THere is no man Professing the Religion of Christia­nity, that can put a greater Scorn upon Heaven, or give a greater Testimony to the World of the slight opinion he has of the Trinity, which he pretendedly adores, than by assuming the Title of Most Christian, yet in all his Actions abjuring, and violating not only the Fundamental Precepts of Christian Religion, but even of Common Humanity and Morality. They are worse than Devils, who pretending to own the Sacred Tri­nity, leave nothing undone in opposition to God and Na­ture. A great part of the Mythologie of the Heathens, is but a Description of the Most Christian King; under the Fables of Typhon, and the Gyants, warring against Hea­ven, setting forth his exorbitant Ambition, his con­tempt of all Religion and Justice, and accounting no­thing Sacred, nothing Honest, nothing Vertuous but his own Lawless Will and Pleasure: Under the Fable of Diomed, his inhuman Cruelty and Tyranny: Under the Fable of those Monsters, breathing out continual Fire, and consuming whole Regions and Countries with the flames that issued from their [Page 2]prodigious Jaws, his Depopulations and Devastations of Coun­tries, his reducing whole Cities to Ashes, and exterminating Millions of poor People from their Rights and Possessions, without provocation given, on purpose to satisfie his insatiate Ambition. These were those Monsters of old, so much re­sembling the Most Christian Lewis the XIV. which by the An­cients were look'd upon as the Nusances of the Earth; and for the subduing of which, so many Heroes were translated to the Stars, and so rewarded with Immortal Renown: A fair encouragement for the Heroes of this Age, of whom there are several that equal in Prowess and Conduct even Hercules himself, to sweep from the face of the Earth this enemy of Mankind, this common disturber of the Peace and Tranquillity of Christendom, this contradiction in Nature, the Most Christian Prosecutor of Christians, and the grand Actor of Impiety, Cruelty, Oppression, and Tyranny, upon the Stage of the World. When the Prophet cut Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal, the sentence was very short which he pronounced upon the Amalekite Prince, but very comprehensive: As thy Sword has made Women Childless, so shall thy Mother be Childless among Women. Had the same Ju­stice then been retaliated upon the Most Christian King, into how many bits would the Prophet's Indignation have minced him! But though the Prophet be in Heaven, who knows but the same Vengeance is now Prosecuting the Most Christian King by other Hands, since his Most Antichristian Sword, has not only made so many Mothers Childless, but so many Children Motherless. And that which heightens the Irreligion of all his unsanctified Actions is this; that Unmo­lested, Unprovok'd, by Fraud and Surprize he despoil'd his Nighbour Princes of their long enjoy'd Possessions, Sa­ked their Cities, Plunder'd and Murther'd their Subjects un­der the pretence of Airy Claims and Titles, merely to satisfie the insatiate Appetite of his Ambition, and engross the Uni­versal Monarchy of Europe to himself. War, it is confess'd, has it's Justifications, but they must be bounded within the Limits of Justice and Moderation; which if a Prince provoked and [Page 3]affronted to the detriment of Himself and People pursues, and then be comes the Victor, his extent of Dominion may be envyed, but never condemned.

On the other side if a Prince will be picking needless and fictitious Quarrels with his Nighbours, and be trampling, with­out the least disturbance or provocation given over, the Ru­ins of the Cities and Countries of his fellow Christians, mere­ly to propagate Ambitious Empire, he becomes the Esau of the World, and while his hand is against all Men, if all men's hands are against him, it is no more than what the Laws of God and Nature justifie, upon the account of Self-defence and Preservation. And indeed there are few men that would not think, but that so fair and lovely a Portion of the Earth were enough to suffice any reasonable Prince, and that it were a labour sufficiently toilsome for a Sovereign Monarch, though never so wise and dexterous, to sustain the ponderous Govern­ment of so Populous a Nation, without desiring to heap more weight upon his shoulders; unless we could be induc'd to be­lieve it the extreme Charity of the Most Christian of Kings, out of his extraordinary pity of so many Nations of Europe under the mis-government of other Princes, to reduce them all under his more Provident, more Easie, and more Equita­ble Dominion. But to that we can give no credit; when we find his own People so miserably Harras'd, Ransack'd, and Op­pressed, that the whole Nation seems to Toil, Moil, Plough, Sow, Plant, and Trade for the benefit of one particular per­son; where such is the deplorable Condition of the People, as would require a Pen of Iron dipt in tears of Bloud to describe it: Where a People naturally Active, Laborious, Sober. Industri­ous, inhabiting a Country fertile in Corn, in Wine, in Sheep, in Pasturage, in Oil, in Salt, and all sorts of Fruits; a Coun­try water'd with many large Rivers, having the Ocean to the North, and West, and to the South, the Mediterranean Sea; as if Nature, not content to have stor'd her with her own proper Products, would furnish her with all that Foreigners could afford her; where the People, I say, in the middst of such a Land, abounding with Milk and Honey, live in Cot­tages [Page 4]of Straw, reduced to uttermost Beggary; where the poor Husband-man, after he has till'd and sow'd his Lands, when Harvest is over, has nothing but Rye, Barley, and Chest­nuts to eat, and for his drink nothing but water squeez'd through the Lee's of the Grapes, after the Wine is all prest out: For that the Collectors of the King's Duties carry away his Wheat, his Wine and Oil, leaving him hardly where withall to sow next year, and pay his Tithes. Besides that, the whole Country is charg'd with Duties of Exportation and Importation, together with excessive Customs and Im­posts; and to consume what the Toll-gathers leave, the Soldiers run from Province to Province, to complete the mi­series of the poor People.

Since then the Most Christian King has so little Christian kindness for his own Subjects, it cannot be out of Charity that he seeks the Absolute Monarchy of Europe; but out of an insatiable desire to enrich himself with the spoils of all Eu­rope, and to reduce the Subjects of other Princes, whose hap­piness he envies, under the same Bondage of his Arbitrary Will and Pleasure, that his own Subjects groan under. And in this eager chase of Universal Monarchy, such is the Rage of his Ambition to kill and take possession, that under the pretence of a Holy War to destroy Hereticks, he spares none, neither Priests nor Ministers, dissolves Religious Societies as well as Reformed Churches, demolishes Monasteries, as well as Temples, and draws his Sword against the Papists with the same violence, as against the followers of Calvin; seeking af­ter a Most Christian manner to establish his Will and Pleasure at any rate whatever; and not caring what Laws of Religion, Morality, and common Humanity he violates, to have the Lives, Estates, and Consciences of all the World at his Com­mand.

This same Leprosie of Universal Dominion had long ago infected the French Monarchs, more especially Francis the I. who strongly stood in Competition for the Empire with Charles the V. and had engag'd several of the Electors on his side; but was frustrated in his expectations. Which so incen­sed [Page 5]him, that he proclaim'd War against the new made Em­perour, in hopes to gain by force of Armes, what he could not gain by fair Means. And to facilitate his enterprize, was the first that taught the French the Most Christain Trick of Leaguing with the Turks, to the ruine of Christendom. Which prospered with him accordingly; for notwithstanding the as­sistance that Solyman the Magnificent gave him by two Inva­sions of Hungary, and sitting down before Vienna, his Wings were clipp'd by the Emperour Charles the V. by whom he was taken Prisoner at the Battel of Pavia, and carried Priso­ner into Spain.

His Son Henry the II. pursu'd his Father's steps with much more Trechery, and for the time had better Luck, as having defeated Charles the V. in the Battel of Renty: But in the highth of his Successes was accidentally kill'd with the Splin­ter of a Lance, as he was tilting with the Earl of Mongomery in a Turnament at the Nuptials of the Duke of Savoy with his Sister.

Henry the IV. is said to have had the same design; to which end a little before he was stabb'd by Ravillas, he had rais'd an Army of Threescore and Ten Thousand Men. Though others say, it was not so much to attain the Imperial Diadem, as it was to fetch back the Princess of Con­de from Brussells, whither the Prince her Husband had sent her, to free her from the King's Amorous Passion, and him­self from Dis-honour.

The greatest part of Lewis the XIII's Reign was much dis­quieted by intestine Broiles, and Civil Dissentions, during the continuance of which the House of Austria was near bringing all Germany under their Subjection, and after the Battel of Prague, through the remissness of King James, stood very fair for the Universal Empire. But then France having at last quieted all her domestick Disturbances, under pretence of op­posing the Austrian Family, while she was courted by several Princes to Assist and Protect them against the Emperour, vast­ly encreased her own Power, and enlarged her Dominions by the Conquest of new Provinces, and the Acquisition of several [Page 6]considerable Town in Italy, Spain, Germany, and the Spanish Netherlands; which raising new Jealousies among her own Allies, occasioned the Peace of Munster, to prevent the far­ther Progress of her Arms.

Hence it is apparent that the French Kings, for several A­ges, have still, out of a restless and ambitious humour, been endeavouring to get ground upon their Neighbours, and to enlarge their own Dominions, always have been laying hold of all opportunities to disturb Mankind; never being able to set bounds to their Ambition: And therefore that it ever was, and ever will be the true Interest of Europe to oppose the French designs; or if there be any occasion at any time to make use of their assistance, not to accept of it any longer, than the publick benefit requires it, nor to suffer them to proceed when once the Danger is over, as was practised by the Peace of Passau, in the Reign of Henry II. and that of Munster, by both which the French were stopp'd in their full Career by their own Al­lies, though they still came off with advantage.

For there is nothing more certain, than that France can never grow great, but by usurping upon her Neighbours, as of late through the impolitick kindnesses of the two last Reigns she has done to the purpose; wherein she fails not to use Address and Policy by another name, called Fas and Nefas, to attain her ends: And thus it was that Henry the III. of France, under the pretence of sending succours to the Pro­testants of Germany, took Mentz. In short, he sent away the Constable Montmorancy, with fourty thousand Men, in shew to that intent; and to that purpose desired free passage for his Men through Mentz, which at that time was for the most part of the same Religion with those in Germany; and therefore in no good Correspondence with the Emperour. They joyfully a­greed to the Kings demand, and as a Testimony of their good will; they set up Tables in the streets, furnish'd with Victuals and Drink, for the refreshment of the Soldiers in their March, with many other great marks of Friendship and Rejoycing: But their Joy was soon chang'd into Tears, for so soon as the Cunstable (who was receiv'd by the Ma­gistrate [Page 7]with all the Testimonies of respect and kindness ima­ginable, was enter'd into the City; he feigned himself to be feiz'd with a fit of the Gout, and to be tormented with ex­cessive Pains, insomuch that he declared his desire to make his last Will, not knowing what might befall him in the War, which he was about to undertake; and therefore de­sir'd all the Magistrates of the City to be present as wit­nesses. But before this he had given Order to two of his principal Commanders, one to seize the Gate at which the Soldiers march'd in, and the other to take possession of the Gate, through which the Soldiers march'd out: The first was also to cause that part of the Army that was not enter'd to advance, and the second was to call back those that were already march'd out. And then it was that the Constable see­ing all the Magistracy and principall Gentry of the City stand­ing about his Bed-side in expectation of his Orders, started on a sudden from his pretended Bed of Pain, like an enraged Lyon, and stabb'd the Mayor of the Town with his Dagger to the Heart; upon which signal given, his Guards entered the Chamber and assassinated all the Nobility, and at the same time the Soldiers ran through the streets, crying out, The City is taken. And thus was Mentz immediately secur'd, plun­der'd, and subjected under the Bloody Dominion of the French King, and of an Ally, which it was before, become an enslaved Village. And this was one of the Conquests of Henry the III.

In like manner Lewis the XIII. Sir-named the Just, with the Title of most Christian to boot, not knowing how to make himself Master of Lorrain, by the advice of Cardinal Richlieu, that blessed Saint, came to Lyons with an Army. Of this the Cardinal sent Charles Duke of Lorrain notice, and word withall, that it would be requisite for him to wait upon the King to tender him his respects, and to assure him by word of Mouth of his good Intentions towards his Royal Person. Accordingly the Duke, not dreaming of any thing, went to sa­lute his Majesty, whom he found at the Head of his Army. But when he had perform'd his Complements, and thought to have returned home again, he found himself in the Lyon's [Page 8]Den, being arrested under pretence of some old differences. But then his Eminency stept in under the disguise of an In­tercessor, and pretending to make his peace, undertook to procure his Liberty, upon the surrender of Nants, the chief City and Key of his Dutchy; which for the sake of his Liberty the Duke was forc'd to doe and so the King enter'd with his Army like a Conqueror. And thus the World may see the real Honesty and Integrity of France, under Henry the III. and Lewis the Just; and that she is semper eadem, with­out any alteration, you shall find by the sequel of this short Discourse.

To Lewis the XIII. succeeded the Most Christian (as he styles himself) Lewis the XIV. in his Minority, under the Tuition and Counsels of Cardinal Mazarine, the true Disci­ple of Cardinal Richlieu, both Men in Holy Orders, and pre­tendedly devoted to the Service of God; but in the whole practice of their Lives abandon'd to the Finesses, and most Infernal part of State Politicks; who forsaking the paths of Vertue, and Sincerity, and wholly neglecting the Divine Precepts of Justice, and Plain-dealing, set them by their Great Lord and Master Christ, whose Ministers in an high Station they pretended to be, apply'd their whole Studies to advance the Reign of Rapine and Injustice, and to let loose all the Powers of Wickedness and Mischief upon the Earth. And as for Mazarine, having so fertile a Genius to manure, as that of Lewis the XIV. it was no wonder he became so prompt a Pupil, and so great a Proficient in all the Super-Matchiavil­lian Doctrines, which his Eminency had infus'd into his Most Christian Mind. So that he had no sooner put on the Robes of Manhood, but he began to act the young Nimrod, to hunt after the name of Great, and as if already he had had the promise of the Grand Tempter of all, These will I give thee, for falling down and worshipping, to believe all Europe his own by right of infernal Contract; he seem'd to scorn the petty name of King, while nothing would serve his Mind, but the more lofty Title of Sultan of the fourth part of the World.

True it is, that notwithstanding the Convulsions that threatned his Kingdom during his Minority, yet Mazarine having by a Conjunction with Cromwell, surmounted all those difficulties, much increased his Power, and inlarged his Con­quests by new Acquisitions: (For Cromwell, whom for his pains Mazarine was wont to call a Fortunate Fool,) gaping after the Golden Mines of Peru, to supply his empty Coffers, contrary to all the Rules of English Policy, was altogether for pulling down the distant Monarchy of Spain, and ad­vancing the neighbouring power of France. Mazarine had the length of his Foot; and therefore resolv'd to make the best of him, by pampering up his Gold craving humour, and fostering his Animosities against the Spaniard. And so cun­ning was Mazarine, that he granted the heedless Usurper what­ever he demanded, considering that when Cromwell had as­sisted him to doe his work, in bringing under the House of Austria, and by that means casting the Balance of Europe on the French side, he should afterwards have leisure enough to recover what he had seem'd to part with; which was af­terwards too unhappily verified by the easie regaining of Dun­kirk. Thus Cromwell being the first that rais'd the Grandeur of the French, to which he contributed not a little by the War which he made at the time with Spain; the two Prin­ces that succeeded him, were so wheedled and bewitched by the French Kings specious pretencees and fair Promises, that they did, tho undesignedly too much assist, him to get up to the Pinicle of Universal Dominion; as if this Most Christian King had made use of Charms and Philters to fas­cinate their Eyes and Ears, neither to see themselves so often abus'd, nor to hear the advices of their most faithfull Coun­sellours.

