Mars Christianissimus. Autore GERMANO GALLO-GRAECO: OR, AN APOLOGY For the Most Christian King's Taking up Arms against the CHRISTIANS.  
LONDON, Printed for R. Bentley, and S. magnets, in Russel-street in Covent-Garden, 1684.   

 bookplate for Trinity College, University of Cambridge 
Collegium S. Sctc Individuae Trinitatis in Academia Cantabrigiensi    

SInce 'tis usual for most Men to regard their private, rather than the public Interest, the present rather than the time to come, I am not at all surprised to find so many, who tho they easily see that the safety of the Church depends wholly on the greatness of France; yet notwithstanding, are not wanting to prefer their sovereigns Interest before the general Good of all Christendom, under a pretence of defending the Liberty of their Country: which nevertheless 'twill be impossible for them to do without the assistance of France.  
But one might have pardonned their indiscreet Zeal for their Country, if they had not given themselves the Liberty of reflecting upon the Kings good Intentions. For my part, though I am 〈…〉 German, yet I am a great admire of the French virtues, and havin●… invincible Arguments to confoun●… such indiscreet Persons, I thin●… myself obliged in Conscience t●… make them public. I could wis●… indeed that some of the bes●… Writers of France would take thi●… task upon them, since they wou'●… not be exposed to those censures as a Natural German must of necessity be. But I see we must no●… expect hereafter any Argument from a Nation which will make good her Title no other way 〈…〉 but by the Point of the Sword knowing that the good Fortune or rather the Justice of the King will procure him Advocates enough in other Countries.  
'thas been resolved on in France ever since the year 1672, that the King should not for the future give any reason for his Enterprises by publishing vain useless Manifests, as his Ancestors and the other Potentates had formerly practised. Wherefore it being agreed on to attack the Hollanders, the Declaration of War was instead of a Manifest, wherein no other Reason was given, but the Kings Will; to wit, his Displeasure at the States Conduct and Behaviour: the ill-affected People gave out, that it was unjust to meddle with those, who offered all imaginable satisfaction, and wished only to know what the King desired of them. Others suspected that the Advocate 
The Title of a Book made to prove the Right of the French Queen upon the Spanish Neth rlands.  of the Rights of the Queen having been ill handled, by Baron D'Issola, they found it not convenient to venture a second Disgrace, but they are all in the dark; for they did not want good Reasons in France, and I know that a Learned Person having drawn up a Manifest, wherein he clearly laid open the Conduct of the Hollanders, he presented it to the Ministers of State, who thought fit to suppress it, saying, That no other Reasons but those which Cardinal de Richlieu calls the Final Reasons of State, were suitable to their Masters grandeur. After that, the Hollanders and their Allies mightily urged the French Plenipotentiaries at Cologne, to communicate to them, the Reasons upon which their King grounded his Pretensions; but the ambassador rejected this, as a thing unworthy of their Great Master, and said, They were not come to pled like Advocates, but to treat of Peace as the Ministers of a mighty Monarch, and to declare his Will in whatsoever he would or would not Consent to. They observed the same Method likewise at Nimiguen▪ for they laughed at the good Bishop de Gorck, and took him for a very simplo Person for demanding of them any Reason of their Actions: Nay, even the Marshal D'Estrades, and the marquis de Croissy  told him flat and plainly,( the Hollanders having made a separate Peace) that they must content themselves with what the King granted them, and receive it as a pure Favour of his Majesty.  
The late French Ambassadors at Frankfort could not endure to be  told of the Paragraph of the Instrument of Peace of Westphalia, which begun thus, Teneatur Rex Christianissimus. I cannot tell whether that rude word, Teneatur, sounded harsh to their Ears, or whether they were offended with the Text; however, 'tis certain that they had no less aversion for this passage, than the Devil has for Holy Water: and one of them could not refrain from saying to a certain Person, who spoken to him of it: Let me alone with your Peace of Munster, it shall neither add nor diminish any thing.  
'tis not that they mistrusted the goodness of their Cause, or that they wanted Reasons to strengthen it, but they resolved to stand firm to the Resolution which has been long since taken in France, of acknowledging no other Judge but the Sword. Not as that Atheist who said, Dextra mihi Jupiter& telum quid missile libra. But because they imagine very well, quod Victrix causa Diis Placuit, and that there needs no Reason to be given for a Victory, which is as a sentence given by the Gods themselves: but since this way of deciding useless Disputes does not agree with the Constitution of our Germans, who are more accustomed to the Wars of the Pen, I am resolved to enter into the List with them, thereby not to betray a good. Cause by silence, which most People unadvisedly impute to the illness of it. I hope to undeceive them, and to give them clear Demonstrations, that the King is to be accused rather of an excess of Moderation than of Ambition, since the Insolence of his Enemies proceeds from nothing else, but his too great mercy and Clemency towards them, and that in Consideration of Christendom, he stops sometimes in the full career of his conquests, when nothing in all probability can hinder him from making greater. But I hope the King will one day open his Eyes, and that he will totally ruin those Turbulent and Malignant Persons, who pretend to hinder the Christians from having one head against the Infidels, the heretics from being destroyed, and there being likewise but one King, one Faith, and one Law.  
Some Body will object to me, that I expose the Kings Rights too nakedly, and with too great freedom, and that I discover the secret before its time, but I have good reason to think, that it will not be disliked of in France, where there needs no further dissimulation, and the Monsieurs give enough to understand, both by words and deeds, that they value not the Censure of the Vulgar, under which word, they include all those who side not with them, since none at present can be accomplished, or any ways distinguished from the Common sort, whose Inclinations are not altogether Frenchified.  
Besides I have several Instances, to induce me to believe, that France makes no Mystery of divulging what she has so long kept secret; whereof here are some: About 15 or 18 years past, some inquisitive Persons had discovered, by what means I know not, the intrigues of the French to get Casall into their hands. These reports coming to the Kings ear, and seeming dishonourable to him, he ordered Monsieur Grevell to assure the Germans in the word of a King, that he was far from having any such thoughts. 'twas that things were not as yet Ripe, to declare their minds upon that Point.  
Except you will say to excuse France, that 'tis only since that time that she begun to think on any such design, and that those slanderers were themselves the occasion of it, their King supposing it to be all one, whether he did it or no, since he should be no less exposed to their Malicious Censures, so that these Gentlemen might have hastened what they feared, as those Astrologers, whose predictions have been the occasion of the Evils they have foretold, however 'tis apparent, that in France they see no cause why they should any longer make a scruple of any thing. Here is another Example, the late Elector Palatine, sent one to the King, to demand the restitution of some places, which his Officers had seized on.  
This Envoye, in his audience of the King, insisted much on the Justice and Faith of Treaties; the King answered him with a great deal of Moderation, that he pretended nothing, but what he thought in Conscience belonged to him, and that he had appointed commissioners to examine the matter fully, and to Confer with the Parties concerned.  
