Faction in Parliament which very much alarm'd the King and his Court insomuch that he conceived it was high time to rip open this Evil by discovering seizing and accusing some of the aforementioned Heads of the Faction viz. a Lord and Five Members of the House of Commons The Articles of the Charge against them were in number Seven One of which was That They had traiterously invited and encouraged a Foreign Power to Invade his Majesties Kingdom of England Which was so true that he desired a Tryal of them but their Party in the House not daring to permit it to be put to Proof they shock'd the King in the Business and so the Affair of the COVENANT and the other Effects of that Invitation ran the more roundly on to a ripeness and final Dispatch in Scotland by the time that the Sun in its course brought on the year 1643. And then came on a Second Invasion of England flourishing their Colours with this Rebellious Motto FOR THE CROWN AND COVENANT OF BOTH KINGDOMS And thus you see how far we were beholden to France for all the Miseries of the ensuing Wars and the numerous Brood of Factions which issued thence in England Scotland and Ireland Of the certain Truth whereof we might have had undeniable Evidence upon the Tryal of those whom the King had then charged with Treason if the Temper of that time would have permitted a fair prosecution however it was I remember sufficiently talk't of in those days and I have now by me a Book in the French Tongue which was printed 24 Years ago by Adrian Vlac at the Hague in Holland in the third part whereof are eight Chapters and over the second Chapter is this Title Le Cardinal de Richelieu la cause des Desordres arrivez en Angleterre That is to say Cardinal Richelieu the cause of the Disorders befallen England Which he brought in as I told you by the way of Scotland to the ruin of our Peace the Royal Family the Church and the whole State and Government of our Kingdom But this tampering with and corrupting other Prince's Subjects is an old Game that the French Ministers have ever been playing all over Europ Let it be remember'd how the same Richelieu wrought the Revolt of Portugal from the Spaniard and the Rebellion in Catalonia and carry'd on the Wars in both those Countries to bring down the Power of Spain how he tamper'd also with the Swede under Gustavus Adolphus to invade the Empire and then with the Emperour's General Wallestein to betray the Imperial Army by whose suddain death the French King lost the great opportunity to work himself into a possession of the Imperial Throne How Cardinal Mazarin after him carried on the Popular Commotions raised by Masaniello in the Kingdom of Naples by sending thither the Duke of Guise to be their Head to the almost wresting of that Kingdom out of the Hand of the Spaniard and then also how he lurch't that Duke and deserted him Moreover how the last Year the French Intrigues so far prevailed in Spain as to turn the Queen-Mother out of her Regency drive out her Favourites such as she thought most fit and firm for the young King's Safety to put him into other Hands and turn all things in that Court topsie-turvy that being agitated and held in play by their own divisions at Home they might be less able to have regard to the preservation of the Flemings or to the carrying on a Joynt-war with the Hollanders How they have been the common Enemies of every State destroying the Peace of Government every where sowing of Factions in all Princely Courts their Councils or among such of the Subjects as are factious or else they jumble one Prince against another by turns as they did the Prince Elector Palatine against the Elector of Mentz starting up an occasion of Quarrel betwixt them one while to take part with the Elector Palatine against Mentz another while with Mentz against the Prince whose Country they miserably harassed and wasted It cannot be forgotten what they lately did to corrupt the Emperor's Council by means of his own Favourite Prince Lobcowitz whom they bought for Mony to betray his Master's Counsels and Affairs besides their Intrigue in the same manner with the Prince of Furstenberg and his Brother Also what they did in the Vnited Provinces to incommode his Highness the Prince of Orange by bolstering up the De Wits and their Louvenstein Republican party against the Princely What they have done to clog the Emperor by fostering a Rebellion against him in Hungary and how great charge they are at to sever the power of the Duke of Bavaria and of the Duke of Hanover from the common Interest of the Empire in this War How they have diverse times indangered all Christendom by confederating with the Grand Seignior to disturb both Hungary and Poland for which cause as My Lord Herbert writes in his History the Pope had like to have given away the Title Most Christian from their French King Francis the First to bestow it upon our Henry the Eighth before he had been dubb'd by his Holiness with that of Defensor Fidei What Artifices have been used by them to settle and nourish perpetual Faction among the Polish Nobility whereby other great Opportunities have diverse times been given the Turk to fall upon them In a word their common practice hath been to give the World all manner of disturbance and so to render themselves in its Opinion the common Enemies of its Peace a publick Pest among States and Princes in every Country they either find combustible stuff or else make it and then set fire to it they are at a mighty charge to find Fodder for the various Animals of Faction in all Places By this means Divide Impera makes way for them and thus they conquer more than by their Arms they inflame Countries thus as well as burn them as they did Alsatia that having enough to do to quench fires at Home they may have neither leisure nor power to hinder French Projects abroad Questionless then since we in England have seen and do see our Neighbours Houses fired one after another 't is high time to look to our own and secure our selves and all Europ from such Boutefeus and the sad Effects of their Impious Courses SECTION IV. That as the French have dealt falsly with us and all other Princes in the point of Peace There is no Security to be had for any one Party but by a Joynt War HIs Majesty of England having hitherto on his part preserved a fair Respect and Amity towards France passing by the many Indignities and Injuries done to himself and his Nation in hope his Patience might by fair means have prevail'd with the French King at length to do reason to us and the rest of his Neighbours and that to that end his Majesty might have perswaded him to have forborn a further prosecution of the War in
be able to oppress another And that we ought ever to hold it even betwixt France and the House of Austria and if either of them exceed to reduce it to an Equality this was accounted a principal part of the Ancient Grandeur of the English Nation King Henry the Eighth first well setled it in managing the Differences betwixt Charles the Fifth then both Emperor and King of Spain and Francis the First King of France the two Grand Competitors of that Age. That excellent Princess Queen Elizabeth well improved it and so it continued till the time of Cromwell who first erred in this matter of Publick Interest to serve his own private by greatning of France beyond due proportion so that he interposed the Difficulties which since lay in the way of Reducing it By the Influence of this old piece of policy it was that England was always in a condition whensoever she pleased to dispence Peace or War to every Nation and thereby great Honour redounded to our own throughout the World and there is nothing but War can restore it by curing the overgrown Dropsie of the French Greatness VI. You had before an Intimation of another most considerable Reason drawn from a consideration that no Peace that can be made can give us