added to their declaration of the Instances which they said were made to them by the Bishop of Gurck in the name of the Ambassadors of Denmark and Brandenbourg so sensibly touched those two Ambassadors that thinking their Honour thereby much offended they took a great deal of pains to make the contrary appear by long answers which they made on that subject on the eighteenth affirming that they had never neither desired nor rejected the cessation of Arms but nevertheless that they might omit nothing that might in any probability tend to the promoting of the Peace they accepted the Truce upon such conditions as should on both sides be agreed upon Never were any Ambassadors more fond of Writing than those of Denmark and Brandenbourg their debates had already occasioned as many publick Writings during the Month of March alone as had been made during the negotiation of all the other Treaties put together In the mean time the French Ambassadors that they might give these Ambassadors all the satisfaction that they could desire upon so nice a point declared on the Nineteenth That since the Ambassadors of Denmark and Brandenbourg thought themselves wronged in that they could be suspected to have demanded or desired a cessation of Arms they consented that the Mediators might give them a publick Act thereupon to be joyned to the protestations which they had made against the peace of the Empire whilst that they on the contrary being perswaded that all the proceedings of the King their Master for the advancement of the general Peace in a time when he was in a condition to continue the War with advantage argued great glory to his Majesty They still offered the cessation on the same conditions which they proposed to the English Mediators without derogating in the mean time from their Declaration of the 24th of February in case that the Peace was not signed in the Month of March and that they accepted not the Truce But that if they consented to it for the whole Month of April it was his Majesties will that during all that Month the King of Denmark and Elector of Brandenbourg might have liberty to conclude the Peace without requiring the new Conditions that had been demanded of them At length after so many debates and proceedings to no great purpose the Treaty of cessation was signed at Nimueguen the last of March to continue till the first of May and was exchanged both in name of his most Christian Majesty and King of Sweden betwixt the French Ambassadors on the one part and those of Denmark and Brandenbourg on the other But seeing that before the signing of that Treaty the French Intendant had caused Contributions to be demanded from the Country of Cleves on the other side of the Raine and that the French Ambassadors could not promise that they should not be pretended notwithstanding the conclusion of the cessation the same Ambassadors consented by a publick Act that the Dutch Ambassadors should pass their word for them that they should Write about it to the King that they might know his intentions and that in the mean time no hostile execution should be made during the space of Fifteen days after which if his Majesty thought good that these Contributions should be exacted they engaged to give the Inhabitants of the Countrey Three days more to take such measures in as they should think fit The Truce that was now signed instead of advancing the negotiation on the contrary stopped the course thereof during all the time that it lasted because the French Ambassadors sticking to their Declarations there was no more to be said So that the Two Princes that remained still in War Judged it more convenient to negotiate their Peace with the King himself than at Nimueguen not doubting but that they might promise themselves some advantage to their interests from Treating rather with a great Prince than being too headstrong in defending the same at Nimueguen by a long train of proceedings from which they had no great cause to expect a happy conclusion The Elector of Brandenbourg had for that effect already sent M. Meinders to the French Court and his Danish Majesty ordered M. de Mayerkron his Envoy to the States General to go immediately and wait upon the King In the mean time a great part of Europe was allarmed at the Fleet which the most Christian King was setting out to Sea Italy and particularly the Republick of Genoa were much startled thereat Denmark feared a descent in the Countrey of Holstein and the Parliament of England where there happened such commotions that the Duke of York was obliged to depart out of the Kingdom conceived some Jealousies at the French Naval preparations In the mean while the Ambassadors of Sweden having by two several Couriers and contrary ways sent to the King their Master the Treaty of Peace which they had signed with the Emperor that by that means notwithstanding the severity of the Danes concerning free passage they might receive the ratification in time these two Couriers arrived at Nimueguen from several places the 17th and 18th with the ratification in good form But his Swedish Majesty refused to confirm the Treaty which was concluded with the Princes of Brunswick because they thought in Sweden that they had yielded to them a great deal too much and the rather that the most Christian King indemnified all these Princes at his proper charges About the same time the President Canon Plenipotentiary from the Duke of Lorrain renewed his instances with the French Ambassadors that he might obtain some moderation of the conditions that had been stipulated for his Master The Imperial Ambassadors did also the like but without any success So that they thought it enough to declare that his Imperial Majesty pretended to be no longer obliged by the Articles that concerned that Prince by which his most Christian Majesty had declared himself obliged and they demanded that that Peace might be deferred until another time in so much that the Imperialists being unwilling that the time mentioned in the Treaty should expire without exchanging the ratifications because of the pretensions made by the French in their last declaration of the 26th past they resolved to make the exchange the 19th of April April 1679 There arose an unexpected difficulty concerning the exchange of the ratifications for the Mediators who had not signed the Peace would not take it upon them The Nuncio likewise excused himself from doing it because he had protested against the same Peace in respect it was concluded in conformity to the Treaties of Westphalia against which Rome had then protested because of the revenues of the Church which they were then obliged to secularise and yield up to Protestants without which it had been impossible to have procured Peace to Germany So that the expedient that was found out was to make the exchange of the ratifications by the hands of Secretaries who were reciprocally sent on both sides And seeing the