How happy was the King of England, at his first Restaura­tion, belov'd by his People, ador'd by his Parliament, and in perfect Union with his Nighbours the Dutch! What might not those two Potentates in close Confederacy have done? France trembled at the thoughts of it, and despair'd of gras­ping [Page 10]Universal Empire, unless she could divide this solid op­position, so pernicious to her soaring Projects.

The French King well understood that the King of Eng­land, would he but put himself to the trouble of knowing his own strength, and making a true use of it, was in a condi­tion not only to mediate, but to force a Peace among all the Potentates of Europe. For by a strict Union with the Hollan­ders he was absolute Master of the whole Ocean, and conse­quently of the Riches of the World; insomuch that the Mines of America, were not safe to the King of Spain but by his Permission; and by sending to the weaker side the assis­tance of his Land Forces, formidable as well for their Courage as their Discipline, he was able to have turn'd the scales of Victory which way soe'er he pleas'd. Now then in regard that by the common Rules of Policy and Fore-sight, the French King could not but be well assur'd that whatsoever Princes he assail'd, the other would be as certain in the weakness of his Con­dition, to have recourse to the two Grand Fortresses of Europe, Potent at Sea, and no less powerfull by Land, to prevent the Ravage of his Territories; whether the Dictates of Achitophe­lism, and Matchavillinism, might not in some measure justifie the most Christian King, in pursuing the best Methods he could, to separate such a Conjunction, so prejudicial to his aspiring Ambition and Self-interest, may not be so much, perhaps the Question; but whether he is not to be look'd upon, as the worst of the whole Race of Cain, and as a Mischief, and Pest which all Mankind ought to eschew; who, besides the most unchristianlike ways by which he sought to subdue his Enemies, treated his most faithfull Friends and Allies with that Infidelity, that Treachery, that base and scornfull Ingratitude as he did the King of England. By which it was plain, that all the Kindnesses and Remuneration which the Most Christian Lewis intended the King of England for all his Services, was only that he should have been the last, that for all his Services and Assistences given to the French Crown, to the over-sight of his own Interest, and his [Page 11]Peoples welfare, should have been rewarded with Invasion and Conquest.

To make this Separation therefore between England and Holland, the most subtile Mercuries of France were sent a­broad with their Silver Wands, to lull the British Argos a­sleep, and prevent his watching over the Hesperian Garden of European Liberty; or rather with a deeper Intoxication of Aurum Potabile Draughts, to allure his Ministers into a down­right Falsification of their Trusts. Nor was it possible for all of them to escape, being befascinated or to resist those Gol­den Temptations; but, like People that must go through with what they have taken money to perform, presently se­veral artificial insinuations of Injuries receiv'd from the Dutch, as to Amboyna, and the Fishery, were whisper'd about in Eng­land, while at the same time the freedom of the Sea, and the preservation of Trade, were with the same subtilty to be dis­puted in Holland, on purpose to exasperate the jealousie of those People. Things that might so easily have been adjusted where there had been the least Condescentions to Reason, that it was undoubtedly above the reach of most Mens un­derstanding, that the Policy of Great Britain should prefer a trivial Quarrel about Sprats and Herrings, (for the business of Amboyna had been compounded long before,) above the common safety of three Nations, and that a Protestant Kingdom, without being constrained thereto by some unavoi­dable necessity, should ever fight with so much Rage and Fierceness for the Destruction of the Protestant Interest: Or that English Counsellors should advise their Prince to run the Fortune of a French King, without any rational Prospect of Ad­vantage to himself. But it was plain that the Most Christian King was then laying his most Ʋnchristian Trains for the Destruction of England; and as palpable it was, that the Dutch War was design'd by the French to ruine the naval strength of both Nations, and thereby to break the Balance of Eu­rope. It was a Mystery beyond unfolding, that the Chief Ministers of England should take such strange Measures, so to mislead their Sovereign, that in order to the making good [Page 12]his Title to the Kingdom of France, he should enable the French King to invade all Christendom, and to extend his Empire beyond all bounds; or that to secure to himself and his Peo­ple the Sovereignty of the Seas, he should with so much in­dustry endeavour to force all the Dutch Ships, with all their Naval Power, into the Arms of the French, and rejoyce at their Victories as if by Conquering the Land, the French did not at the same time become Masters of the Havens, Rivers, and Fleets of the Dutch. And yet such was the vast Predominan­cy which French Treason, and the hidden Conspiracies of French Counsels had over these great Politicians, and the As­scendent which they had over the King of England, that he was so kind to the French King, for setting him together by the ears with the Dutch, that he sent him his Vice Admirals, and other Sea Officers, to encourage and promote the setting out of his Fleets, and in pity of their want of experience in Sea Affairs, took his raw Seamen by the hand, train'd them up in his own Fleets, among the best of his Seamen, and taught them that skill which the English had been many Ages a lear­ning; and all this in hopes to enable the French King to assist him in beating his best and most secure friends; wherein the French, according to their wonted Treachery, fail'd him too, when they were put to the Tryall.

All the World would have thought the King should not have so soon forgot the Punic Faith of France in their kindness to his Person, while he was abroad in Exile among them; or if then they might pretend the Interest of their Kingdom, and palliate their faithless and inhumane Dealing with him by ne­cessity of Self-preservation; yet no such necessity constrain'd him to forget the French King's opposing his Restauration with so much violence as he did; and his Caballing with his grea­test enemies to keep him out of his Kingdom, more especial­ly since he was then so sensible of it, when it was recent in his Memory; that upon his coming into England, he comman­ded away Monsieur Bourdeaux, the French Ambassadour, and would not suffer him to come into his presence.

But the Most Christian King knew full well how to work himself again into the King of England's favour, and at length by throwing a French Dalilah into his embraces, quite cut off the Locks of the British Sampson. All on a sudden France seem'd to be remov'd into England; nothing but French Bau­bles and Gugaws pleased our English Gentry: A French Fa­ction prevailing at Court, French Mountebanks for Physici­ans, French Fashions, French Hats, French Lackeys, French Fidlers, French Dancing-Masters, French Tooth-Drawers, French Barbers, French Air in our very looks, French Legs, French Compliments, French Grimaces, and French Debau­chery, to fit us for French Slavery: And had the French Dis­ease been then unknown in England, 'tis to be questioned whither it would not have been entertained with as general a Consent as the Sichemites submitted to the Pain of Circum­cision, though to the hazard of being all destroy'd by the French Simeon and Levi, while sore and driveling under the Distemper. Nor is it to be doubted but the French Christia­nity would have as easily made tryall of such a Design as they did of the rest of their Tricks, had they thought it would have taken effect.

It is well known, that before the first Dutch War was entred into, the King of England sought to make Alliances with France and Spain, but the Spaniards were so Cock-sure of the French Promises, that they would not make any Approaches to Friendship with England, without the giving up of Dunkirk, Tangier, and Jamaica.

As for the French, a Project of a Treaty was offer'd them, and promoted with all earnestness by the Lord H—s at Paris, but it was plainly discern'd that the principal designs of the Most Christian King was only to draw the King of England into such an Alliance, as might advance his design upon Spain; and therefore so soon as he had set the Dutch and us together by the Ears, and saw that thereby the Balance of Europe was broken, he no longer minded Alliance with En­gland: But after many Proposals of Leagues, and many Arts used to highten the jealousies between Us and the Hollanders, [Page 14]he at last sided with the Dutch, though to so little purpose, that his Intentions plainly appeared to be no other, than to see the two most Potent Obstacles of his Ambition destroy one another, to the end he might with less Opposition invade his Nighbours, and increase his own Naval Strength. Nay, the Juggle went much farther, for that in the heat of all the War, he still kept Negotiations on Foot, and made overtures and proposals of Peace, by means of the Queen-Mother, whom in the end he so far, and so treacherously deluded, as to ascer­tain her, and by her means to assure the King of England her Son, that the Dutch would not set out any Fleet the ensuing Summer, and yet underhand press'd the Dutch with all the Vigor and Importunity imaginable to fit out their Men of War again, with a promise, rather than fail, that he would joyn his Fleet with theirs against the English. Now it was upon a Supposal that the Most Christian King was at that time a good Christian and true to his Word, in pursuing his pretended Proposals of Peace; and upon that faithless French Paroll it was, that the King of England put forth no Fleet to Sea that Year, upon which followed that Fatal surprize of our Ships at Chatham; then which a greater Dis-honour never hap­pened to the Nation since the memory of History. But at last, as we had been oblig'd to the Craft and Treachery for the War and the Shame we received by it, so we were glad to re­ceive the Peace that ensued from his favour; which was con­cluded at Breda between England, France, and Holland.

By this Treaty of Breda, the French were oblig'd to restore St. Christophers to the English in the same manner and form as is exprest in the Articles; but instead of performing their Engagement according to the true intent and literal meaning of the Articles, they from time to time upon several unjust and frivolous Pretences, deluded and delay'd the English Com­missioners that were sent to take Possession of it; till finding there was a necessity to comply with us in so small a matter, while we were preparing to venture a second quarrel in their behalf, it was at last surrendred, after four year's baffling, to Sir Charles Wheeler. However to shew the perfidiousness [Page 15]of French dealing, before they deliver'd it they destroyed all the Plantations, laid the whole Island waste, and left it in a much worse condition than if it had never been planted. And as if the seizure and detaining of the King of England's Terri­tories had not been sufficient, they interrupted also the Trade of his Subjects in those Parts, and assuming to themselves the Sovereignty of those Seas, would not suffer any Ships but their own, to sail either by or about those Islands; but as if it had been Criminal so to doe, took and confiscated several Vessels up­on that account. From all which a Question will arise easie to be resolv'd, whither any thing be recorded of the old Carthaginians more perfidious than this; and whether the King of England might not have expected more Honest and Christian dealing from the unbelieving Turk, than from the Most Christian King.

'Tis true, that after the Peace of Breda, the King of En­gland was at liesure to consider how the French King had a­bus'd him, by engaging him in a War with his Protestant Nigh­bours, and how he had seemingly taken their parts to pro­long the War; that while they were battering, and bruising, and weakning one another, he might have the fairer Opportu­nity, in violation of all the most solemn and sacred Oaths and Treaties, to invade the Spanish Netherlands; and obser­ving with what a rapid Torrent of Victory he bore down all before him, thought fit to interpose before the flame that con­sumed his next Nighbour, should throw it's sparks over the Water; and therefore sent into Holland to invite them to a nearer Alliance, and to enter into such farther Counsels as were most proper to stop the Fury of the French King; which offer being by the Dutch embraced with open Arms, a defensive League was concluded in five days time between Holland and England, to­gether with another for the repressing the farther Progress of the French Armes in the Spanish Netherlands: In which the Sweeds afterwards making a third Party concern'd, gave it the name of the Triple League.

This was no way pleasing to the French King, however for a while he dissembled his resentment of the Affront, though from the first moment he resolved to make use of all his [Page 16]Charms, and Golden Magick to dissolve this Triple Knot, what­ever it cost him.

To this purpose the Duchess of Orleance, is said by the French to be sent over hither, believing no Instrument so proper as the King of England's own Sister to prevail with her Brother. King Charles met her at Dover, where their endearments one to another were so much the more re­ciprocally prevailing, by how much it happens that Princes more rarely than private Persons enjoy their Relations: And when they doe, yet their kind Interviews are many times at­tended with some fatal disaster; of which though there was no appearance here in England, yet the first News we heard of her upon her Return to France, was, that she was dead: How­ever the Affair was so dextrously managed, that a French Am­bassadour was forthwith dispatch'd out of France, and an English Ambassadour sent to Paris, and as the French gave out, a private League was clapt up, to the ruine of the Triple Alliance, to all the highth of Intimacy and Dearness; as if upon dissecting the Princess, there had some State Philter been found in her Bowels, or that a Reconciliation with France could not have been celebrated with a less Sacrifice than that of the Bloud-Royal of England. This supposed Treaty was a work of Darkness, not to be div'd into in a great while, but afterwards the French King caus'd it to be made publick, as we shall see by and by.

'Tis true, the Knowledg of this was of great Importance to England; but the discovery was the most apparent De­monstration in the World of French Perfidiousness, so enor­mous as it could not be imagined to have entred into the Breast of a Most Christian King, so treacherously to expose the Secrets of his dearest Confederate, after he had drawn him in by all the Assurances of his assistance imaginable: And the reasons that induc'd him to make the detection were no less Impious, though agreeable to the Practice of the French King; who after he has made it his business to decoy in Prin­ces, that lend an easie ear to his Enchantments, or with too much facility suffer themselves to be overcome by his Allu­ring Engagements, into any unseemly and dishonourable un­dertaking, [Page 17]believes he has them then safely tack'd to his In­terests, and that they will not dare to flinch from his De­sings, for fear of being exposed to their People, which he takes care in due time to have artificially instill'd into their Ears; a Maxim of Christianity which lies conceal'd from all other Men, but the most Christian of Princes: And thus it was, that the French King having amus'd the Emperor with the Noise of a Treaty, and at the same time brought the Turk into Hungary, to joyn the Malecontents, to excite his Private Confederate the King of England to follow his steps in Government Bare-faced, causes a little Book to be Printed and Published, with the Privilege Du Roy, Entitl'd, The History of the Transactions of this Age, and therein ordered the Dover Treaty (as they call'd it) to be in­serted, and to that purpose furnish'd his Historiographer with Notes and Directions by the Hands of his Secretary Colbert, to the end that the King of England, being truly as he de­sign'd, set out in his Colours, and despairing of being ever after trusted by his People, might be enforced to take such Resolutions as Despair and Fury should inspire him withall, to the Destruction of those he had so highly disoblig'd; there being nothing more than the Subversion of England which the French King aim'd at. 'Tis true, he was so kind as to re­call the Book, upon the loud complaint of the King of Eng­land's Ambassador; however it was an apparent Demonstrati­on to all the World, how little trust or reliance there was in French Amity, and plainly shews that there is no way to bind this mighty Sampson by Oath, Promises, Treaties, or by any other the most Religious Ties and Considerations, which are no more to him than Spiders Webs, but by an absolute clipping off the Locks of his Power, and disabling him so as never to rise more.

But to return to the Triple League: In the end the French King by his wicked Policy so contrived the matter, as to cause a new Rupture 'twixt the Dutch and the English; and as if he had intended to be the Master of Iniquity, and to make the King of England as bad as himself; nothing would [Page 18]suffice till he had prevail'd with the King to attack the Dutch Smyrna Fleet returning home, and dreaming of no such matter; which, as it was contrary to the Genius of the English Nation, and to the Nature and Gentle Disposition of the King of England himself, is wholly to be attri­buted to the Wiles and wicked Temptations of the Most Christian Prince, who never ceas'd pealing it into the King of England's Ears, that if he could but master the Wealth of the Smyrna Fleet, he should never want Mony again. And being thus betrayed by wheedling French Hal­lucination, what can the French expect but the Severity of England's just Revenge; wherein we may venture with the greater hopes of Success, as being engaged with all in the common Cause of Christendoms Tranquillity.

Add to this, that when the French King thought the King of England was engaged so far by the Smyrna Attack, as that he must needs go forward, the Most Christian King then open­ly declared, 'twas none of his Quarrel, and that he only en­gaged in it to assist the King of England, merely in respect to His Person: By which means the King of England was again betrayed and necessitated to declare War first, and to expect the Assistance of his Confederate afterwards.

