THAT France has been upon the Defensive, both by Sea and Land these two Years last past, I hope no Body will deny: That her Carreer was stop'd in the Campaign of 1694, and that she lost Ground every where, ( Ger­many excepted, where she got none,) viz. in Flanders, Italia, and Catalonia, in the Campaign of 1695, is well known to all the World: That she sneak'd behind her Lines last Summer, and that she is ma­king new ones between Dinant and Cha­stelet, having fortified her Frontiers, and re-inforc'd those Garisons, we are all ve­ry sensible: That ever since the fatal [Page 6]Blow at La-Hogue, the Navy-Royal of France has been disarm'd and laid up, nay and block'd up too in her own Ports, by her Enemies, not daring to peep out to Sea, must be acknowledg'd by all: That this way of Defending her self by Lines is purely new to her, and a certain Effect of her Declension, is not capable of the least Doubt or Dispute; for, having Ar­mies more numerous, and Magazines better fill'd than her Foes, she always acted upon the Offensive, till, for want of Mo­ney, Magazines could not be amass'd, nor Forces augmented, nay Recruits hardly made. That the Necessities of France are pressing and pinching we shall clearly evince, by her Commerce being intirely destroy'd; (for what little re­mains, is by stealth sent out, which bears no Proportion to that in the Freedom of Trade:) That the Revenues of France are fallen short above forty Millions of Sterling Money, of what they amounted to about thirty Years ago, I have made out plainly in a Treatise I writ, and [Page 7]which was lately publish'd in France, en­tituled Les Detailes de France, in which it appears (above Contradiction) that France was in her most exalted State, and most flourishing Condition, just before she began the Persecution of those of the Holy Reformed Religion, and her Declen­sion may thence take Date: That her Traders and Artificers are fled, her Towns and Villages depopulated, her Manu­factures (her richest Mine) abandon'd, her very native Products neglected, is no piece of News, but rather too stale to be now broach'd: That the Fertility of the late Years have made Bread (the Staff of Life) abundantly plentiful in most Parts of that Kingdom is very cer­tain, which yet hinders not Multitudes of People from starving, (which is not Re­port, or Phancy, or Conjecture, but occu­lar Demonstration,) three Hungarian Gentlemen who lately obtain'd Passes, and made the Tour of France have de­clar'd, that in riding a few Miles they saw and told above a hundred dead with [Page 8]Hunger in the Roads as they past; be­sides, many other Gentlemen lately come from thence affirm it: And this Misery encreases daily, for the Taxes are every where doubled upon the poor Rogues, who being insolent, their necessary Move­ables are seiz'd, (which never was done before) and sold to the King's Use, who knows nothing of this barbarous Treat­ment; no Body (no, not the tender-hearted Clergy) durst tell him; he sees no Scarcity, feels no Want, great Trains, and great Tables are still in his view; Monsieur Pont Chartrain with his his Ja­nizaries manages this Matter, first Pro­jects, and then raises Money, being assi­sted by the King's Absolute and Arbitra­ry Power. And now to revive the drooping Spirits, and languishing Senses of my poor, slavish, and drowsie Country­men, they are told often, and frequently tickled with the hopes of Peace, which our August and Invincible Monarch, (as the Court Parasites call him) assures them he will have, either by Force, or [Page 9]fair Means: And such is the Vanity and Credulity of my dear Compatriots, that they yet believe him, (although they have been so often deceiv'd by him,) and to that end, all Instruments are made use of, no Stone unturn'd, Sea and Land compass'd, all Methods attempted to bring this about; but finding Peace is not to be gain (even by his new and late Concessions, which are much more reasonable,) but with Sword in Hand, his Gallick Majesty, is resolv'd to try one Ef­fort more, (and that, he says, shall be a very extraordinary one) (and, I say, will be his last,) by augmenting his Troops, and making an early Campaign of the next, and (as is pretended) by equipping both his Fleets, in the Mediterranean, and Ocean, and joyning them to make Head against the united Force of England and Holland, to preserve their Coasts from being Insulted, and their Towns and Ports from Bombs and Fire-Ships, and to re­inforce their Armies with the Regular Troops, and the Garisons with the Militia [Page 8] [...] [Page 9] [...] [Page 10]that guarded their Coasts; but all this is Rhodomantade, mere Huff, and Splutter, being impracticable, and almost impossi­ble, for the Charge of setting out their Fleet will be superior to that of augment­ing their Armies by new Levies in lieu of the Troops on the Coasts; besides, 'tis absolutely impossible for them to Man 'em, (tho' they call in every individual Privateer,) and surely they are not yet so mad to pretend to meet the English and Dutch at Sea, without a Force supe­rior, or at least equal to them, (which is what the Allies desire;) besides, the French Exchequer is exhausted, the Branches of the Revenue anticipated, the Credit of the Court clogg'd, and the Reputation of the Kingdom already mortgag'd; the King's Lands would be made Cautionary, but no Body durst open their Purses for that purpose. That there is Money left in France we will not deny, and that if his Majesty can come at it, he will have it to the last Farthing we know, but care is taken to hide it from his Officers, by bu­rying [Page 11]it deep in the Earth, and find it if they can. This is the State of France at this present Juncture, she will be ruin'd even by the bare continuance of the War, without a Blow, or the loss of a Town; but, to effect this speedily, and to prevent a deluge of Blood, and to accelerate a Peace (which is now only talk'd of) which will be perfected as soon as agita­ted, I say, will even be concluded with­out any Preliminaries, which often take up a great deal of time. I propose the following Scheme, with all humility and deference, and wholly submit it to the Pleasure and Discretion of the Allies, whose Interest I shall endeavour to prove it to be to put it in timely execution; and that this Project may not savour of Pride, or Self-Esteem, or any sinister or private Design, I do declare it is the pure result of Zeal and Gratitude for my Religion, and Bread, which I enjoy, and eat, with Liberty and Satiety; from the Arms and Charity of the Allies, now in Confederacy against my native Country, (France) which denies me both.

