to the Progress of their Arms whereby he became a great Instrument of keeping Lewis the Great in his Throne who else had by this time been Little and Insignificant But in what manner he requited him the Sequel will demonstrate The Prince of Conde after much Blood-shed in an intestine War retreated into Flanders with divers of his Party who would not leave him and there was set at the Head of the Spanish Forces Whereupon Hostilities ensued and the Spaniards recovered a great many of the Towns that had been taken from them So that where Force could not prevail Insinuation and Flattery took place and at last the Prince was gained upon to return Home as did the Dukes of Conti and Longueville being highly Caressed and a Pardon was published to all that had been in the Civil War and Lewis who hitherto had acted nothing memorable in his own Person being arrived at the Thirteenth Year of his Age Anno 1651 he was declared to be of sufficient Years to take upon him the Government and to act in Person which Declaration was approved by the Parliament of Paris and Proclaimed throughout the Kingdom Yet the War continued with Spain and many Battels were fought and Towns lost and won things being carried on with various Success So that the King that he might say he had been on Horse-back got up at the Head of his Troops to shew himself to the People which did indeed give a little hopes to those that were ready to revolt that things might go better than they had done But how they were mistaken will appear in its proper place In the Year 1654 great Preparations were made to Crown Lewis King of France and Navar and on the Fourth of June the Court arrived at Rhemes and was received by about Two thousand of the Citizens on Horseback about a League from that place to which was made a Guard of about Five thousand of the Inhabitants in Arms and the Suburbs were crouded with the Soldiery At the Entry were divers Triumphal Arches beautified with golded Lilies and many flattering Devices the Streets being hung with Tapestry and other Ornaments And upon his approach the Cannons were thundred off and volleys of small Shot discharged and the Aldermen of the City taking him for some petty Deity fell on their Knees and in that posture presented him the Silver Keys of the Town And Cardinal Mazarine being at the Church of Nostrodame with the Clergy the King alighted there The Bishop of Soissons officiated in the stead of the Archbishop of Rhemes who was a little before dead the Bishop of Caesaria being his Coadjutor The Bishops of Noyon and Beauvais attended in their Pontificals the first making an Oration in which he gave the King many flattering Epithets scarce due to mortal Man However knowing that Air of Vanity possessed his Mind that makes him value himself much upon his own Praises nothing was omitted that a Court-parasite could industriously produce Then the Archdeacon did the like and the Deacon gave him a Missal to kiss who kneeled down upon two Velvet Cushions placed on a Foot-cloath under a Canopy of State and from thence he went unto the Choire to assist at the Te Deum and the Vespers were performed in Musick The Vespers over he went to the Archbishop's Palace which was prepared to receive him and the next day the Coronation was Solemnized with great Pomp the Queen-Mother of England and the Dukes of York and Gloucester being present And there he was annointed with the Holy Oil which the Priest makes the ignorant People believe was miraculously sent from Heaven on purpose to annoint their Kings that they may be the more Dreaded and Reverenced And now this spruce young Monsieur being on the Throne began to make some Figure in the World though he still acted by others Heads and Advice And to give the World a proof of French Fidelity he clapp'd up a Peace contrary to all Mens Expectation with Oliver Cromwell the English Protector at the time when King Charles II. with his two Brothers were at the French Court and had been promised not only Protection but also aid to regain the usurped Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland c. Nor was this all but he proceeded more treacherously with his near Kinsmen for in the Treaty amongst other things there was an Article to Banish them France and its Territories Of which King Charles having private Notice and finding it fruitless to complain where the Royal engagement was so little regarded to avoid a ceremonious Expulsion with generous disdain he turned his Back upon that ungrateful Court and with his faithful Followers as Prince Rupert and other Nobles he retired into Germany and was there received with all imaginable Joy and found amongst Strangers that Reception without any promise or word given which his Cousin of France had so generously promised and afterward so basely denied But his Brothers the Dukes of York and Gloucester stayed behind the first having a Command in the Army under Mareschâ—l de Turin against the Spaniards But that weighed nothing for the League being made he was ordered to be Packing Nay it went so far that a Message was sent to their Mother though Daughter to Henry the Great of France to be gone but she sent Word That she knew her Right to be in France if the King knew not what belonged to his Dignity and that a Daughter of Henry IV. from whom he was descended and held the Crown was not so easily expelled from her Native Country This resolute Answer of the Queen's made Lewis XIV dissemble the Matter and her stay was winked at though not approved Here you may see French Faith to distressed Princes who though never so near Ally'd to that King could obtain Refuge no longer than his Interest moved him to break his Promises And this early beginning has been very much improved as will appear in the Series of this History The League Offensive and Defensive being made with England against Spain Six thousand Men were sent into Flanders who beat the Spaniard and took Dunkirk whilst the French in a manner stood still and looked on For as an Historian of their own truly has it Though France abound with Men it is wont to make use of the Valour of its Neighbours in all Wars against Strangers For it hath continues he been found by Experience That the French are only for the first Onset but cannot abide nor weather so many Discouragements as the English Scots and Switzers can in War Besides their Foot are not to be compared to Strangers therefore they may ascribe their most difficult Conquests to their Money and the Valour of the English Scotch Irish and Switzers According to the Treaty Dunkirk was secured by the English For the crafty Protector not being ignorant of the Falshood of the French Court had given secret Orders to Lockhart who Commanded in Chief immediately upon surrender to enter it and Post his
the Works and Trenches with his Weapon in his Hand and beat out the Defendents gaining the Half-Moon a second time and delivered it Monsieur de la Feuvilade whom then shame more than true Valour compelled to secure it And indeed it is conjectured by many that this strong Place had put a stop to the French Arms had not the English who bore all the brunt of the Siege done things to a wonder so that at last it surrendered upon honourable Conditions on the Thirteenth of June But the French fury like a blazing Comet having by this time spent it self and the Confederate Armies gathering like a black Tempest around them Lewis found that this had been but a kind of a Frolick to make him more known For he was not capable of Garrisoning the Towns he had possessed and keep an Army in the Field which made him spue them up as fast as he had swallowed them withdrawing his Garrisons and Abandoning them to their true Owners which occasioned a Comical Portraicture of Lewis the Great Spewing and Sh ing Towns and Castles However upon leaving those places many of them were dismantled and the Inhabitants obliged to part with almost all they had for their Contribution or Ransom at the discretion of the Soldiers King Charles II. of England by this time grown weary of a War into which he had been unadvisedly drawn and the which without any advantage to England had cost a great deal of Blood and Treasure whilst the French reaped the Profit a Peace was concluded with the States for himself on very honourable Terms So that the English Fleet being laid up the French durst be little at Sea yet at Land the War continued where the French Gold did the greater Service as