AN APPENDIX TO Mercurius Reformatus: OR THE NEW OBSERVATOR. By the same AUTHOR.  
LONDON: Printed for RICHARD BALDWIN, near the Oxford-Arms, in Warwick-Lane. MDCXCII.   

AN APPENDIX TO MERCURIUS REFORMATUS: OR, The New Observator.  
WHO the Author of the NEW OBSERVATOR is, the World comes to know with a witness. A Paper I always blushed to own, and which hitherto has passed only under a bare suspicion of being mine, an unexpected Accident has now obliged me to acknowledge before one of the most August Assemblies upon earth.  
I find it's expected I should continue to Write this Paper, both upon the account it has not wanted Friends at Home and Abroad, that have thought it has done some Service to the Government; and that the Honourable Speaker of the House of Commons, was pleased to lay no Commands upon me to discontinue it, when I was before Them. But upon second thoughts, and mature deliberation, I hope I may be forgiven to lay it down for once, lest some one time or another, in tracing Truth too near, I may come to have my Teeth struck out. Yet even the fear of this should not deter me, if by all that can occur to me from the present Juncture of Affairs of Europe, I did not think Their Majesty's Throne was settled beyond a possibility of being shaken; and therefore they come to stand in need of no man's Pen, (far less mine) to assert their Right.  
Tho I do not repent me to have written the New Observator, yet I have found too late, that I have done it under a hateful and invidious Title. The Gentleman that began both the Thing and the Name, in the Two last Reigns, has justly entailed upon the very word Observator, an indelible stain, that must needs stick to the softest and justest Pen, that shall ever attempt to write again under that Name. The Outrages done by him to whole Bodies and Professions of Men, and to Parliaments themselves, could never have been passed over in any Reign, but that of Two Princes, that show the World every day, They scorn to establish Their Throne upon any other Basis, but that of an unimitable Mercy. It's no wonder then, that I'm ashamed to have borrowed from a Paper so justly abominated by all Men of Temper, a Title to any thing I wrote: Tho at the same time I must say, It was rather the Fault of the Bookseller I first employed, than mine.  
There is one thing more that puts me to the blush, about this Manner of Writing. The Gentleman that first begun it, was set awork by the late Instruments of our designed Slavery, as a Tool to lash, or turn into Ridicule, every Person and Thing that then stood, or was afterwards like to stand in opposition to the Arbitrary Designs then on foot. Here was another Misfortune like to overtake any body that should Write for a Government in time coming: And they who were not acquainted with the Author of the New Observator, might be, I am afraid, inclinable to believe him a Tool in this Government, as he that wrote the Old one, was in the last. Which is so far a mistake, that I here declare to all the world, Neither any of the King's Ministers, nor any about Him, did put me at first upon Writing; neither did they, nor any body else give me Instructions, Advice, or Assistance, in the continuing of it; far less did I write for Place or Pension; but out of Zeal to a Settlement, that only could make these Three Nations happy.  
I have the honour to serve a Prince, that neither uses nor needs such kind of Tools. All his Actions carry along with them such Impressions of Honour, as his very Enemies are not proof against: And there is one thing remarkable in Him, that perhaps cannot be traced in History, Never Prince has attained to be more Popular, and never Prince has used less Art to be so.  
I leave these Papers to take their fate; and shall make no other Apology for the Faults and Imperfections that may be found in them, than that most of them were written in a hurry of Business, and very seldom had I time to read them over after I wrote them. If any Party of Men think themselves therein hardly treated, impute it to something in my Nature, that's diametrically opposite to Bigotism; for if the extent of my Charity in point of Religion, were known, perhaps somr of the Bigots of the Age would be ready to stone me: And I had rather err in the Excess, than in the Want of so necessary a Cement of Human Society.  
I am afraid, I have said too much of those Papers, with relation to the Author: And being I am to take my leave of this kind of Writing, I beg leave to subjoin a few things with reference to the Papers themselves, and to the subject-matter of them, The present Circumstances of Affairs in Christendom.  
We are now in the Third Year of a War, in which most Nations of Europe are some one way or another concerned, but none more than these Three Kingdoms. It is now, that the Quarrel betwixt France and Us, is not the Re-inthroning of the late King James; for every body knows, that that Prince's Interest is quite out of doors with the French Court: But it's a Quarrel of a far other nature, that takes in all that a Nation can wish to regain or preserve. In one word, either we must bring France to a condition not to be able to hurt us; or we must resolve to see ourselves despoiled of our Glory, our Strength at Sea, our Trade, and our Plantations in America; if not to be reduced to the worst of Fates, even that of receiving Laws from a severe Conqueror.  
The last Summer, the French played the Defensive part, both at Sea and Land: But there's reason to believe, this Winter will not pass without some Remarkable Attempt in War, upon their side; and whether that be so or not, we may assure ourselves, it will not pass without the mightiest efforts that Crown ever made, to pave a way for a Peace with some of our Allies; Spain probably will be the last that ever will give ear to an Accommodation with France; but if the French can but gain any one of the Confederates, be sure England will be the last they will make Peace with.  
It's England that the French King has his eye upon, if not to make it a Conquest, at least to render it insignificant. He only wishes a Peace with the Confederates, that he may turn his whole Force against this Island: And his Emissaries give it out already in some Foreign Courts, That they may assure themselves of a Peace with France, on what terms they please; all that he requires of them, being but to ask and have.  
The French stick at nothing that can any-wise favour their Design upon England. They spare no Cost to get Intelligence of our Affairs; and they have fallen upon such unerring Methods to obtain it, that they make no scruple now to brag openly of it: It is no wonder they should, for they have had time to bring the Art of Bribing among us to Perfection, having practised it upon us to our eternal Reproach, for the space of near Three whole successive Reigns.  
The French Court has itself taken notice of the great difference in matter of Intelligence of the Affairs of England, betwixt what it was at the time of Cromwel's Government, and in the Reigns which have happened since: And I remember a late Author, when treating of this subject, gives a Reason that I leave to the Reader to judge of, without adding my own Opinion about it. In Cromwell 's time (says he) men served their Country and the Government, out of a Principle of Religion; which Principle, though in itself mixed with a Thousand Enthusiasms and false Lights, had yet this natural good effect attending it, That to discover the least Secret of the Government, they looked upon as a Crime God would never pardon: And thence it was (continues he) That Cardinal Mazarine was pleased often to confess, he had more difficulty to get Intelligence of Cromwell 's Designs, than of all the other Princes and States in Europe together.  
