procur'd to be given to themselves The Politicians also give us some Reasons for these Cruelties they say that the King is a great Lover of Glory and makes it a point of Honour to destroy a Religion which his Predecessors would have eradicated but could not They add that the Victories he has gain'd and the Progress he has made through the Divisions of the Neighbouring Princes and by other Stratagems have puft him up to believe that he is able to execute whatever he undertakes and that it is as easie for him to force his Subjects to change their belief as to win the strong holds of his Enemies Others there are who will have it that the Court has Sacrific'd the Reformed to the Ghosts of the Jansenists and that to procure the condescention of the Pope that the Disciples of St. Austin might be persecuted and the Canonical Elections abolish'd in these Churches where they were preserv'd they bethought themselves of oppressing the Protestants which has been always a great Mark of Catholicism Others hold that it was the design of the Ministers of State and superntendants to enrich themselves with the spoils of those that fled to defray the expences of the War and pay off the half famish'd Souldiers perswading the King that a small number of poor People by leaving his Kingdom did but discharge it of an unprofitable Burthen Lastly there are some that maintain that though there were no such probable reasons to be given there would be cause enough to believe that in a Court like that of France Religion is usually the Motive least consider'd However it be most evident it is that both Priests and Ministers are Banish'd alike that Religious Houses are dissolv'd as well as the Reformed Churches that Monasteries are sack'd and destroy'd as well as Temples and that they make War with the same violence upon those that adhere to the Pope as upon those that side with Calvin This I say is an evident sign that it is not the Doctrine of the Romish Church but Jesuitism which is the immediate Incentive to all these Cruelties That is to say that the Politcs of Matchiavel the thirst of Rule and to establish their opinions at any rate whatever to ruin those by all manner of ways that oppose them and to dispose absolutely of the Bodys Estates and Consciences of the People carry them to these Courses Whence it follows that all the French Roman Catholics or others ought to look upon these Persecutions 1. As Attempts against the Public Faith as being contrary to the Edicts of Nantes and Nismes confirm'd to outward Appearance by all the Declarations publish'd against the Reformed and to a Decree of Council by which the King forbids the disturbance of such as should have subscrib'd the Formulary and promises the same Usage to the Jansenists as to the Molinists These Persecutions ranverse the Foundations of public Security and introduce the Inquisition 'T is well known that the Questions about Predestination and Grace are very nice and thorny and how easie a thing it is whatever the receiv'd opinion may be to give a Heretical Sence to innocent Propositions so that if there be any that bear malice to a Learned Man or that he shall be so unfortunate as to displease the Society then is he lost for ever since there is nothing more easie then to forge an imaginary Heresie out of a Metaphysical Controversie 3. The Persecutions of the Jansenists lay a snare for Divines which they are not well able to be aware of For should the Disputes happen to be about Predestination or Grace the Mysteries of the Holy Trinity the Incarnation the free Satisfaction of Christ If what we ought to believe were clearly taught in Scripture or had been decided in a General Council according to the Principles receiv'd among the Christians the Opposers would be treated as Heretics But neither Pelagius nor St. Austin were ever condemn'd by the Universal Church and though the Body of the Roman Church agree with the Semipelagians nevertheless if the Disciples of Molinus would but speak candidly they must acknowledge that the contrary Doctrin has always been tolerated The Heresie of Predestination is a Chimera Godescale was Persecuted by the Faction of the two Arch-Bishops Rabanus Maurus of Mayence and Hincmar of Rheims The greatest part of the Prelates and Learned Men of Germany undertook the Defence of his Doctrin Nevertheless Semipelagianism was never listed in the Number of Errors against the Faith but got great footing afterwards in the West On the other side the Writings of St. Austin and his Disciples St. Prosper St. Fulgentius St. Gregory Tho. Aquinas and an Infinite Number of others have been approv'd receiv'd and respected by all the Church And there needs no more then to read and understand them to see then Jansenius has taught nothing but what other Ancient Doctors taught before him How is it then possible that a Divine who shall read the Books of the Holy Fathers who shall reverence them as Saints who shall look upon them as Testimonies to confirm the Doctrin of the Ages they liv'd in how is it possible I say but that he must either iump with them in opinion or condemn those that follow them consequently how can he avoid being either a Heretic or a Favourer of Heretics 4. These Persecutions are contrary to the Law of Nature and Nations The Law of Nature permits every one to defend his own Estate and his Life by all the lawful ways that may be and ordains as to others that we should deal by them as we would they should deal by us So that this Law is quite overturn'd in such Places where the Estate Life and Honour of several Persons depend upon the Fancy of a single Person and where the Innocent are oppress'd by a violent Faction and by a Power usurp'd and purely Arbitrary without any regard to the Law By vertue of which Law of Nations the Contracts of Superiour to Inferiour or of equal to equal remain immoveable The consequence of which is that every Man may live without disturbance in his own House and enjoy his Estate in Tranquility provided he behave himself peaceably toward the Government and Act nothing contrary to the Laws either Civil or Ecclesiastical Now the Protestant Religion having been establish'd in France by Solemn Edicts and seeing that the Doctrin of St. Austin was never yet Condemn'd by any Council it is most apparent that the Persecution of the Subjects for one or the other of these two Beliefs is a violation of the Law of Nature and Nations before an Assembly of Estates have revok'd those Edicts or a National Synod have rejected the Doctrin If then all the Facts that have been hither to alledg'd are certain if it be true that the Clergy have been despoil'd of their Libertys the Nobility of their Employments and Priviledges the People of their Subsistance If it be true that Priests and Ministers Catholics and Reformed have
