Thing in order to Examine whether we ought to apprehend any Danger from it in case such an Attempt shou'd ever be made in Europe for 't is apparent some Princes of the Roman Catholick Party have Will enough to such an Enterprize and the Pope would be forward enough to set it on Foot if he were but sure of the Success The glorious Peace of Reswick in which all the World must acknowledge the French have been very much reduc'd has but One Clause that any way Eclipses the Honour of its Conclusion on the Protestant side and that is that it left the Poor Protestant Subjects of the King of France without any shelter from the Violences of their Persecutors as if the Protestant Princes had so much excluded the Int'rests of Religion from the Articles that they had not one Compassionate Thought for their Distressed persecuted Brethren 'T is true the War was wholly a War of State as is before noted and the Invasion of Property was the Occasion of it and therefore the Surrender of Luxemburgh to the Spaniard who is a Roman Catholick nay a few Villages in the Chattelany of Aeth made more Bustle in the Treaty than the Restoration of Three Hundred Thousand banish'd Christians to their Country and Estates Some have presum'd to say That had the Restoration of the Edict of Nants been insisted on with the same Vigour as the Dutchy of Lorrain it wou'd as easily have been Obtain'd and these People among whom some of the French Refugees are of that Mind think the Protestant Int'rest was not so much Considered in that Treaty as it ought to have been I cou'd easily Answer such Objectors by telling them That the Ground of this War being only Matter of Right to reduce the Power of France to a Balance and to oblige her to restore what she had by Force and Injustice taken from her Neighbours this being obtain'd the End was answer'd and the Confederate Princes had no further Pretence for a War As to the Protestant Refugees they were the Subjects of the King of France and strictly speaking with respect of Princes no body had any thing to do with it let him use them how he would Besides to have made it an Article of the Peace it could not be expected that the Catholick Branches of the Confederacy would have insisted on it or indeed have desired it and the Treaty being Manag'd in one Body by the Resolutions and Measures of several Princes and States in Congress the Catholick Princes would have immediately Protested against it and the Union must have been Dissolved So that there was no room to Espouse the Interests of the Protestant Subjects of France in the General Treaty any other Way than by Intercession with their King to use them Mercifully And this has been done by all Parties though hitherto without Success It remains now to examine what Methods are further to be used in order to oblige the King of France to use his Protestant Subjects with more Humanity and if possible either to preserve them that Peace and Enjoyment of their Properties and Estates which is their Natural Right or to procure them some other Equivalent which may give them some kind of Satisfaction and Repose To Commence a War against the King of France for the Prosecution of His Protestant Subjects seems to be very Unjust because Speaking of Right and Wrong we are not Interested in the Quarrel I make no Question but the Protestants of France themselves have by the Laws of Nature and Reason a right to Defend their own Possessions and Inheritances and to Maintain themselves in them by Force if they had a Power and by the same Rule might by Strength of Hand recover and take Possession of their own Estates if they were Able But it does not seem so clear that a Neighbour Nation or State can justifie the making War on the King of France to oblige him to do Justice to his Protestant Subjects Nor will I attempt to Determine how far it would be Lawful to assist such a People in such a forcible Return or in Maintaining themselves in the Possession and Enjoyment of their own Rights be they never so Just. Only thus far 't is plain That by the particular Article of the Peace of Riswick respecting the Kings of England and France England is fore-closed from such an Attempt both Sides having expresly Stipulated not to Assist the Subjects of either against their Sovereign The Fourth Article of the said Treaty providing as follows viz. And since the most Christian King was never more desirous of any thing than that the Peace be Firm and Inviolable the said King Promises and Agrees for Himself and His Successors That he will on no Account whatsoever disturb the said King of Great Britain in the free Possession of the Kingdoms Countries Lands or Dominions which He now Enjoys and therefore Engages His Honour upon the Faith and Word of a King that He will not give or Afford any Assistance directly or indirectly to any Enemy or Enemies of the said King of Great Britain And that He will in no manner whatsoever favour the Conspiracies or Plots which any Rebels or ill-disposed Persons may in any Place Excite or Contrive against the said King And for that