THE HISTORY OF THE TREATY AT Nimueguen WITH REMARKS ON THE Interest of EVROPE In relation to that Affair Translated out of French LONDON Printed for Dorman Newman at the Kings Arms in the Poultrey 1681. The Translator to the Reader Reader WHEN I have told you that the Author of this History is a French-man and that he hath dedicated the Original to Monsieur Colbert one of the active French Plenipotentiaries at Nimueguen I suppose without other notice you 'l expect to find in it some affectations I will not say partialities such as are usual to Authors who write of Affairs wherein their Countrey have the greatest share though to speak evenly my Author does not seem very culpable in this kind The General peace that was concluded at Nimueguen attests the truth of the most substantial matters contained in this Treatise And the respect that is due to so many great men as were present at the Negotiation makes it almost incredible that an ingenuous person such as the Author seems to be who in his Epistle to the Reader wishes that he had not been a French man that so he might have avoided the suspition of partiality would publish any falshood concerning the compliments and ceremonies which could not be spared amongst so many publick Ministers when be might so easily and with shame be by the many parties concerned convicted of the Imposture You need not then doubt but that this Book presents you with the true lineaments and features of the substantial affairs that were treated in that famous Assembly though probably the lights and air may be French and the frame which sets them off a-la-mode de Louis You know as well as I that it is usual for subjects and lovers of a victorious Prince to attribute even the most extorted and unvoluntary actions of their Master to his free choice and meer good will and pleasure and in this strain you 'l find our Author speak throughout this whole Book yet I make no doubt but that many know how much other influences besides the French Kings good inclinations to give peace to Europe and particularly the English Forces sent over into Flanders have had their effects in producing that Serenity which is at every turn attributed to his pleasure But seeing it is usual in all great atchievements wherein many are concerned that the several parties assume to themselves the glory of being the chief instruments in bringing them about I think if the dish be good you need not be much concerned at the manner of garnishing it but please your self according to your humour or skill Now Reader what advantage this Book may afford yoâ— you 'l find by the perusal of it And if your Stars have not destin'd you for such a publick person as that it may prove practically useful to you if they have at least endowed you with a love of speculation and knowledg you will therein certainly meet with somewhat that may gratifie your curiosity Farewell A Table of the Mediators Plenipotentiaries Ambassadors and Envoys mentioned in this History MEDIATORS On the Popes part SEignior Bevilaqua On the King of Great Britain's part My Lord John Berkley Laurence Hyde Sir William Temple Sir Lionel Jenkins AMBASSADORS For the Emperor The Bishop of Gurck The Count of Kinski Mr. Stratman For France The Mareshal D'Estrades Monsieur Colbert The Count D'Avaux For Spain The Marquess de los Balbases The Marquess de la Fuente Don Pedro Ronquillo Mr. Christin For Sueden The Count of Oxenstiern Mr. D'Oliver Krantz For Denmark Count Anthony of Oldembourg Mr. Heugh For the States-General The Heer Beverning The Heer Odyke The Heer Haren For the Elector of Brandenburgh Mr. De Somnitz Mr. De Blaspiel Plenipotentiary Envoys For the King of Denmark Mr. de Meyerkron Mr. Petkum For the States-General The Heer Boreel For the Elector of Brandenburgh Mr. Meinders For the Duke of Savoy The Count of Provana For the Duke of Lorrain The President Canon For the Bishop of Osnabrug The Baron of Platen For the Duke of Zell and the Princes of Brunswick Mr. Muller Mr. Schutz For the Bishop of Munster Mr. Termeulen For the Bishop of Strasbourg Mr. Duker For the Duke of Holstein Gottorp Mr. Vlkers Mr. Wetterkorp For the Elector of Mayence and Treves The Baron of Leyen For the Prince and Chapter of Liege Mr. Charneux Mr. Vanderveck For the Elector Palatine Mr. Spanheim For the Duke de la Tremouille Mr. Sanguimere For the Mareshal of Luxembourg Mr. De Villewrat THE HISTORY OF THE TREATY AT Nimueguen THE Treaty begun at Cologn in the year 1673 under the Mediation of Suedeland gave hopes that a general Peâ—ce would speedily put an end to the War that raged then in Europe when the seizure of Prince William of Furstemburg and Forty thousand Crowns taken out of the Waggons of the French Ambassadors in a Neutral City discomposed affairs in such a manner that the Negotiation so happily begun was quite broken off The violence committed on this Prince by the Emperors Ministers and the injury done to the French King gave ground to many to fear that Peace would not suddenly be restored again to Europe and that his Majesty would never consent to the renewing of the Treaty unless reparations were made for those two injuries Nevertheless at the instance of the King of England whose Mediation was generally embraced by all the Princes concerned in that War and at the solicitation of the Bishop of Strasbourg who publickly declared That he preferred the advantages of Peace before the liberty of his own Brother The King made the reasons of glory and interest stoop to the inclination which he had of contributing to the Peace of Europe And Nimueguen being pitched upon as the place of Treaty his Majesty resolved instantly to send thither his Ambassadors Plenipotentiaries and therefore on the 17 of Febr. 1675 named for that effect the Duke of Vitry Monsieur Colbert and the Count D' Avaux Seeing all the allied Princes appeared not at first to be of the same disposition as to Peace there was no advance made towards the forming of the Assembly at Nimueguen until the month of November that the King of Great Britain disposed all the Interest-powers to send with all expedition their Ambassadors to Nimueguen The French King was the first and gave order to his Plenipotentiaries before the end of December to set out for the place of Conference his Majesty having allowed them but eight days to provide their Equipage Accordingly on the 28 of December Monsieur Colbert and the Count D' Avaux parted from Paris not staying for the Duke of Vitry whose sickness would not permit him to undertake a journey in the severity of the Winter-season On the third of January they came to Charleville hoping there to find Passports from all those Princes that were concerned to give them and especially from Spain and Holland that they might come down to Nimueguen on the Meuse but the Passports
from his Danish Majesty at Nimueguen acquainted M. Colbert on the 26. with the Conference that was to be held at Louden where M. de Feuquieres Ambassador from his Most Christian Majesty in Sueden was to meet the Minister of the King of Denmark The Suedish Ratification of the Treaty of Peace betwixt that Crown and the Bishop of Munster was at that time brought to Nimueguen but it was not as yet exchanged because of some difficulties that were found in the Treaty which was signed the 22. of March The French Forces began already to spread in the Marck of Brandenbourg and there came daily new Troops to Wesel to encrease the Army which the Mareshal de Crequi was to command Equipage Artillery and all necessary Ammunition were continually brought and the French used the greater diligence to put themselves in a condition of making some enterprise because M. Meinders was not at all urgent in his Negotiation with the King He spake but indifferently as to that concern and said that the Elector his Master could not make peace if Stetin and the countrey beyond the Oder were not given up to him Most of the Princes of Germany offered their offices for the promoting of that Peace The Elector of Saxony offered his Mediation but the Letter which he wrote to the French King upon that subject having been given by M. de Blasper to M Colbert to be sent to his Majesty that Ambassador refused to do it seeing the Elector of Brandenbourg had a Minister at Court who might discharge that office The Princes of Brunswick made also some instances in favour also of his Electoral Highness that they might procure a delay in the Military executions seeming to be persuaded that that peace would not fail to give the King all kind of satisfaction It was nevertheless a rare thing to see that it behoved the French Ambassadors to press the Imperialists to consent to the easing of the Empire by consummating of the peace For this end M. Colbert thought a second Conference necessary in which the Imperialists would not maintain the reasons which they had alledged in the former without palpable prevarication He therefore on the second of June 1679. proposed to the Mediators that they would bring about that Conferenee in which it would be convenient that all the Ministers of the Prinees of the Empire at Nimueguen might be present to the end it might appear whether the Emperor or French King were the cause of the delay of that performance on which the repose of so many people depended But the Emperors Ambassadors thinking that a Conference in presence of the Ministers of the Princes of the Empire would injure the Authority of his Imperial Majesty absolutely refused it saying that the Decree which they had from the Dyet at Ratisbon sufficiently authorised the Emperor to act as his Imperial Majesty should think fitting touching the concerns of the Peace and present War At that time the Minister of the Elector of Cologn presented a Memoir to the Mediators demanding that Bonne might be evacuated by the Imperial Garison and at the same time published the Resolution which the Dyet at Ratisbon had taken the 22. of the foregoing Month whereby the Emperor was entreated to command that the places in the Empire possessed by the Imperial Troops might be evacuated so that the Imperialins could not refuse a second Conference upon that occasion at the Town-hall But for all that it was not possible to bring them to condescend to the evacuation of the places pretending that they had not as yet had any advice of that result of the Dyet of the Empire Nevertheless in regard of the instance that had been made by the Minister of the Elector of Cologn they offered to draw all the Forces out of his Countrey provided that the French drew theirs out of the Countreys of Liege and Juliers M. Colbert could not condescend to that Proposition but he offered to maintain with all exactness at the Kings charges the Garisons of the places which his Majesty had reserved in the Empire to be employed for procuring of the Peace of the North and the satisfaction of Sueden The Imperial Ambassadors answered That his most Christian Majesty was obliged to do that from the very day that the Ratifications of the Peace were exchanged And so that second Conference had no better success than the former That which most vexed the Imperialists was that they could not obtain by the Peace that the French King should restore the Ten Towns of Alsatia into the condition they were in before the War that his Majesty should draw out his Garisons and not possess them as belonging to him in propriety