their Offers They vainly flatter themselves to seduce the Hollanders during the Kings abode in England or to raise Disturbances in England while he remains in Holland 'T is true that feeble Affection which is supported only by Fancy or only grounded upon some Conformity of Temper and Humour is as frail as the Foundation is slight But when Religion Vertue and the public Interest are the Bonds of Union between the Prince and Subjects it is a Link inseparable which the absence of some few Months renders much the stronger Now the Affection which the two Nations bear to his most Serene Majesty William the III. is of the latter sort The English are a Warlike Nation that passionately Loves their Kings especially when their Inclinations are Martial Their Princes have for a long time enjoy'd both Normandy and Guyenne which oblig'd them frequently to cross the Sea but we never read in any History that their Subjects took any Advantage of their absence to rise up in Rebellion The Vnited Provinces ever since their first Confederacy having been almost continually engag'd in Wars are more accustom'd to see their Prince at the Head of their Armies then at leisure at the Hague So that both the one and the other will easily be contented that his Majesty should visit them by turns Besides that the English will have Queen Mary always present in their Capital City whose Piety and Vertue whose great Understanding and Mildness renders her equal to Elizabeth a Person to whom the Hollanders were so devoted that at her departure the chiefest of their wishes were that she might be but as well belov'd at London as she had been at the Hague to which her Royal Highness answer'd that she desir'd no more These are the greatest Difficulties that are propounded and buzz'd abroad by our Male Contents or which I have been able to think of Their weakness appears to me a certain presage of the felicity of the People under the Reign of William the III. and Mary the II. and of that Peace which the Union between England and Holland will restore to Europe The SECOND PART The Happy Consequences of the Union between FRANCE and HOLLAND The Means to preserve it entire AMong the happy Consequences of the Union between the Subjects of their Majesties of Great Britain and of their High and Mightinesses there are some which are particular to each of the two Nations and relate to the form of Government their Laws and Priviledges But it belongs not to a private Person to meddle with those sorts of Matters as being the business of Parliaments and Assemblies of Estates Other Consequences there are more general wherein divers Confederate Princes several Countries all the Protestants and all Europe find themselves interested and upon which we shall make some Reflections I place in the first ranck the bringing down the Power of France not believing that I could begin with a more pleasing Subject Since the Pyrenean Peace that Kingdom has mounted to a Degree of Grandeur and Pride which have render'd France insupportable to all her Neighbours so that it is neither the Wealth nor the Welfare of the French People that are envy'd for Men have more reason to be mov'd with Compassion at the sight of their Miseries 'T is against their blindness that Men exclaim and that indispensable fury that hurries them on to make others as miserable as themselves instead of complying with their good Intentions and permitting the release of those miserable People from the sad Condition wherein they are If France were enrich'd by Trade by Manufacture by a long Peace if it were aggrandiz'd by Marriages and Alliances by the free Concessions of Princes or by the vast Concurrences and Conflux of People to her Territories we should be so far from troubling her repose that we should do our utmost to imitate her Example But it is well known that her Conquests and her Riches are the Effects of Breach of Faith and her unjust Wars of her Vexations and Oppressions and the vast Contributions which she exacts from the People so that the generality of the Subjects are reduc'd by the Court to that Condition as not to be able to subsist but in the midst of the Rage of War by Pillage Robbery and Ransack The bare Duties of Humanity would oblige their Neighbours to redeem them from a Condition so opposite to the public good and the Salvation of their Souls nor is the particular Interest of other People an Obligation less engaging to the same Effect Since that under the pretence of Religion the Dragoons have ruin'd the best Families in the Kingdom wasted their Estates and disabl'd the Proprietors to make the best of their demeans and to continue their Trades since as an Accumulation of their Misfortune the Privateers being become Masters of the Seas Trade has undergon so sensible a decay that ten Years more like the three last will produce a far greater mischief then a general Pestilence for ten Months in regard they would be the ruin of an infinite Number of Families which by means of their Wealth and Industry are at present the support and glory of Europe Considering the present Constitution of our Western Parts the Wines the Strong-waters the Oyl and Salt of France are Merchandizes which Foreigners can hardly live without But the Inhabitants being impoverish'd and not able to burthen themselves with those things which would be given them in exchange they that want their Wares must be oblig'd to carry ready Money and to afford new Matter to feed the Extortions of the Collectors and the Insatiable Avarice of the Chief Ministers Add to this that if the War happen to spin out in length the great Number of Souldiers that must be rais'd throughout the Kingdom will be the cause that the greatest part of the Lands must lye untill'd and that the infinite Wealth accrewing by the profits of the Land would be all lost If it be so then some will say that it is so much the Interest of Foreigners to Labour the preservation of France it behoves them speedily to make a Peace with her 'T is very true that there could be nothing more advantageous then a general Peace but the mischief is that considering the present Condition of Affairs it is neither safe nor possible to conclude a Peace besides that it is also more uncertain and more difficult to be assur'd that it shall be of any long continuance Therefore before we talk of Peace it will be requisite 1. That Lemis the XIV Re-establish the Edict of Nantes and restore the Reformed to the same Condition wherein they were before the Death of Hen. IV. and make restitution of all the Damages which they have sustain'd since the Pyrenaean Peace but more especially since the Truce in the Year 84. It would be an eternal Ignominy to the Protestants to suffer the public Violation of the Treaties concluded with their Brethren without alledging any other reason but only that
