have but very little reason to admire the great Wisdom or superfine Politicks of those great Men the Cardinals de Richelien and Mazarin Louvois Colbert and others who did not perceive those palpable and gross abuses or which is worse had no inclination to Reform them If any Man say that the respect they had for Religion did hinder them that 's a mighty reflection upon their understanding for how could they ascribe to the Christian Religion and its great Author such follies and extravagancies which are not attended with the least Profit and are so much against common sense so scandalous and contrary to equity and charity and tending visibly to the ruine of States and Nations Besides 't is well known that those Persons cared but little for Religion and that they did not regulate themselves by a superstitious Bigottery nor was it the difficulty of Reforming such extraordinary abuses that did deterr them from it for the thing was easie to be done especially under a Prince of so much Authority as Lewis the XIV and all the Nation would have been glad of it because it would have eased them considerably therefore it 's plain it was for no other reason but that they wanted a due elevation of mind and zeal for the Publick good Nothing was dear to them but their own Interest and how they might satisfie their Ambition and Covetousness and attain their desire to enrich and raise their Families This is some part of the Political Mischiefs that the Romish Religion is the cause of and every Body may learn from hence that all the Popish States who are not inclined to shake off the Pope's Yoke think it their Interest to endea your to reduce those who shook it off under the same again to deprive them of those great advantages they enjoy above themselves and therefore Protestant States ought to be at all times upon their Guard as well to preserve their Religion as their Civil Government I make bold to say that I could demonstrate here if it were convenient that the pretended Religion of the Church of Rome hath caused a prejudice to the Kingdom of France of above 200 Millions of Livers one year with another for a long time Certainly any man will be convinced that the Doctrines of the Pope's Supremacy and Transubstantiation and some other of the same sort make but a small compensation to France for the great Losses she endures by them and that if so be there had been any true solidity of Judgment or any spark of Generosity in those great Politicians before named they would have avoided such a ruine by contenting themselves to acknowledge the Authority of Christ and his Word without charging themselves with such ruinous and monstrous Opinions One would think that Men who have so little regard to reasons drawn from the Holy Scriptures against Popery ought to be so much the more affected with those which Temporal Interest affords So that for the Reasons above mentioned and others that might be named I think the abolishing of Popery in England is worth to this Kingdom at least 8 Millions Sterling Yearly which it spares by it one way or other and proportionably to Scotland but much less to Ireland because Popery Reigns still there too much with most of the disorders which I noted before Here it is fit to observe that I do not reckon amongst the 200 Millions of Livers which France loses every Year one with another by Popery the ordinary Annual Revenues which the Clergy get either from the Real and Personal-Estates or by their Cheats and Tricks for all that they get by those things is not lost to the Kingdom seeing they must live I understand only the damages that are caused by the Principles of Popery and their necessary consequences Nor do I mean that France loses at present so much Yearly as 200 Millions per Annum by Popery at present because of the Kingdoms decay in its Revenues But it may be affirmed with reason that for a very long time till the days wherein we live it lost above 200 Millions or the equivalent every year one with another This must be understood since Silver and Gold became more common in France for 200 hundred years ago all the Revenues of France were not worth 100 Millions It is easie to demonstrate that if Popery were abolished in France which is not to be expected in this Reign and tho' the Government were as at present in respect of Taxes yet the King of France might easily get an hundred Millions of Livers more from the Kingdom than Lewis the XIV does without the Peoples being Taxed any more than at present 19. France is not so conveniently situated for Trade as England which is incompassed almost round by the Sea and has four times as many good Ports as France and no body can deny that this is a great advantage for to make a Nation both populous and rich 20. France has no such Mines as England has of Tin Copper and Lead which do inrich the Land and furnish Subsistence to an incredible number of People as well as the Coal-pits we have of which none almost in France 21. The Copse-Woods do take up great part of the ground in France whereas the English Coal-pits take up very little ground whence there is so much the more Ground for Tillage and Husbandry which serves to maintain a greater quantity of People 22. The Vines of which the Expences are so great and their Revenue so uncertain since they fail commonly more than once in three Years take up also a great deal of Ground in the Kingdom of France whereas the Corn or ordinary Mault wherewith we make our Drink in England fails more seldom and costs much less either for cultivating of it or getting it from other places So that 't is rare that the price of Beer increases 23. 