offer'd But as for You Monsieur Dauphin 't is hop'd that your Inclinations will not lead you to follow this Great Exemplar We are sensible that you like the deceased Prince of Conde abhor such Treacherous Actions as these unworthy of a great Hero more especially a Christian Prince one day design'd to wear one of the most August Crowns in Christendom All Europe looks upon You as one that will restore that Peace and Tranquility which your Father 's unjust Claims have banish'd from among the Christian Princes If it be the Pleasure of Heaven that ever you come to the Crown we most justly flatter our selves that France was never so happy as it will be then Your Subjects will be deliver'd from the Burthens of a thousand Imposts Trade will be restor'd Arts and Sciences will flourish the Nobility of the Kingdom will reassume their Ancient Splendor the Parliaments and Sovereign Courts will again enjoy that Authority of which they have been despoil'd the Neighbouring Princes will have a plenary Confidence in your Royal Word your Treaties will be inviolable and you will be lookt upon in all the Courts of Europe as a Prince that treads in the Steps of your Illustrious Ancestors and not pursue the Vices of two Monarchs that strike a Horror of their Actions into the Hearts of all the Christian Princes Call to mind Sir the Precepts of the Wise Plato That the Laws have a Power over Kings as well as Subjects So long as you take such Principles for the Rule of your Actions you will be the Love of your Subjects the Glory of your Age and the Greatest King in the World All Europe Sir conjures you to inculcate these Noble Lessons into the young Princes your Sons who are one day to succeed you 't is time to do it but more especially to infuse into their tender years an Aversion and Abhorrency of the Detestable Principles of their Grandfather condemned by all good men Instil into them this noble Thought of Aristotle He whom the People will not admit for King is a Tyrant so long as they have the Love of the People they will be worthy to wear a Crown This is that which is the greatest Glory of that Prince whom the Most Christian King your Father and his Allie King James would have Assassinated he is passionately belov'd of his Subjects and consequently worthy to be their King This Love it is which assures him of their Fidelity which establishes his Throne and renders it immoveable and which is the Reason that his Subjects will spend the last drop of their Blood for the Preservation of his Sacred Person The want of this Love so necessary for Princes that will Govern according to Law was the cause of King James's Misfortunes and that which renders him the most miserable of Monarchs But would to Heaven that this were the only Stain that renders him odious all the Christian Princes of Europe would then have no reason to upbraid him with the most detestable of all Crimes the meditated Assassination of King William But let us return to the most Christian King If we consider what happen'd upon the Birth of that Prince we shall meet with nothing but what is surprizing All France before that was in great Affliction and all in Tears besought of God an Heir to the Crown After two and twenty Years of Barrenness the Queen-Mother conceiv'd and she brough forth a Successor to Lewis XIII But what Successor A Prince that came into the World with Two Teeth A strange Prodigy and the most surprizing that has happen'd in our days When the Soothsayers of Italy were consulted by Expresses which the deceased M. de Colbert sent thither they answer'd That the Prince newly born with Two Teeth should with One of his Teeth tear his Subjects with the Other the Princes of Europe his Neighbours In a word never was Horoscope better fulfill'd The Commencements of his Reign are full of Prodigies and hitherto the End has been no less surprizing Hardly was he arriv'd at the Age of Majority but he began with reforming the greatest part of his Ministers He despoils the Parliaments and Soveraign Courts of all they had which was most August the Supream Authority He humbled the Nobility of his Kingdom impoverish'd his Subjects by an infinite number of new Taxes He raises great Armies to keep 'em under Submission and Respect He fortifies the greatest part of the Strong Holds in his Kingdom to enslave the whole and serve as Ramparts to his Ambition He le ts loose his Fury against the See of Rome and he alone commits more Attentats against the Soveraign Pontiffs then all his Predecessors together had ever done After these happy Beginnings he studies Machiavel and got him so well by Heart that his whole Reign was but a Tissue of that Author's Precepts He observes 'em to the most minute Maxims and by the help of Mazarin he became so Great a Master in the Art of Reigning that the Bounds of France could no longer contain him There is not any Prince in Europe that has not been a Victim to his Ambition If he makes Alliances 't is only to aggrandize himself by Violation of his Oaths If he declares War 't is unjust because his only Aim is the Invasion of his Neighbour's Dominions If he concludes a Peace 't is only to break it to morrow and that he may have new Pretences to recommence the War In a word there is no Sovereign Prince no Elector in the Empire no Republick in Europe that is not sensible of the Effects of his cruel Domination The present War has thrown its dismal Firebrands into all the Corners of the World All Christendom enjoy'd a profound Peace at what time the most Christian King sent Armies of Incendiaries with lighted Flambeaux in their hands to Fire the most Noble Cities of Germany This dismal Conflagration after it had reduced the Palatinate into Ashes was extended by the hands of M. de Boufflers all along the Rhine the Moselle and thence through all Flanders and Brabant and so over-running like a Mad-man and a Fury all the open Country he burnt all before him sparing neither Churches nor Monasteries All these Cruelties were acted in view of all the Princes of Europe but there was none but King William who applied himself in earnest to stop the Career of France The People of England call'd this Great Prince to their Succour because the most Christian King Reign'd no less in the Three Kingdoms of Great Britain then in France by virtue of the Cruelties which King James his Confederate exercis'd therein King William passes the Sea supported by the hands of Providence he is received with all the Honours immaginable by the Nobility of the Kingdom and by the People The Crown is presented to him and he is desired to accept it which he does after Long Importunities because the present Condition of the Affairs of Europe and the Safety of the Common-weal engag'd
him to it By that means he gave a deadly Blow to France so much the rather because she little dreamt of such a Revolution Thereupon after that the most Christian King minds nothing but Revenge The Hatred which he had all along for that Prince could no longer be kept within bounds it must break forth and fling about its fiery Indignation And from that day forward his secret Council met with Orders to seek out some way to destroy this Prince as the only Person able to put a stop to his Great Designs So that since his coming to the Crown we may reckon up near 8 Conspiracies only this last exceeded all the rest The Conspirators in this never go about to conceal themselves They walk barefac'd at Noon-day and rely upon the Death of King William as upon a thing that cannot fail ' em After this I leave the World to judge how far the Fury and Resentment of a Prince will go who has sworn the Death of his Enemy I cannot here forbear to recite the words of Salust when he speaks of the Care that Princes ought to take of the Honour of their Dominions of which they ought to be as jealous as of their own Crowns The Duty of Kings says he consists in preserving the Liberty and Honour of a Kingdom But the most Christian King ne're troubles himself for the Honour of France He Sacrifices it with a good will provided his Designs do but succeed Where is that Liberty I would fain know which his Subjects enjoy'd in the Reigns of his Predecessors Are they not all at present Slaves within the Kingdom Where is the Honour of the Kingdom Is it acquir'd by Oppression Cruelty and Tyranny And when it is acquir'd is it preserv'd by the Assassination of Great Princes for whom they have a mortal Hatred If this be true I must acknowledge the Antients to have been very great Cheats for having made us such a Description of the Honour of a Kingdom so far different from that which Lewis the Grand gives us the present Pattern of This Prince pretends to be the greatest Model of Perfection this day in the World But with submission to him the Course he takes is not the way to attain to the Glory of those Great Hero's of which Pagan Antiquity has left us such Noble Exemplars After these Preliminaries let us come to the Particulars of matter of Fact and consider all the Circumstances that accompany'd this Conspiracy so lately discover'd After that we shall examine the Doctrine of the JESUITES which teaches the Art of Assassinating Kings and which they have taught the Authors of the present Conspiracy God by his Providence and the continual care which he takes for the preservation of his Majesty King WILLIAM has so order'd it that several of the Conspirators have discover'd of themselves the following Conspiracy the particulars whereof are These About the end of the month of August in the Year 1695. the most Christian King being at Versailles in a private Conference with K. James concerning the Events of the preceding Campagne the most Christian King out of a peculiar confidence in him told him That he saw no other way in the world to attain a speedy Peace then by labouring his Restoration to the Throne That all the Care which he had hitherto taken to wage War with his Enemies together with the immense Expences he had been at to support it had as yet produc'd nothing effectual Nevertheless that God had so sufficiently prosper'd his Arms by the Advantages he had won till the Death of Marshal Luxemburgh that he had no reason to complain But that which still troubled him and imprinted in his Mind but ill Presages of the Future was the present Union between the Parliament and the Prince of Orange which was so far from abating that it grew stronger and stronger That the Reputation of that Prince and the Forces which the Parliament had granted him would be fatal to the Peace and the Common Interests unless some sudden Course were taken K. James made Answer to the most Christian King That all that he had said was true that he saw but too well and with a deep Sorrow the Prosperity and growing Grandeur of his Enemy That 't was only his fault for that he himself was ready at that very instant to attempt his Return into England if his Majesty thought it convenient Nevertheless that he was asham'd to have so often abus'd his Kindnesses and that he was afraid his Evil Stars that follow'd him where e're he went would frustrate the justest Enterprize that he should undertake That both He and the Queen his Wife besought Almighty God in their most servent Prayers to bless the Arms of his Majesty their Protector and Restorer in whom next to God they plac'd all their Hopes and Confidence To this the most Christian King reply'd That it had not been his Fault hitherto that their Prayers had not been heard but that it was not yet too late and that it behov'd him to lay hold of the savourable opportunity that God had put into his hands to give their Enemy such a Blow as would prove fatal to him Nevertheless that it became him to trust in God and to arm himself with Resolution for the execution of the Enterprize K. James made Answer That he understood what his Majesty meant so that if no more were requir'd but the forming a new Plot he had Men anow at command provided his Majesty would lay out Money sufficient for the carrying on so great an Enterprize The most Christian King reply'd That all the Forces in the Kingdom were at his Service and that he should desire no other Reward then the honour of having contributed to his Restoration After this first Overture the two Kings agreed upon a day to make choice of the Conspirators which day being the 5th of September 1695. was no sooner come but the Accomplices were call'd one after another to a private Audience given 'em by K. James at St. Germains which at first was only to sound 'em and assure himself of their Fidelity At length K. James having made choice of about seven and forty Persons presented 'em to the most Christian King who assur'd 'em of his Royal Protection and of the Advancement of their Fortunes if the Business succeeded After which they were dismissed till further Order At first there were none but the two Kings and Father La Chaise who were Privy to the Secret For the most Christian King thought it convenient that when the Business was drawn into Form that the Intrigue and Management of it should be left to Father La Chaise To which K. James consented So that the Conspirators had Orders to repair to him two and two at a time for fear of making too much Noise to confer with that Seraphic Priest about the Time Place and Manner of putting the Design in Execution There were some of the Conspirators who offer'd their
