him to it By that means he gave a deadly Blow to France so much the rather because she little dreamt of such a Revolution Thereupon after that the most Christian King minds nothing but Revenge The Hatred which he had all along for that Prince could no longer be kept within bounds it must break forth and fling about its fiery Indignation And from that day forward his secret Council met with Orders to seek out some way to destroy this Prince as the only Person able to put a stop to his Great Designs So that since his coming to the Crown we may reckon up near 8 Conspiracies only this last exceeded all the rest The Conspirators in this never go about to conceal themselves They walk barefac'd at Noon-day and rely upon the Death of King William as upon a thing that cannot fail ' em After this I leave the World to judge how far the Fury and Resentment of a Prince will go who has sworn the Death of his Enemy I cannot here forbear to recite the words of Salust when he speaks of the Care that Princes ought to take of the Honour of their Dominions of which they ought to be as jealous as of their own Crowns The Duty of Kings says he consists in preserving the Liberty and Honour of a Kingdom But the most Christian King ne're troubles himself for the Honour of France He Sacrifices it with a good will provided his Designs do but succeed Where is that Liberty I would fain know which his Subjects enjoy'd in the Reigns of his Predecessors Are they not all at present Slaves within the Kingdom Where is the Honour of the Kingdom Is it acquir'd by Oppression Cruelty and Tyranny And when it is acquir'd is it preserv'd by the Assassination of Great Princes for whom they have a mortal Hatred If this be true I must acknowledge the Antients to have been very great Cheats for having made us such a Description of the Honour of a Kingdom so far different from that which Lewis the Grand gives us the present Pattern of This Prince pretends to be the greatest Model of Perfection this day in the World But with submission to him the Course he takes is not the way to attain to the Glory of those Great Hero's of which Pagan Antiquity has left us such Noble Exemplars After these Preliminaries let us come to the Particulars of matter of Fact and consider all the Circumstances that accompany'd this Conspiracy so lately discover'd After that we shall examine the Doctrine of the JESUITES which teaches the Art of Assassinating Kings and which they have taught the Authors of the present Conspiracy God by his Providence and the continual care which he takes for the preservation of his Majesty King WILLIAM has so order'd it that several of the Conspirators have discover'd of themselves the following Conspiracy the particulars whereof are These About the end of the month of August in the Year 1695. the most Christian King being at Versailles in a private Conference with K. James concerning the Events of the preceding Campagne the most Christian King out of a peculiar confidence in him told him That he saw no other way in the world to attain a speedy Peace then by labouring his Restoration to the Throne That all the Care which he had hitherto taken to wage War with his Enemies together with the immense Expences he had been at to support it had as yet produc'd nothing effectual Nevertheless that God had so sufficiently prosper'd his Arms by the Advantages he had won till the Death of Marshal Luxemburgh that he had no reason to complain But that which still troubled him and imprinted in his Mind but ill Presages of the Future was the present Union between the Parliament and the Prince of Orange which was so far from abating that it grew stronger and stronger That the Reputation of that Prince and the Forces which the Parliament had granted him would be fatal to the Peace and the Common Interests unless some sudden Course were taken K. James made Answer to the most Christian King That all that he had said was true that he saw but too well and with a deep Sorrow the Prosperity and growing Grandeur of his Enemy That 't was only his fault for that he himself was ready at that very instant to attempt his Return into England if his Majesty thought it convenient Nevertheless that he was asham'd to have so often abus'd his Kindnesses and that he was afraid his Evil Stars that follow'd him where e're he went would frustrate the justest Enterprize that he should undertake That both He and the Queen his Wife besought Almighty God in their most servent Prayers to bless the Arms of his Majesty their Protector and Restorer in whom next to God they plac'd all their Hopes and Confidence To this the most Christian King reply'd That it had not been his Fault hitherto that their Prayers had not been heard but that it was not yet too late and that it behov'd him to lay hold of the savourable opportunity that God had put into his hands to give their Enemy such a Blow as would prove fatal to him Nevertheless that it became him to trust in God and to arm himself with Resolution for the execution of the Enterprize K. James