Saturday, August 5. 1704.

Numb. 44.
[189]

OUR last Review names two Pretences, which some will have pass for the Reasons of the Swedes pushing on the Affair of Poland, viz. Liberty and Religion.

I have said something already relating to the Swedes Generosity, and the Attempt of setting a Nation free, delivering them from the Bondage of the present King, and his Tyrannical Encroachments on their Liberties, his Saxon Forces, Muscovian Allyances, &c.

Liberty and Religion are the two Capital Pretences in all the Civil Broils of the World; how the latter of these has been box’d about the World by the Artifice of Princes; how Men of Pretence have made it the Stalking-Horse of their Private Interest and Corrupt Designs, I hinted at in the Review N˚ 42. and how far this has been either pretended or design’d in the present Polish Expedition of the Swedes, I shall farther Debate in the Process of this Paper.

Whether his Swedish Majesty ever made the Protestant Religion any Pretence to this War is not Material, and I shall make no difficulty to grant the Negative; but for the Notion of Liberty, the Freedom of the Common-Wealth, the Delivering them from the Tyranny of the Saxons, and the Invasions of Foreign Forces, I appeal to the King of Sweden’s Letter to the Cardinal Primate, to all the Memorials of the Swedish Ministers; and lastly to the Instrument or Declaration of the Rocockz, or Confederacy at Warsaw, where after the long Enumeration of the pretended Invasions of their Liberties by the Prince, they fly to the King of Sweden for the Restoring the Liberty of Poland; they Renounce their Allegiance to King Augustus, Declare the Interregnum, and depend upon the Power of the Swedish Arms to set them at Liberty, and to Grant them the Opportunity of a free Election.

What the pretence of both sides was, is thus made plain; now that neither side had the least Design to pursue this pretended Liberty of Poland, remains to be made out as follows:

That the Cardinal Primate was Originally in the Interest of France, is too apparent to need any Arguments; and I hope this Paper shall never be charg’d with Trifling, or proving what every body knows. That the French Ambassador in Poland carried on his Designs in Concert with the Cardinal; the present King of Poland saw so plainly, that his Majesty found himself bound for his own safety, to infringe the General Rule of Respect to Ambassadors, and to offer him a Publick indignity, to prevent what he foresaw was Acting between him and that ungovernable Priest.

That the Design then on Foot, was prevented, which was, in short, to Introduce again the Prince of Conti, was wholly owing to the Vigilance and Resolution of his Polish Majesty.

The next Design of the Cardinal was in Conjunction with the Swedes, and as this was Ordered under the Protection of a Foreign Army, [190] and a King nam’d beforehand among themselves; To call this Liberty of the Polish Nation, is putting a Jest upon themselves too gross to pass with any People but the Poles.

King Augustus Trac’d them in this Chain of Politicks too, and getting hold of it by the last Link, Prince James Sobiesky, in seizing him, and carrying him Prisoner into Saxony, His Majesty dissolv’d that Combination, separated the Parties, and so weakned every Branch of the Confederacy, that had not the strong Rebellion been upheld meerly by the Swedish Power, it had sunk and dissolv’d of Course.

The Cardinal disappointed thus every way, neither he nor his Party could ever after come to a Settlement among themselves, as to who they would have to Reign over them; and Wise Men have thought, That had the King Employ’d some Trusty Agent to have offered the Cardinal a round Sum of Money, he might then have bought him off.

I have little to say to that, but I am of the Opinion, his Majesty would not have been backward that way, but that he knew the Cardinal so well, that he would neither trust him with his Money, nor take his word if he agreed, since ’tis not once or twice, but three times that he has taken the first, and broke the last.

Thus the Cardinal’s Designs appear to be all Mercenary and Rebellious, his Proceedings Fickle and Faithless; and his Character such at last, that neither his own King durst believe him, nor a Stranger Trust him; how this Man’s Designs were for Liberty, let any Man judge?

