with whom we are now to contend and who are resolv'd not to hearken to any Peace till France be abased but it is my misfortune that in this abasement I shall find my own The King will not give Ear to my Counsel and perhaps when he shall have a mind to take my Advice it may then be too late He always thinks that he hath strength enough to break thro' the multitude of his Enemies and to make way for a favourable Peace but this account is very different from that of the Confederates who advance on all sides to enter into France Peradventure if I were Master and should make propositions to them they would hearken to me but the King will never consent to this till the last extremity Therefore I come hither to know to which Party I ought to adhere in case the Enemies should invade the Kingdom THE ORACLE The Success of the Campain of the Year 1691 shall shew it to thee XXII THE Duke of Orleans tir'd with doing nothing and vex'd to see himself rejected and despis'd went to consult the Oracle saying I have always very well discharg'd my Trust whensoever the King hath thought fit to require my Service witness the Battel and Taking of St. Omer and altho' his Majesty hath been pleas'd to express the satisfaction he receiv'd from the Glory that I had there obtain'd nevertheless I remain without Employment and the King neither talks nor takes no more notice of me than if there were no such Person in the World Whence does this proceed THE ORACLE The King would not have his Actions Eclips'd by thine neither doth he desire any other Glory but that which he acquires himself XXIII THE King of Sweden having declar'd that he is very willing to assist his Allies but withal to keep a Neutrality with France that he might thereby promote the Commerce of his Subjects whilst the most part of other Nations were engag'd in a tedious War went to consult the Oracle saying The King of France offers great advantages to hinder me from affording any Supplies to the Confederates and to induce me to stand Neuter He hath propounded an Expedient to stop the Vessels that I am oblig'd to send to the Hollanders by vertue of a Treaty made with the States General and if I have a mind to enter into Pomerania he will not only pay all arrears and summ's of money due to me but will also restore the Dutchy of Deux ponts and defray the charge of the War moreover he promiseth that the King of Denmark shall make no attempt upon my Countrey but shall likewise remayn neuter on my account and that we shall both enter into a Treaty of Commerce with France and make a league together to oppose all that shall endeavour to incommode or disturb us therein Whereas on the one side I am allur'd by the advantage of Traffic on the other the treachery and ill usage that I have receiv'd from France deters me all these fair propositions being only the product of that necessity with which he finds himself urg'd what then shall I do THE ORACLE Relye not on a reconcil'd enemy XXIV The King of Denmark being sollicited on the one side by the fair offers of France and detain'd on the other by the interest of Prince George who stands in need of King William's assistance to establish the Crown in the Family and knowing not what to determine to preserve both came to consult the Oracle on this occasion saying The present offers of the King of France are fair and good but they are not to be compar'd with the advantages that will hereafter accrue to my Countrey by a strict union with England for if the Princess of Denmark should ascend the Throne there would be a great and indissoluble band of unity between England and my Dominions besides that the assurances which the King of Great Britain now reigning hath given me at present of his amity and the sincerity that I have always found in the word of this Prince have oblig'd me to send Forces to assist him in finishing the Conquest of Ireland my own interest also exciteth me to afford him this supply against King James since the later design'd to exclude the Princesses his Daughters and their off-spring from the Crown to transfer it to a stranger whose extraction is unknown but I would willingly assist the King of England without leaving the King of France who considering his present circumstances will not be offended as he would have been heretofore at the aid that I have sent into Ireland since he is now as Meek as he was haughty in times past THE ORACLE Beware of the French disease for that of England had its original in France XXV The King of Poland being sufficiently disgusted at France when he had caus'd the Sieur Granville to depart out of his Dominions and having declar'd to the Queen that after the marriage of the Royal Prince his Son with the Princess of Nieubourg he would no longer hearken to the Ministers of France thô they were able even to bestow on him the same faculty as Midas had heretofore of turning every thing he should touch into Gold came in this resolution to consult the Oracle saying The French