Victories as if by Conquering the Land the French did not at the same time become Masters of the Havens Rivers and Fleets of the Dutch And yet such was the vast Predominancy which French Treason and the hidden Conspiracies of French Counsels had over these great Politicians and the Asscendent which they had over the King of England that he was so kind to the French King for setting him together by the ears with the Dutch that he sent him his Vice Admirals and other Sea Officers to encourage and promote the setting out of his Fleets and in pity of their want of experience in Sea Affairs took his raw Seamen by the hand train'd them up in his own Fleets among the best of his Seamen and taught them that skill which the English had been many Ages a learning and all this in hopes to enable the French King to assist him in beating his best and most secure friends wherein the French according to their wonted Treachery fail'd him too when they were put to the Tryall All the World would have thought the King should not have so soon forgot the Punic Faith of France in their kindness to his Person while he was abroad in Exile among them or if then they might pretend the Interest of their Kingdom and palliate their faithless and inhumane Dealing with him by necessity of Self preservation yet no such necessity constrain'd him to forget the French King 's opposing his Restauration with so much violence as he did and his Caballing with his greatest enemies to keep him out of his Kingdom more especially since he was then so sensible of it when it was recent in his Memory that upon his coming into England he commanded away Monsieur Bourdeaux the French Ambassadour and would not suffer him to come into his presence But the Most Christian King knew full well how to work himself again into the King of England's favour and at length by throwing a French Dalilah into his embraces quite cut off the Locks of the British Sampson All on a sudden France seem'd to be remov'd into England nothing but French Baubles and Gugaws pleased our English Gentry A French Faction prevailing at Court French Mountebanks for Physicians French Fashions French Hats French Lackeys French Fidlers French Dancing-Masters French Tooth-Drawers French Barbers French Air in our very looks French Legs French Compliments French Grimaces and French Debauchery to fit us for French Slavery And had the French Disease been then unknown in England 't is to be questioned whither it would not have been entertained with as general a Consent as the Sichemites submitted to the Pain of Circumcision though to the hazard of being all destroy'd by the French Simeon and Levi while sore and driveling under the Distemper Nor is it to be doubted but the French Christianity would have as easily made tryall of such a Design as they did of the rest of their Tricks had they thought it would have taken effect It is well known that before the first Dutch War was entred into the King of England sought to make Alliances with France and Spain but the Spaniards were so Cock-sure of the French Promises that they would not make any Approaches to Friendship with England without the giving up of Dunkirk Tangier and Jamaica As for the French a Project of a Treaty was offer'd them and promoted with all earnestness by the Lord H s at Paris but it was plainly discern'd that the principal designs of the Most Christian King was only to draw the King of England into such an Alliance as might advance his design upon Spain and therefore so soon as he had set the Dutch and us together by the Ears and saw that thereby the Balance of Europe was broken he no longer minded Alliance with England But after many Proposals of Leagues and many Arts used to highten the jealousies between Us and the Hollanders he at last sided with the Dutch though to so little purpose that his Intentions plainly appeared to be no other than to see the two most Potent Obstacles of his Ambition destroy one another to the end he might with less Opposition invade his Nighbours and increase his own Naval Strength Nay the Juggle went much farther for that in the heat of all the War he still kept Negotiations on Foot and made overtures and proposals of Peace by means of the Queen-Mother whom in the end he so far and so treacherously deluded as to ascertain her and by her means to assure the King of England her Son that the Dutch would not set out any Fleet the ensuing Summer and yet underhand press'd the Dutch with all the Vigor and Importunity imaginable to fit out their Men of War again with a promise rather than fail that he would joyn his Fleet with theirs against the English Now it was upon a Supposal that the Most Christian King was at that time a good Christian and true to his Word in pursuing his pretended Proposals of Peace and upon that faithless French Paroll it was that the King of England put forth no Fleet to Sea that Year upon which followed that Fatal surprize of our Ships at Chatham then which a greater Dis-honour never happened to the Nation since the memory of History But at last as we had been oblig'd to the Craft and Treachery for the War and the Shame we received by it so we were glad to receive the Peace that ensued from his favour which was concluded at Breda between England France and Holland By this Treaty of Breda the French were oblig'd to restore St. Christophers to the English in the same manner and form as is exprest in the Articles but instead of performing their Engagement according to the true intent and literal meaning of the Articles they from time to time upon several unjust and frivolous Pretences deluded and delay'd the English Commissioners that were sent to take Possession of it till finding there was a necessity to comply with us in so small a matter while we were preparing to venture a second quarrel in their behalf it was at last surrendred after four year's baffling to Sir Charles Wheeler However to shew the perfidiousness of French dealing before they deliver'd it they destroyed all the Plantations laid the whole Island waste and left it in a much worse condition than if it had never been planted And as if the seizure and detaining of the King of England's Territories had not been sufficient they interrupted also the Trade of his Subjects in those Parts and assuming to themselves the Sovereignty of those Seas would not suffer any Ships but their own to sail either by or about those Islands but as if it had been Criminal so to doe took and confiscated several Vessels upon that account From all which a Question will arise easie to be resolv'd whither any thing be recorded of the old Carthaginians more perfidious than this and whether the King of England might not have expected more
