ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN Production Note Project Unica Rare Book & Manuscript Library University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign 2015'Usi ■V the !<‘i m V TO ntûatW^ r/i£ LORDS d COMMON'S ISENGLANDS APPEAL FROM THE) Private Cabal A T - * WHITE-HALL T O The Great Council of the Nation* THE LORDS and COMMONS I N •r Parliament assembled/ A ftrong ARie ne Partner knot»'s', ' 1"’He BSJLL the GOAT, and Patient SHEEP one day, Leagu'd with the LYON, fought a (fommon prey ; A Prey they tech., an high and mighty Hart; Of which each thought to have his equal part : Soft, quoth the LYON, 1 the firjf Jbart claim, ’Caufe LY02^_ King o'th Fort ft us my name; The fecond yo’i ¡hall give me as my due> 'Caufe I am vat ant, able to fubdue : The third I take by force, and for the re(l, Touch it Veho carts; yield it all,yon had be ft. ^ \ ( i) pifLVHfro *crr.f\~if '~'Ql ¿-'u'l VtOfQ ¡.f f t/UsV ■** ' ( ■ * i /~*-r ^ His is an Age of Wonders : Add if with a confidering eye wfe take a careful view of Europe, wc fhall find that fome years laft paft have prefented us with as many things worthy of admiration as any former age hath afforded to our 'forefathers. The Revolution of Portugal, and the v/onderful fccrccy with which it was carried on, is not to be matched in any Age. The Tragy-Comcdy of Afajfane/lo looks more like a Poetical fiddion then a real truth. The Depofmg of Kings, and ( which is much more ftrange) their Voluntary refignation (of which the Annals of Anticnt times furnifh us, but with very few Examples ) are become the common Thcam of our Journals, and if from the reft of Euroft we turn our eyes toward this Ifland, our furprifal will incrcafe, and we fhall find that this little Britifh World is a fmall Enchiriden or Epitome of all the ftupendious events that ever hapned in the great one. We have all feen or had a fhare in thofe paifages which Pofterity will hardly give more credit to, then wedo to what is faid of King Arthurs Round Table. And ’tis not improbable that fome hundred years hence the Hiftory of our late Revolutions will be ranked among the fabulous Romances of Gild us, and fuch other Writers. But it may be among all our unexpended changes, revolutions and Counfels, there is fcarcc any more j:¡idly to be wondred at, then the prefent alliance wirh France, and the war we have undertaken, and do ftill perfift to profecute againft Holland, in fo dangerous in aiTociation with the I rench. It was undoubtedly above the reach of an ordina-ry underftanding to imagine or fufpedd(in the leaftjthat a ProteftantKing-dom, without being compelled to it by fome urgent and unavoidable neceffity, fhould ever fight with fo much ficrcenefs for the deftruddion of the Proteftant intcrcft: or that Englifh Counfcllors fhould ad-vifchisMaj fty torunthe fortuneof a french King without a rational profpedd of advantage to himfelf. Would any man that judgeth of thingsthing? according to the ordinary rules of prudence,have thoughtthat in order to the making good ourTitle to theKingdom of France;wc ihould able their prefent King to invade all Chriitcndom, and to extend his Empire without bounds, ©r that to fecurc to our fclvcs the foveraignty of the Seas, we ihould with fo much induftry endeavour to force all the Dutch Ships, with all their Naval Power into the French Arms, and rejoyce at their Victories, as if by conquering the Land, they did not Mailer at the fame time their Havens, their Rivers, and their Fleets ? Wc have been often told of brisk meflengers fent formerly to the French Kings,as foon as they did but lay the Carkafe of fome pitiful Ship upon thc'fiocks.But we did never fo much as dream of thatViceAdmirals,' and other confiderable Sea Officers fhould be fent to the French Couit to encourage and promote the fettifig out of their Fleets? That pitty-ing their want of experience in Sea Affairs,we would out of Companionate and Brotherly love lead their raw Sca-mcn by the hand. Train them tip in our Fleets, and amongft the beil of our Sea-men, teach them what Skill we have learnt in a long and dear bought experience And to Crown all, even fight for them, and interpofe between them and danger with fo good fuccefs (as it proved ) that the French Squadron (as if the engagement had been only defigned for an entertainment and diverfion to them) came off as ireih and as whole as when they firft failed out of t -cir