they are not Roman Catholics nor of the King's Religion If these Reasons could take Place or that a Prince could break his Promises made to his Subjects and persecute them with Fire and Sword meerly because they are not Christians after his manner what shall hinder him from breaking the Contracts made with his Allies that are of another belief which is different from his 2. If the public Faith engages the Protestants States to restore the Reformed of France it also excites the Catholic Potentates to require Satisfaction for the Injuries done them by that Crown which has omitted no sort of Usurpations increase to it's Grandeur either by unjust Wars or in full Peace Therefore it is but requisite that now for the obtaining of Peace Lewis the XIV should make reparation for all his Neighbours losses of which himself has been the occasion in the last War since the Treaty of Nimeghen and the Breach of the Truce that he restore what he unjustly detains from the Empire from Spain from the King of England from the Vnited Provinces from the Electors the D. of Lorrain the Pope and the Princes of Italy 3. The King of France never failing of Pretences to break the most Sacred Leagues no body that I know would be willing to trust him nor to be Guarantees for the performance of the offers he should make unless it were the Grand Signior with whom he has renew'd and confirm'd his Ancient Alliances And therefore it will be requisite that he surrender up several strong Towns and Garrisons as Pledges for his performance upon condition that they shall remain confiâ—scated to the Parties into whose hands they are surrender'd in case he break the Peace to be concluded Now in regard it is most certain that France will find such Articles very burthensome at least that she will never subscribe or put them in Execution there is no Foundation to be laid upon her promises whence it is clear that to procure the Peace of Europe there is a necessity that she must be constrain'd to it by Attacquing her on several sides This will be no difficult thing to bring to pass if the Empire Spain England Swedeland and the Vnited Provinces confirm their Alliance and if the Confederates create a particular General to the end that their Forces United under one Generalissimo may act by consent and unanimouslyagainst the common Enemy In all times misunderstanding has ruin'd the strongest Leagues of which we have seen frequent and fatal Examples in the last War If France therefore can yet find any means to disunite the Confederates they may assure themselves that the opportunity for pulling down the Power of France will not be long in their hands France will make use of her usual methods by bribing the Governors of Garrisons corrupting the Treasurer's that the Army may stil want either Money or Provision by gaining the cheif Ministers of the several Courts on purpose to make false reports to their Masters or impertinent and unseasonable Orders to the Generals and sowing jealosies between them to make them draw off one from another in the greatest urgency of Affairs And it is very probable that the greatest part of these misfortunes will not fail to happen if the Confederates do not agree to confer the supream command of General upon one Person in whose power it shall be to make the whole Body Act Unanimously and who shall have Reputation and Authority sufficient to restrain the inferior Generals within the bounds of their duty We are verily perswaded that neither Flatteries Promises Pension no Lewis's of Gold will be able to disarm the Protestant Princes Therefore France begins to despair of seducing them that way but gives it out that this is a War for the sake of Religion consequently that the Catholic Potentates ought to unite with her to prevent the Establishing the Reformation all over Europe But it is the ruin of his Matchiavillian Politics which he dreads more then the Establishment of the Reformation In the mean while the pretence is specious because he judges of others by himself and for that the Zeal of the Roman Clergy pushing him on to destroy the pretended Heretics he imagins the Resolutions of the reformed to be the same This is an Error of which it is of great Importance to convince these Gentlemen though it be no difficult thing to undeceive them if they will but take the pains to mind the following Reflections 1. That it is a Fundamental maxim of the Reformation that every Man has a right to examin the Religion he intends to profess to judge of it by his own understanding and to believe nothing but what he is perswaded of the Truth in his Conscience Whence the Protestants infer that no human Authority ought to force Men to exercise a Worship which they believe unlawful or to profess an Opinion which they concieve to be false Clear it is that this Doctrin is directly opposite to the Spirit of Persecution for if it be not lawful for the Pastors to constrain Christians to believe or practise what they hold to be false and forbidden of God much less is it lawful to employ the Power of the secular Arm to the same effect It signifies nothing to say that among us we Excommunicate Heretics or that we have frequently Persecuted Ministers and Private Persons for the same reason For as for Excommunication in respect of Speculative Opinions it is no more of it's self then a bare Declaration that such or such a one has not those Qualities which are requir'd to fit him to be a Member of such or such a Society In which case it is not accompany'd with any mark of Infamy or civil Punishment Suppose for Example that any Minister of the Church of England is perswaded that Episcopacy is no lawful Government that he cannot in conscience preach upon Holy-days or perform other Functions to which the Ministry obliges him and that thereupon he goes to his Diocesan and lays down his Function promising all the rest of his life to live quietly at home or in Communion with the Faithful Sure I am that if they could not undeceive him they would bewayl his Ignorance but yet they would be so far from using him as a Criminal that they would admire his Probity But if the same Divine should make use of the Liberty of his Function to excite the People to contemn the Bishops and to trample their constitutions under foot by shewing them himself an ill example then it would be but just to punish him not as a Person that holds erroneous opinions but as a disturber of the Public Peace This Maxim takes no farther place then to preserve the order and unity of Ecclesiastical Discipline for Politic Toleration is so much in practise among the Protestants that as well the particular Members of their Body as those that are not of the Communion of their Churches have all the liberty to believe and say what they think
