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A34296
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The Congress at The Hague
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C. W.
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1691
(1691)
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Wing C5843; ESTC R1457
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28,593
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80
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the Horse Monfieur Zuilestein Master of the Wardrobe The Earl of Silkirke My Lord John Hamilton My Lord Dumlanerigh My Lord Angus Sir Staires c. Some of them are Persons of an extraordinary Presence and some especially being distinguish'd by the Garter they were as much reverenced by all Foreigners when they past through the Anti-chambers as the greatest Princes and Electors were by the English The Right Reverend Father in God Henry Lord Bishop of London was one of those that was most taken notice of His Great and Noble Extraction his Piety his obliging Behaviour towards all Persons and especially his untainted Zeal for their Majesties Interest and Person have rendered his Name dear to all that have the happiness to be Protestants Foreigners as well as English And they that have seen him in His Majesties Antichamber in his Velvet Gown as they could not feed enough their Eyes on so Reverend an Object so they all agreed that he was the truest and liveliest Representative of that great Church that has so vast a Reputation amongst and that is certainly one of the best ordered of all Protestant Churches in the World In his Habit they discovered that Ceremonious Decency that is so successfully observed and in the mild and benign Lineaments of his Face they read in Legible Characters that saving and peaceable Doctrine that according to the Rules of the Gospel is so much preacht up by the Church of England In fine they all concluded him to be one of the greatest and most deserving Sons of so blessed a Mother As to Matters of Ceremony that were observ'd amongst the German Princes and the English Noblemen there was no body put to the trouble to remove Difficulties They freely paid and received they received and paid their Visits with a mutual satisfaction and these Two generous Nations striving to overcome each other in Civility made a grateful Confusion of their different Characters The Right Honourable the Earl of Devonshire gave very frequent Visits to the Elector of Bavaria and his Electoral Highness did pay him every one of them It seems that as there is amongst some Nations in Europe the French and the Spaniards the Poles and the Moscovites the Swedes and the Danes either a Natural or Establisht Antipathy so there are no Nations in the World that sympathize more than the Germans and the English do The same Freedom of Humour the same Largeness of Soul the same Courage the same Complexion the same Vertues and I beg leave to say the same Vices too as they naturally incline and prompt them to a mutual Love and Friendship so those that are versed in History and know that the one did descend from the other seeing them together will hardly distinguish the Copy from the Original I conclude this Paper with the Pleasures and Diversions of the Hague There were every Day Two Plays acted in Two different Play-houses one of Dutch and the other of French Comedians The latter are in his Highness the Duke of Zell's Service by whose Order they were come to the Hague to divert that Illustrious Company The Princess of Saxen-Eysenach who was come to the Hague with the Prince her Brother kept a Cercle every Night and she being certainly one of the most beautiful and accomplisht Princesses in the World all Persons of the highest Quality came frequently to pay her Homage and the time was spent in pleasant Discourses Those that had a mind to play at Cards found that Diversion every Night at the Countess of Soissons her Lodgings This Lady has been a very great Traveller she has been in Paris Madrid London Brussels the Hague and is consequently so well known that I need not write her History She is one of Cardinal Mazarin's Nieces who married her to the Count de Soissons a Prince of the Royal Blood in France by whom she had Three Children the Count de Soissons the Heir of his Father's Estate Prince Philip who enjoys great Benefices in France to the value of Two Hundred Thousand French Livres a year and the brave Prince Eugene of Savoy who has so much signaliz'd himself in the Imperial Army and who now is one of the Generals of the Duke of Savoy's Forces The Currant Money at Play were English Guinea's the German Ducats being too weak and the Spanish Pistols too crooked to dare to appear within sight of them Hunting was also one of the Pleasures of that Illustrious Assembly His Majesty gave that Diversion several times to the Princes and I remember that when they were once at Honslardike there was a Partridge shot which being taken up by the King made a sudden escape out of his Hands and was lost in the Air. There were not wanting some that took it for a very bad Omen but other less superstitious and more wise said That if it was an Omen at all it was certainly a very good one and a lively Instance of the Happiness of those that fell into His Majesty's Hands In fine the Sixth Day of March did arrive that set a period to one of the greatest Assemblies the World ever saw His Majesty accompanied by their Highnesses the Dukes of Zell and Wolfembuttel parted from the Hague that Day about Eight a Clock in the Morning in order to go to Loo and his Electoral Highness of Bavaria who was some few Days before gone to Amsterdam was to meet them on their way The King was no sooner gone but every body did prepare for departure There was every moment seen some parting Coach or other with Six Horses thundering through the Streets and the mournful Hague seemed to be threatned to be turned into a Desart It was said His Majesty did intend to stay but Four or Five Days at Loo and then strait to return into England I could easily imagine that by reason of His Majesty's great and numerous Attendance it would be very difficult for me to get a passage in the Fleet that was to conduct him over and being inform'd that the Katherine and Soudike Yacht lay at Rotterdam waiting for my Lord Dorset and my Lord Monmouth I parted from the Hague March the 7th and arrived at Rotterdam at Night March the 8th hearing that their Lordships were arrived I went to the Captain of the Soudike Yacht belonging to my Lord Monmouth desiring him to intercede with his Lordship for my passage which upon the first word was freely and generously granted My Lord being come on Board about Two a Clock in the Afternoon we fell down the River and passing by the Katherine Yacht she saluted his Lordship with all her Guns March the 9th we had the unwelcome News that the Gorcum a Dutch Man of War that was design'd for our Convoy could not be ready in less than Six or Seven Days time We had a very clear Sky the Wind was fair and fairer perhaps than some of our Waiters wishes for whatever they were some of the Seamen of the Dutch Man of War were
