the Imperialists The Siege raised The Turks advance to Austria The Tartars attack the Germans Great Consternation at Vienna The Turks form the Siege of Vienna A Journal of the Siege from the Beginning to the End Count Staremberg's Letter to the Duke of Lorain The Battel of Barkan Gran besieged by the Germans 〈…〉 K. Charles contemptible abroad Luxemburg besieged by the French and surrender'd The 20 Years Truce Genoa bombarded by the French Fleet. Vicegrade besieged and taken by the Imperialists The Siege of Buda The D. of Lorain's Letter to the Emperor concerning the beating of the Turks Army The Siege of Buda raised Count Lesley routs the Turks in Selavonia and takes Virovitz The Emperor's Forces successful against the Turks in Vpper Hungary 〈…〉 The Campaign in Poland The Venetians take Sancta Maura The Venetians make â—ncursions into the Turkish Territories The Venetians besiege Prevesa Prâ—vesa surrendered The Death of King Charles II. K. James 〈◊〉 Speech to the Council◠〈…〉 K. James II Crownâ—d and his Speech to the Parliament The Parliament gives him a great deal of Money The Earl of Argyle's Declaration Argyle taken and beheaded K. James his Practices against the Duke of Monmouth D. of Monmouth lands in England His Declaration The P. of Orange's Offers to King James rejected The D. of Monmouth's Letter to K. James Monmouth Beheaded The cruel Executions in the Wâ—st Mr. Cornish Try'd Mr. Cornish Executed K. James's Proceedings in respect to Ireland Talbot's Villany K. James's Speech to his Parliament The Lords Voted Thanks for the Speech The Commons debated it and addrest the King to turn our the Popish Officers Parliament dissolved Neuheusel Besieged by the Imperialists The Turks Besiege Gran. The Battel of Gran. Vicegrade taken by the Turks Neuheusel taken by Storm The Serasquier's Letter to the D. of Lorain Esperies besieged by General Schultz Surrendred The Siege and Battel of Coron Coron taken Dr. Hough chosen President of Magdalen Collede The Fellows of Magdalen College turn'd out Dangerfield Sentenced and kill'd Mr. Johnson's Sentence K. James's Letter to the Scotch Parliament Buda besieged The Battel of Buda The Siege continued Buda stormed Buda taken Five Churches besieg'd Surrender'd The besieging and taking of Syclos Darda abandon'd by the Turks The Pr. of Baden burns the Bridge of Esseck Segedin besieg'd The Battel of Scinta Segedin surrender'd to the Imperialists Chialafa besieged by the Turks The Turks beaten and raise the Siege Old Navarino besieged and taken New Navarino besieged New Navarino surrender'd Modon besieged by the Venetians Surrendred Napoli di Romania besieged The Turks defeated Napoli di Romania taken Sign besieged Sign taken The King of Poland invades Moldavia The Hospodar's Message to him and his Answer The King of Poland routs the Turks and Tartars A Proclamation for a Toleration of Religion in Scotland Tyrconnel made Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and other Proceedings there The Duke of Lorrain towards 〈◊〉 The Battel of Mohatz Transilvania revolts Butschin besieged by the Imperialists Esseck abandoned by the Turks Transylvania reduced by the Imperialists Arch-Duke Joseph crowned K. of Hungary Agria surrender'd to the Imperialists The Revolution of the Turkish Empire ended with the Deposing of Mabomet IV. and advancing his Brother Solyman to the Throne Sign besieged by the Turks and relieved by the Venetians Castlenovo besieged by the Venetians The Turks routed by the Venetians The Turks abandon Patrass Lepanto c. Corinth abandoned by the Turks and several other Places Atâ—ens quitted to the â—enetians 〈…〉 K. James his Declaration of Indulgence commanded to be Read in Churches The Bishops Petition The King's Answer The Bishops sent to the Tower Tryed and Acquitted Alba Regalis surrendred to the Germans Lippa besieged and taken by the Imperialists Illock and Peter-Waradin deserted by the Turks Belgrade besieged by the Imperialists Belgrade taken by Storm The Battel of Brod. The Affairs of Venice and Poland The Bishop of Bath VVells ☞ ☜ The Prince of Orange lands in England P. George's Letter to the King The Princess Ann's Letter to the Queen â—ivers â—â—aces seized for the Use of the Prince of Orange The P. of O's Third Declaration K. J's Proposals to the Pr. of Orange The Prince's Answer K. J's Letter to the E. of Fevâ— rsham The E. of Feversham's Letter to the Pr. of Orange P. of Or. his Declaration The P. of 〈◊〉 Message to the King K. James's Reasons for withdrawing himself The English