the Succession to the Crown adding Expressions injurious to the Circumspection and Prudence of that Princess Quod si molesta fuisset nec illa nec filius ejus regnarent Saying withal That it was the last Order which he had from his Superiours Let us now see the end of the Tragedy The Guises who were the next of kin to Queen Mary and whose Interests were united with the Interests of that Princess and consequently ought to have been inform'd of this whole Negotiation knew nothing of it The Jesuites had so well order'd their Affairs to hinder the Guises from giving 'em any Obstruction by reason that their Aim being to deceive Queen Mary and advance in her Place some Prince of the House of Austria as we have said already thought it more to the purpose to find out new work for the Guises in France that they might not have leisure to mind the Destiny of their Kinswoman In the mean time that great Conspiracy which was lay'd so privately and carry'd on so secretly by the Devices and Artifices of the Jesuites was discover'd at length to Queen Elizabeth by some of the Lords her Friends who had feign'd to be of the Conspiracy Thereupon Queen Mary was accus'd of Conspiring against the Life of the Reigning Queen and Executed and with her fell some of the Lords that had a share in the Plot. And the Jesuite that had drawn 'em into all that Mischief fled out of the Kingdom with all the Precipitation imaginable leaving all those of his Party in a world of Trouble and Confusion Hen. III. of France who was the only Person in whose Power it was to save this unfortunate Princess sent M. de Bellievre indeed to Queen Elizabeth with Orders to be very importunate for the Life of Queen Mary which he was to outward Appearance while underhand for Reasons of State and in pursuance of the King 's private Orders he persuaded the Queen to cut off her Head as the Common Enemy of their Persons and Kingdoms the Crime being sufficiently prov'd The Dissimulation of Hen. III. in this Affair was grounded upon important Reasons which concern'd his Person and the Tranquility of his Kingdom For that Mary being the next Heir to the Crown England should she have hapned to succeed Queen Elizabeth the Guises who were irreconcilable Enemies to Hen. III. and Counsellors of Queen Mary their Kinswoman would have favour'd that Princesses Party against him if they did not make use of all the Power of England to engage him in a fatal War for the Guises were already too powerful in France So that good Policy-requir'd that Prince to take all the Precautions imaginable for keeping fair with Queen Elizabeth and preserving her Alliance However it were the Jesuites were still the first Instruments of the death of that Princess while they sacrific'd her Life in hopes of raising a Foreign Prince to the Throne But what is there which they have not now done to raise K. James to the Throne Did they not find a way to sacrince King Charles his Brother and to cut him off by Poyson What is there which they leave unacted against King WILLIAM How many Attempts how many Conspiracies and reiterated Plots against the Sacred Person of this Illustrious Prince And all to raise to the Crown of England a Furious Bigot full of Transport and in a word a sanguinary Priest more Jesuite then King The most Christian King is very ill advis'd to seek the having a share in an Action so treacherous and so odious as that of complotting with the Jesuites and K. James the Death of a Prince who now Reigns with so much Glory the meanest of whose Actions will deface or at least ecclipse whatever was perform'd of most remarkable famous under the Reign of Lewis the Great Witness the Parallel that might be made between their Lives and their Actions between which without question there would be a vast Difference were they to be display'd to the World without Passion or Prejudice But let us pursue these Assassinators of Kings to the end we may shew to what excess of Rage and Fury the Diabolical Art and Infernal Doctrine which they have taught in the world is able to Transport ' em In the Year 1605. which had like to have prov'd fatal to all England by the Destruction of the Prince and all the Nobility of the Kingdom at the same time A Blow so much the more deadly and terrible because it was not lookt for nor so much as dreamt of in the midst of that Peace which England then enjoy'd Nevertheless the Misfortunes threaten'd by that detestable Conspiracy vanish'd by the Discovery of it so that it was not attended with any Catastrophe unless it were what turn'd to the Confusion of the Actors who were to have play'd that Bloody Tragedy I shall not insist upon the Circumstances of this Infernal Plot as being so well known to all the People of England It may be only said That this was one of the Jesuites Master-pieces to have blown up not only the Soveraign Monarch himself for a single Blow would not then serve their Turn but all the Royal Family and all the Nobility of the Kingdom The Quintessence of Jesuitical Machination which struck with Horror not only the English Monarchy but fill'd with Consternation and Detestation of the Fact all the Foreign Courts of Europe Insomuch that the Jesuite Baldwin being accus'd by his Accomplices to have been one of the Principal Contrivers of that dreadful Conspiracy and afterwards apprehended at Frankendale in Germany was from thence carry'd to