'T is observed also that Corn Lands in France fail oftner than in England which Observation if it be true as I believe it is must proceed either from a greater fruitfulness of the Soil in England or from a more equal temperature of the Air or from this Reason that the English are better provided with good Cattle and Men and all other necessaries for Husbandry or from all those Reasons together Which I think to be very true and is most certain We have shewn already that the Land is more populous and the Cattle is more numerous also and better fed than in France because there is generally more Hay and better pastures in England and by consequence their Cattle as well as Men who are better fed can work better Besides their Cattle make more Dung and better than that of France for the Dung of good and lusty Cattle is better than that of weakly and lean Cattle and Hay-dung is better than Straw-dung 'T is known there is almost no Hay in several Provinces of France So that the Horses wherewith they Plow and Till the Ground
was not able to furnish them with Victuals nor to improve their Money they betook themselves to the French Trade and by degrees became the general Carriers of France which obliged the French to Till their Ground better than they had done before and finding the sweetness of Foreign Money they were by degrees brought also to Cultivate all sorts of Manufactures which the Dutch did carry likewise over all the World till at last the French taking advantage of the Weakness of the Neighbouring Princes they imposed Laws upon their Subjects Before that great Revolution France and her Kings were very poor and the English much too strong for them and had for the most part the advantage of them in all the Wars so that it has been a great mistake in the Politicks of France to declare War against these two Nations who did enrich her so prodigiously and could easily ruine her being United together But the Court of Rome became in these last Times mightily afraid of the French King's Power therefore she thought necessary to give it a Diversion and as that Court does watch for opportunities to make advantage of all things and to bring down even the Popish Princes when they begin to be afraid of them and influencing them all by secret Ways Springs and Wheels especially by their Confessors they have made use of the Jesuits who pay a blindfold Obedience to their General as he does to the Pope to put the French King whom they knew ambitious upon the design of subverting the Protestant Religion in England Holland France c. as the most glorious thing he could ever undertake thinking that either he should succeed in it and bring all those People under the Pope's Yoke or else that he should break his Neck in that design and ruine his Kingdom whose Power was terrible to the Court of Rome because of the King 's prodigious Authority as also because he had threatned the Popes several times And the truth is that all the honest Men of the Roman Religion in France had for a long time great hopes that he should have shaken off that Yoke The Power and Riches of England do not depend upon such Casualties as those mentioned before I mean such a Revolution as fell out in Holland and the Weakness of Neighbouring Princes or the like for the Power of England is settled on a solid and constant Basis that is the advantages of her Soil Situation Religion and Government far above all the advantages of France Insomuch that as often as England had any good King or Queen it did always make France to tremble and England might be a great deal more powerful and rich if some impediments and clogs to its Power and Strength which are meerly contingent and easie to take away were removed but I dare not mention them as yet Those People whom I said did Treasure up Money in France did it for several reasons First To pay the great Publick and Private Taxes that they are liable to now and then which failing they are in danger to be ruined or to lose all their Credit Secondly To buy some Offices if they had none or more considerable ones if they had any Thirdly To be admitted Farmers of the Impositions where ready Money was absolutely necessary and the Profits unspeakable Fourthly To buy the Estates of Noblemen c. at an easie rate for the Nobility have ever been at a low Ebb under this Reign liable to a thousand Vexations and forced to sell