A letter from a trooper in Flanders to his comrade shewing that Luxemburg is a witch, and deals with the Devil. Sergeant, John, 1622-1707. 1695 Approx. 38 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 9 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2004-08 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A59227 Wing S2574 ESTC R32640 12739688 ocm 12739688 93091 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A59227) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 93091) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1536:13) A letter from a trooper in Flanders to his comrade shewing that Luxemburg is a witch, and deals with the Devil. Sergeant, John, 1622-1707. 16 p. [s.n.], London printed : MDCXCV [1695] Caption title. Attributed by Wing and NUC pre-1956 imprints to Sergeant. Imprint from colophon. Reproduction of original in the Harvard University Library Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Luxembourg, François-Henri de Montmorency, -- duc de, 1628-1695. Grand Alliance, War of the, 1689-1697. Great Britain -- History -- William and Mary, 1689-1702. 2004-04 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2004-04 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2004-05 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2004-05 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A LETTER FROM A TROOPER In Flanders , to his Comerade : SHEWING , That Luxemburg is a Witch , and deals with the Devil . Honest TOM , I Know thou dost remember , that while thou wast amongst us , Things went but untowardly ; and that having mighty Forces , enough one would have thought to have conquer'd the World , we made nothing on 't , but were still on the losing hand : And since thy leaving us , Things have gone on after the same Rate . We are told a Fellow call'd an Observator should say , That though we have a brave Army , yet we want Conduct . But I would have him to know , That we have as good Conduct as any is under the Copes of Heaven . What the Devil then is the Matter ? Or how come these Things about ? I have been often Musing what the Matter should be ; and at last I have found it out . In plain English , Tom , we have been bewitch'd . This damn'd Rogue Luxemburg , this crooked urchinly Rogue , and the Devil together , have bewitch'd us all this while . As for the Dauphin , who commanded the French last Summer , or at least had the Name of it , I suspect him not : For we all know that the Dauphin is no Conjurer . But we have been bewitch'd as sure as I am here ; and none but Luxemburg could thus bewitch us . Thou knowest , Tom , that at the beginning , we talk'd of nothing less than Marching into France , and Carrying the War into France . And we had Forces sufficient for that purpose , both then , and many times since ; the French not daring to fight us . If they had , we should have beaten them to Clouts . By our carrying the War thus forward , we should have lived upon the Enemy ; and should have tumbled in Free Quarter , and Contributions , and Plunder . But instead of this , we have kept still in Flanders ; lying heavy upon it , and plainly devouring it . Nor have we ever had our Foot upon French Ground . So that I conclude we have been bewitch'd ; and that a Spell hath been laid before us , which we had not the Power to pass over . I meant , by French Ground , not only their own Country of France , but their Conquests also ; or generally , the French Quarters . And I say again , That we have not been in the French Quarters ever since this War ; that is , not with our main Army . For I confess Duke Wirtenburg with a Detachment , and Count Thian with a Party , have been in those Quarters ; though their Stay and their Reign were very short . Marry your Gazette did publish . That our main Army ( upon our late March to Rouselaer , where we encamp'd so long to so little purpose ) was in the Enemies Country . But that 's a damn'd Lye. For the Enemies Country ( we all know ) is that which is beyond , and within their Frontier Garisons : Whereas this Place is on this side their Frontier , and between their Frontier and ours ; and pays Contribution to us , as well as to them . So , I remember , three Years ago , when our Army had passed the Sambre , and was got as far as Beaumont , Fools gave out that we were in the Enemies Quarters . But we were but Nine or Ten Miles from Charleroy , which was then Ours , and within the Contribution of that Garison . And the like may be said of Walcourt , where we had been before that time . Thou seest now , that we can come near the Enemies Country ; though even That doth