Memoirs of what past in Christendom, from the war begun 1672 to the peace concluded 1679 — Selections. 1692

Memoirs of what past in Christendom, from the war begun 1672 to the peace concluded 1679 — Selections. 1692

Table of contents

Title page

THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER.

To My SON. April, 1683.

CHAP. I.

CHAP. II.

CHAP. III.

[Page]MEMOIRS Of what past in CHRISTENDOM From 1672. to 1679.

FINIS.

§

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MEMOIRS Of what past in CHRISTENDOM, From the WAR Begun 1672. TO THE PEACE Concluded 1679.

The Second Edition.

LONDON: Printed by R. R. for. Ric. Chiswell, at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church-Yard. MDCXCII.

THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER.

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READER,

THESE following Papers I obtain'd from a Person, to whom I must never restore them again; and the Author has not, that I know of, enquired after them since I had them. I must needs confess, 'Tis but too plain by the Epistle, that he intended they should not be publick during his Life; but tho I have as great Respect for him, as any Man, yet I could not be of his mind in this: I think I should do the World wrong, to conceal any longer a Treatise of so much Profit and Pleasure to all that read it; and I hope I shall not be thought to do the Author any, in Publishing it, since the charge of not [Page] doing it, was not given to me. I think likewise, That if any of his Friends can obtain of him the First and Third Parts of these Memoirs that are mentioned in them, they will do the Publick a great Piece of Service; and if they should come from the Author's last hand, they may chance to be more Correct than these, which look as tho they had never been reviewed by the Author, but just as they fell from his Pen: However, I do not remember to have met with a Treatise in any Language that I understand, which in my poor Judgment is written with more Candor and Truth, and thorough insight into the Matters it relates, stuft with great Variety of Subject, digested into better Order and Method, and exprest with more Clearness and Spirit, than this is. I have not therefore, as I think there is no need, chang'd a word in them; but only where things are said in French or Latin, I have thought fit to Translate them in another [Page] Colume, or the Margin; and if I have not done it so well as I should do, I crave the Reader's Pardon, and in all else, do not doubt of his Thanks. I shall say nothing of the Author, who will be known by the first Pages of the Book; nor of the Time or Motive of its Writing, which are seen by the Epistle; but only heartily Pray to God to give him Good Health, and a Long Life, that he may continue, as he has ever been, an Ornament to Learning, and to his Country.

To My SON. April, 1683.

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I Do not remember ever to have refus'd any thing you have desir'd of me, which I take to be a greater Compliment to you, than to my self; since for a Young man to make none but Reasonable Desires, is yet more extraordinary, than for an Old man to think them so. That which you made me some time since, and have so often renew'd, I have at last resolv'd to comply with, as well as the rest; and if I live, will leave you some Memoirs of what has pass'd in my Publick Imployments, especially those abroad, which reach'd from the Year 1665, to 1678. and run through the most Important Foreign Negotiations of the Crown, with great connexion of Affairs at Home, during this Period, and the [Page] Revolutions it produc'd. The Confidence of the King, my Master, and of His Chief Ministers, as well as that of others abroad, gave me the advantage to discern and observe the true Springs and Motions of Both, which were often mistaken in Court, and in Parliament, and thereby fasten'd many Suspicions, Confidences, Applauses, Reproaches, upon Persons, and at times where they were very undeserved. Twenty years of my Life I pass'd in Publick Thoughts and Business, from the Thirty second, to the Fifty second year of my Age, which I take to be the part of a Man's Life fittest to be dedicated to the Service of His Prince, or State; the rest being usually too much taken up with his Pleasures, or his Ease. The native love of my Country, and its ancient Legal Constitutions, would not suffer me to enter into any Publick Affairs, till the way was open'd for [Page] the King's Happy Restauration in 1660. and in 1680. you know I sent you to acquaint the King with my Resolutions to pass the remainders of my Life like as good a private Subject, as any he had; but never more to meddle with any Publick Imployment. All the rest of my Age before, and since that period, I have taken no more notice of what pass'd upon the Publick Scene, than an Old man uses to do of what is acted on a Theatre, where he gets as easie a Seat as he can, entertains himself with what passes upon the Stage, not caring who the Actors are, or what the Plot, nor whether he goes out before the Play be done. Therefore you must expect nothing from me out of the compass of that time, nor any thing of that it self, with much application or care, further than of Truth. You know how lazy I am in my Temper, how uneasie in my Health, how weak my Eyes, and [Page] how much of my time passes in Walking or Riding, and thereby fencing all I can against two cruel Diseases that have for some time pursu'd me· So that I doubt the satisfaction you expect, will be chiefly owing to ill Health, or ill Weather, which yet are not like to fail at my Age, and in our Climate. For the rest, if you find any thing either Instructing or Diverting in what I shall write upon this Subject, you may attribute it wholly to the Kindness and Esteem I have for you, without which I should not have given my self the trouble of such Recollections: And as I intend them for Your Use, so I desire no Other may be made of them during my Life; when that is ended, neither They nor You will be any more in my care; and whatever I leave of this or any other kind, will be in your disposal. I am the gladder, and it is but just, that my Publick Imployments [Page] should contribute something to your Entertaiment, since they have done so little to your Fortune; upon which I can make you no excuses: 'Twas a thing so often in my Power, that it was never in my Thoughts, which were turn'd always upon how much Less I needed, rather than how much More. If yours have the same turn, you will be but too Rich; if the contrary, you will be ever Poor.

CHAP. I.

HAving ended the first part of these Memoirs with my retirement from all publick business in the year 1671. which was soon followed by the Second Dutch War, I shall begin this with the approaches of the Peace in the Year 1673.

About this time, after Two Summers spent in a War between [Page] England and Holland, with several encounters at Sea, but no decisive Action; both Parties began to enter upon thoughts, and indeed necessities of a Peace. The Nations had been at War without being angry; and the Quarrel had been thought on both sides, rather of the Ministers than the Peoples. The Dutch believ'd it at first intended only against De Witt's Faction, in favour of the Prince of Orange; and in England, some laid it to the Corruption of Ministers, by the Money of France; and some, that pretended to think deeper, laid it to deeper Designs. The Lord Clifford's violence in beginning it, gave it an ill air in general; and the disuse of Parliaments, a cruel maim in the chief sinews of War.

The Subsidies from France bore no proportion to the charge of our Fleets; and our Strength at Sea seem'd rather lessen'd than increas'd by the conjunction of theirs: [Page] Our Seamen fought without heart, and were0 more afraid of their Friends than their Enemies; and our Discontents were so great at Land, that the Assembling of our Militia to defend our Coasts, was thought as dangerous as an Invasion. But that which most press'd His Majesty to the thoughts of a Peace, was the resolution of Spain to declare the War with England, as they had done already with France, in favour of Holland, unless the Peace were suddenly made; which would have been such a blow to our Trade, as could not easily have been fenc'd; and lost us that of the Mediterranean, as the Dutch War had done that of the Northern Seas: So as the necessity of this conjuncture was only kept off by the Honour of our Alliance with France. However that Crown being not able to furnish Supplies enough to carry on the War without a Parliament, could not oppose [Page] the calling one upon this occasion. When the Parliament met, tho' they seem'd willing to give the King Money, yet it was to make the Peace with Holland, and not to carry on the War: And upon His Majesty's demanding their Advice, they gave it unanimously, That the Peace should be made.

There were too many Parties engag'd in this Quarrel to think of a General Peace, tho' a Treaty to that purpose had been set on foot an Cologn, under the Mediation of the Swedes, between the Ministers of the Emperor, Spain, Holland, and some Princes of the Empire on the one part, and His Majesty and France on the other; but without any the least appearance of success. For tho' all the Confederates had a mind to the Peace between England and Holland, yet none of them desir'd it with France: This made both the Dutch and the Spaniards set on foot all the engins they [Page] could, to engage His Majesty in some Treaty of a separate Peace; to which the necessity of His Affairs, the humour of his People, and the instances of his Parliament at last determin'd him towards the end of the year 1673.

Upon the first Meeting of the Parliament, the Duke of Buckingham, to ingratiate himself with the House of Commons (whose ill humour began to appear against those they esteem'd the chief Authors of the War) had desir'd leave of that House, that he might be heard there in his own defence upon that subject. In his Speech, among many endeavours to throw the odium of the War from himself upon the Lord Arlington, he desir'd that Lord might be ask'd who was the Author of the Triple-Alliance? As if he understood himself to be so. The Lord Arlington coming afterwards, upon the like desire, into the same House [Page] of Commons, and answering some parts of the Duke's Speech, when he came to that Particular, He told them, he could easily answer that Question of the Duke's, by telling them, That the Author of that Alliance was Sir William Temple. This, I suppose gave the occasion for Reflections upon what had pass'd in the course of my former Ambassies in Holland, and at Aix; and His Majesty, and his Ministers, the resolution to send for me out of my private retreat, where I had passed two years (as I intended to do the rest of my Life) and to engage me in going over into Holland to make the separate Peace with that State.

Upon the 2d of February 1671/4. His Majesty receiv'd the certain Advice, of the States having passed a resolution, That the Charges and Dignities possessed by the Prince of Orange and his Ancestors, should become Hereditary [Page] to his Children. And at the same time he also receiv'd a Letter from the States, with the desire of Pasports, for the Ambassadors whom they were resolv'd to send to His Majesty with Instructions and Powers to treat and conclude a Peace, and in the mean time they offer'd a suspension of Arms. This offer coming upon the neck of the Parliaments advice to His Majesty to enter into Treaty with the Spanish Ambassador upon the Propositions he had advanced, and which the King had order'd to be sent to the Parliament. It was not believ'd by the Ministers, that a Treaty could be refus'd without drawing too much odium upon themselves, and reflection upon the Government. On th' other side, it was suspected what Practices might be set on foot by Dutch Ambassadors, upon the general discontent reigning against the present War. Therefore that very afternoon a resolution was taken [Page] at the private Juncto, to send, rather than to receive an Ambassy upon this subject; and that I should be the Person imploy'd. Two Gentlemen were sent to my House within half an hour of one another, from the Earl of Danby then Lord Treasurer, and the Earl of Arlington, first Secretary of State, to order my attendance upon His Majesty. My Lord Arlington told me, he would not pretend the merit of having nam'd me upon this occasion, nor could he well tell, whether the King or Lord Treasurer did it first; but that the whole Committee had joyn'd in it, and concluded, That since the Peace was to be made, there was no other Person to be thought of for it: And accordingly the King gave me his Commands, with many expressions of kindness and confidence, to prepare for my Journey, and the Secretary to draw up my Instructions. I told the King I would [Page] obey him, and with a great deal of pleasure to see His Majesty returning to the Measures upon which I had formerly serv'd him; but that I might do it the better, I begg'd of him that I might go over without the Character of Ambassador, which would delay, or embarras me with preparations of Equipage, and with Ceremonies there, that were uncessary to so sudden a dispatch. His Majesty thought what I said very pertinent, and so order'd, that I should go only as Plenipotentiary; but that I should have in all kinds the appointment of Ambassador, and that I should take upon me the Character too when the Peace was concluded.

Within three days I was ready; and the morning my Dispatches were so too; the Marquess of Frezno, Spanish Ambassador, sent my Lord Arlington word (while I was with him) that he had receiv'd full [Page] power from the States to Treat and Conclude a Peace, and was ready to enter upon it whenever His Majesty pleased. My Lord Arlington surpriz'd, was at first of opinion the King should go on his own way, and I my Journy, and give the Spaniards no part in the Affair: I was of another mind, and that besides the point and Honour, which was clear, in having the Peace made rather at London than the Hague, I thought That of Interest might be the better pursued, when we were sought to by the States, than when we sought to them: Besides, I believed the Spaniard would play as fair in a Game that he thought so much his own, and not suffer the Dutch to stop at any small Points, especially those of Honour, whereas that of the Flag (tho' such) was one His Majesty ought to lay most to heart. My Lord Arlington, after some debate agreed with me, and desir'd me [Page] to go immediately and acquaint the King with this new and unexpected incident, who was then at the House of Lords. The King seem'd pleas'd with the change; & told me, That since I did not Treat it at the Hague, I should however at London; and bid me go and acquaint the Marquess of Frezno with his resolution, That if he and I could agree upon the terms, the thing should soon be done.

The terms to be insisted on, were soon agreed by His Majesty at the Foreign Committee, which was composed of the Lord Chancellor Finch, the Lord Treasurer, the Lord Arlington, and Mr. Henry Coventry, Secretaries of State, with whom His Majesty order'd my attendance upon this Affair. When I was instructed of His Majesty's pleasure, I went to the Marquess of Frezno, and at three Meetings I concluded the whole Treaty with satisfaction to His [Page] Majesty, and transport to the Marquess, upon so great an Honour as he thought it to himself, and the Fortunes he expected upon it from his Master. The Articles being publick, need no place here. The two Points of greatest difficulty were, that of the Flag, and the re-calling all English Troops out of the French Service. This last was compos'd by private Engagements to suffer those that were there to wear out without any Recruits, and to permit no new ones to go over; but at the same time to give leave for such Levies as the States should think fit to make in His Majesty's Dominions, both of English and Scotch Regiments, The other of the Flag was carried to all the height His Majesty could wish, and thereby a Claim of the Crown to the acknowledgment of its Dominion in the Narrow-Seas, allow'd by Treaty from the most Powerful of our Neighbours at [Page] Sea, which had never yet been yielded to by the Weakest of them, that I remember, in the whole course of our pretence, and had serv'd hitherto but for an occasion of quarrel, whenever We or They had a mind to it, upon other Reasons or Conjectures. Nothing, I confess, had ever given me a greater pleasure in the greatest Publick Affairs I had run through, than this Success, as having been a Point I ever had at heart, and in my endeavours, to gain upon my first Negotiations in Holland, but found Monsieur De Wit ever inflexible, though he agreed with me, that it would be a Rock upon which our firmest Alliances would be in danger to strike, and to split whenever other Circumstances fell in to make either of the Parties content to alter the Measures we had entred into upon the Triple Alliance. The Sum of Money given His Majesty by the States, though it was not [Page] considerable in it self, and less to the King, by the greatest part of it being applied to the Prince of Orange's satisfaction for his Mothers Portion, that had never been pay'd; yet it gave the King the whole Honour of the Peace, as the Sum given by the Parliament upon it, and the general satisfaction of his People made the ease of it. And thus happily ended our part of a War so fatal to the rest of Christendom in the Consequences of it, which no Man perhaps now alive will see the end of, and had been begun and carried on as far as it would go, under the Ministry of five Men, who were usually called, The Cabal; a Word unluckily falling out of the five first Letters of their Names, that is, Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale. But though the Counsels and Conduct of these Men had begun the War with two unusual strains to the Honour of the Crown, in the [Page] attaque of the Smyrna-Fleet, and stopping up the Bank; yet it must be allow'd them to have succeeded well in the Honours they propos'd to themselves: Clifford having gain'd by it the place of High Treasurer, and Title of a Baron; Ashley the Chancellor's place, and an Earldom; Arlington an Earldom, with the Garter; and Lauderdale a Dukedom, with the Garter. The Duke of Buckingham being already possest of all the Honours the Crown could give of that kind, contented himself to make no better a bargain in this matter, than he used to do in all others that concern'd him, and so pretended no further than Commands in the Army. And thus, instead of making so great a King as they pretended by this Dutch War and French Alliance, they had the Honour of making only four great Subjects.

After the Peace was made, His [Page] Majesty's first care was to soften the stroak as much as he could toward France; which was done by representing the necessities of it (that needed no false colours) and at the same time to offer his Mediation between the Parties remaining still in the War, in case France either desired or accepted of it; which took up some time to determin. In the mean while I continued in the Posture and Thoughts of the Private Man I was in before this Revolution, till about a week after the whole conclusion of it, when my Lord Arlington told me how kindly the King took of me both the readiness I had express'd in going over into Holland, and the easiness I shew'd upon the failing of that Commission, as well as the pains and success in the Treaty with the Spanish Ambassador; and not knowing any thing better he had to give me, he was resolv'd to send me Ambassador [Page] Extraordinary into Spain; and to that purpose immediately to recall Sir William Godolphin, the Ordinary Ambassador there, for many reasons that, he said, made it necessary in this Conjuncture.

I acknowledg'd the Honour His Majesty intended me, but desir'd time to give my Answer till I had consulted my Father upon it, who was then in Ireland, but in the intention of coming suddenly over; however, in a month I undertook to resolve. My Lord Arlington told me, He did not expect any demur upon such an Offer, which he took to be of the best Employment the King had to give; and therefore he had already acquainted the Spanish Ambassador with it, who receiv'd it with great joy, and resolv'd immediately to give part of it to the Court at Madrid, which he was sure was already done, and therefore he would reckon upon it as a thing concluded, [Page] though for the good Grace of it to my Father, he undertook the King would give me the time I ask'd to resolve. When I writ to my Father upon this Subject, he was so violent against my charging my self with this Ambassy, that I could not find any temper to satisfie him, and upon it was forc'd to make my excuses to the King. When I did so, His Majesty was pleas'd to assure me he did not at all take it ill of me; and that, on the contrary, he intended me a better Employment; That he was at present engag'd for the Secretary's Place, upon my Lord Arlington's removal to Chamberlain; but that he resolv'd the next removal should be to make room for me. This I told my Lord Arlington; who presently said, That he believ'd I could not refuse the Spanish Ambassay, but upon design of the Secretary's Place; and since I desir'd it, and the King fell into it of himself, he would play [Page] the easiest Part in it that he could. He was indeed agreed with Sir Joseph Williamson for 6000 l. and the King had consented that he should enter upon it at his return from Cologn, which was every day expected; but yet he made such a difference between the Persons, that he would find some way to avoid it, in case I would lay down the 6000 l. I assur'd his Lordship, I had no such design, nor such a Sum of Money to lay down while my Father enjoy'd the Estate of the Family; That if I had, I should be very unwilling to pursue it so far as to give his Lordship any strain in a matter already promis'd & concluded, & therefore desir'd him to think no further of it. But he was not of opinion I could stick at any thing but the Money, and acquainted Mr. Montague and Mr. Sidney, who were Friends to us both, with this transaction, and set them upon me to bring it to an issue before the [Page] other came over: they both endeavoured it with great instances, and Mr. Montague was so kind as to offer to lend me the Money, but I was positive in refusing it; yet at the same time I told my Lord Arlington, That, not to seem humorous in declining the offers he had made me from the King or from himself, I was content they should both know, That if his Majesty had occasion to send an Ambassy into Holland upon the Peace, I would very willingly seave him there, where I knew the Scene so well. So that matter slept for the present.

In the mean while France had thought fit to accept and approve the King's offer of Mediation, That of Sweden being enden by the Assembly at Cologns breaking up, in expostulations and quarrels upon the Emperor's seizing the person of Prince William of Furstenburgh, a subject of the Empire, [Page] but an instrument of France, as his Brother the Bishop of Strasburgh had been in all the late designs and invasions of that Crown upon their Neighbours. The King told me, That being resolv'd to offer his Mediation to all the Confederates, as he had done already to France; and finding I had no mind to engage in either of those imployments which had of late been offer'd me, He was resolv'd to send me Ambassador Extraordinary into Holland, to offer His Mediation there, as the Scene of the Confederates Common Councils, and by their means to endeavour the acceptance of it by the rest of the Princes concern'd in the War. That I knew the Place and Persons better than any Man, and could do him more Service both in this, and continuing all good correspondency between Him and the States, which He was resolv'd to preserve. That I should have the Character of Ambassador [Page] Extraoadinary, and the same allowance I should have had in Spain. Upon this offer, I made no demur, but immediately accepted it, and so my Ambassy was declared in May 1674.

But to make way for my entring upon this great Scene, it will be necessaay to deduce in short, the course of Affairs abroad from the first Period of the present War, to this second of His Majesty's separate Peace with Holland, and the several Dispositions among the Parties that were likely to facilitate or to cross the design of the King's intended Mediation.

No Clap of Thunder in a fair frosty Day, could more astonish the World, than our Declaration of War against Holland in 1672. first by matter of Fact, in falling upon their Smyrna Fleet, and in consequence of that (however it fail'd) by a formal Declaration, in which we gave Reasons for [Page] our Quarrel, while France contented themselves to give no other for their part of it, than only the Glory of that King. The Dutch could never be possest with a belief that we were in earnest, till the blow was given; but thought our unkindness and expostulations of late, would end at last either in demands of Money, or the Prince of Orange's Restitution to the Authority of his Ancestors. The Princes concern'd in their Safety, could not believe, that after having sav'd Flanders out of the hands of France, we would suffer Holland to fall into the same Danger; and my Lord Arlington told me at that time, that the Court of France did not believe it themselves, till the Blow was struck in the Attack of the Smyrna Fleet. But then they immediately set out their Declaration, and began their Invasion. This surprize made way for their prodigious successes. The Dutch [Page] had made no provision for their Defence, either at Home or Abroad; and the Empire, Spain and Sweden, stood at a gaze, upon the opening of the War, not knowing upon what Concerts between us and France, it was begun, nor how far we would suffer it to go on upon the French Conquests. Besides, the Animosities of the Parties in Holland, long express'd under their new Constitution, and de Witt's Ministry, began to flame again upon this misfortune of their State. The Prince's Friends talk'd loud and boldly, that there was no way to satisfy England, but restoring the Prince; and that the Baseness and Cowardice of their Troops, were the effects of turning out all Officers of Worth and Bravery for their inclinations to the Prince, and mean Fellows brought in, for no other desert, than their Enmity declar'd to the House of Orange. Upon this, all [Page] Men expected a sudden Change; the States were in disorder, and irresolute what to do; the Troops were without a General, and, which is worse, without heart; and tho De Ruyter by admirable Conduct kept the Infection of these Evils out of his Fleet, which was our part to deal with; yet Faction, Distrust, Sedition, and Distraction, made such entrances upon the State and the Army, when the French Troops first invaded them, that of all the Towns and Fortresses on the German-side (held impregnable in all their former Wars), not one besides Mastricht made any shew of Resistance, and the French became immediately Masters of all the In-land Parts of the Provinces, in as little time as Travellers usually employ to see and consider them. Mastricht was taken, after a short Siege, as Skinsconce, by the help of an extreme dry Season, that made Rivers fordable where they [Page] had never been esteem'd so before. The King of France march'd as far as Vtrecht, where he fix'd his Camp and his Court, and from thence began to consider of the ways how to possess himself of the rest. which was defended only by their Scituation upon some flat Lands; that, as they had by infinite labour in Canals and Digues, been either gain'd or preserv'd from Inundations, so they were subject to them upon opening the Sluces, whenever the Dutch found no other way of saving their Country, but by losing it. This, at least, was generally believ'd in the French Camp and Court; and, as I have heard, was the Preservation of the State: For that King unwilling to venture the Honour and Advantage of such Conquests as he had made that Summer, upon the Hazards of a new sort of War with a merciless Element, where neither Conduct nor Courage was of use, resolv'd [Page] to leave the rest to practices of Peace with the States, upon the advantage of the terms he stood in, and the small distance of place between them; or, if these should not succeed, then he trusted to the Frosts of the following Winter, which seldom fail in that Country, to make all passable and safe for Troops and Carriages themselves, that in Summer would be impassable, either from the Waters, or the depth of Soil.

In the mean time the State and the Government of Holland took a new Form, and with it a new Heart. Monsieur De Witt and his Brother had been Massacreed by the sudden fury of the People at the Hague, and by the Fate of Ministers that Govern by a Party or Faction▪ who are usually Sacrificed to the first great Misfortunes abroad that fall in to aggravate or inflame the general Discontents at home. The Fact and the manner having been [Page] very unusual, may be the Subject of others enquiry, as it was of Mine, which gave me this account. The Ruart of Putten, Eldest Brother to Monsieur De Witt, had been accused of a design upon the Prince's Life, and of endeavouring by Money to engage one of his Highness's Domestiques in that Attempt. But no other Witness appearing, he was sentenc'd only to be Banished, at which the People show'd great dissatisfaction, being possest with an Opinion of his Guilt. The Morning he was to come out of Prison, Monsieur De Witt (against the Opinion of his Friends) would needs go himself to bring him out with more Honour, and carry him out of Town, and to that purpose went with his Coach and four Horses to the Court. This being not usual to this Minister, made the People take more notice of it, and gather together Tumultuously first in [Page] the streets where he passed, and then about the Court where the Prisoner was kept. Some of the Trained Bands of the Hague that were upon the Guard, mingled among them, and began to rail aloud against the Judgment of the Court, the Crime of one Brother, and the Insolence of the Other, who pretended (as they said) to carry him away in Triumph. In the midst of this Heat and Passion rais'd by these kind of Discourses among the Populace, the two Brothers came out, some of the Train'd Bands stop'd them, began to treat them at first with ill Language, and from Words fell to Blows; upon which, Monsieur De Witt foreseeing how the Trajedy would end, took his Brother by the hand, and was at the same time knock'd down with the butt end of a Musket. They were both presently laid dead upon the place, then drag'd about the Town by the Fury [Page] of the People, and Torn in pieces. Thus ended one of the greatest Lifes of any Subject in our Age, and about the 47th year of his own, after having Served, or rather Administred that State as Pensioner of Holland for about eighteen years, with great Honour to his Countrey and himself. After the Death of these Brothers, the Provinces and Towns run with Unanimous Voices into Publick Demands of the Prince's being restored to the Authority of his Ancestors. The States had in the beginning of the Year declared him Captain General and Admiral of their Forces, which was no more than De Witt had always profest was designed for Him, when he should be of Age; but this was found neither to have satisfied England, nor the Prince's Party at home, and therefore all the Members of the State agreed in those Acts that were thought necessary to a full Restitution of [Page] His Highness, now at the Age of Twenty one Years, to the Office and Power of Stadtholder, with all advantages, and even some more than those which had been exercised by his Ancestors. At the same time Monsieur Fagel was introduced into Monsieur De Witt's Place of Pentsioner of Holland; whose Love to his Countrey made him a Lover of the Prince, as believing it could not be Sav'd by any other Hand; and whose Zeal to his own Religion, made him an Enemy irreconcilable to France, whose Professions as well as Designs were to destroy it.

This Revolution, as it calm'd all at Home, so it made the first Appearance of defending what was left of the Country. The State grew United, the Army in Heart, and Foreign Princes began to take Confidence in the Honour and Constancy of the Young Prince, which they had in a manner wholly [Page] lost upon the Divisions and Misfortunes of the State. The French themselves turn'd all their Application and Practices the same way, and made the Prince all the offers that could be of Honour & Advantages to his Person and Family, Provided he would be contented to depend upon them. The Bait they thought could not fail of being swallow'd, and about which most Artifice was employ'd, was the Proposal of making the Prince Sovereign of the Provinces under the Protection of England and France. And to say truth, at a time when so little of the Provinces was left, and what remain'd was under Water, and in so eminent danger upon the first Frosts of the Winter; this seemed a lure to which a meaner Soul than that of this Prince might very well stoop. But his was above it, and his Answers always firm, That he never would betray a Trust that was given him, nor [Page] ever fell the Liberties of his Countrey, that his Ancestors had so long defended. Yet the Game he play'd, was then thought so desperate, that one of his nearest Servants told me, he had long expostulated it with his Master, and ask'd him at last, how he pretended to live, after Holland was lost? and whether he had thought so far? The Prince told him he had, and that he was resolv'd to live upon the Lands he had left in Germany; and that he he had rather pass his life in Hunting there, than sell his Country or his Liberty to France at any Price. I will say nothing of the Ambassy sent at this time by his Majesty to the French King at Vtretcht, where the Three Ambassadors, Duke of Buckingham, Lord Arlington, and Lord Halifax found him in his highest Exaltation; for I cannot pretend to know what the true ends or subject of it was. The common belief in England and Holland [Page] made it to be our jealousie of the French Conquests going too fast, whilst ours were so lame; and great hopes were rais'd in Holland, that it was to stop their Course or Extent; but these were soon dash'd by the return of the Ambassadors after having renew'd and fasten'd the measures formerly taken between the two Crowns. And the Ambassadors were indeed content as they past through Holland, that the first should be thought; which gave occasion for a very good Repartee of the Princess Dowager to the Duke of Buckingham, who visited her as they pass'd through the Hague, and talking much of their being good Hollanders, she told him, That was more than they ask'd, which was only, That they should be good English-men; he assur'd her, they were not only so, but good Dutchmen too; that indeed▪ they dit not use Holland like a Mistresz, [Page] but they lov'd her like a Wife; to which she replied, Vrayement je croy que vous nous ayméz comme vous ayméz la vôtre. In troth, I think you love us as you do yours.

When France lost all hopes of shaking the Prince of Orange's Constancy, they bent all their thoughts upon subduing and ruining the remainder of the Countrey. They had avanc'd as far as Woorden, and from thence they made their ravages within two or three Leagues of Leyden, with more violences and cruelties than would have been prudent, if they had hop'd to reclaim the Prince or States from the obstinacy of their defence. The Prince encamp'd his Army near Bodegrave, between Leyden and Woorden, and there made such a stand with a handful of Men, as the French could never force. The Winter prov'd not favourable to their hopes and designs, and some promises of Frosts inveigled them [Page] into marches that prov'd almost fatal to them by a sudden thaw. This frighted them into Cautions, perhaps more than were necessary, and gave the Prince and States leasure to take their measures for a following Campagne, with the Emperor, Spain, and the Duke of Brandenburgh and Lunenburgh, which prov'd a diversion to the Arms of France, and turn'd part of them upon Germany and Flanders, so as to give over the progress any further in Holland. Upon the approach of the Winter, the Prince, after having taken Narden, three leagues from Amsterdam, in spight of all resistance and opposition from either the French, or the Season, resolv'd like another young Scipio, to save his Countrey by abandoning it, and to avoid so many Sieges, as all the Towns they had lost would cost to recover; He contented himself to leave the chief Post guarded with a part of the [Page] Army, and with the rest marched into Germany, joyn'd part of the Confederate Troops, besig'd Bonne, which had been put into the hands of France at the beginning of the War, wherein the Elector of Cologn, and the Bishop of Munster had enter'd jointly with France. The boldness of this Action amaz'd all men, but the success extoll'd the prudence as well as the bravery of it; for the Prince took Bonne, and by it open'd a passage for the German Forces over the Rhine, and so into Flanders, and gave such a damp to the Designs and Enterprizes of France, that they immediately abandon'd all their Conquests upon Holland in less time than they made them, retaining only Mastricht and the Grave, of all they had possest belonging to this State.

In this posture stood affairs abroad when the Peace of England was made in February 1673/4, upon the strength and heart whereof the [Page] Prince of Orange concerted with the German and Spanish Troops to begin an offensive War, and in the head of an Army of above Forty Thousand Men, to march into France.

The French began now to wish the War well ended, and were very glad to accept his Majesties Mediation. The King was desirous to make France some amends for abandoning the Party, and making a separate Peace. Some of his Ministers foresaw he would be Arbiter of the Peace by being Mediator, and that He might hinder any separate Treaties, by mediating a general one, and might restore Peace to Christendom whenever he thought fit, and upon what Conditions he thought safe and just.

The only difficulties that appeared in this Affair, were what the Confederates were like to make in accepting the King's Mediation, whose late engagements with [Page] France had made him thought very partial on that side. And the House of Austria finding that Crown now abandon'd by England, had too greedily swallow'd the hopes of a revenge upon them, to desire any sudden Treaty, till the Successes they expected in the War might at least make way for reducing France to the Terms of that at the Pyrenees. This, I suppose, gave some occasion for my being again design'd for this Ambassy, who was thought to have some credit with Spain as well as Holland from the Negotiations I had formerly run through at the Hague, Brussels and Aix la Chapelle, by which the remaining parts of Flanders had been sav'd out of the hands of France in the Year 1668.

But having often reflected upon the unhappy Issue of my last Publick Employments, and the fatal turn of Councels in our Court that had occasion'd it, against so many [Page] wiser mens Opinions, as well as my own; I resolv'd before I went this Journey, to know the ground upon which I stood, as well as I could, and to found it, by finding out what I was able of the King's true Sentiments and Dispositions, as to the measures he had now taken, or rather renew'd, and trust no more to those of his Ministers, who had deceiv'd either Me or Themselves. Therefore at a long Audience in his Closet, I took occasion to reflect upon the late Councels and Ministry of the late Cabal, how ill His Majesty had been advis'd to break Measures and Treaties so solemnly taken and agreed; how ill he had been serv'd, and how ill succeeded by the violent humour of the Nation's breaking out against such Proceedings, and by the Jealousies they had rais'd against the Crown. The King said, 'Twas true, he had succeeded ill; but if he had been well serv'd, he might have [Page] made a good business enough of it; and so went on a good deal to justifie what was past. I was sorry to find such a presage of what might again return from such a course of thought in the King, and so went to the bottom of that matter. I shew'd how difficult, if not impossible, it was to set up here the same Religion or Government that was in France; That the universal bent of the Nation was against Both; That many who were, perhaps, indifferent enough in the matter of Religion, consider'd it could not be chang'd here but by force of an Army; and that the same force which made the King Master of their Religion, made him Master of their Liberties and Fortunes too. That in France there was none to be consider'd but the Nobles and the Clergy, That if a King could engage them in his designs, he had no more to do; for the Peasants having no Land, were as insignificant [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] in the Government, as the Women and Children are here. That on the contrary, the great bulk of Land in England lies in the hands of the Yeomanry or lower Gentry, and their hearts are high by ease and plenty, as those of the French Peasantry are wholly dispirited by labour and want. That the Kings of France are very great in possessions of Lands, and in dependances by such vast numbers of Offices both Military and Civil, as well as Ecclesiastical; whereas those of England having few Offices to bestow, having parted with their Lands, their Court of Wards and Knights Service, have no means to raise or keep Armies on foot, but by supplies from their Parliaments, nor Revenues to maintain any foreign War by other ways. That if they had an Army on Foot, yet if compos'd of English, they would never serve ends that the People hated and fear'd. That the Roman Catholicks [Page] in England were not the hundredth part of the Nation; and in Scotland, not the two hundredth; and it seem'd against all common sense, to think by one part to govern Ninety nine that were of contrary minds and humours. That for foreign Troops, if they were few, they would signifie nothing but to raise hatred and discontent; and how to raise to bring over at once, and to maintain many, was very hard to imagin. That the Force seeming necessary to subdue the Liberties and Spirits of this Nation, could not be esteem'd less than an Army of Threescore thousand men, since the Romans were forced to keep Twelve Legions to that purpose, the Norman to institute Sixty two thousand Knights Fees, and Cromwell left an Army of near Eighty thousand men. That I never knew but one Foreigner that understood England well, which was Gourville, (whom I knew the [Page] King esteem'd the soundest Head of any Frenchman he had ever seen); That when I was at Brussels in the first Dutch War, and he heard the Parliament grew weary of it, he said, The King had nothing to do but to make the Peace, That he had been long enough in England, seen enough of our Court, and People, & Parliaments, to conclude, Qu'un Roy d' Angleterre qui veut estree l'homme de son peuple, That a King of England who will be the MAN of People, is the greatest King in the world; but if he will be something more — he is nothing at all. est le plus grand Roy du monde; mais s'il veut estre quelque chose d'advantage, par Dieu il n'est plus rien.

The King heard me all very attentively, but seem'd a little impatient at first: Yet, at last, he said, I had reason in all, and so had Gourville; and laying his hand upon mine,And I will be the MAN of my people. he added, Et je veux estre l'homme de mon peuple.

[Page]My Ambassy extraordinary to Holland was declar'd in May, and my Dispatches finish'd at the Treasury as well as the Secretary's Office; so as I went away in July. My instructions were in general, To assure the States of His Majesty's Friendship, and firm Resolution to observe his Treaties with them; then to offer his Mediation in the present War, which both They, and almost all Christendom, were engag'd in; and after their acceptance of it, to endeavour it likewise with all their Allies; and, to that end, to engage the Offices and Intervention of the States. But immediately after my arrival at the Hague, to repair to the Prince of Orange, give him part of His Majesties Intentions in all this Affair, and assurance of his kindness, and engage His Highness, as far as could be, to second His Majesty's desires, in promoting a General Peace, wherein the Vnited Provinces [Page] seem'd to have the greatest Interest.

After my arrival at the Hague in July 1674. and a delive [...]y of my Credentials to the President of the Week, and a Visit to the Pensioner, wherein I discover'd a strong inclination in the States to a Peace, as far as their Honour and Engag [...]ments to their Allies would allow- them, and was assur'd of the States accepting His Majesty's Mediation; I went away to Antwerp, in hopes to have found the Prince at his Camp there, between Antwerp and Lovain, where he had lain some time attending the Advance of the Confederate Troops, with whom he had concerted to joyn his Army upon their arrival in Flanders. But two days before I came to Antwerp, the Army was march'd beyond Lovain, so as I was forc'd to go to Brussels, and there desire a Guard to convey me to the Camp. The Punctilio's of my Character [Page] would not suffer me to see the Count Montery, tho I had for some Years liv'd at Brussels in particular Friendship and Conversation with him. Few Strangers had perhaps ever been better us'd than I, during three years Residence at Brussels, by all Persons of Quality, and indeed of all Ranks there; so that it was very surprizing to me, to meet such a dry and cold Treatment from the Governor, and such an Affectation of the Persons of Quality, not so much as to visit me; for I do not remember one that did it, besides Count d' Egmont, who was then not very well at Court, either in Spain or Flanders. Others true I met in the Streets, or the Park, though they came with open arms to embrace me, yet never came at me, but contented themselves with saying, They intended it. When I sent my Secretary to the Count Montery, with my Compliments, and Desires of a Guard to [Page] the Prince of Orange, who was then not above six Leagues off; he return'd the first very coldly; and the other with Excuses that amounted to a Refusal; he said, The Way was so dangerous, by stragling Parties of the Army, that he could not advise me to venture with a small Guard; and he had drawn out so many of the Spanish Troops into the Field, that he could not give me a great one. I sent again, to desire what he could spare me, let the number be what it would; for though I would not expose the King's Character nor his Business, by any Accident I might prevent; yet when I had endeavour'd it by my Application to his Excellence, I would take my fortune, tho he sent me but six of his Guards. He replied, That he could not possibly spare any of them; but that next morning he expected a Troop of Horse to come into Town, and that as soon as it [Page] arriv'd, the Captain should have order to attend me. Next morning was put off till night, and night to the morning following; when the Count finding I was resolv'd to go, though without Convoy, rather than to expect longer, sent me a Spanish Captain with about Forty Horse, to convey me to Lovain. The truth was, that the Spaniards were grown so jealous of His Majesty's Mediation offer'd at the Hague, of the States and Peoples violent humour to a Peace in Holland, and of the Offices they thought I might use, to slacken the Prince of Orange in the vigorous Prosecution of their present Hopes and Designs, that I found it was resolv'd to delay first, and then to hinder absolutely any interview between the Prince and me, till the Campagn was ended, but to do it with as little ill grace as they could. To this purpose Du Moulin (then one of [Page] the Prince's Secretaries, and inveterate Enemy against the Court in England) was dispatch'd between the Camp and Brussels, whilst I lay there, and with Guards, whereof half would have serv'd my turn, or at least contented me.

When I came to Lovain, I found the Prince was march'd towards Tirlemont, but could not learn where his next halt was design'd. The Spanish Captain told me, he had order to go no further than Lovain. So that I neither knew whither to go, nor could go any way without a Guard, as they assur'd me at Lovain. Whereupon I sent immediately Mr. Bulstrode, who had come with me from Brussels, to endeavour to find out the Prince, and desire him to appoint what Time and Place I should attend His Highness, which I resolv'd to do with those few Servants I had brought with me, and [Page] such others as I could hire at Lovain, where I lay that night.

The next morning Mr. Bulstrode return'd with the Prince's Answer, That He was upon His March; That He should be very glad to see me, but could not possibly appoint either time or place for it, because His Motions were uncertain, and would depend upon the Advices He received. By which I found plainly what I had suspected at Brussels, That it was resolv'd, I should not see the Prince before this Campagn was begun by the Actions then concerted among the Confederates. I would not however seem to understand it so, nor any thing more in it, than what His Highness was pleas'd to say; but I knew very well, that as they say, none is more deaf than he that will not hear; so a man that will not be seen, may easily find ways of avoiding it, especially upon such Circumstances as the Prince and I were [Page] then in, who must have follow'd the motions he would have given me. And therefore I resolv'd not to expose either His Majesty's Character or Credit, with His Nephew, by making that Publick which had pass'd between the Prince and me upon this Subject; but pretending my Health would not suffer me to follow the Prince upon His March, I return'd to Antwerp, and gave His Majesty an Account of all that had pass'd▪ who extreamly approv'd my Conduct in it; and that I press'd no further, a Point that I saw would not go; and that was taken by the Prince as well as Count Montery, so differently from what His Majesty expected.

I stay'd only a Night at Antwerp, which pass'd with so great Thunders and Lightning, that I promis'd my self a very fair Day after it, to go back to Rotterdam in the States Yatch, that still attended me. The [Page] Morning prov'd so, but towards Evening the Sky grew foul, and the Seamen presag'd ill weather, and so resolv'd to lie at Anchor before Bergen op soom, the Wind being cross and little. When the night was fallen as black as ever I saw, it soon began to clear up with the most violent flashes of Lightning, as well as cracks of Thunder, that I believe have ever been heard in our Age and Climate. This continued all night, and we felt such a fierce heat from every great flash of Lightning, that the Captain apprehended it would fire his Ship. But about eight the next Morning, the Wind chang'd, and came up with so strong a Gale, that we came to Rotterdam in about Four hours, and there found all mouths full of the Mischiefs and Accidents that the last night's Tempest had occasioned both among the Boats and the Houses, by the Thunder, Lightning, Hail, [Page] or Whirlwinds. But the day after, came Stories to the Hague from all parts, of such violent effects, as were almost ineredible: At Amsterdam they were deplorable, many Trees torn up by the roots, Ships sunk in the Harbour, and Boats in the Channels; Houses beaten down, and several People were snatch'd from the Ground as they walkt the Streets, and thrown into the Canals. But all was silenc'd by the Relations from Vtrecht, where the Great and Ancient Cathedral was torn in Pieces by the Violences of this Storm; and the vast Pillars of Stone, that supported it, were wreath'd like a twisted Club, having been so strongly compos'd and cemented, as rather to suffer such a change of figure, than break in pieces as other parts of the Fabrick did; hardly any Church of the Town escap'd the Violence of this Storm, and very few Houses without the [Page] marks of it; nor were the eff [...]ct [...] of it less astonishing by the Relations from France and Brusels, where the Damages were Infinite, as well from Whirlwinds, Thunder, Lightning, as from Hail-stones of Prodigious Bigness.

At my return to the Hague, I had long conversations with the Pensioner, by which I gain'd the lights necessary to discover the whole present Scene of Affairs, and pulses of the several Confederates in what related to the General Peace. I told him how much His Majesty was satisfied, with that He had lately made with the States, how much He was resolv'd to continue and to cultivate it. How much reason he had to be content with the Posture That had left him in at Peace with all his Neighbours, while they were all at War. That Advantages of Commerce from it, were enough to make him trouble himself no further about the Peace [Page] of Christendom, if his Goodness and Piety did not prevail more with Him than His Interests. But that these and the desire of a General Good, had perswaded Him to offer his Mediation in the Present Quarrel. That it had been already accepted by France; and that the Emperor and Spain had answer'd, they would consider of it in concert with their Allies. That the States Embassadors at London, had assur'd His Majesty, Their Masters would be pleas'd with it, and doubted not their consent that the Treaty should be at London; and that thereupon His Majesty had charg'd me with a Letter to the States to offer them His Mediation. That I could not doubt Their Accepting it with the best Grace that could be, for I knew their Interest was to have a Peace, and not to disoblige the King. That if His Majesty were Partial to any side, they ought to believe it would be to that [Page] wherein His own Nephew was so deeply concern'd; and the more, because he offer'd His Offices towards a Peace, at a time when the Advantages and Preparations for the War run so high on the French side, as He doubted the events might show if it continued. That they knew His interest would not suffer Him to see Flanders lost; and that considering what had pass'd, His Honour would not now suffer him to think of preserving it any other way than by that of a Peace. That he would be glad to see that Countrey left by the next Peace, in a better Posture of Defence than it was by the last; and the Spanish Territories lye closer and rounder than they wert then left. That when this should be concluded, His Majesty would be ready to enter into the strongest Guaranties they could desire, and might with Honour enter into a War to preserve it, though He [Page] could not to obtain it. The Pensioner first gave me thanks for my good Offices in the late Peace, and in all the measures of Friendship that had interceded between His Majesty and them since the first breach; he Applauded the King's resolution in so pious and generous an offer, and acknowledg'd his Interest might lead him to other dispositions. That he doubted not the States willingness to accept it; all the difference would be about the time and the manner of doing it. As to this, he said, they could not do it without the communication at least of their Allies; but would immediately give them part of His Majesty's offer, and the States dispositions to receive it. That for the terms of a Peace, as to their own parts, they would be content to make His Majesty the Arbiter of it; That they had already recover'd all the Towns they had lost, except Grave and Mastricht, [Page] the last of which was in some manner engag'd to Spain when it should be recover'd; and for the other, they doubted not to have a good account of it very soon, orders being already gone to invest it. But he doubted whether their Allies would be so easy in their expectations or demands; and that 't was impossible for the States to leave them who have sav'd their Countrey from ruin, when two so great Kings had invaded them; nor to break the Treaties which they had made Offensive with the Emperor, Spain and Brandenburgh. That the term stipulated with Spain oblig'd them to reduce France to the Treaty of the Pyrenees; but only a reserve was made by one Article, which was, Unless it should otherwise be agreed by consent between them. That whatever Spain would be content with, should satisfy them, though they were both equally sensible of [Page] the Designs and Ambition of France, as well as of their ill talent to the States. That they could never hope for such another conjuncture, to reduce them to such bounds and measures as might be safe to their Neighbours, and give quiet to Christendom. That it was now an ill time to enter into the terms of a Peace between France and Spain, because he knew they should have ill Grace to demand the restitution of any Towns the Spanjards had lost in Flanders by the last War, and given up by the Peace that succeeded it; and yet His Majesty knew as well as they, that without it, a Peace could neither be safe for Flanders, nor for Holland; nor consequently for England. But he believ'd there would not pass many days before some decisive Action would happen between the Armies now not far distant in the Field, which would make room for the Negotiation of Peace that [Page] might succeed next Winter, in which His Majesty would find the Interests and Humours of a Trading Countrey, as theirs was, very strong; and dispos'd to press their Allies, as far as was possible, to facilitate so great and so good a work. And for the rest of the Allies besides Spain, He had no reason to suspect any great difficulties would arise, so little having yet pass'd in the War between France and them.

