REMARKS UPON THE Present Confederary AND Late Revolution IN ENGLAND c. LONDON Printed in the Year MDCXCIII REMARKS UPON THE Present Confederacy c. THE most formidable Enterprise no doubt that ever was levell'd against the growing Grandeur of France during the long and successful Reign of Lewis le Grande was this late Confederacy form'd by the most powerful Princes in all Europe An Undertaking of so dangerous consequence to that Prince that if their Carier had not been stopt by a surprising Providence and diverted by the wonderful Vigilance and Activity of that truly greatest Prince in all these parts of the World that Monarchy by this time had laid expiring As the Confederates had resolutely and with prodigious Prospects of Advantage to themselves agreed upon this Design so to facilitate it had sagaciously enough foreseen what Remoraes might lie in their way and as resolutely determin'd to remove them right or wrong England which had for some years past skreen'd them from those violent and otherwise irresistible shocks they were exposed to from France was most feared at this time would stand in their way and to speak the Truth from the Experience we have had of the French Power and Policy during this War the least Assistance from her or a meer Neutrality had left them to the Mercy and entire Disposal of their Enemy This I say was politickly enough foreseen and by most wicked and unjust means for some time at least prevented though by comparing the Successes on both sides hitherto cannot in all humane probability be long protracted But more of this afterwards To accomplish this Grand Design of theirs King James must be deposed to make way for the Ambition and Pride of another the most likely to carry on the War against France if we either consider that heighth of Malice which he had long ago conceived against that Monarch chiefly from his being so frequently baffled in Holland and Flanders by the Bravery of his Generals there or that Natural Malignity in his very Constitution derived from his Ancestors who had never been famous for their Loyalty to their own Princes or Affection for Crowned Heads This they concluded feasible enough not being ignorant of the ambitious Designs the Prince of Orange had been carrying on for several years in England of mounting that Throne by having a hand in all the Plots against King Charles the Second but especially his Father in-law to exclude him and what not and the Dispositions he had laid in order to that End by his corrupting the greatest Ministers of State under that unfortunate Prince to take advantage from his Religion to which the English are naturally averse to put him upon some Acts which would in all likelihood alienate his Subjects Affections from him and make the P. or O's Access the more easie All this being well known to many of the Confederate Princes they had no more to doe but to sound his Inclination somewhat nearer and proffer him their Assistance for the obtaining of what he so eagerly desired and by all indirect means pursued To this end having engaged themselves and him in the strict bonds of a Confederacy they immediately lent him such Assistance as was requisite to land him in England where all things were ready to his hand and there most wickedly deposed King James II. I confess some are apt to alledge that the Prince of Orange exceeded his Commission and acted directly contrary to the Determination of the Confederacy their sole Aim being onely by this Invasion to draw King James in to their Designs But if we consider those notable Hints in the foreign Papers upon this occasion particularly The General History of Europe published in French at the Hague by the Authority of the States of Holland and West Friesland we may be easily inclined to believe the contrary out of which I shall present the Reader with some remarkable Passages and leave it to him to judge whether what I have laid down for my Principle does not look highly probable Historical Account for the Month of November in the Article of Advice from England 1688. The King's Fleet that is King James's is about forty three Men of War ten Fireships but though commanded by the Earl of Dartmouth who is entirely for the King's Interest 't is thought the Seamen and many of the Officers will not perform that Duty which the King expects from them Reflexions upon the Advice from Holland the same Month. The Expence that has been bestowed upon the Fleet and Army set forth from Holland is a sign they are morally assured of the Success of the Enterprise which I am apt to believe has been a long time ago in Agitation though it was carried on with that Prudence and Secrecy as not to be discovered till it could not be longer concealed Advice from Germany Decemb. 1688. The Confederates are arrived in Franconia where they stay till General Dunewald comes up to join them with the Emperour's Forces to the end they may march together c. Nevertheless when they are joined there is great probability they will do nothing till they hear what the Prince of Orange does in England for he is at present the primum Mobile of all things Reflexions upon the Advice from France Decemb. 1688. 