Awake SAMPSON THE PHILISTINES Are Upon Thee OR A CAUTION TO ENGLAND To take heed to her LOCKS least they being Cut off by Intrigues she be made to Grind at the MILL of FRANCE Being Preparatory to a more General Alarm By a Lover of the True Interest of his Country LONDON Printed by S. Bridge in Austin Friers and sold by E. Whitelock near Stationers Hall 1696. THE PREFACE THE following Discourse being principally matter of fact drawn from several Observations made in the last Two Reigns and since the late Revolution with a short Account of the Endeavours used to bring us under the French Government from which we have been so oft Providentially delivered I have the less occasion to make any Apology for this short Narrative intended only as a preparatory to a more General Alarm to awaken us out of that dangerous Lethargy many of us are fallen into I have waved Personal Reflections without any self-prejudice to any body because that sort of Writing is like throwing in Fuel which inflames instead of Water to quench Fire my desire being nothing else but to promote our real general English Interest That hath been and still is and shall for the future continue to be my Endeavour whatever it cost me having hitherto consulted no Difficulty in the Publick Service tho expos'd to many audacious Repulses yet have again rallied as a true Englishman The Introduction THE comparing our present condition as it stands betwixt us and France with Sampson and the Philistines may not I hope be thought improper who altho he had several Warnings of their Design to destroy him yet by his carelesness trust and sleeping in the Lap of her that was in the Intrigue with them he was taken Captive by his Enemies Tho we have had many Cautions and signal Warnings of the Designs of France yet generally speaking we would scarce believe our selves in any danger but tho the Popish Plot in King Charles the 2d's time was afterwards endeavoured to be shamm'd yet is it not now with a Witness made out by the last part of the said Plot viz. the adulterating the Coin And altho we are now under a present astonishing acknowledgement of Providence in the late Preservation of His Majesties Royal Person and preventing the effusion of so much Bloud as was intended by this last horrid Conspiracy with the total destruction of the Protestant Religion yet how insensible are too many persons already growing and ready to cool as if they were resolved not to see the Sun at Noon-Day and consent as Sampson in the Lap of Delilah to be overwhelmed with utter darkness I must confess there have been many Discourses Printed about this Subject by much abler Pens but it being generally in such Language and so satyrical that it doth no way answer the end so necessary for enlightning on the one hand and healing on the other hand I shall therefore endeavour as much as possible to use such cautions as may serve the ends proposed and shall offer that to consideration which is matter of fact with relation to France viz. of the Design in both the late Reigns to subvert the whole English Government and subject it to the Arbitrary Will and Pleasure of the French King To effect which the Trade of England was to be in the first place transplanted to France and it was so much effected that in Twenty years time it gained from us near Four Millions per Annum as is fully demonstrated in a late Discourse Intituled The Vsurpations of France upon England by a Person who has made his particular Observations thereon in these words viz. And though in Trade it self its generally reported that France by way of Barter got from England upwards of a Million of Pounds Sterling per Annum for several Years last past which is only known by the Entries made in our Custom-House-Books yet this to those that know the Intrigues of that People may not be one half in value of the Goods imported from France For that which comes in by Stealth and of such some Persons are so fond as to give double if not treble the worth of it only to have the name of French may be as much in the Sum if not more than what is truly and really Entered which for the most part are bulky Commodities And as our Loss in the Trade with France is about Two Millions per Annum by the Importation of their Commodities here so it s presumed on very good grounds that the Exportation of our Wooll thither unwrought enriches France much more than all the Importation of French Goods into England c. The same Author did publish his Fears of that evil about 27 years ago which were afterwards in the year 1677 renewed by the same hand in a Discourse Intituled The Proverb crossed and also much enlarged by Mr. Andrew Marvel which he Published under the notion of a younger Brother in Ireland to his elder Brother in England occasioned by the Irish Act Prohibiting the Importation of Cattel And in the second place the whole frame of our English Government and the Protestant Religion was to be subverted at once and therefore the Plot in the year 1678 was so laid and the adulterating the Coin was then designed to be the last part of the said Plot and had we took that caution given us timely we had prevented many of those evils which we have so sensibly since felt and have yet cause to fear greater Nevertheless since it hath pleased God who alone hath done it to discover those secret Plots and late Designs of the Enemies of our Peace not only of England as a Free Nation but also the Protestant Religion it self let us make that use of it as becometh rational persons And since the Designs of our Enemies have been variously exercised viz. to destroy our Trade to envade Property to alter our Religion and to Adulterate the Coin of the Nation let us now consider being so long ago told of the Design of our Enemies and not gratifie them and ruine our selves The following Discourse being mostly nothing but matter of fact it requires little if any Apology at all Awake Sampson c. Or A CAVEAT to England not to be Trappann'd by France THAT the Revolution in 1688 as just one Hundred years before in preventing our falling both into Popery and Slavery viz. the French King's Tyranny was then look'd upon by the Body of the Nation to be the wonderful Providence of God and next to a Miracle That the then Prince of Orange now our King with so small an Army to adventure at such a season of the Year as the dead of Winter and so long a Voyage and to sail by such a strong Fleet almost in sight then in the Downs and also such a great and Disciplin'd Army here in England well paid and the French ready to assist upon occasion for I was inform'd that very evening that the News came of the late
