this fine Hexameter Qui deditante duas triplicem dabit ille Coronam The Fury of the Leaguers thus paraphrased it in the following Distick Qui deditante duas unam abstulit altera nutat Tertia tonsoris est facienda manu Besides this in a private Cabal held by those of that party where this Execrable Design was proposed it hapning that one in the companâ—… who was more moderate than the rest demanded Who should be the Man that durst put the King in a Cloyster The Cardinal of Guise who was of a hot fiery constitution after he had reproached him for his faint â—…eartedness roundly told him That were the King in his hands he would for his head between his knees and immediately make him a Monk's Crown with the point of a Poiniard An Aâ—…r 〈◊〉 cost him very dear for after Henry III had caus'd Monsieur de Guise his Brother to be executed and was considering with himself what he should do with the Cardinal whom he had order'd to be apprehended Col. Alphonso d' Ornano Father to the Mareschal of that Name having put him in mind of these cruel words and remonstrated to him That the living Brother was infinitely more dangerous than he that was now dead had ever been the King swore he should dye and immediately sent Monsieur de Gaast Captain of the Guards with positive Orders to dispatch him This secret Solicitation of Henry III. against Mary Stuart his own Sister in Law Queen of Scotland and Dowager of France makes it appear That to preserve our selves we often sacrifice our Allies and Relations and even Religion it self to Interest and Reason of State Witness what the aforesaid Q. Elizabeth heretofore told my Father That she held her Life by the Courtesie of King Philip II. her Brother in Law although he was the greatest Enemy she had Upon this consideration she kept his Picture in her Bed-chamber and made him be looked upon by all the World as her Saviour And in effect he hinder'd her Sister Mary from putting her to death For Q. Mary Second Wife to K. Philip being a great Catholic and very infirm had reason to fear that her Sister Elizabeth who was a Protestant when she came to succeed her would banish the Catholic Religion out of England theâ—…ower â—…ower of London But. K. Philip oâ—…d the motion with all his power fearing lest Mary Stuart Heir to Q. Elizabeth who then was marry'd to K. Francis II. should one day becoâ—… Queen of Great Britain by Right of Succession and joyning it to France as it would unqueâ—…ionably happen if she had any children by tâ—…e Union of so many Kingdoms a formidable power would be erected that would uâ—…erly ruin and confound his vast design of an Universal Monarchy At this very juncture the Spaniards make Religion truckle to Interest and those Grave Gentlemen who have so often in their Writings reproached us for our Alliances with Hereticks and particularly with Holland and Sweden in order to recommend themselves with a better grace to the Court of Rome at present look upon the Hollanders as the greatest support of their Monarchy permitting them to preach publickly in their Cities Nay to show what a consideration they have for these people Admiral d'Ruyter a little before his death got a great Number of Hungarian Ministers to be released out of the Gallys of Naples whither the Emperour had sent them at one word's speaking to the Marquiss de Los-Velez the Viceroy Thus any body may perceive that 't is Interest only that governs the World and that a great Captain had reason to say That Princes commanded the People but that Interest commanded Princes Which is so palpable so apparent a Truth that the most sacred things among men have been often devoted to this wicked principle and the greatest part of Crown'd Heads observe the Rules of Iustice and Religion no farther than they find them consistent with their dearly beloved Interest As for what remains if any scrupulous person shall think sit to quarrel with my Memoirs for comparing William Prince of Orange and Admiral Colligny who were both Hereticks and both Rebels to the greatest Heroes of Antiquity yet I would not have him conclude that I have the least leaning towards Heresy and Rebellion to which I have an equal Aversion My meaning is That it is a Sign of as much if not more Vertue to make ones self a Prince of a private person than to be one and being weak to resist mighty powers than to gain Batles being born to a Scepter as Alexander and Gustavus Adolphus were Kings owe their Victories to the Valour of their Captains and Troops and sometimes to the Winds and to the Sun that is to meer Fortune Thus Cicero speaking to Caesar tells him That he acquired more glory in pardoning Marcellus and restoring his Enemy to his Estate and Dignities than if he had gained a great many Battels because his Soldiers and Officers would attribute the principal honour of it to themselves and for an undeniable Argument That the gaining of a Battle is owine to the Experience and Courage of the Soldery the Prince of Conde who had as much personal Bravery as ever any man in the World had after he had defeated at Rocroy the old disciplined Regiments of the Low-Countries and those of the Empire at Nordlingue durst not appear in Guyenne before the Count of Harcourt who had but a small Body of old experienced Troops with him altho the Prince had twice the Number of New raised men Difference in Religion ought not to diminish our Esteem of any man We have seen several good Catholicks of very shallow Understandings as for Instance the Cardinal de Pelleve who as he was once haranguing the States General broke off abruptly and made nothing on 't which gave occasion to the following Lines Seigneurs Etats excusez le bon-homme Il a laissé son Calepin à Rome On the other hand we have seen some Huguenots as for Instance Monsieur de la None whom the most celebrated Writers have compared to the greatest men of former Ages As for my self I adore extraordinary Merit where-ever I find it be it in an Heretic in a Rebel nay even in an Enemy The Duke of Lesse Viceroy of Naples has left an Eternal Monument of this Generous Maxim behind him by erecting a magnificent Tomb in St. Maries de la Nove at Naples to Peter of Navarr with this Inscription Petro Navarro Cantabro solertissimo in expugnandis Urbibus duci Consalvus Ferdinandus Luessae Princeps Ludovici filius Magni Consalvi Nepos quamvis Gallorum partes secutum Pio Sepulchri muncrum honestavit cum hoc habeat in se praeclara virtus ut ctiam in hoste sit admirabilis This Hero honour'd Vertue in an Enemy in a Rebel and in a Deserter and not thinking it sufficient to commend him in private erected a Noble Mausoleum to his Memory Caesar was not less regarded at Rome because he was
THE LIVES Of all the Princes of Orange FROM WILLIAM the Great Founder of the Common-wealth of the United Provinces Written in French by the Baron Maurier in the Year 1682 and published at Paris by Order of the French King To which is added the Life of His Present Majesty King William the Third from His Birth to His Landing in England By Mr. Thomas Brown Together with all the Princes Heads taken from Original Draughts Chara Deo Soboles Virgil. LONDON Printed for Thomas Bennet at the Half-Moon in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1693. To his Honoured Friend THOMAS CHAMBERS OF Hanworth Esq SIR THough I know what a just aversion you have to the common strain of Dedications yet with the usual assurance of an Authour of the Town I have presumed to inscribe this History to you so much too powerful was either my gratitude or my interest for the Complaisance I ought to have had for your Modesty As I have received too many Obligations at your hands not to endeavour at some sort of a requital if Addresses of this Nature don't rather serve to increase the Debt than to acquit it so I am too well acquainted with your Temper to offer at any thing that may look like Flattery 'T is I confess somewhat hard to be avoided upon these occasions and few Patrons quarrel with the poor Slaves that make these Applications to them for being too liberal of their Incense But you need not fear any such dreadful Entertainment from me For contrary to the received Practise of all my Predecessors in Dedication I intend not to say one Word in your Praise Nay what is more surprizing instead of being a Panegyrist I here come publickly to reproach you and that freedom as gross as it looks I know you will much sooner excuse than being praised I must therefore though it is much against my inclination to be the bearer of ill News take the boldness to inform you that the World speaks very strange things of you and such as I am afraid you will find it a difficult matter to justifie without the affectation of being singular It complains in the first place that in a time of Universal perfidiousness and degeneracy when the profession of Friendship serves only to usher in some piece of Treachery with a better grace you have the opiniatreté to be sincere and undesigning that at an Age wherein others of your quality wholly abandon themselves to their pleasures and generously neglect the pursuit of every thing besides you are so ill-natured as to use them only en passant and cannot be brought to allow that Learning sits ill upon a Gentleman and lastly that amidst so vast a Wealth which uses to have no other effect upon the rest of Mankind but either to make them neglect themselves or despise others you obstinately continue to be unfashionably virtuous and condescending I could tell you of several other objections of the like terrible importance that are frequently made against you but as by these I have mention'd you may sufficiently judge what malicious Worlds thinks of you I shall forbear to recount the rest And now Sir if I may be permitted to speak something of the following Translation I hope it is a Present not altogether unworthy of your Acceptance There is this at least to be said in the behalf of it which very few done out of the same Language can pretend to and that is the extream Scarcity as well as Excellence of the Original there being as far as I can inform my self not above four or five of them in England That very Book which my Friends and I made use of for you must give me leave here to inform you that I have but a small share in this performance and is now in the Possession of a Learned Gentleman had formerly passed the Hands of King Charles the Second for he having received a mighty Character of it was so impatient to read it over that he could not stay to be furnished with one of them from France but sent to borrow this As for the Author though I ingenuously own that I am so uncharitable to his Country-men as to believe they are for the general part as unfit to write History as Dutch-men are to write Epic Poems for Dutch Epic Poetry is down-right History disguised with Metre and French History as far as Fiction will make it so is down-right Poetry yet he has happily escaped the Genius of the rest of his Nation who are so apt to run out into strange Love-adventures and other Chimera's even upon the most solemn occasions and as appears by his Writings was a Person of great Quality Probity and Experience If he has any fault 't is this that he is now and then too much upon the Narrative but his Old-Age will excuse that Infirmity As for the rest he was a passionate Lover of Truth and an Adorer of true Merit where-ever he found it whether in Catholic or Hugonot Difference in Religion not being able to prepossess him to any Man's disadvantage if he were otherwise valuable In short he has discovered several important Matters of State which till he revealed them were Mysteries to all the World and I shall but do him justice when I say that he has joyned the unaffected Simplicity of Philip de Comines to the Veracity of the great Thuanus The last Life has been done by a modern Hand but though it does not come up to the former seems to be written with great Impartiality and Freedom I have thus given you a short Account of the Author It now remains that I should conclude which I find I must do in a different manner from most Dedications For whereas they generally end with some devout Wishes for the Person to whom they address you have been so eminently well treated both by Nature and Fortune that I can wish you nothing but what you possess already Therefore not altogether to depart from so ancient and received a Custom I will pray but it shall be for my self who need it most My first Petition is that you would be pleased to forgive all the defects in the Translation I mean in my own Part of it and my second that when your Candor has forgiven them you would once more employ it and pardorn this Presumption in Sir Your most Humble and Most Obliged Servant T. Brown The TABLE A. DUke of Alva sent to succeed the Dutchess in the Government of the Low Countreys page 19. Establishes a Councel of Twelve called the Councel of Blood p. 20 21. The Arch-Duke Brother to the Emperour Rodolphus chosen Governour of the Netherlands p. 64. Amsterdam surrendred to the States p. 65. Duke of Anjou invited into Holland p. 73. Retires into France and dies p. 113. Arminius and Gomarus their Quarrel p. 160 161 c. B. BArnevelt's Story p. 156 157 c. Bon besieged p. 240 241. And taken p. 242. Marquess de Bellefonds banished by the French King p. 251.