The Notions of Religion, though never so mistaken, are the surest Ties which possibly can bind men to the Interest of their Country: And thence it is, that the wisest people among the Ancients, endeavoured always to make the Rules of the Civil Government, depend on their Principles of Religion: To this purpose I have often reflected in my mind, on the great Cunning and Politic in the frame of the Mahometan Religion; which was so contrived, as it could scarce have failed of extending itself to that prodigious Growth that it has now attained in the world. Mahomet in his System of Divinity, (though in a great many other things strangely ridiculous) yet in the Methods to propagate both it and his Empire together, fell upon the Luckiest Principle that ever was invented; viz. That it was the chiefest, and most meritorious part of Religion, to extend the Mahometan Law by Force of Arms; and that whoever had the hap to die either in the Propagation or Defence thereof, was sure of Paradise. It was this Notion alone that gave Wings to the Follies of Mahomet, which has since overspread so considerable a part of the three great Cantons of the habitable world: And while this Political Maxim of Religion continues in its full force, it's next to an impossibility, that ever the Princes of the Mahometan Religion can be brought to any irrecoverable ebb of Fortune, by those of a contrary Persuasion.  
The Secrecy that visibly attends the Measures of France, may be partly owing to a Principle of Religion, as well as of Honour. As they abhor the Baseness of betraying their Master's Secrets, so they fear the Sin of it: And thus both Honour and Religion takes place with them: But how far both of these are wanting with some who pretend to a more Refined System of Theology, I leave it, as a melancholy Subject I love not to rip up at this time.  
Tho France during the late Usurpation of Cromwell, was greatly to seek in point of Intelligence of the English Affairs, as I have said; yet Cromwell was not so, as to theirs: And I remember to have seen an Account of no less Sum than Ten Thousand Pounds expended for mere Intelligence from France, for the space but of Fifteen Months, audited and allowed by Cromwell himself, with this very Remark at the foot of it, All well bestowed, written with his own hand.  
I am the less astonished at the success of the French Emissaries and Pensioners in England, when I consider how far a dexterous Spy can insinuate himself into the Secrets of a Court. Of this I could give several remarkable Instances from both Ancient and Modern History: But I shall only mention one in the time of King Charles' Exile. There was a Gentleman employed by Cromwell, as a Spy about the King, who had the Wit and Dexterity to get into his most Secret Transactions, and (as he was wont afterwards to say himself) into his very heart. In this unsuspected and unlimited Intimacy did he continue for some years about the King; and might have done it longer, if an unexpected Accident, joined to a piece of Inadvertency in Cromwell, had not occasioned the Period of his Intriegue and Life together: Which was thus:  
The late Duke of Richmond having for a considerable time preserved himself in the good opinion of the Protector, begged leave at length to make a step over Sea, for his Health and Diversion, as he pretended: Cromwell agreed to his Request, but with this condition, That he should not see his Cousin Charles Stuart, as he was pleased to call the King. The Duke coming to Brussels, and being resolved to wait on his Prince, and withal to to save his Credit with Cromwell, was introduced in the most secret manner several times to the King in the dark. At his return, Cromwell pretended to ask the Duke only in jest, If he had been with Charles Stuart; who answering him, That he had never seen him; the other replied in a Passion, It was no wonder, for the Candles were put out. This unexpected answer put the Duke of Riehmond to write to the King, That he must needs be betrayed by some in the greatest Intimacy about him; and at last the Traitor was accidentally discovered in the very moment he was writing to Cromwell an account of the Duke of Richmond's Letter to the King, and was thereupon shot to death upon the place.  
It's more than time to shut up this Subject; and yet I know not but the Reader may forgive me, to mention further, a remarkable Passage that happened upon this Reply of Cromwell's to the Duke of Richmond; which as it was never yet committed to Print, for any thing I know; so it carries with it one of the truest Ideas we can ever attain of that Great Man's Character. Scarce was the Discourse I mentioned betwixt Cromwell and the Duke of Richmond ended, but the first found he had committed a dangerous mistake, in letting the Duke know how much he was acquainted with King Charles' Secrets, and thereby exposing his Spy to the narrowest Enquiry could be made upon it: The fear of this, obliged him to go straight to Secretary Thurlo's Chamber, though then very late; where, with the greatest concern of mind, he told him what a wrong step he had made, in his Discourse with Richmond; and how much he feared the Person he employed as his Spy about the King, (naming him at the same time) might run the hazard of being discovered through so unlucky a piece of Inadvertence. When Cromwell came first in, he had both enquired, and was told by Thurlo, there was no body but them two in the room. But while Cromwell was walking up and down in the Chamber, in the restlessness of mind this affair had put him in, he espies one of Thurlo's Clerks sitting in a sleeping posture at a Writing-Desk, in a little Closet off the end of the Room; who indeed Thurlo had forgot was there: Cromwell fearing this Youngman might have heard what had passed betwixt him and Thurlo, and thereby have come to know the name of his Spy at Brussels, instantly pulls out a Dagger, (which he wore for the most part under his Doublet) with a design to kill him dead on the spot, had not Thurlo, with great importunity, dissuaded him from it, by assuring him, It was next to an impossibility, That the young man could hear what he had spoke, by reason of the lowness of his Voice; and withal, That having sat up some four days before, all of them together, without rest, it was to be supposed he was then fast asleep all the time of their Discourse. Thus did that Person escape, and lives in England to this day, who confesses he heard all that passed betwixt Cromwell and Thurlo at that time, but used that artifice to deceive so jealous a Master, and save his own life.  
How far the French Court gets Intelligence of our Affairs, and how far they gain by our follies, I shall not determine: But this must be confessed, We could never have imagined that Crown should have made so mighty a figure, in such a complicated Juncture against it, if we had not seen it with our eyes. It's true, their Money has done more than their Arms; but the last they have made use of in Flanders to good purpose: And if we consider what mighty disadvantages the Confederates lie under, from the Weakness of the Spanish Frontier, and their want of. Magazines in the Winter, (both which the French possess on their part) we will not think the Taking of Mons the beginning of the year, or what else the French shall do now before the Confederates can be in the Field, to be things of any extraordinary nature.  
Tho it should fall out, that all the Struggles for the Liberty of Europe should end in Slavery; though it should happen, that the French Monarchy in the Period of the present War, should gain the vertical point it has aimed at under the Reigns of its two last Kings; and in one word, Tho the Confederates should be forced to stoop in this mighty Quarrel, to the Genius of France; none of all which, I hope, there is any great reason to fear; Yet the Character of the present King of England, will be handed down to Posterity among the most Illustrious that ever was.  
To Conquer, in the Posture and Circumstances the French King is in, Is but the effect of Fortune: But to have struggled so magnanimously, and under so many seemingly irresistible Difficulties as this King has done all along since he first entered the Stage, Is the effect alone of a sublime and extraordinary Virtue. It's a pretty Passage a late Author gives us, of what passed betwixt the King, when Prince of Orange, and Him, much to this purpose, and by which we may perceive the Kings own Thoughts about the Difficulties he was at that time engaged with: After he had given our Author a short Detail of the unlucky Circumstances the Affairs of Europe were then in, and what was his share in them, he was pleased to express himself thus, That notwithstanding of all the unpromising Aspects that threatened him in that War, yet for his part, he must go on, and take his Fortune. That he had seen that morning a poor old man tugging alone in a little Boat with his Oars, against the Eddy of a Sluice upon a Canal; That when with the last Endeavours he had got up to the Place intended, the force of the Eddy carried him quite back again; but he turned his Boat as soon as he could, and fell to his Oars again; and thus three or four times while the Prince saw him: And concluded he, The old man's business and mine are too like one another; and I ought however to do just as the old man did, without knowing what would succeed, any more than what did in the poor man s case.  
