Necessity of Affairs that it was sufficient for a Prince to be Vertuous when he could not dispence with being otherwise that it was good and commendable to know what was just and honest but not always expedient to practise it That there were some Vices which no way hinder'd a Prince from Governing well that Solomon was subject to Women yet look'd upon to be the Greatest and Wisest of all Kings for that there is always a Distinction to be made between the Domestick and Publick Life of a Prince his Royal and his Private Vertues Cardinal Mazarine having thus found out the Genius of his Disciple 't was an easie thing for him to imprint in his Mind these New Lectures of Policy which afterwards serv'd for a Basis and Foundation to the Reign of Lewis XIV who together with the Queen-Mother out of pure Gratitude deliver'd into the Cardinal's hands the Keys of all the Favours and Honours of his Kingdom upheld him in despite of all the Princes of the Blood and notwithstanding all the earnest Importunities of the Parliament and People underwent all the Dangers of a Civil War for some Years and not being able to live without the Cardinal'd Presence the King sent for him twice out of Banishment and receiv'd him with those Honours that were no way due to him even to the going several Leagues to meet him and to express his excessive Joy for his Return by mutual Embraces I shall not here enlarge upon the Authority and Power which that Italian Cardinal had in France 't is sufficient to say That the King during his Minority had all the Deference and Respect for that Prelate which a Son could have for a Father and that it was the Cardinal who only reign'd in France In lieu of which he promis'd the King and Queen That he would make him the Greatest Monarch in Europe In order whereunto he was to do Two things The First was To heap up Treasure and augment his Revenues The Second was To lay aside all Scruples of Conscience when the main Concern was the Aggrandizing his Kingdoms The first Tryal of Skill which the Cardinal made in the behalf of France was during his Nunciature when the Peace was concluded at Chirasco where the crafty wilely Minister deceiv'd the Pope his Master the Princes of Italy and the King of Spain in favour of the French Court and so well Cully'd the Duke of Savoy that he wrested out of his Hands that Important Place of Pignerol to deliver it into the Hands of France which was an Acquisition that all the King's Money and Power could not obtain before though he had had an aking tooth for it a long time And this same Cheat and cunning piece of Knavery it was though the Court of France paid for it in good Ready-Money that purchas'd him the Good-Will of all the Court of France and the Friendship of Cardinal Richlieu which Mazarine still improv'd and kept tite by Presents which he sent him out of Italy from time to time and so well he understood to inveigle all the rest that he was call'd into France in the Year 1639. where a little time after his arrival the Death of Father Joseph the Capuchin became the Life of Mazarine This Capuchin was he who serv'd Cardinal Richlieu in all his Intrigues both within and without the Kingdom and who was sent into England during the Reign of Charles I. to sow Division and raise a Civil War which cost that Nation Rivers of Blood So that the Capuchin had good reason to say at his return out of England That he had set Fire to those Sparkles which would kindle such a Flame as would not easily be extinguish'd in Acknowledgment of which the Court of France promis'd to get him a Cardinal's Cap to cover his Blad Pate But he was not so happy as to see himself clad in Purple Death seizing him in the Habit of a Saint of a Franciscan After which the Court of France bent all her Sollicitations in favour of Mazarine To which Cardinal Richlieu was the more willing to give his Consent as being glad to see himself succeeded in the Ministry by a Person of no less Rank then he was who though he were inferiour to him in Birth yet was his Equal in Dignity Both Princes of the Church yet not without some secret Jealousies between ' em But the King and Queen favour'd him in Consideration of the business of Pignerol and his declar'd Devotion for the Interests of France so that he was advanc'd to the Purple toward the End of the Year 1641. Immediately after his Promotion he went to take Possession of the Principality of Sedan which the two Cardinals had wrested from the House of Bouillon by Violence forasmuch as that Principality border'd too near upon France and also durst make Head against it but at a time when France was not so powerful as now it is 'T is true that the Duke of Bouillon Frederick Maurice who was then Sovereign of the Place had very much contributed to the loss of it by changing his Religion upon his marrying the Countess of Berghe For being at that time Governor of Maestricht and in the Service of the States of the United Provinces whose Protection warranted his Territories from all Assaults of France yet finding himself no longer acceptable to the Prince of Orange his near Kinsman nor to the States themselves he desir'd leave to lay down his Commission and retire to Sedan there to lead a private and quiet Life and wholly to employ himself within his principality to the Propagation of the Roman Religion which he had embrac'd in which Employment he made some Progress during some Years After which he met with Business much more considerable by reason of the Refuge which he gave to the Count of Soissions one of the Princes of the Blood and who was retir'd in discontent from the Court of France by reason of some Quarrel with Cardinal Richlieu and this Count was follow'd by the Duke of Guise Now the Duke of Bouillon thought to have avoided all Occasion of Trouble by giving notice to the Court of France of the Retreat of those two Princes but the Cardinal a subtle and crafty Politician seeing he could not hinder it persuaded the King to approve what he had done till an Opportunity of Revenge presented it self as it appear'd not long after by the King 's taking the Field in order to besiege the City of Sedan Nor had the Duke at that time any other way to preserve himself but by clapping up a League in all haste with the Emperor and Spain by which they were to assist him against France with Seven thousand Men and Two hundred thousand Crowns in Ready-Money But the Emperor only perform'd his Promise and sent him some Forces under the Conduct of General d'Amboi Nevertheless the Germans together with about Four thousand Men which the Duke of Bouillon had rais'd at his Charges defeated the French Army
Provinces But all these ways failing tho' not his good Will and finding he could not be assisted either by Cologne nor England nor by the Bishop of Munster as in the preceding War France could no longer contain her self but under pretence of assisting King James presently declar'd War and fell upon the United Provinces to prevent 'em from aggrandizing themselves by the sincere and strict Union which they were about to make between the King and Queen at present prosperously reigning But in regard that frequently Revenge never considers the Danger to which it exposes it self for the satisfaction of its Rage in like manner the King of France has drawn upon himself all of a sudden the the most numerous and the soundest part of the Puissances of Europe who will never lay down their Arms till he has made those Restitutions which they shall think convenient for the Welfare of Europe there being no other way of Reliance upon the Promises and Faith of the Most Christian King I believe that Lewis XIV spake just according to the Sentiments of his Heart when he happen'd one Day to say That he neither Fear'd nor Lov'd the Hollanders who nevertheless fill'd him full of Jealousies and Fears and often broke his Measures And yet 't is to that warlike Nation that he is at this Day be-holding for his having got the upper-hand of Spain For as France formerly made use of the Hollanders to humble Spain so the Spaniards are now glad of succour of the United Provinces to humble the Pride of France And the Moderation and Flegin of the Hollanders proves very effectual to abate the Fury of the French which only affrights those that fear it and are not acquainted with it In the Year 1672. the United Provinces alone made Head against the Two Potent Kings of France and England were Victorious at Sea and constrain'd the latter to make a Peace and the other su'd for the Peace of Nimeghen Tho' through a remissness Injurious to the Honour of the Parties the Plenipotentiaries out of a Complyance not to be endur'd suffer'd the slipping in of those Words That the King of France being desirous to restore Peace to Europe c. Whereas it was he that begg'd for it and made such Condescentions to the City of Amsterdam that she consented to it so that to speak properly 't was she and not Lewis XIV that restored Peace to Europe But in regard it was made without any great Precautions and without taking any other Guarranty then the Sincerity of a Prince who never had any therefore it lasted but a short while and within the space of Six Years the Peace-Restorer