Category: Religion

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. Continue reading Saturday, August 5. 1704.

Saturday, July 29. 1704.

Numb. 42.
[181]

HE is but a sorry Physician that tells us a Disease, but prescribes no Remedy: I have Entertain’d the World, in three Reviews together, with the Case of the Swedes, in the Dispute with Poland, and the War of the North; I have insisted long upon this Head, and ventur’d at an Essay on the great Damage done the Confederacy in General, and the Protestant Religion in Particular; I have said much of their opening a Gap in the Confederacy, at which the French Power has broke in; and I am yet unconvinc’d of any Mistake in the Matter.

I am oblig’d now to apply the Remedy to this Evil, and answer this great Question, How shall we help it?

I confess I could better have answered it six Months ago, and shown how you might have help’d it, than I can say now how it shall be help’d; but it may not be too late yet, especially if the King of Poland and the Confederacy can hold out but one Year longer.

If any Man ask me why I make an if of the latter, I answer, If the Duke of Marlborough succeeds in his Design on Bavaria, there is no doubt indeed of it; but if that had either been not undertaken, or had miscarried, I would not have answered for the Subsistence of the Confederacy one Year longer. Continue reading Saturday, July 29. 1704.

Tuesday, July 18. 1704.

Numb. 39.
[169]

EUROPE look’d without any concern upon the prodigious Conquests of the K. of Sweden; believing the Dane ought to be Chastis’d for so basely Invading the Dominions of a Prince, with whom he was in a strict League; without any Provocation, and without so much as a Declaration; and while that Prince was engag’d in a Bloody War, remote from his own Dominions.

But under all these Provocations, the King of Sweden used so much Moderation in his Victory, that he contented himself with forcing his Enemy to a Disadvantageous Peace, by which the Swede obtained great part of Schonen, a share in the Toll of the Sound, and a great many considerable Concessions.

But as Princes are not always capable of bounding their Ambition, and the Dangers of excess in Prosperity are very great, the King of Sweden pretending next Year, that the King of Denmark was Arming against him, but really vex’d at Heart, that he had let his Enemy slip out of his Hands, when he might have made an Entire Conquest of his Dominions; breaks the Peace, puts to sea with a great Fleet, Lands an Army in Seeland, and sits down again under the Walls of Copenhagen.

The Gallant Defence the King of Denmark made, how he would not quit the City, as his Councellors advis’d him, but resolv’d to be shut up with his Citizens; how he pitch’d his Royal Tent upon one of the Bastions of the City, and nearest to the Danger; that, as he said, he might call to his Soldiers, Come to the breach, and not bid them Go. How he Challeng’d the King of Sweden to fight him, hand to hand, for the Crown of Denmark, who told him for Answer, That Kings do not use to fight, but in good Company. These things I may hint for the Readers Diversion, and to Invite them to read the Histories of Those Times; but I omit Writing them at large, as Foreign to the present purpose. Continue reading Tuesday, July 18. 1704.

Saturday, July 15. 1704.

Numb. 38.
[165]

I Hope, when the Readers of these Sheets expect me to make good the last Paragraph of the former Review, they do not at the same time look for an Indictment against the King of Sweden fill’d with all the long Scroul of Adverbs, that the Lawyers Croud into their Forms of Process, the Malitiouslys, Ambitiouslys, &c.

Or if they look for ill Language from me on that Head, and think I shall treat the King of Sweden with less respect than becomes me, to a Crown’d Head; such People will be equally mistaken.

I shall never forget when I mention that Prince, that I am speaking of, Charles the XIIth. King of Sweden, whose Glorious Ancestors have done such great Things for the Protestant Religion, as all the World cannot Parallel; that his Father was the general Mediator of the Peace of Riswyck: That he was the true Preserver of the Glory and Valour of his great Progenitors, that he charg’d at the Head of his Horse-Guards in the Battail of Bremen, and fir’d his Pistol in the Face of a Danish Collonel, when we was not above 16 years of Age, and gain’d the Victory by his extraordinary Courage.

I cannot forget that Carolus Gustavus the first King of this immediate Race, over-ran all Poland, drove King Cassimire quite out of his Kingdom, and being Invaded by the Dane, in a manner not much unlike the Present King of Poland’s Invading Livonia; viz. when the Swede was engag’d at a great distance with other Enemies; he quitted Poland after having ravag’d it in a dreadful manner, and in the depth of Winter, with an Army of old Iron-fac’d Swedes, as hard as the Ice they March’d on; began such a March as never was attempted in the World before; he March’d from Cracow in Poland, to Fredricksode in Holstein, and was upon the Dane before he had time to Examine, whether he flew through the Air, or march’d over Land; his very Approach frighted the Dane from the Continent, and presuming the Swede could not fly over the Sea, nor swim thro’ the Water, he took Sanctuary in the Isles of the Baltick, with his whole Army. The Swede, whom neither Winter by Land, nor want of Vessels by Sea, were capable of stopping, in the fury of his Undertaking; Assaulted the strong Frontier Town of Fredricksode, carried it Sword in hand, his Dragoons swimming thro’ the River, among the flakes of Ice, and put the Garrison to the Sword. Continue reading Saturday, July 15. 1704.