their own bounds which was so true that when the States of the 17 Provinces assembled at Brussels having instantly demanded of Prince William of Orange that the Roman Catholic Religion might be exercised in his Governments returned answer That this depended only upon the States of Holland and Zealand That they appealed from these Judges as incompetent and visibly suspected of being their Enemies to such Judges as were natural and proper to their cause At the same time Prince Maurice with the States General called a National Synod in the Town of Dort and several Divines of Foreign Countries were invited thither in this Assembly the Opinion of Arminius was declared to be Heretical scandalous and tending to the Re establishment of Popery in the United Provinces and in pursuance of this decree Utembaugarts and all the other Ministers and Doctors suspected to be of that Opinion were dismissed from their Cures and banished the Country and forbid to return under pain of severe punishment After this Monsieur Barnevelt and the other Prisoners were tried before Judges nominated by the States General these Judges Condemned Monsieur Barnevelt to death upon the 12th of May 1619. My Father had several times interceeded for him in the Name of the French King and Monsieur de Boissise had been twice sent Envoy Extraordinary into Holland to exhort the States to consult their proper welfare and treat their Prisoners with moderation Pursuant to the Sentence he was executed in the Court of the Castle at the Hague being 66 years old where the Scaffold was raised against his Chamber Window opposite to the Prince's Apartment who was said to have beheld this Execution from his window by the help of a prospective upon which some people made their Reflections Prince Maurice and the States had less regard to the Intercession of France because the King of England was in their Interest as being perswaded that Monsieur Barnevelt was none of his Friends and that he had done him a sensible displeasure by causing the English Garrisons to retire from the Town of Flushing the Brill and the Castle of Ramekius which the English held for a security of those Sums which Queen Elizabeth had lent to the States General Monsieur Barnevelt being the chief of a very splendid Embassy made great Instances to the King to recall his Forces from their Towns King Iames promised him publickly and solemnly that he would do it provided they paid the Money due to him thinking he had imposed an impossible condition upon them considering how the Provinces had been exhausted by their Taxes but Monsieur Barnevelt having got the Kings word applyed himself with so much diligence to the collecting of the Money and by his Credit the people bled so freely that in a little time these vast Sums were carried into England which King Iames tho' very much surprized at was obliged to receive and consequently to recall his Garrisons and the remembrance of it stuck so close that he had always a great aversion for Monsieur Barnevelt Prince Maurice had another reason to make him have less regard to the intercession of France which was because he was not in the least afraid of their resentments Lewis the 13th was then come out of his Minority and a new Favorite was absolute Master of Affairs who had more regard to the raising of himself and two Brothers than to meddle with the Affairs of other Countries which appeared in the business of the Elector Palatine King of Bohemia for though by reasons of State he should have been maintained to weaken the House of Austria which at that time was become formidable and because this Elector was one of our principal Allies who might always have so divided Germany as that one of the Parties should have assisted us when we had occasion yet Monsieur de Luynes promised the Marquess de Mirabel the Spanish Ambassador then at Paris to ruin the Affairs of the Palatinate upon condition that Monsieur de Cadenet his Brother should marry Mademoiselle de Pecquigny and Chaulnâ—…s one of the most noble most beautiful and richest Heiresses of her time who was educated at Bruxels in the Family of the Infanta Isabella Upon these hopes which were not ill grounded for the Spaniards had given him their word Monsieur de Luynes sent a splendid Embassy into Germany consisting of Monsieurs d' Angouleme de Bethune and de Chateau-neuf who deceived the Protestant Princes that were armed for the defence of the Palatinate for it was concluded by the Treaty of Ulme where all the Princes of both Parties were assembled to hearken to the propositions of France That both Catholics and Protestants should lay down their Arms and the Quarrel be decided by the King of Bohemia and the Emperor only The Protestant Princes suffered themselves to be abused and did perform the Treaty honestly so that the Marquess of Ansbatch the General of their Forces had orders to disband them but the Duke of Bavaria and the other Catholic Princes of the same Parties sent their Troops by the Danube to the Emperor who overthrew the Prince Palatine at the battel of Prague After this Monsieur de Luynes having thus sufficiently raised his Family began to consider what might be for the Interest of the Kingdom and thereupon councelled the King to weaken the Hugonots who as he told his Majesty had the Insolence to make a distinct State within themselves and had hitherto been held invincible hereupon Monsieur de Luynes seized upon all their important places except Montauban from Saumur to the Pyreneans and after his death in the year 1622 pursuant to his Maxims Montpelier was taken and at last some time after Cardinal Richelieu counselled the King to attack Rochel which he gained and razed immediately and having in that destroyed the principal strength of the Hugonot Party their entire ruin soon followed upon the Duke of Rohans retreat to Venice who had a long time upheld them by his Valor and Industry Prince Maurice was sufficiently informed of this condition of France by the Dukes of Bovillon and dela Trimoille who had married his Sisters besides these he had a great many Friends in Germany where several of the Soveraign Princes were related to him either by his own side or his Mothers who was Daughter to Maurice Duke of Saxony The Elector Palatine was his Nephew likewise and he afterwards was chose King of Bohemia which he accepted as 't is said upon the advice of Prince Maurice and the persuasions of the Princess his Lady though contrary to the Counsels of King Iames his Father in-law who thought a young Prince was not capable to manage an Affair of such Importance and resist the power of the House of Austria protesting that he would neither succor him with men nor money except he quitted this design which would infallibly become his ruin but the Duke of Bovillon perswaded the Elector Palatine to the contrary as having some power over the young
Prince who was his Nephew and had been bred up with him at Sedan and the Duke discovered some Ambition to have his Nephew a King when he wrote to some Friends at Paris that whilst Lewis was making Knights at Fountainbleau he was making Kings in Germany But this Royalty did not continue above 6 months so that his Enemies called him a King of Snow because the single battle of Prague in the beginning of the year 1621 lost him all Bohemia Silesia Lusatia Moravia with the adjoyning Provinces and the year following the Spanish Forces marching from the Low Countries deprived him of the Palatinate itself in which he was not re-established but by Adolphus's Descent into Germany Charles Duke of Lorrain who died many years after one of the oldest Captains of the age signalized himself very much at the Battle of Pragne where Count Harcourt was likewise tho very young But to return to Prince Maurice France being so apparently inclined to the Interests of Barnevelt's Party its Ministers which were then in Holland used to say that Prince Maurice would have pretended to the Soveraignty of the United Provinces but that such People who in the beginning had been hottest against Mr. Barnevelt and most devoted to the Prince yet when they fathom'd his designs became averse to them notwithstanding their former obligations besides the Exile Death and Imprisonment of persons who had been so considerable in the State and had likewise a great many Friends and Dependants wrought a mighty change in the Peoples affections to the Prince which appeared very visibly for whereas before when he went through the Towns of Holland every body came out of their houses praying for him with extraordinary Acclamations now as he was one day going through the Market-place at Gorcum which was full of people there was scarce a single man that pull'd his Hat off to him For the common people were so variable that the very Writings which heretofore had made Mr. Barnevelt become suspected by them were now produced as so many motives for their pity and compassion towards him To this they added that the assistance which probably he might have hop'd for from the Elector Palatine was since the loss of the battle of Prague no longer to be expected and the Emperor Ferdinand the 2d having by the happy success of his Generals Count Tilly and Wallestein made himself absolute Master of all Germany even to the Baltick Sea where he established an Admiralty at Wismar reduced all the Princes and Imperial Towns under his Obedience Prince Maurice could no longer expect Succors from Germany whatever Friends he might heretofore have had there But those who adhered to the Interests of Prince Maurice and the House of Orange acquitted him of a Design so prejudicial to the good of the United Provinces by maintaining that it was a perfect Artifice of his Enemies to make him become odious to the People of the Low Countries for said they what probability was there that Prince Maurice ever had it in his thoughts to become Soveraign of his Country since after the extirpation of Barnevelt and his party he never made one step towards it which he might have done having then no farther obstacles Prince Maurice did not long survive a great Conspiracy which the Sieur de Stautemburg youngest Son of Mr. Barnevelt had laid against his Life which being happily discovered some hours before its execution obliged him to punish a great number of the Conspirators throughout the pincipal Towns of Holland The Prince was never married but had several Natural Children the most considerable of them all was Mousieur de Beververt a man very well made and very brave he was Governor of Bolduc after whose death the Prince of Tarentum had that Government and was succeeded by Collonel Fitz Patrick a Scotchman Prince Maurice died in the Spring of the Year 1625 when the Marquess Spinola besieged the Town of Breda And as some pretended it was for grief that he did not succeed in the Soveraignty so others said that it was because he could not relieve that place which was his own propriety and had been surprized by him 34 years before FREDERICK HENRY Prince of Orange Henry Frederick of Nassau Prince of Orange and his Posterity THis Prince was born the 28th of February 1584. He was of a good mein and of a strong make and his parts were as eminent as his person was agreeable He was a very great Captain and equall'd the Glory of his Brother Maurice who taught him the Art of War and lead him into the most dangerous Adventures and amongst others at the battle of Newport where though he was very young he contributed much by his Valor to the gaining that great Victory in a conjuncture where the Army of the States General had before them a powerful body of men commanded by Albert the Arch-duke in person and the Sea behind them so that it was absolutely necessary either to make themselves Conquerors or to perish When Prince Maurice died in the year 1625 he advised his Brother Henry Frederick his chief Heir to marry Madam de Solmes who was come into Holland with the Queen of Bohemia whose Beauty and good Carriage were accompanied with a great deal of Modesty and Prudence she died a little while ago being very antient and her Name was Amelia Daughter to Iohn Albert Count de Solmes This Prince had one Son and four Daughters the eldest of these Ladies married Frederick William the Elector of Brandenburg by whom she had several Children This Prince has the greatest Territories in all Germany they reaching from the Low Countries to Poland and Curland The 2d Daughter Henrietta Emilia married the Count de Nassau The 3d Henrietta Catherina married Iohn George Prince of Anhalt and the 4th married the Duke of Simeren the youngest Son of the House Palatine who died a little while ago The Son was called William was born in 1626 and died the 6th of November 1650 after the business of Amsterdam He was a Prince naturally ambitious and of great Courage so that his Enemies reported of him that though he was so young yet he aimed at the execution of that design which had been laid to Prince Maurice's charge by Barnevelt and his Adherents His sudden death changed the whole face of affairs in the Low Countries He had great prospects from his alliance of England having married Princess Mary Daughter of Charles the first King of Great Britain by whom he left Prince William Henry of Nassau now King of England c. who was born the 14th of November 1650 some days after the death of his Father This young Prince William was very remarkable in his Infancy for his reservedness and moderation his Prudence increased as he grew up and such people as were nice observers of merit and took great notice of him have affirmed that never Prince gave greater hopes than he even in the most tender years He suffered with an admirable temper