The ART of Assassinating KINGS TAUGHT Lewis XIV James II. By the JESUITES Wherein is Discovered The Secret of the last Conspiracy form'd at Versailles in Sep. 1695. against the Life of William III. King of Great Britain And discover'd at White-Hall Feb. 1695 6. Done out of French London Printed and sold by E. Whitlock near Stationers-Hall 1696. The ART of Assassinating KINGS MOst SERENE PRINCES at this Day in Confederacy against France Here is a Facinorous Attempt which ought to make all the Crowned Heads of Europe tremble 'T is a Conspiracy laid to Assassinate the Sacred Person of the KING of Great BRITAIN This Affair excites your selves to be careful in Good Earnest of your own Preservation no less than it concerns that Renowned Prince himself to be watchful of his own Safety The means which the most Christian King and K. James made use of were almost Infallible in so much that only God alone was able to divert and disappoint ' em Witness the Most Christian Kings own Words 'T is impossible said he but this Design must prove successful unless God and the Winds prevent it In the mean time there is nothing more dear to Us in this World then Life and the Lives of Princes are so pretious that often upon their Sacred Lives depend the Greatest Revolutions the Ruine of their Subjects and the Desolation of their Dominions When an unforeseen Misfortune a violent Disease or sudden Death may have snatch'd from the World those Princes who were the Glory of their Age and the Love of the People there nothing remains behind for Us but Tears and Lamentations This is all the Duty we can pay 'em tho' could we by our Blood redeem 'em from the Grave there is no good Subject who would not bleed to the last Drop We have had a Glorious Example of this in the late loss which we sustain'd of the Queen of Great Britain That Princess was snatch'd from Us in the Flower of her Age However we have this to comfort our selves that we are all mortal The Misfortune was inevitable and it was a natural Disease that ravish'd her from us But what a dreadful thing it is when Swords and Poyson are made use of to hurry out of the world Great Princes signally eminent for their Piety belov'd of their Subjects dear to all other Christian Princes and the chief Hero's of the Age What a dreadful thing I say it is when the Authors of such a detestable Design are Crowned Heads They who in After-Ages shall come to read the Lives of these two Wretched Princes will they not blush d' ye think Treacherous Exemplars that sacrifice the Glory of their Reigns the Title of Most Christian and all that is accounted most Sacred Most August in Religion and in Humane Society to the deceitful Fantom of their Ambition But most Serene Princes at this day Confederated together for your common Safety What Precautions ought you not to take to secure your selves against the Contrivances of such Conspirators as these For I must repeat it once more Your Lives are no less in Danger then the Life of Your Confederate King WILLIAM 'T is your Alliance with this Great Prince of which your Enemies are jealous that gave Birth to this detestable Conspiracy that has been so lately discover'd 'T is an Attempt that concerns yee every one in particular for had the Conspirators accomplish'd their Design what Mischiefs what Calamities had You not had just reason to have been apprehensive of in reference to your selves All Europe is sufficiently acquainted with the Ways and Methods which the Tyrannic Politicks of France make use of and which they have made use of for these Eight Years of declar'd War together to accomplish their Ends that is to say the Enslaving of all the Soveraign Princes of Europe There has not been a Year since the Death of Mazarine that has not produc'd a Monster So that the Reign of the Most Christian King has been a continued Series of Enormous Attempts and Conspiracies If this Monarch have made such a Noise in the World if he is become the Terrour of his Enemies 't is because that besides his great Power which distinguishes him from other Christian Princes he has always had recourse to Treachery as his last Refuge in all the most desperate Stresses of his Affairs so that if we have seen him gain surprizing Conquests in the midst of Winter take strong Towns in the face of Armies looking on win Battels attack the Confederates in Posts almost impenetrable and deceive the Vigilancy of our Generals they have only been the Effects of Treachery and the fatal Consequences of our Remissness If War be to be carry'd on by Treachery and Infidelity there 's no relying upon any thing Where is the Glory of Arms that Glory almost as ancient as the World which after Death restor'd to a new Life those Hero's and great Captains who are propos'd to us for the Models of all our Enterprizes such as Caesars Alexanders Pompeys Charles the Great 's Charles the Fifth's and other Renowned Personages transmitted to us by Antiquity Nor will I deny but that this Age affords some Patterns like those Hero's of former times but I cannot say those Vertues are to be found in one Great King a Most Christian King an Eldest Son of the Church This is an Attempt which ought to make all French Men blush But you will say that Subjects are not to be responsible for the Miscarriages of their Prince 'T is a personal Stain I grant it I am asham'd to say it The Noble Blood of the Bourbons that has glitter'd in so many preceding Reigns is now sully'd with so many foul Attempts that the very thought of it strikes a Horror into all People of Worth I cannot here forbear to set down the lovely Idea which Pagan Authors had of True Royalty which ought to cover the Most Christian King with Shame and Confusion He is truly a King who is truly just He is truly just who governs himself according to the Laws There is no Justice that can subsist without Law Let him that ascends the Throne be pure and environ'd with the bright shining Rays of Justice says Ecphantas the Philosopher True Justice ordains that the Crimes of High Treason and all Attempts of wicked Men should be punish'd with utmost Rigour and it may be said That this is one of the Noblest Characters of Royalty And yet at this day we behold Two Princes authorizing a Crew of Assassines and Murderers to embrue their Impious Hands if it had been possible in the Blood of a Great Monarch After a Blow of this Importance we may freely say That the most Serene Confederates may justly make the most Christian King the same Answer which Alexander gave Darius when despairing to overcome the Macedonian by Arms he would fain have had him Assassinated Alexander gave him to understand That he would no longer make War against him as against a
Prince but as a Parricide Will any body say that if the most Christian King continues these Projects it will of necessity behove the Confederates to make use of the same means Would they have Villany punish'd by Villany Or that if great Sums of Money must be given to rid themselves of their Enemies and put an end to the War all at once by destroying the Head of the Party by Assassination will any body deny but that France will sooner want Money then the Consederates or at least that the Princes of the League are not rich enough to constrain the most Christian King to stand upon his Guard in that particular He can lay claim to no Immortality nor to being Invulnerable no more then his Predecessors Henry III. or Henry IV. 'T is true these detestable Ways of Destroying an Enemy by a violent and hasten'd Death by Poyson or Dagger are open to the Confederates as well as for the most Christian King But God forbid that ever any one of the most Serene Confederates should ever have so black a Thought They have study'd another sort of Morality in the School of Vertue Their Piety and the Niceness of their Consciences abhor and detest those Principles which deduc'd their Original from Hell and and which were never preach'd in France but by the JESUITES nor so much as taught ambitious Princes by Matchiavel himself We are thoroughly convinc'd that France sufficiently ingenious to conceal the unlucky untucky Blows which she receives from Fortune will endeavour to escape the Ignominy which this detestable Enterprize will six upon her by a study'd Apology compos'd by some one of her most able and dextrous Ministers Methinks I hear already the Count d' Avaux in one of the Northern Courts and M. Amelot among the Switzers loudly protesting that the most Christian King their Master had no hand in this Attempt but that it was form'd by the JACOBITES in England without ever being communicated to his knowledge But this has been the Language of that Prince in all the preceding Conspiracies witness that of Granval The Court of France laid all the load upon her Ministers and threw all the Blame upon the deceas'd Marquis of Louvois and his Son M. d' Barbesieux All this while the world knows under what a sort of awe the Ministers of France live had they made the least step without the Kings knowledge there would have needed no more to have render'd their Fidelity suspected and to have disgrac'd'em for ever The Ministers of the Court of France are too wary of preserving their Posts to commit such Mistakes there being nothing transacted within that Kingdom with which the King is not acquainted In short if the King of France as he gives out in Foreign Courts had no hand in the late discover'd Conspiracy Whence came that numerous FLEET which of a sudden was Rendezvous'd together in the Ports of Dunkirk Callis Bologne and Havre de Grace Did that Potent Preparation fall from the Clouds So many Troops drawn down together to the Sea-side were they sent to Guard the Coasts of France at a time when the Enemies FLEET was only fitting out half Mann'd and not in a probability of putting to Sea till the end of April What did M. Boufflers and so many French Generals do at Dunkirk For what reason did K. James leave St. Germains For what reason take his leave so solemnly of all the Court and flye to take shipping at Callis To what end the Prayers of Fourty Hours and the publication of a Jubilee Will the most Christian King say that all this was done without his being made acquainted with it K. James having left St. Germains the 28th of February came to St. Denis's where he perform'd his Devotions and after