As a follow-up to the previous post, here's another brilliant primary source letter to shed more light on the events of 1689 and of how the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I wished "Divine protection and prosperous success" upon the new King William III and Queen Mary II.
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Copia Litterarum Caesarearum ad Regem Magnae Brittanniae Guilielmum III.
The Emperor‘s letter to William III, King of Great Britain.
Licensed July 16, 1689
Leopold &c.
The notice which Your Serenity has been pleased by your letter written at the beginning of the month of March last past to give us of the accession of Your Self and Your most Serene Consort to the Royal Throne of Great Britain, is a fresh and plain testimony of the uninterrupted friendship and kindness you have always had for us and our august family: Which friendship, together with the person of Your Serenity and your signal services for the universal good, we having always highly esteemed; we do with so much the greater joy consider within our self and congratulate to your serenity these illustrious additions of Glory which the Divine Providence has bestowed upon you; by how much we are persuaded that from this increase of your power the common cause will receive a greater support and assistance.
Therefore sincerely wishing that this high honour of Your Serenity may be as well for your own glory as for the advantage of your several realms and provinces, and also for the procuring and establishing the tranquility of Christendom; we give you for this message all condign thanks and desire Your Serenity to have this opinion of us, that we design nothing more heartily than by repeated services to manifest our constancy in observing the ancient friendship and amity between us and Your Serenity: and not only exactly to keep and observe those alliances and mutual ties which have long being between Our Self the sacred Roman Empire and the Noble Realm of Great Britain; but we will on our parts most readily and diligently contribute to whatsoever shall be for the common good of the Empire and of Your respective realms.
And this we do the more religiously promise to make good because we are persuaded Your Serenity will treat those of your subjects of our Catholic Religion who are peaceable, faithful and obedient with the same moderation and benignity, which heretofore you used always in the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and whereof lately you assured us by your letters upon your arrival in England, and which then we so earnestly recommended to you.
With these hopes we heartily recommend Your Serenity to the Divine Protection for all prosperous success in your affairs.
Given at Vienna, June 16, 1689.
Printed for Robert Clavel at The Peacock at the West End of St. Pauls. 1689.
(edition shown above is online here)
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• The extract coloured in dark orange above chimes perfectly with the thinking of William's grandfather, William I Prince of Orange in 1572, as cited in this recent post.
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