for the protection of our subjects, and the preservation of the publick peace there.

We are unwilling to believe that any of our subjects will give assistance or encouragement to any such invasion, which would prove of such dangerous consequence to their religion and liberties, and make their native country a scene of blood and confusion; however, we doubt not but that you will take all the necessary measures to discover and disappoint any such bad practices and contrivances, and to secure such as you shall find concerned therein.

We are hopeful, with the assistance of God, to prevent and defeat this design of our enemies, and for this end nothing shall be wanting on our part; we have fitted out a fleet superior to any they can have in those parts; we have also given orders that some of our troops in Flanders be ready to embark, in case the embarkation at Dunkirk shall go on, and our troops in England and Ireland are so disposed as to give you what assistance may be necessary. In the mean time, we hereby authorise and impower you to give such orders as are proper, to put our forces, forts, and garisons there, in the best order.

We shall continue to inform you from time to time of what further intelligence we may`receive, and therefore we think it necessary, that you appoint all our Privy-counsellors there to attend at Edinburgh, for receiving and obeying our orders, except such as you judge more useful for the publick service to be in the country; and having intire trust and confidence in your loyalty and conduct, in this juncture, we bid you heartily farewel.

Given at our Court at Kensington the 25th day of February 1707-8, and of our reign the sixth year.

By her Majesty's Command,

Counter-signed,

LOUDEN.

(88)

THE

GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY OF MONS.

FIRST WRITTEN IN FRENCH

FOR THE

SERVICE OF AN IMPERIAL OFFICER,

IN THE ARMY ABOUT MONS;

AND NOW DONE, A SECOND TIME, IN ENGLISH,

FOR THE

SATISFACTION OF OUR BRITISH OFFICERS.

By John Mack Gregory, L L. L.

PROFESSOR OF GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY.

Printed at Edinburgh, in the Year MDCCIX, Quarto, containing forty-four

pages.

MONS

ONS is a great town, the capital city of all Hainault, and the principal place of residence of the governor, and the other officers, who compose both the particular courts, and the general councils, of that whole province.

It is situated on the banks of the river Trouille, in the middle of a large plain, that reigns all around it, for several leagues, on both sides the river Haine: But, just where the town stands, there is a small eminence, included within it; the bank of the Trouille, on the one side there, being a little rising ground, or hill; that on the other side, a great level, or plain: And, immediately without the town, the ground is a great marsh, caused principally by an abundance of waters proceeding from the confluence of those two rivers, of a great many rivulets, of some brooks, and of several canals, all rendezvousing there. abouts, and partly by the continuance of the plain, which favours that of the marsh, making it to run out for a half a league from the walls, for three quarters, and for a whole league in some places; so that it reigns about the town, for a great way off, and with such a great deal of water, that it cannot be well drained, except on the East-side towards Namur, where the ground rises too high for it, and on the West towards Valenciennes, where there is likewise a little rising.

The chief of those waters, that render the country about Mons so marshy, are these two rivers, the Trouille and the Haine.

The Trouille is but a small river, taking its rise near the village of Merieux, in the same province of Hainault, three leagues and a half from the town of Mons, on the South-side. It has at first its course from South to North, then makes a turn within Mons, runs afterwards from East to West, and, at length, falls into the river Haine, a league above the fortress of St. Guislain, likewise in the same province, three quarters of a league from Mons, on the West-side.

Upon both the sides of this river, just where it makes the turn from the North to the West, or rather from the North-East to the NorthWest, stands Mons, seated upon the two banks, the bank there, on the East-side, being an eminence, or hill; that on the West-side, a flat ground, or plain; and the river running through the town, North-East when it goes in, and North-West when it goes out, divides it into two very unequal parts, the part on the East-side, upon the hill, being by far the greater; that on the West-side, in the plain, much the lesser; just three leagues and a half below where it rises, near Merieux, and about three quarters of a league, above where it falls into the Haine, not far from St. Guislain: That part of the river, which is above Mons, is called the Upper Trouille; and below, it is named the Lower.

The Haine is also but a small river, though somewhat greater than the Trouille, having its source near the town of Fontaine l' Eveque, in the same province of Hainault, four leagues and a half from the town of Mons, on the East-side. At first it runs North, then turns West, afterwards North-West, then South-West, and again West; so, making a great many turnings and windings, as it goes through the country, but having the main of its course from East to West, especially it is so as it passes by Mons; it at length falls into the river Scheld, a little above the fortress of Condé, likewise in the same province, four leagues and a quarter from Mons, on the West-side.

Upon the South-side of this river, at a place where it runs from East to West, or rather from North-East to South-West, stands Mons, seated on an eminence, upon the banks of the Trouille, in the middle of the plain on that side the Haine, and at the distance of betwixt a quarter and half a league from the river, where it passes by the town; just four leagues and a half below where it rises, near Fontaine l' Eveque, and about four leagues and a quarter above where it falls into the Scheld, hard by Condé: That part of the river, which is above Mons, is called, the upper Haine; and below, it is named, the Lower.

Besides those two rivers, there are abundance of other waters, that contribute to render the ground thereabouts a marsh, a great many rivulets, of lesser note, some brooks, and several canals, detached from those rivers both above and below Mons, that are all made to run, turning and winding through the country, about the town, into the lakes and ponds, to supply them with water; through the town, into the ditches and kennels, for the conveniency of the people; and out of the town, away into the channels of the Lower Trouille and Haine, with design to render them navigable.