Heydelberg and thence by Order of the Elector Palatin sent with his Hands and Feet bound into England The King was also so sensible of his Escape that he made a Speech to the Parliament upon the importance of the Discovery wherein he set forth the great Danger from which God had preserv'd his Sacred Person the Queen his Wife his Children and lastly all the Nobility of the Kingdom whose Blood was to have been all intermingl'd and blended together in a moment What then remains my Lords and Gentlemen said he but that we imitate the great Captain Scipio who finding himself accus'd by the Tribunes of the People for having laid out the Publick Treasure in a War against the Carthaginians This is a Matter of nothing said he content your selves that I have won the Victory and let us all ascend the Capitol to return Thanks to the Gods for it Let us do the same my Lords and Gentlemen Let us not give way to a Pagan but let us return Thanks to God whose mercy shines over all his Works In like manner does King William exhort all his good and faithful Subjects who are interested in the Preservation of his Sacred Person to return Thanks to Heaven for having deliver'd him from so imminent a Danger But what wonders of Providence do we not behold in the Discovery of a Design so deeply laid for for the Destruction
Majesties to go into Flanders and do the Business at the time that King WILLIAM quitted the Army But the most Christan King did not think that the best way because added he he had not been well satisfyed with Grandvall's Conduct whose Enterprize had miscarry'd for want of Management notwithstanding that the deceased Marquiss of Louvois had taken care to manage it with all the Circumspection imaginable K. James was of the same Opinion and that the Business might be done with less danger and more ease in England because the Prince of Orange had very slender Guards there about his Person especially when he went a Hunting whereas in Flanders he was always surrounded with his Army After several Conferences it was resolved That some of the Conspirators should cross the Sea before-hand in order to confer with several other JACOBITES from whom K. James had had particular Letters assuring him of their inviolable Devotion and Readiness to sacrifice their Blood for his Restoration All these measures being taken at the Court of France as may be collected from the Mouths of the Conspirators themselves in their Examinations they fell to work To which purpose the greatest part of the Conspirators that were in France dropt one after another into England in several Privateers who set 'em ashore upon the Coasts of England and repair'd to London Where they lay Skulking Incognito to strengthen their Party against the time of Execution which was to be accomplished about the end of February in this manner The 25th of February 169â— which was a Saturday the Conspirators to the number of Sixty had resolv'd to post themselves in such a Place through which the King was to pass in going to Richmond to divertize himself according to Custom and to attacque him either in his Coach or as he was a Hunting and after they had put the Guards to the Sword Ten or Twelve were to have made themselves Masters of the Kings Coach and to have dispatcht him either with a Dagger or a Blunderbuss as they saw occasion But failing that Day the Conspirators put off the Execution of their detestable Design till Saturday following That Day the King's Coach stood ready the Guards sate mounted and the Provision Wagons were gone before Which being discern'd by two of the Conspirators Spies who made no doubt but that his Majesty would follow his Guards they hasten'd with all speed to the Rendezvous to give the Traytors information But his Majesty thought fit to stay that Day at Kensington and to the end he might have some better Light into the Conspiracy he sent away some Trusty Persons to view the Countenances and Behaviour of such as they should see Loytering upon the Roads and to observe where they had posted themselves By this second Disappointment nothing could be done that day neither So that the Assassines resolved upon the Sunday following to attacque the King in his Passage between the two Gates of Hide-Park and St. James's as he went to White-Hall to Chappel Their Design was first to have kill'd the Coach-Horses and by that means to have stopt the Passage of the Guards that follow'd his Majesty But the King stirr'd not out that day The Night before or the same day the Treason was to have been put in Execution seventeen of the Conspirators were seiz'd and the next day several others were taken among whom were two Dominicans three Troopers of the E. of Oxford's Regiment a Trumpeter one Charnock who had been Vice-President of Magdalen Colledge in Oxford in King James's time and for which he turn'd Roman Catholick and several others All which and many more afterwards apprehended were to have embrued their Murtherous Hands in his Majesties Blood The Duke of Berwick Head of the Party had like to have been taken One of his Domestic Servants was seiz'd who had Orders if the Design succeeded to have kindl'd Fires upon the Sea-side near Dover which was to have been a Signal to K. James and M. Boufflers who lay expecting the Event of this great Enterprize To which purpose the Havens of Dunkirk Callis and Bolougne were full of Transport Ships