Tho never Prince has had greater difficulties to encounter, never Prince has surmounted them with a greater Firmness of Mind: And all the Strength of the French, and Weakness of the other Princes of Christendom, serve but the better to set off his Character. This I take for certain, That either Providence has raised him up to break the Fetters of Europe at this Conjuncture, or that it will be said of him, when gone, with far more reason, than of the Noble Roman of old, Hic sub mole immensae stragis jacet obrutus Ultimus Romanorum: Here lies oveowhelmed under the weight of an Universal Ruin, the last of those that deserved the name of a Roman.  
They are little acquainted with the Transactions of the Age, that know not how greatly this Prince has been courted into the French Interest, and what tempting baits has been employed to catch him, long before he came to make the Figure he now does. His two Uncles thought it not below them, to be employed by the French King to turn him about at a time when it could scarce have been expected he could be proof against such charming Offers as were then made him, considering the lowness of his Fortune. What Methods was afterwards used to remove off the Stage, a Prince they found inexorable to their Insinuations, I shall not here relate, having a horror at the bare thoughts of them.  
Whatever is in it, it's certain, The French King has in all his Conduct expressed a more than ordinary concern, with relation to this King; and such a hatred as is scarce to be found among those of so elevated a Rank. Ambition and Glory uses to be the grounds that animate Princes against one another: But the French King has in many Instances shown his Designs to be chief leveled against the King's Person, and to terminate no shorter than his life.  
All Europe saw and laughed at the mighty Rejoices were made in France, upon the False News, last year, of his Death. And though I am of Opinion, the French Court were not so long under that Deception, as they pretended to be, for Reasons I hinted at in one of those foregoing Papers; yet there is one thing concurred to make the French Ministers believe the reality of his Majesty's Death, which we come to know but of late; and that was the expected Success of that damnable Desi n of one JONES, to Assassinate the King about that precise time. By whom this Villain was chief set on to perpetrate so fatal a Blow, is not as yet, for any thing I know, come to light; but that he was to do it, and that Tyrconnel kept Correspondence about it with France, is but too well known, by Letters under his own hand.  
Our Plotters in England did again and again assure the late Queen, First, That the King's Assa rs would not leave him at liberty to take a Journey to Ireland; and thereafter, when they saw he was going in earnest, they assured her, That before he could be well landed there, there would be a formidable Insurrection here, which the few Forces the King was to leave behind him, would not be able to make head against. Queen Marry, upon those Assurances, and that of the Weakness of our Fleet, prevailed with the French King to send out his Fleet to Sea, to countenance and back this imaginary Insurrection. In all which, our Murmurers tricked the late Queen, and she again tricked the French King; for neither had they the Courage to rise, nor had she so little reason as to hope it: But the Letter intercepted about that time to her from Tyrconnel, shows that she and he was upon a shorter Project; and one Assassin was to do, what all her Friends in England durst not.  
Here it is I must beg leave to give my own Opinion, about one of the true Reasons that I believe, prevailed with the French to be at the Charge of so mighty a Fleet just upon the certain News they had received of the King's being ready to embark for Ireland: For it was then, that Monsieur de Tourville, their Admiral, had first Orders to be ready to Sail. There has been probable-enough Reasons given for this Attempt, both in some of the foregoing Papers, and in another that has made a great Noise in the World, under the Name of the Modest Enquiry about the late Disasters in England, etc. Which I am so far from contradicting, that I believe they concurred greatly to turn the French Counsels that way: But that accursed Project of JONES being on foot at that time, and the concurring of so great probabilities of a change of Affairs, in case of its taking effect; there is no question to be made, but that it helped to cast the Balance for setting out their Fleet at that precise Juncture.  
The truth is, our Enemies at home could scarce be brought to believe, that the King could go for Ireland, in the Circumstances his Affairs then stood. And indeed it was a bold, though necessary stroke for the King to attempt it. King James' Friends in England had assured him so positively of the impossibility of it, that the first sure Intelligence he had of His Majesty's Landing, was full eight days after he was actually there; for some of our Men being taken Prisoners in a Skirmish at L●ghbricklane, the Commander was brought before the late King; and the first Question that was put to him, was, If the Prince of Orange was landed?  
It's hard to say whethet Jones went over to Ireland with the King in order to perpetrate the Villainy there he had missed of here. But this is certain, Tyrconnel and the French Generals placed their last hopes in that Rogue's undertaking, after they heard the King was safe Landed. In a Letter about that time intercepted from Tyrconnel at Ardee, to the Late Queen Mary, he gave her a very melancholy account of their Affairs; tells her, The Enemy was 40000 strong, and furnish d with all things necessary. That the King (meaning King James) was for fight, but he himself was against it; and he concluded, That notwithstanding of all her care of their Affairs, he had now no hopes but in Jones 's Negotiation. Thus a Villain was appointed to put a stop to the Fortune of the Confederates, by one single Blow against him, on whom the Confederacy chiesly depended: And thus Heaven warded off a Stroke, that carried with it the Fate of Europe.  
This War with France, notwithstanding of all the Taxes we are at to maintain it, is the only true Measure but one, that the English Crown has fallen into, as to Foreign Affairs, for the space of more than half a Century of Years. It is true, we have entered into it, when our Enemies may be said to be in the best Posture they ever were in to deal with us: But whose fault it is that they are so, there is scarce any man of common sense in Christendom but knows; and over and above, The greater and stronger our Enemies are, the greater is the necessity of the War on our part.  
The other measure that was taken for the true Interest of England, was the Triple Alliance betwixt Us, Sweden, and Holland; though one of the Princes that entered into it, was never hearty in it. The breaking that Alliance, as it was the work of those Five, called the Cabal, in concert with the French Court; so it was turned into another Alliance, the most unhappy and worst designed that ever the English Nation made. Good God Who could imagine that England could have ever been wheedled into a League with France, against a State which our Interest it was to preserve, and upon whose standing or falling, the Fortune of our King's only Nephew depended! All the Glory we got by that Holland War, was, that we began it with two of the most infamous Actions that ever was, viz. The attempt upon the Dutch Smyrna Fleet, and the shutting up of the Exchequer; and in the sequel, we were roughly treated in the only Element was our part to deal with them in; at last after a great Treasure spent only to agrandize France, and weaken ourselves, We were glad of a Peace.  