And therefore seeing that stuck extreamly in their heart they intended when they made the Treaty for consummating the Peace to have comprehended those Ten Towns amongst the places which France ought to evacuate and in prospect of that they put them into the List which at that time they gave of the places of the Empire from whence the King was to remove his Forces M. Colbert answered in general that his Majesty was ready to draw out his Garisons from all the places which they held in the Empire excepting those that were made over to France by the Treaties of Munster and Nimueguen That Answer gave no ground to the Imperialists to hope that they might obtain by that Negotiation what they could not gain by the Treaty of Peace though they alledged that the Treaty of Munster was not so express concerning the Cession of the Ten Towns of Alsatia but that an Article of the same Treaty seemed to contradict what was clearly explained in another place concerning that Cession But the Imperialists at length waving that pretension declared on the 15th that they consented that France should evacuate all those places which their Forces held in the Empire excepting those that had been yielded to them by the Treaties of Munster and Nimueguen and that on their part they were ready to evacuate not only Bonne but also Treves and Keyserflatern in compliance with the instances that were made to that effect by the Electors of Cologne Treves and the Palatin but that for the other places of the Empire they still expected the resolution of the Diet of Ratisbone affirming that they doubted not but that the Emperor would comply with the desire of the States of the Empire That Answer being by the Mediators communicated to M. Colbert on the 16th that Ambassador saw so little disposition on the part of the Imperialists to a sincere performance of the 27th Article of the Treaty of Peace that he held to the last declaration which he had made in respect that the Emperor who was much more concerned than France to make that evacuation ought likewise to be more inclined to it to the end that some difficulties which apparently had no other scope but the Emperors particular advantage might no longer retard the general ease of
were not in such readiness as they were made believe so that one in Charleville foretold the Count D' Avaux That his stay in that Town should be as long as that of the late Count D' Avaux his Uncle who had waited there four months for his Passports when he went to Munster in the character of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for the French King for the Treaty of the General Peace that was afterward concluded there The Ambassadors after two months stay perceiving that the difficulties which were started sometimes about the reciprocal liberty of sending messengers from Nimueguen upon their own single Passports and sometimes about the quality of Prince Charles who demanded of the French King the Titles of Brother and Duke of Lorrain might still detain them long at Charleville they resolved to cause their Goods which were already Embarqued to be brought ashore again and to wait for their Passports in that Town which came at length on the fourth of June bearing date the last of December in the foregoing year with an order of Court immediately to set forward accordingly they Embarked on the seventh of June The sickness of the Duke of Vitry still continued and was thought desperate which obliged the King to nominate in his place the Mareschal d' Estrade who was visited by his Colleagues in their passage at Maestricht and having staid there only a day on Sunday the 13 of June about one of the Clock aftâ—â—â—â—n they came to Moock two Leagues from Nimueguen where having instantly put ashore their Coaches and most part of their Equipage they set forward and came to Nimueguen about five of the Clock at night Though the French Ambassadors were incognito and without Train having left almost all their servants in the Boats with the rest of their Goods which did not arrive till next day yet it may be said that they made a publick entry by reason of the great concourse of people who out of curiosity and impatience to see the so much wisht-for Ambassadors flocked out of the Town upon the Ramparts into the streets and windows The vast number of Waggons laden with packs of Goods that came after and filled the whole street from the gate of the Town to the Ambassadors houses gave ground of admiration to that people who had never seen the like before The people seeing this and being perswaded of the grandeur of France believed that the Ambassadors had brought with them things of vast value and richness so that their houses were presently filled with those of the Town that crouded thither to see them and they were not only looked upon as sure pledges of Peace but also as a probable cause of the wealth of the Town All the people being falsly perswaded that the French were only to be blamed for the delay of the Treaty but now seeing they were come they concluded that in a short time Nimueguen was to be the Theater on which the greatness and magnificence of Europe was to appear Nevertheless matters advanced not so fast as people had imagined for as yet there were none at Nimueguen but Sir Lionel Jenkins one of the three Plenipotentiary Mediators from England and the Heer 's Beverning and Haren Ambassadors Plenipotentiary from the States General of the Vnited Provinces The French Ambassadors sent immedialy to acquaint my Lord Ambassador Jenkins with their arrival who rendered them the Complement and gave them next day a visit in a Coach with six Horses The Dutch Ambassadors did the like and the French rendered the Visits so soon as their Train and Equipage were in a condition to appear abroad The Mareshal d' Estrades had orders with all expedition to part from Maestricht and though his Train and Equipage were not as yet in readiness yet he arrived at Nimueguen the 28 of June whither Sir William Temple another of the Mediators from England came shortly after with my Lady Gifford his Sister my Lady Temple not coming till two months after My Lord Ambassador Temple is a person of much learning singular in his ways and opinions Some judged him partial in the Mediation and somewhat unequal in his humour he is nevertheless a person of great abilities and well acquainted with the Republican principles as appears by the remarks he hath written upon the State of the Vnited Provinces His Colleague Sir Lionel Jenkins is a civil well-bred Gentleman of great integrity and firm to his Religion a person endued with much knowledg who always shewed himself to be good Mediator These Ambassadors had aâ— 100 l. sterling a week besides an hundred and fifty pounds given them for providing their Equipage with Furniture for the Chamber of Audience and a service of the Royal Plate according to the custom of England The report that came abroad at that time that the Prince of Orange intended to besiege Maestricht seemed as unprobable as the enterprize was dangerous notwithstanding the Hollanders flattered themselves with the hopes of carrying that place in a fortnights time and it seemed they only waited for the departure of the Mareshal d' Estrades that they might accomplish their designs but the conclusion of that siege was much to the advantage of the French who that year succeeded in every thing almost that they undertook either by Sea or Land The King in four days took Condâ— and on the 25 of April obliged it to render on discretion After five days siege the Duke of Orleans carried Bouchain on the 12 of May in sight of the strongest Army that the Confederates ever had in the Low-Countries under the command of the Prince of Orange who thought it not fit to hazard a Battel with the Kings Army that lay within Canon-shot of him Aire on the last of July suffered the same fate The King laid the design and the Marquess of Louvois in the command of the Mareshal d' Humieres put it in execution The Fort of Linck was taken the 9th of August The Mareshal Duke of Vivonne was very successful in his Fights on the Sicilian Seas and in the Port of Palermo bâ—rnt part of the Spanish and Dutch Fleet. The death of de Ruyter that happened a little before by a great shot that he received on board his own Ship in an engagement against the French was an irreparable loss to the Dutch who never had an Admiral of so much merit and reputation In the mean while it was easie to be judged by what began to appear that if the Prince of Orange had taken Maestricht there was no hopes of finding the Dutch any ways inclinable to accommodation but an event so contrary to their expectation and the ruin of a great part of their Army of which most of the residue was seen to march by Nimueguen dejected them extreamly and made them think of other measures The first thing that began to be talked of was the Neutrality of the Country about Nimueguen The Mediators at the solicitation of the Dutch desired that the
Confederates And by three different Articles Spain demanded the same thing of Sueden France said That the King being contrary to Justice and the obligation of the Treaty of Aix la Chapel attacqued by the Catholick King his Majesty had reason to pretend that in respect of that Crown all things should remain in the condition that the fortune of War had put them into without prejudice to his Majesties Rights which were to continue still in full force and power The Danes pretended that France should give them compleat satisfaction and reimburse all the charges of the War and by four Articles they demanded of the Suedes that betwixt the two Kingdoms and two Kings all things should be restored into the same condition as they were before the War that was ended by the Treaties of Westphalia and that the Treaties of Rochilde and Copenhagen should be abolished and that all the Provinces which had been dismembred from Denmark and Norway should be restored to the Danes that all that the Suedes possest in the Empire should be taken from them that Wismar and the Isle of Rugen should remain in possession of the Danes and that for the security of his Danish Majesty and Kingdoms they might put Garisons in all the strong places of Sueden that lye upon the frontiers of the two Kingdoms The propositions of France in reference to the Danes were That seeing the King had not declared War against the King of Denmark but he runs contrary to the Treaty of Copenhagen made in the year 1660. for performance whereof the King was Guarantee the King of Denmark had attacqued Sueden His most Christian Majesty was ready to desist from hostility on his part provided that the aforesaid Treaties and those of Westphalia were re-established In respect of France and Sueden the States General demanded That Maestricht Dalen Fangumont and all the dependencies of Maestricht should be restored to them That they were willing for the publick peace to sacrifice the inestimable losses whereof they might pretend reparation and that for avoiding all differences for the future the Treaty might contain a general and particular renuntiation of all sorts of pretensions There were afterward sixteen Articles concerning the full satisfaction to be made to the Prince of Orange in regard of what depended on the Crown of France and particularly the restauration of the fortifications of Orange that were ruined in the year 