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<NAME>Megan Marion</NAME>
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<P>A DECLARATION OR MANIFEST OF The High and Mighty Lords THE <HI>STATES GENERALL</HI> OF THE <HI>United Netherland Provinces:</HI></P>
<P>Comprehending A true Relation of their &s;incere intenti|on, and lawfull proceedings in the Treaty with the Ex|traordinary Emba&s;&s;adors, and the Commi&s;&s;ionaries of the pre&s;ent Goverment of <HI>England,</HI> &s;o as the &s;ame hath been held here in the <HI>Hague,</HI> as al&s;o at <HI>London.</HI></P>
<P>And likewi&s;e Of the unju&s;t and violent proceedings of tho&s;e of the &s;aid Government, which have forced the &s;aid States Generall by way of retortion, to defend their State and Subjects again&s;t their Oppre&s;&s;ions.</P>
<P>At AMSTERDAM, Tran&s;lated out of the Originall Copy, Printed in the <HI>Hague</HI> by the Widdow and Heires of <HI>Hillebrandt Jacob&s;z van Wouw.</HI> 1652.</P>
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<P>THe States Generall of the United Netherlands unto all, which may &s;ee or hear this read, &s;end greeting. Whereas all lawfull Magi&s;trates (as being ordained by God Al|mighty to take care of the welfare of their &s;ubjects) are bound, not only to govern the &s;ame with di&s;cretion, and to maintain them in good order and lawfull policy; and further, wi&s;ely and prudently to prevent and &s;uppre&s;&s;e all outward occa|&s;ions, whereby the re&s;t and tranquility of their &s;aid &s;ubjects might be di&s;turbed, or they undergo lo&s;&s;es or oppre&s;&s;ion: and to that end it be e&s;teemed both honourable and profitable with good and due offices to have all, e&s;pecially their Neighbouring States and Countries obligued to them, whereby they may retain a wel-grounded and a&s;&s;ured confidence of each others fidelity, and when any di&s;temper is befalne, may with the mo&s;t ea&s;ie and peaceable means compo&s;e the &s;ame in all love and friend&s;hip. But moreover it be required of them, when the cau&s;e is &s;o exi|gent, and no other means can prevail, to u&s;e the power and &s;trength given them of God Almighty, and con&s;equently their weapons, and therewith manly and couragiou&s;ly to oppo&s;e and &s;uppre&s;&s;e all violence and injury done to their &s;aid dear &s;ubjects, and cau&s;e them to obtain &s;atisfaction and repairation for all wrongs and damages which unju&s;tly were inflicted upon them. And we with a compleat, upright, and good intention endeavou|ring alike the performance of both, do thank God, that he hath &s;o ble&s;&s;ed our rule, love, and care to and for the good of our &s;ubjects, that they have requited the &s;ame with manife&s;t expre&s;|&s;ions of their reall love and ready obedience, tending both to their and our welfare, &s;trength and con&s;ervation. And in re&s;pect of the Engli&s;h Nation, have ever, not only with all unfainedne&s;s and holine&s;s on our parts maintained all friend&s;hip and good corre&s;pondency, which of old u&s;ed to be ob&s;erved between them and us: but moreover the &s;aid Engli&s;h Nation now of late be|ing di&s;turbed within her own bowells, and rent in factions, and the people highly exa&s;perated one again&s;t the other, we have not only with &s;orrow and &s;adne&s;&s;e of heart beheld the &s;ame, and
<PB N="2" REF="3">
ab&s;tained from all partiall actions, whereby we might incur the ju&s;t di&s;plea&s;ure or di&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ffaction of either &s;ide: and moreover, as much as po&s;&s;ibly we could, prevented and &s;topped all &s;uccour from us to either of them, whereby the fire which was kindled might be fomented, the breach made larger, and the cure more difficult and perillous; but al&s;o when the afore&s;aid de&s;tractions had in &s;ome parts of their Country occa&s;ioned wa&s;t, de&s;olation, poverty, want of food; and we, by both Hou&s;es of Parliament at that time being, were earne&s;tly intreated to admit of a pub|like collection in our Churches for the con&s;olation and &s;u&s;tenance of many impoveri&s;hed and needy people in the &s;aid parts: the repre&s;entation of the &s;aid calamities did &s;o work upon our hearts and the hearts of our good &s;ubjects with tender pity and Chri&s;ti|an compa&s;&s;ion, that upon the &s;aid intreaty a con&s;iderable &s;um of money, to the value of certain Tonnes of gold, was gathered in, and to the &s;aid end exported out of this Country, in&s;omuch that the &s;aid Hou&s;es of Parliament did cau&s;e their Letters of Thank&s;|giving to be di&s;patched unto us, and to be exhibited and con|firmed by the mouth of their publique Mini&s;ter, with externall demon&s;trations of great affection. With all which, finding our &s;elfs not fully &s;atisfied, but being deeply touched with a longing zeale and fervent de&s;ire, to &s;ee an end put to all the&s;e &s;aid mi&s;un|der&s;tandings, and thence ari&s;ing troubles, and to have a true, up|right, and innerly reconciliation made between the&s;e two &s;o much each again&s;t the other incen&s;ed and exa&s;perated parties; tru&s;ting we had given &s;uch manife&s;t demon&s;trations of our true intentions herein, that we had hoped we might prove acceptable, and thereby al&s;o fitting in&s;truments to help the furtherance of &s;o good and great a work: to that purpo&s;e did undertake to make a tryall thereof, by &s;ending to the King and both Hou&s;es of Parliament an Emba&s;&s;age Extraordinary impo&s;ed upon the Lords <HI>William Boreel</HI> and <HI>Johan van Rheede, Lord of Ren&s;woude, &amp;c.</HI> But God Almighty in his incomprehen&s;ible judgement not &s;eeing good to put an end to the &s;aid di&s;tractions by appea&s;ing the &s;ame, but by other means having &s;etled the &s;tate of that Go|vernment upon another ground then formerly it was maintain|ed by; and the &s;aid Government offering unto us a treaty of mu|tuall Union and neerer Alliance; we believing the &s;ame was
<PB N="3" REF="3">
pre&s;ented in all &s;incerity and uprightne&s;s, and con&s;idering that thereby might be obtained &s;ecurity of Navigation and Com|merce, not only for us, but al&s;o for all Trading Kingdomes and Countries, e&s;pecially the Neighbouring, which otherwi&s;e in re|gard of divers common Intere&s;ts, through mi&s;under&s;tandings ari|&s;ing between us and the &s;aid Government, inevitably would be di&s;turbed; we have not only &s;hewed our &s;elfs mo&s;t willing and ready to accept of the &s;aid motion, but the &s;aid Government to that purpo&s;e having &s;ent over unto us the Lords, <HI>Oliver S. John,</HI> and <HI>Walter Strickland</HI> their Emba&s;&s;adors Extraordinary: we have al&s;o endeavoured in all manner to comply with them, and to fa|cilitate the means to bring the &s;aid treaty to a happy conclu&s;ion, as far as the con&s;titution of our pre&s;ent Government was able to &s;uffer. So that the &s;aid Lords Emba&s;&s;adors being entred into conference with our Lords the Committee ordained out of the mid&s;t of us to that purpo&s;e; and having made unto them a ge|nerall and unlimited Propo&s;ition, after that we had made mani|fe&s;t unto them our &s;incere inclination and true love to Peace and Unity, they were in our behalf reque&s;ted, that the &s;aid generall Propo&s;ition by a neerer Expo&s;ition might be opened might be o|pened and di&s;tingui&s;hed in cleare and near points, that thereby upon &s;ure and firm grounds things might be brought to a good conclu&s;ion; and although &s;everall well-grounded rea&s;ons were alledged, and by &s;everall contra-propo&s;itions good way was made for an agreement: Neverthele&s;&s;e at that time we could ad|vance nothing, but that the &s;aid Lords Emba&s;&s;adors, when a &s;hort time was expired after their fir&s;t audience, the &s;ub&s;tance it &s;elfe not once yet being touched, gave countenance that they were to depart. But through &s;undry per&s;wa&s;ions, at la&s;t admitting of a willingne&s;s to prolong their time of &s;taying, and having &s;ince exhibited neerer Propo&s;itions, we have with all &s;peed approved our &s;elfs &s;o, that the &s;aid Lords Emba&s;&s;adors, upon the &s;aid neer|er Propo&s;itions (which them&s;elfs declared to be of greate&s;t con|cernment, and of &s;uch con&s;equence, that when once we &s;hould come to be of one re&s;olution concerning the &s;ame, there would be little difficulty in the other) have received from us &s;uch refle|ction, that in the &s;ub&s;tance there remained no difference, or if any, but very &s;mall; and we of our parts moreover revealed all
<PB N="4" REF="4">
that we found conducing further to the good of both Nations, that might be agreed upon with maintenance of the alliances we have with other Kings, Republiques, Princes and States, and &s;o all that was needfull for the con&s;ummating of the &s;aid trea|ty; whereunto expecting the neerer Declaration of the &s;aid Lords Emba&s;&s;adors, they declined the &s;ame by their &s;uddain de|parture, intimating, that the time granted unto them for their &s;taying was expired, and con&s;equently that they could not po&s;&s;i|bly proceed to an an&s;wer unto that which was propounded by us, to the end afore&s;aid. And although the &s;aid manner of pro|ceeding might afford matter of &s;everall &s;u&s;pitions, concerning the intention of the &s;aid Government, in relation to the &s;aid treaty: becau&s;e the intercurrence of a &s;hort time, which had made no alteration in the cau&s;e it &s;elfe, ought not to have alte|red the