concerns the Exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion and such as profess it enjoying their Goods shall be re-established and maintained in the said Town of Maestricht and its Dependances in the same State and in such Manner as was regulated by the Capitulation made in the Year 1632 and that such as shall have been endowed with any Ecclesiastical Goods Canons Places Parsonages Provostships and other Benefices shall continue settled in them and enjoy them without any Contradiction X. His Majesty restoring to the said Lords the States-General the Town of Maestricht and Countries thereunto belonging may yet take and carry away all the Artillery Powder Bullets Provisions and other Warlike Ammunition that shall be found there at the time of â—ts Restitution and they that his Majesty shall have appointed for this Purpose may if they please make use of the Boats and Carriages of the Country for 2 Months time and shall have free Passage by Water and Land for the Carrying away the said Ammunition And the Governours Commanders Officers and Magistrates of the said Town shall give them all the Facilities they can for the Carriage and Conduct of the said Artillery and Ammunition Also the Officers Soldiers Men of War and others that shall leave the said Place may take thence and carry away all their movable Goods but it shall not be lawful for them to exact any Thing from the Inhabitants of the Town of Maestricht or its Neighbourhood nor to do any hurt to their Houses or carry away any Thing belonging to the said Inhabitants XI All Prisoners of War on both sides shall be delivered without Distinction or Exception and without paying any Ransom XII The raising of Contributions demanded by the Governour of the Town of Maestricht of the Countries subjected shall continue for all that shall become due till the Ratification of the present Treaty and such Arrears as shall remain shall be paid within 3 Months after that at convenient times for which a valuable Caution shall be given in some Town within his Majesty's Dominion XIII The said Lords the States-General have and do promise not only to maintain a perfect Neutrality without being at Liberty to assist directly or indirectly the Enemies of France or its Allies but also to guarrant all such Engagements as Spain shall enter into by the Treaty that is to be betwixt their most Christian and Catholick Majesties and especially that whereby the Catholick King shall be held to the same Neutrality XIV If through Inadvertence or otherwise there happen any want of due Observance of this present Treaty or other Inconvenience relating thereunto on the Part of his said Majesty or of the Lords the States-General and their Successors this Peace and Alliance shall remain in full Force notwithstanding so as no Breach of Friendship or of good Correspondence shall ensue thereupon but such Contraventions shall be speedily repaired if they shall be occasioned by any particular Subjects Faults those Subjects only shall be punished XV. And for the better securing Commerce and Friendship hereafter between the Subjects of the said King and those of the States-General of the Vnited-Provinces of the Low-Countries it is agreed and accorded that in case there shall be in time to come any Interruption of Friendship or that a Breach shall happen between the Crown of France and the said Lords the States-General of the said Vnited-Provinces which God forbid then 6 Months after such Breach shall always be allowed to the Subjects of both Parties to retire with their Effects and transport them whithersoever they think fit which also they shall be permitted to do as likewise to sell or transport their Goods and Movables with all Freedom so as no Hindrance shall be given to them nor any Proceedings to seize their Effects much less to secure their Persons XVI As for the Pretences and Interests that concern the Prince of Orange upon which there has been a separate Treaty and Agreement by an Act this Day Signed the said Writing and all the Contents of it shall be effectual and shall be confirmed fulfilled and executed according to the Form and Tenour thereof neither more nor less than if all its Points in general and every one in particular were Word for Word inserted into this present Treaty XVII And as his Majesty and the Lords the States-General acknowledge the powerful Offices that the King of Great Britain has incessantly employ'd by his Counsels and good Advertisements for the publick Weal and Repose so it is agreed on both sides that his said Majesty of Great Britain and his Kingdoms be comprehended by Name within this present Treaty according to the best Form that may be XVIII Within this present Treaty of Peace and Alliance shall be comprehended on the part of the said most Christian King the King of Sweden the Duke of Holstein the Bishop of Strasburg and Prince William of Furstemburg as interested in the present War And there shall likewise be comprehended if they will themselves the Prince and Crown of Portugal the Duke and Seigniory of Venice the Duke of Savoy the Thirteen Cantons of the Ligue-Switzers and their Allies the Elector of Bavaria Duke John Frederick of Brunswick Hanover and all Kings Potentates Princes and States Towns and particular Persons to whom his most Christian Majesty shall grant at their Request to be comprehended within this Treaty on his part XIX And on the part of the Lords the States-General the King of Spain and all other their Allies that within 6 Weeks to be computed from the Exchange of the Ratifications shall declare their acceptance of the Peace and also the Thirteen laudable Cantons of the Ligue-Switzers and their Allies and Confederates the Town of Embden and moreover all Kings Princes and States Towns and particular Persons to whom they shall grant at their Request to be comprehended on their part XX. The said King and the said Lords the States-General do consent that the King of Great Britain as Mediator and all other Potentates and Princes that shall be willing to enter into the like Engagement may give his Majesty and the said States-General their Promise and tie themselves to guarrant the Performance of all that is contain'd in this present Treaty XXI This present Treaty shall be Ratified and Approved by the said King and the said Lords the States-General and each Parties Letters of Ratification shall be deliver'd in proper due Form within the Term of 6 Weeks or sooner if it may be reckoning from the Day of Signing In Witness whereof We the aforesaid Ambassadors of his Majesty and of the Lords the States-General by Virtue of their respective Powers have on their behalfs Signed these Presents with our ordinary Seals and have set our Coats of Arms to the same At Nimeguen Aug. 10. in the year of our Lord 1678. Le Ma' D'Estrates Colbert De Mesmes H. Beverning W. van Nassaw W. Haren WE liking well the aforesaid Treaty of Peace in all and every the
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
there was an Hill to the E. of the Enemy's Camp and N. from the Town he went thither to view their Camp which he found to be all along the River in two lines and where he had a long Discourse with the Prince Duke Scomberg Duke of Ormond Count Solms Major General Scravenmoor my Lord Sidney and other great Officers who were all curious in making their observations upon the Enemy and Scravenmoor said they were Vne pettite Armee for they could not reckon above 46 Regiments that lay incamped but the King answered that they might have a great many Men in the Town that there was also an Hill to the S. W. beyond which part of their Army might lie incamped and that possibly they did not shew all their Numbers however he said he was resolved to see very soon what they were From hence the King rid on to the Pass at the old Bridge and stood upon the side of the Bank within Musket-shot of the Ford there to make his further observations on the Enemy's Posture and Camp and in some time after rid about 200 Paces up the River nigh the West of all the Enemy's Camp Whilst his Army was marching in he alighted and sat him down upon a rising Ground where he refreshed himself for about an hour during which time some of the Irish with long Guns came down and shot at our Dragoons who went down to the River to drink and some of our went down to return the Complement to the former And 't was farther observed that a Party of about 40 Horse advancing very slowly stood upon a plowed Field over-against the King for near half an Hour and brought 2 Field-pieces with them which they dropt by an Hedge on the said Ground as was afterwards known though our Men did not then discover them and one of which when the King was mounted they fired It killed 2 Horses and a Man about a 100 Yards above where the King was which was no sooner done but immediately came a 2d which had almost been fatal to one of the greatest Lives upon Earth for the Ball having first grazed on the Bank of the River did in its first rising slant upon the King's Right-shoulder took out a Piece of his Coat and tore the Skin and Flesh and afterwards broke the Head of a Gentleman's Pistol My Lord Conningsby no sooner saw his Majesty struck but he rid up and clapt his Handkerchief upon the Place but the King himself took little notice and kept on his pace saying only There was no necessity the Bullet should have come nearer though the Enemy continued firing who when they saw their shot somewhat disturb our Horse they set up a most prodigious shout all over the Camp as if the King 's whole Army had been ruin'd and drew down several Squadrons of their Horse upon a Plain towards the River but in such a Place as they knew it was not possible for the English to come at them Yet when our Guns came up which was about 3 that Afternoon and begun to play they withdrew their Squadrons into their Camp The King about 9 at Night having called a Council of War declared he was resolved to pass the River next Day which Duke Scomberg at first opposed but finding the King positive he advised that part of the Army should be sent that Night about 12 towards Slane-bridge and to pass the River thereabouts and so get between the Enemy and the Pass at Duleek but this Advice was not taken Then they fell into a Debate about getting good and trusty Guides when my Lord George Hamilton who was by immediately brought 4 or 5 of his Irish Iniskilling Officers who knew the Fords very well and took upon them to guide the Army next day and here it was concluded how the Army should march and who should command at the different Posts which were ordered in this manner Lieutenant General Douglas was to command the right Wing of Foot and Count Sâ—homberg the Horse who were to march on early toward Slane-bridge and other Fords up the River to flank the Enemy or get between the Enemy's Camp and Drogheda whilst in the mean time a body of Foot forced their way at the Pass at Old-bridge But while this was doing on our side the Enemy were not idâ—e for they also called a Council of War wherein Lieutenant General Hambleton advised to send a Party of Dragoons to a Ford that was below the Town of Drogheda which the English either knew not of or else did not regard and all the rest being 8 Regiments with their whole left Line towards the Bridge of Slane but King James said he would send 50 Dragoons up the River which put Hamilton into a great Amazement considering the Importance of the Place to be defended Towards the close of the Evening the Cannon ceased on both sides and the King gave Orders that every Soldier should be provided with a good Stock of Ammunition and all to be ready at break of day to march at a minute's Warning with every Man a green Bough or Sprig in his Hat to distinguish him from the Enemy who wore pieces of Paper on their Hats The Word that Night being Westminster he rid in Person about 12 at Night with Torches quite through the Army At last Tuesday the 1st of July came which proved to be a very clear Day as if the Sun it self had a mind to see what the Event would be when about 6 in the Morning Lieutenant General Douglas march'd towards the Right with the Foot and Count Scomberg with the Horse which being observed by the Enemy they drew out their Horse and Foot towards the left to oppose us The Right Wing at first were ordered to pass all at Slane but upon better Information several Regiments were ordered to go over at other Fords between the Camp and that place When the Horse approach'd the River they found a Regiment of the Enemies Dragoons posted on the other side who fired upon them and then thought to have retreated to their main Body but before they could do that they were flanked in a Lane and about 70 of their Number slain which was almost all the Opposition they meâ— with in passing the River that way But when they advanced forwards they found the Enemy drawn up in 2 Lines Whereupon the English drew up in 2 Lines also being 24 Squadrons of Horse and Dragoons and but six Batallions of â—oot which being too few Douâ—las sent for more and in the mean time according to my Lord Portland's Advice the Horse and Foot were mix'd Squadron with Batallion for their greater Security However more Foot coming up this Figure was altered and all the Horse drawn to the Right by which they out-flanked the Enemy considerably They found the Ground very difficult to pass by reason of a great Bog and some Ditches that were in the way but the Horse moving to the Right and the Foot taking
present Treaty by his Majesty or the said Lords the States General and their Successors nevertheless this Peace and Alliance shall remain in its full Force without coming to a Rupture of the Amity and good Correspondence But the said Breaches shall be dresently repair'd and if they proceed from the Misdemeanor of any private Subjects they only shall suffer Punishment XIV And for the better Assurance for the future of the Trade and Amity between the Subjects of the said Lord the King and those of the said Lords the States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countries it is accorded and agreed That if hereafter any Interruption of Friendship or Rupture shall happen between the Crown of France and the said Lords the States General of the United Provinces which God forbid there shall be always nine Months time allowed after the said Rupture for the Subjects of each Party to retire with their Effects and to transport 'em whether they shall think fit Which it shall be lawful for 'em to do as also to sell and transport their Gods and Moveables with all Freedom without any Hindrance or Molestation or Proceeding during the said space of nine Months to any Seizure of their Goods much less to any Arrests of their Persons XV. The Treaty of â—eace between the deceas'd King and the Elector of Brandenburg concluded at St. German enlay the 29th of June 1697. shall be re-establish'd between his Most Christian Majesty and his present Electoral Highness of Brandenburg in all the Points and Articles of it XVI In regard it is of high Concernment to the publick Tranquility that the Peace concluded between his Most Christian Majesty and his Royal Highness the Duke of Savoy August the 9th 1696. should be exactly observ'd it is agreed That the same be confirm'd by this present Treaty XVII And in regard his Majesty and the Lords the States General acknowledge themselves beholding for the effectual good Offices which the King of Sweden has continually contributed by his good Counsels and Admonitions toward the publick Safety and Repose it is agreed on both sides That his said Swedish Majesty with his Kingdoms shall be expresly comprehended in the present Treaty in the most ample Form that may be done XVIII In this present Treaty of Peace and Alliance shall be comprehended on the part of the said Lord the Most Christian King all those that shall be nominated before the Exchange of the Ratifications and within the space of six Months after they shall have been Exchanged XIX And on the part of the Lords the States General the King of Great Britain and the King of Spain and all the rest of the Allies who in the space of six Weeks to reckon from the Exchange of the Ratifications shall declare themselves willing to accept of the Peace as also the Thirteen Laudable Cantons of the Confederate Switzers and their Allies and Confederates and particularly in the best Form and Manner that may be the Evangelick Republicks and Cantons of Zurig Berne Glaris Basle Schasthause and Appenzel with all their Allies and Confederates as also the Republick of Geneva and its Dependencies the City and County of Neufchastelle the Cities of St. Galles Milhause and Bienne also the Confederate Grizons and their Dependancies the Cities of Bremen and Embden and more-over all Kings Princes and States Cities and private Persons to whom the Lords the States General upon request to them made shall grant Liberty to be comprehended therein XX. The said Lord the King and the said Lords the States General consent That the King of Sweden as Mediator and all the rest of the Potentates and Princes who are desirous to enter into the same Engagement may give to his said Majesty and the said Lords the States General their Promises and Obligations of Guarranty for the performance of all that is contain'd in this present Treaty XXI The present Treaty shall be ratify'd and confirm'd by the Lord the King and the Lords the States General and the Letters of Ratification shall be deliver'd within the Term of Three Weeks or sooner if it may be to count from the Day of the Signing XXII And for the greater Security of Peace and of all Clauses and Articles therein contain'd the present Treaty shall be publish'd verify'd and register'd in the Court of Parliament in Paris and in all the other Parliaments of the Kingdom of France and Chamber of Accounts in Paris aforesaid as also in like manner the said Treaty shall be publish'd verify'd and register'd by the Lords the States General in the Courts and other Places where such Publications Verifications and Registers are accustom'd to be made In Faith of which We the Embassadors of his said Majesty and the Lords the States General by virtue of Our respective Powers have in the said Names sign'd these sents with Our usual Subscriptions and put thereto Our several Seals of our Coats of Arms. At Ryswick in Holland September the 20th 1697. The Separate ARTICLE BEsides what has been concluded and determin'd by the Treaty of Peace between the Embassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of the Most Christian King and those of the Lords the States General of the United Provinces this 20th of September 1697. It is yet farther agreed by this Separate Article which shall have the same Force and Virtue as if it were Word for Word in the above-mention'd Treaty That his Most Christian Majesty shall consent as he does hereby consent by this present Article That the Emperor and Empire shall be allow'd till the 1st of November next to accept the Conditions of Peace propos'd as the last that are to be made by his said Most Christian Majesty according to his Declaration of the 1st of this present Month of September if his Imperial Majesty and the Empire cannot otherwise agree with his said Most Christian Majesty and in case that within the said time the Emperor and the Empire do not accept the said Conditions or do not otherwise agree with his said Most Christian Majesty the said Treaty of Peace shall have its full and entire Effect and shall be fulfill'd according to its Form and Tenor so that the said Lords the States General shall in no manner oppose it either directly or indirectly under any Pretence whatsoever In Faith of which We the Embassadors of his said Majesty and the States General by vertue of Our respective Powers have in the said Names sign'd this Separate Article with Our usual Subscriptions and seal'd it with Our Coats of Arms at Ryswick in Holland this 20th Day of September 1697. Sign'd L. S. N. A de Harlay Bonueil L. S. Verjus de Crecy L. S. De Callieres L. S. A. Hensius L. S. E. de Weede L. S. W. V. Haren Thus having inserted the English and Dutch Articles at full length nothing less can be expected than that I should do the like by the Spaniards who will be thought not to have fared the worse for the Peace
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