indeed it has all along had the Luck to do And in this State things continued till the beginning of May 1674. Lewis XIV finding he had ingaged himself too far and that his violent Proceedings had drawn a great many Princes upon him for they found it high time to Confederate against the Disturber of Christendom some Overtures of Peace were made and a Treaty set on Foot in the City of Cologne where divers were assembled in hopes of bringing it to Perfection But upon the Emperor's seizing of the Prince of Furstemburg who worked the French Interest tho' a Subject of the Empire and ought to have done the contrary it greatly disgusted the French King and proved a Remora to this Treaty So that Hostilities continued and the Prince of Conde seized on Navaigne which after a short Siege was delivered up and the King himself laid Siege to Dole which made a stout resistence and killed him a great many Men. But not being timely succoured it at last fell into their Hands These proceedings made the Confederate Armies draw together to oppose them so that on the Fifteenth of June the Duke of Lorrain and the Count of Caprara gave Turin Battel but wanting Foot as having but One Regiment of Foot to Seven thousand Horse and hourly Expecting the Duke of Bournonville who was coming towards them the French on the other hand being Twelve thousand strong notwithstanding a desperate Fight they were forced to retire over the Necker many brave Men being killed and divers taken Prisoners The loss of the slain are held to be equal and had not the Duke wanted Foot the French had been utterly routed For he Charged with such Fury and Resolution at the Head of his Troops as if he had been weary of his Life and expected a Dukedom in another World rather than this Whilst these things passed the Dutch scoured the Seas with their Fleet the French not daring to peep abroad for now they had nothing to fear on the Ocean having made a Peace with the English Whereupon they braved the French in their Harbours and made a Descent on Bell Isle but could make no Advantage on that strong Place But the Dutch Forces at Land took the Grime a very strong Place after a hard Siege And now Lewis XIV betook him to the French Policy of tampering abroad And finding by his Agents that the Inhabitants of Messina in Sicily grew weary of the Spanish Government he encouraged them to Rebel and sent them Succours under the Command of the Duke de Vivone seizing that City and taking an Oath of Fidelity of the Inhabitants But when he had brought them to this Revolt and kept a Garrison there a very considerable Time contrary to the Expection of all Men and out of what Caprice none perhaps but himself knows to this Day he suddenly recalled his Forces leaving so many of the Inhabitants as would not leave all they had to Ship themselves and fly into France where they could rely upon no Succour to the Mercy of the Inraged Spaniards whom they had highly offended by this Revolt Nor had they above four Hours Notice Yet as many as could crowded on Board and afterward lived in Exile not daring to return King Charles II. of England having made a Peace with the States of the Vnited Provinces issued out a Proclamation on the Nineteenth of May 1675. commanding all his Subjects in the French Service as Soldiers since the Treaty of Peace to quit forthwith that Service and return Home and prohibiting any English-men to engage themselves in the like for the future which proved a great Detriment to the Progress of the French Arms as soon after appeared For the Army as not only overthrown but Turin the most Experienced General of France was slain But because this Action was very Memorable we shall not think it amiss to give a brief Account of it On the Eighteenth of July 1675 the Mareschal de Turin commanded out the Regiments of Horse of Campaigne and Orleance with Nine Squadron of Horse under the Command of the Marquess de Rone Mareschal to pass the River Renchau by the Means of Two Bridges he had laid over And being informed That the Imperialists had laid an Ambuscade on the other side he went in person to see if he could discover it from a certain Height near the Bridge When the Imperialists having planted Two small Pieces in a Wood hard by fired one of them without any considerable Execution but the secoud being Charged with Iron or Cartridge-shot put a period to Turin's Life killing likewise the Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance and divers others of Quality about him though some Accounts say he was killed with a Cannon Shot However thus ended that great General who had been brought up in War as we may properly term it from his Infancy and seen many Rivers of Blood whose Death gave a great check to the French Affairs and the Army was so much discouraged that it immediately retired in some disorder when being pursued and hotly engaged by Montecuculi the Imperial General between Six and Seven thousand of them were slain and several Colours with some Cannon and Baggage taken the Count de Lorge who Commanded after the
Death of Turin being wounded and many Persons of Quality killed This was seconded by the Overthrow of the Mareschal de Crequi near Treves For the Confederates having besieged that place which had been surprized by the French the Mareschal came to Succour it but the Besiegers drawing off and giving him Battel his Forces were totally defeated with the loss of Three or Four thousand Men and of all the Baggage and Cannon c. the broken Army scattering and getting into the adjacent Town The Mareschal with sive or six men got into Treves and the Governour being killed took upon him to defend the place but the Besiegers having made Three Breaches so wide that Forty Men a-breast might enter the Officers finding the Ditches likewise filled up and the Storm ready to be made they Capitulated without Crequi who to regain in some measure the Credit he had lost suffered himself to be made a Prisoner of War Binch was likewise taken by the Dutch and many other Advantages gained So that Lewis the Great began to think that he had overstood his Markets and thought it high time to look out for Confederates Whereupon he drew the King of Sweeden into an Alliance with him to divert the War on that side of the King of Denmark and Duke of Brandenburg But the Sweeds had but little Success in his Quarrel as being worsted by Land and Sea and having nothing but the French King's Word for Reparation Insomuch that they were obliged to sit down by the Loss and thereupon Lewis XIV began to tamper with the States of Holland to clap up a Peace without the Consent of their Allies But whilst it was on Foot which made the King grant the larger Terms his Forces under the Duke of Luxemburg were beaten near Mons by the English Dutch and Germans In which Action his present Majesty of England signalized his Valour and Conduct to a wonder and the Duke of Monmouth being a Voluntier in the Army by his Example so animated the English that they let the French see they were capable of turning the Scale of Victory These Bad Successes making Lewis the Great fear he should be reduced to Lewis the Little he made such Offers which were seconded by many Promises and Crafty Insinuations that the States did conclude a peace and had all their Towns except Maestreicht delivered into their possession which made many wonder But those that have weighed the Matter give these Reasons for their making a peace when other Princes their Confederates were in Treaty for that of Nimeguen was still on Foot First They perceived the Ambassadors of their Allies had been several Years in debate at Nimeguen without bringing any thing to Perfection as to the Treaty with France and they had greatly wasted their Treasure in the War and found a peace was necessary to Recruit Secondly Their Trade on which the Provinces mostly depend was greatly obstructed by which means the People were Impoverished Thirdly They were Constrained to take up Moneys on the publick Trust to supply the Charge of the War which being of long Continuance could not but have consumed vast Treasures Fourthly That the Spaniard had not those Forces on foot in the Netherlands that was Expected which might have hindered the French from taking several Towns in Flanders of which without any considerable Opposition they had possessed themselves Fifthly That all things were restored to them that had been taken away which would have been difficult to have