they went to Antwerp and so to Eyndhoven where Grandval was seized and Bois le dâ—c Loofdate upon Examination made out clearly all the circumstances of the Conspiracy and said Grandval told him That the King of Great Britain was looked upon as the only obstacle to the French King's Designs John d' Amours being Examined next Depos'd that Grandval told him at Brussels he had a great business to do which had miscarried the last year and they two falling into Discourse about His Majesty John d' Amours asked Grandval if he had any thing to say to the King Yes answered he To break his Neck Du Mont being Examined owned the fact in all its circumstances adding several other particulars viz. that Madam Maintenon the French King 's old Concubine was acquainted with the Design and that if he Grandval succeeded in the business he should have an ample Recompence even to be a Duke Grandval himself was Examined and perceiving that the matter was Discovered and that his own Letter could be produced to convict him he freely confessed all the circumstances of the Design without so much as naming the Rack to him either before or after Sentence Grandval declared that he acted in this Damned Design wholly in obedience to the Orders he had received from Monsieur Larbesieux and Monsieur Chanlais Ministers of State to the Vnchristian King Monsieur Barbesieux promised Grandval an Annual Revenue of 20000 Livres and to make him Knight of the Order of St. Lazarus in case the design took effect Grandval Loofdate and Colonel Parker went to St. Germain on the 16th of April 1692 to speak with the late King James about the said Design who had knowledge of it They all had Audience of the said King the late Queen being present King James told Grandval that Parker had given him an an account of the Business and sai That if he and the other Officers would do him that Service they should never want Grandval owned himself Guilty of the Design and said He deserved Death and that He had an Original Paper under Monsieur Barbesieux's own hand to justifie himself This Relation is so necessary at this time to be mentioned because it agrees with our late discovered Plot and Answers all the Objections produced by the French Advocates This Conspiracy was carried on at that time when the late King James was preparing to Invade England that very Summer 1692 And to this I shall crave leave to add an Abstract of what was not long since Published which was the Relation of a Gentleman of very good Note who had seen most of the Transactions at St. Germains from 90 to 94 who reported In the Year 92 the late King had great hopes to be restored with Triumph and fed himself with the thought of being an absolute Monarch having about that time received great encouragement as well from the Pope as from the French King which made him look above the reach of his late Subjects as he thought and to reject all the Lord Preston's Undertakings and the rest concerned in that Intrigue which was like to have cost the Lord Preston his Life and for which he had no Thanks but on the contrary was despised for meddling the late King protesting then That he had rather never see England and it 's hoped never shall then Come To or Capitulate with his Subjects again But he soon alter'd his Resolutions seeing Affairs abroad thwart his Designs and meeting with such unexpected Disappointments which abated much of the thoughts he retain'd but a little before so that of a sudden Motion he with great impatience consulted some of his Protestant Council telling them that he was resolved to Treat with his late Subjects and give them any Conditions rather than stand out any longer concluding that nothing would more conduce to his Restauration than to reconcile himself to his late Subjects In order thereto an Express was sent to England with Instructions to the Lord Midleton and some others to Treat with the People and to know their Inclinations by feeling how their Pulses beat and accordingly to proceed which the Lord Middleton did and drew a Declaration answerable to the desires of the Churchmen of England and Ireland and some other Heads of both the Kingdoms After some Debates the Lord Midleton went away for France and arrived at St. Germains the beginning of March 1692 towards the beginning of the year 93. produced the Declaration which admitted of high Debates and long Arguments Pro and Con as their several separate Interests moved the Ministers of St. Germains But the Lord Melford started several Cases of Conscience against the late King 's signing the said Declaration insomuch that to be satisfied therein and to remove all scruples of Conscience the late King consulted the Colledge of Sorbon and the Irish Colledge likewise The Faculty of Sorbon declared against the said Declaration and the Irish Colledge for it The Irish Colledge gave these Reasons That the King was in Exile banished his Kingdom by his own Children and Subjects for his Religion that as the Case stood with him there was no remedy for his Restauration left him but to comply with his Subjects and to sign any Instrument whatever for to prevail with them to accept of him home again and whatever he should sign while in Exile and under Tribulation abroad he should not in Conscience be obliged to perform after his Restoration as exacted from him per force in distress which renders all conditions and agreements of that kind neither obligatory nor binding any longer than a fair opportunity should offer to break them and wherein he would but imitate his Brother Charles the Second who took the Covenant in Scotland and after his Restoration burnt it at London by the hands of the Common Hangman The Faculty of Sorbon declared against this kind of Machiavilian Doctrine and against the Declaration too Yet notwithstanding the late King did sign the said Declaration on the consideration aforesaid But the Lord Melford and the Lord Middleton fell out and are to this day irreconcileable The said Declaration so signed by the late King was ordered to be sent into Flanders to be read there at the Head of the Irish Troops but was to them the most unwelcome and unacceptable Message that ever they met withal or that the late King could send them finding by the said Declaration that they lost themselves both at home and abroad by the late King which caused such a consternation in the Camp that the Soldiers who would be glad of any occasion to quit the Service and to return home openly mutined having started the Question That now being Deserted by King James why should they not go over to King William and accept of Conditions But the Question was carried in the Negative and an Express sent immediately to St. Germains to let the late King know the Discontent among the Soldiers and the Disorders in the Camp occasion'd by the said
