to an Universal Monarchy he would advise his King to beg of God to prolong the World as much as he can This Malady ceasing in Spain hath passed into France but France being wiser doth not grasp so much and her King's Ambition is only confined to Europe a wish worthy of such a great Prince and who if we consider him aright could scarce demand less his Neighbours ought narrowly to watch his water for certain it is France cannot aggrandize her self without encroaching upon her nearest Neighbours as she doth really every day already When the House of Austria made broad signs of her design upon the Universe all the Princes of Christendom rose up against her and entered into an Association to prevent her Charles V. after the Battel of Pavia where Francis was taken Prisoner thought himself above all but he found business enough The Pope King of England the Venetians the Grand Duke of Tuscany the Swisse made a League against him to hinder this Emperour from bringing France and consequently the rest of Italy under his subjection It was not for any kindness the Pope and King of England bore King Francis that they combin'd together to relieve him but because Charles V. became so great that he would by his good Will have made himself Master of the World. Now at present forasmuch as this Itch is past into France All Princes of Europe for some time have run counter to whatsoever their Ancestors did in the Reign of Charles V and Philip II. and instead of opposing they have abetted and concurr'd with the designs of France some out of base compliance others out of fear There are none but the Princes of Nassau alone who have alwayes been fatal to whosoever had a mind to aspire to this sublime Monarchy of the Universe Do not Men admire with me the wretched Policy of several Princes and States in the World who look on with their Armes a cross and behold the French King to advance so fast and take Luxemburg a City of such grand Importance to Europe only the Prince of Orange presented himself upon the breach with the Low Countreys but who not being in a capacity to do any thing by himself was forced to retreat The French King would never have taken it had England and the States withstood it he hath no cause to brag of it it is a truth all the World knows but too well he was so cunning to get the King of Great Britain on his side that he consented to take what was not his own and to baffle the rest by illusory promises of an Universal Peace after the taking in of Luxemburg which they suffered him to do and this gross valiant Captain of a Trencher-man the Marquess of Grana Governour of the Low Countreys who was not promoted to this place but upon his demonstrating the means of being able to preserve this most Important place to the Court of Spain a place I say so necessary to Spain for the preservation of the Low Countreys by the assistance of Germany and albeit he should have minded nothing else but the preservation of that same City his own Honour as well as Duty to and interest of his King his Master being all engaged therein Instead of doing which this Fat-gut put into it only a pitiful Garrison of Twelve or Fifteen Hundred Men instead of Four Thousand and was wholly taken up in fortifying the City of Namur with his Regiments and some other places which were Cities on the boundaries which France would not have dared so much as to touch Would you not swear such a Fellow conspir'd to aggrandize France and concurr'd with the Designs of Lewis XIV When the King in 1667 would have undertaken the Conquest of the Spanish Netherlands England Swedeland and the Vnited Provinces associated together by the Triple League forced him soon to quit his hold they obliged him to re-procure and make a Peace with Spain and to restore to it some part of what he had usurped and taken away It would have been just so if the Neighbouring Princes had done the same at such time as he attacked Luxemburg Resist the Devil and he will fly from you But France cunning and subtle had sufficiently tryed how prejudicial this League was to her she could never be at rest till she had pluckt this Thorn out of her Foot and so soon as ever the term was expired she could not be satisfied till she had found out a way to hoodwink England and so got her disingaged from the Tripple-knot The Dutchess of Portsmouth like another Dalilah came over out of France into England to lull asleep the Sampson of this Kingdom France found out the way to act and speak so fair that she hook't in Dunkirk by Promises and Money at the beginning of the Reign of Charles II King of Great Britain A Town of so great Consequence to England in as much as it affords a good entrance into Picardy and Flanders 'T is no new thing for France to be troubled with this itching mind to sieze on the places of her Neighbours and to enlarge her Dominion from one end of Europe to the other The Duke of Rohan told us heretofore that Princes commanded People but that Self-Interest commanded Princes Without question he would have added something else had he lived in this Age and especially Lewis the XIV We may see Examples of it day by day and to secure his Ambition all times and seasons are good for him in Peace in War in Cessation of Arms. Interest is the evil Angel hath so long reigned through France we are taught out of History how Godfrey of Bulloign having a mind to take a Journey for the Conquest of the Holy Land and coming short of Money to put himself in a capacity to do it sold many of his Cities and Lands amongst others the City of Metz with the Country adjoyning which its own Citizens and Inhabitants purchased of him for the Sum of an Hundred Thousand Crowns They enjoyed this their purchase till the Year of our Lord 1551 in which Charles V. did so evilly intreat the Protestants of Germany Henry II. King of France under a pretence seemed forward to send Relief to the said Protestants of Germany In effect he dispatched the Constable of Monmorency with Four Thousand Men in all probability for this Expedition but it was quite and clean for another design as the sequel will make appear He demanded passage of the City of Metz who were for the most part of the same Religion with those who were molested in Germany between whom and the Emperour there was no good understanding They granted to the King with abundance of joy whatsoever he required of them in reference to his Troops passage and in testimony of their good will they caused Tables to be set up in the Streets to make the Soldiers eat and drink on their passage with huge demonstration of Friendship and Rejoycing But alas Their Laughter was
Daughter of Philip the Fair from this Match came Henry V. of England who had as much Right to France as the Dauphin has to Spain For the three Sons of Philip the Fair Lovis Hutin Philip the Long and Charles the Fair dyed all without Issue-male and it was after this when the King of England sued for his Right to the Kingdom of France that the Salique Law was first introduc't usher'd in by a Sermon which the Bishop of Beauvais preacht before the Convention of the States proving by the Gospel which sayes The Lillies spin not that by consequence the Flower de lis which represents France ought never to fall to the Distaff But that Law could only affect what was to come and not what was past Afterward Henry V. King of England came over into France with a Potent Army won several Victories and at last Married Catherine Daughter of Charles VI. and in the year 1421 it was sinally decreed and concluded that Henry should be King of France Now Isabel Queen of France Mother to Catherine Queen of England made her last Will in favour of her Son in Law and declared him Heir to all her Estate and to the Crown which in my judgment is a great addition to the Right which the Kings of England have to the Realm of France If the King of France had but had that Right to England which the King of England has to France what a Company of Manifestoes and Writings should we have flie about to demonstrate his just pretentions as he calls every thing he is pleased to lay a claim to So that let the King of England take a view of France which way soever he will he ought alway to suspect her and stand upon his guard as against one whom he certainly knows to be his Enemy He may justly be assured that he does not coaks him so without a design to get something out of him and because he knows him the only one who is able to counterpoize his Affairs Therefore 't is no wonder that Lewis XIV took so much pains to supply the late King Charles II. Necessities and satisfie his Pleasure Mounsieur Barillen and Madam Portsmouth can justifie what I say but I can assure you that the King of France regards neither Princes nor private Persons one jot farther than as they are for his turn Nay farther Even Vertue it self is only esteem'd by him so long as she squares with his Interest What value pray did he put upon either Princes or Princesses during Cromwel's Government Were they not obliged to retire not to say driven out of France What subsistnance or help had their Princes in their Exile from France No 't is to the Family of Orange that they are obliged which furnisht them with considerable Sums of Money but on the contrary France was the promoter of the late Troubles of England she gave the Princes no protection and never contributed the least toward the re-establishing of the late King in his Throne All this considered neither just resentment from the Royal Family nor the English Interest can decently allow of such close Alliances with France as shall be able to make England shut her Eyes or be a by-stander whilst Lewis XIV takes the Low Countries But on the other side she ought to be continually in a posture to hinder her in every the least attempt she makes towards it and to make use of the Six Regiments in Holland which the States won't refuse upon such an occasion to prevent the King of France his bringing more Men down upon Flanders I am perswaded that those Six Regiments would be able to cope with double the number of the French and thus by Englands only showing of her Teeth Europe will be safe Resist the Devil and he will flie from you But if you are afraid of him he 'l soon master you France has cut out work for King