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
Majesties to go into Flanders and do the Business at the time that King WILLIAM quitted the Army But the most Christan King did not think that the best way because added he he had not been well satisfyed with Grandvall's Conduct whose Enterprize had miscarry'd for want of Management notwithstanding that the deceased Marquiss of Louvois had taken care to manage it with all the Circumspection imaginable K. James was of the same Opinion and that the Business might be done with less danger and more ease in England because the Prince of Orange had very slender Guards there about his Person especially when he went a Hunting whereas in Flanders he was always surrounded with his Army After several Conferences it was resolved That some of the Conspirators should cross the Sea before-hand in order to confer with several other JACOBITES from whom K. James had had particular Letters assuring him of their inviolable Devotion and Readiness to sacrifice their Blood for his Restoration All these measures being taken at the Court of France as may be collected from the Mouths of the Conspirators themselves in their Examinations they fell to work To which purpose the greatest part of the Conspirators that were in France dropt one after another into England in several Privateers who set 'em ashore upon the Coasts of England and repair'd to London Where they lay Skulking Incognito to strengthen their Party against the time of Execution which was to be accomplished about the end of February in this manner The 25th of February 169â— which was a Saturday the Conspirators to the number of Sixty had resolv'd to post themselves in such a Place through which the King was to pass in going to Richmond to divertize himself according to Custom and to attacque him either in his Coach or as he was a Hunting and after they had put the Guards to the Sword Ten or Twelve were to have made themselves Masters of the Kings Coach and to have dispatcht him either with a Dagger or a Blunderbuss as they saw occasion But failing that Day the Conspirators put off the Execution of their detestable Design till Saturday following That Day the King's Coach stood ready the Guards sate mounted and the Provision Wagons were gone before Which being discern'd by two of the Conspirators Spies who made no doubt but that his Majesty would follow his Guards they hasten'd with all speed to the Rendezvous to give the Traytors information But his Majesty thought fit to stay that Day at Kensington and to the end he might have some better Light into the Conspiracy he sent away some Trusty Persons to view the Countenances and Behaviour of such as they should see Loytering upon the Roads and to observe where they had posted themselves By this second Disappointment nothing could be done that day neither So that the Assassines resolved upon the Sunday following to attacque the King in his Passage between the two Gates of Hide-Park and St. James's as he went to White-Hall to Chappel Their Design was first to have kill'd the Coach-Horses and by that means to have stopt the Passage of the Guards that follow'd his Majesty But the King stirr'd not out that day The Night before or the same day the Treason was to have been put in Execution seventeen of the Conspirators were seiz'd and the next day several others were taken among whom were two Dominicans three Troopers of the E. of Oxford's Regiment a Trumpeter one Charnock who had been Vice-President of Magdalen Colledge in Oxford in King James's time and for which he turn'd Roman Catholick and several others All which and many more afterwards apprehended were to have embrued their Murtherous Hands in his Majesties Blood The Duke of Berwick Head of the Party had like to have been taken One of his Domestic Servants was seiz'd who had Orders if the Design succeeded to have kindl'd Fires upon the Sea-side near Dover which was to have been a Signal to K. James and M. Boufflers who lay expecting the Event of this great Enterprize To which purpose the Havens of Dunkirk Callis and Bolougne were full of Transport Ships which were to have wafted over a great number of Soldiers into Englâ—… to second the JACOBITES that were to have taken Arms. Mr. Schmettau Adjutant being sent away into England by the Duke of Wirtenberg put himself into a Fisher-boat which being attacqued by a Privateer M. Schmettau hid himself under the Netts so that the Privateer finding nothing that was Booty quitted him After which he went to London and inform'd the King of the Motions of the French on Dunkirk-side and his Report was confirm'd by M. Montez Lieutenant Coll. of the Regiment of Belcastle That which is remarkable is this That the Conspirators were engag'd for a certain Sum of Money to have accomplish'd their Design within the space of six Weeks and that before the end of February for fear of breaking the Measures which the most Christian King had taken for the succeeding Campagne whence it came to pass that the Enterprize failing upon Saturday it was put off till the Sunday following And if Providence had not so order'd it that a good part of the Conspirators had not been apprehended it was to be fear'd they would have sought all the ways in iâ—…inable to have accomplish'd their deâ—…able Treason We can never too highly applaud the Care which the Earl of Porland and the rest of the Lords about the King's Person took to prevent so terrible a Blow that would have prov'd no less fatal to all Christendom then to all his Majesties good Subjects Upon the 24th of February 1696. the King made a Speech to both Houses of Parliament wherein he gave 'em an Account of the Assassination intended upon his Royal Person and of the Enemies Preparations for a sudden Invasion of the Kingdom Upon this the House of Commons immediately drew up an Association wherein they protested testify'd and declared sincerely and solemnly that his Majesty King WILLIAM now Reigning is the true and lawful King of the Realms of Great Britain and Ireland and mutually promise engage to succour and Assist each other to the utmost of their Power to support and defend his Majesties Sacred Person and Government against K. James and all his Adherents And in case his Majesty should come to a violent and hasty Death which God avert they voluntarily and unanimously oblige themselves to unite and associate and to assist each other to revenge his Death upon his Enemies c. This was followed by an Address of both Houses wherein they congratulate his happy Preservation and gratefully acknowledge the particular Care of Divine Providence and at the same time declare their detestation and abhorrency of so Infamous and Barbarous a Design and humbly beseech his Majesty to take a more particular Care of his Sacred Person Upon which His Majesty issu'd out several Proclamations for apprehending a great number of the Conspirators of whom a great part were seiz'd