long Combat where abundance of persons of France England and the Low Countries ran from all parts to see from the shore so extraordinary a spectacle The greatest part of so powerful a Fleet was burnt destroyed or separated and those which escaped put themselves under the covert of some English Vessels and so retreated into the River of Thames or some Port in Flanders The Spaniards lost above 7000 men that were burnt or drowned besides 2000 who were made Prisoners by the Hollanders This Victory was very great and memorable for there were 40 large Vessels sunk burnt or taken and amongst others the great Galeon of Portugal called Mater Tereza was burnt which was 62 foot broad and had 800 men on board who all perished This Tromp was the Father of Count Tromp who was engaged in the King of Denmark's service and gained great advantages over the Swedes In the year 1641 Prince Henry Frederick married his only Son Prince William to the Princess Mary of England eldest Daughter to Charles I. King of Great Britain and Madam Henrietta of France and this Marriage was celebrated with a great deal of Pomp and Magnificence The year 1645 was remarkable for the taking of the important Town of Hulsh in Flanders which was carried in spite of the Spaniards who could neither put succors into it nor make Prince Henry raise the Siege This Prince during the space of two and twenty years that he had the Government in his hands was remarkable for his wife and moderate conduct Because the Princess Louise de Coligny his Mother had maintained Barnevelt's Party some people thought that the Prince following his Mothers inclinations would re-establish that Party and recall such of them as had been banished and among others Mr Grotius But this Prince like a good Politician thought it better to let things continue in the posture he found them in than to embroil'em afresh by bringing a prevailing party upon his back I have seen Mr. Grotius in a great passion upon this occasion and he has spoke very ill of the Prince accusing him of Ingratitude and of having no respect for those who had been Friends to his Mother Prince Henry was very rich but instead of finding any support from England he was forc'd to help King Charles in his necessity with all his ready Money The greatest part of which has been repaid by the King of England since his Restauration to his Nephew the Prince of Orange Henry Frederick died the 14th of March 1647 and was buried with a great deal of State Besides his Children that we have mentioned before he left a Natural Son remarkable for his Valor his name was Mr. Zulestein Collonel of the Dutch Infantry who died at the attack of Vorden Prince William of Orange laid the Foundation of the Commonwealth of the United Provinces and was their first Founder his eldest Son Maurice secured and established this Commonwealth by his Victories which forced the Spaniards in the Treaty of Truce for 12 years to acknowledge the United Provinces for a free State and Henry Frederick Brother to Maurice and Grandfather to the present King of England by the continuation of his Conquests at last forced the Spaniards to renounce entirely the right which they had pretended to that Country so that we may say with reason and justice that this illustrious Father and his two generous Sons who have imitated his Vertues are the Founders of this Commonwealth which sends Ambassadors that are covered before the most powerful Kings in Christendom even before the King of Spain himself whose Vassals they were about 100 years ago Henry Frederick had for his devise this word Patriaeque Patrique intimating thereby that he thought of nothing but serving his Country and revenging the Death of his Father WILLIAM II Prince of Orange THE LIFE OF WILLIAM II. Prince of Orange THis Prince was born in the year 1626 the States General were his Godfathers and by the appointment of his Father was called William after the name of his Illustrious Grandfather In the year 1630 this young Prince was declared General of the Cavalry of the Low Countries and the year following the States granted him the Survivorship of the Government of their Province He was no sooner of Age to bear Arms but he followed his Father to the Army and was present at the Siege of Breda giving great proofs of his Courage though but 13 years old Immediately upon the death of his Father Frederick Henry he took the Oath of Fidelity to the States for the Government of which they had granted him the Reversion All Europe was in a profound Peace upon conclusion of the Treaty at Munster which was done the next year after Prince Henry's death The States considering the vast Debts they had contracted by the extraordinary Expences they had been obliged to make resolved to retrench all unnecessary ones having a great number of Troops in their pay that were of no use now the War was at an end they proposed to disband a considerable part of them William the Second who had succeeded in all the Places of the Prince his Father and knowing very well that nothing but the Army could support the credit of the Places he was possessed of made a strong opposition to this design of the States General He represented that it was against all the Rules of Policy to disband Troops who had been so faithful to the Provinces and that France or Spain might make use of this opportunity to fall upon their Common-wealth in a time when they could not be in a condition to defend themselves The States who were already resolved to break 120 Companies to make some sort of satisfaction to the Prince offered to continue the ordinary Pay to the disbanded Officers The Prince agreed to this proposal but the Province of Guelders and the City of Amsterdam opposed and protested against it for several reasons They who were in the Prince's Interests advised him to visit the principal Cities of the Netherlands to perswade the Magistrates to take a Resolution of leaving not only the Officers but the Troops in the same condition they were in before the War that they might be in a readiness to serve where-ever there was occasion Pursuant to this advice the Prince having sent for the principal Collonels of the Army went in person to four or fiveCities of Holland The Burghers of Amsterdam who were well assured that the Prince would visit them too and apprehending his presence would cross the Resolutions they had taken desired him by their Deputies to put off his intended Journey to this City for several Reasons which they gave him Haerlem Medemblic and several other places followed the Example of Amsterdam The Proceedings of these Cities was so considerable an Affliction to the Prince and incensed him so much that in a meeting of the States General he resented it with inexpressible concern He endeavoured to insinuate to them by a great number of Reasons
that the Affront they had put upon him in refusing to give him Audience was designed only to lessen his Authority that nothing but a publick satisfaction would make him amends for this Affront which he demanded earnestly of the States The Deputies of Amsterdam and other Cities answered this Remonstrance by a long Manifesto wherein they alledged the Reasons that induced them to make the Prince that Request this touched him to the quick and made him continue more obstinate against disbanding the Souldiers and transported him so much that he Arrested six of the principal Magistrates and sent them Prisoners immediately after into the Castle of Lovestein This violent proceeding of the Prince alarm'd all Holland The people were generally apprehensive that he aspired to the Soveraignty of the United Provinces and that he opposed the disbanding the Troops for no other reason All Europe said something and tho probably the Prince had no such design the attempt that he made upon Amsterdam confirmed the suspicions all men had entertained of him that he was too arrogant to obey the orders of a popular Government But those who judge impartially of this action are of opinion that he never aim'd at making himself King and that he had no other prospect in besieging Amsterdam but to revenge some private affronts and support his authority and credit by humbling such a powerful City Whatever his reasons were he resolved to besiege it and actually perform'd it on the 30th of Iuly 1650 he narrowly miss'd of surprizing it for the Citizens had not the least apprehension of such a design The Troops appointed for this enterprize put their orders so punctually in execution and met so exactly at their rendezvous that the City must unavoidably have fallen into the Prince's hands but for the Hamburgh Courier who passed through the Prince's Army without being perceived and gave timely notice of it to the Magistrates The City immediately took the alarm the Council of Thirty six met the Burghers run to their Arms the Bridges were drawn up the Cannon mounted upon the Ramparts and the City put in a posture of defence Deputies were dispatched to the Prince with proposals which took up all the next day which was done to gain time for the opening of their Sluces The Prince seeing all the Country under water and the impossibility of continuing a long Siege and the firm resolution of the Burghers hearkened to a Treaty of accommodation which was concluded three days after very much to his advantage The Prince was sensible the States would resent this attempt and the better to make his peace with them he released the Prisoners out of the Castle of Lovestein upon condition that they should be for ever unqualified for any public employments or places and at the same time presented a Memorial to the States with a particular account of the motives he had to form this Siege The States sent it back without opening it assuring him that there needed no justification since the difference had been so soon adjusted About a month after the Prince assisted at a particular Assembly in the Dutchy of Guelders where by his prudence and good conduct he entirely quieted all the jealousies they had entertained of him He returned to the Hague about the beginning of November and went to bed very weary with his Journey He had been observed to be melancholy ever since the miscarriage of his design upon Amsterdam for which reason the Court was not alarm'd with this little indisposition He was let blood the next day and the day after the Small Pox appeared and proved so violent that the Physicians believed him in danger he died the 6th day in the Twenty fourth year of his age on the 6th of November 1650. There wanted but three things to make his memory immortal viz. The Continuation of the War which he passionately desired a longer Life and a little more Deference to the State whom he treated with too much authority for he was Master of a great many good qualities and eminently possessed the advantages of body and mind He was a great General and would have been as renowned for all civil and military vertues as the Heroes of his Family He had a vast comprehensive Genius and learned in his Youth the Mathematics and spoke English French Italian Spanish and High Dutch as readily and fluently as his Mother Tongue He was buried at Delf in the magnificent Tomb of the Princes of Orange in great state He married Mary Stuart eldest Daughter to Charles I. King of Great Britain An Illustrious Birth Interest of State and Glory are the three ordinary motives which sway Princes in the choice of their alliances and all three concur in the making this match for the Glory of the immortal actions of his Father Frederick were spread over all Europe William his Son had given a Thousand proofs that he did not degenerate from the Valour and Vertue of his Ancestors and the Family of Nassau had given five Electors to Cologne and Ments and an Emperor to Germany The proposals were no sooner made but they were accepted and the Marriage was celebrated at London with great magnificence From this Marriage was born William III. whose History we are now entring upon WILLIAM III. KING of ENGLAND Prince of Orange etc. THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM III. Prince of Orange AND King of GREAT BRITAIN Out of the French by Mr. Brown THe sudden and unexpected death of William II. who died in the 24th year of his age threw the Court and Friends of the House of Nassau into such a consternation as is not easie to be exprest But to moderate their grief the Princess Royal within eight days after was delivered of William Henry a Prince in whom the valour and all the other qualities of his glorious ancestors revived and who may justly be stiled the Restorer of that flourishing Republick whereof his Fathers were the Architects and Founders He was born on the fourteenth of November 1650 and had for his Godfathers the States of Holland and of Zealand the Cities of Delf Leiden and Amsterdam As it was his misfortune to be born at a calamitous conjuncture when his enemies were furnished with a plausible pretence to deprive him of those Dignities which his Ancestors had enjoy'd the States General finding themselves now at liberty by the death of William II. and concluding from the enterprize of Amsterdam what they might expect from a single Governour resolved to remedy all inconveniences that might for the future happen upon this occasion and so appointed a General Assembly to meet at the Hague This Assembly began on the eighteenth of Ianuary 1651 and did not end till the month of August the same year In the first Session it was resolved That since the Country was now without a Governour by the death of the Prince the choice of all Officers and Magistrates for the time to come should be in the disposal of the Cities and that not only
