A. C. 1'709. 3 December The Earl

About the beginning of December the E. of Stair was appointed Her Majesty's Ambaffador Extraordinary to the King of Poland; and foon after fet out for that Kingdom.

On the 8th of the fame Month the Queen conferr'd the Honour of Knighthood on Charles Wager Efq; RearAmbaffa- Admiral of the Red Squadron.

of Stair

Charles

Wager
Efq;
Knighted.

was

dor Extr On the 9th died Henry Howard, Earl of Suffolk, Lord to Poland. Howard of Walden; fometime Commiffary General of the Musters in King William's Reign, and Housekeeper of the Royal Palace of Audley-end. This Family w Honour'd with the Title of Baron of the Realm by Q. Elizabeth, who in the 39th year of her Reign, created the Lord Thomas Howard (fecond Son to Thomas the 3d D. of Norfolk, of the Sirname of Howard) Ld. Howard of Walden, by Writ of Summons to Parliament: And the fame Perfon on the 21st of July, in the first year of King James I. was advanc'd to the Dignity of Earl of Suffolk, being at that time a Privy Counfellor; afterwards Ld. Chamberlain, then Ld. Treaturer of England, and lastly one of the Lords Commiffioners for executing the Office of Earl Marshal of England, as alfo Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter. The E. of The Earl of Suffolk now deceased, had two elder BroSuffolk's thers, James and George, both of them Earls fucceffively; Death. but dying without Iffue, made way for him to the Honour, wherein he is fucceeded by his eldest Son Heury Earl of Bindon, Deputy Marshal of England. The Earl of Suffolk's fecond Wife was the Widow of Sir John phen Len- Maynard, whofe Maiden Name was Upton. nard dies. On the 15th Sir Stephen Lennard, Knight of the Sir Benja- Shire for Kent, died in London of an Apoplexy.

Sir Ste

min

Green

dies. Robert

Brown

f

On the 18th died allo Sir Benjamin Green, Alderman for Queen-hithe Ward, London, in whole Room John Fryer Elq was on the 7th of February next following, chofen Alderman for the fame Ward,

About this Time Robert Brown of the City of EdinEfq; made burgh Elq; was created a Baronet of Great-Britain.

a Baronet

FINIS.

THE

APPENDIX

TO THE

ANNALS

OF

Queen ANNE's Reign;
Year the Eighth.

Numb. I.

The PREAMBLE of the Petition of the Council of State, of the United Provinces for the Charge of the Year 1710, call'd the State of the War; prefented to the States General, on the 11th of November, (N. S.) 1709.

High and Mighty Lords,

W

HEN the Council of State prefented
'to your High Mightineffes in No-
"vember, 1708, their General Petiti

on, with the ordinary and extraordinary State of the War, for the prefent Yeat 1709, and that amongst other Reasons they made "ufe of, to convince the Lords States of the refpective Provinces, of the neceffity of giving a full and

A a

Speedy

I

{

fpeedy Confent to the faid Petition, they gave an account of the Advantages and great Succeffes which the Arms of your High Mightineffes, and thofe of your Allies had, through the Bleffing of God, obtained over the Enemy to that time; it 'was impoffible for the faid Council of State to give a full Relation thereof, because the Campaign of that Year was not yet concluded, tho' it had already lafted much longer than the preceding, and 'that the Winter was near at hand. The Event having fhewn that the Succeffes with which the ' end of that Campaign was crown'd, were no lefs 'advantageous than thofe obtained in the beginning, 'the Council aforefaid has thought it of fome ufe to add to the Account they gave laft Year to your High Mightineffes, a brief Relation of the Tranfactions which happened at the conclufion of the Year 1708, and of what has been done this prefent Year for the advantage of the common Caufe, as an Introduction to their General Petition.

6

The Battle of Oudenarde, and the taking of the Town of Lille, of which an Account was given before, were foon followed with the Reduction of 'the Cittadel: For notwithstanding the Enemy had formed a good Army from the neighbouring Garrifons, and pofted themselves before Bruffels, upon this vain prefumption, that having poffeffed the Banks of the Scheld from Tournay to Ghent, and the Canal from thence to Bruges and Newport, caft up large Intrenchments to fecure the Paffes thereof, and funk Boats, and made Dams in the Scheld, to ftop its Courfe, in order to drown the neighbouring Country, and render it unpaffable, that the Army of your High Mightineffes, and your Allies, which was altogether in Flanders, fhould find it impoffible to relieve that City, which through its Extent and Weaknefs could not make any long defence; and that confequently the fame falling into their hands in a very few Days, that Conqueft, with that of Ghent and Bruges, which were alrea4dy in their poffeffion, would enable them to cut "off all Communication with the Confederate Army: Yet, notwithstanding all thefe Difficulties, the paffing the Scheld was undertaken in several Places, with a great deal of Activity, Conduct,

