them the Secrets of State and furnishing them with Money and some of their Ministers were imprison'd upon that Account This was only a Malitious Invention of two or three Monks they never could produce any Proofs against the Parties accus'd unless it were some slight Expressions that dropt unwarily from their Lips and in regard it was no good Policy to discover the weakness and divisions of the Kingdom the business was husht up and the Persons let go Nevertheless as it is common for those that are troubled with a bad Conscience to fear their own shaddows these reports and murmurs made a deep impression in the Minds of the Courtiers They apprehended that there was nothing so dangerous as to ruin People by halves to provoke a Powerful Body to the highest degree and leave them the means to revenge themselves Upon which there happen'd a slight Insurrection in Sevennes and the Dauphinate Several poor People being gather'd together without any Leader without any support or defence a fancy took them to Preach upon the Ruins of their Churches The Kings Ministers took the Alarum as if the four Corners of France had been on Fire and being secure of England nor apprehending any danger from the Low-Countries nor Germany after the twenty Years Truce and the defeat of Monmouth they began the utter Extirpation of the Reformed after that manner which is known to every Body Besides the Motives to the Persecution recited in the first Part of this Treatise there is one which has not yet been mention'd which perhaps is the chiefest For that France having laid the Design of Invading the Empire was afraid that while she should be busied in the Execution of it the Reformed should betake themselves to their Arms in Defence of their Liberties and their Languishing Religion Let the Reader judge whether this were a groundless Fear or no However it appear'd that the Court was strook with it by the way which they took to extinguish the Reformation in that Kingdom There were two things Aim'd at in sending the Dragoons among those People the first was to ruin the best Families because they were able to lend Mony which is the Sinews of the War the other to destroy the most devout and zealous as being the support of the Religious Societies Constancy is a vertue very rare exalted Minds and undaunted Courages but few but they are the Soul that moves the great Body and like the Salt which preserves it from Corruption so that when the Soul expires or the Salt looses it's strength the Societies dye or fall into fainting Fits which are a certain Presage of their utter Destruction Vulgar Courage or a resolution of some few days or hours may cause a Man to Contemn Death but it requires a Constancy more then Heroic to suffer long contriv'd Torments incessantly renew'd and which one would think would never have an end This last sort of Torments it was the most unsupportable of all which the Court of France made use of to exercise their Cruelty upon the Reformed And indeed that Court has been very Successful for those People that would have despis'd a Flaming Bavin where they had been stifled in a quarter of an hour wanted resolution to dye a thousand times in one day Yet several Persons of Quality saw themselves despoil'd of their Estates depriv'd of their Employments and torn from their Families and have endur'd Imprisonment and other Ignominious Usage till the Cruelty of their Persecutors was almost tyr'd Great Numbers of the Common People have undergon all that the Insolence and Barbarism of the Dragoons could invent the most Merciless and most Outragious nor have there been wanting of the seeble Sex who have signaliz'd their Constancy And many of those whom continu'd Torments had constrain'd to sign Ambiguous Professions of Faith repenting soon after forsook all and departed the Kingdom exposing themselves to be Condemn'd to the Galleys to be banish'd into Canada and to the most exquisite of Torments which have been inflicted upon some Others have refus'd to go to Mass and have endur'd the extremity of Torment with a Constancy beyond the former A good Number have stay'd behind in hopes of a speedy Deliverance Nevertheless a Man would hardly believe how many have perish'd in the midst of these Meseries or else that still are forc'd to endure their Miseries in Exile It cannot be deny'd but that France gave it self a very great Wound Nor did the Court without doubt believe that the perswasion of the truth had so much force upon the Souls of Men because they had never put it to the Tryal So that finding that the Number of the faint and dastardly was not so great as they thought they let go those whose Constancy fortify'd the weak and set open the Gates of the Kingdom for some few days on purpose to give the more zealous an Opportunity to escape tho they would not suffer them to carry any thing along with them It is evident that those of our Brethren who escap'd are the most Couragious and the most Politic as well as Fortunate Which being suppos'd if the Confederates neglect to restore the Protestants of France one of these two things will necessarily follow the first is that the Court believing themselves engag'd in Honour and continuing their ill usage to the most Constant at length either Sorrow or Misery will bring them to their end and then the rest being destitute of this support and the hopes of Delivery will endeavour to reconcile their Consciences and their Understandings to the prevailing Religion and of Politic Catholics will become Superstitious Zelots But on the other side if the King will be pleas'd to open his Eyes and to free himself from the fear of a Civil War while his Forces are employ'd against Foreigners shall recall the Banish'd and restore to the Reformed their Estates and Ancient Franchises the greatest part will return to their Country Native Air the Ancient Constitutions and free Converse with Kindred and Friends are such powerful Attractions which will much surmount the seeble remains of Fear more especially considering that few of those who fled for Sanctuary but met with among Foreigners as great Advantages as those which they left at home Either of which two things if they fall out France will find her self in nine or ten Years as peaceable and formidable to her Enemies as she was under the Reign of Lewis the XII before the Reformation or toward the end of the Reign of Hâ—n IV. after the Edict of Nantes The French are the best People in the World if their Kings do but pâ—t confidence in them they forget all the ill Usages they have receiv'd and Sacrifice their particular Interest to the necessities of the State During the Civil War 1651. under the Minority of Charles IX the Princes sought the Alliance of Q. Elizabeth as being of their Religion She assisted them but not with all that Vigour which good Policy requir'd For the