1660. and of the Castle demolished in the year 1663. the rights of Toll upon Salt and other Commodities as well upon the Rone as through the Principality of Orange the rights of Coyning of money of Laick Patronage for nomination to the Bishoprick the exemptions priviledges and other Immunities granted to the inhabitants of that Principality by the Kings his Majesties Predecessors and particularly by Lewis XIII The Estates General demanded nothing of Sueden but that the future Treaty might contain some regulations for obviating the frequent inconveniences that happened concerning Commerce France proposed to the States General That seeing the Union that hath always been betwixt the Crown of France and the States was only interrupted upon account of some causes of discontent which were easie at present to be removed and to be prevented for the future His Majesty was willing to restore the States General to his former amity and to hearken favourably to all propositions that might be made to him on their part even concerning a Treaty of Commerce And as to the propositions made for the re-establishment of the Prince of Orange the French Ambassadors made an answer to them but upon occasion opposed the pretensions of the Count D' Auvergne demanding that his Marquisate and Town of Bergen-op-zoom might be restored to all the rights of Soveraignty which the other Towns of Holland enjoyed conform to the Treaties of Pacification of Ghent The Elector of Brandenburgh demanded that France should make reparation for the damages that his Territories had sustained by the French Forces during the course of this War that all security should be given him for the future for the same Territories and that all his Allies should be comprehended in a general Treaty France made no propositions to the Elector of Brandenbourg besides those that were made to the Emperor and Empire which comprehended the full performance of the Treaties of Westphalia In all the propositions that the Suedes made to the Emperor the Kings of Spain and Denmark the States General and to the Elector of Brandenbourg they demanded of the one but the renovation of their former amity and good correspondence and of the others the execution of the Treaties of Westphalia and Copenhagen which contained the restitution of all that had been taken from that Crown Prince Charles of Lorrain to whom thâ— French King had granted the title of Duke with a general protestation made to the Mediators that the titles taken or given should be without prejudice caused his propositions to be made by which he said That as heir to his Predecessors he hoped from the Justice of the King that he would restore to him his Dutchies of Lorrain and Bar with their dependencies his titles records movables and effects taken from him and make reparation for the Towns Burroughs Castles and Villages that were ruined throughout all his Dominions But seeing the Ministers of the Confederates would not admit of the Sieur Duker the Envoy of the Bishop of Strasbourg whom the French King reckoned among the Confederate Princes the French Ambassadors made no propositions concerning Lorrain nor shewed any Plenary Commission for treating about the Interests of that Prince though much urged to it by the Confederates that by this means they might oblige the Imperialists to own the Minister of the Bishop of Strasbourg On the other side the propositions of the Duke of Holstein Gottorp which the Sieurs Vlkens and Wetterkop that Princes Envoys had put into the hands of the Mediators lay there without answer or being interchanged because the Danish Ambassador hindred the Minister of that Prince from being admitted as being an Ally of Sueden and protected by France and upon that account dispossessed of his Territories by the King of Denmark The Propositions of the Dukes of Brunswick and Lunenbourg were not made publick because the Ministers of those Princes kept incognito pretending to the character and rank of Ambassadors yea and these Princes wrote to the King of England for obtaining the effect of their Pretensions but what instance soever they made during the whole course of the Negotiation no Crowned head yielded to their demand I have here but inserted the substance of the first propositions of Peace yet thereby may be seen how unreasonable the demands of Spain and Denmark were seeing that not only the Mediators but even the Ambassadors of the States General thought them exorbitant The sixth of this Month Monsieur Stratman gave the French Ambassadors notice of his arrival who at the same time sent each of them a Secretary to make him
their complement and demand audience either the same morning or immediately after dinner But he excused himself saying that he had a business of great importance to dispatch that day with an Envoy of the Elector of Cologn concerning urgent affairs of his Imperial Majesty and appointed them six of the clock at night The French Ambassadors began then to doubt of the sincerity of his conduct towards them and they could not imagin what pretext he could have It is true the Gentleman that made the complement to the French Ambassadors in the name of Mr. Stratman had waited sometime at the lodgings of the Count D' Avaux where at that time they were all three together but the time was but short and the Ambassadors saw very well that Mr. Stratman failed in what was due to their Character though he assured them that he had sent his Secretary to them and that he had taken all the measures that he conceived necessary to give them all manner of satisfaction Whatever the matter was the great affair that Mr. Stratman pretended to be for the important concerns of the Emperor was no more indeed but that he might have leisure at two of the clock to receive the visit of the Ambassador of Denmark and at four of the clock that of the first Ambassador of Sueden The French Ambassadors caused all the circumstances of Mr. Stratman's conduct to be observed nevertheless the made their visit all three together at six of the clock at night with seven Coaches and six Horses a piece a great number of servants in Livery and Flambeaux insomuch that there had not as yet so splendid a Train been seen at Nimueguen These Ambassadors intended to put Monsieur Stratman in the wrong they knew very well that the real distinction of preference is not to be made according to the order that visits are given in but according to the order they are rendered by those who have received them as to that they expected to see how Mr. Stratman would carry towards them that they might thereupon take their measures with him It was above a fortnight before Mr. Stratman put himself in a condition of rendering any visit during which time he pretended an indisposition That delay could not be attributed to any thing but the expectation of a Courier by whom it was said he was to be instructed how to behave himself in prospect of the inconveniences which he expected to meet with on the part of the French Ambassadors if he gave not to that Crown the preference which it hath always pretended to In the mean time he made an apology for that delay in a Letter which he wrote to the Marshal D' Estrades imputing it to an indisposition that had seized him The French Ambassadors sent a Gentleman to make him a complement and condole with him about his sickness To whom he answered That he hoped suddenly to be in a condition to 〈◊〉 and thanâ— them for their civility No man doubted but that Monsieur Stratman found himself in some perplexity and that he was very sensible how hard a task it would be for him to go on as he had begun without exposing himself to troublesome consequences He perceived how the French Ambassadors had deported themselves towards the Count of Kinski who would have observed a particular way of conduct as to them He understood that the French Ambassadors would refuse his visit if he failed in giving them the preference and he was ignorant that if his procedure should deprive him of the opportunity of seeing the Ambassadors during the whole time of the Treaty it might be a considerable prejudice and obstacle to the peace At length the 22. Mr. Stratman sent to demand audience of the Marshal D' Estrades but not till he had visited the first Ambassador of Sueden and sent in formality to demand audience of the Danish Ambassador who was not then in Town The French Ambassadors had agreed among themselves about the answer that was to be given to the Gentleman that should demand audience so that so soon as he had made his complement the Marshal D' Estrades told him that Mr. Stratman knew not what was due to the King his Master and his Ambassadors and that therefore he would not admit of his visit Mr. Stratman was not willing to expose himself to the receiving of the same answer from the other French Ambassadors and therefore did not send unto them He expected indeed that the French would shew some discontent but as being Ambassador from the Emperor he looked not for an answer of that nature That Minister is a learned man and writes well both in Latin and French He hath always adhered to the Bishop of Gurck and opposed the Count of Kinski He was preferred to the Emperor from the service of the Duke of Newbourg at that time when the Emperor married the daughter of that Prince All the discourse at Nimueguen at this time was of the great atchievements that the Confederates pretended they would do in this Campagn The Elector of Brandenbourg was come into the Countrey of Cleves to order affairs there this Countrey being daily threatned by the Carisâ—◠〈◊〉 Maestricht to oblige the inhabiâ—â—nts to pâ—â— the Contributions that were laid upon them The Elector was detained by the Gout at Ham four leagues beyond Wesel whither the Ambassador of Denmark was gone to visit him and whither many other of the Confederate Ministers were to go The Prince of Orange was set out to come to that Assembly which was called the Great Council of War But the news of the siege of Valenciennes and the urgent instances of the Duke de Villa Hermosa for succors from the States General made the Prince of Orange alter his course broke up the Diet at Ham and for some time disconcerted the measures of the Confederates In the mean time the difficulties that hindred the French Ambassadors from visiting those of the Emperor and Elector of Brandenbourgs produced sad effects and might have put a stop to the cause of the Negotiation that was begun had not their pretensions been so well grounded as they were The Ambassadors of Brandenbourg published a printed Paper to prove that their Master had right and was in possession of sending and having admitted several Ambassadors into one and the same Assembly tâ—â—â— endeavoured to give instances of it taken from the Relations that Abbot Ciry printed of the Transactions which passed at the Treaties of Munster and Osnabrug However that made nothing to their advantage They denied those matters of fact that made against their pretensions which are related in the Memoirs of Mr. Chanut as well as the late instances of the Assembly at Frankfort at the Coronation of the Emperor and they insisted particularly on the conduct that Monsieur Colbert held at Cleves towards three Ambassadors of the Elector whom he treated equally and without distinction The last instance signified nothing for confirmation of their pretension Mr.
