hand acquir'd thereby many Creatures it is a Maxime which has long since succeeded well with them and particularly at the Court of England during the last Reigns those Emissaries have labour'd with so much zeal and heat and return'd so frequently to the charge doubling the Dose when there was occasion that they often succeeded and by those means have opposed themselves to the best Designs which the Emperor and the soundest part of the Empire could have had But suppose that the Empire had been in as good an harmony as it is at present through the good Union there is betwixt the Emperor and his Princes and that France had nothing to do but with the Empire alone I maintain that by only setting it self in a posture of Defence on the side of Germany it might make it self Master of a good part of the Spanish Netherlands if its Neighbours oppos'd not themselves to it before the Emperor could remedy it Besides that since the taking of Luxembourg the passage is partly block'd up to the Germans and all that they could do were to draw near to Burgundy and to Alsatia or form some considerable Siege to draw the Arms of France that way but as that would have hel'd the Germans long in hand the French King would notwithstanding do his business in Flanders But if England had had on its Throne as it has at present a King well intention'd for the welfare of Europe and the particular good of his own People he might alone stop the French King in the apprehension he has of landing Men on his Coasts in his own Kingdom and this truth is so certain that Lewis the XIV as powerful as he has been as high as he would seem to be has never undertaken any thing that way but after he had consulted the Kings of England then Reigning and even Cromwell himself while he usurped the Government of the three Kingdoms Thus we have seen that this Monarch before getting into Flanders had sweetned the Court of England by the means of his Honey he taught them to speak French and to like whatever he did undertake and quietly to let him so fast advance that at last it had no longer been in the power of the English to drive him back I know that France alone knows how much this has cost it but what matters at what rate so one obtains ones Desires Thus the most Christian King having dispos'd England on that side and having strength enough as doubtless he has to set a considerable Army on foot on the side of Germany besides that of Flanders that he is in a conditi-to hazard a Battle with the Imperialists and their Allies if these last had the ill fortune to be beaten as that may happen the Success being various it is certain That then the Germans would have much to do to rally again into any Body that were capable to do any advantageous Exploit that Campaign for the good of Flanders there being nothing that wastes more the Troops that are compos'd of divers Members and under divers Chiefs than the ill success of a first Campaign And there needs sometime but one Ally to decline the common Interest like the Pin of a Carriage to put all the rest out of power to do any thing and to break the best Designs which might have been form'd and it would be in such like occasion that the Pride of France would swell and that the usurping Torrent would over-run its bounds more than ever on the Netherlands which would be without hope of Remedies if they were to wait for succour from Germany as it may easily be judged by what I have said and which might easily have happen'd there being nothing impossible in it Moreover France which has most strong Reasons to be on its guard and to always fear has long since so well provided for its Frontier places on all sides that it will require of its Enemies almost a whole Campaign to carry one only of any importance Since France has left the way to Italy the King is so fully persuaded that the Conquest of the seventeen United Provinces of the Netherlands would facilitate him the ways to that of Europe but particularly of the Empire that he has apply'd himself wholly to it and has always endeavoured to amuse by illusive Promises part of those very Provinces while that he render'd himself Master of the other parts under the Dominion of Spain having first lull'd England asleep France requiring only the favour to decide alone that Dispute with Spain But that Lewis the XIV might accomplish that first Design on the Spanish Netherlands there was a necessity that the States of the United Provinces which had a notable interest in the preservation of the Neighbouring Provinces under their lawful Prince should give their helping hand to their ruine or at least should look on that Monarch without moving till he had come on their Frontiers But there was but little likelihood of that wherefore the French King foreseeing well that those States would never fall in that Lethargy nor would permit to have their hands ty'd up while a conceal'd Enemy approach'd them and penn'd them up close taking from them little by little all those Places which were to serve them as Bars It was for that very Reason that that Monarch did on the sudden alter his mind and beholding according to his Desires what he had long expected a Catholick Prince on the Throne of England who had for divers years been in his Pay allowing him considerable Pensions when yet he was but Duke of York and consequently did entirely possess and obsende him He made use of the ill Disposition of the new King in his Concerns with the States General so that it was no longer difficult for the French King who waited but for that moment to accomplish his Project thus those two Kings the one push'd on by his Ambition the other by his ill Inclination join'd together to Exterminate the Seven United Provinces under the fair and specious pretence of Religion and of Extirpating of Heresie that the other Catholick Princes who were concern'd in the Preservation of the United Provinces might not oppose themselves to such an holy Work and so lull them asleep If that business had succeeded to Lewis the XIV he had without striking one blow render'd himself Master all under one of the Spanish Netherlands and after that made use of all the Forces of his Kingdom together with those of his Conquests to enter into Germany and directly March to the Empire follow'd with an Army of more than an Hundred Thousand Men what Prince of the Empire or the Emperor himself could have disputed the Business with him or have put a stop to his March But for so great a Work it was necessary to fasten England firmly to his Interests and to pull down the States of the United Provinces which was the chiefest Business it not being likely that Soveraigns who so well know
their own Interest as do those States should permit Lewis the XIV to advance one Foot of Ground more than he is already being but too forwards all that Monarchs fair Promises and his kind assurances of Friendship remaining without effect not being able to win them to be deceiv'd And perceiving that his Credit was at an end â—n those Provinces that all the Propositions of the Count d'Avaux his Ambassador were suspected â—nd that he was still entertain'd with much Circumspection as Lions are fed still pulling the hand back finding himself discover'd â—nd cried down not to lose any more time to flatter and amuse â—he said States being not able to â—ccomplish his ends that way he â—esolv'd to ruine them at the same time that King James the II. got on the Throne he knowing well his Genius was satisfied that there wanted nothing but a Golden Apple to amuse him and to follow that itching desire which that Prince had to render himself Absolute Master over all his Kingdom to alter the Laws and the Religion of it and to feed him before hand with the hopes of the Spanish Indies that he might no longer find himself oblig'd to Assemble his Parliament who approv'd not of his Proceeding noâ— of that great Alliance he had with France which under what shape soever it was represented to them did always appear hiddeous During all that long Interval anâ— till there were a fair occasion tâ— perform that great Design thâ— French Emissaries did continually pour their cold Poison in the English Court which was quaff'd oâ— in large Draughts by some of thâ— Grandees which they endeavour'd to Digest without noise seeing that at the same time they thus under-hand set forward their Masters Interest others who were not at such a distance provided themselves with an Apple against draught as did many others in all the Courts of Christendom It was in this contagious time so infected with the French Lewis D'Ors that Europe was to tremble and that all honest people that concern'd themselves in the common Cause of the good of Christendom were to shake at the very sight of that weight which was going to crush Europe to pieces seeing that its general loss had immediately follow'd that of the Seventeen United Provinces the Emperor nor the King of Spain not being then able to prevent nor put a stop to that Torrent which had chang'd it self into a Deluge from which not England it self had been Exempted in its time if afterward it would not have danc'd to the French