5. All places in Catalonia in the Kings possession which have been taken since the Treaty of Nimeguen in the state they were when taken 6. To the Bishop of Liege the Town and Castle of Dinant in the state they were at the taking of them 7. All the Reunions made since the Peace of Nimeguen 8. Lorrain according to the Conditions of the said Treaty Monsieur de Callieres having made the said declaration to the Mediatour in the presence of Monsieur Dyckvelt they went afterwards to the Sieur Boreels House who because of his indisposition could not come to the Mediatours as it had been agreed and the Mediatour having follow'd them thither Messieurs Dyckvelt and Boreel did signifie to him in Monsieur de Callieres presence that they had agreed that upon the Conclusion and Signing of the Peace the Most Christian King should Recognize the Prince of Orange for King of Great Britain without any Difficulty Restriction Condition or Reserve which Monsieur de Callieres confirm'd to the Mediatour in the name of his Most Christian Majesty all which was accordingly Enter'd and Sign'd by the Mediatour in his * A Signing Book kept by the Mediatour Protocol the 31th January 10th February 1697. Most people especially those who are Well-wishers to the Kings Person and Government expected that His Majesty should have been acknowledg'd by the French for King of Great Britain in the Preliminaries as a necessary step without which no General Treaty could be thought of wherein His Majesties Ambassadours should not be receiv'd by the French as Ambassadours from the King of Great Britain but the French Court would not yield to this Point because if the Treaty should break off yet the King would gain thereby the onely difficulty that was to be regulated between England and France the other difficulties being but inconsiderable and easily accommodated and therefore offer'd that it was sufficient seeing the case was so that His Majesty should be acknowledgd for King of Great Britain at the Conclusion and Signing of the Treaty His Majesty preferring the Peace and Quiet of Europe to what at the bottom was but a meer Formality Consented that the Negotiations should be manag'd this way being satisfied with the Guaranty of Sweden upon this point in the Preliminaries And notwithstanding that the French King did not acknowledge His Majesty till the Signing of the Peace yet the whole Treaty was so manag'd at Ryswick that our Ambassadours and Plenipotentiaries met with nothing that might derogate in the least from the Honour due to Ministers of that Character from the Crown of England However his Majesties Domestick Enemies had some hopes upon this account and they thought themselves in no ill Condition by it As for the Imperial Minister the Count de Caunitz he was not present at the Signing of the Preliminaries because the French allow'd no other Conditions in them for the Duke of Lorrain but those of Nimeguen which had been protested against in due Form by the last Duke of Lorrain and which neither the Emperour nor the present Duke could ever accept of Affairs being brought thus far towards a General Treaty as to have the Preliminaries Sign'd by the Mediatour no other difficulty remain'd to hinder the opening of the Congress but the agreeing upon the Place of Treaty Breda Maestricht or Nimeguen were sometimes propos'd by the French other people talk'd of Vtrecht the Imperialists were for having the Congress in Germany either at Cologne or Aix la Chappelle but the Emperour was very backward in explaining himself upon this Article his Minister still insisted at the Hague to have the Business of Lorrain put in a way of accommodation before the Place of Treaty was nam'd for though the French made no other overture in the Preliminaries for the Dutchy of Lorrain but the Treaty of Nimeguen yet France gave hopes of better Conditions for that Duke when-once it should come to a Treaty the Imperial Court would have had these Conditions explain'd in the Preliminaries but France would not consent to it These Contestations took up a great deal of time and prov'd a great obstacle to the agreeing upon a Place to Treat in In the mean while the French and the Dutch pitch'd upon a place of Treaty which I dare say is the most convenient that can be met with in Christendom for such a Business and that was His Majesties Royal Palace at Ryswick so situated that it has the advantage of two large and populous Towns just by it being not above an English Mile from the Hague and two from Delft where consequently the Ambassadors on both sides could Lodge themselves conveniently without being press'd for Scarcity of Lodging or impos'd upon in the Excessive Rates of Houses both which inconveniencies must have been the Consequence of having the Treaty in any one Town of Holland besides or Germany and were sufficiently felt in the Congress of Nimeguen Besides the French were to come from Delft to Ryswick one way and the Allies from the Hague another directly opposite so that no unlucky meeting of Coaches and wrangling for precedency could ever happen to interrupt the Negotiations This Palace is call'd the House of Newbourgh built aside of the Village of Ryswick about two Bowes shot to the West by Frederick Henry Prince of Orange His Majesties Grandfather and is a Fabrick of Modern Architecture onely a little too low consisting of three Pavillons or Piles of Buildings upon a Line joyn'd together by two Galleries all of Free Stone and of an equal Height the Front of the House looks to the Hague Northwards and the back with the Gardens towards Delft Southwards and therefore it afforded all the Accommodations that could possibly be desir'd for a Congress to Negotiate a Peace an Apartment in the Center for the Mediator and one upon the Right and another upon the Left for the two different Parties whereby no manner of Dispute could happen about the going out or coming in and such other accidents which it has been very difficult to Regulate in other Places Most of the Allies agreed immediately that a Palace so conveniently situated and having such Accommodations to prevent any differences about the Ceremonial should be the Place of Treaty and accordingly His Majesty order'd it forthwith to be Repaired and the States had it handsomly Furnish'd for such an occasion and certainly it could signifie no less than a good Omen to his Majesties Affairs that after so long and cruel a War wherein the French had done whatever lay in their power to dispute his possession of the British Throne yet at last they very willingly came to Treat of Peace in his own House Whilst these advances were making towards a General Treaty there were no less preparations in the Frontiers between France and the Allies than if it had been the very middle of the War and indeed 't is very necessary to be more cautious than usual in such a Conjuncture because the
Plenipotentiaries arriv'd at Delft went to pay them the first Visit at their own Houses and afterwards the French Plenipotentiaries return'd the same Complement to the Counts of Caunitz and Straatman at the Hague and paid at the same time the first Visit to the Baron of Zeilern the third Imperial Plenipotentiary being come into Holland after them and the same Method was observ'd in the Visits of the rest After the adjusting of the Ceremonial the French Ambassadours were requir'd by the Mediator to give in their Project of a General Peace with the Allies in pursuance of the Overtures already made in the Preliminaries and so to enter upon more Essential Business than had hitherto been handled in the Congress The French on their side were delaying to give it in putting of it off from Congress day to Congress day which made People generally believe they had first a mind to know the Issue of three great Undertakings which France had now in hand and of which News were daily expected with a great deal of Impatience on all sides to model their Project accordingly and that was first Monsieur de Pointy's Expedition in the West-Indies against the Galleons having sail'd from Brest the beginning of January last with a Squadron of about twelve Men of War having Troops and Transport-Ships along with him and other Necessaries for a Landing not without giving us some Jealousie in England at first especially for Ireland The second was the Election of Poland for which the Prince of Conti stood Candidate and was now so fair for the carrying of it that the Election of Marechal of the Dyet met at Warsaw to chuse a King was carry'd by the French Party which shew'd but too much the Superiority of it against any other Pretenders which gave them very great Hopes on that side The third was the Siege of Barcelona form'd by the Duke of Vendome General of the French Army in Catalonia since the beginning of this Month and which was now carrying on with a great deal of Vigour Several People thought that Pensionary Heinsius's Journey to the Camp was concerning the Retardments which the French made in giving in their Project and to concert thereupon some Methods of carrying on the War with more Vigour than we had done hitherto and oblige the French not to be so backward in giving reasonable Terms for a General Peace as they were reported to be at present others imagin'd that it regarded the Forwarding of the Negociations at Ryswick where there seem'd to be a certain Slowness among some of the Allies and especially the Imperialists These were the publick Discourses about this Journey but one may rather imagine from what follow'd that it was to make way for the Conferences that happen'd few days after between the Earl of Portland and the Marechal of Bouflers and that may be the French Plenipotentiaries had made some Overtures about it to those of the States by the French King's order because His Majesty being not yet acknowledged by the French as King of Great Britain there could be no Conferences in the Congress between the Plenipotentiaries of England and those of France But whatever was the occasion of Pensionary Heinsius his coming to the Camp these were only Conjectures and I do not pretend to dive farther into the Matter The 24th Prince Cerclas of Tilly was commanded with