this day ready to consume all Europe was in the year 1667 when without regarding either the Faith of Treaties or the Obligations of Blood she set her self to deprive the King of Spain who was yet in a full Minority of his Provinces of the Low-Countries Nevertheless since she durst not undertake the War without having at least a Pretext for so doing she spread abroad a Manifesto as well in the Low-Countries as in the neighbouring States whereby it was endeavoured to be insinuated that the Queen of France who had by the Pyrenaean Treaty been made to renounce whatever she could pretend unto as well in the Successions fallen as in those that might fall could not validly make any such Renunciation nor yet the King for her since she was not only under age but what she did was in complacency to the King her Father who had forced her thereunto As to the King it was also asserted That he was not at all obliged by whatever Renunciation he had made because by the Laws of the Realm the Kings could do nothing without the consent of the Parliament of Paris who had refused to verify the Pyrenaean Treaty seeing it so disadvantagious to the Dauphin who ought one day to be Heir to the Queen his Mother From all these reasons it was inferred That the King might lawfully carry his Arms into Flanders unless Spain did him Justice upon his Pretensions which extended over all Brabant and the best Places of the other Provinces of the Low-Countries And this was founded upon an ancient Custom there was in those Places whence all these Pretensions arose by which a Daughter of a first Venter excludes even the Sons of a second This Manifesto was no sooner published being composed by a learned Advocate of Paris but it made some impression upon the Minds of the People and principally of the Flemings who altho they loved not the French had yet rather fall under their Dominion than see themselves daily exposed to their Arms. The Baron d' Isola who bore a very great affection to the House of Austria by which he was employed in important Negotiations took at the same time Pen in hand to disabuse the People knowing that a longer Prevention was capable to produce bad Effects Having in fine composed a little Book in answer to the Parisian Advocate the Interest of Spain was therein so well maintain'd that if that Crown had had Souldiers who would have defended her as gallantly with the Sword as the Baron d' Isola had done with the Pen she might have laugh'd at all her Enemies In the mean time since it was not by the point of the Pen but of the Sword that this Quarrel was to be determined the King of France entred into Flanders at the head of a flourishing Army being followed by the Queen in this Journey because he believed that she being of the Blood of the legitimate Sovereigns of these Provinces the People would therefore shew the less aversion for the French He took at first Charleroy which made no great resistance the Place not being yet above half-built Then entring into the Heart of the Country he possest himself of Tournay At s Courtray Oudenarde and some other Places of less importance The Mareschal d' Aumont who commanded a Flying Army on the side of the Maritime Towns of Flanders seized also of some strong Places after which the King laid Siege to L'Isle which is the chief Town of his Gallican Flanders The Spaniards vvere already so weak that their Places had not above half the Garrisons that were necessary for their Defence As for L'Isle they had made a little better provision and the Conservation thereof being of great consequence to them they drew out some Garrisons from the most remote Places and such as they thought secure whereof they formed a small Army vvith vvhich they resolved to succour this Town The King knowing that they vvere in the Field sent to the Marquess de Crequi vvho commanded four or five thousand Horse on the side of Ardenna to come to him without delay The Marquess de Crequi having received such pressing Orders marched day and night to obey them and having but a small Body and that all Horse which is not so embarassing as a great Army that draws after it abundance of Luggage made such speed that he arrived at the King's Army three days after he had received his Orders The King who spared nothing in Spies having learnt that the Count de Marsin also on his side advanced at the Head of the Spanish Troops detached the Marquess de Crequi with a Body of Horse and Foot to go and seize upon a certain Passage the gallantest Men about the Court desired to make part of this Detachment believing that there would be playing at Sharps But the King restraining their Ardor obliged them to stay at the Siege which he prosecuted in the mean time without giving any relaxation to the Enemy Marsin who had at first made great Marches knowing that the Marquess de Crequi had possest himself of the only Passage by which he could succour L'Isle found his Courage cool so much the more as the Post was advantagious to the Enemy whom he could not undertake to force thence without putting himself and his Army in most evident danger He continued however to go on and being arrived within three quarters of a League of the Marquess de Crequi he pitch'd his Camp in a Place strongly seated but which yet not seeming to him strong enough he fortified by good Retrenchments But scarce had his Souldiers put their hands to the work when the King who had made himself Master of L'Isle by Composition drew his Troops through the midst of the Town which much shortned their way and putting himself at their head he took as he went the Marquess de Crequi along with him and went to attack the Enemy who on his side prepared to give him a good reception Marsin who was a Man of Wat believing at first that he had to do only with the Troops of the Marquess de Crequi bravely received the first Troops which advanced to force his Retrenchments but when he heard the Drums of the Musketeers whose March he knew and saw besides the Troops of the King's Houshold who were to be known by the Gold upon their Cloaths which the other Troops had not caused the Retreat to be sounded and endeavoured to make it with the least confusion possible But the French breaking into his Retrenchments so much the more easily in that there was none to guard them fell upon his Rear which they put in great disorder Marsin ran speedily thither and as he equally performed the Duty of a Captain and a Souldier sometimes giving Orders and sometimes fighting in person when he saw himself press'd he wanted but little of falling into the Enemies hands by the fault of his Horse who rearing up an end threw him to the ground In fine the
