go before and make as if they design'd for Casal but to come to meet them at Verceil by some by-way or other The Marquess Daix being deluded by this Artifice went Post to Casal with design to prevail with the Governor of that Place to arrest them there In the mean time the Marquess of Montauban and the Baron of Bearn having desir'd Colonel Beetsleer to follow them repair'd to the Borough of Verceil the Place of Assignation They arriv'd there seven days before and staid till seven days after the time appointed by Monsieur Bagnasque But that General broke his Promise and never came to the Place Messieurs de Montaubon and de Bearn entred an Act of their Appearance and Stay and took Certificates of the Parson and Magistrates of the Place and seeing all their Endeavours were eluded by the Cowardise of Monsieur de Bagnasque the Marquess of Montauban resolv'd at last to go for Holland and the Baron of Bearn to return to Turin with design to fight Bagnasque where-ever he could meet him and revenge the Contempt and Breach of his Promise It is to be observed by the By That if Messieurs de Montauban and de Bearn had been arrested at Milan by the Marquess Daix Bagnasque to secure his Honour had resolv'd to go to the appointed Place whilst his Relations would have given out in Turin That Messieurs de Montauban and de Bearn were Cowards who had broke the Appointment At last Bagnasque's Friends considering that the General was not safe and that the Baron of Bearn who had stopt him in his own Coach in the middle of Turin would sooner or later surprise him a third time thought it convenient to use all means to make away with so dangerous an Enemy and for that purpose they gave Two hundred Pistols to Ten or Twelve Soldiers to murder him Some of these villanous Wretches having communicated their detestable Design to some of their Comerades of the Regiment of Montauban these gave Information of it to their Officers who presently notified it to the Baron of Bearn The Hatred and Resentment of Bagnasque did not stop here The Marquesses of Pianese Caral Tane and Perella all four related to that General had several Conferences upon that Affair The Safety of Bagnasque's Person who besides the great Places he had both in the Army and at Court was also his Royal Highness's Favourite was so dear to them that they us'd all their Endeavours with his Royal Highness to get an Order to put Bagnasque under arrest both to make his Family easie and break the Designs of the Baron of Bearn who would have attack'd him where-ever he could have met him His Royal Highness espous'd the Quarrel of his General so warmly that he prevail'd with my Lord Galloway to deprive the Baron of all his Employments notwithstanding the Remonstrances of Monsieur Lilemarais who wrote to his Lordship that Maters could not be carried to that extremity without doing him the greatest Injustice in the World since the Baron of Bearn was acknowledg'd by all the Army to be a brave Officer who always had discharg'd his Duty with Honour and who besides that was distinguish'd by his Quality as being extracted from one of the noblest Families in France But all this was to no purpose for Bagnasque's Cowardise and the great Interest he had at Court still prevail'd upon all other Considerations However his Royal Highness being satisfied of the Valour and Merit of the Baron of Bearn resolv'd at last to desire my Lord Galloway to make him advantageous Offers from him upon condition that he would renounce the Marquess of Montauban's Interest and forget what had past between him and General Bagnasque The Baron of Bearn answer'd That he acted not in this Affair out of any private Interest but only because the Honour of the King of England was at stake since General Bagnasque had abus'd his Troops and their Commander the Marquess of Montauban and that for his part he had rather sacrifice all his Employments than abandon his Friend's Cause My Lord Galloway order'd him by his Royal Highness's Command to be under Arrest and told him That the present Juncture of Affairs exacted from him that Complaisance for his Royal Highness The Baron of Bearn protested against the Injustice done him and put himself under the Protection of the Confederate Princes Monsieur de Varennes General of the Troops of Brandenburgh Monsieur Vander-Meer Minister of the States and several other Men of Note being now concern'd in this Affair my Lord Galloway prevail'd with his Highness to have the Baron of Bearn releas'd from his Confinement Thus being at liberty he at last left Turin and went into Holland to give His Majesty of Great Britain an Account of all that had past in this Affair Before his departure his Highness desir'd my Lord Galloway to offer him a Regiment if he would go and serve the Venetians and upon his refusal he offer'd him Money and Letters of Recommendation to the King of England He answer'd That he return'd his Royal Highness Thanks for the Offers made him upon so hard Terms That if my Lord Galloway was pleas'd to give him Letters for his Britannick Majesty he would gladly accept of them but as for those of his Highness he had no occasion for them and that the only Favour he expected from him was to order the Payment of the Arrears due to him The Duke of Savoy seeing that all these Offers were not able