People had such Experiences of the Goodness of God by his many Deliverances by his own Hand and by the Persons he was pleased to raise as his Instruments but too much like unto you this was not satisfactory unto them but they would choose a King and declined the method which God had been pleased to lead them by but require of Samuel a King to Judge them like other Nations and the Lord permitted Samuel to answer their desire saying that they had not rejected him viz. Samuel but had rejected the Lord according to all the Works they had done viz the Murmurers for there were always some that stood in the Gap since the day they came out of Egypt And when they were to be gratified Samuel was ordered by the Lord to shew them the manner of their King viz. This shall be the manner of the King that shall Reign over you he will take your Sons and Daughters for Himself and he will take your Fields and your Vineyards and give them to his Servants and ye shall cry out in that day because of your King which you shall have chosen you and the Lord will not hear you in that day nevertheless the People refused to obey the Voice of Samuel and they said Nay but we will have a King over us c. How plainly applicable this would be to our case is easie to understand should we by our Murmurings provoke the Lord to anger against us and by our Divisions and Animosities one against the other intice and animate the French King to attempt another Invasion under the specious Pretences of a Magnanimous and Royal Act of Restoring King James to his Throne again But alas who can describe the consequence of such an Act I tremble to go about it and Methinks the Israelites yoke under their King is easie to what we may expect To begin with the first clause He will take your Sons and your Daughters for Himself denoting the absolute Authority the King was to have over their Children for the placing of them here or there this or that Employment as is there express'd noble and ignoble some were to be Captains of Thousands others of Fifties Confectioners Bakers some to reap some to sow c. as you may read in the Story Here is Mercy mix'd with Judgment an ordinary variety of circumstances of humane Life wherein no Man even the meanest servant was to be debarr'd the placid reflection he having done his duty upon the Law of God Fear God Honour the King the meanest Israelite reaping might rejoice in his happy state compar'd with Egypt's cruel oppressive Slavery But oh fearful Thought What can we expect from our Enemies who I am bold to affirm are the Enemies of God and good Men Stupid Souls Can you think the French King will be kinder to you than to his own Faithful Loyal Subjects who gain'd him the Crown by their indefatigable Labour and true Valour Take a view of his Gratitude and their Recompence Are they made Captains of Thousands and Hundreds yea tell me where is the poor Protestant Reaper allow'd to dwell peaceably in all his Dominions Instead of taking their Sons and Daughters to himself some he hath sent to the cruel Slavery of the Gallies some he has destroy'd without Mercy in most inexpressible Tragical manner and are not our eyes daily beholders of the many miserably banish'd Subjects of that King besides the innumerable multitudes banish'd other Countries Will your Sons and Daughters think ye be better used No no be not deceived the Fire of his Ambition Hatred Covetousness is rather seven times hotter and instead of Delighting in the Flames of London's Houses he would be glad to see Nero like your Sons and Daughters how delicate soever they are in your eyes burnt with them And to the second description of the murmuring Israelites King And he will take your Fields and your Vineyards and give them to his Servants c. Here the King 's peremptory will over his Subjects Estates is described an Israelite with an Israelite one advanced and the other brought low no Family exempted from such vicissitudes but the most dejected Israelite tho never so abject in the King's sight if free from blemishes of the Law might have recourse to the Temple and there rejoice in the God of his Father Abraham Blessed Priviledge meliorating the sowrest affliction But what Oh murmuring Englishman Canst thou expect from the French King that great Destroyer of Countrys Vineyards Corn-Fields Pastorage c. Do you Think if you escape with your Lives you shall dispose of your Houses Riches Lands c. Vain thought Forget not how you have been served by your own Kings born among you who never arriv'd to so infinite Barbarity as he hath done yet have not they banish'd several of your fellow Subjects to the West-Indies dispos'd your Goods and Money amongst vile Informers Is France more tender-hearted What bravely erected Churches curious Mansions fair Estates of his Protestant Subjects hath he demolished and made heaps of Rubbish even Dunghils of and forced the Owners of them into other Countries to seek for places of Refuge where they might sigh out their piteous complaints like the bless'd Souls under the Altar How long O Lord just and true c. And will he be kinder to you ye hard-hearted Murmurers No! He will esteem the meanest pitiful flattering Vale de Chambre-Monsieur before the most noble generous-hearted Peer of England and make him possessor of his Estate Pray tell me have ye not seen from among your selves a cunning tricking flattering person to serve the Prince's by-ends preferr'd before you What! expect ye kinder usage from France Don't mistake if ye by your Murmurings provoke the Lord to Anger and your hatred one of another break his commands and bring the French among you The Dogs of his Flock will he make to traverse your Estates and when he has done if it were possible make them Heirs of them rather than you His Revenge is not a light matter Provoke not the Almighty to let it out upon you It may not be impertinent to re-mind you the greatest Grievance you at present lie under in reference to the Coin is from the pre-meditated revenge cunning intrigues of your Antient Enemies the French it being part of the Plot in 1678 as may be seen in the Narrative of the Plot and in a late Discourse called A Tragedy c. in these words This Flot was to be effected by worse than Jewish Interest Transportation of Trade People Stock and Money ADVLTERATING MONEY AND PLATE To which end they have Bankers Merchants Goldsmiths and other Traders whom they stock and set up with Money of their Society of which they boast to have one hundred thousand pounds Cash c. What Stock they may have now is inconceivably great Oh England how long will you nourish these poysonous Vipers of the World by your Murmurings and Jealousies and discern it not I shall conclude in the words of another As the Case stands now there are but two Ways Victory or Slavery We must either make the French stoop to us or be forced to submit to them there remains no Terms of Peace for us but what will fix an everlasting Infamy upon the English Name In short the Greatness of England and France is incompatible if they rise we must fall and the richer they grow the poorer we shall be their Glory will be erected on our Shame and a Peace at this time would introduce far greater and more certain Calamities than War c. Awake England Thine Enemies are not only upon thee but within thee FINIS