Nor is it less observable, that the French King, in conjun­ction with a Protestant Prince, to render him odious among all the States and Princes of Europe, whether Protestant or Roman Catholick, gave it out, that the War against the Uni­ted Provinces was a War of Religion, undertaken merely for the Propagation of the Roman Catholick Faith, and as the French Minister expressed it in a Solemn Speech to the Em­peror's Council, that the Hollanders being Heroticks, who had forsaken God, all good Christians were bound to Unite to their Extirpation. To confirm which the more, the French Ministers, no doubt not contrary to their Instructions, de­clar'd and assur'd many Princes, that to let all the World see how far their Master was from any such Ambitious designs as were laid to his charge, and to satisfie the World that he entred into the War merely out of a Religious Zeal, and for [Page 19]the Glory of God; he was ready to part with all his Con­quests, and to restore to the Hollanders all the Towns he had won from them, if they would but re-establish the True Worship they had banish'd out of their Dominions. Such is the Most Christian King, who scruples not to falsifie with Heaven, so it may but support and colour his falshood upon Earth.

Well, the Most Christian King, having by his Ungodly Po­licy thus engaged us in a Bloudy War with Holland, pursues his own design by Land with all the Vigour Imaginable, in so much, that the swiftness and force of his Motion seem'd to be somewhat Supernatural; but all this while he leaves us to doe our own work by Sea. 'Tis true, his Fleet appeared a­mong us, and made up a third Squadron under white Colours, but under that Colour of Innocence, they thought it such a crime to shed Bloud, that they always kept out of harms way: Rather they did us more mischief than good, in regard that when our Admirals encountr'd the Enemy in hopes of their Assistance, they always left the English in the Lurch to bear the Brunt of the Engagement against the superiour Num­bers, which it was their Duty to have attack'd. A peice of Treachery so insupportable, that only they who suffer'd it would have endur'd it, by which the whole English Navy was absolutely betrayed by a faithless Allie, and by which the Lives of great numbers of the English were lost, which by their Con­junction might have been sav'd. So that it was apparent that those sacred Ships of the French were a sort of Noli me Tan­gere's, not sent to assist their Confederares, but only to sound the English Seas, to spy our Ports, to learn our Building, to contemplate our way of Fighting, to consume ours, and pre­serve their own Navy, to encrease their Commerce, and to or­der all so, that the two great Naval Powers of Europe having crush'd one another, he might remain sole Lord of the Oce­an, and by consequence Master of all the Trade of the World,

Thus it happen'd, that after three Engagements of Ours against the Dutch Fleet in one Summer, while nothing was [Page 20]tenable at Land against the French, it seem'd that as to us every thing at Sea was Impregnable; which was not to be attributed either to want of Courage or Conduct, but was only to be imputed to our unfortunate Conjunction with the perfidious French, like the misfortunes that happen to Men by being in ill Company.

This Misbehaviour of the French rais'd the Indignation of the English to such a Pitch, that the Parliament resolving to give no more Mony for the continuance of the War, the King was persuaded to make a Peace with Holland; which was concluded accordingly, toward the latter end of the Year 1673.

And to shew that the King of England had all the reason in the World so to doe, we are to take a little farther prospect of the uprightness of the Most Christian King to his Friend and Allie, who had at such a vast expence of Treasure espous'd his Quarrel.

For the French Army having passed the Wale, caus'd such a General Consternation all over Holland, and the Confusion they were in was such, they could hardly resolve whether to yield or continue to defend themselves. The States there­fore sent away several of their Deputies, some to the King of England, others to the Most Christian of Princes, to know of both upon what conditions they would be willing to make Peace and Agreement.

Those that were sent to the King of England (to shew how justly he intended to have dealt with the French, or whe­ther it were out of Fear of giving him any Jealousie or Of­fence,) were met as far as Gravesend, and being forbid their approach to White-Hall, were conveigh'd to Hampton-Court, and there, as it were, honourably confin'd, till his Majesty of England could hear from the Most Christian King, whether those Deputies might be admitted.

But the other Deputies no sooner arriv'd at the French Court, but two Secretaries of State were sent to them, who, without farther delay, demanded in the first place what Power they had to Treat; and next, what Proposals they had to make in order to a speedy Peace.

The Deputies answered, they came not to make Propo­sals, but to recieve Conditions from his Most Christian Ma­jesty, as it better became them. Upon which, to hasten them to a Conclusion, the French Ministers told them in short, That whatever his Most Christian Majesty had conquer'd, in their Dominions, he lookt upon as his own already, and there­fore would not part with it, without an Equivalent, as well for what he might farther subdue, before the conclusion of the Treaty, as for what he had already in Possession.

With this Answer Monsieur De Groet, one of the Holland Deputies, posted back to the Hague, and with no less speed was sent back again with full Instructions and Authority, jointly with the rest of his Colleagues, to treat and conclude a Peace with them.

No sooner was he return'd, but Monsieur Louvoy, one of the French King's Secretaries, gave the Deputies a Draught of a Treaty, or rather the Pretensions of the King his Ma­ster; upon the granting of which, he was both willing and ready to return to his former Amity with the States, and to conclude a firm Peace with them.

Upon which two things are Observable. First, that the Con­ditions themselves were such, which, if granted, would have made the French King as perfectly Master of the Country, as if he had Conquer'd it by the Sword. And, in the Second place, That in all the Articles there was not the least word relating to England, nor any more notice taken of the King of Great Britain, than if he had not been at all concern'd in the War.

And farther, to demonstrate that it was never the design of the Most Christian Prince, that the King of England should be a gainer by the War, Monsieur De Groet declared at his second return to the Hague, when he carryed the King's Pro­ject along with him, that when the French Ministers were ask'd what was to be done with England, they made Answer, that the States might doe as they pleas'd with England, and come off as cheap as they could, for that the French were not bound by their Treaty to procure them any Advantages. A great Happiness in the mean time for the King of England to [Page 22]be engaged in such a War, with such a False and Treacherous Allie; for it is plain, that the Dutch had no sooner signifi'd their desires, but the Most Christian Prince had it presently in his Head to have cheated the King of England. For could the Most Christian King in that same dreadful Consternation of the Dutch, have got the Possession of the United Provinces by the more concise, and less expensive way of Treaty, he would soon have found an expedient to have defrauded his dear Confederate of any share in them. Which was the rea­son the Most Christian Sophister spurr'd on the consternated Dutch with so much haste, and with such a clandestine speed pursu'd his Advantage, that the King of England might not have a Moment's time to provide for himself.

But the King of England having serv'd the Most Christian Prince more justly in his kind, by a separate Peace with Hol­land, and the sudden Advancement of His Highness the Prince of Orange, attended by the Fall of the De-witts, quash'd all the lofty Frenchman's hopes of gaining, either by Treaty or by Conquests, what his thoughts aspir'd to. So that now, as if he had been arriv'd at the Tropick of his Fortune, he was forc'd to roll back again with the same swiftness as he ascended to the highth of his success. However that he might not lose his old wont, as a mark of his displeasure, and as it were to punish the English Nation for his disappointments, notwith­standing the Peace that was still firm between the two Crowns, he let loose his Privateers among the English Merchants, to that degree of Treaty-Violation, that from that time for near two years together (Peace all the while, if French Peace may be call'd Peace,) there was no security of Commerce or Na­vigation, but at Sea they Murther'd, Plunder'd, made Prize, and Confiscated all they met with. The French Pickaroons lay before the Mouths of our Harbors, hover'd all along our Coasts, took our Ships in the very Ports, so that we were in a manner Blockt up by Water. And if any made Applicati­on at the Sovereign Port of the Most Christian Solyman for Justice, they were most insolently baffled, except some few who by Sir E. L's interest were redeem'd upon somewhat [Page 23]easter Composition. For evidence of which the following Papers, return'd by certain Members of the Privy Council, in Pursuance of the King's Order, as also the Register which was annex'd to it, of the several Vessels that were then complain'd of to be taken, are a Memorial not easie to be cancell'd.

So loud and so thick were the daily complaints of the English Merchants, of their losses sustain'd by the French Privateers, in the Year 1674. and 1676. notwithstanding the Publick Amity between the two Nations, that the King re­ferr'd the Examination thereof to several Lords of the Com­mittee of Trade, who, upon due Examination of the Affair, observ'd that the Petition of the Merchants, presented to the King the 31st. of May, 1676. was grounded upon these Heads.

First, That their Ships and Goods, though mann'd accor­ding to the Act of Navigation, and furnish'd with all necessa­ry Passes, were daily seiz'd, carry'd into Dunkirk, Calais, Sherbrook, and other Ports, the Masters and Owners kept close Prisoners, to force them by hardship to abuse their Owners, or else for the relief of their own private Necessities (being commonly Stripp'd and Plunder'd) to enter into the Privateers Service, which great numbers had done with very pernicious Effects.

Secondly, That the delay and charge of prosecuting the Law in France, did commonly make the Owners become losers of half the Value, when ever they were successfull.

Thirdly, That there was no reparation ever gotten from Privateers for what they Plunder'd and Imbezl'd, which made them freely seize upon all they met, and perpetually molest the Navigation of the King's Subjects; for which Reasons they humbly implor'd His Majesty's Relief and Protection.

Thereupon the King was pleas'd to command that some of his Frigats should sail forth to clear the Coast of those Privateers, seize them, and bring such as had offended to make Restitution. Moreover the King order'd, that the Lords of the Committee of Trade should take good notice of the par­ticular Cases and Complaints depending, that such as were [Page 24]of weight and merit, might be fitted for his Gracious Recom­mendation for Relief: As also to survey the whole number of Seizures which had been made upon his Subjects, in order to lay before his Majesty what hardships had been sustain'd at Sea, and what sort of Justice had been administer'd in France.

In Obedience to which command, they brought in a List of such Ships as had been seiz'd to the number of fifty three; and the Cases wherein the Owners had repair'd to the King for relief. Which, as in the General it suppos'd a Justice in such complaints, so it left a suspition of great hard­ships in the Methods of Redress; besides that the number of Captives was no small proof of the facility of Condem­nation.

While the Lords were in the midst of this Examination, there was presented to the Committee, as it was receiv'd from Monsieur Courtin, the French Ambassador, an Extract of a Letter from Monsieur Colbert to Monsieur Pompone, one of the French King's Secretaries, dated June 28th. 1676. in these Words.

To which the Lords of the Committee upon serious Exa­mination, by way of Answer represented to the King, That their Sentiments of the matter were quite different from what was pretended by the French; for that they understood that when the English Ships were carried into the Ports of France, many of the Mariners complain'd of ill Usage, and some of Torment, their Papers being seiz'd, and their Persons un­der restraint, till all the Examinations were ready prepar'd; and that then all their Writings were sent up to the Privy Council at St. Germaines, where judgment was definitively given, and seldom any reasons for the Condemnation men­tion'd in the decree, and never any Appeal or Revision ad­mitted; and whether that were the Tenderness or the Justice pretended by the French, they could not tell: But they ap­peal'd to the Ambassadour Monsieur Courtin himself, whether the Method of proceeding in England had not been quite otherwise; and therefore that the different Methods of Justice and Clemency in England, might have entitled His Majesty to a different acknowledgment, and more advantageous ef­fects from the French.

That as to the latter part of the Paper, it seem'd to con­tain very harsh Imputations upon the Trade of His Majesty's Subjects; and that only from some ill practices perhaps found out, general Rules were made, which having enter'd the [Page 26]Thoughts of some Eminent Ministers, that wonder'd that notwithstanding the frequent and multiply'd Recommendati­ons of his Majesty for Justice, the event of the French Try­als should prove so unfortunate; that if his Majesty would but cast his Eye upon the Causes annex'd, he would soon see.

Whether, as it was imputed, all the Ships taken were Dutch Built.

Whether they were all such as never were in England.

Whether all the Masters and Mariners were Dutch.

Whether the Cockets were for Persons unknown, and of­tentimes not nam'd.

Whether in the whole List there was any more then one Ship from Waterford, any more than six from the rest of all Ireland, or so much as one from Scotland.

Whether it were credible that all the Ships Company should swear they were bound for Holland, when so many were taken coming from Holland.

On the other side, His Majesty would find in the List how many were English Built, taken with English Colours, Eng­lish Mariners, English Owners; some of them known to His Majesty, and to whom the best Papers His Majesty could sign, or the Treaties requir'd were given all in vain.

So that if the Case were in the General quite different from what in the General is represented, they hop'd it was no crime for His Majesty's Subjects to make some noise in En­gland, when they are Damnified, and see their Goods taken from them by Violence, and that Violence rather justifi'd than redress'd by Law.

Wherefore considering that the Root of all these Disorders arose from the Violence and Rapine of the French Capers, who were to be lookt upon as Disturbers of the Publick Quiet, and Enemies of the Good Friendship between the two Crowns; they were humbly of Opinion that His Majesty had just Occasion from the injuries past, and those which were then depending, and which every day increas'd, to make a serious Representation of all to the Most Christian King, and not only to press for some better Method of repairing the [Page 27]Greivances mentioned, but to insist upon the calling in of all the French Privateers; or else that His Majesty ought to doe right, and give defence to his Subjects, from all the insolen­cies which they so frequently met with. This was sign'd.

• Anglisey
• Bath
• Craven
• J. Ernle
• Finch C.
• Bridgewater
• H. Coventry
• G. Carteret

I might here add the List it self, by which it plainly ap­pears, that, contrary to Monsieur Colbert's Allegations, the Ships so taken were all either English Built, or Foreigners made Free, fraighted by English Merchants, own'd by Eng­lish Men, and mann'd with English, with Cockets and Bills of Lading to English. But 'tis sufficient for me to shew, that the Ministers and the Masters are Christians alike, Plunderers and Robbers, not only of Imperial Territories and Royal Do­minions, but Beasts of Prey, that turn the Seas into a Desart, to gorge their voracious Appetites upon the Estates of pri­vate Persons; and that upon the Account their Injustice and Rapines so wickedly and unjustly practised upon the People of England, no Nation under Heaven can have reasons more allowable on their side to justifie a War with France, than England has, for the many Dishonours, Injuries, and Affronts so ungratefully done us, in recompence of all the Kindness and great Services done them from time to time.

For what greater kindness could there be, than to furnish the Aspiring Monarch with a continually recruited body of Ten Thousand of our English Youth, whose daring Bravery and Courage made oftentimes a Rape upon Victory it self, to force her on his side, and rescu'd once his whole Army from destruction; when in consternation, and pursu'd by the Imperalists, upon the fall of Turenne? Yet when by the importunity of the Parliament, they were recall'd out of his service, instead of fairly dismissing them, well pay'd, for Dun­kirk or Calais, from thence to cross over for Dover, which [Page 28]was their direct Way; they were sent through Burgundy, through Liomois, and so through the Provinces that lead to the Ports of Guyenne, that so the French might have time to debauch the Officers and Soldiers. In short, the Soldiers who since their being in France, had been accustom'd to drink Wine, finding themselves in a Country where it was almost as plentifull as Water, would not cross the Sea to go home and drink Beer, but took pay under the Captains of the French Army in Catalonia, who were for that purpose posted in their way. As for such of the Officers as had nothing to lose in their own Country, they were likewise debauch'd after the same manner, and dispers'd at the same time in the Regiment of Fustenburgh, which was in the Garrison of Per­pignan: So that when the English arriv'd at the Place where they were to Embark, they were not the Tenth of what they should have been, had France dealt faithfully in the Bu­siness.

