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choose, two mortar-pieces, and half the ammunition that is now in the magazines of the said place: and, for this purpose, an inventory of all the ammunition of the said garison shall be made, in the presence of any person that the general shall appoint, the next day after the present articles shall be signed.

XXVI. All the magazines of provisions shall remain in the hands of those that are now employed to take care of the same, for the subsistence of those of the Irish army that will pass into France; and that, if there shall not be sufficient in the stores, for the support of the said troops, while they stay in this kingdom, and are crossing the seas, that, upon giving account of their number, the general will furnish them with sufficient provisions, at the king's rates; and that there shall be a free market at Limerick, and other quarters, where the said troops shall be; and, in case any provisions shall remain in the magazines of Limerick, when the town shall be given up, it shall be valued, and the price deducted out of what is to be paid for the provisions to be furnished to the troops on shipboard.

XXVII. That there shall be a cessation of arms at land, and also at sea, with respect to the ships, whether English, Dutch, or French, designed for the transportation of the said troops, until they be returned to their respective harbours; and that, on both sides, they shall be furnished sufficiently with passports, both the ships and men; and, if any sea commander, or captain of a ship, or any officer, troop, dragoon, soldier, or other person, shall act contrary to this cessation, the persons, so acting, shall be punished on either side, and satisfaction shall be made for the wrong done; and officers shall be sent to the mouth of the river of Limerick, to give notice to the commanders of the English and French fleets, of the present conjuncture, that they may observe the cessation of arms accordingly.

XXVIII. That, for the security of the execution of this present capitulation, and of each article herein contained, the besieged shall give the following hostages and the general shall give

XXIX. If, before this capitulation is fully executed, there happens any change in the government, or command of the army, which is now commanded by General Ginckle; all those, that shall be appointed to command the same, shall be obliged to observe and execute what is specified in these articles, or cause it to be executed punctually, and shall not act contrary, on any account whatsoever.

October, 1691.

BARON DE GINCKLE.

THE

PRETENCES'

OF THE

FRENCH INVASION EXAMINED*,

FOR THE

INFORMATION OF THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND.
London: Printed for R. Clavel, at the Peacock, in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1692.
May 25th, 1692.
Let this be printed, Nottingham. Quarto, containing twenty Pages.

THAT

HAT the sword hath thus long been kept from destroying among us, is a blessing which we cannot sufficiently understand, unless we consider the woeful desolation it hath made in all neighbouring nations: nor are they at all sensible how much they owe to God, and their majesties, for keeping us in peace, who give the least encouragement to this intended descent, which must turn our land into an Aceldama, and will make such woeful havock of our lives and fortunes, while one party fights for safety, and the other for revenge, that no age can parallel the horrid consequences of such a civil war as this will prove. And, if papists only (blinded by zeal for their religion, and blown up with hopes of absolute empire) encouraged this bloody design, it would be no wonder, and could have no success, considering the general aversion of the people to them, and the fresh instances of their insolence and cruelty,

But alas! it appears that many, who call themselves Protestants, are engaged in this fatal conspiracy against their religion, and their native country; which is so prodigious and amazing, that a man would wonder who hath bewitched these foolish Galatians to push on their own and the church's ruin: and every one must be inquisitive into the specious pretences by which these men are induced to become their own executioners.

Now the pretended motives are these:

1: Repairing the injury done to the late king:

2. Delivering us from the oppressions we suffer under the present king.

3. Settling the government upon its old basis.

4. Securing the Protestant religion for all future ages.

Now it becomes every true English Protestant to examine these pretences very well, before he venture on a thing of so evil appearance and dangerous consequence, as is the joining with these invaders.

Vide the 68th article in the catalogue of pamphlets.

1

First, It is pretended, the late king was unjustly deprived of his birth-right by his subjects, who, by nature and oaths, were bound to defend him in the possession of it: and, now that he comes to demand his own, all that ever were his subjects must either assist,' or at least not oppose him.

But let it be considered, that all the late king's sufferings were owing to, and caused by the counsels of his Popish priests, and the bigots of that persuasion: protestants were not the aggressors; he might have kept his possession to this day undisturbed, if he had not made such open and bold attempts upon our laws, our religion, and properties; so that he was the first and only cause of his own sufferings: and why should millions be involved in blood and ruin, who are perfectly innocent of doing this injury? No free nation did ever bear more or greater injuries, or endure such violences so long, or so patiently as we did: and, when some stop was to be put to the final ruin of our liberties and religion, it was done at first by petitions and complaints; and, when they were despised, none but defensive arms were taken up by some few, and by a foreign prince, only to cover their heads, while the grievances were fairly redressed; not to take away his rights, but to secure our own. Nor did the Prince of Orange, or these gentlemen, devest or deprive him of his throne, but owned his right by offering a treaty, during the continuance of which he disbanded his army, dissolved his government, and, as much as in him lay, attempted to desert the throne, and seek aids from an enemy's country, which might secure him against redressing any grievances, and enable him to be revenged upon the injured complainers. We did not make the throne vacant; but the late archbishop, and other peers at Guildhall, believed he had left it' void, or else they would not, without his consent, have seized on the administration of government, secured his chancellor, taken possession of the Tower, and offered the exercise of the supreme power to the Prince of Orange. He left us in anarchy, and we provided for ourselves in the best manner such a juncture would allow. I will not inquire now, whether these subjects, who are so zealous for his return, were not bound to do more than they did, to keep him in his throne, while he had it; their conscience then permitted them to look on, and let him sink, while his security had been far more easily compassed: but they, who have now these unseasonable pangs of their old loyalty, must consider, that a man may leave his right when he pleaseth, but may not take it again at his pleasure, especially not by force, and this most especially as to sovereign power. Somebody must govern, when he would not; the next undoubted heir, in an hereditary monarchy, must; and whoever doth govern' in chief in this nation must be king, by out constitution, and must have power sufficient to protect himself and the nation against all their enemies; and that cannot be without swearing new allegiance. Now, when a king and queen are declared, submitted to, and owned by oaths, and all other methods required in such case, the king is not at liberty to give up his own power, and the protec