seldom happen : But we can't get into it , for the Heart-blood of us . Though we desire it above all Things ; and though we want neither Strength , nor Courage , nor Conduct . And therefore thou may'st be satisfied , as well as I , That the Devil has hinder'd us , and that we have been bewitch'd . The French run every foot into Our Country , and why should not ▪ We do the like into Theirs ? Are we affraid of an Action of Trespass ? We had once Namur , Charleroy , and Mons , all abreast ; and it was a noble Frontier . But the French made nothing to pass through this Frontier , and to lie in the heart of our Country , between those Places and Brussels ; where they were as safe as a Thief in a Mill. Not a Quarter ever beaten up , or so much as attempted . And this they would do , even when they were forced to avoid fighting , our Army being stronger than theirs . Tom , we have been invaded Year after Year , by an Enemy that durst not fight us : But whether this could be done without Witchcraft , I leave Thee to judge . And I know thou art a great Judg in these Matters : We have many great Officers , that cannot judge half so well . Prethee Tom give me leave , for otherwise I must take it , to add one Word more . I say then , That by these Doings poor Flanders hath been sadly burden'd , being made the perpetual Seat of War : When in the mean time the French Quarters lie fresh and untoucht . And this hath made them so Rampant as they are . But if we had lain upon their Country as long as they have done upon ours , they would have been in a very bare and low Condition . Ay but , thou'lt say , We cannot fall into the French Quarters , because of their Lines . Very good . And these Lines shew yet more : plainly , That there is Witchcraft in the Case : For they could never be defended without the help of the Devil . They reach from Dunkirk upon the Sea , to Pont Espiers upon the River Scheld ; which is near Forty English Miles . From whence to Conde ( along that River , which here serves for a Line ) is near Twenty Miles more . And from Conde to Namur , it is almost Fifty Miles . Now I leave thee to consider , whether Lines of this length could be defended without Witchery . And herein lies the Witchery , That we have not the Power to attempt them . For when we did attempt them , ( which we have done but twice , and that was under Wirtemberg and Thian , ) we broak through them with Ease . Thou seest , by what I have written , That I am very fond of getting into the Enemies Country . Others are rather for besieging and taking their Frontier Towns. And so am I , when we are able to do it . But this requires a great Odds in Power : One Army for the Sieges , and another to confront the Enemy . Whereas we may march into their Country , when ever we dare fight . What , go beyond their Frontier Garisons ? Ay , beyond them . Why should not We do it as well as the French ? And Garisons signify nothing against a Commanding Army ; no more than so many Crows Nests . An Army that dares Fight , and yet dares not March into the Enemies Country , are the veriest Buzzards and Owls that ever were hatch'd . Unless they are bewitch'd , as We plainly have been . For I would have thee , and all Men to know , and thou dost know , that We are neither Owls nor Buzzards . I will now tell thee in particular of some of Luxemburg's Tricks : That thou may'st see what a Rogue he is , and that he is the Rogue that has bewitch'd us . One of his first Pranks , after he came in play , was at Fleury : where I saw plainly , who he dealt with . He lay with his Army beyond the Sambre ; and Prince Waldeck was advancing towards him in fair Order . What does Luxemburg now , but get Boufflers to him ( by the help of the Devil ) with his Army from a far Country : And Prince Waldeck knew no more on 't than the Pope of Rome . In the twinkling of an Eye , abundance of Bridges were thrown over the River , by the same help I warrant : And they catch'd poor Waldeck in Fleury Plains , just as the Devil had contriv'd it . Would'st know what came on 't ? They gave us a damnable Ruffle , to say no worse . I come now to Mons ; which Place we had never lost by a Winter Siege , but that we were bewitch'd there twice over . First , the Devil was in it , that when we saw vast Preparations for a Siege , and that in all likelihood Mons was aim'd at ; we did not put into it one Man the more , though Thousands lay Quartered in Flanders . So that the Place was lost for want of Men. For the Garison was not Five thousand strong , when the Place required Ten thousand . Secondly , the Town being yet in Condition to hold out several