them the Secrets of State and furnishing them with Money and some of their Ministers were imprison'd upon that Account This was only a Malitious Invention of two or three Monks they never could produce any Proofs against the Parties accus'd unless it were some slight Expressions that dropt unwarily from their Lips and in regard it was no good Policy to discover the weakness and divisions of the Kingdom the business was husht up and the Persons let go Nevertheless as it is common for those that are troubled with a bad Conscience to fear their own shaddows these reports and murmurs made a deep impression in the Minds of the Courtiers They apprehended that there was nothing so dangerous as to ruin People by halves to provoke a Powerful Body to the highest degree and leave them the means to revenge themselves Upon which there happen'd a slight Insurrection in Sevennes and the Dauphinate Several poor People being gather'd together without any Leader without any support or defence a fancy took them to Preach upon the Ruins of their Churches The Kings Ministers took the Alarum as if the four Corners of France had been on Fire and being secure of England nor apprehending any danger from the Low-Countries nor Germany after the twenty Years Truce and the defeat of Monmouth they began the utter Extirpation of the Reformed after that manner which is known to every Body Besides the Motives to the Persecution recited in the first Part of this Treatise there is one which has not yet been mention'd which perhaps is the chiefest For that France having laid the Design of Invading the Empire was afraid that while she should be busied in the Execution of it the Reformed should betake themselves to their Arms in Defence of their Liberties and their Languishing Religion Let the Reader judge whether this were a groundless Fear or no However it appear'd that the Court was strook with it by the way which they took to extinguish the Reformation in that Kingdom There were two things Aim'd at in sending the Dragoons among those People the first was to ruin the best Families because they were able to lend Mony which is the Sinews of the War the other to destroy the most devout and zealous as being the support of the Religious Societies Constancy is a vertue very rare exalted Minds and undaunted Courages but few but they are the Soul that moves the great Body and like the Salt which preserves it from Corruption so that when the Soul expires or the Salt looses it's strength the Societies dye or fall into fainting Fits which are a certain Presage of their utter Destruction Vulgar Courage or a resolution of some few days or hours may cause a Man to Contemn Death but it requires a Constancy more then Heroic to suffer long contriv'd Torments incessantly renew'd and which one would think would never have an end This last sort of Torments it was the most unsupportable of all which the Court of France made use of to exercise their Cruelty upon the Reformed And indeed that Court has been very Successful for those People that would have despis'd a Flaming Bavin where they had been stifled in a quarter of an hour wanted resolution to dye a thousand times in one day Yet several Persons of Quality saw themselves despoil'd of their Estates depriv'd of their Employments and torn from their Families and have endur'd Imprisonment and other Ignominious Usage till the Cruelty of their Persecutors was almost tyr'd Great Numbers of the Common People have undergon all that the Insolence and Barbarism of the Dragoons could invent the most Merciless and most Outragious nor have there been wanting of the seeble Sex who have signaliz'd their Constancy And many of those whom continu'd Torments had constrain'd to sign Ambiguous Professions of Faith repenting soon after forsook all and departed the Kingdom exposing themselves to be Condemn'd to the Galleys to be banish'd into Canada and to the most exquisite of Torments which have been inflicted upon some Others have refus'd to go to Mass and have endur'd the extremity of Torment with a Constancy beyond the former A good Number have stay'd behind in hopes of a speedy Deliverance Nevertheless a Man would hardly believe how many have perish'd in the midst of these Meseries or else that still are forc'd to endure their Miseries in Exile It cannot be deny'd but that France gave it self a very great Wound Nor did the Court without doubt believe that the perswasion of the truth had so much force upon the Souls of Men because they had never put it to the Tryal So that finding that the Number of the faint and dastardly was not so great as they thought they let go those whose Constancy fortify'd the weak and set open the Gates of the Kingdom for some few days on purpose to give the more zealous an Opportunity to escape tho they would not suffer them to carry any thing along with them It is evident that those of our Brethren who escap'd are the most Couragious and the most Politic as well as Fortunate Which being suppos'd if the Confederates neglect to restore the Protestants of France one of these two things will necessarily follow the first is that the Court believing themselves engag'd in Honour and continuing their ill usage to the most Constant at length either Sorrow or Misery will bring them to their end and then the rest being destitute of this support and the hopes of Delivery will endeavour to reconcile their Consciences and their Understandings to the prevailing Religion and of Politic Catholics will become Superstitious Zelots But on the other side if the King will be pleas'd to open his Eyes and to free himself from the fear of a Civil War while his Forces are employ'd against Foreigners shall recall the Banish'd and restore to the Reformed their Estates and Ancient Franchises the greatest part will return to their Country Native Air the Ancient Constitutions and free Converse with Kindred and Friends are such powerful Attractions which will much surmount the seeble remains of Fear more especially considering that few of those who fled for Sanctuary but met with among Foreigners as great Advantages as those which they left at home Either of which two things if they fall out France will find her self in nine or ten Years as peaceable and formidable to her Enemies as she was under the Reign of Lewis the XII before the Reformation or toward the end of the Reign of Hâ—n IV. after the Edict of Nantes The French are the best People in the World if their Kings do but pâ—t confidence in them they forget all the ill Usages they have receiv'd and Sacrifice their particular Interest to the necessities of the State During the Civil War 1651. under the Minority of Charles IX the Princes sought the Alliance of Q. Elizabeth as being of their Religion She assisted them but not with all that Vigour which good Policy requir'd For the