James now Reigning The Enterprize which he has taken in hand is so great that many Men fear and others hope that he will never get quit of it with his Life 'T is no time to change Laws when the Enemy is at the Gate 'T is not convenient at all times to think of working great Conversions some Battles must be fought to let the World see a Character both of a Soldier and a Polititian All the World expected this and more from the King. His Mighty Courage put all Europe in hopes that he would be an Universal Comforter to them and would afford some respite to Spain But alas What can his Allies and Spain hope for whilst his sole business is to please the Jesuits kindles a fire in his own Kingdom which it may be he won't be able to quench when he pleases and so long as he does so he dares not call a Legal Free Parliament Spain lost her self by banishing the Moors out of the Kingdom France is weakned by the Conversions she has wrought and by driving out the Hugonots and she has a great mind that the King of England would follow her Example We must not rob God of his Right Conversions only belong to him and he is able to convert the whole World with one Word Therefore leaving the care of this to God the King of England ought to mind the safety of his States avoid being made the King of France his Cully and make him keep at home and not fall upon his Neighbours Lands which ought to be the Barrier between them Thus the King will do his Honour and Conduct but Justice and satisfie the expectation of all Europe The Politick Spirit of France and its Maxims in reference to the United Provinces THE States of the Vnited Provinces after they had constrained Spain by force of Arms to acknowledge them for Free High and Mighty States depending on none but God alone were for some time the admiration of their Neighbours and every one laboured to procure their Friendship and Alliance and it may be said that they were looked upon as the Umpires of Europe but since the War in 1672 this High Reputation hath been lessened and France hath been so cunning to play her Cards so well that she had well nigh reduc't them to nothing if by an unlookt for change the People had not put the whole management and command into the Prince of Orange's hands and if some persons of ill designs had not been brought to condign punishment But God whom it pleased by his Providence to protect and preserve this little Country did after the siege of Norden send such a panick fear amongst its Enemies that they broke up their Camp with more speed than they came yet the thing which did most contribute to these misfortunes besides the Treachery of France was their being unprovided of good Forces and a good Head for the Army These Provinces relyed wholly upon the Peace and treacherous deceitful promises of France which all a long in time of Peace carryed on a design against the said
the Swedes the Elector of Brandenburg and the States of the Vnited Provinces whose pecial Interest it is to hold fast and be firmly united as well by reason of the nearness of their States as upon the account of Trading and that fair correspondence which hath alwayes reigned amongst them So that a Man may safely avouch they serve to maintain and mutually preserve one another Now France hath a design in it in meaning to oblige the Princes of Lunenbourg to come over to her Interest for should the King of England or Spain chance to dye suddenly she would have occasion for those three forementioned Powers to be able to oppose them with the French Troops joyned to theirs in case any one of them should be in action 'T is most evident that Lewis XIV ought to labour as he doth to procure himself Allies to second his Designs upon the same score as he doth for Denmark whether it be to hinder the Prince of Oranges passage into England or when he means to fall upon Holland in good earnest these two concerns go to his heart and is his sole grief considering the Grand Conquest of the Emperour who will be like to grieve him to the heart with his Victorious Army after peace made nay and perhaps make him lose his longing to put some of his great designs in Execution for which he labours tooth and nail and now begins to cool upon it to the end he may so well order his business that he may neither meet with any impediment or at least that he may divert and busie those who mean to withstand it I dare safely affirm that the Prince of Orange is the only Man the French King dreads and that the very thoughts of the Succession of a Royal Princess to the English Crown puts him in a deadly fright which gives him a Stool without a Pill knowing withal that this as great a Politician as Captain not knowing what Corruption means perfectly verst in the true interest of Europe will say as Q. Elizabeth did that none had any thing to do to pretend to the Low Countreys and will not endure that either the King of France nor any other should make himself Master of it which will be very feasable when he shall be advanced to this Dignity and this is the reason why the Spirit of Lewis the Great encompasseth the Earth and would fain associate himself with as many Princes as possibly he can to shelter himself from the impending Storm and Tempest and secure him from that Thunder that is ready to break out against him Poland is at a great distance from France can neither hurt it by Sea or Land but can do him great service indirectly as crossing the Designs of the Emperour or by falling upon Swedeland especially Swedeland when France thinks good for there wants not a plausible excuse when a Prince means to make an attempt Casimir Son of Sigismond had a lawful one indeed for this Sigismond being as yet King of Sweeden was elected King of Poland He kept nevertheless his first Kingdom until Prince Charles his Uncle was proclaimed King in the absence of his Nephew King Sigismund who sent a Senate consisting of Forty Jesuits to have full power of deciding all State-Matters and were to reside at Stockholm being dispatched with full instructions by Patent impowering them with Royal Authority But when the Senate was arrived in Stockholm Road Prince Charles with all the Nobility went out to meet them with Twenty or Thirty Ships to do the more Honour to these new Senate This Squadron coming round about the Vessel of their Reverend Senators gave them a broad-side seeming to welcom them Their Ships immediately sprung divers leaks and the Jesuits went down to hold their first Session in Quality of Senators at the bottom of the Salt Sea none using any means to save one of them In the upshot Prince Charles was Elected King the Arch-bishop dispensed with the Subjects Oath of Allegiance which they took to Sigismond and his Uncle was proclaimed King. The French King thinks himself concern'd in the Election of a King of Poland thither he usually sends an Embassador with some Lewisses to carry on the Election in favour of some Prince of his Faction but especially that he may not be true and stedfast to the Faction of the House of Austria King John now Reigning his Queen being a French Lady hath contributed very much to the Bishop of Beauvais the French Embassador to solicite in her behalf because the Most Christian King always thought that by the Queens Intercession he should prevail with the King to come over to his Interests and he was not altogether mistaken True indeed the repulse she suffered from the King of bestowing the Titles of Duke and Peer upon the Marquiss D' Arquier her Father and acknowledging her to be his Daughter and of giving her the honour of Queen in case she should come into France had a little cooled her but when it will cost the King but a little sheet of Parchment to please a Prince the King is extraordinary liberal of it at Court especially if he have need of him So likewise out of acknowledgment of these favours you see the King of Poland doth whatsoever his Benefactour will have him and St. Lewis is in great power in that Realm Yet I don't look upon it as the true interest of Poland to make such a stop the wayes being so good since the deliverance and relief of Vienna the issue and result of his great exploits would have Eternized his memory by giving a peace to the Grand Seignior upon advantageous terms for Poland but the best of all was he might have secured the Crown upon his Sons head for questionless they could not in Justice have denyed it him as an acknowledgment of all his Victories We are not ignorant that the Spirit of France very prodigal of promises and fertile in cunningness do ascertain the King and Queen that Prince Alexander their Son shall not fail of a Crown and your Golden Lewisses work wonders But who pray will give Lewis a lease of his Life till then I must needs say he caused to be put under his Statue Viro immortali but I have found also in the same place Cum fistula in ano So that he may dye before the King of Poland and if he do dye it may so come to pass that his Successour may have so many Irons in the fire at home that he will never think of seeking any more abroad But now France offers the young Prince Royal of Poland for pledge of their Truth and Friendship the Princess de Conti la Valliere whom they also offered to the Prince of Bavaria as if there were no more Legitimate Princesses in Europe I am perswaded the King of France thinks he doth the Polonians a great deal of Honour by offering them one of his Natural Daughters for to be their Queen This would be fine to employ