to shake his Resolution or make him betray his Honour spoke no more about that Affair Only my Lord Galloway and Monsieur Vander-Meer gave him Letters the first for the King and the other for the States of the United Provinces You have in this short History a faithful Picture of the Ministers of the Court of Savoy of the Genius and Inclinations of his Highness's Generals and in fine of the shuffling Conduct of that Prince with respect to the Troops of the Allies We say nothing here but what is notoriously known and if we would recount all the Treacheries we have seen with our own Eyes we should swell up this Discourse to a great Volume However we would have the World know that it was not for want of his Highness's Endeavours if all the Confederate Troops were not sacrific'd to the French and that nothing but the Prudence and Wisdom of the Generals that commanded them has sav'd them from his premeditated Designs of destroying them After that I leave to the Confederates to judge whether at this time they ought to look upon the Duke of Savoy as a well-affected Prince who never had ought but the Interest of the Confederacy in prospect as his Ministers are pleas'd to insinuate it or as a sworn and irreconcileable Enemy the more dangerous in that he has been acquainted with all that pass'd in the Closet of the Confederate Princes both to serve his own Ends and those of the Common Enemy Cautions may be
King shall put it into the Hands of his Royal Highness to enjoy it for ever without demanding any thing for the Expences of that Expedition and to secure him in the Possession of it by protecting him against the Arms of the House of Austria VIII That he renounces for ever all the Rights and Claims which he and his Predecessors have had to the Dukedom of Savoy Principality of Piedmont and County of Nice IX That in case the War continue in Italy by the Refusal of the Neutrality the most Christian King will lend him his Forces for the Conquest of Geneva That if the Neutrality be accepted that Expedition shall be reserv'd till after the general Peace His Royal Highness on his Part promises to the French King I. To renounce the Confederacy and join himself for ever with the Crown of France To act unanimously with the Most Christian King in all that can make their Union lasting and their Alliance inviolable for the future II. That he shall never give his Consent to the Restoration of the Vaudois and that he shall repeal all the Edicts by which he had lately granted them the free Exercise of their Religion and their Return to the Valleys III. That he will use his Mediation to bring the Allies to a General Peace Let us examine these Articles and see whether his Royal Highness ought at this time to depend upon the Word of a Monarch who never scrupl'd to violate the Treaties he had concluded with the other Princes of Europe without any Exception We must consider in the first place That when the French King consents to restore Pignerol he does as much as give the Key of his Kingdom on the Side of the Alps to keep to the Duke of Savoy and loses for ever all the Advantages he had by that importent Place upon all the Princes of Italy By that means he leaves the Province of Dauphinê expos'd to the Irruptions of his Enemies and confirms the staggering Liberty of all the Princes beyond the Alps who were before as it were bridled up by Casal and Pignerol To this we may add That by that Restitution he sacrifices all the Resentments which for some late Years have occasion'd the Quarrels he has had with the Court of Rome during the Papacy of Innocent XI with the Republick of Genoa and some other States of Italy If the French King be sincere in the Restitution of Pignerol the Duke of Savoy has all the reason in the World to be satisfied with the Generosity of France and not to grudge all the Complaisance he has had for that Crown And indeed 't is a great matter for his Highness to get so importent a Place as Pignerol Besides the French King does not stay till he be compell'd to it by force of Arms He makes this voluntary Present to his Royal Highness even at a time when his Forces are so much superiour in Italy and that he is in a condition to strip the Duke of all his Territories by the taking of Turin the Capital City of his Dominions 'T is a great matter I say for the Duke of Savoy to get Pignerol But after we have taken a View of what the French King gives to his Highness let 's see what he reserves to himself He consents to the Restitution of Pignerol I grant it but then this is to be at a General Peace and after all its Fortifications are razed to the Ground By these two Reservations the French King plainly shews First That what he aim'd at was to engage the Duke of Savoy to use his utmost Endeavours to hasten a General Peace Secondly That when he restores this Place dismantl'd 't is only with design to re-take it whenever he pleases So that at best the Duke of Savoy is like to enjoy it but for some small time and perhaps Ten Months after the General Peace is concluded the French King will order his Troops to clear the Place To be convinc'd of this we must observe That in all Treaties of Peace the French King never offers to restore any strong Place but on condition of razing the Fortifications which shews his Double-dealing his want