the Kingdom and your Honour concerning the Event For my own part I hold you to wise and too quick-sighted to imagine meerly on the presumption of unsolid hopes that there can be the least shadow or colour of safety remaining for us if one of these two Monarchies which are at this time engaged in a War should fall under the absolute power of the other or if they do re-nnite again by an Agreement in which possibly as we have handled the matter we may very well not be comprehended In case you 'l avow this Truth which all the World knows to be so it follow that you must grant that all those Inconveniencies which were already alledged to to keep us out all kinds of Engagement are not longer valid when there is an indispensable Necessity and the Welfare and the Safety of the State are at stake I shall not enlarge my self hereon to represent unto you that our Predecessours ever held this to be a fundamental Maxim of their Conduct to hold the Balance equal between these two Great Monarchies and that on which side soever they turned the Scales Victory did usually follow that Counterpoise which never failed to put things into that just Temperament that preserves the Health of this Realm By which means in some sort they made themselves the Arbitrators of Christendom because by afforing their Help unto one of the two Parties they became in effect Masters over them both by still keeping one of them at their Devotion and in our Dependency through the prospect of those Succours which they do continually need from hence and the other with the apprehension of this Assistance For thus the English what with the force of their Arms and the power of Arbitrating in Treaties have alwayes been the Law-givers to the Success both of their Friends and their Enemies by holding within the palms of their hands the Results of War and Peace finding both in the one and the other those Advantages and Safeties which this Nation most desired But laying aside these old absolete Maxims from which notwithstanding wise men will not willingly depart without the pressure of some invincible Necessity to come to the Circumstances of the present time It is evident that the War of the Low Countries cannot possible terminate otherwise than by the Fall and Oppression of one of the two Parties or by an Accommodation made betwixt them If they do agree and that England hath no share in the Treaty Who will assure us that they 'l not unite for our Ruine or at least France which cannot remain long without War will not turn their Arms against us But if Spain falls we shall then be like Dancers of the Ropes that have lost their Counterpoise and so are ready to tumble down every step they make What good opinion soever we have of France it cannot be denied notwithstanding that in this Case after the French have triumphed over Spain they will be Masters over our Fortune too and that our being thus must intirely depend upon their Moderation For Gentlemen do you think that we can take rest securely upon so weak a Foundation as the Giddiness of their Charity is since 't is certain that the most Christian King hath too much Ardour and desire of Glory to dwell in Idleness at home after such a Conquest And therefore seeing his Dominions and Reputation not ably increased he will form to himself new Idea's of enlarging the bounds of his Empire both by Sea and Land according to the knowledge which we have of the divers Inclinations of his Court whereof some will put him on to become Master of the Commerce of Europe and employ those vast Treasures he hath heaped together in order to that Design this way others to engage him in the finishing of his Conquests over all the Low Countreysj and some likewise to begin by us to open the Path to the Subduing of all other States which may probably oppose this Design So that which advice soever of these he doth embrace 't will be equally dangerous as to us here and perpetually oblige us to stand upon our Guard with the Burthen of a continued Expence on our backs as well as the Incommodities of a War though we seem to be in Peace with him On this Position then I say that the worst Party for England that can be taken whether by choice or necessity is that of sitting Neuters By uniting with Spain we do follow our ancient Maxim and Interest which hath ever been successful to this Nation which is to be still Masters of the Balance betwixt these two Monarchies as I urged before Should we therefore embrace the Party of France we may hope for a considerable portion in the Spoils of Spain And both in the one and the other case we shall find our Surety and other Advantages in the Treaties of Peace which shall be made But by remaining Neutral we must needs equally offend both and so cannot eschew being exposed friendless to the Resentments and the Ambition of the Conqueror as well as the Scorn and the Reproaches of all the rest of Christendom for having insipidly abandoned our proper Reason of State without being either good or wicked in a matter of such universal