Flutes and obey'd the Orders of its Ambitious Monarch I am willing to make use of these Terms seeing that all those that are Pensioners of France are so but to Execute his Orders and to Work to increase the Grandeur of Lewis the XIV not to oppose his Interests but on the contrary Sacrifice their Honour and their Lives to them so oft as the Good and the Interest of France should require it If ever Lewis the XIV had obtain'd his end and had made himself Master of the Forces of the Seventeen Provinces as he plotted it in his greedy Imagination through the King of England's Means there had then been no ways left for this last to retire though he should perceive his Error as Charles the II. had done and he must either by fair or fouâ— means have gone on with that he had begun through a weak Complacency and then the Most Christian King had rais'd his Voice and Arm at the same time and had spoken in Magisterial Terms to all the Princes of Europe neither had that of England been left for the last but had been oblig'd to submit to the same Fate with all the others as a Reward for all the good Services that he should have render'd him I once again repeat that the Designs of France were not new that long since Lewis the XIV had had them before him even before that James the II. had got on the Throne and during his Brother's Reign he luckily made use of the Dutchess of Orlean's Management who was Sister to both the Kings Charles and James But the First of them who had continually before his Eyes the Tragical end of his Father and who was still very sensible of the sufferings and troubles of his Exile had much to do to resolve upon it and the Apprehensions which he had of his People did retain him and hindred him from Assisting France in all things as he was solicited to do and he at last did abandon it as we did see by the Peace which he had made with the States of the United Provinces and then he seemingly did relinquish the Interests of his Ally not to Prorogue his Parliament who very plainly did forsee the danger in which the Nation was going to fall had France continued its Progress as it had began in 1672. and the years following After the Peace of Nimeguen the Kings great Design against the United Provinces remain'd as buried during the remnant of King Charles his Reign but he soon rais'd it again for at King James's Ascending the Throne France gather'd new Vigour and beholding there so good a Friend with whom he was tied in Religion and Inclination Lewis the XIV fail'd not to strike the Iron while it was hot and during the Three or Four Years of his Reign the French Emissaries gave divers Assaults and set all Hands to work the French Ambassador Barillon made great Largesses to all those whom he thought propper to do his Master Service the Curtisans tasted of the Cake as well as divers Ministers at Court thus all unanimously did labour to perswade James the II. so soon as he was King to second Lewis the XIV in his Designs divers not knowing them there needed no great Perswasion to attain it because that Prince was already sufficiently inclin'd to it of himself and at that time of all Employs that of Messenger was the most necessary there was nothing seen but such kind of Persons on the Road from London to Paris and from Paris to London till the Treaty was finish'd of which the chief matter and knot of the Business was the ruine and destruction of the United Provinces All the Religious Orders and above all the Jesuits did take a great Interest in that Business and already cried out The Town was their own there was a perpetual motion among them the Ships that cross'd the Seas on both Parties were throng'd with those Zealots and Apostolick Postilions thus were all things in motion for the Good of France and for the Advancement of its Monarchs Designs some through Interest some through Zeal and others through meer Ignorance This Business thus built up with Lime and Stone concluded and resolv'd on betwixt the Two Kings Lewis the XIV the better to compass all things was desirous to strengthen himself towards the North but having lost the friendship of the Sweeds for having fail'd in keeping those Treaties which had formerly pass'd between the
as he believ'd by a strict alliance with England having no more to manage nor to fear from the United Provinces I leave to guess what he had and might have done and how far he had push'd on his Ambition I maintain that then the Pope with all Italy the Emperor with the whole Empire and Spain with all the Riches of the Indies had not been of power to hinder him from making himself Master of all Europe There is but England alone then that is Capable to make the most Christian King alter his Designs and that could not happen but by such a lucky Catastrophe and so unexpected as that which has lately happen'd there under the Reign of William the IIId For there was requir'd to be Sitting on the Throne in order to such a Change a Disinterested Prince Zealous of the Glory of God and the good of Christendom Jealous of the Usurpation which Lewis the XIVth had made in Europe Incorruptible Magnanimous a Man of Counsel and Execution understanding well his own Interest and who had been highly provok'd by France that he might not hearken to any accommodation nor yield any thing to the prejudice of his Allies This is what we find entirely in that Prince who has newly Ascended the Brittish Throne wherefore so soon as this Heroe had pass'd over into England and that a happy Success had seconded his Great Designs we have seen Lewis the XIVth become motionless on the sudden as formerly did Atlas at the sight of the Medusa's head which was shew'd him by that Generous Perseus The Foundation on which the French King had built his Grand Design the strict Alliance which he had with James the Second having once given way all the rest of the Fabrick is fallen to the ground and his Castles in the Air have gone into Smoak having no hopes to take any Measures in his Designs with this his present Britanick Majesty who to cut off all his Hopes and stop all his Proceedings has driven out of England all the French Emissaries resolv'd never to hearken any more to them in the Design he has to restore the quiet and tranquility of Christendom and to maintain Europe in that Deliverance which He has lately procur'd to it by his only Elevation to the Throne I prove my Axiome by that which follows When a Town is Besieg'd and that at the approach of its Deliverer its Enemies abandon it and their Designs miscarry they retire and though the Heroe which has caus'd its deliverance be not yet enter'd that Place it is publish'd abroad that the Place is Reliev'd as really it is So Lewis the XIVth having a Design of Conquering Europe to Depose the Lawful Soveraigns thereof and to Sacrifice all Christendom to his Ambition as it is no longer doubted it being a Truth but too well averr'd and known That Usurper has no sooner seen William the IIId Proclaim'd King but that he has abandon'd his Enterprise and chang'd his Design and in lieu of destroying the Powers of Europe has had no other thoughts but of preserving himself and his Kingdom I joyn to the coming of William the IIId to the Crown of England the strict Alliance there is between his Majesty of Great Brittain and the States of the United Provinces as also the Union of the Emperor with all the Princes of the Empire I confess that it has been a great Business to have freed Europe from the danger which threatned it to have dispers'd in a Moment all the great and pernicious Designs of an Ambitious Prince that on all occasions made no scruple to break his Faith when that Crime agreed with his Ambition and Interest who notwithstanding his Word given to the Contrary back'd with his Oath has neither spar'd the blood nor the ruine of so many Thousands of Christians in the bare Opinion that he ought to do it for his Interest 's sake and to weaken his Enemies having not spar'd even his own Subjects And if we return to the Primary Cause we cannot but believe that the Heavens wearied with so much Injustice with so much Cruelty and enormous Crimes and with so much blood-shed which Cries for Vengeance has at last rais'd William and Mary on the Throne and suggested a good Union amongst the Princes of Christendom to stop the Barbarous Course of Lewis the XIVth But it is not enough to have reduc'd the Lyon that Sack'd Europe to get into his Den his Claws must be pair'd also and his Teeth pull'd out that hereafter he may do no more harm and that his Power may be limited that he may no longer Desolate our Countries that he devour no more the Innocent and that the most Christian Oppress no more the Christians Lewis the XIVth's Policy and Interest in the Condition he is at present reduc'd is to gain time to see whether any Change would not happen in England nor no Contestation in Germany wherefore he offers in all places he can a Neutrality that he might find in those Princes that should not declare themselves some Mediators or to speak more properly Intercessors near the Emperor and the King of England as well as near the United Provinces in the