years longer he would scarce see a Conclusion but must be fain to leave that business for his Successour So that the King had need stand upon his Guard while the people are thus dis-affected He not being in a Condition to send his Army abroad nor having Money to maintain them France in the mean time may do what she pleases may take the Low-Countries and all Spain too if the King of Spain happens to dye which is the thing France waits for so impatiently For the Second thing which is an Alliance with the Vnited Provinces and a perfect Harmony and Agreement between those two Potentates to oppose all Kings or Princes whatever who shall offer to violate the peace of Christendom 'T is an undoubted Truth that the States desire it of all things provided it be done so securely as they may venture to rely upon it and be back't upon occasion Of which there is small likelihood so long as things are as they are in England This is what France would not willingly see since the joyning of these two powers would probably divert her from many Enterprizes and make her lose her longing to undertake any thing contrary to the late Treaties of peace at Nimeghen and the Truce But France takes Care to hinder this and the mistrust and jealousie which she keeps afoot in England like magnifying Glasses makes the triviallest Objects look greater than they are both in publick and private Affairs We need go no farther than the business of Bantam which might long ago have been accommodated but France thinks it more useful to her that things be let alone as they are and neither go forward nor backward for fear of a happy Result An Union of England with the Vnited Provinces would give no great encouragement to the French designs upon the Spanish Netherlands for if England were so minded the King of France could never do any good if the late King would but have seemed to have stir'd the French had never taken Luxemburg but they knew his weakness and were so cunning to blind him that he good Prince never saw the mischief on 't till after the City was taken England acted very much against her own Interest when she parted with Dunkirk that City opened the Gate to go into France and the Low Countries But now 't will be otherwise if those Countreys fall under the yoak of Lewis le Grand and if he by his Conquests joins Neuport and Ostend to Dunkirk Flussing in a little time will be thought convenient for him and then he may very well begin to dispute the Dominion of the Seas with England and obstruct her Commerce and if at last the King of France Masters Holland which misfortune may happen the Low Countries being lost England may very well think 't is her turn next As 't was for this Reason that Queen Elizabeth told heretofore Mounsieur Sully the Most Christian Kings Embassador that neither France nor England nor any other Prince had any right to pretend to the Low-Countreys and further that she would never suffer that his King should so much as think on 't This very Sully in a Letter to Henry IV. sent him word That with a great Army for all what the Queen had said he might take a course to keep them in order and take possession of such Lands and Cities in the Low Countries as he should think fit for his turn and join France intirely with the United Provinces which is the only means says he to restore France to its Antient splendour and make her Superiour to all the rest of Christendom For if once by hook or by crook the Provinces of Luxemburg Juliers la Marck Mons Limburg Aix and Cleves were united to France without doubt all the rest of the Country would be forc't to follow their example being separated from any communication with the rest of the World. France has been fixt that way ever since she saw there was no good to be done towards Italy but all the Princes of Europe are highly concerned to put a stop to that Conquest And there are only those two Neighbouring Powers which are able and whose Interest it is most to hinder the progress that France makes in the Low Countries which will draw after it as I have said before dire effects As for Spain of it self 't is only a Body standing aloof off from its Members which has nothing left but her Tongue She is reduc't so low as even to say her Prayers to Notre Dame Charite and to beg her good Masters and Friends to take care of her and not forsake her England can do much toward the preserving the Low Countries and if her King had not promis't to sit still Luxemburg would have been at this time as 't was before a bone for France to pick. His Most Christian Majesty knows this very well and 't is for this reason that he takes so much pains to keep his Britanique Majesty firm to his Interests and if he wont declare for him at least that he will look on and accept a neutrality To bring this about he spares nothing neither Presents nor Pension nor Tricks and I may safely say that the Money which France gives is a venomous Serpent lurking under the Rose-leaves it smiles for the present but will frown severely afterward 't is an Iron Chain plaited over with Gold beautiful in appearance to attract and deceive the English but they will one day feel its weight and hardness if they don't make an early discovery of the base ends he has who offers it who will be their ruine at last since they can't subsist but by a due ballance between France and Spain I conclude then that 't is the King of Englands apparent Interest for self-preservation and advancing of Trade to oppose the King of France his Conquests in the Law Countries for if he does not and supposing that after the loss of that Countrey Fortune favours him and lets him be Master of all the Seventeen Provinces which may very well come to pass if the States are not seconded and stand only upon their own Leggs in what a condition will England be France will be stronger at Sea and more Potent in the Indies than she France will interfere with her in Traffique every day she will constantly have a brave Navy at Sea and especially in the Spring which will not let a mouse stir out of the English Ports without leave and upon the least resentment farewel England to all intents and purposes since there 's no body left who will or dare lift up a finger in her defence Moreover Englands best Policy is to keep France under not only to maintain her Dominion of the Seas but also to find a convenient opportunity for the recovery of her Antient Demesnes which France keeps from her for Example Britain Normandy Poitou Languedock and all France too which belongs to it by the Marriage of the King of England with Margaret
ever they find that grand Usurper to advance for he is now taking his aim and so well play'd his Cards that he hath made the Duke of Savoy to sneak and truckle not daring so much as to put his Nose towards France In times past the Dukes Ancestors did defend the City of Geneva as well as the Inhabitants they had a great deal more reason for it then France now a days upon the account of the pretensions to it and the rights the Counts of Geneva have yielded up to the Duke of Savoy Charles IV. Proclaimed that Duke Prince of Geneva and of all the Territories thereunto belonging and they have inherited it till the Year 1532. But the present Duke is so far from making any opposition against France that he would rather deliver up all his Rights and Claims to it and let himself be cullyed out of it under pretence of reinvesting the Bishop now although that Prelate should be setled and France master of it what course would the Duke of Savoy take if the King would not remit to him Would he have recourse to Menaces or Reprisals If he should do so the King of France would jerk him soundly like a Boy and would make him kiss the Rod to boot So that I would not have Geneva to flatter her self with the treacherous promises of the French King nor yet with the Assistance which Policy and Reason might oblige the Duke of Savoy to send them Let her e'ne rely on her Allies the Swisse Cantons upon her own though slender Forces and upon so many French Officers who have fled for refuge thither who will be sure upon the first news of it to run to her assistance or otherwise they must have lost common Sense and all sentiments of Honour and Thankfulness Again if so be the Emperour make his Peace with the Turk he must send for the Duke of Lorain to help him who is a great Captain and even laden with Victorious Lawrels whose very name will make France quake I and he may serve him for a inlet whereat to enter into his Dutchy of Lorrain where his Subjects quite spent with the Tyrannical Dominion of France expect him as their Moses and deliverer The King is a Lyon in a