the Elector of Brandenburgh had been so serviceable to him when he was in danger of his Crown and that they were so greatly instrumental in settling him upon the Throne that yet for that reason they should be destroyed is a strange return of Gratitude and if it be so that he hath been so false and base to his own Loyal Subjects it is no marvel that he hath broken with others and true to none if not consistent with his Ambition let their obligations be never so great These things considered it 's incredible to think that any Englishmen should contribute to his Greatness by creating objections against the present Government and with so much industry magnifie and spread them abroad in order to instill dividing Principles in honest well-meaning mens Minds than which nothing can possibly tend more to our own ruine and promoting the French Interest Nor can I see with what peace of Conscience such Men can desire that Misery to befal England yea even those very persons that have had particular obligations tho never so great to the late King James especially if some of his actions be duly considered even such as were transacted before his Abdication as well as so lately attempted which being matter of fact carries its own evidence for proof of which take the following account viz. I remember at the latter end of the year 1687 when he had given a Commission to inspect what Fines had been Levied on the Dissenters and not paid into the Exchequer which was design'd and afterwards appeared not for any good to them but to set Protestants one against another to make way for the Papists amongst several illegal practices there was one more notorious than others I speak my own knowledge being in that Commission and hearing the examination of the case That a Justice of Peace in Middlesex had caused the value of two hundred Pounds in Houshold-Goods to be seized upon from a Dissenter yea his Childrens Cloths and a Chimney-Piece to make it up for several Meetings I could name both the Justice and the Dissenter if it were necessary which Goods were all carried to the Justices Stables and there divided without any Appraisment and restoring the overpius back to the Owner and so it fell out one of the Commissioners who had a great Interest in King James did the next day inform him of the whole matter who upon hearing thereof seemed to be affected with the matter insomuch that I expected nothing less than a restoration but the contrary fell out for when we had summoned the Justice to answer the Charge which was some Weeks e'r he appeared he did not deny the fact but produc'd a Witness that it was done by the said King's particular order when he was Duke of York What greater Hypocrisie could there be and how much like his Brother in France before mentioned to which may be added some other instances viz. One was in answer to an Address wherein he solemnly protested his aversion to Persecution and in another he called God to Witness how much Persecution was against his Judgment and to a third Address he said he had well considered the Spanish Inquisition and wondred at his Brother the King of France's Proceedings how injurious they were to Trade and added That he would give them leave to Chalk his Back as a Fool if he should follow their steps and to add a fourth Printed on the Address of the Quakers he appealed to Mr. Pen how for many years he knew him averse to Persecution which calls to mind a Passage I heard from the then Dutchess of York's Secretary in the year 1682 that he had often heard the Duke say that to please some Dissenters especially Mr. Ion and other Quakers he declared he was troubled at their Suffering but afterwards laugh'd at them besides all which many cannot but know that most of the Severities used in King Charles the Second's time were influenced by the said King James as in the instance before of the Justice of Peace on purpose to put the Church of England to prosecute the Protestant Dissenters when the Papists were quiet to make way to promote Popery and to conclude his causing so many Worthy and Eminent Men averse to Popery to loose their Lives on purpose to deter others and therefore its plain what we may expect from Men of such Principles let their pretences be never so fair which is already too notorious in the practice of the French King and in part began by the said King James in the last mentioned actions and how near we were under the same kind of the French Government by the late King's actions and so long design'd by both the said Kings not only appearing in Coleman's Letters before mentioned but in all their proceedings pursuant thereunto which for Englishmen to promote is monstrous and never to be pitied I would upon this occasion and the late Design of the French only incert the fact of Grandaval who was Executed in Flanders the 13th of August 1692. for the same Design against His Majesties Royal Person at that time the Relation is this viz. Some of the Ministers in the highest Employments and of the greatest Credit in the Court of France having formed a Design to assassinate His Majesty of Great Britain they made use of the said Grandval as their Instrument to manage the Enterprize to find out fit persons to be employ'd in it to engage them by promises of great rewards as also to be aiding and assisting in his own person The said Grandval being inform'd that one Anthony du Mont had already been engaged in this design in the Life time of the late Marquis de Louvois he proposed it to him again to execute the same by order of the Marquis of Barbesiaux and some others Whereupon several Projects were drawn up and resolution was taken to bring it to effect the Cauupaign 1691 but the Providence of God disappointed them yet notwithstanding they did not let fall the Prosecution of this horrid Design but Grandval was employ'd frequently to write to Du Mont who was retired to Hanover to stir him up to another attempt the Campaign of 1692 which at last they agreed upon One Loofdate coming to Paris about that time Grandval making an acquaintance with him discovered to him the said Design which Loofdate shewing a willingness to be concern'd in but soon after gave notice of it by Letters to his Relations in Holland that they might inform his Majesty and the like Discovery was made by Du Mont to his Highness the Duke of Zell who acquainted His Majesty with it about the same time that he received the other account In the mean time Grandval having appointed Du Mont a Rendevouz at Vden in the Country of Ravestryn he set out from Paris in company of Loofdate passing thro Brussels where he communicated his Design to one John d' Amours who was formerly a Domestick Servant to Loofdate's Father From thence