necessity of Christian Affairs commands us and to which the Duty of our Functions obliges us Observe I pray the Expressions and Terms of this Harangue You must says the Jesuit make use of Fire and Sword for fear of a Gangrene This is an Exhortation enough to shake the Crowns of all good Princes at this day reigning After this 't is no wonder if the most Christian King and King James who are as true Jesuits in their Hearts and Souls as was the General of their Order who made this Speech associate in a Conspiracy to cut off a Princes whom the Jesuits look upon at this day as the most Capital of their Enemies A mortal Hatred which has no other foundation then the Religion which that Great Monarch professes But would to God they only aim'd at the Religion of Princes History would not then recout to us the Tragical Deaths of so many Great Princes who have been offer'd up as Victims to their Fury tho' they were Roman Catholicks and no less eminent for their Piety and Zeal for the Propagation of the Roman Catholick Faith Yet for all that have they been e'er a whit the less spar'd or e'er a jot the farther from being sacrific'd to the Doctrine of the Jesuits But let us take a view of these Examples for the satisfaction of the Reader We have seen the Judgment which the Sorbonne gave of the Jesuits upon their resettlement in France After that we have seen the Doctrine which teaches the Art of Assassinating Kings condemn'd by the Faculty of Theology at Paris and declar'd abominable by the Council of Constance and lastly Mariana's Books burnt by the hand of the Common Hangman by a Decree of the Parliament of Paris But notwithstanding these Thunders launc'd against their Errors and their Morals you have also seen the General of the Order's Harangue made to all the Members of the Society Let us now come to their Executions The first Tragical Example that History presents us withal is the Assassination of the Great William Prince of Orange of Happy Memory This Prince was the Object of all good Men's Love and consequently the Object of the Jesuits Hatred For the Assassines of Kings always aim at Vertue A Tyrant a Prince who wallows in his Pleasures and Sacrifices all things to his Ambition is in no danger The first Attempt of the Jesuits upon the sacred Person of the great Prince William was made at Antwerp by John Juvregni a Spaniard by Birth This wicked Ruffian discharg'd a Pocket-Pistol at the Prince and wounded him in the Jaw below the Ear. Upon which the Guard falling upon the Russian with their Swords and Halberds kill'd him immediately which was the reason that the Author of so black an Attempt could never be discover'd from the Mouth of the Murderer But the Marks that were shew'd upon Juvregni's Body made it sufficiently apparent that the Jesjuits were the Authors Those Marks consisted in a green Wax-Candle with the Sign of the Cross imprinted at the bottom and a Medal stamp'd with the Image of the Virgin which he carry'd upon his naked Skin made by the Jesuits of Madrid according to the Deposiâ—ion of one of his Accomplices call'd Venero who was executed some time after This Prince was look'd upon as the Head of the Hereticks and Rebels against the King of Spain And the same Spirit which is the Spirit of Rage and Fury which caus'd 'em to act then envenom'd 'em now against the King of England But Vertuous Princes who are the Nurslings of God as Homer says or rather his enlivn'd Images or as the Scripture calls 'em The Anointed of God are in no Danger so long as He takes care of their Preservation and it is our hopes that the same Divine Power will preserve King WILLIAM from all the Snares of his Enemies But let us run over the Circumstances that attended this dreadful Attempt of Juvregni for they are very remarkable A certain Monk call'd Father Timerman born in Dunkirk formerly a Jacobin was apprehended and put in Prison for the same Fact And being examin'd by the Judges he declar'd That he had been bred up among the Jesuites from whom he learnt the Art of Assassinating Kings That the said Juvregni coming to him to confess his Design to kill the Prince of Orange the said Father Anthony declar'd That he gave him Absolution upon these Conditions That if he did not commit the Fact for Mony but for the Glory of God and out of his Zeal for the Catholick Apostolick Religion then it was lawful for him to do it upon giving him Absolution after laying before him the danger that might arise from the Fact Such are the Principles of the JESVITES and by consequence of the Jesuited Princes that conspir'd against King WILLIAM Forbid it Heaven that any other Christian Prince whether Confederate or not Confederate should be embru'd with the same Sentiments Most certain we are that the Emperour the K. of Spain and all the rest of the Princes who at this time constitute the August Confederacy that has taken Arms against France detest these abominable Maxims The Publick Testimonies which they give of their Zeal for the Affairs of Europe their particular Esteem for the Person of King WILLIAM make it apparent that they have study'd Vertue in another School then that of the JESVITES And tho' the Emperour and some other Catholick Princes suffer 'em to reside in their Courts nevertheless they take care how they listen to their Advice as they do in France and as they did in England while K. James Reign'd who made choice of a Jesuite for his chief Minister The most Christian King and K. James are the only Instruments at present which the Jesuites make use of to revive in Christendom those dreadful Monsters which the Wisdom and Prudence of our preceding Kings took so much care to stifle Now let us see the end of the Conspiracy form'd by the Jesuites to cut off the Great WILLIAM The first Blow failing as we have set forth yet would they not give over for all that So that in the Year 1584. one Balthazar Gerard gave the fatal Stroak to that Noble Prince He confess'd at his Execution That he liv'd privately with a Jesuite whose Name he knew not only that he was a Red-hair'd Man Regent of the Colledge-of Treves who assur'd him That he had Communicated his Enterprize to three of his Companions who found it to the ALL FROM GOD and before he left 'em gave him their Benediction ascertaining him withal that if he dy'd in the Attempt he should be put into the Kalendar of Martyrs And with this Confession in his Mouth he dy'd After this bloody Scene the Jesuites who had sworn the Extirpation of the August Family of the Princes of Orange made an Attempt upon the Son of the Great WILLIAM who was Prince Maurice Furor Arma ministrat The Spirit of Blood which push't 'em forward excited 'em to suborn an infernal Monster
