Court of France to change her Batteries and to employ all her Politicks which way to dethrone the reigning King whether by the Sword by Fire or by Poyson 't was indifferent to her provided she attain'd her Ends and for the Truth of this we have sufficient Proofs the Testimony of Grandvall at his Death and the authentick Depositions of Demont who is still living to the Shame and Confusion of France the Remembrance of which will be a lasting Stain to her Honour a Fact which her succeeding Princes will deny as a Reproach to their Posterity and for which Histories only furnish us with the Exrmple of Darius King of Persia who not being able to vanquish his Enemy Alexander in Battel treacherously labour'd to have won the Grecian Soldiers either to kill or betray their Prince And for that it was that the Macedonian Victor upbraided Darius's Embassadors when they came to sue for Peace and to return him Thanks for the Civilities he had shew'd to his Mother his Wife and his two Daughters to which Embassadour the Macedonian Monarch thus began his Answer Tell your Master that Thanks are superfluous among Soldiers that make War one upon another and therefore if I were Civil and Courteous towards his Relations 't was only to satisfie my self and not out of any Affection that I bear to him for 't is not my Humour to insult over the Miserable I never attack Prisoners nor Women I only assail those that I meet with Weapons in their Hands and who are in a Condition to defend themselves So that if he sincerely desir'd Peace I should consider what I had to do but seeing that he still continues by Letters and Money to sollicit my Soldiers to betray me and my Friends to Kill me I am resev'd to pursue him to the uttermost of my Power no longer as an Enemy but as a Poysoner and a Ruffian c. 'T is not to be deny'd but that when any man designs to murther his Enemy 't is because he dreads him with a more then Ordinary Fear and to deprive his more valiant Adversary by such a Cowardly and detestable Action of the Honour of vanquishing him in Battel But such Assassins never come to good End for Darius perish'd miserably being murder'd by his own Subjects and at the same time â—ost both his Life his Diadem and all the Wealth of â—â—â—sia But to return to our Subject During the Reign of King James France sent into England whole Legions of Monks and Jesuits under pretence of Propagating the Faith and to screw themselves into the most considerable Families of the Realm under pretence of Religion as also to assist this Unfortunate Prince to observe his Footsteps and dive into his secret Thoughts to the end he might not be able to avoid the Chains which the Court of France had prepar'd for him But now the Emissaries of France have alter'd their Language and whereas at that time they preach'd nothing to the English but Peace and Obedience there now they breath nothing but Fire and Flame Sedition and Murder where e're they come fomenting Rebellion in all parts of the Kingdom and ready once more to fire the City of London if they believ'd the Conflagration would contribute any thing to their wicked Designs The whole Policy and Craft of France is at a great Loss at this Conjuncture to find that all her Machinations against the Life of the King of England at present prosperously Reigning are still disappointed Nor is it less a bitter Choak-Pear to Lewis XIV the Proudest Monarch upon Earth to see himself at last constrain'd to acknowledge his Brittanick Majesty the Lawful Monarch of the Three Kingdoms and sue to him for Peace and all this after he had Vaunted before all the World that he would never lay down his Arms â—â—ll he had restor'd King James to his Throne not without a prophane and Daring Application of the words of God the Father to the Son Sit thou at my Right hand till I make thy Enemies thy Foot-stool Now after such a Bounce a man would think it should be a trouble to the Court of France to find her self constrain'd to dismiss this poor unfortunate Prince But there will be no such Thing For when Persons that have been profitable to the Court of France become once unserviceable she never scruples to send 'em packing in cold Blood 'T is true that she observes some Measures and lets yee know her Mind at first by Hints and indirect Whispers but if you do not understand her Mute Language and Dumb Signs she fails not to inform your Stupidity with plain and down-right Expressions it being a Maxim of the French Court never to love the Unfortunate But you 'l say what Benefit can accrue to Lewis XIV by keeping King James in France 't is not for the Benefit of his Counsel for he could never give or take any himself nor is it out of any heat of Concupiscence for the Queen of England