the Liege Horse and Dragoons and the German Cavalry lately come from the Rhine to march towards Namur where he incamp'd at Masy the German Horse was under the Command of Major General Bulau and the Prince of Tilly was joyn'd in this Camp by two Battallions of the Liege Troops the rest being to follow upon occasion for we were strong enough without them at present and the sending of them that way spar'd so much the more Forrage about Brussels where the Army was like to continue long enough to want it and besides the Marquis de Harcourt was marching back to repass the Sambre in order to incamp at Bossu upon this River with the Forces he had brought from the Moselle where at his coming he receiv'd six Field pieces from Philipville and though Harcourt was posted here upon no other account but for the Security of Convoys from the Meuse to the Sambre against the Garrison of Namur and thence to be sent to Mons for the use of the Armies yet it was necessary to have a proportionable Body near Namur to observe him especially now that the Marechal of Bouflers was incamp'd conveniently enough to march that way as soon as the Allies The 25th Pensionary Heinsius went back for Holland and in the Evening at the Orders His Majesty was pleas'd to declare the Hereditary Prince of Hesse Major General of his Forces The 26th the Princess of Vaudemont attended with most of the chief Ladies of Brussels came in the Evening to see the Camp going at the Head of the Line with a Train of about a dozen Coaches with six Horses the Electrice was near her Time and could not go abroad The 27th the Marechal of Villeroy's Army came to Forrage about Zellich and his Out guards advanc'd pretty near our Camp which gave us the Allarm His Majesty immediately rid out being follow'd by the Prince to observe the Motions of the French and Haxhausen's Brigade of Danes incamp'd upon the Height between Ganshoren and Berchom was order'd to march with the Dragoons we had in the Camp on this side of Brussels all the Cavalry receiv'd Orders to mount on Horse-back and Belcastel's Brigade at Laacken took Arms. About thirty Squadrons of Horse were commanded to attend His Majesty who rid to the Height on the other side of the Abbey of Dilleghem and it being found that the French had no other Design but to Forrage between Zellich and Asch it was not thought expedient to attempt any thing which might have ingag'd us in a General Battle without our Retrenchments but only to watch and observe their Motions and His Majesty came back to the Camp The 29th the Dragoons of Tiviot Rosse and Jedborough which at our first coming to this Ground had been posted at the Burnt-bridge upon the Canal receiv'd Orders to march and joyn the Main Body of English Horse and Dragoons incamp'd at Diegom under General Auerquerque and Scheltinga's Regiment of Anhalt's Brigade was commanded in their place to cover the Canal from thence to Willebrook as Colonel Murray's did on the other hand to Vilvorde and the Fort des trois Trous The same day was the first Interview between the Marechal of Bouflers and My Lord Portland in the open Field on this side of Halle the Marechal of Bouflers had sent a Trumpet into our Camp to attend his Lordship who went in his Coach without any other Escorte and the Marechal of Bouflers who was come to the place of Rendezvous with some Squadrons of Horse order'd them all back to his Camp when he saw My Lord come without any Guard and only the Trumpet that
The Elector left the Army to go in Relays to Antwerp this day where Prince Vandemont was to meet His Electoral Highness the day following from Brussels and the Command of the Army in Flanders fell thereby to the Count d' Arco General of the Bavarians The Seventh Prince Vaudemont came accordingly from Brussels to wait upon the Elector at Antwerp and conferr together upon the present State of Affairs the Prince went back the same day to the Army at Brussels but the Elector remain'd in that Town The Term prefix'd by the late Memorial given in by the French drawing near His Electoral Highness was more conveniently here than in any other Town of his Jurisdiction to send Expresses to or receive them from Don Bernardo de Quiros the first Plenipotentiary of Spain at the Congress of Ryswick who had receiv'd express Orders from the Court of Spain alarm'd by the Loss of Barcelona to Sign then upon the Conditions offer'd by the French Sign who will for the rest and as 't was reported had had a Reprimand for not Signing the 20th of August the Term given before in the Project which was a Tune many Notes lower than at the beginning of these Negociations when Spain as well as the Empire were so unwilling to Treat upon the Foot of the Peace of Nimeguen The Prince at his return to Brussels began to review the Army Brigade by Brigade not so much to be sati fied of the Strength of the Regiments as to see them Exercise there being little to do at present for them The Ninth Selwyn's Brigade posted at Laacken exercis'd before him and the Tenth the half Brigade of Guards of the first Line continued the same Pass-time The 11th The Prince being inform'd that the Marechal of Villeroy had advanc'd with his Army from Ste Marie Oudenhove nearer to Ghendt and was come to incamp at St. Lievens-Houthem order'd Selwyn's Brigade and the Regiments of Columbine and Granville of Fairfax's to send for their Baggage-Horses from Grass in order to march the next day being design'd for a Reinforcement to the Brandenbourg Foot incamp'd at Heusen for the Defence of the Scheld between Ghendt and Dendermonde for if the Peace had not been Sign'd the over-night of which there could be no News as yet in our Camp it was expected that the War would begin again with more Vigour and Animosity than ever and that Villeroy thereupon might have endeavour'd either to Bombard Ghendt or pass the Scheld But it pleas'd God at length to put an end to a War which for nine Years together had Harass'd and severely Chastis'd most Parts of Christendom and the Peace was Happily Sign'd the 10th at night between England Spain and Holland on one part and France on the other The Spanish Plenipotentiaries Sign'd about Midnight and after them those of the States General which being done the French were now oblig'd according to the Preliminary Articles to acknowledge His Majesty for King of Great Britain without any Restriction Condition or Reserve our Plenipotentiaries were thereupon introduc'd by the Mediatour and receiv'd by the French with all the Civility that was due to the Plenipotentiaries of the Crown of England after which the Articles were Sign'd between England and France in the presence of the Mediatour and the Plenipotentiaries on both sides embrac'd one another with all the Demonstrations of Friendship Esteem and an intire Reconciliation and the Conversation soon fell upon the Panegyrick of the two Most Powerful Monarchs in Christendom whose great Actions must hereafter make the best part of the History of these Times the French especially spoke of the great Veneration that all Brave French-men had for so Renown'd a Prince as King William the Third and of the great Esteem and Value the King their Master had for him As for the Imperialists they still stuck out and refus'd to Sign alledging that they had not time enough given them to have Instructions from the Emperour and Empire about the Matters in Debate and especially one of such Consequence as the Dismembring of Strasbourg from the Body of the Empire was and insisted still upon the full Restitution of Lorraine without the Reservation of Saar-Louis and Longwy to the French After this second Refusal of the Emperour 's Plenipotentiaries those of England Spain and Holland Sign'd without them according to the Instructions they had receiv'd but a Separate Article was added at the end of every one of these three several Treaties in which it was stipulated between the Mediatour the Powers that had Sign'd and the French that a farther time should be allow'd to the Emperour and Empire till the 22th day of October inclusive next ensuing being six Weeks time to regulate the Affairs relating to the Empire during which time all manner of Hostilities should cease between the Germans and the French for the Performance whereof the Powers that had Sign'd ingag'd themselves as Guarrantees but if by that time the Peace was not Sign'd between the Empire and France that nevertheless the Treaty concluded at Ryswick should stand good and the Powers that had Sign'd should remain Neuter in the War between France and the Empire I will not pretend to advance that there was a Design in the refusing to Sign by the Emperour 's Plenipotentiaries both the former Term and this but this may be said for Truth that the refusing to Sign the time before put it out of the Empires Choice to take Strasbourg or the Equivalent and their refusing to Sign now left them to Treat with the French among themselves which has brought in the Fourth Article of the Treaty for the Empire so Prejudicial to the Protestant Religion in Germany and Derogatory to the Treaty of Munster in its behalf which may be look'd upon as the Fundamental Constitution of the Empire as 't is now divided between the Protestant and the Romish Religion which Article 't is very probable would not have been so easily gain'd to the Prejudice of the Protestant Interest if the Imperialists had acted and sign'd in Conjunction with the rest of the Allies I need not give an account of the three several Treaties Sign'd at Ryswick the Tenth because they are already Printed by themselves to which I shall referr the Reader only I shall mention something concerning Luxembourg and the Equivalent offer'd to Spain in lieu of it namely That the Equivalent offer'd by the French being Maubeuge Condé Menin and Ipres was much more Advantagious for the Spanish Dominions in the Low-Countries because it made them more united and gave them a better and more defensible Frontier and for the same reason was so to England but the French restoring Lorrain it was better for the Common Interest of Europe to have Luxembourg back again for a Communication between Lorrain the Empire and the Low-Countries for otherwise without it the French might still have over-aw'd the Empire upon the Lower-Rhine and have had an In-let into Holland for which reason Luxembourg