Upon the ending of this Unlucky War, the whole Nation groaned for One with France: The Parliament, the People, and most Princes and States about us, courted King Charles to enter into it: And indeed, if King Charles had yielded to them this Point, the French King had, in all human probability, been inevitably brought back to the Treaty of the Pyrenees, which was all the Hollanders and their Confederates aimed at; and which is that alone, that both then and now, can secure the Peace and Safety of Europe: But alas! King Charles was too much in the snares of France, to hear any such Proposal: All he could be brought to, was to make an Offer of a bare Mediation; and even in this he was both jealoused and slighted by the Parties engaged in the War; and at last had the Mortisication to see, first, The Peace betwixt France and Holland made (I may almost say) without his knowledge; and thereafter, That betwixt France and the House of Austria, signed by the Plenipotentiaries of those Crowns, at Nimeguen, in such a manner, that the English Ambassadors could not sign it with them, for a Punctilio of Honour refus d them by the Emperor.  
The comparing of the condition France was in then, and what it's now, obliges me to a Thought, that I am afraid few will agree to, it looks so like a Paradox: I am of opinion, that at that time when both we at home, and most people abroad, were so earnest for our declaring War with France, both the French and We were in a mistake in our Apprehensions of it. It is not necessary I should tell the mighty Successes we promised to ourselves against them: For how far we were to imitate, (if not to out do) our Ancestors in their so often-tryed Valour against that Nation, in their own Country, was the ordinary Talk then in England: But the truth was, we were not more confident of our own Success, than the French themselves were of it: And the fear alone of our Declaring against them, brought them to a Peace.  
If we look back upon the Posture of Affairs in France at that time, we shall find it was at least as good as it's now in this Juncture; and consequently they had rather less reason to be afraid of Us then, than they have now. They were, during the last War, safe and at ease on the Italy side; the Duke of Savoy, and the Switz being entirely in their Interests; the Duke of Bavaria was Neutral, or rather for the French; the King of Sweden not only declared for them, but obliged the Duke of Brandenburg, one of the most Powerful of the Confederates, to return with his whole Forces from the Rhine, to defend his own Lands on the other side of Germany. Another powerful Diversion they had obtained upon the Spaniard, by raising a formidable Insurrection in Messina, which was like to spread itself, not only through the rest of Sicily, but into the Continent of Italy itself, and therein the Kingdom of Naples. Not only were they thus well circumstantiated abroad, but were much more so at home, in respect of what they are now. At that time, the French King was Master of some Hundred Thousands of the best of his Subjects, whereof some Forty Thousand were esteemed the best Troops in his Armies; all whom, he has forced since to abandon both his Country and Service, and many of them to take part with the Confederates against him. And to add to all the advantages the French were in Possession of, during the whole course of that War, though they saw the English Nation were zealous to enter into it against them, yet they knew but too well, That the King of England was their unalterable Friend, and would never be hearty in his People's Quarrel.  
Now how far in the course of this present War, the Circumstances of France incline to the worse, when compared to what they were during the last, we need to more but to call to mind these few things: Instead of being safe and easy on the Italy side, as they were then, they are now in War there: Savoy being their declared Enemy, and making a considerable Effort upon that Quarter: Instead of the Switz's being openly for them, as they were then, they are now Neutral at best: The Duke of Bavaria, instead of being their Friend, as then, he is now one of the firmest and sincerest of the Confederacy against them. Not only is Sueden not declared for them, but both they and the other Northern Crown has assisted the Confederacy with their Troops, and has been proof against all Insinuations to gain them to the French Interest, or so much as to recall their Forces: The Crown of Spain lies under the weight of no diversion by the French, on any side but that of Catalonia, which was likewise their case the last War.  
But if the French are now in no better circumstances with respect to their Affairs Abroad, than they were in the time of the last War, it's beyond all question, their Circumstances at Home admit of a great many unlucky aggravations, that render them a great deal worse now, than they were then: Their Country is exhausted and impoverished beyond expression: Some Hundred thousands of that People who made the greatest Figure in their Wars, have now settled themselves, and all they could carry with them, elsewhere: And of these, a great many do now help to compose the Confederate Troops; and none long more to enter into their Country again, with Swords in their hands, than they: The Discontents in France are raised to a prodigious height, in respect of what they were some years ago: And in short, though the French were sufficiently miserable then, they are inexpressibly now much more so. And to cast the balance for altogether betwixt the two Junctures of the Wars we are treating of; Instead of a King on the Throne of England, the French were assured of, they have now to deal with one, that's entirely in the Interest of England, and who when under a less figure, scorned to be their Friend, as long as they proved themselves to be the Common Enemy, and Great Disturbers of Christendom.  
There is but two things that seem to be more promising for the French, in the present War, than was in their Case during the last; and that is, The War in which the Emperor is engaged with the Turks; and the French being possessed of more Towns in Flanders and Germany, than they were then: But laying even these in the Balance with those disadvantages I have named, I hope I am not altogether out of my reckoning, in saying, their Case is at lest no better now, than it was then.  
All this comparison I have made for two Reasons, 1. To show it was not so easy to make Head against France, especially in an Offensive War, as some people imagined at first: And 2dly, That in all human probability, we may expect either now to bring France to Reason, or we shall never do it: And if we do it not, then it's impossible to foresee the Thousandth part of the Miseries that attend England; since that is the mark that most of the Designs of France are levelled against.  
He that's at pains to reflect upon that prodigious turn of Affairs in Holland in the year 1673. when after the French had rendered themselves Masters of so great a part of these Provinces, that Amsterdam was within one Ace of sending the Keys of their City to the French King, then at Utrecht; The Prince of Orange, at the age of Twenty one years, with a handful of Men, and those new-raised, and ill-disciplined, did put a stop to that mighty Torrent, and in a few months not only obliged the French King, in the height of all his Glory, to quit all his Conquests on that side, but by a miracle of Bravery and Conduct, carried the War to the Frontiers of France itself; I say, He that is at pains to consider all this, and at the same time, the insuperable Difficulties this young Prince lay then under, He may from the justest methods of Reasoning conclude, That in all probability, The same Prince, when at the head of Three Kingdoms, as well as of the Armies of Holland, and the Confederates, may out do what at that time all the World thought utterly impossible to be done.  
Our Malcontents in England would fain flatter themselves with hopes that the Hollanders may come to be wearied of this War, and that they may be brought to enter into terms of Accommodation with France, rather than to continue it much longer, at so vast a charge, and under so many discouragements in their Trade. Of this, I see, by some of their late Pamphlets, they would fain persuade themselves and others from what happened in the last War, when the Hollanders made up a separate Peace with France. But though it were a just standard of Reasoning to judge of what will be, for what has been, (as it is not) yet even as to this former Conduct of the Hollanders, These Gentlemen are mightily out: And their hopes are laid not only upon the weakest, but upon the falsest Foundation. Which will appear, if they be at the pains to consider the Circumstances that obliged the States to enter into that Separate Peace.  
The joint Declaration of War against them by the English and French, in the year 1672. was a Thunderclap they least of all suspected, and were least of all provided against. The House of Orange, which had for some Generations together been the Tutelary Genius of their State, was now under an Eclipse; And through the unlucky Conduct of a contrary Faction, the Cornerstone of the Belgic Government, I mean the Office of Statholder, was abolished. This paramount-Error brought in a thousand more; And their Military Affairs at Land were never in so miserable a condition, for want of both Officers and Soldiers that knew any thing in War. It was no wonder then, that People under this circumstance, should rather incline to run the Ship ashore at any rate, than to venture to keep her out at Sea in so ill hands.  
