Europe's Chains Broke; OR, A Sure and Speedy PROJECT TO Rescue Her from the PRESENT USURPATIONS OF THE Tyrant of FRANCE.  
LONDON, Printed for Ric. Baldwin, near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane. 1692.   

Europe's Chains Broke; OR, A Sure and Speedy Project TO Rescue Her from the PRESENT USURPATIONS, etc.  
THE Civil Wars in a State, have always been considered as the greatest and most dangerous Evils; they are like those internal Diseases of Man, which for the most part after a Languishing Life, are terminated by Death.  
If we pass from Particulars, to the Generality of Europe, is very likely, that that part of the World had not found itself ready to perish under the Cruel Power of the Capital Enemy of Christendom, as it was very near during the last Siege of Vienna; if all the Princes of Christendom had been in good Intelligence, and in a sincere Union, and had unanimously endeavoured to Oppose their Common Enemy, who then durst not to have advanced so far in Europe, if he had been drawn in only through the misunderstanding of the Christian Princes, and not Invited into it, and pushed on by a most Christian Prince, the Eldest Son of the Church; who to facilitate his Passage, has made him a way, through Rebellion, in Hungary; which he has fomented to that very end, and maintained by money, and Officers that he has sent thither, in the Design after the taking ●f that City, the Imperial Sear, ●o share, for a Beginning, with the Grand Signior his Ally, all Germa●y; which the Sultan had agreed to, is freely ●s Lewis the XIV. did seek ●fter it, with a design however to ●eceive one another, and in the end prevail over his Companion; and ●he French King to do after wards, that which the Emperor does at this time, to drive the Turks back to Adrianople.  
But before we pass to the Deliverance of our Europe, let us mention the Dangers it has been in these late years, and let us lay down for a sure Foundation, and an indisputable Truth, that the Christians Disunion has given opportunity to the Infidels to render Tributary Valachia, Transilvania, Moldavia, and divers other Territories, and in the last place to Invade Hungaria; which has obliged a great number of poor miserable Christians not only to fall into slavery, but to make Ship wrack in the Christian Religion and I dare assert, that had it no● been for the pressing Offers o● France by the means of Teckeley the Sultan had never broke th● Truce, nor durst to have come to set up the Standard of the Imposter Mahomet, before the Capital City of Germany, as he did in the Year 1683. while his Ally was in Alsatia with an Army of 40000 Men, ready to Invade the Empire, (which the Grand Signior for his part had favoured) either to make himself Master of the whole, or to render Tributary that which he could not have kept, and by that means mount step by step to the Monarchy of Europe, little troubling himself about the Evils which Christendom had suffered, neither by the barbarousness of his Army, or of those of the Turks; so that Lewis the Great had but gratified his Ambition, and his Passion of Ruling lely.  
Thus on all sides, Europe did ●e itself on the Edge of the Pre●pices, and in an Abiss of Evils, ●hence it could not be got out of gain but by a stroke from Heaven; not knowing which Condition to choose, the Ambition of the one, or the Interest of the other, the French Tyranny, or the Mahometan slavery, finding them both equally Unjust, Barbarous, and Inhuman, and very opposite to Christianity.  
There are but few Persons in Europe, never so little Rational, but have been informed of all the Advances of France, of Lewis the XIV's Proceeding, of his Ambition, and of his Passion to Rule over his Equals, and to render the Kings and Princes of the Earth his Tributaries; and to speak it in plainer Terms, to become the sole Monarch of the World: As there is but one Son; boasting already of giving Peace to whom he pleased and to Exterminate or Bomb all that should oppose themselves to his good Will and Pleasure, and like to another Jupiter, cast his Thunderbolts on all that durst raise themselves against him, designing, like God, to Rule over Consciences as well as over the Inheritances.  
But the Ambitious Man, who raises himself on high and dangerous places, not considering much how to get down again, never turns his Eyes on the side of the Precipice; he runs to his desire, as if he were in good Intelligence with Fortune, and as if the World was conducted by Fate in lieu of Divine Providence. Mean time, we see that God confounds his Designs, and stops him frequently in the midst of his Career, forcing him with shame, to quit a way in which he thought to have continued with Glory. Lewis the XIV. had resolved within himself to mount on the Imperial Throne, in the strange imagination he had, that having attained thither, not only the Empire, but all the rest of Europe would bow under his Orders, and at the approach of his Armies; in effect, he spared nothing to compass it, with a Resolution to Sacrifice all to his Passion, and to destroy all that should oppose itself to his Grandeur. To this purpose, he began to oppress the one, to deceive the other, and to entertain a third by fair and deceitful Promises, sparing neither specious Titles nor Pensions, to those which he thought might be useful to him, by those means, giving to some an Apple to play with, while he made himself Master over the others, and in a manner separated Europe from itself, and every Prince from his Ally, as well as from his true and real Interests, which has ever been by all means to maintain an Equality amongst the Princes of Europe, that their Forces being equally distributed, Christendom might be preserved in good Peace, and every State in its own Rights and Liberties: Seeing that from the abasing of the one, follows the elevation of the other, as we have seen; since when Charles the First weakened his Power by the division of his Kingdoms, and after that, his Son Philip permitting part of those Provinces which had been left to his share to be taken from him; so was his Fall the Rise of the French Kings, who have insensibly got the start of their Equals, and have got step by step up to the Supreme Degree, which we have seen in this last Reign of Lewis the XIV. who during a long time has not ceased from gaining Victory on Victory; taking of Town upon Town; and as a boundless Torrent, carry all before him which opposed his Course, his Violence not being to be stopped but by a Stroke from Heaven, and by a Voice issuing from the British Throne, crying out, Nec plu● ultra.  
Lewis the XIV. who had already, in his hopes, devoured a good part of Europe, which lay groaning, and as it were overcome by the evils of a continual War, has been, as it is not to be doubted, extremely surprised, to see himself stopped on the sudden, by that surprising Change which has so lately happened in England; and who can doubt, but that this change of Sovereigns has been a Mortal Blow to him, seeing that by that means he not only sees his Great and Ambitious Desig●●s overturned, and in lieu of a near Ally and intimate Friend, he finds on the Throne none but an unrecon-cilable Enemy, burning with Zeal for the Preservation of Europe, and with a desire of Punishing th● Usurper? and that which is ye● more sensible to France, is, tha● this New Monarch will not fail o● being Seconded by all the Christian Princes. We have seen England, in changing of Master, to make the face of the Affairs o● Europe change also, especially in the Low-Countries, the decree of their Ruin having been determined between the Two Kings, Lewis the XIV. and James the II. after that France had long considered, the United Provinces a● the only Obstacle that could prevent it from Conquering the rest of Europe; well knowing, that those States would at all times Oppose themselves to the Ruin of their Neighbours, pushed on by a Motive of Generosity, of Equity, and of Interest also: Therefore the King of France, could not perceive which way he should go about to overcome his Opponents, but in mining and in destroying totally those Provinces, thereby shutting them out of the power of hindering him, or of opposing his Design, and that he could not do without England's consent: Wherefore after the death of Charles the Second, he so dextrously did embark King James in his Design, and set him at variance with his Parliament, through Religious Motives, by ridiculous demands of the abolishing of the Test and Penal Laws, (which had been established for the support of the Kingdom, and the preservation of the Established Religion,) France was assured, that by that means it should set the King and Parliament out of power or reuniting again, and that by those means Lewis the XIV. should oblige that Prince whom he led by the Nose, to apply himself to him for Money, which he certainly knew the Parliament would refuse him; that in case they should grant it to him, it should be on such conditions which the King would not accept: And thus that ill advised P●●nce would not fail to turn himself towards France as he has done, and to let himself be obseded and won by fair but false Promises, to render him absolute Master over his People and his Parliament; with which Lewis the XIV. has so long fed and entertained with dexterity the weak Imagination of his Ally, that he has lulled him asleep into a Lethargy, very opposite to his right Interest, to that of his People, and even to that of all Europe, of which it may be said, That England holds the Scales.  
In the year 1672. France was already working on her project against the United States, through the means of England, if we consider with what weakness Charles the Second permitted himself to be tied up by those Treaties he made, contrary to so many Obligations which he had to the said States, and of his particular Interest, feeding himself with hopes of a share in those said Provinces before they were taken. With what weakness did the same Prince sell to France the Town of Dunkirk, and behold with his Arms folded Lewis the XIV. take the principal places of the Spanish Netherlands, not only Cambray Valencienne, S. Omers, Err, but so many others al-also, which were as so many bulwarks to stay the fury of Lewis the XIV.  
And ever after the Peace of Nimeguen, have not whole Provinces submitted to the French Yoke? And while that under the shelter of that Peace, other Sovereigns had disbanded their Forces, France alone kept his Arms, because it knew what it was hatching, and what it designed to do. The Town of Luxembourg was a Thorn in its side, and it would be Master of it; and Charles the Second was as little moved or it, as if he had been paid, to let him do and say nothing, and behold unconcerned that place taken from the Spaniard. Free Europe which little by little saw one Province after another, and one Town after another submitted to France, did frequently cast its Eye towards the Parliament of England, in hopes to receive some relief from that part; but France had so well taken its measures there, that before that Illustrious Body was assembled, divers Lords at the sound of Lovis d'Ors, were become deaf to the Complaints of the generality, and some amongst them had even lost the use of Speech, and were become motionless for the public good, and that of the Nation; and so soon as the House of Commons began to harp on that string, the King made use of his Authority to prorogue them to another time; and so business run in the same course again, and gave leave to France to continue its way, to gain Conquest on Conquest: In the mean time the true English men, who are the most jealous of their Liberties of any Nation, were forced to be silent, and quietly behold themselves hedged in on all sides without opposing it, nor daring to complain. Those that were lukewarm would frequently ask, Why the Spaniards and the Imperialists, who had most interest in it, did not oppose themselves to that Torrent, and to those French Conquests? I confess▪ that if they could have done it alone, they ought to have gone about it, and they can never be excused for having neglected it; but those who know a little the Affairs of the World, are not ignorant of the misery Spain is fallen into, during the minority of a King; and that the Netherlands are far remote from the Empire, which has many Heads, and which of truth cannot assist them without its Allies that are nearest to those Provinces, who are the King of England, and the States of the United Provinces.  
The Emperor has continually the Turks at his doors, over which he is to keep a strict watch at all times. Besides, as I have already mentioned, the Empire's composed of divers Members, who have each their Sovereign and their different Interests, and therefore a long time is required, and divers Springs must play, to set so great a Machine going; and frequently before the resolution of it be taken, France has done its do, and then it speaks of Peace and of Accommodation, by which means Lewis XIV. has for the most part kept his Conquests, if they deserve that Name; after which every one retires home & disbands. France makes show to do the same; and if it acquiesces so far to disband some Troops in one part of the Kingdom, it raises others in another; and thus remains still in the same posture to do mischief, ready to attempt some new thing so soon as it finds any favourable opportunity. In that interval France did not remain quiet, it had its Emissaries in all the Courts of Germany, who using the slight of hand, acquired thereby many Creatures; it is a Maxim which has long since succeeded well with them, and particularly at the Court of England during the last Reigns; & those Emissaries have laboured with so much zeal and heat, and returned so frequently to the charge, doubling the Dose when there was occasion, that they often succeeded, and by those means have opposed themselves to the best Designs which the Emperor and the soundest part of the Empire could have had.  
But suppose that the Empire had been in as good an harmony as it is at present, through the good Union there is betwixt the Emperor and his Princes, and that France had nothing to do but with the Empire alone; I maintain, that by only setting itself in a posture of Defence on the side of Germany, it might make 〈◊〉 Master of a good  of the Spanish Netherlands, if its Neighbour's opposed not themselves to it, before the Emperor could remedy it. Besides, that since the taking of Luxembourg, the passage is partly blocked up to the Germans, and all that they could do, wer● to draw near to Burgundy, and to Alsatia, or form some considerable Siege to draw the Arms of France that way; but as that would have held the Germans long in hand, the French King would notwithstanding do his business in Flanders.  
But if England had had on its Throne, as it has at present, a King well intentioned for the welfare of Europe, and the particular good of his own People, he might alone stop the French King in the apprehension he has of landing Men on his Coasts in his own Kingdom; and this truth is so certain, that Lewis the XIV. as powerful as he has been, as high as he would seem to be, has never undertaken any thing that way, but after he had consulted the Kings of England then Reigning, and even Cromwell himself, while he usurped the Government of the three Kingdoms.  
Thus we have seen that this Monarch before getting into Flanders, had sweetened the Court of England by the means of his Honey; he taught them to speak French, and to like whatever he did undertake, and quietly to let him so fast advance, that at last it had no longer been in the power of the English to drive him back. I know that France alone knows how much this has cost it; but what matters at what rate, so one obtains one's Desires. Thus the most Christian King having disposed England on that side, and having strength enough, as doubtless he has, to set a considerable Army on foot on the side of Germany, (besides that 〈◊〉 Flanders,) that he is in a conditor to hazard a Battle with the Imp●rialists and their Allies, if these la●● had the ill fortune to be beaten, a that may happen, the Success bein● various, it is certain, That then th● Germans would have much to d● to rally again into any Body tha● were capable to do any advantageous Exploit that Campaign fo● the good of Flanders; there being nothing that wastes more th● Troops that are composed of diver● Members, and under divers Chiefs than the ill success of a first Campaign: And there needs sometime but one Ally to decline the common Interest (like the Pin of a Carriage,) to put all the rest out of power to do any thing, and to break the best Designs which might have been formed; and it would be in such like occasion, that the Pride of France would swell, and that the usurping Torrent would overrun its bounds more than ever on the Netherlands, which would be without hope of Remedies, if they were to wait for succour from Germany, as it may easily be judged, by what I have said, and which might easily have happened, there being nothing impossible in it.  
