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<DATE>2014-07-17</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140520.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<STC T="W">L1559</STC>
<STC T="G">807.g.5.[53]</STC>
<STC T="C">R232432</STC>
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<VID>196405</VID>
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<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="1">
<HEAD>A Letter Intercepted from a Confident of the Prince of Orange to his Friend In the HAGUE.</HEAD>
<P>YOU &s;ee at la&s;t, Sir, that we know how to make good u&s;e of the prudent coun&s;els you gave us. notwith&s;tanding the objections of tho&s;e &s;peculative Gentlemen, who could not believe the <HI>Hollanders</HI> were capable to make them&s;elves ab&s;olute Ma&s;ters, of a Na|tion, accu&s;tom'd to overcome, which treated them with contempt, and who were &s;o proud and &s;o jealous of their liberty, that th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y &s;uppos'd they could never &s;uf|ficiently limit and re&s;train the Regal power and Au|thority; which they endeavour'd even in the Reigns of their mo&s;t ju&s;t and mo&s;t moderate Kings, what&s;oever care the&s;e coud take to plea&s;e them, we have neverthe|le&s;s found out the way to &s;ubject them intirely, and to oblige them to act blindfold whatever is mo&s;t conveni|ent for our intere&s;ts. You &s;ee Sir, the advantage we have made, and how dextrou&s;ly we have pur&s;u'd your advice, to engage this Kingdom in a war very like to ruine their trade for ever, to con&s;ume their brave&s;t men in the flower of their &s;trength, and take from them all po&s;&s;ibility of ever recovering that liberty they had &s;o long abus'd to the prejudice of their Soveraigns; and which, had they been wi&s;e, they might have longer pre&s;erv'd again&s;t that which is call'd our U&s;urpation. To maintain which, it was yet further nece&s;&s;ary to for|tify our &s;elves pur&s;uant to your advice, with an A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">my wholly devoted to our Prince, and therefore we hav<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> not only the Troops of our own Nation, who know no other laws than what we give them, but al&s;o bring in, as fa&s;t as po&s;&s;ible, Swedes, Germans, and Swi&s;&s;es; be|&s;ides, we invite and gather from all parts, all tho&s;e French that are enemies alike to <HI>Englan<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">,</HI> and to their own Countrey; and who have nothing to live upon, but the hopes to enrich them&s;elves by the &s;poils of all &s;uch as &s;hall dare to attempt the &s;haking off the yoak of our Government.</P>
<P>Nor do we forget to lay hold on all occa&s;ions, of &s;en|ding out of the Realm, by little and little, all the Eng|li&s;h Army, yet imbued with the principles of hatred this Nation ever had, for Arbitrary Government, and the Dom nion of Strangers. And that which is mo&s;t admirable in our conduct, is, that tho&s;e very troops we expo&s;e in <HI>Flanders,</HI> and el&s;ewhere, to all the dangers of the war, who&s;e lo&s;s cannot but be advantagious to our Prince, do neverthele&s;s &s;erve, to keep in awe all the Republican party of the chief Cities of <HI>Holla<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d,</HI> and prevent their daring to endeavour the &s;etting up, in our ab&s;ence, any other kind of Common-wealth, or the withdrawing them&s;elves from under the ab&s;olute Em|pire of their Statholder.</P>
<P>You will, with me confe&s;s, more &s;olid mea&s;ures coud never have been taken to e&s;tabli&s;h, at one and the &s;ame time, a de&s;potick power both over <HI>England,</HI> and over the United Provinces. It is true, that notwith|&s;tanding all our care to per&s;wade this people, and above all the Parliament, of the nece&s;&s;ity of a forreign Army. We had much ado to make them &s;wallow the pill, which they always look'd upon as a remedy more proper to encrea&s;e than cure their evils; but, our rea&s;ons well back'd with French, Dutch, and German Troops, alrea|dy in the heart of the Kingdom, and which will daily e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">crea&s;e, could not but prevail at la&s;t, and convince the Engli&s;h that they mu&s;t go abroad into other Countreys to learn to make War, and leave at home in their own Countrey the War even again&s;t them&s;elves, to be ma|nag'd by <HI>Schumberg,</HI> and the French, Dutch, and Ger|man Officers, who have long known the way of making good cheer at the co&s;t of their Landlords.</P>
<P>Neither are we unmindful, to rid our &s;elves, as you wi&s;ely advis'd, of all the trouble&s;ome Lovers and A&s;|&s;ertors of liberty; and of the clear &s;ighted men, who d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;cant but too rightly upon the de&s;ign<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> of our Prince, the Tower of London, and all other pri&s;ons are already fill'd, and we have got a wonderful ea&s;y way to deal with any that &s;hall have the confidence to oppo&s;e our de&s;ires, an immediate accu&s;ation of high trea&s;on; where|of to convict them, we have always witne&s;&s;es ready at hand.</P>
<P>In the mean while, we, the few friends and confidents of the Prince, are of opinion, we cannot do him, or our &s;elves better &s;ervice, than by rendring him inacce&s;&s;ible t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> the&s;e, who by birth or merit might pretend to &s;ome <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hare in the Government, and admini&s;tration of affairs: and, as we have truly ob&s;erv'd, the fear of being accus'd of Trea&s;on, of Impri&s;onment, confi&s;cation of goods, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">f whatever our re&s;entments, &s;upported by forreign Troops intirely devoted to us, might prom<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> us <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o ac<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> again&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> them, will always keep them in more &s;ubjection, than the &s;mall favors they could hope from the Prince our Ma&s;ters liberality; to which vertue, you know how much he is a &s;tranger; we are very glad to keep them low and cringing, and to oblige them, as well as the re&s;t of the Engli&s;h. to purcha&s;e the &s;malle&s;t graces and di&s;|patches in bu&s;ine&s;s; in&s;omuch, that there is room to hope, that over and above the honors and dignities from which they are excluded, and we already po&s;&s;e&s;t, the meane&s;t among us will &s;oon find him&s;elf enrich'd by their further &s;poils, and by all that we may promi&s;e our &s;elves from their deba&s;ement, and from the &s;lavery of this Nation; to which, like an unruly hor&s;e, it is &s;o per|fectly reduc'd, that we have no cau&s;e to fear it will ever hereafter prove refractory, or offer to kick again&s;t our &s;purs; and we have the le&s;s rea&s;on to apprehend any &s;uch thing, in that we have re&s;olv'd for the future not to &s;uffer any of the Engli&s;h, who have the lea&s;t talent for war or remainder of brave and generous thoughts, to enjoy any manner of charge or employment in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">his Kingdom: and if they refu&s;e to go and &s;erve us abroad, you &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l &s;oon &s;ee them led to <HI>Newgate</HI> as criminals; or el&s;e <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hall yet find a &s;horter way to free our &s;elves from them. Nor &s;hall we want expedients to put the Hollanders into the places of tho&s;e that command in the Tower of <HI>London:</HI> it would be the greate&s;t impru|dence imaginable, to tru&s;t a Po&s;t of that con&s;equence in the hands of any of a Nation, we re&s;olve to govern by fear, rather than by love.</P>
<P>I make no doubt but you have taken notice, that we have not neglected your advice concerning the great body of this Common-weal, the Merchants; of whom it is certain we &s;hould have been afraid, had they con|tinued in that &s;tate of opulency wherein we found them.