'T is thought that Monsieur Seignalay's Journey to visit the Coasts was particularly occasioned by the turn of Affairs in England c. But now all those Journeys will signifie little for if Heaven continues Prosperity to the Prince of Orange of necessity the most Christian King must quit the Ocean Reflexions upon the Advice from England the same Month. So soon as the Enterprize of the Prince of Orange was discoursed of all Men imagined that he was sure of the greatest part of the Nobility of England Some put the question whether he will dethrone his Father in Law or whether c. he 'll be contented with the Honour of having saved the Protestant Religion and the Liberty of the English Nation For my part I believe an Accommodation will be a difficult thing I make no question but the next Parliament King James will be declared to have forfeited his Crown Reflexions on the Advice from Germany February 1689. I am apt to believe they are not to be called by the name of Politicians who imagine that the Emperour caused the Marquess of Lucignan to be seised that he might have an opportunity to enter into a Negotiation Then again What was befaln the Emperour since unknown to us that should enforce him to alter his Conduct If it had been that the Affairs in England went ill on the P. of O's side that had been a Reason indeed but all the World knows there is no such thing the Prince of Orange has been crowned c. To all which I shall add a remarkable Passage out of the French King's Declaration of War against Spain Amongst other Motives he declares That he is informed what share the Governour
of the Spanish Low Countries had in the Prince of Orange's Enterprize against England but not believing what he did was done by his Master's Command his Majesty was in good hopes to have persuaded his most Catholick Majesty to have joined with him for the Restoration of the lawful King of England c. To which purpose he made several Proposals that were all received whilst the Success of the Prince of Orange continued doubtfull but when 't was known at Madrid that the King of England had left his Kingdom then nothing was thought of but War with France That his Majesty was also farther informed that the Spanish Ambassadour in England visited the Prince of Orange every day and importuned him to declare War against France c. But finding that his most Catholick Majesty was resolved c. Gen. Hist of Europe Vol. 1. Month Apr. 89. As to this last passage I am sensible many prejudiced persons will be ready to object the little Reputation the French King and his Ministers have had for their Veracity these many Years but if we reflect on the vast Charge he is constantly at for Intelligence in all places where he is concerned and how much it imported him to find out the Mystery of the Confederacy it ought in some measure at least to incline us to credit him especially when it 's notoriously known he had intimated to King James some considerable time before he could give credit to it the Design of the Prince of Orange and the States General against him and proffered him such Assistance that if he had complied with it would have effectually prevented this late Revolution in Great Britain and consequently this bloody and desperate War which has been the sad Effect of it And there are some persons now living of unquestionable Integrity and sufficient Interest to know the truth of it who assert that Don Ronquillo the late Spanish Ambassadour plainly told King James that if we would not be induced to join in the Confederacy with the Empire and Spain against France he would run the hazard of losing his Crown so certain it is that the Revolution here was an immediate Effect of the Consultations and Resolutions of the Confederacy though not publickly enough hitherto understood to the great injury of the King and perversion of his Subjects These Passages out of a publick Account of the Affairs of Europe allowed to be published and as we are obliged to suppose approved by the States General for the present till something more material be offered by more capable and intelligent Persons may seem to any reasonable man a sufficient Proof of my Assertion that what the Pr. of Orange has lately transacted there was not managed by him alone against the Intentions of the rest of the Confederacy If so why did not they remonstrate against his Proceedings by their Ambassadours to King James and the Prince of Orange too and as in Honour bound contribute their Assistence when especially requested to it towards his Restoration Nay why did they on the contrary by their respective Ambassadours and Envoys congratulate the Prince and Princess of Orange's Accession to the Throne and by this means virtually declare to all the World that King James was justly deposed and that the Prince and Princess of Orange were become the lawfull and rightfull King and Queen of England So that the more nicely we examine the methods of the Prince of Orange's Proceedings the greater reason we have to conclude this Objection to be a meer Sham and Excuse His charging his Father in law with Male-administration Violating the Fundamental Laws of the Realm with setting up the Roman Catholick Religion imposing a Supposititious Heir upon the Three Kingdoms in order to put by the Succession of his own Children meerly on the account of Religion c. What was all this to the business of France and the Confederates The only thing in the Prince of Orange's Daclaration that makes for the business pretended is the Private League Offensive and Defensive between King James and France which notwithstanding could never be produced and exposed to the view of the World and if it had been so could never be any just pretence for their assisting to invade