secret that even the Duke of Wirtembergh knew nothing of it and attack'd the Place in good earnest Upon his decamping he was sensible of the Truth of it and could not forbear to complain very modestly to the King who answered him that he was sure of his Zeal and Secrecy and had a great Esteem for him but that his Service required that the General who commanded the Attack of that Fort should know nothing of his real Design 28. 18. 1695 The Army marched from Becelaer to Rouselaer and his Majesty brought up the Rear This Motion being made in sight of the French Lines several Squadrons of the Enemy came out to fall upon the Rear but the Allies march'd in so good Order that they did not think fit to attack them 29. 19. 1672 The Town of Dordrecht declared this Day the Prince of Orange their Stadtholder with all the Prerogatives enjoy'd by his Ancestors dit 1691 His Majesty's Army having decamped the Day before from Ballymore came this Day before Athlone beating the Enemy from several Out-ditches to within the Walls of the English Town and our Men lodging themselves therein General Ginkel and other Chief Officers viewed the Place and marked out a Battery which begun to play upon the Bastion dit 1695 The King having disposed all things for the Siege of the important Place of Namur left this Day his Army under the Command of Prince Vaudemont to observe the Mareschal de Villeroy and went to join the Army of the Elector which suddenly broke up from the Neighbourhood of Oudenarde and marched towards the Meuse 30. 20. 1691 The English Town of Athlone was this Day taken by Storm at 5 a Clock in the Afternoon and the Irish who defended it were put to the Sword or drown'd except those that could make their Escape over the Bridg into the other Part of the Town called the Irish dit 1692 This Day the Castle of Namur surrendred to the French King by Capitulation Monsieur Luxemburgh having fortified his Camp at Masy in such a manner that it was impossible for the Allies to relieve that Place The Castle made no Defence at all and there was such a Suspicion of Treachery that the Elector of Bavaria confin'd Prince Brabancon Governour thereof to the Citadel of Antwerp July   1. 21. 1690 This Day was fought a bloody Battel in the Plain of Fleuâ—us between the Dutch Forces commanded by Prince Waldeck making about 25000 Men and the French Army under the Command of the Mareschal of Luxemburgh being 40000 strong The Fight lasted above 6 Hours and tho the Dutch Foot was forsaken by their Horse yet such was their Bravery that the French could never break 14 Regiments who retired to Nivelle The Loss was pretty equal on both sides tho 't is generally believed the French suffer'd more than the Dutch but they left the Field and some of their Cannon and so the Honour of the Day fell to the French but the Baggage was saved dit 1695 The Earl of Athlone invested Namur this Day and secur'd the Passes and Defiles between the Sambre and the Meuse and on the Brabant but had not Men enough to invest it on the side of the Condross 2. 22. 1689 His Majesty having discovered by some intercepted Letters a Conspiracy in England against his Government to aid King James in his Design to bring the War upon this Kingdom thought fit to communicate these Papers to the City of London They were read in Common-Council who resolved thereupon to present a Loyal Address to their Majesties which they did this Day at Whitehall dit 1690 His Majesty accompanied by Prince George of Denmark arrived this Day at the Camp of Loughbrisland and sent Major General Scravenmoor with 500 Horse and a Detachment of Foot to observe the Army of â—he Rebels commanded by the abdicated K. James and Count Lauzun which came about Dundalk dit 1695 The Mareschal de Bousslers having marched from the Scheld toward the Meuse with an extraordinary Diligence got this Day into Namur by the Condross-side with 8 Regiments of Dragoons for the King had so rightly taken his Measures that the Garison of Namur would have made but a very feeble Resistance if the Earl of Athlone had had the Conveniency to pass the Meuse and invest the Place on that side The Mareschal de Bousslers having given the necessary Order for the Defence of that Fortress endeavour'd to get out but our Men kept him in 3. 23. 1672 The States of Holland declared this Day his Highness the Prince of Orange Stadtholder of their Province as those of Zealand had done the Day before and appointed ten Deputies to offer that Dignity to the Prince with all the Prerogatives enjoy'd by his Ancestors and charged their Deputies to the States General to propose that his Highness might be absolved of the Oath he was forced to take in their Assembly not to accept that Dignity the Prince having declared that unless the States did absolve him he would never take upon him the Exercise of that great Place dit 1690 His Majesty went himself this Day with a Party of Horse four Miles beyond Newry to observe the Ground and the Ways through which he had resolved to march to the Enemy dit 1691 The Batteries begun this Day to play on the Irish Town of Athlone dit 1695 The King sat down this Day before Namur taking his Post on the side of Brabant and the Elector his between the Sambre and the Meuse 4. 