Days , by Luxemburg's means the Devil possessed the Priests , and set them in a Mutiny ; and they forced the Governour to surrender . When at the same time we were just Marching to their Relief . Mons being lost , we fell to fortifying of Hell ; which thou knowest is within Seven Miles of Brussels . And we had laboured several Weeks upon it . But Luxemburg coming across the Country , we were fain to out run our new Fortress . For , as the Devil would have it , there were but Two thousand Men in it , and no Cannon . We thought the Loss not so great , as the Disgrace and the Baffle . If Luxemburg could have kept this Town , it had been a sharp Thorn in our Sides , lying so near Brussels . But our Army grew soon so strong , that he durst not do it . And now he declined Fighting , and mainly fortified his Camp. Whereupon we fairly left him , and marched away directly for France ; to the great Joy of the whole Army , who long'd to be there . And Luxemburg soon followed ; Marching along beside us , and Coasting us at a distance . We , in our March , were joyn'd by several Thousands ; so that our Army was increased to Ninety thousand Men , the French being not near so many . And now we were full of Hopes , and Resolution , and Courage ; and we hugg'd our selves with the Thoughts of a brave Invasion . But in the Nick , this cursed Rogue Luxemburg , fell to his Charms and Spells , and confounded all . Methinks I see the Devil sitting upon his Crump Shoulder , and beckning to us , and saying ; Come this way , come this way , turn your Noses this way . And as sure as thou art alive , Tom , we stop'd our March into France , and turned our Noses upon Luxemburg . And we Encamp'd by him with our mighty Army a good part of the Summer ; doing no kind of Thing but eat up our own Country . Didst thou not read News in the Gazette , Week after Week , From his Majesties Camp at Gemblours , and from the Royal Camp at Gemblours ? There it was that we Lay , just behind Charleroy and Namur , which then were ours ; while the French Army lay advanced before Mons. They said , we staid for our heavy Cannon to come by Water from Mastricht ; which were long a coming . For the Devil dryed up the Maese River , and laid Sands in our way , so that the Boats could not pass ; and we were bewitch'd all over . At last our Cannon came up , and we did nothing with them . However we afterwards marched on , and passed the Sambre . But we never got Ten Miles beyond it , nor out of our own Contribution : Nor could we ever reach the French Quarters ; though they lay as open to us , as Hartfordshire does to Middlesex . For then they had no Lines thereabouts . But our stay was not long in these Parts : For within a while we Marched back into Flanders , and Luxemburg after us ; where we passed the rest of the Campaigne . All this while our Noble King was with us ; who is the bravest General in Christendom . He spares for no Pains , and he wants no Brains , and he is Metal to the Back . Tom , it would do thee good to serve under such a General . But , at the end of the Year , his Majesty left us , and Prince Waldeck commanded . And then it was that Luxemburg play'd us another Trick , near a Town called Leuze , in a damn'd thick Fogg , which the Devil had raised for him ; he was with us , and upon us , before we were in the least aware of him . I tell thee , Tom , we dreamed not on him , till he was almost within Pistol shot . And if we had not fought like Devils , Luxemburg's Devil had beaten us to pieces . But fighting as we did , it proved but a Brush , or a Basting . Here the Devil did as much for Luxemburg , as could be expected at his hands . For he raised one Mist in the Air , and cast another over Some-body's Brains : Or else we should have had our Scouts abroad , knowing that the Enemy was not far from us . The Siege of Namur follows next in Order : Where we were bewitch'd most confoundedly . It was a brave Town , and of mighty Importance ; and we brought a brave Army to relieve it ; and our Men were in high Courage , and would have sought Blood up to the Ears , and were mad to be at it ; making no question but to beat the French to dirt . Then , as to Conduct , I say it again , We have as good as any in the World : But yet we suffered this Town to be taken before our Faces , without striking a Stroke ; or so much as firing a Musquet . And some think , That we lost more Men by lying still , and by the Diseases it occasioned , than we should have done if we had fought every Day . Now can any Man imagine that these Things could be , if the Devil had not bewitch'd us ? If the Relief was possible , why