THE POLITICKS OF THE French KING LEWIS the XIV DISCOVERED With Respect to Rome Emperour and Princes of the Empire Spain England United Provinces Northern Princes Suisse Cantons And of Savoy With a short Account of His RELIGION Translated from the French. Licensed according to Order THE Policy of France And the MAXIMS of LEWIS the XIV Discovered to all EUROPE IT is not Birth which chiefly distinguishes Princes from other Men but their Parts and Abilities How many of them find we in History who having but an indifferent share of them make no other figure but to fill up Genealogy and whose Birth-days and the days of their Death are the only two which make any noise in the World. 'T is according as this Spirit or Genius is disposed in a Soveraign that he acts for the good and welfare or for the misfortune and undoing of his People Wo to thee O Land saith the Wise Man when thy King is a Child and thy Princes eat in the Morning Blessed art thou O Land when thy King is the Son of Nobles and thy Princes eat in due season for Strength and not for Drunkenness The Jewish Nation were happy under David and Solomon but Rehoboam spoke to them in this manner My little Finger shall be thicker than my Fathers Loyns for whereas my Father put an heavy Yoak upon you I will put more to your Yoak My Father chastised you with Whips but I will chastise you with Scorpions Augustus Caesar was called Pater Patriae Father of the People of Rome but Nero their Hangman Philip II. was born of a wise Father who Reigned with general applause but yet he was a Blood-thirsty Man who spared not his own Blood and squandred away what Charles V. had preserved with so much Glory and Prudence Francis the First was the Idol of the French and Darling of the Nobility he acquired the Title of a mild gentle Prince in peace Victorious in War the Father and Restorer of Learning and liberal Arts but Charles IX that of Murtherer Henry IV. was surnamed the Great by reason of his great Actions he was the Darling and Father of his People and his beneficent sweet disposition seem'd to promise a happy Reign if a cursed Hand had not put a stop to the course of his Life Lewis XIII was surnamed the Just grounded without doubt upon the Gospel which assures us That blessed are the poor in Spirit and that theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven It was rather Richlieu's Spirit that reigned than his Lewis XIV did not discover his Inclinations whilst he was under the Tuition of his Mother and Mazarines lash but so soon as ever this latter was dead he shewed what he was His Flatterers in imitation of his Grand father gave him the Name of Great although he had not as yet deserved it 'T is true indeed He is Great as to his Ambition a great Usurper of the Territories of his Neighbour a great Enemy to the Holy See to the Pope and a great Persecutor of the Hugonots His Reign is full of nothing but great Monopolyes and his Louis d'ors are the only passe par touts or Keys that open the Gates to his Conquests He was born Armed and his first nourishment was the Blood of his Nurses which he drew himself that ambitious Spirit he is possest withall would willingly sacrifice a good part of his Subjects to his Passion and Greatness Wo be to thee O Land that groans under the burthen of such a Prince Wo to that People enslaved under his Dominion Under the Reign of Antiochus the Illustrious the Jews often cryed to God that he would deliver them out of the hand of their Oppressor Why may not the French put up the like Petition nay and all Europe besides to be delivered out of the hands of that Usurper Lewis the Great thought he already held in his hand the Scepter of the Monarchy of all Europe when Vienna was besieged yea he thought it within two hairs breadth of its destruction which he supposed inevitable grounded upon the Prophesies of Drabitius but perceiving this way stopt up he betakes himself to his first Errors and former Road he waits with great impatience to see what the Snares which he lay'd at the time of the Queen of Spains Marriage will produce Man purposes but God disposeth Time impairs the Mind as well as the Body and Princes are oftentimes fain to let their Successors do what they were not able to do themselves and so much the more because that same Divine Providence on which Princes depend as well as the rest of Mankind doth not mete here below by the measure of their Ambition Ambitious Men build Castles in the Air and by their good will would possess the whole Earth beside This itch reigns at this day in France and this is it which quite takes up the mind of Lewis XIV as we shall see by the sequel and the course he takes to accomplish his Designs The Policy of France and its Maxims in respect of all Europe in general HEretofore Men accused Spain for aspiring to an Universal Monarchy If it was so I suppose Philip II. begun to lose this hope when he perceiv'd the Sea and Winds oppose his designs and that the Armada which he called Invincible on Board of which he thought to have brought into Spain the British Isles c. came to nothing and that his choicest Troops who were embarqued therein served only to fight against the Waves and feed the Fishes of the Sea moreover when he saw that during the whole War of the Netherlands a small handful of People whom he called Gueux or Beggers in derision were alwayes able to hold up their Head against him nay and to beat him in several Encounters until such time as in the Year 1609 he was fain to cry Quarter make a Truce with the Vnited Provinces and acknowledge them for Free States This was a very bitter Pill and would scarce go down with a Prince who was so highly ambitious But it behoved him to swallow it and it wrought so strongly upon him that he lost Seven Provinces at a clap by it and part of the Indies Insomuch That this longing desire after the Universe began to abate by reason of his Age which had already lost the first heat of Youth and by reason of the bad success of all his Enterprizes Philip III. was as little fortunate as he and Philip IV. had great disappointments towards France and the Low Countreyes and was very glad by clapping up a Peace to acknowledge those who had been his Subjects for a Free and Soveraign Commonwealth holding of none but God Almighty Charles XI Reigning at present is a good Prince who loves his ease and would willingly quit all the Claims and Titles of his Ancestors to an Universal Monarchy for a Son and Heir to the Crown of Spain to succeed him Malherbe told us long since that if it were true that Spain aspir'd
Assaults We hope also that the Emperours Council will stand better upon their Guard and appear more vigilant than they have been hitherto and that they will remove from France all means to pry into their undertakings yea even into their Closet-secrets For 't is well known what courses they have taken to make the Resolutions be changed and falsified when they were not relished by the King nor for his Interest and that the Emperour could neither speak consult write nor so much as make least proceeding but it was presently penetrated diverted another way incumbred watched and observed and by the Jesuits good leave they are accused of having had a great stroak in all these Affairs they always take the stronger side expecting a change No body can be ignorant but that the mis-understanding that arose between the Elector of Brandenburg and Monticuculi General of the Imperial Forces during the Holland War was occasion'd by the cunning contrivance of the Jesuite changing the Emperours Order to ingage Turrene with Brandenburg in the counterfeit Order not to engage which gave opportunity to the French Army to retreat which was in very great danger to have made their Graves there if it had been attacked by two so good Parties being reduced to its last legs through sicknesses running away from their Colours and a Mortality amongst them Then again At the Battel at Sennif Souches excuseth himself that he could not make the on-set for want of Orders this was hammered upon the same Anvil Yet we hope that Affairs changing their Face the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits will have better thoughts of the Empire I have much ado to omit two Affairs which happened during the Emperors last Rupture with the King one is the business of General Capelliers Steward of his Houshold who carryed on a correspondence with the French Embassadors and gave them a full account of whatsoever past at home in his Masters House that came to his hearing or knowledge the Letters of all the Matter were intercepted at the Post-house in Frankfort this Traytor indeed was clapt up but the Jesuits who at that bout had taken too large a Dose of Spirit Gall knew well enongh how to make him come of lest he should make a Discovery of some others During the Siege of Philipsburg by the Imperial Forces did not these good Men prevail with two Merchants to send in a supply of Powder but that Mine was sprung and vanisht in smoak the business was found out and the Jesuits brought it so about that the undertakers were not punished for fear lest they should make farther Discoveries I tell you this for truth for one of these Persons was one of my Acquaintance who told it me with his own mouth that they came to fetch him as far as from Paris where he was settled to get him to do this business You may see by this that the Spirit of France animates a great many Bodies actuates them strangely and that those in whom his Imperial Majesty puts most confidence are not always faithful to him When France carried on a design under-hand to induce the Emperour to bestow his two Sisters upon two Princes dispossest of their Inheritance it was not with an intent that businesses should succeed in this manner as we see they do at this day for we cannot deny but that Lorrain is the Restorer of the Empire an Hero of so many Great and Glorious Victories the Subduer of so many Provinces who will make the Grand Seigniour not only sue to him for Peace as he doth already but to grant whatsoever one demands of him to save his Head from the riot and fury of the Rabble who will be sure to do it if he conclude not a Peace or a Cessation of Arms and that speedily But this Spirit of France had its aims that is to say by getting some body to counsel the Emperour to bestow his two Sisters on two Princes in the forementioned Circumstances who despaired of recovering their Estates but by a Peace they would alwayes incline the Emperour to listen thereto notwithstanding his Imperial Majesty might not have that advantage by it that might be expected in hopes there might be some Article in it favourable to them restoring them to their Estates by this Peace The truth is that hath been very successful to the one as for the other it is to be hoped that he will open himself a passage to his Fortune by his Victorious Sword 'T is most certain that the misunderstanding which hath reigned between Prince Harman of Baden President of the Imperial Council and the Duke of Lorrain between the King of Poland