24. 1672 The Deputies of the States of Holland and Westfrizeland waited upon the Prince of Orange to offer him the Dignity of Stadtholder of their Provinces whom his Highness receiv'd very graciously and assured them that he would be ready upon all Occasions to venture his Life for the Glory of his Country and asserting their Liberties against their Enemies 5. 25. 1695 His Majesty accompanied by the Elector of Bavaria and other General Officers viewed the Town of Namur and the Pioneers were commanded to work on the Lines of Circumvallation and Contravallation The Earl of Athlone with most of the Horse in the Army was sent toward Fleurus for the Conveniency of Forage and to cover the Camp 6. 26. 1690 The King marched from Newry to Dundalk to pursue the Irish and French Army which was retired towards the River Boyne 7. â—7 1690 His Majesty reviewed his Army near Dundalk consisting of English Dutch Danes Gernans and French making in all about 36000 Men which he â—ound in a very good Condition The same Day a Party of â—ppinger's Dragoons bear one of â—he Irish who incamped that â—ay near the Boyne dit  The English and Dutch Fleet â—ommanded by the Earl of Torâ—ington came this Day in sight of the French Fleet on the â—oast of the Isle of Wight 8. 28. 1672 The States General annulled and made void the perpetual Edict the Enemies of the House of Nassau had extorted from them and declar'd the Prince of
Fasti Gulielmi Tertii OR AN ACCOUNT OF THE Most Memorable Actions Transacted during his Majesty's Life both before and since his Accession to the Crown WITH The Days Months and Years wherein the same hapned LONDON Printed for John Barnes at the Crown in the Pall-Mall and sold by Richard Baldwin near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-lane MDCXCVII STAND FAST The honble Allexander Grantt younger of that ilk To the Right Honourable ARNOLD EARL of Albemarle Viscount Bury and Baron of Ashford Master of his Majesty's Robes c. My LORD DID this Book treat of any other Subject I should begin with asking Your Lordship's Pardon for the Liberty I take of prefixing your Name to it but since it is an Abridgment of the Actions of our August Monarch I dare assure my self that I need no Apology on that account For what more acceptable thing could one offer to your Lordship whose Zeal and Affection to his Majesty can hardly be parallel'd I likewise think I may dispense with another usual Method of Dedications and therefore I shall not attempt your Lordship's Character nor speak of your Valour Generosity Civility and innate Inclination to do Good to Mankind These and many other excellent Qualifications are so conspicuous in your Lordship that those who know you would take it ill from me to insist on a Truth they are already convinced of And for others who know your Lordship only by Fame they cannot but have a great Idea of your Merit when they consider that the most Judicious as well as the most Glorious Prince that ever wore a Crown finds you worthy of his Esteem and Confidence of which the great Titles of Honour he has lately conferred upon You are a publick Demonstration I beg your Lordship to excuse the Ambition of this Address and to give me leave to assure You that I am with a most profound Respect My Lord Your Lordship 's most Humble and most Obedient Servant The PREFACE THIS Book does not need a long Preface The Title is sufficient to recommend its Vsefulness and as to the Performance no body would take my word for it and therefore I submit it to the Judgment of the Reader The Design I owe to Father Coronelli Cosmographer to the Republick of Venice but he being a Stranger and having written upon false Memoirs committed so many Faults that I have received very little Assistance from his little Almanack that was printed here in English in one single Sheet which by the by was worse than the Original Tho I have had better Memoirs and do know many things I relate upon my own Knowledg I dare not presume to say I have committed no Errors but I hope they are not material and am more afraid of Omissions than Mistakes but whatever they be I shall endeavour to mend them in a second Edition and therefore shall take it kindly if any body will impart to me their Remarks and Corrections This Book tho very small contains not only the bare Heads of things from the Year 1672. down to this time but also a short yet exact Account of Battels and Sieges c. and several Original Pieces at length which being scatter'd in loose Papers I thought fit to collect in this Treatise I relate few Events before the Year 1672. on purpose to avoid mentioning the Wars between England and Holland in which so many Worthies of both Nations perished tho they were at War without being angry that Quarrel being rather the Ministers than the Peoples I have endeavoured to do