Spaniards were wholly discomfited and there were five or six hundred kill'd upon the place two hundred that died of their Wounds and three or four hundred that were taken Prisoners There were presented to the King six Colours and two Standards that had been taken in the Fight and the King rewarded those that presented them Marsin being defeated the King marched against the Town of Alost which altho it were of no great Defence yet caused the Enemy some Loss In effect the French puff'd up with the taking of L'Isle and the Success of the Battel they had given the Spaniards presented themselves in full day within Musket-shot of the Town but before they got themselves any shelter they had a great many Men killed without reckoning the Wounded which were also in no small number The Trenches being opened and the Batteries raised which began to thunder upon the Town it yielded to the King who put a Garrison in it which he might have done at the beginning of the Campaign without the loss of a Man for he had found this Place abandoned but he believed it not to be of so great consequence as it was which is now but too well known since it is at this day the Subject of the War wherewith we are menaced not to say the Pretext After the taking of Alost the King retired to Arras where the Queen attended him and from thence set forth for St. Germain en laye which was the Place where he made his Abode The happy Success which the King had during this Campaign joined with the pitiful condition wherein the Spaniards were who could not bring ten thousand Men together made the neighbouring Princes think it their Interest to oppose in time France's aggrandizing her self any more Thus carried on by the same Spirit which had made them so often take the part of France against the Spaniards they took then the part of the Spaniards against France The King of England the King of Sueden and the Hollanders made an Alliance together called the Triple-League whereby they united themselves not to kindle the Fire which already burnt but too fiercely but to endeavour to quench it and in case either of the two Crowns should obstinately persist in the War it was stipulated that they should declare themselves against it which Clause was expresly put in not to irritate France by testifying that this Treaty was directly concluded only to oppose her Ambition But France who knew what to think of it was so incensed thereby and particularly against the Hollanders whom she accused to have procured this League to be signed by the others that she resolved in time and place to be revenged thereof In the mean time not being strong enough to resist alone these three Potentates she was obliged to promise that she would lay down her Arms if Spain would on her side consent that she should continue in the possession of her new Conquests Alost being excepted which she offered to restore The Spaniards would not at first hear speak of this Treaty and were resolved not to permit that the Right of Convenience should be established thus at their prejudice But two things made them soon change their Resolution The one that whilst they were amused in talking of an Accommodation France had all on a sudden seized upon Franche Comté The other that one of the three States began as they say to waver when it came to the point having been gained by the Money of France whereof it was more sensible than of its own true Interests The Ministers of Holland who were employed in this Treaty know whether I impose any thing contrary to truth and I know that it was they who first began to perceive so shameful a Commerce The Spaniards therefore consented that the King should keep all the Places he had taken except Franche Comté and the County of Alost which he had already promised to restore unto them It is besides to be understood that Franche Comté had been conquered in eight days but that which rendred this Conquest so easy is that France had gained the Governour who after he had made this fine Bargain with her retired to Paris But as the Treason is much better loved than the Traitors I believe they kept but a part of their Promise vvith him at least I have been told as much by one that pretended to know it In the mean time those that were employed to bring the Spaniards to consent to the Treaty as it had been proposed before the taking of Franche Comté let France know that the concluding the Peace depended only on her France stuck at the parting with so fair a Province but it being necessary either to do it or to resolve upon War she chose that part that seemed to her most for her ad-advantage which was to give up this new Conquest together with the County of Alost according as she had agreed to do Thus by the Entremise of the Triple-League was Peace restored to Europe But before I pass any further I must acquaint thee with so unworthy an Action then done by the French that Posterity will scarce believe it nor should I my self have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes It was accorded by an Article of the Treaty That whatever should on the day of the Ratification of the Peace be found upon the Lands of France should appertain unto her and that whatever in like manner should be found upon the Lands of Spain should appertain to the Crown of Spain France therefore designing to make her advantage of this Article caused before the coming of the Ratification the Ax to be set to a Wood of tall over-grown Trees which was upon the Lands of Spain and having fell'd the Timber transported it into her own Lands that when the Ratification should come she might dispose thereof at her pleasure I appeal to the Duke d' Arschot or the Prince de Chimay to testify whether I say any thing but Truth for I well know that this Wood belonged to one of them tho I cannot at present remember to which of the two it was War was not the sole Affliction which this year befell Flanders GOD sending them moreover so terrible a Plague that there was scarce an House exempted from it In the mean time GOD preserved the French of whom tho they were in Garrison in the Towns where it made the greatest ravage and above all at Oudenarde yet was there not so much as one that died thereof Some impute this to their Temper which is very different from that of the Flemings but for my part I attribute it to a permission of GOD who when he pleases saves some to take others The Peace being made as I just now told you every one enjoyed in repose the Benefit he might expect thereof The Hollanders alone for having laboured for the Publick Good saw themselves exposed to the Hatred of France who expected only a favourable occasion to
