French King declares himself Defender and Protector For these Nine Years past says that Monarch he maintains the War against a Conspiracy of all Europe Upon what account To defend Religion and Vindicate the Majesty of Kings Nothing can be more Great more Glorious and more Noble than such a Design That Monarch employs all his Forces exhausts his Treasures and sacrifices his People and Subjects and all this to vindicate the Majesty of Kings We must confess the French King's Zeal to be very great his Projects magnanimous and pious in a word worthy of the First Monarch of Christendom King James is to be accounted Happy for being under the Protection of France provided this Protection be Sincere and the French King do not play foul upon this Occasion as he has done heretofore in several Quarrels betwixt Christian Princes He has often been seen to espouse the Interest of the one by forsaking the Party of the other for whom he had declar'd himself and do such Work as has ruin'd both in the Conclusion So that in all Quarrels he alone has got something by them He never keeps such a stir and takes so much pains for nothing and whenever he does any great Service 't is always upon condition that the private Advantages he shall draw from it will be proportionable to his Labour According to this Principle if the French King could make a Peace with the Allies upon such easie Terms as he desires the Majesty of Kings which he pretends to vindicate would soon be forgotten I had almost said sacrific'd for what will he not do when his Interest lies at stake Nothing can be more singular than the Zeal and Ardour the French King pretends for King James's Interest All the World are inform'd how the pernicious Counsels of France have been the Cause of the Misfortunes and Fall of that Prince 'T is France that has rais'd him to the Throne by secret and underhand Practices unknown to most People to this very day and it may be said That France has made him lose his Crown by putting him upon such violent Methods as have render'd him odious to his Subjects whose Ruin he had contriv'd if God Almighty had not snatch'd them from the impending Danger by a miraculous Revolution The French King's Zeal and Generality deserve to be commended He endeavours to restore a Prince he has been the Ruin of and this he calls Vindicating the Majesty of Kings for which he sacrifices the Majesty of all other Monarchs in Christendom Who can be so credulous as to think his Conduct sincere upon this Occasion And is it possible the French King can strain those fine Sentiments of Commiseration for an unfortunate Prince so high as not to scruple to declare War against all Europe to vindicate that pretended Majesty of Kings We may rather say that he has quite another thing in Prospect and that he only uses the Majesty of Kings as a Pretence to colour a bad Cause further his grand Designs weaken the Confederacy by the Ruine of the Forces of the Crown of England and weary the Allies by the Tediousness of the War still keeping his old Maxims and Inclinations which would soon revive more fierce than ever if he could clap up a bad Peace with the Confederate Princes Those are the true Motives that prevail with the French King to vindicate the pretended Majesty of Kings which he makes sound so high in all the Courts of Christendom 'T is upon that Account that he defiles himself with all manner of Crimes Wicked Attempts Plots Treacheries and Murders are nothing to him If by this means the French King pretends to vindicate the Majesty of Kings he must own his Cause to be very bad and that the Upshot of all the Honour that will accrue to him upon this score will be no more than a monstrous Parallel of what has been practised by those Heathen Princes that have been the Execration of their Age. This Conduct ought to make all Christendom to tremble since the Court of France is so far from disowning it that they rather seem to authorize it openly by the villanous Assassins they send over to England If this be the way whereby the French King endeavours to arrive at a general Peace we must confess that it will cost dear to all Europe and that all Honesty is banish'd from the World The French King having acquainted the World with the Motives that made him undertake the present War exalts the Progresses wherewith God Almighty has bless'd his Designs and prosper'd his Enterprizes To hear him speak his Arms have always been triumphant and victorious and all the Advantages the Allies have had during this war are to be counted for nothing and France alone has all the Honour of it We do not wonder at this Haughtiness We know well enough this is the Language of the Court of France That Crown is so used to those Expressions that unless she be entirely pull'd down and stripped of her best Possessions she never will own her Losses and perhaps then too she will still keep up her Pride Glory must at any rate go before all her Enterprizes The French