Justice to all Men but if any thinks himself wrong'd I desire him to be perswaded that I have had no ill Design and shall always be ready to correct my self I have taken care to avoid that common Vice of the French Writers who never dare approach their King without a Censer in their Hands and therefore I have fairly related the Actions his Majesty has been concerned in either successful or not without any Flattery nay without giving him the Commendations his Archievements require being sensible that tho Heroes are ambitious to deserve Praises yet they cannot bear them I have taken notice of several great Events in which his Majesty was not directly concerned by reason of their being very memorable and therefore fit to be inserted here The Observation of the English and Roman Account will I hope prove very useful at least I am certain that to find out those Dates has cost me a great deal of Trouble ADVERTISEMENT LEST the Method of this Kalendar should surprize any the Reader must know these two things 1. That I begin the Year upon the 1st of January tho I know it begins with us only in March and that because of the late horrid Conspiracy I have followed the Leap-Year allowing 29 Days to February 2. That in relating the Events contained in this Book I don't follow the Series of the Year's beginning in 1650 and so down to this time but I only observe the Series of the Days and Months and therefore whatever thing has been transacted in January tho of this very Year is here related before what happens in February without any respect to the Years set down in one of the Columns Roman Account English Account Fasti Gulielmi Tertii OR An Account of the most Memorable Actions of His Majesty WILLIAM III. King of Great Britain c. January December  1. 1679 22. 1678 THE Ministers of Spain and Holland being in Negotiation at Nimeguen for restoring Mastricht to the King of Spain the Prince of Orange opposes it till he has received Satisfaction from that Crown for his Pretensions dit 1689 1688 King James being sailed for France the Lords Spiritual and Temporal met at Westminster on the present juncture of Affairs 2. 1689 23. 1688 The Prince of Orange orders the French Ambassador to leave England 3. 1662 24. 1661 The Provinces of Overyssel and Zealand resolved to bestow upon him the Place of Captain General which their Pensionaries acquainted him with but hearing that very Day that his Mother was ill he fell sick himself 4. 1689 25. 1688 The Peers of England present to the Prince of Orange two Addresses the first of Thanks for having undertaken to relieve the Nation in time of Need and to desire Him to accept the Government till Jan. 22. next the second to issue out Letters to the Coroners to chuse Members for the Convention to sit upon the said January 22. O. S. 5. 1671 26. 1671 The Prince comes from Oxford and Windsor where he was most nobly entertained by King Charles II. and interposes His Mediation between His Majesty and the States General and on that Occasion gives extraordinary Proofs of his great Genius as well as of His Affection for the States dit 1689 1688 The Aldermen and Citizens of London agree to the Lords Address for desiring the Prince of Orange to take upon him the Government of the Nation 6. 1689 27. 1688 A great many Gentlemen who were
Orange went this Day from the Hague to see the Siege of Brunswick besieged by the Princes of the House of Lunenburgh dit 1695 The Duke of Wirtemberg who set down before Fort Knock the 7th Instant thinking fit to beat the French from an Intrenchment which hinder'd our Approach commanded Colonels Tiffany and Maitland for that Service which they performed with a great deal of Bravery tho the French had the Advantage of their Intrenchments and were protected by the Cannon of the Fort. dit 1694 The English and Dutch Fleet commanded by the Lord Berkley being come to an Anchor in Camaret-Bay on the 7th Instant a Council of War was held the next Day where it was resolved that the Land Forces should land to beat the French out of their Intrenchments and that the Marquiss of Caermarthen should in the mean time batter a Fort and two Batteries of the Enemy with seven Men of War to cover our Landing The next Day the Ships stood in accordingly and General Talmash with the Land-Forces went in the Well-Boats towards the Shore where he landed in Person notwithstanding the great Fire of the French but having observed the Intrenchments of the Enemy and that it was impossible to force them there being an Army more numerous than his to oppose him he ordered his Men to return on board their several Ships We lost about 500 Men in that warm Action which tho unsuccessful is yet a noble Proof of the Courage of our Forces who notwithstanding the Certainty of the Danger landed with an unparallel'd Intrepidity The General was shot in the Thigh Several Souldiers and some Officers remained in the Owze and were made Prisoners The French made a great Fire from their Batteries on our Men of War both from their Cannon and Mortars but we lost not one Ship except a Dutch Frigat of 30 Guns which was sunk by a Bomb. dit 1696 The King decamped this Day from Basse Wavre and marched to Corbais whereupon Monsieur de Bouflers who had been three Weeks incamped at Pieton and Gosseliers where he had intrench'd himself as if he had designed to venture a Fight broke up from the Place in great Confusion and passed the Sambre at Montigny not thinking himself safe behind his Intrenchments notwithstanding the natural Strength of the Camp 20. 