Honest and Christian dealing from the unbelieving Turk than from the Most Christian King 'T is true that after the Peace of Breda the King of England was at liesure to consider how the French King had abus'd him by engaging him in a War with his Protestant Nighbours and how he had seemingly taken their parts to prolong the War that while they were battering and bruising and weakning one another he might have the fairer Opportunity in violation of all the most solemn and sacred Oaths and Treaties to invade the Spanish Netherlands and observing with what a rapid Torrent of Victory he bore down all before him thought fit to interpose before the flame that consumed his next Nighbour should throw it's sparks over the Water and therefore sent into Holland to invite them to a nearer Alliance and to enter into such farther Counsels as were most proper to stop the Fury of the French King which offer being by the Dutch embraced with open Arms a defensive League was concluded in five days time between Holland and England together with another for the repressing the farther Progress of the French Armes in the Spanish Netherlands In which the Sweeds afterwards making a third Party concern'd gave it the name of the Triple League This was no way pleasing to the French King however for a while he dissembled his resentment of the Affront though from the first moment he resolved to make use of all his Charms and Golden Magick to dissolve this Triple Knot whatever it cost him To this purpose the Duchess of Orleance is said by the French to be sent over hither believing no Instrument so proper as the King of England's own Sister to prevail with her Brother King Charles met her at Dover where their endearments one to another were so much the more reciprocally prevailing by how much it happens that Princes more rarely than private Persons enjoy their Relations And when they doe yet their kind Interviews are many times attended with some fatal disaster of which though there was no appearance here in England yet the first News we heard of her upon her Return to France was that she was dead However the Affair was so dextrously managed that a French Ambassadour was forthwith dispatch'd out of France and an English Ambassadour sent to Paris and as the French gave out a private League was clapt up to the ruine of the Triple Alliance to all the highth of Intimacy and Dearness as if upon dissecting the Princess there had some State Philter been found in her Bowels or that a Reconciliation with France could not have been celebrated with a less Sacrifice than that of the Bloud-Royal of England This supposed Treaty was a work of Darkness not to be div'd into in a great while but afterwards the French King caus'd it to be made publick as we shall see by and by 'T is true the Knowledg of this was of great Importance to England but the discovery was the most apparent Demonstration in the World of French Perfidiousness so enormous as it could not be imagined to have entred into the Breast of a Most Christian King so treacherously to expose the Secrets of his dearest Confederate after he had drawn him in by all the Assurances of his assistance imaginable And the reasons that induc'd him to make the detection were no less Impious though agreeable to the Practice of the French King who after he has made it his business to decoy in Princes that lend an easie ear to his Enchantments or with too much facility suffer themselves to be overcome by his Alluring Engagements into any unseemly and dishonourable undertaking believes he has them then safely tack'd to his Interests and that they will not dare to flinch from his Desings for fear of being exposed to their People which he takes care in due time to have artificially instill'd into their Ears a Maxim of Christianity which lies conceal'd from all other Men but the most Christian of Princes And thus it was that the French King having amus'd the Emperor with the Noise of a Treaty and at the same time brought the Turk into Hungary to joyn the Malecontents to excite his Private Confederate the King of England to follow his steps in Government Bare-faced causes a little Book to be Printed and Published with the Privilege Du Roy Entitl'd The History of the Transactions of this Age and therein ordered the Dover Treaty as they call'd it to be inserted and to that purpose furnish'd his Historiographer with Notes and Directions by the Hands of his Secretary Colbert to the end that the King of England being truly as he design'd set out in his Colours and despairing of being ever after trusted by his People might be enforced to take such Resolutions as Despair and Fury should inspire him withall to the Destruction of those he had so highly disoblig'd there being nothing more than the Subversion of England which the French King aim'd at 'T is true he was so kind as to recall the Book upon the loud complaint of the King of England's Ambassador however it was an apparent Demonstration to all the World how little trust or reliance there was in French Amity and plainly shews that there is no way to bind this mighty Sampson by Oath Promises Treaties or by any other the most Religious Ties and Considerations which are no more to him than Spiders Webs but by an absolute clipping off the Locks of his Power and disabling him so as never to rise more But to return to the Triple League In the end the French King by his wicked Policy so contrived the matter as to cause a new Rupture twixt the Dutch and the English and as if he had intended to be the Master of Iniquity and to make the King of England as bad as himself nothing would suffice till he had prevail'd with the King to attack the Dutch Smyrna Fleet returning home and dreaming of no such matter which as it was contrary to the Genius of the English Nation and to the Nature and Gentle Disposition of the King of England himself is wholly to be attributed to the Wiles and wicked Temptations of the Most Christian Prince who never ceas'd pealing it into the King of England's Ears that if he could but master the Wealth of the Smyrna Fleet he should never want Mony again And being thus betrayed by wheedling French Hallucination what can the French expect but the Severity of England's just Revenge wherein we may venture with the greater hopes of Success as being engaged with all in the common Cause of Christendoms Tranquillity Add to this that when the French King thought the King of England was engaged so far by the Smyrna Attack as that he must needs go forward the Most Christian King then openly declared 't was none of his Quarrel and that he only engaged in it to assist the King of England merely in respect to His Person By which means the King of