did we not attempt it ? If it was impossible , why did we not march away , and make a Diversion ? But We could neither Fall on , nor March off ; but were perfectly inchanted . And who should do it , but that crooked Urchin , whom I have so often mentioned ? The French King was here himself ; who is likewise much suspected to deal in the Black Art. But , for my part , I am fully satisfied , That 't was Luxemburg , and his Devils , that brought these Things about . It must be confessed , that the French did something out-number us ; but we feared them not . And their Army lay round a great City ; their inner Line being without Cannon shot , as it must be : So that their Quarters extended very wide , and took up a mighty Compass : Nor had they any Circumvallation , as they called it ; only their Quarters were barricadoed , and some Works thrown up here and there . Also the Maes and the Sambre meeting at Namur , those two Rivers run through and divided their Quarters . So that part of their Men lay on one side the Sambre , and part on the other , and part lay beyond the Maes . And we having Huy upon the Maes , and Charleroy upon the Sambre , we might have marched upon them on either side of either River . And it had been hard , if some where or other we could not beat them up . However we might have tryed what we could do : but the Devil was in it , we never made a tryal . Whereas though we had failed in the Attempt , and been soundly banged with the Loss of Ten or Twenty thousand Men ; no Body would have blamed us , and our very Loss had been Glorious . But to be Lookers on , was such a Thing ; it makes me mad to think on it . Though an Observator says , That we got more Honour by our mighty Attempts to relieve the Town , than the French did by taking it . But after Namur was lost , we fell to fighting like mad ; though it would have been better , one would have thought , to have done so before . Had we ventured half so freely before , as we did after , Namur might have been Ours at this day . But as to the Fight we had after , ( it is called the Battel of Steenkirk , and thou hast heard much of it ) I 'll tell thee how it was . The French King , after he had taken Namur , was gone to Paris ; and a good part of his Army was sent towards Germany ; and our Army was much increased . So that the French Army , left in Flanders with Luxemburg , was now clearly the weaker . Yet , for all that , he had the Impudence to march into our Country , and there continue . But , for fear of the worst , he encamped in a Ground of great Advantage , which he also strongly fortified . Whereupon we took a Resolution to fall upon him in his Camp. And we begun most bravely . Ten Battalions of Ours , who had the Van , beat Thirty French Battalions out of their Ground ; and chased them from Hedg to Hedg , and from one Work to another ; and we made them out-run their Cannon . We shewed what Rogues we could make of the French , if we had them fairly before us . And now was Luxemburg hard put to it : He scarce had time to say a short Prayer to the Devil . Good Devil , quoth he , help me out at this dead Lift , or I am undone for ever . And the Devil did help him to some purpose . For he so brought it about , that our Men were not seconded : By which means we were beaten off with great Loss , ( still Fighting stoutly ) and Luxemburg scaped a Scouring . For had our main Body secon●ed our Van , he had certainly been quite Routed . Some said , That our main Body could not come up , because of the bad Ground . But why could they not march the same Way , and upon the same Ground , that the Van had done ? And why did they not follow closer , but lay Lagging some Miles behind ? In short , The Devil was in it , and we were bewitch'd . When this bloody Bout was over ; and our Army recruited and reinforced , we marched to attaque the French Lines . But Luxemburg , by the help of his old Friend the Devil , got thither before us . For we , on our part , saunter'd a great way about , and out of our way , as if Puck had led us ; which I believe he did . However , we then learned , as we had done at Hall before , That the true way to draw the French out of Flanders , is to march into France , or towards it . For they are very tender in this matter : And though they love to be in an Enemies Country , yet they cannot endure that an Enemy should be in theirs . Being bob'd at the Lines , we went with our Commanding Army and encampt at at a Place called Grammen ; which is a good snug Place , within our own Country , and but Five or Six Miles from Gaunt . And here we were tyed by the Leg ( no doubt by Sorcery