LETTERS WRITTEN BY A French GENTLEMAN GIVING A Faithful and Particular Account of the Transactions at the Court of FRANCE RELATING To the Publick Interest of EUROPE WITH Historical and Political Reflexions on the Ancient and Present State of that KINGDOM Communicated by Monsieur VASSOR LONDON Printed And Sold by R. Baldwin in Warwick-Lane 1695 THE CONTENTS OF THE First Letter INtroduction Page 1 An Account of some Considerations that might have deter'd the French King from imposing Arbitralily a General Poll-Tax on his Subjects Page 2 The Injustice of such an Imposition further demonstrated Page 3 That notwithstanding all these Reasons the Edict for that Taxation will pass at all adventures ibid. That the French are tamer Slaves than either the Romans of Old or the Danes at present Page 4 The Motive that makes the French King endeavour to enslave England and Holland Page 5 That the Poll-Tax is the last Refuge of the French Court Page 6 A Remark upon the Inscriptions on the Gates of Paris ibid. That the Poll-Tax will not raise such vast Sums as the Emissaries of that Court give out Page 7 That the Countrey is extreamly impoverished and the King's Revenues very much diminished Page 7 8 That the present Misery of the French Nation is too great to admit of any Alleviation from the Prospect of better times to come Page 9 That none dare presume to Petition the King to Assemble the Estates of the Kingdom ibid. That according to the Primitive Constitution of the French Government the Soveraign Authority was lodg'd in the States General of the Nation Page 10 That the Power of the Prince was limited among the ancient Gauls and other Northern Nations Page 11 That the French have still a just Title to their ancient Priviledges ibid. A Comparison between the ancient and present condition of the Princes of the Blood illustrated by some particular instances Page 12 13 An Account of the ancient Priviledges of the Dukes and Peers of France Page 13 That they had a right to oppose the unjust Designs of the Prince by entering into Leagues against him Page 14 The History of the League of the Publick Good against Lewis the XI Philip de Cominees Opinion of that Confederacy Page 16 That the same Custom was and is observed by several other Nations Page 17 That the present Dukes and Peers of France do only enjoy a shadow of the Priviledges of their Ancestors Page 18 Of the ancient Authority of the Parliament of Paris and of the gradual encroachments of the Crown upon it Page 18 19 An Exhortation to that Body to imitate the illustrious Example of their Predecessors and the chief President la Vacquierie under Lewis the XI Page 20 That the Courage of the Nation may be easily reviv'd by their Example Page 21 A brief view of the State of France with relation to Impositions under the Reign of several Princes Page 23 24 An Account of the immense Sums that are exacted by the Ministers of the present King Page 24 Of the stupidity of the French who strive to encrease the Power of their Oppressor ibid. That the Forces which the King maintain'd in time of Peace made him more terrible at Home than Abroad Page 25 That his present numerous Armies are more fatal to his Subjects than to his Neighbours ibid. The Conclusion Page 26 THE CONTENTS OF THE Second Letter OF the blind Submission of the Parliament of Paris to the Orders of the Court. 27 The present Misery of the French Nation compar'd with that of the Romans under Domitian 28 An Account of some extravagant Rhodomontadoes in the Preface to the French King 's late Declaration 28 29 Of the ridiculous Vanity of that Expression in it that the Glorious State of France has excited the Envy of its Neighbours 29 Of the true meaning of that Phrase 30 That it was the Injustice of that Monarch's Attempts that excited the indignation not the Envy of his Neighbours 31 Of the Glorious and Happy Condition of the United Provinces when they were invaded by the French King 31 32 Reflections on the unjustice of that War and on a Solaecism in a Letter from the French King to the States General 32 A Justification of the Medal that was the pretended Cause of the War 33 That the Prosperity of Tyrants ought not to be call'd a Blessing from Heaven upon them 34 Of the shameful Flatteries of the French Clergy and the juster sentiments of the Court of Rome 35 Of the prosperous Success of the Emperor's Arms in Hungary and the impious Designs of the Court of France during the Siege of Vienna 35 36 That in all the Wars since the Pyrenaean Treaty the French King has been always the Agressor and is guilty of all the Desolations and Blood-shed that has been occasion'd by them 38 Of the Difference between a Conqueror and a Robber 39. Of the Queen 's pretended Right to Brabant and Hainault of the Validity of her Renunciation and of the Injustice of the King's Irruption into the Spanish Netherlands in pursuance of that Claim 39 40. That 't is lawful to oppose a Neighbouring Prince who strives to aggrandize himself by unjust Methods 41 That 't was barbarous in the King to kindle a bloody War against the Hollanders meerly upon the account of a Medal which they also had taken care to suppress 42 Of the Intolerable arrogancy of some Parisian Inscriptions 43 Of the Satyrs of the Dutch Gazettier that provok'd the Court of France 43 The French King's Expedition against Holland compar'd with that of Theodosius against Antioch 44 That it was not a Zeal for Religion that prompted the King to invade Holland 45 That Subjects are obliged not to assist their Soveraign in the prosecution of an unjust War prov'd out of Grotius 47 That they ought even to refuse their Assistance when the Case appears doubtful demonstrated out of the same Author 48 That the Justice of the French King's Attempts must not be measur'd by their Success 50 That after all he had no Reason to boast of the Success of that famous Campagne 51 That he ow'd his Victories to the Skill and Experience of his Generals and not to his own Valour 51 Of the difference between Summer-Heroes and the pretended Heroe of all Seasons 52 That the French King acquir'd not any real and solid Glory at the Sieges of Mons and Namur 53 What Opinion after Ages will have of all his Victories and Conquests 54 THE FIRST LETTER SIR YOU are pleased to desire an Account of my Thoughts concerning that General Poll-Tax with which we are threatned And to invite me to make you the Confident of my Sentiments on this occasion you have said enough to convince me that I was not mistaken in believing that you agree with me in esteeming it our Honour to be of the number of those True Frenchmen who continue still to be Lovers of their Country For so long as there shall be Men of Sense and