Concernment whereby the name of English-men will remain so much in the Oblivion of Europe that no body will scarce remember there is such a Nation in the World excepting only those who have a mind to Conquer us I read in the Scripture so base a Character of none as of them who are neither hot nor cold And able Statesmen have alwayes reproved this kind of Tepidness or Half-conduct to be both unuseful and dangerous Media via nec Amicos parat nec Inimicos tollit Wherefore England must of necessity either preserve the Low-Countryes against the Usurpation of the French which is our Bulwark or raise a new Fence that shall shelter us from being Conquered To preserve the first then Spain must be assisted from hence and to make a new Rampart we must divide the Spoil with France Experience hath sufficiently shewn us that our Ports are not inaccessible and Reason demonstrates that those can never be secure from the like Attempts but by keeping a powerful Fleet out at Sea that we may be absolute Masters there 'T is a Maxim also which admits neither of exception nor diminution That a well-governed Kingdom is obliged to arm when War is kindled in the Neighbourhood And though we should resolve to take part neither with the one Interest nor the other yet we must be in a Posture to hinder the Torrent from coming upon our Land that so the Conquerour may not have a mind to extend his Conquests hitherwards Here then is the Charge of Arming which on this Conjuncture is inevitable the equipping of a Fleet and raising of Souldiers to be mutually entertained at the Charge of the People if we do not speedily take some Party and all this Expence without
You know as well or better than I can tell you the Condition of the Revenue and the excessive Expence of this Realm which inevitably must carry the War from home unless we mean supinely to be destroyed and therefore of necessity must our Wings be suffered to grow again after this clipping before that we do offer to make a new Flight You cannot be ignorant too that Commercâ— iâ—the Soul the Life of this Kingdom which is the Chanel from whence the Abundance of it flows And the Wealth which we formerly enjoyed and rendred us so considerable in the World beside the fresh Experiment of the Disorder and Interruption which the War brought into all the Traffick of the Land hath made us clearly see that for Merchant-mens Fleets to be changed into Naval Armies and the Substance of the people melted into Magazins unusefully which might more profitably be imployed in rich and gainful Navigations cannot be the proper Interest of England If we consider the present State of France We shall find that all the rest of Europe bows under that Power and those who are the most concerned to succour Spain bleed at the Nose only without being able to break the Impostume within The Intelligences of France and their practices make their way every-where either with Bribes or by Address Victory waits still on all their Motions and by having redressed the Abuses of their Exchequer they have laid an unexhaustible foundation of Money within themselves Over and above that the French are a Nation or rather a Seminary of Nobility and Souldiers so versed in the trade of War as this provision puts them in a Posture never to be savingly justled I grant Their Designs are Vast and their Pretensions ill-grounded but how can we take cognizance of that are we Knights-errant to expose our lives in the revenging of other mens Quarrels The large interposition of Sea which divides us from the rest of the World may shelter us enough from their Attempts without founding of our safety upon the Conservation of our Neighbours But suppose we had such an abundance of Charity to spare as to hazzard our own safety in favour of another's we should at least be secured before-hand that when we are at a second Charge of succonring them it might prove profitable unto them otherwise the mischief being grown to that point of Extremity where now it rests all insignificant Remedies of this nature would but anger them the more to no purpose And Spain being deeply engaged in the War of Portugal which is alone able to give the Spaniards work enough as the Spanish Counsels stand divided and according to the flowness of their Operations their Treasure being exhausted likewise and the principal places of Flanders in the hands of the French and those which remain unconquered hardly in a condition to make any Resistance when they shall be attacqued which disposes that Crown to seek a Peace with France on any terms and the Propositions in order to a League offensive and defensive with them which they make to us being tendred only to England as a wily Lure to oblige the French to conclude it the sooner out of an Apprehension that we may resolve to assist Spain why should we rashly I pray thrust our Sickle into this blighted Corn Indeed when Inconveniences are visible on all sides of the Prospect of such Treaties the wisest Counsel sure is to suspend the Resolution awhile