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england_n	french_a	great_a	king_n	16,597	5	4.3459	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59869	A second letter to a friend, concerning the French invasion in which the declaration lately dispersed under the title of His Majesty's most gracious declaration to all his loving subjects, commanding their assistance against the P. of Orange and his adherents, is entirely and exactly published, according to the dispersed copies : with some short observations upon it.	Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.; James II, King of England, 1633-1701. His Majesty's most gracious declaration, to all his loving subjects.	1692 (1692)	Wing S3339; ESTC R8008	19,657	35

Iune 2d 1692. Let this be Printed Nottingham A Second Letter TO A FRIEND Concerning the French Invasion In which the DECLARATION lately dispersed under the Title of His Majesty's most Gracious Declaration to all his Loving Subjects commanding their Assistance against the P. of Orange and his Adherents Is entirely and exactly Published according to the dispersed Copies with some short Observations upon it LONDON Printed and are to be sold by Randal Taylor near Amen-Corner MDCXCII A Second Letter CONCERNING The Late King Iames's Declaration SIR HAving in the Conclusion of my Letter promised you if you desired it to give you an account of the late King Iames's Declaration I will make no Excuses but like a Sincere Protestant will keep my word with you This Declaration has been industriously scattered about both in French and English by the Enemies of the present Government Now to save them any farther trouble of this kind and that the world may see we dare venture it with all the charms that are by some thought to be in it among the People of England I have thought it the fairest way to print the whole verbatim Paragraph by Paragraph with some short Observations upon it and only desire you to remember That my principal design in it is only to strengthen the Arguments of my former Letter and to make it appear from this very Declaration how little reason English Protestants have to promise themselves That the late King will be kinder to them than he was before should he now return with a French Power DECLARATION WHEREAS the most Christian King in pursuance of the many obliging promises he has made Us of giving Us his Effectual Assistance for the recovering of our Kingdoms as soon as the condition of his Affairs would permit has put us in a way of endeavouring it at this time and in order to it has lent Us so many of his Troops as may be abundantly sufficient to unty the hands of our Subjects and make it safe for them to return to their Duty and repair to Our Standard and has notwithstanding for the present according to Our desire unless there should appear further necessity for it purposely declind sending over Forces so Numerous as might raise any jealousie in the minds of Our good Subjects of his intending to take the Work wholly out of their hands or deprive any true Englishman of the part he may hope to have in so Glorious an Action as is that of Restoring his Lawful King and his Ancient Government all which Foreign Troops as soon as we shall be fully setled in the quiet and peaceable Possession of our Kingdoms We do hereby promise to send back and in the mean time to keep them in such exact Order and Discipline that none of Our Subjects shall receive the least Injury in their Persons or Possessions by any Soldier or Officer whatsoever Tho an Affair of this nature speaks for it self nor do We think Our selves at all obliged to say any thing more upon this occasion than That We come to Assert our Iust Rights and to deliver our People from the oppression they lye under yet when We consider how miserably many of Our Subjects were cheated into the late Revolution by the Art of ill men and particularly by the Prince of Orange's Declaration which was taken upon trust and easily believed then but since appears notoriously false in all the parts of it consisting no less of Assertions that have been evidently disproved than of Promises that were never intended to be performed To prevent the like delusions for the time to come and to do as much as lies in Our power to open the eyes of all Our Subjects We are willing to lay the whole matter before them in as plain and short a manner as is possible that they may not again pretend mistakes or have ignorance to plead for any false steps they shall hereafter make towards the ruin of their own and their Countrey 's Happiness OBSERVATIONS It begins with a thing very surprizing and memorable That the French King hath once in his life made good his Word and kept his Faith for so the late King Iames tells us he hath done with him in pursuance of the many obliging Promises he had made him of giving him Effectual Assistance for the Recovery of his Kingdoms c Effectual Assistance is a big word and more than the Greatest and Most Puissant King is able always to make good However I am glad to see they begin to endeavour to perform their Promises to one another It is a good quality and it is to be hoped they may in time extend it further But this satisfies me that the French King thinks it his Interest to restore the late King Iames for he was never known to keep his Promise against his Interest and it is somewhat surprizing that the French King and English Protestants should have the same Interest