the whole Garrison having retreated into the Cittadel and the Duke of Orleans who till then had only held St. Omers blocked up caused at the same time the Trenches to be opened But upon notice that the Prince of Orange marched with a great Army to the relief of St. Omer the King detached from his Army the Mareshal of Luxembourg with Eight Battalions the two Troops of his Musquetiers and some Dragoons reserving only so many of his forces as were necessary for forcing the Cittadel of Cambray This Detachment came in the nick of time to strengthen the Duke of Orleans his Army for on the eleventh the two Armies engaged near to Mont-cassel and had a sharp dispute but after a vigorous resistance made by the Dutch-Infantry the French got the day and the Dutch in that defeat lost eight thousand men that wert killed or made Prisoners many Colours eight pieces of Cannon two mortar-pieces all their gross Baggage and many Waggons laden with Arms and Ammunition for the relief of St. Omers which was the chief fruit of the Battel The news of that victory the taking of Cambray on the eighteenth and of St. Omers on the twentieth stunned the Confederates and so many Conquests in six weeks time and before the usual time of the Compagn made the Spaniards despair of being able to preserve any thing in Flanders if peace did not put a stop to those progresses but that which troubled them most was that by these Conquests tâ—ey lost all the Contributions which they raised on the Frontiers of France and which was the surest way they had to pay the small Army that they entertained in the Low-countries In the mean time the Elector of Brandenbourg being come to Wesel there was a great Conference held there concerning the Enterprises which the German forces were to undertake in three several places The Ambassadour of Denmark went thither from Nimâ—eguen the Pensioner Fagel and Admiral Van Trump were there for the States-General the Envoys of the Electors of Cologn Treves Palatine of the Princes of Brunswick and Bishop of Munster were also at that Council of War and the Duke of Newbourg was there in person But the great advantages that the French King had just then obtained diverted the designs which the Confederates had again formed upon Maestricht and Lorrain Many were perswaded that the loss which the Dutch had then sustained would incline them to treat about a separate Peace if the States-General were as desirous of it as the people and all that wished well to the publick seemed impatient to see themselves delivered from so troublesome a War They could not have a better pretext for it than the loss of the battel of Mont-cassel and the sudden return of the Heer Beverning who upon that news came presently back to Nimueguen confirm'd the conjecture that some had of a particular accommodation betwixt Holland and France That Ambassador appeared always so zealous for the real interest of his Countrey that if there was any separate Treaty to be expected it could no ways be managed but by his means and if different interests had not always divided the States-General it would not have been long before they had broken off from the Confederates whose hopes daily vanished though they could not resolve to save themselves from the misfortunes of War by a good Peace which appeared to the Dutch to be the most speedy and safe way to remedy the present Evils and prevent those wherewith they were threatned After this short but no inglorious Campagn the French King dispersed his Forces into quarters of refreshment and being at Dunkirk sent the Duke of Crequi to compliment the King of England and to carry him a Letter whereby his Majesty declared That though his willingness to come to peace did not at all promote the conclusion thereof yet he was ready amidst the prosperities wherewith Heaven was pleased to favour him to consent to a general Truce for some years as the surest means of restoring tranquility to Europe provided that the King of Sueden was of the same mind And seeing his Majesty could have no free correspondence with that Prince he prayed the King of England to inform himself of his intentions not doubting but that he was sufficiently persuaded of the sincere desire he had to second the good offices of his Mediation yea and to contribute all that in him lay for the procuring of a General Peace though he might have ground to expect considerable advantages from his Armies In the mean time it was the common discourse that the French King did but make formal demonstrations of desiring a Peace whilst he found himself so successful and so powerful as to make himself Master of all the Low-Countreys that if he did really consent to a Truce he must either think himself too weak to bear up against the efforts that were preparing to be made against him in Germany and Catalonia or that he intended some enterprise into which they could not dive Some gave out that the French King's Letter was but a politick fetch whereby he gave occasion to the King of England to wave the Declaration which his Parliament so urgently solicited and that the condition of the King of Sueden's consent would be always a sure pretext to stave off the proposition of the Truce whenever France though it convenient The same day May 1677. that that Letter was brought to Nimueguen the Dutch Ambassadors having demanded audience of the French came all to the House of the Marshal D' Estrades whither they brought the project of a Treaty of Commerce the Articles of which were extracted out of the last Treaties which they made with France But the people said publickly That that was but to amuse them to no purpose that it was much better to conclude a Treaty of Peace than a Treaty of Commerce The States General in the mean time sent three hundred thousand Crowns to the Prince of Orange to raise recruits for their Forces publishing that the loss they had sustained at Mont Cassel should not hinder them from rigging out a Fleet which they designed for the assistance of Sicily and Denmark The Confederates nevertheless began to take umbrage at the Negotiation of the Dutch the disposition they found the Sieur Beverning in to treat separately gave them the greater cause of fear in that that Minister ceased not to press them and to complain of their slow proceedings And the Duke of Zell finding himself sollicited to send five thousand men to join the Confederate Army as he had done the year before he made some difficulty and demanded of the States-General an hundred thousand Crowns and as much from the Spaniards and insisted upon this That the Emperor would cause the title and rank of Ambassadors to be given to the Ministers which the House of Brunswick should send to Nimueguen These conditions gave ground to suspect that that Prince and some others of Germany had not the same
Court should authorise his Colleagues that the event might be the less laid at his dore The French Ambassadors sent three Gentlemen to return his compliment in the like terms of esteem and civility whom that Ambassador answered in French The same Gentlemen had Orders also to go wait upon the two other Spanish Ambassadors and to compliment them apart But it being just before insinuated that they had not as yet the character those Gentlemen were advertised not to give them the title of Excellence and for that reason Din Pedro de Ronquillo was not at home thô they went twice to his house and at dinner-time But Mr. Christin received the compliment without the least difficulty The Nuncio made no doubt but that if in the first steps that the French and Spaniards made there happened any thing that might give discontent to the French the Treaty might thereby receive great prejudice and therefore for preventing the same inconveniences to which the conduct of the Imperial Ambassadors towards the French had given occasion he so ordered mâ—â—tes that the carriage of the Spaniards should give the French no cause to complain So that that Mediator extremely zealous for the repose of Christendom hoped that by bringing the French and Spanish Ministers to a good and familiar correspondence together the affairs of the Peace would the more successfully be promoted Though the Marquess de los Balbases remained still incognito yet the French Ambassadors sent to compliment my Lady Marchioness and to desire audience of her They visited her separately and without much ceremony and so did all the other Ambassadors and their Ladies expecting till they could render her their publick Visits Of all the Ambassadors Ladies that were at Nimueguen the Marchioness de los Balbases was the only Lady that spoke not French but seeing she understood a little of it and that the other Ladies had no great difficulty to understand Italian from conversation and play they had no need of any Interpreter The progress that the French Tongue had made in foreign Countreys appeared at Nimueguen for there was no Ambassadors house where it was not almost as common as their Mother-tongue Besides it became so necessary that the Ambassadors of England Germany Denmark and other Nations held all their Conferences in French The two Danish Ambassadors agreed that even their common Dispatches should be made in that tongue because Count Anthony of Oldembourg spoke good High Dutch but not a word of Danes which his Collegue did Insomuch that during the whole course of the Treaty of Peace nothing hardly but French Writings appeared strangers chusing rather to express themselves in French in their publick ceremonies than to write in a language that was not so much in use as it July 1677. The Assembly now beginning to be formed and many strangers being with the Ambassadors at Nimueguen the Mediators on the second of July thought fit to renew the Writing that was spoken of before concerning the means of avoiding the inconveniencies which might happen upon the meeting of Coaches they likewise intreated the Ambassadors to command their Gentlemen upon severe penalties not to fight any Duels and all their servants not to make any disorder in the Town neither by day nor by night This was approved hy all the Ambassadors because of some Duels that had been already fought The Nuncio who was no less zealons for preservation of peace amongst the families which were to procure a general peace to all Europe made a like Writing in Italian which was signed by the Ambassadors in the same manner as that of the English Mediators was In thâ— mean time the Confederates raised all their Batteries in England and were not discouraged Their Ministers made new instances to the King of Great Britain That it would please him to recall the Forces that he had in the French Service representing to him that they were the cause of the loss of Mont-cassel His Majesty made them answer That in that Engagement there were none of his subjects in the French Army but the single troop of the English Gen d'arms wherein there were but seventeen English all the rest being French and that on the contrary the Dutch had two Regiments of Scots who had behaved themselves better in that action than any others of the whole Army That besides he could not recall his Forces from the French Service without declaring