Nation alone knows now-a-days how to command and make war and all other Nations are ignorant and fit for nothing but to obey her proud Domination Yet for all this the Confederates carried the very first Campagn three important Fortresses on the Rhine These Conquests were follow'd by a Victory won at Wallcour by the Defeat of the best of French Kings Troops Altho' this Fight was not general the Advantages the Allies had in it gain'd them as much Honour as ever the French got in the Battels they won under the Conduct of the Mareschal of Luxemburg And during this Campagn the Confederate Arms were triumphant wherever they fought The Irruption into Dauphine under the Conduct of the Duke of Savoy and the Sea-Fight that was fought betwixt the French and Confederate Fleet do also deserve to be reckon'd among the Advantages got by the Confederates The Siege of Namur where France had the Shame to see the Triumph of the Arms of the Allies is too memorable to be pass'd over in Silence This only Conquest eclipses all the Victories of wich the French King now brags with so much Pride since his united Forces were not able to prevent it and that in spite of the Presence of a Mareschal of France who got into the Place supported by an Army within and another without as numerous as ever France had Since I say all these Precautions have had no other Effect than to hasten the taking of that Fortress and heighten the Honour of the Allies If after all these Advantages the French King gives it out that he always was superiour it must be confess'd that he makes Fools of all the Nations of Europe who have been Spectators of 'em and affronts besides the Honour of so many generous and brave Princes who have signaliz'd themselves in ' em All those prosperous Successes that have waited on my Arms says the French King have been the more grateful to me as that I flatter'd my self they might conduce to a Peace The Allies do freely own that France has been prosperous in her Undertakings but they hope also that they have a Right to have the Advantages they got over that Crown taken notice of and they cannot hear without a just Resentment those Discourses which the French publish to the World to rob them of the Honour they have gain'd in this War at the Expence of their Blood and Loss of their best Subjects and bravest Generals All these Considerations ought to engage the Council of France to speak another Language Altho' the Duke of Savoy have deserted 'em their Union will not be the less inviolable for it and France has no great reason to boast so much of her Superiority A cross Accident is able to make her lose all the Advantages she pretends to draw from the Peace of Italy Therefore she ought to have more Regard for the Allies than she has hitherto express'd and by a just Condescension prevent the dubious Fortune of War and hasten the Conclusion of an honourable and lasting Peace FINIS
will rather beget in them the Resolution of carrying on the War more vigorously than ever Their Interest has no relation with that of the Duke of Savoy and if that Prince has been willing to undo himself and sacrifice his Dominions and Liberty out of a Frolick the Confederate Princes will not make his Conduct the Standard of Theirs They have taken up Arms to make a solid and lasting Peace and will not lay them down upon any other Terms The general Publication of that Peace was follow'd by a Letter directed to the Archbishop of Paris in order to have Te Deum sung as a Thanksgiving wherein the French King gives us a true Idea of the Motives upon which he has acted during this War There the Language and Genius of the Court of France are express'd in their genuine and natural Colours That Piece being already made publick we shall dispense with inserting it here and tho' it deserve to be examin'd at large we will content our selves with making some few particular Reflections upon it and so conclude The Court of France never publishes Pieces of that importance before they are maturely studied and have past the Censure of his most able Ministers In a word This is a Draught in Little of the vast Designs and most secret Thoughts of the French King That Monarch begins with the Motives that have induc'd him to take up Arms which are to defend Religion and Vindicate the Injur'd Majesty of KINGS This Declaration is agreeable to that he made before in all the Manifesto's he publish'd before the Rupture And therefore we may conclude That the Council of France have long before studied the Artifices they now employ to break the Union of the Confederate Princes Those Artifices are so much the more dangerous as they strike at the most sensible Part of Civil Society that is to say Religion and the Majesty of Kings As to the first All Sovereign States are naturally very tender of the Religion they profess the Catholick Princes of their Religion and the Protestant Princes of theirs But to hear the French King speak one would think him