hundred seventy and eight and of our Reign the thirty sixth Signed Lewis By the King And underneath Arnauld The Ratification of the Treaty of Peace by the States General THe States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys To all that shall see these presents Greeting Having seen and examined the Treaty of Peace and Friendship made and concluded at Nimeguen the 10th day of August 1678. By the Sieur Comte D' Estrades Marshal of France and Knight of the Orders of the Most Christian King the Sieur Colbert Marquiss of Croissy Counsellor in ordinary in his Councel of State and the Sieur de Mesmes Comte d'Avaux Counsellor likewise in his Councels Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of his Most Christian Majesty at the meeting at Nimeguen in the name and on the behalf of his said Majesty and by the Heer Hierosme de Beverning Baron of Teylingham Curator of the University at Leyden late Counsellor and Treasurer General of the United Provinces the Heer Wilhem van Nassaw Heer van Odyke Cortgene c. first noble and representative of the Order of the Nobility in the States and at the Councel of Zeland and the Heer Wilhem van Haren Grietman du Bildt Deputies in our Assembly on behalf of the States of Holland Zeland and Friesland our Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries at the said Assembly at Nimeguen in our Name and on our behalf by vertue of their full respective powers Having likewise seen and examined the Letter which our said Ambassadors and Plenipotenries wrote to the said Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries of his Most Christian Majesty the sixteenth day of the said month of August and the answer that the said Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries of his said Majesty returned thereunto concerning the explanation of the thirteenth Article of the said Treaty as also the Act of the 15th of September this present year by which his said Majesty declared his good liking of the explanation which his said Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries made upon the thirteenth Article of the said Treaty of Peace of which Treaties Letters Acts and Powers the Tenour is as followeth In the Name of God the Creator To all c. page And forasmuch as the Contents of the said Treaty import that the Letters of Ratification shall be delivered on both sides in due and proper form within six weeks or sooner if it may be from the day of Signing We willing to give proofs of our sincerity and to discharge the promise which our Ambassadors made for us have agreed approved and Ratified the said Treaty and every Article thereof above transcribed and do Agree to Approve Ratifie and Confirm the same by these presents promising Faithfully and Sincerely to keep maintain and inviolably to observe the same in every point according to the Form and Tenour thereof without ever acting contrary thereunto directly or indirectly in any manner or kind whatsoever In Witness whereof we have made these presents to be Signed by the President of our Assembly and Countersigned by our Principal Register and our great Seal to be put thereto Given at the Hague the 19th day of Sept. in the year 1678. D. van Wyngaerd By order of the said Lords the States General H. Fagel Here follows the Tenour of the Power of his Majesties said Ambassadors LEWIS by the grace of God King of France and Navar To all that shall see these presents Greeting As we wish for nothing with greater ardency then to see the War that at present afflicts Christendom end in a good Peace and that by the Care and Mediation of our most dear and most beloved Brother the King of Great Brittain the Town of Nimeguen has been agreed upon by all the parties for the place of Conference We out of this same desire to put a stop as far as in us lies to the desolation of so many Provinces and the shedding of so much Christian blood Declare that confiding entirely in the Experience Ability and Faithfulness of our most dear and well beloved Cosen the Sieur Comte d' Estrades Marshal of France and Knight of our Orders of our faithful and well beloved the Sieur Colbert Marquess de Croissy Counsellor in ordinary in our Councel of State and of our faithful and well beloved the Sieur de Mesmes Comte d' Avaux Counsellor also in our Councels by reason of the advantagious tryal that we have made of them in divers Embassies and considerable Employments wherein we have entrusted them both within our Kingdom and without For these reasons and other good considerations us thereunto moving We have Appointed Ordained and Deputed and by these presents Signed with our hand do Appoint Ordain and Depute the said Sieurs Marshal d' Estrades Marquess de Croissy and Comte d' Avaux and have given unto them and do hereby give full Power Commission and special Order to repair to the Town of Nimeguen in quality of our Ambassadors Extraordinary and our Plenipotentiaries for the Peace and to Confer there either directly or by the interposition of Ambassadors Mediators respectively received and agreed to with all Ambassadors and Ministers of our most Dear and great Friends the States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys and of their Allies being all qualified with sufficient Powers and there to Treat upon means for the determining and appeasing the differences that cause the War at this day And our said Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries all three together or two of them in absence of the third through sickness or other impediment or one of them in absence of the other two in like case of sickness or other impediment may agree and conclude thereon and Sign a good and sure Peace and generally may do Negociate Promise and Agree whatever they shall think necessary for the said Peace with the same authority that we should do or might do if we were there present in Person although some things should happen that might require more particular instructions than are contain'd in these presents Promising on the Faith and Word of a King to hold firm and fulfil whatever by the said Sieurs Marshal de' Estrades Marquess de Croissy and Comte d' Avauz or by two of them in the absence of the third through sickness or other impediment or by one onely in absence of the other two in like case of sickness or other impediment shall have been stipulated promised and agreed and to cause our Letters of Ratification to be dispatched within such time as they shall have promised in our Name to exhibit them For such is our pleasure In witness whereof we have caused our Seal to be set to these presents Given at St. Germain in Laye the Twenty third day of December in the year of Grace one thousand six hundred seventy and five and of Our Reign the Three and thirtieth Signed Lewis and upon the fould by the King Arnauld and sealed with the great Seal in yellow Wax The Tenour of the Power of the said Ambassadors
of the States General of the United Provinces THe States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys to all that shall see these presents Greeting As we desire nothing with greater ardency than to see the War that at this present oppresseth Christendom end in a good Peace and since by the care and mediation of the Most Illustrious King of Great Britain the Town of Nimeguen has been agreed to by all parties for a place of Conference We desiring as far as in us lies to put a stop to the desolation of so many Provinces and the shedding so much Christian blood have been willing to contribute thereto whatever lies in our power and to that end have deputed to that Assembly some Persons of our own body who have given manifold proof as well of their knowledge and experience in publick Affairs as of their affection for the good of our State and since the Heeren Hierosme van Beverning Baron of Teylingham Curator of the University of Leyden late United Provinces Wilhem van Nassaw Heer van Odyke Cortgene c. first noble and representative of the Order of the Nobility in the States Councel of Zeland and Wilhem van Haren Grietman van Bildt Deputed to our Assembly on the behalf of the States of Holland Zeland and Friezland have Signalized themselves in many important employments in our service wherein they have given instances of their fidelity presence of mind and readiness in the managment of Affairs For these causes and other good considerations us thereunto moving we have appointed ordain'd and deputed the said Heeren Van Beverning Van Odyke and Van Haren and do appoint ordain and depute them by these presents and have given them and do hereby give them full Power Commission and special Order to repair to the Town of Nimeguen in quality of our Ambassadors Extraordinary and our Plenipotentiaries for the Peace and there to Confer either directly or by the interposition of Ambassadors Mediators received and agreed to respectively with the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of his Most Christian Majesty and his Allies being qualified with sufficient powers and there to Treat upon means for the determining and appeasing the differences that occasion the War at this day and our aforesaid Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries all three together or two of them in absence of the third by reason of sickness or other impediment or one onely in absence of the other two in like case of sickness or other impediment may agree and conclude thereupon and Sign a good and sure Peace and generally may act negotiate promise and agree what ever they shall think necessary in order to the said Peace and generally may do whatever we our selves might do if we were there present even in such things as might require more particular power and instructions than are contained in these presents And we do promise truly and faithfully to like well and hold for firm and stable whatever by the said Heeren our Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries or by two of them in case of sickness absence or other impediment of the third or by one onely in absence of the other two on the like occasion of sickness or other impediment shall have been stipulated promised and agreed and to cause to be dispatched our Letters of Ratification within such time as they shall have promised in our name to exhibit them Given at the Hague in our Assembly under our great Seal Signed by the President and with the sign of our Principal Register this fourth day of January in the year one thousand six hundred seventy and six Signed J. Bootsma And on the fould By Order of the said Lords the States General Signed H. Fagel And sealed with the great Seal with red Wax A separate Article concerning the Prince of Orange LEWIS by the grace of God King of France and Navar to all that shall see these presents greeting Since our most dear and wel-beloved Cosen the Sieur Comte d' Estrades Marshal of France and Knight of our Orders our faithful and wel-beloved the Sieur Colbert Marquess of Croissy Counsellor in ordinary in our Councel of State and our faithful and wel-beloved the Sieur de Mesmes Comte d' Avaux Counsellor also in our Councels our Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries by vertue of the plenary powers which we had given them have Concluded Agreed and Signed on the tenth day of this month at Nimeguen with the Sieur Hierosene van Beverning Baron of Teylingham Curator of the University at Leyden heretofore Counsellor and Treasurer General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys the Sieur Wilhem van Nassaw Heer van Odyke Cortgene and first noble and representative of the Nobility in the States and at the Councel of Leyden and the Sieur Wilhem van Haren Grietman van Bildt Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of our most Dear and great Friends the States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys qualified likewise with plenary powers this Article in Tenour as followeth viz. As in pursuance of the War which for some years has hapned betwixt the Most Christian King and the States General of the United Provinces of the Low-Countreys his Majesty caused to be seized all things belonging to the Prince of Orange as well the Principality of Orange as other his Lands and Seignories lying in France and granted the Revenues thereof to Monsieur the Comte d' Auvengne who enjoys the same at present and since by the grace of God a Peace is setled by the Treaty this day concluded and so all the angry effects of War ought to cease his Majesty hath promised to the said Prince and doth promise by this separate Act that immediately after the Ratifications exchanged his Majesty will take off the said Seizure and cause the said Prince to be restored to the possession of the said Principality and of the Lands which belong to him in France Franche Comte Charleroy Flanders and other Countreys depending upon his Majesties Rule and to all his rights actions priviledge usages and prerogatives in such estate and manner as he enjoyed the same till he was dispossess'd by reason of the present War Nimeguen the 10th day of the month of August in the year 1678. Marshal D' Estrades H. Beverning Colbert W. de Nassaw De Mesmes W. Haren WE well liking the separate Article aforesaid in all and every point thereof have by these presents Signed with our hand allowed approved and ratified and do allow approve and Ratifie the same promising upon the Faith and Word of a King to fulfil observe and cause to be observed the same truly and faithfully without ever suffering any thing to be acted directly or indirectly to the contrary thereof for any cause or upon any occasion whatsoever In witness whereof we have Signed these presents with our hand and have caused our Seal to be put thereto Given at St. Germain in Laye the 18th day of August in the year of Grace One thousand