Foxes Skin he is not so formidable as men believe him his only end is to make himself be feared and he obtains his desire by threatnings but shake off this panick fear look upon France nearer mind her soberly and seriously consider the continual running away of her Inhabitants the punishment and imprisonment of another part of them is as so much Bloud flowing from her Veins which by little and little weaken her Add hereto the just complaints of the Catholicks the decrease of her Revenues and what is worst of all for her the death and the going away of so many Generals within these few years and so suddenly one after another doth she not seem to behold that Scene Heaven hath contrived on purpose to humble her for indeed she is at a lower ebb then one would imagine I 'll engage she is as sick as her King and that they be both smitten to the heart The first Enemy that sets upon her will not be long alone he will be soon seconded but it will be just as in the Fable of the Counsel of Rats who consulted together to go hang a Bell at the Cats neck their sworn Enemy but not one of them durst venture to do it first Who would ever have said the Pope would have contributed his assistance to the Union of the Switzers Yet 't is true he did so as we may have observed in the business of Glaris which I have above recited Nay his Nuncio is very intent at his leisure hours to open the eyes of the Catholick Cantons for those silly people provided the King tell them of intending to re-establish a Bishop 't is enough for them that 's all they care for but they are not sensible of what is behind the Hill that the grand Usurper lyes hid under the Bishops Mitre I have but one Admonition more to give the Right Honourable Cantons of Switzerland that is to say the King hath no respect nor good will towards them He takes them for Scaffolds to be made use of when need requires and when that is over he looks upon them as no body I desire no other proof of what I say then what of a fresh date happened to the Ambassador which the Cantons not long since sent to the French King After he had wrangled with them about their Commission not being in general Terms on purpose to refuse them Audience well this difficulty once removed by a second Commission dispatched to them they were e'ne fain to go away as they came without so much as seeing the King or obtaining one only Audience This is the greatest undervaluing and most sensible affront that ever Free-born men had given and if the Cantons pass by this and don 't shew their just Resentments of it they 'l be despised by all the Princes of Europe and it will not be the last ill turn of this nature that will befall But that I may fully certifie you of the truth of what I here deliver see here word for word the Harangue or rather Complement these Gentlemen past upon Mounsieur Colbert Croissi Minister of the Foreign Affairs at their departure Sir Our Lords and Superiours sending us hither to do what in us lyes and make use of all importunities to endeavour to win the Kings affection to the end he might be inclined to uphold the City of Geneva their Allie in the possession of what they have hitherto been above One Hundred and Eighty Years grounded upon Authentick Treaties But his Majesty being resolved to commit to his Parliament of Dijon a business which is plainly acknowledged for an affair of State which depends upon Treaties of Peace Covenants and Alliances the which said Parliament our Superiours will never acknowledge as just no nor give their Allies the Citts of Geneva counsel to yield to their Treaty which is theirs also Moreover his Majesty giving us to understand by your Excellency that he would no more then you confer with us touching this matter and because we are afraid that a longer stay here might be as unwelcome as our coming we could not do better then withdraw home again to make a faithful report of what hath past to our Lords and Superiours We are come to take our leaves of your Excellency and to give you many thanks for the patience you have had in several Conferences beseeching you that in pursuance of the reiterated Orders we have had given us in behalf of our Lords and Superiours who notwithstanding they be much troubled at the bad success of this Embassy seeing they take more into consideration the prosecution of 25 Canons then the fidelity of many thousands of the best and most stedfast Allies of that Crown who have shed their Blood and
favourable opportunity shall require it Can a Man forbear laughing when he hears the praises which these flatterers bestow on Lewis XIV perswading him he hath procured peace both to his Enemies and to all Europe These Tales are very fit to be told to the Kingdom of Siam as Mounsieur de Chaumont the French Embassador was not backward to do in his Speech to that King which is to be found at large in a Book Entituled A Voyage into Siam and they have not been wanting in like manner to put off such sort of Trifles to the King of China such like stories are good for nothing else but to be obtruded on those Countreys though not here in Europe where our Eyes have seen and Ears heard the contrary Is it not strange to meet with such Writers who commit such impertinent Trifles as these to paper Don't we know what the proceedings of the King of France have been to procure a Peace with the States of the Vnited Provinces For seeing Fortune began to change he Agreed as touching the City of Nemeghen which belonged to the Hollanders so that no body went to Versailles to demand it of him He offers them Mastricht which was still in his hands Yea If the States had not been so very hasty to grant him what he demanded with so much importunity and for which he made so many fair promises he would have been glad to have defrayed all the Expence of the War Pray who can tell what it hath cost him under hand to obtain this Peace which he sued for with so much instant Intreaties sparing nothing that he might endeavour to get the States to slip their Necks out of the Collar and forsake their Allies he went so far as to surrender divers places to Spain to serve for boundaries between his Kingdom and the Vnited Provinces In saying that if the States had not been too forward to hasten on the signing the Peace France would have paid the Expences of the War. I hope I do not speak without good grounds for what I say several Reasons obliged them to clap up this peace in all haste separately because they saw their strength decreased dayly It is certain that after the Battle at St. Dennis which was not fought out by reason of a Peace the Prince of Orange would have marcht on into France with his Troops Moreover the King knew full well that being forced to agitate a General Peace it would never be effected till he should surrender to the Duke of Lorrain all his Lands and that he could not possibly induce the Elector of Brandenburg to restore to the Sweed what he had taken from him according to his obligation thereto when the Peace in particular with him was in agitation France had a great mind to make him restore to the King of Sweden his Allie what he had lost in taking up Arms for the service of France so that here are your sufficient reasons for demanding particular Peace with the States and that it was not he that procured it for Europe as he boasts and publisheth up and down If any one was the cause of Peace to the Empire 't was the States of the Vnited Provinces for when they had made peace at the instant supplication of the King the General Peace followed immediately usher'd in by the mediation of the States General 'T is most certain the King made this Peace by compulsion he began to do things but by halves the States and his Allies reinforced themselves dayly The Hollanders were recovered out of their Lethargie the Prince of Orange day by day became more experienced the Duke of Luxemburg's familiar Spirit grew feeble and began to forsake him part of the French Troops perished the remainder were much harassed and worn out Swedeland had done her worst and was at her last shifts so that it was absolutely necessary to afford some respite and relief to the French Troops by a Peace being that this Peace was partly but a forc't one the King was obliged to give up whatsoever he had taken so also it continued but a short while and just then when the Emperour had his hands full of the Turk and when the Spaniard and his Allies had laid down their Arms and did acquiesce upon the strict performance of the Treaty of Nemeghen the most Christian King like a Lyon falls foul upon the Low Countreys Now it was convenient to stop this Torrent to deliver up a good many