Recovered by other means Sixthly By this Treaty they caused to be rendered up to Spain part of what had been taken during the War Seventhly That the French Ministers assured the States that they would speedily make a Peace with their Allies and that they the States should be Arbitrators of that Peace These are given as Reasons And indeed considering how the Ministers of France pressed it with Eagerness and declared the Extream Passion and Desire the King their Master had to be at peace it might have been thought that he mean'd as he said The King himself during the Negotiation sent them a Letter wherein he styled them His good Friends Allies and Confederates promising wonderful things in the most obliging Flattery But no Words or Promises can bind this Leviathan for Lewis knew well enough what he did by making a Separate Peace considering if he should be brought to Strict Terms with all the Allies he must of Necessity part with Lorrain to the Duke its Rightful Lord and with the Franche Compte of Bourgogne to the King of Spain taken contrary to faith given since the Pyrenean Treaty But by not having the Dutch Army upon his back he sound himself able to deal with the rest and to tire them out by delays And indeed by taking these Measures he constrained the Duke of Brandenburg and the Prince of Zel to restore all they had taken from the Sweed since that King stood for the French Interest King Charles II. of England perceiving Lewis XIV delayed the Treaty to incroach upon Flanders found his Honour touched since he became a Mediator and was to be Guarrantee of the Peace And thereupon sent over five or six Thousand Men to defend the Spanish Netherlands where the French during the Treaty and daily Expectation of Peace were like so many Tartars or wild Arabians Ravaging and destroying the Country but the Terrour of the English put a Check to their Progress Lewis XIV having obtained a Peace with the States of the Vnited Provinces he more and more delayed the Treaty of Nimeguen as not doubting to bring the other Confederates to more Advantageous Terms than otherwise he could have been capable of doing And that which made the French King more urgent for a Separate Peace was that he knew well enough that it could not be Reasonably made with the Allies in Conjunction but that the Country of Lorrain would be required for that Duke and the Franche Compte for the King of Spain or what ever had been snatched from that Crown since the Pyrenean Peace which had been so openly violated by France And therefore he concluded to divide the Allies was to make his own Terms And indeed it so fell out to the great prejudice of the Confederaters Especially Spain and the Empire as in due place will appear And indeed Lewis XIV by this means preserved most of his important Conquests at that time whilst the Elector of Brandenburg and the Prince of Zell found themselves in a Necessity to Restore to Sweden all they had taken or by standing out run the Hazard of a French Army Ravaging their Countries whilst their Allies who had already made peace could not fairly give them any Assistence unless like him with whom they had made the peace they layed no Stress upon Leagues any longer than it tended to their purpose But the Emperor as well as Holland having concluded with France the rest found themselves too weak long to contend with a Monarch of such vast
and promise of Diversion on the other-side to break the Truce And all this under the glorious Title of the most Christian King and Eldest Son of the Church which even barbarous Nations have detested in a time of Peace And yet such have been the Humours of this King's Flatterers that they have more and more blown up his Ambition by comparing him to the Sun as to the Star of Stars from whence all other Kings and Potentates receive their Lustre with many other Attributes as if they intended to set him up for an Idol for all the World to fall down before And of these we shall give the Reader a touch because those Parasites strive by glorious Epithets to make him appear white and shining almost if not altogether to a height of Blasphemy whom all unprejudiced and unbiassed Men behold cloathed with Oppression and Cruelty and dying his Scarlet Robes yet deeper in innocent Blood Amongst other things attributed to him passing over what is mentioned as to the placing his Name on the Jesuits College instead of that of Jesus we find these that follow which may be said to exceed what the Heathens have ascribed to those they foolishly Worshiped for Gods viz. 1. Lowis the Great born for the Glory of France and Happiness of his People in whom there lives an admirable Argument of Divine Wisdom and Fortitude that alone is sufficient to convince Atheists c. 2. Lewis the Great a King indeed since he Reigns not only over his Subjects but his own Passions being Invincible and strongly and sweetly overcoming all things who just as a God by one single Act of his Will subjects all things to his supream Power c. 3. Lewis the Great strong in Zeal for Justice a powerful and most just Rewarder of all good Actions the severe Punisher of Duels Blasphemy and all Iniquity the true Imitator of God who is so Good to repay by way of Recompence what he promises by way of Mercy 4. Lewis the Great according to God's own Heart annointed with his own Holy Oil whom in a particular manner God commanded his Holy Angels to preserve in all his Ways and whence the Existence of Angels is deduceable c. 5. Lewis the Great meditating only on eternal Things and knowing that the gaining the World with the Loss of the Soul profiteth nothing and therefore seeking of God the alone Happiness which God of his Goodness has called Man to 6. Lewis the Great Intent upon the Extirpation of publick Sin and the Encrease of Integrity of Manners and Virtue and for that Effect giving most sure Laws through the Inspiration of God the Supream Law giver by whom Kings Reign c. 7. Lewis the Great the Prodigy of the Grace of God and of so thankful a Mind towards him on that Account being Careful to Exalt that Grace has commanded all the Faculties of his Kingdom to explain that Grace conform to the Edicts of the Popes c. 8. Lewis the Great the Eldest Son of the Church who has restored to their See the Bishops that had been banifhed by Hereticks the Enemy of Heresie the Vanquisher of the Turks confiding only in God and burning in Love towards him the Example of Faith Love and Charity c. 9. Lewis the Great a Prince of Peace the Scourge of War having so far layed aside his Majesty that he might Remember the Mercies of Christ c. 10. Lewis the Great destroying all Vice and decreeing Several punishments on the Infringers of Divine and Ecclesiastical Laws In all things he hath demonstrated himself a most obedient Son of the Church 13. To declare the kinds of Sin though hard to some yet not to perfect Christians whose defender Lewis the Great justly to be named the King of Glory Strong and mighty in Battel c. We might recite a number more of this Kind which we find in print Exceeding the boasting Language of the Turks in their denunciation of War or magnifying their Emperor They have not only put them in print no doubt with the Approbation of this King who is not a little Ambitious of his own Praise but the Duke De Fevillade has erected his Effigies Crowned with Rays and Stars as the old Romans used to do their God Jupiter and in another place he is figured driving the Chariot of the Sun with this Motto I shine to All. And indeed this very much Resembles him for Europe has found him a very Phaeton if we consider the almost numberless Towns and Villages he has caused to fall in Flames At other times they call him Homo Immortalis an Immortal Man the same Character the Heathens were wont to give to those they fansied to be deified gathering the Conduct Courage Wisdom c. not only of his Ancestors but of all the Renowned Heroes that ever have been which they will have centre in him who indeed is but Mortalis Homo cum Fistula in Ano notwithstanding all the Flattery of Medals Prints Landskips Inscriptions Statues or as they have in one place made the Figures of Europe Asia Africa and America Kneeling at his feet as if he gave Laws to the whole Earth But how far he answers any of these Characters let us lay aside for a time his Actions and Behaviour towards his Neighbours and look a little into the Interiour parts of his Dominions and there see how he keeps his