has been preferr'd to the Equivalent and the French who to be sure expected that it would be so and therefore were aware of it resolv'd to retain Saar-Louis and Longwy to have still a Bridle upon the Empire and Luxembourg and also for a Defence to France it self in case of such another Alliance against it as the last Immediately after the Signing of the Peace at Ryswick the 10th or rather 11th of September Expresses were dispatch'd to all the Courts in Christendom to give notice of it and our Plenipotentiaries at the Hague thought it convenient to send one to Prince Vaudemont at Brussels who commanded all His Majesty's Forces and Armies in Chief in the Low Countries the Express pass'd by Antwerp at Nine of the Clock at Night and Mr. Hill His Majesty's Envoy at the Court of Brussels who was then at his Pay-Office at Antwerp had the first News of it before the Elector about Twelve the Express came to the Prince at the Camp and the good News were all over the Army next Morning our Express was follow'd by two Spanish Couriers going to Madrid the first with the News of the Signing and the second with the Treaty in due Form to be Ratified who both receiv'd the Elector's Orders at Antwerp in their way And as if Providence had design'd this to be mark'd for a Happy day in the Calender the Elector receiv'd soon after the passing of the first Spanish Courier an Express from the Emperour with the News of the Great and Glorious Defeat which Prince Eugene of Savoy had given the Turks at Zanta near the Theysse in Hungary on the First of September which as it appears by the Accounts of it was as compleat and entire a Victory as has been gain'd for many Ages and so much the more Welcome that it was gain'd in a time when Men were very apprehensive for the Emperour's Affairs in Hungary the Grand Seignior having a much more powerful Army with which he had already driven the Imperialists from Titul and was now passing the Theysse to march towards Peter-Waradin when his Army being imprudently divided by the River either for want of Boats to make several Bridges or Conduct Prince Eugene attack'd that part which had pass'd under the Command of the Grand Visier and gave it an entire Rout and in the Pursuit over the Bridge which occasion'd the loss of most of the Infidels put that part which was commanded by the Grand Seignior on the other side into no less Confusion and Disorder The Elector having receiv'd this joyful News by the Express dispatch'd immediately the Count de Milan to the Electrice and Prince Vaudemont at Brussels with the Letter he had receiv'd from the Emperour upon this occasion Several People wish'd that this Victory had happen'd a little sooner for the sake of the Allies who if the Turks had been brought to make a Peace which would have been much more Honourable than what they at present can expect could then have given the Law in the Congress of Ryswick and oblig'd the French to much greater Restitutions or else have carried on a War that must have been Fatal to them but the French Court has known so well how to manage the Turks upon this Point in all the Misfortunes they have had for these seven or eight Years last past that there was no more reason to expect the Turks would seek for a Peace after this Defeat than after that of Salankement or the Losses of Guyla and Great-Waradin The 12th in the Evening the Elector follow'd the good News and came to Brussels and the next day he sent the Marquis d'Vsiés a Serjeant General de Battaille in the Spanish Troops to the Marechal of Villeroy and Baron Simeoni to the Marechal of Bouflers to give them an account of the Signing of the Peace on the Tenth at Night and to know what Orders they had from the French Court about their Armies between this and the Ratification which was to be made within three Weeks after Count Monasterol was sent at the same time by Count d'Arco from the Army near Bruges to the Marechal of Catinat upon the same account they were receiv'd with great Civilities in the French Camps and nobly entertain'd but return'd with this Answer That no Orders were yet come from Court to them upon the Signing of the Peace but that as soon as they did receive any they would give an account of it to His Electoral Highness thereby to regulate Affairs on both sides accordingly The 14th all the Artillery was drawn out before the Camp upon the Height uear the Wind mill of Ganshoren and all the Army drew out in the Evening to fire three Volleys for the great Victory obtain'd over the Turks by Prince Eugene of Savoy but it fell a Raining very hard and all the Troops were dismiss'd to their Tents and the Artillery commanded back to its former Post which may be was not the true Reason but rather it was not thought convenient to have any publick Rejoycing about it the Peace being Sign'd between England and France which made England to have no Interest in the Emperour's Affairs that way For I do not remember that there were any publick Rejoycings in England for the raising the Siege of Vienna in King Charles the Second's Reign or even for the taking of Buda in King James's though a Popish Prince But Te Deum was Sung this Evening in the Elector's Chappel and all the Cannon fir'd thrice round the Ramparts of Brussels with abundance of Illuminations and Fire-works and Count d'Arco the Bavarian General who commanded at present the Army of Flanders in Chief had Te Deum Sung in his Quarter by the Chaplains of the Spanish and Bavarian Troops and the Army and Artillery being drawn out fir'd three rounds for this Victory The 17th Prince Vaudemont left the Camp to go and wait upon His Majesty at Loo not only to regulate the Marching of the English Troops out of the Country but chiefly to Thank His Majesty for the great Honours he had receiv'd in commanding of his Armies in Flanders the three last Campagnes and to pass as much time as he could with the King before His Majesty went for England now that the parting would be for some time the Prince being appointed by the King of Spain for Governour of Milan in the Room of the Marquis de Leganés where we may expect from so Brave and Wise a Prince that he will manage Affairs so as to conserve the Peace and Repose of Italy and contribate thereby to maintain that of Christendom in General The Prince being now gone to Loo the Duke of Wirtemberg became in course General in Chief of the Army near Brussels The 19th the Marechal of Bouflers sent Monsieur de Pracontal a Merechal de Camp or Major General of his Army to the Elector of Bavaria at Brussels to give His Highness an account that the French King had sent Orders for his Armies
following yet the King was resolv'd not to come to the Hague till the Imperialists and the French had made an end of the Treaty depending between them and therefore still kept at Loo and Diercn where Prince Vaudemont remain'd after the Elector's going back for Brussels and His Majesty named here his Excellency the Earl of Portland for his Ambassadour Extraordinary to go to the Court of France The 22th of October being the Term allow'd in the Separate Article of the 10th of September the Peace was Sign'd between the Empire and France according to the Project given by the French Ambassadours and the Memorial of the 21th of August and by it the French quitted to the Empire all Brisgow and Alsatia on the Right side of the Rhine with the Towns of Brisach and Fribourg the Fort of Kehl opposite to Strasbourg and the Town of Philipsbourg all on the same side of the Rhine together with the Territories belonging to the Electorate of Treves and the Palatinate on the left side of the Rhine and oblig'd themselves farther to demolish all the Forts they had upon that River on the right side of it and moreover Montroyal and Traerbach upon the Moselle after which they were to be restor'd to the Elector of Treves together with the Town of Treves in the Condition it was then They likewise ingag'd to restore the Dutchy of Lorrain and Barre in the Condition wherein Charles the Fourth enjoy'd it in the Year 1670 only they reserv'd to themselves the Town of Saar-Lonis with a district of half a League about it and the Town and Provostship of Longwy upon the Frontier of Lorrain towards Luxembourg for which Towns the French promis'd to give an Equivalent of the same Extent and Value in one of the three Bishopricks as it should be agreed upon between Commissioners appointed by the French King and the Duke of Lorrain for that purpose and farther to give back the Dutchy of Deux-Ponts to the King of Sweden the County of Mont-belliard to the Dukes of Wirtemberg with all the Mannors and Feudships belonging to the said Family in the Dutchy of Burgundy and Franche-Comte the Towns and Bishopricks of Wormes and Spire the first to the Grand Master of the Teutonick Order and the latter to the Archbishop of Treves And the Elector Palatine re-entering in the Possession of all his Territories and Revenues on both sides of the Rhine by this Treaty according as they were restor'd at the Peace of Westphalia the Emperour and the French King were nam'd to be Arbitrators of the Dutchess of Orleans's Pretensions in which if they did not agree that then the Pope should decide that Matter according to the Laws and Constitutions of the Empire and in the mean while that the Elector Palatine should allow the Dutchess of Orleans a Yearly Pension of 200000 Livers French Money Lastly The French promis'd to deliver up the Town and Castle of Dinant to the Elector of Cologne as Bishop of Liege in the Condition they were at the taking of them before the Treaty of Nimeguen And in Consideration of the Equivalent given by the French the Emperour and Empire consented that Strasbourg should be dismembred for ever from the Empire and annex'd to the Most Christian King's Dominions with a Sovereign Property and Jurisdiction over it that the Bridge of Philipsbourg should be broke down and the Fort which covers it on the left side of the Rhine demolish'd that the new Town of Brisach on the same side of the Rhine