and Witchcraft , it could be nothing else ) for a great many Weeks ; being not able to move one way or other . But our Army increased to a Hundred thousand Men , while Luxemburg had not half the Number ; a great part of his Army being gon to the Maes under Boufflers , to stave off an Invasion there . Nevertheless we still kept close in our Camp at Grammen : Nor did we budg from it till we went into Winter Quarters . During all which time you had News in the Gazette , From the Royal Camp at Grammen . But what could we have done , had we been disposed to be active ? I answer , That in the first Place we might still have attempted their Lines . Not their Line between the Scheld and the Lys , where Luxemburg lay with his Army ; but their long Line between the Lys and Dunkirk . For this had but an ordinary Guard : And if the French should have drawn their main Army to have defended it , their new and unfinished Fortifications at Courtray , and likewise their Camp near it , would have been in great danger . We found afterward , by Experience , that in all likelihood it would have been no hard Matter to have sorced these Lines . But if it had prov'd hard , and we had been repulsed , we might have marched up the Scheld ; and have endeavoured , by throwing Bridges over it , to have gotten that way into the French Conquests . Tom , I think in my Conscience this River Scheld is enchanted . It is like Styx , the River of Hell ; which none could pass without the help of old Charon . Thou knowest it is but a paltry River , in comparison of other Rivers . A Man ( I had almost said ) may leap over it with a Pike Staff : I am sure that with Five or Six Boats , we might lay a Bridge over it any where . And yet we stand in as much awe of it , as if it were the Rhine , or the Danube ; we dare not so much as attempt to pass it . Though the French Conquests lie entire and untoucht behind it ; at which we might have our Wills , if we durst pass this River . If we must Encamp , why might we not have Encampt upon this River ( getting likewise a Passage over it ) any where above their Lines ? And then the French must quit their Lines , we being behind them . Or if we had made a new Garison , methinks there were the Place . A lusty Garison here , ( I would not have it less than Ten thousand Men ) would maintain it self bravely , by Contributions out of the French Conquests . In such a Garison I should desire to be ; there were some Cut in such a Garison . But suppose we could not get over this River ; must we then lie in our own Country with our Commanding Army ? There was no such Necessity . For we might have gone higher up the Scheld ; and have forced those Lines , ( if they had then any Lines there ) which afterwards Count Thian forced so easily , with a Party of Twelve hundred Men. Which being done , nothing could have hinder'd us from Marching into France , we having such a mighty Power as we had . And if Luxemburg had come in our way , we should have beaten him , with all his Devils . But let us go on . Thou hast heard , I know , That Dixmude and Furnes , which we had fortified at the end of the Campagne , were most famously lost this Winter . We out-run the one , and the other was delivered up after a Siege of some Hours . When these Things were done , Luxemburg was at Paris : But I warrant he had laid his Spells before he went ; for I am very sure he did bewitch us . Was it not a bewitched Thing , that we should fortily these Places for the French ? When base Things are done , and no body in Fault , I conclude there is Witchcraft in the Case : And when no body is Punish'd , I conclude that no body was in Fault . We were much troubled at the Loss of these Places : But some think , That we were more bewitch'd in Fortifying them , than we were in Losing them . Furnes is about Five Miles forward from Newport , ( which is Ours ; ) and Dixmude about Seven sideward . And must we have a Garison at every Seven Miles end ? Why , a small Country , thus Garison'd , would drink up a great Army . And thou knowest , Tom , ( for thou art a cunning Dog , and hast Guts i' thy Brains , ) that when we fortify Places near our own Garisons , they do us little good if we keep them , and great Mischief if the Enemy take them . If we had kept these Two Places , they would not have commanded a Contribution ( more than we had before ) to maintain a Thousand Men ; when at least Five or Six thousand must be in them . I 'll not give a Pin for a Garison , that has not a good Contribution . For the great End of Garisons , let them say what they will , is to command Contributions . Therefore our new