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<DATE>2014-02-04</DATE>
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<NAME>TCP Staff (Michigan)</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140012.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>The Mon&s;ieur: OR, A LETTER from a <HI>French</HI> Catholick at <HI>London</HI> to his Friend at <HI>Paris,</HI> concerning the pre&s;ent State of the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Nation.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>I Know you expect to hear how I find the State of Affairs in this Country, which I will a&s;&s;ure you are in no point &s;o benign and promi&s;ing as we were made to be|lieve, and as I hoped to find them before I came over, by which I &s;ee that flatter|ing our condition, and rendring things better than they are, is the common-di&s;ea&s;e of all Nations, and that therefore there is no &s;uch effectual cure of fal&s;e reports as being on the &s;pot.</P>
<P>You know, <HI>Sir,</HI> we were both told of three Parties in this Kingdom, but I can find but two, the Prote&s;tants and the Catholicks, the latter hath many of the Gentry for its favou|rers, but the greate&s;t part of the Nobility, the body of the Gentry, and the generality of the people are all on the other &s;ide. Which had we known in time, I &s;hould never have advi&s;ed the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Catholicks to this Attack, which whatever may be told you, if it be not very tenderly and dexterou&s;ly managed to bring them off, I doubt it will prove their utter ruin; for to attempt the re&s;toring a Religion again&s;t the univer&s;al temper of a Nation, where Principle in many, and Intere&s;t in (almo&s;t) all have po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed the people with an inveterate and invincible prejudice again&s;t it, though it may well enough become the fooli&s;h zeal of a few devout Prie&s;ts and Bigots, yet that other per&s;ons of wi&s;dom and fortune &s;hould be drawn in to engage them&s;elves in &s;uch an unaccountable piece of indi&s;cretion, is to me one of the greate&s;t wonders in nature. For if I am not abu&s;ed in my information, I do believe, to make <HI>Spain</HI> Prote&s;tant is as ea&s;ie an undertaking as to make <HI>England</HI> Catholick; and then how near this attempt is to an impo&s;&s;ibility, I leave you and all men to judg.</P>
<P>And now to think of engaging Authority on our &s;ide, is I doubt a notion as wild and idle as the undertaking it &s;elf; for it is but to reque&s;t Authority that it would plea&s;e to play the fool for our &s;akes; and how we have de&s;erved &s;uch a kindne&s;s from it, I fear will be too hard a difficulty to demon&s;trate.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, natural defects that carry an impo&s;&s;ibility in them, cannot be cured by Authority it &s;elf, no more than Authority can cure a man that is born blind or lame, and make him to &s;ee or go; &s;o that if we could bubble Authority to our &s;ide (which I totally de&s;pair of ever doing) yet would not that effect our bu&s;ine&s;s; it is true it might hurt it &s;elf, but cannot at all help us, becau&s;e there is &s;uch a natural defect in our pre&s;ent undertaking that no cure can reach or help it. For the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> compute their men at Twelve hundred thou&s;and at the lea&s;t, and of the&s;e the <HI>Catholicks</HI> and their Intere&s;t make &s;carce Fifty thou&s;and; now what a brow mu&s;t that man have that would go about to per&s;wade Authority that it is its true in|tere&s;t to &s;tick by the four and twentieth part of its people again&s;t no le&s;s than the whole three and twenty parts thereof? would not Authority think you judg &s;uch a man fitter for <HI>Bedlam</HI> than to be conver&s;ed with? e&s;pecially an Authority that hath &s;o oft and publickly profe&s;&s;ed it &s;elf Prote&s;tant, as the Authority of <HI>England</HI> hath done.</P>
<P>Again, what arguments can we lay before Authority (admit it would hear us) to attain our end? For there are but two ways to effect it, either legally or forcibly; if by Law, then it mu&s;t be done by Parliament, (which is the greate&s;t thing we dread) for there can be no Laws made but by Parliament, nor no Parliaments but by the Peoples choice, and the Votes of the <HI>Prote&s;tants</HI> being above twenty to one to ours, there is an utter impo&s;&s;ibility that ever we can have a Parliament for our turn, and &s;o cannot bring about our point by Law; and if by force we &s;hould attempt it, the impo&s;&s;ibility is as great every way, becau&s;e the odds &s;till bears the &s;ame proportion, and we may as rationally hope that one man can beat three and twenty, as that the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Catholicks can &s;ubdue the Prote&s;tants by force.</P>
<P>Now if you plea&s;e to add to all this, that the Authority of the Nation is already engaged, and by their many publick Manife&s;to's have declared, <HI>That there hath been, and &s;till is, a hor|rid Helli&s;h Popi&s;h Plot carrying on, again&s;t the Life of the King, and the Prote&s;tant Religion;</HI> and can we ever think that the Government will ca&s;t that reflection on their own reputation as to &s;uffer them&s;elves to be wheedled to un&s;ay this, and &s;ay the contrary, and all this for &s;o incon&s;iderable a minor part of the Nation, again&s;t &s;o va&s;t a majority thereof? I confe&s;s for one, I mu&s;t totally lay a&s;ide the under&s;tanding of a man before I can ever incline to this opinion.