good inteutions, and con&s;equently ought not to have made any &s;uch interruption in the progre&s;s of the treaty: we notwith&s;tanding on our parts (preferring the dignity and accep|tablene&s;&s;e of the cau&s;e it &s;elf before all outward ceremonies, and con&s;idering the prote&s;tation made by their &s;aid Lords Emba&s;&s;a|dors at their departure from hence, of the &s;incere inclination of the &s;aid Government towards peace, and of their confidence, that although their endeavours had not been &s;o &s;ucce&s;&s;ive, as to attain to a happy period, the &s;ame notwith&s;tanding might not prove unfruitfull, when time &s;hould come, that we with a con|tra-vi&s;it &s;hould plea&s;e to re&s;ort unto them) have not omitted to decree a con&s;iderable Emba&s;&s;age to the &s;aid Government, and ac|cordingly in December la&s;t year &s;ent thither the Lords <HI>Jacob Cats, Gerard Schaep,</HI> and <HI>Paulus van de Par,</HI> our Emba&s;&s;adors Extraordinary, with full power and in&s;tructions for a Treaty. Although &s;ince the departure from hence of the &s;aid Lords S. <HI>Iohn</HI> and <HI>Strickland,</HI> by a certain di&s;courteous and unneighbourly Act, publi&s;hed by the &s;aid Government, whereby the u&s;uall liberty of Trade was manife&s;tly re&s;trained, the good corre&s;dondency be|tween both Nations (whereby true friend&s;hip and fidelity were wont be&s;t to increa&s;e and be confirmed) was in that part evi|dently cut off, and &s;everall of our Ships &s;urpri&s;ed, all which gave more and more &s;u&s;pitions, that the intentions of the &s;aid Government was no way an&s;werable to our unfained open|heartedne&s;s,
<PB N="5" REF="4">
which afterward did mo&s;t evidently appeare to be &s;o. For after that our &s;aid Emba&s;&s;adors Extraordinary were ar|rived in England, and there had made an earne&s;t and upright De|claration, of our &s;incere affection towards the con&s;ummating of the afore-mentioned inchoated treaty, with &s;erious Reque&s;ts, that the &s;ame might &s;peedily and happily be brought to a perfe|ction, and to that end all things might &s;tand in the &s;ame po&s;ture, wherein they were left at that time, when the &s;aid Lords <HI>St. Iohn</HI> and <HI>Strickland</HI> departed from us; at lea&s;t till the event of that Treaty might be known: and to that purpo&s;e the &s;aid Act (by which the life and being of the &s;aid Treaty would be infringed) might be repealed, or at lea&s;t the execution thereof &s;u&s;pended, and the &s;urpri&s;ed Ships and goods re&s;tored: The &s;ame hath not only not been taken into con&s;ideration by the &s;aid Government, as was fitting it &s;hould according to rea&s;on and equity; but con|trarily (during the &s;aid Treaty for the renewing and confirming of old Covenants and Amity, and of the entrance into neerer confederacy and compliance of Love and Union) the &s;aid Act was put in Execution, and moreover under &s;everall unrea&s;on|able preten&s;es, as partly with Letters of Mart, granted by the &s;aid Government without cau&s;e (in re&s;pect we never denied or delaid Ju&s;tice to any of their offended &s;ubjects, being therefore contrary to the Laws and practi&s;es of all civilized Governments, and to all former Covenancs erected betwixt both Nations) partly with Commi&s;&s;ions given again&s;t the French, the Ships of our &s;aid Subjects have been a&s;&s;aulted at Sea, entered, &s;urpri&s;ed, and brought up into their Havens in a mo&s;t ho&s;tile manner, the Goods plundered, the Ma&s;ters and Mariners roughly u&s;ed, as well by their publike Mini&s;ters, as by tho&s;e which were inabled by the &s;aid Letters or Commi&s;&s;ions, and thereby given occa&s;ion to all &s;orts of Robbers under the &s;ame pretences, to exerci&s;e their pira|cy, not giving regard to the con&s;tant &s;olicitings of our &s;aid Em|ba&s;&s;adors to the &s;aid Government, that they would plea&s;e to cau&s;e &s;uch actions to cea&s;e; much le&s;&s;e making re&s;titution to our good Subjects of their &s;urpri&s;ed and plundered &s;hips and goods. And although by the&s;e unneighbourly actions we had ju&s;t cau&s;e given us to manife&s;t our re&s;ent, and by retortion to &s;eek repaira|tion of the dammages, which our Subjects &s;u&s;teined, from and
<PB N="6" REF="5">