Animosities all of a suddain and that each should be willing to make concessions on their own part to Unite more firmly against their mutual Enemies that the differences about the Flagg about Fraight the Herring-Fishery and the Affairs of the East-Indies are too great and recent to be soon made up This is the Language of our Enemies who make us sensible of the mischeif they have done us but conceal the Cause from us on purpose to put us out of hope But let us endeavour to find it out our selves and then it will be easie to apply the Remedy It is a real and undeniable Truth that time out of mind the English and Flemings have liv'd together in perfect Amity and their Antipathy against the French has still been the same and indeed a very slender knowledge of the History of the three Nations will serve to convince any Man of the truth of what is here asserted During the greatest part of the Wars between England and France from the Reigns of Philip the August and Richard Ceur de Lyon till the time of Charles the VII and Henry the VI. the Flemings though Vassals to the French always took part with the Ilanders They were the first who acknowledg'd Edward the III. King of France to the prejudice of Philip de Valois They have several times made War with their Counts because they were too much inclined to the Interest of France And though the House of Burgundy was always so very sparing of their Subjects that they never kept any disciplin'd Forces in constant Pay nor Garrisons in their strong Holds believing that Subjects gently used would be a suffieient Guard of their Country themselves Nevertheless at the time when the English through the Divisions between the Houses of York and Lancaster had almost lost what they possest in France they attempted to rise in Favour of the English against Philip the Good Duke of Burgundy one of the best Princes in the World And the reason which Mezerai alledges for it is very remarkable It was says he not only because the Flmeing were at that time in a close Friendship with England upon the score of Trade but out of the particular hatred which they bare the French The Cittizens of Bourdeaux revolted against Charles the VII for the same Reason having let the English in among them And the same Historian assures us that to keep in Subjection that City which the interests of Commerce and reciprocal Marriages had link'd with England the King was constrain'd to banish Forty Gentlemen and Citizens whom he most suipected and to build two Citadels besides the better to keep the Town in awe Moreover in the Year 1528. Henry the VIII having made an Agreement with Francis I. that the King of England should attack the Emperour Charles the V. in the Low-Countries Mezerai observes that the King perceiving that his Subjects had an Aversion to any War against the Flemings because it would ruin their Trade chose rather to lend his Consederate Thirty Thousand Crowns a Month and for the renewing of Trade negotiated a Truce between the Low-Countries France and England It would be an easie thing to find more examples of this Union in all Ages but to spare our selves the trouble of searching so far off it shall suffice to observe that the Vnited Provinces did not arrive to that high degree of Puissance which renders them now a Terror to their Enemies but by the means of their Trade nor did they begin to Flourish in Trade till they had shaken off the Yoke of Spain and that they came to be strictly in League with England And it was chiefly by means of the succour which Queen Elizabeth sent them that they supported their growing Union against the Formidable Forces of the House of Austria and though James the I. did not second them so Vigorously whether it were that he had too much business at home or that the Valour and Alliances of Prince Maurice supply'd that defect nevertheless it may be said that if England had been their Enemy instead of being their Ally that Valiant Prince would have found it a far more difficult task to have supported himself and defended his Country against Strangers abroad and Factions at home Although Great Britain no way depends upon the Vnited Provinces as being an Island that is able to subsist of its self without borrowing from her Neighbours yet I think she has no wrong done her in averring that the succour which she afforded Holland turn'd to her own profit For as the Hollanders utterly expell'd the Portugueses and Spaniards out of the Indies so the impairing the Power of the latter did not a little contribute to aggrandize the English in America and to cause their Trade to Flourish in Europe It is also very probable that if Philip the II. had not been so embroyl'd as he was with the Vnited Provinces he would have ventur'd a Second Invasion of England Nor would Queen Elizabeth been able to have reform'd and govern'd her Kingdom so peaceably as she did after the Destruction of the Invincible Armada and indeed never was the Trade of the Island in a more flourishing condition then under the Reign of that Queen James the I. confirm'd the Alliance and found the benefit of it as long as he liv'd And Charles the I. was so far from being ignorant of how great consequence it was for the two Nations to continue inseparably United that he gave one of his Daughters to William the II. Father to his present Majesty After all the English have experienc'd the importance of having good Neighbours and indeed according to all outward Appearances had there been no Hollanders nor any Prince of Orange in the World the Religion Laws and Liberties would have run a great hazard of being utterly abolish'd or at least the strugling for them would have cost a vast Effusion of Blood The first that broke the happy Union of these two Nations was the Vsurper Cromwel out of his hatred to the House of the Stewarts The two Brothers Sons of Charles the I. during their Exile suffer'd their heads to be intoxicated with a necessity of Absolute Power looking upon it as the only Remedy to prevent the frequent Revolutions in England Now when this Fancy had taken deep root it was easie to perswade them that the Protestant Religion or New upstart Opinions as the Roman Catholics call them nourish in the People this same Spirit of change and inconstancy For that they who will be troubling their heads to examine whether their Bishops and Pastors do not delude and mislead them will as soon take the same Liberty to enquire into the Actions of their Kings and will not suffer them to invade their Priviledges nor to violate the Conditions of their Coronation-Oath That the only means to bring about their ends upon the English and to free the Crown from depending upon Parliaments was to introduce Popery by degrees into the Island for