Declaration Here King James comes to himself again and after his old custom of doing and undoing gets another Declaration drawn signs the same to null the former and sends away two Gentlemen and two Clergy-men of note with this new Declaration for Flanders to pacifie the Irish and to give them content which for some days gave them satisfaction but not so much as to harbour a good Thought of the late King believing that if ever he should be restored they would be all lost though his unconstancy and that by reposing their Trust in him they confided in a rotten Reed But however they were appeased for that time Here the late King forgetting his last Declaration and Protestation to the Irish sends the first Declaration for England without any amendment or taking any notice of the last Declaration to the Irish but with the former Exception against them he lets it pass for England here as they say abroad it was published the 19th of May 1693 but several not believing the same to be the late King's Declaration but the product of some other Invention to amuse the People seem'd disgusted at it and would give it no Credit But that the People may be undeceived in the said Declaration notice was sent to St. Germains what the People said about it and immediately to remove all doubts touching the same the late King caused it to be put in the Paris Gazette where to his great dishonour and disadvantage it was Published by Authority which gave content in England and great discontent to the Irish Army who were in great disorder about it but the French King promised to see them righted who are weary of King James except some Officers that cannot live so well at home as in their station abroad and willing to quit the Service upon any reasonable Conditions whatsoever especially the common Soldiers who are extraordinary poor and dissatisfied would give any thing to be at home and the constant Desertion confirms it The Nobility and Gentry of France finding a Declaration of King James in the Paris Gazette were surprised at it and seeing him desert the Roman Catholick Interest did look upon it as great inconstancy of resolution which in truth removed the Interest and Affection of the Clergy and Nobility of France from him who before that Publication were all resolved for him and to promote his Restoration to their power but since are grown cold upon the matter And is it not strange after such a discovery of the Temper and Principles of such a Prince now present with such a Monster in France whose influences over him will ever be more powerful than his Brothers even at their first Arrival in the year 1660 I say again is it not strange that Englishmen yea those very persons that were greatly instrumental in the said Revolution and put the Sword into our King's hand and whilst he is using it with the frequent hazard of his own Life to save ours and to free us from Popery and Slavery that such persons should cast away all sense of Mercy and Freedom and long to be under Bondage to that most Vnchristian King just as Israel even without such occasions as they had of old longed to go back again to Egypt and thus exposing not only themselves at present to be a scorn and reproach to all the World but also by it to be instrumental in enslaving their own Posterity so much degenerating from the Ancient and Generous Principles of rational Englishmen even long before the word Protestant was ever known as appears by the Act of Magna Charta in Henry III. time besides many others in the succeeding Reigns by which England now enjoys those excellent Priviledges even beyond any Nation whatsoever and shall this Age be so foolish as to be willing to lose all and subject it self to one of the greatest inhumane Tyrants in the World Oh! that it may not be once named that Englishmen should so much degenerate but let us reassume that Antient Spirit and improve the opportunity of regaining our Honour Peace and Liberty pursuant to the King's Speech lately made to his Parliament viz. That these Nations might be Settled and the Peace of Europe made up which Peace cannot well be made nor long kept but by bringing that aspiring Prince the French King low that hath occasion'd so much bloud inhumanely to be spilt for his Ambition and Pride as well as of making so many Countrys desolate and therefore he that hath not only been so Tyrannical but also Treacherous and False to his Word and Oath can never be trusted by any new Contracts as the Emperor of Germany and King of Spain have so lately observed and therefore nothing but a Power above him can bring him to any tolerable Terms to keep within bounds for should a Peace be concluded at such a season as this I do foresee who have made it my business to observe the Intrigues of that King that such a Peace would end in our Ruine as is very well observed by another hand in these words 'T is true indeed that Peace is the greatest of National Felicities and ought to be our most desirable Blessing especially if we look back to that effusion of bloud and expence of Treasure has already been made and therefore to sound the Trumpet for the encouragement of War must be somewhat ungrateful in our ears However when those two most potent Motives Honour and Interest lay that unavoydable necessity upon us That it 's impossible we can sheath our Swords with any thing less than giving up our Necks to a most certain Slavery War and only War is our common security Peace made up with an Enemy whose Power is too strong and Fidelity too weak is only a Web-lawn to break through at pleasure and a reconciliation of Friendship with such a Prince is the only means to impower him to be a more dangerous because then a more surprising Enemy Should France in her present height of Greatness give a cessation to Hostility 't is certain she can never give a cessation to her Ambition and 't is as certain that War is only rak'd up not quenched when the Coles of Ambition are still glowing that at any convenient Rupture may sit it fresh a blazing to that Aspirer that so visibly aims at Universal Monarchy Vniversal Peace can be no more than Disguise and Stratagem the Snake in the Grass is but too notoriously to be suspected under so foler how seemingly fair Bed of Flowers In short in any present accommodation with France her holding her hand will be no other than to enable her to make a stronger Blow So that if we consult our real Interest as Englishmen we ought to promote it for future success should encourage us especially when we reflect upon the King's management of the Campaign the last Year when he gave so great a Check to the French King's Pride at the re-taling of Namur and that the Venetians and the Duke