committed several Hostilities took many Cities and Fortresses so that there was need of a new Peace and a Truce follow'd to the end he might retain what he had usurp'd Nor were all these Treaties Mounds sufficiently strong to restrain the impetuous Torrent He breaks through all the Tyes of Sanctity and Religion and falls upon Philipsburgh the loss of which was attended with several other scurvy Inconveniences Now upon what Foundation could the States of the United Provinces treat with a King that observ'd no Rule of common Morality but broke his Faith his Word his Promise even with the Emperor himself Certain barbarous People whom Alexander the Great would have oblig'd to swear Fidelity to him return'd him answer That they never swore any Oaths but gave their Word which they kept inviolably from whence I observe that they were not French The Ministry of the Court of France imagines with it self that Lewis XIV not having usurp'd any thing upon the Republick of the United Provinces during the Peace nor won any Place from her during the War that it would be always an easie thing for their Monarch to make a Peace with her besides that the Hollanders are greatly inclin'd to Peace by reason of their Trade which is much obstructed in time of War neither is it the Interest of a Republick to enlarge her Confines or to add new Provinces to those she has already but to preserve United what already she possesses and to secure her Frontiers the best she can But tho' France may be in the Right as to some Circumstances yet is she deceiv'd in the main For it is not so easie to make a Peace with the Hollanders as the King of France imagines Those People tho' naturally good-natur'd and easie are not readily twice deluded That Prudence which never forsakes the Counsels of their Soveraigns has seen by the Consequences of the Peace of Nimeghen that there is no trusting to France but that all her Promises and Treaties were only meer Amusements that is to say a sort of Recoiling to fetch the greater Leap he must be a very mean Politician and very dull-sighted who does not percieve that France had a great mind to have made her self Mistress of the United Provinces their Wealth and their Religion those three things so precious and so necessary that the Inhabitants neither can nor ought to lose 'em but with their Lives And therefore as they ventur'd all to purchase those Blessings so they will use their utmost Endeavours to preserve 'em as the most precious Jewels of the Republick For the Hollanders are not like King James who left the care of his Crown to the Count of Lausune while he ran away before the Battel of the Boyne and before his Person was in any evident Danger France knows not as yet the strength of the United Provinces as being ignorant of what she can do if once she be hard put to it Seeing that if they could find the way not only to shake off the Chains of Servitude but to make head for several Years against one of the most Potent and one of the greatest Monarchs of Europe Philip II. and come off with Honour why should the Ministers of France flatter themselves under this Reign that they are able to destroy ' em 'T is only because Men are apt to flatter themselves that they can compass what they desire and generally they never care to be dis-abus'd in regard that Hope supports and in some measure satisfies an ambitious Mind Usually the Court of France is crowded with Flatterers who make no other Prayers then for the Glory of their Monarch and sing no other Hymns then in his Praise all their Opera's sound forth the Grandeur and the Conquests of their new Deity Jupiter-Bourbon They perswade him that he was sent into the World to reign by himself and to subdue all the People of the Earth under his Dominion they have given him the Sirname of Dieu-donné or God's Gift and they make their Oblations to the immortal Man Viro Immortali To which purpose they have erected his Statue in the Piazza of Victory at Paris to the end that all his Subjects should pay the same Homages to his Figure as to his Person Marshal de la Fueillade would needs pay it the first Honours For being
otherwise employ'd relying upon the Faith of Treaties As we have seen how that after the Peace of Nimeghen when France finding her Treasures quite exhausted and her numerous Armies ruin'd by Sickness Hardships was constrain'd to make fresh Provision fearing a Change of Fortune as she had already felt at the Battle of St. Dennis For this reason she sought Peace to break the Union and obtain'd it in despite of those who well foresaw that France would no longer keep it after she had once recover'd Breath or that she found a Propitious Opportunity to break it For since the King of France falsisy'd his Oath to observe the Pyrenaean Peace so solemnly sworn upon the Altar Sincerity is fled from the Court of France and return'd to Heaven from whence it descended and Corruption has taken the Place of Justice and Integrity In regard the Ministry of France was only meditated to aggrandize the King And therefore the deceased Sieur de Colbert Chief Minister never scrupled to assert That the King might break and make Laws at his own pleasure Privileges being Chimera's odious and offensive to it and that Law was only the Inclination Reputation and Authority of the Prince When the King of France has a mind to make himself Master of a Country or only of a single Town he never considers the Outward Situation but the Inward Condition of it by whom it is govern'd who defends it and the Louidores are most commonly the Cannons with which he attacks it And therefore Pompone formerly Embassadour at the Court of Sweden had in some measure good Reason to say that France with her Money would always do what she pleas'd and that it was by means of that Metal that she was at that time become Mistress of his Swedish Majesty's Cabinet and that she became Mistress of so many Places after the Peace of Nimeghen under pretence of Appendences and Dependences of which a great Volume might be made This is a Truth not to be deny'd since we have seen it with our Eyes and that we still behold the Inhabitants of those Places groaning under the severe Servitude of the Despotick Government of France But in regard that Usurpation cannot always long subsist and for that so many Princes are at last awaken'd from their Oppression the Court of France finding her self very much embarrass'd to preserve what she has usurp'd since the Peace of Nimeghen all her Policy could find out no better Expedient then to propose a Truce while the Emperour and the Empire were engag'd in a War against the Turk The Court of France had two Prospects in desiring this Truce The first That in detaining all the Places of which she had made her self Mistress she at the same time lull'd asleep the Court of Vienna on the Rhine side that she might oblige the Emperour to continue the War with the Grand Signior Secondly Not to observe the Truce any longer then till one or other of the Two Empires were reduc'd to a Low Condition Had it been the Emperour's misfortune to have lost Vienna then the Business was concerted and decreed That the King of France was to have invaded the Empire with a powerful Army and to have been proclaim'd Emperour with a high hand On the Other side if the Turks were beaten he was to declare War against the Emperour to prevent him from growing too great by his Conquests But the latter falling out for the good of Christendom presently France without any regard had to Truces or Alliances openly attacqu'd Philipsburgh carry'd it and afterwards march'd with his Army into the Palatinate which he over ran with Fire and Sword and by Violence and Conflagrations got sure footing all along the Banks of the Rhine where we to this day behold the sad and deplorable Remainders of the Rage and Fury of the French Armies However in regard the Violence never wants a Pretence and that the most Impious Actions veil themselves in like manner with some Outward Appearances the King of France to justifie himself before all the World out of a kind of Generosity pretends to declare the Reasons why he was constrain'd to resume Houstile Arms to the end he might perswade all Christendom of his sincere Intention to establish the publick Repose while his Soldiers in all Places ruin'd and burnt whole Provinces and carry'd away the Goods and Cattel of the Poor Inhabitants To this purpose the Most Christian King follows his begun Hostilities with a Manifesto wherein the Principal Reasons that France alledges to cover her Breach of Faith are first That she was well inform'd that so soon as the Emperour should have made a Peace with the Turk he had resolv'd to bend all his whole Force upon the Rhine against France To which I shall answer hereafter in Particular but in general thus much is to be said that the Most Christian King after he had broken the Truce desir'd to make a Peace upon two Conditions First That the Truce for Twenty Years might be chang'd into a Perpetual Peace and Secondly That the Cardinal de Furstenbergh might be put into the Possession of the Electorate of Cologne and that afterwards the King would endeavour to bring the Cardinal and