Queen might have declar'd that she would not renounce her Right to Hainault Brabant and the rest of her Father's Dominions and he would have taken care to Marry her to such a Husband and in such a manner as might have been most conducive to the Interest of the Spanish Monarchy and to the Peace and Tranquility of Europe But the Infanta chose rather to be Queen of a great Nation than to be Countess of Hainault and Dutchess of Brabant or to preserve a claim to a succession which she was not sure to enjoy as indeed she never did And with what Reason then could she complain of Injustice or Constraint Thus 't is plain that the King had not any lawful Reason to break the Pyrenean Treaty And it must be acknowledged that the States General of the United Provinces acted a very Wise and Honourable part when they negotiated the Tripple-League to stop the Progress of his Majesty's Arms in the Spanish Netherlands It was their Duty to defend a King who was their Neighbour and Ally against the unjust Attacks of a Potent Enemy that threatned to dispossess him according to the Maxim of an * Qui non repellit Injuriam a socio si potest tam est in vitjo quam ille qui facit lib. 1. Offic. cap. 36. ancient Father of the Church Besides Prudence oblig'd them to keep at a distance from their Frontiers an ambitious Prince who assum'd a right to interpret Treaties to his own advantage and who they might reasonably suppose would not fail sooner or later to make the same use of the House of Burgundy to claim the United Provinces as he then did of the Queen 's Right to Hainault and Brabant And did he not afterwards in effect revive the pretensions of the House of Austria to Strasburgh and the rest of those places that depend upon Alsatia I confess that it is not just to make War upon a Neighbour who-is grown too powerful under pretext that 't is our Interest to weaken him lest he should be one Day in a condition to hurt us But it has been always esteem'd lawful to oppose a Neighbour that aggrandizes himself unjustly or who having at the best but a controverted Right to certain Provinces that are in the possession of another Prince chuses rather to have recourse to an open War than to refer the difference to the Judgment of their common Allies or other disinteressed States * Justum bellum quibus necessarium pia arma quibus nulla nisi in armis relinquitur spes Liv. lib. 10. A Prince that is truly just and merciful never makes War but when the necessity of his Circumstances renders it unavoidable or when there are are no other means lest to preserve or put himself in possession of that which properly belongs to him * Clementia alieno Sanguini tanquam suo parcit scit homini non esse homine prodigé utendum Seneca Epist 87. He is as tender of the Blood of others as of his own and he is sensible that a Man ought not lightly to hazard the Lives of his Fellow Creatures But these Maxims of equitable Heathens are utterly unknown at the Court of the most Christian King Nor are they better acquainted there with the Commandment that Christ left us to forgive Injuries Would any Prince that had the least sense of Christianity have presum'd in the face of all Europe to declare War against the Hollanders under the pretext of I know not what ill satisfaction that they had given him For what had they done to provoke his Anger If it proceeded from the care which they took to negotiate the Tripple-League it was certainly very unjust since the States acted in that Affair like Wise and Christian Politicians Or was it the above mentioned Medal that occasioned all this ill satisfaction Was there any thing in it that was not exactly true or that could give him the least cause of Offence But suppose that it had been injurious to him * Magni animi est injurias in summâ potentia pati nec quicquam est gloriosius Principe impuné laeso Senec. de clem l. 1. cap. 20. True magnanimity says a Pagan Philosopher consists in suffering Injuries even when we are in the height of Prosperity And a Prince is never more truly great and glorious than when he leaves these unpunish'd who have most highly offended him Besides the King was further oblig'd to forgive that pretended Injury because the States were not only sorry that their Medal had displeas'd him but took all possible care to suppress it in so much that it is no where extant but in the Cabinets of some curious Persons The Court of France is not so observant of the Rules of Decency For though the Proud and Insolent Inscriptions on the Gates of St. Denis and St. Martin had given offence to the greatest Sovereigns in Europe they were so far from offering them satisfaction that they suffer'd a Courtier who would have certainly past for the greatest Fool in the World if he had not been too well acquainted with the weak side of his Prince to out do the grossest flatteries of the Provost of the Merchants and Echevins of Paris He was even recompensed for erecting a Statue at the Feet of which the King 's pretended Enemies were represented in so unworthy a manner that 't is impossible to look upon it without Horrour And the most celebrated Wits of the French Academy were excited in emulation of one another to make Inscriptions for that ridiculous Statue which never any reasonable Person could Read without Indignation Or was it the Dutch Gazettiers Wit that gave the King this ill satisfaction We are assur'd by certain Authors whose Books were Printed at Paris with His Majesty's Priviledge that this did not a little contribute to the Declaration of War 'T is strange that such able Ministers as M. le Tellier and M. Colbert should not have represented to the King * Tulere ista reliquere haud facile dixerim moderatione magis an Sapientia Tacitus Annal. 4. that the Wisdom as well as the Moderation of Julius and Augustus Caesar never appear'd with more Lustre than by neglecting those that writ against them You know Sir that Works of that nature are * Spreta exolescunt si irascare agnita videntur wont to fall of themselves when they are neglected but when he whom they Attack grows Angry at their Insolence he gives the World occasion to believe that there is too much Truth in the reproaches that are fasten'd upon him Tacitus has a judicious Remark to this purpose which ought to moderate the Heat of those who meditate Revenge against an Author of a biting Jest or an ingenious Satyr * Punitis ingeniis gliscit authoritas The most probable way to advance the credit of such a Book is to cause it to be burnt or to chastise its Author * Qui saevitiâ usi
sunt nisi dedecus sibi at que illis gloriam peperêre And those Princes who use such rigorous Methods do a far greater Injury to their own Reputation than to the Author of the piece that offends them The Book runs through all Hands and People are curious to know the Reason that procur'd the Author so severe a Treatment Judge then how great the curiosity of our Posterity will be and how eagerly they will examine those bitter Reflexions of the Dutch Gazettier which incensed the greatest Monarch in the World to such a degree that because he could not punish the Author he marched himself at the Head of a Hundred Thousand Men to destroy the Countrey where these Satyrs were Printed The Inhabitants of Antioch having broken to pieces the Statue of the Emperor Theodosius he resolv'd to raze that ungrateful and seditious City Immediatly the Bishop Flavian went to appease the incens'd Mind of that Prince whose indignation was far more just than that of Lewis the Great against the States General of the United Provinces * Chrysostom homil 4. ad popul Antloch The glory of Monarchs my Lord said the Prelate to Theodosius consists not so much in beating their Enemies as in subduing their Passions Victory is