places and to give ground and to patch up a Truce in the midst of Peace which will continue no longer than his Interest will permit a body may say and that truly that France makes but small difference between her Subjects and her Neighbours Genoua may bear me witness of the truth of this he treads them under foot and fleeces them all alike when occasion serves and when his Will and Pleasure is who is he that dares assure us that the Truce will be a stronger Bank to put a stop to his Ambition and his own private Ends than the two Treaties of Peace of the Pyrenneans and Nemegen That Numerous Army that amounts to near One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Men which he maintains as well in Peace and in time of Cessation of Arms as in time of War sufficiently declares the French Policy that hath always one foot up ready a going to march and sits on thorns having ever more Armies in a readiness to execute her designs They make them Camp and de-Camp continually to be in motion that they may use and accustom their Neighbours to it for fear they should give them occasion of suspition when they march in good earnest to fall upon any place or surprize it One of the King of France his Maxims is to hinder these Neighbours lest they should augment their Forces but remain alwayes in a condition not to be able to do them harm on the sudden except they have a mind to have them about their Ears as we have observed at such time as the Vnited Provinces were partly resolved to levy Sixteen Thousand Men what Solicitations what delusory Promises nay how many Journeys did the Comte D' Avaux take to hinder it He did nothing but talk up and down of the sincerity and reality of the Covenants on his part just as if no body beside his Master had any Honesty and as if he were the only Man for keeping his word in Treaties All that was because he saw plainly that this new Commission given out would obstruct the taking the City of Luxemburg promising that there his Master would stop and put an end to all his Claims and Demands But he is still as ready to take another as he was before the taking of this City as we saw lately at Mons it would be all one whether the States should oppose this proceeding or no it would be so long as the Princes of Europe should suffer themselves to be hood-winkt by base fear or complaisance wonderful
the King of France his Manifesto published newly at Ratisbone and other States of the Empire to maintain the Usurping Fortification of Tarbrack deserves to be inserted in this Book to let these who have not yet seen it understand the slender Reasons he alledges to palliate his infraction of the last Truce Behold here what his Minister hath-published to all the World. The King having been informed of the complaints which the Ministers of the House of Austria make upon the account of some outrages committed at Tarbrack by his Majesties Order who throughout the Empire they charge with acting contrary and call him an infringer of the Treaty concluded in the Year of our Lord 1684. The which hath obliged his said Majesty to issue out Orders to the Count de Crecy his Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Imperial Diet at Ratisbone to represent to the Ministers of the Electors Princes and States of the Empire assembled in the said place the small ground there is for such a complaint in it self and the just occasions they administer to all those who have a desire to preserve the publick peace to believe that this is a pretence that they are willing to make use of to disturb the same peace and quiet First of all If it may be said upon good grounds that that Treaty ratified at _____ may not properly be called a Truce its true definition being only a forbearance or sufferance by vertue of which although the War be still in being we are to forbear all Acts of Hostility there being at that time no rupture between France and the Empire this tolleration may be lookt upon as a mutual promise of a good understanding and Union for the space of Twenty years in consideration whereof the Emperour and Empire on the one part are to lay aside during the said term their Soveraignty Rights Superiority and Protection or all other pretences whatsoever they may have upon Lands Places or Towns fallen to France before the first of August 1681. His Majesty in like manner binds himself not to make any farther suit or prosecution in the Empire during the said time These are the most material Covenants by which they interchangeably assure each other of a long continuation of Friendship and good Intelligence which afforded means to the Emperours Arme is to conquer all Hungary and to put themselves and Empire in a posture and in a condition to undertake a War which otherwise would not have waged but at great cost and charges and peradventure at the hazard and ruine of the Electors Princes and States of the Empire But further to demonstrate this weak pretext altogether not to be tenible nor can hold Water of it self we need not run over the Articles of this Treaty and though we might even look upon it as a Treaty barely concluded only for the security of the tranquillity of the Empire and to procure for it the means whereby to imploy its Armies against the common Enemy yet one cannot for all that prove that it may deprive the King of his Power to fortifie those places where his Majesty hath right so to do as well by the possession he hath already had as by the common consent of the Empire granted by vertue of the same Treaty nor that he cannot act in those places as he pleaseth you need only peruse all the Treaties of Truce which have been made hitherto to see whether a prohibition of fortifying is not expresly included therein at such time as both Parties cannot agree By this toleration of the Truce of Bonvise in the year of our Lord 1537 't is said that whilst the Cessation of Arms lasts in the Netherlands King Francis I. could not send any Forces into the County of St. Paul nor there raise any Fortification This Exception gives us sufficiently to understand that the King was impowered to fortifie his places thereabouts and elsewhere during the said Truce so that they were bound to insert a clause into this Treaty to deprive France of this Liberty in the County of St. Paul only The General Truce that was agreed upon at Nice in the Year 1538 ratifies and confirms this same Article concerning St. Paul but it doth no way hinder the two Princes to cause Fortifications to be raised any where else The Cessation made in 1555 makes no mention of this point but the Crown of Spain and States General of the Vnited Netherlands upon their concluding a Truce in 1609 having a mind indeed to deprive each other of having the liberty of raising any new Fortress in the Low Countreys inserted this Clause There shall be on neither side any Fortress in the Low Countreys during the Cessation When the Peace was in agitation at Munster between France and Spain that they demurr'd longest upon and proved the greatest obstacle to the conclusion was that the Catholick King could not find in his heart to quit his claim to Catalonia which caused them to agree upon a Truce for Thirty years for that Province alone during which term both Kings should keep what he possest at that time but another difficulty emerg'd that the Spaniards could not endure that they should fortifie during the Truce those places in Catalonia to which the French would not agree alledging it unjust upon this account that thereby this would put them in a posture of being Defendants only and not Aggressors which was permitted in all Ages they would not so much as admit of the Expedient offered by the Embassador of the States General The same case stands good now as to the present Treaty Every one knows that the prohibitions to raise Fortifications propounded by the Ministers of the Empire in the Ninth and Tenth Articles of the same project of the Empire and what was then and there interchangeably delivered by publick Writing was interjected by France Besides the Imperial Ministers would by no means give their consent that the Emperour should yield up to the King such places whereof he was in present possession which his Majesty would not have medled with nor limited nor encroached upon The Emperours Ministers not able to make good this demand gave it over 'T is hard to believe that the Imperial Ministers will draw any Arguments to be a sufficient ground of complaint from the Eighth and Ninth Article of the Truce forasmuch as the former contains only the settling the Lands upon the Proprietors again who would take the Oath of Allegiance for them The Soveraignty whereof was delivered to his Majesty The other is that his said Majesty shall permit the Inhabitants to have the free Exercise of their Religion Moreover the re-union of Tarbrack having been irrecoverably adjudged by a decree of the Royal Chamber of Metz in the Month of April 1681. It is hard to conceive what Title the Imperial Ministers can pretend to in accusing France of acting contrary to the Cessation of Arms especially the King giving visible and dayly demonstrations of the inviolable