Thus we have run through the Treacheries and Infidelities of the French in reference to England. There is no Questi­on, but much more might have been said; however, here is enough to shew that there can be no safety in the friendship of a Prince, who makes it his study to be injurious in all his Actions, and faithless in all his Promises: Mendaciis & falla­ciis tanquam praeclaris Artibus gaudens. But such is the mis­chief of that pernicious Vice, desire of too much Glory, that it constrains a Man to be perfidious, as it was said of Cneus Domitius; Nimiae Gloriae Cupiditas perfidum existere coegit. And this was a Maxim among the Ancients, that Fidelity, like the Soul, when it has once left a Man, never returns again: And therefore with such a one, Bellum suspecta Pace tutius est.

Now let us look Abroad, where we shall find the Most Christian of Princes, stradling over Violations of Oaths by a­nother Name, call'd Perjuries, and all the Laws and Bounds of Justice which God and Man have provided against the In­undations of Violence, to grasp the Universal Monarchy of Europe. There you shall find him Invading, Burning, Spoi­ling, [Page 29]Plundring, Sacking, and Depopulating the Territories and Dominions of his Peaceable Christian Neighbours, hew­ing out his way through the Bowels of Christendom to the Imperial Throne; and all this under Claims and Pretensions, abjur'd by all the most Solemn Renunciations that Religion could invent. Yet in Re-vindication of those Claims and re­assumed Rights so religiously renounc'd, like another Parenti­bus abominatus Hannibal, filling all with Bloud, Massacre and Devastation to Tyrannize over wasted Ruines, Cities laid Desolate, and desart Mountains, rather than not to Ty­rannize at all. Where he could not enter with his Sword, he open'd a Passage with his Gold for subservient Treachery, and the Foundations of future Mischief into the Courts of most of the Princes of Europe; deflouring the Fidelity of their Counsellers, and ravishing the Allegiance of their most Bo­some Intimates, as if there had been a kind of Omnipotency in the Power of France to make Treachery and Falshood Ubi­quitary.

Perhaps this may be thought a little too severe; but this is not a time to Complement the Publick Enemy of Christen­dom. This is a Season to speak out, since the wellfare of England is involv'd in the Common Fate of Europe. It is the Business of England to evidence how the French have violated the Law of Nations, which is common to all; and how they have labour'd to introduce such Maxims into the World, as would destroy even the whole commerce of Mankind, and render Humane Societies no less Dangerous than a compa­ny of Tygers, Bears, and Lyons. Nor is England less con­cern'd to defend the Publick Faith of Treaties against the crafty Elusions and Quaint Evasions of the French, and to re­move out of the sight of Christendom such Scandalous Ex­amples, which, by consequences no less fatal than unavoidable, would expose the Weakest to the Predominant Will and Plea­sure of the strongest, and establish Force, the Grand Arbitrator of all the Proceedings and Affairs of the World. It is the Business of England, in confederacy with Foreign Princes for the General Wellfare of Christendom, to betake Her self to [Page 30]such means and courses, as may put a stop to a rapid Tor­rent against the Impetuosity, of which no Ties of Treaty, Marriage, Oaths, Bloud, Kindred, Friendship, or Conde­scension, can be Mounds and Bulwarks strong enough to keep it within its Chanel. It is the Business of England, as far as in Her lies, to defend the common Interest of all Princes and States against a Prodigious Design; which for its Foundati­on, has nothing but an Exorbitant desire of Conquest; no other End, than only Dominion; no other Means, but force of Arms and Treacherous Policy; nor any other Bounds, but what Chance and Fortune will be pleas'd to prescribe. Lastly, It is not only the Business, but also for the Glory of England at this time, to recover Her former Grandeur; and as She was wont to doe, so at this time to decide the Fortune of Europe, and pronounce the Sentence either of Her Free­dom or Slavery: For between these two, there is no Medi­um to be expected, nor Peace to be secur'd. England for a long time has lain in a profound Lethargy, and therefore it is high time for Her now to awake, and put Her helping hand to prevent the Misfortunes and Calamities to which all Eu­rope is expos'd by the prevailing Tyrannies and Oppression of France.

We are then in the next place to consider how like a Chri­stian the Most Christian King has dealt with the King of Spain, his Brother, His Friend, and Allie, after a Peace the most Solemnly concluded and ratified, after the most Sacred man­ner that could be imagin'd. Certainly the Calamities, the Miseries, the Murthers, Rapines and Devastations, and Innu­merable Impieties that attend on War, are so disagreeable from the Principles of Christian Religion, that nothing ought to be more Seriously, more Moderately, and more Warily consider'd than the Justice of undertaking it: And therefore said Herennius, Captain of the Samnites, having enter'd into a War against the Romans, after all that could be done to procure Peace, Rerum humanarum maximum Momentum est, quam propitiis, quam adversis agant diis. Nor did he justifie the War upon any other grounds, than that his Country­men [Page 31]were constrain'd to it, and had no other hope but in their Arms. Justum est Bellum, Samnites, quibus necessari­um, & pia Arma, quibus nulla nisi in Armis relinquitur spes.

The Romans, though too blame perhaps in the Samnite War, (for which they dearly paid, and well it might be wish'd the French might pay as dearly for what they have done,) generally never enter'd into a War, but they set forth the Ju­stice of their Resentment, which for the most part was in revenge of their Allies, or to succour their Friends and Con­federates. Thus the first Punick War was to succour Messana in Sicily, besieg'd by the Carthaginians. The second in revenge of Saguntum, sack'd by Hannibal, contrary to the League between the two Common-wealths. And the third also for Reasons of the same Nature: And so cautious they were to avoid the Scandal of being thought to make War, merely out of an Ambitious desire to extend their Dominions, that after they had vanquish'd and reduc'd the Rhodians, who had taken part with Perseus in the Macedonian War, they let them go unpunish'd: Ne quis divitiarum magis quam injuriae Bellum incoeptum diceret. And the same Author says, that in all the Punick Wars, after the Carthaginians had committed many nefarious Acts and Breaches of Faith to their Detriment, they never took any occasion to doe the like; Magis quod se dig­num foret, quam quod in illos jure fieri posset quaerebant: So that occasions of enlarging their Dominions were rather of­fer'd than sought for by that Victorious Common-wealth. And it is observable, that the Ceremonies of denouncing War that were first instituted by Ancus Martius, the Heathen King of the Romans, were perform'd as Religiously, and with equal Soleminty to the Ceremonies of their Divine Worship. For when the Fecial came to the confines of the Country, against which the War was intended, Audi Jupiter, he cry'd; Audite Fines, Audiat Fas: Hear O Jupiter, Hear O ye Confines, hear Right and Justice: I am the Publick Messenger of the People of Rome, and come a Fecial, justly and piously sent, and let Faith be given to my Words. After that, having made his demands, he again calls Jupiter to Witness, and thus pro­ceeds. [Page 32] Si ego injuste, impieque illos homines illasque res dedier Nuncio Populi Romani Exposco, tum Patriae Compotem me nun­quam sinas esse; if satisfaction were not given by the Prince or People to whom he was thus sent within three and thirty days, the Fecial return'd again, and denounc'd War after this manner. Audi Jupiter, & tu Juno, Quirine, Diique om­nes coelestes vosque terrestres, vosque inferni audite; Ego vos testor Populum istum injustum esse, neque jus persolvere, &c.

Thus the more noble Heathen Romans, before they invaded the Borders of their Enemies, invok'd the Gods to Witness the Justice of their Cause, and the Wrongs and Injuries of those that had incens'd them to take Arms. On the other side, the Most Christian King not regarding either God or Man, unexpected, unprovok'd, nay, after he had given as­surances that he had no such design in his thoughts, thunder'd into his Neighbours Territories, under the Protection of League and Amity; and like a sudden Tempest, with Sword and Fire, levels all before him.

Such an Ignoble and Unprincelike way of entring into Hostility, as looks more like Robbing upon the High-way, than a generous Method of War: For that it was a base and ignominious surprizal against the Faith and Honour of a King, besides the Breach of Treaty is apparent from two Circumstances; the one that pass'd at Paris between the French King himself, and the Marquess De la Fuente Extraor­dinary Ambassadour from Spain, who being upon his return into Spain upon the Death of the Old King, and not a little apprehensive and jealous, that the vast Preparations made in France, were intended against the Queen and the Young Prince, was very importunate with his Most Christian Maje­sty, to give some new and greater Assurances to the Queen of Spain, of the reality and sincerity of his Intentions, though it were but only to quiet and settle her mind, against all the contrary Advices she receiv'd from all Parts. Upon which [Page 33]the Most Christian King with all possible Asseverations en­gag'd his Faith and Royal Word to the Queen, in the Per­son of her Ambassadour, that he would religiously keep the Peace, and continue a most faithfull Friendship both to Her and her Son.

Another circumstance was that of the Archbishop of Ambrun, who, after the French Army was already in the Field, and had possess'd Charleroy, some four or five days before the News of it came to Madrid, protested and vow'd in Verbo Sacerdotis, and by all that was Sacred among the Roman Catholicks, that his Master intended nothing less than what was reported of him, and that he would never break with the King of Spain, nor invade his Dominions as long as he was under Age. And when the March of the French Army, and the Hostilities which they committed, so little agreed with the Promises of the Most Christian King; answer was made that it was no Breach, but only a taking Possession of what belong'd to him: But the only way to surprize Men, is to take them unprovided; and the only way to take them unprovided, is to swear with all the Asseverations imaginable, that you ne­ver intend to doe them any harm. And this is one of the Most Christian Kings ways of making War upon his Neigh­bours, so far from giving them thirty three Days Notice of his coming, that he will hardly allow them thirty three Mi­nutes: But it is a meanness in a Prince instructed by so great a Tutor as Mazarine, to be a slave to his Word; for which reason Fides Gallica, is of late become Fides Punica, no sooner given but as soon broken.

True it is that the French Academy has been long endea­vouring to refine their Language, by leaving off the use of some obsolete Words, by introducing others of a new Coyn, and enriching it with several quaint Expressions of a fresher Date; but how they could alter the signification of Words, and call War by the name of Peace, is a thing not easie to be understood: And therefore it were to be wish'd, they would explain to the World what they mean by the word Rupture, and how they can make a violent Invasion with Men and [Page 34]great Guns, to agree with the Observation of a Treaty, which forbid all manner of Attempts by armed Force, and was stipulated and contracted to no other end, but to prevent them: That they would explain which way it is possible for Peace to consist with the Fatal effects of War; and how it is to be imagin'd that wanting the Formality of a Herauld to Proclaim the Hostility, it should lose all its Terrors and In­justice; since most Men of ordinary Reason believe that to be a Rupture which opposes the very Essence and Being of the Peace, ranverses the very Foundations, and discomposes all the Harmony of it.

Now the Causes that mov'd the two Crowns to make the Pyrenaean League, were the desires of the Welfare, repose and ease of their Subjects. The effect was, to put an end to the many mischiefs of the War; to forget and extinguish all the Causes and Motives which occasion'd the War; and to establish a Sincere, Entire, and Durable Peace between the two Kings, and their Successors.

All which was ranvers'd by the first Invasion of the Spa­nish Netherlands, which disturb'd the Welfare and repose of the People, renew'd the Publick Calamities, and rekindl'd all the Causes of the past Wars.

But to come to Particulars, the abandoning of Portu­gal was one of the essential Fundamentals of the Peace, without which it never could have been treated nor conclu­ded. In reference to this, the Sixtieth Article runs thus: For that His Majesty, meaning the Most Christian King, hath foreseen and fear'd, lest such an Engagement should be an un­surmountable Obstruction to the conclusion of Peace; and conse­quently, reduce the two Kings to the necessity of a parpetual. War. And a little lower in the same Article, he goes on in these Words: Although in consideration of the Peace, and con­sidering the absolute necessity his said Most Christian Majesty has been in to perpetuate the War by the Rupture of the pre­sent Treaty, which His Majesty found to be unavoidable, in case he would have any longer insisted upon prevailing in that affair with His Catholick Majesty, to have obtain'd other con­ditions, than such as he offer'd.

In the second place, it is plain that the King of Spain, to shew how resolv'd he was that France should abandon Portu­gal, rejected the French King's offering, besides the places he was bound to restore by the present Treaty to his Catholick Majesty; all the rest of the Places and Conquests, generally made by his Arms, during the preceding War, provided that the Affairs of the Kingdom of Portugal might be left in the same condition as they were then, as by another part of the same Article it appears: So that when nothing else would doe, it was by the same Article concluded and promised as follows:

His Majesty will no farther meddle with that Affair, and obliges and engages Himself, and promises upon his Honour, and upon the Word of a King, for Himself and his Successors, not to give into the said Kingdom of Portugal, either in General, or to any Persons in particular, of what Dignity, State, Condition, or Quality soever they be, now or hereafter, any Help or Assi­stence, Publick or Secret, Directly or Indirectly, of Men, Arms, Ammunition, Victuals, Ships, or Money, upon any pretence or any other thing whatever, either by Land or Sea, or in any other manner: As also, not to suffer that any Levies of Men be made in any parts of his Kingdom or Dominions; nor to grant Passage to any that may come from other States, to the Assistence of the said Kingdom of Portugal.

One would think that nothing could have been more au­thentickly expressed, or in terms more clear or more particu­lar, beyond the power of Nicety to find a flaw, or to make any other interpretation of the words, contrary to the sense and meaning of the Parties at that time. And yet the Most Christian King found out a way to fail in all the Points, and all the circumstances of his Promise: For notwithstanding his Honour, and the Word of a King, before the Treaty was sign'd, Cardinal Mazarine, sent privately the Marquess of Cheases in­to Portugal, to assure them, that tho' in order to the conclu­sion of the Treaty then on foot with Spain, the French were forc'd to leave them out, and to engage not to assist them; yet, whatever they promis'd, they would never forsake them, [Page 36]but would still protect them against Spain, as they had done before: And they kept their word with Portugal, because it was to the prejudice of Spain. To which purpose, the Peace was no sooner concluded, but they suffer'd several Bands of Soldiers secretly to convey themselves into Portugal; which being complain'd of by the Marquess De la Fuente, such was the Punic Faith of France, that openly they sent Publick Or­ders to the Governours of their Ports, not to suffer any Sol­diers to embark for Portugal, but underhand gave them o­ther Orders to let them pass by way of connivance. Soon after M. Turenne made publick levies of Men, for the relief of Portugal, which the Spanish Ambassador representing to the Council of France, receiv'd a cold and scornfull answer, that it was a particular Act of Marshall Turenne, wherein the Court was no way concern'd: Nor did the French cease to furnish the Portuguieses with Corn, and all sorts of War-like Ammu­nition and Provision. Moreover, Letters were intercepted by the Spaniard, by which they were ascertain'd, that all a­long after the Peace was concluded, the French fomented and encourag'd the obstinacy of the Portuguieses, and diverted them from accepting the advantageous conditions that were offer'd them, by animating them with the hopes of potent Suc­cours, not only for their own defence, but also to carry an of­fensive War into the heart of Spain. Other Letters were like­wise intercepted, Written from the Arch Bishop of Ambrun, and Monsieur Lienne confirming the continual correspondence which was between them in favour of the Portugals: Nor was this all, for the D. of B. was presently after the Treaty, sent to lie with the French Fleet upon the Coast of Portugal, and stay'd there a whole Summer to secure the coming and landing of Provisions and Ammunition, of which the Portu­guieses were then in extream want; and this at the same time that the French offer'd to mediate an Accomodation between Spain and Portugal. Nor was it long after the conclusion of the Pyrenaean Treaty, that Monsieur Colbert made several Voyages into Portugal, to encourage them against the Spaniards, and to enter into secret Alliance with them: And sometime after the [Page 37] Spaniards took a French Vessel, wherein was found an ac­count of the succours which France had sent from time to time into that Kindom; by which it appear'd, that France had paid at her own expence a standing Army in Portugal, to support a War against Spain.