he had begg'd of God in his fervent Prayers to bless his Expedition he sent for a Publick Notary whom he order'd to draw up an Act for the Sum of 500 Thousand Livres which he had borrow'd of certain Merchants for which he gave 'em in Pawn the Queen his Wives Jewels Besides this Sum the most Christian King Orders Six Millions to be paid him forthwith and made him a Present over and above of a little Chest containing a Hundred Thousand Louidores in Specie to defray his Houshold Expences France did not shew him all these Kindnesses for nothing She exacted at the same time real Engagements from the Caress'd Prince that is to say a Contract or Deed acknowledg'd before a Publick Notary by which K. James obliges himself to pay back to the most Christian King after his Restauration not only the Sum lent him for his Passage but all that France had disburs'd for his Support during his abode in that Kingdom The most Christian King I say lends all his Forces to this miserable Prince spares him his best Generals to command his Troops and suffers him to want nothing for the Execution of a Design that was to reseat him upon hi Throne And all this acted in the full view of all Europe But the Enterprize miscarrying the most Christian King Orders his Ministers to tell us That he had no hand in it 'T is not the first time that the Frehch Monarch has talk'd at this rate But the Confederates are no longer to be deluded with Words not will all the Water in the Seine be able to wash away a Crime so black as this which has been committed in the sight of God and all Christendom by the Assassination intended to have been perpetrated upon the Sacred Person of King WILLIAM complotted at Verfeilles the 1st of October in the Year 1695. Let us conclude then that the most Christian King being the Principal Author of this detestable Attempt all the shame of it rebounds back upon his own Person K. James is a feeble and impuissant Prince of himself 'T is true that he was bred in Slaughter and Butchery his whole Life has been a continual Train of Tragical Deaths Attentates and Conspiracies Witness the innocent Blood which he has shed during his abode in England But this Unfortunate Prince notwithstanding the depravement of his natural Disposition and his unbridl'd false Zeal for Religion could have done nothing of himself had not the most Christian King supported him You 'll say perhaps that France is a weary of paying him his Pensions and that She would be glad to be rid of him Let it be which way it will the most Christian King is He that is look't upon as the principal Author of this intended Perpetration an Act which in After-Ages all good Christian Princes will look upon with Horror and which now renders him unworthy of the Gorious Title of most Christian King 'T is a long time that the Council of France had been hatching this Monster which she was about to have brought forth as may easily appear if we reflect upon the Conduct of her Ministers in Foreign Courts For when the Popes Nuncio'd redoubl'd their Importunities to persuade the
Catholick Princes to accept of the Proposals that were made 'em The Ministers of France openly told 'em There was no such need for 'em to be so hasty for that the most Christian King their Master had a Design in hand which would change the Face of Affairs and force the Confederates to accept of the Offers that had been so frequently made 'em and which they had rejected with so much scorn This Vaunting was a Riddle not to be expounded by his Holiness Nouncio's till Time that notable Oedipus unsolded the Enigma to the eternal Shame of the Heads of the Enterprize and of those that were to have been their Instruments We may also add by the way to the shame of the French Ministers who thus discours'd the Popes Nuncio's who are no better then their Master while they are the Eccho's of an Action that will load 'em with eternal Infamy They boast to be the Ministers of their Princes Fury at the Expence of their Honour and their Consciences which they ought to prize above all things in the World They ought to call to mind the insinite Injury they do their Nation and the foul Stains of Infamy with which they sully it and which will not be wash'd off in several Reigns after This. If we consider farther what passed at the Taking of Namure at what time the Person of Marshal Boufflers was seiz'd all the World knows the Marshal made loud Complaints and haughtily exclaim'd against the Injury done him adding That his Master would Revenge the Injustice that had been offer'd him upon the Person of the PRINCE who had so caus'd him to be stopt M. Boufflers had been made Privy to the Conspiracy and therefore 't was no wonder those Words of Passion dropt from him Wherefore the most Christian King judg'd him so necessary for this great Expedition that he vouchsaf'd to honour him forthwith with a Brevet for a Duke and Peer of France and consented to all things that the Confederates demanded to obtain his speedy Liberty Till now we flatter'd our selves that France would no longer have recourse to all those Treacheries of which She made so good a use while M. Luxemburg commanded her Arms. But M. Boufflers seems to be sprung up from the Ashes of that Famous Captain tho' according to all Appearances the Disciple will not prove much better then his Master However M. Boufflers with his good leave does a great Injury to his Reputation and 't is a bad Disappointment to have had a share in the intended Assassination of a Prince that heap'd so many Favours and Civilities upon him during his Detention There is no need of going to seek him out in England King WILLIAM does not hide himself as all the World knows He is none of those timerous Princes that shun Danger He appears every Campagne in Flanders at the Head of his Armies And if the most Christian King or his Generals desire an end of the War and to obtain that Peace which they so much thirst after He is always ready to answer their Expectations with his Sword in his Hand They might also out of a Principle of Honour make him that fair Challenge which the Prince Elector formerly sent to M. Turenne that is to say by the Proposal of a single Combat in order to determine the Differences that have inflam'd this War by the point of the Sword provided the King of France himself would be one of the Champions in Person But that is not the thing which the King of France seeks after He has been accustom'd to vanquish without Danger and indeed 't is the way to live long In a word Were King WILLIAM less Brave and less Magnanimous then he is the most Christian King and K. James would never make those attempts upon his Person which they do The most Christian King since the Pyrenean Peace has been accustom'd to make his Progresses with a kind of Rapidness because he was assur'd of the Crown of England through the Care which he took to cultivate the Inclinations of the last Kings as all Europe well knows 'T was under the shelter of those Careless and voluptuouâ— Reigns that he rear'd this Monster oâ— Grandeur which makes him so formidable to his Neighbours so fear'd by his Subjects and so daring in all his Enterprizes to mix Heaven and Earth together But those Reigns are past the Cards are all mix'd and the last Revolution which advanc'd King William to the Throne was the most terrible Blow that ever was given to France because that Prince has been all along his irreconcileable Enemy the only Prince in Europe who has cross'd his ambitious Designs who has always disputed the Ground with him and who like another Joshua has stopp'd the Sun in his rapid Course So that the most Christian King finding that the Puissance of King William as Head of the League would prove an invincible Obstacle to his Enterterprizes thought it convenient according to the Principles of his Tyrannick Politicks to rid himself of this Prince by one means or other For proof of which it has been observ'd that in all the Battels that have hitherto been fought the French Generals have been very careful to â—ick out a good Number of the Guards â—f the King's Houshold to make way â—hrough the Throng in Order to Kill King William M. de Luxemburgh did all that lay â—n his power to satisfie the King his Master in this Particular and M. de Boufflers no less zealous then his Predecessor makes no scruple to put himself at the Head of a Crew of Conspirators to second the Assassination of this Noble Prince At the Battel of the Boyn the Guards who kill'd M. de Scomberg had Orders to find out the King but God preserv'd him and brought him safe out of the Snares which France and K. James had laid for him After so many Proofs of the King of France's extraordinary care to destroy this Prince there is no question to be made but that he was the Primum Mobile of this last Conspiracy There needs no more then this bold Stroke to embellish the History of this Monarch which the best Pens of France have been labouring for so many Years to set out This will be a most gay and flourishing Flower in his Crown a Monument then which he cannot consecrate a more august to Posterity It may be said that by this Inglorious Action the Mighty Monarch leaves a Glorious Example for the Dauphin to imitate if his Renowned Father do not out-live him a or at least for his Children to take a Pattern by who are young enough to study Virtue under so Great a Master After such an Attempt as this the Most Christian King has reason to rest himself from his Illustrious â—abours and dye well satisfied He has Reign'd a Great Monarch a Great Politician always happy and prosperous if he now miss'd his Blow he must look upon it that only Heaven put by the Fatal Stroak which he so fairly
necessity of Christian Affairs commands us and to which the Duty of our Functions obliges us Observe I pray the Expressions and Terms of this Harangue You must says the Jesuit make use of Fire and Sword for fear of a Gangrene This is an Exhortation enough to shake the Crowns of all good Princes at this day reigning After this 't is no wonder if the most Christian King and King James who are as true Jesuits in their Hearts and Souls as was the General of their Order who made this Speech associate in a Conspiracy to cut off a Princes whom the Jesuits look upon at this day as the most Capital of their Enemies A mortal Hatred which has no other foundation then the Religion which that Great Monarch professes But would to God they only aim'd at the Religion of Princes History would not then recout to us the Tragical Deaths of so many Great Princes who have been offer'd up as Victims to their Fury tho' they were Roman Catholicks and no less eminent for their Piety and Zeal for the Propagation of the Roman Catholick Faith Yet for all that have they been e'er a whit the less spar'd or e'er a jot the farther from being sacrific'd to the Doctrine of the Jesuits But let us take a view of these Examples for the satisfaction of the Reader We have seen the Judgment which the Sorbonne gave of the Jesuits upon their resettlement in France After that we have seen the Doctrine which teaches the Art of Assassinating Kings condemn'd by the Faculty of Theology at Paris and declar'd abominable by the Council of Constance and lastly Mariana's Books burnt by the hand of the Common Hangman by a Decree of the Parliament of Paris But notwithstanding these Thunders launc'd against their Errors and their Morals you have also seen the General of the Order's Harangue made to all the Members of the Society Let us now come to their Executions The first Tragical Example that History presents us withal is the Assassination of the Great William Prince of Orange of Happy Memory This Prince was the Object of all good Men's Love and consequently the Object of the Jesuits Hatred For the Assassines of Kings always aim at Vertue A Tyrant a Prince who