and the Emperour are nothing but Eggs which France sits and hatches The Marquiss De Bethune is too well verst in the way to Poland and his Sister hath still a French Soul though Queen of that Kingdom The kindnesses the King of France has done her Children are faithful and living Witnesses and the transmitments that have past through the hands of the Bankers of Hamburg and Dantzik are like so many rayes of that great Sun of France which disperseth his Light into a great many Courts The Emperour cannot ignore that Itch of theirs is an old Distemper the Kings of France have so long been troubled with they long to be mounting the Imperial Throne because it is one step to the Universal or at least to the Monarchy of Europe Henry II. made them draw him out the Model after what manner the Romans cut out their way through Italy but those Countreys have ever been Caemiterium Gallorum and fatal to their Enterprises In like manner Duplessis gave advice to Charles IX never to venture upon Italy but upon the Netherlands Lewis XIV is much of his mind as shall appear by the sequel of the Story After the Death of Ferdinand III. did not the French King use his utmost endeavours to re-ascend the Throne of Charlemain he spared not to send into all the Courts of the Electors to procure their Votes and such who were great with these Princes did their business for them for France is free-natur'd enough when any one is to be brought over to their Party One of the visible demonstrations of the Kings designs is that he caused an Eagle to be put upon his Money just above the Head of his Effigies and that he speaks his mind freely but much more haughtily that the Empire hath been long enough in the House of Austria and that it is high time it should return to his again and that was just upon the Turks coming into Germany in the year 1683. But Man purposeth God disposeth All the wise projects and contrivances of Men are but folly before God who doth not guide the Oeconomy of the Universe according to the ambition of Lewis the Great Now because this King knows very well that the Electors may prove a great obstacle to his design upon the Empire if they have a mind to be cross therefore he
Observation of the least punctillio of them helping and furthering what in him lies the progress of the Imperial Forces against those Barbarians the Turks through his moderation and complyance and what administers ground of suspition concerning the designs of the Court at Vienna which his Ministers do but too much lay open upon all occasions is their not being desirous of keeping the Truce any longer than they may be strong enough to break it Notwithstanding all this considering that this Truce hath offered to Christendom that happy Peace and Tranquillity it enjoys at this day and hath supplyed means to the States and Circles of the Empire by their assistance to bring upon the Ottoman Empire all those mischiefs wherewith they threatned the Hereditary Countreys We dare boldly and truly say that the Emperour is beholding to him for the preservation of his Country and for all those advantages he hath had over the Turks His Ministers are as much to blame to complain that the King making use of his full power hath caused his frontier places to be fortified as standing in most need Just as a Soveraign for the security repose and prosperity of his Subjects causeth the boundaries of his Territories to be fortified would not by so doing make us believe that he had the least thought of siezing upon his Neighbours Countrey or any mind to Commence a War no more than any private Person busying himself in repairing the utmost Fences of his Lands to make them good would thereby give but small proof of his desire to entrench upon his Neighbours But yet his Majesty is not without hope but that the Wisdom and Prudence of the States of the Empire assembled at Ratisbone will seriously reflect upon the just suspitions which the ill-grounded complaints of the Imperial Ministers have occasioned to him and that they will bethink themselves of one way or other that the good Intelligence which his Majesty purposeth to maintain with the Empire may not be interrupted nor impeded Given at Fountainbleau Octob. 22th 1687. To hear this Manifesto would not a Man judge that the Emperour is obliged to the King for all his Victories over the Turk and without him the Empire had been quite lost when all the World sees evidently by what we have said that it was none but he that induced the Grand Seigniour to break the Truce and to send relief to Tekely but the Spirit of France is always deceitful The Policy of France and the Maxims in relation to Spain FRom the Empire I pass to Spain which Kingdom and France have divided Europe between them some years last past all other Princes have listed themselves under their Banner thereafter as their Interest required but the most part agreed in that point to support the weaker and endeavour a just ballance between them The late Mounsieur Sully in a Letter to Henry IV. concerning the Quarrel with Spain says that the least growth of Power in the one is lookt upon to be a weakning and lessening of the other Until Philip IV. time Spain ever kept up its head though it began to decline in Philip the Seconds by reason of the War in the Low Countreys but ever since that and particularly after the last King Philip IV. Death France got the upper hand and Spain humbly submitted Upon the Festival of one of the Kings of Spain who was Sainted the Preacher St. Ferdinand extolling the grandeur of his Mighty King in his Sermon told 'em that if his God was not God the King Don Philip should be God but I suppose something less than so would satisfie his Successor the case being altered since that And yet Charles II. is King of Spain still has the same Indies and his Ships go thither and come home laden with Gold and Silver as they us 't to do heretofore but still this Spain is not like that which was once the Terrour of all Princes in Europe who were but justly jealous of her aspiring Greatness and had reason to be Confederates against it for their common defence Now 't is in the same condition that a Thief is when he 's brought to his last shifts and just ready to be taken If Spain were not supported by its Allies Lewis XIV King of France would quickly be at Madrid The Low Countries would bend under the French yoak in less than one Campaign though 't would be effected more easily because their own Prince has no Children and is very sickly and though they see utter ruine coming upon them yet they dare make no opposition for they could only make sport for the insolent French Troops if they should having no prospect of succours from any body that 's able to rescue them France knows all this well enough and 't is very true that France waits only for a fit opportunity to take possession of the Queens Right in the Dauphin's Name for the Crown of Spain falls to the Female Sex and it came to the House of Austria by a Woman that is to say by Jane Ferdinand King of Spains Daughter who married a Prince of that Family To let you see how much Spain suffers it self to be baffled by France I need only shew you two Examples which will convince you that I have said nothing but what is true The King of France sent a Memorial to the King of Spain and to the States of the United Provinces to this effect That if the King of Spain should grant the Low Countreys to the Duke of Bavaria or but make him Governour as the report was when he married the Arch-dutchess that she would then without more ado break off the peace since neither of those things could be done without manifest injury to the Dauphin's Right Mr. Feuquier was the Man who gave the Memorial to the King of Spain and Count D'avaux to the Vnited Provinces but were Paris over this perhaps you 'l say that Spain did not consider it well and they are so justly afraid of France that it is no wonder if that puts 'em a little out of their Wits But I am going to tell you a thing which you 'l own does sufficiently discover the weakness and poor Spirit of Spain it hapned at the Ceremony of making an Entry into London that the Spanish and French Embassadors met The Baron Watville went before Mounsieur d' Estrade France presently complains of this indignity and Spain was so pitifully mean as to disown that brave Action of their Ambassador Thus by that scandalous procedure Spain suffered in its Honour and gave place to France though there was nothing like necessity for their doing it I can see no other reason for 't but fear of Canon Law and dread of the Troops which France keeps up to inforce its Commands which are just ready too in case the King of Spain should dye suddenly Let Charles II. take what care he can in settling the Succession if he has respect for his own Family and the last Will and intent