fear he is of a total downfall if England and the Empire continue as they have began and as it is to be believ'd they will do according to all appearance if they love their quiet their preservation and their own Interests as well as the good of their People I confess that much has been done especially by the King of England to have deliver'd Europe at present without drawing his Sword but the future must be thought on and the means must be taken from France of any more threatning Europe to set it in a right Ballance with the House of Austria or at least in a Condition of having need of its Allies and not put an end to this present War which is kindling in all places 'till that be perform'd To succeed the better in it and to animate the more all the Princes of Europe they ought to cast up what France has Usurped from them the dammage they have receiv'd by it and that which they may receive hereafter and never lay down their Arms 'till they all have had full satisfaction for the more it shall be forc'd to restore the more will its Soveraign be weakned I set in the first Rank the Pope who by all the Catholicks is consider'd as the head of the Church Christ's Vicar on Earth St. Peter's Successor the Common Father of all Christians the Dispencer of Celestial Graces and who being consider'd as such ought to be fear'd respected rever'd honour'd and obey'd as to the Spiritual laying aside the Contest which is among the Catholicks themselves concerning the Temporal and not withstanding that Lewis the XIVth names himself the Eldest Son of the Church and the most devout Son of the Soveraign Pontif what Mortification has not the good Father receiv'd from him since his coming to the
Trade with Holland it seems that it would be a good piece of Policy to make him expound himself for it would be a breach which his Danish Majesty would make to the Alliances and he would be failing in his Faith in the Treaties to consent that Officers should be drawn out of the Troops of his Allies besides it seems as if the Affairs of Europe could not permit at this time any Neutrality to any Prince under what pretence soever that being granted Denmark ought to make his Choice and in his Choice to consider well the advantage he draws from the United Provinces the Trade and Profit that results from it to his Subjects and the advantage that the King's Treasure receives by the Entries and Exportations and let them take care not to fall again in the same Consternation in which they were the last year for scarce would the Affairs settle again a second time on the contrary he can draw no Succour from France in the present Condition it is and though it promises to keep it in the possession of Holstein that can be but a Chymerical Promise seeing Lewis the XIVth can no longer preserve his own Provinces nor keep his Cities part of which he undermines through a foresight he has to be oblig'd to abandon them at the approach of so many Enemies Thus ought Denmark Inviolably to joyn it self to that which is sollid which is Uniting with the United Provinces have never any thing to unravel which may break the Alliance nor give occasion to come to a Rupture and follow their Interest as the Shadow follows the Body and generously contemn some pitiful Pension ill pay'd at the best which France offers it is a broken Reed which will hurt his hand and a Will'oth ' Wisp which leads to a Precipice Let his Danish Majesty but represent to himself the advantage of being free and that a King ought to depend but of God and of his own Sword it is good being in a Condition of making Choice and of following ones true Interest without being tied by Pensions which are but gilded Shackles that are not the lighter for it Sweed which the King of Denmark has continually at his heels and who has no Cause no more than many others of praising Lewis the XIVth nor to have any Consideration for those Powers that shall Allie themselves with that Monarch who detains from him the Dutchy of Deux-Pont and considerable Sums of Arrears due to him which he would never pay in spight because his Sweedish Majesty would not continue with him the Alliances which had been Contracted The same will happen to Denmark if they take not care beforehand But when it once finds it self deceiv'd then will it have recourse to the States of the United Provinces and to the Emperor but perhaps a little too late mean time it cannot be thought that the Emperor and the Princes of the Empire will look with a quiet temper on the Alliances of the King of Denmark with their common Enemies nor even that he should remain Neuter for still that is the way to serve him indirectly and to give the People the means to carry into France all the Provision that it will stand in want of their Merchants growing Rich by the Spoil of those that Fight I would gladly see how the King of Denmark would defend himself when his Allie Lewis the XIVth shall ask him for Powder and Salt peter for his Money which is that he has most need of at present Mean time it is easie to judge that that would be a great prejudice to the Enemies of France and that it would deprive them from a great advantage which it is likely they might obtain by their Enemies want of Ammunitions wherefore in such a favourable juncture the Allies will not endure any thing to their prejudice nor that can impead their Enterprizes It is much better for Denmark immediately to embrace that party as being its true Interest than to deferr doing so 'till France has had a blow The Most Christian King reckons much on the King of Poland his Allie there is betwixt them a very great Commerce of Money and of Letters that is no News every body knows it though one should not make it ones business to prye into it those Messengers which so frequently pass to and fro shews it sufficiently and no body is ignorant that the French Interest is entirely predominant in that Court That King Employs for the most part French Men for his Ministers in the Foreign Courts The Queen is still French in her inclinations and heart as well as by Birth that is a quality which all the Princesses of France carry along with them when they are Married out of the Kingdom they meddle with Affairs and that which she understands not well how to mannage she is inform'd in by Monsieur the Marquess of Bethune her Brother The Grand Seignior has been infinitely oblig'd to him during the late Campaigns and though that War would not produce any great advantage to the King of Poland yet he is for no Truce he has his particular Reasons which he is not oblig'd to tell If that Prince after the deliverance of Vienna had gone forwards with his Victories long since had the important Fortress of Caminieck been in his hands France flatters him with words that are but wind assuring him that it shall be put into his hands by agreement but who knows whether it will in a little time be in a Condition of keeping that promise It is an unhappiness for Christendom that Lewis the XIVth has found so much Credit in that Court and that the French Coin is so well known in those parts It were well for Prince Jacob if the King his Father did cleave more closely to the Emperor than he has done since Vienna and that preferring the General interest of Christendom to that of France he should give his helping hand towards a Truce to prevent by that means Europe from falling into a greater Mischief than it is lately got out of But let us turn our selves towards its Deliverer Though the English are a Nation which is naturally War-like Undaunted and whose Courage frequently runs even to rashness they loving that Liberty in which they are Born yet it may be said that England during the Reign of its two last Kings has Conrributed to the downfal of Europe into Slavery when it could have prevented it with one word through a deceitful hope that it could save it self from ruine either by the Situation of the Country and by its Forces or by the Illusory promises of France All the Princes of Europe have always pris'd very highly the Alliance with England even in the time of the Emperor Charles the Fifth as we have seen before those Kings have held the Ballance in Europe so long as they have not swerv'd from their true tnterests and that they have not sold their freedom to France Henry the VIIIth did compare Spain