And to compleat her Persidy, at length she concluded a League offensive with that Kingdom, of which these were the principal Conditions: That they would be the Friends of each others Friends, and Enemies of each others Enemies, England only excepted: That France should furnish them with us many Men, as should be necessary to carry an offensive War into Spain, both by Sea and Land, and should advance by way of Loan, the one half of the Pay for the maintenance of the Auxiliary Troops. That France moreover should pay them every Year by way of Loan, the summ of 300000 Crowns, and that all the Ports which should be taken from the Spaniards upon either Sea, should be put into the hands of the French, and that they should not treat either of Truce or League without joynt consent. This League to continue Ten Years.

By so many several Instances, let all the World be judges how little credit there is to be given to the Punic Faith of France, or what any other Prince can expect from his Ho­nour, or his Promises in any matter whatsoever; who thus foully forfeited such a most Solemn Engagement to the Crown of Spain. For that a Treaty carry'd on between two Princes in order to a Marriage, which is one of the most Solemn Ne­gotiations that can be handled among Men, and confirm'd by an Oath, sanctifi'd with all the most sacred Mysteries of Christian Religion, for a punctual obligation of performance, should be thus inhumanly violated, is not to be parallell'd by any Example or Instance in History.

That noble example of the Roman Consuls, who bid Han­no not to fear, the Publick Faith secur'd him, is a thing of late unknown in France, where there is no security or trust in the Honour or Royal Promise of the Prince. For his truth to Portugal was only self-interest, to support the Portuguieses a­gainst Spain, as formerly the French were wont to league [Page 38]with Scotland against England; so that whether the Character of Amurath the first, Emperor of the Turks, who is said to have been Homo fallax, qui datam fidem ex opportunitate pro­ferendi imprimis metiebatur, bello & pace simulato Egregius, may not fitly be apply'd to the Most Christian King, is left for them to determine who have felt the smart of his broken Leagues; which brings us to the second Breach of the Pyre­naean Treaty. It is said, and acknowledg'd by the Plenipo­tentiaries in 33d. Article of that Treaty, that the particular Captiulation of Marriage between the French King and the Eldest Daughter of Spain, bearing date with the General Treaty, was of the same force and vigor with the Treaty of Peace, as being the chiefest part thereof, and the most wor­thy, as well as the greatest and most precious Earnest of the security of its Duration.

The Queen Mother of France, and Aunt to the Infanta, desiring nothing more than the happy and suitable Union of two Persons that were so dear in her Affection, to remove all impediments, and dispell the doubts and scruples of the Spa­nish Counsel; found out an expedient, that by the contract of Marriage, the Infanta should absolutely renounce all man­ner of Right or Claim, which she might for ever have to the whole, or any parts of the Spanish Succession under any Pre­tence or Title whatever, to the end the Spanish Monarchy might in no case be liable, either to Foreign Subjection, or to be Dismember'd: And they were more inclinable on both sides to this expedient, because the way had been open'd for them before by the Example of the Queen-Mother, whose Re­nunciation was of the same Nature with the Pyrenaean, both in form and substance, and grounded upon the same incompati­bility of the two Successions.

The King of Spain believing the same sincerity in others as in himself, hearken'd to the offer, and thought that with such a precaution he might reconcile the Spanish Law with the Salique, and fully secure the Liberty of his Subjects. France on the other side acknowledg'd the thing to be just and usual, and freely consented to it, for the sake of the general good [Page 39]that should result from such a Peace, and confirm him in the possession of so many conquests. Thereupon the Instrument was drawn up by consent, and the French King oblig'd him­self to ratifie it.

Whence it is plain, that the Renunciation was an essential Member of the Peace, the very Soul and an inseparable con­dition of the Treaty of Marriage, without which it never had been projected nor concluded, and consequently neither the Treaty of Peace.

Then again, that it was no private Act, but a Law and Pragmatick Sanction establish'd by joynt consent of the two Crowns, is as clear from the words of the Act it self; And in the fifth and sixth Articles of the said Treaty, it has been decreed and resolv'd by joynt consent, that is to say, of the two Kings; and with one will, after serious consideration, &c. that both my self, and the Children which God shall give me by this Marriage, are and shall remain uncapable, disabl'd, and abso­lutely excluded from any right or hope to succeed in any of the Kingdoms, States, Signiories, &c. And a little lower, conde­scending to this with the joint desire and earnest wishes of their Subjects, Vassals, and Natives, who desire that it may have the force and vigour of a Law and Pragmatick Sanction, and that it may be receiv'd and observ'd as such; and some lines low­er in the following Section, are added these words: And it shall be decreed, by joynt consent, that it is their Majesties Plea­sure, that this Act shall have the force and vigour of a Law E­stablish'd in favour of their Kingdoms, and the publick interests of them.

A little above the three moving causes are specifi'd; And in regard it concerns the Publick State of both Crowns, that be­ing so large, they may never come to be united together, and to prevent all occasions that may happen of joyning them, &c. which is more fully explain'd two Pages lower. And having joyntly regard to the Publick and Common Good of the Kingdoms, which God has entrusted him with, which together with these be­longing to the Crown of France, are equally interested in this; that the Grandeur and Majesty which they have upheld [Page 40]and maintain'd for so many Years together; with so much Happiness and Glory to the renown of their Kings, may not be diminish'd nor fall to decay, as of necessity they will diminish and fall, if by the means and cause of this Marriage, they shall happen to unite and be joyn'd together in any one of the Children and Successors; the ill consequences whereof would cause such discontents and afflictions to the Subjects, as ought to be consider'd: Then the causes of the Renunciation are express'd to be the publick good of the Kingdoms, the preservation of the Grandeur, and Glory of their Majesties; to prevent the discontents of the People, and the Inconveni­ences which might otherwise arise, and to facilitate for the fu­ture the Marriages between the Children and Successors of the two Princes. All which causes being in their own nature unal­terable, and of necessity absolute, could not be fasten'd upon any particular Act, nor limited to any restrictive conditions.

This League therefore thus grounded upon these Foundati­ons, were such Limitations and bounds to a Person aspiring to the Universal Monarchy of Europe, as were not to be fenced in with the common Ties and restraints of Oaths and Treaties. And therefore so soon as the Old King of Spain was dead, the French Lawyers, well understanding the hu­mour of their Sovereign, and preferring the little Quirks of Law before the Publick Faith, started up a claim for their King in the right and behalf of his Wife the Infanta, notwith­standing her Solemn Renunciation, which was made a Mem­ber of the body of the Treaty, and as sacredly sworn to by the French King himself; pretending that a great part of the Spanish Low Countries was devolv'd to him in her Right by the Municipal Laws, and Local Customs of those Countries. Whereas it is a thing well known, that when Sovereign Princes enter into Treaties (which are indeed the true and only Laws between Monarchs) they are regulated and con­firm'd according to the Law of Nations common to all; and being so to be understood, it is an idle thing for Civilians to imagin, that a consideration of Laws Municipal, or customs belonging to any particlar Country, under the Dominion of [Page 41]either of the Treating Princes, can be admitted to the over­throwing of a Treaty, or the depriving either of the Parties of the Benefit and Security which he has thereby.

But notwithstanding the Renunciation was so carefully Penn'd, as if a whole Grand Council of Civil Lawyers had been call'd to out-doe all former Terms and expressions us'd in such Contracts, and to find out new binding Clauses; to prevent all possibility of Evasion, the French King was more easily in­duced to believe that his own great Cannon-Law was above all other Law, and more consentaneous to his Reason and his Designs; and therefore against the very sense and end of the Renunciation, under the slight pretence of a Non-Entity, he be­took himself to force and violence, and with a powerfull Army fell on a sudden upon Flanders, and other parts of the Spanish Territories, with such an Inundation of War, that it was im­possible for the unprovided Spaniard to resist him; more espe­cially, after such deep Asseverations, that all his vast Prepa­rations were no way intended against the Spanish Dominions.

These prosperous successes occasioned the Triple League, which put a stop to the French Career, and brought on ano­ther Treaty, which was manag'd at Aken, or Aix la Chappelle, in order to a new Agreement between France and Spain. The Observation of which affords us another instance of that ye call French Fidelity.

By this Treaty the French King was to remain possess'd of Charleroy, Binch, Athe, Doway, the Fort of Scarp, Turnay, Oude­nard, Lille, Armentiers, Courtray, Bergues, and Turnes, and all their Bayliwicks, &c. and restore to the King of Spain the County of Burgundy together with Alost. And to this Trea­ty all the Princes of Christendom were invited to give the two Kings their Promises and Engagements of Warranty, as to all the Contents of the Treaty. And by another Article of the Trea­ty it was accorded, that whatever should on the day of the Ratification of the Peace be found upon the Lands of France, should appertain to Her, and that whatever in like manner should be found upon the Lands of Spain, should appertain to the Crown of Spain; but, as if it were an impossibility for [Page 42] France to keep her word, the Most Christian Prince designing to make his Advantage of this Article, before the Ratificati­on came, caus'd the Ax to be set to a Wood of Overgrown Trees, which was upon the Lands of Spain, and having fell'd the Tim­ber, transported it into his own Dominions, that when the Ra­tification should come, he might have an excuse for what he had done.

In like manner, though he were to restore all Burgundy by the Articles of this Treaty without reservation, and though he were Sworn upon the Cross, the Holy Evangelists, the Ca­nons of the Mass, and upon his Honour, fully, really, and bona fide to observe and accomplish all the contents of the Articles: yet he both dismantl'd the strong Holds and Places of the Coun­ty, carryed away all the Ammunitions and Warlike Provisi­ons, and would have destroyed the Rich Salt Pits of that Pro­vince, but for the powerfull Interposition of England and Hol­land.

Nor could this Treaty of Aix, so religiously sworn to tie up the French King from exacting heavy Contributions from the Duchess of Lymburgh and Luxenburgh, from laying new claims to some Towns as important as any of those that had been granted him by the Peace; nor from confiscating the E­states of the Subjects of the King of Spain, that refus'd to for­swear their Allegiance, not sparing the Royal House of Mary Mont. And as if these Infractions and Incroachments had not been sufficient, they forc'd their way with great Quantities of Merchandize through the Spanish Territories, without paying Customs, and not long after enveavour'd to surprize the Town of Hainault. And in short, they did whatever they pleas'd, plunder'd even the most sacred Places, and acted without re­morce or pitty, whatever can be imagined by insolent and unconscionable Men.

This perfidious dealing of France with England and Spain, spreading over Europe like a Gangrene, as it prov'd extreamly prejudicial to some, so it became no less pernicious to others of the Europaean Princes.

Among the rest, the Duke of Lorrain, by the Pyrenaean [Page 43]Treaty, was to be restor'd to his Dukedom of Lorrain, with all the Places and towns which he had possessed in the Bishop­ricks of Mets, Tool, and Verdun. But France, after the Exe­cution of the other Articles of that Peace, delay'd as long as she could the performance of that part which related to the Duke, and still refus'd to restore him to his Country, till she had made him condescend to another Treaty with her, where­by he was constrain'd to part with several other considerable Places, besides what had been granted to him by the General Peace. Nor would that Usurpation satisfie her voracious Ap­petite; for that after a Year and an half of an unsettl'd Posses­sion, during which time, under several unjust pretences, new quarrells were every day pick'd with him, till she forc'd him with a considerable Army, to surrender into her hands his Town of Marsul.

Nor was it long after before the French again compell'd him to sign a new Treaty, still more disadvantageous than the two former; nor coudl he then, as little as before, have any quiet Enjoyment of that little they had left him, till they had worm'd him out of all. For every day the French encroached upon his Jurisdiction, the Liberties of his Territories, and his Sovereign­ty it self: He laid most Enormous Taxes upon the Duke's Sub­jects; he constrain'd him to disband his Forces, and then to raise new Men again, as the Most Christian Usurper thought fit. He was kept from revenging his own Quarrels, to take part in that of others, all his Enemies were let loose against him, to stop the progress of his Armies, as soon as he had gain'd the least Advantage. And in few Words, the Noble Duke, who deserv'd a much better Treatment, was all that while rather a Vassal to France, than a Sovereign Prince. Neither would this satisfie the Ambition of the French King, who fin­ding by many circumstances how highly the Duke resented such Despotick Ʋsage, he sent one of his Generals to surprize and seize his Person, and to bring him either dead or alive. A new French Mode of dealing with Sovereign Princes, not known in the more generous Climates of Europe, and which may give us some Hopes of seeing the Northern part of the [Page 44]World govern'd by Basha's as well as the Eastern.

But 'tis an infallible Maxim, that every Prince dispossess'd of his Estate, may hold for certain there will be nothing omitted on the Usurper's part, or Conquerer in Possession, to ruin him if possible, and all his Generation. Therefore 'tis not strange that the French King should leave no Stone unturn'd for the Destruction of His Highness of Lorrain: From hence it was, that the Imperial Governour of Philipsburgh, the same who af­terwards basely and cowardly surrender'd up that Garrison to Crequi, so notoriously and openly as he did, attempted the Destruction of that Prince, by a Trap-door which he cunning­ly caus'd to be contriv'd for that purpose in the Bridge of that Place; through which the Duke, not dreaming of any such French Treachery so near him, fell head-long to the Bottom of the Ditch. For may it not be justly inferr'd, that this Go­vernour had capitulated and agreed with some Christian Mi­nister of France, to execute so greatfull a peice of Treason, more especially, since it was by the Power of the Favourers of France at Vienna, that the Traitors escap'd altogether un­punish'd.

And now we are come to Vienna, it will not be amiss to take a short view of the Most Christian King's behaviour to­wards the Emperor, where he will be found nothing chang'd either in his Morals or his Politicks.

As for the occasion that ever his Imperial Majesty gave the French King, to make such Bloudy Wars upon Him, there is no body that can tell of any: Nor is it probable that a Prince so good Natur'd, so Piously inclin'd, so much given to Repose, and Peace, and so averse from contending with his Neigh­bours, or making War upon his Inferiours, as he is said to be, should be an Aggressor: But all the World knows that it has been long the Ambition of France to grasp in his hands the Universal Monarchy of the fourth part of the Habitable Earth; and this is that which makes the French King seek Occasions of Publick Universal Disturbance, and the better to succeed, to leave nothing unattempted that force or fraud can procure. It is no Quarrel between Nations, bearing enmi­ty [Page 45]to one another, neither is it in revenge of Injuries recei­ved, but an impotent Rage and Lust of Empire in one Man, that has set all Europe together by the Ears; Delirat Ludovicus, plectitur Europa. One man is mad for the Empire, and that madness of one man sets all Europe in a Flame.

Now for that the worst of Usurpers would be thought to have some glittering pretence for their Injustice, therefore it is that the French King makes it his business, to find out men of Wit and Cavil, to turmoil for Justifications of his illegal Actions; such men are easily found, and the Temptations of Gold makes them no less sedulous to gratifie the Jupiter that commands the Golden Showres; so that if they can but find him a Pretence of Claim, he'll find Armies and Bombs to make it good. Under the warmth of such Golden Encouragements was Hatch'd that Elaborate Peice, Entitled, The just Preten­sions of the King (meaning the French King) to Europe; wherein after the Author has laid it for a Foundation, that the Demesnes and Conquests of Kingdoms are always the Demesnes and Conquests of Sovereigns, and that the Conquests and De­mesnes of Crowns cannot be ascertain'd or prescrib'd; he adds, That the greater part of Germany is the Patrimony and Anci­ent inheritance of the French Kings.