which were to have wafted over a great number of Soldiers into Englâ—… to second the JACOBITES that were to have taken Arms. Mr. Schmettau Adjutant being sent away into England by the Duke of Wirtenberg put himself into a Fisher-boat which being attacqued by a Privateer M. Schmettau hid himself under the Netts so that the Privateer finding nothing that was Booty quitted him After which he went to London and inform'd the King of the Motions of the French on Dunkirk-side and his Report was confirm'd by M. Montez Lieutenant Coll. of the Regiment of Belcastle That which is remarkable is this That the Conspirators were engag'd for a certain Sum of Money to have accomplish'd their Design within the space of six Weeks and that before the end of February for fear of breaking the Measures which the most Christian King had taken for the succeeding Campagne whence it came to pass that the Enterprize failing upon Saturday it was put off till the Sunday following And if Providence had not so order'd it that a good part of the Conspirators had not been apprehended it was to be fear'd they would have sought all the ways in iâ—…inable to have accomplish'd their deâ—…able Treason We can never too highly applaud the Care which the Earl of Porland and the rest of the Lords about the King's Person took to prevent so terrible a Blow that would have prov'd no less fatal to all Christendom then to all his Majesties good Subjects Upon the 24th of February 1696. the King made a Speech to both Houses of Parliament wherein he gave 'em an Account of the Assassination intended upon his Royal Person and of the Enemies Preparations for a sudden Invasion of the Kingdom Upon this the House of Commons immediately drew up an Association wherein they protested testify'd and declared sincerely and solemnly that his Majesty King WILLIAM now Reigning is the true and lawful King of the Realms of Great Britain and Ireland and mutually promise engage to succour and Assist each other to the utmost of their Power to support and defend his Majesties Sacred Person and Government against K. James and all his Adherents And in case his Majesty should come to a violent and hasty Death which God avert they voluntarily and unanimously oblige themselves to unite and associate and to assist each other to revenge his Death upon his Enemies c. This was followed by an Address of both Houses wherein they congratulate his happy Preservation and gratefully acknowledge the particular Care of Divine Providence and at the same time declare their detestation and abhorrency of so Infamous and Barbarous a Design and humbly beseech his Majesty to take a more particular Care of his Sacred Person Upon which His Majesty issu'd out several Proclamations for apprehending a great number of the Conspirators of whom a great part were seiz'd
Catholick Princes to accept of the Proposals that were made 'em The Ministers of France openly told 'em There was no such need for 'em to be so hasty for that the most Christian King their Master had a Design in hand which would change the Face of Affairs and force the Confederates to accept of the Offers that had been so frequently made 'em and which they had rejected with so much scorn This Vaunting was a Riddle not to be expounded by his Holiness Nouncio's till Time that notable Oedipus unsolded the Enigma to the eternal Shame of the Heads of the Enterprize and of those that were to have been their Instruments We may also add by the way to the shame of the French Ministers who thus discours'd the Popes Nuncio's who are no better then their Master while they are the Eccho's of an Action that will load 'em with eternal Infamy They boast to be the Ministers of their Princes Fury at the Expence of their Honour and their Consciences which they ought to prize above all things in the World They ought to call to mind the insinite Injury they do their Nation and the foul Stains of Infamy with which they sully it and which will not be wash'd off in several Reigns after This. If we consider farther what passed at the Taking of Namure at what time the Person of Marshal Boufflers was seiz'd all the World knows the Marshal made loud Complaints and haughtily exclaim'd against the Injury done him adding That his Master would Revenge the Injustice that had been offer'd him upon the Person of the PRINCE who had so caus'd him to be stopt M. Boufflers had been made Privy to the Conspiracy and therefore 't was no wonder those Words of Passion dropt from him Wherefore the most Christian King judg'd him so necessary for this great Expedition that he vouchsaf'd to honour him forthwith with a Brevet for a Duke and Peer of France and consented to all things that the Confederates demanded to obtain his speedy Liberty Till now we flatter'd our selves that France would no longer have recourse to all those Treacheries of which She made so good a use while M. Luxemburg commanded her Arms. But M. Boufflers seems to be sprung up from the Ashes of that Famous Captain tho' according to all Appearances the Disciple will not prove much better then his Master However M. Boufflers with his good leave does a great Injury to his Reputation and 't is a bad Disappointment to have had a share in the intended Assassination of a Prince that heap'd so many Favours and Civilities upon him during his Detention There is no need of going to seek him out in England