recruits on that side sent three fresh Battalions to support his own as likewise to guard the plain that was behind the Hedges But the two first Regiments basely quitted their Post upon the first approach of the Enemy so that the other three Regiments that were sent to their assistance having not sufficient time to adjust themselves and seeing the two first Battalions run away betook themselves to their Heels and breaking into their own Squadrons that stood there to cover them occasioned an extraordinary confusion Upon this the French Cavalry coming to advance and being supported by the Infantry that made perpetual firing the Prince's Squadrons were beaten back but they did not go far and soon rallied again and poured so vigorously upon the French that they made them fly in their their turn In the mean time the Enemy's Foot being advanced above and having possessed the Hedges where the Prince's men were posted before they cou'd not possibly make a long resistance nor hinder the rest of the Foot from being attacked in the Flank as well as the Front So that the Foot after they had done their duty extremely well saw themselves obliged to quit their post and the Prince repassing the Rivet retir'd in very good order to Steenword and from thence to Poperdingue the Enemy having been so rudely handled by Count Waldeck who commanded the Prince's Right Wing that they had no desire to pursue him And this was the issue of the battel at Mont cassel The Prince having retired in this manner as we have related it the French King pursued the Siege of the Cittadel of Cambray with all imaginable vigor and it fell out very unfortunately for the besieged that a Bomb set fire on one of their Magazines where the Granadoes and other warlike Provisions lay and utterly consumed it However the besieged continued to defend themselves bravely and recompenced their loss in some manner by the death of the Marquess de Renel one of the French King's Lieutenant Generals who was slain by a Cannon-shot from the Castle But at last the French having made several breaches and the Governour of the Cittadel being wounded they were constrained to yield to the great number and continual attacks of the Enemy and to surrender the Castle which was done on very honorable conditions To return to the Duke of Orleans altho victorious he was so afraid lest the Prince should once more attempt to throw relief into St Omers that he durst not quit the field where the battle was fought but kept himself upon his guard for eight days successively But when he received the News that his Highness had passed the Canal of Ghent with all his Forces he returned before the Town which he besieged with his whole Army and after a gallant resistance which cost him several of his best Officers they were forced against their will to surrender upon good terms After the taking of these places the French heat began to be somewhat abated and those that were so forward to attack others were now content to act on the defensive all the rest of the Summer and durst never put it to the hazard of a battle altho it was often presented to them So that after several tedious marches and counter-marches on both sides and the Confederates ineffectual laying Siege to Charleroy which for several weighty considerations they thought expedient to raise the Prince returned to the Hague being accompanied by the Earl of Ossory Don Carlos the Duke of Albemarle and several other Persons of Quality After he had given the States General an account of the last Campaign with the reasons that obliged him to raise the Siege of Charleroy and not to attack the Enemy who were not only superior to him in number but posted to the greatest advantage Their High and Mightinesses thanked him for his conduct and indefatigable pains humbly beseeching him still to continue his zeal for the public Interest A little after his return to the Hague several of the English Nobility arrived at the Prince's Court who in an Assembly of the States General gave them to understand that his Unkle the King of Great Britain earnestly desired him to make a Voyage into England in hopes that his presence there would not a little contribute to the Peace then in agitation which would be of such mighty advantage to the Republic Thus his Highness took his leave of the States and of all theColledges on the 17th of October and being accompany'd by the Earl of Ossory Monsieur d' Odyk the Count de Nassau and several other persons of condition he embarqued at Hellevoetsluys in one of his Majesties Yatchs and arrived at Harwich on the 19th about ten in the morning where the Duke of Albemarle and the Master of the Ceremonies attended him in the King's Coaches and conducted him the same evening to the King and his Royal Highness at Ipswich who received him with all the testimonies of a particular kindness and affection On the 23d he arrived with the two Royal Brothers at Whitehall and was lodged in the Duke of York's apartment who retired to St. Iames's What was at first nothing but a bare surmize was soon after confirmed by the King himself For on the first of November his Majesty acquainted the Council with his design to marry the Prince of Orange to his Royal Highness's eldest Daughter declaring that he hoped this Alliance would facilitate the accomplishment of a General Peace which his Majesty was resolved to advance as far as the Interest of his Kingdoms did engage him After this the whole Council went in a body to compliment the Princess and afterwards the Prince the rest of the Nobility did the same after their example The Prince of Orange acquainted the States with it by an Express giving them to understand that after he had maturely weigh'd the reasons which might incline him to marry he thought he could not make a better choice than the Princess Mary that he had already demanded her in Marriage of the King and his Royal Highness her Father who immediately gave their consent that he judged it advisable to inform them of it expecting their approbation of the Match with all speed that he might the sooner repair to them for the service of his Country Hereupon the States General were assembled and seriously considering the reasons of State upon which this Marriage was founded with the great advantages it might produce as for instance a confirmation of that strict Union that was between the King of Great Britain and the States of the United Provinces the establishment of the ancient House of Orange and the conclusion of the Peace so earnestly desired I say after they had seriously considered all this but especially the happy choice his Highness had made of a Princess who besides her natural sweetness possessed all the virtues that a Husband could desire testified their approbation by a public Edict in terms full of joy and satisfaction declaring
moreover the mighty esteem they had of so glorious an Alliance and their sincere resolution to cultivate the ancient Friendship and good Correspondence which had always been and was between his Britanic Majesty and them This answer arriving at London on the 14t h of November which was his Highness's Birth-day the Marriage was celebrated at eleven at night but with so little noise that the People knew nothing of it till the next morning when they gave all public testimonies of their joy by Ringing of Bells and Bone fires But amidst all this rejoycing and feasting the Prince knowing how necessary his presence was in Holland made all possible expedition to arrive thither He parted from London on the 29th of November with his Princess and landed at Terheyde from whence he went to Hounslaerdyk where they tarried some time till they made their public Entry into the Hague which was a few days after performed with extraordinary Magnificence But I pass all these ceremonies over in silence in order to come to matters of greater importance Towards the beginning of the year 1678 tho it was the midst of Winter the French King made such mighty preparations of War that all Europe was alarmed at them but particularly Holland and the Consederates This made the King of Great Britain send the Earl of Feversham to his Most Christian Majesty with a project of Peace by which Charleroy Aeth Oudenard Courtray Tournay Conde Valenciennes St. Guillain and some other Towns were to be surrendred to the Spaniards and the King of France to keep all the Franche-Comte in his possession but he would not hearken to it and as for the King of England he was as unwilling to abate any thing in his propositions Which obliged his Britannic Majesty to sent orders to my Lord Hyde his Ambassador at Nimeguen to make a strict alliance with the States-General which being concluded he dispatched My Lord Montague into France to press the King to accept his terms and gave out Commissions at the same time for raising an Army but the French King rejected these conditions of Peace and made great provisions for the war on all sides but especially in his new acquisitions in the Low Countries Upon which the King of England recalled the Troops he had in the service of France which besides their other ill treatment were sent home without their pay The King of Great Britain held firm to his resolution and summoning a Parliament communicated to them the late alliance he had made with Holland for the public benefit and repose of Christendom protesting he was resolved to force the French King to a Peace and therefore desired them to furnish him with a summ of Money necessary for such a design The Lower House thanked his Majesty for the great care he took of the Protestant Religion in marrying his Niece to a Protestant Prince beseeching him not to consent to any conditions of Peace with France unless they were better than those at the Pyrenean Treaty To which the King having consented the Commons after a long deliberation resolved to equip a Fleet of Fourscore and ten Men of War and to raise an Army of 29870 Land Men and nominated Commissioners to compute the expence Whilst these things lay under debate the French King who was sensible what designs the Consederates were forming against him resolved to render them all ineffectual by being before hand with them For this effect he left Paris on the 7th of February and marching by the side of Mets entred Flanders no one being able to determine where the storm would fail All the World was of opinion that the design was upon Mons or Namur or some other place of like importance and Ghent which never expected to be attack'd had so weakned itsGarrison by drawing out their men and distributing them in other places that the French King who knew this very well sate down before it on the 1st of March with an Army of Threescore orFourscore Thousand men It was impossible for a City of so large a compass which had not above four or five Hundred Soldiers in Garrison besides the Inhabitants to defend themselves long against a vain-glorious Prince who valued the taking of a Half-moon more than the loss of a Thousand men and who by his assaults and batteries had extreamly weaken'd it So Ghent was forced to surrender nine days after it was besieged from thence the Enemy came before Ipres but that City being much stronger than Ghent and besides furnished with a better Garrison the Besiegers met so warm an opposition there and lost so many Officers and Soldiers before they took it that the King put the greatest part of his Army immediately into Garrison and returned to Paris whether he thought his Army sufficiently harrass'd by these two Sieges or whether he thought he had humbled his Enemies enough to incline them now to accept his own proposals of a Peace or lastly whether he was afraid of the English who had sent considerable Forces into Flanders For about this time the D. of Monmouth was arrived at Bruges with three thousand Horse and Foot which the K. of Great Britain had sent to re-inforce the Prince of Orange's Army and the Parliament was so earnestly bent to pursue the War against France that they petitioned the King to declare open War against it promising to stand by him with their lives and fortunes and to furnish him from time to time with sufficient summs to carry on so generous an undertaking In the mean time all the world was astonished to â—…ear that the French King had intirely abandon'd Messina and all Sicily The more able Politicians imagined that now there were no hopes of a Peace since this Prince had abandon'd his Conquests in Italy as he had lately done those in Holland for no other end but that he might the better compass his designs upon Spain and the Empire But others said it was an infallible sign he was not so strong as he pretended to be and that what he had done was rather out of meer necessity than for any other end However it was the Parliament of England were of belief that France was resolved to continue the War in Germany and the Low Countries and therefore to stop his Career granted his Majesty a Poll-bill and by the same Act prohibited the Importation of all French commodities King Charles who was desirous to enter into a League with the Empire Spain and the United Provinces would oblige them to make the same prohibition in relation to French goods in their own respective Dominions But while the Hollanders were demurring upon the last point believing that such a prohibition would ruine their trade an unexpected accident fell out that changed the whole face of affairs The King of France after his return to Paris seeing his Britannic Majesty was resolved to support the Interests of his Nephew the Prince of Orange particularly since his Voyage into England and his Marriage
