THE DESPATCHES OF WILLIAM PEEWICH ENGLISH AGENT IN PARIS 1669 TO 1677. To Sir Joseph Williamson. Paris : Aprill 4a, '69. *)° Yesterday morning my Ld Ambr' had a private Audience of his Maty, at woh time an expresse from Madrid brings news that Dn Juan2 hath at length prevayled against his enemys in that Court, & y* ye President of Castille3 was out of the Councell & Dn Juan's Creatures put into offices; this change hath putt this Court into various thoughts; some & ye most considerable seem troubled at it becaus in case of ye death of ye young King4 Dn Juan may bee made King, ye Queen6 being inclined to resigne her Regency unto him already; others imagine to themselves that the King may reap some advantage by these disorders in their Councell. On Sunday the M. Xtian KB went to Colomb to a review of about 3,000 good Horse, where hee was very curious & exact in viewing every particular man & horse; some of these Troops were newly come out of Garrison. 1 Ealph Montagu succeeded his father as 3rd Baron Montagu in 1683 ; created Earl in 1685 and Duke in 1705. 2 Don Juan Jose (1629-1679), the natural son of Philip IV. of Spain and general of the Spanish forces. 3 Dom Diego Sarmiento y Valladares, Bishop of Oviedo, was President of the Council from May 1668 to Nov. 1669. 4 The King of Spain, Charles II. 5 Marie Anne, daughter of Ferdinand III. of Austria. VOL. V. B 2 THE DESPATCHES OF To Sir Joseph Williamson. Paris : Aprill 7th, '69, S.N. Fresher news comes still dayly from Madrid of the grand revolutions there of Dn Juan's being made Head of ye Councell for the people's grievances, Captain Gen11 of Flanders, &c ; Monsr de Villier,1 the French King's Envoye at Madrid, had made a body of all the French there & opposed Dn Juan if the Councell had not speedily prevented itt. However the M. Xtian Kg has sent his orders to his Minister there to offer unto the Catholique Queen all assistance against any attempt that shall bee made upon the Royall family. My Ld Ambr is come to his house in the Eue de Richilieu, wch is much disliked by him, & has taken one by the Queen Mother's, l'Hostel de Monsr de Boquelaure,2 wch will make amends, but not bee ready in two months. I am very ambitious of being employed in yr service here. To Sir Joseph Williamson. Paris : Aprill 13'", 1669, S.N. Inclosed goe the Edicts it mendohs, wch in the future shall bee constantly sent you, & if you have not the Gazette a la main from other hands that shall never fayle you; upon the least intimation that you have ym not I shall also send you the severall treatyes be- tween England & France since 1606, wch are all new printed in French. Your directions upon the inclosed Catalogue of books shall bee punctually observed & ye Prints sent weekly to you. It would bee some help if I could understand the names of all our Consuls in ye severall parts; if I shall not bee able to learne them all here I must beseech you to cause them to be transmitted hither. My Ld wonders they have not yet, as they ought, payd their duty to him, but must bee put in mind of it. The Queen Mother3 is again relapsed & was blooded 4 times in as many days this week, wch hinders my 1/ of S* Albans4 from prosecuting his intended journey for England for a while. 1 Pierre, Marquis de Villars. 2 Gaston Jean Baptiste, Duo de Roquelaure, 1617-83. Created Duke of Eoque- laure 1652. Took a prominent part in the conquest of Franche-Comte\ 1668, and that of Holland (1672). Appointed Governor of Guienne, 1676. 3 Henrietta Maria of France, wife of Charles I. 4 Henry Jermyn, Duke of St. Albans, Lord Chamberlain of the Queen Mother. AN ENGLISH AGENT IN PARIS 3 Yesternight a priest was stabbed in his bed. It's thought a piece of jealousy promoted his end. Next week this King sits in Parliam* in his high seat of justice, where (among other things) it's sayd he will mention the making a Law about marriages, that noe person shall give above 10,000 Crowns with his daughter in marriage (with some pro- visoes, I believe, of Paris & Nobles de France) ; yet this shall take no hold upon heiresses.1 This is a thing talkt of, how certain I cannot affirme to you. Hee is also making a dismall ransack in his Finances, & winds & turnes all things inside out, as you will see in ye edict about the Officers of Justice.2 To Sir Joseph Williamson. Paris : Aprill ^.'