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

CHAP. III. (Book 3)

THE Prince, like a hasty Lover, came Post from Har∣wich

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 Con∣versation, 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

shockt my Lord Arlington and his Friends, yet it could not be won∣dred 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 Dis∣courses 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 ac∣cordingly done.

The Prince upon his arrival in Town, and sight of the Princess,

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 imme∣diately 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

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 con∣tinued 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 de∣sired 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 be∣tween them, considering the ill humour of so many of his Subjects upon our late measures with

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 ex∣amples) 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 im∣mediatly 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,

which he could at first hardly be∣lieve, 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 ac∣count 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, be∣fore 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 Am∣bassador 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

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 man∣ner 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 Trea∣surer and I were admitted. The Prince insisted hard upon the Strength and Enlargement of a Frontier on both sides of Flanders,

without which France, he said, would end his War with the View of beginning another, and car∣rying 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 ad∣vantage 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;

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 Em∣perour 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, some∣times Love, sometimes Building; but that I was of the Prince's Opi∣nion, 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

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 depen∣dance, 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 him∣self 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

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, Valen∣ciennes, 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

instructed to enter into no Rea∣sonings 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 de∣bate 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 unwel∣come 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.

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 there∣fore 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

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 Hol∣land, 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

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, espe∣cially Tournay, upon whose Forti∣fications 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

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 re∣solution, and the Treaty of it began to draw out into Messages and Re∣turns 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 Procla∣mation anticipated soon after my Lord Duras's return, tho' a thing something unusual, and a counte∣nance made as if the King resolv'd to enter into the War; for which the Parliament seem'd impatient,

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 Confede∣rates, in case of no direct and im∣mediate 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 Trip∣ple-Allliance

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 impor∣tance 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 inconve∣nient to me; and desir'd I might propose who should be sent with the Treaty. I made my acknowledg∣ments 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

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 re∣fusal.

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 Fron∣tier, 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 Am∣sterdam, by raising Jealousies of the measures taken between the King and Prince upon the Marriage, as dangerous to the Liberties of Hol∣land, and making it there believed,

That by the Match, the King and Duke had drawn over the Prince wholly into their Interests or Sen∣timents: 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 incu∣rable Jealousie of our Court, and thereupon not that Confidence of the Prince that he deserved.

There were two ruling Burgo∣masters 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, Learn∣ing,

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 Con∣versation, 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;* 1.1 and that it was some disease or decay of Spirits that hindred it. The other, That a man was a Coyon,* 1.2 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;

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 conversa∣tion.* 1.3 This was the Cha∣racter 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, with∣out 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 ir∣reconcileable, till the French In∣struments at this time with great Art and Industry made up the

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 seven∣teen Years, was grown into two known Factions, which were cal∣led, 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

in more Credit upon the Corrup∣tion 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 when∣ever 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 Bran∣denburgh, after a vigorous Resi∣stance,

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 Con∣ditions 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,

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 En∣deavours 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 fur∣nish'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 be∣tween 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,

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 Even∣ing 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

Master's Order; wherein he re∣presented 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 conse∣quently not concerned. That Monsieur Louvoy desired the Am∣bassador 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. Mon∣tague added, That it was desired this Affair should be treated only between them two, and not com∣municated to either of the Secreta∣ries of State. My Lord Treasurer read the Letter to me, and I said,

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 con∣clusion, 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 where∣of would be so fatal to the Trade of Holland, especially Amsterdam. Hereupon Mr. Godolphin was dispatched immediately into Hol∣land, to bring the last and surest

Account he could get of the resolu∣tions 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 Am∣bassador began to change his Lan∣guage, who had ever before pre∣tended, 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 Spani∣ards, than their Allies the Dutch were content with.

I was then pressed by the King and Lord Treasurer to go into Hol∣land to know their final Resolu∣tions, whether they would yet go on with the War, in case his Ma∣jesty should go into it; But I ex∣cused my self, knowing the Dutch were too much prest by so near ap∣proaches 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 Par∣liament for the War, and then send them word in Holland, he was rea∣dy to declare it in case they would pursue it; and upon this Message, I knew the Dutch so well as to be∣lieve they would do it, and keep close to their late Alliance with his Majesty. This the King was un∣willing 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.

