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<DATE>2008-03-05</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
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<HEAD>Their Maje&s;ties DECLARATION Again&s;t the FRENCH KING.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SIGNED>WILLIAM R.</SIGNED></OPENER>
<P>_IT having plea&s;ed Almighty God to make Us the happy In&s;truments of Re&s;cuing the&s;e Nations from Great and Imminent Dan|gers, and to place Us upon the Throne of the&s;e Kingdoms, We think Our Selves obliged to endeavour to the uttermo&s;t to Promote the Welfare of Our People, which can never be effectually Secured, but by preventing the Mi&s;eries that threaten them from abroad.</P>
<P>When We con&s;ider the many unju&s;t Methods the <HI>French</HI> King hath of late Years taken to gratifie his Ambition, that he has not only Invaded the Territories of the Emperor, and of the Empire now in Amity with Us, laying wa&s;te whole Coun|tries, and de&s;troying the Inhabitants by his Armies, but Declared War again&s;t our Allies, without any Provocation, in manife&s;t Violation of the Treaties Confi<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">med by the Guaranty of the Crown of <HI>England</HI>; We can do no le&s;s than joyn with Our Allies, in oppo&s;ing the De|&s;igns of the <HI>French</HI> King, as the Di&s;turber ot the Peace, and the Common Enemy of the Chri&s;tian World.</P>
<P>And be&s;ides the Obligations We ly under by Treaties with Our Allies, which are a &s;ufficient Ju&s;tification of Us for taking up Arms at this time, &s;ince they have called upon Us &s;o to do, the many Injuries done to Us, and to Our Subjects, without any Reparation, by the <HI>French</HI> King, are &s;uch, that (however of late years they were not taken notice of, for Rea&s;ons well known to the World, neverthele&s;s) We will not pa&s;s them over without a Publick and Ju&s;t Re&s;entment of &s;uch Outrages.</P>
<P>It is not long &s;ince the <HI>French</HI> took Licences from the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Governor of <HI>New Found-Land,</HI> to Fi&s;h in the Seas upon that Coa&s;t, and paid a Tribute for &s;uch Licences, as an acknowledgment of the &s;ole Right of the Crown of <HI>England</HI> to that I&s;land; And yet of late, the Encroachments of the <HI>French</HI> upon Our &s;aid I&s;land, and Our Subjects Trade and Fi&s;hery have been more like the Inva&s;ions of an Enemy, than becoming Friends, who enjoyed the Advantages of that Trade only by Permi&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>But that the <HI>French</HI> King &s;hould Invade Our <HI>Charibbee</HI> I&s;lands, and po&s;&s;e&s;s him&s;elf of Our Territories of the Province of <HI>New-York,</HI> and of <HI>Hud&s;on's Bay</HI> in a Ho&s;tile manner, &s;eizing Our Forts, burning Our Subjects Hou&s;es, and enriching his People with the Spoil of their Goods and Merchandizes, detaining &s;ome of Our Subjects under the hard&s;hip of Impri&s;onment, cau&s;ing others to be inhumanely kill'd, and driving the re&s;t to Sea in a &s;mall Ve&s;&s;el, without Food and nece&s;&s;aries to &s;upport them, are Actions not becoming even an Ene|my; And yet he was &s;o far from declaring him&s;elf &s;o, that at that very time he was Negotiating here in <HI>England</HI> by his Mini&s;ters, a Trea|ty of Neutrality and good Corre&s;pondence in <HI>America.</HI></P>
<P>The Proceedings of the <HI>French</HI> King again&s;t Our Subjects in <HI>Europe,</HI> are &s;o Notorious, that We &s;hall not need to enlarge upon them; his countenancing the Seizure of <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Ships by <HI>French</HI> Privateers, forbidding the Importation of great part of the Product and Manu|factures of Our Kingdom, and impo&s;ing exorbitant Cu&s;tomes upon the re&s;t, notwith&s;tanding the va&s;t Advantage he and the <HI>French</HI> Na|tion reap by their Commerce with <HI>England,</HI> are &s;ufficient Evidences of his De&s;igns to de&s;troy the Trade, and con&s;equently to ru<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="missing" EXTENT="1 letter">ne the Navigation, upon which the Wealth and Safety of this Nation very much depends.</P>