easily became Master of Holstein but alas good man can he imagine to keep it for surely that Country will take caâ—e to oblige him to quit it as soon as ever his Master the K. of France shall be routed out of the Vnited Provinces Were there but once a Peace concluded between the two Emperors the victorious Christian Army would certainly make the Usurper disgorge and reduce his Stomach to temper Soft and fair goes far Had it not been for the Alliance with France the Dane had never made that Assault upon Hamburgh which became the Grave to so many brave Danes and French that served in that Attempt the unlucky Fort of the Starr stopt them in their Career from whence with the loss of Two Thousand men they were obliged to retreat with shame and confusion thereby becoming the laughing-stock to all Europe besides The King of Denmark as well as many others is not really sensible of his own Interest but suffers himself to be dazl'd by this Golden Sun which France immediately displayes to such as she has a mind to corrupt she ever has in reserve her Nimigen Olives to gratifie such whose assistance she shall stand in need of But 't is a thing much to be hoped for that his Majestie of Denmarks Eyes may be opened as well as the Swedes and that he would retrieve himself from these Shackles and have recourse to his other Allies in whose power it is to make the Trade of his Kingdoms to flourish and his Revenues to increase without being obliged to keep up such a number of useless Troops as he does at present But France well knows the necessity of having at her beck one of those Northern Princes for fear they should unite in a strict Alliance and so league with her Enemies This Policy of France is the Apple of discord and she not being able to be without a Northern Allie if Denmark had stood off a while France must have purchased her Friendship at a double rate The Marriage which France proposed for P G with the P s A was only to strengthen her Party and to make her Alliance the surer this made her willing to defray the Charges thereof P G himself nor the King his Brother having not much Money to spare for that purpose this cost France a Hundred Thousand Crowns to secure to her side as she thought a Creature in England who should on all occasions further her designs and to knit this the stronger he would have had him believe he should succeed to the Crown after the Death of King James II. to the apparent prejudice of the next undoubted Heiress To make which the more feasible he would have fomented Jealousies between the two Sisters and their Husbands well foreseeing a terrible blow if Affairs should change and the Succession be kept in the right Line 'T is true the King of France might think to engage P G into a Scurvy business by contriving a Civil War in England after the Decease of the King now Reigning but I cannot devise after he should have involved him in this Labyrinth how he will extricate him The Duke of Monmouth for all he was the Son of a King is a caution to every Subject 'T is well known the French King is very earnest with the King of England by his Jesuites to demand of the First Parliament he can get at his beck and Devotion the Power to chose a Successor after the Example of Henry VIII and once gaining that to advance the P s A to the Crown before any other but many weary step and a far Compass must be taken before he get so far First of all The King of England must have a Parliament at his Devotion Secondly This Parliament must grant his Request Thirdly The King must choose nay who can tell but Death may prevent all these In the Fourth place 'T is meet the People consent to this Choice Nay last of all 'T is absolutely convenient that the P s of O as Lawful Heiress acquiesce in such determinations The French King who is no admirer of Vertue but as it keeps pace with his Interests understanding those Noble Qualities and Great Vertues the Princess of Orange is indued withal that she will no sooner shine upon the Throne of her Ancestors but she will attract and win the Hearts of all her Subjects both by her Wisdom and also strict Alliance with her Neighbours He sees that these Ties and Bonds may in time make him disgorge what he hath swallowed and repent of all the sorrows he hath caused and still doth cause Christendom to suffer Who knows but God may have marked out this Great and Vertuous Princess as a second Judith to put this Blasphemous Holofernes to Death Yea this is what this Usurper and Disturber of Christendom is so sensibly apprehensive of and endeavours to hinder by feeing and corrupting the Great Men of England by making sure of all the Catholicks and of Ireland it self thereby to give them relief in case of necessity But P G and his Consort P s A will look better about them and will not suffer themselves to be deluded by this deceitful Spirit of France They see all its pernicious and deceitful Maxims and will wait for the time Providence hath determined for their Succession to the Crown they have already gained the Peoples Hearts the Esteem and Reputation of Europe and of their Allies and by this means may be assured to back and justifie their rightful Titles at that time in case any one should dare to oppose it As for the Princes of the House of Lunenburg they are taken notice of and watched they are encompast with French Emissaries on all sides who do nothing but continually set before them the Advantages that may accrew to them by accepting of the French Kings Pensions or to speak the truth make themselves Slaves to Lewis le Grand just following the King of Denmarks Example to dance after his pipe The French pence often stick too close to the fingers of the Ministers of those Courts Bois-David and his Kinsman St. Pouage could tell us fine stories of their tricks and certain too they could deliver brave Memorials concerning that Court had not Bois-David been for the Kings turn he durst never have had the face to have come home into France as he did being found guilty upon the score of a Duel with Aubjou for there is no fault how hainous soever but the King pardons if the Malefactor be judged needful for his Interest and Ambition We are confident the King proffers vast Sums to withdraw the Princes of the House of Lunenburg from their true Interest and so bring them under the French Yoak but I would have them disabus'd 'T is no wayes Honourable nor creditable for Free and Soveraign Princes to stoop so low as to be Mercenary to France and 't is certain all these offers are for nothing else but to loosen themselves from their honest true Allies viz.
sacrificed so many brave men for the service grandeur and maintaining of that State yet that nevertheless they will stand to their Treaty of Peace and Allyance in the hopes they have always entertained and do still entertain that his Majesty to whom with the Royal Family they wish all happiness will on his part be responsable As for our part in particular though we have not had the happiness to see his Majesty yet we cannot chose but wish him all Personal Health and do assure your Excellency of the esteem and high value we put and all ways shall upon your deserts and incomparable vertue protesting to you that we are more particularly your most humble Servant After such a base affront who would not undervallue such Embassadours the Representatives and their Superiours also who durst present them with a Golden Chain of 500 Crowns value One would think they had an hand in it and that they were covetous of Money and Presents If an Embassadour after taking such an affront should have accepted it he would have deserved to be hanged with that Golden Coller By the refusal of Audience you may well understand what France is made of and its designs Whoever heard or saw a free and absolute Republique referr'd to a Parliament under his Authority as the King refers Geneva to the Parliament at Dijon it would have been more legal and just to have refer'd them to the Parliament at Turin Now behold the equity of this great King who would always be both Judge and Party in his own Cause who would make all Europe depend on his Judges some upon those of Metz others on those of Dijon and Aix in Provence as he forces the people of Orange to do but we hope those of Geneva will not submit to those unjust Judges and supposing they do they will not miss losing their Cause and after that they will make a new pretension upon them till they have fettered them and losing their City and Liberty they become the slaves of France a Victim offered up to the Jesuit and the Conquest of Lewis the great and it is odds but that will be so indeed if they don't look about them betime and prepare themselves for its coming upon them for he 'l come and give them a visit as he did the Genoueses Let them not flatter themselves with the contrary when he shall make them resolve to sacrifice themselves for their Liberty rather then to a Prince who would be their Antiochus their bloody Master and would snatch the Children from their Mothers embraces to deliver them into the hands of the Jesuits make them forsake Relations Religion and all duty of Christians and refusing to obey this ambition would hale them to the Scaffold and throw their Carcasses to dogs nay if so be they should deal more gently with them it would be only to make them bear company with his own Subjects in Dungeons in the Gallies and in the West-Indies Now take notice of this Spirit of France and beware of it That Lewis XIV is no good Christian I Shall finish this Treatise in demonstrating that this King is no good Christian that it is but a cloak for his Knavery the better to play fast and loose the better to bring about his ambitious designs that albeit he makes a great clutter with the title of most Christian King at Rome yet we find him to be nothing less All who are baptized are not Christians for then we might reckon Julian the Apostate and Arrius to be such whom men look upon as Apostates and Antichrists I am perswaded the Marquiss de Montespan will justifie what I say I cannot think that Prince worthy the name of a Christian who covets his Neighbours Wife nay before all the World takes her from her Husband makes use of her and begets Children of her whom he would fain get declared natural never before Lewis his time practiced in France He cannot assume the name of Christian who makes little Conscience to break the most solemn Oaths and Engagements made at the Communion as he did at the Peace concluded at the Perinees upon his Marriage with the Infanta of Spain And then the Oath taken at his Coronation to observe the Edicts of pacification are they not dayly violated and retracted upon every frivolous pretence Good Christians are such who live up to those Vows they have made even to very Infidels The Marquiss de Laverdin making his publick entrance into Rome did choose rather to do it like a Fox than a Lyon as since it appears without ever determining any thing positively concerning it when they demanded him to explain himself before he made his entrance so that engaging himself neither pro nor con it will always be time enough and seasonable to make his Masters will to stand him in stead as we shall see hereafter when the Provencal Fleet shall be before Civita Vechia and other Ports of the Popes Dominion besides that it was convenient to carry it fair to obtain the Bull for the Cardinal of Furstenburg whom France was assured would be nominated to the Coadjutorship of Cologn the Dean and Chapter as 't is credibly given out fingered the Kings Money to that in effect it was registred and their Votes sold so that it was not possible to go back with their word When the Marquiss de Lavardin