I come next to the King of Sweden’s Design, which has so much been boasted of, viz. Restoring the Liberty of Poland; by this I must understand, fixing them under the Government of a King of their own choosing, giving them Power to Depose their present Sovereign, and then leaving them to a full of Choice for another; if any one can understand Liberty in a Narrower Compass than this, I would be glad to see it done.

Now let us first, for the sake of a Circumstance, suppose this to be the real Design of the Swedes, the Gallantry of such an Undertaking is extraordinary, that a Prince should Banish himself now four Years together out of his own Country; oblige himself to the Expence, the Fatigue and Hazard of a long War, and spend both the Treasure and Blood of the Swedish Nation, and all for the procuring Liberty and Freedom to another Nation, with no proportioned Advantage to his own; this is very unaccountable, but this is not all, for after we have own’d the Generosity of the Swede, What shall we say for the Honour and Prudence of a Prince, that Employs himself, and the Forces of his Kingdom, in Prosecuting Foreign Conquests, in carrying on an Offensive War, and in Dethroning a Neighbour King, to set another up, and at the same time Abandons his own Natural Subjects to be over-run and destroyed by all manner of Barbarities from a most Cruel, Effeminate, and easy to be Conquered Enemy, the Muscovites.

How will the Advocates of this Prince Answer for him, to Prudence, to Justice, to the Honour and Duty of Princes, to the Debt every Monarch owes to his own Inheritance; for the many Thousand Families carryed into Miserable Slavery, out of Livonia, Ingermania, the Sea Coasts of Narva and the Peipus: For the Ruin’d and Depopulated Towns on the Frontiers, the Ravag’d Provinces and Defeated Regiments left in handfuls, exposed to the Numerous Armies of the Muscovites?

What will they say for the faithful Garrison and Burghers of Narva and Dorpat, who are now starving in the Service of their King, while he, pushing on his Conquests in Poland, takes no needful Care, as we can hear of, to Relieve them.

The whole World can never say this of the French King, but as he has always been the Invader of his Neighbour’s Dominions, so he has taken a most Effectual Care none of them could ever set their Foot upon his, the few Attempts which have been made that way, having been always insignificant and unsuccessful.

France, while she has seen the Face of her Enemies in the Heart of their own Country, has never seen the War in her own Bowels: The French have felt no Enemy within Doors, since the Peace of Vervins, and the Conclusion of the Catholick League, excepting the War with the Hugonots, which began and ended among themselves.

But for a Prince to be Invading his Neighbours, and carrying the Strength of his Kingdom into the Bowels of another Country, and take no Care of his own; this is such a Riddle in Politicks I never read of in all the little History I have look’d into.

When the Romans found themselves press’d by the Punick Wars, and Hannibal could by no means be beaten out of Italy, Scipio gave it as the best Advice, and the shortest way, to clear Italy of the Carthaginians, to go and Land an Army on the Coast of Africk, and Invade them at their [191] own doors. This prov’d the effectual Deliverance of Rome, for now Hannibal was first rob’d of Supplies, and began to sink in his Power, and at last was sent for home to Defend Carthage, as a thing of much more Consequence than the Conquest he made abroad.

I cannot pass this head without a famous Instance nearer home, and in our very Memory.

Our late Glorious King William, the Scipio of his Native Country, as well as the Saviour of ours, came to the Office of Stadtholder, Captain, Admiral, &c. of the United Provinces; when the French had made a dreadful Irruption into his Country, had Conquer’d all their Frontier Strengths, Possess’d almost five of the seven Provinces entire, and press’d hard upon the particular of Holland, as the last stroke for the whole.

When the Prince of Orange had the Command, began to look into the Condition of his Country, and to see how impossible it would be by main Force ever to think of recovering all the Towns out of the hands of the French, when he considered, that were he Master of the Field for 20 Years, he could not pretend to win them all by Sieges, Batteries, and opening of Trenches; he began like Scipio to consider what Tender part he should touch the French in, where if they were nicely hit, they must be forc’d to Abandon their New Conquests of their own accord.