He seems sensible that French Troops would not be very welcome in England and therefore to qualifie this matter he says That the French King at his desire has purposely declin'd sending over Forces so Numerous as might raise any jealousie of a French Conquest for that is the plain English of it that they shall be kept under exact Discipline while they are here and that he will send them home again when he is fully setled in the quiet and peaceable Possession of his Kingdoms But I thank God with all my heart that there is no danger now of these French Troops coming into England which is a much greater security to us than both these Kings Promises for their Good behaviour here or for their return home again It is certain that One of them could not keep his Word if he would and it is as certain that the Other would not as it is that it would not be his Interest to do it for there is not the same reason for the French King to keep his Promise of sending Troops into England and to keep his Promise of sending no more than the late King Iames wants or of calling them home again when he wants them no longer But before I proceed to more particular Observations it will not be amiss and the conclusion of this Paragraph requires it briefly to consider what is not in the Declaration which the People of England had all the reason in the world to have expected in it Now I can find but very little in it I might with great truth say nothing which a reasonable man who remembers the late Reign especially the Conclusion of it would have expected in such a Declaration If the Design of such a Declaration be to give satisfaction to the minds of his Subjects it ought at least to have contained as good Words and fair Promises as a Prince could give He knew very well what it was that had alienated his Subjects from him that they apprehended their Laws their Religion and their Liberties to be in

England which will be a great Favour indeed from him if he should return with a French Power But the Church of England is protected already by Princes who think it their Duty to do it And we think our selves much safer in the Inclinations of a Protestant King and Quen than we can be in all the Promises of a zealous Papist And therefore this can be no argument in our case because it offers us a worse security for our Protection than what we already have for it is always great odds on Nature's side And yet this Promise to the Church of England seems fainter and cooler than some he has formerly made which is all the reason we have to expect it will be better kept especially there being not the least Intimation of the Breach of his former Promises nor any excuse made for it And it is fit to be observed that whereas he promises that upon all Vacancies of Bishopricks and other Dignities and Benifites within our Disposal care shall be taken to have them filled with the most Worthy of their own Communion there is not one word said of Universities and Colledges though the Case of Magdalen Colledge is so very notorious and so fresh in every Man's Memory that there is hardly a Roman or Artificer in the Nation that has not a lively Remembrance of it Church of England men then shall at present have the Churches and Papists the Colledges to breed up a Roman Catholick Succession of honest Obediah's DECLARATION And whereas more Tumults and Rebellions have been rais'd in all Nations upon the Account of Religion then on all other pretences put together and more in England then in all the rest of the World besides That therefore Men of all Opinions in Matters of Religion may be reconciled to the Government that they may no longer look upon it as their Enemy but may therefore think themselves equally concern'd in the Preservation of it with the rest of their Fellow subjects because they are equally well treated by it and being convinc'd in our Iudgment that Liberty of Conscience is most agreeable to the Laws and the Spirit of the Christian Religion and most conducing to the Wealth and Prosperity of our Kingdoms by encouraging Men of all Countries and Perswasions to come and Trade with us and settle amongst us For these Reasons we are resolved most earnestly to recommend to Our Parliament the settling Liberty of Conscience in so Beneficial a manner that it may remain a lasting Blessing to this Kingdom OBSERVATIONS In this Paragraph for the Peace of the Nation and for the Advancement of Trade he promises earnestly to recommend to the Parliament the settling Liberty of Conscience But this is no Argument to the Dissenters to help forward another Revolution because they have it already in as full and ample a manner as it can be given them All that he can add to this is Liberty of Conscience for Papists and the Repeal of the Test which cost him so much Closetting to no purpose and now is promis'd as a Favour What Protestant Dissenters will think of it I leave them to consider But when he says We are convinc'd in our Iudgment that Liberty of Conscience is most agreeable to the Laws and to the Spirit of the Christian Religion me-thinks these two Kings treat one another with great Freedom For what handsomer Complement could have been made to the most Christian King then to intimate that his Persecution of his Protestant Subjects is not at all agreeable to the Laws or to the Spirit of the Christian Religion This is Plain-dealing if the French King can bear it But I suppose they are agreed that K. I. shall