entangle matters they caused the King to provide a Successor for his Benefice tho it was not his Custom to do it and the Bishop having on his part provided one as it was his Right according to the Usage to do they so far animated the King against the Bishop that he was at the same time proscribed The Pope who was not only jealous to conserve the Rights whereof he was in possession but also to follow the laudable Custom of his Predecessors who have usurped so many that they are at this day equal not to say superior to the greatest Kings believed that his Authority was concerned not to suffer a Bishop to be ill-treated for having done his Duty See then at the same time the Arms of Rome in the Field I mean a great Number of Briefs which are called in this Court Spiritual Arms but than they should not make much progress which they might have done if they found no resistance there was at the same time opposed unto them a like Army that is to say Abundance of Decrees of the Sorbon the most part of the Doctors whereof were ready to do whatever the King would have them like good and faithful Subjects that is without entring into the knowledg of the Cause There were nevertheless some of the most ancient amongst them who having suck'd in the Love of Rome with their Milk refused to sign an Act which had been decreed by the Clergy and which a President accompanied by some Counsellors of the Parliament of Paris brought into the Sorbon to be registred there But since they would not have any there who resisted the King's Will some of them were sent to the Pyrences to keep company with Bears others into the Alps and the rest into the remotest Provinces of the Realm If I would here relate the Consequence of this great Affair I must undertake the making of a great Volume for I should be obliged to shew the Zeal of the French Clergy for the Service of their King and their Rebellion against the Pope Letters of the same Clergy of their inviolable Attachment to the Fortune of Lewis the Great and of their Contempt of Rome Theses maintained in the Sorbon wholly contrary to such as were maintained there before the General of the Jesuits refractory to the Orders of the Pope and submitting to the Orders of the King in fine so great a Disposition in the Clergy and Nobility to shake off the Yoke of Roman Obedience that if the Chancellor of France had not remonstrated to the King That so great a Change could not be made in the State without causing perhaps an Insurrection amongst the People who in matter of Religion are even to Superstition attack d thereunto altho they very often know not any Points of their Belief There was great appearance of the Pope's losing his Annates and whatever else he draws from so great a Kingdom But since the Recital of so many things would engage me to a Subject wholly different from that which I have here proposed to my self I will return to the Jesuits and to follow the Thread of my Discourse in what concerns them will say That as much as they were edified at the Emperor 's short Prayer for the Reasons I have before alledged so much were they mortified at the Resolution he had taken to make War For in fine altho they knew better than any other that it concern'd not only his Interest but also his Glory not to suffer all the Enterprises which France every day made against the Empire yet as they made profession to take always the stronger side it was already some time that they had abandoned the Interests of the House of Austria on which Fortune had begun to turn her back to embrace those of the House of France to which she appeared favourable I will not undertake to relate here all the Contentions they caused in the Emperor's Court to hinder the Effect of the Resolution he had taken altho it would perhaps be a thing curious enough to be known but I shall only say That to retard the March of the Troops which were to join those of the Marquess of Brandenburg who had newly embraced the Defence of the Hollanders they put into his Head that he should no sooner have diffurnished the Frontiers of Hungary but the Turks who had secret Intelligences there would make use of the Opportunity without regarding the Truce which was between the two Empires And the Emperor being but a weak Prince and disposed to take the first Impressions that were given him this thought sank so deep in his mind that altho he were not so ignorant of the Affairs of the World as not to see that the Marquess of Brandenburg could do nothing without him he ceased not to leave his Troops in their Quarters while the Marquess of Brandenburg at the Head of his went to seek Honour and Glory All the Grandees of the Empire at least those that were faithful to the Emperor could not forbear speaking aloud their Sentiments of a Proceeding so extraordinary and so replete with weakness In the mean time as they left no way unattempted to undeceive the Emperor it being believed also that they would do it that wherewith his Eyes were enveloped being so palpable that there was none but he who could have been blinded with it The Jesuits fearing to see all their Designs overthrown changed then their Battery and seeing that the Fear he had conceived of the Turks was likely to be soon dissipated they gave him new Apprehensions of the Forces of Poland adding that he who commands that People would no sooner see the Troops of the Empire busied about the Rhine but he would fall on the Provinces that were most convenient for him were it only by this Diversion to testify unto France his Acknowledgment of the Services she had done him in procuring his Elevation to the Throne They added hereunto the Intelligence which appeared between the French King and the King of Poland the Influence which the Queen of Poland who was a French-Woman had on the King her Husband and in fine the Pranks which the French plaid to make that Crown take Arms against the Empire All these Remonstrances cast the Emperor into new Irresolutions He had just given Order for his Troops to go out of their Quarters but he sent them a Counter-Order before they were gone any great way In the mean time the French having taken the Field and being entred into the Vnited Provinces divided their Forces into three Armies for to encompass the more of the Country The King commanded one the Prince of Conde another and the Viscount de Turenne the last The first was animated by the presence of the King the second by the Reputation of the Prince of Conde and the third by the Confidence they had in the Wisdom of the Viscount de Turenne who was besides one of the greatest Captains of his Time But that which yet