that themselves and their Brethren have suffer'd for this last near half an Age together has been only the Effect of the Intreagues of the Court of France of the two Cardinals and the Jesuits Nor have the Vnited Provinces less Cause to complain Not to mention the unjust Invasion in 1672. for which all the Subtlety of Lewis the Fourteenth's Counsel could never alledge any other well grounded Reason then the favourable Opportunity to Conquer those Rich Provinces through the Cowardise sloath and want of Intelligence in those that manag'd Affairs at that time were there nothing else but the Violences and Cruelties which the French King and his Ministers have Committed within these Nine or Ten Years upon the Subjects of the States General their Ships Embargo'd their Goods Confiscated their Seamen Imprison'd constrain'd to change their Religion to serve against their own Country or to undergo the Punishment of the Gallies the prodigious Number of Merchants Ships which their Privateers have taken their Villages and Towns laid in Ashes and all this in time of Peace and without the least appearance of Justice I dare be bold to say that their High and Mightinesses must have Hearts of Steel to be insensible of these Recent Outrages and that all the Offers and Reparations that France can make are not sufficient to equal them But some will say it is the Interest of the Vnited Provinces to continue in Peace and the States never had a fairer opportunity to obtain from France whatever they shall judge requisite for the security of their Subjects and their Trade I acknowledge it But who shall be Guarantee for the Observation of the Treaty which is to be made with France Certainly neither England nor the Empire Is it prudence to confide in those Persons who have a thousand times deceiv'd us who never keep their word any longer then sincerity agrees with their Ambitious Desires and their Interests who make a sport of their Promises Oaths Contracts and most solemn Edicts who are equally Treacherous to Friends and Enemies Subjects and Allies True it is that Peace is very desireable but not a Peace of six Months or a Year but a firm stable and perpetual Peace or at least such a Peace as shall last as long as we live 'T is also as true that it is the Interest of Common-wealths rather to preserve themselves in the Condition they are in then to make new Conquests But when we have Neighbours Potent Ambitious and such as seek to aggrandize themselves by all manner of means right or wrong they have no other way to secure themselves from their unlookt for Invasions then to take advantage of the first opportunity that presents it self to pull down their Power and to reduce them to such a Condition that they be no longer able to do any more Mischief This Happy Opportunity is now come England and Holland have now William the III. for their Sovereign and Governour The whole Body of Germany moves toward Revenge The French themselves pant after their deliverance the Persecuted Protestants and Jansenists are not the only Male Contents of that Kingdom The Clergy the Nobility and People all Orders of the Kingdom groan under the Tyranny of the Jesuits and only wait for a Chieftain to deliver them from Slavery This is a truth not to be question'd and to convince the Public there needs no more for any Man to do then to cast his Eyes upon the general Causes of the Discontents of the French No Country is more Fruitful no Climate more temperate and serene then theirs no Inhabitants more Civil or more Humane then those of this Kingdom You would say it was a Country made on purpose to be the Habitation of Good and Vertuous People and a Paradise upon Earth But as it is a Country Rich and Fertile and as the People are extreamly humble and submissive they are overwhelm'd with all sorts of exactions insomuch that their Plenty becomes their Misery and their Obedience makes their Oppressions more grievous To reduce a free and Warlike People into so rigorous a Servitude requir'd a long time and a world of Contrivances It was requisite to ravish from the Clergy their Rights to deprive the Nobility of their Priviledges and to invade the Liberties of the People 'T is well known that the Gallicane Church has bred up and foster'd in her Bosom the greatest Luminaries in Europe that she has had in all Ages Holy Bishops who have oppos'd the Usurpations of the Popes who have publicly rebuk'd the Vices of the Grandees and have openly withstood the Tyranny of Princes The Inferior Clergy were solely under the Jurisdiction of their Prelates their provincial and national Synods At this day they are expos'd to the Mercy of the Court and the Fury of the Jesuits not only in civil Causes but also in what concerns their Ecclesiastical Discipline and Religion A world of Formalities a world of Assemblies but no appeal against a Letter under the Privy Signet We also know what has formerly been the Power of the Nobility without their Consent neither Peace could be concluded nor War undertaken nor any Leagues offensive or defensive could be made Offices of public Trust which are now put to Sale the Prey of Usurpers in Confederacy or Hunger-starv'd Commissaries Military Imployments which are bestowed for the most part upon Souldiers of Fortune or the Lacqueys of Favourites Benefices which are now at the absolute disposal of the Kings Confessor the Councel of Conscience or the Jesuits All Pensions all Civil or Ecclesiastical Dignities all considerable Employments were as it were Portions for the Younger Sons of Noble Families and afforded them Means to support the lustre of their House Whereas now we see the Nobility without Estates and ill Educated through Poverty or want of Education stooping to the meanest of Drudgeries Formerly when a Lord was disgusted with the Court he retir'd to his Castle where he liv'd like a petty Soveraign no Man daring to come to trouble his Repose But those happy days are past Now they must eat their Bread in the train of the Favourites make their applications to such as have only their Vices or their Intreagues to favour them and instead of that noble Fireceness so well becoming those whom Birth Knowledge and Vertue have rais'd above the Common Sort they must now put on the Countenances of Slaves and Suppliants upon the approach of a Beggar in Rich Apparel a Commissary of the Treasury or a Jesuit of the Court. As for the People their misery is so great as would require a showr of Bloody Tears to deplore it and a Graving Tool of Iron to describe it so that I have often question'd whether Posterity would give credit to what a thousand Testimonies have both seen and try'd themselves and which they can never express but in a Language far short of the Truth Who would believe that a People Laborious Active Sober Industrious that inhabits a Country Fertil
lessen the Authority of the Church of England 'T is a strange thing that the Roman Catholics who hardly know their own Religion should pretend to teach us ours They have been told a thousand times that the Bishops and Presbyterians of England differ only in so slight Ceremonies which are nothing to the Essential part of Divine Worship and that there is more of Obstinacy and Misunderstanding between them then of real Cause of Dispute We have seen at the Hugue for this ten or twelve Years the Princess of Orange now Queen Mary of England repair indifferently sometimes to the Dutch or French Church and sometimes to her own Chappel The Prince no sooner arriv'd at London but he receiv'd the Communion in an Episcopal Church and gave a favourable Reception to the Presbyterian Ministers who went to Congratulate him We see every day several of the Episcopal Party Communicate with the Reformed on this side the Sea and our French and Holland Protestants joyn themselves with the Church of England Yet maugre all this the Romish Doctors would make us believe we are of two Religions And upon the same score because their Religion properly consists only in exterior Pomp in Images Relics Beds Rosaries Holy-water Monks of several Colours and such like Superstitious Exercises and Institutions and that those other things wherein they differ from the Protestants are only the Inventions of Italian Policy they