England was again betrayed and necessitated to declare War first and to expect the Assistance of his Confederate afterwards Nor is it less observable that the French King in conjunction with a Protestant Prince to render him odious among all the States and Princes of Europe whether Protestant or Roman Catholick gave it out that the War against the United Provinces was a War of Religion undertaken merely for the Propagation of the Roman Catholick Faith and as the French Minister expressed it in a Solemn Speech to the Emperor's Council that the Hollanders being Hereticks who had forsaken God all good Christians were bound to Unite to their Extirpation To confirm which the more the French Ministers no doubt not contrary to their Instructions declar'd and assur'd many Princes that to let all the World see how far their Master was from any such Ambitious designs as were laid to his charge and to satisfie the World that he entred into the War merely out of a Religious Zeal and for the Glory of God he was ready to part with all his Conquests and to restore to the Hollanders all the Towns he had won from them if they would but re-establish the True Worship they had banish'd out of their Dominions Such is the Most Christian King who scruples not to falsifie with Heaven so it may but support and colour his falshood upon Earth Well the Most Christian King having by his Ungodly Policy thus engaged us in a Bloudy War with Holland pursues his own design by Land with all the Vigour Imaginable in so much that the swiftness and force of his Motion seem'd to be somewhat Supernatural but all this while he leaves us to doe our own work by Sea 'T is true his Fleet appeared among us and made up a third Squadron under white Colours but under that Colour of Innocence they thought it such a crime to shed Bloud that they always kept out of harms way Rather they did us more mischief than good in regard that when our Admirals encountr'd the Enemy in hopes of their Assistance they always left the English in the Lurch to bear the Brunt of the Engagement against the superiour Numbers which it was their Duty to have attack'd A peice of Treachery so insupportable that only they who suffer'd it would have endur'd it by which the whole English Navy was absolutely betrayed by a faithless Allie and by which the Lives of great numbers of the English were lost which by their Conjunction might have been sav'd So that it was apparent that those sacred Ships of the French were a sort of Noli me Tangere's not sent to assist their Confederares but only to sound the English Seas to spy our Ports to learn our Building to contemplate our way of Fighting to consume ours and preserve their own Navy to encrease their Commerce and to order all so that the two great Naval Powers of Europe having crush'd one another he might remain sole Lord of the Ocean and by consequence Master of all the Trade of the World Thus it happen'd that after three Engagements of Ours against the Dutch Fleet in one Summer while nothing was tenable at Land against the French it seem'd that as to us every thing at Sea was Impregnable which was not to be attributed either to want of Courage or Conduct but was only to be imputed to our unfortunate Conjunction with the perfidious French like the misfortunes that happen to Men by being in ill Company This Misbehaviour of the French rais'd the Indignation of the English to such a Pitch that the Parliament resolving to give no more Mony for the continuance of the War the King was persuaded to make a Peace with Holland which was concluded accordingly towards the latter end of the Year 1673. And to shew that the King of England had all the reason in the World so to doe we are to take a little farther prospect of the uprightness of the Most Christian King to his Friend and Allie who had at such a â—â—aâ—t expence of Treasure espous'd his Quarrel For the French Army having passed the Wale caus'd such a General Consternation all over Holland and the Confusion they were in was such they could hardly resolve whether to yield or continue to defend themselves The States therefore sent away several of their Deputies some to the King of England others to the Most Christian of Princes to know of both upon what conditions they would be willing to make Peace and Agreement Those that were sent to the King of England to shew how justly he intended to have dealt with the French or whether it were out of Fear of giving him any Jealousie or Offence were met as far as Gravesend and being forbid their approach to White-Hall were conveigh'd to Hampton-Court and there as it were honourably confin'd till his Majesty of England could hear from the Most Christian King whether those Deputies might be admitted But the other Deputies no sooner arriv'd at the French Court but two Secretaries of State were sent to them who without farther delay demanded in the first place what Power they had to Treat and next what Proposals they had to make in order to a speedy Peace The Deputies answered they came not to make Proposals but to receive Conditions from his Most Christian Majesty as it better became them Upon which to hasten them to a Conclusion the French Ministers told them in short That whatever his Most Christian Majesty had conquer'd in their Dominions he lookt upon as his own already and therefore would not part with it without an Equivalent as well for what he might farther subdue before the conclusion of the Treaty as for what he had already in Possession With this Answer Monsieur De Groet one of the Holland Deputies posted back to the Hague and with no less speed was sent back again with full Instructions and Authority jointly with the rest of his Colleagues to treat and conclude a Peace with them No sooner was he return'd but Monsieur Louvoy one of the French King's Secretaries gave the Deputies a Draught of a Treaty or rather the Pretensions of the King his Master upon the granting of which he was both willing and ready to return to his former Amity with the States and to conclude a firm Peace with them Upon which two things are Observable First that the Conditions themselves were such which if granted would have made the French King as perfectly Master of the Country as if he had Conquer'd it by the Sword And in the Second place That in all the Articles there was not the least word relating to England nor any more notice taken of the King of Great Britain than if he had not been at all concern'd in the War And farther to demonstrate that it was never the design of the Most Christian Prince that the King of England should be a gainer by the War Monsieur De Groet declared at his second return to the
Hague when he carryed the King's Project along with him that when the French Ministers were ask'd what was to be done with England they made Answer that the States might doe as they pleas'd with England and come off as cheap as they could for that the French were not bound by their Treaty to procure them any Advantages A great Happiness in the mean time for the King of England to be engaged in such a War with such a False and Treacherous Allie for it is plain that the Dutch had no sooner signifi'd their desires but the Most Christian Prince had it presently in his Head to have cheated the King of England For could the Most Christian King in that same dreadful Consternation of the Dutch have got the Possession of the United Provinces by the more concise and less expensive way of Treaty he would soon have found an expedient to have defrauded his dear Confederate of any share in them Which was the reason the Most Christian Sophister spurr'd on the consternated Dutch with so much haste and with such a clandestine speed pursu'd his Advantage that the King of England might not have a Moment's time to provide for himself But the King of England having serv'd the Most Christian Prince more justly in his kind by a separate Peace with Holland and the sudden Advancement of His Highness the Prince of Orange attended by the Fall of the De-witts quash'd all the lofty Frenchman's hopes of gaining either by Treaty or by Conquests what his thoughts aspir'd to So that now