the Chapter to such Accommodations as should be propos'd for the Satisfaction of Prince Clement of Bavaria that is to say to cause hm to be declar'd Coadjutour to the said Electorate As to the first point the Politicks of the Court of France were very fine Spun and extreamly Crafty seeing that while the Emperour and the Empire were engag'd against the Turks it was the proper time for her to appropriate to her self all the Places Lands and Signiories which by the Truce were not left to the enjoyment of France but for Twenty years of which three were expir'd and which the King was fully perswaded in his Conscience that he could not justly keep but must be forc'd to restore at the Expiration of the Truce As for the Possession of Cologne by the Cardinal of Furstenbergh the detaining of which from the said Cardinal was another specious Pretence for his resuming Arms all Europe is sufficiently acquainted with the Engaging Reason which the Most Christian King had to make himself Master of that Archbishoprick seeing the Cardinal and the King were all one and so by means of that Possession the King of France had one Foot in the Empire and upon the Territories adjoyning belonging either to the States of the United Provinces or the Palatine and Brandenburgh Electors But because it will be a difficult matter for us to treat otherwise then confusedly of the Policy of France in general we shall descend to Particulars thereby to render it more Intelligible beginning with the Holy See The Kings of France have always held themselves highly honour'd with the Title of Eldest Sons of the Church and would have made War upon any one that should have ventur'd to dispute that Title with ' em In like manner they
a Collonel of the Foot-Regiment of Guards he march'd his whole Regiment before the Idol saluted it with his Pike and order'd all his Soldiers to salute it with a Royal Volley insomuch that at first there was no Body durst pass by it without some kind of Genuflexion And by that Statue it is that Men may make a shrew'd Conjecture of the Design and good Intentions of Lewis XIV since he had caus'd to be engrav'd upon the Predestal of the Idol the Hollanders as well as other Nations link'd and chain'd together like Slaves under his Feet By which 't is easie to discern as in a Mirror the very inside of Lewis XIV and his kind Intentions toward the United Provinces in case he could attain his Ends. And he discover'd his wicked Purposes so openly after he thought himself assur'd of King James upon his Elevation to the Throne by the hasten'd Death of Charles II. that 't was the publick Discourse in the Court of France how they were going to fall upon the Hollanders and that they would drown their Provinces under Water to the end they might never rise again to vex the King by their opposing his just Designs This was the common Language of the Court and he that should have contradicted it would have been Empal'd after the Turkish manner I must confess that at present they see with other Eyes at the French Court and their Language is quite another thing 'T is the main Business of the Court at this time to flatter and caress the Hollanders by that means if she can to disburthen her self of a War too ponderous for a Kingdom groaning under Famine and many other Calamities and which are more likely to encrease then abate So that if the United Provinces together with the rest of the Confederates do but stand their station tho' they should gain no ground upon the Enemy France must be forc'd to condescend to what Conditions they please But say some of the more peaceful and quiet sort of People what Assurances have we of being able to constrain the King who makes Head against all the Confederates to restore to Spain so many Towns and Fortresses and so well fortifi'd which he has in his Hands to the end the Hollanders may enlarge their Barriers I answer That in this War the King of France is in an Association with the Turk who by the Diversion he makes cuts out Work for the most considerable Forces of the Emperor and Empire That the Ottoman Empire consists of a capricious and giddy-headed People who have been several times of late and indeed upon all the most considerable Occasions defeated and that by consequences there is nothing of certainty for France to trust to on that side who only sways the Port by the force of her Money and a few frivolous Promises So that there needs no more then an Insurrection of the People or a humour of the Grand Signior the Prime Visier or the Mufti to produce a Treaty of Peace and overturn all the Hopes of France Besides that if we do but consider the bottom of things we shall find that this War which the Turk continues with so many Disadvantages costs the French Yearly those Summs which they are unwilling to boast of Secondly Lewis XIV alone by himself is bound to pay and maintain above Four hundred thousand Men to make head against his Enemies Whereas the Confederates are not bound to keep so many Men in constant Pay for the supply of which every one bears his Proportion nor does he that is most burthen'd bear a Fourth part of the Load of France 'T is true the Body of the Confederates is a bulky Fabrick but it moves upon several Engines which makes it go the surer Now I dare maintain that 't is impossible for the King of France to act alone by himself above Six Years as he does against a Confederated Body without ruining his People At the long-run the Soldier turns the Citizen out of his House and reduces him to beggary for want of Trade The Taxes devour that little which the Inhabitants have heap'd up during the Peace The Treasury fails because the Springs are grown dry the Merchant is ruin'd by his Losses The Customs and Gabells which were formerly the best and most ready Money the King had by reason of the great quantity of Salt that us'd to be utter'd all over the Kingdom must needs be very low when People want Money to buy Bread more then Salt And 't is not long since that I heard one of the Farmers say That the Gabells of Salt are fallen above half in half and it is the same thing with all the other Farms in France A Monarch without a full Exchequer is like a Man without Hands and Eyes Of all the Soveraign Puissances at present in Confederacy with France there is not any one can contribute more to her Ruine then the united Provinces and that two ways the one by preventing all Commerce and all manner of Trade with France and forbidding under severe Penalties the carrying of Provision and Corn to the Enemies Country in regard that Merchants are greedy of Gain and care not whether they supply Friends or Enemies insomuch that 't is said of some People to express their Extraordinary Thirst after Profit that if there were a Fair or Market in Hell they would carry their Goods to the Infernal Gate so they might put 'em off The Other way to Ruine France is to make themselves Masters of the Sea which they might easily do in respect of the French and by that means prevent any thing for going or coming out of the French Ports Add to this the Necessity that France is in to send for Horses into the United Provinces to remount her Cavalry which it is in the Power of the States with ease to prevent Besides all this the United Provinces have had a vast advantage over France during the Continuance of this War by the Trade which she has driven all along into the Indies Italy Turky Spain England the Baltick Sea c. whereas the French have only Italy and Turky free to themselves for if they will have any thing from the Baltick Sea they must put up Swedish or Danish Colours to protect 'em from the English On the other side I must confess that several Merchants Ships of both Nations fall into the Hands of the French Capers and a far greater Number then those that are taken either by Dutch or English but then we must consider that there are a hunder'd English and Dutch Ships for one miserable French-man continually trading upon the Sea and many times our Capers meet with French Prizes that are hardly worth the Taking Then again the Number of French Privateers surpasses double and Treble the Number of the Dutch in regard that the French Merchants having nothing else to do with their Vessels turn 'em all into Privateers that so they may not lie idle Insomuch that all the
