Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A67669
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The happy union of England and Holland, or, The advantageous consequences of the alliance of the Crown of Great Britain with the States General of the United Provinces
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R. W.
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1689
(1689)
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Wing W94; ESTC R24583
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52,058
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72
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lessen the Authority of the Church of England 'T is a strange thing that the Roman Catholics who hardly know their own Religion should pretend to teach us ours They have been told a thousand times that the Bishops and Presbyterians of England differ only in so slight Ceremonies which are nothing to the Essential part of Divine Worship and that there is more of Obstinacy and Misunderstanding between them then of real Cause of Dispute We have seen at the Hugue for this ten or twelve Years the Princess of Orange now Queen Mary of England repair indifferently sometimes to the Dutch or French Church and sometimes to her own Chappel The Prince no sooner arriv'd at London but he receiv'd the Communion in an Episcopal Church and gave a favourable Reception to the Presbyterian Ministers who went to Congratulate him We see every day several of the Episcopal Party Communicate with the Reformed on this side the Sea and our French and Holland Protestants joyn themselves with the Church of England Yet maugre all this the Romish Doctors would make us believe we are of two Religions And upon the same score because their Religion properly consists only in exterior Pomp in Images Relics Beds Rosaries Holy-water Monks of several Colours and such like Superstitious Exercises and Institutions and that those other things wherein they differ from the Protestants are only the Inventions of Italian Policy they imagin it to be the same with ours Whence it comes to pass that all the Speculative Opinions of our Divines are by those Gentlemen lookt upon as so many All the Confessions of Faith the Liturgies the Ceremonies in the Administration of the Sacraments the Varieties of Discipline the Orders and Habits of the Preachers if our Adversaries were so to be believ'd among us make so many different Sects For this reason it was that a certain Prelate who believ'd himself to be very witty has made a History of the Variations of our Churches and he had so great a desire to augment the Number that he bethought himself of ascribing to us as many Relics as he found Systems of our Ministers upon the Apocalyps the most obscure Book of all the New Testament Nevertheless we must acknowledge that the Headstrong Obstinacy of some of Ours and the remains of Ignorance and the Spirit of Antichristianism that will not yet out of the Bones of some that Envy our Unity have given occasion to these Calumnies The Western Church has mourn'd for above these ten Centuries under the Darkness and Yoke of Popery During which time there was Opportunity and Advantage enough to deepen the Superstitions and Impressions of Popery under so wicked a Master Add to this that since the Reformation we have not had a Prince whose Knowledg Piety and Puissance have been able to reconcile our Differences The Great Gustavus had conceiv'd such a Design in his Mind but he vanish'd like a flash of Lightning in the midst of his Victories It seems that God has reserv'd this Honour for William the III. and this Happiness till our Time God has sent this Prince into the World in a Country where the Spirit of Toleration has pass'd from the Magistrates to the most Learned Ministers He has call'd him to a Kingdom replenish'd with Learned and Pious Bishops who have for a long time preserv'd their Flocks in Peace by their gentleness and moderation The Prince at hi first Coming to the Government found Factions in the Church as well as in the State He has appeas'd both the one and the other The Persecution of the Reformed in France has open'd the Eyes of all their Brethren and has shew'd them the necessity of guarding themselves from the Fury of the Jesuits All these Conjunctures in my Opinion presage a happy Union of the Protestants As to what is said that the Prince of Orange is more absolute in the Vnited Provinces then any of his Predecessors is an Equivocation For ever since the Establishment of the Commonwealth the Hollanders have always born a very great Affection to the House of Orange but true it is that ever since William the Silent who laid the first Foundations of their Liberty this State never had a Prince whom they lov'd more then William Henry The reason is because he enter'd upon the Government at a time when the Hollanders seem'd to be ruin'd beyond recovery and yet he restor'd them to their former Grandeur However notwithstanding this signal Service done them the dread of War and certain vain Suspitions were the Cause that there was great Opposition made against a Levie of sixteen Thousand Men which the Prince most earnestly press'd for as better understanding the Designs of France then any of the Burgomasters of Amsterdam The Event demonstrated that never was any Opposition made upon such bad Grounds nor more Prejudicial to the State For Lewis the XIV boasted in the Edict which revokes that of Nantes that he had not made the Truce but to Exterminate the Protestants out of his Kingdom James the II. took that time to perplex the Church of England and to invade the Liberties of his People At length France threw off her Mask and broke the Truce as soon as she thought she could do it with Advantage That long Train of Delusions justify'd the Prince's Innocence shew'd that he had no other Aim in all his Designs but the Preservation of Liberty and the Protestant Religion and gain'd him the Hearts of all the Hollanders And I would fain know how long it has been a Crime for a Governour to win the Love of those who are under his Conduct Thus you may see how the first Prince William render'd himself Absolute and how the same Power came to be transferr'd to his Successors not by Usurpation but by preserving the Liberty of the Republic The form of Government is still the same the Elections are made by the usual Suffrages the Resolutions taken for the raising of Money making Peace and War Affairs of Trade Justice and Civil Government are all determin'd in the Assembly of Estates according to the Ancient Customs and we are ready to make it appear that for these fifteen Years last past that William Henry has sate at the Helm he has acted nothing but according to the Laws and by vertue of the power annex'd to his high Authority and Command As to what is reported that the Prince engag'd the States General in his Expedition for England without imparting to them his Design is a Calumny of his Enemies which has no other foundation but the Malice of those who are enrag'd that he did not make a discovery of that Fortunate Enterprize at such a time that they might have had more leisure to prepare to obstruct him And it is an easie thing to convince all Intelligent Persons of the Folly of this Objection Suppose this Revolution had been the Effect of long deliberation it was necessary before all other things 1. To be assur'd of the Inclinations