all the Sentiments of Respect for his Majesty and of Acknowledgment for the Obligations and considerable Advantages which they have received from his Majesty and the Kings his Predecessors it is at last come to pass that these good Dispositions seconded by the powerful Offices of the most High most Excellent and most mighty Prince the King of Great Britain who during these troublesom Times wherein all Christendom has been in War hath not ceased by his Counsels and good Advertisements to contribute to the Publick Weal and Repose induced as well his most Christian Majesty and the States-General as also all other the Princes and Potentates that are concerned in the Interest of this present War to consent that the Town of Nimeguen should be made Choice of for the Treaty of Peace to which end his most Christian Majesty named for his Embassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries the Sieur Comte d'Estrades Mareschal of France and Knight of his Orders the Sieur Colbert Knight Marquess of Croissi Counsellor in ordinary in his Council of State and the Sieur Mesmes Knight Comte d'Avaux Counsellor also in his Councils and the said States-General the Heer Hierosme Van Beverning Baron of Teylingen Curator of the University of Leyden late Counsellor and Treasurer-General of the Vnited-Provinces Heer Van Odyle Cortgene and first Noble and Representative of the Nobility in the States and Council of Zealand and the Heer Willem Van Haren Griedtman Van Bildt Deputies in their Assemblies on the behalf of the States of Holland and Zealand c. Which Embassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries duly instructed with the good Intentions of their Masters were to repair to the said Town of Nimeguen where after a mutual Communication of their Plenary Powers the Copies whereof are inserted Word for Word at the end of this Treaty it was agreed upon Conditions of Peace and Friendship according to this ensuing Tenour viz. I. There shall be for the future betwixt his most Christian Majesty and his Successors Kings of France and Navar and his Kingdoms on the one part and the Lords the States-General of the Vnited-Provinces of the Low-Countries on the other part a good firm faithful and inviolable Peace and all Acts of Hostility of what kind soever shall hereafter cease and be forborn betwixt the said King and the said Lords the States-General as well by Sea and other Waters as by Land in all their Kingdoms Countries Lands Provinces and Seigniories and for all their Subjects and Inhabitants of what Quality or Condition soever without exception of Places or Persons II. And if any Prizes are taken on either side in the Baltick-Sea or the North-Sea from Terneuse to the Channel 's Mouth within the space of 4 Weeks or from the said Mouth of the Channel to the Cape of St. Vincent within the space of Six Weeks and further in the Mediterranean-Sea and as far as the Aequinoctial within the space of 10 Weeks and beyond the Line and in all Parts of the World within the space of 8 Months to be computed from the Day on which the Peace shall be published at Paris and at the Hague the said Prizes and the Dammages that shall happen on either side after the Terms prefix'd shall be brought to Account and whatever shall have been taken shall be restor'd with Recompense for the Damages that shall have happened thereby III. There shall be moreover betwixt the said King and the said Lords the States-General and their Subjects and Inhabitants mutually a sincere firm and perpetual Friendship and good Correspondence by Sea and Land in all Things and in all Places within Europe and without and no resenting of the Offences or Damages that have been received either in Time past or by reason of the said Wars IV. And in Virtue of this Friendship and Correspondence as well his Majesty as the said Lords the States-General shall faithfully procure and further the Good and Prosperity of one another by all Support Aid Counsel and real Assistances upon all Occasions and at all Times and shall not consent for the future to any Treaties or Negotiations that may be to one anothers Damage and shall break them off and give notice of them to one another with Care and Sincerity as soon as ever they come to their Knowledge V. They that have had any of their Goods seized and confiscated by reason of the said War their Heirs or Assigns of what Condition or Religion soever shall enjoy such Goods and take them into Possession of their own private Authority and by Virtue of this present Treaty without standing in need to have recourse to Law and that notwithstanding any Appropriations to the Exchequer Engagements Gifts in Writing Sentences Preparatory or Definitive given by Default or Contumacy in the Parties Absence or without their being heard Treaties Accords and Transactions and any Renunciations that may have been made at such Transactions to exclude the right Owners from any part of such Goods and all and every the Goods and Rights which according to this present Treaty shall or ought to be restor'd on either side to the first Proprietors their Heirs and Assigns may be sold by the said Proprietors without obtaining any particular License so to do And likewise the Proprietors of such Rents as shall be settled by the Exchequer in lieu of Goods sold as also of such Rents and Actions as stand on Charge in the Exchequer may respectively dispose of the Propriety thereof by Sale or otherwise as of their other proper Goods VI. And since the Marquisate of Bergenopzome with all the Rights and Revenues thereunto appertaining and generally all the Lands and Goods of Monsieur le Comte d'Avergne Colonel-General of the Light-Horse of France that were under the Power of the said States-General of the Vnited-Provinces have been seized and confiscated by reason of the War to which the present Treaty ought to put an happy End it is agreed That the said Sieur Comte d'Auvergne shall be restored to the Possession of the said Marquisare of Bergenopzome its Appurtenances and Dependances and also to all the Rights Actions Privileges Usages and Prerogatives that he enjoy'd at the time when the War was declar'd VII Each shall continue seized of and shall actually enjoy the Countries Towns Places Lands Islands and Seignories within Europe and without which they now hold and possess without being disturb'd or molested directly or indirectly in any manner whatsoever VIII But his most Christian Majesty willing to give back to the Lords the States-General his Principal Friendship and to give them a singular Proof thereof upon this Occasion will immediately after the Exchange of the Ratifications put them into Possession of the Town of Maestricht with the Comte of Vronof and the Comtez and Countries of â—auquemond Aalhem and Rolleduc beyond the Maes together with the Villages of Redemption Banc d' St. Servais and whatever is belonging to the said Town IX The said Lords the States-General promise That whatever
might remit nothing that might have any probability of tending to promote the Peace they accepted the Truce upon such Conditions as should on both sides be agreed on At length this Procedure and some little Contests ended in Signing a Treaty of Truce the last Day of March at Nimeguen to continue to the 1st of May. The Truce being thus Signed instead of advancing the Negotiation did on the contrary stop the Course thereof during the whole Time it lasted because the French Embassadors sticking immoveable to their Declarations there was no more to be said so that the two Princes who remained still in the War thought it more adviseable to Negotiate the Peace in France and gave their Envoys Mr. Meinder and Mr. de Mayerkron the last whereof had Orders to go thither from Holland without delay their Instructions accordingly but with as little Success as before either there or any where else so that the French Forces that were in the Country of Cleves and Juliers finding the Truce expired were so forward as not to slip any opportunity and therefore were ready on the 1st of May to pass the Rhine year 1679 over which they had made a Bridge at Ordinghen General Spaen who commanded the Troops of Brandenburg made a shew as if he designed to oppose their Passage with the few Soldiers and Trained-Bands he had with him on the other side of that River But finding the French Army had passed it on flying Bridges above and below Augerarts at the Confluence of the Auger and the Rhine he thought fit to Retreat and the Consequence of that was That that General and the Elector's Embassador procured a Conference with Monsieur Colbert to be held at Santhen a little Town 3 Leagues from Wesel Thither Mr. Blaspiet and General Spaen went as did also M. Colbert the 3d of the same Month the last having ordered Calvo who commanded the French Forces to be also present to the End that according to the Success of the Negotiation he might desist or pursue the Enterprize he had had in View Here it was agreed between them that the Truce should be prolonged for 15 Days more to begin the 4th of the Month which lengthened out the Cessation of Arms till the 19th but upon Condition that Wesel and Leipstadt should be put into the French King's Hands to be kept by him until the Peace betwixt his Majesty and his Allies on the one side and his Electoral Highness on the other should be Signed and Ratified which the Elector was so far from making a Difficulty to grant that he offered even to put Skinkenseance into his Power also as thinking perhaps by this extraordinary piece of Confidence to bring the King to be more easie in the Peace of the North and this not long after he also seconded by a Letter to the said Monarch written in so Excellent a Strain that not being willing to attempt to express the Force of it by way of Abstract I shall give the Reader an exact Copy of it POSTDAM May 16. 1679. My Lord IT is impossible but that your Majesty according to the Great Wisdom wherewith God has endowed you does easily perceive the Moderation and Justice of my Pretensions And it being so that you must offer Violence to that Generosity and Greatness of Soul which is natural to your Majesty in forcing me to Conditions of Peace that are not only injurious to me but ignominious also God who is Just seeing the Righteousness of my Cause hath prospered my Arms with the Conquest of all Pomerania and your Majesty makes me give back the greatest part of it which I put into your Hands that I may preserve the rest which is but a small Matter in respect of what I have gained with the Loss of my Blood and the Ruine of my Subjects Is it not just my Lord that since your Majesty obliges me to part from so great and fair Cities and so much of my Enemies Country you should likewise oblige the Swedes to leave me the rest and that your Majesty having so far concerned your self for the Party that had no Right to demand any thing should concern your self also for him who had Right to keep all but yields the greatest part meerly in Consideration of your Majesty I am informed that your Ministers object to me the Interest of your Glory and Honour and know that that is a powerful Motive to animate a Great Soul to Vndertakings But suffer me to put you in mind That Justice is the Source and Rule of Glory And that I having it on my side it is far greater and more solid Glory to Support a just and moderate Pretension than to favour one that is nothing less And could your Majesty but hear the Discourse of all Europe and weigh it with the Reasons that Interests suggest to you from my Enemies I am confident you would instantly decide in my Favour and so prevent the Judgment of disinterested Posterity Withal my Lord I am very sensible that the Match is too unequal betwixt your Majesty's Forces and mine and that I am unable to resist a King who alone hath carried the Burden of a War against the greatest Powers of Europe and hath with so much Glory and Success gone through with it But can your Majesty find any Advantage in the Ruine of a Prince who is so desirous to serve you and who being preserved may contribute to your Service more than a bare willingness Your Majesty will certainly be the first that will regret my Ruine since you cannot easily find in all the World besides one who is more really and with greater Respect and Zeal than my self Your Majesty's c. But for all this the French King seemed to be inexorable and his Forces began already to spread themselves in the Mark of Brandenburg and fresh Troops with Ammunition and Artillery came daily to Wesel to augment the Army which the Mareschal de Crequi was to command which upon the Expiration of the Truce drew near to the Neighbourhood of Minden beginning to streighten that Place where General Spaen pretended to make a vigorous Resistance Hereupon the Mareschal de Crequi ordered Monsieur Calvo to pass the Weser with a Party of Horse and Foot on a Bridge of Boats which he had caused to be made whilst he himself with a Body of Horse went to cross it at a Ford which with some Difficulty he passed over with an intent to make the Country pay the Contributions he had demanded but finding General Spaen was come out of the Town with a Body of about 3000 Men and some Field-Pieces he attack'd them vigorously and the Dispute was very sharp and ended with the loss of a great many Men on both sides and at last General Spain retired into Minden This was the 20th June 1679. and the last Action that put an end to so great a War and if the Negotiation of the Peace which was Signed at St. Germains the Day before
Kingdom we began to hope we should see an End of our Miseries But to our unspeakable Grief and Sorrow we soon found our Expectation frustrated the Parliament then subsisting was Prorogued and Dissolved before it could perfect what was intended for our Relief and Security and though another was thereupon called yet by the many Prorogations it was put off till the 21st of Oct. past and notwithstanding Your Majesty was then again pleased to acknowledge that neither Your Majesty's Person nor the Kingdom should be safe till the Matter of the Plot was gone through it was unexpectedly Prorogued on the 10th of this Month before any sufficient Order could be taken therein all their just and pious Endeavours to save the Nation were overthrown the good Bills they had been industriously preparing to unite all Your Majesty's Protestant Subjects brought to nought the Discovery of the Irish Plot stifled the Witnesses that came in frequently more fully to declare that both of England and Ireland discouraged those Foreign Kingdoms and States who by a happy Conjunction with us might give a Check to the French Power disheartned even to such a Despair of their own Security against the growing Greatness of that Monarch as we fear may induce them to take new Resolutions and perhaps such as may be fatal to us the Strength of our Enemies both at Home and Abroad increased and our selves left in the utmost Danger of seeing our selves brought into utter Desolation In these Extremities we had nothing under God to comfort us but the Hopes that Your Majesty being touched with the Groans of Your perishing People would have suffered Your Parliament to have met at the Day unto which it was Prorogued and that no further Interruption should have been given to their Proceedings in order to the saving of the Nation yet that failed us too But when we heard that Your Majesty by the private Suggestion of some wicked Persons Favourers of Popery Promoters of French Designs and Enemies to Your Majesty and the Kingdom without the Advice and as we have good Reason to believe against the Opinion even of Your Privy-Council had been prevailed with to Dissolve it and to call another to meet at Oxford where neither Lords nor Commons can be in Safety but will be daily exposed to the Sword of the Papists and their Adherents of whom too many are crept into Your Majesty's Guards the Liberty of speaking according to their Consciences will be thereby destroyed and the Validity of all their Acts and Proceedings consisting in it left disputable the Streightness of the Place no way admits of such a Concourse of Persons as now follows every Parliament the Witnesses that are necessary to give Evidence against the Popish Lords such Judges or others whom the Commons have Impeached or had resolved to Impeach can neither bear the Charge of going thither nor trust themselves under the Protection of a Parliament that is it self evidently under the Power of Guards and Soldiers The Premises consider'd we Your Majesty's Petitioners out of just Abhorrence of such a dangerous and pernicious Council which the Authors have not dared to avow and the direful Apprehensions of the Calamities and Miseries that may ensue thereupon do make it our most humble Prayer and Advice That the Parliament may not Sit at a Place where it cannot be able to act with that Freedom which is necessary and especially to give unto their Acts and Proceedings that Authority which they ought to have amongst the People and have ever had unless impaired by some Awe upon them of which there wants not Presidents and that Your Majesty would be graciously pleased to order it to Sit at Westminster it being the usual Place and where they may consult and act with Safety and Freedom And your Petitioners shall ever pray c. Montmouth Kent Huntington Bedford Salisbury Clare Stamford Essex Shaftsbury Mordant Evers Paget Gray Herbert Howard Delamere The Answer given by the King to this Petition is left Recorded no where that I can find but that he express'd his Displeasure at it by a Frown was commonly reported in those Times which was the more taken notice of because of thâ—â— kind Answers he was wont to give the other Party upon all Occasions and the greater Care that was taken in the Publication thereof that the Nation might know it But how looâ— soever he was in his Promises to the Parliament you will findâ— him steddy and unmovable in this of the Parliament's meeting at Oxford and the Lords that had an Hand in this Petitioâ— shall be remembred by him in their due Place But we shaâ—â— now leave this Matter and see a little what was done betweeâ— the last and 3d Westminster Parliament of this King 's Reigâ— and the meeting of this at Oxford Though the Meal-Tâ— Plot whereof we have already given you an Hint meet witâ— such ill Success yet the indefatigable Zeal of a Son of Sir Edâ—â—â— Fitz-Harris an Irish Papist and consequently very fit as 〈◊〉 really was to be a Correspondent with the Dutchess of Porâ—â— mouth her Woman Mrs. Wall and the French Embassadoâ— Confessor the first of which had several times supplied hiâ— with Money and at one time particularly with 250 l. 〈◊〉 such that happening to come acquainted with one Everard beyond Sea where they were both in the French King's Service he did about the Beginning of Feb. after the Parliament was Dissolved renew his said Acquaintance with Everard and represented to him the Advantages he might have in forsaking the English Interest and ingratiating himself into the French and Popish one and that it would be very conductive to that Interest if he would make a Pamphlet that reflected upon the King To this the other gave not a clear Consent yet Fitz-Harris upon the 21st of Feb. gave him some Heads by Word of Mouth to draw up such a Pamphlet Which Procedure of his made Everard acquaint several withal and particularly one Mr. Smith and Sir William Waller whom he engaged in a concealed Manner to be at a Place appointed to hear the further Discourse between them which was next Day and whither the former came where he heard Fitz-Harris give Everard Instructions to this Purpose That the King and Royal Family should be traduced as being Papists and arbitrarily affected from the Beginning That King Charles I. had an Hand in the Irish Rebellion and that Charles II. did countenance the same by preferring Fitz-Gerrald Fitz-Patrick and Mount-Garret who were engaged in the Irish Rebellion That the Act forbidding to call the King a Papist was to stop Mens Mouths when he should encline to further Popery which appeared by his adhering so closely to the Duke of York's Interests and hindring him from being proceeded against by the Parliament and hindring the Officers put in by the Duke of York to be turned out and for that the Privy-Councellors and Justices of the Peace who were for the Protestant Interest were turned out of
all Places of Trust That it was as much in the Power of the People to depose a Popish Possessor as a Popish Successor and seeing there was no Hopes the Parliament when they met at Oxford could do any Good the People were bound to provide for themselves This was no sooner ended but they agreed to meet the next Day there again And Everard sent Sir William Waller a Letter to be present secretly and to whom Everard upon his coming gave 2 Copies of the Instructions abovesaid which Sir William marked Sooner after came Fitz-Harris who enquiring of Everard what he had done he answered He had drawn 2 Copies of the Business and prayed Fitz-Harris to see how he liked them Who upon perusal altered one of them yet thought it not full enough but would have it fair wrote over for the French Embassador's Confessor After this Everard desired him to give him Instructions in Writing which Fitz-Harris did and in which Paper he wrote this Passage That it was in the Peoples Power to depose a Popish Possessor as well as a Popish Successor and other Treasonable Headâ— and left the same with him but came next Day again for a Copy fair writ out which Everard delivered to him who thereupon promised him a Recompence which was to be the Entrance into the Business And that he should be brought into the Cabal where several Protestants and Parliament-Men were to give an Account to the French Embassador of what was transacted But before Fitz-Harris was to receive the Libel he was to go to my Lord Howard of Escrick between whom before this and the Dutchess of Portsmouth he had carried several Messages and went a great way to bring my Lord over to the Court-Interest But for the Reader 's farther Satisfaction and for fear the Libel it self might be lost I shall adventure to give it place here TREASON in GRAIN That most Traiterous Paper or Libel of Fitz-Harris whereby he design'd to raise a Rebellion amongst us the better to make Way for a French Invasion and our utter Destruction as it was Read in both Houses of Parliament at Oxford and upon which the House of Commons Impeached him of High-Treason Falsly and Malitiously called by him The True English-man speaking plain English in a Letter from a Friend to a Friend I Thank you for the Character of a Popish Successor which you sent me wherein our just Fears and the Grounds of them are justly set out But I am in a greater Fear of the present Possessor Why do we frighten our selves about the Evil that is to come not looking to that which is at hand We would cut off the Budding Weeds and let the Poysonous Root lie still we would stop the Channel of our Evils and let the Fountain still run My Meaning is this Can Pylades Know and Act all these bloody Conspiracies and not impart them to his dear Orestes if James be Conscious and Guilty Charles is so too Believe me these Two Brethren in Iniquity they are in Confederacy with Pope and French to introduce Popery and Arbitrary Government as all their Actions demonstrate The Parliament Magna Charta and Liberty of the Subject are as heavy Yoaks which they would cast off to be as Absolute as their Br. of France and if this can be proved to be their only Aim and Endeavour why should not every True Britain be a Quaker thus far Let the English rise and move as one Man to Self-defence to open Action and fling off their intolerable Riders Blow the Trumpet stand on your Guard and withstand them as Bears and Tygers And since there can be no Trust given to this goodly Couple of Popish Brethren nor no Relief expected from a Parliament Trust to your Swords in Defence of your Lives Laws Religion and Properties like the stout Earl of Old who told a King That if he could not be defended by Magna Charta he would be relieved by Longa Spada Yet to convince the World that this Scottish Race is Corrupt Root and Branch and Popish from the very Beginning be pleas'd to consider these Reasons following The Grandfather of these Men James the Scot was of no Religion at the Bottom but entred by a Pretence of a Sham-Plot of the Papists against his Life whilst really he collogued with the Popish Party under-hand his Mother his Kindred and Companions were French and Papists when he came into England he wrote to the Pope with great Submission yet afterwards thinking it for his Purpose to Cajole the Parliament and write against the Pope and Cardinals he sends a Scot's Bird to blind the Eyes of the Vatican Keeper with Money and to steal his Letters from off the Roman File and then he crows as boldly as an unsuspected Harlot for the Protestant Religion and Interest That Man's Son Charles the First held a Secret Correspondency with the Pope calling him his Dear and Holy Father as is to be seen in his Letters recorded in Rushworth's Collections Did he not countenance and promote the Rebellion in Ireland as the Irish Grandees and his very Commissions testifie and declare Was there not a Popish Plot and an Universal Conspiracy of the Papists discovered to him and his Confessor Laud And did they not piously stifle it left they should have discovered the Nakedness of their Mother-Church Whilst that goodly Protestant Prince pretended to relieve the poor besieged Protestants at Rochel by his Confident Buckingham Did he not hold Correspondence with the French Cardinal how to betray them for a Sum of Money which his Obstinacy with his Parliament made him stand in need of But they who so ill approved themselves to be Heads of the Protestant Church Charles and Laud Did they not loose their own Heads by a manifest Judgment of God And was not the false Heart of their Emissary Buckingham found out by an Assassine's Knife But to come nearer to our Purpose these Two goodly Imps of our Days are stark naught arrived at the Heighth of Wickedness and of professed Arbitrariness and Popery As for James he was a Papist whilst he had a Regiment in the French and afterwards in the Spanish Service beyond Seas And for Charles he was reported e're he came into England to have been reconciled to the Church of Rome in one of the French King's Country-Houses and since they came in How have they wheedled and played Fast and Loose in their Profession of Religion as Occasion and their Affairs requir'd Have they not all along maintained Secret Correspondence with France and Rome As Coleman's Letters may sufficiently instruct such who have not seen more Secret Memoirs But let us come to Examine their Actions which are a better Proof of their Hearts Were not the Duke's Servants and Confidents all Papists Witness his Talbots Patricks and other Irish Teagues Were not the Duke and such of his Creatures as were known Papists promoted to all Publick Offices of Trust both at Sea and Land Witness Bellasis