Provinces We see that amidst Peace the Militia Forces grew slothful Ease smiles for a little while Men quite forsake the care of Arms and give themselves only to something profitable and gainful When the Enemy approacheth Men flie oftentimes to their shame far from that Glory which was heretofore the prevailing Passion as we might have observed in the late Wars France was sure so long as the Vnited Provinces had no Captain-General the Militia would be but ill provided and no ways upon their Guard and this is the reason why she was so very careful to hinder the Prince of Orange from being advanced to those Dignities and Commands which he at present enjoys by strengthning and poysoning the contrary Party By this means the States grew weaker and weaker every day Their Forces were disperst their Fortifications neglected and their strongest places fell to decay their Magazines but ill provided with Ammunition whilst France levyed Men unawares entered into secret Alliances with England Archbishop of Cologne and Bishop of Munster Du Plessis saith very well that every State is not thought strong or weak but in comparison to the strength and weakness of their Neighbours that 't is for that end that wise Princes alwayes keep a counterpoize as much as possible that they may remain in peace and amity together and so soon as ever that fails peace and amity is dissolved not being grounded upon any thing but mutual fear or respect for one another Now this is so true that every Prince is jealous of the least Levy or Motion of his Neighbour even amidst Peace or Cessation of Arms and do perpetually observe it and labour to get a true Information of the designs of his Enemy or Neighbour even before they be hatched for thereby his resolutions are spoiled now this is the thing wherein abundance of Princes and States who stand upon cost and charges are to seek This is a piece of Covetousness that sometimes costs its Master and his People dear and at last occasioneth a War which perhaps might have been prevented with a small matter France is so well assured of the Truth of it that she lets nothing slip upon such occasions Her Embassadors in all the Courts of Europe have Money for that purpose and they can do their Master no better service nor sooner win his favour than by corrupting one or more of that Princes Council at whose Court they reside It is their chief study Night and Day and spare nothing to accomplish it When they come short of the good Man they are sure to win the Wife that she may now and then ask her Husband nay rather than fail one of the Children may serve the turn whether or no he was successful in such and such a business They apply themselves in like manner to the Servants whom they reward according to their services These Maxims prove very lucky to them in States where there are many Heads as in the Vnited Provinces who are a great rub in the King of France his way in his Conquest of the Spanish Netherlands for he knows that having some of them he may make sure of the rest so that his main business is to lull the Vnited Provinces asleep by a Truce which he breakes at pleasure supposing at that time they may neglect their Militia as heretofore they did and busie themselves only with Trading for the King knows that the States having their Wits about them and upon their Guard they will never consent to the taking of the Spanish Netherlands at least that they ought not to do it since that there lyes the bounds between France and them which they ought to have a care of as of their Neighbours House least it be set on Fire So that to bring about his Design what hath not the Count d'Avaux done to divide one Province against another nay even the Cities of Holland and especially Amsterdam What did he not promise what did he not engage to accomplish his Designs However they were not managed with such secrecy but that the very Boys in the streets smoak't them out through the frequent Journeys this Ambassador so often made to this great City neither is Mombas to be thought the only Actor in this Affair for when he retired to France he left many Agents behind him to further the design in the Night not daring to appear in the Day but the best was Count d'Avaux became at length to be better understood the People began to suspect his Doctrine for his abusing the easiness and good nature of many of them made them sensible of his practice and illude his Designs but the Policies of France are more perspicuous in fomenting the differences between England and the Vnited Provinces well knowing the uniting of both their Forces together might give France it 's Mortal Wound How sweet therefore must their Divisions be to France and especially when they spring from among themselves The last War between these two arose from some differences in point of Traffick and whilst the King of England was preparing for the War the King of France offered his Assistance towards an accommodation with the States on purpose onely to delude them as they well perceived afterwards being amazed that when they drew near to a Conclusion France on the sudden sided with England and at the same time the one gave the Assault by Sea the other by Land and so assuring to themselves an intire Conquest of the Vnited Provinces they divided their Spoils the one taking the Maritime places and France the other but they mis-understood one another about Amsterdam each imagining to possess that himself but there was no occasion for their casting Lots for it for God suffer'd it not to fall into their hands afterwards each drew home their Forces according to the Peace which the English were the first movers of Then did France labour what it could to strip the States of their Allies it 's King foreseeing the Dice would turn and that the Dutch might rally their Soldiers being in great Discipline under an experienced General then did the King give up Mastricht and did whatever else lay in his power to promote the peace at Nimeghen Since which time he has alwayes bark'd at a distance and did so much dread the States levying the last 16000 men that Count d'Avaux used all Stratagems to prevent it as he will do at all times whenever the States discover an inclination to arm because that would prove some hinderance to his encroaching designs and here I must repeat again how much it is the Interest of the States to prevent their Frontiers from being swallowed up which certainly in a short time will become a prey to the Usurper upon a more specious pretence then that King has usually made use of He may publickly declare upon what right his pretensions are grounded how that without the least dispute these Provinces did formerly belong to Mary of Burgundy to Philip the First to
sacrificed so many brave men for the service grandeur and maintaining of that State yet that nevertheless they will stand to their Treaty of Peace and Allyance in the hopes they have always entertained and do still entertain that his Majesty to whom with the Royal Family they wish all happiness will on his part be responsable As for our part in particular though we have not had the happiness to see his Majesty yet we cannot chose but wish him all Personal Health and do assure your Excellency of the esteem and high value we put and all ways shall upon your deserts and incomparable vertue protesting to you that we are more particularly your most humble Servant After such a base affront who would not undervallue such Embassadours the Representatives and their Superiours also who durst present them with a Golden Chain of 500 Crowns value One would think they had an hand in it and that they were covetous of Money and Presents If an Embassadour after taking such an affront should have accepted it he would have deserved to be hanged with that Golden Coller By the refusal of Audience you may well understand what France is made of and its designs Whoever heard or saw a free and absolute Republique referr'd to a Parliament under his Authority as the King refers Geneva to the Parliament at Dijon it would have been more legal and just to have refer'd them to the Parliament at Turin Now behold the equity