in Corn abounding in Wine in Cattel in Pasturage in Oyl in Salt in all sorts of Fruits a Country water'd with large Rivers to the North and West wash'd by the Ocean and to the South by the Mediterranean Sea as if Nature not content with the peculiar Wealth she has bestow'd upon it design'd to furnish it with all that Foreign Climates have in particular I say who would believe that a People thus endow'd in the midst of a soil abounding with Milk and Honey should be forc'd to dwell in Straw Huts and to be reduc'd to Beggary Who would believe that there should be nothing to be seen but Palaces demolish'd and ruin'd Houses in a Kingdom where no Enemy has been ravaging for these two or three Ages together That a Country Husband man after he has till'd his own Lands and reap'd the Harvest should have nothing but a little Rye Barley or Chest-nuts to eat or the squeezings of the Lees of the Grape mixed with Water or Water it self to drink For the Collector of the Kings duties has despoil'd him of his Wheat his Wine and his Oyl leaving him hardly wherewithal to sow his Land next Year and pay his Tenths Besides that the Land is over and above charg'd with duties for goods brought in and going forth Customs and other excessive Taxes and to compleat the total consuming of what the Collectors could not carry away the Souldiers run from Province to Province trampling the poor People under foot Strangers wonder at the vast Number of Souldiers that France keeps up in pay But this does not come to pass because the Kingdom is better Peopl'd then other Countries You shall travel several Leagues together through most fertile Champaign Countries and hardly meet with one poor miserable Cottage whereas the very Mershes and Sands of Holland seem to be but one Great and Magnificent City But the reason is for that being Born where only the King the Favourites of the Wealthy and the Souldiers can live the rest must either carry a Musquet or starve In all other Countries the Great Cities enjoy considerable Priviledges hold General Assemblies composed of the Nobility the Clergy and the third Estate where they consâ—â—â— of what concerns the public good to prevent the indiscâ—â—â—â—on of bad Counsellers from putting the Kingdom in combustion and the hungry Courtiers from inriching themselves with the sweat of the People 'T is not so in France Bourdeaux Marseilles Toulouse La Rochelle Nismes Montauban c. have all lost their Franchises and are curb'd and kept in awe by Citadels and strong Garrisons The King keeps his Court but seldom in Paris to lessen the Power of that Proud City All the rest of the Cities are so poor that Grenoble one of the most Flourishing and Capital of the Dauphinate the Seat of the Parliament of that Province is not able to raise Money to restrain within it's Channel a small River that overflows the Country and many times threatens the City with a destructive deluge The Parliaments more especially that of Paris had reserv'd to themselves a right to examine the Edicts and Decrees of their Prince And if they found any thing fit to be excepted against they humbly represented their exceptions to his Majesty as they did to Hen. IV. when he was designing to recal the Jesuits and their remonstrances were frequently of that force as to cancel an Edict otherwise they allow'd and confirm'd it But they have Punish'd with so much rigor and cruelty several Counsellers who in the late troubles during the Minority of the King gave proof of their constancy and zeal for the public good that at this day no Body dares so much as open their mouths Nor do they now make use of the Word d'Enteriner which properly signifies to give the force of a Law to a Declaration of the Prince so that the Parliaments for fear of jostling the Absolute Power of their Invincible Monarch barely write down that they have read such or such an Edict of the King and that they have Verify'd it that is they have acknowledg'd it to be his Majesties Act and Deed. After which his most humble Slaves have not a Word more to say I will not here speak of that same tedious and barbarous Persecution of the Reformed in France though that Party was very considerable in the Kingdom as well for that other Authors have made very large Descriptions of it as for that it is not convenient to meddle with Particular differences in a discourse that relates only to the public Interest I shall only observe that Religion which is the General Pretence laid hold of to cause the Roman Catholics to approve these violent Proceedings is not the real cause thereof and that it is not out of any zeal for the Glory of God that those poor People are depriv'd of their Relations and Friends and of their fellow Citizens and that they destroy and ruin their Trade It may be that the King is over perswaded that his conscience obliges him to exterminate Heresy But he is a good natur'd Prince naturally not inclin'd to cruelty yet when he is made believe that he offers an oblation to God in Sacrificing to his vengeance those that worship him after a manner different from ours it is enough to overcome a good disposition and push on zeal even to fury But as for his Counsellers they are too sufficiently known to the World to make any doubt whether Conscience or Religion are the Motives that spur them on to Act. 'T is certain they are not and therefore we must seek out for others and I think I have call'd to mind some of them The first is the hatred of the Jesuites against all those that are not of their Opinion For Opinion is the Queen of the World And therefore they who would command others use all their endeavours to make those whom they labour to bring under Subjection to admit of their Maxims chiefly those that relate to Philosophy Divinity and Morality The Grandees can easily rid themselves of a few Private Persons by the way of Calumny or by bringing them into trouble but to destroy a numerous Body that continually raises up fresh Enemies there is no way but to proceed by open force The Jesuits being the most Rigid of all the Doctors of the Roman Church always found the Reformed to be Opposers of their designs Nor were the Jansenists who accus'd these Fathers for being the Corrupters of Christian Morality less odious to them But the Society being more Powerful then both these brought about their ends by a Persecution of above Forty Years In the first Place they put in practice Processes and brangling Suits Knavery and Imposture of which they made use against those that escap'd their fury by flying for Sanctuary into Foreign Countries The second Motive to Persecution is the Avarice of the Society which appear'd by the Benefices and Estates of the Jansenists and Protestant confiscated which the Jesuits