baits have caus'd me to lose the high reputation that I had acquir'd before Vienna I confess my weakness hitherto in placing my Summum bonum in a little yellow clay which I have kept more carefully than holy Relicks and I have often look'd on the effigies of the Louys d'Ors as a Tutelary God and the object of my happiness However I now begin to understand that these material goods are but froth in comparison of the worth of real glory which alone can set my Son on the Throne I know that the taking of Caminiec can at present contribute more thereto than all the treasure of France but on this occasion my Allies have at least this consolation that I have taken more from the French than from the Turks and that to exhaust is to weaken That War can be but of little moment where the danger and the honour are not great therefore for the future after the example of Hannibal I shall turn to the side of glory as soon as the marriage of the Royal Prince with the Princess of Nieubourg shall be accomplish'd and to that end I have stopt my ears against all the Syrens of France since I observe that their King will have enough to do to preserve his Crown for his own Son and that the Emperor alone can establish mine on the head of my heir I am come hither to receive your wholsom Counsel THE ORACLE Endeavour thy self by thy own valour to secure the Crown for thy posterity XXVI The King of Portugal after his Alliance with the House of Nieubourg thought himself also oblig'd to imbrace the interest of the Empire and the common cause of his Allies but the French who are alwais pregnant of politic contrivances
spent it in treating my dear Niece who by her fond caresses caus'd me to imitate the Crow in the Fable and that which torments me most of all is that the matter is irrecoverable since the Holy See hath again ratified all that was done in this affair and that my Competitor is younger than I Thus my fortune is limitted within the narrow bounds of the Abbey of Saint Germain However the King gives me hopes of obtaining an Arch-Bishopric in his Kingdom to sweeten the remorse that I might have for betraying my own lawful Soveraign but I cannot relye upon it The fear of some foul and unexpected chastisement caus'd me to withdraw from Rome incognito to take shelter under the Culverins of the great Lewes but in regard that the unfortunate are never welcome at the French Court I can make but a sorry figure and it will be yet so much the worse if the Emperor and his Allies should gain any considerable advantages over France for then I might serve as a Victime to a Peace not knowing whither to flye since all Europe only desires my ruin Thus on whatsoever side I turn I can see nothing but crosses and tribulation ready to attend me I am come therefore to know my destiny THE ORACLE It will follow the fortune of thy new Master XXXVII The King of Siam being disengag'd from the French and the Jesuits went to consult the Oracle and said my Predecessor was much addicted to the French that were brought to Siam by the Jesuits who having made themselves in a manner necessary by the profession of the Mathematics and Astrology with the study whereof they had amus'd him soon insinuated themselves into his favour and by that means got possession of the most principal Places in his Dominions with a prospect of becoming at length Masters of the whole Kingdom designing to set one of their own Creatures on the Throne and to seize on our Golden Gods that attract all their admiration neither would they have preach'd there Religion here but to that end however having perceiv'd their subtilty with the advice of my chief Mandarins I got rid of them as also of their principal abetters and adherents After the King's Death I took possession of the Kingdom lest it should fall together with our Gods into the hands of the French I am not ignorant that their King will make pretensions against me but I fear him not as long as I can maintain an Alliance and good correspondence with the Hollanders my neighbours at least if they do not come to demand the presents that they gave to my Predecessor and to Constantius his chief Minister of State who was the instrument of all their designs and the wheel that set the engine of the Jesuits on motion but the first that shall presume to enter into my Kingdom I will deliver as a prey to the wild Beasts for I can no longer suffer such vermin in my Dominions THE ORACLE Be alwaies Master XXXVIII The Republic of Geneva being deliver'd from those terrible alarms that the King of France continually caus'd in their neighbourhood on the occasion of the marching of that vast number of the enemies against whom he is now engag'd and of the great War in which he is involv'd sent two Syndics to consult the Oracle in the name of the whole City who spake after this manner Our condition being alter'd and the tempestuous Storm having pass'd over our Heads he that so lately threatn'd us begins now to caress us thus we