Moreover, France which has most strong Reasons to be on its guard, and to always fear, has long since so well provided for its Frontier places on all sides, that it will require of its Enemies almost a whole Campaign to carry one only of any importance.  
Since France has left the way to Italy, the King is so fully persuaded, that the Conquest of the seventeen United Provinces of the Netherlands would facilitate him the ways to that of Europe, but particularly of the Empire; that he has applied himself wholly to it, and has always endeavoured to amuse by illusive Promises, part of those very Provinces, while that he render'● himself Master of the other part● under the Dominion of Spain, having first lulled England asleep, France requiring only the favour to decide alone that Dispute with Spain.  
But that Lewis the XIV. might accomplish that first Design on the Spanish Netherlands, there was a necessity that the States of the United Provinces, which had a notable interest in the preservation of the Neighbouring Provinces under their lawful Prince, should give their helping hand to their ruin, or at leas● should look on that Monarch without moving, till he had come on their Frontiers: But there was but little likelihood of that; wherefore the French King foreseeing well, that those States would never fall in that Lethargy, nor would permit to have their hands tied up while a concealed Enemy approached them, and penned them up close, taking from them ●ittle by little, all those Places which were to serve them as Bars, ●t was for that very Reason, that that Monarch did on the sudden alter his mind, and beholding according to his Desires, what he had long expected, a Catholic Prince on the Throne of England, who had for divers years been in ●is Pay, allowing him considerable Pensions when yet he was ●ut Duke of York, and consequently ●id entirely possess and obseade him: He made use of the ill Disposition of the new King, in his Concerns with the State's General, ●o that it was no longer difficult ●or the French King, who waited ●ut for that moment, to accomplish his Project; thus those two Kings, the one pushed on by his Ambition, the other by his ill Inclination, joined together to Exerminate the Seven United Provinces, under the fair and specious pretence of Religion, and Extirpating of Heresy, that t●● other Catholic Princes, who we● concerned in the Preservation 〈◊〉 the United Provinces, might ne●● oppose themselves to such an ho●● Work, and so lull them asleep If that business had succeeded 〈◊〉 Lewis the XIV. he had, without striking one blow, rendered himself Master, all under one, of t●● Spanish Netherlands; and after tha● made use of all the Forces of 〈◊〉 Kingdom, together with those 〈◊〉 his Conquests, to enter into Ge●many, and directly March to th● Empire, followed with an Arm● of more than an Hundred Thousand Men; what Prince of th●● Empire, or the Emperor himself could have disputed the Business with him, or have put a stop 〈◊〉 his March?  
But for so great a Work, it wa● necessary to fasten England firm●● to his Interests, and to pull dow● ●he States of the United Provinces, which was the chiefest Business, 〈◊〉 not being likely, that Sovereigns, who so well know their own Interest as do those States, ●hould permit Lewis the XIV. to advance one Foot of Ground more ●han he is already, (being but too forward;) all that Monarches fair Promises, and his kind assurances of Friendship remaining without ●ffect, not being able to win them to be deceived: And perceiving that his Credit was at an end in those Provinces. that all the Propositions of the Count d'Avaux, his Ambassador, were suspected, and that he was still entertained with much Circumspection, (as Lions are fed, still pulling the hand back;) finding himself discovered and cried down, not to lose any more time to flatter and amuse ●●e said States, being not able to accomplish his ends that way, he resolved to ruin them at the same time that King James the II. go● on the Throne; he knowing we● his Genius, was satisfied that there wanted nothing but a Golden Apple to amuse him; and to follow that itching desire which tha● Prince had to render himself Absolute Master over all his Kingdom, to alter the Laws and th● Religion of it; and to feed hi●● before hand with the hopes of th●● Spanish Indies, that he might n●● longer find himself obliged to Assemble his Parliament, who approved not of his Proceeding, no● of that great Alliance he had wit● France; which, under what shap● soever it was represented to them did always appear hideous. D●ring all that long Interval, an● till there were a fair occasion 〈◊〉 perform that great Design, th● French Emissaries did continually pour their cold Poison in the English Court, which was quaffed 〈◊〉 in large Draughts by some of th● Grandees, which they endeavoured to Digest without noise, seeing that at the same time they thus underhand set forward their Master's Interest; others who were not at such a distance, provided themselves with an Apple against draught, as did many others in all the Courts of Christendom.  
It was in this contagious time, so infected with the French Lewis D'Ors, that Europe was to tremble, and that all honest people, that concerned themselves in the common Cause of the good of Christendom, were to shake at the very sight of that weight which was going to crush Europe to pieces, seeing that its general loss had immediately followed that of the Seventeen United Provinces; the Emperor nor the King of Spain not being then able to prevent, nor put a stop to that Torrent which had changed itself into a Deluge; from which, not England itself had been Exempted in its time, if afterward it would not have danced to the French Flutes, and obeyed the Orders of its Ambitious Monarch I am willing to make use of these Terms, seeing that all those that are Pensioners of France, are so● but to Execute his Orders, and to Work to increase the Grandeur of Lewis the XIV. not to oppose his Interests, but on the contrary Sacrifice their Honour and their Lives to them, so oft as the Good and the Interest of France should require it. If ever Lewis the XIV had obtained his end, and had made himself Master of the Forces of the Seventeen Provinces, as he plotted it in his greedy Imagination, through the King of England's Means, there had then been no ways left for this last to retire though he should perceive his Error, as Charles the II. had done and he must either by fair or fou● means have gone on with that he had begun, through a weak Complacency; and then the Most Christian King had raised his Voice and Arm at the same time, and had spoken in Magisterial Terms to all the Princes of Europe; neither had that of England been left for the last, but had been obliged to submit to the same Fate with all the others, as a Reward for all the good Services that he should have rendered him: I once again repeat, that the Designs of France were not new; that long since, Lewis the XIV. had had them before him, even before that James the II. had got on the Throne, and during his Brother's Reign, he luckily made use of the Duchess of Orlean's Management, who was Sister to both the Kings, Charles and James. But the First of them, who had continually before his Eyes the Tragical end of his Father, and who was still very sensible 〈◊〉 the sufferings and troubles of his Exile, had much to do to resolve upon it; and the Apprehensions which he had of his People did retain him, and hindered him from Assisting France in all things as he was solicited to do; and he at last did abandon it, as we did see by the Peace which he had made with the States of the United Provinces, and then he seemingly did relinquish the Interests of his Ally, not to Prorogue his Parliament, who very plainly did foresee the danger in which the Nation was going to fall, had France continued its Progress as it had begun in 1672. and the years following.  
After the Peace of Nimeguen, the King's great Design against the United Provinces, remained as buried during the remnant of King Charles his Reign; but he soon raised it again, for at King James' Ascending the Throne, France gathered new Vigour, and beholding there so good a Friend, with whom he was tied in Religion and Inclination; Lewis the XIV. failed not to strike the Iron while it was hot, and during the Three or Four Years of his Reign, the French Emissaries gave divers Assaults, and set all Hands to work; the French Ambassador Barillon, made great Largesses, to all those whom he thought  to do his Master Service; the Courtesans tasted of the Cake as well as divers Ministers at Court; thus all unanimously did labour to persuade James the II. so soon as he was King, to second Lewis the XIV. in his Designs (divers not knowing them) there needed no great Persuasion to attain it, because that Prince was already sufficiently inclined to it of himself, and at that time, of all Employs, that of Messenger was the most necessary; there was nothing seen but such kind of Persons on the Road from London to Paris, and from Paris to London, till the Treaty was finished; of which, the chief matter and knot of the Business, was the ruin and destruction of the United Provinces: All the Religious Orders, and above all, the Jesuits, did take a great Interest in that Business, and already cried out, The Town was their own; there was a perpetual motion among them; the Ships that crossed the Seas on both Parties, were thronged with those Zealots and Apostolic Postilions; thus were all things in motion for the Good of France, and for the Advancement of its Monarch's Designs, some through Interest, some through Zeal, and others through mere Ignorance: This Business thus built up with Lime and Stone, concluded and resolved on betwixt the Two Kings, Lewis the XIV. the better to compass all things, was desirous to strengthen himself towards the North, but having lost the friendship of the Sweeds, for having failed in keeping those Treaties which had formerly passed between the Two Crowns; France having no Prospect of patching them up again, it took the Party of Denmark, though it was nothing near so advantageous to it as was the other: To render it capable of employing it on all occasions, he sent thither the Count of Roy, there to Command, with many Officers and Men, but after the Siege of Hambourg, that General being retired, the French Party did much diminish; besides, France could not Unite itself with that Crown, in so straight an Alliance as it wished for; and that it were necessary, because of those Measures which Denmark was to keep with the United Provinces on the account of Trade, without which it cannot do well, neither can it turn it to so good an account with France, it having at home all that it could draw from thence; so that all that France can at present draw from that Alliance, can but at the most come but to a Neutrality, provided the Emperor and his Allies will give their consent.  
Lewis the XIV. was reckoning upon that, when he assured James the Second that the King of Denmark would not disturb, but on the contrary favour them, in case that the Swede should join with their Enemies: It was on that Pillow Lewis le Grand did gently lull asleep the King of England, together with an imaginary shower of Gold, which was to drop from the Spanish Indies.  
But how great soever a Corruption is at Court, there are still some good; and the soundest part of the Kingdom of England, could not relish that straight Union which was betwixt their Prince and France, it clearly did see, that on its side the design was to Change the Religion, to Subvert the Laws, Establish an Arbitrary Power, and a Despotic Government, which tended to the loss of their Liberties and Privileges, and to depend one Day on France, which gave them suspicion of every step which the Ambassador Barillon, and the Queen did make in that respect; but their Zeal did so far transport them, that at last the People, the Lords, the Protestant Clergy opened their Eyes, and thought of delivering themselves, and with them all Europe, from those shackles which were forging for them; and the Heavens granting the Petition of all Christendom, and in particular of the English Nation, it sent them a Deliverer, of whom Providence hath so miraculously seconded the Enterprise, so as to prevent them from falling under an hard Bondage, and under the Government of a supposed Prince, a Foundling, whose Father and Mother remain still unknown, which was to be preferred to the Lawful Heirs of the Crown; such a black and unheard of Supplanting, did oblige the Princess of Orange, as the next Heir to the Kingdom, to entreat the Prince her Husband, to second the just Request of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and of the most sound part of the Kingdom. Thus the Prince, by an Admirable Conduct and a Divine Dispensation, did bring things about according to the Hearts desire of the Nation, without effusion of Blood, and set Succession in its due and right Channel, which was to have been interrupted by the means of that supposed Child; for the Princess having been Crowned Queen by Succession, and the Prince King by Acknowledgement, after the Throne had been declared Vacant through King James the Il's Desertion; it happened very luckily for the Deliverance of Europe, which I shall prove in what follows, as being the Subject of this small Book.  
In the first place, I lay down for an indisputable Truth, That if Lewis the XIV. and James the II. had compassed their Designs and Ends, the United Provinces had been entirely lost, through the breaking down of their Banks; for that way did he design to begin, to take away all means from the Inhabitants of ever recovering from that Dissolution in which he designed to Reduce them, after they had made themselves Masters of the Spanish Netherlands; after which, I cannot perceive how Europe could have prevented falling under the Yoke of the French Dominion, having had the King of England for Second, and Invading the 17 United Provinces, and rendering Tributary in imitation of the Grand Signior, the most remote of those Provinces, which he could not conveniently Govern.  
I have already given to observe, that the Empire alone could not hinder him, by reason of the great number of heads, all of different and distinct Interests, of those Princes that Compose it: On the other hand, Spain being not in a Condition to raise Forces sufficient to oppose it, nor all of them together capable to resist the rapid motion with which France would invade them after its First Conquests.  
For to represent to us what France can do, and what it has been able to do in all times, we need but to frame to ourselves a right Idea of things, from Francis the First, to Charles the Fifth, we shall easily judge that it has always been dreaded; this last was both Emperor and King of Spain together; he was Master of the 17 United Provinces, while they were entire, he had Burgundy and the French County, as well as Alsatia; he had an absolute power over the Princes of Germany, and of Italy. This Monarch was without dispute, one of the Greatest Princes, not only of his Time, but of his Age; a Great Commander, undaunted in all his Enterprises, daring Perils and Dangers, in which he had frequently been, and add to all that his Personal Valour, a good Head-Piece, and fit for Counsel, encouraging his Armies by his Presence, having under him the most Experienced Captains, and the best Generals of his Time, and such Armies that had been tried in all parts of Germany, Italy, and in the Low-Countries, besides Fleets on the Mediterranean, and on the Ocean.  
With all those Forces, his Courage and his Treasures, though he had to do but with Francis the First, who alone was his Capital Enemy, and who was nothing near so powerful as his Successors have been (and as Lewis the XIVth. is at this time, or at least as he has been of late years,) having no other Revenue, but about thirty, or thirty five French Millions, whereas this present has four times as much.  
Mean time, with all this disproportion of Forces and of Wealth, this Emperor durst not attack him, till first he had joined himself with Henry the VIIIth of England, and with the most considerable Princes of Italy.  
By this we find that even from that time the Emperoor did highly consider the King's o● England, and that if Francis the First, King of France, had first secured Henry the VIIIth's Alliance, Charles the Fifth had not dared to attack him; and with all the advantages that the Emperor had of his side, Francis the first stood out against him, and without the Misfortune that befell him at the Siege of Pavia, where he was made Prisoner, he had given work enough to his Enemy.  
