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A25894
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The Art of assassinating kings taught Lewis XIV and James II by the Jesuites : wherein is discovered the secret of the last conspiracy form'd at Versailles in Sep. 1695, against the life of William III, King of Great Britain, and discover'd at White-Hall, Feb. 1695/6.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing A3785; ESTC R24187
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46,472
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132
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instead of that the Box being open'd they met with a Sight which struck them with Horrour It was an Oval Copper Medal in form of a Buckler which the ancient Romans consecrated to their false Gods The Sculpture of the Medal represented Catharine de Medicis upon her Knees making an Offering to the Devil who was painted sitting upon a high-rais'd Throne with all the deformed Delineations of Affright and Terror imaginable On each side of the Queen were her Three Sons Charles Henry and the Duke of Alenson with this Impress in French Soit pourven que je regne Let it be so provided I may Reign Which Medal is still to be seen in the Family of de Mesme from which the Count d'Avaux formerly Ambassador in Holland is descended And they whose Curiousity leads 'em to be more distinctly inform'd of the Circumstances of this Secret may hear it from the Lips of that Minister Such are the Crimes which Princes are carry'd to commit by their exorbitant Ambition of Rule or rather by their unbridled Fury and Zeal Whence we conclude that 't is no wonder if King James who has all along been animated with this Fury and possess'd by this unruly Passion seeks now to regain his lost Throne by the Assassination of King William But God who has all along taken care of this Magnanimous Prince and guarded him from all the Snares of his Enemies will we trust preserve Him still a Blessing to Europe in despite of all their detestable Enterprizes All the Christian Princes unite their Prayers to Heaven for his Happy Preservation And indeed it is the Interest of all Christendom which looks upon Him as Her Deliverer and as the Person who is to set Her free from all the Mischiefs that have afflicted Her for so many Years Most Serene PRINCES This is a violent Outrage an Attempt which ought to awake the Care and Zeal which you have shew'd for the Common Cause ever since the commencement of the War 'T is that laudable Ardour which ought to engage yee to redouble your Efforts against the Common Enemy of your Lives your Territories your States and your Liberty you ought all to be enliven'd with the same Spirit and Resolution to demand Reparation of your Enemies for an Act so base and so abominable Let it never be said that your wanted either Counsel or Courage to revenge an Attempt form'd against the Life of one of your Confederates 'T is an Act wherein you are all equally concern'd since the Interests are still the same which first engag'd you to take Arms and which ought still to encourage yee unanimously to concurr with our Magnanimous Prince in seeking all the Brave and Noble Ways imaginable that a lawful War will permit for the pulling down so mortal so haughty so inexorable an Enemy as Lewis XIV Nor can we endeavour this incomparable Design with more Honour than by redoubling our Efforts to carry on the present War with all the Fervour imaginable This is that which the most Christian Monarch dreads and this is that which made him hasten had it been possible the Destruction of the most Potent and most Formidable of his Enemies He saw the impossibility of vanquishing him by force of Arms though he wanted neither good Generals nor stout and numerous Armies nor Fortune of his side and all this back'd with Treacheries and Conspiracies laid against the Life of his Powerful Adversary All this has hitherto prov'd fruitless however he must vanquish or lose all his ill-got Honour And this it is that enrages the most Christian Usurper against King William and inspires him with new Attempts Nor do they now conceal themselves as in the former Conspiracies they are no longer Two or Three Assassines that now seek the Life of King William but Shoals of Murderers that shew themselves barefac'd supported and authoriz'd by Two Kings who give 'em their Orders under their own Hands and supply 'em with Money Arms and Horses What a Shame what an abject Baseness is this for Christian princes And what may we not expect for the future from such Disciples who have so well profited in the School which teachers the Art of Assassinating Kings 'T is a Fact which will cover the Authors of it with Shame for ever and strike a Horrour into all Pagan Princes who never knew among themselves the Practice of these detestable Principles I defie any Man to find in any of the most faithful Histories the least footstep of this barbarous Fury condemn'd by all Religions and all good Men. 