desired and as was to be wish'd for the Good of Europe they were rather of opinion to continue the War than to do any thing whereof they might for the future repent The Prince of Orange added thereunto That since it was not easy to reassemble when once they should be separated they ought to take good care not to do it without knowing how and upon what terms But the Hollanders who in the Party of the Confederates had the Power which the Jesuits attribute to the Pope that is of binding and loosing said on the contrary That for their part they were weary of the War and as they had not the Keys of the Apostle but the Keys of the Chest my meaning is that they provided for the Appointment they said in two words That they must treat otherwise that they had not wherewithal to furnish out so great Expences This was a determinate Sentence to the greatest part of the Confederates every one thought then only of making his Treaty the most advantagious he could But as this was all that France desired to wit to disunite them she took care only to content the Hollanders in whom consisted all the Strength of the Party To this two things might much contribute the one to restore unto them the Town of Maestricht which they had in vain endeavoured to recover by Arms the other to give them some assurance that the Peace should be durable and not subject to be broken on the first occasion As to the former France did not at all hesitate she promised at first the Restitution of Maestricht which gave the Hollanders more desire than ever to terminate the War for they saw their Frontiers thereby assured as well as their State in its first Splendor For the other she procured the King of England to intervene who promised to be Guarant of the Peace And to give a great Idea of its Duration there were Propositions made in respect of Spain to whom she offered to restore certain Places which were to serve for a Barrier as well to her as to the Hollanders who by this means saw that France removed yet farther from their Neighbourhood which was all they had to desire not loving so dangerous a Neighbour The Hollanders before they accepted of these Conditions did all they could being deceived by Appearances to make them be accepted also by their Allies but seeing that they were obstinate not to do any thing therein they made their Peace apart imagining well as the truth was that this would soon oblige them to speak otherwise In the mean time they sent to the Prince of Orange who was gone towards Mons which the French had a long time block'd up and which was very much straitned to draw back his Troops But whe-this Prince received not their Pacquets time enough or whether he were in despair to see that they had let themselves be deceived by the Artifices of the French he gave them Battel believing perhaps to make the States change their Design by doing some Action of great Eclat This Fight was obstinate enough but after the Prince of Orange had forced the French and gained a notable Advantage over them he caused the Peace to be published rather not to appear disobedient to the Orders of the Republick than for any reason he had to hope for any good from it This Peace was followed by that of the Spaniards the Emperor and the King of Denmark but the Marquess of Brandenburg finding that according as his Accommodation had been proposed it was wholly disadvantagious to him refused to sign it and this Refusal having obliged France to carry her Arms as far as Mindem where there was some Skirmish to hinder the Passage of the River the Marquess of Brandenburg was fain to bend but with little satisfaction to Suedeland on whose behalf the French had nevertheless undertaken this War For tho all the Princes restored her a great part of what they had gotten from her yet since they still kept something she imagined that all that France did for her was nothing in comparison of what she ought to do considering the Perils whereunto she had exposed her self and even the Losses she had suffered for her sake In effect for having been willing at her suscitation to make a Diversion in Germany she had lost the greatest part of her Vessels the Esteem of her Neighbours her Riches her Reputation and in one word was reduced to so bad a Condition that if the War had continued any longer it would have been impossible to say what would become of her Fortune This first Discontent of Suedeland was soon followed by two others whereof one touched her Interest and the other her Honour The first was the Homage which France demanded of her for the Dutchy of Deuxponts by virtue of a Decree of the Royal Chamber of Mets at this day so known and renowned in all Europe The second was the Refusal she made to pay her the Subsidies she owed her of old if she did not first consent to renew the Treaty which was between the two Crowns and was very near expiring When the Hollanders saw that the French King was already preparing to make new Alliances they began on their side to think of securing themselves from his Enterprises For this purpose they proposed a League with the neighbouring Princes whereof the King having knowledg was so offended thereat that tho he would himself have subjected the Suede to what I just now told you he failed not to command the Count d' Avann his Ambassador at the Hague to tell the States That if they prosecuted any further the Treaty they had begun he should take it for an Act of Hostility and should see what he had to do These Menaces were odious to all honest Persons but they were so far from being frighted by them in Holland that on the contrary they made haste to conclude the Treaty and to defend their Liberty by Arms which they resolved also no more to lay down but upon good Terms if the King obliged them to take them up again whereof they were nevertheless in expectation every day till the Siege of Vienna was raised which will perhaps make him think twice upon what he hath to do However it be the Haughtiness wherewith he acted towards Sovereign Powers giving cause to fear every thing from his Ambition Suedeland made also a League with Holland by which they promised one another reciprocal Assistance The King of France seeing that Suedeland had declared against him was interiorly vexed thereat but without letting it be seen he sollicits the King of Denmark and the Marquess of Brandenburg the ancient Enemies of the Suede to enter into League with him wherein he found not much difficulty for these two Princes were so ill contented with the last Peace they were obliged to make that they would not hear speak of allying themselves any more with Princes who had so shamefully as we may say abandoned
her self the Reproaches of all Europe but should also for ever lose the Confidence of the Electors whom she managed with a great deal of care she took a Resolution which seemed to her capable to satisfy both the one and the other Party that is to say Not to attack the Empire directly for fear of losing her Reputation with the Electors but to carry her Arms into Flanders which ought in some sort to satisfy the Grand-Visier because this War had so great a Concatenation with all the neighbouring Powers that it would soon put a good part of Europe in combustion In the mean time it befell her as it ordinarily doth those who will please two Persons at a time that is that she neither pleased the Grand-Visier nor the Electors For these whom the King had endeavoured to persuade as he had done also all Europe that his rising up from before Luxemburg whereof I ere-while spake was because of the Descent of the Turks into Hungary thought it strange that this Reason which was then so remote from Danger should no longer subsist now when the Danger was so near The Grand-Visier on the other side did not like that all these great Promises terminated in making Spoil amongst People Allies indeed of the Empire but yet so remote from it whereas he desired that all these Hostilities should have been committed in