I pass from Francis the First to Lewis the XIVth, much more powerful in Forces, in Treasures, and in Demains, than his Predecessors, seconded, as he believed by a strict alliance with England, having no more to manage nor to fear from the United Provinces, I leave to guests what he had, and might have done, and how far he had pushed on his Ambition; I maintain that then, the Pope with all Italy, the Emperor with the whole Empire, and Spain with all the Riches of the Indies, had not been of power to hinder him from making himself Master of all Europe.  
There is but England alone then that is Capable to make the most Christian King alter his Designs; and that could not happen, but by such a lucky Catastrophe, and so unexpected as that which has lately happened there, under the Reign of William the IIId. For there was required to be Sitting on the Throne, in order to such a Change, a Disinterested Prince, Zealous of the Glory of God, and the good of Christendom: Jealous of the Usurpation which Lewis the XIVth had made in Europe, Incorruptible, Magnanimous, a Man of Counsel and Execution, understanding well his own Interest, and who had been highly provoked by France; that he might not hearken to any accommodation, nor yield any thing, to the prejudice of his Allies. This is what we find entirely in that Prince who has newly Ascended the British Throne; wherefore so soon as this Hero had passed over into England, and that a happy Success had seconded his Great Designs; we have seen Lewis the XIVth become motionless on the sudden, as formerly did Atlas, at the sight of the Medusa's head, which was showed him by that Generous Perseus.  
The Foundation on which the French King had built his Grand Design, (the strict Alliance which he had with James the Second) having once given way, all the rest of the Fabric is fallen to the ground, and his Castles in the Air have gone into Smoke, having no hopes to take any Measures in his Designs with this his present Britannic Majesty, who, to cut off all his Hopes, and stop all his Proceed, has driven out of England all the French Emissaries, resolved never to hearken any more to them, in the Design he has to restore the quiet and tranquillity of Christendom, and to maintain Europe in that Deliverance which He has lately procured to it, by his only Elevation to the Throne. I prove my Axiom by that which follows; When a Town is Besieged, and that at the approach of its Deliverer, its Enemies abandon it, and their Designs miscarry, they retire, and though the Hero which has caused its deliverance, be not yet entered that Place, it is published abroad that the Place is Relieved, as really it is. So Lewis the XIVth having a Design of Conquering Europe, to Depose the Lawful Sovereigns thereof, and to Sacrifice all Christendom to his Ambition, as it is no longer doubted; it being a Truth but too well averred and known. That Usurper has no sooner seen William the IIId Proclaimed King, but that he has abandoned his Enterprise, and changed his Design; and in lieu of destroying the Powers of Europe, has had no other thoughts but of preserving himself, and his Kingdom. I join to the coming of William the IIId to the Crown of England, the strict Alliance there is between his Majesty of Great Britain, and the States of the United Provinces, as also the Union of the Emperor with all the Princes of the Empire.  
I confess, that it has been a great Business to have freed Europe from the danger which threatened it, to have dispersed in a Moment all the great and pernicious Designs of an Ambitious Prince, that on all occasions made no scruple to break his Faith when that Crime agreed with his Ambition and Interest, who, notwithstanding his Word given to the Contrary, backed with his Oath, has neither spared the blood nor the ruin of so many Thousands of Christians, in the bare Opinion, that he ought to do it for his Interest's sake, and to weaken his Enemies; having not spared even his own Subjects. And if we return to the Primary Cause, we cannot but believe, that the Heavens wearied with so much Injustice, with so much Cruelty, and enormous Crimes, and with so much bloodshed, which Cries for Vengeance, has at last raised William and Mary on the Throne, and suggested a good Union amongst the Princes of Christendom, to stop the Barbarous Course of Lewis the XIVth.  
But it is not enough to have reduced the Lion that Sacked Europe, to get into his Den, his Claw must be paired also, and his Teeth pulled out, that hereafter he may do no more harm, and that his Power may be limited, that he may no longer Desolate our Countries, that he devour no more the Innocent, and that the most Christian, Oppress no more the Christians. Lewis the XIVth's Policy and Interest in the Condition he is at present reduced, is to gain time, to see whether any Change would not happen in England, nor no Contestation in Germany; wherefore he offers in all places he can Neutrality, that he might find 〈◊〉 those Princes that should not declare themselves some Mediators, or to speak more properly, intercessors near the Emperor and ●●e King of England, as well as ●ear the United Provinces, in the ●●r he is of a total downfall, if ●ngland, and the Empire continue 〈◊〉 they have begun, and as it is to believed they will do, according 〈◊〉 all appearance, if they love ●●eir quiet, their preservation, and their own Interests, as well as the good of their People.  
I confess that much has been done, especially by the King o● England, to have delivered Europ● at present without drawing his Sword, but the future must be thought on, and the means mu●● be taken from France, of any more threatening Europe, to set it in right Balance with the House 〈◊〉 Austria, or at least in a Condition of having need of its Allies, an● not put an end to this prese●● War which is kindling in all places till that be performed.  
To succeed the better in it, an● to animate the more all the Princes of Europe, they ought to ca●● up what France has Usurped from them, the damage they hav● received by it, and that whi●● they may receive hereafter; a●● never lay down their Arms, 'tis they all have had full satisfaction for the more it shall be forced t● restore, the more will its Sovereign be weakened.  
I set in the first Rank the Pope, who by all the Catholics is corsidered as the head of the Church, Christ's Vicar on Ea●●●, St. Peter's Successor, the Common Father of all Christians, the Dispenser of Celestial Graces, and who being considered as such, aught to be feared, respected, revered, honoured and obeyed; as to the spiritual, (laying aside the C●n●●st which is among the Catholics themselves concerning the Temporal) and not withstanding that Lewis the XIVth names himself ●he Eldest Son of the Church, and ●he most devout Son of the Sovevaign Pontis, what Mortification has not the good Father received ●rom him, since his coming to the Pontificate, either in his own Person, ●r in that of his Legates, even ●pon the dead Corpse of one of ●hem. The extinction of the Regalia in France, is also a great grie● to the Holy See, as well as th● violence used against divers Convents, for having addressed themselves to the Pope, and taking advice of his Holiness. The changing of divers Abbeys into Commad●ries by the King's own and p●●per motion, is also a Contempt which he has aggravated by th● forbiddance he has made to th● Bishops not to Consult the Hol● See, even in Cases of Conscience and in such businesses as whic● concern Religion: but the mo●● sensible of all, was that blow given to the Pope's Authority, i● the Year 1682. by the Clergy Assembled at the King's Command that being with the Infallibilit●t● the finest Flowers of the Trip● Crown. The Insolent Discourse held in a Plea by Monsieur Tal●● by which he accused Pope Innocent the XIth (the most worthy tha● has for divers years been sea●e● in St. Peter's Chair) of being a Schismatic, and a Supporter of Heretics. And this, for not having received Monsiour Lavardin as Ambassa for at Rome, who made his Entry into that City in such an offensive and proud manner, that no Ambassadors of Obedience durst ever have done the like; having caused himself to be accompanied by a small Army rather than a Retinue, as if he would have Besieged the Vatican. And though this Marquis is at full Liberty at Rome, the Nuncio Ranucci is detained in a place called St. Lazarus, for fear he should retire from Paris incognito. Finally, the unjust seizure of the City and County of Avignon, threatening besides all this, to send some Troops into the Ecclesiastic State, to oblige the P●●e to r●●●●e the Bull for the abolition of Quarters, and that for hsi Confirmation of Prince Joseph Clement of Bavaria to the Archbishopric of Cologne  
After so much insulting which the Pope had received, of which one might make a whole Volume either in his own Person, his Authority, or in the Person of his Legates, the Pope has judiciously done, to show his Resentment against Lewis the XIV. no● to relinquish any of his Rights, bu● maintain the Rank which he ha● in the Church, and in the World, by that Spiritual and Tempora● Power, which God has put into his Hands, and in having till now so generously and justly opposed himself to all the French Violences, by which he has acquired a Glory which shall last as long as the World, amongst all Parties▪ and his Memory will be Revered even after his Death: He ought to go on in those right Paths which he has begun, and as Common Father, Exhort all Catholic Princes, to put themselves in a Condition to abate the Pride of the French King, as a means to bring him into a way of Salvation. To this purpose, the Pope ought with all his Power to Assit the Catholic Princes, that he may cooperate in so good a Work, as his Holiness has done to the Empire against the Turks; and to solicit the Switz-Cantons, of the same Religion, by his Legates, to Join themselves to the Emperor and Empire, to confirm that Deliverance which Europe gins to enjoy: Thus the Pope being restored to his former Dignities, Veneration, and Authority, let the King, his most devout Son, make him some Reparations and Atonements, for those Faults he has committed, and be so humbled, that for the future he may be Wiser, and out of Power of doing the like again, nor of Insulting over the Popes and Sovereign Pontiffs of the Catholic Church; and in case the Pope found no amendment in that King, nor no likelihood of bringing him back to his Duty, he ought, while he is busy in a War, to lance forth his Excommunications against him, and to give his Kingdoms over to the Spoil of his Enemies; the male-contented ecclesiastics, with which his Kingdom is filled, will reduce him by Reason, and will make him repent having ever meddled with the Rights of the Church.  
The Emperor and the Princes of the Empire, have more Reason than all the other Powers of Europe, to keep the French King in such a condition, that he may no more annoy them, nor aspire to the Imperial Crown. Lewis the XIV. has a long time endeavoured to turn the Empire into the French Family, as in the time of Charlemagne, it being a great step for him to rise to that of all Europe; that is the Reason why, since Francis the First, the French Kings have always crossed the Emperor's Elections. But Lewis the Great could find no way to that Conquest, but by the total Ruin of the United Provinces, to which he could not attain, but by the assistance of England; thus his Imperial Majesty, and all the Princes of the Empire, being fully satisfied of this Truth, and that nothing but that Revolution which has lately happened on the British Throne, could cause the rash Designs of the French King to Miscarry. The Emperor ought no longer to r●m●in in suspense, nor put off to another time, those Advantages which t●● Heavens present to him 〈◊〉 this time, to recover all tha● France has Usurped from him.  
To this purpose, his Imperial Majesty should begin by a Truce, which he ought, without delay, to conclude with the Port, seeing that they offer it on very honourable and advantageous Conditions; and let the Emperor hold as suspicious Persons, all such as shall Advise him to the contrary they are Persons that sin either through Ignorance, or Malice who understand not the true Interests of the Empire, or too much those of France; he is not to doubt, but that all the Princes of the Empire will concur to the same Design, of abasing the Greatness of the French Monarch, of which there are but very few Powers in the Empire that have not great cause of complaint, and just pretensions to frame, and perhaps, more to pre●end to than ever to recover again, if France be not kept in a condition of never offending them more; of domineering any longer, nor of boasting any more that it can give Peace to Europe when ever it pleases. This last War, by the rapture of a Truce, which the French King had sought after, with so much earnestness, because it confirmed Luxemburg to him, and a part of Flanders during Twenty Years, and which he has infringed without any Cause, than his desire to come to the Assistance of the Grand Signior, who was going to ruin, by the vast Conquests which the Emperor made on that Insidel: His Most Christian Majesty, was going hand over head to his Assistance, finding himself supported with a close Alliance with James the II. formerly King of Great Britain; this Rupture has given new pretensions of War to all the Princes of Germany, by the most barbarous and inhum●●e proceed which the Fren●● Troops have done there; and I doubt much, whether a just Parallel could be drawn from the Cruelties and Desolations that this King has caused to be committed in the Palatinate, with those that the Grand Signior has made in Hungary; and though this last place has been for a long time the Seat of War, yet at the Retreat of the Infidels, they have not committed any thing near the like Extortions, nor used the same violence, that the French have done in those places that they have abandoned in the Palatinate, and in the Country of Juliers, and of Cologne; and if there were no other cause but this, though there are but too many more, there would need, in my Opinion, nothing but the sad spectacle of the French barbarousness, to animate all the Princes and Members of Europe, to a good and firm Union with the Emperor, which will be the only means to preserve themselves, and to prevent France from doing the like hereafter.  
Though France is brought low, through the opposition of England, in all its Designs, yet has it not forgot its ancient Maxims; which have formerly succeeded so well; it will not sail to put into practice all the ways imaginable to corrupt some Member of the Empire, and to break that Chain of Unity there is amongst them, to endeavour thereby, to put a stop to the Success of their Arms, as it frequently happens, that a broken or rotten Pin, disorders a whole Carriage, and hinders its March.  
France's Crafts and Deceits being already so well fore-known, it is requisite that the Princes of Europe should provide against that plague of Corruption, which has so freequently infected divers Courts of Christendom; divers are to expect, that not only Presents will be offered to them, as well as Pensions, but equivalents also to their Pretensions, only to remain Neuter: But the Example of the Archbishop of Mentz is yet so fresh before our Eyes, that it ought to be a fair Mirror for the Princes of the Empire, to Represent to them to the Life, the Character of France, and of its Sovereign, which all that proceeding represents in Lively Colours, with the breaches of Faith of that Prince, even to those that Side with him. If ever any Sovereign did Act against his true Interest, and that of the whole Empire, it was that Prelate; but then again, never was Prince worse rewarded, nor had greater cause to repent of his Fault, by the ill usage he has ha● in his Estate; which had reach'● to his Person also, if he had no● sheltered himself from the Threat● of the French Envoy.  
But he is not the only Living and Speaking Example; the whol● Series of time that has passed since the Peace of the Pireneans, is but a continued Thread of the falsehood of France. So, that whoever shall catch at the Golden Bait which the King lays for them, will have time to Repent themselves, as the Elector of Mentz has done, and divers others, who have fair'd no better.  