<PB REF="2">I know, <HI>Sir,</HI> you expected a fairer face of things from hence than I have &s;ent you; but if I am valuable for any thing in the world, it is for fidelity, and the faithful di&s;charge of what I am intru&s;ted with. I believe you have more plea&s;ing accounts given you by &s;ome, that ou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> Intere&s;t here is on the increa&s;ing hand, and that both the Gentry and Clergy of the Church of <HI>England</HI> in Court and Country do come off apace to us, with a many grateful things of that nature; but if you will plea&s;e to credit me, &s;omewhat nigh this account I have &s;ent you, is the very truth. I do not deny but that &s;ome of the Clergy and Gentry may have come over to us, but mu&s;t al&s;o tell you, that they are &s;uch a &s;ome as are none but &s;uch as meer Indi|gents, or &s;o debaucht that they are a very &s;candal to any profe&s;&s;ion they are of; and that Churches reputation mu&s;t needs run exceeding low that glories in &s;uch Converts; and to compen&s;ate this acce&s;&s;ion too, I do a&s;&s;ure you that the Di&s;&s;enters and &s;ober Church of <HI>Eng|land</HI> men have a far greater kindne&s;s for each other than formerly, and for ought I can learn, are very hearty in their union again&s;t us, as the common enemy to both; and to tell you one &s;ad truth for all, both the riches and indu&s;try, the landed-men, and the trading part of the Nation are again&s;t us as one man; and con&s;ider, if the number, riches and trade of the Kingdom are again&s;t us, what &s;mall Cards mu&s;t be left for us to &s;hew for our game?</P>
<P>'Tis true for &s;ometime we did make good earnings in per&s;wading the Church of <HI>England</HI> men that the Di&s;&s;enters would pull them down again, and at the &s;ame time per&s;wading the Fanaticks that the Church of <HI>England</HI> would extirpate them. But that day is done; for now both the one and the other &s;ee that all tho&s;e &s;entiments were nothing el&s;e but our arts and &s;hams upon them; and therefore as the lo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e&s;t of the Church of <HI>England</HI> men are friendly to us, &s;o the more &s;olid have now &s;uch a friend&s;hip for Di&s;&s;enters as them&s;elves are in pain when they are pro&s;ecuted, and looking upon them us part of their Intere&s;t, e&s;teem all &s;uch as ill friends to the Prote&s;tant Religion as bu&s;ie them&s;elves again&s;t them; for &s;ince they &s;ee li|berty is given to <HI>French</HI> Di&s;&s;enters, the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> think that Charity ought to begin at home, and therefore may very well be allowed to their own Di&s;&s;enters al&s;o. We hang now only by our Sheet-anchor, That the&s;e kind of people will &s;erve his Maje&s;ty as they did his Father, but how long &s;uch a fright will prevail upon a Prince of his under&s;tanding, e&s;pecially there being no better bottom to hold &s;uch a &s;urmizes keep, me in a continual apprehen&s;ion; for I am &s;ure when ever this Anchor comes home, there is nothing but a wreck to be expected for us.</P>