of this great Monarch Without contradiction the most execrable and cruel Conspiracy that ever was For the Relation that we have given of all the Attempts which the Jesuites have been all along contriving and making upon the Sacred Persons of Princes we find not any one that was carry'd on with more Contrivance and Artifice All the cunning Wariness all the Infernal Subtilty of the Jesuites supported by all the Power of the most Christian King were made use of in the carrying it on and the execution of it was to have been perform'd with all the Cruelty of King James so that if God by Secrets of Providence unknown to Men had not stir'd up the Conspirators to discover it of themselves the Blow had been infallible Nevertheless the most Christian King desirous to hoodwink the Eyes of all Europe and to make the Christian Princes believe that he had no share in so treacherous and odious an Action caus'd a Report to be spread abroad of a pretended Manifosto which he resolv'd to publish to the World And M. Pontchartrain has already given Orders to the Gazetteer of Paris to give us some Preliminaries in order to it and by way of Explanation of what we are farther to expect to exclaim in the Publick News against a Bloody Injury done this Great Monarch by those that charge him with being an Accomplice in so foul and detestable an Attempt And to prepare the Minds of People to give his Apology a kind Reception he has begun to say something of it in his last Ordinary in the following Terms as we have here set 'em down word for word The same Day says he an Officer dispatch'd away by the Duke of Wirtemberg was sent to give Advice that a great number of the French Troops were drawn together about Callis with several Transport Ships and the King of Great Britain meaning K. James was expected there that being afraid that all this was done with a Design to attempt a Descent the Duke of of Wirtemberg advanc'd with some Troops to embark upon the first Orders of the Prince of Orange This advice caus'd a great Consternation observe I beseech ye that which follows and presently to prepossess the Publick by Artifices like to those that have been so frequently been made use of a Report was presently spread abroad of a Discovery of a Conspiracy against the Prince of Orange c. 'T is not the Gazetteer that speaks this but the Ministers of France themselves It must be thought that either the most Christian King and his Ministers have forget the use of their Sences or else that they will not allow the Princes of Europe to have common Reason while they talk at this rate They would make the World believe that this is but a a Vision that the Conspiracy that makes so loud a Noise was only a Trick of State to try the Fidelity of the People or a Fancy of Policy to blacken France with Eternal Infamy If we would be so easie as to believe the Court of France all the Conspiracys which have hitherto been contriv'd against the Person of the King of England have only been pretences to gain some end or other either to get Money from his Parliament or to put a value upon himself or to try the Fidelity of his Subjects But those People who advanc't such Calumnies as these must be as great Deluders and as knavish in their Evasions as the Ministers of France themselves By this means the most Christian King their Master in pursuance of the Maxims of the Jesuites his Counsellors shall be always attempting the Destruction of a Prince by delivering him into the hands of Traytors and Assassines and when they miss their Blow and that the Conspiracies are discover'd he shall have a delicate excuse to say they were all Pretences or Tricks of Policy which the Prince made use of to advance his Affairs and fix himself in the Affections of his Subjects This is not the first time that France has made her self known in this particular The most Christian King is become so famous in all the Courts of the Christian Princes by his Treacheries that without doing him any wrong we may safely judge him guilty of having dipt his hands in this and to have been one of the principal Authors as indeed he was And without Dissimulation we may safely say That whatsoever ingenious Tour they give to so base an Act all Christendom is so well convinc'd of the truth of it that I will never believe that Monarch will ever be able to wash it off with all the Eloquence that ever he can hire to endeavour it To prepossess they say the Publick by Artifices like those that have so frequently been made use of Observe here that the Ministers of France for they are the Persons that send to the Gazetteer what the Court thinks proper to publish acknowledge themselves that this is not the first time that France has attempted the of Person K. William So frequently made use of say they Upon what occasion Why upon frequent Conspiracies for nothing else can be gather'd from the Words So then if the Pretences were frequent it follows that the Conspiracies were frequent and if frequent then real and not imaginary otherwise there had been no ground for Pretences for the People are not frequently to be deluded by the self-same Artifices On the other side if the Conspiracies were real then they could be no Pretences but just Occasions of Complaint 'T were well for the most Christian King and King James that they could acquit themselves at the cheap rate of Frequent Pretences But since King William's Advancement to the Throne of England we have seen no less then Eight different Conspiracies In all the Campagnes since the War declar'd we have seen New Monsters spring up which the Council of France has brought forth to destroy this Noble Prince The Confessions of the Accomplices the intercepted Letters the private Conferences of the Assassines with the Chief Ministers of the Court of France their Indictments and Trials and lastly the Executions of the Traytors have sufficiently justify'd the Truth of their Crimes All which demonstrates to us that the most Christian King and King James were the principal Authors of all those bloody Contrivances But by this we may see how far Effronterie will carry these Ministers who will presume to deny a matter of Fact that is apparent to the Eyes of all Men and which all the Earth acknowledges for such Thus says the Paris Gazetteer or rather the Eccho of the Court of France's Voice The Pretence of a Conspiracy has serv'd to countenance the inserting into a Publick Act a Part of an Oath which was rejected when the Business of the Commissioners of Trade was examin'd though they durst not out of a Remainder of Respect for the Truth and the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom make use of the principal Clauses which caus'd it to be rejected The Oath which
