since insomuch that the Count Destoges the Eldest of the Family is this day nam'd Soladin If I might be permitted to make Reflexions upon this Story I could without difficulty prove that the present is far different from the Ages past Formerly they kept their word with Turks now adays a most Christian King will not keep his Faith with his Father-in-Law At this day the Descendants from a Christian Race are Christened Saladine because their Ancestor so promis'd to the Turk At this present a most Christian King neither minds the word which his Ancestors have past to their Subjects of the Reformed Religion nor the Promises which he has made himself At this day the Family of Anglure which is only a private Gentleman's derives all it's Honour from the Noble Act of one of its Ancestors who made good his profligated Faith to the Turk but the House of France the most renowned in the World for the Breach of an Infinite Number of the Edicts granted in favour of the Christians But to return to our Subject the King of France grounding his Claims upon Imaginary Pretences and upon a Nicety that the Parliament had not ratify'd the Pyrenaean Treaty resolved to break the Peace and carry his Arms into Flanders But here before I go any further give me leave to tell the World what the Authority of this Parliament is to prevent the Mistake of those who may think it equal in Power to the Parliament of England You are then to understand that the slightest Order of Council cancels all Edicts of Parliament the Power of which is so limited at this day that though it take Cognizance only of private and particular Interests the Council sends for the Cause before themselves and laughs at all that the Parliament has done in the same Case Formerly nevertheless it's Authority was very great nor was it long ago that it was grown to that height that every one admired at it I mean during the Minority of the King But there is such an Alteration since that time that there is little notice taken of the Parliament And indeed at that very time when the forementioned Manifesto appear'd the King took away all their Privileges banished all those that were suspected to have any affection for the publick Interest and in a word contemned it so far that he never went thither but in his Riding Boots and his Cane in his Hand He also deprived it of its very Name as he serv'd the rest of the Tribunals For to make it appear that there were no more Masters but himself he set forth an Edict That neither the Parliament nor the Grand Councel nor the Chamber of Accompts nor the Court of Aydes should be called by any other Title than that of Superiour whereas before they were call'd Soveraign Courts He also put forth another Edict which savoured in my opinion of much more wrong and Injustice For whereas when any new Imposition was thought upon and laid upon the People or any other Innovation was imposed upon the Government the King was wont to go in Person to see those Edicts ratifyed the Parliament is now obliged to make the Ratification upon a bare Letter under the Privy Signet many times carryed by a Footman So that this great Tribunal formerly erected to be a Mediator between the King and the People and to preserve the one from the Tyranny of the other is now it self enforced to bow and crouch to the Kings Will For now they dare not make those Remonstrances which formerly they did nor plead as before in behalf of the People Or if they are permitted to make any Addresses of that Nature they must be full of Flattery and Dissimulation and as some Parents humble their Children to kiss the Rod after Correction so it behoves the People who are the Kings Children or should be so at least to thank the King by the Mouths of their Magistrates for all the Taxes and heavy Impositions which he lays upon them to satisfy his profusion Upon this Authority which the Parliament has in the Kingdom it was That the King laid the Foundation of an approaching War In a Word the King of Spain was not sooner dead but presently there appeared a small Pamphlet under the Title of The Rights of the Queen by which they endeavoured to prove that the Renunciation of all Claims which the King had made by the Pyrenaean Treaty was utterly void because it was never verifyed by the Parliament And yet if the Renunciation had been good which they did not much matter to dispute it could not have been long in force by reason that the Dauphin had not ratifyed the Treaty who might pretend a greater Interest as being his Mothers Heir In truth this Pamphlet was nothing but a Composure of Words well put together conteining very little or no reason For to begin with the first true it is That the Parliament were wont to ratify the most remarkable Acts of the Kingdom but that such a Ratification was absolutely Essential is that which we deny and which I shall endeavour to prove For Example if the King happens to marry with any Foreign Princess the Parliament has nothing to do with the Contract Nor do we find that the Parliament had any knowledg of that between H. 4. and Marie Medici or which is still fresh in Memory of the Marriage between the Dauphin and Madam the Dauphiness And yet the Affairs transacted were as important as perhaps the Kings Renunciation made by the Pyrenaean Treaty But some perhaps will object That the Case is far different For in a Treaty of Peace is stated and handled the Establishment of the Peoples Peace whereas in a Treaty of Marriage there is nothing transacted but the Concern of two Persons I confess the reason seems plausible but easie to refute For if it be in respect of the Peoples Interest that a Treaty of Peace ought to be ratifyed by the Parliament why are not the Treaties of War ratifyed in the same manner They will have a Treaty which exterminates War and restores Peace to a Kingdom instead of Trouble and Confusion that Reigned there before to be subject to a Parliamentary Ratification but they will not have a Treaty of War that banishes Peace and brings in Disorder and Confusion to be ratifyed by Parliament which nevertheless was instituted to no other end than the Preservation of the People Let us rather say that the Custom of verifying Treaties of Peace in this manner was not introduced till after it was ordained that all the Royal Benevolences should be ratifyed in Parliament and that such as were not so verifyed should be of no value which was done to prevent Princes who are generally prone to profuse Liberality from giving away all their Patrimony and being afterwards oblig'd for want of Money to vex the People Let us grant then say I that the Parliament setting that by some Treaties of Peace considerable Alienations were made from the