by the many Bills brought in and Acts past in the Reign of His present Majesty and he exposing his Royal Person in order to bring down that lofty Prince and shall we now by a few false friends and their sly insinuations be prevail'd upon to alter our minds and take those methods that most directly ruine us As for Example should I pretend to go for Exon or Berwick we know Ware is the Rode to one and Hounslow to the other and should be met at Gravesend Rochester c. and pursue that direct Rode by Land and Water any body that knows the Rode must conclude I design'd for France let my pretences be never so much to the contrary It 's grievous to think that when England is honoured with the greatest Priviledges of any Nation under Heaven and that it will be allowed its Laws as to the main of them exceeding other Nations but most backward as to execution that which is wanting is one general Law to put others in execution I am sorry I have the occasion to mention a particular case that past in my own sight the last Year viz. When some Overtures were made to settle a Trade betwixt us and the Duke of Savoy and Piedmont and discoursing with a great Gentleman concern'd in that Affair gave me the sight of the Agent who was then to go on this Affair being a Frenchman I asked him whether since the Trade to be promoted was for England it would not be more proper to send an Englishman To which he answered No for we were too sluggish to promote even our own real good had I not too much experience of the truth of his Answer I should have argued with him for I have generally observed the disposition of too too many guilty of this fault and more particularly noted by another Pen viz. We have been more careful to receive the Law from France in all their Modes both in Eating and Wearing than from the great Creator for our Conversation and so prevalent is the humour of that Country with us and so powerful the Ascendant it hath over us that we seem to be Frenchmen only we live in England so that they have sufficiently revenged themselves upon us by the loose Manners they have brought among us but I must needs say to their Credit they keep their Wits in their Debaucheries whilst we by over-doing them in the imitation of them lose both What is become of that Antient Education of the Kingdom our Integrity Gravity and Manhood which gave our Nation so great Reputation in the World is it not turned into Swearing and Drinking a Duel and a Wench their Prophaneness is their Wit and their base Crafts must be called Policy and as this we have learned from France as to our Men so let us consider as to our Women but where is that retired Breeding which made our Women so famous for Virtue as they were always for their Beauty Alas there hath been a sort of industry used to subdue their native Modesty as if it were an indecent thing to have it and Arts practised to make them hardy against their own blushes and master their shy and bashful disposition so peculiar to Chastity into an unconcerned Confidence as if it were their Perfection to be insensible of any ill and to be tam'd at all things Strange that sobriety should be turned into levity and lust call'd love and wantonness good humour this have been the effect of the French Modes given us And the same Author proceeds in the Description of a well-constitued Monarchy in ancient Times with the Mischiefs that befel them when they grew slotful and gave themselves to Pride Luxury c. which I crave leave to mention only for a Warning for us to consider of his words are these The first Empire had Nimrod's strength and the Wisdom of the Chaldeans to establish it and whilst prudence and sobriety lasted they prospered no sooner came Voluptuousness than the Empire decayed and was at last by the base Effeminacies of Sardanapalus in whom that Race ended transfer'd to another family It was the Policy of an Assyrian King to subdue the strength of Babylon then under good Discipline not to Invade it with Force but to Debauch it Wherefore he sent in Players Musitians Cooks Harlots c. and by those means introducing Corruption of Manners there was little more to do than to take it Nebuchadnezzar by his Virtue and Industry seen in the Siege of Tyre and of many great Enterprizes recovered and enlarged it to a mighty Empire and his Discipline was so excellent those times considered that it was praised in Scripture but when he grew Proud and Foolish for getting that Providence that had shewn it self so kind to him he became a Beast and grazed among the Beasts till God whom he had forgotten had restored him the heart of a Man and his Throne together I wish we may take up in time and observe how it was brought in amongst us for when the two late Kings to whom not only England but great part of Europe may attribute the present War that during their abode in France a foundation was laid for the ruine of England which was gradually put in execution as it would bear and it had certainly been effected had not the Revolution prevented It is very pertinent what is written by another hand on the observation of the 29th of May the Birth-day and Restoration of Ch. 2d viz. Now let us see how great cause we had to fall into so high and exceeding demonstration of joy let the event shew how great a Blessing this Restoration proved to the Nation We know sometimes God gives Kings in his Anger and takes them away in his Wrath. Plague War and Fire came in with King Charles but all little enough in comparison of that Floud of Vice and Corruption in the way of Prophaneness Impiety Debauchery c. which being encouraged by Example and Impunity followed him and like a mighty stream have so overflowed the Nation that in all likelihood it will require more Judgments and many years to come to purge the Land of it 't is overspread almost from the Child in the Cradle to the Old Man going to his Grave Whoredom and Wine take away the heart and our Understanding too which make us grow an Effeminate Nation contemptible to our Neighbours and made us cast away the Honour and Interest of the Country and become Tools of the Ambition and Greatness of those whose growing Power we ought to have opposed and which since made Europe groan and labour to be delivered from that Bondage or Danger we helped to bring it under We slighted the suits and offers of many Princes and States and Addresses of Parliament who offered their Lives and Fortunes to stop the growing Power of France which had her Emissaries of both Sexes in our Bosom by whose counsels Parliaments were Adjourned Prorogued and Dissolved whilst in less than 2 Years time