This answer was conformable to the times, for the face of Affairs being since much changed, they derided those who imagined, that Common Reason should have any force upon the Assessors of the Chambers of Metz and Brisac, and ridiculed likewise those who were so simplo, as to suppose that if the French ambassadors at Francfort, would enter into a formal dispute with them, and maintain these in Law; from whence one may judge, that France begins to throw off that so ill becoming shane, or that Clownish modesty which she formerly had, and that on the contrary she Acts with a certain Noble Freedom, peculiar only to persons well bread and born. This the French Ministers in several places do not dissemble.  
For the Ambassadors at Francfort, seeing themselves importuned by some who desired to know, why France had never demanded before Strasburg, and a great many other places which he now possesses, and why she had not made any Mention of her Pretensions, when the occasion seemed to require it, as in the Treaty of Munster, Nuremberg, or at least that of Nimeguen, These Gentlemen were not ashamed to answer, That Affairs were not then in a Condition to negotiate about such matters. It will not be amiss perhaps, to Consider by what degrees France is arrived to this greatness of Soul, according to which she valves not to disclose to the world the Designs which she formerly held secret.  
The King having lost his Preceptor at the death of the Cardinal de Mazarine, did govern himself notwithstanding for some time acaccording to his Counsels, as if he had been yet alive, the rather because Monsieur de Lionne who had been trained up in the same School, followed the same maxims, they treated at that time the German Princes with some respect and Civility, they observed at least apparently the Law of Nations, and seemed not willing to infringe the Peace of Munster and of the German Liberty. But Lionne being dead, Monsieur de Louvois remonstrated to the King, that the League of the Rhine, had been rather Prejudicial to France than any thing else, that they ought not to regard so much henceforward the Princes of the Empire, that they could not employ their Money worse, than in giving it them, that the Empire was an empty name, which they might without danger Molest, and not want persons neither to approve of it in Germany itself: These Counsels having pretty well succeeded Monsieur de pompion: proposed to the King another new doctrine of his own Invention, he said that that scarecrow of the Peace of Munster had already but too long limited the Kings progress, and that there was now a new Peace, altogether his own, which might be much more plausibly Insisted on, than that of Munster, which the Germans could not in Reason allege in their behalf, since they were the first who had Violated it: That the Peace of Nimeguen being a pure favour and Grace of the Kings, it belonged to him only to explain it. If now France is obliged to Monsieur de Louvois for making her sensible of the weakness of the German Princes, if Monsieur d●… Croissy has disengaged the King from that troublesone Peace of Munster; I think I shall deserve no less than these Gentlemen, if I satisfy the Consciences of some of the Kings Council, who have yet any Scruples remaning, as to the ecclesiastics, and the Canons of the Church.  
I will let you therefore see, that these things Oblige indeed ordinary men, but that there is a certain Law superior to all others, conformable notwithstanding to the sovereign Justice, which dispenses Kings from these Rules. For you must observe, there is no Law for a Just Man, and he who has the Character of an Extraordinary Power, is exempted by virtue of his Commission from all common and human Obligations. It remains therefore for me to demonstrate, how the King has such a Character, and that there's not a man in the World at present, who hath received from Heaven, and even from the Antipodes them●… elves, a greater Power than Louis the fourteenth. And that I may acquit myself so much the better, of what I undertook to prove, I will first lay down some new Law Positions to refute at the same time, what I foresee will be opposed against me, by too sorts of People, to wit, the German Civilians, and the Cannon Lawyers of Italy. I have the greater hopes of succeeding, in this my design, because I have in some manner on my side, the Casuists or the Authors of the Moral Doctrine, and particularly the jesuits, who cannot choose but see, being so subtle and cunning as they are, that they have more to expect at present from the French, than the Spanish Monarchy.  
I lay down therefore for a Foundation, That all things below upon Earth are subject to the sovereign Right of some very great and Powerful King, which he has by a certain Destiny upon all other Creatures. From this particular Right sprung that of Moses upon the Vessels which he borrowed from the Egyptians, and that which the Israelites exercised upon the Bodies and Goods of the Canaanites. And 'twas in Quality of Vicar upon Earth, that Pope Alexander the sixth pretended to divide the new World between the Spaniards and the Portugals, tho' his power did not reach so far as to Temporal things; when on the contrary, I will make appear, that the Most Christian King, who reigns at present, is the only and true Vicar of the World, in respect to Temporal Affairs; to this Foundation, I must add the definition of what is just, or unjust, which Plato very well explains, under the parsonage of a certain Thratinaque whom he introduces, ●… aying that Justum est Potentiori ●… tile, which agrees very well with what we have already said of the Right of some very great Monarch upon the Temporals of all Mankind.  
The most Powerful in the World, excepting always the devil, is without dispute the most Christian King; and there goes a good saying of the Emperor Maximilian the First, who said one day, that if he was Jupiter, and was to make his will, he would give the Kingdom of Heaven to his Eldest Son, and that of France to his second. If this was true in the Reign of that Emperor, it will be much more now. For Louis the Fourteenth alone, has added to his Crown, so vast an extent of Country, from the Alps of the swissers to the German Ocean, that those Conquests are of themselves sufficient to make a Considerable Kingdom.  
There needs no great Art to prove the Most Christian King to be the true Vicar, for the greatest part of the Arguments which Cardinal Bellarmin makes use of to prove the Popes indirect Power upon Temporal things, may serve incomparably better to prove the direct Power of the Kings. All that is foretold of the Reign of the New Testament upon earth, must be understood of the Reign of the Most Christian King, and you must not think that the holy 
'tis a Viol wherein is kept( at rheims) the Ointment with which the Kings of France are anointed at their Coronation, and was brought down from Heaven( as the French say) by two Angels.  Viol came down from Heaven for nothing, or that the King received in vain the Gift of doing Miracles and healing the sick, for that's a Mark of those who are employed upon earth to extend the two Kingdoms. I know very well that some Physitians cannot believe the Miracle which the King does so often by Curing the Evil; but there is no heed to be given to the little Faith of those Men, whose Religion is even now become a Proverb: some do object that the Duke D'Epernon, favourite to Henry III, was troubled with the Disease which the King should cure. But suppose this to be true, does not every one know, that the Saints themselves would not always heal all the Sick. Besides, 'tis visible that all the Prophets never meant any other, but the Kings of France to be one day the Pillars and Protectors of the Church. And not to make mention of several other Passages, can there be any thing more clear than this, in which they say, Lilia agri non nent, which signifies without doubt, that Women must not succeed in the Kingdom of France, that so the sceptre remaining in that Warlike Nation, it might never be brought under the subjection of Strangers and Women, since the Temporal King or Hero, whom all People will follow, must come from thence.  
I have not red of any Kingdom, which can bring so good proofs for its fundamental Laws out of both Testaments, as the French can. That the Turks are to be ruined by France, is known by an old prophesy which one Bartholomew Georgiewiz, who had been for a long time Prisoner in turkey, brought with him from the Eastern parts.  