discovered in Switzerland But being so cunning as to carry their business private and to surprize the Person as he passed from one City to another they carry'd him into France where he was broken alive upon the Wheel after he had endeavour'd to escape the Torments of his Execution by an Action more resolute than Christian-like For having found in the hole of the Prison where he lay a piece of Glass he cut off his Privy Members and hid them under the Bed that the Jaylor might not know what he had done but in regard he could not stanch the blood so well but that some drops would fall from the wound besides that his Colour plainly shewed that something more than ordinary ailed him the Jaylor would see whence the Blood came So that after a short search having found what was hidden under the Bed all in a puddle of Blood he went and gave the Judges notice of it who being resolv'd to make him a publick Example hasten'd to give Sentence Thereupon they condemn'd him to be broken upon the Wheel and fearing he might not have strength enough to be carry'd to the common place of Execution or that he might dye if they delay'd till the Afternoon Order was given for the immediate Erecting of a Scaffold before the Prison-door and for his speedy Execution The Triple Alliance which France did not foresee astonish'd her so that altho she had promis'd her self the Conquest of the greatest Part of all Flanders she was oblig'd nevertheless to lay down her Arms not but then she had an Army on foot of above a Hundred Thousand Men but in regard that England and Holland made great Preparations by Sea and that she had no Fleet was able to resist two such potent Enemies she was afraid least the English and Hollanders while her Forces were imployed in Flanders might land either in Normandy or Britainy and strike a panick Terror into the heart of his Kingdom France having thus made a Peace as it were by Constraint she plotted nothing more than to revenge her self upon those who had contributed most effectually toward it Now it being apparent that the United Provinces had been most active upon that occasion and that all Europe owed the Peace which it enjoy'd to Them it was their Lot to feel the weight of his Fury yet was she careful to watch her Opportunity before she brake forth into an open Blaze of Revenge For Holland being as yet in League with England and Swedland therefore there must be a way found out to divide her from two such Potent Friends who being United were still sufficiently powerful to disappoint all the French Designs Which as France had still watch'd to bring to pass it was not long before an Opportunity offer'd it self by reason of an unhappy difference between the English and Dutch about Trade Nor did France then take any care as she had formerly done to offer her Mediation to close up the breach between the Two Nations but on the contrary used all means to incense the King of England yet underhand set on foot a Treaty with the Hollanders least they should have any thoughts of making Peace with Great Britain The Hollanders who had often prov'd the good Effects of the French Succours when they had any quarrel with England believ'd they would be still as effectual depending upon the King of France who ceased not to amuse 'em with daily hopes But while they were thus as they thought upon a conclusion with Him to oppose the King of England who was making powerful Preparations against 'em by Sea they were not a little surpriz'd to find that the two Princes were joyn'd both together and that while the English attack'd 'em by Sea the French were to fall upon them by Land and that with a Force so numerous and dreadful that the Memory of History had not Parallel'd the like out of France in a long time And then it was that the United Provinces found themselves in a strange Disorder for tho they wanted neither Ships nor Money yet had they not an Army sufficient to oppose the King of France who had brought his Forces already into the Country about Cologne from whence he intended to make the Attack In the midst of these Troubles to levy Men in Holland was look'd upon as a Remedy that would but little avail when Peace enjoy'd for so many years had render'd the People more fit for Trade than War raw Souldiers not being proper to make resistance against inur'd and hardy veterans Therefore the Hollanders sent into Germany to raise Forces and to treat with those Princes from whom they expected aid but all Europe was so astonish'd at the prodigious Army and Preparations of France that every one kept his own Force at home out of a Jealousie least France under a pretence of assailing the Low Countries should break into Germany The Hollanders at that time had no more than Five and Twenty Thousand Men for tho they had given out Commissions to all that proffered their Service yet they could reckon upon none but those that were drawn down to the general Rendevouze But that which yet enfeebl'd their Condition the more was that De Wit the Pensionary of Holland had always kept the Prince of Orange at a distance from the Management of Affairs and therefore being a better Politician than Souldier yet one who would have a hand in every thing the main business was carried with much Disorder and Confusion There was also one thing more which very much contributed to the Ruin of the State tho at that time not discovered which was that the King of France had Intelligence of every thing that was acted in the Country by means of Mombas then in the Service of the Republic which had given him a considerable Command in the Army He was a Frenchman born so that he was easily gain'd to the King by the Industry of Des Roches Captain of the Prince of Conde's Guards and his near Relation and who had prevail'd with him to take a Journey into France the Winter before where he had been discoursed with by Monsieur the Prince This Conjuncture of Accidents had been sufficient to have utterly ruined the State according to humane probability had not God determin'd the contrary At what time the King of France being ready to enter the Country the States assembled together to consider of the best way for the Defence of their Dominions Monsieur the Prince of Orange who maugre all the shuffling and juggling of De Wit was chosen Captain General for the States advis'd the quitting of all the Places above the Rhine to put in Ten Thousand Souldiers into Maestrick and to encamp with the rest at Bodegrave as being a most advantageous Post to secure Holland Monsieur D' Opdam and Celidrek who spake in the behalf of the Nobility were of the same Opinion but the rest being of a contrary Judgmeni it was resolved that they should hold all
Threats took what Mombas was able to give him and let him pass with his Guides After this Mombas waded up to the Wast in Water for three Leagues together very often in danger of being drown'd But it was but just that a Traitor who had occasioned the Ruin of a Nation should have his turn of Misery who tho he endured a large Portion of Misfortune and Hardship yet suffered not the half of what he deserved Mombas being thus arrived at Wordes after he had endured an Ocean of Disasters more easie to imagine than to describe took a Room in the Boat that goes from Wordes to Uytrecht but he was no sooner sat down but he perceived that a Woman who sat next him knew him and had told his Name to another Woman that sat next to her Thereupon in a Peck of Troubles he quitted the Boat being resolved to take some other way But not daring to adventure the High road for fear of being known he threw himself into any other guide then his own despair having neither Sous nor Doit to help himself When he came within a quarter of a League of Utrecht he forsook the Water but so bedaub'd with Mud and Dirt that there was no possibility of presenting himself in that condition Thereupon he got leave at the next House to dry his Cloaths and so getting into the Town he went to the Sign of the Palace Royal where he met one of his Nephews by chance who was a Captain in the French Army His Nephew seeing him enter was so far from believing him to be his Uncle that he took him for an Apparition For there had lodged the night before a Person who came from Nieurburgh who had reported it for certain News which he had seen with his own Eyes that Mombas's