the Succession to the Crown adding Expressions injurious to the Circumspection and Prudence of that Princess Quod si molesta fuisset nec illa nec filius ejus regnarent Saying withal That it was the last Order which he had from his Superiours Let us now see the end of the Tragedy The Guises who were the next of kin to Queen Mary and whose Interests were united with the Interests of that Princess and consequently ought to have been inform'd of this whole Negotiation knew nothing of it The Jesuites had so well order'd their Affairs to hinder the Guises from giving 'em any Obstruction by reason that their Aim being to deceive Queen Mary and advance in her Place some Prince of the House of Austria as we have said already thought it more to the purpose to find out new work for the Guises in France that they might not have leisure to mind the Destiny of their Kinswoman In the mean time that great Conspiracy which was lay'd so privately and carry'd on so secretly by the Devices and Artifices of the Jesuites was discover'd at length to Queen Elizabeth by some of the Lords her Friends who had feign'd to be of the Conspiracy Thereupon Queen Mary was accus'd of Conspiring against the Life of the Reigning Queen and Executed and with her fell some of the Lords that had a share in the Plot. And the Jesuite that had drawn 'em into all that Mischief fled out of the Kingdom with all the Precipitation imaginable leaving all those of his Party in a world of Trouble and Confusion Hen. III. of France who was the only Person in whose Power it was to save this unfortunate Princess sent M. de Bellievre indeed to Queen Elizabeth with Orders to be very importunate for the Life of Queen Mary which he was to outward Appearance while underhand for Reasons of State and in pursuance of the King 's private Orders he persuaded the Queen to cut off her Head as the Common Enemy of their Persons and Kingdoms the Crime being sufficiently prov'd The Dissimulation of Hen. III. in this Affair was grounded upon important Reasons which concern'd his Person and the Tranquility of his Kingdom For that Mary being the next Heir to the Crown England should she have hapned to succeed Queen Elizabeth the Guises who were irreconcilable Enemies to Hen. III. and Counsellors of Queen Mary their Kinswoman would have favour'd that Princesses Party against him if they did not make use of all the Power of England to engage him in a fatal War for the Guises were already too powerful in France So that good Policy-requir'd that Prince to take all the Precautions imaginable for keeping fair with Queen Elizabeth and preserving her Alliance However it were the Jesuites were still the first Instruments of the death of that Princess while they sacrific'd her Life in hopes of raising a Foreign Prince to the Throne But what is there which they have not now done to raise K. James to the Throne Did they not find a way to sacrince King Charles his Brother and to cut him off by Poyson What is there which they leave unacted against King WILLIAM How many Attempts how many Conspiracies and reiterated Plots against the Sacred Person of this Illustrious Prince And all to raise to the Crown of England a Furious Bigot full of Transport and in a word a sanguinary Priest more Jesuite then King The most Christian King is very ill advis'd to seek the having a share in an Action so treacherous and so odious as that of complotting with the Jesuites and K. James the Death of a Prince who now Reigns with so much Glory the meanest of whose Actions will deface or at least ecclipse whatever was perform'd of most remarkable famous under the Reign of Lewis the Great Witness the Parallel that might be made between their Lives and their Actions between which without question there would be a vast Difference were they to be display'd to the World without Passion or Prejudice But let us pursue these Assassinators of Kings to the end we may shew to what excess of Rage and Fury the Diabolical Art and Infernal Doctrine which they have taught in the world is able to Transport ' em In the Year 1605. which had like to have prov'd fatal to all England by the Destruction of the Prince and all the Nobility of the Kingdom at the same time A Blow so much the more deadly and terrible because it was not lookt for nor so much as dreamt of in the midst of that Peace which England then enjoy'd Nevertheless the Misfortunes threaten'd by that detestable Conspiracy vanish'd by the Discovery of it so that it was not attended with any Catastrophe unless it were what turn'd to the Confusion of the Actors who were to have play'd that Bloody Tragedy I shall not insist upon the Circumstances of this Infernal Plot as being so well known to all the People of England It may be only said That this was one of the Jesuites Master-pieces to have blown up not only the Soveraign Monarch himself for a single Blow would not then serve their Turn but all the Royal Family and all the Nobility of the Kingdom The Quintessence of Jesuitical Machination which struck with Horror not only the English Monarchy but fill'd with Consternation and Detestation of the Fact all the Foreign Courts of Europe Insomuch that the Jesuite Baldwin being accus'd by his Accomplices to have been one of the Principal Contrivers of that dreadful Conspiracy and afterwards apprehended at Frankendale in Germany was from thence carry'd to Heydelberg and thence by Order of the Elector Palatin sent with his Hands and Feet bound into England The King was also so sensible of his Escape that he made a Speech to the Parliament upon the importance of the Discovery wherein he set forth the great Danger from which God had preserv'd his Sacred Person the Queen his Wife his Children and lastly all the Nobility of the Kingdom whose Blood was to have been all intermingl'd and blended together in a moment What then remains my Lords and Gentlemen said he but that we imitate the great Captain Scipio who finding himself accus'd by the Tribunes of the People for having laid out the Publick Treasure in a War against the Carthaginians This is a Matter of nothing said he content your selves that I have won the Victory and let us all ascend the Capitol to return Thanks to the Gods for it Let us do the same my Lords and Gentlemen Let us not give way to a Pagan but let us return Thanks to God whose mercy shines over all his Works In like manner does King William exhort all his good and faithful Subjects who are interested in the Preservation of his Sacred Person to return Thanks to Heaven for having deliver'd him from so imminent a Danger But what wonders of Providence do we not behold in the Discovery of a Design so deeply laid for for the Destruction