Declaration of Right P. and P. of Orange proclaimed K. and Q. or England The Scot. Declarat of Right P. and P. proclaimed in Scotland K. and Q. take the Scotch Oath Dundee slain Tyrconnel sent for K. James to Ireland The Emperor's Letter to the late K. James The late K. James lands in Ireland Protestants disarm'd in Ireland The Irish routed by the Iniskillingers and Mackarty made a Prisoner D. Schomberg lands in Ireland Carrigfergus bâ—sieged Carrigfergus surrendred D. Schomberg marched towards Dundaâ—k A Conspiracy discovered among the French in the English Army The Iniskilliners defeat the Irish near Sligo The Irish take Sligo The English at Dundalk die â—pace Keyserwaert besieged by the Duke of Brandenburg â—eiserwater surrendred Mentz besieged by the Confederates Mentz surrendred The French burning and ravaging the Palatinate Bonne besieged by the Elector of Brandenburg Bonne besieged Bonne surrendred to the Confederates Prince Lewis of Baden made General in Hungary The Battel of Patochin French make Peace with the Algerines Baden routs the Tarks near Nissa Nissa taken by the Imperialists Widin surrendred to the Imperiaâ—iâ—ts The Turkish Embassadors press for a Peace Napoli di Malvasia blockaded bâ— the Venetians The Vâ—udois pâ—rsecution at an end The death of Innocent XI Laws made agaiâ—st Popish Succesâ—ors
and other Proceedings of the Parliamentsf The Affairs of Scotland The Jacobites Plot. The Irisâ— Affairs Col. Woolsâ—ey routs the Irish Charlemont Castl blocked up Charlemont surrendred K. William landed in Ireland K. William wounded The Battle of the Boyne L. G. Hambletâ—n hâ—s Character at the Boyne D. Schâ—mberg's Character and Age. The late K. James 〈◊〉 for Fraâ—â—â—e 〈…〉 Athlone besieged in vain by L. G. Dâ—uglass Waterford surrendred The Kings Proceedings in Ireland The Army march to 〈◊〉 2. The first siege of Limerick The English Train surprized by the Irish Thâ— Siege raised and the King goes for England 〈◊〉 besieged and 〈◊〉 Coâ—k surrendred Kingsale beâ—sieg'd Surrendred The Duke of Savoy enters into the Confederacy and the manner of it The Treaty between the Emperour and the Dâ—ke of Saâ—oy The Treaty between the King of Spain and the Duke of Savoy The Campagne in Flanders The Battle of Flerus Arch-duke Joseph chosen King of the Romans The death of the D. of Lorrain The Campaign in Germany The Insurrection of the Catalins The Freâ—ch prevail in Catalâ—nia The French repulsed at Carignan The Vaudoâ—â— roâ—t the French Caâ—ours taken by Catinat The Battel of Salusses Suza besieged and taken by the French Canisia surrenâ—red Nissa and Widin besieged by the Turks Teckely possesses himself of Transilvania and routs Heuster Nissa surrendred Widin surrendred Belgrade besieged by the Turks The Turks take Belgrade by storm Esseck besieged by the Turks in vain P. of Baden reduced Transâ—lvania and expels Tekeley The King of Poland tempted to make Peace with the Turks The Tartars harrass Poland The Poles unactive in the Prosecucution of the War Neapli di Malvasia besieged by the Venetians and taken Vallona besieged by the Venetians Vallona deserted by the Turks The Venetians beat the Turks at Sea Attempts made by France for a Peace with the Emperor The Remarkables of this Year The Congress at the Hague The King's Speech to the Congress The Resolution of the Congress Nice besiâ—ged and taken The siege of Mons. Mons surrendred The War in Ireland Baltymore surrendred to the English The English Town of Athlone taken The English pass the Shannon The Irish Town of Athlone taken The Battle of Aghrim Galloway surrendered Limerick besieged K. James's Letter to the Irish The Irish War ended Our Sea-Affairs noted The Campaâ—gâ— in Flanders The Campaign in Catalonia The Campaign on the Upper Rhine Carmagnolae besieged and taken Coni besieged Coni relieved Carmagnola retaken Montmelian Fortress surrendred The Battle of Saâ—ankemen Duke of Croy succesfull in Sclavonia Great Waradin blockaded The King of Poland's Campaign Pope Alexander VIII his Death Monsieur Louvois Death The Elector of Saxony's Death Parliament meets Parliament adjourned Conspiracy in England Admiral Russel's Letter The French Fleet beaten K. James's Letter to the French King Namur surrendred The Battle of Steenkirk The English Forces imbark English Forces 〈◊〉 in Flanders The Campaign on 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 Rhine The Siege of Reinfâ—ld The Duke of Savoy invades the Daupbinate and his Progress The Duke of Savoy's Sâ—ckness The Duke recovers