was never any good understanding betwixt him and his Colleague the Count of Kinski nor the Marquess de los Balbases His allowance was 3400 German Florins a Month and he had always several persons of Quality in his Retinue Count Anthony of Oldembourg arrived at Nimueguen on the seventh of September but as he was preparing to give the Mediators and all the other Ambassadors notice of his arrival the Imperial Ministers acquainted him that they expected to be preferred before the English Mediators That Ambassador perceiving this to be contrary to the custom that was established at Cologn would not consent to the Imperial pretensions He well foresaw that not only the Mediators would not have admitted his Visit but likewise the French and all the other Ambassadors who maintained the honour of the Mediation and therefore he gave no notice of his arrival gave nor received no Visit and continued still incognito at Nimueguen but that hindered not but that he met at conferences and especially at all places where they played That Count is the Natural Son of the last Count of that name to whom the King of Denmark was heir as being of the same family but the present Count hath obtained a vast Estate from his Majesty with the Government of the County of Oldembourg he is of the Order of the Elephant and very handsome his presence courage rich equipage and vast expence shewed him to be a great person but his civility and free humour made him beloved of every body insomuch that the Assembly of Nimueguen lost much by his departure which was eight months after his arrival The end of the Campagn drawing now near the Confederates did not think that the French forces would effect any considerable Enterprize Nevertheless the Mareshal de Crequi assured the King that he would make him Master of Fribourg if his Majesty pleased The design appeared extreamly difficult But the Mareshal having obtained permission and all that was necessary for carrying on so great an Enterprize endeavoured to make the Duke of Lorrain believe that he intended some design upon Sarbruck and at the same time made a considerable body of men pass the Rhine at Brisac which on the ninth of October invested Fribourg and marching thither in great haste he forced the place to render before that the Duke of Lorrain could come in time to relieve it Octob. 1677 such was the consternation at Nimueguen among the Germans and all the Ministers of the Confederates that even after the taking of that place they could hardly believe that the Mareshal de Crequi durst have undertaken the siege Fribourg has a Cittadel strong by situation and fortifications the Town is great and well peopled because of the University that is there and the Emperour received a very considerable revenue from it but the consequence of that conquest was better known afterwards than at that time The Voyage that the Prince of Orange was preparing to make into England gave ground of various conjectures On the 17 of Octob. he Embarked at the Brill being accompanied with the chief of his Family and the Heer Odyke the Extraordinary Ambassador of the States-General who had not as it was given out given him a full power to conclude a Peace or make a new League On the 19th the Prince arrived in England where his Marriage with the Princess Mary Eldest Daughter to his Royal Highness the Duke of York was carried on so secretly that the first news that they had of it at Court was the conclusion thereof The news of this Marriage came to Nimueguen the 29th and seeing all the Confederates began to hope more than ever that England would not be long before it declared in their favours they made no more doubt of it after this Marriage And therefore all the Ministers of the Confederates complimented thereupon Ambassador Jenkins and my Lady Temple also who remained at Nimueguen after the departure of her Husband of which no man doubted but that the Marriage of the Prince of Orange was the cause whereof till then they were ignorant The affairs of the North went daily worse and worse for the Suedes especially in Pomerania Stetin was besieged from the beginning of Summer and was extreamly straitned The Danes had taken the Isle of Rugen And though Count Koningsmark routed them there and beat them wholly out of it yet the Town of Stetin deprived of all kind of relief and out of hopes of receiving any was at length forced to render to the Elector of Brandenbourg having given demonstrations of great Lovalty to Sueden and left to posterity an extraordinary instance of constancy and resolution Affairs were wholly at a stand at Nimueguen there was no meeting but for Play Dancing and Collations at the houses of the Ambassadors of France Spain Sueden and Denmark but the League which was signed at the Hague the tenth of Jan. 1677 8 betwixt England and the States-General to oblige the French King to make Peace on the terms they had agreed upon made all the Confederates hope that the countenance of affairs would quickly change to their advantage and that France would be at length forced to stoop or be overpowred by the multitude of enemies England in effect seemed inclined to an open declaration and the King thought it not sit any longer to reject the sollicitations of his Parliament wherefore he made a Speech to them in a quite different strain from that which was mentioned before he acquainted the two Houses with the League that he had made with the States-General for the preservation of Flanders and obliging those to a Peace who would not accept of the conditions that they had judged reasonable He laid before them the necessity of money for compassing those great designs He gave them some account of the moneys which he had received for the building and equipping of Ships and consented that the Supplies which the Parliament did give upon this occasion should be laid out by such persons as they should nominate But of all things his Majesty put them in mind of the advantages which England had reaped and still did reap from the peace it enjoyed whilst all Europe besides were in actual War For preserving so much happy success it was necessary that the French should be still prosperous and that by breaking the measures of the Confederates they might make their Ambassadors change their tone The taking of the Isle of Tobago of all the Vessels that were in that Port and the Ammunition which was in the fort the death of Binkes Admiral of Zealand and the utter ruin of that Colony were sensible blows to the States-General as the taking of St. Guillain during the rigor of Frost and Snow had terrified the Low-countries By these means the French King thought he might overthrow the projects of his Enemies Febr. 167 8 Monsieur de Somnitz Ambassador and Plenipotentiary from the Elector of Brandenbourg on February 25. died at Nimueguen in the sixty and