The Pensioner was right in expecting some sudden Action between the Armies; for about the middle of August came the news of the Battel of Seneffe, between the Confederates under the Command of the Prince of Orange, and the French under the Prince of Conde: But it prov'd not an Action so decisive as was expected between two Armies of so great Force, and so animated by the hatred and revenge of the Parties, as well as by [Page] the Bravery and Ambition of the Commanders. The success of this Fight was so differently reported by those engag'd in it, that it was hard to judge of the Victory, which each side challeng'd, and perhaps neither with any great reason. The Confederates had for some days sought a Battel with great desire and endeavour; and the French avoided it, with resolution not to Fight, unless upon evident advantage, whilst both Armies lay near Nivelle, and not far distant from one another. The Reason of this was thought to be of one side, the ardour of the young Prince of Orange, to make way by a Victory, into France it self, and there revenge the Invasion of his Countrey, and at the same time to make his first essay of a Pitch'd Battel, against so great and renown'd a General as the Prince of Conde. On the other side, this old Captain had too much Honour to lose, and thought he [Page] had not enough to gain, by entring the lists with a Prince of three and twenty years old, bred up in the shade of a contrary Faction, till he was forc'd into. the Field by the French Invasion of his Countrey. Nor was the Advantage less on the French side, in the Reputation of their Troops, than of their General, compos'd of excellent Officers, chosen Soldiers, exactly disciplin'd, long train'd for action before they began it, and now flesh'd by the uninterrupted Successes of two Wars. But the Dutch Troops when the Prince of Orange enter'd upon the Command, were old or lazy Soldiers, disus'd with long Peace, and disabled with young unskilful Officers (chosen by no other merit, than that of a Faction against the House of Orange) then fill'd up, when the War broke out, with hasty and undistinguish'd Levies, and disheartn'd with perpetual Losses of Towns, and [Page] defeats of Parties, during the two first Campagns. The Prince of Conde had another restraint upon the usual boldness of his nature in such occasions, which was the ill posture he had been in at Court since this King's Reign, and in regard how much more he would have to answer for, than another man, upon any great misfortune to his Army, which must have left the way open for the Confederates to enter France, unguarded on that side by any strong Frontier, so as no man knew what shake it might give to the greatness of that Crown, with the help of great and general Discontents, whereof this Prince was thought to have his share.

Upon these Dispositions in the Generals, the Battel was for some time industriously sought and avoided. Till the Prince of Orange, believing there was no way of coming to a Battel, but by the siege of some place that might be [Page] thought worth the venture to relieve, broke up, march'd away towards Seneffe; his Army divided into three Parts, whereof the German Troops, under the Count de Souches, had the Van; the Spanish, under Prince Vaudemont, the Reer; and the Dutch, under the Count Waldeck, the main Battel; with whom the Prince marched, and Commanded the whole Confederate Army.

The Prince of Conde observing their march, which was not far from one side of his Retrenchments; and that by the straitness of some Passages they were forced to file off in small Lines, stay'd till the Van-guard, and main Body, was over one of these Passes, and the Reer beginning to enter upon it, when he drew out his Men, and fell with great fierceness upon the Reer of the Spaniards, broke them with great Slaughter, and not much resistance, took their Baggage, [Page] several Standards, and many Prisoners of note. The Prince of Orange, upon notice of the French march towards the Spanish Troops, had sent three Squadrons back to their assistance, with all the diligence that could be; but the Spanish already broken, brought the Dutch into disorder by falling in among them; and the French pursuing with great bravery, broke the Dutch Squadrons to pieces, killing or taking all their Commanders, and several Standards.

If the Prince of Conde had contented himself with this Success and Execution, he had left no dispute of a Victory; but lured on by the hopes of one more entire, and belief, the Dutch, whom he esteemed the worst Troops, would not stand, after the Spaniards and a great part of their own were wholly routed, he followed the Chase, and drawing out his whole Army upon them, brought it to [Page] a set Battel, which was more than he intended. In the mean time the Prince of Orange marching to the relief of the Spaniards, and the Squadrons he had sent, was at first envelop'd by his own flying men, whom he could neither stop by Words nor Blows, by Promises nor Reproaches, till joyning the rest of his own Forces that stood firm, and the Imperialists coming up to enforce them, the Battel began with as great fury as any has been fought in the whole course of the Wars, continued so for about Eight hours till Sun-set, and about two hours after by Moon-light, till that failing too, the Fight ended rather by the Obscurity of the Night, than the weariness or weakness of either side. The Prince of Orange in the whole course of this Action, gave all Orders with such Prudence, and Observance of all Advantages. Led up his several Squadrons with that Bravery, made [Page] such bold stands against his own broken Troops, as well as against the fierceness of their pursuers, for six hours together in the hottest of the fight; sometimes Charging into the midst of the Enemies, sometimes overborn by his own that fled, till he Rallied them, and led them back to the Charge, expos'd to more danger than most private Soldiers in the Field; so that the old Count de Souches, in his Letter to the States upon this occasion, told them, That in the whole Course of the Action, the Prince had shewed the Conduct of an Old experienced Commander, and the Valour of a Caesar. And indeed his Allies, his Friends, and his Enemies, agreed in giving him equal Glory from this adventure: But He had more from none than from the Prince of Conde's Testimony, That He had done like an old Captain in all, but only in venturing himself too much like a young Man. Yet this old General [Page] had done the same in this days Action, as much as the youngest Cavalier in his Army could do, when he found the Battel fought so desperately, and all at stake; whereas 'tis certain, that nothing could have given vigour to the Dutch Troops, after the first Rout, but the repeated Examples and Dangers of the Prince, and shame of not following such a Leader in all the desperate Charges he made that day, which both the Generals seem'd resolv'd to dye rather than to lose.

As the Numbers were not much different when the Fight began, so were those esteem'd that fell in this Battel, and to reach about Six or Seven thousand on either side; but of the French, many more Officers and Gentlemen than was usual in proportion to the Common Soldiers. When the Night parted the Armies, the French retired back to their former Quarters, and next morning the Confederates [Page] marched to that which they design'd when they broke up the day before. The Allies claim'd the Victory because they were last upon the Field; and the French upon the greatest number of Prisoners and Standards they carried away; but whoever had the Honour, they both felt the Loss.

After the repair necessary in each Camp upon this sharp Encounter, each Army took the Field again, and gave a general Expectation of another Battel before the Campania ended; The Prince of Orange sought it all he could; but the Prince of Conde chose and fortified his Encampments so, as not to be forced to one without apparent disadvantages, and contented himself to observe the motions of the Allies, to preserve the Towns of the French Conquests in Flanders, and prevent any Invasion of France, which was design'd this Summer with great Confidence by the Confederate [Page] Armies both on this side, and that in Alsace, but with equal disappointment, unless it were to Monsieur Starenburgh, who in the beginning of the Campagne, complaining of the Wine at the Prince's Table, the Prince told them, He would make them drink good Wine in Champagne before the Summer ended. He who lov'd it well, desired the Prince to be as good as his word, was afterwards taken at the Battel of Seneffe, carried to Rheims with several Dutch Officers, where sitting down to Dinner, and finding the Wine excellent, he drunk the Prince's Health, and said, He would trust him as long as he liv'd, for he had kept his word, and made them drink good Wine in Champagne.

The Prince of Orange finding no other way of Action, sat down before Oudenarde in September, and had his end of drawing the Prince of Conde out of his cautious [Page] Marches, who came immediately to relieve it, and Fight the Allies before they were ready to give any Assault to the Town. Upon fight of the French Army, the Prince of Orange call'd a Council of War, and proposed to draw out and Attack them immediately before they were rested after their hard days March. The Spaniards were content, but Count Souches would not agree to it, and so this occasion was lost, and with such discontent amongst the Chief Officers, that next day the Germans left their Trenches, and marched away about a League, and left room to the French to put what Relief they pleas'd into the Town. Upon this the Prince of Orange was forc'd to rise too, with the rest of his Army; and upon Conferences with the Count Montery, as well as Souches, resolv'd to leave the greatest part of the Dutch Forces with the Count, and with the rest, to go himself, and [Page] press the Siege of Grave. And here began those Dissentions among the Chief Captains of the Confederates, that continued to ruin their designs, and proved so fatal to them in the whole course of the War; and against all appearances, made good the Spanish Proverb, that,Birdlime never catches great Birds. Liga nunc a coje grandes paxaros; the same word signifying a League, and Birdlime; and meaning, That as this never catches great Birds, so the t'other never makes great Conquests, tho it often does great Defences: Yet these first Divisions were endeavoured to be cured by the Emperor's recalling Count Souches, and Spain the Count of Montery, who were both thought to have maim'd the Actions of this Campania, or at least not to have secondee, as they might have done, the Prince of Orange's Vigour in pursuing them to other sort of Successes than it ended [Page] with. This Prince having fail'd of what he proposed in favour of the Spaniards, was resolv'd to free his own Country from the last Mark of their intended Servitude, before this Season ended. Grave was the last Town the French held in any of the Seven Provinces, and had been kept as a Magazine both of what had been taken in the other Places, and was not easily carried away when they quitted them; so as there was above Three hundred Pieces of Canon in the Town, a very full and brave Garison. composed of the best Troops, and all that could be added to the Fortifications of the Place, after the French took it, tho it was before counted one of the best the Dutch had. It had been invested a Month before; yet the Prince found the Siege but little advanced at his Arrival; and the Dutch Soldiers so rebuted with the brave Defence from within, that nothing could have carried the Place at this [Page] Season, being about the middle of October, when the Prince arrived, but the same humour of leading on his Men himself, whenever they shrunk, which can never be too much praised, nor too much blam'd in this Prince, because, as his Country and Allies would have had no General if they had lost him; so they would have had no Army if they had not ventur'd him. In short, by this and his usual Application and Vigour, as well as the common methods of such Sieges, he took Grave by the end of October, with equal Glory to himself, and satisfaction to all the Provinces, and return'd to the Hague about the middle of November, after having dispos'd his Forces in their Winter Quarters.

With the Prince of Orange, return'd most of the General Officers to the Hague; and among the rest, old Prince Maurice of Nassau, who, as the Prince told me, had with the greatest industry that [Page] could be, sought all occasions of dying fairly at the Battel of Seneffe without succeeding, which had given him great regrets; and I did not wonder at it, considering his Age, of about Seventy six, and his long habits both of Gout and Stone. When he came to visit me upon his return, and before he went to his Government of Clevo, it came in my head to ask him an idle question, because I thought it not very likely for me to see him again, and I had a mind to know from his own mouth, the account of a common, but much credited Story, that I had heard so often from many others, of an old Parrot he had in Brasil, during his Government there, that spoke, and ask'd, and answer'd common questions like a reasonable creature; so that those of his Train there, generally concluded it to be Witchery or Possession; and one of his Chaplains, who liv'd long afterwards [Page] in Holland, would never from that time endure a Parrot, but said, They all had a Devil in them. I had heard many particulars of this story, and assever'd by people hard to be discredited, which made me ask Prince Maurice, What there was of it? He said, with his usual plainness, and dryness in talk, There was something true, but a great deal false, of what had been reported. I desir'd to know of him, What there was of the first? He told me short and coldly, That he had heard of such an old Parrot when he came to Brasil; and tho he believ'd nothing of it, and 'twas a good way off, yet he had so much curiosity as to send for it; That 'twas a very Great, and a very Old One; and when it came first into the Room where the Prince was, with a great many Dutch-men about him, it said presently, What a Company of White Men are here? They ask'd it, What he thought [Page] that Man was? pointing at the Prince. It answer'd, Some General or other. When they brought it close to him, he ask'd it, D'ou venes, vous? It answer'd, De Marinnan. The Prince, A qui est es vous, The Parrot, A un Portugez. Prince, Que fais tula? Parrot, Je garde les Poulles. The Prince laugh'd, and said, Vous gardes les Poulles? The Parrot answered, Ouy, moy & je scay bien faire, and made the Chuck four or five times that people use to m [...]ke to Chickens when they call them. I set down the words of this worthy Dialogue in French, just as Prince Maurice said them to me. I ask'd him, In what Language the Parrot spoke? And he said, In Brasilian. I ask'd, Whether he understood [Page] Brasilian? He said, No; but he had taken care to have two Interpreters by him, one a Dutchman, that spoke Brasilian, and t'other a Brasilian that spoke Dutch; That he as'k them separately and privately, and both of them agreed in telling him just the same thing that the Parrot said. I could not but tell this odd story, because it is so much out of the way, and from the first hand, and what may pass for a good one; for I dare say this Prince, at least, believed himself in all he told me, having ever pass'd for a very honest and pious Man. I leave it to Naturalists to reason, and to other men to believe as they please upon it; however, it is not, perhaps, amiss to relieve or enliven a busie Scene sometimes with such digressions, whether to the purpose or no.

Before I enter upon the Negotiations of the following Winter, it will be necessary to give a short [Page] view of the Actions of the several Armies, and dispositions of the Parties in other places, as well as in the Low-Countries, since all contributed to the different humour that appear'd at the Hague about the Peace, which was indeed the present Scene of that Affair, as well from his Majesty's Mediation, as the great Weight of the States in the Confederacy; but chiefly from the Person of the Prince of Orange, who seem'd to be the Spirit or Genius of the whole Alliance, and for whom the rest, as well as the States themselves, had so great Trust and Deference: For several of their Ministers made no difficulty to tell me upon many occasions, That their Masters would not have entred into the present Engagements they were in, had it not been more upon the confidence they had of the Prince's Personal Honour and Justice, than either the Forces or the usual Conduct of the States-General, [Page] especially in what concern'd the Foreign Treaties and Negotiations.

In Rousillon little pass'd of importance between the Forces there: The thoughts of both Crowns were bent on that side, more upon Reducing or Relieving Messina, that had made an absolute Revolt from Spain, and endeavour'd to gain Protection from France, which was not difficult in this Conjuncture; as that which might not only give a great diversion to the Spanish Forces, but open a Way for the French into the Conquest of Sicily, and new Designs upon Naples, which had been the Stage of so many great Wars between the Houses of France and Arragon.

In Germany the Prince Electors Palatine, Mentz and Triers, had entred into League with the Emperor, for the Defence of the German Liberty against all Strangers. [Page] France was so enrag'd against the Elector Palatine, upon these Measures he had taken, that Monsieur Turenne, at the Head of a French Army, march'd into his Country, and made such cruel Ravages in it, and so unusual to that Generals common procedures, that the Elector sent him a Challenge; which Monsieur Turenne answered, He could not accept without his Master's leave, but was ready to meet him in the Field at the Head of his Army, against any that He and his New Allies would bring together.

This Prince, spighted at the helpless Ruin of his Country, prov'd the greatest incentive among the German Princes this Summer to join their Forces, in order to some vigorous Action against France on that side. The Duke of Lunenburgh engag'd first, and afterwards the Elector of Brandenburgh, in the common Cause [Page] of the Empire's being Invaded; Strasburgh was prevail'd with to throw off the Neutrality they had enjoy'd since the War began, and declare for the Empire in this Quarrel. The new Bishop of Munster entred into the same Measures, and all together made a considerable Force, that they brought into the Field on t'other side the Rhine, about the end of August, or beginning of September. The Old Duke of Lorrain join'd them with his Troops; The Duke of Lunenburgh was there in Person, and the Elector Palatine had the Command of the Army. They were Divided as well as the Imperial Officers, whether they should enter upon any considerable Action or no, till the Duke of Brandenburgh came up, who was upon his March at the Head of a very considerable Army, that join'd the Confederates in October. This gave great hopes and designs of entring [Page] either Lorain or Burgundy, or taking Brisac, or at least Sabern and Haguena; and thereby securing their Winter-Quarters in Alsace. Monsieur Turenne play'd a defensive Game with a small Army; and ill handled by the Sickness of the season. France was at such a pinch for men, or fear of an Irruption into their Country from Flanders or Alsace, that they call'd their Ban and Arriere-Ban, the Assembling whereof had been long disused, and in a manner antiquated. However, with some of these new Troops, and a reinforcement from Flanders after the Battel of Seneffe, Monsieur Turenne by plain force of Skill, and that Admirable Science in the Conduct of a War, which no Captain of his Age could dispute with him, prevented and disappointed every one of the Confederates designs, without ever coming to a set Battel, though several sharp Fights of Part of the Forces upon [Page] necessity or advantage; so that the Winter ended with the Allies quitting the last point they pretended, and would have been indeed decisive in the issue of this Campania, which was the German Army's Quartering in Alsace and other parts on that side the Rhine.

The most considerable loss or event of this Campania upon the Rhine, was the Death of the Young Prince of Brandenburgh, who died about the end of it at Strasburgh, of a Feaver so Violent and Precipitate, as gave occasion for the usual suspicions and discourses that attend the Death of such Young Princes, as give great Hopes and Fears to Their Enemies and Friends. This was the more considered for a particular and intimate Friendship between him and the Prince of Orange, who tho' Cousin Germans, and engag'd in one common Cause, were yet nearer joyn'd by likeness of Humours [Page] than of Interest; and by the ties of personal Kindness than of Blood; and I never knew the Prince of Orange more sensible of any misfortune that happen'd to him, than of this.

In all the Encounters mentioned on this side, no forces were oftner seen, or more felt, or gain'd more Honour of their firmness and bravery, than the English Regiments still remaining in the French Service, to whom the Germans attributed wholly Monsieur Turenne's Successes, as he did a great deal Himself; but the Divisions among the Princes that made up the Confederate Armies, may justly be said to have had all the Merit that was not Personal in Monsieur Turenne, who was certainly allow'd by all that compar'd them, to be the greatest Captain by much of His Age, in the course of a War, or Conduct of a Campania, though the Prince of Conde was thought [Page] greater in the Day of a Battel, both as to the disposal and order of an Army, Vigorous Enterprise, and Sharp as well as Pertinent Resolutions upon all sudden Emergencies, to which the course and chance of a Battel is every way subject.

For Sweden and Denmark, they were not yet enter'd into the Lists, but seem'd now upon the point of taking Party; Sweden had acted the Part of a Mediator ever since the breaking up of the Treaty at Colen, both by their Ambassador at Vienna, and the Hague; who plied both those Courts with very long and frequent Memorials to that purpose during this whole Summer; but they had been as hard ply'd themselves all that time by the Practices and Advantages offer'd by France, both to that Crown, and the chief Ministers, to engage them in the War. Nothing seem'd so likely to determin them, as the Treaty and [Page] Expedition of the Duke of Brandenburgh on the Confederate Side, which laid open his Countrey to the Invasion of Sweden, and gave them a pretence of a Breach, in that Prince, of the Treaties between them, in making War against France without the consent of the Swedes. Therefore as soon as he was gone towards the Rhine with all the Strength of His Forces, the Swedes drew the best and greatest part of theirs into Pomerania; and as the Duke of Brandenburgh advanc'd in the common Designs against France; so Sweden, without Declaring War, pursued their Measures, with That Crown; and before the end of the Year, had drawn Their Forces into the Brandenburgh Countrey, tho' without attempt upon any Places, and even with pretence at first of Paying for Their Quarters, which was reckon'd upon as short-liv'd among Soldiers in another Prince's Countrey, [Page] whether Friend or Enemy. The present effect of this inroad, was the ending of another pretence of that Crown, which was that of Mediation, and so devolving that Figure wholly upon His Majesty; and on the other side giving hopes to the Confederates of engaging Denmark on their Side, if for no other reason, yet upon that old one among them, of being always opposite to Sweden and Their Interests or Allies.

As soon as the Prince came to the Hague, I attended Him; and after Compliments past, I acquainted Him with what His Majesty had Commanded me of His Personal Kindness and Esteem for His Highness, of His Resolutions to Observe and Cultivate His Present Friendship with the States, and desire to see a General Peace restor'd to Christendom, in which He intended to Act wholly in concert with His Highness, whose [Page] Opinion as to the thing, and the conditions most necessary for His Highness to insist on, He very much desir'd to understand as soon and as fully as He could. The Prince answer'd me with expressions of Duty and kindness to His Majesty, and desires of a near Conjunction between the Two Nations, which he thought alone could make His Majesty safe at Home and Abroad. For the Peace, He said, tho' He could make many complaints of both Spanjards and Imperialists Conduct since Their Treaties; yet the States could not with any Faith or Honour make any Separate Peace, upon any terms that France could offer them. That a General Peace could not be made without leaving Flanders in a Posture of Defending it self, upon any new or sudden Invasion, against which no Guarantees could secure it. That Spain could not upon any exchange quit the County of Burgundy or [Page] Cambray, nor any thing in Flanders beyond the Treaty of the Pyrenees, unless it were Aire and Saint Omer. This He said was His Opinion; but if He might know the King's, and find it at all consistent with the Safety of His Countrey, and His own Honour towards His Allies, He would do all he could to bring it about, as He had already done the Point of His Majesty's Mediation, which was accepted both at Madrid and Vienna. I told him that the King having been the Author and Guarend of the Peace at Aix, and not having yet seen the French beaten out of any Town that was given them by that Treaty, could with ill Grace propose any thing to France beyond those Terms, unless it were upon some equivalent. He replied resolutely, 'Twere better going on with the War, let it last as long, and cost as much as it would. That His Majesty might, if he pleas'd, induce [Page] France to whatever he thought just and could never show him so much Kindness, as to bring him out of this War with Honour. If he would not, it must go on till some change happen'd in the condition of the Parties, to make the Peace more necessary of one side or other. How it would fall out, he could not tell, and must leave to God; but he thought they had as fair a game as the French. That he was sure they might have been absolutely beaten at Seneffe, if the Count Souches had so pleas'd; and have had a fair blow for it again at Oudenarde: That he was sure Germany could furnish more, and better men than France; and they were now in a manner united in the common defence; and he hoped the Emperor's Councils and Conduct would not be so betray'd as they had been. That however, he must perform what his own Honour, as well as that of the [Page] States was engag'd in to their Allies, let it cost what in would.

I imagin'd in what he said of the Emperor's Councels, he reflected upon the business of Prince Lakevitz, whose disgrace made so great noise about this time, and with particulars so extraordinary, of the French Practices in that Court, that they were very hard to believe, and very uncertain to know at that distance, and even at Vienna it self, and therefore I would not enter into them with the Prince, nor shall I here, as being foreign to this present Scene.

There was one Point more I entred into with the Prince, which was upon occasion of the many discontented Persons in England, at the course of the last Ministry and War, who were suspected to have trinkled at least with Holland about the raising Seditions, and perhaps Insurrections in England, if the War continued, and the Dutch [Page] Fleets should appear upon our Coasts, that were like to be unguarded the next Summer by the streights His Majesty was in, for Money to set out a Fleet. It was believ'd among many others, my Lord Shaftsbury was one that had of late play'd this game, who having been as deep as any man in the Councils of the Cabal, and gone so far in the publick applause of them, as in a Speech in Parliament to have applied the Delenda Carthago to our Interest in the destruction of Holland; yet when he saw the Parliament and Nation sullen upon it, and that the King could not pursue it with so much ill humour in both, he turn'd short upon the Court and the rest of the Cabal, fell in with the popular Humour in the City as well as Parliament, decried the present Designs and Conduct, tho with the loss of his Chancellor's Place, and was believ'd to manage a [Page] Practice in Holland for some Insurrection here. I told the Prince what the King suspected of some of His Subjects, without naming any; how much service it would be to His Majesty to know them more certainly, and how kind it would be in his Highness to discover them. The Prince was stanch, and said, He was sure the King would not press him upon a thing so much against all Honour, as to betray men that profess'd to be his Friends. I gave His Majesty an Account of all that pass'd between the Prince and me, which was thought at Court both cold to His Majesty, and stiff as to the Peace; and I had no Returns or Orders upon it; but within a week, or ten days, I had notice that my Lord Arlington, and my Lord Ossory, intended to make a turn into Holland, with Monsieur Odyke and his two Sisters, to make a visit to their Friends at the Hague; and about [Page] the beginning of December they arriv'd in the King's Yatchts, but without any sort of Character, or show of Business.

My Lord Arlington brought me a Letter from the King, written all with His own hand; and telling me, he had sent him to set some important Points right between His Majesty and the Prince, which ought not to lie longer in doubt; recommending to me all the Assistance I could give him there, and assuring me of His Majesty's Confidence and Kindness. His Lordship brought the most ample Credential likewise, that could be, from His Majesty to the Prince, who still gave me part of all that pass'd between them, with as much openness and freedom, as t'other did with coldness and reserve; and thereby lent me many lights that I could not otherwise have had, to discover the Mystery of this Journey and Affair, which was in great [Page] part, a Secret to my Lord Treasurer himself, whom yet His Majesty was thought to trust at that time, as much as He had ever done any of His Ministers.

My Lord Arlington, who had been at the head of those Measures that the King entred into, during the Ministry of the Cabal, and the War with Holland, in conjunction with France, found himself something discredited with his Master, upon the ill issue of that Affair, and the necessities which forc'd Him to a separate Peace, both from the Wants of His Treasury, and Discontents of His Parliament and People in general. By the degrees this Lord's Favour declin'd, the Earl of Danby's encreas'd, who succeeded my Lord Clifford in the Treasury, which had ever been my Arlington's Ambition. This gave him an implacable Envy and Hatred against my Lord Danby, and which no Offices of Friends [Page] could ever allay. He was not well in the Nation for having had such a part in breaking the course of the Triple Alliance, and making that with France for the Ruin of Holland, and as was commonly thought for some ends more displeasing at home. Yet when the ill humour of the Parliament had broken the Designs of the Cabal, and made my Lord Schaftsbury shift his Sails, and fall into the popular stream, My Lord Arlington had gone so far upon the same scene, as to join with the Duke of Ormond and Secretary Coventry, to perswade the King to remove the Duke wholly from Court and publick business, as a means to appease the Discontents of the Parliament upon some jealousies the late Conduct of Affairs had raised among them. By this Council my Lord Arlington had very much offended the Duke; and finding himself ill with his Royal Highness, with the Parliament, [Page] and every day declining in credit with the King, He thought there was no way of retrieving his Game, but by making himself the Instrument of some secret and close measures that might be taken between the King and the Prince of Orange. He first infused into His Majesty the Necessity and Advantage of such a Negotiation, and then that of his being employ'd in it, from the Interest his Lady's Friends and Kindred in Holland would be able to give him, as well as from the Credit of having been so long in the secret of the King's Affair, and so best able to give them such colours as might render the late conduct of them less disagreeable to the Prince. Tho he profest great friendship to me, yet he represented me as unlikely to be treated with such a confidence from the Prince as was requisite in this Affair, for having been so intimate with Monsieur De Witt in my former [Page] Ambassy; and gave the Prince's unwillingness to see me during the Campagnia, as a testimony of his dislike, or at least indifferency to me; He propos'd going over with all the Auxiliaries that were like to be of any succour in this expedition, carrying not only my Lady Arlington, but Madam Beverwoert her Sister, who had something in her Humour and Conversation very agreeable to the Prince; Sir Gabriel Sylvius, who took himself to be in great credit in that Court, where he had serv'd long, and particularly with Monsieur Benting; nor was it forgot to carry over Dr. Duril as a Man fit to practice Monsieur Marest a French Minister, who was thought to have credit with the Prince; and my Lord Ossory was known to have a great part in his kindness and esteem, as well from his Marriage into the Beverwoert Family, as from his Bravery, so much applauded in all Actions [Page] where he had been, which was a quality lov'd by this Prince, tho' imploy'd against him.

My Lord Danby had been made believe, that a Letter from the Prince to Monsieur Odyke, then one of the Dutch Ambassadors in England, had given occasion for this Journey, as if the Prince had desir'd some person there from the King, with whom he might enter in the last Confidence; but the Prince assur'd me, there was no such thing; and that Monsieur Ruvigny, the French Minister at London, had more part in this Journey than he, or perhaps any body else; and that all the endeavours us'd towards a Peace, came from that side.

However instructed, at least thus accompanied; my Lord Arlington came to the Hague, where he told me at our first meeting that he came over to set right some things between the King and the Prince, that he doubted were amiss, and [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] settle a perfect kindness and confidence between them for the time to come. That to do this, he must go to the bottom of the Sore, and rake into things past, which was an unpleasant work, and which I could not do, as having no part in the King's business during that time wherein the Prince took his offence at our Concils. That the King had chosen him for this Office, because he could best justify His Majesty's intentions towards His Highness in the whole course of that Affai [...] That for the Peace, tho His Majesty desir'd it, yet he would not meddle with it, unless the Prince of himself made any overtures about it; but would only endeavour to give the Prince what lights he could as to the state of things in general, and what he might hope from his Allies, as well as from France; That if the Prince made no advances to him upon it, he would let it fall, and [Page] leave it in my hands to be pursued by the Orders I should receive. That he knew very well such a Commission as his, might look unkind, if not injurious, to another Ambassador; and that he would not have come, if any other had been here; but the King, as well as he, reckon'd so far upon the Friendship between us, that they were both confident of my being easy in it, and giving him any assistance he should want from me, which he would acquaint me with as the matter proceeded. He said, besides, That after having fought the King's Battel with the Prince, he must fight another of his own, who did not deserve the coldness his Highness had of late expressed to him; and when this was done, all his business was ended here, and the rest would be only seeing his Friends, and finding some diversion from a new Scene; That he [Page] desired I would, according to the Forms, bring him and my Lord Ossory the first time to the Prince; and after that, they would see him no more in Ceremony, nor give me that trouble.

I told his Lordship, I was very glad to see him, let his business be what it would; That I should be gladder yet that the King's business should be done, let it be by whom it would; but much more that it might be by Him: That for setting matters right between the King and Prince, I thought it the best Office could be done them both; That for the way he mention'd of raking into the Sore, and fighting Battels in defence or justification of what was past, I knew not what to say to it, but would leave it to his own Prudence; but, from what I knew in particular of the Prince's humour and thoughts, whatever he did of that sort, I believ'd, should be very gentle, and [Page] not go too deep; and, for my own part, I was always of opinion, That Expostulations were very apt to end well between Lovers, but ill between Friends. That I would send to the Prince for an Hour; and when I had brought him to his Highness, I would leave him there after the first Entrances were past; and desir'd no other part in his Affair, than what he thought necessary to give me: whenever he did, I should serve him the best I could in so good an Endeavour; and for the rest, I should leave the Field free to my Lord Ossory and Him while they stay'd at the Hague, as to all that was secret; as to the rest, I desir'd they would make what use they pleas'd of Me and my House.

My Lord Arlington took all I said very well; and said; 'Twas not necessary I should leave them after I had introduc'd them to the Prince, but in such a manner as I saw he would not dislike it, nor have any body [Page] thought to have any part in the Successes he expected: So next morning I brought them to the Prince, and, after a quarter of an hour's stay, left them together. The Prince would have had me stay'd, but my Lord Arlington said not a word; and I pretended some Letters press'd me, and so went away, and never saw them together any more while they stay'd at the Hague, unless at Dinner, or in mix'd and publick Company.

The truth is, I was not the worse entertain'd during the course of this Adventure; for my Lord Arlington told me every day what he thought fit of all that pass'd between them; and the Prince told me not only the thing, but the manner of it, which was more important than the matter it self; for This had no effect, but the Other a great deal; and that lasted long. My Lord Arlington told me much of his Expostulations, and with what good [Page] turns of Wit he had justified both the King's Part in the late War, and His Own; but that, upon all, he found the Prince dry and sullen, or at the best uneasie, and as if he wish'd it ended. That upon Discourse of the State of Christendom, and what related to the War he was engag'd in, he made him no Overtures at all, nor entred further, than That the King might bring him out of it with Honour, if he pleased, and with Safety to Christendom; if not, it must go on till the Fortunes of the Parties changing, made way for other thoughts than he believ'd either of them had at this time. That this might happen after another Campania, which none but His Majesty could prevent, by inducing France to such terms as He thought just and safe for the rest of Christendom.

This was the Sum of what my Lord Arlington pretended to have [Page] pass'd in three long Conferences; after which it grew so uneasy between them, that he told me, he had absolutely given it over, and would not say a word more of business while he was there, and attended His Majesty's Orders after the return of his Dispatches: but would divert himself in the mean time as well as he could; see the Prince as often as he pleased at Dinner, or in Company, but ask it no more in private, unless the Prince of himself desir'd it; and, upon the whole, gave all the signs of being equally disappointed and discontented with the Success of this Undertaking.

The Prince, on the other side, told me with what Arrogance and Insolence my Lord Arlington had entred upon all his Expostulations with him, both upon the King's Chapter and His Own; That it was not only in the Discourses of it, as if he pretended to deal with a [Page] Child, that he could by his Wit make believe what he pleased; but in the manner he said all upon that Subject, it was as if he had taken Himself for the Prince of Orange, and him for my Lord Arlington; That all he said was so artificial, and giving such false Colours to things every body knew, that he, that was a plain Man, could not bear it, and was never so weary of any Conversation in his Life. In short, all the Prince told me upon it, look'd spighted at my Lord Arlington, and not very much satisfied with the King's Intentions upon this Errand; tho he said, he was sure His Majesty never intended he should treat it in the manner he had, if he remembred that he was his Nephew, tho nothing else.

After the first Conversations, my Lord Arlington staid near six Weeks in Holland, either upon contrary Winds to return his Dispatches, [Page] or to carry him away, often at Dinner with the Prince at Court, or at Count Waldeck's, or Monsieur Odyke's, or with Me, putting on the best Humour and Countenance, affecting the Figure of one that had nothing of business in his Head, or in the design of this Journey, but at heart weary of his stay in Holland, and unwilling to return with no better Account of his Errand; and, as it prov'd, he had reason for both.

I found the Pensioner and Count Waldeck thought, That the bent of my Lord Arlington was, To draw the Prince into such Measures of a Peace as France then so much desired: Into a discovery of those Persons who had made Advances to the Prince or the States of raising Commotions in England during the late War; into secret Measures with the King of assisting him against any Rebels at home, as well as Enemies abroad; and into [Page] the Hopes or Designs of a Match with the Duke's Eldest Daughter. Tho, they said, he found the Prince would not enter at all into the First, was obstinate against the Second, treated the Third as a disrespect to the King, to think he could be so ill belov'd, or so imprudent to need it; and upon mention made of the last by my Lord Ossory, he took no further hold of it, then saying, His Fortunes were not in a condition for him to think of a Wife.

Thus ended this Mystical Journey; which I have the rather unveil'd, because, perhaps, no other could do it; nor I, without so many several Lights from so many several Hands; and because, tho it brought forth no present Fruits, yet Seeds were then scattered, out of which sprung afterwards some very great Events.

My Lord Arlington return'd, was receiv'd but coldly by the King, and ill by the Duke, who [Page] was angry that any mention had been made of the Lady Mary, tho it was done only by my Lord Ossory, and whether with Order from the King or no, was not known: So as never any strain of Court-skill and Contrivance succeeded so unfortunately as this had done, and so contrary to all the Ends the Author of it proposed to himself. Instead of advancing the Peace, he left it desperate; instead of establishing a Confidence between the King and the Prince, he left all colder than he found it; instead of entring into great personal Confidence and Friendship with the Prince, he left an Unkindness that lasted ever after; instead of retrieving his own Credit at Court, which he found waining upon the increase of my Lord Danby's, he made an end of all he had left with the King, who never after us'd him with any Confidence further than the Forms of his Place; and found my Lord [Page] Treasurer's Credit with the King more advanced in six weeks he had been away, than it had done in many months before.

Whatever was the occasion, France had this Winter an extreme desire of a Peace, and left no ways unattempted to obtain it, that might not too much discover the need they had of it. I suppose they might apprehend what the Confederates reckon'd upon, with perhaps, too much assurance, That if they could gain one Battel, they should certainly enter France; and if ever they did, the ill Humours grown under this late Government would certainly break out, and make way for all the Successes and Ravages they propos'd to themselves; or, at least, for such terms of a Peace, as would leave all the Neighbours of that Crown in safety, and at quiet. A talk was set on foot of a Marriage between Monsieur's eldest Daughter and [Page] the King of Spain, in the heat of the War; a Suspension of Arms was propos'd at Vienna by Count Oxenstiern the Swedish Ambassador, and the sending Plenipotentiaries immediately after to treat the Peace, with Offers, in case these were agreed to, that the Affair of Prince William of Furstenbergh should be respited till the end of the Treaty, and Pasports should be granted for the Duke of Lorrain's Ministers, upon which difficulties had been made; Practices were used with the Princes of Brandenburgh and Lunenburgh to dis-joint them from the Common Alliance; and particular Intelligence was held between the Mareschall d' Estrades, and one who had been Pensioner of Mastricht, who communicated all his Letters to the Pensioner Fagel. But the Sum of all, was Instances for a separate Peace between France and Holland, a Breach of their Measures [Page] with the House of Austria, and return of the old Ones with France, towards which they offer'd all the Advantages that could be to the States in point of Commerce, and all the Personal Ones that could be desired by a Prince of Orange.

But the Prince was unmoveable in the Point of not leaving his Allies, tho he began to foresee he was like to play a hard Game with them next Summer in the Field, and perhaps a harder with the People at home, who grew impatient for a Peace, both upon the cruel Taxes the War had rais'd, and upon the present decay of Trade, as well as apprehension that with longer continuance of the War, it would run so far into a new Channel by England, as never to be retriev'd. Upon these considerations the Prince resolv'd to make one effort towards a Peace with Honour, before this Season ended, [Page] and made all further thoughts of it give way to the Actions of the approaching Campania. His Scheme was this: That a Match should be made between the King of Spain, and Madamoselle: That France should give with her in Dowry, the late conquer'd Places in Flanders. That the King should make this Match, and upon these terms; That he should have Two hundred thousand pounds for His good Offices in it. By this means a Peace would be made with safety to Spain, and to Holland, by securing against the Frontiers of Flanders, with Honour to France, who parted with the conquer'd Towns only as Dowry to a Daughter of France, without any blemish to the Prince's Honour, or Faith in his Alliances, and with Honour and Profit both to His Majesty, which last was thought no unwelcome Circumstance at that time in our Court.

[Page]This the Prince and Pensioner having digested the best way they could, and deduc'd to Me, desir'd me to propose to the King, as the only way of making the Peace he so much desir'd, as a thing they were sure he could do, and that France could not deny him, if he would press it; and as the last degree of favour His Majesty could express to the Prince, who could no other way come out of this War with Honour. They desir'd me to write it to the King himself, and that nothing might be said of it to any other Person, till His Majesty should return me His Opinion upon it.

I did so by two Letters to the King, but had no hopes given me that it would be effected; whether France took the desires of the Prince for an Argument of his being weary of the War, or that he found the People were so; or whether they [Page] would not end the War, without breaking the force and confidence of the present Alliance, or (as the Prince thought) without leaving Flanders open for another Invasion, when some better Conjuncture should make way for it; or whether the Revolt of Messina had given them hopes of disabling Spain, by drawing their Forces on that side, and disposing them to a Peace by this Wound in a part so tender, and that might spread so far into Italy; or whether they had now absolutely engag'd the Crown of Sweden to enter into the War, and believ'd that by the Impression that Crown would make in Pomerania, they might not only recal the Duke of Brandenburgh and his Forces from the Rhine, but, if they succeeded, might so allarm the Empire on that side, as to break, or very much weaken any conjunction of their Forces next Summer on this [Page] side of the Rhine. However it was, this Attempt of the Prince fail'd, and so all further thoughts of a present Peace ended, and left me only to pursue the cold scent of a Mediation in the common Forms, while the Preparations for a warm Summer on all sides were making in the Field.

The Prince this February went into Gelderland, to establish the new Magistracy there, according to his Office of Stadtholder. Whil'st he was there, the Deputies of that Province by unanimous consent made him an offer of the Sovereignty of that Countrey, with the ancient Title of Duke of Gelderland, which they pretended had been formerly in some of his Ancestors. The Prince said, He would give them no answer upon an Affair of such moment, without first advising with the other Provinces: He immediately writ to those of Holland,[Page]Zeeland, and Vtrecht, to communicate this Offer to them, and demand their Advice upon it. Zeeland return'd theirs against his accepting of it, grounding it upon the Jealousies it might raise in the other Provinces, and inconsistence of it with the Constitutions of their Union, which left none of the Provinces at liberty to dipose of their Soveraignty without consent of the rest. Vtrecht return'd their answer with advice to accept it. Holland was longer, depending upon the delays necessary in running the circle of so many Towns; so that before it was concluded, the Prince upon receiving the advice of Vtrecht return'd them immediately his Answer, with the notice, that he had excus'd himself to the States of Gelderland, from accepting the offer they had made him.

Nothing could more imploy the busy heads of this time than [Page] the course of this Affair; some attributing it to the ambition of the Prince, and presaging the same design upon the rest of the Provinces; others laying it to the charge of some of his young Councellors; others to a design of sounding the humour of the Provinces, and of having the honour to refuse it, after they should all have advis'd him to accept it, as 'twas believ'd they would do. For my own part, I can say nothing of it with certainty, having never seen the Prince while it was upon the Anvil, no discours'd with him upon this Subject either before or after; but if it were an ambition bent upon the Soveraignty of the rest of the Provinces as well as Gelderland, it was a design very different from all his proceedings in the course of the War, when France had propos'd it to him with all the advantages and support that could be; and as different from what he had ever [Page] seem'd to understand, and to be as much perswaded of as any Man, That a Soveraign Prince in Holland would certainly and soon ruin the Trade, and consequently the Riches and Greatness of that State, and leave a Prince of it without power, or consideration in the world; whereas the Princes of Orange in the Post they have held for four Generations, have enter'd into Wars and Treaties, with a regard and weight equal to most of the Kings of Christendom. For young Councellors that were thought to have engag'd the Prince in this adventure, I cannot speak with more certainty than of the intention; but I am sure if they were in it, they were not alone; for none doubts of Monsieur Fagel's having been for it; and Monsieur Beverning, who was ever thought as stanch a Patriot as any Man among them, told me himself, that he had advis'd the Prince to accept it, which [Page] I believe he would not have done, if he had foreseen any danger from it to his Countrey. But whether the Prince or his Friends had the part that was commonly thought in the first overture, 'tis certain an Interest of the Deputies and Magistrates, as well as Nobles of Gelderland had a share in it too. For whereas this is the first Province in the Union, and abounds with Nobles more than all the rest, yet by reason of their Poverty from a barran Soil and want of Trade, they are less consider'd than several other Provinces, and their Voice has been in a manner swallow'd up by that of Holland, who, by their Trade and Riches, have a great influence upon those of Gelderland. The Deputies of this Province finding themselves yet less considerable in the Union than they were before the War, which had extreamly impoverish'd their Countrey during the French Conquests, [Page] thought there was no way of recovering such a consideration in the State, as suited with the rank and dignity they held, but devolving the Soveraignty of their Province upon the Prince of Orange. Besides, many of the Nobles there having pretences for themselves or their Friends in the Military imployments, thought to make their Court to the Prince upon whom those Charges depended, by advancing such a proposition; and this was certainly a great ingredient into the first conception of it; but whether conniv'd at, or seconded by the Prince, or his Friends, or with what Aims or Instructions I cannot say, and so leave it as a Mushroom that grew up suddenly, and as suddenly wither'd, and left no sign where it had grown.

At the Prince's return to the Hague in March 1675. I receiv'd a Letter from His Majesty's own [Page] hand, telling me of some advices given him, That the Prince intended to come over into England against the approaching Session of Parliament, and Commanding me to hinder it, as if His Majesty believ'd the thing. I adventur'd to assure the King there could be nothing of it, before I saw the Prince; but when I did, I pretended not to have had it from His Majesty, but that I heard such a thing had been whisper'd to him. He said, yes, and he believ'd by the Lord Arlington, who had some times talk'd of that Journey after the Peace should be made. However it came, he was sorry the King should believe it. That he was His Majesty's Servant, and if he could do him no service, he would at least do him no harm: But if the King would be otherwise possest, he could not help it; yet desired me to assure him, there had never been any ground for such a report. In the Afternoon the [Page] Prince came to me, and told me in great heat, he had, since he saw me, receiv'd the most impertinent Letter from Lord Arlington that ever was upon that Subject, treating it as a resolution certain and intended for raising heats in the Parliament, and commotions in the Kingdom; telling him, 'Twas like to prove but an ill friendship between the King and him, if it was to be made A coup de bastons;With Blows. and putting him in mind, Qu'il y a de ployes chez vous, That there are some wounds among you, that will bleed still, if there be not care taken of them. qui saigneront encore, si l'on y met la main. The Prince said, he knew well enough what Lord Arlington meant by that expression; for he had told Monsieur Read in England, when he went over upon the first motions of the last Peace, That the King could make the Prince be serv'd as De Witt was, if he would set himself about [Page] it. Upon this he fell into the greatest rage that ever I saw him, against my Lord Arlington, calling this proceeding malicious, and insolent, saying, He would write to him what he deserv'd; but never have any thing more to do with him beyond common forms. That since he knew not how to trust the King's Ministers, He would write to the King himself, and desir'd me to convey his Letters so, as they might come to no other hand.