Great Waradin besieged Great Waradia surrendered Câ—nea besieged by the 〈◊〉 The Siâ—ge rais'd The Pâ—â—es do little Mr. Boyle's Death Earthquake in Jamaca and England Ninth Electorate The Proceedings of the English Parliament The Smyrna Fleet attach'd ' by the French The Campaign in Flander's Huy taken by the French The Battle of Landen Charleroy besieged and surrendred to the French Roses taken Heidelburg taken and destroyed by the French The Dauphine inclined to attack the Prince of Baden A Letter from Turin to the States General of the United Provinces about the Battle of Marsiglia Belgrade besieg'd by the Imperialists The Siege rais'd The King his Speech to the Parliament The Proceedings of the English Parliament Sir Francis Wheeler lost Acts of Parliament signed Admiral Russell with the Fleet â—ails for Spain The death of the Prince of Liege and Choice of another The Campaign in Flanders Diep and Havâ—e de Grace Bombâ—rdâ—d by the English The Confederates and French in motion towards Flanders The French King his Letter to the Army Huy besieged by the Confederates and taken The French Progress in Catalonia The French Fleet confined to Thoulon The Campagne in Germany The Campagne in Savoy The Affairs of Poland The death of the Elector of Saxony The death of Queen Mary The English Parliament's Proceedings Th◠〈…〉 Flanders Namur Besieg'd by the Confederates 〈◊〉 Fortifications P. Vaudemont's gallant Retreat The King his Letter to Prince Vaudemont The Siege of Namur continued to the Surrender of the Town The Maritime Towns of France Bombarded by the English Dixmude and Deinse Surrendred to the French Brussells Bombarded Villeroy fails to relieve Namur The Fort and Castle of Namur surrendred The Campaign on the Rhine inconsiderable Casall besieged and taken by the Confederates Sultan Ackmet's Death Sultan Mustapha takes Lippa and Titull A Letter concerning the Defeat of General Veteranâ— Scio quited by the Venetians The Battle of Magâ—s Parliament Dissolv'd and another call'd The King's Speech The death of the Elector of Mentz An Act to remedy the ill state of the COin The Assassination discoverâ—d The King's Speech to the Parliament The Parliaments Pâ—ocâ—â—dings there upon The Confederates buru the French Magazine at Givet The Bombing of Calais St. Martins c. The Fight between the French and Spaniards 〈◊〉 Cataâ—onia The Campaign in Germany The separate Peace of Savoy and the Management of it The Envoy of Savoy's Harange to the late K. James Valentia Beâ—ieged by the French and Savoyards The Articles of Neutrality for Italy Themeswaer Besiegâ—d by the Imperialists and quitted The â—attle between the Imperialists and the Turks Liberachi brought over to the Venetian◠〈◊〉 Dulcigno Besieged by the Venetians The Seâ—ge raised Tâ—e Venetians Beat tâ—e Tuâ—ks by Sâ—a The death of the King of Poland The Czar of Moscovy routs the Turks by Sea and takes Asoph The Substance of the King his Speech to the Parliament The death of the Qu. Mother of Spain The Parliaments Proceedings The Preliminary Articles The Treaty at Reswick Aeth taken by the French The Spanish Aâ—bassaâ— râ—present thâ—ir 〈◊〉 The Elector of Saxony chosen King of Poland Alterations about the Basis of the present Treaty Other Altercations about the Bâ—sis of the present Treaty An Extraordinary Congress held The Lord Portland and the Mareschal de Boufflers their Interview and the Consequence thereof The Peace signed between England Spain Holland and France The Articles of Peace between England and France Mr. Ponti's Expedition Takes Carthagena Descryes and Escapes Admiral Neville * A Jurisdiction three Leagues in Compass Eberenburg â—aken by the Germans And a Cessation of Arms. The Battle of Zenta * Is the XLVI †Is the L. * Is the LI. * It is the XLVI The Parliament Addâ—ess the King Whitehall burâ—t Parliament proceedings King's Speech Parl. dissolved another called K goes for Holland The Affairâ— of Spain Articles of Alliance between France and Sweden Overtâ—res of Peace with the Turks The troubled Affairs of Poland The Proposals of the Rocosche The Nuâ—cio his Mediation Brings the Primate to submit The Primare's Speech to the King The Troubles of Lituania A Fight in Lithuania The Czar's Travel 's A Fight between the Poles and Tartars Elbing invested by the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 The Electors Letter to Elbing The Articles of Eâ—bing Sapieha defeated The Lithuanian Troubles appeased The death of the Duke of Courland The death of the Duke of Hanover The Dukes of Holstein and Lorrain married Conference of Peace with the Turks Altercations between the Venetians and Turks