for he has much handsomer and Prettier in his Seraglio of St. Cyr where Madam de Maintenon out of her Pious Care for several Years together has kept in good decorum a numerous Bevie of young handsome Ladies who are as it were so many Victims which she offers to the Divinity of Lewis the Great and though that Monarch had not that Reserve for his little Pleasures the Court is full of Coquetts and the Mothers are such Ninny-hammers as to carry their Daughters thither to try whether or no their good Fortune will advance 'em to the Embraces of that Great Monarch and all this in hopes to raise the drooping condition of their Family Insomuch that I have known some Parents condescend to that point of Panderism as to Lesson their Daughters and instruct 'em what they were to say and do in case the King should happen to take notice of ' em So that most assuredly it would not be to Queen Jemmykin that the Sultan of France would throw his Handkerchief unless it were with that Limitation that Alexander observ'd who refus'd to exercise at the Olympick Games unless he might have Kings for his Competitors And thus Lewis XIV grown more Great perhaps then formerly would have the World believe that he 'll no longer be a Gamester in the Sports of Love unless he may have Queens for the Objects of his Passion However the King grows old and therefore let us be so favourable to him as to believe that if the Court of France did entertain King James and all his Train at St. Germains 't was not for any Affection the French Monarch bare him but because the English Fugitive who generally feeds upon Chimera's fancy'd Himself and endeavour'd to perswade the Court of France that he had a Great Party in England not only all the Roman Catholicks but all the Fanaticks in the Kingdom That the Quaker Penn who indeed is no other then a Jesuit in Masquerade assur'd him of the Absolute Devotion of
that whole Sect to his Party and Service But the Court of France has been well inform'd that all these Assurances were meer Illusions seeing that neither Catholicks nor Quakers are admitted into the Parliament nor into any the meanest Offices in the Kingdom and that it would be a very difficult thing not to say an Impossibility to embody all those that go by the Name of Jacobites scatter'd up and down in several Parts of the Kingdom and for the most part known to be such Besides that we find that no sooner a Dozen of these Rebels meet together but they are presently discover'd a visible Sign of the Care that Divine Providence takes for the Preservation of their Brittanick Majesties and that the same Providence watches over 'em while they without intermission labour to settle the Government to protect the Nation against their Enemies and to re-advance the Honour of the British Name beyond what the Princes their Predecessors have done for several Ages There is no question to be made but that the King of France or his Council is very well inform'd of the Constitution of England and that it will be in vain for their Enemies to attempt any thing there so long as the King and his Parliament are united together as we find 'em at this Day Insomuch that this good Correspondence has furnish'd the King with powerful Supplies to oppose his Enemies both by Sea and Land tho' their Number were double to what it is at this Day For that so long as the English have a formidable Fleet upon their Coasts who shall be so daring as to attack ' em Not France I 'm sure Besides that if they can but come to grapple with their lurking Enemy the French would soon be constrain'd to quit their Coasts So that all things being consider'd there is nothing more for France to do but to give over the War with England for that unless they be Masters of the Sea their Trade is lost and they are absolutely ruin'd not being able to sell their Wines their Brandies and other Products of the Kingdom besides that they are forc'd to drein themselves of all their ready Money to pay the King's Subsidies with a number of Impositions and Taxes with which the Kingdom swarms And which is worst of all their Harvests having fail'd for Two Years together from whence shall they have Corn if they be not Masters of the Sea more especially being at War with the Hollanders and excluded out of Spain which has several times supply'd their Wants So that 't is no marvel that the French begin to be weary of the War especially with England and that he no longer observes any Measures with King James who at present resembles one of one those petty Saints to whom they will not put themselves to the trouble of lighting up a small Wax Candle because they neither cure any Diseases nor are able to make their Guardian 's Pot boil France has begun a War which she