to retire in some disorder The Prince had Castrau before his right Wing which the Duke had gained in great precipitation and it was happy for him that this place was as hard to be got to as the other he quitted In the mean time his Highness whom these difficulties did not discourage had no sooner drawn out his Army to battel but he was resolved to beat the Enemy out of his new post and sending for his Artillery ordered it to play upon the French who were posted a little higher on one side of a Cloister near St. Denys which the Duke of Luxemburg thought he might defend well enough with his Cannon But it was impossible for them to sustain the shock of the Confederate Dragoons who beat them from this Post and made themselves Masters of the Cloister while General Collier advanced on the side of the Abby and seconded by General Delwick broke through the narrow ways and mounting these horrible precipices with an invincible courage routed the Enemiy who for some time made a vigorous resistance in their lines In the midst of this engagement the Prince accompanied by the Duke of Monmouth who fought by his side all the day and encouraged with his good success cried out follow me follow me to encourage those Regimens that were to second the first Both sides were very liberal of their Powder and Ball and all the Regiments of the left Wing seconded one another till night with the same vigour and resolution Count Horn on his side approached nearer with his Cannon and ordered it to play on the French Battalions in the Valley where he caused a terrible slaughter From thence his Highness advanced with speed to Castrau which was attack'd by the Spaniards on the side of the right Wing where the Prince's Regiment of Guards led the Van under the command of Count Solmes who being seconded by the Duke of Holstein's Regiment and by the English forced the Enemies at last to quit the place The Regiment of Foot Guards continued in action with the French for the space of five hours and pursued them a quarter of a League through fields and precipices 'T is certainly a thing hardly to be believ'd that men should be capable of making such brave efforts in places so extremely disadvantageous and several persons who have viewed and examined them since say there are few places in the world naturally so strong The Earl of Ossory did wonders with his English at a small distance from the Foot Guards where the French lost abundance of Men. But the Prince in the heat of the Action advanced so far that he was in great danger of being lost had not Monsieur Onwerkerk come seasonably to his relief and killed an adventurous Captain that was just going to let fly a Pistol at him The Cavalry did nothing all this while by reason of the uneven scituation of the place so that all the execution lay upon the Infantry and Dragoons Night put an end to the dispute by the favour of which the Duke of Luxemburg made his retreat without noise and retired towards Mons and covered himself with a Wood on one side and a River on the other leaving to his Highness as marks of Victory the Field where the Battle was fought the greatest part of the wounded abundance of Tents and Baggage with a world of Powder and other Warlike Ammunition The States General receiving the News of so great a Success sent Commissioners to the Prince to congratulate him for the victory he had gained with so much Glory and Reputation and for the signal Actions by him performed in this last Battle to the great hazard of his life And to testify what a value they set upon his preservation they presented Monsieur Onwerkerk who had so generously opposed himself to the danger that threatned his Highness with a Sword whose handle was of massy gold a pair of Pistols set with gold and a whole Horse Furniture of the same metal The Prince of Orange having thus obliged the Duke of Luxemburg to retire had without question pushed his point and thrown relief into the Town but as he was consulting how to effect it word was brought him that the King of France and the States General had accommodated all differences The success of this Battle hasten'd the conclusion of the Treaty between Spain and France which was signed on the 17th of September to the great praise of the King of England who having joyn'd the terrour of his Arms to the authority of his Mediation had for his recompence the satisfaction to see the peace and general welfare of Europe given as a Portion with his Neice while the two great Alliances between France and Holland and between Spain and France were the and happy effects of the conjugal Alliance between his Highness and the Princess Mary of England The war being thus ended between France and the United Provinces his Highness had time now to breath himself after the fatigues and hurries of the last Campaigns for after the Ratification of the Peace and the Restitution of Mastricht to the States the King of France no more disturbed the Low Countries with the terrour of his Arms so that when his Highness had reformed all those innovations that had been introduced by the French when they were Masters of the Country the people began to enjoy the repose and tranquillity they had so long desired But matters were not so soon adjusted between the Kings of France and Spain By the Treaty concluded between the two Crowns it was agreed that Commissioners should meet at Cambray to regulate any disputes that might happen about the limits This was in the Year 1679. But after several tedious contests occasioned by the excessive pretentions of the French who demanded whole Provinces in the nature of dependances to be delivered into their hands the war was like to have kindled afresh till at last by the unwearied Mediation of the States General a Treaty was signed at the Hague on the 29th of Iune 1684 after which his most Christian Majesty having accommodated all differences with the Emperour by some other Articles of the same Nature a Truce of twenty years was agreed upon which being ratified tho not without some delays on the side of the Spaniards all those devastations and ravages that for the course of several years had ruin'd the finest Country in Europe began to cease In the midst of all these negotiations which the States seldom or never treated of but in the presence of the Prince of Orange whom they still consulted in the most difficult affairs his Highness show'd an extraordinary generosity for when every one was minding his particular Interests he neglected his own and preferr'd the peace and welfare of his Country to that reparation he might justly expect for the great losses he sustain'd in his own Demains For while the King of France burnt and ravaged the Low Countries in order to force the Spaniards to accept his offers a great part of the Prince's patrimony in Brabant underwent the common calamities The same thing happen'd when Luxemburg and the Franche-Comte came to change their Masters Prince d'Isenguyn supported by the authority of France exposed to Sale by sound of Trumpet all the Lands Furniture and Goods of his Highness as having been adjudged to him by a formal Decree of the Parliament of that Country The Provinces of Gueldres Zealand and Utrecht made great complaints in his Highnesses name but were not able to get satisfaction done him Nor suffer'd he less injustice in the Principality of Orange where the Walls of his Capital City were demolished the University disfranchized the Inhabitants barbarously plundered forced to send the young Students home to their Parents and forbidden to educate any of the Reformed Religion for the future all which was directly contrary to the Faith of the late Treaty But when the States represented the great injustice of this procedure the Court of France return'd them no other answer save only this viz. That they had good reasons for what they did As soon as the Truce was confirmed the States were of opinion they might now disband their supernumerary forces and the Deputies of Amsterdam wou'd without any further delay reform the recruits they had made the year before but all the members coming to this conclusion that nothing ought to be done without the advice of the Prince of Orange his Highness upon the mention of this proposal assured them that no one more earnestly desired the ease of the people than himself but however he wou'd never consent till their affairs both at home and abroad were in a better posture of security to leave the Country naked and defenceless The States were soon perswaded to follow this advice and accordingly resolved to keep their Troops as long as the necessity of their affairs demanded it And now from the conclusion of the Peace till the year 1688 when his Highness made his wonderful Expedition into England we have nothing remarkable in this Prince's History What was the success of that prodigious Descent and by what means the ensuing Revolution was carried on which has occasioned so mighty an alteration in this Western part of the World as it is sufficiently known to every English Reader So a just narration of all the surprizing incidents requires a person of more leisure and greater abilities than my self FINIS ☞ Excuse the man and don 't pronounce his doom Poor Soul he left his Calepine at Rome * According to the new Stile which I have all along followed with my Author * A great and stately City upon the Scheld built as 't is commonly pretended by the Emperour Valentinian * Sir W. Temple in his Memoirs represents this matter otherwise for there we are told that K. Ch. the 2d was so far from courting the Prince to come to visit him that he was apprehensive of his arrival
Approbation of our Modern Criticks who make no Scruple to condemn a good Book upon the account of one word which they have banished out of conversation or an Expression which does not carry with it to use the stile of these Foplings the delicacy of Language Therefore I humbly desire these Gentlemen to 〈◊〉 me alone since I have been so ingenuous as to lay open my Infirmities before them and by way of Requital I here give them full possession of the Eight Parts of Speech all the Grammars and all the Dictionaries with all Remarks and Observations whatsoever upon Languages in the World upon this condition that they 'll leave things that are above their capacity to persons of better Iudgment and Experience For to deal plainly with them It 's a sad but a certain Truth that these Coyners and Admirers of New Words can attribute no other sort of merit to themselves than what belongs to those Mechanicks that make good Tools by the help of which excellent Statuaries form admirable Statues and famous Architects erect Noble Structures For my own part I have a great Respect for those people that can speak regularly and justly upon all Occasions but I cannot endure those Vain glorious â—…sops those Would-be-Criticks who in the Ruels of Ladies use to damn the best Compositions in the World and all for the sake of one Term or Phrase that has the ill luck to displease them I would not have so wild an Inference drawn from this as if I were of Opinion that 't is impossible for a man to write solidly and politely at the same time No I have more Sense than that comes to and preserve as great a Veneration for those Illustrious Persons that possess both these Talents as I have an Aversion and Contempt for those puny Grammarians that are made up of nothing but Pride and Insolence 'T is not for such unthinking Insects as these to judge of an History If I had the ambition to desire fit and competent Iudges for these Memoirs I should wish that the Famous President de Thou and those celebrated Brothers the Messieurs du Puy and that the President Ardier might come again into the World The latter of these was a long time Secretary of State under Mr. d' Herbaut his Unkle His Dispatches were so Natural but at the same time so strong and Masculine as were all the publick Declarations that pass'd under his hands That Mr. Conrait a man generally esteem'd in the World and who knew the Value of Things extreamly well has told me several times more than Thirty Years ago That the Kings of France ceased to speak with a Majesty befitting their Empire ever since they did not explain themselves by the Pen of Mr. Ardrier I shall forbear to speak more largely of this Illustrious Man who was a singular Friend of mine and to whom I have Infinite Obligations till I meet with a fitter Opportunity The greatest part of those Histories that have appeared in the World are properly speaking nothing else but so many Panegyricks composed by Interessed Hands that elevate Vice and Iniquity to the Heavens Of this Character are the Works of Paterculus and Machiavel who propose Tiberius and Caesar Borgia that in True History were downright Monsters as Examples fit to be imitated Directly opposite to these Retailers of Unjust Commendations are a sort of people that deal in Pasquils and yet have the Impudence to stile themselves Historians These mercenary or partial creatures make no conscience to attack Vertue it self and have frequently represented the most excellent Princes that ever wore a Crown as Tyrants and Wicked Persons Witness so many Histories and so many Printed Satyrs of the Huguenots upon Catholick Princes and among the rest upon Francis of Lorrain Duke of Guise for no other Reason but because that excellent General made War against them Witness so many Cart-loads of scurrilous Invectives composed by Monks and other Superstitious Catholicks against Queen Elizabeth of England the most glorious Princess that ever wielded a Scepter For to these hot-headed passionate Bigots 't is sufficient for you to be of a Party or of a Religion contrary to theirs to be defamed condemned and pursued with a Thousand Calumnies These ridiculous Monsters vainly endeavour to render Queen Elizabeth odious and execrable to all posterity for putting Mary Queen of Scots to Death although 't is a notorious Truth that the above-mentioned Unhappy Princess was of so unquiet and turbulent a Spirit that she could not forbear to embarras her self with Q. Elizabeth who was much more powerful than her self and by that Ill advised Conduct was the occasion of her own Ruine The Truth of this Assertion cannot be called in question as being confirmed by the Testimony of Monsieur de Castelnau Intendant of her Affairs in France and Ambassadour in England who tells us in his Memoirs that she ow'd this Ill-management to the Cardinal of Lorrain his Uncle Nay after she was Prisoner in Engâ—…and she continued to keep a correspondence with the Male-content party there who endeavour'd to disturb the Repose of that Kingdom so far as to attempt the Life of Q. Elizabeth Which obliged her to bring her to a Tryal where she was condemned by more than Forty Judges the greatest part of them consisting of Earls Barons Peers of England Officers of the Crown and Members of Parliament Notwithstanding all this her Sentence was for a long time respited and Q. Elizabeth had never dared to execute her if she had not been persuaded to it by France For I have heard my Father say That both Friends and Enemies concurred out of different Views and Interests to bring that unfortunate Princess to the Block Monsieur de Bellievre who was sent Envoy Extraordinary into England in appearance to solicit for the Life of this poor Queen for which purpose he carried large Instructions with him told him That he had quite contrary Orders under Henry the Third's Hand to perswade Q Elizabeth to behead this Common Enemy both of their Persons and Kingdoms All which the King was forced to do out of an apprehension that if Mary Stuart who was not only Heir to Q. Elizabeth but much younger than she should come to succeed her the Guises her Relations who Govern'd her absolutely and who by their great Number of Creatures made his Crown shake already at home being supported by the united power of England Scotland and Ireland would in the conclusion make a second Childeric of him For those of the League had the Insolence to change the King's Device which was Manet ultima Coelo into Manet ultima Claustro The King's meaning was That after he had enjoy'd upon Earth the Crowns of France and Poland he hoped he should wear a Third in Heaven But these of the League publickly declared That they would bestow a Third Crown upon him in a Cloyster And as a Learned Gentleman of that Age had enlarged upon the King's Device in