During these Negotiations, and since the Money given by the Par∣liament, 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 as∣sured me of the King's Resolution being at length fixed to go into the War, and desired me to pre∣pare what the King was to say to the Parliament upon this occasion, which I did; When I carried it

to my Lord Treasurer, I met there Letters from Mr. Hyde and Godolphin, That Holland absolute∣ly 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 Con∣ditions: 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 pro∣cur'd him to be sent over on pur∣pose to satisfie himself (and thereby his Complices for the Peace) that the King's intentions were deter∣mined to enter into the War,

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 con∣tinu'd it: but His Majesty's Pro∣ceedings 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 immedi∣ately

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 sup∣port it; when an unlucky peevish Vote, mov'd by Sir T—C— in spight to my Lord Treasurer, pas∣sed the House of Commons, That no Msney should be given, till satis∣faction 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

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 engag∣ing 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 pre∣sent 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

the War, or even of his Debts, but that they would not do it during my Lord Treasures Mi∣nistry. 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

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 Ambassa∣dor, who had Orders to that pur∣pose. 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 Ambassa∣dor was much disappointed, and pressed me all he could; but I de∣fended 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

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 begin∣ning 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 con∣ceived of their intentions in pressing him to enter upon a War; yet notwithstanding all this, he had

(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 pro∣posed 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,

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

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 disposi∣tions 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

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 expecta∣tion 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 prepa∣rations to assist them; for no man doubted that the abandoning of Sicily was wholly owing to the ap∣prehensions in France of a War with England, which they thought would give them but too much occasion for imploying of their

Forces; and indeed the eyes and hopes of all the Confederates were now turned so wholly upon En∣gland 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 Ni∣meguen 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 con∣tinued there between the French Ambassadors, and Monsieur Bever∣ning, 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

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,

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 Endea∣vours 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

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 Con∣ditions, but would never endure to have them imposed as from a Conqueror; and would venture all, rather than accept them; es∣pecially those for the Duke of Lorain, whose case was the worst treated, tho' the most favoured in appearance by all the Confe∣derates, 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

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 Confede∣rates, 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 Restitu∣tion; 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.

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 Inten∣tions upon this Point. The French Ambassadors made no dif∣ficulty 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 Ac∣count 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 Rati∣fication of the Treaty. The French

Ambassadors were firm on t'other side, and said, Their Orders were positive to insist upon the Restitu∣tion of Sweden. The States here∣upon 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 diffi∣cult at first to believe it; but send∣ing 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

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 Com∣mittee, 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 Mo∣narchy; and that none but His Majesty could hinder them from it, in the Posture that Christendom stood. All the Lords of the Com∣mittee agreed with so general a con∣currence, that it was hard to ima∣gin 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 sincere∣ness and constancy of his resolution to pursue this Measure with the ut∣most

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. Godol∣phin, who had been so lately in Holland, told me, That if I brought the States to the Treaty His Ma∣jesty 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

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 Pro∣vinces.

To make way for this Negotia∣tion, 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 Burgo∣masters who had promoted the Peace, or rather precipitated it, upon the French Conditions. After Dinner we entred into long Con∣ferences, 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

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 Meet∣ing, 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 en∣lightned by the late refusal of deli∣vering 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 Ma∣jesty's

Proposition upon this Con∣juncture. 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 Valke∣neer, 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

and Fortunes of the Prince of O∣range, 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

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 con∣sidered 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

small accidents the greatest Coun∣sels and Revolutions turn, which was never more proved than by the course and event of this Af∣fair.

After the Treaty concluded and signified to France, all the Arts that could be, were on that side im∣ployed 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 Ma∣jesty, 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

Swedish Court as to procure a Commission (or Credence at least) for a certain petty Agency in En∣gland. At London he had devoted himself wholly to Monsieur Barillon the French Ambassador, tho' pre∣tending 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 immediate∣ly 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 Christen∣dom, 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 Am∣bassadors that after this Peace His

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, be∣fore I had mentioned it to any man; and that De Cros had gone about most industriously to the Deputies of the several Towns, and ac∣quainted 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

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 mor∣ning; 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. How∣ever 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

any such Council, that before De Cros's arrival at the Hague, the Swedish Ambassadors at Nimeguen had made the very same Decla∣ration 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 En∣gland with Holland, and conse∣quently the rest of the Confede∣rates. I found all Men there per∣swaded, that the Peace would not succeed; and indeed all appearances were against it. The French Am∣bassadors had given many Reasons, in a formal sort of Manifesto, to the Dutch, why the King, their

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 diffi∣culty 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

evacuate the Towns. After this, the French Ambassador had de∣clared 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 there∣upon esteemed desperate; and the more so, because, at the same

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 them∣selves 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 conjun∣ction 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 dige∣sted.