But upon their returning back to their true Basis, in Restoring the young Prince of Orange to the place his Ancestors had possessed with so much glory, and upon their committing to him the shattered Relics of their Armies, they bore up the War with heart enough, especially being steeled with the Prince's admirable Conduct; and was so far from patching up a Peace with France, (though they had wisely done it both for them and Us with England) that they continued it without interruption from the year 1672, inclusive, till the year 1679. being near seven years.  
Even then, the Hollanders had notwithstanding continued the War longer, if three unhappy things had not intervened. 1st, They were fain to lose their Trade; and the rather, that the English, their Rivals in it, was at peace with all the Nations about them; And when once Trade quits its wont Channel for another, they considered how hard a difficulty it is to bring it back again. 2dly, The Authority of the Prince of Orange was but in its Infancy; and the Seeds of Jealousy that had been sowing by the Emissaries of France, for the tract of several years, were not yet quite rooted out. Thence it was the Peace betwixt them and France, was rather from the hot instances of the Populace, set a work by the Prince's secret Enemies, than the effect of a sedate inclination in the Members that composed the States-General. But there was a 3d Reason that I believe prevailed more with the Hollanders to make up that Separate Peace, than all the rest, and that was, The unsteady and suspected measures of England during the whole course of that Affair. King Charles they knew too well, to believe he would ever hearty espouse the Common Interest against that of France: And yet, they again and again declared to his Ambassador at the Hague, That if he would give them such assurances as they could rely on, of his Declaring immediately against France, as his Parliament would have had him to do, they would continue the War, cost what it would. It was then, King Charles' fault rather than that of the Hollanders, that they made up that separate Peace; And yet at their making it, they made such provisions for Spain and the other Confederates, that naturally made way for a general one, which followed upon it.  
If we take a view of the circumstances that the Hollanders are in at present, especially with an eye to these three Motives which induced them to put an end to the last War by a separate Peace; we shall find there is not the least imaginable ground to fear they will fall upon such Measures in this War, as they did in the former. For First, Though by the continuance of this War, their Trade must needs be impaired; yet they are in no hazard (as they were during the last War) of losing it, after a general Peace comes once to be concluded: Considering that the English, who are the only Rivals they have reason to suspect on that head, are in the same Circumstances with themselves. 2dly, The King of England's Interest in Holland, as their Statholder, was never so great as it is at this very moment: The contrary Faction that opposed him in the progress of the last War, is either now changed for him, or become so insignificant, as not to be able to counterbalance the hundredth part of the other Scale. And 3dly, That fatal discouragement which attended all the former steps made for the Liberty of Europe, from the temper and management of King Charles the 2d, is now out of doors: And the jealousies the Hollanders entertained of that Prince (notwithstanding of all his Protestations to the contrary) are now buried with him in his Grave.  
By all that I have said, and by a great many other things I have not time to say, It may appear to any body of common sense; that the Hollanders are in no hazard of wearying in this War, so soon as some Ill-affected Persons would imagine: And no People have given greater proofs of their zeal to the common Safety of Christendom; nor taken truer and juster methods to that end, than they have done all along.  
But there is one demonstration that shows the hearty Affection and Zeal of the Hollanders to carry on this War; and which ought perhaps to put some other People that are as much concerned as they, to the Blush. They do at this very moment give to the maintenance of this War, three times more in proportion to what we do in England, as to Imposts on their Trade and Chattels: And as to Taxes on their Lands and Houses, they pay willingly in some Provinces above the real value, and in most about three parts of four. Notwithstanding of all which, there is no uneasiness to be seen or felt among them, upon that score; and which is the more wonderful, that they depend on Trade for their necessary sustentation, which we do not in England.  
But I am afraid to have said too much on this subject of the carriage of King Charles and the Hollanders in the last War; Considering how lately that Excellent Person Sir William Temple, has given us an Account thereof in his Memoirs. A Book upon which we can never place a sufficient Value, whether we consider the Matter or the Style: And wherein, together with the many secret Hinges on which Affairs of that time did move: We have the exactest and justest Idea of the present King set forth to the life; and such an Idea, as agrees with the whole matters of fact; and that renders him a Prince of the greatest Justice, Honour and Foresight, that can be instanced in History.  
I must confess, the Character and Account that Learned Gentleman gives of the King, meets so close with those Transactions of his Life that has happened since, that one would be almost tempted to think, the Book had either been written, or at least licked over again, after this late Revolution in England was brought about. But so far was it from being so, that it's committed now to the Press, just as it came from the Author's Pen, several years before this Revolution was either thought upon, or the least occasion for it; and that without his Knowledge or Review, or the least Alteration, Addition, or Deduction of any one single sentence through the whole.  
In reading these Curious Memoirs, and the part His Majesty has in them, it brought to my mind a Book of Monsieur Aubery's, printed at Paris in French, Twelve Years ago, with Approbation of the French King, entitled, Memoirs pour servir a l'Histoire de Holland; Memoirs to give light to the History of Holland: In which there is a Character given of the present King, in a few words, that rather outdoes than falls short of Sir William Temple's. And because Monsieur Aubery is both an Author of great account, and much more, that the very Design of the Book itself is mighty unfavourable to the Family of Orange, and he as much an Enemy to the present King as can well consist with the Temper of an Historian; I beg leave to do the ungrateful part of a Translator, as to some Passages in it: Let us hear therefore what a Frenchman, a Roman-Catholick, an Enemy of the then Prince of Orange, and of his House, and an Idolater of the present French King, tells us of the Affairs of Holland, during the last War, and His Majesty's part therein; and withal, let us pardon an Air of Vanity that naturally attends a French Author, when he writes of his King.  
In Page 300, of these Memoirs, he has these words, as near as I can give them in English.  
This young Prince (meaning the present King, than Prince of Orange) has from his Infancy given the greatest Marks of his Reservedness and Moderation: His Prudence augments as he grows up in years: And all that pretend to know any thing of Merit, that are acquainted with him, do agree in this, That never Prince has given the world greater hopes of himself. He endured with the profoundest Dissimulation (pardon the Expression from an Enemy) the Injuries of the Barnevalt Faction, restored in the Persons of the two De Wits; waiting with a Patience and Taciturnity, even beyond that of his Great Grandfather, Prince William of Orange, the Advantages of Time, and a favourable occasion for his own Re-establishment; for being deprived by a solemn Edict, of all the great Employments of his Family, after the sudden Death of his Father, he came to be reestablished in them by a contrary Edict the beginning of this War.  