\ '69. His Exce, I think, intends to make his publique entry on Wednsday next in Easter Week, wcl1 I am persuaded will bee very magnificent by reason of the great numbers of English gentry here. Last night my Ld Mordaunt3 arrived here. The King goes to Versailles on Munday & returns on Thursday. The Queen Mother, God bee thanked, is recovered, & my Ld of S' Albans will set forwards his intended journey about the middle of next week. The French apprehend much that Van Beuning4 is to goe Ambr for England, whom they have, as they say, great reason to hate, his image being in Holland engraven on a meddall, Josuah like, stopping the sun's course.5 By the next I shall bee able to send 1 This law waa evidently never passed. 2 Edicts on this subject were issued in March and August 1669. 3 John, Viscount Mordaunt, brother of Henry, 2nd Earl of Peterborough. * Conrad van Beuninghen, Dutch Ambassador to France. 5 After the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1668, by which Louis XIV. ceased his invasion of Franche-Comte, the Dutch offended him by having their coins re- struck, one attributing to them the right of having defended kings, re-established the liberty of the seas, and pacified Europe, and another representing Van Beuninghen as Joshua stopping the sun. The words supposed to be engraved on the medal were,' In conspectu meo stetit sol.' Voltaire says, ' Cette me'daille n'exista jamais. II est vrai que les Etats avaient fait frapper une me'daille dans laquelle ils avaient exprime^ tout ce que la republique avaifc fait de glorieux: Assertis legibus, emendatis sacris, adjutis, defensis, conciliatis regibus, vindicata marium libertate, stabilita orbis Europae quiete ' (Siicle de Louis XIV, vol. i. p. 389). is 2 THE DESPATCHES OF you some reflections made here upon the Tripple League' by an indifferent hand, woh yet is too long for my transcribing now. To Sir Joseph Williamson. Paris : Aprill 2O'\ '69. Yesterday att Charenton (as it was expressed) 'cenx de la religion avoient grand June2 pour implorer 1'assistance divine sur le pitoyable estat de leurs eglises et de la demolition de leurs ftemples] dans toutes les provinces.' Here are lately some taxes imposed by the magistrates of Paris upon candells, wob before were sold for 8 sols the lb, shall bee sold but at 6, because (as I believe) the Chandlers grow rich; in the like manner beef & wood; ye latter, that is worth 13 francs, shall bee set at 10 only. The King has caused a vast quantity of come to bee bought in Bourgogne to bee embarqued on the duke of Beaufort's3 fleet. Monsr Colbert, as I am informed, ' a este fort chagrin' & discom- posed of late, & has suspended 58 officers that were designed & nominated supernumeraries abord the sa fleet. Prom Warsaw wee hear that the son of the great Duke of Muscovy4 is instructing him in the Catholiquisme, pretending still to the Crowne of Poland, & that the Arch Bpp of Guesne 5 has caused a libell to bee burnt ag* the Prince,6 wch the emissaryes of the other Pretender[s] 7 had spread abroad. From Madrid the 3rd Curr', wee are advised that a Eegim* is formed there of 600 men for the King's guards & ye Marqs of Ayetonne8 is their Collonel. Dn Juan is still at Guadalajara, 1 The Triple Alliance, 1668, between England, Holland, and Sweden. 2 Le. jeune. ' Francois de Vend6me, Due de Beaufort, son of Cesar de Vend6me and grand- son of Henry IV. In 1669 he was sent by Louis XIV. to help the Venetians, attacked by the Turks in the island of Candia, and was killed at Candia in August of the same year. * Alexius Michaelowitz, son of Michael Theodorowitz. Died in 1676. 5 Nicolaus Prazmoovski, Archbishop of Gnesen 1666-1673 (see Gazette de France, 1669, No. 49, p. 367). " Theodore Alexowitz, son of the above. 7 The Prince of Nieubourg, the Duke of Lorraine, and the Prince of Conde\ " D. Miguel Francisco de Moncada, 5th Marquis of Aitona. Died in 1674. AN ENGLISH AGENT IN PARIS 5 expecting orders to kisse ye Queen's hands; another Jesuit is made Vice Inquisitour of ye kingdome. The Pope has sanctifyed with his blessing 2 standards, one for Dn Vincerzo,1 who commands ye gallies designed for Candia, & ye other for Mr du Beaufort, woh hee has received with a quantity of medalls, (also blessed), to bee distributed among ye French officers. Cont de S* Paul2 is at Rome & saying y* hee has a desire to returne for Candia with ye French succour, Mr de Bourlement3 gave him a Lre from the King commanding his returne to Paris ; the succor for Candia will goe hence 4 the 15th of May.