'T is now for the most Christian King and King James to say what they can for Themselves and we expect with impatience the Manifesto which is promis'd us We know there is no want of eloquent Pens in France to varnish over a Piece of this Moment and Importance and give it that specious Tour which it shall please the Court on purpose to put an Illusion upon the Publick and cover the Horrour of this detestable Crime 'T is a sort of Coin which the most Christian King has so frequently made use of upon these Occasions that there are few Courts in Europe wherein it will any longer pass for current The Confederate Princes are preposses'd of this and know very well what France is meditating upon this Subject Whatever ingenious Tour she gives her Manifesto and whatever Tricks she plays to ward off the bloody Reproaches which all Christendom will throw upon her and that deservedly too she will never be able to justifie her self nor to make an Apology such a one was will do her Business 'T is a hard matter to render Good and just a Cause that is bad of it self they must not be weak and feeble Arguments that are employ'd upon this Occasion This thing now in dispute is a matter of Fact averr'd and attested by the Mouths of the Conspirators themselves So many Authentick Proofs so many undeniable Witnesses which the Confederates have of so important a Fact are sufficient if not to stop the Mouth yet to convince the World of the Guilt of the most Christian King The Tryals of the Conspirators the Attestations of the Evidence will answer this Manifesto whenever it appears in such a manner as will be a Publick Conviction of the Authors and Abettors of so base and black an Enterprize So that unless the Council of France make haste with their Manifesto they may justly fear that the Trials in England will prevent 'em by rendring all the Artisices of France of no use to her and by publishing Particulars of the whole Conspiracy so essential that it will be a dissiult matter for the Ministers of that Crown to answer whatever care they take or whatever trouble they put themselves to We dare advertise them before-hand that whatever they advance will only serve to render the matter of fact more manifest However let 'em produce their Reasons whether good or bad 'T is a Priviledge which the most rigorous Justice allows the most Guilty which is to plead their own Cause and alledge what they think most proper for their Justification according to the Accusations charg'd upon ' em Let us then conclude in expectation of this Manifesto which without question will be one of the most study'd Cabinet-Pieces that ever the Court of France set forth let us then conclude that it would have been much better for the Crown of France that the most Christian King had never medled in this Conspiracy 't is an odious Stain that reflects upon all the Nation and blackens it with an Infamy which many Ages to come will never wipe away In the mean time K. William according to the Principles of Christianity sincerely pardons his Enemies and prays to God to forgive the heinousness of their Crime assur'd that so long as he is under the Protection of Divine Providence he shall never be in danger but shall triumph over all their vile and clandestine Attempts whatever Snares they lay to ravish away his Life The END
offer'd But as for You Monsieur Dauphin 't is hop'd that your Inclinations will not lead you to follow this Great Exemplar We are sensible that you like the deceased Prince of Conde abhor such Treacherous Actions as these unworthy of a great Hero more especially a Christian Prince one day design'd to wear one of the most August Crowns in Christendom All Europe looks upon You as one that will restore that Peace and Tranquility which your Father 's unjust Claims have banish'd from among the Christian Princes If it be the Pleasure of Heaven that ever you come to the Crown we most justly flatter our selves that France was never so happy as it will be then Your Subjects will be deliver'd from the Burthens of a thousand Imposts Trade will be restor'd Arts and Sciences will flourish the Nobility of the Kingdom will reassume their Ancient Splendor the Parliaments and Sovereign Courts will again enjoy that Authority of which they have been despoil'd the Neighbouring Princes will have a plenary Confidence in your Royal Word your Treaties will be inviolable and you will be lookt upon in all the Courts of Europe as a Prince that treads in the Steps of your Illustrious Ancestors and not pursue the Vices of two Monarchs that strike a Horror of their Actions into the Hearts of all the Christian Princes Call to mind Sir the Precepts of the Wise Plato That the Laws have a Power over Kings as well as Subjects So long as you take such Principles for the Rule of your Actions you will be the Love of your Subjects the Glory of your Age and the Greatest King in the World All Europe Sir conjures you to inculcate these Noble Lessons into the young Princes your Sons who are one day to succeed you 't