Two Crowns France having no Prospect of patching them up again it took the Party of Denmark though it was nothing near so advantageous to it as was the other To render it capable of employing it on all occasions he sent thither the Count of Roy there to Command with many Officers and Men but after the Siege of Hambourg that General being retir'd the French Party did much diminish besides France could not Unite it self with that Crown in so streight an Alliance as it wish'd for and that it were necessary because of those Measures which Denmark was to keep with the United Provinces on the account of Trade without which it cannot do well neither can it turn it to so good an account with France it having at home all that it could draw from thence so that all that France can at present draw from that Alliance can but at the most come but to a Neutrality provided the Emperor and his Allies will give their consent Lewis the XIV was reckoning upon that when he assur'd James the Second that the King of Denmark would not disturb but on the contrary favour them in case that the Swede should join with their Enemies It was on that Pillow Lewis le Grand did gently lull asleep the King of England together with an imaginary shower of Gold which was to drop from the Spanish Indies But how great soever a Corruption is at Court there are still some good and the soundest part of the Kingdom of England could not relish that streight Union which was betwixt their Prince and France it clearly did see that on its side the design was to Change the Religion to Subvert the Laws Establish an Arbitrary Power and a Despotick Government which tended to the loss of their Liberties and Priviledges and to depend one Day on France which gave them suspicion of every step which the Ambassador Barillon and the Queen did make in that respect but their Zeal did so far transport them that at last the People the Lords the Protestant Clergy open'd their Eyes and thought of delivering themselves and with them all Europe from those shackles which were forging for them and the Heavens granting the Petition of all Christendom and in particular of the English Nation it sent them a Deliverer of whom Providence hath so miraculously seconded the Enterprise so as to prevent them from falling under an hard Bondage and under the Government of a suppos'd Prince a Foundling whose Father and Mother remain still unknown which was to be preferr'd to the Lawful Heirs of the Crown such a black and unheard of Supplanting did oblige the Princess of Orange as the next Heir to the Kingdom to intreat the Prince her Husband to second the just Request of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and of the most sound part of the Kingdom Thus the Prince by an Admirable Conduct and a Divine Dispensation did bring things about according to the Hearts desire of the Nation without effusion of Blood and set Succession in its due and right Channel which was to have been interrupted by the means of that suppos'd Child for the Princess having been Crown'd Queen by Succession and the Prince King by Acknowledgment after the Throne had been declar'd Vacant through King James the II's Desertion it happen'd very luckily for the Deliverance of Europe which I shall prove in what follows as being the Subject of this small Book In the first place I lay down for an indisputable Truth That if Lewis the XIV and James the II. had compass'd their Designs and Ends the United Provinces had been entirely lost through the breaking down of their Banks for that way did he design to begin to take away all means from the Inhabitants of ever recovering from that Dissolution in which he design'd to Reduce them after they had made themselves Masters of the Spanish Netherlands after which I cannot perceive how Europe could have prevented falling under the Yoak of the French Dominion having had the King of England for Second and Invading the 17 United Provinces and rendring Tributary in imitation of the Grand Seignior the most remote of those Provinces which he could not conveniently Govern. I have already given to observe that the Empire alone could not hinder him by reason of the great number of heads all of different and distinct Interests of those Princes that Compose it On the other hand Spain being not in a Condition to raise Forces sufficient to oppose it nor all of them together capable to resist the rapid motion with which France would invade them after its First Conquests For to represent to us what France can do and what it has been able to do in all times we need but to frame to our selves a right Idea of things from Francis the First to Charles the Fifth we shall easily judge that it has alwaies been dreaded this last was both Emperor and King of Spain together he was Master of the 17 United Provinces while they were entire he had Burgundy and the French County as well as Alsatia he had an absolute power over the Princes of Germany and of Italy This Monarch was without dispute one of the Greatest Princes not only of his Time but of his Age a Great Commander undaunted in all his Enterprises daring Perils and Dangers in which he had frequently been and add to all that his Personal Valour a good Head-Piece and fit for Counsel encouraging his Armies by his Presence having under him the most Experienc'd Captains and the best Generals of his Time and such Armies that had been tried in all parts of Germany Italy and in the Low-Countries besides Fleets on the Mediterranian and on the Ocean With all those Forces his Courage and his Treasures though he had to do but with Francis the First who alone was his Capital Enemy and who was nothing near so powerful as his Successors have been and as Lewis the XIVth is at this time or at least as he has been of late years having no other Revenue but about thirty or thirty five French Millions whereas this present has four times as much Mean time with all this disproportion of Forces and of Wealth this Emperor durst not attack him 'till first he had joyn'd himself with Henry the VIIIth of England and with the most considerable Princes of Italy By this we find that even from that time the Emperoor did highly consider the Kings of England and that if Francis the First King of France had first secur'd Henry the VIIIth's Alliance Charles the Fifth had not dar'd to attack him and with all the advantages that the Emperor had of his side Francis the first stood out against him and without the Misfortune that befell him at the Seige of Pavia where he was made Prisoner he had given work enough to his Enemy I pass from Francis the First to Lewis the XIVth much more powerful in Forces in Treasures and in Demains than his Predecessors seconded
Pontificate either in his own Person or in that of his Legates even upon the dead Corps of one of them The extinction of the Regalia in France is also a great grief to the Holy See as well as the violence us'd against divers Convents for having address'd themselves to the Pope and taking advice of his Holiness The change of divers Abbies into Commanderies by the King 's own and proper motion is also a Contempt which he has aggravated by the forbiddance he has made to the Bishops not to Consult the Holy See even in Cases of Conscience and in such businesses as wholy concern Religion but the most sensible of all was that blow given to the Pope's Authority in the Year 1682. by the Clergy Assembled at the King's Command that being with the Infallibility the finest Flowers of the Triple Crown The Insolent Discourses held in a Plea by Monsieur Talon by which he accus'd Pope Innocent the XIth the most worthy that has for divers years been seated in St. Peter's Chair of being a Schismatick and a Supporter of Hereticks And this for not having receiv'd Monsieur Lavardin as Ambassador at Rome who made his Entry into that City in such an offensive and proud manner that no Ambassadours of Obedience durst ever have done the like having caus'd himself to be accompany'd by a small Army rather than a Retinue as if he would have Besieg'd the Vatican And though this Marquess is at full Liberty at Rome the Nuncio Ranucci is detain'd in a place call'd St. Lazarus for fear he should retire from Paris incognito Finally the unjust seizure of the City and County of Avignon threatning besides all this to send some Troops into the Ecclesiastick State to oblige the Pope to revoke the Bull for the abolition of Quarters and that for his Confirmation of Prince Joseph Clement of Bavaria to the Archbishoprick of Cologne After so much insulting which the Pope had receiv'd of which one might make a whole Volum either in his own Person his Authority or in the Person of his Legates the Pope has judiciously done to shew his Resentment against Lewis the XIV not to relinquish any of his Rights but maintain the Rank which he has in the Church and in the World by that Spiritual and Temporal Power which God has put into his Hands and in having till now so generously and justly oppos'd himself to all the French Violences by which he has acquir'd a Glory which shall last as long as the World amongst all Parties and his Memory will be Rever'd even after his Death He ought to go on in those right Paths which he has begun and as Common Father Exhort all Catholick Princes to put themselves in a Condition to abate the Pride of the French King as a means to bring him into a way of Salvation To this purpose the Pope ought with all his Power to Assist the Catholick Princes that he may co-operate in so good a Work as his Holiness has done to the Empire against the Turks and to solicite the Switz-Cantons of the same Religion by his Legates to Join themselves to the Emperor and Empire to confirm that Deliverance which Europe begins to enjoy Thus the Pope being restor'd to his former Dignities Veneration and Authority let the King his most devout Son make him some Reparations and Attonements for those Faults he has committed and be so humbled