will not get quit of when she pleases her self Her Monarch has a long time acted Orlando Furioso and affronted both in Word and Deed a Prince that was not in a Condition to defend himself but now that Providence by a miraculous Conduct has plac'd the injur'd Prince upon the Brittish Throhe 't is not for the Court of France to think that God by his Providence has so highly exalted that Prince has conferr'd upon him the Government of several Kingdoms and Provinces and put so great a Power into the Hands of the only Prince that France is afraid of a Prince that has so well united the greatest part of the Princes of Europe in order to make a vigorous War against the common Enemy who by degrees has so largely usurp'd upon their Dominions and all this only to render more conspicuous the Honour of Lewis XIV as his Emissaries give out 'T is never to be believ'd and they that imagine it must be either void of Sence or be of the Number of those Phanaticks that have no more Wit then to adhere to King James But if France can get nothing by a War with England she may be much a loser considering the present Condition of her Affairs For should the English once happen to set Foot in France they have not forgot their Right to Normandy Guienne Poiton and Lunguedock When the English quitted Calais they promis'd the French Governour who came to take possession of it to return when their Sins were not so crying loud as those of the French At least the Court of France is not to believe that the English will let 'em alone in the quiet Possession of Dunkirk a Place that is no more the Patrimony of the Kings of France then Strasburgh They that sold both the one and the other of those Cities had no right to make the Bargain France treated with those that were under Age. Now we know that what an Infant Sells or Contracts for is lyable to be cancell'd Charles the Second had neither conquer'd nor purchas'd Dunkirk he found it annex'd to the Crown upon his return to his Kingdoms nor was it for him to sell it to satisfie the Avarice of his Chancellor So that the Kings his Predecessors have still an undeniable Right either to regain it by Force of Arms or recover it by Treaty of Peace with much more Equity and Justice then the Chamber of Metz can pretend to make Reunions to the Crown of France The words surrender back are doubtless very hard of Digestion to Lewis the Great who pretends at all times to be the only Person that can restore Peace to Europe and therefore he ought in the first place to understand what Restitution is The Greatest and Wisest of Kings assures us That Destruction presses close upon the Heels of the Proud and as I have already said Fortune grows weary of always carrying the same Prince upon her Back There are many Reasons why France should sink after all the Cruelties she has committed and which are not yet at an end People trail their Chains after 'em for some time without much complaint but 't is with a design to break 'em upon the first Opportunity and there is no question to be made but that if the English once set Foot ashore with their Prince at the Head of 'em but that the greatest part will receive him as their Deliverer And I dare be bold to affirm that there are at Present a Great Number in France who wish it and wait for their Deliverance and that there is hardly a Lord at Court or a Prince of the Blood who does not pray for the bringing down their Monarch and the Prosperity of the Confederates Armes The Race of Valois ended in France for less Crimes then those that Bourbon has committed But there is a precise Time appointed for humbling the Monarchs of the World conceal'd from Humane Knowledge and it is a Folly to go about to penetrate into a Secret which Divine
Emperor his lawful Sovereign was intâ—oduc'd into the Chapter of Cologne only to be the Tool and Organ by whose means the Most Christian King might the more easily disturb the States of the United Provinces But all these ways failing tho' not his good Will and finding he could not be assisted either by Cologne nor England nor by the Bishop of Munster as in the preceding War France could no longer contain her self but under pretence of assisting King James presently declar'd War and fell upon the United Provinces to prevent 'em from aggrandizing themselves by the sincere and strict Union which they were about to make between the King and Queen at present prosperously reigning But in regard that frequently Revenge never considers the Danger to which it exposes it self for the satisfaction of its Rage in like manner the King of France has drawn upon himself all of a sudden the the most numerous and the soundest part of the Puissances of Europe who will never lay down their Arms till he has