THE CHARACTER OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS WILLIAM HENRY PRINCE OF ORANGE.  
With Allowance.  
LONDON: Printed for Randall Taylor, near Stationers-Hall. MDCLXXXIX.   

THE CHARACTER Of His ROYAL HIGHNESS W. H. Prince of Orange.  
WHEN the Almighty designs a Great HERO to fight his Battles, and deliver his People from the Fury and Treachery of their Enemies, he inspires them with Courage, Prudence, Constancy, and Magnanimity; and so appears to be William Henry Prince of ORANGE, if we do but consider the Wonderful and Glorious Actions he hath performed both in Peace and War, and so affable, and of such a sweet Temper, that it may seem a doubt whether he hath made greater Conquests over his Enemies by his Sword, than by the Charming Dispositions of his Mind; as if he had not only the Meekness of Moses, but the Courage and Valiancy of Joshua.  
And by his Birth he seems to be destined by Heaven to be the Saviour of his Country, and of the Protestant Religion; for his Grandfather, Uncle, and Father, were so many Bulwarks against the Fury and Tyranny of the Spaniard, and other sworn Enemies of their Country and Religion, which they bravely defended all their days, against Implacable Foes, to their Confusion, their Country's Peace and Safety, and to their own Everlasting Honour and Renown.  
For William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, born in the Year 1533. as soon as he came to Man's Estate (finding his Country, and Religion, and his own Life, through the Cruelty of Philip of Spain, in eminent Danger, the Counts of Egmont and Horn, and Eighteen other Lords and Gentlemen, and 18000 of meaner Rank executed on several Scaffolds; and the utter Destruction of his Religion threatened by the Spanish Inquisition) generously took up Arms in Defence of his Country and Religion; and having drawn several of the States-General into an Association mutually to stand by one another; after having defeated the Bloody Duke of Alva in several Battles, baffled Requesenes, and Don john of Austria, Governors of the Spanish Netherlands for King Philip; and the Spaniards being no way able to withstand his Victorious Sword in the Field, caused him Treacherously and Barbarously to be Assassinated by one named Balthasar Guerard, a Burgundian. And thus fell the Great William of Nassau a Sacrifice for his Religion and Country.  
Philip William his Son, being bred up by the Spaniards in the Catholic Religion, died without any Great Actions performed by him.  
Maurice of Nassau, second Son of William, valiantly defended his Country for Forty Years, Won Forty Cities, and Breda by a Stratagem never paralleled by the greatest Captains; he obtained several Signal Victories, but especially the Famous Battle of Newport, and defended Ostend Three Years, beleaguered by the Marquis Spinola with a Numerous Army; and Died in the Year 1625, loaden with Honourable Scars, but more with Renown and Glory.  
Henry Frederick, Third Son of William Prince of Orange, was not only as courageous, but more fortunate than the rest; he took Oldersell, Groll, Bois le Due, wessel, Maestricht, Rhinberg, Skink, and afterwards the Castle and City of Breda in Four Months, which cost Spinola Twelve to master; Won Three Naval Battles, in one of which he took 20000000 l. from the Spaniards; in another, destroyed 40 of their Ships of War; and thus having utterly broken the Strength of Spain, and forced that Proud Monarch to Renounce his Claim to their Territories, he may be justly said to be the Founder of the Most Potent Republic in the World; and under the Tablet of this Heroic Prince, and his Royal Family, deservedly might have been these Verses,  

Illustris Origo est  
Principis Augusti, Qualis erit Soboles?   
Resp.  

Qualis erit? qualem depinxit Homerus Achillem.  
Marti, & Consilio Nestora, Talis erit.   
And now let us see whether William Henry Prince of Orange, by this present Character will appear to be such; for I design not the History of his Life, but a short view of those Glorious Actions he hath performed, by which the whole Word will better know him, than those that have stared on his wonderful Proportion and Features e'er since his Cradle.  