should be dismantled and that hereafter the Rhine should be the common Barriere in Alsatia between France and the Empire so that France should have no Forts upon the Rhine nor right side of it nor the Empire upon the left And as a common Article that this Treaty should be Ratified by the Empire and the French King within six Weeks after But there was a Clause in the Fourth Article whereby the Roman Catholick Religion was to be maintain'd in all the Places restor'd by the French in the Condition and State it was at the Signing of it which created very hot Contestations between the Protestant and Bopish Deputies of the Empire as being expresly contrary to the Treaty of Westphalia this made all the Protestant Deputies and the Mediatour himself as Deputy for the Dutchy of Deux-Ronts in the King of Sweden's Name refuse to Sign it as Derogatory to the Treaty of Westphalia except the Deputies of the House of Wirtemberg and of the Imperial Town of Franckfort There was not the least mention made of this Clause in the General Project given in by the French nor in their new Memorial of the 20th of August but England and Holland having Sign'd before without the Empire or rather the 10th of September seeming to have been laps'd on purpose to bring this about the French and Popish Members of the Empire took hold of such an Opportunity to gain Ground upon the Protestants in Germany The Treaty being Sign'd between the Empire and France and consequently a General Peace establish'd among all the Parties concern'd the King came then to the Hague on the 29th attended by the Prince of Vaudemont where his Princess came to wait upon His Majesty to Complement him upon the Peace and take her leave before her parting for Italy with the Prince her Husband who were lodg'd together in the Oud Hoff one of the King's Palaces at the Hague All the Plenipotentiary Ambassadours and Forreign Ministers went to Complement the King upon his Arrival and the Conclusion of the Peace and among them the three French Plenipotentiaries came there the next day in a Body by the French King's order and had an Audience in Form as his Ambassadours Extraordinary to make the first Complement to His Majesty The Fourth of November being the King's Birth day was kept at the Hague with a great deal of Solemnity the Court was throng'd Nov. with Forreign Ministers upon this occasion and the French Plenipotentiaries especially made their Complement to His Majesty upon his Birth-day and in the Evening a Magnificent Ball was given by the Prince and Princess of Vaudemont at the Oud Hoff. After this the King waited only for a fair Wind to bring him over to England and went some few days after to Oranje-Polder to imbark but the Wind coming about contrary His Majesty went back to the Hague At last the Wind coming fair the King imbark'd at Oranje Polder the 13th in the Morning and happily arriv'd at Margate on Sunday the 14th of November between Ten and Eleven in the Morning and went to lay that Night at Canterbury The 15th His Majesty came to Greenwich in order to make his Publick Entry the next day in the City of London where His Majesty was then receiv'd with all the Solemnity and Magnificence that Loyalty and Affection accompanied with an Universal Joy could be capable of to see His Majesty return Safe to his Kingdom after so many Fatigues and Dangers so many
Affairs enough to keep France quiet and to make it observe the Terms of the last Treaty unless it would run the Risk of an Alliance which hereafter would be more fatal to it than ever My last Reflexion shall be about the Advantages which England has gain'd by the present Peace As for the King he has rais'd an Eternal Monument of Fame and Glory to himself by it in bringing of a War in which he had already gain'd an Endless Renown in exposing his Person so freely to all the Dangers and Fatigues of it every Campagne to so happy a Period in spight of all the difficulties which seem'd rather to intail it upon himself and his Dominions in steering all along so justly and nicely among all the different Parties Nations Religions and Interests that made up the Body of the Allies as to bring them to joyn and Center together in effecting his Peaceable and quiet Settlement upon the Throne of these Realms even notwithstanding too many ill Successes in the Course of the War both for his and their Affairs and by this Union among the Chief Powers of the League so strictly carried on and so happily manag'd of which the French themselves when Enemies gave the * Father la Rue his Funeral Oration upon the Marechal of Luxembourg Applause to our Great Prince to compass an Honourable Peace for his Allies as well as for himself But the Glory of Kings does not alwayes make the Happiness of Subjects this would not amount to so much for us if the welfare of England was not joyn'd with it and here it is that we must take a view of the Advantages which England reaps at present by that Peace it owes to the Wisdom and Valour of our Good and Gracious as well as Great Sovereign in which case it would be enough to say that England has gain'd its cause by it and compass'd the great and noble design it did chiefly aim at in the War of recovering under His Majesty's Government its Rights Priviledges and Liberties which had been so notoriously violated before and of securing thereby the Protestant Religion not onely amongst us but in the rest of Christendom which was then in so manifest and apparent a danger by the violent Irruptions of a Popish Government so as for the future we might intail both our Religion and Liberties to Posterity upon a surer and more solid Foundation then they could have when in the reach of Tyranny and Arbitrary Power But over and above which indeed is but a necessary consequence of the former England is again re instated in its prerogative of holding the Ballance of Europe and keeping a due aequilibrium among the contending Powers of Christendom as it is its true interest for Popery nor Arbitrary Power can hardly be introduc'd amongst us but by a pernicious Adherence or rather Servility to one side or t'other to render it formidable thereby to the rest of the World by this means to compass such Tyrannical designs under the shelter of it and I think we have had but too much experience already to vouch for the Truth of this Assertion And as England has so gloriously recover'd itself and is reinstated in the Umpireship of the Affairs of Europe by gaining of our Cause in the happy Conclusion of a War in which we were so necessarily ingag'd so consequently is it in our Power to make the present Peace Solid Lasting and Durable for neither side will think it their advantage to be troublesome whilst a powerful Umpire is resolv'd to maintain the Ballance of Affairs Whilst England is in this Condition it is in its true Posture and as it should be but in order to keep and maintain our selves in it these two things seem to be absolutely necessary The first is a Careful regard to the State of Affairs abroad not to look upon them with an indifferency because we are in an Island happily divided from the rest of the World which frees us from a great many of its Commotions and Disturbances but whenever this point of the Umpireship in which our own Safety as well as Glory is so nearly concern'd lies at Stake then to ingage heartily and freely for the Liberty of Europe for otherwise we must at length become a Prey our selves or be involv'd in a War at last which will then cost us more Millions than in taking things at the beginning it would have cost us Hundred Thousands of Pounds for the Truth of which I need but appeal to the vast Expences of the late War The Second is Peace and Unity among our selves for besides that this Umpireship of the Affairs of Christendom wholly depends upon it which will always shelter us from Enemies abroad at the same time that it makes us great in the World it is the onely bottom that the present Government and with it our Religion Priviledges and Liberties can stand upon for their Fate is at present inseparable and I may boldly venture to say that as Affairs are now in Europe if our unhappy Divisions should work to that height as to produce a Change which God forbid no Revolution can happen in England from the present Government but for Popery and Tyranny without a very great Miracle to prevent it which is a Risk no wise Protestant can expose the Common Interest of all that call themselves Reformed to And therefore whatever Designes too many people amongst us may directly propose to themselves in carrying off of Factions and Divisions to work a Change of Affairs either in Church or State to their own Advantage of what side soever they may be yet in effect they onely work for their own Destruction and must of Course be involv'd in the Ruines of that very Fabrick which they endeavour to pull down and thus open the only remaining Inlet to Popery and Slavery And I pray God that all that call themselves Protestants may lay these things seriously to their Hearts that so our own Divisions may not one day effect what all the Power of France prompted and incouraged by the Treacherous and base Contrivances of an Unnatural Party of Men at home has not been able to perform and to this End may the God of Peace guide our judgements in all things and endow our Hearts with a healing Christian Charity among our selves which is the onely Bond of Peace so that though we cannot bring Matters to an exact Uniformity of Sentiments in Matters of Religion yet thereby we may at least be hinder'd from biting and devouring one another which cannot end otherwise but in a Common Ruin and united in the Methods of a mutual defence as we have at present more than over an Unity of Interest against the Common Adversary FINIS Books printed for Matthew Wotton at the Three Daggers in Fleet-street Numb 7. Shewing the Usefulness of Humane-Learning in Matters of Religion Numb 8. Shewing the Necessity of such a Christian Discipline as is Consistent with Civil Power in Opposition to the Extreams on both sides Books printed for John Newton at the Three Pigeons in Fleet-street THE Honourable Hugh Hare Esq has Charge at the General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace for the County of Surrey held at Darking The Second Edition Corrected Dr. Falle's Account of the Isle of Jersey with a new Map dedicated to the King His Three Sermons on several Occasions Sir Francis Bacon's Essays A Discourse of Natural and Revealed Religion in several Essays Or The Light of Nature a Guide to Divine Truth By Mr. Tim. Nurse The Anatomy of the Earth By Thomas Robinson Rector of Baâ—by in Cumberland
