2. I charge you alfo, because of your many Oaths to the King, that you keep them inviolably. Be faithful to him according to your Covenant, the Oaths of God are upon you; if directly or indirectly you do any thing against his ftanding, God, by whom ye have fworn, will be avenged upon you for the Breach of his Oath.

And now I will close up all in one word more to You, Sir: You are the only Covenanted King with God and his People in the World: Many have obftructed your Entry in it; now feeing the Lord hath brought you in over all these Obftructi ons, only obferve to do what is contained therein; and it fhall prove a happy Time for You and Your Houfe. And because you are entered in Times of great difficulty, wherein small trength feems to remain with you in the eyes of the World, for recovering your juft Power and Greatnefs; therefore take the Counfel which David, when he was dying, gave to his Son Solomon, 1 Kings 2.2, 3. Be strong, and show thy felf a Man, and keep the Charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and keep his Commandments, that thou may'ft prosper in all that thou do, and whitherfoever thou turneft thy felf.

After this Exhortation, the Minifter clofed the whole Aftion with Prayer; and the 20th Pfalm being fung, he difmiffed the People with the Bleffing.

Then did the King's Majefty defcend from the Stage, with the Crown upon his Head; and receiving again the Scepter in his Hand, returned with the whole Train in folemn manner to his Palace, the Sword being carried before him.

Phenit

Phenix X.

The ANSWER of the States-General of the United Provinces of the Low-Countries, to the Declara tion of War of the King of Great Britain. Printed in 1674.

T

Publifh'd by Their Lordship's Order.

HE States-General of the United Provinces of the LowCountries; To all to whom these shall come, Greeting. The Hopes we had hitherto, that Our continual feeking of Peace would, in time, prove more fuccefsful; and that the reiterated Inftances of the Prince of Orange should at laft carry it above the Arts which have been us'd against us, have kept us from publifhing fooner an Answer to the Declaration of War of his Majefty of Great Britain; Being unwilling to encrease the Feud, or to let the whole World fee at what rate fo great a King hath been abus'd, by the publishing in his Name of a Manifeft, wherein Truth is what hath been leaft aim'd at, and which is all full of things that deserve so little to bear in the Front fo Illuftrious a Name.

But fince all our Endeavours, as well as thofe of the Prince of Orange, have prov'd fruitless; and that our moft earnest Suits are not only rejected with Scorn, but are alfo look'd up. on as Injuries, as it appears by the Exceptions that have been

taken

taken at the refpe&tful Letter we had written to his faid Majefty, the care we are bound to have of our Honour, and what we owe to our Subjects, doth not give us leave to defer any longer the laying of our Innocence open, and to make known to all Europe the Juftice of our Arms, which we'll be always ready to lay down as foon as the Violence of our Enemies fhall ceafe; as we did not take them up, but out of an unavoidable neceffity.

Howbeit, before we go further, we think it neceffary to defire his Majefty of Great Britain to be perfuaded, that our intention is not to offend his Royal Perfon, for which we have ever had, and will ftill have, all imaginable Refpet, altho the ftrength of Truth doth conftrain us to disown most of what his Minifters have perfuaded him to aver.

We do alfo defire all thofe of the English Nation, into whose hands thefe may come, to read them with an impartial Mind, and to feek only the Truth in them, without confidering it comes from Enemies, fince we bear that Title with much regret; and that we defire nothing more earnestly, than to fee our felves united again with a Nation, to which we are link'd by the facred Bond of the fame Religion, befides a joint Intereft in feveral other refpects.

English Declaration.

ANSWER.

WE have been always fo gea-WE never intended to

for the Quiet Chri

call in queftion the ftendom, and so careful not to In- peaceable and generous Intenvade any other Kingdom or State, that We hope the World will do Us the Juftice to believe, that it is nothing but inevitable Neceffity forceth Us to the Refolution of taking up Arins.

tions of the King of Great Britain; and we are enough perfuaded, that all the mifunderftanding that hath been between us fince his Restoration, hath proceeded only from the Immediately upon Our Reftau- Counfels of ill-affected Perration to Our Crowns, the first fons. But by reason that to work We undertook, was the efta- what concerns the Perfon of blishing of Peace, and the fetling his Majefty, (which we do not a good Correspondence between Us gainfay) they add feveral and Our Neighbours; and in par- groundless Accufations relaticular, Our care was, to concludeting to our felves, a fhort and a ftrict League with the States-faithful Account of what hath General of the United Provinces, pafs'd moft confiderable before