There is a prophesy de Rege quodam illustris semilii, in Pareus his Commentary upon the Apocalypse, which confirms the same thing. I am not ignorant that Grotius, in his Book de jure belly& Pacis, does not approve of the alleging of Prophesies, thereby to ground any Right upon. But Grotius his Law is much different from ours; for besides that, he speaks of Prophesies whose explanation is uncertain. Ours on the contrary is out of all dispute; and since the Pope, to make good his Right of the Church, proves it by Prophets, why should not the most Christian King do so likewise, who is without Contradiction the true Vicar upon Earth, there being no other King in the World to do Temporally, what the Popes have done Ecclesiastically, nor to Establish upon Earth the Kingdom of the New Testament; happy according to the Flesh, which the Millenarian heretics foolishly expected, according to their false Notions.  
Moreover the Right which we attribute to the most Christian King, is daily confirmed by Providence itself; for is it not a great Miracle, that a Prince involved in so many different Wars at once, should nevertheless abound in Money: some are so foolish to think that he has that Blessed ston, which is alone capable of making Rich all the Kings of the Earth: Others seeing him thus prosper in all his Undertakings, and that he is informed of the most secret designs of his Enemies, are so vain to suppose him Conversant with a familiar Spirit, a thing not only Ridiculous, but even Impious, to attribute to the Devil the effects of a Divine Inspiration, in which the People are not unlike the Jews, who said, That Miracles might be made by the means of Beelzebub.  
What clearer demonstration can be given of the good will of the Gods towards our Monarch, than what we daily see before our Eyes; to wit, a continual assistance from Heaven in all his Actions, insomuch that Mankind, and even time itself, seem to Conspire to add to his Glory and Happiness? For that which some call Fortune, is nothing but a Decree of Providence, and 'tis Contra stimulum calcitratre, to oppose it. Do not we see that the Emperour Leopold is endowed with several great and Excellent Virtues, that all the World admires his fervent Zeal and Piety, that there's not a Prince more assiduous in performing his Office, nor who hears more willingly, or who examines with more attention all Petitions and Memorials, which seem of any Importance. He is always in Action, sometimes in Council, sometimes in his Cabinet making his dispatches; in a word, one may say, that there is not a Minister who takes the pains that he does, yet notwithstanding all things go contrary to his desire, when, in the mean time the King of France, who makes his Business a Pleasure to him, succeeds in all his Enterprises.  
What other Consequence may we draw from hence, but that this King is destined to do some great things; for the Souls of Heaven receive Blessings even asseep, whilst others toil and labour to gain something, tho in vain. We wanted another Jeremias to declare to all the Powers of the Earth, tha●… those who withstood the King, op●… posed at the same time the Heavenly Decree, as those who hoped t●… defend themselves against nabuchadnezzar, and leaned upon the broken Staff of Egypt; not unlike those Princes, who put at present al●… their trust in the House of Austria.  
But lo here another Jeremias●… that so the Germans may have no excuse left them: 'tis one who from a Curate of a certain Village in Germany, is suddenly become a Prophet, and proves infallibly by the Apocalypse, that all the Enemies of the King shall Perish: The event has confirmed his Predictions; for the Italians, Jealous of the Kings Glory, suffer no little damage by the great drought, and the Excessive heat of the Sun: the Hollanders, envious of his Happiness, are punished by Inundations, which put them in hourly sears of their utter ruin.  
The ingrateful swedes have been almost frozen to death with could, the House of Austria torn to pieces by Civil Discords: The Germans feel already on one side all the Rage and Fury of the Turks, and on the other are threatened by the Forces of Denmark, all which should make them think of preventing their Punishment by a speedy Repentance, in throwing themselves into the Arms of the King. All Rules of Policy cease, in respect to this Great Prince, and tho he seems to do many things against Prudence, he still prospers, because the good Spirit is with him, and the Wisdom of this World is but Folly in Heaven. The People make Disturbances, and frame Designs against the King and Gods Anointed: 'tis no wonder therefore that the Heavenly Power rising up against them, disperses them in his Wrath. When the King choose to humble the Hollanders, rather by force of Arms, than to grant them a Peace, which they were ready to receive from his hands, the Wis●… Men of this World feared some fata●… Catastrophe, especially when they saw England separated from France and on the contrary, Germany an●… Spain joined with the Hollanders but Providence had ordered it otherwise: The Danger was really great, and France would have soon perceived it, if sweden had not saved her, by drawing the storm upon her own head.  
This was writ in the Book o●… Fate, and the swedes having done it against their will, pushed on by some superior Power, deserve as little thanks, as the King does blame, for abandoning them ever since they began to be importunate to him, and( as we believe) useless. But let us return to the extraordinary Actions of the King, which are often disapproved of, by those who think themselves very Wise: Can there be any thing more contrary to Reason in all appearance, than what he did the last year, when he provoked and despised at the same time Heaven and Earth, Europe and Asia, the Pope and the Protestants, the Emperour and the Sultan, the Kings of Spain, Sweedeland, and Poland, the States General, and the Princes of Germany, Italy, and, in a word, almost the whole World? It might have happened at the same time, that the Pope might have Excommunicated him, his Subjects risen up in Arms against him, the Turk might have caused all the French Merchants and merchandises to be Arrested; that the Emperour, with the Princes of the Empire, might have attacked his Frontiers, the Hollanders aided the Spaniards to recover all the places that they have lost; that the Princes of Italy, allarmed at the getting of Cassal, might have taken some vigorous Resolution for the defence of their Liberty: and yet none of all these things happened; which cannot be attributed to any thing, but a Miracle from the Hand above, which ties the Arms of the one, and blinds the other, as it did the Arof the Syrians, at the Prayer of the Prophet.  
I suppose I have now sufficiently proved, as well by Prophecies as by Miracles, the Kings extraordinary Mission for the Reforming the Temporal Affairs of the Christians, and that grounded without doubt upon much better Reasons, than that of the first pretended Reformers of the catholic Faith.  
From whence it follows, That all Kings and Princes are obliged in Conscience to bear respect towards him, to choose him for their Arbitrator in all their Differences, and to leave him the management of the general Affairs of Europe; and that those who do not so, resist the Decree of the unavoidable Destiny. If they remain obstinate, and despise the Brotherly Correction which the King uses towards them, their Subjects are absolved from their Oaths of Fidelity ipso jure, and may lawfully put themselves under the Kings subjection. Some perhaps will apprehended the dismal example of those of Messina, who having obtained the Kings Protection, were afterwards shamefully abandoned, against the Honour of the King, and his Faith so often given, and and that with so much precipitation, that they scarce gave time enough to those who were concerned in it, to save their Lives and Fortunes, leaving several to the severity and Mercy of the Spaniards.  