of Sincerity and his secret Desire of making himself Master of them as soon as he has gain'd his present Ends which are chiefly to disarm his Enemies while he keeps on foot a numerous Army of well-disciplin'd experience'd Soldiers when the other Princes disband theirs 'T is well-known by experience that France can raise again the Fortifications of a Place in very few Months and that often with little Expence because he not only makes use of his own Soldiers but also of the Inhabitants of the Place and their Money to boot Witness the Fortifications of most of the Fortresses in Flanders which have been built with the vast Sums that he got by Contributions All that the French King provides for his Share are Engineers good Order and Diligence as for Materials and Money the poor Inhabitant is always oblig'd to find them This Consideration makes the French King value so little the Restoration of a strong Place provided its Fortifications be demolish'd without which lie would never consent to it His End therefore in restoring Pignerol was to cast a Mist before the Duke of Savoy's Eyes and decoy him to break all the Engagements he was enter'd into with the Confederates But when he has brought his Designs about he will retake it the more easily because its Fortifications will then be razed which he shall never want either for Money Men or Materials to rebuild Besides what use can the Duke of Savoy make of Pignerol when dismantl'd Will that hinder the French King from having a free Passage to enter his Dominions upon the first Quarrel Or is his Country the more secure by it Not at all Therefore 't is evidently plain that the French has had no other Design than to delude the Duke of Savoy and at the same time lay a Trap for the Confederates the sooner to bring them to treat of a General Peace After all what does the French King give more to that Prince than what he had already offer'd in the first Proposals of Peace he made to the Allies But the Design of the Confederates was to oblige France to surrender Pignerol into the Hands of the Duke of Savoy in the Condition it was at that time and would never hear of its being raz'd Nevertheless his Royal Highness accepts of it as such and thinks it a good Bargain to get it in any Condition the French King is pleas'd to restore it to him But he may judge by this first Step of the Sincerity of the French King's Promises and since that Monarch deludes him in this Article he must expect no better in all the rest Therefore he loses more by abandoning the Confederacy than he gets by entring into a Private Treaty to the prejudice of his own Interest and the Contempt of so many Princes who had
put a Stop to the Designs of the French King However we may say that 't is by the Violation of Treaties that he has laid the Foundation of that overgrown Power which one might justly call the Tyrant of Europe and which has an absolute Sway in almost all Courts After so many living Examples and repeated Experience of the small Credit that can be given to the French King's Word we may safely conclude that his late Renunciation to the Dominions of his Royal Highness will not be of long Continuance The ninth Article whereby the French King engages and promises to assist the Duke of Savoy in order to reduce the City of Geneva was never made publick through Reasons of State and Policy as well as several others which have secretly been agreed upon by the French King and the Duke of Savoy Time will clear this great Mystery However it is certain that France for these many Years past has meditated the Ruin of that City The Protestant Religion which is profess'd there is the chief Reason of these two Princes Hatred against it Besides the good Successes the French King has had in extinguishing the Reform'd Religion in France give him the Hopes to bring it under his Subjection after a general Peace is concluded This grand Design had by this time been accomplish'd had he not fear'd a Rupture with the Switzers who have declar'd themselves Protectors of it He has already but too many Enemies upon his Back and therefore it is convenient for him to dissemble and temporize till he has decided the Quarrels he has with the Allied Princes In the mean time he has taken all the necessary Measures for that Purpose and the French Resident at Geneva is an ill Omen to the Safety and Liberty of that Republick since he only lives there to know their weak and strong Sides and observe all that passes which he presently acquaints his Master withal But when all is done perhaps the French King promises more to the Duke than he is able to perform 'T is not the first time he has been out in his Projects The Face of Affairs does often change in a moment and a small Disappointment may make his Designs miscarry But let us suppose that the French will make himself Master of Geneva what Security can his Royal Highness have that he will put it into his Hands and punctually perform all his Promises I do not know any Body would take upon him that Guarranty The French King's Honesty in those sort of Matters is now become so slippery and suspicious that it is more likely he would keep that Conquest for himself than resign it to the Duke Let us therefore conclude That this Article is just as those that went before that is imaginary and chimerical