Massacre'd in Florida by the Spaniards They promised to the Prince of Orange by Count Lodowick his Brother whom they had loaded with Honours and Caresses a considerable supply of Men and Money and the Sovereignty of Zealand Utrecht and Friezland and that they would joyn the other Provinces to France The Prince of Orange upon these great hopes and appearances which proved false refused a very advantageous and secure Treaty which the Emperour offered him from the part of the King of Spain and sent Forces under the Command of his Brother-in-Law the Count de Bergues to make an Attempt upon Gueldres and Over-Yssel The Count took Zutphen and several other places His Brother Count Lodowick was to make a considerable effort on the side of Hainault where he surprized Mons the Capital of that Province which diversion hindred the Duke of Alva from retaking the Cities of Holland and Zealand that had newly declared against him and which he might easily have done at a time when they were unprovided of forces and necessaries for their defence But nothing incensed the Duke of Alva so much as the surprizing of Mons which he resolved to recover at any rate leaving every thing else to apply himself wholly to this seige which gave time to the revolted Cities to draw breath and furnish themselves at Leisure with Men and Ammunition The brave Defence of Count Lodowick assisted by Mounsieur de la Nove bras de fer and many of the French Nobility made the Siege of Mons very long and difficult The Spaniards fired above 20000 Canon-shot against it In the mean time the Prince of Orange who had retired into Germany had raised a greater Army than his first to enter into Brabant where the Cruelty and Exactions of the Duke of Alva made him hope for better Success than he had in his first Invasion This Army was to be paid with the money the French Court had promised to supply him with Thus the Prince believed with reason that the Spanish Forces would not be able to defend the Low-Countries attack'd on so many sides by Land whilest by Sea they were gauled by the Counts de la Mark Sonoy Treton the Brothers Boisols and Bertel Entens his Lieutenants in Holland and Zealand where they had great Success as I shall afterwards declare The Spaniards were never in so great danger of losing the Netherlands as at that Conjuncture The hopes of the Prince were not groundless and in all probability the Spaniards had been quite driven out of the Low-Countries if France had made good its promises Thus this great Man who had so many Strings to his Bow parted from Germany with a great Army to enter into the Low-Countries when he found all People driven to despair by the Tyranny of the Duke of Alva and ready to receive him with open arms First he was received into Ruremonde where he passed his Army over the Bridge into Brabant Louvain gave him a sum of money and Malines opened its Gates to him which cost that poor City very dear The Duke of Alva was absent at the Siege of Mons which he resolved to take and the Prince designed to relieve as well to save so important a Place as to deliver his brother Lodowick from the danger he was in But Mr. de Genlis who marched from France to the relief of the place with 7000 Horse and Foot having been defeated and taken Prisoner by Frederick de Toledo who had gone out to meet him upon the secret intelligence which he received from the Court of France of his marching towards Mons and the condition of his Forces The Prince having attempted in vain to raise the Siege for the Duke of Alva had intrenched himself so strongly that 't was impossible to force his lines and at the same time understanding by the discharging of the great Guns and other signs of rejoycing in the Camp of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew where Admiral de Chatillon and all his principal friends had been kill'd and having no hopes from the French who had deceived him but on the contrary having all the reason in the world to be apprehensive of so great a Kingdom which had declared against his party and religion he advised his brother Lodowick to make an honourable Composition which was granted him and he himself retired by small Marches towards the Rhine In this retreat he was in great danger of being kill'd by the Enemies and his own Soldiers For the German officers talked of arresting him to secure the payment of their arrears which they were promised should be paid at their arrival in Brabant where he expected to receive the money the French had promised him But this eloquent and engaging Prince appeas'd the mutiny by assuring them 't was not his fault and satisfied them with promises and the little ready money he had On the other side he was in great danger of his Life at Malines 800 Spanish Horse who had chosen men mounted behind them entered into his Camp by night and pierced as far as his tent and would have killed him as he slept if a little dog who lay in his Bed had not waked him by scratching his face with his claws the greatest part of the Spaniards being cut off he marched strait on to the Rhine where he disbanded his Army at Orsay and went through Over-Yssell to Utrecht and thence to Holland and Zealand which had declared for him all except Middleburg and Amsterdam in the following manner Whilest the Prince of Orange was a Refugee in France and Germany and wandring from Province to Province William de la Mark Boissols Siegneurs de Lumay Sonoy Treton the Boissols Entens and others who acted under the Orders of the Prince turned Pirates and practised the trade a long time with great Success till having no longer a retreat in the Ports of England which Queen Elizabeth denied them at the instance of the Duke of Alva and for Fear of making the Spaniards her Enemies the Count de la Mark and the rest designing to seize a Port in North-Holland or Friezland were obliged by the contrary Winds to put in for shelter with 30 great and Small Ships into the Isle of Vorn in Holland where the Brill is which they took by surprize having found it without a Garrison which was sent to punish Utrecht for refusing to pay the tenth penny This Count de la Mark was a rash and a cruel man He swore never to shave his Beard nor Head till he had revenged the death of Count Egmont and Horn. When he had surprized the Brill which signifies Spectacles in the Flemish Tongue he had himself painted in a large piece with the Duke of Alva behind whom he stood and put Spectacles on his Nose by way of Derision it being a term of Contempt in Holland to say a man wants light He put ten pieces of Money in his colours in hatred of the Imposition which the Duke of Alva had
that I am truly your very humble and very affectionate Servant From Poitiers Jan. 20th 1616. Puysieux Prince Philip and Madame his Princess had so much goodness as to disabuse the Princes and Grandees who had raised a war which they called the War of the Henrys because the greater part of the Heads of that Party were so called Mounseir the Prince was called Henry of Bourbon Monsieur du Mayne Henry of Lorrain Monsieur du Longeville Henry of Orleans and the Duke of Bovillon Henry de la Tour. They told them all that these injurious Speeches were pure inventions to animate them against my Father They acquainted them likewise that whilst he acquitted himself of his duty he all along continued to preserve that respect which was due to them That for what remained there was no reason to object it to him as a crime to have served his Master faithfully And that he could not without betraying his trust and endangering his own ruine but execute such orders as came to him from Court I remember that I saw them at our House in my infancy and particularly the Princess who had the goodness to make very much of us and did my Father the favor to think fit that one of my Sisters who was born at that time should have the honor of bearing her Name of Eleanor She was presented in Baptism by Prince Henry Frederick of Orange who was her Godfather This Daughter was married to the Baron de Mauzè near Rochelle Brother to the Marquess de la Villedieu and died without Children in 1660. She was a Woman who painted the best in France and writ the most correctly whose Letters were all of a vigorous and masculine Stile without one word that was unnecessary Prince Philip died at Brussels in the beginning of the Year 1618. He had the Hemorrhoids very much inâ—…amed and Gregory a German Chyrurgeon having hurt him with the Syringe whilst he gave him a Clyster a Gangreen insued and it was impossible to save him The Princess his Wife died likewise in the same Year After his Death Count Maurice his Brother took upon him the Quality of Prince of Orange and inherited his whole Estate whereas before he was contented with the bare Title of Count. Maurice of Nassau Prince of Orange THis great Captain has falsified the Proverb which says The Children of Heroes are generally good for nothing for though he was the Son of a most excellent Father who left behind him an immortal Glory yet he has not only equall'd him in his prudence and greatness of Soul but has likewise surpassed him in the Art Military and great Performances As the Father for 20 years together made the discourse of all Europe so the Son for 40 years successively did it much more than all the crown'd Heads in Europe for from the Year 1584 when he came first into action to 1625 when he died Prince Maurice was never mentioned without admiration and astonishment as being held for one of the greatest Captains that has ever yet appeared In truth though Nature does not always make extraordinary efforts to produce great men in the same family and succession yet the great Actions of the Father are powerful Incentives to stir up their Children to imitate them The Glory of their Ancestors being a Light which directs their posterity to march in those generous paths which they have trod before them If the vertue of strangers has often stirred up some couragious Souls to do great things as that Greek whose rest was discomposed by the Triumphs of Miltiades sure domestick examples must be much more moving that they may not incur the shame of having degenerated Upon this occasion I shall here relate what I have often heard my Father say in his latter years That he had undoubtedly past his life in the Country like some of his predecessors had not it been for the example of Iames Aubrey his great Unkle who by his Vertue his Knowledge and his Eloquence discharged the office of Advocate General to the Parliament of Paris was Lieutenant Civil of the Council to Henry the Second and his Ambassador Extraordinary to England where he concluded a Peace between Henry the Second and Edward the Sixth and left behind him the reputation of being the French Demosthenes and Cicero by that famous Plea which he made pursuant to an order of the King for the people of Cabrieres and Merindol and which Monsieur the Chancellor de Hopital admired so much that he has translated great part of it into Latin verse My Father therefore thought that by his labour he might arrive to honourable employments and so well ordered the Talents which God had given him that he likewise was employed in Embassies and admitted to the Council of his Princes Prince Maurice of Orange from his very childhood discovered the passionate desire he had to follow the glorious steps of his Father and took for the body of his Device the Trunk of a Tree cut off so as to seem about two foot high from whence there grew a vigorous Sprout which apparently would renew the noble Tree which had produced it with these words Tandem fit circulus arbor At last the Sprout becomes a Tree To show that he would revive the glories of his Father I do not pretend to represent the great Actions of this Prince in all the particulars I shan't say any thing that may be found in common Annals nor add to the number of those who transcribe other People my design is only to draw the Portraicture of his Person and his Manners to inform the World of some transactions of his Life which are not known and to set forth the causes of those great differences which hapned between him and Mr. Barneveld which as it was thought would have overturn'd the Commonwealth by an intestine division that has remained almost to this day and threaten'd its ruine if it had not been prevented But before we come to these things it is necessary briefly to represent his principal Actions and to tell you That Prince Maurice had a great stock of Constancy and Courage from the 17th year of his age when he was called to the government of Affairs upon the decease of his Father for he was not cast down by that torrent of Success which attended Alexander Farnese Duke of Parma Governor and Captain General for the King of Spain who had then taken Bruges Ghent Dendermond Deventer Nimeghen the Grave with a great many other places and even Antwerp it self which was held for impregnable by a Siege which was looked upon as a Miracle of the Age having stopped the River Schelde and repell'd the force of the Sea by a Dyke which was then held as a thing impossible and which afterwards set an Example for undertaking the same thing at Rochel Prince Maurice was not more disturbed by the confusion and disorder that had reigned for a long time in the Common-wealth occasioned by the haughty conduct
of Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester Captain General for the Queen of England in the United Provinces whose insupportable Pride and unmeasurable Ambition did them more prejudice than the Sums of Money which he brought and the Troops which he commanded ever contributed to their Service for four entire years the States were reduced to strange Extremities so that it was thought impossible for this young Prince to rid himself of so great Difficulties and to cure those Evils which were occasioned by the Intrigues of Spain and the Treachery of some of the Earl of Leicester's Dependants who after their return into England sold the most important places to the Spaniards To be short as the Affairs of this World do not always continue in the same posture and are subject to a perpetual change so that good Fortune which till then had favoured the Duke of Parma in all his Enterprizes of a sudden came over to the Party of Prince Maurice for the Spanish Navy which they had entitled The Invincible and was designed to swallow up England and the United Provinces was destroyed in the year 1588. by the Fleet and good fortune of Queen Elizabeth the third part of so great a Navy scarce returning into the Spanish Havens after having undergone incredible dangers upon the Coasts of England Scotland and Ireland and this inestimable loss was accompanied with the mortification which the Duke of Parma received before Berghen ap-zoom which he had besieged Prince Maurice having forced him to quit his Enterprize with the entire ruine of his Reputation After this Success the Prince for the course of 20 years to the time of the Truce had fortune still so favourable to him that he conquered 38 or 40 Towns and more Fortresses and defied the Spaniards in open Field at three signal Battels besides he obtained several great Victories at Sea as well upon the Coast of Flanders as upon that of Spain and the Indies by the Valor of his Lieutenants and Vice-admirals But nothing gained him so much Reputation as the happy Surprizal of the Town and Castle of Breda which belonged to his own Propriety He made himself Master of it in 1590 by the stratagem of a Boat of Turfs without any effusion of Blood or losing so much as one Soldier upon so important an occasion and since this remarkable Action has made so great a noise in the World it may not be unnecessary to give some account of it in as brief terms as possible A Boatman called Adrian Bergues who furnished the Garison of Breda with Turfs being discontented with the Spaniards proposed a way to Prince Maurice how to surprize the place by placing some Soldiers in the bottom of his Boat The Prince seeing the probability of the matter gave the management of this great design to Charles de Heraugiere a Walloon Gentleman Native of Cambray Captain of Foot in his Guards reputed a Man of Bravery and Conduct As soon as he received this Order he made choice of 70 Soldiers out of several Companies and some Commanders whose Courage had been tryed These he put at the bottom of the Boat where they were placed very uneasily as being forced either to lie down or stoop the rest of the Boat being filled up with Turfs to a very great height It was extreme cold weather besides they were up to the knees in water which came in by a leak which at last they fortunately stopped The excessive cold made them cough very much but above all Matthew Helt a Lieutenant whose name ought to be remembred here in testimony of the Courage he shew'd upon this occasion not being able to hinder himself from coughing as they came near to the Castle drew his Sword and desired his Comrades to kill him that the Enterprize might not fail and he become the cause of their ruine but the Boatman hindred him from being heard by often pumping as if his Boat had took water The Garrison consisting of Italians wanted Firing the Soldiers because of the Ice helped to draw the Boat by a Sluce within the walls of the Castle as the Trojans brought the wooden Horse into their City which gave occasion to the Poets of the time to compare the taking of Breda to that of Troy but withal remarking this difference that the Horse made the Enemies Masters of Troy from whence proceeded its ruine whereas this Boat put the right Lord into possession of Breda who thereupon caused it immediately to flourish Prince Maurice having spread the report that he had a design upon Gertrudemberg made the Surprizal of Breda become more easie for Edward Lanza vechia who was Governor of both places ran to that which he thought was most in danger So the Castle being without a Commander was easily carried As soon as Heraugiere had made himself Master of it by the death of 40 of the Enemy Prince Maurice attended by the Counts de Hohenlo and Solmes Francis Vere the General of the English Iustin of Nassau the Admiral and the Sieur de Famars General of the Artillery being entred into the Castle with several of his Troops was afterwards received into the Town whence the Italian Garrison which for the most part consisted of Horse ran with full speed by the way of Antwerp Heraugiere with a great deal of Justice was made Governor of Breda and Lambert Charles a French Man a brave Soldier of Fortune was made Serjeant Major I saw him afterwards when he was Governor of Nimeguen There were Medals stamped upon so considerable an occasion which had these words upon one side Breda à Servitute Hispanica vindicata ductu Principis Mauricii à NASSAU 4 Martii 1590. Breda delivered from the Spanish Yoke by the conduct of Prince Maurice of NASSAU March 4. 1590. And upon the Reverse was represented a Boat with these words Parati vincere aut mori prepared to overcome or dye One of these Medals was given to each of the Soldiers in the Boat as likewise a Sum of Money with the promise of future advancement Adrian de Bergues the Boatman had likewise a Medal and was rewarded with a very large Pension This Surprizal may occasion this necessary Reflection That ye ought never to trust the guard of two Frontier places at the same time to one only Governor who has but too much trouble to preserve his own Government from the neighbouring Enemy whose mind is always intent and his eyes open for some opportunity to be able to surprize him The taking of Hulst in Flanders was a very considerable Action and that of Gertrudemberg much more so by reason of a long and difficult siege in sight of the Spanish Army consisting of 30000 Men commanded by the old Count Peter Ernest of Mansfeldt in the absence of the Duke of Parma who was then in France with Succors for the League This old General could never force the young Prince in his own Lines nor oblige him to come out of them though he presented him battle
Troopers who would fly before these Germans as Sheep before a Wolf There happened the like inconvenience to the Swedes for having committed the same fault as the Hollanders because after the Peace of Munster they likewise disbanded the old Troops which had done such great actions and revived the antient Glory of the Goths who had conquered a great part of Europe being so bold as to attack the Elector of Brandenburg and his old Souldiers with their new Levies that never durst maintain their ground against him and were always beaten when he could joyn them so that if by an extraordinary good fortune they had not had so faithful and so mighty a Protector as the French King they had quite lost Pomerania and been sent back to their own cold Countries beyond the Baltick Sea All which shows us that a Prince ought always to keep a large body of old Troops to defend his State which without such a support runs the hazard of becoming a prey to the first Enemy that shall be bold and strong enough to attack it To these two causes of the extremities to which Holland was reduced in 1672 that is to say to the intestine divisions and to the disbanding of the old foreign Souldiers there may a third be likewise added which was the extraordinary and unheard of drowth that happen'd that year for it was so great that the Rhine one of the greatest Rivers in Europe that carries Men of War was so low that the French Troops were able to ford it so the Country being frightned to see itself attacked both by Sea and Land by the powers of France and England united to its ruine was reduced to the utmost despair seeing Heaven conspire to their destruction by taking away those Ramparts which Nature had designed for its preservation The French Army for the reasons before mentioned had penetrated into the very Heart of the Country and 40 places were taken in a small space of time whereas the State thought they might have found work for 20 years these people that were a little too haughty in their prosperity lay then under a terrible consternation almost in the same condition as the Venetians were heretofore when King Lewis the 12th made himself Master of the greatest part of the Territories which they had upon the Continent Being in this despair they were constrained to the last Remedy which was to overflow their Country and breaking down their Dykes to oppose a Sea to the French forces so hindring them from passing further they averted the ruine of the Commonwealth which else had assuredly run its period Heretofore seeing themselves reduced to a like extremity they made use of the same Remedy against the Spanish Army at the Siege of Leyden having succoured the place then at the very point of being lost with an innumerable company of Boats which swum upon the Land which they had overflow'd and then the United Provinces were reduced to so strange circumstances and to such a height of despair that the principal persons amongst them proposed in imitation of the ancient Switzers to burn all their Towns Villages and Castles and to spoyl the Country as much as they could and go on board their Ships to settle themselves in the Indies so to be delivered from the Spanish Tyranny but they had not Vessels enough to transport a fourth part of the people and were unwilling to leave the greater number to the mercy of so pityless an Enemy and for a Motto of the lamentable condition which this Country was then reduced to they engraved upon the Money which they coyned at that time a Vessel without Masts and Sayls tost by the waves and storm with these words Incertum quó fata ferant words which represented the extremity of their condition But to return to the Prince of Orange He appeared at the head of an Army at 22 years old as his Great Grandfather Prince William who was Generalissimo to the Emperour Charles the V. at the same Age and throughout the course of this great War he show'd so much Courage and Conduct both in Sieges and Battels that he had assuredly pass'd the Actions of his Illustrious Ancestors who for 200 years serv'd for a model to the greatest Generals if he had not had the misfortune to be born in the age of a King whose Genius and Power no common forces could stand against I do not design to make an exact Journal of the Actions of his Illustrious Father Prince Henry Frederick since they may be learnt from other Histories but speak of them in general and relate some certain passages not commonly known In the year 1626 he took Oldensell Capital of the Country of Tuiâ—…z in the Neighbourhood of Friezeland and Groninghen and the same year Peter Hein one of his Vice-Admirals in the Bay of Todos los Santos in the Road of St. Salvador took a Spanish Fleet laden with Sugar In the year 1627 he took Grolle before the face of Count Henry de Bergues General of a powerful Spanish Army that could put no succours into it nor make the Prince raise his Siege he being so well entrenched against the Enemies Army At the end of the year 1627 the same Peter Hein mentioned before took the Spanish Silver Fleet near the Isle of Cuba This prize without reckoning the Galeons and Vessels was esteemed at more than twenty Millions there were besides other Riches 356000 Marks of Silver and 300000 Marks of Gold abundance of Pearls Cochinele Jewels Bezoar Musk Ambergreese 250 Chests of Sugar and an infinite number of Stuffs and other merchandizes of great value This Vice-admiral Peter Hein arrived gloriously in Holland in the beginning of the year 1629 which was remarkable by the Conquest of the strong Town of Bolduc where by a Siege that was very long and difficult Prince Henry Frederick show'd by his conduct and valour that he could overcome that which had resisted his Brother Maurice who had heretofore attacqued that important place without success But what was more marvellous was that whilst Prince Henry Frederick lay before the place Count Henry de Bergues having pass'd the River Isell with a great Army ravaged all the Country of Utrecht where he seized upon Amersfort and put Holland into such a consternation that several people counselled the Prince to quit his enterprize upon Bolduc and succor the heart of his Country which was made desolate by the Enemy but he had the constancy to persevere till he had made himself Master of so considerable a Town without being moved by the Councels of his chief Officers or the Lamentations of the People that had been plundered At the same time the Prince by the vigilance and resolution of Otho de Guent Lord of Dieden Governour of Emeric having happily surprized the Town of Wesel where was the Magazine and Artillery of the Spanish Army which obliged Count Henry de Bergues to repass the Issel in all the haste imaginable he gained by this double