Tuesday, June 27. 1704.

Numb. 33.
[145]

Of the true Causes of the present Greatness of the French Power.

I AM not so arrogant to undertake to give an Account here of all the Causes of the present Grandeur of France; there may be some which I am not sensible of; there may be some which I am not Master of History enough to have known; for I never pretended my Knowledge, to be universal or my Judgment infallible; there may be some conceal’d in the Reason and Nature of Things, which no Man has yet guest at; there may be some conceal’d behind the dark Curtains of Inscrutable Providence, which I nor any Man else have ever yet seen, or had Room to guess at, or the least Circumstance to guide us into the knowledge of.

’Tis hard I should be under the Necessity of making such a Cautionary Exception, but since I have almost as many Opponents as Readers of this Paper, some of whom to requite me for just Exceptions against their Morals and Scandalous Lives, and who by Way of Return for their Nonsence, are ready to object against every thing they see: ’Tis for their Sakes I am oblig’d to make long Digressions, and place needful Cautions in the Front of almost every Paragraph, to let them know where they think they have me; I saw it as well as they; ’tis for their Sakes I am oblig’d to give Reasons for what all Historians in the World have taken the Liberty to do, without asking the Leave of their Readers or making Apologies for.

This might have serv’d for an Answer to a Querulous Pevish Enquirer, whose Two First Questions are reply’d to in the entertaining Part of our last Paper, Whether we do not mistake Preamble for History; but as the Examples I might give in this Case among our best Historians will fully justifie me, without farther insisting on the particular Circumstances of the Author, the Writer, the time I write in, or the Persons that read; I refer the judicious Reader to the several Histories of Sir Walter Raleigh, the Bishop of Sarum, and any either antient or modern, whom they please to quote for me. Continue reading Tuesday, June 27. 1704.

Saturday, May 27. 1704.

Numb. 24.
[109]

SInce so long, yet I hope not unprofitable Digression, relating to the French Grandeur, some of which every days News informs us, is too true; ’Tis time to let the Reader know, we do not forget the Connexion of the Story, and that it remains to consider the Grandeur of this Monarch, by Sea.

Something of this Nature has already been touch’d at, when I was Enquiring by what Methods the King of France furnish’d himself with Seamen; but to proceed regularly in this Case, it may not be amiss to Examine when, and how he has improved his Naval Power.

We find in the Reign of Lewis XIII. Cardinal Richlieu saw the great Deficiency of the French in this Matter; for the Rochellers, strong in Shipping, and supplied from England with Stores, grew so very formidable, that they spread the Seas with a Fleet of 35 Sail of Men of War, which made Prize of all the Roman Catholick Ships, ruin’d the Trade, and Enrich’d themselves to admiration: For as the King had no Fleet able to Encounter them, they Imploy’d themselves not only in Defence of themselves, but rov’d over the narrow Seas as Privateers, and by this Means kept themselves in a Posture able to Match the King, and to support their Forces by Land; and an Instance of this is found in the Histories of those Times, in the Year 1625.

Seven of the King’s biggest Ships lay at Blavet, a Port of Bretaign, not far from Rochel; Soubize, the Admiral of the Rochellers, Attack’d ’em, took fix of ’em, and carried them into Rochel, in spight of all the Fire from the great Batteries on the Shoar. Continue reading Saturday, May 27. 1704.

Tuesday, April 18. 1704.

Numb. 13.
[65]

THe Cevennois are not so much the Miracle of this Age, as ’tis a Wonder to me the Accounts we have had of them should obtain so much in an Age, so incredulous as this.

I cannot think ’tis my Business to enter into a Debate of Original Right in such an undertaking as this; and to concern these Sheets with an Enquiry into the Justice of their taking Arms, and the Reasonableness of their being Oppress’d for Matters of Conscience.

That the Christian Religion does no way justify the oppression of the Conscience, we who call ourselves Protestants generally grant; but how far those Oppressions justify the Subject in defending themselves, is a point so hotly debated, that in this Paper, wherein I carefully avoid the Strife of Parties, I shall not enter into the Dispute.

Besides, as I have frequently Ingag’d in the Argument on other occasions, I think ’tis needless to Examine a Case, here, which ought to take up a whole Volume by it self. Continue reading Tuesday, April 18. 1704.

Tuesday, April 11. 1704.