The French King will never want for colourable Pretences to call back his Word and keep his Promises to the Duke no farther than he has a mind to Thus having examin'd the Treaty of Peace concluded betwixt the French King and Victor Amedeus II. Duke of Savoy let 's now consider the Consequences of that Peace And first let us begin with its solemn Publication at Paris on the Tenth of September 1696. BE it known to all That a good firm stable and solid Peace with an entire and sincere Friendship and Reconciliation has been made and agreed upon between the Most High Most Excellent and Most Mighty Prince LEWIS by the Grace of God of FRANCE and NAVARRE King our Sovereign Lord and the Most High and Mighty Prince VICTOR AMEDEUS the Second Duke of SAVOY their Vassals Subjects and Servants in all their Kingdoms Dominions Countries Lands and Lordships of their Obedience That the said Peace is general betwixt them and their said Vassals and Subjects and that by vertue of the same it is lawful for them to go and come to return and sojourn in all the Places of the said Kingdoms Dominions and Countries to Trade and Merchandise hold Correspondence and Communication one with another in all manner of Freedom and Security as well by Land as by Sea and on Rivers and other Waters on this side and that side the Mountains and in the same manner as it has and ought to have been done in time of good sincere and amicable Peace such as it has pleased the Divine Goodness to grant unto the said Lords Kings and Dukes of Savoy their People and Subjects Which to maintain and entertain it is most expresly forbidden to all Persons by what Quality or Title soever dignified or distinguish'd to undertake attempt or innovate any thing to it contrary or pâ—judicial upon pain of being severely punish'd as Infringers of Peace and Disturbers if the Publick Repose Given at Oar Court at Versailles the Eighth day of September 1696. Signed LEWIS And a little lower Phelypeaux c. This Peace as you see was publish'd at Paris with all the Pomp and Solemnity that usually attend those great Events in which France has a more than ordinary Concern And there 's no doubt but she has affected to shew an uncommon Magnificence in this thereby to dazle the Confederate Princes and make the Success of a Negotiation which she looks upon as the Foundation of a General Peace sound high in all the Courts of Europe The French King's Policy is good enough as to that matter He loses nothing by crying up and proclaiming whatever he does and undertakes but often draws a great deal of Good from a false Shew and so turns both his good and bad Successes to his own advantage According to this Maxim it is observable That during this War when he has lost a Battel or a Town or suffer'd any other Damage he has caus'd Publick Rejoycings to be made and order'd his Generals and Governours of Towns to discharge their Artillery as if he had won a signal Victory over his Enemies This Conduct tho' a little unsincere has brought great Advantages to him First By that means he has dazzl'd his Subjects and kept them in Obedience by flattering them with imaginary Successes and has receiv'd from them at the same time all the necessary Subsidies to answer the vast Charges of a burdensom War Secondly He thereby has confirm'd the staggering Fidelity of the Conquer'd Nations In fine He has rais'd the drooping Spirits of the Soldiers that fought under his Generals and has as we say set a good Face on a bad Game Witness the extravagant Rejoicings made at Paris after the Battel of the Boyne upon the false Report of the Death of the King of England those that were made after the loss of a Fight at Sea and generally in all the Rencounters where the French King's Arms were worsted But we may freely say That all the Parade and Ostentation of the Court of France upon the score of the Peace of Italy will be so far from making any Impression upon the most Serene Allies to engage them to agree the sooner to a General Peace that it
third Sons till the Emperour Charles the Bald presented Bozon Count of Arles with the ancient Kingdom of Burgundy to which he joyn'd Savoy to be holden for ever by by Fealty and Homage from the Emperour of Germany The Kingom of Arles was of no long Duration and had but four or five Kings the last of which named Rodolphus being dead without Issue Humbert of Morienne who then was Governour of Savoy was vested with it by the Emperour Conradus the Salick He was succeeded by Amedeus his Son from whom is deriv'd the present Family of Savoy which is the more illustrious and ancient because Humbert was descended from the Dukes of Saxony However the Crown of France maintains now-a-days that the vesting of those Dominions had no legal Foundation First because the Empire ought to return hereditarily to the House of France after the Decease of Charles the Burley the last Emperour of the Carlovingian Race upon whom Conradus the Salick had usurp'd it Besides this France produces another Title to Savoy which is that it was annex'd to it a long time before the Erection of the Empire and therefore ought now to be accounted a part of its Demesnes To all these Claims to Savoy France adds still a new one which is deriv'd from Louise of Savoy Mother to Francis I. King of France and Daughter to Philip VII