imagin it to be the same with ours Whence it comes to pass that all the Speculative Opinions of our Divines are by those Gentlemen lookt upon as so many All the Confessions of Faith the Liturgies the Ceremonies in the Administration of the Sacraments the Varieties of Discipline the Orders and Habits of the Preachers if our Adversaries were so to be believ'd among us make so many different Sects For this reason it was that a certain Prelate who believ'd himself to be very witty has made a History of the Variations of our Churches and he had so great a desire to augment the Number that he bethought himself of ascribing to us as many Relics as he found Systems of our Ministers upon the Apocalyps the most obscure Book of all the New Testament Nevertheless we must acknowledge that the Headstrong Obstinacy of some of Ours and the remains of Ignorance and the Spirit of Antichristianism that will not yet out of the Bones of some that Envy our Unity have given occasion to these Calumnies The Western Church has mourn'd for above these ten Centuries under the Darkness and Yoke of Popery During which time there was Opportunity and Advantage enough to deepen the Superstitions and Impressions of Popery under so wicked a Master Add to this that since the Reformation we have not had a Prince whose Knowledg Piety and Puissance have been able to reconcile our Differences The Great Gustavus had conceiv'd such a Design in his Mind but he vanish'd like a flash of Lightning in the midst of his Victories It seems that God has reserv'd this Honour for William the III. and this Happiness till our Time God has sent this Prince into the World in a Country where the Spirit of Toleration has pass'd from the Magistrates to the most Learned Ministers He has call'd him to a Kingdom replenish'd with Learned and Pious Bishops who have for a long time preserv'd their Flocks in Peace by their gentleness and moderation The Prince at hi first Coming to the Government found Factions in the Church as well as in the State He has appeas'd both the one and the other The Persecution of the Reformed in France has open'd the Eyes of all their Brethren and has shew'd them the necessity of guarding themselves from the Fury of the Jesuits All these Conjunctures in my Opinion presage a happy Union of the Protestants As to what is said that the Prince of Orange is more absolute in the Vnited Provinces then any of his Predecessors is an Equivocation For ever since the Establishment of the Commonwealth the Hollanders have always born a very great Affection to the House of Orange but true it is that ever since William the Silent who laid the first Foundations of their Liberty this State never had a Prince whom they lov'd more then William Henry The reason is because he enter'd upon the Government at a time when the Hollanders seem'd to be ruin'd beyond recovery and yet he restor'd them to their former Grandeur However notwithstanding this signal Service done them the dread of War and certain vain Suspitions were the Cause that there was great Opposition made against a Levie of sixteen Thousand Men which the Prince most earnestly press'd for as better understanding the Designs of France then any of the Burgomasters of Amsterdam The Event demonstrated that never was any Opposition made upon such bad Grounds nor more Prejudicial to the State For Lewis the XIV boasted in the Edict which revokes that of Nantes that he had not made the Truce but to Exterminate the Protestants out of his Kingdom James the II. took that time to perplex the Church of England and to invade the Liberties of his People At length France threw off her Mask and broke the Truce as soon as she thought she could do it with Advantage That long Train of Delusions justify'd the Prince's Innocence shew'd that he had no other Aim in all his Designs but the Preservation of Liberty and the Protestant Religion and gain'd him the Hearts of all the Hollanders And I would fain know how long it has been a Crime for a Governour to win the Love of those who are under his Conduct Thus you may see how the first Prince William render'd himself Absolute and how the same Power came to be transferr'd to his Successors not by Usurpation but by preserving the Liberty of the Republic The form of Government is still the same the Elections are made by the usual Suffrages the Resolutions taken for the raising of Money making Peace and War Affairs of Trade Justice and Civil Government are all determin'd in the Assembly of Estates according to the Ancient Customs and we are ready to make it appear that for these fifteen Years last past that William Henry has sate at the Helm he has acted nothing but according to the Laws and by vertue of the power annex'd to his high Authority and Command As to what is reported that the Prince engag'd the States General in his Expedition for England without imparting to them his Design is a Calumny of his Enemies which has no other foundation but the Malice of those who are enrag'd that he did not make a discovery of that Fortunate Enterprize at such a time that they might have had more leisure to prepare to obstruct him And it is an easie thing to convince all Intelligent Persons of the Folly of this Objection Suppose this Revolution had been the Effect of long deliberation it was necessary before all other things 1. To be assur'd of the Inclinations
of the English and Scotch and the Collonies depending upon Them In these Transactions the Prince not acting as Governour of the Vnited Provinces but as a Private person managing his own proper Affairs he was not oblig'd to make his business known to the States General Nevertheless I make no question but the Principal Head-peices among them were well inform'd from the beginning of the Design which is a thing indeed not to be doubted considering the good Intelligence there has been at the Hague for several Years last past and the unanimous Consent of their High and Mightinessess when the Question was debated whether they should lend their helping hand to carry on the Work 2. Since the Defeat of the D. of Monmouth and the Dragoon Persecutions France and the Court of England never ceas'd to molest and disquiet the Vnited Provinces They Exasperated the Algerines against them who adventur'd to exercise their Pyracies upon the Coast of Holland James the II. set open his Ports to those Corsairs and suffer'd them publicly to sell the Prizes which they had taken from his Allies Lewis the XIV sought an occasion to pick a Quarrel with the Subjects of the States in the Streights of Gibraltar forbid the Sale of their Herrings and their Cloath in his Kingdom and laid Impositions upon all their Merchandizes enter'd in his Ports In a Word since the Design for the repeal of the Tests and the Attempts upon Dr. Burnet there has been nothing but Memoirs Complaints and Murmurings on both sides It was easie for the Hollanders to see that the Two Princes had conspir'd their Ruin so that the least they could do was to Arm and stand on their Defence Therefore they rig out a Fleet to protect themselves from the Algerines and the Threats of France Thereupon out comes the Letter of the Deceas'd Monsieur Fagel that the Court of England was drawn into a Conjunction with France by the force of Intreaties