War against France seeing he had sent them thither before he was received to be Mediator and that desiring to retain that quality and only labour to procure peace he could not recall the one unless he likewise at the same time recall the others that he had in their service The Confederates had nothing to say to so just and reasonable an answer as that was and they found themselves disappointed of their hopes seeing that that powerful German Army that was to enter into France was put to a stand on the frontier by the Forces which the Marshal de Crequi commanded and so distressed for want of provisions and the parties of the neighbouring Garisons that it was obliged to retreat They conceived also so great jealousie of the King of England's equipping of a Fleet that they were in doubt whether on that side they had not as great cause to fear as to hope On the 13th of July there was an extraordinary Courier from England having Orders to Ambassador Temple to repair forthwith to London and accordingly on the fifteenth about five a clock in the morning he embarqued for that Voyage Every one had his several reasons concerning the hasty departure of that Mediator and could not agree whether it was a good or bad presage for the desired peace On the 16. the Marquess de los Balbases returned from Holland not well satisfied with the people of Amsterdam from whom he received not that favourable reception which he expected by reason of an opinion which that people had that the Spaniards for their own particular interests were the only cause of the continuance of the War Mr. Vlkens Envoy from the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp a Prince in League with the King of Sweden and who hath been dispossessed of his Territories by the King of Denmark rendered his first Visits to the French Ambassadors on the third of August and the same day the Count of Kinski and Mr. Stratman the Imperial Ambassadors visited publickly the Ambassadors of Spain who returned the Visit the same day The Nuncio ought to have been dissatisfied at those publick Visits made before the performance of that which was due to him as Mediator and Nuncio of the Pope Besides the French Ambassadors declared that at the very instant that the civility which was due to the English Ambassadors as Mediators was not rendered to them and that the Ambassadors of that Crown suffered those of the Emperour to have the precedency they would likewise re-assume the rank which they pretended to be their due without any respect to the Mediation
Wherefore the Ambassadors of Spain gave in writing to the Nuncio and wrote a Letter to Sir Lionel Jenkins declaring in both that they followed a custom established betwixt the two branches of the house of Austria which rendered these Visits because of kindred and that these Visits made before the notification of arrival were not of any consequence The Nuncio and Ambassador Jenkins gave Copies of those Declarations to the Ambassadors of France and inserted them in the Memoirs of the Mediation On the fourth the Ambassadors of Spain having given notice of their arrival were visited by the Nuncio Sir Lionel Jenkins who was then the sole English Mediator rendered them his Visit immediately after and next were the French Ambassadors all three together with their usual attendance The Ambassodor of Denmark who always strove not to be the last had his audience the same evening and all the other Ambassadors visited them next day Seeing C. Anthony of Oldenbourg was not come to Nimueguen though his house had been kept long in readiness for him Mr. Petkum stept into Office he took the Character of Envoy of Denmark and in that quality visited all the Ambassadors which he retained during the whole course of the Treaty having signed the Memoirs that were given in by the Ambassador of his Danish Majesty On the sixth the Ambassador of Spain visited the Mediators and the same day demanded Audience of the Ambassadors of France who were all three at the house of the Mareshal d' Estrades and there received them at three of the Clock in the afternoon their Train was numerous and had no less than nine Coaches with six horses apiece The five first Coaches were for their retinue the three Coaches for the threâ— Ambassadors came after in the third 〈◊〉 which that belonged to the Mâ—◠〈…〉 Balbases were they all together 〈…〉 there taking the place the ninth 〈…〉 Coach of the Duke of St. Peter 〈…〉 he had the young Duke of Sesto there the Coach-horses of the Marquess de los Balbases being young the Coach-man durst not entangle himself in the Court of the Mareshal d' Estrades his house because it was but small and therefore the French Ambassadors went out to receive the Spanish at the Street-gate the retinue of the Gentlemen were ranked into two files in the Chamber of Audience because the same had been done by the Spaniards but the Pages according to the usual custom set the Chairs the Gentlemen having done so to none but the Nuncio because it was so practised at his house After that common Visit the French Ambassadors severally visited each of the Spanish Ambassadors apart and their Visits were returned in the same manner The Confederates did not as yet lose the hopes that they built on the German Army commanded by the Duke of Lorrain who that he might employ those great forces in some remarkable action was advanced as far as Mouson the fortifications whereof 〈…〉 â—â—fore razed there he took his 〈…〉 designed to pass the Meuse and 〈…〉 Champaign but he durst not haâ—â—◠〈…〉 â—er because the Mareshal de Crequi 〈…〉 â—â—ly observed his motion All the proâ—â—dings of the Duke of Lorrain were only to favour the designs of the Prince of Orange and to join his Army if he had succeeded in the enterprize which he was going to attempt on Charleroy Then it was that the Consultations which were held at Wesel began to break out The Prince of Orange who during the whole course of this War seemed always to have great designs marched with the forces of Holland Spain Zell and Munster which he commanded to invest Charleroy where he made his Lines and assigned his Quarters Several English Gentlemen came and offered their service to the Prince who seeing no Army in readiness promised himself better success in that Siege than he had had the first time that he attempted it But he was out in his measures for Monsieur de Louvois who foresaw the design in a few days put a powerful Army into the field and was himself in person in a posture of coming to action Many Gentlemen of the Court went thither by Post and many English Gentlemen were there also to signalize themselves upon that occasion in so much that the Prince of Orange seeing his hopes evanished thought fit to draw off on the fourteenth and the Duke of Lorrain having advice thereof left Mouson the same day and marched in haste beyond Treves During the whole time that that Prince encamped on the Meuse the Mareshal de Crequi watched him so close and so incommoded him that without fighting he ruined his Army In effect since that time the Imperial Army appeared only on the defensive About this time the Bishop of Gurck arrived at Nimueguen the dignity of that Prelate whom his Servants without Ceremony called my Lord the Prince and the quality of chief of the Imperial Embassy gave him without contradiction the first rank among the Ministers of the Confederates The Spaniards instantly visited him and he returned the visit the same day but he was obliged to give the Mediators and French Ambassadors a Declaration in the same form as those of Spain gave when they visited the Imperial Ambassadors to the end that that particular custom might be still without prejudice to the honour that the other Ambassadors rendered the Mediators and to the preference which is pretended to by France Sept. 1677 that Prelate gave notice of his arrival to the Mediators and French Ambassadors on the third of September The Nuncio and Ambassadour Jenkins visited him in the morning and the French Ambassadours having sent three Gentlemen to demand Audience rendered him their visit at three of the Clock afternoon with a splendid train of Coaches which marched in this order The three first were filled with Gentlemen the three Coaches of the body followed the Ambassadors being in the last and a seventh Coach belonging to the Mareshal d' Estrades came last of all All the other Ambassadors almost rendered their Visits the same day to the Bishop of Gurck who next day visited the Nuncio and Ambassador Jenkins in the morning and after dinner was with the French Ambassadors who received him all three together at the house of the Mareshal d' Estrades The Bishop and Prince of Gurck formerly Baron of Goes had the reputation of a great Negotiator seeing the dignity to which he was raised was the reward of the services which he had rendered the Emperour in several Negotiations but when it was perceived that his Talent lay only in making long and rambling speeches stuffed with an infinite number of Questions and remote Suppositions which tended only to pump those with whom he discoursed without ever speaking his thoughts clearly the able Ministers were soon weary of his long Visits which lasted always three hours at least He seemed so irresolute in the most pressing conjunctures that that was no small obstacle to the conclusion of the peace of the Empire There
last in the War but their peace depended on the Suedes who being so highly supported by the French seemed no less haughty as to the propositions that were made to them than if they themselves had been in condition of giving the Law to their enemies The morning and evening conferences of the 29. and 30. were very long and the Ambassadors met and discoursed together so that there was no question made of the happy success of the Negotiation Ambassador Temple who upon the advice he received that the Treaty was upon the point of being concluded parted from the Hague on the 29. arrived on the 30. at Nimueguen that he might sign that peace though many things still remained to be adjusted The Ambassadors were at the Town-house from eight of the clock in the morning until two afternoon And as it was not doubted but that that last day would put an end to that great work the end of the evening-conference which began at four of the clock was impatiently expected but it lasted till five of the clock next morning and yet the peace in no condition to be signed The affairs of the Duke of Lorrain took up much time and in that conference M. Stratman made a long and elegant discourse in Latin concerning the pretensions and interests of that Prince though M. Colbert expected no such thing and that he had no time to prepare himself for an answer yet he answered ex tempore with so much force and perspicuity that the whole Assembly were surprised at it It seemed that the Imperialists perceiving that the delay granted by the King expired with the preceding day purposely suffered affairs to be spun out beyond that term to the end that it might not be said that they had suffered it to expire without a conclusion and that they had incurred the penalties upon which the French King granted a second prorogation