Head was cut off And this Report was so spread about the City that no body would believe that Mombas was come to Town In the mean while the Duke of Luxembergh who was then chief Governour of Utrech paus'd whether he should admit Mombas into his presence or no For on the one side he knew it might be of advantage to discourse him as who perfectly understood the Country and on the other side he consider'd that it would be no good Policy to give him a kind Reception which would but convince the World of the private Correspondence which he held with the King which latter thoughts prevailing he resolv'd not to see him at all and therefore to those that told it him for great News that Mombas was in Town he made Answer that he did not beleive it adding withal that it could never be that a Man who had born Arms against the King would put himself into his hands Every Body understood what the Duke meant so that all Peoples mouths being clos'd after that there was no more mention made of Mombas than if he never had been As for Mombas himself when he understood that the Duke of Luxembergh would not see him he went to wait upon the Prince of Conde at Arnheim but that Prince being as Politick as the Duke of Luxembergh deny'd to speak with him but in private and that at such an hour when all People else were asleep Thereupon he sent the Captain of his Guards for him about three of the Clock in the Morning to bring him to his Quarters where the Prince received him into his Closet wrapt up in his great Leaguer Cloack There he sold Holland a second time disclosing all the secrets of that Republick or at least as much as he knew before he was Arrested and after he had informed the Prince of as much as he desired to know he retired to Collogne in expectance there of a Promission to return into France which was one of the wry Faces he was to make in hopes to wipe off the suspicions which he already lay under Sometime after he had intimation given him that he might go and attend the Duke of Luxemburgh who made use of him in the taking of Wordes which the French quitted after they had been only once Masters of it He it was also that brought the Duke before this place when the Prince of Orange beseig'd it so that he seemed now as desirous to make his Treacherie publick as he was before careful to conceal it Now though all this that I have said may seem to be rather a History of the War then a keeping close to my Subject which is to set forth the falshood of France however I beleive it not so remote from the matter neither since it serves so well to recal to Memory the Idea's of so many Treacheries and Breaches of Faith In a word though it cannot be denied but that the French are sufficiently couragious yet we may say that she rather chooses to joyn Subtlety and Slight to Strength without which she could never prove so Successful in all her Enterprizes though we must needs say at the same time that another great Reason of Her Prosperity is this that Money costs Her little or nothing for to come now from War to Peace let us examine how she brought to pass a separation of the Allies and whether that Metal did not stand her in more stead then all the Rhetorick of her Ministers One of the great Obstacles of the Peace was the great difficulty of Reconciling the Interests of the Crown of Sweden from the Interests of those Princes who had any thing to do with it As for the Crown of Sweden its chiefest Interest was this that as it was engaged in a War only for the Service of France that France should therefore cause Restitution to be made of all those Places which either the King of Denmark the Princes of Brandenburgh or of the House of Brunswick had taken from it On the other side it was the Interest of those Princes not to hear talk of Peace unless they might preserve all their Conquests or at least a good part of them The difficulty then was to reconcile these opposite Interests now you shall see what it was that put this Affair into a fair way and made it not so impossible as it seem'd to be It hapned one day at a Collation that was given by one of the Three French Ministers who understood the Court Secret a Dish of Olives was set upon the Table which the Swedish Embassador tasting and liking very well the French Embassador promis'd to send him a Barril which his Secretary soon after carry'd him The Swedish Minister was not a little surpris'd to see the Secretary of the Embassie become a Porter of Olives but presently recollecting himself he took the Barril in his hand and finding it somewhat ponderous he asked the Secretary what was in the Barril The Secretary made Answer that his Excellency would see when he open'd it and withal desired him to open it himself and not to let any body see him when he open'd it Then the Swedish Embassador knew what it meant and so
having dismissed the Secretary he open'd the Barril which was crammed to the bottom with Golden Lewisses among which he found a little Note wherein these words were contain'd If You intend that we should send you more Olives you must let Us have a Peace Now you will ask me how a thing that was carry'd so secretly on the Minister of France's part as on the Minister of Swedens should come to my knowledge to which I answer how do so many secrets transacted in the Cabinet Councel come to be known but I must tell ye more then this that France happening afterwards to be at variance with Sweden took no great care to conceal a secret since it was of no Importance to her to keep it private Rather she was glad of an opportuny to Divulge it on purpose to raise Jealousies and Mistrusts among the Chief Grandees of Sweden where the story is in every bodies Mouth insomuch that the Rupture between the two Crowns is attributed to it In a word though the Homage which the King of France demanded of the King of Sweden for the Dukedom of Deux Ponts were a thing which that Young Prince took very unkindly yet the more nimble Politicians beleive that it would not have been a sufficient cause of a Rupture had not the King of Sweden been exasperated before by the Disadvantageous Peace which France had caused him to condescend to of which it will not be from the purpose to speak a word or two in regard that while I was at Paris I met with few of the French who did not maintain that Sweden vvas extremely obliged to France since she vvould not endure to hear of any Treaty till all vvas restored that had been conquered from Sweden But they vvere Ignorant that in lieu the Swede vvas constrained to deliver up to the Duke of Brandenburgh several places in Pomerania in the Dutchie of Bremen several places to the King of Denmark and several other places in the Bishoprick of Venden to the Princes of the House of Brunswick But now I am speaking of Sweden I will tell ye how the Dutchy of Deux Ponts came to be taken for Her and under what pretence the last Duke was a Healthy Person and like to live long when France who lik'd the Country very well as lying fit for Her projected how to get possession of it having not yet bethought her self of the Knack of Dependency under pretence of which she has since invaded so many Provinces Now you must understand that the Duke having no Children the Dukedom after his Death fell to the House of Swedland though not immediately to the King of Swedland in regard that Duke Adolphus pretended to exclude him as being the next in propinquity of Blood to the present Possessor On the other side the King of Sweden pretended that the Dukedom should descend