Promises and Menaces repeated one upon the Neck of another The Misunderstanding increases and King James keeps an Army on Foot contrary to the Laws of the Land the Queen is feign'd to be with Child and a Counterfeit Prince of Wales is impos'd upon the Nation The Hollanders reinforce their Army and Navy both by Sea and Land The French redouble their Threats and the English their Murmurs The latter at length present a Memorial to their Royal Highnesses wherein they set forth the Cause of their Complaints and invite the Prince to come over and procure the Calling of a Parliament The Prince condescends to their earnest Supplications the States Consent Assist him with Ships and Souldiers to prevent any Attempt upon his Person The Prince puts to Sea accompany'd with the Blessing of Heaven and the Acclamations of the People and he was recerv'd into England with the same Joy as was seen at his departure out of Holland This was that which was both seen and known to all the Land What can be from hence concluded but that there was a great deal of Patience and Prudence on the one side and Violence and Rashness on the other So that all that the View of this Transaction could encline a rational Person to was only this to have a Compassion for James the II. and a High Esteem for his Competitor But it behoves us to be Candid and to acknowledge that the Fortunate Assemblage of all these Circumstances would not perhaps have been sufficient had they been only favour'd by Persons of less exalted Degree then their Royal Highnesses were They are both of them Protestants not only by Birth and Education but also through Affection and choice of a more Understanding they are of easie Access and Affable their Conversation Civil and Vertuous they keep their words exactly they make it their glory to leave nothing imperfect but to accomplish whatever they take in hand not enduring the repulse of whatsoever dangers they see before them They never Abandon those that serve them faithfully but reward them liberally they are neither sway'd by Humour our nor difficult to Content and willingly forgive Offences not maliciously committed They are endow'd with Wisdom Piety and Vertue Great Eneouragers of Learning and Learned Men and particularly Church-men Such Qualities as these would recommend a Private Person to the highest Dignities but where they meet in Persons of Royal Extraction what wonder if they win upon the Affections of the People The Valour and Vigilance of the Prince his Experience in Military Discipline and his indefatigable Fervency in Combat gain him the Hearts of his Souldiers and Allies his Prudence and peircing Judgment cause him to be esteem'd by Men of the sublimest intellects and his probity and sincerity command the Reverence of good Men. His Reputation is so uncontroulable that the Court of England could never lay any other thing to his Charge but the rigorous Severity of his Military Discipline The Love which the Hollanders have for him is so general that among the vast Number of Writers wish which that State is crowded of which so many take the Liberty to speak their Minds with freedom enough there never was but one that endeavour'd to Calumniate the Princes Expedition into England but the Book had so few Readers and sold so ill thatit presently became wast Paper These were the Reasons of the great Success of Willtam the III. For in regard that all the World had a great Love for him in regard his Designs were equally Just Pious and Beneficial that he went to secure his Country to deliver his Oppress'd Brethern and Neighbours and to Re-establish the Protestant Religion and the Liberty of the Nation every body glory'd in contributing to it no body betray'd him tho he had several Confidents and the States lent him their Helping hand so soon as all things were ready And this was that which made several Strangers believe that this Design till it was ripe for Execution lay deposited in the Breasts of certain faithful Counsellors who then by a more then usual Dexterity engag'd their High and Mightinesses in the Affair But the truth is that several Persons were acquainted with it and that they were sway'd rather by Love then Policy The Secrecy with which the King of France manages his Affairs is greatly wonder'd at and indeed it is a thing much to be commended but it is very rare Tho for ten or twelve Counsellors whose Fortune wholly depends upon the King to be faithful to him and keep his Secrets is no such extraordinary peice of business But for an infinite Number of Bishops and Ministers of Lords Magistrates and Private Persons to keep silence so long and to be so true one to another is that which hardly ever yet was known And therefore the best Counsel that can be given to our Enemies would be speedily to make a Peace with a Prince so well belov'd by his own Subjects and so formidable to his Adversaries For the time will come that he will despise
the Hearts of his People so that when a Prince and his Ministers are become Odious the Government can never be said to be strong A clear Example of which we see in James the II. But if that be not a proof sufficient because England is altogether Protestant let us call to mind the lustre of the House of Guise which the League reduc'd so low the downfal of the House of Austria after the Union between the Vnited Provinces and Gustaphus Adolphus Let us compare the Reigns of Mary and Elizabeth of Charles V. and Philip II. of Charles the IX and Hen. III. of Hen. IV. and Lewis the XIII Therefore the shortest and surest means to stifle the Spirit of Persecution is to procure the REUNION OF THE PROTESTANTS who living in the same Communion would make a Body so considerably Puissant that the Roman Catholics would not so much as think of disturbing them Thus we have set forth the Original of our Divisions the causes that have fomented them and the hopes that we have of an approaching Union We are not to shew that this reconciliation is not so difficult as People believe All our Controversies roul upon the same form of Ecclesiastical Government upon the manner of Christ's being present in the Eucharist and upon the Idea of Predestination As to the Ecclesiastical Government I do not believe that any Protestant will deny me the following propositions that seem to be unquestionable and of which there are some that are the foundation of our Reformation 1. That a Church is a Body or Society of several Persons that agree together upon certain Points of Doctrine and upon a certain form of public Worship 2. That every Church in the Quality of a Body makes up a Part of the Civil Society and every one of its Members is a Member also of the State and consequently that in that respect they are under the Soveraign Jurisdiction 3. That it is in the Power of the Magistrate to regulate the exterior Government of growing Societies or of such as are not yet Establish'd by public Authority and so grant them Laws and Priviledges 4. That he cannot change the Government of those which he finds already form'd nor deprive them of their Rights and Priviledges unless perhaps in some extraordinary Cases 5. That the Soveraign is Born Head of the Church he is a Member 6. That there is no precise Form of Ecclesiastical Discourse or Exterior Government