the Center thereof But France who cared little for the Ends of either of them provided she might attain her own let them say what they pleased flattering her self that in respect of the Turks she had sufficiently satisfied the Engagement she had with them by attacking Flanders which makes part of Low-Germany and for what concerns the Electors they had no reason to complain because she had kept her self within her Promise which was only not to attack the Emperor or Princes of the Empire She believed moreover that this Proceeding of hers terrifying Spain and her Allies in regard of the present Conjuncture they would all conspire as diligently as they possibly could to cause the Town of Luxemburg to be given her for fear she should make greater Conquests whereof they were apprehensive in the Conditions wherein things were and the Arms of the most part of the neighbouring Princes being employed as they were either in combating the Turk or only observing him In the mean time the Hollanders whom it greatly concerned not to suffer this Crown to make thus every day new Attempts upon Flanders the Loss whereof drew along that of their Provinces assembled amongst themselves to see what Remedy they might bring thereunto To which they were moreover every day excited by Mr. de Fuen-Maior Envoy of Spain who spake so plainly of the King his Master's Inability to defend that Country that he ingenuously confest unto them that it could no longer be preserved without their Assistance Many of the Hollanders concluded at first upon War and they were without doubt the most illuminated but others Lovers of Repose and besides more attached to Commerce having made use of the Pretence of the present Conjunctures for to render them apprehensive of breaking Peace with so powerful a Crown said that their Opinion was to bring Matters to an Accommodation This Diversity of Opinions delayed their Resolution for ten or twelve days during which they every day endeavoured to open the Eyes of those that were blinded hoping besides that Vienna would be relieved which would perhaps have drawn their Minds to do that which was convenient for the Glory and Interest of the State But this News not coming and they receiving on the contrary from day to day advice that the Grand-Visier was obstinate to continue the Siege caused his Camp to be wonderfully fortified and in fine prepared himself to fight the Relief if any came the States no longer expected that time to resolve but the well-intention'd having made the others at last to take Resolutions worthy of their Courage they determined to succour poor afflicted Flanders by sending her eight thousand Men to put in her Places and making a far greater Number to march if Necessity required it This Resolution being taken they sent Order to the Officers to leave their Garrisons and march towards the Frontiers and the Troops which were to pass into Flanders pass'd thither and the others entred into those Places of Brabant which belonged to the Hollanders as being more exposed to the Enterprizes of France which they knew not yet whether to treat as a Friend or an Enemy for she caused every day the States to be told by her Ambassador that her design was not to break with any one but to cause Justice to be done her concerning the County of Alost which she pretended to be of the Dependencies of what had been granted her by the Treaty of Nimeguen In the mean time they still expected with impatience the Success of the Succour which was preparing for Vienna and France her self also expected the same for to take openly her Resolutions upon what should arrive there but at last after a long expectation they learnt that this Success was as glorious as the Christians could desire the Grand-Visier's Infantry being totally routed their Cavalry very much endammaged all their Cannon and Baggage lost in fine the Place succoured with a thousand other remarkable Circumstances which it would be too long to particularize This great News which was confirmed by a Courier whom the Prince de Waldeck dispatcht expresly to the Prince of Orange put at first all the Officers of War who desired only matter to employ their Valour into unimaginable Transports of Joy Every one figured to himself all Europe reunited against France they represented to themselves with pleasure so many Outrages revenged so many Attempts happily executed so many unfortunate Princes reestablisht in their Estates and in fine every one in particular built himself a Fortune according to the Grandeur of his Courage when all of a sudden they fell from a great Hope to a just Apprehension that this great Success would bring rather Peace than War Those who were of this Sentiment alledged for their Reasons That Peace not being yet made with the Turk none would refuse to treat if France departed from her Pretensions which it was to be presumed she would do in the Fear she ought to have lest this Peace being made all Europe should fall upon her that one Mark of her having been always willing to reserve to her self this Back-door is that she had not yet attempted any thing altho it were near a Month since she entred into Flanders that the Hollanders who were as it were the Soul of all the Party would not have War unless they were obliged thereunto by indispensible Necessity and that they should no sooner see an Opportunity of being able to continue in repose but they would embrace it with pleasure that the others could do nothing without them and that in one word the common Interest of Christendom set aside it had been more advantagious for them that Vienna had been taken than relieved These Reasons were indeed strong but there were opposed unto them others which were no less strong For hereunto it was answered That altho Peace were not yet made with the Turk there was nevertheless all reason to believe that it would incessantly be made it having been the Policy of the Turks to treat as soon as ever they were once beaten That if the French had not yet attempted any thing it was not so much to expect what would arrive from Vienna as to leave some impression of their Moderation pretending thereby that Vienna being taken the Empire whereof they aimed to make themselves Masters would call them in to its Assistance which would facilitate the means of their accomplishing their Designs That now they were fallen from all these Pretensions there was nothing more left them but to assert their Claim by Arms which they were too glorious not to do That the Hollanders of whose Courage they seemed willing to enter into distrust had reason to complain that after having alone as they had done embraced the Defence of Flanders they should be thought to be such slender Politicians as not to lay hold of an Occasion which was so favourable to them to make a Crown whose Neighbourhood they ought so much to apprehend to give up what he had swallowed That in fine they were too wise and too illuminated not to see that altho France should even incline to some Peace it would be only a daubed-up Peace such as have been those she has made these fifteen or twenty Years It remains now to examine which of these two seemed to have the greater Reason but methinks it is not very difficult to conclude in behalf of the latter For altho there be nothing to be added to their Reasons I shall say however that the Spaniards who would easily have yielded to any Conditions of Peace in case Vienna had been taken will now grow stiff since they hope to be supported by Germany which on her side will be very glad after she shall have made Peace with the Turk to free her self from the French Domination However it be the Victory which the Christians have gained cannot but have good Effects for whether we have Peace or War we ought to hope for an happy Issue and that one way or other we shall find means to mortify a Crown which begins a little too much to mis-understand it self FINIS