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, Mon∣sieur 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 Hol∣land, 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 mor∣ning. 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,

but ended in agreement upon all the Points, both of Peace and Com∣merce, between France and Hol∣land, 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 agree∣ment with the Dutch Ambassadors upon all Points in difference be∣tween 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

particular One; and therefore desired them to excuse us from ha∣ving any part in this Conclusion be∣tween 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 Com∣munication 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 some∣thing irresolute, and not very well agreed between the two Am∣bassadors themselves. Monsieur Beverning complained of the uncer∣tainty of our Conduct in England, and the incurable Jealousies that De Cros's Journey had raised in Hol∣land. 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

that they must Sign the Peace upon the offers made by the French to eva∣cuate 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 Ar∣rival 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 evacua∣tion 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

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 Or∣ders 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

had ended in the conclusion of the Peace; and thereby rendred the late Treaty of no farther use; that the ratification seemed now as un∣necessary as it had been at first unre∣solved at our Court, and un∣expected from us by the Dutch: However, I went away immedi∣ately upon this Express, and next day after my arrival at the Hague, made an exchange of the Ratifica∣tions, according to the Orders I had received.

I found the Pensioner, and seve∣ral 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 Am∣bassadors to evacuate the Towns, before he had acquainted the States with it, and received new Orders upon it. They said, his Instru∣ctions could not warrant him; they talked of calling him in question for it, and of disavowing what he

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 Neigh∣bours, either of War or Peace. But others of the Deputies, espe∣cially those of Amsterdam, declared their satisfaction in this conclusion at Nimeguen; argued, that the weakness of their Confederates, especially Spain, and the unstead∣diness or irresolution of England, had made the Peace of absolute ne∣cessity 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 sur∣prizing, and the time so critical, that the delay of sending to the

Hague must of necessity have en∣gaged the States in their obliga∣tions of the late Treaty with En∣gland, 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, espe∣cially 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 in∣tended to continue the War, if England should fall with such weight into the scale of the Confe∣derates, as the force of that King∣dom, and humour of the People would have given to such a Con∣junction; and consequently, that His Majesty might have prescribed what Terms He pleased of the

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; be∣sides the terrour of a Conjuction between our Naval Forces and the Dutch, and of descents upon their Coasts, with the dangerous in∣fluences that might make upon the Discontents of their People. They wisely foresaw another Conse∣quence of our falling into this Con∣federacy, 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 Consump∣tion made by so many neighbour∣ing Countries, of so many and rich Commodities, as the Native Soil and Climate, or ingenuity of the

People produces in France; In case this War had gone on, with En∣gland 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 North∣ward 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 weak∣ness 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

the Strength and Force of that Nation. This they very prudently foresaw, and never intended to venture; but having reason to ap∣prehend it from the Prince of O∣range's Match in England, they took it without Resentment; nay, improved it rather into new Kind∣ness than Quarrel, making use of the King's good Nature to engage him in a Prorogation of the Parlia∣ment immediately after; which made it appear both at home and abroad, that they had still the As∣cendant 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 Expostula∣tions of Kindness, and so into Treaty. During this Amusement of our Court, they plyed their business in Holland; yet with grea∣ter Art and Industry, poysoned the People there with Jealousies of the Prince's Match in England, and

of Designs from both upon their Liberties, by a long and unne∣cessary Continuance of the War. They united the Factions in Am∣sterdam upon the sente of a Peace, and upon their own Conditions, to avoid those that had been Pro∣posed by His Majesty. When they had gained their Point with the se∣veral 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 par∣ticular 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 unsatis∣fied with the fluctuation of our

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 suc∣ceeding in it. Nor had they reason to believe, either our Court or Hol∣land would have resented it to that degree they did, or that they could have fallen into such close and sud∣den measures, and with such con∣fidence 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 condescen∣tions to the States, unusual with that Crown, even to the greatest Kings. They poysoned it by the Dispatch

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 endea∣vours 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 morn∣ing. 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