Confederates And by three different Articles Spain demanded the same thing of Sueden France said That the King being contrary to Justice and the obligation of the Treaty of Aix la Chapel attacqued by the Catholick King his Majesty had reason to pretend that in respect of that Crown all things should remain in the condition that the fortune of War had put them into without prejudice to his Majesties Rights which were to continue still in full force and power The Danes pretended that France should give them compleat satisfaction and reimburse all the charges of the War and by four Articles they demanded of the Suedes that betwixt the two Kingdoms and two Kings all things should be restored into the same condition as they were before the War that was ended by the Treaties of Westphalia and that the Treaties of Rochilde and Copenhagen should be abolished and that all the Provinces which had been dismembred from Denmark and Norway should be restored to the Danes that all that the Suedes possest in the Empire should be taken from them that Wismar and the Isle of Rugen should remain in possession of the Danes and that for the security of his Danish Majesty and Kingdoms they might put Garisons in all the strong places of Sueden that lye upon the frontiers of the two Kingdoms The propositions of France in reference to the Danes were That seeing the King had not declared War against the King of Denmark but he runs contrary to the Treaty of Copenhagen made in the year 1660. for performance whereof the King was Guarantee the King of Denmark had attacqued Sueden His most Christian Majesty was ready to desist from hostility on his part provided that the aforesaid Treaties and those of Westphalia were re-established In respect of France and Sueden the States General demanded That Maestricht Dalen Fangumont and all the dependencies of Maestricht should be restored to them That they were willing for the publick peace to sacrifice the inestimable losses whereof they might pretend reparation and that for avoiding all differences for the future the Treaty might contain a general and particular renuntiation of all sorts of pretensions There were afterward sixteen Articles concerning the full satisfaction to be made to the Prince of Orange in regard of what depended on the Crown of France and particularly the restauration of the fortifications of Orange that were ruined in the year 1660. and of the Castle demolished in the year 1663. the rights of Toll upon Salt and other Commodities as well upon the Rone as through the Principality of Orange the rights of Coyning of money of Laick Patronage for nomination to the Bishoprick the exemptions priviledges and other Immunities granted to the inhabitants of that Principality by the Kings his Majesties Predecessors and particularly by Lewis XIII The Estates General demanded nothing of Sueden but that the future Treaty might contain some regulations for obviating the frequent inconveniences that happened concerning Commerce France proposed to the States General That seeing the Union that hath always been betwixt the Crown of France and the States was only interrupted upon account of some causes of discontent which were easie at present to be removed and to be prevented for the future His Majesty was willing to restore the States General to his former amity and to hearken favourably to all propositions that might be made to him on their part even concerning a Treaty of Commerce And as to the propositions made for the re-establishment of the Prince of Orange the French Ambassadors made an answer to them but upon occasion opposed the pretensions of the Count D' Auvergne demanding that his Marquisate and Town of Bergen-op-zoom might be restored to all the rights of Soveraignty which the other Towns of Holland enjoyed conform to the Treaties of Pacification of Ghent The Elector of Brandenburgh demanded that France should make reparation for the damages that his Territories had sustained by the French Forces during the course of this War that all security should be given him for the future for the same Territories and that all his Allies should be comprehended in a general Treaty France made no propositions to the Elector of Brandenbourg besides those that were made to the Emperor and Empire which comprehended the full performance of the Treaties of Westphalia In all the propositions that the Suedes made to the Emperor the Kings of Spain and Denmark the States General and to the Elector of Brandenbourg they demanded of the one but the renovation of their former amity and good correspondence and of the others the execution of the Treaties of Westphalia and Copenhagen which contained the restitution of all that had been taken from that Crown Prince Charles of Lorrain to whom thâ— French King had granted the title of Duke with a general protestation made to the Mediators that the titles taken or given should be without prejudice caused his propositions to be made by which he said That as heir to his Predecessors he hoped from the Justice of the King that he would restore to him his Dutchies of Lorrain and Bar with their dependencies his titles records movables and effects taken from him and make reparation for the Towns Burroughs Castles and Villages that were ruined throughout all his Dominions But seeing the Ministers of the Confederates would not admit of the Sieur Duker the Envoy of the Bishop of Strasbourg whom the French King reckoned among the Confederate Princes the French Ambassadors made no propositions concerning Lorrain nor shewed any Plenary Commission for treating about the Interests of that Prince though much urged to it by the Confederates that by this means they might oblige the Imperialists to own the Minister of the Bishop of Strasbourg On the other side the propositions of the Duke of Holstein Gottorp which the Sieurs Vlkens and Wetterkop that Princes Envoys had put into the hands of the Mediators lay there without answer or being interchanged because the Danish Ambassador hindred the Minister of that Prince from being admitted as being an Ally of Sueden and protected by France and upon that account dispossessed of his Territories by the King of Denmark The Propositions of the Dukes of Brunswick and Lunenbourg were not made publick because the Ministers of those Princes kept incognito pretending to the character and rank of Ambassadors yea and these Princes wrote to the King of England for obtaining the effect of their Pretensions but what instance soever they made during the whole course of the Negotiation no Crowned head yielded to their demand I have here but inserted the substance of the first propositions of Peace yet thereby may be seen how unreasonable the demands of Spain and Denmark were seeing that not only the Mediators but even the Ambassadors of the States General thought them exorbitant The sixth of this Month Monsieur Stratman gave the French Ambassadors notice of his arrival who at the same time sent each of them a Secretary to make him