Duke of Savoy who at his Marriage with Margaret of Bourbon had stipulated that their Children should succeed one another in the Dutchy and all its Dependencies Philip had two Children by Margaret viz. Philibert and Louise Philibert being dead Louise his Sister claim'd the Succession but because there was still two Male-Children by a second Marriage viz. Charles and the Duke of Nemours who by the Prerogative of their Sex set up their Title to the Dutchy Louise was postpon'd and Charles made himself Master of Savoy with the Consent of the States of the Country After all these several intestine Quarrels Savoy was again disturbed by the War Francis I. made in Italy This Prince having entred that Dutchy with a formidable Army reduc'd it to his Obedience in a very little time The Conquest of the Principality of Piedmont and County of Nice soon follow'd that of Savoy all which cost Francis I. but one Campagn By this means Charles was entirely dispossess'd of his Dominions and had not one Foot of Ground left him Francis I. and Henry II. his Successor were Masters of them for about twenty four Years that is till the Peace of Chateau in Cambresis was concluded in 1559 whereby King Henry yielded to Spain above 400 Towns and 198 Garison'd Fortresses among which were compris'd all those of Savoy and Piedmont except Turin Viniers Villeneuve Ast Chevas and Pignerol which Charles IX and Henry III. at last restored to the Duke However as it is most certain that the French King never stints his Pretensions nor regards the Treaties made by his Predecessors he will be sure to revive in due time the Title he has to Savoy which is like to be as soon as a general Peace is concluded So that the present Duke of Savoy may be said to be like those that are born to be unhappy For he never moves a Step to favour the Designs of France but he draws towards the Brink of a Precipice Several Reasons engage the French King to set up anew his Title to Savoy as soon as a general Peace is concluded First or all the new Right he gets by the Marriage of the young Dutchess of Savoy the Duke's eldest Daughter with the Duke of Burgundy because in case the Issue Male fail that Princess becomes presumptive Heir of all the Dominions of Victor Amedeus II. her Father And 't is certain the Court of France did much depend upon that although its Ministers have endeavour'd to give another Turn to the Eagerness the French King has shew'd in courting the Duke 'T is a Truth acknowledg'd by all Politicians that the chief way the French King has us'd to enlarge his Dominions has always been by Marriages since he seldom or never concluded a Treaty of Peace but he had a Prince or a Princess of the Blood to bestow upon his Enemies in order to make them subservient to his Designs But as soon as the Deferences and Respects usually paid to new-married People are over France always speaks to another Tune and will have her own at any rate So that the Duke of Savoy may take his Measures accordingly And I will be a false Prophet if the Match he has lately concluded with the Duke of Burgundy do not prove fatal to his Liberty and the Tranquillity of his Dominions The second Reason that will induce the French King to pick a Quarrel with the Duke of Savoy is that he never forgives Injuries that are offer'd him and if he seems now to court and flatter him 't is only to draw him the better to the Trap he lays for him 'T is certain the French King will never pardon his declaring himself against him and taking up Arms to favour the Designs of his Enemies And the first Business of this Monarch's Revenge will be to enslave him All the Submissions his Royal Highness will then use such as to go to France in Person as did the Doge of Genoa some Years ago to express his Sorrow for embracing the Confederacy all these respectful Steps I say will serve but to encrease the Contempt France has for a Prince that can do her no Hurt The third Motive that will engage France not to have any regard for the Duke of Savoy after the Conclusion of a general Peace is the great Passion she ever had to have no other Boundaries than the Alps on the Side of Italy Therefore we ought to look upon the Restitution of the important Place and Fortress of Pignerol as a fallacious Chimera and a Decoy of the French King 's to bring the Duke of Savoy to a Negotiation of Peace well knowing that this Prince being once disarm'd and depriv'd of all the Supplies of the Confederates it will bean easie matter to make him submit to what Terms he pleases So that his Highness's Safety did entirely depend upon the Support of the Confederate Princes Having briefly related the several Claims of the French King to Savoy and the several Motives which will infallibly induce him to revive them as soon as he is rid of all his Enemies we shall now speak to the Wrong his Royal Highness has done the Allies after they have been so kind to him as to share with him the Honour of bringing to reasonable Terms a Monarch who from the beginning of his Reign has meditated the Slavery of all Europe But what makes the Duke of Savoy's Conduct the more inexcusable is that by undoing himself he had a mind to involve all the Confederates in the same Ruin and blast as it were in one Moment ail the Fruits that were to be gathered from nine Campaigns which