word and uses his own Subjects by whose Help and faithful Assistence his Ancestors mounted and himself as yet is fixed in the Throne of France King Henry IV. Grandfather to Lewis XIV had for the Many memorable and signal Services done him granted the Protestants the free Exercise of their Religion by an Edict and other Privileges that were granted them by Lewis XIII Father to this King The Edict of King Henry was given at Nantes in April 1598 under the favour of which the Protestants that had escaped the bloody Massacre in the Reign of Charles IX and the Sword of War that had continued for many Years revived as we may term it or multiplied in their Generations But when they thought themselves most secure and every one sat under their Vines of plenty this King by the Instignation of the Jesuits and his own Inclination began to thirst after their wealth as Ahab in another place had done after Naboth's Vineyard And finding whilst this Edict was in force it could not be attempted with the least Colour of Justice he published a Strict Decree to disannul it as likewise the Edict of Nismes given in July 1629. together with all the Concessions granted in them as well as other Declarations Edicts and Arrests of what nature soever forbiding any of the Reformed Religion under great Pains Penalties and Forfeitures to have any publick Worship amongst them as knowing like those who sought to destroy Daniel he could not make them disobey him in any thing Lawful The Bloody Decree being signed by the King at Fountainbleau in October
Majesty's Friendship but could not enter into any such Alliance as he required However he persisted to encroach upon the Empire suffering his Troops that should have been withdrawn to quarter at discretion eating up that little the Inhabitants had left them to subsist withal winking at the many Complaints that were made and proving deaf to the Cries of the People This occasioned the King of England to complain by his Ambassadors but this prevailed little or nothing till he found a Defensive Alliance was carrying on against him and then under pretence of Winter Quarter he drew off some of his Troops Let us look a little back upon the Proceeding of Lewis le Grand in the Principality of Orange a place of Sovereign Right for some Ages belonging to the Illustrious House of Nassaw and the Inheritance of his present Majesty of Great Britain This Principality and City of Orange is very advantageously Situate exceeding fruitful and for the most part Inhabited by Protestants These Considerations made the French King Long to be Master of it for he seldom troubles himself to War on the Alps or in cold barren Countries Whereupon during the Minority of the Prince without the least Title or just Pretence to warrant his Actions he sent an Army to take Possession of it in the Year 1660. exercising a great deal of Cruelty and Inhumanities upon the Subjects contrary to the Law of Arms and of Nations demolishing the Bastions and strong Fortifications thereby purposing to himself if he should be obliged by the Princes who looked upon him as an Intruder and an Oppressor to relinquish it he might with more Ease repossess himself of it as he saw occasion Nay so far extended his Malice that he not only ruined the Cittadel but caused the Magnificent Monuments of Prince Maurice's Greatness to be laid in Ruines And indeed in the Year 1665. he was obliged to Relinquish that Principality and the Sieur Zuilychem to take Possession of it for his Master When in April that year as a presage of the Prince's good Fortune and future Greatness a Crown of Light darting Rays appeared over the City of Orange hanging as it were in the Air over the Palace or place of State appointed for his Reception to Consolate his distressed Subjects who for five years had groaned under the Tyranny of France But their Tranquillity lasted no longer than the Year 1673 for then the French King supposing to make his Arms the Terrour of Europe that so he might at pleasure become the great Arbitre of Peace and War he on a sudden and very unexpectedly entered it with his Troops And although after by an express Article of the Treaty of Nimeguen the Principality of Orange was restored and the King of England was Guarrantee of that Peace yet the unwearied Incroachments of the French Troops of Provence and the Intrigues of the Popish Bishop of Orange rendered daily the Subjects of the Principality more uneasie till in the Year 1682. Lewis XIV in a time of full Peace as well with the States as Confederate Princes commanded a powerful Army to take possession of it without any manner of colour or pretext but the Turkish Motto viz. Sic Volo sic Jubeo stat pro Ratione Voluntas This I will this I command My Will it does for Reason stand And thereby his booted Missionaries or Dragoons acted inhumane Barbarities on the Inhabitants unparallel'd in any Reign but his own And here for an Essay of his insupportable Vanity or rather of a Kindness unusual amongst Princes and derogatory to Majesty it self we must not omit That in a Breve in Favour of the late Prince of Conde as Administrator of the Duke of Long aville Lewis XIV had the foolish Confidence to treat his present Majesty of Great Britain with the Title of Messire William Count of Nassaw living at Amsterdam in Holland as if thereby he had entailed upon himself the Principality of Orange which at that time was the Supream Title of King William As for the Actings of the French King in this Principality we shall give you a brief Account in the words of Monsieur â—e Chambrun viz. The dismal Cruelties says he acted upon my unhappy Country and the City of Orange so famous by the Greatness of its Princes is at this day nought but a dismal Heap where one cannot enter without treading upon its Ruines She is at this day a doleful Monument of Cruelty and Injustice I cannot persuade my self that the Ruines of Troy or Carthage were more terrible than these I have mentioned since to one that beholds them at a distance they appear the Habitations of Ostriches and Owls If Posterity shall enquire the cause of this horrid Desolation as certainly it must the Account that shall be given of them will no doubt tend to the dishonour of France History will not forget to hand down to succeeding Ages the heroick Vertues of our Prince when she comes to relate the Ruine of his Territories and Desolation of his Subjects and when they shall understand that the Justice the Sincerity the Valour and indefatigable Care of maintaining the Liberty of Europe were the only Motives that induced the French King thus to treat an Illustrious Prince doubtless they will say This has been the most dismal and most corrupt of all Ages since that which ought to have been the Admiration of the Great Ones of the Earth was the Object of their Aversion and Hatred If this great Prince would have consented to the overturning of the Government of his Country as he was earnestly courted so to doe if he would have taken part with those that aim at the enslaving Europe In a word If he would have betrayed his Country and broken his Faith to his Allies he might have mounted a Throne then offered him But because he loved his Country better than his Interest and preferred his Honour to the richest Advantages and the Liberty of Europe to a Crown it behoved his great Actions should be regarded with Hatred and followed with the unjustest of Treatments But although this Conduct has been blamed in all the Courts of Europe yet nothing has been done to oppose it And I am forced to say 'T is the dishonour of all Europe to have suffered a great Prince to expose so often his Life with the greatest Bravery for its Good and Liberty and at the same time to abandon his Interest with such an unaccountable Neglect England was obliged to protect and assist this Prince not only as being the Guarrantee of the Peace of Nimeguen but from the Principle of Blood and Alliance And indeed what Honour can Accrue to England to see a Sovereignty wrested by unjust violence from a Prince that had Married the Heiress of Three Kingdoms As for me I cannot think of the Desolation of my Country without saying amidst my Tears with Jeremiah How doth the City sit solitary c. Is it nothing to you all you that pass by