them so hard that as they said they would hazard all rather than accept of them And when the French Ambassadors carried these conditions to my Lord Ambassador Jenkins to be by him communicated to the Confederates he made answer That he could not do it as Mediator but that he would acquaint them with them in discourse as a matter to which he promised no answer That Mediator refused to treat on these Conditions because in the League that on the 10th of January was concluded betwixt England and Holland the King his Master had made other conditions with the States-General to which they resolved to force France But he did not foresee that by refusing to present the French Kings Conditions to the Confederates which would prove the cause of as many treaties as there were Princes and States engaged in the War he excluded himself in effect from the Mediation The news came about that time that the French had abandoned Messina and all their Conquests in Sicily People were strangely â—â—rprised to see that the Mareshal de la Faâ—â—â—â—ade who was thought to have been sent into that Kingdom with fresh Forces upon design of some new enterprise was only gone thither to fetch off the Forces that the King had there The abandoning of Sicily was imputed to the suspition that the French had of England's declaring where considerable Levies were already making Some wondered that the French King should so easily abandon a Countrey the yeilding up of which might have stood him in stead in the Treaty of Peace with Spain Others on the contrary thought it more glorious for him so to recall the succour which he was pleased to give the Messineses without having had any hand in their revolt than to forsake by a Treaty people that had implored his protection It was not to be doubted but that the present juncture of affairs would oblige the King to provide against all accidents and therefore the Marshal de la Favillade having declared to the Senate his Majesties Orders grounded on the need that he stood in of all his Forces caused his Troops to embark But many of the Messineses dreading the certain revenge of the Spaniards came in so great number on board of the French Fleet that if there had been more ships there Messina had been wholly disserted The Confederates had their eyes fixed solely upon England as the only place from whence they might expect any considerable relief Hence it was that many Ambassadors left Nimueguen Don Pedro de Ronquillo went to Brussels to return no more but it was thought the reason was because he would not be inferior to the Marquess de la Fuentes who came as it were only accidentally to Nimueguen Don Pedro de Ronquillo who passed for one of the sharpest sighted men that was in all that famous Assembly could not forbear to tell a French Gentleman upon occasion of the conditions of Peace which the French King had proposed That he admired the prudence of that great Prince and that the success of his conduct would well appear by the necessity they were like to be brought to either of making peace or of maintaining the War alone The Baron of Platen Envoy of the Prince of Osnabrug went likewise to Brussels Mr. Spanheim on the 27th of April set out for England with the quality of Envoy Extraordinary from the Elector Palatine The Count of Oxenstiern a few days after embarked on the same design Mr. Oliver Krantz soon after did the same Which made some think that the Suedes intended to take other measures fearing lest France in the sequel might not be powerful enough to buoy up Sueden from the low condition into which it was sunk Thus from all parts came bellows to blow the fire that was kindling in England and which already threatned France In the mean time the Parliament that was then sitting was prorogued until the 9th of May and in the Assembly of the States of Holland which were at that time met the Towns were divided as to the continuation of the War The propositions which the French King made to the States-General seemed so reasonable that notwithstanding the powerful faction of the ill affected Amsterdam Leyden Harlem and all North-Holland were absolutely for peace May 1678. The Province of Holland being the most considerable of all the rest always turns the balance of deliberations so that Deputies were sent to London and Brussels to represent the impossibility that the States-General were in of continuing the War And it appears by the three printed Memoirs of the Heer 's Boreel and Weede the Extraordinary Deputies of the States to the Duke of Villa Hermosa Governour of the Spanish Netherlands of the 8.14 and 27. of May that the reasons of that impossibility were no less founded on the power and strength of France than on the weakness of the Dutch and Spaniards and the unprofitableness of all their efforts At that time there began to be some hopes of Peace what aversion soever all the Ambassadors of the Confederates seemed to have to it The time prefixed by the King was near at hand and on the fifth of May the French Ambassadors received orders to declare that his Majesty required that the Messineses who were come for refuge into France should by the Treaty of Peace with Spain be restored to and maintained in the possession of their Estates and that they might dispose of them at their pleasure The Ambassadors were enjoined to insist upon that point as a matter that his Majesty concerned himself much in but that demand being made after that the conditions were proposed it could not create an obstacle sufficient to hinder the conclusion of the Peace Nevertheless it afterward produced a very considerable difficulty seeing it lasted long after the signing of the Treaty and was one of the causes that were alledged of the long delay that Spain made in exchanging the ratifications Though it was no new thing to hear of the success of the French forces nevertheless men were strangely surprized at the news which a Courier brought from Maestricht that on the sixth of May a Detachment of that Garison commanded by the Sieur de la Breteche had surprized the fort of Leew situated in a Marsh with a double Ditch well pallisado'd The barrels of Wax-cloth which were prepared at Maestricht for the Execution of that Enterprize had not the success that was expected but forty swimmers joining valour to stratagem had the greatest share in that fortunate exploit in so much that in an hours time the French were masters of a very strong place and very easie to be maintained The States-General in the mean time began seriously to reflect on the advantage of making Peace upon the conditions which the French King had offered them The Town of Amsterdam which has the same esteem amongst the Towns of Holland that Province has among the other six was of that opinion and backt it vigorously that Town hath always
upon those new-begun overtures for his Majesty of Great Britain had occasion to employ him elsewhere About the end of the same month Jan. 1676 7. the Ambassadors of the Confederates began to meet and for that purpose they chose 〈◊〉 Apartment in the little Town-hall which is contiguous to and has passages into the great Hall It is in that place where the Deputies of the Province of Gelderland for the Precincts of Nimueguen do ordinarily meet Feb. 1676 7. The French Ambassadors had no sooner notice of these proceedings of the Confederates but they complained of them to the Ambassadors of the States-General alledging that in a Neutral Town equally common to all the Ambassadors some of them could not appropriate to themselves a publick place to the prejudice of the rest without a breach of the Neutrality The Dutch Ambassadors had good reason to chuse a publick place for Conferences well knowing that they would be managed with greater liberty there than at the Houses of the Imperial Ambassadors who would have affected to be the Dictators In the mean time to content the French Ambassadors they gave them the choice of what place they pleased in the great Town-hall whither they went to pitch upon the place which they found most convenient to meet in when they thought fit though they being by themselves and having none to confer with but the Ambassadors of Sueden they needed no such Apartment and it is probable that if the Ministers of the Confederates had foreseen that the French Ambassadors should have disposed of the Town-Hall they would not have pitched upon the place which they had chosen The most remarkable passage that happened in the Assembly of the Confederates was that after the Count of Kinski who as Ambassador from the Emperor had taken his place at the upper end of the Table the Ambassador of Denmark contended with the Spanish Ambassador for the next place on the right hand insomuch that Don Pedro de Ronquillo was forced to consent to have it only by turns and for deciding which of the two should have it at their first sitting they behoved to cast lots for it whereby it fell to the Danish Ambassador The same difficulty arose betwixt the Ambassadors of the Elector of Brandenbourg and those of the States-General who although they were at home yet would not yield it insomuch that this difference was determined in the same manner as the former The Forces of the French King began already to break into Flanders notwithstanding the coldness of the season and the talk was that some considerable siege would be speedily made On the other side the French King put the frontiers of Germany out of a condition of being able to furnish provisions to any great Army with which he was threatned from thence And the Elector of Brandenbourg had lately before made a Declaration to the Diet at Ratisbon whereby he quashed the hopes that the Confederates had conceived after the death of the Electoress of his joyning his forces with those of the Empire against the Power of France That Prince declared that he never had consented to the War into which the Empire was engaged upon occasion of the Dutch War He protested he was so far from contributing to it on his part that he had Twenty thousand men in readiness to act against those that should refuse a Peace and that he would punctually observe the Treaties of Westphalia on which the safety and repose of the Empire depended Which was a sufficient Declaration in favour of France that seemed to demand no more in Germany The twentieth of February Mr. Stratman the third of the Emperors Ambassadors arrived at Nimeguen at which time all the difficulties that were started about the communication of the Plenary Commissions began to be determined and no better expedient could be found to effect this than to reduce all the Plenary Comssions into one and the same form as to the â—aterial and essential words according to â—he stile and use of the Chanâ—elory of France The five chief Confederates to wit the Emperor King of Spain King of Denmark States of Holland and the Elector of Brandenbourg desired that in respect of them severally the French Ambassadors might have five particular Commissions But the French would only procure two one for treating with the Catholick Princes in which the Mediation of the Pope was mentioned and the other for the Protestant Princes who owned not that Mediation and they absolutely refused to present one for the Elector of Brandenburgh lest that all the other Princes of the Empire should pretend to the like But upon promise that no other Commission should be demanded the French Ambassadors judging it the interest of the King their Master to treat separately with the Confederates they were not so stiff in that matter and the rather especially that they might thwart the Count of Kinski who would have managed the interests of all the Confederates and deprived them of the liberty of acting by themselves The Danish Ambassador was the most scrupulous about these Plenary Commissions he stood upon the giving of his in the Danish language if he must have that of the Frencâ— in French or that if he gave his in Latin he pretended that the French Ambassadors should give him theirs in the same language He alledged that the King his Master stood not on the same foot as heretofore and that he might very well challenge a right of establishing a new custome But the Danes got nothing by this they were fain to condescend to the old way which is that the French Ministers speak to them in French and that they answer them in Latin On the 3d of March 1676 7. all the Ambassadors gave in their propositions of peace to the Mediators whereby the pretensions of all the powers concerned in the war were made known and on the 5th they were interchanged by the Meditors The Emperors propositions were that the â—ing and Kingdom of France should reâ—ore to the Emperour and the Empire and to â—ll the Confederates all that had been taâ—en from them that they should have reparation for all damages that they had suffered and that peace should be re-established upon the best and surest grounds that possibly could be devised France proposed to the Emperour and Empire that the King having not desired any thing more passionately than the religious observation of the Treaties of Westphalia his Majesty would gladly see Germany a second time owe the restitution of its repose to the observation of the same Treaties and for that effect his Majesty demanded that they might be fully and intirely re-established Spain demanded that France would wholly restore whatevâ—r had been taken in the Kingdoms of Spain since the year 1665. That all Ammunition and Artillery taken either by Sea or Land should be rendered back again That all places ruined demolished or burnt should be repaired That the French King should give compleat satisfaction to all the
Confederates And by three different Articles Spain demanded the same thing of Sueden France said That the King being contrary to Justice and the obligation of the Treaty of Aix la Chapel attacqued by the Catholick King his Majesty had reason to pretend that in respect of that Crown all things should remain in the condition that the fortune of War had put them into without prejudice to his Majesties Rights which were to continue still in full force and power The Danes pretended that France should give them compleat satisfaction and reimburse all the charges of the War and by four Articles they demanded of the Suedes that betwixt the two Kingdoms and two Kings all things should be restored into the same condition as they were before the War that was ended by the Treaties of Westphalia and that the Treaties of Rochilde and Copenhagen should be abolished and that all the Provinces which had been dismembred from Denmark and Norway should be restored to the Danes that all that the Suedes possest in the Empire should be taken from them that Wismar and the Isle of Rugen should remain in possession of the Danes and that for the security of his Danish Majesty and Kingdoms they might put Garisons in all the strong places of Sueden that lye upon the frontiers of the two Kingdoms The propositions of France in reference to the Danes were That seeing the King had not declared War against the King of Denmark but he runs contrary to the Treaty of Copenhagen made in the year 1660. for performance whereof the King was Guarantee the King of Denmark had attacqued Sueden His most Christian Majesty was ready to desist from hostility on his part provided that the aforesaid Treaties and those of Westphalia were re-established In respect of France and Sueden the States General demanded That Maestricht Dalen Fangumont and all the dependencies of Maestricht should be restored to them That they were willing for the publick peace to sacrifice the inestimable losses whereof they might pretend reparation and that for avoiding all differences for the future the Treaty might contain a general and particular renuntiation of all sorts of pretensions There were afterward sixteen Articles concerning the full satisfaction to be made to the Prince of Orange in regard of what depended on the Crown of France and particularly the restauration of the fortifications of Orange that were ruined in the year 1660. and of the Castle demolished in the year 1663. the rights of Toll upon Salt and other Commodities as well upon the Rone as through the Principality of Orange the rights of Coyning of money of Laick Patronage for nomination to the Bishoprick the exemptions priviledges and other Immunities granted to the inhabitants of that Principality by the Kings his Majesties Predecessors and particularly by Lewis XIII The Estates General demanded nothing of Sueden but that the future Treaty might contain some regulations for obviating the frequent inconveniences that happened concerning Commerce France proposed to the States General That seeing the Union that hath always been betwixt the Crown of France and the States was only interrupted upon account of some causes of discontent which were easie at present to be removed and to be prevented for the future His Majesty was willing to restore the States General to his former amity and to hearken favourably to all propositions that might be made to him on their part even concerning a Treaty of Commerce And as to the propositions made for the re-establishment of the Prince of Orange the French Ambassadors made an answer to them but upon occasion opposed the pretensions of the Count D' Auvergne demanding that his Marquisate and Town of Bergen-op-zoom might be restored to all the rights of Soveraignty which the other Towns of Holland enjoyed conform to the Treaties of Pacification of Ghent The Elector of Brandenburgh demanded that France should make reparation for the damages that his Territories had sustained by the French Forces during the course of this War that all security should be given him for the future for the same Territories and that all his Allies should be comprehended in a general Treaty France made no propositions to the Elector of Brandenbourg besides those that were made to the Emperor and Empire which comprehended the full performance of the Treaties of Westphalia In all the propositions that the Suedes made to the Emperor the Kings of Spain and Denmark the States General and to the Elector of Brandenbourg they demanded of the one but the renovation of their former amity and good correspondence and of the others the execution of the Treaties of Westphalia and Copenhagen which contained the restitution of all that had been taken from that Crown Prince Charles of Lorrain to whom thâ— French King had granted the title of Duke with a general protestation made to the Mediators that the titles taken or given should be without prejudice caused his propositions to be made by which he said That as heir to his Predecessors he hoped from the Justice of the King that he would restore to him his Dutchies of Lorrain and Bar with their dependencies his titles records movables and effects taken from him and make reparation for the Towns Burroughs Castles and Villages that were ruined throughout all his Dominions But seeing the Ministers of the Confederates would not admit of the Sieur Duker the Envoy of the Bishop of Strasbourg whom the French King reckoned among the Confederate Princes the French Ambassadors made no propositions concerning Lorrain nor shewed any Plenary Commission for treating about the Interests of that Prince though much urged to it by the Confederates that by this means they might oblige the Imperialists to own the Minister of the Bishop of Strasbourg On the other side the propositions of the Duke of Holstein Gottorp which the Sieurs Vlkens and Wetterkop that Princes Envoys had put into the hands of the Mediators lay there without answer or being interchanged because the Danish Ambassador hindred the Minister of that Prince from being admitted as being an Ally of Sueden and protected by France and upon that account dispossessed of his Territories by the King of Denmark The Propositions of the Dukes of Brunswick and Lunenbourg were not made publick because the Ministers of those Princes kept incognito pretending to the character and rank of Ambassadors yea and these Princes wrote to the King of England for obtaining the effect of their Pretensions but what instance soever they made during the whole course of the Negotiation no Crowned head yielded to their demand I have here but inserted the substance of the first propositions of Peace yet thereby may be seen how unreasonable the demands of Spain and Denmark were seeing that not only the Mediators but even the Ambassadors of the States General thought them exorbitant The sixth of this Month Monsieur Stratman gave the French Ambassadors notice of his arrival who at the same time sent each of them a Secretary to make him
Colbert at that time had only the character of Envoy Extraordinary for mediating the differences that were at that time betwixt the States General and the Bishop of Munster and Monsieur Colbert being in the Electors Countrey it was not his part to raise any dispute upon that head The Ambassadors of the Emperor complained also of the publick refuse which the French made of the visit of Mr. Stratman The cause of those misunderstandings was imputed to the Spaniards who finding themselves always thwarted in the equality which they so strongly pretend to with France contend not for it with other Crowns to the end they may unite them all and so oppose themselves with greater force to the precedency which France claims or at least to disturb it as much as they can in the possession of an advantage which they cannot obtain for themselves There was an innovation made at Nimueguen of what was practised at Cologn in regard of the Mediators to whom in that quality all the Powers had granted the precedency in the affairs that concerned the Mediation And the Mediators on their parts being desirous to prevent all occasions of quarrels which frequently happen upon occasion of Livery-men especially when many of different Nations meet together in one place perswaded all the Ambassadors in the first place to command their Pages and Lacqueys to wear no swords which was punctually observed And seeing most of the streets of Nimueguen are so narrow that two Coaches can hardly pass a breast the Mediators drew up a writing to be signed by all the Ambassadors by means whereof they did sufficiently obviate all the inconveniences which were to be feared during the Treaty That writing bore That in consideration of the narrowness of the streets when two Coaches going contrary ways should meet that Coach which should be least advanced into the street should put back without any consequence to be drawn therefrom or prejudice to any ones pretensions that he that should most punctually obey that order should be held to be the most inclined towards the peace the matter being thus concerted for no other end but for avoiding all occasions of quarrelling and to keep those who laboured for the restauration of the publick repose in goodintelligence together The French Ambassadors were the first who signed that writing the Swedish did the like and the Danish Ambassadors followed their example but the matter went no farther so that it was to be feared that some unhappy accident might afterwards happen amongst so many Ambassadors but the order that was made for preventing any disorder amongst servants was punctually put in execution There happened at that time long debates concerning the manner of treating about the affairs of the peace and that matter was not easily adjusted all the Confederates were for having it managed only by writing The French Ambassadors maintained that having given in their first propositions in writing the way of treating by word of mouth with the Mediators was the shortest The Confederates would not condescend to this but made very long answers in writing to the French propositions which seemed rather invectives than answers to the proposals of peace But the French waving all these disputes which produce always strife gave their answers verbally by the Mediators the Dutch were the first that approved this method and all the Confederates at length yielded to this way of treating as the most expedient for diispatching in a short time Don Pedro de Ronquillo continued still incognito at Nimueguen whither Mr. Christu arrived on the 18th of March. This Third Ambassador of Spain is a Fleming Doctor in the Laws and Counceller in the Flemish Council in Spain who hoped to have the Office of Chancellour of Brabant in recompence of his services In the mean time the News of the siege of Valenciences before which the King came the first of this Month made all people very impatient to know the success of that enterprise it being known what care and circumspection had been taken for the preserving of that place but the news that came of the Trenches being opened the Ninth in the night time was quickly followed with the taking of the place on the 17th about Nine in the morning The manner of taking Valenciennes surprized all men and daunted the Spaniards The King commanded the Counter-scarp to be attacqued with two Half-moons that flanked a Crowned work and that they should lodg on the front of that work which covers another that is before the Gate of the Town But the Kings forces marching cross those Half-moons attacqued that great Crowned-work on the front and sides and entered it on all hands killed or made Prisoners all that opposed them and pursuing those that saved themselves in the Town gained the Bridg and second Work and by a Wicket where they could not pass but one after another they made themselves masters of the Town-gate so that in less than half an hour the King saw a place of that consequence taken by force April 1677 The Confederates hoped that the siege of Valenciennes begun in so bad a season would have ruined a great part of the Kings forces but that Conquest with others that were foreseen would follow much disheartened them Nevertheless the Treaty of Peace went on but very slowly for all that The Confederates grounded their hopes on the great Exploits that the German Forces were to perform in Alsatia and on the Declaration of England which they expected in their savours not doubting but that the Parliament would sollicite the King to join with them for opposing the progress of the French but the Confederates at that time found themselves much disappointed in their Expectations The two Houses of Parliament represented to the King of England the necessity of putting a stop to the progress that the French made in the Low-countries The King answered those that made him the Address from the Parliament That it was the thing he had in his thoughts and that he should take care that the French should not be in a condition of giving jealousie to his Subjects and that his Subjects should have no cause to have any His Majesty of Great Britain was afterwards informed that Don Bernardo de Salinas Envoy from Spain gave it out that his Majesty had called the Authors of that Address Rogues The procedure of that Minister so much the more offended the King of England as that in so nice a juncture it might have produced dangerous effects in his Kingdoms and therefore he sent order to Don Pedro de Salinas to keep within doors and to make ready to depart out of the Kingdom within twenty days The Ambassadors in the mean time remained at Nimueguen like Spectators and all that was done there was to consider and observe what passed in the Low countries where after the taking of Valenciennes the King made himself Master of Cambray on the third of April five days after the Trenches were opened the Governour with
General And the Nuncio intending to stay until the end that he might give proofs of the sincerity of the intentions which he brought to that Assembly was also one of the last that departed Since all the Princes who had still some concerns to be adjusted were comprehended in the Treaties which France had concluded with the principal parties and by consequent all hostilities amongst them ceased the greatest difficulties that remained to be determined were about the Commerce of Sueden and the States General The Peace betwixt Spain and Sueden was easie to be concluded seeing that in that Negotiation there was no new interest to be managed betwixt those Two Crowns Neither was there any need of a Treaty for that Peace only some Conditions were agreed upon under which it was to be published in the Countries of the Spanish Dominion and those that depend on Sueden The greatest perplexity that happened in that affair proceeded from this that Sir Lionel Jenkins the Mediator and the Ambassadors of Sueden had not no more than the French for the Reasons I mentioned before seen the Marquess de la Fuente the Spanish ambassador so that since the Mediator could not directly mediate betwixt that Ambassador of Spain and those of Sueden the Negotiation on the part of Spain behoved to be managed betwixt Sir Lionel Jenkins and the Marquess de la Fuente by the mediation of the Imperial Ambassadors by this means and by the great care that the Lord Ambassador Jenkins took in that Affair the parties agreed upon a form for the re-establishment and publication of the Peace betwixt the Two Crowns of Spain and Sueden and the mutual Acts of acceptation being reciprocally interchanged the form was sent to Spain and Sueden to be signed by the Two Kings and afterwards published at Madrid and Brussels and at Stockholme and Riga in Livonia The substance of that formulary was that the Declaration of War which had been made some years ago especially since the 17th of September of the foregoing year betwixt the Kings of Sueden and Spain should be reputed as never made that his Catholick Majesty consented that the King of Sueden should be comprehended in the Treaty of Peace which had been signed and since ratified betwixt France and Spain and then that his Suedish Majesty approved that the King of Spain should in like manner be comprehended in the Treaty of Peace that had been signed and ratified betwixt his Imperial Majesty and the most Christian King these Two Kings commanding and declaring that a true sincere and Christian Peace be renewed and setled betwixt them their Kingdoms and Subjects as fully as there had never been War nor any Hostility betwixt them The interest of Sueden and Holland were attended with so many difficulties that those Two Treaties of Peace and Commerce betwixt those Two Powers were the last that were concluded at Nimueguen So many obstacles and so hard to be surmounted were started concerning Navigation that it would be tedious and contrary to the design I proposed to my self in writing if I should enlarge upon the particulars I shall only hint at the principal points on which were founded the difficulties that lasted so long So soon as the Peace was signed betwixt France and the States-General the Negotiation of another betwixt Sueden and the same States was begun The most difficult point to be adjusted in the Negotiation of that peace was the renewing of the Treaties of Alliance and Commerce which have been betwixt the two Nations The Suedes insisted much upon the renewing of the Treaty of 1673 but it being made when the affairs of Holland were in a bad condition and in hopes that the Suedes having undertaken to be the Mediators of the peace would have no occasion to declare as they did for France in prospect of that the States-General scrupled not by that Treaty to grant great advantages to Sueden but they would not at all consent that it should be mentioned in the fourth Article of the Treaty of peace wherein they only renewed those of 1640. 1645. 1646. and 1667. Of seven and thirty Articles which compose the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation there was hardly one which did not produce some difficulty They had already for almost the space of a whole year laboured in vain to surmount those obstacles and therefore it was expected that at the Hague rather than Nimueguen the principal points in debate would be more easily adjusted With these hopes M. Oliverkrans went in the Month of May to the Hague and the States-General having named Commissioners to treat with that Ambassador they met at the House of the Count D' Avaux who in that juncture performed the Office of Mediator Besides the particular interest that the Town of Amsterdam and some other Towns of Holland have in the commerce with Sueden requiring more exact informations as to every particular difficulty it was reasonably hoped that that affair would be more easily determined at the Hague than at Nimueguen They had many conferences upon that subject The States demanded a diminution of the impositions that Sueden had laid upon bulky commodities especially since the Treaty that Sueden made with the States in 1640. These commodities are such as are of a great bulk and small price as Stone and Marble Hemp Wax Pitch Tar Pot-ashes Corn and Timber But the States waved the three first sort of bulky Commodities and the Ambassador of Sueden after much repugnancy in two conferences successively consented at length that the four other sorts of bulky commodities should be regulated according to the Rates of 1659. which neverthelss are but little lower than those whereof the States complained It was also agreed upon That all duties and customs unequally imposed which tended to the lessening of the mutual freedom of Trade and which have been introduced in Sueden since the year 1656. should be discharged for the future and that the subjects on both sides should pay no other duties but those that the native subjects do pay Nevertheless that equality was not to be observed in the Kingdom of Sueden and Finland that is to say that that clause of the Treaty should only reach Riga in Livonia Ingria Pomerania and the other Dominions of Sueden upon the Baltick-sea the Provinces of Ischonen Bleking and Holland being reckoned as parts of the ancient Kingdom of Sueden though they be not specified in the Treaty The free and half-free Ships of Sueden gave occasion to another difficulty The free Ships are vessels built for War carrying from 24. to 30. piece of Cannon and are obliged to serve in the Kings Fleet in time of War and therefore the King hath priviledged them in trading in respect of duties and customs that the benefit which they thereby enjoy may recompence their service and supply the charges of rigging and fitting of them out from which Merchants ships are exempted By means whereof the King of Sueden hath always men trained to the Sea and
House of Brunswick and the Bishop of Munster who made their separate Treaties after that the Peace was concluded betwixt France and Holland received profitable testimonies of the desire that the French King had of giving repose to Europe for his Majesty was willing to ease them of part of the charges of the War by giving them large sums of Money in consideration of their good inclinations towards the Peace and particularly in favour to the King of Sueden who has not been wanting on his part to give considerable advantages to all these Princes But the King of Denmark is the only Prince who has not only reserved none of his Conquests but likewise the sole enemy of Sueden to whom France hath allowed no consideration for his charges Seeing the King of Denmark was at that time in a condition to demand Reason of the State of Hambourg in relation to several pretensions that he has upon that City and particularly concerning the Homage that he claims from it he drew all his Forces about that Town immediately after the conclusion of the Peace with Sueden The truth is his Danish Majesty had not not an Army strong enough to force such a City as Hambourg and the more because the Neighbouring Princes concerned themselves in its preservation But the King of Denmark coming at first as near to it as he pleased by reason of the neighborhood of Altena raised Batteries for his Artillery and Bombes with which he might easily have incommoded the Town October 1679 In this Instant the most Christian King wrote to the King of Denmark intreating him not to disturb the repose that the general Peace had given to all Europe almost and the Princes of the House of Brunswick who had already sent Forces into Hambourg to provide for its defence interposed vigorously for that accommodation which was provisionally concluded the first of November the Rights of the King of Denmark and of the City of Hambourg remaining as they were until that the point of Homage and the other differences which depended betwixt his Danish Majesty and that Town should in an amicable way be decided by course of Law November 1679 The chief condition of that agreement was an obligation by the Town of Hambourg to pay at Five Terms to his Danish Majesty the sum of Two hundred and twenty thousand Crowns in consideration whereof that King remitted the indignation he had conceived against that Town renounc'd the pretensions that he had to the Lands jointly possessed by Hambourg and Lubeck and promised to restore the Ships Goods Commodities and Inhabitants of Hambourg which had been seised by reason of these pretensions Thus ended that great War wherein almost all the Princes of Europe were engaged from the year 1672. But it was not enough for the good and repose of Europe that the general peace put an end to all the calamities of the War these mournful Scenes of so bloody a Tragedy required at length some pleasing Catastrophy which might sweeten the memory of past miseries and fill the people with more agreeable hopes Nothing was more proper to produce such an effect than the Marriage of the chief Princes who had had a share in the War seeing these new Alliances were sacred ties to render the Peace indissolvable No sooner had the King of Spain ratified the Peace with France but that he thought upon confirming it by a new Alliance with the French King so that though the Court of Spain were far engaged with the Emperor for the Marriage of the Imperial Princess with his Catholick Majesty yet it hindered not that Prince from converting all his thoughts towards France The Picture of Madamoiselle de Valois and the Royal qualities of that Princess made him resolve the last Spring to cause the Marquess de los Balbases to go from Nimueguen to the French Court in quallity of Ambassador extraordinary to demand her in Marriage That Minister went suddenly into France and in a private Audience which he had of the King about the beginning of May he demanded of his Majesty Madamoiselle in Marriage for the King his Master but his Majesty gave no answer to the Ambassador concerning an affair of that importance until the beginning of July at which time he declared that he granted Madamoiselle to the King of Spain That Kingdom being mindful that France had always given them good Queens the people were extreamly overjoyed at the news but the young Monarch especially who was deeply smitten with the merit of that Princess The Ceremony of the Marriage was performed at Fontain-bleau the last day of August with all the magnificence that could be expected from the French Court The Procuration which the King of Spain sent blank to be filled up with the name of him whom the King should think fit to nominate for espousing the Queen was given to the Prince of Conty who gave his Hand to that Princess in the name of his Catholick Majesty and the Queen sometime after took her Journey for Spain not without shedding of Tears which testified that the regret of leaving France was more sensible to her than the joy of possessing a Crown The Heroick qualities both of body and mind which met in the person of the Prince of Conty gained so much of the esteem and affection of his Majesty that he thought it not enough to give him a very special mark of it by making choice of him to espouse the Queen of Spain but shortly after gave him more sensible testimonies of the same by bestowing upon him in Marriage Madamoiselle de Blois whom his Majesty tenderly loves That Marriage was celebrated with so much splendour and with so universal approbation that the Court never appeared more magnificent nor better satisfied than upon that occasion The Marriage of the King of Sueden with the Princess Vlrica of Denmark was agreed upon before the rupture betwixt Sueden and Denmark by this last War yea even from that time stately Coaches and some things that were necessary for the Pomp of that Marriage were providing in France so that after the Peace was concluded betwixt those Two Kings it was not hard to make up that new Marriage But seeing those Princes had still a great deal to do to regulate affairs within and without their Kingdoms and especially the King of Sueden who was to retake possession of several Provinces and to give orders for setling them again in the condition that they were in before the War the consummation of that Marriage was delayed until the Spring In the mean time part of the Equipage for that Ceremony was preparing at Hambourg and Clothes and other things which were ordered to be made in France were expected from thence December 1679 The French Court also laid aside all thoughts of War Feasting and Divertisements were the dayly employment there and the Marriage of the Queen of Spain was hardly over when the King thought on that of the Dauphin Men cast their eyes on all the Princesses of Europe being curious to know for whom that great fortune was destin'd by Heaven but his Majesty pitched upon the Princess Anne Marie Christian of Bavaria for whom also the Dauphin seemed to have greatest inclination M. Colbert who was just returned from Nimueguen was sent into Bavaria to treat about the Marriage where he concluded all the Articles and signed the contract thereof the 30th of December Afterward the King sent the Duke of Crequi into Bavaria with presents for the Princess who being accompanied by Forty Gentlemen performed the journey by Post The Court at that time prepared for the Journey which the King designed in February to go meet the Dauphiness as far as Tholous where the ceremonies and confirmation of the Marriage were to be performed the Duke of Bavaria having espoused the Dauphiness in name of the Dauphin at Munichen The King in the mean time acquainted all neighbouring Princes with that Marriage by Letters which he wrote to them wherein it appears that the piety and great vertues wherewith that Princess is endowed have given his Majesty just cause to hope that that alliance will produce to France Princes that shall worthily answer the greatness of so August a Birth FINIS