Prince but as a Parricide Will any body say that if the most Christian King continues these Projects it will of necessity behove the Confederates to make use of the same means Would they have Villany punish'd by Villany Or that if great Sums of Money must be given to rid themselves of their Enemies and put an end to the War all at once by destroying the Head of the Party by Assassination will any body deny but that France will sooner want Money then the Consederates or at least that the Princes of the League are not rich enough to constrain the most Christian King to stand upon his Guard in that particular He can lay claim to no Immortality nor to being Invulnerable no more then his Predecessors Henry III. or Henry IV. 'T is true these detestable Ways of Destroying an Enemy by a violent and hasten'd Death by Poyson or Dagger are open to the Confederates as well as for the most Christian King But God forbid that ever any one of the most Serene Confederates should ever have so black a Thought They have study'd another sort of Morality in the School of Vertue Their Piety and the Niceness of their Consciences abhor and detest those Principles which deduc'd their Original from Hell and and which were never preach'd in France but by the JESUITES nor so much as taught ambitious Princes by Matchiavel himself We are thoroughly convinc'd that France sufficiently ingenious to conceal the unlucky untucky Blows which she receives from Fortune will endeavour to escape the Ignominy which this detestable Enterprize will six upon her by a study'd Apology compos'd by some one of her most able and dextrous Ministers Methinks I hear already the Count d' Avaux in one of the Northern Courts and M. Amelot among the Switzers loudly protesting that the most Christian King their Master had no hand in this Attempt but that it was form'd by the JACOBITES in England without ever being communicated to his knowledge But this has been the Language of that Prince in all the preceding Conspiracies witness that of Granval The Court of France laid all the load upon her Ministers and threw all the Blame upon the deceas'd Marquis of Louvois and his Son M. d' Barbesieux All this while the world knows under what a sort of awe the Ministers of France live had they made the least step without the Kings knowledge there would have needed no more to have render'd their Fidelity suspected and to have disgrac'd'em for ever The Ministers of the Court of France are too wary of preserving their Posts to commit such Mistakes there being nothing transacted within that Kingdom with which the King is not acquainted In short if the King of France as he gives out in Foreign Courts had no hand in the late discover'd Conspiracy Whence came that numerous FLEET which of a sudden was Rendezvous'd together in the Ports of Dunkirk Callis Bologne and Havre de Grace Did that Potent Preparation fall from the Clouds So many Troops drawn down together to the Sea-side were they sent to Guard the Coasts of France at a time when the Enemies FLEET was only fitting out half Mann'd and not in a probability of putting to Sea till the end of April What did M. Boufflers and so many French Generals do at Dunkirk For what reason did K. James leave St. Germains For what reason take his leave so solemnly of all the Court and flye to take shipping at Callis To what end the Prayers of Fourty Hours and the publication of a Jubilee Will the most Christian King say that all this was done without his being made acquainted with it K. James having left St. Germains the 28th of February came to St. Denis's where he perform'd his Devotions and after he had begg'd of God in his fervent Prayers to bless his Expedition he sent for a Publick Notary whom he order'd to draw up an Act for the Sum of 500 Thousand Livres which he had borrow'd of certain Merchants for which he gave 'em in Pawn the Queen his Wives Jewels Besides this Sum the most Christian King Orders Six Millions to be paid him forthwith and made him a Present over and above of a little Chest containing a Hundred Thousand Louidores in Specie to defray his Houshold Expences France did not shew him all these Kindnesses for nothing She exacted at the same time real Engagements from the Caress'd Prince that is to say a Contract or Deed acknowledg'd before a Publick Notary by which K. James obliges himself to pay back to the most Christian King after his Restauration not only the Sum lent him for his Passage but all that France had disburs'd for his Support during his abode in that Kingdom The most Christian King I say lends all his Forces to this miserable Prince spares him his best Generals to command his Troops and suffers him to want nothing for the Execution of a Design that was to reseat him upon hi Throne And all this acted in the full view of all Europe But the Enterprize miscarrying the most Christian King Orders his Ministers to tell us That he had no hand in it 'T is not the first time that the Frehch Monarch has talk'd at this rate But the Confederates are no longer to be deluded with Words not will all the Water in the Seine be able to wash away a Crime so black as this which has been committed in the sight of God and all Christendom by the Assassination intended to have been perpetrated upon the Sacred Person of King WILLIAM complotted at Verfeilles the 1st of October in the Year 1695. Let us conclude then that the most Christian King being the Principal Author of this detestable Attempt all the shame of it rebounds back upon his own Person K. James is a feeble and impuissant Prince of himself 'T is true that he was bred in Slaughter and Butchery his whole Life has been a continual Train of Tragical Deaths Attentates and Conspiracies Witness the innocent Blood which he has shed during his abode in England But this Unfortunate Prince notwithstanding the depravement of his natural Disposition and his unbridl'd false Zeal for Religion could have done nothing of himself had not the most Christian King supported him You 'll say perhaps that France is a weary of paying him his Pensions and that She would be glad to be rid of him Let it be which way it will the most Christian King is He that is look't upon as the principal Author of this intended Perpetration an Act which in After-Ages all good Christian Princes will look upon with Horror and which now renders him unworthy of the Gorious Title of most Christian King 'T is a long time that the Council of France had been hatching this Monster which she was about to have brought forth as may easily appear if we reflect upon the Conduct of her Ministers in Foreign Courts For when the Popes Nuncio'd redoubl'd their Importunities to persuade the
