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 XVIII. (Book 18)

Of Alien Protestants, their Usage in France; and the Severities shew'd to the Dutch Con∣sul at Nants, and others.

My Lord,

YOUR Lordship may have been desirous to know all this while, that since the French have been so cruel to their own Fellow-subjects and Natives, how Strangers fare amongst them; and therefore I shall give your Honour my Thoughts upon this matter, as far as any Par∣ticulars have come to my Knowledge. It's not long since that we have seen an Order here, giv∣ing Leave to all Protestant Strangers to have free egress and regress into the Kingdom, with their Wives, Children, Servants, and others of their Nation, at Will, and with the same Freedom and Liberty which they enjoy'd in times past; but they are strictly charg'd to carry none of the King's Subjects out with them, without ex∣press Leave under the Secretary of State's Hands, nor to exercise their own Religion, whatever Religion they be of; which last words were ••••••dden in craftily by the Jesuites, after that of Protestants, to the end they might en∣hance the Divisions amongst them, from which the Missionaries drew their greatest Arguments to entrap the simple and ignorant, and where∣by they would tacitely insinuate, That all the Sects which at this day dishonour the Christian

Religion, and which agree in any one thing with Protestanism, are so many Protestant Sects: Tho' it's well known to the World, that all True Protestants both shun and abhor their Communion. Such an Order was certainly, at this time, highly necessary; for, tho' no Or∣ders have been issued out for to hinder those who would not become Romanists to enter the King∣dom, yet the Court was afraid their rigorous Proceedings against their own Natives would deter others, as thinking they could expect no better Treatment, nor more Safety in their Persons and Estates in France than natural Frenchmen; but how little Benefit many Alien Protestants have received hereby, is notoriously known in every part of this Kingdom; and the Dutch Consul at Nants has sadly experienc'd the same; tho' one should have thought his Quality was able to secure him against any Vio∣lences to be offer'd him in that kind. It has been usual, my Lord, for Foreigners, who have resided in this Kingdom, relying upon the Pub∣lick Faith, and flourishing by Commerce, to love to take care to preserve the Fruit of their Toil and Pains in a Country where the Right of Inheritance took place upon their taking Let∣ters of Naturalization; wherefore many such are to be found here this day, who never dreamt that they should be molested in their Religion, and thereby run the hazard of losing their E∣states also, as thinking it to be a matter very conformable to the Rules of Justice and the Law of Nature and of Nations, that they should be reduc••d to their primitive states, as others, when the Kingdom thought fit to revoke the Edicts, under the protection and duration whereof they had made these Advances; and alledging, That

they did not become Frenchmen, but conditio∣nally, that they might enjoy the Freedom of their Consciences; seeing without that they would never have taken those Engagements: or if the Government thought not fit to observe them, the least it could do, was to remit them to their former Liberty, and to give them their Choice, either to enjoy the Priviledge of their Letters, whereby they were naturaliz'd, by turning Roman-Catholicks, or to lose that Ad∣vantage, and to be look'd upon for the future as no other than Strangers, if they persevered in their own Religion. But these Pleas, tho' full of Reason and Equity, hath little availed any of them, for they have been generally treated with the same Rigor and Severity as the rest have been: And to this end there are and have been forty s••ivelling Pretences rais'd, to involve them in the same Misery; if any of them have French Wives; if they have Chil∣dren by them of such an age, born in this King∣dom; or if they have a Father or Mother-in-law living with them; this is enough to quarter the Dragoons upon them. In short, my Lord, I cannot see how it can be safe for any Protestant to come and reside in this Country, notwith∣standing what is contained in the forementio∣ned Order; for tho' this Court might be pun∣ctual in the observance of it according to the Letter, yet seeing it doth positively forbid, that such Strangers should exercise their Religion here, it brings but a small Remedy to the Evil they have apprehended might arise by the Fear which might possess the Minds of Foreigners from residing and trafficking amongst them, un∣less such Protestant Alliens will be content (which cannot be generally thought of them) to live

without any Worship at all; for they must ex∣pect, if they do otherwise, tho' it be their private Devotions only in their Families, to be liable to the Rigors of the same Inquisition with the French Protestants themselves. I find they are resolved here to carry all things with an high hand; I heartily wish it may be no Pat∣tern to our—I remain,

My Lord,

Your most humble and most devoted Servant.

Paris, June 2. 1686. N. S.