not wholly your own for your Officers and Soldiers claim a part of it but in an Action of Wisdom and Goodness you have no Companions and that is a Trophy to which none but your self has a Right to pretend 'T is not enough that you have Conquer'd the Barbarians if you do not also Conquer your own Anger Show those Infidels that no Power on Earth is able to stand in opposition to Jesus Christ Glorifie your Sovereign Master by pardoning the Faults of your Brethren that at the great and terrible Day of the Lord he may look upon your Errors with the Eye of a Father rather then of a Judge and that you may receive the same Forgiveness from him that you have granted to others Why do not those whose Dignity and Function oblige them to inform the King of His Duty speak to him with equal Freedom Theodosius had more Reason to be ill satisfied with the insolency of his own Subjects than His Majesty had to be Angry with the States The overthrowing of a Statue was a far more provoking Injury than the reverse of a Medal coin'd by strangers or the Jests of a disown'd Gazettier Theodosius design'd to destroy a Seditious City Lewis endeavoured to ruine entire Provinces Ought not the managers of his Conscience to have represented to him that so cruel a Revenge would not fail to fill the Hearts of Christians with Horror and give occasion of scandal to the Infidels Nevertheless instead of Offering him such good Advice the Bishops and Preachers employed all their Eloquence either in magnifying his Victories or in demonstrating even to himself that he was the greatest and most glorious Monarch in the Universe Do not tell me that the King undertook the War against a Protestant State a People who make it their boast to be the Protectors of Heresy in Europe and spread it through the other parts of the World For besides that a Christian ought to forgive Hereticks and even Infidels as well as Catholicks I dare assure you that a Zeal for Religion was not the motive of that War No sooner had Germany declar'd War against us but we detested those very Cities whose Churches Cardinal de Bouillon had blest and reconcil'd with so much Pomp and Ceremony I know not whether it was a sentiment of Devotion that made the Mareschal de Belfonds delay the Execution of the Orders that were sent to him to leave those places where the Catholick Religion was re-established but I am assur'd that the Court was very much dissatisfied with him for it Thus Sir we see that the Pretext for the Dutch War was even less specious than that which was formerly made use of for the War with Spain One of my Friends was so throughly convinc'd of the unjustness of this War that he left the Service Do not fancy that he was a Huguenot you know him he is a good Catholick And you may remember that at the same time the Mareschal de Scomberg and other Protestant Gentlemen were in the Army I had the curiosity to ask my Friend what made him leave a good Post at a time when Employments were so much courted by others He told me that his Conscience would not permit him to serve the King in a manifestly unjust War Why do you trouble your self with those things reply'd I 't is the King's business and that of his Ministers to examine that Controversy and Obedience is the Subject's only part You tell me nothing said he but what I believ'd before I had Read Grotius de jure belli pacis who has convinc'd me that I ought not to serve my Prince in a War which I know to be unjust Read that Book added he and you will be of the same opinion At that time I was taken up with other Matters and contented my self with doing what I saw others do before me But after the Peace of Nimeghen I began to reflect upon what my Friend said to me and resolv'd to consult the Book that he recommended to me No sooner had I cast my Eyes upon it but I observ'd with pleasure that it was dedicated to the late King Lewis XIII The moderation of that Learned Man is acknowledged by all the World and 't is also well known that he was a great Friend to the Soveraign Authority of Kings And yet in the first place he maintains that * Si aut ad deliberationem adhibentur aut libera ipsis optiodatur militandi aut quiescendi easdem regulas sequi debent quas illi qui suopte arbitrio pro se pro aliis bella suscipiunt Grotius de jure belli pacis lib. 2 cap. 26. when a Prince asks the Advice of his Subjects concerning a War which he desigus to undertake or gives them Liberty to chuse whether they will serve in his Armies or stay at home in Peace 't is their Duty to follow the same Maxims which their Sovereign ought to observe before he begin the War That is that they ought not to advise him to undertake the War without just and and indispensible Reasons and if he persist in his resolution they cannot without a crime offer him their assistance to shed innocent Blood What can there be alledged against so clear a Decision And indeed it makes me tremble as oft as I think of it not for the King's Ministers since these Gentlemen are not wont to consult either the light of Reason or Rules of the Gospel but for an infinite number of People who put themselves into His Majesty's Service without considering what they do and oftentimes even against the Dictates of their Conscience which tells them that the War is unjust But perhaps the Nobility who never march but when
common and so full of Glory that it will be the greatest Embellishment of the History of this Age and the admiration of all that shall succeed it Lewis the Great took Forty Cities and made himself Master of Maestricht after a Siege of Thirteen Days but what was the fruit of all his Victories and what did he retain of so many Conquests but an exhausted Kingdom Peopled with Beggars Is not this the only instance of a Prince that was Honoured with Triumphal Arches for ruining his own Subjects The taking of Valenciennes Ypres and Cambray were Actions that had a juster Title to the proud name of Conquests The Empire Spain and the States General of the United Provinces had form'd a Confederacy against the King and had often alarm'd him with Potent Armies Let us do justice to the Merit and Experience of the late Prince and of the Mareschal de Turenne who were only able to preserve us in such an Extremity They alone merited the Honour of Statues and Triumphal Arches and to have their Names inscrib'd on our Medals The pretended Glory of Lewis the Great is only a reflected Splendor which he ows to the Valour and Experience of his ill rewarded Generals and to the Skill and Dexterity of his Two Ministers one of which made it his business to find out ways to squeeze Money out of miserable Wretches while the other provided well-stor'd Magazines that the King's Army might be in a condition to enter upon Action before that of the Enemies could be drawn out of their Winter-quarters It was certainly a very prudent Advice that of M. de Turenne to keep all things in a readiness for the early opening of the Campagn And 't was by a careful observance of this Maxim that France broke the measures of the Confederates and obtain'd an advantageous Peace But I maintain that a Prince who aggrandizes himself meerly by such Politicks does not deserve the name of a Conqueror The Alexanders Scipios