French Intrigues OR THE HISTORY OF THEIR Delusory Promises SINCE THE Pyrenaean Treaty Printed in French at Cologne and now made English LONDON Printed for W. Hensman at the King's-Head in Westminster-Hall and Tho. Fox at the White-Hart over against St. Dunstan's-Church in Fleetstreet and at the Angel in Westminster-Hall 1685. The Publisher of the French Edition to the Reader TWo things courteous Reader I have to tell thee The one that this Book was really made by a French-man and so that they would be to blame who should attribute it to any Stranger whose Inclinations are biass'd against France Hereof I was willing to advertise thee to hinder thee from believing that Passion guided the Author's Pen. It was rather as he protested to me through a design to render himself knowing in the History of the Times that he traced the Relations which I give to the Publick The other thing I have to tell thee and which I desire thee to take in good part is That I find my self indispensably obliged to declare unto my Country the Intrigues of her Neighbours to make her change her Master or at least to give her another Face by depriving her of her Liberty This appears so natural that I believe none can think strange of my Enterprize I will tell thee further altho it be of no great importance to thee that I have received what I here give thee from the Author 's own hand who made some abode in this Town hoping to get himself advanced in the Troops which his Electoral Highness is raising for the defence of the Empire But seeing great Difficulties raised against him as there are elsewhere against others who would shelter themselves from the Storm he grew weary of attending and bidding me adieu delivered me his Manuscript in exchange for some Books I give it thee as I received it without either adding or diminishing Those that shall take the pains to read it will see how the French neglect nothing to put themselves in credit in all the Courts in Europe and that it is not Holland alone which they endeavour to amuse by Delusory Promises so to carry without any opposition what remains for them to take in the Low-Countries and perhaps to pass further if they meet with no Obstacle THE HISTORY OF Deluding Promises SINCE THE Pyrenaean Treaty IT is not unknown to any that there have for a long time been two Powers in Europe under the shelter of which the other States lived in repose and assurance We know also that these two Powers are France and Spain who likewise received succour from the other States to the end that these two Crowns might continue as it were in an equal poize so necessary for the good of all the rest Neither of them therefore was suffered to aggrandize it self to the prejudice of the other So that if Spain formed any Enterprise all the neighbouring Princes presently declared in favour of France if also France would make any Conquests the same Princes failed not to oppose it And thus they diminished the Power of that Crown which began to be suspected by them It was by this wise Policy that the Affairs of France were re-established after the taking of Francis the First For the King of England who had an Army ready imbarqu'd to make a descent into that Kingdom fill'd with desolation and terror by the Captivity of its Monarch was the first to propose a League against Charles the Fifth and all the Princes of Italy entring thereinto they obliged the Emperor to make a Peace and release his Prisoner who had been carried from Pisqueton to Madrid upon Conditions far less advantagious than those he had promised himself after his Victory By the same wise Policy it was that the Princes of Germany suffered the French without any opposition to keep Mets Thoul and Verdun which they had seized on by surprize For altho they had reason to be very apprehensive of this Nation which is but too much addicted to usurp upon its Neighbours yet since it was at that time sufficiently embarassed to defend it self against the House of Austria they thought rather of making it their Support against that House which for a long time aspired after an Universal Monarchy than of fearing lest it should become one day so powerful that it would it self have a design to oppress them This Conduct lasted as long as the Spaniards were in a flourishing condition Wherefore the same Princes at least a great part of them saw also with pleasure the Strength of France augmented by the taking of Rochel which often served no less for an Asylum to Male-contents than for a Rampart to those of the Reformed Religion But since those of the Religion abused it as we may say by making it a Retreat for the Factious GOD would punish them to teach them another time that Things Divine are not to be mix'd with Prophane In the mean time the Mareschal de Bassompiere who saw farther than many others had a Saying witty enough thereupon For being one day drinking jovially with some of his Friends a time when Men ordinarily discover the greatest Secrets of their Heart he told them very seriously he believed they would be Fools enough to take Rochel Which I impute not to any design he had of making an Insurrection but to his Foresight that the taking thereof would be of as ill consequence to the Neighbours of France as it was fatal to those of the Reformed Religion In effect we may say that this was the first Step whereby the Kings of France mounted to that supreme Grandeur which makes them at this day dreaded by all Europe We may also say that the greatest Fault which ever the Hollanders committed in their Politicks was that they did not at that time assist those of their Communion who might at this day do the like for them But assuredly they considered it as a Rebellious Town and believed not that it was lawful according to the modern practice to prefer ones Interest before whatever is most sacred However it were People being very far from believing that ever France could be so powerful as to think of encroaching upon the Liberty of its Neighbours they with delight beheld the Care that the Cardinal de Richelieu took to pull down the Crown of Spain and they were even vext that the Conspiracies which were continually framed against him and which every moment sprang up afresh like the Heads of Hydra often hindred him from succeeding in his Designs It was for the same reason that all the Princes instead of opposing the secret Intrigues whereby this Minister endeavoured to take the Crown of Portugal from the King of Spain who had seized it from the House of Braganza were on the contrary very glad that this Affair went happily on I have read in a very curious Manuscript that all the Princes of Italy furnisht him with Money for that purpose and that the Affair being terminated according to