the Only Defender of the Roman Catholick Religion and that the Emperour the King of Spain and the other Catholick Princes whose Zeal is unquestionable have abandon'd its Interest If the French King should spread abroad such Discourses in an unknown Country remote from our Continent and among a barbarous People ignorant of the Transactions of Europe for these Fifty Years past especially since the Death of Cardinal Mazarin 't is certain he might impose upon their Credulity But what can be more absurd and extravagant than to publish now all those Impostures before the face of all Christendom to which he has been a Scourge and a Persecutor Witness the Quarrels he had with the Court of Rome under the Pontificate of Innocent XI If that Pious Pope had not oppos'd all the Extravagancies of the Court of France were not we like to see the Church rent and torn by a more cruel and monstrous Schism than ever the Persecutions of the most dreadful Heathen Tyrants have been There 's no need of renewing here the Remembrance of those Ills that have made all Christendom to groan they are too fresh to be forgotten Let us be contented to say That the French King is so unsincere upon that Point that all the Confederate Princes are fully convinc'd that Religion has the least share in his undertaking the present War 'T is well known also that it is upon another Motive that he has supprest the Reform'd Religion in France This last Step ought to be look'd upon as a secret Spring to make himself a surer Way to the Universal Monarchy since we see he has in a manner done more mischief to the Catholick than Protestant Princes This is a dangerous Decoy and a secret Warning to the Catholick Princes who are in Confederacy with the Protestant not to give ear to the Artifices of France whose aim is to disunite them and by that means invade their Dominions and Liberty The Duke of Savoy as we have seen of late has begun to make a Breach in that Alliance The Ministers of France like deceitful Syrens have drawn him into dangerous Snares by their sweet enchanting Voice The fair and specious Pretence of Religion has put all the Courts of Italy in motion and by that means the French King was reconcil'd to the Court of Rome which was before his mortal Enemy He could not have pitch'd upon a surer way to further his Designs than by pretending as he does at this time that he acts out of a Zeal for Religion By that means he casts a Mist before the Eyes of all the Catholick Princes and insinuates himself into all Courts But what will become of the Dominions of so many Sovereigns if once divided from the Alliance of the Protestant Princes Since we now see that their Safety and mutual Preservation wholly depends upon that Alliance We still repeat it here Let not the Duke of Savoy's Example ever shake this sacred Union for this is the only thing the French King aims at and the Hinges upon which all his Designs turn All Princes are for their Share in an Affair that concerns every one in particular and all in general The present War is not upon the account of Religion 'T is only France that says so to impose upon the Confederates and disunite them 'T is plain the French King endeavours to perswade the Catholick Princes that the only Cause which has brought this War upon him is the implacable Hatred of the Protestant Princes against him for persecuting his Protestant Subjects which is both false and ridiculous For if the French King had design'd nothing but the pretended Extirpation of Heresie never had the present War been kindled in Europe because the different Interests of the Protestant Princes were so far from uniting them in a Cause which was so just in it self that they rather seem'd to divide them still the more 'T is therefore to no purpose that the French King makes use of the Cloke of Religion to cover a Conduce which every one knows to have no other than Temporal Motives such as are the Violation of all Treaties the Usurpation of his Neighbours Dominions the Ruin of the House of Austria the Protecting of the Turk his Designs upon England by supporting the late King James his Attempts upon the Princes and States beyond the Alps the Slavery of all Europe and in a word the accomplishing of his grand Master-piece the Universal Monarchy After so many cruel and treacherous Attempts after so many Reasons of Complaint given to the Confederates and after the repeated Experiences they have had of the French King 's Double-dealing and Foul-play how can they now believe he is sincere when he tells us That he had no other Aim than the Defence and Protection of Religion Let 's now pass to the Majesty of Kings of which the