wallows in his Pleasures and Sacrifices all things to his Ambition is in no danger The first Attempt of the Jesuits upon the sacred Person of the great Prince William was made at Antwerp by John Juvregni a Spaniard by Birth This wicked Ruffian discharg'd a Pocket-Pistol at the Prince and wounded him in the Jaw below the Ear. Upon which the Guard falling upon the Russian with their Swords and Halberds kill'd him immediately which was the reason that the Author of so black an Attempt could never be discover'd from the Mouth of the Murderer But the Marks that were shew'd upon Juvregni's Body made it sufficiently apparent that the Jesjuits were the Authors Those Marks consisted in a green Wax-Candle with the Sign of the Cross imprinted at the bottom and a Medal stamp'd with the Image of the Virgin which he carry'd upon his naked Skin made by the Jesuits of Madrid according to the Deposiâ—ion of one of his Accomplices call'd Venero who was executed some time after This Prince was look'd upon as the Head of the Hereticks and Rebels against the King of Spain And the same Spirit which is the Spirit of Rage and Fury which caus'd 'em to act then envenom'd 'em now against the King of England But Vertuous Princes who are the Nurslings of God as Homer says or rather his enlivn'd Images or as the Scripture calls 'em The Anointed of God are in no Danger so long as He takes care of their Preservation and it is our hopes that the same Divine Power will preserve King WILLIAM from all the Snares of his Enemies But let us run over the Circumstances that attended this dreadful Attempt of Juvregni for they are very remarkable A certain Monk call'd Father Timerman born in Dunkirk formerly a Jacobin was apprehended and put in Prison for the same Fact And being examin'd by the Judges he declar'd That he had been bred up among the Jesuites from whom he learnt the Art of Assassinating Kings That the said Juvregni coming to him to confess his Design to kill the Prince of Orange the said Father Anthony declar'd That he gave him Absolution upon these Conditions That if he did not commit the Fact for Mony but for the Glory of God and out of his Zeal for the Catholick Apostolick Religion then it was lawful for him to do it upon giving him Absolution after laying before him the danger that might arise from the Fact Such are the Principles of the JESVITES and by consequence of the Jesuited Princes that conspir'd against King WILLIAM Forbid it Heaven that any other Christian Prince whether Confederate or not Confederate should be embru'd with the same Sentiments Most certain we are that the Emperour the K. of Spain and all the rest of the Princes who at this time constitute the August Confederacy that has taken Arms against France detest these abominable Maxims The Publick Testimonies which they give of their Zeal for the Affairs of Europe their particular Esteem for the Person of King WILLIAM make it apparent that they have study'd Vertue in another School then that of the JESVITES And tho' the Emperour and some other Catholick Princes suffer 'em to reside in their Courts nevertheless they take care how they listen to their Advice as they do in France and as they did in England while K. James Reign'd who made choice of a Jesuite for his chief Minister The most Christian King and K. James are the only Instruments at present which the Jesuites make use of to revive in Christendom those dreadful Monsters which the Wisdom and Prudence of our preceding Kings took so much care to stifle Now let us see the end of the Conspiracy form'd by the Jesuites to cut off the Great WILLIAM The first Blow failing as we have set forth yet would they not give over for all that So that in the Year 1584. one Balthazar Gerard gave the fatal Stroak to that Noble Prince He confess'd at his Execution That he liv'd privately with a Jesuite whose Name he knew not only that he was a Red-hair'd Man Regent of the Colledge-of Treves who assur'd him That he had Communicated his Enterprize to three of his Companions who found it to the ALL FROM GOD and before he left 'em gave him their Benediction ascertaining him withal that if he dy'd in the Attempt he should be put into the Kalendar of Martyrs And with this Confession in his Mouth he dy'd After this bloody Scene the Jesuites who had sworn the Extirpation of the August Family of the Princes of Orange made an Attempt upon the Son of the Great WILLIAM who was Prince Maurice Furor Arma ministrat The Spirit of Blood which push't 'em forward excited 'em to suborn an infernal Monster
the Succession to the Crown adding Expressions injurious to the Circumspection and Prudence of that Princess Quod si molesta fuisset nec illa nec filius ejus regnarent Saying withal That it was the last Order which he had from his Superiours Let us now see the end of the Tragedy The Guises who were the next of kin to Queen Mary and whose Interests were united with the Interests of that Princess and consequently ought to have been inform'd of this whole Negotiation knew nothing of it The Jesuites had so well order'd their Affairs to hinder the Guises from giving 'em any Obstruction by reason that their Aim being to deceive Queen Mary and advance in her Place some Prince of the House of Austria as we have said already thought it more to the purpose to find out new work for the Guises in France that they might not have leisure to mind the Destiny of their Kinswoman In the mean time that great Conspiracy which was lay'd so privately and carry'd on so secretly by the Devices and Artifices of the Jesuites was discover'd at length to Queen Elizabeth by some of the Lords her Friends who had feign'd to be of the Conspiracy Thereupon Queen Mary was accus'd of Conspiring against the Life of the Reigning Queen and Executed and with her fell some of the Lords that had a share in the Plot. And the Jesuite that had drawn 'em into all that Mischief fled out of the Kingdom with all the Precipitation imaginable leaving all those of his Party in a world of Trouble and Confusion Hen. III. of France who was the only Person in whose Power it was to save this unfortunate Princess sent M. de Bellievre indeed to Queen Elizabeth with Orders to be very importunate for the Life of Queen Mary which he was to outward Appearance while underhand for Reasons of State and in pursuance of the King 's private Orders he persuaded the Queen to cut off her Head as the Common Enemy of their Persons and Kingdoms the Crime being sufficiently prov'd The Dissimulation of Hen. III. in this Affair was grounded upon important Reasons which concern'd his Person and the Tranquility of his Kingdom For that Mary being the next Heir to the Crown England should she have hapned to succeed Queen Elizabeth the Guises who were irreconcilable Enemies to Hen. III. and Counsellors of Queen Mary their Kinswoman would have favour'd that Princesses Party against him if they did not make use of all the Power of England to engage him in a fatal War for the Guises were already too powerful in France So that good Policy-requir'd that Prince to take all the Precautions imaginable for keeping fair with Queen Elizabeth and preserving her Alliance However it were the Jesuites were still the first Instruments of the death of that Princess while they sacrific'd her Life in hopes of raising a Foreign Prince to the Throne But what is there which they have not now done to raise K. James to the Throne Did they not find a way to sacrince King Charles his Brother and to cut him off by Poyson What is there which they leave unacted against King WILLIAM How many Attempts how many Conspiracies and reiterated Plots against the Sacred Person of this Illustrious Prince And all to raise to the Crown of England a Furious Bigot full of Transport and in a word a sanguinary Priest more Jesuite then King The most Christian King is very ill advis'd to seek the having a share in an Action so treacherous and so odious as that of complotting with the Jesuites and K. James the Death of a Prince who now Reigns with so much Glory the meanest of whose Actions will deface or at least ecclipse whatever was perform'd of most remarkable famous under the Reign of Lewis the Great Witness the Parallel that might be made between their Lives and their Actions between which without question there would be a vast Difference were they to be display'd to the World without Passion or Prejudice But let us pursue these Assassinators of Kings to the end we may shew to what excess of Rage and Fury the Diabolical Art and Infernal Doctrine which they have taught in the world is able to Transport ' em In the Year 1605. which had like to have prov'd fatal to all England by the Destruction of the Prince and all the Nobility of the Kingdom at the same time A Blow so much the more deadly and terrible because it was not lookt for nor so much as dreamt of in the midst of that Peace which England then enjoy'd Nevertheless the Misfortunes threaten'd by that detestable Conspiracy vanish'd by the Discovery of it so that it was not attended with any Catastrophe unless it were what turn'd to the Confusion of the Actors who were to have play'd that Bloody Tragedy I shall not insist upon the Circumstances of this Infernal Plot as being so well known to all the People of England It may be only said That this was one of the Jesuites Master-pieces to have blown up not only the Soveraign Monarch himself for a single Blow would not then serve their Turn but all the Royal Family and all the Nobility of the Kingdom The Quintessence of Jesuitical Machination which struck with Horror not only the English Monarchy but fill'd with Consternation and Detestation of the Fact all the Foreign Courts of Europe Insomuch that the Jesuite Baldwin being accus'd by his Accomplices to have been one of the Principal Contrivers of that dreadful Conspiracy and afterwards apprehended at Frankendale in Germany was from thence carry'd to Heydelberg and thence by Order of the Elector Palatin sent with his Hands and Feet bound into England The King was also so sensible of his Escape that he made a Speech to the Parliament upon the importance of the Discovery wherein he set forth the great Danger from which God had preserv'd his Sacred Person the Queen his Wife his Children and lastly all the Nobility of the Kingdom whose Blood was to have been all intermingl'd and blended together in a moment What then remains my Lords and Gentlemen said he but that we imitate the great Captain Scipio who finding himself accus'd by the Tribunes of the People for having laid out the Publick Treasure in a War against the Carthaginians This is a Matter of nothing said he content your selves that I have won the Victory and let us all ascend the Capitol to return Thanks to the Gods for it Let us do the same my Lords and Gentlemen Let us not give way to a Pagan but let us return Thanks to God whose mercy shines over all his Works In like manner does King William exhort all his good and faithful Subjects who are interested in the Preservation of his Sacred Person to return Thanks to Heaven for having deliver'd him from so imminent a Danger But what wonders of Providence do we not behold in the Discovery of a Design so deeply laid for for the Destruction