Garisons should have been made Twenty or Thirty Miles forward , towards the Enemies Country ; and then they would have Contribution in abundance . Now follows the Campagne of 93. in the Beginning of which the French Monarch was soundly baffled . At that Season , it seems , the Devil was turn'd against him , or at least forsook him . He came upon us with a greater Force than ever ; and we were to be run down forthwith , and all Flanders to be swallowed up . In good earnest , Tom , we were in great danger . But our King Encamp'd so commodiously , and so strongly , and took such Order for the Defence of all Places , that the Monarch was quite gravell'd . Yet if he had not been an arrant Buzzard , or the Devil had not owed him a Shame , he might have left us in our Camp , and have marched up to Brussels , and beyond it , and whither he pleas'd ; and have grazed up the Country as he went , and have put all Brabant under Contribution . Which had put us in a bad Condition to maintain the War : And some Places or other would have fallen into his hands . But instead of doing this , or any Thing else , he sneak'd back to Paris , ( or to Versailles , I care not which ) and all his Court Ladies with him : Whom he had brought to be Spectators of his famous Victories ; and by Report they were no better than they should be . Soon after the Dauphin marched towards Germany , with part of the French Army : Luxemburg being left with the remaining Part , which was still a Force superiour to Ours . And not long after that , the Duke of Wirtemberg was detach'd from our Army to attaque the French Lines . Which Design was carried so secretly , that the Devil himself could not discover it to Luxemburg . The Lines were master'd with little ado , and we got into brave Quarters , and we raised Contributions amain . But then came the Battel of Landen , ( another bloody Bout , ) which hurried us back to our main Army that wanted us . 'Till then we had been free from Witchcraft during that Campaigne : But then Luxemburg bestir'd himself , and conjur'd up all his Devils ; and we were bewitch'd over and over . First , The Devil bewitch'd us to let Huy be so miserably unprovided for defence , the Enemy being so near it . And if we could not defend it , why did we not blow it up ? But it was yielded in two or three Days . Secondly , We were bewitch'd to lie in the Enemies reach , who so much over-power'd us . And thirdly , We were catch'd in a bewitched Ground ; having a River and Morass behind us , which should have been before us . The French came up with us over Night ; and we expected to Retreat that Night , which the Gallants thought dishonourable . But some of our Troop have read Sir Walter Rawleigh , and they tell us that he has a Saying , That 't is more honourable to Retreat by Night , than to be Beaten by Day . But we fought it stoutly ; and the King did bravely above the rest . However it was a bad Business : And it would have been much worse , if Luxemburg ( to our great good Fortune ) had not play'd the Beast , in not pursuing his Advantage . We are come at last to Ninety four , or the Campaigne of last Summer : And thou wilt find by the Story , That the Devil doth still haunt us , and bewitch us . This Year the Dauphin did again Command the French in Chief ; and the old Magician ( thou knowest who I mean ) Commanded again under him . And they presently fell to their old Trade : For the first Thing they did , was to come boring into our Country , where they lay at Rack and Manger . And we suffered this as tamely as we used to do : Wherein thou may'st perceive a Spice of the old Witchery . I confess that the French at first were something too strong for us : But in a short time we were grown stronger than they ; and our Fingers itched to be upon their Jackets . However we were content to forbear , till the Arrival of all our Forces : Which Forces being come , and we being all together , the Sun never shined upon a braver Army . And then we out-number'd the Enemy , by many Thousands , both in Horse and Foot ; and we had better Horses , and better Men , and were every way superiour : So that we made no more of the French Army , than of so many Jack-daws . We being in this glorious Condition , the French , who had lain beside us , then marched in quite beyond us ; and were got between Liege and Mastricht . But we thought them besotted , to give us such an Advantage ; making account that we had them then in a Bag ( if we had but the Grace to shut it , ) and that they could not escape us . For our Army interposing between them and home , ( as we expected we should ) and they having with