Court should authorise his Colleagues that the event might be the less laid at his dore The French Ambassadors sent three Gentlemen to return his compliment in the like terms of esteem and civility whom that Ambassador answered in French The same Gentlemen had Orders also to go wait upon the two other Spanish Ambassadors and to compliment them apart But it being just before insinuated that they had not as yet the character those Gentlemen were advertised not to give them the title of Excellence and for that reason Din Pedro de Ronquillo was not at home thô they went twice to his house and at dinner-time But Mr. Christin received the compliment without the least difficulty The Nuncio made no doubt but that if in the first steps that the French and Spaniards made there happened any thing that might give discontent to the French the Treaty might thereby receive great prejudice and therefore for preventing the same inconveniences to which the conduct of the Imperial Ambassadors towards the French had given occasion he so ordered mâ—â—tes that the carriage of the Spaniards should give the French no cause to complain So that that Mediator extremely zealous for the repose of Christendom hoped that by bringing the French and Spanish Ministers to a good and familiar correspondence together the affairs of the Peace would the more successfully be promoted Though the Marquess de los Balbases remained still incognito yet the French Ambassadors sent to compliment my Lady Marchioness and to desire audience of her They visited her separately and without much ceremony and so did all the other Ambassadors and their Ladies expecting till they could render her their publick Visits Of all the Ambassadors Ladies that were at Nimueguen the Marchioness de los Balbases was the only Lady that spoke not French but seeing she understood a little of it and that the other Ladies had no great difficulty to understand Italian from conversation and play they had no need of any Interpreter The progress that the French Tongue had made in foreign Countreys appeared at Nimueguen for there was no Ambassadors house where it was not almost as common as their Mother-tongue Besides it became so necessary that the Ambassadors of England Germany Denmark and other Nations held all their Conferences in French The two Danish Ambassadors agreed that even their common Dispatches should be made in that tongue because Count Anthony of Oldembourg spoke good High Dutch but not a word of Danes which his Collegue did Insomuch that during the whole course of the Treaty of Peace nothing hardly but French Writings appeared strangers chusing rather to express themselves in French in their publick ceremonies than to write in a language that was not so much in use as it July 1677. The Assembly now beginning to be formed and many strangers being with the Ambassadors at Nimueguen the Mediators on the second of July thought fit to renew the Writing that was spoken of before concerning the means of avoiding the inconveniencies which might happen upon the meeting of Coaches they likewise intreated the Ambassadors to command their Gentlemen upon severe penalties not to fight any Duels and all their servants not to make any disorder in the Town neither by day nor by night This was approved hy all the Ambassadors because of some Duels that had been already fought The Nuncio who was no less zealons for preservation of peace amongst the families which were to procure a general peace to all Europe made a like Writing in Italian which was signed by the Ambassadors in the same manner as that of the English Mediators was In thâ— mean time the Confederates raised all their Batteries in England and were not discouraged Their Ministers made new instances to the King of Great Britain That it would please him to recall the Forces that he had in the French Service representing to him that they were the cause of the loss of Mont-cassel His Majesty made them answer That in that Engagement there were none of his subjects in the French Army but the single troop of the English Gen d'arms wherein there were but seventeen English all the rest being French and that on the contrary the Dutch had two Regiments of Scots who had behaved themselves better in that action than any others of the whole Army That besides he could not recall his Forces from the French Service without declaring War against France seeing he had sent them thither before he was received to be Mediator and that desiring to retain that quality and only labour to procure peace he could not recall the one unless he likewise at the same time recall the others that he had in their service The Confederates had nothing to say to so just and reasonable an answer as that was and they found themselves disappointed of their hopes seeing that that powerful German Army that was to enter into France was put to a stand on the frontier by the Forces which the Marshal de Crequi commanded and so distressed for want of provisions and the parties of the neighbouring Garisons that it was obliged to retreat They conceived also so great jealousie of the King of England's equipping of a Fleet that they were in doubt whether on that side they had not as great cause to fear as to hope On the 13th of July there was an extraordinary Courier from England having Orders to Ambassador Temple to repair forthwith to London and accordingly on the fifteenth about five a clock in the morning he embarqued for that Voyage Every one had his several reasons concerning the hasty departure of that Mediator and could not agree whether it was a good or bad presage for the desired peace On the 16. the Marquess de los Balbases returned from Holland not well satisfied with the people of Amsterdam from whom he received not that favourable reception which he expected by reason of an opinion which that people had that the Spaniards for their own particular interests were the only cause of the continuance of the War Mr. Vlkens Envoy from the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp a Prince in League with the King of Sweden and who hath been dispossessed of his Territories by the King of Denmark rendered his first Visits to the French Ambassadors on the third of August and the same day the Count of Kinski and Mr. Stratman the Imperial Ambassadors visited publickly the Ambassadors of Spain who returned the Visit the same day The Nuncio ought to have been dissatisfied at those publick Visits made before the performance of that which was due to him as Mediator and Nuncio of the Pope Besides the French Ambassadors declared that at the very instant that the civility which was due to the English Ambassadors as Mediators was not rendered to them and that the Ambassadors of that Crown suffered those of the Emperour to have the precedency they would likewise re-assume the rank which they pretended to be their due without any respect to the Mediation