to Him as being the Son of the Eldest House which seemed a very likely pretence For though in several parts of Germany the Custom is such that the next of Kin to the Deceased succeeds to his Estate yet in the Electoral Families especially the Palatine which was then in dispute the Usuage is quite otherwise However it were the King of France who was willing to make the Proverb good That while two are in dispute for the Possession there comes a third and carries away the Prize sent a considerable force to make himself Master of the Dutchy of Deux Ponts under pretence nevertheless to preserve it for the King of Sweden in whose favour he had decided the difference against Duke Adolph The Duke of Deux Ponts who was still living was nothing surprized that the French had entred his Country as having often been subject to their violences but he wondred not a little when he understood that they came to claim the Succession especially finding himself so likely to live and having no desire to die so soon Nevertheless the French having taken Possession of the place of his Residence he saw not only his Country reduced to slavery but himself a kind of Prisoner for in regard the French could not choose but think that a Prince of such a Noble and Illustrious Birth would not easily condescend to live under Tutelage fearing least that he would call the Emperor to his Assistance they watched him so narrowly that he might well be lookt upon rather as a Prisoner then a Freeman However France who was desirous to make sure of the King of Sweden of whom she then stood in need for all this happened during the War gave him to understand that what she had done was only in kindness to Him so that the Swede not dreaming but that France meant as she said began to talk of sending a Governour into the Dutchy but while he offered the Government sometimes to the Count of Carlson his natural Brother in lieu of something that he had taken from Him and sometimes to a Prince of the House of Baden the King of France sent thither the Prince Palatine of Berkenfield and reconciled the Prince of Baden and the Count of Carlson who began to look with an evil aspect one upon another as it is the Custom of two Persons that aspire both to one Command The Peace ensuing soon after France who had no mind to part with so toothsom a Morsel bethought her self of the Right of Dependency and demanded Homage and Fealty from the King of Sweden This pretention altogether new extremely surprized the Swedish King but in regard the Dutchy lies at a great distance from his Dominions the chiefest part of his Ministers concluded to let it pass and not to quarrel with France at what time France who had laid this Rub in the way only because she would not restore what she had got into her Clutches caused Duke Adolph to interpose himself to the end that according as they had agreed among themselves she might remain always in the Possession And thus as she had despoiled the Old Duke in his life time who ended his days for sorrow remote from his own Territories so she scruples not to keep from their Rights to other Princes still alive and live like And it is very probable that without considering whether the claim belong to the King of Sweden or Duke Adolph that she will rather choose to surrender it to the Palatine of Birkenfield then to either of the other two as being loath it should fall into the Hands of the King of Sweden for fear of enlarging the Power of a Prince whose Friendship she has so little reason to hope and having the same reason to be jealous of Duke Adolph whose Interest it is to keep firmly united to the Head of his own Family Moreover it cannot but be a great trouble to the Palatine House to see such a number of Princes become subject to France For besides that the Person upon whom France shall be pleased to confer the Dutchie of Deux Ponts will be obliged to do her
October 1682. SInce the lact Memorial which I had the Honour to present to your Majesty I have endeavoured according to the Advice of the Illustrious Lords of the Senate to furnish my self with some piece that might evidently appear what Correspondence the French King's Agents have in your Kingdom with Count Tekeley Head of the Malecontents in Hungary These wanted also to inform you what Bargains and Agreements passed between them which as I said tend to the breaking off the Peace and Treaties that are between your Majesty and the Emperor my Master You could not easily be informed of it from any but my self I know the French King's Ministers daily assured your Majesty that they had a hand in no such thing and that we accused them falsely And the French would no longer be suspected to have any ill Design against the Empire after the Declaration the French King had made at the raising the Bloccade of Luxembergh His most Christian Majesty would inform all Europe how he behaved himself in that occasion and they were careful to carry his Declaration to all the Courts of the chief Christian Princes The French King plausibly declares that having been informed of the Designs which are carrying on in the East against the Empire he would put nothing in execution which might hinder his Imperial Majesty and the most august House of Austria from opposing the Turk with all their Forces and providing for the common good of Christendom This could by no means allow your Majesty to believe that the French were in League with the Male-Contents and Turks and that they contributed to the taking and plundering the Towns of Hungary for that appeared to be quite contrary to such fair Declarations but God the Defender and Revenger of Christians has ordered those things to fall into my hands which I lay at the foot of your Majesties Throne and which I lay before the Eyes of the whole World These are the Sieur Du Vernay's Letters and Correspondence with Count Tekeley which you will find diametrically opposite to those Declarations so worthy the piety and generosity of the most Christian King I have made use of no evil practice for the obtaining these Letters I have not though I could have done it so much as employed any Body to observe the French And to tell you all I got these Letters by the means of the Steward of the most Illustrious Lord Stadnick's Estate The Sieur Du Vernay after having long importuned the Monks of a Monastry of St. Basil went also to importune the Steward who is Castellan at Premislaw So much he did that he stirred up the Gentlemans anger against himself and so consequently he became my friend and has ever since been very favourable to my Intentions This Castellan some days ago stopt certain Hungarians coming back from Nimiravia whither they went to see the Sieur Du Vernay immediately he ordered them to be brought to me with the Letters he found about them I presently took care to convey them to the Emperor my Master's Territories sending at the same time the Letters to the end that all the World might judg whether I had not just Cause to suspect that the Sieur Du Vernay exceeded his Masters Orders Certainly this Agent this Minister this Spy this Embassador I know not what to call him but I mean Monsieur Du Vernay has committed a great Outrage against all Christendom Against the Emperor in fomenting and contriving what he has against him Against your Majesty in entertaining a Commerce so unworthy so pernicious and for so long a time without your knowledg and in your Kingdom as if he had been at home I must add for the Interest of your Kingdom that this Conduct