that for the future he may be Wiser and out of Power of doing the like again nor of Insulting over the Popes and Soveraign Pontifs of the Catholick Church and in case the Pope found no amendment in that King nor no likelihood of bringing him back to his Duty he ought while he is busie in a War to lance forth his Excommunications against him and to give his Kingdoms over to the Spoil of his Enemies the male-contented Ecclesiasticks with which his Kingdom is fill'd will reduce him by Reason and will make him repent having ever meddled with the Rights of the Church The Emperor and the Princes of the Empire have more Reason than all the other Powers of Europe to keep the French King in such a condition that he may no more annoy them nor aspire to the Imperial Crown Lewis the XIV has a long time endeavour'd to turn the Empire into the French Family as in the time of Charlemain it being a great step for him to rise to that of all Europe that is the Reason why since Francis the First the French Kings have always cross'd the Emperors Elections But Lewis the Great could find no way to that Conquest but by the total Ruine of the United Provinces to which he could not attain but by the assistance of England thus his Imperial Majesty and all the Princes of the Empire being fully satisfied of this Truth and that nothing but that Revolution which has lately happen'd on the Brittish Throne could cause the rash Designs of the French King to Miscarry The Emperor ought no longer to remain in suspence nor put off to another time those Advantages which the Heavens present to him at this time to recover all that France has Usurp'd from him To this purpose his Imperial Majesty should begin by a Truce which he ought without delay to conclude with the Port seeing that they offer it on very honourable and advantageous Conditions and let the Emperor hold as suspicious Persons all such as shall Advise him to the contrary they are Persons that sin either through Ignorance or Malice who understand not the true Interests of the Empire or too much those of France he is not to doubt but that all the Princes of the Empire will concur to the same Design of abasing the Greatness of the French Monarch of which there are but very few Powers in the Empire that have not great cause of complaint and just pretensions to frame and perhaps more to pretend to than ever to recover again if France be not kept in a condition of never offending them more of domineering any longer nor of boasting any more that it can give Peace to Europe when ever it pleases This last War by the rupture of a Truce which the French King had sought after with so much earnestness because it confirm'd Luxemburg to him and a part of Flanders during Twenty Years and which he has infring'd without any Cause than his desire to come to the Assistance of the Grand Seignior who was going to ruine by the vast Conquests which the Emperor made on that Infidel His Most Christian Majesty was going hand over head to his Assistance finding himself supported with a close Alliance with James the II. formerly King of Great Britain this Rupture has given new pretensions of War to all the Princes of Germany by the most barbarous and inhumane proceedings which the French Troops have done there and I doubt much whether a just Parallel could be drawn from the Cruelties and Desolations that this King has caus'd to be committed
Barren after some considerable time she might be Divorc'd according to the Laws and Statutes of that Kingdom All the study of the said Queen was but most particularly a little before her death to labour hard for the advantage of France and at the last her greatest business was to intercede with the King for that Money which was come to Cadiz on the French Account in the last Fleet that was come from the Indies And we have seen that contrary to the right Policy and the true Interest of Spain the Queen succeeded in it for that Money ought to have been sequestred under the King's Seal 'till the Council had seen what Course the Affairs of Europe had taken in these present Conjunctures Spain had no want of pretences it had just cause to have kept back without blame those 14 Millions which of truth were Counterbands seeing that no strangers have the liberty to negotiate in the Spanish Indies under pain of Confiscation 'till his Catholick Majesty had seen what satisfaction he should receive from France on all his other Demands and Pretensions and in case he receiv'd none he then might have been his own Pay-Master as it is frequently practis'd even amongst private Persons but what I say here is after Death the Physician seeing the Birds are flown there is no remedy for this time but for the future the Persons concern'd will consider better Another of the late Queens application was to bring the Catholick King to accept of a Neutrality which France offer'd him that joyn'd to the recovering of the Money we lastly mention'd was the only business of the Ambassador Rebenac But while they were thus acting against the Interests of Spain God has taken that Queen away in the prime of her Age before she could render that last piece of service to her Uncle the French King which was so necessary to him at this present How can it be help'd I confess that it is a very great loss for France but it must comfort it self as Spain has done for parting with the 14 Millions France ever slye and cunning made use of a specious pretence to oblige the King of Spain to accept of the Neutrality endeavouring to perswade him that by that means he should become a Mediator betwixt France and the Empire as if the Most Christian King did not know the strict Union there is betwixt those two Monarchs which make but one House and Family Thus their interest being but one and that of the Emperor being the same with that of the King of Spain which is well known to his Christian Majesty let any judge whether France being certain of that Truth which is not to be doubted had a desire to referr her Concerns into the hands of the Catholick King except she were at the very last gasp not knowing what Saint to Pray to But the most probable and the most receiv'd Opinion is that the French King makes his last Efforts to diminish the number of its Enemies and though Spain should be so weak as the French Partisans would make us believe it is and that at most it could but stand on the Defensive part The French must have two Armies on foot to prevent the Spaniards from advancing The one in Catalonia and the other in Flanders and peradventure a third in Navarre which might take him up at least Fifty Thousand Men which he might have employ'd elsewhere If Spain had accepted of that Neutrality and if Lewis the Great mean time had overcame the Empire what would have become of Spain afterwards after all what assurance has it that France would more religiously observe the Neutrality than it has the Peace and the Truce and who had been its Caution that when the French King had had an opportunity he had not fallen on some place of the Netherlands and it may be on Navarre and Mentz all at one time when the Governours were fallen asleep in the arms of a Neutrality as in a deep Lethargy as they did presently after the Peace of Nimeguen in which the Marquess of Grana was reposing at ease filling his Purse by sparing the entertaining of a number of Forces which were so necessary to him while he had to do with so dangerous a Neighbour who no longer remember'd Treaties than while he Sign'd them because they were at that time of use to him he never wanting afterwards Pretences when he would break them A Neutrality in this juncture of time is very hurtful to Spain and to its Allies but above all to the Emperor and to the Empire Spain would do as if when Two Brothers were Attack'd one should look on his Companion with foulded Armes while he was divested of all expecting his turn to be next whereas if they both defended themselves at once they might either overcome their Enemy or drive him away What assurances has Spain that if the French King could overcome the Empire he would not Attack it next as he would doubtless do Wherefore his Catholick Majesty ought to make a last Effort in this present Conjuncture he ought to consider that France has taken from him Lisle Valiencienne Cambray St. Omer Erre and many other places in the Provinces of Flanders Namur Hainau Luxembourg and in fine the City of Luxembourg which was as a Bullwork to the rest of Flanders and of Brabant as well as to the other Provinces while England remain'd with folded Arms against its own proper Interest having been brib'd to let France do what it pleas'd King James as zealous a Catholick as he was did consent that Lewis the XIV should seize on the remainder of the Netherlands while he should fit himself with the Spanish Indies as his Ally had promised him he should thus did they without any scruple divest their Catholick Neighbours of their Rights and shar'd them amongst them without casting of Lots If that Prince had not abandon'd the Throne that Neutrality might have been very considerable but now the Case is alter'd in quitting of the Crown he has Disarm'd himself he is now but like a Wasp without a Sting which buzzes about but cannot sting Spain has lost in him a conceal'd Enemy and a false Ally who sold to France that which belong'd not to him and that consented to the seizing on Goods wherein he had no share but God who laughs at the design of Men would not permit that those of James the II. should come to perfection Providence for the safety of Europe has bestow'd his place to another Prince and has conducted as 't were by the hand William the III. to the Throne he according to all appearance is to be the Instrument through which God will give rest to Christendom Thus Spain in lieu of an Enemy which it had in James the II. late King of England recovers in his Successor a good Friend and Ally faithful to his Word and who being join'd to his Allies may all together labour effectually to establish the King of Spain in