<P>The Right of the Flag, inherent in the Crown of <HI>England,</HI> has been Di&s;puted by his Orders in Violation of Our Sovereignty of the narrow Seas, which in all Ages has been A&s;&s;erted by Our Predece&s;&s;ors, and We are re&s;olv'd to Maintain, for the Honour of Our Crown, and of the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Nation.</P>
<P>But that which mu&s;t nearly touch Us, is his unchri&s;tian Pro&s;ecution of many of Our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Prote&s;tant Subjects in <HI>France,</HI> for matters of Religion, contrary to the Law of Nations, and expre&s;s Treaties, forcing them to abjure their Religion by &s;trange and unu&s;ual Cruelties, and Impri&s;oning &s;ome of the Ma&s;ters and Seamen of Our Merchants Ships, and condemning others to the Gallies, upon pretence of having on Board, either &s;ome of his own Mi&s;erable Protes;tant Subjects, or their Effects, And la&s;tly, as he has for &s;ome Years la&s;t pa&s;t, endeavoured by In&s;inuations and Promi&s;es of A&s;&s;i&s;tance, to overthrow the Government of <HI>England</HI>; So now by open and violent Methods, and the actual Inva&s;ion of Our Kingdom of <HI>Ireland,</HI> in &s;upport of Our Subjects in Arms and in Rebellion again&s;t us, he is promoting the utter Extirpa|tion of Our good and Loyal Subjects in that Our Kingdom.</P>
<P>Being therefore thus nece&s;&s;itated to take up Arms, and Relying on the Help of Almighty God in Our Ju&s;t Undertaking; We have thought fit to Declare, and do hereby Declare War again&s;t the <HI>French</HI> King, and that We will in Conjunction with Our Allies, vigorou&s;ly Pro&s;ecute the &s;ame by Sea and Land (&s;ince he hath &s;o unrighteou&s;ly begun it) being a&s;&s;ured of the hearty Concurrence and As;&s;i&s;tance of Our Subjects in &s;upport of &s;o good a Cau&s;e: Hereby Willing and Requiring Our General of Our Forces, Our Commi&s;&s;ioners for Executing the Office of High Admiral, Our Lieutenants of Our &s;everal Counties, Governors of Our Forts and Gari&s;ons, and all other Officers and Souldiers under them, by Sea and Land, to do and execute all Acts of Ho&s;tility in the Pro&s;ecution of this War again&s;t the <HI>French</HI> King, his Va&s;&s;als and Subjects, and to oppo&s;e their Attempts, willing and Requiring all Our Subjects to take Notice of the &s;ame, whom We henceforth forbid to hold any Corre&s;pondence or Communication with the &s;aid <HI>French</HI> King or his Subjects. And becau&s;e there are remaining in Our Kingdoms many of the Subjects ot the <HI>French</HI> King, We do Declare and Give Our Royal Word, That all &s;uch of the <HI>French</HI> Nation as &s;hall demean them&s;elves Dutifully towards Us, and not Corre&s;pond with Our Enemies, &s;hall be fate in their Per&s;ons and E&s;tates, and free from all Mole&s;tation and Trouble of any kind.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE>Given at Our Court at <HI>Hampton Court,</HI> <DATE>the Seventh Day of May, 1689. In the Fir&s;t Year of Our Reign.</DATE></DATELINE><LB>
God Save King <HI>WILLlAM</HI> and Queen <HI>MARY.</HI></CLOSER>
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<P><HI><GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="damage" EXTENT="1 span"> London,</HI> and Re-printed at <HI>Edinburgh</HI> by the <HI>Heir</HI> of <HI>Andrew Ander&s;on,</HI> by the Order of the Committee of E&s;tates. 1689.</P>
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