above 100000 souls for Religion sake forsook the Kingdom insomuch that one person viz. Tilham carried 3000 unto the Prince Palatine of the Rhine upon the account of Religion and carried great part of our Trade and that which is remarkable is that we laid the foundation of the losing it at least a great part of it the same way we got it But this was what was all along design'd in both our late Reigns and without doubt agreed unto by the French King when those Princes were so long in France which is plainly proved and more enlarged by other Pens Were the consequences of these things well considered which is matter of fact and were we more as true Englishmen unanimous and abate those little peaks of no true value and not suffer our selves to be imposed upon we need not fear the most daring and potent Adversary whatsoever but on the contrary if we should be led away by Jealousie and Discontent and thereby give way to our Enemies what confusion may not be expected especially among the common Peogle who hath hitherto by almost a Miracle been restrained by the Lord who stilleth the noise or tumult of the People for they if let loose not walking by Law Rule or Reason but through Rashness and Madness run themselves and the Nation into great Confusion and Misery And as the case stands at present we cannot expect to enjoy the Liberty and Peace at home without great cost to keep the War at a distance I would therefore offer some Considerations in reference to those unavoidable Taxes that tho they may be great and hard to be born especially by some sort of persons yet if we consider it 's for the preservation of our future security and ease as well as of our lives and the comfortable use of what is left And if persons tho no present Distemper be upon them are voluntary undertaking a Course of Physick and are exposed to no little pain and trouble in its working yet they bear it patiently because they expect the effects thereof both for the preserving their present Health and preventing future distempers Give me leave to add that tho the War is very uneasie to many yet I may presume to say and that upon good grounds that had not the said War fell out as it did it 's more than probable that we should e'r this time have lost the greatest part of our Trade by France And I am happily prevented in dilating my thoughts further on this Subject by the remembrance of my old Acquaintance the ingenious and faithful Monitor Mr. Andrew Marvel who tho dead many years since yet as if he had beheld our present circumstances expressed himself in these words in the year 1677. A more evident and certain reason of our decay in Trade and the grand spring of this whole matter lies in France that King is a most vigilant and potent Prince for he hath made War with all Europe with his Sword against his Enemies but against his Friends by Traffick which is indeed as the more just so the more effectual way of destroying them but among all none hath on this latter account more suffered than England for besides the Wine which we purchase at most excessive rates and for the most part for ready money and besides these Trinkets of which we are so fond and to the making of which the French Genius was formerly adopted he hath for many years applied his People to the making solid Trades of Cloth and Stuffs made of our Wool and indeed of all things valuable embracing in effect or in projection the Universal Monarchy of Commerce Never did any Prince so addict himself wholly to the encouragement of Trade and Navigation to this he hath either wholly prohibited or which is tanto mount laid so excessive Impositions upon all our English Manufacture that they are in a manner totally excluded and we have no Commodity to exchange with but whatever we have of his must be bought with a Penny insomuch that I have a particular drawn up in Parliament wherein they have computed besides the lucrum cessorum that the Nation sustained a clear loss of eleven hundred thousand Pounds yearly by the French Trade He further saith The French who were not long since but the Milliners of Europe are now become or pretend to be the Cape Merchants and that King gives not only the Mode but Garment to all Christendome and the World puts it self into his Livery at their own expence Well may we therefore complain of the death rather than deadness of our Manufacture when from this cause it receives such an obstruction even to suffocation when we are not only deprived of that general and gainful vent that we had formerly in France it self but in all other places where we Traffick we meet the French at every Town and the Foreign Post brings News from all Parts that they come before us and have undersold us in the same Commodity and to this Disease which is so mortal and which is beyond any private man to remedy we do more particularly contribute by those vast quantities of Wool which are Transported to France so that Callice is still no less our Staple than when it was under the English Dominion And if it was thus so long ago we may by woful experience conclude the French had grown much more great in so many years after Give me leave a little to reflect upon what past in the 2 last Reigns both as to the Church of England and also Dissenters of which the Nation consists First As to the Protestant Dissenters when they were violently persecuted in the later end of the Reign of King Charles and beginning of King James what would that sort of People have done to have purchased the Liberty now enjoyed Secondly And those of the Church of England not only of the Clergy but also of the Laity both Nobility and Gentry as well as Tradesmen what would they have parted with to be secured of their Properties when envaded and the Bishops were Tryed Yea some of our English Catholicks themselves that were thinking Men some of which I could name when the Irish was for burning and as all knows what sort of People they are making no difference wherever they come even in France it self amongst those of their own pretended Religion if it may be called a Religion As to our present Taxes let us compare the state of Flanders and Germany where the French come and where the Seat of War is who are forced not only to pay Taxes to both Parties but at last all and their Lives to boot If we on the other hand consider the value of Freedom and Trade and particularly Holland who at all times both in time of Peace as well as War bear great Taxes yet their Freedom and Trade make them go through it as if none at all and we our selves at this day tho some particular persons may be great sufferers yet the