been more inclined to peace than any other not only because it suffered more by the interruption of commerce but also because it hath been more tender of its liberty having Magistrates disinterested and zealous for the Commonwealth Rotterdam had its advantage by the continuation of the War because there being but little or no Trade at that time in Holland but what came by means of the English all was brought to that Port as to the center of the Province and the most convenient place for them Nevertheless one of the most considerable Magistrates of Rotterdam so powerfully assisted those that were well affected towards the Peace that they gained almost all the voices of Holland The rest of the Provinces have found it always to be so much their interest to follow the example of that Province in matters of greatest importance that they still acknowledg that they owe their last preservation to its prudent conduct The Provinces of Guelderland Vtricht and Overyssel in which the Prince of Orange has acquired a great authority since the French King forsook his Conquests there durst not openly declare for peace because it evidently appeared to be contrary to the interests of that Prince but they referred themselves to what Holland should think fit to be done concerning that great affair The effect of all these Declarations was That the Hier Beverning received orders from the States-General secretly to acquaint the French Ambassadors that they accepted the conditions which that King was pleased to grant to them This Ambassador that he might act according to the intention of his Superiors who would not allarm their Allies gave the Count d' Avaux notice that he earnestly desired to discourse with him in private and that for that end he would fetch a walk alone upon the Rampart of the Town about seven a Clock in the morning because at that time no body would be there The Count d' Avaux failed not to be there and had an hours conference with him after which he gave his Colleagues an account of the result of that discourse which gave occasion to the Dispatches whereby the King was informed of the good disposition of the States General in consideration whereof his Majesty granted them ten days longer than the tenth of May as they had desired that during that time they might endeavour to perswade their Allies to accept of the conditions proposed as themselves had done The Marquess of Fuentes arrived at Nimueguen the sixth of May he is Son to the Ambassador of the same name who was in France after the Kings Marriage he came from Venice where he had resided Ambassador thirteen years and the Court of Spain called him thence that they might employ him in England but it was believed that the nature of those important affairs which were then treating at London was the cause why the Duke of Villa Hermosa detained him at Brussels that he might send him to Nimueguen there to fill the place of second Ambassador The Peace began to be so certain in Holland that the joy of the people appeared in all places who at the Hague expressed the same by shouting God save the States-General and the Prince of Orange the Peace is concluded It was not so at Nimueguen where the Confederates were troubled because they saw the effect which the conditions offered by the French King were like to produce They declared to the Mediators That it was impossible an affair of so great importance as that of the Peace could be resolved and concluded in so short a time as the French King had prefixed On the 20 of May a Courier brought to Nimueguen a copy of the Letter which the French King wrote to the States-General from the Camp at St. Denis The 18th the King acquainted them that with pleasure he was informed that they had sentiments conform to the sincere desire which he had of contributing all that could conduce to the establishing of Peace whilst he enjoyed the advantages that his Arms had procured to him and which he might still expect in the sequel of the War By the same Letter the King granted to the States-General the seventh Article of the Treaty of Commerce about which the Ambassadors had not agreed at Nimueguen and that he might fully remove the apprehensions they were in of the loss of Flanders his Majesty promised That so soon as by a Treaty concluded upon the conditions proposed they should return to his ancient Alliance and oblige themselves to be Neutral during the course of the War he would still in consideration of them grant the same conditions to Spain and that in the mean time he should not attack any place in the Low-countries but that he should always be ready to grant them that Barriere which they judged so necessary for their repose That if they thought fit to send Deputies unto him they should find him in the Neighbourhood of Ghent until the twenty-seventh of that Month. So soon as that Letter came to Nimueguen the Count d' Avaux went with two Coaches and all his Retinue to give the Dutch Ambassadors notice of the same The noise of this Letter and that publick visit which much rejoiced the people gave an alarm to the Ministers of the Confederates Every one of them dispatched Couriers the same day clearly perceiving that the conduct of the French would infallibly produce the effect which his Majesty expected from the States-General This beginning of Negotiation gave so large a subject to the conferences of the Confederates that the meetings which for a long time they had held were at that time doubled That Letter of the French Kings was the same day brought to the States-General by a Trumpeter whom his Majesty sent to the Hague and was there received with all the demonstrations of joy The States after four days consultation on the 25th sent their Answer by one of their Trumpeters whom the Kings Trumpeter conducted to the Camp They expressed in few words the profound respect wherewith they had received the Letter which his Majesty had done them the honour to write to them and testified the exceeding joy which they conceived from the sincere desire that his Majesty had of contributing to the peace of Europe humbly beseeching him to give credit to the Hier Beverning their Extraordinary Ambassador whom they would send to his Majesty to inform him how desirous they were of giving him fresh assurances of their sincere intentions for the Peace The Dutch Ambassadors having on the 26th received a copy of the answer of the States-General gave it to the French Ambassadors who sent it to the King by the same Courier who brought the copy of his Majesties Letter to Nimueguen his Majesty was well satisfied to find therein that the States-General fully corresponded with the inclination that he had for the Peace At the same time the Heer Beverning received orders to go within a few days and wait upon the King that he might be more