made Answer That he understood what his Majesty meant so that if no more were requir'd but the forming a new Plot he had Men anow at command provided his Majesty would lay out Money sufficient for the carrying on so great an Enterprize The most Christian King reply'd That all the Forces in the Kingdom were at his Service and that he should desire no other Reward then the honour of having contributed to his Restoration After this first Overture the two Kings agreed upon a day to make choice of the Conspirators which day being the 5th of September 1695. was no sooner come but the Accomplices were call'd one after another to a private Audience given 'em by K. James at St. Germains which at first was only to sound 'em and assure himself of their Fidelity At length K. James having made choice of about seven and forty Persons presented 'em to the most Christian King who assur'd 'em of his Royal Protection and of the Advancement of their Fortunes if the Business succeeded After which they were dismissed till further Order At first there were none but the two Kings and Father La Chaise who were Privy to the Secret For the most Christian King thought it convenient that when the Business was drawn into Form that the Intrigue and Management of it should be left to Father La Chaise To which K. James consented So that the Conspirators had Orders to repair to him two and two at a time for fear of making too much Noise to confer with that Seraphic Priest about the Time Place and Manner of putting the Design in Execution There were some of the Conspirators who offer'd their
his Coronation and of the Publick Entry of the Queen his Royal Consort to give some marks of his Clemency to the Prisoners of the Bastile and to render the Act so much the more August he laid a Design of going in Person To which purpose between three and four a Clock in the Afternoon his Majesty took Coach at the Entrance into the Louvre admitting only the Dukes of Espernon Monthason Roquelaure and three other Lords to go along with him who rode altogether in the Kings Coach the Guards being forbid to follow him That Order and that moment of Time prov'd fatal to the Life of that magnanimous Prince For Ravilliac as he declar'd himself at the place of Execution having a long time before premeditated the Assassination of his Majesty follow'd him to the Street call'd La Rue de la Ferronerie before St. Clements Church-Yard where seeing the King's Coach stopp'd by some Carts and the Monarch leaning toward the Duke of Espernon with whom he was in Discourse the Monster animated by the Devil got up upon the Fore-wheel of the Coach and with his Knife made on purpose gave the King two Stabs into the Breast and bereav'd him of his Life in the midst of his Bravest Generals Both which Blows wore given with that swiftness that they were hardly perceiv'd The first enter'd between his fifth and sixth Rib pierc'd his Heart and reach'd the hollow Vein which being cut that great Prince lost his Speech and his Life both together As for the second it only ras'd the Skin without any more hurt No body saw the Blow Struck so that if the Parricide had but flung away the Knife it could never have been known who was the Author of that detestable Fact Presently the six Lords that were with the King alighted and some sought for the Parricide while others went to help the King but one of 'em seeing he had lost his Speech and that the Blood ran out of his mouth cry'd out The King is Dead Upon which words the People were all in a hurry and such a terrible Despair seiz'd 'em that they threw themselves into the Shops adjoining as if the City had been taken by the Enemy One of the Lords observing the Disorder bethought himself of giving it out That the King was only wounded and that he was fallen into a swoon They call'd for Wine and while they ran to fetch it they pull'd down the Boots of the Coach telling the People That seeing the King was only wounded they would have him carry'd back to the Louvre to be dress't The Queen in her Cabinet receiv'd the doleful Tidings over-whelm'd with sorrow and in a strange Consternation was going to meet the Body of her dear Monarch but being met by the Chancellor he put a stop to her Upon whose approach the Queen all in Tears cry'd out Alas the King is Dead To whom the Chancellor without the least Disorder in his Countenance because the Affairs of the Kingdom then requir'd it Your Majesty must excuse me Kings never die in France And so having persuaded her to return into her Cabinet We must have a care said he least our Tears render our Affairs desperate we must reserve them till another time There are those that weep both for You and Vs 'T is for your Majesty to take care both of Vs and your self We have need of Remedies and not of Tears After such a fatal Stroak which put all France in Mourning it may be said That the Rage of the Jesuites who had the greatest share in the Fact was in some measure assuag'd Tho' when we consider the Benefits which they had receiv'd from that Prince and the