Ports of France are become Nests of Pyrates and Sea-rovers only Nor do we find all this while that their ill-gotten Purchases enrich either the Soveraign or the People For according to the common Proverb That which is got with the Flute is spent with the Drum And therefore it is that the Inhabitants of St. Malo's and some other Ports of France are not a little troubled that they have no better employment then to addict themselves to Pyracy but their Trade with Holland and Spain being quite ruin'd for the present they are constrain'd to turn Sea-rovers for their Subsistance Now then we may assure our selves that 't is so far from being the Interest of France to ruine and destroy the United Provinces that 't is the Study of all her most serious Policy to gain their Friendship and inveigle 'em by fair Promises to accept a Peace either separate or general because the Intercourse between the two States in times of Peace brings more Profit to France then all the rest of Europe besides But this Peace is not to be obtain'd by France either from the United Provinces or from any other of the Confederates but upon safe Conditions For to such a Dilemma has the Most Christian King reduc'd himself by beginning an Unjust and Cruel War neither provok'd nor compell'd to it by any other Motives then those of an Inordinate Ambition So that it may be said of the Sun which Lewis XIV has made choice of for his Impress that it resembles the Sun in March which stirs and raises the Humours of the Body but has not Heat sufficient to consume their Malignity To say Truth France may be look'd upon as one of the worst Neighbours in the World for she lets no Prince along that has the Misfortune to lie near her So that after Lorraine the Spanish Low-Countries and the United Provinces had felt the Effects of her Fury she began again to prosecute her Old Designs upon Savoy And the First course she took to get footing in that Family was by the means of several Matches with French Princesses to the End she might have her Spies and Creatures in the very Beds of those Princes For that is one of the most Refin'd Pieces f French Policy for the King to make the Matches himself and to give 'em their Dowry to engage 'em the more Cordially to his Interests And at the same time he sends 'em home to their New Spouses full of Great Idea's of the Monarch of France and the vast Obligations which they owe him besides that before their Departure he causes 'em to Swear upon the Holy Evangelists That for the future they shall be absolutely devoted to France that they shall uphold the Interests of that Crown at all Times and against all Persons whatever in the Courts where they reside and shall inform either him or his Ministers of all that passes in their Husbands Cabinets and blindly obey the Orders that are sent 'em by the King or given by his Minister residing in the Court. And then there is no reason to wonder at the Troubles which Henrietta Maria and Christina the Daughters of Hen. IV. marry'd by Lewis XIII into England and Savoy occasion'd in those Countries The first never ceasing till by her ill Conduct and exasperating her Husband to act contrary to the Laws of the Kingdom she had brought Charles I. to an Untimely End and her going into England may be said to be as it were the Source and Leaven of all the Misfortunes that ensu'd in our days Leaving England take a view of the greatest part of all the other Courts of Europe and you shall find French Princesses who play their Parts with the Louidores of France In Tuscany we have seen the present Grand Duke that he might procure his own Peace at home send a Bill of Divorce to the Grand Dutchess his Wife who is a Princess of the House of Orleance and return her back to France to undergo the same hard Fortune as Henrietta Maria wasting the remainder of her Days in a mean Condition depending upon the inconstant Humour of the King of France To whom such a return cannot choose but be a tacit Reproach of the Misfortune befallen her for upholding his Interests But in regard that Large Consciences are all the Mode of the Court of France they can never be injur'd by Petty Stings or little Keckings If you look upon Portugal you shall find there Mademoiselle d' Aumale marry'd to two Brothers one after another tho' the first were alive at the time of the second Marriage King Alphonso VI. somewhat morose by nature and not willing to comply with the Counsels and Caresses of that Princess the Court of France found a way to be rid of that Prince who was banish'd to the Islands of Tercera and his Marriage after dissolv'd by the Duke of Mercoeur the Queen's Uncle made a Cardinal at the Sollicitation of France and sent Legate into Portugal with a design to out the Nuptial knot a Secret all this while unknown to the Pope who was ignorant of the Contrivances of the French Court and tho' that during the Three first Months of the Marriage it was given out that the Queen was with Child yet they parted the Wedded Couple for all that under pretence of Impotency and marry'd her to Don Pedro Successour to the Crown and her Husband's Brother and if Charles II. of England would have consented to a Divorce between Him and Queen Katherine the Court of France had design'd him the Princess of Nevers Spain has several times experienc'd to her cost the fatal Consequences of Matches with France and his Royal Highness of Savoy at present ruling had been within a Finger's breadth of losing his Territories had he pursu'd his Journey into Portugal to espouse the Infanta at the earnest Solicitation of the Princess his Mother who is a French Woman and by the Perswasion and Management of the Court of France who were very Industrious to procure that Match on purpose to remove the Duke out of his Dominions and oblige him to stay in Portugal in Hopes of a Crown while France took the Opportunity to make himself Master of Biemont and Savoy France has been a long time contriving and studying for a favourable Pretence to colour the the Execution of this Design Harry the Great in his time agreed with the Duke of Savoy that upon his resigning up to him all the Pretensions that the Duke had in Milanois he should oblige himself to conquer it and afterwards exchange it for such Lands as the Duke held on this side the Mountains which consist in Genevois all the Principality of Nissa the County of Foussigni and a part of Savoy as far as the Alps to the end it might be in his Power to call himself Master from the Pyreneans to the Alps. But the Tragical End of Hen. IV. put a stop to that Enterprize However it did not quench the greedy Thirst of the Court
upon in ther Contracts that is to say the Louidores at Eleven Livres and the White Crowns at Sixty Sols For the Switzers are thrifty Husbands and send a good part of their Pay to their Parents in Switzerland where there is no Variation of the Coin admitted Now it being so certain as I have already said that France stands in need of the Switzers in this Conjuncture this is the reason that the French Embassadour residing in Switzerland has Orders not to disgust 'em nor give 'em the least Subject of Complaint but in every Canton to caress all those in particular who have the best Interest and carry the greatest Sway on purpose to prevent 'em from entring into a more strict Alliance with the House of Austria the King of Great Britain and the State of the United Provinces For which reason it was that the French Minister us'd all his Power and Interest to stop the Levies which M. Cox the King of Great Britain's Envoy would have rais'd not long ago But if the Business did not then succeed France is beholding for it to the want of Management in those that understood not the right knack of dealing with the Switzers seeing afterwards others found the way to discover the forward Inclinations of that Nation toward the Confederates by the Levies that were made underhand which is a terrible Blow to France in regard that those new Regiments draw away a Great Number of their fellow Country-men out of the French Service especially the Protestants However we do not find that France dares to make any great noise about it moderating and restraining her Passion till a more propitious Opportunity but in regard the Cantons on the other side may be assur'd that she Barrels it up and that if at present they escape Scot-free yet whenever it lies in her Power France will never forget such heinous Provocations therefore 't is now the Switzers Interests to labour with the rest the humbling France now the Confederates are following her so close at the Heels For the Lower France is brought the more the French will caress the Switzers and seek their Assistance whereas in their Prosperity they slight and domineer over 'em and would utterly subdue 'em were it in the Power of the Court of France that resembles Fire or the Sea which never will acknowledge they have enough But at present the Policy of the Ministers prompts em as the wisest Course to temporize and to oppose whatever is transacted to the Prejudice of France rather by Remonstrances and Presents then by Force and Menaces As for the Turks they have been all along Enemies of Christ and the Christians because the Gospel destroys their Alcaron The Sultan takes upon him the Title of Musulman or Most Faithful as the King of France assumes the Title of Most Christian Yet we know that the Turkish Emperours have establish'd their Dominion by Cruelty only and that their Throne is soder d together with the Blood of a Great Number of Martyrs and an Infinite number of all sorts of People and Nations yet notwithstanding all this the Turk is at present the sole Refuge of France and she embraces him as her only Patron She is enter'd into a strict Alliance with the Ottoman Port furnishes him with Money Cannon and other Warlike Ammunition supplies him with Able and Expert Officers and Engineers to the great damage of the Christians And which was more pernicious the Policy of the Court of France exerted it self to that degree as to persuade the Turk to break the Truce with the