First, That the Allies furnish each his Quota to a new Levy of Fifty or sixty thou­sand Men, this Winter, to be put in Ga­risons during the next Campaign, which shall begin very early: That out of the Veteran Troops there be detach'd Forty thousand chosen Men, (whereof ten thousand Horse and Dragoons) under experienc'd Officers, with a good Train of Artilery, conducted by the best Engi­neers, with Ammunition and Provision suitable, spare Arms, and all Necessaries for such Service, all ready to be embark'd from their several Ports in England and Holland, as soon as ever the Armies on both Sides shall have taken the Field.

That a real and actual Descent be made with this compleat Army of Forty thou­sand Men upon France, there being seve­ral Places (well known) on the Coasts of Picardy, Normandy, and Britany, favou­rable to such a Design.

That they may land Safely, and with little or no Opposition from the French Troops, is not to be doubted; and that they may march far up into the Country (which lies open enough for 'em) is cer­tain: That no Inland Towns of France, on that side, are capable of resisting such a Force, is also well known.

That by the appearing of such an Ar­my, [of Friends] among them, the Re­form'd, all the new Converts, (nay, and many Papists too, having been also op­press'd) would resume their Courage, and take Arms to recover their Laws, Liberty, and Religion: And thus would the Inva­ding Army be soon doubled, nay trebled, and be able by this Means to give to, or receive Battel from the united Force of France; who, in this great and (almost) resistless Distress, would first detach a great Body from her Army in Flanders, (which by this means would be so weak­en'd, that Villeroy could not defend the Lines, which would then be penetrated, [Page 14]and the Country that way enter'd) be­ing nearest, which in conjunction with the few Regular Troops, and more Mili­tia on the Coasts, would be sent to make Head against this Army in their Bowels, which in all probability would defeat 'em, or, at the worst, have a drawn Battel, and then repair to their Ships, always ready to receive them: This would more distract and confound the French, Court and Coun­cils, and break all their Measures, than all other Attempts whatever, nay than Two hundred thousand Men in Arms in Flan­ders against 'em, tho' each besieg'd and took a good Town or two every Cam­paign.

The Terror the landed Army would give them, the universal Consternation they would be expos'd to, would over­whelm 'em, and destroy 'em. The Allies might have what Terms they pleas'd to in­sist upon, for nothing would be denied 'em; no Disputes would be made, but all granted that should be demanded: For [Page 15]any one of the Allie's Armies, once got in­to France, would produce this happy Ef­fect immediately; and if all Things did not succeed according to expectation in the Discent, yet the French Forces in Flan­ders (as I said before) could not make Head against the mighty Army of the Al­lies there, always in full view of them, ready to attack them, upon the first march of the Detachment they would be forced to make, to compleat the Army intended to repel the new Invaders.

