A TRUE RELATION Of what hath been Transacted in behalf of those of the Reformed Religion, During the TREATY OF PEACE AT RESWICK. WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE Present Persecution in France.  Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body, Hebr. xiii. 3. 
LONDON, Printed for Sam. Lowndes over-against Exeter-Exchange in the Strand, and to be Sold by E. Whitlock near Stationers-Hall. 1698.   

To the Right Honourable CHARLES, Earl of Macclesfield, Viscount and Baron of Brandon, Lord Lieutenant of the County Palatine of Lancaster, and of the Six Northern Counties of Wales, Major General, and Colonel of a Regiment of Horse in His Most Sacred Majesty's Army, etc.  
My LORD,  
HE is a great Stranger in the World, who doth not know how Kind, Generous, and Charitable, Your Lordship has been to all the French Refugees in General, and in a Special Manner to many of them, whom You have put in an Honourable Way of Serving at once His Majesty, Your Lordship, and Themselves. And, indeed, My Lord, the Nobleness of Your Birth is Supported by the Greatness, and Solidity of Your Virtues; The Greatness of Your Titles and Dignities Adorned with an Unparallelled Conduct and Undaunted Courage; Your Conduct and Courage united to a Tender and Compassionate Generosity towards the Unfortunate; and all these Endowments attended with a steady and unweaned Constancy, which is the Proper Character of Great Souls.  
And therefore, My Lord, the true Account of the Present Sufferings of the Protestants in France, which I give to this Nation, will, I hope, obtain a Favourable Audience and Reception from Your Lordship, and You will undoubtedly Pity their Lamentable Case, as well as be Pleased to vouchsafe the Continuance of Your Protection to those who have both the Honour and Happiness of being already sheltered under it. I am, My Lord, one of those who have obtained a great Share in Your Generous Liberality, and am very glad to have this Opportunity to Acknowledge Publicly, how much I do Respect Your Person, Esteem Your Virtues, and am Thankful for Your many Favours, which I find myself under an impossibility of Answering any other way than by being as long as I live,  
My LORD, Your Lordship's Most Obliged, and most Dutiful Servant, and Chaplain, P. G. D.   

THE PREFACE.  
A Little Book needs no Preface, nor a good one any Commendation; The former carries an Excuse in its Brevity, and the other's own Worth will sufficiently recommend it to the Judicious. The Papers which we here present to the Public have a just Title to both these Characters, as containing in a little room many important Transactions and Circumstances relating to the French Protestants, which the World has not hitherto been acquainted with; so that a true Englishman will not think an hour or two misspent to be informed as well of the several Motions that were made at Reswick, though without success, by Persons of great Zeal and no less Ability, for the Relief of the French Protestant Church, as of the lamentable Condition she hath lain under ever since the Peace, by a most Violent and Barbarous Persecution. And therefore he will not take it amiss, if we give him beforehand an Abstract of these Papers, with the Design of the Reverend and Learned Author in their Publication, which is to relate the past, and present Condition of the Protestants in France, and to give them some good Advices for their future Deportment.  
As to the time past, he informs the Protestants, as well those who are now persecuted in France, as those who are dispersed for Christ's Name over the face of the whole Earth, (and who expected that the end of the War would have put a Period to their Miseries) that the Protestant Princes, and the States, and all those who could either by the Eminence of their Stations, or Learning, or Zeal be useful to them, have done what they could towards their Deliverance and Comfort. And by this faithful Relation, he undeceives them of the Error they were in, viz. That those who could and ought to have relieved them, had quite forsaken them, and only minded their own Concerns, but neglected theirs. He tells them, that one must not measure the Conduct of an Affair by the Event, but by the Integrity and Industry of the Persons employed in it. If, when thus qualified, they do not speed, they are not to be blamed for it, but rather we ought to be Thankful for what they have done already, and had a desire to have done further. And if God Almighty did not think fit to bless them with success in the Management of a good Cause, we must submit to his Will, possess our Souls in patience, and conclude, that it is now the Hour of the Papists, and the Power of Darkness.  
As to the present time, the Author makes a sad, but true Representation of the Barbarous Persecution which rages now in France; and the several Instances he gives of the Inhumanity of the Papists on one hand, and of the unparallelled Sufferings of these poor Protestants on the other, do plainly discover, that Popery is in this Particular, worse than the Heathen Religion, and that they have outdone the Pagan Emperors, and even the Freity of the wild Beasts in the Amphitheatres.  
The principal End of this Discourse is, first to acquaint all those who being grown weary of their long Exile, may have a mind to return into France, what welcome they are like to expect there: Our Author clearly demonstrates, that unless they fully resolve to turn Papists, they ought by no means to expose themselves to the unavoidable danger of so great and certain a Temptaion.  
Secondly, The Author's Aim is, to Confute those Papists, who either for shame, or because they have received some secret Order so to do, make it their business to give out in all Protestant Countries, and chief here in England, that there is no such thing as a Persecution in France, and that the Protestants are not molested there, but on the contrary, permitted to live quietly. But what Monstrous Impudence is this, to give the Lie not only to Thousands of Travellers, and many of them Persons of Quality, who are every day Eye-witnesses of these new Cruelties, as well as Abhorrers of those Miscreants that execute them; but also to several rigorous Declarations of their own King, issued out since the Peace against the French Protestants still in his Kingdom. Is it Shame that prompts them to it? if it be so, than their groundless denial argues in them a tacit Horror and Condemnation of these Proceed. A Highwayman doth not use to Confess, but rather deny his Crimes, though evidently proved against him. But the Mystery of their Policy is this; The French Court is very unwilling to lose so many Subjects, witness the Bills that were set up at the Doors of several French Churches in London, whereby the Refugees were invited to apply themselves to the French Ambassador, and promised that they should have Passes gratis, and be furnished with Money to carry them home. This was not done, you may be sure, by Protestants, but by Papists. The Council of Persecution is jealous of the Kindness and Charity of the Protestant States to the Refugees, and fears that their usual Benevolence and  will be a prevalent Encouragement to those who lie now under the Cross to come over to them and that Thousands will make their escape, though the Passes be never so strictly guarded. To prevent this loss, as well as to recover the old Refugees, they have ordered it to be given out every where, that all this Report of a new Persecution which the French Protestants Complain against, is a mere trick and shame without any ground of Truth in it. Hoping thereby to incite the Hatred of all Protestant People against them; to stop the Charitable Benevolence of all Rank and Qualities, and consequently to constrain them by Hunger to return home: But, How can such a notorious Falsity gain any Credit? No matter for that. Politicians will do what they think may serve their turn, if they get no Advantage, they are sure to lose nothing by the Imposture. 'Tis possible, they may miscarry, but 'tis possible they may succeed too, and they will have this Satisfaction, that if the Event doth not answer their Endeavours and Expectations, they have no Reason to Blame themselves for any neglect on their part: Though the Popish Emissaries are not ignorant, that the Protestant Princes and Great Men know as well as the Persecutors themselves, how severely the French Protestants are used, since the Peace; nevertheless, they must try, both by a flat denial of the Fact, and by representing the Refugees as Impostors, to render them odious to all, and chief to the common and illiterate People, who not being so well able to examine the Truth, may give Credit to what is unanimously said against them, by so many Papists, and in so many different Places. From whence it may follow, that either they will hate and fall upon them, or else be hereafter as hard to them, as hitherto they have been kind and charitable. In short, if they cannot compass their whole Design, they hope to effect it in some part, and to do at least, a considerable prejudice to some, if not to all of the Refugees, and constrain them by that means to return into the French King's Dominions. But the French Refugees hope, that those who have never been abroad, and have not so good Intelligence of the new Persecution, as Persons of greater Rank and better Understanding, will more narrowly inquire into their Affair, from the many Travellers of their own Country, as well as of others of unquestionable Credit; and then we doubt not but that their grievous Sufferings, and unspotted Innocence, will as plainly appear, as the Cruelty, Malice, and Impudence of the Popish Emissaries; And consequently, all good Protestants every where, and particularly here in England, will be so far from hating, and withdrawing their Charity from the French Refugees, that on the contrary, they will both Abhor the Inhumanity and Slanders of the Papists, and pity the lamentable Condition of their Brethren, increase their Benevolence and Charity, even as the Papists increase their Fierceness; and lastly, that they will continue to invite and receive kindly all those who may hereafter be cast upon their Shores. Nay, We hope, that neither the great number of those who are already come, and may hereafter come over unto them, nor the sad prospect of their long Exile, will in the least damp their Liberality, but rather make it abound more and more. These are the true and genuine Fruits of Christian Charity, to the practice whereof, our Zealous Author doth so Pathetically Exhort in the latter part of his Second Letter, all Protestants of what Nation and Quality soever, as the only way for them to demonstrate, that as the Character of Popery consists in forcing Consciences, Slandering, Lying, Tormenting, and Killing; so that of true Christians and Protestants is to be seen in their practising those many Precepts of Humanity, and Charity, which are so often Inculcated in the Holy Scripture, the Rule both of our Faith, and of our good Life, and without which no body can pretend to Christianity, much less to the great Rewards that are chief promised to those who are Long-Suffering, Meek and Charitable, particularly in persecuting times, which call for a more than ordinary Liberality, and a steady perseverance in the same; as you may see, 2 Cor. 8, 9 Matth. 25.34, 40. And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not; as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all Men, and specially unto them that are of the household of Faith, Gal. 6.9, 10. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and labour of love, which ye have showed towards his name, in that ye have ministered to the Saints, and do Minister, Heb. 6.10. Let brotherly love continue, be not forgetful to entertain Strangers, for thereby some have entertained Angels unawares, Heb. 13.1, 2. As to the time to come, our Author prescribes to the Persecuted Protestants, the Manner how they ought to behave themselves; first, towards their Persecutors, by loving them with a Love of Charity, though not of Esteem, and by avoiding both their Company and Snares: And fecondly, Towards God, by an absolute Submission to his Will, without Murmuring against it. Next, He Censures them for their Neglect, Lukewarmness, Ill Lives, and Insensibility under the heavy hand of God; and Exhorts them to a speedy Conversion and sincere Repentance, without which they must not expect any Deliverance, whereas with it, they will put themselves in a Condition to hope for it: It being certain, That when a Man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his Enemies to be at Peace with him, Prov. 16.7. And when his People hath been driven. out of their Native Country, and scattered over the face of the whole Earth for their Sins, if they return unto the Lord their God, than the Lord will return and gather them from all Nations, whither the Lord their God had scattered them, Deut. 30.3. These Exhortations are followed with this Comfortable Promise, That God Almighty will never permit the total Ruin of the Reformed Religion in France: Then he proceeds to show, That the Romish Church is in a worse Condition, and consequently more likely to be sooner Destroyed than that of the Protestants; and demonstrates, that they may prevent their Ruin, by Patience and Constancy in their Sufferings, and by their often meeting together. At last, He giveth them good and charitable Advices, in order to keep their Children from Popery; and concludes with a fervent and excellent Prayer, wholly taken out of the Holy Scripture, which may serve as a Form to the Afflicted Church.  
When we began this Preface, we had a mind to do for the end of it, these two Things; First, To set down at length all the Declarations issued out, and the particular Orders sent to the Intendants of Provinces against the French Protestants since the Peace. And secondly, To show the speedy and severe Execution of them by several Particulars, which prove to the full the Violences, Outrages and Murders committed upon the Reformed, and especially the Barbarous Usage of almost 300 of them who have been sent to the Galleys upon account of Religion, but because the mentioning of all these Particulars, would have Swolln these Papers into a bigger Bulk than it was intended at first, we are constrained to put off the Execution of our Design to another opportunity; and besides we must consider, that we are not Writing a Book, but a Preface.   

ERRATA.  
PAge 13. line 32. after Ratification, read of Peace, p. 14. l. 2. r. which we are not concerned in, l. 16. deal who was, l. 31. r. which calls herself, p. 24. l. 18. r. have done, p. 25. l. 27. r. Cevennes, p. 27. l. 7. after France, r. made many Martyrs, p. 28. l. 10. deal yet, p. 30. l. 13. deal their, l. 14. r. as many use to do, p. 40. l. 22. r. all in vain. p. 41. l. 32. r. of the Persecutors, p. 43. l. 31. after Church, r. Newremberg, p. 48. l. 4. r. may expect, p. 60. l. 30. r. righteousnesses.   

LETTER I. Wherein an Account is given to the Protestants Persecuted in France, of what hath been done, in their behalf, at the Peace of Reswick.  
YOU may justly wonder, dear Brethren, that having openly professed for some years past, how great a share we bore in your Sufferings, you have not of late heard any thing from us; particularly this last year, wherein the Peace, Europe now seems to enjoy, hath been transacting. We have been told indeed you expected very much from us, and looked upon those of your Brethren, whom God's Providence hath settled in the neighbourhood of that Place, wherein the most important Affairs were transacted, as your Agents, who for many Reasons were engaged to omit nothing that might contribute either to your Deliverance, or your Comfort; and therefore they were obliged to give you a faithful Account how far they had discharged the Commission, which you had either expressly or tacitly given them. We had certainly resolved to do it long since; but were hindered, and kept silent for several Reasons; chief for fear of preventing the good Effects of some secret Resolution or other, which our Persecutors might have made of abating their Fury, and moderating their excess of Cruelty; as they had all the Reason in the World to do it, so we had just cause to think, they would at last hearken to some of those Remonstrances, which from all parts of Europe were thus addressed unto them: What blind Rage bushes you forwards to ruin a great Kingdom; to banish out of it by your Barbarity, those who have never acted any thing, but for its advantage; to disoblige so many of the Allies, who had no other End in Fight with you, but the procuring a solid Peace; to show such implacable Hatred against a Religion, the Professors whereof have been for these Hundred years the Glory of your Crown; to instill into and foment an immortal Jealousy in the Minds of those Protestants with whom you would be glad to live peaceably? How can one rely upon the Word of those who break the most Sacred Promises, and the Laws which they had Sworn to with the greatest Solemnity? Will you be more faithful to your Friends, than to your own Children? Do you think that an Opportunity will not some day or other offer itself to express our Resentments of such a Contempt?  
But all these Remonstrances have been to no purpose, nay they have not so much as vouchsafed to hear them; in the mean while we kept silence that these formentioned Complaints being offered without any interruption, might be the better heard. We were afraid, lest a Word taken in a contrary sense, might either give occasion, or at least be made use of, as a colour to prevent the Effects, of what they called good Secret Intentions. But there is not now any Reason for us to hold our peace any longer, seeing we are Eye-Witnesses of the ill Consequences of a Peace so pernicious to the Church; it is high time for us to inform you, both of what we have already, and further had a mind to have done both for the Comfort of the Reformed Church in general, and your Repose in particular. Know then, dear Brethren, that nothing has been omitted, which might either put a stop to, or allay the present Persecutions of the Church; and in order thereto, be pleased to observe, that the Foundation of this great Work, they had a mind to build upon, hath been laid above these Ten years; for they have made use of every Moment, and Opportunity, that might be most seasonable to move the Protestant Princes and States to the most tender Compassion, and prevail upon them to contribute to the Ease and Relief of the Afflicted Church; especially in the year 1688, in which happened the Revolution of England. As it was very easy to foresee that so great a Turn would be attended with Consequences of the highest importance, so they endeavoured to improve it to the best advantage, and prepared aforehand all things in order to another kind of Revolution. Accordingly, their first Essays succeeded as well as one could wish; the Princes who had an hand in this extraordinary Event, did expressly promise, they would sacrifice all things, even their own Lives for the good of the Church; They were pleased not only to say so, but more than that, they gave it under their Hands. Since the time of this Promise so much valued by us, every, even the least Opportunity hath been improved to the keeping up of so great a Zeal: This was chief done in the year 1694, when the Famine raged in France; it was thought that the Government of that Kingdom would pity the Case of so many Wretches starving before their Eyes, and Court Europe to a Peace in behalf of their own Subjects of both Religions. Upon this, new Motions were made, which had as good success as the former; The Protectors of the Protestant Religion gave fresh Assurances, that they would use their utmost Interest to promote this great Work, and ordered Memoirs at that very time to be drawn for it. The famous Author of that Excellent History of the Edict of Nantes, was particularly chosen for that purpose; with what Success he discharged that Employment, he may perhaps himself one day inform you of. But as we were strictly enjoined to keep the whole Affair private, so it was communicated but to few Persons, who religiously concealed it; there were among them several of great Quality, and many Zealous Members of high Courts. Perhaps it might have been wished, that the secret had been kept a little longer, but it broke out when they began to discourse publicly about the Peace. One of the most considerable Refugees, a Counsellor of the supreme Court of Paris, was informed by one of the chief Members of the Republic of Holland, that it was high time for us to look after our Concerns; he had often promised to give us timely warning, he was as good as his Word; and the Person who received it, set himself about drawing up the Memoirs they had desired of him, after having first discoursed it with those whom he thought fit: God hath taken him since into his rest: The Memoirs he had drawn proved very good, and so well digested, that there was nothing either wanting or superfluous in them; and so there were Two Persons who prepared these Instructions. And though they did not act jointly, or communicate their Work one to another, nevertheless the things they laid down agreed exactly, because Truth and Right are constantly the same, and cannot vary. We desire you to take notice, that those amongst us, who have taken care of the Public Cause, have not done it of their own Heads, but were impower'd by the Permission, nay, by a special Order of their Superiors; and so you are not to impute the ill Success, to the Imprudence of those who might have meddled with these Material Affairs without any Power and Warrant so to do. The Instructions then, I say, were well drawn, and exhibited in due time, for they were delivered a little before the Conferences about the Peace begun at Reswick. The ill Success must be laid, neither upon these Instructions, nor upon the Authors of them, nor upon the Solicitors, nor upon the Solicitations themselves, which were made by the most Eminent Refugees, and that, with a great deal of Zeal and Conduct; seeing they have obeyed the Advices of those Superiors, by whom they were to be directed, and who set us upon uniting together all the Protestant Powers of both Communions, that of Augsburg, and that of Geneva. We must plainly tell you, that we had almost no other Reason for our undertaking these our Solicitations, but to pay our Duty to Truth and Justice, though with a slender prospect of Success; for we saw well enough, that the Authors of our Miseries were fully resolved not to lessen them in the least, and that our Friends and Protectors were not able to give Laws to a Prince who is a Persecutor out of an Erroneous Conscience; but we ought however to act after such a way, as you should have no reason to blame our Conduct in the least.  
This is the Consideration we often represented to the Protestant Plenipotentiaries, who were pleased to give us several favourable Hear; and we begged them many times, to put us in a Condition to acquaint you, that the Protestant Princes had done their utmost towards the lessening of your Miseries, and the recovering of your Liberties; some of them did very Nobly, and with all the Marks of Sincerity, promise us to do it. However, after having as well as we could disposed the Ambassadors of the Princes of our Communion in our favour, we endeavoured, pursuant to their Advice, to bring both Communions separated from the Church of Rome to an agreement, not for such an union as it was reported abroad we have so often desired, but only to prevail with them to concur, and join their good Endeavours to obtain from the Most Christian King an abatement of the Persecution. We plainly discovered in every Member of the Ausgburg Communion, not only a tender Compassion for our Sufferings, but also very favourable Intentions towards us; they were very sensible it concerned them as well as us. We made bold to represent unto them, that if the Protestant Princes did not stir up their Zeal, they would see the great Work of the Reformation, that had cost their Illustrious Ancestors a great deal of Sweat and Blood, quite ruined under their Hands. We desired them to consider, how much Popery had in this Age encroached upon the true Religion. We exposed to their View the Churches of Bohemia and Austria quite destroyed, those of Hungary in extreme distress, those of the Palatinate devolved to a Popish Prince; The City and Church of Strasburg in the power of a Zealous Popish King; The Church of England, who had lately seen herself upon the brink of ruin, by the Conspiracy of two Kings; and lastly, the Electorship of Saxony, now in the hands of a Prince who lately changed his Religion to purchase the Crown of Poland. We begged them to observe, that by adding the Ruin of the French Church to the former Losses, it was evident that the true Religion was exposed to the greatest danger more than ever. We told them, it was high time for them to look out for the fittest Methods to stop the successful progress of Popery, and to raise a Bank against the fierceness of Persecution; That there was as yet some hopes to save the rest, and recover either the whole, or some parts of our Losses; That the Protestant Religion, as weak as it was, was strong enough to counterpoise all the united Forces of Popery. The Most Potent King of England, the High and Mighty States of Holland, the Most Serene Elector of Brandenburg, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Kings of Sueden and Denmark, many Princes and Free Towns of Germany, the Cantons of Switzerland and their Allies; all these, I say, make up a Body able to compel others to hearken to their Demands, since they are able when they please to keep them in awe.  
There was not one among these Plenipotentiaries to whom we represented these Arguments, but did acknowledge the Equity of our Requests, and the solidity of our Reasons; They did both promise and act, for they agreed to Name Seven or eight Persons to draw up their Demands. We did what we could to have this Business Negotiated, so as not to be satisfied with a bare Intercession, from which we saw we could reap but small advantage. We did represent, that in the Treaties of Westphalia at Munster and Osnabruck, the Affairs of Religion had been treated of; That the French King himself had acted in behalf of the Protestant Princes of Germany, that the House of Austria should restore what they had taken from them. We did allege twenty Precedents of Subjects, who being protected by other Princes, had treated with their own. We said indeed, that although the present War, was not properly a War of Religion, Religion however had done all, because England and Holland had not made so powerful a League, but for the preservation of their Religion as well as their Liberties, for they had understood that they bore an ill will against both; and therefore, said we, since Religion hath under other pretences armed the Protestant Princes, it is not reasonable that Religion should be forsaken in this Treaty of Peace; We added, That the said Protestant Princes had a right to demand their being reimbursed for the vast Charges they had been at in this War, and for the Blood of so many Subjects whom they had lost in it; That it was not fit that the Protestant Princes should have no satisfaction for the Money they had advanced towards carrying on the War, in which they had spent four times as much as the Roman Catholics; To the King of Spain they would have Catalonia, Luxemburg, Heinant, and part of Flanders to be restored; To the Duke of Lorraine his Dukedom; To the Emperor Philipsburg and Friburg; To the Prince Palatine the Palatinate; To the Empire many Places upon and on this side the Rhine; all this put together made up a Kingdom of Restitutions. England as well as the States of Holland sued for nothing, and so it was but reasonable they should procure the Protestant Religion some advantage, since this was the only concern they had in the present Case.  
It seemed to us they could oppose nothing to all this, but their usual Answer, viz. The impossibility of making the best of all these good Reasons in the present Juncture of Affairs: To this we were said to submit. But you will see however by what we have said, that we did not omit any thing necessary to persuade the Plenipotentiaries into a necessity of Negociating our Restauration. When we perceived it could not go that way, we were forced to have recourse to a bare Intercession, and endeavoured that it should be at least powerful, urgent, unanimous, and drawn after such a manner, as might be best able to answer our End. In short, after many Conferences among these Gentlemen upon the Matter, they agreed to Word their Intercession after the Form you may have already seen, and may see here, as follows.  
Memoirs of the Ambassadors, and Plenipotentiaries of the Protestant Princes in behalf of the Reformed Churches in France.  
WE the Confederates of the Protestant Religion Considering the Calamities many of the Subjects of his Most Christian Majesty, professing the same Religion with us, have suffered, and still do suffer upon the account only of serving God, according to the Dictates of their Conscience: A Liberty the said distressed Subjects might reasonably hope for by the Law of God, by the Precepts of Charity, and especially by the Laws of France, confirmed by his Most Christian Majesty, and which they are to enjoy as good and faithful Subjects, who have constantly kept themselves within the bounds of their Duty and Allegiance to their Sovereigns.  
The said Allies moved by these Motives of Justice and Compassion, are so much the more concerned for these Afflicted People, by how much the more that the Miseries they suffer continuing still, since the Peace has been re-established, might be imputed to the hatred of his Most Christian Majesty against all the Protestants in general, a Consideration which would mightily disquiet the Princes of that Religion, who hope by the Peace to live in Amity, and keep a good Correspendence with his Most Christian Majesty; and therefore it concerns them also, to know, what will become of so many of the said Subjects of France, who have forsaken their Native Country, and fled into the Dominions of the said Protestant Confederates for shelter, to the end that they may encourage them after the Peace to return home, if they can do it with freedom and a good Conscience. Therefore the Ambassadors and Plenipotentiaries of the said Allies of the Protestant Religion, having full Power to Treat about a General Peace, think themselves obliged to recommend earnestly, in the Name of their respective Sovereigns and Masters, to their Excellencies the Ambassadors of his Most Christian Majesty; having also entreated his Excellency the Mediator to contribute his good Offices thereto, that that Ease which this Distressed People have a long time most passionately desired be granted them, and they may be re-established in their Rights, Immunities, and Privileges in Point of Religion, in order to enjoy a full Liberty of Conscience; and that those who are either in Prisons, or otherwise detained, be released, and set at Liberty, that so the said Afflicted Protestant's may reap their share of the Peace, which Europe is in all probability shortly to enjoy.  
Delivered into the Hands of his Excellency the Mediator, September 18. 1697. Concordare Vidi. LELIENROOT.  
It cannot be denied but these Memoirs are very Good, Judicious, Wise, Respectful, and yet very pressing, as much as the Juncture of time could permit. The first thing the Ministers of the Protestant Princes did, was to declare, That they did not look on themselves as two distinct Bodies, but that they espoused the Interests of the Reformed in France, as of their own Brethren; They represented to the French King very nicely, but yet with great plainness, how much it concerned him not to reject the joint Intercession of the Protestant Princes; That this great Concern of his was to give them good grounds to trust him for the future; To make Peace with such powerful States as England, Holland, the Elector of Brandenburg, the Princes of the Mighty House of Brunswick, and so many Princes and Towns of Germany professing the Protestant Religion; and at the same time to refuse them a thing so reasonable, was to renounce all the Maxims of the best Policy, and leave in Men's Minds immortal seeds of a War, which will break out at the first opportunity. Those who truly love the Protestant Religion will no doubt remember it; and those who have no great kindness for it, will not be sorry to have a Pretence ready of being angry at, and revenged for those many Affronts they have received from the French Court.  
It was a piece of great Prudence and Wisdom of the Protestant Confederates to mention, the Laws of the Kingdom of France confirmed by his Most Christian Majesty, by Virtue whereof the Reformed are to enjoy all the Privileges granted them, as good and faithful Subjects, who constantly kept themselves within the bounds of their Duty and Allegiance to their Sovereign. This Clause fully answers the Objection the French had very often made unto them; What authority had they to pretend that the Protestant Religion should be reestablished in France, seeing most part of them would not so much as tolerate the Public Exercise of the Catholic Religion; nay, said they, in some of the said Protestant States, it was Death for one to turn Roman Catholic? To this they prudently replied, That they kept the Laws of the Kingdoms and States made either in the first Settlement, or Reformation of the same; but that on the contrary, the Most Christian King by expelling the Reformed, had broke all the Laws of his Kingdom, Laws, I say, Fundamental; Laws styled Perpetual and Irrevocable, Laws ratified in all the Supreme Courts of France, received and approved by all the Orders of the State; Laws renewed by all the Predecessors and Ancestors of the Prince who now sits upon the Throne; and in short, Laws Confirmed by his Majesty himself. This Article of the Allies Demand suggests another Answer, which is this; The Subjects of the Most Christian King professing the Reformed Religion, have all along behaved themselves as good and faithful Subjects, and consequently have not deserved to forfeit these Privileges, which Henry the Fourth, and Lewis the Fourteenth himself had granted them, as a Reward not only of their Fidelity, but of their great Services too; Whereas the Popish Subjects in the Reformed Dominions, are as so many fierce Lions kept in Chains, who get lose at every turn, and Plot against their Sovereigns, and the Government, as occasion serves. In fine, we must observe, that in these Memoirs, the Allies demand all, not in hope of getting all, but in prospect at least of obtaining something; for they did not question but the French would wrangle, and maintain their ground with a great deal of Erroneous Zeal; but they thought that by yielding by degrees, something would be granted.  
These Memoirs being finished, and the Plenipotentiaries agreed thereupon, the Question was only, how to deliver them into the hands of the French Ambassadors, but they could not agree about the time, some were of Opinion not to have them delivered till after the Peace was signed, and their Reasons for it were such different Motives as need not be related here; and yet we cannot deny but that the fear of delaying, and stopping a Peace so much wished for by all, was the chief spring of this Motion. This Opinion had carried it, and the Memoirs had been put off till the Signature Ratification of the Peace, had it been made the last of August 1697, as the Allies, and chief the Spaniards, required it: But the new Memoirs of the French Ambassadors, whereby they declared in the Name of their Master, that he would take off Strasbourg out of his first Offers, and keep that Place in lieu of Barcelona, which he had lately taken; This Proposal, I say, the Germans were frighted at, and that was the Cause why the Conclusion of the Treaty was put off to the 20th of September.  
This little respite we looked on, as particularly designed by God's Providence, to put us upon doing his Cause further Service once more, and therefore we waited on the Protestant Plenipotentiaries again, and represented unto them, that a Memoir in our behalf delivered after the Peace was signed, would signify nothing, but make the Persecutors of France believe they were not solicitous for our Concerns, and that the French Court would think so too; we went through great oppositions upon that Point, but the steadiness of that Noble Lord, who was the chief of the English Embassy, and of the first Minister in Ordinary of that State, carried it; They were also very much supported by the Ambassadors of the Confession of Ausgburg; The Memoirs were then delivered into the Hands of the Mediator, two days before the Peace was signed. The French Ambassadors did absolutely reject it at first, saying, they were strictly forbidden by the King their Master, either to receive, or give Ear to any such thing: The Chief of that Embassy acted very Honourably, but as one that is willing withal to follow exactly his Master's Orders; The others did not conceal their hatred against the Protestants, and let us see that by obeying their Master, they did the same time gratify their own Inclinations. The chief of the Embassy did not think fit to refuse obstinately the Protestant Allies this small Courtesy, which could do no hurt to his own Religion; so that at last he promised to send the Memoirs to his Master; accordingly it was sent to the French Court, with all the Articles of Peace signed by England, Holland, and Spain, and they were in great expectation of an Answer to the Memoirs together with the Ratification of the Peace. When the Express was come, they discovered that the French King had sent Orders to his Ambassadors to pretend the Memoirs had not been sent, and had through forgetfulness been left in the Chief Embassador's Pocket. This was their Excuse to the Mediator, when at the Messenger's arrival he required an Answer to them: However no body gave any credit to it, but looked rather on it as a shame; for they knew very well that all the Ministers of Princes are so exact, as to omit nothing upon such Occasions, and that there is no Writing, though never so little, nor even of the least importance, but they will take care to transmit it to their Masters; and if the French Ambassadors had so neglected their Duty, they would undoubtedly have lost their King's Favour; but the Council of France had some Reasons, for not irritating the Protestant Allies by a down right denial at a time, when nothing was as yet ratified, and they stood in need of every body.  
For all this the Mediator would not so give over, but urged that the Memoirs should be sent, if they had not done it already, and that they should require an Answer to it, which came at last, but a great while after, when all was done, and the Chief of the French Embassy departed; The two others pleased themselves with Answering in their Master's Name, That his Majesty's Conscience could not consent to re-establish a Religion of which he had a very bad Opinion; That he was so far from restoring the said Religion, that he would not so much as see in his Dominions any of those Refugees who had fled out of it; That if they had a mind to come back again, he was willing to forgive them, upon condition they should discharge all the Duties of good Catholics; That as to their Estates he could not restore them, not even to those who should have a mind to return, because he had already given them to others, from whom he did not intent to take them away. No body did wonder at such an Answer, nevertheless it struck a great many, who could never have believed, but they would at least deal as favourably with the new Subjects of England, Holland, and Brandenburg, as with the old ones; and as it was Lawful for those to go into and come out of France about their own Affairs, they thought the same liberty would have been granted to those, who 12 or 15 years since had sheltered themselves in Foreign Countries. The second and sixth Articles of the Treaty with Holland are so plain in this Cause, that several Inhabitants of Roven. and other Places had sent word to their Friends, that by virtue of the Treaty they had liberty to come back and manage their Affairs in France, without any fear of molestation. The second Article includes a general Pardon without restriction, in behalf of all the Subjects of the Most Christian King now in Service of the United-Provinces; for it is there provided by this Article, That the said Persons, of what Quality and Rank soever, may and shall re-enter upon, and be fully restored to the Possession, and peaceable Enjoyment of all their Estates and Honours, etc. without any Clause excluding Religion. And in the sixth Article Religion is expressly named, Those whose Goods and Estates have been sersed upon, and escheated upon the account of the said War, their Heirs or Assigns, of what Condition and Religion soever, shall enjoy the said Goods and Estates, and take possession of them by their own private Authority, without any need of going to Law. The Treaty of Commerce is yet more particular as to the Liberty of the Subjects of these two Sovereigns for Going, Coming, Travelling and Trading within all the respective Harbours and Towns of each others Dominions: There is not a word in all this importing any Exclusion or Distinction between New and Old Subjects; and no body questioned, but that some Frenchmen who had been Naturalised in Holland, made free of their Towns, and owned as Members of the State, might however enjoy the Privileges granted to the whole Nation, and to those who many years ago were incorporated into it. So evident did the Case appear, as may be seen by Letters from Roven, and other Places, which took this Liberty for granted without any difficulty; so that we may say, that to deal in this manner, one had need be master of that Power the Court of France hath these many years assumed; which is, to make use of all the Treaties for its own Interests and Purposes, without any regard to Words naturally appointed to signify things. These Articles should undoubtedly have prevented such a denial; but for all that, it was made in peremptory and plain Words.  
Upon this flat and evident Refusal, we were put to a nonplus, and saw we had no more to do. 'Tis true an Act of Protestation was still to be made against this unreasonable Denial: As the sad event of this Affair was foreseen, they had also much discoursed of such an Act: Many concerned in the thing were for it, but all those who had in France been accustomed to Slavery, were still afraid of King Lewis the XIV. though they ought to have looked then on him, as having laid down his Arms. They said, that the French Court being grown to such a height, especially over her own Subjects, would be offended at such a Proceeding, and construe it as a new Instance of Disobedience and Rebellion. But there is nothing more groundless than such a Chimerical Imagination; for we ought not to sacrifice our Duty to God, out of respect to a Court that so barbarously persecutes the true Religion. But Hope is the last thing that dies in Man, those who had left great Estates in France could not still forbear hoping, that such as had been faithful to their King, even in Foreign Countries, would by that means recover his Favour.  
This was the chief Reason that hindered the most Zealous from making the Protestation, but the principal ones were these; First, Before one can legally Protest, he must have authority for it, which we then wanted upon many accounts, because the Votes were divided, and it was impossible for them to agree on the Matter, and chief because we could not keep any Correspondence and concert Measures about it, with you, my Brethren, who live under the Cross, and whose Rights were the chief Business in hand, as being the greatest part of us. Besides, we saw no body willing to receive our Protestation, the French Ambassadors into whose hands it was to be delivered, were far enough from accepting it, who had with much difficulty received the abovesaid Petition. But you will say, they might put their Protestation into the Mediator's hands, true, but 'tis evident he could not approve of that Protestation, as not being in due form; for we had not been admitted into the Negociations as Demanding Parties. Our Protectors had thought fit, we should not appear in the Business, but in their Persons, and under their Names; and it seems a Rule founded upon good Reason, that the Protestation ought to be made by those only, who presented the Petition which hath been rejected. Now this was properly their own Business, and they might after having received an unjust denial of so reasonable a Demand, have protested, at least, in behalf of the preservation of all the Rights of the French Reformed Church; and represented, that though they did for the present desist from any further application, yet they pretended not for all that, that the said leaving off for a time should be construed a total desisting, or consenting to the Most Christian King's Will, that they did not intent thereby, that any thing of what was thereupon done, should be in the least prejudicial to the Rights of the Protestant Church, which might be resumed at a better opportunity. Such a Protestation had been very respectful, and of some use; and indeed some of the most considerable Members of this August Assembly gave us hopes, that the thing would be done, and acknowledged our Petition to be reasonable. But others did so much oppose it, that the bare Proposal of it could not by any means be offered according to the Rules. The Treaty was hastened with great precipitation; all were for it, and would not do any thing that might retard its Conclusion: Besides, they made us believe, that the French King himself would mitigate our Miseries: They said, that so great a Prince would not receive Laws from his Neighbours, and especially about a Domestic Concern. Some Words spoken at random by some Frenchmen of the Ambassadors Retinue begot that hope; Others went so far as to say, Have a little Patience, the King is Gracious. Many also of the Protestant Ambassadors and Mediators of this Business dropped ambiguous Words, which made us believe that we were not to look on our Concerns as wholly desperate, though no favour has been granted to us in the Treaty of Peace; and so they thought it not convenient to dispel these small shadows of Hope by a Protestation, which they were not in a condition to support and render valid.  
But now all is over, these hopes are vanished away, and attended by the most terrible and unforeseen Consequences imaginable, so that we are now reduced to the necessity of referring the Public to that Excellent and Emphatical Protestation, which concludes Master Claude's last Work, Entitled, The Complaints of the Protestants, in which are related the Wrongs and Outrages done us in the last Persecution; and in the end you have the Reasons, why all they have done against us, can do no prejudice to the Rights confirmed by so many irrevocable Decrees, and a possession of them for One hundred years, which are enough to make up three or four Prescriptions. Since that Work was published, our Brethren have suffered Miseries beyond Expression, Massacres, Punishments, Imprisonments, Sentencing to the Galleys, Seizures of their Goods and Estates, and all other sorts of Calamities. But Master Claude's Protestation holds as well for what follows, as for what went before, seeing it is all a Series of the same ill Usage.  
The Account we now give you of what we have done already, and intended further to have done, will not be pleasing to you, but it ought not to make you dissatisfied with any body, not with us, who with the most sensible Affliction we ever felt, have seen the World make its Peace, with the exclusion, nay, and to the great prejudice of the Church; but as these are our Enemy's Triumphs, 'tis needless to expose them to public View, the Children of this World are Wiser in their Generation, than the Children of Light, and an Erroneous Zeal, which is nothing but Rage attended with Ignorance, moves much more violently, and effectually, than Zeal for the Truth. Neither are you to be displeased at those Princes, whom you have looked upon as your future Deliverers: We must do them justice, and confess, that how express soever their Promises were, they supposed them all along subject to Circumstances; and we cannot deny but that these Circumstances did not prove favourable to us. We may add besides, they might really have shown a great deal more eagerness than they did; but all the Solicitations of theirs, though never so urgent, had been unsuccessful, because our Adversary is implacable. The continuance then of your Miseries is a Disease without Remedy, this is indeed a very wretched Comfort; but we may perhaps afford you at the end of these Papers some more effectual Consolations: For we do intent to go on in the History of your Calamities, and Relate the Consequences of this Peace, in respect of the afflicted Church only. We shall receive Information of the Condition you are now in, and give you some Advices of what we think necessary to be done by you for the time to come.   

LETTER II. Giving an Account of the Lamentable State of the Reformed Church in France, since the Peace; with an Exhortation to all Protestants, whether Sovereigns, or Subjects, Refugees, or Others, in order to move them to Compassion.  
TO go on in our Undertaking, we must now draw the Picture of the Miseries of the Reformed Church in France; not for the Information of those who live under Persecution, (for by sad Experience they feel their Calamities too, much to be ignorant of them,) But to acquaint the Protestant States with them, to stir up their Zeal and Pity, and let them know, how necessary it is that their Charity should be more and more than ever inflamed, to relieve the multitude of those poor Wretches who will fall under their Care, and to Comfort those who shall be detained in the Captivity of Babylon. But where shall we find Colours lively enough to draw that Picture? We must then be on this occasion, shorter than the matter requires.  
When those who hope for the Deliverance of Israel, saw, how Matters stood, and how men's Minds were affected, they did not expect very much, yet they could not think to see what they now do; The most Judicious among them were of Opinion, That the French King would by an Ambiguous Declaration allure his Subjects into his Kingdom, and stood already upon their own Defence against it. But they were not put to any Trouble to avoid that Snare; For the Council of Persecution thought it more convenient, to let his Designs be laid wholly open: This was done by a new Declaration of War Published in Paris, some weeks after the Ratification with England, Holland and Spain: For so one may call the Pyramidal Firework erected in Greve for the Peace, Novemb. 16. 1697. There were Four Fronts on the Body, and as many on the Pedestal of the Obelisk. All these Fronts were filled with lofty and magnificent Inscriptions, which we are concerned in. But there was one of them designed chief against us, and which we must here Examine. Upon one of the Four Fronts of the that Pedestal, was represented an Hydra, with all her Heads cut off, and this Motto, Audendi spes nulla super, that is, There is no more Hope, nor Help left her: And to the end the Affront should be the more Conspicuous, and without Riddle exposed to the view of all Europe, they took care to give it this Explanation; Fidelity's Devise, say they, being an Hydra, the Emblem of Heresy, with all her Heads lopped off, there is no more hope, nor help left her. And in the Explication of the Design, which they have published, they say, Fidelity is the Daughter of Religion, as Rebellion is constantly the mischievous Product of Heresy. The Memory of the Calamities she hath brought upon France, will give occasion to Bless for ever the Reign of Lewis the Great, who by his Wisdom hath eternally banished out of his Dominions, this Dangerous Enemy of the Loyalty and Piety of the French Nation. The Jesuit who was Author of this curious piece of Fancy, applauded himself for it, as much at least as he did for his Inscription on the Pyramid erected 9 or 10 years ago in the same place, and for the like Ceremony; viz. That 'twas a Temple Built to the Honour of the Deity of Lewis the Great, Numini Ludovici Magni, etc. Templum. But the Devout People took offence at it, so that the Jesuit thought himself obliged to make an Apology for it. This hath been no better relished by Good Men, and we know for certain, that were not their Mouths stopped by fear, they would cry out upon such Extravagancies.  
This Man by pretending to represent the Reformed Religion in little, hath really drawn the Image of his own Society, which is indeed an Hydra, if ever there was any, come out of Hell to War against the Saints. The Beast of the Revelation ascending up out of the Bottomless-Pit, is in many Respects very like the Infernal Hydra issued out of the Poet's Fancy. She hath Seven Heads, and Ten Horns; in the last Age, God cut off several of them, but that Society which herself the Society of Jesus, hath made them spring up again. In this hideous Representation, the Jesuit hath discovered the Genius of his Sect, which is Calumny, Lying, Rage, and all the Wicked Designs of Popery are lively delineated there. This is such an Abuse as can never be Exaggerated too much, but we shall only make some few Remarks upon it.  
First, We desire the Reader to observe, what a pitch of Impudence a Jesuit may come to, when he finds himself Countenanced; the Protestant Princes and the Most Christian King are by the Peace made Friends again, and on this occasion he should at least have shown them some Respect; and in so doing, he had not in all probability Deviated from his King's Intention, who after the Peace ordered his Ambassadors to speak with great Kindness and Civility to the Confedetate Princes; But here is a pitiful Pedant, who with a dash of false Wit, makes nothing of Affronting a great number of Crowned Heads and Sovereigns. He Transubstantiates them into so many Heads of Hydra, and for a further Aggravation of the Injury, and his own Purposes, he sets them out as Heads cut off, and lying on the Ground. By what he saith, That Rebellion hath constantly been the carsed Fruit of Heresy, 'tis plain he reflects on the Revolution of England, the Event whereof doth Gall him extremely. Nor is he contented to Disguise his Malice, or to lie behind the Curtain of a Riddle; for he has in express Terms laid open his Design in the Explication of the Project: Every body knows, saith he, that those who were so unhappy, as to persevere wilfully in their Errors, and retire into these Countries where they are professed, have contributed very much to the Troubles of the last War; But one may now confidently say, there is no more cause to fear, etc. in acknowledgement of this extraordinary benefit we enjoy by his Majesty's Courage and Conduct, they have put an Hydra with her Heads cut off into the Hands of Fidelity, with th●se words, Audend● spes nulla super. Those who fled out of France did shelter themselves under the Protection of the Protestant Princes, who were very willing to be their Heads: And they are the Hydra's, Heads represented by the Author as cut off by the Peace that the King bathe lately procured to his People.  
The Republic of the United Provinces is counted very mild and indulgent, but for all that, they would not permit such an Affront as this should be put upon a King, a Friend, and an Ally. After the Peace of Breda, and the Campagne of the year 1667. they made a strict search after an Indiscreet Fellow who was accused of causing a Medal to be Coined with the Figure of Gideon stopping the Sun. What they found out we do not know, but 'tis certain, That the Medal hath never appeared abroad since, and perhaps there never was any such.  
This Jesuit, besides his Impudence, shows in this Abuse a great Stock of Rashness and Indiscretion: Perhaps he was overhasty in Celebrating the Funeral, and making the Epitaph of the Reformed Religion: We could easily prove by several Instances to the good Fathers, and all those who are led by their Zeal and Example, that their Prophecies and Visions do not always prove true: Witness the Seed a Dextris of the Famous Anthem. Sede a dextris meis donec ponam inimicos tuos Scabellum pedum tuorum, persequar inimicos tuos, Confringam eos, nee convertar donec deficiant; That is, Sat thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool, I will pursue them, I will destroy them, I will not give over pursuing them till they be quite destroyed. This was Solemnly Sung in all the Churches of Paris. They have not made for above these Ten years, any Speech, Sermon, Verses, or Thanksgivings, but they have all along supposed, that Heaven was engaged to Restore King James upon the Account of King Lewis XIV. his Piety, who took up Arms to Vindicate this Prince's Quarrel, thus dispossessed of his Throne, and punish the Usurper of it. They did not Discourse about the Event as a thing dubious. In the mean time James was still at St. Germains, and William Triumphing in London.  
Every Body will be convinced, that there is nothing more improperly applied than this Comparison; Since King William hath been all along alive, and Calvin's Heresy is dead and utterly destroyed in France. But they would do well to remember, that Sick People do frequently Recover of the most dangerous Distempers. The Death of King William was some years ago believed at Paris, with more Confidence than that of Calvinism is now; And how many extravagant Fooleries were committed upon that Supposition every body knows; but some weeks after, they got nothing else but Shame and Confusion by it. We have some ground to Hope, that the magnificent Promises of the Fathers of the Society will prove ineffectual: We see young People often get out of apparent Dangers; And this Religion, as young and new as it is, may yet very well be Cured of this violent Disease. There are many Heads yet behind on this Hydra to be cut off; more than a Million of People must be put to Death. And we do not believe, That the Most Christian King's Wisdom and Humanity will ever allow such Executions. They make him in this Pyramid, hold a Discourse not much becoming the Grandson of Henry iv Without the help of this Hydra bereft at this day of all her Heads, the Glory of Extirpating Heresy had continued in the House of Guise, and never come to that of Bourbon.  
One word more about the Injury the Jesuist does us in that Emblem. 'Tis indeed a great piece of Indiscretion in him to force us to Recriminate. The Heresy of Calvin and Luther is the Root of Rebellion. Rebellion, saith he, Is the Product of Heresy: But what is Popery, I pray, and what hath it been all along? Would these Gentlemen have us to expose to their view at every turn, the Assassinations committed at the Instigation of the Devout and Catholic Cabal, upon King Henry III. and Henry iv upon William Prince of Orange, and many other great Persons, upon score of their being either Heretics, or not Zealous enough, to the liking of the Holy Society? Who can Read without Horror the History of England for these Ten years past? When we see Murderers upon Murderers, and Heads cut off still growing up again, and supplied by new Assassinates of every Nation. These are not only English Jacobites, but Frenchmen also, sent into the Camp upon that Service, such as Grandval, Dumont, and such like Monsters. There are at this very time, lying in our Goals, Murderers, who are no English Men, who are so far from loving King James, that on the contrary they perfectly despise and hate him; and who for the Catholic Gangs Sake had devoted themselves to Murder this Prince, with whom they are resolved never to be at Peace. There is matter enough to write whole Books upon this Subject, therefore we will lay it aside. I will only say this, in behalf of these poor Reformed, whom they disguise in the shape of Monsters, the better to represent their Cruelty and Rebellion, that Thanks be to God, they have not done any thing in the last War that looks like a Treasonable Attempt.  
They are not very much obliged to them for it, will the Jesuit our Adversary say, they were well enough assured, that all their Endeavours had been to no purpose: But who does not know, that Revenge is Sweet to those whose Patience is tired out, and are not restrained from it by the Fear of God? The good Catholics and Bigots of the Society would have put all, and the Towns of France too, to Fire and Sword, had they been Persecuted and Tortured, asCruelly as we have been. The Holy Catholic Church under the conduct of Garnet and Oldcorn, two English Martyrs after the Jesuitical Fashion, had in the time of King James I. contrived the Gunpowder Treason, in order to Blow up at once, the King, all the Royal Family, and whole Nation; but they were not dealt with so severely as they do now with us.  
It did not lie in our power to be shorter in complaining of so Notorious an Affront. Had the Jesuit acted as a private Man, we should have taken no notice of him; for this is the way and practice of his Society. But this is an Injury supported by public Authority, and a piece of Baseness attended with all the Evidences of Approbation. 'Tis a great instance of Cruelty to persecute the Unfortunate even to the Scaffold. Comforters are granted even to Malefactors, and 'tis not lawful for any to Revile them at the very place of Execution; But these Men, even whilst they are putting us on the Cross, add to our Torments the most terrible Abuses. Well then! It seems we are appointed to Die, our Heads must be taken off without Hope of Redemption. However, let them give us leave to Die with our Innocence about us; This is a Refining upon the implacable Revenge of the Italian, who finds out a way to kill both the Body and Soul of his Enemy: They do intent with the same stroke to Bereave us at once both of our Honour and our Life.  
I desire you, Dear Brethren, to observe, That God's Providence hath overruled in this Case, in order to Comfort those that are concerned in it, by the consideration of a wonderful Resemblance of ours with our Saviour's Sufferings. You are lifted up on a shameful Pyramid, as your Lord Jesus was on a Cursed Cross. His Punishment was the Work of the Scribes and Pharisees, who sat on the Chair of Moses. Your Disgrace is exposed to the view of all, by these Wretches, wicked and ignorant Bigots, who call themselves the Masters of Christ's Chair. Jesus is Crucified on Mount Calvary, and exposed Naked to the Sight of all, as a Rebel to his Sovereign, as an Impostor making himself the Son of God, that he might become a King, and gathering People together to entice them from their Allegiance to Caesar, and they put over his Head an Inscription, signifying all that; King of the Jews; that is, who had a mind to be so, and had moved the Subjects of the Empire to Rebellion: And as for you Poor and Faithful Members of Christ, you are Crucified in Greve on the Pyramid, as Heretics, Rebels, Impostors, and Disturbers of the public Tranquillity, and Enemies to your Kings: The Figures and Words of the Emblem, are the Title of your Cross.  
Another likeness of yours with Christ, and his Members, is this: The Ancient Tyrants put Skins of Lions, Tigers, and other Wild Beasts, on the Primitive Martyrs, to render them thereby more Odious to the People. But now a-days, Wild Beasts are not horrid enough in the Eyes of your Adversaries; They fetch out of Hell, a Monster with a Hundred Heads to Cloth you with all. Nevertheless, Let us take Comfort, My Dear Brethren, God hath better Notions, both of us, and our Holy Religion, than they will have the world to conceive; and our Enemies have just cause to fear, that God judges of them as they would have others to think of you, and will at the last day deal with them as Bloodthirsty Tigers: That will be the day of our Triumph, but it will also be a day of Retribution. The Princes of Persia being jealous of the favour Daniel was in, got Surreptitiously from the King's Goodness, unjust Decrees against him. Daniel is indeed cast into the Den of Lions, but respected by them, and in the morning comes safe and sound out of it; and his Accusers are cast into it, and the Lions broke all their Bones in pieces before ever they came at the bottom of the Den, and Eat them up: So you will get out of your Anguishes, and your Life shall be unto you as a Prey; and your Persecutors shall go into a Pit full of Lions, that is, Devouring Devils. We do not wish them this dreadful Calamity; on the contrary, we do pray unto God for their Salvation and Conversion, and say, Father forgive them, for they don't know what they do. Grant them, O God, true Repentance, whereby they may say, Men and Brethren, What shall we do to Expiate the Sin of having Crucified the Lord of Glory. But let us finish the Picture of our Miseries.  
After so terrible a Declaration of renewing the War against us, as that of the Pyramid of Greve, we could expect from thence nothing else but the most Barbarous Hostilities. The First of that Kind, which appeared, was the King's Declaration prohibiting his Subjects to settle themselves in Orange, and Exercise there the pretended Reformed Religion: This bears date November 23. and the Pyramid November 16. there is betwixt these two dates but seven days difference, they had no mind to allow the Reformed any time to breath, or conceive any hope. This Declaration was backed by another dated the 13th of January following, which explains, or annuls rather, an Article of the foregoing Declaration, whereby it was lawful for the King's Subjects to go to Orange, and sojourn there upon the account of Trading. The Bigots saw very well, as they supposed, that the new Converts would make a very ill use of that Clause, and often pretend a great deal of Business in that Town, and therefore they thought fit to Enact. That the new Converts should not go and Trade at Orange, without taking out a Licence and a Pass from the Governors of their respective Abodes, and approved of by the Commanders of the Towns in the Neighbourhood of Orange, that is, they put them upon an impossibility. The Penalty to be inflicted on those who contrary to the prohibition would presume to go thither, either to hear Sermons, or perform any Religious Exercise whatsoever, is Death; and on those who should take no Pass, to be sent forthwith to the Galleys for Life if Men, and Five years' Prison, and Three thousand Livres Fine, if Women. There are some Particulars in this way of Proceeding worthy our Attention, or at least some Glances by the way. The Pain of of Death pronounced against the New Converts, who going to Orange under pretence of Trading, should assist at any Congregation of the Inhabitants of that Place, is one of these Particulars; and it is such as perhaps the like could not be found in all the Histories, both of Persecutors and Persecutions. 'Tis an horrid thing for one to extend his Authority on the Conscience so far as the Dominions of other Sovereigns; it was generally believed that a Criminal had nothing else to do to get a sanctuary, but to remove into Foreign Territories. A Rivulet secures an unfortunate Wretch, nay a Parricide; The Merciless Creditors of his, and the Avengers of Blood have no more authority to prosecute him, because he is fled into another Jurisdiction; but the Crime of Calvinism is of so high a nature, that nothing can protect it against punishment. We should be amazed at it, had we not seen the French King's Consuls and Envoys at Lisbon, the Seat of the Inquisition; at Smyrna and Constantinople, which are inhabited by Turks and Infidels, enjoined to prosecute, drive away, and ruin all the French Merchants of the Protestant Religion. This kind of Zeal was never seen before. Our Astonishment would not perhaps be so great, had this Prohibition been enforced by a Punishment lesser than the Wheel and Gibbet. But this is certain, that all Europe stood amazed at that Clause.  
'Tis easy to discern, that both Declarations have a double end; First, To deprive the new Converts of the Means of receiving any Comfort or Instruction; And Secondly, To ruin the poor Inhabitants of Orange, the sad Remains of a Barbarous Persecution. Since they were not dispatched by the Blows of the Dragoons, who forced them to Mass, their Punishment now must be to Starve, by being bebarred of all Commerce with their Neighbours. This is sufficient to undeceive those who believe the King of England Sovereign of Orange hath not done what he could to break off the Yoke of the Reformed in France, he who could not continue Master in his own Dominions, would have had much ado to make himself Master in the Territories of such a Neighbour.  
Here is another Particular; The Zeal, make they King Lewis the XIV say, we have constantly had for the only and true Religion, having excited in us the desire of suppressing Heresy. This is a new way of Expressing one's self, in all the Declarations and Decrees formerly published against us, they were pleased to design us by the Name of R. P. R. that is, Pretended Reform Religion; but now this Religion is improved to an Heresy, even in the Declarations set out against the Protestant Princes, to whom they should be more Civil than they are to Subjects. The Declaration is issued out under what Title soever you please, but really and defacto against the Sovereign of Orange, who is not at all subject to the French King; They make no scruple to declare him an Heretic, and his Religion a Heresy, both at Rome, and wheresoever the Bull of Caena Domini is published; and in France, where the Decisions of the Council of Constance, one whereof is, That no Faith is to be kept with Heretics, are so much reverenced, any body may easily understand the Consequences of such a Declaration, in respect to the King of England; but 'tis very well for this Prince, that he is not liable to the Inquisition, and God hath put him in a Capacity of being able to deal well enough with all those who will not perform what they have promised to him.  
Here is another Clause at which Judicious Men have been mightily surprised; As all our Desires had no other Aim, but the Glory of God, and the maintaining of his Church, he has been pleased to bless them hitherto with all the success we could wish; and we were extremely pleased to see, that even the greatest part of those whose Conversion looked the most suspicious, have acknowledged, and sincerely professed the true Religion, but as there still remains some, etc. 'Tis not a Matter of great Wonder to see a King lying under so gross an Ignorance, since they have raised so many Rampires, and Bulwarks about him, on purpose to hinder thereby all the Truths of De jure and De facto, all the Instructions, Complaints, Grievances, and all the Objects capable of conveying Light into the Mind, and Equity into the Heart, from having access unto him; but one cannot forbear being astonished at the boldness of those who impose upon that Prince's Credulity, it is so far from being true, that the most part of the Reformed are termed Papists bona fide, that on the contrary the number of those who have been misled, and continue in the Romish Religion, by some slender degree of persuasion, is so small, that not one in a hundred, and perhaps in a thousand, could be found. There are some Women, and young Girls, who although of the Protestant Religion, were filled with a sort of a Whimsical and Blind Devotion, proceeding rather from the weakness of their Understanding, than the tenderness of their Consciences: These poor Creatures have let themselves be deceived by the Pompous outside of the Romish Religion, and by the shows of Piety which are to be seen chief in Nunneries; but these being excepted, we can assure you, that all Wise, Ingenuous, and Judicious Men, are still of the same Opinion; only that their aversion against Popery is mightily increased, since the time they see it under the Garb of the Dragon. If there are no Protestants left, but a few obstinate People, why then is so much care taken beforehand against so small a number? Why then did so many Frenchmen say both in Holland and Paris, that if some Course or other was not taken about it, all the Country of Orange would become a Town as big as the Principality itself? Why have the Neighbouring People of Orange been so easily persuaded, that Poperty was the true Religion, and the Inhabitants of that Place bewitched with such an unbelief, as to hold out for the space of 10 or 12 years against any Instruction and Persecution whatsoever, in so much as they returned as soon as possibly they could to the Reformed Religion? The Bishop of Orange and his Clergy are indeed Bunglers, in Comparison with the Bishops of Montpellier, and Nismes, etc. who made so many sincere Converts? One must confess that such oversights afford those who suffer Persecution some little satisfaction, and a kind of revenge. If it be so, that the number of stubborn People be so inconsiderable, to what purpose then do they take so great a care to shut up the Gates of the Kingdom? Why then do they see yet Four or five thousand of the Reformed at once meeting in one single Precinct of it?  
It were to be wished, that the Most Christian King would get better information in this Matter, for than he would not suffer himself to be so exposed as he is in this Declaration, and in that of February the 10th, the Title whereof is this: The King's Declaration giving leave to those who are gone out of the Kingdom contrary to his Majesty's Command, to return within six months, upon Condition of Professing and Exercising the Religion of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church; wherein they set forth, that a great number of those who were so unhappy as to be gone into Foreign Dominions, notwithstanding all the prohibition to the contrary, have desired to return into their own Country to profess the C. A. R. R. and that we out of our accustomed Goodness to all our Subjects, have granted them particular Licenses so to do, and have been also graciously pleased to grant a general one to all others who desire the favour. What Equity can one expect, I pray, from a Council who hath either so bad Intelligence, or so little Fidelity? They make the King believe and say, a great number of those who departed the Kingdom for the sake of Religion, desire to return to Mass, than which nothing was ever more false, with respect to his Majesty be it spoken, into whose Mouth these Impostors have put these Words. True it is, that those who are called Refugees, did endeavour to get Liberty to return into France, and withdraw their Effects from thence; but 'tis not true, that they have declared, and let the Court know, that they had a mind to come back again into that Kingdom, in order to profess the Romish Religion; on the contrary, they look on this Calumny as the most Barbarous Persecution they can inflict on them in the Countries wherein they enjoy a perfect Security; This is to make them to be esteemed in the Eyes of the World, as Vile Wretches, without Religion, Conscience, and Honour, who are willing to sacrifice all the Truths they profess, and betray their own Consciences for the sake of a little Interest I say a little Interest; for they do not promise them so much as the Restitution of their Goods and Estates, which were forfeited, and adjudged to their Relations; To what end then should they return into France? To starve there, and not enjoy so much as what is necessary to lay their Consciences asleep, after they have given them such Mortal Wounds. We know all those who have desired the Ambassadors Passes to return home, but the number of them is inconsiderable, and there was not any among them dignified and distinguished by any Title or Merit; they are for the most part young People of Lose and Scandalous Lives. We were lately told of a younger Brother of a good Family near Lorraine, who is gone thither, but this Example is so extraordinary, that I do not know whether they can find out the like, and were it followed with many more, as the Declaration supposes, they would not have taken so much notice of it.  
All these Declarations were but the Preliminaries and Skirmishes to the greatest Assault that ever Persecution stormed us with. 'Tis true they did not intermit their Hostilities, but committed them in the most bloody manner even during the Treaty of Peace: Witness those who were Hanged at Poitiers, and St. Maixant, though accused of no other Crime but of Praying to God against the Commands of the Court. But they were all along willing to flatter themselves, and believe these were the last Acts of the Tragedy, and now they see that these Punishments had no other end, but to undeceive us of our vain hopes, as they termed them. The Peace was not yet made with the Germane Princes, the greatest part of which are Protestants, when they began afresh, and in good earnest the fatal War against the Reformed Religion. From whence it appears that the French Court hath no regard to the Protestant Princes of Germany, and stands in fear of no body else but of England and Holland; she hath kept a kind of Truce with the Reformed till the Ratification of Peace with these two Powers; but no sooner was she secured on that side, but she took no further notice of the Solicitations, Demands, Memoirs, and Discontents of all the Germans upon the Point of Religion; Witness the Articles concerning the re-establishment of Religion in the restored Countries, which she would not in the least consent unto.  
The Treaty with the Empire was not yet Signed, much less Ratified, but Orders were sent into all Dioceses, to make a new Visit to all the New Converts, and especially to those who did not (as they term it) do their Duty. Accordingly they went from House to House, in order to have them declare what they intended to do for the future; The most of them did Courageously profess, they were resolved never to go to Mass any more. The Persecutors were extremely enraged at that Answer, and resolved to try the Patience of the Reformed to the uttermost, and in order thereto they sent them to Prisons, renewed the Prohibitions formerly made against going out of the Kingdom, and gave public notice in all the Seaports, that if any Master of a Ship should presume to receive any Fugitive of ours, he should be punished with the loss of his Ship, Goods, Liberty, and Life, of what Nation soever, English, Dutch, Dane, Swedes, Dantzickers, and be dealt with without Mercy. They sent reiterated and strict Orders to all the Governors of the Frontiers to keep the Passes with the utmost diligence, under severe Penalties to be inflicted on those Officers who should neglect their Duty herein. A Decree was published in Montpellier, enjoining all Persons whatsoever immediately to give in the Names of the Reformed who either were already, or should hereafter come from Foreign Countries, in order to have them seized and constrained to abjure their Religion. If we add to this what we have  concerning the Declarations published, and precautions used to hinder the Reformed of Languedoc from going to Orange, on purpose to receive any Comfort and Instruction there, we must confess that Measures were never better taken in the Council of Hell, nor Prudence more overstretched, and pushed on to damn People infallibly, than these are. You shall go to Mass, you shall Adore a piece of Bread, you say you believe it to be an Idol, 'tis no matter, you must for all that Adore; but I shall be damned in so doing, 'tis no matter, that is it we desire; and to the end you shall be so, you shall find no Gate left open to make your escape; You shall be stripped of all you have, and dispatched out of the way by all kinds of Misery, 'tis true your Death will be more linger, but than 'twill be attended with despair, and this is what we wish for, because you will thereby be more certainly Damned. It is to be feared that those who find such sure ways of Damning Men, may also find as sure a way to go to Hell themselves. In this case 'tis not one blind Man leading another, but a Blind Man dragging one that is clear sighted into the same Pit: If either of them escapes, surely it will not be he that forceth, but he who suffers force.  
Having thus shut all the Gates upon these Wretches, they have drawn the Sword, let lose the Hounds upon them, and set up the Standard of Persecution against them. It is impossible for us to relate all particulars, as being too numerous: The public News inform us of some of them, and those Eye-witnesses who come every day to us, confirm them, and the rest are to be seen in private Letters, which are no Mystery to any Body, and whereof they give Faithful Copies, and Communicate them to the Supreme Powers, that they may see what regard is given to their Intercession. The Provinces of Poitou, Guienna, and Languedoc, as the most populous, are assaulted with greatest Violence. A Decree was published in those Provinces, enjoining Fathers and Mothers to have their Children Baptised at Mass, within 24 hours, upon pain of forfeiting Five hundred Livres. Formerly they were contented to take away Children one after another, but now they sweep them away as it were with a Net, 20 or 30 at once, and shut them up into Monasteries as they have at Bourdeaux. The Bishop of Lusson in Poitou, ordereth, not only Boys, but all the Girls and Women, from five to forty years of Age, to be taken away by force, and after that to be confined and instructed. Upon the New Converts, who do not take their Children along with them to Mass, they have set Fines of 25 Livres for the first time, more for the second, and so on, to a Bodily Punishment. They have lodged Garrisons in all Houses to levy by force these Fines. There are some wherein they have Quartered 15 or 20 Soldiers, and allowed them 5 Groats per head a day; and so these poor People are ruined both in Body and Estate. They have banished at Rochelles very many of the Chief Inhabitants, and also of the Officers in the Admiralty, and Mint, because they refused to go to Mass; and removed them into remote Prisons the better to deprive them of the Comfort, which the Neighbourhood of their Relations and Friends might minister to them.  
Baville, both Intendant and Tyrant of Languedoc, strives to have in History a distinguished place among the most Barbarous Ministers of the Persecution of Nero and Dioclesian: One may say, That now his Heart swims in Joy, as well as in Blood. 'Tis impossible to relate the Massacres he hath committed since the year 1685. in Cavennes, Vivarets, and other Divisions of Languedoc, He is Ingenious to contrive the fittest ways to Torment the Innocent, with the most horrid Racks and Imprisonments. The Court seemed to have curbed him for a while; but now he has all the Authority possible to practise his Cruelty to the full: He discharges his Commission extremely well, and by his innumerable Proscriptions hath reduced that Country to so sad a Condition as cannot be expressed. He caused one Duplan, a young Man, and the last of Three Brethren whom he had before sent to the Gallows, to be Hanged, for Comforting his Brethren, as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. A Nephew and Fellow-Traveller of this Martyr was seized upon with him, and Sentenced to the Galleys; who therefore complains that he was not thought worthy, as well as his Uncle, to Die for the Name of Jesus Christ; but he will soon have occasion enough to be satisfied; for they send him into a place, where they will make him suffer a thousand Deaths instead of one, and he will every day have opportunity to Glorify his Saviour by his new Sufferings.  
They have planted Garrisons both of Soldiers, and the Militia, in every Diocese. These Soldiers Levy the Fines, and under that colour take away whatsoever they find, which you may think amounts to much more than the Fines themselves. Where they cannot get Buyers for these plundered Goods, they let them have Free-Quarters in their Houses, where they use their utmost fury upon both Persons and Goods. They let lose the Reins to the Rage of these Murderers, who may, if they please, Kill a Protestant, or Maim him in any of his Limbs, as Arms, Thigh, Head, without being inquired after: If they make their Complaints, they will not so much as hear the Plaintiff. Children are dragged into Churches, and these poor Babes do cry and lament at the foot of their Profane Altars, so bitterly, as to Rent the most obdurate Heart: But for all that, they are sound beaten in the presence of that God they will have them Adore. Castres', and many other Towns are almost depopulated of the Reformed, every Body hath betaken himself to flight, and forsook his own House in order to avoid these Outrages. But the Persecutor hath begun to make use in Avennes of a way, whereby the flight of these poor persecuted Creatures, will be hereafter rendered useless. Although the Persecution is very fierce, the Faithful for all that do not give over Meeting together, and Worshipping God in Woods and Caves, as they used to do in the Primitive Ages of Christianity: As many as can be seized on, are designed either for the Gallows or Galleys. But if they were all sent to Prison, to be put to Death, they would make such a slaughter of them, as the very thought of it terrifies the Persecutors themselves. Therefore they have thought it more convenient to Decimate these poor Martyrs, either to Death or the Galleys, and next to Condemn the others to wander in the Forests, and live among Wolves and Wild Beasts. The accused are not only forbidden going into their respective Houses, but they prohibit also, any private Person, or Corporation whatsoever, to give them any Shelter, Victuals, or Apparel. And so you see many thousands, even Noble Women and Virgins, without any help, and perishing in the greatest Misery imaginable. This new kind of Cruelty is perhaps without a Parallel in History. But if these happy Christians are driven into the Company of Savage Beasts, we have reason to hope they will sinned more Humanity among them than among their own Countrymen. It is very observable, that these new Persecutions are used on purpose to insult the Protestant Powers, for the Executioners of these Outrages use to speak to our People thus; You see now, how such an one hath delivered you; This is the fruit of your fine hopes. And who questions, but that they have upon this very score increased the Persecution, at the same time the Ministers of the Protestant Princes arrived at the French Court? They have taken away by force, before their Eyes, many Women and Virgins, and shut them into Nunneries. Till now they had kept some Decorum in the chief City of the Realm, where all the Ambassadors and Ministers of the Protestant Princes reside; but now they have no regard to it, and have carried away by violence more than three or fourscore Persons, on purpose to let the Reformed States know, that they are not afraid of them. The Council of Persecution hath omitted nothing which could defeat the hopes of the Reformed in France. When they saw all the Endeavours used in their behalf before the conclusion of the Negociations of Reswick proved ineffectual, they hoped however that they might reap some benefit by the presence of the Foreign Ambassadors in Paris; but the Bigot Cabal to undeceive them once for all, suborned a false Witness against one of the Chaplains of his Majesty of Great-Britain, to depose, that he had preached in a Citizen's House, and thereupon the Lieutenant Civil, without any regard to the Right of Nations, summoned, and sent for the Chaplain by one of his Officers. This was an open Violation of the Embassador's Privileges. They knew very well he was a false Witness, who being not able to control the Truth, did confess his Villainy, they begged Pardon for it; but no matter, the thing is done, and the intimation legally made, that all those who expected to receive any Consolation by means of the Protestant Ambassadors were mightily mistaken. In this Relation all the Matter of Fact is certain and notorious. We know very well, that the French Court gives its Minister's Orders to charge this Public Evidence with Falsehood; but I do not know, how they can give the Lie to the Pyramid, the Royal Declarations, the Decrees of the Intendants, and to so many Eye-Witnesses as we have upon the respective Places.  
We cannot insist any longer on such sad and doleful Particulars, and therefore we have but just touched upon them, but this short glance is enough for our purpose, to stir up the Compassion of all Protestants. Now the Compassion we desire, is not such as consists in Words and Complaints, much less in Expressions as evaporate only in Reproaches, and have no real Effect: 'Tis properly Assistance and Relief we beg for the Afflicted Church, and that not for the French Church only, but also for all the Protestant Churches of Europe, which are now more fiercely attacked than ever they have been since the Reformation. No sooner were they born, but there was a Conspiracy to stifle them in the Cradle; and in order thereto the Antichristian Rome became every where a Boutefeu, increased the Cruelties of the Inquisition, set up Gibbets, kindled Fires in Spain, Germany, England, and France, many Rivers of Blood, and many horrid Massacres in France, and in the Netherlands, under the Reigns of Francis I H●nry II. Charles IX. and Henry III. all French Kings, and of Philip II. King of Spain. In the beginning of this Age the Protestant Church sound some protection, and enjoyed some ease, whereby she recovered strength; but we must also confess, that she degenerated very much during the time of her tranquillity.  
God Almighty therefore being justly provoked by our Iniquities and Contempt of his Truth, hath about the middle of this last Age raised up three Princes, great Persecutors of his Church, viz. Leopold Emperor of Germany, and King of Hungaria, Lewis the XIV, and James the II. There is no question to be made, but that the destruction of the Protestant Church was resolved upon by these three Princes; The natural, and we may say, irreconcilable Enmity between the two Families of France and Austria, is no hindrance to such an Agreement, because Popery hath contrived a way for its own preservation which no other Religion can have, and the Protestants are wholly deprived of, that is, the Bishop of Rome, the Centre of a Temporal Union; The several and distinct parts united to that Centre need not hold any Correspondence to adjust their Designs; they are joined to a common Head, and have nothing else to do but to follow its Motions, even at that very time when they are the most divided by their Temporal Interests.  
The Emperor began the Persecution; He put the Churches of Hungaria and Silesia to incredible Sufferings. The Public hath seen the History of that Persecution, and chief the Relation of the Calamities of those Glorious Confessors who were sent to the Galleys of Naples, and released by the means of the Dutch. Lewis the XIV immediately after the Pyren●an Treaty, form the Design of rooting the Protestant Religion out of his Dominions; This Undertaking he durst not attempt during the Life of Cromwell, who was indeed an Usurper, and a Parricide too if you will; but who for all that perfectly understood, that the true Interest of England, and of the Rulers of it, consisted in becoming the Head and Protectors of all the Protestants in Europe: This was his Masterpiece of Policy, whereby be kept all Europe in awe. After his Death Charles the II. was reestablished on the Throne of his Ancestors: This Prince being Educated by a Popish Mother in Popish Courts, was in his youth prepossessed against the Protestant Religion, and many Heresies increased in his Reign. James the II. succeeded him, and it was chief between this Prince and the French King, that the Measures for the ruin of the Protestant Religion were concerted: No sooner did the French Court see him on the Throne, but she resolved to give the fatal Blow. K. Charles died in February, and K. James was at the same time proclaimed King. His Advancement to the Crown was more firmly Established by the Death of the Duke of Monmouth in England, and that of the Earl of Argyle in Scotland. The Edict of Nantes was recalled in October the same year, and every body knows what hath been done since. King James, though he was influenced by the same Jesuitical Spirit which swayed in both Courts, could not however go on so fast as Lewis the XIV, and yet nevertheless he had in three years' time promoted his Religion more than Lewis had in thirty five, when unexpectedly it pleased God Almighty by a Revolution which surprised all Europe, to advance William the III. to the Throne of England, and by that means to make the greatest part of the Designs of that Antichristian League to prove abortive.  
These short and cursory Observations have no other Aim, but to make the Protestant Princes sensible, that there is a Plot on foot for their ruin. The last Treaty of Peace with the Emperor confirms this truth, for by a mutual Agreement with the Emperor's Plenipotentiaries they have inserted an Article, whereby the Protestant Princes of Germany are deprived of the Authority of regulating Ecclesiastical Affairs in their own Dominions, which had been formerly granted them by the Peace of Passaw, and the Treaty of Osnabruck. Nay they are constrained to tolerate the Public Service of the Romish Religion in all the countries' lately conquered, and now restored by France. True it is, that these Protestant Princes have opposed it, but their Oppositions are but bare Protestations, which will always prove insignificant, if not supported by other Means more effectual. The Popish League will every day get strength, and the Protestant Party decline, now in one place, now in another; and shall we stand still unconcerned, and see, to the reproach of our Profession, the ruin of the only pure Christianity, which hath cost us the best of our Blood. If they do not awake and exert themselves in the present Circumstances, the Wrath of God will not fail to awake against so heinous a Neglect. We will not presume to prescribe the Means, proper to prevent the Consequence; of the League, since they are obvious to every body. It will be enough for us to say, that it is high time to think on't, and that e'er it be long the Disease will be past Remedy. The great Revolution in Europe, which now seems near at hand, by the Death of a King leaving no Issue to succeed him in his vast Dominions, will give a fair opportunity to take the fittest Measures for the Preservation of the Protestant Religion: For whilst these two great Adversaries of ours shall be obliged to employ themselves in deciding the greatest Controversy they have had for these two hundred years, they may be prevailed upon to let fall their Persecution, and then the Reformation, if powerfully assisted, may be able to gain ground upon the Common Enemy.  
In this general Design of protecting and promoting the Reformation, upon which Popery hath in this Age so much encroached, the Princes and People concerned aught in our Opinion to take a special care to preserve the Reformed Religion in France; because they are to look upon it, as the Mother Church of all those, which by a purer Reformation are distinguished from the Lutherans. And History informs us, that from France the Reformation was brought into the Netherlands, and from thence into the United-Provinces, where it got the upper hand. The defection of Henry the VIII from the Pope made way for it in England, where it made some progress under Edward the VI, which was soon ruined by the Persecution under Queen Mary. In the mean while the Church of France was reforming, and settling herself in the midst of Fire and Faggots; she held her first National Synod under the Reign of Henry the TWO, a great Persecutor, and the most Absolute King that ever was in France, till the King now reigning. And since it is very true that the Blood of Martyrs is the seed of the Church, all the Western Churches must needs confess, that those of France have laid on them such an Obligation as can never be enough acknowledged; for they have afforded an infinite number of Martyrs, they have had Rivers of Blood shed in the Massacres committed on them, both in the last and this present Age, and lived all along under the Cross; insomuch as all the Sufferings of all other Churches, are but little in comparison with those of the Protestant Church in France; she is the only Church which hath maintained herself in the midst of Torments, and been continually fruitful both of great Men and great Examples; and therefore all other Reformed Churches, though under whatever different kinds of Ecclesiastical Government, cannot plead any Exemption from acknowledging their Obligation to the French Church, which hath been either their Mother, or at least their Predecessor; and consequently they cannot excuse themselves from doing all that lies in their power, both for its Preservation and Comfort. The most proper Means, in our Opinion, to be made use of at the present, are, to undeceive her of that erroneous and groundless Conceit taken up by her, that she is quite forsaken. There are still sufficient Arguments remaining, to convince her, that though hitherto she hath not been effectually relieved, yet at least a good will to do it has not been wanting. There is nothing in the World can so much discourage our suffering Brethren, as the Opinion, that no body will stir any more in their behalf. This the Persecutors now labour to make them believe. But the Protestant Princes and States are necessarily obliged to let them see the contrary. Not by taking up Arms; for the Wars being swayed by Humane motives only, are not in all probability the Means designed by God's Providence for the restauration of his Church. Perhaps God Almighty will in a short time reveal unto us, what he intends to do towards the fulfilling of his purposes; in the mean time 'tis our Duty, first to turn to the Lord with all our Hearts, of which I shall Treat more fully hereafter; and secondly to stir up our Charity afresh, of which we must speak a Word or two, and so conclude.  
The Reformed in France have been so much cast down and dispirited, to see themselves excluded from the benefit of the Peace, that nothing can less raise their Courage than such extraordinary efforts of Charity, as we saw immediately after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes; all the Protestant Princes and States did in that Juncture open both their Gates, and the Bowels of their Mercy, to those distressed People, who in great multitudes quitted their own Habitations just as we used to do an Enemy's Country; They collected great Sums of Money for them, set up Manufactures to help the Tradesmen to a Livelihood, and settled yearly Pensions upon Persons of Quality. Particularly the most Serene the Elector of Brandenburg of Blessed Memory, and his most Religious Son now Reigning, have signalised their Charity in an extraordinary manner; not only by the Colonies they have Established in the chief Towns of their Dominions, but chief by the Pensions they have allowed all Ages, Sexes, and Conditions; and that with so great a liberality as one would think might have lain very heavy upon their Exchequer. But since it hath not proved so, 'tis an undeniable Instance of the greatness of their Revenues and Power, as well as of their Charity. We shall only add this, that unless the same Zeal be now rekindled, the Truth and the Defenders of it will suffer mightily; for the Miseries and the Necessities of the Protestants are now much greater than they were at that time: The most of them when they made their escape from France, had saved some part of their Effects, and lived upon them for ten or twelve years, and waited patiently in hope that the War and the Peace following would better their condition; but now they have spent all, and have not so much left them as a glimpse of Hope. So that we see the old Refugees lying under so great extremity, as they must of necessity perish, if not speedily supplied with Necessaries by the Charity of the Protestant States. But what shall we say of those who still live under the pressure of their Sufferings, who groan, and long for an opportunity of setting themselves at liberty? The fear of starving puts a stop to them, for this is one of the greatest Temptations one can be exposed to, and there are but few able to cope with this Idea of the utmost Poverty. Notwithstanding a great many do come every day out of France, and we are told by them, that there are thousands who have a mind to follow them, as soon as they hear, that the Protestant's Charity is grown as liberal as formerly; and therefore we do earnestly entreat, and beg all Princes and States, and all private Men, whom God Almighty hath blessed with Ability, to be willing and ready to relieve these distressed Brethren, who groan under the heavy burden of Christ's Cross. These new Refugees by their flight will complete the depopulation of that Kingdom, which is already weakened by so many public Calamities, and continue to bring their Money, Industry, Arts and Trades, into these Countries whereinto they will retire, and fill up the places of those Inhabitants the War hath taken away. We easily believe, that our Complaints and Prayers will not reach the Ears of those whom we do chief intent to persuade. But at last having done what lies in our power, God Almighty out of his Gracious Goodness will perform the rest, and move the Heart of those from whom we may receive any Comfort and Relief.   

LETTER III. Containing some Directions for the Protestants Behaviour towards their Persecutors, and for their Resignation to the Will of God, who will not permit the total ruin of the Reformation in France; The Necessity of keeping up their Common Assemblies, and their Duty of Watching carefully over their Children, who are daily taken from them; With a Form of Prayer for the Afflicted Church.  
WE now proceed to the Advices we promised you about your Behaviour both towards your Persecutors, and towards God in these your Afflictions, and begin with the Motions, that the ill usage of your Enemies is apt to beget in you. As the Faithful by becoming Christians, do not cease from being Men; so it is very easy to apprehend, that your Resentment must needs be so much the greater, because you have not been guilty of doing any thing to deserve these Outrages. The Zeal you have constantly shown for the House of Bourbon, since its coming to the Throne, and the eminent Services you have done, especially to the Prince now Reigning, in preserving his Crown during his Minority, aught to confirm you in the Peaceable Enjoyment of these Edicts, which three or four Kings had given and established as perpetual and irrevocable. One must needs be an Angel, to see without some Emotion and Sorrow, Soldiers coming to ruin your Ancestors Estates, and destroy your own Goods, and snatch your Children, the dearest part of yourselves, out of your Arms. If you are concerned as ye ought to be for the Interest of God, you cannot but with great grief see his Holy Name Blasphemed, his Churches razed to the Ground, his Truths insolently opposed, his Children dealt with like profligate Wretches, and his Ministers Tortured, Hanged, and Broken upon the Wheel. Nevertheless it is very convenient we should give you some Directions suitable to this Occasion for your keeping the middle way betwixt two extremes. The first Advice we would give is this, That you be not like those indifferent Persons, who though they are fully convinced that the Romish Church is very corrupt, and the Reformed Religion without comparison the better of the two, can for all that, without any Concernment and Tears, see the Enemy burning the Holy Cities of God, that do not avoid keeping Company with the Persecutors, or show in the least either any Pity towards their Brethren, or any Sense of their Condition. This they call Moderation, Prudence, and obeying Christ's Command to love your Enemies, and to bless those which Curse you. We know very well, Dear Brethren, that you have among you too many of these Lukewarm Professors, who are the Nursery of Apostates, and whom our Saviour will spew out of his Mouth.  
Neither is it to be questioned, but that you have also a great many in the other Extreme, who suffer their Zeal to be accompanied with unruly Passions. If these Men would throughly examine and know themselves, perhaps they would find in their own Hearts, at least, as much self-love as love to God. Self-love cannot endure any restraint, and a Heart given up to Covetousness, and yet not able wholly to shake off the conviction of Truth, and the desire of Salvation, is under a terrible Distemper when stripped of its Worldly Goods, and is much more concerned upon that account than for the interest of the Truth. Hence it is, that we have observed among those who have courageously forsaken their Native Country, that there were not so many Covetously minded, as of their kinds of Sinners; and this is the reason that induces these Worldly Men to continue still under the Yoke, in which condition they think to compound for the guilt which their Consciences reproach them with, by entertaining in their Heart's thoughts of Wrath and Fury, and venting them in Reproaches and Injuries against the Persecutors as often as they can do it without danger.  
The more dangerous Case in these two Extremes is that of the Timorous, who know the Truth, and hold it in Unrighteousness; They are not wholly Impious, and would fain be saved by the Ways of Righteousness and Truth, but are not willing to part with their Worldly Interests for their Salvation. But remember the Oracle, If any love the World, the love of the Father is not in him. These Weak People among you do flatter and deceive themselves, by comparing themselves to those wicked Apostates who are gone so far, as to sin against the Holy Ghost, since they persecute the Truth they have known; but they should consider, that an Hectic Fever doth kill as well as a Burning one; and it will be a very sad Comfort to them to be treated like Tyre and Sydon, or Sodom and Gomorrha, that is more tolerably than Bethsaida and Capernaum. Their not parting with the World, and the Society of those who persecute the Church of God, is an evident Instance of great Neglect and want of Zeal. The Prophet Elias was so much displeased with the Enemies of God, that he chose rather to go and live with Wild Beasts in the Wilderness, than with them, and reproves those who halted between the Lord and Baal, 1 Kings 18. So those Politicians of yours who whisper in your Ears, and say, We are as good Protestants as yourselves are, but, etc. are for the Lord, but pay also their Homage to Baal, the Court, the World, and the Mass. Be assured, Brethren, that such People are upon the brink of Eternal Damnation. But you will say, they may return when the Church enjoys prosperity. But know that Heaven rejects these Men, whom they use to call the Swallows of the Church, which come to her in the Spring only, and forsake her in the Winter.  
Therefore, we say, Brethren, Avoid these two Extremes, and follow the middle and surest way; but because a just medium is hard to be kept, we will direct you the best we can, by desiring you to observe, that there is a Twofold Love, one of Esteem, and the other of Charity. We are not obliged to love any with the love of Esteem, but those who deserve it, that is, who fear God, and are good Christians. We grant, that on this Occasion men's Judgement may be mistaken, for we are well satisfied, that our Enemies are worthy neither of our Love nor Esteem; and therefore we must be upon our Guard on that side, and incline to the most favourable Opinion. But there are some Cases so evident, that one cannot be mistaken in them; as when we see plainly several Impious, Debauched and Atheistical Persons, such Monsters do not in the least deserve the Homages of Love and Esteem which we own to Piety and Holiness only; and consequently we must avoid their Companies, as Plagues of Society, and Debauchers of Souls, for no body will ever believe, that a Man is Zealous for God and Truth, who entertains strict Friendship with his open Enemies.  
But there is another kind of Love, a great deal more Essential to Christianity, and that is the love of Charity; This we own to all, whether Enemies or Friends, good or bad; Enemies of God, or Profane Idolaters, or Persecutors; and by the Rules of Charity we are obliged not only to Bless them that Curse us, but to endeavour after their Salvation and Reconciliation with God; and if we must communicate unto them our Spiritual Goods, much more our Temporal. If thy enemy be hungry feed him, etc. Rom. 12.20.  
You have, Brethren, in these general Precepts, the Particulars you must follow in respect of your Persecutors. We do not Exhort you to Value and Esteem them. If they Persecute you through the instigation of a false Zeal, they must be looked upon as blind Men, into whose Hands they have put a Sword, and who make an ill use of the Authority that is given them to destroy the Flocks of our Lord. They are Children of Babel, and Idumeans who set Jerusalem on fire, and say, Raze, raze it, even to the foundation thereof. If they are base Ministers of the fury of Popery, who tell you, If the King had Commanded me to force you to turn Turk, I would do it; could you look, I pray, on such Men, but with a great Contempt and Indignation? They have neither Religion nor Conscience; and if they have any of the last, they give it Mortal Wounds, by sacrificing it to their Prince, and their own Fortune. Such is the Bigoted Persecutor of Languedoc, appointed by the Jesuitical Cabal to depopulate the Province of France, most inhabited by Reformed: This Man hearing one day the Excuses of a Gentleman who declared to him his Scruples, and saying he could not believe such and such things; answered him in a haughty and furious manner, Believe in the Devil, if you will, but you must go to Mass, or, etc. Here is the Character of the Zealots of the Holy Society of Jesus.  
But let your Persecutors be what they will, you must have neither Compliance nor Society with them; because you cannot be long in their Company, but you will hear them railing against your Ancestors, those Martyrs whom you ought to Reverence, and those Truths which you must love a great deal more than your Lives. Therefore avoid them, and do nothing whereby they may think that your Zeal and Courage does in the least yield to their Solicitations.  
But here I must give you a Caution, That from what hath been said, you must by no means infer, that we advise you in the least to deny your Persecutors the lawful Homages you own them, both as Subjects, and as Christians; for as Subjects you must obey them in all things they Command you in the Name and Authority of the Prince, (those you own to God and your Consciences only excepted) and as Christians, you must pray for them, forgive their Cruel Usage, be Instrumental as much as you can to their Conversion, and even assist them with your Temporal Goods, if they stand in need of them: But this last Advice is, we think, useless, seeing they are rich, and have got the most part of your substance already.  
Proceed we now to your behaviour towards God. The first of your Duties is Patience and Submission. There is a God, and an Holy and Wise Providence disposing of all Events with an absolute Power, and a Justice which can very rarely be fathomed by us. You do not apprehend, say you, the reason why God permits his Enemies to triumph so long. But is this a matter of wonder, that God is incomprehensible to you? Will you conclude that he hath no Reason in his Proceed, because you do not comprehend them? Shall you have less Respect for God than for a Prince, whose Wisdom and Piety are well known to you? for when you see him doing something which looks contrary to Equity, you do not use immediately to conclude that he hath forgot himself, and acts against his own Principles and Laws; and yet this Prince may be mistaken in his Proceed, and in that case you may suspend your Judgement, till either he himself, or time discovers unto you the lawfulness of them; but you must never call in question the Wisdom and Justice of God, which are inseparable from him. David silenced himself with this reason, I became dumb, and opened not my mouth, for it was thy doing, Ps. 39 v. 10. Jeremiah the Prophet shed floods of Tears upon a Desolation like yours, saying, Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Out of the Mouth of the Most High, proceedeth not Evil and Good? Lament. 3. v. 37, 38. Shall there be evil in a City, and the Lord hath not done it? Amos 3.6. The Work of God and Men are so twisted together in our Misfortunes, that we have much ado to distinguish them; but for all that it must be done, and then by a diligent inquiry, you will discover that the Work of the Persecutor is the Work of the Devil, who is our Adversary from the beginning, and therefore you ought to hate and abhor it; but the Work of God is good, seeing he puts you into the Fining Pot, in order to cleanse and purify you like Gold, and make your sincerity and the purity of your Faith to shine before Men.  
We might here set before your Eyes several Pious Considerations, in order to Comfort you in these your great Sufferings; but before we undertake it, we would fain be convinced, that you stand in need of Consolation; for we are mightily afraid, you are already too much comforted; we have but too many Instances of your Insensibleness, and that your Sorrow doth not answer the terrible Chastisements God hath visited you with. You live without any public Exercise of your Religion, without Instruction, Sermons, Exhortations, and even without Books. And it is made High Treason for you to meet together, in order to pray unto God in Woods and Hollow-rocks. In the beginning of the former Persecution, you seemed mightily concerned for your Calamities, and in this last you have been awakened, but alas! you are soon fallen again into slumber. You think, that it is enough for you to forbear going to Mass. This we confess is something; but there are a great many among you, who are so Complaisant, as to appear in Church's Consecrated to a false Jesus, whom they turn into an Idol, and to Saints, who are but Creatures. And suppose that you should be so courageous as to refuse to go to Mass, would that suffice think you to pacify your Consciences? by no means. You will say perhaps, we cannot publicly serve God; but who can hinder you from shutting your Houses on the Sabbath and Holidays, and making them as so many little Churches? Why do you not read, and meditate the Word of God? Or, Why should not the Master of the House be able to Instruct and Edify his own Family in Private?  
We would have you to know, that we take a great care to be well informed of your Behaviour, that we may from time to time give you Advices suitable to your Necessities. We have been told, indeed, that there are among you several Wise and well ordered Families, which practice the Rules we have just now prescribed you; and therefore we give hearty Thanks to our Gracious Saviour, that we are not as yet like Sodom and Gomorrha, and that he hath reserved to himself a Remnant according to the Election of Grace. But we know very well, that this Remnant is very small in comparison of the rest; for we have lately read Letters from the Low-Guienna, and are told by some who come over to us, that there is no Piety nor Religion practised there, chief among the younger People, who spend their time in Drinking and Gaming, whilst the Papists are performing their Superstitious Devotions; and add, that many of them have no knowledge of Christianity: Those who were entrusted with the Care of their Education, have contented themselves barely to Exhort them not to go to Mass; and so they are not Papists, but then they are not Christians. Thus they let the Truth perish, and your Neglect will contribute to the Ruin of the Church, more than the Violence of your Persecutors, for if God should Chastise you, as you deserve, he would utterly extinguish the light of Faith among a People which doth not care for it.  
And therefore, 'tis not now our Business to afford you Comfort, and we must forbear doing it till you give evident Proofs of your Godly Sorrow, and sincere Conversion; in order whereunto, let us entreat you for the present to acknowledge, that God is Just in his Judgements, and even Merciful in the continuance of your Sufferings; and to make a good use of all those places, wherein you are exhorted to a speedy Repentance, in hope of a speedy Deliverance. Let us search, and try our ways, and turn unto the Lord, Lament. 3.41. Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly Pardon, Isaiah 55.7. Our Ark is broken in pieces, and our Wrecks float upon all Seas: But let us gather ourselves about our Noah, our Jesus, the Author of the Tranquillity we hope for, and follow particularly his Example. Did he ever slacken his Zeal in his Persecutions? And when the House of God was become a Den of Thiefs, did he not Consecrate the Wilderness by his Holy Prayers? Did he not openly and courageously own himself to be the Son of God, before those Unrighteous Judges who Sentenced him to Death? Do you the same. If they ask you such Questions as these, Are you Pretended Reformed, Calvinists, and some of those Heretics who maintain that the Roman Church is the Spiritual Babylon? Answer with a Courage becoming the Disciples of Jesus, I am one of those whom you call Pretended Reformed; I am not an Heretic, but Believe in God, speaking in his Holy Scriptures, and Worship him, according as my Fathers were Taught by the Prophets and Apostles; and look on the Communion, both of the Pope, and his Religion, as very dangerous and inconsistent with the intention I have of being saved.  
But for God's Sake, think Dear Brethren, how much you are obliged to lead a Holy Life, answerable to that pure Christianity God hath trusted you withal. We have not taught you a Gospel Sophisticated through Philosophy, Tradition of Men. Superstitions, Idolatries, and such abominable Maxims of lose Morals, as the Jesuits and other Persecutors use to do: You have not learned Christ so. But what good will that do you, if you have been well instructed, but yet live very wickedly? Learn we beseech you, that a wavering and vicious Faith does as little contribute to ones Salvation, as a Faith defiled with Errors, if you do not Repent, you shall likewise Perish.  
We grant, you are in a Condition very dangerous to your Salvation: For you see on one hand, a Bigoted People completely armed, pursuing your Saviour with Swords and Staves; and on the other, Courtiers, who have no more Devotion, than what is requisite to attend their Prince to Mass, and to put in Execution his most severe Orders against you. But we know very well, that most of them do not Believe in God, and make no scruple to commit such Excesses, as Sodom and Gomorrha would perhaps abhor. Many of your Convertors are of such a Character as would strike one with horror. We have already acquainted you with the Discourse of the Intendant of Languedoc, and now will relate that of a Governor of a Place in the same Province, as it was communicated to us.  
An Inhabitant of the Hague hath received a Copy of a Letter from Nismes, containing a Dialogue no less dreadful than curious; as follows. The Governor of St. Hippolyta, having called the Chiefs of that Town together, Exhorted them to go to M●ss, by such Reasons as Soldiers and Good-Fellows use to do. These poor People holding their Peace at it, the Governor said unto them, Speak, or give me some reason or other. One of them Answered thus: Well, Sir, since you will have us to speak, I'll tell you in the name of all those here present, that neither we nor our Children will ever go to Mass, do with us as you please, for this is our Resolution. The Governor replied, You are a Company of Wretches; go to Mass, I say, carry your Psalms thither, and read them till you be tired: Perform in your Houses all the Exercises of your Devotion; and by that means, you may laugh in your sleeve at the King, his Declarations, the Intendant, myself, and the Curate here present, whom you may send, if you will, to all the Devils in Hell. Hold, Sir, saith the Curate, I had rather they should go to them than myself. They omitted in this Letter many Circumstances for Brevity's sake: In the end of it is said, That these poor People having withdrawn themselves, have been Fined, and constrained to pay it down. You see here the Romish Church drawn to the Life.  
Thus is the Nation framed in which you live, viz. They are ignorant and cruel Bigots on one side, and on the other Brutes without Conscience and Religion; and what way soever you turn you see nothing but Precipices and Scandals. But still your Duty enjoins you, to go betwixt these two Precipices, by resisting the Persecutions of those who will drag you to Mass, and to separate yourselves from those wicked Pleasures which Bewitch you. The Precepts we give you are but General, but we must prescribe you some Particulars, to teach you the way whereby you may disappoint the Designs of the Devil, and all his Agents, and make you know, they are not as yet gone half way in your Total Destruction.  
Our Enemies have conceived great Hopes of seeing their Undertaking to End in the speedy and entire Extirpation of the Reformed Religion in France; but without pretending to Prophecy, we may truly say, their Design is not so near its Accomplishment. As God's Providence uses to put his Church into the Fining Pot, not to Destroy, but to Try her; so has he put her Enemies upon such means, as are never like to succeed. 'Tis now above 30 or 40 years they have been very busy about finding out some infallible Ways to Ruin the Protestant Religion in that Kingdom, and have not been able as yet, to determine what Course to take. Hence proceed that uncertainty, and indiscretion of their Conduct, since the Pyrenaean Treaty. They were agreed in their General End and Design, but knew not how to attain it. The Prefaces of their Declarations and Decrees were commonly ridiculous and contradictory: For under pretence of putting the Edicts in Execution, they Enacted such and such things, as indeed, did utterly Destroy them. What was Decreed by one Declaration was commonly Annulled by the next: For when they took away any one Privilege from the Reformed, they still confirmed all the others. And these Exceptions which they made, seemed for the present to strengthen the Rules: But some Weeks after 'twas quite another thing. Twelve or fifteen Months before the Recalling of the Edict of Nantes, a Decree was issued out, whereby the Ministers were to be Transported into other Places, when they had for some years served their first Parishes. And amongst these rare Ordonnances, there were some which were to be in force for twenty years; and consequently, the Edict was at least to last to that very time: Nevertheless, within a few Months after it was totally Repealed. From hence it is obvious to every body, That our Persecutors had not yet laid down a certain Scheme of their Proceed, but lived, as we may say, from Hand to Mouth, and advanced, as the emergent Occasions, or rather as Fancy guided them. Whilst they were thus floating in these uncertain and blind ways, God's Providence hath led them in to take a Course which will never prosper with them, But rather end in the entire Ruin of Popery.  
Their false Prudence hath set before them several means, to choose which they pleased. The first was that of a general Massacre. We do not question in the least, but this Method hath been proposed and debated; and there are some pretending to good Intelligence, who gave out, that they were resolved upon it; and that Dispatches had been already drawn up, for the Governors, and Intendants of Provinces, and Packets delivered to be sent out, but that a great Man wiser and milder than the others, had prevented the Execution of them, and upon his Advice the Expresses were stopped. This hath been published in some Books written both in England and in English: But for our parts, we never believed it to be either true, or indeed probable. True it is, That there is not any Design, though never so Cruel, never so Bloody, but the Bigoted Cabal of Jesuits and Monks are capable to Contrive: But we are also certain, That there is not any Wiseman in the Council of France, but did look on such an Execution with Horror. There are but few Bavilles in that Kingdom, for he who has Massacred so many private Persons, would have made no scruple of a General Massacre: And besides, the Slaughter of St. Bartholomew succeeded so ill, that one would think they should have no mind to attempt it a second time.  
We have no Reason to doubt but it hath been Debated, whether they should Banish all the Protestants without Exception out of the Kingdom; But those who know that the multitude of Subjects is the Strength of a Nation, did not approve of that Proposition. In the beginning of this Age, The Council of Spain drove away Twelve hundred thousand Moors and Sarrazins; but they know how much it hath cost them; For this has given the great stroke to their sudden Decay and unavoidable Ruin. At last, after many Deliberations taken and laid aside, they resolved to shut up the Reformed, and prohibit their going out of the Kingdom, upon pain of the Galleys, and Forfeiture of their Goods. True it is, That by this means, the Kingdom is not depopulated, but then their Churches are filled with People driven thither with Cudgels, and rendered Profane and Hypocrites. All the Exercises of any Religion, but the Romish, are forbidden upon Pain of Death; and by Virtue of this Prohibition, they have Hanged a great many in Vivares, Cevennes, and other Counties.  
It is Evident, That those who thought to extinguish the Protestant Religion by this Method, have but little Understanding, and much less Memory. We would fain have them to allege any Precedents of such Undertake that have succeeded well by the ways they have used. There is nothing in the World which takes so deep root in the Hearts of Men, as what they call Religion. They have for many years, and without intermission, exercised the utmost Rigours, and yet have not been able to destroy the Religion of those People. Christians have suffered in the East, and under the Turks, almost all that one can suffer; and for all that, the Christian Religion is yet every where spread there. What have they not done in Spain, since the Moors lost their Authority, to extinguish Mahometanism, but all vain, and altho' they have expelled above a Million, there are still a great many left behind, who by concealing their Belief, provide for their own Security. What Cruelty have they not committed, and still commit in those Countries, where the Inquisition is established to Root out the Jews Religion, but still to no purpose; And 'tis a Question, Whether one half of the Portugueses be not still Jews: Nevertheless, they go to Mass, and some of them are got into Orders, and enjoy Ecclesiastical Dignities; but no sooner are they got into a free Country, but they openly return to the Jewish Profession.  
We must conclude then, that there is no certain way of Ruining a Religion, but the utter Destruction of all those who Profess it. By that means the Sarrazens have destroyed Christiianity over all the Coasts of Africa, where formerly there were many and flourishing Churches, viz. By cutting off all the Ancient Inhabitants; And by that Method, the House of Austria hath almost rooted out the Reformation in Bohemia, and the Hereditary Countries. It is true, That without these violent Proceed, Christianity hath by Degrees abolished the Heathen Religion, within the extent of the Roman Empire, both in the East and West: But this Example must not be made a Precedent, because false Religions have their Periods as well as the States; they must end some way or another: But the Cause of their Ruin is not the Yoke imposed upon men's Consciences, but their own Imperfections. The Ancient Heathenism was so hideous a mass of Absurdities, that 'tis no matter of wonder to see it quite Abolished. On the contrary, we may admire at its subsisting so long among Nations so Civilised, and Polite as the Greeks and Romans. One would have thought, That Christianity had nothing else to do, but to appear in the World to ruin this horrid System of different Gods, that were often Enemies one of another, and whom the Devil made Men to Worship with the most unclean and ridiculous Rites. And yet every body knows, How this Religion, as foolish and ridiculous as it is, hath held out against the Lights of Common Sense, Reason and Faith. And this may serve for another instance, to prove, How difficult it is to Extirpate Opinions which have taken a deep Root in the Minds of Men by a long Possession. What outrageous Cruelties have they not used in the Spanish Netherlands to Extinguish the Reformation there? and have not as yet compassed their Design. Not even since the time that the French Court hath added to the Yoke of the Protestants. These People have but a step into Holland, which is a Free-Country, but worldly Interests keep them still chained to that spot of Ground wherein they were Born and Bred. 'Tis true, they save themselves, as much as they can, the trouble of going to Mass; and if sometimes they yield, 'tis out of pure Necessity: Therefore we shall not determine any thing about their Condition. The Question now is not whether they be good Protestants or no, and whether they are in the way of Salvation, but however this at least is certain, that they are by no means Papists. And consequently we may be assured, That the Protestant Religion will never go out of France, unless the Protestants themselves be gone first; so that Imprisoning them within the Kingdom is the sure way to Immortalize their Religion.  
From what hath been said, it is manifest, that the present Persecution is by no means advantageous to Popery; And by what follows, it will be as evident, That the Romish Religion loses its Authority and Reputation in France, and People's Eyes begin to be more and more open every day. Both the Outrages and the Persecutors, and the Complaints of the Persecuted, make them very intent upon the great Concern of Religion, which perhaps they never would have troubled their Heads with, had they let things continue as they were a Hundred years since. They have taken away from the Protestants all their Books, but have not been able to Burn all these Books. They are Treasures which have been dispersed by our Shipwreck, and Religious Men have had a more favourable opportunity of making advantage of them, because others have not been apprehensive upon that Account. In short, Let the Cause of this be what it will, 'tis certain, that there are whole Cantons and Provinces full of People who earnestly desire a Deliverance from Popery. We have been well assured by honest and credible Persons, that there are great Cities of Threescore or Fourscore Thousand Inhabitants, whereof one third have some knowledge, and very favourable Sentiments of the Truth. This we know for certain, because we see for these 12 or 15 years, Proselytes come over to us from Popery, in greater number than ever. We will not deny, but that among these Friars, Priests, and Clergymen, who heretofore left the Romish Religion, there were but few who were not moved by a Spirit of Libertinism; but at present the case is much altered: For now we have daily come over to us, new Converts of that Character which are very good Men, and have a sincere and earnest desire to work out their Salvation; nay, some of them are very Eminent for their Ability and Merit: So that there are now among these Proselytes as few Cheats as there were many heretofore. We are informed by them, that were the Protestant States as Zealous for Propagating the Truth as the Papists are for their Superstitions, they would see flocking to them, many able and worthy Clergymen. It might be wished, That the Protestant Sovereigns would mind this great Concern, and consider, how much it would contribute to their Honour, to provide Sanctuaries, and Maintenance for so many Learned Men, and who are besides enlightened by a Supernatural Grace: a Supernatural Grace, I say; for one must be wilfully blind, not to discover herein the Finger of God, which rouzes up Consciences that lay fast a Sleep, and communicates his Light at the same time that the Devil endeavours to spread his Darkness. But we must confess, That the great necessity these Clergymen are threatened with, by forsaking both their Native Country and Religion, is a powerful Temptation, that few are able to overcome. 'Tis indeed a great Affliction to a tender and compassionate Man, to be forced to send away Persons of a good Character, and sincerely Converted, because he is not in a Condition to keep them from Starving: But these things may alter, when God Almighty shall be pleased to move the Hearts of the Higher Powers. All we can do for them is to help them with our Prayers, which God will, we hope, hear in due time.  
If we consider how much Popery is divided, and decays in France, we shall the better comprehend the ill Condition it is reduced too, it being crumbled into several Sects. The Controversy between the Molinistes, and the Jansenistes has made a great Noise for these forty or fifty years; and now a new Sect is risen up under the Name of Quietists; besides other impious ones, like that of the Socinians, begin to make a considerable Body there. We were long since well informed, that this wicked Heresy is spread amongst the most famous Societies; and have it from the best hand, that the Works of Episcopius are diligently perused by them, in which one discovers first a mere Pelagianism; and secondly, that which the Bishop of Meaux calls a Mitigated Socinianism: And all this is made good by one Mr. Vallone, a Prebendary of the Church of St. Geneviefue, and who appears to be a Man of Parts and Merit. He has published a Confession of his Faith, and prefixed to it a Letter giving an account of his Conversion; where he tells us, that he chose rather to be a Friar of St. Geneviefue, than of St. Bernard. He was not long there, before he discovered a Party, which called itself, The Scripturists or Little Church, agreeing openly with the Heterodox Opinions of the Socinians, or Believing at least, that in order to be a fine and delicate Wit, one must allow a great liberty of Opinion: These are what we call Latitudinarians, according to the Tenants of their Masters Courcellus and Episcopius: And this Cabal was spread in all Places, where the Regular Canons of St. Geneviefue had Houses. The Heads and Chief Members of this Society, were the same to the Cabal, as the General, his Assistant, the Visitor, Ormessac Prior of St. Martin of Ruricourt, the Abbot d'Essiat, Polinier, and many others. Mr. Vallone was Informer against them, and had very like to have lost his Life in a hideous Dungeon, into which he was thrown by the General. But at last, after having undergone many Trials, finding himself countenanced by the Abbot of Urbec, he convinced the Court of the Truth of his Information. Thereupon the French King sent by the Archbishop of Paris, a Letter under his Privy Seal, enjoining the General Chapter, which was to be held the next day, to choose another General, declaring withal, that he did Depose the Abbot of St. Geneviefue, and all those who had any hand in the Cause of the Accuser: Their Names were particularly mentioned, and they were Commanded to lay down their Places.  
In the same Work of Mr. De Vallone, one may see a new instance of what we have already said concerning the multitude of those who have an insight into the Truth in the midst of Popery. A Body torn within by its own Members, and whose Corruption is discovered by so many People hid in its Bowels, seems in all probability to draw near its end. Mr. Vallonne's Work was Printed in Germdny, at Swaback, where he made his Abjuration into the hands of Mr. Martel Minister of the French Church, whose Exercises are performed at Swaback. I shall conclude this Article, by assuring you, that Popery is in France in a worse condition than ever, for it is only supported either by Clergymen who discredit it by their Outrageous Persecutions, or by such Laymen as are of no Religion at all, and so far from being Papists, that they laugh at all their false Mysteries: The number of them is so great, both at Court amongst the Persons of Quality, and of the better Rank, and even in the Clergy itself, that it cannot be reckoned up. Now there needs but a little Motion of Divine Grace to put themin the right way; and therefore do not fear the total ruin of the Reformation in France, for it will never come to pass; God Almighty will undoubtedly bring his great Work to an end, but Lewis the Fourteenth will never be able to complete his.  
But do you think, that the hope we give you, either may, or aught to render you remiss in your Duty? not at all, for first, what we say unto you, is not an Oracle, or a Prophecy, but only a Conjecture built upon good Grounds. And although it had been plainly revealed to you, you should not for all that have forgot what we have so often inculcated, that all Events though foreseen and decreed by God, are generally Executed by the Concurrence of Second Causes; and so his Eternal Decrees are so far from rendering the Means and Second Causes useless, that on the contrary, they suppose them necessary. God had determined that King Ezechias should live Fifteen years after his Recovery, but still Ezechias was to make use of the common Means to preserve his Life; God who intends the End, includes also all that tends, or can tend to the same; and therefore you are obliged to do all you can to hinder the Enemies of the true Religion from compassing their Design. The first and chiefest Means you must use, is a vigorous, constant, and unanimous Resistance against the Solicitations of your Tempter's; They will have you go to Mass, but you must readily answer, you will not do it. We must plainly tell you, that we are very glad at the News we have received from all places upon that account; True it is, that we observe that there is a general fear, and a strong apprehension, that the Reformed in France will be put to Trials a great deal more severe than the former; but we are assured, we have no reason to be afraid of their Timidity, since they are all resolved to speak out boldly, and resist even unto Blood. The Trial hath already proved good in many places, for not only Private Persons, but whole Corporations too have courageously declared, they would never follow a Religion they believed very bad, and which they were driven to profess. You have already seen how the Inhabitants of St. Hippolyte answered the Eloquent Sermon of their Governor: 'Tis not in this place only, that they have spoken so plainly, but in hundreds besides, in Saintonge, Rochelles, Marennes, La Tremblade, and Aluert. Every body hath read in the extraordinary News of Amsterdam a Relation, which we had in our hands, and have seen the Original: There one may find with what Cheerfulness and Respect these good People have received the Intendant when he brought the King's Orders, and made a Speech unto them; but no sooner had he done it, but the Air rung again with their Unanimous, Courageous, and Exalted Voices, saying openly, We had rather die than go to Mass. Our Brethren went in Crowds to meet the Intendant, dressed up in their finest , like the Sacrifices of old, when they were led to the Altars; but they went thither, as they use to go to an Entertainment, and have equally resisted both Promises and Threaten. The Example of Castres' is too remarkable to be passed by in silence; This Town is almost inhabited by Reformed. The Intendant Baville, and the Italian Broglio his Assistant, and Minister of his Shameful Cruelties, did believe, that if they could prevail against the Faithful of this Place, such an Example would give a fatal Stroke to the whole Reformation throughout the Kingdom, and particularly in that Province. They have omitted nothing in the Exercising their Furious Zeal, and employed the most terrible Threaten, Blasphemies, and Outrages of all kinds to signalise it the more. They have since the Peace quartered 8 or 900 Soldiers at Castres', in the Houses of the Reformed only, with Orders to have Free Quarters there, to Exercise all manner of Cruelty, to plunder and consume their Goods, and keep their Persons by Tormeuts from Sleeping, and by Letters under the King's Privy Seal have banished all Persons of any Note who had made themselves Eminent either by their Zeal, or Freedom of Speech. Alas! we know too well, how easily the People fainted in the former Persecution, and sunk under Blows, not so heavy by far as those of the latter. In the mean time we do not hear, that above six or seven in that great Church have been so base as to promise to go to Mass. This Example of Constancy hath been followed by the whole Province. That of Poitou hath undergone the same Trials, as those of Marennes, La Tremblade, and Alver, did. And every Place has abounded with Examples of the same Courage, and this hath been the occasion of so many new Prosciptions, Banishments, Imprisonments, and Punishments that have been inflicted since.  
Be ye therefore, Dear Brethren, sensible of this, that you are under a great necessity to do the like. First, to pay your Lawful Duties to Truth; you cannot forsake it, either by compliance or fear, unless you will become guilty of High Treason, and the blackest Ingratitude towards God, who hath raised you up from your fall. Secondly, you must do it, in order to expiate thereby that faintheartedness wherewith you did generally yield in the first Persecution. You cannot wipe off that Crime, but with Tears of Blood, and must rise up again with a Courage answerable to the Cowardliness that threw you down. If God hath given you the Grace of a sincere Repentance, declare it on this present Occasion; Show your Faith by your good Works; There can be no true Repentance without perseverance. Peter may deny his Master, but no sooner hath he received Absolution from him, by saying, Peter, lovest thou me? I know thou lovest me, feed my Sheep, but that from thenceforward nothing was able to affright him; not even Fire, Crosses, and Threaten of Execution could shake him any more. You know very well that Relapses are more dangerous than the Diseases themselves, and if once you become like those Trees St. Judas speaks of, Twice dead, and plucked up by the Roots, there will be afterwards found no place of Repentance. Set the Martyrs of the Primitive Christianity frequently before your Eyes, who being asked the Question, Whether they were Christians, or no? did quickly and cheerfully answer, Yes; They knew for certain, that they were to go from the Tribunal either to be burnt, or devoured by Wild Beasts; but for all that they went with the greatest eagerness to receive that Crown of Martyrdom they longed for. Had our Ancestors wanted this Courage, they had never transmitted Christianity to their Posterity. Besides these general Considerations, there is another strong Motive which doth particularly concern you, and that is this, there is no other way in the condition you are now in to abate the Persecution, and save your Church, but this only, if you yield, and go one step back in this new Persecution, you must expect to be dealt with without mercy. But if you appear as unmovable as a Brazen Wall, we know, not merely by Conjectures, that they will not be so hard upon you. The French Government doth not intent to lose above a Million more of Subjects of the Reformed Religion, which are still in the Kingdom. They are not ignorant, that all those whom they shall Murder and Hang are lost for ever, and also, that although they take all the precautions imaginable to prevent any escape, an infinite number will nevertheless run that hazard. We know this by Experience, for many are already come over to us; some have been taken and stopped, some will be so in time to come, and some of them will be sent to the Galleys, and to the Gibbet; but those who shall be stopped, and Executed to serve for an Example, will be lost to the State, as well, nay much more than those who are gone away; since the Exiled may be called home, but the Dead can never be raised from the Grave. Be therefore assured, that the salvation of both you and your Church depends from henceforth on your constancy; endure, suffer cruel Reproaches, Threaten, Prisons, Banishments; but suffer them without fainting, and you will soon see by God's Assistance the end of them all. This is the first Advice I had to give you.  
A second thing which I will recommend to you, dear Brethren, is, to have Fellowship and Correspondence one with another, for the mutual support of your Zeal and Charity. You are mightily mistaken, if you presume you shall be able to stand up alone, by being retired within yourselves; This fire raked up under ashes will be soon put out. You are under an indispensable obligation to edify your Neighbours by your good Works, and consequently you must let your Light shine before Men. God abhors the Nicodemites that are ashamed to make an open profession of his true Worship. Your Brethren must know you, and you ought to know your Brethren. You are to practise what hath been done, as we hear in many places, where the Faithful were so courageous and successful, as to establish among them a kind of Church; for they have set over themselves Rulers, Churchwardens and Catechists, and by this good order they prevent Scandals, and the total ruin of Truth; and therefore make it your business to assist and edify one another. But how can one do this, will you say, do you not know how severely our Meetings are forbidden? Yes, we know it very well; but we hear also, that notwithstanding these Prohibitions, many thousands, even several times in a week, have met together. 'Tis true some lose their Lives, and some their Liberty upon that account; but if you are swayed by such Motives, you must never think of undertaking any great Action, because no place is exempted from danger. A Soldier must not henceforth venture to go up to the Assault, nor mount the Breach to repulse the Enemy, because there many must certainly lose their Lives. If you could once take up a vigorous Resolution to contemn Death, and to welcome it with Joy, when it may be useful to the Salvation of your Brethren, assure yourselves, that they would be soon tired with Murdering you. The ancient Christians had the same Motives of Fear which you have, they did not question, but no sooner they should be taken in their Assemblies, but that they should be put to a cruel Death. But did you ever hear that they forbore meeting together for that reason? Do you not read, that in the time of the most severe Persecutions, they met in the night in Forests and Caves; and this practice of theirs gave occasion to the following Malicious Calumnies against them, viz. They did assemble, say they, together by Torchlight, and murdered a Child, with whose Blood they kneaded their Communion-Bread, and then did all of them eat of this abominable Food; after which they put out the light, and each of them took hold of the next Woman, either his Mother, or Daughter, or Sister, with whom they committed such horrible Impurities, as 'tis a shame to mention, and of which even the thoughts are to be abhorred. They would have wanted a pretence to spread such odious Accusations against them, if they had not met by night in hidden and subterraneous places. I will require nothing of you, but refer you to your own Consciences; be Judges yourselves, whether or no it be not more honourable to imitate the Zeal of the Primitive Christians, than to obey the Council of your Wise Politicians. But however, do not let your Prudence render you remiss in the performance of your Duties, one of the most material whereof is, this, we are speaking of, viz. to find out the fittest Means to Confer together, and Edify one another.  
Some perhaps will tell you, that the Wisest Course would be to secure yourselves by a speedy Retreat; and it is certain, that the surest Expedient for every Private Person is to retire to a place of safety; but this Matter hath been sufficiently discoursed already, and we have nothing to add unto it, only I'll say, that the Execution of this Design is, by the Wiles of the Devil, involved in a thousand Difficulties. The first, and perhaps the hardest thing to be done in this present Case, is to part with the Flesh, Ambition, Covetousness, and the Love of Ease, wherewith so many are entangled. When once you have broke asunder these troublesome Bonds, you may, till you have a fair opportunity of obeying that Commandment of our Saviour, When they persecute you in one City, flee ye into another, remember in the mean time to practise all the other Counsels we have now given you.  
There is another Article wherein you stand in great need of being advised and assisted, and that is about your Children; They snatch them out of your Arms, and will have you carry them to Mass; If you refuse to send them to be Catechised by the Priests, they will lay great Penalties upon you to your utter ruin; and when all this is done, they drag these poor Children to the feet of the Idol, and force them to kneel, and mind what they say and do. The Bishops and other Clergymen take them away from you, and confine them on purpose to teach them their wicked Superstitions. We hear on this occasion an unanimous Voice, crying, Men and Brethren, what shall we do? This is, perhaps, the cruelest Temptation you are exposed unto, and a Mischief you ought with the greatest care in the World to provide a Remedy against. Children are the Nursery of the Church; if you let them be poisoned by Error, these young Plants will be lost both to you and to us. Adult Persons are in a condition to resist Temptation, and preserve themselves from the Errors they would instil into their Minds; but Children are like White Paper ready to receive any Character, and as soft Wax admitting all manner of Impression; These tender Souls, as they grow less pliant, contract such a degree of hardness, that one cannot blot out what was once imprinted upon them, and truly this is the last Shift of your Enemy's Hopes. We hear them say continually, If we cannot prevail with the Parents, who have contracted long since an ill Habit, however we shall gain the Children, and in the next Generation Calvinism will be quite forgot. But God confounds the Wise in their own Craftiness; and how justly these Measures may seem to be taken by the Devil's suggestion, we hope they will fail of their expected success. But in the mean time 'tis your part to work hard in the taking Measures quite contrary: You know very well, that your Children are much less yours than God's; and that you must give an account of them to him who hath left them to your Custody, and committed their Education to your Care: You will be a great deal more severely punished for neglecting the preservation of your children's Souls, than of your own, because, if you undo yourselves, you only take away private Men, or at most the present Generation from the Church; but you ruin and destroy all future Generations, and let the Church sustain an irrevocable loss, if you abandon, and yield your Children to that Babylon, who receives them from your Hands for no other end, but to crush them in pieces.  
The first thing you are bound to do for your Children, is to withdraw them both from the Tempter's, and Temptations, by putting them in a place of security, either within, or without the Kingdom. Come out of it? and if you cannot do that, send them away whatever it cost; but you will say, here lies the great difficulty, If we remove our Children, they quarter Soldiers upon us, consume all we have, put us in Prison, and sentence us to the Galleys till we produce them. To this, I say, Brethren, that if you are not ready to suffer cheerfully the loss of your Estates, Goods, Liberty, and Life itself for God's Cause, I have no more to say to you; I pity you with all my Heart, I lament the dangerous condition of your Souls, and earnestly pray to God in your behalf; but if you are courageous enough to sacrifice whatsoever is dearest to you, it is certain, that you cannot bestow your sacrifice better than on this occasion; for this is the most important of all your Duties. We have the Examples of terrible Punishments decreed against those Fathers who had withdrawn their Children; but some of the higher Courts have relieved them from those unjust and cruel Sentences, and harkened to the Voice both of Nature and Piety; and you know not but the like may happen unto you.  
But many of you will say we are not in a condition to do this, for we have no shelter ready for ourselves or our Children, we are not able to maintain them abroad, and are so narrowly watched, that 'tis impossible for us to take our Children out of sight for one single day, but they are immediately looked after. Take heed, dear Brethren, that all these Pretences be not suggested to you by Covetousness, Self-Interest, Fear, and Lukewarmness. But suppose all the impossibilities you mention to be true; you have yet something else to do, which is to keep your Children at home, as long as you can, and be well contented if they let them alone. But if you foresee that they have an intention to take them away, you must prevent them, by sending them away yourselves. If their Cruelty doth not proceed so far as to snatch them from you, be extremely diligent and careful to give them good Instructions, as long as they are under your Tuition and Authority, and put them as soon as may be in a condition to answer for themselves. But above all, be not so base as to carry them to Mass, or to let them be Cathechised by the Priests, for in so doing you would be no less guilty than those unnatural Fathers, who offered up their Innocent Babes to Moloch. If they come into your Houses, on purpose to seize on, and drag them to these Catechisms, these are such Outrages, as you may, and aught to oppose. But if your Oppositions prove ineffectual, as you may easily imagine they generally will, and you are forced to yield unto them, you are then obliged at least, to take all possible care to root out these bad Dispositions and Errors which they endeavour to plant in their Minds. If you know your Religion well, you cannot be ignorant of the grounds upon which it is founded: Inquire of your Children at their return, what they heard at those Heterodox Catechisms, and then I say root out all that is bad, and improve the good they have been taught. Teach them to believe in God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one only God in his substance, having three Eternal Persons, and of the same Essence; confirm what they have told them concerning the Incarnation of the second of those three Divine Persons, who took the Humane Nature in the Virgin's Womb, who died in this Nature, risen again from the Dead, ascended into Heaven, and will come again to judge both the Quick and the Dead, and take up the good into his Glory, and throw the wicked into Hell. These are the Orthodox Articles believed by the Romish Church. Husband and cultivate these Seeds they may have cast into your Child's Souls, but pluck up all the rest like Tares; create in their Mind an hatred of this Barbarous Stepmother who murders God's Children; this filthy Babylon who desiles herself by her Spiritual Whoredoms; this corrupt Jerusalem who makes to herself as many Gods, as she hath Towns and Streets; who sets up a Bread-God upon her Altars, and orders it to be proclaimed, It is Commanded, O People, that ye fall down and worship, to morrow is a Feast to the Lord, these be thy Gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the Land of Egypt. Teach your Children to pray unto God only, to Honour and Reverence the Memory of Saints, to imitate their Virtues, and not to make either Idols of them, by calling upon them, or to commit Abominations in your ways, by falling down before their Images. But we want Books, you will say, How shall we instruct our Children? Have you no Books? You have at least the Bible by you: What! Do you not know that so many Papists have been these last years illuminated by the reading of this Book only; and will it not be suffieient to keep up in your House a light which is already kindled? Finally, though they be never so careful to take away all your Books, you may save some, and those that are the most useful and necessary are very small, and of little consequence in the Eyes of your Enemies: You need desire for this purpose, only some familiar Instructions, such as are to be found in our Catechisms, and particularly in Mr. Direlincourt's Abridgement of Controversies, wherein you have the most material Texts of Scripture against the Church of Rome; Make your Children learn them by Heart, and repeat them so often unto them, that they may never forget them. By the Commerce now open with Foreign Countries, you may furnish yourselves with such Books as are necessary to your Comfort: We wish it may please Almighty God to put it into the Hearts of some of our Brethren, to send you some good Instructions in single Sheets, which you may use as an Antidote to preserve your Child's Souls from Corruption. We know very well the Sophisms and Fallacies of the Romish Catechists, and what they teach their Catechumen, or young Beginners; and so it would not be a difficult matter for you, to provide yourselves with such Means, as should be able to keep your Children from the Errors they intent to instil into them. In these small Treatises great Learning and Eloquence are not so much required, as evident and pertinent Places out of the Holy Scripture, with some short and substantial Reasons to show the strength of them, and restore the Texts which have been altered and perverted from their true meaning by the Malicious and Erroneous Interpretations of our Adversaries.  
This is the sum and substance of the Advices we promised you, we might further enlarge upon them, and add several others, but since we are not in a condition to do all, we refer you to those, who either have already, or shall hereafter undertake to Comfort and Instruct you; yet without derogating from the Right which all your Ministers have to speak to you, when they think it fit, we have but one Advice more to give you, which is, to turn to God with an hearty and sincere Conversion, with great and bitter Weeping, with a sorrowful Repentance, for so many Crying Sins that have drawn God's Wrath both upon you, and our Church; and, in fine, with frequent, pious, fervent, and reiterated Prayers; and that you may the better understand, how your Prayers should in our Opinion be expressed, we have drawn up a Form which may serve you as a Pattern, if you think good.   

A FORM of PRAYER for the Persecuted Church.  
O Almighty God, Father of all Light and Compassion, thou only makest the Night and the Day, Prosperity and Adversity; thou disposest all Events with the most profound Wisdom, and perfect Justice, thou speakest, and the thing is done, thou Commandest, and it standeth fast; 
Ps. 33.  thy counsel standeth for ever, and the thoughts of thy Heart to all G●nerations, but thou bringest the Counsel of the Heathen to nought, and makest the Devices of the People of none effect, therefore thy Compassions cannot be reckoned up. 
Ps. 103.  The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy; he will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger for ever; for as the Heaven is high above the Earth, so great is his Mercy towards them that fear him. To whom shall we go for succour, O Lord, but to thee who hast the Words of Eternal Life? Of whom should we ask Relief, but of him before whom the most Mighty Men are but Dust and Ashes? 
Ps. 2.  he breaketh them with a Rod of Iron, and dasheth them in pieces like a Potter's Vessel. Whom should we implore for Grace and Mercy, but him who is abundant in Mercy and Compassion? O great Shepherd of Israel, 
Ps. 80.  who leadest us like Sheep, turn us again, show the light of thy Countenance, and we shall be whole. Remember the Wonders which thou didst for this Israel, who is now become the Prey of the Nations. This Church was born in Egypt, and had been long detained Captive in Babylon; But thou with a strong and stretched out Arm hadst brought her out of Egypt about two hundred years ago; Thou hadst transplanted this Vine, and set it in a very fruitful Hill, and watered it with the Due of Heaven, and nursed it with the Fatness of the Earth; Thou lookedst that it should bring forth Grapes, 
Esai. 5.  and it brought forth Wild Grapes; We have been all along barren and unfruitful under the care of this good and mighty Hand; 
Es. 64.  We are all as an unclean thing, and all our unrighteousness are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a Leaf, and our Iniquities like the Wind have taken us away. The sins of our forefathers fasten us to the Earth, 
Ezech. 18.  for our Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and our teeth are set on edge. But alas! we are Vipers, Children of Serpents, and hatched out of Cockatrice Eggs. We being wicked followers of our Ancestors Works have corrupted ourselves, as they have done, and daily increased our Corruption. 
Ezech. 33.  Thy Word hath been to us, as a very lovely Song, and we have heard it, according as it pleased our Ears, and gratified our Senses. We have been forgetful Hearers; 
Matth. 11.  and they have Piped unto us, and we have not Danced; they have Mourned unto us, and we have not Lamented. We have heard thy Servants, who de-declared thy word unto us, but have not answered by such motions as were agreeable both to their words and thy designs. 
Gen. 6. Isai. 1.  All Flesh among us had corrupted his way upon Earth; Thou hast looked down, and the whole Head is sick, and the whole Heart faint: From the sole of the Foot even unto the Head, there is no soundness in it, but Wounds and Bruises, and putrifying Sores; they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with Ointment. We, our Fathers, our Children, our Shepherds, our People, have been all as Sheep going astray, 
Psal. 119.  every one wand'ring in his own way: And therefore thou hast searched us out, and found him who rejoiced in his Carnal Pleasures, and those who did shamefully, and at their Ease, lie down under their Vines, and the shade of their Figtrees. We fell asleep, and the Enemy, the Philistine is fallen upon us; and because thy strength was departed from us, 
Judg. 16.  we remained bound with Cords and Fetters of Brass. Therefore, O Lord, 
Dan. 9  Righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us, Confusion of Faces as at this day. We are Dumb, and open not our Mouths, 
Psal. 39  because thou didst it; and we are fully convinced, that the Miseries we suffer, are nothing in comparison with those we deserve. But, O Lord God of Vengeances, wilt thou do nothing for thyself, for thy Glory, and for thy Truth? Be not angry against us for ever; but let thy Jealousy be awakened. See thy Adversaries who have made thy Zion a Wilderness, and thy Jerusalem a Desolation. Our Holy, 
Isaiah 64.  and our beautiful Houses, where we praised thee, are burnt up with Fire, and all our pleasant things are laid waste. They are become the habitation of the Owls, and the Voice of the Osprey frighteth the living, and calls for the dead Instead of thy Truths, which were published there, they hear nothing but Blasphemies belched contemptuously against these demolished Sanctuaries. We have seen Affliction by the Rod of thy Wrath, they have led us, and brought us into darkness, but not into light. 
Jerem. 3.  The man whom we called the Anointed of the Lord, and was the breath of our Nostrils, is turned, and hath turned his Hand against us all the day: Our Flesh and our Skin hath he made old, he hath broken our Bones: He hath compassed us with Gall and Travel, and made our Chains heavy: Also, when we cry, he shutteth his Ear against our Prayers. He is unto us as a Bear lying in wait, and as a Lion in secret places. The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the Solemn Feasts. Thy Enemies, O God, thy Enemies did rejoice for their Victory; wilt thou permit the wicked to triumph for ever? 
Psal. 83.  They have taken Counsel against thy secret ones. They have said, come, and let us root them out, that they be no more a People, and that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. 
Psal. 2.  They are, I say, Confederate against us. The Kings of the Earth, and the Rulers have taken Counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed; let us break, said they, their Bonds asunder, and cast away their Cords from us. The Egyptian hath conspired with Babel, and agreed to make an end of the Family of thy Israel. They have taken away the Children of the Daughter of Zion to make them Slaves to the Daughter of Babylon. They drown them into the darkness of Egypt, and in the Brooks of the Country of Cham. Alas! We are not now in a Condition to say; Behold we, and the Children thou hast given us to do thy Will, O God: For they take away our Children to Sacrifice them to Moloch, and offer them up to the Idol. They do not kill them, they make them Fat with the Dainties of the King's Table; but they drag them into Hell with Golden Chains: And say, 
Psal. 83.  Come, Let us root them out, that they be no more a People; and that the Name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. Oh, That thou wouldst bow the Heavens, 
Isai. 64.  that thou wouldst come down, that the Mountains might flow down at thy presence, as when the melting Fire burneth, the Fire causeth the Waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine Adversaries, that the Nations may tremble at thy presence. 
Psal. 68  Let God arise, and let his Enemies be scattered, do not kill them lest my People should forget it: But take away their Stony Heart, and give them a Heart of Flesh. And as for us, turn us, O Lord, and we shall be turned, 
Lament. 3.  draw us, that we may run after thee. Mine Eye runneth down with Rivers of Water for the Destruction of the Daughter of my People; my Eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission, till the Lord look down, and behold from Heaven: Mine Eye affecteth mine Heart, because of all the Daughters of my People. The Zeal of thine House hath even eaten me, 
Psal. 69.  and the rebukes of them that rebuked thee are fallen upon me. Reproach hath broken my Heart, and I am full of heaviness; And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; 
Psal. 121. Job 6.  I have lifted up my Eyes unto the Hills to get help. I expected Comfort from Men, but received none. My Brethren have dealt deceitfully, as a Brook, and as the stream of Brooks they pass away, which are blackish, by reason of the Ice, and wherein the Snow is hid. What time they wax warm they vanish: When it is hot, they are consumed out of their Places: But God forbidden I should ever forsake my hope; though thou slayest me, yet will I trust in thee. I know that my Redeemer liveth, 
Job 13.15.19.  and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth. The Ruins of Jerusalem are not for ever. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion. For it is time, 
Psal. 102.  that thou have Mercy upon her, yea, the time is come: And why? Thy Servants think upon her Stones: and it pitieth them to see her in the Dust. The Lord is my Light, and my Salvation, whom then shall I fear? Though an Host of Men were laid against me, 
Psal. 84. Psal. 36. Psal. 23.  yet shall not my Heart be afraid. For the Lord God is a Sun, and a Shield; with thee is the fountain of Life; in thy Light shall we see Light. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy Rod and thy Staff they comfort me: He hath severely struck us with this Shepherd's Staff, because we went out of his ways. But 'tis enough, O Lord, 'tis enough, lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us. Give us a new Heart, that we may fear thee. Have mercy upon us miserable Sinners. Our Sins are continually hideous before us. We have vexed thy Holy Spirit; 
Isai. 63.  therefore thou art turned to be our Enemy. But, O Lord, Let us not go out of thy ways any more, neither let our Heart be hardened from thy fear. Return to us, that we may return to thee. Prevail with him to whom thou hast submitted us. For King's Hearts are in thy Hand, 
Prov. 21.  as the Rivers of Water; Turn the Counsel of the Achitophel's into foolishness. And let the designs of those who seek our Ruin vanish away. Call all the Banished home, and build up again thy destroyed Sanctuaries. Say, to the North, Give up, and to the South, Keep not back: That we may be gathered together again under thy Banners, Glorify thyself for ever and ever, and to thee, only, O King of the World, belong Glory, Strength and Majesty; Hear us, O Lord, and Grant our Petitions, in the Name and Mediation of thy Son.  
All the Thoughts and Expressions of this Prayer are taken out of the Holy Scripture. There cannot be Words more powerful to speak to God, than those which God himself made use of to speak with us. And our design in framing it, was to let you understand, that the Art of Praying well is learned only by the serious Reading of the Prophets, the Evangelists, and Apostles. And although you be neither Doctors in Divinity, or Ministers Consecrated, you will for all that learn in the Holy Scripture, what thing soever is necessary for you to Edify one another, both by devout Prayers, and the most powerful Exhortations.  
FINIS.