the late times had interrupted The Ambassadors of Denmark and Brandenbourg who could not but with great trouble see the great disposition that appeared for the Peace of Spain made the same day a vigorous Remonstrance to the Ambassadors of that Crown They doubted not but that the glory that was to be acquired in signifying the same constancy after the unexpected signing of the Dutch Peace would render them stedfast and unshaken in the observation of their Treaties of Alliance They said that their Masters desired nothing more than the repose of Christendom but that their Enemy proposed the Law to them instead of admitting a Treaty upon the conditions which might conduce to a General Peace These Ambassadors employed afterwards all their Eloquence to divert Spain from the course they saw it taking they represented to them That the constancy of that Crown was alone capable to reclaim those who had deviated from their duty through the influence of the Cabal and the levity of some who understood not how dear faith and sincerity ought to be to a Free State That what France left to Spain by that Peace in the Netherlands was rather to exhaust its Treasures than that they intended to leave that crown in the peaceable possession thereof That they hoped Spain would not yield to the common Enemy the glory of being more constant in favours of their Allies than themselves In fine that if their Masters found themselves forsaken and abused they would have care another time how they helped to quench the fire since they saw themselves so ill rewarded for their pains On the 24. the Articles that were made betwixt the two Armies were brought to Nimueguen They were both at the same time to draw off to an equal distance from before Mons but the Troops that blocked up the place were not to retire till two days after In the mean time there were various reports of the Ratification of the States-General All the Provinces at that time held their several Assemblies to give their resolutions as to that point to the States who seemed less inclined than the Provinces to keep their word and correspond with the exactitude with which France seemed to act in execution of the signed Treaty The Heer Beverning returned to Nimueguen on the 27. where having conferred with Ambassador Jenkins who had received new instructions from England he had audience of the French Ambassadors and would have them to understand that his Masters were so far engaged to procure the peace of Spain that they would be very glad to see the difficulties that hinder'd the conclusion of it removed before they ratified the Peace which they themselves had made and that his Majesty of Great Britain had by Mr. Hyde his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary whom he had sent purposely to the Hague made very pressing instances to them on that subject in favour of Spain The truth is the expressions of the Memoir which that Ambassador gave to the States-General on the 25th agreed not with the procedure that England had hitherto held for promoting of the peace That King made known to the States that he was surprised to understand that they had signed a separate peace without including Spain and without any Guarantee for the evacuation of the places within the time limited That since the new pretensions which France formed to the County of Beaumont and the Town of Bouvignes retarded the accomplishment of the peace his Majesty thought that the condition put into the last Treaty was fallen and that he and the States-General were equally obliged to enter into a joynt War against France That if the States would refuse to ratifie what they had signed at Nimueguen his Majesty of Great Britain offers to declare actual War against France The States-General having already made great instances to the King of England that he would use his power with the French King for obtaining for them the Neutrality of the Countrey of Cleves and Juliers the Ambassador of his Majesty of Great Britain by the same Memoir assured them That the King his Master knowing it to be no less necessary to the States that their Provinces should be covered on that side than on the side of Flanders he was ready upon that account to enter with them into what measures they should judg convenient and that the obtaining of that security depended only on themselves In the mean time the Forces that were newly raised in England for the assistance of the Low-countreys passed daily over into Flanders by Ostend Some of them at Bruges upon a mistake had suffered a Riot from the Rabble upon the account of Religion and the Flemings who are Catholicks were not well pleased with Heretical succors But the Spaniards who found in their Confederates and the King of Great Britain so great a disposition of maintaining their Interests rested satisfi'd and shewed no more desire for the conclusion of the peace They found some advantage by that delay for the French Forces being now by the Treaty of Mons retired out of the Spanish Territories attempted no enterprise and France being uncertain of the issue of the Spanish peace and of the ratification of the Dutch Treaties their Forces could not march into Germany where they had already ruined the affairs of the Emperor and Empire Besides the Spaniards by the debates which they started concerning the difficulties in which they were so well supported in some manner saved the honour of their Nation and they had at least the advantage of not receiving the Law without disputes and oppositions which was so far from rendering their conditions worse that it could not on the contrary but procure for them more advantageous terms On the first of September 1678. the French Ambassadors by an Express from Court received new instructions and in the conference which they had the same day with the Dutch Ambassadors they told them That for the good of the general peace they had power to remit in their pretensions So that next day the conferences were again renewed at the house of the Dutch Ambassadors who carried the propositions and answers back and for betwixt the French and Spaniards who were in several rooms The Articles in controversie were adjusted on the mornings and forenoons meetings Next day they continued but the difficulties that were raised concerning the condition of the places which the French King was to deliver up as well in respect of Ammunition and Artillery as of the Fortifications hindered the Treaty from any great progress Those whom it most concerned to prevent the peace with Spain omitted nothing that could put a stop to it and upon a pretext that France kept not to the sole Articles of the ninth of April they made great noise in England and engaged his Majesty of Great Britain so far by many proceedings conform to their intentions that in the sequel it would not be easie for him to abandon any of their concerns One of the chief