as if he had been arriv'd at the Tropick of his Fortune he was forc'd to roll back again with the same swiftness as he ascended to the highth of his success However that he might not lose his old wont as a mark of his displeasure and as it were to punish the English Nation for his disappointments notwithstanding the Peace that was still firm between the two Crowns he let loose his Privateers among the English Merchants to that degree of Treaty-Violation that from that time for near two years together Peace all the while if French Peace may be call'd Peace there was no security of Commerce or Navigation but at Sea they Murther'd Plunder'd made Prize and Confiscated all they met with The French Pickaroons lay before the Mouths of our Harbors hover'd all along our Coasts took our Ships in the very Ports so that we were in a manner Blockt up by Water And if any made Application at the Sovereign-Port of the Most Christian Solyman for Justice they were most insolently baffled except some few who by Sir E. L's interest were redeem'd upon somewhat easier Composition For evidence of which the following Papers return'd by certain Members of the Privy Council in Pursuance of the King's Order as also the Register which was annex'd to it of the several Vessels that were then complain'd of to be taken are a Memorial not easie to be cancell'd So loud and so thick were the daily complaints of the English Merchants of their losses sustain'd by the French Privateers in the Year 1674. and 1676. notwithstanding the Publick Amity between the two Nations that the King referr'd the Examination thereof to several Lords of the Committee of Trade who upon due Examination of the Affair observ'd that the Petition of the Merchants presented to the King the 31st of May 1676. was grounded upon these Heads First That their Ships and Goods though mann'd according to the Act of Navigation and furnish'd with all necessary Passes were daily seiz'd carry'd into Dunkirk Calais Sherbrook and other Ports the Masters and Owners kept close Prisoners to force them by hardship to abuse their Owners or else for the relief of their own private Necessities being commonly Stripp'd and Plunder'd to enter into the Privateers Service which great numbers had done with very pernicious Effects Secondly That the delay and charge of prosecuting the Law in France did commonly make the Owners become losers of half the Value when ever they were successfull Thirdly That there was no reparation ever gotten from Privateers for what they Plunder'd and Imbezl'd which made them freely seize upon all they met and perpetually molest the Navigation of the King's Subjects for which Reasons they humbly implor'd His Majesty's Relief and Protection Thereupon the King was pleas'd to command that some of his Frigats should sail forth to clear the Coast of those Privateers seize them and bring such as had offended to make Restitution Moreover the King order'd that the Lords of the Committee of Trade should take good notice of the particular Cases and Complaints depending that such as were of weight and merit might be fitted for his Gracious Recommendation for Relief As also to survey the whole number of Seizures which had been made upon his Subjects in order to lay before his Majesty what hardships had been sustain'd at Sea and what sort of Justice had been administer'd in France In Obedience to which command they brought in a List of such Ships as had been seiz'd to the number of fifty three and the Cases wherein the Owners had repair'd to the King for relief Which as in the General it suppos'd a Justice in such complaints so it left a suspition of great hardships in the Methods of Redress besides that the number of Captives was no small proof of the facility of Condemnation While the Lords were in the midst of this Examination there was presented to the Committee as it was receiv'd from Monsieur Courtin the French Ambassador an Extract of a Letter from Monsieur Colbert to Monsieur Pompone one of the French King's Secretaries dated June 28th 1676. in these Words FOr what concerns the Prizes it would be a difficult matter to answer all the Cases contain'd in Monsieur Courtin's Letter What I can say to it is That the Council for Marine Affairs sits every day at St. Germaines That all Privateers and Reclaimers know it That Sir Ellis Leighton nominated by the English Ambassador hath always notice of it and is always present at it That not a week passes but I give him two or three Audiences and oftentimes I send for him on purpose That his Reasons are all read reported and committed as likewise are all Petitions of Reclaimers and I shall tell you more I acquaint him with the Reasons upon which Judgment is given In giving Judgment all Vessels which have any Appearance of being English are releas'd and very often and almost always though we are satisfied that the Ships are Dutch yet they are releas'd because there is some appearance of their being English and every thing is judg'd favourable for that Nation And it is no less true that all Ships that are taken are Dutch Built that they never were in England that the Masters and all the Equipage are Dutch that the Cockets are for Persons unknown and which are not oft-times so much as nam'd that they carry with them only some Sea Breifs from Waterford or some
that Nation cannot long endure the Calms of a Lazy Peace so that if you cannot find employment for them abroad they will be framing Commotions and Disturbances at home The Eldest Sons of all their Noble Families carry away the Estates without leaving any thing to the Younger but an empty Title and their Swords so that being little addicted to Learning and disdaining the life of Mechanicks nothing remains but War or Thievery to rescue them from Misery which is the reason that the Politicks of France oblige her to be continually picking Quarrels with her Nighbours to evaporate those Flames which otherwise would prey upon her own Bowels Their second Maxim is to insinuate themselves into all sorts of Affairs on which hand soever it be and to make themselves Vmpires in all business either by Force or Subtilty by Threatnings or under pretence of Friendship to wriggle themselves into Treaties of Peace where they are Parties interested as they did in that of the Bishop of Munster and afterwards in the Assembly at Breda There never was any Quarrel wherein they had not the cunning to pretend some Interest or Right and never any People shew'd the least inclination to rebell but they always made them their Allies But experience tells us that they never took part in any War but to enflame it the more nor ever interpos'd in any Peace to Sow the Seeds of new Differences Their third Maxim is to make Interest of State the only rule of all their Actions without having any regard to the Faith of Treaties or the Sanctity of Religion or any other Ties of Parentage or Friendship according to the Fundamental Principle of the D. of Rohan That Princes commanded the People and Interest commanded Princes So that all that the Turks have gain'd upon Europe from the time of Francis the First till this time they owe to their Alliances with France and the Diversions