King 's leaving Salisbury by a person privy to that King's Design that there were betwixt Calis and Bullen about thirty thousand French Soldiers design'd to Embark for England and Dover-Castle was to protect such as should Land there and Shereness and Tilbury Fort were to receive others to block up London and Chatham and had not the Lord by the same Providence defeated their Designs partly by the Divisions of the late King's Council as in the case of Absolon and by the measures that the French King took thereupon as in another Discourse enlarged which had it not been thus but that the French Army had Landed and any considerable part of the King's Army stood by him what Confusion must this poor Nation have been in viz. England before now might have had the same fate of Germany and Flanders where the French hath destroyed or are in possession and thereby the English Government and the Protestant Religion at once had been endangered if not destroyed and been subject to the French King's Tyranny And that some of those persons that then invited and encouraged the Prince of Orange now our King not only to expose his Royal Person in coming hither from Holland but also when come in pursuance of the said Invitation desired his acceptation of the Government and put the Sword in his hands why such persons in so short a time should oppose what they had then just before done I will not presume to be judge of but this I may say what was then matter of fact viz. the hindring a speedy Reduction of Ireland which for that reason occasioned the spilling of so much Bloud and expending so vast a Treasure to the undoing several Thousands thereby And we cannot but own also a Divine Hand in that Reduction when that whole Kingdom except Londonderry and some few Forts were then in the hands of the French for I look upon the late King to be but his Deputy if so much And why English Protestants should so soon contradict themselves in so short a time is strange and oppose that Deliverance from the French Tyranny which they well knew was all along design'd in both the late Reigns and more plainly appearing by Coleman's Letters and several other Transactions publickly detected since And that Freemen should so earnestly long to be in Bondage and Slavery to that most Vnchristian King may seem strange who hath so much delighted in Bloud and not only destroyed without cause so many Thousand Subjects of other Princes but also of those whom he hath himself owned to be his most Industrious and Loyal Subjects which may appear in a Letter to the Elector of Brandenburgh dated the Sixth of September 1666. The French King's Letter to the Duke of Brandenburgh BROTHER I would not have Discoursed the matter you wrote to me about on the behalf of my Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion with any other Prince besides your self but to shew you the particular esteem I have for you I shall begin with telling you that some persons disaffected to my service have spread Seditious Pamphlets among Strangers as if the Acts and Edicts that were passed in favour of my said Subjects of the pretended Reformed Religion by the Kings my Predecessors and confirmed by my Self were not kept and executed in my Dominions which would have been contrary to my intentions For I take care that they be maintained in all the Priviledges which have been Granted them and be as kindly used as my other Subjects to this I am engaged both by my Royal Word and in acknowledgment of the proofs they have given me of their Loyalty during the late Troubles in which they took up Arms for my Service and did vigorously oppose and successfully overthrow the ill designs which a Rebellious Party were contriving within my own Dominions against my Authority Royal. What his Hypocrisie was then appears in his Edict October 1685. viz. when he thought he was ready to put in execution his Design and had the late King James to join with him to carry it on in which Edict he exposes his Granfather Henry the Great who had so nobly declared himself in his Edict of Nants April 1598. he begins thus The Edict of Henry the Great the French King's Grandfather NOW it hath pleased God to give us a beginning of enjoying some rest we think we cannot employ our selves better than to apply to that which may tend to the Service and Glory of his Holy Name and to provide that he may be adored and prayed to by all our Subjects and if it hath not yet pleased him to permit it to be in one and the same form of Religion that it may at least be in one and the same intention and with such Rules that may prevent amongst them all Troubles and Tumults and that we and this Kingdom may always conserve the Glorious Title of Most Christian and by the same means take away the cause of Mischief and Trouble which may happen from the Actions of Religion which of all others are most prevalent and penetrating for this cause acknowledging this Affair to be of the greatest Importance and worthy of the best consideration after having considered the complaints of our Catholick Subjects and having also permitted to our Subjects of the Reformed Religion to assemble themselves by Deputies for framing their Complaints and making a Collection of all their Remonstrances Having therefore conferred divers times with them we have upon the whole judged it necessary to give to all our said Subjects one general Law clear plain and absolute by which they shall be regulated in all differences which have heretofore risen among them or may rise hereafter having had no other reguard in this deliberation than solely the zeal we have to the Service of God praying that he would henceforward grant to all our Subjects a durable and established Peace And we Implore and Expect from his Divine Bounty the same Protection and Favour he hath always bestowed upon this Kingdom from our Birth and that he would give our said Subjects the Grace to understand That in observation of this our Ordinance consisteth next to their Duty towards God and Vs the principal foundation of their Vnion Concord Tranquility Rest and the re-establishment of this State in its first Splendour Opulency and Strength As on Our part We promise that all the parts of it shall be exactly observed without suffering any contravention And for these causes having with the Advice of the Princes of our Bloud other Princes and Offieers of our Crown and other Great and Eminent Persons of our Council of State well and diligently weighed and considered all this Affair we have by this Edict or Statute perpetual and irrevocable said declared and ordained c. That after the said Edict of Henry the Great was so long quietly enjoyed by the Protestants in France who continued always Loyal to their Prince and as the present French King confesseth in his Letter to