disposition to promote the common cause In effect they sufficiently perceived that they were engaged farther than they would have desired which made the Spaniard fear that if they accepted a Truce they might in a short time be abandoned by the greatest part of their Confederates On the fifth of May the news came by Letters from England that the Session of Parliament was broken up the 26. of the foregoing Month and that the King was fully satisfied with them though no Act had passed contrary to the Interests of France but that his Majesty of Great Britain had adjourned them till the 27 of May to consider of such means as might give a new countenance to the present affairs There came news also which gave some content that the first Ambassadors of the Emperor and King of Spain were shortly to come with the Popes Nuncio to Nimueguen where all affairs were at a stâ—â—â— because the Count of Kinsks had no 〈◊〉 to agree but on preliminaries until thâ—â—â—â—ing of the Bishop of Gurck the châ—â—◠〈◊〉 the Imperial Embassy The President Canon Envoy and Plenipotentiary from the Duke of Lorrain being come to Nimueguen on the 25th of May payed a visit to the three French Ambassadors in one of the Coaches of Don Pedro de Ronquillo who remained still incognito Mr. Spanheim who was at Nimueguen about the affairs of the Elector Palatine visited also the same Ambassadors who returned the Visits without any ceremony seeing this last had had the quality of Envoy in other Negotiations it was not doubted but that he carried the same character in this but it appeared afterward that he had only Credential Letters from his Master and therefore the Confederates would not admit him into their Conferences About this time the Elector of Brandenbourg wrote to the King of England concerning the Injustice that he pretended was done to his Ambassadors by France and the matter said he touched him the more sensibly that the decision of that difficulty was left to his Enemies without doing the lustice which was due to him and that he expected it from his Majesty of 〈…〉 Britain without which he would be â—â—â—ged to recall his Ambassadors from Nimueguen But that Letter and all the instances that were made upon that subject had no effect as to France which had not the same reasons as England had to condescend to those new pretensions On the first day of June 1677. Seignior Beliagua who had been Nuncio extraordinary at the Emperor's Court to incline him to contribute to the peace of Christendom arrived at Nimueguen by water from Cologne and came to the house that was prepared for him near the French Ambassadors the scarcity of convenient Houses not permitting him who was sent before to follow the express Orders he had to chuse a house in some part of the Town which might be equally distant from the French and Spaniards that he might give no cause of jealousie to either of those two Nations The arrival of a Mediator so disinterested as the Uncle of his Holiness ought to be gave hopes that his Mediation would much contribute to the promoting of the Peace because of the confidence that the chief parties concerned reposed on him Seignior Beliagua is of a very noble Family in Ferrara and rich in estate he is Patriarch of Alexandria and was Governour of Rome in the reign of Clement IX nor was that charge taken from him under â—â—â—ment X. his Successor but in exchange of the extraordinary Nunciature of Vienna from whence he was sent Mediator to Nimueguen by Innocent XI who at present fills the Holy See Although the allowance of great Nuncio's exceed not 370. Roman Crowns a month and that he was not well paid his Train was nevertheless splendid and his House well ordered His civil and familiar carriage gained him the affection of all people and his good intentions towards the Peace made him to be equally respected by all the Ambassadors Next day after his arrival the French Ambassadors sent three Gentlemen together to testifie the joy they had for his happy arrival and to offer him all the civilities they were able to perform impatiently expecting a fit time to come and salute him in person The three Gentlemen were received by the Nuncio according to the custom of Italy in the Chamber of Audience upon three elbow-chairs They spoke covered and were conducted by the Nuncio as far as the dore of the outer anti-chamber that looked into the Court. The same honour was done to the Gentleman that render'd that compliment on his part and the day following after noon the three Ambassadors of France went severally to visit the Nuncio incognito and on foot his house being distant but a few steps from thence yet they were followed by all their servants The Emperors Ambassadors were there also in the morning incognito On the fifth of June the Nuncio gave notice of his arrival to the two Ambassadors of the Emperor who had their publick audience at five of the clock afternoon and to the French Ambassadors who visited him at seven of the clock with a train of seven Coaches and six horses a piece The Towns-people were very curious to see such ceremonies but much more for this being impatient to see how a Nuncio of the Pope looked The Burgomasters of the Town and a great number of other persons placed themselves in the Windows of the Neighbouring houses to see him at his gate whilst he received and re-conducted the Ambassadors to their Coaches He was in a plain long purple habit lined with scarlet and carried a Cross of Diamonds but he was cloathed commonly in a short habit No body wondered at the curiosity of that people seeing it was a very extraordinary thing to see a Pope's Nuniorâ—â— a Protestant Town The Countrey people both Protestant and Catholick came flocking to Nimueguen for that end these found their spiritual consolation and those satisfied the great curiosity they had to see an Ambassador sent from the Pope of whom their Ministers give them an hideous description The Burgomasters of Nimueguen in consideration of the neutrality of the Town and of the Negotiation of so great a work as that of a general Peace visited the Nuncio and offered him all they could do for the free exercise of the Catholick Religion but he was satisfied to have a large Chappel only in his house whither Catholicks might freely come as they did to the French Ambassadors Chappel where service was performed on Festival-days with all the solemnity that is usual in Parish-Churches having even placed a Bell in the top of a Tower which was heard over a great part of the Town Some days before the arrival of the Nuncio a Jesuit belonging to the Family of Don Pedro de Ronquillo went about the streets in the habit of his Order this seemed so strange a thing that it stirred up the curiosity of all the people and therefore the Magistrates fearing lest such Novelties might