am My Lord Your very humble Servant Bassampeire This Letter is found in the Cologne Edition of Mareschal Bassampeire's Memoirs page 134. in French But to return Lewis XIII made great Joy for the Birth of this Son and all France shined with Fires of Triumph And no sooner was he Christened but he was Inaugurated into his Principality as Dauphin of France and had given him his Officers and Attendents the chief of which were his Governess a Lady of a Masculine Spirit and Hardovine de Perefexi who since obtained to be Bishop of Rhodes and after that Archbishop of Paris This Man served in the nature of his Tutor being very cunning and politick Whilst Lewis XIV lay in the Cradle as we may term it nothing of Weight or Moment can be expected But scarce was he capable of distinguishing Right from Wrong before the Sceptre of France dropp'd into his Hand For Lewis XIII declining more and more at the End of Four Years and a few Months after the Birth of this Son left the Stage of this World to sleep with his Ancestors He was the Eldest Son of Henry IV. of the House of Bourbon to whom the House of Valois had given Place by the Death of Henry III. who was slain by one Clement a Jocobine Monk with a Consecrated Dagger in his Tent when surrounded by his Army His Mother was Mary de Medicis of the House of Medici of Florence The King before his Death published a Declaration bearing Date April 12. 1643 by Virtue of which he appointed the Queen as Regent during the Minority of his Son as likewise Governess of the Kingdom and the Duke of Orleance was made her Lieutenant The Chief of the Council were the Prince of Conde and Cardinal Mazarine the latter swaying all with the Queen Monsieur Seguire Chancellor of France Monsieur Bauthlier and Monsieur Chauvigny And the Conduct of the Army on Foot was given to the Duke of Enguin afterward Prince of Conde So that Lewis XIII giving up the Ghost on the Fourteenth of May 1643. this Order prevented the Contests that would have happened in the Court about Priority However a Calm did not ensue for the King was no sooner in his Grave but Discontents that in respect to him seemed stifled broke out both People and Grandees being dissatisfied with the Cardinal's management of Affairs and too great Influence upon the Queen who Acted all by his Advice and he being an Italian proceeded to impose an Italian Government in many things which were highly disgusted So that they proclaimed their displeasures at the Head of an Army with the Noise of Trumpets Drums and the thundering of Cannon c. of which the Spaniards taking the Advantage endeavoured to enlarge their Dominions in the Low Countries where Don Francisco de Melo the Vice-Roy besieged Rocroy but his Army was beaten off by the Duke of Enguin General of the French Forces and a considerable Defeat given them which happened six days after Lews XIV came to the Throne And to flush him with this Success the Colours taken were spread before him at Paris and several Applauses of Triumph made And to say true this Victory proved a Check to Spain and gave the French Army an Opportunity to enter into their Territories and take several Towns and Fortresses as Maubeuge Borlemont Aimmerikt Binch and Thionville with others Yet the small Castle of Cirke stopped the Course of the French who before rolled on like a Torrent to the endangering of all Flanders But they had not the like Success in Germany fore there the Mareschal de Guâ—briant General of the French Forces was slain and his Army worsted with the loss of a great many brave Men which drew off Enguin from Flanders But however the War ceased not for the War with Spain engaged most of the Princes of Europe in the Quarrel The Trumpets carried the Noise of War round the Borders of Savoy as likewise in Italy Navar Catalonia Germany Alsatia Flanders and other Places Nor were the Seas free from Blood for the Duke of Breze being Admiral for the French in the Straights he twice engaged the Spanish Fleet. Nor did this War end without Rivers of Blood Burnings Plunderings and great Devastations and then the Misery it had occasioned in Europe moved the Princes to send their Plenepotentiaries to Munster to compose the Differences and agree a general Peace For the Countries were so wasted and Impoverished in many Places that more died by Famine than the Sword so that Lewis XIV began early to build his aspiring Greatness upon Ruine and Desolation which threatned the World with a turbulent Prince To this Treaty which was absolutely necessary for the preventing an universal Famine the Queen Regent of France sent the Count d' Avaux and Monsieur Servien to manage the Interest of France and the Duke of Longueville soon after followed them So that after many Debates and the Interposition of the uninterested Princes on the Twenty fourth of October 1648. a Peace was concluded and the Monarchs of Europe agreed to lay down their Arms that Plenty might be restored by Peace And this had been done sooner had not the French according to their accustomed Manner even in the midst of a Treaty when others depending upon the publick Faith thought themselves secure surprized several Places and suddenly brought their Arms into Germany Lorrain Flanders Catalonia and Italy at once as they did early in the Spring 1645. which so exasperated the Spaniards that they requited it before the Peace was concluded by setting upon the French Fleet over against Naples putting it to Flight with the loss of a great many Men and some Vessels the Admiral being killed with a Cannon Bullet and the Mareschal de Gassion a great General of France as he laid Siege to Lens was wounded and being carried to Arras there died and the Spaniards recovered many considerable Towns in Flanders and other Places as Fuens Courtray and Lens and the French Army suffered very much However the Peace held not in France for the Prince of Conde with divers others of the First Quality being grieved that Mazarine once a poor Priest and of mean Birth should play the King of France making his young Pupil Lewis XIV do what he pleased Impoverishing likewise the Kingdom by sending vast Treasures into Italy to enrich his poor Kindred insomuch that his Father who had never seen such Summs before imagined it rained Gold in France These things I say and the Insolence of that proud Priest made them take up Arms to Reform Abuses in the Government publishing their Manifesto's to justifie their Proceedings and remove the Cardinal from the Young King So that the great City of Paris declared for them resolving to defend their Interest to the utmost as did many other Towns Insomuch that the Crown was visibly at Stake nor could the Cardinal's Policy have saved it had not the Courage and prudent Conduct of the Mareschal de Turin put a stop
Persons and Libertines the Veneration which people ought to have for the Power of the Church than the Ill use which it's Ministers may make of it the King 's said Attorney General declares that he is Appealing as indeed he appeals by the present Act from the Abusive use that is made of it in the said Bull and Ordinance not to our Holy Father Pope Innocent XI so as has been practised by some of his Predecessors When that they had the True Ideas of their Power that their years allow them to act of themselves there might be hopes that in time they might be brought to know the Justice and Truth of the Complaints that were brought before them And that neither the preventions in favour of their Country or the Partialities of those they honour'd with their trust did prevail over the obligations which the Quality of Common Father of all Christians does Impose Protesting to carry on this his said Appeal upon this grievance and upon others which he reserves to represent to the first General Council that shall be held as the Tribunal truly Sovereign and Infallible of the Church to which it's Visible Head must Submit as well as it 's other Members and therein to further amongst other things a Regulation that shall prevent the Imploying so Holy an Authority in uses so far from those for which it was consided in the Church in the Person of Sr Peter This may make the Pope be mindful that God having separated the two Powers of the Priesthood and of the Empire the Pope cannot make use of the Authority of the First for the Rights that depend on the Second that is according to Temporal Laws he ought to possess those Large Territories which his Predecessors have received from the Liberality of Temporal Princes and particularly from that of our King 's And in short he would consider upon a Truth which a Great Archbishop in France wrote to