declare as is most fit for his purpose and the French King do what is most convenient for his own DECLARATION Lastly It shall be our great Care by the Advice and Assistance of our Parliament to repair the Breaches and heal the Wounds of the late Distractions to restore Trade by putting the Act of Navigation in effectual Execution which has been so much violated of late in favour of Strangers to put our Navy and Stores into as good a Condition as we left them to find the best ways of bringing back Wealth and Bullion to the Kingdom which of late has been so much exhausted and generally we shall delight to spend the Remainder of our Reign as we have always design'd since our coming to the Crown in studying to do every thing that may contribute to the Re-establishment of the Greatness of the English Monarchy upon its old and true Foundation the united Interest and Affection of the People OBSERVATIONS What these Breaches and Wounds of the late Distractions are he does not tell us and therefore we must suppose they are such as are here mentioned As for restoring Trade it has not been lost yet the Custom house does not complain of it which is commonly the first that feels it The Navy is in a much better Condition than he left it if we may guess at that by its late Exploits But if he be so well skilled in restoring Navies he ought both in Charity and Gratitude now to stay a little longer in France As for his bringing back Wealth and Bullion into the Nation I believe the Nation would have been better pleased if he would have promised to send none out And as for his Concluding promise in these words And generally we shall delight to spend the Remainder of our Reign as we have always design'd since our coming to the Crown in studying to do every thing that may contribute to the Re-establishment of the Greatness of the English Monarchy upon its old and true Foundations the united Interest and Affection of the People This is Plain-dealing and surest to be made good of any thing in the Declaration And if he does this now as he always designed to do it for he could not then do all that he designed to do here is a renewed Promise of popery and Arbitrary Power And those are unpardonable Infidels who will not take his word for it DECLARATION Thus having endeavored to answer all Objections and give all the Satisfaction we can think of to all Parties and Degrees of Men We cannot want our selves the Satisfaction of having done all that can be done on our part whatever the Event shall be the Disposal of which we commit with great Resignation and Dependance to that God who judges Right And on the other side if any of our Subjects after all this shall remain so obstinate as to appear in Arms against us as they must needs fall unpitied under the Severity of our Iustice after having refused such gracious offers of Mercy so they must be answerable to Almighty God for all the Blood that shall be spilt and all the Miseries and Confusions in which these Kingdoms may happen to be involved by their desperate and unreasonable Opposition Given at Our Court at St. Germains this present 20th of April 1692. in the Eighth Year of our Reign Per ipsum Regem manu propriâ

and might have known that they would never fetch him from France again nor willingly receive him with a French Power What a happy Opportunity he now has to recover his Kingdoms again by French Troops I suppose by this time he begins to discern and I hope it may prove a very happy Opportunity for his Dear Ally to lose his He has shewed him by his own example what to do in such cases and the English Parliament has taught the French what name to give it DECLARATION Upon what foundation of Iustice or Common Sense the Prince of Orange's Faction in England were pleased to treat this Escape of Ours out of the Hands of Our Enemies in the stile of an Abdication a word when apply'd to Sovereign Princes that was never before used to signify any thing but a free and voluntary Resignation of a Crown as in the Cases of the Emperor Charles the Fifth and the late Queen of Sweden and what a strange Super structure they raised upon this weak Foundation that a Company of Men illegally met together who had not Power even by their own Confession at that time for it was before they had voted themselves a Parliament to charge the Interest of the meanest Subject should yet take upon them to destroy the whole Constitution of the Government to make an Ancient Hereditary Monarchy become Elective and then assuming to themselves the Right of Election should proceed to settle the Succession in so odd and extravagant a manner are Transactions that need not be repeated They are too well known to the World to the great Reproach of the English Nation and the Grounds upon which they are Built are too vain and frivolous to deserve a Consutation Every Freeholder of England is in this Case able to make his own Observations and will no doubt examine a little better than hit her to he has done what assurance any private Man can have of keeping his Estate if the King himself shall hold his Crown by no better a litle OBSERVATIONS His leaving the Kingdom for the safety of his Person and to preserve himself for better times and for a more happy Opportunity he says was no Abdication as that signifies a voluntary resignation of his Crown nor do I say it was But his withdrawing his Person and Authority was an actual quitting of the Government whatever it is in