Soon after Count Waldeek went to Vienna to concert the Actions of the next Campagnia, where Count Montecuculi was appointed to command the Imperial Forces instead of Duke Bornonville; and the Count Souches was sent away into a Government in Hungary. In March the Elector of Brandenburgh came to Cleve, upon the same concert, where he was met by the Prince of Orange, and the Marquess [Page] De Grana the Emperor's Minister; but the main point debated here was thought to be the Defence necessary to be made in Pomerania against the Swede, who began now to throw off the mask, to Ravage the Countrey, and to attack some places necessary for their Quarters. The Moneys likewise paid that Court from France at Hamburgh had been so publick and so avow'd, that none further doubted of a sudden and open Rupture from that Crown. Whereupon the States sent to Monsieur Ehernstein (then Swedish Ambassador at the Hague, and who would have kept still the Figure of a Mediator) to put in no more Memorials to the States upon that occasion, since they could not receive them from a Minister of a Prince, who had openly and without cause Attacqu'd one of their Allies.

At this time arriv'd an Ambassador from Denmark at the Hague, [Page] to try what advantages his Master could make of this Present Conjuncture, by Terms of entring into the Alliance with France and Sweden. And all things being thus in the highest Fermentation, a sudden damp fell upon the whole mass of these great affairs by the Sickness of the Prince of Orange; which show'd him to be the Spring that gave motion to all the other Wheels; for while His Illness lasted, and the event was doubtful, all was in suspence, and none of the Parties engag'd seem to have other Motions or Sentiments than what were rais'd by the Hopes or Fears of so important a Life. After some days Fever, it prov'd the Small-Pox, which had been very Fatal in His Family, and gave the greater Apprehensions to His Friends and His Countrey, who express'd indeed a strange concernment upon this occasion, by perpetual concourse of People to [Page] enquire after every minute's progress of His Illness. Whilst it lasted, he had taken a fancy hardly to Eat or Drink anything but what came from my House, which the People after took notice of as it pass'd; and tho' perhaps few Foreigners have had the luck to be better thought of or us'd in a strange Countrey than we had ever been in Holland; yet several of our Dutch Friends told us, That in case any thing fatal happen'd to the Prince from this Disease, they believ'd the People would pull down our Houses, and tear us all in pieces, upon knowing what he took in his Sickness came from our hands. God be thank'd all past without any bad accident, tho ill symptoms at first; and his recovery, next to the Blessing of God, was owing to the great evenness of his temper, and constancy of mind, which gave way to no impressions or imaginations that use to be of ill [Page] cons [...]quence in that disease; so that it pass'd in the common forms, and within twenty days he was abroad, and fell into the present business of the Scene, among which the preparation for the Campania was the chief.

I cannot here forbear to give Monsieur Benting the Character due to him, of the best Servant I have ever known in Prince's, or private Family. He tended his Master, during the whole course of his Disease, both night and day; nothing he took was given him, nor he ever remov'd in his Bed, by any other hand; and the Prince told me, that whether he slept or no, he could not tell; but in Sixteen days and nights, he never call'd once that he was not answer'd by Monsieur Benting, as if he had been awake. The first time the Prince was well enough to have his Head open'd and comb'd, Monsieur Benting, as soon as it was done, [Page] begg'd of his Master to give him leave to go home, for he was able to hold up no longer; He did so, and fell immediately sick of the same Disease, and in great extremity; but recover'd just soon enough to attend his Master into the Field, where he was ever next his person.

The Campania happen'd to begin later than it u'sd to do on the French side, both from the expectation what the Prince's sickness would end in, and from some Commotions succeeding one another about this time in Guienne and Brittany, upon occasion of the Imposts or Gabels, which drew some of the French Forces into those parts. But when those troubles were ended, as they were by an unusual strain of Lenity and Clemency in composing them, all imaginary endeavours were us'd to prepare in France for the Campania: The King intended to Attack Flanders in the Head of all the choice of his [Page] Forces, and with the greatest Vigour and Impression he could make this year upon the Spanish Netherlands; yet the King pretended to be but a Volunteer in the Army, of which he declar'd the Prince of Condé General; whether to put the greatest Compliment he could on so great Merit, or to hinder his Brother from making difficulty of Acting under that Prince's Orders. And Monsieur Turenne was to be employ'd in Alsace, to attend, and amuse as much as he could the German Army, for fear of giving the King too much diversion in Flanders; and this with Orders to Act by concert with Count Wrangel, General of the Swedish Forces in Pomerania, who gave hopes of Marching so far into Germany as to concert his Actions, or at least Motions with those of Monsieur Turenne. On the other side, the Confederates were as busy in their provisions against these designs. The [Page] Elector of Mentz was drawn to throw off the remainders of his Neutrality, and to receive the Imperial Troops into his Towns, as Strasburgh had done; and practices were set on foot to change the temper of the Court of Bavaria, with hopes of success. Montecuculi prepar'd to come down into Alsace with the Army of the Emperor and the adjoyning Circles; and the Elector of Brandenburgh came to the Hague after the Prince of Orange's illness, where Treaties were concluded with the King of Denmark's Ministers, and review'd with the Duke of Lunenburgh's. After which the Elector went immediately away to the relief of his own Subjects and Countrey, then invaded and spoil'd by the open hostility of the Swedish Forces. Whil'st he was at the Hague, the Compliments pass'd in form between us, but without visit or interview, tho the Elector desir'd and pursu'd it with more instance [Page] than I well understood: For he sent his Minister at the Hague first to me, and afterwards engag'd the Prince himself to endeavour it, by finding some expedient in the difficulties of Ceremony; or else by proposing a third place. But the French Ambassadors having taken up a form of refusing to visit any Elector, unless they might have the hand given them in those Princes Houses, and the Electors having never consented to it; I told the Prince, I could not go lower than the French Ambassadors did, in that nor any other point; and that meeting in a third place would look like a sort of approving the refusal made by the Electors: And so I never saw this Prince during his stay at the Hague, much to my regret, because I had been possess'd of many qualities very esteemable in him.

In the mean time, how useless soever for the present, yet the forms of [Page] His Majesty's Mediation went on. After it had been accepted by all parties, the first Point that came to be consider'd on, was the place of Treaty, about which, the Swedes could not surmount the difficulties during the course of the Mediation. The House of Austria propos'd to have the Congress in some of the free Towns of the Empire, as Francfort, Hamburgh, Strasburgh, and some others: France refus'd ever to come into any Town of the Empire, upon the insults they receiv'd and complain'd of so much at Cologn, in the seisure of Prince William of Furstenburg, and a great sum of the French Money there; but offer'd at the same time to come and Treat at Breda, tho' belonging to one of the Parties engag'd in the War, which they would make pass for a great condescention, and testimony of that King's inclination to a Peace.

The Confederates on the other [Page] side would not hear of Breda; they took that proposition as an artifice, first, to ingratiate with the States beyond the rest of their Allies; but next, which was the point of importance, they look'd upon it as design'd to carry on either a separate Treaty with the States, or at least Private Measures and Correspondencies with several Towns and Persons of those Provinces, so as to induce, or force the States at last into a separa [...]e Treaty with France, upon the difficulties or delays that might arise in a General one. And upon this point the Allies were so jealous, that the States Deputies of the Foreign Committee, who manag'd all these Affairs in the first resort, thought it necessary to seem as averse against Treating in any of their Dominions, as any of the Allies. Thus all places in Germany, France, and the Low-Countries, seem'd absolutely excluded by one part or other; and [Page] London was dislik'd by all as too remote, and of difficult and uncertain Commerce for Letters, by reason of the Sea. After much perplexity upon this Subject in many Conferences I had with the Deputies, and Discourses with the Pensioner, I propos'd two places as the only I could think of left for any attempt, upon all circumstances. The first was Cleve, which could not be said to belong to the Empire, but to the Elector of Brandenburgh, as Duke of Cleve, and not as a Prince of the Empire. The other was Nimeguen, as being the last Town belonging to the States, and upon the Borders of Germany. Both Towns capable of such a reception as was necessary; both in good Airs, and easie of access from all parts; center'd between Spain and Sweden, between the Empire and France, and near England, where the Spiring of this Treaty was conceiv'd to be. I thought France [Page] might not dislike Cleve, even upon those regards the Allies suspected of the vicinity to the States; and the Confederates could not except against it as belonging to one of them. On t'other side, if the Allies approv'd Cleve, and France should refuse it, yet they could not afterwards disapprove of Nimeguen, which was but three Leagues nearer the Hague or Amsterdam, where they suspected the French practices; and disjoin'd from both by necessary passage of great Rivers, which made the Commerce more difficult and slow than it would be from other Towns of the States Dominions. Another Reason was, That I knew no other to name that did not seem previously excluded; and upon this the Deputies consented that I should propose both to the King, that he might do the same to all the Parties; but that I should begin with Cleve, which I did.

This France refus'd, upon pretence [Page] of some dependance upon the Empire; but, as was thought, upon picque to the Duke of Brandenburgh, with whom they were more offended at this time, than with any of the Allies. After this refusal, and Nimeguen being advanc'd, France first a [...]cepted it, and afterwards the Allies, who could not well refuse it, after having express'd they would have been satisfied with Cleve; and so this Place came to be fix'd for the Scene of this Negotiation.

But at the same time that France accepted the Place of Treaty, they declar'd, That they would not however send any Ambass [...]dors thither till the Emperor had given them satisfaction upon the two Points so long insisted, of Prince William of Furstenburgh's Liberty, and Restitution of the Money seized at Colen, which were Points had been hitherto as obstinately refus'd at Vienna, as demanded by France: [Page] So as these paces towards a Peace, gain'd at present very little ground, but left way for the Actions and Successes of the ensuing Campania to determin the Times, the Methods, and Conditions of their pretended Treaty.

The French began their Action by the Siege of Limburgh, with one part of their Army, whilst the King with the rest lay encamp'd in a Post most convenient to oppose any attempt of relieving it, to which purpose the Prince was upon his march; but after a short and weak resistance, it was taken before he could approach it: For, besides some delays forc'd by his sickness, he began here to feel the weight that hung about him all the course of this War, from the uncertain and slow marches of the German Horse, and the weakness and disorders of the Spanish Troops, which were necessary to make up his Army of strength to [Page] oppose that of France, compos'd of such Numbers, such brave and experienc'd Troops, and under so great a Commander as the Prince of Conde, and so gallant Officers.

After the taking of Limburgh, the French and Confederate Armies in Flanders fell into no considerable Action or Attempt; Neither daring to sit down before any Place of Strength, while the other Army attended them, and was ready to relieve it; and neither seeming very earnest to come to a Battel (unless with evident Advantages) upon the loss of which so great Consequences seem'd to depend, as the French entire Conquest of Flanders on the one side, or the Confederates marching directly into France on the other, after any great Victory. Besides, they seem'd to be amus'd by the expectation of what was likely to pass in Germany, both upon the [Page] Rhine between the Imperialists and French, and in Pomerania between the Swede and Brandenburgh, which, without new Successes in the Low-Countreys, were like to decide in a great measure the Fate of this War, whil'st the Confederates equally presum'd of their Successes in Alsatia, and the French of those of the Swedes in the North.

About the end of July, the King of France, weary of a dull Campania, left the Army to the Prince of Conde, and return'd with his Court to Versailles; And the same month, His Majesty, seeing the Negotions of the Peace lay'd at present asleep, sent for me to make a short turn into England, and give an Account of all the Observations I had been able to make abroad upon the present Dispositions and Conjunctures, as well as receive his Instructions for the future progress of his Mediation.

[Page]The Parliament in England, tho much pleas'd with the last Peace in Holland, yet were not so with His Majesty's desires of a General One. They thought the Power of France too great since their last Conquest in Flanders, and their Ambition too declar'd, of atchieving it by one means, and at one time or other: They were suspicious of the Court's favouring too much the French Designs, by pursuing a Peace that would break so mighty a Confederacy as was now united against France: They were jealous of the Councels which had made the late Alliance and Kindness between Us and France in the time of the late Cabal; and besides these regards, and the common Notions of balancing the Power of our Neighbours, which were very popular, the ambitious Designs of private, but unquiet or aspring men, fell in to augment and blow up the general ill humours [Page] upon the more Publick Accounts.

The Lord Shaftsbury, impatient at his fall from so great a share of the Ministry, and hoping to retrieve a Game he was forc'd to give over, had run desperately into the popular humour, both in Parliament and City, of censuring the Court, exclaiming against our partiality to France, but most of all against the Conduct of the present Ministry. And Lord Arlington was so enrag'd at the Growth of my Lord Treasurer's Credit upon the Fall of His Own, that he fell in with the common humour of the Parliament, in fomenting those Jealousies and Practices in the House of Commons, which center'd in a Measure agreed among the most considerable of them, Not to consent to give the King any Money whil'st the present Lord Treasurer continued. Upon these occasions or dispositions they grew very high [Page] in pursuing the Lord Lauderdale, the only remainder of the Cabal, that had now any credit left at Court; and they pressed the King very earnestly to recal all the English Troops in the French Service, tho there was a greater number in the Dutch: But besides, they fell into so great dissentions between the Two Houses, rais'd upon punctilious disputes, and deductions of their several Priviledges in opposition to one another, that about the end of June the King Prorogued them.

Upon my arrival soon after, His Majesty telling me the several reasons that had mov'd him to it, said, That he doubted much, while the War lasted abroad, it would give occasion or pretence for these heats, that had of late appeared in the Parliament, and make him very uneasie in his Revenue, which so much needed their assistance; That some of the warm Leaders in both Houses[Page]had a mind to engage him in a War with France, which they should not do for many reasons; and, among the rest, because he was sure if they did, they would leave him in it, and make use of it to ruin his Ministers, and make him depend upon Them more than he intended, or any King would desire: But besides all this, he doubted an impertinent quarrel between my Lord Treasurer and Lord Chamberlain, did him more disservice in the Parliament than I could imagin; for the last did not care what harm he did His business there, so he could hope to ruin my Lord Treasurer; and had perswaded a great many in the House of Commons, that this would certainly be compass'd, if they were stanch, and declar'd in giving no Money during his Ministry. That he knew they were both my Friends, and therefore desir'd I would try to reconcile them while I stay'd in England. I endeavour'd it, but fail'd: my Lord [Page] Danby was very inclinable, being so posted as to desire only to continue where he was; and that the King's business might go well in his hands; but my Lord Arlington was so uneasie in the posture he stood, which he attributed chiefly to my Lord Treasurer's present Greatness, that he was untreatable upon this Subject: So when I found the Wound was too much wrankled to be cur'd, I gave it over; telling each of them, That since I could not make them Friends, I would at least live with them both as if they were so; and desir'd them not to expect I should sacrifice one Friend to another. My Lord Treasurer was content with this frankness; but Lord Arlington could not bear this neither, grew dry from this time, and stiff in all that pass'd between us, still mingling little reproaches or touches of my greatness with the other; and grew so weary of the Scene [Page] at Court, where he found himself left out, that he went into the Countrey for the rest of the Summer.

Thus the seeds of discontents that had been sown in the Parliament under the Councels of the Cabal, began to spring fast, and root deep, after their Power and Influence was wholly at an end; and those Heats were under other covers fomented by two of the chief that composs'd that Ministry, and with help of time and accident grew to such flames as have since appear'd. But whatever began or increas'd them, 'tis certain these agitations in England had great effect upon those of the War and Peace abroad. For the Confederates were confident, That the humour of the Parliament and People would at last engage the King in their quarrel, which they knew would force France to such a Peace as they desir'd; and Spain [Page] was so presuming, That England would not suffer the loss of Flanders, that they grew careless of its Defence, or of those Orders and Supplies that were necessary to it; trusting for the present to the Dutch to preserve it, and to the King hereafter, whenever he should find it more in danger. And these Considerations made the Allies less inclinable to a Peace, which they might have had cheaper the following Winter, than ever it fell afterwards to their share, by Revolutions that were not foreseen, but yet such as were suspected at this time, by those that knew the weakness of the Spaniards, and divisions of the Imperial Court.

While I stay'd in England, which was about six weeks, the News came of a great Insurrection in Bretanny, which, with the Numbers and Rage it began, might have prov'd of ill consequence [Page] to the French Affairs, if it had met with a Head answerable to the Body; but being compos'd of a scum of the mean People, that hated and spoil'd the Nobles of the Province, it was by fair means partly, and by foul, in a little time appeas'd. The Blow which was much more considerable to France, than the loss of Provinces would have been, was the death of Monsieur Turenne, the News whereof came to Court about the same time. This great Captain had for three months together kept the Imperial Army at a bay on t'other side the Rhine; resolv'd not to fight unless with the greatest advantage; his Point being to hinder the German Forces from besieging Philipsburgh, from posting themselves in the Towns of Alsace, but chiefly from entring into Lorain, or the County of Burgundy. All these he perform'd; but being press'd by the Imperialists, and straitned in his [Page] Quarters, he suffered much by want of Provisions, and found his Army diminish'd by Sickness and Desertion, which use to follow that condition. At last, being necessitated for want of Forage to force a Post of the Enemies that straitned him most, a warm Skirmish began, and with loss to the French, that were gall'd with two Pieces of Cannon rais'd upon an Eminence, and playing upon them with advantage. Monsieur Turenne resolv'd to raise a Battery to dismount them; and going with Saint Hilaire, a Lieutenant General, to chuse a place the most convenient for it, the two small Pieces from the Imperial side fir'd at them almost together; one of the Bullets wounded Saint Hilaire in the Shoulder, and t'other, after two or three bounds upon the ground, struck Monsieur Turenne upon the Breast, and without any apparent Wound, more than the [Page] Contusion, laid him Dead upon the place, and by such a Death as Caesar us'd to wish for, unexpected, sudden, and without pain. The astonishment was unspeakable in the French Camp, upon the loss of such a General; the presumption as great in That of the Imperialists, who reckon'd upon themselves as Masters of the whole French Army, that was straitned between Them and the Rhine, in want, diseas'd, and, above all, discourag'd by the loss of their Captain. All others had the same expectation upon this News, but all were disappointed; and Monsieur de Lorge's taking the Command of the Army, had the Honour of making a Retreat that was worth a Victory; and by the force of Order and Conduct, with the Bravery of the English Troops, who made such bold stands in several places that they could not be broken till most of the Army were march'd off, he pass'd the Rhine in [Page] sight of part of the imperial Army, and encamp'd himself on the other side in safety, and so preserv'd it till the Prince of Conde was sent in hast out of Flanders, with a great Enforcement to oppose the Progress of the Imperialists in Alsace.

In the mean time, the Elector of Brandenburgh drawing his Forces with some Imperialists out of Silesia together, fell upon the Swedes in Pomerania with that Bravery and Success, that he soon beat them out of his part of the Country and pursu'd them into their own. He had an Interview with the King of Denmark, who was now entred into the Interests of the Confederates, resolv'd to declare War against Sweden, and to that end took his measures with the Duke of Brandenburgh how to pursue it, with the best advantage, the rest of the Season.

When the Prince of Conde left [Page] Flanders to succeed Monsieur Turenne in Alsace, the Duke of Lutzenburgh commanded the Army in Flanders, but with Orders not to hazard a Battel, but only to observe the Prince of Orange's Motions, and to cover any Town that was like to be endanger'd; which he perform'd so well, that no further Action pass'd this Summer, besides the Prince's taking and razing of Binch. But to make amends for the unactiveness of this Campania in Flanders, the Confederates, by concert on all sides, fell upon an Enterprize of great eclai, and of greater consequence, which was the Siege of Treves. The Imperialists were bent upon it, to open a Passage that way into France, finding so much opposition in their Designs of it by Alsatia: The Spaniards desired it, to make way for their succouring Lutzenburgh whenever it should be prest, which was of the last importance to them: The Duke of [Page] Lorain was violent for it, in hopes of finding a way open'd for his entrance into Lorain. The Prince Palatine thought it the best preparation for Besieging and carrying Philipsburg, which was the Thorn in his side. So as all these join'd part of their Troops together, with some of the Elector of Trier's, and a Body of the Lunenburgh Forces under the Dukes of Zell and Osnabrugh, and sat down before Treves.

The Mareschal de Crequi gather'd all the Forces he could out of the neighbouring Provinces, and made up a strong Army to relieve it. The Confederates left part of Theirs to maintain their Retrenchments about the Town, and marched with the rest against Monsieur de Crequi, pass'd a River in his sight, attacqu'd him, beat him out of the Field with great slaughter, many Prisoners, and such a dispersion of the rest, that the whole Army seem'd to have vanish'd in [Page] one day; and Monsieur de Crequi got into Treves with four or five only in Company: There he made a desperate resistance for near a month against the victorious Army, with great Honour and loss among the English Troops that were in the Town, and without any hopes of Relief; nor would he ever capitulate, after all the extremities he was reduc'd to by the forms of a Siege, till the Garrison mutin'd against his obstinacy, capitulated for themselves, and deliver'd up Monsieur de Crequi and most of the Officers Prisoners to the Germans The Dukes of Lunenburgh had gre [...]t honour in this Action, and the Old Duke of Lorain; and indeed it was one of the most vigorous that succeeded in the whole course of the War, and carried the compleatest Victory, as well as a very considerable Town: And the Honour of it was very much due to the Marquess de Grana, [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] who commanded the Emperor's Forces there, and was esteem'd to have laid the first Design to have concerted the several parts of it, engag'd the several Parties to resolve upon the same Adventure, and kept them firm in it till it was archieved. The loss of men was very great on the French side, both in the Fight and the Siege; and added to Monsieur Turenne's Death, and the impression expected upon it on that side, by Count Montecuculi, with the loss of the Swedes, made so great a change in the appearance of Affairs, that his Majesty in a Letter to me, in September, after my return to the Hague, bid me use it as an Argument to induce the Prince of Orange to be easie in the business of a Peace, That it was now time for him to begin to apprehend again the greatness of the House of Austria, instead of that of France. It was indeed expected that the Imperialists in Alsace would [Page] either enter into Lorain, or at least would take the chief Towns of Alsace, and post themselves so the following Winter, as to be ready for such an Enterprise in the beginning of the next Spring; and Count Montecuculi besieg'd first Haguenau, and afterwards Saberne, which were the most considerable Places, to that end. But after Haguenau had offer'd to Surrender upon Conditions, he rose with his Army to fight the Prince of Conde, who made a motion of his Army as if he intended to relieve it; but so order'd it as the Germans fail'd both of the Battel and the Town. It was never comprehended how Montecuculi afterwards came to rise of a sudden from the Siege of Saberne: Some said, it was upon an express Order from Vienna the night before; others, with design of fighting the French Army, or besieging Philipsburgh; but neither happen'd; and which was worse [Page] than all, he ended the Campania with passing back his whole Army over the Rhine, and leaving Alsace wholly in possession, and at mercy of the French Troops: Nor have I ever known any Action of such publick Concern so unaccountable as this Retreat, since 'tis hard to suspect either Corruption or Court-Faction should go so far, tho' both were accus'd of having part in this great and almost decisive Event.

The resentment of it was thought to have broke the old Duke of Lorain's heart, who died about this time, and left Prince Charles, his Nephew, the succession to that Dutchy. No Prince had met with more misfortunes than this Duke, nor had felt them less or given greater Testimony of what Philosophy teaches, That the good or ill of mens lives comes more from their Humors than their Fortunes. He was expell'd that [Page] Noble and Lovely Dutchy by the Arms of France in Cardinal Richlieu's time; forc'd to go into the Spanish Service in Flanders with a Body of Lorainers, that would follow his Fortune whatever it was; strugl'd with want of Pay to his Troops, with jealousie and ill usage of the Spanish Governours; was seiz'd and imprison'd by that Crown; restor'd to a shatter'd possession of Lorain by the Peace of the Pyrenees, and in the year 1670. forc'd to escape by night, and almost alone, by a sudden surprize of the French Troops, in the height and security of Peace; after this he never had a home any more for the rest of his life, which was spent in suing for Protection and Relief from the several Princes of Christendom, who resented the injustice of his Case, which none pretended to defend, but yet none to concern themselves in it, till upon the last War he fell into his [Page] share of the Confederacy, with the weight of two or three thousand Lorainers, that still follow'd his Fortune, and enter'd into Leagues with the Emperor and most of the Allies for his restitution. He seem'd not to deserve the Fortune of a Prince, only because he seem'd not to care for it; to hate the Constraints and Ceremonies that belong to it; and to value no Pleasures in Life, but the most natural and most easie; and while he had them, was never out of humour for wanting the rest; Generous to his Servants and Soldiers when he had it; and when he wanted, endeavouring to make it up by the Liberties he gave them; very much belov'd and familiar among both: And to give his Picture by a small trait, one of his Ministers told me, That not long before he died, all his Family was, a Gentleman of the Horse (as he was call'd) another of his Chamber, [Page] and a Boy that look'd to a little Nag he us'd to ride; one day he call'd for his Horse; the two first told him, the Boy was not to be found. He bid them however get him his Horse. They could not agree which of them should go and Saddle him, till the Duke bid them go, and one or t'other of them do it, or else he swore he would go down and Saddle his Horse himself; they were as ham'd, and 'twas done.

About the same time died at the Hague the old Princess Dowager of Orange; a Woman of the most Wit, and good Sense in general, that I have known; and who had thereby a great part in forming the race of the Prince, and the mighty improvement it receiv'd from three very extraordinary Women, as well as three so great Men in the last descents. None has shew'd more the force of Order and Oeconomy than this Princess, who with [Page] small Revenues, never above Twelve thousand pounds a year since her Husband's deash, liv'd always in as great plenty, and more curiousness and elegance than is seen in many greater Courts. Among other pieces of Greatness, She was constantly serv'd all in Gold Plate, which went so far as to great Bottles for Water, and a great Cistern for Bottles, to the Key of her Closet, and every thing of that kind She usually touched, which I mention, because I think 'tis what the greatest Kings of Christendom have not pretended to do, nor any I have heard of on this side Persia.

In November, this year, happen'd a Storm at Northwest, with a Spring-tide, so violent, as gave apprehensions of some loss irrecoverable to the Province of Holland, and by several Breaches in the great Digues near Enckhuysen, and others between Amsterdam and Harlem, made way for such Inundations [Page] as had not been seen before by any man then alive, and fill'd the Country with many relations of most deplorable Events. But the incredible diligence and unanimous endeavours of the People upon such occasions, gave a stop to the Fury of that Element, and made way for recovering next year all the Lands, tho' not the People, Cattel, and Houses, that had been lost.

Before the end of the year, the Danes took Wismar from the Suedes; and by an open War those two Crowns came to be engag'd in the common quarrel; and after a great expectation of some extraordinary Successes in the Spanish Affairs from Don John's intended expedition into Italy, to command all the Forces and Provinces of that Crown, both there and in Sicily, when he was ready to go and meet de Ruyter at Barcelona, who attended him there with the Dutch Fleet, design'd [Page] for Messina, he was by a Court-Intrigue recall'd to Madrid; the King was then arriv'd in his Fourteenth year, and took upon him the Government, as now in Majority; and by the advice of some near him in favour, writ a Letter to Don John to invite him to Court, to assist him in the Government; he obey'd, but stay'd not there above a Fortnight or three Weeks, till by the Credit and Authority of the Queen Mother, he was forc'd to quit his ground there, and return to Saragoza; and so vanish'd a mighty expectation that had been rais'd in Spain, and other places, of great effects that were to follow this Prince's coming to the Administration of Affairs, and very great Sums of Money were wholly lost that had been employ'd in the Preparations of his Journey and Equipage for Italy. And Sicily was left almost hopeless of recovery, from the Successes of [Page] the French, who had taken many Posts about Messina, and threaten'd many more; and other Towns were fear'd to follow the Example of that great Revolt.

After the Prince's return from the Campania to the Hague in October, I had several Conferences with him upon the subject of the Peace, and the Terms that both his Majesty and the States might think reasonable, between France and Spain, and both those Crowns be in any probability of consenting to. That which France pretended, was the terms of the Peace of Aix, and retaining the County of Burgundy which had been since conquer'd; or if either this Province, or some of the most important Frontier Towns of Flanders should be restor'd; then an equivalent to be made them for such restitution. The Spaniards talk'd of nothing less than the Peace of the Pyrenees; and that they would rather lose the rest [Page] of Flanders by the War, than part with Burgundy by the Peace; and said, both the King and the States were as much concern'd in Flanders, as the Crown of Spain; and had the same Interest to see it safe by a War or a Peace, which could not by such a Frontier as was left by that of Aix.

That which my Lord Arlington had propos'd to the Prince and Pensioner, and which pass'd for his Majesty's Sentiment, tho he pretended no Orders, was the terms of Aix la Capelle; but in regard of the necessity for the Spaniards to have a better Frontier in Flanders than was left by that Peace, That the French should give up Aeth, and Charleroy, and Oudenarde for Aire, and St. Omer: And that if they parted with the County of Burgundy, it should be for something in exchange. His Majesty commanded me to assure the Prince, That if a Peace could [Page] be made upon these terms, or any so near them, that he might hope to obtain the consent of France; His Majesty for the security of Flanders would give his own Gaurranty to the Peace, and enter into the strictest Alliance the States could desire for preserving it, or defending Flanders in case of a new rupture. He bid me further assure the Prince, That for his Patrimonial Lands in Burgundy (which were about eight thousand Pounds a year, and Lordships of the greatest Royalty in that County) he would undertake for his secure possessing them, tho that County should remain in the French hands, or for selling them to that King, and at what price the Prince himself could think fit to value them.

The Prince's Answer was, That for his own part, he could be very well content to leave the terms of a Peace to his Majesty himself, and believ'd the States would do so too; [Page] but they were both engag'd by Treaty and Honour to their Allies, and there was no thought of making Peace without them. That he believ'd the Spaniards might be perswaded to it upon the terms of Aix, with restitution only of Aeth, Charleroy, and Oudenarde, towards composing some kind of necessary Frontier on that side; but to part with Aire and St Omer without any further and greater exchange, he believ'd they would not in the present posture of things. That for France retaining the County of Burgundy, as Conquer'd in this last War, he was sure neither Spain nor the Emperor would ever consent to it, unless they were beaten into it by disasters they had no reason to expect; tho' for his own part, he should be content with it, provided the French would restore Tournay, Courtray, Lisle, and Doway, with their dependencies, to the Spaniards in lieu of it, [Page] because by that means Flanders would have a secure Frontier on that side, and a reasonable good one by Aeth and Charleroy on the other; and the security of Flanders was the chief interest of the States upon the Peace. That for himself, he thank'd his Majesty for his offer, as to his Lands in Burgundy; but they never came into his thought upon the terms of a Peace, nor should ever hinder it; but on t'other side, he would be content to lose them all, to gain one good Town more for the Spanjards in Flanders.

When I put him in mind, as the King order'd me, of the apprehensions He and the States might have of the Greatness of the House of Austria, if their Successes continued; he told me, There was no need of that, till they should go beyond the Peace of the Pyrenees: whenever that should happen, he should be as much a French man as he was [Page]now a Spaniard, but not before. He ended, in desiring, That whatever Plan his Majesty thought fit to propose for a Peace, he would do it at the Congress at Nimeguen; for the number and variety of Pretensions and Interests were grown so great, by all the Parties now engag'd in a war, that it could not be done in any other place; and for his part, he could never consent to any Treaty separate from his Allies. That he believ'd they would be reasonable; and if France would be so too, the Peace might be made; if not, perhaps another Campania might bring them to reason; and that this might have done it, if some differences between him and the Spanjards, in the Actions propos'd, had not hinder'd the successes they hop'd for in Flanders, and if Montecuculi's impatience to be at Vienna, and pass the Winter there upon the Factions stirring at Court, had not made [Page] him repass the Rhine, and take his Winter-quarters in the Circles of the Empire there; because if he had done it in Alsace, he doubted his presence with the Army might be thought necessary.

After this Conference, and no return from His Majesty to the account I gave him of it, the Discourse ceas'd of Private Measures to be agreed to between His Majesty and the Prince and States, for promoting a Peace; and all thoughts began now to turn upon forming the Congress at Nimeguen.

I had another testimony given me of the firmness I had always found in the Prince upon the subject of the Peace, by what one of the Spanish Ministers told me had lately pass'd between him and the Duke of Villa Hermosa. His Highness had a long pretence depending at Madrid, for about Two hundred thousand Pounds, [Page] owing to his Family from that Crown since the Peace of Munster. It had ever been delay'd tho' never refus'd; an Agent from the Prince had of late very much press'd the Queen Regent of Spain upon this Subject, and with much ado had obtain'd an Order for Fifty thousand Pounds, and Bills were put into his hands by the Ministers there, which when they arriv'd in Flanders, instead of being paid, they were Protested. The Duke Villa Hermosa was so asham'd of this treatment, that he sent a person purposely to excuse it to the Prince, and assure him the fault was not in the Queen nor Ministers, but only in the choice of hands by which it was transmitted, and desir'd his Highness would not take it ill of the Queen. The Prince answer'd, No, not at all; on t'other side, I have reason to take it well of the Queen, for if she did not think me the honestest Man in the World, she would not [Page] use me so; however, nothing of this kind shall hinder me from doing what I owe to my Allies, or to my Honour.

Notwithstanding all I had written from the Prince to His Majesty upon this Subject, yet my Lord Arlington, upon pretended intelligence from his Relations in Holland, endeavour'd to perswade him that he knew not the Prince's mind for want of some body that had more credit with him than I had; and at the same time he pursu'd the Prince by Letters, to desire the King to send over some such person as he might treat with in the last confidence upon all matters between them. The Prince shew'd me his Letters, and bid me assure the King and my Lord Treasurer, that he could say no more than he had done to me, and would not say so much to any other Man. However my Lord Arlington upon the former suggestions, prevail'd with [Page] the King to send over Sir Gabriel Sylvius instructed, to know the bottom of the Prince's Mind upon the Subject of the Peace, before the Campania began. He acquainted the Prince with this resolution, and that he was a person they knew His Highness would trust; The Prince shewed me this Letter too, and said, He knew not what he meant; that Lord Arlington knew as well as any Man how far he trusted both Sir Gabriel Sylvius and me; This good usage ended all Correspondence between Lord Arlington and me, which had lasted by Letters to this time, tho' coldly since my being last in England: But upon Sir Gabriel Sylvius's coming to the Hague in January, and my preparation to go for Nimeguen, I ended that scene, having not learn'd enough of the Age, nor the Court I liv'd in, to act an unsincere part either in Friendship or in Love.

[Page]When Sir Gabriel came to the Hague, he pass'd for a Man of some great Intrigue, was perpetually at Court, or in Conversation and Visits with the persons near the Prince, or most imploy'd in the State; but he and Lord Arlington were soon satisfied to how good purpose he came over; for the Prince, who is the sincerest Man in the World, hating all tricks, and those that use them, gave him no mark of the least confidence while he stayed, and sent him away with a very plain one of the contrary, by trusting another hand with all he writ of consequence into England, before he went into the Field. The truth is, the Prince took this Journey of his to have been design'd by my Lord Arlington, both out of spight to me, and to give jealousies to the Confederates, by the suspicion of something in agitation between the King and the Prince, that I [Page] was not thought fit to be trusted with; and indeed several of their Ministers at the Hague were apt to fall into such surmises: But Monsieur de Lyra a Spanish Minister, a person much credited in his own Court, and much in the Prince's Confidence, was ever firm in the belief of His Highnesses Honour and Constancy (which he us'd to say his Master trusted to, more than to any Treaties) and so help'd to prevent all such impressions.

In the mean time, all motions necessary towards forming the Congress at Nimeguen began to be made by the several Parties, and gave appearances of the Ambassadors meeting suddenly there. The great obstruction hitherto had been the point of Prince William of Furstenberg's Liberty, which France had absolutely insisted on before they sent their Ambassadors, and the Emperor had been induced to promise only upon conclusion of [Page] the Treaty. But an Expedient was found out to salve the Honour of France upon this point, rather than the Treaty should be hinder'd, which was at that time thought necessary for their Affairs. The Bishop of Strasburg made a formal request to the King of France, That no Private Interests, or Respects of his Brother, might delay the Treaty of a Peace which was of so much consequence to all Christendom; and this Request being at this time easily receiv'd and granted, no further difficulty was made upon this point.

His Majesty thereupon invited all the Princes concern'd in the War, to hasten away their Ministers to the place of Congress, and acquainted them with his having order'd his own to repair immediately thither; and having some Months before appointed the Lord Berkly (then Ambassador at Paris) Sir William Temple, and Sir Lionel [Page]Jenkins His Ambassadors, Mediators, and Plenipotentiaries for the Treaty of Nimeguen; Sir Lionel was accordingly dispatch'd away, and arriv'd at the Hague towards the end of January 1676. and brought with him our instructions for that Ambassy; and after some few days stay at the Hague, went away for Nimeguen. But the Expedition of the Pasports, from and to all the Ministers of the several Parties, having been for some time under my care, and many of them come to my hands, tho' others were entangled still in some difficulty or other, we both concluded it necessary for me to continue at the Hague till this was dispatch'd, whilst Sir Lionel should go upon the place of Congress, and by the presence of a Mediator, invite the rest to make more haste than many of them seem'd dispos'd to at this time.

The French Ambassadors were [Page] already come to Charleville, where they stayed for their Pasports only to go on with their Journey; and upon Sir Lionel's arrival at the Hague, the Dutch Ambassadors came to us to acquaint us with the States Orders for their immediate repair to Nimeguen, and for the Magistrates of that City (which they now consider'd as a Neutral Town) to receive all Orders from us the Mediators, and particularly any we pleas'd to give about our reception upon our arrival there.

We told them, His Majesty's thoughts were upon the successes of the Treaty, and that nothing could more obstruct it than the Ceremonies which used to attend those Meetings; and therefore he order'd us to introduce as much as we could the method of all the Ambassadors, living there as much like private men, as could consist with the Honour of their Characters; and to this end, that we [Page] should make no publick Entries, and give thereby an example to those that came after us.

To avoid all punctilio's about the time of the several Parties dispatching the Passports; it was agreed that all should be sent to the Hague from the several Courts, and there should be put into my hands, to the end, that when I found my self possess'd, I should make the distribution reciprocally to both Parties at the same time. Those of France were early with me, but short in some points of those from the Confederates; the chief whereof was the omission of Liberty granted to the Ambassadors to dispatch Couriers to their Masters Courts upon Passports of the respective Ambassadors, which was thought necessary for the progress of the Treaty. Another was the omission of Passports for the Duke of Lorain's Ministers in the form usual and expected; for [Page] whereas the Crown of France had always treated the former Dukes of Lorain with the Titles of Duke, and Appellations of Brother; their Passports now treated the new Duke only with Cousin, and Prince Charles of Lorain; the rest were minute differences, or mistakes of words, which are not worth the mention, and were easily surmounted. Of all these his Majesty had early notice, and imploy'd his Offices towards France for some months, without answer upon that of Lorain, and with positive refusal of inserting the Clause for liberty of Pasports, tho Monsieur Van Beuningham several times during this pause writ to the States, That the King often assur'd him (their Ambassador at London,) That there should be no difficulty in the business of Loroin.

About the beginning of February this year 1676. I receiv'd a Letter from Monsieur Pompone, then [Page] Secretary for the Foreign Affairs in France, to tell me, That his Master having been acquainted from His Majesty with the difficulties occurr'd in forming the Congress, had order'd him to let me know his Reasons upon them. As to that of Couriers, That he thought it not fit to have his Countries and Towns lie open to his Enemies Observations and Discoveries, upon pretext of such Couriers frequent passage; That the inconvenience would be the same to the Confederates; and that he ask'd no more than he gave. As to the Point of Lorain, That his Master could not give Passports with the stile of Duke, which carried that of Brother, pretending that Dutchy belong'd to His Most Christian Majesty by the Treaty in 1662. between Him and the last Duke.

Not many days after, I receiv'd notice from Secretary Williamson, [Page] of the same Account having been given His Majesty by Monsieur Ruvigny, with order to acquaint the States with it; which I had not done upon Monsieur Pompone's Letter, as not thinking fit to make any paces in these matters without Orders from His Majesty. The States and all their Allies were very much surpris'd with this pretence of Lorain, which France had never before advanc'd, or so much as mention'd, either upon the seisure of that Dutchy, or since that time, in the Accounts of it by their Ministers in the several Courts of Christendom; they had only profess'd to have found such a seisure necessary for preserving the Peace wherein Christendom then was, from the dangerous or uncertain dispositions of that present Duke, with whom His Most Christian Majesty could take no certain Measures, and his Enemies would be practising; but that it was without [Page] any intention of retaining any part of that Dutchy otherwise than for this end of preserving the Peace of Christendom. All this, with many more Circumstances, Monsieur Serinchamps, the Lorain Envoy, alledged at the Conferences with the States and Allies upon this occasion; and for the Treaty of 1662. he seem'd to wonder it should ever be mention'd, as a thing wholly invalid, and, as every body thought, thereupon long since forgotten; That the last Duke had no power to dispose of that Dutchy from his Nephew; because if the Salique Law had place in Lorain, it was unalienable from the next Heir-male: if the Feminine Succession, then that Duke himself had no Title at all to it, but it belong'd to the present Duke, even in the life of his Uncle. Secondly, That it was invalid, by the French non-performance of the only condition on their side, upon which [Page] the Old Duke pretended to have made it; which was, That the Princes of that Family should be assum'd into the Rank of Princes of the Blood in France; and that upon registring that Treaty of 1662. in the parliament of Paris, without that Clause, the Old Duke had declar'd it void within three weeks after it was made. Thirdly, That a Treaty was concluded the year after, being 1663. at Marsal, between the Most Christian King and the said Duke, by which he was to continue the possession of all his Territories, besides Marsal, in the same manner as he enjoy'd them by the Treaty of 1661. as he did till the seisure of them by France in 1670. during a profound Peace, and with the Professions above-mentioned made by France to His Majesty at that time (as Monsieur Serinchamps averred) as well as to the other Courts of Christendom.

[Page]These Arguments were of such force with all the Confederates, that they were unanimous and firm in positively insisting upon the Pasports of that Duke, with the usual forms; and the more, since France had advanc'd a pretence to that Dutchy, which was never thought of before among the Allies. The Austrian Ministers told me frankly, That the Treaty should never be without this allowance of the Duke of Lorain's Title, nor the Peace without his Restitution. The States said, They for their parts would willingly refer his, and any other matters concerning the Treaty, to His Majesty's arbitration; but that they were bound already by other Treaties to their Allies; and particularly, to the Duke of Lorain, and could not break from them upon a Point of such apparent Right as this. The Prince spoke the same Language, and said further, That he was [Page] bound by his Oath of Stadtholder, among other things, to endeavour to the utmost of his power to keep the States to the due observance of their Treaties; and so, by the Grace of God, he would do in This as well as Others.

All this being signified to His Majesty, and by Him to France that Court continued peremptory in the matter; and the Allies persisting in the same disposition, the Congress began to be look'd upon from all sides as a thing ended before it began. The Allies took this pretence for a Declaration from France of their Resolution there should be no Treaty at present; and grounded it upon some great expectation or design they had upon further progresses in Sicily, or new ones in Naples, or else from hopes of bringing in the Poles to the assistance of Sweden.

But the truth was, That France had been forc'd to discover upon [Page] this Incident what they had always at heart; and I ever observ'd in the course of all these Negotiations, that there were three Points for which France thought the War worth continuing to the last extremity, which were, rather than restore Lorain or Burgundy, or leave a good Frontier on both sides of the Spanish Territories in Flanders. The last would hinder the progress of their great Design, whether of extending their Empire only to the Rhine, or beyond it: The two first would hinder their Conquest of Flanders, whenever they pursu'd the finishing of that Adventure, by leaving a passage for the Germans to relieve it, and by so great and dangerous a diversion as entring France through Lorain or Burgundy.

His Majesty most certainly disapproved, and was surpriz'd with this pretence of France to the Dutchy of Lorain; but yet was [Page] prevail'd with by Monsieur Ruvigny to offer the expedient of His Majesty as Mediator, giving all Pasports necessary to the Congress at Nimeguen. Monsieur Van Beuningham in this matter acted the part rather of a Bourgomaster of Amsterdam, than an Ambassador of the States; and to make court to that Town, who began to express great impatience for the Peace, he assur'd His Majesty, That his Masters could not fail of consenting to this expedient. I foresaw it would be refus'd, and gave his Majesty notice of it before I propos'd it to the States, as thinking His Honour and that of the Mediation concern'd in such a refusal; but receiving direct Orders to propose it, I did so. The States told me, They would of themselves consent to this, or whatever else His Majesty should propose; but having communicated it to their Allies, they would not hear of it; [Page] some refusing it with heat, and reflection upon His Majesty's partiality to France; others with sullenness and silence, referring themselves to new Orders from their Masters.

