A View of the COURT OF St. GERMAIN From the Year 1690 to 95 With an Account of the Entertainment PROTESTANTS meet with there Directed to the MALECONTENTS PROTESTANTS OF ENGLAND LONDON Printed for R. Baldwin near Oxford-Arms-Inn in Warwick-lane MDCXCVI The PREFACE THE Ages to come will hardly believe that in England their should be found one single Protestant Jacobite at this time of Day And the Reform'd Nations abroad are at a loss what to make of that unaccountable Species of Men. When most of the Roman Catholick Princes have heartily embrac'd the late Revolution in Britain as the last Effort for the Common Liberty of Europe and have enter'd into the strictest Alliance with those of an opposite Religion to Support it It looks like a Dream to meet with any English Protestant in an Interest contradiâ—…ory to not only the Publick Liberty of their Country but to the Religion they profess It was indeed no great wonder that the late King made all the Steps possible towards the Change of the Religion in his Opinion Heretical at a time when he was upon the Throne and back'd with all the promising Supports of Regal Power yet even then he thought himself obliged to keep some Measures with his Protestant Subjects and in stead of a total Rupture with them endeavour'd to lull them asleep under the Specious Pretence of Liberty of Conscience till all his Engines were ready to give the fatal Blow But now that he has fallen under Circumstances which one would think should much more then ever oblige him to assume anew at least keep on the old Mask Vpon the quite contrary since he went to France he has taken all pains imaginable to let the World know his inveterate aversion to all those of the Reform'd Religion tho' never so much his Friends and at the same time has given us the most Authentick Demonstration of his firm design never to allow any there of his Favour nor owe his Restoration to any but Roman Catholicks All which will appear by the following account of his Carriage towards those few Protestants that have followed his sinking Fortunes the length of St. Germains A View of the COURT OF St. Germain Directed to the Malecontents Protestants of ENGLAND THERE being already so many Volumes to shew the Lawfulness of the late Revolution it is Superfluous it seems to make any further attempt on the same Subject for if you have shut your Eyes against the strong Arguments and convincing Proofs made use of in those Books who can flatter himself to cure you of that wilful Blindness However I hope this plain account I make bold to direct to you will not prove altogether useless for when I consider your Party I think I may reasonably believe that it is made up of some good and Honest Men tho' misguided by a tender Conscience and of some self-interested Persons who being not able to obtain the Preferments they expected have turned Jacobites in hopes to advance their Fortune by a Second Revolution But give me leave to tell you further that after an impartial enquiry into the Life and Conversation of your Party I have all the reasons in the World to conclude that the number of the Consciencious Jacobites I have spoken of must be very little and that the greatest number among you are hurried away by the imaginary hopes I have hinted at therefore if I can convince you that you have no reason to flatter your selves to obtain any reward or preferments under King James no not when he should be restored by your means I hope some of you will open their Eyes to their own Interest and forsake a Prince from whom you cannot expect any grateful Return I won't recal to your Minds his Behaviour while he was on the Throne of England I suppose no body has forgot that no Protestants were welcome to him but such as would promise to betray the Liberties of their Country to Popery and Arbitrary Power neither shall I mention how severely he used the Protestants of Ireland in 1689 you would be apt to say that being in Popish hands he could not avoid it but I intend only to give you a short view of his Court at St. Germain and an account of the Entertainment the Protestants of your Party have met there For if a Prince in his Circumstances whose interest it ought to be to court Protestants cannot conceal for a time the Hatred he has for them what treatment can you expect from him when he is re-inthroned and Supported by the Power of France King James retiring into France after his defeat at the Boyn left the Administration of his Affairs in Ireland to my Lord Tyrconnel and in Scotland to the Colonels Buchan and Cannon and the French King having appointed St. Germain in Laye for his reception he there began to form a Court in the Year 1690 and his House-hold was constituted as follows The Duke of Powis Lord Chamberlain Colonel Porter Vice-Chamberlain Colonel Skelton Comptroller The Earls of Dumbarton and Abercome Lords of the Bed-Chamber Captains Macdonald Beadles Stafford and Trevanian Groom of the Bed-Chamber The two Sheldons Esquires Fergus Graham Privy Purse Sir John Sparrow Board of Green Cloth and Mr. Strickland Vice Chamberlain to the Queen The Officers of State were as follows Mr. Brown Brother to my Lord Montague Brown and sometime Commissioner of the Custom Secretary of State