Law I 'm sure in common sense the Throne is actually empty when no body is in it and no body is in it when there is no Authority in the Nation to administer the Government And when the Throne is empty the Estates of the Realm who are the only Supream Authority when there is no Monarch must fill it again unless the Government must dissolve and then there is an end of all Rights and Claims And this they have done not by turning an Ancient Hereditary Monarchy into an Elective but by placing the next undoubted Heir on the Throne And tho' he never intended to give up his Right and future Claim yet he has done what he never intended to do when the Throne is empty it must be fill'd and when it is declared vacant and fill'd by the Supream Authority of the Nation there is no room for him there As for the Convention of Estates When there was no King on the Throne we do not pretend that they were a formal Parliament for that must have a King at the Head of it and therefore as is observed in the Declaration they could impose no legal Taxes on Subjects nor did they attempt it but yet they were not a company of men illegally met together without Authority to do any thing but they met at the request and under the Protection of the then Prince of Orange upon the Fundamental reasons of the Constitution it self as the sole Judges of all Disputes relating to the Crown Such Disputes will sometimes happen and if there be no legal Judges of it the Sword must decide it and that is a State of War not of Civil Government which all Governments are supposed to provide against and yet if the Convention of the Estates are not the proper Judges in such cases it is certain there are none and then the Civil Government is dissolved we are in a State of War and must submit to the longest Sword But this is so fully and plainly Stated in the late ingenious Reflections on the Case of Allegiance to a King in Possession from p. 26. to p. 34. That to shorten this Letter as much as I can I shall refer you to that Author for further satisfaction So that Free-holders are not at all concern'd in this matter a Convention of Estates without a King cannot meddle with their Properties without a dissolution of the Government But when there is no King or it is a Question whether there be or not or who is King by the Fundamental Constitution of the Government the Convention of the Estates are the sole and proper Judges of it in whose Determination all private Subjects are bound in Conscience to acquiesce And the late King need not complain of this as if it made the Titles of Princes to Their Crowns very uncertain and Arbitrary For he had an unquestionable Title to his Crown and might have held it to this Day if he himself had not undermin'd it by breaking in upon the Laws and even upon the Constitution it self upon which his Right was founded This occasion'd such a Revolution as forced him to Abdicate and to leave it to a Convention to declare his Throne vacant and to fill it DECLARATION But since some Men who could not say one word in defence of the Iustice of these Proceedings would yet take great pains to shew the necessity of them and set forth the extraordinary good effects that were to be expected from so very bad a Cause We do not doubt but the Nation has by this time cast up the Account and when they shall have well consider'd what Wonders might have been perform'd with less Expence of English Blood than that which has been unnecessarily trifled away in this Quarrel that such a Number of Ships of War have been lost and destroy'd in the Three years last past as might alone have been sufficient to have made a considerable Fleet That more Money has been drain'd out of the Purses of our Subjects in compass of that time than during the whole Reigns of many of our Predecessors put together and that not as formerly spent again and circulating among them but transported in specie into Foreign Parts and for ever lost to the Nation When these and many other Particulars of this Nature are cast up it must certainly appear at the Foot of the Account how much worse the Remedy is than the fancied Disease and that at least hitherto the Kingdom is no great Gainer by the Change OBSERVATIONS I doubt his late Majesty is misinformed for there are not only some but a great many who have more

which by the Blessing of God is at present put into our Hands OBSERVATIONS To begin with the Certain notice of the P. of Orange ' s Design is not to take the matter from the beginning Had he intended to give any satisfaction to English Subjects he should have begun where their Complaints and Grievances occasioned by his Arbitrary and Illegal Government began that is where the Prince's Design and his own Abdication began That he took the best care he could for his own defence no man questions and had he taken less it would not have been taken ill by the Nation That his Christian Majesty saw this Design was against himself long before the late King was sensible of it appears from the Memorial printed at the Hague 9. Septemb. 