of this great King who would always be both Judge and Party in his own Cause who would make all Europe depend on his Judges some upon those of Metz others on those of Dijon and Aix in Provence as he forces the people of Orange to do but we hope those of Geneva will not submit to those unjust Judges and supposing they do they will not miss losing their Cause and after that they will make a new pretension upon them till they have fettered them and losing their City and Liberty they become the slaves of France a Victim offered up to the Jesuit and the Conquest of Lewis the great and it is odds but that will be so indeed if they don't look about them betime and prepare themselves for its coming upon them for he 'l come and give them a visit as he did the Genoueses Let them not flatter themselves with the contrary when he shall make them resolve to sacrifice themselves for their Liberty rather then to a Prince who would be their Antiochus their bloody Master and would snatch the Children from their Mothers embraces to deliver them into the hands of the Jesuits make them forsake Relations Religion and all duty of Christians and refusing to obey this ambition would hale them to the Scaffold and throw their Carcasses to dogs nay if so be they should deal more gently with them it would be only to make them bear company with his own Subjects in Dungeons in the Gallies and in the West-Indies Now take notice of this Spirit of France and beware of it That Lewis XIV is no good Christian I Shall finish this Treatise in demonstrating that this King is no good Christian that it is but a cloak for his Knavery the better to play fast and loose the better to bring about his ambitious designs that albeit he makes a great clutter with the title of most Christian King at Rome yet we find him to be nothing less All who are baptized are not Christians for then we might reckon Julian the Apostate and Arrius to be such whom men look upon as Apostates and Antichrists I am perswaded the Marquiss de Montespan will justifie what I say I cannot think that Prince worthy the name of a Christian who covets his Neighbours Wife nay before all the World takes her from her Husband makes use of her and begets Children of her whom he would fain get declared natural never before Lewis his time practiced in France He cannot assume the name of Christian who makes little Conscience to break the most solemn Oaths and Engagements made at the Communion as he did at the Peace concluded at the Perinees upon his Marriage with the Infanta of Spain And then the Oath taken at his Coronation to observe the Edicts of pacification are they not dayly violated and retracted upon every frivolous pretence Good Christians are such who live up to those Vows they have made even to very Infidels The Marquiss de Laverdin making his publick entrance into Rome did choose rather to do it like a Fox than a Lyon as since it appears without ever determining any thing positively concerning it when they demanded him to explain himself before he made his entrance so that engaging himself neither pro nor con it will always be time enough and seasonable to make his Masters will to stand him in stead as we shall see hereafter when the Provencal Fleet shall be before Civita Vechia and other Ports of the Popes Dominion besides that it was convenient to carry it fair to obtain the Bull for the Cardinal of Furstenburg whom France was assured would be nominated to the Coadjutorship of Cologn the Dean and Chapter as 't is credibly given out fingered the Kings Money to that in effect it was registred and their Votes sold so that it was not possible to go back with their word When the Marquiss de Lavardin entred Rome the business was as good as done and the King made sure of it but he found himself mistaken as to the Bull for he believed the Pope who is wise and good natured enough of himself not loving noise would yield at the Embassadors arrival that the Spiritual would give place to the Temporal but he was deceived in his account meeting with such stiffness and vigour in an old man which it may be one durst not have hoped for in a young man. In the mean time behold the Marquiss de Lavardin keeping watch and ward night and day and that round about the Palace of Fernese just as if it were a Fort surrounded with enemies before the Pope and the Conclave of Cardinals Noses By all these riots and indignities done to the most eminent person of the Church Vicar of Christ and St. Peters Successor is nothing in comparison to that which Talon the Kings Advocate hath belched forth against his Holiness and the Cardinals his Counsellors accusing the former to be a favourer of Heresie Jansenisme and of Quietists and a thousand other impertinences which is to be seen more at large in the demand of the abovesaid Talon to the Parliament of Paris and by the Embassadors protestation publickly affixed at Rome the expressions therein are scandalous that they might deservedly procure the fire for a private person but when one hath the power in his own hand he thinks he may Lawfully say and do whatsoever likes him But the Pope who is grave and wise will let him go on yea peradventure his great modesty and prudent behaviour may make the King come to himself again and acknowledge the wrong and that the Pope is Master at home in his own House and may be able to disannul and take away the Franchises of the Embassadors quarters when he shall see it convenient for the repose of his People and his own Conscience It is not his frequenting Mass which is a Characteristical mark of being a Christian or for being kind to the Jesuits for fear awes Princes sometimes to make much of Jesuits and shew much respect to them Hen. IV. was not free from this fear when he would have restored them in France for when the Duke of Sully advised him to the contrary he started up and replyed secure me my Life then for 't was more then probable that those who sued for their return had assured the King that if he did not do it he would be in imminent danger of being Murthered When Life is at stake what will not a man do to save it Who can tell but these good Fathers have told the King now Reigning if in case he did not root out all the Huguenots out of his Dominions this must come in alwayes ad majorem Dei Gloriam that he would endanger his Life What sign of a Christian was there in the King when he made a League with Cromwel to fall upon the Low Countries and to banish Charles II. from his Kingdom who was rightful Successor to the Crown of England and a good Catholick in his heart although afterwards out of Policy he was fain to appear otherwise Again what sign of Christianity doth there appear in a Prince who assists Count Tekely in league with the Turks against the Emperour A King who forbids all Bishops and Curats throughout his Dominion to cause Te Deum to be sung for the Victories of the Christians obtained over the Turks who impedes by force of Lewisses the progress of the King of Polands Forces against the same Turks that they may have the opportunity to employ all the Ottoman Forces against the Emperour thereby to make him abandon what he hath got at the dear rate of so much Christian blood What Christianity do you observe in the Kings proceeding at the Cities of Genoua and Orange where he hath no right at all So that by all that I have alledged all these Titles of most Christian and Catholick Zeal the King is so much taken with and affects is only a deceitful mask of hypocrisie to lull the Catholick Princes asleep the better to play his game and make himself Master of them one after another Although the King of England would hinder him as being the only man that could best do it he would endeavour to cause an insurrection of the Church of England men against him he would send them Money and Officers as he did to Cromwel so that one may say of the French King that he becomes all things to all men when his interest is at stake He enters into Covenant with Turk or Huguenot Pagans or Infidels against Catholicks themselves if it be necessary for promoting his greatness and to attain to the Monarchy of all Europe And for a conclusion this is the Kings Religion and your Wit and Policy of France FINIS