made those Restitutions which they shall think convenient for the Welfare of Europe there being no other way of Reliance upon the Promises and Faith of the Most Christian King I believe that Lewis XIV spake just according to the Sentiments of his Heart when he happen'd one Day to say That he neither Fear'd nor Lov'd the Hollanders who nevertheless fill'd him full of Jealousies and Fears and often broke his Measures And yet 't is to that warlike Nation that he is at this Day beholding for his having got the upper-hand of Spain For as France formerly made use of the Hollanders to humble Spain so the Spaniards are now glad of succour of the United Provinces to humble the Pride of France And the Moderation and Flegm of the Hollanders proves very effectual to abate the Fury of the French which only affrights those the fear it and are not acquainted with it In the Year 1672. the United Provinces alone made Head against the Two Potent Kings of France and England were Victorious at Sea and constrain'd the latter to make a Peace and the other su'd for the Peace of Nimeghen Tho' through a remissness Injurious to the Honour of the Parties the Plenipotentiaries out of a Complyance not to be endur'd suffer'd the slipping in of those Words That the King of France being desirous to restore Peace to Europe c. Whereas it was he that begg'd for it and made such Condescentions to the City of Amsterdam that she consented to it so that to speak properly 't was she and not Lewis XIV that restored Peace to Europe But in regard it was made without any great Precautions and without taking any other Guarranty then the Sincerity of a Prince who never had any therefore it lasted but a short while and within the space of Six Years the Peace-Restorer committed several Hostilities took many Cities and Fortresses so that there was need of a new Peace and a Truce follow'd to the end he might retain what he had usurp'd Nor were all these Treaties Mounds sufficiently strong to restrain the impetuous Torrent He breaks through all the Tyes of Sanctity and Religion and falls upon Philipsburgh the loss of which was attended with several other scurvy Inconveniences Now upon what Foundation could the States of the United Provinces treat with a King that observ'd no Rule of common Morality but broke his Faith his Word his Promise even with the Emperor himself Certain barbarous People whom Alexander the Great would have oblig'd to swear Fidelity to him return'd him answer That they never swore any Oaths but gave their Word which they kept inviolably from whence I observe that they were not French The Ministry of the Court of France imagines with it self that Lewis XIV not having usurp'd any thing upon the Republick of the United Provinces during the Peace nor won any Place from her during the War that it would be always an easie thing for their Monarch to make a Peace with her besides that the Hollanders are greatly inclin'd to Peace by reason of their Trade which is much obstructed in time of War neither is it the Interest of a Republick to enlarge her Confines or to add new Provinces to those she has already but to preserve United what already she possesses and to secure her Frontiers the best she can But tho' France may be in the Right as to some Circumstances yet is she deceiv'd in the main For it is not so easie to make a Peace with the Hollanders as the King of France imagines Those People tho' naturally good-natur'd and easie are not readily twice deluded That Prudence which never forsakes the Counsels of their Soveraigns has seen by the Consequences of the Peace of Nimeghen that there is no trusting to France but that all her Promises and Treaties were only meer Amusements that is to say a sort of Recoiling to fetch the greater Leap he must be a very mean Politician and very dull-sighted who does not percieve that France had a great mind to have made her self Mistress of the United Provinces their Wealth and their Religion those three things so precious and so necessary that the Inhabitants neither can nor ought to lose 'em but with their Lives And therefore as they ventur'd all to purchase those Blessings so they will use their utmost Endeavours to preserve 'em as the most precious Jewels of the Republick For the Hollanders are not like King James who left the care of his Crown to the Count of Lausune while he ran away before the Battel of the Boyne and before his Person was in any evident Danger France knows not as yet the strength of the United Provinces as being ignorant of what she can do if once she be hard put to it Seeing that if they could find the way not only to shake off the Chains of Servitude but to make head for several Years against one of the most Potent and