Charlemaigne possess'd Germany not as Emperor, but as King of France. From which Doctrine it is evident, that his Impe­rial Majesty, nor indeed any Prince in Europe, can ever be safe, nor hope for any quiet, while the Ambition of France is in a condition to lay such a claim to their Dominions. More espe­cially, since it is known by wofull experience, that the French King gives no other Reasons for his unjust Violences, nor cares to give any other than what the Lyon gave to the weaker Beasts; one part is his Right, as King of the Forest, another because he is able to subdue; the third he takes by Force, and for the rest, touch it who dares.

Another Cunning, to set up a French Title is by the means of certain Scribes, as good as ever Granger, so dextrous at the strokes of their Pens, that they will imitate the obsolete Go­thick Characters with that exactness, that you would swear [Page 46]they were Written above Five or Six Hundred Years agoe, and by that means, they will set up a Dependence from such a distance of time, that Beelzebub himself shall not be able to disprove it.

Upon these Foundations it was, that as if he were dealing only with the Farmers of his Revenues, by a Publick Decla­ration he erected a Sovereign Court at Mets, compos'd accor­ding to the custom of France, of a dozen of his Lawyers, who, by virtue of the King's Authority, and the Ministry of the Catchpoles of that clandestine Jurisdiction, summon before them all such Kings and Princes as are possess'd of any Territory which the King is pleas'd to call a Dependence upon any State, with which he has nothing to doe; and when no body appears to acknowledge the Jurisdiction of this Tyrannical and Ʋniversal Piepoudre, and to give them an account by what Right they possess what their Predecessors have for three or four Hundred Years peaceably enjoy'd; presently the Most Christian Prince makes his own Power his Judges, and his Army his Advocates, and immediately with Fire and Sword seizes upon the confiscated Dominion. And by virtue of such Pretensions as these, he claims and has possess;d himself of the Dukedom of Lorrain, the Dutchy of Deux Ponts, and the best part of Al­satia, as being dependencies of the Bishopricks of Toul, Metz, and Verdun; and consequently must be united to the Demesnes of the Crown of France.

Having then so clear a Title to the Empire, no wonder he pursues so dreadfully the recovery of his Right. And yet the true Mother of the Child could not endure to see the Bowels of her Infant ript up before her Eyes; no, nor can we believe the Most Christian Prince to be the Hereditary Father of those Countries, which, in detestation of all Compassion, he so inhu­manly ransacks and depopulates; being then a Spurious Ti­tle, disown'd by the Legitimate Parents of all true Titles, Law, and Justice, which only fraud and force could make good. Of both how dreadfully, and how too successfully the Ambitious Monarch has made use in asserting his illegal claims, all Europe can too sadly testifie; no less lavish of his Gold than of hu­mane [Page 47]Bloud. The Grand Visier, and the Cham of Pre­copite Tartary, were his Pensioners, dazl'd with several Milli­ons of his Louisian Medalls; the one to divert the Arms of Poland; the other to keep his Imperial Majesty employ'd in the utmost Limits of his Dominions, bordering upon Turky, that he with the less resistence might revel in the Ruins of the flou­rishing Gardens and Cities of the Rhine. And as he tramples under foot all Faith and Honour at Home, so by tampering with the Ministers and Subjects of other Princes, he instructs them here to manage their fidelity to the best advantage of his own Ambition, and by a Metal of his own, tries what Metal they are made of before he deal with their Masters. And with this sort of White Powder, which does execution without Noise, shoots down more Citadels, Castles, and strong Holds, and takes in more Towns than all the Thunder of his Cannon. In so much, that it has been observ'd, that when his Ambassadors go abroad, they either carry along with them the Principal Engins, or else they are sent after them; an Am­bassador, or an Agent go before his Army and then usually a Conquest follows. [...] is his Motto: A new way to Honour and Renown, unknown to Alexander, or any of the dull Roman Conquerors.

Had not the Steward of Commissary General Capellier's House been tainted with this golden Poison, he had never been surpriz'd by his Master in the very Act of Traiterous Corre­spondence with the Minister of France, to whom he gave an ex­act accompt of all he could discover in his Master's House. And to confirm what his Master had detected, at length cer­tain Letters, which the Steward was to have received from the French Minister, were seiz'd at the Imperial Post-Office in Frankford.

After the Peace of Nimeguen, the City of Strasburgh thought it self in full security, confirm'd by several fervent and vehe­ment Letters, which the French King wrote to them from time to time, and the assurances given them by his Resident abiding in the City, that his Master desir'd nothing more than to live in Peace and Amity with the Emperor, and with the [Page 48]Cities of the Empire. And yet by the underhand, conten­ding and tampering with the same Resident, a Traitor was cho­sen Burghermaster, who acted altogether conformable to the Advice of France. On the other side, the Magistrates and Burghesses being lull'd asleep by the fair Promises and Protesta­tions of France, dismiss'd their Guard of Switzers, which were the chief security of their City: But no sooner were the Swit­rers departed, but Monsieur Louvoy with a powerfull Army invested the City, and forc'd them to surrender upon such Conditions as he was pleas'd to prescribe them. After which the French King made no scruple to violate those pitifull Arti­cles which they granted them, and to treat them as Slaves like the rest of his Subjects.

The Treaty of Nimeguen began in the Name of the most holy and indivisible Trinity; and the end of it was, that there should be an immoveable and unshaken Peace between his Im­perial Majesty and the French King, to stop the desolation of so many Provinces, and the Effusion of so much Christian Bloud; yet, no sooner was the Emperor engag'd against the Turk, and that Spain and her Allies had laid down their Arms and disbanded the greatest part of their Forces, relying upon the Faith of the Treaty of Nimeguen, but the Most Christian King fell in upon Flanders with a more than Turkish Fury, Burning, Plundring, and Levelling with the Earth whole Towns and Villages, on purpose to constrain the People to revolt, and to become his Vassals to preserve themselves from utter ruin.

The Correspondence of the Most Christian King with the Ottoman Port, is too well known, and how it was at his Most Christian Importunity, that the Grand Seignior broke the first Truce which he had made with the Empire, to second the designs of Count Teckeley, whom France, out of a particular Zeal to the Catholick Religion, assisted with Men and Money, and that prevailing charm it was that wrought upon the Port to send back Count Caprara, and reject the Propositions of Peace which he carry'd along with him. Of which the Mar­quess of Seppeville, then the French Ambassador at Viena, fail'd [Page 49]not with all diligence to give his Master Notice; who with no less sedulity dispatch'd another Person to the Grand Visier, to oblige and encourage him to contrive the Seige of Vienna, urging him that it was for his Honour not to quit it; That the City was at its last Gasp, and that it behov'd him to take it, whatever it cost him, for the sake of his Reputa­tion, and the publick Good of the Port; for that the S [...]ige having made such a noise in the World, he could not leave the prosecution of it without Eternal Infamy to the Ottoman Empire, and the Grand Vizier; adding withall, that to facili­tate the taking of the Town, and to divide the Emperors Forces, his Master would enter into Flanders with a Puissant Army, which would infallibly oblige the Princes of the Empire, to recall their Forces for their own Security. And in that point, he was as good as his Word to the Turk, entring Flanders at the same time with Fire and Sword, as if he had been second to Mahomet. But when Vienna was reliev'd, he was so far from partaking in the general Joy of the rest of the Christian World, that he forbid his Ecclesiasticks to observe any Thanks­giving for the Victory of the Christians, upon pain of incur­ring his High Displeasure.

Nor is it only by the assistence of open and profess'd Infi­dels, that the French King fights the Emperor abroad, but by the means of his pretended Friends, and nearest Counsellors, who having finger'd the Gold of France, become Traitors to their Lawfull Prince, and betray his very Cabinet Secrets. This occasion'd the misunderstanding that happen'd between the Duke of Brandenburgh and Montecuculi, General of the Impe­rial Forces in the Holland War.

For in the Year 1672. when all Europe look'd upon the Ʋni­ted Provinces near the brink of Destruction, the Elector of Brandenburgh, fore seeing the consequences to be expected from the successfull enterprises of France, took the Field with a con­siderable Army, at what time Montecuculi was on his March, with a design to act jointly. Upon which Turenne was sent to oppose those two Armies, but by the several Marches and Counter Marches which the Elector made, Turenne's Army [Page 50]was so tir'd and harrass'd, that about the end of the Campaigne it was in so miserable a condition, that all Turenne could doe, was to defend himself; which caus'd the Elector to make a vigorus Remonstrance of all things to be made to the Impe­rial Council. Which wrought so effectually, that positive Or­ders were sent Montecuculi to join the Elector and fight Turenne, without farther loss of time; so that nothing but Treache­ry, the mode of France, could have prevented the Total Ruine of Turenne's Army. But the French Instruments in the Imperial Court so order'd the matter, that Montecuculi's Orders were chang'd, and an express command sent him, neither to joyn the Elector, nor to fight Turenne. The Elector, who had receiv'd from the Court of Vienna a formal Letter, which gave him an Account of the true Order which the Emperor had sent his General to joyn him, and fight the shatter'd Enemies, wonder'd when Montecuculi, being by him summond to exe­cute the Order, refus'd to obey it: But Montecuculi, who knew nothing of the Letter sent the Elector, could do no less than follow his own Instructions.

The Elector was concern'd in Reputation to make the Em­peror sensible of Montecuculi's proceedings; and if Montecuculi was strangely surpriz'd, when at his return to Vienna, his Imperial Majesty call'd him to a strict Account, why he nei­ther join'd the Brandenburgher, nor fought Turenne, the Em­peror was no less amaz'd, when his General produced for his discharge an Order in exact form, forbidding him to doe either the one or the other. This was a perfect Mystery, however, afterwards it was found out to have been a contrivance be­tween the French Emissaries, and some of the Imperial Mini­sters, who having easily found a way to intercept the Origi­nal Order, and in the same Dispatch to transmit a false one under a counterfeited Hand and Seal. And thus perhaps it was that General Souches, after the Battle of Senneff, drew off from the Prince of Orange, and left him in the Lurch, under pretence of not having order to doe any more than what he had done.

Tarbrack was a Town upon the Borders of Germany, that [Page 51]stood conveniently for the purposes of the French King, and therefore he resolv'd to fortifie it. On the other side, the Imperi­alists complain'd of it to the French King, as a Truce and Treaty both at one time; but all the Answer they could get, was, that the Royal Chamber of Mets had irrevocably decreed it to belong to the Crown of France, and therefore the Imperialists had no reason to complain of a Sovereign Monarch's fortifying his Frontier Towns.

His very proposals of Marriage are only snares to entrap such Princes as will accept of his Matches; and because his main design is at the Empire, therefore he strives to scatter his Crrces and Medias among the Princes of Germany, Believing Wives to be the fittest Instruments to betray their Husbands, and the nuptial sheets to be the seeurest Harbours for Trea­chery.

Thus after the Marquess of Bethune's Sister was married to the King of Poland, jealousies between the King her Husband and the Emperor were fomented, and Factions set up in that Country, by the means of those Golden Rays which the Sun of France displays in that Court by the Hands of the Bankers of Hamburgh and Dantzick. And the more to encourage her to play her Gaime according to the French Instructions, his Most Christian Majesty made her Father a Duke and Peer of France, and promis'd to receive her as a Queen, and not as a Subject, if she return'd a Widow, in her own Country. Thus he thought to have caught the Young Duke of Bavaria with one of his natural Daughters; but that Heroick Prince despis'd the Motion. And if the French King were assur'd that the Young Prince of Poland should succeed his Father, there is another natural Daughter of France ready prepar'd for him; for other­wise, it would be a Daughter merely thrown away, if she could not be in a Station to serve her own Country. For that the main end of the French King, in giving French Wives to the King of Poland, and the several Princes of Germany, is to di­vide the strength of the Empire, and lessen the Authority of the Emperor, by separating from his interest the particular Princes of the Empire by private Intrigues, and distinct [Page 52] Treaties, which though it be contrary to the Treaty of Mun­ster, yet that signifies nothing to a Prince who has no such Veneration for Leagues as to think them worth observing.

As for the French King's dealing with the Duke of Nieuburgh it was somewhat Barbarous; for that, after the French King had caus'd him to Mortgage the greatest part of his Estate al­most beyond the hopes of Redemption, in expectation of the Polish Crown, to which France had promis'd to advance him by the assistence of a strong Party, which she had in that King­dom, contrary to the Treaties, as well with the Duke as with the Elector of Brandenburgh, and to his reiterated Promises and Vows, both by word of Mouth and in Writing; he under­hand, by his Creatures and Agents, oppos'd the Duke's preten­sions, and endeavoured with all the industry and importunity imaginable, to have the Prince of Conde preferr'd before him, and all the rest of his Competitors; a sufficient warning to all Princes how they relie upon the broken Reed of French In­tegrity.

The Elector of Brandenburgh was environed with French Emissaries and Spies, and some of his Principal Ministers so in­toxicated with the Elixirs of France, that nothing was said or done in his Palace, of which the French Envoy had not swift Intelligence. And the World was well inform'd of all the In­trigues and large Presents, which Monsieur De Rebenack scatter'd about in that Court; of which the Agent himself was so unwary, or so foolish, as to make his boasts.

The Elector of Saxony better understood his own Interest, and therefore would not bite at the Golden Hook, as one that disdain'd the treacherous Offers of France; but the French King endeavour'd by other ways to raise him disturbances in his own Family, and to set him at Variance with his Neigh­bours, which would have strangely imbroild him, had not the Emperor in time provided against those Mischiefs. However, lest it should be said there was any Court in Christendom, where­in the French King had not some Plough or other going, he for­bears not to send into Saxony such as know how to accom­modate themselves to the Humour of the Country, more espe­cially [Page 53]the stoutest Drinkers he can find out, who by that means, making themselves familiar at the Tables of the Great Persons, watch their opportunities in the highth of Jollity and Compotation to draw the Worms out of their Noses, and dive into the bottoms of their open'd hearts.

The Palatine Electors, neither Father nor Son, would close with the Interest of the French, and therefore his most Chri­stian Majesty sacrificed the depopulated Cities of that Country to his Fury, even to the compassion of some that were the Executioners of his Rage; a Depopulation which none but such Monsters of Men as the Most Christian King employs would have undertaken; Men so impious and fearless of God, that one of them being mildly reprehended for the burning of a fair Town, reply'd, That he would burn God in Heaven, if his Master the King of France commanded him to doe it. But per­haps the Most Christian King is of the Opinion of the Antient Galls, believing there is no way to give peace to a Country, but by rooting out the Inhabitants, according to that of Ta­citus, Galli, ubi solitudinem fecerunt, pacem appellant.

Nor could the Bishop of Munster, as cunning as he was, preserve himself from being out-witted by the French infideli­ty. For that being comprehended in the League of the Rhine, when he found himself attack'd by the States of Holland within the Empire, he implored the Aid of France according to the Guarranty, but in vain; for which when he was about to make his complaint, he was of a sudden overwhelm'd with the Forces of France, and had not his Enemies us'd Moderation to­ward him more than his own Allie, his Territories though the Patrimony of the Church, had been laid in Ashes before now.