his Voyage In witness whereof we have caused our Sign and Seal of Arms to be set to these presents and have caused them to be under-written by our Secretary for Maritime affairs at the day of one thousand six hundred Signed Lewis Comte de Vermandois And underneath Signed by A form of the certificate containing the oath We of the Admiralty certifie that Master of the Ship named in the foregoing Pass-port has taken the Oath therein mentioned Given at the day of one thousand six hundred Another form of Letters to be granted by the Sea-Port-Towns of the United Provinces to Ships and Barks outward bound in pursuance of the aforesaid Article TO the most Serene most Illustrious most Mighty Honourable and prudent Lords Emperors Kings Commonwealths Princes Dukes Earls Barons Lords Burgermasters Sherifs Counsellors Judges Officers Justitiars and Governors of all good Towns and Places as well Ecclesiastical as Secular which shall see or read these presents We the Burgermasters and Governors of the Town of do to know that Master of the Ship appearing before us hath solemnly deposed upon Oath that the Ship called of the burden of about Lastes of which at present he is Master belongeth to the Inhabitants of the United Provinces as God should help him and as we should be willing to see the said Master assisted in his lawful Affairs so we require you all in general and those in particular where the said Master with his Ship and Wares shall arrive that they will be pleased to receive him courteously and duly to treat him if he shall be a sufferer with relation to the accustomed duties of Customs and Freights within through and at your Ports Rivers and Demesnes suffering him to Sail Pass Frequent and Negotiate where he shall think fit which we shall willingly acknowledge In witness whereof we have caused the Seal of our Town to be set hereto Here follows the Tenour of his Majesties said Ambassadors Power LEWIS by the grace of God King of France and Navar To all that shall see these presents Greeting As we desire nothing with greater ardency then to see the War with which Christendom is at present afflicted end in a good Peace and since by the Care and Mediation of our most dear and most beloved Brother the King of Great Brittain the Town of Nimeguen has been agreed upon by all parties for the Place of Conference We out of the same desire to put a stop as much as in us lies to the desolation of so many Provinces and the effusion of so much Christian Blood give to understand that we confiding entirely in the experience ability and fidelity of our most dear and well-beloved Cosen the Sieur Comte d' Estrades Marshal of France and Knight of our Orders of our faithful and well-beloved the Sieur Colbert Marquiss of Croissy Counsellor in ordinary in our Councel of State and of our faithful and well-beloved the Sieur de Mesmes Comte d' Avaux Counsellor also in our Councels by reason of the advantagious trials that we have made of them in diverse Embassies and considerable employments wherein we have intrusted them both within our Kingdom and without for these causes and other good considerations us thereunto moving we have appointed ordained and deputed and by these presents Signed with our hand do appoint ordain and depute the said Sieurs the Marshal d' Estrades the Marquiss of Croissy and the Comte d' Avaux and have given them and do hereby give them full Power Commission and special Order to repair to the Town of Nimeguen in quality of our Ambassadors Extraordinary and our Plenipotentiaries for the Peace and there to confer either immediately or by the Mediation of the Ambassadors Mediators respectively received and agreed to with all Ambassadors and Ministers of our most dear and great friends the States general of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys and their Allies being all armed with sufficient Powers and to Treat there of means for the determining and appeasing the differences that cause the War at this day and our said Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries may all three together or two of them in absence of the third through sickness or other impediment or one onely in absence of the other two in like case of sickness or other impediment agree thereupon and conclude and sign a good and sure Peace and may generally act negotiate promise and agree whatever they shall think necessary in order to the said Peace with the same authority that we should or might do if we were present there in Person even though there should be some things that might require more particular instructions then are contain'd in these presents Promising on the Faith and Word of a King to hold firm and fulfil whatever by the said Sieurs Marshal d' Estrades Marquiss de Croissy and Comte d' Avaux or by two of them in absence of the third through sickness or other impediment or by one only in ansence of the other two in like case of sicknes or other impediment shall have been stipulated promised and agreed and cause to be dispatched our Letters of Ratification within such time as they shall have promised in our name to furnish them For such is our pleasure In witness whereof we have caused our Seal to be put to these presents Given at St. Germain in Laye the Three and twentieth day of December in the year of Grace One thousand six hundred seventy five and of Our Reign the Three and thirtieth Signed Lewis and upon the fould By the King Arnauld And sealed with the great Seal in yellow Wax Here follows the Tenour of the Power of the said Lords the Ambassadors Extraordinary of the Lords the States of the United Provinces THe States General of the United Previnces of the Low Countreys To all that shall see these presents Greeting As we desire nothing more ardently then to see the War with which Christendom is at present afflicted end in a good Peace and that by the Care and the Mediation of the most Serene King of Great Brittain the Town of Nimeguen has been agreed upon by all parties for the place of Con ference We out of the same desire to put a stopas much as in us lies to the desolation of so many Provinces and the effusion of so much Christian blood have been willing to contribute thereto all that is in our power and to this end have deputed to that Assembly some persons of our own body who have given many instances both of their knowledge and experience in publick Affairs and of their affection for the good of our State and as the Heeren Hierosme van Beverning Baron of Teylingham Curator of the University at Leyden late Counsellor and Treasurer-General of the United Provinces Wilhem van Nassaw Heer van Odyke Cortgene c. and first noble and representative of the Nobility in the States and Councel of the Province of Zeland and Wilhem van Haren Grietman van Blidt deputed to
and manner as was thought best good for the publick And he is yet willing if the Confederates please to continue it in conjunction with them and will be ready to lay down his Arms when that shall make more for the Common interest And whenever he shall make a Peace he will have the same regard to the circumstances of the United Provinces and of all the Low Conntreys which he has appeared hitherto to have had in the undortaking and carrying on the War The King of France has proposed some conditions of Peace but in such a manner as if he were giving Laws to us He will not suffer us to Treat with him concerning them Which to be so received by the Emperor the Empire and the Confederates is not only inconsistent with their Honour Safety and Interest contrary to the very nature of the thing it self Besides which no specification at all is made in these conditions what satisfaction it is in particular the French would have stipulated in behalf of Sweden so it is but too evident they are far from any intentions of Peace since they will not so much as treat concerning it according to those Forms and Methods which are observed betwixt Soveraign Princes and Estates and are grounded upon the Law of Nations It is not a Peace that France aims at but a division amongst the Confederates that conquest may be the more easie when he shall have to do with them apart if there be any urgent reason or necessity of making a Peace the Emperor is willing to do it forthwith upon such terms as will be neither dishonourable nor prejuaical to France and manifest to the whole World his moderation according to his High Function and that although he has great regard to the safety of the Empire yet that he prefers the common safety and the preservation of the United Provinces and of all the Low Countreys before any particular interests of his own This will be made apparent whenever a Peace shall be treated of and the States General shall employ their offices for it which will be always acceptable to his Imperial Majesty which being so it cannot without injury to the constancy prudence and integrity of the States General be prefumed that they will upon any rash resolution abandon their most faithful Confederate and thereby expose them to manifest danger They have Twenty days time yet before the end of this month to resolve in But all our interests our common liberty and the safety of all the Confederates is now at stake The enemy endeavours to precipitate their resolutions because he is their enemy and would lead them to a precipice the Confederates Council is to proceed safely and deliberately as being engaged in one and the same common cause with the States General when once the Enemy shall observe that the States resolve to Treat separately France will obtain what is desired the general Peace will be desperate which otherwise might have been expected if all the Confederates would have made appear to the common Enemy their unanimous constancy and moderation Let the States General therefore represent speedily and seriously to the Ambassadors of his Most Christian Majesty that it is that they hinder the restoring of Peace to Christendom in that they deny the Confederates liberty to Treat about those matters without which there can be no Peace the Ambassadors of his Imperial Majesty do hereby oblige themselves to represent the whole matter that the motives and necessiries which induced the States General to chuse even a disadvantageous Peace rather than the continuance of the War are not at all displeasing to his Imperial Majesty who will be ready to comply therewith and to concur with them as far as in him lies to endeavour a Peace so as the safety of the Empire be in some degree provided for and that he will jointly consult with the States General and the other Confederates by what way and means the same may be established and rendred secure And as the Imperial Ministers have thought it their duty to remonstrate these things to the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the High and Mighty Lords the States General of the United Provinces so they do earnestly beseech and intreat them seriously to weigh of how great importance this matter is and to support it with their offices and recommendation in which they will do a thing becoming themselves glorious and beneficial to their Countrey desired by the Confederates and every one else that loves the publick safety and security and which will be transmitted to posterity to their immortal praise and merit Given at Nimeguen the 10th of June 1678. A Letter from the States General of the United Provinces to the King written at the Hague the 22th of June 1678. SIR IT was with an equal mixture of Joy and Reverence that we understood by your Majesties answer of the first of this instant from your Camp at Wetteren which the Sieur De Beverning delivered us the reality of your Majesties intentions to put an end to the present war to which end your Majesty was pleased to allow us all this month to induce our Allies to accept the Peace upon the terms which your Majesty hath proposed to which unfeigned purpose of your Majesties that we might answer with the like sincerity on our parts and give your Majesty all the satisfaction we possibly could we have left nothing undone to induce our Allies to a complyance and though we could not promise our selves that they would joyn with us in making a peace upon those terms yet we have given orders to our Ambassadors at Nimeguen to conclude and Sign the Treaty of Peace with your Majesties Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries and such of the Confederates as should be dispos'd to come into it before the end of this month In the mean while having some assurance that his Catholick Majesty will joyn with us in accepting the Peace we make it our request that your Mejesty will be pleased to give necessary orders to surcease all acts of hostility by Land and to cause such of your Mejesties Forces as are in his Country to retire about the end of this month and that your Majesty will be pleased to forbid your Majesties Men of War and Privateers to set upon any such Ships belonging to this State or any of our Subjects as are imployed about the Fishing-Trade and to give them Passports and letters of Safe-conduct that they may follow their imployment with safety accordingly we shall be willing to do on our part hoping and promising our selves that this will conduce to the good both of your Majesties Subjects and our own and to the encreasing the good understanding which ought to be firmly established by the Peace To conclude We pray God SIR To heap prosperity upon your Majestics Reign and to bless your Royal Person with Health and a long Life Hague the 22th of June 1678. Your Majesties Most Humble Servants the States General