one of his Predecessors that a Prelate who Excommunicates a Christian contrary to the Rules and for Rights of a Kingdom of the Earth may in such an occasion lose the Power of binding and unbinding which his Character gives him but he cannot deprive of Eternal Life him to whom he does this Injustice if his Sins do not render him unworthy of the Mercy of God This Act was signed on the 22d of January 1688. We hope the Reader will pardon us the tediousness of this Matter when by it he may perceive how little Zealous Lewis XIV is for the Church of Rome when he thus violently affronts his Father the Pope its Visible Head only about a place of shelter for Thieves Murtherers and such like Villains when at the same time he will not allow his pious Subjects of the Reformed Religion whose Loyalty himself has owned and whose Estates have been always ready to furnish his Wars to have any shelter or aboad in his large Dominions though they have all along appeared the very sinews of his Kingdom and held with a strong Hand and open Purses the Crown he wears on his Head However the Pope would not yield to Revoke the Bull but the Franchises remained Null the Pope publickly declaring Lewis XIV the apparent Enemy of Christendom and the only Person that influenced the Turks to break the Truce and with an Inundation of Barbarians to Invade the Empire We have several times had Advice That the Ambassador of France has been Abused in the Divan at Constantinople being not only denied the Sofra but beaten by the Command of the Grand Vizier for throwing up his Cushion that chanced to fall upon the said Vizier as he was going out And although himself has placed and held his Stool upon the Sofra it has been removed nay he has had of late an Ambassador Imprisoned there whose Liberty was not gained without 100 Purses of Money And whilst all Europe was wondering what Measures this Great Monarch would take to revenge the Affront alas the Business was tamely clapped up the Ambassador was recalled and another sent in his stead and as good Friends as ever though the Kingdom of France at the same time Reaps no extraordinary Benefit in the Turks Dominion But those that have more narrowly pried into this Affair give their Opinion That these Affronts were agreed on to cast a Mist before the Eyes of the Christian Princes so that they might not see the underhand-dealings that were carried on between the Most Christian and Mahomitan Turk For this way of misusing the Ambassador was indeed looked upon by most as tending to a Breach and a Rupture was daily expected But it seems the Most Christian King delights most in shedding Christian Blood and his Zeal for Religion is manifested in Burning and Blowing up Churches of all Christian Persuasions as well those of the Roman Catholicks as the Protestants Let us look now a little back and we shall find Count Teckely in Hungary destroying with Fire and Sword raising Troops with French Gold and though a Protestant secretly encouraged to Invade the Empire by the French Emissaries with Promise of greater Assistance But proving too weak of himself to oppose the Armies that were drawn that way the Turks broke the Truce at the Instigation of France as will more largely appear when we come to insert the Emperor's Declaration of War with France And under that Advantage the Imperial Troops being drawn off Lewis XIV very Piously Besieged and took the City of Strasburg a Free Imperial Town when hardly any Body expected any Hostility His pretence was to restore the Bishop which that Protestant City refused to admit with his Popish Trnmpery The Articles of Surrender were very advantageous to the Citizens as a promise of their Religion Liberties and any thing they desired But the French gaining Possession soon barred them of a great part delivering many over to the Mercy of the enraged Bishop who never was any Favourer of the Protestants and likewise restored Popery building a Cittadel or Castle for the better curbing the Citizens many of whom finding themselves so hardly dealt with at first and fearing worse secretly withdrew with what Substance they could to other Cities remote whereupon the Effects they left were seized a strict Charge was given to have an Eye upon the Inhabitants and such as they suspected going off were Imprisoned and all the small Towns and Villages were taken in as Dependences and constrained to pay great Contributions and such as could not or refused were threatned with Military Execution A great Army also of the King 's lay hovering on the West Frontiers of the Empire whilst Cara Mustapha the Grand Vizier was coming down on the East like a Deluge with about Two hundred thousand Turks and Tartars who burnt and destroyed all before them For by this time Mahomet IV. had proclaimed War against the Emperor and detained the Count de Caprara his Ambassador All Princes of the Empire upon the sudden Allarm were in doubt and suspence
which of these Turks they ought most to fear Though Lewis XIV out of a seeming pretence for the House of Austria had made an offer to assist the Emperor but this was only shadow as appeared afterwards by his violent falling upon the Spanish Netherlands whereby the Forces of the King of Spain were hindered from Assisting in the common Cause And although most of the Princes of Europe used their Interest with him though all Christendom in a manner lay at stake nothing would prevail till he perceived the Turks could not effect what they purposed For in the Year 1683 they were totally Routed and beat off from the Siege of Vienna the principal City of Austria when it was at the last Crisis and could have held out but a few days longer It is no wonder that the Jesuits who on all Hands are detested and accounted the Incendiaries of Christendom by the moderate Roman Cotholicks have so great an Influence in France since Father Maimburgh and Father La Chese have had so great an Influence over Lewis XIV to whose fiery Spirit they labour to add Fuel and plunge him into Cruelty without Remorse or distinguishing Protestants from Roman Catholicks And these were the blessed pair that laid the Foundation of the Misery of his Subjects of the Reformed Religion by persuading him That by Rooting the Protestants out of his Kingdom he would render himself greater than his Ancestors who were never able to accomplish that matter and that if he could bring it to pass it would render his Name Immortal in the Roman Kalendar And no doubt as many Instances affirm these Locusts who seek to devour every thing that is pleasant have had as great an Influence in the Ruine of the Neighbouring Roman Catholicks For from the Wideness of his Conquests they could not but promise to themselves great Advantage where they have so great an Influence over the Conqueror as to have his very Conscience in their keeping and dispose We have not of late heard that any like Father Ante have reproved him for Exorbitancy of Lust or other Vices but rather encouraged him therein that they might reap the profit at the Price of his Eternal State And of this we may give some hints as we find it in a Letter that has of late been frequently Printed and held to be Authentick sent from La Chese Confessor to the French King to Father Edmund Petre late Great Almoner to King James II. though fatal in his Counsels to the repose of that unfortunate Prince Wherein amongst other matters undertaking to give the Jesuit directions to put forward affairs by his Counsels Interest and Power with King James and others great at Court he thus proceeds Most Reverend Father TO satisfie the desire I have to show you by my Letter the Choice you ought to make of such persons fit to stir up c. I will in few words since you desire it inform you of the Genius of the people of our Court of their inclinations and of them we make use of that by a Parallel you make between them and your English you make use of you may know them Therefore I shall begin with the Chief I mean our Great Monarch It is certain he is naturally Good and loves not to doe Evil unless desired to doe it This being so I may say he never would have undertaken the Conversion of his Subjects without the Clergy of France and without our Society's Correspondence abroad He is a Prince Inlightned who very well observes what we put him upon is contrary to his Interest and that nothing is more opposite to his great Designs and his Glory he aiming to be the Terrour of all Europe The vast