1688. by Monsieur de Conte d'Avaux the French King's Ambassadour But when he says 't was against the Peace of Europe I confess I know not how to understand it unless by the Peace of Europe his Most Christian Majesty mean an Universal Desolation which he was making as fast as he could For this cannot be denied to be a most certain and effectual way of setling a Country in peace to lay it waste and to destroy and drive out the Inhabitants To prevent which indeed was the bottom of this Design and the most effectual way to do it was to divide England from the Interest of France That the French King to prevent this did offer King Iames the Assistance of his Forces is very probable from the same Memorial which threatens the Dutch with it and how this Assistance came to be refused we learn from my Lord Sunderland's Letter printed in the History of the Desertion which and some other Counsels that thwarted the Popish Designs cost him his Religion and soon after the Favour of his Prince and his Preferments at Court That he had no such great Confidence in the Fidelity of his English Army was too evident in the daily Reformations he made in it exchanging Protestants for Papists and English-men for Irish which occasioned that memorable Accident at Portsmouth which gave such a general disgust to the Army in a very lucky Season as greatly disposed them either to go over to the Prince or at least not to fight against him That he did many things in the time of his distress to sweeten his Subjects is true but he was much mistaken if he thought this sufficient to give reasonable satisfaction He undid many things which he had illegally done but he did this so late and it was so apparently a matter of force owing to the change of his fortune not of his Inclinations and then too done with so ill a grace that I could observe no body that was then satisfied with it He restored the Charter of London and of other Cities and Corporations He dissolved the Ecclesiastical Commission restored Magdalen Colledge but never own'd the Illegality of these Proceedings would never renounce his dispensing Power would never be persuaded by the most humble Petitions and earnest Importunities of his Lords and Bishops to call a Free Parliament and to refer the redress of all Grievances to them till he seems to have formed a Design of leaving England and then his Issuing out of Writs which he resolved should never be executed could do him no hurt and would have a good appearance as if he had been willing to have referr'd all to a Parliament had not the growing Power of his Enemies made it more necessary for him to consult the safety of his own Person The Case of Magdalen Colledge convinced all men that these were Extorted Favours and would last no longer than it was safe to recall them King Iames had given his Orders to the Bishop of Winchester the Visitor of that Colledge to recall Dr. Hough and the former Fellows of that Society and he accordingly went down to reinstate them but upon the News that the Dutch Fleet had suffered much in a Storm and probably could not sail till the next Spring His Lordship had new Orders sent to call him back but that News proving false he was permitted to return and to pursue his first Orders This it seems was all the reasonable satisfaction that could be given what his Graces and Favours to Protestants were and how long they would last As for what concerns the Prince of Orange now our Gracious King I know of no mask he had on nor that ever he threw off or that He afterwards appeared to be any other than his Declaration had represented Him He came not for the Crown but to reform Abuses and to secure the Succession which the Right of his Princess and his own Right and Interest the preservation of the Protestant Religion and of the Liberties of Europe gave Him Right and Authority to meddle with but besides his Expectation and original Intention he has the Crown which he came not for He has deceived no body in it but if any one be deceived King Iames and the People of England have deceived Him the one in leaving his Crown the other in placing it on his Head where indeed it ought to be both in Right of His Princess and for his own merits for He who saves a Nation had He no other Claim or Title may very well deserve to wear the Crown especially when it was with the free Consent of the Princess our most Gracious Queen and upon the desire of the Estates of the Realm and still necessary to save the Nation In the next place He justifieth his leaving England for the security of his Person being wholly in the Enemies power at first confined by them in his own Palace and afterwards rudely forced out of it under a Guard of Foreigners But if he have forgot it others have not that before this happened he had privately withdrawn his Person disbanded his Army dissolved his Government flung his Broad Seal into the Thames and had never had this pretence for his Escape had he not been stopped by a mistake for no body intended to stay him and all this while he was in Treaty with the Prince and that upon such equal Terms that he could be under no just apprehension of ill usage He excuses his going to France because it was the only part in Europe to which he could retire with safety which is a Confession that he alone was in the French Interest against all Europe besides and that he durst not trust his Cause with any other Princes in Christendom which argues either a great jealousie of his own Cause or of their Justice and Honour even to distressed Princes But I am sure France was the only place in Europe he ought to have avoided and if he had no other place to go to he ought to have ventured himself at home or to have gone to Rome which had been a kind of Second Home unless he intended to resign his Crown He knew what Opinion English Subjects had of His Most Christian Majesty