Ports. The furprifing novelty and ilrangenefs of thefc unexpected Councils hath occafioned the following reflexions. And all men being equally concerned in the prefervation of the Ship they fail in, though all do not fit at the Helm, it is every ones duty as well as their undoubted right to prevent as much as they are able a fatal running uponRocks,which may chance not to be difccr-ned by others, upon this juft and well grounded confidence, I prefume to diredt thefe papers to the re 1 Counfel of the Nation, humbly begging that they be read with an unbyaffed mind, and truth weighed in the balance of the Sandtuary.Before I muft pr< mife I do not intend to write an Apology for the jV<-*c^,nor to juft;fie all their proceedings, much lefs ro encreafe the number of the fcurnlo.-Pamphlets againft them, which I am confident will aff.dt no fober man in the Nation, and need only to be read to be conruted. I’lc only fay that fmcc all Chriftiansfhould above all things enq -ire into juftiee of their Arms before ¡.hey either take them up,or refufc to lay them down.ft will become the wifdom and prudence of both houfts to hear what ihc Dunk maymay fay for thcmrelvcs,and to take into their ferious confederation the proteftations they make both in publkk and private, of their unfeigned defires as well as readinefs togivci^WallJpoilible fatisfafti-on, and buy his Majefties Fricndihip at a more then ordinary Rate. But by my prfent defign being not to enter further into thefe parti-' culars,not to examine the Juftice or Injuftice of this War, but rather to confider and querc (fuppofirg it had been never fo juft at firft) how far it may be advifablc to continue it, I will with as much clcarnefs as I am able, and in as few words as the matter will bear, confine my fell to thefe following heads. 1. A Short account of the Crown with which hie Majeft] is er.tr ed into League. 2. The accefsit) and unavoidable Conferences of this War. 3. Some general reflexions upon the whole, with fome Account of the manner and Slept b] which this War was both promoted and begun. I. All thofe who are not altogether Strangers to the World will eafily grant that of all the Kingdoms of Europe there are none but may be faid inferior to France in fome refpeft or other, and to want fome advantages which France enjoyeth in a veryeminent dcgrec.The great-nefs of its Territories, the Populoufncfs of it, the number of their Gentry and Nobility. Their natural courage ; together with the advantage of being trained up either to Military Aflions or to Warlike Exerciics, ever fincc the Foundation of their Monarchy, the fituation of their Country, and the opportunities they have by it to annoy their Neighbours upon all oceafions. The fruitfulnefs and riches of the Soil,’ together with the prodigious quantity of all forts of Commodities manufactured & unmanufactured with which they fupply their neighbors. And laftly the great Revenues of their Kings, who governing of late without controul or check, are fo much the more able to opprefs their Neighbours; All thefe Advantages meeting together, they have in all Ages had afpiring thoughts, and under Charlemain had ereCted a new Wcftern Empire, which in all likelihood would have proved of longer continuation, had not thofe great Dominions been {hared and divided between the faid charlemains Children, which in the fuccecding Ages proved an occafion of many great and bloudy War#(4; 2. A Second memorable flop to the encreafe of the French was J when by the ambition oi Hugh Cap te, who aimed at' the C rown, to Mfurp it with lets oppofitiwi, and to draw the Grandees into his party, he made all their governme ts hereditary ,and ercClcd them into a kind of Principalities held in Capite, from thence fprang fo many great Families able afterwards to wage War agaiift the French K g. And whi'lft they were thus in a kind of Minority, the Houfc of Burgundy having joyned with England, brought that Kingdom to the Low condition, every one knows. Zewfr the 11th. was the firft who after the Englifh had loft not only their new Conqueft, but alfo what they had penciled of old France^ raifed the French Crown a greater height, and his Son Charles the 8th. befides the acquifition of Brltany. frighted all Europe by his fur-prifing Conqueft of the Kingdom of Naples. This occafioned a general confederacy of all neighbouring Princes againft him, whereby he foon loft what he had