for England Father Jnnes President of the Scots College at Paris Secretary of State for Scotland Sir Richard Neagle Secretary of State for Ireland To these were added as a Juncto Mr. Carril the Queens Secretary and Mr. Stafford formerly Envoy at the Court of Spain whom the King called together as a Privy Council to advise with upon all Emergencies The Earl of Melford Prime Minister of State being sent to Rome sometime before partly to Negociate King James's Affairs at the Pope's Court and partly to remove him from the Jealousies of the Irish who at that time wholly Monopolized this Prince's Ear and Favour Thus things continued for a while but Ireland being reduced sometime after and the Scotish Highlanders Submitting the Court of St. Germain was every day thronged with Gentlemen from those Kingdoms as well as from England and then a Protestant Party began to distinguish themselves and endeavour to make an appearance at that Court. The first considerable step they made was to desire a Chappel from King James for the exercise of their Worship according to the Church of England and propos'd Dr. Granvile Brother to the Earl of Bath formerly Dean of Durham as a fit Person to be their Chaplain they urged the great Incouragement such a Toleration would give to his Adherents in England and what satisfaction it would be to such Protestants as followed him but tho' common Policy and his Circumstances made every Body believe that this Request would be easily granted yet it was positively denied and Dr. Granvile obliged not only to retire from
Court but also from the Town of St. Germain to avoid the daily Insults of the Priests and the dreaded Consequences of the Jealousies with which they possest't King James's Court against him Dr. Gordon a Bishop of Scotland the only Protestant Divine that then was there met with a worse Treatment still than Dr. Granvile and was reduced to the necessity of abjuring his Religion for want of Bread with which he could not be Supplied but upon those hard terms However K. James being sensible that such an usage would prejudice his Interest in Britain resolved to prevent the coming of any Protestant Divine there and therefore sent Mr. Macqueen in Company of Major Scot into England who brought Letters from him to his Friends in which he required them to trouble him no more with Divines as Messengers This bad Success did not altogether discourage the Protestant Party they made a second effort upon the Constitution of the before-mentioned Council of Five to have one of the number at least a Protestant They insisted upon the Advantages which might thence redound to his Majesties Affairs in Britain and for that end did earnestly recomend my Lord Chief Justice Herbert as a Person both well qualified to give Advice in English Affairs and of an unspoted reputation in his Country Those reasons where so convincing that the Irish fearing they would obtain their demand an Information was trumped up against the chief Justice by Mr. Comptroller Skelton and Sir William Sharp of having said that King James's violent Temper would ruin himself and all that followed him My Lord owned the Words but made so ingenious an Explanation of his meaning which was in relation to the Act of Settlement in Ireland that King James was satisfied The Irish having missed their Aim formed a short time after another Plot against him and charged him of corresponding with the English and mis-representing the Transactions of that Court whereupon he and a worthy Lady with whom he boarded were confined and Broomfield the Quaker committed to the Bastile And thus was this Lord Chief Justice for no other reason but his adhering to a Protestant Interest excluded from all share of management of Affairs in King James's Court tho his Capacity and Sufferings were sufficient in the Eyes of all reasonable Men to have intitled him to a share in that Prince's Favour and Secret If my Lord Chief Justice Herbert was so used I would fain know upon what ground any of our Jacobites should flatter himself of a better Treatment Mr. Cockburn of Lanton in the Kingdom of Scotland was the next Protestant that had Merit and Favour enough to pretend to a share in the management of King James's Affairs This Gentleman having followed him in Ireland was taken at Sea after the Battle of the Boyn and brought Pisoner to London but a Proposal being made of Exchanging him for Captain St. Lo then Prisoner in France he was inlarged and during his abode here did so ingratiate himself with the most considerable of the disaffected Protestants that he was recommended by them to King James as a Person fit to serve him in the Affairs of greatest Trust He was no sooner arived at St. Germain that he told that Prince his Friends in England thought that my Lord Melford who was then returned from Rome was a great Grievance and ought to be laid aside and that the only way for the King to procure the good Opinion of his Subjects in Britain and reconcile them to him was to put the management of his Affairs in Protestants Hands This prudent Advice of the disaffected Protestants of England or of Mr. Cockburn had an effect quite contrary to what they expected King James took it so ill that in few days after