is time to do it but more especially to infuse into their tender years an Aversion and Abhorrency of the Detestable Principles of their Grandfather condemned by all good men Instil into them this noble Thought of Aristotle He whom the People will not admit for King is a Tyrant so long as they have the Love of the People they will be worthy to wear a Crown This is that which is the greatest Glory of that Prince whom the Most Christian King your Father and his Allie King James would have Assassinated he is passionately belov'd of his Subjects and consequently worthy to be their King This Love it is which assures him of their Fidelity which establishes his Throne and renders it immoveable and which is the Reason that his Subjects will spend the last drop of their Blood for the Preservation of his Sacred Person The want of this Love so necessary for Princes that will Govern according to Law was the cause of King James's Misfortunes and that which renders him the most miserable of Monarchs But would to Heaven that this were the only Stain that renders him odious all the Christian Princes of Europe would then have no reason to upbraid him with the most detestable of all Crimes the meditated Assassination of King William But let us return to the most Christian King If we consider what happen'd upon the Birth of that Prince we shall meet with nothing but what is surprizing All France before that was in great Affliction and all in Tears besought of God an Heir to the Crown After two and twenty Years of Barrenness the Queen-Mother conceiv'd and she brough forth a Successor to Lewis XIII But what Successor A Prince that came into the World with Two Teeth A strange Prodigy and the most surprizing that has happen'd in our days When the Soothsayers of Italy were consulted by Expresses which the deceased M. de Colbert sent thither they answer'd That the Prince newly born with Two Teeth should with One of his Teeth tear his Subjects with the Other the Princes of Europe his Neighbours In a word never was Horoscope better fulfill'd The Commencements of his Reign are full of Prodigies and hitherto the End has been no less surprizing Hardly was he arriv'd at the Age of Majority but he began with reforming the greatest part of his Ministers He despoils the Parliaments and Soveraign Courts of all they had which was most August the Supream Authority He humbled the Nobility of his Kingdom impoverish'd his Subjects by an infinite number of new Taxes He raises great Armies to keep 'em under Submission and Respect He fortifies the greatest part of the Strong Holds in his Kingdom to enslave the whole and serve as Ramparts to his Ambition He le ts loose his Fury against the See of Rome and he alone commits more Attentats against the Soveraign Pontiffs then all his Predecessors together had ever done After these happy Beginnings he studies Machiavel and got him so well by Heart that his whole Reign was but a Tissue of that Author's Precepts He observes 'em to the most minute Maxims and by the help of Mazarin he became so Great a Master in the Art of Reigning that the Bounds of France could no longer contain him There is not any Prince in Europe that has not been a Victim to his Ambition If he makes Alliances 't is only to aggrandize himself by Violation of his Oaths If he declares War 't is unjust because his only Aim is the Invasion of his Neighbour's Dominions If he concludes a Peace 't is only to break it to morrow and that he may have new Pretences to recommence the War In a word there is no Sovereign Prince no Elector in the Empire no Republick in Europe that is not sensible of the Effects of his cruel Domination The present War has thrown its dismal Firebrands into all the Corners of the World All Christendom enjoy'd a profound Peace at what time the most Christian King sent Armies of Incendiaries with lighted Flambeaux in their hands to Fire the most Noble Cities of Germany This dismal Conflagration after it had reduced the Palatinate into Ashes was extended by the hands of M. de Boufflers all along the Rhine the Moselle and thence through all Flanders and Brabant and so over-running like a Mad-man and a Fury all the open Country he burnt all before him sparing neither Churches nor Monasteries All these Cruelties were acted in view of all the Princes of Europe but there was none but King William who applied himself in earnest to stop the Career of France The People of England call'd this Great Prince to their Succour because the most Christian King Reign'd no less in the Three Kingdoms of Great Britain then in France by virtue of the Cruelties which King James his Confederate exercis'd therein King William passes the Sea supported by the hands of Providence he is received with all the Honours immaginable by the Nobility of the Kingdom and by the People The Crown is presented to him and he is desired to accept it which he does after Long Importunities because the present Condition of the Affairs of Europe and the Safety of the Common-weal engag'd