that without His generous Influence their best endeavours might possibly be rendered fruitless he could not but intreat His Majesty to continue in His Noble Fervency to animate the Confederates to second their Designs and to teach them to overcome by His Glorious Victories The King having answered him in short but solid terms so much becoming Majesty and so natural to Himself the Envoy retired with the same respect and observing the same Ceremonies as he did at his Entrance not turning his Back till he came out of His Majesty's sight To give you a List of the Persons of Quality Counts Barons Generals and others remarkable by some singular Merits that were at the Hague is more than I and I think any body else can do It seem'd His Majesty's Anti-Chambers at the Hague were made the general Rendezvous of all Illustrious Persons in Europe There was every Day seen some great Foreigner or other who by a brisk and wandering Look by short and frequent Embraces of some well-met Friends discovered that he was but lately arrived and though to ask his Neighbours who he was seemed to be an establisht importunity yet some great Prince or other passing through the Anti-Chamber and the courteous Multitude striving to give way he that was to give the Answer was lost in the Croud and with him the hopes of ever making an exact Catalogue Amongst the Generals there were remarkt two of the Imperial Army General Count Palfy and the Prince of Commercy The latter is a Prince of the House of Lorrain and Nephew to that great Man that was once alas the Terror of the Turks and French the Glory of the Germans and the Hopes and Delight of all the Confederates I think I have said enough to raise in your fancy a high Idea of his Character and indeed it cannot be beyond his merits He is in all respects worthy of that great Name Young and Gallant Generous and Brave and his Soul inhabits a Body answerable to its greatness He is very tall and yet well shap'd he wears his own Hair which as they are large enough to cover his Back and Shoulders so they leave a full view of his graceful Face His Steps are firm and such as those of Pompey when he made the World tremble His Look is strong vigorous and indeed somewhat like that of an Eagle insomuch that they that have the fortune to fight under this brisk General may in their Leader's Face discover the signs of the Imperial Banners As there were Great and Renowned Generals at the Hague so there was a simple Soldier a Soldier of Fortune amongst them that was too remarkable to be past over in silence I went once to dine at a French Ordinary where I found a great Company and amongst them a little Man in a Blue Coat with a large Golden Lace who at the Table was the only Man that entertained the Company He spoke of great Feats and Actions of many Thousands defeated by some few Hundreds of firing and killing of advancing and never retreating and one asking him some news of a certain Collonel of the French Army Him said he I have kill'd with my own Hands and another naming a French Lieutenant Colonel To him said he I gave Quarters I had strange Thoughts of this Man and some of them I confess were not to his advantage When the Company rising and the little Stranger going out of the Room I ask'd my Neighbour who that Terrible Gentleman was that had so little dined and so much spoken and I was surprized to hear him say that it was Monsieur Arnaud the Famous Minister of the Vaudois This was enough to correct the ill Opinion I had of his Discourse and to change it into a great eagerness to get into his Acquaintance and seeing him return into the Room I insensibly engaged him to tell me some Particulars of the surprising Actions of the Vaudois under his Conduct which he did then as I thought with great Reservedness and Modesty I being now perhaps as much pre-possess'd in his Favour as I was before against him After all he telling his Stories without a disguise and without modestly passing over his own Exploits did confirm the Truth of the Character that was given me of the Sincerity and Plainness of the Vaudois Courteous Breeding and a Nice Behaviour being their least quality Indeed future Ages will hardly believe that a simple Minister at the head of a handful of opprest and starved Wretches was not only capable dutifully to oppose the forced Cruelties of their own unwilling and dear Tyrant but to check the Power of Lewis the Fourteenth to defeat great numbers of his best Troops and to maintain his Soldiers his Countrymen his Friends his Brethren his Children his All in the grateful possession of their dear beloved Valleys He was now come to the Hague as Envoy from this wonderful People to prostrate himself at his Majesty's Royal Feet and to implore the continuance of his powerful Protection and assistance in order to make them more capable to fight for and to defend their good and gracious Master And 't is said that His Majesty in consideration of his great Service was pleas'd to make him a Colonel of one of the Regiments he design'd to send to his Royal Highness the Duke of Savoy's assistance And thus much of those Great and Illustrious Foreigners that were at the Hague I should now say something of His Majesties Court and those great Persons that did compose it if I were to write to any other Nation but the English They know them too well by reason of their great Birth Wealth and Merits to need to be told that they made a great Figure at the Hague and to name Norfolk Ormond Devonshire Dorset Nottingham Monmouth c. is to write an Elogy of the English Nobility And I do not question but some ingenious German or other will oblige his Countrey by writing about so great and splendid a Subject and the rather since I have seen many of them renowned for their Parts and Learning to be very industrious and inquisitive about the Particulars of these Noble Persons and it is from one of them that I had this following List The Duke of Norfolk Earl Marshal of England Knight of the Garter The Duke of Ormond Captain of a Troop of Guards Knight of the Garter The Duke of Schomberg Colonel of the First Regiment of the Guards The Earl of Nottingham His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State The Earl of Devonshire Lord Steward of His Majestiés Houshold Knight of the Garter The Earl of Dorset Lord Chamberlain of His Majesties Houshold The Earl of Portland Groom of the Stool The Earl of Monmouth Gentleman of his Majesties Bed-Chamber The Earl of Scarborough Captain of a Troop of Guards The Earl of Essex The Earl of Warwick The Bishop of London Mr. Wharton Comptroler of His Majesty's Houshold Sir Charles Cotterel Master of the Ceremonies Monsieur Overkerke Master of