Pompeys and Caesars of those celebrated Glories of Antiquity took other Methods to acquire Honour than those that are now in fashion among our Heroes of all Seasons This is one of those splendid Titles that the Sappho of our Age bestows on the King And you know this thought was esteem'd very ingenious and fine Did ever any of those Summer Heroes which are plac'd so far beneath the Heroes of all Seasons content themselves with seizing on a Town that could not be reliev'd did ever any of them forsake their Arms immediatly after such an inglorious Expedition or Post back to their Mistresses as soon as the Enemies began to appear and leave the care of engaging with them to others Let the Gentlemen of the French-Academy rack their mercenary Fancies to embellish their fulsom Panegyricks with new Hyberboles it will be for ever acknowledg'd by those who are willing to do Justice to true Merit that the Duke of Orleans acquir'd more solid Glory of the Siege of St. Omer and the Battel of Cassel than the King by the taking of Cambray Ypres and Valenciennes and if you please to add Mons and Namur By coming out of his Lines meeting the Enemy gaining a Battle and afterwards taking the Besieg'd Town he merited far greater Honour than the King by all that he perform'd before Mons and Namur Instead of advancing to meet the Confederate Forces that appear'd towards the end of the Siege of Mons which they could not possibly relieve the King with all his jolly Troop made haste back to his dear Verfailles and arriv'd there with Men and Horses that were as fresh and unfatigu'd as those that had not begun to march The taking of this important Place was a Blessing from Heaven on the Providence of M. Louvois and skill of M. de Vauban rather than on the Valour of the King or the Justice of his Arms. The next Year he took Namur in sight of the Confederate Army but he was cover'd by an Army greater than theirs during the Siege of the Castle which was an advantage that the Duke of Orleans had not at the Siege of St. Omer He was forced to come out of his Lines and Fight the Enemy An instance that cannot be pararel'd in all the glorious Life of Lewis the Great Where shall we find a Homer to celebrate our new Achilles But we may trust that care to himself he will not suffer future Ages to lose so great an Example he has hir'd his Chroniclers already and carries them always about with him that they may be Eye-witnesses of all his Glorious Exploits But all in vain our Posterity will easily discover the Truth and pull of the disguising Vizard of Flattery And perhaps some Historian may luck in a Garret that will inform them after what manner Lewis the Great took so many Towns and gain'd all his Victories And even I am very much afraid that they will Read the Histories of the King as we Read the Books of those infamous flatterers who prais'd Tiberius and Nero and that they will have the same regard to all our Medals and Triumphal Arches that we have to those which remain of certain Ptinces whose Vanity we mock and despise I have not time to send you my Reflexions on the present Was but you may expect them by the next occasion Adieu Paris Jan. 23 1695. FINIS
their Subjects the unexhaustible Power of France when manag'd by a skilful Hand the sure Funds that we possess in the Hearts of our Subjects and in their Zeal for the Service of their Sovereign and for the glory of the French Nation These seemingly Fine and studied expressions are very unsutable to the present posture of the King's Affairs They are meer huffing Rhodomontadoes which may cast a Mist before the Eyes of the dull and unthinking croud but they will appear ridiculous to the judicious and considering part of Mankind You will be of the same opinion if you will give your self the trouble to examine with me what all these magnificent expressions can be reasonably suppos'd to signifie What is that Glory of the State which has excited the envy of the Potentates of Europe Might it not be inferr'd from hence that we have enjoy'd so much happiness since the King began to Reign and have liv'd in so great an abundance of all things and in so ptofound a Peace that our Neighbours jealous of the happiness and riches of France had united themselves together against her and were come with a design to lay wast our Provinces set Fire to our Houses and Castles and raise our Cities meerly because they could not endure the vexations and mortifying sight of a People that enjoy'd more freedom and Plenty and liv'd more contentedly than all the other Nations of Europe If this was the case the King might indeed complain and justly too that the glory of his State that is the happiness of all his Subjects had rais'd the envy of the Potentates of Europe and that they had united themselves together to carry on an unjust War against him But besides that our Neighbours are not capable of such base and inhuman designs the King has been very careful not to give them the least occasion to envy the happinsss of those who live under his Dominion England Germany and Holland have seen the Trade of France ruin'd the People over-loaded with Impositions the Provinces drain'd of Men and Money and the King's Subjects force'd to leave their Native Country to seek their Bread in the remotest corners of the Universe But far from envying the happiness and glory of the French Nation our generous Neighbours have damented our misfortunes and to the utmost of their Power assisted those that came to implore their Help and Protection 'T is a great while since we forgot the proper signification of certain words the glory of the State that is according to our modern Phraseology the Pride and Haughtiness of the King to love the Publick good that is to furnish His Majesty with means to satisfie his Luxury and Ambition But can you imagine that the English Germans and Dutch would take such a terrible Alarm at these improvements and alterations of our Language They might indeed laugh at the folly of the French who fancy that the Power of a King that oppresses them is the glory of their State and Nation But I durst swear that they were never jealous of our pretended happiness so long as the King continued to place all his Glory and that of the Nation in making Versailles the most magnificent Palace in the World in burying several Millions in that proud Structure in squandering away his Treasures on Cascades and Water-works in throwing away the lives of a prodigious number of his best Soldiers to alter the course of the River Eure and in reducing the Noblemen that were in his Service to Beggery by a forc'd extravagancy in Cloths Horses and Equipage So long I say as the King's Ambition aspir'd not to higher objects than these 't is very probable that his Neighboring Potentates might condemn his Pride bewail the blindness of the Lords and Gentlemen of France who consum'd their Fortunes to so little purpose and pity those Wretches that were starv'd to maintain so extravagant a Luxury but I am confident that they had not the least intentions to combine together against France Thus far I dare undertake for those Princes but no farther For without doubt they were otherwise affected than I have represented them hitherto when they beheld