are as honest as themselves so that it will not be difficult for the French to impose upon them but as to Europe we are now in a time that no Prince will have any Alliance with France much less with any of its Princesses as Wives seeing there is general complaint of them for having caus'd Disorders in all the States they came to The United Provinces are highly concern'd to keep low the French King to take from him all desires of molesting them nor to go so far towards them as the Conquest of the Netherlands of Spain It was always the aim of Lewis the Great according to the advice of Mounsieur de Sulli formerly Ambassador of France into England in the time of Henry the IV. who gave him to observe that the conjunction of the United Provinces with France was the only means to restore it to its ancient Grandeur and to render it Superior to all the rest of Christendom Formerly the French Kings had their folly fix'd on Italy believing in imitation of the ancient Romans that it was the Gate they were to pass through to attain to the Universal Monarchy but having found that way too Thorny and that Country having frequently been the Church-yard of the French they have grown weary of it and have turn'd themselves towards the Low-Countries where hitherto Lewis the XIV has succeeded better and he had found out a means to continue there his Progress if the Heavens had not prevented it by the change in England I know that the United Provinces had had nothing to fear if the Netherlands of Spain had been in a condition to maintain themselves with their own strength or if the late Kings of England had had the same Sentiments which Queen Elizabeth had and if Charles and James the Seconds had said to Monsieur Barillon that which that Queen said to Monsieur of Sulli That neither France nor England nor any other Prince had any thing to pretend to the Netherlands that she should not suffer that the King his Master should have any thoughts that way Perhaps the Lewis D'Ors were not currant in those Days in that Great Princesses Court as they have since been and that that Princess did better understand her own true Interest than divers Kings who have succeeded her have done But thanks to Heaven those Kings are pass'd and God has at this present seated on the Throne a King who understands very well his Interest and that of the Nation much better than did his Predecessor and who following the Traces of that Great Princess was no sooner got to the Government but he sent back Monsieur Barillon to tell his Master that he had nothing to do in the Netherlands and that he would prevent him from any further Usurpation in those parts The Elevation of that Great Prince on the Throne of England is a fatal Blow to the greatness of Lewis the XIV we must have so much Charity as to confess it but at the same time it produces the Quiet and Repose of all Europe it is a Bit clapp'd in the French Kings Mouth which retains him from a running so far as to the United Provinces and that shelters them from all his Insultations and from all his Threatnings and furnishes them at the same time with Means to resist him vigorously and to clip his Wings so short that he may not fly any more beyond his just bounds it is a bitter Pill which he is forc'd to swallow and which will make him to disgorge and to re-establish those bounds which he had remov'd during his Neighbours weaknesses in a profound and universal Peace The United Provinces as well as divers other States find themselves deliver'd now from that danger that threatned them and it is now their turn to speak aloud finding themselves assisted by so powerful an Allie as England they may demand the Restitution of all the Places of the Spanish Netherlands which have been taken from them since the Peace of the Pireneans because those places serve to preserve them and as bars that puts a large Territory betwixt them and so dangerous a Prince besides that the damage they have sustain'd in their Trade is very considerable and gives them cause of great pretensions France has supplanted and deceiv'd them in divers occasions and it has endeavour'd to lull them asleep especially in the last place by the Count d'Avaux its Ambassador through vain promises which Father Limojou the French King's Almoner call'd Illusory and in which there was no sincerity nor good Faith as we have seen in all his Proceedings after the Peace of Nimeguen and that it has been but a continual Usurpation That this King might the longer and with more safety enjoy those Places that he had Usurped a Truce was patch'd up for Twenty Years during a full Peace which he likewise broke in few Years after After he had Fortified those Conquer'd Places made his Alliance with James the II. and destroy'd by an unheard of Cruelty which is natural to him the Protestants in his own Kingdom as he assures by his Declaration of the revocation of the Edict of Nants that he had made that Truce but in order to destroy them notwithstanding all the Protestations to the contrary which the Count d'Avaux had made to obtain it and to deceive with more ease in the opinion that after he had made an end with those Protestants whom he accus'd of having Dutch Hearts and Intelligences with them 't was to that end that the seisure tended which was made of all the Books and Papers belonging to their Consistories throughout the whole Kingdom to know the Sums they had sent into Holland during the War and seconded by the King of England then Reigning he should over-run the United Provinces and leave for a time those of the Spaniards considering them always the only ones that could cross his Designs and hinder him from making his great Conquests over Europe But now Fortune has turn'd her back to him and by the event we find that he has not cast up right and that his Most Christian Majesty had not reckon'd on the Elevation of the Prince of Orange to the Crown of England by that fall of his Ally who has broken all his Measures and destroy'd his Alliances open'd a way to the States to attack him in his own Hold and to reduce him to Guard his own Kingdom no longer to think but to defend himself it is no longer now the time of the Peace of Nimeguen which was made upon its consideration but through the Treachery of France as the baseness with which it has observ'd it as well as the Treatises of Trade shew us sufficiently and that the King had quite another aim than the States-General had propos'd to themselves at the conclusion of that Peace and afterwards of the Truce Seeing that the King has violated all Trading and declar'd War to the United Provinces on the frivolous pretence and on the account of
in the Palatinate with those that the Grand Seignior has made in Hungary and though this last place has been for a long time the Seat of War yet at the Retreat of the Infidels they have not committed any thing near the like Extortions nor us'd the same violence that the French have done in those places that they have abandon'd in the Palatinate and in the Country of Juliers and of Cologne and if there were no other cause but this though there are but too many more there would need in my Opinion nothing but the sad spectacle of the French barbarousness to animate all the Princes and Members of Europe to a good and firm Union with the Emperor which will be the only means to preserve themselves and to prevent France from doing the like hereafter Though France is brought low through the opposition of England in all its Designs yet has it not forgot its ancient Maxims which have formerly succeeded so well it will not fail to put into practice all the ways imaginable to corrupt some Member of the Empire and to break that Chain of Unity there is amongst them to endeavour thereby to put a stop to the Success of their Arms as it frequently happens that a broken or rotten Pin disorders a whole Carriage and hinders its March. France's Crafts and Deceits being already so well fore-known it is requisite that the Princes of Europe should provide against that plague of Corruption which has so freequently infected divers Courts of Christendom divers are to expect that not only Presents will be offer'd to them as well as Pensions but equivalents also to their Pretensions