and Bravery, and opened with a great Succefs, and no lefs gloriously than the moft famous Paffages of Rivers in ancient Times, not to mention thofe of the Adige, Mincio, and Oglio, befides feveral others, which in the prefent War in Italy, have been attempted and forced. The Enemy's Army was thereupon difperfed into the Hainault and Artois, having abandon'd, with precipitation, the ftrong Works they had made near Oudenarde, and other Parts along the Scheld: The Siege of Bruffels, which they had juft begun with Vigour, was abandon'd, with most of their Artillery, and their great Defigns and Projects broke and disappointed. Thus was gloriously re-established the Communi'cation between Brabant, and other Provinces, with the Conquefts made in Flanders; but the Cities of Ghent and Bruges being of the highest importance, for maintaining Lille, Menin, and other Places along the Lys and the Scheld, and preferving a Correfpondence between them and this State, covering the Dutch-Flanders, and facilitating the Operations, which in the Profecution of thisWar might be car"ried farther on the fide of Flanders, into the Artois, or Hainault; it was refolved, upon thefe Confiderations, to besiege Ghent; and notwithstanding the Year was at an end, that it had begun to freeze, and that the Enemy had a numerous Gar"rifon therein, confifting of 35 Batallions, and 15 6 Squadrons, the Place was reduced in five Days af❝ter the opening of the Trenches, and in the mean "time the Fort of Roonhuyfen, near it, was re-taken, 6 and Bruges, and the Fort of Plaffendale abandoned by the Enemy; infomuch, that this WinterExpedition was more glorious than that which in "the first French Wars the Enemy made in the Netherlands, against fome unprovided and defenceless

• Places.

"The Year 1708, ending with thefe furprizing great Succeffes, the prefent Year, (no lefs glorious to the State, and your Allies) begun on the part of the Enemy, with repeated Meffages to defire Peace, but artfully and craftily concerted and intended, that if they could not divide the Allies, and lefs ftill obtain a Peace, according to their own Terms and Intereft, or at leaft fome Conditi

ons that might ferve as Preliminaries thereunto, they might by favour of the faid Meffages, retard the opening of the Campaign, and confequently the Operations of War, while they fhould gain 'time to put themselves in a good Condition, and provide their moft expofed Frontiers for a vigorous Defence. However, this happened otherwife, for your High Mightineffes, and your Allies, having taken all neceffary Precautions with Prudence, Conftancy, and Unanimity, the defign of the Enemy was foon difcovered, and the Campaign opened, tho' fomewhat later than in the foregoing "Years, by reafon of a long Winter, and the unfea'fonableness of the Weather in the Spring. The Enemy having affembled a great Army from all Parts, pofted and intrenched themselves behind la Baffée, between the upper Deule, and the Lys, for covering the Plains of Artois and Picardy; and their Poft being fo ftrong, that it was unacceffible on all Parts, their Forces being cover'd in Front by manyDefilees, and "a moorish Ground, and their Flanks on one fide by Woods, and hollow Ways near the Lys, and on the other by the Canal of Doway, it was refolved to undertake the Siege of Tournay, a Place which the French thought formerly fo important, that in the "Treaties of Arras, they would have yielded to the "Houfe of Burgundy the Boulonnois, and feveral Places in Artois and Picardy, rather than part with that City, which, fince it was yielded to them by the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle, they had, with vaft Difficulties and Expences, made one of the ftron'geft Places in the Netherlands, tho' it has been now 6 reduced in a much fhorter time than it was forC merly, when it was taken from the French by the Spaniards. With this City has been gained a whole 'Province of the French-Netherlands, which was fo abfolutely neceflary for covering the Spanish-Flanders, and which, thro' the Fertility of the Soil, and 'their Manufactures, may, when the Inhabitants have bad fome time to breathe after the Calamities ' of War, contribute to the fupport of the common 'Cause, by a good Oeconomy and Management of 'the Revenue thereof,

6

The Conqueft of Tournay was foon followed by the Reduction of Mons, for the Allies having forced

the