without further delay commanded Monsieur Catinat immediately to pass the Mountains with an Army of above 18000 Men. This General posted away before his Army to Turin to learn from the Duke 's own Mouth what was hitherto only transmitted by Ministers the Result of his Resolutions The Approaches of this Army soon alarm'd all the Princes of Italy insomuch that they quickly got together to keep the War out of their own Territories which was like to rage so fiercely in their Neighbourhood or at least to endeavour a Neutrality if they could not obtain an Accommodation between the two Crowns Herein the Great Duke of Tuscany was the most earnest but what engag'd him chiefly was the dangerous Sickness of the Dauphiness hoping that if she dy'd by obliging France in this Mediation he might have an Opportunity to get his Daughter accepted in Marriage by the Dauphin The Duke of Fuensalida fearing lest Mareschal Catinat's arrival at Turin might alter the Dispositions of that Court which had already determin'd to declare in favour of the Emperour thought his surest way was to provide speedily for his Defence in case Affairs might ' happen disadvantageous for the Milaneze He immediately therefore issu'd out Commissions for new Levies writ to the Vice-Roy of Naples Sicily and Sardinia to send him fresh Recruits got ready his Magazins and soon stood upon his Guard expecting Acts of Hostility every Day from the French Before we proceed further it will not be amiss to give a short Account of the Rigours us'd by the Court of France towards his Royal Highness by insisting peremptorily on his driving the Vaudois out of his Dominions for no Reason and which was one of the principal Motives that engag'd the Duke of Savoy to seek after his Liberty by a timely breaking with that Tyrant For whenever it pleas'd this Most Christian King to Command he must unavoidably Obey being no better than a Tributary to his Pleasure Every body knows his Royal Highness cou'd not easily have been wrought upon to banish such faithful Subjects as the Vaudois who had so often signalliz'd their Zeal and Courage for both him and his Predecessors But this Most Christian King having form'd his Design to extirpate the Reform'd Religion not only out of France but also where-ever else he could prevail corrupted so the Inclinations of this Prince and his Ministers that his Royal Highness all of a sudden became a Persecutor in spite of his natural Disposition to the contrary As soon therefore as this pernicious Practice was begun at Turin you might there perceive the same cruel Spirit and Politicks reign as in France and his Royal Highness whatever natural aversion he had for such Barbarities was forc'd to yield to the French Example without so much as enquiring whether his Proceedings were just or not The Vaudois had enjoy'd an uninterrupted Exercise of their Religion ever since the War with the Genoese and were never persecuted under the Reign of Charles Emanuel the Second nor the Regency of the Dutchess Dowager even till the Year 1685 which made them hope they might still have the same Liberty under the present Reign of Victor Amedeus II. and the rather because they had done him considerable Services against the Mondovite Rebels which he suppress'd meerly by their Assistance in the Year 1684. All these Considerations enclin'd his Royal Highness to write 'em a very obliging Letter but the Machinations of the French King who had resolv'd to destroy 'em were so successful at the Court of Turin that he obtain'd whatever he pleas'd his Royal Highness not daring to refuse one in whose Power it was to force him to obey The first Proceedings therefore of the French Ministers were to require That the Governor of the Vallies should publish an Edict to forbid all Strangers inhabiting there This came out about the end of the end of the Year 1685 and was as a Fore-runner to all the Cruelties that were afterwards there practis'd But here we may excuse his Royal Highness thus far that he only consented by a base Condescension to have his Subjects butcher'd by a Power that consults only his heat of Revenge and Ambition to rule Paramount in all the Courts of Europe After the Expiration of the Edict of Nantes the Council of France who vow'd the Destruction of the Vaudois together with the Hugonots made fresh Motions to the Duke of Savoy to publish a second Edict against them which they obtain'd the 31th of January 1686 and by which the Exercise of their Religion was forbid under Penalty of their Lives Confiscation of their Goods Demolishing of their Temples and Banishment of their Preachers And moreover their Children were to be Baptiz'd and brought up in the Catholick Religion at the peril of their Father's being otherwise sent to the Gallies The Vaudois hereupon presented four subsequent Petitions to his Royal Highness humbly praying to have this Edict revok'd but all to no purpose for they were likely to be redress'd only by Delays They could not in the least imagine what should induce the Duke of Savoy to treat 'em after so barbarous a manner never mistrusting the Influence of the French Minister because they thought themselves secure of his Most Christian Majesty's Protection he having before declar'd himself Garrantee of the