gotten. Butftill the ambitious thoughts of his Succeffors would have much endangered the liberty of Europe, if the Auitrian family (raifed on a fudden to a vaft Grandeur, the occafion of an innumerable number of Provinces united in Charles the yth.) had not carried the Imperial Crown from Francis the ift.who flood with much Eagcrncfs for it, and had already engaged fcveral of the ElcCtors. This having over-balanced the French Power, the faid Francis the lft. though helped feveral times by the great Solyman Emperor of the Turks, was at laft forced to yield to the Victorious Arms of Charles the 5th. who took him prifoncr and forced him to buy his liberty with a very difadvantageous peace. 1 But his Son Henry the fccond had better fucccfs, and amongft other advantages he added to his Dominions threevery fair Imperial and Epifcopai Towns, and was likely to have gone further had he not been prevented by a fudden death. England all this while (true at that time to their own intcreft) with a skilful hand holding the balance and. keeping thecontcfting parties in as great an cqnality as their own oc-cafions would permit. Under the minority of his Children, the bloudy Maflacres and ci- ,hc fcTOli “ti¡But Tîânrj the 4th. fbengthned by the divifions which grew between •the Spaniards and the i oly League, having won many Battels, nude his Title to the Crown good, by the fuccels of his Arms, and not lone after concluded peace with Spain to gain time to breath,and to recover new ftrength. No fooner was he at reft,but he bent all his thoughts upon a projeil as vaftinthc defign of it, as Extraordinary in its nature, intending no lefs then to call Europe ¡nto a new Mould,& to reduce all thè Kingdoms and Common wealths that were in his time to a certain number, and to bring them within fuch bounds as he ihould preferibe to to them, being fure however in this Marfhallmg to take fuch fharc to himfclfas would have enabled him (or at leaft his SucceiTors ) to grow into an univ rfal Monarch. To cffcil this he had already made choice of his Generals and other great Officers, and was preparing much Arms and money when a fudden and unexpected death puts an end as weU to his undertaking as to his life The beginning, and in truth the greateft part of the Reign of Le*ii the 13th. his Son was much difquiercd by inteftinc broils and Civil Wars, during which the houfe of Anftr'.a was very near bringing all Germa»7 under their fubjcCtion,and after the Battel of Prague flood very fair for the univerfal Empire. But France having at fail quieted all at home, did (under pretence of oppofing the Adrian Family, and whilft they were courted by fevcral Priâtes toaffi'l and protcCl them againft the E-npcrour)vaftIy increafed their own power, and conquered new Provinces, and confiderable Towns in Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Low Countries, which railing new jealoufies in their own Allies occufioncd the peace of Mstnfler to prevent their further pro-grefs. About the fame time tve new Civil wars which broke out in France under the minority of the prêtent Kmc,gave opportunity to Spain to recover part o their Loff.s, till the (llte )Protestor of England joyning with the French (for the ad vacement of fome private ends of h s own, and by a policy from which the deilrudlion of Europe may chance to £ike its date before wc are much older) brought them into a decaying condition, and made the Pyrenean Peace (after the death of Cromvrei) moil welcome to them, Before we go further and come to give a more particular account of B the(6) the prefent French Court, I will beg leave to flop here a while, and defire the Reader to take along the following inferences, from what hat h already been hinted, a more full knowledge thereof being left to the pei ufal of their Hiitories. j. fnat no greater proofs can be given of the internal ftrength of the French Nation,then th. irovercom ng ti e many dangerou, convul-fions of Hate, they iiave from time to tune ftrugled, with which in all appearance would havedeftroted any other Nation. 