But if, by a Fatal Chance, it should so happen, that some Member of the Empire were so unadvised, as to be Corrupted by France, and separated from that Union which is its true Interest, though it is not to be expected now that those Princes are so well enlightened; that Person ought to be considered as a rotten Member, Discarded, and Treated as an Enemy, though he would remain Neuter, on this ground drawn from the Holy Gospel, Qui non est pro nobis est contra nos.  
Of Truth the Union of the Empire is of great Importance, and I must confess, that all its United Forces may be very powerful, but they would be much more, if the Emperor could resolve to grant a Peace to the Grand Signior; that so having no longer any thing to fear from that Part, his Imperial Majesty may have his Hands at liberty against the Second, which has been much more formidable and more dangerous than the First, and consequently cause all his Forces to Advance towards the Rhine, which would produce Two Effects; the one, that such considerable Armies would increase that Terror in which France is already. Secondly, it would by that means much better maintain that Union which is already in Europe, with their Allies.  
Besides, it is a general Rule, which the Emperor ought always to observe; never to have Two Wars to maintain at the same time, especially when he can avoid one of them, as it is in his power to do at this present, with great Advantage and Glory.  
It is not to be doubted, but that the French King does highly dread such a Truce; that he will openly and most powerfully Act with the Turk, and the King of Poland, and that he will have his Emissaries, concealed, at the Court of Vienna, that will labour underhand, and on deceitful Pretences, to prevent the Imperial Council from concluding any thing with the Turks Envoy, at this present at Vienna. To be sure, he will neither spare Money nor Religion to attain his end therein.  
To the Grand Signior, he Promises to enter into Germany with a Powerful Army, to Ransack there, as he has done already, thereby to draw the Emperor's Forces on that side, and give the Great Turk the means and leisure to breathe again, and to Assemble new Forces to endeavour to regain what he has lost.  
To Teckeley, and the Princes of Transilvania, Walachia, and Moidavia, without enquiring of what Religion they are, he assures considerable Sums to continue the War begun; he has frequenly sent some to the First, and if the others would break off with the Emperor, and join with the Grand Signior, he would furnish them wherewith to Pay their Forces.  
As for Poland, that will perform enough for France, if its King will but remain quiet, and not attempt any thing, as he has done since the two last Campaigns, and prevent by great pretensions the Conclusion of a Truce with the Port. Lewis the XIVth has Springs that are sufficiently strong to detain him, and to obtain what he pleases of that Crown, persuading it that it is not suitable to her Interest, to have the Emperor prosper so much, etc.  
At the Court of Vienna, the French Emissaries Labour through indirect means, to persuade the Emperor's Councillors, that his Imperial Majesty may with ease maintain the War against the Turk and France, and that it concerns his Glory not to slacken in so fair a Course, that he ought to go and plant the Cross of Christ on the very Battlements of the Seraglio at Constantinople; but such pretences are at great distance from their Master's thoughts, for it is very certain, that the French King had rather see once more the Crescent on St. Stephen's Church at Vienna, than the Cross on St. Sophia at Constantinople.  
Lewis the XIVth at this time, is like to a Man in great extremity of danger, that is ready to sink, he makes Vows, and promises all things, to get out again, and takes hold of all that comes in his way, to keep himself some moments longer above water. Thus this Monarch has turned himself all manner of ways to find out a Mediator that would assist him to get our of the danger he is in. He has addressed himself to the Elector of Brandenburg, the King of Spain, and to the Pope; but at this present, knowing of no better shift, and finding that all the Christian Princes do abandon him, he has applied himself to the Turk. And finding that no Christians will any longer confide in him, be covers himself with a false M●sk of Hypoceisie; he demonstrates to the House of Austria, that the Roman Catholic Religion is in danger, and that it perishes with him, that it has been through his Care and Zeal so many Conversions have been made in his Kingdom, and that he was ready to have done as much in England, if there had not been a League made against him. But with all these sugared words, he at the same time Leagues himself with the Enemy of Christendom, at that very time he enters the Palatinate, and puts all to the Fire and Sword, he offers to the Grand Signior to join himself with him on the defensive part, and not to lay down his Arms, till the Sultan has recovered Hungary. At the same time he offers to the Pope, that if the Emperor will agree with him, he will lend him forty Galleys to aid him to Conquer Constantinople; and offers to Re-establish King James in his Kingdoms, provided that the Emperor and the Empire will Conclude a Peace with him. All these are fair Flowers that conceal a Serpent under them, who will certainly sting the hand of him that will but touch them.  
These are the French King's Deceits, which he has Inherited from Mazarine, to try whether by such fair Offers he might not break the Union of the Empire.  
But Flanders, the Palatinate, the Countries of Juliers, and of Ments, Treves and Colen, remain unreprochable Testimonies of his Breaches of Faith, and of his Hypocrisy; he having nothing less in his thoughts than the Christian Religion. For those Offers which his Ambassador Guichardin has made to the Port, ought once for all, to undeceive all Christendom of that Catholic Faith of which he makes so great a show.  
But not to rest any longer on the Illusions and Deceitful Offer● of France, which ought to be suspicious to all the Princes of Europe. I say that the Emperor and the Empire ought not to stop in the very beginning of so fair an Opportunity which England offers them, nor lay down their Arms, till they have recovered Burgundy, the French County, Alsace, but particulary Strasbourg, Philip●burg, Fribourg, Brisack, and all that France has Usurped on that side of Europe. Moreover, Reseated the Electors Palatine, of Mentz, Treves and Colen, in their Territories and Rights, with an entire reparation of all those Wrongs and Damages which he has done them by his Forces and Incendiaries Resign Cardinal Fustenberg into the hands of the Emperor, or of the Pope, to answer to those things that shall be alleged against him, and that he is already accused of.  
But that which is most just and necessary, is to restore the Duke of Lorain to his Dukedom, which ought to be restituted in the same Condition that it was in the time of his Predecessors. Policy requires that this Dukedom should be separated from France, because that would be a means to weaken France. It would be to fix a Thorn in its foot, thus to Re-establish the Successor of the Ancient Sovereigns, to support and uphold it, that it might no longer be liable to fall under the Forces of France, nor to acquiesce to any Treaty prejudiciable to it, nor so much as to have any great Communication with them, because that the Duke of Lorain being once restored to his Estates, neither he, nor his Successors ought nevermore to trust to the French Kings; but aught daily to set before their Eyes, with what perfideousness his Predecessor has been Treated.  
Those Great Victories which that Prince has gained with such great Success and Glory over the Turks, the reunion of Hungary to the Empire, which is due to his sole Valour, does well deserve that all Christian Princes should Conserve themselves for this Great Hero; Join to that the Obligation which his Imperial Majesty has with that Duke, by his Marriage with the Queen of Poland.  
It is not to be doubted, but that William the IIId. King of Great Britain, will Contribute with all his Power to so Just and Laudable an Enterprise, even necessary for the quiet of Europe; and that his Britannic Majesty will impose it as a Law on Himself to bring it about, if he once undertakes it. But to Compass this with more ease, The Duke of Lorain ought before all things else to propose a Liberty of Conscience in all his Dominion, and free Exercise to all Protestants, in all the Cities and Borroughs where there are any. That will be a means to draw on his side, the Assistance of all those of that Religion, as well as that of the Allies, and of their Subjects, in laying aside the Counsels of a Company of Monks, which continually beat over and over in divers Catholic Princes Ears, to make them act the contrary, and to push them forward to a Persecution, which will ever prove hurtful to their Persons and States.  
The Duke of Lorraine ought not to let slip so fair and so favourable an occasion, which perhaps will never offer itself again in all his Life time, nor that of his Successors; his Interest and that of his Family obliges him to embrace it, and to soliciate the King of England as well as the Emperor; and those Princes who Compose the Diet of Ratisbone, who are already inclined to it, by the barbarous Proceed of the French, they, doubtless, will not fall to espouse the Interest of that Prince, in consideration of those Services which he has rendered to Christendom; and to labour in his Re-establishment, as well as in that of others, the rather, because that Lorraine being in that Duke's Hands, will serve as a Bar to the Empire; but as I have already said, that Prince ought to Labour particularly to bring the Emperor and his Council to grant a Truce to the Grand Signior; without which, I cannot see his own Concerns can have any good Success. This he ought to consider, before sending back the Turks Envoy, lest he should slip the Occasion; for after that every one will take new Measures.  
The Emperor never had, nor never will have a fairer Occasion to entirely Master France, than that which at this present he is furnished with, by the coming of William the III. to the Crown of England; which seems as if God had produced that Effect, during the time of that great Union of the Princes of the Empire, to give an Opportunity to his Imperial Majesty to Subdue France; being thereunto excited by the ill Usage they have all received from the French King, and the barbarous Proceeding which he has used of late in Germany, which has been but a continuation of those Cruelties which his Dragoons have exercised in his own Kingdom; which has not only alienated from him the Hearts of his Subjects, but has struck an Horror in all Christendom; he has deprived the Most Christian King of all his Alliances, and has reduced him, to see himself obliged to have recourse to the Swor● Enemy of Christianity, the Turk  
All these Advantages are found in this present juncture; more over, Lewis the XIV. the bor● Enemy to the House of Austria is now at Wars with all Christendom. If his Imperial Majesty takes not advantage of those Conveniences which the Heavens seem to present him with, he ought not to expect any Acknowledgements from France for it, nor that the King will think he hath done him a kindness in sparing him; for as he has the gift of Usurpation by Inheritance, if he can but raise himself up again from that Mortal Wound he has received, he will come, as did the Grand Visier, (after he has, if he can, disunited and ruined the Empire) and Encamp his Army before Vienna. That Itch has held him a long time, and Lewis the XIV. has Inherited it from his Predecessors; for since the Death of Ferdinando the III. those Kings that have Reigned in France, have always endeavoured to possess the place of Charlemagne, and in 1683. His Most Christian Majesty, who was very well Instructed of Mahomet the IV's Designs, and who had instigated Teckeley to Rebellion, did think then, that he had obtained his Heart's Desires, and that he had got the Wind of the Emperor, for he thought it impossible but that Vienna should fall under the Power of the Grand Visier's Forces. The King had Forty Thousand Men ready on the Borders of Germany, in the Design to put himself at the Head of them, and to enter into the Empire, to have himself Proclaimed Emperor, as the ancient Romans did, at the Head of his Army. His pretence had been, That his Imperial Majesty, not being in condition to preserve Christendom, he was come to supply his Place; and as the Deliverer of Europe, free it from the Oppression of the Infidels, though he himself had Invited them in, and had designed to put it in Irons. To make good the Truth of what I allege, I must say, that this Monarch, who thought himself assured of the taking of the City Vienna by the Turks, and himself, consequently, of the Imperial Crown, had already caused the Imperial Eagle to be placed over his Effigy, in his own Coin, publicly declaring before his whole Court, That the Empire had remained already long enough in the House of Austria, and that it was high time it should return into his Family. The French Mercenary Pens, and the French Flatterers, had already set forth divers Pieces in that Kingdom, which tended to that purpose; some ●●re Entitled, The just Pretensions of the King on the Empire; others, The Decay of the Empire; These were the forerunners of what the King designed to do, that when it should come to pass, Europe should not be surpized at it, and the Blow not so much felt by the House of Austria. It is a Maxim that has been practised in France during this Reign, when the Council had a design of Oppressing the Subjects by any Imposition, or to tread them down by any Declaration, the noise of it was spread abroad Six Months before, that when the Blow should fall, the People might be prepared for it, and so found not the Evil so great as it really was, because it was expected.  
All the French Kings Pretensions derive from Charlemagne, who, though King of France, was Elected Emperor, but Charles being Dead, the Electors were in right of Electing another capable to Govern the Empire, and to Defend Christendom, without being obliged or wedded to the Person of the French King.  
But I find, without Dispute, that the Emperors have much more Right to the Kingdom of France, and that it is better grounded than that of the French Kings on the Empire, of which the Three Bishoprics of Thoul, Metz, and Verdun, are dependences which France has Usurped, and to obtain peace and quiet the Emperor has been forced to bid them an eternal Farewell.  
All Histories show us, that formerly the Gauls did depend of the Empire, and was looked upon by the Emperors of the West, as an Imperial Dependency, and feudatory to it; in effect, the Archbishops of Treves did take upon them the Quality of Imperial Chancellors in that part; and Charles the VIII. King of all France, as he was, was not ashamed to take upon him the Quality of Vicar General and Perpetual of the holy Empire.  
Moreover, Conrade being come to Paris, caused himself to be received there as Superior, by King Charles, Sir-named the Simple, and the Emperor Sigismond, in the Reign of Lewis the XI. made his Entry in that Capital City, with all the Marks of Sovereignty, preceded at Noon Day (in imitation of the ancient Roman Emporors') by a great number of Torches of White Wax Lighted, took his Seat in the Presence of the King, in the Parliament, Created Knights, and there it was that he Erected the County of Savoy into a Duchy, and acknowledged that Duke as Prince of the Empire. The Emperors, no more than the Crown of France, over lose their Righ●● and I think they should have th●● some Prerogatives as such Kings, 〈…〉 own themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and o●● never lose any thing, ●●●●ate, engage, nor sell.  
But we are not here to rake 〈…〉 Ashes of the Empire's ancient ●●●gh●s, but only to prevent the French King● from making ●●●y one's, and ●●●●wards to possess them, seeing that his Generals do publicly declare. That they know no other Right but Power, and the only pleasure and good-liking of their Monarch, of whom they make a God on Earth, Viro immortali.  
At this present, the French King beholds all Europe in Ar●●● against him, and he finds h● ca●●or well parry that Blow; that England's lifted up Arm threatens him with a toral Ruin, and because he cannot easily withstand all those Powers that are United against him, he endeavours, at least, if he cannot win them to his Party, to divide them from the other, by that Neutrality which he proposes to them, in design of accomplishing two things, if he obtains it.  