In this manner, it happens, that the country about Mons is so marshy: The town is so surrounded, and the territory adjoining so planted, with

such abundance and plenty of waters, proceeding from a confluence and complication of so many rivers, rivulets, brooks, and canals, all rendezvousing there on purpose, as it were, to make a marsh, and the ground thereabouts is so continued a level and plain, that it cannot well be otherwise; and, for the conveniency and advantages of water, one may say, there is not, perhaps, such another inland situation of a town, as that of Mons is, in Europe, if it be not that of Ghent. As for what inconveniencies may arise there, from the superabundance of these waters, they are wisely provided against, as much as may be, by the industry and care of the inhabitants, who, by the multiplying of canals and ditches, by the keeping clean and neat their channels, by the variety of ponds, and little lakes, but especially by the number and good government of sluices, have them so under command, that they can let them out, or keep them in, or make of them what they please: And consequently, by such means in the case of a siege, the people within Mons can egregiously incommode an enemy without, by inunding the whole country that is immediately about the town; which they do effectually, to the distance of a quarter of a league from the walls, of half a league, and of three quarters in some places; so as to make the inundation reign around, for a good way off, and with such a deepness of water, as to render the town inaccessible, except on the East-side towards Namur, where the ground rises too high for it, and where an enemy might incamp, and intrench, and from thence approach, and batter the place, in spite of the inundation; the same might be done on the West-side towards Valenciennes, where there is likewise a little rising; but not so well, because the ground there does not rise to such a height.

This town was at first founded by Alberon, a Prince of France, son to Clodion the Hairy, King of France, and grandson to Pharamond the Great, first King thereof; who, in the year of our lord 449, being left, by his father's death, to the guardianship of his kinsman Merovee, and his guardian having deprived him of his inheritance, and usurped his crown to himself, went thereupon into Germany, to sollicit assistance to recover his right, and was assisted by the Germans so powerfully, as that, in progress of time, he recovered all the lower Austrasia, and a good part of Belgium, as far as Tournay and Cambray; and, in the year 481, he came hither into that country, where now Mons is, which was then all covered with wood as well as with water, being a part of the Saltus Carbonarius, which was a skirt of the forest of Ardenna, and built a high tower there, on the top of a small eminence, upon the bank of the river Trouille, towards the East, hard by the water-side, just where it, running from the South, makes a turn from the North to the West, in the middle of a large plain, covered then with a great deal both of wood and water, though now with the last more than with the first, on the bank of the river Haine towards the South, not far from the water-side, just where it runs from East to West, towards the North: Which tower served him, as a house, or palace, where he lodged; as an observatory, or watching-place, from whence he discovered the country about; and as a fortress, or place of security, by the means of which he maintained himself there, notwithstanding the efforts of his enemies, the Merovignians, to turn him out. He likewise cut down

or

all the trees, which covered the eminence where the tower stood, and by such means discovered it all around, so as to make an explanade, empty space, immediately about the tower, in the middle of the wood that reigned, from the top, where the tower was, to the bottom, where it was bordered with trees, all about the eminence: And this explanade served him, as a camp-post, or place of arms, where he was wont to rendezvous his soldiers, and to draw them up in order of battle.

The same Prince Alberon continuing, so long as he lived, to have sharp war with the Merovignians, upon the account of the usurpation of his dominions, and consequently, having frequent occasion to have his troops lodged nigh to him, first pitched tents for them in the explanade about his tower; then built huts and houses, which, by degrees and through time, grew out into a considerable village all around the tower, under the defence of which it was secure; and afterwards, to secure it further from the sudden attempts of his enemies, he inclosed it with a hedge, of bushes and branches joined and interlaced, which, from a village, made it become a town. This was done, in the year of our Lord 490, and it is the first inclosure of Mons: The town was called Alberon's camp-post, which name it retained for a long time after; and the tower, Alberon's tower, which name it retains to this day.

What sort of town this camp-post of Prince Alberon's has been, we cannot well tell, for now there are no vestiges of it to be found: But I have seen a plan of it, in miniature, in an old Latin manuscript, preserved by the ladies * of St. Waltrud's at Mons, and to be read in their library; by which it appears, that it has been of a round figure, lying on the East-side the Trouille, hard by the river-side, where it, running from the South to the North, makes a turnaway to the West, and on the South-side the Haine, not far from the river-side, where it runs from East to West, towards the North, including just the eminence, where the tower stood, and occupying just the explanade, that reigned about, between the top, where the tower was, and the bottom, where it was inclosed with a hedge, and no more. As for Alberon's tower, we can give some account of it, it being still on foot and intire, though, by this time, beginning to look pretty ancient, and engaged with another edifice that was afterwards adjoined to it, standing just on the top of that eminence, which was once occupied by Alberon's camp-post, and is now in a place within Mons, that makes exactly the middle of the town, at the distance of near five hundred paces from the side of the Trouille, towards the East, and about two thousand and five hundred paces from the Haine-side, towards the South: It is a tower round, having in diameter sixty feet, built of hewn stone, to the height of a hundred and twenty feet, the wall being five feet thick, consisting of six stories, adorned at the bottom with a base, and a gate arched, towards the South, accompanied with its pilasters, with borders at the division of stories, and windows round, towards all points, accompanied with their chanbranles, and at the top with a cornish; above which there is an attick,

See these ladies described below.