I must needs confess, that 'tis very true, and that this very proceeding might dishearten the wellintention'd; but this must not be imputed to the King, but to the Disasters of those Times, which are much changed at present; and one must consider, that this great Sect must have its Martyrs in the beginning. Principally the catholics of Germany must aclowledge him their Redeemer, since 'tis certain, that the Arms of France are destined for the Propagating Religion, rather then extending its Territories. All the World knows that the King made War upon the Hollanders, upon no other account but to help the Bishops of Cologne, and Munster, to pursue their Rights of their Churches. If the French have since ill treated the diocese of Cologne and liege, one must believe, that that was done against the Kings will, or by the Electors consent, or at least by reason of War, and for the public good. Do we not know how earnestly the French ambassadors at Nimmeguen' insisted on a toleration for the Roman catholic Religion in the United Provinces? and how many times have they been just ready to break off the Treaty, upon no other account? And the success has answered their pains and trouble, that is, they never meant it, because that one must first seek after the Kingdom of Heaven, and afterwards be assured that the rest will follow. If there is any one who doubts yet of the Kings sincerity, and good intentions, seeing he studies always how to persecute and torment the House of Austria, who are good catholics, let him consider, that those of that Family, are now become the Favoures of heretics, ever since they thought that they should be able to maintain themselves by their Assistance. So that we must begin with the Ruin of that House, to root out the Heresies which Charles the 5th. by his Complaisant politics first brought in. It will be objected to me, That the King has assisted Count de Teckley and the other Hungarian Rebels, notwithstanding they were Protestants, and tho' he saw at the same time, what an irreparable loss it would be to the Christians, and on the contrary, of a vast advantage to the Turks. They will likewise say, That Louis the 13th. did the same thing for the heretics of Germany, who subsisted only by his means. But I answer, That such a little present damage, which the Christians and catholics suffer, is not to be compared to the extraordinary advantage and profit which will one day result to them from these things. For the King having thus humbled the House of Austria, and remaining the only Umpire of the Affairs of Christendom, it will be an easy matter for him to settle the Church for ever, and to overthrow at one and the same time both Turks and heretics. He has already given us some Proofs of this his good will and intention, at Gigeri and candy, and in several other places,( for as to the Algerines he never designed the utter Ruin of that Base Cannale) Tempus enim veniet quo devorabit Zelus ipsius& hos& omnes Mamamuschos. And without doubt, he will not stop there, when he once sees himself in a condition of giving Laws to Germany, Italy, and the rest of Europe, there being no other Power to make Head against him;& I make no question, but we shall quickly see this Blessed time. The inferior sort of the catholic Clergy in Germany, which has been ill used by the Protestants, and abandoned by the House of Austria, sings already Osanna at the approach of its Redeemer. The Bishops indeed being Princes of the Empire, are yet in suspense, and are afraid lest there should be brought in amongst them those ill-nam'd liberties of the Gallican Church, which may be indeed Liberties towards the Pope, but only a Slavery in respect to the King. Those nevertheless who will not prefer their Temporal Rights to the public good of the catholic Church, ought to join with the King, and to follow the example of those two good Bishops of Stratsbourg, whose Zeal was so great for the catholic Faith, that they made no difficulty of Sacrificing to it their Temporal Principalities which were annexed to their Churches: for since Charity commands us to think the best, we must not suspect them to have had any other designs. The other Bishops of Germany may follow their Example, the rather that they need not fear any Alteration will be made in their lives-time, and that they may with a safer Conscience enrich their Nephews, since 'tis not only lawful, but even Commanded us, to provide for our Kindred, and those who do not, are worse then Heathens.  
As to the German Monks, 'tis another case; for since I make profession of being sincere, and that I have no design upon any one, I dare not counsel them to adhere to France, because the friars of St. Benedict, St. Bernard, the Carmelites, the Dominicans, and several other Orders, who live very well at their ease in Germany, have been obliged not long since in France to Fast and go barefooted. The secular Princes of Germany will think it something hard to be forced to surrender up their almost Royal Authority into the hands of the King; and because 'tis known how difficult a thing it is for the Rich to enter into Heaven, therefore those who are Powerful, seem unwilling to accommodate themselves with the most Christian Kingdom, or its Temporal Vicar, who is the King. But they shall come to, sooner or later; and as all Rivers do at last disembogue in the Sea, whatsoever turnings and windings they make, so must all the Powers, especiall● those of Italy and Germany, be swallowed up by this Fifth Monarchy.  
The Hollanders feel already their approaching Ruin, by the lessenning of their Trade, and the unavoidable loss of the Spanish Netherlands; so that 'tis to be hoped, that this nest of Secretaries will quickly be destroyed. Denmark and Brandenbourg being animated against sweden, Saxe, and Brunswic, will soon consume the remainder of the Protestant Forces. The Bishops of the Rhyne, Westphalia, nay, even those of Franconia, one day will not oppose the Kings Zeal for the catholic Faith. Austria and Bavaria will not be able to withstand him, being weakened or terrified by the Neighbourhood of the Turks.  
There is no great heed to be given to the Italians, who are ready to receive the Yoke, and who have so much degenerated from the virtue of their Ancestors: For what did not the Venetians for Example do, when formerly the House of Austria had some design in the Country of the Grisons? And now that France has got footing in the very heart of Italy, they are mute, and dare not say one word.  
I do not question but this is an effect of Providence, who takes care to blind them, thereby to inflict the greater punishment upon them.  
Certainly when Germany is at the Kings Devotion, it will be too late for them to wake from this deadly Lethargy, for where would they raise Men, there being but few disciplined Troops in all Italy? Money alone being not sufficient to make War, when 'tis not employed in time. I believe the Italians will make some effort, before they give themselves quiter up, and that they will fight non pro aeris& focis, said pro lectulis, for fear of the Horns which the French are preparing for them, with whom they know that their Wives do already secretly combine, which begun to appear ever since the Envoy of France, among some other harsh Conditions, proposed to those of Genoua, That it should be permitted henceforward to the Women of that Country, to live after the French Fashion, and to receive Visits from French men; so that the Italian Ladies do not less expect of them their deliverance from their Husbands yoke and Tyranny, than the German Priests from the Insults of the Protestants.  
Such is the Fortune of France, which finds Powerful Favourers amongst her Enemies themselves, as that of the Clergy in Germany, and of the Sex in Italy; and who dare resist henceforward the two most dangerous of Enemies, Priests and and Women, when once combined together? I think it will not be amiss, while I make the Kings Apology, to make that likewise of some Germans, Gallo-Grecians, my Brethren( who are not insensible to the Powerful Charms of the Louis d'Ors.) The ignorant Multitude call us Traytors, saying, That we sell our Country, and that we do our endeavours to bring it under a foreign Subjection. But I believe that the greatest part of those who reproach us with these things, could wish they were capable themselves of the same Crime, and what they do is purely out of Envy, since they have not the Art or the good Fortune thus to bring Grist to the Mill.  