has given the World occasion to believe that the Polanders were blind enough not to see the dangers their Neighbours made them fear and that they would themselves drive the Ponyard to their own Breast in permitting the Sieur Du Vernay to live amongst them His Proceeding will without doubt appear very injurious to the French King for that Posterity may judg and believe that the great King Lewis the XIV authorized or commanded what the Sieur Du Vernay his Agent did in his Name Your Majesty will not take it ill that we have discovered to the Assemblies at Francfort and Ratisbone the Famous Exploits of the French with the Turks and Rebels of Hungary in your Kingdom which for so many Ages has been closely united with the August House of Austria and has always acknowledged its own Interest to preserve Hungary to the Empire thinking it impossible for Poland to subsist if Hungary shall fall It is now a year that the Sieur Du Vernay travels up and down several parts of your Majesties Dominions on the Borders of Hungary He always pretends his Masters as if we could see that Dantzick or Rogiomont which are the Places the French come through were not nearer and more proper to receive what Orders the French King would send but he stays there to observe the nearer the Affairs of Hungary It may be also to be in a better condition to give Count Tekeley Joy and to get the reputation with him of the progress the Turks by his means might make in that Country I desire your Majesty That after you have seen the Memorial I present and after you are convinced of all the Arts the French have used in this Kingdom you will be pleased to order the Seiur Du Vernay to depart your Dominions since he abuses his Employments to the prejudice of all Christendom and renders himself unworthy the protection the Law of Nations allows You may do so much the more justly great King because the Roman Catholick Church your Mother esteems them as Excommunicated Persons who side with Infidels whether it be carrying them Arms or treating with them The Seiur Du Vernay has drawn this upon his own head and if he is punished according to his deserts the most Christian King will banish him his Kingdom for exeeding his Orders engaging his Master's Honor and Reputation In fine he has committed his Vilanies in the French King's Name and broke his Masters word acting in all things contrary to the observance of it which if it should fail in the world could be no where found but in the Mouth of a King or Prince I doubt not great King but all my pressing reiterated and just Instances will at last take effect The Alliances and Treaties that are between this Kingdom and the Empire require it from your Majesty And I also with a most profound respect beg to be admitted to the honour of some part of your Affecti 〈…〉 A Letter from Monsieur Du Vernay to Count Emery Tekeley My Lord I Received with great joy the Letters you did me the honour to write to me from the Camp before Filleck enclosed in the Pacquets of our Embassadors at Constantinople nevertheless I was a little surprized that you should seal
A BREVIATE OF THE Proceedings OF FRANCE From the PYRENAEAN TREATY to this TIME AS ALSO I. The Speech of Monsieur Zierowsky the Emperor's Embassador to the King of POLAND II. A Memorial presented by the said Embassador to the King of POLAND III. A Letter from Monsieur Du Vernay to Count Tekeley IV. A Letter from Count Tekeley to Monsieur Du Vernay V. A Letter from Monsieur Peter Jaigel Governour of Cassovia to Monsieur Du Vernay Printed at Cologne and Reprinted at London to be sold by Walter Davies in Amen-Corner 1684. TO THE READER THE Author of this Little Discourse was most certainly a French Protestant and One who has been a Sufferer among the Rest in the late Persecution of the Reformed Religion in France 'T is but a small Treatise but it gives the World a large Prospect of the Violencies and Cruelties of the French Government both at home and abroad and the Miseries of those that lye under it's Oppression How far it may have an Influence upon Other Nations or Answer the Author's Expectation who has made it his Business to exhort them to the Recovery of their Liberty wrested from them by Bribery Breach of Leagues and Correspondence with the Turks Themselves to the Destruction of so many Families as have perished in the Desolation of their Country and the Ruin of Christianity it self I know not but certainly to our own it may be of Great Advantage to make the People consider the Felicities they enjoy under a King truly Most Christian a just and peaceable Soveraign and how much more happy they are than their Neighbours and how industriously they go about to bring Themselves into the same Condition by their own needless Discontents and Fiery Dissentions Which certainly they would never do did they but seriously weigh in the same Ballance the Arbitrary Dominion of the French hereafter displayed and the Immunities and Advantages we Enjoy by the Excellent Composure of our Government both in Church and State THE AMBITION OF FRANCE UPON EUROPE IT is no difficult thing to discern the Original of those Miseries under which we labour at this day They who will give themselves the Trouble to reflect upon the Transactions which have been the most remarkable for these Twenty years last past in Europe will agree with me that if we had been so fortunate to have grown wife by our Sufferings we should not have seen our selves reduc'd to those Calamities under which we now groan For in short this is not the first time that France has been known to have broken Leagues tho never so sacred and inviolable Her Ambition has not been able to keep her self reserv'd without appearing in her Colours But we have been either so weak or so blind as never to make a vigorous opposition till it was too late Therefore we can only impute our Misfortunes to our selves and must ingeniously confess that if we suffer at this day the punishment of our Imprudence 't is no more than what we justly deserve In a word to whom ought we to impute the Imbecillity of the Spaniards but to our selves who have so often contributed to reduce them to their present condition Was it not easy for us to see that they supported themselves only by the means of those Cabals that were maintain'd in France against Cardinal Mazarin and that if the Prince of Conde had forsaken their Interest their good Fortune and Reputation had been at an end nevertheless when we observed that we had lost the Assistance of that Prince who was return'd to his Duty by the Pyrenaean Peace and that France to the prejudice of a League so sacredly ratify'd forbore not however not only to foment the Troubles of Portugal but also to send considerable Supplys to their assistance at several times I say when we saw that the Peace was no more than a Cloak for France's Ambition have we not suffer'd the Oppression of our Neighbours without so much as opening our Lips as if True Policy had not taught us that it was time to oppose the Designs of a Nation which would never be contented 'till she had satisfy'd her Ambition by the Conquest of the World Nevertheless with what confidence if I may not call it Impudence did she maintain that she acted nothing but what was conformable to the Peace Did not she likewise insinuate that whatever was done in the behalf of Portugal was done without her Order To which purpose while she covertly sent Supplys of Men and Money into that Kingdom she publish'd her strictest Prohibitions to prevent