The secret history of White-Hall, from the restoration of Charles II down to the abdication of the late K. James writ at the request of a noble lord, and conveyed to him in letters, by ̲̲̲late secretary-interpreter to the Marquess of Louvois, who by that means had the perusal of all the private minutes between England and France for many years : the whole consisting of secret memoirs, which have hitherto lain conceal'd, as not being discoverable by any other hand / publish'd from the original papers, by D. Jones, gent.

LETTER XIV. (Book 14)

Containing an Account of Mons. Le Tel∣lier's Arguments to disswade the French King from the Invasion of England.

My Lord,

ACcording to my Engagement in my last, I shall now entertain your Lord∣ship with Mons. Le Tellier's Remonstrance, upon the Advice given the French King to Invade England; He did acknowledge, that the Counsel proposed was in it self ve∣ry good, supposing there were a certainty of effecting it; but it was to be considered, that it would prove of most pernicious Consequence in case the same were At∣tempted without Success. That England was the Rock against which the late for∣midable Power of Spain, had dasht in pieces its Aspiring Fortunes, and that the like Ex∣pedition now by the House of Bourbon, would prove alike Fatal to its Rising Power, unless they were Infallibly sure of their Blow; For to meddle with England at all, unless they could absolutely Conquer it, would be but to rouze a sleepy Lion, slur the Reputation of their Arms, and singe the Wings of their growing Great∣ness,

before they were fully fledg'd; That it was impossible to make such a Conquest, but by Intestine Divisions or Surprize, un∣less they were first Masters of its Outworks, the Low Countries; That for a Surprize he thought it almost impracticable; and that tho' it was possible they might ••ure the Hollanders to join with them, and England was then indeed unprovided of Forces both by Sea and Land, yet there was no trusting to that, because there were no Fa∣ctions then, whose Designs were ripe e∣nough to Favour such an Enterprize: And that tho' they should prove so Successful in that Advantagious Juncture, as to enter England, they could expect no greater Ad∣vantage by it, than just to frighten the King and the Nation, and plunder them of a little Wealth, and so be gone, ma∣king but a Tartarian Expedition of it; Be∣cause the universal and strong Antipathy of the English People, both High and Low, against the French Name and Domination, would be an Invincible Obstacle to their setling there, and would quickly make that Island too hot for them. That there∣fore meerly to Attack and Pillage them, without being able to reduce them totally, would but whet the Animosity of those Warlike Nations, whose Courage had al∣ways been wont to be heightned by Dis∣graces, and was always Victorious, when

once fired with Indignation; That such an Enterprize would for ever alienate the Heart of the then King, and the whole Roy∣al Family, from the French Interest, and make them by Inclination as well as Interest, not only give way to, but passionately to a∣bet and make most Advantagious use of the Natural Animosity of their most Warlike Subjects against France; That it would Unite the Peoples Hearts so firmly to their King, and create so much mutual Confidence be∣tween them, that it would be impossible af∣terward to divide them, and so raise the Power of that Monarchy to a pitch, from which it could not chuse but prove both for∣midable and fatal to them; That it would rouze up the King, then almost Drowned in Voluptuousness and Sensual Delights, and make him a Man both of War and Business against his Will, and cause him to enter in∣to such Alliances with the House of Austria, and other Powers, as must needs be of Per∣nicious Consequences to the Designs of their great Bourbonian Hero; That therefore it was better not to think of any such Attempt, England being like a Flint, sooner broken by soft than hard Methods; That the King him∣self, and also his Brother, were much French by Inclination at present, that the former was very Indulgent to his Pleasure, that he was that way so Profuse and Prodigal, that he would always be Necessitous of Money,