entred Rome the business was as good as done and the King made sure of it but he found himself mistaken as to the Bull for he believed the Pope who is wise and good natured enough of himself not loving noise would yield at the Embassadors arrival that the Spiritual would give place to the Temporal but he was deceived in his account meeting with such stiffness and vigour in an old man which it may be one durst not have hoped for in a young man. In the mean time behold the Marquiss de Lavardin keeping watch and ward night and day and that round about the Palace of Fernese just as if it were a Fort surrounded with enemies before the Pope and the Conclave of Cardinals Noses By all these riots and indignities done to the most eminent person of the Church Vicar of Christ and St. Peters Successor is nothing in comparison to that which Talon the Kings Advocate hath belched forth against his Holiness and the Cardinals his Counsellors accusing the former to be a favourer of Heresie Jansenisme and of Quietists and a thousand other impertinences which is to be seen more at large in the demand of the abovesaid Talon to the Parliament of Paris and by the Embassadors protestation publickly affixed at Rome the expressions therein are scandalous that they might deservedly procure the fire for a private person but when one hath the power in his own hand he thinks he may Lawfully say and do whatsoever likes him But the Pope who is grave and wise will let him go on yea peradventure his great modesty and prudent behaviour may make the King come to himself again and acknowledge the wrong and that the Pope is Master at home in his own House and may be able to disannul and take away the Franchises of the Embassadors quarters when he shall see it convenient for the repose of his People and his own Conscience It is not his frequenting Mass which is a Characteristical mark of being a Christian or for being kind to the Jesuits for fear awes Princes sometimes to make much of Jesuits and shew much respect to them Hen. IV. was not free from this fear when he would have restored them in France for when the Duke of Sully advised him to the contrary he started up and replyed secure me my Life then for 't was more then probable that those who sued for their return had assured the King that if he did not do it he would be in imminent danger of being Murthered When Life is at stake what will not a man do to save it Who can tell but these good Fathers have told the King now Reigning if in case he did not root out all the Huguenots out of his Dominions this must come in alwayes ad majorem Dei Gloriam that he would endanger his Life What sign of a Christian was there in the King when he made a League with Cromwel to fall upon the Low Countries and to banish Charles II. from his Kingdom who was rightful Successor to the Crown of England and a good Catholick in his heart although afterwards out of Policy he was fain to appear otherwise Again what sign of Christianity doth there appear in a Prince who assists Count Tekely in league with the Turks against the Emperour A King who forbids all Bishops and Curats throughout his Dominion to cause Te Deum to be sung for the Victories of the Christians obtained over the Turks who impedes by force of Lewisses the progress of the King of Polands Forces against the same Turks that they may have the opportunity to employ all the Ottoman Forces against the Emperour thereby to make him abandon what he hath got at the dear rate of so much Christian blood What Christianity do you observe in the Kings proceeding at the Cities of Genoua and Orange where he hath no right at all So that by all that I have alledged all these Titles of most Christian and Catholick Zeal the King is so much taken with and affects is only a deceitful mask of hypocrisie to lull the Catholick Princes asleep the better to play his game and make himself Master of them one after another Although the King of England would hinder him as being the only man that could best do it he would endeavour to cause an insurrection of the Church of England men against him he would send them Money and Officers as he did to Cromwel so that one may say of the French King that he becomes all things to all men when his interest is at stake He enters into Covenant with Turk or Huguenot Pagans or Infidels against Catholicks themselves if it be necessary for promoting his greatness and to attain to the Monarchy of all Europe And for a conclusion this is the Kings Religion and your Wit and Policy of France FINIS
advantagious indeed to promote the designs of France in Europe no body taking notice that France is as sordid as her Master and that both of them are afraid of cold Iron All these new Conversions of some and Persecutions of others which we see in France is nothing but to blind the Catholick Princes and to amuse them so long till he fall upon some City or State professing the Protestant Religion The House of Austria knows too well this Stratagem she practised it her self heretofore when she had higher designs on foot than now she hath when she attacked a Protestant Prince her pretence then was that she would Extirpate Heresie This is the French King's trade at this day it was expedient for him out of meer necessity to begin at home with his own Subjects and as that could not choose but have weaken'd him he solicites others to do as much as he What pains hath he taken to set the Swisse at variance and induce the Catholick Cantons to fall out with the Protestants and then afterwards when they are at odds to fall upon them But the Pope hath redressed that and accommodated the matter betwixt them France hath brought it so to pass that she hath forced the Duke of Savoy to rid himself of his best Subjects the Inhabitants of the Vallies being under a premunier as he is he could not go back with his word nay I am fully perswaded France would be extreamly glad that England would do the like by that means to weaken her to such a degree that she shall not be able to do any thing when Lewis XIV has a mind to fall upon the Low Countreys and remove from the States of the Vnited Provinces all possible means to prevent it and so by little and little make himself Master of Europe as we shall see by the following story of the French Policy and its Maxims in respect of Soveraigns in particular The Policy of France in respect of Rome and His Holiness ALL the World knows the Veneration and Respect all Catholick People have for the Holy See and the Holy Father that they look upon him as Christ's Vicar upon Earth St. Peter's Successor Universal Bishop and as we are taught by the Council of Trent the most Holy Lord to whom all Kings Princes and People owe an intire Obedience fail but in this Duty and you smell rank of Heresie according to the Council of Constance it deserves Fire and Faggot Would you not swear to see Lewis XIV persecute the Protestants at that rate he doth that he is the most Devout Son his Holiness hath whereas others do but kiss his Toe he would out of Devotion kiss something else But it is quite contrary He is a very Rebellious Son who cares not a fig for all the Holy Father's Remonstrances and Declarations who dispoyles him of his Goods ravishes from him his State and makes an entry into Rome by his Embassador as loftily and haughtily as Artaban And here is the French Spirit to invade the Holy Father in his Patrimony Authority and Conduct First In his Patrimony of the Church by depriving him of his Regalities in France which is a Right the Popes have enjoyed this many Ages which the Kings Lewis the XIV his Predecessors have granted to St. Peters Successors What Submission what Remonstrance hath not the present Pope made to oblige the King not to incroach and seize upon the Rights of the Church withal telling him that such like Usurpations as these have proved alwayes satal to Kings and Princes Families Yet all this hath had none effect upon him only the King said sometimes the Pope is a mighty good man I would not vex him But in the mean time never restores what he had deprived him of Just such another trick as he played with Spain when in time of Peace he took from it part of the Low Countreys he protested every where that he had no Intent to break the Peace but only took his Dependances and what of Right was his own You may turn the French Policy loose which way you will it presently finds out a way to oblige his Holiness to permit an Assembly of the Clergy of his Kingdom in the year 1682 wherein it was declared as we all know that he was not Infallible that he had no Power over the Temporalities of Kings that he was subject to Counsels and by himself he had not any power to make any one Article of Faith. Could he have thwarted the Pope more sensibly in his Authority than he did at that time besides he obliged all the Preachers Monks and Jesuits themselves to teach the same in the Pulpit and in their Colledges to their Auditors The Arch-bishop of Paris who was President of this Assembly who as you may well think was not too well beloved at Rome thought at least it was fit to make himself fear'd that they might come and offer him a Cardinals Cap. To this effect he writ into England to be informed what course Henry VIII took when he altered the Religion in that Kingdom yet all this had not the least effect upon the Popes mind who knows his own Tribe better than so and Mounsieur Arch-bishop was in great danger to stand bare a long time without a Cardinals Cap although he might catch cold When this Prelate perceived that by this means his Affairs went rather backbard than forward he bethought himself of another course prefers himself and takes upon him not like a Converter but Persecutor in causing the Hugonots of his Diocess to be tormented and those of all France by his wicked Counsel hoping thereby to curry favour with the Pope and regain his credit by his zeal and forwardness for the propagation of Religion But his Holiness who hath abundance of reason and whose disposition is not violent whose intent and meaning is that Conversions should be effected by Reason by good Examples not by Dragoons and Rackings and by an Holy Life which is not consistant with the Archbishop of Paris who is taken with the Female Sex and love their Company This change of shapes procured him but ill will and disdain he had no share in the last promotion nor never will so long as Innocent XI lives nor perhaps after him when of necessity there will happen great changes at Rome In the mean time Mounsieur Camus Bishop of Grenoble whose unblameable Life and Conversation might serve for a Mirrour to a many of your Court Bishops hath been honoured with the Purple without ever seeking for it without persecuting any body nor so much as suffering it within his Diocess this Prelate being not a-la-mode de la Court this new Dignity he so lately received cannot choose but be a great heart-burning to the King and greater to the Arch-bishop to see himself shut out of doors Last of all Can a Man more visibly cross the Popes behaviour than the King doth at present in respect of the Franchises of his