of this great Monarch Without contradiction the most execrable and cruel Conspiracy that ever was For the Relation that we have given of all the Attempts which the Jesuites have been all along contriving and making upon the Sacred Persons of Princes we find not any one that was carry'd on with more Contrivance and Artifice All the cunning Wariness all the Infernal Subtilty of the Jesuites supported by all the Power of the most Christian King were made use of in the carrying it on and the execution of it was to have been perform'd with all the Cruelty of King James so that if God by Secrets of Providence unknown to Men had not stir'd up the Conspirators to discover it of themselves the Blow had been infallible Nevertheless the most Christian King desirous to hoodwink the Eyes of all Europe and to make the Christian Princes believe that he had no share in so treacherous and odious an Action caus'd a Report to be spread abroad of a pretended Manifosto which he resolv'd to publish to the World And M. Pontchartrain has already given Orders to the Gazetteer of Paris to give us some Preliminaries in order to it and by way of Explanation of what we are farther to expect to exclaim in the Publick News against a Bloody Injury done this Great Monarch by those that charge him with being an Accomplice in so foul and detestable an Attempt And to prepare the Minds of People to give his Apology a kind Reception he has begun to say something of it in his last Ordinary in the following Terms as we have here set 'em down word for word The same Day says he an Officer dispatch'd away by the Duke of Wirtemberg was sent to give Advice that a great number of the French Troops were drawn together about Callis with several Transport Ships and the King of Great Britain meaning K. James was expected there that being afraid that all this was done with a Design to attempt a Descent the Duke of of Wirtemberg advanc'd with some Troops to embark upon the first Orders of the Prince of Orange This advice caus'd a great Consternation observe I beseech ye that which follows and presently to prepossess the Publick by Artifices like to those that have been so frequently been made use of a Report was presently spread abroad of a Discovery of a Conspiracy against the Prince of Orange c. 'T is not the Gazetteer that speaks this but the Ministers of France themselves It must be thought that either the most Christian King and his Ministers have forget the use of their Sences or else that they will not allow the Princes of Europe to have common Reason while they talk at this rate They would make the World believe that this is but a a Vision that the Conspiracy that makes so loud a Noise was only a Trick of State to try the Fidelity of the People or a Fancy of Policy to blacken France with Eternal Infamy If we would be so easie as to believe the Court of France all the Conspiracys which have hitherto been contriv'd against the Person of the King of England have only been pretences to gain some end or other either to get Money from his Parliament or to put a value upon himself or to try the Fidelity of his Subjects But those People who advanc't such Calumnies as these must be as great Deluders and as knavish in their Evasions as the Ministers of France themselves By this means the most Christian King their Master in pursuance of the Maxims of the Jesuites his Counsellors shall be always attempting the Destruction of a Prince by delivering him into the hands of Traytors and Assassines and when they miss their Blow and that the Conspiracies are discover'd he shall have a delicate excuse to say they were all Pretences or Tricks of Policy which the Prince made use of to advance his Affairs and fix himself in the Affections of his Subjects This is not the first time that France has made her self known in this particular The most Christian King is become so famous in all the Courts of the Christian Princes by his Treacheries that without doing him any wrong we may safely judge him guilty of having dipt his hands in this and to have been one of the principal Authors as indeed he was And without Dissimulation we may safely say That whatsoever ingenious Tour they give to so base an Act all Christendom is so well convinc'd of the truth of it that I will never believe that Monarch will ever be able to wash it off with all the Eloquence that ever he can hire to endeavour it To prepossess they say the Publick by Artifices like those that have so frequently been made use of Observe here that the Ministers of France for they are the Persons that send to the Gazetteer what the Court thinks proper to publish acknowledge themselves that this is not the first time that France has attempted the of Person K. William So frequently made use of say they Upon what occasion Why upon frequent Conspiracies for nothing else can be gather'd from the Words So then if the Pretences were frequent it follows that the Conspiracies were frequent and if frequent then real and not imaginary otherwise there had been no ground for Pretences for the People are not frequently to be deluded by the self-same Artifices On the other side if the Conspiracies were real then they could be no Pretences but just Occasions of Complaint 'T were well for the most Christian King and King James that they could acquit themselves at the cheap rate of Frequent Pretences But since King William's Advancement to the Throne of England we have seen no less then Eight different Conspiracies In all the Campagnes since the War declar'd we have seen New Monsters spring up which the Council of France has brought forth to destroy this Noble Prince The Confessions of the Accomplices the intercepted Letters the private Conferences of the Assassines with the Chief Ministers of the Court of France their Indictments and Trials and lastly the Executions of the Traytors have sufficiently justify'd the Truth of their Crimes All which demonstrates to us that the most Christian King and King James were the principal Authors of all those bloody Contrivances But by this we may see how far Effronterie will carry these Ministers who will presume to deny a matter of Fact that is apparent to the Eyes of all Men and which all the Earth acknowledges for such Thus says the Paris Gazetteer or rather the Eccho of the Court of France's Voice The Pretence of a Conspiracy has serv'd to countenance the inserting into a Publick Act a Part of an Oath which was rejected when the Business of the Commissioners of Trade was examin'd though they durst not out of a Remainder of Respect for the Truth and the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom make use of the principal Clauses which caus'd it to be rejected The Oath which
all the Lords unanimously took to defend King William and his Government against all the Attempts of his Enemies the Act of Association whereby all the Members oblige themselves to revenge his Death upon the Assassines in case he should come to a violent End the Bill by which the Parliament is to be continu'd tho' it should please God to afflict the Kingdom by the sudden Death of the King and the Clause inserted against suspected Persons by which it is made lawful for the King to apprehend all suspected Persons detain 'em in Prison and seize their Horses and Arms. All these things the Court of France looks upon with an evil eye These are new Degrees of Grandour Puissance and Authority which they never lookt for This encrease of Union and good Correspondence between his Majesty and his Parliament the earnest Applications and sincere Zeal of the English Nobility by which they all unanimously concurr to sacrifice their Estates and Lives for the Preservation of his Britannick Majesty All this I say extreamly perplexes the most Christian King and this is that which makes his Ministers give out That the Pretence of a Conspiracy has given the English an Opportunity to insert into a Publick Act a Part of an Oath which had been rejected c. To answer therefore in a word to all these Evasions I will say That the Experience of Things past has so well taught the Christian Princes to understand the Spirit and Cenius of the Council of France that all the Craft and Artifice of her Ministers will ne'er be able to disengage 'em out of the Labyrinth into which they have run themselves 'T is a Personal Stain that Sullies the Crown of the most Christian King and which will heap Infamy upon Him as long as He lives As for King James he is a Prince abandon'd to his Sanguinary Passions to Murders Violences and from his tender Years has breath'd nothing but Hatred and Fury against the Vnited Provinces and their Governours King William being then but Prince of Orange has had the cruel Experience of it to this very day And the Name of the Duke of York has always been so suspected to that Republick that She has always lookt upon Him as her greatest Enemy Witness the Pains he took in the Time of King Charles his Brother to exasperate Him to the Dutch Wars and to foment in Him an irreconcileable Hatred against this State by creating perpetual Quarrels between the English and Hollanders upon the account of Trade and by exciting King Charles to unite with France for the Destruction of this Republick and by using a thousand other Extremities which have render'd him odious and caus'd him to this day to be lookt upon as a Prince that never gave any other then base and mean Examples of a transported Bigot more Jesuite then Prince I cannot for bear reciting here one Passage in History which is in the Annals of the Republick of Holland by which the world may judge of the Inclinations of this Prince which always incens'd him to do all the Mischief that lay in his Power to the Republick of Holland At the beginning of the Year 1673 a detestable Enterprize was discover'd at Amsterdam the Design of which was to have burnt all the States Men of War The Person that was to have put this fatal Design in execution was one John Fraser a Scotchman The Duke of York who had been all along an irreconcileable Enemy of the Vnited Provinces had engag'd him by great Promises to go through with this treacherous Undertaking as the confess'd himself when he was apprenended without being put to the Rack This miserable Wretch was broken upon the Wheel and his Body expos'd upon the Wheel near Vootewyk But this is but only single a sketch of his Fury The whole Life of this Prince has been a continu'd Series of Attempts Treacheries Conspiracies and Murders with which the West of England rings to this day The sanguinary Passion which he learnt from the Jesuites who bred him form his Youth have exasperated him not only to do mischief to the Hollanders but all the Protestant Princes of Europe without sparing his Friends his Confederates and even his nearest Relations witness the precipitated End of Charles II. his Brother meerly out of a Desire of Reign For Princes who only consult their Prevailing Passion and ardent Thirst of Soveraignty will sacrifice all to attain their End Thus if we may believe a Great Archbishop of France Marie de Medicis Second Wife to Henry IV. concerted the Death of her Husband with the Jesuits and Ravillac out of impetuous Thirst after the Regency And when she was confirm'd she quickly shew'd what Princes or Princesses are capable of doing that are over-rul'd by that cursed Passion Catharine de Medicis was possess'd with that insatiable Passion all the whole course of her Life witness what we are going to recite though so much care was taken to conceal it She was as they well know that are vers'd in the History of France the Mother of Three Kings Francis II. Charles IX and Henry II. and might have been of a Fourth had the Duke of Alenson her youngest Son liv'd Francis II. being dead Catharine de Medicis obtain'd the Regency during the Minority of Charles IX her Son by means of those Artifices which she made use of Nevertheless the Civil Wars over whelm'd her with Business with Vexation and perpetual Disquiet and reduc'd her even to the point of seeing her self constrain'd to quit the Management of the Kingdom to the Prince of Conde gave her soon to apprehend that a Crown was a Burthen too heavy for a Woman In the midst of these Perplexities she retir'd to her Closet that she might wholly abandon her self to Solitude for some days giving order that no Person should come near her But at length she sent for M. de Mesme a Person of the Long Role for whom she had a particular Esteem as being one that had given her several signal Proofs of his extraordinary Zeal for her Service upon several Occasions To this Person the Queen deliver'd a Steel Box well lockt with a Key telling him at the same time that the Civil War affording her but ill Presages of her Destiny she thought it convenient to entrust in his keeping that Sacred Depositum which was the richest Treasure she had in the World with Orders never to open it or deliver it to any Person unless by her Command sign'd with her own Hand Now the Queen dying without ever sending for the Boy from M. de Mesme and he also deceasing not long after Catherine de Medicis the Heirs of de Mesme kept it a long time in their Family without opening it But at length Time which causes us to forget all things had bury'd the Queen's Commands in Oblivion insomuch that Curiosity would needs entice the Grand-children of de Mesme to open the Box in hopes to find some inestimable Treasure But