Patents granted 'em in the Years 1655 and 1664 which he not only procur'd from his Royal Highness in their favour but also sent a formidable Army into Piedmont to see 'em perform'd The Noise these Inhumane Practices made in the World mov'd the Protestant Swiss-Cantons to dispatch their Deputies to his Royal Highness endeavouring to disengage this Prince from his persisting in the Ruine of the Vaudois These Ministers set forth from Basle in the Year 1686 at the beginning of the Month of March when being arriv'd at Turin and having obtain'd Audience of his Royal Highness they insinuated That the Protestant Cantons their Masters were extremely concern'd for the cruel Treatment of his Royal Highness's faithful Subjects the Vaudois and that as well in regard of the Ties of Friendship between them and Conformity in Religion with them as in respect of the Liberty of Conscience granted 'em by his Royal Highness in the Years 1655 and 1664 which was altogether the Product of their Mediation and therefore as they humbly conceiv'd the Violation of it must be in prejudice of his Royal Highness's Word and Honour Whatever solid Arguments these Embassadors could use to undeceive his Royal Highness and encline him to revoke his Bloody Edict were still prevented by the Artifices of France so that they might well have expected this Answer only That the Duke of Savoy was so strictly engag'd to the Most Christian King that it was not in his power to comply with their Request nay tho' his natural Temper was the most averse in the World from persecuting his most faithful Subjects yet that of France having got the Ascendant both over him and his Council he was
King shall put it into the Hands of his Royal Highness to enjoy it for ever without demanding any thing for the Expences of that Expedition and to secure him in the Possession of it by protecting him against the Arms of the House of Austria VIII That he renounces for ever all the Rights and Claims which he and his Predecessors have had to the Dukedom of Savoy Principality of Piedmont and County of Nice IX That in case the War continue in Italy by the Refusal of the Neutrality the most Christian King will lend him his Forces for the Conquest of Geneva That if the Neutrality be accepted that Expedition shall be reserv'd till after the general Peace His Royal Highness on his Part promises to the French King I. To renounce the Confederacy and join himself for ever with the Crown of France To act unanimously with the Most Christian King in all that can make their Union lasting and their Alliance inviolable for the future II. That he shall never give his Consent to the Restoration of the Vaudois and that he shall repeal all the Edicts by which he had lately granted them the free Exercise of their Religion and their Return to the Valleys III. That he will use his Mediation to bring the Allies to a General Peace Let us examine these Articles and see whether his Royal Highness ought at this time to depend upon the Word of a Monarch who never scrupl'd to violate the Treaties he had concluded with the other Princes of Europe without any Exception We must consider in the first place That when the French King consents to restore Pignerol he does as much as give the Key of his Kingdom on the Side of the Alps to keep to the Duke of Savoy and loses for ever all the Advantages he had by that importent Place upon all the Princes of Italy By that means he leaves the Province of Dauphinê expos'd to the Irruptions of his Enemies and confirms the staggering Liberty of all the Princes beyond the Alps who were before as it were bridled up by Casal and Pignerol To this we may add That by that Restitution he sacrifices all the Resentments which for some late Years have occasion'd the Quarrels he has had with the Court of Rome during the Papacy of Innocent XI with the Republick of Genoa and some other States of Italy If the French King be sincere in the Restitution of Pignerol the Duke of Savoy has all the reason in the World to be satisfied with the Generosity of France and not to grudge all the Complaisance he has had for that Crown And indeed 't is a great matter for his Highness to get so importent a Place as Pignerol Besides the French King does not stay till he be compell'd to it by force of Arms He makes this voluntary Present to his Royal Highness even at a time when his Forces are so much superiour in Italy and that he is in a condition to strip the Duke of all his Territories by the taking of Turin the Capital City of his Dominions 'T is a great matter I say for the Duke of Savoy to get Pignerol But after we have taken a View of what the French King gives to his Highness let 's see what he reserves to himself He consents to the Restitution of Pignerol I grant it but then this is to be at a General Peace and after all its Fortifications are razed to the Ground By these two Reservations the French King plainly shews First That what he aim'd at was