In Order to this, he Concerts a League with the Emperor and the Spaniards; and the very next Campaign, when every body expected the Seat of the War would have been on the Frontiers of the Province of Utrecht, and within 20 Leagues of Amsterdam, he leaves the French at liberty to do their worst in Holland, Marches the whole Army, some necessary Garrisons excepted, clear up into Germany, and in Concert with Count Monte Cuculi, the German General, sets down before Bon, and in a short Seige of 12 days, took it.

The Consequence I refer to the next.

ADVICE from the Scandalous CLUB.

There was a great Hearing this Sitting, at the Club, between the Corporation of the City Sharpers, the Society of the Bear-Skin Men, and Honest L—yd the Coffee-Man.

The Advocates for the Exchange-Ally-Jockeys, Charg’d Mr. L—yd with saying, That the French had taken St. Helena, and 15 Sail of East-India Men, that lay at an Anchor there, which they said was a Felloniously and Malitiously done, against the Peace of our Sovereign Lords the East-India Company, their Stock and Dignity, with design the said Stock to sink, and bring down in Price, and the Reputation of the said Company to lessen and undervalue, &c.

Mr. L—yd Pleaded Guilty as to Fact, but had much to say as to Extenuation of the Crime — and first he Alledg’d, that he was impos’d upon by somebody that had sent him a Letter in a very formal Manner, setting forth the Particulars, and that he being a Man of News, could do no less than tell all he knew, according to his known Practice in such Cases.

Secondly, He said this could not be thought to impose upon the People call’d Stock Jobbers, for that they ought to know, whether it could be possible, 15 sail of East-India Men, and those such, whose Names were in the Letter, could be all at St. Helena at one time, or no, and that much better than he.

Thirdly, this being impossible to be true, and that they must needs know it, it seem’d plain to him, this was rather a Letter of their own Inventing, to impose upon those that knew nothing of the Matter, according to the Old Laudable Practice of a House in the City, with a great Ship over the Door; and he was the rather inclin’d to believe it, because upon the fall of Stock, which this News occasion’d, some Particular People were observ’d to buy very heartily, which he takes to be the end of the Business, and desired to have those Buyers Examined.

The Club ask’d him if he would have them Examined upon Oath; as to that, he said, he did not see what a Stock Jobber’s Oath would signify, and therefore he did not insist upon it—

The Club reprov’d him then for Indecency, and want of Respect to the Gentlemen, and desired to know if their Oath would signify nothing, what would signify the Examination.

At which Mr. L—yd being a little at a stand, his Boy delivers him another Letter, in which the Person tells him, the design of the first Letter was Answered, and he might inform the World, the Island of St. Helena was safe.

Upon this the whole Society was presently Convinc’d, Honest L—yd was acquitted of the [192] the Adverbs of the Indictment, the Malitiouslys, Deceitfullys, &c. and was only Ordered to read this Story in his Publick Coffee-House Yearly, and every Year, on the Ist. of April, in the Morning fasting.

As for the Letter, the Substance of it was Voted false; because Impossible; the Design was Voted Scandalous; buying of Stocks upon it was Voted a New-fashion’d Thieving, a la mode a Pickpocket, and more and more Ill Circumstances appearing, the Society came to this Resolve,

That Great is the Mystery of Stock-Jobbing.

The Society receiv’d the following Letter from the Gentleman Undertaker, who, as we Noted in our last, was sent of a Fool’s Errand to Sir Christopher Musgrave’s, to bespeak the Burying him before he was Dead, and thereby lost his Interest in the Family.

Gentlemen,
IT has e’en happened, as I told you on Friday, I fear’d it would, for Sir Christopher is now dead, and I have miss’d the Jobb, and all long of Mr. Post-Boy; tho’ I have still the Mortification to be told, That the great Interest I had in the Family, had certainly procured it me, had it not been for what I told you in my last.