they on the contrary that exasperated matters he had no other way but to content the King of England who had many times demanded the Restitution of the Prince of Orange to the Offices which had been enjoyed by his Predecessors with so much Reputation to themselves and Advantage to the Common-wealth Moreover had I undertaken it I could easily here demonstrate That there was nothing so contrary to the Good of the State as the having thus removed the Prince of Orange from the Affairs thereof But since it would occasion the believing of what I will not have believed that what I should do therein would be to captivate the Honour of his good Graces I shall content my self with saying That if Mr. de Witt prevaricated in any thing it was undoubtedly in this But be it how it will the Republick learning from all parts that France and England made terrible preparations for the making War upon her both by Sea and Land did on their side what they believed themselves obliged to do not to be so soon overwhelmed My design is not to engage here in the History of a War so long and tedious as that was for tho I was present at many great Actions which past therein and can speak thereof with as much assurance as another yet since they fought in so many places that one Man cannot have been at them all I should be obliged to report many things upon the Testimony of others which is very often deceitful every one ordinarily adding or diminishing in his Recital according to his particular Passion and sometimes according to the Love he has for his Country I shall not however pass silently over the Things I shall think fit for my purpose which is to shew the Ambition of France and the Maxims she makes use of to bring about her Designs It is very certain that when the two Kings resolved to declare War against the Hollanders that Common-wealth was in no good condition to undergo it whereof I will alledg three principal Reasons The first and strongest was the little Union there was between the principal Persons of the State whereof some blindly followed the Passion of Mr. de Witt and others on the contrary demanded the Re-establishment of the Prince of Orange in all the Offices of his Ancestors Every one knows the Contests which arrived thereupon and that in fine neither of the Parties getting the Advantage the Prince of Orange was chosen Captain-General of the State but with so limited a Power as it was easily to be judged that if Mr. de Witt was not able to obtain his whole desire he had at least obtained a part thereof But what nevertheless shews that his Spirit reigned not so much as it heretofore had done in the Resolutions of State is what pass'd some time after and I am here going to relate He perceiving that the Prince of Orange by his winning Temper obliging Conduct and in fine by so many excellent Qualities as are in his Person daily gain'd new Creatures and that on the contrary his own Credit every day diminished he began to think of sheltring himself from the just Resentment of this Prince I know that he consulted thereupon Mr. de Groot and another Person who yet in my opinion is no great Politician and that they both confirmed him in the Resolution he had already taken to make a Levy of Twelve Thousand Men in the Province of Holland besides the Forces they were to raise in conjunction with the other Provinces His design herein was to be always Master of these Twelve Thousand Men who were never to go out of Garrison and he would not have the Prince of Orange to have any Authority over them wherefore he had already pitch'd upon Mombas for their Commander in an opinion without doubt that he could not chuse a greater Captain to continue in Garrison But the Prince of Orange whom this Enterprise every way concerned but principally in respect of his Office of Captain-General of the State which was thereby struck at so vigorously opposed it that all this great Design vanished away in Smoke The second Reason which should have made the States fear the not having any great Success in this War is That they had scarce any Troops to guard so many strong Places whereof their little Country is composed those they had being moreover raw and unexperienced seeming to have participated of the Nature of the Inhabitants who are so addicted to Trade that they seem now uncapable of any thing else In effect as a Man becomes a Smith by his often working in Iron so is it to be believed that no Man becomes a Souldier if he be not often in occasions of War For this nevertheless there seemed to be a Remedy which was to have recourse to the neighbouring Princes who had good Troops on foot for which they appeared not to have any use but when they would address to them they found these Princes so alarm'd at the Designs of France that not knowing whether she would not turn her Arms upon their Countries they were glad to stand upon their Guards The third Reason and the last at least of those which I intend to alledg is That there was no hope of having any Succour from Princes more remote whereof some were Pensionaries of France and others so weak and timerous that they seemed to be afraid of offending her It was to little purpose for the States to represent to them that their Interests ought to be common against a common Enemy who aspired after an Universal Monarchy they were insensible as I may say Which I do not however find very strange since they are not at present much less tho many of them are in a great measure stript of their Soveraignty The Emperor nevertheless took fire at the Consequences that were at that time remark'd unto him and which we at this day see to be so funest but having spoken but a moment with Father Emerick or some other Jesuit how far was he from being the Man he seemed to be but a minute before They represented it to him as a scruple of Conscience to undertake a War in favour of an Heretical Republick and he so readily fell into all the Snares they laid for him that when he was press'd for an Answer it was plainly seen that 't was no longer the Emperor who spake but the Monks who spake through the Emperor's Mouth Thus whilst the French King at the head of his Army struck a Terror into all that part of Germany which lies near the Rhine did he amuse himself with causing to be sung in his Closet an Air of Devotion being encompass'd by twenty Jesuits who were Judges of the Melody and who never failed to applaud these worthy Employs of an Emperor It was then through their Counsel that he would not give any positive Answer to the Hollanders till he had first consulted Heaven at Marienzel whither he went with unconceivable Superstitions altho