him unless it had been contrary to former Alliances between him and them none of which appearing it is altogether as frivolous as many other Shams in that Master-piece of Villany the forementioned Declaration Upon these Suppositions then 't is apparent that that which was to give Life unto the Confederacy and bring it into Act was the pulling down King James and setting up the Prince of Orange so that before all this was accomplish'd the Confederacy was but an Embrio and no better than a Conditional Stipulation and upon the unsuccessfulness of the Prince of Orange would have been stisled and vanish'd into nothing There was no War declared before this Gentleman was most Traiterously Proclaimed King but by the Duke of Bavaria Nov. 10. as you may see in the London Gazette The Emperour and Dutch did not till March 89. and in all probability it had not been done afterward on the Confederates side if this Praeludium to all the rest had miscarried To this effect we may remember that the Dutch Ambassadour when charged by King James in the behalf of his Masters the States General with assisting the Prince of Orange with Men Money Arms c. for his Expedition against the express Articles of Peace and Alliance made between King Charles the Second of blessed Memory and the States of the Vnited Netherlands 1667. particularly the 11th Article wherein it was agreed That the said King of Great Britain and the said States General remain Friends Confederates united and allied for the Defence and Preservation of the Rights Liberties and Immunities of either Allie and their Subjects against all who shall endeavor to disturb the Peace of either by Sea or Land And Artie 13. That neither the said King nor the said Common-wealth nor any of the Subjects of either inhabiting or residing within their Jurisdiction shall cherish and assist the Rebels of either party with any Succour Counsel or Favour whatsoever but shall expose and effectually hinder all persons abiding residing or dwelling in either of their Dominions from supplying or furnishing any of those foresaid Rebels by Sea or Land with Arms Succour or Assistance either in Men Ships Arms or Warlike Furniture c. And Article 14. That the King of Great Britain and the said States General shall Mutually Sincerely and Faithfully as there is occasion assist each other against the Rebels of either by Sea or Land with Men Ships c. Article 15. That neither the said King nor the said Commonwealth nor the Subjects of either shall in any of their Jurisdictions Countries c. receive any Rebel or Rebels Fugitive or Fugitives declared or to be declared c. pretended to know nothing of it which is a plain Indication they would have insisted
Inconvenience and to maintain an Army abroad at the same time The only way is to take him at his Word recall our Forces break off the Confederacy and to stand upon our own Legs maintain a good Army here at Home pay them well and augment our Navy But yet this Method has its Difficulties too so hard a thing it is to ensure any the least degree of Mundane Felicity For should we leave the Confederacy in the Lurch which his present Circumstances seem to encline or necessitate him to consent to if the Parliament think fit then the vast Arrears owing to the Allies which they could never expect to get from him would oblige them to unite with France declare the P. of O the common Enemy and England the Seat of War That he is indebted to the Confederates seems highly probable to me by the Elector of Brandenburg's pressing the States and the King of Spain so hard for the Subsidies or Pensions due to him the last Spring representing to them that without them he should not be in a condition to maintain the Forces he had on foot which the Elector of Saxony did likewise the same time and 't is not unlikely that was one pricipal reason of Hanouer's slow Proceedings the last Campaign And if I be not much mistaken in my Conjecture the P. of O. must come in for a Snack in that Affair as well as the States and Spain especially if he be the Primum Mobile of the Confederacy as the Monthly Account and one of the late Slips term him But to return the latter would be insignificant for Reasons formerly mentioned so that our Case looks desperate But if we should break up the Confederacy by consent these Arrears must be paid which no doubt will arise to a large Sum which would be hard for us to part with in these Circumstances and to support the Charge of a War besides But Oh the Descent This must be carried on yet None can desire more than I that a Descent should be made into France and therefore notwithstanding the Disappointment of that Design the last Summer I intend to attempt it the next Year with a much more considerable Force c. What a parcel of Stuff and Contradiction huddled together as if the Noise of the Cannon from Mons and Namur was not out of his Head yet To talk of a Descent so publickly so long before-hand enough to frustrate the best laid Project in the World If it were impracticable the last Year much more the next There are the same Difficulties at least this Year if not ten times greater but nothing will serve our Turns or be worth our Noble Attempts but Impossibilities By the next Year there will be a potent Fleet to obstruct us if not powerful enough to defeat and ruine us more powerful Diversion by Land early notice of this Design all possible means found out to prevent us by Sea and Land and it may be a Descent to