He is Son to Henry Frederick of Nassau, and Mary of England, Eldest Daughter of Charles the First, King of Great Britain, and seems to have engrossed all the Virtues and Glories of his Ancestors, the Courage and solid Judgement of his Grandfather William; the Fortitude and Policy of his Uncle Maurice; the Prudence, Fortunate Success and Magnanimity of his Father Henry Frederick, and with these Virtues he raised the Republic his Ancestors had saved from Destruction, to a Grandeur able to cope with the greatest Monarches upon Earth.  
In his Minority the De Wits, who had Treacherously sold their Country to the French, with a Devilish Policy undermined the Royal Infant, and his weak Party; they ingratefully took from him all his Rights, Jurisdictions and Privileges which his Ancestors had purchased with the loss of their dearest Blood and Lives, and thereby Peace, Freedom, and Grandeur, for the United States of the Netherlands.  
When he was 22 Years of Age, the effect of the De Wit's Treachery began to appear, for the French King invading the Netherlands with a Powerful Army, like a swelling Ocean when it overtops its Banks overturns all, the De Wits had put into the Garrisons Governors who were at their own Devotion, and manned them with raw Soldiers and Burghers; so that through the Cowardice of the one, and Treachery of the other, the French no sooner appeared at their Gates, but they basely surrendered in a Day, Fortifications that might have defended themselves from the whole Power of France, many Months.  
This awakened the Dutch out of their Lethargy, and the People Sacrificing Cornelius and John De Wit to their Fury, he was at Dort, and afterwards by the States of Holland, Zealand, and West Frizeland, declared Stadtholder, and Captain, and Admiral General of the United Provinces, with all the Rights, Jurisdictions, and Privileges his Ancestors had enjoyed.  
And now our Young HERO taking Command of the Army, he first valiantly repulses the French from the Walls of Ardenburg, the Bishop of Munster from Groaning, takes Coeverden in a Day, with the loss of only 60 Men, which cost the Bishop of Munster much Time and Blood to master; as also Naerden, Bon, Brevill, Lechnich, Woerden, Creveceur, Hardwick, Vtrecht, bommel, Campen, Ellburgh, Hatten, Steenwick, Meppel, Northom, Zutphen, Tiel, Arnheim, Dinant, Deventer, and Graves, with a far greater Celerity than they were taken by the French and Munsterians.  
But now he is to engage one of the most Renowned Captains in the World; and indeed whoever reads the Life of the Prince of Conde, will find it full fraught with Wonders of Courage, Conduct and Policy: The Prince of Conde lay encamped behind the River Pieton, the Prince of Orange with his own Forces, the Germans and Spaniards his Allies, endeavour by several Stratagems and Provocations to draw him to a Battle; but that wary General made their Attempts vain; whereupon the Prince of ORANGE directs his March to Binch, but being to pass through very difficult Ways and Lanes, the Prince of Conde knowing his Advantage, suffers the Vanguard, and some part of the main Body to pass by him, and then silently drawing out his Army, and putting them into Battalia, furiously falls upon the Prince of Vaudemont, who was to secure the Rearguard with 4000 Horse; Vaudemont sends to the Prince of ORANGE for Two Battalions of Infantry, (the Place where he engaged being not so proper for Horse) and has Three sent him, and withal the Troops that lay on the other side of the River that runs by Seneff, the French could not force them from their Post, but passing the River a little higher, and joining all their Forces, the Confederates wanting Elbow-Room, and the French falling upon them from all Parts, the Confederates were enforced to retire, having lost several Principal Officers: Then the Prince of Conde pushing on his advantage, fell on vigorously on the Horse, commanded by the Prince of Vaudemont and put them to the Rout, and afterwards on the Duke de Villa Hermosa who commanded 16 Battalions of Infantry, who valiantly withstood their Charge, but at last was forced to a disorderly Retreat, and so put those that came to his Assistance into much Confusion, whereby the Prince of Conde became Master of the Baggage of the Dutch Army.  