one of the greatest Monarchs of Europe Philip II. and come off with Honour why should the Ministers of France flatter themselves under this Reign that they are able to destroy ' em 'T is only because Men are apt to flatter themselves that they can compass what they desire and generally they never care to be dis-abus'd in regard that Hope supports and in some measure satisfies an ambitious Mind Usually the Court of France is crowded with Flatterers who make no other Prayers then for the Glory of their Monarch and sing no other Hymns then in his Praise all their Opera's sound forth the Grandeur and the Conquests of their new Deity Jupiter-Bourbon They perswade him that he was sent into the World to reign by himself and to subdue all the People of the Earth under his Dominion they have given him the Sirname of Dieu-donné or God's Gift and they make their Oblations to the immortal Man Viro Immortali To which purpose they have erected his Statue in the Piazza of
to continue their Trade with France or instead of that to grant Passports to such as shall desire 'em to the end that Sweden and Danemark may be equally concern'd in case the Confederates should take disgust at the Great Number which the Danâ—s give out to all Commers And indeed it is to be said to the Praise of Sweden that that Crown has always acted sincerely with her Confederates and even with France it self at a time when Sweden could not have reap'd any great Advantages by a Correspondence with her and when no less sedulous Endeavours were us'd to have drawn off the Court of Sweden from her France has always courted Sweden to remove the Obstacles that continually lie in her way which is the Reason of that Infidelity of the French who break with their Allies at all times when the Humour takes 'em and well understand that Sweden being so potent and considerable is able to counterpoize Affairs provided she will but concern her self For in that respect she has always observ'd a very prudent Conduct neither does she approve all the Invasions of the French She knows the Truth of what M. Lyonne reports in his Memoirs where he says That there is not any State which is not bound to oppose the Aggrandizement of the Court of France and Sweden abâ—ve all the rest seeing that if the King had taken the Low-Countries he would have taken no further notice of her as believing he had no more Occâ—sion for her This is a solid Expression and to the purpose and ought to make a deep Impression in the minds of those who have prejudice against the Court of Swâ—den either deluded by the Flatteries of the Ministers of France or some base and sordid Interest of their own which greatly prevails in the world and leads a world of People astray But certain it is that Sweden has long since sounded the Ambition and Arms of France more especially at the Peace of Osnabrug and if at any time she hearkens to the Ministers of France 't is without doubt because she finds some little pleasure in dreining France and doing her but little Good 'T is also certain and visible that the Ministers of Sweden and Danemark who reside in Foreign Courts and more especially in those of the Confederates are frequently and vigorously assail'd by the Emissaries of the French on purpose to fish out how Squares go among the Confederates and may well retort upon the French Satans the Words of the Lord's Prayer Lead us not into Temptation but deliver from Evil but above all from the Evil Spirits of France that continually environ us For indeed a man ought to be shod with Frost-Nails to preserve himself from falling in such slippery Ground and he that can surmount those Temptations may well be number'd in the Catalogue of Upright Ministers and Faithful to the Interests of his Master Corruption or Bribery is now a General Mischief in the world but never any advanc'd the Price of it so high as the King of France for most certain it is that that one single Expence amounts to above Twenty Millions a Year For it is a Thing past all dispute that France upholds her self more by her Gold then by her Sword 'T is true she is many times put to her Plunges in time of War which dreins her Exchequer and enforces her to advance her Coin by which she gains considerably Formerly instead of enhauncing her Money France made use of another Stratagem which was to coin Louidores rais'd in value but mix'd with a baser Alloy then those that went current in the Kingdom which were distinguish'd by a little Mark quite different from others And some there are in the Court of Danemark who if they durst own the Thing could bring a Cloud of Witnesses to make it out as having experienc'd upon several Occasions the full swing that French Knavery allow'd it self I know likewise that