The First is, to diminish the number of his Enemies, and the second, that by that means he may gain a free access near ●r● those separated Powers, slattering himself with the hopes to draw them afterwards to his Party, through advantageous Offers, but much sooner, if he can but never so little rouse himself up again, from that Apoplexy in which he is fallen.  
But the Emperor and his Allies, to break his Measures and destroy his Designs, ought not to allow of any Neutrality to any Prince, State, nor City of the Empire, but to hinder him, if possible, from soliciting the Swit●-Cantons; on the contrary to g●r them to join to the Empire, and if they cannot be prevailed with so to do, oblige them to call borne those Forces which they have in the French Service, or at leas● permit the raising in their Territories a like number of Men by the Emperor and his Allies; it being presupposed, that a State can never be counted Neuter, so long as it furnishes Forces to one of the Parties that are in Wars together; besides, such a Neutrality is of evil consequence to the others that pretend to the same: There are but very few States that are not glad to s●e their Neighbours weakened, that they may draw advantage from their Disorders, and get to themselves the Trade, and to see them from a secure place ruin one another, while their Neuter Subjects enrich themselves, and improve by the spoil, as the Archbishop of Ment● did think to do, if he had not been cheated by France; to his great sorrow he has made trial of Lewis the XIVth's Maxims, who has no sooner laid his singer on a place, but that he endeavours to thrust in his whole body, and to drive from thence the Lawful Lord. Though all has known this, yet divers hitherto have been surprised with it, they call out for help, when they thiink themselves lost, as we have seen in divers little States which he has appropriated to himself; and he had done the like to Geneva, had not the Laudable Cantons opposed themselves to it. The Switz perceiving that his most Christian Majesty did by that design to smooth a Path for himself into their Country, and into the States of the Duke of Savoy, if they durst but have stirred never so little after that Conquest.  
I now pass to the Cantons of the Son●zers, by reason of their Proximity to the Empire, and Alliance with the Emperor; they have no cause of being better satisfied than many others are of Lewis the Great, if they would but return from that blindness wherein they are, and make some Reflections on what has passed, only since his Reign; h●w that he amuses them on the one side, while he is undermining of their Union on the other, together with their Liberty, and their Power; encompassing them so close on all sides, as if he would so gird them in, that they should not be able to stir themselves. His Design is to make them Tributary, 〈◊〉 of Money, but of divers 〈…〉 of Men, when he has 〈◊〉 ●or them, and when they should be of most use to him: to that particularly ●ends the Usurpation of the French County, which was formerly their Bar, the Fortresses of Hunning, and of Crensack, and so many other Forrs and Bridges which the King has cau●'d of late to be buil● round their Country.  
It is that way do the Lewis d'Or● tend, which the French Ambassador does so freely scatter about in the Cantons, and so many fair promises, and French Compliments, with which the Lords are said, 〈◊〉 rock them asleep; but in ●he mea● time, I humbly desire that those Gentlemen would make a serious Reflection on the ill Treatment and Contempt lately put on their Ambassadors, and by that they shall judge, whether they have any great cause to reckon on, and to trust to the Friendship and Promises of that King; and let them not flatter themselves, if the King could have made them submit to the French Yoke, long since had he done that business, because he well knows the need he has of them, that the Cantons can supply him with a great number of good Soldiers, and that he can build and reckon on their Alliance. I know that in Switzerland, as well as elsewhere, there are Mercenary Spirits, that would willingly Sacrifice their Country to their proper Interests; who promise much to France, without considering well what they do; and if the King had entered into Germany as he had purposed to do, as I have before mentioned, the Cantons had had great cause to fear, that divers Towns whose Magistrates had been bribed, had followed the fatal Example of Strasbourg. To this purpose the King has always endeavoured to divide them in their hearts, as well as in their Religion.  
But some will say, that Things have not happened so, and that they are still in a good Condition. I grant that, and I answer that the passed danger ought to render us wise for the future; the Swallows know their times, why should Men neglect theirs? Wherefore above all, the Swissers ought not to let slip so fair an Occasion, by which they may set themselves at rest for ever. I Conjure them to it, by that which they hold most dear in the World, their Liberty, Religion, their Children, and their own Preservation; let them remember they are born free, that they depend but on God alone, and on their Valour, and that they ought to maintain themselves in those fair Privileges, which their Ancestors have acquired to them by their Swords, and their blood; being arrived at the moment in which they may preserve them; they ought not to fall asleep at the sound of the French Gold, it is not with this as with the Tide, which returns every day; and it may be that England shall never again be Governed by a King replenished with such good Sentiments, and that shall be so well fixed to the General Interests of all Christendom, as is that Prince who Reigns there at this present. It is a good fortune, which must be taken hold of by the foretop, for fear she flies away. It is not to be doubted, but that at this very present, the French Ambassador does indefatigably Labour with the Cantons, and that he offers much more than his Master designs to perform: and he tails not to tender also the Arrears due to them, provided the Cantons will permit the raising of new Forces, or only accept of a Neutrality. As if the King did offer them any thing more than their own, which he ought to have paid them long since. I very well know that divers Persons, whose eyes this Reimbursement causes to be open, would willingly grant what the King requires of them, in the belief that they might observe a Neutrality with that; just as if the Emperor had granted it, and at the same time permit Forces should be given to his Enemy; which would be two things very incompatible, and which no Monarch would ever endure, if he were in any Condition to prevent it. Wherefore I once more repeat, that the Cantons ought to make serious Reflections on the present State of France in particular, and on that of Europe in general; and rouse up from that dullness and Mercenary humour in which they are kept, in the fear the French King has, that the Swissers should awaken on the sudden, and open their eyes to their true Interest. It lies at present but on a strong and generous Resolution, to get out of all dangers, prevent ever relapsing into them again, and set themselves in a Condition to depend on none but themselves. To this purpose, they ought to join themselves to the Empire; and then require from the King that he should demolish those Fortresses which he has caused to be built, contrary to former Treaties, and in case of a refusal by an authentic and general Decree, recall their Forces, and with those very Troops that are so well Disciplined, and those they have already, go themselves and execute that which France refuses them, and pull down those stone Tables which he has set up. Besides, let the Lords of that Republic consider that the more Soldiers they lend to France, the more Men they lose; whose hearts are insensibly alienated from their own Country, by Death, by Offices, by Pensions, by Marriages, and some by the Change of Religion; and these last are young Vipers, which will one day gnaw their own Mother's bowels.  
I know that the Swissers with divers others, have some years since feared the Forces which France has (to make itself dreaded) always kept in readiness, after Peace and after the Truce also; which Forces made it to speak with Confidence, and required nothing but with threaten; being the only Prince in Europe that did see himself in a Condition to Undertake, and to Act, before others were in a Condition to Defend themselves, which made him to be feared by his Neighbours, and procured him Alliances, but particularly that of King James, with which he thought himself sufficiently strong to overcome all Europe, beginning as I have already said, by the United Provinces.  
I doubt not but all these Considerations might have a great influence over the Cantons, and oblige the Swissers to grant to France that which perhaps they had not done at any other time, but now the storm is blown over, the Cause of that Pride with which the King did threaten, being vanished into smoke, the fear ought to cease also, and there ought not to remain any consideration capable to retain the Swissers under the Rod of Lewis the XIVth. Let them return to their pristine Liberty, and to their right Interest. Let those Gentlemen know, that Kings are Great no longer than they are happy, and that they are feared no longer than their good fortune lasts. I therefore maintain, that that Imperiousness (with which France was used to draw advantages from the Cantons) is at an end, now that it finds itself overwhelmed from all sides, that all its Alliances on which it founded all its new Usurpations, are vanished, and that at this present he has almost as many Enemies, as there are Princes in Europe. If they have not yet all declared, they will not stay long, they only wait to see the Dance begin, to join themselves with the Allies, as we have lately seen the Republic of Liege, which has scorned its threaten, and embraced that Party which it apprehended to be the most advantageous, and the most necessary for its State. Which sufficiently shows the small regard that it had at present for the French King, who is no longer in a Condition of doing any great Damage in an open War, since England h●s turned the Muzzle of her Cannons against him, and that the Prince on whose Alliance he so strongly built his hopes, is no longer in a Condition to do any good or hurt to Europe; for in lieu of succouring his Ally, he himself stands in need of him: he drains France; the Calf in time will kill the Cow, with drawing her too hard; it is a new Charge to Lewis the XIV, and that Unfortunate Prince sees himself on the brink of a Precipice, which by a special Grace from Heaven he may yet avoid, by retiring into some Convent.  
The Laudable Cantons ought to make other Reflections, and have other Considerations at present than they formerly had; they should too lift up their Eyes towards England, and behold Hi● Britanick Majesty William the IIId as their Friend and Ally, professing the same Religion, and who, during His Reign, will make it a point of Generosity, and of Honour▪ to Secure them against all the Assaults of the French King. If they declare themselves, both through ●●e Tie of Communion, and that of Esteem, which that Great Prince has for them, even His great and generous Designs ought to serve to make them re●urn to their ancient Rights and Liberties, cause their aincent Limits ●o be made good again for greater security; but then they ought not ●o remain quiet all the while, with ●heir arms folded, but labour with ●ll their power, and assist to bring ●bout so great a good, and advan●ange, which the Heavens offers ●hem. To that purpose, they ●ould Exemplarily punish all those mercenary Persons, whose hands, ●●d their Honours have been defiled with the French Money. Incessantly cause their Forces to return, which are in the French Service; in case of disobedience, declare them Rebels, and Confiscate their Means; oblige those Fathers who have Children there, to call them home on great Mulcts, never to admit to any Employ nor Dignity either in Church or State, all such as shall contradict these Orders, and never cease till the Fortresses are demolished, and Burgundy, the French County, Alsace, and Lorain restored to their ancient Masters and Sovereigns, that they may be as so many Bulwarks to the Cantons: all which they can easily do in this Conjuncture, which at this present so favourably offers itself, and which they ought not to let slip, seeing there is at this present, between the Protestant and the Catholic Cantons so good a Harmony, and firm Union, that the Pope ●s wholly inclined to cause those of ●is Party to keep it strictly as a ne●cessary good for the quiet of Chri●tendom, and the safety of Europe, ●s well as to abate the Pride of France: All this will happen, in declaring for the Emperor and Empire.  
I come now to Spain, formerly ●heir Sovereigns Governed from within their Closets, a good part ●f the World, but since Philip the ●d its great Power has begun to decay; and that of the Kings of ●rance to increase, at the same time ●hat that of the Catholic Kings decreased. I shall not seek after ●e Causes of it, because that is be●de my Subject; I shall only say ●y the by, that the Liberty of conscience in France has much contributed to its Elevation; and ●●at contrariwise, the privation 〈◊〉 it in Spain, has caused there ●●eat Evils, and the loss of Trade, ●hich is the Soul of States and ●●ngdoms.  
The Marriages which the Kings of Spain have Contracted with France, have been so many Levens of Discord, and of War, which have always proved very hurtful to Spain; and not to go back any further than to the late Queen, who was a French Woman as much by inclination, as she was by Birth who by the subtle and dextrous Counsel of the King her Uncle's Ambassadors, had always some new business to propose to th● King her Husband, who most tenderly loved her. By those mean● that Princess had acquired a grea● ascendent over the King's min● sometimes prejudicial to the go●● of his Kingdom; for whose prosperity she had not all the Consideration she ought to have had; s●● having no Children to Succeed 〈◊〉 it, and still in fears, that remaining Barren, after some considera●●●● time she might be Divorced, according to the Laws and Statutes of that Kingdom▪  
All the study of the said Queen was (but most particularly a little before her death) to labour hard for the advantage of France; and at the last, her greatest business was, to intercede with the King for that Money which was come to Cadiz, on the French Account, in the last Fleet that was come from the Indies. And we have seen that contrary to the right Policy, and the true Interest of Spain, the Queen succeeded in it, for that Money ought to have been sequestered under the King's Seal, till the Council had seen what Course the Affairs of Europe had taken in these present Conjunctures. Spain had no want of pretences, it had just cause to have kept back, without blame, those 14 Millions, which of truth were Counterbands, seeing that no strangers have the liberty to negotiate in the Spanish Indies, under pain of Confiscation, till his Catholic Majesty had seen what satisfaction he should receive from France, on all his other Demands and Pretensions; and in case he received none, he then might have been his own Paymaster, as it is frequently practised, even amongst private Persons; but what I say here, is, after Death the Physician, seeing the Birds are flown, there is no remedy for this time, but for the future, the Persons concerned, will consider better.  