THE HISTORY OF THE Campagne IN FLANDERS For the Year 1697. Together with a Journal of the Siege of At h and a Summary Account of the Negotiations of the General Peace at Ryswick By EDWARD D'AUVERGNE M. A. Then Chaplain to His Majesties Regiment of Scots Guards LONDON Printed for Matt. Wotton at the Three Daggers and John Newton at the Three Pigeons in Fleetstreet 1698. Where are Sold the Histories for the Years 1692 1693 1694 1695 and 1696. Written by the same Author TO His EXCELLENCY THE Earl of Portland His Majesty's Ambassadour Extraordinary in France Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter c. My LORD I Humbly beg leave to offer the following History to your EXCELLENCY to which among other Considerations a Principle of Gratitude has determin'd me to express in some measure the Sence I have of the present Blessings we all enjoy and which bring my Labours of this kind to a most Happy Conclusion by a Glorious Peace in the Management whereof your EXCELLENCY has been so much concern'd My LORD This is a Work which will make your Name Great and Happy in the Memory of all Succeeding Generations as it ingrafts it at present in the Hearts and Affections of all Men in England that value their Religion Rights and Liberties which they find establish'd upon a stable and solid Foundation in the perfection of so Great a Work But this My LORD is not the only Title you have to our Thanks and Praise the great hand you had in bringing about the happy Revolution and the Share you have had in almost all the Actions of our great Monarch ever since are what ought to make you ever dear to England and almost all the rest of Europe My LORD I will not pretend to enter upon your EXCELLENCY's Panegyrick in this Epistle it is indeed more than can be compriz'd in it as well as a Subject above the Power of my Pen You were dedicated even in your Youth to His Majesty's Service at which time you gave such uncommon Demonstrations of Zeal Fidelity and Affection as have justly fix'd you in His Royal Favours And as might well be expected from such beginnings you have been ever since ingag'd in the Great Atchievements of Glory and Renown In Warre you have been a constant Partaker of all those Dangers to which our Great Monarch has so often and so wonderfully expos'd Himself in the Bloody and Hazardous Fields of Mars you have still been with Him in so many Battles and Sieges you have shar'd in all the Fatigues of so many Campagnes and have been a considerable Actor in His most Happy and Successful Enterprizes In Peace Your EXCELLENCY has had the Ministry of the most Important Affairs of Europe 〈…〉 equal Integrity Wisdom and Faithfulness and 〈…〉 for His Majesty's Advantage as your own Honour and Reputation Such Rare and Extraordinary Qualities have induc'd the King to make Choice of Your EXCELLENCY for his Ambassadour Extraordinary in a Court where especially in the present Conjuncture of Affairs they are more than ever requisite In the discharge of which most Noble Function you have justified the Choice that has been made of your Person by answering in all things the Greatness of Your Master and the Credit Wealth and Renown of a Nation you have always had a particular Ambition to be a Member of and whose Welfare Happiness and Prosperity you aim at in all your Proceedings But My LORD all this would be but Vanity were there not a better Foundation for the Glory of another World by a true Sence of Piety and an uprightness of Conscience for which your Life is so Exemplary And may your EXCELLENCY go on daily more and more in doing good especially in this respect both by your Authority and good Example that Vice Irreligion and Profaneness meeting with all Discouragements from so eminent a Person we may see Vertue Justice and Godliness which is like to be our best Security for the continuance of the present Peace flourish under so good an Influence These are the Hearty Wishes and Prayers of My LORD Your EXCELLENCY ' s Most Humble and most Obedient Servant E. D'Auvergne TO THE READER THE onely occasion I have for a Preface is to give the Reader some Satisfaction for the coming out of this History so late and the Reason in few words is that I could not get the several Lines of Battle of the French Armies in Flanders the last Year soon enough having receiv'd them from France but in the Christmas Holidays besides several Memoirs from Holland particularly about the Electors Motions the last Campagne which I got about the same time and which were absolutely necessary for the compiling of this Work And when I have told the Reader that I have Compos'd it since the beginning of January I believe he will be satisfied that I have made some dispatch in the Publishing of it I must desire the Reader to observe that whereas I have intimated in the Body of this Account that Pensionary Heinsius his Journey from the Hague to the Camp the last Campagne might have been to open a way for the Conferences between the Earl of Portland and the Marechal of Bouflers because they happen'd two or three dayes after upon good information I find that the first overture was made by one Monsieur de Gy Brother or near Relation to Prince Vaudemont's Master of the Horse who passing through the Marechal de Boufler's Camp the Marechal desir'd him to make his Compliments to My Lord Portland and to let him know that he was very desirous to Embrace him which Monsieur de * He is since made Town Major of Mons for this Service Gy signified to his Lordship at his coming to Brussels and My Lord having return'd the Compliment That he would be very glad to meet him half way for that Purpose the Marechal sent an Express of it to the French Court and having Receiv'd an Answer he dispatcht a Trumpet in our Camp for the first Meeting I have no more to desire of the Reader but to take Notice that this History as well as all the former goes by the old or Julian Account observ'd in England and to Correct the few Errours of the Press he may meet with the most unpardonable being inserted here below ERRATA PAge 42. Line 17. Vlbray Lege Vibray p. 48. l. Antopen and the Dender near the Denmonde at Wiese Le and the Dender between Dendermonde and Wiese p. 85. l. 7. ti◠'t was in the Night Le. till 't was late in the Night p. 86. l. 2. Major of the Day Le. Major-General of the Day p. 89. l. 36. Malenbec Le. Mulenbeck THE HISTORY OF THE Campagne IN FLANDERS For the Year 1697. HAving given the Publick an Account of several of the former Campagnes in which the Reader could find but little pleasure besides the satisfaction of knowing the Truth of several Matters of Fact in the Tragical Scenes of the most
wounded not exceeding 400 Men The same Evening my Lord Portland being recover'd of his late Indisposition that had made him go for Brussels came back to the Camp in good Health and His Majesty was pleas'd to declare him General of Horse in his Armies The Fifth Colonels Cholmley Langston and Windham were declar'd Brigadiers of Horse at the Orders the first being made Brigadier of the Brigade of Life-Guards Colonel Coy dispos'd afterwards of his Regiment to my Lord of Arran Brother to His Grace the Duke of Ormond and Colonel Harvey Lieutenant of one of the Troops of Life-Guards got the Earl of Arran's Regiment of Horse in England This day five Battallions landed at Willemstadt from England being the second Battallion of Scots Guards Colonel Columbine's Sir Bevil Granville's Colonel Murray's and the Marquis of Puizars where they met with a Route to march forthwith to Brussels by Liere and Malines The Sixth The Troops of Brunswick and Lunenbourg under the Command of Lieutenant General Ohr consisting of eight Battallions and twelve Squadrons of Horse and Dragoons pass'd the Meuse coming from the Rhine the Foot at Maestricht and the Horse and Dragoons at Maseick and incamp'd this day near Tongres and came the Eighth to Tirlemont where they had Orders to halt the French having made yet no manner of Motion since the taking of At h and therefore 't was not yet resolv'd where to dispose of this Reinforcement as for the Hesse and Munster Troops they follow'd but did not come up till the French had brought us under the Walls of Brussels for the Safety of that place as I am now going to give an account of it only I must see first what was transacting in the Elector of Bavaria's Camp in Flanders after the loss of Ath. The greatest Advantage the French had by the taking of this place was that now they could march with their Armies in the Pays d'Alost and Forrage all the Country to the very Walls of Dendermond and the Banks of the Scheld the Rupelle and the Canal of Brussels and that in having their Armies here they made the Communication between Brabant and Flanders very difficult for the Allies who in such a case could not march any Troops from the one to the other but by the Canal of Brussels Rupelmonde and so by the Pays-de Waes behind the Scheld and if the War had lasted another Campagne we should have felt the Inconveniency of a French Army in the Pays-d'Alost yet more than we did this unless we had been much stronger in the Field than we were this Year to secure this Camp before them This Consideration that the French were now Masters of the Country to incamp where they pleas'd about Alost oblig'd the Elector to provide betimes for the Safety of Dendermond and Pays-de-Waes thereupon after the News of the Surrender of At h he commanded the Regiment of Horse of Bunau and the Liege Dragoons of Rost and Jamar with the two Battallions of the Electoral Prince of Bavaria to march towards that place for its defence and to hinder the French Parties from passing the Scheld to raise Contributions in that Countrey but the Allies having a