any security of enjoying it long to which I may add That a Peace will but betray us to the next Opportunity the French shall please to take Besides in the interval we should but give him the opportunity to reinforce himself ramass his Treasury and thereby inable himself to prosecute the old Artifice of corrupting other Princes Ministers Officers and Governors and work his Ends so as to alienate and separate as many of the Consederates as he can from their holding Counsels in common for Mutuall preservation to embrace such terms as he shall under a specious shew of Advantages think fit to propose unto them which if obtained would utterly break them one after another and induce this Inconveniency upon England to be left alone or with but few Participants to joyn in the Work of Reducing France into its former legitimate moderate Condition VII Another Reason is to be derived from a Consideration of the great increase of the Naval Power of France whereby they are enboldened to give disturbance to our Merchant-men in our own Seas such an Indignity to his Majesty and Violation of our Rights by Sea as is not to be indured and which the Kings of this Island have from all Antiquity possessed as far as the very shores of France exclusive of any Pretentions of Right of any other Nations within the FOUR SEAS The Evidences whereof were collected and with Arguments drawn from all sorts of Learning and Records digested into one excellent Book by that most famous Man Mr. Selden entituled MARECLAVSVM Among the particulars whereof I remember that the Addition of the Port-Cullis to the Royal Badges of the Crown of England which is yet to be seen upon many of the Royal Houses built by our Kings was made for this Reason even to signifie to all the World That we had a just Right and Title at pleasure to shut up and open the Sea when we thought fit as it were with a Port-Cullis to all Passengers passing by Sea And by the same Evidences it is there proved that our Title to our Propriety in the Sea is as good as any Title the French King hath to any part of his Dominion by Land His Grand-Father wrote divers Letters with his own Hand to King James which I have formerly seen in the Paper-Office at White-Hall to ask Leave for some few Vessels to fish for Soales as he should have occasion for his own Table Which was a sufficient Acknowledgment where the Soveraignty lies by Sea There have been also in former time brisk Messengers sent to the French Kings requiring them as soon as they had but begun to lay the Carcass of some pitiful Ship upon the Stocks to forbear building Which shews the present Presumption of the French in making so grand Naval Preparations to invade our Seas And our Honour as well as our Right calls aloud for a Vindication VIII There is Reason also to be drawn from a Consideration of the hazard of Religion 1. As concerning the Protestant about which I shall not use any more words to clear this point than this short Proverb now used in France and by them attributed to their own King That his Grand-Father loved the Protestants his Father feared them and he himself hated them Which any one that beholds the Ruines of their demolished Churches and the hard Conditions under which they are oppressed in every point within that Kingdom too large here to recite will easily believe 2. As touching the Roman Catholick Religion how that is like to fare may readily be prognosticated Tros Rutilúsve fuat nullo discrimine habebunt Be a Papist or be a Protestant the French make no difference in usage wheresoever they come Witness to this how they have dealt in Catalonia Alsatia the Spanish Low-Countrys and divers other Roman Catholick Countrys where all men exclaim against the Domination of France 3. Whereas it was of old a Doctrine instilled into the minds of the Romanists by their Father-Confessors that they ought to adhere to Spain and the House of Austria rather than to promote the French Empire because Spain being then much the greater Kingdom and esteemed the dearer Son of the Church by reason of its greater Zeal and more strict and intire Imbracement of the Romish Faith and through the diligence of the Inquisition kept without any mixture of that which they call Heresie and therefore more likely to continue firm to the Roman See now of later time the State of Empire being altered Spain brought much lower and not able to give such Protection and Defence as formerly to the Roman Cause in these parts of the World the Pope and his Priests and Jesuits are so far altered too that having since seen the French go on like Conquerers they have quitted the former Reasons on Spain's side and like the Men of the World are turned Courtiers of Fortune crying up France altogether now though if they please to remember how not many Years ago France upon a petty Quarrel in Rome betwixt some of the Pope's Souldiers and the Duke of Crequi's Servants then Ambassador there ruffled the Pope himself with such unheard of Insolence that for meer fear he was constrained to abandon divers of his Friends and Kindred and to the perpetual disgrace of the Holy-Chair and of their Religion and of the Adored-Father of Christians as they would seem to repute him they made him cry like a Child and erect a Pillar in Rome with an Inscription signifying the pretended Affront to France engraven upon it and it continued some Years standing till the Tears of his Holiness prevailed for the demolishing of it Notwithstanding all this I say the Roman Priests do venture to magnifie France as
any pretended inconvenience of the delay of entrance But to proceed Moreover If notwithstanding these Reasons any one of those men of Intelligence should yet mischievously Object That last Summers delay hath been the ruine of Flanders and made the recovery of it in a manner impossible and should endeavour to perswade others 't is so because of the loss of some few Towns there since let such consider that the Spaniard by his not closing yet with us in our friendly Inclination seems not to be of their Opinion or that Flanders is yet so near ruine seeing that he himself hath made a further delay by not coming up to our reasonable Demands at this time whenas he hath of late so much pretended it and all men expected he would accordingly have done it out of hand Besides Let those News-and-Mischief-Mongers remember it is not long ago since they themselves in one of the Canary-Clubs were of a mind that the Confederates if we were joyned with them would be able to work Miracles in Flanders against the French but it now seems that the loss of St. Ghislain or of a Town or two more hath in a moment deprived us and the Flemmings of all Power to do what is fit to preserve the Country It hath been told me that very lately the like Discourse being boldly bandied at a certain Cable of Coffee-mongers one that sate smoking hard by in a Corner of the Room stept in and said honestly That he wonder'd there should happen among some men such a sudden Change of Opinion and that it must needs give a suspicion there is some invisible Spring that moves them some Secret Intrigue and Reserve in the Heart when the Tongues go at so rolling a rate and that they are a sort of people tutor'd to this Tune to argue Pro and Con by Turns as their own Occasions alter That they are resolved to dislike whatsoever the King may judge is reason for him next to do in his publick Affairs and that they put on the approbations and disapprovements of a War according as they are influenced and as the WORD is given out by their envious Mal-contented Leaders and as it may serve to please or irritats and to render themselves gracious in their eyes unto whom they are Retainers I do remember said he what Joy the People had and Bonfires as soon as the Marriage of the Prince of Orange was declared and not many days after this sort of frequent Changelings raised I know not