End Promises and Engages That He will not Assist with Arms Ammunition Provisions Ships or Money or in any other way by Sea or Land any Person or Persons who shall hereafter under any Pretence whatsoever Disturb or Molest the said King of Great Britain in the free and full Possession of His Kingdoms Countries Lands and Dominions The King of Great Britain likewise Promises and Engages for Himself and Successors Kings of Great Britain That He will Inviolably Do and Perform the same towards the said most Christian King His Kingdoms Countries Lands and Dominions There seems to be but One Way left either to make any Amends to these poor desolate People or to bring to pass their Re-admission I do not say that the Princes of Europe will find it their Int'rest to put it in practice any more than I believe it is really the Int'rest of the King of France to Ruine so many Thousand Families of his Peaceable Subjects I mean the Old Standard Law of Retaliation But if it might be a Means to re-establish those poor People in Peace and Liberty the Sacrificing Ten Thousand Families of other persons as Innocent as them seems to be a Justice their present Case calls for Lex Talionis seems to me to be the Foundation-Law of Right and Wrong the Scripture is full of Instances of this Nature Adoni-bezek Agag and a multitude of other Relations therein declare it to be agreeable to the Divine Method of Executive Justice the reason of Rewards and Punishments seems to be wholly measured by it And if exactly administred it carries so Convictive a Force that no Person who ever fell under the severest part of it could object against the Execution of
Lex Talionis LEX TALIONIS OR AN ENQUIRY INTO The most Proper Ways to Prevent THE PERSECUTION OF THE Protestants in France Matth. vii 2. With what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again LONDON Printed in the Year M DC XCVIII Lex Talionis EVROPE has now for Nine Years past been afflicted with a Bloody a cruel and a Destructive War carried on with a vast Effusion of Blood and Treasure and in all Parts of it manag'd with more Eagerness and Fury than any War among the Europoean Princes ever was in the Memory of Man The French who are Masters of Address used all the Skill and Cunning with the Roman Catholick Princes especially those of Italy to have made it pass for a War of Religion thinking by that fineness to have drawn them off from the Confederacy But Innocent XI who 't was likely knew as much of Religion and the Interest of the Church as the Statesmen of France saw through that Artifice and readily agreed with the Emperor and the King of Spain That the Growing Greatness of France and the Measures laid for the Subjecting Europe to her Government were really more dangerous Things and of more immediate Consequence to the Publick Liberty than the Matter of Religion could be And therefore though the Court of Rome made some seeming Difficulties at first yet the French having thrown off the Mask and fallen upon his Catholick Confederate the Duke of Savoy the most Bigotted Romanist made no scruple to entertain Heretick Soldiers to recall the banish'd Vaudois to fight under the Command of Protestant Generals to accept of the Subsidial Supplies of Protestant Money and the Protection of Protestant Armies thereby evidently declaring to all the World that this was a War of State not of Religion and that the real Interest of Princes is to preserve themselves and their Subjects against a too Powerful Invader by Leagues and Assistances let their Religious Interests be what they will Nor have the Protestant Princes though their Forces in this Confederacy have been much superiour been backward to push on the Common Interest with their utmost Vigour but have with extraordinary chearfulness assisted the Roman Catholick Confederates with their Armies Fleets and Moneys witness the Subsidies paid to the Duke of Savoy by the English and Dutch the Army maintain'd under the Command of Duke Schombergh in English Pay in Piedmont the Forces Ship'd from England to Catalonia to aid the Spaniard which sav'd the City of Barcelona a whole Year witness also the English Fleet Wintering at Cadiz under Admiral Russel the Squadron sent to the West-Indies to Relieve Cartagena And indeed the whole Series of the War has been one continual Instance of the Safety and Protection the Roman Catholick Countries have enjoy'd by the Sword and Power of the Protestant Interest So that it has been apparent beyond the power of Contradiction that this has been a War of State not a War of Religion Nor can I imagine generally speaking that it can ever be the Interest of the Powers of Europe take them together to Commence a War of Religion For though 't is true That the Pope always Exalted both his Power and Credit in the blind Ages of bigotted Devotion by his Crusadoes and Holy Expeditions yet since the World has more Years over its Head and the Cheat has been discovered Int'rest has prevail'd too much upon Devotion to be Deceiv'd any more at that rate And the Reformed Kingdoms of Europe are