Christians two Years before it came to be expir'd meerly to support the Rebellion of the Hungarians who according to the Opinion of the Ministers of France were to contribute toward the Ruine of the Empire and Emperour of the Christians Had the Bishop of Perefixe been living at this time he must have been forc'd to have recanted what he asserted in his History of Henry IV. where he says That the Valour of the French was made choice of by God to support the Christian Religion Seeing that the Court of France labours nothing more earnestly then to destroy the same Religion She never minds whether or no the Turks change the Churches into Mosquees or set up the Standard of Mahomet above the Cross of Christ provided her Monarch satisfie his Ambition and become Master of the Empire Tho' the Turks are People both Barbarous and altogether Infidels nevertheless they observe this Maxim never to abandon those that put themselves under their Protection and to keep their Words and Promises and this is one of the Points of their Law And therefore it is that they acknowledge that all the Misfortunes and Losses which they have sustain'd during this War have proceeded from their Breach of Faith and Truce And this it was which spurr'd 'em on about two Years ago to send their Envoys to Vienna with Offers of Peace to the Emperour Which hotly alarum'd the Court of France but she being Subtle and Crafty took an Occasion to insinuate into the Turks That they might continue the War without any Scruple of Conscience seeing they had offer'd Peace to the Emperour that he had refus'd it and continu'd his Hostilities against them That now the Turks were to look upon the War as purely defensive on their side and the French Embassadour at the Port understood so well by Considerable Presents to gain the Grand Mufti to his side who is the Oracle of the Ottoman Court and consulted in all Cases of Conscience that the Infidel Pontiff embrac'd the Franch Divinity and made it out to the Sultan and the People after the Return of the Envoys that they might continue the War without any scruple and that their Submission to the Christians was a sufficient Expiation for the Crime they had committed Nor is it a difficult thing to persuade the Turks to these Things who naturally hate the Christians and are easily induc'd to undertake their Destruction and so Self-interested as readily to yield to the Temptations of Presents Moreover their Extraordinary Inclination and their Interest to recover Hungary which they have lost persuades 'em without any Reluctancy to embrace the Proposals of the Court of France and to renew the League between 'em from time to time upon the Assurances Promises and Oaths of the French Embassadour that his Master will make no Peace with the Emperour wherein the Turk shall not be comprehended And yet all the World knows how earnestly the Ministers of France sollicit the Confederates to make a Peace without mentioning the Turk in the least and it was an Argument of the French at Rome to spur up the Pope that a Peace would give the Emperour great Advantages and strengthen him to carry on his Conquests to the very Walls of Constantinople for which France would not be a little Sorry But when these Projects of France were made known at the Ottoman Court and that the Grand Visier upbraided the Embassour with
Example of Alexander VI. who notwithstanding his being the Vicar of Christ never forbore to falsify his Word when he found there was a necessity for it tho' never any man promis'd things with more solemn Oaths and his Deceit prov'd successful to him Nor was Fordinand King of Castile and Aragon beholding for his Grandeur to any thing so much as to his Breach of Faith The Emperour Charles V. was always wont to swear By the Faith of a Man of Honour when he had a Design to act contrary to what he promis'd This Mazarine maintain'd as a Maxim never to be contradicted and that it behov'd a Soveraign to observe this Rule if ever he design'd Grandeur and Puissance never to stick to or govern himself according to the establish'd Laws of a Monarchy when they agreed not with his present Interest and the Politicks requisite to enlarge his Power because the same Laws that were made in former Ages were good and wholesom at that time but could not always so continued As much as to say that a King may break and trample over the Fundamental Law of a Realm when they concur not with his Ambition and his Inclination to plunder his Neighbours and ruin his Subjects For this reason it is that for some Years since we have seen Lewis XIV practise all these Maxims with a vehement Swing but with little Circumspection consulting neither the Laws of his Kingdom nor the Prerogatives of other Princes However observing this Rule never to threaten before-hand but to execute his Design at the same time that he set forth his Manifesto that his Adversary might have no time or leisure to oppose his Torrent Morevover Men judge of the Inclinations of Princes by the Ministers and Great Personages that are in favour near their Persons and the Deceas'd Prince of Orange William the First was wont to say in his time with great Reason and upon solid Grounds That a True Judgment might be given of the Natural Disposition of Philip II. King of Spain by the Cruelties which the Duke of Alva his Chief Minister committed without fear of punishment in the Low-Countries If it may be lawful to say the same thing of Lewis XIV What Sentiment ought we to have of that Prince If we look narrowly into the Inclinations and Proceedings of the Ministers that have serv'd him all the whole time of his Reign to begin from Mazarine till this very time we shall find 'em to have been all Birds of Prey and most Cruel and Insatiable Blood-suckers of the People Cardinal Richlieu was the First who laid the Foundation of this Policy now practis'd by the Court of France for that same Minister abusing the Simplicity of Lewis XIII made himself absolute Master in the Kingdom He was naturally Violent nor could he endure any Companion all People must submit to Him He Exil'd and Imprison'd he cunningly got rid of the Baron d'Ancre of Monsieur de Thou and Cinqmarc chose rather to establish the Security of his Person and his Fortune by Rigour and Violence then to hazard either by Clemency or by too much Complacency with those that were belov'd by the King and so he triumph'd over all even over the Protestant Party which was very numerous in France and which he endeavour'd to oppress by all manner of ways against the Edicts of Pacification and ruin'd 'em all by ruining Rochell which that he might the better bring to pass he deceiv'd the English and Hollanders who in good Policy were bound to have ventur'd all to have preserv'd that Important Place which was another State within the State it self and was a kind of Sanctuary and Place of Retreat for all the Malecontents of the Court. And it may be said that the Loss of that City was the Source of all the Calamities that befell Charles the I. King of England for France not only rais'd the Tempest in the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland sent Money into England to Kindle the Fire and feed the Civil War but encourag'd Oliver to lay hands upon the Person of the King in hopes at that time to bring down the Power of that Formidable Monarchy by Sea as is easie to judge by the Entertainment which the Court of France gave to the Princes of the Royal Family of England in that Conjuncture Moreover after what a Treacherous manner did France act with the Old Duke of Lorrain that he might have an Advantage to usurp his Country For Cardinal Richlieu under pretence of Friendship drew him to Lion where Lewis the XIII then lay with a Powerful Army under a false pretence that it behov'd him to come and pay his Respects to that Monarch Thither the Prince suspecting nothing but honest and fair dealing repair'd and was receiv'd at first with Extraordinary Honour and Civility not only by the King and the Cardinal but by all the Grandees of the Court who were order'd to treat him Splendidly But that was but the Bait to draw him on for when the poor Duke laden with the Honours of the Court and satisfi'd with his Kind Reception was about to return home he was stopp'd by the Cardinal's Order nor could he procure his Release but by delivering back into the hands of France a great part of his Territories which afterwards occasion'd the loss of all the rest under pretence that the Prince was an active stirring Soldier and devoted to the House of Austria But indeed because the Policy of the Court of France could not brook so near her a Soveraign Prince whose Territories were a Goad in her sides and might serve for an Inlet into France out of Germany Now in regard it is the Policy of a Minister of State to the end he may be lamented and desir'd after his Death to justifie his Conduct in the Eyes of the People Richlieu was willing to have for his Successour a Minister that should out-do him and finish what he had begun therefore he recommended Cardinal Mazarine an Italian by Birth and of mean Extraction naturally covetous and deceitful in whatever he undertook covering himself with the Foxes Skin the better to deceive others and play his own part not caring for whatever People said of him nor what Mischief was laid to his charge so he could bring about his Grand Design which was to get Money so that all the whole time of his Ministry he was call'd The Horsleech of the People By good luck he came to his Ministry during the Regency of a Credulous Queen and a Young King whom he Christen'd that he might acquire to himself the more Respect and Veneration It was easie for him both to imprint in the mind of this Young Prince and instill into him Precepts according to his own Humour which were to Sacrifice every thing to his own Interest Honour Word Alliances Edicts Promises Oaths when all these Vertues were opposite to his Aggrandizement That it behov'd a Prince that would be great to accommodate himself to the