design to make up a third Army about Brussels at this time if it could be brought together time enough to prevent the French on this side and besides Brussels being expos'd without any considerable Troops about it since the loss of At h Prince Cerclas of Tilly was order'd away for Brussels from the Elector's Army that same night being the 29th of May with the Liege Cavalry and Dragoons and took the two Regiments of Dragoons of Jamar and Rost sent to Dendermond in his way and so the Regiment of Horse of Bunau and the two Battallions of the Electoral Prince remain'd about Dendermond but Prince Cerclas of Tilly came to Brussels the beginning of June where he incamp'd before the Fort of Montery as we have said it above The Elector's Army had been in this Camp ever since our early taking of the Field except the little time it was with the King's Army at Ternath and Iseringhen which made Forrage very scarce about his Army several great Detachments were therefore made to look for Forrage between the Lys and the Scheld some towards Warreghem and Vive St. Eloy up along the Lys and others towards Nassaret and Gavre upon the Scheld one of which Detachments beat a Party of the Enemies at Cruyshoutem The third of June it was propos'd to have march'd with the Army between the Lys and the Scheld and a Camp was mark'd at Nassaret but Forrage was very scarce and the Army could subsist but very few days in this place and therefore 't was thought necessary to oblige the Country of Flanders behind the Canals to have dry Forrage ready at this time for the Subsistence of the Army The Seventh the Elector's Army made one general Forrage more about Wacken on both sides of the River Mandel which falls into the Scheld at this place the Marquis de Montrevel being incamp'd with the Body under his command within the Lines near Courtray having intelligence of it march'd with a Body of Horse from this place to interrupt our Forrage between the Lys and the Mandel We had on our side three Field-pieces at the Mills of Wacken upon the River and Detachments all along as far as the Bridge of Colberg and from thence between the Mandel and the Lys all along the way to Bassevive upon this last River Montrevel had about 3 or 400 Horse and having advanc'd pretty far between these two Rivers he met with an Out-guard of ours of 30 Horse commanded by a Spanish Lieutenant which were soon oblig'd to fly for their main Body being under the Command of a Colonel these were likewise driven from their Post and forc'd to retire being pursued by the French as far as an Inn call'd the Hive where Major General Salisch who commanded the Forrage this day was posted with about 1300 Men The French did not think it safe to venture any farther but went back to Courtray having about 40 Prisoners and 30 of our Horses along with them The Tenth the Country of Flanders began to furnish the Army with dry Forrage according to the Elector's orders which could not subsist any longer at Nevel without it And the Marechal of Catinat having level'd the Lines and repair'd the Breaches of At h and being now upon his March towards the Scheld and it being uncertain as yet which way the Marechal of Villeroy would turn whither towards Brabant or Flanders a Council of War was call'd the 12th at the Elector's Camp to concert what was to be done if both the Marechals of Villeroy and Catinat should bring their Armies into Flanders either at Thilt or Rousselar it was propos'd in that case to bring the Elector's Army behind the Canal of Bruges to march in order to that upon the Right and pass the Canal at Ansbeck and observe the same Method that was
have a great deal of Honour allow'd them upon this account 'T is true that they ransack'd all the Forts and Garrisons in Languedor and Provence whereby they got a Reinforcement of six or seven thousand Men to repair their Losses and were by this means almost as strong at the end of the Siege as at the beginning of it but if the number of Burghers that were in Barcelona who no doubt had a hand in the Defence of it be consider'd this will not very much lessen the Glory of taking of it I do not know the Situation of Barcelona yet it can hardly be imagin'd but if the Spaniards having no other place to defend to put a stop to the Progress of the French Conquests in a Country where they could not subsist with great Armies had made by times a good and strong Retrenchment on one side of Barcelona for to cover their Army and at the same time good Fortifications and Out-works on the other that if the French had besieg'd it in such a Posture of Defence Barcelona could have taken by them and even as Barcelona was if Spain had transported the Troops they had to spare in Italy since the Peace on that side it would have been an Attempt above their Power As to this last the Spaniards say that the Duke of Savoy kept still the Forces on foot he had during the War and therefore that they could not leave the Milane's open and expos'd to an arm'd Neighbour if it was so the Duke of Savoy has done in that a signal piece of Service to the French King as to the first the Spaniards pretend that the English and Dutch were to send a good Squadron to their Assistance and then that Barcelona would have been in no Danger for the French Army before this place could not subsist but by the Communication it had by Sea with Provence and Languedoc and the Sea-ports they were Masters of in Catalonia and if we had sent a Fleet in the Mediterranean at that time the French must not only have rais'd the Siege but the Army could not have got off but with very great difficulty Whatever reason the Spaniards might have to expect a Fleet from England and the States yet no Man can say that this does excuse them from acting their part in providing for the Safety of the Place and putting of it in a good Posture of Defence chiefly considering that we had already a Squadron of about twenty Men of War in the West-Indies to watch Pointy's Motions and protect the Galleons which must otherwise have fallen into the hands of the French and may be this was as much as England could do at that time considering our late Money Difficulties Notwithstanding the great Advantages which the French had over the Allies by this great Conquest and that the French Plenipotentiaries had given in their Project the Tenth of the foregoing Month in the very middle of this Siege and that no Relief could be expected for the Place but purely from the vigorous Defence of the Besieged yet this did not seem to hasten the Negociations amongst them at Ryswick Copies of this Project had been given to the Plenipotentiaries of the Empire Spain and Holland according to the Tenour of it and the Project as well as full Powers of the French being directed to treat with the Emperor and Empire the Empire had therefore in the Dyet at Ratisbonne made a Solemn Deputation to treat on the behalf of all the States and Princes of Germany with the French King in which among the Ecclesiastical Electors that of Mentz the Secular those of Bavaria Saxony and Brandenbourg and out of the College of Princes for the Catholicks the Arch bishop of Saltsburg the Great Master of the Teutonick Order the Bishops of Wortzburg Spire Constance Hildersheim Liege and Munster the Princes of the House of Austria Palatine and Newbourg c. and for the Protestants Brandenbourg for the Dutchy of Magdebourg Sweden for the Dutchies of Bremen and Deuxponts Saxen-Cobourg Saxen-Gotha Brandenbourg-Cullenbach Brunswick-Zell Brunswick-Wolfembuttle Hesse-Cassel Wirtemberg Holstein Anhalt and the Counts of Wetteravia out of the Imperial Towns for the Catholicks Cologne and Augsburg and for the Protestants Francfort and Nuremberg were appointed by their Plenipotentiaries at Ryswick to represent the whole Body of the German Empire and to treat in its Name with the French King's Ambassadors These having a Copy of the Project laid before them gave in their Answer to it wherein they insisted upon the full and entire Restitution of every thing as it had been establish'd in the Treaty of Westphalia reserving a Power to the Emperour and Empire of keeping a Garrison in the Town of Straisbourg for which they could not accept of an Equivalent neither could they allow the French King to keep Saar-Louis with the pretended District about it in the Dutchy or Lorrain but that the whole must be restor'd to that Duke This was the chief Substance of their Answer when at this time the French were pressing the Siege of Barcelona very hard that they had taken At h in Flanders and that Prince Lewis of Baden was still on the other side of the Rhine notwithstanding the Weakness of the French that way This Answer seem'd to raise great Obstacles to the forwarding of the Treaty if the Empire would insist upon it to the last and yet notwithstanding these Difficulties 't was about this time * The first Conference August the Sixth that they began to treat personally at Ryswick in the Mediatour's Chamber whereas hitherto the Conferences had been carried on in Writing by the Mediatour the Allies and the French keeping to their respective Apartments The Term given by the French in their Project was now drawing near but in the mean while 't is fit to see what the Armies were doing in the Field The two French Armies commanded by the Marechals of Villeroy and Bouflers were now advanc'd a great way from any of their Frontier Towns which made Convoys tedious and every thing but Forrage very scarce in their Camps and had it not been for the Conveniency of Water carriage from Tournay to Renay upon the Scheld and from Grammont to Alost by the Dender no Land carriage remaining but from the Scheld to Grammont and from Alost to the Armies which were just by it had been impossible for them to have subsisted where they were and the great Rains that fell about this time so broke the ways that the little Land-carriage they had became extreamly difficult and the Boats could hardly for the same reason be drawn by Horses If this made Provisions scarce and dear in the French Armies it created no less an Inconveniency for the bringing in of Forrage and they were forc'd at this time to cut down vast Quantities of Fascines for the repairing of the Ways and the making of Bridges over the Ditches being all fill'd with Water by the excessive Rains The 12th the two Brigades of Foot