of their Arms into the Heart of France where they might have made Inroads when they would Thereby they would have obliged the Enemies to keep a great Army in the Dutchy of Burgundy and they would have fed upon themselves whereas they ate up the Allies who were obliged as we say to lay the Cloth for them the Emperor by his Authority causing the War to be carried into Alsatia for through the same Reasons perhaps which are easily guess'd and not necessary to be here related that inclined the Duke of Lorrain to desire that the War should be made in his Country the Emperor desired they should conquer Alsatia which was a Fief of the House of Austria that had been yielded to France by the Peace of Munster However it were Experience shewed that whatever prospect the Duke of Lorrain might have therein he still reasoned like a great Captain whereas the Emperor reasoned neither like a Captain nor Politician For at least when he carried the War on another side he ought to have assured himself how he might succour Franche Comté in case it should be attack'd but he had so little provided for it that when the French Army was entred thereinto he began to negotiate with the Suisses to move whom employing only Words instead of other Means to which they are known to yield they would never open the Passages shewing therein as much Brutishness if I may be permitted to say fo as Interest The Loss of this fair Province drew after it very pernicious Consequences For the Duke of Lorrain who saw that he had thereby lost all hopes of ever re-entring into his Country entirely detached himself from the Party I mean as to his Inclination for to outward appearance he continued still with them not knowing perhaps whither to go for to be better And certainly I shall hereupon relate things which every one perhaps doth not so well know as my self In effect there are many who know not that after the taking of Franche Comté the Duke of Lorrain sent to the French Court a Gentleman who had been heretofore his Page named as I take it Cevillette to offer to abandon the Party if they would permit him to retire either into France or Lorrain during the War give him Appointments suitable to a Prince of his Birth and put him into possession of his Country at the making of the Peace on the Conditions that had been proposed long before the War whereof it would be superfluous to speak here because this regards not my purpose Now tho all these Conditions did not any way please France she ceased not to hearken to the secret Envoy of the Duke of Lorrain as if she had an Inclination to favour his Master she answered him That she was glad to see that he was re-entred into his true Interests but that for certain Considerations it was impossible for her at present to hearken to his Offers First because she had a care of his Honour which those that envied him would not fail to blemish if in the height of the War as it then was he alone should stand still and look on what pass'd in Europe Nevertheless if his Intention were really to attach himself to France he should begin to withdraw his Son the Duke of Vaudemont out of the hands of the Spaniards after which they would soon agree upon the Pensions he demanded and upon an Equivalent for the Dutchy of Lorrain or upon Conditions to restore him to his States Now they would not wholly break with him by rejecting his Propositions which were altogether ridiculous considering the State wherein things then were nor yet entirely rebut him for by rebutting him they should make him an irreconcileable Enemy which was not agreeable to Policy because they knew not in what manner things might turn And by accommodating with him they would have done themselves a notable Prejudice for many reasons First because if he was once retired into France he was a Spirit capable to excite the People to Sedition and put himself at their Head which was more to be feared by the Court than whatever else could befall them Secondly Because they pretended to hold commerce with him and by that means discover all that pass'd in the Army of the Allies And in fine because being suspected as he already was by his own Party where he thought nothing well done especially since the Loss of Franche Comte he created there Distrusts and Jealousies amongst the Princes to whom he did not cease to remonstrate that the War was not made for them but for the Emperor that he spake not for his own Interest altho what was befallen him was sufficient enough to render them wise at his Costs but let them consider only in what manner the Elector Palatine was treated who thinking to remove the War from his Country had quitted the Alliance with France for to enter into their Union that he was eaten up by the one and the other persecuted by the Garrison of Philipsburg without having been able thitherto to oblige the Emperor to lay Siege unto it altho it were one of the Conditions of his Treaty and that because the Emperor was by the same Treaty obliged to restore that Place to the Bishop of Spire to whom it belonged before the French got it that as much hangs over their Heads if as the Emperor acted only for his own Interests they did not also on their side mind their own Affairs that in all respects a good Peace was much better than a War all the Profit whereof ought to fall upon one alone and all the Loss upon others As France therefore well knew what his Discontent was capable to produce she would not conclude any thing with him but entertained him however with fair hopes Some time after arrived the Affair of Treves I mean the routing of the Mareschal de Crequi which raised the Affairs of the Confederates to so high a pitch that they seemed as if they were about to penetrate even into the Heart of France But he that had caused the Evil soon brought the Remedy I mean the Duke of Lorrain For after he had gained the Battel and said before every Body that it was now that he would go as far as Paris a secret Interposer from France who resided in Treves that he might upon occasion be near him being introduced unto him by Cevillette who was but just delivered out of the hands of the French with whom he had been Prisoner whether by chance or upon design beat down all these fair Resolutions with Bills of Exchange for two hundred thousand Crowns which were paid at Hamburg and which the Duke of Lorrain left in the hands of a Merchant because he was not of that humour as not to make advantage of his Money And this it was that made Mr. de Louvois speak so boldly in the presence of all the Court that if the Confederates had gained a great Victory they should not draw