upon the &s;hips and goods of the Subjects of that Government, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> being thereunto highly provoked through an un&s;ufferable out|rage: Neverthele&s;&s;e hoping the &s;aid Government would once give place to rea&s;on, and that by way of treaty, according to ju|&s;tice and equity, all differences might be compo&s;ed; we have ab&s;teined from all manner of fact; yea though earne&s;tly intrea|ted, have refu&s;ed to give our Letters of Mart or Commi&s;&s;ions to our wronged Subjects for rea&s;ons afore-mentioned; and of our &s;ide through our Emba&s;&s;adors Extra-ordinary with all earne&s;t|ne&s;&s;e &s;ought the accompli&s;hing of the &s;aid treaty in generall, and of the afore-mentioned &s;urpri&s;ed &s;hips and goods in particular: and on the other &s;ide to prevent all piracy and robbery for the future, and to free our Subjects from further lo&s;&s;es, and the gene|rall commerce from a totall ruine and &s;poile; we re&s;olved to &s;et out at &s;ea a con&s;iderable fleet of &s;hips, and to prevent jealou|&s;ies, and that the &s;aid Government might not mi&s;-apprehend of this our doing (as we did like wi&s;e to other our friends and neigh|bouring countries) by our Emba&s;&s;adors extra-ordinary we gave notice unto them in all &s;incerity of this our re&s;olution, with o|pen and upright manife&s;tations, that the &s;aid &s;hips &s;hould not at the lea&s;t be imployed to inflict any hurt upon our friends and confederates, and namely al&s;o not upon the Subjects of their Government: but that we were of a &s;etled re&s;olution to main|tain all good compliance and friend&s;hip with them in &s;incerity, as was becoming two &s;uch neighbouring Nations. And although we expected that this notice given, ought al&s;o to have been accep|ted of by them, as a token of our unfainedne&s;&s;e, e&s;pecially becau&s;e the &s;aid Government a little time before had manife&s;ted their di&s;ta&s;te, that a &s;mall number of our &s;hips, not giving them time|ly notice aforehand, had &s;hewed them&s;elfs neare unto &s;ome I&s;lands, which then our &s;hips knew not to be under their com|mand: Notwith&s;tanding we ob&s;erved, that the &s;aid Govern|ment daily aiming at nothing more, then to gather pretences, whereby to give a colour to the execution of their long threatened de&s;ignes, have al&s;o looked upon the &s;aid notificati|on with the &s;ame glance: in&s;omuch that our Emba&s;&s;adors were nece&s;&s;itated in our behalf to bring more proofs where|by to make the truth thereof more apparent unto them.
<PB N="7" REF="5">
And in the meane time, that the &s;aid treaty was &s;eriou&s;ly followed by our &s;aid Emba&s;&s;adors, who endeavoured to bring the &s;ame into &s;uch a po&s;ture, that the &s;aid Government &s;hould be induced to de|clare them&s;elves, and no longer to conceale their &s;ecret de&s;ignes, tending to the de&s;truction of our commerce, and the di&s;abling of the &s;trength of our &s;tate, under &s;eeming preten&s;es of friend&s;hip, and feeding us with the hopes and appearances of a treaty: as we have mo&s;t evident proofs of this their doing: Our Lieutenant Ad|mirall <HI>Tromp,</HI> whom we made Generall of our &s;aid Navy, was by them encountred with a full broad &s;ide in an ho&s;tile manner, and &s;everall of the men of his &s;hip mi&s;erably wounded, becau&s;e he did not &s;trike the flagge according to their fancy, though neverthele&s;&s;e according to divers unanimous Declarations and evidences taken of neutrall and unpartiall men, he was bu&s;ie with haling in of his Mars-&s;ayle, and cau&s;ing of his boat to be haled on, whereby to &s;end one of his Officers aboard of the Admirall of the &s;aid Government to congratulate him with all due re&s;pects; by which encounter our &s;aid Lieutenant Admirall, and the re&s;t of the &s;hips under his commande, were nece&s;&s;itated to defend them&s;elves, and did moderate their defence &s;o irreprehen&s;ibly, in regard of the Engli&s;h Navy, that whereas ours were farre &s;tronger in number of &s;hips, and able to have wholly ruinated their invaders, they refrain|ed them&s;elves and re&s;ted &s;atisfied with their onely defence. Which di&s;cretion notwith&s;tanding by the adver&s;e party was &s;o little re|&s;pected, that, comming up with a &s;econd E&s;quadron of &s;hips, they did likewi&s;e in their former ho&s;tile manner a&s;&s;ault the hindermo&s;t of our &s;hips, which were &s;eperated from the body of our fleete, overcame two of them, and tooke one away. And to make this encounter &s;erve them for a preten&s;e, to break the afore&s;aid treaty, they gave out and publi&s;hed among&s;t their people, and have endea|voured to make the whole world beleeve, that the fir&s;t a&s;&s;ault in the &s;aid encounter was made by our &s;ide, and thence pretend to be wronged and affronted in the highe&s;t degree, and &s;et them&s;elves in a po&s;ture of open warre again&s;t us, before they once made the lea&s;t complaint thereof unto us, much le&s;&s;e damanding reparation for the &s;aid tre&s;pa&s;&s;e, which they pretend to be committed, which rea&s;on and re&s;pect to the treaty in hand, if ever their intention to|wards the &s;ame had been reall, might have per&s;waded them. On the
