Home › CHAPTER XV › CHAPTER XV: French

CHAPTER XV: French

The combined fleets of France and England amounted to more than 120 sail; the French army on the frontiers consisted of 120,000 men. The latter, in the first instance, bore down all opposition; but on the command of the Dutch army being given to the young prince of Orange, William III., the spirits and energy of the nation revived; and both the government and the people were united in their determination, rather than submit to disgraceful terms, to abandon their country, and emigrate in a body to their colonies in the East Indies. Meanwhile, their fleets under Van Tromp and De Ruyter engaged the combined French and English fleets under Prince Rupert, in three hard-fought but indecisive actions; the emperor and the elector of Brandenburg joined the Dutch cause; and Charles II., distressed for want of money, and alarmed by the discontent of his own subjects, first concluded a separate peace with Holland, and then offered his mediation towards bringing about a reconciliation of the other contending parties.

Louis at the head of one of his armies conquered Franche-Compte in the next campaign; while Turenne was successful on the side of Germany; but disgraced his trophies by the devastation and ruin of the Palatinate. In 1675 he was killed by a cannon-ball; and the French army was forced to recross the Rhine. They were successful, however, in the ensuing campaign; and their fleet defeated De Ruyter, after a series of obstinate engagements off Sicily, in one of which he was slain. In 1677, another campaign was opened, which proved still more favorable to the French. Valenciennes, Cambray, and St. Omer were taken; marshal De Luxemburg defeated the prince of Orange, and several important advantages were gained by the French. At length the Dutch became anxious for peace, and signed the treaty of Nimeguen in 1678.

Louis employed this interval of peace in strengthening his frontiers, and in making preparations for fresh conquests. He then treacherously made himself master of Strasburg, and some other places in Flanders. By these aggressions the flames of war were nearly rekindled; but the treaty of Ratisbon prevented the continuance of hostilities, and left the French in possession of Luxemburg, Strasburg, and the fort of Khel.

At this time (1683) the imperial arms were occupied in opposing the Turks, who invaded Hungary, and marched towards Vienna, which city was on the point of being carried by assault, when the celebrated John Sobieski, king of Poland, came to its relief at the head of a numerous army. This revived the confidence of the besieged, and their assailants were repulsed; while the main body, which had been led by the grand vizier to meet the Poles, were thrown into confusion at the first charge of the Polish cavalry, and fled in the utmost confusion; leaving in possession of the victors their artillery, baggage, treasures, and even the consecrated banner of the prophet. During the siege of Vienna, Louis had suspended his operations, declaring that he would not attack a Christian power while Europe was menaced by infidels. He was now at the height of his power; and no sooner had the valor of Sobieski over-whelmed the Ottoman force, than he recommenced his war of aggrandizement. He had just before humbled the pirate states of Africa, trampled on the independence of Genoa, concluded an advantageous peace with Spain, and rendered himself obnoxious to the papal court by insulting the dignity of the pope. But while his ambition was alarming the fears and rousing the indignation of Europe, he committed an error which, in a political point of view, the most intolerant bigotry could scarcely be blind enough to excuse. Henry IV. had wisely granted religious freedom to the French protestants, and the edict of Nantes which secured it to them was designed to be perpetual. But after vainly endeavoring to control their consciences or reward their apostacy, Louis formerly revoked the edict of Nantes, and treated his protestant subjects with all the injustice and cruelty that blind fanaticism could dictate, or brutality execute. By this insensate act he deprived his country of half a million of inhabitants, who transferred to other lands their wealth, their industry, and their commercial intelligence.

The Turkish war having been terminated, a league was formed at Augsburg, between the princes of Germany, to resist the further encroachments of the French king To this league Spain, Holland, Sweden, and Denmark acceded; and Louis having undertaken to restore James II., who had lately been dethroned by William, prince of Orange, England joined the alliance.

We must here briefly allude to the revolution which had placed the prince of Orange on the throne of England. James II., brother of the facetious but unprincipled Charles II., was a zealous proselyte of the Roman Catholic faith. One part of the nation was enthusiastically attached to freedom, and an other was chiefly inspired by hatred of the papal ceremonies; but all agreed that the king had no just or constitutional power to dictate to the nation in matters of religion. James had offended many of the nobles; and they, instead of succumbing to the man they despised, addressed themselves to the stadtholder, who was his nephew and successor, and the presumptive heir to the throne. At this juncture the Queen of England bore a son; an event which produced different effects on the hopes of the catholics and protestants. The stadtholder, immovable in all contingencies, was confirmed in his resolution of rescuing England from the tyranny by which it was now oppressed: but he kept his own secret, and preserved his usual character of tranquillity, reserve, and impenetrability. Many of the English nobility repaired to the Hague, where William lamented their situation; and with great secrecy, fitted out an armament that was to effect the deliverance of the English nation from "popery and despotism." Though the king of France had sent James information of the proceedings of the prince of Orange, the infatuated king could not be persuaded of his danger until the expedition was on the point of sailing. At length the stadtholder landed in Torbay; and the unfortunate monarch, finding the situation of his affairs desperate, hastily quitted the English shores, and sought an asylum in France. A convention was then summoned, the throne declared vacant, and the prince and princess of Orange, as "king William III. and queen Mary," were proclaimed king and queen of England. This was followed by the passing of the "Bill of Rights" and the "Act of Settlement," by which the future liberties of the people were secured.

At the head of the league of Augsburg was the emperor Leopold; but Louis not daunted by the number of the confederates, assembled two large armies in Flanders; sent another to oppose the Spaniards in Catalonia; while a fourth was employed as a barrier on the German frontier, and ravaged the palatinate with fire and sword; driving the wretched victims of his barbarous policy from their burning houses by thousands, to perish with cold and hunger on the frozen ground. In the next campaign his troops achieved several important victories, and the French fleet defeated the combined fleets of England and Holland off Beachy-head, A. D. 1690. Thus the war continued for the three following years, exhausting the resources of every party engaged in it, without any important change taking place, or any decisive advantage being gained by either that was likely to produce a cessation of hostilities. With all the military glory that France had acquired, her conquests were unproductive of any solid advantage; her finances were in a sinking state; her agriculture and commerce were languishing; and the country was threatened with the horrors of famine, arising from the failure of the crops and the scarcity of hands to cultivate the soil. All parties, indeed, were now growing weary of the war in which nothing permament was affected, and in which the blood and treasure of the combatants continued to be profusely and uselessly expended. Accordingly, in 1697, negotiations were commenced, under the mediation of the youthful Charles XII., king of Sweden, and a treaty concluded at Ryswick, by which Louis made great concessions, restoring to Spain the principal places he had wrested from her; but the renunciation of the Spanish succession, which had been the main object of the war to enforce, was not even alluded to in the treaty.