Catholick Princes to accept of the Proposals that were made 'em The Ministers of France openly told 'em There was no such need for 'em to be so hasty for that the most Christian King their Master had a Design in hand which would change the Face of Affairs and force the Confederates to accept of the Offers that had been so frequently made 'em and which they had rejected with so much scorn This Vaunting was a Riddle not to be expounded by his Holiness Nouncio's till Time that notable Oedipus unsolded the Enigma to the eternal Shame of the Heads of the Enterprize and of those that were to have been their Instruments We may also add by the way to the shame of the French Ministers who thus discours'd the Popes Nuncio's who are no better then their Master while they are the Eccho's of an Action that will load 'em with eternal Infamy They boast to be the Ministers of their Princes Fury at the Expence of their Honour and their Consciences which they ought to prize above all things in the World They ought to call to mind the insinite Injury they do their Nation and the foul Stains of Infamy with which they sully it and which will not be wash'd off in several Reigns after This. If we consider farther what passed at the Taking of Namure at what time the Person of Marshal Boufflers was seiz'd all the World knows the Marshal made loud Complaints and haughtily exclaim'd against the Injury done him adding That his Master would Revenge the Injustice that had been offer'd him upon the Person of the PRINCE who had so caus'd him to be stopt M. Boufflers had been made Privy to the Conspiracy and therefore 't was no wonder those Words of Passion dropt from him Wherefore the most Christian King judg'd him so necessary for this great Expedition that he vouchsaf'd to honour him forthwith with a Brevet for a Duke and Peer of France and consented to all things that the Confederates demanded to obtain his speedy Liberty Till now we flatter'd our selves that France would no longer have recourse to all those Treacheries of which She made so good a use while M. Luxemburg commanded her Arms. But M. Boufflers seems to be sprung up from the Ashes of that Famous Captain tho' according to all Appearances the Disciple will not prove much better then his Master However M. Boufflers with his good leave does a great Injury to his Reputation and 't is a bad Disappointment to have had a share in the intended Assassination of a Prince that heap'd so many Favours and Civilities upon him during his Detention There is no need of going to seek him out in England King WILLIAM does not hide himself as all the World knows He is none of those timerous Princes that shun Danger He appears every Campagne in Flanders at the Head of his Armies And if the most Christian King or his Generals desire an end of the War and to obtain that Peace which they so much thirst after He is always ready to answer their Expectations with his Sword in his Hand They might also out of a Principle of Honour make him that fair Challenge which the Prince Elector formerly sent to M. Turenne that is to say by the Proposal of a single Combat in order to determine the Differences that have inflam'd this War by the point of the Sword provided the King of France himself would be one of the Champions in Person But that is not the thing which the King of France seeks after He has been accustom'd to vanquish without Danger and indeed 't is the way to live long In a word Were King WILLIAM less Brave and less Magnanimous then he is the most Christian King and K. James would never make those attempts upon his Person which they do The most Christian King since the Pyrenean Peace has been accustom'd to make his Progresses with a kind of Rapidness because he was assur'd of the Crown of England through the Care which he took to cultivate the Inclinations of the last Kings as all Europe well knows 'T was under the shelter of those Careless and voluptuouâ— Reigns that he rear'd this Monster oâ— Grandeur which makes him so formidable to his Neighbours so fear'd by his Subjects and so daring in all his Enterprizes to mix Heaven and Earth together But those Reigns are past the Cards are all mix'd and the last Revolution which advanc'd King William to the Throne was the most terrible Blow that ever was given to France because that Prince has been all along his irreconcileable Enemy the only Prince in Europe who has cross'd his ambitious Designs who has always disputed the Ground with him and who like another Joshua has stopp'd the Sun in his rapid Course So that the most Christian King finding that the Puissance of King William as Head of the League would prove an invincible Obstacle to his Enterterprizes thought it convenient according to the Principles of his Tyrannick Politicks to rid himself of this Prince by one means or other For proof of which it has been observ'd that in all the Battels that have hitherto been fought the French Generals have been very careful to â—ick out a good Number of the Guards â—f the King's Houshold to make way â—hrough the Throng in Order to Kill King William M. de Luxemburgh did all that lay â—n his power to satisfie the King his Master in this Particular and M. de Boufflers no less zealous then his Predecessor makes no scruple to put himself at the Head of a Crew of Conspirators to second the Assassination of this Noble Prince At the Battel of the Boyn the Guards who kill'd M. de Scomberg had Orders to find out the King but God preserv'd him and brought him safe out of the Snares which France and K. James had laid for him After so many Proofs of the King of France's extraordinary care to destroy this Prince there is no question to be made but that he was the Primum Mobile of this last Conspiracy There needs no more then this bold Stroke to embellish the History of this Monarch which the best Pens of France have been labouring for so many Years to set out This will be a most gay and flourishing Flower in his Crown a Monument then which he cannot consecrate a more august to Posterity It may be said that by this Inglorious Action the Mighty Monarch leaves a Glorious Example for the Dauphin to imitate if his Renowned Father do not out-live him a or at least for his Children to take a Pattern by who are young enough to study Virtue under so Great a Master After such an Attempt as this the Most Christian King has reason to rest himself from his Illustrious â—abours and dye well satisfied He has Reign'd a Great Monarch a Great Politician always happy and prosperous if he now miss'd his Blow he must look upon it that only Heaven put by the Fatal Stroak which he so fairly