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contrary we on our &s;ides endeavouring with true and upright hearts and mindes to reduce into a due Frame and Order, what might be di&s;placed and out of order; our afore&s;aid Emba&s;&s;adors Extraor|dinary, no &s;ooner had received intelligence of the &s;aid accident, but with mo&s;t &s;eriou&s;ne&s;&s;e prote&s;ted and declared before the Coun|cell of State of the &s;aid Government, that if things had beene acted, as they related the &s;ame, that we were wholly ignorant there|of, and to be done quite contrary to our exprr&s;&s;e order, which they confirmed by exhibiting the originall letter written unto them by the afore&s;aid our Admiral concerning the &s;aid &s;ubject, comprehend|ing a perfect relation of the commi&s;&s;ion we gave him, and &s;olemn|ly atte&s;ting of our intimate de&s;ires, and hearty inclinations to have and maintaine peace and unity with the &s;aid Government by a firme alliance, and indi&s;&s;oluble amity: and with great zeale and earne&s;t in&s;tances be&s;eeched them, that there might a nearer &s;earch be made into the truth of pa&s;&s;ages befallen in the &s;aid encounter, and thereupon communicated unto them the evidences taken there, to be &s;ent over unto us: and de&s;ired that in the meane time the treaty, which they &s;uppo&s;ed was brought &s;o far, that in a &s;hort time it might receive its happy period, might not be retarded by an un|expected ca&s;ualty, beyond and again&s;t will, &s;urely of us, through in|con&s;ideratene&s;&s;e and ra&s;hne&s;&s;e of one of the two parties officers, who were to give accompt of their actions, and that the &s;ame might not put the cau&s;e in a farther di&s;tance. And although this propo|&s;ition was of great con&s;equence &amp; highe&s;t importance for the com|mon good of both nations, the &s;aid government notwith&s;tanding in a long time have not dained our Emba&s;&s;adors, nor us, in who&s;e behalfe the &s;ame was propounded, with their an&s;wer: being how|ever by our &s;peciall command a &s;econd time put in minde thereof by our &s;aid Emba&s;&s;adors, who again delivered over the &s;aid renewed propo&s;ition, and afterwards reiterated it once more, with further confirmations of our upright intention &amp; hearty di&s;plea&s;ure again&s;t the &s;aid unexpected and unhappy encouneer of the &s;aid Fleets. Yea on the contrary laid hold upon all Ships of traffick and men of warre, which they could light on at Sea, belonging to the&s;e Pro|vinces, taking or &s;inking &s;ome with violence, mi&s;leading others un|der &s;hew, and &s;ending them up into their harbours, al&s;o plundring and mi&s;u&s;ing the Seamen and Souldiers, and impri&s;oning divers, as
<PB N="9" REF="6">
if we were in open warres with each other, without a forgoing pub|lick deniall of their Friend&s;hip towards us, which hath occa&s;ioned the lo&s;&s;e of much innocent blood, and the utter undoing of &s;everall of our &s;ubjects in their e&s;tates. All which extreame provocations we have with patience undergone to ju&s;tifie before the world our peaceable mindes, and the uprightne&s;&s;e and lawfulne&s;&s;e of our pro|ceedings, as &s;hewing that nothing is more deare unto us then the accompli&s;hment, pre&s;ervation and augmentation of good union, true confidence, faithfulne&s;&s;e and amity with our neighbours; and contrarywi&s;e nothing more dete&s;table then the horrible fruits of a con&s;uming war, and direfull wa&s;ting of innocent Chri&s;tian blood: And in con&s;ideration thereof be&s;ides our afore&s;aid three Emba&s;&s;a|dors which we had &s;ent to the afore&s;aid Government for the ma|king and e&s;tabli&s;hing of the above&s;aid alliance, we have moreover re&s;olved upon a &s;econd Emba&s;&s;age Extraordinary to be &s;ent to the &s;aid Government, and therefore di&s;patched unto them the Lord <HI>Adrian Pauw,</HI> Lord of Heem&s;tede, our Pen&s;ionary Coun&s;ellor of Holland and We&s;tfric&s;land, e&s;pecially upon the &s;ubject of the &s;aid late encounter and its influences, and with more &s;erious expre&s;&s;ions of our upright meaning and de&s;ire to pacifie the matter. And the &s;aid Government having in the meane time given out their an&s;wer to the afore&s;aid propo&s;ition and iterative repre&s;entation of the &s;ame made unto them by our former Emba&s;&s;adors, in which an&s;wer having bended their affections to imbrace a bad &amp; &s;ini&s;ter impre&s;&s;i|on, which they wittily fitted and framed for a colour to their unju&s;t and ungodly de&s;ignes, as if we had &s;et out and managed our &s;aid fleete, for to make war again&s;t them, and to de&s;troy their Na|vy, or to &s;hew other actions of ho&s;tility, violence or oppre&s;&s;ion a|gain&s;t their &s;ubjects, without any regard to all former &s;erious atte|&s;tations and prote&s;tations to the contrary, have declared, that they found them&s;elves obliged to endeavour, with Gods a&s;&s;i&s;tance, as they &s;hall have opportunity, to &s;eeke repairation of the wrongs (as they &s;ay) already &s;uffered and &s;ecurity that the like be not attempt|ed for the future. And thereby &s;hewed they had neither will nor inclination, to bring the matter to an accommodation, but were minded to goe on with matters of fact: The above&s;aid Lord of <HI>Heem&s;tede,</HI> both before the Parliament of <HI>England,</HI> as likewi&s;e af|terwards before the Councell of State, with &s;trong and mo&s;t cleare