I except some simplo Persons, who might perhaps scruple such a thing; but their number is so inconsiderable, that they ought to be laughed at for their Folly. In the mean time we are not so much in the wrong, as some think us to be: the wisest Politicians do unanimously agree, that the republic of Germany is so monstrous and so corrupted, that it necessary requires one absolute Head to Establish a good Government. Witness the Writings of the greatest Wits of our time; Lundorpius, Conringius, Piazcius, Rhinpingius, Oldendorpus, Tupetius, à Lapide, Monzambanus, Cittosario, and others, the three latter being of Switzerland, from their true Names, to wit, à Lapide, who is Monsieur le Comte d'Oxenstern; Monzambanus, who is Monsieur Puffendorf Secretary of the Court of Sweedland; and Cittosario, Monsieur le Baron d'Edelstein in the Low Countries. What is this German Liberty, but a preciousness of Frogs, who do nothing but croak, and leap here and there, and must have a Stork, since the log, which made so great a noise at its fall, is now become despiseable to them?  
They ought therefore to think themselves indebted to us, for endeavouring to destroy such a Liberty. I know that the mayor part of my Confrators do not discourse so freely, fearing rather the Name of a traitor, than the thing itself; and seeking to colour their Proceeding by some specious pretences drawn from the Peace of Westphalia and Nimmeguen, the Capitulations of the Emperour, the Order of the Circular Executions, and the other Laws of the Empire; relying besides upon the Liberty of Peace and War, and of Alliance, and upon the Law of Nature for our proper defence, accusing even the Emperour and the Empire for ill using, defrauding, and abandoning some Princes to whom these Gentlemen belong.  
But I, who deal more sincerely, and who have stronger Reasons than all these, I will not imitate them; for I know there is no solidity in all these Pretences, and that none was better inclined to the common Cause of the Allies, than the Emperour, who signed not the Peace of Nimmeguen, till being deserted by the Spaniards and the Hollanders, and that he saw the Allies strive with each other, who should best and soonest accommodate his Affairs. I find therefore but one thing for which the Emperour is to be blamed, and for which others perhaps would not accuse him; that is, he maintains with so much obstinacy the Rights of the Empire, by not acknowledging a Power superior to his own, which the most Christian King has received immediately from Heaven, as we have just now sufficiently proved. There are some Gallo-Grecians who imitate Judas, by taking the thirty Pence, because they suppose Germany will be saved by some Divine Providence; and that in the mean time, they shall have the Money, and that one day they shall have Reason to laugh at the easy belief of the French. But let them laugh that win: Have a care, my friends, and see that you do not deride in vain the Gods, nor the Kings whom Heaven has destined for your Punishment. I found myself not long since in a Company, wherein an old Gentleman burning with Zeal, terribly exclaimed against the Gallo-Grecians, whom he called the Plague of their Country, and the shane of Mankind, whom the French flatter at present, but really think to be the vilest of Men; in a word, he had like to have sent them all to the Devil. Some of our Order, who were with me, and who had a squeamisher Conscience than the rest, were so moved at this good Mans Discourse, that they trembled at the least noise, fearing every minute, lest some Devil or other should come and take them by the Back: As for my part, who am something more resolute, I did in this occasion what is recommended to us, that is, Confirmavi fratres meos, in accusing them of little Courage, and telling them how much it imported to have ones Conscience not wavering nor scrupulous, but steady and fixed upon good Reasons. I let them see how we laboured for the Church, that the Name of our Country was but a Scare-crow to Fools, that a Man of Courage finds his Country every where, or rather, that Heaven is the common Country of all Christians, and that the general good of all Christendom, and the Decrees of Fate, must be preferred to the particular Interests of Germany. I do aclowledge, and consider very often, how miserable Germany would be under the French yoke: they despise our Nation even now, when it makes some Figure in the World; how will they therefore value it, when 'tis vanquished and overcome? 'tis then they will reproach us, not only with our Simplicity, but our cowardice, so unworthy the former Reputation and Glory of our Ancestors. They will take from us our Arms, as Persons not fitting to bear them: They will destroy all the Illustrious Families, or Transplant them to France; The benefice, and Offices of consequence, will be for none but Frenchmen, or some base servile Souls among the Germans: Those of a Noble Spirit, and who seem to retain some relics of the ancient virtue, will be afflicted with a thousand Evils, till at last, being all subdued, they shall have renderd the Nation an Object of Pity, rather than of Fear: With such like thoughts as these does the Devil often tempt and torment me: For our Mind is apt to receive such Ideas, and 'tis a hard matter to divest ones self of Opinions, which seem to be born with us. But I cast off these scruples, when I raise my Soul to Heaven; for I consider, that what we look upon as Misery, is our true Happiness; That the Righteous are tried by tribulation, that the Church never flourishes more than when i●… is oppressed. You will be happy my Friends in Heaven, when the●… French shall have made you Miserable in this World; for you wil●… go thither so much the more willingly, that you leave without any sorrow this Valley of Miseries thrust therefore your Necks into the yoke which France offers you, and make hast to merit Heaven by your Readiness, Obedience, Patience, and other Christian virtues, in putting the most Christian King in a condition of subduing the Turks and heretics. If this cost you your Liberty, let this be your comfort, that 'tis for the increasing of the kingdom of Heaven, that you suffer so great a loss.  
But I return to my Discourse, and assure myself, that the most Christian King has received from the Almighty sovereign a full Power to do more then what we have seen him do hitherto; for we must confess, that he uses it with a great deal of Moderation, considering the Right he has to put in execution what ever he thinks will conduce to his Glory and Greatness. For he is the Vicar-General upon Earth, to exercise sovereignty, and all Jurisdiction and Temporal Power, since Heaven has declared him the Redeemer of the Christians, and Protector of the Church against heretics and Infidels. Let the Pope honour and respect the King of Poland, as the most marshal and bravest Prince of the whole Universe, it is but an Italian flattery, and, to speak down right, but to deride our King, who is the true and, only Vicar of the World, and the Pope his Church-Warden; 'tis a high and mighty Office, he is not bound by the Common Laws, and his greatness is the only Rule of his Actions: since whatever serves to increase it, is for the Glory and good of the Church. He cannot therefore err, but by an excess of Moderation, and all that he does with an intention to make himself Great, will be just. I imagine that the Reverend Father de la Chair, jesuit, Confessor in Ordinary to the King, whose Learning and wisdom is generally so well known, is not averse from these Sentiments; for had he not this general Remedy to satisfy all Scruples, how could he, being a man of Conscience, approve of so many things which are done in the Kings Name? Some are so vain, as to think, that they can defend the Enterprises of France by Reasons drawn from the Common Law; but they are mightily deceived: and when ever they happen to engage in such Disputes, they are soon nonplussed; which makes the wisest amongst the French avoid them as much as is possible, and reason only like Politicians extoling with a great deal of Justice, the happy and Prudent conduct of their Monarch, who knows so well how to turn all things to his advantage.  
For several are ignorant, and others will not declare what they know of the absolute right which the King has received from Heaven, they make use of it, notwithstanding, privately amongst themselves, when occasion requires. Witness that French Minister, who, reasoning upon the Peace which was afterwards concluded at the Pireneans, boldly advices the King to consent to whatever renunciations should be demanded from the Infanta, and to ratify it in the most authentic manner, as they could wish, nay even by any solemn Oath, and that he might notwithstanding be free to act, as he should Judge most suitable to his Interest, after the death of the King of Spain. For no good Frenchman, says he, would Counsel the King to neglect the advantage of his Crown, for which he is responsible to the World; and to Posterity; this is a true touch-draught of the Law and Morals which we have established; that is, that the Greatness of the King, and the Crown of France, is above all other Rights and Oaths of what nature soever.  