Hereupon the Congress grew wholly desperate, and all Parties prepar'd for the Field, without any other View, for the three months following the first rise of this Pretention. In the mean time, there pass'd a Fight between the French, and Dutch, and Spanish Ships near Messina, wherein de Ruyter was shot in the Heel by a Cannon-bullet, of which he died within few days after, and determined the greatest loss to have certainly happen'd on that side, by that of the ablest Sea-Captain of his Age, and the best Servant that any Prince or State could have: For the rest, the Advantage was not considerable of either part in this Fight, nor the consequence material in the progress [Page] of the French Arms in Sicily, or in any prospect of great Enterprises upon Naples. On the other side, the Swedish Affairs went very ill in Pomerania, and were threatned with great Invasions the following Campaign; both from Denmark and Brandenburgh. This decry'd the Councels of those Persons that engag'd them in this Quarrel. Two Ambassadors, Count Oxenstorn and Olivacrown, were appointed for the Treaty at Nimeguen, who had been ever of contrary Sentiments or Faction, which now began to prevail in the Swedish Court: They grew impatient for a Peace, and for the Treaty in order to it: They declar'd their disapproval of the French Pretension rais'd to Lorain, which seem'd only to obstruct it; and that they would send their Ministers to the Congress, whether the French came or no: and their Commissary at the Hague so well seconded these [Page] new dispositions of his Court, that whil'st the Congress look'd desperate by the declar'd obstinacy of both sides upon the Point of Lorain, Ships and Passports were dispatch'd by the States, with consent of their Allies, to fetch the Swedish Ambassador from Gottenburgh into Holland.

The Confederates were besides, much animated in their hopes, from the dispositions and humours express'd in a late Session of Parliament in England, which grew so high against the French, or at least upon that pretence, against the present Conduct of his Majesty or his Ministers, that the King Prorogu'd them about Christmas, before any of the matters projected by the warm Men amongst the House of Commons, were brought into form.

The French were upon their march into Flanders, and that King at the Head of a great and brave [Page] Army, threatning some great Enterprize. The Prince was preparing to go away into the Field, with resolution and hopes of having the honour of a Battel at the opening of the Campania; all thoughts of the Congress meeting before the end of it, were laid aside, when about the middle of May I was extremely surpriz'd to receive a Packet from Secretary Williamson, with the French Passports for the Duke of Lorain's Ministers, in the Form, and with the Stiles demanded by the Allies. And hereupon all difficulties being remov'd the Passports were exchang'd by the end of May.

Some days were lost by a new demand of the Allies for Passports likewise, for the Duke of Nieuburgh's Ministers, who was newly entered into the common Alliance; and the same paces were expected likewise from the Duke of Bavaria; (at least, so the Germans [Page] flatter'd themselves or their Friends.) Upon this, some of the Ministers of the Allies at the Hague, whose Masters were very unwilling the Congress should begin before the campania ended, prevail'd with the States to send Deputies to me, to demand Passports for the Duke of Nieuburgh, and any other Princes that should enter into their Alliance; and to declare, That if these were refus'd by France, they would look upon what had been already granted, as void.

I was something surpris'd at so unexpected a Message from the States; and told their Deputies, That such a Resolution was unpracticable; That His Majesty had undertaken to procure Passports for the Parties engag'd in the War, and all the Allies they had nam'd on both sides, which was done, and thereupon the Congress ready to begin, and such a delay as this would occasion, was both a disrespect [Page] to His Majesty, and that could not be consented by France, nor the Reciprocal of it by any of the Allies that foresaw the Consequences which might happen upon it; That some Allie of France might fall off to the Confederates, or some of the Confederates to France, and with such Circumstances, as it could not be expected either of them should think fit to give Passports, or treat with them at the Congress: nor was it a thing in any form, to demand Passports, without naming for whom they should be. After several other exceptions, the Deputies desir'd me to let them represent my reasons against it, to the States, and to expect their Answer till the next afternoon; and one of them told me as he went out, That I had all the reason in the world, and that they had been too easie in it upon the instances of some Allies. Next day the Deputies came to let me [Page] know, the States had alter'd their resolution, and desir'd only, That His Majesty would procure Passports for the Duke of Nieuburgh's Ministers, which I easily undertook. This Change had not pass'd without violent heats between the States Deputies and the Ministers of some Allies, who press'd them so far, as one of the Deputies answer'd him, Que pretendez vous donc, What do you intend then, Sirs, to make us be torn in pieces by the Rabble? Messieurs, de nous faire, deschirer par la Canaille? Which shows the disposition that run so generally at this time throughout the Trading Provinces towards a Peace.

There remain'd now but one Preliminary undetermin'd, which was, To fix some extent of Neutral Countrey about the Place of Congress: France would have extended it two leagues, round; the Allies would have it bounded of one side by the River of the Waal, [Page] upon which Nimeguen stood, and was divided by it from the Betow, a part of the Province of Holland, and through which lay the strait Road into the rest of that Countrey. Both these Proposals were grounded upon the same reason: That of France to facilitate the Commerce of their Ambassadors with the Towns of Holland, incite the desires, and enter into Practices of Peace distinct from the motions of the Congress; That of the Allies, to prevent or encumber the too easie and undiscover'd passage of the French Emissaries upon this occasion. However, both were positive in their Opinions; so as this matter came not to be determin'd till some time after the Congress began, and but lamely then.

Notes

*

Whence come you? It answer'd, From Marinn [...]n. The Prince, to whom do you belong? The Parrot, To a Portugez. Prince, What do you there? I look after the Chickens. The Prince laugh'd, and said, You look after the Chickens? The Parrot answered, Yes, I, and I know well enough how to do it.

CHAP. II.

[Page]

THE Prince was now ready to go into the Field, and told me, That before he went, he must have some talk with me in private and at leisure; and, to that purpose, desir'd it might be in the Garden of Hounslerdyke. We appointed the hour, and met accordingly. He told me, I would easily believe, that being the only Son that was left of his Family, he was often press'd by his Friends to think of Marrying, and had many persons propos'd to him, as their several humours led them. That, for his own part, he knew it was a thing to be done at one time or other; but that he had hitherto excus'd the thoughts of it, otherwise than in general, till the War was ended. That, besides his own Friends, the Deputies of the States begun to [Page] press him more earnestly every day, and the more, as they saw the War like to continue; and perhaps they had more reason to do it than any others. That he had at last promis'd them he would think of it more seriously and particularly; and so he had, and resolv'd he would marry; but the choice of a person he thought more difficult. That he found himself inclin'd to no Proposals had been made him out of France or Germany, nor indeed to any that had been mention'd upon this occasion by any of his Friends, but that of England. That before he concluded to make any paces that way, he was resolv'd to have my Opinion upon two Points; but yet would not ask it, unless I promis'd to answer him as a Friend, or at least an indifferent Person, and not as the King's Ambassador. When I told him he should be obey'd, he went on, and said, That he would confess to me, during the late War, [Page] neither the States, nor He in particular, were without applications made them from several Persons, and considerable, in England, who would fain have engag'd them to Head the Discontents that were rais'd by the Conduct of the Court in that whole War, which he knew was begun and carried on quite contrary to the humour of the Nation, and might, perhaps, have prov'd very dangerous to the Crown, if it had not ended as it did. That all these persons who pretended to be much his Friends, were extreamly against any thoughts of his marrying in England. Their Reasons were, That he would by it lose all the Esteem and Interest he had there, and be believed to have run wholly into the dispositions and designs of the Court, which were generally thought so different from those of the Nation, especially upon the Point of Religion, that his Friends [Page] there did not believe the Government could be long without some great Disturbance, unless they chang'd their Measures, which was not esteem'd very likely to be done; and upon this he desir'd my thoughts as a Friend. The next was upon the Person and Dispositions of the Young Lady; for tho' it would not pass in the World, for a Prince to seem concern'd in those particulars; yet for himself, he would tell me, without any sort of affectation, that he was so, and in such a degree, that no Circumstances of Fortune or Interest would engage him, without those of the Person, especially those of Humour and Dispositions. That he might, perhaps, be not very easie for a Wife to live with; he was sure he should not to such Wives as were generally in the Courts of this Age. That if he should meet with one to give him trouble at home, 'twas what he [Page] should not be able to bear, who was like to have enough abroad in the course of his Life; and that after the manner he was resolv'd to live with a Wife, which should be the best he could. He would have one that he thought likely to live well with him, which he thought chiefly depended upon their Disposition and Education; and if I knew any thing particular of the Lady Mary in these points, he desir'd me to tell him freely.

I answer'd his Highness, That I was very glad to find he was resolv'd to Marry, being what he owed his Family and Friends; That I was much more pleas'd that his inclination led him to endeavour it in England. That I thought it as much for his interest, as others of his English Friends thought it was against it. That the King and his Highness would ever be able to do one another more good, and more harm, than any other [Page] Princes could do either of them, by being Friends or Enemies. That it was a great step to be one degree nearer the Crown, and in all appearance the next. That for his Friends (as they pretended) in England, they must see much further than I did, to believe the King in any such dangers or difficulties as they imagin'd. That the Crown of England stood upon surer foundations than ever it had done in former times, and the more for what had pass'd in the last Reign; and that I believ'd the people would be found better Subjects than perhaps the King himself believ'd them. That it was however in his power to be as well with them as he pleas'd, and to make as short turns to such an end; if not, yet with the help of a little good husbandry, he might pass his Reign in Peace, tho' not perhaps with so much ease at home, or glory abroad, as if he fell into the vein of [Page] his pople. That if the Court were of sentiments different from those of His Highness, yet his Adv [...]ers would make him a greater Compliment in believing him as likely to induce the Court to his, as in concluding they would bring him to theirs; and if that should happen, the most seditious men in England would be hard put to it to find an ill side in such a Match. That for the other point, I could say nothing to it, but that I had always heard my Wife and my Sister speak with all the advantage that could be of what they could discern in a Princess so young, and more from what they had been told by the Governess, with whom they had a particular friendship, and who they were sure took all the care that could be in so much of Education as fell to her share.

After two hours discourse upon this subject, the Prince concluded he would enter upon this pursuit; [Page] and in order to it, would write both to the King and the Duke to beg their favour to him in it, and their leave, that he might go over into England at the end of the Campania; That my Wife, who was then going over upon my private Affairs, should carry and deliver both his Letters; and during her stay there, should endeavour to inform her self the most particularly she could, of all that concern'd the Person, Humour, and Dispositions of the young Princess, in which he seem'd so much concern'd.

Within two or three days after these Discourses, the Prince brought his Letters to my Wife, and went immediately to the Army, and she went suddenly after into England with those Dispatches, and left me preparing for my Journey to Nimeguen, where the Dutch first, and after them the French Ambassadors were arriv'd, and [Page] consequently those of the two principal Parties in the War.

Before I went, Du Moulin met my Chaplain in the Forhaut, and told him, He was so ill, that he knew he had not long to live, and that he could not die in quiet, without asking my Pardon for so many false and injurious things as he confess'd to have said of me since my last Ambassy there, tho' he had before had all the esteem that could be for me. He desir'd my Chaplain, since I had always refus'd to see him, that he would do this Office for him, and ask my Pardon as from a dying Man. This Moulin, after having been much imploy'd and favour'd by my Lord Arlington, during the Councels and Vogue of of the Triple Alliance, and disgrac'd by him after the change of those Measures in England, went over into Holland, was entertain'd by the Prince as one of his Secretaries, grew into great favour and confidence [Page] during the War, was made use of by the Discontents of England in their Applications at the Hague, was thought worth all my Lord Arlington's instances and endeavours when he was at the Hague, to remove him from the Prince's Service. I receiv'd afterwards Commands to the same purpose, and compass'd it not without time and difficulty; he had not been long laid aside when this happen'd; and whether that, or the knowledge of the Prince's late resolution to pursue the Match in England, help'd to break his heart, or whether it were a Consumption, as his Friends gave out, I know not, but he died soon after, and with him the Intrigues of that Party in England, that had for some time imployed him, and busied his Friends in Holland.

After many delays in the Dispatch, and exchange of the Passports, I got loose from the [Page] Hague about the beginning of July 1676. upon my journey to Nimeguen, where the French and Dutch Ambassadors being already arriv'd, prest very much for my coming, in regard Sir Lionel Jenkins excus'd himself from performing any acts or Offices of the Mediation, till my arrival, and contented himself to pass only the usual Visits. The dispositions I observ'd in the several Parties towards the success of this Congress, when I went in order to the opening of it, were very different, and very unlikely to draw it to any sudden issue; but only to attend and be Govern'd by the Successes of the several Armies in the Field, and the events expected from the Actions of the Campania. The French had given all the facility they could for some Months past to the forming of the Congress, and made all the haste they could for their Ambassadors to be upon the place, desiring no [Page] better Peace than upon the present Plan of Affairs; and hoping by their forwardness, and the great backwardness of some of the Allies, to make way for some separate Treaties with those among them who began to be impatient for the Peace. The House of Austria was sullen, as losers use to be, and so were very slow and testy in all their paces towards this Treaty; The Germans hoping for great successes of their Arms in this Campania, and the Spaniards flattering themselves with the Interests His Majesty had in the preservation of Flanders, and with the part which the Parliament in England seem'd of late to have taken in their Affairs, and both were in hopes that something might arise from one of these sides, to make room for pretensions that could not be in countenance as things stood at present. The Swede was very earnest for a Peace, as having more hopes of recovering [Page] himself that way, than by the course of a War. Denmark and Brandenburgh were violent for continuing the War, finding the Swedes weak, divided, and unrelievable by France any otherwise than with their Moneys, and hoping to drive them this Summer out of Germany. The States were very desirous of the Peace, having no pretences of their own, but to get well out of a War that ruin'd their Trade, and drain'd their Money, but they durst not break from their Confederates, not trusting England enough, nor France at all, so as to leave themselves in a condition of depending upon either of them after the Peace should be made. One general Thread run through the Councils on both sides; on the French, to break the confidence and union of the Confederacy by different paces and advances to the several Parties in the course of the Treaty; on the Confederates, [Page] to preserve the same confidence and union with which they had carried on the War, even after the Peace should be made. His Majesty, tho' he was offer'd by some of the Parties to be Arbiter as well as Mediator in the present differences, and was known by them all to have it in his power to make that figure as he pleas'd, yet chose the other, and gave us orders accordingly, only to perform the Offices of a bare Mediation, and to avoid the Parties submitting their differences to his determination; so that upon the whole, it was easie to foresee the Congress would only prove a business of form, and proceed no otherwise than as it should be mov'd, or rather govern'd by the events of the Field.

However, the opening of it might well be call'd the dawn of a Peace; which put me in mind of the only Prophecy of this sort that I had ever thought worth taking [Page] notice of; nor should I have done so, but that Monsieur Colbert show'd it me at my coming to Nimeguen, and made me remember to have seen it in my Lord Arlington's hands in the year 1668. who told me it was very old, and had been found in some Abby of Germany. It was in these terms: Lilium intrabit in terram Leonis feras in brachiis gerens, Aquila movebit alas, & in auxilium veniet filius hominis ab Austro, tunc erit ingens bellum per totum terrarum orbem, sed post quatuor annos pax elucescet, & salus erit filio hominis unde exitium putabatur. Those that have a mind to give credit to such Prophesies from the course of events, must allow the Leopards [Page] (the Ancient Arms of England) to be meant by Feras; the King of Spain by filius hominis; the Congress at Nimeguen (four years after the War began) by the Dawn of Peace; and Spain's having been sav'd by the States, or the Prince of Orange, by those from whom their ruin was expected. But I easily believe, that as most Prophecies that run the World, arise from the Contrivances of Crafty, or the Dreams of Enthusiastical Heads; and the Sense of them (where there is any) lies wrapt up in mystical or incoherent expressions, fit to receive many sorts of Interpretations; and some perhaps from the leisure of great Wits that are ill entertain'd, and seek diversion to themselves, by writing things at random, with the scornful thought of amuzing the World about nothing; so others of them are broach'd for old, either after events happen, or when they are [Page] so probable as to be easily conjectur'd by fore-seeing men And it seems strange, that of the first kind (being so many) no more happen to be fulfill'd with the help of so much inclination to credit, as well as so much invention to wrest the meaning of words to the sense pretended. But whether this I mention may not have been one of the last kind, is uncertain; for in that very year it was produc'd, and given my Lord Arlington by a French Man, as he told me, the design of this War was not only laying, but well advanc'd by the Practices of Monsieur Colbert, upon the Ministers of our Court, (where he was then Ambassador) and by the violent humour of my Lord Clifford to enter the Leagues then projected by France; so that the very day the Parliament gave his Majesty a mighty sum of Money to Compliment him upon so applauded a Councel and Success as [Page] that of the Triple Alliance in the Year 1668. That Lord, coming out of the House of Commons, where he was then a Member, could not hold saying to a Friend of mine, who came out with him, That for all this great joy, it must not be long before we have another War with Holland. And which of these two Prophesies were the more to be consider'd, or the better ininspir'd, I leave it to every one to guess as they please.

Nimeguen is seated upon the side of a Hill, which is the last of Germany, and stoops upon the River Woal, that washes the lower part of the Town, and divides it from the Betow, an Island lying all upon flat low Ground, between the Woal and the old Rhine, which was the ancient Seat of those the Romans call'd Batavians, and for their Bravery and love of Liberty, took into their Confederacy, when they subjected all the Neighbouring parts of [Page] Gaul and Germany. Betow and Woal were the ancient German, Names, and turn'd into Batavia and Voholis by the Roman terminations, as Colen and Cleve are Roman names chang'd into German. Betow signifies in the old German, fat Earth, as Velow, (a great Heathey Countrey on t'other side the Rhine) does course, or barren Earth Whether Nimeguen came from Neomagum, or Neomagum from Nimegue, I cannot determin; but the old Castle, as well as many antiquities about it, show it to have been a Colony of the Romans, and it is seated in very good Air, encompas'd on three sides by great and dry Heaths, is well built, and inhabited by a good sort of People.

I excus'd my self from letting the Magistrates of Nimeguen know what time I design'd my arrival there, tho' they sent to inform themselves while I was upon the way; and I refus'd any Ceremonies [Page] at Entry, to prevent that pretence in other Ambassadors, and and the troubles and disturbances such Publick Receptions might occasion. However I could not escape some part of it, for which I had like to have paid a great deal more than 'twas worth. The River of Nimeguen is very rapid in the midst of the Stream, which lies near the Town, and spreads very broad upon the other side to the Betow, being upon flat grounds. The first part of it is pass'd by a very large Ferry-Boat, which held at once my two Coaches and six Horses, one Waggon with my Trunks, eight Saddle Horses, and would have receiv'd many more. This Boat is of a contrivance so singular, as well as so commodious, that I have much wondred never to have seen it practis'd in any other place; for the force of the Stream drives the Boat cross the River without the least [Page] pains of the men, being kept to its course by a strong Cable extended from one side to the other, and fasten'd to a Pully set up for that purpose in the Boat; so that no stress of Weather hinders this passage, and the harder the Stream runs, the sooner 'tis made. Where the River grows shallow, and the Current slack on the Betow side, it is supply'd by a Bridge of Planks for about two hundred Paces, which are ill kept, many loose or shaking, and no defence on the sides. When my Coaches were upon this Bridge, the Cannon of the Town began to Fire, and so continued all the while I was upon the River, which was a piece of Civility well understood, and my Horses were so unruly with that noise and the clatter of the Planks, that they were much likelier to have carried me into the River than the Boat. But when with the help of my Servants on Foot that led them, [Page] we got in there, we were safe, as in a House, and got well away to the Town, where I landed at Sir Lionel Jenkin's House, and stayed there till late in the Evening, to avoid any Visits or Ceremonies that Night.

The next Day I was visited by the French Ambassadors, with Monsieur D'Avaux; there pass'd little but what was common upon such occasions: but the Mareschal D'Estrades, and Monsieur Colbert being of my particular acquaintance in my former Ambassies at the Hague and Aix la Chapelle, they pretended in their first separate Visits, to enter with me upon Points and terms of great Confidence, and upon matters that gave me light into the whole design of France, intended by the steps of this Treaty to which they had of late show'd so great forwardness, at least in the forming of this Congress and dispatch of their Ambassadors, [Page] before those of the Allies were in any motion, or perhaps disposition towards it. They both told me, That they had Express and Private Orders from the King their Master, to make me particular Compliments upon the esteem his most Christian Majesty had for my Person, and to make their Application wholly to me in the course of this Negotiation, tho one of the Mediators came from residing in their own Court; but they knew very well I had the King my Master's Confidence, as well as that of his Ministers; and that having had the framing of this Congress from the first Overtures, and through all the Preliminaries, there was no other hand but mine capable of finishing it; and therefore they presag'd me all the glory of it. That I might reckon upon all the facility their Master could give towards [Page] it; but after such successes in the War, and at the Head of so great Forces, both at Land and Sea, it could not be expected he should yield to restore what his Arms had Conquer'd. On t'other side, they knew very well, tho' the States were bent upon the Peace, yet the frowardness or extravagant demands of their Allies, would engage them as long as they would in the War, unless the Prince of Orange would interpose his Authority, which was so great with all the Allies, that they were sure of their consenting to whatever Terms the Prince should be resolute in proposing for the Peace: That to draw it therefore to a happy issue, there was no way but for his Highness first to agree privately with France upon the Conditions, and what every Party should content themselves with; and afterwards, in the course of the Treaty, to draw all things, by concert together, [Page] to the scope agreed between them; in which the Prince might make use of the known temper of the States to bring it to a sudden issue, and to make a separate Peace, in case the unreasonable pretences of their Allies should hinder or delay a general one. That this part was acted by the Elector of Bavaria at Munster, who was in private concert with France through the whole proceedings of that Treaty tho' he went on with the Allies in the Publick Transactions; That he ow'd the greatness of his House to this Council, and to the consideration and support it had ever since receiv'd from the Crown of France. That by pursuing the same at Nimeguen, it would be in the Prince of Orange's power to do the same for himself and his Family; and that for what concern'd his own personal Interests and Advantages, their Master had given them power to assure him, He should have the [Page] Carte Blanche, and draw his own Conditions upon it. That tho' they had other ways of making up this overture to the Prince, yet they had order to do it by none but me, if I would charge my self with it; That they knew the Credit and Confidence I was in with the Prince, and how far he would defer to my opinions in what concern'd the Publick Interests of his Allies as well as his own; And that if I would espouse this Affair, besides the Glory of having alone given a Peace to Christendom, I might reckon upon what I pleas'd my self from the bounty and generosity of the King their Master.

This was the sum of what was said by them both, tho in several and private Visits; but I observed Monsieur Colbert to have been instructed with more particular Confidence, and to design it with me, even apart from both his Collegues [Page] and mine in the pursuit of this intelligence; but Monsieur D'Estrades valued himself chiefly upon his entring into it with me preferrable to all others, tho' he had several other ways of doing it with the Prince, as well as into what Practices he should think fit with the States, by the help of so many Friendships and Habitudes as I knew he had contracted in Holland during so long a course of imployments there.

I answer'd, That I was oblig'd to his Most Christian Majesty for his good opinion, and to them for having given it him, not having my self at all the Honour of being known to him; That I should make no ill use of this great Honour and Confidence, whether I should be able to make a good one or no: That for his Majesty's dispositions to promote the Peace, they knew them as well as I, but that many considerations had engag'd him to [Page] instruct us the Mediators only to promote a general Peace, and not to enter into any paces towards any particular one, or separate, between the Parties, which such a private and previous concert between France and the Prince of Orange would look very like; and therefore I did not see how I could enter upon it without particular Orders from the King: That besides, I would confess to them, that I did not think it would be of any great effect if I should receive them; and that the best Service I could do them (the Ambassadors) was to let them know very freely all that I knew, or at least thought of the Prince of Orange, and his dispositions in this great Affair, that they might the better guess what paces to expect from him; that I was sure, he desir'd the Peace as much as the States could do; that the weak Conduct of Spain, and distracted Councels of the Empire, [Page] was enough to force him upon it, without many other circumstances that were too well known to trouble them with. That the Prince knew very well there would be no difficulty at all in the Terms of a Peace between France and Holland, and that all would arise from their Allies, who had entred into the War only in their defence; That their Faith and Honour were since engag'd by many Treaties concluded with them, and which hindred them from making any separate Peace. That in all those Treaties the Prince's Honour was more particularly engag'd, upon which personally the several Princes Confederate were known to rely more, than upon any publick Resolution, or Instruments of the States. That if any ways could be found, or offers made towards bringing his Highness out of this War, with the safety of his Honour by the satisfaction of his Allies upon any [Page] sort of Terms, I was sure he would fall into them with all the Joy that could be; but to break from them against all Faith and Agreements by separate measures, I believ'd he would never be induc'd, but by the last extremities of the War, or necessities at home. And that for his own Personal Interests, I was confident no advantages to be offer'd him, would ever be consider'd by his Highness, how great soever, but that two or three Towns more or less to the Spaniards, for the strength of their Frontier in Flanders, would prevail more with him than all could be done for his Interest in Orange or Burgundy; and that all other Propositions of advantages more than were avow'd in the course of the Treaty, were, I believ'd, what he would take ill from any that should make them; and yet whenever I saw him next, I would tell him of all that had past in this Conversation. [Page] But for the deference they believ'd his Highness might have for my Sen [...]ments, I would assure them, my Opinion was, he had none for mine, or any man's else, further than as their Arguments prevail'd upon his Judgment: That he had sense enough to govern himself, and I believ'd he would always trust to it, tho he might advise with other men.

After these Conversations, during the time I stay'd at Nimeguen, Monsieur Colbert made many small Attacks of this kind upon me, and sometimes contented himself only to let fall some things in Conversation, to try if I was dispos'd to enter further upon that subject: But the Mareschal D'Efirades immediately after began to turn his Battery another way, which was upon the Pensioner Fagel, by the intervention of a Person of Mastricht, many of whose Letters the Pensioner show'd me upon the [Page] same occasion; and with all the offers that could be made of Consideration and Advantage to the interests of the Prince of Orange, which met with no other Reception from his Highness than what I foretold.

After the first Visits between us and the French and Dutch Ambassadors, whom we only found at Nimeguen, we receiv'd a Visit from the Magistrates of the Town, who told us, They had order from the States, to remit the Government of the City to our disposition, during the present Treaty, and to proceed no otherwise in it, than according to such Orders as they should receive from us the Mediators. We told them, It was his Majesty's Pleasure, that we should not at all intermeddle with it; but that on the contrary, we should consign into the hands of the ordinary Justice of the Town, any of our Domesticks that should be [Page] guilty of any Crime against the Peace or Government of the place; and that Justice should be done upon them, according to their Faults; and that we should not take upon us to withdraw or protect them form the ordinary course of Justice, by the Rights and Priviledges of that Character his Majesty had given us.

After this we applied our selves to propose some Regulations for the order and quiet of so numerous an Assembly as this was like to prove, (in a Town but too strait, and compos'd of narrow Streets) and to the establishment of some compass of Neutral Country about it, for the convenience and divertisement of the Company that should compose it. For the first we gave in a Paper to the French and Dutch Ambassadors, with certain Articles, to which we desir'd their consent, not doubting, but all others that should come after, [Page] would easily fall into what they should previously agree to upon our desire. They were these, as we gave them in French, the Language used in all Conferences, and most Papers that pass'd in this Treaty.

1. Que pour eviter les inconvenients qui pourront arriver par le grand nombre de traits dans les rues si étroits & entre des coinssi incommodes, Les Ambassadeurs Mediateurs proposent, De ne faire les visits, mesme de Ceremonie qu' avec chacun Ambassadeur deux Pages, & quatre Lacquais; & un Carosse, a deux Chevaux & de n'aller a aucune place de Conference, ou autres lieux publiques avec plus ³ [Page] d'un Page & deux Lacquais a chaque Ambassadeur.

2. Qu'en cas de rencontre de Carosses dans de lieux trop estroits pour le passage de l'un & de l'autre, chaucun au lieude s'embarasser pour le pasy apportera toute sorte de faeilitè, & s'arrestera le premier quant il sera le premier quant il sera le premier quant il sera le premier averti que le passage est trop estroit, & fera place en cas que de son costè cela se trouve de plus facile.

3. Que les Lacquais ne porteront espée, bâton ny baguette par les rues, ni les Pages plus que de baguette seul.

⁴,

⁵

[Page]4. Que les Ambassadeurs sur aucune crime commis par aucun de leur domestiques contre la paix publique, renonceront a la protection des dits domestiques, & les remettront aussi tost entre les mains de la Justice de la ville, la priants & autorisans de proceder contre eux selon les regles ordinaires.

5. Qu' end cas de quelque insulte ou querelle faite par aucun de leurs Domestiques contre ceux d'aucun auire Ambassadeur ou Ministre Publique, Les Ambassadeurs remettront tels domestiques entre les mains du Maistre de la Partie offensee pour estre puni selon sa discretion.

⁶,

⁷

[Page]The French Ambassadors receiv'd this Paper with much Approbation and Compliment to us, upon the design and conception of it; and said, they were ready to give their full consent to every part of it, excepting only the second Article; but upon this they could not, without first acquainting their Master, from whom they had orders to maintain upon all occasions, the Rank that Spain had yielded to them by Treaty; so that they could not stop or make way for the Ministers of that Crown, tho' they would do it for those of Brandenburgh. We told them, we doubted not but the Emperor's Ambassadors would be content to fall into the General Rule for so good an end; and that for our selves, the Mediators, who were out of all Competition by that Quality, yet we resolv'd to practice it with the rest, and give the Example.

[Page]The French Ambassadors seem'd satisfied in their own Opinions; but however desir'd they might first communicate it to their Court. The Dutch Ambassadors wholly approv'd it, and resolv'd to conform their practice accordingly, unless they found other Ambassadors should decline it. However, about a Fortnight after, the French Ambassadors, upon Dispatches from their Court, began to change their Language; and told us, That for the first Article, Monsieur Pompone thought it not necessary to restrain the Numbers of Ambassadors Trains, since they were well provided against Disorders by the following Articles. Besides that, this would in a manner level the Ambassadors of greatest Kings with the Ministers of smaller Princes, at least in the eyes of the mean people, who measure the Dignity of Persons by the Train that attend them. For the second [Page] Article they consented to it, with an Apostyle of their own upon it, providing that it should not prejudice the Rights of any Princes, nor ever be drawn into consequence in any other place or time: We found by these Answers, That the French Ambassadors had less Vanity than their Court, and wondred to find it so avowed, and to descend to circumstances so low and so minute; for tho' Vanity be a weakness, or a fault that the fewest men are without, yet it is that of all others that the fewest will own; and few private men, tho' perhaps affected with the Gazes and Opinion of the Rabble, that fill the Streets as they pass, will yet pretend or confess to consider them. However, we thought best to let it pass; and the rather, because we knew it was no more the sense of the French Ambassadors, than Ours; for which they had one more particular Reason, which [Page] was The noise that run of the magnificent Preparations and Equipage design'd by the Marquess de Balbaces and Count Antoine, towards their appearance in this Congress: the first whereof was one of the richest Subjects of Spain, Heir and Descendent of the famous Spinola; and the other had great Revenues from the Duke of Oldenburgh (being his Natural Son) and was chosen by Denmark, on purpose to appear with Lustre in this Ambassage: and the French Ambassadors apprehended either being out-shined by these at their arrival, or being engag'd in greater Expences upon the Vye than they expected from their Court, which usually leaves those kind of services to future Rewards, by succeeding Employments and Advances, rather than present Supplies. When we receiv'd this answer from them, we only said, Monsieur Pompone's reasoning from the mean people, [Page] seem'd a little below the Greatness of his Master, or the style of a Great Minister; but that we should acquaint the Dutch Ambassadors with it, that they might be at liberty to retract the consent they had already given, since they the French, seem'd to have done so: but that, for our selves, we would observe at least the Rules we had propos'd to others, and let them follow either the rules or Examples as they pleas'd. The French would by no means allow to have refus'd them, and said, They had only told us Monsieur Pompone's Reflections upon them; but that they could not absolutely consent, till they had concerted with their Allies, the Swedish Ambassadors, whose arrival they daily expected. However, tho' they were by these wholly approv'd, yet the French Ambassadors during the Assembly, made all their first Visits with the three several Ambassadors Coaches [Page] and Six Horses, and the whole number of their Train, which sometimes reach'd further than the space between their Houses, and of the Minister's where the Visit was paid. But we continued to make ours, only with two Horses, and the number of Servants we had propos'd, and the rest of the Rules were observ'd by all with so good effect, that for one whole year I resided there together, there never happen'd any disorder or complaint from so numerous Trains.

For the Neutral Countrey, we at first propos'd, by concert with the French Ambassadors, to extend it about three Leagues, so as to take in the Town of Cleve, which has been always celebrated for one of the pleasantest Seats of Germany; but upon transmitting this Proposal to the French, a Resolution came back to their Ambassadors, to admit only two leagues from Nimeguen, and That to continue [Page] subject to Contribution, and to Execution, upon failure of that being paid, as was usual to the Garison of Mastricht. This we thought unpracticable, with the safety of the Ambassadors, or their Retinues, that should make use of a Neutrality subject to Inroads of armed Troops upon pretence of Contribution, and admitted of many disputes. The French Ambassadors had Orders from their Court to go out of Town upon any occasion of Airing and Entertainment: The Dutch desir'd us to let the French know, The States could not be answerable for their doing it safely, till a Neutral Countrey were establish'd without being liable to Contribution. After some time, rather than continue Prisoners to the Town, or venture the inconvenience and danger of Parties ranging within the bounds of a Neutral Countrey, a Compass was agreed, about two English [Page] miles from the Town, and mark'd out with several great Posts erected to that purpose, within which all persons should have liberty, and no Souldier should be suffer'd to come in, upon any pretext whatsoever.

Several Pretensions were rais'd at the opening of this Congress (which was reckon'd upon the time of two Mediators arrival upon the place), about the Rights of several Princes to send Ambassadors, and many disputes arose upon them. It had been agreed at the Treaty of Munster, That every Elector should be allow'd to send a Minister thither, with the Character of Ambassador; but if they sent more than One in Commission, that the First only should be treated with Excellence, and other Ceremonies of Ambassadors. This Rule we agreed to follow at Nimeguen: and the Elector of Brandenburgh sent two Ambassadors thither; [Page] but we treated the First only with the usual Ceremonies, and left the other to his Pretences and Complaints. The French follow'd our example; and the other Ambassadors did some one, some the other, according as their Interests engag'd them to comply with that Elector in this pretence.

Upon admission of the Electors to send Ambassadors to the Congress, the same pretence was soon after rais'd by the Dukes of Lorain, Nieuburgh, and Lunenburgh: much alteration us'd upon this Subject; but the Presidents alledg'd, not being found without dispute, the thing lay quiet, and their Envoys arriv'd after some time at Nimeguen.

We agreed neither to give the first Visit, nor the Hand, in our Houses, to any Character under that of Ambassador; nor to other Persons of Quality, that were not [Page] either Counts of the Empire, or General Officers of Armies.

There was no dispute about the Rank with the Mediators; the French having first yielded it by Order of their Court, till the Imperialists came, who neither yielded nor refus'd it, but seem'd desirous to have that mark of distinction allow'd between the Emperor's Ambassadors and those of all other Crown'd Heads: We held on our pretence of it from These, as well as the rest, but kept it from coming to any decision till the very signing of the Treaty, finding the Emperor not inclin'd to yield it; and knowing that if it were refus'd there, the admission granted by the rest, might come to be retracted upon that Example.

The other Ambassadors were left to their usual Pretences: The French, That all should yield to Them; and the rest, of None yielding to one another; in which [Page] the Swedes carried the Point even with their Allies, the French, as nicely and positively as any others.

The Swedes arriv'd about the middle of August; sent first to us, and then to the French, to notifie their arrival; this happen'd late in the Evening, so we deferr'd our Compliments and desires of an hour, till next Morning; the French made theirs the same Night to Monsieur Oxenstern, first in Commission, who gave them an Hour the next Morning, and to our Secretaries who came to them about that time, they gave an Hour in the Afternoon: The Visits were made accordingly, but upon our insisting that the first Visit ought to be return'd to the Mediators, from whomsoever the first should be receiv'd, the Swedish Ambassadors, after some time to consider it, determin'd the point, and made us the first Visit, tho' [Page] the French had first made it to them; and this was observ'd by the Ambassadors that afterwards arriv'd during my residence there.

I remember no other points of the Ceremonial, that seem to have been establish'd by the course of this Assembly, unless it was one particular to our selves, who declar'd, that we would dine with no Ambassador till the Peace was concluded, being desirous to avoid the trouble and engagements of perpetual Invitations, as well as the unkindness of Excuses, at one time, or to some person more than another; but our own Tables were open, each of us three days in the Week, two Post-days being reserv'd to our selves for business, and one for diversion or Exercise abroad; and several of the Ambassadors, especially the French, came to our Tables notwithstanding this resolution, which [Page] they seem'd to take a little to heart: But to make amends, we divided the Nights by turns, where there were any Ladies in the Ambassadors Houses, and where the Evenings were spent in Dancing or Play, or careless and easie Suppers or Collations. In these Entertainments, as I seldom fail'd of making a part, and my Colleague never had any, so it gave occasion for a good word that pass'd upon it, Que la Mediation est oit tous jours en pied pour fair sa function;That the Mediation was always on foot for to go on with its business. for I us'd to go to Bed, and rise late, while my Colleague was a Bed by Eight, and up by Four; and to say Truth, two more different Men were never joyn'd in one Commission, nor agreed better in it.

For business, there was very little for many Months after the Congress began, till the arrival of the Imperial Ministers, only the French [Page] Ambassadors soon after my coming, demanding an audience, came to make us the offer of exhibiting their Plein pouvoirs into our hands,Full Powers. not doubting, as they said, of the Dutch being ready to do the same. But upon our acquainting the Dutch Ambassadors with this overture, They told us, That it was in the choice of the French Ambassadors to do it when they pleas'd; but they did not conceive the hastening of it would gain any time, since they had no Orders to make that Peace without a previous concert with their Allies; and consequently tho' the French should do it, yet they would, at present, neither exhibit their own, nor, make any reflections (as might be necessary) upon those of the French. From this Answer, the French took occasion to press the Dutch extreamly upon making instances to all their Allies to hasten to the Treaty, or else to [Page] declare, that they would enter into Affairs without them; and not without some intimation of their Master's, being resolv'd to recal them in case this was refus'd, or much longer delay'd. The Dutch excus'd the retardments given to the Treaty so long, by the many difficulties rais'd by the French Court upon occasion of the Pasports, which were not yet dispatch'd to some of their new Allies; but however, promis'd to acquaint the States with these instances, and endeavour to dispose them to fix some time, by which they would order their Ambassadors to enter into matter, unless the Ministers of the Allies were arriv'd at Nimeguen.

In these, and several other points, interceeding between the French and Dutch Ambassadors, we carried the Proposals and Answers from one to the other, at their Houses, by word of mouth, [Page] which continued till the Assembly was compleated, and a place of Conference with much difficulty agreed at the Stadthouse of Nimeguen; where after many difficulties between the two Confederacies, and many more between the Parties that compos'd each of them, two Chambers were at length agreed for the Parties, and one for the Mediators, by which our pains was lessen'd, but without other advantage. Nor was there any point that gave us more trouble than the adjusting this among the Parties; for the French were from the very first, most declaredly averse from treating either by Writings, or from agreeing to a place of Publick conference; conceiving this would tend to keep the body of the Confederacy united in the Treaty, as well as the War; whereas their design was to break that union here, which they could not in the Field; and find some [Page] way or other of entring into separate measures for a Peace with some of the Parties engag'd. In the mean time the Allies found, or took as many occasions as they could of delaying the dispatch of their Ministers to the Congress, while they had hopes of hindring the Dutch from proceeding without them; and that they believ'd might be done till this Campania should end, from the events, whereof the several Princes might the better take their measures for the conditions of a Peace, that should be propos'd or insisted on in this Treaty; and this disposition of theirs was so well pursu'd, that no other Ambassadors arriv'd at Nimeguen till November, tho' we and the French, and the Dutch, had been so long upon the place, and the Swedes soon after.

In the mean time the successes of the Campania, that were expected absolutely to govern the motions of [Page] the Treaty, were various as to the gross of the War; but run as high to the advantage of the French, as to the disadvantage of the Swedish Affairs. By force of great Treasures, and great order in disposing them. The French Magazines were always fill'd in the Winter, so as to enable them to take the Field as they pleas'd in the Spring, without fearing the weather for their Foot, or expecting Grass for their Horse; on t'other side, the Spaniards want of Money and Order, left their Troops in Flanders, neither capable to act by themselves upon any sudden attempt, nor to supply with Provisions in their March, either Dutch or Germans that should come to their relief. Their Towns were ill fortified, and worse defended; so that the King of France Marching in the Head of a brave and numerous Army, took Conde in four days in the month of April this [Page] year 1676. before any of the Confederates were in the Field; & in May, sent the Duke of Orleans to besiege Bouchain with some part of his Troops, being a small, tho' strong place, and very considerable for its scituation to the defence of the Spanish Netherlands. The King, with the strength of his Army, Posted himself so advantageously, as to hinder the Prince of Orange from being able to relieve it, or to Fight without disadvantage.

The Prince strugled through all the difficulties from the Season, or want of Provisions and Magazines in Flanders, and March'd with his Army in sight of the French King by the middle of May, the Armies continued some days facing one another, and several times drawing out in order to a Battel, which neither of them thought fit to begin; whether not willing to hazard, without necessity or advantage, so decisive an action as [Page] this was like to prove; or whether the French contented themselves to carry their point by hindring the Relief of Bouchain, which must fall without it, while the Prince of Orange, with-held by the Spaniards from pursuing his, which was to give a Battel that the Spaniards knew could not be lost without the loss of Flanders. The Armies continued facing one another till Bouchain was surrendred the Eighth day of the Siege. The Prince return'd to refresh his Army, harass'd with so hasty a March upon so suddain preparations; and the King of France return'd home, leaving his Army under the Mareschal Schomberg, to attend the motions of the Enemies. The Prince fell into concert with the Spanjard and German Princes near the lower Rhine, for the Siege of Mastricht, which, tho the strongest of the Dutch Frontiers when it was taken, had been yet fortified by [Page] the French since they possess'd it, with all the advantages of Art and Expence, and with a Garison of eight Thousand chosen Men, under Calvo, a resolute Catalonian, who commanded there under the Mareschal d'Estrades Governour of the place, but then at Nimeguen.

About the end of July, the Trenches were open'd by the Prince, and the Siege carried on with such Bravery, so many and desperate Assaults for about Three Weeks, that as Wagers were continually offer'd, with odds, at Nimeguen, that it would be taken within such or such a time; so we did not observe the Mareschal d'Estrades was willing to take them, or seem'd at all confident it would be so well defended. The Prince, or the Rhingrave, (who was d [...]sign'd for Governour of the Town, as his Father had been) were ever in the head of the Attacks, and made great use, as well as [Page] proof of the desperate Courage of the English Troops upon all those occasions; many of the out-works were taken with great slaughter on both sides, but were supplied by new Retrenchments, and by all the Art and Industry of a resolute Captain, and brave Soldiers within. About the middle of August, the Prince exposing himself upon all occasions, receiv'd a Musket-shot in his Arm; at which, perceiving those about him were daunted, he immediately pull'd off his Hat with the Arm that was hurt, and waved it about his Head, to shew the wound was but in the Flesh, and the Bone safe; at which they all reviv'd, and the Prince went on without interruption in all the Paces of the Siege. But a cruel sickness falling into his Army, weaken'd it more than all the Assaults they had given the Town. The Germans came not up with the Supplies they had promis'd, and [Page] upon which assurance the Siege was undertaken; and the Rhindgrav [...], who, next the Prince, was the spring of this Action, happening to be wounded soon after, was forc'd to leave the Camp for a Castle in the Neighbourhood, where he died; by all which the Army grew disheartned, and the Siege faint. In the mean time Monsieur Schomberg, who trusted to a vigorous defence at Mastricht, had besig'd and taken Aire, and after the Prince's Army was weaken'd, by the accidents of the Siege, March'd with all the French Forces through the heart of the Spanish Low Countries, to the relief of Mastricht; upon whose approach, and their solutions of the Councel of War in the Prince's Camp, the Siege was rais'd, and with it the Campania ended in the Dutch or Spanish Provinces. And from this time the Prince of Orange began to despair [Page] of any success in a War, after such tryals and experience of such weakness in the Spanish Forces and Conduct, and uncertainty in the German Councels or Resolutions.

However, the Imperial Army took Philipsburgh in the end of September this year 1676. which was yielded for want of Provisions, and as much against common opinion and expectation, as the contrary event in the Siege of Mastricht.

The Affairs of Denmark and Brandenburgh prosper'd all this while against Sweden, with advantage in most of the Sieges and Encounters that pass'd this Summer, and the first part of the Winter following, so that the Swedes seem'd to be losing apace all they had so long possess'd in Germany; but the Imperial Forces, tho' joyn'd with those of the several Princes upon the upper Rhine, had made no progress [Page] in their design'd Conquests there, and were forc'd to seek their old Quarters on the German side of the Rhine, upon the approach of the French; which was a true and undisputed decision of the small success of this Campania.

After it was ended, the Parties engag'd in the War began to turn their thoughts, or at least their eyes, more towards the motions of the Treaty than they had hitherto done. The Prince of Orange writ to me, desir'd to see me for a day or two at Soesdycke near Amesfort, about a days Journey from Nimeguen. He complain'd much, and with too much reason, of the Conduct of his Allies, the weakness, or rather uselesness of the Spanish Troops in Flanders, for want of Pay, or Order; the Imperial Armies acting without design upon the Rhine, or with dependance upon Orders from Vienna, where the emulation of [Page] the Ministers made such destraction, and counter-paces of their Generals, that the Campania had pass'd with small effect after the promises of vigorously invading either Lorain or France. How the Dukes of Lunenburgh had fail'd of sending their Troops to Mastricht, which, with the Sickness of the Camp, had render'd that Siege ineffectual: So that he began to dispair of any good issue of the War, and would be glad to hear, I hop'd, for a better of the Peace upon our Scene at Nimeguen, after the Paces and Progress whereof he made particular enquiries. I told him how little advances had been hitherto made, by the slowness of his Allies dispatching their Ministers thither; how little success could be expected from the pretentions of the Parties when they should meet, especially France pretending to keep all they had got by the War, and Spain to recover [Page] all they had lost; how His Majesty seem'd of the mind to concern himself no further than the Paces of a Mediator, our Orders being only to convey the Mind or Proposals of the Parties from one to another, and even to avoid the offers of any references upon them to his Majesties determination; so that my opinion was, That it must be the War alone that must make the Peace, and that I suppos'd it would do at one time or other by the weakness or weariness of one of the Parties.