<PB N="10" REF="7">
arguments di&s;proving the truth of the &s;aid impre&s;&s;ion, and calling God almighty, the &s;earcher of all hearts, to witne&s;&s;e (he having perfect cognizance of all our affaires, becau&s;e, in regard of his pub|licke charge, he had been pre&s;ent in all our con&s;ultations, held both in our a&s;&s;emblies and in the a&s;&s;emblies of the States of Holland and We&s;tfri&s;land) could and did holily prote&s;t and depo&s;e for the a&s;&s;ur|ed truth, that never any deliberation was held, nor re&s;olution ta|ken, much le&s;&s;e any power or commi&s;&s;ion given directly or indirect|ly, to give any the lea&s;t cau&s;e of offence to the &s;aid Government, which is farre from an intention to of doing any injury to the &s;aid Fleet, or any &s;hips belonging to the &s;ame, but &s;urely to the con|trary, that they had order to manife&s;t unto them all tokens of friend&s;hip and propitious affection: and once more from the bot|tome of heart with all uprightne&s;&s;e prote&s;ted, that the above &s;aid Sea-fight, between the two Fleets happened without our know|ledge or order, to our great &s;orrowfulne&s;&s;e and a&s;toni&s;hment. And con&s;idering that neverthele&s;&s;e the &s;aid Government made another con&s;truction of that &s;ad accident, then in truth it could afford, ma|king the &s;aid conflict a rock of offence, and in their afore&s;aid an|&s;wer &s;pake of reparation of the wrongs and &s;ecurity for the future: the &s;aid Lord of <HI>Heem&s;tede,</HI> according to in&s;tructions which he had received from us, confe&s;&s;ing, that the &s;aid rock of offence ought ac|cordingly to be removed, and all matter of diffidence taken away, and that he to that purpo&s;e and for the compa&s;&s;ing thereof e&s;peci|al<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">y was delegated and &s;ent over unto them, and to facillitate the meanes thereunto, he laboured diligently to have the &s;aid inchoated and already far brought treaty in hand to goe on, and that further to the contentation of both States good in&s;tructions and orders might be framed and given to the &s;aid Fleets on both &s;ides, which might be to them a rule for the future how to carry them&s;elves to each other, a&s;&s;uring them al&s;o, that we never was minded to call in que&s;tion the honour and re&s;pect, which in former times by this &s;tate was wont to be deferred unto them: Reque&s;ting further, that the &s;aid Government in the meane time, whil&s;t they might be bu&s;ie in treating upon &s;o good a matter, would once at length prudently give order, that all further ways of fact &s;o long continued in re&s;pect of the aforementioned &s;ad accident, might cea&s;e, whereas otherwi&s;e the evill was like to grow incurable. And after that in divers parti|cular
<PB N="11" REF="7">
conferences held with the Lords of the Committee of the &s;aid Councell of State, further declaring him&s;elfe in our behalfe re|que&s;ted and pre&s;ented, that a more narrow &s;earch might be made into the evidences given in by both parties concerning the &s;aid en|counter by committees appointed on both &s;ides, and the &s;ame being examined and the naked truth found out, which &s;ide made the fir&s;t atach, and thereby gave occa&s;ion for the further di&s;order and di&s;temper thence ari&s;ing; and if it &s;hould appeare that our Admirall made the fir&s;t attach, he not onely &s;hould undergoe re|proofe, and his action be di&s;&s;allowed, but al&s;o, as having gone be|yond his Commi&s;&s;ion, be puni&s;hed according as the fact &s;hould &s;eeme to have de&s;erved: provided that the &s;aid Government finding the ca&s;e to be otherwi&s;e, that their Admirall by the evidences being found to have given the fir&s;t ho&s;tile attach, he in like manner under|goe puni&s;hment according as his act may have de&s;erved: Re|newing his and our other Emba&s;&s;adours their former and &s;o oft reiterated reque&s;t, that at lea&s;t whil&s;t this propo&s;ition might be taken into con&s;ideration, the former treaty in points of mo&s;t con|cernment might be