them so hard that as they said they would hazard all rather than accept of them And when the French Ambassadors carried these conditions to my Lord Ambassador Jenkins to be by him communicated to the Confederates he made answer That he could not do it as Mediator but that he would acquaint them with them in discourse as a matter to which he promised no answer That Mediator refused to treat on these Conditions because in the League that on the 10th of January was concluded betwixt England and Holland the King his Master had made other conditions with the States-General to which they resolved to force France But he did not foresee that by refusing to present the French Kings Conditions to the Confederates which would prove the cause of as many treaties as there were Princes and States engaged in the War he excluded himself in effect from the Mediation The news came about that time that the French had abandoned Messina and all their Conquests in Sicily People were strangely â—â—rprised to see that the Mareshal de la Faâ—â—â—â—ade who was thought to have been sent into that Kingdom with fresh Forces upon design of some new enterprise was only gone thither to fetch off the Forces that the King had there The abandoning of Sicily was imputed to the suspition that the French had of England's declaring where considerable Levies were already making Some wondered that the French King should so easily abandon a Countrey the yeilding up of which might have stood him in stead in the Treaty of Peace with Spain Others on the contrary thought it more glorious for him so to recall the succour which he was pleased to give the Messineses without having had any hand in their revolt than to forsake by a Treaty people that had implored his protection It was not to be doubted but that the present juncture of affairs would oblige the King to provide against all accidents and therefore the Marshal de la Favillade having declared to the Senate his Majesties Orders grounded on the need that he stood in of all his Forces caused his Troops to embark But many of the Messineses dreading the certain revenge of the Spaniards came in so great number on board of the French Fleet that if there had been more ships there Messina had been wholly disserted The Confederates had their eyes fixed solely upon England as the only place from whence they might expect any considerable relief Hence it was that many Ambassadors left Nimueguen Don Pedro de Ronquillo went to Brussels to return no more but it was thought the reason was because he would not be inferior to the Marquess de la Fuentes who came as it were only accidentally to Nimueguen Don Pedro de Ronquillo who passed for one of the sharpest sighted men that was in all that famous Assembly could not forbear to tell a French Gentleman upon occasion of the conditions of Peace which the French King had proposed That he admired the prudence of that great Prince and that the success of his conduct would well appear by the necessity they were like to be brought to either of making peace or of maintaining the War alone The Baron of Platen Envoy of the Prince of Osnabrug went likewise to Brussels Mr. Spanheim on the 27th of April set out for England with the quality of Envoy Extraordinary from the Elector Palatine The Count of Oxenstiern a few days after embarked on the same design Mr. Oliver Krantz soon after did the same Which made some think that the Suedes intended to take other measures fearing lest France in the sequel might not be powerful enough to buoy up Sueden from the low condition into which it was sunk Thus from all parts came bellows to blow the fire that was kindling in England and which already threatned France In the mean time the Parliament that was then sitting was prorogued until the 9th of May and in the Assembly of the States of Holland which were at that time met the Towns were divided as to the continuation of the War The propositions which the French King made to the States-General seemed so reasonable that notwithstanding the powerful faction of the ill affected Amsterdam Leyden Harlem and all North-Holland were absolutely for peace May 1678. The Province of Holland being the most considerable of all the rest always turns the balance of deliberations so that Deputies were sent to London and Brussels to represent the impossibility that the States-General were in of continuing the War And it appears by the three printed Memoirs of the Heer 's Boreel and Weede the Extraordinary Deputies of the States to the Duke of Villa Hermosa Governour of the Spanish Netherlands of the 8.14 and 27. of May that the reasons of that impossibility were no less founded on the power and strength of France than on the weakness of the Dutch and Spaniards and the unprofitableness of all their efforts At that time there began to be some hopes of Peace what aversion soever all the Ambassadors of the Confederates seemed to have to it The time prefixed by the King was near at hand and on the fifth of May the French Ambassadors received orders to declare that his Majesty required that the Messineses who were come for refuge into France should by the Treaty of Peace with Spain be restored to and maintained in the possession of their Estates and that they might dispose of them at their pleasure The Ambassadors were enjoined to insist upon that point as a matter that his Majesty concerned himself much in but that demand being made after that the conditions were proposed it could not create an obstacle sufficient to hinder the conclusion of the Peace Nevertheless it afterward produced a very considerable difficulty seeing it lasted long after the signing of the Treaty and was one of the causes that were alledged of the long delay that Spain made in exchanging the ratifications Though it was no new thing to hear of the success of the French forces nevertheless men were strangely surprized at the news which a Courier brought from Maestricht that on the sixth of May a Detachment of that Garison commanded by the Sieur de la Breteche had surprized the fort of Leew situated in a Marsh with a double Ditch well pallisado'd The barrels of Wax-cloth which were prepared at Maestricht for the Execution of that Enterprize had not the success that was expected but forty swimmers joining valour to stratagem had the greatest share in that fortunate exploit in so much that in an hours time the French were masters of a very strong place and very easie to be maintained The States-General in the mean time began seriously to reflect on the advantage of making Peace upon the conditions which the French King had offered them The Town of Amsterdam which has the same esteem amongst the Towns of Holland that Province has among the other six was of that opinion and backt it vigorously that Town hath always