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 Ex∣pence 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 ad∣mirable in the whole course of this Affair, and the Italian Proverb to continue true,* 1.4 Che gle Francesi pazzi sono morti. On the contrary, our Councils

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 Mini∣sters 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 ap∣peared to others much more myste∣rious than indeed they were; till a new and formidable Engin begin∣ning to appear upon the Stage, made the Court fall into an absolute

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 Com∣mands 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

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 ex∣changing 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,

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 re∣solution and vigour that at first sur∣prized them, and, after an obstinate and bloody Fight, so disorder'd them, that tho' the Night pre∣vented the end of this Action, yet it was generally concluded, That if he had been at liberty next day

to pursue it with seven or eight thousand English that were ready to joyn his Army, he must in all ap∣pearance not only have relieved Mons, but made such an impression into France as had been often de∣signed, 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 Lutzen∣burgh. After Compliments passed on both sides, That Duke desir'd to see the Prince, which was a∣greed 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

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 de∣sperate 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 Him∣self 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 inter∣cepted 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. Whe∣there

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 great∣er Glory, nor with greater Spight, to see such a mighty Occasion wrested out of his hand by the sud∣den and unexpected signing of the Peace, which he had assur'd him∣self the States would not have consented to without the Spa∣niards. Yet upon the certain News of it, he drew back his Army, re∣turned to the Hague, and left the States to pursue their own paces in order to finishing the Treaty be∣tween France and Spain, wherein the Dutch Embassadors at Nime∣guen 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,

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 re∣member 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,

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 Amster∣dam, I was every day in Conver∣sation 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 Ingre∣dients, 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

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

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,* 1.5 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,

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 bot∣tom of the Stairs, pull'd off his Shoes, put him on a pair of Slip∣pers that stood there, and all this without saying a word; but when she had done, told him, He might

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 re∣membrance 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 Con∣federates, especially those of Den∣mark 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 In∣terest. That what was left the Spaniards in Flanders by those

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 Confede∣racy by these separate Treaties, and so leave the Spaniards aban∣doned 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 Me∣diation, by a Pretension raised in France upon the County of Beau∣mont, 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

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 Ni∣meguen 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 Am∣bassadors had signed, and whether at least before the Treaty of Spain should be agreed.

Whilst the minds of men were

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, with∣out 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

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 a∣gainst 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 Obli∣gations 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

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 conti∣nue 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 recom∣mended 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

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 car∣ried 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

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,* 1.6 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 Parlia∣ment, which seemed to rise chiefly from the Peace, His Majesty re∣solved to give them the satisfaction

they had so long desired, of entring into the War, which is all the ac∣count 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 Pen∣sioner 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. How∣ever, while this Affair continued in agitation, during Mr. Hyde's stay at

the Hague, all appearances looked very different from the opinion of the Prince and Pensioner, who alone had so full a grasp of the busi∣ness in Holland, as to make a true judgment what the general senti∣ments 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; par∣ticularly, in having stipulated, that the States should give their Gua∣ranty 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

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 Ac∣cusers expected as little from En∣gland 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. What∣ever 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

observed to proceed in the Nego∣tiations there, with more flegm and caution than was natural to his Temper, and less show of par∣tiality 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 Hol∣land 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 Nime∣guen, 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

War by the violent dispositions which now appeared in England, as well as in the Confederates to continue it. The Spanish Ambas∣sadors 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 Forti∣fications 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 up∣on 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

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 Innova∣tions 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 mat∣ters 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;

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 pra∣ctising 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 Acti∣ons of the East-India Company are often, and in a great measure influ∣enced.

But France thought the Con∣juncture 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

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 Am∣bassadors 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 them∣selves.

This was a pace of so much con∣fidence 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

the effect designed by it. The several Towns and Provinces pro∣ceeded with a general Concurrence to the Ratifications of the Peace, that they might lie ready in their Ambassadors hands, to be ex∣changed 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 exchang∣ed 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

between the two Crowns signed at their House, and took great care by the choice and disposition of the Room where it was per∣formed, to avoid all punctilio's about Place, that might arise be∣tween 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 En∣gland 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

was much harder to foresee the end of it.