He was obliged for his Restoration, to France; which having about seven years ago made the greatest Conquests that has been heard of in so short a time, the most part of the Frontier Towns of the United Provinces, and many of their Capitals, Utrecht and Zutphen, among others, rendered themselves at the first view of our Troops: Tho those Places were provided of great Garrisons, yet being composed of Officers and Soldiers without skill, the King (meaning the French) saw himself Master of above Forty Places, in less than Two months' time; and found himself so overwhelmed with Success, not only above his Hopes, but Wishes, that he might say with Caesar, Veni, Vidi, Vici, I came, I saw, I overcame. These Thunderclaps, that presaged yet others worse to come, and which put the Hollanders to the greatest Consternation, gave occasion to the People to complain of the ill Conduct of the De Wits, and furnished a just Cause for the Friends of the House of Orange to say, That there was none capable to sustain their Tottering State, nor to defend them against that Powerful Enemy, but the Princes of that Family: And that as they had protected them before against the Tyranny of Spain, there was no others able to save them from the Thunder of France.  
The Grandmother of the present Prince, a Woman of a Masculine Courage, that had endured, with the greatest impatience, the low Ebb of that House, which she had once seen in the greatest Splendour, took pains to gather together all the best Friends and Dependants of the Name of Nassau; which were very numerous. These People, displeased at their being turned out of all the Employments in their State, and to see them in the hands of the Children of the Burgomasters; and being backed with the Fury of all the rest that loved their Country, and saw themselves under the hazard of present Destruction, by a Victorious Army in the bowels of their Country, they came as to their last Sanctuary, to restore the present Prince to the Possession of all the Dignities his Ancestors had enjoyed; that is, of Captain, and Admiral, General, and Stadtholder; whicb were thereupon entailed on his Family for ever, by a Solemn and unanimous Decree.  
This same Author comes afterwards to tell us, that before this re-establishment of the Prince of Orange, The Holland Troops were such sort of creatures, that places wherein there were Five Thousand Foot, and Eight Hundred Horse in Garrison, would render themselves Prisoners of War at the first approach of the French, without making the least Resistance. And that Fifty Reisters' of Munster, would put ordinarily to Flight Three Hundred of the Dutch Horse, that fled before them as so many Sheep before a Wolf.  
But Page 311. Returning to speak of the present King, and his Part in the War after his Re-establishment, he expresses himself thus: The Prince of Orange saw himself at the Age of Twenty One Years at the head of an Army, as his Great Grandfather William of Orange had been at the same Age under the Emperor Charles the 5th. And in the whole course of this War, he made appear to the World, so much Conduct and so much Bravery in a great many Rencounters, Battles and Seiges, as certainly far surmount the Actions of his Renowned Ancestors, who had set a Copy for Two Hundred Years together, for the greatest Captains to imitate: If he had not had the unhappiness to be born in the Age of Lewis le Grand, whose Power, Genius and Fortune, admits of no stop. This Young Hero (continued He) with a few Troops hastily Levied, and but ill Disciplined, had the Courage to make head against this great Monarch, in the height of his Fortune: And his Conduct and Personal Valour in Battle made Victory for some hours incline to his scale, till at last he had the consolation, not to have Yielded but to the Greatest Prince on Eartb; And it may be justly said of him, though an Enemy, That nothing but so Glorious a Sun, could lessen the Rays of this Rising Star.  
Thus far Monsieur Aubrey, and compairing them with what Sir William Temple has said on these heads, it's hard to say, who has said most for his Honour, the King's Friend or his Enemy.  
It's almost incredible, what influence the French continue to have at the Ottoman Port, notwithstanding of all the false Marches they have made there of late. When the Grand Vizier came last from Constantinople, in his Journey for Adrianople, he gave the French Ambassador all the marks of his displeasure, telling him openly, That he found be had all along the course of his Negotiation, misrepresented to him both Persons and things; and that he was now sufficiently persuaded of his unfair dealing towards his Master and him, especially with respect to the false accounts he had always given of the French King's Progress in the War against the Emperor on the other side. His resentment against the Ambassador went so far, as to forbid him to accompany him to Adrianople, or to stir from Constantinople till his Return.  
All this, and a great many other Accidents that happened afterwards, gave the World fair appearances of a speedy Peace betwixt the Emperor and the Turks: But now the Treaty looks at a greater distance, than it did some Months ago. It's impossible to determine exactly, upon what motives the Turks are so backward; for if we look into the condition of their own affairs, we ccnnot but conclude, it's their Interest to do it as soon as they can. That the French employ Golden Arguments with the Turkish Ministers to continue the War, I suppose there is no body that calls it in question: And yet that this method alone, should bias them so much contrary to their Interest, it's very hard to imagine, unless there be other Arts used to back it.  
That the French King has all along buoyed up his Interest, both at home, and with most Courts abroad, by the artifice of False News and Papers, every body that's acquainted with any thing of the Transactions of the time, know it sufficiently. Tho there may be less Policy, and more Difficulty to impose False News, much more Papers, one the Civilised Nations of Europe, where Learning takes place: Yet That it is easy enough to do it among the asiatics, and other Barbarous Nations, who must take all our European Dispatches and Memoirs upon trust; The late cheats of that kind put upon the King of Siam, and some other Princes in India by the French Emissaries, puts it out of doubt.  
The effronted Lies and supposititious Credentials and other Papers, with which they have imposed upon several Princes in Asia, an extravagant Notion of the Greatness of the French Monarchy, beyond that of any the Four Universal Empires, and withal, a contemptible opinion of the Hollanders and other People that Trade into those Parts, are a great many of them come to be known and laughed at in Europe. Now it being the Principle of the French Court to use this sort of Artifice, especially at Courts where the Cheat is not so likely to be discovered; and it being so much their Interest to do it now at the Ottoman Port; we have all the reason in the World to conclude, That to other artifices, and the force of Money, they have added that of some Papers, Dispatches, or things of that nature, made up of purpose to serve their turn in so weighty a matter, as this of obliging the Turks to continue the War, notwithstanding of so many motives that seem to conspire together to induce them to make up a speedy Peace.  
This conjecture, though never so harsh, will yet appear the more probable, if we consider how far the French have ventured of late upon Artifices of the same kind in France itself, and which they have had the confidence to impose upon their Neighbours for authentic Truths. It's well known, That the Treaty of the Pyrenees was scarce a Year old, when the French King began to show his design to break it, which he had indeed resolved on the very time he Swore it. Flanders and the French County was in his eye, notwithstanding of the Articles in the Treaty, and in the Contract of Marriage with his Queen to the contrary. In order to this, he was to trump up Claims to these Countries, as dependences of the Crown of France: and to back these Claims, it was necessary that Original Records and Instruments must either be found out, or made up. The first was impossible, for what never was, could never be found; and therefore the second was fallen upon. To accomplish which so Honourable a project, there was, and is yet, a certain number of Men set a work to Counterfeit several Old Records, Deeds, Genealogies and other Pieces, to prove such and such Claims, to such and such particular Lands: And as there is in some places of Italy, a kind of Men who take up a Trade of Counterfeiting Ancient Medals, and that so near, that it's hard to distinguish them from true ones; So there is a Society of Men employed now in France, to Counterfeit Old Parchments and Papers in order to assert their King's imaginary Rights, so as if not now, yet some Ages hence, they may come to pass for Authentic, and of the very time they are Dated. If then the French Court have the freedom to impose such gross Cheats upon more Civilised Nations, and their nearest Neighbours; It will be no great breach of Charity to suspect them capable of so doing, towards a People of so little Learning, and at so great a distance as the Turks.  