the Thing was murmur'd at but the Cheat pass'd for that time upon promise of doing better the next time Therefore Charles II. King of England who was well acquainted with the Knavery of France when he receiv'd any French Pension which was usually pay'd him in Louidores order'd the Receivers to cut 'em in two pieces to see what Mettal they were made of and then caus'd 'em to be refin'd into Guinea's So natural it is for the Court of France not to leave any Cheat omitted to defraud all those that relie upon her As for Poland in regard it is a Kingdom remote from France it can do her neither any great Good nor any great Harm nor is there much Trade or much Communication between the Two Nations Corn is the Only Merchandize wherein Poland abounds and which it Transports from Dantzick into Foreign Countries But the Kings of Poland may in some measure sometimes be profitable to the Designs of France tho' it were only to molest the Emperour in many occasions that may and frequently do fall out For this Reason the King of France takes Great Care to send an Embassadour with Money to the Dyets upon the Election of a New King or else if they are not marry'd to offer 'em a Princess born in France and 't is very probable that the French Embassadour Beauvais and Cardinal Fourbin who was then at the Dyet in Poland contributed very much to the Election of the Present King for which he has not been ungrateful However he was guilty of two Bold Strokes which tho' they were greatly for his Honour were no way delightful to France The First was the King of Poland's March to the Relief of Vienna which was effectually perform'd with the loss of 60000 Turks to the great Grief of Lewis XIV and contrary to his Expectation and his Wishes And tho' some Remains of Decorum and Honour retain'd the Court of France from openly displaying her Resentment yet the Silence of the French discover'd how much they were vex'd and mortify'd by it at a time when all Europe resounded with loud Acclamations of Joy and Gladness and all the Churches with Thanks givings to Heaven Only the Sorrow of France notoriously display'd it self by her Prohibiting the Bishops of the Conquer'd Cities in the Low-Countries to suffer Te Deums to be sung within their Diocesses The second Blow which his Majesty of Poland gave to the Contrivances of France was the Marriage of Prince James to one of the Princesses of Newburgh Sister to the Empress notwithstanding all the Oppositions of the French Ministers and particularly of the Marquis of Arquin the Queen's Father wherein the Contests grew so high that the King of France order'd one of his Ministers to tell his Majesty of Poland That since he could not hinder the Marriage he would hinder the Prince from being King But in these two Affairs the Polanders were guided by their real Interests which was to bring down and ruine the Turks their sworn Enemy and near Neighbour as also assure to themselves the Amity
the War which she unjustly declar'd against the Emperour it may be certainly said that the Acquisition of Philipsburgh cost King James his Crown as being at the same time abandon'd by Lewis the XIV to his Evil Fortune The Council of France soon after but too late acknowledg'd their Fault and could find no other way to excuse the Blunder but by entring into a War with England Spain and the United Provinces at the same time that they declar'd War against the Emperour and this same mistaken piece of Policy occasion'd that strict and sincere Confederacy which we see aâ— this day between the greatest part of the Christian Princes to preserve themselves from the Invasions of France and Lewis the XIV to wreck his Revenge upon 'em for the sad Fate of K. James his most dear Allye whose Misfortunes were only the Consequences of his having follow'd the Counsels of France and her pernicious Politicks was oblig'd to raise Great Armies and equip a Numerous Fleet to restore K. James to his Throne tho' hitherto he has not been able to accomplish any thing in his Favour but rather has liv'd to see the Disappointment of all the Hopes that flatter'd his first Attempts Whereas if the Ambitious Monarch had turn'd his whole Force against the Empire only and bent all his strength on that side he might have gone a great way into the Empire and have given Mahomet his Dear Friend and Allye a fair Opportunity to recover his Losses But while he labour'd the Re-mounting of two unhors'd Princes he ruin'd both the One and the Other And here it is that we ought to adore the Divine Providence that confounded and strook with a suddain Stupidity the Counsels of France on purpose to dissipate those unjust Designs which her False Politicks had suggested to her no less then the Assailing of all