the taking of Strasburg with several other Places of importance and the pretended Acquisition of Casal to the prejudice of the lawful Heirs of the House of Muntua when they saw Fort Lewis and the Citadel of Hunningen built to curb the Swiss Cantons and several Princes of Germany a project laid to enslave England and render it dependant on the Court of France Sovereigns treated with the utmost contempt the Empire Spain and the United Provinces chain'd at the feet of a Statue which was erected at Paris by an extravagant flatterer and above a Hundred and fifty thousand Men ready upon the first occasion either to attack Germany or seize on the rest of the Netherlands This Sir is that pretended glory of the State that has excited not the Envy but the indignation and just Revenge of the Potentates of Europe The States General of the United Provinces had for several Years been justly esteem'd the most Potent Republick in Europe They enjoy'd all the blessings of a profound Peace Arts flourish'd among them their Trade furnish'd them with great abundance of Money and of all the conveniencies of Life and the People were so highly satisfied with the easiness of the Government that the saying of * Rem difficillimam assecuti sunt ut illis ne voto quidem opâ—s sit Tacit. de moribus Germanorum Tacitus concerning the ancient Germans might have been apply'd to them Even their best Friends could not have made a wish to their advantage and they had nothing to desire of God but that he would suffer them long to enjoy so blest and peaceful a Life The glory of their State was Real and Solid glory Denmark ow'd its Liberty to them and they had stopt the Kings Progress in the Spanish Netherlands by Negotiating that Triple-League which mortified France so effectually All Europe own'd that they had Reason to secure their own Liberty by keeping so troublesom and Ambitious a Neighbour at a distance from their Frontiers and praised their generousity for protecting a Minor Prince against the unjust Attacks of so Potent an Enemy There needed no more to incense the King against them nor could his Wrath be appeas'd without declaring a War under pretext of the ill satisfaction which the States had given to the Court of France These are the very words which the King makes use of in a Letter which he wrote to them a little before All the World was surpriz'd at the strangeness of a Phrase which they had never heard before These two Words were perfect strangers to one another and People could not forbear laughing at the odd figure which they made at their first meeting But whence proceeded this ill satisfaction We are told that it was caus'd by I know not what Medal which bore the following Inscription Assertis Legibus
takes them you may assure your self that it will take them oftner then we desire This is the most certain mark of our Servitude the French Nation has lost both its Honour and its Liberty neither can I think of any Remedy for so cruel a Disaster Let us try the Virtue of those Maxims that we find in our dear Tacitus * Ulterior a mirari praesentiae s qui. Tacit. Histor l. 4. A Wise Man says he may admire the Happiness of former Ages but he bears present Misfortunes with Patience †Bonos Imperatores volo expetere qualescunque tolerare Idem We ought to wish for good Princes but must bear with such as we have ¶ Ut Steriltatem â—imios Imbres caetera Naturae mala ita Luxum vel Avaritiam Dominantium tolerate 8. d neque haec con inua meliorum interventu pensantur Idem The Reign of a bad Prince is like a Year of Dearth and Famine and our Miseries in this World are not Eternal For as the next good Year makes amends for our former losses so a Tyrant is sometimes succeeded by a good Prince Thus we may comfort our selves with hopes of better times under the Dauphin these Maxims I confess are not very proper to satisfie Men in our circumstances but they are the best that I am able to suggest to you Shall we entreat the King to call a general Meeting of the Estates of the Realm But who will undertake to present our Petition to him Shall the Princes of the Blood There is not one among them that durst offer the least Remonstrance to His Majesty shall the Dukes and Peers of France or the Officers of the Crown They might expect to be immediatly rewarded with a lodging in the Bastile and there are too many base compliers with the Times who would offer their Service to drag them thither Shall those of the First Order in the Church The Court has found out a way to make sure of them the Clergy has contributed already vast Sums and 't is said that several Millions more will be demanded of them shortly Should the Parliament of Paris deliver our Address they would instantly be interdicted and the Heads of that Assembly would be punished as seditious Traytors should it be presented by the Inhabitants of Paris and the rest of the great Cities we should see Gibbets erected in every corner of the Streets and the Troops of the Houshold sent to devour 'em Our Poor and Ill-paid Officers would barbarously pillage the Houses of those Persons who could be accus'd of no other Crime than of endeavouring to preserve that little remainder of Liberty which they seem still to enjoy I had the fortune some Days ago to be in a Company where they talk'd variously concerning the late Revolution in England A Man of Sense who is perfectly well acquainted with the Ancient and Modern History of France demonstrated plainly that our Government was formerly like to that of England and that the Sovereign Authority was properly lodg'd in the Meeting of the Estates There Laws were made there the most important Cases were decided and such Subsidies as were judg'd necessary for the Defence of the Kingdom were granted the King had no more Power than what was sufficient to enable him to cause the Decrees of those Assemblies te be put in Execution and to attend diligently to the Security and Preservation of the State These are obvious Remarks which every one that reads our Ancient Histories thô but with a very moderate degree of Application cannot fail to observe Such were in effect the inviolable Maxims of the Gauls and of the Northern Nations from whom both we and the English are descended * Servirent Syria Asiaque suetus Regibus Oriens multos adhuc in Gallia vivere ante tributa genitos Tacit. Hist l. 4. Let the People of the East who are accustom'd to the Despotic Government of their Kings submit to the Roman Yoke said a great Man among our Gauls we will not follow their Example We can still remember a time when we paid no Tribute †Libertatem Naturâ mutis Animalibus datam virtutem proprium hominum bonum Idem ibid. Nature made the Beasts free as well as Men with this only difference That Men are endued with Virtue and Courage to preserve their Liberty The Hollanders have not yet forgot the Heroical sentiments of their Country-man but we alas lose the Memory of 'em Dayly * Nec Regibus infinita aut libera potestas Tacit. de moribus Germanorum The Northern Nations never suffer'd their King 's to assume an Arbitrary and unlimited Power †Auctoritate suadendi magis quam jubenâ—i potestate Idem ibid. their Princes govern rather by Perswasion than Force ¶ Regnantur paulo addictius quam