anticipate ours and what then Ay but I intend to attempt it with a more considerable Force Is not this a palpable Contradiction to his modest Request he had made before of a Force at least as great by Sea and Land as we had the last Year i. e. If we may be permitted to understand him he desires if it can't be otherwise but the same assistance of Men and Money he had the last Year and he will attempt it and if they enable him with a much more considerable Force he 'll attempt it if notwithstanding all the forementioned greater opposition he 's like to meet with the next Year than the last he intends yet to attempt it though with equal Forces to those he had before Why was it not attempted then when there were far less Will he engage to be wiser next Year than the last or that the French shall be more Fools or that they shall be less able to oppose him with a more powerful Navy and a greater number of Land Forces the next than they had the last Campaign and he be stronger and abler to attack them with the same Forces he had before And suppose he be enabled with a more considerable Force can he assure us that their Diligence in repairing their Losses at Sea and the considerable Augmentation of their Land Forces will not exceed his more numerous Forces and render his good Intention as impracticable as ever This is just such a passionate desire as he had to fight LVXEMBVRGH Hand over Head without the least shadow of Hope to get any Advantage but meerly to keep up the Opinion amongst Fools of his being a Fighting Spark and scorning to pass a whole Campaign with doing nothing so he is resolved to attempt something by Sea though he is sure to get nothing but hard Blows and expose some thousands of his English to be knock'd on the Head or to die like Fools to their immortal Honour And this is all he seems to promise in his Speech to attempt a landing in France which was ever laugh'd at by sensible Men before and ought to be hiss'd at now Well! but here are grand Motives to stir us up to support him with all the speed imaginable We are exposed to the Attempts of France while the French King is in a condition to make them and therefore the great Advantage we have at this very nick of Time of being joined with the most of the Princes and States of Europe against so dangerous an Enemy ought not to be slipt especially our Countrey and Religion lying at stake c. and we have the same Religion to defend c. What Advantage have we now that we had not before Are we but just now entered into the Confederacy or have we or they been asleep or drunk all this while Why an Advantage now Are they stronger now or more politick or resolute than before Or if we have had little or no Advantage in being joined with them all this while what assurance have we of any from henceforward I am sure some wise Statesmen who have transmitted to us the Experience of former Ages do assure us if a Confederacy does not make some notable Impression upon the common Enemy the first or second Campaign they are never like to do it afterwards but grow weaker and weaker till they sink into nothing and as to these Confederates notwithstanding they have served almost an Apprenticeship under one of the wisest Masters of his Craft in the whole World have added so little to their Skill and approved themselves such notorious Dunces that we have no hopes of ever seeing a Masterpiece from them to their grand Disparagement and our infinite Loss And after all this Pother are we exposed to the Attempts of France and is France a dangerons Enemy and the Power of France excessive Who may we thank for all this Was it not the P. of O's being joined with most of the Princes and States of Europe that brought us into
Forces by Sea and Land put in mind of our being exposed to their Attempts the danger of our Countrey Liberties and Properties and to animate us to open our Purses the wider and bleed the more freely he assures us in the Word of a True Protestant Dutchman he has the same Religion to defend What pitiful Nonsense is all this It has been pretended all along this War that the French King in his Negotiations with the Pope and the Italian Princes and States to encline them to use their Interest to procure a Peace among the Catholick Princes or to take part with him has made it his Business to perswade them that the War carried on against him so far as the Protestant Princes or States were concerned was on the score of Religion which has been denied by the said Protestant Princes and most of their Writers on this occasion and particularly by the Author of the General History of Europe published by the Authority of the States General in the P. of O's Declaration published by Schomberg in Dauphine and in the Articles of Limerick we find the P. of O. to the regret of many of our Protestant Rebels has granted greater Liberty and Priviledges to the Roman Catholicks in Ireland than ever they enjoyed in the Reigns of any of our Protestant Kings But to come nearer he uses ambiguous terms which look very suspitiously We have the same Religion to defend What same Religion The new Latitudinarian Religion Presbyterian or the Oliverian Independent or what Even what you please We are Presbyterians in Scotland Episcoparians in England Calvinists in Holland and if some intelligent Persons are not mistaken Roman Catholicks in Flanders and after all every where Atheists There are those in the World who fear not to assert that it was publickly