too Potent to be us'd so any more 'T is true the Protestant Religion has lost Ground in France and that Kingdom where once the Protestants were Strong enough to Contend with their Governours for their Liberty is now wholly Roman at least seems to be so But notwithstanding that I believe the Protestant Interest in Europe very well able to stand a shock with the Popish when ever the Pope thinks fit to Publish another Bloody Jubilee and display the Standard of St. Peter against St. Paul And not to descend to Particulars I shall only Draw up the several Kingdoms on each Side who would form this Great Division in Case of such a War On the Roman Catholick Side There would be the Emperor the Pope the King of France the King of Spain the King of Portugal the King of Poland the Princes of Italy Five Electoral Princes of Germany and the Catholick Cantons of Swisserland On the Protestant Side The King of England King of Denmark King of Sweden the Czar of Moscovy States of Holland Three Electoral Princes of Germany but those by far the Strongest the Protestant Cantons of Swisserland the Grisons Hungarians Transilvanians and Moldavians In the first place I think it wou'd easily be granted That the English Dutch Dane and Swede United wou'd be able to Maintain so absolute a Dominion of the Seas as would entirely Ruine the Negotia-tion of the Catholick Party Beggar their Merchants Starve their Islands and Destroy all their Trade They should never be able to Build a Ship without Leave Their Ports should be Bombarded and Destroy'd their Open Country be Ruin'd by Descents and all their Coasts continually Harrass'd and Alarm'd by Fleets and Volant Parties What the Armies at Land could do I referr to the History of the Present War and of Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden who barely on a War of Religion and with only his Own single Force and the Protestant Princes of Germany who were then much Weaker than they are now in Two Years and a half pass'd the Rhine and the Danube and shook the Imperial Crown on the Head of Ferdinand the Second It would take up too much room in this short Treatise to Consider the Proportion of the Force of these Nations in general 't is true that the weight of the Force of the Catholick Party lies in the Power of the French who must in such a Case be the Bulwark and Support of their Cause As to the Spaniard he wou'd as he has in all Cases have Work enough to Secure his Own the Empire separated from the Protestant Party with the Swede Dane Brandenburghers Saxons and all the Princes of the Augustane Confession on its Front with the Protestants of Upper Hungary and Transylvania in the Rear with the Switz and Grisons in Flank wou'd be very hard bestead having no Power but the Bavarian and the small Electorates of Ments Triers and Cologne which are of no Consideration to uphold it Some Support might be drawn from Italy indeed but the French must give a powerful Assistance or the Emperor would be Devoured in two Campagns the English Dutch and Eastern Germans as the Lunenburghers of Hanouer and Brunswick would be the Opposites to the French on this side and there the Contention would be strongest I believe no Wise Man wishes for so Universal a Distraction as such a War would make in Europe but 't is needful to suppose such a
it Adoni-bezek above-mention'd made a Confession of the Justice of his Punishment when his Thumbs and Great Toes were cut off as a Retaliation of his Barbarities And Samuel's Return upon Agag That as his sword had made women childless so should his Mother be childless among women declares both the Reason and the Justice of God's Decree against him 1 Sam. XV. 33. 'T is true this Retaliation is strictly Personal and all Retaliation ought to be so if possible But in some Cases it differs and where a Personal Retaliation is not practicable then People are considered in Collective Bodies Nations Families and States Thus in a War the Subjects of either Party account it very justifiable to make themselves Satisfaction for Injuries received on any of the Subjects of the contrary Party though the Wrong particularly suffered is not chargeable on those particular Persons who suffer for it By the same Rule it seems justifiable if we cast the whole Body of Europe into Two sorts Popish and Protestant that while the one part commit Hostilities and Depredations on the other the injur'd Party should have a Right of Retaliation on any Member of the same Body of what Nation or Government soever they shall be where the Power is properly put into their Hands for Power in such a case may pass for a sufficient Right of Directing the said Punishment since nothing but want of Power interrupts its being Personal The French King has given a Challenge to all the Protestant Princes of Europe in his present Usage of the Reformed Churches of France He has carry'd on though not with much Success a War for above Eight Years against the whole United Power of Europe at last he has made a Peace not at all to his Advantage nor much for his Honour And now the War of