in&s;i&s;ted upon and furthered, the Ships and goods of our &s;ubjects, taken with violence, and brought up into their Harbours, re&s;tored, our Captaines, Ship-ma&s;ters and Marri|ners relaxed and &s;et free, and all further acts of ho&s;tility cea&s;e. And although this propo&s;ition was of &s;uch nature, that no rea&s;o|nable &s;oule, in which is but remaining any &s;parke of inclination to peace, ought to reject the &s;ame: and that all this was illu&s;trated with &s;undry examples ob&s;erved in like ca&s;es betweene other nations, and was confirmed by divers &s;olemne alledged treaties; notwith&s;tan|ding the &s;aid Councell of State, being convicted in their hearts, that their declaration concerning what happened in and about the &s;aid Sea-fight could not endure the light, &amp; therefore having no mind to &s;earch into the truth (the concealing whereof ought to be counted &s;acriledge to every man though in a particular ca&s;e) they have ab|&s;olutely ca&s;t off the &s;aid examination, &s;topped the progre&s;&s;e and con|tinuance of the afore&s;aid principall treaty, and moreover declared, that in the pre&s;ent con&s;titution of things we might not expect from them, but that they would per&s;evere in the pro&s;ecution mentioned in their former an&s;wer given to the propo&s;itions of the afore&s;aid Lords <HI>Cats, Schaep</HI> and <HI>van de Par,</HI> to &s;uch end as was there expr&s;|&s;ed.
<PB N="12" REF="8">
Which la&s;t an&s;wer being tarter than the former, and more unrea&s;onable, full of inju&s;tice and violence in re&s;pect of our hone&s;t pre&s;entation: and &s;uch as gave cau&s;e &s;ufficient to us to de&s;i&s;t from all our friendly endeavours, e&s;pecially and the more becau&s;e they made no end of taking, robbing, plundering of &s;hips and goods, per|taining to our good &s;ubjects: neverthele&s;&s;e the &s;aid Lord of <HI>Heem|&s;tede,</HI> for to &s;hew our mo&s;t con&s;tant inclination and earne&s;t de&s;ire that all to the contentation of both &s;ides with friend&s;hip might be brought to a good and wi&s;hed conclu&s;ion, and to that end only &s;et|ting a&s;ide all that otherwi&s;e in point of honour and re&s;pect might have been con&s;iderable, that the treaty might not wholy be broken off de&s;ired, that in regard the endeavours on our part could not at|taine to the honour of an happy i&s;&s;ue: the afore&s;aid Government would plea&s;e to think upon &s;om other propo&s;itions for a peaceable agreement, tru&s;ting that once rea&s;on might finde place with them, and credit be given to our upright and unfeined prote&s;tations, and the &s;weet influences of a de&s;ire to peace con&s;ume the turbulent thoughts of war, and the good God laying open unto us &s;uch means, the pre&s;ent and further threatned calamities might be averted. But the &s;aid Government, as it appeared, mi&s;-u&s;ing the &s;uperfluity of our pliantnes to the fomentation of their pride and loftine&s;&s;e; our mode&s;ty to kindle their heat towards de&s;truction; our friendly pre|&s;entations for a ground to worke upon us and demand of us things, which by them with no &s;hew of equity could be demanded, nor by us with honour and reputation granted, and among&s;t the re&s;t were &s;o unrea&s;onable as to require of us the charges and dammages, which they pretend to have been put upon, and to have &s;uffered by rea&s;on of our afoer&s;aid extraordinary preparation of &s;hips, to the value of &s;uch a &s;um as the &s;ame might be found to amount unto: &amp; the &s;ame being paid or &s;ecurity for it given to their content, then to have all acts of ho&s;tility to cea&s;e; nor once minding, that our a|fore&s;aid &s;etting forth of &s;hips was to no other end undertaken and effected, then is heretofore declared: and that as &s;oon as the &s;ame was re&s;olved upon, and before it was put in action, we gave true and publike intelligence thereof to the &s;aid Government; e&s;pecially &s;ee|ing by the &s;ame fleet or any other &s;hips belonging to the&s;e Provinces, there hath not been given to the &s;aid Government, or to any of the &s;ubjects thereof, the lea&s;t token of di&s;affection, much le&s;s of inju|ry;
<PB N="13" REF="8">