to an Universal Monarchy he would advise his King to beg of God to prolong the World as much as he can This Malady ceasing in Spain hath passed into France but France being wiser doth not grasp so much and her King's Ambition is only confined to Europe a wish worthy of such a great Prince and who if we consider him aright could scarce demand less his Neighbours ought narrowly to watch his water for certain it is France cannot aggrandize her self without encroaching upon her nearest Neighbours as she doth really every day already When the House of Austria made broad signs of her design upon the Universe all the Princes of Christendom rose up against her and entered into an Association to prevent her Charles V. after the Battel of Pavia where Francis was taken Prisoner thought himself above all but he found business enough The Pope King of England the Venetians the Grand Duke of Tuscany the Swisse made a League against him to hinder this Emperour from bringing France and consequently the rest of Italy under his subjection It was not for any kindness the Pope and King of England bore King Francis that they combin'd together to relieve him but because Charles V. became so great that he would by his good Will have made himself Master of the World. Now at present forasmuch as this Itch is past into France All Princes of Europe for some time have run counter to whatsoever their Ancestors did in the Reign of Charles V and Philip II. and instead of opposing they have abetted and concurr'd with the designs of France some out of base compliance others out of fear There are none but the Princes of Nassau alone who have alwayes been fatal to whosoever had a mind to aspire to this sublime Monarchy of the Universe Do not Men admire with me the wretched Policy of several Princes and States in the World who look on with their Armes a cross and behold the French King to advance so fast and take Luxemburg a City of such grand Importance to Europe only the Prince of Orange presented himself upon the breach with the Low Countreys but who not being in a capacity to do any thing by himself was forced to retreat The French King would never have taken it had England and the States withstood it he hath no cause to brag of it it is a truth all the World knows but too well he was so cunning to get the King of Great Britain on his side that he consented to take what was not his own and to baffle the rest by illusory promises of an Universal Peace after the taking in of Luxemburg which they suffered him to do and this gross valiant Captain of a Trencher-man the Marquess of Grana Governour of the Low Countreys who was not promoted to this place but upon his demonstrating the means of being able to preserve this most Important place to the Court of Spain a place I say so necessary to Spain for the preservation of the Low Countreys by the assistance of Germany and albeit he should have minded nothing else but the preservation of that same City his own Honour as well as Duty to and interest of his King his Master being all engaged therein Instead of doing which this Fat-gut put into it only a pitiful Garrison of Twelve or Fifteen Hundred Men instead of Four Thousand and was wholly taken up in fortifying the City of Namur with his Regiments and some other places which were Cities on the boundaries which France would not have dared so much as to touch Would you not swear such a Fellow conspir'd to aggrandize France and concurr'd with the Designs of Lewis XIV When the King in 1667 would have undertaken the Conquest of the Spanish Netherlands England Swedeland and the Vnited Provinces associated together by the Triple League forced him soon to quit his hold they obliged him to re-procure and make a Peace with Spain and to restore to it some part of what he had usurped and taken away It would have been just so if the Neighbouring Princes had done the same at such time as he attacked Luxemburg Resist the Devil and he will fly from you But France cunning and subtle had sufficiently tryed how prejudicial this League was to her she could never be at rest till she had pluckt this Thorn out of her Foot and so soon as ever the term was expired she could not be satisfied till she had found out a way to hoodwink England and so got her disingaged from the Tripple-knot The Dutchess of Portsmouth like another Dalilah came over out of France into England to lull asleep the Sampson of this Kingdom France found out the way to act and speak so fair that she hook't in Dunkirk by Promises and Money at the beginning of the Reign of Charles II King of Great Britain A Town of so great Consequence to England in as much as it affords a good entrance into Picardy and Flanders 'T is no new thing for France to be troubled with this itching mind to sieze on the places of her Neighbours and to enlarge her Dominion from one end of Europe to the other The Duke of Rohan told us heretofore that Princes commanded People but that Self-Interest commanded Princes Without question he would have added something else had he lived in this Age and especially Lewis the XIV We may see Examples of it day by day and to secure his Ambition all times and seasons are good for him in Peace in War in Cessation of Arms. Interest is the evil Angel hath so long reigned through France we are taught out of History how Godfrey of Bulloign having a mind to take a Journey for the Conquest of the Holy Land and coming short of Money to put himself in a capacity to do it sold many of his Cities and Lands amongst others the City of Metz with the Country adjoyning which its own Citizens and Inhabitants purchased of him for the Sum of an Hundred Thousand Crowns They enjoyed this their purchase till the Year of our Lord 1551 in which Charles V. did so evilly intreat the Protestants of Germany Henry II. King of France under a pretence seemed forward to send Relief to the said Protestants of Germany In effect he dispatched the Constable of Monmorency with Four Thousand Men in all probability for this Expedition but it was quite and clean for another design as the sequel will make appear He demanded passage of the City of Metz who were for the most part of the same Religion with those who were molested in Germany between whom and the Emperour there was no good understanding They granted to the King with abundance of joy whatsoever he required of them in reference to his Troops passage and in testimony of their good will they caused Tables to be set up in the Streets to make the Soldiers eat and drink on their passage with huge demonstration of Friendship and Rejoycing But alas Their Laughter was
or making more ado Now that 's your best Policy which succeeds the best wherefore France seeing he would not swallow the hook breeds abundance of trouble in his Family and sets him at variance with his Neighbours against which the Emperours Council hath made seasonable provision which makes the Spirit of France that it becomes not so familiar in that Court for their Ducatoons are better beloved than Lewisses But to know what it done there thither is sent such Persons who have skill to comply and conform to the humour of the Country and more especially to quaff stoutly and by that means render themselves fit Companions at Table they must be of strong Constitution to bear Wine there they may get acquaintance make themselves familiar and make bold to skip their Glasses So likewise at the French Court when an Envoy or Resident is to be sent to the Court of Saxony they inquire in the first place whether he can hold out well at drinking that 's one Qualification together with couzening that is requisite As for the Electors of Triers and Metz as France are not afraid of them as not being Princes that are capable of doing much mischief so they let them alone till time serves for she knows that standing in need of them she will be able to attract them by the sweet charmes of her golden rayes if not she will proceed to threatnings and thereby make her do what she pleases The King needs no more but send his Forces to Triers he hath reduc't it to such a condition as not to be in a capacity to dispute his entrance and so he can make himself Master of it when he thinks fit As for the Elector of Cologne we all know what mettle he is made of that he 's a Prince that loves a quiet Life and desiring to end his dayes in peace gives himself wholly up to his Devotions to work out his Salvation this design being alwayes commendable in a Prelate and a Person of his Character But a mild peaceable disposition doth no wayes agree with that of France which is turbulent boysterous and would alwayes be in action Now here is the reason why they have given the Arch-bishop a chip of the old block who hath a good stock of the French Spirit I mean the Cardinal Bishop of Strasbourg who is as violent and as great a cheat as he that animates him nevertheless this Bishop hath got the art so well to influence the mind of the Arch-bishop that he rules him with an absolute sway and by means of the Bishoprick of Munster which France procured him