and committed to several Prisons All which Acts of State have been so sufficiently publish'd at large that they need not be repeated here After so many Authentic Testimonies which ought to cover with shame the Authors and Contrivers of so Black and Treacherous a Fact all Europe stands amaz'd The Ministers of the Christian Princes assembl'd in the Congress sit astonish'd All the World searches for the Causes that excited the wicked Inclinations of these two Princes But there will be no great difficulty in the discovery of 'em when we consider that the most Christian King has always been a true Jesuite For proof of which we need but read the History of his Reign The Politicks the Maxims the dangerous Opinions and lastly whatever that Order teaches not forgetting the Art of Assassinating Kings have been manifest quite throughout the whole Course of it As for K. James he left England a true Jesuite He has liv'd in France during his Exile one of the same Order and within these two Months he has thought sit to List himself also in the Order of the Dominicans Had the most Christian King taken upon him to read the Determination of the Faculty of Theology in Paris carry'd to the Parliament upon occasion of the re-settlement of the Jesuits in France I am perswaded we should not have seen him so true a Jesuit as now we do Wee shall repeat the substance of it in the same Terms as it is in the Original In the Year 1554. and upon the First Day of December the Venerable Faculty of Theology in Pars after the Mass of the Holy Ghost solemnly said in the Chappel of the Colledge of Sorbonne and Oath taken having four times assembl'd in the same Place to conclude upon the Two Bulls said to have been decreed by our Holy Lords and Popes Paul and Julius III. in favour of those that would be distinguish'd from Us under the Names of the Society of JESUS which Two Bulls the Court of Parliament sent Us by an Usher to be view'd and examin'd For which Reason after we had seriously examin'd and consider'd all the Particulars We are of Advice That this Society in matter of our Faith is of dangerous Consequence erected to trouble the Peace of the Church to subvert the State and Monastick Religion and in two words introduc'd rather for Desolation and Destruction then for Edification This was the Judgment which the Sorbonne made of the Jesuites Doctrine But without looking back so far as the Year 1554. the most Christian King need no more then consider what pass'd in the Year 1610. when Henry IV. was stabb'd by Ravillac certainly he would then abhor that Doctrine which he now upholds with all his Royal Power in the face of all Christendom It deserves to be recited because it makes for our purpose The same Day that the detestable Ravillac was executed in regard that in all the Answers which he gave the Archbishop of Aix and the Predicant Coeffeteau during his Imprisonment for the Parricide he had committed he made use of the Maxims of Mariana and other Jesuites who have written That 't was lawful to kill Kings and Tyrants the Court of Parliament before they condemn'd those infamous Books to be burnt by the hands of the Common Hung-man would have the Determination of the Faculty of Theology and enjoin'd the Dean of the Faculty to call a Convocation in order to give 'em their Opinion whether it were lawful for any one upon any Account or for any Cause whatever to attempt the sacred Persons of Kings and Sovereign Princes Upon which the Faculty assembl'd in the Colledge of the Sorbonne and made the following Censure The Censure of the Faculty of Theology at Paris assembled in the Colledge of the Sorbonne against Parricides of Kings IN the Year of our Lord 1610. upon the 14th of June the sacred Faculty being assembl'd and having debated the Question to them put by the Court of Parliament and considering withal that the University of Paris has been always the Mother and Nurse of a most excellent and sound Doctrine That the Publick Repose and Welfare proceeds from Order and that this Order depends next to God upon the Safety of Kings and Princes That it only belongs to the Prince or Politick Power to make use of the Sword That some Years since certain strange seditious and impious Opinions have in such a manner perverted the Minds of several People that they have not dreaded to stain King and Princes with the execrable Names of Tyrants and in pursuance of a Pretence so detestable as also under colour of assisting or advancing Piety Religion or the Publick Good to conspire against their sacred Persons and to embrue their Parricide-hands in Blood so dear and of so high a Value and consequently to open a Gap to all sorts of Wickedness Impieties Persidies Disloyalties Frauds Surprizes Treasons Murders mutual Slaughter of the People Ruin sacking and levelling of whole Towns Destruction of Provinces and flourishing Kingdoms and in a word to an infinite number of abominable Crimes occasion'd by Wars as well Foreign as Domestick Lastly knowing that such Pestilential and Diabolical Opinions at this time render those who are separated from the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Church obstinate in their Errours and cause 'em to avoid the Converse of Catholick Monks Doctors and Prelates altho' innocent as if they taught and authoriz'd such pernicious Doctrines For these and such-like Reasons after diligent Examination the said Faculty unanimously and with a fix'd Resolution detest and condemn such strange and seditious Docrines as impious and heretical pernicious to human Society the Publick Peace and Tranquillity and the Catholick Religion In testimony whereof the said Faculty have concluded and resolved to renew their ancient Decree put forth a hundred Years ago by the Advice of a hundred forty and one Divines for the Condemnation of the following execrable Opinion A Tyrant whoever he be may and ought lawfully and meritoriously to be kill'd by his Vassal or Subject whoever he be by any manner of ways chiefly by secret Embuscado's Treasons Flatteries and such-like Artifices notwithstanding any Oath or Allegiance which the Subject may have sworn to the Tyrant nor is it needful that he should wait for or expect the Sentence or Command of any Judge for the prosecution of his Design Mariana Upon which follows the Censure of the Faculty This Proposition taken thus generally and according to the signification of the word Tyrant is an Errour against the Catholick Faith against the Doctrine of good Manners and the Command of God Thou shalt not kill 'T is also against the Doctrine of our Saviour They that take up the Sword shall perish by the Sword Moreover it tends to the utter Subversion and Ruin of all States Kings and Princes in the World It opens a Door to all manner of Impieties Deceits Treasons Violations of Oaths and generally give Subjects a Licence to perpetrate all manner of