only to remain Neuter But the Example of the Archbishop of Mentz is yet so fresh before our Eyes that it ought to be a fair Mirror for the Princes of the Empire to Represent to them to the Life the Character of France and of its Soveraign which all that proceeding represents in Lively Colours with the breaches of Faith of that Prince even to those that Side with him If ever any Soveraign did Act against his true Interest and that of the whole Empire it was that Prelate but then again never was Prince worse rewarded nor had greater cause to repent of his Fault by the ill usage he has had in his Estate which had reach'd to his Person also if he had not shelter'd himself from the Threats of the French Envoy But he is not the only Living and Speaking Example the whole Series of time that has pass'd since the Peace of the Pireneans is but a continued Thread of the falsehood of France So that whoever shall catch at the Golden Bait which the King lays for them will have time to Repent themselves as the Elector of Mentz has done and divers others who have fair'd no better But if by a Fatal Chance it should so happen that some Member of the Empire were so unadvis'd as to be Corrupted by France and separated from that Union which is its true Interest though it is not to be expected now that those Princes are so well enlightned that Person ought to be consider'd as a rotten Member Discarded and Treated as an Enemy though he would remain Neuter on this ground drawn from the Holy Gospel Qui non est pro nobis est contra nos Of Truth the Union of the Empire is of great Importance and I must confess that all its United Forces may be very powerful but they would be much more if the Emperor could resolve to grant a Peace to the Grand Seignior that so having no longer any thing to fear from that Part his Imperial Majesty may have his Hands at liberty against the Second which has been much more formidable and more dangerous than the First and consequently cause all his Forces to Advance towards the Rhine which would produce Two Effects the one that such considerable Armies would increase that Terror in which France is already Secondly it would by that means much better maintain that Union which is already in Europe with their Allies Besides it is a general Rule which the Emperor ought always to observe never to have Two Wars to maintain at the same time especially when he can avoid one of them as it is in his power to do at this present with great Advantage and Glory It is not to be doubted but that the French King does highly dread such a Truce that he will openly and most powerfully Act with the Turk and the King of Poland and that he will have his Emissaries conceal'd at the Court of Vienna that will labour under-hand and on deceitful Pretences to prevent the Imperial Council from concluding any thing with the Turks Envoy at this present at Vienna To be sure he will neither spare Money nor Religion to attain his end therein To the Grand Seignior he Promises to enter into Germany with a Powerful Army to Ransack there as he has done already thereby to draw the Emperors Forces on that side and give the Great Turk the means and leasure to breathe again and to Assemble new Forces to endeavour to regain what he has lost To Teckeley and the Princes of Transilvania Walachia and Moldavia without enquiring of what Religion they are he assures considerable Sums to continue the War begun he has frequenly sent some to the First and if the others would break off with the Emperor and join with the Grand Seignior he would furnish them wherewith to Pay their Forces As for Poland that will perform enough for France if its King will but remain quiet and not attempt any thing as he has done since the two last Campaigns and prevent by great pretensions the Conclusion of a Truce with the Port. Lewis the XIVth has Springs that are sufficiently strong to detain him and to obtain what he pleases of that Crown perswading it that it is not suitable to her Interest to have the Emperor prosper so much c. At the Court of Vienna the French Emissaries Labour through indirect means to perswade the Emperor's Councellors that his Imperial Majesty may with ease maintain the War against the Turk and France and that it concerns his Glory not to slacken in so fair a Course that he ought to go and plant the Cross of Christ on the very Battlements of the Seraglio at Constantinople but such pretences are at great distance from their Masters thoughts for it is very certain that the French King had rather see once more the Crescent on St. Stephen's Church at Vienna than the Cross on St. Sophia at Constantinople Lewis the XIVth at this time is like to a Man in great extremity of danger that is ready to sink he makes Vows and promises all things to get out again and takes hold of all that comes in his way to keep himself some moments longer above water Thus this Monarch has turn'd himself all manner of ways to find out a Mediator that would assist him to get out of
the danger he is in He has address'd himself to the Elector of Brandenburg the King of Spain and to the Pope but at this present knowing of no better shift and finding that all the Christian Princes do abandon him he has apply'd himself to the Turk And finding that no Christians will any longer confide in him he covers himself with a false Mask of Hypocrisie he Remonstrates to the House of Austria that the Roman Catholick Religion is in danger and that it perishes with him that it has been through his Care and Zeal so many Conversions have been made in his Kingdom and that he was ready to have done as much in England if there had not been a League made against him But with all these sugar'd words he at the same time Leagues himself with the Enemy of Christendom at that very time he enters the Palatinate and puts all to the Fire and Sword he offers to the Grand Seignior to joyn himself with him on the defensive part and not to lay down his Arms 'till the Sultan has recover'd Hungary At the same time he offers to the Pope that if the Emperor will agree with him he will lend him forty Gallies to aid him to Conquer Constantinople and offers to Re-establish King James in his Kingdoms provided that the Emperor and the Empire will Conclude a Peace with him All these are fair Flowers that conceal a Serpent under them who will certainly sting the hand of him that will but touch them These are the French King's Deceits which he has Inherited from Mazarine to trye whether by such fair Offers he might not break the Union of the Empire But Flanders the Palatinate the Countries of Juliers and of Ments Treves and Colen remain unreprochable Testimonies of his Breaches of Faith and of his Hypocrisie he having nothing less in his thoughts than the Christian Religion For those Offers which his Ambassador Guichardin has made to the Port ought once for all to undeceive all Christendom of that Catholick Faith of which he makes so great a shew But not to rest any longer on the Illusions and Deceitful Offers of France which ought to be suspicious to all the Princes of Europe I say that the Emperor and the Empire ought not to stop in the very beginning of so fair an Opportunity which England offers them nor lay down their Arms 'till they have recover'd Burgundy the French County Alsace but particulary Strasbourg Philipsburg Fribourg Brisack and all that France has Usurp'd on that side of Europe Moreover Reseated the Electors Palatine of Mentz Treves and Colen in their Territories and Rights with an entire reparation of all those Wrongs and Damages which he has done them by his Forces and Incendiaries Resign Cardinal Fustenberg into the hands of the Emperor or of the Pope to answer to those things that shall be alledg'd against him and that he is already accus'd of But that which is most just and necessary is to restore the Duke of Lorain to his Dukedom which ought to be restituted in the same Condition that it was in the time of his Predecessors Policy requires that this Dukedom should be separated from France because that would be a means to weaken France It would be to fix a Thorn in its foot thus to Re-establish the Successor of the Ancient Soveraigns to support and uphold it that it might no longer be liable to fall under the Forces of France nor to acquiesce to any Treaty prejudiciable to it nor so much as to have any great Communication with them because that the Duke of Lorain being once restor'd to his Estates neither he nor his Sucessors ought never more to trust to the French Kings but ought daily to set before their Eyes with what perfideousness his Predecessor has been Treated Those Great Victories which that Prince has gain'd with such great Success and Glory over the Turks the re-union of Hungary to the Empire which is due to his sole Valour does well deserve that all Christian Princes should Conserve themselves for this Great Heroe Joyn to that the Obligation which his Imperial Majesty has with that Duke by his Mariage with the Queen of Poland It is not to be doubted but that William the IIId King of Great Brittain will Contribute with all his Power to so Just and