A LETTER Written by the EMPEROR TO THE Late KING JAMES, Setting forth The True OCCASION of his FALL, AND THE Treachery and Cruelty of the FRENCH.  

Licenced  
J. Fraser. May 2. 1689.   
LONDON, Printed for Ric. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard. 1689.   

A LETTER Written by the EMPEROR To the Late King James; Setting forth the true Occasion of his Fall, and the Treachery and Cruelty of the French.  

LEOPOLDUS, etc.  
LIteras Serenitatis vestrae 6. Febr. nuperi ex arce St. Germani ad nos datas, ab ejusdem in aula nostra Ablegato Carlinfortio exhibitas, recte accepimus, & ex iis in quem statum redacta sit Serenitas vestra, qualiterque ab exercitibus suis, immo & ab intimis & domesticis fere omnibus, post adventum Principis Arausionensis derelicta praecipiti fuga saluti suae consulere, & ibidem in Gallia praesidium, subsidiumque quaerere coacta sit: Denique etiam à nobis ad recuperanda Regna sua Auxilium expetat pluribus intelleximus. Serenitati vestrae id certo recipere & confirmare possumus, quod simul atque peracerba haec rerum vicissitudo ad aures nostras pervenit, animum etiam nostrum non communi illo humanitatis, sed pro sincero nostro in eandem affectu, propiore & strictiore sensu tetigerit, & intime indoluerimus, illud tandem evenisse, quod nobis quantumvis meliora sperantibus animus jamdudum anxie praesagiit. Quod si enim Serenitas vestra amicissimis nostris per Ablegatum nostrum nuperum Comitem in Caunitz factis remonstrationibus potius, quam fraudulentis Gallorum suggestionibus, quibus id unum agebant, ut perpetuas inter Serenitatem vestram, & ejusdem Populos fovendo simultates reliquae Christianae Europae tanto securius insultarent, fidem praebuisset, & continuis eorundem pacifragiis & contraventionibus, quarum vindiciae pace Neomagensi ad eandem spectabant, authoritate & potentia sua modum serio ponere, eumque in finem communia nobiscum, aut cum aliis recte consulentibus, consilia inire placuisset. Nobis quidem nullum dubium est quin Serenitas vestra animos Populi sui odio Religionis nostrae jam tam exulceratos multum demulsisset, & etiamnum tam in Regno suo, quam in Romano Imperio tranquillitas illibata staret. Nunc autem quo loco res nostrae sint, ut Serenitati vestrae auxilium praestari possit à nobis, qui non Turcico tantum bello impliciti, sed insuper nos etiam crudelissimo & iniquissimo à Gallis rerum suarum, ut putabant, in Anglia securis, contra datam fidem impediti sumus, ipsimer Serenitati vestrae judicandum relinquimus. Illud sane eandem non celandum ducimus, quod Religioni etiam nostrae non ab aliis majore injuria quam ab ipsismet Gallis illata sit; quippe qui non tantum in nostrum, & totius Christianae orbis perniciem foedifraga arma cum juratis Sanctae Crucis hostibus sociare, & susceptos à nobis pro Dei Gloria conatus interrumpere, successusque ab Omnipotenti manu nobis concessos impedire fas sibi ducunt; sed etiam in Imperio perfidiam perfidia cumulando urbes deditione occupatas contra datam ex ipsiusmet Delphini manu signatam fidem immensis tributis exhaurire, exhaustas diripere, direptas funditus exscindere, aut flammis delere. Palatia Principum ab omni antiquitate inter saevissima bellorum incendia intacta servata exurere, templa spoliare, dedititios in servitutem more inter barbaros usitato abducere. Denique passim, imprimis vero etiam in Catholicorum Ditionibus, alia horrenda, & ipsam Turcarum tyrannidem superantia, immanitatis & saevitiae exempla edere, pro Ludo habent. Quae cùm necessitatem nobis summam imponant, non contra ipsos minùs, quam contra Tureas, omni nos etc. Sacrum Romanum Imperium melion ratione tuendi, ab ipsiusmet Serenitatis Vestrae aequanimirate certum nobis assensum promittimus, nobis à nemine imputari posse, siquam hactenus per multiplices Tractatus assequi non potuimus securitatem, justissimis Armis asserere satagamus; eundemque in finem cum iis, quorum interest, communes pro defensione & securitate nostra rationes inire cogamur. De caetero Deum rogamus, ut omnia ad suam Gloriam dirigat, vestraeque Serenitati in hoc gravissimo infortunio suo vera solatia praestet, qui tandem tenerrimo fraterni animi affectu complectimur.  
Viennae 9 Aprilis 1689.   