enough reported at Rome by divers of the Cardinals and particularly the Auditor of the Rota some time before the Revolution that he was reconcil'd to the Ch. of Rome and some stick not to assert that he made his Protest in the Royal Chapel at Brussels before the High Altar at his Admission into the Confederacy that he would inviolably perform the Articles of it whereof one is this if we may credit a Copy printed here in England of the Resolution of the Princes Allies and Confederates which has been taken in the Assembly at the Hague c. Art 1. Having resolved to make a Descent into France c. We will make no Peace with Lewis XIV till he has made reparation to the Holy See for whatsoever he has acted against it and till he has annull'd and made void all those infamous Proceedings against the Holy Father Innocent XI If this be really one Article of the Confederacy as there is a grand Suspition if we consider the Lukewarmness of that Pope towards King James as was frequently buz'd amongst us formerly what Figure he made in the Confederacy and his Inveterateness against the French King the Bigotry of the Emperour and the inflexible Temper of the Spaniard as to matters of Religion it 's not to be conceived how they should enter into a Negotiation of this nature with the P. of O. without an assurance of his coming over to their Persuasion and Resolution of promoting the Rom. Catholick Interest in these Kingdoms Neither is it reasonable to suppose they would contribute their Assistance to remove a Prince of their own Principles tho' with a grand Prospect of advancing their civil Interests to the hazard of impairing their Religion to make way for an heretical Prince Besides how can we imagine they would ever communicate such a secret to him if they were not first sure of him or could be sure of him without such an Engagement The sole Refusal or Discovery of it would have infallibly prevented all their Designs brought an indelible Dishonour and Scandal upon their Religion as well as their Persons and provoked K. James and the French King to take the utmost Vengeance upon them and made them justly odious to all the rest of the Christian World of whatever Persuasion What a Blemish would it have fixed upon the Emperor commonly characterized as a Prince of a most devout Temper and actually engaged against the Common Enemy of Christianity to be found in a Design to depose a Catholick Prince and at the same time to cut off all the Hopes of ever propagating the Catholick Religion in three Kingdoms Neither is his usual Partiality towards Popish Bishops Priests and the Roman Catholicks in general one of the slightest Arguments for his Suspicion though it 's usually objected that by his Alliances he was obliged to shew some favour to them Why was it not as well cautioned he should not set the Mob upon their Houses and Chappels and why did not those Princes by their Interest with him prevent the issue of so much Bloud and put a timely stop to those horrid Barbarities and irreparable ruine of vast Numbers of their own Persuasion then as to shew such favour and marks of distinction since No some Severity was absolutely necessary in the beginning to get the Affections of the People and to his surer establishment in the Throne but since he has gained his Point and dipt all Degrees and Orders of Men so deep in Guilt against their Lawful Soveraign that they fancy themselves beyond all hopes of Pardon he rides them at his pleasure makes them believe what he lists and readily stops their Mouths and entirely satisfies them with this Excuse There might be some other very considerable Arguments offered on this Head if necessary or prudent all that I shall add is this That for my own part I shall ever believe him to be a Papist as much as any others fancy him either a Presbyterian or of the Communion of the present pretended Church of England till he satisfies the World to the contrary by taking some severe Test and most solemn Oath and if this should prove true as it may notwithstanding his communicating publickly according to the Form of the Church of England as many have done formerly to our knowledg before the Test was advised to make the distinction How finely are we trumpt upon However let him urge this Motive as far as he pleases it 's little to the present purpose as the Business of Religion has been managed since his Vsurpation 't is no great matter what Religion he or we profess we have as good as renounc'd our Christianity already to make and receive him as King and I am sure nothing can be more contrary to it or affrontive of the Great God of Heaven and Earth than our very Prayers and Devotions wherein we beseech him to support and prosper one of the grandest pieces of Villany that ever was acted upon the Face of the Earth to confound all Justice and Probity which is as great an Indignity to an Holy and Just God as Idolatry in the highest degree of it Nay more than that all our Preaching and