THE Happy Union OF ENGLAND AND HOLLAND OR THE Advantagious CONSEQUENCES OF THE ALLIANCE OF THE CROWN of GREAT BRITAIN WITH THE States General of the Vnited Provinces Licensed May the 20th 1689. LONDON Printed for Richard Baldwin in the Old-Baily 1689. TO THE Right Reverend Father in God Gilbert Lord Bishop of Salisbury My Lord THE Happy Consequences of a settl'd Alliance and Union between their Majesties of Great Britain and the States of the United Provinces are that which these few Sheets have undertak'n to make out as being necessary for the safety and repose of both in particular and of the Protestant Interest in general How zealously Your Lordship has always Labour'd the Advancement of the Latter and how Instrumental you have been to promote the Former is not unknown to all the World For this reason the Author of this Treatise really intended for the good of both Nations is so Ambitious as he is to appear in the English Dialect under Your Lordship's Patronage and Protection from the Censures of those who make it their business to disturb the Public Tranquility both of Church and State Not doubting through Your Lordships Favour of the same Reception here as the Original had in the place that gave it Birth Yet humbly craving on the other side Your Lordships Pardon for the Confidence of this Address which speaks however the High Esteem and Honour that all Men who value the true Religion the Laws and Liberties of their Country have for Your Person but more especially of Your most Humble and Most Obedient Servant R. W. The Necessity of a Union between the ENGLISH and HOLLANDERS USually we judge by the Event of the Uprightness or Injustice of human Actions and of the Prudence or Indiscretion of those that Act. The Philosophers take upon them to make their Comments upon these inconsiderate Judgments That vulgar Opinion carries it That is to say that they who prosper pass for Wise and many times for Vertuous Men they who are unfortunate are lookt upon as imprudent and sometimes which is worse as wicked and impious A Kingdom oppress'd with exactions becomes enrag'd against the Contrivers of their Misery and revolts against those that Officiate in the Tyrannies of the Court. Therefore Forces are sent to quell and dissipate the mutinous Multitude their Ringleaders are seiz'd and put to Death by all the most infamous and cruel ways of Execution nor do they grant any Act of Oblivion to the rest but by charging them with new Taxes and Impositions And as a Consummation of their Misfortunes their Posterity attribute all their Miseries to them and Historians range them in the Number of Factious and Rebels justly depriv'd of their Liberties and their Ancient Priviledges For these thirty Years the Kings of England have labour'd to render themselves Absolute they have gradually dispoyl'd the Cities and Corporations of their Charters and made it their business to introduce Popery into their three Kingdoms well knowing that the Alteration of the Establish'd Religion trailes after it the Change of the Government and the Laws and no less assur'd that of all the Christian Sects the Roman is that which best agrees with Arbitrary Dominion and is most proper to inspire blind Obedience The English weary'd with their Sufferings privately call in the Prince of Orange and that great Hero was receiv'd into the Island as their Tutelar-Angel but with so much Order and Unanimity that the suddain Commotion was taken rather for a public Rejoycing then a Rebellious Insurrection Some make hast to meet him others set up his Standard while the King disturb'd in Mind perplex'd and astonish'd withdraws without striking a stroak and punishes himself with a voluntary Exile for having followed the Advice of his Evil Counsellors All Europe admires so suddain a Revolution The Protestants lookt upon him as a Prodigy of Heaven sent for the relief of Truth oppress'd The moderate Catholics acknowledge the Justice of the Prince of Oranges Designs applaud the mildness which he exercises toward their Brethren and impute the unkindness which he has for their Religion at this Conjucture to the violent Counsels of the Jesuits The Politicians of both Parties look upon the Success as the Effect of a Transcendent Genius which Heaven has been pleas'd to Favour whether to set Enslav'd Europe at Liberty or whether it were to shew that Prudence and Mildness are more assur'd and efficacious means to attain their Ends then the Sanguinary Maxims of Matchiavel Lastly Persons of the clearest Intellects and most perspicacious insight into Affairs belive that nothing can be above the reach of that Prince who has shewn himself able to carry on for many Years a Design of so great Importance unknown to his Enemies or any other who had no occasion to be interested therein A Prince who has United several Soveraign Potentates against France who has so well managed the Inclination and Humours of three Kingdoms of several distant Plantations and a Powerful Commonwealth for a long time harass'd by various Factions as to soder them into Unanimity A Prince in a Word who after he has taken time to reflect and consider puts his Resolutions in Execution with a courage and swiftness beyond imagination 'T is true the Sloath the lgnorance and the Necessity which constrains some Men to submit to a present Conjuncture and to side with the strongest Party are without question the real sources of those applauses which are given to those whom happy Success has exalted above others Add to this that how desirous so ever Men may be to ingratiate themselves with such Persons yet they are always willing to act conformably to their own Understandings So that Self-Love being willing to reconcile these two Passions easily perswades us that our Flatteries are just and that the Grandees are beholding to their Merit for their advancement Moreover it is most certain that these successful Persons are many times highly worthy of Honour and that Prudence and Indiscretion are the most usual causes of the good or bad Success of Men of which they who only understand the most known Circumstances of the Revolution of England may convince themselves with little trouble But if Men are so quick in judging of things done on the other side they are so slow to determin when they ought to Act that their mistiming Execution or their Wavering and Hesitation becomes the disappointment of the greatest and most noble Designs They whose Interest it is to oppose them fill their Minds with pannic Fears or desperate Mistrusts and Jealousies and in regard that the number of Persons timorous and jealous are very numerous and for that idle and imaginary Fear works a more signal Effect upon such then a hope and assurance grounded upon Reason therefore that a Man may act with Prudence upon such occasions it behoves him to take a convenient time to examin the Circumstances of Time of Places and Persons and then to resolve and pursue his design by the