<P>Three Parliaments &s;ucce&s;&s;ively you have &s;een already &s;tand ready to &s;wallow us up, and had a&s;&s;uredly done it had not this notion pre&s;erved us. So that when ever this &s;lips, we are gone to all intents and purpo&s;es. For the people are &s;till the &s;ame, and in rea&s;on will chu&s;e much the &s;ame Parliaments; for look what the people are, &s;uch are always their Parliaments, which is the true&s;t mea&s;ure you can take of the People of <HI>England;</HI> for were the People <HI>Ca|tholick,</HI> you would have <HI>Catholick</HI> Parliaments; but to expect a Popi&s;h Parliament from a Prote&s;tant People, is as unnatural an expectation as to look for the Sun at midnight; and therefore we had no other way to pre&s;erve us from the&s;e Parliaments, but this &s;ingle &s;ham, That they were as much enemies to His Maje&s;ty as to His Brother; whereas in truth they were no enemies to His Maje&s;ty nor His Brother neither, but to the <HI>Catholick</HI> Profe&s;&s;ion, and to the Duke as he was the Head thereof in this Kingdom, and thereby had as much unfitted him&s;elf for the Government of Prote&s;tants, as our <HI>Harry</HI> the Fourth of <HI>France</HI> had, being a Prote&s;tant for the Government of <HI>Catholicks.</HI> And to &s;ay all, we did but oppo&s;e tho&s;e Politicks in the&s;e Prote&s;tant Parliaments which we our &s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ves have practi&s;ed in all <HI>Catholick</HI> Countries; and as long as we can continue this Cheat to per&s;wade the World that the Pro|te&s;tants are enemies to Monarchy and his Maje&s;ty, we &s;hall keep off the deadly blow; but when that art cea&s;eth, as God knows how &s;oon it may, we may bid good night to all other de&s;igns for ever. For I do not &s;ee that our new device of fetching off Witne&s;&s;es doth effect what &s;ome fancied it would, our game being gone too far, and grown too unweildy to be retreived by &s;uch little tricks at the&s;e, and the rea&s;on is plain: for there is not a man that we fetch off, but that hath &s;ome intimate friend or other, with whom he doth advi&s;e, before he cometh over, and to whom he doth impart the offers and terms of his coming to us, or el&s;e he huffs it out that he will not be &s;tarved and neglected, as he &s;wears he is by the other party. For turning tales and &s;ides, is &s;o &s;hameful an Act e&s;pecially to men of any mettle or in|genuity, that they reckon them&s;elves Debtors to their own Reputation, to &s;ay &s;omething in the excu&s;e thereof, which &s;ayings, when they are brought into open Courts of Ju&s;tice a|gain&s;t them, doth &s;o bla&s;t and &s;tain their Te&s;timony, that not one of a hundred that hears it, will give the lea&s;t credit; and therefore though many of our Friends talk high what great Gainers we were by the Tryal of the man at <HI>Oxford,</HI> yet I mu&s;t crave liberty to di&s;&s;ent from their opinion, and a&s;&s;ure you, That we were very great Lo&s;ers by his Blood.</P>
<P>Sir, Whatever may be told you, This is the true State of matters here; and therefore if the Government cannot be per&s;waded to accept of the Blood already &s;hed, for payment, and cro&s;s the Book by an Act of Oblivion; I &s;hall quit my Po&s;t here, as fore&s;eeing that all things will revert with a vengeance on us; and that it doth not lye within the compa&s;s of hu|mane Prudence to prevent it. I am</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Sir, </SALUTE> <SIGNED>Your mo&s;t faithful, mo&s;t obedient, and mo&s;t humble Servant.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
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<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Rich. Janeway</HI> in <HI>Queens-Head-Alley</HI> in <HI>Pater-No&s;ter-Row,</HI> 1681.</P>
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