she had made in their favour by giving disturbance to those that enterpriz'd any thing against the common Enemy Their fourth Maxim is to keep as much as in them lies all Foreign States employ'd and divided at home or else engaged in Foreign War of which England in particular has found the sad Effects and under pretence of assisting sometimes one sometimes another to seek their own Advantages in the Troubles of others These are the Maxims of Men that make haste to be Rich in Ignoble Conquests and the infallible marks of a profound and vast design that must be stopp'd in time to stop the spreading of the Ambitious Grangrene for from a Royal and powerfull Professor of such Maxims as these there is no Prince that can be safe in his Dominions Among private Persons it is the most difficult thing to deal with a Man of a large Conscience how much more a most Herculean task it is to cope with a mighty Potentate whose Conscience is no less wide than his Ambition is Vast who having eleven Millions of Sterling Pounds torn from the Bowels and Mouths of his poor and wanting Subjects at command to maintain his Wars and bribe his way to Conquest through all the Fences of Religion Morality and Common Justice values not the tremendous Anger of Heaven nor the Violation of all the Laws of God and Nature nor the preservative Constitutions of Men to attain his ends It is said of Tamerlane though a Scythian and Barbarian that to one who earnestly importun'd him in behalf of Bajazet he made this answer that he did not punish a King but an impions and nefarious Man The same justification have the Princes of Europe that they fight not against the Most Christian King but an Anti-Christian Vsurper who conquers to oppress and oppresses merely to support his Oppression and shew the Grandeur of his Power England has more just pretences to his Dominions than perhaps he has himself at least far more just than what he has to the conquests which he has wrested out of the hands of the Spaniard and the Emperor England has the greatest Reason in the World to recover her Antient and till lately uncontested Glory and assert her long continued Dominions of the Seas usurp'd by the Assistence of a purchas'd Navy which if once destroy'd nothing but the same opportunities could again recover It is said that the Portcullis was added to the Royal Badges of the Crown of England to signifie that the Kings of England had a just Right and Title at pleasure to shut up and open the Sea when they thought fit and it may still be prov'd by several substantial Evidences that the King of England's Title to the Propriety of the Sea is as good and perhaps better than any Title the French King has to any part of his Dominions by Land And the Letters are still to be seen in the Paper-Office at White-Hall if not remov'd Written by this King's Grandfather with his own hand to King James to ask leave for some few Vessels to Fish for Sowles as he should have occasion for his own Table and it ought to be so agen for it is only fit that England should guard the Seas that so well defend and guard Her Justice it self now loudly calls to England to demand satisfaction for the illegal and vexatious Depredations and Practices committed upon her Merchants even at the time when she was in strictest League and Combination with her to the ruine of her Trade which is the Apple of her Eye and the main support of her Wooden Walls her chiefest Glory and next under Heaven her chiefest Safeguard and Protection She ought in Justice and Honour to resent the Indignities and Affronts so lately put upon her in making her that ought to be the Balance of Europe the Derision of her Enemies and only the Pity of her Friends such a generous Animosity and Resentment as this would wean the English Nation from that fond Dotage upon French Baubles French Fashions and French Vermin to the loss of above Sixteen Hundred Thousand Pounds Yearly to this Kingdom there having been Yearly so much more imported of French Commodities than exported of ours which only serves to enrich the Capital Foe to our own Ruine and to fit us for the Yoke of French Slavery For this is a certain Rule that the first step to the subducing of a Nation is to insinuate into them a good liking or rather a dotage of those that are to be their subduers and therefore it was that the French King observing that while the English were under the Conjunction of the Triple League there was a general humour in the Nation in opposition to Frence insomuch that they had thrown off the French Mode and put on Vests to the end we might look the more like a distinct People and not be under the servility of Imitation which alwaies pays a greater reverence to the Original than is consistent with that Equality which all independent Nations should pretend to I say the the French King observing this
his retiring was this notwithstanding his specious pretences at the instance of the Confederates all good Offices were done by the King of England and Memorials given but all to no effect till the word Parliament was put into them That powerfull word had such a charm in it that even at a distance it raised the Siege which may convince us of what Efficacy a King of England's words are when he will give them their full weight and threaten with his Parliament Then it is that he appears that greater Figure which we ought to represent him in our Minds the Nation his Body he the Head and join'd with that Harmony that every word he pronounces is the Word of a Kingdom Such Words are as effectual as Fleets and Armies because they can create them and without this his Word sounds abroad like a Faint Whisper that is either not heard or which is worse not minded But to return to the French King and bring him home to his own Dominions where you shall find his extraordinary Kindness to his then Highness the Prince of Orange in demolishing the Castle and pulling down the Walls of the chief City of his Principality of Orange to save him the expence of a Garrison and Plundering and Exacting vast Summs of Money from the Subjects of another Prince living in Peace and giving him no Disturbance merely under pretence of entertaining the Children of Hugonots Nay you shall find him persecuting his own Subjects under the Name of Hereticks and sending his Missionary Dragoons to converâ— them by ransacking their Houses robbing them of their Goods defiling their Wives deflowring their Daughters and inflicting upon the Men torments more cruel and inhumane than those of the Ten Persecutions and all this while they were under the Protection of several Edicts solemnly granted and ratified to them for the Exercise of their Religion without disturbance These are the Renowned Acts of Lewis XIV displaying the lovely prospect of his Falshood to England his breach of Faith with Spain his Infidelity to Holland his Juggling with the Northern Princes his Treacherous Aspiring to the Imperial Throne his vast Expences to divide the Princes of Germany from the Empire his endangering the subversion of all Christendom by confederating with the Turk and his Violations of the Peace of his own Subjects In a word it has been his common Practice to give the World