Grand-Seignior should never more claim any right therein 2. That Moldavia Walachia and the Republick of Ragusa which had put themselves under the Emperor's Protection should be comprized in the Treaty of Peace and not to be disturbed by the Turks in any manner whatsoever 3. That all the Tartars should depart the Countries 4. That the Port should pay 6000000 towards the Expences of the War immediately after the Conclusion of the Peace and 2000000 every Year for free Passage to Constantinople 5. That all the Christians that had been taken during the War which were above 1000000 should be set at liberty lastly that Tekeley and all his Adherents should be delivered up to the Emperor The King of Poland demanded the restitution of Caminiec and 4000000 in Silver And for the Venetians they required 1. The restitution of all the Islands that formerly belonged to them and particularly the Island of Negrâ—pont 2. The restitution of the Dukedom of Athens 3. The Exchange of Lepanto for Tragusa 4. The restitution of Dulâ—igno and Mahona 5. A Regulation of the Limits of the conquered Cities and Countries And lastly that the Grand-Seignior should pay to the Republick 400000 Ducats But these Propositions seemed so unreasonable to the Embassadors that they tore their Beards upon it However they delivered a Letter to the Imperial Commissioners which the Grand-Seignior had written to the Emperour Within which it was thought some Offers and Proposals tending to a Peace might be met with But they were surprized to find nothing but Complements and the Imperial Court was so incensed at it that they sent Orders for the Ottoman Embassadors to be gone but while they were preparing for their departure word was sent them that they might stay till the Return of the Couriers from Poland and Venice to know the final Resolutions of those two Republicks At last depart they did but stopped at Commorra and after a long stay there got leave at length to return leaving the Peace that way desperate and the War to be prosecuted with as great fury as ever But how high soever the Demands of the Venetians were in their Proposals of Peace they must have proceeded from another Motive whatever it were than the Operations of this Compagne which proved very unsuccessful to them as the last had done For the Siege of Napoli di Malvasia a City in the Morea which their Forces undertook did not go forward with that Success that was desired their Army being only worn out before it and a great Number of brave Officers lost And therefore being reduced to this bad plight and the Garrison obstinately refusing to hearken to a Surrender tho' the Place was very much ruined by the Bombs they resolved at length to change the Siege into a Blockade To this end they put 2000 Men in Garrison into the two Forts which they had raised on the Land-side and left some Frigates at Sea to endeavour the prevention of any Relief that way Which being effected they drew off the rest of the Army to Napoli di Romania to take up their Winter-Quarters Neither did their Affairs in Dalmatia meet with any better Success than those in the Morea For Seignior Mclino Proveditor-General of that Countrey having advanced towards Narenta to make himself Master of la Gabella and some other Posts met the Turkish Horse near the Bridge that leads to that Place The Vanguard composed of Morlaques was charged so vigorously that they were forced to give Ground However Molino stood firm with 600 Horse and his Infantry but finding the Turks were reinforced he was not willing to engage in a Fight the Success whereof was so much the more doubtful by how much his Men had been somewhat discouraged by the Defeat of the Morlaques wherefore he retreated in good Order and with the Loss of no great number of Soldiers The rest of Italy was hitherto pretty quiet save for the Troubles of the poor Vaudois whose Persecution is now at an end and with which doth a Cloud gather that in a little time shall overcast a great part of this Countrey But of this we shall have occasion to speak in the succeeding Years and take notice here that this as it hath been remarkable upon many other Accounts so upon that of the Death of one of the greatest Popes that lived since Gregory the Great 's Days the famous and renowned Odeschalchi by Name and Innocenâ— XI upon his Assumpsion of the Papacy who departed this Life upon the 12th of Aug. between 3 and 4 in the Afternoon