the Transportation of Arms thither yet underhand encourag'd her Subjects to carry supplys to that Crown as the only means to purchase Esteem and Reputation yet all this while carry'd fair with the Embassador who made loud complaints of these Breaches especially when he saw that the Marquiss of Beauveau had permission to levy a Regiment of Cavalry for the Service of that Crown in the Metropolis of France just under his Nose after he had Articl'd to outward appearance with the Portugal Embassador but in reality with the Court of France After all which proceedings she would needs have it that whatever the Spanish Embassador said was but the effect of his Fancy and Imagination as now at this very time she would make us believe that she has no Design to make a War tho she has eaten up a Country within these few Months to which she has no Right at all and to which she has not the least of Lawful Pretences if Reason and Justice were the Rule of her Actions All this while though we have observ'd all along these Practises of France without the least opposition yet neither do we make any advantage of them at this day that we see our selves just ready to be made the Unfortunate Victims of Her Ambition 'T is true I know there are several who will reply that Succours have been sent to the Spaniards which if it were done we are beholding to the Prince of Orange who having a deeper Fore-sight than others could not suffer us to be overwhelm'd without doing at least what was his Duty to do which is the reason we find him so firmly bent against the Persecutions and Injuries of France which esteems not Vertue but when it agrees with Her Interest But to return to the business I say that France endeavour'd to blear the Eyes of the Spanish Embassador who had in mind however to hunt the wrong Deer when an unexpected Accident made her act with more boldness and forbear any longer to disguise her Thoughts She had treated with Montgeorges who was slain in the late Wars and who was then a Captain in Candale a stout Soldier and one who lov'd War above all things to carry a Supply of Officers and Soldiers into Portugal Now Montgeorges being embark'd with his Company and upon his Voyage into Portugal happen'd to be taken by the Spaniards which were advertis'd of his Departure upon which there
was a necessity for France to take off her Mask for that the Spaniards began already to talk of cutting off Montgeorges's Head This apparent Act of Infidelity vvas attended by several others and yet no Neighbouring Puissance interpos'd it's Authority to the end these things might be regulated according to Justice Not but that there vvas Warranty for the Pyrenaean Peace as vvell as there are novv for the Peace of Nimeghen but that they are such vvho after the Conclusion of the Treaty never mind aftervvards the Breaches vvhich are made of it so that there is not one at this time takes any care to send any succour to the Spaniards vvhose Ruine is attempted by so many indirect means On the other side the Spaniards vvhether they are become insensible or vvhich is most probable that they understand their ovvn weakness are contended to see themselves so rudely handl'd vvithout testifying the least Resentment but only by Complaints altogether misbecoming Soveraign Princes especially if not prosecuted vvith effectual Deeds so that others seeing them so patiently svvallovv all Affronts did not think themselves oblig'd to take their Part. Which Weakness of theirs vvas certainly most apparent upon the Occasion of an Accident that hapned in London betvveen Monsieur d'Estrades and Monsieur de Vataville Embassadors of both Crowns For after the Baron of Vataville had got the Precedence before Monsieur d'Estrades upon the Entry of another Embassador Spain did not only disclaim and disavovv the Act but also has for ever stain'd her Reputation by an Ignominious Declaration vvhich I dare not repeat and vvhich I cannot remember without blushing out of my Respect and Love to the Nation However if the thing be call'd to mind we ought to lay the Fault upon those other Potentates that shewed themselves so passionately earnest for the Peace that they never laid to heart the Affront which was offer'd to Spain who seeing her self abandon'd by all the World was forc'd to abate of her wonted Haughtiness Nevertheless the more notable Head-pieces perceiving how proudly France behav'd her self upon that occasion were of opinion that it was necessary to withstand Her Ambition before the further Encrease of her Strength and Power But the Councel of these prudent Politicians was listen'd to by way of Discourse only and the Seizure of Blindness began to be so general that they look'd upon those who discours'd at that rate as Persons that rather sought to disturb than preserve the Peace so necessary for all Europe Nor did they begin to unhoodwink their Eyes till France no longer able to continue quiet resolv'd to carry the War into Flanders under Pretences altogether as Chymerical as those at present But with an Advocate of Paris such a one as they vvere careful to chuse out of the sharpest witted of the Chiurme undertook to beautifie with a specious varnish an Undertaking which a Person of Honesty and Integrity would have been very much troubl'd to perform only he who had serv'd his Apprentiship at the Pettie Bar where for Two Crowns they will defend the wickedest Injustice in the World was of Opinion that being much better feed than so it did not become him to neglect so fare an Opportunity for his Preferment So that Interest prevailing above Truth in a short time there came forth a Manifesto wherein they endeavour'd to maintain that though the King by the Pyrenaean Treaty had renounc'd all manner of Pretences which he might hereafter have to the Low Countries or Netherlands in right of his Wife that Renunciation was invalid because the Parliament had never confirm'd the Articles The same Manifesto endeavour'd further to prove that the Queen had a Right to several Provinces and therefore to give the Manifesto a Title proper to what they went about to make out it was Entitul'd The Rights of the Queen For you must understand that it was the King himself who had hindr'd the Pyrenaean Treaty from being Registred in Parliament to the end that for the future it might serve for a Pretence against what had been sign'd by Himself and the chiefest Nobility of France Which piece of Litigious Craft when it gave occasion to all the World to reflect upon the Small Faith and Sincerity of the French King Men vvere surpriz'd with wonder That so great a Prince who affected the Title of most Christian King should commit such Violences as would make Infidels to blush and took pleasure to recount his Actions that by comparing the one with the other the disadvantage might the better appear on the Kings side The general question was whether a man were not oblig'd to keep his Word which he had so solemnly sworn upon the Gospels confirm'd by so Great and Near an Alliance and where there was nothing omitted to render inviolable by all the most considerable Acts that could be performed And then the question was whether there were any thing that could disoblige a Man from an Oath so solemn to which the General Answer was that it was an Action dreaded by Men and which call'd for the just Vengeance of God And indeed there needs no greater Skill in Theology to understand that Christianity and the Church which is the same Thing sufficiently teaches us that we are to keep our Words