prescrib'd in History or in the New Testament Indeed we find there general Precepts to avoid Tyranny Anarchy and Superstition to do all things with Decency and in Order and to turn all things to Piety and the Edification of the Faithful 7. That tho Episcopacy be the most Ancient of all Ecclesiastical Governments because the Roman Empire where the Gospel was first divulg'd was a Monarchy Nevertheless the Form of Government is a thing indifferent of it's self and the best Discipline is that which best agrees with the Nature of the Gospel with the natural Dispositions and Customs of the People and the Constitution of the Government 8. After the Roman Empire came to be dismember'd the several Soveraigns that shar'd it between them have as much right to regulate within their own Dominions the Discipline of the Church as the Christian Emperors had So that the Order of Presbytery cannot be Condemn'd in a Republic where the Magistrate has made choice of it as the most conformable to the Government of the Country 9. The last proposition includes certain Consequences which require explanation 1. That considering the present Constitution of Europe a Universal Bishop is a kind of a Monster and that it is also of dangerous Consequence that a Bishop an Abbot or other Prelate should have a Jurisdiction over any part of the Clergy belonging to Neighbouring Princes 2. That Oecumenic Councils are no more to be held but by the Consent of all the Christian Princes because those Councils were no more then General Assemblies of the Clergy of the Roman Empire which is now no longer in being 3. Supposing such an unexpected Happiness that all the Princes of Europe or the greatest Part should agree to call a General Council it would not be their business to handle Matters of Government nor of Discipline of which it would be in vain to seek for a Uniformity only to apply themselves to examin the Differences among the Christians about the Points of Doctrine and to regulate if it may be done the Number of the Fundamental Articles to determin what we ought to believe thereupon and so to order it that the Christians notwithstanding some few Controversies of little Consequence among them may always stand their ground look upon each other as Brethren and Communicate with the same willingness upon all Occasions together as they obey the several Magistrates of the several Countries through which they Travel 10. Schism is a separation occasion'd by particular Persons that forsake the Communion of a Church Authoriz'd by the Laws of a Kingdom to set up particular Congregations and that only for some defect which they find in the Discipline of the Church for some Ceremony or for some Point of Doctrine not Fundamental Thus the Labadists and the Anabaptists of Holland who differ from the rest of the Reformed only about the time of the Adminstration of the Sacrament of Baptism are Schismatics The Protestants of France of Poland of Hungary are not so but would be Hereticks if the Doctrine of Rome were true The Catholics of Spain and Italy who accuse the Protestants of England Germany and the Low Countries of Schism are Ridiculous for that the Magistrates of the North have as much right to regulate the Exterior Government of Religion as those of the South 11. Schism is very dangerous they who are the Promoters of it will have much to answer for at the last day and they who Harbour and Entertain it are no less Guilty It is the Original of many Quarrels between private Persons and of Factions in the State Add to this that many times it happens that the Ringleaders of the weaker Party for fear of being forsaken by their Followers they fill their Heads with Opinions which cause them to forsake in good earnest the Communion of the lawful Church We know what has happen'd to one Sect which has made a great noise in the World only because a few Learned Men embrac'd their Party 12. Ceremonies of themselves are indifferent as to Religion Nevertheless it is good to observe 1. That the most Ancient are the best and that they ought to be held in Veneration tho they may be alter'd upon weighty and considerable Reasons 2. That all those which have been reduc'd into the Church since Constantine are extreamly suspected because of the Spirit of Paganism and Tyranny which began then to Reign 3. That the Miseries which the Protestants have suffer'd from the Church of Rome have inspir'd them with an utter Abhorrency of all that
has the least Tincture of that Sect. So that it is both Prudence and Charity not to Scandalize other People through an Affectation to imitate our Enemies in certain Words and Practices which tho indifferent in their Nature become baneful and mischievous because offensive to others 4. That the Genius of our Age which is very much improv'd in understanding and the Genius of the Christian Religion which relates all to the Soul and Conscience require few Ceremonies 5. However that some are necessary to prevent the Contempt of Divine Worship and its Ministers These are the propositions that seem to me very profitable for the Peace of the Church and which I judge to be so very clear that I need not go about to prove them The Reader also I hope will pardon my not drawing any Consequences from them in regard I write for a Re-union and for that I do not desire to give any Party an occasion to Quarrel with me Besides there is no Person of a clear judgment but can apply them himself and for others they would be wrangling with me at every Turn As to the manner how Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist there is no Controversie perhaps so vain nor more easie to be determin'd tho the Gentlemen of the Roman Communion imagin it to be the Foundation of our separation All the Protestants agree that this Sacrament is a Symbol of the Death of Jesus Christ a Commemoration of his Sacrifice and a Pledge of the remission of our Sins that the Body and Blood of our Crucify'd Saviour which are given us therein are the Nourishment of our Souls that we do not participate thereof but by Faith and that the wicked do not receive Jesus Christ but only the Consecrated Signs to their Condemnation That Jesus Christ is not present but during the use of the Sacrament that he is not to be there ador'd that the Bread and Wine continue to be Bread and Wine after the Sacrament and that we are not to pay any Religious Homage to those Material Elements So that all the difficulty is to know how Jesus Christ who as Man is in Heaven can be at the the same time upon the Earth and present with the Faithful every time that they Communicate worthily Upon which particular since the Scripture has not told us any thing we should do well to be silent When I consider and contemplate the unsearchable ways of God I cannot conceive how two understanding Persons and endu'd with true Piety can raise disputes about Predestination and Grace The same Person who knows not either how Speech is Form'd or by what Springs we our selves move will undertake to teach others now God govern's the World and what he has determin'd in reference to their equals But to confound the Pride of Human Wit it so falls out that the more we reason upon these things the more we find that our understanding fails when we strive to search beyond the