which his Parliament beginning to grow weary of giving him, it would e'er long cause such strugglings between the Courtiers and Patriots of the Country, as would give them ample Scope to compass their Ends in Eng∣land, by a more sure and less dangerous way than by a War, which in all appearance would defeat all the Advantages they might otherwise reap there by other Methods. That therefore the best way was to endeavour to take Advantage of the King's Infirmities, to try whether there were a Witty French Beau∣ty, that could be Fortunate enough to gain on his Affections, for that such an one would be a most Admirable Instrument for them; That they should offer him Money, and feed his Extravagance that way, send dexterous Persons well furnished with Golden Charms, to work on all the Leading Men among all their Factions, and secretly to keep some Pensioners, both among their Courtiers, Pa∣triots and Church-men, and blow up and fo∣ment new Divisions; That they should send thither some very able Embassador, and keep him there a long time; That they should in∣cite the Hollanders to a new War with the English, and the English with them, and treat with and Promise Assistance to the former, to the last Moment; but in Conclusion join with the latter, if it were possible to per∣swade the English King to a War. And that on that pretence, they might procure such

numbers of English Forces, especially Foot, as might not only amend the Defects of their own Soldiery, which still came very short in good Infantry, but bring their own Native People by degrees, inferring daily Examples of Strangers Bravery, to imitate their Cou∣rage and Firmness in Set-Battels, and to get a Stock of good Infantry by Land, by draw∣ing the English to them against the Dutch, as they had already done of good Ships by Sea, and Warlike Munitions, by joining before with the Dutch against the English in the former Wars. Yet that they might so order things, that whatever Stipulations were made with the King of England to his Advantage, to allure him to such a War, should be eluded, and he only made a Tool of; That tho' it was likely the Parliament of England, would upon any great Success of the French, be for breaking of the War, and deny the King Money to continue it longer, yet after they had made a sufficient Impressi∣on on the Netherlands, they might prevail by their Golden Arguments upon the King, at least to continue Neuter, and leave his Land Forces still in the French King's Ser∣vice for some considerable time; That this Juggling would in a little time raise Animo∣sities and Jealousies between the King and Court-party, and that of the Patriots; make the latter to deny him Money, press hard upon his Prerogative, raise new Pretensions

about Liberty and Property, which if care∣fully fomented by dexterous Agents, would give the King and People there work enough in mutual Contests at Home, which would hinder them from acting any thing conside∣rable Abroad, keep the King always under a necessity of continuing their Pensioner, for fear of becoming his Parliaments Underling; yet prop him up so as to preserve him in a Capacity, still to be able to keep them in some sort under, and hinder the daring English Senate, from attaining any more so much the Soveraignty, as to Erect themselves into a Republick; He telling them from the Famous Cardinal Richlieu's Authentick Ob∣servation, that an Absolute Monarch, or a Republick in the Brittish Dominions, would prove almost alike Fatal to France; that therefore it was the best way to endeavour a Mean between this Scylla and Charibdis, by keeping a Ballance between King and Par∣liament, and fomenting perpetual Contests between them, which was to be done by ha∣ving unknown Instruments to sow Jealousies among the Patriots and People against the Court, and make them cross the latter; and at the same time make use of that crosness as an Argument to perswade the King, that his Authority could be no way safe without sticking to their Alliance, and feed him with Money both to enable him to carry on his Business and Pleasure without a Parliament,

and to Animate him from time to time to Prorogue and Dissolve them upon occasion. And when upon some Success of the King and Court—party, they should begin to make such steps towards Absolute Power, as might, if attained to, prove dangerous to the French Interest, and Embolden our Monarch to slip his Neck out of their Collar; then anew to stir up the Patriots and Popular Party against him, and abandon him wholly to them, till he were forced to break them, by returning to their Alliance again. That above all things they were not to forget to make their best use of that mighty Engine called Religion, which tho' powerful all the World over, yet was of more prodigious force among the English People, than among any other in the habita∣ble Earth: Now this Advice, my Lord, as coming from so Old and Experienced a States∣man, and the Ablest Disciple who had Viva Voce, heard the Documents and Precepts of the great Richlieu, that Famous Architect of the French Grandure, was assented to both as the Wisest and Securest, and was afterward in every Punctilio put in Execution, as Time and Conjunctures afforded occasion; whereof your Lordship may expect an account in due time from him who is,

My Lord,

Your Lordships most Humble Servant.

Paris, Sept. 17. 1676. N. St.