2 That in all Ages,afToon as their inceftine troubles have b-'en over they have Hill out of arelllefs Warlike humour endeavoured to encroach upon their neighbours, and to encreafe their o*n Dominions, laying hold of all opportunities to diflurb mankind, and having never able as yet to fet bounds ro their ambition 3. That this Ambicious humor of thrirs/upported by the greatnefs of their power would long before this time have brought all Euro t under their Subjeftion, if their o vn divifion and private quarrels had not from time to time, put back their defigns for m ny years, or their greateil Princes been cue of before they could finifh their intended work. 4. And Laflly as 1 confequence of the three former, that it was ever, and wdl be ftill.thetrue intenflo* Euro #to oppofe the Fnncb defignSjOr if cheir be any ccafion of making ufe of them againft fou er other oppofTers, not to accept of their allidarce, lnnge< or further then pub'ick utility requires ir, nor to luflei them to proceed after the danger is over, as it was practiced in the peace of >a//tr, in tne time oi Henry the 2. and thjr of Mu fie , in bo h which the Ere ch we. e flopped in their full carreei by cheir o? n Allies,though they ftill came of wit> profit. The trench having thus in the laft War*, added manyftir Provinces and Towns to their T errrones,this prefent Courchad no foo. ner made Pe.sce with Spain,bur they thought of laying th - f auditions of a vafiei Empire than ever. And perceiving «hi' fii>ce the Jucovery of the Infii.i, and increafe of Trade« Naval ftrengrn was cite moft important o* all others, and Navigation and commerce the gr- areft (if not the only) fupporrers of it. I hev firft ere-ted and encoura?ed ftveral Trading Companies, and in the fecond place they fparrd no cod & Auck at no charge or expe/'ce.to pui chafe a confiderahle. Fleet af men of War whe. cin they have been fo fuecefsful. That Ifear their Flees' ....... (75 __ Tleet(excepting the true courage of our Seamen)ls not much inferout to tha. oi his Ma jellies, as incredible as it may feem at firft, confider-ing how few years they have applied themfelves to it. But whilft they were thus intent upon the increafe of their intereft at Sea, they let no opportunity flip, of enlarging their Empire at Land,for during the late War with Hell, nd, they invaded in (1667.) and mailered a conliderable part of the Spansps Low Countries in 1669. they hunted the poor Duke of Lorrain out of his Dutchy, and to this day poflefs it all, and now this laft year they have conquered the half of the VnitedProvinces,much lefs then all this was more then fufficienc to awaken all Europe •, and his Majefiy above all others being out of his Princely wifdom very feniible that the keeping a true ballance between the Piinces and other States of Europe,was the only fecurity of all, and that by a timely flop to the French Conq -lefts he would reap an infinite Honor and Profit. AfToon as the French King fell upon Flanders, he begun to think of applying fit Remedies to fo dangerous a Difeafe, and having concluded a Peace at Breda with the HoRanders, he fent them in private in Janua y 1668. Sir william Temple,who was then his Refident at B-st^els, to propofe a nearer Alliance with them, and to take joynt mcafures againft the French. *• No fmall A’ gument by the way, of his Ma jefties averfion to the «* French defigns, and of the fear he had of their increafe,fince to pre-“ vent it, he went fo far as to feek the Hollanders firft, and to propofe ftrifler Alhances with them after fo fierce and Recent a War ended Wich the unpleafant ctrcumftances of Chatham. Sir W Ram Temples Propofals having been entertained with all teady complyanre by the ‘Dutch, he waited on his Majefty to give him an account of his Negotiation and within five daysatter he was fent back to the Hague with all necefiary powers and infiruftions, by virtue of and in conformity to which he concluded and agreed upon,two feveral Treaties wich the Dutch,the one a defenfive and ftruSer League than before between ihe two Nations ■ and the other a joynt and re-ciprocalEngagement,to oppofe the corqueft of Flanders,& to procure either l y w y of Mediation or by force of Arms,afpeedy peace between France and Spain,upon thcTerms therein mentioned,and becaufe Sweden came unto the fame Treaty very little after,from the three Parties B z concernedr-8) concerned and engaged; it was called the Triple League. In purfuance of this, the Treaty of Aix U Chattel was fo ccd upon the French,xnd in fomc manner upon t\\cSpaniards, who were viryunwillingtog.vcaway byafolcmn Ireaty fo great a part of their Country. But both his. Majeity and the Hollanders thought it a vety t reat and good work,and judged it a great hap,pinefsnot only for Spain, but for all Enropeio, come off with a broken Pate, and to have at leaft for that while kept France from going further. This represented to the Parliament with al! the advantages of Language, and nothing omitted in the refpeftive Speeches of his M jefty himfclf, the Lord Keeper, and many private Members that could make both Houfes(and with them the whole Kingdom) fenfiblc of the great Service done in England, and in a rr.a ncr to all mankind, by chaining up a devouring Z,«V«,who was never fatiated with prey. This Triple League grew fo famous that it proved the politick Infti-tt:tc of our Ji ftinian. In the name of the Trip!.