No other business remained to be determined but the affairs of the House of Furstemberg and the possession of the Dutchy of Bouillon with the granting the demand of the French Ambassadors who would have the result of the Diet of Ratisbon mentioned in the Treaty by which it might appear that the Ambassadors of the Emperor were sufficiently authorised to stipulate in the name of the Empire January 167â— 2 The greatest difficulties being at length discussed the French Ambassadors declared that they had power to prolong for two days the last delay that their King had granted But the Ambassadors of Denmark and Brandenbourg finding that no obstacle could hinder the conclusion of the peace of the Empire though the Ministers of their Masters at the Emperor's Court assured them of the contrary in all their Letters and though the Imperial Ambassadors themselves protested to them at Nimueguen that they would not act in reference to them but as faithful Allyes the first of February about eleven of the clock at night they made a long and smart Remonstrance to the Imperial Embassy that they might endeavour as much as in them lay to divert the blow which they then saw nearer than they had ever before They told the Imperial Ambassadors that their proceedings with the common Enemy so much the more allarm'd them as that in the place where they were shut up they could not come to speech with them that they might represent to them how sensibly it affected them to see that they made mysteries of that which the Enemy scrupled not to make publick that they intreated them to consider the faith of their leagues the Decrees of the Empire and the wrong they would do the Princes their Masters if they restored Sueden to the benefit of the Treaties of Westpbalia contrary to the solemn conclusions that declare they have forfeited the same that above all they pray'd them to give away nothing of what belonged to them and not to suffer that under the name of peace the war might be carried into those parts of the Empire into which the Enemies Forces were never as yet able to advance These Ambassadors added to their Remonstrance a kind of threatning saying that if the Imperialists abandoned them to the discretion of their Enemies they ought not to take it ill if they made use of their â—wn misfortunes for obtaining some reparation from those who would sacrifice them in that manner In fine they adjured them by the Majesty of the Sacred Empire that they would conclude nothing contrary to the Rights of their Masters seeing they were ready to make peace jointly with them upon equitable conditions or otherways to take all necessary measures for a vigorous resistance The Confederate Ambassadors nicked the time in making that Remonstrance for the Conference from which the Imperial and French Ambassadors were just come ended in a total rupture and with so much animosity on both sides that those who formerly desired the peace had cause to fear that the Treaty could hardly be set on foot again But notwithstanding of that Ambassador Jenkins who shewed no less prudence than zeal in his conduct so ordered affairs that next day being the second of the Month the Conferences were renewed Seeing the difference that remained concerning the Dutchy of Bouillon was that which at that time created the greatest obstacle to the conclusion of the peace insomuch that it was thought it would have broken off the Treaty the Nuncio fearing lest that single difficulty might obstruct the fruits of so long and difficult a Negotiation so ordered matters that the Sieurs Charun and Vanderveck Envoys from the Prince and Chapter of Liege declared That since nothing but the pretension which their Master had to the Dutchy of Bouillon hindred the peace they consented that upon the account of that particular Interest the welfare and repose of the whole Empire should be no longer retarded By that means all things were adjusted and in the same Conference which lasted till midnight the Ambassadors agreed to sign the Treaty Tho' the peace concluded betwixt the Emperor and France sufficiently provided for the security and satisfaction of Sueden seeing it restored that Crown to all that the Treaties of Westphalia gave it in the Empire yet there was a necessity of a separate Treaty for Sueden because that King had been declared an Enemy to the Empire and fallen from the advantages which he had by the peace of Munster That Treaty was therefore set on foot with great diligence and had all the success that the particular care of the French King could procure for the concerns of his Confederate The Treaty of Westphalia was made the rule and pattern of this all Acts Decrees and Mandates made to the contrary were rescinded and declared null by it as innovations introduced during the troubles of the War the neutrality of the Emperor and restauration of the Duke of Holstein Gottorp were therein stipulated and all protestations that could be made to the contrary declared null and of none effect The Ambassadors of Denmark and Brandenbourg
lye always upon the catch to regain them and be continually stirring upon that account to disturb the publick Peace and that therefore he would by consequent do well to think of making his accommodation with that Crown Though the Ambassadors of Denmark and Brandenbourg had no great ground to rely upon their Negotiations and that they plainly saw that the Conditions of Peace depended absolutely on the pleasure of the French King yet they left nothing undone at Nimueguen which they judged necessary to maintain their Pretensions The Ambassador of Brandenbourg perceiving that the Declaration made by the French the 24th threatned his Electoral Highness with the loss of Leipstadt and the reimbursement of the charges of the War if within the Month of March he concluded not the Peace made on the 26. a kind of citation to the Ambassadors of the Princes who had made their Peace with France that he might let them see the obligation they stood in of warranting the Leagues which his Electoral Highness had made with them upon occasion of the present War All these Declarations were conceived almost in the same terms but in that which that Ambassador gave to the Spaniards he said that the rigour which the French King shewed towards his Electoral Highness was an effect of the separate Treaties that some of the Confederates had made with France to the prejudice of his Master and he declared that before he could answer the French Ambassadors it was necessary he should know how his Catholick Majesty pretended to discharge himself of the engagement he had made with his Master by the 14 and 24 Articles of their League whereby the King of Spain was not only to procure Peace to his Electoral Highness but also to indemnifie him as to the losses that he might suffer in the Countrey of Cleves And seeing the term prescribed to his Master by France was very short he prayed the Spanish Ambassadors with all expedition to inform him of his Catholick Majesties intention as to the performance of those two Articles that he might accordingly make his answer to the Declaration of his most Christian Majesty These formalities were no real advances towards the Peace The Ambassadors of the North still flattered themselves with the hopes that the ratification of the Emperors Peace might meet with such obstacles in the Dyet at Ratisbonne as might change the face of affairs Nevertheless that Dyet was of a quite contrary disposition and nothing but the interests of the Duke of Lorrain retarded that ratification on the Emperors part I must here call to mind what I mentioned before that the French King having granted five different Plenary Commissions for treating with the five principal Confederates that were engaged in War against his Majesty he would give no particular one for treating with the Duke of Lorrain though all the Confederates had sollicited it by means of the Mediators and therefore that Prince having been obliged to list himself under some one or other of the Confederates committed his concerns to the care of the Ambassadors of the Emperor who in the Treaty that was concluded betwixt the Emperor and France having stipulated for his pretensions it was the Emperors part to procure the ratification of the Articles that concerned the Duke of Lorrain March 1679. Nevertheless the Imperial Ambassadors declared on the 12th of March That the Conditions which concerned that Prince were so hard that if France would not mitigate them and make them more acceptable they must be cancelled out of the Treaty or declared to be held as not comprehended therein seeing the Emperor could not procure them to be ratified nor by consequent promise to do it The French Ambassadors made answer That their Kings ratification which they had in custody being simple and unconditionated that of the Emperor behoved to be so too so that the Duke of Lorrain found by experience that into whose hands soever he committed his In-Interests he was not to hope for so advantageous Conditions as he might have obtained from the French King if he had wholly referred himself to his Majesty The Ambassador of Brandenbourg made the answer of the other Ambassadors a pretext for his delaying to give a return to the Declaration of the French until such time as he might have orders from the Elector his Master So that although he made answer on the 11 yet he declared that it was only in expectation of instructions that no advantage might be drawn from his silence But as he would not directly complain of France he imputed to Sueden all the cause of the severity which he found in the Declaration of the 24th of February This Ambassador said that such a kind of Declaration could not have been made but at the instance of Sueden that his Electoral Highness would be much surprized to find that that Crown charged him with unwillingness to accept of reasonable Propositions of Peace seeing the Suedish Ambassadors could not deny but that it was themselves who refused to answer to the Projects of Peace which he gave in to Sir Lionel Jenkins the English Mediator by express Orders from his Master that moreover he did not believe that it was the intention of the French Ambassadors to make it be thought that the satisfaction which his Electoral Highness pretended did offer violence to the Treaties of Westphalia nor that what Sueden possessed in the Empire was become unalienable as if the States and Territories of the Empire could not pass from one to another of its Members without violating of those Treaties that upon that ground only his most Christian Majesty had concluded Peace with the Princes of the house of Brunswick who retained some part of that which Sueden heretofore possessed in the Empire and that the Elector his Master might with much more justice pretend to a satisfaction of the same nature He furthermore added That his Electoral Highness would be amazed to understand that the French should pretend to make him pay the charges of the War and much more to dipossess him of Leipstadt without any formality contrary to the Constitutions of the Empire and the very Treaties of Westphalia and that with so much the less reason that the Count of Lippe to whom the half of Leipstadt belonged had not the least quarrel with Sueden All who were less concerned than France in the restauration of Sueden and the Mediators themselves said openly That the too great obstinacy with which that Crown pretended to the intire restitution of all that it had lost during this War would be an insuperable obstacle to the peace That it was not to be expected that Sueden would make too much haste to end the War since the Eight hundred thousand Crowns of Subsidy which that King had from France were better to him than the Revenues of Pomerania and all that he possessed in Germany That if the French King did not by his Power make the peace of Sueden that Crown would never make the