Numb. 11.
[57]

THe Debate I entred into, about the Banishment of the Hugonots out of France, was so abruptly broken off in the last, that I must go on with it here, and repeat this part as necessary to lead the Reader back into the Story. That I am of the Opinion, the King of France’s Banishing the Protestants, tho’ it Impoverish’d and Unpeopled part of the Country; and tho’ it fill’d his Enemies with Soldiers, yet at the same time it was the most Politick Action of his Life, and the Foot upon which he now builds that Absolute Dominion, which is so necessary for the carrying on all his vast Designs.

I don’t think fit to engage here in a Dispute about the honesty of it, I agree to all that has been reasonably said to that point; and without doubt, the breaking and dissolving the Edict of Nants, is an Injury not to be Defended.

But as to the Policy of it: ’Tis plain it was so great a Stroke to all Europe, that all his Attempts since have been founded upon this Head; for till he had first cleared his Country of that Numerous Injured People, he could never have ventured to carry an Offensive War into all the Borders of Europe: Nor could he have spared his Numerous Armies, for so many various Enterprizes; he must have maintained strong Garrisons in the Provinces of Guienne, Gascoign, Languedoc, Normandy, Bretaign, &c. where the Protestants were Numerous, to have kept the Rod of Iron upon their Backs, and every Revolt would have hazarded a Revolution of his Affairs.

This needs no other Demonstration, than from the Present Disturbance his Affairs have receiv’d from the smallest handful of these People, in the Mountains of Languedoc. These Camisars, who, according to the largest Accounts I have met with, which I think deserve Credit, never amounted to above 900 Families, have occasioned the Attendance of a Mareshal of France, 18 Battalions of Foot, and 2 Regiments of Dragoons, for near 2 Years. Continue reading Tuesday, April 11. 1704.

Saturday, April 8. 1704.

Numb. 10.
[53]

THE General Head I am upon, is the wonderful Benefit of Arbitrary Power; and methinks I need not make an Apology here, and tell the Reader again, that I do not mean the Benefit to the Subject; but that I distinguish between the Greatness of the Monarch as a King, and the Greatness of a Nation as a People: But such is the Iniquity of the Times, that ’tis Dangerous to walk on the Brink of a tender Point.

I dare not say, that all our good Friends who are so very full of the Word Arbitrary Government, understand the Meaning of it; and possibly their want of rightly Understanding it, may have been the Reason of their Mistaking the just Power of a lawful Prince, for the Real Bug-bear we speak of; and the People who are of this sort, generally are for allowing their Governours little or no Power at all, and perhaps in the end, would be for no Governours at all.

I am far from giving Arbitrary Power a Character to recommend it to the Subject: But without doubt, That Prince, whose Designs center in his own Projects, enlarging his Dominions, and in the Conquest of his Neighbours; there is nothing can contribute more to this end, than a Despotick Arbitrary Dominion over his Subjects, whereby he obliges them, without any Reserve, to Comply with whatever he demands; to give what he asks; to go where he sends; and to do what he directs.

When a Prince must court his Subjects to give him leave to raise an Army, and when that’s done, tell him when he must disband them; That if he wants Money, must Assemble the States of his Country, and not only give them good words to get it, and tell them what ’tis for, but give them an Account how it is expended, before he calls for more. The Subjects in such a Government are certainly Happy, in having their Properties and Privileges secur’d; but if I were of his Privy-Council, I would advise such a Prince to content himself within the Compass of his own Government, and never think of Invading his Neighbours, or Increasing his Dominions: For Subjects, who Stipulate with their Princes, and make Conditions of Government, who Claim to be Govern’d by Laws, and make those Laws themselves; who need not pay their Money, but when they see Cause, and may refuse to pay it when demanded, without their Consent; such Subjects will never Empty their Purses upon Foreign Wars, for enlarging the Glory of their Sovereign. If [54] such People are free to Fight, or Pay, it is always for the Defence and Security of their own, not for the Conquests and Glories of their Prince. Continue reading Saturday, April 8. 1704.

Tuesday, April 4. 1704.

Numb. 9.
[49]

I Am content to hear some Reflections on this Paper, on Account of the earnest Care I have taken to represent the French Greatness in its proper Dimensions, and set our Enemies in a true Light, it being equally Injurious to us, as a People, to believe them either too big, or too little.

It no way disturbs me, to hear my self call’d a Jacobite, a Frenchman, and sometimes a Papist; one that exposes the Nakedness of the Confederacy; betrays the Weakness of our Friends, and the like.

But ’tis a singular satisfaction to me, That pursuant to the first Design, I can yet hear no body contradict it, as to Truth of Fact, or charge me with Falshood and Partiality.

This, together with the usefulness of my Design satisfies me also, with respect to the meanness of the manner, and the Work of Writing a Peny Paper, which as it is only writing a History sheet by sheet, and letting the World see it as I go on, does no way lessen the real Value of the Design, however low such a step may seem to be. Continue reading Tuesday, April 4. 1704.