Signal Proofs of his Clemency which he had given 'em since their being recall'd into France who would have thought this Monarch should have been a Victim to their Fury In the Year 1625. in the Month of May this Prince had given 'em leave to pull down the Pyramid erected before the Palace in the Place where John Chastel was born who had been a Student in their Colledge and was set up for an Eternal Monument of Infamy to the Jesuites who had set 'em on to attempt the Life of this Prince For on the top of the Pillar were to be seen Plates of Marble whereon were Engrav'd in Letters of Gold the Decree of the Court of Parliament against John Chastel and the Jesuites and over the four Corners were set up four Statues of four Vertues There was reason enough to believe That this Monument would have stood many Ages but the King in hopes that the Remembrance of his Favours would have engag'd the Jesuites to live more Christian like for the future out of a Horror which they ought to have had of so many Attempts against his Life commanded the Lieutenant Civil Miron to cause it to be pull'd down and to Erect a Fountain in the same place which was done The more Curious were pleas'd to say when the four Statues were pull'd down among which was the Statue of Justice That Justice had erected the Pillar but that the King's Clemency had pull'd it down On the other side they who abhorr'd the Jesuites Doctrine that Taught the Assassination of Princes made the four following Verses SIR if you needs will blot from Time to come The Memory of th' Assassin Chastel's Doom By Monument pull'd down that Justice did ordain It is but just to have Your * For Chastel with the force of the Blow struck out one of the King's Teeth Tooth again But notwithstanding this and whatever else was publish'd or written against the Jesuites that Monarch persever'd in giving 'em all the marks imaginable of his Goodness and Clemency which lasted till the end of his Life Three Weeks also before he was Assassinated by Ravaillac he sent for the Brass Plate from the Printer John le Clerc which was made in the Year 1595. to the end there might not remain the least Footstep of their Infamy So many Illustrious Proofs of that Princes Love toward those perfidious People plainly demonstrate to us on the one side the natural Inclination of that Prince to do good and on the other the Infidelity and Treachery of those Authors who teach the Art of Assassinating Kings and who were never satisfy'd till they had embru'd their Parricide Hands in the Blood of their Benefactor We must therefore conclude from all that has been said concerning the cruel Assassination of Hen. IV. complotted by the Jesuites and put in execution by the detestable Ravaillac that so long as there are any Jesuites in the world the Art of Assassinating Kings will be taught in the World and that according to this Principle every good Roman Catholick Prince as well as Protestant will be expos'd to the Fury of these Assassinates So that all Monarchs or Soveraigns in Europe who are not the Jesuites Friends or rather who are not the Executors of their execrable Designs or who contemn their Counsels in
and committed to several Prisons All which Acts of State have been so sufficiently publish'd at large that they need not be repeated here After so many Authentic Testimonies which ought to cover with shame the Authors and Contrivers of so Black and Treacherous a Fact all Europe stands amaz'd The Ministers of the Christian Princes assembl'd in the Congress sit astonish'd All the World searches for the Causes that excited the wicked Inclinations of these two Princes But there will be no great difficulty in the discovery of 'em when we consider that the most Christian King has always been a true Jesuite For proof of which we need but read the History of his Reign The Politicks the Maxims the dangerous Opinions and lastly whatever that Order teaches not forgetting the Art of Assassinating Kings have been manifest quite throughout the whole Course of it As for K. James he left England a true Jesuite He has liv'd in France during his Exile one of the same Order and within these two Months he has thought sit to List himself also in the Order of the Dominicans Had the most Christian King taken upon him to read the Determination of the Faculty of Theology in Paris carry'd to the Parliament upon occasion of the re-settlement of the Jesuits in France I am perswaded we should not have seen him so true a Jesuit as now we do Wee shall repeat the substance of it in the same Terms as it is in the Original In the Year 1554. and upon the First Day of December the Venerable Faculty of Theology in Pars after the Mass of the Holy Ghost solemnly said in the Chappel of the Colledge of Sorbonne and Oath taken having four times assembl'd in the same Place to conclude upon the Two Bulls said to have been decreed by our Holy Lords and Popes Paul and Julius III. in favour of those that would be distinguish'd from Us under the Names of the Society of JESUS which Two Bulls the