the French only sought to amuse them till he made himself Master of the Low Countries and Germany These Reasons were laid before the King with so much strength of Argument and the Parliaments refus'd with so much constancy those Aids which the King stood in need of to continue the War that King Charles found himself constrain'd to accept of those Proposals which were made him by the States and the Treaty was concluded at Westminster the 19. of Feb. 1674. And whatever endeavours the Kings of England have since us'd they could never engage their Subjects in an open and formal War with the Vnited Provinces It is easie to deduce several Consequences from this piece of story which utterly dissipate those vain Jealousies that the Enemies of the two Nations would fain create between them under pretence of Trade 1. The First is that the English and Hollanders have no natural Antipathy one against the other and that their Three last Wars were only the Effect of an Vsurpers Revenge who labour'd the Destruction of the Royal Family and of two Kings their Conceal'd Enemies who had sworn the utter Extirpation of the Protestant Religion their Priviledges and Liberties The Second is that Commerce is so far from being a lawful Cause of the difference between the two Nations that on the contrary it ought to incline them to a stricter Union if they understand their own Interests since their Trade then always flourish'd most when there was the strictest Amity between them 3. The Third is that they ought to take a more then ordinary care how they Engage in a War one against the other well knowing that in all their Sea Engagements the Advantages on both sides have been very little different or rather that they have come off with equal losses and that Strangers taking the real Advantages of their Quarrels are become their Rivals in Navigation Hambrough with the rest of the Hanse-Towns the Danes and Swedes for the most part now take in those Freights by which the Hollanders before gain'd so much profit and engross'd to themselves a great part of the Trade of the Baltic Sea The French who since the time of Hen. IV. had not so much as one Ship that belong'd to the King have acquir'd several Territories in America and are now Labouring to get Footing in the Indies by that Alliance which they have contracted with the King of Siam set forth great Fleets and pester the Sea with Pyrates All which came to pass while the English and Dutch were busily imploy'd in ruining one another So that if three of their Wars have so sensibly abated their Trade to such a degree the Fourth which after the present Union of the Two Nations would be the Effect of an Irreconcileable Hatred would prove their utter ruin by Translating to their Neighbours all the Advantages which the two Nations receive by their Shipping As for what concerns their Quarrels about loaring the Flag Freights and the Herring-Fishery they are not worth the trouble of any farther discourse and to bury them in Oblivion there needs no more then to keep close to the Peace of Breda in the Year 1667. The differences between the two East India Companies seem more considerable nevertheless if Men would but rightly understand one another it might be easie to remove this Stumbling-block either by Incorporating altogether or by some other way which provident deliberation might soon find out The Third Objection falls of it self after what has been said to refute the Second The Interest of the English and Hollanders inclining them to the continuance of their Union and to contribute their utmost to their mutual Prosperity there would never be any Jealousie between the two Nations unless they lent their Ears to the seducing Fallacies of their Enemies and by consequence their King and their Governour would have no occasion to Invade their Priviledges Besides that we are confidently assur'd that he will never endeavour it but on the other side will use all his endeavours to prevent any difference between the two Nations which are equally dear to him But supposing that we were not so certain as we are of the mildness and gentleness of his present Majesty at least we dare not question but that he is a Person of Honour and a Valiant Prince and that he has a High Esteem for true Glory If he has won Battles if he has taken strong Towns if he has made considerable Conquests he is only beholding for all this to the Blessing of God to his Valour and the exact Discipline which he observes in his Armies and the Love which his Souldiers have for him He was never known to purchase strong Holds to corrupt Governours nor to aggrandize himself by fowl and treacherous means If several French Officers have Listed themselves in his Service it was the Catholic Zeal which expell'd them their Country and the Reputation of so great a Captain which made them eager to serve under his Command How can it be imagin'd that a Prince who next to God is beholding for his high advancement only to the largeness of his Soul and the greatness of his Courage to the Wisdom of his Counsellers and the Love of his People A Prince that has suffer'd so long and with a Patience unimitable the wrongs that have been done him who never took up Arms in Revenge of his own Interests but to deliver an Oppress'd Nation that implor'd his Aid How I say can it be conceiv'd that it should ever come into such a Princes thoughts by indirect ways to destroy that Liberty which he adventur'd to restore with the hazard of his Blood and Life or that he would go about for an Airy Authority to loose that immortal Glory which he has acquired Or that while he Reigns as he does in the Hearts of his Subjects and Allies he should rather choose to draw upon himself the Hatred of the One and the Indignation of the Other rather then peaceably to enjoy the Fruit of his Labours If on the one fide Honour engages his Majesty of Great Britain to preserve the Priviledges of his Subjects as his own Handy-work and to maintain the Liberty of the Hollanders his Fellow-Citizens it inclines him on the other side to exterminate Tyranny We know it Triumphs in France with an unlimited Power and that it is there as it were in the Center Nor are we ignorant of the heinous Injuries which Lewis XIV has offer'd to William the III. when he was only Prince of Orange Governour and Generalissimo of the Vnited Provinces The English are forward enough of themselves to engage in a War with the French and several Historians have observ'd that they never give Money with a more willing Heart then when they are ask'd to contribute toward the Expences of that Expedition Besides they well understand that Cromwels Civil War The Evil Designs of their two last Kings their Intestine Discords their Engagements against the Hollanders in a word all