had Success And this is so much the more to be credited since the King himself told Sheriff Cornish That Fitz-Harris had 3 Months before his Apprehension been with â—im and acquainted him he was in pursuit of a Plot which very much related to His Majesty's Person and Government c. And that upon Sir William Waller's acquainting the King with the Particulars he had taken while he was concealed as aforesaid tho' he thanked him for it and commanded Secretary Jenkins to issue out a Warrant for the Apprehension of Fitz-Harris and that Sir William should take Care of the Execution of it Yet he was no sooner gone but Sir William said He was informed by 2 worthy Gentlemen That the King was highly offended with him saying He had broken all his Measures and that he would one Way or other have him taken off Fitz-Harris however was soon after taken and committed to Newgate where being examined by Sir Robert Clayton and Sheriff Cornish he discovered a Disposition and at length a Willingness to discover the whole Design the next Day after But to prevent it in all appearance he was that Day removed into the Tower But while this hopeful Business was thus jumbled up the Time spun out and the 21st of March came when the Parliament met at Oxford and of which the Members of the Commons were generally the same as the last Parliament and those that were not so were of the same Kidney as the others had been so that their Proceedings began where the last Parliament left off They far indeed but 7 Days and of them the Lower House spent the first 3 in choosing their Speaker and confirming him and taking the Oaths as the Laws directed But in that little time they had these 4 Considerations before them 1. The preparing a Bill to prevent the Duke of York's succeeding to the Crown The 2d was to take the Bill of the Repeal of the Act of the 35th of Eliz. out of the House of Lords A 3d was an Enquiry into Fitz-Harris his Business And the 4th was to prosecute the Popish Lords in the Tower But this was more Work by a great deal than the stinted Opportunity of 4 Days would admit a Dispatch of However upon Friday the 25th of Mar. after that the House had been some time upon the Debate of Fitz-Harris's Concern and that one of the Members had reported That he remembred that one Hubert having confess'd he had fired the City of London and that the House then sitting having resolved thereupon to examine him they were prevented by his being hanged next Morning before they met And that there having been also a Design to try the Lords in the Tower by way of Indictment the House had prevented the same by exhibiting general Impeachments against them with that Success that the Lords were never tryed upon Indictments and the Judges had given their Opinion they could not This moved them that same Day to order an Impeachment against Fitz-Harris and appointed Sir Lionel Jenkins to carry it up to the House of Lords who at first refused it saying That his being sent upon that Message reflected upon the King his Master and let them do what they would he would not go But several of the Members having moved thereupon to call him to the Bar of the House and divers others in their Speeches aggravating highly his Offence he at last relented and carried the Impeachment to the House of Lords but the Lords threw it out At which the Commons next Day which was Saturday the 26th were so nettled that they ran very high in their Debates upon it ripping up several sharp Things against the Lords Proceedings herein So that at last it was moved That if any Judge Justice or Jury proceeded upon Fitz-Harris and that he were found guilty that the House would declare them guilty of his Murder and Betrayers of the Rights of the Commons of England To this it was added upon the Motion of Sir William Jones or that any inferiour Court should proceed c. which was passed But what little Notice was taken hereof you may hear by and by The House hereupon adjourned to Monday Morning March 27. when the King coming suddenly and unexpectly into the House of Peers dissolved the Parliament and immediately took Coach and made as hard as he could for Windsor leaving both Houses in a grand Amazement and the City of Oxford in an Hubbub Sir William Jones in his just and modest Vindication of this and the last Parliament at Westminster says The Peers at Oxford were wholly ignorant of the Council and that they never thought of a Dissolution till they heard the same pronounced Yet it is observable that the Dutchess of Mazarine published the News at St. James's many Hours before the same was done But if the Nation as well as the Parliament and City of Oxford were amazed at this Dissolution and the Manner thereof they were no less so with the King's Declaration that followed the Substance whereof was The Dissatisfaction of the King at the Proceedings of the 2 last Westminster Parliaments in giving him no suitable Return to support the Alliances he had made for the general Peace of Christendom nor for the further Examination into the Plot nor yet for the Preservation of Tangier He shewed a mighty Concern at their Votes against any Body's lending him Money upon the Revenues and that the Prosecution of Dissenters was a Grievance to the Subject by which he said They assumed to themselves a Power of suspending Laws But as Mr. Coke observes well the Commons in that did nothing but what they might do as well as in any other Law they found by Experience to be grievous to the Subject and must have done so in order to the Repealing of them And if the Matter had been really so as the Declaration intended the Crime had surely been somewhat the less in the Commons if his Majesty had considered that himself had twice before done the same Thing by his Declarations of Indulgence tho' to a contrary End to what the Commons intended That these Things had caused him to dissolve them and assemble another at Oxford who still pursuing the same Methods in the Business of the Exclusion of the Duke of York which he could by no Means give way to tho' he was willing to admit of any other Expedient whereby the Established Religion might be preserved tho' he never propounded any And the 2 Houses imbroiling themselves in the Business of Fitz-Harris so as they were put out of Capacity of transacting other Affairs had caused him to put an End to that Parliament also But that however notwithstanding the Malice of ill Men to perswade the People that he intended to lay aside the Use of Parliaments he declared That no Irregularity in Parliament should make him out of love with them and that he was resolved to have frequent Parliaments and in the Intervals would use his utmost
Graham's Business to find out good Jury-Men and then the Sheriffs would be sure to return them In these Plots my Lord H seemed to have the greatest hand But more particularly Rumsey was the Evidence in respect to that of the Seizing the Guards Lee and Goodenough in that of Black-Heath Rumball at whose House they said the Rye-Plot was to be acted denied at his Death he ever knew any But the great design was against the Earl of Essex the Lord Russel and such great Patriots who had shewed themselves zealous Protestants upon all Occasions and constant Opposers of the designs of Popery and Arbitrary Power As for the first of these two Noble Persons he never absconded but was presently confined Prisoner in the Tower where in a few Days after it was given out he had cut his own Throat and to satisfie the Nation of the Truth of the Report and Sincerity of the Government therein the Business was so ordered year 1683 that before the Jury was Impannelled and the Coroner's Inquest sate the Earl's Body was taken out of the Closet where it was pretended he had laid violent Hands upon himself and stripp'd off his Cloathes which were carried away add the Closet washed And when one of the Jury insisted to see my Lord's Cloaths in which he died the Coroner was sent for into another Room and upon his Return he told the Jury it was the Body and not the Clothes they were to lit upon And a Motion being made that the Jury should adjourn and give my Lord's Relations notice that if they had any thing to say in my Lord's Behalf they should do it within such a time it was answered That the King had sent for the Inquisition and would not rise from the Counâ—il-Board till it was brought But whether it proved to His Majesty's Satisfaction I will not take upon me to determine though it was reported he seem'd much concern'd at the Misfortune saying My Lord of Essex needed not to have despaired of Mercy since he owed him a Life Be it as it will his being that Day in Person accompanied with his good Brother in the Tower where neither of them had been for near 15 Years before set People's Tongues loose to Censure and so much the more when it was known that particular care was taken to give immediate Notice to the Court at the Old-Baily of the Earl's Disaster that in the worst Sence Use might be made of it by the King's Council against my Lord Russel then upon his Trial as the Council did accordingly and which had the design'd Effect upon that Noble Person who some days after suffered innocently in Lincolns-Inn-Fields after he had made a Speech and left a Paper in the Sheriff's Hands to declare the same to the World both which lest forgot by any true English-man and particularly the last I have thought fit to subjoin because it carries in it in my Opinion a perfect Confutation of that Sham-Conspiracy and gives a true Idea of whatever Meeting he had been at with other Men of Quality to discourse of the Affairs or their Countrey and how if possible in a just Way to prevent it Ruin both in Religion and Liberty JULY 12th 1683. Mr. Sheriff I Expected the Noise would be such that I could not be very well heard I was never fond of very much speaking much less now therefore I set down in this Paper all that I think sit to leave behind me God knows how far I was always from Designs against the King's Person or of altering the Government and I still Pray for the Preservation of both and of the Protestant Religion I am told that Captain Walcot has said something concerning my Knowledge of the Plot I know not whether the Report be true or not but I hope it is not for to my Knowledge I never saw him to speak with him in my whole Life And in the Words of a Dying Man I profess I know of no Plot either against the King's Life or the Government But I have now done with this World and am going to a better I forgive all the World and I thank God I die in Charity with all Men. And I wish all sincere Protestants may love one another and not make room for Popery by their Animosities The PAPER delivered to the Sheriffs I Thank God I find my self so composed and prepared for Death and my Thoughts so fixed on another World that I hope in God I am quite from setting my Heart on this Yet I cannot forbear now the setting down in Writing a farther Account of my Condition to be left behind me than I will venture to say at the Place of Execution in the Noise and Clutter that is like to be there I bless God heartily for those many Blessings which he in his Infinite Mercy has bestowed upon me through the whole Course of my Life That I was born of worthy good Parents and had the Advantages of a Religious Education which are invaluable Blessings For even when I minded it least it still hung about me and gave me Checks and has now for many Years so influenced and possessed me that I feel the happy Effects of it in this my Extremity in which I have been so wonderfully I thank God supported that neither my Imprisonment nor fear of Death have been able to discompose me in any Degree but on the contrary I have found the Assurances of the Love and Mercy of God in and through my Blessed Redeemer in whom only I trust And I do not question but that I am going to partake of that Fullness of Joy which is in his Presence The Hopes therefore do so wonderfully delight me that I think this is the happiest Time of my Life though others may look upon it as the saddest I have lived and now am of the Reform'd Religion a true and sincere Protestant and in the Communion of the Church of England though I could never yet comply with or rise up to all the Heighths of many People I wish with all my Soul all our differences were removed and that all sincere Protestants would so far consider the danger of Popery as to lay aside their Heats and agree against the Common Enemy and that the Church-men would be less severe and the Dissenters less scrupulous for I think bitterness and Persecution are at all times bad but much more now For Popery I look on it as an Idolatrous and bloody Religion and therefore thought my self bound in my Station to do all I could against it And by that I foresaw I should procure such great Enemies to my self and so powerful ones that I have been now for some time expecting the worst and blessed be God I fall by the Ax and not by the Fiery Tryal Yet whatever Apprehensions I had of Popery and of my own severe and heavy share I was like to have under it when it should prevail I never had a Thought of doing any thing
when I tasted it I saw it was hot in the Mouth and desired that whenever he met with a choice Piece he would keep it for me which he promised I enlarge the more upon this because Sir George Jefferys insinuated to the Jury as if I had made a Story about going thither but I never said that was the only Reason and I will now truly and plainly add you the rest I was the day before this Meeting come to Town for two or three days as I had done once or twice before having a very near and dear Relation lying in a Languishing and Desperate Condition and the Duke of Monmouth came to me and told me He was extreamly glad I was come to Town for my Lord Shaftsbury and some hot Men would undo us all How so my Lord I said Why answered he they will certainly do some disorderly thing or other if great Care be not taken and therefore for God's Sake use your Endeavour with your Friends to prevent any thing of this kind He told me there would be Company at Mr. Shepheard's that Night and desired me to be at home in the Evening and he would call me which he did And when I came into the Room I saw Mr. Rumsey by the Chimney though he swears he came in after And there were Things said by some with much more Heat than Judgment which I did sufficiently disapprove and yet for these Things I stand Condemned But I thank God my Part was sincere and well meant It is I know Inferred from hence and pressed to me That I was acquainted with these Heats and ill Designs and did not discover them But this is but Misprision of Treason at most so I die innocent of the Crime I stand Condemned for I hope no Body will imagine that so mean a Thought should enter into me as to go about to save my self by accusing others The Part that some have acted lately of that kind has not been such as to invite me to love Life at such a Rate As for the Sentence of Death passed upon me I cannot but think it a very hard one for nothing was sworn against me whether true or false I will not now examine but some Discourses about making some Stirs And this is not levying War against the King which is Treason by the Statute of Edw. 3. and not the Consulting and Discoursing about it which was all that was witnessed against me but by a strange Fetch the Design of seizing the Guards was construed a Design of killing the King and so I was in that Cast And now I have truly and sincerely told what my Part was in that which cannot be more than a bare Misprision and yet I am condemned as guilty of a Design of killing the King I pray God lay not this to the Charge neither of the King's Councel nor Judges nor Sheriffs nor Jury And for the Witnesses I pity them and wish them well I shall not reckon up the Particulars wherein they did me wrong I had rather their own Consciences would do that to which and the Mercies of God I leave them Only I shall aver that what I said of my not hearing Colonel Rumsey deliver any Message from my Lord Shaftsbury was true For I always detested Lying tho' never so much to my Advantage And I hope none will be so unjust and uncharitable as to think I would venture on it in these my last Words for which I am so soon to give an Account to the great God the Searcher of Hearts and Judge of all Things From the Time of choosing Sheriffs I concluded the Heat in that Matter would produce something of this Kind and I am not much surprized to find it fall upon me and I wish what is done to me may put a Stop and satiate some People's Revenge and that no more innocent Blood be shed for I must and do still look upon mine as such since I know I was guilty of no Treason and therefore I would not betray my Innocency by flight of which I do not I thank God yet repent tho' much pressed to it how fatal soever it may have seemed to have proved to me for I look upon my Death in this manner I thank God with other Eyes than the World does I know I said but little at the Trial and I suppose it looks more like Innocence than Guilt I was also advised not to confess Matter of Fact plainly since that certainly must have brought me within the Guilt of Misprision and being thus restrained from dealing frankly and openly I chose rather to say little than to depart from that Ingenuity that by the Grace of God I had carried along with me in the former part of my Life and so could easier be silent and leave the whole Matter to the Consciences of the Jury than to make the best and solemnest part of my Life so different from the Course of it as the using little Tricks and Evasions must have been nor did I ever pretend to any great Readiness in Speaking I wish those Gentlemen of the Law who have it would make more Conscience in the Use of it and not run Men down and by Strains and Fetches impose on easie and willing Juries to the Ruine of innocent Men. For to kill by Forms and Subtilties of the Law is the worst sort of Murder But I wish the Rage of hot Men and the Partiality of Juries may be stopped with my Blood which I would offer up with so much the more Joy if I thought I should be the last that were to suffer in such a Way Since my Sentence I have had but few Thoughts but Preparatory ones for Death yet the Importunity of my Friends and particularly the best and dearest Wife in the World prevailed with me to sign Petitions and make an Address for my Life to which I was ever averse for I thank God though in all Respects I have lived the happiest and contenteâ—st Man of the World for now very near Fourteen Years yet I am so willing to leave all that it was not without Difficulty that I did any thing for the saving of my Life that was begging but I was willing to let my Friends see what Power they had over me and I was not obstinate nor sullen but would do any thing that an honest Man could do for their Satisfaction which was the only Motive that swayed or had any Weight with me And now to sum up all As I had not any Design against the King's Life or the Life of any Man whatsoever so I never was in any Contrivance of altering the Government What the Heats Passions and Vanities of other Men have occasioned I ought not to be responsible for nor could I help them though I now suffer for them But the Will of the Lord be done into whose Hands I commend my Spirit and trust that Thou O most merciful Father hast forgiven me all my Transgressions the Sins of my Youth
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