breath in a clear and wholsom air and we may certainly affirm that King William is a great Physitian and that his most efficacious remedies operate at a very great distance but for asmuch as in all distempers relapses are very dangerous by what means shall we preserve the good health that we now enjoy THE ORACLE By the vertue of Spiritus Angliae XXXIX The City of Hambourgh being oblig'd to publish the Emperor's Avocatoria was not a little disgusted and in this perplexity sent two Licenciats to consult the Oracle who spake in the name of their Principals saying We hoped that all our neighbours being engag'd in War we might have monopoliz'd the greatest part of their Traffic by the means of a neutrality but since jealousy often creates violence insomuch that we have found an embrago laid on all our Vessels in England with the Emperor's consent we have been compell'd to submit to the Avocatoria and to cause the French Resident to depart from our Tertitories but the King may clearly see that we have been constrain'd thereto to avoid the ruin of our inhabitants for the King of England who knows not how to dally persists in obligng us to observe the Avocatoria Thus we are perplex'd being depriv'd of our Commerce with France and not knowing what party to adhere unto in this Conjuncture THE ORACLE Follow the strongest XL. The Princes of the House of Lunembourg spake thus to the Oracle We have had no regard to all the offers of France and they could not hinder us from cleving to the interest of the common Cause of Europe and from furnishing our Allies with Troops notwithstanding the vast summes of money offer'd to us by the most Christian King to prevent it but we have no mind to be harrass'd we would act as we think fit and be Masters of our own Forces we would willingly assist our Allies and especially the King of England for whose valour we have a particular esteem as our Friend and true Ally and we are ready to concur in any thing to the utmost of our Power that may tend to his satisfaction THE ORACLE Glory and Victory flye before him and Heaven is his Protector XLI The Marquess de Gastanaga Governor of the Spanish Neitherlands after the Battel of Fleury fearing lest the enemies might invade Flanders went immediately to consult the Oracle and said May the Heavens protect us in this Conjuncture for if the Hollanders should retreat my Master's Countrey is lost and if the French should enter therein they would spare neither Virgin nor Saint nor the most Sacred Relicks I have caus'd several Masses to be celebrated and have made several vows for the prosperity of the King's Aâ—ms but I hope that when the King of Great Britain shall come he will defend us from all disasters with the aid of our good Lady of Hal. THE ORACLE Help thy self and the Gods shall assist thee XLII The Prince of Waldeck after the same Battel of Fleury was also very glad of an oppertunity to consult the Oracle on this occasion saying I have been unfortunate in the last Battel althô at the same time the French have no reason to boast I did what I could nevertheless I know that I am not respected by the People Men give Battel but the event comes from Heaven whence then proceeds my misfortune THE ORACLE Consult thy strength and thy age and be a friend to Spies XLIII The Kingdom of Algers sent two
more ease to recover what he hath lost and that in weakening me he might make use of this Conjuncture to satisfye the ambition which he hath alwaies had to seize on my Empire and to cause the Imperial Crown to pass into his family But by the means of these violent proceedings he hath cooperated in the Election of my Son to be King of the Romans who was thereupon constituted my Successor and I am sofar from being oppress'd as this new enemy hop'd that I find myself in a condition vigorously to oppose the assaults of these two Potentates and the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits give me reason to hope that if I continue the War against the Infidels I shall be able to set up the Cross in the City of Constantinople but on the other hand all my Allies represent to me the devastations and calamities that the French have caus'd in Germany and that to conquer certain barren Lands in Bulgaria several fair Provinces on the Rhine are ruin'd What measures then are most expedient to be taken by me in such an exigence being urg'd on one side by the the desire of destroying the Infidels and incited on the other by the cruelties and outragious combustions of the French THE ORACLE Peace in the East and suffer not thy self to be seduc'd VII The King of the Romans having accompanied the Emperor to the Temple his Imperial Majesty advis'd him to consult the Oracle who said I have been contrary to the expectation of the enemies of the Emperor my Father elected King of the Romans and appointed Successor of the Empire in a time of trouble and in the midst of War and all the means that France hath us'd to avoid this blow in favour of the