I must confess, I cannot blame those (whose Interest I depended upon) for opposing me, when I consider what a piece of folly I was guilty of; to give so much Credit to a News-writer’s Word, as to go to a Gentleman’s House, and without the Ceremony of asking how he did, Solicit for the Burying of him. However, all this Misfortune being occasion’d by the Impudence of this News-Writer, I hope the Society will consider of it, and do that Justice to me, as they would to themselves, if the Case was their own. I am,
Gentlemen,
July 30. 1704. Your humble Servant,
Post mortem Funera.

The Club told him his Complaint was good against the Flying-Post, but not against the Post-Boy, because the latter Corrected his Mistake in his next Paper; and they cannot agree to Censure any-body, that Revising their Papers will mend ’em themselves.

The Reader is desired to correct the following Errors of the Press, in our last; p. 186. line 8. dele or, ib. d. and, ib. 1. 12. d. be. ib. 1. 23. in read is. ib. 1. 38, 39. r. the Plan. Col. 2. 1. 3. is r. are, ib. 1. 36. r. and gave. ib. 1. 40. after Conquests d. (,) after before, r. (,). p. 187. 1. 5. Sides r. Coasts. ib. 1. 42. the r. that. p. 118. 1. 9. r. thought. ib. 1. 10. r. Cast. Col. 2. 1. 15. d. the.

ADvertisements are taken in by J. Matthews in Pilkington-Court in Little-Britain.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S.

Just publish’d,
THE Monthly Journal, of the Affairs of Europe; Containing Divers Important and very Entertaining Matters, not Extant in other Accounts; beginning with the Month of July, 1704. To be continued Monthly. Printed for George Sawbridge in Little-Britain; and sold by John Nutt near Stationers-Hall.

Lately publish’d, four New Comedies, Printed for R. Basset, at the Mitre in Fleet-street. Viz.

I. THE Portsmouth Heiress. price I s. 6 d.
2. Marry or do worse. price I s. 6 d.
3. Love at first sight. price s. 6 d.
4. The Stage Beaux toss’d in a Blanket; or, Hypocrisy A-la-mode, Exposs’d; in a true Picture of Jerry C—r, &c. price I s. 6 d.

Faction Display’d. Part the IId.

Hob turn’d Courtier: A Satyr. price 6 d.

A Satyr against Love, Corrected by Mr. Congreve. Price 6 d.

Religio Poeta. price 6 d.

Tom Double against Dr. Davenant price I s.

The Frenchman and the Spaniard display’d; Shewing the Antipathy that is between them, and the Consequences that may be expected upon King Charles the IIId’s Expedition.

An Answer to Jura Populi Anglicani; or the Subjects Right of Petitioning.

The Life of the late Famous Comedian, Jo. Haines. price I s.

+++A Doctor in Physick Cures all the Degrees and Indispositions in Venereal Persons, by a most easie, safe, and expeditious Method; and of whom any Person may have Advice, and a perfect Cure, let his or her Disease be of the longest Date: He likewise gives his Advice in all Diseases, and prescribes a Cure. Dr. HARBOROUGH, (a Graduate Physician) in Great Knight-Riders-street, near Doctors Commons.

There is now publish’d,

THE Mask of Moderation pull’d off, the foul Face of Occasional Conformity; being an Answer to a late Poisonous Pamphlet, Entitled Moderation still a Virtue: Wherein the late Reasonings and Shuffling Arguments of that Author is plainly laid open and Confuted. price 1 s Cassandra, Numb. II. is Publish’d. price I s. 6 d.

THE Comical History of the Life and Death of Mumper, Generalissimo of King Charles II’s Dogs. Written by Heliotropolis, Secretary to the Emperor of the Moon. London, Printed in the Year 1704.

MDCCIV.

2 thoughts on “Saturday, August 5. 1704.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *