the Kingdom and your Honour concerning the Event For my own part I hold you to wise and too quick-sighted to imagine meerly on the presumption of unsolid hopes that there can be the least shadow or colour of safety remaining for us if one of these two Monarchies which are at this time engaged in a War should fall under the absolute power of the other or if they do re-nnite again by an Agreement in which possibly as we have handled the matter we may very well not be comprehended In case you 'l avow this Truth which all the World knows to be so it follow that you must grant that all those Inconveniencies which were already alledged to to keep us out all kinds of Engagement are not longer valid when there is an indispensable Necessity and the Welfare and the Safety of the State are at stake I shall not enlarge my self hereon to represent unto you that our Predecessours ever held this to be a fundamental Maxim of their Conduct to hold the Balance equal between these two Great Monarchies and that on which side soever they turned the Scales Victory did usually follow that Counterpoise which never failed to put things into that just Temperament that preserves the Health of this Realm By which means in some sort they made themselves the Arbitrators of Christendom because by afforing their Help unto one of the two Parties they became in effect Masters over them both by still keeping one of them at their Devotion and in our Dependency through the prospect of those Succours which they do continually need from hence and the other with the apprehension of this Assistance For thus the English what with the force of their Arms and the power of Arbitrating in Treaties have alwayes been the Law-givers to the Success both of their Friends and their Enemies by holding within the palms of their hands the Results of War and Peace finding both in the one and the other those Advantages and Safeties which this Nation most desired But laying aside these old absolete Maxims from which notwithstanding wise men will not willingly depart without the pressure of some invincible Necessity to come to the Circumstances of the present time It is evident that the War of the Low Countries cannot possible terminate otherwise than by the Fall and Oppression of one of the two Parties or by an Accommodation made betwixt them If they do agree and that England hath no share in the Treaty Who will assure us that they 'l not unite for our Ruine or at least France which cannot remain long without War will not turn their Arms against us But if Spain falls we shall then be like Dancers of the Ropes that have lost their Counterpoise and so are ready to tumble down every step they make What good opinion soever we have of France it cannot be denied notwithstanding that in this Case after the French have triumphed over Spain they will be Masters over our Fortune too and that our being thus must intirely depend upon their Moderation For Gentlemen do you think that we can take rest securely upon so weak a Foundation as the Giddiness of their Charity is since 't is certain that the most Christian King hath too much Ardour and desire of Glory to dwell in Idleness at home after such a Conquest And therefore seeing his Dominions and Reputation not ably increased he will form to himself new Idea's of enlarging the bounds of his Empire both by Sea and Land according to the knowledge which we have of the divers Inclinations of his Court whereof some will put him on to become Master of the Commerce of Europe and employ those vast Treasures he hath heaped together in order to that Design this way others to engage him in the finishing of his Conquests over all the Low Countreysj and some likewise to begin by us to open the Path to the Subduing of all other States which may probably oppose this Design So that which advice soever of these he doth embrace 't will be equally dangerous as to us here and perpetually oblige us to stand upon our Guard with the Burthen of a continued Expence on our backs as well as the Incommodities of a War though we seem to be in Peace with him On this Position then I say that the worst Party for England that can be taken whether by choice or necessity is that of sitting Neuters By uniting with Spain we do follow our ancient Maxim and Interest which hath ever been successful to this Nation which is to be still Masters of the Balance betwixt these two Monarchies as I urged before Should we therefore embrace the Party of France we may hope for a considerable portion in the Spoils of Spain And both in the one and the other case we shall find our Surety and other Advantages in the Treaties of Peace which shall be made But by remaining Neutral we must needs equally offend both and so cannot eschew being exposed friendless to the Resentments and the Ambition of the Conqueror as well as the Scorn and the Reproaches of all the rest of Christendom for having insipidly abandoned our proper Reason of State without being either good or wicked in a matter of such universal Concernment whereby the name of English-men will remain so much in the Oblivion of Europe that no body will scarce remember there is such a Nation in the World excepting only those who have a mind to Conquer us I read in the Scripture so base a Character of none as of them who are neither hot nor cold And able Statesmen have alwayes reproved this kind of Tepidness or Half-conduct to be both unuseful and dangerous Media via nec Amicos parat nec Inimicos tollit Wherefore England must of necessity either preserve the Low-Countryes against the Usurpation of the French which is our Bulwark or raise a new Fence that shall shelter us from being Conquered To preserve the first then Spain must be assisted from hence and to make a new Rampart we must divide the Spoil with France Experience hath sufficiently shewn us that our Ports are not inaccessible and Reason demonstrates that those can never be secure from the like Attempts but by keeping a powerful Fleet out at Sea that we may be absolute Masters there 'T is a Maxim also which admits neither of exception nor diminution That a well-governed Kingdom is obliged to arm when War is kindled in the Neighbourhood And though we should resolve to take part neither with the one Interest nor the other yet we must be in a Posture to hinder the Torrent from coming upon our Land that so the Conquerour may not have a mind to extend his Conquests hitherwards Here then is the Charge of Arming which on this Conjuncture is inevitable the equipping of a Fleet and raising of Souldiers to be mutually entertained at the Charge of the People if we do not speedily take some Party and all this Expence without
Glory or hope to get any fruit by so unprofitable a Counsel wherein our Souldiers will never learn the Discipline of War or extract any Utility from such Prizes as being uncapable after this manner to share in the Booty or in the Victories and Treaties of Accommodation according to their several events Whereas by taking part either with Spain or France the Charge would be much less because he whom we aid would largely contribute towards it and the Prizes gotten at Sea might help to discharge the Expence both of the Naval and the Land-Forces And thus would our Souldiers be exercised and our Nation make a noise again abroad and regain the Reputation which we have of late but too ignominiously lost in the World For when our men shall be trained up daily in strict Discipline beyond Seas we shall by this means establish a Seminary of good and able fighting men at the Cost of others which will be the firm Pillars of the Party and render us considerable in the eyes of all our Neighbours Besides this Course may be a vent so to discharge the Realm of ill humours a great company of Idle persons which now being without Employment are a burthen to the Publick and who one day are capable too of disturbing the domestick Tranquillity of the State whereas on the contrary what Success soever this War shall have we shall alwayes find our Accompt in the end of an Accommodation whereof being thus prepared we cannot fail of having the principal Benefit and part All these Considerations then seem unto me to be so convincing that they do oblige me absolutely to condemn the Opinion of Neutrality as inconsistent with our Glory Safety and Fundamental Reasons of State by concluding positively that we ought to lend an ear to those Propositions which shall be made unto us from all Parties and embrace those which shall be found to be most agreeable and convenient to the Interest of the Kingdom And in the interim to be the more considered by both these great Parties and better assured against all manner of Attempts my Advice is That without any longer loss of time a strong Fleet should be presently got ready and that as many dayes as we have to spare before the next Campagne since now every hour is precious that is not well spent as to this purpose may be employed to render us hence forwards necessary unto them whose Cause we shall resolve to embrace and as formidable to those against whom we intend to declare so that on both sides we may be the Commanders of the whole affairs and give it respite or motion by the sole Rule of the Interests of England After that he had spoken thus I did observe by the Countenance of the other two persons that had not yet spoken that this Discourse did not displease them wherefore without any farther reflexion one of them briskly began to speak to this effect Your Reasons said he are so convincing that I do not only render my consent unto them without any Reply but mean to make use of them to serve as the Basis and Foundation of that Edifice which I have a long time meditated upon in order to the fundamental Maxims of State of this Nation Therefore without more ceremony or delay I see that we must act and take one of the two Parties For any other Counsel would be dangerous and destructive by exposing of us to a thousand Inconveniencies which all the humane Prudence imaginable cannot be capable of preventing or avoiding in process of time I remain also agreed with you that in the choice of which Party we are to take we ought not to consider more than just what our own Interest properly is which is the Rule of that Conduct of Monarchis that as the Soul and the Spirit vivifying the whole Figure before us gives it motion in the Body of the State It rests then to form the Consequences upon these Principles and decide which of the two Parties is the most convenient France offers Roses unto us Spain nothing but Thorns The first presents us with a Scheme of Conquests without Dangers the last with a prospect of Dangers without Profit The one invites us to be their Companions of assured Victories of which they have already beaten the way the other doth solicite us and implore our Aid only to help them out of the mire without any other Benefit than as the old Proverb sayes There 's your labour for your pains at the price of our Blood and Lives If we shall engage in the Assistence of Spain in succouring them we run a Risco of being lost our selves without yet being able to re-establish them But by joyning with France we shall partake of the Spoils with them which we can never by force be able to take out of their hands since the Progress of France is now arrived at such a point of Effect that all our Powers combined together are not sufficient to stop it and then both our Resistences and Succours will serve but to ruine the Spaniards the sooner and bring the Vengeance of the French upon our own heads And if Spain comes to sink under the weight of the War all the Burthen of that Fall centers upon England alone In fine 't is agitated therefore singly as to this particular Whether we will needs chuse to embark in a Vessel so driven with storms or in a Ship which sails at ease with full Sails seconded with the favourable Gales of Fortune But in case all these material Objections cannot divert us from engaging in the ill Fortune of the Spaniards let us see on what Terms at least we can assist them usefully If we shall send Troups into the Low Countreys to their Aid 't is in effect to overwhelm them by the very weight and charge of those Succours and sacrifice so many of our own Subjects to Famine and misery as we do thus send Souldiers unto them because they have neither Countrey enough left to Lodge them in when they come thither nor the Means to Entertain them after once they are there If we succour them meerly by Sea that kind of help will not hinder France from taking of their Towns in the mean time one by one and so though we should a little incommodate France we shall not ease Flanders at all and such an Assistence will in conclusion prove none because 't is an Application of the Plaister too remotely and on the wrong side of the Wound If then the Loss of the Low Countreys be inevitable let us do what we can were it not much better that we should have our share in the Parcels of so great a Shipwrack than to suffer France to ingross them all to themselves since upposing that we do divide Booties with the French on this occasion the Places which by this means must necessarily fall into our hands will be so many new Bulwarks to England which may shelter us for the future against their
You know as well or better than I can tell you the Condition of the Revenue and the excessive Expence of this Realm which inevitably must carry the War from home unless we mean supinely to be destroyed and therefore of necessity must our Wings be suffered to grow again after this clipping before that we do offer to make a new Flight You cannot be ignorant too that Commercâ— iâ—the Soul the Life of this Kingdom which is the Chanel from whence the Abundance of it flows And the Wealth which we formerly enjoyed and rendred us so considerable in the World beside the fresh Experiment of the Disorder and Interruption which the War brought into all the Traffick of the Land hath made us clearly see that for Merchant-mens Fleets to be changed into Naval Armies and the Substance of the people melted into Magazins unusefully which might more profitably be imployed in rich and gainful Navigations cannot be the proper Interest of England If we consider the present State of France We shall find that all the rest of Europe bows under that Power and those who are the most concerned to succour Spain bleed at the Nose only without being able to break the Impostume within The Intelligences of France and their practices make their way every-where either with Bribes or by Address Victory waits still on all their Motions and by having redressed the Abuses of their Exchequer they have laid an unexhaustible foundation of Money within themselves Over and above that the French are a Nation or rather a Seminary of Nobility and Souldiers so versed in the trade of War as this provision puts them in a Posture never to be savingly justled I grant Their Designs are Vast and their Pretensions ill-grounded but how can we take cognizance of that are we Knights-errant to expose our lives in the revenging of other mens Quarrels The large interposition of Sea which divides us from the rest of the World may shelter us enough from their Attempts without founding of our safety upon the Conservation of our Neighbours But suppose we had such an abundance of Charity to spare as to hazzard our own safety in favour of another's we should at least be secured before-hand that when we are at a second Charge of succonring them it might prove profitable unto them otherwise the mischief being grown to that point of Extremity where now it rests all insignificant Remedies of this nature would but anger them the more to no purpose And Spain being deeply engaged in the War of Portugal which is alone able to give the Spaniards work enough as the Spanish Counsels stand divided and according to the flowness of their Operations their Treasure being exhausted likewise and the principal places of Flanders in the hands of the French and those which remain unconquered hardly in a condition to make any Resistance when they shall be attacqued which disposes that Crown to seek a Peace with France on any terms and the Propositions in order to a League offensive and defensive with them which they make to us being tendred only to England as a wily Lure to oblige the French to conclude it the sooner out of an Apprehension that we may resolve to assist Spain why should we rashly I pray thrust our Sickle into this blighted Corn Indeed when Inconveniences are visible on all sides of the Prospect of such Treaties the wisest Counsel sure is to suspend the Resolution awhile For on which part can we place our Interest thus without incurring blame justly The Party of Spain is weak and unlucky that of France is unjust and contrary to our good shall we then sacrifice our selves for Spain which for three years together hath stood Idle with their arms folded a-cross without so much as proffering to help us whilst three of the greatest Powers of Christendom let one another Bloud and thus were only Passive in our Ruin Must we then joyn with France which were so lately combined with our Enemies to destroy us and that tore the Victory out of our hands when we had it sure Shall we contribute the Liquor of our Veins to facilitate their Progress which ought to be so redoubted by this Nation and so become instrumental towards the erecting of a Coloslus which must certainly tread us under soot with the weight of it All these Considerations which I submit to your Prudence oblige me to conclude That there being no Part to be taken in this War which is not destructive the best will be to take no Part but sit still and observe how the Game is play'd and in the mean time to provide for the repairing our Revenues and quieting of Disorders at home by conciliating and re-uniting the minds of the People the Re-establishment of Commerce and to put our selves into such a Condition that the Conquerour may not be able to make a wrong use of his Victory to our prejudice And in the mean time not to remain altogether Idle in the common Danger of Europe we may contribute our endeavours to obtain a Peace and by a happy Accommodation stop the course of these Conquests which give us such just Jealousie He had scarce made an end of speakieg when a little murmur arose among the rest of the Conferrers which made me conceive that they did no wayes approve of what he did urge Wherein I found that I was not deceived neither because he which sat right over against him answered him presently after this manner If Peace were a Benefit which alwaies did depend upon our own Choice and if War were not ordinarily speaking a Mischief as necessary as the other is the Question which we do treat of now might easily be resolved and would not require any longer deliberation But it is not enough to conserve Peace to have a pacifick Spirit if our Neighbours likewise be not of the same disposition towards it which in effect is to reckon without the Host by founding the hopes of our future Quiet barely on the promises of our own Moderation since those who are the most in love with Peace are oftentimes involved in the opposite Agitation whether they will or no by some violent motion of Fortune and so frequently stumble upon War in the Flight which they make from it and thus suffocate the Peace by too much avoiding War I do avow that the Reasons which were alledged before could not be answered if he who did so well deduce them were able to assure us upon good grounds that in keeping our selves Neuters in this War of the Low Countreys we might be sheltered from the storm of another War both in the present and the future tense of such Vicissitudes or peaceably and long injoy so happy a Tranquility which makes him believe that we ought to despise for that speculation all manner of useful occasions which Fortune doth daily offer unto us But in truth my Lord Would you venter to be Caution thereupon to the State and pawn your Faith to