After the Peace of Spain signed, and of Holland ratified, tho' the Am∣bassadors of the Emperour at Nime∣guen were sullen, and those of Den∣mark 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 be∣tween France and Denmark, and others between that Crown and Brandenburgh, by Monsieur Des∣pense,

an old servant of the Elector, but Subject of France. On the other side, France made great Prepara∣tions 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

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

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 Rati∣fications of Spain were likewise deferred by concert, as was sup∣posed, 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 be∣tween

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 Hol∣land the more eager upon urging the Peace to a general Issue; and France making a wise use of so favourable a Conjuncture, pres∣sed the Empire not only by the Threats and Preparations of a sud∣den Invasion, but also by con∣fining their Offers of the Peace to certain days, and raising much higher Demands, if those should expire before the Emperor's Ac∣ceptance.

All these Circumstances impro∣ved by the diligence and abilities of the Dutch Ambassadors at Nime∣guen, at length determined the House of Austria to run the Ship ashore, whatever came on't ra∣ther 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 ar∣rived, and after the Winter far spent in fruitless Contests by the Imperial Ambassadors, and more fruitless hopes from England, by the Spaniards, and other Confe∣derates; Sir Lionel Jenkins gave notice both to the Court and to me, that he looked upon the Treaty be∣tween the Emperor and France, to be as good as concluded; and soon after I received His Majesty's Com∣mands to go immediately away from the Hague to Nimeguen; and there assist as a Mediator at the

signing of the Peace which then ap∣peared to be General.

I never obeyed the King so un∣willingly in my life, both upon account of an Errand so unneces∣sary, 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 Me∣mory, 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

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 con∣fident 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 con∣sented 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

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 con∣cluded; and ready to sign, as Sir Lionel believed; yet the Impe∣rialists 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 abso∣lutely 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

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 him∣self 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 dismem∣bred 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

his Countrey, contrary to the direct and repeated Engagements of the Confederates, and the In∣tentions 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 deter∣mined against us, which till this time, had always remained in su∣spence.

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

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' Ai∣rain.

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 Dis∣course 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

Age and Reign. I could not but mention it, because I thought the Interpretation ingeniously found out, and applied, having other∣wise 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 with∣out 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

whom the Prince was said to de∣scend. 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 re∣turn'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

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 Ger∣many; yet upon the march of the French Troops into the Branden∣burgh 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

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 Preten∣sions of Dependences, and by the droit de bien∣seance,* 1.7 which they pursu'd with such imperious Methods, both against the Empire and the Spaniardt, as render'd their Acqui∣sitions 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 Enter∣prises I leave to some others Obser∣vations.

Very soon after my Arrival at the Hague, the King sent me

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 Trea∣surer writ to me to the same pur∣pose, 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 Daugh∣ter. 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?

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 Na∣tural Body, and as little to be at∣tempted 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

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 Trea∣surer, 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 Sun∣derland, 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

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 be∣liev'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 con∣fident, 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 con∣trary Winds and Tides, such a

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 Parlia∣ment 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 Al∣liances, 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

the Houses were like to meet: My Lord Shaftsbury, my Lord Essex, and my Lord Hallifax, had struck up with the Duke of Mon∣mouth, resolving to make use of His Credit with the King, and to support it by Theirs in the Parlia∣ment; 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, endea∣vouring 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

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 ex∣tremely dissatisfied with the con∣clusion of the Peace, and with the Ministry, that he thought either assisted, or at least might have prevented it; and in these dispo∣sitions 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 Me∣moirs,

was now grown out of all Credit and Confidence with the King, the Duke, and Prince of Orange, and thereby forc'd to sup∣port himself by Intrigues with the persons most discontented against my Lord Treasurer's Ministry, whose Greatness he so much en∣vy'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 Parlia∣ment upon account of Transactions with France, which tho He had not approved, yet He durst not defend Himself from the imputa∣tion, for fear of exposing his Master. He was hated by the French Ambassador, for endeavour∣ing (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

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 ab∣solute 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 Shafts∣bury 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

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 after∣wards 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 Par∣liaments,

I took the resolution of having no more to do with Affairs of State, will be the Sub∣ject of a Third Part of these Me∣moirs.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Of a sound mind.
• * 1.2

  A sorry wight.
• * 1.3

  That he had still life for one half hour of Conversa∣tion.
• * 1.4

  The French Fools are dead.
• * 1.5

  An easie Governess.
• * 1.6

  Unseason∣ably.
• * 1.7

  Right of Decency.