of Tuscany that had so long stood out come to acknowledge our King's Authority let us not now lose Ground again for if we will but observe the particular Providences of God to this Nation we must needs own it hath been still kept almost by Miracles Let us consider some of our late Deliverances and particularly that in the year 1692 compar'd with that lately discoverd and a little reflect thereon and call to mind how near we were then to destruction and knew it not and what the Providence of God was at that time it may cause us to stand amazed for I had some private hints at that time and wrote them to a Friend of mine attending the King in Flanders which Person had been just then preserved from being drowned An Abstract of which Letter I shall Transcribe London 25th April 1692. Sir I am glad to hear of your great Deliverance since you Landed on that side but sorry I have occasion to tell you what my fears are viz. that if the Lord be not as wonderful at this time in the preservation of that Liberty he was pleased to work for us at His Majesties first arrival from Holland in 1688 we are very like to go back again to that Bondage we were then delivered from for the daily Collections furnisheth me with fresh occasions of mourning and but yesterday I was caution'd not to expose my self in that Post I have stood so long in viz by opposing the French Interest for that the late King James would be here in a Month and little opposition be made against him having a security of a quiet reception and many reasons were then given to induce me to believe it which I shall for other reasons no â—omit naming them and if the Wind continue long as it is and that the French Fleet are joined they may come and do what they please because our Fleet are in no condition to oppose them they being kept so long to Rendevouz in the Nore when it was urged long before to Rendevouz at Spithead I was in hopes that the King was ready to come back but tho dispairing of that am now informed that he will be in the Fleet to animate the Descent c. Postscript Before Sealing the Wind shifting hath blowed away some of my fears It was a great and wonderful Providence it was not effected that had not the Wind shifted at that time and prevented the French Fleet from coming upon us they might have soon destroyed that Squadron then off the Isle of Wight and have Landed there and at Portsmouth but as before hinted the Wind shifting the French Preparations proved not only abortive but very destructive to them at that time And it must be owned to be a Divine Hand at that time in the very Wind as now lately upon this last Design of France for as the Thoulon Squadron being stopt from coming as was design'd into the Channel and when we were inform'd of their Design to Invade us that then the Wind served just so long as to carry our Fleet from the Nore to the Downs and then immediately in having it shift till the Dutch joined us so that England may say of the Wind as Deborah of old did of the Stars who in their order fought for Israel Let it be remembred that the Wind at that time held West and South-West about 5 Weeks was an apparent Providence to this Nation and if we will observe any thing of that Nature we may conclude by the same Providence what a Noble Peer of this Nation said some years ago upon a Defeat of some Rebels in Scotland and discovery of a Plot in Lancashire That God would deliver us whether we would or no. So that the Enemies Preparations proved then not only abortive but an opportunity was offered to gain a great Victory upon them and had it been pursued France to speak humanely had in a great measure been ruined for I was credibly inform'd by a Relation of mine who was in the Engagement and after the Fight did burn two great Ships of War at La Hogue who observed that had there been a few Men Landed the French had fled when none pursued their temerity of the one hand and oppression on the other would have render'd them uncapable or unwilling to defend their Country the two powerful Motives that render'd the Revolution among us in 1688 so feasible and easie I speak not at random but on good Grounds from the Information I then received a little before the said Victory by a person that had been in France about that time who inform'd me that altho the Policy of the French King were such as that his Maritime and Frontier Towns were not so much oppress'd yet most of the Inland Provinces were so depopulated and impoverished that there were not Men left to Till the Ground nor Dress the Vines as afterwards was more plainly demonstrated and were we once unanimous we might strike Terrour into the mind of that haughty Monarch of France I am not ignorant what sly Insinuations have been used to undermine our present Government by telling us by way of objection viz. How the Authors of the Hungarian and Piedmont Persecution and the Spanish Inquisition should establish the Protestant Belief amongst us I would answer That the present War in which we are engaged with the Emperor the King of Spain and the Duke of Savoy is not upon the account of Religion but upon Property and Civil Rights in those Princes who opposed the French King's Ambition and the War with the Emperor c. was long before our Revolution And therefore it was a very great Providence to us in England as well as other Protestant Countrys that there is that agreement in all those Princes united against France And should not England assist the rest of the Allies they would soon be over-run by France and should Holland be under that Government England could not hold out very long for when the Marine Forces in Holland is united to France we may then rationally conclude that not only England but the two Neutral Northern Crowns and Portugal must at length receive Laws from France I will not undertake that his Holiness at Rome shall be exempt from his Jurisdiction I might enlarge upon such reasons as may be convincing if it were necessary but it would be superfluous matters of fact having been so much before-hand of that nature how the French Monarch hath treated all persons that endeavour to thwart his Ambition c. So that it is our real Interest to assist the rest of the Confederates notwithstanding all the present inconveniences and evil consequents that do attend us which in a little time may be avoided It is not now a thing Disputable for we have too evident Experience and the Nation has been convinced that the Growth of France would be the Ruine of England as witness those many Parliamentary Addresses made to King Charles the Second as well as