1656.] LOSS OF THE POST. 383 SECRETARY THURLOE TO MR. PELL. Whitehall, 10th April, 1656. SIR, I was absent from hence all the last week, which is the reason you had nothing from me the last post; since there are two of yours come to my hands, one of the 13th, and the other of the 20th of March, with the papers mentioned therein, some whereof do require some answer; but I shall not be able to take his highness's direction thereupon this night, and therefore shall be constrained to defer until the next occasion. There hath nothing happened here worth your trouble; therefore I will end with assuring you of my being Your affectionate friend and servant, Jo. THURLOE. MR. MORLAND TO MR. PELL. Geneva, 15th April, 1656. SIR, I have received yours of April 10. To save your phenomena, I have sent again my project and Mr. Tronchin's account. The messenger that should have brought our letters from Lyons brings word that his horse fell into the Rhone, about two miles from Lyons, being charged with his letters and other merchandize, and so was drowned, whereby there are neither letters nor any light otherwise from England by this post. I en treat you to send me Mr. Wisse's speech at Turin if you can conveniently; in the meantime, I remain, in much haste, Sir, your most humble and faithful servant, If the letters are to be found, I shall send you word by an extraordinary. For my part, I expected orders to go for Paris to meet Colonel Lockhart, the English ambassador, and I know not what inconveniences may follow this accident. MR. PELL TO SECRETARY THURLOE. Baden in Argow, April 17th. SIR,-April 10th I wrote to you from Zurich : two days after I received a letter from Mr. Morland, in which were enclosed two from Mr. Secretary to me; they were dated March 20th and 27th, in both which I see that, upon the news of the Helvetian peace, the lending of 20,000l. was suspended at Whitehall. I have, therefore, begun to put them in mind of what I said to them, presently after my return from Geneva; namely, that so much money was intended for them, but I doubted the news of the peace might stop the sending of it, unless they could give me new reasons sufficient to persuade England to send it to them, though their war were 1656.] M. VAN OMMEREN. 385 ended. They answered, their peace was facta but not perfecta, and that the war might break out again. In my last week's letter, I gave notice of M. H. Van Ommeren's coming from Geneva to Zurich with an intent to go to Baden. At our second conference, I advised him to go thither the next day, telling him that I should not be long behind him. He entered Baden April 15th: in the evening he came to my lodging, where he told me, that he had signified his coming to the French ambassador, to the deputies of all the cantons, and to the Baron of Greisy, "whom," said he, "I know not why, they call the ambassador of Savoy, seeing the letters that he brought with him give him no qualifying title at all, and are no better than might be given some envoy.' He said, that the deputies of the protestant cantons had been with him to salute him, but nobody else, save that the French ambassador had sent his secretary to him to congratulate his safe arrival, and with very civil language to pray him not to exact any unusual entertainment, as if he were an ambassador, when he had not the title. "But," said M. H. Van Ommeren, "I gave him great variety of examples, wherein it appeared that if any of the states-general did come to visit any ambassador, the manner was to receive him with as much respect as if he were their ambassador, though his title were but deputy, perhaps, or commissioner." I replied, the that this French ambassador might be ignorant of that custom, and was not a man likely to alter his first resolutions. "Then," said he, "my resolution must be, not to go to him, or speak with him, as indeed I think it unnecessary, for I perceive not that he hath any considerable influence upon affections or affairs of this people. After some other discourse concerning lodgings, &c., the Prolegatus Belgicus left me. I shall not repay his visit till to-morrow, not only because it is post-day, but also because I must tarry within, in expectation of the deputies of the protestant cantons, who have not yet been with me, but intend to come to me to-day. In the meantime, I can only add what I have here learned of others, namely, that some of the deputies of the cantons were not come to this town before April 13th at night, so that it was not accounted a full assembly till April 14th, in the morning, when, being all met, Monsieur de la Barde, the French ambassador, made them a speech, wherein he signified how glad the king was to hear of their inclinations to peace, and that they were so far advanced in the way to their former tranquillity. He advised them to take heed of a relapse, and therefore to hearken to the advice of all those that wished their quiet, and to submit to the award of their arbitrators, &c. When this unexpected audience was over, they fell to the business for which they were met. The protestant deputies demanded 1656.] DEBATES IN SWITZERLAND. 387 a sight of the popish complaints; it was answered, that they had not yet given them in, in writing. The protestants said, that was not according to the agreement at the former assembly. The papists replied, that the protestants had done greater things contrary to that agreement. Being asked what they were, they named some places not yet slighted, pieces of works undemolished, &c. It was replied, the agreement was, that those things should be done on both sides pari passu, and that they had left those works standing in lieu of such other places as the papists had not yet slighted, pretending want of labourers. This business was accounted none of the hardest, because it was easy to appoint commissioners on both sides to see all new works cast down by a certain day. Therefore they proceeded to the papists' next complaint, which was, that the prefect of Turgow, a papist, had been taken by the Tigurines, and was kept in prison at Zurich, till the general release of prisoners; but being now returned to his government, he finds that the people of Turgow had in his absence sworn allegiance to Zurich alone, and that the senate of Zurich had by their ambassadors released them of that oath, but this was not restitutio integra, because they had not yet taken their oath anew to their old prefect. The protestant deputies answered, that the old prefect's time of government would be expired about ten weeks |