whose Name as Poter Panne a Cooper who undertook to Assassinate this Prince But Providence which does not always permit the Wicked to prosper in their ungodly Enterprizes so order'd it that Peter Panne was apprehended just as he was about to have dipt his hands in the Blood of the Great Maurice The Offender was executed at Leyden the 22d of June 1598. and before his Death confest That the Jesuites of Doway had set him on to commit that Murther upon promise of a Prebendary for his Son And that when the Father Provincial gave him his Benediction he embrac'd him saying these words Go my dear Friend in Peace for you go like an Angel under the Protection of God and dy'd with this Deposition in his Mouth These Attempts upon the Sacred Persons of these two Princes make it plainly manifest That the famous Masters who teach the Art of Assassinating Kings have had a strange Hatred from time to time against the Illustrious House of Orange so that 't is no wonder if it now break out again in the Treason so lately contriv'd against the Person of King WILLIAM One would think that all Hell were let loose against that Prince nor is it to be expected that the Fury of these determin'd Ruffians will ever be at an end unless tyr'd out and wasted by exemplary Punishment However 't is a singular Proof of the continual Care that Providence takes for the preservation of this Great Monarch that all the detestable Conspiracies which these Sons of Belial contrive against his Person are still discover'd to the eternal Infamy of the Contrivers thereby render'd odious to perpetuity to all truly Christian Princes 'T is a foul piece of Treachery unworthy a most Christian Monarch to seek the destruction of his Enemy by ways so detestable For whatever Shifts and Evasious France may use to ward off the Reproach which all Christendom has at this day just reason to throw upon her she will never be able to clear her self She has got too bad a Name already for the Cruelties she has exercis'd upon her most faithful Subjects and the Princes her Neighbours so that she had little need to have added this stain of Infamy to the Nation and render her self more obnoxious in all the rest of the Courts of Christendom After Prince Maurice Queen Elizabeth the Greatest and the most vertuous Princess of her Time was in danger of losing her Life by the Fury of the same Assassinators William Parry by Birth an English Man and a Doctor of the Civil Law was the detestable Instrument made choice of by the Jesuites to attempt the Life of that Princess This William Parry had spent his Life in all manner of looseness and Debauchery till he had wasted his Estate and reduc'd his Family to the Hospital So that not being able to subsist in England he took a resolution to travel into Otaly Where being arriv'd at Venice and not knowing what course to take for a Livelihood his evil Star carry'd him to Father Benedict Palmin a Jesuite a Man of great Reputation among the Members of his Order with whom he entered into a strict League of Amity After some few days Acquaintance it came into Parry's mind to propose to the Jesuite the making an Attempt upon the Sacred Person of Queen Elizabeth in hopes to gain the Affection of one whom he desired for a Patron in a strange Countrey where he had no Acquaintance or else to signalize himself in the World by some remarkable Action With these thoughts he propos'd to the Jesuite the killing of Queen Elizabeth his natural Princess and the setting up in her room Mary Queen of Scotland a Roman Catholick This Proposal was well lik'd by Father Palmin who extreamly encourag'd and applauded his Zeal telling him That there was nothing but Delay that could disappoint so noble and so pious a Design that would acquire him not only a great Reputation in this World but a blessed Immortality in Heaven Parry considering that time was pretious leaves Italy and comes to Lyon where he was to deliver Father Palmins Letters to the Jesuites of that City and where having open'd his Design he was receiv'd by the Jesuites with all the kindness imaginable telling him That they lookt upon him as the Restorer of the Catholick Apostolick Religion in England Scotland and Ireland And after they had bless'd him and fortify'd him as much as lay in their power for the execution of such a holy Act they gave him Letters to Father Coldrett a Jesuite in the Colledge at Paris to whom upon his Arrival he confess'd himself and after he had imparted to him his Design Father Coldrette gave him his Benediction applauded his Zeal for the Propagation of the Faith and gave him all necessary Instructions for the speedy Execution of his Design This done the holy Apostle departed for England and came to London where he so order'd his business that he got to be admitted into the Queens Presence and the better to insinuate himself into her Favour he feign'd to make her Privy to a Conspiracy which the Roman Catholicks were weaving against her Life and that he had promis'd to enter into the Plot on purpose to sound 'em of all which he thought it his Duty to inform her Majesty And this detestable Murtherer told his Tale with so much Probability that the Queen gave credit to it so much the rather because it agreed with the Intelligence which she had receiv'd from France of a Design that was contriving against her Person All this while Heaven preserv'd this Illustrious Princess For tho' Parry wanted neither Opportunity nor Resolution for the Execution of his detestable Enterprize yet Providence would not permit him to accomplish it At length the Traytor imparted his thoughts to one Nevill a Roman Catholick in hopes of his Assistance but he detesting so horrid a Crime kept Parry in suspense and flatter'd him with fair Hopes till he could find an Opportunity to inform the Queen who order'd both to be apprehended returning Thanks to Heaven for her Deliverance from so great a Danger Upon which Parry being examin'd confess'd the whole Matter with all the Circumstances as we have here set 'em down so that he was Executed upon the 2d of March 1584. Such was the end of this Martyr who the Jesuits had taken so much care to instruct in order to the taking out of the World a Princess no less then belov'd for her Zeal and Piety then King WILLIAM is now for his Heroic Vertues But as the most Christian King and King James true Jesuites as they are disdain to give over for a Disappointment never aweary of returning to the Charge so that there hardly passes a Campagne without some new Attempt to cut off King WILLIAM by treacherous Violence So in Queen Elizabeths time hardly one Conspiracy was discover'd but the Jesuites were setting another on Foot For in the Year 1595. one Edward Squire an English Man by Birth
Gate of the City There was found about him a Knife much like a Baionette which the Grenadiers in France make use of at this day And this Knife was design'd for the fatal Blow that was to have been given the King Upon this he was brought to his Trial and being convicted of High Treason was condemn'd to die And at the Place of Execution he confess'd That being at Lions he had consulted four Religious Persons one Carmelite one Jacobin one Capuchin and one Jesuit who after they had carefully enjoin'd him Secresie gave him their Benediction and confirm'd him in the Resolution he had taken With that away he went for Paris and immediately apply'd himself to the Curate of St. Adnrews des Arts a troublesom Fellow and an Adherent to the League After he had made him privy to the Enterprize he applauded it extreamly but advis'd him above all things to conferr with the Rector of the Jesuits which was done The Rector assur'd him that the Design which he had laid was all from God that it behoved him only to have a good Courage to Confess himself and receive the Sacrament Afterwards the Rector carry'd him into his Chamber and after he had given him his last Instructions gave him also his Benediction The next day he was confess'd by another Jesult and received the Sacrament He also imparted his Enterprize to a Third of the same Order who was a great Preacher and a great Stickler in the Rebellion against the King who approv'd his Resolution as most Holy and Meritorious Upon which Approbation he bought the Knife that was found about him the Point of which he caus'd to be ground for the purpose and in pursuance of his detestable Designs he follow'd the King to Melun where he was apprehended Besides this Confession his Answers to the Interrogatories put more home to him by his Judges are such as ought to make all Princes asham'd who declare themselves to be Favourers of the Jesuits For being ask'd where he had learn'd that New Theology which taught him to Murder Kings He answer'd That he was taught by Philosophy Being ask'd Whether he had never studied in the Colledge of Jesuits He answer'd Yes under Father Gueret with whom he had been two Years and a half Being ask'd whether he had been in the Chamber of Meditations into which the Jesuites carry their greatest Sinners to shew 'em several dreadful Portraitures of Devils under various Figures thereby pretending to reduce 'em to a better Life or rather to dislocate and disorder their Minds and prepare them by terrible Visions for some bloody Undertaking He answer'd That he had often been in the Chamber of Meditations Being ask'd whether he had been incited to murder the King he answer'd That he had been told it was a laudable Thing to kill the King and that they who told him so call'd him Tyrant Being ask'd whether such Proposals and Maxims as these were not often in the mouths of the Jesuites He made answer That he had heard 'em say that it was lawful to kill the King That he was not to be obey'd nor look'd upon as King till he was absolv'd by the Pope This was the Confession of this notorious Offender before all the Chambers assembl'd in a Body And being upon the Wheel he said There were still two swarthy Priests whose Names he knew not who were departed from Lyons upon the same Design but that he aim'd to have got before 'em that he might have had all the Honour of the Design But Barrier having miss'd his Blow the Jesuites would not stop there They had determin'd the King's Death and therefore no means must be left unessay'd to cut him off Not much unlike the Blood-thirsty Prosecution of Conspiracy upon Conspiracy against the sacred Person of King William at this day But that which is to be admir'd at in the Proceedings of the Conspirators now a-days is this That they are authoriz'd and protected by two Christian Princes whereas in the Attempts laid against Henry IV. the Jesuites alone were the principal Actors The next Monster therefore whom they made choice of after Barrier to attempt the Life of that Renowned Prince was John Chastel a young Stripling about nineteen Years of Age who had been