Harsolt Dona and La Mothe All these Regiments were soon after dispers'd to Cantoon up and down in the Neighbourhood of the Towns that were to be restor'd by the French in order to Garrison there except those two or three Regiments which were to Quarter in the Holland Flanders My Lord of Athlone's Camp at Judoigne was the last to break up either to subsist the Dutch Cavalry upon the Countrey hereabouts as long as was possible or else to provide for the security of the Meuse whilst Harcourt was on the other side with a considerable Army to Forrage the Pays de Liege and did not go into Quarters but between the middle and latter end of October when Tiffin's and Belcastel's Brigades were order'd to march into Flanders to quarter in Ghendt and Bruges with the rest of our English Forces The Elector continued all this while with His Majesty at Loo and Dieren sometimes at the one and sometimes at the other where among their Divertisements they settled the Routes and Marches of the Allies out of the Spanish Netherlands and his Highness did not come back to Brussells till the 13th of October by which time all the Confederate Forces had clear'd the Countrey except His Majesties National Troops which were to pass over into England Scotland or Ireland with as much expedition as the Season would permit and the Danes which did not begin their March homewards till the November following But the King still remain'd sometimes at Loo and sometimes at Dieren where His Majesty had pass'd the time in Hunting and such other Countrey Divertisements from his first leaving of the Army to this time except two or three dayes that His Majesty went to Soestdyke to have an Interview with the Czar of Muscovy at Vtrecht which was on the first of September His Majesty coming to the Czars Lodgings was first Harangu'd by the Muscovite Embassy to express the great Esteem and Value their Master had for his Person and how much he admir d the great reputation of his Government the fame whereof had fill'd all Russia and Muscovy and had brought the powerful Monarch of those vast Countreys to visit a Prince so renown'd for his undaunted Valour and Courage joyn'd with a most profound and consummated Prudence and who has gone through so many Dangers and expos'd himself to the greatest hazards for the Defence and Liberties of all Europe which none but himself could keep and secure from becoming a Prey to an overgrown formidable Power And to convince the King that all these Protestations of the Czars Esteem and Admiration of so great a Monarch were no formal Complements they acquainted His Majesty that the Czar their Master was in the next Room himself having come so far out of his Dominions to assure His Majesty of it in Person After which they introduc'd the King into the Czar's Chamber where they were together above an Hour His Majesty being attended by the Earls of Albemarle and Jersey and Three or Four more Persons of Quality but the Czar who Travell'd Incognito in the Retinue of his own Embassy could not accept of the Invitation to dine with the King but went back after the Interview to Amsterdam The Czar had contriv'd this way of Travelling in the Train of his own Embassy as a private Person on purpose to see England and Holland the most flourishing and wealthy Countreys in the World and the most famous for Trade and Navigation being very desirous to improve his own Subjects that way especially now that being Master of Afoff upon the Mouth of the Tanais he had a very good Harbour open to the Black Sea by which if he could gain any Strength on those Seas he may not onely increase very much the Trade and Wealth of Muscovy but cut himself a way at the same time to the Greek Empire and become Master of Constantinople These are thoughts worthy of so great a Prince and to put himself thereupon in the best way of compassing such great ends he came with his Embassy to the Baltick Shore about the beginning of the last Summer where he imbark'd to come to Coningsberg the Capital City of the Ducal Prussia belonging to the Elector of Brandenbourg where his Electoral Highness was then with all his Court to be near Warsaw during the time of the Election for the Crown of Poland The Czar and his Embassy were nobly entertain'd here and pursued their Travels over-land afterwards through Prussia Pomerania Brandenbourg Westphalia c. to come to the Rhine and Embark there for Holland and after a considerable stay in Amsterdam the greatest Town for Trade and Navigation in the World unless this mighty Character be most deservedly due to London his Czarish Majesty is at length come himself privately to England to see our Shipping and Docks where the most stately curious and perfect Models for Building of Ships in the World are to be seen and to instruct himself in Navigation and Maritime Affairs now that he has the Sea open to him in a milder Climate than Archangel whereby he may at once make his Subjects considerable for their Trade and become a Terrour to the Turkish Empire which may one day be subdued by his power on the Black Seas and Visit the greatest and the most wealthy City in Christendom and Imperial Seat of a Great Monarch who has all the Power which the Purses of the wealthiest Nations of the World can afford without any Arts of Tyranny Oppression or Arbitrariness to have them who has had Vast Fleets at Sea and Numerous Armies in the Field and the People not oppress'd by those heavy Burdens which always attend an Absolute Power and without which even Arbitrary Power it self can never be great and who Rules the most Flourishing States in the Universe so happily and with such Justice Equity Gentleness and Wisdom that notwithstanding the vast difference of Governments one may find in the Commonwealth all the duty and respect of Subjects without any derogation to its Liberties and in the Monarchy all the Liberty of a Free People consistent with the Fealty and Allegiance due to a Sovereign These are Master peices of Government altogether peculiar to our great Monarch and which were there no other reason must raise his Name above all Princes that have Reign'd before him This Voyage of the Czar's to Holland England will make so considerable a Figure in History hereafter that I could not well pass it over without omitting one of the Chiesest Ornaments of this Account After this Interview the King went back to Loo where the D of Holstein Gottorp came to wait upon His Majesty and the Prince Vaudemont from Brussells being follow'd about a Week after by the Elector of Bavaria But notwithstanding that the Three Treaties Sign'd on the 10th of September were Ratified and Exchang'd and that the Peace had been proclaim'd upon it first at the Hague then at Paris the 13th of October and at London the 19th
several Princes and States ingag'd in the War together in order to open their Conferences * April 5. 1697. dye as 't were upon the very Threshold of the Congress and yet the Treaty not delay'd at all by so Fatal an Accident The Regency under his Successor Charles the Twelfth who was then a Minor carried on the Mediation without any Intermission by dispatching new full Powers to the Swedish Minister at the Hague and both the Allies and France receiv'd it without any Wrangling or Hesitation which as on the one hand it redounded very much to the Glory and Honour of the Crown of Sweden so on the other it demonstrated plainly the Sincerity of the most Powerful Parties concern'd in the War and that they desir'd in earnest the Peace and Quiet of their own Dominions and the General Repose of Christendom We have seen France gain considerable Advantages over the Allies both in Land and Sea Expeditions the last Campagne and yet not stand upon much higher Terms for it in the Treaty unless it was the keeping of Strasbourg and the giving an Equivalent for it which if duly consider'd was as much for the Advantage of the Empire as Strasbourg was for that of France for Strasbourg an Imperial Town would have made but a very weak Barriere to the Empire but as it is now that the Empire has the Fort of Kehl opposite to Strasbourg and all the Forts and strong Places on the right side of the Rhine it seems to be in a better Condition to hinder the French from passing of the Rhine than in the State 't was left by the Treaty of Nimeguen And indeed 't was well for the Peace and Quiet of Europe that those met with most Success the last Campagne who wanted Peace the most else a General Peace could not have been negociated with so much Expedition and so few Difficulties to overcome And for this reason we find no Losers in the Treaty but it seems at once Advantagious for all the Parties concern'd Spain has reduc'd the French by its strict Union with the Allies more than by any Efforts of its own within the Bounds and Limits of the precedent Treaty notwithstanding that the French were Masters of the whole Dutchy of Luxembourg before the War whereas before in all the precedent Treaties since that of Vervins the Spaniards were always giving up considerable Towns and Provinces to France and especially in those of the Pyrenees Aix la Chappelle and Nimeguen The Empire has a much stronger Frontier by this Treaty than by that of Nimeguen considering the better Conditions given at present to the Duke of Lorraine and that France has quitted all the Country Towns and strong places it had on the other side of the Rhine before by vertue of the Westphalian Treaty and that of Nimeguen and although the Empire has quitted Strasbourg and deliver'd it up to the French in lieu of Brisach Fribourg and all that France had beyond the Rhine yet having the Fort of Kehl by vertue of this Treaty on the opposite side of the Rhine to Strasbourg it will always be a Curb and a Bridle upon the French and will hinder them from Subsisting beyond the Rhine with an Army as long as this Place is in the hands of an Imperial Garrison which Strasbourg of it self could not have done if it had been restor'd to the Empire in the Condition wherein 't was taken by the