For on which part can we place our Interest thus without incurring blame justly The Party of Spain is weak and unlucky that of France is unjust and contrary to our good shall we then sacrifice our selves for Spain which for three years together hath stood Idle with their arms folded a-cross without so much as proffering to help us whilst three of the greatest Powers of Christendom let one another Bloud and thus were only Passive in our Ruin Must we then joyn with France which were so lately combined with our Enemies to destroy us and that tore the Victory out of our hands when we had it sure Shall we contribute the Liquor of our Veins to facilitate their Progress which ought to be so redoubted by this Nation and so become instrumental towards the erecting of a Coloslus which must certainly tread us under soot with the weight of it All these Considerations which I submit to your Prudence oblige me to conclude That there being no Part to be taken in this War which is not destructive the best will be to take no Part but sit still and observe how the Game is play'd and in the mean time to provide for the repairing our Revenues and quieting of Disorders at home by conciliating and re-uniting the minds of the People the Re-establishment of Commerce and to put our selves into such a Condition that the Conquerour may not be able to make a wrong use of his Victory to our prejudice And in the mean time not to remain altogether Idle in the common Danger of Europe we may contribute our endeavours to obtain a Peace and by a happy Accommodation stop the course of these Conquests which give us such just Jealousie He had scarce made an end of speakieg when a little murmur arose among the rest of the Conferrers which made me conceive that they did no wayes approve of what he did urge Wherein I found that I was not deceived neither because he which sat right over against him answered him presently after this manner If Peace were a Benefit which alwaies did depend upon our own Choice and if War were not ordinarily speaking a Mischief as necessary as the other is the Question which we do treat of now might easily be resolved and would not require any longer deliberation But it is not enough to conserve Peace to have a pacifick Spirit if our Neighbours likewise be not of the same disposition towards it which in effect is to reckon without the Host by founding the hopes of our future Quiet barely on the promises of our own Moderation since those who are the most in love with Peace are oftentimes involved in the opposite Agitation whether they will or no by some violent motion of Fortune and so frequently stumble upon War in the Flight which they make from it and thus suffocate the Peace by too much avoiding War I do avow that the Reasons which were alledged before could not be answered if he who did so well deduce them were able to assure us upon good grounds that in keeping our selves Neuters in this War of the Low Countreys we might be sheltered from the storm of another War both in the present and the future tense of such Vicissitudes or peaceably and long injoy so happy a Tranquility which makes him believe that we ought to despise for that speculation all manner of useful occasions which Fortune doth daily offer unto us But in truth my Lord Would you venter to be Caution thereupon to the State and pawn your Faith to
the rest Because thus the French will shut us quite out of the whole Traffick of the Low Countries and will be alwayes in a Condition to drive the English away from thence unless we do resolve continually to keep a Fleet at Sea for the conserving of them If this Design be hollow and visionary it is not less shameful than Airy and full of Injustice We have no manner of Pretension on the Monarchy of Spain nor is it our Genius to whet our spirits to form Castles in the Clouds of Chimaerical Rights What Glory can it be to our Arms to help to oppress a King in Minority of six years old by surprize only because we find him now to be rudely attacqued and unprovided on a frivolous pretext immediately after the French had given the Queen his Mother and his principal Ministers of State at Madrid such solemn Assurances to the contrary as well as at Paris touching the inviolable continuation of a good Peace and a sincere Friendship The manner which Spain hath held and acted with us newly in relation to England when we were assaulted by three powerful Enemies at one time ought to oblige us at least to be deaf to the artificial Allurements of France For although the French have tryed by all the wayes imaginable and with Offers incomparably more advantagious than those which they do make to us at present to the end that so they might have gained the Forces of Spain to unite with them to our inevitable Oppression yet was it never in their power to shake the unalterable Amity which the Spanish Nation have for us by a kind of natural Sympathy which one knows not how better to express than by the Immutability of it whether we do oblige or disoblige