but cantrarily, that ours have beene a&s;&s;aulted by theirs, and &s;ome &s;unk, others (among&s;t which a great number of merchants &s;hips rich|ly lodened pertaining to the&s;e Countries) entred, overma&s;tred, taken and carried up into their harbours, whereby we &amp; our &s;ubjects have &s;uffered lo&s;s of &s;everall millions of gilders: yea moreover during the &s;aid treaty and conference have &s;ent their fleet to Sea, in all ra&s;hne&s;s hurling on into the breach and di&s;&s;olution of all friend&s;hip and ami|ty between both nations, with an in&s;atiable lu&s;t of making the &s;ame incurable, and therewith de&s;troying and taking &s;everall of our &s;hips more, enthralling our Government (which by God Almighty for many years hath been pre&s;erved in a flouri&s;hing condition, and hath given reputation and aw&s;ulne&s;s with their friends and enemies) into a world of di&s;honour and lo&s;&s;es. All which intollerable and unlaw|full enterpri&s;es, and violent proceedings attempted and performed by the &s;aid Government, do mo&s;t per&s;picuou&s;ly and palpably de|clare, that their only de&s;ign is, wholy to infringe our &s;trength at &s;ea, and to ruinate the commerce of the&s;e countries, and thereby to &s;et up their long pretended Soveraignty and dominion over the Sea, which &s;hortly they intend to exerci&s;e over us, and in time over all other nations, and if po&s;&s;ibly they can, to make us and others their tributaries. And having with great patience and meekne&s;&s;e, but all in vaine&punc; improved all convenient meanes and rationall inductions, whereby to move the &s;aid Government for the good and happine&s;&s;e of both their owne and our &s;ubjects, to &s;tand off from the &s;aid re&s;o|lutions, that the ri&s;en di&s;tempers might be a&s;waged and compo&s;ed, the &s;hips and goods, with violence or otherwi&s;e taken and detained from our &s;ubjects, re&s;tored, the lo&s;&s;es, which they have innocently &s;u|&s;teined made good; and by an upright and &s;trict binding treaty the old (but now of late times by that Government enforced and viola|ted) friend&s;hip re-&s;etled, and by mutual confiding offices more and more confirmed; but &s;eeing no hope more of prevailing by &s;uch means, <HI>We</HI> (according to the law of nature finding our &s;elves obliged to defend our good &s;ubjects again&s;t all injury, oppre&s;&s;ion and vio|lence, to cau&s;e them obtain reparation for the lo&s;&s;es they have &s;uffe|red, to re-e&s;tabl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;h the former due liberty of commerce, and to op|po&s;e the afore&s;aid pernitious de&s;ignes of the &s;aid Government, which being drunken with &s;ucce&s;&s;es within their owne countries, &s;eem to know no mea&s;ure of their further un&s;atiable appetites a|broad)
<PB N="14" REF="9">
as being hereunto by greate&s;t extremity impelled, with ripe, deliberation of councell, have at length re&s;olved and thought good, to u&s;e the power and meanes, which God and nature hath given us, and with our weapons by way of retor&s;ion upon and again&s;t the a|fore&s;aid Government, and the &s;ubjects thereof, to endeavour the obtaining of that, which with rea&s;on could not be recovered of them; with a minde and intention not to lay downe the &s;ame, as long as the &s;aid Government doth &s;teere the cour&s;e they now are in, and till the afore&s;aid re&s;titution of Ships and goods, and repara|tion of inferred injuries be obtained. Being confident, that the whole world will approve of this our re&s;olution, forced from us with the utmo&s;t violence, and that Almighty God will ble&s;s our ju&s;t cau&s;e; tru&s;ting al&s;o that all Kings, Republikes, Princes and States will take on this our manife&s;t declaration for true, lawfull and requi&s;ite, and with us will help to oppo&s;e and &s;ubdue all &s;uch pernicious de&s;ignes, and in this our con&s;trained and no le&s;&s;e ju&s;t and lawfull defence, ever and in all places, as occa&s;ion &s;hall offer, will lend their a&s;&s;i&s;tance to us and our good &s;ubjects. Even as we hereby ordeine all our &s;aid &s;ubjects to the United Netherland Provinces, to oppo&s;e them&s;elves by way of retor&s;ion, as afore&s;aid, again&s;t all the violence and op|pre&s;&s;ions, which more and more are threatned again&s;t them: and not to &s;uffer them&s;elves further to be deluded by any what&s;oever &s;hew of friend&s;hip, or willingly to have recour&s;e to any place, where they mu&s;t be u&s;ed according to the appetite of the &s;aid Go|vernmenti: And &s;o both we and our &s;ubjects confiding in the ju&s;t|ne&s;s of our cau&s;e, &s;hall hope for the ble&s;&s;ing upon the meanes a&s;|&s;umed for our lawfull defence from God Almighty.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE>Thus concluded and arre&s;ted in the Gathering of the &s;aid Potent Lords the States Generall, in the Hague, <DATE>the &s;econd of <HI>Augu&s;t</HI> &s;ixteen hundreth and two and fifty.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED>Signed <HI>Johan van Reede tot Ren&s;woude</HI> vt. and under&s;tood: By &s;peciall command from the &s;ame: &s;igned <HI>N. Ruy&s;ch.</HI> And in the further &s;pace bearing the impre&s;&s;ion of the great Seale of the &s;aid States Generall in red wax.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