ceterae Germanorum gentes nondum tamen supra libertatem Idem ibid. And even such of those Nations as were under the severest Government did still enjoy a great deal of Liberty To all these Observations my Friend added one more that since we have not like the Danes renounc'd our Liberty we may lawfully endeavour to shake off the Yoke that is imposed upon us For there is no just Prescription against the fundamental Laws of a State But how reasonable soever these Remarks be they appear so new and so surprising to certain Persons that they imagine it to be no less ridiculous to talk of assembling the Estates at this time of the Day than it would be to perswade them to resume the Ruff and Bonets that were used in the time of Francis the First These are obsolete Stories say they and we do not so much as remember that ever there were Estates in France 'T is true replied one of our Friends angrily we forgot that we are French-men and we shall forget too e'er long that we are reasonable Men. The Romans said one of their own Emperors * Nec totam servitutem pati possunt nec totam libertatem Tacit. Hist lib. 1. are no longer capable of enjoying a full and entire Liberty thô they were again put in possession of it nor will they bear too heavy a Yoke is it possible that we should be already more accustom'd to Slavery than a People that had serv'd such Masters as Tiberius Caligula and Nero I 'm perswaded the King will never give such advice to the Dauphin as Galba did to him whom he thought to make his Successor No care will be taken to sweeten our Bondage we are such tame Slaves that Policy would be lost upon us The Princes of the Blood are by their Birth chief Counsellors of State their Advice ought to be taken on all occasions that relate to the Interest of the Kingdom such as the making of War and Peace entering into Leagues raising of Subsidies and the like It were easy to prove this by our Histories and by the Edicts of our King 's But now the Face of
hundred and Twenty Millions be brought Yearly into the King's Coffers the total Sum of the Impositions must amount at least to One hundred and Fifty the charges of the State being infinitely augmented since the beginning of the present War And we shall quickly see them rise to Two hundred for after all Lewis the Great cannot subsist under a Hundred Millions per Annum Yet we have patience enough to suffer all these Miseries but what do I talk of Patience and Suffering No we admire them we delight in them and fancy them to be the greatest glories of our Nation The King we cry is the greatest Monarch in Europe All other Princes are meer Beggars and miserable Wretches He has Ten thousand Men in the Troops of his Houshould in time of Peace he maintains a Hundred thousand Men in Garrisons to preserve all those fine Towns that he has Conquer'd and Fortified At present Three hundred thousand Men Fight under his Banners against all the Nations of Europe that are united against him Incorrigible Sots that we are that numerous and magnificent Train of the King's Houshold those Hundred thousand Men whom he maintains in time of Peace that prodigious Army of Three hundred thousand Men who obey his Orders during the War and that vast number of strong and well Man'd Garrisons what do all these things signifie to us To devour us to enthral us and to make us odious to all Europe Have we not Reason to think our Money well bestow'd The Forces that the King kept on Foot in time of Peace made him more terrible at home than abroad These Domestick Enemies made us suffer our selves to be opprest Daily with new Edicts without resistance and forc'd us to be silent spectators when the Nobility were rob'd of their Priviledges and the Cities depriv'd of their ancient Rights The Noblemen have ruin'd themselves by their Luxury and by that chargeable way of living into which they have been so subtlely engag'd Our Cities have not Canon to defend themselves their great Guns were taken from them under pretext of sending them to the Frontiers They are open and defenceless and even are not suffer'd to repair their decay'd Walls 'T is enough for them to erect Statues for the King or to cause Inscriptions to be engrav'd in Honour of that Immortal Man The Fortifications and numerous Garrisons of Cazal Stratbourg and other frontier places have drain'd the Kingdom of prodigious Sums of Money and what advantage does it receive from them but that they have made them jealous of us and incenst our Neighbours against us That Army of Three hundred thousand Men exhausts all the Men and Money in the Kingdom All the People turn Soldiers and perhaps the consequences of a Peace would be more fatal to us than the War What must be done with all that Army after the publication of a Peace which is so much long'd for and which we might quickly enjoy if the King would do Justice to his Neighbours and to his Subjects The Allies seem resolv'd to force him to do Justice to them And we might be in a condition to demand Justice from him in such a manner that he durst not refuse it if the force of his Arms which is so loudly celebrated by our Orators and Poets were not more fatal to us than to our Neighbours Let us conclude from all that has been said for 't is time to put an end to a Letter that is already too long let us conclude I say that the Poll-Tax will be impos'd because we have made ourselves Slaves and are eyen fond of our Chains Adieu I wish you as happy a new Year as you can possibly enjoy in such difricult time and so desolate a Countrey Paris Jan. 2 1695. THE SECOND LETTER AT last Sir the Court has convinc'd us that she can be as good as her Word and that we may believe her when she threatens whatever Reason we may have to suspect the sincerity of her Promises On the 18th instant the King by his Edict commanded a General Poll-Tax to be Levied throughout the Kingdom as you may see by the Copy of the Declaration which I have sent you and Three Days after it was Registred in the Parliament This effect of their complaisance does not at all surprize me they have been for several Years a standing example of blind submission to the Orders of the Court and at last they have carryed their obedience so far that we may with a great deal of justice apply to our selves that which our good Friend Tacitus said of his own Age. * Sicut vetus aetas vidit quid ultimum in libertate esset it a nos quid in Servitute Tacit. in Agric. Our Ancestors beheld the last moments of expiring Liberty under the Ministry of Cardinal Richlieu and we are forc'd to suffer the last and utmost rigours of Slavery The Age of Domitian was an exact model of ours * Adempto per inquisitiones loquendi audiendique commercio we dare neither complain our selves nor hear the complaints of others †Memoriam quoque ipsam cum voce perdidissemus si tam in nostra potestate esset oblivisci quum tacere And we should have already lost even the Memory of our former happiness as well as our Voice if we could as easily forget as be silent But we shall not by my consent be altogether such tame Slaves as these Romans Let us at least have the courage to remember that under the former Reigns we oblig'd even our haughtiest and most ambitious Monarchs to suffer * Res