He was born at Como in Italy in the State of Milan was made Clerk of the Chamber under the Pontificate of Vrban VIII and of Innocent X. by whom he was made a Cardinal in 1645. after which he was preferred to be Legate of Bologna and Bishop of Novarra and Clement X. dying the 22d of July 1676. he was advanced to the Pontifical Chair the 22d of Sept. following Some have called him the Protestant Pope for what Reason I know not unless it be that when France was exercising her Severities upon her Reformed Subjects they were highly opposed by him at the same time upon another Account and that some said that he in one of his Letters exprest a Dislike not only at the one but the other of their Proceedings at least-wise as to the manner of it But be it as it will he was certainly a very great Man for all the Satyrs that were made upon him in France and it cannot be taken ill by the Publick if with a judicious Person I encounter all their Calumnies with what an Impartial Author wrote of him when he was yet but a Cardinal saying Odeschalchi is most certainly a very great Man and a Person of Worth and Integrity not to be corrupted Exemplary Charitable Disinterested Disingaged from the World without Pride without Vanity without Pomp Zealous with Moderation Austere only to himself His Kindred are Persons of Worth his Brother died at Como some Years since Canonized by the People for his signal Works of Piety and Charity there is nothing to be blamed in his Conduct and of all the Colledge he is the most fit to be Pope for his Honesty and Vertue But whether the vacant See was supplied with a Person worthy to succeed so great a Man may appear hereafter we shall only here note That Peter Ottoboni a Venetian by Birth and Bishop of Porro was on the 6th of Oct. following promoted to the Papal Dignity being aged 80 Years within a few Months year 1690 The Affairs abroad being terminated as we have above related for the Year 1689. we shall enter upon this with the Affairs of Britain The Parliament of England happily ended their most important Affairs towards the beginning of it and in regard they had found the Aim and Drift of the preceding Reigns to have been absolutely to annihilate the Authority of Parliaments and that King James in particular had gone a great
into England And if they should be Wind-bound he had written to the President Toffe at Calais to furnish them with what they should have Occasion for The rest of the Assassins were Men of desperate Fortunes Hangers-on at the Court of St. Germains or Soldiers taken out of several Regiments whose Character render'd them fit for such an inhumane Enterprize All the Assassins being come to London that were expected from France and their Number compleated by the Addition of others that were in England the Execrable Design was imparted to all the Desperadoes some of which were startled and amazed with Horrour at the first Relation of it But all the Scruples that Conscience could raise were soon extinguished by the Authority of the late King James's Commission and their plentiful Prospects of Wealth and Honour that would attend the Action And therefore All consented to forfeit their Honours and hazard their Lives in it Now several Ways are proposed by the Conspirators to execute their long-designed Attempt against His Majesty's Person Some proposed Seizing His Majesty and carrying him alive into France and to that purpose it was pretended that a Castle on the Sea-side was to be secured to detain the King till a Ship was ready to transport him thither But the Wiser and more wicked among them who understood what was meant by Seizing the King's Person laughed at this as a meer Chimera Others proposed to kill His Majesty at Kensington by attacking his Guards and forcing his Palace in the dead time of the Night But this upon debating of it was also thought wholly impracticable Some were for murthering the King as he came on Saturday to St. James's Chappel And for this purpose 40 Men well armed were to assault His Majesty's Guards which commonly do not exceed 25 while 6 Men on foot should shut Hyde-Park Gates and the rest assassinate His Majesty It was agreed also to kill the Coach-Horses as they were entring into the Park that the Passage being stopped the Guards might not be able to come up till they had done their Work Another Proposal was to murther the King as he returned from Hunting in a narrow Lane by a Wood-side leading to the Thames on the other side of the Water about 150 Paces long wherein there is a Gate