an Order was procured from the French Court commanding him to depart France under severe Penalties being too much a Friend to the English Interest Mr. Cockburn was forced to obey and has lived as an Exile in Holland and Hamburg ever since But the Submission of the Scotch Highlanders afford us still some more convincing Proofs of King James's hatred for the Protestant Religion and of his Ingratitude towards such who had made a Sacrifice of all that can be dear to Men to Support his sinking Fortune in Scotland The Lords Dumferling Dundee Dunkel Colonels Cannon Graham and several others Protestants having forfeited their Estates and Families retired into France as also did the Colonels Buchan Maxwell Wauchop and some other Popish Gentlemen but when they came to St. Germain the Papists were immediatly preferred to considerable Posts both in the French and Irish Armies while the Protestants tho their Merit was greater were exposed to all imaginable hardship and contempts My Lord Dumferling and Colonel Cannon are too Illustrious Examples of King James's Ungratitude to be here past by The Earl through a mistaken notion of Loyalty and Honour had Sacrificed his Honourable Family and a plentiful Estate to follow that Prince in his misfortune and it must be granted that such a Proof of Loyalty deserved some kind Returns yet happening to Quarrel at St. Germain with one Captain Brown a Papist about a Trifle the Captain was incouraged and countenanced in his quarrel by the Court and made Commander of a Company of Scots Reformed Officers in Catalonia whilst this Noble Lord was despised for his adhering to his Religion This ill Treatment broke his Heart and he sunk under the Weight of his hard Fate at St. Germain His misfortune lasted longer than his Life for notwithstanding his Merits Sufferings and the Interest made by his Friends he could not obtain a Christian Burial and his Corps was hid in a Chamber till an opportunity was found of Digging a hole in the Fields in the Night where they Thrust him in Nor was Colonel Cannon better used than my Lord Dumferling This Gentleman Commanded as General over King James's Army in Scotland and served him with so much faithfulness that every body thought he would be preferred to a great Command upon his arrival at St. Germain but he positively refusing to abandon the little Religion he had which was Protestant was reduced to the Scandalous Allowance of half a Crown a day whilst Papists who had served under him were advanced to good Posts This unhappy Gentleman finding himself thus neglected fell sick through Grief and Want and died having taken the Sacrament from the Hands of Dr. Granvile three days before his Death but the Priest who were always buzing about him took the oppertunity of his being Speechless to Thrust a Wafer down his Throat and gave out that he was dead a Papist and by this means got him the Favour of Burial which his Corps had else been excluded from as well as my Lord Dumferling's If the Sufferings and great Merits of these two Gentlemen have not been able to Molify King James's Heart and to obtain from him any generous Returns I would fain know upon what Foundation are grounded the
great hopes of our Grumblers seeing the most part of them have not had Courage enough to follow that Prince and have for ought we see no other Qualifications to recommend them but their bare Jacobitism However if the Examples I have already exposed to your view are not sufficient to convince you that as long as you are Protestants and English Men you are to expect no share in King James's Favour I 'll produce some others which I am sure will open your Eyes unless you are bound by an Oath to continue always Blind and I 'll begin with Sir James Mountgomerie This Gentleman left no Stone unturn'd to re-establish King James in Scotland by the same Parliament that declared him to have Forfeited his Right He was afterward for several Years his most Active Minister in England Penn'd and Publish'd Declarations for him at the time of his designed Descent from La Hogue and after the Miscarriage of that wrote his Britain's just Complaints Was his weekly News sender and Project Drawer yet this very Sir James Mountgomerie who had done such great things and run such hazards for him being obliged to fly to France after making his escape from the Messengers House could not obtain by reason of his being a Protestant any share into that Prince's Favour was brow-beaten from the Court by Priests daily upbraided with having been once in the Prince of Orange's Interest and at last Obliged to retire to Paris where he dyed with the Melancholy Reflections of the miserable State he brought himself into The Earl of Lauderdale tho a Papist met with no better Fate than Sir James His Lady being a Protestant and he an enemy to the violent Measures of the Court was judged to be a sufficient Reason to exclude him from any share in the Government so natural it is for all Bigots to hate every body that will not go to their height of Violence This Gentleman heartily advised King James to put his Affairs into Protestants Hands and recommended the Earl of Cl n and the Nonjuring Bishops in England and the Lord Home Southerk and Sinclair in Scotland as