When the French King broke Faith with Holland, to the surprize of a great part of their Country, he was so far from assigning any Cause, true or false, for his Actions, that he on­ly publish'd a Declaration of War without any other Reasons, than only the Ill satisfaction which His Majesty had of the be­haviour of the States General toward him, being risen to that Degree, that he can no longer without Diminution of his Glory, dissemble his Indignation against them, &c. Therefore he had [Page 54]resolv'd to make War against them by Sea and Land, &c. And commands all his Subjects courit sus upon the Hollanders, for such is Our Pleasure.

Certainly it was never known that in any Age or Nation in the World the Sword was drawn upon no better Allega­tions; a style so far from being Most Christian, that nothing but some French Romance could parallel the Expression. All that can be said, 'twas A la-mode de France.

But Holland had no reason to wonder at these proceedings, considering what a Prank the French. King had plaid them be­fore, when he pretended to joyn with them in the War a­gainst England. At what time France, by virtue of a Treaty of Guarranty with the States of the United Provinces, after se­veral requests ineffectually made by the States, found her self oblig'd to make a shew of undertaking to defend them against England; among the rest of the Articles, there was one by which it was concluded and agreed in express terms, that the Allies should not Negotiate, much less conclude any Peace or Truce with the common Enemy, without the consent of the other, and without procuring the same satisfaction for his Al­lie, as he would for himself. The States tied themselves with that Integrity to this Obligation, that notwithstanding the considerable Advantages offer'd them to treat separately; they would not so much as lend an Ear to any Proposition of that Nature. France on the other side, had always kept on Foot a private Negotiation, which nevertheless the Dutch had all the Reason in the World to suspect, because of the continual Post­ing of Curriers between Paris and London. However France confirm'd them so authentickly in a contrary belief, and gave them such positive Promises, that she would never hearken to any Proposition, unless in a joint Assembly, for a General Peace, that she order'd the Count D' Estrades, that in Case the States would not give Credit to what he assured them as an Ambassa­dour, he should quit that Character for so long time, and pawn his Faith to them as a Private Person. A great honour indeed to the Count d' Estrade, to have the Reputation of a Person that would not tell an untruth, but under the Character of a [Page 55]Publick Minister of France, and that the Probity of his Per­son was above the Dignity of his Employment. Though had he been so improvident to have been bound for his Master, he must certainly have answered both the Principal and Interest; for certain it is that England and France concluded the Peace without the consent or so much as the knowledge of the States; neither did France make any mention of them or their Interests, or of any reserve or relation to the General Peace. But that which was more surprizing was this, that after the French King had thus concluded a private Peace with England, notwith­standing he had promis'd the King not to exercise any Act of Hostility against him, he us'd all his endeavours to oblige the Dutch to put forth their Fleet to Sea, engaging to join with them, and agreeing upon all the Conditions necessary for that purpose. A double headed peice of Treachery, fit to be recor­ded to the Eternal Infamy of the Faith Breaker.

If we look into Sweden, we shall find that she was con­sider'd as more potent than Denmark, and therefore a League was clapt up with them, to prevent the Danes assisting Hol­land, and by that League the King of Sweden was to receive by way of Pension or Gratuity, Sixteen Hundred Thousand Crowns. But the French, upon second Thoughts, finding the Treaty with the Sweeds to be of little use to them, refus'd to ratifie it, and sent away Monsieur Trelon, to tell the King of Sweden in short, that his Master declard it void; a quick and Majestick way to rescind a Treaty at any time.

If we remove into Poland, there you shall find no body more busie than the French King's Ambassadors at the Elections of the King, to procure the choice of such a one as may be tack'd to his Interest, or at least such a one as may have no kindness to the House of Austria, and all this to enable him the more to disturb the Peace of the Empire. In pursuance of which un­godly designs, under a pretence of Advancing the Affairs of Poland, and settling a perfect Amity with that Kingdom, the French King contriv'd a Marriage for the Polish Prince, with a Lady of France. By which means he had a fair opportunity to send thither as her Attendents, and for the more Splendor [Page 56]of her Fame, so many expert Instruments of Mischief, that im­mediately they form'd and settl'd a Cabal with such Intrigues as in a short time enflam'd the Nobility of that Kingdom into Animosities and Factions, not likely to be so soon again extin­guish'd: And at that time they wrought so far, that the King soon after became willing to resign the Kingdom; upon which, the Turk, seeing the great Divisions that were rais'd among them, was the more easily allur'd in by the French Cabal, who procur'd by Versallian's directions that Mischief, partly out of revenge because they could not compass another King either of French Bloud or French Interest at the next Election, and partly, because the New King had contracted a Marriage with the Emperour's Sister.

And now Poland, by reason of its Situation, being shel­tered under the Wings of the French Ambassador, is fix'd upon by the French, to convey themselves from thence into Hun­gary, and the Ottoman Port, for the better and more easie carry­ing on their Intrigues between France, the Male Contents, and the Turk. And first, it appear'd by several Letters dispersed both in Constantinople, Transilvania, and Hungary, that upon the 30th. of December, 1681. the War was resolv'd upon, and Sworn to against the Emperor, in the Serraglio of Constantino­ple, in the Holy Council, call'd the Divan, where the Mufti, High Priest of the Mahomitan Religion, sits President. Which sufficiently laid open the Authors and Procurers of that War, and clearly shew'd, that the French were not asham'd, as if it had been a famous Action in them to take advice of the Divan, and applaud the success of the Negotiation, as they did in their Letters written backwards and forwards to the Rebels, in which they congratulated with the Rebels; for having drawn the Rebels to their Succour, they promis'd each other in their Letters all the Advantages they could expect, which aim'd at no less than to have driven the Emperor out of the best of his Dominions.

It was known that such of the Hungarians as were forc'd to run their Country for conspiring against the Emperor, liv'd on­ly upon such supplies of Money as they receiv'd from the [Page 57] French, to the end they should not be constrain'd to make their Peace with the Emperour, whose Clemency they were made believe extended no farther than to offer it; so that they re­solv'd to prosecute their Enterprize upon the Promises that were made them from France. Which was the reason that Akakia renewed and confirm'd more powerfully than ever the League and Alliance with the Male-Contents in Hungary. The French Emissaries also, without any shame of violating the Law of Nations, and in Countries where the Solemn Treaty of Peace was in full force, though they had been manifestly disco­vered in a secret Conspiracy, run on afterwards more than ever with an unparallell'd Impudence, as if all things had been law­full for them to act without controul.

An Hunderd Thousand Florins were ordered at Paris to so­ment the Discontents of the Hungarian Rebels, and quicken the Motion of the Turks; which summ was deliver'd at Dant­zick, and paid into the Hands of a Banker, who afterwards deliver'd it into the Hands of the French Emissaries, at several Payments, the better to hide the Business. And the Sieur du Vernay Boucauldi, Count Teckely's real Spie, caus'd to be deli­ver'd to the Sieur Valentine Nemessan 11300 Duckats, to oblige the Male-Contents to take Arms again, and attack the Citta­del of Zatmar, after the French Mode; that is, to endeavour to gain the Garrison or Citizens with Money.

These Tricks of the French Emissaries were so well known, that the Princess Radzivilliana forbad the suffering any French to pass through her Countrey of Saculia, fearing lest they should as in other Places, corrupt her People with Money, and one being taken passing through her Countrey, was by her command laden with Irons, and severely punish'd. Neverthe­less they took other Roads, and had frequent private enter­views with Valentin Nemessan, Peter Jagel, and other parti­cular Friends and Allies of Teckely. They made it their Bu­siness likewise to have more and more frequent conferences in Transilvania, sending first one, and then another to Paris with ample Accounts of their Proceedings, and for farther In­structions.

Of all these things the Emperours Ambassador in the Court of Poland complain'd to his Majesty, and desir'd that no French Man, not being an Ambassador, or bearing some other Employment, might be permitted to stay in his Dominions. Upon which the King gave Notice to the French Ambassador, to order Akakia and Du Vernay to withdraw: The Senate al­so told the same Ambassador, that they well understood that the French were they who had stirr'd up the Troubles in Hungary; that they knew what Money had been given for it, what Ca­bals they had held, and what the Sieur du Vernay kept every day. They declared him to be a Spie, and that he had no o­ther business to detain him about Leopold, but only to treat with the Turks and Mahometans about drawing the War into Hungary. The Ambassador answered, that Vernay was sent with him into Poland to manage the Affairs of the Most Christian King his Master, and deny'd that either Vernay or he had any commerce with the Hungarians or Turks.

But the Spanish Ambassador having made new Discoveries, renew'd his complaints to the King, who gave him Audience in the presence of Vitry the French Ambassador, and before the whole Senate; where he spoke a long time against the a­bominable Methods and Practices of the French, carry'd on by Vernay, to promote the Troubles of Hungary, and bring the Turks into Christendem; but then it was that Vitry, having no way to avoid it, declar'd Vernay to be joint Ambassador with him from the French King; by that means to shelter a Trai­tor to Christendom under the Protection of the Law of Na­tions.

Much about the same time the Castellan of Primistau per­ceiving that neither His Majesty of Poland nor the Senate ex­pell'd the French Spies, and moreover that their designs still succeeded better and better, refus'd to permit Vernay to enter his Village of Nimoravia, but sorced him to pass another way.

Vitry was highly incens'd at this, and going directly to Court, laid before the King the Affront and Indignity offer'd to his Associate Vernay, and was so bold as to demand the Im­prisonment of the Castellan for satisfaction; but the King not [Page 59]enduring his Confidence, told him plainly, that it was to no purpose to couch Vernay under the Quality of an Ambassador, for that the Tragedies he acted under the vain pretence of an Ambassador, were too well known; that all the devices of the French, and their contracts with the Turk were discover'd, that the places which Vernay had corrupted were named; their Resolutions and Designs known, that he could exactly tell how much Money had been remitted from France to Hungary, and how they had us'd Violence, Deceit, and wicked Practice a­gainst the Emperour, to the misfortune of Christendom.

The Ambassador would have pretended to have clear'd him­self of these things, which he said were wrongfully charg'd upon his Nation. But the King growing hot, would not hear him, only told the Ambassador he would lay Ten Thou­sand Pistoles with him, that he would undeniably prove all that he had said to be true.

At which the French Ambassador stood amaz'd, and by his silence sufficiently confirm'd the thing. The rest of the French that were present also, in a Consternation fix'd their Eyes upon the Ground; not lifting them up, but to gaze upon one ano­ther, as it were accusing themselves. So certain it is, that the inward reproach of Conscience, and the secret Power of Truth, put the most fierce and confident out of Countenance, and by reducing the Guilty to a shamefull Silence, force them to make some sort of confession of their Crimes.

Besides what has been recited, there were several Letters in­tercepted, which clear'd up the Truth of the French correspon­dence with the Turks and Hungarian Male-Contents. One from Monsieur Vernay to Count Teckely, wherein the French Spie tells him, that he had receiv'd with great joy the Let­ters which he sent him from the Camp before Filleck, en­clos'd in the Packets of the French Ambassador at Constan­tinople. That he had endeavour'd to send Jaygell what he had promis'd him, and what he had receiv'd, but wanted an Opportunity; farther he desir'd the Count to order it so, that his Messengers should come to him by Night, and directed him which Road they should take, to avoid the Searches of [Page 60]the Polonians, concluding that he should take care in all things that the Count should be pleas'd to command him.

Another Letter from Count Teckely to Vernay, wherein the Count gives Vernay thanks to his faithfull Agent Valen­tine Nemessani, and promises him to acknowledge it, as oc­casion should serve; gives him an account of his taking Cas­sovia and Filleck, and how he intended to prosecute his good Success.

Another Letter from Peter Jaygell Governour of Cassovia to Monsieur Vernay; wherein Jaygell gives Vernay an Account of the taking and dismantling of Filleck, that Teckely had been Proclaim'd King of Hungary, and confirm'd in that Qua­lity by the Great Turk, who sent him from the Port a Hat instead of a Crown, a Standard, and a Sceptre. He tells Vernay farther, that Nemessani was gone to treat of Affairs at the French King's Court, and presses Vernay to hasten the supply promis'd by the French King.

Sufficient Proofs of the pernicious and Most Anti-Christian Treacheries of the Most Christian King to the ruin of Christen­dom. After all this, to shew the extent of French falshood, you shall see that if it stand with his own Interest, the French King will not stick to betray himself, and discover his own Trea­sons; for that at the beginning of the Dutch War, when he saw the Emperour arming himself in good earnest to assist the Dutch, to dissuade and divert him from his purpose; and to engage him, had it been possible, not to concern himself in the Quarrel, he very fairly offer'd to deliver into the Emperour's hands all the Original Letters and Papers he had receiv'd from time to time from his brib'd Friends and Creatures in Poland and Hungary, to the end that both his Imperial Majesty and the King of Poland might take such Orders as they thought fit with those Traitors, which may serve as a fare warning and determent to all those that prefer French Money before their Loyalty, and the true Interests of their Country.

'Tis true that for some time the Most Christian King made the raising of his Seige from before Luxenburgh a great Ar­gument of his Christian Zeal and Generosity to his Imperial [Page 61]Majesty, not to assail him when the Turk was at his Doors, but the true ground of his retiring, was this notwithstanding his specious pretences, at the instance of the Confederates, all good Offices were done by the King of England, and Memo­rials given, but all to no effect, till the word Parliament was put into them. That powerfull word had such a charm in it, that even at a distance it raised the Siege; which may con­vince us of what Efficacy a King of England's words are when he will give them their full weight, and threaten with his Par­liament.

Then it is that he appears that greater Figure which we ought to represent him in our Minds, the Nation his Body, he the Head, and join'd with that Harmony that every word he pronounces is the Word of a Kingdom. Such Words are as effectual as Fleets and Armies, because they can create them; and without this, his Word sounds abroad like a Faint Whis­per, that is either not heard, or which is worse, not min­ded.

But to return to the French King, and bring him home to his own Dominions, where you shall find his extraordinary Kindness to his then Highness the Prince of Orange, in de­molishing the Castle, and pulling down the Walls of the chief City of his Principality of Orange, to save him the expence of a Garrison, and Plundering and Exacting vast Summs of Money from the Subjects of another Prince, living in Peace and giving him no Disturbance, merely under pretence of entertaining the Children of Hugonots. Nay, you shall find him persecuting his own Subjects under the Name of Here­ticks, and sending his Missionary Dragoons to convert them by ransacking their Houses, robbing them of their Goods, de­filing their Wives, deflowring their Daughters, and inflicting upon the Men torments more cruel and inhumane than those of the Ten Persecutions; and all this while, they were under the Protection of several Edicts, solemnly granted and ratifi­ed to them for the Exercise of their Religion without distur­bance.

These are the Renowned Acts of Lewis XIV. displaying the lovely prospect of his Falshood to England, his breach of Faith with Spain, his Infidelity to Holland, his Juggling with the Northern Princes, his Treacherous Aspiring to the Imperial Throne, his vast Expences to divide the Princes of Germany from the Empire, his endangering the subversion of all Christendom by confederating with the Turk, and his Vi­olations of the Peace of his own Subjects.