the rest of Flanders in a tottering Condition the Palatinate Territories of Liege and the Dutchy of Wertenberg most miserably harassed and impoverished In a word the State of the Confederacy so feeble in all parts that although they had exerted their utmost this last Campaign and given out strange Reports of grand Attacks to be made upon France nay in the sensible part too they have been able to doe just nothing So that instead of carrying on a vigorous War against France and humbling her they have stood merely upon the Defensive which is only to suffer and endure the Evils of War Waging War implying assaulting attacking or offending but nothing of this hitherto unless lately in Dauphine which has been sensibly retaliated in Germany Liege and the Palatinate and without all peradventure in Piedmont unless prevented by a sudden Compliance But what shall we say to poor England What Advantages will she get by engaging her self into the Confederacy and by the late Revolution Why truly I believe it would puzzle Men and Angels too to name one at present but since we are taught to call things by false names I shall mention that presumed and most celebrated one The Happiness of having a Prince of the greatest Reputation in the whole World for Justice Religion Valour Conduct and an indefatigable Studiousness in promoting the Good of his natural-born Subjects This is an Advantage indeed and no doubt worth the purchasing at the dearest Rate These are great Characters I confess and would be extremely charming if as true as easily said If his Invading his Father's Throne was rather owing to the Contrivance of the Confederacy than the Pretences he made in his Declaration then it 's manifest to all Mankind that he acted such a Master-piece of Injustice as can scarce be parallel'd and beyond all Apology To name some he charged his Father and Mother with imposing a supposititious Heir upon the three Kingdoms which himself never made the least doubt or scruple of before he published his Declaration and he had invaded the Kingdom upon whose Birth he congratulated the King and Queen and caused him to be prayed for by name in his own Chapel at the Hague till a little before his Expedition hither and although in the aforesaid Declaration he promised the Nation he would refer the Enquiry into the Birth of the Prince of Wales and all things relating to it and to the Right of Succession yet it 's notoriously known the Parliament never so much as went about it nor himself ever moved it to them neither could the reiterated Petitions and Desires of a great many Persons of Quality ever procure any such Favour from them or him to the great Dissatisfaction of no inconsiderable part of this Kingdom Besides let any one compare his Declaration with the Original Contract with him or Instrument of Government since and I chalenge all the World to produce such an Instance of Injustice and Violation of Promises as this pretended Saint and Mirror of Justice has afforded us And though three preceding Kings have been blackened by a set of Villains and Profligates that are a scandal to all the rest of Mankind as Neroes Julians and Imps of Hell to set off their dull gloomy Hero yet we may with truth defie them to produce such Instances of Arbitrariness and Violation of Property since Henry the VIII as his four Years Tyranny have produced It may be said I own he is a severe Punisher of Thieves and Clippers but then if we do but reflect what a necessity he has reduced some thousands of People unto for want of Trade and the ill Example he has given himself by invading three Crowns and sending the Wealth out of the Nation never to return again and notwithstanding cried up by the Theologo-Politicoes for a Saint a Saviour a Deliverer c. he has contributed exceedingly towards the taking off the edge of all religious Restraint and the searing Mens Consciences and confirming them in Wickedness so that nothing but the Terror of civil Punishment remains to put a stop to all manner of Injustice And since it 's undoubted that by the severe Infliction of Punishment in such Cases he chiefly aims at his own Interest as Vsurpers and Tyrants seldom doe otherwise I am affraid notwithstanding such pretended Justice he will hardly avoid the imputation of being guilty of their Bloud as well as in a great measure accessory to their Crime And I believe it will not be forgotten in haste how one poor Fellow laid his Death to his Charge at the very Gallows as being the sad occasion of it and prayed for his true Master intimating that if he had not been driven away in all probability he had never come to that dismal end Again let us call to mind the many Sham Plots that have been forged by his Mirmidons to keep up the Rankour and Malice of the People against their King and his Friends the illegal sining of Persons beyond their known Abilities contrary to the Instrument of Government be subscribed as the Condition of his having the Crown for meer Trifles as drinking K. James's Health or praying for him in murthering that worthy Gentleman and excellent Christian Mr. Ashton the poor Chair-man and Mr. Cross in suborning and protecting from Justice those bloudy Rascals Blackhead Young and Fuller Fellows that were elected out of all the Gaols in Town by one Pearson and at his Expence no doubt discharged of their Debts c. and afterwards allowed Salaries on purpose to swear all that he hates or fears out of their Lives when he thinks it expedient the frequent illegal Imprisonments of Persons of the greatest Quality as well as others and by all that does appear to the contrary himself alone being the Evidence Accuser and Judge his shamefully detaining the Soldiers and Seamens Pay by misapplying it contrary to the very Acts of Parliament that granted it his vast Debts to the Transport Ships ever since the beginning of the Revolution the frequent Embargoes the refusal of Convoys to secure the publick Trade of the Nation