10. 1691 His Majesty with the Confederate Army under his Command encamped this Day at Bethlem where he was waited upon by Father Stapleton an Irish Man Rector of the University of Louvain with several Members of that University who in a Latin Speech complimented his Majesty upon his Coming into those Parts and undertaking his Expedition for the Good of Christendom The Magistrates of Louvain made the same Compliment to his Majesty which they accompanied with a handsom Present of Wine dit 1694 This Day a Holland-Mail brought an Edict given by the Duke of Savoy whereby his Royal Highness revokes his Edicts made in 1686 against the Protestants of the Valleys of Piedmont takes off all the Forfeitures and Confiscations and restores them to the free Exercise of their Religion and the Enjoyment of their antient Rights and Privileges This Edict is dated May 23 1694. and in the Preamble the Recommendation of his Majesty of Great Britain and the States General are mentioned besides the Justice of the thing in it self as a great Inducement to the Duke of Savoy for giving such an Edict in spight of the Opposition of the Monks and Priests who muster'd all their Forces to hinder it 21. 11. 1690 This Day the King embarked at Highlake for Ireland being attended by 6 Men of War commanded by Sir Cloudesly Shovel 6 Yachts and near 300 Transport Ships dit 1696 Sir John Fenwick one of the Conspirators was taken in Romney Marsh when he was ready to embark for France There was a Proclamation out against him with the Reward of 500 l. 22. 12. 1694 Lieutenant General Talmash whose Wound was not thought dangerous was brought to Plymouth where he died this Evening justly lamented for his great Worth Courage and Zeal for their Majesties Service and Government He had gained a great Reputation in Ireland having behav'd himself with an extraordinary Prudence and Bravery at Athlone Aghrim and Lymerick he commanded the English Foot at the Battel of Landen and having maintained his Ground as long as possible he made a very honourable Retreat having kept by his good Order a considerable Body of Men together 23. 13. 1689 The Duke of Gourdon who had hitherto defended the Castle of Edinburgh for K. James seeing the Besiegers had advanced their Trenches to the Ditch beat a Parley and surrendred the Castle this Day to Sir John Lanier commanding their Majesties Forces making some Terms for the Garison but rendring himself entirely to his Majesty's Discretion 24. 14. 1690 His Majesty landed this Day about 3 a Clock at Carickfergus and from thence went by Land to Belfast being met on the way by the Duke of Schomberg Prince of Wirtemberg and other General Officers The same Evening landed also Prince George the Duke of Ormond the Earl of Oxford my Lord Scarborough and other Lords and Gentlemen dit 1692 The King marched again from Sombreff to Melle to endeavour to relieve the Castle of Namur or oblige the French to fight but they intrench'd themselves in such a manner that it was not thought fit to attack them Fort William surrendred this Day to the French and made a particular Capitulation which is very extraordinary that Fort being but an Out-work of the Castle Colonel Cohorn who had so long and so bravely defended it was then indisposed and refused to sign the Capitulation 25. 15. 1690 His Majesty took this Day a Review of his Forces incamp'd near Lisburn which he found in a very good Condition and declared his Intention to march against the Enemy in a few Days after He received very graciously an Address of the Protestant Clergy of the Province of Vlster congratulating his safe Arrival and assuring his Majesty of their Zeal Affection and Fidelity 26. 16. 1691 General Ginkel sent this Day 〈◊〉 strong Detachment of Horse 〈◊〉 Dragoons to take a View of Athlone which Place he design'd to besiege dit  The King came this Day with his Army to Gemblours whereupon the Mareschal de Luxemburg decamped with great Precipitation from Braine le Comte and encamped at Estires between Mons and Binch behind a Branch of the River Maine for his greater Security 27. 17. 1695 The King seeing that the French had drawn all their Forces towards their Lines thinking that he designed to force them by the Attack of Fort Knock sent Orders to the Earl of Athlone who was in Brabant to march over the Sambre to invest Namur and ordered the Duke of Wirtembergh to withdraw from before Fort Knock which accordingly he did this Day 'T is certain that this Attack was but a Feint to facilitate the Siege of Namur which Design was kept so