be presum'd to be the same in regard of the Electours who are the Members of it Formerly 't was the Policy of France to caress 'em one after another to dazle 'em with the Grandeur of Lewis the Great and perswade 'em to side with the Interests of that Monarch sparing neither for Promises nor Presents to render 'em inclinable to elect French Coadjutours But afterwards they were clearly convinc'd that this was the Apple of Discord which the King of France threw into the Empire to the End he might swallow 'em up one after another Now therefore let us see what new course he takes to manage the Princes of the Empire They can now no longer be serviceable to him in making the Dauphin King of the Romans in regard they have Check-mated him on that side already So that they have spar'd him a world of Trouble and a great deal of Money which he was wont to throw away by Shovel-fulls upon that Occasion ' Much less is it to be thought that Lewis has now any Hopes of being Emperour since I am told that the Book entitul'd The just Pretensions of the King to the Empire written by the Sieur Aubri Advocate in the Parliament of Paris serves now to no other use then to wrap up Butter and Cheese in the Chandlers Shops The Ministry of France now labours to separate the Electours and Princes of the Empire from the common cause not by the means of Gold or Silver because he finds 'em incorruptible but by invading their Territories by Fire and Sword as he has done the Palatinate the Dioceses of Cologne Mayence and Treves with a design to enforce 'em to perswade the Emperour to accept of a Separate Peace by which means France will remain the Mistress still of the Greatest part of all her Usurpations To which purpose she makes a dextrous Use of the easie Access which the Monks and Jesuits have to the Persons of the Roman Catholick Princes and to intrude among the Ministers of State every where extolling the King's Catholicity and his great design to have exterminated Heresie had not King James been dethron'd But some have said very well in Answer to those Emissaries that all those forward Acts of seeming Zeal were no other then a sort of Clumsie Trapans that they must go and tell their Stories to Children and Fools for that they were no Strangers to the King of France's Religion There is one thing very Remarkable that Lewis XIV designing the Destruction of the Empire was the occasion of the strengthning it and of underpropping it in some measure with new Supports by adding a Ninth Electour to the Electoral College and more particularly by the Choice which the Emperour and the Electours have made of the Duke of Hanover to supply that Place to the great Grief of the Court of France who with all her wilely Stratagems and false Politicks could not prevent it The Election of a King of the Romans of Prince Clement of Bavaria to the Electorate of Cologne of the Baron of Elderen to the Bishoprick of Liege of the Baron of Plettenberg to that of Munster but more especially the Revolution in England were bitter Morsels for the Most Christian King to swallow and still lie heavy upon his Stomach And whenever France comes once to see the Bottom of her Exchequer there is no question but her Fall will be very great since it was her Money that only upheld her in all the Courts of Christendom that she has plaister'd over all her Usurpations and that she has lull'd several Princes asleep whose real Interest it was to oppose her Silver is a sort of Mettal every where acceptable and the Avarice of the Switzers has spread it self into several Courts according to the saying of Alexander That there was nothing inaccessible to Silver tho' Matchiavell upholds That 't is a hard matter for Steel to keep possession of that which is purchased with Gold Nevertheless we have seen the Contrary both in Germany and Flanders where the King of France bought several Places with good ready Money and has held 'em for several Years But give me leave to add this Reason for it I mean the little good Correspondence at that time between the Princes of the Empire and the Powder of Gold which their Jupiter rain'd among ' em That Monarch not only got great Footing within the Territories of his Neighbours but made his Possession good Witness Strasburg Hunninghen and several other Places upon the Rhine as Mayence and several Fortresses in the Diocess of Cologne if Heaven by a Blow that France little expected had not linked together that Sacred Union in the Empire for the Common defence which all the gilded Politicks of France could never prevent nor her Poyson put a stop to And this is a Truth never to be contradicted that the Sincere Union of the Princes of the Empire preserves 'em from being corrupted and early or late will render 'em Victorious over the Common Enemy and put 'em in a Condition of being able to recover what they have and fix 'em in the Possession of what they hold untouch'd No wonder then that the French destroy and ruine Germany where they come because they find they cannot hold it but must surrender back all their Usurpations tho' by the Havock which they make they are in hopes to weaken the Strength of their Enemies 'T would be but Justice then and what the King of France has no such reason to wonder at that he should be one day constrain'd to repay the Damages for the Spoil which his Armies have committed in pursuance of his Infernal Politicks During the Reign of Philip the II. King of Spain it may be said that France and Spain divided Europe between 'em and that they were truly the Two Scales of a Ballance which the Other Soveraigns endeavour'd to keep in an Equilibrium and sided sometimes with the One sometimes with the Other as their Interest directed 'em in order to keep an Equality of Force for fear of being swallow'd up by the Strongest But since King Philip's time it may be said That Spain has been continually sinking lower and lower that she has been in good part the Prey of France and that had it not been for the Allies the French at this Hour would have been not only Masters of the Low-Countries but of Madrid it self And indeed it may be said that the Duke of Alva lent the first helping Hand to the fall of the Spanish Puissance by his Proclamation concerning the Tenth Penny in the Year 1569. by his Depriving the People of the Liberty of Conscience and the Massacers that succeeded and which was the real Cause of the Revolt of part of the Low-Countries and the Fountain and Original of all the Misfortunes that afterwards befell that Monarchy which instead of striking Dread and Terrour into all Europe and the Other World is dwindl'd away to that degree of Impuissance wherein we now behold it
France after the King's decease But more especially to beg of the Emperour to put a speedy End to the Turkish War that he may have his Hands at Liberty to be assisting to Spain at a time of need 'T is also an Affair of Great Importance and most Essential toward the Preservation of the Remainder of the Low-Countries and not to relie as the Council of Spain does upon her Neighbours which is the reason that they neglect to send the True Succour which it would behove 'em to send in time into those Provinces which were within a Fingers Breadth of being utterly lost during King James's Reign And indeed there happen so many Changes and Revolutions in the World that a well advis'd Monarch ought never to relie upon the Forces of Other Princes but his own While the Provinces of the Spanish Low-Countries were govern'd by Interested Vice-Roys who preferr'd their own private Concerns before the Preservation of the Provinces with which they were entrusted we still found that France seiz'd upon City after City and is now in Possession of whole Provinces and it may be said that a better thought never came into her Head then when she abandon'd the Conquest of Italy where she Exhausted her Men and Money to turn her Forces upon Flanders where all Appearances seem'd more easie since she saw well that Governours were sent thither only to enrich themselves among whom the Greatest Part minded more the getting of a Million into their Purses then the preservation of the Best City in the Low-Countries To avoid which Mischief there is a necessity of having a Prince for Governour whose particular Interest it is to preserve 'em who will march at the Head of his Army lay out the Subsidies of the