The Prince seem'd of my mind, and said, the events of the War would depend upon the Conduct at Madrid and Vienna before next Campania; for without some great successes, he did not believe the States would be induc'd to continue it longer; I told the Prince the Discourses Monsieur Colbert had entertained me with upon my arrival at Nimeguen, in which his [Page] Highness was chiefly concerned; upon which he replied coldly, he had heard enough of the same kind another way, which Monsieur D' Estrades had found out to Pensioner Fagel; but that they knew him little that made him such Overtures; and for his own Interests or Advantages, let them find a way of saving his Honour, by satisfying Spain, and nothing of his Concerns should retard the Peace an hour.

After my return to Nimeguen, I found the French making all the advances they could towards the progress of the Treaty, and they were (no doubt) in earnest, being in a posture to insist upon their present possessions, and having made a great hand of this last Campania, were willing, like Gamesters that have won much, to give over, unless oblig'd to Play on by those that had lost. The Swedes were more in haste and in [Page] earnest for the Peace than any, hoping no Resource for their losses in Germany by the War. The Dutch were grown impatient after the Peace, finding France would make no difficulty of any thing between them, offering privately by their Emissaries, especially at Amsterdam, such a Reglement of Commerce as they could desire, the restitution of Mastricht, and of all satisfaction the Prince of Orange could pretend upon his losses, or their seizures in the War. But Denmark and Brandenburgh were as violent against the Peace, having swallowed up in their hopes all that Sweden had possess'd in Germany; and tho' the Emperor seem'd to pretend little after the taking of Philipsburgh, besides the restitution of Lorain and the Towns of Alsatia, to the posture they were left in by the Munster Treaty; yet they were so fast link'd both with their German Allies as [Page] well as Spain, that they resolved to make no Paces in the Treaty but by common concert; and Spain, tho' sensible of the condition their affairs in Flanders were in, as well as Sicily, yet upon a design then hatching at Madrid, for removal of the Queen Regent and her Ministry, to introduce Don John to head the affairs of their Government, had conceiv'd great hopes to recover those desperate infirmities that their inveterate disorders both in Councils and conduct, especially in their Finances, had for so long time occasion'd. Besides, they had confidences still given them from their Ministers in England, that His Majesty would not, after all, be contented to see Flanders lost, or would be forced into the War by the humour of his Parliament. For these Reasons, the Allies seem'd to make no hast at all to the Congress, and some of them hardly to look that way; and none [Page] of the Parties were yet arriv'd, besides the French, the Swedes and the Dutch: But about the end of September, the French Ambassadors gave notice, That their Master having made so many advances to the Peace, and being so ill seconded by the proceedings of the Confederates, and their slowness in coming to the Treaty, was resolv'd to recal his Ambassadors, unless those of the chief Confederates should repair to Nimeguen within the space of one Month.

This we communicated to the Dutch Ambassadors, and they to the States, who after some Conferences with the Ministers of their Allies, came to a resolution, That they would enter upon the Treaty themselves, if the Ministers of their Confederates should not repair to Nimeguen by the first of November, which was afterwards, upon some disputes, declar'd to be meant Old [Page] Stile, being that of the place where the Congress was held.

The noise of this resolution of the States, was more among their Allies, than the danger, since there were ways enough to raise difficulties, and spin out time after the Ambassadors should arrive, as well as before; but yet it had so much effect, that the several Confederates did upon it begin to hasten away one or other of their intended Ambassadors towards Nimeguen (as Count Kinkski from Vienna, Don Pedro Ronquillo from England, where he then resided as Spanish Envoy) but not the persons principally intrusted, or at the head of their Embassies, nor with powers to proceed further than Preliminaries; And from Denmark, Monsieur Heug, without any news of Count Antoine's preparation, who was appointed chief of that Ambassay; any more than of the Bishop of Gurke, or Marquess de Balbaces, [Page] the chiefest of those design'd from the Emperor and Spain.

In the mean time the Dutch began to lay load upon their Allies, for their back wardness, so declar'd, in making any paces towards the Treaty; to cavil upon the obligations they were under of so many great Subsidies to so many Princes their Allies, for carrying on a war which the Allies pursued for their own separate Interests or Ambition, tho' entr'd into it, perhaps at first, for defence of Holland, with whose safety theirs were complicated, Hereupon their Ministers both at the Hugue and az Nimeguen, took the liberty to say publickly, upon several occasions, and in several Companies, That their Masters would pay no Subsidies to their Allies the next Campania, unless in the mean time they would by their fair and sincere proceedings in the Treaty, put the French in the wrong, as their expression was.

[Page]The Swedes had, as well as the French, offer'd to deliver us their Powers; but this was deferr'd by the Dutch to the arrival of their Allies, till after the first of November was elaps'd; The French began to press them upon it, in consequence of the States resolution; and after some little demurs, the Dutch Ambassadors agreed to deliver theirs; so by a concert, not without difficulty, we agreed, That on the 21st of November, the several Powers should be brought to us the Mediators, by the several Ambassadors, at such Hours as they should severally take from us, should be deposited in our hands, and that we should afterwards communicate the Originals mutually to the several Ambassadors at their Houses, and leave Copies with them, attested by us the Mediators.

This was done accordingly; and the morning after, the Dutch [Page]Ambassadors brought us an account of several exceptions they were forc'd to make against several expressions in the French and Swedish Prefaces to their Powers, which they said were fitter for Manifestoes than for Powers of a Treaty, especially those of justifying the War, and maintaining the Treaty of Westphalia: But the greatest stress they laid, was upon a clause in the French Powers, mentioning the Pope's Mediation, which they said their Masters could never consent to now, no more than they had at Munster. To say truth, tho' the gaining of time for the Allies coming might have some part in these exceptions of the Dutch, yet they were fram'd with great art, and shew'd the great quickness and sharpness of Monsieur Beverning's apprehension, as well as his skill and experience in these kind of affairs; being, I think without dispute, the most practis'd, and [Page] the ablest Ambassador, of any I have ever met in the course of my Employments.

The Dutch exceptions were return'd, by others from the French and Swedes against their Powers; but with offer from both of entring into the Treaty, while these Ministers should be adjusting. The Dutch accepted it, provided the French would oblige themselves to procure new Powers, free from the exceptions raised against them, as the Dutch offer'd to do. After much debate, they all agreed in desiring us the Mediators to draw up a form of Powers to be us'd by all the Parties; We did it, and it was approv'd by them all, with some reserve only from the French, whether it would be fit to mention any Mediation, since that of the Pope's was left out, and some little Tentatives upon us, whether we would be content to leave out all mention of his Majesties [Page] Mediation, as well as that of the Pope's? This we excus'd our selves from doing, the whole frame of the Congress having proceeded from His Majestie's Mediation, without any intervention of the Pope's; and the King's having been accepted by all the Parties, which the Pope's had not been; but on the contrary, the very mention of it in the Powers, declar'd against by several of them. And by Orders we received from Court upon occasion of this dispute, we declared to all of the Parties, That tho' His Majesty pretended not to exclude any other Mediation that the Parties should think fit to use, yet he could not in any wise act jointly with that of the Pope, nor suffer his Ministers to enter into any Commerce either of Visits or Conferences, with any of His that might be employed at Nimeguen.

[Page]In November arriv'd Monsieur Heug, one of the Danish Ambassadors; Monsieur Somnitz and Blaspyl, the two Brandenburgh Ambassadors; Lord Barclay from Paris; and soon after, Don Pedro Ronquillo, one of the Spanish Ambassadors; but the last continued incognito till the arrival of Count Kintski, who whether he had taken the Gout, or the Gout had taken him, continued upon that pretence, at Colen till the new year was begun.

The Spanish Ambassador coming upon Visits to my Wife, and meeting me there, found that way of entring into the present business of the Scene, as much as if he had been declar'd upon it. He agreed with the French in this one point, of desiring either the Pope's Mediation might be mentioned in their Powers; or that His Majesty in consideration of the Peace, would suffer the mention of his to be left [Page] out; but the Dane on t'other side agreed with the Dutch, in refusing to admit any Power with mention of the Pope's Mediation. There arose likewise another difficulty from a seeming Expedient propos'd by the Dutch, of having from each Party several Powers granted for treating with the several Parties they were in War with, which the French refus'd, or to grant other Powers than for the Dutch and their Allies; and in these disputes or difficulties the year 1676 ended.

I enter not at all into the Detail, or so much as mention of the many Incidents that fell into the course of this Treaty upon Punctilioes of Visits or Ceremonials, because they seem to me but so many Impertinencies that are grown this last Age into the Character of Ambassadors, having been rais'd and cultivated by men, who wanting other Talents to value themselves in [Page] those Imployments, endeavoured to do it by exactness or niceties in the Forms; and besides, they have been taken notice of by discourses concerning this Treaty, and at one time or other may be exactly known by the Original Papers of our Ambassy, which are in two or three several Hands: Whereas I intend chiefly to declare the course of this great Affair, by the more material circumstances, and from the true springs of those events that succeeded, rather than trouble my self with the Forms that served to amuse so long this Assembly at Nimeguen.

I shall only make two Observations upon the Ceremonial; the first is upon the Emperor's Conduct towards the Brandenburgh Ambassadors; allowing his Ministers to Treat them both like Ambassadors of Crown'd Heads, though we gave it only to the first of the Ambassy upon the President of the [Page] Munster Treaty, and were follow'd in it by the French and Swedes in the whole course of this Treaty at Nimeguen. This Pace of the Emperor seem'd not so much grounded, as some thought, upon his compliance with so considerable an Ally, as upon a design to assist another Pretention of his own, which is not only a difference of Place, but also of Rank from all other Crown'd Heads of Christendom; Whereas the other Kings, though they yield him the Place, yet they do not allow him a difference of Rank. But if the Emperor could by his Example prevail with other Kings to Treat the Electors like Crown'd Heads, it would fortifie the Pretensions of the Emperor to a difference of Rank, since there is a great one, and out of all contest between him and the Electors.

My second Remark is, That among all the Punctilioes between [Page] the Ambassadors at Nimeguen, none seem'd to me to carry them to such heights as the Swedes and the Danes; The first standing as stiff upon all Points of not seeming to yield in the least to the French Ambassadors, tho' their Allies and from a Crown not only of so mighty Power, but from whom alone they expected the restoring of their broken State in Germany; and the Danish Ambassador, upon the French Powers being exhibited in French, said he would give his in Danish, unless they would do it in Latin as a common Language; alledging, he knew no difference between Crown'd Heads; that the Danish King had been as great as the French are now, and in their present Dominions are as Absolute. Upon all which Monsieur Beverning could not forbear to reflect, and say to us, That in his Remembrance there was no sort of Competition made by those two Northern Kings [Page] with the other three great Kings of Christendom; That the treatment of the States to them was very different, and their Ministers made no difficulty of signing any Instruments after the Ministers of the three Great Crowns. 'Tis, I think, out of question, that the pretention of Parity among the Crown'd Heads, was first made in the North by Gustavus, when he told Monsieur Grammont the French Ambassador in Sweden upon this occasion; That for his part he knew no distinction among Crown'd Heads, but what was made by their Virtue; and this Pretence was not much disputed with him in respect to the greatness of his Qualities, as well as of his Attempts and Successes; and his example was follow'd by the Kings of Denmark, and has since left Place, a thing contested among them all. 'Tis true, the French have claim'd the Precedence next [Page] to the Emperor, with more noise and haughtiness than the rest, but have been yielded to by none except the Spaniard, upon the fear of a War they were not able to deal with; nor have they since been willing to own the weakness of that confession, but have chosen to fall into what measures they could of encouraging and establishing the Pretence of Parity among Crown'd Heads. The most remarkable Instance of this happen'd at Nimeguen, where upon a publick meeting of the Allies, the Dispute arising between Spain and Denmark for the place at Table, Don Pedro consented to have it taken by turns, and at the first to be divided by lot. The French Ambassadors made their pretence of preference next the Mediators at Nimeguen, in the first return of their Visits from Ambassadors arriving; but was neither yielded to by Swede or Dane, nor Practis'd by the Emperors [Page] Ambassadors, who made their first Visit to the Mediators, and the next without Distinction to the first that had visited them. The Emperor took Advantage of the French, as well as the rest, having yielded to the Mediators, and during this Treaty made a Scruple, tho' not a Refusal of doing it, by which he distinguish'd himself from the other Crowned Heads. We were content to keep it, as much as we could, from Decision with them; but it once happen'd, that upon a Meeting with the Allies at the Dane's House, Count Kinkski was there before I and Sir Lionel came into the Room, where Chairs were set for all the Ambassadors. After the common Salutations, I went strait up to the Chair that was first in Rank, and stood before it, to sit down when the rest were ready; but my Colleague either losing his time by being engag'd in longer Civilities, or by [Page] Desire not to be engag'd in Contests, gave room to Count Kinkski (a very brisk Man) to come and stand before the Chair that was next me, and consequently between me and my Colleague: When I saw this, and consider'd, that tho' the Place was given me by the Imperialists, yet it was not given to the King's Ambassy; I chose not to sit down; but falling into the Conference that was intended, I stood all the while, as if I did it carelesly, and so left the Matter undecided.

The Prince of Orange, about the latter End of December, writ very earnestly to me, to make a Step for some few Days to the Hague, knowing I had leave from His Majesty to do it when I thought fit. And finding all things without present Motion at Nimeguen, I went thither, and arriv'd the last day of the Year. The first of the next being 1677. I attended His [Page] Highness: We fell into large Discourses of the Progress of the Treaty, the Coldness of the Parties, the affected Delays of the Imperials and Spaniards, the declar'd Aversion of the Danes and Brandenburgh; and concluded how little was to be expected from the formal Paces of this Congress. Upon all which the Prince ask'd, if I had heard any more of His Majesty's Mind upon the Peace, since I had been last with him? I told him what I remembred of his last Letter to me upon that Subject; which was, That he concluded from the Prince's Discourses to me, that he had then no mind to a Peace; that he was sorry for it, because he thought it was his Interest to have it. That he had try'd to know the Mind of France upon it; but if they would not open themselves farther of one side, nor His Highness on the other, than they had yet done, he would content himself [Page] with performing only His Part of a Mediator, and in the Common Forms. The Prince said, This look'd very cold, since His Majesty was alone able to make the Peace, and knew well enough what it would come to by the Forms of the Congress. That for his own part, he desir'd it, and had a great deal of reason, both because His Majesty seem'd to do so, and to think it his own Interest as well as the Prince's; and because the States not only thought it their Interest, but absolutely necessary for them. That he would not say this to any but to the King by me; because if France should know it, they would, he doubted, be harder upon the Terms: That both Spain and the Emperor had less Mind to it now, than they had at the End of the last Campania; the new Ministers being less inclin'd to it than the old had been; so that there was not one of the Allies; that had any [Page] Mind to it besides the States. That for his own Part, he should be always in the same Mind with them, and therefore very much desir'd it; but did not know which way to go about it, at least, so as to compass it before the next Campania. And if that once began, they should be all at Sea again, and should be forc'd to go just as the Wind should drive them. That if His Majesty had a Mind to make it, and would let him know freely the Conditions upon which either he desir'd or believ'd it might be made, he would endeavour to concert it the best he could with His Majesty, and that with all the Freedom and Sincereness in the World, so it might be done with any Safety to his own Honour, and the Interests of his Country.

All this he desir'd me to write directly to his Majesty from him, as he knew I had not only Leave, but Command to do upon any [Page] Occasion that I thought deserv'd it.

Two Days after, I saw the Pensioner Fagel, upon some common Affairs incident to my Ambassy at the Hague, which had been left in the Hands of the Secretary of that Ambassay. When these Discourses were past, he ask'd me, if I had brought them the Peace from Nimeguen I replyed, That since he was so ignorant of what had pass'd there, I would tell him; That they had carried their Matters there,Like able Men. En habiles gens. That to bring their Allies to the Congress, they had pretended to treat by the first of November, whether they came or no. That after that Day past, they had found fault with the Powers exhibited, had offer'd at new, made the Mediators course from one to t'other, spun out two Months time in these Paces, and thereby were gotten in sight both of Spanish and Imperial Ministers, which I suppos'd was the Point [Page] they always intended, and afterwards to keep Pace with them. The Pensioner answer'd me with something in his Face both serious and sad, That either I did not know them, and the Course of their Affairs since I left the Hague, or else I would not seem to know them: That they not only desir'd the Peace from their Hearts, but thought it absolutely necessary for them; That they would certainly have enter'd into Treaty at the time, if the French had either exhibited Powers in a Form to be at all admitted, or would have oblig'd themselves to procure new ones; Nay, That they would not insist upon a Peace according to their Allies Pretensions, nor could he answer that they would not make a separate one. I said, That was a matter of such Moment, as I was sure they would think of it another Year before they did it. With this he drew up his Chair closer to me, [Page] and began a Discourse with more Heat and Earnestness than agreed well with the Posture of Health he was in; saying, first, That they had thought enough of it already, and with thinking much, had begun to find it was without Remedy. That they had great Obligations to Spain for entring the War to save their Country, and thereby to save Flanders too; but they had made them no ill Return, by continuing it now three Years only for the Interests of Spain, since there remain'd nothing of Consequence between France and them. That they had further engag'd themselves to carry it on this following Year, and so would have done with the Forces they did the last, if their Allies had perform'd the Parts they had likewise engag'd. But for Spain, they took no Care, but to let them see they were resolv'd to perish; That they had sent their Fleet home from Sicily without [Page] the Payments agreed on, and left them to be paid by the States at their Return. That not a Penny could be got of a great Sum they ow'd them for Carriages and Provisions the last Summer, and which was design'd for Magazines against next Year in Flanders, without which their Armies could not march in that Country, where they were sure to find none of the Spaniards providing. That they had represented to Spain the necessity but of keeping so many Forces well regulated and paid, as might defend their Towns while the Prince should take the Field with the Army of the State, and hinder or divert any great Sieges there; but not a Word of Answer. That they had then desir'd them to receive so many of the Troops of the German Princes, their Allies, as might defend their most important Places; but instead of this, they drove them out of their Country. [Page] That for the Emperor, they had always told him, That unless his Army would march into France, or at least force them to a Battel by such Forces as might draw great Detachments of the French out of Flanders, that Countrey would not be sav'd the last Summer, or at least not the next, unless his Army took up their Quartiers this Winter in Alsatia, or on that side of the Rhine. But at Vienna they consider'd Flanders as much as the Dutch do Hungary; and because the Imperial Officers could better find their private Account by Winter-quarters in Germany, than in a Country harass'd like Alsatia, their Armies must repass the Rhine this Winter, and thereby lose all the Advantages of the last Campania, and Hopes of the next. That for want of Magazines in Flanders, two or three strong Frontiers would be lost there next Spring, before the Imperialists could take the Field; and if Cambray, Valencines [Page] and Mons were taken, all the rest would revolt, considering the Miseries they had already suffer'd, and must by a longer War. That the Prince would not be able to prevent it, or be soon enough in the Field to march, for want of Provisions in Flanders, the Country growing desolate by the unsettled Contributions; or at least, not with such an Army as to venture a Battel, or raise a Siege, while the Spanish Troops were so weak, and the French would be so strong, at a time when they had no Enemy to divert them upon the Rhine. That the Prince's Friends could not suffer him to go into the Field only to see Towns lost under his Nose, and perhaps all Flanders, while He was expected to defend it, and at the same time was rendred incapable of doing it by the Faults of the Spaniards, who yet would not fail to reproach Him, as well as his Enemies abroad, and Ill-willers [Page] at home, that would be glad of the Occasion. In the mean time, from France they could have whatever Conditions they pretended, either by restoring Mastricht, a Reglement of Commerce, or any Advantages to the House of Orange; and as to this last, whatever the Prince himself would demand: That to this Purpose they had every Week pressing Letters from Monsieur d'Estrades to make the Separate Peace; and tho' he should fall into it with the greatest Regret that could be, yet he did not see what else was to be done, and did not know one Man in Holland that was not of the same Mind. That he did not talk with me as an Ambassador, but a Friend, whose Opinion he esteem'd and desir'd; That he told me freely,Their Strength and their Weakness. Leur fort & leur soible; and would be glad to know what else I thought they could do upon [Page] all these Circumstances,And in this distress of their State by so long a War. Et dans accablement de leur Estat par une si longue guerre. I return'd his Compliment, but excus'd my self from giving my Opinion to a Person so well able to take Measures that were the fittest for the States Conduct, or his own; but desir'd to know what He reckon'd would become of Flanders after the Dutch had made their Separate Peace; because the Fate of that Countrey was that wherein the rest of their Neighbours were concern'd as well as they. He answer'd, It would be lost in one Summer, or in two, but more probably in one; That he believ'd Cambray, Valenciennes, Namur and Mons, might be lost in one Summer; That after their Loss, the great Towns within would not offer at defending themselves, excepting Antwerp and Ostend, for which they might perhaps take [Page] some Measures with France, as I knew the French had offer'd Monsieur de Witt upon their first Invasion in 1667. I ask'd him, how he reckon'd this State was to live with France after the Loss of Flanders? And if he thought it could be otherwise than at Discretion? He desir'd me to believe, that if they would hope to save Flanders by the War, they would not think of a Separate Peace; but if it must be lost, they had rather it should be by the last, which would less exhaust their Country, and dishonour the Prince; That after Flanders was lost, they must live so with France, as would make them find it their Interest rather to preserve their State, than to destroy it; That it was not to be chosen, but to be swallow'd, like a desperate Remedy; That he had hop'd for some Resource from better Conduct in the Spanish Affairs, or that some great Impression of the German Armies upon that side of France [Page] might have brought the Peace to some reasonable Terms; That for his own part, he had ever believ'd that England it self would cry Halt, at one step or other that France was making; and that if we would be content to see half Flanders lost, yet we would not all, nor Sicily neither, for the Interest of our Trade in the Mediterranean. That the King had the Peace in his Hands for these two Years past, might have made it when he pleas'd, and upon such Conditions as he should think fit, of Justice and Safety to the rest of his Neighbours as well as himself. That all Men knew France was not in a condition to refuse whatever Terms His Majesty resolv'd on, or to venture a War with England in Conjunction with the rest of the Allies. That the least show of it, if at all credited in France, was enough to make the Peace. That they had long represented all this in England by Monsieur [Page] Van Beuninghen, and offer'd His Majesty to be the Arbiter of it, and to fall into the Terms he should prescribe; but not a Word in Answer, and all received with such a Coldness as never was, though other People thought we had reason to be a little more concern'd. That this put him more upon thinking a separate Peace necessary than all the rest; That he confes'd,

All means were first to be tried.

An incurable Wound.

Cuncta prius tentanda, till he found at last 'twas immedicabile vulnus. That for their living with France after Flanders was lost, he knew well enough what I meant by asking; but after that, the Aims of France would be more upon Italy or Germany, or perhaps upon us than them; That it could not be the Interest of Franco to Destroy or Conquer this State, but to preserve it in a Dependance upon that Crown; That they could make [Page] better Use of the Dutch Fleets, than of a few poor Fisher Towns, that they should be reduc'd to, if any Violation were made, either upon their Liberties or Religion. That the King of France had seen their Country, and knew it, and understood it so; and said upon all Occasions, That he had rather have them for his Friends, than his Subjects. But if, after all, I concluded their State must fall in four and twenty Hours, yet it were better for them to defer it to the last Hour; and that it should happen at Night, rather than at Noon.

This was discours'd with such Vehemence and Warmth, that he was not able to go on; and having said, It was not a Matter to be resolv'd between us Two, I left him, after wishing him Health enough to go through the Thoughts and Businesses of so great a Conjuncture.

[Page]Next Morning I went to the Prince, and after some common Talk, told him what had past in my Visit to the Pensioner, and ask'd His Highness, If he had seen him since, or knew any thing of it? He said, No; and so I told him the Detail of it: and, upon Conclusion, That he said, he saw nothing else to be done, but to make a separate Peace; and that he knew not a Man in Holland who was not of his Mind. The Prince interrupted me, saying, Yes, I am sure I know one, and that is My Self, and I will hinder it as long as I can: but if any thing should happen to me, I know it would be done in two days time. I ask'd him, Whether he was of the Pensioner's Mind, as to what he thought likely to happen the next Campania? He said, The Appearance were ill; but Campania's did not always end as they began: That Accidents might happen which no Man could fore-see; [Page] and that if they came to one fair Battel, none could answer for the Event. That the King might make the Peace, if he pleas'd, before it began; but if we were so indifferent as to let this Season pass, for his part, he must go on, and take his Fortune. That he had seen that Morning a poor old Man, tugging alone in a little Boat with his Oars, against the Eddy of a Sluce upon a Canal; that when with the last Endeavours he was just got up to the Place intended, Force of the Eddy carried him quite back again; but he turn'd his Boat as soon as he could, and fell to his Oars again; and thus three or four times, while the Prince saw him; and concluded, this old Man's Business and His were too like one another; and that he ought however to do just as the old Man did, without knowing what would succeed, any more than what did in the poor Man's Case.

All that pass'd upon these Discourses, [Page] I represented very particularly to the Court; the first Part immediately to the King, the rest to the Secretaries of State; and added my own Opinion, That if His Majesty continued to interpose no further than by the bare and common Offices of this Mediation in the Place and Forms of a Treaty, and the Austrians held off from the Progress of it as well as the Northern Allies, and as they had all hitherto done; it would certainly follow, that the French and Dutch would fall into private Negotiations, and by what I could observe on both sides, were like to adjust them in a very little time, and leave them ready to clap up a Peace in two Days, when the Dutch should grow more impatient of the Slowness or Unsincereness of their Allies Proceedings in the General Treaty, or whenever the violent Humour of the People should force the Prince to fall into the same Opinion [Page] with the States upon this Matter. This I esteem'd my self oblig'd to say, that His Majesty might want no Lights that were necessary upon so nice, and yet so dangerous a Conjuncture. I had His Majesty's Answer in a long Letter of his own Hand, complaining much of the Confederate Ministers in England caballing with Parliament-Men, and raising all Mens Spirits as high against the Peace as they could; and that they had done it to such a Degree, as made it very difficult for him to make any Steps with France towards a General Peace, unless the Dutch Ambassador would first put in a Memorial, pressing His Majesty from the States to do it, and declaring; That without it they saw Flanders would be lost,

From Secretary Williamson I had no other Answer material upon all the Pensioner's Discourses, nor my own Opinion upon the present Conjuncture, but that His Majesty, [Page] and the Lords of the Foreign Committee, wondred I should think the French were so ready for a Separate Peace, if the Dutch should fall into those Thoughts; and that they did not remember they had ever received any thing from either Me, or my Colleague at Nimeguen, that look'd that way. Upon which, I told him the frequent Conversations I had had with Monsieur Colbert upon that Subject, and the several Letters the Pensioner had shewn me from the Mareschal d'Estrades, or his Instrument at Mastricht. But to all this I received no Answer, nor so much as Reflection, tho' I thought this part was my duty as Ambassador at the Hague, whether it were so as Mediator at Nimeguen or not.

The Prince and Pensioner were both willing the King should be comply'd with in the Government of Monsieur Van Beuningham's [Page] Paces and Language at London; but press'd me to write once more, to know His Majesties Opinion upon the Terms of a Peace; or else, he said, it would be too late, while the Season advanc'd towards the Campania. Upon which, I desir'd him to consider, there might be three Weeks difference between his first telling his own thoughts to His Majesty, and receiving His Majesty's Opinion upon it; or sending first to know His Majesty's, then returning his own, and afterwards expecting the King's again, in case they differ'd: besides, I believ'd His Majesty would take it kinder, and as a piece of more confidence, if His Highness made no difficulty of explaining himself first. The Prince paus'd a while, and then said, To shew the Confidence he desired to live in with His Majesty, he would make no further difficulty of it, tho' he might have many reasons [Page] to do it. That if the King had a mind to make a sudden Peace, he thought he must do it upon the foot of Aix la Chapelle, which he would have the more ground for, because it was a Peace he both made and warranted. That for Exchanges, he thought there should be no other propos'd upon it, but only of Aeth and Charleroy for Aire and St. Omer; which two last he thought imported a great deal more to France than the others, unless they would declare, that they intended to end this War with the prospect of beginning another, by which they might get the rest of Flanders. That this was all needed pass between France and Spain; and for the Emperor and this State, that the first having taken Philipsburgh from the French, should raze it; and the French having taken Mastricht from the Dutch, should raze it too; and so this whole War should [Page] pass,As a Storm that has ceased▪ after it had threatned much, and made but little alterations in the World. Comme un tourbillon qui avoit cesse apres avoir menace beaucoup & fait fort peu de remvements au monde.

I was surpriz'd to hear a Proposition so on the sudden, so short, and so decisive, and that seem'd so easie towards a short close, if His Majesty should fall into it; and I esteem'd it a strain in the Prince of the most consummate knowledge in the whole present Scheme of Affairs, and most decisive Judgment upon them, that he could have given after the longest deliberation and maturest advice. I observ'd however to His Highness upon it, That he had not explained what was to become of Lorain and Burgundy; and next, Whether he believ'd it at all likely, that France, after such acquisitions made in this War, and so many more expected, should come to [Page] such Restitutions of what they possess'd, without any equivalent. The Prince replied, Both were explain'd by the Terms he proposed of Aix la Chapelle; That for Lorain, France never pretended to keep it, but from the last Duke only. That Burgundy could not be parted with by Spain, without the French restoring so many Towns for it in Flanders as would raise endless debates, draw the Business into lengths, and so leave it to the decision of another Campania. For the second, he said, He had reason to doubt it, and did not believe it would be done, but by His Majesties vigorous interposition, by that he was sure it would be easily effected; but if His Majesty would not endeavour it, the War must go on, and God Almighty must decide it. That all the Allies would be glad of it; and believ'd, that upon Don John's coming to the Head of the Spanish [Page] Affairs, there would be a new World there. That however one Town well defended, or one Battel well fought, might change the Scene. That for himself, he would confess, the King could never do so kind a part, as to bring him with some Honour out of this War, and upon some moderate Terms: but if he was content that France should make them insupportable, they would venture All, rather than receive them. And for Holland's making it a separate Peace, let the Pensioner or any others tell me what they would, they should never do it while he was alive, and was able to hinder it; and he would say one thing more to me, That he believed he was able to hinder it) That if he died, he knew it would be done next day: but when that should happen, this matter must be some others care, and perhaps, [Page] We in England, were the most concern'd to look after it.

I promis'd to represent all he had said directly to His Majesty, and so I did immediately; and the Prince went next day to Dieren, within six Leagues of Nimeguen, where I promis'd to come to him as soon as I should be possess'd of his Majesty's Answer. And I am the more particular in all these Discourses with the Prince and the Pensioner upon this great Conjuncture, because they do not only discover the true Springs from which the Peace was afterwards deriv'd, but represent most of the Interests of Christendom, as they were observ'd by the two Persons, that next to Monsieur De Witt, understood them the best of any I ever met with in the course of my Negotiations.

After the Prince was gone, I had one Conference more with the Pensioner, who told me, he was still [Page] of Opinion it must come to a Separate Peace; That he had told the Emperour's Ministers the same thing; and that if they did not at Vienna fall into the Measures proposs'd and insisted on by the States, before the middle of February next, they should be forc'd to make it. That if Don Emanuel de Lyra had not now assur'd them of the Remises being actually come from Spain, for payment of the last Years Charge of the Fleets, both in the Mediterranian and Baltick, according to Agreement, the Peace could not have been kept off this Winter it self. I told him, The Prince was of another mind, and had said to me, a Separate Peace should never be made while he liv'd, and was able to hinder it; and that he believ'd he should have that in his power. The Pensioner reply'd, He should come to it with as much regret as the Prince himself; but that his Highness himself [Page] might be forc'd to it by the ill Conduct of his Allies, the ill Successes of the next Campania, and the Mutinies of the People, to which they were already but too much dispos'd at Amsterdam by the delays of the Treaty at Nimeguen. That the late Revolution in Spain against the Queen Regent and her Ministry, had shew'd enough what might be brought about by a violent and general humour of the People; and the Prince knew the Country too well, to go too far against it. That it was in His Majestie's hands to make a General Peace if he pleas'd, before the Campania begun; and perhaps it was in the Conduct of Spain and the Emperor to engage Holland in one Campania more, by the Measures they had propos'd: If both these fail'd, a Separate Peace must be made.

While I staid at the Hague, which was about a month, my Colleague [Page] at Nimeguen had, it seems, found out a Negotiation grown between the French Ambassadors and Mons. Beverning, separate from the Ministers of his Allies, and without any Communication of the Mediators, which they suspected would end in a Separate Peace. Of this they thought fit to give part to the Court, and of their suspitions upon it, as they had done in my absence; and receiv'd an immediate Order upon it, That in case they found a Separate Peace concluding or concluded between France and Holland at Nimeguen, they should protest publickly against it in His Majesty's Name. This my Colleague Sir Lionel Jenkins writ to me at the Hague about the 10th of January, and was in great pain about it. He apprehended the thing, but exspected not to know it till it was done, and then doubted any good Consequences from our Protestation: [Page] He desir'd I would both send him my thoughts upon it, and the same to Court as soon as I could.

I did so both to my Lord Treasurer and Mr. Secretary Coventry, and told them very freely, That I could not understand the reason or the drift of such an Order as my Colleagues had receiv'd to make such a Protestation. That if a Separate Peace between France and Holland were thought as dangerous in the Court, as I knew it was in the Country, the King might endeavour to prevent it, and had it still in his power, as he had had a great while: But if it were once concluded, I did not see any other effect of our Protestation, unless it were to irritate both the Parties, and bind them the faster, by our being angry at their Conjunction. Nor did I know what ground could be given for such a Protestation; for tho' the Parties [Page] had accepted his Majesty's Mediation of a General Peace, yet none of them had oblig'd themselves to His Majesty not to treat a Separate One, or without his Offices of Mediation: And if they had, I did not see why the same Interests that could make them break through so many Oligations to their Allies, should not make them as bold with a Mediator. That as to prevent the thing may be a very wise and necessary Counsel, so His Majesty's Resolution in it ought to be signified as early as can be, where it is likely to be of moment to that end, which was to France: But if the thing should be first done, as I could not tell how well to ground our Offence, so I could as little how to seek our Revenge; and it would be to stay till we were stuck, and then trust to crying out. That, to the best of my sense, it were better to anger any one of the Parties before [Page] a Separate Peace, than both of them after; and if we must strain any points of Courtesie with them, to do it rather by making a Fair and General Peace, than by complaining or protesting against a Seperate One.

I thought, I confess, that this Representation from my Colleagues, without any knowledge of mine, or suspition that the matter was working up at Nimeguen when I left it, and yet agreeing so much with what I had Foreseen and Represented from the Hague, and meeting such a Resentment at our Court as appear'd by the Order transmitted to my Colleagues upon it; There was little question but his Majesty would declare himself upon the Terms of a General Peace to both Parties, which I knew very well would be refus'd by neither, if he were positive in it, and supported, as he would certainly have been by the Prince. But our [Page] Councils at Court were so in Balance, between the desires of living at least fair with France, and the Fears of too much displeasing the Parliaments upon their frequent Sessions, that our Paces upon this whole Affair look'd all like cross Purposes, which no man at Home or Abroad could well understand, and were often mistaken by both parties engag'd in the War, as well as by both Parties in the House of Commons, till the thing was wrested out of our hands.

About the Twenty Fifth of January 1677. I receiv'd his Majesty's Answer to my last dispatches by the Prince's directions, and carried them immediately away to Dieren, which was a little out of my way to Nimeguen, and there Communicated them to the Prince. They consisted of two Parts; The First, An Offer of his Majesty's entring [Page] into the strongest defensive Alliance with the States, thereby to secure them from all Apprehensions from France, after the Peace should be made. The second was his Majesty's Remarks, rather than Conclusion of Judgment upon the Terms propos'd by the Prince for a Peace. That he believ'd it might be compos'd with France, upon the exchange of Cambray, Aire, and St. Omer, for Aeth, Charleroy, Ondenarde, Conde, and Bouchain: That this Scheme was what his Majesty thought possible to be obtain'd of France, tho' not what was to be wished.

I observ'd the Prince's Countenance to change when I nam'd Cambray and the rest of the Towns, yet he heard me through, & the many nice Reasons of Sir J.—W.— upon the matter, as of a double Frontier this would give to Flanders, the safety whereof was the thing both His Majesty and the [Page] States were most concern'd in, and many other ways of cutting the Feather: After which the Prince said, He believ'd Dinner was ready, and we would talk of it after we had din'd, and so went out; but as he was near the Door, he turn'd to me, and said, Tho' we should talk more of it after Dinner, yet he would tell me now, and in few words, That he must rather die than make such a Peace.

After Dinner, we went again into his Chamber, where he began with telling me, I had spoil'd his Dinner; That he had not expected such a return of the Confidence he had begun towards His Majesty. He observ'd the offer of Alliance came to me in a Letter of His Majesty's own hand; but That about the Terms of a Peace, from the Secretary only; That it was in a Stile, as if he thought him a Child, or to be fed with Whips Cream; That since all this had been [Page] before the Foreign Commitee, he knew very well it had been with the French Ambassador too, and that the Terms were his, and a great deal worse than they could have directly from France. He cast them up distinctly, and what in plain Language they amounted to; That Spain must part with all Burgundy, Cambray, Aire, and St. Omer, which were of the value of two other Provinces in the consequences of any War between France and Spain, and all for the five Towns mention'd; That in short, all must be ventur'd, since he was in, and found no other way out. I told the Prince, that I hop'd he would send His Majesty his own thoughts upon it; but that he would think a little more before he did it. He said, he would write to the King that Night, but would not enter into the detail of the business, which was not worth the pains, but would leave it to [Page] me. He desir'd me further to let His Majesty know, that he had been very plain in what he had told me of his own thoughts upon this whole matter, and had gone as low as he could with any regard to the safety of his Country, and his Allies, or his Honour; That he doubted whether Spain would ever have consented to those very Terms; but for these he knew they could not, tho' they were sure to lose all Flanders by the War: And for himself, he could never propose it to them: but if Flanders were left in that posture, it could never be defended upon another Invasion, neither by Holland nor England it self; and he was so far of the Spaniard's mind, That if Flanders must be lost, it had better be so by a War than by a Peace; That whenever that was, Holland must fall into an absolute dependence upon France; so that what His Majesty offer'd of an Alliance [Page] with them, would be to no purpose, for they would not be made the Stage of a War, after the loss of Flanders, and wherein they were sure no Alliance of His Majesty, nor Forces neither, could defend them. He concluded, That if His Majesty would help him out of this War with any Honour and Safety, either upon kindness to him, or consideration of what concernment his own Crowns were like to have in the issue of this Affair, he would acknowledge, and endeavour to deserve it as long as he liv'd; if not, the War must go on, be the event what it would; and for his own part, He would rather Charge a Thousand Men with a Hundred, nay, tho' he were sure to die in the Charge, than enter into any concert of a Peace upon these conditions.

I gave His Majesty an account of all that pass'd in this interview, [Page] and return'd to my Post at Nimeguen.

The Allies had taken great Umbrage at my journey to the Hague, as designed for Negotiating some separate Peace between France and Holland; but the Prince and Pensioner seem'd careless to satisfie them, and made that use only of it, to let them know that no such thing was yet intended, but that Holland would be forced to it at last, if the Emperor and Spain fell not into those measures that they had propos'd to them, both at Vienna and Madrid, for the vigorous prosecution of the next Campania, which had some effect at Vienna, but little in Spain or Flanders, as was felt in the beginning of the Spring.

At my return to Nimeguen, I found that in my absence Count Kinkski was arriv'd, who was a person of great parts, of a sharp and quick apprehension, but exact [Page] and scrupulous in his Conduct, rigid in his Opinions, never before vers'd in these sort of Imployments, and thereby very punctilious; This had ingag'd him in difficulties upon the Ceremony of Visits, both with my Colleagues and the French upon his first arrival, which lasted with these till the end of the Congress, so as to hinder all Visits between them; but I had the good Fortune to retrieve all ill correspondence that had happen'd between the Mediators and him; I found likewise that a secret intelligence was grown between the French and Dutch Ambassadors, which was manag'd by Monsieur Olivecrantz, the second Swedish Ambassador, and wholly apart from my Colleagues, whose intervention had been only us'd when the matter was first agreed between those Parties. That Monsieur Beverning drove on very violently towards a Peace, and with little [Page] regard of his Allies; and said, he had order from the States, De pousser l'affaire tant qu'il lui seroit possible. To push the business on as far as it is possible. That those Ambassadors had come to a sort of Agreement about the from and number of Powers, which was, That the Mediators should be desir'd to draw up a form of Preamble, which should be common to all the Parties, and contain nothing more, but that such and such Princes, out of a sincere desire of Peace, had sent such and such Persons to Nimeguen, which had been chose for the Place of Treaty, by the intercession of the King of Great Brittain. That the Mediators should likewise draw up an Obligatory Act, to be sign'd by the several Ambassadors, and put into their hands on the same day, for the procuring new Powers within Sixty days after the date. That the Titles in the new Powers should [Page] be inserted, bona fide, according to the usual Stile of the Chancellary of each Court; and that an Act of Salvo should be sign'd by the several Ambassadors, for no consequence to be drawn hereafter, for the use or omission of any Titles in these Powers.

I found likewise, that these Points had been agreed among all the Allies, by the formal intervention of my Colleagues, after they had first been concerted between the French and Dutch. That these Ambassadors had entred into a course of mutual Visits, owning publickly, That they did it, as necessary to facilitate the Progress of the Treaty, and that the Dutch began to talk of finishing an eventual Treaty (as they call'd it) for themselves, as soon as the Acts about Powers were wholly dispatched, which should not take Place till the General Peace was concluded; but after which They, the Dutch, [Page] intended to imploy their Offices between their Allies and the French.

I found likewise, that Mr. Hide had encreas'd the Number of the Mediators in my Absence, who having been sent into Poland the Summer past, to Christen that Kings Child, and to condole with the Emperour upon the late Emperor's Death, had performed the first Compliment from his Majesty; but upon his coming from thence to Vienna, found the Emperour married, and so pass'd on privately home, and arriv'd at Nimeguen, soon after I left it upon my Journey to the Hague; where he came to me, after having staid a Fortnight at Nimeguen. He told me at the Hague, That upon his Return by Rotterdam, he had there met Letters from Court with a Commission to stop for some short time at Nimeguen, and take the Character of one of the Ambassadors Mediators [Page] there, by which he might be enabled at his Return to give His Majesty an Account of the State and Progress of Affairs there. He said, this Commission was intended to find him at Nimeguen, upon the stop he made there; but having not arriv'd till he had left that Place, he was in doubt whether he should make any use of it or no, and desir'd my Advice, whether to return to Nimeguen, or to go forward for England. I easily perceiv'd what this Dispatch was intended for, to introduce him into those kinds of Characters and Employments; and so advised him to go back to Nimeguen, which he did, and made a part of the Ambassy during a short stay there, but excus'd himself from entring into the management of any Conferences or Dispatches; so that by his Modesty, and my Lord Berkly's great Age and Infirmities, the Fatigue of that Employment lay [Page] still upon me and Sir Lionel Jenkins, who writ alternatively the Dispatches from the Ambassy to Court, and the others to other Princes and Ministers, by concert, all the while I was upon the Place.

I found likewise at my return to Nimeguen, some few Difficulties yet remaining, which obstructed the Dispatch intended about the Powers. For tho' the French had consented to furnish new Powers, and several for the Emperor, Spain, Denmark, and Holland; yet they refus'd a distinct one for Brandenburgh, which these Ministers insisted on; and the Dutch were in such Oligations to that Prince, that they were forc'd to do so too, tho' unwillingly, as doubting the Success with France, and foreseeing the Consequence of the same Pretence to be rais'd upon it by other Princes of Germany, not only Electors, but the Houses of [Page] Lunenburgh, and Nieuburgh, who yielded to the Electors in no Point but that one of Precedence. But the Dutch, to distinguish that of Brandenburgh, alledg'd to us, that he was Principal in the War of Sweden, and so could not be included as an Ally only, either by the Emperor, or by the States.

The Danish Ambassador stood positively upon the common Use of the Latin Tongue between France and them in their Powers, or else to give his in Danish, if they gave theirs in French. These said, That it was a Novelty and an Impertinence; and that if in all the Intercourse that had ever been between those Two Crowns, the Language had not been French on their side, and Latin on the Danes, even in any one Instrument, they were content they should give their Powers not only in Danish, but in Hebrew, if they pleas'd. The Dane said, He could not give account [Page] of all Presidents; that if ill ones had been hitherto us'd, 'twas time to establish new ones that were good. That his Master had more Right to do it, than any former King, being now Successive in that Crown, which was before Elective; and being more Absolute in his Dominions than any other King of Christendom; for there was now nothing in Denmark, but La volonté du Roy;The Will of the King. upon all which he said, his Orders were positive, and he could not proceed without the Style he pretended.