notwithstanding the Custom and vast Taxes granted upon that as well as any other Account the ordering the publick Monies to contrary uses in general than originally design'd against the frequent Promises in his Speeches to both Houses of Parliament These are such notorious Violations of Justice that we may with as much Truth give him the Reputation of the handsomest Man in the World as the Character of just Then again for his Religion According to the Rules of Method I should have mentioned it first but it 's no great matter whether it be considered first or last or indeed at all What mortal Wight can tell what Religion he is of or rather Is it not a contradiction to say he has any It 's impossible he should be of the Communion of the true Church of England which he found established by Law because he persecutes those with the utmost Violence
our Port Towns by reducing numerous Families to downright Beggary to the excessive Charge of the respective Parishes they belong to Then again for our Comfort let us but consider the Encrease of the French Shipping by their perpetually snapping ours and the Dutch the Encrease of their Seamen by the vast Encouragement of the Privateers the addition that will be made by the next Summer to their Navy and we shall find Trading by Sea will in a little time be rendred almost impracticable Add to this the P. of O's certain Design to betray our Trade to the Dutch for it 's impossible to avoid such a Reflexion since no other Reason can be given for the detaining our Turkey Fleet above twelve months for want of Convoys after they were ordered to be in a readiness What other account can be given of the Ineffectualness of the Petition made by divers Merchants and Ensurers to the House of Commons now sitting wherein they set forth their Losses of 190 Vessels taken by the French since the last Fight and I suppose they mentioned only such as belonged to the Port of London they were only slighted by the Committee telling them opprobriously they were not the chief Merchants of London and demanded whether they would swear on their own Knowledge to the number of the Ships and the particular Time and Place of their Taking c. whether they had applied themselves to the Lords of the Admiralty for Convoys and when they answered that they had they referred them to the Council Board and the Council told them they could spare them none the Committee quell'd the business saying the Council must have some Reasons why they could not grant them any Does not all this appear to be a real Design to ruine our Commerce and to gratifie the Dutch And are not we forced by this means to trade with them for ready Cash or Bullion for those Commodities which we use to fetch in our own Bottoms from abroad And if we do but reflect what a prodigious Summ of Money the Spices we annually take off from the Dutch which we were wont to barter for with our Tobaccoes Sugars c. from the West-Indies and the Losses we have sustained during this War in our Jamaica Virginia and Barbadoes Fleets by which means we are necessitated to part with our Coin in specie the Interruption in our East-India Streights and Levant Trade being hereby obliged to take those sorts of Goods at the second hand from them the Decay in our Traffick and the great hazard of utterly losing it it will appear to the eternal Reproach of our Mock-Deliver the manifest Treachery of the Conservators of our Liberties and Properties and the Terror and I hope in God the just Regret of all those who are not yet willing to have their Noses and Ears cut off by the cursed and never to be forgiven Dutch This is not all let us reflect upon his endeavours the last Session of Parliament to dissolve the East-India Company which part of our Trade has been ever envied by those greedy Mammonists and for many Years has been attempted to be engrost by them and you will easily foresee to what a weak condition the Trade of the Nation will be reduc'd if not speedily prevented which must require many Years to recover her pristine Wealth and Glory In one Word All that 's valuable to us runs to wreck Our Religion dwindling sensibly into downright Atheism and Profaneness Our Liberties into Slavery Our Property into Beggary the Honour and Reputation of the English Nation into the utmost Contempt the Constitution of our Government broken and the People running more and more into Factions the greatest part of them however disagreeing among themselves dissatisfied with the present Government Add to these Considerations the certain Prognosticks of a decaying State the lost Reputation of him who sits at the Helm the growing Lukewarmness and Despondency of the People in general occasioned by immoderate Taxes want of Trade the barbarous usage of our Soldiers by Land and Sea unsuccessfulness in all the late noisy Projects and the Known Strength and Policy of the Enemy Then consider and weigh seriously the loosness of the present Clergy both in Principle and Practice as to the former Atheists more than Christians asserting in effect that real and acknowledged Evil may be done to good Ends preaching up and practising Rebellion reviling in their Sermons and blaspheming the Lord 's Anointed applauding the Wickedness of the Vsurper and blasphemously equallizing him to our Blessed Saviour as some of them have most impudently done and by justifying all his most flagitions Proceedings make themselves accessory and Parties to all he does imbruing by