People in defraying the Necessary Expences of the People and take care for the Timely Returns of Money for that the Low-Countries can never subsist without an Army well pay'd We have met with all these Advantages in the Person of his Electoral Highness the Duke of Bavaria and it may be said without flattery That the Choice which his Catholick Majesty made of that Prince for the Government of the Low-Countries was one of the best and most imortant Hits of State that Spain has been for some time guilty of T was such a Blow to France as broke all the Measures she had taken during the Government of Gastanaga nor could Lewis XIV ward off this Blow which the King of England gave him without ever giving him warning to guard himself 'T is a thing no less observable then wonderful That the Council of Spain having no more then this little Corner of the Earth to guard should neglect it as They do seeing that good Policy requires that Spain should drein herself rather then part with it were it for nothing else but to serve her as an Amuzement to the Arms of France as we have found it to have been in all the last and present Wars and the Counterguard that keeps the most Christian King from Marching to the very Walls of Madrid it self The reason of this Carelessness may well be thought to be the Popular Errour of the Inhabitants of Flanders and Brabant who tell the Hollanders when they upbraid 'em with their Remissness as to their own Preservation 'T is you that ought to defend us for the sake of your own Interest And indeed there is some reason for this Opinion But the chief reason proceeds from the Avarice of the Spanish Ministers who shroud themselves under this Mistake which serves 'em to heap up Wealth while the King their Sovereign is engag'd on every side to preserve himself The Policy of France together with her Louid'ors works now the same Effect with the which formerly Philip II. wrought by virtue of his Doublon's For I have heard say That ev'n in Time of Peace there was not any Place in the Low-Countries where Lewis XIV had not his Creatures and his Cabals ready to declare themselves in Time and Place and when an Opportunity requir'd And certain it is That if this were not the whole which was then said 't is a good part of the Truth For having beheld what we have seen in our days in reference to that impregnable City of Luxemburgh and the Acquisition of the whole Province that follow'd we ought to be convinc'd that that same Place of so great moment was not obtain'd by the Bravery and Courage only of the French There is no better way then to disappoint those Treacheries then by often changing the Garrisons and sometimes the Governors themselves but above all things to Pay well and Punish without Exception when there is the least Fault committed The Low-Countries are at present like an Insolvent House that must be re-settl'd by good Oeconomy and by affording the Inhabitants the Means of being able to contribute towards it The Low-Countries have a long time been the Mark at which the Court of France has aim'd Upon the least Dispute or Pretence of a Quarrell with the Court of Spain in she pours with all her Fury upon the Low-Countries like an impetuous Torrent plunders burns and never retreats without some considerable Loppings which she dismembers from the Body of the Tree Which nevertheless is not a Mischief never to be remedy'd since the Sea it self is many times restrain'd by Causeys and Mounds though it be an Element a thousand times more to be fear'd then the Policy and Pride of Lewis XIV And this is that which the Duke of Bavaria and the rest of his Brave Confederates must do to stop and curb the rapid Inundations of France They must look upon the French Monarch as one that thunders in all his Forces and his Fury upon those Places where he is sure to find but little Resistance and from such Victories as those he reaps his greatest Honour I confess that a Prince who is violent and a Usurper is happy so long as Fortune goes hand in hand with his Natural Humour But in regard she grows weary for the most part of always carrying one Man upon her Back we also find that the same Prince becomes unprosperous when Fortune changes her Mind or rather when there is an Opposition made against him And therefore if we may build upon outward Appearances and if there be any thing of Prognostication in the Presentiments of Wise and Judicious Men the Low-Countries may well hope by the Blessing of Heaven the prudent Conduct of their Great and Sage Governor and Leader and the sincere Intentions of the Confederates to be soon deliver'd from the Yoke and Barbarity of France and enjoy the Fat of a fruitful Soil that has so long fed so many Thousands of Foreigners both Men and Beasts From the Low-Countries I cross over into England where I find that the Revolution which happen'd in the Year 1689. affords a large Field and ample Matter to supply my Discourse The Court of France not only cry'd The Town 's our's but
Impoverishes 'em to constrain 'em to turn Soldiers He calls in all their Money embases it and pays 'em with New Money enhaunc'd above a Third part of the True Value to fill his Coffers He seizes upon all the Church-Plate and what belongs to private Persons and coins it into Money and the better to inveigle the People as it were to follow his Example he sends his own Plate First of all to the Mint and sends for it back the next day There is not any Tax or Toll or Imposition that has escap'd the Invention of his Flint-Skinners so that the greatest part of all the Handycraft Tradesmen and Peasants have abandon'd their Farms and their Houses to wander about and beg their Bread or else to seek their Livelihoods in foreign Countries I have often with my own Ears heard very good Men and Old Catholicks cry out When will the Prince of Orange meaning the King of England now reigning come and deliver us from all our Miseries Rightly judging That the English are They who can only give that Lucky Blow by reason that their nearness to the Coasts of France facilitates their Entrance into the Kingdom The Court of France knows this to be true and therefore takes so much care to line their Coasts tho' the King of France's whole Army would not suffice to guard a Compass of 300 Leagues in Extent so well as they should do to prevent the Enemies landing in some part or other Where they that land have no more to do then only to stand the First Shot for the Second Discharge will prove very moderate and for the Third there will be no occasion to fear it I affirm then that the English alone are able to harrass France more then any of the Confederates to put her to an Excessive Expence which dreins her Treasury forces the King to oppress his Subjects that he may replenish his Coffers provokes the Malecontents to shake off the Yoke of a Despotick Government and to desire a Government like that of England which beyond all contradiction is the most Just and most Equitable as well for the King as for the People every one there enjoying their Rights and Privileges the King his due Prerogatives and the People their Repose If any one of the Republicks of Europe be able to infuse Jealousies and Fears into France it is the Republick of the United Provinces which is at present the most potent the most Illustrious the most glorious and the most wealthy Republick in the World I acknowledge that Venice may dispute the Point of Antiquity with her otherwise there is no Comparison to be made between ' em No wonder then that her Neighbouring Puissance has drawn upon her the Envy of France The Policy of her Ministers ever since the Beginning of this Reign has very Judiciously exercis'd it self in finding out the most clever and probable ways to swallow up those Provinces either by Conquest or by Ruining 'em to which purpose Measures have been taken a long while ago And Lewis XIV at the Beginning of the War 1672. did verily believe to have compass'd his Designs having invaded the States at a Time when they rely'd upon the Faith and Sincerity of Treaties and had neither any Forces a foot nor any General to lead 'em Good Husbandry being Natural to Republicks in Time of Peace Nevertheless France could not strike that Blow so home as she desir'd without the Consent of England and therefore it was that the Court of France was so careful to improve their Friendship with Charles II. sparing neither for Money nor the Allurements of Pleasure to inveigle and fasten him to their Interests and to cause him to bury in Oblivion all the Benefits he had receiv'd from the Republick and the House of Orange Nor would France quit her Hold till England had in conjunction with her declar'd War against the United Provinces where the Embassadors of France had for some Years labour'd underhand by the Inticing Baits of Gold and Silver to gain Creatures within the Republick since which time the Count d'Avaux understood so well to follow their Steps that he out-did ' em For that being Young and a Courtier he made his Love of Women serviceable to get him Admittance into certain Families that had some share in the Government and there were few Cities where he had not his Creatures who gave him Intelligence