number of Malecontents he has caused in his Kingdom forces him in time of Peace to keep up three times more Forces than his Ancestors did in the greatest Domestick and Foreign Wars which cannot be done without prodigious Expence The Peoples Fears also begin to lessen as to his aspiring to an Vniversal Monarchy and they may assure themselves he has left those Thoughts nothing being more opposite to his designs than the method we enjoin him His Candour Bounty and Toleration to the Hereticks would undoubtedly have opened the door of the Low Countries Palatinate and other States of the Rhine and even of Switzerland whereas things are at present so altered that we see the Hollanders at present free from any fear of Danger the Switzers and City of Geneva resolved to lose the last drop of their Blood in their defence Beside some Diversions we may expect from the Empire In case we cannot hinder a Peace with the Turks Sir His Majesty's Brother is always the same I mean he takes no notice of what passes at Court It has sometimes happened the King's Brothers have acted so as to be noted in the State But this we are sure will never do any thing to stain the Glory of his Submission and Obedience and is willing to lend a helping hand for the Destruction of the Hereticks by the Instance he makes to his Majesty who now has promised him to cause his Troops to enter the Palatinate the next Month. The Dauphin is passionately given up to Hunting and little regards the Conversion of Souls and therefore we do not care to Consult him how or which way the Hereticks shall be destroyed He openly laughs at us and slights all the Designs of which the King his Father makes great Account The Letter goes on to Characterize the Dauphiness in her witty Humour and Hatred to the Protestants as likewise Monsieur Lovois the Archbishop of Paris and others who labour to Agrandize Lewis XIV by following the Methods of the Society of Jesuits who have always been held the Foxes with Fire-Brands at their Tails who have laboured to promote Violence War and Bloodshed in all Places where they come Henry IV. Banished them France and demolished their Houses for setting one of their Pupils to kill him in his Presence-chamber amidst his Nobles because he would not hearken to their Counsels but detested their pernicious Ways Yet knowing them to be Sycophants fraught with Malice and Revenge after he had frustrated many of their Attempts that great Prince who had faced Death in all its Shapes fearing their wicked Purposes thought fit to make fair Weather with them and to recall them which being opposed by a Lord of his Council who alledged how pernicious they were in all Kingdoms States and Governments the King passionately broke out into this Expression viz. Secure me my Life then And indeed this King who had remained safe in forty Battels found his Death as has been said in the midst of his Capital City amongst his Friends and Guards Nor could the Obstinacy of the Assassinate and Paricide denote any thing else but that he was set on by these Men. For Raviliack the bloody Actor neither sought to fly nor excuse the Fact nor when his Flesh was plucked off with hot
Pincers would he confess who inspired him to doe it but remained obstinate in the midst of the most horrid Tortures which demonstrated that he had been decoyed by such as made him believe the Fact was no less than Meritorious and that Eternal Life was entailed upon him for the Deed. And no boubt Lewis XIV is not fearless notwithstanding his Bravadoes of some such Fate if he should reject them and their Counsels which makes him so far comply with their Maxims as to involve the Nations in Blood and carry Fire and Destruction where-ever his Armies come and make himself the very Phaeton of the World Some will object in their Excuse that Lewis XIV dares not keep his Armies Idle for the Soldiers having been so long trained up in War by a long Ease would grow Luxurious and be apt like the Roman Pretorian Soldiers at every little disaster to Mutiny or if that he should disband them they for the most part being Incapable of any other Imployment than the Sword would infallibly shake his Throne by joining with those his Tyranny has reduced in a manner to Despair However any Reasonable Man might think he might employ them in other matters as fortifying his Inland-Towns and building Piramids to his Glory as the Kings of Egypt did to keep their People from Idleness upon the same Score as most Historians conjecture whose Labour produced those Lasting Monuments whose Aspiring Tops are said to penetrate the Clouds But Lewis XIV is of another Mind he is for building a Structure with the untempered Mortar of Rapin and Violence and Cementing it with Christian Blood wishing no doubt that all who oppose his designs had but one Neck as Heliogabulus did by the People of Rome that himself as a Lasting Monument of his Glory might have the Honour of cutting it off which shews the very Spirit of Jesuit-Counsels Pardon Reader this Digression if it may be so termed in a History of this Nature for where a Man pretends Conscience he is inclined to one side or other and ought to have the Awe of Religion of what persuasion soever he be upon his Mind favouring that party to which he inclines But Lewis XIV is of a contrary Temper having his Hand against all whilst all mens Hands are more justly against him We will not determine what Orders he would give in relation to Turkish Mosques or Mahomets Religion But sure we are in all the Progress wherever his Arms have carried Destruction the Christian Churches of whatsoever persuasion have felt the Marks of his Irreligion and Sacrilege Nay it is affirmed upon credible testimony that when the numerous Host of Infidels over-ran Hungary and the Success was doubtful whether the Loss or Relieving Vienna should hazard or save the Eastern part of the Empire and Prayers were put up almost every where for the Success of the Christians Anno 1683. the Most Christian King 's Intendent at St Omers gave a severe Reprimand to the Bishop for having ordered publick Prayers to be put up and a Fast to be held on that occasion And when this Inundation of Barbarians were entered Christendom carrying Fire and Sword into most of the Emperor 's Herediditary Provinces with Slaughter Bondage and all the Outrages that can be Imagined insomuch that the flaming Towns and Villages seemed but one great scene of Fire and the cries of the miserable People rent the Skies which blushed with the Ascending Heat and Reflexion of Blood even then when all good Men were overwhelmed with Sorrow Lewis XIV brought down his huge Armies on the Front of the Empire to over-awe the Little Princes and keep their Troops for the Defence of their own Territories that they might have no share in the Glory by assisting the Emperor against the Infidels And Monsieur Seppeville was a Spie upon the Emperor's Affairs giving Lewis his Master from time to time an Account of the Progress of the Turks and of their Success and that the League between him and Mahomet IV. Emperor of the Turks might be as much shadowed as it was possible Monsieur Fouchay persuaded him to make a Diversion in the Spanish Netherlands thereby to divert the Forces of the King of Spain from Aiding the Emperor And here under pretence of Dependencies and other Matters frivilous and groundless in the Opinion of the Neighbour-Princes he swep'd away many Towns though even the Turks themselves had they determined impartially could not but have judged it not only Vnchristian like but also unreasonable Or else what could any unbiassed Man conjecture but that the Turks and the French King had combined to share the Empire between them Yet it would not have been so easie to have stopped an Inundation of Barbarians flushed with Victory as Lewis XIV imagined And who can tell but if they had prevailed they might have been by this time in the Heart of France and shewed him play at his own Weapons How unjustly this King took Luxemburgh and other Places in the Netherlands few are ignorant even when it was least suspected any Hostilities would have happened But that great City could not suffice the Ambition of this Prince for he sent his Dragoons Abroad when Spain was altogether unprovided and under Pretence of Dependencies swept away whole Provinces compelling the miserable Villages who had been ruined by a lingering War to part with the small Subsistence they had reserved