to engage the Duke of Savoy to use his utmost Endeavours to hasten a General Peace Secondly That when he restores this Place dismantl'd 't is only with design to re-take it whenever he pleases So that at best the Duke of Savoy is like to enjoy it but for some small time and perhaps Ten Months after the General Peace is concluded the French King will order his Troops to clear the Place To be convinc'd of this we must observe That in all Treaties of Peace the French King never offers to restore any strong Place but on condition of razing the Fortifications which shews his Double-dealing his want of Sincerity and his secret Desire of making himself Master of them as soon as he has gain'd his present Ends which are chiefly to disarm his Enemies while he keeps on foot a numerous Army of well-disciplin'd experience'd Soldiers when the other Princes disband theirs 'T is well-known by experience that France can raise again the Fortifications of a Place in very few Months and that often with little Expence because he not only makes use of his own Soldiers but also of the Inhabitants of the Place and their Money to boot Witness the Fortifications of most of the Fortresses in Flanders which have been built with the vast Sums that he got by Contributions All that the French King provides for his Share are Engineers good Order and Diligence as for Materials and Money the poor Inhabitant is always oblig'd to find them This Consideration makes the French King value so little the Restoration of a strong Place provided its Fortifications be demolish'd without which lie would never consent to it His End therefore in restoring Pignerol was to cast a Mist before the Duke of Savoy's Eyes and decoy him to break all the Engagements he was enter'd into with the Confederates But when he has brought his Designs about he will retake it the more easily because its Fortifications will then be razed which he shall never want either for Money Men or Materials to rebuild Besides what use can the Duke of Savoy make of Pignerol when dismantl'd Will that hinder the French King from having a free Passage to enter his Dominions upon the first Quarrel Or is his Country the more secure by it Not at all Therefore 't is evidently plain that the French has had no other Design than to delude the Duke of Savoy and at the same time lay a Trap for the Confederates the sooner to bring them to treat of a General Peace After all what does the French King give more to that Prince than what he had already offer'd in the first Proposals of Peace he made to the Allies But the Design of the Confederates was to oblige France to surrender Pignerol into the Hands of the Duke of Savoy in the Condition it was at that time and would never hear of its being raz'd Nevertheless his Royal Highness accepts of it as such and thinks it a good Bargain to get it in any Condition the French King is pleas'd to restore it to him But he may judge by this first Step of the Sincerity of the French King's Promises and since that Monarch deludes him in this Article he must expect no better in all the rest Therefore he loses more by abandoning the Confederacy than he gets by entring into a Private Treaty to the prejudice of his own Interest and the Contempt of so many Princes who had
put a Stop to the Designs of the French King However we may say that 't is by the Violation of Treaties that he has laid the Foundation of that overgrown Power which one might justly call the Tyrant of Europe and which has an absolute Sway in almost all Courts After so many living Examples and repeated Experience of the small Credit that can be given to the French King's Word we may safely conclude that his late Renunciation to the Dominions of his Royal Highness will not be of long Continuance The ninth Article whereby the French King engages and promises to assist the Duke of Savoy in order to reduce the City of Geneva was never made publick through Reasons of State and Policy as well as several others which have secretly been agreed upon by the French King and the Duke of Savoy Time will clear this great Mystery However it is certain that France for these many Years past has meditated the Ruin of that City The Protestant Religion which is profess'd there is the chief Reason of these two Princes Hatred against it Besides the good Successes the French King has had in extinguishing the Reform'd Religion in France give him the Hopes to bring it under his Subjection after a general Peace is concluded This grand Design had by this time been accomplish'd had he not fear'd a Rupture with the Switzers who have declar'd themselves Protectors of it He has already but too many Enemies upon his Back and therefore it is convenient for him to dissemble and temporize till he has decided the Quarrels he has with the Allied Princes In the mean time he has taken all the necessary Measures for that Purpose and the French Resident at Geneva is an ill Omen to the Safety and Liberty