how many Scandals about it How far the French have had an influence on such petulant Talkers I cannot say but other men more honest speak broad enough about it Which having been thus roundly utter'd the Gentleman laid down his Pipe paid for his Dish of Coffee and went his way leaving them all in an amaze to guess who this Man should be Now no sooner was this Gentleman gone but another who over-heard the Discourse drew near to them for all are free over a Coffee-dish and sitting down said Gentlemen pardon me if I tell you I was here t'other day and heard some others of you discoursing about Money to carry on the War and methought it was much any among you should think it reasonable and most necessary to have War and others yet be of opinion That the Point of Money should be cumber'd with Delays or Disputes about it What would the Event of this be Would it not render us ridiculous to the French and make them scorn us Would it not dishearten the Confederates and make them jealous that whatsoever Resolutions we take to give them hope of assistance yet as soon as they are taken they will by one Accident or other be made impracticable In time of Necessity and when Hannibal was at the Gates or any other Enemy nigh coming the Romans ever instituted a Temporary Officer whom they called Dictator and to him the Senate and People gave during the publick danger but not longer as full Power as the King of France now enjoys to do and take whatsoever he should judge necessary to secure the Publick State of the Nation by which Policy they avoided all Disputes and Debates about the Concerns of the War and so they generally came off with Success Be it far from me to urge at this time that we should in this occasion of ours imitate them but yet methinks we should so far learn of them as to do all we can to avoid and lay aside disputings especially about the very Life and Sinews of a War constant supply of Moneys and other Necessaries and to come as near the Roman Policy as the publick Constitution convenience and State of our Government can possibly permit if we mean to obtain the like happy Success A trust must be lodged some where therefore 't is best and safest to place it where and in what manner the Law hath placed it The Law obliges the People as well as the King It obliges the King to make War where and when he shall judge it needful And on the other hand it obliges the People readily and cheerfully to give him necessary supplies otherwise this absurdity would be implied in our Law that it should oblige the King and leave the People loose in this matter which can by no means be supposed because then it would oblige him to an Impossibility it being impossible for him to do his part unless they on their part shall sufficiently supply him Which 't is not to be imagined the People can be so mad as to decline because 't is for common Safety The Supreme Law which is a further Tie upon them and if they observe not that it is not only to be wanting to the ends of Gubernation but in effect a Frustrating both of Law and Government it self and at this time an unnatural abandoning of our selves and a giving up of that most noble cause wherein whole Europ is so deeply concerned I thought Gentlemen to have spoken no more at this time but craving your Pardon pray Sirs let me tell you I over-heard also here t'other day what some of your Company said reflecting upon some State-Particulars past the reviving whereof would better become the mouth of a Common Enemy than a true English-man being matters altogether Foreign to the Business of War which is now The Unum Necessarium The one Thing Necessary and till all fit Resolutions upon that be taken why should any matters inferiour that may cause discontent or division of minds be discoursed among you I will not so much as name them to give you cause to over-heat your selves to answer me I resolve to bury them and all that you then said about them For I am no Spy upon you I am a Gentleman and if any other person that is an Informer may have taken notice of what you said and should chance to call me to witness any thing against you know I have a Gentleman's Memory very apt to forget all upon such an occasion This Discourse as I have been told surprised them more than what was said by the other Gentleman insomuch that the Company stared on him with silence being most of them I suppose of Opinion that what he said was Reason but as there is are all Companies some whom no Reason can satisfie so there were it seems among them some few Emissaries Trotters and Mischief-mongers belonging to the Canary Cabals who began to grumble but presently broke up and went to the several places of Caballing and communicated the matter there to their Principals among whom there hapning to be a false Brother or two by that means I got the Story Now for a Conclusion Let me answer one Objection which I hear walks about like a Bugbear to affright us viz. That though our Chronicles tell us that Edw. the Third conquer'd France and his Son Edward called the Black Prince brought their King Prisoner into England and though Henry the 5th made a Second Conquest of them more compleatly being Crowned King at Paris and his Son Henry the 6th also Crowned there and Reigned over them many years yet the Case is alter'd now France is quite another thing it is now one compact Body it in those days was shared by diverse Sovereign Princes which made the French King but little in comparison of what he is in these days being become exceedingly more potent and more difficult to subdue by reason of his present Lordship over all those Sovereignties To balance these Advantages of his note that England also is through God's good Providence become much more powerful than it was in those days For though in those days we had Ireland yet it was but a miserable halfplanted Country alwaies rebellious against us so that it was an extraordinary charge and a clog rather than a help to us but now we have it improved to the height and the Irish in good order with our English also the Accession of the Kingdom of Scotland a numerous and warlike People which then also was another great Clog upon us now united with us To these Considerations add That by addition of the Confederates if they please to be plain with us we may I suppose be contrepoise enough to answer all the French Advantages and no Man that knows what England is at Sea and what an English-Seaman is will doubt especially Holland joyn with us that we may be a Match sufficient for that King and that we over-match him in this that we have a Better Cause and therefore God pardoning our Iniquities in other matters have a better hope of Divine Benediction Which being well weighd we may very aptly invert the old Saying of Cicero Justissimum Bellum iniquissimae Paci antefero That is being a little paraphrased in English I upon the whole matter conclude That a most just War is to be preferred before a most unjust Peace most dangerous to us and all the rest of the European Nations FINIS