olim dissociabiles principatum libertatem Liberty to subsist with Sovereignty for we need only cast our Eyes upon England to be convinc'd that these two things are not incompatible and let us not be afraid to tell our Friends what we think of our Miseries I have sent you some Reflexions on the King's Declaration I hope you will in requital let me know your thoughts of it after you have perus'd them It does not at all resemble those Edicts which Tiberius sent to the Senate of Rome They were * Verba perpauca sensu permodesto Tacit. Annal. short and modest this long and extravagant I could easily forgive its first fault considering the vast number of Regulations that were to be cram'd into it but I can by no means bear the Second as much as I have been accustom'd to the lofty stile of those Edicts that have been publish'd since the beginning of the War and of the Circulatory Letters that are sent from time to time to the Bishops to Order Te Deum to be Sung for the taking of some Town or gaining of a Victory These great words The glory of the State the Prosperity with which Heaven has blest our Reign the Powers of Europe United together to carry on an unjust War against us the Obstinacy of our Enemies who seem insensible of their Losses and of the Misery of
Sacris defensis exteris Regibus vindicatâ per orbem Christianum Marium libertate Egregiâ Pace virtute armorum partâ You know what a pother the Court made about this Inscription How insolent they are ory'd our flatterers Could the Romans have spoken otherwise after the Destruction of Numantium and Carthage But after all I profess I cannot see the least Reason that could provoke them to make such a hideous noise For there is nothing express'd by these words but what is undeniably true Had not the States General of the United Provinces oblig'd Spain to conclude a Peace with them Had they not asserted their Laws and Religion by force of Arms And had they not preserv'd Liberty of Trade and of Navigation The Inscription of this Medal is infinitely more modest and exactly true than any of those that are to be seen at Verseilles the Town-House the Place des Victoires the Gates of Paris and those Citadels that have been built in Flanders and elsewhere But suppose that there had been really some fault in the Inscription could that be a sufficient Reason for the King to set all Europe on Fire to destroy above Two hundred thousand Men to lay waste more than Fifty Leagues of Land and to ruin his own Subjects Confess with me Sir that the King had more Reason to complain of the indiscretion of his Secretaries for giving him ill satisfaction when they made him say That the glory of France has Excited the envy of the Allies since it may be very easily prov'd that the King himself was jealous of the true and solid glory of a Neighbouring Republick and that his Vexation and Spite excited him to kindle a bloody War which his brace of Historians by their own confession are not able to justifie Quis tuler it Gracchos de seditone querentes However in the opinion of our flatterers it cannot be deny'd that Heaven has blest the King's Reign with such an uninterrupted course of Prosperity that his Neighbours have been mov'd with Jealousy These words Prosperity and the blessings of Heaven are very equivocal and their true meaning is not unfrequently mistaken A happy crime usurps the name of Prosperity and the Fortunate unjustly fancy themselves to be the favourites of Heaven 'T is the Language of Constantinople that the Prosperity with which Heaven had blest the Ottoman Empire excited the Envy of the Christian Potentates that join'd together to carry on an unjust War against the Grand Signior What is the meaning of all this but that God in his just Anger against his People has suffered those Infidels to take advantage of our Divisions and of the weakness of Christian Princes and to lay waste the best Provinces in Europe Those who are call'd Conquerors are usually but the Rods of God whom he makes use of to scourge both their Subjects and their Neighbours He blesses their Reign as he blest of old the Reigns of Sennacherib Nebucbadnezzar Mahomet II and Solyman But the Day of the Lord will come when he shall visit the Pride of the stout Hearts of the Kings of Assur and Babylon He will also raise up a new Warriour and send forth his Anointed and his Shepherd who shall deliver and gather together his disperst People and break to pieces the Rod which God took up in the Day of his Indignation to punish our Sins and scourge us for our back-slidings Be not afraid Sir I beseech you that I intend to turn Prophet Only give me leave to say that we may then and not till then conclude that God has truly blest the King's Reign when we shall see that God has taken him by the Hand to destroy the Nations of the Infidels and to disarm the Enemies of the name of Christ when we shall perceive that the Almighty marches at the head of our Armies to make the King the restorer of Jerusalem and repairer of the Ruins of the Temple of God The Preachers of the Gospel to the shame of our Age be it spoken are the King 's greatest flatterers and but too often have the baseness to tell the King to his Face that he is what he ought and we wish him to be But we have the pleasure to see them publickly contradicted by the Popes themselves 'T is well known that at Rome they are so far from believing the King to be a Prince whom God has wonderfully rais'd up for the Honour and Deliverance of his Church that they speak there of the Wars which he has kindled as they do at Vienna and Madrid and Thank God for his Conquests and Victories no otherwise than they do at London and at the Hague Do the King's Ministers imagine that we are ignorant of the true sentiments of the Pope and Court of Rome and have they not made the King a publick Jest to all the World by making him say with so much confidence that God has blest his Reign and Crown'd him with his greatest favours But we ought to do Justice to all Mankind let us therefore acknowledge to the Honour of the Emperor that God does visibly protect that Prince and that he has lately wrought signal Miracles for him The Turks had besieged his Capital City and he saw himself within an ace of losing the greatest part of his Hereditary Provinces We all trembled for him but God struck the Visier with a Spirit of Infatuation The King of Poland and the Duke of Lorrain had time to come to the relief of Vienna with a Potent Army the Turk lost his best Troops and the Emperor in less than Five Years regain'd almost all that which had cost the Turks above an Age to Conquer in the Kingdom of Hungary What was the countenance of our Court during the siege of Vienna you were asham'd of it as well as I and you spoke of it with Indignation They appear'd very well pleas'd with the Emperors misfortunes they expected impatiently the return of the Courrier who they hop'd would bring the good News of the Surrender of that City and were even making Preparations for the Reception of the Deputies of the Germans who they concluded would come to implore the King's Assistance The King had an Army ready to march into Germany and thought to make himself Master of that Countrey under pretext of assisting it But the raising of the Siege of Vienna at once broke the measures of the Court and of the Divan and overthrew all their Projects And those well-appointed Troops that were design'd for Germany were imploy'd on the Projects of Maintenon where the greatest part of them lost their lives God continued still more and more to bless the Justice of the Emperor 's Arms. He made great Progresses in the Turkish part of Hungary He retook Belgrade and advanc'd even as far as Nicopoli Is it not clear beyond exception that this remarkable course of Prosperity excited the Envy of the King which engag'd him in an unjust War against a Prince that was busied in