that the interest they had to bring things so about that by virtue of the Treaty they should not have power to dispose of their Estates was one of the chief reasons that had so long deferred the Ratification and by consequent had ruined so many private Families in Flanders The Spaniards likewise demanded That in case the Commissioners that should be appointed by the two Kings to make exchange of the Villages which they should find prejudicial to the setling of the limits could not agree amongst themselves as to the value of the exchanges the difference should be referred to the determination of the King of England But the French Ambassadors condescended to none of those unseasonable demands being resolved rather to break off than to innovate the least thing in the Articles that were agreed upon The States-General made even a Declaration to the Count D' Avaux on the 13. that they not only desisted from the inclusion which they pretended to give to the Emperor and Princes of the Empire but that they would likewise abandon the Spaniards if they ratifi'd not the Treaty within fifteen days being unwilling to importune the French King for a longer delay and that they hoped in a short time to incline the Emperor to accept the peace In effect the Imperialists on the 12. gave their counter-project wherein nevertheless they changed their mind as to the option that they had already made of Philipsbourg and added several Articles which were not conform to what was agreed unto with the Mediators They demanded that the French King should indempnifie all those of the Empire who had suffered any damage during the War That the Princes of Furstembourg should by their submissions crave pardon of and make publick satisfaction to the Emperor for having espoused contrary Interests And that the King should not have the Soveraignty over all the Ways that he demanded in Lorrain These propositions quite contrary to the project which the French Ambassadors gave to the Mediators who approved all the Articles therein contained made the sincerity of the desire and conduct of the Imperialists to be doubted of or at least they made their ordinary irresolution appear particularly touching the choice of the Alternative about which having once declared themselves they ought not to be admitted to change again But the truth was they never imagined that the French King liked Fribourg as well as Philipsbourg but that yielding to him the latter they would put his Majesty to a plunge insomuch that the desire that he would have to make them change their choice might produce some advantage for them But they were no less mistaken in that point than in their hopes of getting new Articles inserted into the Treaty for the French Ambassadors would not admit of any nor derogate in the least from the Treaties of Westphalia except in the Alternative of Fribourg for Philipsbourg The Spaniards had now spun out the time until the end of the last delay which the French King had granted to them but found no way longer to defer the exchange of the Ratifications nor any hopes that the French Ambassadors would grant them the least thing of what they remanded since the signing of the Treaty So that on the 15. they delivered their Ratification The exchange was made without any ceremony at the House of the Ambassadors of the States General whither the Secretaries went to fetch them But the French Ambassadors finding that the Ratification of Spain was not altogether in the form that it ought to have been in they declared that they accepted it no otherways than in so far as it should please the King their Master The Imperialists finding the French Ambassadors as inflexible in respect of them as they had been in regard of the Spaniards despaired of obtaining liberty to change the choice which they had already made of the Alternative so that on the 24. they declared that they stood to the Election that they had made of Philipsbourg and that they might not spend the whole Month after which the French Ambassadors had declared to them that the King would not adhere longer to the conditions of the 9th of April they entred into publick conference that they might in good earnest endeavour the conclusion of the peace These Conferences were held in the Town-house where the Ambassadors of the Emperor France and Sueden with the Mediator Jenkins had all separate rooms Tho' the Nuncio employed himself very usefully for promoting the peace yet he appeared not as publick Mediator because Rome and England could not join in one Mediation and that England was admitted by all the other Princes who were concerned in that Negotiation The Ambassadors of Denmark and Brandenbourg endeavoured presently to stop the course of those conferences and represented vigorously to the Imperialists that every step they made were so many breaches in the Treaties of Alliance which his Imperial Majesty had made with the Princes their Masters The Ambassadors of the States-General perceiving that in the few days which remained of the Month it was not possible to conclude a Treaty wherein so many difficulties appeared in the very beginning prayed the French Ambassadors to prolong the delay which that King had granted Their answer was that they had no power to do it but that nevertheless they believed that if the Treaty were in readiness to be signed his Majesty might give a new delay In the first Session of Conferences the four first Articles of the Project of the Imperialists were reduced to one the French refusing to fill the Treaties with needless Articles and such especially as only concerned those matters which France pretended to be sufficiently adjusted by the Treaties of Westphalia whereof they demanded the corroboration and accomplishment And seeing by the treaty the Emperor and all the Princes of the Empire were not only to remain neutral but were also to take from the Enemies of France and Sueden all means whereby they might make any advantage or profit by the Countreys of the Empire whilst the King might make use of them for restoring Sueden his Majesty by his Ambassadors demanded such places as he should stand in need of after the peace of the Empire for a free passage from his frontiers to the Rhine On the fifth of January 167 8 the French Ambassadors declared that the places which their King intended to reserve were Casselet Huys Verviers Aix-la-Chapelle Duren Linninch Nuys and Ordingen that was the straightest and shortest march that the French Forces could have to the Rhine and his Majesty was already possest of all those places which being open and without fortification shewed that the design of the King was only to make use of them that he might oblige to the observation of the Treaties of Westphalia those Princes who contrary to the faith of the same Treaties desired to continue the War after the peace of the Empire that they might retain the possession of the Countreys which they had