These two Points chiefly had obstructed the final Agreement about the Powers, for near a Month; after which we prevail'd with the French to yield to new Powers for Brandenburgh, upon Assurance from the Dutch Ambassadors, that they expected no such Pretension for any other of their German Allies; but that if [Page] any should be rais'd and refus'd by France, yet that should not hinder or delay the Dutch from proceeding in the Treaty. The Danish Pretence about the Languages, being neither countenanc'd nor approv'd by any of his Allies, was at last yielded by him, which had been better never started, as having lost him ground in that which was intended by it, which was to establish the Principle of a Parity among Crown'd Heads.

There was an Accident happen'd likewise in my Absence, which had rais'd great Heats among the Parties. Upon Count Kinkski's Arrival, the Allies began their Meetings at his House; by which they hop'd to govern the general Resolutions, and keep the Alliance from breaking into any separate Pieces. The Dutch Ambassadors, who pretended to influence the Peace more than any of their Allies, stomach'd the Count's Design [Page] and Carriage at these Conferences, where they said he pretended to be sole Dictator, and they were unwilling to enter into plain Contradictions, or the same Heats at his own House; upon which they went to the Stadthouse, and chose there a Room for their Conferences among all the Allies, which upon the first Practice gave great Offence to the French Ambassadors. They said, it was a Breach upon the Neutrality of the Place establish'd by the Assembly's being there, and that the Dutch had now arrogated to themselves the Disposal of the Town-House, without common Agreement. The Dutch alledg'd, the Rooms they had taken, were not belonging to the Town, but to the Nobles of Gelderland, and were below Stairs, and that all above, remain'd to be dispos'd of still by the Mediators for the common Use of the Parties, when they should desire it. The [Page] French were not satisfied with these Reasons, and threatned to break the Assembly. We at last prevail'd with the Allies to forbear the Use of the Stadthouse, till we drew up a formal Proposal to be made by us the Mediators, to all Parties, desiring them, That for their Ease and Convenience, all Parties would meet in one Room at the Stadthouse, or at least the two Alliances in two several Rooms, whilst we should meet in another, and be there ready to perform all Offices between them. This last was accepted, and we design'd the several Rooms for our selves and the Parties, but were forc'd to find two Rooms for the French and Swedes to meet apart, whose Competition, tho Allies, would not suffer them to meet in one, or decide it by lot, as the Spaniard and Dane had done.

There remain'd one Difficulty [Page] more, which particularly concern'd His Majesty. Both French and Spaniards, as well as Imperialists, had insisted even with Emulation, That the Pope's Mediation should be mention'd in the new Powers, as well as his Majesty's. The Dutch and Danes both had absolutely refus'd to treat upon any Powers where the Pope's Mediation should be mentioned. We had likewise represented to them, how great a Difference there was between his Majestie's Mediation, that had been accepted by all Parties, and the Pope's, that had been so only by a part of them; and the very mention of it absolutely refus'd by several others, to be admitted into the Powers. That his Majesty's Mediation had propos'd the Place of Treaty, exchang'd the Pasports, form'd the Assembly, manag'd all the Negotiations in it so long, without the appearance of any Minister from the Pope, or knowledge whether he [Page] would be receiv'd if he came, or by whom his Mediation would be accepted or imploy'd. At length it was resolv'd, That the mention of his Majesty's Mediation alone, should be made in the several Powers: and so all being agreed, about the middle of February all the several Acts were signed, and put into our Hands, and by us exchang'd among the several Parties.

After this dispatch of all Preliminaries to the Treaty, the several Parties by Agreement brought into our hands their several propositions or Pretensions. The French seemed in Theirs to demand nothing of the Emperour and of Brandenburgh, but the entire restoring of the Treaty of Munster: Of Spain, the retaining of all they had conquer'd in this War, upon the Spaniards having first broken the Peace. From the their States General they made no Demand, but offer'd them the restoring of their Friendship, and that they will [Page] hearken to a Treaty of Commerce. On the other side, The Emperour's Demands were, That France should restore to him, to the Empire, and all his Allies, whatever they had taken from them in the Course of this War, and make Reparation for all Damages they had suffer'd in it. The Spaniards demanded all the Places they had lost, and all the Damages they had suffer'd from France since the Year 1665. The Dutch demanded from France, the Restitution of Mastricht, Satisfaction to the Prince of Orange in what did concern the Principali [...]y of Orange, and a Reglement of Commerce, with a Renunci [...]tion of all Pretensions each Party might have upon the other. As for the great Damages they had sustain'd, they said, they sacrific'd them all to the Publick Peace, provided Satisfaction might be given their Allies.

For the Northern Kings, and [Page] German Prinees, their Demands were so extended, that I shall forbear relating them, and sum them up in this only; That those who had gained by the War, pretended to retain all they had got; and those that had lost, pretended to recover all they had lost, and to be repaid the Damages they had suffered by the War. Count Kinkski deliver'd into our Hands likewise the Duke of Lorrain's Pretensions, sealed as the rest were; but we opened them not, upon the French telling us, they had not received from Court any Counter-Pretensions upon the Duke of Lorrain, whereof they believ'd the Reason to be, That no Minister of his had yet appeared at the Congress. Indeed their Pretensions against Lorrain, had never yet been made since the Death of the late Duke, and would have been very hard to draw up by their ablest Ministers or Advocates themselves; and therefore they [Page] thought fit to decline them, and reserve them for the Terms of a Peace, when they should be able to prescribe, rather than to treat them.

By these Propositions of the several Parties, it easily appear'd to the World, what wise Men knew before, how little Hopes there were of a Peace, from the Motions of this Treaty in the present Circumstances of Affairs, and how it was wholly to be expected from the course and influence of future Events in the Progress of the War.

About the 24th of February, I went to the Prince at his House at Soesdyke, a Day's Journey from Nimeguen, upon a Letter from his Highness, desiring it of me. I had about a Week before written to him by the King's Command, upon which his Highness desir'd to speak with me. I went, and told him the Contents of my last Dispatch. [Page] He ask'd me, whether it were from the King himself, or from any of the Ministers? I told him, it was from Secretary Williamson, by the King's Command. The Prince said, Then he knew from whence it came; but however desir'd me to read the Particulars to him, which were, the King's apprehension of a Mistake in the Prince, because the Terms mention'd by his Majesty were not any Propositions (which He did not think his part to make) nor had He any Authority for it, but only a piece of Confidence he had enter'd into with the Prince. Next, That the Exchange of Cambray, was only propos'd as a thing to be wish'd, that so six Towns might be restor'd to Spain, instead of five the Prince had propos'd, which in His Majesty's Opinion would make a kind of a double Frontier to Brussels, and so leave Flanders safer than by the Prince's Scheme; [Page] Therefore His Majesty desir'd the Prince would think further of it, and not let it fall so flat as he did by his last Answer, without trying what it could be beaten out to. But however offer'd, That if his Highness had any other Proposition to make to France, the King would very readily hand it over to them in the best manner he could.

Whil'st I was reading this to the Prince, He could hardly hear it out with any Patience, Sir J—W—'s Style was always so disagreeable to him; and he thought the whole cast of this so artificial, that he receiv'd it at first with Indignation and Scorn, rather than with those further Thoughts that were desir'd of him. He said, the Style of Letting it fall so flat, was my Lord Arlington's; and, The Double Frontier, as it were, for Brussels, was some of the Secretary's Cresme Foitte, Whipt Cream. and fit for Children. The rest he took to be all [Page] the French Ambassador's, who would fain continue a private Treaty with him by the King's Hand, while His Master went into the Field. His Answer was very plain: That he had thought enough of it, and had no more to say at this time; That when he spoke to me so lately at the Hague, He believ'd the Peace might have been made, and upon better terms than he propos'd, if the King had desir'd them from France, either upon Kindness to Him, or upon the Interests of His own Crowns. That he was sorry to find the King's Thoughts so different from his, and that whenever they grew nearer, he should be glad to know it. But he look'd now upon the Campania as begun; and believ'd at the time we talk'd, the Guns were playing before Valencienne. That he saw now no hopes of a Peace, but expected a long War, unless Flanders should be lost, and [Page] in that case the States must make the best terms they could. That he expected a very ill Beginning of the Campania, and to make an ill Figure in it himself, and to bear the Shame of Faults that others would make; but if the Emperor perform'd what he had promis'd, the Campania might not end as it began. That however, he was in, and must go on, Et quant on est a la grandemesse on y est (meaning,And when one is at High Mass▪ one is at it. I suppose, that one must stay till 'tis done, because the Crowd is so great one can't get out) That he gave His Majesty Thanks for his offer of handing over to France any Proposition he should make; but that never was His Meaning: For if it had, He could easily have found a directer way. That his Intention was only to enter into a Confidence with His Majesty upon the Subject of the Peace, and to owe it wholly [Page] to him; but if any thing was propos'd by the King to France, otherwise than as His own Thoughts, it must be from the Body of the Alliance, and not from Him.

After these Discourses, the Prince went immediately away for the Hague, and I return'd to Nimeguen, where all Negotiations seem'd wholly at a stand, and so continu'd till towards the End of April. In this time arriv'd Monsieur Stratman, one of the Imperial Ambassadors; Monsieur Christin, one of the Spanish; but He and Don Pedro having only the Character of Plenipotentiaries, and pretending thereupon the Treatment of Ambassadors, and the French and Swedes refusing it to that Character, they continued incognito till the Arrival of the Marquess de Balbaces.

For Monsieur Stratman upon his Notification to the several [Page] Ambassadors (as he said at the same time) the Dane and the Swede made him first their Visits, and after them the French; whereupon having first made his to the Mediators, he return'd them to the Swedes, the Dane being out of Town, after which he sent to demand an Hour of the French; but Monsieur d' Estrades return'd him answer, That having fail'd of the Respect due to the King his Master, they would not admit of any visit from him; hereupon Monsieur Kinkski and Stratman desir'd us to know upon what Point the French refus'd their Visit, saying, It could be upon no other but a Pretence of Preference to all other Crowns, and expecting the first Visit to be made the French, tho' other Ambassadors had first visited the Imperialists. This they desir'd much the French would avow, believing it would embroil them with the Swedes as well as [Page] with us, who they knew would declare against any such Pretence. But the French, upon our application from the Imperialists, kept stanch to their first Answer, That Monsieur Stratman, avoit manquè du respect au Roy leur Maistre. Had been wanting in respect to the King their Master. That he had done it in several Points, and knew very well in what: And further than this, they would not enter into the Matter, but continued positive in refusing the Visit.

Whilst such Matters as these help'd to amuse the Congress, and keep them in Countenance, the essential Parts of the Treaty were managed in the Field: France had in the beginning of the Year block'd up Cambray and Valenciennes, about the end of February; having provided sufficient Magazines in the Winter for the Subsistence of their Forces, they began to break into Flanders, and into the Parts of [Page] Germany on t'other side the Rhine, and with all the most cruel Ravages of Burning and Spoiling those Parts of Germany that could be exercis'd, and such as had not yet been us'd on either Side since the War began. The Allies made Complaints of this new manner of War to His Majesty, who imployed his Offices towards France, to hinder such prosecution of a Quarrel, while a Peace was treating under his Mediation; but the thing was done, and their Point was gained, which was, by an entire Ruin of the Country, to hinder the Imperialists from finding any Subsistence for their Troops if they should march into Alsatia, and thereby divert those Forces that the French resolv'd to employ this Spring in Flanders, before the Dutch could take the Field, and march to the relief of those Places they intended to attack.

About the seventeenth of March, [Page] the King of France took Valenciennes, having furmounted the very Force of the Seasons, and set down before it about the beginning of that Month. From thence he march'd with a mighty Army, and laid Siege to Cambray with one part of it, and to St. Omer with the other, under the Duke of Orleans. After five days Siege from the opening of the Trenches, he took Cambray, like all the other Spanish Towns, by surrender upon Articles; but the Cittadel held out for some Days longer.

In the mean time, the Dutch having receiv'd their Payments due from Spain, and finding the French go on with their design upon Flanders, whilst the Treaty serv'd but for an Amusement, resolv'd to go on with the War for another Campania; being kept up to this Resolution by the vigour of the Prince of Orange, in pressing them upon the Observance of their Treaties, [Page] and pursuit of their Interest, in the defence of Flanders. Upon the first motion of the French, the Prince had begun to prepare for that of his Troops likewise, and pressed the Spaniards to have Theirs in readiness to join him, and with all imaginable endeavours provided for the subsistence of his Army in their march through Flanders, which the Spaniards had taken no care of. But with all the Diligence and Application that could be used, he could not come to the Relief either of Valenciennes or Cambray; but with part of the Forces of the States alone, and without either Troops, or so much as Guides furnished him by the Spaniards, he march'd directly towards S. Omer, resolute to raise that Siege with the hazard of a Battel, at what Disadvantage soever. The Duke of Orleans leaving a small part of his Troops to defend his Trenches before St. [Page] Omer, marched to meet the Prince of Orange, and upon the way was reinforc'd by Monsieur de Lutzenburgh with all the Troops the French King could send out of his Army, leaving only enough to continue the Siege before the Cittadel of Cambray. These Armies met, and fought with great Bravery at Mont-Cassel, where, after a sharp Dispute, the first Regiment of the Dutch Infantry began to break, and fall into disorder: The Prince went immediately to that Part where the Shake began, ralli'd them several times, and renewed the Charge; but at last was born down by the plain Flight of his Men, whom he was forced to resist like Enemies, and fall in among them with his Sword in his Hand; and cutting the first cross over the Face, cry'd out aloud, Cocquin je te marqueray au moins a fin de te faire pendre. Rascal, I'll set a mark on thee at least, that I may hang thee afterwards. Voice nor [Page] Action, Treats nor Example, could give Courage to Men that had already lost it; and so the Prince was forced to yield to the Stream that carri'd him back to the rest of his Troops, which yet stood firm; with whom, and what he could gather of those that had been routed, he made a Retreat that wanted little of the Honour of a Victory; and will, by the confession of his Enemies, make a part of that great Character they so justly allow him. The safety of the Dutch Army, upon this Misfortune, was by them wholly own'd to His Highness's Conduct as well as Bravery in the course of this Action; after which both St. Omer and the Cittadel of Cambray were surrendred to the French about the 20th of April, by which the Spaniards lost the main Strength of their Frontier of Flanders on that side, (as they had done that on the other side by [Page] Aeth and Charleroy in the former War) and all the Hopes of raising any Contributions in France, which was a great part of the Subsistence of the Spanish Troops; so as there now remain'd nothing of Frontier considerable, besides Namur and Mons to the Land, Ostend and Nieuport to the Sea; and the rest of the Spanish Netherlands consisted only of great Towns, by which no resistance could be hop'd for, whenever the French should think fit to attacque them, and could spare Men enough to garison them when they should be taken. For the Greatness of those Towns, and Multitude of Inhabitants, and their inveterates Hatred to the French Government, was such, as without very great Garisons they could not be held, unless upon one sudden Conquest and great Revolution, the whole Spanish Netherlands should become French, and thereby be made a new Frontier towards the Dutch [Page] and Germans, and, like a new Conquest, the Seat of their Armies.

This the Spaniards thought would never be suffer'd, neither by England nor Holland, and so they seem'd to have abandon'd the Fate of Flanders to their Care, with a Resignation that became good Christians, rather than good Reasoners: For I have long observ'd, from all I have seen, or heard, or read in story, that nothing is so fallacious, as to reason upon the Counsels or Conduct of Princes or States, from what one conceives to be the true Interest of their Countries; for there is in all places an Interest of those that Govern, and another of those that are Govern'd: nay, among these, there is an Interest of quiet Men, that desire only to keep what they have; and another of unquiet Men, who desire to acquire what they have not, and by violent, if they cannot by lawful means; therefore I [Page] never could find a better way of judging the Resolutions of a State, than by the personal Temper and Understanding, or Passions and Humours of the Princes, or Chief Ministers, that were for the time at the Head of Affairs. But the Spaniards reason'd only from what they thought the Interest of each Countrey. They knew Holland would save Flanders if they could, and England they were sure could if they would, and believ'd would be brought to it at last by the Increase of the Danger and Force of their own Interest, and the Humour of the People. In this Hope or Presumption they were a great deal flatter'd by their Ministers then in England, Don Bernard de Salinas Envoy from Spain, and Fonseca, Consul there; who did indeed very industriously foment the Heats that began about this time to appear in the Parliament, upon the Apprehensions of the [Page] French Conquests both in Flanders and Sicily; which moved them, about the End of March, to make an Address to the King, representing the Progresses of France, and desiring His Majesty to put a stop to them, before they grew dangerous to England, as well as to their Neighbours. Don Bernard de Salinas told some of the Commons, That the King was very angry at this Address, and had said upon it, That the Authors of it were a Company of Rogues; which made a great Noise in the House of Commons. The King resented it as a piece of Malice in Salinas, or at least as a Design to inflame the House; and thereupon order'd him to depart the Kingdom within certain Days. Yet, about a Month after, the Parliament made another Address upon the same Occasion, desiring his Majesty to make a League Offensive and Defensive with the States General, for opposing [Page] the Progress of the French Conquests. This His Majesty received as an Invasion of his Prerogative, made them an angry Answer, and Prorogued the Parliament till the Winter following.

However, France had so much Regard to the Jealousies raised both in England and Holland, of their designing an intire Conquest of Flanders, that, after having gained those three important Frontier Towns so early in the Spring, and dispers'd his Army after that Expedition, that King return'd home, writ to his Majesty, That to shew he had no Intention to conquer Flanders, but only to make a General Peace, he was contented, notwithstanding the great Advantages and Forces he had at present, to make a General Truce, in case his Allies the Swedes would agree to it; which he desir'd His Majesty to inform himself of, [Page] since he had not Convenience of doing it, for want of Liberty of Couriers into Sweden.

The Contents of this Letter was proved by the French Ambassadors at Nimeguen among the several Ministers there, till they found it had an effect contrary to what was intended, and was taken by all for too gross an Artifice. It passed very ill with Monsieur Beverning himself, who of all others there, was the most passionately bent upon the Peace. But he said openly upon this, That the French were to be commended, who never neglected any thing of Importance, nor so much as of amusement; that France had given their Blow, and would now hinder the Allies from giving Theirs: That the reserve of Sweden's Consent was an easy way of avoiding the Truce, if the Allies should accept it: That this it self could not be done, because Flanders would be left so open, as to be easily [Page] swallowed up by the next Invasion, having no Frontier on either side. That the Towns now possessed by France, would in the time of a Truce grow absolutely French, and so the harder to be restored by a Peace or a War. That for his part, he desir'd the Peace, contrary to the Politicks of Monsieur Van Beuninghen, and the other Ministers of the Allies in England; affirming always. That notwithstanding all their Intrigues and Intelligences there, He, Monsieur Beverning, was assured, That his Majesty would not enter into the War, to save the last Town in Flanders. This Confidence made him pursue all the Ways towards a Peace, and by Paces which some thought forwarder than his Commission, and very ill concerted with those of his Allies. About the middle of April, he brought us the Project of a Treaty of Commerce both for France and Sweden, and desir'd we [Page] would make the Communication of them; which we did for form, though we knew that those Ministers had been before possessed of them from the Dutch Ambassadors themselves. And some few Days after, they entred into Conferences upon this Project at the French Ambassadors Houses, whom they found very easy in the Terms the Dutch insisted on for their Commerce, which was all that could make any Difficulty between them.

1677. About the end of April, the Ministers of the Allies came, and presented us their several Answers in Writing to the French Propositions, which they offered to leave with us, whenever we should assure them that the French and Swedes were ready with theirs. Upon this Communication given to the French, they were positive to give no Answer in writing, nor to receive any, alledging both [Page] Reason and Example for their Opinion; this from the Practice of the Munster Treaty, that from the Danger of the invective Stile or Language that is apt to enter into the Writings of each Party upon such Occasions. The Allies were for some time as peremptory in their Resolution of delivering their Answer in writing; but both at last agreed upon the Expedient we proposed, of dictating to us what they intended should be said to the other Party, of our setting the Substance down in Writing, and reading it over to them first, who dictated to us, so as they might be Judges whether we had rightly apprehended and expressed their meaning; and yet the thing might go in our Stile, and not in theirs; by which all Sharpness and Provocation would be avoided.

About the middle of May, arrived President Canon, Envoy from the Duke of Lorrain, and put [Page] his Master's Pretensions into our Hands; upon which the Allies expected a return of those from France upon that Duke, no room being now left for delaying them from the want of a Minister upon the Place; but the French said very plainly, It was a Matter they were not instructed in; which the Allies received with great Stomach, and perpetual Complaints to us the Mediators; all professing, they were resolved not to proceed in the Treaty, without carrying on the Interests of that Duke, an equal Pace with their own.

About the End of May arrived the Pope's Nuncio; whereupon the Swedish and Danish Ambassadors resorted immediately to us, desiring to know how we intended to carry our selves in what regarded that Minister; professing themselves to be much in pain, being of one side very much pressed, the Swedes by the French, and the Danes by the [Page] Imperialists and Spaniards, to the enterchange at least of common Ceremonies and Civilities, with a Minister for whom they all with emulation professed so great Respect and Deference: On t'other side, the Swedes and Danes pretended neither to have Instruction or Example from their respective Courts, to determin them in this Matter, but said, they were resolved to observe and consider the steps that should be made by us. We cut the Business very short, and declared to them our Resolution to have no sort of Commerce with the Pope's Nuncio, either in the Affairs of our Function, or in matters of Ceremony; and told them, our Orders from Court were so precise in this Point, that they would admit of no Debate. The next Day Monsieur Colbert and d'Avaux came formally to give us part of the Nuncio's Arrival, and of his Desire to make us his first Comments, [Page] if he might know they would be received: Our Answer to them was the same we had made to the Swedes and Danes; and soon after, all the Ministers of Protestant Princes at Nimeguen, resolved to follow our Example, and to have no Commerce at all with the Nuncio.

About the same time, after many Messages carried by us between the Parties, they were perswaded at last into the Agreement of delivering and exchanging by our Hands, their Answers to each others Propositions in writing, tho without pretending to pursue that Method in the succeeding Paces of the Negotiation. Nor was there need of that Caution, for this I take to have been the last Pace of any free and general Negotiation between the Parties engaged in the War and in the Treaty: nor were the Answers any thing nearer [Page] agreeing, than the first Propositions.

The last Day of May arrived the Marquess de Balbaces, first Ambassador from Spain; and about the same time, my Lord Berkly returned into England, where he languished out the rest of the Summer, and died.

About the seventh of June, the Dutch Ambassadors brought us the Project of a Treaty between them and France, digested and extended in all its Forms and Articles; and told us soon after, They had in a Conference upon it with the French Ambassadors, agreed, in a manner, all the Points of it, at least that there remained but two, which concerned Commerce only, undetermined between them, which they doubted not would be agreed likewise upon return of the French Dispatches to Court. That after their Business was ended, they would perform the best Offices [Page] they could between their Allies and the French; and indeed by the Beginning of July, all Points were accordingly agreed between the French and Dutch, and Monsieur Beverning began to play the part of something more than a Mediator, pressing on his Allies towards a Peace, with Paces very earnest and something rough, and as some believed more than he had Order for, from his Masters, who yet pretended to hold Hands with their Allies. But Monsieur Beverning professed to believe that their Friends at the Hague were imposed upon by Van Beuninghen, and the Spanish Ministers at London, who still animated them with Hopes of the King's entring into the War, or at least prescribing a Plan of the Peace to be received by all parties, which Beverning believed neither one nor t'other of, and pretended to be morally assur'd of his Opinion, and thereupon grounded [Page] the absolute Necessity of a Peace.

In this Month the Duke of Zell began to make a Difficulty of sending the five thousand Men he had promised to the Allies, without some new Stipulations. And the French offered a Guaranty to the House of Lunenburgh, of all their Conquests on the Swede in Bremen, upon a Neutrality to be declared by those Dukes, which began to give great Umbrages to the Allies, as well as the Swedes, of some separate Measures like to be concluded between France and the whole House of Brunswick. The Dutch Ambassadors were likewise in Pain upon new Intelligence both from Vienna and Madrid about a separate Peace, being Treated between Don John and the French, with an Exchange of the Spanish Netherlands, for what should be restored them in Roussillon and Sicily. The Ministers of the Confederates made great Instances in England, That [Page] His Majesty would recal his Troops, that were in the French Service; attributing most of their Successes in Germany, to the Bravery of those English Regiments. But His Majesty excused it upon the Equality of a Mediator; since there were English Troops of greater number in the Service of the Allies: Who took this Answer, however, for an ill Sign of that Prosecution which they hoped from His Majesty for the Relief of their Languishing Affairs. The Hopes of those great Actions promised by the Imperialists this Summer on the Rhine, began to Flat; Their Troops finding no Subsistence in those Countries which had been wholly desolated by the French in the Beginning of the Year, to prevent their March. The Prince of Orange observing all these Circumstances, and foreseeing no resource for the Interests of the Allies; unless from his Majesty; [Page] and that it was likely to prove an unactive Summer in Flanders, the French resolving not to come to a Battel, and he not able to form a Siege, and oppose a French Army that should come to relieve it; he sent Monsieur Bentinck over into England about the beginning of June, to desire his Majesty's leave that he might make a Journey thither so soon as the Campania ended. He received a civil Answer, but with Wishes from the King, That he would first think of making the Peace, and rather defer his Journey till that were concluded.

About the middle of June, my Son came over to me at Nimeguen, and brought me Letters from my Lord Treasurer, to signify his Majesty's Pleasure, that I should come over, and enter upon the Secretary of State's Office, which Mr. Conventry had offered his Majesty to lay down upon the payment often thousand Pounds; That the [Page] King would pay half the Money, and I must lay down the rest at present; tho his Lordship did not doubt but the King would find the way of easing me in time of that too. I writ immediately to my Lord Treasurer to make my Acknowledgment to his Majesty; but at the same time my Excuses, That I was not in a condition to lay down such a Sum, my Father being still alive, and keeping the Estate of the Family; and desiring that the King's Intention might at least be respited till he saw how the present Treaty was like to determin. In return of my Letters on the second of July, Mr. Smith, one of the King's Messengers, being sent Express, and making great diligence, arrived at Nimeguen, and brought me his Majesty's Commands to repair immediately over, in a Yatcht which he had sent on purpose for me: In obedience to this Command I left Nimeguen, but without [Page] any Ceremony, pretending only a sudden Journey into England, but saying nothing of the Occasion further than to my nearest Friends.

At my Arrival, the King asked me many Questions about my Journey, about the Congress, draping us for spending Him so much Money, and doing nothing; and about Sir Lionel, asking me how I had bred him; and how he passed among the Ambassadors there? and other Pleasantries upon that Subject. After a good deal of this kind of Conversation, He told me, I knew for what he had sent for me over, and that 'twas what he had long intended; and I was not to thank him, because he did not know any Body else to bring into that Place. I told his Majesty, that was too great a Compliment for me, but was a very ill one to my Country, and which I thought it did not deserve; that I believed [Page] there were a great many in it fit for that, or any other Place he had to give; and I could name two in a breath that I would undertake should make better Secretaries of State than I. The King said, Go, get you gone to Sheen, we shall have no good of you till you have been there, and when you have rested your self, come up again. I never saw him in better humour, nor ever knew a more agreeable Conversation when he was so, and where he was pleased to be familiar, great Quickness of Conception, great Pleasantness of Wit, with great Variety of Knowledg, more Observation and truer Judgment of Men, than one would have imagined by so careless and easy a manner as was natural to him in all he said or did: From his own Temper, he desired nothing but to be easy himself, and that every Body else should be so; and would have been glad to see the least of [Page] his Subjects pleased, and to refuse no Man what he asked. But this softness of temper made him apt to fall into the Perswasions of whoever had his kindness and confidence for the time, how different soever from the Opinions he was of before; and he was very easy to change hands, when those he employed seemed to have engaged him in any Difficulties; so as nothing looked steddy in the Conduct of his Affairs, nor aimed at any certain end. Yet sure no Prince had more Qualities to make him loved, with a great many to make him esteemed, and all without a grain of Pride or Vanity in his whole Constitution; nor can he suffer Flattery in any kind, growing uneasy upon the first Approaches of it, and turning it off to something else. But this humour has made him lose many great Occasions of Glory to himself, and Greatness to his Crown, which the Conjunctures of his Reign conspired [Page] to put into his Head, and have made way for the aspiring Thoughts and Designs of a Neighbour Prince, which would not have appeared, or could not have succeeded in the World, without the Applications and Arts imployed to manage this easy and inglorious Humour of the King's.

I staid two days at Sheen, in which time some of Secretary Coventry's Friends had prevailed with him not to part with his Place if he could help it, unless the King would let him recommend the Person to succeed him, who should pay all the Money he expected, and which the King had charged himself with. When I came to Town, the King, told me in his Closet all that had passed between Him and Mr. Coventry the day before upon this occasion; That He did not understand what he meant, nor what was at the bottom; for he [Page] had first spoke to His Majesty about parting with his Place, said his Health would not go through with it, made the Price he Expected for it, and concluded all before He had sent for me over. That now he pretended he did not mean to quit it, unless he might present one to succeed him, and hoped he had not deserved His Majesty should turn him out. But the King said upon it, That, under favour, He was resolved to take him at his Word, and so He had told him, and left him to digest it as he could. Upon this, I represented to the King how old and true a Servant Mr. Coventry had been of his Father's and His, how well he had served him in this Place; how well he was able to do it still by the great credit he had in the House of Commons, where the King's great Business lay in the ill state of his Revenue; how ill such a Treatment would agree with his Majesty's Nature and [Page] Customs, and for my own part, that it would be a great favour to me to respite this change till he saw what was like to become of the Treaty, or the War, and therefore I begged of him that he would not force a good Secretary out, and perhaps an ill one in against both their Wills, but let Mr. Coventry keep it, at least, till he seemed more willing to part with it. The King said, well then, He would let it alone for the present, but did not doubt in a little time one or other of us would change our mind.

In the mean time, the Design of my Journey was known; my Lord Arlington and others still asking me when they should give me joy of it, and many making Applications to me for Places in the Office; which made the Court uneasier to me, and increased my known Humour of loving the Countrey, and being as much in it as I could. [Page] However, when I came to Court, the King fell often into Conversation with me, and often in his Closet alone, or with none other present besides the Duke or my Lord Treasurer, and often both. The Subject of these Conversations were usually the Peace, and the Prince of Orange's Journey into England. The King always expressed a great desire for the First, but not at all for the other till that was concluded. He said, his Parliament would never be quiet nor easy to Him while the War lasted abroad: They had got it into their Heads to draw Him into it, whether He would or no. That they pretended Publick Ends, and Dangers from France, and there might be Both meant by a great many honest Men among them; but the Heats and Distempers of late had been raised by some factious Leaders, who thought more of themselves than of any thing else, [Page] had a mind to engage Him in a War, and then leave Him in it, unless they might have their Terms in removing and filling of Places; and he was very loth to be so much at their Mercy, as he should be, if he were once engag'd in the War. That besides, he saw the longer it continued, the worse it would be for the Confederates; more of Flanders would be lost every day; the Conduct of Spain must certainly ruin all in time; and therefore he would fain have the Prince make the Peace for them, if they would not do it for themselves. That if He and the Prince could fall into the Terms of it, he was sure it might be done: And, after several Discourses upon this Subject for near a Month, his Majesty at last told me, He had a great mind I should make a short turn to the Prince, and try if I could perswade him to it; and assure him, That after it was agreed, he should be [Page] the gladdest in the World to see him in England. The Duke and my Lord Treasurer both press'd me upon the same Point; but I told them at a long Conference upon it, how often I had been employ'd upon this Errand to the Prince, how unmovable I had found him, and how sure I was to find him so still, unless the King would consider of another Scheme for the Peace than had been yet propos'd to him, and wherein he might reckon upon more Safety to Flanders, as well as to his own Honour. That I had spent all my Shot, and was capable of saying no more to him than I had done, in obedience to all the Instructions I had receiv'd. That his Answers had been positive; so that some of my good Friends at Court pretended they had been my own Thoughts rather than the Prince's. That His Majesty would do well to try another Hand, and he would [Page] the better know the Prince's Mind, if his Answers were the same to both; if not, he would at least know how ill I had serv'd him. The King said, It was a thing of Confidence between Him and the Prince, and must be so treated, and he knew no Body he had besides to send. I told him, if he pleased, I would name one? He bid me; and I said, Mr. Hyde was idle ever since his return from Nimeguen, had been entred into the Commission of the Mediators there, staid with us a Fortnight or three Weeks, might pretend to return thither to exercise the same Function in my absence, since the Commission run to any two of the Number, and might take the Prince of Orange's Camp in his way to Nimeguen, perform the King's Commands to His Highness, inform himself of his last Resolution upon the Subject of the Peace; go on to Nimeguen without giving [Page] any jealousy to the Allies, or without the noise that my going would make; since Sir Lionel had wrote to Court and to Me, That Monsieur Beverning had desir'd all Paces should stop there till my return, which he heard would be sudden, and that the King would send by me his own Plan of the Peace. The Duke fell in first to the Proposal of Mr. Hyde's going, and, after some debate, the King and my Lord Treasurer, and that it should be as soon as was possible. He was sent for accordingly, and dispatch'd away in all Points as I had proposed. He found the Prince at the Camp, but unmovable in the Business of the Peace upon the Terms His Majesty had Thoughts of proceeding; gave Account of all that passed in that Conference to the King, and went straight away to Nimeguen, and writ me word of his Conversation with the Prince, and that [Page] he never saw such a Firmness in any Man.

I knew Mr. Hyde's going to reside at Nimeguen, would be of great comfort and support to Sir Lionel, who was in perpetual Agonies (as his word was) after he was left alone in that station; having ever so much distrust of his own Judgment, that tho he had the most great desire that could be to do well, yet he many times could not resolve how to go about it; and was often as much perplexed about the little Punctilio's of Visit and Ceremony that were left to busy that Ambassy, as if greater Affairs had still attended it. Besides, he lay under the lash of Secretary Williamson, who upon old Grudges between them at Colen, never fail'd to lay hold of any occasion he could to censure his Conduct, and expose it at the Foreign Committee, where his Letters were read to His Majesty. [Page] It happen'd about this time, that the Spanish Ambassadors first appearing in Publick upon a new Commission to all Three, gave immediate notice of it to the Imperialists, who made their Visit upon it, and were within two hours revisited by the Spaniards. After which, they sent their formal Notifications to all the other Ambassadors, and to the Mediators in the first place. Sir Lionel was in pain, having Orders to pretend the first Rank of Respect before the Imperialists, as well as other Ambassadors there; and not to yield it, if it came in competition. He had likewise another Order, which was, that upon Matters in Ceremony, doubtful, and not admitting the delay of new Orders, he should consult with the other Ambassadors, especially French and Swedish, who used to carry those Points the highest, and govern himself as well as he could by Presidents [Page] and Examples. He consulted both these Ambassadors, whether he should visit the Spaniards, after having given the first notice to the Imperialists? And they concluded, That he should first know of them, whether it was done in form, as to Ambassadors in general; or whether it was upon the account of the near Alliance in Blood between those two Houses of Austria? That if it were the First, he ought not visit them, as having put a disrespect upon the Mediation, and distinguish'd the Emperor from all the other crown'd Heads, who had yielded the precedence wholly to them; which they should not have done, if the Emperor had refus'd it. But if the Spaniards affirmed it was only upon the nearness of Blood between them, none of the other Ambassadors need take any notice of it, since the same had been done between those two Crowns at Munster upon the same [Page] score; which being there declared, it gave no offence to the Mediators, tho they were the Pope's Nuncio's, with whom there was otherwise no competition. Sir Lionel was satisfied by the Spaniards (who gave it him in writing) that the Visits were made only upon the score of Kindred; as at Munster; and thereupon made them his Visit, and received theirs; for which he was sharply reprov'd by Secretary Williamson's Letter upon it, who had represented it to the King as a Disobedience to a positive Order, and giving up the Point to the Imperialists. But being at Court soon after these Dispatches, I endeavoured to justify my Colleague's Intentions and his Proceedings, by shewing that he had conform'd to his other Orders of consulting the other Ambassadors, and proceeding according to the best President, which was that at Munster; and that if he had broken with the Spaniards [Page] upon this Point, he would have provok'd the Imperialists to declare their resolution of not yielding to the Mediators, upon which the other Ambassadors would recal the Concession which they had already made in this Point, and so hazard, if not lose, the Possession his Majesty was in, of the first Respect given to his Mediation. I had the good fortune to satisfy his Majesty and his Ministers, and to obtain Orders for His gracious Pardon to be sent Sir Lionel (for they would suffer it to run in no other Terms); for which however the poor Gentleman made as great Acknowledgments, as if his Fault had been much greater, and worse meant.

The rest of this Summer passed without any further Paces made in the Congress at Nimeguen, where the Messages carried and returned about the Business of Lorain, served to keep the Mediators in countenance, [Page] and no more. The whole Body of Allies pressed for an Answer from the French to that Duke's Pretensions, delivered in by President Canon. The French, after their former Exception, of his wanting a Minister there, raised another to stave off these Instances of the Allies, and declared, they could give no answer about Lorain, till the Bishop of Strasburgh's Agents were received by the Allies, upon which the Emperor made an invincible Difficulty, declaring he would never treat with a Vassal of his own▪ And in these Conferences about Lorain, the French Ambassadors began to insinuate to the Mediators, That their Master never intended That to be treated as a Principal, but only as an Accessary to the Treaty.

In August arrived at Nimeguen, the Bishop of Gurck, chief of the Imperial Ambassay, and Count [Page] Antoine of that from Denmark: The first was immediately visited by the Spainsh Ambassadors, and returned them; after which he sent his Notifications to the Mediators, and from them to the other Ambassadors; upon which no Difficulty was made by them, since the Bishop made the same Declaration the Spaniards had done before upon the like occasion. That the first Visits passing between the Ministers of the two Houses of Austria, were Visits of Kindness and Consanguinity, and not of Ceremony. But Count Antoine fell into endless Difficulties upon his first arrival. He intended to have sent his first Notification to the Mediators, as others had done; but the Imperialists having notice of this Intention, sent him direct word, they expected the first Respect should be given the Emperor; and this was the first time they owned that Pretension, in prejudice of the Honour hitherto [Page] done to the King's Mediation. Count Antoine sent Monsieur Hoeg, his Colleague, to acquaint the Mediators with this Incident, and desire them to find out some Expedient: They excused themselves, alledging their positive Orders to expect the first Notification. The Danes were as unwilling to disoblige His Majesty, as the Emperor, and found no temper in this matter, after many offered both by French and Dutch Ambassadors; so that Count Antoine resolved to leave it undecided, and to give no Notifications, nor receive or make any Visits; but however assisted at the Conferences among the Allies, and made a part of all the Evening Entertainments at Play, and in Conversation in the Apartments of the several Ambassadrices. And this course he observed, during his stay at Nimeguen, which was seven or eight Months; for the rest, a Person [Page] very much esteemed for his generous Qualities, and Gentlemanly Humour and Conversation, and yielding to none upon the Place in the Greatness and Splendor of his Equipage, wherein the Marquess de Balbaces, and Count Antoine seemed to distinguish themselves from all the rest.

About the end of July, the Prince of Orange made an Attempt upon Charleroy, rather than a Siege. This had been before concerted with the Duke of Lorain, who made a meen of entring into Champagne, on purpose to draw off the French Forces from attending the Prince's motions and design upon Charleroy; the Prince had hopes to take it by Surprize; but found them of the Garison upon their Guard, and very strong, as well as the Place, which had been fortified with all the force of Art and Expence, which could be employed upon a Place of that Compass. He sat down before it, and would have besieged it in form, [Page] if the Duke of Lorain could have diverted the French Army from relieving it; but Monsieur Louvoys, with great diligence, leaving the Mareshal Crequi with Force enough to face that Duke, assembled a very great Army for the Relief of Charleroy, upon approach whereof, the Prince called a Council of War, to resolve whether to march, and fight the French Army, or raise the Siege. The last was resolved upon debate at the Councel, and accordingly executed, and therewith ended this Compania in Flanders. But this March and Retreat of the Prince, passed not without many Reflections, not only among the Allies, but in Holland too, as if he had given over the Design upon some Intelligences and Expresses between Him and the King about this time. Monsieur Bentink had gone over and returned, without any Bodies knowing his Business. My Lord Ossory happened to arrive in the [Page] Camp, the day before the Council of War, upon which the Siege was raised, which made many think, something his Lordship brought from England, was the occasion of it: But I could never find there was any thing more in his Journey than the hopes of seeing a Battel (which was ever a particular Inclination of my Lord Ossory) and a cast of my Lord Arlington to preserve himself in the Prince's Favour and Confidence as much as he could, by my Lord Ossory's keeping close to him, at a time when he saw the Business of Christendom roll so much upon the Person of this Prince.

About this time, the Assembly at Nimeguen seem'd in danger of being broken by a passionate Motion the Swedes made in it. There had been a long Contest since it first began, between the Swedes and Danes, about Freedom of Passage for the Swedish Couriers [Page] through tbe Danish Territories, for managing the Correspondences necessary with their Court. The Danes pretended the example of France, who refus'd the same Liberty to the Spaniards. This Dispute had been managed by many Messages, wherewith the Mediators had been charged between the Parties, wherein the Allies of both sides took equal part: Sometimes the matter had been Treated with very Pressing Instances, and sometimes with Fainter; sometimes almost let fall, and then again resumed; and thus for above a Year past; but about this time the Swedes came to the Mediators, desire their Offices once more to the Danes upon this Subject, and declare, That without this Liberty insisted upon so long for their Couriers, they find themselves incapable of giving Advices necessary to their Court, or receiving Orders necessary from it; and that without [Page] it, they must be forced to leave the Assembly. This Resolution of the Swedes continued for some time so Peremptory, that it was expected to come to that issue; but after some Foogue spent for about a fortnight or three weeks upon this occasion, and some Temperament found out by the Dutch for the secure and speedy passage of all the Swedish Dispatches from Amsterdam, those Ambassadors began to grow soft and calm again, and to go on their usual Pace. Soon after, the French Ambassadors, who had Treated the Swedish Affairs and Ministers with great indifferency and neglect in this Treaty, (declaring to Monsieur Beverning, their Master would not part with one Town in Flanders, to Restore the Swedes to all they had lost) began wholly to change their Language, and say upon all occasions, That France could not make Peace without the full Satisfaction and [Page] Restitution of the Swedes; and it was discoursed, that the French and Swedes had entered into a new Alliance at Paris to this purpose; and some believed, it was by concert between them, that this Attenite was given by the Swedes to the Congress. That the French had at that time a mind to break it, and to enter into a Treaty with Spain under the Pope's direction, and at Rome, not knowing to what measures His Majesty might be induced upon the Progress of the French Conquests, and the Distempers Raised in His Parliament upon that occasion. But this Gust blown over, all was becalmed at Nimeguen; so that Monsieur Olivecrantz left that Place about the end of August, upon a Journey to Sweden.

Till this time the Motions of Business had been Respited in the Assembly, upon a general expectation that the King was sending [Page] me over suddenly with the Plan of Peace, that he resolved should be made, and to which it was not doubted but all Parties would yield, whatever it was; so great a Regard was held on all sides, of His Majesty's Will and Power. But a greater stop was yet given to all further Paces there, by the Prince of Orange's Journey into England, about the end of September 1677. which wholly changed the Scene of this Treaty, and for the present carried it over to London, and left all other places at a gaze only, and in expectation of what should be there Agitated and Concluded.

Notes

*

The Lilly shall Invade the Land of the Lion, bearing wild Beasts in its Arms; the Eagle shall move its Wings, and the Son of Man shall come to his assistance from the South; then there shall be great War throughout the World; but after four Years, Peace shall shine forth, and the Son of Man be deliver'd by those from whom his ruin was expected.

3

1. That for avoiding the Inconvenient that may happen by the great number of Coaches in the streets, that are so narrow, and the Corners so incommodious, the Ambassadors Mediators propose, Not to make any Visits, tho' they be Visits of Ceremony, with more than Two Pages, and Four Lackeys to each Ambassador; and to have but one Coach, with two Horses; and not to go to the Place of Conference, or other publick places, with more than one Page and two Lackeys to every Ambassador.

4

2. That when Coaches meet in these narrow places, where there is not room to pass by one another, every one, instead of contending for Place or precedency, shall mind rather to make the passage easie to one another, and stop the first, if he have the first notice that the Pass is too strait, and also give place to the other, if it be more easily done on his side, than on the other side.

5

3. That no Lackey shall carry either sword, staff, or stick in the streets; nor Pages any more than a little stick.

6

4. That the Ambassador upon any Crime committed against the publick Peace, by any of their Domesticks, shall renounce all Protection of the said Domesticks, and deliver them up into the hands of the Justice of the City; desiring, and authorizing them to proceed against them according to their ordinary rules.

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5. That in case any insult or quarrel should be made by the Domesticks of one Ambassador, with those of another Ambassador, or any other publick Minister, the Ambassadors will deliver up such of their Domesticks into the hands of the Master of the Party offended, to be punisht at his discretion.

CHAP. III.