makes much of some threatens others The Dolphin of Frances Marriage concluded with the Princess of Bavaria was a bait to draw in the Prince of that Family to the King's Interest and so inspire his Body with a French Spirit That Pension the King allowed him for some time made him much in the Kings Books and devoted to his Interest nay over and above the Marriage every one was in the mind that this Prince would be perpetually devoted to his Benefactor but the unbecoming unworthy Matches that France offered this Prince made his Ministers look about them who knew so well how to disabuse him that he alter'd his mind and tack't about to the better and more glorious side whether we consider it in respect of the Marriage he contracted with the Emperours Daughter or by the Lawrels he won in Hungary This is a thing he durst not so much as have dreamt of if he had remained in the French Interest because the Conquests of the Imperial Army did not at all correspond with the Kings designs as we told you before No sooner had Mounsieur Baviere forsaken the French Party but the King to comfort himself up for that loss entering Madam la Dauphines Chamber told her that he just came from winning Eight Hundred Thousand Crowns of her Brother We all know how the Elector of Brandenburg is beset on all sides with the Emissaries of France and how the chief persons of his Court which discretion makes me forbear mentioning have taken but too large a Dose of that same Spirit Gall so that there is nothing transacted in the Electors Court but the French Envoy hath presently notice of it and by Mounsieur de Rebenack's good leave Men are sufficiently informed of all his Intrigues of all the Presents he bestows if it were less secret one might not perchance know it but he wanting the retentive faculty to keep his own Counsel he must give others leave to disclose it who are not so much concern'd to keep a secret If the late Prince Lewis had been surer to the French Interest than he was perhaps he might have been alive to this day Well I know the French Envoy had not an hand in the fact but did suggest and promote it I know that the Prince Elector is not ignorant neither whence the Distemper proceeds he hath reason to countermine them and stand upon his Guard but I could wish he may not be too slow and that he shut not the Stable door when the Horse is stoln If so be the Elector of Brandenburg had an insight into his real true Interest and Forces could but get rid once of these French Spirits that encompass her he might safely say he was one of the most puissant Princes of the North make others dread and stand in awe of him Be sure which way soever he takes he casts the scales France knows it very well too and that 's the reason why they court him so much Let him but stand Neuter and espouse no Cause she is satisfied The Persecution of the Protestants of France had in a manner opened the eyes of the Elector yet Mounsieur de Rebenack backt by Mounsieur D'espense managed things so finely that people gave more credit to what they said than to so many thousand Witnesses that arrived dayly at Berlin This I 'le say that the Elector hath this benefit that all those that flie to him for refuge people his Country But France out of spite to thwart his designs to make the Electorship fall after the Decease of Frederick William to some Prince or other who will be more favourable to him than those who were born by the Princess Lewis of Nassau and Orange and there is all the probability imaginable she will accomplish her designs in this matter at leastwise they are in a fair way towards it if God Almighty do not prevent it by preserving the Prince Elector alive to whom he may give Issue As for the Elector Palatine of the Rhine when France mediated a match between the Princess and the Duke of Orleans she had two things in her eye the first was thereby together with a Pension to allure the late Prince Elector into her Interests not being able to do that he might evermore devise pretensions for the Right of Madam of Orleans After that we know but too well how the Electors Palatines Father and Son were treated by Lewis XIV how the Palatinate hath been trodden under foot by his Troops and the people of that Country ruin'd and laid waste But last of all Death having deprived the World of these two Princes in a short time without Male Issue and seeing that at present the Palatinate is fallen to the House of Newburg pursuant to a Treaty with the Emperour to that purpose the King of France is perswaded there is no other resolution to take with the Elector now Reigning that he is too near an Allie to the Emperour to whom he is beholden for what he hath ever to abandon his Interests or quit his Party so that it is not thereabouts neither that France attacks it the pretenses of Madams Rights are now in debate The Popes medling in the matter signifies nothing the business is not ripe it is a Gate France keeps open for to enter into Germany by and all the delayes the Pope obtains do but keep off the Distemper a little longer and do not cure it and you shall see the next Spring if any change happen in Europe France will enter thereinto with Fire and Sword as she uses to do All the Elector must wish for is that Peace may be concluded between the two Emperours this Winter that the Death of a Prince hapning his success may afford work enough to Lewis the Great somewhere else Now these seem to be the only means how this Elector may avoid falling into the clutches of France and this reason ought much to sway with the Emperour and be a principal motive to him to make a Peace with the Turk as he may now do very advantagiously For he must know that if ever the French King break the Ice and gets footing in Germany he will never return back The French are very insolent and domineering especially at the first heat and in prosperity and provided Fortune smiles upon them at the beginning and in their first furie wherewith they undertake all Exploits that is a great incitement to them to drive on farther and farther and then peace with the Turk not being made I cannot tell whether the Emperour will be ever able to make it if he would never so fain at lest upon the same Terms and Conditions they offer him at this time The Elector of Saxony never made much account of all the proposals of France He is a Prince that doth not study all those cunning niceties and tricks that a great many other Courts are full of but one who being well verst in what is good for himself pursues it without disputing
the Pens of those Droll-Wits Pasquin and Murforio 'T is certain if the King of Poland should give way to this aukward Contract of Alliance it would be as much as to declare plainly that he no longer pretended to have the Crown of Poland for his Son and that this Marriage was an act wholly disclaiming it I would have him rather follow the King of Portugals example he was cunning enough to get himself disentangled from the importunities of France to strengthen himself by his alliance with the House of Austria and the Emperour by his Marriage with the Princess Palatine of Newbourgh he knew too well that if ever Lewis XIV got footing in Spain that his Kingdom would depend on his disposal One of the two Teeth this same Lewis was born with is called Usurping the other Cruel from the one proceeds dependance decorum or convenience of Scituation from the other Treachery and Persecution you need not question if the King of France should become King of Spain but Portugal would be first of all invested because the Spaniard possest that Kingdom from Philip II. until Philip IV. time which was about the year 1640 when the Portugueze shook off the Spanish yoak Threescore years of possession may plead prescription whereon to ground his right of dependance there needs only thirty for a private man besides the right of decorum or commodious Scituation for Portugal joyns upon the Kingdom of Castile Aragon and Granada he had not so good a Title to the Kingdom of Austrasie nay he hath quite turned out the Princes who possessed one part of the Lands of that Kingdom for near 600 years Fear keeps the Vineyard as the French say and distrust is the mother of safety If I had to do with Salvages or with the King of Bantam or China not knowing occurrences in our parts it would be requisite to enter upon an Historical Relation of all the slippery tricks France hath played this last Age of all the Deceits Cheats Usurpations Injustices and Cruelties this present King hath put in practice to be Master of the Estates and the Possessions of his Neighbours But I speak to Europeans and they Christians too who have seen with their Eyes heard with their Ears and have dayly before them Princes dispoyled and stript of their Possessions so many People ruined so many Cities taken so many Houses now nothing but ruins and rubbish Thousands of Christians reduced to Beggery nay and the Blood of his own Subjects still a gushing out in mighty streams all over the Country These I say are speaking Books where all up and down you may find in huge Characters Lewis the Great Sacrifices all to his Ambition and Interest Now although all the World knows it and though scarce a Prince but hath been couzen'd by him yet he is so skilful to hush them asleep by the mild gentle raine of Lewisses that some part of them cry Lord what wouldst thou have us do and run headlong insensibly