the said advantages while every Man is invited by the Conjuncture to venture more and to inlarge his Trade while by a general trust in the Peace and Alliance your Majesty holds with all your Neighbours round about they are led to go abroad unarm'd and without defence we cannot but lament it as a great misfortune and disappointment to observe how these your Majesty's Subject are frequently made a Prey of and very evily treated both at Sea and Land Wherefore considering that the root of all these Disorders arises from the Violence and Rapine of the French-Capers who ought to be look't on as disturbers of the Publick quiet and Enemies of the good Friendship between the two Crowns we are humbly of opinion that your Majesty has just occasion from the injuries past and those which are now depending and which do every day increase to make a very serious Representation of all unto his most Christian Majesty and not only press for some better method of repairing the grievances mentioned but earnestly to insist on the calling in of all Privateers or else your Majesty must do right and give defence to your Subjects from all the Insolencies which they so frequently meet All which is most humbly submitted Council-Chamber 31. July 1676. Anglesey Bath Craven J. Ernle Finch C. Bridgewater H. Coventry G. Cartret Robert Southwell His Majesty taking into his serious Consideration the dayly Complaints of his Subjects and having a great sense and resentment of their ill usage hath thought fit to approve the said Report and is therefore graciously pleas'd to order as it 's hereby ordered accordingly That the Right Honourable Mr. Secretary Coventry do immediately transmit to his Majesties Embassador at Paris a Copy thereof that so the evil and the unhappy state of these things may be made known in that Court and the Remedies presst for in his Majesties Name which are proposed by the said Report and Mr. Secretary is also to attend the French Embassador here with the same Representation and to Expostulate upon all these Hardships and the little Remedy given to his Majesties Subjects either on the Merits of their Causes or the Recommendations of them by his Majesty That so his Excellency being made sensible of his Majesties Displeasure herein and the reasonable Discontent of his Subjects there may be by his Care such lively Impressions hereof fixed with the King his Master and the Ministers of France as may redress the Evils that are complained of and obtain the just Remedies which are proposed Phillip Lloyd To these Evidences I might add the List of several Ships belonging to our English Merchants taken by French Privateers since December 1673. which was also presented to the Right Honourable the Committee of his Majesties Privy-Council for Trade and by them to his Majesty together with the Names of their Owners and their other Circumstances but it would be too copious for this place Therefore 't is sufficient for me to shew you only an excellent Account of the Business it self and of the great Care and Pains of the Noble Lords of the Council's Committee for Trade and of his Majesties Royal resentment of the Sufferings of his Subjects and the Abuses put upon our Nation which may testifie that no Nation under Heaven can have better Reasons on their side to justifie a War than England hath against France for the many Dishonours Affronts and Injuries done us in recompence of his Majesties high Integrity and fair Carriage towards them But this Unfaithfulness of theirs towards us is ingrafted in their very Nature as may appear not only by what hath of late been observed but also by the Stories of old all the time that Scotland was under a Crown separate from England it having then been perpetually made use of by France when any Difficulties were upon us as a Back-door to enter disturb weaken and attempt us here in England Therefore having since the happy Union of the two Crowns under King James been at a loss all his Reign how to disturb us by their wonted way they at length got an Opportunity to plague us by bolstering up a boisterous Presbyterian Party in Scotland that might open the Back-door again to let into England not only Armies but the delicate Pandora with her Box of Beauty varnish'd over with the name of the Holy Discipline and fill'd with all the Plagues of Aegypt to make our Nation miserable I mean Presbytery the pious Mother Nurse and Seminary of Civil Wars and perpetual Factions among us and thus for the planting of War here we are beholden to France among the other good Deeds they have done to our Nation But that I may no longer talk in the Clouds the plain Story in brief is this The French having long had a Design of Conquering the Spanish Low Countrys and conceiving it was no time to discover or attempt it as long as England should be in a condition to hinder it therefore to remove this Impediment out of the way the best way for attaining their End was thought to be in the first place an Imbroilment of the King of England that instead of looking to Concerns abroad he might be held in Contest at home with a factious Party of his Scotish Subjects who before and in the year 1639. had shewn themselves very vexatious and troublesome to his Majesties Government about matter of Kirk Discipline and its Government by Bishops This was matter combustible enough for France to work upon and blow into a flame so that Cardinal Richlieu grand Minister of State to the French King by his Agents giving them large Promises and Encouragements got into a participation of Counsels with them whereby the Faction was agitated into a downright Rebellion there under the Name of seeking a Reformation and then followed Counsels also for an Invasion of England which was effected and they made their way with an Army to Newcastle possessing themselves of it But by the King's Prudence they were sent home again a Pacification being made and hoped it was that all would have remain'd quiet But this sudden matter not suiting with the mind of the French Ministry and Richlieu finding that there was a working up of the like Discontents and a likelihood of the same Designs in England for the cause or rather pretence of Religion the Bellows were blown here also by the same hand some of the heads of the Faction here were brought to a brotherly correspondence of Counsels and Resolutions with their Friends of Scotland a conjunct Design was laid for a Second Invasion upon England under the Name of Brotherly Assistance and the Platform of the great Covenant was then proposed approved by the Agents of their friend Richlieu to be set on foot first in Scotland and by Agreement it was afterward to be handed thence in due time back into England In the mean while the FORTY ONE Parliament being called matters then ripened apace for their purpose by means of a prevalent
Christianissimus Christianandus OR REASON FOR THE REDUCTION OF FRANCE To a More Christian State IN EUROP Odimus Accipitrem quia semper vivit in Armis LONDON Printed by Henry Hills and are to be sold by Jonathan Edwin at the Three Roses in Ludgate-street 1678. Christianissimus Christianandus OR Reason for the Reduction of FRANCE to a more Christian State in EUROP Section I. Being an INTRODVCTION CErtainly 't is high time to think of making the Ministers of France better Christians when 't is apparent they have taken up the Principle of the Common Enemy of Christendom and make his Maximes the Rules and the Measure of their Proceedings Absolute Power at Home and Vniversal Empire abroad is their Aim as well as the Turks and seeing that by their Actions all the Duties of Christianity are laid in the dirt it were hard to determine under which of the Two Christendom would obtain Fairest Quarter after an absolute Conquest For though France be Owner of the better Faith yet the other keep Faith better because all Travellers tell us the Turk counts it Religion to keep Word and Promise But it seems France may do any thing Regnande causâ as we shall shew by and by when we come to tell how little value is made of Promises Obligations Alliances and the Sacraments In these things they exceed the Grand Seignior but in matter and extent of absolute Dominion they are his Rivals and aspiring to forestal him in his design upon Europ to become sole Masters of a Western as he is of the Eastern Empire And why not Why should not Louis the 14th have it now as his Predecessor Charlemain had it heretofore His great Ministers and Officers both Civil and Military say They have ample Territories and very populous and a most numerous Nobility and Gentry as much Courage as their Ancestors together with the advantage of being trained up either to Actions of War or Warlike Exercises also the Situation of their Country and the Opportunity they have by it to invade their Neighbours upon all Occasions the Fruitfulness and Riches of the Soil the prodigious quantity of all sorts of Commodities Manufactures and other wayes with which they supply neighbouring Countries And lastly the vast Revenues of their Kings who governing of late without check or controul at home are thereby the more able to oppress other States or Princes They boast how Charles the Eighth frighted all other Potentates by the surprising Conquest of the Kingdom of Naples How they contended with the Austrian Family when it had been rais'd on a suddain to a wondrous Grandeur by the accession of innumerable Provinces united in the person of Charles the Fifth and that their King Francis the First had like to have carried from him the Imperial Crown having to that end engaged several of the Electors but they forget to tell us that when he had miss'd it then to be revenged on the Emperor and the other Christian Princes he was the first that taught the French Kings the most Christian trick of making Leagues with the Turks for so did he with the Great Solyman the Magnificent as you may read in my Lord Herbert's History of our Henry the Eighth and God prosper'd him accordingly for though he had several times the Turks assistance to carry on his Reverigeful Designs to the hazard of all Christendom yet at last he was forc't to yield to the victorious Arms of that Emperor Charles who took him Prisoner and made him buy his Peace at an extraordinary Rate But yet his Son Henry the Second had better success and would have extended his Dominions very far had he not been prevented by a suddain unfortunate Death as did also his Successor Henry the Third Then came on his Successor Henry the Fourth and of him they boast that he subdued Monsters of Factions at home and afterwards revived that Monstrous Design of grasping all abroad that having made good his Title to the Crown by the Success of his Arms he bent all his thoughts upon a Project vast in the extent of it as extraordinary in the Nature of it intending no less than to cast Europ into a new Model and reduce all the Kingdoms and Common-wealths that were in his time to a certain number and to bring them into such bounds as he should think fit to prescribe to them but to reserve to himself a Portion so considerable as to have enabled him or at least his Successors to grow up into that state of Universal Monarch which had been first imagined by his Predecessor Francis To this effect he had made choice of his Generals and other great Officers furnished his Arcenals with mighty Stores of Arms and collected prodigious Sums of Money into his Treasury and then all came to nothing by a suddain unexpected stroke which was given him by the Hand of Ravalliac After him his Son Lewis the 13th Father of the present King though by reason of some Domestick broyls and Civil Wars he was not at leisure to carry on the Project of his Predecessors by employing that way the great Armory and Wealth which his Father had provided yet still he had an Eye towards it and Cardinal Richelieu with the rest of his Ministers finding that the House of Austria was very near bringing all Germany under their subjection and after the Battle of Prague stood fair to carry away Vniversal Empire the Darling of France they hasten'd with what speed they could to put an end to Civil Dissentions and having got quiet at Home they being then courted by diverse Princes for Assistance and Protection against the Austrian Family were glad of the Opportunity reckoning that under a shew of assisting weak Princes they might at length take occasion to share with them in their Principalities and by that means vastly increase their own Power And so they did subdue new Provinces and considerable Towns in Spain Italy Germany and the Low-Countreys which at last made the Princes as jealous almost of him as they had been before of the Austrian So that to prevent farther mischief they were content to sit down with their losses rather than trust their French Alliances any longer Which occasioned that great Treaty held at Munster which ended in a general Peace An. 1648. Now before I proceed give me leave by the way to make use of what is past in these few Observations viz. First That had not France had a marvellous Wit Courage and Fortune it could never have born its Head above water in the midst of so many Waves and Tempests of Discord and Rebellion as were rais'd during the Reigns of those Kings and yet continue still in a Condition after all to maintain it self and bid fair also against its Austrian Rival for the Mastery of a General Dominion Secondly That in all Ages as soon as their Intestine troubles have been over they have still out of a restless warlike Humour endeavour'd to incroach upon their Neighbours and for
enlarging their own Lordship laid hold upon all opportunities to disturb Mankind and they could never yet set any bounds to their Ambition Thirdly That this Ambitious humour of theirs supported by the greatness of their Power would long before this time have brought all Europ under Subjection if their own Divisions and private Quarrels had not from time to time put back their Designs for many years or had not their greatest Princes been cut off before they could have finished their intended work Fourthly and lastly as a consequence of the three former That it was and ever will be the true Interest of all Princes to oppose the French Designs or if they have at any time occasion to use them against other Oppressors yet still to remember That no Oppression is like theirs and that they meditate it alwayes even in the midst of Friendship and therefore that they are not to accept of their Assistance longer or further than meer necessity or publick utility requires it but to cast them off as soon as the danger is over as it was practised in the Peace of Passaw in the time of Henry the Second and that of Munster in both which the French were prevented of further Progress by the Jealousie of their Allies However in all such occasions they ever made acquisitions and came off with great advantages In the Stories of such glorious Pranks of their Princes it is that the French Ministers do pride and delight themselves and to their Monarchs when youthful they propound them for imitation To this end it was the Care of Cardinal Mazarine in the Minority of the King now regnant to provide him an agreeable Tutor that might form and fix in the mind of his Majesty the greatest Idea's of Glory and Warlike Enterprizes This was the Bishop of Rodes his first Governor who as soon as his young Master came to understand Letters instead of diverting him with Romances entertain'd him in reading the Lives and Actions of the greatest of his Predecessors but above all recommended to him the Story and Model of a great Prince in the high Atchievements of his Grand-father King Henry the Fourth as may be seen in a Book of his written to that purpose which hath since been published This Prince as well by his own Genius as by the happy Success of his first Undertakings hath relished such Instructions and hath solely proposed to himself that Example for the Rule of his Actions The History of that Great King hath been his most ordinary Study He hath in imitation of him taken care to accumulate a vast Treasure and setled a mighty Revenue sought for Alliances abroad and successively rais'd many most numerous Armies It 's evident therefore That he acts upon the very same draughts and that all we see at present are but the Old Projects of his Predecessors renew'd and the Effects of those Impressions which he hath suck't in with his Milk Do but read the Book call'd the Memoirs of Henry the 4th with those of the President Jeannin and of the Bishop of Rodes and then conclude that whatsoever his most Potent Grand-Father had conceived in his Imagination this King intends to bring forth by the Power of his Armies viz. A Wondrous Theatre of Vnchristian Glory planted upon a Mountainous heap of Christian Sculls to amaze and terrifie Mankind into an Vniversal Slavery For as the desire of Glory hath no bound and in regard his Years and present Condition put him into a capacity to run a longer course than did Henry le Grand so we cannot reasonably expect otherwise than that he who hath so often cross'd the Rhine with his last Summer's Successes will also when he hath over-run the Continent cross the Narrow Seas to make his Visits His Pen-men have taken a great deal of pains to nourish these Thoughts in him and have no other study but to feed this Natural Humour of his Majesty and transfuse it also into his Son the Daulphin having wholy sacrificed their Pens to infuse it and tickle that Native desire of Glory which they have discovered in them both The great rewards that have been given them for it are authentick markes of an acceptance of their Service and surely such acknowledgements from a young High Spirit that believeth himself to be in a posture to execute all that pleaseth him and who hath drunk down this Maxim That to take possession by the Sword any Title is sufficient must needs be a dangerous fore-running Sentence upon all the rest of Mankind against whom his Ministers shall perswade him that he hath any thing to pretend Which yet more clearly to make appear to Us We only need read the printed Books not long since dedicated to him among which is one that carries this Title viz. The Just Pretences of the King of France to the Empire which Book having laid down this for a Ground That the Dominions of Soveraign Princes have always been the Dominions and Conquests of their Estates and that the Dominions and Conquests of Crowns can be neither alienated nor prescribed at length draws out these two Conclusions First That the greatest part of Germany is the Patrimony and ancient Inheritance of the French Princes Secondly That Charlemain did possess Germany as King of France and not as Emperour What may not be drawn from such kind of Assertions Nihil est quod credere de se Ambitio laudata nequit ......... If these things be believ'd in France what may not the Scribes of France persuade their Master May they not as well prove and persuade him That he wears the Titles of all other Princes within the Pomel of his Sword If one may judge of what is to come by what is past all Europ will have cause enough to stand upon their guard and take the All'arm to prevent the Machinations of the French Ministry whose sole business 't is To blow up the Glory of their Master to a mighty Bubble and 't is indeed no more but a Bubble which he gets he is at the Expence whilst they collect for themselves mighty Fortunes out of the Ruines of Mankind and feed the Marshals and the other Great Military Commanders with Expectations of sharing other Princes Principalities and as fast as they can Conquer to be all made Princes SECTION II. Shewing how far the French Ministers receded from the known Rules of Justice in beginning this War HIstories tell us That the Heathens made it a main point of Conscience never to begin a War upon their Neighbours or others till they had for it good Justifying Causes Among them for this Principle the Romans were most eminent and therefore such Causes they in their Language termed Principia that is to say Beginnings or Principles intimating thereby that no War could be well begun without them nor luckily end Thus in Livy said the Rhodian Ambassadors in their Oration made to the Senate of Rome Certè quidem vos estis Romani c. Certainly ye are
matter with France it brought on another Treaty which was held at Aken i. e. Aix la Chapelle to make a New Agreement betwixt France and Spain about the Observation whereof we have afforded us another Instance of the French Fidelity Unto this Treaty all the Princes of Christendom were invited to take care of the common Security and his Majesty of England among the rest who sent also a Minister to the Protestant Princes of Germany to invite them into the Guaranty of the said Treaty of Aix Proposals also were made to the Duke of Lorain and several other Princes to come into the League then to be made to which the Lorainer immediately accorded hoping that by this Treaty he might have better luck with the French than he formerly had with them by the Pyrenean Treaty But before we proceed it will not be amiss to remember you How the French kept Faith with this poor Prince whose Interests had been provided for by the said Treaty as well as those of Spain and his Dutchy to be restored to him with all the Places and Towns which he had been possessed of within the Bishopricks of Metz Toul and Verdun But see how France dealt with him They deferr'd as long as they could the performance of that part which related to the said Duke and refused still to return him his Country till they had brought him to make another Treaty with them in prejudice of the former whereby he was forced to part with several considerable Places over and above what had been granted to them by the General Peace And yet this would not serve their turn For after the oppressed Duke had enjoy'd a Year and a half but a very unsettled possession during which under several artificial unjust pretences new Quarrels were pick't every day they with a considerable Army constrained him to give them his Town of Marsal Moreover it was but a little time after this that they fell to teazing him again compelling him to sign a New Treaty more disadvantageous to him than the two former and yet so insatiable is their Appetite after Dominion the unhappy Duke could as little as before obtain a quiet enjoyment of that little they had left him They every day encroached upon his Jurisdiction the limits of his Territories and his Soveraignty it self They imposed grievous Taxes upon his Subjects They caused him to disband his Forces and to raise new Men again as they thought fit They kept him from revenging his own Quarrels to take part in others They let loose all his Enemies against him and stopped the progress of his Armies as soon as he had got the least Advantage And in few words he was at that time more a Vassal to France than a Soveraign in his own Country But yet all this would not satisfie the French Court they must have all again wherefore the Duke by many Circumstances shewing how ill he brook't this kind of unreasonable usage They ordered one of their Generals to surprise and seize his Person and to bring him either dead or alive Of which intended violence having had timely notice he escaped when it was very near being effected Which as one very well observed is a new way of dealing with a Soveraign Prince not known before in these parts of the World and it may teach all other Princes what to trust to in treating and what to expect from such monstrous Neighbours And it gives us some hope that we may e're long live to see the West govern'd by Bashaws as well as the East No other thing could give us a better In-sight into the Ambition and Pride nor more fully discover the Intent and Design of France None but an Universal Monarch can pretend to an Arbitrary displacing of Princes and a disposing of their Liberty Lives and Territories ........... Thus you see how persidiously they dealt with the Duke of Lorain But to return to the Treaty of Aix It proved to be of little avail to that Duke For they have since seiz'd his Country again and driven him out to seek his Fortune and this as Men say for no other Reason but because he hoped by this Treaty to have confirmed himself among his Allies in a better State of Security than he had hitherto been And as for the Court of Spain the French also resolved to defeat their Expectation of benefit by this Treaty for contrary to it they presently fell to work First