gave a few Moments breathing to the Attack but the Courage wherewith they fell on afresh made the Besieged see it high time to think of a Capitulation which they made a Sign of by hanging out a White Standard upon the Ramparts whereupon Arms were laid down in order to regulate the Articles But this was only an Artifice of Turkish Perfidy to make a feigned shew of Rendition with a real Design to procure a greater Loss to the Besiegers by a brisk and unexpected Sally which so incensed the Venetians that they took a firmer Resolution than ever to put an end to the Siege which had already continued 49 Days wherefore having first swept the Ramparts with their Shot they bravely mounted the Walls and entred the Town where being heated as they were with the Baseness of the Enemy and the Assault they were now engaged in they made a dreadful Slaughter of all the Inhabitants without distinction either of Age or Sex They found in the Place 128 Pieces of Cannon whereof 66 were Brass besides a great Quantity of Ammunition and Provision This Work being now at last happily accomplished by the Captain-General after he had staid so long at Coron till the Fortifications were so far repaired as to make the Place desensible he resolved to do all he could to encourage the People of the Province of Maina in the Disposition they appear'd to be to cast off the Ottoman Yoak And to that Purpose sent the Mainots who came in to him upon the Taking of Corou with some other Troops to attack Zarnata one of the strongest of the 3 Fortresses built by the Turks since the Candian War to keep those People in awe And some Days after having caused the Army to embark the whole Fleet set sail from Coron and the next Day arrived at Chitie about 5â—Miles from Zarnata where they were joined by the Ships that had on Board the Saxon Troops consisting of 3000 Men and from whence the Fleet sailed towards Calamata near which Place the Forces landed again However all these Motions could not be managed with that Expedition and Secresie but that the Captain Basha having notice thereof he dispatched ashoar what Men he could out of the Turkish Gallies which he left at Napoli di Romania securing the Port with great Chains and being joined by a great Body of Horse and Foot marched towards Calamata to keep the Mainotes from revolting to the Venetians This the Captain-General had no sooner Notice of but he sent an Officer to the Garrison of Zarnata to let them know that if they did not immediately surrender the Place they must expect to be treated in the same Manner they of Coron had been Whereupon the Garrison desired that they might send to the Captain Basha to acquaint him with the Condition they were in which was granted But the Officer not returning at the time appointed they gave up the Place on the 11th of Sept. the Men marching away with Bag and Baggage yet the Aga who commanded them fearing he should be ill treated by the Captain Basha staid in the Venetian Camp towards which the Basha was now advanced at the Head of 10000 Men with a Resolution to fight the Christians which the Captain-General Morosini did not decline on his part For he marched towards the Enemy feigning at the same time to make a Descent to give them a Diversion in some other Place For which Purpose he had caused some Troops to embark and commanded the Fleet to keep along the Coast The Venetians who came up with the Enemy on the 14th were drawn up in Battalia by General Degenfield on an advantageous Ground The Turks on the other side having put themselves into a Posture to receive them their Horse fell immediately upon the Venetians Left Wing while a great Body of their Foot at the same time advanced towards their Right at the Head of which was the Prince of Brunswick but they found so brave a Resistance that they were forced to retire yet they presently after returned and charged a second time with greater Fury than before The Fight was maintained with great Courage and Resolution on both sides for a time till at last the Turks being no longer able to keep their Ground fell into Disorder and soon after dispersed and fled leaving a great Number of their Men slain behind them and the Garrison of Calamata to fire the Magazine and abandon the Place which the Venetians immediately took Possession of as they did soon after of Porto Vitulo which the Mainotes took for them Of Chielifa a strong Fortress not far from the other Place and Passavania whereby the Republick became possess'd of the whole Province of Mayna whereof the Captain-General made Seignior Lorenzo Venier Governour and so gloriously ended this Campaign And I shall end this Year with taking Notice that it was fatal to the Liberty of the Reformed Gallican Church the Edicts of Nants and Nismes being utterly revoked by another of the 22th of Oct. and those made null and finite which were looked upon irrevocable and perpetual the Consequence whereof all the World has seen and heard and therefore I shall say nothing of it in this place year 1686 We have left England last with the King 's Dissolving his Parliament now it is time to see a little how he carried himself His Brother had laid the Foundation of making a Parliament Felo de se by hectoring and making Bargains with Corporations to give up their Charters and take new ones from him wherein he reserved a Power that if they did not return such Members as pleased him he would resume the Charters he granted them and herein he made a great Progress But his Keeper and Attorney-General refused to grant Patents to such poor Corporations as could not pay their Fees at length the Keeper having kickt up his Heels last Year and Jefferies advanced to be Lord Chancellor and the Attorney turned out with another put into his Place that would with greater Charity perform the Office these Remora's to the King's Designs were removed Yet there was another Pace to be made still which was to make the Judges in Westminster-Hall to murder the Common Law as well as the King and his Brother designed to murder the Parliament by it self To this End his good Majesty before he would make any Judges would enter into a Bargain with them that they should declare the King's Power of dispensing with the Penal Laws and Tests made against Recusants out of Parliament However it was said the King stumbled at the Threshold for beginning with Sir Thomas Jones who had deserved so well in Mr. Cornish his Tryal and others he boggl'd very much at it saying plainly he could not do it to which the King answered He would have Twelve Judges of his Opinion and Sir Thomas replied He might have 12 Judges of his Opinion but would scarce find Twelve Lawyers to be so But for all this the King went on
the 12th in the Evening the Troops began to approach towards the Castle and take their Posts to hinder which the Enemy made a vigorous Sally but they were at last repulsed with a greater Loss to them than to the Christians Insomuch that the Latter secured their Posts and opened their Trenches within Musquet-shot of the Walls and began to work on 2 Batteries On the 13th the Turks made a greater Sally with much the same Success and next Day they play furiously with their Cannon and threw a great Quantity of Granadoes and Bombs which did no great Execution no more than did another Sally they-made But a Detachment of the Garrison of Temeswaer which the same Day by the Help of Boats got into the Castle some what heighten'd their Courage but it did not at all daunt the Besiegers who carried on their Works and on the 17th by Break of Day they began to baâ—ter the Walls of the Castle with 6 Pieces of Cannon when they understood by a Deserter that the Enemy were hard at work in their Mines The Workmen of the Besiegers by the 17th carried on the Trenches within 10 Paces of the Ditch tho' not without great Loss of Men and then they began to raise 2 new Batteries The next Day they possessed themselves of a Mosque on the Brink of the Ditch And the Day following they drew 2 Parallel Lines on the Right and Left to compass a greater Space of Ground as well on the side of the Castle as the Town and made 2 Redoubts to support the Heads of them which were performed in spight of all the Opposition made by the Enemy On the 22th the Besiegers having perfected their Works the great Cannon and Mortars arrived from Buda and on the Day following they battered the Castle very furiously made divers Breaches and beat down part of the Fortifications And although the Turks made a Sally with an Intent to attack the Redoubts they were beaten back again with great Loss Now it was that the assured News was brought into the Camp that the Prince of Baden had killed 3000 of the Enemy and that the Turks had set fire to and abandoned Grandisca Debitza and Jesnewitz as also that General Veterani had taken Carensebes and the strong Castle of Salancar The Cannon still played furiously with great Slaughter on both sides when on the 24th a Letter was brought and presented to the Elector of Bavaria from Osman Basha of Aleppo the Tenure whereof together with His Electoral Highness's Answer take as follows Osman Basha's LETTER to the Elector of Bavaria HOnour of Princes believing in Jesus Chosen among the most Noble of the Christian Nation Pattern of Magnificence Possessor of all Splendor Duke of Bavaria and Chief General of the Roman Empire Maximilian whose Ways be prosperous after Salutation be it known unto you That the most Serene Great and Mighty Ottoman Emperor Monarch of the World our Lord having sent with His Serene Letter to the greatest of the Christian Kings the most Serene Emperor one of His Well-deserving Servants Sulficar Effundi Adorned with several High Degrees of Honour whose Praise be increased and the present Drugerman of the Renowned Port a Mirror of the Nobles of the Christian Worship Alexander whose Ways end happy They are arrived here and because they are going to You and according to Ancient and Laudable Custom have need for Themselves and a Hundred Persons of Pass-ports and Safeguards to be sent from Your Army this Our present Letter is Written and Dispatched unto You. After the Receipt whereof We hope that Pass-ports and some People for a Safeguard will be sent hither that the above-mentioned may as They are Commanded repair to you They will upon their coming near GOD willing send again to You to the End a Convoy may come from Your Army to meet and receive them from the Basha sent with some Troops from hence that so the Respect and Safety of Ambassadors observed by all Nations as is fit and necessary may remain in its Ancient Lustre therefore You know how careful both sides ought to be of their safe Passage For the rest Prosperity be to those that shall follow the True Direction Given in Our Army near Nissa Signed Osman Basha of Aleppo To this Letter the Elector of Bavaria after some consulting of the Matter in Council with the Chief Officers of the Army returned this following Answer Maximilian Emanuel c. To Osman Basha Greeting c. WE have received the Letter You sent Us from the Camp near Nissa where You give Us to understand That an Ambassador by Name Sulficar Effundi and the first Drugger-man have Orders from Your Emperor to come to Our Army Now although we being inclin'd to Military Actions might well refuse their coming hither or which none could take amiss in the present Juncture of Affairs might put it off till another time since We do judge their Proposals will little agree with Our present Intentions yet being moved by a Christian Compassion We do grant that They may come to Our Army and We will favourably Hear what Your Emperor has Commanded them to Propose unto Us for which Purpose We have Commanded that a Passport be prepared for their Security and delivered to the Person that brought Us your Letter We have likewise given Order to the Commandant of Semendria that in the Manner directed him and with a sufficient Number of Troops he Conduct them safely to Our Army upon which they may firmly rely Given in Our Camp near Belgrade c. Though some Paces were made on both sides towards a Treaty in pursuance of these Letters and the Passports were sent to the Turkish Ambassadors to come and negotiate the same they did not succeed But this we shall have occasion to mention hereafter and therefore we shall pursue the Siege and observe that the Besiegers on the 25th possess'd themselves of another Mosque of great use to them because of its convenient Situation near into which the Besieged sprung a Mine on the 27th as they did another next Day with a Design to ruine the Christians Works which though it blew up short yet the Blow occasioned great Disorder and this was much encreased by one of the Besieged's Bombs setting Fire to several Quintals of Powder that blew up 7 or 8 Men that were on the Battery On the 29th the Elector sent a Captain with an Interpreter who was a Greek to summon the Governour to surrender who was so enraged with it that he imprisoned the former and hanged the latter so that the Siege went on the 30th and following Days of Sept. with wonderful Vigour shewed on both sides yet so that the Besiegers by plying their Batteries and springing their Mines made such Breaches both in the City and Castle and filled the Ditch to that degree by the Second of Sept. at Night that it was concluded seeing the Besieged obstinarely declined to return an Answer to the forementioned Summons and that the
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
a height as had not been seen They dispersed Libels of me every day told the King that I betrayed him that I ruined him by perswading him to make such shameful Condescentions but most of all by hindring the securing the chief of the disaffected Nobility and Gentry which was proposed as a certain way to break all the Prince's Measures and by advising His Majesty to call a Free-Parliament and to depend upon that rather than upon Foreign Assistance It is true I did give him those Counsels which were called weak to the last Moment he suffered me in his Service then I was accused of holding Correspondence with the Prince and it was every where said amongst them That no better could be expected from a Man so related as I was to the Bedford and Leicester Families and so allied to Duke Hamilton and the Marquess of Halifax After this Accusations of High Treason were brought against me which with some other Reasons relating to Affairs Abroad drew the King's Displeasure upon me so as to turn me out of all without any Consideration and yet I thought I escaped well expecting nothing less than the loss of my Head as my Lord Middleton can tell and I believe none about the Court thought otherwise nor had it been otherwise if my Disgrace had been deferred a day longer all things being prepared for it I was put out the 27th of October the Roman Catholicks having been two Months working the King up to it without Intermission besides the several Attacks they had made upon me before and the unusal Assistance they obtained to do what they thought so necessary for the carrying on their Affairs of which they never had greater hope than at that time as may be remembred by any who were then at London But you desired I would say something to you of Ireland which I will do in very few Words but exactly true My Lord Tyrconnell has been so absolute there that I never had the Credit to make an Ensign er keep one in nor to preserve some of my Friends for whom I was much concern'd from the last Oppression and Injustice tho' I endeavoured it to the utmost of my Power But yet with Care and Diligence being upon the place and he absent I diverted the Calling a Parliament there which was designed to alter the Acts of Settlement Chief Justice Nugent and Baron Rice were sent over with a Draught of an Act for that purpose furnished with all the pressing Arguments could be thought on to persuade the King and I was offered forty thousand pounds for my Concurrence which I told to the King and shewed him at the same time the Injustice of what was proposed to him and the prejudice it would be to that Country with so good success that he resolved not to think of it that Year and perhaps never This I was help'd in by some Friends particularly my Lord Godolphin who knows it to be true and so do the Judges before named and several others I cannot omit saying something of France there having been so much talk of a League between the two Kings I do protest I never knew of any and if there were such a thing it was carried on by other sort of Men last Summer Indeed French Ships were offered to joyn with our Fleet and they were refused since the noise of the Prince's Design more Ships were offered and it was agreed how they should be commanded if ever desired I opposed to Death the accepting of them as well as any Assistance of Men and can say most truly that I was the Principal Means of hindring both by the help of some Lords with whom I consulted every day and they with me to prevent what we thought would be of great prejudice if not ruinous to the Nation If the Report is true of Men Ships and Money intended lately for England out of France it was agreed upon since I was out of Business or without my Knowledge if it had been otherwise I believe no Body thinks my Disgrace would have happened My greatest Misfortune has been to be thought the Promoter of those Things I opposed and detested whilst some I could name have been the Inventors and Contrivers of what they have had the Art to lay upon others and I was often foolishly willing to bear what my Master would have done tho' I used all possible Endeavours against it I lie under many other Misfortunes and Afflictions extream heavy but I hope they have brought me to reflect on the occasion of them the loose negligent unthinking Life I have hitherto led having been perpetually hurried away from all good Thoughts by Pleasure Idleness the Vanity of the Court or by Business I hope I say that I shall overcome all the Disorders my former Life had brought upon me and that I shall spend the remaining part of it in Begging of Almighty God that he will please either to put an end to my Sufferings or to give me Strength to bear them one of which he will certainly grant to such as rely on him which I hope I do with the Submission that becomes a good Christian I would enlarge on this Subject but that I fear you might think something else to be the reason of it besides a true Sense of my Faults and that obliges me to restrain my self at present I believe you will repent in having engaged me to give you this Account but I cannot the doing of what you desire of me What followed next were various Reports concerning the loss the Dutch Fleet had sustained in a Storm which to amuse us was heightned in their own Prints and about the same time a Parcel of the Prince of Orange's Declarations being intercepted in London when that Expression came to be read That the Prince was most earnestly invited hither by divers of the Lords both Spiritual and Temporal and by many Gentlemen and others the King sent for some of the Bishops and required a Paper under their Hands in Abhorrence of the Prince's intended Invasion But they refused to do it as contrary to their Privilege of Peerage and their Profession in promoting War against a Prince so nearly allyed to the Crown and earnestly desired that might be left to a Free Parliament at which the King parted from them with great Indignation The Wind had been now for almost 3 Weeks perpetually West during which time the common Question every Morning was Have we a Protestant Wind yet And a Seaman was observed to curse the Dragon on Bow-Steeple for turning his Head where his Tail should be But in the latter end of Oct. the Wind came Easterly to the great Sorrow of the Roman Catholicks and the Joy of the rest of the Nation And when almost all Men expected the Invasion would have fallen in the North and nothing talked of but Burlington-Bay as a Landing-Place on the 3d of Nov. between 10 and 11 a Clock the Dutch Fleet was discovered about Half-Seas over
Order they shall receive from Feversham This was directly a clear and full Abdication or Desertion of the Army which unavoidably necessitated them to submit to the Prince of Orange they having no Body to lead or head them against him And it is not conceivable how they could avoid entring into an Association or Oath of Allegiance to the Prince now the King had left them without exposing themselves by resisting a Foreign Army and a poisoned Nation For neither would the Nation continue long without a Prince nor would any Person who should have succeeded in that Capacity have suffered them to live within his Government without giving him Security by Oath for their Submission and Loyaly to him So that the whole Design of this Letter seems to be the Sowing Division in the Nation that when he left us we might not unite or settle our selves under the other but be divided by our Principles that so we might the more easily reduce us again into the State we are in when the Prince first designed his Expedition against England The King being gone as above-said Decem. 11. in the Morning the Principal Officers of the Army about the Town thereupon met about 10 a Clock at Whitehal and sent an Express to the Prince of Orange to acquaint him with the Departure of the King and to assure him that they would assist the Lord Mayor to keep the City quiet till his Highness came and made the Souldiery to enter into his Service Much about the same time the Lords Spiritual and Temporal about the Town came to Guildhal and sending for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen made the following Declartion The Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in and about the Cities of London and Westminster Aâ—â—â—mbled at Guild Hall the 14th of December 1688. VVE doubt not but the World believes that in this great and dangerous Conjuncture we are heartily and zealously concerned for the Protestant Religion the Laws of the Land and the Liberties and Properties of the Subject And we did reasonably hope that the King having issued out his Proclamation and Writs for a Free Parliament we might have rested secure under the Expectation of that Meeting But His Majesty having withdrawn himself and as we apprehend in order to his Departurâ— out of this Kingdom by the pernicious Counsels of Persons ill affected to our Nation and Roligion we cannot without being wanting to our Duty be silent under those Calamities wherein the Popish Counsels which so long prevailed have miserably involved these Realms We do therefore unanimously resolve to apply our selves to his Highness the Prince of Orange who with so great Kindness to these Kingdoms so vast Expence and so much Hazard hath undertaken by endeavouring to procure a Free Parliament to rescue us with as little effusion of Christian Blood as possible from the eminent Dangers of Popery and Slavery And we do hereby declare That we will with our utmost Endeavours assist his Highness in the obtaining such a Parliament with all speed wherein our Laws our Liberties and Properties may be secured the Church of England in particular with a due Liberty to Protestant Dissenters and in general the Protestant Religion and Interest over the whole World may be supported and encouraged to the Glory of God the Happiness of the Established Government in these Kingdoms and the Advantage of all Princes and States in Christendom that may be herein concerned In the mean time we will endeavour to preserve as much as in us lies the Peace and Security of these great and popalous Cities of London and Westminster and the parts adjacent by taking care to disarm all Papists and secure all Jesuits and Romish Priests who are in or about the same And if there be any thing more to be performed by Us for promoting his Highnes's Generous Intentions for the Publick Good we shall be ready to do it as occasion requires Signed W. Cant. T. Ebor. Pembrook Dorset Mulgrave Thanet Carlisle Craven Ailesbury Burlington Sussex Berkeley Rochester Newport Weymouth P. Winchester W. Asaph F. Ely Thoâ— Roffen Tho. Petriburg P. Wharton North and Gray Chandois Montague T. Jermâ—n Vaughan Carbery Culpeper Crewe Osulston Whereas His Majesty hath privately this Morning withdrawn himself we the Lords Spiritual and Temporal whose Names are hereunto Subscribed being Assembled in Guild-Hall in London having agreed upon and signed a Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in and about the Cities of London and Westminster Assembled at Guildhall the 11th of Decemb. 1688. do desire the Right Honourable the Earl of Pembrook the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Weymouth the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of Ely and the Right Honourable the Lord Culpeper forthwith to attend His Highness the Prince of ORANGE with the said Declaration and at the same time to acquaint his Highness with what we have further done at this Meeting Dated at Guild-Hall Decemb. 11. 1688. The same Day the Lieutenancy of London signed this following Address to the Prince of Orange at Guild-Hall and sent it by Sir Robert Clayton Kt. Sir Will. Russel Sir Basil Firebrace Kts. and Charles Duncomb Esq May it please your Highness VVE can never sufficiently express the deep Sense we have conceived and shall ever retain in our Hearts that your Highness has exposed your Person to so many Dangers by Sea and Land for the Preservation of the Protestant Religion and the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom without such unparalleled Undertaking we must probably have suffered all the Miseries that Popery and Slavery could have brought upon us We have been greatly concerned that before this Time we had not any reasonable Opportunity to give Your Highness and the World a Real Testimony That it has been our firm Resolution to venture all that is dear to us to attain those Glorious Ends which your Highness has proposed for Restoring and Settling these Distracted Nations We therefore now unanimously present to your Highness our Just and Due Acknowledgments for that happy Relief you have brought to us and that we may not be wanting in this present Conjuncture we have put our selves into such a posture that by the Blessing of GOD we may be capable to prevent all ill Designs and to preserve this City in Peace and Safety till your Highness's happy Arrival We therefore humbly desire that your Highness will please to repair to this City with what convenient speed you can for the perfecting the Great Work which your Highness has so happily begun to the general Joy and Satisfaction of us all The Prince of Orange in the mean time finding the Kings Troops now without Head to commit many Disorders put forth the following Declaration By the Prince of Orange A Declaration VVHereas We are informed That divers Regiments Troops and Companies have been incouraged to disperse themselves in an Vnusual and Vnwarrantable Manner whereby the Publick Peace is very much disturbed We have thought fit hereby