bounds of Divine Revelation If they uphold Predestination to be absolute they make God the Author of sin destroy Liberty and all Religion If it be suppos'd conditionally we cannot unfold the fore-knowledge of God nor give any good reasons for the varieties of his favours Therefore let Men keep close to that which is plain and to what the Scripture informs us in express Terms That God knows all things and disposes of all things as he pleases himself That being the Master of Events he is also of the heart of Man Nevertheless that Man is free that is to say that he has Power to restrain his judgment in respect of True or False of Good or Evil. That the habit of Ignorance and sin decreases this Liberty and that it increases by the good use which a Man makes of this understanding and divine Assistance That God grants his Favour to all those that desire it and so it is our duty to pray to him to obey him and to exhort others so to do to impute all that is Evil to our selves and all that is good to the Inspirations of the Holy Spirit This is that wherein all Christians agree and the whole being duly consider'd the dispute is reduc'd to one Impenetrable question It is a greed that God shares out his benefits very variously and that he distributes to some more to some less The difficulty is to know whether God affords Grace sufficient to save all and every Particular Man in case they make a good use of it And who can affirm it Precisely at least who can pretend to know the bottom of every Mans heart and the degree of the Efficacy of that Assistance which he has receiv'd I will not undertake to describe the Qualities to be requir'd in those that shall be employ'd to accomplish this Union I make no question but a fit choice will be made of Persons of a Genius and Integrity more then ordinary I shall only say 't will be more difficult to take care of making a good choice They who have render'd themselves odious to one of the Parties by their Writings embitter'd with Gall are incapable to discharge this trust how learned soever they may be There are some soaring Wits who sway'd by I know not what Fantastical conceits many times neglect things of great Importance and apply their Studies wholly to Trifles There are some so in love with Novelty that they would overturn all things else to introduce a supposition of their own Invention Others under the Specious pretence of a Universal Union would reduce Christianity to Ideas so confus'd and general that natural Morality and Religion would with great difficulty be preserv'd entire Happy is he that can observe a just Medium If France were humbl'd Peace once settl'd England and Holland strictly United and the Protestants at rest we should soon see the DOWNFAL of POPERY But least the Roman Catholics should be offended they are to know that this is no desir'd in reference to what they look upon as the Fundamental part of their Religion Let them pray to the Saints let them adore the Sacrament Images and Relics if they think fitting let them observe all their Ceremonies let them acknowledge the Pope for Head of the Church this is nothing at all to us We will be content so that they will but solemnly renounce in express Terms and in a General Council certain Opinions which the moderate among them openly deny but yet are generally put in Practice 1. That it is in their power to Excommunicate and depose Heretic Kings stir up their Subjects to rebel against them dispose of their Kingdoms to others and rid their hands of Princes suspected by Assassination or otherwise 2. That Promises and Oaths made to Heretics are of no value that they are not oblig'd to keep faith with them and that they may be Persecuted and exterminated at all times as occasion shall offer At least that the Church of Rome in a Body shall Anathematize all those
that are of these Opinions or put them in Practice since otherwise there is no Assurance for Princes or Private Persons to conside in any Treatys or Contracts which they shall make with those of the Romish Communion Or if they refuse to Condemn this Heresie under the Name of Popery let them do it under the Name of Jesuitism which will very well agree with it To the People there could be no Tydings more grateful then that of the ABATEMENT OF THEIR IMPOSITIONS they are mounted to such a Prodigious excess over all Europe unless it be in England that there is hardly any other Country where a Man may live with convenience The very Sciences are contemn'd because they are become mercenary Arts perish by reason that the Indigency which oppresses the Artificers hinders them from bringing any thing to perfection and though they feel the Goads of Poverty they are near a whit the more spurr'd on with the thoughts of Honour The better sort of Families are ruin'd because of the great expences of House-keeping The Country is dispeopl'd of honest People and fill'd with Vagabonds and Debaushees while the fear of Poverty deters an infinit Number of People from Marrying and plunges others into wickedness and disorder There is nothing but cheating in Trade and Men begin to be a weary of it by degrees because it becomes every day more dangerous more difficult and less gainful The Subjects cheat their Soveraign and to retaliate his Extortions as they believe them to be so generally accustom themselves to deprive him of his rights that they make no Conscience of it All places all Courts are full of Complaints murmurings confiscations broken Merchants and Law-suits For the greatest part of which Europe is beholding to the Court of France To this Court are we beholding to those tholes of Projectors and Inventers of Prodigious Numbers of new Imposts But the worst is her continuance and dreadful raising of Armies her Threats and unexpected Breaches of Leagues and Truces oblige the Neighbouring Princes to keep on foot considerable Forces and constrain them at the same time to drain the Purses of the Subjects Hâ—idelburgh Manheim all the Palatinate so many Countries so many Cities which the French have laid wast sackt burnt or destroy'd against all the Assurances of pleighted Faith so many poor Creatures as the French Court has reduc'd to misery by her Dragoons Contributions or rather justify'd Robberies are as so many Voices that cry for vengeance to Heaven and which threaten all the Christian Protentates in the same manner if they do not closely Unite to stop the Course of her fury THE INCREASE OF TRADE is one of the usual Fruits of Peace and of the Abatement of Imposts But in regard the late Treaties of Peace were neither durable nor sincere but that both sides continu'd still in Arms there has been no sensible Abatement of the Taxes nor increase of Trade Since the Peace of Nimeghen France has laid a thousand cruel Imposts upon the Hollanders to destroy their Trade which their High and Mightinesses made out in their Declaration of War against that Crown But their Union with England presents with an assured means and opportunity to regain double to what they have lost Thirty English Vessels are sufficient to cruise upon the Coasts of Britain and Guyen and to shut the French quite out of the entrance into Spain by Sea and stop up their Passage into the Streights of Gibraltar Thirty Holland Men of War will wrest the