State is at an end he seems to be beginning a War of Religion and that he may lay the Foundation of it safely he has began it upon his own Subjects I cannot imagine why all the Protestant Princes of Europe should not think themselves concern'd in this Invasion of their Religion since nothing is more certain than that they are all strook at though more remotely And by all the Rules of Humane Policy Prevention ought to extend as far as the Evil is design'd If the weakening the Protestant Interest in general were only the Design the strengthening that Interest ought to be the care of the other Besides the Papists are the Aggressors as they always have been and the Injustice of their Cause so great that they have hardly ever attempted to make any other Pretences for all their Barbarities than the Absolute Will and Pleasure of their Omnipotent Monarch who will have but one Religion within his Dominions I confess to me it seems very proper for the Ease of all Parties That Religion should really divide the whole Body of Europe and that all the Roman Catholicks and all the Protestants if they could but agree it among themselves should live by themselves That if the French King will have no Protestants in his Dominion the Protestants should suffer no Roman Catholicks in theirs and when all Parties are withdrawn to their own sort and the Division compleated let the Roman Catholicks begin a War of Religion as soon as they please It is in my opinion the unjustest thing in the World that since the Spaniards and Italians suffer no Protestants to live amongst them but the bloody Inquisition destroys them and the French have Dragoon'd Three Hundred Thousand of their Protestant Subjects to Mass and hurry'd Three Hundred Thousand more out of their Country to seek Comfort from the Charity of Neighbour States The Duke of Savoy has Exiled all his Protestant Vaudois And hardly any Popish Country admit the Protestants among them some few Parts of Germany excepted yet the Protestant Governments at the same time suffer Three Millions of Papists to live among them and enjoy their Liberties and Estates unmolested Nor is this all the Protestants of France Savoy and Hungary have been Persecuted under the Assurances of the most solemn Treaties the most sacred Edicts and the firmest Peace that could be made they have never their Enemies themselves being Judges been guilty of the Breach of their Faith or Loyalty Henry III. of France acknowledged it when he had recourse to them for Protection against his own mutinous Catholick Subjects The Duke of Savoy acknowledged it in his Speech to those Vaudois whom he had releas'd out of the Citadel of Turin We never read of any War begun by the Protestants they were always Defendants we have not one Instance of a Massacre committed or of a King Assassinated or of Nobles Undermined in order to to be blown up by them they have always been Men of Peace till Self-Defence has oblig'd them to be Men of War On the contrary the Roman-Catholicks have been always uneasie to the Governments they have lived under Our Histories are full of their Treasons Ireland has twice been Deluged in Blood by their Rebellions and Cruelties Two Kings of France have been Murthered by their Assassinations and innumerable Protestants Massacred and Butcher'd in Cold Blood under the pretences of Friendship and assurance of a Treaty The Reigns of all our Kings and Queens in England since Henry VIII have been strangely disturb'd by the Plots the Treasons and Rebellions of the Papists they have often forfeited their Estates and Liberties to the Publick Justice of the Nation had they been dealt with by the Rules of strict Retaliation England Scotland and Ireland have such Reasons for Entire removing them out of their Dominions as no Nation in the World can have greater and yet here they live in Peace under the Protection of those very Princes they refuse to swear Allegiance to and under the shelter of those Laws they refuse to be bound by 'T is no Plea in Bar of any Right that the Plaintiff is a Papist our Courts of Justice are as open to them as to any of the Kings most faithful Subjects Of which more hereafter On the contrary the Protestants of France tho' charg'd with no Disloyalty nor guilty of no Crimes are Dispossess'd of their Estates Banish'd their Native Country Dragoon'd Shipt to the Gallies and many of them Hang'd their Children torn from them by Violence and buried alive in Monasteries and Nunneries and all the Cruelties an unbridled Soldiery can inflict acted upon them without any manner of Crime alledg'd but their Religion and this when that very Religion was secur'd to them by the solemnest Leagues and Treaties in the World Declared in the famous Edict of Nantes Entred Receiv'd and Registred in all the Parliaments of the Kingdom The King of France in Persecuting his Protestant Subjects acts not only the part of a Tyrant over them as they are his Subjects but is guilty of the Breach of the Faith and Honour of a King oppressing those People who had their Religion tolerated and allow'd