A LETTER from a General Officer to a Colonel, and several Officers and Soldier under King of JAMES, now in the pesent Service.  
I Must own (noble Gentlemen and Fellow-Soldiers) that I was one of those who were misled as well as you by the Apprehensions that our Religion was in danger, had not the Prince of O. come opportunely to redeem 〈◊〉 But I can upon my Salvation say (and I hope so may many of us) I had no other Design in closing with his Troops, but only to have obtained a free Parliament, and such Laws as would have secured our Religion and Property, which was pretended then to be invaded. It never entered into my Thoughts, neither had I the least Suspicion, that the Prince aimed to dethrone his Father, or to embroil us in such) an Expensive War, to the utter impoverishment of our Country. 'Tis true, we Soldiers are not usually Politicians, and therefore could not so easily pierce into the hidden Intentions of ambitions Men but we have so much Sense as to remember how kind a Master K. James was to us, how duly he paid us, and yet never sought a Penny from the Country for it: Whereas now, though in all our Quarters we hear nothing but Complaints, of want of Trade, scarcity of Money, and execessive Taxes, yet you know how ill We are paid. We, who have undergone as much Fateague in Ireland as ever Army did: We, who with the Expense of so much Blood, Poverty, Hunger, Fateague and Sickness, have reduced that Kingdom; find now so little Regard had for us, that instead of a Recompense we can neither get , nor Money, nor Horses, for those that we lost in Service; and are forced to oppress our native Country for mere Subsistance. It reputes me at my Soul, that we took so much Pains there to expel so good a King and Master, from a Country which was only left him for his Shelter; which shows we fought for Fighting-sake, without reflecting on the Justice of the Cause, or the Consequences of such a Victory.  
Now, methinks, our Eyes ought to beopened; for my part I can foresee nothing but an inevitable Ruin to our Country, if we persevere to resist our gracious, indulgent Master. The Scene of War must be translated from Flanders hither, and then my heart will bleed to think what Miseries our poor Country must endure. We have seen, felt, and contributed to the Fate of poor distressed, desolate Ireland; but alas! your Pampered Island, as it is less used to Sufferings, will find smaller Sufferings n●re intolerable, and yet must suffer much more than they have done, if we repent not in time, and welcome back our Sovereign. It seems he has taken a Resolution to come with a considerable Force of his own Subjects, intermixed with Strangers, to recover his Right; It behoves us then to consider seriously, Why We should oppose him? can We expect any pay from our present Riders (I call them so, who make us like so many tame Asses bear every Burden) when most of the Nations Money is sent to support the Confederates? Have We not found, by woeful experience that none are looked upon, preferred, or paid, but Danes, Brandenburghers, and our Hogen Mogen Dutch, and that We English men can get no Advancement, unless by the Interest of these Foreigners? You see how far We are from being ●rusted in our native Country, where We might be merciful in our defence of it, and spare the Stores, the Weals, and Blood of our Friends and Relations; when We must all be driven on Ship-bo●●d (though 'tis contrary to the Laus of England, there being now no Martial Law in 〈◊〉) which occasioned many of our Fellow-Soldiers to shoot to Death their own Comrades for only desiring their Pay, and sent to fight the Confederates Quarrel in Flanders, to make ●●om for Twenty thousand Foreigners, who are now about to be purchased with our very Pay, at no less 〈◊〉 than Three hundred and fifty thousand Pound; to come and harras our Country, and destroy and burn what they cannot defend, that if they cannot, their Enemies also may not be better for it, but the Country desolate. Whereas we know K. James h●s a true English Soul, and a true compassionate Tenderness for his Country. All he desires is Liberty to All, that All ●ay live in Peace and Plenty; whilst K. W. sets his whole mind to support the Dutch, to make them our Masters, ●nd give away our Bread and Traffic from us.  
Let us then at last be Englishmen, Lovers of our Country, and of our lawful, kind, and bountiful King, and nothing will be wanting to us. We shall have Honour, Peace, and Plenty, but above all a Quiet Conscience, if we return to our Duty, and save our nat●●e Country from ruin and desolation. You cannot but see the Country desires, and justly deserves it at our hands. Th●● expect, that as we were the first who gave the Prince of O. this Advantage to rule us with a Rod of Iron, and la … away our Gold and Silver amongst his Foreigners; so we should be the first to assist K. James to return without a●● Bloodshed. He has many Friends, and every Day gains him more; and however we may fool ourselves wi●● the vain hopes of K. W. carrying us into the heart of France, and keeping up the Confederacy, neither the one, n●● the other, can succeed. France is too strong for us to attaque it; and the Confederacy too weak to subsist much l●●ger. It must break, and if now we should be so Barbarous to oppose our old Master, than he will be able to come with much more Force than we can resist; and we shall neither have the Credit, nor the Comfort of being instrumental to such a Blessing.  
Let us there there●●●e at his first Appearance show ourselves true Englishmen, own our King, own our Law, own our Country and K …, and not fight Dutch Quarrels to make ourselves the Laughing Stock of all Nations; or as so many Fools, ●●o in the midst of so clear a Light, could not see our own, and our Nation's Interest.  
I writ no●● 〈◊〉 ●●is out of any Discontent. I have had as much Favour from K. W. as any other Officer. I have not been dealt w●●● as my Lord Marlborough, or my Lord Torrington, or any of those other English Officers who were lately Seize●●nd Imprisoned (we are certain) for no other Reasons, but to prefer Strangers to their Commands, and it may ●●●rtly be our Fate: But I have a true Sense and Feeling of the Miseries our Country must suffer, if we oppose ou● ●●wful King, which must cause more and more Supplies to be sent on both sides, and so make our Country an Acelde … or Field of Blood; whereas we now of the Soldiery, if we have honest English Hearts, may turn the Scale, make ourselves and all our Posterity happy, and restore Peace and Plenty to old England and have all our Arrears paid us ●or K. James truly loves his Country, and its Peace and Welfare, and ever was the best Master to his Soldiers of any … ce in Europe; and we may be assured that whatever Foreigners our true and lawful king brings in (if we show ourselves Just and Loyal) will soon be honourably Dismissed, and We employed to regain our Trade, and repair t●● Losses this Dutch Stratagem hath brougth upon us. K. W. is wholly theirs, and they for themselves: Why shou●●●ot We be for our selves, as our King is for us. If we join as Brethren and honest Englishmen, we need not fe●r ambitious of Self-ended Courtiers, nor Dutch Councils. We have the Country's Hearts and Wishes, and they will fully 〈◊〉 for freeing them from endless Taxes, and still growing Miseries.  
N●ble Friends, Fellow-Soldiers in Arms; I writ not this but upon most serious Deliberation, not only with myself, but with the best of our Companions, and the most Eminent amongst the Nobility and Gentry of England, wh● hearty concur with me in their Wishes, and will also concur with us with their Lives and Fortunes, if we acquit ●ur sel●es like honest true Englishmen, and Lovers of our Country. Which with them, and (I hope) with you, I ●●solve to do, to the utmost of my Power, who am, Noble Gentlemen, and Fellow-Soldiers, Yours in all Sincerity.