the fittest Persons to serve him but his Advice was so ill taken that he had his Lady sent to England not to return any more was himself forbid the Court and reduced to a Pension of one Hundred Pistols per Annum He retired to Paris and seeing no Probability of his Masters changing his Measures died of Grief One would have thought that his Brother Mr. Alexander Maitland who on several Occasions had behaved himself very bravely in that Prince's Service should have been Preferred by him yet he met with such an Entertainment that wanting Bread there he was very glad to come to England and make his Peace with the Government whose Service he had Deserted having once had a Command in the Scots Guards under King William Sir Andrew Forrester is another great Instance of King James's aversion to Protestants This Gentleman served with all imaginable Zeal that Prince's Interests when a Subject and was the devoted Creature of his most Arbitrary Commands when a King he suffered Imprisonment in the Tower for him at the time of his designed Descent and yet notwithstanding all this and the great Experience he had in Scotish Affairs he could never obtain any share in that Prince's Confidence When he came to St. Germain all his Merits Sufferings and the good Character he had in both Kingdoms were not enough to Counter-ballance the Objection of being a Protestant and therefore by no means to be Intrusted so that after some times Attendance as a Cypher he was rewarded with a Pass to return to England for they had there no occasion for him Sir Theophilus Oglethorp who by his Capacity as well as Services was incouraged to go over and offer his Assistance met with Sir Andrew Forrester's Fate upon account of his Religion and was so unkindly used that he was very glad to get home to Old England again where 't is expected he will Plot no more Mr. Fergus Graham was the only Protestant Gentleman in King James's Family but as soon as they saw that my Lord Preston and Colonel Graham his Brothers who ventured so much for that Prince could do them no more Service in England he was discharged for no other Reason but that they thought a Protestant a Blemish in their House-hold Nor was Sir William Sharp better used altho he pretended to come over upon the Act of Parliament in Scotland to save his Estate for the Entertainment he had at St. Germain before he came away is very well known The Pension he had whilst King James's Army in Scotland kept up was taken from him and he fell under distrusts with Melford and Jnnes and contempt at Court which will appear to all Reasonable Men a Sufficient motive for his coming away But the usage of Dr. Cockburn a Scotish Divine is beyond any thing that can be imagined This Gentleman was Banished Scotland for his Practices against the Government and afterwards being obliged to leave England for writing of Pamphlets thought himself secure of a Sanctuary at St. Germain if not of a Reward for his Services but instead of that he met with the daily importunities of Priests to make him abandon his Religion and their endeavours proving vain they then represented him as a dangerous Person and got him sent from France He lives now an Exile in Holland both from Britain and France Mrs. Ashton Widow to Mr. Ashton who was Executed for his being concerned in my Lord Preston's Affairs went to the Court of St. Germain after her Husband's Death as thinking that she had some Merit to plead for a kind Reception but she was as much deceived as any of those I have already mentioned Few days after her arrival Priests were sent to tell her that nothing but being a Roman Catholick could recommend a Woman to the Queen's Service which the Poor Gentlewoman declining to comply with was neglected and dying soon after was refus'd Burial till her Father Mr. Rigby of Covent-Garden as a mighty Favour and at great Charges obtained leave from the Court of St. Germain to have her body brought over into England and Buried her in Covent-Garden Church If these Examples are not sufficient to convince our Jacobites or if they question the Truth of them for really I must own that they are almost incredible I desire them to consult the Young Lord Henmore Mr. Louthian Captains Murray Dalyel Macgil Maclean Fielding Mr. Charles Kinnaird and several hundreds more now in and about London who are lately come from St. Germain and they will tell you that the only Reason why they left that Court was because they could not have Bread except they would change their Religion and therefore did choose rather to run the hazard of Imprisonment by returning to England than stay and Starve in France Many Instances more might be given to shew King James's hatred to every thing that bears