their Estates cheap to pay their Debts and get Money to live Fifthly Because of the Ruine of the Nobility and Gentry saving Men did keep their Money up in their Coffers because they could find no good security to lend it upon for those reasons I say there was much Money hoarded up in France Sixthly A great many desired to purchase Nobility for Money Others to be rehabilitated in their Nobility which they had forfeited by Merchandizing or otherwise And others saved Money to buy some Governments or Offices in the Militia c. which Lewis the XIV has found means to bring out by his violent and extraordinary Impositions and Extortions since the beginning of this last War If the French King should conquer England as I said before which God forbid he would work Miracles here and cause Money to be found where there is none and all the whole form of the Nation would be suddenly and absolutely altered He would convert the Luxury Licentiousness and all the several sorts of Debauchery in the Nation into Money by Taxing the guilty Persons He would suffer little or no Importation of Goods from any other place but France And by that means the Nation would be able to pay him greater Impositions and Taxes All the fine Cattle with which England doth so much abound would be transported and sold for Money as also their Plate Jewels Houshold-goods Ships c. The Nation would not be suffered to spend so much in Cloathing in Silks fine Linnen Delicacies and Wines of all sorts All their fine Woollen-cloath Stuffs Leather c. would be applied to his own use and converted into Money And it may be he would appropriate to himself the Mineral Grounds as belonging to the Soveraign as the Gold and Silver Mines are commonly judged to be The Common-people should not be suffered to feed any more upon good Meat but upon Roots and Whey and the Blood and Livers of Oxen Brown-bread and Water instead of Beer and Ale Wooden-shoes instead of Leather course Canvas instead of fine Linnen The Money would be only imployed in maintaining great Armies and multitudes of Priests and Monks And in a word he would pursue the same methods of Government that he does in France But some may object again that since the beginning of this War we hear nothing but a parcel of idle Stories about the ill State of Affairs in France and we see notwithstanding the French King holds out still and is as powerful as ever This is just like the Opinion that People do commonly entertain of a Man that lives high and eats up his Stock That Man for example may have two thousand Pounds Sterling per Annum and spends five thousand every Year The understanding Men who know his Estate say that he ruines himself Other People who hear them say so and yet see him continuing to live at the same rate for ten or twelve Years together will say this Man holds out still and we see that he is a Man of good sense who manages his Expences well and therefore they conclude he is richer than he is commonly reported So that they cannot be undeceived in the matter till they see him in the Goal The Extravagant Notions which most People have of the French King's Power are such that if so be things did anser their fancy that Kingdom ought to be ten or twelve times bigger than England have ten or twelve times as much People be ten or twelve times
obnoxious to the Rudeness of Soldiers have been abandoned because of the Marches Counter-marches and Quarterings of the Troops as I said already 'T is easie to conceive those places are much depopulated and that a Curate can't fare well there it may be two or three Parishes will be turned to one I confess it will be a great trouble to People to go so far to Church But what other Remedy is there if they cannot maintain one in every Parish as they did hitherto As for Parishes that have several Priests they must needs turn them all out except one for few of them will be able to keep more 39. The Military Art and Discipline will visibly degenerate in France and Men grow less couragious and even cowardly as Men usually do in depopulated poor and slavish Countries unless the King applies as I have said already the Revenues of the Monks and Nuns for the constant maintenance of multitudes of brave Officers for his Emergencies not to make Conquests any more God forbid but only for the Defence of his Kingdom and of his Allies 40. Painting Sculpture Engraving Architecture and many other Trades less necessary and which serve only for Curiosity Ornament or Luxury will fall entirely The useful ones are already very much decayed but they will decay yet more 41. The scarcity of People will occasion all Servants to be dear every where in the Kingdom so that I believe they will be constrained to give leave to buy Negroes as is practised in Spain and Portugal and as all Christian Nations do in America and that the Law prohibiting to keep Slaves in France will be altered We may observe by the way what a great Change hath happened in the French Government since the Establishment of