LEOPOLD, etc.  
WE have received your Majesty's Letters, dated from St. Germane the sixth of February last, by the Earl of Carlingford, your Envoy in our Court: By them we have understood the Condition your Majesty is reduced to; and that you being deserted after the landing of the Prince of Orange, by your Army, and even by your Domestic Servants, and by those you most Confided in, and almost by all your Subjects, you have been forced by a sudden flight to provide for your own safety, and to seek Shelter and Protection in France: Lastly that you desire Assistance from us for the recovering your Kingdoms. We do assure your Majesty, that as soon as we heard of this severe turn of Affairs, we were moved at it, not only with the common sense of Humanity, but with much deeper Impressions suitable to the sincere Affection which we have always born to you. And we were hearty sorry that at last that was come to pass, which (though we hoped for better things) yet our own sad thoughts had suggested to us would ensue. If your Majesty had rather given Credit to the Friendly Remonstrances that were made you, by our late Envoy, the Count de Kaunitz, in our Name, than the deceitful Insinuations of the French, whose chief aim was, by fomenting continual Divisions between you and your People, to gain thereby an Opportunity to insult the more securely over the rest of Christendom. And if your Majesty had put a stop, by your Force and Authority, to their many Infractions of the Peace, of which by the Treaty at Nimegen you are made the Guarantee, and to that end entered into Consultations with us, and such others as have the like just Sentiments in this matter; We are verily persuaded that by this means you should have in a great measure quieted the Minds of your People, which were so much exasperated through their aversion to our Religion, and the public Peace had been preserved as well in your Kingdoms as here in the Roman Empire. But now we refer it even to your Majesty, to judge what condition we can be in to afford you any Assistance, we being not only engaged in a War with the Turks, but finding ourselves at the same time unjustly and barbarously Attacked by the French, contrary to, and against the Faith of Treaties, they then reckoning themselves secure of England. And this ought not to be concealed; that the greatest Injuries which have been done to our Religion have flowed from no other than the French themselves; who not only esteem it lawful for them, to make Perfidious, Leagues with the sworn Enemies of the Holy Cross, tending to the destruction both of us and of the whole Christian World, in order to the checking our Endeavours, which were undertaken for the Glory of God, and to stop those Successes which it hath pleased Almighty God to give us hitherto; but further have heaped one Treachery on another, even within the Empire itself. The Cities of the Empire which were surrendered upon Articles, signed by the Dolphin himself, have been exhausted by excessive Impositions; and after their being exhausted have been Plundered, and after Plundering have been burned and razed. The Palaces of Princes, which in all times, and even in the most destructive Wars, have been preserved, are now burnt down to the Ground. The Churches are rob, and such as submitted themselves to them, are, in a most barbarous manner, carried away as Slaves. In short, it is become a Diversion to them to commit all manner of insolences and cruelties in many places, but chief in Catholic Countries, exceeding the Cruelties of the Turks themselves▪ which having imposed an absolute necessity upon us to secure ourselves and the Holy Roman Empire, by the best means we can think on, and that no less against them than against the Turks; We promise ourselves from your justice ready assent to this, That it ought not to be imputed to us, if we endeavour to procure, by a just War, that security to ourselves which we could not hitherto obtain by so many Treaties; and that in order to the obtaining thereof, We take measures for our mutual Defence and Preservation, with all those who are equally concerned in the same Design with us. It remains that we beg of God, that he would direct all things to his Glory, and that he would grant your Majesty true and solid Comforts under this your great Calamity; we embrace you with the tender Affections of a Brother.  
At Vienna the 9th of April 1689.