Protestant Religion you cannot expect to be more Favourably Treated then his present Followers Some others amongst you are disaffected because as they say without the Restoration of King James a Protestant War will be entailed on the Nation and because our Treasure is exhausted by Taxes and our Blood expended beyond Sea which the Nation cannot long bear To these Gentlemen I must answer that they are much mistaken for the bringing in of King James which they think will put an end to these Troubles would infallibly bring the Seat of War from Flanders into England For it is unreasonable to Suppose that so many Noble-men and Gentlemen as are ingaged in King William's Cause would tamely Submit or that his Majesty whose Interest in Europe is so very great would either ingloriously abandon his Throne or want Foreign Assistance to Support him in it 2. King James and the French King are both Old and upon a change of a Governour in France we may reasonably expect change of Measures for as to the Prince of Wales his Interest stands or fall with that of his Supposed Father but after all is it reasonable to believe that the French or any other Nation will live in perpetual War with us meerly for the sake of a Prince who pretends to be deprived of his Rights There are very few Knights-Errants in this Age or at least sure I am that no Nation â—n general is Acted by their Principles and we see the French offer already to forsake him 3. I Grant that our Taxes are greater then ever our Nation paid but yet they are not so heavy but that we can hold it out many Years at this Rate In short whatever they be I believe there is no good Man but will rather hazard his Person to keep the Enemy abroad than see a French and Irish Army in the Bowels of our own Country destroying our Substance burning our Habitations and committing the Barbarities which they committed in the Palatinate For certainly by one Months Ravage of this Nature we should lose more Blood and Treasure than can probably be spent to bring the War to an Honourable and happy Conclusion That happy Moment is not perhaps so far as some People imagine for whosoever will cast his Eyes on the present Posturs of Affairs in Europe must needs conclude that the French cannot hold it out much longer FINIS BOOKS Sold by Richard Baldwin BIbliotheca Politica Or an Enquiry into the Antient Constitution of the English Government with respect both to the just Extent of Regal Power and to the Rights and Liberties of the Subject Wherein all the chief Arguments as well against as for the late Revolution are impartially represented and considered In XIII Dialogues Collected out of the best Authors both Ancient and Modern To which is added an Alphabetical Index to the whole Work The Works of F. Rabelais M. D. in five Books or the Lives Heroick Deeds and Sayings of the good Gargantua and Pantagruel and his Voyage to the Oracle of the Bottle As also his Historical Letters To which is added the Author's Life and Explanatory Remarks By Mr. Motteux Never before Printed in English The World Bewitch'd containing an Examination of the common Opinions concerning Spirits their Nature Power Administration and Operations as also the Effects Men are able to produce by their Communication Divided into four Parts By Belthazer Bekker D. D. and Pastor at Amsterdam Vol. I. Translated from a French Copy approv'd of and subscribed by the Author 's own Hand A Collection of Speeches of the Right Honourable Henry late Earl of Warrington viz. I. His Speech upon his being swore Mayor of Chester in November 1691. II. His Speech to the Grand-Jury at Chester April 13 1692. III. His Charge to the Grand-Jury at the Quarter-Sessions held for the County of Chester on the 11th of October 1692. IV. His Charge to the Grand-Jury at the Quarter-Sessions held for the County of Chester on the 25th of April 1693. Letters of State written by Mr. John Milton to most of the Sovereign Princes and Republicks of Europe from the Year 1649 to the Year 1659. To which is added an Account of his Life Together with several of his Poems and a Catalogue of his Works never before Printed An Answer to a Paper written by Count d' Avaux the French King's Ambassador in Sweden concerning the Proposals of Peace made by France to the Confederates
the name of Protestant but if what has already been said is not sufficient sure I am that the rest should be to no purpose What Protestant has he ever so much as seemed to Trust since he lives in France I know that my Lord Middleton must be excepted for indeed King James has a seeming Trust in him There is no Man that has been at St. Germain but must needs perceive that he is not chief Minister as Melford was nor manages Affairs betwixt Versailles and St. Germain that being done by Innes and Porter He is but seldom called to the Council and the French Court has never depended upon his Corrispondence since the disappointment they receive by our Fleets going into the Streights I hope these Instances will convince all good Men that have any Sense of Liberty Religion and Honour how unreasonable it is to be a Jacobite and to think that the Present Misfortunes of King James will Frighten him from Invading our Laws and Liberties in time to come seeing that neither the abandoning of Wives Children and Estates nor the hazarding nay loss of Life in his Service can render him Just and Favourable to such Protestants who have made a Sacrifice of all those things to follow him And if it be so as certainly it is what must those Protestant Nations expect if ever he re-obtains the Government who have renounced him and set another Prince upon his Throne If these who have followed him into France are denied the Exercise of their Religion when his Circumstances make it