Another of the late Queen's application, was to bring the Catholic King to accept of a Neutrality which France offered him; that joined to the recovering of the Money we lastly mentioned, was the only business of the Ambassador Rebenac: But while they were thus acting against the Interests of Spain, God has taken that Queen away in the prime of her Age, before she could render that last piece of service to her Uncle the French King, which was so necessary to him at this present. How can it be helped? I confess that it is a very great loss for France, but it must comfort itself, as Sp●in has done, for parting with the 14 Millions. France, ever sly and cunning, made use of a specious pretence to oblige the King of Spain to accept of the Neutrality, endeavouring to perswad● him, that by that means he should become a Mediator betwixt France and the Empire, as if the Most Christian King did not know the strict Union there is betwixt those two Monarches, which make but one House, and Family. Thus their interest being but one, and that of the Emperor being the same with that of the King of Spain, which is well known to his Christian Majesty; let any judge, whether France being certain of that Truth (which is not to be doubted) had a desire to refer her Concerns into the hands of the Catholic King, except she were at the very last gasp, not knowing what Saint to Pray to. But the most probable, and the most received Opinion is, that the French King makes his last Efforts to diminish the number of its Enemies: and though Spain should be so weak, as the French Partisans would make us believe it is, and that at most it could but stand on the Defensive part: The French must have two Armies on foot, to prevent the Spaniards from advancing. The one in Catalonia, and the other in Flanders, and peradventure a third in Navarre, which might take him up at least Fifty Thousand Men, which he might have employed elsewhere. If Spain had accepted of that Neutrality, and if Lewis the Great, mean time had overcame the Empire, what would have become of Spain afterwards? after all what assurance has it that France would more religiously observe the Neutrality than it has the Peace, and the Truce, and who had been its Caution, that when the French King had had an opportunity, he had not fallen on some place of the Netherlands, and it may be, on Navarre, and Mentz all at one time, when the Governors were fallen asleep in the arms of a Neutrality, as in a deep Lethargy, as they did presently after the Peace of Nimeguen; in which the Marquis of Grana was reposing at ease, filling his Purse, by sparing the entertaining of a number of Forces, which were so necessary to him, while he had to do with so dangerous a Neighbour, who no longer remembered Treaties, than while he Signed them, because they were at that time of use to him, he never wanting afterwards Pretences, when he would break them.  
A Neutrality in this juncture of time, is very hurtful to Spain, and to its Allies; but above all to the Emperor and to the Empire, Spain would do, as if when Two Brothers were Attacked, one should look on his Companion with folded Arms, while he was divested of all, expecting his turn to be next; whereas, if they both defended themselves at once, they might either overcome their Enemy, or drive him away. What assurances has Spain, that if the French King could overcome the Empire, he would not Attack it next, as he would doubtless do? Wherefore, his Catholic Majesty ought to make a last Effort; in this present Conjuncture, he ought to consider th●t France has taken from him Lisle, Valiencienne, Cambray, St. Omer, Err, and many other places in the Provinces of Flanders, Namur, Hainau, Luxembourg, and in fine, the City of Luxembourg, which was as a Bull work to the rest of Flanders and of Brabant, as well as to the other Provinces, while England remained with folded Arms against its own proper Interest, having been bribed to let France do what it pleased. King James, as zealous a Catholic as he was, did consent that Lewis the XIV. should seize on the remainder of the Netherlands, while he should sit himself with the Spanish Indies, as his Ally had promised him he should; thus did they, without any scruple, divest their Catholic Neighbours of their Rights, and shared them amongst them, without casting of Lots. If that Prince had not abandoned the Throne, that Neutrality might have been very considerable; but now the Case is altered, in quitting of the Crown, he has Disarmed himself, he is now but like a Wasp without a Sting, which buzzes about, but cannot sting. Spain has lost in him a concealed Enemy, and a false Ally, who sold to France that which belonged not to him, and that consented to the seizing on Goods wherein he had no share; but God, who laughs at the design of Men, would not permit that those of James the II. should come to perfection. Providence, for the safety of Europe, has bestowed his place to another Prince, and has conducted, as 'twere by the hand, William the III. to the Throne; he, according to all appearance, is to be the Instrument through which God will give rest to Christendom. Thus Spain, in lieu of an Enemy which it had in James the II. late King of England, recovers in his Successor a good Friend and Ally, faithful to his Word, and who being joined to his Allies, may all together labour effectually to establish the King of Spain in his ancient Rights and Dominions, and cause France to Restore what it had Usurped from it.  
This Foundation being as firm as it is certain, Spain ought to join with those who labour for its rest and quiet, by that of all Europe, to put in a readiness all its Forces, in Catalonia, Navarre, and above all in the Netherlands, where the People must copiously bleed their Purses, towards the Entertainment of an Army, capable to defend itself against the French Assaults; let them consider the barbarousness and inhumanity with which they have Treated those Towns that have submitted to them, under good Capitulations, and such Conditions as had been made by the Dauphin himself; let them make Reflections on the cruelty with which the French King has treated his own Subjects, against the promised Faith, and if after that, the humour takes them to submit to the French Yoke, it may then be said of them, as it is said of certain People, that they are born to slavery.  
Let Spain further consider, the great pretensions the Dauphin thinks to have on the Netherlands, on a material Right, notwithstanding all the Oaths and Renunciations which the King his Father made of them at the Pirenean Peace and at the time of his Marriage with the Infanta, on the Is●●●f the Pheasants, at the foot of the Altar, communicating at the greatest and sublimest Mystery that is in the Catholic Church, which he has afterwards slighted; and if he defers taking Possession of what he pretends to, it is not that he renounces it, time deprives him of none of his Rights, it is only for want of an opportunity which has not yet been favourable enough to him, and that his Neighbours, the States of the United Provinces, are a stumbling block to him, and a perpetual Obstacle, which he could never so well manage as he did J●●es the II. because those Lords know better their Interest, than that poor Prince ever did. We know that Flanders has always been a ●one to pick for the Fr●r●● King● and so long as they will find something to gnaw on they ●●ll not think of going to Sp●in; but if they had once made an ●nd of that bit, and well digested it, if that which employs them on that side was over, what would hinder them from pouring all their Forces into Catalenia and Navarr▪ and from entering with a powerful Army into Spain, and even March to Madrid? wherefore, the Spanish Interest is to strongly unite itself at this present with the Empire, with England, and with the United Provinces, to solicit them, not to lay down their Arms, till they have recovered Burgundy, the French County, all the Usurped Cities in Flanders, Hainan, Namur, and Luxembourg; without which, it will in success of time, relapse again into the same Straits as it hath been in the Reigns of Charles the II. and James the II. of Great Britain; if once for all, it delivers not itself at this present from that danger, whence it seems already to revive and recover, by the sudden change of Affairs in England. Mean time, let the Spanish Council be wary not to be deceived by the French Illusions, who promises all when troubled, and stands in need of help, who ruins itself with Promises, but restores itself again with performing none of them, more abounding in Crafts than in Integrity; the danger passed, a Fig for the Saint; let the same Council hold for certain, that when ever the French King has any regard for Spain, it is a sign he is at the last gasp, and that he knows not whither else to go: If that Council can be fully persuaded of this Truth, it will not fail to advise his Catholic Majesty, to make all his Efforts, and to send all the Money he can possible to the Governor of the Netherlands, to put themselves in a condition to sustain the first fury of the French, after which there is nothing more to fear, for the Allies will give it so much Diversion, even in France itself, that its King will no longer think of going to attack others, for so soon as the Germans and the Hollanders shall have cleared the Countries of Colen, Juliers, and Treves, the Governor of the Netherlands shall not want Men, as he has already experienced by that Succour which has been sent him: But the Marquis of Guastanaga ought not to grow supine upon this, he ought to put himself in a condition to help himself, he may by that acquire a great deal of Glory, in the condition those Provinces which depend of his Government are in; above all, he ought very well to supply the Town of Namur, its Neighbour has Courted it long, because it opens to him a fair and large way all along the River .  
I add to what I have said before, concerning the Death of the Queen of Spain, that seeing she has left no Successor, through her Barrenness, to the Crown of Spain, so necessary for the good of the Kingdom, and for the quiet of Christendom, it appeared as a kind of necessity for the one and the other, that the King should forthwith think of entering into a second Marriage with some Princess of a fruitful Family; I know that policy (to endeavour to recover Portugal) would advise to look on that Infanta, but the sterility of the Queen of England her Aunt, has made the Council of Spain to fear falling into the same accident again; if France had had more Princesses to Marry that had been worthy of his Catholic Majesty's Choice, (as Spain may thank God it had not) it had not failed to propose them, to make up a match, in the hopes thereby to have obtained a Neutrality, because all those Marriages have always produced some advantages to France. But having nothing to fear that way, Spain has been obliged to turn towards Germany, and to fix in the Family of the Prince Palatin Nienbourg, there was still remaining there a beautiful Princess, Sister to the Empress, and to the Queen of Portugal; though elder than this last, she had no mind to go to Portugal, by some certain foreknowledge she had, such a Marriage would have contracted a more strict Allianee betwixt those Powers and Portugal; the Germane Ladies are usually fruitful, that Princess comes not from a House, whose Interest should make them to desire Barrenness, there being therefore nothing to sear on that side, there is no question but that the Queen-Mother has used all her Power, as well as the Empeperor, to accomplish it; and that on the contrary, the French Emissaries have laboured with all their subtleties to prevent it; but their ill fortune has been such, that their Credit has been very inconsiderable in those Courts; they are like those petty Saints, who no longer work Miracles, and whose Feasts are over; their falsehood is but too well known already all over Europe, wherefore now they begin to take their March into the new World, to the Kingdoms of China and of Siam, where those good People believe that all Persons are as honest as themselves, so that it will not be difficult for the French to impose upon them; but as to Europe, we are now in a time that no Prince will have any Alliance will France, much less with any of its Princesses as Wives, seeing there is general complaint of them, for having caused Disorders in all the States they came to.  
The United Provinces are highly concerned to keep low the French King, to take from him all desires of molesting them, nor to go so far towards them, as the Conquest of the Netherlands of Spain. It was always the aim of Lewis the Great, according to the advice of Mounsieur de Sulli, formerly Ambassador of France into England, in the time of Henry the iv who gave him to observe, that the conjunction of the United Provinces with France, was the only means to restore it to its ancient Grandeur, and to render it Superior to all the rest of Christendom. Formerly the French Kings had their folly fixed on Italy, believing, in imitation of the ancient Romans, that it was the Gate they were to pass through to attain to the Universal Monarchy, but having found that way too Thorny, and that Country having frequently been the Churchyard of the French, they have grown weary of it, and have turned themselves towards the Low-Countries, where hitherto Lewis the XIV. has succeeded better, and he had found out a means to continue there his Progress, if the Heavens had not prevented it, by the change in England. I know that the United Provinces had had nothing to fear, if the Netherlands of Spain had been in a condition to maintain themselves with their own strength, or if the late Kings of England had had the same Sentiments which Queen Elizabeth had, and if Charles and James the Seconds had said to Monsieur Barillon, that which that Queen said to Monsieur of Sulli, That neither France nor England, nor any other Prince, had any thing to pretend to the Netherlands, that she should not suffer that the King his Master should have any thoughts that way. Perhaps the Lewis D'Ors were not currant in those Days in that Great Princess' Court, as they have since been, and that that Princess did better understand her own true Interest, than divers Kings who have succeeded her have done. But thanks to Heaven, those Kings are passed, and God has at this present seated on the Throne a King who understands very well his Interest, and that of the Nation, much better than did his Predecessor, and who following the Traces of that Great Princess) was no sooner got to the Government, but he sent back Monsieur Barillon, to tell his Master, that he had nothing to do in the netherlands, end that he would prevent him from any further Usurpation in those parts The Elevation of that Great P●●●●e o●● the Throne of England, is a fatal Blow to the greatness of Lewis the XIV. (we must have so much Charity as to confess it) but at the same time it produces the Quire and Repose of all Europe; it is a Bitten clapped in the French Kings Mouth, which retains him from a running so far as to the United Provinces, and that shelters them from all his Insultations, and from all his Threaten, and furnishes them at the same time with M●ans to resist him vigorously, and to clip his Wings so short, that he may not fly any more beyond his just bounds; it is a bitter Pill which he is forced to swallow, and which ●ill make him to disgorge, and 〈◊〉 re-establish those bounds which 〈◊〉 had removed during his Neighbour's weaknesses, in a profound ●nd universal Peace.  
The United Provinces, as well 〈◊〉 divers other States, find themselves delivered now from that dan●er that threatened them, and it 〈◊〉 now their turn to speak aloud, ●nding themselves assisted by so powerful an Ally as England; they ●●ay demand the Restitution of all ●●e Places of the Spanish Nether●●nds, which have been taken from ●●em since the Peace of the Pi●●eans, because those places serve 〈◊〉 preserve them, and as bars that 〈◊〉 a large Territory betwixt them, ●nd so dangerous a Prince; besides ●hat, the damage they have sustained in their Trade is very conderable and gives them cause of ●reat pretensions. France has supplanted and deceived them in di●ers occasions, and it has endeavoured to lull them asleep, especially in the last place, by the Count d' Avaux its Ambassador; through vain promises (which Father Limojou the French King's Almoner, called Illusory) and in which there was no sincerity nor good Faith, as we have seen in all his Proceed after the Peace of Nimeguen, and that it has been but a continual Usurpation. That this King might the longer and with more safety enjoy those Places that he had Usurped, a●● Truce was patched up for Twenty Years, during a full Peace, which he likewise broke in few Years after. After he had Fortified those Conquered Places, made his Alliance with James the II. and destroyed (by an unheard of Cruelty which is natural to him) the Protestants in his own Kingdom, as he assure● by his Declaration of the revocation of the Edict of Nants, that he had made that Truce but in order to destroy them, notwithstanding all the Protestations to the contrary, which the Count d'Avaux had made to obtain it; and to deceive with more ease, in the opinion, that after he had made an end with those Protestants, whom he accused of having Dutch Hearts, and Intelligences with them, 'twas to that end that ●he seizure tended, which was made of all the Books and Papers belonging to their Consistories, throughout the whole Kingdom, ●o know the Sums they had sent ●nto Holland during the War; ●nd seconded by the King of Eng●and (then Reigning) he should ●ver-run the United Provinces, and leave for a time those of the Spa●iards) considering them always he only ones that could cross his Designs, and hinder him from ●aking his great Conquests over europe. But now Fortune has ●urn'd her back to him, and by the event, we find that he has not cast up right, and that his Most Christian Majesty had not reckoned on the Elevation of the Prince of Orange to the Crown of England, by that fall of his Ally; who has broken all his Measures, and destroyed his Alliances, opened a● way to the S●ares to attack him in his own Hold, and to reduce him to Guard his own Kingdom no longer to think, but to defend himself; it is no longer now th● time of the Peace of Nimegu●● which was made up on its consideration, but through the Treachery of France, as the baseness wit● which it has observed it, as we●● as the Treatises of Trade, show 〈◊〉 sufficiently; and that the Ki●● had quite another aim than th● States-General had proposed 〈◊〉 themselves at the conclusion 〈◊〉 that Peace, and afterwards of the Truce. Seeing that the King h● violated all Trading, and decla●● War to the United Provinces, on ●he frivolous pretence, and on the accounted of a sorry Priest, the Cardinal of Furstemburg, a Rebel to his Lawful Sovereign the Emperor, and to his Superior the Pope; who during his whole Life, in ●ieu of adhering to the Service of the Church, to which he had designed himself, has made it his business to disturb Christendom, and to give occasion to spill blood in Europe, and notwithstanding all that, the French King has preferred the Interest and Friendship of that Man, odious to God and Men, to that of their high and mighty Powers, and to their Alliances, which he had sought after with so much earnestness and protestations, by the Peace in 1678. Thus France having first broke, the States ought to make use of the means which God puts in their hands, by the assistance of the revolution of England, which has not only produced them a strict Alliance and sincere Union but a considerable Assistance also that by that Union and that mutual Assistance, they may oblige the French King to repent of his unjust Proceed, of all those barbarous Actions and Oppressions which he has committed in Europe, to bring him back to Reason and Justice, and to put him in a condition to make no Innovations for the future, so long as that happy time shall last for those Two Nations; they both ought therefore to make a last Effort to maintain themselves in that precious liberty, which they at present enjoy, by a special favour of Heaven, that is that inestimable Gem which France has endeavoured to Ravish from those happy Provinces; but God having delivered them from all the Threaten of Lewis the Great, and from the design he had projected to entirely destroy them, he must be frighted in his turn, and his Court must be filled with such a terror as he never has had since his coming to the Crown, which may surpass that which he had at the Baricado of Paris, since he has no longer in his Kingdom those that delivered him from it, and who he has since so ill rewarded.  
