256 H O L L 
ability, that all Europe began to unite again ft the two 
kings. By the month of July every prince in Germany 
was in motion to fuccour the Dutch. The emperor, the 
king of Denmark, the elector of Brandenburg, the duke 
of Brunfwick Lunenburg, and the landgrave of Heffe, 
immediately ordered their troops to join; feveral of the 
other princes were likewife preparing to take the field. 
All were jealous, England began to waver, and there was 
not a power in Europe upon whom Louis XIV. could 
heartily rely. The army of Brandenburg, commanded by 
the ele&or in perfon, and the forces of the empire under 
the famous Montecuculi, joined near Heideliheim, and 
compofed a body of forty thoufand men. Turenne, who 
had been appointed generaliffimo of the French king's 
army on kis return to Paris, marched to prevent the ene¬ 
my from crofting the Rhine. For three months were the 
elector and Montecuculi employed in abortive attempts 
to effeft a paflage at Mentz, Coblentz, Stralburgh, and 
other places. This anfwered the purpofe of making a 
powerful diverfion in favour of the Dutch, though they 
could not accomplifh their defign of jpining the prince of 
Orange. After repeated difappointments, the imperial 
army direfted its march to Weftphalia ; and Turenne fol¬ 
lowed, in order to keep the biflrop of Munfter up to his 
engagements. For half the campaign, he, with a body of 
fixteen thoufand men, baffled every ftratagem of the elec¬ 
tor and Montecuculi, the latter the moft renowned gene¬ 
ral of the empire, at the head of an army near triple in 
number. He obliged him to go into winter-quarters, in 
a country harafled and exhaufted ; and confirmed the 
bifliop of Munfter in the alliance of France, at the very 
time he was on terms with emperor. He obliged the elec¬ 
tor of Brandenburg, who took the chief command during 
Montecuculi’s illnefs, to abandon the fiege of Werle; 
took Unna, Karnen, Altena, Berkembam, and feveral other 
towns and fortrefles. By continuing his operations, he 
forced the eledlor out of his winter-quarters again into 
the field, chafed him from poll to poll, until he obliged 
him to quit Weftphalia, repafs the Wefer, and retire with 
precipitation into the bilhopric of Hildeffleim. After 
taking pofleflion of the elector's towns in Weftphalia, he 
purfued him into the bilhopric of Hildelheim ; and at 
length, by mere dint of fuperior genius, forced him to 
leek lhelter in his hereditary dominions. All this was ef¬ 
fected after Louvois had appointed the marflial’s army 
quarters in Alface and Lorrain, amidll the rigours of a 
fevere winter, oppofed by a fuperior enemy, by the arti¬ 
fices of Louvois, and feconded only by his own prudence, 
and the affection of his troops, which he maintained in 
defiance of all the difficulties, hardlhips., and dangers, 
they encountered. It was indeed fuppoled, that Monte¬ 
cuculi was prevented from giving Turenne battle by the 
remonftrances of prince Lobkowitz, the emperor’s ambaf- 
fador, influenced by the gold of Louis. Certain indeed 
it is, that Montecuculi’s illnefs arofe from his chagrin at 
feeing all his projects fruftrated by the dilatory conduct 
of the court of Vienna. Louis’s negociations difturbed 
Europe no lefs than his arms. His creatures fwarmed in 
every court. Leopold could not be prevented from de¬ 
claring in favour of Holland; but his minifters were 
bought off from feconding the emperor’s intentions. The 
whole Engliftt nation exclaimed againil the alliance of 
their king with France ; but Charles flood in need of 
French gold to fupply his extravagance and profligacy. 
The eleflor of Bavaria had indeed been compelled by 
Louis to retire to his capital; but it was by dint of in¬ 
trigue that he was forced from his alliance with Holland, 
and conftrained to fign a peace with France. 
While Turenne was thus employed on the Rhine, Conde, 
having recovered of his wounds, returned to the command 
of the army in Holland. He befieged and took Maeftricht 
in thirteen days. Having repaired the fortifications, he 
propol'ed making himfelf mailer of feveral other towns ; 
but the inundations every where flopped his courfe. All 
his attempts to draw off the waters were in vain j and he 
AND. 
was forced to content himfelf with preferving, without 
pretending to extend, the conquefls which had been made. 