of all things that past in Council and some there were who like Nicodemus's came to him by Night not daring to appear in the day-time The Greatest Policy of France was always to foment Division between England and the United Provinces afraid of nothing more then a good Correspondence and Union between the Two Puissances Nor did she see any way more Probable to compass her Ends upon the United Provinces then by sticking close to England which had fallen out luckily for her during the two preceding Reigns while she amus'd those two Princes with Hopes of sharing in the Conquest And upon this Score Lewis XIV had very little trouble to perswade James the Second to close with him for that in his Heart he was an Enemy to the United Provinces and the House of Orange besides that he was besieg'd by the Monks and Jesuits and particularly by Father Peters who kept him under the awe of the Ferula putting him in hopes of Great Rewards from Heaven in case he would lend his Helping hand to destroy the Hereticks perswading him that the United Provinces were the Center of Heresie So that he added to his private Hatred that Biggotry which those Hypocrites of Monks continually blew in his Ears And indeed all things were in a ready forwardness to recommence in Conjunction with France a new War against Holland The King's Inclinations were altogether bent that way and the Thing would have had the Effect desir'd so soon as James the Second had once obtain'd to be Master of his Parliament had abolish'd the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom and lay'd low the Heads of some of the principal Lords the best Affected toward the Wellfare of the Kingdom and the Preservation of the Privileges of the Nation But the Revolution in England falling out so unexpectedly toward the end of the Year 1688. and the Year following fended off the Blow and broko all the Measures of those Two Princes to which we may add the rejecting of the Cardinal of Furstenburgh from being Archbishop of Cologne All these Events so contrary to the Expectation of Lewis XIV very much contributed toward the Preservation of the Low-Countries For there is no doubt but the Cardinal who is a Man dangerous turbulent actuared by the Demon of France to whom he has sold and devoted himself since he withdrew himself from his Obedience to the Emperor his lawful Sovereign was in t oduc'd into the Chapter of Cologne only to be the Tool and Organ by whose means the Most Christian King might the more easily disturb the States of the United
'em he appeas'd the Prime Minister by telling him That what the Court of France had done in respect to that Affair was only to deceive his Enemies and to amuse 'em with Frivolous Offers on purpose to put a stop to their Preparations against the next Campaign and to make the People the more unwilling to contribute toward the War It may be some Persons well affected to France take this to be a Calumny and will not believe that the Most Christian King persuaded the Turk to break with the Christians But to convince 'em I shall here insert what past at the Pyrenean Treaty where Lewis XIV espous'd the Infanta of Spain renounc'd all the Pretensions which that Princess might have to Spain or the Low-Countries and consented with an Oath That if ever he Pretended to what he had rencunced that his Pretension should be accounted Null and Void and that if he proceeded to force of Arms he besought all Princes and Free States observe the Expressions to repute it unlawful unjust and wickedly attempted a Piece of Tyrannical Vsurpation against Reason and Conscience This Protestation is to be met with in the Sixth Article of the Renunciation of the King of France belonging to the Pyrenaean Treaty in the Year 1660. Nevertheless we have seen how Lewis XIV brake this Peace so solemnly sworn in a few Years afterwards immediately upon the death of Philip IV. King of Spain on purpose to renew the renounc'd Pretensions of his Queen which have since cost so much Christian Blood and still are like to cost more before the Conclusion of the War These Things being consider'd all Men must be convinc'd that France fomented the War in Hungary that she encourag'd the Turks to besiege Vienna that she design'd the Dethroning of the Emperour and to have set up her Monarch Lewis the Great in his Place But she met with many Disappointments The Great Victories of the Christians the Conquest of Upper and Lower Hungary but above all the Taking of Belgrade together with the frequent Revolutions in the Ottoman Court ranvers'd all the Affairs of that Empire and then it was that all the Persuasions nor all the Promises nor Presents of the French could make any Impression upon the Turks all the Policy of the Court of France was reduc'd to this last Shift which was to persuade the Ottoman Port to continue the War but one Campaign more and then if the Face of Affairs did not alter but that their Misfortunes continu'd she would consent to a Truce such as the Turks should think fit to make This Expedient wrought well for the French For in the Year 1690. the Infidels re-took Belgrade by Assault which puff'd 'em up to a high degree Nor was it then a difficult thing to persuade 'em that their Misfortunes were at an end that Heaven was now going to punish the Emperour for refusing the Peace which they had offer'd him and that to second this happy beginning the King his Master or the Dauphin who was call'd the Young Sultan at the Port would come in Person with a numerous Army and make a Considerable Diversion upon the Rhine But in regard the Turks have never yet seen any Effects of these Mighty Promises the French Embassadour is forc'd from time to time to bear the Brunt of most bloody Reproaches from the Lips of the Grand Visier and to endure many a rugged Storm without going to Sea And the least affront put upon him is that of Dog That his Master is a man of no Faith and worse then a Christian and that if he does not keep his Word for the future the Port will make a Truce with the Emperour and leave him to himself But these are Reprimands which the French never boast of and the Embassadour has Flegm enough to stay till the Tempest be over and never to return to the Charge with his Flamms and Excuses till the first firing be over and that the Grand Visier's Fury be abated and then with new Presents he makes fresh Promises and like the Children promises to do better next time A sad Conjuncture for a Monarch who believes himself to be the first and greatest in the World and ranks himself like Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great in the Number of the Gods to be forc'd to such mean Submissions and to suffer continual Affronts and Reproaches from an Infidel to preserve the Friendship and Assistance of the Turks But this is now the Depth of the Policy of France rather to Cringe and Creep and become a kind of Tributary to the Ottoman Port then to make Restitution of what he has usurp'd from the Christians rather to allow Liberty of Conscience to the Turks then to the Huguenots And this I have been assur'd that Chasteauneuf the French Embassadour not knowing one day which way to appease the Grand Visier offer'd him that Liberty in his Masters Name and that he should give leave to the Turks to erect Mosquees at Tholoun and Marseilles The same Offers have also been made to the Governour of Algiers in any place of Bretaigne that he should make choice of provided he would send his Men of War into St. George's Channel to rob the English and Hollanders And if these Offers did not take effect 't was because the Grand Signior stood in need of the Algerines to serve against the Venetians and re-inforce his Fleet in the Levant Nevertheless these Offers fail'd not to work with the Grand Mufti who like the Romish Ecclesiasticks loves the Propagation of his Faith and the Free Exercise of his Religion and who being sweeten'd up withall by some Considerable Present openly declar'd for the French Sultan But as submissive as France is yet a while to her Ally that she may preserve his Friendship you shall see that he will leave him in the Lurch and deliver him up a Prey to the Emperour so soon as he can find a way to make Peace with the Confederates And then that Separation would infallibly beget a War between the two Sultans were the Turk in a condition to revenge himself However his want of Strength to commence a War will not hinder him from loading the French Merchants that reside in his Dominions with Terrible Oppressions and so the poor Merchants must pay for the Infidelity of their Monarch But the Court of France never troubles her Head about That provided she can but compass her own Ends. And for the Obtaining of those she will never Spare for the Blood or Estates of her own Subjects nor did she ever value the Lives and Liberties of so many poor Christians as have been sacrific'd during this War with the Turk to the Ambition of Lewis the Great But we are now ascending if we can to the Pinacle of French Policy so high that few or none can reach it that is to say the Depopulation of France and consequently the Ruine of the Kingdom for Religion's sake For it is well known that the Protestants