with Two Millions of Crowns cannot handsomly turn tail at present I know the Pope upon very just considerations hath not been willing to dispatch the Bull hitherto yet it is enough for France that by this Election during the Electors Life the Chapter dare never let it enter into their thoughts much less supply the place so that France is sure that no one Prelate of a contrary party shall ever be admitted to that dignity and that sufficeth How many Bishops are there in France without Bulls who notwithstanding perform the Functions of their place and enjoy the benefits of their Bishopricks The Pope cannot live for ever and the King will be sure to keep the Gate open and High-wayes clear that after the Arch-bishops decease some other Emissary of France may come in at the same Golden Gate This Bishoprick being of great consequence as himself did acknowledge it to be in the year 1672. I told you that the Bishop of Cologne would have much ado to free himself from the French Interest the King having taken care for that beforehand in case of a change and all that was done at Liege was but a cunning stratagem and that through the suggestion of that Prince to foment mis-understanding between them and to set before the Citizens of Liege the Idea of their discontent by reason of the Cittadel which they have again raised whereof France is too much a Master that will occasion the Arch-bishop of Cologns Repentance at least that of his Successor after him in case they begin to waver Men were in suspense at that time concerning who should succeed him for France saw at a distance and she supposed by all that had past that she might be able to prevail with the Chapter of Liege to confer the Coadjutorship of the Principality and Bishoprick of Liege upon Cardinal Furstenburg but those that composed the Chapter better advised than any one durst have believed or hoped for had no mind to swallow the bait but laught at it which made him have recourse to the Chapter of Cologne where he hath had better success and notwithstanding all the opposition the Pope and Emperour made they went farther and the Cardinal hath obtained what France demanded They have been long about this business and immediately upon Mens saying That the Cannons knew what Gold was France prognosticated nothing but good to her self and found the Road to Cologne easier than to Munster France and the Cardinal know very well that the Pope will not give his Bull for it but they may have the same comfort in that as they had for Munster they will do well enough without it no body besides being capable of pretending to it and as I told you the Pope being aged may chance to dye and another more easie Man may succeed him Now then by what we see come to pass by the proceedings of the Policy of France Have I not great reason to say that the whole Empire Electors and other Kings Princes and States have great cause to withstand the designs of Leuis XIV to prevent his rising to an Empire for fear of becoming his Slaves whereas at present he takes special care of some and caresses them he will then Lord it over them he will put off the Foxes skin and put on the Lyons again they 'l talk of nothing then but of tel est mon bon plaisir such my Will and Pleasure is Nothing but a Peace with the Turk can hinder him from growing Great nothing but that can put the Emperour in a condition to oppose it The King will be very cautious how he makes his limits at Ratisbon during these Contests that give him an opportunity to build Fortresses to defend what he shall usurp as we see he hath done but too much already It will be requisite to have an Army to drive him out thence Have not we seen in the time of peace what the Spirit of France is capable of doing 'T is known that amongst other good qualities he is indued with the admirable gift of Usurping well finds always reasons for the doing so which he would have all Men receive for Articles of their Creed as well as the just pretentions of the King upon the Empire treated at large in a little Book wherein the Wit of one called Aubri Advocate in the Parliament of Paris hath been exercised But
Observation of the least punctillio of them helping and furthering what in him lies the progress of the Imperial Forces against those Barbarians the Turks through his moderation and complyance and what administers ground of suspition concerning the designs of the Court at Vienna which his Ministers do but too much lay open upon all occasions is their not being desirous of keeping the Truce any longer than they may be strong enough to break it Notwithstanding all this considering that this Truce hath offered to Christendom that happy Peace and Tranquillity it enjoys at this day and hath supplyed means to the States and Circles of the Empire by their assistance to bring upon the Ottoman Empire all those mischiefs wherewith they threatned the Hereditary Countreys We dare boldly and truly say that the Emperour is beholding to him for the preservation of his Country and for all those advantages he hath had over the Turks His Ministers are as much to blame to complain that the King making use of his full power hath caused his frontier places to be fortified as standing in most need Just as a Soveraign for the security repose and prosperity of his Subjects causeth the boundaries of his Territories to be fortified would not by so doing make us believe that he had the least thought of siezing upon his Neighbours Countrey or any mind to Commence a War no more than any private Person busying himself in repairing the utmost Fences of his Lands to make them good would thereby give but small proof of his desire to entrench upon his Neighbours But yet his Majesty is not without hope but that the Wisdom and Prudence of the States of the Empire assembled at Ratisbone will seriously reflect upon the just suspitions which the ill-grounded complaints of the Imperial Ministers have occasioned to him and that they will bethink themselves of one way or other that the good Intelligence which his Majesty purposeth to maintain with the Empire may not be interrupted nor impeded Given at Fountainbleau Octob. 22th 1687. To hear this Manifesto would not a Man judge that the Emperour is obliged to the King for all his Victories over the Turk and without him the Empire had been quite lost when all the World sees evidently by what we have said that it was none but he that induced the Grand Seigniour to break the Truce and to send relief to Tekely but the Spirit of France is always deceitful The Policy of France and the Maxims in relation to Spain FRom the Empire I pass to Spain which Kingdom and France have divided Europe between them some years last past all other Princes have listed themselves under their Banner thereafter as their Interest required but the most part agreed in that point to support the weaker and endeavour a just ballance between them The late Mounsieur Sully in a Letter to Henry IV. concerning the Quarrel with Spain says that the least growth of Power in the one is lookt upon to be a weakning and lessening of the other Until Philip IV. time Spain ever kept up its head though it began to decline in Philip the Seconds by reason of the War in the Low Countreys but ever since that and particularly after the last King Philip IV. Death France got the upper hand and Spain humbly submitted Upon the Festival of one of the Kings of Spain who was Sainted the Preacher St. Ferdinand extolling the grandeur of his Mighty King in his Sermon told 'em that if his God was not God the King Don Philip should be God but I suppose something less than so would satisfie his Successor the case being altered since that And yet Charles II. is King of Spain still has the same Indies and his Ships go thither and come home laden with Gold and Silver as they us 't to do heretofore but still this Spain is not like that which was once the Terrour of all Princes in Europe who were but justly jealous of her aspiring Greatness and had reason to be Confederates against it for their common defence Now 't is in the same condition that a Thief is when he 's brought to his last shifts and just ready to be taken If Spain were not supported by its Allies Lewis XIV King of France would quickly be at Madrid The Low Countries would bend under the French yoak in less than one Campaign though 't would be effected more easily because their own Prince has no Children and is very sickly and though they see utter ruine coming upon them yet they dare make no opposition for they could only make sport for the insolent French Troops if they should having no prospect of succours from any body that 