that Law for then they were good natur'd to all Mankind nay even to Heathens and the most barbarous and remote People whereas at this day they deal with the Natives their Fellow-Citizens and Christians worse than others do with Slaves any where nay even worse than with brute Beasts whose Owners take care to maintain them well for the service they do whereas the Rulers in France do not allow the People who work more than Slaves or Beasts to fill their Bellies with Bread and sacrifice them besides every day by thousands to their Princes Ambition and Vanity 42. There will be no more Sumptuousness in Buildings Furniture of Houses Tables nor Equipages in France tho' Luxury indeed will always be extravagant yet it must be less than it was formerly because of their great Poverty 43. Universities Academies Colledges and Chools will decrase strangely in number So that I do not believe France will stand in need for the future of more Universities than there are in Spain viz. three instead of almost twenty that are there at present besides the Academies and Colledges c. The Profits of Doctors or Masters are already fallen more than 9 parts in 10 for want of Students and Money 44. The number of Comedians Rope-dancers Musicians Fidlers Dancing-masters Fencing-masters and such like will decrease yearly more and more tho' there be not at present the 10th part of what there was 30 years ago 45. Parents able to bestow Money upon their Children will desire them to settle in Sea-ports or in the best and least ruined Cities which we named before 46. In that general Desolation few Refugees will think of returning to France except those who are here in Extream Want and who did possess Lands and Houses in France in case the free Exercise of their Religion be restored On the contrary 't is like that many new Converts will leave France what precaution soever be taken to hinder their escape if so be as I said before they are not restored to their Ancient Liberty of Conscience But I question very much whether they shall be re-established therein during Lewis the XIV Reign unless it be by the potent interposition of King William and of the other Protestant Allies tho' it be the Kingdoms Interest to do it speedily for it seems that notwithstanding the lamentable condition to which he hath reduced that flourishing Kingdom he comforts himself with the thoughts of the mischief he hath done to the Protestant Party in it and even glories in having as he thinks quite destroyed the Reformed Religion there and I incline to think that he will look upon what he has done as the only Ressource of Glory left him and I do not doubt in the least but that his Counsel of Conscience Father la Chaise and Madame Maintonon do bless themselves in it and fortifie the King in such imaginations and that the Court of Rome will keep him by their secret but powerful influences in that frame of mind giving him hopes perhaps of a degree of Glory above St. Lewis and next to St. Dominic and Ignatius Loyola in their Heaven But I am confident that they will contrive and endeavour to find out some Medium to catch the Refugies in their Net I mean both as to Soul and Body for as 't is against the Clergy's Interest or rather Passion and even against the false Glory of that King that the French Protestants should be restored to the Condition they were in before the Violation of the Edicts and that their Religion should be authorized so 't is also against the Kingdoms Interest that it should lose for ever so many useful Subjects So that I make no doubt but they will make use of all Tricks and Subtilties imaginable to draw them in by a kind of Toleration which would do their business if the Refugees were Fools for by that means a great many would come to them with what Estates they have carried away and the new Converts would have no mind to leave the Kingdom and yet their Religion should be destroyed for ever and they will also according to the usual method of Rome bribe ambitious and wordly Preachers amongst them to divide them in their Opinions as 't is like they actually do in order to bring them to Popery again by the Back-door according to the Maxim Divide Impera And I am of opinion also that in order to hinder the restoration of true Christianity in that Kingdom the Jesuits will put the French King upon the Design of Destroying Geneva and the Protestant Switzers and make him believe that it will be a compensation for the Destruction of his Kingdom and that it is the most glorious thing he can do and for that reason they will it may be spare the Vaudois for some time to disguise their Design 47. Several Lackeys Servants and such sort of Men having got some Imploys and Preferments in this War will be apt to insult and despise their Ancient Lords and Masters who are reduced to Poverty and totally ruined and a great deal of insolence will be seen every where 48. Several Widows of Quality and Young Ladys whose number is three times greater than that of Men of their own rank