King WILLIAM does not hide himself as all the World knows He is none of those timerous Princes that shun Danger He appears every Campagne in Flanders at the Head of his Armies And if the most Christian King or his Generals desire an end of the War and to obtain that Peace which they so much thirst after He is always ready to answer their Expectations with his Sword in his Hand They might also out of a Principle of Honour make him that fair Challenge which the Prince Elector formerly sent to M. Turenne that is to say by the Proposal of a single Combat in order to determine the Differences that have inflam'd this War by the point of the Sword provided the King of France himself would be one of the Champions in Person But that is not the thing which the King of France seeks after He has been accustom'd to vanquish without Danger and indeed 't is the way to live long In a word Were King WILLIAM less Brave and less Magnanimous then he is the most Christian King and K. James would never make those attempts upon his Person which they do The most Christian King since the Pyrenean Peace has been accustom'd to make his Progresses with a kind of Rapidness because he was assur'd of the Crown of England through the Care which he took to cultivate the Inclinations of the last Kings as all Europe well knows 'T was under the shelter of those Careless and voluptuouâ— Reigns that he rear'd this Monster oâ— Grandeur which makes him so formidable to his Neighbours so fear'd by his Subjects and so daring in all his Enterprizes to mix Heaven and Earth together But those Reigns are past the Cards are all mix'd and the last Revolution which advanc'd King William to the Throne was the most terrible Blow that ever was given to France because that Prince has been all along his irreconcileable Enemy the only Prince in Europe who has cross'd his ambitious Designs who has always disputed the Ground with him and who like another Joshua has stopp'd the Sun in his rapid Course So that the most Christian King finding that the Puissance of King William as Head of the League would prove an invincible Obstacle to his Enterterprizes thought it convenient according to the Principles of his Tyrannick Politicks to rid himself of this Prince by one means or other For proof of which it has been observ'd that in all the Battels that have hitherto been fought the French Generals have been very careful to â—ick out a good Number of the Guards â—f the King's Houshold to make way â—hrough the Throng in Order to Kill King William M. de Luxemburgh did all that lay â—n his power to satisfie the King his Master in this Particular and M. de Boufflers no less zealous then his Predecessor makes no scruple to put himself at the Head of a Crew of Conspirators to second the Assassination of this Noble Prince At the Battel of the Boyn the Guards who kill'd M. de Scomberg had Orders to find out the King but God preserv'd him and brought him safe out of the Snares which France and K. James had laid for him After so many Proofs of the King of France's extraordinary care to destroy this Prince there is no question to be made but that he was the Primum Mobile of this last Conspiracy There needs no more then this bold Stroke to embellish the History of this Monarch which the best Pens of France have been labouring for so many Years to set out This will be a most gay and flourishing Flower in his Crown a Monument then which he cannot consecrate a more august to Posterity It may be said that by this Inglorious Action the Mighty Monarch leaves a Glorious Example for the Dauphin to imitate if his Renowned Father do not out-live him a or at least for his Children to take a Pattern by who are young enough to study Virtue under so Great a Master After such an Attempt as this the Most Christian King has reason to rest himself from his Illustrious â—abours and dye well satisfied He has Reign'd a Great Monarch a Great Politician always happy and prosperous if he now miss'd his Blow he must look upon it that only Heaven put by the Fatal Stroak which he so fairly
matters of Religion have no more to do then only to make their Wills and prepare betimes for Death As for the most Christian King and K. James they are in no Danger Those two Princes are the Societies Pupils they 'le be sure to die a natural Death Which is the reason that both those Monarchs in acknowledgment are so prodigal of their Favours to the Jesuites The Society proposes to 'em the Destruction of a Heretick Prince by Sword or Poyson Now King WILLIAM is lookt upon by those Traytors as the Restorer of Calvinism the Deliverer of the Oppressed English and the Instrument whom God at this day makes use of to free all Europe from the Fetters of French Slavery This is sufficient to render him Odious to the Jesuites and by consequence to their Protectors Lewis the Great and James the Little Therefore according to the cruel Maxims of these Assassines of Kings there is nothing to be omitted that may hasten the Destruction of this Great Prince And this is the Source and Spring of the Conspiracy so lately discover'd and the Fatal Original of all the Attempts upon his Sacred Person since his coming to the Throne of Great Britain But the Politicians of the Times will say wherefore do the Jesuites attempt the Persons of Roman Catholick Princes Princes who were the sworn and irreconcilable Enemies of