Disobedience toward their Soveraigns as also to Disloyalty and Mistrust of one another and consequently to eternal Damnation Moreover whoever obstinately maintains such an Errour or any others that may be deduc'd from this general Proposition is a Heretick and ought to be punish'd as such a one even after his Death Given in the Year 1413. Wednesday Decemb. 3. The aforesaid Censure of the Faculty of Theology of Paris was confirm'd by the Council of Constance Anno 1415. in the Calends of July in these words THE Holy Council being willing to employ all their Care in the extirpation of Errours and Heresies budding forth in divers parts of the World according to their Duty and being also assembl'd for that effect and being likewise inform'd that of late years certain scandalous Propositions erroncous in Faith and contrary to good Manners and which tend only to the subversion of all Order and good Government have been taught and publish'd amongst which this is one That a Tyrant whoever he be may and ought meritoriously to be kill'd by his Vassal or Subject c. Now the Council having a singular desire to oppose this Errour and utterly to extirpate it after mature deliberation decree declare and determine That this Doctrine is erroneous in Faith and contrary to Good Manners and therefore reprove and condemn it as Heretical Scandalous opening a Gap to all manner of Deceits Frauds Lyes Treasons Perjuries c. And we farther declare decree and determine That all who obstinately defend this pernicious Doctrine are Hereticks and ought to be punish'd as such according to the Holy Canons Wherefore the Sacred Faculty after having carefully and exactly examin'd the Opinions of all the Doctors in general and of each in particular is of Opinion in the first place That the ancient Censure of the said Faculty confirm'd by the said Faculty ought not only to be renew'd but also imprinted in the Minds of all Men. Secondly that it is an Impious Seditious and Heretical Thing to attempt and lay violent hands upon the sacred Persons of Kings and Princes whatever Pretence any Vassal Subject or Foreigner may have or seek for Thirdly we will and decree That all Doctors and Batchelours in Divinity upon the Day tha they usually take their Oaths to observe the Statutes and Articles of the said Faculty shall also swear and also promise under their Sign Manual to teach the Truth of this Decree whether in their Divinity-Lectures or in preaching the Word of God Upon this Censure the Parliament decreed That the Book of John Mariana entitul'd De Rege Regis Institutione Printed both at Mayence and other Places containing several execrable Blasphemies against Henry III. of Blessed Memory the Persons and States of Kings and Sovereign Princes and other Propositions contrary to the Decree of the Faculty of Paris shall be burnt by the Hand of the Common Hangman c. Accordingly Mariana's Book was burnt by the Common Executioner before the Great Church of Paris And all Persons whatever were prohibited under the Penalties of High Treason to Write or Print any Books or Treatises contrary to the said Decree and Edict Thus you have three authentick Decisions of the Sorbonne the Council of Constance and the Court of the Parliament of Paris condemning the detestable Doctrine which teaches the Art of Assassinating Kings But are the Jesuits e'er a whit the more wise or the less sanguinary for these Decrees The Two Princes who so loudly declare themselves at this day to be their Protectors do they not authorize all their Maxims Have they not to the great Scandal of all the rest of the Christian Princes given a new Birth to those infamous Monsters whom the Prudence and Zeal of so many Doctors took care to stifle in their Infancy The Loss which France sustain'd of Two Kings Henry III. and Henry IV. whose Blood was shed by these Murderers gave an occasion to the Sorbonne to the Council of Constance and the Court of Parliament to stop the course of these detestable Opinions which tended to no less then the destruction of all the Crowned Heads in Christian Europe But at this day I am asham'd to speak it Kings themselves are they who publickly authorize'em and employ all their Forces to uphold and second Murderers They make choice themselves of the Traytors who are to destroy King William Thus you see the Art of Assassinating Kings preach'd up anew by the Jesuits authoriz'd and supported by all the Power of Two Monarchs one of which holds the First Rank in Christendom But these are only the Disciples let us see what the Professors of this infamous Doctrine are themselves Therefore that you may understand 'em well I shall recite a Speech which the General of the Jesuits made one day to the whole Crew of his Order 't is so remarkable that 't will not be unacceptable tho' set down word for word 'T was made when Queen Elizabeth Reign'd in England and King James in Scotland Dear CHILDREN YOV know that I am now here to Command yee Jesus Christ our Lord is my Mouth so that you ought to obey Me in all Things and in all Places God shed down his Holy Spirit upon our Holy Father St. Ignatius for the Support of his Church which was just ready to fall thro' the violent Shoggs of Lutheran Errours which had spread themselves all over Europe to the great Grief of all good Christians Since then it has pleased God that wee are this holy Man's Successors it behoves us that like him wee should be the chief Workmen to extirpate the Root of Heresies Wee see these Heresies reigning in several Kingdoms On the one side Subjects in Arms against their Princes on the other Princes tyrannizing overtheir Subjects In one place a Heretick Princess and not far from her a King of the same Profession Others feed us with fair Hopes and outward appearances to delude us 'T is for us my dear Children to defend the Cause of God and poor Subjects not in shew as our Ancestors did but in good earnest They who have hitherto taken his Duty upon 'em have only flatter'd and tickl'd the Wound and consequently made it wider It behoves us to be the Executioners of God's Severity who will never be displeas'd if as the Arbitrators of his Will we translate to the prejudice of ill-governing Kings their Kingdomes to those who we shall know in our Consciences to be more worthy of ' em Now if you think your selves strong enough of your selves to execute my Commands at least let this be the Lesson which you shall teach in the midst of the Church of God You are to make use of Sword and Fire for fear the Gangrene get into it We shall there find at the long-run good Workmen and good Souldiers But more especially apply to 'em the sacred Instruments of Confession Masses and Communions to the end that with more assurance of Conscience they may finish those pious Works which the
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