- League* and of the Treaty of Aix laChapel, fevcral fubfidies we.c both demanded and granted for a or 3 Seflions to ether, theTriplcLcaguc Hopped or annulled all Impeachments: for its fake Inquiries into Mifearriages were laid afide. And the Parliament did conceive they could neither give nor forgive too much, if by their compliance they could bu contribute fomc-what towards bmdiiig the French to their good behaviour. Befidcs this to tic the Snot fafter, and take even the very thoughts from the French K;ng of ever fvirring,or being troublcfomc to his neighbors,his Maj fly fent an Extraordinary Envoy to the fevcral Princes of Germany, to invite them into a Triple League: His Minifter to per-fwadethem to it.laymg open with no lefs heat than plainefs, the danger all Europe was in. The infcnfibility of moft Princes, and their care-lcfncfs, the watchful ambition of th< F?e inviolab e, There being no greater tie upon Soveraign Princes then that of Pubhqut and folemn Treaties, th Aftol the Renunciation wa^ inco po ated in-o the very Treat of Peace, to makeup of both of them bur one i ody 4 thr ugh digefted unto different I iflru nents as is evprefiy declared in t ie 3 5. Articleof tne Trearyof Peace, »herein fpeaki g of the Cor trail of Marriage, to wf ich they ref. r themft Ives, tii fe words are addedB, which though it be e ei a ’ d harh ; he fame force and vigour with the prefenc Treaty of Peace, a be ng the principal parr thereof, and the moil precious paw 1 of its g ea er Ecu ity and falling; But the French Lato ers prtfer ring the little qui. k of Law before pubhque faith ^ And pretendi g they mig-n bring the Authority of folemn Tirades (which are the true, and indeed he only Law between Soveraign Prince’) under t e Cavil of Municipal Laws and L cal Cuftoo s , endeavo-ring t > perfwade the W mid tiiat their Miller wa- not b und ¡0 Hand c • w at he had fo folemnly pro--mi led and confirmed by f.c ed Oarhs : And the Are» ¿King atcer die death of the late King of Spam, claimed (nvtdvithftaading thefaidRe- puncia;.v;n):(12) _ ______________ nunciation) a great part of the Spamfl Lort-Countrtts, as being de2 volvcd to him in right of his Wife, by the Municipal Lasts of thofe Countries ; And to back hi- unexpected Claim with more effectual means,he invaded the Country with a powerful Aimy. This Invafion, focontrary to his Engagements,and fo deftruftivc to the very cflencc of the Pjrenean Treaty, was attended with fome dr* cumftances no lefs furprifing than the breach it fclf. The one was that pafTed at Farit between the French Kin% himfetf, and the Marqttejs De la Fseente Extraordinary AmbafTidor from Spain-., And the other, what the French Ambaffador (the Arch Biflop of Am-brun) declared at Madrid in his Matters name. As to the Firft, The (aid Marqnefs De la Fluente being upon hi« Return to Spain, after the Death of the late Kieg his Matter, and being not without apprchcnfion and jetdoujie, the great preparations, made in Frame were intended again!L the Queen his Miftrefs, and the King her Son, was very earned with his Mott Chriftian Majefty, to give fome new and greater AiTuranccs to the Queen of Spain, or the reality and fincerity of his intentions to quiet and fettle her mind , againtt all the contrary advices, (he received from all parts; where, upon the mod Chriftian King did, with all pofliblc AiRveration engage his Faith and Royal Word, to the faid Queen, that he would Rcl gioufly keep the Peace, and continue a faithful fricndfhip both to her and her Son. And the -irchbiflop of Ambrnn, after the French Army was already in the Field, and had poffefTcd Charleroi, feme four Or five days before the News cam to Madrid-, did in Verbo Sacerdetu, and upon all that is moft facred amongft the Roman Catholicisms , pro-teft and vow to the Queen, that h