There needs but a descent on his Coasts to give it him in good earnest, and that is therefore what he apprehends the most, and that unhinges him before hand, finding the heart of his Kingdom tainted, and the Enemy at home, who waits but for an opportunity to declare. It is not a Samson who is no longer tied with such new Cords as never were strong enough to retain him, and to stop him; but a Samson whose Locks are cut, and whose Eyes are put out, who turns and winds on all sides, to find out some body to lead him out of the Precipice wherein he finds himself; he has given the hand of Association to the Grand Signior, he will soon find a pretence for it, it is doubtless, he'll say in his Manifest, to endeavour to Convert him to the Catholic Faith, for that is the wet sheet with which he covers himself at present against the storm which is going to fall on his head, which grows giddy so soon as he thinks on that descent; five hundred leagues of Coast confound him, not knowing where his Enemies will Land; there needs but some false alarm, and at the same time a real descent, to set all those Troops he has along the Coasts in disorder. Join to that the attack at the same time of his Enemies by Land, he must undoubtedly bow under those pressures, and much more yet, if ever the Allies are so happy as to enter into the heart of his Kingdom, than he may pack up his tools, and go seek in Poland that which King James has found with him; for to follow him to Rome, he would not be better welcome there than the Marquis Lavardin. 'Tis his own Concern, let him look to it betimes, that King knows that it is impossible for him to prevent a descent, let him keep never so good a Guard by Land, and though he be never so strong at Sea, he has too much of shore to keep, wherefore he has ordered his Generals to burn his own Country ten Miles round, when ever the English set footing on it, and to his Fleet to retire into the Mediterranean, where he pretends to be the Lord of the Sea.  
But 'tis likely that his Reign will be but short there, for the English and Dutch having sufficiency of Ships, it will be easy for them to drive it into the Port of Tholon, where yet it will not be absolutely secure, thirty good Vessels will make them fly to it, having no longer any place of retreat in Spain, and the Italians not being able to endure them since the business of Genova. England, and Holland need not to strain very hard to fit out together 120 Sail of Ships, yet that number will be sufficient to overcome France by Sea, and to set that Kingdom into the highest Consternation. In the Year 1673. De Ruiter (that great Sea Hero, whose Memory, and Val●ur shall last as long as the Worl●) with a much less number of Forces did beat the French and English joined together against that State; but now that the English Fleet shall be joined to that of the United Provinces, France will be extremely put to it, and Monsi●ur of Segnelai will have as much need of good Counsel as of Money; but say the French, if we can do nothing in Europe, we will preserve ourselves for America; where they think they will do much in ruining some Plantations of the English and Dutch that have settled themselves there, during the time that the Cities and Provinces of France will be ruining; mean time that fear that he shall cause to the Savages, will not Cure him of his.  
The good disposition in which all Europe is, and the Revolution of England, ought highly to encourage the States of the United Provinces, now that they find themselves supported by all Christian Princes, who have with their High and Mightinesses but one and the same Design, which is to pull down the Pride of France, and that in destroying their Common Enemies, they may find themselves delivered from future danger, by the sole motion of England. It is another advantage to the said Provinces, to find themselves in good Intelligence with their nearest rest Neighbours, who are at their door, and that the Arch-Bishops, and Bishops of Colen, Munster, and Liege, are all Unanimously bend to embrace their Interest, and that France can no longer do in regard to those Prelates, that which she did in the year 1672. But on the contrary, they join now with the good party, to oppose themselves, as do their Allies, to the French King's Insultations, who endeavours to make us believe that he has still very great Ties with Denmark, seeing that in his Declaration of the 12th of last March, he grants to all those Refuged Persons that have left his Kingdom, half of those Revenues they left there behind them, yet with that Proviso, that the Officers shall go and serve in the Troops of the King of Denmark. But because that Kingdom cannot do well without a Trade with Holland, it seems that it would be a good piece of Policy to make him expound himself, for it would be a breach which his Danish Majesty would make to the Alliances, and he would be falling in his Faith in the Treaties, to con●ent that Officers should be drawn out of the Troops of his Allies; besides it seems as if the Affairs of Europe could not permit at this time any Neutrality to any Prince under what pretence soever: that being granted, Denmark ought to make his Choice, and in his Choice, to consider well the advantage he draws from the United Provinces, the Trade and Profit that results from it to his Subjects, and the advantage that the King's Treasure receives by the Entries and Exportations, (and let them take care not to fall again in the same Consternation, in which they were the last year, for scarce would the Affairs settle again a second time) on the contrary, he can draw no Succour from France in the present Condition it is, and though it promises to keep it in the possession of Holstein, that can be but a Chimerical Promise, seeing Lewis the XIVth can no longer preserve his own Provinces, nor keep his Cities, part of which he undermines, through a foresight he has, to be obliged to abandon them at the approach of so many Enemies. Thus ought Denmark Inviolably to join itself to that whi●h is so●●id, which is Uniting with the United Provinces, have never any thing to unravel which may break ●he Alliance, nor give occ●s●on to come to a Rupture, and follow their Interest, as the Shadow follows the Body, and generously contemn some pitiful Pension, ill paid at the best, which France ●ffers; it is a broken Reed which will hurt his hand, and a Will' o'th' Wisp, which leads to a Precipice. L●t his Danish Majesty but represent to himself the advantage of being free, and that a King ought to depend but of God, and of his own Sword: it is good being in a Condition of making Choice, and of following one's true Interest, without being tied by Pensione, which are but gilded Shackles, that are not the lighter for it, Sweed, which the King of Denmark has continually at his heels, and who has no Cause, no more than many others, of praising Lewis the XIVth, not to have any Consideration for those Powers that shall Ally themselves with that Monarch, who detains from him the Duchy of Deux-Pont, and considerable Sums of Arrears due to him, which he would never pay in spite, because his Sweedish Majesty would not continue with him the Alliances which had been Contracted. The same will happen to Denmark, if they take not care beforehand; But when it once finds itself deceived, then will it have recourse to the States of the Unired Provinces; and to the Emperor, but perhaps a little too lat●; mean time, it cannot be thought that the Emperor, and the Princes of the Empire will look with a quiet temper on the Alliances of the King of Denmark with their commou Enemies, nor even that he should remain Neuter, for still that is the way to serve him indirectly, and to give the People the means to carry into France all the Provision that it will stand in want of, their Merchants growing Rich by the Spoll of those that Fight. I would gladly see how the King of Denmark would defend himself, when his Ally Lewis the XIVth shall ask him for Powder, and Saltpetre for his Money, which is that he has most need of at present. Mean time it is easy to judge that that would be a great prejudice to the Enemies of France, and that it would deprive them from a great advantage, which it is likely they might obtain by their Enemies want of Ammunitions; wherefore in such a favourable juncture, the Allies will not endure any thing to their prejudice, nor that can impead their Erterprises. It is much better for Denmark, immediately to embrace that party, as being its true Interest, than to defer doing so, till France has had a blow.  
The Most Christian King reckons much on the King of Poland his Ally, there is betwixt them a very great Commerce of Money, and of Letters, that is no News, every body knows it, though one should not make it ones business to pry into it; those Messengers which so frequently pass to and fro shows it sufficiently, and no body is ignorant that the French Interest is entirely predominant in that Court, That King Employs for the most part French Men for his Ministers in the Foreign Courts. The Queen is still French in her inclinations and heart, as well as by Birth; (that is a quality which all the Princesses of France carry along with them, when they are Married out of the Kingdom) they meddle with Affairs; and that which she understands not well how to manage, she is informed in by Monsieur the Marquis of Bethune her Brother. The Grand Signior has been infinitely obliged to him during the late Campaigns; and though that War would not produce any great advantage to the King of Poland, yet he is for no Truce, he has his particular Reasons, which he is not obliged to tell: If that Prince after the deliverance of Vienna had gone forwards with his Victories, long since had the important Fortress of Caminieck been in his hands. France flatters him with words that are but wind, assuring him that it shall be put into his hands by agreement, but who knows whether it will in a little time be in a Condition of keeping that promise. It is an unhappiness for Christendom, that Lewis the XIVth has found so much Credit in that Court, and that the French Coin is so well known in those parts. It were well for Prince Jacob, if the King his Father did cleave more closely to the Emperor, than he has done since Vienna, and that preferring the General interest of Christendom to that of France, he should give his helping hand towards a Truce, to prevent by that means Europe from falling into a greater Mischief than it is lately got out of. But let us turn ourselves towards its Deliverer.  
Though the English are a Nation which is naturally Warlike, Undaunted, and whose Courage frequently runs even to rashness, they loving that Liberty in which they are Born: yet it may be said, that England, during the Reign of its two last Kings, has Conrributed to the downfall of Europe into Slavery, when it could have prevented it with one word, through a deceitful hope, that it could save itself from ruin, either by the Situation of the Country, and by its Forces, or by the Illusory promises of France. All the Princes of Europe have always prized very highly the Alliance with England, even in the time of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, (as we have seen before) those Kings have held the Balance in Europe, so long as they have not swerved from their true interests, and that they have not sold their freedom to France. Henry the VIIIth did compare Spain and France to the two boles of a pair of Scales, that that side weighed it down on which he leaned. He spoke justly, f●r the Monarches of that Kingdom being well united with their Parliaments, may style themselves the Arbitrators of Christendom: It is not without reason then that France has flattered them, during the two Reigns that have preceded this, and Lewis the XIVth thought himself at the top of all his Designs, when he did see James the ●●d on the Throne, making open profession of the Roman-Catholick Beligion, perhaps with a little more passion than became a King; but that was the weak side by which the French King would catch him, and detain him in his Bonds; for that Prince, ever subtle and crafty, did hit him on that side on which he was most sensible, to 〈◊〉 prejudice of his Honour, and against the inclination of the Nation, and the Parliaments expectations. Mean time Lewis the XIVth had so well managed his Ally, that it may be said, he already Triumphed over him; and that through all his Managements, Intrigues, and Lewis D'Ors, he was become Master of King James his Fortune, by the subtlety of his Ministers, who lulled him asleep on specious. Offers of Sixty Millions, and of 60000 Men, to support him against his Enemies, and even against his own People, if they would have resisted, and set themselves free; France little caring for the evil consequences that this Commerce could not but produce, so it did its own Business, and rendered that Prince odious to his Allies, and to his Neighbours, as well as to his own Subjects, who began to feel the smart of a pernicious Council, either in their Liberties, Laws, or Religion; and seeing themselves pressed down by a Tirannical Authority, and Despotic Power of an obseded and gained King, by France, and wholly devoted to its Interests, the English have found themselves constrained to prevent their falling into the same Predicament their Neighbours were in, to have recourse to their Liberator, that in being themselves delivered, they might delive●● all Europe also from that slavery in which it w●● going to fall, and to that purpose ●●er the Throne to the Prince o● Orange, and to the Princess his Spouse, as the lawful Heirs to the Three Kingdoms; and God having granted the Nations Vows and Petition, he has so well conducted that Great Prince's Enterprise, that it may be said, he has led him by the Hand, and seated him on that Throne that was designed for him without any effusion of Blood. This Miracle we have seen, but our Offsprings will scarce believe it; it is an happy and more than happy change, seeing that it will render a calm and quiet to all Christendom, and that he restores to Europe its Liberty. It was William the III. that Providence had designed, through the Assistance of the States of th● U●●ted Provinces, to be the glorious Instrument of so great a Work, capable to cause once more the dumb Son of Cr●ssus to speak, if he were yet living. But in the place of that Prince, Europe, that was become in a manner Dumb, through those great Evils that it suffered beforehand, has set up the Standard of Liberty and of Deliverance. Since that Prince and Princess of Orange have been Seated on the Throne, all Christendom gins, as it were, to revive again; Catholics and Protestants, all raise up their Heads against their Oppressor, as when a Tree is fallen, every body runs to take their share of the Bows. But to accomplish the Work, Two Things are required; First, a good and firm League amongst the Christian Princes, who have under-gone, and who still fear to fall under the French Kings Usurpation, should he get off of this present danger, so that nothing may be able to dissolve that Union, and that no private Interest, nor Eldership, should prevail over the general Good, and that he who shall separate from that Union, so necessary to Christendom, should be looked upon as a Perturbator, and a common Enemy, and set in the number of the Turks, and the French, to be set upon as a Deserter, and Traitor to the general Good of Europe. That Neutrality have no Place in Christendom; that he who is not for us is against us. Assuredly that League being so well Cemented, all the offers of France, nor the satisfaction that it might give to some of the Pretenders, nor being able to break the Union, it is most certain that all will bow to the Allies; that they shall enter, Drums beating and Colours flying, into their Enemy's Country, where they ought by all means to take up their Winter Quarters the next Season, to prevent Lewis the XIV's Forces from entering into the Country of the Allies, as he designs, and to give him at Home so much Business, that he may not go seek for some elsewhere. For if they enter not into France, but that the Allies content themselves with taking some Places which he has formerly seized on, with a design to amuser them to get time, as Mentz, Bonner, Keiserwaert, and others, that are about his Kingdom; that would be doing nothing at all, seeing the King has still his end, and that he holds those Places but to busy the Allies during this first Campaign, either to tyre them, or to drain them through length of time, or to Alienate some. That is Lewis the XIV's chief end, and the best Advice that he could take in such a pressing juncture, in which he finds himself at present. But if that for his good, and for the ill of Europe, he can break down the Dike, though the Breach be never so small, he will drown all Christendom, and the last evil would be worse than the first. To avoid this mischief, no Prince of the League ought to suffer any French Emissary in his Territories, they ought to be Banished as Infected Persons, and not Pardon the very first that shall be found, not sparing even the Church Men; those are flying Plagues, who like stinking flesh Flies, infect all places they light on; it is a dangerous Seed, which is to be rooted quite up.  