But since 'tis so, they do ill to dissemble a Truth which should be preached up, that it might be believed; and there is the greater necessity for its being published, that the enterprises of France cannot be maintained by Reasons of common Law, as I have already observed; and to make this out more plain, I will produce here some things which are commonly objected by the Enemies of the Crown of France, to the end that every one may understand how unexcusable would all the Actions of this Crown be, if the King had not the privilege of doing what he thought fit, in the Quality of Temporal Vicar of the World.  
I will begin by what was done in the Reign of Lewis the XIII. The Cardinal de Richlieu, to satisfy the weak Conscience of that scrupulous Prince, made several French Doctors approve of the Alliances which he had with the heretics, against which a certain Author in disguise, by the Name of Alexander Patricius Armanus, who was supposed to be the famous Jansenius, Bishop of Tpres, writ a Treatise called Mars Gallicus; all the little French scribbling Pens split against this Rock; and persons who are indifferent, have judged that none ever fully answered his Reasons. In effect, when France declared War to the House of Austria, nothing obliged her to come to those Extremities. For the Imperialists, even after the gaining of the battle at Nordlinguen, were not backward from hearkening to a Peace, having felt the inconstant Fate of War; and if France had been minded to be a Mediatrix, rather than a Party, it had been no hard matter for her to have procured a firm and lasting Peace, most of the Princes of Germany being averse from it: But France designed no such thing, she had a mind to fish in troubled Waters, to overthrow the House of Austria, which already staggered, to ruin the Empire with its own Weapons, which was the only obstacle to its Greatness. But she would not see( though she pretended to be so zealous a catholic) that the Emperour had undertaken this War, only to defend his own Country, and afterwards( the occasion seeming favourable) to force the Protestants to restore what they had possessed themselves of, directly contrary to the Transaction of Passal: So that since it did, and does still lie in the Power of France, to give Peace or War to the Christian World, the most zealous impute to her all the Blood which has been spilled in Christendom, ever since that time till now. 'tis thought that the French fomented the dissensions in England, and that they were not altogether innocent of that horrid and infamous Parricide which ensued.  
The Rebellions of Portugal, Naples, Catalonia, Hungaria, are the effects of their Works, and which they do not conceal; what endeavours did they not use to hinder the concluding the Peace at Munster, between the Spaniards and the Hollanders? What shall we say of the Pyrenean Peace, and the Renunciation of the Queens, which was so solemnly sworn to, and which was an essential point of the said Peace?  
Certainly, if one may put any surety in the Treaties of Men, if the public Faith of Kings is of any effect, if Religion and Conscience are not empty Names invented to cheat the simplo, this Peace must be firm and lasting. But since it has been broken and trodden under Foot at the first opportunity, one must confess, say they, that they are very silly and fit to be imposed upon, who rely henceforward upon the word of France, wherefore the Hollanders, the Spaniards, the Emperour, and the rest of the Allies, who treated at Nimiguen, have already felt the smart of their being too credulous.  
For had they believed that the French would have undertaken upon the Empire and the Low Countries, in the middle of the Peace, more than they durst in the heat of War, they would have been very blind indeed, or they would have chosen to fight together rather than to die separately. If we go back to the beginning of the last War, can there be any thing more violent and unjust, than their Proceedings against the late Duke of lorraine: His only Crime was, that he would not depend upon some French governor, or Intendant, and that he endeavoured to secure himself by defensive Alliances, the most Innocent that could be. The War against the Hollanders, was so far from all Reason,( I speak under the parsonage of the Enemies of France) that they could not find so much as the least pretence for it; and in the mean time all the Violences which France had since committed in Germany, in the Low Countries, and in other places, cannot be excused, because they were a necessary consequence of that War. 'twas upon these Grounds that the French Armies traversed Germany, to hinder the Princes from sending any Succours to the Hollanders, or making any Diversion to France, that they took Treves, surprised and dismantled the ten Towns of Alsatia in an unjust manner, exercised all sorts of Hostilities in the Palatinate, upon the least suspicions, which had nothing to authorize them, but only reason of War, and that the most unjust that ever was undertaken. Nay, they had the insolence to declare to the Emperour, that he must first withdraw his Forces out of the Empire, and that the King would do the like when the Emperour should have given his word,( whereof some Princes should be Guarantees) that they should not march again out of his Hereditary Countries. This is to say, that the King of France had more right in the Empire, than the Emperour himself. Every one ought to rely upon the word of the French Ministers, who gave out every where, that the King designed nothing by this War, but to chastise the Hollanders for some pretended insolence; as if the same Fancy might not take him to humble others likewise in their turn, and as if he alone had the right to act the parsonage of a Master, who with his Rod in his Hand, treats all others like little insignificant School boys. But we have seen that all his Preparations tended to something more than a simplo Bravado, since he seized on the Posts on the lower Rhine, by putting into them strong Garrisons, that the Hollanders were only guilty of saving Flanders from its total ruin; and finally, that the Kings Ambition was not without some mixture of Interest, and that it thirsted no less after Profit than Glory.  
As to the Dependencies, and the Dependencies of those Dependencies, in infinitum, which surpass the Principal, they say, That they must be very foolish indeed, who let themselves be deluded by such Reasons, that there is nothing more unjust, than that Chamber of Justice established to the King himself, which fails not to give Sentence always in his Favour, and which pretends, that those who stand not to their judgement, are fallen from all their Rights; that 'tis an unpardonable insolence, to make their Wills pass for a general Law, to prescribe to the Empire a fatal term of some Days and Weeks, in which they must determine about the yielding up the eighth part of Germany, and if the Empire is never so little backward, they will impute to it all the Evil which shall ensue; and the King washes his hands of it. On the one side, the Spaniards must be obliged to accept of the Arbiter nominated by France, and on the other side, they refuse the Empire to enter into an Arbitrage, or a Mediation equally concerted on by both Parties. They maintain that the taking of Strasburgh is the most unjust and barbarous thing as ever was committed by a Christian Prince, and that 'tis the height of Impudence to go about to excuse it.  
That this was done in the middle of Peace, without any pretence whatsoever, contrary to the Faith so lately given, that all things should remain in the same condition, as they were at the departure of the Kings ambassador for Francfort; that all judicious Persons did believe, that after this it would be useless to build any Foundation upon the Rules either of Law or Honesty.  