Europe at a Time according to the Proverb Covet all and Lose all There is no question but that France was sensible of her Errour after the Revolution in England for which reason she discharg'd all her Fury upon poor Germany where the French Soldiery exercis'd the utmost Extremities of Cruelty and Barbarism because that Electorate belong'd to the Emperour 's near Relation and Confederate France being thus Embark'd upon this Tempestuous Sea the Prosperity of the Imperial Arms the Revolution in England and the strict League of all the Confederate Princes for the Defence of the Common Cause could not choose but raise prodigious Storms about his Ears and therefore finding there was no repairing the Fault she had committed she was constrain'd to caress and promise the Ottoman Port whatever Succour the Infidels demanded both of Men and Money to oblige the Turks to continue the War With a Design however to deceive and forsake 'em so soon as the Court of France should find it convenient to agree with the Emperour But in regard the French have drawn in the Ottoman Port and blinded with their Presents the Principal Ministers and more especially the Mufti who holds his Dignity for Life 't is almost impossible to open the Eyes of the Grand Sultan who is willing to flatter himself with the Hopes of recovering that part of Hungary which he hast lost So that as long as the French are able to domineer at the Port as they do 't is in vain to send Embassadours thither to make proposals of Peace since it so absolutely behoves the Court Politicks of France to hinder it by all manner of means cost what it will either by Money or Poyson as we have seen 'T is not long since that the French perceiv'd that the Ministers of the Mediatours had made some Progress in the Interim that our Minister was hastning to the Port but their Emissaries both at Constantinople and Adrianople overturn'd with Money all the Measures that had been taken So that there is nothing but an Insurrection in the Ottoman Empire that can ranverse the Practices and Machinations of France and this is that which the Christians ought to meditate if they desire a Peace between the two Empires and there are ways to bring it about if they would but put 'em in Practice Nor is it to be question'd but that France drives on all the Intrigues imaginable in the Ottoman Court where she is in daily fear least early or late a sudden Truce should be clap'd up between the two Empires by reason of some unexpected Insurrection as I have already said And therefore it is that the Court of France endeavours to supplant her Confederate and to make a Peace with the Emperour and the Empire by restoring several Places which she now holds in Germany because that Lewis XIV and his Ministers see very well that they cannot continue the War so long as the Confederacy continue their Union as hitherto they have done that being alone by himself to bear the Burthen of so many Enemies he stands in need of Numerous Armies to oppose the same Adversaries that environ him on every side in Germany Flanders Brabant Catalogna Navarr and Piemont but above all the Conjoyn'd Fleets of England and Holland that threaten his Coasts and enforce him to an Excessive Expence to guard himself from a Descent his Trade being quite lost his Subjects reduc'd to utmost Misery and his Exchequer decreasing every day through the decay of Trade and the Poverty of the Inhabitants of his Kingdom We must believe that France would fain have a Peace while she thinks she has some Advantage before any Terrible Blow befall her which would enforce Lewis the Great to accept of such a Peace as it would please the Emperour and the Confederates to afford him 'T is no less certain then that his Imperial Majesty together with the Confederates have no more to do then to continue the War a little longer to compass their Ends upon France that can never be able to make Head against 'em for any long time Which is the reason that we find her already beginning to change her Batteries at the same time that she sees her self oblig'd to alter her Designs in respect of the Empire Formerly nothing would serve Lewis the XIV but the Imperial Crown for himself and the Title of King of the Romans for the Dauphin his Son But now no more of that The Grapes are out of his Reach and therefore he cries They are sowre All those vast Designs having fail'd and all his Lofty Enterprizes being come to nothing the Policy that France made use of when the Turks were marching to the Siege of Vienna is now no farther useful the End failing the means must of necessity surcease Formerly France was all for dethroning the Emperour but now 't is well if she can keep the Crown upon her Monarch's own Head in preserving by the force of her Arms what he has usurp'd from his Neighbours Heaven has alter'd the Face of Affairs by the ill success of the Ottoman Armes and thereby confounding the Counsels of France the designs