they dismantled all the strong Places and Holds of the Country of Burgundie carried away all the Munitions out of it and would have spoiled the rich Salt-pits of that Province Had not the Powerful interposition both of England and Holland Prevented In despite also of that Treaty they exacted great Contributions from the Dutchies of Limbourg and Luxembourg They laid a new Claim to some Towns as important as any of those that were granted to them by the Peace They confiscated the Estates of the Subjects of the King of Spain that would not forswear their Allegiance and spared not the very Royal House of Mary Mont. Nay as if these Infractions were not enough and still to encroach as far as they were able they forced their way with great quantities of Merchandise through the Spanish Territories without paying the Customs and not long after endeavoured to surprise the Town of Hainault In a word They did whatever they pleas'd plunder'd even the most Sacred Places and acted whatever can be imagined to be done without remorse by insolent and unconscionable men But to proceed it must not be forgotten How under a pretence of advancing the Affairs of Poland and setling an Amity there they contrived a Marriage for that King with a Lady of France by which means they were enabled to send thither along with her in her Train so many expert Instruments of mischief that immediately they settled a Cabal with such Intrigues as in a short time inflamed the Nobility of that Kingdom into heats and Factions against one another which are never likely to be extinguish't and at that time they operated so far that that King soon became willing to quit the Kingdom and thereupon the Turk seeing the great Divisions that were wrought among them was easily invited in by the French Cabal meerly because they could not bring in a King that was of French Blood or of French Interest at the following Election And also to this That one of the greatest Motives of their fetching in the Turk was that their New King contracted Marriage with the Emperour's Sister which Princess being now a Widdow is shortly to be married to the Duke of Lorain It is worth the while also to remember how finely they used the Duke of Newbourg while they trained him on to engage the greatest part of his Estate almost beyond redemption in hopes of getting the Polish Crown which they had promised to procure for him by the help of a strong Party which they had made in that Kingdom Yet under-hand
sufficiently manifest that their Squadron of Ships was sent only to be Spectators and to learn to Fight and for other ends rather than to act in it and truly his Highness that day gave them an Heroick Example of Skill and Courage when he was set upon by two of the Dutch Squadrons together one of which the Admiral of the French Squadron ought to have engag'd according to the Orders that his Highness had sent to him the day before but he not coming in though the wind all the day stood fair for him his Highness was left alone to bear the brunt of the Engagement with two of the Enemies Squadrons at once and though his own Ship was surrounded on all sides yet he so nobly acquitted himself that day that he not only made his own way out of that great distress but giving a Couragious Example to the rest of his Squadron went with them and assisted that other Squadron of ours which had been engaged against Vice-Admiral Tromp at a great distance in a separate Fight contrary to his Highnesses Orders Moreover it is to be remembred that as he made way to their Assistance his Squadron by the way still fought the Dutch Squadrons who made way also side by side with ours at some distance both sides shooting at each other the Dutch in hope to have hindred the Prince from giving the assistance intended which being nevertheless effected by his Highness and the Hollanders Admirals finding they could not prevent it and that they had enough of it made sail away for their own Coasts But had the French Squadron under the Command of the Count D'Estrees done his Duty and come in to second the Prince any hour of the day as he easily might have done the wind standing fair it was evident that day we might then have had one of the most glorious Victories that ever was obtain'd by Sea and but few of the Dutch Ships could have escaped home This was afterwards acknowledged and attested by Monsieur Martel the Count D'Estrees own Vice-Admiral who like an honest man attempted to have come in with a few of his Ships but could not and afterwards for his forwardness to have fought and because he blamed his Admiral when he returned to Paris he was call'd to an Account and Committed to Prison whereas the Count having followed the private Instructions of the French Ministers was still continued in Honour and Command And therefore it must needs be an undeniable Evidence that he had privy Orders and Instructions only to stand still and look on while we and the Dutch should be tearing and destroying one another because otherwise in order to a vindication of the Honour of France and its Ministers They would doubtless have made him answer that egregious Piece of Treachery with the price of his Head I intend as much brevity as may be therefore have forborn to touch upon all the Circumstances of that affair but thus much is absolutely necessary to give you proof of the French good will and faithfulness to England as well as to all other Nations that have had or shall have any Dealings with them Now let us next see how they dealt with us in order to the putting an end to this which having been by us entred into joyntly with the French doubtless nothing ought to have been attempted by any one in order to the ending of it but what should carry a fair Respect to the Interest of both Parties in conjunction But see how they play'd their parts with us in this also The StatesGeneral of the Vnited Provinces having nominated several Deputies to be sent some to his Majesty of England and some to the French King to know of them both upon what Terms they would be willing to agree and come to a Peace His Majesty as it is a Vertue innate in his own Royal Temper intended to deal most justly with the French King upon this occasion and therefore so carried the matter to avoid giving him any offence or jealousie and being loth to do any thing in the Affair without participation of Counsels immediately sent him word such Deputies were arrived at London and would not so much as hear what their Errand was without the privity of France supposing that he should have a suitable Return from thence But what happened in the mean time Even a quite contrary behaviour of the French For no sooner were the other Deputies arrived at the French Court but they were presently visited and caressed by two Secretaries of State and without further delay it was demanded of them first if they had full power from their Masters to treat and next what Proposals they would make in order to a speedy Peace The Deputies desired rather to know first what Proposals the French Ministers would make Whereupon to hasten them to a Conclusion of the Work the French shortly told them they were to understand That what their Master the King had Conquered by his Arms in Holland he would not part with unless they gave him an Equivalent as well for those Places as for the rest that he should conquer before the Treaty be concluded This Answer made the Deputies forthwith send back one of their number to the Hague by name Mr. De Groot who was speeded back again with Instructions to Amerongen authorizing him and his Fellow-Deputies to conclude a Peace with the French He was no sooner arrived but Monsieur de Louvoy one of the Prime Ministers of State made short Work delivered the Dutch Deputies a Project of Treaty or rather the Pretensions of the King his Master upon grant whereof as he said he would be both willing and ready to return to his former Amity with the States General and conclude a firm Peace with them Was not this a sweet Return of dealing towards his Majesty of England For you to are note That though the War was made joyntly and so no doubt it was not to be ended without respects to be had to the Interests of each Party concerned therein which you have seen was fairly meant and observed by his Majesty on our part towards the French yet they had so little regard of us that they not only put on and entred upon a Treaty without our Privity or Consent but would have concluded it upon that separate Treaty without us only to their own Advantage whereby their Master might as perfectly become sole Master of the Vnited Provinces as if he he had conquered all by the Sword You are to note also for a clearer understanding of their Intents That when the Heer De Groot being to go the second time from Amerongen to the Hague with the Articles of this Separate Treaty when he arrived there the States finding that there was nothing in them which concerned England he told them the French Ministers had told him The Sates his Masters might deal as they pleased with England and make an end as cheap as they would because as they pretended
Men and Troops are the admirable Advocates which plead a cause best That the proclamation of the Cannon is above all other Titles That Justice is a Phantasm Reason a Chimera Marriage a trifle the Faith of Treaties an illusion Peace but a bait That their Cabals ought to be full of mystery their Conferences insnaring and their Oaths but sport of Children a Trap to catch a Cully and a Charm for Fools They further believe and say That Perjury is just and that according to their new Morals Ill may be done for a greater Good That sincerity ruins them that perfidiousness is profitable Imposture of much benefit that Infidelity is the Charter of a Prince Faith a foolish Maxim Keeping their Word but a mean Complyance and Violence the proper hinge to move upon Our Tears are their Tipple our Sighs they regard not they speak one thing do another make great Promises never perform any Their Mouth flatters while their Heart betrays they have no Friendship without an End Vengeance is sweet to them their Protection heavy They embrace with one Arm and smother with another France is the Proteus of the Age and hath a thousand Faces She enters like a Lamb transforms into the Fox and thence becomes a devouring Wolf They never pardon are never to be surprised and their Ways are past finding out A double face a charming Voice with a studied behaviour They count nothing a pleasure but what tends to enslave the People and lead them to despair Tunc oderint dum metuant and they scoff at the hatred of the conquered if they can but make them fear Elizabeth of England always asserted That France might be espoused as a Friend but never approved for a Neighbour their rapidity and heat consuming what they can reach not being able to subsist without coveting and invading their Neighbours Goods and Territories The last of the three Particulars to be considered is That France is under a necessity to continue War as long as they can 1. This appears by what I have hinted in the Third Section viz. That their King having brought the younger Brothers of his Nobility and Gentry which are a vast number to depend upon War for a Livelihood and by War for a making of their Fortunes so that he hath made War their Trade 'T is absurd to imagine he will by any long Observation of Peace destroy their Trade and Livelihood For then what follows They must even prey upon himself at home he must maintain them or they mutiny and turn popular and the common people being easily to be agitated with the hope of easing their most intolerable Burthens for whoever among the Bourgeois the Tradesmen or the Peasants do get either Lands or Pence their King as oft as he pleases demands three parts in four and so they pay him three Farthings of every Penny if he Tax it upon them and sends Troops of Horse to collect it as now they do at this time in the Provinces of their own Nation as I have seen the Account of it set down in a Letter which came to hand but few hours ago for these things I say may readily dispose them to close with mal-content Traders in War who will be sure to drive that Trade of War at home if they have it not abroad This alone is evidence enough to shew he must needs avoid a Peace though he may seem willing to Treat about it and pretend fair towards it and perhaps keep it a little while till he can frame to himself greater Advantages by breaking it which his Interest you see will compel him to to avoid that grand domestick Mischief aforementioned 2. Besides Peace is so far against his Interest that if he grant it he cannot have any tolerable pretence to keep up that vast Revenue which he raises at present out of the Purse of the people to maintain his Wars which I have heard to amount yearly to above Eleven Millions of Pounds Sterling besides his Contributions raised out of conquer'd Countries which are estimated at a grand rate by those that understand them and all these must needs be diminished if he permit Peace So that 't is a mean thought to imagin that the French Ministers should not see and avoid these Consequences which would lessen their Profit as well as their Master 's 3. To be brief By another Reason of State he is necessitated not to permit Peace long because without War they cannot long retain their numerous Princes Mareschals Dukes and chief Nobility in a dependence upon the Crown for augmentation of their Estates or the satisfaction of their Pride Ambition and Avarice which is not otherwise to be done but by having to bestow on them great Military Commands Offices and Governments in the Conquer'd and other Conquerable Places By these things you see what Necessity lies upon their Ministers to advise and determine as Monsieur Louvoy one of the chief among them very lately did that there was a necessity for their continuation of War And indeed No man better than Louvoy understands the Temper Inclination Sence and Interest of his Master Now if these things be so 't is time for us to proceed with our other Arguments for War on our behalf and foreign Neighbours one of which I have already given you II. A Second Reason or Argument for us and them to War against France is That as the French Ministers cannot admit Peace so this is one evident Token they never intended it forasmuch as they so order'd the matter of Peace under debate at Nimiguen that the Treaty was rendred hopeless III. They have hitherto frustrated the gracious Intent Offertures and Endeavours of his Majesty of Great Britain to procure a Peace by Mediation on the behalf of the Confederates and all Europ which is no less than a tacit Declaration for an Universal Conquest IV. A Fourth Reason may be drawn from the Ambition of France which is restless and boundless never to be satisfied more than is their Avarice large enough to swallow All upon the Continent while they reserve these Isles of Great Britain and Ireland as the last Morsels V. A Fifth Reason had I time or place here might be copiously drawn from the huge magnitude of France its Dominion being extended upon the ruins of other Nations to an immense Bulk beyond all tolerable Allowance so that in comparison with them and their Mountain of Power and Greatness the Neighbour States and Princes are become so light that they are but as the small Dust in the Ballance And therefore unless a Course be taken to give them a Diminution there will ere long be very little probability of our being able to give him a Counterpoise That excellent Prince the Duke of Rohan in his little but weighty Book stating the Interests of several Princes determines it is the Interest of England to keep such a Ballance of their Powers as not to permit that either of them grow so great as to