Declaration of the Comte de Tourville Commandant His Most Christian M[ajes]ties fleet.: Translated from the French original.

Declaration of the Comte de Tourville Commandant his most Christian M^ties fleet.

Translated from the French Original.

THe English possibly may be sensible, novv the French Fleet is upon their Coasts, hovv much they haue been deluded these tvvo years by false notions, industriously impos'd upon them of the vveakness of France, and strength of the Allies. They may perceiue that those, vvho by subverting the Lavvs of the Government, and dispossessing the rightfull King, have dravvn so povverfull an Enemy upon them, haue also brought them so lovv, that they are not able, even vvith the help of the Dutch, to maintain the Dominion of their ovvn Sea, nor preserve their trade, & themselves from vtter ruine. The People, instead of that full enjoyment of their Liberties & Properties. vvhich they promis'd to thmselves from their nevv Master, have never been more oppress'd vvith Taxes, & the vexations of Arbitrary procedings, & vvith all those mischief, the bare apprehension vvher of has hurried them into their present extremities.

The Usurper at first extorted great sums from a Parliament abonding in Pres∣byterians, by giving up to them the Religion Establisht by Lavv. He has squeez'd more out of this last Church-of-England Parliament, by sacrificing the Presby∣terians to them: all the vvhile equally fleecing both. These aids vvere more than needed tho secure the Quiet an Trade of the Kingdome, both at home & abroad, if they had been applied that vvay, & not diverted to secret & infini∣tely expenceful courses to str••ngthen himself by foreign Forces, alvvays sus∣picious, and alvvays fatal to the Nation. Parliaments haue been already tvvice hindred from taking an account of this Money, least their Eyes should be open'd, and the design of their total oppression expos'd to their clear vievv. That oppres∣sion vvould haue been easy enough, if the Usurper had not met vvith such an Enemy as the King of France. But it vvould be more easy, if the Nation de∣priv'd of trade; drain'd of Money an divided by the animosity of tvvo Parties, both fomented by the Usurper, vvith his countenancing novv the one, and novv the other, become a defenceless looker on, vvhile the Authority of the Lavvs is subjected to the foreign force, vvith vvhich he seeks to fill the Kingdom.

His vveakness vvill oblige him to go on yet a vvhile in overreaching the En∣glish, and persuading them his Most Christian Majesty arms so strongly, only to pursue the pretences vvith vvhich he amus'd them at first, to driue them into utter ruine, by engaging them to maintain to the utmost a quarrel vvhich is his ouvn, not theirs. In the mean time the French come not against the English but against an Usurper, vvho has engag'd them into à Revolt equally con∣trary to the Doctrine of the Church of England, an the Lavvs of the King∣dom; and on vvhich he could put no better colour than the votes of men con∣ven'd vvithout Legal Authority: in a vvord, vvho actually has brought more mischief upon them in eighteen months, than an Enemy could haue don in a long vvar.

There are many vvho preserve a sence of their fidelity: imports to vnite, and assure themselves His most Christian Majesty h••s no design to Invade the En∣glish Nation, nor take advantage of their disorders for his particular ends. He has preserv'd their Lavvful Souereign for them, and the Heir apparent of the Crovvn, from vvhom they may hope for quiet & security, vvhich they can never expect vvhile foreign and usurping hands are, & alvvays vvil be snatching

the Crovvn. He has furnish'd His Majesty of great Brittain vvith means to keep himself up in Ireland, & to prevent the Usurper from ruining them utterly by the easiness vvith vvhich they put into his hands the opportunity to enslaue them. He is in a condition to cross all his designs by sending nevv succours to His Majesty of Great Britain, and cutting off the means of subsisting from the Ene∣mys His conduct is demonstration that he aims at nothing but the Restoration of a Prince his Ally, and never dream of destroying a Kingdom, vvhich he ma••es it his business to preserve to him. All then vvho loue their King, their Countrey, their Religion, their Lavvs, & the good of the Kingdom, ought to be sensible that they cannot run themselves into any danger so great, as being at the mercy of the Prince of Orange, if orce he be out of fear of His most Christian M^ties Arms, & get the Irish thorn out of his foot; and that the French far from Enemies, are truly the Defenders of their Liberty.

It is therefore declar'd that as on the one side His M.^ties Fleet has orders to fall upon the enemies and rebels of his M.^ty of England vvherever they shall be found: so on the other that all vvho vvill return to their duty, & recognise their ovvn King, shall not be look'd upon as enemies: that on the contrary they shall meet vvith all possible Kindness & succour for themselves as vvell as all other his good subjets: that no hostility shall be exercis'd against the Persons, or Places vvhich vvill return to his obedience. That vve shall confide in all vvho shall come authoris'd by him, & joyn vvith them in all expedient•• proper to avoid shedding the blood of his People, and the other miseries of vvar. And that vve shall make it effectually appear, that as vve act according to the intentions of a Prince vvhose goodnesse tovvards them had no bounds, and the vvant of vvhose mild Government has been so often lamented, vve have no design but against R••••••lli•••• vve shall manage vvith consi∣deration and tendernesse even to the Rebels themselves, if by a speedy sub∣m••ssion they vvill prevent the punishment vvhich they have deserved. They may farther be assur'd, that regard shall be had to their service vvho shall become examples to others, & revvards procur'd for them, such as their fidelity can ex••ect. And vve hope, that those vvho mas have been surpris'd by passion & the artifices of enemies to their quiet, vvill open their eyes, ac••novvledge the sin erity of our intentions, thank France for preserving so good a Master for them, & become sensible, that as they cannot hope for any end of their misfortunes and divisions but by his return, they can as little expect their Trade again, as long as it depends on Allies so much interested as the Hollanders, vvho in less than a year of their close union, have don them more harm, than in many years of open vvar.