Things being in this ill Posture, it was high time for the Young Belgic Lion to rouse his Courage; he embattled the Imperialists and Spaniards in the Left Wing, and his own men in the Right, in such Excellent Order, that being joined by General Souches, who was advanced some hours March before with the Vanguard, that although the French were never observed to Fight before with such obstinate Resolution, yet he put a Check to the Progress of their Victory: The Valorous Prince of ORANGE ran with his Sword in his Hand, and stopped the flight of his Fugitives, than threw himself into the midst of his Enemies; so that his Army being animated by so Glorious an Example, Fought with incredible Bravery.  
Neither had the Prince of Conde any better Success in his Attacking the main Body, or the Right Wing of the Confederates, although he charged them with his Curiasseers, and the Troops of Horse of the French King's Guards; for the Prince of ORANGE with a Prodigy of Valour maintained the Fight, until Night's Black Mantle shrouded the Prince of Conde, who under that Covert made a disorderly Retreat with his Army, and left the Field of Battle, the certain Sign of Victory, to the Conquering Prince of ORANGE, who snatched the Wreath of Bays that Conde had won at the beginning of the Battle from his Brows, and placed it on his own.  
I shall give you but one Instance more of his Martial Prowess, and that is the Wonders he performed against the Duke of Luxemburg, a Renowned and Experienced Captain, at the Famous Battle of Mons; Luxemburg was so advantageously posted, and slighted the Prince's Design of Attacking him so much, that he was pleased to say, He would not rise from his Dinner for the Attempts of the rash Boy; but the Prince Charged him with such a Manly Courage and Fury, through all the Storms of Shot and Fire, although he was to March up a Hill before he could reach him, and afterwards through deep and difficult Lanes and Ways, and thick Woods, that he not only made him lose his Dinner, but forced him to seek a new Lodging, for he drove him out of his Camp, and possessed himself of it, his Tents and Baggage.  
And thus I have given you a short view of the Martial Actions of this Heroic Prince; and will now only Instance a few of his Politics relating to the Civil Government.  
There have been many Illustrious Men carried on by the Heat of Youthful Courage, whom Success hath Crowned with Victory, that have been esteemed great Conquerors; but all History cannot produce a Parallel of a Person of the Age of this Young Prince, to have been so great a Statesman, and so well skilled in the Politics of Government.  
When he was declared Stadtholder at the Age of about 22 Years, he found the Government quite out of Frame, the Laws prevaricated or overturned, and such a Regulation in Cities and Corporations, as we lately had here in England; all the Just, Grave, Worthy Magistrates turned out, and only such put into their Places (though never so undeserving) as favoured the Faction of the De Wits.  
And as the City of Dort first led the way, and made him their Stadtholder, he not only settled that City, but West-Friezeland, and the City of Middleburg, which were all in Uproar and Confusion; he no sooner appeared amongst them, but their Differences and Mutinies vanished; the Fame of his Success against their Enemies abroad, and the Sweetness and Moderation which he expressed at home, gained him so much Reverence, that their Arms fell out of their Hands, the Ancient Magistrates were restored, and all those States and Cities to their former Peace and Tranquillity.  
He never had the least Relax from his Martial Employments, but he applied himself in that spare time in Reformation of the Government; he caused New Elections to be made of Persons to officiate in the College of Counsellors Elect; and a New Choice to represent the Body of the Nobility; and placed Men of Integrity and Ability to be of the Magistracy and Councils of the several Cities; he drew up such Orders for their well-Government for the future, which he was so far from imposing on them, that after they had debated them in their several Assemblies, they not only Joyfully approved of them, but in requital settled the Offices of Governor-general, Captain and Admiral General on him and his Male Issue.  