THE Prince, like a hasty Lover, came Post from Harwich [Page] to Newmarket, where the Court then was, as a Season and Place of County Sports. My Lord Arlington attended his Highness at his alighting, making his Pretence of the chief Confidence with him; and the Court expected it upon his Alliance and Journeys into Holland. My Lord Treasurer and I went together to wait on him, but met him upon the middle of the Stairs, in a great Crowd, coming down to the King. He whispered to us both together, and said to me, That he must desire me to answer for him and my Lord Treasurer one to another, so as they might from that time enter both into Business and Conversation, as if they had been of a longer Acquaintance; which was a wise Strain, considering his Lordship's Credit in Court at that time, and was of great use to the Prince in the Course of his Affairs then in England; and tho' it much [Page] shockt my Lord Arlington and his Friends, yet it could not be wondred at by such as knew what had passed of late, between the Prince and him, with whom he only lived in common forms, during his stay there. He was very kindly received by the King and the Duke, who both invited him often into Discourses of Business, which they wondred to see him avoid or divert industriously, so as the King bid me find out the reason of it. The Prince told me he was resolved to see the Young Princess before he entred into that Affair; and yet to proceed in that, before the other of the Peace. The King laughed at this piece of Nicety when I told it Him. But however, to humour him in it, said, he would go some days sooner than he had intended from Newmarket, which was accordingly done.

The Prince upon his arrival in Town, and sight of the Princess, [Page] was so pleased with her Person, and all those signs of such a humour as had been described to him upon former enquiries, that he immediately made his Suit to the King and the Duke, which was very well received and assented to, but with this condition, That the Terms of a Peace abroad might be first agreed on between them. The Prince excused himself, and said, he must end his first business before he began the other. The King and Duke were both positive in their opinion; and the Prince resolute in his; and said at last, That his Allies, who were like to have hard terms of the Peace as things then stood, would be apt to believe, that he had made this Match at their cost; and for his part, he would never sell his Honour for a Wife. This prevailed not, but the King continued so positive for three or four days, that my Lord Treasurer and I began to doubt [Page] the whole business would break upon this punctilio. About that time I chanced to go to the Prince after Supper, and found him in the worst humour that I ever saw him; he told me he repented he had ever come into England, and resolved he would stay but two days longer, and then be gone, if the King continued in his mind of treating upon the Peace before he was married; but that before he went, the King must chuse how they should live hereafter; for he was sure it must be either like the greatest Friends, or the greatest Enemies, and desired me to let His Majesty know so next morning, and give him an account of what he should say upon it. I did so early in the morning, told the King all the Prince had said to me the night before, and the ill consequences of a breach between them, considering the ill humour of so many of his Subjects upon our late measures with [Page] France, and the invitations made the Princes by several of them, durig the late War. The King heard me with great attention; and when I had done, said, Well, I never yet was deceived in judging of a man's Honesty by his Looks, (of which he gave me some examples) and if I am not deceived in the Prince's face, he is the honestest man in the world, and I will trust him, and he shall have his Wife, and you shall go immediatly and tell my Brother so, and that 'tis a thing I am resolved on. I did so, and the Duke at first seemed a little surprized; but when I had done, He said, The King shall be obeyed, and I would be glad all His Subjects would learn of me to obey Him. I do tell Him my Opinion very freely upon any thing; but when that is done, and I know his pleasure upon it. I obey Him. From the Duke I went to the Prince, and told him my Story, [Page] which he could at first hardly believe, but embraced me, and said, I had made him a very happy Man, and very unexpectedly, and so I left him to give the King an account of what had passed, and in the Prince's Anti-chamber met my Lord Treasurer, and told him the Story, who undertook to adjust all the rest between the King and the Prince; which he did so well, that the Match was declared that Evening at the Committee, before any other in Court knew any thing of it; and next day it was declared in Council, and received there and every where else in the Kingdom with the most universal joy that I ever saw any thing in the King's Reign. The French Ambassador and my Lord Arlington appeared the only two Persons unsatisfied upon it at Court; the first not knowing how he should answer it to his Master that an Affare of that importance should [Page] pass without his Communication, much less Advice, in a Court where nothing before had been done so for many years; and my Lord Arlington, That it should pass without his knowledge, who still endeavoured to keep up the Court opinion of his Confidence with the Prince; who told me the Complaint his Lordship had made him upon it, That some things good in themselves were spoiled by the manner of doing them as some things bad were mended by it: But he would confess this was a thing so good in it self, that the manner of doing it, could not spoil it.

Within two or three days the Marrriage was consummated, and immediately after they fell into the debates upon the Terms of the Peace; to which, as to that of the Match, none but my Lord Treasurer and I were admitted. The Prince insisted hard upon the Strength and Enlargement of a Frontier on both sides of Flanders, [Page] without which France, he said, would end his War with the View of beginning another, and carrying Flanders in one Compania. The King was content to leave that business a little looser, upon the confidence that France was so weary of this War, that if they could get out of it with Honour, they would never begin another in this Reign: That the King grew past his Youth, and lazy, and would turn to the pleasures of the Court, and Building, and leave his Neighbours in quiet. The Prince thought France would not make a Peace now, but to break the present Confederacy, and to begin another War with more advantage and surprize; That their ambition would never end till they had all Flanders and Germany to the Rhine, and thereby Holland in an absolute dependance upon them, which would leave Them in an ill condition, and Us in no good one; [Page] And that Christendom could not be left safe by the Peace, without such a Frontier as he Proposed for Flanders, and the restitution of Lorain, as well as what the Emperour had lost in Alsatia. Upon this I told the King, That in the course of my Life, I had never observed Mens Natures to alter by Age or Fortunes; but that a good Boy made a good Man; and a young Coxcomb, an old Fool; and a young Fripon, an old Knave; and that quiet Spirits were so, young as well as old, and unquiet ones would be so old as well as young: That I believed the King of France would always have some bent or other, sometimes War, sometimes Love, sometimes Building; but that I was of the Prince's Opinion, That He would ever make Peace with a design of a new War, after He had fixed His Conquest by the last; and the King approved what I said. The Points of Lorain [Page] and Alsatia were easily agreed to by the King and Duke, but they would not hear of the County of Burgundy, as what France could never be brought to, tho' the Prince insisted much upon it; so as the King imagined. He was touched by the interest of his own Lands in that County (which are greater and more Seigneurial than those of the Crown of Spain there) and thereupon told him, That for his Lands he would charge himself with either his enjoying them as safely under France as Spain; or if he should rather chuse to part with them than have that dependance, he would undertake to get him what price he should himself value them at. But the Prince answered briskly and generously, That he should not trouble himself nor the Peace about that matter, and that he would be content to lose all his Lands there, to get one good Town more for the Spaniards [Page] upon the Frontier of Flanders; so all difficulties began to terminate upon what was esteemed necessary there. This admitted great debates between the King and Prince; one pretending France would never be brought to one Scheme; and t'other, that Spain would never consent to the other. But at the last it was agreed, That the Peace should be made upon these terms, All to be restored by France to the Empire and Emperor that had been taken in the War; the Dutchy of Lorain to that Duke, and all on both sides between France and Holland; and to Spain the Towns of Aeth, Charleroy, Oudenard, Courtray, Tournay, Conde, Valenciennes, St. Gillain, and Binch. That the Prince should endeavour to procure the Consent of Spain, and His Majesty that of France; for which purpose he should send some person immediately over with the Proposition, who should be [Page] instructed to enter into no Reasonings upon it, but demand a positive Answer in two days, and after that term immediately return. The Question was, Who should go? and my Lord Treasurer said, it must be He or I; for none else had been acquainted with the debate of this business. The Prince said, it must be I, for my Lord Treasurer could not be spared, and it must be some person upon whose Judgment and Truth he could rely▪ as to the Intentions of that Court. The King order'd me to be ready in two days, which I was; and the Evening before I was to go, meeting His Majesty in the Park, he called me to him, and, a little out of Countenance told me, He had been thinking of my Journey and my Errand, and how unwelcome I should be in France, as well as my Message; and having a mind to gain the Peace, he was unwilling to anger them more than needs. [Page] Besides, the thing being not to be reasoned or debated, any body else would serve the turn as well as I, whom he had other use of; and therefore he had been thinking to send some other Person. I saw he doubted I would take it ill; but told him, and very truly, he would do me the greatest Pleasure in the World; for I never had less mind to any Journey in my life, and should not have accepted it, but in perfect Obedience. The King, that was the gentlest Prince in the World of his own Nature, fell into good humour upon seeing I took it not ill, pretended to think whom he should send, and at last asked me, what I thought of my Lord Duras? I said, Very well; upon which he seem'd to resolve it. But the thing had been agreed in the morning, as I was told, upon the Duke's desire, who thought France would accept the Terms, and that the Peace would be made, and had a [Page] mind to have the Honour of it by sending a Servant of his own. Whether there were any other Motive, I know not; but my Lord Duras went immediately with the Orders before mentioned; and some few days after, the Prince and Princess embarqued for Holland, where Affairs pressed his return beyond the hopes of my Lord Duras from France; the King assuring him, he would never part from the least point of the Scheme sent over, and would enter into the War against France, if they refus'd it. However, he went not away without a great mortification, to see the Parliament Prorogued the next Spring; which the French Ambassador had gain'd of the King, to make up some good Meen with France after the Prince's Marriage, and before the dispatch of the Terms of a Peace to that Court.

Upon my Lord Duras's arrival at Paris, the Court there were [Page] surpriz'd, both at the thing, and more at the manner; but made good Meen upon it, took it gently; Said, The King knew very well he might always be Master of the Peace; but some of the Towns in Flanders seemed very hard, especially Tournay, upon whose Fortifications such vast Treasures had been expended; and that they would take some short time to consider of the Answer. My Lord Duras told them, he was ty'd to two days stay; but when that was out, he was prevail'd with to stay some few days longer, and to come away without a positive Answer: What he brought, was what they had said to him before, That the Most Christian King hoped his Brother would not break with him upon one or two Towns: but even upon them too he would send Orders to his Ambassador at London to treat with His Majesty himself. By this gain of time, and artifical drawing [Page] it into Treaty without any positive refusal, this blow came to be eluded, which could not easily have been so any other way. The King was softned by the softness of France. The Ambassador said at last, He had leave to yield all but Tournay, and to treat even for some equivalent for that too, if the King insisted absolutely upon it. The Prince was gone, who had spirited the vigour of the whole resolution, and the Treaty of it began to draw out into Messages and Returns from France.

However, the ill humour of People growing higher upon the noise of a Peace, and negotiated in France, and the late Prorogation of the Parliament, this was by Proclamation anticipated soon after my Lord Duras's return, tho' a thing something unusual, and a countenance made as if the King resolv'd to enter into the War; for which the Parliament seem'd impatient, [Page] whenever the King seem'd averse to it; but grew jealous of some tricks, whenever the Court seem'd inclin'd to it. About the end of December 1677. the King sent for me to the Foreign Committee, and told me, he could get no positive Answer from France, and therefore resolv'd to send me into Holland, to make a League there with the States, for forcing both France and Spain, if either refused, to make the Peace upon the Terms he had proposed. I told the King, What he had agreed, was to enter into the War with all the Confederates, in case of no direct and immediate Answer from France. That this, perhaps, would satisfie both the Prince and Confederates abroad, and the People at home: but to make such a League with Holland only, would satisfie none of them, and disoblige both France and Spain. Besides, it would not have an effect or force as the Tripple-Allliance [Page] had, being a great Original, of which this seem'd but an ill Copy; and therefore excus'd my self from going. The King was set upon it, tho' I pretended domestick Affairs of great importance upon the Death of my Father, and pleaded so hard, that the Duke at last desir'd the King not to press me upon a thing I was so averse from, and would be so inconvenient to me; and desir'd I might propose who should be sent with the Treaty. I made my acknowledgments to the Duke for his favour, and propos'd, that Mr. Thyn should be sent from the Office with a Draught of the Treaty to Mr. Hyde, who was then come from Nimeguen to the Hague upon a Visit to the Princess. This was done, and the Treaty sign'd there on the sixteenth of January, though not without great difficulties and dissatisfaction of the Prince, who was yet covered in it by the private [Page] Consent of the Spanish Minister there, in behalf of his Master; so as the War could not break but upon France, in case of their refusal.

In the mean time, France, draws out the Treaty upon the Terms at London into length, never raising more than one Difficulty at a time, and expostulating the unkindness of breaking for the single Town of Tournay, though that was indeed more important than any Three of the others, being the only strong one to guard that side of the Frontier, and giving way for any sudden Invasion upon Gant and Antwerp, and the very heart of the Country. But while this Game was playing in England, they had another on foot in Holland, especially at Amsterdam, by raising Jealousies of the measures taken between the King and Prince upon the Marriage, as dangerous to the Liberties of Holland, and making it there believed, [Page] That by the Match, the King and Duke had drawn over the Prince wholly into their Interests or Sentiments: whereas the Prince went away possessed to have by it drawn them indeed into his. They propos'd to the Dutch other Terms of the Peace, far short of the King's, and less safe for Flanders; restoring only six Towns to the Spaniards, and mentioning Lorain but ambiguously; which would not have gone down in Holland, but for the suspicions rais'd by the Prince's Marriage, among the people there, who had an incurable Jealousie of our Court, and thereupon not that Confidence of the Prince that he deserved.

There were two ruling Burgomasters at Amsterdam at this time, who had the whole sway of that Town (as this has a great one in Holland) Hoeft and Valkeneer; the first a Generous, Honest man, of great Patrimonial Riches, Learning, [Page] Wit, Humour, without Ambition, having always refused all Imployments the State had offered him, and serving only in that of Burgomaster of his Town in his turn, and as little busie in it as he could; a true Genius, and that said two things to me in Conversation, I had not heard before; one, That a man that were to dye to morrow in Torment, would yet enjoy to day, if he were Sain;Of a sound mind. and that it was some disease or decay of Spirits that hindred it. The other, That a man was a Coyon, A sorry wight. that desired to live after Threescore; and that for his part, after that Age, which he was then approaching, he should be glad of the first good occasion to dye; and this he made good, dying with neglect upon a fit of the Gout, talking with his Friends till he was just spent, then sending them away, that he might not dye in their sight; [Page] and when he found himself come a little again, sending for them up, and telling them, Qu [...]il y avoit encore pour une demy heure de conversation. That he had still life for one half hour of Conversation. This was the Character of Monsieur Hoeft, who was a great inclination of mine, tho he passed for a humorous man; and told me, I was the only Ambassador he had ever visited in his life: He had all the Credit that could be in his Town, without seeking, or minding, or using it; whereas Valkeneer sought and courted it all that could be, without having half the other's; being a Morose and Formal Man, but of great Industry, much Thought, and as was believed, Avarice, and making the turns easily, that were necessary in the Government, to carry his ends. These two had long been Enemies, and thought irreconcileable, till the French Instruments at this time with great Art and Industry made up the [Page] Quarrel, and joyned them both in the design of making the Peace upon the Terms offered by France.

The Parliament meets in January by Anticipation of that Session, which seemed to import something of great Consequence: The King acquaints them with the League he had made in Holland, and asks them money upon it for puting himself in a Posture to carry on the War if the Peace failed: which the Parliament gave him, upon the hopes of the War, and not of the Peace. The Constitution of this Parliament, that had sat seventeen Years, was grown into two known Factions, which were called, That of Court and Country; the Court Party were grown numerous by a Practice introduced by my Lord Clifford, of downright buying off one man after another, as they could make the bargain. The Country Party was something greater yet in number, and kept [Page] in more Credit upon the Corruption of others, and their own pretence of steadiness to the true Interest of the Nation, especially in the Points of France and Popery; where these came in question, many of the Court Party Voted with those of the Countty, who then carried all before them; but whenever the Court seemed to fall in with the true Interests of the Nation, especially in those two Points, then many of the Country party meaning fairly, fell in with the Court, and carried the Votes, as they now did upon the Kings pretence to grow bold with France, and to resolve upon the War, if the Peace were refused.

In October, Friburgh had been taken by a feinte of the Duke of Crequi's, before the Duke of Lorain could come to relieve it; and in the same month Stettin had been taken by the Elector of Brandenburgh, after a vigorous Resistance, [Page] which left the Scales as even as they were before, between the two Leagues.

In January, upon the delays of France to agree the King's Conditions of a Peace, His Majesty entred into a Negotiation with the Ministers of the Confederates at London, in case France went on to refuse them; but the hopes of a Peace was on a sudden dasht by the French Attempts upon Ypre, and Threats of Ostend, where the King immediately sends Forces over, at the desire of the Spanish Ambassador, for security of that important place; nor did the French Ambassador seem to resent at all this Pace of His Majesty, but continued his Court and Treaty with all the fairness that could be.

Towards the end of February, the King of France marching in the Head of his Army, and carrying the Queen and Ladies to Mentz, seemed to threaten Lutzenburgh, [Page] or Namur, or Mons; but having drawn the Spanish Forces that way, on a sudden crosses the Countrey, sits down before Gant, and by the end of the month takes both that Town and Ypre, and thereby gives a mighty Alarm to Holland, and strengthens the Credit and Endeavours of those he had already disposed to his Terms of a Peace, as grown now absolutely necessary; while England seemed resolved to go into the War, or at least furnish'd the Confederates with many such hopes. About the first of April, France made a publick Declaration of the Terms upon which they were resolved to make the Peace; which though very different from those agreed between his Majesty and Holland, and more from the pretensions of the Allies; yet having, as to what concern'd Spain and Holland, been first privately agreed with some Leaders of the principal Towns, [Page] proved indeed the Plan of the Peace both for Holland and all the other Confederates engaged in the War. And here the French began that imperious way of Treating, which they afterwards pursued in the Whole Negotiation of the ensuing Peace, declaring such and such was the Conditions they would admit, and no other; and upon which their Enemies might chuse either Peace or War as they pleased; and to which France pretended not to be tied longer than to the Tenth of May, after which, they would be at liberty to change, or restrain them as they should think fit.

About this time, I happened to be with Lord Treasurer one Evening in his Closet, when a Packet came to him from Mr. Montague Ambassador at Paris, giving him an account of a large Conference Monsieur Louvoy had lately had with him, by the King His [Page] Master's Order; wherein he represented the measures they had already taken for a Peace in Holland upon the French Terms; That since they were agreed there, they hoped His Majesty would not be against it; That however, France had ordered him to make his Majesty the offer of a great Sum of Money for his Consent, tho' to a thing already accepted by Holland, and wherein his Majesty was consequently not concerned. That Monsieur Louvoy desired the Ambassador to write this immediately to Lord Treasurer, and to offer him a very considerable Sum for himself, that should be sent over in Money, Jewels, or by Bills, as he should chuse; and Mr. Montague added, That it was desired this Affair should be treated only between them two, and not communicated to either of the Secretaries of State. My Lord Treasurer read the Letter to me, and I said, [Page] Well, my Lord, What do you say to the Offer? He Answered, That he thought 'twas the same thing as if it should be made to the King to have Windsor put into the French hands, and so he should treat it; and that we had nothing to do but to go on with our Treaty with the Confederates. This his Lordship and I were incharged with, and had brought near a conclusion, when Letters came from Mr. Hyde, with Representations made him from the Pensioner at the Hague, of the dispositions in Holland running violently into a Peace, and the absolute necessity he thought there was of concluding it, upon the taking of Gant, and danger of Antwerp, which was then threatned, and the loss whereof would be so fatal to the Trade of Holland, especially Amsterdam. Hereupon Mr. Godolphin was dispatched immediately into Holland, to bring the last and surest [Page] Account he could get of the resolutions there upon this Affair, and return with the greatest speed he could; he did so, and brought the same account of all dispositions which Mr. Hyde had given, and in the process of our Treaty with the Confederates, Monsieur Van Beuningham, when he came to the point, was forced to confess, That he had no Powers to conclude, without first communicating to the States, which must draw into length and uncertainty.

About this time the French Ambassador began to change his Language, who had ever before pretended, That His Majesty should be always Arbiter of the Peace; but now assuring, that his Master had agreed with Holland, he seemed to wonder and expostulate why the King should pretend to obtain better Terms for the Spaniards, than their Allies the Dutch were content with.

[Page]I was then pressed by the King and Lord Treasurer to go into Holland to know their final Resolutions, whether they would yet go on with the War, in case his Majesty should go into it; But I excused my self, knowing the Dutch were too much prest by so near approaches of France, to declare themselves upon a reserve of the King's; and said, If his Majesty resolved to go that way, he must first take his measures with the Parliament for the War, and then send them word in Holland, he was ready to declare it in case they would pursue it; and upon this Message, I knew the Dutch so well as to believe they would do it, and keep close to their late Alliance with his Majesty. This the King was unwilling to do; but posted Mr. Godolphin again into Holland about the middle of April, to know their final resolutions; and Prorogued the Parliament for Fourteen Days.

[Page]During these Negotiations, and since the Money given by the Parliament, and in Six Weeks time the King had raised an Army of about Twenty thousand men, the compleatest, and in all appearance the bravest Troops that could be any where seen, and might have raised many more upon so great a concurrence of the peoples humour with His Majesty's seeming design of entring into a War against France; and it was confest by all the Foreign Ministers, That no King in Christendom could have made and compleated such a Levy as this appeared, in such a time.

My Lord Treasurer upon the Twentieth came to me, and assured me of the King's Resolution being at length fixed to go into the War, and desired me to prepare what the King was to say to the Parliament upon this occasion, which I did; When I carried it [Page] to my Lord Treasurer, I met there Letters from Mr. Hyde and Godolphin, That Holland absolutely desir'd the Peace, even upon the Terms proposed by France, and had resolv'd to send Monsieur Van Lewen over hither, to dispose the King to be contented with them. He arriv'd, and the King sent me immediately to him, to know his Errand. He was the Chief of the Town of Leyden, and had join'd with Amsterdam, Harlem. Delf, and some others, in promoting the Peace, even upon the French Conditions: But being a man of great Honour and Worth, and having done it upon the suspicion that England was still at bottom in with France, and that all the rest was but Grimace; the Prince had procur'd him to be sent over on purpose to satisfie himself (and thereby his Complices for the Peace) that the King's intentions were determined to enter into the War, [Page] which His Highness thought the only means to prevent the Peace.

When I came to Monsieur Van Lewen, he told me freely, That it was the most against their hearts in Holland that could be, to make a Peace upon Terms so low and unsafe for Flanders; and that if the King had gone into the War, as was promised, upon France delaying or refusing to accept his Scheme, they would certainly have continu'd it: but His Majesty's Proceedings look'd ever since so uncertain or unresolv'd, that it had raised Jealousies in Holland of our Measures being at bottom fix'd and close with France; which made most of the Towns in Holland think they had nothing else left to do, but to go in with them too as fast as they could: and the approach of the French Army to Antwerp left them now no time to deliberate: Yet he professed to me in private, That if the King would immediately [Page] declare the War, he believed the States would still go on with it, in pursuit of their Alliance, and the Terms therein contained.

I made this Report to the King, who seem'd positive to declare the War, in case the Parliament advis'd him, and promis'd to support it; when an unlucky peevish Vote, mov'd by Sir T—C— in spight to my Lord Treasurer, passed the House of Commons, That no Msney should be given, till satisfaction was received in matters of Religion. This left all so loose and so lame, that the King was in a rage, reproach'd me with my Popular Notions, as he term'd them, and ask'd me when, or how I thought he could trust the House of Commons to carry him through the War, if he should engage in it? And I had not much indeed to say, considering the Temper and Factions of the House; nor could I well clear it to my self, by my [Page] Observation, whether the King was firmly resolved to enter into the War, or if he did, whether the House of Commons would have supported him in it, or turned it only to ruin the Ministers by the King's Necessities. 'Tis certain, no Vote could ever have passed more unhappily, nor in such a Counter-Season, nor more cross to the humour of the House, which seem'd generally bent upon engaging His Majesty in the War; and the Person that moved it was, I believe, himself as much of that mind as any of the rest; but having since the loss of his Employment at Court, ever acted a part of great animosity in opposition to the present Ministry, in whose hands soever it was: This private ill humour carried him contrary to his publick intentions, as it did many more in the House, who pretended to be very willing to supply the King upon occasion of [Page] the War, or even of his Debts, but that they would not do it during my Lord Treasures Ministry. In short, there was such fatal and mutual distrust both in the Court and Parliament, as it was very hard to fall into any sound measures between them. The King at least now saw he had lost his time of entring into the War, if he had a mind to it; and that he ought to have done it (upon my Lord Duras's return, and) with the whole Confederacy. And my Lord Essex told me, I had been a Prophet, in refusing to go into Holland to make that Alliance, which had, as I said, pleased none at home or abroad, and had now lost all our measures in Holland, and turn'd theirs upon France.

But the turn that the King gave all this, was, That since the Dutch would have a Peace upon the French Terms, and France offered money for his Consent, to what [Page] he could not help, he did not know why he should not get the money; and thereupon ordered me to Treat upon it with the French Ambassador, who had Orders to that purpose. I would have excused my self; but he said, I could not help seeing him, for he would be with me at my House by Seven next Morning; He accordingly came, and I told him very truly, I had been ill in the night, and could not enter into Business. The Ambassador was much disappointed, and pressed me all he could; but I defended my self upon my illness, till at length he left me without entring upon any thing. When I got up, I went immediately to Sheen, writ to my Lord Treasurer by my Wife, May the Tenth, 1678. how much I was unsatisfied with being put upon such a Treaty with the French Ambassador, that belonged not at all to my Post, and which they knew I thought dishonorable [Page] to the King; and thereupon I offered to resign to His Majesty, both my Ambassy at Nimeguen, and my Promise of Secretary of State's Place, to be disposed by his Majesty as he pleased. My Lord Treasurer sent me word, The King forced no man upon what he had no mind to; but if I resolved this should be said to him, I must do it my self, or by some other, for he would not make my Court so ill, as to say it for me; and so it rested, and I continued at Sheen, without stirring till the King sent for me.

In the mean time from the beginning of May, the ill humor of the House of Commons, began to break out by several Discourses and Votes against the Ministers and their Conduct, which increased the ill opinion His Majesty had conceived of their intentions in pressing him to enter upon a War; yet notwithstanding all this, he had [Page] (as I was told by a good hand) conceived such an Indignation at one Article of the private Treaty proposed by Monsieur Barillon, that he said, he would never forget it while he lived; and tho he said nothing to me of his Resentment, yet he seemed at this time more resolved to enter into the War, than I had ever before seen or thought him.

Monsieur Ruvigny the Son, was dispatched into France, to know the last intentions of that Court, upon the terms of the Peace proposed by His Majesty, but brought no Answer clear or positive; so as His Majesty went on to compleat his Levies, and to prepare for the War; but May the eleventh, the House of Commons passed another Negative upon the Debate of money; which so offended the King, that he Prorogued them for ten days, believing in that time his Intentions to enter into the War, [Page] would appear so clear, as to satisfie the House, and put them in better humour. Monsieur Van Lewen distasted with these delays, and the Counterpaces between King and Parliament, begins to discourse boldly of the necessity his Masters found, to make the Peace as they could, since there was no relying upon any measures with England for carrying on the War, and the Season was too far advanced to admit any longer delays. Upon these Discourses from him, His Majesty began to cool his Talk of a War, and to say, The Peace must be left to the Course which Holland had given it; and tho' upon May the twenty third, the Parliament met, and seemed in much better temper than they parted, yet news coming about the same time that Monsieur Beverning was sent by the States to the French Court at Gant, to propose a Cessation of Arms for six Weeks, in order to negotiate [Page] and agree the Terms of the Peace in that time, the Affairs began now to be looked upon both in Court and Parliament, as a thing concluded, or at least as like to receive no other motion than what should be given it by Holland and France. And indeed, the dispositions were so inclined to it on both sides, that the Terms were soon adjusted between them. These Articles having been so publick, I shall not trouble my self to insert them, but only say, they seemed so hard both to Spain, and to the Northern Princes, who had made great Conquests upon the Swedes, that they all declared, they would never accept them; and when the French Ambassadors at Nimeguen desired Sir Lionel Jenkins to carry them to the Confederates, he refused to do it, or to have part in a Treaty, or Conditions of Peace, so different from what the King his Master had proposed, and [Page] what both his Majesty and Holland had obliged themselves to pursue by their late Treaty at the Hague.

About this time, France by a Conduct very surprizing, having sent Monsieur la Feuillade to Messina, with a common expectation of reinforcing the War in Sicily, shewed the Intention was very different, and of a sudden, ordered all their Forces to abandon that Island, with whom many Messineses returned, fearing the Vengeance of the Spaniards, to whom they were now exposed; and this was the only important Service done that Crown, by all his Majesty's Intentions or preparations to assist them; for no man doubted that the abandoning of Sicily was wholly owing to the apprehensions in France of a War with England, which they thought would give them but too much occasion for imploying of their [Page] Forces; and indeed the eyes and hopes of all the Confederates were now turned so wholly upon England for any resource in their Affairs, after Holland had deserted them (as they thought) by such precipitate terms of a Peace, that many of the chief Ministers at Nimeguen left that place, as of no more use to the Treaty it was designed for, and went into England, where they thought the whole scene of that Affair then lay, among whom was Count Antoine the Danish Ambassador, and soon after, Monsieur Olivecrantz, the Swedish, with the Elector of Brandenburgh's Envoy, and several others.

However, the Negotiation continued there between the French Ambassadors, and Monsieur Beverning, till he was sent to the French Camp, where he concluded the Terms of the Peace towards the end of June, and a Cessation from [Page] all Hostilities in Flanders, for six weeks, which was given to the Dutch, to endeavour the Spaniards entring into the Peace upon the Terms they had proposed for them. And in the whole Course of this Negotiation, France seemed to have no regards, but for Holland, and for them so much, that the most Christian King assured the States, That tho' Spain should not agree, yet he had such care of their satisfaction, that he would always provide such a Barriere in Flanders should be left, as they thought necessary for their safety; and that after the Peace should be made, and the ancient Amity restored, he would be ready to enter into such Engagements and Measures with them, as should for ever secure their Repose and their Liberty.

This was by all interpreted an invidious word, put in on purpose to cajole the Enemies of the Prince, [Page] who ever pretended the suspicions of his affecting more Authority than they desired, and thereby kept up a Popular Party in the State, the chief of whom had been the chief promoters of the present Peace; and indeed the Prince was not at all reserved in the Endeavours of opposing it, but used all that was possible and agreeable to the Forms of the State; yet all in vain, the humour having spread so far at first in Holland, and from thence into the other Provinces, that it was no longer to be opposed or diverted by the Prince.

In the mean time, England was grown pretty indifferent in the matter of the Peace, and Spain seemed well inclined to accept their part of it: But the Emperor, the King of Denmark, and Elector of Brandenburgh, fell into the highest Declarations and Reproaches against the States, that could be well invented, ripping up all they [Page] had ventured and suffered in a War they had begun only for the preservation of Holland; how they were now abandoned by them in pretending to conclude Imperious and Arbitrary terms of a Peace upon them without their consent: That they were willing to treat with France, and make a Peace upon any safe and reasonable Conditions, but would never endure to have them imposed as from a Conqueror; and would venture all, rather than accept them; especially those for the Duke of Lorain, whose case was the worst treated, tho' the most favoured in appearance by all the Confederates, and the least contested by France.

Notwithstanding all these storms from their Allies, the Dutch were little mov'd, and held on their course, having small regard to any of their satisfaction, besides that of Spain, in what concern'd the Safety [Page] of Flanders; and the necessities of that Crown made them easie, tho' as little contented as the rest: So as the Peace was upon the point of signing by the French and Dutch Ambassadors, when an unexpected Incident fell in, which had like to have overturn'd this whole Fabrick, and to have renew'd the War with greater Heats, and more equal Forces, by engaging England to a share of it in favour of the Confederates, which they had been long practising without Success, and now without Hopes.

In the Conditions which Holland had made for the French restoring the six Towns in Flanders to Spain, there was no particular mention made of the time of that Restitution; the Dutch understanding as well as the Spaniards, That it was to be upon the Ratifications of the Peace with Spain and Holland, whether any of the other Allies on each side were included, or no. [Page] But when the Dutch Treaty was near signing, the Marquess de Balbaces either found or made some occasion of enquiring more particularly of the French Intentions upon this Point. The French Ambassadors made no difficulty of declaring, That the King, their Master, being obliged to see an entire Restitution made to the Swedes of all they had lost in the War, could not evacuate the Towns in Flanders, till those to the Swedes were likewise restored▪ and that this detention of places, was the only means to induce the Princes of the North to accept of the Peace.

Monsieur Beverning gave Account to his Masters of this new pretence; and the States order'd him to let the French Ambassadors know, he could not sign the Peace without the Restitution of the Places in Flanders upon the Ratification of the Treaty. The French [Page] Ambassadors were firm on t'other side, and said, Their Orders were positive to insist upon the Restitution of Sweden. The States hereupon sent to Monsieur Van Lewen to acquaint his Majesty with this unexpected Incident, and to know his Opinion and Resolution upon a point of so great moment to the Peace of Christendom on the one side, and to the Safety of Flanders on the other. The King was difficult at first to believe it; but sending to the French Ambassador at London to know the Truth of it, and finding him own his Master's intention not to evacuate the Towns till the General Peace was concluded, and Sweden satisfied; He was both surpriz'd and angry at this proceeding of France, and next morning sent for me to the Foreign Committee, and there declar'd his resolution of sending me immediately into Holland with Commission to sign a Treaty with [Page] the States, by which they should be obliged to carry on the War, and His Majesty to enter into it, in case France should not consent within a certain time limited, to evacuate the Towns. The Duke fell into this Counsel with great warmth, and said at the Committee, That it was plain by this pace, that France was not sincere in the business of the Peace; That they aim'd at the Universal Monarchy; and that none but His Majesty could hinder them from it, in the Posture that Christendom stood. All the Lords of the Committee agreed with so general a concurrence, that it was hard to imagin this should not prove a steddy Resolution, how little soever we had been given to any such. His Majesty took the pains to press Van Lewen to go over with me, to perswade the States of the sincereness and constancy of his resolution to pursue this Measure with the utmost [Page] of his Power; and took upon himself to excuse to the States his Masters, the making this Journey without Their consent.

Upon this Dispatch Mr. Godolphin, who had been so lately in Holland, told me, That if I brought the States to the Treaty His Majesty propos'd upon this occasion, he would move the Parliament to have my Statue set up; the Success whereof may deserve a further Remark in its due place.

Monsieur Van Lewen and I went over in July, 1678. in two several Yatchs, but met soon at the Hague; where, upon my first Conference with the Commissioners of Secret Affairs, one of them made me the handsomest Dutch Compliment I had met with. That they esteemed my coming into Holland, like that of the Swallow's, which brought fair Weather always with it.

The Prince received me with the greatest joy in the World, hoping [Page] by my Errand, and the Success of it, either to continue the War, or recover such Conditions of the Peace for his Allies, as had been wrested out of his hands by force of a Faction begun at Amsterdam, and spread since into the rest of the Provinces.

To make way for this Negotiation, I concerted with Monsieur Van Lewen to dine at his Country-house, with Monsieur Hoeft of Amsterdam, Van Tielt of Harlem, Patz of Rotterdam, and two or three more of the Chief Burgomasters who had promoted the Peace, or rather precipitated it, upon the French Conditions. After Dinner we entred into long Conferences, in which Monsieur Van Lewen assur'd them with great confidence of the King's sincereness in the resolutions he had taken, and seconded very effectually all I had to say upon that Subject; which had the more credit from one who [Page] had gone as far as any of them in pursuit and acceptance of the Peace.

The Prince was impatient to know what had passed in this Meeting, which made me go to him that evening; and I told him what I was very confident to have found, That Monsieur Patz was incurable, and not otherwise to be dealt with; but that all the rest were good and well meaning persons to their Countrey, abused first by Jealousies of His Highness's Match in England, by apprehensions of Our Court being wholly in the Measures of France, and by the plausible Offers of France towards such a Peace as they could desire for themselves. That they were something enlightned by the late refusal of delivering up the Spanish Towns till the satisfaction of Sweden; and would, I doubted not, awaken their several Towns, so as to make them receive favourably His Majesty's [Page] Proposition upon this Conjuncture. It happen'd accordingly; for Monsieur Hoeft proposing at Amsterdam to make a tryal and judgment of the sincerity of France upon the whole proceeding of the Peace, by their evacuating the Spanish Towns, and without it to continue the War; he carried his Point there, in spight of Valkeneer, and the same followed in all the rest of the Towns: So that when I fell into this Negotiation, I concluded the Treaty in six days; by which France was obliged to declare within fourteen after the date thereof, That they would evacuate the Spanish Towns; or, in case of their refusal, Holland was engag'd to go on with the War, and England immediately to declare it against France, in conjunction with Holland and the rest of the Confederates.

It is hardly to be imagined what a new life this gave to the Authority [Page] and Fortunes of the Prince of Orange, who was now owned by the States to have made a truer judgment than they had done, of the measures they were to expect both from France and England; the last having proceeded so resolutely to the offers of entring into the War; (which was never believed in Holland) and France, after raising so important a difficulty in the Peace, having proceeded in the War so far as to Block up Mons, one of the best Frontiers remaining to Flanders, which was expected to fall into their hands, before the Term fixed for the conclusion or rupture of the Peace should expire.

Preparations were made with the greatest vigour imaginable for his Highness's Expedition to relieve Mons, and about Ten thousand English already arrived in Flanders, were ordered to March that way and joyn the Prince. He went into [Page] the Field, with a firm belief that the War would certainly go on, since France seemed too far engaged in Honour to yield the Evacuation of the Towns, and tho' they should, yet Spain could not be ready to Agree and Sign the Peace within the Term limited: And he thought that he left the States resolved not to conclude otherwise than in conjunction with that Crown. And besides, he hoped to engage the French Army before the term for Signing the Peace should expire, and resolved to relieve Mons, or dye in the attempt, whether the Peace succeeded or no; so as the continuance of the War seemed inevitable. But no man since Solomon ever enough considered how subject all things are to Time and Chance, nor how poor Diviners the wisest men are of future Events, how plainly soever all things may seem laid towards the producing them; nor upon how [Page] small accidents the greatest Counsels and Revolutions turn, which was never more proved than by the course and event of this Affair.

After the Treaty concluded and signified to France, all the Arts that could be, were on that side imployed to elude it, by drawing this matter into Treaty, or into greater length, which had succeeded so well in England. They offered to treat upon it at St. Quintin, then at Gant, where the King Himself would meet such Ambassadors as the Dutch should send to either of those Towns. But the States were firm, not to recede from their late Treaty concluded with His Majesty, and so continued till about five days before the term was to expire. Then arrived from England one De Cros, formerly a French Monk, who some time since had left his Frock for a Petticoat, and insinuated himself so far in the [Page] Swedish Court as to procure a Commission (or Credence at least) for a certain petty Agency in England. At London he had devoted himself wholly to Monsieur Barillon the French Ambassador, tho' pretending to pursue the Interests of Sweden. About a Week after I had sent a Secretary into England with the Treaty Signed, This man brought me a Packet from Court, Commanding me to go immediately away to Nimeguen, and there to endeavour all I could (and from His Majesty) to perswade the Swedish Ambassadors to let the French there know, That they would, for the good of Christendom, consent, and even desire the King of France no longer to defer the Evacuation of the Towns, and consequently the Peace upon the sole regard and interest of the Crown of Swden. I was likewise Commanded to assure the said Ambassadors that after this Peace His [Page] Majesty would use all the most effectual Endeavours he could for restitution of the Towns and Countries the Swedes had lost in the War.

It was not easie for any man to be more surprized than I was by this Dispatch; but the Pensioner Fagel was stunned, who came and told me the whole Contents of it, before I had mentioned it to any man; and that De Cros had gone about most industriously to the Deputies of the several Towns, and acquainted them with it; and that the Terms of the Peace were absolutely consented, and agreed, between the two Kings; that he had brought me orders to go strait to Nimeguen, and that I should at my arrival there, meet with Letters from my Lord Sunderland, the King's Ambassador at Paris, with all the particulars concluded between them.

How this Dispatch by De Cros [Page] was gained, or by whom, I will not pretend to determin; but upon my next return for England, the Duke told me, That He knew nothing of it, till it was gone, having been a hunting that morning; my Lord Treasurer said all that could be to excuse himself of it; and I never talked of it to Secretary Williamson; but the King indeed told me pleasantly, that the Rogue De Cros had out-witted them all. The Account I met with at Court was, That these Orders were agreed and dispatched one morning in an hours time, and in the Dutchess of Portsmouth's Chamber, by the intervention and pursuit of Monsieur Borillon. However it was, and what endeavours soever were made immediately after, at our Court, to retrieve this Game, it never could be done; and this one Incident changed the whole Fate of Christendom; and with so little seeming ground for [Page] any such Council, that before De Cros's arrival at the Hague, the Swedish Ambassadors at Nimeguen had made the very same Declaration and Instances to the French Ambassadors there, that I was posted away from the Hague upon the pretence of persuading them to resolve on.

When I arrived at Nimeguen, there remained but three days of the term fixed by the late Treaty between His Majesty, and the States, at the Hague, either for the French assent to the evacuation of the Towns, or for the carrying on of the War in conjunction of England with Holland, and consequently the rest of the Confederates. I found all Men there perswaded, that the Peace would not succeed; and indeed all appearances were against it. The French Ambassadors had given many Reasons, in a formal sort of Manifesto, to the Dutch, why the King, their [Page] Master, could not consent to it, without the previous satisfaction of Sweden, whose Interests he esteemed the same with his own; but yet declaring, he was willing to receive any expedients the States should offer in this matter, either by their Ambassadors at Nimeguen, or such as they should send to His most Christian Majesty at Saint Quentin, or Gant. The Dutch gave them an Answer in Writing, declaring, It was a matter no longer entire, since upon the difficulty raised about the Evacuation of the Towns, the States, their Masters, had been induced to sign a Treaty with England, from which they could not recede; nor from the day therein fixed for determining the Fate of either Peace or War; and as there was no time, so there could be no use of any Deputation to St. Quentin, or Gant; nor any other Expedient, besides the assent of France, to [Page] evacuate the Towns. After this, the French Ambassador had declared to the Dutch, That they had found the King, their Master, was resolved, at the desire of the Swedes, to retard the Peace no longer upon their consideration; and would consent to evacuate the Towns, upon condition the States would send their Deputies to treat upon the ways of securing the future satisfaction to Sweden, which was by both intended. But the Dutch Ambassadors continued peremptory, that there could be no deputation made by their Masters; and that if the term fixed by the late Treaty with England should elapse, there was no remedy, but the War must go on. To this the French Ambassadors replying, that their hands were bound up from proceeding further without such a Deputation, the Peace was thereupon esteemed desperate; and the more so, because, at the same [Page] time, the Duke of Lutzenburg pressed Mons, and the Mareschal Scomberg seemed to threaten Colen, demanding of them immediate satisfaction of the Money that had been seized, during the Assembly there; and Brussels it self grew unquiet upon their finding themselves almost surrounded by French Troops; so as the Confederate Ministers thought themselves secure of what they had so much, and so long desired, and aimed at, which was a long War in conjunction with England; for they neither believed France would yield a point they had so long, and so publickly contested; nor (if they did) that the Dutch would suffer their Ambassadors to sign the Peace without Spain; and the time was now too near expiring for agreeing the Terms and Draught of a Treaty between the two Crowns, which had not yet been in any kind digested.

[Page]In the midst of these Appearances and Dispositions at Nimeguen, came the fatal Day, agreed by the late Treaty at the Hague, for determining whether a sudden Peace, or a long War, were to be reckoned upon in Christendom; when, in the morning early, Monsieur Boreel, who had been sent from Amsterdam to the Dutch Ambassadors at Nimeguen, went to the French Ambassadors; and after some Conference with them, these three Ambassadors went immediately to those of Holland, and declared to them, they had received Orders to consent to the evacuation of the Towns, and thereupon to sign the Peace; but that it must be done that very morning. Whether the Dutch were surprized, or no, they seemed to be so; and entring into debate upon several of the Articles as well as upon the Interests of Spain, this Conference lasted near five hours, [Page] but ended in agreement upon all the Points, both of Peace and Commerce, between France and Holland, and Orders for writing all fair with the greatest haste that was possible, so as the Treaty might be signed that Night.

About Four in the Afternoon, the French Ambassadors, having demanded an hour of me, and Sir Lionel, came to us at my House, gave us an account of their agreement with the Dutch Ambassadors upon all Points in difference between them; and of the Treaty's being so ordered, as that it should be signed that Evening, and made us the offer that they would all come and sign it at my House, that so we might have the part in it that was due to the Mediators.

We answered them, That having been sent by His Majesty with Instructions only to Mediate a general Peace, we could not by our Orders assist at the signing of a [Page] particular One; and therefore desired them to excuse us from having any part in this Conclusion between them and the Dutch; either by the Signing it at our Houses, or by using our Names as Mediators in the Treaty.

The Dutch Ambassadors came to us likewise with the same Communication and Offer, and received the same Answer; and I observed their Conversation upon this mighty and sudden turn to be a good deal embarassed, and something irresolute, and not very well agreed between the two Ambassadors themselves. Monsieur Beverning complained of the uncertainty of our Conduct in England, and the incurable Jealousies that De Cros's Journey had raised in Holland. That since the King still desired the Peace, his Masters had nothing to do but to conclude it; and that They the Ambassadors, took themselves to be so instructed, as [Page] that they must Sign the Peace upon the offers made by the French to evacuate the Towns. Monsieur Ha [...]en did not seem to me so clear in point of their Orders; and I never could learn whether upon de Cros's Arrival and Discourses at the Hague, the States Deputies there had sent Orders to their Ambassadors at Nimeguen to Sign the Peace (even without the Spaniards) in case of the French assenting to the evacuation of the Towns before the day appointed for that purpose should expire; or whether only the Town of Amsterdam had by Boreel sent that advice to Monsieur Beverning, with assurances to bear him out in what he did, where his Orders might receive a doubtful Sense or Interpretation; However it were, Monsieur Beverning was bent upon giving this sudden end to the War, and such a quick dispatch to the draught of the Treaty, that it was agreed in all Articles, and written [Page] out fair, so as to be signed between Eleven and Twelve at Night. And thus were eluded all the effects of the late Treaty concluded at the Hague, and the hopes conceived by the Confederates of the War's going on, which so provoked several of their Ministers, as to engage them in sharp and violent Protestations against the Dutch Ambassadors, by which they hoped to deter them from signing the Peace without new Orders from their Masters. But all was to no purpose, Beverning was unmoved, and the thing was done.