which when it is shut hinders Coaches or Horses from passing that way One of the Assassins was sent to view the Ground and another to view the Lane before-mentioned But Sir George Barclay who was to command this infamous Party did not approve of that Lane and the Difficulty that arose in the Debate caused the Project to be rejected At last they fixed upon a Place betwixt Brentford and Turnham-Green in a Bottom where the Ground is Moorish There is a Bridge where divers Roads meet and crâ—ss oen another On the North side there is a Road that goes round Brentford and on the South a Lane that leads to the River so that one may come thither by four several Ways After you have passed the Bridge the Road grows narrow having on one side a Foot-Path and on the other a tall and thick Hedge And this Place was pitched upon for the Execution of their barbarous Villany And truly if Heaven had not discovered their Treasons all Circumstances considered a more unlucky Place and Time could not have been found out for His Majesty very often returned late from Hunting and usually crossed the Water at Queen's-Ferry by Brentford with no greater Attendance than 5 or 6 of his Guards It was also His Majesty's Custom to enter the Ferry-Boat without coming out of his Coach and as soon as he landed on this side the Water the Coach drove on without expecting the rest of the Guards who could not cross the Thames till the Boat returned to Surrey-side to bring them over and so the King must inevitably have fallen into the Hands of his Murtherers before the rest of the Guards could have come up to his Assistance Neither was the Time and Place more cunningly and Devilishly contrived than their Men were disposed of for having secured several Places at Brentford Turnham-Green and in scattered Houses thereabouts to seâ— up their Horses till the King should return from Hunting One of the Conspirators was ordered to wait at Queen's-Perry till the King's Guards appeared in sight on Surrey-side of the Water and then to give speedy Notice to the rest to be ready at their respective Posts while the King was crossing the Thames For this wicked End they were divided into three Parties which was to make their Approaches by three several Ways one of which was to come from Turnham-Greeâ— another from the Lane that leads to the Thames and the Third from the Road that goes round Brentford One 〈◊〉 these Parties were to attack the Guards in the Front and another in the Rear whilst 10 or 12 Men of the bloodieâ— sort were to assassinate His Majesty in his Coach and put 〈◊〉 Perâ—od to that Sacred Life whose Safety and Well-being 〈◊〉 a Defence to the Liberties of Europe as well as the particular Joy Delight and Safety of England When their execrable Design was accomplished the Conspirators resolved to keep in a Body till they came beyond Hammersmith and then to separate and by several Roads to hasten to London and from thence to the Sea-side where the sudden Landing of the French might secure them from the Rage of the Multitude and the Hand of Justice Thus was the Assassination to make way for a French Invasion and the Invasion to shelter the Murtherers of our King and Country Horses were now the only Necessaries wanting and Sir George Barclay complaining that the 800 l. which he brought over was already so far exhausted that he could not out of the Remainder provide so great a Number as 40 they all agreed that he should find but half and the other 20 should be supplied by Sir William Perkins Mr. Porter and Mr. Charnock All things being thus agreed on the Duke of Berwick who was sent into England to countenance the Action posted for France to give his supposed Father an account of it who shewed himself mightily pleased with it and indeed the Villany was now in a manner brought to a Crisis For the Fifteenth Day of February was the Day appointed to Murder the King if kind Heaven had not prevented it and now the Leaders having quartered the Assassines in several parts of the Town to prevent suspition they all lay close and still expecting notice from their Orderly Men of the King 's being gone to Richmond But so it pleased God Almighty that His Majesty did not go Abroad that Day This disappointment and fears of a Discovery made Plouden Kendrick and Sherborn decline the Action and withdraw themselves but Sir George Barclay Sir William Perkins Cap. Porter and Mr. Goodman concluding the Design was not Discovered because they were not taken up by the Government had another Meeting Feb. the 19th and there