The Allies ought not to be concerned at the great number of Men there is in France, they are young Vipers that will eat a Passage through their Mother's Belly to get at Liberty: Not the Tenth Part of that great People have cause to be contented, and the most sound part waits but for its Deliverance, on what Side soever; and it may be said that Lewis the XIV. is not better beloved in his Kingdom than James the 〈◊〉. was in his. It is certain, that when the Prince of Lorraine shall appear before his own Subjects, they will receive him with the same Joy that the English have received the Prince of Orange: I say the same of Burgundy, and of the French County, and of divers other People, who wait but for the happy Moment of their Liberty.  
The Second thing to be done, is a powerful Fleet, which the King of England is to keep continually at Sea, that in conjunction with that of the State's General, he may be Master of the Sea, and not only give an Alarm on the Coasts of France, but make a descent also in Two different places, so soon as possible it can be done; then will that Kingdom be in a Combustion, and the King of it will lose the North, not knowing what place first to Succour, as a City that the Fire seizes in all Places; and those that shall Land there may be assured to be Seconded by a great number of the Inhabitants, all along that Coast, and from the Neighbouring Provinces. William the III. now Reigning, aught to be certain that his Predecessors have not for nothing preserved that Title of King of France; the Rights of Kings never grow out of Date, they are always Pupils, and at liberty to claim what has wrongfully been taken from them. So long as England shall subsist, the Kings will have a double Right to France, which will never be lost so long as Henry the V shall have any Successors to the Crown of England; he was Son to Margarite of France, and she Daughter to Philip le Bell, whose Sons deceased without Successors to the Crown of France, and that Henry, as a further Right, Married the Daughter of Charles the VI Being come to France, it was decreed by the States of the Kingdom, that he should be their King after the Death of Charles the VI and in that Quality the Queen his Mother in Law, made him Heir of all her Means, and of the Crown of France. I am persuaded, that there would not need any thing near so much to Lewis the XIV. to frame an irrevocable Pretention on England, and that the Royal Chamber of Metz would very readily confirm it without the least trouble, but there is no such thing; on the contrary, there has happened a time, in which all the deceits and subtleties of France begin very much to unstitch, and to be threadbare. William the III. has overturned the Bankers Tables, which the French King's Emissaries had set up in all places; their false Coin is no longer currant; their Money is cried down, their Lewis D'Ors, which were Worshipped as the Heathen do their Puppets, are grown odious to honest People, at least the occasion of their Distribution; and they are no more capable to corrupt at this time, than is the Copper of Sweede.  
Thus France beginning to be cried down by all Christendom, and to be slighted in all the Courts of the Princes of Europe, it has changed its Game, and endeavours to imitate those ancient Courtesans, who being grown old and withered, are cast off, and abandoned by every body, who altar the Passion once had for them, which obliges them also to an alteration, in turning Biggots and Superstitious, endeavouring to counterfeit Mary-Magdalen, thereby to regain that esteem of the People which they had lost by their debauched Lives. Thus Lewis the XIV. to draw on new Friends and Allies, the better to oppose himself to the King of Great Britain; and perceiving that all his Credit with the Catholic Princess is at an end, that none will any longer confide in him, and that his Maxims are cried down, he has taken in hand other Means, much more subtle than the precedent were; he no longer speaks to them of his own Interests, but he now Proclaims to them, That they must come to the Assistance of the Catholic Religion. That it was aimed at, when King James his Ally was Attacked; and that he has no other design of making War, but for the support of that dear Religion, especially by the re-establishment of that Prince on his Throne; that if all the Catholics would but join with him, or remain Neuter, that he alone will undertake to Re-establish him, and at the same time the Catholic Religion, in England and Scotland, and after, ●hat, beat down Heresy in its very Centre. But all this while, Lewis the XIV. is far from telling what he conceals under those specious Pretences, which would be, that after he had pulled down William the III. overcome the Protestant Princes, he would do the like to all the Roman Catholics, one after another, and thus become Master of Europe.  
〈◊〉 ●er●ain, that the diversity of Religion has always been as a large and vast Abiss, betwixt the Catholic and the Protestant Princes, but the Cruelty and Perfidiousness of the French, has filled up that Abiss, and levelled the way between them, and all difficulties are at present laid aside. Even the French King himself, unknowingly, has given a help in hand to the Business, with all his Power; for while he endeavours to persuade all the World, that he has no other aim than to promote the Catholic Faith, and that he Preaches in all places his Conversions, that he importunes the Pope to join with him for the Defence of the Church, and just in the height of such a fair Mission, in all appearance, he order his Troops to enter into the Territories of the Catholic Princes, to Attack those of the Prelates of the Church, and even to insult the Pope, though Head of that Religion which he protests he would defend, burning and destroying all over Germany, where his Troops but set their Foot, without exception of Religion, nor of Persons, Sacrificing to their Rage the most Sacred Places, their Insolence not sparing so much as the Monasteries of the Virgins, devoted to the Service of God, nor their impiety the Image of our Saviour, and that of the holy Virgin his Mother, which they have Treated with the greatest Indignation and irreverence that any Atheist could have been guilty of, acting in all places like Men that had no Faith, and that acknowledged no God; and all this too, as the whole World knows, against the promised Faith of Treaties, and Capitulations, which they own they have agreed to, but to enter the further, and with more ease into Places, and to put in Execution their Wicked and Pernicious Designs; the King threatening to Cashier those Officers that should not execute with all barbarousness, and exactly with the last extremity, the Orders of the Court; as if they had been sent to put an end to the Would by Fire, before the appointed time by Divine Providence.  
After all this, how can so cruel and so inhuman a Prince take upon him the Title of Most Christian, and while that by an overplus of Crimes he joins with the Turks to exterminate and ruin Christendom, assuring those Infidels, that he has not taken up Arms but to come to their Assistance, and to procure them t●● 〈◊〉 to recover what they have lost in Hungary, and to return before Vienna. It is no small trouble to that Most Christian King to have missed his opportunity, during the last Siege of Vienna, not to have advanced with his Army (which was ready at hand) into Germany, without expecting as he did the taking of Vienna; but he then believing the loss of it inevitable, he thought he should defer his March but a few days, and the better conceal his wicked Design, and that then the pretence would not only be plausible, but just also, to all appearance, because it had been to prevent the Turks from entering any further; but at the same time to render himself Master of the rest of Germany, and of all the Ernpire also; which should have been his share towards the defraying of the Wars; so he had divided with Mahomet the IVth all the Territories, both Catholic and Protestant, of Germany. If after all these Contrivances, one may style one's self a Zealot to the Catholic Religion, I refer it to the Judgement of the Pope; let us then say rather, that he is a Wolf in Sheep's Cloathings, covered with a false Piety, to devour the Christian Princes one after another; That was Cardinal Richlieu's Maxim, Not to value what he Promised, nor his Faith in the observation of Treaties, so he but served the French Interest: And doubtless it is from those rare Lessons, that this Zealous French King has so well improved, and which he endeavours to imitate so exactly, before those of the Gospel, which forbidden us to do to others, that which we would not have done to ourselves.  
But if we look on Businesses nearer at hand, we shall not wonder at the King's pressing for the Re-establishment of James the Second, and that he leaves no stone unmoved, to reseat him on the Throne: We shall find at last that it is not so much Religion as Interest that moves him to it, and that the return of that Prince to his Kingdom, is most necessary for him, much more than the Establishment of the Cardinal of Fustemberg, in the Archbishopric of Colen. It cannot be believed that it is the natural affection which he has for those two Princes that make him act, or the Zeal to Religion, as he publishes, but his Ambition, and the Preservation of his Kingdom. For if Prince Joseph Clement, and the present King of England, would but embrace the Party of France, and Unite themselves with that Monarch, he would send the Cardinal to Strasbourg, and King James where he was in Cromwel's time, or into some corner of the State of Modena; and if the Town of Algiers wou●●●●w send Ships into the C●●●● 〈◊〉 he would not only ha●b●●● 〈◊〉 with their Prizes in h●● P●rts, but would give them Liberty also to build a Mosq●●● t●ere, if that Town should require it. I see no greater difficulty nor Crime in that, than in lending his Forces to Rebuild some in Hungary, and to pull down the Christian Churches. These are then the fruits of this great Zeal. of which the French boasted in Rome, and at Madrid. Now let us turn our faces towards Truth. It is not Religion that bushes the French King, but he has the Shepherd at his heels, the Nets are spread on all parts for him, and he has no prospect of escaping; and in that dread he is, he would embrace the Alcoran, if he saw it would shelter him from the new King of England's Resentments, whom he has reason to fear, as the most dreadful and most powerful Enemy that he has at present, or ever had; with whom there is no Composition to be made, though Lewis the XIVth should return four times as much as he has Usurped from him, when he was yet but Prince of Orange. Perceiving then, that by the means of William the Third he has all Europe on his hands, and that he must leave some Fleeces behind him, no wonder he extends his hands (though in vain,) towards the one, and the other, to find out a Mediator, to draw him out of that Danger in which he finds himself: But he, having taken his Eternal farewell of all Faith and Honesty, and it having abandoned him, every body does the same, daring no longer to trust to him, till first he has been deprived of his Savageness, of his Ambition, of his Pride, and of his insatiable desire of Usurping the Goods of his Neighbours; and that is what will not happen, till he has first been humbled by Losses, either in his Armies, or of some of his Provinces; and that he has been obliged to restore to every one that which he has stolen from them; and that is what may be advantageous, and necessary for his poor People, and to all Europe. In vain he Flatters himself with an accommodation with some of the Allies, whom he pretends to divide from the Union in which we see them at present, and by that means to draw himself out of the Briers.  
This King has been inexorable to the Cries of the Poor, whom he has Ruined and Tormented; of the Widows and Orphans, whom he has stripped Naked; the Heavens will return it upon him, as well as all his Enemies; who will return him double the Evil which he has done, and will force him to swallow down the bitter Fruits of his Ambition, and breach of Faith, and to Disgorge all his Usurpations which he has Baptised with the specious Title of Conquests; and return to his Subjects that Liberty of Conscience, and places of Hostages which he has forced from them, against the Faith of Edicts, under the pretence of Conversions; restore to all his People in general the General States, for the surety of their Persons, and Means, whereas they now groan under the heavy pressure of the Intendants these are Monsters, which our new Hercules must vanquish; which God has given to free Europe from that slavery in which part of it was already reduced, and wherein the rest was going to fall, the Irons being already set in the Fire for it, by the means of James the II. who abandoning his own Interest, and that of his Nation, had given his Consent and Assistance to the ruin of Europe; and had entered into a League with the Usurper, to make it to fall under the slavery with more ease and greater expedition. But the Heavens, who have granted the Vows and Petions of all Europe, has broken those Chains by the means of a Republic, of which he had made his Prey; for it may be said, without ex●geration, that the States of the United Provinces have given the first blow to break those Shackles, through the Assistance they have given of Money, of Forces, and of Ships, to the King of England, when he was yet but Prince of Orange. Wherefore Europe ought to consider them as ●he Cause of its Deliverance, and the Restorer of its Liberty, the Refuge of all the Afflicted, the ●●etr●at of those whom Lewi● the XIVth had Persecuted, and stripped; and the Azilum of all good People, who ought in gratitude to hazard their Lives for the Support of a State, who has freed ●hem from the Lion's jaws, and has received them with so much Humanity and Charity, which doubtless shall be the Cannons with which they shall destroy their Enemies, and the Heavens will render them Victorious, and their Names shall last to the last of Ages.  
FINIS.