all manner of Disturbance and to render France the common Enemy of the Peace of Manking and a publick Pest among all States and Princes in every Countrey and Kingdom he either finds Combustible Stuff or else makes it and then sets Fire to it being at an excessive charge to find Fodder for the various Animals of Faction in all Places Which sort of Politicks appear to be so much the more Criminal because there is no just revenging them but that which obliges all generous Nations to fight their Enemies with their Arms in their hands and openly There being nothing so base as that which makes Men make use of wicked devices and execrable Treasons as the instruments to ruine others nor does he that thinks to assume the Name of Great by unworthy Artifices render himself a whit the more truly Glorious Souls truly Royal and Magnanimous have always despis'd the Conquests they could more easily obtain by Cunning and Trapan than by Force and Arms And it was out of their Opinion worthy a Noble Spirit that Alexander the great sharply rebuk'd his Favourite Parmenio who would have put him upon a crafty contrivance telling him it was only fit for Robbers to have recourse to Treachery as their only meanes to compass their Theiveries But the French King is of another Temper and thinks it more safe to conquer by Divide Impera than by dint of Sword He knows himself good at Burning witness Alsatia and the Palatinate laid in Ashes and therefore thinks it better to set other Countries which he cannot otherwise come at in a Flame by Treachery and Faction that having enough to doe to quench their own Fires at home they may have neither Leisure nor Power to hinder his Projects abroad Doubtless then since England has so lately seen her Nighbours Houses in so sad a conflagration it is a sufficient Justification for her to look to her own and to secure her self and all Europe from such Boutefeus and the said effects of their impious designs Seeing then there is so little â—redit to be given to the Carthaginian Faith of France and that all the Motions of that aspiring Monarch tend directly to the subversion of the whole frame of the Government of Europe and to erect a French Tyranny over all the enthrall'd Princes of this same fourth and best inhabited part of the World there are two Motives which ought to excite the Princes of Christendom to take the common cause in hand the one is interest of State the other the strickt obligation of Justice The first is the general concern of all the Potentates of Europe the second the particular interest of the Princes of the Empire We shall only take notice of the former as being the most Vniversal and most considerable in the World and which will lead us insensibly into the second The grand concern is now to support the Right of Nations which is common to all and to prevent the introducing of Maxims into the World which destroy all commerce among Men and will certainly render humane Society no less dangerous and insupportable than that of Lions and Tygers to defend the publick Faith of Treaties and remove from the sight of Christendom a scandalous example which by the fatal consequences of it will surrender the most feeble to the Will and Pleasure of the strongest and most Potent to stop the Inundation of a Rapid Torrent against the impetuosity of which neither Leagues nor Marriages neither Oaths nor Ties of Bloud and Parentage neither Amity nor Condescentions are Mounds or Damms sufficient to defend the common Bulwark of Christendom against a vast design which has no other ground than the Insatiable thirst of Conquest no other end than despotick Domination by dint of Arms and slight of Intrigue nor any Limits but such as Fortune shall prescribe In short England is now to decide the Fate of Europe and to pronounce the Sentence of her Liberty or Bondage Nor does there want justification sufficient to pursue so great and glorious an Undertaking to the utmost when we consider the Maxims of France which are easie to be gather'd from the past and present conduct her insulting Monarch whose design was to have thrown his Wash-pot over the Empire and his Shoe over all the rest of Europe The first Mixim of France is to make War alwaies abroad and to exercise her Young Nobility at the expence of her Nighbours A Maxim very Politick and well adjusted for her own Advantage but very incommodious for all the rest of the World For it is certain the Genius of
did not like this small beginning of ill Humours wisely considering it as a natural Introduction first to make the World his Apes and then his Slaves and therefore he set his Instruments at work to Laugh us out of our Vests which she performed so effectually that in a Moment like so many Footmen who had quitted their Masters Livery we all took it up again and return'd to serve the French And happy would it be for England if she would cast off her French Modes her French Fashions and French Humours which only serve to corrupt and soften the minds of those for whom it would be much more glorious to remember the Fields of Poictiers and Agencourt and rather to study the generous Examples of their victorious Ancestors than be the Slaves of French Imitation The conquering Romans retir'd indeed to Athens to improve their Learning but it betrays a poorness of Spirit inexcusable in the English who have two such Magnificent Vniversities of their own to gallop to Paris for Breeding as if Coupees Complements Grimaces and Shrugs of the Shoulder were the only Accomplishments of a Gentleman Surely it was much better both for England and the General Peace of Europe when the English taught them their running Sarrabands and the good Breeding of Obedience nor will it e'er be well till the English become their Tutors again For certainly there is no Government in Europe under which the People live so Miserably as under that of France the Grand Signior or the Ksar of Moscâ—vy are not more absolute of the People than the Tyranny of France The French King may well be call'd Tyrannus for he makes and abrogates the Laws at his Pleasure he cannot be said to Rule but Tyrannize over Cities depriv'd of all the Franchizes and Privileges that render Societies happy and to dominier over a poor naked People stript of all things that make life comfortable So that the People may be said to Toil and Moil but the Prince to wipe off the Sweat of their Brows into his own Coffers You would swear that the whole Country were the habitation of Poverty where Penury walks about in wooden Sandals single Pettiâ—oates and wrinckl'd Faces as if the Products of that fertile Soil were forbid to be touch'd by the Innocent Manurers of that Terrestrial Paradise where the Corn and Wine and Fat of the Land is carry'd off to fit the Royal Magazines or sold abroad to cram the King's Exchequer And after all this when the sholes of Locust Publicans have devour'd all even almost to the very Stalk for the small remainder to bear the Burthen of insolent free Quarter is not only Tyranny but licentiated Inhumanity All these Calamities and Miseries has England yet escap'd though fairly threaten'd with them had not Providence been very mercifull to Her The Husbandman plump and