brought up in the Colledge of the Jesuites and this was a Master-piece of the Morality which he learnt among ' em Upon the 27th of December 1594. he sought an opportunity to put his Enterprize in execution The King being at the Louvre Chastel found a way to get himself admitted among the Courtiers and to get near the King who was then discoursing very pleasantly with several of the Great Lords at what time he so well took his time that he struck his Majesty in the Mouth with his Knife without being perceiv'd which put all the Lords into a most terrible Consternation not knowing from whence the fatal Blow came In the mean time the Ruffian taking his advantage of this Disorder cunningly dropt the Knife and thrust himself into the Crowd as if he had done nothing in hopes to have made his escape However the Courtiers who were busie in searching after the Assassine seiz'd upon this same Stranger at a venture being no otherwise assur'd whether he were guilty or not Nevertheless he was no sooner apprehended but he confess'd the Crime Upon which the Parliament made a Decree wherein the Jesuites are so well set forth to the Life as one would think should be anough to make all Princes asham'd that suffer 'em in their Courts and Dominions particularly Lewis XIV and James II. who make 'em their Favourites their Counsellors and their Chief Ministers of State The Court of Parliament c. having seen the Process exhibited against John Chastel c. Student in the Jesuites Colledge at Clermont c. for High Treason and a thrice execrable and abominable Parricide attempted upon the Person of the King as also against John Gueret stiling himself of the Society of Jesus and formerly the said John Chastel's Tutor c. And finding that the Criminal Court has attainted and convicted the said John Chastel of High Treason against God and Man by the most wicked and most detestable Attempt upon the King's Person And that for the Punishment of the said Crime the said Court has condemn'd c. Now the Parliament farther ordains That all the Priests and Scholars in the Colledge of Clermont and all others stiling themselves of the said Society as Corrupters of Youth Violaters of the Publick Repose Enemies to the King and Kingdom depart out of Paris within three days after Publication of this present Decree and out of all Cities and Places where they have any Colledges and within fifteen days after quite out of the Realm upon pain of being punish'd as Criminals and guilty of High Treason And all their Goods as well immovable as movable shall be laid out in pious Uses Moreover all the King's Subjects are forbid to send any Scholars
to any of their Colledges without the Kingdom upon pain of incurring the Penalties of High Treason c. Having thus given you a description of the Disciple let us take a view of the Masters in the Art of Assassinating Princes John Guignard a Jesuite who was Regent of the Colledge of Clermont was apprehended by Commissioners whom the Parliament sent to the Colledge of Clermont to seize the Papers of that infamous Professor among which they found several written with his own hand wherein he asserted That it was lawful to assassinate Henry III. and gave Instructions in order to the murder of Henry IV. Upon which the Parliament made another signal Decree bearing date the 7th of January 1595. Having seen the Criminal Process exhibited against John Guignard Priest and Regent of the Colledge of Clermont in this City of Paris Prisoner for several Treatises by him written and containing among other things the Approbation of the most cruel and inhuman Murder of our deceased King and Motives to induce others to murder the King now Reigning the Interrogatories and Confession of the said Guignard the said Book represented and acknowledged to have been compos'd by him and written with his own Hand It shall be said That the Court has declar'd and does declare the said Guignard attainted and convicted of High Treason for having compos'd and written the said Books containing several false and seditious Arguments to prove That it was a laudable thing to commit the said Parricide upon the Person of Henry III. and that it was lawful to kill Henry IV. at present Reigning for which he is condemn'd to the Amende Honourable naked in his Shirt with a Rope about his Neck before the principal Gate of the City of Paris and there upon his Knees holding a lighted Wax-Taper weighing two Pounds in his Hands to say and declare That wickedly villanously and against the Truth he has written That the deceased King was justly kill'd by James Clement and That if the Reigning King did not die in the Wars he ought also to be murder'd Of which he repents and begs Pardon of God the King and Justice Which done he is to be carry'd to the Publick Place of Execution and there to be hang'd and strangl'd upon a Gibbet set up on purpose after which his Body to be consum'd to Ashes in a Fire kindled at the foot of the Gibbet and all his Goods to be confiscate to the King c. After such an authentick Piece which so fully exposes the Blackness of the Crimes which the Authors of the Doctrine that teaches the Art of Assassinating Princes commit in the World what is there which all the Princes of Europe have not reason to fear especially when this Doctrine is authoriz'd and supported with all the Fury and Power of the most Christian King and the utmost of King James's Ability Should this continue there is nothing to be expected but Butchery and Massacre all over Europe and a Pious Debonaire Magnanimous Prince belov'd by his Subjects must always carry Death in his Bosom All human Prudence will not be able to preserve him from the Attempts of Conspirators Nor does it concern Protestant Princes alone but the Roman Catholicks also to be careful of their own Preservation The 10th of the same Month the Parliament issu'd forth another Edict against Peter Chastel the Father of John Chastel and John Gueret the Jesuit who was John's Master The Substance of which Edict was That John Gueret should be banish'd for ever and that Peter Chastel the Father of the Ruffian should pay a Forfeiture of 2000 Livres be banish'd for Nine Years out of the Kingdom that his House should be pull'd down and the Place be consecrated to publick Use with a Prohibition that it should never be built upon again That a Pillar of Free-stone should be erected upon the void Space with a Plate representing in large Characters the detestable Paricide committed upon Hen. IV. to render the Memory of the Authors and Instruments which the Jesuites made use of to commit so black and enormous an Action infamous to Eternity In pursuance of this Edict a Pillar was Erected before one of the Gates of the Palace upon the Bridge call'd Pont au Change where the Ruffians House stood and there remain'd till the Return of the Jesuites into France Nevertheless this mark of Ignominy did no way discourage the Jesuites Barrier and Chastel had miss'd of their Blow and therefore the Authors who set 'em at work enrag'd that they had not atton'd their Fury by the total Effusion of that renowned Prince's Blood resolv'd to make a thild Attempt upon his Life But before we recount the Circumstances of the Assassination of Hen. IV. let us speak one word concorning James Clement who Assassinated Hen. III. Till the Death of Hen. IV. there was some reason to question who were the true Authors that set James Clement to work for that as soon as ever he had struck the Stroak he was kill'd by the Guards of Hen. III. which was the reason that it could never be understood from the mouth of the Murtherer who were the Authors and Accomplices of that detestable Action But the Death of Hen. IV. which follow'd not long after that of Hen. III. unfolds the Riddle and gave Justice those Illustrations which she was ignorant of before 'T was then found that the Jesuites were the Persons who had embru'd their Parricide Hands in the Blood of that Prince James Clement had been a Student in their Colledge where he had learnt their Doctrine and after all his great Learning was become a Jacobin Nor will it be amiss to take a view of the Memoirs which the Jesuite Guignard had drawn up and which afterwards fell into the Hands of Justice The Cruel Nero says he speaking of Hen. III. was kill'd by one Clement and the counterfeit Monk fell by the Hands of a true Monk The Heroick Act perform'd by James Clement as a Gift of the Holy Spirit so call'd by us Divines is justly applauded by the Prior of the Jacobins Confessor and Martyr and the Crown of France ought to be translated into another Family then that of the Bourbons And the Bearnois meaning Hen. IV. will be treated a little more gently then he deserves if they give him a Monks Crown in some well reform'd Convent there to repent for the Calamities he has brought upon France and to thank God for being so favourable to him as to spare him an opportunity to know himself And if he cannot be depos'd without a War let 'em make War upon him and if it cannot be done by War let him be kill'd Now let us observe the Circumstances of this great Princes Death so remarkable through the Conformity which they had with what so lately pass'd in the intended Assassination of of King WILLIAM had not God in his mercy averted the fatal Stroak by the Discovery of the Conspiracy Heury IV. had resolv'd upon the day of
his Coronation and of the Publick Entry of the Queen his Royal Consort to give some marks of his Clemency to the Prisoners of the Bastile and to render the Act so much the more August he laid a Design of going in Person To which purpose between three and four a Clock in the Afternoon his Majesty took Coach at the Entrance into the Louvre admitting only the Dukes of Espernon Monthason Roquelaure and three other Lords to go along with him who rode altogether in the Kings Coach the Guards being forbid to follow him That Order and that moment of Time prov'd fatal to the Life of that magnanimous Prince For Ravilliac as he declar'd himself at the place of Execution having a long time before premeditated the Assassination of his Majesty follow'd him to the Street call'd La Rue de la Ferronerie before St. Clements Church-Yard where seeing the King's Coach stopp'd by some Carts and the Monarch leaning toward the Duke of Espernon with whom he was in Discourse the Monster animated by the Devil got up upon the Fore-wheel of the Coach and with his Knife made on purpose gave the King two Stabs into the Breast and bereav'd him of his Life in the midst of his Bravest Generals Both which Blows wore given with that swiftness that they were hardly perceiv'd The first enter'd between his fifth and sixth Rib pierc'd his Heart and reach'd the hollow Vein which being cut that great Prince lost his Speech and his Life both together As for the second it only ras'd the Skin without any more hurt No body saw the Blow Struck so that if the Parricide had but flung away the Knife it could never have been known who was the Author of that detestable Fact Presently the six Lords that were with the King alighted and some sought for the Parricide while others went to help the King but one of 'em seeing he had lost his Speech and that the Blood ran out of his mouth cry'd out The King is Dead Upon which words the People were all in a hurry and such a terrible Despair seiz'd 'em that they threw themselves into the Shops adjoining as if the City had been taken by the Enemy One of the Lords observing the Disorder bethought himself of giving it out That the King was only wounded and that he was fallen into a swoon They call'd for Wine and while they ran to fetch it they pull'd down the Boots of the Coach telling the People That seeing the King was only wounded they would have him carry'd back to the Louvre to be dress't The Queen in her Cabinet receiv'd the doleful Tidings