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upon fuch equal Terms, as would the Treaty of Breda, will fufficertainly not have been broken, if ciently demonftrate which of any Obligations could have kept both Parties hath most endeathem within the bounds of Friend-vour'd to preferve a fair CorShip or Justice. refpondence, and who have This League was maintain'd in-fought Peace with the greateft violable on Our part. But in the reality and zeal. Tear 1664. we were stirred up by When his Majefty of Great the Complaints of Our People, and Britain was miraculously called the unanimous Vote of Both Our again by his Subjects to the Houses of Parliament; finding it a Government of his Kingdoms, vain Attempt to endeavour the Pro- he was pleafed to make choice fperity of Our Kingdoms by peace of one of our Towns to receive able ways at home, whilst Our the Deputies that were fent Subjects were still expos'd to the to him, and ftay'd with us till Injuries and Oppreffions of thofe all things were ready for his States abroad. Tranfportation. During the That whole Summer was spent faid time, we endeavour'd to in Negotiations and Endeavours on give him all poffible DemonOur fide, to bring them to reafona- ftrations of Our refpect to his ble Terms, which notwithstanding Perfon, and of the fervent deall We could do, proved at length fire we had to purchase his ineffectual; for the more we pur-Friendship, and to preferve fued them with friendly Propofiti. the fame inviolable. And what ons, the more obftinately they kept we did in that refpect, prov'd off from agreeing with us. fo acceptable to his Majefty, and did fo far perfuade him of the fincerity of our intentions, that he was pleafed to acknow

Upon this ensued the War in the Year 1665. and continued to the Year 1667. in all which time Our Victories and their Loffes were me-ledg it much beyond what we morable enough, to put them in expected; and affured us, with mind of being more faithful to the most obliging Expreffions, their Leagues for the future. But that he was refolved, and did inftead of that, the Peace was no earneftly defire to enter with fooner made, but they returned to our State into a ftricter Allitheir usual custom of breaking Arti-ance than any of his Predecles, and fupplanting our Trade. ceffors had done, and that he did hope his Restoration would

be of no less advantage to the Inhabitants of our Provinces than to his own Subjects, and that they should all taste the fruits of it with an equal fatisfaction: Adding to this, that he should not without jealoufy fee us prefer the Friendship or Alliance of any other Prince before his. Several general Propofals and Projects of Treaties were made even at that time; after which we fent a folemn Embaffy to put an end to what had been already propos'd, and to offer on our part all that

was both reasonable and feafable. But our Embassadors were no fooner arriv'd, but they perceiv'd a great Alteration in the Mind and Inclinations of his faid Majefty, and found that fome ill-affected Perfons had poffefs'd him against us fince he had left the Hague: So that inft ad of concluding the Alliance which he had propos'd to us Himfelf, he began to fide with other Princes againft us. And in particular, tho the War we had with Portugal was moft juft and most warrantable, yet he openly threatned to break with us, if we did feek any longer, by way of Arms, a reparation of the Wrongs we had receiv'd from that Crown.

In the mean time, our Embaffadors did not intermit their Inftances, and prefs'd with all poffible Zeal for the concluding of a ftricter Alliance with the Crown of England: But after feveral Objections and Difficulties rais'd by that Court, upon the Articles which our Embaffadors had propos'd, in conformity to the Project that had been made, whilft his Majefty was fill at the Hague; the Commiffioners with whom they treated, offer'd them at laft, after above a Year's delay, the Treaty which was concluded in the Year 1654 with Cromwell: And this Treaty could not be confirm'd neither, but with much difficulty and trouble, and with the addition of feveral Points, that made it more difadvantagious to us than the very Treaty of 1654.

At laft, having overcome all thofe Difficulties, and given to the King of Great Britain fo clear Proofs of the fingular Efteem we had of his Friendfhip, we thought thereby to have laid the Foundation of a firm and durable Peace, and did hope the English Minifters would have contributed on their part, as we did on ours, to extinguish the leaft Sparks of Dif cord: But the Treaty was no fooner concluded, than they begun to renew and fet on foot certain Pretenfions, that were regulated in general by the Treaty, but not perfectly ended. And whilft the Embaffador Downing made a great Noife in the Hague, of a few groundless Demands of fome private Merchants, they fent a Fleet to poffefs themselves of feveral Pla ces belonging to us upon the Coaft of Guiney, and of all the New Netherlands; and that in the midit of a fetled Peace, without a previous Declaration of War, and without any denial on our part, to give them fatisfaction upon any Complaint they had made and afterwards they feiz'd all our Merchant Ships that fail'd along their Coaft.

Thofe Excelles were follow'd by a Declaration of War; during which, we may truly fay, we never refus'd to hearken to any Overture of Peace that was made to us, either by Princes and States, or by any other unconcern'd Perfons: But, to

the