Court of Parliament sent Us by an Usher to be view'd and examin'd For which Reason after we had seriously examin'd and consider'd all the Particulars We are of Advice That this Society in matter of our Faith is of dangerous Consequence erected to trouble the Peace of the Church to subvert the State and Monastick Religion and in two words introduc'd rather for Desolation and Destruction then for Edification This was the Judgment which the Sorbonne made of the Jesuites Doctrine But without looking back so far as the Year 1554. the most Christian King need no more then consider what pass'd in the Year 1610. when Henry IV. was stabb'd by Ravillac certainly he would then abhor that Doctrine which he now upholds with all his Royal Power in the face of all Christendom It deserves to be recited because it makes for our purpose The same Day that the detestable Ravillac was executed in regard that in all the Answers which he gave the Archbishop of Aix and the Predicant Coeffeteau during his Imprisonment for the Parricide he had committed he made use of the Maxims of Mariana and other Jesuites who have written That 't was lawful to kill Kings and Tyrants the Court of Parliament before they condemn'd those infamous Books to be burnt by the hands of the Common Hung-man would have the Determination of the Faculty of Theology and enjoin'd the Dean of the Faculty to call a Convocation in order to give 'em their Opinion whether it were lawful for any one upon any Account or for any Cause whatever to attempt the sacred Persons of Kings and Sovereign Princes Upon which the Faculty assembl'd in the Colledge of the Sorbonne and made the following Censure The Censure of the Faculty of Theology at Paris assembled in the Colledge of the Sorbonne against Parricides of Kings IN the Year of our Lord 1610. upon the 14th of June the sacred Faculty being assembl'd and having debated the Question to them put by the Court of Parliament and considering withal that the University of Paris has been always the Mother and Nurse of a most excellent and sound Doctrine That the Publick Repose and Welfare proceeds from Order and that this Order depends next to God upon the Safety of Kings and Princes That it only belongs to the Prince or Politick Power to make use of the Sword That some Years since certain strange seditious and impious Opinions have in such a manner perverted the Minds of several People that they have not dreaded to stain King and Princes with the execrable Names of Tyrants and in pursuance of a Pretence so detestable as also under colour of assisting or advancing Piety Religion or the Publick Good to conspire against their sacred Persons and to embrue their Parricide-hands in Blood so dear and of so high a Value and consequently to open a Gap to all sorts of Wickedness Impieties Persidies Disloyalties Frauds Surprizes Treasons Murders mutual Slaughter of the People Ruin sacking and levelling of whole Towns Destruction of Provinces and flourishing Kingdoms and in a word to an infinite number of abominable Crimes occasion'd by Wars as well Foreign as Domestick Lastly knowing that such Pestilential and Diabolical Opinions at this time render those who are separated from the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Church obstinate in their Errours and cause 'em to avoid the Converse of Catholick Monks Doctors and Prelates altho' innocent as if they taught and authoriz'd such pernicious Doctrines For these and such-like Reasons after diligent Examination the said Faculty unanimously and with a fix'd Resolution detest and condemn such strange and seditious Docrines as impious and heretical pernicious to human Society the Publick Peace and Tranquillity and the Catholick Religion In testimony whereof the said Faculty have concluded and resolved to renew their ancient Decree put forth a hundred Years ago by the Advice of a hundred forty and one Divines for the Condemnation of the following execrable Opinion A Tyrant whoever he be may and ought lawfully and meritoriously to be kill'd by his Vassal or Subject whoever he be by any manner of ways chiefly by secret Embuscado's Treasons Flatteries and such-like Artifices notwithstanding any Oath or Allegiance which the Subject may have sworn to the Tyrant nor is it needful that he should wait for or expect the Sentence or Command of any Judge for the prosecution of his Design Mariana Upon which follows the Censure of the Faculty This Proposition taken thus generally and according to the signification of the word Tyrant is an Errour against the Catholick Faith against the Doctrine of good Manners and the Command of God Thou shalt not kill 'T is also against the Doctrine of our Saviour They that take up the Sword shall perish by the Sword Moreover it tends to the utter Subversion and Ruin of all States Kings and Princes in the World It opens a Door to all manner of Impieties Deceits Treasons Violations of Oaths and generally give Subjects a Licence to perpetrate all manner of
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