jolly enjoying his Liberty and a fair proportion of his Labours does not fear what the Confusion of Babel never knew the horrid Jargonry of Ayde Octroy Preciput Equivalent Crue Taille Estate Subsistence de quartier d'hyvere Garinzons Mort payes Appointments de Governours Debtes Affaires du Roy Gratifications Extraordinaries Deu Gratuit Frais The necessary supports of Life Wine Beer Sider are not enhanc'd by Aydes sur le Vin Bierres Cidres plus le Huictieme Denier le Souquest le Batire Imposts Billets The Markets are not pester'd with Gabelles upon Corn and Meal nor the Mills with Measure Coupee No Tolls of pied Fourchue nor Duties taken by weight upon every pound of Flesh sold in the Shambles nor Gabelles upon Salt but what are laid on by consent of the People themselves The Shop Keepers are not molested with the Gibbrish of the mark upon Paper the mark of Silver the mark of Tinn the mark of Hats the mark of all Stockins Silk and Woollen the mark of Shoes the mark upon all Stuffs Woollen and Silk the mark upon Linen the Gabelle upon Jie the controle of of Exploites The Gentry are not vex'd with the Tax of free Gifts Fifts and Resists and Amortisements The prâ—ce of Valuation the mark of Gold the two Soulx in the Pound the seal'd Duty the duty of Controll the registers Duty the Priest for being admitted to the Annual and the Annual or Paulette A sort of Language of the Gallies not understood by English Liberty yet all these and many other abominable Taxes Tolls and Impositions are punctually leavy'd one way or other at the King 's sole Will and Pleasure with many more too prolix to be number'd and what ever else his Absolute Power shall think fit to impose anew where ever any subjects of the French Monarchy have their habitations when his emergent occasions intimate a pretence and must be paid without any remorce or compassion to the half Famish'd Children and Families of the poor People crying out for Bread Certainly to conclude therefore as I begun the Lician Chimaera and Lernaean Hydra that wasted all the Country round about them and ruined the Inhabitants with the scalding Flames and Pestilential Breath that issued from their Pestiferous Jaws were Types of Tyranny in General so more particularly of the present French Monarchy but on the other side we find that both Bellerophon and Hercules continue to this day eterniz'd for subduing those Monsters Such Fables as these being the Off-spring of great Reason and wise Head peices were not invented merely to please their Readers but to instruct the World that Wars which unavoidably must be attended with great Mischiefs and Calamities are not to be unjustly undertaken to doe wrong for wrong's sake under pretence of Illegal Claims and Pretensions but may be legally enterpriz'd to repell injustice and violence and to curb the lawless Invasions of Right and Property which are the original Blessings and Benefits of God and Nature the unjust Assailour of which becomes an Enemy to both and a Monster no less pernicious than either of those two For those Monsters no question were no other than two aspiring Potentates that made unjust and cruel Wars upon their Neighbours without provocation given and therefore were most justly subdued by Bellerophon and Hercules and they no less justly rewarded for the benefit received by their glorious Actions which even exceed all Fame Vertue is Vertue still unalterable from whence we may conclude that the same Glory still attends and that the same success will prove the subduing these Chimaera's and Hydra's of Men that for so long time have harras'd Europe with wicked Wars and impious Depopulations merely to gain the Honour of being like those Monsters Terrors and Destroyers of Mankind A Catalogue of French Commodities Yearly transsported into England by which it appears that our Trade with France has been at least Sixteen Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year clear loss to this Kingdom 1. THere is transported out of France into England great quantities of Velvets plain and wrought Sattins plain and wrought Cloth of Gold and Silver Armoysins and other Merchandises of Silk which are made at Lions and are valued to be Yearly worth one Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds 2. In Silk Stuffs Taffeties Poudesoys Armoysins Cloths of Gold and Silver Tabbies plain and wrought Silk-ribbands and other such like Silk stuffs as are made at Tours valued to be worth above Three Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year 3. In Silk-ribbands Gallowns Laces and Buttons of Silk which are made at Paris Roan Chimont St. Estienes in Forrests for about one Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds a Year 4. A great quantity of Serges which are made at Chalons Chartres Estamines and Rhemes and great quantities of Serges made at Amiens Crevecoeur Blicourt and other Towns in Picardy for above one Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds a Year 5. In Bever Demicastor and Felt Hats made in the City and Suburbs of Paris besides many others made at Roan Lions and other places for about One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Pounds a Year 6. In Feathers Belts Girdles Hatbands Fans Hoods Masks gilt and wrought Looking-glasses Cabinets Watches Pictures Cases Medals Tablets Bracelets and other such like Mercery ware for above One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds a Year 7. Iâ— Pins Needles Box-combs Tortoise-shell Combs and such like for about Twenty Thousand Pound a Year 8. In perfumed and trimmed Gloves that are made at Paris Roan Vendosme Clermont and other places for about Ten Thousand Pounds a Year 9. In Papers of all sorts which are made at Auvergne Poictou Limosin Champaigne and Normandy for above One Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year 10. In all sorts of Iron-mongers wares that are made in Forrests Auvergne and other places for about Fourty Thousand Pounds a Year 11. In Linen Cloth that is made in Bretaigne and Normandy as well course as fine there is transported into England for above Four Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year 12. In Houshold-stuff consisting of Beds Matresses Coverlids Hangings Fringes of Silk and other furniture for above One Hundred thousand Pounds a Year 13. In Wines from Gascoigne Nantois and other places on the River of Loyerc and also from Bourdeaux Rochel Nante Roan and other places are transported into England for above Six Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year 14. In Aqua Vitae Sider Vineger Verjuice and such like for about One Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year 15. In Saffron Castle-sope Honey Almonds Olives Capers Prunes and such like for about One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds a Year 16. Besides five or six hundred Vessels of Salt laden at Ma ron Rochel Rouage the Isle of Oleron and Isle of Rhee transported into England and Holland of a very great value So as by this calculation it doth appear that the yearly value of such commodities as are transported from France to England amount to above Six and Twenty Hundred Thousand Pounds And the commodities exported out of England into France consisting chiefly of Woollen Cloths Serges Knit Stockings Lead Pewter Alume Coals and all else do not amount to above Ten Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year By which it appears that our Trade with France is at least sixteen Hundred Thousand Pounds a Year clear lost to this Kingdom FINIS