them Would it not then be an Ingratitude totally inconsistent with the Honour and the Hospitality of the English temper so soon to forget this Kindness since at the same instant that Spain was the deepliest engaged against Portugal they did notwithstanding openly oppose the Designs of France which seemed to the prejudice of England by refusing them in contemplation of us firmly and with great resolution Passage for those Troups of theirs which they sent to ruine the Bishop of Munster our Ally and Confederate then We cannot complain of any Injurie or Attempt wherein the Spaniards have tampered against England No League nor ancient Treaty doth oblige us to second the Designs of France and we cannot conclude new Alliances with the French to this purpose without directly contravening that Treaty which we have lately ratified with Spain Let us see then what the Herald is to say to the Spaniards that shall be sent to denounce War unto them on this occasion from England or with what Reasons we shall be able to fill a Manifesto which we would offer to the Publick whereby to justifie the Causes of this Rupture Wherefore I leave the Care my Lord to you being that you seem to be the Author of this Counsel to found it well in the point of Justice But pray see that you perform it better and with more grace than the Writer of the Queen of France's Pretensions hath done I say farther yet That this Design is both prejudicial and destructive and that it carries along with it most pernicious Consequences as well in the present time as the time to come For from the very moment that we do break with Spain our Commerce will cease with the effects of all those great Advantages which the Spaniards have * By the Treaty last ratified at Madrid by the Earle of Sandwich His Majestie 's Embassadour there newly granted unto us and the Merchants of this Realm who trade there will justly be confiscated since all the Profit that we draw from thence must on these terms infallibly redound in favour of the Hollanders whilst our Arms do busie the Spaniards in the Low Countreys and the French as they do their utmost against Spain at the same instant will seize their principal Ports into their power and thus become absolute Masters of the Commerce by putting themselves into a Posture to erect a Dominion over the Sea which we can never afterwards be able to resist Not above three years ago France was hardly able to set forth Twenty Ships that is to say Men of War now they have Sixty large Vessels ready furnished and well armed and do apply all their industry and pains in every part to augment the number Could the Ghost of Queen Elizabeth return back into the World again she would justly reproach us who are the Ministers of State here in England for having abandoned her good Maxims by tamely suffering before our eyes a Maritime Power to increase which she so diligently kept down throughout the whole course of her Reign Whereas you are so far from opposing the Growth of this Power that you rather seem to desire England should facilitate the wayes to make it grow the faster and render it yet more formidable than it is by the Acquisition of the Sea-Ports which in conclusion must infallibly bring France to be Mistress of the Commerce of the Indies All the World knows the vast quantity of Money and Arms which the French have accumulated to that End alone out of the richest Purses of that Kingdom I agree to what hath been said before very prudently in this Conference that our Power and Greatness doth principally consist in the matter of Commerce and therefore I conclude even from thence by an unerrable Consequence that Commerce ought to be the chief Object of our Jealousie and that we are bound to be as tender of the Conservation of this Benefit as of the Apples of our Eyes But then we must look far off how to prevent whatsoever may hinder the Progress of Trade or diminish the abundance of this Commerce We have nothing to fear in this particular on the accompt of Spain which applies little towards Traffick and leaveth almost all the Advantages thereof freely to the English in their own proper Ports But if this Interest should fall into the power of an industrious and active Nation and a People covetous of Gain as the French are we are not to expect any share of the Utility or to partake with France therein but rather that they will prescribe the Law of Commerce unto the English according to their own will and pleasure As soon as ever 't is known that we do treat of Conjunction with France one of these two things must necessarily happen either that Spain finding it self uncapable to resist the Union of both Forces will send a Blank to the French King to make such Conditions with them as he thinks best by conceding unto him all their Portion in the Low Countreys or that all the rest of the Powers of Europe justly apprehending so terrible an Union will joyn with Spain to stop the Torrent of our Designs In the first state of the Case then we shall quickly find our selves