the Arrier-ban is summon'd are more excuseable Let us hear what the same Author adds * Si edicitur ipsis ut militent quod fieri solet siquidem constet ipsis injustam esse belli causam abstinere omnino debent Deo potius obediendum quam hominibus c. Idem If the Prince says he by a positive command ordain his Subjects to follow him to the War they are oblig'd to disobey his Orders when they are convinc'd that the War is unjust For 't is an uncontroverted Maxim among Jews and Heathens as well as among Christians that it is better to obey God than Men. This determination of Grotius furnish'd me with this reflection that the ancient Custom of France and other European Nations of which I took Notice in the Letter that I had the Honour to write to you about the beginning of this Month was grounded upon very good Reasons The Lords and Gentlemen were not obliged to serve the King till after the War was decreed in the meeting of the States General of the Kingdom The Reason is plain it was fit that an Affair of such vast importance on which the Lives of so many Men did depend and which might ruin whole Nations should be gravely debated and diligently examin'd both by the Prince himself who was to undertake it and those who were to serve him But what shall the Subjects do when the Justice of the War in which they are like to be engag'd appears only doubtful to them It may seem perhaps a needless piece of curiosity to start Cases that we never had occasion to experience 't is certain that Lewis the Great never undertook a War that was not manifestly unjust Yet there may have been some Persons who imagin'd that the late Queen's claim was at least disputable France publish'd whole Volumes to demonstrate the Justice of her Pretensions and Spain answer'd them This might probably disquiet the minds of some French men that were not able to decide the Controversie Now the Question is whether such Persons were oblig'd in Conscience to Fight under the King's Standards Grotius acknowledges that there are some Lawyers that hold the Affirmative but positively declares himself for the Negative which he confirms with a Reason that to me seems to be convincing * Qui dubitat contemplativè debet judicio activo eligere partem tutiorem est autem pars tutior abstinere bello Laudantur Esseni quod inter alia jurarent non necituros se cuiquam ne si juberentur quidem Imitatores eorum Pythagorei qui Jamblico teste bello abstinebant causa additâ quia bellum caedes imperat In all dubious Cases says he A Wise Man always chuses the safest side Now 't is certainly the safest way to abstain from an Action that may engage us to injure our Neighbour and shed Human Blood This Book has been done into French and the Translation dedicated to the King and would to God that not only His Majesty but his Ministers of State the Nobility and Clergy would bestow some few Hours on Reading that piece with Attention There would not be so much Blood shed so many Nations laid Waste and such a vast number of Persons reduc'd to Beggery The Preachers of the Gospel would cease to extol those Generals whose Virtue for the most part consists in nothing else but in stifling the gnawing Remonstrances of an awak'd Conscience to serve the abominable Ambition of their Master But how shall private Persons be inform'd whether the King had lawful Reasons to undertake the War unless by his Manifestos and Declarations Thus my Friend perceiving that the King had taken up Arms against the Dutch meerly to be reveng'd upon them for the ill satisfaction that they had given him he chose rather to quit an advantagious Post than to expose himself to the reproaches of his Conscience by continuing to serve in a War which he believed to be unjust If they who serve in our Armies had imitated the Example of my generous Friend if they had examin'd the King's Manifestoes they would not have been so acquainted with their own and their Countries Interest Good God! Will the French Nation never learn Wisdom Will they never be weary of being led to the Army like a pack of Hounds to a Hunting-match Will they always continue to sacrifice their Fortunes their Liberty and their Life meerly to give their King the pleasure of assuming the Title of Lewis the Great But 't is time to proceed to the consequences of the Dutch War and to take a view of the glaring part of the King's Life The taking of above Forty Towns in the compass of one Campaign the Surrender of Maestricht after a Siege of Thirteen Days the Conquest of Cambray S. Omer Ypres and Valenciennes the Battels of Cassel and Senef and the disadvantageous Peace which the Allies were forc'd to make may serve indeed for materials to stuff a flattering Panegyrick or Inscription but all together will not amount to one single Argument to prove that God has blest the Reign of the King and the Justice of his Arms. To measure the Justice of an Attempt by the Happiness of its Success is the way to be eternally deceiv'd and to justifie the blackest Crimes Temporal Prosperity is not usually a mark of the particular favour of Heaven The God whom we adore is infinitely Wise He suffers the Righteous to be afflicted and the Wicked to prosper in their Day Let us adore then the unsearchable Mysteries of his Providence and let us judge of True Merit by the Light of Reason and by the Rules of the Gospel It must be acknowledg'd that the King was very well serv'd by his Ministers and by the Generals of his Forces during that War But it was not a very surprising Accident that a Republick that was at once assaulted by Land and by Sea could not resist a King that came Thundering against her with an Army of a Hundred thousand Men commanded by the two greatest Captains that Europe had seen in many Yeats before He took Forty Towns in one Campaign it cannot be deny'd but was he not forced to abandon them with shame as soon as the Imperial Army had seiz'd on some places of the Rhine Maestricht was Surrendred after a Siege of Thirteen Days a great Miracle indeed For how could the States relieve it The Inscriptions on the Gates of St. Denis and St. Martin do more Honour to the States than to the King He broke in upon them 't is true like a furious and overbearing Deluge and they were not able to put a stop to his Progress yet I do not believe that all this Action gain'd him one Admirer But that Holland should force the most Potent Monarch in Europe to abandon his unjust Conquests and to sue for a Peace by offering to restore to them the only place that he still retain'd of all that he had taken from them is an event so little