Thus this Valorous and Prudent Prince redeemed his Country and Religion from the slavery of the Potent French King, and resettled the Government upon its Ancient Basis, which had been in a horrid Confusion, through the Treachery of the De Wits, and the Disorders which the French Invasion had contaminated it withal; and in the Year 1678 that Victorious French Monarch was forced, and did conclude a Peace with the Prince of ORANGE, much to his Glory and Renown, and as much to the Advantage of the States of the United Provinces; the French King quitting by this Peace, all that he had taken from them. But as if he were designed by Heaven, not only to be the Saviour of his own Country and Religion, but the Champion of the Lord of Hosts, to deliver his true Church from the Fury, Treachery, and Tyranny of its Enemies; the Church of England being surrounded with Dangers, that threatened her on every side, those Laws that were made and accounted as the Bulwarks against Popery, being all made invalid. The Judges and Chief Ministers of State then in Office corrupted, and such as sought her Ruin. The King himself, though of Excellent Qualities, yet poisoned by Jesuits Powder, and other corrupted Officers, by whom he was misled to his great Misfortune. The Church of England being in this Deplorable Condition, sending up her Prayers to Heaven for a Moses to deliver her, and withal imploring the aid, by her Clergy, Nobility, and Gentry, of our William Henry Prince of ORANGE, he pitying her Tears, and to approve himself the only Champion for the Protestant Religion, takes the Almighty's Cause in hand, and with an inconsiderable Force to what was raised against him, Lands in England, and finds the effects of his Virtues more powerful than his Sword; for the Fame of his Valour and Conduct, Prudence, Justice and Moderation, being his forerunners, the Gates of all Cities and Strong-holds opened to him: And not only so, but Fortresses more obstinate and difficult to Conquer; I mean the hearts of the Clergy, Nobility and Gentry of the whole Kingdom: And it is much a Nobler Conquest over the Hearts, than the Bodies of Men. And he, to show that his Zeal in this Expedition was only for the Protestant Religion, spurs on the Convention of the Lords and Commons Assembled, and leaves it wholly to them to settle the Government, and their Religion, upon such a firm Basis, that it may hereafter outbrave all the Treachery and Fury of Rome; and that the Laws and Properties of the Subject may be secured from Tyranny and Oppression for the future.  
I shall now come to a Corollary upon the whole: As to his Physiognomy, it is Martial; but tho' there is a fierceness in his Eyes, yet withal a Charming Sweetness, and a little Melancholy Air in his Countenance, in which you may read Temperance and Mildness; His Courage has been such in his green years, that he opposed the French King in Person, the great Conde, Turene, Luxemburgh, and several other great Generals; and not only measured his Sword with them, but gained much more Honour upon them, than they did on him. His Patience and Temperance was so great, that he endured all the indignities the De Wits and States-General put upon him in his minority, without a murmur: His Prudence and Policy in Civil Government is without parallel, in the Settling the Government and Religion of his Country, notwithstanding all the confusions the De Wits, and the French Invasion had brought it into, on the old Foundation: And not only so, but improved its Glory to such a pitch, through his Conduct, that now the States-General of the United Provinces are the most potent in the World. His Constancy appears, that he was not at all shaken or dejected at the stupendious devastation the French King made, when he first like a Torrent overwhelmed his Country; much less at the vast advantages that great General the Prince of Conde obtained over him at the beginning of the Battle of Seneff; but with a Constancy and Resolution worthy himself, having born the brunt of their fury, triumphed over it, and all their Policies. He talks not much, but very well; and of great Judgement to discern the best advice given, whether at a Council of War, or a Debate at the Convention of the State's General: Magnificent in his Entertainments, without prodigality. Women and Wine, the two great Seducers of Mankind, never could entice him to the least frailty. Thus the Charms of his Valour, Justice, Temperance, and the Sweetness of his Disposition makes him Triumph, not only in Battle, but by a more powerful Conquest, over the hearts of his Opponents, as the Nobility and Gentry of England must acknowledge: So that He may more justly, than Titus Vespatiam, claim the stile of  
Deliciae humani Generis.  
FINIS.