Laudable an Enterprise even necessary for the quiet of Europe and that his Britanick Majesty will impose it as a Law on Himself to bring it about if he once undertakes it But to Compass this with more ease The Duke of Lorain ought before all things else to propose a Liberty of Conscience in all his Dominion and free Exercise to all Protestants in all the Cities and Borroughs where there are any That will be a means to draw on his side the Assistance of all those of that Religion as well as that of the Allies and of their Subjects in laying aside the Counsels of a Company of Monks which continually beat over and over in divers Catholick Princes Ears to make them act the contrary and to push them forward to a Persecution which will ever prove hurtful to their Persons and Sates The Duke of Lorrain ought not to let slip so fair and so favourable an occasion which perhaps will never offer it self again in all his Life time nor that of his Successors his Interest and that of his Family obliges him to embrace it and to soliciate the King of England as well as the Emperor and those Princes who Compose the Diet of Ratisbone who are already inclin'd to it by the barbarous Proceedings of the French they doubtless will not fail to espouse the Interest of that Prince in consideration of those Services which he has render'd to Christendom and to labour in his Re-establishment as well as in that of others the rather because that Lorrain being in that Duke's Hands will serve as a Bar to the Empire but as I have already said that Prince ought to Labour particularly to bring the Emperor and his Council to grant a Truce to the Grand Seignior without which I cannot see his own Concerns can have any good Success This he ought to consider before sending back the Turks Envoy lest he should slip the Occasion for after that every one will take new Measures The Emperor never had nor never will have a fairer Occasion to entirely Master France than that which at this present he is furnished with by the coming of William the III. to the Crown of England which seems as if God had produc'd that Effect during the time of that great Union oâ— the Princes of the Empire to give an Opportunity to his Imperial Majesty to Subdue France being thereunto excited by the ill Usage they have all receiv'd from the French King and the barbarous Proceeding which he has us'd of late in Germany which has been but a continuation of those Cruelties which his Dragoons have exercis'd in his own Kingdom which has not
his ancient Rights and Dominions and cause France to Restore what it had Usurped from it This Foundation being as firm as it is certain Spain ought to join with those who labour for its rest and quiet by that of all Europe to put in a readiness all its Forces in Catalonia Navarre and above all in the Netherlands where the People must copiously bleed their Purses towards the Entertainment of an Army capable to defend it self against the French Assaults let them consider the barbarousness and inhumanity with which they have Treated those Towns that have submitted to them under good Capitulations and such Conditions as had been made by the Dauphin himself let them make Reflections on the cruelty with which the French King has treated his own Subjects against the promis'd Faith and if after that the humour takes them to submit to the French Yoke it may then be said of them as it is said of certain People that they are born to slavery Let Spain further consider the great pretensions the Dauphin thinks to have on the Netherlands on a material Right notwithstanding all the Oaths and Renunciations which the King his Father made of them at the Pirenean Peace and at the time of his Marriage with the Infanta on the Isle of the Phesants at the foot of the Altar communicating at the greatest and sublimest Mistery that is in the Catholick Church which he has afterwards slighted and if he defers taking Possession of what he pretends to it is not that he renounces it time deprives him of none of his Rights it is only for want of an opportunity which has not yet been favourable enough to him and that his Neighbours the States of the United Provinces are a stumbling block to him and a perpetual Obstacle which he could never so well mannage as he did James the II. because those Lords know better their Interest than that poor Prince ever did We know that Flanders has always been a bone to pick for the French Kings and so long as they will find something to gnaw on they will not think of going to Spain but if they had once made an end of that bit and well digested it if that which employs them on that side was over what would hinder them from pouring all their Forces into Catalonia and Navarr and from entring with a powerful Army into Spain and even March to Madrid wherefore the Spanish Interest is to strongly unite it self at this present with the Empire with England and with the United Provinces to solicite them not to lay down their Arms till they have recover'd Burgundy the French County all the Usurped Cities in Flanders Hainau Namur and Luxembourg without which it will in success of time relapse again into the same Straits as it hath been in the Reigns of Charles the II. and James the II. of Great Britain if once for all it delivers not it self at this present from that danger whence it seems already to revive and recover by the sudden change of Affairs in England Mean time let the Spanish Council be wary not to be deceiv'd by the French Illusions who promises all when troubled and stands in need of help who ruines it self with Promises but restores it self again with performing none of them more abounding in Crafts than in Integrity the danger pass'd a Fig for the Saint let the same Council hold for certain that when ever the French King has any regard for Spain it is a sign he is at the last gasp and that he knows not whither else to go If that Council can be fully perswaded of this Truth it will not fail to advise his Catholick Majesty to make all his Efforts and to send all the Money he can possible to the Governour of the Netherlands to put themselves in a condition to sustain the first fury of the French after which there is nothing more to fear for the Allies will give it so much Diversion even in France it self that its King will no longer think of going to attack others for so soon as the Germans and the Hollanders shall have clear'd the Countries of Colen Juliers and Treves the Governour of the Netherlands shall not want Men as he has already experienc'd by that Succour which has been sent him But the Marquiss of Guastanaga ought not to grow supine upon this he ought to put himself in a condition to help himself he may by that acquire a great deal of Glory in the condition those Provinces which depend of his Government are in above all he ought very well to supply the Town of Namur its Neighbour has Courted it long because it opens to him a fair and large way all along the River Meuse I add to what I have said before concerning the Death of the Queen of Spain that seeing she has left no Successor through her Barrenness to the Crown of Spain so necessary for the good of the Kingdom and for the quiet of Christendom it appear'd as a kind of necessity for the one and the other that the King should forthwith think of entring into a second Marriage with some Princess of a fruitful Family I know that policy to endeavour to recover Portugal would advise to look on that Infanta but the sterility of the Queen of England her Aunt has made the Council of Spain to fear falling into the same accident again if France had had more Princesses to Marry that had been worthy of his Catholick Majesty's Choice as Spain may thank God it had not it had not fail'd to propose them to make up a match in the hopes thereby to have obtain'd a Neutrality because all those Marriages have always produc'd some advantages to France But having nothing to fear that way Spain has been oblig'd to turn towards Germany and to fix in the Family of the Prince Palatin Nienbourg there was still remaining there a beautiful Princess Sister to the Empress and to the Queen of Portugal though elder than this last she had no mind to go to Portugal by some certain fore-knowledge she had such a Marriage would have contracted a more strict Allianee betwixt those Powers and Portugal the German Ladies are usually fruitful that Princess comes not from a House whose Interest should make them to desire Barrenness there being therefore nothing to fear on that side there is no question but that the Queen-Mother has us'd all her Power as well as the Empeperor to accomplish it and that on the contrary the French Emissaries have labour'd with all their subtleties to prevent it but their ill fortune has been such that their Credit has been very inconsiderable in those Courts they are like those petty Saints who no longer work Miracles and whose Feasts are over their falsehood is but too well known already all over Europe wherefore now they begin to take their March into tke new World to the Kingdoms of China and of Siam where those good People believe that all Persons