them all their Baggage and heavy Cannon , they could not get off without fighting ; and then we made no doubt but we should beat them to fitters . For my part , I thought the War was near an End ; a happy and glorious End : There being but two Things to do ; that is , to beat the French Army , and then to march to Paris . Thou knowest , Tom , That Namur , and Huy , and Liege , and Mastricht , lie all on a Row upon the Maese . Of which Mastricht and Liege were ours , and the French had Huy and Namur : Huy being advanced into our Quarters , beyond all the rest of their Frontier . These Places lying thus , and the French Army ( as I told thee ) being between Liege and Mastricht , we had Orders given us to get ready to March. And I cannot express , nor thou imagine , how joyfully we received these Orders . And then our Business was , either to march straight upon the Enemy , or to cut off their Retreat , by interposing between them and home ; that is , between them and Huy : For if they got to Huy , they got home . But now see and wonder how we were Enchanted : Tom , as I hope to be saved , we turn'd our Noses the wrong way again . For with mighty diligence we marched clear fromward the Enemy , and likewise beside and beyond Huy : leaving the French a free Passage to it . And they marched thither the very next day . Never talk now of Bungling , or Fumbling , or making Blunders ; for we scorn those Words . 'T was Witchcraft , dear Tom , 't was Witchcraft , that made us do as we did ; the Devil and Luxemburg did bewitch us : And that damn'd Magician may brag of this , as one of his bravest-Feats . Thou wilt say , That we were still between the French and Namur . Ay , and so we were . But the French had a Bridge at Huy over the River , and they made divers other Bridges : Whereas we had none , nor did we offer to make any . So that they could march to Namur on the far side the River , when they pleas'd , without the least danger or disturbance . But they chose rather to lie by it , that they might give us a Baffle by making us rise first : Wherein they succeeded , as well they might . For they Commanded the one side of the River as much as we ; and the other side they had wholy to themselves . Yet here we staid and encamp'd , as long as we could get any Forage , waiting upon the French-mens Back sides ; ( when thou and I are together , we use another Word . ) But , for my part , I did not think we had owed them that Duty ; nor did I know why , or wherefore we staid here so long , in the high Condition we were in . The French , being the weaker , might with reason be willing that the time should be spent in idle Encampments : But we , who were the stronger , if we had not been still bewitch'd , methinks should rather have chosen to be doing . Well , at last we marched away for Flanders , as hard as we could drive , to have another bout at those Lines . And the French durst not follow us the way we went , ( which was the next way , ) for fear we should turn back upon them , and fall upon their Bones ; but they were fain to go round by Namur , and beyond the Sambre . Yet , by the Devil's help , ( for no power of Man could do it ) they got before us to the Lines : By which means we were prevented and baffled . What had we then to do , with our glorious Army , but to march presently up the Scheld ; and either force a Passage over that River , or march on directly for France it self ? We had then led the French such a Dance , who were damnably jaded by their late long March , and hardly able to crawl , ) that all the Devils in Hell could not have enabled them to follow us . But the Devil turn'd our Noses once more the wrong way : For we marched down the River , and into our own Country ; first to Oudenard , then almost to Gaunt , and at last to a Place called Rousselaer , which now bears the Name of a Royal Camp. For here was another Encampment , and Enchantment : And here we lay with our glorious Army all the rest of the Summer , as it were bound Hand and Foot ; and without doing any Thing , or any prospect of it . For we were coop'd up by the Enemies Lines , which we had no Thoughts of Attempting . And was not this a bewitched Place , for such an Army to lie in ? We exceeded the Enemy by Thirty or Forty thousand : And though after a while we sent a Detachment to the Siege of Huy , yet still we far exceeded them . If we had Encamp'd all this while in the Enemies Country , it would never have anger'd me , though we had been never so idle : For then , if we had done nothing else , we had eaten up the Enemies Country . I have told thee already , and I tell thee again , that we were not then in the Enemies Country . In the Country between both , I confess , we were : But in these parts , the Enemies Country is that within their Lines ; whereas our Camp was without these Lines , and Eight or Nine Miles short of them . I said before , that we had never attempted Scheld River , but I lyed ; we attempted it then , that is , we look'd upon it and no more . First , one great Man view'd the P●ace , and then another great Man view'd it , and then we came away . It was as we came down to Oudenard , in ou● way to ou● Camp : And the Attempt was made by a Detachment of about Six thousand Men. But if we had ●een in earnest , we might have made , out of our vast Numbers , many such Detachments for that Service : And we might have attempted several Places at once ; or tryed one Place , and then another ; both by Day and by Night . How did Prince Lewis of Baden pass the Rhine this Summer ? I am sure I saw it in the Paris Gazette , ( for Tom I can now read French a little , ) That he made a false Attaque or Attempt in one Place , and then passed in another ; the French having drawn their Forces to the first Place . But this Attempt of ours ( such as it was ) was made in one Place only ; and in a Place more likely to be provided for defence , than any other on the River . For it was at Pont Esperies , where the French Line ends , which is between the Lys and the Scheld , and where they always had Forts and Guards . Our retaking of Huy was a very good Business , as Things go : But I expected that the Army that took it , would have enter'd the Dutchy of Lutzenburg , which the French now have , and which lies hard by ; and so have broken that Charm that keeps us hitherto from Entring the Enemies Country . Thou wilt say , They did enter that Dutchy , for all the News-books said so . Why then all the News-books lyed ; for we never were in that Dutchy , nor out of the Diocese of Liege : For , by their own Story , we lay all the while between Navaigne and Franchimont , both which Places are in this Diocese . And Navaigne is upon the Maes , almost as low as Mastricht . And therefore I am the more confirmed that some Witchcraft lies upon us ; so that we cannot find the way into the Enemies Country . In the close of the last Campaigne ( for at last I draw to a Conclusion ) we new fortified several Places : That is , Dixmude again , ( which the French had slighted and abandon'd , ) Deynse , Ninove , and Tillemont ; and we talk of Hall likewise . Of these , Dixmude ( as I said before ) is Seven Miles from Newport ; Deynse is within Five Miles of Gaunt ; Ninove lies behind Oudenard and Aeth ; Tillemont is between Lovain and Leeuwe , and very near the later ; and Hall is within Six or Seven Miles of Brussels . And the Places to which they ●ie thus near , were our standing Garisons before . Let us now examine between thee and me , and according to our Rules , ( and I think we Troopers should understand these Matters as well as some of them do ) whether these new Garisons be good ones , and will do us any Service . I say then , That if each of these new Garisons can command Contribution to maintain Three or Four thousand , or even Two or Three thousand Men , we must allow these Garisons to be good ones . But if all these Garisons put together , will not command any Contribution worth the speaking of , more than we might have without them ; then , according to our Rules , all of them together are not worth a Dog-turd . And we were bewitch'd , by Luxemburg and the Devil , to be at so much Charge , in fortifying and keeping such useless Things . A little time will shew what they can do . But if we had made a new Garison upon the Scheld , any where between Tournay and Conde , and another upon the Sambre near Charleroy , either above or below it ; I 'd have eaten Hay with a Horse , and been hang'd for a Fool , if either of these two Garisons would not have maintain'd Ten thousand Men : If they were made big enough ( as they ought ) to contain so many . And all this by Contributions out of the Enemies Countries , which otherwise we cannot reach . Out of these two Garisons we should have scour'd the French Quarters i'faith . I could write more now to thee , but I won't ; for I know thou art a Man of Business . Only I shall say This , That if this cursed Witchcraft which has so plagu'd us were removed , we 'd beat the French to Iericho : But if it continue upon us , though you send us never so many Millions from England , we shall do nothing here in Flanders that is worth one Farthing . And so , dear Tom , fare thee well . LONDON , Printed in the Year MDCXCV .