that means their Hands in all that Innocent Bloud of their Fellow-Subjects that has heen spilt by that Detestible Murtherer to the subversion of the Monarchy and all the Calamities that have ensued upon it let them be of what quality soever since if they had done their Duties all these Miseries had morally speaking been infallibly prevented to the grand Honour of themselves and their Religion and so render themselves unfit to approach the Holy Altar of God and to intercede for a Blessing upon his People Thus by their means the Gates of Heaven are barr'd against us and instead of Blessings we have Plagues and Judgments The Degeneracy of the Priests has been ever lookt upon as a direful Forerunner of ensuing Destruction and I am sure it must look very horridly when the Priests shall pray and praise God for nothing but what 's the effect of his Indignation caused by the Sins of themselves and the People misled by their wicked Examples when they shall endeavour to harden and confirm them in the Sins they have drawn them into and as much as ever they can prevent their Repentance when they shall exhort them to take part with Disobedient and Rebellious Children against their Parents to violate their Allegiance expose their Bodies and Souls in a most Vnnatural Rebellion and pray to Heaven to prosper them in the very heighth c. of Impiety What a Dishonour is this to God and Religion What a Curse to the World What an Injury to Men's Souls And what can it portend but Vengeance and without a timely and extraordinary Repentance inevitable Ruine Neither can I omit putting my fellow-Fellow-Subjects in mind of that raging Pestilence in the East-Indies which has swept away Multitudes of our People the never to be forgotten Earthquake in Jamaica and those late Monitory Shakings which ran through all this Island as well as a great part of the Territories of our Wicked Confederates I shall not pretend to divine what may be the Consequence of them but we never heard of an Earthquake in this Island but did certainly forerun some very remarkable Calamity All I shall farther add is this The only Refuge this Government has for I find they don't think it safe to stand upon their own Legs is to keep up the Confederacy This is reality will prove a rotten Reed we may lean upon it but it will run into our Hands and wound us but never support us it 's grown already feeble and contemptible and being originally founded in Villany there 's little likelyhood it will prosper By the Experience of former Ages Confederacies seldom or never performed great Atchiements Their Religions Manners Interests being for the most part different and contrary their Consultations for that very Reason seldom prove effectual And Monluc tells us that two Princes designing to overcome a third never agree long and gives you his own Experience and that of preceding Times for it And the most acute and judicious Guicciardine tells us That Confederacies can never be so knitted and united but that some or other of them will grow remiss or go off from the rest and then all is spoiled And Comines adds That if there be not One to over-rule and govern all the rest of the Confederacy their Designs will be frustrated and end in nothing but their own Shame and Weakness and the Glory and Advantage of the Common Enemy I might if I dare take that Liberty have produced a multitude of Examples of this Nature but I hope any One's Reflection upon the Instances of this Age will save me that Trouble and therefore will address my self to those of my Countreymen who have had the misfortune to be misled that since they have found all their Expectations deceived themselves gull'd out of all those real Blessings of Government they formerly enjoyed Peace Plenty Liberty and Property and all that could render a People happy by One whom a Man would be tempted to think could never have been procreated of Humane Race void of all sense of Religion Justice Honour and every Qualification that is apt to conciliate Love or Veneration from Mankind who has really forfeited the Crown by his own Act having violated the very Instrument of Government he subscribed One that has been the occasion of shedding more Christian Bloud on both Sides than was spilt in the ten Persecutions and meerly upon a Sham Pretence of Religion to us that it is their Interest and indispensible Duty if they have any sence of Goodness remaining any fear of God before their Eyes any respect for Religion or love for their Souls any remorse for the Evil they have done any Bowels for their own Countrey any Charity for the rest of the World to free these Nations of such a Plague and Curse and if possibly to redeem all those Blessings which have been so long with-held from us by his Means by atoning God Almighty by doing Justice to their highly injur'd King and Queen to themselves and to all Europe and averting those dismal Plagues which otherwise e're long will fall upon their Heads Otherwise let them do what they can be as obstinate malicious and revengeful as they please if they be resolv'd yet to act wickedly they shall be consumed both they and their King FINIS ERRATA PAg. 6. Lin. 5. make a Comma after that P. 10. l. 2. for have r. having Pag. 15. l. 28. r. the Confederacy P. 16. l. 4. for miserable r. inevitable P. 17. l. 25. r. peradventure will be P. 18. l. 6. after Succession add to the Parliament P. 19. l. 3. r. selected P. 22. l. 18. r. encamp'd P. 29. l. ult for for r. from