French The States General have plainly gain'd their Cause about the Electorate of Cologne which was one of the Articles upon which France declar'd War against Holland and by regaining with it the Dutchy of Luxembourg to Spain in the late Treaty they have remov'd the French altogether from their Frontier especially from the Rhine whereby they made that Fatal Irruption upon them in the Year 1672. They have likewise Parried a Mortal Stroke to their Religion Commerce and Liberties by the Happy and Miraculous Turn of Affairs in England just at the beginning of the Wars which in a great Measure was due to their Assistance and their Liberty laying upon the same Stake with ours and the Protestant Interest all over Christendom but especially in the United Provinces being imbark'd upon the same Bottom with the Fate of the Church of England we may say that they have been together with us deliver'd from Popery and Slavery As for the Advantages of France in this Peace notwithstanding that it has lost all Footing in Italy by the Separate Treaty with Savoy by giving back Pignerol after a Possession of above Sixty Years to obtain it that Lorrain is restor'd upon much better Terms for that Duke and the Empire than those agreed upon in the Treaty of Nimeguen and notwithstanding the great and prodigious Expences to which the French King has been oblig'd to carry on so long and tedious a War which in truth he began himself against so many Confederates and yet that he is still reduc'd to the Bounds and Limits of the precedent Peace which for this reason looks like so much Blood shed and Treasure spent to no purpose that Cazal has been taken by the Allies Lorrain and Dinant restor'd both which were in his Possession even at the Treaty of Nimeguen and Luxembourg given back to the Spaniards all which Places were in the hands of the French before the beginning of the War and that he has been oblig'd to evacnate all the Towns and Fortresses he has taken since at the Expence of so much Blood and Money and all the Country he was Master of beyond the Rhine in Exchange for Strasbourg Yet it must be own'd that the French King has manag'd the whole War with abundance of Art and Wisdom that he has gain'd very great Advantages over the Allies that he has brought them to make a Peace upon his own Terms and extricated himself very gloriously thereby out of all the Difficulties which a Powerful Confederacy had brought his Kingdom to not so much by the Vigour of their Efforts as by the Necessity of his own Affairs the Consequence of a Burdensome and Expensive War carried on by himself against so many Potent Enemies which had reduc'd most of the Provinces of France to an Universal Poverty and Misery and at last he remains Master of Strasbourg in Alsatia Longwy and Saar-Louis in Lorrain much more to his Advantage than the Equivalents he gives being thereby in a Condition to hinder Lorrain though restor'd from being troublesome to France and still to keep the Rhine and the Empire in awe and has Power enough left by it to be still formidable to the rest of Europe and to disturb the Peace and Quiet of Christendom as soon as his Coffers are replenish'd unless his Adherence to the Publick Faith and Sacredness of Treaties constrains him more than the Apprehension of the Power and Greatness of any of his Neighbours Yet notwithstanding these Advantages on both sides in the Treaty of Ryswick it is certain that both France
and the Allies are fallen very short of their Expectations in the last War France propos'd to it self at least to have chang'd the Twenty Years Truce into a perpetual Treaty in pursuance of the repeated Instances made by the French Ambassadour at the Dyet of Ratisbone for that purpose and nothing in the World could have prevented not only this but even the Ruin of the Protestant Religion every where and with it the Truckling of the Empire the Spanish and United Netherlands to the Power of France save the Happy Wonderful and Sudden Revolution in England when in all Humane Probability His Majesty's Expedition with so considerable a Body of the States Forces in that Kingdom must have created such Civil Wars as would have been rather Subservient to carry on the great Designs of France instead of hindering them which I think is a sufficient Argument to convince any Man unless he is byass'd by his Passions Prejudices and Interest that it was the doing of that over-ruling Providence who as the Psalmist tells us * Psal 33. Maketh the Devices of the People to be of none effect and casteth out the Counsels of Princes As for the Allies they had sufficiently felt the Effects of that Great Power which the French had come to by the Treaty of Nimeguen and whilst the Court of England was ingag'd in the Interests of France that turn'd the Scale so much that there could be no resistance for them But that powerful Kingdom having been so happily and suddenly drawn out of the Interests of France or rather deliver'd out of its Power by the late Revolution in the Government and brought over by it to the side of the Allies in whose Cause the Religion Laws Priviledges and Liberties of that Kingdom were so nearly concern'd as the Liberties of Europe were reciprocally involv'd in the Destiny of that Nation so the Allies conceiv'd very great Hopes thereupon of reducing France to much lower Conditions than the Treaty of Nimeguen and of hindering it hereafter from disturbing so often the Peace and Quiet of Christendom But several Accidents have stop'd the Progress of the Allies Affairs thus far the first has been the War of Ireland which hinder'd England from bending the Force of its Arms against France at the beginning to imploy them for the three first Campagnes to recover a Kingdom which so undoubtedly belongs to it and in which it was certainly the Interest of the French to maintain the War as long as possibly they could not to mention the persidious Malice of a Party of Men and unnatural Patriots we have at Home which has weaken'd our Efforts very much and clogg'd the Progress of our Affairs so as to make them often drive heavy The second has been the Over-sight of the Imperial Court in not making a Peace with the Grand Seignior after the Siege of Belgrade as the Turks so earnestly sollicited it at that time And the third The Obstinacy of the Turks so prejudicial at last to their true Interest in carrying on so unsuccessful a War in Hungary when by the necessity of the Emperour's Affairs whilst ingag'd in a War against France they could have made a very Advantageous Peace for themselves which they ought to have done chiefly when they found that notwithstanding the great Diversion they expected from the French upon the Rhine the Imperialists could give them an intire Rout at Salankement and take in the Campagnes following Guyla and Great-Waradin from them for which ill Policy they find at present but too much reason to repent when they see themselves left in the Lurch and to deal with a Powerful Confederacy which now that there is a General Peace in Christendom can bend all its Forces against a weaken'd and drooping Empire The first of these Obstacles being at length happily surmounted by the Reduction of Ireland France contriv'd an Invasion in the Year 1692. to make us look to our own defence at home instead of increasing the strength of the Allies abroad by which though it miscarried in the main yet it gain'd the Town of Namur And the defeat of Landen in 1693 having shew'd the necessity there was for England and the States to augment considerably their Land Forces the Scale begun to turn the Campagne following and the weight of England appear'd very considerable in the Ballance chiefly in the Campagne of 1695 by the Glorious Recovery of Namur which if it be true that France offer'd to treat upon the Foot of Nimeguen before upon the Issue of the Campagne of 1694 sufficiently justified the Conduct of the Allies in the rejecting of it when the French lost Cazal in Italy at the same time And there is a great deal of reason to think that the carrying of the War by the Allies thereafter would have been attended with many other Glorious Advantages and very Fatal to the French had it not been for the Duke of Savoy's deserting of the Common Interest in the Campagne of 1696 and what was may be in some measure the Cause of it the Money difficulties which happen'd in England at that time and oblig'd us to Reform our Coin which had been Clipp'd and Debas'd almost to nothing so that it could bear no Price abroad but must have hinder'd our Armies at last from Subsisting in Flander's and drawn the loss of the Spanish Netherlands after it without a speedy Remedy And as we could not carry on the War nor indeed our Trade without Reforming our Coin so France expected we should be reduc'd to such Extremities in the doing of it as might have put a People together by the Ears that is not us'd to want which would have made it worth its while to continue a War in which it would once more have had a fair Chance to subdue the League and Compass its great Designes by the Ruine of England This may be reckon'd the true Cause both of the inaction and weakness of the Allies for the two last Campagnes and of the continuing of the War then by the French King But though our Money difficulty's occasion'd in a great measure this prolonging of the War by the French yet our overcoming of them so happily and in so little a time which demonstrated the vast and unexpected Wealth of a Nation they reckon'd altogether impoverish'd and which was represented as such by our Domestick Enemies has made amends for it in opening the Eyes of our late Enemies and letting them see that the Continuation of the War would Ruin France before it could Beggar England which has contributed very much to facilitate and bring about that Universal Peace which Christendom now Enjoys And though the Allies have fallen short of their Expectations in the War and that France still continues in the main upon the Foot of the Treaty of Nimeguen yet England having so successfully rcover'd its Liberties and maintain'd and vindicated the Liberties of all Europe at the same time it is thereby in a Condition to ballance