to require all Colonels and Commanders in Chief of such Regiments Troops and Companies by Beat of Drum or otherwise to call together the several Officers and Soldiers belonging to their respective Regiments Troops and Companies in such Places as they shall find most convenient for their Rendezvous and there to keep them in good Order and Discipline And We do likewise direct and require all such Officers and Soldiers forthwith to repair to such Place as shall be appointed for that purpose by the Respective Colonels or Commanders in Chief whereof speedy Notice is to be given unto Vs for our further Orders Given at Our Court at Henly Decemb. 13. 1688. Prince of ORANGE From Henly he advanced by easie Marches towards London being invited thither as already noted by diverse Noblemen and Citizens as the King was also by some Lords to return which he did on Sunday the 16th in the Evening a Sett of Boys following him through the Streets and made some Huzza's while the rest of the People silently looked on But before the King's Return the Privy Council and Peers met and made this Order on the 14th VVE the Peers of this Realm Assembled with some of the Lords of the Privy Council do hereby require all Irish Officers and Soldiers to repair forthwith to the respective Bodies to which they do or did lately belong and do hereby declare that behaving themselves peaceably they shall have Subsistence pay'd them till they shall be otherwise provided for or imployed And the said Officers and Soldiers are to deliver up their Arms to some of the Officers of the Ordnance who are to deposite the same in the Stores in the Tower of London And We do require and command all Justices of the Peace Constables and other Officers whom it may concern that they apprehend and seize all such Soldiers as shall not repair to their respective Bodies and that they be dealt with as Vagabonds Given at the Council Chamber at Whitehal the Fourteenth of Decemb. 1688. Tho. Ebor. Hallifax Dorset Carlisle Craven Nottingham Rochester N. Duresine P. VVinchester North and Gray J. Trevor J. Titus It was high time to put out this Order for on Thursday Dec. 13. about Three in the Morning there was a terrible Allarm That the Irish in a desperate Rage were approaching London putting Man Woman and Child to the Sword which made the People all rise placing Lights in their Windows from top to bottom and every Man guarding his own Door with his Musquet charged with Powder and Ball and all the Traindbands of the City were in Arms so that there was nothing heard but Shooting and Beating of Drums all Night And what is very strange this Allarm spread it self over the face of the whole Kingdom and all that were able to carry Arms vowed the Defence of their Lives Laws Religion and Liberties and stood resolved to destroy all the Irish and Papists in England in case any Injury were offered them but few Papists suffered in their Persons only their Houses were generally rifled under a pretence of searching for Arms and Ammunition The Prince who was now at VVindsor had sent M. Zulestein to the King to desire him to continue at Rochester but missing him the King came to VVhitehal and from thence sent the Lord Feversham with a Letter to the Prince to VVindsor to invite him to St. James's with what number of Troops he should think convenient to bring along with him But the Prince referring the Consideration of the Subject-Matter of the Letter to the Peers about him they concluded that the shortness of the Time could admit of no better Expedient that the King might be desired to remove with a reasonable Distance from London and Ham an House belonging to the Dutchess of Lauderdale was pitch'd upon and a Note or Paper dâ—rawn up to that purpose which was ordered to be delivered after the Prince's Guards were in Possession of the Posts about VVhitehall the Substance whereof was as follows WE desire you the Lord Marquess of Hallifax the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Lord Delamere to tell the King That it is thought convenient for the great Quiet of the City and the great Safety of his Person that he do remove to Ham where he shall be attended by his Guards who will be ready to preserve him from any Disturbance Given at VVindsor the Seventeenth Day of December 1688. VV. Prince de Orange The Guards who were commanded by Count Solmes made it 10 a Clock at Night before they could reach London And the Kings Guards then on Duty not being very forward to dislodge it was Twelve before the Lords could deliver the said Paper of which they first sent this Account to Secretary Middleton My Lord THere is a Message to be delivered to his Majesty from the Prince which is of so great Importance that we who are charged with it desire we may be immediately admitted and therefore desire to know where we may find your Lordship that you may introduce My Lord c. Hallifax Shrewsbury Delamere He accordingly presently introduced them the King being by that time in Bed where they made an Apology for coming at so unseasonable a Time and delivering him the Paper the King read it and said He would comply with it Upon this the Lords humbly desired he would remove so early as to be at Ham by Noon to prevent Meeting the Prince in his Way to London where he was to come the same Day His Majesty readily agreed to this too and asked whether he might not appoint what Servants should attend him To which the Lords replied That it was left to him to give Order in that as he pleased and so they took their Leave of him When they were gone as far as the Privy-Chamber the King sent for them again and told them he had forgot to acquaint them with his Resolutions before the Message came to send my Lord Godolphin next Morning to the Prince to propose his going back to Rochester he finding by the Message M. Zulestein was charged with the Prince had no Mind he should be at London and therefore he now desired he might rather return to Rochester than go to any other place The Lords replied That they would immediately send an Account to the Prince of what His Majesty desired and they did not doubt of such an Answer as would be to his Satisfaction Accordingly they sent to him who was then at Sion-House and before 8 next Morning there came a Letter from M. Bentink by the Prince's Order agreeing to the King's Proposals of going to Rochester Hereupon he went the Guards being made ready and Boats prepared that Night to Gravesend in his own Barge attended by the Earl of Arran and some few others The same Day being Dec. 18. about Three in the Afternoon His Highness the Prince of Orange came to St. James's attended by Monsieur Schomberg and a great Number of the Nobility and Gentry and was entertained with
Artillery Horses were most of them yet at Chester and therefore the Duke ordered the greatest part of the Train to be shipt and the Fleet to sail with them and all other Necessaries to Carlingford Bay while in the mean time the Duke marched the Army beyond Lisburn and so onwards through Hilsborough and encamped at Drummore where Hamilton had routed the Northern Protestants The day following they continued their March to Lougbbrilane where the Iniskilling Horse and Dragoons joined and were ordered to be an Advance Guard to the Army But before they could reach Newry the Irish Troops had deserted and burnt it yet the General finding an old square Tower in it left standing he garrison'd it with 50 Men and from hence they advanced to Dundalk and encamp'd about a mile North of the Town in a low moist ground having the Town and the River towards the W. between them and the Enemy the Sea towards the S. the Newry Mountains to the E. and to the N. Hills and Bogs intermixt The bad Weather constant Marches and scarcity of Provisions made our Men already begin to faint but here they met with some refreshment of Mutton and were on the 8th joined by Major General Kirk's Sir John Hanmor's and Brigadier Stuart's Regiments But the Fleet with the Train c. failing to come up to Carlingford-Bay as directed was a great Discouragement as well as Disappointment to them for several days and so much the more that the General had intelligence by an Engineer that deserted the Enemy that their Army consisting of about 20000 Men was at Drogheda but 16 Miles from Dundalk where the Duke halted and whereof when the General de Rosne heard he said he was sure the Duke wanted something and therefore advised them to make what haste they could to get their Forces in a readiness some part of which in a day or 2 after moved towards Ardee a small Town between Drogheda and Dundalk They continued somewhat in an uncertain Posture till the 20th when in the morning the General had an Account that the Enemy advanced towards him and that a Party of 2000 Foot and 1500 Horse were gone beyond the Mountains to attack the Pass at Newry and fall into their Rear but tho' a Party of the Enemies Horse appear'd in the sight of their Camp and that they had several Battalions of Foot drawn up in order near to theirs yet they retired upon the advancing of a Party of Horse against them and the other Detachment hearing my Lord Hewet's Horse and Sir Henry Inglesby's Foot were marching to the Camp and then in Newry they wheeled off towards Sligo But the day following the Enemy display'd their Standard Royal and all drew out both Horse and Foot having along with them a very handsome Train of Artillery and a great Body of their Horse advanced towards our Armies Out-works Several of the English Officers were for fighting and would have the Duke send for the Horse home that were a forraging but his Answer was Let them alone we will see what they will do and notwithstanding he saw them advance within Cannon-shot of his Trenches yet he said still he saw no sign of their designing to fight only once when he saw them draw their Army into two Lines he sent Lieutenant-General Douglas to the Camp to order all the Foot to stand to their Arms and sent to the Horse that upon firing 3 Pieces of Cannon they should return to the Camp but till then go on with their foraging and in the mean time alighted off of his Horse and sat him down on a little Hill seeming as if he sleeped but no doubt his Thoughts were wakeful enough and busie about the present Posture of his Affairs Douglas had no sooner given the Orders but the Soldiers with the greatest chearfulness in the world stood to their Arms and several that had not stirred out of their Tents for a week together now readily handled their Muskets being glad to think they had an opportunity to beat the Enemy for they never supposed otherwise and so to march towards them from that sad place which was already very uneasie to them but in some time the Enemy drew off and so the matter ended much to the dissatisfaction of the English Soldiers In a day or two after this there was a dangerous Conspiracy discovered among some of the French Regiments and first 4 Soldiers and a Drummer then 16 more were apprehended about some of whom several Letters were found as one to Monsieur d' Avaux and as was said one to the late King written by one duâ— Plessey now a private Soldier in M. Gambon's Regiment but formerly a Captain of Horse in France from whence he fled for Murther and by which it did appear he had for some time corresponded with the Enemy And a further Enquiry being made into the Matter there was about 200 Men all Papists out of the 3 French Regiments that were secured disarmed and sent for England under a Guard and 6 only of the principal Conspirators of whom dâ—Plessey was one were hanged upon a pair of Gallows erected near the Camp But though the Duke was very wary of engaging the Irish Army because of their Strength and Numbers it was not so with the Iniskilliners for on Friday the 27th came News into the Camp that Colonel Lloyd with about 1000 Iniskillingers had defeated a Body of the Irish that were marching towards Sligo consisting of about 5000 Men killing 700 of them and taking O Kelly their Commander and 40 other Officers Prisoners besides a great Booty of 8000 head of Cattle with the inconsiderable loss of 14 Men. With this News the General was so taken that he ordered all the Iniskillin Horse and Foot in the Camp to draw out and complemented them so far as to ride all along their Line with his Hat off then ordered the Dutch Guards and the Iniskillin Foot to draw into a Line to the Right of the Works at the West-End of the Town where they made 3 running Firings which were answered by the Iniskillin Horse from their Camp and by the great Guns upon the Works as also from the Ships that lay at the Mouth of the River But this success was some time after much abated by the loss of Sligo and James's Town to the Irish for Colonel Sarsfield marching with a considerable Body of Men that way those of James's Town not thinking it tenable quitted it and marched to Sligo losing some of their Party and killing some of the Irish in their Retreat Next day Sarsfield with his Army came before Sligo which made Colonel Russel retreat to Ballishannon and to advise the Foot also to quit the place But for all this a French Captain with a detach'd Party of Granadiers that had been sent from the main Army and Colonel Lloyd with the Iniskilliners staid in the Town and from thence retreated to the two Forts at the end of it Lloyd
into one and the French Man whose Name was de S. Sanvem with his Granadiers into the other But though Colonel Lloyd went away that Night with the loss of many of his Men in his Retreat yet the French Captain having carried in some Provision and finding 3 Barrels of Powder in the Fort stood bravely to it The Nights were then dark and he fearing the Enemy might make their approaches to the Fort undiscovered got a great many Fir-deals and dipping the Ends of them in Tar they made such a light when set on fire and hung over the Wall that he discovered the Enemy coming towards them with an Engine they call a Sow but having killed the Engineer and 2 or 3 more the rest retired and he burnt the Engine Day no sooner appeared but the Enemy were forced to quit a small Field-piece they had planted in the Street they were so plied with shot from the Fort by the English who presently after made a sally and killed divers of them But at last their Provision being spent and there being little or no Water in the Fort they surrendred it upon honourable Terms and at their marching over the Bridge Colonel Sarsfield stood with a Purse of Guinea's and profered every Man that would serve the late King Horse and Arms with 5 Guinea's advance yet they all made answer They would never fight for Papists exept one who the very next day after he had got Horse Arms and the Gold brought all off with him But how disadvantageous soever the loss of the fore-mentioned Places were like to prove to the English Army they felt yet a more sensible Blow within themselves by the Death of a great many brave Officers and Soldiers Among the former was Sir Edward Deering a gallant Gentleman and much lamented in the Army by all that knew him and a Person who as he contributed more than any Man in the County of Kent towards bringing about our happy Revolution so he left a good Fortune in England purely to serve the King in this Expedition as did 3 more of his Brothers whereof one of them John Deering died since at Trangâ—dee and was a very ingenious young Gentleman Here died also soon after him Colonel Henry Wharton Brother to the now Lord Wharton a brisk bold Man and had a Regiment which would have followed him any where and being withal a comely and handsome Person he was truly much bemoaned by all that knew him and so was Sir Thomas Gower a young Gentleman of pregnant Parts and C. Hungerford a hopeful young Gentleman and of a considerable Fortune who with a great many other brave Officers were swept away by Death in this unhappy Camp And for the common Soldiers there perished in and about Dundalk at least 1700. and there were about 1970 sick Men shipp'd off at Carlingford and Dundalk to be transported to Belfast but of them not above 1100 came ashoar the rest dying at Sea Nay the Mortality was so great that several Ships had all the Men in them dead and no body to look after them whilst they lay in Carrigfergus Bay and all this besides some thousands that died in the great Hospital at Belfast that Winter So that upon a modest Computation of the whole there was nigh one half of the Army that was transported over lost We will at present leave the surviving part in their Winter Quarters whither they marched the beginning of Nov. and see how the Campaigns have passed abroad of which we were unwilling to take any notice hitherto that they might not interfere with the more immediate Affairs of Britain whereof we have now given you the relation The Confederate Army this Year in Flanders was commanded by Prince Waldeck as that of France was by the Mareschal de Humieres between whom there passed very little of moment till about the middle of Aug. when the Prince decamping from Fountain Eveque passed the Sambre and fell into the Enemies Country and having taken up his Camp at Thit-Chateau the French encamped so near him that the Out-guards were not above half an hours march from one another The Mareschal on the 25th hearing that a great number of Dutch Horse were out a foraging attempted to surprize them to which end he made a motion with his whole Army which some days before had been reinforced with 6000 Men. The Prince had no sooner notice hereof but he fired some Pieces of Cannon to give his Foragers notice as had been agreed upon before However that did not prevent their being vigorously charged by the French who took some of them and their Van-guard advancing attack'd the Village of Forge where 800 Foot were posted to secure the Foragers being commanded by the English Colonel Hodges Lieutenant Colonel Goes and the Major of the Regiment of Hesse who for above two hours defended themselves gallantly but had been overpowered by multitude had not Râ—â— Major General of the Cavalry who was sent to bring back the Lieutenant Generals Webbenum Marleborough and d' Hubi come with their Horse timely to their succour With that reinforcement they made a retreating Fight against the main of the whole French Army that came pouring in upon them till they came to a rising Ground near Walcourt where they joined a Battalion of Lunemburgers which had been reinforced by another of Colonel Hales The French attack'd the Town with great resolution which lasted an hour and an half during which time Prince Waldeck ordered Lieutenant General Alva to march with 3 Regiments to their relief the same being also followed by the Guards of the Body and 2 English Regiments commanded by the Lord of Marleborough while Major General Slaugeburg advanced almost at the same time with some other Regiments of Foot to the other side of the Town all which Motions when the French perceived they retreated in great haste and some disorder leaving some Cannon and Ammunition with many Men slain behind them but they could not be pursued because of the hilliness of the Ground which without doubt hindred their coming to a general Battel and which in all probability would not have been to the Advantage of the French since the Dutch and other Forces were never more eager to have fought it out than at that time However they kept their Post all that night as a token of their Victory It was said the French had near 2000 killed and wounded in this Encounter though they would never acknowledge near so many among whom were reckoned a good many Officers The greatest loss on the Confederates side were some of the Foragers killed and more taken Prisoners in the first Action so that the number of the slain did not amount to above 300 but this was minced of which the chiefest were Lieutenant-Colonel Grimes of the English the Major of the Dragoons of Zell one Captain and some inferiour Officers And thus ended this Campaign in Flanders without any other memorable Action saving that the Spaniards demolished