As the French have taken up a Trade of late to falsify and counterfeit Papers and Records; so it's just I here take occasion to mention another they have fallen on, of counterfeiting History. Every body will agree with me in this, That there can be no greater Injury done to Mankind in general, but especially to Posterity, than to handle down to succeeding Ages, Positive Falsehoods for Truths; and to do this not so much out of Ignorance, as a real Design, that both the present, and much more the Generations to come, shall have false Notions of the Transactions they treat of. Of this Diabolical Practice (for it deserves no better name) all the Histories almost of this and the last Age, that have been Printed in Paris these Thirty Years past are full. Not to mention either the Paramount History, that Monsieur Pellison is just now a writing, of the Life of Lewis le Grand, which will certainly be nothing else but a complication of Untruths, and a fulsome Panegyric on the French King: Nor need I name the several Histories that Maimburg, Varillas, and other of that King's Pensioners have imposed on the world of late; I shall only take notice of one for all, and that a History printed but the last year at Paris, and this year in Holland, I mean the Life of Cromwell. One would have thought that no man would have so far ventured his Reputation, as to trace so many impertinent Lies as this Book abounds with, and which so many Thousands of People yet alive know to be so: And yet the Author is a person of a passing good Character in France, and the Book is dedicated to no less a man than the Learned Bishop of Meaux, and passes among the most of the Nations abroad for a True History.  
I am of opinion, there is not in this whole pretended History, one single Page without some one or two gross mistakes, if not wilful Errors; and to name them all, were to Copy over the whole Book, Only to give a hint of the rest from these few, the Author will needs have Cromwell to have been a Prebendary, and of Bishop William's Faction against Laud; which Faction he says, arose on the debate betwixt the two Archbishops for Precedence (an affair some Ages older than Cromwell:) In short, there is not one single Syncronisme right in the whole Book, from the beginning to the end, witness one for all, He makes Duke Hamilton's Expedition into England, to have fallen out in the Year 1644. and King Charles the First, to have rendered himself to the Scots Three Years after.  
I would not have mentioned this Book, if I thought it not conducing to the Commonwealth of Letters, but especially to Strangers, to know this late practice of the French Writers, that thereby they may not swallow all they writ upon Trust.  
Being upon this subject of Counterfeiting Dispatches and Papers, I could instance a great many Remarkable Events that have been owing to that kind of Artifice, both in Ancient and Modern Times; from the knowledge of which, it seems the French are the more emboldened to try the Experiment. But there happened one of the signallest effects in Britain, of an Artifice of this nature, some Fifty years ago, that though it be quite foreign to the purpose, yet the Strangeness of it, the mighty Consequences that attended it, and it's lying hitherto among the Secrets of our History, will obtain me the Reader's Fardon, to give the Story of it in short.  
Every body, I believe, is acquainted with the Rise of those unhappy Commotions, that shook this Island during the Reign of King Charles the First; and knows where to lodge them: Both Nations were discontented, and the Flame risen in Scotland, which propagated itself at last to England; and our Historians have taken care to give us all the Public Steps of those unhappy Transactions; but not without Partiality on some one side or another. But there was one Secret Hinge, on which the Scotch Second Invasion moved, that has never to this day been committed to Print, and which is a notable demonstration, upon how small and unseen Springs, the greatest Revolutions in the Affairs of the World do oftentimes turn.  
When King Charles was induced to enter into Terms of Treaty with the Scots at Ríppon, some of the English Nobility that had been very Instrumental to bring the King to an Accommodation, and thereby deserved well of the Scots, found a great Coolness and Uneasiness in the Scotch Commissioners towards them, notwithstanding they had deserved so well of that Country. The Treaty being at last concluded, and the Scots fully pleased with the Terms, one of the English Noblemen being very desirous to know the Reason of that Coolness that had, during the whole Course of the Treaty, appeared in the Scots, was resolved, if possible, to find it out. To this end, having invited the Earl of Rothes, and the rest of the Scotch Noblemen that had managed the Treaty, to Dinner, he fell upon the matter of Their coming into England, and how happily the Differences betwixt the King and Them had been made up; and withal, how happy he thought himself in promoting so good an Agreement: At length he concluded, with the uneasiness he was in on the account of the Coolness he had always found in the Scotch Noblemen towards him, notwithstanding of his great Zeal and Success in serving them with the King, and in the whole course of the Treaty: The Earl of Rothes answered, He thanked his Lordship for the good Offices he and the rest of the English Commissioners had done his Countrymen both with the King, and in the Treaty: But he was astonished to hear his Lordship inquire the ground of his and his Colleagues Coolness towards him, and some of the English Peers there present: For (says he) it was your Lordship and They, that Invited us at first into England, and promised to join with us as soon as we were on English Ground; and yet notwithstanding, your Lordship, and They, were so far from making good your promise, that you appeared in Arms against us. The English Noblemen being surprised at this answer; at length the Earl of Rothes pulled out of his pocket a Letter signed by Seven or Eight of the chief of the English Nobility, directed to him the Earl of Rothes, in name of the rest of his Countrymen, Inviting them into England, and promising to come in to them upon their entering this Kingdom. Which Letter was yet a matter of greater astonishment, when it was found a Counterfeit one; and that a certain English Nobleman then present, (who is dead, and his Family extinct long ago) confessed himself to have done it. This Letter has had the luck to be oftener than once printed in several Histories of that time for a true one; and, I believe, I am the first that have publicly advanced it to have been false; Being safe in what I have said about it, from the knowledge of two or three Noblemen yet alive, whose Hands are at it, and who are much better acquainted with the whole Story, than I possibly can.  
To leave so long a digression, and put an end to this Appendix, I shall only add a few words concerning two Passages in the foregoing Observators, that has made a great noise in the World, and which both Honour and Justice obliges me to clear.  
The first is about what I wrote of a Book printed in French some fourteen Months ago (if I mistake not the time) Entitled, Avis aux Refugès sur leur prochain Retour en France. An Advice to the French Refugees upon their expected return to France. This Book has occasioned a great many others, by way of Answers and Replies, betwixt two of the Learnedest Men of the French Nation, Monsieur Jurieu, and Monsieur Bale; And therein the Consistory of the French Church at Rotterdam has been obliged to concern themselves.  