over-whelm'd with sorrow and in a strange Consternation was going to meet the Body of her dear Monarch but being met by the Chancellor he put a stop to her Upon whose approach the Queen all in Tears cry'd out Alas the King is Dead To whom the Chancellor without the least Disorder in his Countenance because the Affairs of the Kingdom then requir'd it Your Majesty must excuse me Kings never die in France And so having persuaded her to return into her Cabinet We must have a care said he least our Tears render our Affairs desperate we must reserve them till another time There are those that weep both for You and Vs 'T is for your Majesty to take care both of Vs and your self We have need of Remedies and not of Tears After such a fatal Stroak which put all France in Mourning it may be said That the Rage of the Jesuites who had the greatest share in the Fact was in some measure assuag'd Tho' when we consider the Benefits which they had receiv'd from that Prince and the Signal Proofs of his Clemency which he had given 'em since their being recall'd into France who would have thought this Monarch should have been a Victim to their Fury In the Year 1625. in the Month of May this Prince had given 'em leave to pull down the Pyramid erected before the Palace in the Place where John Chastel was born who had been a Student in their Colledge and was set up for an Eternal Monument of Infamy to the Jesuites who had set 'em on to attempt the Life of this Prince For on the top of the Pillar were to be seen Plates of Marble whereon were Engrav'd in Letters of Gold the Decree of the Court of Parliament against John Chastel and the Jesuites and over the four Corners were set up four Statues of four Vertues There was reason enough to believe That this Monument would have stood many Ages but the King in hopes that the Remembrance of his Favours would have engag'd the Jesuites to live more Christian like for the future out of a Horror which they ought to have had of so many Attempts against his Life commanded the Lieutenant Civil Miron to cause it to be pull'd down and to Erect a Fountain in the same place which was done The more Curious were pleas'd to say when the four Statues were pull'd down among which was the Statue of Justice That Justice had erected the Pillar but that the King's Clemency had pull'd it down On the other side they who abhorr'd the Jesuites Doctrine that Taught the Assassination of Princes made the four following Verses SIR if you needs will blot from Time to come The Memory of th' Assassin Chastel's Doom By Monument pull'd down that Justice did ordain It is but just to have Your * For Chastel with the force of the Blow struck out one of the King's Teeth Tooth again But notwithstanding this and whatever else was publish'd or written against the Jesuites that Monarch persever'd in giving 'em all the marks imaginable of his Goodness and Clemency which lasted till the end of his Life Three Weeks also before he was Assassinated by Ravaillac he sent for the Brass Plate from the Printer John le Clerc which was made in the Year 1595. to the end there might not remain the least Footstep of their Infamy So many Illustrious Proofs of that Princes Love toward those perfidious People plainly demonstrate to us on the one side the natural Inclination of that Prince to do good and on the other the Infidelity and Treachery of those Authors who teach the Art of Assassinating Kings and who were never satisfy'd till they had embru'd their Parricide Hands in the Blood of their Benefactor We must therefore conclude from all that has been said concerning the cruel Assassination of Hen. IV. complotted by the Jesuites and put in execution by the detestable Ravaillac that so long as there are any Jesuites in the world the Art of Assassinating Kings will be taught in the World and that according to this Principle every good Roman Catholick Prince as well as Protestant will be expos'd to the Fury of these Assassinates So that all Monarchs or Soveraigns in Europe who are not the Jesuites Friends or rather who are not the Executors of their execrable Designs or who contemn their Counsels in
instead of that the Box being open'd they met with a Sight which struck them with Horrour It was an Oval Copper Medal in form of a Buckler which the ancient Romans consecrated to their false Gods The Sculpture of the Medal represented Catharine de Medicis upon her Knees making an Offering to the Devil who was painted sitting upon a high-rais'd Throne with all the deformed Delineations of Affright and Terror imaginable On each side of the Queen were her Three Sons Charles Henry and the Duke of Alenson with this Impress in French Soit pourven que je regne Let it be so provided I may Reign Which Medal is still to be seen in the Family of de Mesme from which the Count d'Avaux formerly Ambassador in Holland is descended And they whose Curiousity leads 'em to be more distinctly inform'd of the Circumstances of this Secret may hear it from the Lips of that Minister Such are the Crimes which Princes are carry'd to commit by their exorbitant Ambition of Rule or rather by their unbridled Fury and Zeal Whence we conclude that 't is no wonder if King James who has all along been animated with this Fury and possess'd by this unruly Passion seeks now to regain his lost Throne by the Assassination of King William But God who has all along taken care of this Magnanimous Prince and guarded him from all the Snares of his Enemies will we trust preserve Him still a Blessing to Europe in despite of all their detestable Enterprizes All the Christian Princes unite their Prayers to Heaven for his Happy Preservation And indeed it is the Interest of all Christendom which looks upon Him as Her Deliverer and as the Person who is to set Her free from all the Mischiefs that have afflicted Her for so many Years Most Serene PRINCES This is a violent Outrage an Attempt which ought to awake the Care and Zeal which you have shew'd for the Common Cause ever since the commencement of the War 'T is that laudable Ardour which ought to engage yee to redouble your Efforts against the Common Enemy of your Lives your Territories your States and your Liberty you ought all to be enliven'd with the same Spirit and Resolution to demand Reparation of your Enemies for an Act so base and so abominable Let it never be said that your wanted either Counsel or Courage to revenge an Attempt form'd against the Life of one of your Confederates 'T is an Act wherein you are all equally concern'd since the Interests are still the same which first engag'd you to take Arms and which ought still to encourage yee unanimously to concurr with our Magnanimous Prince in seeking all the Brave and Noble Ways imaginable that a lawful War will permit for the pulling down so mortal so haughty so inexorable an Enemy as Lewis XIV Nor can we endeavour this incomparable Design with more Honour than by redoubling our Efforts to carry on the present War with all the Fervour imaginable This is that which the most Christian Monarch dreads and this is that which made him hasten had it been possible the Destruction of the most Potent and most Formidable of his Enemies He saw the impossibility of vanquishing him by force of Arms though he wanted neither good Generals nor stout and numerous Armies nor Fortune of his side and all this back'd with Treacheries and Conspiracies laid against the Life of his Powerful Adversary All this has hitherto prov'd fruitless however he must vanquish or lose all his ill-got Honour And this it is that enrages the most Christian Usurper against King William and inspires him with new Attempts Nor do they now conceal themselves as in the former Conspiracies they are no longer Two or Three Assassines that now seek the Life of King William but Shoals of Murderers that shew themselves barefac'd supported and authoriz'd by Two Kings who give 'em their Orders under their own Hands and supply 'em with Money Arms and Horses What a Shame what an abject Baseness is this for Christian princes And what may we not expect for the future from such Disciples who have so well profited in the School which teachers the Art of Assassinating Kings 'T is a Fact which will cover the Authors of it with Shame for ever and strike a Horrour into all Pagan Princes who never knew among themselves the Practice of these detestable Principles I defie any Man to find in any of the most faithful Histories the least footstep of this barbarous Fury condemn'd by all Religions and all good Men. 'T is now for the most Christian King and King James to say what they can for Themselves and we expect with impatience the Manifesto which is promis'd us We know there is no want of eloquent Pens in France to varnish over a Piece of this Moment and Importance and give it that specious Tour which it shall please the Court on purpose to put an Illusion upon the Publick and cover the Horrour of this detestable Crime 'T is a sort of Coin which the most Christian King has so frequently made use of upon these Occasions that there are few Courts in Europe wherein it will any longer pass for current The Confederate Princes are preposses'd of this and know very well what France is meditating upon this Subject Whatever ingenious Tour she gives her Manifesto and whatever Tricks she plays to ward off the bloody Reproaches which all Christendom will throw upon her and that deservedly too she will never be able to justifie her self nor to make an Apology such a one was will do her Business 'T is a hard matter to render Good and just a Cause that is bad of it self they must not be weak and feeble Arguments that are employ'd upon this Occasion This thing now in dispute is a matter of Fact averr'd and attested by the Mouths of the Conspirators themselves So many Authentick Proofs so many undeniable Witnesses which the Confederates have of so important a Fact are sufficient if not to stop the Mouth yet to convince the World of the Guilt of the most Christian King The Tryals of the Conspirators the Attestations of the Evidence will answer this Manifesto whenever it appears in such a manner as will be a Publick Conviction of the Authors and Abettors of so base and black an Enterprize So that unless the Council of France make haste with their Manifesto they may justly fear that the Trials in England will prevent 'em by rendring all the Artisices of France of no use to her and by publishing Particulars of the whole Conspiracy so essential that it will be a dissiult matter for the Ministers of that Crown to answer whatever care they take or whatever trouble they put themselves to We dare advertise them before-hand that whatever they advance will only serve to render the matter of fact more manifest However let 'em produce their Reasons whether good or bad 'T is a Priviledge which the most rigorous Justice allows the most Guilty which is to plead their own Cause and alledge what they think most proper for their Justification according to the Accusations charg'd upon ' em Let us then conclude in expectation of this Manifesto which without question will be one of the most study'd Cabinet-Pieces that ever the Court of France set forth let us then conclude that it would have been much better for the Crown of France that the most Christian King had never medled in this Conspiracy 't is an odious Stain that reflects upon all the Nation and blackens it with an Infamy which many Ages to come will never wipe away In the mean time K. William according to the Principles of Christianity sincerely pardons his Enemies and prays to God to forgive the heinousness of their Crime assur'd that so long as he is under the Protection of Divine Providence he shall never be in danger but shall triumph over all their vile and clandestine Attempts whatever Snares they lay to ravish away his Life The END