In the mean time, Spain declared in favour of the Dutch -. 
and prevailed upon the emperor to aft more decidedly in 
the caufe of Holland, and defence of the liberties of Eu¬ 
rope. The prince of Orange was reinforced by ten thoufand 
Spaniards ; and Philip concluded a treaty with the States 
at the Hague, whereby he declared war againft France, 
engaged the emperor to make a powerful diverfion on the 
Rhine, ftipulated not to accept of peace before the Dutch 
had retrieved all their Ioffes, and obtained from them a 
promife to liften to no terms of accommodation before his 
Spanifn majefly was reinflated in all his poffeffions in the 
Low Countries previous to the peace of the Pyrenees. 
Montecuculi was ordered to advance with thirty tho.ufand 
men to Franconia ; and Turenne, joining the troops of 
Cologne and Munfter, palled the Main, and took poft in 
the ele&orate of Mentz. The prince of Orange receiving 
no impediment from Conde, who was forced on account 
of the inundations to repafs the Meufe, thought this a 
proper time for aftion. He ordered fonre troops to file off 
lecretly to Amfterdam and Muyden; lined with infantry 
the intrenchments which fecured the paflage to Holland ; 
and to deceive the duke of Luxemburg, who commanded 
in Utrecht, fent fome forces by fea to attack Bommel. 
The duke, not penetrating the prince’s defign, came to 
fuccour the place 5 and William, finding his llratagem 
fucceed, marched to Naerden, and with twenty-five thou¬ 
fand men in veiled and took the place before the duke 
could provide for its fecurity. Upon this fuccefs, the 
Dutch took courage, fortune inclined in their favour, and 
in a lhort time all the horrors of war were removed from 
the interior parts of the United Provinces to the Spanilh 
Netherlands. Neither the experience nor confummate ad- 
drefs of Turenne, the genius of Vauban, nor the indefa¬ 
tigable vigilance of Louvois, could repair the error com¬ 
mitted in fending the grand army to garrifon the con¬ 
quered towns. Even Conde’s fire feemed extinguilhed in 
the waters with which the Dutch had drowned their coun¬ 
try. Inftead of penetrating farther, he was obliged to 
retreat. Turenne could not prevent the junction of Mon¬ 
tecuculi and the prince of Orange, nor the lofs of Bonne. 
This junction, and the declaration of Spain, obliged the ar¬ 
mies of France to abandon the three provinces with Hill more 
rapidity than they had conquered them. The triumphal 
arch at St. Dennis was hardly erefted as a monument of 
Louis’s victories, before the fruits of thofe victories were 
relinquilhed. In a word, the parliament of England would 
no longer fuffer Charles to be the mercenary tool of France; 
the late ill fuccefs cooled the elector of Cologne and the 
bilhop of Munfter in their friendlhip ; and Louis, for- 
faken by all his allies, found himfelf under the neceflity 
of maintaining fingly a war againft Germany, Spain, and 
the United Provinces. At length, alfo, the revolution 
in 1688, when William III. ftadtholder of Holland, be¬ 
came king of England, brought on a much clofer affinity 
between the two nations than had ever taken place before. 
By means of this connexion, William formed a plan of 
humbling his great adverfary Louis XIV. who had fo im¬ 
placably brought his country to the verge of ruin. For 
this purpofe he renewed the war in 1689, and commanded 
the army in perfon. However, he was overmatched by 
the abilities of Luxemburg the French general ; who op¬ 
pofed him, and obliged him to conclude a peace in 1697. 
His enmity to the French king, however, was not yet 
extinguilhed. The remaining part of his life he employed 
in forming the moft powerful confederacy againft that 
monarch ; and fo much was he wrapped in this project, 
that even in his dying moments it feemed to prevail over 
every other confideration. His meafures were adopted by 
his fucceffor queen Anne; and the French monarchy had 
nearly funk under the united efforts of the forces of Bri¬ 
tain, Holland, and Germany, headed by Marlborough 
and Eugene ; till at length, in 1713, the treaty of Utrecht 
contributed to reftore the peace of Europe. 
3 
Holland 
