You
know, that the army which hovers over a country, and draws the forces
which defend it to one part, may destroy it without invading it, by
exposing it to the invasion of another; and that he who withholds an
army from action, is not less useful to his ally than he that defeats
it.
This, my lords, is the present use of our troops in Flanders; the
French are kept in continual terrour, and are obliged to detach to
that frontier those troops which, had they not been thus diverted,
would have been employed in the empire; and, surely, an army is not
unactive which withholds a double number from prosecuting their
design.
That our motions have not encouraged other powers to fulfil their
engagements, or to unite in the defence of the general liberty of
Europe, cannot truly be asserted. The Dutch apparently waken from
their slumber; whether it was real or affected, they at least discover
less fear of the French, and have already given such proofs of their
inclination to join with us, as may encourage us to expect, that they
will, in a short time, form with us another confederacy, and employ
their utmost efforts in the common cause.
What they have already offered will at least enable us to assist the
queen of Hungary with greater numbers, and her to employ her troops
where she is most pressed; for they have engaged to garrison the towns
of Flanders, which, since they cannot be evacuated, is in effect an
offer of auxiliary troops; since, if those forces had been added to
the Austrian army, an equal number of Austrians must have been
subducted to garrison the frontier.
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