Empire Burgovia and of the Upper and Lower Lusatia Lord of the March of Sclavonia of the Port of Naon and the Salt-Pits on the one part and the most Serene and Mighty Prince and Lord LEWIS the xiv the Most Christian King of France and Navar on the other part Their Imperial and Most Christian Majesties have desired nothing more passionately than the prevention of the desolation of so many Countreys and the further effusion of Blood by restoring a Peace never to be broken It hath by the Blessing of Almighty God been at length brought to pass that by the endeavours of the most Serene and Mighty Prince and Lord Charles the second King of Great Britain Who being received as a General Mediator by all the Parties hath in these difficult Conjunctures of Christendom to his immortal Glory with indefatigable care employed his utmost Offices and Counsels for the Publick Tranquility and General Peace Their Imperial and Most Christian Majesties have agreed that the Congress for treating the Peace should be held here at Nimeguen in Guelderland In which place Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries in due form authorized having appeared on both sides viz. on the part of the Emperor the most Reverend Illustrious and Excellent Lords John Bishop of Gurgg Prince of the Sacred Roman Empire and Counsellor to his Imperial Majesty as likewise Francis Udalrick Count of the sacred Roman Empire of Khinscky Chemitz and Tettau Lord of Klumetz Counsellor to his Imperial Majesty of his Bed-Chamber Lord Lieutenant Assistant of the Royal Provincial Court President for Appeals and Lord Steward of the Royal Court in the Kingdom of Bohemia and Theodore Athletus Henry Stratman of his Imperial Majesty's Autick Council And on the part of the Most Christian King the most Illustrious and Excellent Lords Godfrey Count D' Estrades Marshal of France Knight of his Majesties Orders Viceroy in America Governor of the City and Fort of Dunkirk and the Places thereupon depending Charles Colbert Kt. Marquiss of Croissy Counsellor in ordinary to the Most Christian King and John Anthony de Mesmes Kt. Count d' Avaux one of his Most Christian Majesties Privy Council after having humbly implored the assistance of Almighty God and in due form presented and shewn their Commissions the Copies whereof are word for word inserted in the end of this Treaty with the Interposition and Pains of the most Illustrious and Excellent Lords Lawrence Hyde Esq Sir William Temple Baronet and Sir Leoline Jenkins Kt. Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of his Majesty of Great Britain who from the year 1675. until this present have with great impartiality Industry and Prudence performed the Office of Mediators in order to the restoring the Publick Tranquility to the Glory of God and Welfare of Christendom they have mutually agreed on the following Conditions of Peace and Friendship I. First That there be a Christian Universal true and Sincere Peace and Friendship between their Imperial and Most Christian Majesties their Heirs and Successors Kingdoms and Provinces as also between all and every the Confederates of his said Imperial Majesty more particularly the Electors Princes and States of the Empire comprehended in this Peace their Heirs and Successors on the one part and all and every the Confederates of his said Most Christian Majesty comprehended in this Peace their Heirs and Successors on the other Which said Peace and Friendship shall be so sincerely observed and improved that each party shall promote the Honour Advantage and Interest of the other And there shall be so perpetual an Oblivion and Amnesty of all Hostilities committed on each side since the beginning of the present Troubles that neither Party shall upon that or any other account or pretence give nor cause or suffer to be given hereafter to the other any Trouble directly or indirectly under colour of Law or way of Fact within or without the Empire any former agreements to the contrary notwithstanding But all and every the injuries Violences Hostilities Dammages and Charges sustained on each side by Words Writing or Deeds shall without respect of Persons or things be so entirely abolished that whatsoever may upon that account be pretended against the other shall be buried in perpetual Oblivion II. And forasmuch as the Peace concluded the 24th day of October 1648. at Munster in Westphalia is to be the Foundation and Basis of the present Friendship and Publick Tranquility The said Peace shall from henceforth be restor'd in all and every it's Points and remain in full force and vigour as if the same were word for word inserted herein except in such Points as are derogated from it by this present Treaty III. And whereas in vertue of the said Peace of Munster his Most Christian Majesty had Right to keep a Garrison in the Fortress of Philipsburg for it's Protection and that the said Fortress hath during this War been taken by the Emperor's Arms and the Castle and Town of Friburg by the Arms of France Their Imperial and Most Christian Majesties have agreed concerning those Places in manner following IV. His Most Christian Majesty as well for himself as his Heirs and Successors doth for ever renounce and quit to his Imperial Majesty his Heirs and Successors all Right of Protection maintaining a Garrison and all other things which belonged unto him with relation to the Fortress of Philipsburg in vertue of the Treaty of Munster Reserving nothing under any pretence or Title to himself his Heirs and Successors or the Kingdom of France upon the said Fortress the Forts adjoyning to it and erected as well on this as on the other side of the Rhine any Laws Constitutions and Statutes or other things whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding all and every of which are expresly derogated from by this present Treaty V. In like manner his Imperial Majesty doth as well for himself as his Heirs and Successors and the whole House of Austria renounce and for ever quit to his Most Christian Majesty his Heirs and Successors the Castle and Town of Friburg together with the 3. Villages of Lehn Mezhauzen and Kirchzart thereunto belonging with their Districts as they appertain to the Community of the said Town of Friburg together with all Propriety Superiority Right of Patronage Sovereignty and other things whatsoever which belonged unto him with relation to Friburg Reserving to himself his Heirs and Successors or the Empire no Right or Claim thereunto under any Title or Pretence whatsoever any Laws Constitutions Statutes or any thing to the contrary notwithstanding all and every of which are expresly derogated from by this present Treaty Provided still that the Priviledges and Immunities formerly obtained of the House of Austric for the said City remain inviolate as also the Right of Episcopacy Revenues and other Emoluments be reserved to the Bishop and Church of Constance VI. His Most Christian Majesty shall as often as he has occasion without any hindrance or molestation have a free and easy passage from
sure and honourable Peace we embrace it from this day forward and if France will make a Peace with his Majesty we believe he is altogether ready to accept it so it be founded upon Reason and the good union which will always keep him inseparable from the fortune of his Allies Finally We pray God to inspire always the Lords the States General with Counsels worthy their moderation and the consideration which they ought to have for those whom themselves have drawn into the perils of the present War and to bless their Designs and Advances for the security of the general Quiet of all Christendom A Declaration of the Ambassador of the Elector of Brandenburg on Munday the 20th of June 1678. THE Ambassador of Brandenburg says That it was evident that his Electoral Serenity his Master before the Most Christian King took up Arms against their Hi. and Mi. the States General failed not to do all he could to divert him and that likewise since the fire of this War has been kindled he has desired nothing more earnestly than to see it quench'd as soon as might be and the publick repose every where establish'd and that it was upon the sole consideration of promoting the Peace that his Electoral Serenity entred into such strict Bonds with his Allies and especially with their Hi. and Mi. that he hath expos'd and sacrific'd his Person and Estates for that and hath enjoyn'd his Plenipotentiaries at this Congress and renews his Orders time after time to labour for a Peace with their utmost endeavours according to the Alliances betwixt the Confederates which prescribe a method to be observed for obtaining a general Peace that was agreed on joyntly by them all That their Excellencies the Ambassadors of their Hi. and Mi. alledged two days since that their Lordships the States both in respect of the condition of their own Provinces and that of others find themselves at present reduced to a necessity of making a Peace with France whether they will or no. That at the same time to observe their Alliances they express a desire to have their Allies joyn with them in it but that withal they think themselves necessitated for the saving their Common-wealth from the shipwrack that threatens it to make a Peace alone or without the Confederates in case they cannot accept the Conditions that France hath prescribed that thereupon they required the resolution of their Allies with all speed that they might take their Measures thereby at the Consultation that is to be held this Week at the Hague The Plenipotentiary Ambassador of his Electoral Serenity says to it That he knows not what resolution his Master will take for that he could not receive Instructions from him in so short a time upon the Declaration which the Most Christian King delivered on the first of this Month of June to the Heer Ambassador Van Beverning That in the mean time he partly explain'd himself as to his own private Sentiment in the Memorial of the 10th of June which he presented to the Ambassadors of their Hi. and Mi. and that he doubted not but they made all due and fitting Reflexions thereupon That for the rest he was fully perswaded though some unconquerable necessity might dispence with the States General or should oblige them to depart from any point of their Alliance with his Electoral Serenity that yet they will always proceed in it with such caution and sincerity as the foundation may subsist notwithstanding and his Electoral Serenity be at no prejudice nor the band of their friendship and good understanding to be weakned The said Ambassador added two Points requiring the said Lords the States to consider them when they should take this matter into consideration The one That France in the Project of Peace which its Ambassadors proposed here doth not mention any Conditions upon which it is willing to make a Peace with his Electoral Serenity whereas on his behalf there have been Proposals made to that end both with relation to France and Sweden insomuch that he knows not yet whether France will make any Peace with himself or no. The other That the Conditions propos'd in that Project with relation to Sweden were so abject and even so contrary to what their Hi. and Mi. have engaged themselves to procure his Electoral Serenity that it must be believed that France is not willing that a Peace should be made with Sweden inasmuch as their Hi. and Mi. that see there is no room left for his Electoral Serenity to enter into the Peace in conjunction with themselves Finally The said Ambassador promiseth to communicate the resolution of his Most Serene Master upon the said Declaration of France as soon as he shall receive it referring himself for other matters to his said Memorial A Declaration of the Ambassador of Prince Charles of Lorrain at a Conference Extraordinary of the Allies at Nimeguen the 20th of June 1678. THis Declaration could not be opened at large because the President Canon had only formed the Idea of it in his mind and return'd but the night before from the Hague he alledged that Journey as an excuse for his not having been present at the last Conference saying that he went to deliver the Lords the States General a Letter from his Master Then he enlarged upon the injustice of the Alternatives that were proposed by France as Conditions of Peace The first demanding a Country 35 miles in length and 16 or 18 in breadth with 26 Cities upon it and 600 Burroughs and Villages The other depriving him of his Capital City and the convenience of communication with his own Country by pretending to pass through some of the best of his High-ways That both these Conditions were equally hard he demonstrated by the Election that was left his Master to chuse either For the avoiding such Imperious Laws he referr'd himself to the Alliances made between their Imperial and Catholick Majesties their Lordships the States General and his late Uncle and renewed since with his own person with all possible extension and withal recommended himself to the friendship and protection of all his Allies concluding with a formal protestation that he would resolve rather to live banish'd from his Country and entirely to maintain the Justice of his Title and have his Allies that had contracted with him continue under their absolute Engagements than ever to return upon such hard Conditions and so scandalous to his Birth and his undoubted Right of Succession never having deserv'd so ill of France as to be used so cruelly A Letter from the Lords the States General to Mons the Duke of Luxemburg the 22. of June 1678. SIR WE have seen with an equal mixture of joy and reverence by the King's Answer of the first of this Month from his Camp at Wetteren which the Heer Van Beverning delivered us from his Majesty his sincere intentions to put an end to the present War by a Peace In pursuance whereof to shew the like
Burgovia and of the Upper and Lower Lusatia Lord of the Marck of Sclavonia of the Port of Naon and the Salt-Pits on the one part and the most Serene and Mighty Prince and Lord Charles King of Suedes Goths and Vandals Great Prince of Finland Duke of Schonen Estotiland Lieftland Carelia Bremen Ferden Stetin Pomerania Cassubia and Vandalia Prince of Rugen Lord of Ingria and Wismar and also Count Palatine of the Rhine Duke of Bavaria Juliers Cleves and Berghen on the other part His Imperial and his Royal Majesty of Sueden have desired nothing more passionately than the preventing the further desolation of so many Countreys and Effusion of Blood by restoring a Lasting Peace It hath by the Blessing of Almighty God been at length brought to pass that by the Endeavours of the most Serene and Mighty Prince and Lord Charles the Second King of Great Britain Who being received as General Mediator by all the Parties hath in these difficult Conjuncture of Affairs in Christendom to his Immortal Glory with indefatigable pains employed his utmost Offices and Counsels for the Publick Tranquility and General Peace His Imperial and his Royal Majesty of Sweden have agreed That the Congress for treating the Peace should be held here at Nimeguen in Guelderland In which Place Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries in due form authorized having appeared on both sides viz. on the part of the Emperor the most Reverend and the most Illustrious and Excellent Lords John Bishop of Gurck Prince of the Sacred Roman Empire and Counsellor to his Imperial Majesty as likewise Francis Udalrick Count of the Sacred Roman Empire of Khinschy Chinitz and Tettau Lord of Klumetz of his Imperial Majesties Privy Council Chamberlain Lord Lieutenant one of the Judges of the Royal Provincial Court President for Appeals and Lord Steward of the Royal Court in the Kingdom of Bohemia and Theodore Athletus Henry Stratman of his Imperial Majesty's Aulick Council And on the part of the King of Sweden the most Illustrious and Excellent Lords Benedict Oxenstiern Earl of Korshorlm and Wasa free Baron in Mohrby and Lindholm Lord of Kapuria and Kattila Senator to his Majesty and the Kingdom of Sweden and President of the Chief Court of Judicature at Wismar also as Chief Judge of Ingria and Kexholm and John Paulin Olivencrans Lord of Ulffhol and Hofmanstorp Counsellor in Chancery to his Sacred Majesty of Sweden Secretary of State and Judge of the Territory of Widloe after having humbly implored the Assistance of Almighty God and in due form exchanged and shewn their Commissions the Copys whereof are word for word inserted in the end of this Treaty by the Intervention and means of the most Illustrious and Excellent Lords Lawrence Hyde Esquire Sir William Temple Baronet and Sir Leoline Jenkins Kt. Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries for his Majesty of Great Britian who from the year 1675. until this present have with great Impartiality Diligently and Wisely performed the part of a Mediator in order to the restoring the Publick Tranquility to the Glory of God and Welfare of Christendom they have mutually agreed on the following Conditions of Peace and Friendship I. There shall be a Christian Inviolable and Perpetual Peace and a true and Sincere Friendship between His Imperial Majesty the German Empire and all and every of their Allies comprehended in this Peace and their respective Heirs and Successors on the one part and his Majesty and the Kingdom of Sweden and their Allies comprehended in this Peace and their respective Heirs and Successors on the other and therefore all acts of Hostility shall forthwith cease throughout all and every the Kingdoms States Dominions and Countreys of both Parties wheresoever Situate and between all and every their Subjects and Inhabitants of what Degree soever they be so as that neither Party hereafter do any wrong or unkindness to the other privately or openly directly or indirectly by himself or by others but rather promote the Advantage Honour and Interests of the other to the end that a faithful Neighbourhood and mutual Offices of Friendship and Peace may remain and for ever continue between them II. And for greater Security hereof it hath been thought fit by both Parties that there be a Perpetual Oblivion and Amnesty of all Enmities or Hostilities committed on each side since the begining of the present Troubles in what place or manner soever so that neither Party shall upon that nor any other Cause or Pretence whatsoever do and give nor cause or suffer to be done and given to the other any Hostility Trouble or Molestation in their Persons Estates Rights or Security by himself or by others openly or privately directly or indirectly under colour of Right or way of Fact within or without the Empire any former Agreements to the contrary notwithstanding But all and every the Injuries Violences Hostilities Prejudices Losses and Charges sustained on each side as well before as during the War by Words Writing or Deeds shall without respect of Persons or things be so entirely abolished that whatsoever the one part may upon that account pretend against the other shall be buryed in perpetual Oblivion Likewise all and every the Vassals and Subjects of both Partys shall enjoy this Amnesty and have the benefit and effect of it so that none of them shall be rendred culpable endammaged or prejudiced for having taken part with the one or the other from being fully restored to the same Condition as to Honours and Goods that he was in immediately before the War III. According to this Foundation of an Universal and unlimited Amnesty and to the end a more certain Rule of Friendship and Peace may be setled between the Parties it hath been by mutual Consent agreed between them That the Peace Concluded at Osnabrug in Westphalia on the 24th Octob. 1648. shall remain the Basis and Rule of the present Pacification in such manner that it shall be restored to its first Force and Vigour and inviolably kept hereafter and continue as it was before the present War a Pragmatick Sanction and Fundamental Law of the Empire whereby the Parties shall stand bound and obliged to each other any Acts Decrees Commands or Alterations made upon occasion of the War to the contrary notwithstanding IV. And for the greater strength of this Friendship and nearer Union Neither of the Parties shall have any Treaties contrary to this Nor shall hereafter give their Consent to any Treaty or Negotiation tending to the Dammage or Prejudice of the other but rather shall oppose the same Nor shall either of them afford any succours by Soldiers Arms Ammunition Ships Mariners or other things appertaining to War or Subsidies in money to prosecute it directly or indirectly either on publick or private account to the present or future Enemys of the other Nor supply them or direct that they be supplyed with any Quarters or Accommodation within the Dominions of the Empire and the Kingdom of Sweden saving the Article of