The day after the Peace was signed, came an Express to me from Court, with the Ratifications of the late Treaty between His Majesty and the States, and Orders to me immediately to proceed to the exchange of them; which was such a counterpace to the Dispatch I had received by De Cros, and to the consequences of it, which [Page] had ended in the conclusion of the Peace; and thereby rendred the late Treaty of no farther use; that the ratification seemed now as unnecessary as it had been at first unresolved at our Court, and unexpected from us by the Dutch: However, I went away immediately upon this Express, and next day after my arrival at the Hague, made an exchange of the Ratifications, according to the Orders I had received.

I found the Pensioner, and several other of the Deputies very much unsatisfied with the Peace, and more with the Precipitation of Monsieur Beverning to sign it upon the sudden offer of the French Ambassadors to evacuate the Towns, before he had acquainted the States with it, and received new Orders upon it. They said, his Instructions could not warrant him; they talked of calling him in question for it, and of disavowing what he [Page] had done, and thereupon of having recourse to the Treaty with His Majesty (which they now saw ratified) and of continuing the War in conjuction with England, and the rather because they saw France had no mind to venture it, but had chosen to stoop from those high flights they had so long made in all transactions with their Neighbours, either of War or Peace. But others of the Deputies, especially those of Amsterdam, declared their satisfaction in this conclusion at Nimeguen; argued, that the weakness of their Confederates, especially Spain, and the unsteaddiness or irresolution of England, had made the Peace of absolute necessity to Holland, and excused any precipitation of their Ambassadors in signing that day, or without clear and positive Orders, upon the emergency being so sudden and surprizing, and the time so critical, that the delay of sending to the [Page] Hague must of necessity have engaged the States in their obligations of the late Treaty with England, and thereby in a necessity of continuing the War.

The truth is, I never observed, either in what I had seen or read, any Negotiation managed with greater Address and Skill, than this had been by the French in the whole course of this Affair, especially since the Prince of Orange's Match, which was thought to have given them so great a blow, and by force of Conduct was turned so much to their advantage. 'Tis certain and plain, they never intended to continue the War, if England should fall with such weight into the scale of the Confederates, as the force of that Kingdom, and humour of the People would have given to such a Conjunction; and consequently, that His Majesty might have prescribed what Terms He pleased of the [Page] Peace, during the whole course of His Mediation. For besides the respect which the French have for our Troops both Horse and Foot, more than any others, especially since the Services and Advantages they received from them in all their Actions against the Germans; besides the terrour of a Conjuction between our Naval Forces and the Dutch, and of descents upon their Coasts, with the dangerous influences that might make upon the Discontents of their People. They wisely foresaw another Consequence of our falling into this Confederacy, which must unavoidable have proved more mortal to them than all the rest, in two years time; for whereas the Wealth of France, which makes their Greatness, arises from the infinite Consumption made by so many neighbouring Countries, of so many and rich Commodities, as the Native Soil and Climate, or ingenuity of the [Page] People produces in France; In case this War had gone on, with England engaged in it, all these veins of such infinite Treasure had been seized at once, or at least left open only to some parts of Italy, which neither takes off their Wines, their Salts, nor their Modes in Habit or Equipage, that draw so vast expences upon all the Provinces almost of Europe, which lie Northward of France, and drains such vast Sums of Money from all their Neighbours, into that Fruitful and Noble Kingdom, more favoured by Nature, in my opinion, than any other in the World. But the loss of this Advantage, upon the Necessity, Folly, or Luxury of others, must in two or three years time, reduce them to such weakness in those Sinews of War, by so general a Poverty and Misery among their People, that there would need no other effect of such a general Confederacy, to consume [Page] the Strength and Force of that Nation. This they very prudently foresaw, and never intended to venture; but having reason to apprehend it from the Prince of Orange's Match in England, they took it without Resentment; nay, improved it rather into new Kindness than Quarrel, making use of the King's good Nature to engage him in a Prorogation of the Parliament immediately after; which made it appear both at home and abroad, that they had still the Ascendant upon our Court. They eluded the effect of the Message sent them by Lord Duras, with His Majesty's Scheme of the Peace, by drawing it out into Expostulations of Kindness, and so into Treaty. During this Amusement of our Court, they plyed their business in Holland; yet with greater Art and Industry, poysoned the People there with Jealousies of the Prince's Match in England, and [Page] of Designs from both upon their Liberties, by a long and unnecessary Continuance of the War. They united the Factions in Amsterdam upon the sente of a Peace, and upon their own Conditions, to avoid those that had been Proposed by His Majesty. When they had gained their Point with the several Deputies in Holland, they acquainted the King with their being sure of the Peace on that side, and by his Ambassador at Paris, made Offers of mighty Sums both to himself and his chief Minister, only for their Consent to such a Peace as Holland it self was content with. When the States had absolutely resolved on the Peace by the particular Faction of Amsterdam, and general Terror upon the French taking of Gant, and threatning Antwerp, they esteemed the humour in Holland so violent towards the Peace, and so unsatisfied with the fluctuation of our [Page] Councils in England, that they thought they might be bold with them upon the Interests of Spain, and so raised the pretence of not evacuating the Towns before the satisfaction of Sweden; and tho' I know this was by the Politicians esteemed a wrong pace of France, yet I did not think it so, but that all Appearances were for their succeeding in it. Nor had they reason to believe, either our Court or Holland would have resented it to that degree they did, or that they could have fallen into such close and sudden measures, and with such confidence as they happened to do upon this occasion, by the Treaty of July at the Hague. When this was concluded, they made all the Offers that could be, at breaking the force of it, by drawing it into Negotiation, and by condescentions to the States, unusual with that Crown, even to the greatest Kings. They poysoned it by the Dispatch [Page] of de Cros, and by his instructions, as well as Artifices and Industry to make the Contents of it publick at the Hague, which were pretended at Court to be sent over to me with the greatest secret that could be. At the same time they made all the Declarations of not receding from the difficulties they had raised otherwise than by Treaty, and thereby laid asleep all Jealousies of the Confederates, as well as endeavours to prevent a blow they did not believe could arrive where the Honour of France seemed so far ingaged. And thus they continued, till the very day limitted for their final Declaration. The secret was so well kept, that none had the least umbrage of it that very morning. When they declared it, they left not the Dutch Ambassadors time enough to send to their Masters, fearing if they had, the States would have refused to sign without Spain, which could not [Page] be ready before the time must have elapsed for incurring the effects of the late Treaty.

Thus the Peace was gained with Holland. His Majesty was excluded from any fair pretence of entring into the War, after the vast Expence of raising a great Army, and transporting them into Flanders, and after a great expectation of his People raised, and, as they thought, deluded. Spain was necessitated to accept the terms that the Dutch had negotiated for them; and this left the Peace of the Empire wholly at the mercy and discretion of France, and the restitution of Lorain (which all had consented in) wholly abandoned, and unprovided. So that I must again conclude the Conduct of France to have been admirable in the whole course of this Affair, and the Italian Proverb to continue true,The French Fools are dead. Che gle Francesi pazzi sono morti. On the contrary, our Councils [Page] and Conduct were like those of a floating Island, driven one way or t'other, according to the Winds or Tides. The Kings dispositions inclin'd him to preserve his measures with France, and consequently to promote a Peace which might break the present Confederacy. The humour of his People and Parliament was violent towards engaging him in a War; the Ministers were wavering between the fears of making their Court ill, or of drawing upon them the heats of a House of Commons, whom the King's Expences made him always in need of. From these humours arose those uncertainties in our Councils, that no Man, who was not behind the Curtain, could tell what to make of, and which appeared to others much more mysterious than indeed they were; till a new and formidable Engin beginning to appear upon the Stage, made the Court fall into an absolute [Page] resolution of entring into the War just when it was too late; and to post away the Ratifications of the Treaty of July, so as to arrive the day after the French and Dutch had sign'd the Peace, and after the King had given the States occasion to believe he did not intend to ratifie it, but that he had taken his Measures with France; for so all Men in Holland concluded from De Cros's Journey, and the Commands he brought me for mine to Nimeguen, at a time when my presence at the Hague was thought the most necessary, both to ratifie the Treaty, if it had been intended, and to keep the States firm to their resolutions upon it.

Thus ended in smoak this whole Negotiation, which was near raising so great a fire. France having made the Peace with Holland, treated all the rest of it with ease and leasure, as playing a sure Game. England, to avoid a cruel Convulsion that [Page] threatned them at home, would fain have gone into the War, if Holland would have been prevail'd with; but they could not trust us enough, to lose the present Interest of Trade, for the uncertain Events of a War, wherein they thought their Neighbours more concern'd than Themselves.

About two or three days after my return to the Hague, and exchanging the Ratifications, came the News of the Battel of Mons, between the Prince of Orange, and the French under the Command of the Duke of Lutzenburgh, who had posted himself with the Strength and Flower of the French Forces, so as to prevent the Prince's Design of Relieving Mons. And I remember, the day the Dutch Peace was signed at Nimeguen, I was saying to the Mareschal d' Estrades, That for ought I knew, we might have a Peace sign'd and a Battel fought both in one day. He reply'd, [Page] There was no fear of it; for the Duke of Lutzenburgh had writ him word, He was so posted, that if he had but Ten Thousand Men, and the Prince Forty, ye he was sure he would not be forced; whereas he took His Army to be stronger than That of the Prince. I need not relate an Action so well known in the World, and so shall only say, That in spight of many Disadvantages from an Army drawn so suddenly together, so hasty a March as that of the Dutch, and Posts taken with so much skill, and fortified with so much industry by the French, as was believed, the Prince, upon the fourteenth of August, attacqued them with a resolution and vigour that at first surprized them, and, after an obstinate and bloody Fight, so disorder'd them, that tho' the Night prevented the end of this Action, yet it was generally concluded, That if he had been at liberty next day [Page] to pursue it with seven or eight thousand English that were ready to joyn his Army, he must in all appearance not only have relieved Mons, but made such an impression into France as had been often designed, but never attempted since the War began, and upon which a French Officer present in it, said, That he esteem'd This the only Heroick Action that had been done in the whole course or progress of it.

But the Morning after the Battel, the Prince receiv'd from the States an Advice of the Peace having been sign'd at Nimeguen, and thereupon immediately sent a Deputy with the News of it to Monsieur de Lutzenburgh. After Compliments passed on both sides, That Duke desir'd to see the Prince, which was agreed to, and they met in the Field at the Head of their Chief Officers, where all passed with the Civilities that became the occasion, and with [Page] great curiosity of the French to see and crowd about a Young Prince, who had made so much noise in the World, and had the day before given life and vigour to such a desperate Action, as all Men esteem'd this Battel of St. Denis. Yet many Reflections were made upon it by the Prince's Friends as well as his Enemies: Some said, That he knew the Peace was signed before the Fight began; and that it was too great a venture both to Himself and the States, and too great a Sacrifice to his own Honour, since it could be to no other Advantage: Others laid it to the Marquess of Grana, who they said had intercepted and concealed the States Pacquet to the Prince, which came into the Camp the day before the Battel, (but after it was resolved on) and that he had hopes by such a breach of the Peace, even after it was signed, that the progress of it would have been defeated. Whethere [Page] this were true or no, I could never certainly be informed; but so much is, That the Prince could not have ended the War with greater Glory, nor with greater Spight, to see such a mighty Occasion wrested out of his hand by the sudden and unexpected signing of the Peace, which he had assur'd himself the States would not have consented to without the Spaniards. Yet upon the certain News of it, he drew back his Army, returned to the Hague, and left the States to pursue their own paces in order to finishing the Treaty between France and Spain, wherein the Dutch Embassadors at Nimeguen employed themselves with great zeal and diligence, and no longer as Parties or Confederates, but as Mediators, whil'st Sir Lionel, who continued still there in that Figure, declin'd the Function, as in a matter wherein he found our Court would not take any part, [Page] nor allow themselves to have had any in the Peace between France and Holland.

Soon after the Prince's return, he went to Dieren to hunt in the Velawe, like a Person that had little else left to do. And I having occasion to go at the same time to Amsterdam, he desir'd me to remember him kindly to Monsieur Hoeft the Chief Burgomaster there, and tell him, That he desired him to be no longer in his Interests, than he should find His Highness in the true Interests of the State. I did so; and Monsieur Hoeft very frankly and generously bid me tell the Prince, He would be just what His Highness desir'd, and be ever firm to his Interests, while he was in Those of his Country; but if ever His Highness departed from them, he would be the first Man to oppose him; till then he would neither Censure nor Distrust his Conduct; for he knew very well, [Page] without matual Trust between the Prince and the States, his Country must be ruined. From this time to that of his Death, Monsieur Hoeft continued in the same Mind, and by his Example that great and jealous Town began to fall into much more Confidence, not only of the Prince, but of his whose Conduct in the Administration of the Affairs of their State.

For the time I stay'd at Amsterdam, I was every day in Conversation with Monsieur Hoeft, who, besides much Learning, Worth, Sincereness, and Credit in his Town, was a Man of a pleasant Natural Humour, which makes, in my Opinion, the most agreeable Conversation of all other Ingredients, and much more than any of those squeez'd or forc'd Strains of Wit that are in some places so much in request, tho' I think commonly Men that affect them are themselves [Page] much fonder of them than any of the Company.

Dining one day at Monsieur Hoeft's, and having a great Cold, I observed every time I spit, a tight handsome Wench (that stood in the Room with a clean Cloth in her Hand) was presently down to wipe it up, and rub the Board clean: Somebody at Table speaking of my Cold, I said, The most trouble it gave me was to see the poor Wench take so much pains about it: Monsieur Hoeft told me, 'Twas well I escap'd so; and that if his Wife had been at home, tho' I were an Ambassador, she would have turn'd me out of door for fouling her House: And laughing at that humour, said, There were two Rooms of his House that he never durst come into, and believed they were never open but twice a year to make them clean. I said, I found he was a good Patriat; and not only in the [Page] Interests of his Countrey, but in the Customs of his Town, where that of the Wives governing, was, I heard, a thing established. He replied, 'Twas true, and that all a man could hope for there, was to have une douce Patrone, An easie Governess. and that his Wife was so. Another of the Magistrates at Table, who was a graver man, said, Monsieur Hoeft was pleasant; but the thing was no more so in their Town, than in any other places that he knew of. Hoeft replied very briskly, It was so, and could not be otherwise, for it had long been the Custom; and whoever offered to break it, would have banded against him, not only all the Women of the Town, but all those Men too that were governed by their Wives, which would make too great a Party to be opposed. In the afternoon, upon a visit, and occasion of what had been said at Monsieur Hoeft's, [Page] many Stories were told of the strange and curious Cleanliness so general in that City; and some so extravagant, that my Sister took them for jest, when the Secretary of Amsterdam, that was of the Company, desiring her to look out of the Window, said, Why, Madam, there is the House where one of our Magistrates going to visit the Mistress of it, and knocking at the Door, a strapping North Holland Lass came and opened it; he asked, Whether her Mistress was at home; she said, Yes; and with that he offered to go in: But the Wench marking his Shoes were not very clean, took him by both Arms, threw him upon her back, carryed him cross two Rooms, set him down at the bottom of the Stairs, pull'd off his Shoes, put him on a pair of Slippers that stood there, and all this without saying a word; but when she had done, told him, He might [Page] go up to her Mistress, who was in her Chamber.

I am very glad to have a little divertion with such pleasantries as these, the thoughts of the busie Scene I was so deep engaged in, that I will confess the very remembrance of it, and all the strange surprizing turns of it, began to renew those cruel Motions they had raised both in my head and heart, whilst I had so great, and so sensible a part in them. But to return where I left the thread of these Affairs.

After the Peace of Holland and France, the Ministers of the Confederates, especially those of Denmark and Brandenbargh, employed their last Efforts to prevent the Spaniards agreeing to their part of the Peace, as accepted for them by the Dutch. They exclaimed at their breach of Honour and Interest. That what was left the Spaniards in Flanders by those [Page] Terms, was indefensible, and could serve but to exhaust their Men and Treasures to no purpose. That the Design of France was only to break this present Confederacy by these separate Treaties, and so leave the Spaniards abandoned by their Allies upon the next Invasion; which they would have reason to expect, if Spain should use them with as little regard of their Honour and Treaties, as the Dutch Ambassadors seemed to design. These themselves also met with some difficulties in their Mediation, by a Pretension raised in France upon the County of Beaumont, and Town of Bovigues, which they did not find to have been mentioned in what had passed between the French and Dutch upon the score of Spain, before the Peace was signed.

All these Circumstances began to make it look uncertain what would at length be determined by [Page] the States, as to their Ratifications, which were like to be delayed till Spain had concluded their Treaty, though those of France had been dispatched, so as to arrive at Nimeguen the twenty second of this Month; and Monsieur d' Avaux commanded from thence to the Hague, in quality of Ambassador Extraordinary to the States; and the French Army had retired into France at the same time the Dutch return'd from before Mons. So that all seemed on the French side resolved to pursue the Peace: on the side of the Empire, and Princes of the North, to carry on the War: On the Spaniards, very irresolute, whether or no to accept the Peace the Dutch had mediated for them: And in Holland, 'twas doubtful; whether to ratifie that their Ambassadors had signed, and whether at least before the Treaty of Spain should be agreed.

Whilst the minds of men were [Page] busied with different reasonings and presages, as well as wishes, upon this Conjuncture; About the end of August Mr. Hyde arrived at the Hague from England, without the least intimation given me of his Journey, or his Errand; so that I was surprized both to see him, and to hear the design of such a sudden dispatch.

The substance of it was, to acquaint the States how much the King had been surprized at the news of their Ambassadors having signed a particular Treaty with France, even without the inclusion of Spain, and without any Guaranty given for the evacution of the Towns within the time requisit: To complain of this Precipitation of the States; and at the same time of the new Pretensions that Franee had advanced upon the County of Beaumont and the Town of Bovigues, which had retarded the Peace of Spain, and hindred it [Page] from being concluded at the same time with that of Holland, which His Majesty understood always to have been the Intention of the States, as well as His own. That for these Reasons he understood, and believed, that the late Treaty of July, between His Majesty and the States, ought to take effect, the case being fallen out against which that was provided, and both Parties being thereby obliged to enter jointly into the War against France. That if the States would hereupon refuse to ratify the Treaty their Ministers had signed at Nimeguen, His Majesty offered to declare War immediately against France, and carry it on in all points according to the Articles and Obligations of the said Treaty with the States.

Tho' Mr. Hyde did not know, or did not tell me the true spring of this resolute pace that was made by our Court, so different [Page] from all the rest in the whole course of this Affair; yet he assured me, they were both in earnest, and very warm upon the scent, and desired nothing so much as to enter immediately and vigorously into the War, in case Holland would be perswaded to continue it; and that no time nor endeavours were to be neglected in pursuing the Commission he brought over, which was given jointly to us both, and recommended to me particularly from Court, with all the instances and earnestness that could be. When I carried him that very Evening to the Prince at Hounslerdike, and he acquainted his Highness with the whole extent of his Errand and Instructions; The Prince received it very coldly, and only advised him to give in a Memorial to the States, and ask Commissioners to treat, by whom he would find what the Mind of the States was [Page] like to be upon this Affair, and at which he would at present make no conjecture.

After a short Audience, Mr. Hyde went to the Princess, and left me alone with the Prince, who as soon as he was gone, lift up his Hands two or three times, and said, Was ever any thing so hot and so cold as this Court of yours; Will the King, that is so often at Sea, never learn a Word that I shall never forget since my last passage? When in a great Storm the Captain was all Night crying out to the Man at the Helm, Steddy, Steddy, Steddy; if this Dispatch had come twenty days ago, it had changed the Face of Affairs in Christendom, and the War might have been carried on till France had yielded to the Treaty of the Pyrenees, and left the World in quiet for the rest of our lives. As it comes now, it will have no effect at all, at least, that [Page] is my opinion, tho I would not say so to Mr. Hyde.

After this he ask'd me what I could imagin was at the bottom of this new heat in our Court; and what could make it break out so mal a propos, Unseasonably. after the dissatisfaction they had expressed upon the late Treaty, when it was first sent over, and the Dispatch of De Cros, so contrary to the design of it. I told him very truly, That I was perfectly ignorant of the whole matter, and could give no guess at the motions of it: And so I continued till some Months after, when I was advised, That the business of the Plot, which has since made so much noise in the World, was just then breaking out; and that the Court, to avoid the Consequences That might have upon the ill humour of the Parliament, which seemed to rise chiefly from the Peace, His Majesty resolved to give them the satisfaction [Page] they had so long desired, of entring into the War, which is all the account I can give of this Council or Resolution.

The Event proved answerable to the Judgment the Prince at first made of it; for tho' the States Deputies drew the matter into several Debates and Conferences with us, which filled all Parties concerned in the War with different apprehensions, and served to facilitate the Treaty between France and Spain; yet the Pensioner told me from the first, this was all the use that could be made of it, and that the States were so unsatisfied with our whole Conduct in the business of the Peace, that tho' they would be glad to see us in the War, yet they were resolved to have no further part in it, unless France should refuse what they had already promised to Spain. However, while this Affair continued in agitation, during Mr. Hyde's stay at [Page] the Hague, all appearances looked very different from the opinion of the Prince and Pensioner, who alone had so full a grasp of the business in Holland, as to make a true judgment what the general sentiments there would determin in. Many of the Deputies were so ill satisfied with their Ambassadors having signed the Peace, that they inclined to his Majesty's Proposals, and framed several Articles against Monsieur Beverning's Proceedings, whereof some lay'd mistakes to his Charge; others, the commission of matters absolutely necessary in the Treaty; and others more directly, his having gone beyond his Orders and Instructions; particularly, in having stipulated, that the States should give their Guaranty for the Neutrality of Spain. And in this point, I doubt he had nothing to show from his Masters to cover him. The rest seemed rather to be raised invidiously at [Page] his Conduct, in having suddenly concluded an Affair, which they now say might have had another issue if he had given it more breath; tho' at that time many of his Accusers expected as little from England as he did, and with reason alike, since none of them could imagin any thing of that new Spring there, from which this violent motion had begun. Whatever Monsieur Beverning's Orders or his Proceedings had been, the heats were so high against him at the Hague, that many talked, not only of disavowing what he had done, but of forming Process against him upon it, And tho' in a short stay he made there upon this occasion, he had the fortune or the justice to see his Enemies grow calm towards him; yet he was not a little mortified with so ill payment of what he thought had been so good Service to his Country; and after his return to Nimeguen, was [Page] observed to proceed in the Negotiations there, with more flegm and caution than was natural to his Temper, and less show of partiality to the Peace, than he had made in the whole course of the Treaty.

All the while these matters were in motion at the Hague, the King's Forces were every day transporting into Flanders, as if the War were to be carried on with the greatest certainty and vigour, which gave opinion and heart to those in Holland that disliked the Peace; it raised also so great confidence in the Spaniardt, that they fell into all the measures they could with the Confederate Ministers at Nimeguen, to form difficulties and delays in the Treaty there, between that Crown and France, upon the security that Holland would not ratify theirs, till that of Spain were concluded; and that in the mean time they might be drawn into the [Page] War by the violent dispositions which now appeared in England, as well as in the Confederates to continue it. The Spanish Ambassadors laid hold of all occasions to except against the matter or style of those Articles which Holland had mediated between them and France; they found difficulties upon the condition wherein the several Towns to be evacuated should be restored to them, as to the Fortifications that had been made in them by the French, and as to the Artillery and Munitions that were in them at the time when the Dutch had agreed upon those Conditions. They found matter of dispute upon the Territories that belonged to the several Towns, and especially upon the Chattellenie of Aeth, which France had dismembred since it was in their possession, and had joined above Threescore Villages to the Chattellenie of Tournay, which had belonged to Aeth, and [Page] were with that Town transferred by the Spaniards to the French upon the Peace of Aix la Chapelle: But the French pretending now to restore it only in the Condition they had left it, and not what they had found it, the Spaniards made a mighty clamour both at London and the Hague upon this Subject, and complained of this, among other smaller matters, as Innovations endeavoured to be introduced by France, even beyond what they had themselves proposed to the Dutch, and agreed in April last, which had been laid and pursued as the very foundation of the Peace.

In this uncertain State all matters continued at the Hague for about Three Weeks, the opinions of most Men running generally against the Peace, as well as the Wagers at Amsterdam, by which People often imagin the Pulse of the State is to be felt and judged; [Page] tho' it indeed be a sort of Trade driven by Men that have little dealing or success in any other, and is managed with more tricks than the rest seems to be in that Scene; not only coyning false News upon the place, but practising Intelligence from remote parts to their purpose, concerting the same Advices from different Countries, and making great Secret and Mystery of Reports that are raised on purpose to be publick, and yet by such devices as these, not only the Wagers at Amsterdam are commonly turning, but the rising and falling of the very Actions of the East-India Company are often, and in a great measure influenced.

But France thought the Conjuncture too important to let it hover long in such uncertainties, and therefore first dispatched a Courier to their Ambassadors at Nimeguen, with leave to satisfie [Page] the States in those Clauses of their Treaty wherein they seemed to except justly against Monsieur Beverning's Conduct, and thereby cover the credit of that Minister who had been so affectionate an Instrument in the progress of the Treaty. Next they gave them liberty to soften a little of the rigour they had hitherto exercised in the smallest points contested with the Spaniards; and last of all, they dispatched an Express to their Ambassadors with power to remit all the differenees which obstructed or retarded the conclusion of the Treaty between that Crown and Spain, to the Determination and Arbitrage of the States themselves.

This was a pace of so much confidence towards the States, and appeared such a testimony of the most Christian King's sincerity in the late Advances he had made towards a Peace, that it had all [Page] the effect designed by it. The several Towns and Provinces proceeded with a general Concurrence to the Ratifications of the Peace, that they might lie ready in their Ambassadors hands, to be exchanged when that of Spain should be signed. Monsieur Beverning, now favoured with a fair Gale from home, the humour of his Countrey blowing the same way with his own dispositions, and seconded with the great facilities that were given by France, made such a quick dispatch of what remained in contest upon the Treaty between France and Spain, that all was perfected and signed by the Twentieth of September, and thereupon the Dutch Ratifications were exchanged with the usual forms. In all this, Sir Lionel Jenkins had no part, as in an Affair disapproved by the King his Master. The Dutch Ambassadors played the part of formal Mediators, had the Treaty [Page] between the two Crowns signed at their House, and took great care by the choice and disposition of the Room where it was performed, to avoid all punctilio's about Place, that might arise between the several Ambassadors. Mr. Hyde had the mortification to return into England, with the entire disappointment of the Design upon which he came, and believed the Court so passionately bent; I was left at the Hague without any thing more to do, than to perform the part of a common Ambassador; France was left in possession of the Peace with Holland and Spain, and by consequence, Master of that of the Empire, and the North, upon their own Terms; and England was left to busie it self about a Fire that was breaking out at home, with so much smoak, and so much noise, that as it was hard to discover the beginning, so it [Page] was much harder to foresee the end of it.

After the Peace of Spain signed, and of Holland ratified, tho' the Ambassadors of the Emperour at Nimeguen were sullen, and those of Denmark and Brandenburgh enraged, yet by the application of the Dutch Ambassadors, the Conferences were set on foot between them and the French; and Sir Lionel received Orders from Court to return to his Function, tho' the remaining part he had in the Affair, was rather that of a Messenger, than a Mediator. The Northern Princes continued their Preparations and Marches, as if they resolved to pursue the War, but at the same time gave jealousies to the Emperour, of some private Intelligences or Negotiations of separate Treaties set on foot between France and Denmark, and others between that Crown and Brandenburgh, by Monsieur Despense, [Page] an old servant of the Elector, but Subject of France. On the other side, France made great Preparations to attack the Empire, upon the pretence of forcing them into the terms they had prescribed for the Peace, and thereby gave so great terror to the Princes of the Rhine, that lay first exposed to the fury of their Arms, that the Electors of Ments and Triers and Duke of Nieuburgh, sent away in great haste to the States, demanding and desiring to be included by them in the Peace they had made, by virtue of an Article therein, which gave them liberty within six Weeks to declare and include such as they should name for their Allies. But this was opposed by France, and refused to any patticular Prince of the Empire, and allowed only to the Emperor and Empire, if they should jointly desire to be declared and included in the Peace, as an Ally of Holland. The Duke of [Page] Lorain about the same time, seeing the whole Confederacy breaking into so many several Pieces, and every one minding only how to shift the best they could for themselves, accepted his part of the Peace, as France had carved it out for him, and chose the Alternative offered from that Crown, by which Nancy was to remain to France. But the Emperor, tho' he professed all the inclination that could be, to see the General Peace restored, yet he pretended not to suffer the terms of it should like Laws be imposed upon him; he consented to the re-establishment of the Treaties of Westphalia, which seemed to be all that France insisted on, but could not agree to the Passage demanded for their Troops, whenever they found it necessary for the execution of the said Treaties; and this was insisted on positively by the French. Nor could the Imperialists yield to to the dependance pretended by [Page] France, of the ten Towns of Alsatia upon that Crown, which the French demanded as so left, or at least intended by the Treaty of Munster, while the Emperor's Ambassadors denied either the Fact or the Intention of that Treaty.

While these Dispositions, and these Difficulties delayed the Treaty of the Emperor, the Ratifications of Spain were likewise deferred by concert, as was supposed, between the two Houses of Austria, so as the term agreed for exchange of them, was quite elapsed, and twice renewed or prolonged by France at the desire of the States. But during this time, the French Troops made incursions into the Richest Parts of Flanders, and which had been best covered in the time of the War, and there exacted so great Contributions, [...]nd made such Ravages where they were disputed, that the Spanish Netherlands were more ruined between [Page] the signing of the Peace, and the exchange of the Ratifications, than they had been in so much time, during the whole course of the War.

The out-cries and calamities of their Subjects in Flanders, at length moved the Spaniards out of their slow pace, but more, the embroilments of England upon the Subject of the Plot, which took up the Minds both of Court and Parliament, and left them little or no regard for the course of Foreign Affairs. This Prospect made Holland the more eager upon urging the Peace to a general Issue; and France making a wise use of so favourable a Conjuncture, pressed the Empire not only by the Threats and Preparations of a sudden Invasion, but also by confining their Offers of the Peace to certain days, and raising much higher Demands, if those should expire before the Emperor's Acceptance.

[Page]All these Circumstances improved by the diligence and abilities of the Dutch Ambassadors at Nimeguen, at length determined the House of Austria to run the Ship ashore, whatever came on't rather than keep out at Sea in so cruel a Storm as they saw falling upon them, and for which they found themselves so unprovided. The Spanish Ratifications at length arrived, and after the Winter far spent in fruitless Contests by the Imperial Ambassadors, and more fruitless hopes from England, by the Spaniards, and other Confederates; Sir Lionel Jenkins gave notice both to the Court and to me, that he looked upon the Treaty between the Emperor and France, to be as good as concluded; and soon after I received His Majesty's Commands to go immediately away from the Hague to Nimeguen; and there assist as a Mediator at the [Page] signing of the Peace which then appeared to be General.

I never obeyed the King so unwillingly in my life, both upon account of an Errand so unnecessary, and at best, so merely formal (which I had never been used to in so long a course of Imployments) and likewise upon the unclemency of the Season, which was never known so great in any Man's Memory, as when I set out from the Hague. The Snow was in many places where I passed, near Ten Foot deep, and ways for my Coach forced to be digged through it; several Post-Boys dyed upon the Road, and it was ridiculous to see People walk about with long Icicles from their Noses. I passed both the Rhine and the Waal with both Coaches and Waggons upon the Ice, and never in my life suffered so much from Weather, as in this Journey, in spite of all Provisions I could make against it. The best [Page] of it was, that I knew all the way; it was neither at all material that the Mediators should sign this Branch of the General Peace, having signed none of the other; nor that two should sign it, when one alone had assisted in the course of this Negotiation, since it was renewed between the Empire and France; besides, I was very confident it would not at last be signed by either of us; for I could not believe, when it came to the point, the Emperor's Ambassadors should yield that of precedence to the Mediators at the conclusion of the Treaty, which they never consented to do in the whole course of it. So that I looked upon the favour of this Journey as afforded me from the particular good-will of some of my good Friends in the Foreign Committee, taking a rise from some Instances of Sir Lionel Jenkins, who was in one of his usual Agonies, for fear of being left in [Page] the way of signing alone a Treaty which he neither was pleased with himself, nor believed many People in England like to be so.

I arrived at Nimeguen the end of January 167 8/9, and found all concluded; and ready to sign, as Sir Lionel believed; yet the Imperialists made a vigorous effort in two Conferences, after my arrival, to gain some ease in the Points of Lorain, and the dependence of the Ten Towns in Alsatia, wherein they thought themselves the most hardly used of any others, and in the first, their Master's Honour and Justice most concerned; so as Count Kinski made a mien of absolutely breaking, without some relief upon them. But the French Ambassadors knew too well the force of the Conjuncture, and the necessity laid upon the Emperor by the Dutch and Spanish Peace, to pass the same way, or leap out of the Window. And they were too [Page] skilful not to make use of it, or to give any ground to all the Instances or Threats of the Imperialists. These on t'other side durst not venture the expiration of the last day given them by France, nor the reserve made in that Case, of exacting new and harder Terms. So as the Peace was signed about three days after my arrival. The poor Duke of Lorain thought himself pressed with such hardships upon both the Alternatives, that he could not resolve to accept of either; For in that he had chosen, not only his Dutchy was dismembred of several great parts wholly cut off, but the rest left at the French discretion, who insisted upon great spaces of ground left them in propriety, quite cross this Countrey, for the march of their Armies, whenever they should pretend occasion; so this Noble, but unfortunate Prince, was left wholly out of the Treaty, and of [Page] his Countrey, contrary to the direct and repeated Engagements of the Confederates, and the Intentions of His Majesty, as he often declared in the whole course of the Treaty.

When it was ready to sign, the French Ambassadors offered to yield the precedence in signing it to us as Mediators, which they had done very frankly in the whole course of this Assembly; but the Imperialists, when it came to the point, downright refused it; and we, according to our primitive Orders, refused to sign without it; and by our Offers, gained only the point of having that determined against us, which till this time, had always remained in suspence.

Whilst I staid at Nimeguen, I had a Sheet of Paper sent me from an unknown Hand, written in Latin, but in a Style and Character that discovered it to be by some [Page] German; The subject of it was a long comment upon a Quartrain recited out of Nostredamus.

Nè sous les ombres d'une journée nocturne

Sera en los & bonté Souverain,

Fera renaistre le sang de l'antique Vrne

Et changera en Or le siecle d' Airain.

Under the shades of the Nocturnal day being born,

In glory and goodness Sovereign, shall shine,

Shall cause to spring again the Blood of th' Ancient Urn,

And into gold the brazen Age refine.

The scope of the whole Discourse was to prove the Prince of Orange's being by it designed for the Crown of England, and how much glory and felicity should attend that [Page] Age and Reign. I could not but mention it, because I thought the Interpretation ingeniously found out, and applied, having otherwise very little regard for any such kind of Predictions, that are so apt to amuse the World. And though the present State of the Royal Family leave not this without appearance of arriving at one time or other, yet it is at too great a distance for my Eyes, which by the course of Nature must be closed long before such an Event is likely to succeed. The Author of this Paper made, The shades of the nocturnal day, to signifie the deep mourning of the Princess Royal's Chamber, with the Lamps hung about it, which by the Windows being kept shut, left no other light in it that morning the Prince was born, (which was soon after his Father's death.) Restoring the Blood of the Ancient Vrn, was that of Bourbon, or of Charlemain, from [Page] whom the Prince was said to descend. The rest was only Panegyrick upon his Vertues, and the general praise should attend them, and the Golden Age he should restore.

The day after the Treaty was signed, I left Nimeguen, and return'd to the Hague, after a cruel fatigue and expence, which was rendred the more agreeable, when upon my going into England soon after, I found my self above Seven thousand Pounds in Arrear at the Treasury; and though with much trouble and delay, and some worse Circumstances (to engage Men that were more dextrous than I in such pursuits) I recovered the rest of my Debt, yet Two and twenty hundred Pounds, due to me for this last Ambassy, continues to this day a desperate Debt, and mark upon me, how unfit I am for a Court; and Mr. Godolphin, after having both said, and writ to me, that he would move to have [Page] my Statue set up, if I compassed that Treaty, has sat several years since in the Treasury, and seen me to want the very Money I laid out of my own Purse in that Service; and which I am like to leave a Debt upon my Estate and Family.

I shall not trouble my self with observing the remaining Paces of the General Peace, by that of the North, which was left to be made at the Mercy of France. And though Denmark and Brandenburgh looked big, and spoke high for a time, after the Peace between the Empire and France, pretending they would defend what they had conquered from the Swedes in Germany; yet upon the march of the French Troops into the Brandenburgh Countrey, both those Princes made what haste they could to finish their separate Treaties with France; and upon certain sums of Money agreed on, delivered up all [Page] they had gained in this War, to the Crown of Sweden. Thus Christendom was left for the present in a General Peace, and France to pursue what they could gain upon their Neighbours by their Pretensions of Dependences, and by the droit de bienseance, Right of Decency. which they pursu'd with such imperious Methods, both against the Empire and the Spaniardt, as render'd their Acquisitions after the Peace, greater, at least in consequence, than what they had gained by the War; since not only great Tracts of Country upon the score of Dependences, but Strashurgh and Lutzenburgh fell as Sacrifices to their Ambition, without any neighbouring Prince or States concerning themselves in their Relief. But these Enterprises I leave to some others Observations.

Very soon after my Arrival at the Hague, the King sent me [Page] Orders to provide for my return as soon as I could possibly be ready, and bid me acquaint the Prince and the States, That he had sent for me over to come into the Place of first Secretary of State in Mr. Coventry's room. My Lord Treasurer writ to me to the same purpose, and with more Esteem than I could pretend to deserve; telling me, among other things, They were fallen into a cruel Disease, and had need of so Able a Physician. This put me in mind of a Story of Dr. Prujean (the greatest of that Profession in our time), and which I told my Friends that were with me when these Letters came. A certain Lady came to the Doctor in great trouble about her Daughter. Why, what ails she? Alas, Doctor! I cannot tell; but she has lost her Humour, her Looks, her Stomach; her Strength consumes every day, so as we fear she cannot live. Why do not you Marry her? [Page] Alas, Doctor! that we would fain do, and have offer'd her as good a Match as she could ever expect, but she will not hear of marrying. Is there no other, do you think, that she would be content to Marry? Ah, Doctor! that is it that troubles us; for there is a young Gentleman we doubt she loves, that her Father and I can never consent to. Why, look you, Madam, replies the Doctor gravely (being among all his Books in his Closet) then the case is this: Your Daughter would Marry one Man, and you would have her Marry another: in all my Books I find no Remedy for such a Disease as this. I confess, I esteemed the Case as desperate in a Politick as in a Natural Body, and as little to be attempted by a Man who neither ever had his own Fortune at heart (which such Conjunctures are only proper for) nor ever could resolve upon any pusuits of it to go against either the true Interest, or [Page] the Laws of his Countrey; One of which is commonly endanger'd upon the fatal misfortune of such Divisions in a Kingdom: I chose therefore to make my excuses both to the King and to my Lord Treasurer, and desir'd leave to go to Florence, and discharge my self of a promise I had made some years past of a Visit to the Great Duke the first time I had leisure from my Publick Imployments. Instead of granting this Suit, the King sent a Yatch for me towards the end of February, 167⁸. with Orders to come immediately away to enter upon the Secretary's Office about the same time with my Lord Sunderland, who was brought into Sir Joseph Williamson's Place. I obey'd His Majesty, and acquainted the Prince and States with my Journey, and the design of it, according to his Command, who made me Compliments upon both, and would have had me believe, that [Page] the Secretary of State was to make amends for the loss of the Ambassador. But I told the Prince, that tho I must go, yet if I found the Scene what it appear'd to us at that distance, I would not charge my self with that Imployment upon any terms that could be offer'd me. We knew very well in Holland, That both Houses of Parliament believed the Plot; That the Clergy, the City, the Countrey in general did so too, or at least pursu'd it as if they all believ'd it. We knew the King and some of the Court believ'd nothing of it, and yet thought not fit to own that Opinion: And the Prince told me, He had reason to be confident, that the King was in his heart a Roman Catholick, tho he durst not profess it. For my own part, I knew not what to believe of one side or t'other, but thought it easie to presage, from such contrary Winds and Tides, such a [Page] Storm must rise, as would tear the Ship in pieces, whatever Hand were at the Helm.

At my arrival in England, about the latter end of February, I found the King had Dissolv'd a Parliament that had sat eighteen years, and given great testimonies of Loyalty, and compliance with His Majesty, till they broke first into Heats upon the French Alliances, and at last into Flames upon the business of the Plot: I found a new Parliament was called; and that to make way for a calmer Session, the resolution had been taken at Court for the Duke's going over into Holland, who enbarqu'd the day after my arrival at London. The Elections of the ensuing Parliament were so eagerly pursu'd, that all were in a manner engag'd before I came over; and by the dispositions that appear'd in both Electors and Elected, it was easie to presage in what temper [Page] the Houses were like to meet: My Lord Shaftsbury, my Lord Essex, and my Lord Hallifax, had struck up with the Duke of Monmouth, resolving to make use of His Credit with the King, and to support it by Theirs in the Parliament; and tho the first had been as deep as any in the Councels of the Cabal while he was Chancellor, yet all Three had now fallen in with the common Humour against the Court and the Ministry, endeavouring to inflame the Discontents against both; and agreed among themselves, That none of them would come into Court, unless they did it all together; Which was observed like other common strains of Court-Friendships. Sir William Coventry had the most Credit of any man in the House of Commons, and I think the most deservedly: not only for his great Abilities, but for having been turn'd out of the Council and the [Page] Treasury, to make way for my Lord Cliffora's Greatness, and the Designs of the Cabal. He had been ever since opposite to the French Alliances, and bent upon engaging England in a War with that Crown, and assistance of the Confederates; and was now extremely dissatisfied with the conclusion of the Peace, and with the Ministry, that he thought either assisted, or at least might have prevented it; and in these dispositions he was like to be follow'd by the best and soberest part of the House of Commons. For my Lord Treasurer and Lord Chamberlain, I found them two most admirable Emblems of the true, and so much admir'd Felicity of Ministers of State: The last, notwithstanding the greatest skill of Court, and the best turns of Wit in particular Conversation that I have known there, and the great Figure he made in the First Part of these Memoirs, [Page] was now grown out of all Credit and Confidence with the King, the Duke, and Prince of Orange, and thereby forc'd to support himself by Intrigues with the persons most discontented against my Lord Treasurer's Ministry, whose Greatness he so much envy'd, and who was yet at this time in much worse condition than himself, tho not so sensible of it; for he had been very ill with the late Parliament upon account of Transactions with France, which tho He had not approved, yet He durst not defend Himself from the imputation, for fear of exposing his Master. He was hated by the French Ambassador, for endeavouring (as he thought) to engage the King in a War with France. He was in danger of being pursued by his Enemies next Parliament for having (as they pretended) made the Peace, and endeavoured to stifle the Plot; and yet I found [Page] within a Fortnight after I arrived, that he sat very loose with the King his Master, who told me several reasons of that change, whereof one was, his having brought the business of the Plot into the Parliament against his absolute Command; and to compleat the happy and envied state of this Chief Minister, the Dutchess of Portsmouth and Earl of Sunderland were joined with the Duke of Monmouth and Earl of Shaftsbury in the design of his ruin. What a Game so embroyled and play'd on all sides with so much heat and passion, was like to end in, no man could tell; But I, that never had any thing so much at heart as the Union of my Countrey, which I thought the only way to its greatness and felicity, was very unwilling to have any part in the Divisions of it, the deplorable effects whereof I had been too much acquainted with in the [Page] Stories of Athens and Rome, as well as of England and France; and for this reason, tho I was very much pressed to enter upon the Secretary's Office immediately after my arrival, yet I delay'd it, by representing to His Majesty how necessary it was for him to have one of the Secretaries in the House of Commons, (where it had been usual to have them both) and that consequently it was very unfit for me to enter upon that Office before I got into the House, which was attempted, and failed: But how long this excuse lasted, and how it was succeeded by many new and various accidents, and how I was prevailed with by the King to have the Part I had afterwards in a new Constitution of Councel; and how after almost two years unsuccessful endeavours at some Union, or at least some allay of the heats and distempers between the King and His Parliaments, [Page] I took the resolution of having no more to do with Affairs of State, will be the Subject of a Third Part of these Memoirs.

Information about this book

Title statement

Memoirs of what past in Christendom, from the war begun 1672 to the peace concluded 1679Selections. 1692

Temple, William, Sir, 1628-1699.

Edition statement

1692

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2005-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A64312

ID [STC]

Wing T642

ID [STC]

ESTC R203003

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

13073299

ID [OCLC]

ocm 13073299

ID [VID]

97176

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Early English books online.

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A64312)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 97176)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 401:7)

Source

— Memoirs of what past in Christendom, from the war begun 1672 to the peace concluded 1679, Selections. 1692, Temple, William, Sir, 1628-1699.. The second edition..

Extent

[10], 529 p.

Printed by R.R. for Ric. Chiswell ...,. London :: 1692.. (Attributed to William Temple. Cf. BM.) (Errors in pagination.) (Reproduction of original in Library of Congress.)

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