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
cover the Duke's Foot The same Afternoon Major-General Tetteau with a Party of a 1000 Men having drawn down some Cannon to the Fair Hill resolved to attack one or both of the new Forts and new Shannon-Castle But the Enemy no sooner perceived his Men posted in order to that Design then they set fire to the Suburbs between him and them and so deserting both the Forts and Castle retired in haste into the City Which our Men no sooner saw but they possessed themselves of Shannon-Castle planted some Guns thereon and from thence plaid both upon the Fort and Town Major General Scravenmore was come at the same time with his Horse and took up his Quarters at Kill-Abbey On the 26th the Duke of Wirtemberg with his Danes and another Detatchment of Dutch and French Foot came and encamped on the North-side of the Town and the Enemy the day following having deserted their Works at the Cat-fort without a Blow struck our Forces took possession of it and having planted a Battery there they threw both their Bombs into the City and pâ—aid their Guns upon the Fort from the Friars Garden and another Battery above the Fort near the Abbey Having moreover got a Church into our possession Scravenmore ordered a Party of Men into it and laid Boards cross the Beams for them to stand upon who from thence did very good Service in galling the Irish within the Fort All which together with another Battery made by Red-Abbey which plaid against the City-wall and made a Breach therein brought the Besieged to move for a Treaty Whereupon a Truce was granted till next Morning when the Besieged not accepting the Conditions that were proposed the Cannon began to play again very furiously and made a considerable Breach and when any of the Enemy appeared on the Wall near it they were rased off by the small Ordnance from the Cat And lest the Enemy might make their Escape thro' the Marsh there were 40 Men placed the Night before in the Brick-Yard near Kill-Abbey to prevent it On the same Day in the Afternoon the Danes from the N. and 4 Regiments of English from the S. under Brigadier Churchill passed the River up to the Arm-pits into the E. Marsh in order to storm the Breach that was made there in the City-Wall The Granadiers under my Lord Colchester led the Van and march'd forward tho' all the while exposed to the Enemies fire with them march'd also the Duke of Grafton my Lord O Brian Collonel Granville and a great many more as Volunteers The Van immediately posted themselves under the Bank of the Marsh which seemed to be a Counterscarp to the City-Wall In which Approach the Duke of Grafton received a mortal Wound on the point of his Shoulder The Salamander also and another Vessel came up with the Morning-Tide and lay at the end of the Marsh directly before the City-Wall plaid their Cannon at the Breach and threw Bombs likewise into the City All this being hot Work made the Irish beat a Parley and Colonel Makilicut who commanded in the Place sent the Earl of â—yrone and Colonel Ricaut to agree the Capitulation who concluded That the Garrison consisting of about 4000 Men should be all Prisoners of War as well Officers as Soldiers That the Old Fort should be delivered up within an Hour and 2 Gates of the City the next Day That all the Protestant Prisoners should be forthwith released That all the Arms as well of the Soldiers as Inhabitants should be secured and that there should be an exact Account delivered up of the Warlike Ammunitions and Provisions in the Magazines Matters being thus happily terminated in relation to Cork the very same Afternoon a Party of about 500 Hoâ—se was sent under the Command of Brigadier Villars to infâ—st Kingsale upon whose Approach the Irish quitted the Town set it on fire and retired into the Old Fort and on the 1st of Oct. the Earl of Marlborough advanced as far as Five-Mile-Bridge and next day reach'd the Town of Kingsale then in Possession of his own Men who quenched the Fire and that Evening posted his Troops toward the New Fort as Major-General Tettau with 800 Men next Morning early passed the River in Boats and stormed the Fort with very good Success For several Barrels of Powder at the same time accidentally taking fire blew up nigh 40 of the Enemy whereupon the rest flying into an old Castle in the midst of the Fort were a great many of them killed before they could get thither and all that made resistance as the English scaled the Walls were cut to pieces so that of 450 Men in the Fort about 200 were blown up and killed and the rest submitting to Mercy were made Prisoners My Lord having gained the Old Fort resolved to make as quick Work as he could with the new one which was far the more considerable of the two For the Weather was now grown very bad and Provisions scarce and withal the Men began to be sickly which made him judge it the best way to attack the Place briskly However he sent the Governour a Summons to surrender who returned answer It would be time enough to talk of that a Month hence Whereupon the Cannon being planted they began to batter the Place two ways and upon the 9th day of the Month the Men got near the Counterscarp on the 12th in the Morning 6 Pieces of Cannon were mounted at the Danes Attack which was to the Left and 2 Mortars at the English which fired all Day and the Mortars continued all Night and more Guns were planted on the English Battery the two succeeding Days for the Danes on their side had made a pretty large Breach Then they sprung a Mine with very good Success and were preparing for another Being now become Masters of the Counterscarp the Cannon plaid the 15th all the Morning long and every thing was now ready to lay the Galleries over the Ditch when the Enemy beat a Parley about surrendring the Fort which being done the Articles were agreed to and signed By them the middle Bastion was to be delivered up next Morning and the Garrison being above 1200 Men to march out the day after with their Arms and Baggage and to be conducted to Limerick There were about 200 Men killed and wounded in the several Attacks our Men made but there were some Amends made to the Survivors at least some of them For besides a very considerable Magazine there was great Plenty of all kinds of Provisions in the Fort and good Liquor of all sorts With this successful Expedition we shall end the Affairs of Ireland for this Year there being no other Action of considerable Moment performed there but only observe that all Leinster was reduced under the King's Obedience by taking of these two Towns which was no small Advantage to his Interest considering that Province is the most Southern of all Ireland and consequently the nearest to France
Walls and Hedges adjoyning and it is reported that St. Ruth seeing the English Horse draw that way and beginning to scramble over a place where two could only go a Breast and that not without great Difficulty asked what they meant by it and being answered That they would certainly endeavour to pass there and attack them on the Left he was said to reply with an Oath They are brave Fellows it is pity they should be so exposed However the Horse made good the Pass and my Lord of Oxford's Ruvigni's Langston's and Bierly's Regiments together with Levison's Dragoons repulsed and beat the Enemy several times making their Party good on that side tho' not without Loss But the English Foot all this while laboured under very great Disadvantage in the Center which being observed by the brave Major-General Talmash he hasted to their Relief with some fresh Men and gave Orders to the broken Regiments to halt and face about which they did immediately and bravely charged the Irish who had advanced upon them to the Center of the Bog killed above 300 of them before they could retreat out of it and then marched boldly up to their old Ground again from whence they had been lately beaten Major-General Mackay had at the same time fallen upon the Enemy with a good Body of Horse on their Left while Major-General Ruvigni went along the side of the Bog with another Party of Horse who did very great Service and bore all down before them but then the Horse and Foot of the English Right and the Irish Left being mixed there was nothing but a continued Fire and a very hot Dispute all along the Line the Irish doing all they could to defend their Ditches and the English to beat them out from thence But the thing was not doubtful much longer for tho' Monsieur St. Ruth when he saw the English Foot in the Center repulsed in a great Extacy told them about him That he would now beat the English Army to the Gates of Dublin yet seeing the Horse press over towards the Castle he ordered a Brigade of his own Horse to march up then riding to one of his Batteries and giving Orders to the Gunners where to fire as he was marching toward the place where he saw the English endeavour to go over he was killed with a great Shot from one of their Batteries as he rid down the Hill of Kilcomodon the place where the main stress of the Battle was fought being just under the Irish Camp When the General fell one of his Retinue threw a Cloak over his Corps and soon after removed him behind the Hill his Guard going off at the same time which the Irish Horse perceiving a great many of them drew off also and in a short time their Army was driven to the Top of Killcomodon Hill where their Camp had laid which being levelled and exposed to the English Shot more openly they began now to run down-right the Foot towards a great Bog behind them on their Left and the Horse on the high way towards Loughreah But during all this Action in the Right Wing and Center of the Army those towards the Left that first engaged kept their Ground and little hapned on that side for near 2 Hours and neither did the Danish Horse and Foot that were on the Left of all disturb the Enemy as yet but stood opposite to several Bodies of Horse and Foot that faced them on the other side of the small Brook But then perceiving Mackay's Battalions to drive the Enemy before them least these Bodies that faced them should fall back to the relief of the flying Party they engaged them and for about half an Hour it was hot work But the Irish being then upon the decline they all fled out of the Field their Foot being miserably slaugter'd by the English Horse and Dragoons and their Horse pursued nigh 3 Miles yet the Night coming on with a thick Misty Rain prevented the English from getting between them and a very advantageous Pass near Loughreagh which gave many of them an opportunity to escape However it was computed there were no less than 7000 of them slain upon the Spot and of the English 600 Soldiers killed besides 73 Officers and 960 wounded to which number if we add Officers they will amount to near 1100 in all which still makes this Battle to be the more considerable since the English Army did not make up above 17000 Horse and Foot and the Irish about 20000 Foot and 5000 Horse and Dragoons The English Army lay upon their Arms all that Night but then taking some days of Refreshment the General having received divers Informations concerning the State of Galloway the most considerable place now left in the Hands of the Irish next to Limerick resolved to direct his March thither when he had posted his Troops he sent in a Trumpet to summon the Garrison who was answered by the Lord Dillon the Governour that Monsieur d' Vssone who commanded in chief was of the same opinion with himself and the rest of the Officers that they were resolved to defend the place to the last But for all this Resolution when the English had passed part of the Army over the River and taken the Fort the Irish were building they beat a Parley and Hostages were exchanged But the Irish demurring upon the manner of Surrendry made the General impatient who sent once or twice to hasten their Resolutions and at last Lieutenant Colonel Burk one of the Hostages was permitted to go in whom Major-General Talmash being as was believed inclined to lay the Treaty aside desired When they were ready to begin again to give the English a sign by firing a Gun into the Air but the other replied That they would not fire from within till the other provoked them to it from without And so after some time the Articles were agreed on and the Town surrendred on the 20th of July into the hands of the English the consequence whereof was the Submission of Baldarick O Donnel who had a considerable number of Men under his Command and in some time after the marching of the English Army towards Limerick with a full intention by the Conquest of that place to compleat that of Ireland There they arrived on the 25th of Aug. where my Lord Tyrconnell died some Days before and that same day possess'd themselves of Ireton's and Cromwel's Forts which were now ordered to be called Mackay's and Nassau's because gained under those Commanders Two days after Castle-Connell and another called Carruk a Gunnel standing upon the River 3 Miles below the Town were attacked by Detachments from the Army and the Garrisons of both made Prisoners of War and at the same time the English Ships came up the River and fired some Shots into the Irish Horse Camp that was then near the River which put the Irish out of Countenance who till then were made to believe that either the English
Irish and all Officers and Soldiers now in Arms under any Commission of King James or those Authorized to grant the same in the several Counties of Limerick Clare Kerry Cork and Mayo or in any of them and all the Commissioned Officers in their Majesties Quarters that belong to the Irish Regiments now in Being that are Treated with and who are not Prisoners of War or have taken Protection and who shall return and submit to their Majesties Obedience their and every of their Heirs shall hold possess and enjoy all and every their Estates of Free-hold and Inheritance and all the Right Title and Interest Privileges and Immunities which they and every or any of them held enjoyed or were rightfully and lawfully Intituled to in the Reign of K. Charles the II or at any Time since by the Laws and Statutes that were in Force in the said Reign of K. Charles the II and shall be put in Possession by order of the Government of such of them as are in the King's Hands or the Hands of their Tenants without being put to any Suit or Trouble therein And all such Estates shall be freed and discharg'd from all Arrears of Crown-Rents Quit-Rents and other publick Charges incurred and become due since Michaelmas 1688. to the Day of the Date hereof And all Persons comprehended in this Article shall have hold and enjoy all their Goods and Chattles Real and Personal to them or any of them belonging or remaining either in their own Hands or the Hands of any Person or Persons whatsoever in Trust for or for the Use of them or any of them And all and every the said Persons of what Trade Profession or Calling soever they be shall and may use exercise and practise their several and respective Professions Trades and Callings as freely as they did use exercise and enjoy the same in the Reign of K. James the II Provided that nothing in this Article contained be construed to extend to or restore any Forfeiting Person now out of the Kingdom except what are hereafter comprized Provided also that no Person whatsoever shall have and enjoy the Benefit of this Article that shall neglect or refuse to take the Oath of Allegiance made by Act of Parliament in England in the First Year of the Reign of their present Majesties when thereunto required III. ALL Merchants or reputed Merchants of the City of Limerick or of any other Garrison now possessed by the Irish or of any Town or Place in the Counties of Clare or Kerry who are absent beyond the Seas that have not born Arms since their Majesties Declaration in February 1688_9 shall have the Benefit of the Second Article in the same Manner as if they were present provided such Merchants and reputed Merchants do repair into this Kingdom within the Space of Eight Months from the Date hereof IV. THESE following Officers viz. Colonel Simon Lutterel Capt. Rowland White Morrice Eustace of Gormonstown Cheevers of Mayestown commonly called Mount-Leinster now belonging to the Regiments in the aforesaid Garrisons and Quarters of the Irish Army who were beyond the Seas and sent thither upon Affairs of their respective Regiments or of the Army in General shall have the Benefit and Advantage of the Second Article provided they return hither within the Space of 8 Months from the Date of these Presents and submit to their Majesties Government and take the Above-mentioned Oath V. THAT all and Singular the said Persons comprized in the 2d and 3d Articles shall have a general Pardon of all Attainders Outlawries Treasons Misprisions of Treason Premunires Fellonies Trespasses and other Crimes and Misdemeanors whatsoever by them or any of them committed since the Beginning of the Reign of King James the II and if any of them are Attainted by Parliament the Lords Justices and the General will use their best Endeavours to get the same repealed by the Parliament and the Outlawries to be reversed Gratis all but Writing-Clerks fees VI. WHEREAS the present Wars have drawn great Violences on both Parties and that if Leave were given for bringing all Sorts of private Actions the Animosities would probably continue that have been so long on Foot and the publick Disturbance last For the Quieting and Settling therefore of the Kingdom and avoiding those Inconveniences which would be your Necessary Consequence of the Contrary no Person or Persons whatsoever comprized in the foregoing Articles shall be Sued Molested or Impleaded at the Suit of any Party or Parties whatsoever for any Trespass by them committed or for any Arms Horses Mony Goods Chattles Merchandize or Provision whatsoever by them seized or taken during the Time of the War And no Person or Persons whatsoever in the 2d or 3d Articles comprised shall be Sued Impleaded or made accountable for the Rents or mean Rates of any Lands Tenements or Houses by him or them received or enjoyed in this Kingdom since the Beginning of this present War to the Day of the Date hereof nor for any Waste or Trespass by him or them committed in any such Lands Tenements or Houses And it is also agreed That this Article shall be mutual and reciprocal on both sides VII EVERY Nobleman and Gentleman comprised in the said 2d and 3d Articles shall have liberty to Ride with a Sword and Case of Pistols if they think fit and keep a Gun in their Houses for the Defence of the same or Fowling VIII THE Inhabitants Residents of the City of Limerick anâ— other Garrisons shall be permitted to remove their Goodâ— Chattels and Provisions out of the same without being vieweâ— or searched or paying any manner of Duty and shall not be compelled to leave their Houses or Lodgings they now haâ—â— therein for the Space of 6 Weeks next ensuing the Date hereof IX THE Oath to be administred to such Roman-Catholicks as submit to their Majesties Government shall be the Oath abovesaid and no other X. NO Person or Persons who shall at any time hereafter break these Articles or any of them shall thereby make or cause any other Person or Persons to forfeit or lose the Benefit of the same XI THE Lords Justices and General do promise to use their utmost Endeavours that all Persons comprehended in the abovementioned Articles shall be protected and defended from all Arrests and Executions for Debt or Damage for the Space of 8 Months next ensuing the Date hereof XII LASTLY The Lords Justices and General do undertake that their Majesties will ratifie these Articles within the Space of 8 Months or sooner and use their utmost Endeavours that the same shall be ratified and confirmed in Parliament XIII AND whereas Colonel John Brown stood indebted to several Protestants by Judgments of Record which appearing to the late Government the Lord Tyrconnel and Lord Lucan took away the Effects the said John Brown had to answer the said Debts and promised to clear the said John Brown of the said Debts which effects were taken for the publick use of
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
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