That Conscience, Faith, and the Law of Nations, are empty Names, and vain shadows, since Violences and Injustices are committed open-faced, and without any sort of pretence; for formerly those who studied so exactly the niceties of the French Law, were not likely of thinking of Strasbourg, lest they should be looked upon as Men whose Brains were stuffed with chimaeras, or as Sophists taken in flagranti delicto, since the words of the Peace of Munster are too plain and clear, to leave any room for vain disputing, that one would think that the Ministers who made the draft of it, had by some prophetic mind foreseen and prevented all the subtle evasions, which the most impudent Sophister could ever device. But if they were cunning enough to stop the mouths of those who had yet some shane still remaining in them, they could not tie the hands of those who so scornfully trampled under Feet all sort of Reason; for it has availed them little, to have expressly determined, that nothing of all Alsatia should be yielded to France, but what the House of Austria possessed, to have specified the Places by their names, and surnames, to have excepted expressly those very Principalities and States of the Empire, which France will at present include, to Wit, the bishopric, and City of Strasbourg, the Princes of Petite-pierre, the Comtes of Hanau, and the free Nobility of Alsatia.  
Some French Advocates seeing themselves pressed by the Peace of Westphalia, withdrew into another entrenchment, and finding nothing which is favourable to them in these Ages, they have recourse to some Imaginary rights of Dagobert and Charles le Magne. I wonder that they do not demand of the Great Turk, the Conquests which the Gauls formerly made in Grecia, and Galatia, and that they do not bring their Action against the present Romans for the money which their Ancestors had promised the Gauls, to save their Capitol, and whose payment was interrupted by Camillus. In effect those Authors amongst them who have any gravity, are ashamed of their ridiculous Impertinencies; for if they subsisted, it would be in vain henceforward to allege the Treaties of Peace of Munster or Nimmeguen, or to contest about any Place or Country with an Emperour, King, or Prince, who ought to be dethroned or dispossessed of their Lands, as downright Usurpers, since all Germany, with the Low Cuntreys, and almost all Italy, would be swallowed up in this General pretention of the Empire of Charles le Magne, if he was now to be raised from the dead. There are some, nevertheless, who suspect that the Most Christian King does mean these vast and determined pretensions, when he offers to the Empire, that in case they will yield what he has lately taken, he will renounce all his other Rights, which notwithstanding he does not explain; wherein he does wisely, for we commonly think best of things not known, and oftentimes secrets being made public, are exposed to Laughter.  
I have thus ingenuously represented, all that is objected against the Kings Pretensions, that one might see that there was no other way left to defend them, but the Medium which I took, by which the King is exempted from answering to all the reasons of Law, how strong so ever they are: but because this fine invention is unknown to the Vulgar, we must not marvel if those who have been lately stripped of their Estates, torment themselves, and stir up Heaven and Earth against us. If they show us Fields drowned in Christian Blood, to satisfy the Ambition of one Nation, which alone disturbs the public quiet; if they let us see thousands who have lost their Lives by Fire, Famine, and Sword, only that there might be writ upon the Gates of Paris, the name of Louis the Great, in Golden Letters. France can, they say, give Peace and Happiness to all Europe, what greater Crime can there be imagined then, to load ones self with all the Evil of christendom, so much Innocent blood spilled, scelerate actions, the groanings of dying men, finally the Tears of Widows, and of Orphans, who cry to God for vengeance, that great God, whose judgments are so terrible, whom the Hypocrites and Sophists can not deceive, and who makes no distinction between the King and the ploughman, but to increase their Pains according to the greatness of their Crimes? In this spacious field do the Enemies of France so loudly declaim against her, but they surpass themselves now that the Turk is ready to over-run all Christendom, two hundred thousand Christians destroyed by the Sword, or what is worse, lead into Captivity to the Perpetual damnation of their Souls, this they say, cries Vengeance to Heaven, against those who incited and aided the Rebels of Hungary with Money and arms, tho' they foresaw of what a dreadful consequence it would be to the poor Christians, who were most exposed to the danger. And that no one may fancy that the Authors of these hopeful designs do repent themselves of them, 'tis observed that they, now the danger is the greatest, when Vienna was upon the point of surrendering, the Church drowned in tears, and covered with Cinders and Sackcloth, to crave pity and mercy from Almighty God, 'tis observed, I say, that these Incendiaries do incite the King to divide, by the Means of his allies, the Forces of Germany, so necessary to repel the common Enemy, and, what is worse to attack openly the House of Austria; at a time that she was like to be oppressed by the Ottoman Power, to the great astonishment of all Christendom; and all this without any apparent reason, upon frivolous pretences, of some little Dependencies, which are not able to stand a discussion at Law, not being Law proof. From whence will follow in all probability, that either Vienna will be lost, or that the Emperour must be obliged to make a peace no less shameful than pernicious to Christendom, and which will render him contemptible to all the World; or finally, that there will be an immortal hatred, in case the Turks are happily repulsed, since the Emperor must necessary judge, that he cannot save himself from the snares which France prepares for Him, but by an implacable, and a fatal War, which will not end, but by the utter destruction of one of the Parties, whereby one of them will be rendered incapable of either giving or resenting any farther affronts, which cannot be compassed without the effusion of much Blood. If the King, say they, had been pleased, when Christendom was in so much danger, to let the World see the greatness of his Soul, by sacrificing a few handfuls of earth, in the low Countries, to the public good, by comporting himself towards the Germans, who have been hitherto esteemed Generous, so that they needed not have been forced upon some desperate Action, to provide for their own honour and safety: If the King had been pleased to have consented to the just demands of the Emperour, who desired to have terminated at the same time the differences which were between France, the Empire, and the Low Countries, of which they are a Member, without designing by subtle devices, or by an unsupportable imperiousness to separate allies, which are linked together by all the strictest Bonds of blood, right, and interest, thereby to ruin them each part; lastly, if his behaviour had n such after the Peace of Nimeguen, that one might have hoped for some Quiet; if the Most Christian King, I say, had been pleased to have yielded these things to the prayers of the Holy Father, to the Tears of the Church prostrated at his feet, he might have quietly possessed the greatest part of what he has taken, laid a Foundation of a solid, and lasting Peace in Europe, of which he would have been the Author and Arbiter, gained the hearts, and the public acclamations of all; in a word, made such progresses against the Infidels, that would have been, perhaps, of greater importance, and of much more Honour and Glory to him, than all he could have performed in Europe; but the conduct of France being directly contrary to these good Counsels, she forces others to take desperate Resolutions, and makes it an unpardonable Crime for any one henceforward to put any confidence in her word, or to hope for a good Peace, since neither the Renunciation so solemnly swore could guarant that of the Pyreneans, nor the Kings word, that nothing should be altered after the departure of his ambassadors for Francfort, could hinder the taking of Strasbourg, and since the declaration which this Prince made, that he had raised the Blokade of Luxemburg upon no other account but that Christendom was threatened with the arms of the Turks, has been found false and Illusory, since at present that the Turks are come from threats to Blows, it restrains not the Officers of that Crown, from taking the advantage of a general consternation, whilst all Germany trembles, and all Europe remains astonished, to advance the affairs of their Master, to lay waste the Low Countreys, and to kindle without any concernment a new War, an action which none can defend without an extreme Impudence or Folly. Some hope that Heaven will not let France go unpunished for so black and detestable a Crime, that the public hatred, the undeceiving of Men of worth, who had yet some good Opinion remaining of the French conduct, and the Infamy which will descend to posterity, are Punishments great enough, that among the French themselves those whose Consciences are not quiter smothered by a long habit of Crimes, will tremble at the sight of so great a wickedness; that the remorse of Conscience of a bad Cause, is not always without effect even among Souldiers and Common People, whom the least reverse of Fortune, is able to reject or animate, to put in execution the dangerous designs which lie hide in the breasts of several malcontents, and which a long Series of happy successses, has rather stisted than extinguished. They flatter themselves that it will not be long before France repents her self of her deportment, and that all the evils will fall upon the heads of those who have been the occasion of them; for say they, France must have done one of these two things, to wit, either have taken hold of this occasion, to show her Generosity, by giving the Empire and Spain a tolerable peace; or have cast off all respect and shane, by entering with all her Forces into Germany, to oblige her to take her choice, either of Mahomet the Fourth, or Louis the Fourteenth, and since France who has no regard to Piety, and who dares not make a public Profession of a down-right ungodliness, has lost this fair opportunity, by keeping the mid-way, which Machiavil observes to be so dangerous to all great designs, they hope that the Turks being repulsed, she will soon repent of her indifferent Piety, or her down-right Witch-craft.  