and with a kind of delight to the ruin and destruction of their Issue O how much need hath Europe of a good Oculist to remove the Scales from the Eyes of a great many Princes and once in their lives to open them for them to the end that every one knowing what 's good for himself may lay aside and forsake the interest of France they ought all unanimously to endeavour with might and main to procure him a Competitour to balance him and retain and bind him up within his just bounds and so disable him that he may no more trouble the earth by his ambition One blow is sufficient to do it what need I tell you all Europe sees it This will come to pass when it shall please the Divine Wisdom of the true Universal Monarch King of Kings to make it evident We cannot but wish Lewis XIV long life that he may be witness of all these things and may have another Joshua to stop the course of his Sun for which the people of the earth so much long and put up their continual Prayers for The Spirit or Policy of France and its Maximes in regard of the Suisse Cantons his Allies and of Savoy THE Cantons of Switzerland being free and absolute are governed by themselves hold of none but of God and their own valour they are partly reformed and partly Roman Catholick 't is by reason of this difference of Religion that they have often variance amongst themselves and give the King of France occasion to lay hold on the opportunity who makes good use of the easiness of the latter to sow the seed of dissention among them In time past they did no way border upon France which was a great happyness for the Cantons but since the peace Hen. IV. made with the Duke of Savoy the Country of Gex belonged to that Prince then after that France which alwayes gets ground did make encroachments in Alsatia Franche Conte and towards Burgundy is at this time Neighbour to the Swisse on three several sides But Lewis XIV not content with that had a mind to be a nearer Neighbour to his fellows by the Fort of Huninghen within Canon shot as we all know from Basil the Governour hath lately attempted it the Suisse were too much overseen in being a little to well acquainted witsi the King of France who thereby hath found out where their strength and weakness lyes and which way soever their affairs turn whensoever they are forced to quarrel with these Princes it will alwayes fare with them as the Fable tells us it did with the Earthen pot and Iron pot Secondly To lend so many Regiments to France are as so many men lost out of the Cantons who it may be one day may like young Vipers destroy their common Mother their Countrey there are few Swisse Officers in the French Kings Service but let themselves be corrupted by Marriages then suffer their Eyes to be dazled by good places and your Louis do'r and so at once renounce both their Religion and Party sacrifice as Stoupa the Lieutenant General would have done twice sixteen Cantons to the Interest of France He is not alone in his own gang he hath God knows too many Disciples you 'l find but very few who imitate the Sieur Dasselouer of Berne heretofore Captain in the King's Service who chosed rather to give over his employ and break his Pike then do any thing contrary to the Treaty which his Superiours had entered to about the passage of the Rhine against the Hollanders they have also committed a notable fault in tying up their own hands that they cannot send to Spain the like number of Soldiers as they do to France This restriction hath more of the Frenchman in it than the Cantons are aware of They cannot but grant that they have suffered themselves to be curb'd by the Fort at Huninghen which but too much discovers the Kings design every chink in it are like so many open Mouths crying out
ever they find that grand Usurper to advance for he is now taking his aim and so well play'd his Cards that he hath made the Duke of Savoy to sneak and truckle not daring so much as to put his Nose towards France In times past the Dukes Ancestors did defend the City of Geneva as well as the Inhabitants they had a great deal more reason for it then France now a days upon the account of the pretensions to it and the rights the Counts of Geneva have yielded up to the Duke of Savoy Charles IV. Proclaimed that Duke Prince of Geneva and of all the Territories thereunto belonging and they have inherited it till the Year 1532. But the present Duke is so far from making any opposition against France that he would rather deliver up all his Rights and Claims to it and let himself be cullyed out of it under pretence of reinvesting the Bishop now although that Prelate should be setled and France master of it what course would the Duke of Savoy take if the King would not remit to him Would he have recourse to Menaces or Reprisals If he should do so the King of France would jerk him soundly like a Boy and would make him kiss the Rod to boot So that I would not have Geneva to flatter her self with the treacherous promises of the French King nor yet with the Assistance which Policy and Reason might oblige the Duke of Savoy to send them Let her e'ne rely on her Allies the Swisse Cantons upon her own though slender Forces and upon so many French Officers who have fled for refuge thither who will be sure upon the first news of it to run to her assistance or otherwise they must have lost common Sense and all sentiments of Honour and Thankfulness Again if so be the Emperour make his Peace with the Turk he must send for the Duke of Lorain to help him who is a great Captain and even laden with Victorious Lawrels whose very name will make France quake I and he may serve him for a inlet whereat to enter into his Dutchy of Lorrain where his Subjects quite spent with the Tyrannical Dominion of France expect him as their Moses and deliverer The King is a Lyon in a Foxes Skin he is not so formidable as men believe him his only end is to make himself be feared and he obtains his desire by threatnings but shake off this panick fear look upon France nearer mind her soberly and seriously consider the continual running away of her Inhabitants the punishment and imprisonment of another part of them is as so much Bloud flowing from her Veins which by little and little weaken her Add hereto the just complaints of the Catholicks the decrease of her Revenues and what is worst of all for her the death and the going away of so many Generals within these few years and so suddenly one after another doth she not seem to behold that Scene Heaven hath contrived on purpose to humble her for indeed she is at a lower ebb then one would imagine I 'll engage she is as sick as her King and that they be both smitten to the heart The first Enemy that sets upon her will not be long alone he will be soon seconded but it will be just as in the Fable of the Counsel of Rats who consulted together to go hang a Bell at the Cats neck their sworn Enemy but not one of them durst venture to do it first Who would ever have said the Pope would have contributed his assistance to the Union of the Switzers Yet 't is true he did so as we may have observed in the business of Glaris which I have above recited Nay his Nuncio is very intent at his leisure hours to open the eyes of the Catholick Cantons for those silly people provided the King tell them of intending to re-establish a Bishop 't is enough for them that 's all they care for but they are not sensible of what is behind the Hill that the grand Usurper lyes hid under the Bishops Mitre I have but one Admonition more to give the Right Honourable Cantons of Switzerland that is to say the King hath no respect nor good will towards them He takes them for Scaffolds to be made use of when need requires and when that is over he looks upon them as no body I desire no other proof of what I say then what of a fresh date happened to the Ambassador which the Cantons not long since sent to the French King After he had wrangled with them about their Commission not being in general Terms on purpose to refuse them Audience well this difficulty once removed by a second Commission dispatched to them they were e'ne fain to go away as they came without so much as seeing the King or obtaining one only Audience This is the greatest undervaluing and most sensible affront that ever Free-born men had given and if the Cantons pass by this and don 't shew their just Resentments of it they 'l be despised by all the Princes of Europe and it will not be the last ill turn of this nature that will befall But that I may fully certifie you of the truth of what I here deliver see here word for word the Harangue or rather Complement these Gentlemen past upon Mounsieur Colbert Croissi Minister of the Foreign Affairs at their departure Sir Our Lords and Superiours sending us hither to do what in us lyes and make use of all importunities to endeavour to win the Kings affection to the end he might be inclined to uphold the City of Geneva their Allie in the possession of what they have hitherto been above One Hundred and Eighty Years grounded upon Authentick Treaties But his Majesty being resolved to commit to his Parliament of Dijon a business which is plainly acknowledged for an affair of State which depends upon Treaties of Peace Covenants and Alliances the which said Parliament our Superiours will never acknowledge as just no nor give their Allies the Citts of Geneva counsel to yield to their Treaty which is theirs also Moreover his Majesty giving us to understand by your Excellency that he would no more then you confer with us touching this matter and because we are afraid that a longer stay here might be as unwelcome as our coming we could not do better then withdraw home again to make a faithful report of what hath past to our Lords and Superiours We are come to take our leaves of your Excellency and to give you many thanks for the patience you have had in several Conferences beseeching you that in pursuance of the reiterated Orders we have had given us in behalf of our Lords and Superiours who notwithstanding they be much troubled at the bad success of this Embassy seeing they take more into consideration the prosecution of 25 Canons then the fidelity of many thousands of the best and most stedfast Allies of that Crown who have shed their Blood and