good View of it and got out again without any Damage tho' warmly fired at by Camaret-Fort they returned and gave the Lord Berkeley an Account of the Posture of the Bay and the Situation of the Castle which was very advantageously placed to defend the Landing-places against any that should attempt to set Footing on Shore Thereupon it was thought convenient that the Monk of 60 Guns and the Diamaten of equal Force should go in for that purpose But the Marquess who had viewed the Place not believing that those two Men of War would be sufficient to cover the Boats at their Landing from the Shot from the Fort nor to assist the Land-Forces at their Landing by playing upon the Enemy who were better prepared and more numerous than was expected and ready to be seconded upon all Occasions with 14 Squadrons of Horse all regular Troops so far as they could discern by their Habit Therefore upon the 8th after a Consultation of the English and Dutch Flags and the General-Officers of the Land-Forces it was resolved That 6 more Men of War should be added to the 2 former viz. the Greenwich of 54 Guns the Charles-Galley of 32 the Shoreham of 32 the Darkenstein of 44 the Wesep of 30 and the Wolf of 30 Guns All which the Marquess undertook to post so as to bear upon the Castle to the best Advantage and to perform those other Services for which they were designed This was a Work of great Labour Difficulty and Danger for no sooner was the Monk come within reach of the Enemy's Mortars but the Enemy began to fling their Bombs at her from Point des Fillettes and the Western Point of Camaret-Bay insomuch that when she came within 3 Quarters of a Mile of the latter one of the Bombs broke just over her and a great piece of it striking through her Poop and two Decks more flew out again into the Water near one of the Stern-Ports and killed 2 of the Marquess's Marine Company and wounded a third who stood close by him on the Poop So soon as she got into the Bay and came up a-brest with the Western Point Camaret-Fort fired thick and threefold at her and she being forced to stand with her Stern right upon it the Shot from thence raked her fore and aft and did her a great deal of Damage More than this after all the Ships were got pretty well into the Bay they were surprized with three Batteries more all firing upon them which they never perceived till they felt their Shot But notwithstanding all these Difficulties the Marquess made a shift to post the 8 Ships in such a manner as gave great Succour to the Land-Forces and did the Enemy considerable Mischief For these Ships so soon as they had dropped their Anchors in the Bay fired continually upon the Enemy and forced the French to run twice out of Camaret-Fort From these Ships it was easie to perceive the Enemy very advantageously entrenched at every place where there was any possibility of Landing and great Numbers of Foot drawn behind the Trenches On the Other side Lieutenant-General Talmash with a small Number of Well-boats went a-shore in a confused manner under a little Rock on the South-side of the small Bay Nor was there any Prosecution of that regular Way of Landing which the Lord Cutts proposed and had been agreed on Here his Lordship excuses himself for not being able to give an Account of what passed close by the Shore and goes on That when he saw the Boats and small Vessels in which the Land-Forces were embarked had made their Retreat from thence excepting such as stuck fast wherein a great many were killed and taken Prisoners and the Signal given to bring off the Ships he applied himself to undergo the greatest Difficulty he had in all the Action for that all their Rigging was cut in pieces and most of their Sails and Yards disabled The Shoreham not so much disabled as the rest got clear out of Danger with little Assistance But it cost the Marquess a world of Labour and hard Venturing to get off the rest but more especially the Charles-Galley and the Monk that was within half her length of dashing against a Rock as having no other Motion but what the Sea and Tow-boats afforded her But at length he being indefatigable in his Labour and undaunted in his Courage performed what he undertook and brought of all clear but the Tesep a small Dutch Man of War of 30 Guns which he found with 12 Foot Water in her Hold and all the Men killed that were left with the Lieutenant but himself a Drummer and one Man more As for the Loss sustained at Sea his Lordship acknowledges 400 Men lost in the 3 English and 4 Dutch Ships under his Command As for the Loss of the Land-Forces he says he was not acquainted with it But the Report was That the Killed Wounded and Taken amounted to about 700 more But what Error soever that brave Man Lieutenant General Talmash might have committed in his Landing he paid very dear for it with the loss of his Life as did I doubt a much greater number of Men killed and wounded than my Lord talks of in his unfortunate Expedition which for my part I think could not be otherwise than so since the French by such strong Works Batteries and great Forces had taken so much Precaution to defend themselves against this Attempt of which and the place of Landing they had no doubt timely information enough which they could not well be without since it was no secret in England but a Town-talk at this time that Brest was the place we designed to Land at But how unsuccessful soever we proved in this Expedition the King had managed his Affairs so well both at home and abroad this Season that he began now to beard the French and this since the beginning of the War was the first time they seemed to be upon the decline in Flanders Its true the Death of the Bishop and Prince of Liege towards the beginning of this Year gave the French a mighty Prospect to imbroil the Affairs of the Confederates on that side For as the Death of the Elector of Cologn in 1688 and the Contests between the Empire and France in the two Persons of Prince Clement of Bavaria and Cardinal Furstemburg gave the first Occasion to the Flame of this War to break forth in Germany that soon after by divers concurring Accidents spread it self over the Face of almost all Europe So if the French could have got the Cardinall de Bovillon to have been advanced into the Principality of Liege they did not doubt but to have brought the Confederates to be more humble and to have accepted of the Conditions of Peace the French King would allow them but this did not happen neither For notwithstanding all Bovillion's Protestations the major part of the Chapter first made Choice of the Elector of Cologn and the other of the
over the Christistians Left Wing But they being soon rallied and reinforced the Turks were several times beaten back and after a Fight that lasted for 3 Hours forced to yield the Field of Battle to the Victorious Christians with the loss of about 3000 Men slain upon the Spot besides Prisoners and to retire into their Retrenchments which they quitted next Night and retreated silently out of the Morea But with so much haste that they left in their Camp behind 14 Pieces of Cannon 2 Mortars a good number of Bombs great store of Ammunition and Provision 2 Standards several Tents 700 Head of Oxen and 300 Cammels and Horses as a Booty to the Conquerors whose loss amounted to about 500 Men and who by this brave Action prevented the Ravaging of the whole Morea and the Besieging of Napoli di Romania by Land while the Turkish Fleet blocked it up by Sea as the Infidels had concerted their Design But I do not find the Venetians made any Improvement of this Victory tho' it hapned timely enough in the Summer However it was exceeding brave of them and the Germans too in comparison of the Poles which Army I think hardly ever turned out of their Quarters this Season and the chief business of whose King was to endeavour though in vain to mediate a reconciliation between the Bishop of Vilna and the General of Lithuania whom the former excommunicated for quartering of some Troops within his Jurisdiction A hard Case upon a Prince to have his measures broken in relation to the Campaign as himself told the Deputies of the said Bishop thro' the feuds of a couple of humorous Subjects But thus it is to hold a precarious Crown And as for the Muscovites all that we heard of them this Summer was their march against the Tartars but nothing of Action save the blocking up of Asoph of which you will hear more next Year It remains now that we return homewards and briefly see what had been doing before the Conclusion of the Year His Majesty after so glorious a Campaign as before mentioned hasted for England and being arrived to the gladning of the Hearts of all his honest Subjects on the 11th of Oct. at his Palace at Kensington He called a Council that very Night and a Proclamation was ordered to be issued fourth for the Dissolving of the then Parliament and calling a new one to meet upon Nov. 22d following Soon after this the Great Duke of Tuscany's Envoy whose Master was grown mighty good Natur'd since our Fleet went into the Streights had his Audience of His Majesty to Congratulate his Happy Accession to the Throne but this was somewhat like to that of the Ilienses which we Read of in Suetonius who coming a Day after the Fair to Condole with the Emperor Tiberius for the Death of his Son Drusus the other made them Answer And I also Condole with you the Death of your great Countryman Hector This being over His Majesty went a short Progress and the day of the Parliaments sitting being come he spake to them to this Effect My Lords and Gentlemen IT is with great Satisfaction that I meet you here this Day being assured of a good Disposition in my Parliament when I have had such full Proofs of the Affection of My People by their Behaviour during My Absence and at My Return I was engaged in the present War by the Advice of My first Parliament who thought it necessary for the Defence of Our Religion and for the Preservation of the Liberties of Europe The last Parliament with great Chearfulness did assist Me to carry 〈◊〉 on and I cannot doubt but that your Concern for the Common Safety will oblige you to be unanimously zealous in the Prosecutio◠of it And I am glad That the Advantages which We have had this Year give Vs a Reasonable Ground of hoping for farther Success hereafter Vpon this Occasion I cannot but take Notice of the Courage and Bravery the English Troops have shewn this last Summer which I may say has answered their highest Character in any Age. And it will not be denied That without the Concurrence of the Valour and Power of England it were impossible to put a Stop to the Ambition and Greatness of France Gentlemen of the House of Commons I think it my great Misfortune That from the Beginning of My Reign I have been forced to Ask so many and such large Aids of My People And yet I am confident you will agree with Me in Opinion That there will be at least as great Supplies requisite for Carrying on the War by Sea and Land this Year as were Granted in the last Session and the rather because Our Enemies are Augmenting their Troops and the Necessity of Increasing Our Shipping does plainly appear The Funds which have been given have proved very deficient The Condition of the Civil List is such that it will not be possible for Me to subsist unless that Matter be taken into your Care And Compassion obliges Me to mention the miserable Circumstances of the French Protestants who suffer for their Religion And therefore Gentlemen I most earnestly recommend to you to prouide a Supply suitable to these several Occasions I must likewise take notice of a great Difficulty We lie under at this time by reason of the ill State of the Coin the Redress of which may perhaps prove a further Charge to the Nation But this is a Matter of so general Concern and so great Importance that I have thought fit to leave it entirely to the Consideration of My Parliament I did recommend to the last Parliament the Forming some good Bill for the Encouragement and Increase of Seamen I hope you will not let this Session pass without doing something in it And that you will consider of such Laws as may be proper for the Advancement of Trade and that you will have a particular Regard to that of the East-India's lest it should be lost to the Nation And while the War makes it necessary to have an Army abroad I could wish some Way might be thought of to Raise the necessary Recruits without giving Occasion of Complaint My Desire to meet My People in a New Parliament has made the Opening of this Session very late which I hope you will have such Regard to as to make all possible Dispatch of the great Business before you And also that you will call to mind that by the long Continuance of the last Session We did not only lose Advantages which We might have had at the Beginning of the Campaign but gave the Enemy such an Opportunity as might have proved very fatal to us And I am the more concerned to press this because of the great Preparations which the French make to be early in the Field this Year My Lords and Gentlemen I have had such Experience of your good Affections and I have such an entire Satisfaction in the Choice which My People have made of you Gentlemen
resolved to Execute their Bloody Project on Saturday the 22d of February The Forenoon of that Day was spent in a tedious expectation of News that the King was gone Abroad when one of their Orderly Men which they lodged at Kensington to give them Notice when the King went out tells them that the Guards were all come back in a Foam and that there was a muttering among the People that a Damnable Plot was Discovered and this unexpected News dispersed all the Conspirators and drove them to shift for themselves by a speedy Flight Nor were their apprehensions of a Discovery groundless for the Plot and the Progress that was made in it from time to time had been Discovered by Richard Fisher to the Right Honourable the Earl of Portland a considerable time before any other Person Discovered it and as things ripen'd for Action his Lordship was a cquainted with the Particulars On the 10th of February he acquainted that Noble Lord how far it was advanced and promised to wait upon his Lordship with a further Account in a few Days accordingly he did On February the 13th he gave his Lordship a full Account of the Design it self and the Time Place and Manner of its Execution but refusing to give to his Lordship the Names of the Conspirators made his Discovery suspected till the Addition of other Witnesses gave an unquestionable Authority to the Truth of it Mr. Pendergrass who was wholly ignorant of this Barbarous Design till he was sent for to London and there acquainted with it being struck with Horror and Astonishment at the first Proposal of it even then took a Resolution to preserve His Majesty's Life and Discover the Conspiracy Accordingly on February 14th he waited on the Earl of Portland at his Lordship's Lodgings at White-Hall and being admitted to Privacy with his Lordship though wholly a Stranger without further Address accosts his Lordship with this surprizing Request Pray My Lord perswade the King to stay at home to Morrow for if he goes abroad to Hunt he will be Murdered to this he subjoined a Relation of the whole Plot as it had been Communicated unto him by the Confederated Assassines which he said he would have told the King himself but that he durst not go to Kensington for fear of the two Orderly Men which were kept as Spies there to give Intelligence of what occurred in that Court He was introduced that Night to the King though very late and there in his whole Deportment shew'd himself to be a Man of Honour neither was Mr. de la Rue short of Mr. Pendergras in making a discovery of the intended Assassination though his Friend Brigadeer Lewson who he designed should acquaint the King with it being then out of Town makes his Information appear somewhat latter then the former For as he is a Man of too much Honour to be engaged in a Murder so his concern to discover it was from the beginning though he did not declare it till his Discovery might be serviceable to His Majesty and then as soon as he had opportunity to impart the Secret he did it and Brigadier Lewson much about the same time acquainted the King that Mr. de la Rue informed him of a Design carrying on to Assassinate His Majesty and had given him a particular Account by what methods it was design'd to be accomplished and proposed a way if the King thought 〈◊〉 how all the Conspirators might be taken in Arms when they thought to attempt it But that which seems strange in all these Discoverers though they punctually agreed and in the Circumstances yet they all peremptorily refused to name the Conspirators which might have been of fatal consequence if the Earl of Portland had not found out the happy expedient to prevent it by perswading His Majesty to give himself the trouble to examine Mr. Pendergrass and Mr. de la Rue in his Closet His Majesty being overcome by the Reasons alledged by that Noble Peer condescended to his Request and examined them both seperately At Mr. Pendergrass's Examination was present the Earl of Portland and the Lord Cuts and Mr. de la Rue's Examination was heard by the same Noble Earl and Brigadier Lewson After the Examination His Majesty shewed himself extreamly well satisfied in the Truth of their Discoveries and in a very obliging manner expressed his Resentments to of their great Care and Zeal they shewed for the preservation of his Life and the safety of the Kingdom and at last gave them such unanswerable Reasons why as Men of Honour and lovers of their Country they should compleat their Duty and Kindness in discovering the Names of the Conspirators that quite subdued their former Obstinacies and prevailed upon them to make a full and true Discovery of the Assassins under the promise of not being made use of as Evidences But Mr. Pendergrass hearing that Mr. Porter who engaged him in it had Discovered and Accused him he thought himself Discharged from any Obligation of Honour in concealing it and therefore afterwards as an Evidence for the King freely told all he knew at Charnock's Tryal Pag. 40. The King having now a perfect knowledge of the Conspiracy and the Names of the Conspirators His Majesty Issues out his Royal Proclamation requiring all his Loving Subjects to Apprehend the Conspirators promising 1000 l. reward for every Offender that should be taken and brought to Justice And here give me leave to take notice of the extream Fury Madness and Bigottry of Mr. Charnock who meeting with Mr. Bertram accidentally at Lincolns-Inn Back-gate told him That Warrants were out against them as he heard and they had as good if he would come to his Lodging go up to Kensington and do the Work at once and take off the Spark and then they should be all at quiet and have the King peaceably here What a strange infatuation this ingenious Man was under is a wonder to all that knew him Immediately after the Proclamation was out Mr. George Harris one of the Persons that was sent out of France to obey the Orders of Sir George Barclay and was actually engaged in the Assassination resigned himself to the Right Honourable Sir William Trumbal one of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State and generously convinced him of the reality of the Assassination and invasion Plots though he was not able to declare the particular Circumstance◠that attended them His Majesty being now fully convinced on all hands both of the Conspiracy and intended Invasion used no delay in sending for a sufficient number of Troops over as he gave all necessary Orders to Arm the Fleet Admiral Russel being immediately ordered down to Chatham for that purpose and the Rendesvous appointed in the Downs where all the Men of War we had in the Sea-ports were ordered to come and join the Admiral that with such Dispatch and admirable Celerity and that in 4 or 5 days time the Admiral had a Fleet of near 60 Men of War in
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
Marquisate of Suza and Barcellonet into Pignerol and its Dependencies in order to Regulate his Interests Rights and Revenues and to settle his Customs and Excises upon Salt and other things And the said deputed Persons shall be admitted and authorised in their Offices immediately after the Ratification of this present Treaty after which the said Duties shall belong to his Royal Highness without Exception or Contradiction XIII That if the Neutrality for Italy be accepted or that a General Peace be Concluded as in such Cases a great many Troops would become altogether Useless and Chargeable to his Royal Highness and that besides the excessive Charges requisite for the maintaining of them they commonly become an occasion of creating a mis-understanding among Princes when more Troops are kept on Foot than are necessary in a State either for its own Conservation or for the maintaining of the Dignity of a Sovereign Prince his Royal Highness doth therefore oblige himself not to keep in times of Neutrality any more than Six thousand Foot on this side the Alpes and One thousand five hundred on the other side of the Mountains for the Garrisons of Savoy and of the County of Nice and One thousand five hundred Horse or Dragoons and this Obligation is to continue only till the General Peace be Concluded We the above-mentioned Plenipotentiaries have agreed upon and signed these present Articles and we do promise and engage to procure them to be ratified and confirmed by his Majesty and by his Royal Highness promising likewise that they shall be kept secret till the end of September next and if at that time new Articles are made to the same Sense and purpose then these shall be suppressed Dated at Turin the Twenty Ninth of August 1696. Rhene de Froullay and Saint Thomas And because some may be curious to see the French King's Act of Surrender of the Country of Savoy to the Duke it was conceived in these Terms BE it known to all Persons whatsoever That in pursuance of a Treaty of Peace made and signed between his most Christian Majesty Lewis XIV King of France and Navarre on the one part and his Royal Highness Victor Amadeus II. Duke of Savoy Prince of Piedmont King of Cyprus c. on the other Part That his most Christian Majesty hath given Orders to Monsieur Anthony Balthasar Marquiss de Thoy Major General of the Armies of France and Governour of Savoy to restore entirely to his Royal Highness all the Countries Places Castles and Fortresses of all Savoy except Montmilian and to draw out all the Troops that are there pursuant to his Majesty's Letters Patents To this end his Royal Highness hath sent the Marquiss of Thana Captain of his Life Guards Major General of his Army and Governour of Savoy with a Power to receive in his Royal Highness's Name all the said Estates and Places The said Marquiss de Thoy having therefore personally appeared in the Council-Chamber of the Town-Hall of Chambery and having there assembled the Nobility the Syndics and Counsellors of the said City and the said Marquiss of Thana there likewise appearing did then and there receive from the said Marquiss de Thoy an absolute and full Surrender in the Name of his most Christian Majesty of all the Countries and of all the Places of the Dutchy of Savoy Montmelian only excepted according to the Treaty of Peace The said Marquiss de Thoy expressing the same in these following Words viz. My Lord Marquess de Thana in Pursuance of an Order from the King my Master and according to the Power you have also received from his Royal Highness I do hereby make an entire Surrender and Restitution to his Royal Highness in your Person of all the Countries and Places and of all the Dependencies of the Estate of Savoy Montmelian excepted and his Royal Highness may accordingly dispose of the same in like manner as he had done before those Estates were conquered by the King 's Arms. To which the Marquiss of Thana answered That he received in his Royal Highness's Name the aforesaid Countries Places and Dependencies This done the Marquiss de Thoy repeated once more the Words of the said Surrender and then went out of the Town House Of all the aforesaid Transactions both the said Marquesses de Thoy and Thana caused an Act to be made before Publick Notaries which was signed Thoy de Pisâ—en Marquiss de Thana As Witnesses Syndics Favre de Charmettes Perin Cugnet Tonce Syndics I Jasper Chambet Notary and Burgess of Chambery have receiv'd and passed the present Act as required Signed G. Chambet Not. When the News of this procedure came our King was Encamped at Gemblours where Monsieur de la Tour the Duke of Savoy's Envoy notified to him the separate Peace which his Master had made with the French King and that the Forces of the Allies were to depart his Country within such a limitted time or be forced to it by his own Troops in Conjunction with those of France But that it was in the power of the Confederates to make a Neutrality which should include all Italy within the same time I could never learn what Answer his Majesty gave the Envoy but perhaps he was more concerned that the Duke by Letter should excuse the matter to the Emperor King of Spain and Electors of Bavaria and Brandenburg and yet not a line to him than at the thing it self and this procedure of the Dukes makes that Harange of his Envoy the Marquess de Govon to the late King James in Sept. this Year to be the more to be believed the which because so Diametrically opposite to that we have given you in the preceding part of this Book which was made to his present Majesty and our late Queen Mary of Happy Memory and that it is a strange instance of the unconstancy of sublunary things take as follows SIR HIS Royal Highness is at length happily reconciled to his mâ—st Christian Majesty against whom he had rashly taken up Arms tho' he has all along receiv'd sincere Proofs of His Majesty's Protection The strict Leagues his noble Ancestors have heretofore had with France and the more exact Alliance his Royal Highness has contracted by his Marriage have but the more disjoyn'd him from the Interest of that Kingdom This Vnion which ought to have been the most inviolable we have lately seen interrupted by the Artifices of his most Christian Majesty's and your Majesty's Enemies to whom his Royal Highness has been hitherto so weak as to give ear His Royal Highness therefore humbly begs Your Majesty would please to pardon his past Conduct so very contrary to his sincere Desires to re-establish your Majesty upon your Throne The Injustice and Oppression of your Enemies Sir have caused his most Christian Majesty to engage in this War God Almighty has hitherto favour'd his Attempts because they are just and 't is also to be hoped he will lend the like Attention to your Majesty's Petition