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tion of us, nor are the people free to join with him that deserted them, or to venture their necks, or their country's ruin, to restore him. I dare say, that the French king will not grant, that the citizens of those cities, who were subjects to Spain, or the emperor, and bound by oath to those princes (but have now submitted to him, and sworn new allegiance) are obliged to venture their lives and fortunes, by vertue of their old oaths, to restore those cities to their former masters; doubtless, he would solve their scruples with a halter, if he found they attempted it. Besides, the injuries, as they are called, done to the late king by his own acts, if they were capable of reparation, must not be repaired with the injuring, yea, ruining many thousand innocent persons, who must unavoidably lose their lives, and be undone in their estates by his returning by force. The present king and his army are bound by oaths, duty, and interest, to oppose him; so are all now protected by him, and who have sworn allegiance to him; and it is certain, all that are not perjured hypocrites will do so; and then, what Englishman's bowels must not bleed to consider what murders, burning, plundering, and destruction he brings upon his native country, who encourages the aggressors? If he has any kindness for us, whom he calls his subjects, he would rather sit quietly under his single injuries, than wish, or, however, attempt to be restored by blood and an universal ruin; and, if he has no pity for us, why should we be so concerned for him, as to sacrifice our lives and fortunes to his revenge? He went away, while a treaty was on foot, and nothing but a treaty can restore him fairly; which he never yet offered. We did not force him to go away in disguise, and, if he will force himself upon us again, by French dragoons and Irish cut-throats; we may and must oppose him; for our allegiance is now transferred to another. Finally, there is no injury to any but himself, and those who run into voluntary exile with him, by his being out of the possession: the monarchy, the law, the church, and property are all in better estate, than in his time; and all these, with innumerable private persons, must be irreparably injured by his return in an hostile manner. So that there can be no reason to redress the sufferings, he owes to his own faults, by so many publick and private injuries. If it be pleaded, that he, who was born to a kingdom, really wants subsistence, I reply, that, if he would seek the peace of Christendom, and of his late subjects, he might, by a fair treaty set on foot, not only restore the exiles, but have a sufficient and honourable maintenance from this government; but, while the war, he makes upon it, puts us to so great expence, he cannot expect it, nor imagine we should give him a supply to enable him to ruin us.

The second pretence, why we should assist towards his restoration, is, to deliver ourselves from the oppression we suffer under the present king: and, to set off this with a better gloss, the late reign is magnified by the jesuits and their tools, and this blackened; freedom from taxes then is made a rare instance of his gentleness, and the present impositions heightened, with all the rheto

rick imaginable, to represent this king as an oppressor. The flourishing of trade then is extolled, the decay of it now odiously insinuated, and great hopes are given of golden days, upon the return of James the Just; he is to make us all happy.

Now, to answer this, there is no need to make a satyr on that reign, or a panegyrick on this; that is so well remembered, and this so fully known, that all unprejudiced people see on which side the truth lies. But it is great pity they, who have the wit to invent or urge this plea, have not a memory to remind them, that none complained more of the danger of law and religion, of our lives and fortunes in that reign, than many who have this high opinion of it now; the cruel severities in the west, the high commission, turning out of office all good protestants, attempting to reverse all the penal laws, putting unqualified men into all places of trust, profit, and power, excluding the fellows of Magdalen, and putting in papists, with the imprisonment and trial of the bishops, were thought oppressions then; but now all these are buried in oblivion, and those taxes which the late king, and his ally of France, with their abettors, alone make necessary to this frugal prince, these are our only grievance, and this king's unpardonable crime. The late king had one tax, and might, yea, would have had more for the glorious design of enslaving his subjects, if he could have got a parliament to his purpose, which he vigorously endeavoured; and it was, because he was sure he must satisfy his people in their just complaints, whenever he asked a supply, that he durst not ask it of a freely chosen parliament; yet then we were in peace with all nations, and now he hath intangled us in a war with the worst enemy in Europe. Assessments then were not needed, but to hasten our ruin; now they are absolutely necessary to our safety, and made so by him, and his complaining friends. Yet still what grievances are these taxes, in comparison of what is laid on the French slaves, into whose condition we were intended to be brought? There is a vast difference between losing our property for ever, and paying some part of our profits to secure the rest, and our inheritances to our posterity, as well as ourselves. Besides, should we not leap out of the frying-pan, into the fire, if, to avoid tolerable payments, we should rashly bring a fatal war to our doors, that must last till more than one half of the nation be destroyed, and the rest utterly, and almost irrecoverably, impoverished? This, I am sure, is voluntarily to change our whips for scorpions. We have paid as much formerly for assisting France to ruin Europe, and maintain vice at home, as now serves to deliver Europe, and secure our native country and religion, from utter destruction: nor are the sums considerable, reckoning the abatement of chimney-money, which we have paid to this government; no country in Europe hath paid so little in proportion to our wealth, these last three years of war: and if the late king return, England must pay all the sums borrowed of France, to maintain him abroad, to keep Ireland, and to discharge the forces, that come to thrust him on us, and must stay to complete the happy design of setting up popery and slavery, the

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