not only to a Father-in-Law as this occasion requir'd but also to a Turk There is a notable Example of this in the Person of a French Gentleman of the Family of Anglure from whence there are several who derive their Descent that live in great splendor to this day The particular History of this Family relates that one of their Ancestors being taken in Fight by Soladin Sultan of Egypt was set at Liberty after a long Imprisonment upon condition that he should return himself in Person with the Ransom which the Soladin had laid upon his Head the Gentleman coming home and having sold part of his Estate to make good his Word return'd back to Soladin and told him he had brought his Ransom in Person according to his own Agreement and Conditions and that if he pleas'd to name any Person to receive it he vvould presently tell it out Soladin vvho never thought any more of him but believ'd that since he had let him go he should never see him again vvas so surpriz'd at his Generosity that after he had embrac'd and caress'd him vvith all imaginable Endearment he told him that from thence forward he should have a greater respect for the Christians than ever he had and thereupon he did not only release him of his Ransom but ordered his Treasurer to give him Ten Thousand Franks which vvas a great Sum in those days He further desir'd his Friendship and that alvvays the Eldest of his Family might be called Saladin to the end that if Posterity should be curious to know why they bore a Name so extraordinary among the Christians they might be inform'd at the same time of the Occasion Which Request of Soladin has been observ'd ever
Crown chiefly under John the First to free himself out of the hands of the English and afterwards under Francis the First to deliver himself out of the hands of the Spaniards had Authority given them to verify Treaties of Peace to prevent the Distipation of the Crown Revenues But their Authority is yet greater when it shall be a Law received in France that the Parliament may vacate Treaties which are not verifyed that is to say if the Treaties were not made in due Form or were found prejudicial to the People But it cannot be said that France receiv'd any prejudice by the Pyrenaean Treaty or that the Treaty was not concluded with all the usual Formalities In respect of Formalities there were so many observ'd as took up much more time than was necessary for the Repose of the People who after so tedious a War thirsted after nothing so much as Peace nor was it enough that De Lionne and Pimentell set their hands to the Treaty but to render it more solemn Cardinal Mazarine and Lewis de Haro the Principal Ministers of both Crowns were oblig'd to sign it also so that we may say that it was the most Authentick Treaty that had been concluded in a long time before Besides they had observ'd all the Circumstances imaginable insomuch that the place appointed for the Conferences was neither in France nor in Spain which nevertheless is very remarkable For that then they were willing that Spain should go cheek by jowle with France yet afterwards they would not allow that the Treaty had been ratify'd But that which seemed to put the Treaty not only out of the King 's but out of the reach of all France to do it Injury was that the chiefest of the Clergy and Nobility had sign'd the Contract of Marriage between the King and the Infanta wherein the aforesaid Renunciation was contain'd So that it was an idle thing to say that the Parliament which at most does but represent the Orders or Estates of the Kingdom would not approve a Treaty which was already approv'd by the King the Clergy and the Nobility Now that this Treaty brought no prejudice to France is as easie to prove For though France at that time had a great advantage over Spain we must consider nevertheless that this advantage might one day turn against it self as being oblig'd to share it's Conquests with England then in Alliance with her Now not to mention in the least what are the dangerous Consequences that I could draw from such a Partition it shall suffice to say That the Interest of France was not to let the English get Footing in Flanders who were an Enemy much more dangerous than the Spaniard Besides France by that Treaty had made sure of the greatest part of Her Conquests and had changed into a certain Right the Right of Nations which was a Right subject to several Chances of Fortune and then to object that the Dauphin had not ratify'd the Queens Renunciation is an Objection so weak that it does not deserve an Answer For I wouln fain know whether a Father and a Mother do not bind their Issue when they sign a Contract And whether the Dauphin had more right to question that which the King and Queen had sign'd than they who live under the same Laws and the same Monarchy All these Considerations give us plainly to see that whatever of Right belonging to the Queen was in the Treaty was only to amuse the Common People and particularly those of Flanders who being perswaded that the Queen had a Right to the Netherlands were in a capacity to foment a Rebellion to which they might be provok'd by the ill Usage of the Spanish Soldiery who for want of Pay commit many Violences and Disorders It being therefore a great piece of Prudence to prevent all Trouble that might arise from thence the Baron of Isola one of the Ministers of the House of Austria put Pen to Paper to shew the Vanity of the Consequences which the pretended Author of the Treatise drew from the Right of the Queen Of which a great number of Copies were sent into Flanders Germany and the Neighbouring Parts some were also conveyed into France but the Court resolving that the People should make it's Ambition an Article of their Faith made such an exact Enquiry after the Publishers that two or three were committed to the Bastile and were in great danger of their Lives For as it was not lawful in that Kingdom to write Truth either in Religion or Politicks neither was it permitted to be spoken or taught to any one whatsoever And therefore as well they who bought the Book as they who published these Books were oblig'd to keep out of the way as if they had been Malefactors But the more they thought to restrain the Peoples Wills the more the People endeavour'd to set their minds at Liberty so that many honest Folks made it their business to content their Curiosity in spight of all the publick Prohibitions By vertue of these Imaginary Pretensions the King fail'd not to send to the Governour of the Netherlands to surrender into his hands those places which as he pretended belong'd to the Queen And because he could not choose but know that the Governour would no way answer his Expectations he follow'd the Messenger with a puissant Army to make himself the Master of them by force thereupon having received the Governors Answer that the King his Master would fairly part with nothing he enter'd Flanders took Charleroy Aeth Courtray Audenard and Lisle while the Marshal D'Aumont with another Army attack'd the Cities and Towns that lay nearer the Sea These Conquests carried on with such a rapid Success astonish'd the Neighbouring States who thought it their Interest to stop these violent Proceedings especially the Low Countries who by no means liked the near Approach of so formidable and ambitious a Neighbour Therefore they engaged the King of England to enter into a League wherein the King of Swedeland also joyn'd by which they obliged themselves all three to make the French and Spaniard lay down their Arms with a Resolution to declare a War against the obstinate Refuser This League was call'd the Triple Alliance afterwards so fatal to Holland as I shall relate in due Place that it may be thought they had reason enough to repent their Negotiation They say it was a Person of Rochel who laid the first Foundations of it after he had made those Powerful Princes deeply sensible how little the Ambition of France was to be trusted however it were France who seldom easily pardons those that have once offended her well knowing that the same Person was in Switzerland labouring to insinuate the same Opinion among the Cantons sent thither the two Platells of which the Eldest was a Captain of Horse the other Esquire to Monsieur Turenne to apprehend him It had been a knotty Enterprize and of dangerous consequence for the Platells had their Errand been