In a word, it has been his common Practice to give the World all manner of Disturbance, and to render France the common Enemy of the Peace of Mankind; and a publick Pest among all States and Princes; in every Countrey and Kingdom he either finds Combustible Stuff, or else makes it, and then sets Fire to it, being at an excessive charge to find Fod­der for the various Animals of Faction in all Places. Which sort of Politicks appear to be so much the more Criminal, because there is no just revenging them, but that which obliges all generous Nations to fight their Enemies with their Arms in their hands, and openly. There being nothing so base as that which makes Men make use of wicked devices and execrable Treasons as the instruments to ruine others; nor does he that thinks to assume the Name of Great by unwor­thy Artifices, render himself a whit the more truly Glorious: Souls truly Royal and Magnanimous have always despis'd the Conquests they could more easily obtain by Cunning and Trapan, than by Force and Arms: And it was out of their Opinion, worthy a Noble Spirit, that Alexander the great sharply rebuk'd his Favourite Parmenio, who would have put him upon a crafty contrivance, telling him, it was only fit for Robbers to have recourse to Treachery, as their only meanes to compass their Theiveries. But the French King is of another Temper, and thinks it more safe to conquer by Divide & Impera, than by dint of Sword. He knows him­self good at Burning, witness Alsatia and the Palatinate laid in Ashes, and therefore thinks it better to set other Countries, which he cannot otherwise come at, in a Flame by Treachery and Faction, that having enough to doe to quench their own [Page 63]Fires at home, they may have neither Leisure nor Power to hinder his Projects abroad.

Doubtless then, since England has so lately seen her Nigh­bours Houses in so sad a conflagration, it is a sufficient Justifi­cation for her to look to her own, and to secure her self and all Europe from such Boutefeus, and the said effects of their impious designs.

Seeing then there is so little credit to be given to the Car­thaginian Faith of France, and that all the Motions of that aspiring Monarch tend directly to the subversion of the whole frame of the Government of Europe, and to erect a French Tyranny over all the enthrall'd Princes of this same fourth and best inhabited part of the World, there are two Motives which ought to excite the Princes of Christendom, to take the common cause in hand: the one is interest of State, the o­ther the strickt obligation of Justice. The first is, the general concern of all the Potentates of Europe; the second, the par­ticular interest of the Princes of the Empire. We shall only take notice of the former, as being the most Ʋniversal, and most considerable in the World, and which will lead us in­sensibly into the second. The grand concern is now to support the Right of Nations, which is common to all, and to prevent the introducing of Maxims into the World which destroy all commerce among Men, and will certainly render humane Society no less dangerous and insupportable than that of Lions and Tygers; to defend the publick Faith of Treaties, and re­move from the sight of Christendom a scandalous example, which, by the fatal consequences of it, will surrender the most feeble to the Will and Pleasure of the strongest and most Po­tent; to stop the Inundation of a Rapid Torrent, against the impetuosity of which neither Leagues nor Marriages, nei­ther Oaths nor Ties of Bloud and Parentage, neither Amity nor Condescentions, are Mounds or Damms sufficient to de­fend the common Bulwark of Christendom against a vast de­sign, which has no other ground than the Insatiable thirst of Conquest, no other end than despotick Domination by dint of Arms, and slight of Intrigue, nor any Limits but such as [Page 64] Fortune shall prescribe. In short, England is now to decide the Fate of Europe, and to pronounce the Sentence of her Liberty or Bondage.

Nor does there want justification sufficient to pursue so great and glorious an Undertaking to the utmost, when we consider the Maxims of France, which are easie to be ga­ther'd from the past and present conduct, her insulting Mo­narch, whose design was to have thrown his Wash-pot over the Empire, and his Shoe over all the rest of Europe. The first Mixim of France is, to make War alwaies abroad, and to exercise her Young Nobility at the expence of her Nigh­bours. A Maxim very Politick, and well adjusted for her own Advantage; but very incommodious for all the rest of the World: For it is certain the Genius of that Nation cannot long endure the Calms of a Lazy Peace, so that if you can­not find employment for them abroad, they will be framing Commotions and Disturbances at home. The Eldest Sons of all their Noble Families carry away the Estates without lea­ving any thing to the Younger, but an empty Title and their Swords; so that being little addicted to Learning, and dis­daining the life of Mechanicks, nothing remains but War, or Thievery, to rescue them from Misery; which is the reason that the Politicks of France oblige her to be continually picking Quarrels with her Nighbours, to evaporate those Flames, which otherwise would prey upon her own Bowels.

Their second Maxim is, to insinuate themselves into all sorts of Affairs on which hand soever it be, and to make themselves Ʋmpires in all business, either by Force or Subtil­ty, by Threatnings, or under pretence of Friendship, to wrig­gle themselves into Treaties of Peace where they are Parties interested, as they did in that of the Bishop of Munster, and afterwards in the Assembly at Breda. There never was any Quarrel wherein they had not the cunning to pretend some Interest or Right; and never any People shew'd the least inclination to rebell, but they always made them their Al­lies. But experience tells us, that they never took part in any War but to enflame it the more, nor ever interpos'd [Page 65]in any Peace, to Sow the Seeds of new Differences.

Their third Maxim is to make Interest of State the only rule of all their Actions, without having any regard to the Faith of Treaties, or the Sanctity of Religion, or any other Ties of Parentage or Friendship, according to the Fundamen­tal Principle of the D. of Rohan, That Princes commanded the People, and Interest commanded Princes: So that all that the Turks have gain'd upon Europe from the time of Francis the First till this time, they owe to their Alliances with France, and the Diversions she has made in their favour, by giving disturbance to those that enterpriz'd any thing against the common Enemy.

Their fourth Maxim is, to keep, as much as in them lies, all Foreign States employ'd and divided at home, or else engaged in Foreign War, (of which England in particular has found the sad Effects,) and under pretence of assisting some­times one, sometimes another, to seek their own Advantages in the Troubles of others.

These are the Maxims of Men that make haste to be Rich in Ignoble Conquests; and the infallible marks of a profound and vast design, that must be stopp'd in time, to stop the spreading of the Ambitious Grangrene; for from a Royal and powerfull Professor of such Maxims as these, there is no Prince that can be safe in his Dominions. Among private Persons it is the most difficult thing to deal with a Man of a large Conscience; how much more a most Herculean task it is to cope with a mighty Potentate whose Conscience is no less wide than his Ambition is Vast, who having eleven Millions of Sterling Pounds, torn from the Bowels and Mouths of his poor and wanting Subjects, at command, to maintain his Wars, and bribe his way to Conquest through all the Fences of Religion, Morality, and Common Justice, values not the tremendous Anger of Heaven, nor the Violation of all the Laws of God and Nature, nor the preservative Consti­tutions of Men to attain his ends. It is said of Tamerlane, though a Soythian and Barbarian, that to one who earnest­ly importun'd him in behalf of Bajazet, he made this an­swer, [Page 66]that he did not punish a King but an impious and ne­farious Man. The same justification have the Princes of Europe, that they fight not against the Most Christian King, but an Anti Christian Ʋsurper, who conquers to oppress, and oppresses merely to support his Oppression; and shew the Gran­deur of his Power.

England has more just pretences to his Dominions, than perhaps he has himself, at least far more just than what he has to the conquests which he has wrested out of the hands of the Spaniard and the Emperor. England has the greatest Reason in the World to recover her Antient, and till lately uncontested Glory, and assert her long continued Dominions of the Seas, usurp'd by the Assistence of a purchas'd Navy, which if once destroy'd, nothing but the same opportunities could again recover. It is said that the Partcullis was added to the Royal Badges of the Crown of England, to signifie that the Kings of England had a just Right and Title, at plea­sure to shut up and open the Sea when they thought fit; and it may still be prov'd by several substantial Evidences, that the King of England's Title to the Propriety of the Sea, is as good and perhaps better than any Title the French King has to any part of his Dominions by Land. And the Letters are still to be seen in the Paper-Office at White-Hall, if not remov'd, Written by this King's Grandfather with his own hand to King James, to ask leave for some few Vessels to Fish for Sowles, as he should have occasion for his own Ta­ble; and it ought to be so agen, for it is only fit that Eng­land should guard the Seas, that so well defend and guard Her. Justice it self now loudly calls to England to demand satisfaction for the illegal and vexatious Depredations and Practices committed upon her Merchants, even at the time when she was in strictest League and Combination with her, to the ruine of her Trade, which is the Apple of her Eye, and the main support of her Wooden Walls, her chiefest Glory, and, next under Heaven, her chiefest Safeguard and Protection. She ought in Justice and Honour to resent the Indiguities and Affronts so lately put upon her, in making her that ought [Page 67]to be the Balance of Europe, the Derision of her Enemies; and only the Pity of her Friends; such a generous Animo­sity and Resentment as this would wean the English Nation from that fond Dotage upon French Baubles, French Fashi­ons, and French Vermin, to the loss of above Sixteen Hun­dred Thousand Pounds Yearly to this Kingdom, (there ha­ving been Yearly so much more imported of French Commo­dities, than exported of ours,) which only serves to enrich the Capital Foe to our own Ruine, and to fit us for the Toke of French Slavery. For this is a certain Rule, that the first step to the subducing of a Nation is to insinuate into them a good liking, or rather a dotage of those that are to be their subduers; and therefore it was, that the French King obser­ving, that while the English were under the Conjunction of, the Triple League, there was a general humour in the Na­tion in opposition to France, insomuch that they had thrown off the French Mode and put on Vests, to the end we might look the more like a distinct People, and not be under the servility of Imitation, which alwaies pays a greater reve­rence to the Original, than is consistent with that Equality which all independent Nations should pretend to; I say the the French King observing this, did not like this small be ginning of ill Humours, wisely considering it as a natural Introduction, first to make the World his Apes, and then his Slaves; and therefore he set his Instruments at work to Laugh us out of our Vests, which she performed so effectu­ally, that in a Moment, like so many Footmen who had quit­ted their Masters Livery, we all took it up again, and re­turn'd to serve the French.

And happy would it be for England if she would cast off her French Modes, her French Fashions, and French Hu­mours, which only serve to corrupt and soften the minds of those for whom it would be much more glorious to re­member the Fields of Poictiers and Agencourt, and rather to study the generous Examples of their victorious Ance­stors, than be the Slaves of French Imitation. The conque­ring Romans retir'd indeed to Athens to improve their Lear­ning; [Page 68]but it betrays a poorness of Spirit inexcusable in the English, who have two such Magnificent Ʋniversities of their own, to gallop to Faris for Breeding; as if Coupees, Complements, Grimaces, and Shrugs of the Shoulder were the only Accomplishments of a Gentleman. Surely it was much better both for England and the General Peace of Europe, when the English taught them their running Sarrabands, and the good Breeding of Obedience, nor will it e'er be well, till the English become their Tutors again: For certainly there is no Government in Europe under which the People live so Miserably, as under that of France; the Grand Signior, or the Ksar of Moscovy are not more absolute of the People than the Tyranny of France. The French King may well be call'd Tyrannus, for he makes and abrogates the Laws at his Pleasure; he cannot be said to Rule, but Tyrannize over Cities, depriv'd of all the Franchizes and Privileges that render Societies happy; and to dominier over a poor naked People, stript of all things that make life comfortable. So that the People may be said to Toil and Moil, but the Prince to wipe off the Sweat of their Brows into his own Coffers. You would swear that the whole Country were the habitation of Poverty, where Penury walks about in wooden Sandals, single Petticoates, and wrinckl'd Faces, as if the Products of that fertile Soil were forbid to be touch'd by the Inno­cent Manurers of that Terrestrial Paradise, where the Corn, and Wine, and Fat of the Land is carry'd off to fit the Roy­al Magazines, or sold abroad to cram the King's Exchequer. And after all this, when the sholes of Locust Publicans have devour'd all, even almost to the very Stalk, for the small re­mainder to bear the Burthen of insolent free Quarter, is not only Tyranny, but licentiated Inhumanity.

All these Calamities and Miseries has England yet escap'd, though fairly threaten'd with them, had not Providence been very mercifull to Her. The Husbandman plump and jolly, enjoying his Liberty and a fair proportion of his La­bouls, does not fear what the Confusion of Babel never knew, the horrid Jargonry of

Ayde, Octroy, Preciput, Equivalent, Crue, Taille, Estate, Subsistence de quartier d' hyvere, Garinzons, Mortpayes, Appoint­ments de Governours, Debtes & Affaires du Roy, Gratifications Extraordinaries, Deu Gratuit, Frais.

The necessary supports of Life, Wine, Beer, Sider, are not enhanc'd by,

Aydes sur le Vin, Bierres & Cidres, plus le Huictieme Denier, le Souque [...], le Patire, Imposts & Billets.

The Markets an [...] not pester'd with Gabelles upon Corn and Meal, nor the Mills with Measure Coupee.

No Tolls of pied Fourchue, nor Duties taken by weight upon every pound of Flesh sold in the Shambles, nor Gabelles upon Salt, but what are laid on by consent of the People themselves.

The Shop Keepers are not molested with the Gibbrish of the mark upon Paper, the mark of Silver, the mark of Tinn, the mark of Hats, the mark of all Stockins, Silk, and Woollen, the mark of Shoes, the mark upon all Stuffs, Woollen, and Silk, the mark upon Linen, the [...]abelle upon Jie, the controle of of Exploites.

The Gentry are not vex'd with the Tax of free Gifts, Fifts, and Resists, and Amortisements.

The price of Valuation, the mark of Gold, the two Soulx in the Pound, the seal'd Duty, the duty of Controll, the registers Du­ty, the Priest for being admitted to the Annual, and the Annu­al or Paulette.

A sort of Language of the Gallies, not understood by Eng­lish Liberty, yet all these and many other abominable Taxes, Tolls, and Impositions, are punctually leavy'd one way or other at the King's sole Will and Pleasure, with many more too prolix to be number'd, and what ever else his Absolute Power shall think fit to impose anew, where ever any sub­jects of the French Monarchy have their habitations, when his emergent occasions intimate a pretence, and must be paid without any remorce or compassion to the half Famish'd Children and Families of the poor People, crying out for Bread.

Certainly to conclude therefore as I begun, the Lician Chimaera, and Lernaean Hydra that wasted all the Country round about them, and ruined the Inhabitants with the scal­ding Flames and Pestilential Breath that issued from their Pesti­ferous Jaws, were Types of Tyranny in General, so more parti­cularly of the present French Monarchy; but on the other side, we find that both Bellerophon and Hercules continue to this day eterniz'd for subduing those Monsters.

Such Fables as these, being the Off-spring of great Reason, and wise Head peices, were not invented merely to please their Readers, but to instruct the World, that Wars, which unavoidably must be attended with great Mischiefs and Cala­mities, are not to be unjustly undertaken to doe wrong for wrong's sake, under pretence of Illegal Claims and Pretensi­ons, but may be legally enterpriz'd to repell injustice and vio­lence, and to curb the lawless Invasions of Right and Property, which are the original Blessings and Benefits of God and Nature, the unjust Assailour of which becomes an Enemy to both; and a Monster no less pernicious than either of those two: For those Monsters no question were no other than two aspi­ring Potentates, that made unjust and cruel Wars upon their Neighbours, without provocation given, and therefore were most justly subdued by Bellerophon and Hercules, and they no less justly rewarded for the benefit received by their glorious Actions, which even exceed all Fame. Vertue is Vertue still un­alterable; from whence we may conclude, that the same Glory still attends, and that the same success will prove the subduing these Chimaera's and Hydra's of Men, that for so long time have harrass'd Europe with wicked Wars, and impious Depopu­lations, merely to gain the Honour of being like those Mon­sters, Terrors and Destroyers of Mankind.