<PB REF="2"> We could not have given them a more unea&s;y &s;hock than that of the Embargo; whereby, under pretence of the nece&s;&s;ity of having Ve&s;&s;els and Seamen for the War again&s;t <HI>Franc,</HI> we made the Engli&s;h Merchants lo&s;e, according to their own computation, above three mill o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s &s;terling; and we hope to ruine for ever their con merce; for you may well conclude that that being once got into other hands, into tho&s;e of <HI>Spain, I<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">aly, Turky,</HI> and other Nations, it will be impo&s;&s;ible, in one whole age, to retrieve it, at lea&s;t to re&s;ettle it upon the &s;ame bottom it was in three or four months ago.</P>
<P>It mu&s;t indeed be acknowledged, that the mo&s;t clear fighted Merchants of <HI>London</HI> murmur extremely again&s;t this proceeding, and believe that not only their navi|gation and traffick, but al&s;o Men of War for Convoys might have been allowed them: and &s;ome of them are &s;o bold as to &s;ay, that they were full as happy under the Reigns of their lawful Kings, as now they are really mi&s;erable under the arbitrary power of the U&s;urper. But we know well enough how to &s;ilence the&s;e mi&s;chie|vous tongues; and believe me, there is nothing more <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;y than to en&s;lave this Nation, and mold it into any kind of fa&s;hion; e&s;pecially for us, who are &s;o well arm'd with power; and we often laugh among our &s;elves at the &s;implicity of the late Kings of <HI>England,</HI> as well as at the mi&s;take of their neighbours, who ever bel<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ev'd it was to be govern'd by gentlene&s;s, and that great care ought to be taken to act nothing contrary to their laws, their priviledges, and their liberties: but I affirm to you, a man may ea&s;ily, and without danger, overturn and confound all the&s;e, provided he does but know how to conceal a little his method of proceeding; and I <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">gage, that within a year there will not be one man le<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o di&s;pute&punc; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he laws we &s;hall think fit to g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">e them. Nay, we &s;hall without difficulty, de&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">y even the Religion of the Church of <HI>England,</HI> and a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l other Sects that &s;hall be found contrary to our de&s;igns; and that only by making them continually apprehen&s;ive of a handful of Papi&s;ts, and by amu&s;ing the whole Nation with an imaginary con&s;piracy; of wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ch, from time to time, we will accu&s;e any we &s;u&s;pect, again&s;t whom, and all others, who make the lea&s;t re&s;i&s;tance, we will act under that pre<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ence, all the violences proper to b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ing about our projects. You have already ob&s;erv'd after what manner we made the Scotti&s;h Convention pull down Epi&s;copacy. You may take it upon my word, that we have laid as good mea&s;ures to have the &s;ame th ng done in <HI>England,</HI> and that the Rel g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">on of this State w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ll hereafter be that which will mo&s;t favour our enter|prize, and be&s;t &s;erve us to de&s;troy all tho&s;e who yet con&s;erve the &s;pir<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t of liberty, incompatible w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">th that ab&s;olute power we intend to e&s;tabli&s;h. In a word, our affairs go according to our wi&s;hes, and I advi&s;e you Si<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, to make what ha&s;t you can h ther, together with all our be&s;t friends, to reap the profits and riches our own indu&s;try, and the little &s;en&s;e of tho&s;e that call'd us in are ready to heap upon us; and, to take from you any trouble you may po&s;&s;ibly have for quitting your Coun|tre<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">; I may in confidence venture to tell you, that it is nece&s;&s;ary to come and &s;erve here, if you expect to command at home? and that our Prince is fully deter|mined not to &s;uffer any even but &s;u&s;pected, not to ex|ecute heartily whatever he &s;hall command for the intire de&s;truction of the Republick, and ancient power of the States-General, to come hereafter <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nto any charge in Council, or any office or employ tho never &s;o <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ncon&s;i|derable; no, not to enjoy any &s;hare in the benefits me|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">it might make them hope for; which henceforward, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ccording to our m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">xims, mu&s;t con&s;i&s;t only in a blind obedience to his will. Make, I pray your own advan|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ge of this advice, as we have done of yours, and believe <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e always, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
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