We want not Examples of mighty Victories obtain'd over the French by hand­fuls of Men, even when their Armies were seven or eight to one; and by the En­glish alone, after a glorious Compaign made, and their Forces fatigu'd and al­most disabled. The same Courage resides in the brave, and impenitrable Hearts of the same Nation; and if it be objected, The French are now better Soldiers, and have better Officers; so are, and have the Allies, whose Soldiers were always as [Page 16]good as (or better than) the French, and their Officers now much better; of which they gave Proof beyond contradiction, in their Conduct all the last Campaign, which their very Enemies cannot deny, and par­ticularly in the celebrated Retreat by Prince Vaudemont; and the stupendious Siege and successful Reduction of Namur by the King of Great Britain, in view of the united Power, nay, and Flower of France. If it should be urg'd, That Mo­ney would be wanting to put this great and glorious Design in execution, it is an­swer'd, No; for the Quota to each of the Allies would not be vastly great, and if it did strain 'em, they had better do so than linger on in a long, tedious, and consum­ptive War; the English Nation would be forwardest, and give the Example, (tho' they have suffer'd most already by the War,) for all being now convinc'd of the Necessity of prosecuting this common Quarrel against an Invader, and Oppres­sor, they willingly contribute to the Charge of it, and would more, and more [Page 17]chearfully, if they had a Prospect of its sudden Conclusion; which this very En­terprize would most infallibly produce.

Nor would there be wanting Shipping, or Sea-men, for this Service, the English and Dutch can furnish both; tho' we are sensible so great and well-appointed an Army would take up abundance of Ships, and employ a great many Mariners; but the Horse and Dragoons only would re­quire the greatest Number of both, for the Foot might embark on board the Men of War of both Nations, who must spare their Sea-men to man the Vessels of Transport, Provisions, &c. 'Tis but a short Cut to France; the English former­ly knew the Way very readily thither, and liked the Country so well, that they not only winter'd, (as well as summer'd,) but also conquer'd it all for themselves: And tho' this is not now pretended, nor intended, being against the true Interest of Europe, wholly to ruine France, or to canton her out into Provinces, and so [Page 16] [...] [Page 17] [...] [Page 18]each share the Spoil: No, all that is de­sign'd, and aim'd at, is to reduce her with­in due Bounds, France may be France still, and Lewis the Fourteenth King thereof, but he must be stript from those Dominions he is now possess'd of, which he got by Fraud, or Stealth; he is pretty well weak­en'd already, he is very sick of the War, and wishes it were at an End, and would come to pretty good Terms, but is mighti­ly loth to part with those fine Morsels he has swallow'd, he thinks he could digest 'em, but they lie too crude and heavy at his Stomach, he is unwilling to disgorge, but he must, for his natural Heat abates, and his radical Moisture is exhausted, (I mean his Coin and Power) so that they must come up again: His Appetite is good yet, and Ostrich-like he can swallow, but not (like them) digest (as 'tis reported) Iron, especially if there be any Steel in it, of which he is like to have his Belly full; and pray God he may, that a speedy End may be put to these bloody, merciless, destructive and unmanly Wars; these [Page 19]Bombs and red-hot Balls, this Burning, and Bombarding, which (I am sorry I must say it) France began, tho' now she repents of it, as she will soon of all her great and glorious Atchievements, (as she vainly and falsly call'd her barbarous Invasions, Usurpations, and Oppressions,) she must e'er long tamely submit to a Peace, because she can no longer do Mis­chief; her Will is good, but her Power dwindles apparently and visibly, she must be reduced to Reason, and brought to so low an Ebb, that it shall not be in her Reach, to hurt, or in the least to offend her honest, quiet, and peaceful Neighbors, who being contented with their own, ne­ver covet other Folks Goods, or Lands; and happy for France had she been so too, 'tis she that has thinn'd Europe, (as well as her self) of People; Millions have bled to gratifie her boundless Ambition, have fallen Sacrifices to her matchless Cruelty, and to merit the empty Name of Great, which her present Prince has obtain'd, at the vast Expence of Blood, [Page 20]Treasure, Time, and Application: But great what? Great Monster! Great Mur­derer! Great Tyrant! Great Oppressor! Perfidious! Base! And Perjurious to his Subjects and Neighbours. Hated by both, but fear'd by neither, but by them hum­bled, and expos'd to the Contempt of all the World; and at his Death this will be said of him; He liv'd unbelov'd, and died unlamented. He will stink and putrifie in the Grave; his Name and Memory will be Nauseous to Posterity, and instead of embellishing, (like good Kings and Pa­triots) will sully History.