Dauphin could not hinder my Election from being made without any opposition all the promises and efforts of my Competitor have prov'd vain and ineffectual and the just reputation and good Reign of the Emperor my Lord and Father hath prevail'd over all the intrigues and artifices of the French Emissaries This is such a happiness that I could not expect so soon for which I 'm come to render thanks to Heaven as the principal cause and to be inform'd of the second THE ORACLE The Revolution of England but especially become Caesar and not a Jesuit VIII All the Electoral Princes having accompanied the Emperor and the King of the Romans the Elector of Mentz advanc'd near the sacred Den and spake to this effect I have been tormented and my Territories have been taken as a prey relying to much on the illusory promises that were made to me on behalf of the King of France moreover as an addition to my misfortunes I found out the cheat only with the loss of my Country and receiv'd not a penny of all the money that was promis'd to me and if the Emperor at length had not had more consideration for me than I had at the beginning fidelity to him or regard to the welfare of the Empire thô my Quality of Elector and Prince of the Empire obliged me thereto I should have utterly perish'd I stood on the brink of a dangerous precipice where my head began to turn but thanks to his Imperial Majesty who hath extended his gracious hand to me and hath as it were snacht me out of the abyss of destructions wherein the Emissaries of France had almost plung'd me contrary to my own peculiar Interest But forasmuch as in adversity and perils we are most apt to reflect on our former errors and miscarriages I 'm come to make a solemn protestation in this Temple that I will never depart from the true interest of the Empire and that I am resolv'd for the future either to overcome or to perish together with it THE ORACLE Offend no more lest a worse thing happen unto thee IX The Elector of Triers approach'd and said I have fought the good fight for the Empire and have remained faithful to the Emperor neither promises nor threats have been able to move me nor to separate me from the Empire which is my true interest I confess my Tertitories have suffer'd but I take comfort in this that it was for a good cause and that I have persever'd in all the parts of my duty and fidelity and I patiently expect the deliverance of my Country by the hand of my Allies and the consolation of my People that groan under the oppression of the Usurper THE ORACLE Deliverance attends the just and Heaven it self shall make a breach in the Royal mount where thou art detain'd X. The Elector of Colen not having obtain'd an oppertunity to consult the Oracle since the death of his Uncle was ravish'd with joy at this it being the first that happen'd since his election to the Electorate and said The Negociation of my friends hath prevail'd over the pretensions of the Coadjutor that was chosen by the Chapter and all the machinations of France are frustrated Since my election all the great designs of Lewis XIV begin to fail and the Crown of the King of the Romans hath prov'd only imaginary to the Dauphin his Son My election hath serv'd as a bridle to restrain his ambition Colen hath limited his conquests Rhinberg Keiserwert and Bonne have been such hard morsels that the Cardinal of Furstemberg could not digest them notwithstanding his taking a dose of Spiritus Gall. he was oblig'd to disgorge them at the first emetic potion given him by the Allies not being any longer able to bear the Quality of Arch-Bishop of Colen however for his consolation I consent that he may please himself with that title during the War Lastly my election hath been an eclipse of this French Sun that was about to set the whole World in a flame but thanks be to my good Allies the States General of the United Provinces and to the care of his Highness the Prince of Orange now King of Great Britain to whom my election hath serv'd as the first step to ascend the Throne Thus am I now become the peaceable possessor of my Uncle's Arch-Bishopric who was indeed blinded by France to deprive the thereof on the simple promise of the Cardinal to give me the Coadjutorship But this was least in the thoughts of Lewsi XIV his interest obliging him to keep this Electorate in the hands of his Creatures therefore it hath been preserv'd by Divine Providence that extracts sweet out of bitter and I may justly affirm that the treachery of France hath open'd to me a passage into the Electorate The People of my Jurisdiction passionately desire my presence by reason of the Calamities in which many of them are now involv'd but I comfort them rather at a distance since during my minority I leave the Revenues to satisfye the debts of my Countrey However I hope that the War being ended the Pope will grant me a dispensation to exercise the Spiritual function and then I shall go and take possession of both at once In the