confiding in the King's Word did their duty for the inducing his Catholick Majesty to accept of those conditions and laboured on the otherside to the utmost of their power to perswade the rest of the Confederates also with which they acquainted his Majesty by Monsieur de Beverning their Ambassador declaring that for their own parts they accepted of his Majesties Terms and desiring his Majesty that he would be pleased to agree to a Truce for Six weeks that they might labour with their Allies and get them to consent to a general Peace and that his Majesty was pleased to agree to such a Truce for Six months to begin from the first of July and as himself wrote from his Camp at Wetter the first of June upon the same foot that the Truce in 1668 was agreed betwixt France and Spain upon condition that the States would engage themselves in case they should not be able in Six weeks time to perswade their Allies to admit of the conditions then not to assist their said Allies directly nor indirectly against his Majesty or his Allies during the War and that in requital thereof his Majesty would renew the engagements which he made in his Letter of the 18th of May both concerning the conditions to be granted to his Catholick Majesty and the securing of the places in the Low Countreys leaving the Duke of Luxemburg near Brussels to stay to the end of June for an answer with Order not to attack any Place during that time and without making any alteration in the said conditions or any mention either of the Allies of this State or of giving satisfaction to the King of Sweden that the States acting candidly and being ready on their part to perfect that Treaty and having induced his Catholick Majesty to accept it also as they advised his Most Christian Majesty by their Letter of the 22th of June assuring him that they had given Order to their Ambassador to conclude a Peace before the end of that month with such of the Confederates as would joyn with them in it without so much as staying for the Truee which was to begin on the first of July and that his Majesty by his Letter of the 30th of June declared himself to be extreamly well satisfied therewith and was so far from obliging the States or his Catholick Majesty to make any satisfaction to the King of Sweden that he expressed in the same Letter that he observ'd in the proceedings of the States a good inclination to the general Peace of Europe and he perswaded himself it would not be long delay'd by such of the Allies as hitherto had not been able to help forward so great a good that his Majesty doubted not but the Peace would be concluded by his Ambassadors and should take delight in making this State sensible of its effects and in forbearing all acts of hosility in the Low Countreys and obstructions to Commerce by Sea though it be customary to let things continue in the same condition till the Peace be Ratified by exchange of Ratifications and publishing of Treaties without suspending the effects of the Peace upon any Treaty with the Confederates or any satisfaction to be made to the King of Sweden That the States may say with good reason that his Most Christian Majesty is the cause why the Peace is not concluded and not they since his Majesty advances new Conditions which never were proposed to themselves nor to the King of Spain it never having been pretended that the Peace or its effects should depend upon the King of Sweden's receiving satisfaction but onely upon the States standing Neuter in relation to his Majesty and his Allies against those that should reject the Conditions of the Project So that it is evident that the most Christian King hath promised to restore those Places to the King of Spain and to this State and that himself hath directed to have the Treaty perfected by Exchanging the Ratifications and publishing it That the States pretend to no new matter concerning the said Evacuation That the things of no small concern to the Catholick King and to this State who cannot arrive at peace and quiet in getting rid of the War if at the same time they continue depriv'd of the effects of Peace much less if they must be sent back and made to depend upon the chances of War betwixt other Parties which who knows when it will end in a satisfaction that is not limited to any thing in particular Especially considering that the King of Sweden contimes an Enemy to this State without giving order to put an end to the differences that are and that daily grow betwixt him and it and doth perpetually molest the Inhabitants of this State contrary to the Treaty of Commerce made with him That order be given to the Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries of this State to enquire of the Ambassadors of the most Christian King in a friendly and loving manner without the least sharpness whether the King their Master be resolved to persist in his demand and to advise the Estates as soon as may be that they may take proper measures and conser with the Ministers of the Confederates to know whether they can either come to a resolution to accept the Peace upon the terms offered or find means if there shall be occasion to make a more vigorous opposition to their Enemies than heretofore A Memorial of the French Ambassadors delivered the 17. July 1678. to the Ambassadors of the States General of the United Provinces of the Low-Countreys THe Ambassadors of France being troubled to see that the difficulties arisen concerning the time for the Evacuation of the places which the King their Master is willing to restore give occasion to those that are averse to the Peace to render the sincerity of his Majesties intentions suspected have thought it their duty to manifest the same to the Ambassadors of the States General by this Memorial And to justifie the Reasons his Majesty hath not to quit those Places until Sweden is entirely satisfied it will be sufficient to go no higher than the beginning of the Negotiation by which the Peace is at present so far advanced And we may say that the same are grounded on the Conditions proposed in his Majesties name by the said Ambassadors of France since they have been all of them accepted first by Holland and not long after by Spain We may farther say that when the States General in consequence of the Letters his Majesty writ unto them the 18th of May last and of the Memorial delivered the first of June to Monsieur de Beverning as also of the message of the Sieur de Lanoy to his Majesty and the Letter he presented unto him on the part of the States declared they were ready to sign the Treaty on those Conditions they obliged themselves to the execution of that which relates to Sweden it being the first of all of them And as they were all joyned together so
and his Enemies then were every body will easily believe that onely the desire of giving Peace to Europe was capable of making him loose so favourable a Conjuncture And it is from the same desire that he is still disposed to admit of Propositions that may secure the entire satisfaction of Sweden and procure the Tranquility which Christendom expects from this Assembly A Memorial delivered to the Plenipotentiaries of France by the Plenipotentiaries of Holland July the 26th 1678. THe Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of their Lordships the States General of the United Provinces having received from the hands of the Lords Ambassadors of France the 11th instant a Memorial whereby they pretend to justifie the particular of the Retension of the Places the Restitution whereof were promised by his most Christian Majesty and wherein at the same time they invite their Lordships to enter into some way with his Majesty whereby they might draw and assure a perfect Satisfaction to the King of Swedes are obliged by express order from their Lords and Masters to represent to their Excellencies That their Lordships making a due reflection upon the method of his Majesties proceedings to terminate the present War and upon the advantagious expressions whereby he has particularly declared himself upon their account they cannot entertain so much as a thought that he would at present delay the accomplishment and conclusion by the said Retension being fully perswaded that such kind of obstructions cannot proceed from so generous a Soul as his Majesties but rather from the perswasion of those who are averse to a Peace They strongly possess themselves with this perswaasion that they cannot lay a more solid Basis for their justification than to give an ingenuous account of the beginning and progress of this Affair T is notorious that the Lords the States General have done their utmost endeavours without intermission to determine this present War by a General Peace wherein all Parties Interested might have had that satisfaction which they have so passionately desired as might have disposed all Persons whatsoever thereunto But such was their misfortune that the pretences of the other Allies being far different and very far from it and his most Christian Majesty having caused his Ambassadors at Nimeguen to propose those Conditions which might and ought to serve as a Platform to a general Peace and upon that consideration explaining himself that it was the last point that he could possibly dispence with and hereupon his Enemies might make choice either of Peace or War without being obliged after the 10th of this present May. And the Lords the States General taking into their consideration that the major part of the said proposed Conditions did concern their puissant Allies did carefully explain themselves that they might find out some Expedients and have endeavoured to dispose of Affairs so as that they might enter upon a Negotiation according to the said Platform to see what the Parties concerned at design'd but to their great regret they have been inform'd That it was not at all his Majesties intention to cause a Treaty or to admit any debate upon the Conditions proposed but that the Potent Parties that were at War ought simply to declare themselves before the Term of the 10th of May was expired whether or no they would subscribe the said Conditions Whereupon their Lordships have laboured continually with the Ministers of their Allies to understand their Sentiments But they excusing themselves upon the small time allotted for this great Affair and want of Order from their Masters wherewith they could not possibly be instructed before the Expiration of the term therefore their Highnesses not being able to assure themselves of the intentions of their powerful Allies especially the King of Spain in regard of the Acceptation or Refusal of the said Conditions And considering that the Stop proposed by his most Christian Majesty must also give them particular satisfaction have applied their farther endeavours to inform themselves how this stop should be considered in case the King of Spain should refuse to accept the said Conditions and thereupon his Most Christian Majesty hath been so kind as to honour them with a Letter written from his Camp May the 18th and to acquaint them that if the King of Spain denied to accept of the Peace and they judged it proper to conclude a Peace with him on the Conditions proposed upon their account and that they would engage to remain Neuter during the whole course of this War