Cardinal having some difference with Mary de Medicis the Queen Mother who being of the house of Austria by the mothers side was upheld by all the power of Spain and Germany he was forced to have recourse to foreign Alliances and to caress those whom he had before despised and offended This storm which was raising against the Cardinal for his destruction as well within as without the Kingdom obliged him to seek the friendship of the Prince of Orange who tho he had not the title of Soveraign disposed of all things belonging to the United Provinces There was a Treaty concluded between France and the States General by which they were to attack the Spaniards and to divide the Conquest of the Low Countries which they had already devoured in their imaginations the Prince of Orange was to enter Holland with the Dutch Army and France was to joyn him with thirty thousand Men and the French Generals had orders from the King to obey the Prince of Orange so much it seems at that time they thought him necessary to their affairs In short the Spring following the year 1635 the French Army under the Command of the Marshals Chatillon and Breze enter'd the Low Countries and defeated the Spanish Forces at Avein commanded by Prince Thomas of Savoy who afterwards took the name of Prince of Carignon all the Baggage and Cannon remained in the possession of the French with abundance of Prisoners several of which that were of the best quality were carried to Maestricht These Generals after this Victory joined the Prince of Orange and sacked part of Brabant but the Prince who did not love the Neighbourhood of the French better than that of the Spaniard and had still the remembrance of the affair at Orange very fresh in his mind for want of victuals and subsistence ruin'd the French Army that had been so victorious which being retired into Holland after raising the Siege of Lovain under pretence of the approach of Picolomini with a German Army the greater part of it perished there with Hunger and Sickness the sixth part of it never returning back again into their own Kingdom The Prince of Orange looked upon Cardinal Richelieu as an Enemy that was reconcil'd to him only out of the necessity that he had for him in his present circumstances and for this reason he under-hand did him all the displeasure and gave him all the mortification that he could possibly granting a favourable reception to such as had been disgrac'd by him in France honouring them with his confidence and considerable imployments as amongst others it appeared by Mr. Hauterive and Mr. Beringhen whom he respected not only in spight of the Cardinal but because they deserved it and Cardinal Richelieu as powerful as he was was forced to swallow those Pills having necessary occasion for Holland to make some diversions which conduced to the good of his other affairs this made the Cardinal know that it was not good to offend people of courage and being a very great Politician he could dissemble so far as not to be angry at this ill treatment so he continued to seek the Prince of Orange's Friendship and it was agreed that each should attack the common Enemy from his own side he maintained a faithful and perfect correspondence with the French and the Prince who was sufficiently revenged and drew great advantages from his alliance with France executed the Treaties he had made with great sincerity The same year in which happened the battle of Avein and the Siege of Louvain the Spaniards surprized the Fort of Skink by means of Lieutenant Collonel Enhold who made himself Master of it by a party of the Garrison of Guelders whom he made use of to execute so bold an Enterprize The Sieur Veld the Governour being waked with the noise of the attack and rising in his Shirt had his Arm immediately broken and being in despair to see himself surprized would not render himself Prisoner whatever offers of quarter they could make him still defending himself till he was overwhelm'd with blows The Father of this Enhold had been beheaded at the Hague for some Crime and the Son to revenge the death of his Father quitted the Dutch service and put himself under the Spaniard which happened very luckily for him for by the surprize of so important a place beside the inward satisfaction which he had to cause so great a loss to the States the Cardinal Infant Ferdinand of Austria being newly arrived in the Low Countries where he had the Soveraign Command presented him for so bold and happy an action with a Chain of Gold of great value and gave him the summ of fifty thousand Livres But Prince Henry was so set upon the regaining of this place that he gave the Spaniards free entrance into the Countries of Guelders and Utrecht having besieged it in the month of August 1635 he re-took it in April 1636 by a Siege of six months In the year 1637 Cardinal Richelieu to oblige the Prince of Orange gave him the Title of Highness in a discourse made on purpose by Monsieur de Charnasse Ambassadour of France to Holland in the Name of his Majesty and at an Assembly of the States General which was soon after printed In which he was followed by the Ambassadors of all other Princes who before had used no other Title but that of Excellence In the same year 1637 Prince Henry by a Siege of four months re-took the Town and Castle of Breda which the Marquis Ambrose Spinola had conquered in the year 1625 by a long Blockade of a whole year with incredible Expences although this place was defended by France England and Denmark so the Marquis put over one of the Gates of the Town that he had carry'd it tribus Regibus frustra renitentibus notwithstanding the Resistance of three Kings It was at this last Siege of Breda that Monsieur de Charnasse was killed for though he was Ambassadour of France yet he would serve at the Head of his Regiment which he had in the Low Countries hoping to become a Mareschal of France by the favour of the Mareschal de Breze whose Aunt he had married and who had gained him his Employments In the year 1639 the Hollanders gained a considerable Victory at Sea over the Spaniards the Fleet of Don Antonio Doquendo consisting of 67 Men of War that had been equipping so long in Spain joyned to some Vessels from Dunkirk who were considerable in that time came for some great design which none yet have ever penetrated were stopped in St. George's Channel by the Renowned Admiral Martin Erpez Tromp with only-twelve Ships but being afterwards reinforced with ninety Men of War and several Fire-ships that came from diverse places he encompassed the Spanish Fleet that had put itself into the Downes near the Fleet of the King of Great Britain as thinking itself to be there in safety and then attacqued it with so great resolution that after a
the ordinary Souldiers but even the Guards of the deceased Prince should take an Oath of Fidelity to the States of Holland This was unanimously carry'd notwithstanding all the representations made by the Princess his Mother who ineffectually labored to preserve him in those Offices which her Husband possessed and before him the other Princes of Orange the Royal Family of Great Britain from whom principally she could expect any assistance being at that time under an Eclipse through the wicked Machinations of those execrable Parricides who after they had barbarously Murder'd their lawful Soveraing King Charles I. of Blessed Memory by a train of Hypocrisy and other Villanies peculiar to their Party shared the Soveraignty between themselves Our Prince who like Hercules was to encounter Snakes in his Cradle suffer'd a great deal from the intreagues and contrivances of Barnevelt's Party now re-established in the Persons of the Messieurs De Witt. But he bore all with incredible moderation still waiting for a favorable opportunity to be restor'd to those dignities and great Employments he had been deprived of by a publick decree obtained by a predominant Faction immediately after the death of his Father It must be confessed that France in some measure contributed to his re-establishment altho without the least design to favour the Prince Heaven so ordering it that that mighty Monarch should ravage and almost destroy this flourishing Republic to convince the world at the same time that only the Family of the Founders of this Republic was capable to repair its Ruines and restore it to its former Grandeur The Reader can scarce imagine with what a prodigions torrent the King of France over-ran and surprized all the United Provinces obliging the greatest part of the Frontier Towns and other Capital Cities to surrender themselves Amongst the rest Utrecht and Zutphen open'd their Gates at the first approach of the Enemy for altho there were large Garrisons in both those places yet being composed of Burghers and commanded by Officers of little or no experience they were frighted at the sight of a well disciplin'd couragious army that knew how to make the best advantage of the victory and the fright they had put their enemies in These calamities which had been foreseen long before by some of the most prudent persons of these Provinces as they occasioned a general consternation so they gave the people subject to complain of the ill conduct of the Mrs de Wit who at that time had all the authority of the Government in their hands and by this means furnished the friends of the House of Nassau with a favourable opportunity to speak their thoughts upon what passed at that time Which they did by way of advice to the People giving them to understand that the Princes of Orange were probably the only Persons that were able to support their tottering State and to defend them against their most puissant Enemies Adding that as these illustrious Princes had formerly deliver'd them from the tyranny of the Spaniards so they alone could stop the fury and career of the French The Princess Dowager Grand mother to his Highness a Lady of incomparable prudence and of a courage above her Sex did not contribute a little by her address to awaken those Persons that were in her interests and who were not inconsiderable for their number These at last not being able to see themselves any longer despised or that all the great Offices of State shou'd be thrown away upon Persons that were not worthy of them and at the same time making use of the fury of the people who justly alarm'd to see a victorious Army in the bowels of their Country spoke of nothing but Sacrificing the De Witts managed their affairs so dexterouslâ—… that they attained their designs for after the Prince had made a Journey towards the beginning of the Year 1672 to visit the fortifications of some Places the States of Holland and West-Frizeland being assembled it was unanimously agreed that he should be chose General of their Army which was notified next day to the States General and on the 24th of February the Prince having accepted their offer took the Oaths before them with the accustomed Ceremonies It is very remarkable that the Peasants of West-Frizeland who make excellent Souldiers wou'd not take up Arms but with this condition that they should swear to be true to the Republic and to obey the States and his Highness the Prince of Orange The immoderate ambition of some Persons had formerly occasion'd two fatal Factions who to fortify their own particular interests weakned the Nerves of the public security which made those who had the greatest Credit with the People commit the greatest Solecism's in matter of Policy that any Party can be guilty of For these short-sighted Statesmen imagining that after the Peace of Munster there was nothing left them to fear and that no body cou'd hurt them in their Pretensions but the too great power of the House of Nassau by reason of its Alliances with France and particularly with England they casheer'd their Troops composed of old Soldiers and experienced Captains who had preserved the Country but were looked upon to be intirely devoted to the Prince of Orange and at the same time gave the greatest Posts in their Army and in their Garrisons to the Sons of Burgher Masters and Deputies of Cities People who however brave they might be in their own Persons were for the most part of little or no experience as having never seen a Battle and this was the reason that when they came to be surprized by a vigorous Enemy whole Cities altho they had in Garrison five thousand Foot and eight hundred Horse surrendred at discretion without discharging one Gun at the first sight and appearance of the Enemy Thus Faction and Interest that are commonly the destruction of the most flourishing Kingdoms having reduced the States General to the brink of despair they were constrained to have recourse to their last Asylum the Prince of Orange in order to avoid their approaching ruine and to place the little hope that was remaining in the hands of one person whom the prevailing party had formerly rejected with a great deal of ingratitude and who indeed did not deserve such a hard destiny for in fine Children ought not to be responsible for the actions of their Fathers when they have by no means justified them The Prince had no sooner accepted the high Charge of General of the Armies which was presented to him from the part of the States by Monsieur de Beverning Iohn de Wit and Gaspar Fagel but he immediately repaired to the Army which was then posted near Nieu Rop where all he couâ—…d do against the united forces of the French commanded by the King in person was to keep his post And this he performed with so much conduct that the Enemy as powerful as he was cou'd have no advantage over him on that side On the other hand thinking