the Hugonots as was Hen. III. who consented to the cruel Massaker of St. Bartholomew and who said one day That if he had but one Faggot in the world he would give it with all his Heart to burn the last Heretick and set fire to it himself Or a Hen. IV. who had abjur'd his Religion to become Roman Catholick Such a way of Proceeding ought it not to have secur'd him from all Attempts of the Jesuites What could they have exacted more from him To this I answer That 't was not any Principle of Religion as to the Persons of the Princes which caus'd those detestable Assassines to act as they did for that those Princes were as Zealous Catholicks as they could desire But because those Monarchs more especially Hen. IV. was not enclin'd to do the Protestants all that Mischief which the Jesuites would have had him have done For Example they would have had him revok'd the Edict of Nants The King had granted 'em that Edict of Pacification to asswage the Troubles that had turmoyl'd France for so long time Which was the Rise of that implacable Hatred which the Jesuites had for his Person which was never satisfy'd till they had laid him in his Tomb by committing the most cruel and enormous of Crimes Thus you see now far the Fury of Religion will carry Men when they are guided by no other Principles but those of Ambition and false Zeal That unbridl'd Zeal is only a mistaken Assurance that they do God good Service in destroying Princes when they are not devoted to their Party and to their Interests From the Murther of Henry the Great we shall descend to the Unfortunate Mary Stuart Queen of Scotland who was also the Jesuites Victim tho' after a different manner We have told yee That the Roman Catholick Religion is not capable to preserve the Sacred Persons of Princes or Princesses from the Hands of Conspirators Queen Mary was as Zealous for the Roman Catholick Religion as ever any Princess in the World And it may be said in a word That She was as good a Roman Catholick as Queen Elizabeth was a good Protestant only that the Zeal of the former extended it self even to Fury Nevertheless the Jesuites having sworn her Destruction they were never satisfy'd till they had plung'd her in those Misfortunes which cost her both her Life and her Crown at the same time She had been detain'd a Prisoner about 18 or 19 Years in hopes that by the Death of Queen Elizabeth she might one day obtain her Liberty and step into the Throne In these flattering Hopes she spent her Days and gave her self up wholly to Religion and Piety as the only Consolation she had left to soften the Sorrows and Vexations of her Imprisonment But the Jesuites who never sleep when there is any extraordinary Game to be play'd but sacrifice to their Tyrannical Politicks the dearest Persons in the World to bring about their Ends in the Year 1582 sent into England one Father Henry Saumier a Jesuite under the Character of their Deputy with private Instructions for the Parts he was to Act. To this purpose he took upon him the Habit of an Officer Nor did he leave any Stone unturn'd to raise Combustions and Troubles in England However he did not think it convenient to discover himself at first to any but the Roman Catholick Lords and in regard Queen Mary was not then so close guarded but that the greatest part of the Catholick Lords might have access to her Person the Jesuite Saumier had an opportunity to introduce himself into her Presence and then declar'd it to her as a Secret That he was sent to her from the General of their Order to let her understand that all the Catholick Princes had extrcamly concern'd themselves in the procuring her Liberty as well for the Re-establishment of the Catholick Religion in the Three Kingdoms and for her Advancement to the Throne in the room of Queen Elizabeth As for what remain'd he besought her to redouble her Zeal and Piety for Religion and that she would endeavour to dispose and prepare for so great a Design all such good and faithful Subjects as were able to contribute toward it to the end that in so doing she might be set at Liberty from the Slavery of her Rival and second the fervent Prayers which the whole Order made to God for the Accomplishment of an Enterprize so pious and so holy But in regard these Perfidious People never tread a step without Treason in their Bosoms while the Jesuite Saumier fed that Unfortunate Princess with these gaudy Hopes he complotted with the Catholick Lords the Advancement of some Catholick Prince of the House of Austria to the Throne of England under pretence that he being more Potent then Queen Mary would be able to favour and support their Designs by force of Arms which was so requisite for the carrying on their great Entorprizes Whereas the Weakness of Queen Mary would be the Disappointment of all at the Beginning That Princess over credulous gave Credit to all the Fair Promises of the Flattering Jesuite without having the least suspition that she had then to do with a Knave that was going to make her a Publick Sacrifice 'T is true that when Saumier imparted to her the first Discoveries of his Design she shew'd at first some Reluctancy to engage in so nice and ticklish an Affair that would be her infallible Ruine should she happen to be betray'd Upon which the Jesuite told her That if she refus'd to give her consent that he knew several ways to deprive both her and her Son of