Trade of the Baltic Sea and the Northern Ocean out of their hands and keep the Coasts of Picardy and Normandy in a perpetual Alarum And then nothing will remain to the French but the Commerce of the Levant through the Mediterranean which will be more prejudicial then profitable because it will drain the Coyn of the Kingdom and overstock it with wares which they will not be able to vend The reason of it is because the Cities of Italy all Trade the same way and with more conveniences Add to this that the English and Hollanders bring the same Merchandizes in great abundance out of the Levant and the Indies which only consist in Drugs Silks Cotons Wax Hides Spanish Leather and Pot-ashes So that the French being debarr'd the Trade of Germany the North of Spain and England they will be stor'd with Goods but distitute of Money Besides the Trade of the Levant cannot extend but from Marseilles to Lion and be beneficial to some Cities only upon the Rhine So that all the rest of France and all the Coasts of the Ocean will nevertheless be depriv'd of their Trade there being no vent for the Goods and Manufactures of the Country We are assur'd that about a Month since the stuff weavers were ready to have made an Insurrection in Roven upon Information that a Merchant of that City was about to set up a Royal Manufacture They flew to his House to the Number of four hundred and constrain'd him to make a Declaration before the Intendant wherein he protested that he never had any such design and solemnly promised never to enterprize the like again If Poverty makes them so bold what will they not dare when thev come to feel the Nips of Pinching Hunger 'T is a great Enterprize to bring down the Power of those that make use of it meerly to do us mischeif but it is of far greater Consequence to provide for our own security England and Holland joyn'd together will be Masters of the Ocean and consequently cannot stand in want of any thing But though these two Nations may be strongly Interested to preserve their Union the Hollanders are still more oblig'd to it then the English Great Britain is an Inaccessible Island that stands in little fear of a Foreign Enemy Whereas the Vnited Provinces may be attacqu'd by Land from the North South and East They are environ'd with Potent Neighbours the Empire France Spain and England And I dare be bold to say that how powerful soever they may be in Wealth and Forces in Proportion to their Territories they are of too small an Extent to make head for a long time against any one of these their Neighbours without the Assistance of the other This the States General rightly apprehended from the beginning of their Confederacy while they had recourse sometimes to England sometimes to France to support themselves against the House of Austria France at this present time is advanc'd to the same degree of Power in Europe which render'd Spain so formidable when first the Seven Provinces Vnited together And they have had experience in the last War that France was no less eager after the Conquest of their Country then Philip the Second was to subdue them under his own and the Tyranny of the Inquisition Of all their Neighbours there are not any with whom they have greater tyes of Friendship then with Great Britain in regard that at this time the Interest of Trade is United to that
of Religion And as if those two tyes were not strong enough Heaven has bequeath'd one Prince to both to Perpetuate their Union and to the end those two Nations may joyn together to break the Fetters which France was preparing both for them and all the rest of Europe I was just about to make an end when the Sixth Letter concerning the Affairs of the Times came to my hands where I read the Title and an Extract of three Libels against the Confederate Princes but more especially against His Majesty of Great Britain against whom France has the greatest Antipathy When Men are in a violent Passion 't is no easie thing to conceal it Dread and Despair have seiz'd that Court It is apparent by all they say by all they do and write Now they flatter the Empire England Holland the Catholic Potentates the Protestant Princes and in a Word all Europe which they vaunted to be beholding to them for her Peace and threatned not above six months ago with so much Haughtiness There is none to whom they give an ill Word but William the III. because they see it would be a very Fruitless thing to flatter him In all out ward appearance they will gain as little by their Colloquing upon the rest of the Princes Since the Diet at Ratisbone has caus'd two of the three Libels to be Burnt by the hand of the common Hangman and dismiss'd the Secretary to James II. However though the dread of France may seem to shew by her words how far her Pride is abated however we find the Traces of her rage and fury by the Devastations of her Troops depopulating all with Fire and Sword Is this the way to appease the Princes of the Empire by Sacking and Burning so many of the Cities and wasting and destroying whatever they cannot carry away She exposes the disquiet of her thoughts by the reasons which she alledges and by the manner of her venting them They are only Invectives Contradictions and imaginary Suspitions 'T is true I never read those three Pamphlets but the Letters about the Affairs of the Times carry so fair a Character of sound Judgment and Sincerity that we may easily judge of the Resemblance which the Author has to his own works Never did Writer better support his Arguments his Reflections neither offend through impertinency not do the Spring from whence they flow seem to be in the least exhausted while the Author becomes every day more exact and more profound then other After all not having seen any new reasons in the Extract I suppose I have refuted all Objections that our Enemies can alledge However I am far from having drain'd my self in reference to the Subjects which I have handled that was not my intent there being few of them which might not be enlarg'd to a considerable Volume Therefore I hope that the Omissions will not be charg'd upon me for faults but that if I have said those things which are true and right they will not be rejected for a slight Error Besides that I found my self oblig'd to compose this Treatise out of hand and in hast remote from my Study my Friends or any other Assistance but a very great Zeal for the Public Good I foresaw several other Effects of a Union between England and Holland which I did not think it proper to insist upon since they themselves cannot but be sufficiently sensible thereof For Example 1. That Arts and Sciences will Flourish because the Protestants love them as being the Original of the Reformation and therefore finding themselves at liberty they will not fail to improve so much the rather in regard that King William the III. and Queen Mary the II. are so much the Favourers of Learned Men. 2. Because the Laws of the Land will for the future be the Rule of Government seeing that for their sake the Prince of Orange took up Arms and expos'd himself to so many dangers 3. Because that Justice and good Manners will be more and more observ'd in regard their Majesties of Great Britain are themselves both Just and Equitable and the True Models of Vertue FINIS