our Reasons may appear both now and for the future in the Acts of the present Negotiation We the Embassadors and Plenipotentiaries whose Names are underwritten earnestly desire their Excellencies the Embassadors Mediators that this our Remonstrance may be inserted in their Protocol or Register and that they may have an Act given 'em to confirm the presenting it Protesting also at the same time that their Masters are no less Zealous for the Peace then the rest of the Princes of Europe and that it is great Grief to 'em that they cannot sign in their Master's Name by reason of a Difficulty that was no way foreseen The Embassadors and Plenipotentiaries here present have sign'd the present Declaration and thereto fix'd their Seals in the Names of the Electors Princes and States of the Sâ—cred Roman Empire of the Confession of Auspurg who sent us their Deputies to the Treaty of Peace At the Hague 15th October 4 November 1697. In the Name of the Elector of Saxony Christopher Dieteric Bose the Younger Dutchy of Deux Ponts George Frederick de Snoilsky Saxon Gota Adolph Christian Aveman Duke of Brunswick Zell E. Klinggraffe Landtgrave of Hesse-Cassel William Vultesius Elector of Brandenburgh W. de Schmettau N. E. L. B. de Dankâ—lman Duke of Sauon Coburg Henry Richard L. B. de Hagen Margrave of â—â—â—eith E. L. B. de Stein Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbutel John William de Mansberg Dutchy of Holstein Gluckstar Dethlevus Nicholus de Lewencron But to return the Conferences still continued at Ryswick and all things were agreed on by the 30th of Oct. and the Treaty Signed then being Two Days before the time limitted by France to accept of her Offers The Articles were to this purpose IN the Name of the most Holy Trinity Amen Be it known unto All and every One that a cruel War attended with the Effusion of much Christian Blood and the Devastation of several Provinces having been waged for some Years last past between the most Serene and most Puissant Prince and Lord Leopâ—ld elected Emperour of the Romans always August King of Germany Hungary Bohemia of Dalmatia Croatia and Sclavonia Archduke of Austriâ— Duke of Burgundy Brabant Stiria Carinthia and Carniola Marquiss of Moravia Duke of Luxemburg of the Upper and Lower Silesia of Wirtemberg and of Teckay Prince of Suabia Counâ— of Habâ—bourg of Tyrol Kybourg and Goritia Marquiss of the Sacred Roman Empire Burgaw of the Upper and Lower Lusatia Lord of the Sclavonian Marches of Port-Naon and Salins c. and the Sacred Roman Empire on one part and the most Serene and most Puissant Prince and Lord Lewis XIV the most Christian King of France and Navarre on the other part Now his Imperial Majesty and his most Christian Majesty having most seriously apply'd themselves to terminate and put an end as soon as possible to those Mischiefs that daily encreas'd to the Ruine of Christendom by the Divine Assistance and by the Care of the most Serene and most Puissant Prince and Lord Charles XI King of Swedeland Goths and Vandâ—ls Grand Prince of Finland Duke of Scania Esthonia Livonia of Carelia Bremen Perden of Stetin Pomerania Cassubia and Vandalia Prince of Râ—gâ—n and Lord of Ingria and Wismar Count Palatine of the Rhine Duke of Bavaria Juliens Câ—â—ves and Bergues of Illustrious Memory who from the very beginning of these Commotions did not cease effectually to sollicit the Christian Princes to Peace and afterwards having been accepted as Universal Mediator never desisted gloriously to labour even to his dying Day to procure the same with all imaginable speed having to this purpose appointed and settled Conferences in the Palace of â—yswick in Holland and after his Decease the most Serene and most Puissant Prince and Lord Câ—arles XII King of Sweden Goths and Vandâ—ls Grand Prince of 〈◊〉 Duke of Scania Esthonia of Livonia Carelia Bremen of Ferden Stetin Pomerania Cassubia and of Vandalia Prince of Rugen Lord of Ingria and of Wismar Count Palatine of the Rhine Duke of Bavaria Juliers Cleves and Bergues Inheriting from his Royal Father the same longing Desire and Earnestness to procure the publick Tranquility and the Treaties having been brought to their perfection by the foresaid Conferences the Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries lawfully appointed and established by both Parties being met to this effect at the aforesaid place that is to say on the Emperor's part the most Illustrious and most Excellent Lords the Sieur Dominic Andrew Kaunitz Count of the Holy Roman Empire Hereditary Lord of Austerlitz of Hungarischbord Marischpruss and Orzechan the Great Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece intimate Councellor of State to his Sacred Imperial Majesty Chamberlain and Vice-Chancellour of the Holy Empire the Sieur Henry John Stratman Sieur de Puerbach Count of the Holy Roman Empire Lord of Oâ—th Schmiding Spatenbrun and Carlsberg Imperial Aulique Councellor Chamberlain to his Sacred Imperial Majesty and the Siuer John Frederick free and noble Baron of Seilern Imperial Aâ—lique Councellor to his Sacred Imperial Majesty and one of the Plenipotentiaries in the Imperial Diets And on the part of his Sacred most Christian Majesty the most Illustrious and most Excellent Lords the Sieur Nicholas Augustâ—â— de Harlay Knight Lord of Boneuil Count of Cely Ordinary Councellor to the King in his Council of State The Sieur Lewis Verjus Knight Ordinary Councellor to the King in his Council of State Count de Crecy Marquiss of Freon Baron of Couvay Lord of Boulay of the two Churches of Fort-Isle and other places together with the Sieur Francis de Callieres Lord of Callieres of Rochechellay and Gigny By the Mediation and Intercession of the most Illustrious and most Excellent Lords the Sieur Charles Bonde Count de Biornoo Lord of Hesleby Tyres Toftaholm of Graffteen Gustavusberg and of Rezitza Councellor to his Majesty the King of Sweden and President of the supreme Senate of Dorpat in Livonia and of the Sieuâ— Nicholas free Baron of Lillierooâ— Secretary of State to his Majesty the King of Sweden and Extraordinary Ambassador to their High and Mightinesses the States General of the United Provinces both of them Extraordinary Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries for confirming and establishing a General Peace who have faithfully discharg'd their Duty of Mediatorship with Integrity Application and Prudence The Plenipotentiaries of the Electors Princes and deputed States of the Holy Roman Empire being Present Approving and Consenting after the Invocation of God's Holy Name and the Exchange of their full Powers made in due manner and form did agree for the Glory of God's Holy Name and the Welfare of Christendom upon Conditions of Peace and Concord the Tenor whereof is as followeth I. THere shall be a Christian Universal Perpetual Peace and a true Amity between his Sacred Imperial Majesty and his Successors the whole Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdoms and Hereditary States their Vassals and Subjects on the one part It shall be faithfully and sincerely maintain'd so that the one shall not undertake
the Prince and Bishop of Munster L. S. Ferdinand L. B. Plettenberg de Senhausen respectively Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Padorb Munster and Hildes In the Name of the Elector Palatine as Duke of Newbourg L. S. John Henry Hetterman Plenipotentiary In the Name of the Duke of Wirtemberg L. S. John George Noble de Kulpis Knight of the Roman Empire intimate Counsellour of State and Director of the Counsel L. S. Anthony Guntor de Hespen Counsellour in the Supreme Council and Plenipotentiary to the Serene Duke In the Name of the Prince of Baden L. S. Charles Ferdinand L. B. de Plettersdorff Reserve l'Ordre alternatif In the Name of the Abbatial College of Suabia L. S. Joseph Anthony Eusebius de Halden de Neidtborg L. Baron de Antenriedt Plenipotentiary In the Name of the Counts of the Bench of Weteraw L. S. Charles Otton Count de Solms L. S. F. G. de Eclesheim Counsellor of Hannaw and Plentipotentiary In the Name of the Free and Imperial City of Cologne L. S. Herman Joseph Bullingen Burgomaster and Plenipotentiary In the Name of the City of Ausbourg L. S. John Christopher de Dirheim Plenipotentiary In the Name of the Imperial City of Francford L. S. John James Muller Plenipotentiary L. S. John Melchior Lucius Lecturer of Civil and Canon Laws Burgomaster and Plenipotentiary SEPARATE ARTICLE FOR the clearer Explanation of the eighth Article of the Treaty of Peace this Day Signed which Article begins thus All the States possest by the most Christian King shall be restored to the Elector Palatine It hath been thought convenient to resolve over and above that this Order will be observed in the Proposal of the Claims and Rights of Madame the Dutchess of Orleans exhibited against the Elector Palatine at such time as the Arbitrators shall be agreed at the time appointed for the Ratification of the Peace about a Place to meet in this Place shall be notified to each Party The Deputies on the Arbitrators part shall be sent thither within the space of two Months to reckon from the very time the Elector Palatine shall be fully re-established in conformity to the Article above-mention'd In the Month following shall the said Lady Dutchess produce in the same place the whole and intire explanation of her Pretensions or Demands against the Elector which shall be communicated to him within eight Days following There shall be within the space of four Months next ensuing explain'd and delivered to the Deputies of the Lords Arbitrators who shall set down the day that the four Months shall begin the Reasons and Grounds of the two Parties wherof four Copies shall be delivered that is to say one for each Arbitrator and a third to be annext to the common Acts of the Arbitration and a fourth to be interchangeably communicated within seven Days to each Party They shall in like manner answer and four Copies of the Answer of each Party shall be given the same Day to the Envoys of the Lords Arbitrators which shall be once more communicated within seven Days to the Parties interchangeably In the four Months following the Instruction of the Business shall be terminated on each side the Parties shall declare they are willing to submit to the Verdict of the Arbitrators and this conclusion of the Instruction and Commission shall be communicated to the Parties that they may take cognisance of the same and the Deeds shall be Enrolled in presence of the Solicitors of the said Parties After that the Arbitrators and their Deputies who shall have taken an Oath having viewed and examined the Right of the Parties during the space of six Months ensuing shall pronounce their Sentence publickly in the place where the Conference is held according to the Laws and Constitutions of the Empire now if it be found conformable it shall be effectually put in execution but if so be the Arbitrators or their Deputies do not agree in their Verdict the common Acts of the Arbitration shall be conveyed to Rome at the joint Charges of the Parties and that within the space of two Months beginning at the Day next ensuing the Judgment given and shall be delivered to the Pope as Supreme Arbitrator to be committed by him for its Examination within six Months more to Deputies no way suspected by the Parties who shall likewise be sworn and these same upon the former Proceedings it not being allowed to the Parties to draw up a new Declaration of their Titles shall pronounce within the space of six Months next ensuing and as it hath been said conformable to the Laws and Constitutions of the Empire the last Definitive Sentence which cannot be nulled or made void but the Lord Arbitrators shall cause to be executed without any delay or contradiction Now if so be one of the Parties demurr and delay to propound explain and prove his Title and Right within the time required it shall nevertheless be lawful for the other Party to explain and deduce his Title within the time prefixt which may never be prolonged and lawful also for the Arbitrators and Supreme Arbitrator to proceed according to the method just now explain'd and to pronounce and execute their Sentence according to the Acts and Deeds produced and proved Notwithstanding this procedure the Parties themselves and the Lords Arbitrators on their part shall not cease attempting some amicable way of accommodation and shall omit nothing that may any way contribute to the amicable terminating this Affair Since it is also agreed in the Article title of Peace afore cited that till this difference be terminated the Elector Palatine shall Annually pay to Madam the Dutchess of Orleans the Sum of 200000 French Livres or an 100000 Florins of the Rhine they have also agreed in particular as to the payment of the said Sum upon the time when it shall commence that it shall commence only after that according to the Contents of the said Article the States and Places therein specified shall be intirely restored to the Elector And to the end that Madam the Dutchess of Orleans may be the more assured of the payment of the said Sum the Elector shall nominate before the Ratification of the Peace a sufficient number of Renters or Receivers of the Prefectship of Germersheim and other places of the Palatinate that shall undertake to pay the said Sum to the said Lady Dutchess or to those impower'd by her and that every Year at Landaw to wit the moiety every six Months who if they do not keep time shall be lyable to be constrained to the payment by the ordinary course of Justice or if need require by Military execution from the Most Christian King Upon the whole this payment shall be made upon this condition viz. That what shall have been paid by vertue of this Annual Obligation to Madam the Dutchess of Orleans during the Canvassing of the Cause before the Arbitrators shall be in compensation and put upon the accompt of that which the said
to facilitate the Treaty with the Venetians and agreed in case their Negotiations could not be determined by the 26th the time they were to sign they should have time given them to continue their Treaty at Constantinople seeing the Ottoman Ministers were not willing to stay any longer at Carlowitz This Conference was on the 16th of January in the Presence of the Mediators which took them up 9 Hours together But they could not agree as to the Castle of Romelia and the Mountains which cover the Isthmus of Corinth The Venetian Embassador pretended also that Dalmatia had been annext to Albania by the resignation of several Places which the Turks possessed and which hindred the Republick of Ragusa from being totally separate from the Ottoman Empire But after various Contests they rose without coming to any conclusion and Reis Effendi declared if they were upon that Lock he would return no more to the Conferences However they met again on the 18th but to no purpose and next Day the Turks drew up a Project of a Treaty which being imparted to Seignior Ruzzini he declared he would not consent to it nor depart from the Treaty proposed for the separation of the Limits However he dispatched a Courier to Venice about these particulars while the Imperialists in the mean time signed their Treaty which is comprehended in the following Articles An Extract of the Treaty concluded between the Emperor and the Sultan In the Name of the Holy and Inseparable Trinity IN perpetual Memory of the Thing Be it notorious to all to whom it shall appertain That after fifteen Years of a cruel War between the Most Serene and Thrice Potent Prince and Lord Leopold on the one side and the Most Serene and Thrice Potent Prince and Lord Sultan Mustapha Han Emperor of the Turks c. and his Glorious Predecessors on the other these Two Most Potent Emperors considering how much Blood has been spilt and how many Provinces have been laid waste and mov'd with Compassion of the Miseries of their Subjects and being desirous to put an end to so many Calamities God through his Mercy has permitted that by the Mediation of the Most Serene and Most Potent Prince and Lord William III. King of Great Britain France and Ireland and of the High and Mighty Lords the States of the United Provinces of the Netherlands both sides have condescended to conclude Solemn Treaties at Carlowitz upon the Frontiers of both Empires where the Mediators the Lord William Paget Baron of Beaudesers and Monsieur James Collier being assembl'd together with the Count d'Ottingen and M. Schlick the Imperial Plenipotentiaries and Mehemet Effendi Grand Chancellor of the Ottoman Empire and Alexander Mauro Cordato of the Noble House of the Scarlati it has been agreed c. I. THat Transilvania should remain entire to his Imperial Majesty with the ancient Limits as before the War II. That the Province of Temiswaer with all its Appurtenances and Dependances shall remain under the Ottoman Dominion having the ancient Limits for its Bounds That the Imperialists shall demolish Caransebes Lippa Czanad Bersche Sabla and three or four other Places never to be refortify'd by any other Treaty The Imperialists and Turks shall enjoy in common the Conveniences of the Marosche and the Teysse whether for fishing watering of Cattle for the driving of Mills or Navigation That the Islands which his Imperial Majesty has in the two Rivers shall remain in his Possession and that the Subjects of both Empires shall be enjoin'd under severe Edicts to live quietly and peaceably without injuring one the other in any manner whatever III. That the Emperor shall enjoy the Country between the Teysse and the Danaw commonly call'd Batska Titul not being to be fortify'd any otherwise then it is IV. That a Line shall be drawn from the Extremity of the Strand behither the Teysse over against Titul to the Banks of the Danaw and another Line from the Teysse to the River Bossut and to the hither Shoar of Moravitz and from thence to that part where the biggest Branch of the Bossut falls into the Save which shall serve as Limits to both Empires V. That part of the Save which waters those Countries surrender'd to his Imperial Majesty shall be under his Dominion and likewise that which washes the Country remaining to the Grand Signior shall be subject to the Ottoman Empire but that part of the Save which runs between both Empires shall be common to both together with the Islands therein VI. The Limits prescrib'd by the Treaties and those which shall afterwards be settl'd by Commissioners shall be religiously observ'd and preserv'd without any Alteration nor shall any Change or Alteration therein be suffer'd VII Both Parties shall be at Liberty to fortifie their Frontier Places as they shall judge convenient except such as are excepted by the Treaty VIII All Incursions Invasions Hostilities and all sorts of Injuries shall be strictly forbidden on both Sides under severe Penalties whether they may be committed openly or in secret IX Nor shall it be lawful for either Party for the future to give any Sanctuary or Protection to wicked People Rebels or Malecontents X. Nevertheless it shall be lawful for the Transilvanians and all others who during the Course of the War withdrew themselves into the Ottoman Empire there to live in Freedom and Security under the Protection of his Highness XI But in Consideration of the Tranquility of the Frontiers and the Repose of the Subjects it is farther agreed That those Persons before-mention'd shall not settle themselves but in Places remote from the Frontiers and in case there happen any Disputes upon any one of the Articles of this present Treaty an equal Number of Commissioners shall be chosen on both Sides to determine 'em in friendly wise XII Prisoners taken during the War shall be exchang'd and if there be a greater Number of the one side than the other their Imperial Majesties shall extend their Clemency towards 'em and release 'em when they shall be requested so to do by the Embassadors or Ministers residing in their Courts As for those that are in the Power of particular Persons they shall be permitted to ransom 'em at reasonable Rates XIII In respect of the Monks and the Exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion the Grand Signior promises to renew and confirm all Priviledges granted by his Predecessors Moreover it shall be permitted to the Embassador of of the Most Serene and Most Potent Emperor of the Romans to make his Complaints and Demands upon the Subject of Religion every time that he shall receive Orders from his Master XIV That Trade shall be resettl'd between the Subjects of both Sides according to the ancient Capitulations XV. That all the Conditions stipulated in the preceding Capitulations shall be religiously observ'd in every thing not excepted in this present Treaty XVI For the maintaining of a good Friendship and Correpondence between the Two Empires Embassadors shall be
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