's able to rescue them France knows all this well enough and 't is very true that France waits only for a fit opportunity to take possession of the Queens Right in the Dauphin's Name for the Crown of Spain falls to the Female Sex and it came to the House of Austria by a Woman that is to say by Jane Ferdinand King of Spains Daughter who married a Prince of that Family To let you see how much Spain suffers it self to be baffled by France I need only shew you two Examples which will convince you that I have said nothing but what is true The King of France sent a Memorial to the King of Spain and to the States of the United Provinces to this effect That if the King of Spain should grant the Low Countreys to the Duke of Bavaria or but make him Governour as the report was when he married the Arch-dutchess that she would then without more ado break off the peace since neither of those things could be done without manifest injury to the Dauphin's Right Mr. Feuquier was the Man who gave the Memorial to the King of Spain and Count D'avaux to the Vnited Provinces but were Paris over this perhaps you 'l say that Spain did not consider it well and they are so justly afraid of France that it is no wonder if that puts 'em a little out of their Wits But I am going to tell you a thing which you 'l own does sufficiently discover the weakness and poor Spirit of Spain it hapned at the Ceremony of making an Entry into London that the Spanish and French Embassadors met The Baron Watville went before Mounsieur d' Estrade France presently complains of this indignity and Spain was so pitifully mean as to disown that brave Action of their Ambassador Thus by that scandalous procedure Spain suffered in its Honour and gave place to France though there was nothing like necessity for their doing it I can see no other reason for 't but fear of Canon Law and dread of the Troops which France keeps up to inforce its Commands which are just ready too in case the King of Spain should dye suddenly Let Charles II. take what care he can in settling the Succession if he has respect for his own Family and the last Will and intent
Daughter of Philip the Fair from this Match came Henry V. of England who had as much Right to France as the Dauphin has to Spain For the three Sons of Philip the Fair Lovis Hutin Philip the Long and Charles the Fair dyed all without Issue-male and it was after this when the King of England sued for his Right to the Kingdom of France that the Salique Law was first introduc't usher'd in by a Sermon which the Bishop of Beauvais preacht before the Convention of the States proving by the Gospel which sayes The Lillies spin not that by consequence the Flower de lis which represents France ought never to fall to the Distaff But that Law could only affect what was to come and not what was past Afterward Henry V. King of England came over into France with a Potent Army won several Victories and at last Married Catherine Daughter of Charles VI. and in the year 1421 it was sinally decreed and concluded that Henry should be King of France Now Isabel Queen of France Mother to Catherine Queen of England made her last Will in favour of her Son in Law and declared him Heir to all her Estate and to the Crown which in my judgment is a great addition to the Right which the Kings of England have to the Realm of France If the King of France had but had that Right to England which the King of England has to France what a Company of Manifestoes and Writings should we have flie about to demonstrate his just pretentions as he calls every thing he is pleased to lay a claim to So that let the King of England take a view of France which way soever he will he ought alway to suspect her and stand upon his guard as against one whom he certainly knows to be his Enemy He may justly be assured that he does not coaks him so without a design to get something out of him and because he knows him the only one who is able to counterpoize his Affairs Therefore 't is no wonder that Lewis XIV took so much pains to supply the late King Charles II. Necessities and satisfie his Pleasure Mounsieur Barillen and Madam Portsmouth can justifie what I say but I can assure you that the King of France regards neither Princes nor private Persons one jot farther than as they are for his turn Nay farther Even Vertue it self is only esteem'd by him so long as she squares with his Interest What value pray did he put upon either Princes or Princesses during Cromwel's Government Were they not obliged to retire not to say driven out of France What subsistnance or help had their Princes in their Exile from France No 't is to the Family of Orange that they are obliged which furnisht them with considerable Sums of Money but on the contrary France was the promoter of the late Troubles of England she gave the Princes no protection and never contributed the least toward the re-establishing of the late King in his Throne All this considered neither just resentment from the Royal Family nor the English Interest can decently allow of such close Alliances with France as shall be able to make England shut her Eyes or be a by-stander whilst Lewis XIV takes the Low Countries But on the other side she ought to be continually in a posture to hinder her in every the least attempt she makes towards it and to make use of the Six Regiments in Holland which the States won't refuse upon such an occasion to prevent the King of France his bringing more Men down upon Flanders I am perswaded that those Six Regiments would be able to cope with double the number of the French and thus by Englands only showing of her Teeth Europe will be safe Resist the Devil and he will flie from you But if you are afraid of him he 'l soon master you France has cut out work for King James now Reigning The Enterprize which he has taken in hand is so great that many Men fear and others hope that he will never get quit of it with his Life 'T is no time to change Laws when the Enemy is at the Gate 'T is not convenient at all times to think of working great Conversions some Battles must be fought to let the World see a Character both of a Soldier and a Polititian All the World expected this and more from the King. His Mighty Courage put all Europe in hopes that he would be an Universal Comforter to them and would afford some respite to Spain But alas What can his Allies and Spain hope for whilst his sole business is to please the Jesuits kindles a fire in his own Kingdom which it may be he won't be able to quench when he pleases and so long as he does so he dares not call a Legal Free Parliament Spain lost her self by banishing the Moors out of the Kingdom France is weakned by the Conversions she has wrought and by driving out the Hugonots and she has a great mind that the King of England would follow her Example We must not rob God of his Right Conversions only belong to him and he is able to convert the whole World with one Word Therefore leaving the care of this to God the King of England ought to mind the safety of his States avoid being made the King of France his Cully and make him keep at home and not fall upon his Neighbours Lands which ought to be the Barrier between them Thus the King will do his Honour and Conduct but Justice and satisfie the expectation of all Europe The Politick Spirit of France and its Maxims in reference to the United Provinces THE States of the Vnited Provinces after they had constrained Spain by force of Arms to acknowledge them for Free High and Mighty States depending on none but God alone were for some time the admiration of their Neighbours and every one laboured to procure their Friendship and Alliance and it may be said that they were looked upon as the Umpires of Europe but since the War in 1672 this High Reputation hath been lessened and France hath been so cunning to play her Cards so well that she had well nigh reduc't them to nothing if by an unlookt for change the People had not put the whole management and command into the Prince of Orange's hands and if some persons of ill designs had not been brought to condign punishment But God whom it pleased by his Providence to protect and preserve this little Country did after the siege of Norden send such a panick fear amongst its Enemies that they broke up their Camp with more speed than they came yet the thing which did most contribute to these misfortunes besides the Treachery of France was their being unprovided of good Forces and a good Head for the Army These Provinces relyed wholly upon the Peace and treacherous deceitful promises of France which all a long in time of Peace carryed on a design against the said