that themselves and their Brethren have suffer'd for this last near half an Age together has been only the Effect of the Intreagues of the Court of France of the two Cardinals and the Jesuits Nor have the Vnited Provinces less Cause to complain Not to mention the unjust Invasion in 1672. for which all the Subtlety of Lewis the Fourteenth's Counsel could never alledge any other well grounded Reason then the favourable Opportunity to Conquer those Rich Provinces through the Cowardise sloath and want of Intelligence in those that manag'd Affairs at that time were there nothing else but the Violences and Cruelties which the French King and his Ministers have Committed within these Nine or Ten Years upon the Subjects of the States General their Ships Embargo'd their Goods Confiscated their Seamen Imprison'd constrain'd to change their Religion to serve against their own Country or to undergo the Punishment of the Gallies the prodigious Number of Merchants Ships which their Privateers have taken their Villages and Towns laid in Ashes and all this in time of Peace and without the least appearance of Justice I dare be bold to say that their High and Mightinesses must have Hearts of Steel to be insensible of these Recent Outrages and that all the Offers and Reparations that France can make are not sufficient to equal them But some will say it is the Interest of the Vnited Provinces to continue in Peace and the States never had a fairer opportunity to obtain from France whatever they shall judge requisite for the security of their Subjects and their Trade I acknowledge it But who shall be Guarantee for the Observation of the Treaty which is to be made with France Certainly neither England nor the Empire Is it prudence to confide in those Persons who have a thousand times deceiv'd us who never keep their word any longer then sincerity agrees with their Ambitious Desires and their Interests who make a sport of their Promises Oaths Contracts and most solemn Edicts who are equally Treacherous to Friends and Enemies Subjects and Allies True it is that Peace is very desireable but not a Peace of six Months or a Year but a firm stable and perpetual Peace or at least such a Peace as shall last as long as we live 'T is also as true that it is the Interest of Common-wealths rather to preserve themselves in the Condition they are in then to make new Conquests But when we have Neighbours Potent Ambitious and such as seek to aggrandize themselves by all manner of means right or wrong they have no other way to secure themselves from their unlookt for Invasions then to take advantage of the first opportunity that presents it self to pull down their Power and to reduce them to such a Condition that they be no longer able to do any more Mischief This Happy Opportunity is now come England and Holland have now William the III. for their Sovereign and Governour The whole Body of Germany moves toward Revenge The French themselves pant after their deliverance the Persecuted Protestants and Jansenists are not the only Male Contents of that Kingdom The Clergy the Nobility and People all Orders of the Kingdom groan under the Tyranny of the Jesuits and only wait for a Chieftain to deliver them from Slavery This is a truth not to be question'd and to convince the Public there needs no more for any Man to do then to cast his Eyes upon the general Causes of the Discontents of the French No Country is more Fruitful no Climate more temperate and serene then theirs no Inhabitants more Civil or more Humane then those of this Kingdom You would say it was a Country made on purpose to be the Habitation of Good and Vertuous People and a Paradise upon Earth But as it is a Country Rich and Fertile and as the People are extreamly humble and submissive they are overwhelm'd with all sorts of exactions insomuch that their Plenty becomes their Misery and their Obedience makes their Oppressions more grievous To reduce a free and Warlike People into so rigorous a Servitude requir'd a long time and a world of Contrivances It was requisite to ravish from the Clergy their Rights to deprive the Nobility of their Priviledges and to invade the Liberties of the People 'T is well known that the Gallicane Church has bred up and foster'd in her Bosom the greatest Luminaries in Europe that she has had in all Ages Holy Bishops who have oppos'd the Usurpations of the Popes who have publicly rebuk'd the Vices of the Grandees and have openly withstood the Tyranny of Princes The Inferior Clergy were solely under the Jurisdiction of their Prelates their provincial and national Synods At this day they are expos'd to the Mercy of the Court and the Fury of the Jesuits not only in civil Causes but also in what concerns their Ecclesiastical Discipline and Religion A world of Formalities a world of Assemblies but no appeal against a Letter under the Privy Signet We also know what has formerly been the Power of the Nobility without their Consent neither Peace could be concluded nor War undertaken nor any Leagues offensive or defensive could be made Offices of public Trust which are now put to Sale the Prey of Usurpers in Confederacy or Hunger-starv'd Commissaries Military Imployments which are bestowed for the most part upon Souldiers of Fortune or the Lacqueys of Favourites Benefices which are now at the absolute disposal of the Kings Confessor the Councel of Conscience or the Jesuits All Pensions all Civil or Ecclesiastical Dignities all considerable Employments were as it were Portions for the Younger Sons of Noble Families and afforded them Means to support the lustre of their House Whereas now we see the Nobility without Estates and ill Educated through Poverty or want of Education stooping to the meanest of Drudgeries Formerly when a Lord was disgusted with the Court he retir'd to his Castle where he liv'd like a petty Soveraign no Man daring to come to trouble his Repose But those happy days are past Now they must eat their Bread in the train of the Favourites make their applications to such as have only their Vices or their Intreagues to favour them and instead of that noble Fireceness so well becoming those whom Birth Knowledge and Vertue have rais'd above the Common Sort they must now put on the Countenances of Slaves and Suppliants upon the approach of a Beggar in Rich Apparel a Commissary of the Treasury or a Jesuit of the Court. As for the People their misery is so great as would require a showr of Bloody Tears to deplore it and a Graving Tool of Iron to describe it so that I have often question'd whether Posterity would give credit to what a thousand Testimonies have both seen and try'd themselves and which they can never express but in a Language far short of the Truth Who would believe that a People Laborious Active Sober Industrious that inhabits a Country Fertil