therefore the Policy of the Court of France very sillily believ'd that the Persecution of the Huguenots would draw all the Catholicks into her Snares which she had thus baited with her Pretended Zeal But the same Catholicks being more discreet and wary and well acquainted with the Tricks and Finesses of France compar'd the French Zeal to Crocodiles Tears that weep to drill Passengers within their reach and then darting themselves upon their Prey seize and devour it Nay the Pope himself smelt out the Cheat and did all that lay in his Power to oppose it as was apparently seen by the Business of Furstenberg But tho' the Event has shew'd us that France was mistaken in her Calculation yet she still goes on with her Prosecutions of the Protestants tho' less at one time then another in regard that 't is the best way for Princes to go through with Follies begun and for that the King's meaning was to make all Europe believe that he had no other End then to make Proselytes and to propagate the Catholick Religion which is a thing that most prudent and moderate Persons of the same Religion could never perceive by what is past nor discover in any Prospect of Futurity Nor has the King of France procur'd the least Advantage to the Roman Church by his Oppressions within his Kingdom or by his persuading and inveigling the Duke of Savoy to persecute the Vaudois with the same Severity quite contrary to the Sentiments of Innocent XI who openly disapprov'd Violence in Matters of Religion and who could not forbear saying That at the same time that the French Embassadour made Bonfires at Rome and rejoyc'd for the Destruction of the French Huguenots That his Heart bled Tears of Blood foreseeing that all those Forc'd Conversions would one day prove extreamly Prejudicial to the Church and that the King of France did but dispoil himself of the Lovely Robe of Primitive Charity to put on the Old Rags of Paganism dy'd with the Blood of so many Martyrs Moreover these abominable Proceedings of France have only serv'd to render the Catholicks suspected to the Protestants and to beget a Scorn and Hatred of 'em in Places where before they liv'd together in Brotherly Love and good Correspondence But what is more Considerable and for which Rome and all the Catholicks will have just Reason eternally to reproach France and complain of her Monarch Lewis XIV is this That he preferr'd the Advancement of Mahometism before the Support and Preservation of the Catholick Religion in England quite ruin'd by the Dethroning of King James whom he forsook in his Greatest Necessity more-especially seeing that unfortunate Prince had never fallen into such â—n Abyss of Misery had he not follow'd the Pernicious Counsels of his Confederate who incens'd him to persecute his Subjects in England as he had done his own in France and to alter the Religion and Laws of his Realm to serve the Interests and Designs of France But the English more Prudent and Circumspect then the French foreseeing the Tempest that began to gather already over their Heads and of which the Consequences could not but produce a Shipwrack like to that which had swallow'd up the Protestants of France seeing that the Dragoons began already to cross over out of France into England where there was a Father Peters animated with the same preposterous Zeal as Father La Chaise and a Chancellor Jefferies no less wicked and bloody then Tellier or Louvois the English I say beholding the Scaffolds erected and the Fires just ready to be kindl'd withdrew themselves in time from the Yoke that France was preparing for their Necks and by that Resolution for ever dash'd the vain-glorious Hopes of all the English Catholicks In short the King of France has great Reason to repent of Two Things his Persecution of the Protestants of his Kingdom and his last Siege of Philipsburgh For that those two Things were the Original Cause of the War and the Basis of all the Calamities with which France is at present overwhelm'd and which daily augment beyond any Help or Remedy which all the Policy of that Court all the Wiles the Artifices and Knavery of her Ministers and all the Bigotry of her Male and Female Hypocrites can apply to stop their spreading or prevent the same Destiny from befalling the Reign of Lewis the Great as befell Antiochus sirnam'd Epiphanes or The Illustrious there being so great a Uniformity in their Manner of Acting the Beginning and Progress of their Atchievements that we have great Reason to hope that their Exits will be the same FINIS