such is their blindness that instead of uniting together for the common good one would think they had conspir'd by their Disunion to surrender into her hands the Empire of the World They know that she is in League with the Turk to harrass Germany one on one side and the other on the other side and yet they will not unite to destroy an Enemy that seeks to reduce them to utter Slavery And now since I have mention'd this Allyance with the Turk it may not be amiss to convince those who have hitherto seem'd to make some question of the Truth of it and that by one Circumstance against which there is no Reply Every one knows the vigorous Resistance which the Count of Starenbergh Governour of Vienna made against the Turk So that the Grand Visier after the loss of an Infinite Number of his Men would have raised the Siege if he could have done it with Honour To which purpose he sent back Count Albert Caprara who was Embassador at the Emperors Court whom he would never permit to return before that to make him some Propositions of Peace much more reasonable than those which he had proposed before But the Marquiss of Seppeville who attended the Emperor from the King of France being advertis'd thereof dispatch'd a Currier to his Master to give him advice of it upon which Information France sent another to the Grand Visier to lay before him the Dishonour it would be to his Reputation to raise the Siege so ignominiously after had lost such a Number of Men Therefore that he would enter Flanders to constrain the Princes of the Rhine to recal their Succours which they had sent to the Emperor by which Diversion he might soon accomplish his Design Monsieur Seppeville's Currier arriv'd at Fountain Bleau the 22d of August between eight and nine of the Clock in the Morning The Person who was dispatch'd to the Grand Visier or to Monsieur Seppeville which is the same thing went away at one of the Clock in the Afternoon and the same Afternoon they did not only noise abroad their Intentions of invading Flanders but orders were also given out in order thereto so that the Grand Visier not questioning but that the French would keep their words this time more punctually than they had done before continued his seige and it is very probable that he would never have raised it had he not been constrained to it till he had been Master of the Town Which having brought me to speak of France's breach of Faith to the Grand Visier it will not be amiss to tell the cause of it Certain it is that by a Private Treaty between France and the Ottoman Port for which Teckeley became security and one whose name was Bohan the Instrument that managed the business France was obliged to attach the Empire upon the side next the Rhine at what time the Ottoman was to invade Hungary To which purpose the King of France was already advanced upon the Frontiers but finding that the Turks having made such a prosperous Progress at the beginning that he made no question but that they would carry Vienna where they had already planted their seige had put all Germany into such a Consternation that all the Princes of the Empire gave themselves for lost he stopped his March neither out of Moderation nor Christianity but fearing to loose the good opinions of the Princes imagining that in the condition to which they were reduced they would be constrained to fly to him for Succour And therefore thinking himself cock sure of the Empire he would not carry Terror and Desolation into a place which he expected so soon to command which was the reason that he rather set upon Spain than the Empire For he was always in hopes that if the Turks got possession of Vienna there was not any but himself that could oppose so formidable a Power as if the Princes of the Empire would not rather have chosen to have become Tributary to the Turk then to have submitted to the Yoak of French slavery In a word not to speak any more of Her Tyranny which is incomparably more intollerable than Pagan Servitude may we not probably believe that she will exercise the same severy over their Conscience not permitting the publick worship of God whereas among the Heathens you shall never hear of those terrible Edicts that commanded the demolishing of Churches nor of Souldiers that only serve for Hangmen and Executioners to those that assembled together upon their Ruins to sing Praises to their Creator But though it be an easie thing at least as I imagine to inculcate a horrour and dread of this unsufferable Domination it is not so easie to teach the means to avoid it considering as I have already said that all the Princes of the Empire seem to conspire to lay poor subjugated Germany in Fetters at Her Feet For is it not a thing that would move both Pity and Indignation at the same time to see that at a time when every one should labour their utmost to withstand such an encroaching Violence they daily strive to enlarge and support her Power For what may they be said to think who went about to Elect the Bishop of Cologne or rather of Strasburgh to the Bishoprick of Munster do they not know that they are both entirely devoted to the Interest of France Or if Monsieur of Cologne should chance to open his Eyes Monsieur of Strasburgh has such an Ascendant over him that he would still prevail over him to continue in his Blindness Do they not know that if Monsieur of Cologne be a lover of Peace Monsieur of Strasburg affects nothing so much as War Do they not know that it was by the perswasions of the Deceased Archbishop of Cologne and the defunct Bishop of Strasburgh that France so furiously invaded the United Provinces and that to increase the Power of their Successors no less passionately enclined to enslave Europe they have the same Repute the same Inclinations the same Designs with the Deceased as having the same Blood in their Veins and the same Souls in their Bodies And yet when they saw into what a Precipice the Deceased had plung'd all Germany as if they had quite forgot what was past they would needs put the same Power into the Hands of their Nephews to Execute those things which the Uncles had only in their Wills to do The one already has surrendred the Capital City of his Bishoprick into the Hands of the French and they would have the other to deliver up the rest of Germany which is already sufficiently captivated by their Treachery They would in a word tie up the Hollanders Hands by the Vicinity of a new Enemy and by that means enchain the rest of Europe whose hopes depend upon ' em But let us conclude a discourse which 't is to be feared will do but little good in regard that all the World is of that disposition as not to love