Monsieur Jurieu has positively accused Monsieur Bale of being the Author of this Book, and to have written it of concert with a Cabal of other French Pensioners set a work by the Court of France. I shall not meddle in the Debate betwixt those two Great Men, any further than concerns myself. In one of my Observators, I mentioned this Book, which has occasioned so much heat; and said, It was concerted by the French Court, and that I knew the Author. This was long before there was the least word of Contest betwixt Monsieur Jurieu, and Monsieur Bale: But some months thereafter, the Debate growing hot betwixt them, the one affirming, the other denying with equal passion; It fell out that Monsieur Bale, among other Arguments brought by him to prove his Innocence, adduced that Passage in the New Observator, wherein the Author gave a hint of the Advis aux Refugés being concerted with the French Court, and of his saying, He knew the Author of it; And thence concluded, That since the Author of the Observator knew the Author of the Avis aux Refugeés, and that Monsieur Bale and the Author of the Observator was not acquainted together, Therefore Monsieur Bale was not the Author of the Avis aux Refugeés.  
This Argument of Monsieur Bale's, and some Papers written since by Monsieur Jurieu, obliges me to give here a true Account of what I know of this Affair, leaving these two learned Persons to make what use of it on either side they think fit: And this I do the more willingly, that Monsieur Jurieu has been pleased in several Letters to Persons of Note in England, to signify his grief for some mistaken Expressions he had used towards me in one of his late Books on that score.  
This Book Avis aux Refugeés had scarce appeared in France, and was not yet seen in England, when from a Worthy and Noble Person in France, since in Chains for his Religion, I had an account both of the Book itself, of its being concerted with the French Court, and that every body in Paris looked upon Monsieur Pellison as the Author of it. In return of a letter of mine in answer to his, my Friend told me, That according to my desire, he had employed one that was intimately acquainted with Monsieur Pellison, to inquire of him the truth of that common report: And that Monsieur Pellison was pleased to allow the Person that spoke to him, to think him the Author, though he would not positively confess he was so; adding, that it was not fit for him, or for the King's service, to acknowledge that Book publicly to be his, though he were the Author of it. In short, this Worthy Gentleman gave me both his own and the universally received opinion at Paris, That Monsieur Pellison was the Author of the Avis aux Refugées, and backed it with a great many probable arguments, needless here to be mentioned.  
The Book itself appearing here in London a little after, I took occasion to mention what my Friend told me about it, and withal, upon his Information said, I believe I knew the Author, meaning Monsieur Pellison, with whom I was a little acquainted at Paris Nine Years ago. In one word, I was the first that ever mentioned in Print, That that Book was concerted with the French Court, or that it was written by a French Emissary; And was very glad to find so Learned and Famed a Man as Monsieur Jeurieu, to Print a Book some Months thereafter designedly to prove at length what I had but hinted at in an Observator; though at the same time was sorry that any French Protestant, much more one of Monsieur Bale's parts, should be accused for it: And this is all I know of an affair that has employed the Press in Holland for near a Year together.  
The other Passage I think myself obliged to clear, is, about a Letter from King James the First, to Doctor Abbot, concerning the Canons of Bishop Overals Convocation; of which Letter I published an exact Copy in one of the Observators. That Learned Dr. Sherlock's late Book of The Case of the Allegiance due to Sovereign Powers. Stated and Resolved, etc. that laid such weight on this Convocation-Book, was the occasion of my making some Reflections both upon the Convocation itself, and the reasons of its being called, of its meddling with so nice points, as the Rights of Kings, and why the Canons made therein, were never enforced with the Royal Assent. Several Pamphlets written against Dr. Sherlock since that time, has endeavoured to lessen the Credit of this Letter to Dr. Abbot: And some have been so good-natured as to question both the truth of it, and the veracity of the Author, that has obliged the World with so important a Paper. Though I own no kindness to some People that have importuned me on this score; Nor shall take any other notice of a personal reflection against me in one of their Papers, of my being forced to flee my Country in the last Reign, than to confess it was true, and that I glory in having chose to be overwhelmed in the ruins of my Country, rather than to have any share in the Causes of them: Tho at the same time, I must tell that Gentleman, I had as great offers from the Late King, as any of my quality ever had, if I would have accepted them; And that I came not to serve the present King, out of mere necessity, notwithstanding of my being ruined in the two last Reigns; Since my good Fortune rather than my Merit, procured me about the same time, an honourable Call from a Crowned Head abroad, to one of the best Posts that a person of my Profession could wish: For which so undeserved a favour, I shall ever retain the profoundest Veneration and Gratitude to that Generous Prince that offered it me. However love to truth, and the desires of some Eminent Persons both in Church and State, (to whom I have caused it to be shown) has prevailed with me to leave the Original Letter with Mr. Baldwin for ten Days time together, just after the Publishing of this Paper, in order to be seen in his hands, by all that please to call for it. This is one trouble more, that for the sake of the Public must be put upon a Man that has in all times been firm to the interest of England, and that has suffered more since this Revolution, for Printing Books, he thought, was written for the Government, than all the Booksellers in London have done for Books written against it.  
Thus have I done with this Appendix; having written it, in a hurry of business, and under the dismal apprehensions of the greatest disaster that can befall me on earth. And though I trouble the World with no more Observators; yet I promise from time to time, in some other way, and under some other Title, to serve my King and Country with my Pen, when any emergency falls out that requires it.  
FINIS.   

BOOKS Sold by Richard Baldwin.  
THE First, Second, Third and Fourth Volumes of Mercurius Reformatus: Or the New Observator. Containing Reflections upon the most Remarkable Events, falling out from time to time in Europe, and more particularly in England.  
Christianissimus Christianandus: Or, Reason for the Reduction of France to a more Christian State in Europe. By Marchimam Needham.  
A New, Plain, Short and Complete French and English Grammar: whereby the Learner may attain in few Months, to Speak and Writ French Correctly, as they do now in the Court of France. And wherein all that is Dark, Superfluous, and Deficient in other Grammars, is Plain, Short, and methodically supplied. Also very useful to Strangers, that are desirous to learn the English Tongue: For whose sake is added a Short, but very Exact English Grammar. By Peter Berault.  
Mathematical Magic: Or, The Wonders that may be performed by Mechanical Geometry. In Two Books: Concerning Mechanical Powers, Motions. Being one of the most Easy, Pleasant, Useful, (and yet most neglected) part of Mathematics. Not before Treated of in this Language. By J. Wilkins, late L. Bishop of Chester.  
The Devout Christian's Preparation for holy Dying. Consisting of Ejaculations, Prayers, Meditations and Hymns, adapted to the several States and Conditions of this Life, and on the four last Things, viz Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell.  
Vtrum Horum: Or, God's Ways of Disposing Kingdoms: and some clergymen's Ways of Disposing of them.  
The Royal Flight: Or, the Conquest of Ireland. A New Farce.  
The Folly of Priest-Craft. A New Comedy.  
Passive Obedience in Actual Resistance. Or, Remarks upon a Paper fixed up in the Cathedral Church of Worcester, by Dr. Hicks. With Reflections on the present Behaviour of the Rest of the Family.  
The Great Bastard Protector of the Little one. Done out of French. And for which, a Proclamation, with a Reward of 5000 Lewedores, to discover the Author, was published.