His Majesty in such Cases would upon their consideration grant the said King of Spain the same Conditions which he was at liberty to accept of at this present and that during that time he would not attack any place in the Low Countreys and if my Lords the States General in order to the advancement of this Negotiation should find it convenient to send Deputies to him that they would find his Majesty in the neighbourhood of Ghent till the 25th of the said month and under the same dispositions Farthermore the Lords of the States General having declared before the 30th of May to the Lords Ambassadors of France that for their parts they were resolved to conclude a Peace with his Majesty upon the Conditions proposed on their account and having desired a convenient time to the end that they might dispose their Allies to the same Peace and after the Receipt of the aforesaid Letter from his Majesty having determined to send to him the Sieur Beverning their Ambassador Extraordinary to represent unto him how earnestly they desired a general Peace that they did accept of the Conditions offered and that they desired his Majesty to grant them a Cessation of Arms for Six weeks that they might have time to discourse with their Allies upon the affairs of Peace and to gain their consent for the conclusion of so great a Work His Majesty was Graciously pleas'd to declare by his answer the first of June dated in his Camp at Wetteren that he did condescend to that Cessation for the space of six weeks as it was desired to commence from the first of July and the same according to the stipulation between France and Spain Anno Dom. 1668. With this proviso they should promise his Majesty that in case during the said Cessation of Arms they could not prevail with their Allies to accept of the Conditions offered they would neither directly nor indirectly assist them against his Majesty or his Allies during the continuance of this War And upon this consideration his Majesty was willing to Render by way of exchange the same engagements that he had obliged himself unto with them in his said Letter of the 18th of May as well in regard of the same Conditions which he would be always inclinable to grant to Spain as for the security of the Places in the Low Countreys And to give them a larger Testimony thereof his Majesty hath charged the Duke of Luxemburg General of his Forces to
of the Towns cannot be imputed to them it being so prejudicial to the Interest of their Affairs that they can never be able to consent to it They farther declare that they will joyntly use their utmost endeavours for the accomodation of the Northern Powers who are now at War and who in effect Conform themselves to the Expedient which the French Ambassadors have proposed but if their Reflection be applied by way of Force and Constraint it cannot be in their opinion and expedient but a thing never heard of that by the Treaty of Peace instead of disengaging themselves from the War they should be constrained to turn it against their Allies They do not at all doubt that his Majesty has a Design to procure the Quiet of Europe and they will voluntarily Contribute on their part all they can possibly but they cannot by any means expect from his Majesties Justice that he would oblige them to it after so prejudicial a manner as the Retention of the Places will prove and upon so vexatious a Condition as that of waging War against their Allies their Mighty Lordships as they are wholly bent upon the Contribution of all friendly Offices for the accommodation of the said Affairs in the North. So also they promise themselves farther that his Majesty will be willing to issue out necessary Orders for the Conclusion and Signing of the Peace upon the Conditions profer'd and that he will furnish them with Expedients to Contribute also on their part to the Repose of Christendom This is that which the Lords the States General of the United Provinces have thought good to give in answer to the Memorial of the French Ambassadors at the same time Ordering their own Ambassadors to appear forward in the Concluding and Signing the Peace and most carnestly beseech the said French Ambassadors to Concur with them in that Business But if the Completing of so beneficial a Work and so universally desired be delayed upon the account of retaining the Places the said Ambassadors of the Lords the States General are obliged to protest in the name and behalf of the Lords their Masters that their High and Mighty Lordships do no ways obstruct the Peace from being brought to a happy Issue A Memorial delivered to the Plenipotentiaries of France by the Plenipotentiaries of Sweden July the 27th 1678. THe Declaration of his Most Christian Majesty that the Places should not be Surrendered to Spain and the States General before the Swedes should receive satisfaction is so Just and Generous that his Most Christian Majesty cannot but thereby come off with Honour and the King our Master with great Satisfaction We could wish that that Declaration might have reduced our Common Enemies to Reason but since it hath met with great opposition as appears by the Memorial of the Holland Ambassadors his Most Christian Majesty will without doubt Examine if to arrive at the end proposed thereby in consideration of the Re-establishment of Sweden it will be more proper to defer the Restitution of the Places with the prospect of making a general Peace of else agree to it as the States General desire to the end there may be procur'd a Compleat particular Peace with Spain and States General as well for France as Sweden On our part we are not sufficiently informed what thoughts the King our Master may have upon this Affair but as our Orders in general are that we ought to Conform our selves to the pleasure of France in the like Case that we have good proof of the Intentions and Care of his Most Christian Majesty and that we have not the Liberty to Correspond with the King our Master to understand his Orders We can assure you that the King our Master will remain satisfied with what his Most Christian Majesty shall judge sit to Resolve upon the account of the said Restitution of Places as we do also put our whole confidence in his Majesties Royal prudence who one way or other will furnish him with such means as may tend to his own Glory together with the absolute Re-establishment of his Ally This is all we have Order to say but if besides this we must explain our mind more particularly we are apt to believe that in this present juncture of Affairs the Compleating a particular Peace by the French and Swede with the Spaniard and Hollander would prove advantageous to the common Interest and withall Glorious to his Most Christian Majesty For it is for the advancement of the common Interest 1. To disengage themselves from 2 Enemies that are so much the more Considerable because they support others by their Aids 2. To avoid the new Rupture wherewith we are threatned which being over we cannot see how the Swedes will be able to make opposition if you consider only their Commerce 3. To divert the Engagements that are made against France and Sweden 4. To frustrate their Design who endeavour strictly to League together all the States of the Empire 5. To be able to reduce to Peace the other Allies who continue still in War and so procure a General one for which there is some probability since that upon the Rumor of Accommodation between France and Holland we see they were troubled and begin to yield 6. To be able to act Victoriously by force of Arms against the said Confederates in case that they refuse an Accommodation the War being to be carried on against them with greater ease when they are separated from those that have assorded them the greatest Supplies Besides it will be very Honorable for his Most Christian Majesty 1. To be able once more to restore Peace to Christendom 2. To break all the Intreagues of his Enemies 3. To Establish his Interests in what we have said before 4. To shew that he hath other ways for the Re-establishment of the Swedes besides that now in Question 5. To take occasion to make them sensible of the effects of his just Resentments towards them who in these present Intreagues have stood in opposition both to his good Designs and to his Glory 6. To disabuse them who by the Inductions of those that are evil inclined have questioned the sincerity of his Majesties Intentions in this Negotiation 7. To let the World know that the intentions of others have been in effect to oppose the general Peace since without that Impediment it might have been obtained These are the Reasons of our particular Sentiments which we beseech your Excellencies to take into your Consideration but for the remainder to testify to his Most Christian Majesty that we have no other Order from the King our Master but to depend upon his Care for our Security as hath been before Specified The second Memorial of the Ambassadors of France given into the Ambassadors of the States General the 29th of July 1678. THe Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of France not thinking fit to give an answer at present to the Memorial of the Ambassadors of the States General
time to make frequent instances both here at Nimeguen where they have been assisted by the Ambassadors of France and at the Hague by the Sieur Silvercroon Besides this point of Commerce as there have been some complaints made that certain Vessels laden with Corn and belonging to the Subjects of this State have been taken and carried to Straelsond and that Count Conningsmark had taken out their lading to serve for food for his Army the Ambassadors of Sweden having been informed of the said complaints by the Ambassadors of the States General gave in a Declaration the 18th of July that the said action of the Mareshal of Connigsmark could not be reputed any other than a meer act of necessity which he then was reduced to through want of Victuals and Correspondence that the parties concern'd should be satisfied to the full and that he would pass any such Act to that end as should be thought fit knowing that such was the King his Masters intention The same has likewise bin assured by the Commissary Silvercroon at the Hague and an extract has since been delivered of a Letter from the Mareshal de Coningsmark containing the like assurances together with a relation how he had acted and that he had paid the Masters of the Ships their Freight Which things being so the Ambassadors of Sweden believed that the States General would have received all the satisfaction they could possibly desire and that nothing was wanting to conclude a Peace betwixt the King their Master and them but to prepare such Articles as are usual almost in all Treaties of Peace which would be no hard work for the Ambassadors of both parties to do But in stead of that they are surprised to understand that there have been very bitter complaints against Sweden in the answers that the Ambassadors of the States General gave on the 26th of July and the 7th of August to the Memorials of the Ambassadors of France and though the Ambassadors of Sweden have heretofore explained and declared themselves as is before mentioned yet they would not omit giving some proper answer to them but that having agreed with the Ambassadors of France that for the avoiding all sharpness neither of them will meddle in things of that nature they are willing to pass them all over with silence and to endeavour something of reality to which end they repeat their instances here at Nimeguen as Monsieur Boreel cannot but know as well as at the Hague by the Sieur Silvercroon that the States General would advance the Negotiation with Sweden that the Peace may be concluded at the same time that it shall be with France since one cannot be without the other And the Ambassadors of Sweden apprehended that the reiterating their instances had produced a good effect since the Sieur Silvercroon sent word from the Hague by the last Courrier That he had been conferr'd with and that the Answer to the Counter-project was ready to be sent to Nimeguen But whilst they were in this expectation the Ambassadors of France inform them That but yesterday the Ambassadors of the States General renew'd their complaints against Sweden for raising difficulties and that Count Coningsmark exercised acts of Hostility Confiscating Ships and Cargo's belonging to the Subjects of this State insomuch that the States had more reason to continue the War than to think of a Peace with Sweden By which the said Ambassadors perceiving with sorrow that but little reflection is made upon what they have heretofore advanced and being also very certain that Monsieur Coningsmark hath not confiscated any thing belonging to the Subjects of this State nor done any acts of Hostility against them since they agree to make amends for all and seeing how lightly the good Offices are thought on which the Ambassadors of Sweden have done since they came to Nimeguen to further a Peace for the benefit of this State and even the endeavours which they have but lately used with his most Christian Majesty to facilitate the Evacuation of the Places do entreat the Ambassadors of his Most Christian Majesty to answer and represent to the Ambassadors of the States General that they do ill to complain of Sweden after it has offered so many facilities and made so many advances and consequently to induce them instead of exasperating matters rather to express such readiness and facility on behalf of the States General as may reasonably be expected from them that so both Parties may receive that satisfaction which they wish for in the conclusion of a good Peace The said Ambassadors of Sweden hope that the States General have no intentions of protracting the Negotiation of the Peace with Sweden to the end that themselves may be able to make a Separate Peace with his most Christian Majesty excluding Sweden but they think notwithstanding that to prevent all obstacles it were well if all hopes of such a Separation were taken away And therefore they do again desire the Ambassadors of his most Christian Majesty to renew this Declaration to the Ambassadors of the States General since it was upon this prospect that the Ambassadors of Sweden advised the Restitution of the Places The Treaty made and passed between the commissioners deputed on behalf of the King and those deputed likewise on behalf of the Catholick King and of the States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys about the demenour of the Troops and Garrisons of both sides in the said Low Countreys till the Ratifications of the Treaty of Peace are Exchanged The 19th of August 1678. IT being necessary to regulate after what manner the Forces shall carry themselves in the Low Countreys till the Ratification of the Peace for the avoiding all Acts of Hostility that may disturb it and for the ease of the People on both sides it is agreed by those underwritten in pursuance of their respective Authorities as followeth That the day after the Ratification of this present Treaty all Acts of Hostility shall cease betwixt the Armies and that in consequence thereof from the morrow of the said Ratification the two Armies shall retire from the Neighbourhood of Mons. That the Army of the Most Christian King shall march toward Gevries or Merbepoterie and that Commanded by the Prince of Orange beyond Havre towards Nivelle That notwithstanding such Troops as formed the Blockade of Mon's under the Command of Monsieur du Montal and Monsieur de Quincy shall not retire on that same day but two days after the Ratification of the present Treaty which will be the day after the two Armies shall have marched and till such time as the said Blockade is raised the Army Commanded by the Prince of Orange may continue encamp'd as aforesaid That the Town of Mons shall remain after that in full and perfect Liberty that all sorts of Persons Provisions and Merchandises may go in and out as they do in other Towns under the obedience of Spain That as for the Garrisons six days
six hundred seventy eight and of our Reign the Thirty sixth Signed Lewis and underneath was Signed By the King Arnauld The Ratification of the separate Article concerning the Prince of Orange by the States General THe States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys To all that shall see these presents Greeting Since besides the Treaty of Peace made and concluded at Nimeguen on the 10th day of the month of August 1678. There was likewise made a separate Article by the Sieur Comte d' Estrades Marshal of France and Knight of the Orders of the Most Christian King the Sieur Colbert Marquess of Croissy Counsellor in ordinary in his Councel of State and the Sieur de Mesmes Comte d' Avaux Counsellor likewise in his Councels Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of his Most Christian Majesty at the Assembly at Nimeguen in the name and on the behalf of his said Majesty and by the Sieur Hierosme de Beverning Baron of Teylingham Curator of the University of Leyden heretofore Counsellor and Treasurer General of the United Provinces the Sieur Wilhem van Nassaw Heer van Odyke Cortgene and first Noble and representative of the Order of the Nobility in the States and at the Councel of Zeland and the Sieur Wilhem van Haren Grietman van Bildt deputies in our Assembly on the behalf of the States of Holland Zeland and Friezland our Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries at the said Assembly at Nimeguen in our name and on our behalf by vertue of their respective plenary powers of which separate Article the Tenour is as followeth viz. A separate Article concerning the Prince of Orange since in pursuance of the War c. page We have Agreed Approved and Ratified and do by these presents Agree Approve and Ratifie the said separate Article and that it be inserted into the aforesaid Treaty of Peace and Friendship promising to keep maintain and inviolably to observe all that is therein contained without ever acting directly or indirectly to the contrary under any pretence whatsoever In witness whereof we have caused these presents to be Signed by the President of our Assembly and Countersigned by our principal Register and our great Seal to be set thereto Given at the Hague the 19 th day of September 1678. D. van Wyngaerd By Order of the said Lords the States General H. Fagel A Treaty of Commerce Navigation and Marine betwixt France and the States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys Concluded at Nimeguen the 10th of August 1678. LEWIS by the grace of God King of France and Navar To all such as shall see these presents greeting Since our most dear and wel-beloved Cosen the Sieur Comte d' Estrades Marshal of France Knight of our Orders our faithful and wel-beloved the Sieur Colbert Marquiss of Croissy Counsellor in ordinary in our Councel of State and our faithful and wel-beloved the Sieur de Mesmes Comte d' Avaux Counsellor also in our Councels our Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries by vertue of the plenary powers which we had given them have Concluded Agreed and Signed on the tenth day of this month in the Town of Nimeguen with the Heer Hierosme van Beverning Baron of Teylingham Curator of the University at Leyden heretofore Counsellor and Treasurer General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys the Heer Wilhem van Nassaw Heer van Odyke Cortgene and first Noble and representative of the Nobility in the States and Councel of Zeland and the Heer Wilhem van Haren Grietman van Bildt Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of our most Dear and great Friends the States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys instructed likewise with plenary powers a Treaty of Commerce Navigation and Marine in Tenour as followeth viz. The Treaty of Peace which has this day been concluded betwixt the most Christian King and the Lords the States General of the United Provinces putting an end to all the Subjects of discontent which for some time had altered the affection which his Majesty following the example of the Kings his Predecessors hath always had for their good and prosperity and the said Lords the States General entring again into the same desire which they have heretofore testified for the greatness of France and into sentiments of a sincere acknowledgment for the obligations and considerable advantages which they have heretofore received from it there is reason to believe that this good understanding betwixt his Majesty and the States General can never be disturbed But as his Majesty will not omit any thing that may strengthen it and the said States General being less desirous to perpetuate it have thought that there was no better and more certain means than to establish a free and perfect correspondence between the Subjects on both Sides and to this end to regulate their particular interests in matters of Commerce Navigation and Marine by the most proper Laws and Conventions for preventing all inconveniencies that might weaken the said good correspondence his Majesty aforesaid to satisfie the desire of the said States hath ordained the Sieur Comte d' Estrades Marshal of France and Knight of his Orders the Sieur Colbert Marquiss of Croissy Counsellor in ordinary in his Councel of State and the Sieur de Mesmes Comte d' Avaux Counsellor also in his Counsels to be his Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries at the Assembly of Nimeguen and the said Lords the States General the Heer Hierosme van Beverning Baron of Teylingham Curator of the University at Leyden late Counsellor and Treasurer General of the United Provinces the Heer Wilhem van Nassaw Heer van Odyke Cortgene and first Noble and representative of the Order of the Nobility in the States and Councel of Zeland and the Heer Wilhem van Haren Grietman van Bildt deputed to their Assembly on behalf of the States of Holland Zeland and Friezland to confer and agree by vertue of their powers respectively to be produced the copy whereof is here underwritten upon a Treaty of Commerce and Navigation in manner as followeth viz. I. His Majesties Subjects and those of their Lordships the States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys shall mutually enjoy the same freedom in matters of Commerce and Navigation that they ever enjoyed before this War throughout all Kingdoms States and Provinces of either party II. And consequently they shall not exercise for the future any manner of Hostilities or Violence the one against the other neither by Sea nor Land nor in Rivers Roads nor Sweetwaters in any name or under any pretence whatsoever neither may his Majesties Subjects take any Commissions for Privateers or Letters of reprisal from any Princes or States at enmity with the said Lords the States General much less molest or endammage them in any sort by vertue of such Commissions or Letters of reprisal nor so much as go to Sea with them on pain of being prosecuted and punished as Pirates Which shall reciprocally be
our Assembly on the behalf of the States of Holland Zeland and Friezland have signaliz'd themselves in many important employments in our service wherein they have given instances of their fidelity their presence of mind and readiness in the management of Affairs so for these causes and other considerations us thereunto moving we have appointed ordained and deputed and do by these presents appoint ordain and depute the said Heeren van Beverning van Odyke and van Haren and have given them and do hereby give them full Power Commission and special Order to repair to the Town of Nimeguen in quality of our Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries for the Peace and to confer there either immediately or by the interposition of the Ambassadors Mediators respectively received and agreed to with the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of his most Christian Majesty and his Allies armed with sufficient Powers and there to treat upon means for determining and appeasing the Differences that occasion the War at this day And our aforesaid Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries all three together or two of them in absence of the third through sickness or other impediment or one only in absence of the other two in like case of sickness or other impediment may agree thereupon and conclude and sign a good and firm Peace and generally may act negotiate promise and accord what-ever they shall think necessary in order to the said Peace and generally may do what-ever we might do if we were there present though to that end there should be need of more particular Power and Order than is contain'd in these presents Promising sincerely and faithfully well to like and firm and stable to hold what-ever by the said Heeren our Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries or by two of them in case of sickness absence or other impediment of the third or by one only in absence of the other two in like case of sickness or other impediment shall have been stipulated promised and accorded and to cause to be dispatched our Letters of Ratification within such time as they shall have promised in our Name to furnish them Given at the Hague in our Assembly under our Great Seal Signed by our President and with the Sign of our Principal Register the fourth of January in the Year One thousand six hundred seventy six Signed J. Bootsma Upon the Fould By Order of the said Lords the States General Signed H. Fagel And Sealed with the Great Seal in Red Wax In token whereof we the Ambassadors aforesaid of his Majesty and of the Lords the States General by vertue of our respective Powers have in their Names signed these presents with our ordinary Signs and have caused our Seals of Arms to be put thereto Nimeguen the 10th of August in the Year One thousand six hundred seventy eight The Mal. d' Estrades H. Beverningh Colbert W. Van. Nassaw De Mesmes W. Haren We liking well the foregoing Treaty of Peace in all and every the Points and Articles therein contained and declared have for us our Heirs Successors Kingdoms Countries Lands Seignories and Subjects accepted approved ratified and confirmed and do accept approve ratifie and confirm the same and do promise upon the Faith and Word of a King and bind and morgage all and every our Goods that are and shall be to keep and observe the same inviolably without ever acting contrary thereto directly or indirectly in any sort or manner whatsoever In witness whereof we have signed these presents with our own Hand and have caused our Seal to be set thereto Given at St. Germain in Laye the 18th day of August in the Year of Grace One thousand six hundred seventy eight and of our Reign the thirty sixth Signed Lewis and underneath By the King Arnauld A separate Article concerning the Imposition of Fifty Sols per Tun upon Stranger 's Ships sailing out of Ports in France LEWIS by the Grace of God King of France and of Navarre To all that shall see these presents greeting Since our most dear and well-beloved Cousin the Sieur Comte d' Estrades Marshal of France and Knight of our Orders our faithful and well-beloved the Sieur Colbert Marquess of Croissy Councellor in Ordinary in our Councel of State and our faithful and well-beloved the Sieur de Mesmes Comte d' Avaux Councellor also in our Councels our Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries by vertue of the plenary Powers which we had given them have concluded agreed and signed on the tenth day of this Moneth in the Town of Nimeguen with the Heer Hierosme Van Beverningh Baron of Teylingham Curator of the University at Leyden late Counsellor and Treasurer General of the United Provinces of the Low-Countries the Heer Wilhem Van Nassaw Heer Van Odyke Cortgene and first Noble and representative of the Nobility in the States and Councel of Zeland and the Heer Wilhem Van Haren Grietman Van Blidt Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of our most dear and great Friends the States General of the United Provinces of the Low-Countries armed likewise with full Powers this separate Article in tenor as followeth viz. It hath been stipulated on the behalf of the Most Christian King and consented to by the Lords the States General of the United Provinces of the Low-Countries That the Equality which is precisely to be observed with relation to the Subjects of each and the Natives as to Duties Charges and Impositions according to the seventh Article of the Treaty of Commerce this day concluded shall not derogate from the Imposition of fifty Sols per Tun imposed in France upon Stranger 's Ships and that the Subjects of the Lords the States General of the United Provinces of the Low-Countries shall be bound to pay the same as other Strangers unless his Majesty upon such Remonstrances as may hereafter be made to him on the behalf of the said Lords the States General considering the same with that great affection with which his Majesty is pleased to honour them shall order otherwise But necessary Orders shall from this present be given by his said Majesty That the said Imposition of fifty Sols be exacted from Ships belonging to the Subjects of the said United Provinces but once in each Voyage at their going out of the Ports of His Kingdom and not at their coming in and that the said Ships if laden with Salt pay but a Moiety of the said fifty Sols upon condition that if the said Lords the States shall think fit to lay the like Imposition upon Stranger 's Ships with them which they shall be free to do they shall not exceed with relation to his said Majestie 's Subjects the proportion of what their own Subjects pay in France the said seventh Article remaining in relation to all other Duties Charges and Impositions present and future in full force and vertue without being lyable to be limitted or exceeded by any other exception or restriction whatsoever other than as above is expressed Which separate Article shall be of like
the Lords the States General will always acknowledge to have received in the beginning of this War very important and useful Succours from his Catholick Majesty so they hope your Excellence will do them the justice to confess that they have not been wanting in the sequel of it to testifie their acknowledgment by using their endeavours and being at extraordinary charges to assist this Country and at least that it is not to be imputed to them that the King of France has made so great a progress and that he will not make Peace but upon such disadvantagious Conditions as whereby the Country will indeed be much weakned and hardly able to maintain necessary Troops for its defence but on the other hand the Places will not be so dis-joyn'd nor the Country so divided as it was before the War which will make it easier to be kept and preserved These Defects may likewise be supplyed by Alliances and a little time may do much toward a redress of Affairs and making the King's Subjects and particularly those of the United Provinces capable of assisting one another who at present are in so lamentable a condition and so utterly unable that they cannot be obliged to a continuance of the extraordinary charges without great hazard and without exposing them to the utmost extremity and finding our selves reduced to a necessity either of accommodating with the Enemy whether we will or no or of lying down under the burden To which they do not think your Excellence will be of opinion That they stand obliged by those Treaties that had no other end than the good of the Allies and the safety of their People The said Lords the States General have also thought fit to have it represented to your Excellence That being informed That the Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries of the King of France would be authorized to conclude upon a Truce to the very last Day of December next they have Ordered their Plenipotentiaries at Nimeguen to discourse it with them and see whether they would make one for six Weeks or three Months at most Hoping that if it can be obtain'd your Excellence will not be displeased with it but agree to it for such Reasons as have been alledged to your Excellence by word of mouth and as your Excellence may consider with your self Delivered this 14th of May 1678. Jacob Boreel De Weede The Answer of the Duke de Villa Hermosa of the 16th of May to the Memorial of the Deputies Extraordinary of the States General c. HIS Excellence having seen the Memorial of the Heeren Boreel and de Weede Deputies Extraordinary of the Lords the States General of the United Provinces of the 14th of this Month and desiring on his part to contribute to the greater satisfaction of their Hi. and Mi. will agree to a suspension of Arms for six Weeks upon Conditions that shall be judged such as whereby the suspension of Arms may not produce worse effects than a continuation of Hostility and of the War well understood that regard ought to be had to the King of Great Britain's Answer to the Representation made to his Majesty by their Hi. and Mi. according to that made to his Excellence by the said Deputies on the 8th of this Month and also that the Ministers of his Imperial Majesty and those of the High Allies be acquainted with it And to the end that this resolution may be the more easie his Excellence is of opinion that the matter may be adjusted at Nimeguen or the Hague whereupon the Lords the States General will have reason to acknowledge what consideration his Majesty and his Excellence make of Representations from their Hi. and Mi. and in the mean time it is not doubted but they will use their utmost endeavours to run to the defence of the Low-Countreys with all their Forces that in this interval of time they may not suffer greater shocks Given at Brussels the 16th of May 1678. A Declaration of the Emperour's Ambassadors at a Conference Extraordinary of the Allies at Nimeguen the 20th of June 1678. WE have heard the Proposition that your Excellencies made to us two days since containing in substance That the Lords the States General could not carry on the War any longer and found themselves obliged to make Peace for such Reasons as were then more particularly deduced Your Excellencies would then have known our Sentiments thereupon and you desire the same thing again at this present Not to fail therein we hope above all things that your Excellencies and all the World will do his Imperial Majesty the justice to believe that he has always behav'd himself like a good and faithful Ally towards all both in Peace and War We will not enlarge upon that His Army has always been seen in the Field in great numbers in good order it is evident that he has imploy'd it for the good of the common Cause and that he has made it act in such places as were thought most surable 't were needless to particularize the Campagnes where all was acted for the publick good Moreover his Imperial Majesty has assisted his Allies with all the Forces he could if not with all he would The Rebellion that has been raised against him in Hungary is also publickly known and how both his own Subjects and the Turk and the Tartar have been stirred up against him and yet so evident and so near a danger has not been able to divert or decrease his Forces for the common Interests Besides that it is known he hath sent his Army into the Low-Countries to support the acting there whereby the Enemy had an opportunity to take Friburg from him which makes so much difficulty now As his Majesty has been intent upon the Affairs of the War so he has been no less upon those of Peace And as your Excellencies can bear us witness we his Ambassadors have neglected nothing that might promote it and because we believed that the most effectual mean to obtain a reasonable Peace was to act vigorously we have done all we could as hath been already said For the present it cannot be doubted but the Emperour will understand with sorrow That your Excellencies think Affairs reduced to such extremities that there is a necessity of making a Peace to prevent greater Your Excellencies have told us your Sentiments thereupon and the Spaniards theirs As for our own we find in the first place That this manner of acting from France to prescribe Conditions of Peace and admit no Treaties upon them is against the style and the custom always practis'd among Soveraign Powers and we are far from being able to discover by that any such desire of Peace as the French make so great ostentation of For the Peace it self his Imperial Majesty desires it as much as any and desires it may be general that the publick repose may be obtain'd which is his only aim and the common safety also which is the chief thing that ought to
sure and honourable Peace we embrace it from this day forward and if France will make a Peace with his Majesty we believe he is altogether ready to accept it so it be founded upon Reason and the good union which will always keep him inseparable from the fortune of his Allies Finally We pray God to inspire always the Lords the States General with Counsels worthy their moderation and the consideration which they ought to have for those whom themselves have drawn into the perils of the present War and to bless their Designs and Advances for the security of the general Quiet of all Christendom A Declaration of the Ambassador of the Elector of Brandenburg on Munday the 20th of June 1678. THE Ambassador of Brandenburg says That it was evident that his Electoral Serenity his Master before the Most Christian King took up Arms against their Hi. and Mi. the States General failed not to do all he could to divert him and that likewise since the fire of this War has been kindled he has desired nothing more earnestly than to see it quench'd as soon as might be and the publick repose every where establish'd and that it was upon the sole consideration of promoting the Peace that his Electoral Serenity entred into such strict Bonds with his Allies and especially with their Hi. and Mi. that he hath expos'd and sacrific'd his Person and Estates for that and hath enjoyn'd his Plenipotentiaries at this Congress and renews his Orders time after time to labour for a Peace with their utmost endeavours according to the Alliances betwixt the Confederates which prescribe a method to be observed for obtaining a general Peace that was agreed on joyntly by them all That their Excellencies the Ambassadors of their Hi. and Mi. alledged two days since that their Lordships the States both in respect of the condition of their own Provinces and that of others find themselves at present reduced to a necessity of making a Peace with France whether they will or no. That at the same time to observe their Alliances they express a desire to have their Allies joyn with them in it but that withal they think themselves necessitated for the saving their Common-wealth from the shipwrack that threatens it to make a Peace alone or without the Confederates in case they cannot accept the Conditions that France hath prescribed that thereupon they required the resolution of their Allies with all speed that they might take their Measures thereby at the Consultation that is to be held this Week at the Hague The Plenipotentiary Ambassador of his Electoral Serenity says to it That he knows not what resolution his Master will take for that he could not receive Instructions from him in so short a time upon the Declaration which the Most Christian King delivered on the first of this Month of June to the Heer Ambassador Van Beverning That in the mean time he partly explain'd himself as to his own private Sentiment in the Memorial of the 10th of June which he presented to the Ambassadors of their Hi. and Mi. and that he doubted not but they made all due and fitting Reflexions thereupon That for the rest he was fully perswaded though some unconquerable necessity might dispence with the States General or should oblige them to depart from any point of their Alliance with his Electoral Serenity that yet they will always proceed in it with such caution and sincerity as the foundation may subsist notwithstanding and his Electoral Serenity be at no prejudice nor the band of their friendship and good understanding to be weakned The said Ambassador added two Points requiring the said Lords the States to consider them when they should take this matter into consideration The one That France in the Project of Peace which its Ambassadors proposed here doth not mention any Conditions upon which it is willing to make a Peace with his Electoral Serenity whereas on his behalf there have been Proposals made to that end both with relation to France and Sweden insomuch that he knows not yet whether France will make any Peace with himself or no. The other That the Conditions propos'd in that Project with relation to Sweden were so abject and even so contrary to what their Hi. and Mi. have engaged themselves to procure his Electoral Serenity that it must be believed that France is not willing that a Peace should be made with Sweden inasmuch as their Hi. and Mi. that see there is no room left for his Electoral Serenity to enter into the Peace in conjunction with themselves Finally The said Ambassador promiseth to communicate the resolution of his Most Serene Master upon the said Declaration of France as soon as he shall receive it referring himself for other matters to his said Memorial A Declaration of the Ambassador of Prince Charles of Lorrain at a Conference Extraordinary of the Allies at Nimeguen the 20th of June 1678. THis Declaration could not be opened at large because the President Canon had only formed the Idea of it in his mind and return'd but the night before from the Hague he alledged that Journey as an excuse for his not having been present at the last Conference saying that he went to deliver the Lords the States General a Letter from his Master Then he enlarged upon the injustice of the Alternatives that were proposed by France as Conditions of Peace The first demanding a Country 35 miles in length and 16 or 18 in breadth with 26 Cities upon it and 600 Burroughs and Villages The other depriving him of his Capital City and the convenience of communication with his own Country by pretending to pass through some of the best of his High-ways That both these Conditions were equally hard he demonstrated by the Election that was left his Master to chuse either For the avoiding such Imperious Laws he referr'd himself to the Alliances made between their Imperial and Catholick Majesties their Lordships the States General and his late Uncle and renewed since with his own person with all possible extension and withal recommended himself to the friendship and protection of all his Allies concluding with a formal protestation that he would resolve rather to live banish'd from his Country and entirely to maintain the Justice of his Title and have his Allies that had contracted with him continue under their absolute Engagements than ever to return upon such hard Conditions and so scandalous to his Birth and his undoubted Right of Succession never having deserv'd so ill of France as to be used so cruelly A Letter from the Lords the States General to Mons the Duke of Luxemburg the 22. of June 1678. SIR WE have seen with an equal mixture of joy and reverence by the King's Answer of the first of this Month from his Camp at Wetteren which the Heer Van Beverning delivered us from his Majesty his sincere intentions to put an end to the present War by a Peace In pursuance whereof to shew the like
most humble and most obedient Servants H. Beverningh W. Haren The Answer of the Lords Ambassadors of France to the Ambassadors of the Lords the States General of the United Provinces in Explanation of the 13th Article of the Treaty of Peace My Lords WE have received your Excellency's Letter of the 17th of this Month and though the fidelity wherewith the King our Master hath always acted and the sincerity with which his Majesty is willing to restore the Lords the States General to the first degree of his friendship ought not to leave your Excellencies under any apprehension lest he should endeavour to surprize you or put a larger construction upon the 13th Article of the Treaty concluded and signed betwixt us on the 10th of this Month then as we explain'd our selves to one another yet We are willing to assure your Excellencies that it was not his Majesty's intention nor consequently ours to make use of the said Article any longer than the present War should last nor whenever it shall please God to put an end to it to oblige the Lords the States General to more than what their own Interest and their good Union with his Majesty shall require of them We are Nimeguen the 17th of Aug. 1678. My Lords Your Excellencies most humble and most obedient Servants Le M. D' Estrades Colbert D' Avaux The Ratification of the Explanation of the thirteenth Article of the Treaty of Peace betwixt France and Holland THe King being inform'd by his Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries at the Treaty of Peace at Nimeguen of their explanation by their Letter of the seventeenth of August this present year to the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of the States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countreys of the thirteenth Article of the Treaty of Peace Concluded and Signed at Nimeguen the tenth day of the said month of August betwixt the said Lords Ambassadors in which is mentioned the Neutrality promised by the said States General as well in relation to his Majesty and his Allies as the garranting such engagements as Spain should enter into with relation to the like Neutrality His Majesty having read and examined the said Letter by which his said Ambassadors do declare and assure that his Majestie 's intention is not to benefit himself by the said Article any longer then the present War shall continue His Majesty was well pleased with the said explanation and hath allowed approved and ratified the same as fully as if it were inserted into the said Treaty of Peace next after the thirteenth Article thereof there allowed approved and ratified Promising on the Faith and Word of a King to fulfil and cause to be observed sincerely and faithfully whatever is therein contained without suffering any thing ever to be done to the contrary directly or indirectly for any cause or upon any occasion whatsoever In witness whereof his Majesty hath Signed these presents with his own hand and hath caused his Privy Seal to be put thereto Given at Fountainbleau the fifth day of September in the year one thousand six hundred seventy eight Signed Lewis And underneath was Signed Arnauld A separate Article for a general indemnification of the Subjects both of France and Holland THe King having received the separate Article Signed by his Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries at the Treaty of Peace at Nimeguen and those of the Lords the States General of the United Provinces of the Low-Countreys whereof the Tenour is as followeth viz. The Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of the Most Christian King and the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of the Lords the States General of the United Provinces declare by this present Act that though the Treaty which they Signed on the tenth of August import a sufficient abolishment of whatever has been committed on either side by reason of the War to which the said Treaty has put an end whether by such as being Subjects born of France and obliged to serve his Majesty by reason of the Offices or Estates which they possessed within the compass of France have entred or continued in the service of the Lords the States General or by such as being born Subjects of the said Lords the States or obliged to serve them by reason of the Offices or Estates which they possessed within the compass of the United Provinces entered or continued in his Most Christian Majestie 's service yet for their more security and to protect them from all prosecution the said Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries have agreed that all such Persons of what quality or condition soever without exception may enter re-enter and shall be actually suffered to continue and be settled in the peaceable possession and enjoyment of all their Estates Honours Dignities Priviledges Franchises Rights Exemptions Settlements and Liberties without being liable all or any of them to be prosecuted vexed or molested either in general or in particular for any cause or upon any pretence by reason of any thing that has hapned since the beginning of the said War In pursuance of which Declaration and after it shall have been Ratified as well by his Most Christian Majesty as by the Lords the States General which shall be within a month all and every of them shall be permitted without any Letters of abolishment or forgiveness to return in Person to their Houses and enjoy their Lands and all other their Goods or to dispose thereof as they shall think fit Given at Nimeguen the 24th of September 1678. The M. D' Estrades Calbert H. Beverning W. Haren His Majesty having read the said Article hath Approved and Ratified and doth Approve and Ratifie the same Promising on the Faith and Word of a King to fulfil and cause to be observed sincerely and faithfully whatever is therein contained without ever suffering any thing to be acted to the contrary directly or indirectly for any cause or upon any occasion whatsoever In witness whereof his Majesty hath Signed these presents with his hand and hath caused his Privy Seal to be set thereto Given at Fountainbleau the third of October in the year One thousand six hundred seventy eight Signed Lewis And underneath was Signed Arnauld Done at the Hague the 30th day of September in the year One thousand six hundred seventy eight Signed Wilhem van Nassaw By Order of the said Lords the States General H. Fagel The States General of the United Provinces of the Low-Countreys To all that shall see these presents Greeting Since on the 24th of September 1678 there was made and concluded at Nimeguen by the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries of the Most Christian King and ours an Act of oblivion in Tenour as followeth viz. The Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries c. We have Agreed Approved and Ratified the said Act in all it's points and do Agree Approve and Ratifie the same by these presents Promising faithfully and sincerely to keep maintain and inviolably to observe the same in every
to be ratified firmly and simply without addition of any thing thereunto and produce the Ratifications thereof by Letters authentick and sealed wherein all this present Treaty shall be inserted verbatim within six weeks to be accompted from the day of the date of this present Treaty or sooner if possible And the said Plenipotentiaries have promised and do promise in their said Kings Names that after producing the said Letters of Ratification the said Most Christian King as soon as possibly he can shall in the presence of such person or persons as the Catholick King shall be pleased to depute swear solemnly upon the Cross the Gospels and Canons of the Mass and upon his Honour fully really and truly to observe and fulfil all the Articles contain'd in this present Treaty And the like shall be done as soon as is possible by the said Catholick King in the presence of such person or persons as the said Most Christian King shall be pleased to depute In witness of all which the said Plenipotentiaries have subscribed this present Treaty with their own Names and have caused their Seals of Arms to be set thereto Nimeguen the 17th day of September 1678. Le M. D'Estrades Colbert De Mesmes D'Avaux Pablo Spinola Doria Conde de Benazuza Marquesse de la Fuente Jean Baptiste Christin The Power of the Lords Ambassadors of his Most Christian Majesty LEwis by the Grace of God King of France and Navarr To all that shall see these presents Greeting As we desire nothing more earnestly than to see the War that now afflicts Christendom end in a good Peace and whereas by the cares and mediation of our most dear and our most beloved Brother the King of Great Britain the Town of Nimeguen has been agreed upon on all hands for the place of Conference We out of the same desire to put a stop as far as in us lyes to the ruine of so many Provinces and the effusion of so much Christian Blood do make known That We reposing entire confidence in the experience sufficiency and fidelity of our most dear and well-beloved Cousin the Sieur Count D'Estrades Marshal of France and Knight of our Orders our trusty and well-beloved the Sieur Colbert Marquess of Croissy Counsellor in Ordinary in our Councels of State and of our trusty and well-beloved the Sieur de Mesmes Count D'Avaux Counsellor also in our Councels by reason of the advantagious tryals that we have made of them in divers Embassies and Employs of importance wherein we have entrusted them at home and abroad For these Causes and other good Considerations us thereunto moving We have appointed constituted and deputed the said Sieur Marshal D'Estrades Marquess de Croissy and Count D'Avaux and do appoint constitute and depute the same by these presents signed with our Hand and have given them and do hereby give them full Power Commission and special Order to repair to the Town of Nimeguen in quality of our Ambassadors Extraordinary and our Plenipotentiaries for the Peace and there to confer directly or by the interposition of the Ambassadors Mediators respectively allowed and agreed to with all Ambassadors and Ministers of our most dear and most beloved Brother and Cousin the Catholick King and his Allies having all of them sufficient Powers and there to treat upon the means for determining and appeasing the Differences that cause the War at this day And our said Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries all three joyntly or two of them in absence of the third through sickness or other impediment or one only in absence of the other two in like case of sickness or other impediment may agree thereupon and conclude and sign a good and sure Peace and generally may act negotlate promise and agree what-ever they shall think necessary towards the said Peace with the same Authority that we our selves should or might do if we were present there in person though any thing therein should require more particular Order than is contain'd in these presents Promising on the Faith and Word of a King to observe and fulfil what-ever the said Sieur Marshal D'Estrades Marquess de Croissy and Count D'Avaux or two of them in the absence of the third through sickness or other impediment or by one only in absence of the other two in like case of sickness or other impediment shall stipulate promise and agree and to cause our Letters of Ratification to be dispatched within such time as they shall promise in our Name to produce them for such is our pleasure In witness whereof we have caused our Seal to be set to these presents Given at St. Germain en Laye the 23. day of December in the year of Grace One thousand six hundred seventy five and of our Reign the three and thirtieth Signed Lewis and upon the fold of the Letters By the King Arnauld and sealed with the Great Seal in yellow Wax The Powers of his Catholick Majesty's Ambassadors DOn Charles the second by the Grace of God King of Castile Leon Arragon both Sicilies Jerusalem Navar Granada Toledo Valentia Galicia Majorca Seville Sardinia Cordoma Corsica Murcia Jaen Algarves Algeriza Gibraltar the Canary Islands the East and West-Indies the Isles of Terra Firma and of the Occan-Sea Arch-Duke of Austria Duke of Burgundy Brabant and Melan Count of Auspurg Flanders Tiroll and Barcelona Lord of Bisca and Molina c. Since we desire nothing with greater vehemency then to see the War that doth at this present so much afflict Christendom end in a good Peace and the Town of Nimeguen having been chosen and pitch't upon by means of the Mediation and good Offices of the King of Great Britain and by the common consent of all parties concern'd in the War to be the place for meeting and Treating of Peace and I desiring to contribute as much as in me lies towards so good a Design I have thought fit to nominate some Persons to assistat the Assembly with full power and authority in my name and taking into consideration the Sufficiency Integrity Prudence Experience Understanding and Zeal for my Service which are found in you Don Paul Spinola Doria Marquiss de Los Balbases one of my Councel of State Don Pedro Ronquillo of my Councels of Castile and of the Indies and Don John Baptiste Christin of my Councel of Flanders and by reason of the satisfaction which you have always given me in many and important Affairs whereof you have had the management and assuring my self of the care that you will take in my Service I have nominated you to be my Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries and by vertue of these presents I give to you all joyntly and to each of you in particular in the absence or by reason of any other hindrance of the other full and absolute power to repair to the Town of Nimeguen and there to Treat immediately or by the intervention of the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries the Mediators respectively allowed and admitted with the Ambassadors and
Plenipotentiaries of my most Dear and most beloved Brother and Cosen the Most Christian King and his Allies especially authorised and appointed and having sufficient powers and to treat upon means for appeasing the present War and to this end to enter with them upon a Negotiation to Confer Propose Agree Capitulate Conclude and Sign a good firm and durable Treaty of Peace and Quiet and generally to act with relation thereunto as my self might if present there in Person though more particular Order should be requisite then is contain'd in these presents And I give my Faith and Royal Word for ever to observe precisely and punctually without failure whatsoever shall by you Don Paul Spinola Doria Marquiss de Les Balbases Don Pedro Ronquillo and Don John Baptiste Christin my Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries all three joyntly or by two of you in the absence or in case of sickness of the other be agreed at the said Treaty with the Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries of my most beloved Brother and Cosen the Most Christian King and his Allies and likewise to approve and Ratifie the same within such time as shall be limited by both parties In witness whereof I have ordered these presents to be dispatched Signed with my hand and Sealed with my Privy Seal and subscribed by my Secretary of State underwritten Given at Madrid the third day of Decem. 1675. I the King Don Pedro Coloma DOn Charles the second by the Grace of God King of Castile Leon Arragon both Sicilies Jerusalem Navar Granada Toledo Valentia Galicia Majorca Seville Sardinia Cordova Corsica Murcia Jaen Algarves Algeriza Gibraltar the Canary Islands the East and West-Indies the Isles of Terra Firma and of the Ocean Sea Arch-Duke of Austria Duke of Burgundy Brabant and Milan Count of Auspurg Flanders Tiroll and Barcelona Lord of Biscay and Molina c. Forasmuch as by the Mediation and good Offices of the King of Great Britain the Town of Nimeguen has been chosen and pitch't on by the common consent of all the parties now engaged in the War for a place of meeting in order to a Treaty of Peace and I desiring to contribute on my part whatever lies in me towards the appeasing and ending the present War that so much afflicteth Christendom through his means have nominated to be my Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries to assist in my Name at the said Assembly Don Paul Spinola Doria Marquess de los Balbases one of my Councel of State Don Pedro Ronquillo one of my Councels of Castille and of the Indies and Don John Baptiste Christin of my Councel of Flanders by vertue of the plenary Power which I dispatched the third of December 1675. signed with my Hand and sealed with my Seal and under-written by Don Pedro Coloma my Secretary of State as appears by the Original to which I refer To the end that all three joyntly or two of them in case of absence or other hindrance of the third or one only in the like case of absence or other hindrance of the other two might assist treat and confer immediately or by the interposition of the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries the Mediators allowed and admitted respectively with the Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries of my most dear and most beloved Brother and Cousin the Most Christian King and his Allies specially authorized and appointed which accordingly they have done and now actually do in my Name And judging it to be for the interest of my service to add one Plenipotentiary more to the other three to assist at the Conferences and Affairs there with like character and authority And considering the sufficiency integrity prudence experience understanding and zeal for my service which are found in you Don Gaspar de Teves and Gusman Marquess de la Fuente Count de Venazuza and by reason of the satisfaction which you have always given me in many and important Affairs whereof I have intrusted you with the management and that you will have regard to the interest of my service I nominate you to be my second Ambassador and Plenipotentiary to repair to the said Town of Nimeguen and joyntly with my three Ambassadors above-named or with two of them in the absence or in case of other impediment of the third or by your self alone in case of absence or other hindrance of the other three either by the mediation of the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries the Mediators respectively allowed or immediately with the Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries of my most dear and most beloved Brother and Cousin the Most Christian King and his Allies particularly appointed and authorized confer propose agree conclude and sign a good firm and durable Treaty of Peace and Quiet and generally to act with relation thereunto what-ever I my self might do if I were present there in person though some more particular Order should be requisite thereunto than is herein expressed And I give my Faith and Royal Word that what-ever you Don Gaspar de Teves and Guzman Marquess de la Fuente my second Plenipotentiary joyntly with the said Marquess de los Balbases Don Pedro Ronquillo and Don John Baptiste Christin my Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries or sole in the absence or other hindrance of any of them shall agree and capitulate at the said Treaty with the said Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries of my most dear and most beloved Brother and Cousin the Most Christian King and his Allies I will always observe precisely and punctually without any failure and will likewise approve and ratifie the same within such time as shall be reciprocally agreed on Declaring from this time forward that nothing is hereby derogated from the Power which I gave on the third of December to the said Marquess de los Balbases Don Pedro Ronquillo and Don John Baptiste Christin but that on the contrary it remains in full and perfect force and vertue notwithstanding these presents or any other circumstance whatsoever In token whereof I have ordered these presents to be dispatched being signed with my Hand and sealed with my privy Seal and subscribed by my Secretary of State under-written Given at Madrid the 16th of July 1678. I the King Don Pierre Coloma Articles of Peace between the Emperor and the French King Concluded and Signed at Nimeguen the 5th day of February 1678. Translated out of Latin according to the Copy Printed at Nimeguen by Adrian Moetiens IN the Name of the most Holy and Undivided Trinity Be it known to all and every one whom it doth or may any way concern That whereas from the beginning of the War commenced some years ago between the most Serene and Mighty Prince and Lord LEOPOLD Elect Emperor of the Romans always August King of Germany Hungary Bohemia Dalmatia Croatia and Sclavonia Arch-Duke of Austria Duke of Burgundy Brabant Stiria Carinthia Carniola Marquiss of Moravia Duke of Luxemberg of the Upper and Lower Silesea Wirtemburg and Tecka Prince of Swaben Earl of Hapsburg Tirol Kyburg and Goritia Marquiss of the sacred Roman