of the English and Scotch and the Collonies depending upon Them In these Transactions the Prince not acting as Governour of the Vnited Provinces but as a Private person managing his own proper Affairs he was not oblig'd to make his business known to the States General Nevertheless I make no question but the Principal Head-peices among them were well inform'd from the beginning of the Design which is a thing indeed not to be doubted considering the good Intelligence there has been at the Hague for several Years last past and the unanimous Consent of their High and Mightinessess when the Question was debated whether they should lend their helping hand to carry on the Work 2. Since the Defeat of the D. of Monmouth and the Dragoon Persecutions France and the Court of England never ceas'd to molest and disquiet the Vnited Provinces They Exasperated the Algerines against them who adventur'd to exercise their Pyracies upon the Coast of Holland James the II. set open his Ports to those Corsairs and suffer'd them publicly to sell the Prizes which they had taken from his Allies Lewis the XIV sought an occasion to pick a Quarrel with the Subjects of the States in the Streights of Gibraltar forbid the Sale of their Herrings and their Cloath in his Kingdom and laid Impositions upon all their Merchandizes enter'd in his Ports In a Word since the Design for the repeal of the Tests and the Attempts upon Dr. Burnet there has been nothing but Memoirs Complaints and Murmurings on both sides It was easie for the Hollanders to see that the Two Princes had conspir'd their Ruin so that the least they could do was to Arm and stand on their Defence Therefore they rig out a Fleet to protect themselves from the Algerines and the Threats of France Thereupon out comes the Letter of the Deceas'd Monsieur Fagel that the Court of England was drawn into a Conjunction with France by the force of Intreaties Promises and Menaces repeated one upon the Neck of another The Misunderstanding increases and King James keeps an Army on Foot contrary to the Laws of the Land the Queen is feign'd to be with Child and a Counterfeit Prince of Wales is impos'd upon the Nation The Hollanders reinforce their Army and Navy both by Sea and Land The French redouble their Threats and the English their Murmurs The latter at length present a Memorial to their Royal Highnesses wherein they set forth the Cause of their Complaints and invite the Prince to come over and procure the Calling of a Parliament The Prince condescends to their earnest Supplications the States Consent Assist him with Ships and Souldiers to prevent any Attempt upon his Person The Prince puts to Sea accompany'd with the Blessing of Heaven and the Acclamations of the People and he was recerv'd into England with the same Joy as was seen at his departure out of Holland This was that which was both seen and known to all the Land What can be from hence concluded but that there was a great deal of Patience and Prudence on the one side and Violence and Rashness on the other So that all that the View of this Transaction could encline a rational Person to was only this to have a Compassion for James the II. and a High Esteem for his Competitor But it behoves us to be Candid and to acknowledge that the Fortunate Assemblage of all these Circumstances would not perhaps have been sufficient had they been only favour'd by Persons of less exalted Degree then their Royal Highnesses were They are both of them Protestants not only by Birth and Education but also through Affection and choice of a more Understanding they are of easie Access and Affable their Conversation Civil and Vertuous they keep their words exactly they make it their glory to leave nothing imperfect but to accomplish whatever they take in hand not enduring the repulse of whatsoever dangers they see before them They never Abandon those that serve them faithfully but reward them liberally they are neither sway'd by Humour our nor difficult to Content and willingly forgive Offences not maliciously committed They are endow'd with Wisdom Piety and Vertue Great Eneouragers of Learning and Learned Men and particularly Church-men Such Qualities as these would recommend a Private Person to the highest Dignities but where they meet in Persons of Royal Extraction what wonder if they win upon the Affections of the People The Valour and Vigilance of the Prince his Experience in Military Discipline and his indefatigable Fervency in Combat gain him the Hearts of his Souldiers and Allies his Prudence and peircing Judgment cause him to be esteem'd by Men of the sublimest intellects and his probity and sincerity command the Reverence of good Men. His Reputation is so uncontroulable that the Court of England could never lay any other thing to his Charge but the rigorous Severity of his Military Discipline The Love which the Hollanders have for him is so general that among the vast Number of Writers wish which that State is crowded of which so many take the Liberty to speak their Minds with freedom enough there never was but one that endeavour'd to Calumniate the Princes Expedition into England but the Book had so few Readers and sold so ill thatit presently became wast Paper These were the Reasons of the great Success of Willtam the III. For in regard that all the World had a great Love for him in regard his Designs were equally Just Pious and Beneficial that he went to secure his Country to deliver his Oppress'd Brethern and Neighbours and to Re-establish the Protestant Religion and the Liberty of the Nation every body glory'd in contributing to it no body betray'd him tho he had several Confidents and the States lent him their Helping hand so soon as all things were ready And this was that which made several Strangers believe that this Design till it was ripe for Execution lay deposited in the Breasts of certain faithful Counsellors who then by a more then usual Dexterity engag'd their High and Mightinesses in the Affair But the truth is that several Persons were acquainted with it and that they were sway'd rather by Love then Policy The Secrecy with which the King of France manages his Affairs is greatly wonder'd at and indeed it is a thing much to be commended but it is very rare Tho for ten or twelve Counsellors whose Fortune wholly depends upon the King to be faithful to him and keep his Secrets is no such extraordinary peice of business But for an infinite Number of Bishops and Ministers of Lords Magistrates and Private Persons to keep silence so long and to be so true one to another is that which hardly ever yet was known And therefore the best Counsel that can be given to our Enemies would be speedily to make a Peace with a Prince so well belov'd by his own Subjects and so formidable to his Adversaries For the time will come that he will despise