body of the Nation for many years last past never lived so great as now if we may judge by outward appearance and give me leave to say had we no Taxes and should lose our Trade as before hinted we should be miserable for it 's that which is the main Spring and Fountain that gives life unto and doth support a People or Nation and the want of which at present in the Bowels of France doth greatly expose that People I say again when I consider the many Millions this Nation hath contributed toward the War the great losses many of our Merchants have sustained as also the general Dammage by the abuse of our Coin notwithstanding all these things if we look through the Nation in general excepting some few persons in particular where is the just complaint where are the Countries Citys or Towns that doth visibly demonstrate their Poverty where are Tables less furnished where are the Backs or Heads of each Sex not ornamented Let us therefore not befool our selves and court Poverty and Ruine to our selves for can it otherwise be expected that if ever the late King should be settled here he must of necessity be the French King's Deputy and supposing we may escape the Sword of the French King's Forces its easie to apprehend what our condition will be hereafter if we look back and remember how the French incroached upon us in our Trade in the last Two Reigns while we had Peace with them that for near 20 years together the over-ballance of the Trade with France was near 4 Millions per Annum we cannot in reason suppose that our loss will be less for the future when we are but a Province of France and then let us consider what our condition will be if we escape with our lives which will be difficult when we shall lose our Trade and Freedom and be liable to make good to France all the Debts the late King hath contracted with the French since his Abdication as Spain hath been for the Money borrowed to make War with Queen Elizabeth for can it be ever thought by any considering person that the great and extraordinary Charge the French King hath been put to both in the Defence of Ireland so long and all the cost in France together with all the Preparations in the year 1692 and this late intended Invasion as also the Debts contracted in France ever since the said Abdication must not be allowed him besides the gratifying his Friends let us therefore consider all these things together and expostulate with our selves what state and condition we shall then be in for my part I dread to speak or write But should Peace be made up before he is brought so low as not to be in a condition to hurt us the consequence would be very bad for 't is plain that there is nothing but what we have reason to fear if France gets advantageously out of this War and that after the Proof they have had of their Forces they will treat their Neighbours hereafter with much more state than they have already done This is certain they have done things which they could scarce think themselves capable of doing and therefore we have more reason to be jealous of that King than ever and should make use of the present League to reduce them into their just bounds Experience has but too plainly convinced us That there was need of no less than all the Powers that are united in the present War to make head against France But who can assure us that it shall be possible to unite them a second time Can so many circumstances that meet together to give birth to the League concur afresh to form a new one Every one knows that to produce and confirm this Union it was necessary that all the Allies were convinced of the Injustice of the French Proceedings that every one of them in particular had experienced their unhappy effects and that one common danger had put them into an indispensible necessity of defending themselves and how many incidents have occurred since The Retreat of King James the happy Revolution that followed it and the Reduction of Ireland have been degrees by which the Nation has been put in a state to act with vigour against the common Enemy It was not enough to be Governed by a Prince that would not be discouraged by difficulties nor disturbed by dangers who Commands his Armies in Person and animates them by his Example The State of Affairs required besides this that this Prince should have Credit in Germany to oppose with success the Intrigues of France there and that he should be at the Head of the Forces of a powerful Republick both by Sea and Land and sure there need no great pains to prove That since we cannot promise our selves a like Juncture hereafter 't is absolutely necessary to make the best use of it while we have it 'T is easie to foresee That some years of Repose would give France the means of making a stronger Party in Germany and the Northern Courts so that it would not fail to make use of the first Revolution that should happen in Europe to renew the War No body is ignorant that 't is their Policy not to disarm in time of Peace and that the Revenue of that Crown is always the same which gives it infinite advantage when it Attacks those who are used to disband at the end of a War and which keep up the Armies by Taxes which are presently intercepted by Peace Besides this the French King is absolute in his Government his Frontier Towns are extreamly strong and in such a scituation as to command all the Neighbouring Countries so that he is always ready to make Invasions and out of danger of having them made on him and the unquiet Genius of that Nation together with the care that is taken to form it to Slavery requires frequent Wars abroad Besides that Crown is so far from having the Hopes and the Repose of its Subjects in view that its main study is to keep them low The Clergy can no more vaunt of any Prerogative the King is as absolute over the Spiritualty as he is over the Temporality All depends upon his good Pleasure which is now become the only Law of the State The Nobility have lost all their Priviledges they are reduced to a necessity of cringing severely to an Intendant of a Province and have no other way to aspire to any distinction but by low and unbecoming submissions As to the Subsidies granted to our King it is to be considered tho they are great yet he himself doth not dispose them for his private advantage but they are made use of for our own safety the King adventuring the hazard of his own Royal Person in pursuance of the end design'd in all the Taxes That these Nations might be Settled c. Wherefore take heed Oh Murmurers lest God deal with you as with the Israelites in Samuel's time when that
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
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
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
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
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