his Interest to grant it what must we expect if ever he be again in Possession of the Crown My Lord chief Justice Herbert and the other Gentlemen before-named who firmly adhered to his Interests even in his greatest Misfortunes were contemned despised and suffered to Starve because they were Protestants how can we or any Protestant Jacobites who have none of those Merits pretend to be better used If the loss of Honours and Estates has not been sufficient to obtain from him Christian Burial upon what Ground can our Jacobites who have done nothing for him flatter themselves with the hopes of great Preferments if he is reinthroned In short if the Example he had of his Father's Misfortunes and his Brothers Exile wherein he himself was a sharer together with the Sense of his own Misfortunes have not been able to work a Reformation upon him as appears by the above-written Account can we expect that he ever will be made more Plyable The Education of his Prince of Wales whom no body doubts he designs his Successor is is another Instance of his irreconciliable Antipathy to the Protestant Religion and English Liberties One would have thought that Interest as well as Policy would have made him educate his Child a Protestant or at least oblige him to put Protestants about him of unquestioned Reputation to instruct him in the ways of pleasing the People but instead of that Dr. Beeson a famous and violent Papist was made his Preceptor and none but Popish Servants are allowed to be about him so that he can imbibe nothing but what is for the Interest of Rome and Destruction of England Can People be so mad as to expect good terms from a Prince who not only thus Treats his Protestant Subjects who have followed him in his Misfortune but also whose Religion lays him under a Necessity of doing it Could greater Obligations be laid upon any Prince than were upon him by the Church of England when a Subject Her Interest Saved him from being prosecuted for the Popish Plot excluded from the Succession to the English Throne and afterwards dethroned by the Duke of Monmouth yet all those Obligations were no more than his Coronation Oath could not hinder him from invading the Protestant Religion in general but more particularly the Liberties of the Church of England But perhaps some will Object against what I have said that from the Entertainment Protestants meet with at St. Germain 't is not reasonnable to conclude that King James bears still such an aversion to our Religion and Liberties For being himself but a Refugee in France and having nothing to live upon but the Pension the French King allows him it is not in his Power to reward those Protestants who have followed him even not to caress them and therefore we ought rather to Peruse the Declarations he has put out since his being in France for therein we shall find undeniable Proofs that his Misfortunes have much altered his Mind Read will our Jacobites say the Declaration he Published upon his intended Descent from La Hogue and Observe what promises he makes both in relation to our Religion and our Liberties the Sincerity whereof you have no manner of pretence to Question for then thinking himself sure of his Game nothing could oblige him to disguise the true Sentiments of his Heart This is somewhat indeed Gentlemen and were the thing as you say I would agree with you but give me leave to tell you that 't is a great Question whether the Declaration you speak of which was Printed here did really contain King James's Sentiments but whether it was his own Declaration or Sir James Mountgomerie's it does not matter a Pin for his late Majesty did Publickly disown it in a Memorial to the Pope upon his return to Paris and it has been acknowledged in a Jacobite Pamphlet called An Answer to Dr. Wellwood's Answer to King James 's Declaration That the same was formed without his Knowledge and against his Inclination I have told you in the beginning of this Discourse that I believe that there are among you some Conscientious Men and to those I shall say nothing at this time but to such that are Angry with the Government as I know many amongst you are meerly because they cannot have any Imployment under it and who think without any further Examination to better their Condition by a Second Revolution I 'll say that they ought to consider that King James's Popish Friends must be all provided for first of all and pray what will remain then for you For as to Pensions I think you are not so mad as to flatter your selves with such imaginary hopes for the French Army that brings King James over must be paid and their vast Charges for the Irish War and the Maintenance of King James re-imbursed before your beloved Prince be in a condition to express his Favour to you perhaps you will say that the French King is too much a Gentleman to demand any such thing but I don't know what has given you that Noble Idea of his Generosity but supposing his Temper to be such this War will so much drain his Exchequer that Necessity will force him to demand what is so justly owing to him and who shall be able to dispute his Bill of Charges Nay will King James be able to satisfy him I don't know but this I am sure of that as long as you profess the