least advance towards it especially so long as it was so well supported by the men and money of France In the mean while the French Ambassadors having seen the Answer that the Danish Ambassador made thought fit to reply to it on the 14th saying That the French King's design being to make the peace of the Empire universal his Majesty had stipulated in the Treaty that he should employ all his Offices with the King of Sueden and the Emperor the like with his Confederates to incline them to consent to a truce for better carrying on of the peace That the Suedish Ambassadors were the first that consented to it even by the Treaty whilst that those of Denmark and Brandenbourg were so far from condescending to what had been stipulated for them that on the contrary they had protested against the Treaty and used still all their endeavours to incline the Empire to prefer the continuation of the War before the ratification of the peace The French Ambassadors subjoined That it was this procedure of the Confederates which had given occasion to his Majesty of taking more efficacious measures for obtaining of a general peace with as much expedition as the good of the people required and therefore for making the Declaration of the 24th of February which was so much the more reasonable in the pretensions it contained in that all equity allowed that those who share most in the inconveniences of War should make likewise the greatest advantages of it The Elector of Cologn with whom peace was made was at present most exposed to the passage of Forces and his most Christian Majesty not desiring to make advantage of his Armies to the prejudice of the Empire was willing thereby to gratifie that Prince of all the rest to whom the continuation of a War which the obstinacy alone of the Elector of Brandenbourg entertained still in the Empire was most prejudicial At length the French Ambassadors declared that they would never consent to any proposition unless the re-establishment of the Treaties of Westphalia was fully admitted All men were of opinion that the cessation of Arms mentioned in the Treaty of Peace betwixt the Empire and France was the most proper means of compassing the Peace of the North. And therefore the Ambassador of Brandenbourg finding that the French charged him in their Reply with refusing to accept of that Cessation and that at the same time they declared that they could not admit of any proposition which was not grounded on the Treaties of Westphalia thought himself obliged without further delay to make an Answer which he did the 16th He said That if by a repugnancy which is common on such occasions he had disapproved what the Imperial Ambassadors had concluded with France to the prejudice of his Master it could not be inferred from thence that he was unwilling to accept the cessation of Arms seeing he had made known to the French Ambassadors by the English Mediators that he was ready to conclude it upon reasonable conditions That as the King of Denmark and Elector of Brandenbourg had cause to be very well satisfied with the Mediators so their Ambassadors ought not without express Orders to have the same respect for the offers of the Imperial Ambassadors that those of Sueden ought to have for the care that the French Ambassadors took of the concerns of that Crown and so much the rather because that if in this juncture France particularly performed the Articles of the League betwixt it and Sueden it was manifest that the Emperor did violate that which was contracted betwixt him and the Princes whom he abandoned The Ambassador added That the Elector his Master had only engaged in the War to maintain the Peace of Westphalia against the Invasion of Sueden That his Electoral Highness was willing to have contributed what he could to the preservation of that Peace in its full force but that since it was the intent of the same Peace that those who should break it to the prejudice of those that are comprehended therein should make reparation according to the sentence of the Emperor and Empire there was nothing more just than to put in execution the Decree which the Emperor and Empire had given against Sueden in the present case and that it was far greater obstinacy to refuse that which was reasonable than to pretend to what was lawfully ones due The Mediators in the mean time and the Ambassadors of all the Princes who had made their Peace perceiving that the Month of March which the French King allowed as the longest delay to the Elector of Brandenbourg was drilled on in debates and disputes in Writing without any serious application to the promoting of the Peace solicited the French Ambassadors to consent to a cessation of Arms during all the following Month not doubting but in that time all the difficulties that hindered the conclusion of the general Peace might at length be removed These solicitations made the French Ambassadors declare to the Mediators on the 26. that in compliance with the Instances that had been made to them both by them and the Bishop of Gurck in name of the Ambassadors of Denmark and Brandenbourg for a suspension of Arms until the first of May they consented in name of the King their Master and his Allies to a cessation during the whole Month of April provided the same Ambassadors of Denmark and Brandenbourg accepted of it without delay saying it was neither the fault of them nor of their Allies that that Truce was not granted at the time that they signed the Peace with the Emperor according to the offers that were made then but that it was the protestations of the Ambassadors of Denmark and Brandenbourg only which was the cause it did not then take effect The French Ambassadors declared to the Mediators at the same time that they had not only received the ratification of the Peace which they had signed with the Imperial Ambassadors the 5th of February but that also his most Christian Majesty desiring to see that Peace with all expedition accomplished for the repose of the Empire he had sent them a commission for the fulfilling of the Treaty so that since it was not his fault that the Empire did not instantly reap the fruits of so desired a Peace if it happened that the ratification of the Emperor should not be exchanged within the time prescribed by the Treaty they demanded from that instant in name of the King that the demolition of Philipsbourg and the surrender of all Briâ—gow might be granted to his Majesty and added to the Treaty for satisfaction of the charges that he was obliged to be at And as to the Duke of Lorrain that if that Prince did not in the same time fully and plainly ratifie all that the Imperial Ambassadors had stipulated for him his Majesty in that case held himself acquitted from all the conditions that he had granted to him The circumstance which the French Ambassadors
a Squadron of about thirty Ships The half-free Ships are Vessels of about One hundred Tuns burden their priviledges and number are so small that they cannot be very prejudicial to the Dutch Trade Nevertheless the Dutch found that all these priviledged Vessels might carry away the greatest part of the Trade of the Baltick and therefore the States insisted vigorously upon the abrogation of all those priviledges as contrary to the equality of advantage which the subjects of both Nations were to enjoy But in that debate the same mean was taken which served to remove the former difficulty and it was agreed upon that these Vessels should only enjoy their exemptions in the Territories of the Kingdom of Sueden and Finland and that in the other Provinces on the Baltick-sea depending on the Crown of Sueden there should be no distinction between Suedish Ships and Dutch It could not be believed after this that any new difficulty could retard the conclusion of the Treaty of Commerce whereof the Negotiation had lasted above a year Nevertheless there happened one which put a full stop to the affair The Ambassadors of the States-General had put in the 7th Article of their project That the subjects on either side should be used as the Nation in greatest friendship ut quaeque gens amicissima The Suedes took occasion from this to demand a freedom from the duties which the Dutch had imposed upon the Suedish commodities that pass the Sound and the rather because that imposition was never laid on till the Suedes had obtained from the Danes by Treaties concluded to their advantage and exemption from part of the duties that are exacted in the Sound The truth is that the States to hinder that exemption from being prejudicial to the trade of their subjects who enjoy not the same priviledg setled then in their Countrey upon those that had the priviledg of the Sound and Imposition almost equivalent to that Exemption The Dutch said That the equality which ought to be observed in the Trade of the two Nations was not hurt by that kind of compensation and alledged that it was so little contrary to it that in all the Treaties which had been concluded in the long time since these duties were imposed the abrogation of them was never thought upon when other Treaties was made The Suedes however who would not lose to the profit of the Dutch what they obtained to the prejudice of Denmark stood firmly to that point so that the conferences at the Hague were broken up and the Count D' Avaux could not promise himself to renew them again on that subject with the same success that they had had in the other difficulties insomuch that M. Oliver Krants came back to Nimueguen Aug. 1679. where the Assembly being shortly after wholly dissolved the conclusion of these Treaties could no longer be prolonged which yet were not signed until the second of October the annulling of the Imposts laid on in Holland and the reduction of those of Sueden to the standard of the Treaty of 1640. remaining undecided and referred to other conferences which were to be held at the Hague for adjusting these affairs within eighteen Months after the signing of the Treaty In the mean time M. de Mayerkroon who had been for some time at the French Court perceiving that the conferences in Schonen did not advance the Negotiation of the peace betwixt Sueden and Denmark began to seem more inclined to conclude the Treaty of the King his Master tho' he had no cause to expect more advantageous conditions than those he had at first On the contrary experience and example made appear that it could not but be prejudicial to the King