for the Preservation of Life under pretence of Contribution by which means many of them perished in their Houses and in the Fields when they had eaten all the Unclean Things they could find and those that refused had their Houses fired about their Ears and their persons Tortured to make them confess where they had hid their Treasure or Goods so that some of them died under the Tormentors Hands By which it appears that Lewis XIV shewed his Zeal to the Church in Dragooning as well the Papists as the Protestants and even those of Flanders which above all are accounted the most zealously Devoted to the Romish Superstition and this by way of Surprize whilst the Emperor of Germany and the other Princes his Confederates as has been hinted were acquiring Glory at the point of their Swords For this Monarch cares little for ingaging his Armies it ever having been seen that he has gained little or nothing by the fair dint of the Sword And indeed if we consider how easily many strong Towns have been delivered up to him by Garrisons that were able to defend them the World cannot but conclude false underhand Dealing has been a main Advancement to his Conquests by which Methods his vast Treasures have been frequently shrunk and his Subjects Estates stretched upon the Tenters to recruit them Upon this a French Rhimer descants as it was found in a Billet laid on the King's Dressing Table and Englished thus Thy Grandsire Harry the Name of Great he bore Thy Father Just but thou' art Lewis d'Ore A Lewis d' Ore is a piece of
Cardinal of Furstemburgh that he attempted to leave Bonne sending in order thereto his best Moveables to Mentz Nor was Lewis the Great free from Apprehensions of his own Subjects Revolting which made him draw his Guards near his Person and publish an Ordinance for the hindering the meeting of the New Converts in several Provinces of his Kingdom and for the putting in Execution the Edict of October 1685. and to raise the Ban and Arrear Ban of the Isle of France many small Skirmishes happened on the Frontiers during the beginning of the Campagne the French attempting to Surprize and Burn Bopert were beaten off and many of them killed and soon after some of the Troops of the Land-grave of Hesse Surprized the Garrison of Lintz and cut them off And notwithstanding Liege had purchased a Neutratrality at the cost of One hundred and thirty thousand Crowns and the suffering their Cittadel to be demolished the French who scorn to be Slaves to their Words or Oaths ranged up and down in their Country and gathered Contributions under a slender Pretence that the Cittadel was not demolished so soon as it was agreed on by the Treaty of Neutrality and were forced to shelter their Convoys and furnish even the Troops that were oppressing their Country with such Ammunition and Provision as they could spare The Palatinate by this time growing somewhat too hot for the French Complexion they resolved to doe what Mischief they could before they should be obliged to abandon it and amongst others upon quitting Fredericksburg they set it on fire and ruined the Fortifications of Cassel But now the City of Liege finding the Misfortune of it's Neutrality and being pressed by the Emperor to declare either for the Confederates or France for he would allow no Neutrality it declared for the former and secured the French-Resident with divers Officers and their Arms as Hostages for the safety of their Minister in France The Count de Rabenac the French Ambassador was likewise dismissed the Court of Spain and Furstemburgh got into Mentz and the French Garrison of Strasburgh attempting the Siege of Oberkirk was beaten off a Captain with divers others killed and some of Note wounded On the 19 of April 1689 Lewis XIV caused a Declaration of War to be published in the City of Paris against the King of Spain and sent orders to break down all the Bridges on the River Sambre from Chastelet to Maubuge and so to Landrecy the Garrison of Luxemburgh commanding all the Country that depends on them to bring in their Provisions that exceed a Store for three Months on great Penalties flattering them that after the Expiration of that time they should be other ways supplied But for a brief Account of the Actions of Lewis XIV in his late proceedings the Emperor gives us these passages amongst others in his Letter to the King of Poland viz. Your Serenity will have sufficiently understood by our former Letter how unjustly and treacherously the Crown of France violating the Treaties of Westphaila and Nimeguen and the 20 years Truce concluded a few Years since hath invaded us and the Empire at a time when we expected nothing less But the Inormity of this Invasion is infinitely Agravated by the horrid Cruelties and Barbarities they continue to excercise in the Places they have possessed themselves of pillaging whole Towns and Countries which to preserve themselves surrendered upon Articles and afterwards payed the Contributions imposed upon them contrary to the Faith given them and confirmed by the King himself or the Dauphin and afterwards destroying them with Fire or Levelling the Walls and Houses to the ground and carrying away the Inhabitants bound as Slaves in a manner only practised amongst Barbarians and forcing them with Threats of Death to follow the French Army unto other parts not sparing the stately Houses and Palaces of Princes which had been preserved for Ages in the bloodiest Wars and not with-holding their Impious hands even from the Churches and excercising many other Cruelties and Inhumanities such as are seldom Committed by the Turks themselves and which can be hardly found in any History to be practised amongst Christians Which as they most deservedly Excite the Hatred of all Christendom against France so they especially lay a necessity upon us of providing for the Safety of the Roman Empire and of using all means to free it from unheard of Violences and Oppressions c. Thus we have the Word of an Emperor to confirm what we have set forth nor did his Electoral Highness of Brandenburgh find himself less aggrieved and in April 1689. caused his Declaration of War to be published against France in which amongst other things he sets forth That desiring nothing more than that the publick Tranquillity of Christendom might be preserved and that his own Subjects might under his Government enjoy the Benefit of Peace but that the French King having against all Right and Justice not only attacked the Roman Empire but having likewise possessed himself of whole Circles and Provinces and destroyed the same in a most barbarous Manner never before heard of amongst Christians with Fire and Murthers and other execrable Cruelties and threatned the Countries of Brandenburgh and his Electoral Highness's Subjects of Frankendale with the same Inhumane Treatment which he has begun even already to put in Execution and having committed other the like Attempts upon his Electoral Highness and his Allies as well within as without the Empire directly contrary to the Treaty of Peace and Truce in order to the total Ruine of the Roman Empire His Electoral Highness having regard to the Resolution of the Emperor and the Dyet at Ratisbonne is obliged to make use of the Power which God and Nature have put into his Hands and to take up Arms for the Defence of his Subjects and for the opposing with all his Force the perfidious Attempts of France And so proceeds to forbid all Commerce upon very great Penalties And now the English not to be behind-hand with other Nations the Knights Citizens and Burgesses assembled in Parliament waited upon his Majesty of Great Britain on the 26th of April and presented him an Address in the Banqueting-House wherein amongst other things they declared That whenever his Majesty should think fit to enter into a War against the French King they would give him such Assistance in a Parliamentary Way as might enable him under the Protection that God Almighty has ever afforded him to Support and go through with the same To which His Majesty was graciously pleased to return this following Answer viz. I receive this Address as a Mark of the Confidence you have in me which I take very kindly and shall endeavour in all my Actions to confirm you in it I assure you That my own Ambition shall never be an Argument to incline me to engage in a War that may expose the Nation either to Danger or Expense but in the present Case I look upon the War so