These are part of the things which are said against France; for I cannot induce myself out of the veneration and the respect we owe to great Princes, to make mention of all those bitter and violent expressions, which are used either in Books, or private Conversations.  
These Objections cannot be answered by those who endeavour to defend the proceedings of France by Common Law. But my Principles clears them of all Doubt, and brings a Confusion upon those who pretend to Criticise the actions of the best and greatest of Kings, of whose Holy and Sanctified Intentions they are altogether ignorant. For could they look into the bottom of his Heart, or did they hear him argue with his Confessor, I believe they would soon put a stop to their malignant Reproaches. This great Prince has foreseen all things, knows the Evils which he does himself, or suffers to be done by others; it grieves him, when he considers the loss of so many thousand Souls. But what help, how can he resist the unalterable Decrees of the Fates above, who force him to it: He sees that all other ways to Cure the Evils of Christendom, but Fire and Sword, are vain and useless; the gangrene cannot be stopped, but by Remedies which are cruel in themselves. Our miseries must be cut up by the roots; habeat aliquid ex iniquo omne magnum exemplum quod utilitate publica compensaturum. Since therefore, not only the light of an internal Vocation which was sufficient for the pretended Reformers, but moreovethe external Marks of an extraordinary mission, to wit, Miracles, and a perpetual assistance from Heaven, do confirm the King in the Justice of his Cause, nay, and oblige him to pursue his point, he must necessary obey the Commands of the sovereign Power, who calls upon him to be the general Restorer of the Affairs of Christendom: Let him seek after Greatness, as a necessary accomplishment for so great a design; let him ruin the House of Austria, for whilst that subsists, Christians cannot be united under one Head, nor heretics reduced. Some will imagine that the King would do better to begin all these rare designs, by the overthrow of the Turks, than by afflicting the poor Christians; but these Persons do not see that 'tis the Germans and Flemmings who border upon France, and not the Turks. That one must pass from ones neighbours farther on, and arrive to great things by sure and solid Degrees, rather than by over-hasty and dangerous leaps. But that I may not trouble myself any longer with Reasons of Policy, see here is one of Conscience, which is, That the King will follow the Rules of the New Testament, which commands us to begin with the Jews, and then to proceed on ad gentes, wherefore, in imitation of it, that King will by the overthrow of the Christians, make himself one day a secure passage to the Infidels.  
FINIS.   

A Catalogue of some Novels and Plays Printed for R. Bentley and S. magnets.  

NOVELS.  
1 ZElinda, a famed Romance.  
2 Happy Slave, in three Parts.  
3 Count Brion.  
4 Count Gabales.  
5 Hatige, or the Amours of the King of Tamaran.  
6 Mad. Lavalier and the King of France.  
7 Madam and the Duke of Guise.  
8 Mad. Colonna's Memoirs.  
9 Queen of Majorca, two Parts.  
10 Don Sebastian King of Portugal.  
11 Heroine musketeer.  
12 Princess of Cleves.  
13 Obliging Mistress.  
14 Fatal Prudence.  
15 Princess of Fez.  
16 Disorders of Love.  
17 Triumph of Love.  
18 Victorious Lovers.  
19 Almanzor and Almanzaida.  
20 Earl of Essex and Qu. Elizabeth.  
21 neapolitan, or, the Defender of his Mistress.  
22 Nicostratis.  
23 Amorous Abbess.  
24 Homais Queen of Tunis.  
25 Pilgrim, in two Parts.  
26 Meroveus, Prince of the Blood-Royal of France.  
27 Life of the Duke of Guise.  
28 Extravagant Poet.  
29 memoirs Gallant.  
30 Instruction for a Young Noble-Man.   

PLAYS.  
1 Tartuff, or the French Puritan.  
2 forced Marriage, or the Jealous Bridegroom.  
3 English Monsieur.  
4 All mistaken, or the Mad Couple.  
5 Generous Enemies, or the Ridiculous Lovers.  
6 The Plain-Dealer.  
7 Sertorius, a Tragedy.  
8 Nero, a Tragedy.  
9 Sophonisba, or Hannibal's Overthrow.  
10 Gloriana, or the Court of Augustus Caesar.  
11 Alexander the Great.  
12 Mithridates King of Pontus.  
13 Oedipus King of Thebes.  
14 Caesar Borgia.  
15 Theodosius, or the Force of Love.  
16 Madam Fickle, or the Witty False One.  
17 The Fond Husband, or the Plotting Sisters.  
18 Esquire Old-Sap, or the Night-Adventures.  
19 Fool turned critic.  
20 Virtuous Wife, or Good Luck at last.  
21 The Fatal Wager.  
22 Andromache.  
23 Country Wit.  
24 Calisto, or the chased Nymph.  
25 Destruction of Jerusalem, in two Parts.  
26 Ambitious States-man, or the Loyal Favourite.  
27 Misery of Civil War●…  
28 The Murder of the 〈…〉 gloucester.  
29 Thyestes, a Tragedy.  
30 Hamlet Prince of Denmark, a a Tragedy.  
31 The Orphan, or the Unhappy Marriage.  
32 The Souldiers Fortune.  
33 Tamerlain the Great.  
34 Mr. Limberham, or the Kind-Keeper.  
35 Mistaken Husband.  
36 Notes of Morocco, by the Wits.  
37 Essex and Elizabeth, or the Unhappy Favourite.  
38 Virtue betrayed, or Anna Bullen.  
39 King Leare.  
40 Abdellazar, or the Moor's Revenge.  
41 Town-Fop, or Sir Tim. Tawdery.  
42 Rare en tout, a French Comedy.  
43 Moor of Venice.  
44 Country Wife.