of that Republick since he only lives there to know their weak and strong Sides and observe all that passes which he presently acquaints his Master withal But when all is done perhaps the French King promises more to the Duke than he is able to perform 'T is not the first time he has been out in his Projects The Face of Affairs does often change in a moment and a small Disappointment may make his Designs miscarry But let us suppose that the French will make himself Master of Geneva what Security can his Royal Highness have that he will put it into his Hands and punctually perform all his Promises I do not know any Body would take upon him that Guarranty The French King's Honesty in those sort of Matters is now become so slippery and suspicious that it is more likely he would keep that Conquest for himself than resign it to the Duke Let us therefore conclude That this Article is just as those that went before that is imaginary and chimerical The French King will never want for colourable Pretences to call back his Word and keep his Promises to the Duke no farther than he has a mind to Thus having examin'd the Treaty of Peace concluded betwixt the French King and Victor Amedeus II. Duke of Savoy let 's now consider the Consequences of that Peace And first let us begin with its solemn Publication at Paris on the Tenth of September 1696. BE it known to all That a good firm stable and solid Peace with an entire and sincere Friendship and Reconciliation has been made and agreed upon between the Most High Most Excellent and Most Mighty Prince LEWIS by the Grace of God of FRANCE and NAVARRE King our Sovereign Lord and the Most High and Mighty Prince VICTOR AMEDEUS the Second Duke of SAVOY their Vassals Subjects and Servants in all their Kingdoms Dominions Countries Lands and Lordships of their Obedience That the said Peace is general betwixt them and their said Vassals and Subjects and that by vertue of the same it is lawful for them to go and come to return and sojourn in all the Places of the said Kingdoms Dominions and Countries to Trade and Merchandise hold Correspondence and Communication one with another in all manner of Freedom and Security as well by Land as by Sea and on Rivers and other Waters on this side and that side the Mountains and in the same manner as it has and ought to have been done in time of good sincere and amicable Peace such as it has pleased the Divine Goodness to grant unto the said Lords Kings and Dukes of Savoy their People and Subjects Which to maintain and entertain it is most expresly forbidden to all Persons by what Quality or Title soever dignified or distinguish'd to undertake attempt or innovate any thing to it contrary or pâ—judicial upon pain of being severely punish'd as Infringers of Peace and Disturbers if the Publick Repose Given at Oar Court at Versailles the Eighth day of September 1696. Signed LEWIS And a little lower Phelypeaux c. This Peace as you see was publish'd at Paris with all the Pomp and Solemnity that usually attend those great Events in which France has a more than ordinary Concern And there 's no doubt but she has affected to shew an uncommon Magnificence in this thereby to dazle the Confederate Princes and make the Success of a Negotiation which she looks upon as the Foundation of a General Peace sound high in all the Courts of Europe The French King's Policy is good enough as to that matter He loses nothing by crying up and proclaiming whatever he does and undertakes but often draws a great deal of Good from a false Shew and so turns both his good and bad Successes to his own advantage According to this Maxim it is observable That during this War when he has lost a Battel or a Town or suffer'd any other Damage he has caus'd Publick Rejoycings to be made and order'd his Generals and Governours of Towns to discharge their Artillery as if he had won a signal Victory over his Enemies This Conduct tho' a little unsincere has brought great Advantages to him First By that means he has dazzl'd his Subjects and kept them in Obedience by flattering them with imaginary Successes and has receiv'd from them at the same time all the necessary Subsidies to answer the vast Charges of a burdensom War Secondly He thereby has confirm'd the staggering Fidelity of the Conquer'd Nations In fine He has rais'd the drooping Spirits of the Soldiers that fought under his Generals and has as we say set a good Face on a bad Game Witness the extravagant Rejoicings made at Paris after the Battel of the Boyne upon the false Report of the Death of the King of England those that were made after the loss of a Fight at Sea and generally in all the Rencounters where the French King's Arms were worsted But we may freely say That all the Parade and Ostentation of the Court of France upon the score of the Peace of Italy will be so far from making any Impression upon the most Serene Allies to engage them to agree the sooner to a General Peace that it