Places corrupt her People with Money and one being taken passing through her Countrey was by her command laden with Irons and severely punish'd Nevertheless they took other Roads and had frequent private enterviews with Valentin Nemessan Peter Jagel and other particular Friends and Allies of Teckely They made it their Business likewise to have more and more frequent conferences in Transilvania sending first one and then another to Paris with ample Accounts of their Proceedings and for farther Instructions Of all these things the Emperours Ambassador in the Court of Poland complain'd to his Majesty and desir'd that no French Man not being an Ambassador or bearing some other Employment might be permitted to stay in his Dominions Upon which the King gave Notice to the French Ambassador to order Akakia and Du Vernay to withdraw The Senate also told the same Ambassador that they well understood that the French were they who had stirr'd up the Troubles in Hungary that they knew what Money had been given for it what Cabals they had held and what the Sieur du Vernay kept â—very day They declared him to be a Spie and that he had no other business to detain him about Leopold but only to treat with the Turks and Mahometans about drawing the War into Hungary The Ambassador answered that Vernay was sent with him into Poland to manage the Affairs of the Most Christian King his Master and deny'd that either Vernay or he had any commerce with the Hungarians or Turks But the Spanish Ambassador having made new Discoveries renew'd his complaints to the King who gave him Audience in the presence of Vitry the French Ambassador and before the whole Senate where he spoke a long time against the abominable Methods and Practices of the French carry'd on by Vernay to promote the Troubles of Hungary and bring the Turks into Christendom but then it was that Vitry having no way to avoid it declar'd Vernay to be joint Ambassador with him from the French King by that means to shelter a Traitor to Christendom under the Protection of the Law of Nations Much about the same time the Castellan of Primislau perceiving that neither His Majesty of Poland nor the Senate expâ—ll'd the French Spies and moreover that their designs still succeeded better and better refus'd to permit Vernay to enter his Village of Nimoravia but forced him to pass another way Vitry was highly incens'd at this and going directly to Court laid before the King the Affront and Indignity offer'd to his Associate Vernay and was so bold as to demand the Imprisonment of the Castellan for satisfaction but the King not enduring his Confidence told him plainly that it was to no purpose to couch Vernay under the Quality of an Ambassador for that the Tragedies he acted under the vain pretence of an Ambassador were too well known that all the devices of the French and their contracts with the Turk were discover'd that the places which Vernay had corrupted were named their Resolutions and Designs known that he could exactly tell how much Money had been remitted from France to Hungary and how they had us'd Violence Deceit and wicked Practice against the Emperour to the misfortune of Christendom The Ambassador would have pretended to have clear'd himself of these things which he said were wrongfully charg'd upon his Nation But the King growing hot would not hear him only told the Ambassador he would lay Ten Thousand Pistoles with him that he would undeniably prove all that he had said to be true At which the French Ambassador stood amaz'd and by his silence sufficiently confirm'd the thing The rest of the French that were present also in a Consternation fix'd their Eyes upon the Ground not lifting them up but to gaze upon one another as it were accusing themselves So certain it is that the inward reproach of Conscience and the secret Power of Truth put the most fierce and confident out of Countenance and by reducing the Guilty to a shamefull Silence force them to make some sort of confession of their Crimes Besides what has been recited there were several Letters intercepted which clear'd up the Truth of the French correspondence with the Turks and Hungarian Male-Contents One from Monsieur Vernay to Count Teckely wherein the French Spie tells him that he had receiv'd with great joy the Letters which he sent him from the Camp before Filleck enclos'd in the Packets of the French Ambassador at Constantinople That he had endeavour'd to send Jaygell what he had promis'd him and what he had receiv'd but wanted an Opportunity farther he desir'd the Count to order it so that his Messengers should come to him by Night and directed him which Road they should take to avoid the Searches of the Polonians concluding that he should take care in all things that the Count should be pleas'd to command him Another Letter from Count Teckely to Vernay wherein the Count gives Vernay thanks to his faithfull Agent Valentine Nemessani and promises him to acknowledge it as occasion should serve gives him an account of his taking Cassovia and Filleck and how he intended to prosecute his good Success Another Letter from Peter Jaygell Governour of Cassovia to Monsieur Vernay wherein Jaygell gives Vernay an Account of the taking and dismantling of Filleck that Teckely had been Proclaim'd King of Hungary and confirm'd in that Quality by the Great Turk who sent him from the Port a Hat instead of a Crown a Standard and a Sceptre He tells Vernay farther that Nemessani was gone to treat of Affairs at the French King's Court and presses Vernay to hasten the supply promis'd by the French King Sufficient Proofs of the pernicious and Most Anti-Christian Treacheries of the Most Christian King to the ruin of Christendom After all this to shew the extent of French falshood you shall see that if it stand with his own Interest the French King will not stick to betray himself and discover his own Treasons for that at the beginning of the Dutch War when he saw the Emperour arming himself in good earnest to assist the Dutch to dissuade and divert him from his purpose and to engage him had it been possible not to concern himself in the Quarrel he very fairly offer'd to deliver into the Emperour's hands all the Original Letters and Papers he had receiv'd from time to time from his brib'd Friends and Creatures in Poland and Hungary to the end that both his Imperial Majesty and the King of Poland might take such Orders as they thought fit with those Traitors whiâ—â— may serve as a fare warning and determent to all those that prefer French Money before their Loyalty and the true Interests of their Country 'T is true that for some time the Most Christian King made the raising of his Seige from before Luxenburgh a great Argument of his Christian. Zeal and Generosity to his Imperial Majesty not to assail him when the Turk was at his Doors but the true ground of