of Denmark to be the last in making his peace The French King on his part desiring nothing more than to correspond with that good disposition and to render the peace general by the conclusion of that of Denmark gave for that end on the 24th of August a full power to M. de Pompone and by that means within a few days the Treaty was concluded betwixt his Majesty and the Kings of Sueden and Denmark and was signed at St. Germans the second of September on the same conditions that the King had always proposed for the full satisfaction of his Ally It is known that his Majesty declared from the beginning That he could not make peace with the King of Denmark but upon condition of a full restitu ion to Sueden The delays and difficulties that were made thereupon moved not his Majesty to abate any thing of the Treaties of Roschild Copenhaghen and Westphalia and these Treaties were the ground-work of the peace of Denmark in the fourth Article whereof his Danish Majesty declared That in consideration of his most Christian Majesty he consented that the Crown of Sueden be restored to all that it possessed before the War and to all the Territories States Provinces Towns and places that have been yielded up and acquired by those three Treaties and by consequent to all that the Danish Arms had possessed during that War As to the differences that heretofore happened betwixt the subjects of the two Nations by reason of the priviledges and exemptions which the Suedes as I said enjoy from a part of the duties that the King of Denmark raises in the Sound and in the Belt the most Christian King being uncertain whether or not the intention of the King of Sueden was that his subjects should any ways make use of their priviledges to the prejudice of the revenue of the K. of Denmark thought fit so to order affairs by that Treaty that Commissioners named by each party should meet three months after the exchange of the Ratifications and by the mediation of a Minister appointed by his Majesty adjust all these differences in an amicable way The Restauration of the Duke of Sleswick Holstein-Gottorp having been one of the conditions on which the French King consented to this Peace it was likewise one of the greatest difficulties that happened in the carrying on of the Treaty That Prince was stript of all by the King of Denmark only for being an Ally to the King of Sueden and therefore ought to be restored to all again To which the King of Denmark as an evidence of the desire he had to put an end to the War with all expedition consented at the desire and requisition of the French King granting that the Duke of Sleswick Holstein-Gottorp should enjoy his Territories Provinces Towns and Places in the same state as they were in at the signing of the Treaty with all the Soveraignty that belonged to him by virtue of the Treaties of Roschild Copenhagen and Westphalia That Prince could hardly pretend to more unless it were the damage that his Territories had suffered during the War by the vast sums of Money that the King of Denmark had raised therein as being one of the best Countries of all the North. The Elector of Brandenbourg the Princes of the
House of Brunswick and the Bishop of Munster who made their separate Treaties after that the Peace was concluded betwixt France and Holland received profitable testimonies of the desire that the French King had of giving repose to Europe for his Majesty was willing to ease them of part of the charges of the War by giving them large sums of Money in consideration of their good inclinations towards the Peace and particularly in favour to the King of Sueden who has not been wanting on his part to give considerable advantages to all these Princes But the King of Denmark is the only Prince who has not only reserved none of his Conquests but likewise the sole enemy of Sueden to whom France hath allowed no consideration for his charges Seeing the King of Denmark was at that time in a condition to demand Reason of the State of Hambourg in relation to several pretensions that he has upon that City and particularly concerning the Homage that he claims from it he drew all his Forces about that Town immediately after the conclusion of the Peace with Sueden The truth is his Danish Majesty had not not an Army strong enough to force such a City as Hambourg and the more because the Neighbouring Princes concerned themselves in its preservation But the King of Denmark coming at first as near to it as he pleased by reason of the neighborhood of Altena raised Batteries for his Artillery and Bombes with which he might easily have incommoded the Town October 1679 In this Instant the most Christian King wrote to the King of Denmark intreating him not to disturb the repose that the general Peace had given to all Europe almost and the Princes of the House of Brunswick who had already sent Forces into Hambourg to provide for its defence interposed vigorously for that accommodation which was provisionally concluded the first of November the Rights of the King of Denmark and of the City of Hambourg remaining as they were until that the point of Homage and the other differences which depended betwixt his Danish Majesty and that Town should in an amicable way be decided by course of Law November 1679 The chief condition of that agreement was an obligation by the Town of Hambourg to pay at Five Terms to his Danish Majesty the sum of Two hundred and twenty thousand Crowns in consideration whereof that King remitted the indignation he had conceived against that Town renounc'd the pretensions that he had to the Lands jointly possessed by Hambourg and Lubeck and promised to restore the Ships Goods Commodities and Inhabitants of Hambourg which had been seised by reason of these pretensions Thus ended that great War wherein almost all the Princes of Europe were engaged from the year 1672. But it was not enough for the good and repose of Europe that the general peace put an end to all the calamities of the War these mournful Scenes of so bloody a Tragedy required at length some pleasing Catastrophy which might sweeten the memory of past miseries and fill the people with more agreeable hopes Nothing was more proper to produce such an effect than the Marriage of the chief Princes who had had a share in the War seeing these new Alliances were sacred ties to render the Peace indissolvable No sooner had the King of Spain ratified the Peace with France but that he thought upon confirming it by a new Alliance with the French King so that though the Court of Spain were far engaged with the Emperor for the Marriage of the Imperial Princess with his Catholick Majesty yet it hindered not that Prince from converting all his thoughts towards France The Picture of Madamoiselle de Valois and the Royal qualities of that Princess made him resolve the last Spring to cause the Marquess de los Balbases to go from Nimueguen to the French Court in quallity of Ambassador extraordinary to demand her in Marriage That Minister went suddenly into France and in a private Audience which he had of the King about the beginning of May he demanded of his Majesty Madamoiselle in Marriage for the King his Master but his Majesty gave no answer to the Ambassador concerning an affair of that importance until the beginning of July at which time he declared that he granted Madamoiselle to the King of Spain That Kingdom being mindful that France had always given them good Queens the people were extreamly overjoyed at the news but the young Monarch especially who was deeply smitten with the merit of that Princess The Ceremony of the Marriage was performed at Fontain-bleau the last day of August with all the magnificence that could be expected from the French Court The Procuration which the King of Spain sent blank to be filled up with the name of him whom the King should think fit to nominate for espousing the Queen was given to the Prince of Conty who gave his Hand to that Princess in the name of his Catholick Majesty and the Queen sometime after took her Journey for Spain not without shedding of Tears which testified that the regret of leaving France was more sensible to her than the joy of possessing a Crown The Heroick qualities both of body and mind which met in the person of the Prince of Conty gained so much of the esteem and affection of his Majesty that he thought it not enough to give him a very special mark of it by making choice of him to espouse the Queen of Spain but shortly after gave him more sensible testimonies of the same by bestowing upon him in Marriage Madamoiselle de Blois whom his Majesty tenderly loves That Marriage was celebrated with so much splendour and with so universal approbation that the Court never appeared more magnificent nor better satisfied than upon that occasion The Marriage of the King of Sueden with the Princess Vlrica of Denmark was agreed upon before the rupture betwixt Sueden and Denmark by this last War yea even from that time stately Coaches and some things that were necessary for the Pomp of that Marriage were providing in France so that after the Peace was concluded betwixt those Two Kings it was not hard to make up that new Marriage But seeing those Princes had still a great deal to do to regulate affairs within and without their Kingdoms and especially the King of Sueden who was to retake possession of several Provinces and to give orders for setling them again in the condition that they were in before the War the consummation of that Marriage was delayed until the Spring In the mean time part of the Equipage for that Ceremony was preparing at Hambourg and Clothes and other things which were ordered to be made in France were expected from thence December 1679 The French Court also laid aside all thoughts of War Feasting and Divertisements were the dayly employment there and the Marriage of the Queen of Spain was hardly over when the King thought on that of the Dauphin Men cast their eyes on all the Princesses of Europe being curious to know for whom that great fortune was destin'd by Heaven but his Majesty pitched upon the Princess Anne Marie Christian of Bavaria for whom also the Dauphin seemed to have greatest inclination M. Colbert who was just returned from Nimueguen was sent into Bavaria to treat about the Marriage where he concluded all the Articles and signed the contract thereof the 30th of December Afterward the King sent the Duke of Crequi into Bavaria with presents for the Princess who being accompanied by Forty Gentlemen performed the journey by Post The Court at that time prepared for the Journey which the King designed in February to go meet the Dauphiness as far as Tholous where the ceremonies and confirmation of the Marriage were to be performed the Duke of Bavaria having espoused the Dauphiness in name of the Dauphin at Munichen The King in the mean time acquainted all neighbouring Princes with that Marriage by Letters which he wrote to them wherein it appears that the piety and great vertues wherewith that Princess is endowed have given his Majesty just cause to hope that that alliance will produce to France Princes that shall worthily answer the greatness of so August a Birth FINIS