Home, but also for the whole Proteftant Intereft Abroad, readily comply'd with his Pruffian Majefty's Defires, and having writ a Letter to the King of Poland on that Weighty Affair, order'd the Honourable Mr. Finch, His Majefty's Envoy Extraordinary at the Diet of Ra. tisbon, forthwith to deliver the fame into his Polish Ma jefty's Hands. That Letter, which no doubt is couch'd in the ftrongest Terms, cannot be made publick before News is brought of its being deliver'd. In the mean time, it may not be improper to acquaint my Countrymen, That His BRITANNICK Majesty acts in this Affair, not only as Elector of Brunswick-Lunenburgh, but rather as King of Great Britain, and in this Capacity as GUARANTEE of the Treaty of OLIVA, by Virtue of a Treaty concluded by King CHARLES II. foon after his Restoration, with the Great Frederick-William, Marquifs and Elector of Brandenburgh, whereby thofe Two Princes reciprocalty undertook the Guaranty of all their refpective Treaties and Alliances, among which the Peace of Oliva was partiularly mention'd. And here we may obferve, that whatever Miftakes King Charles II. was afterwards led into, by the Prevalency of a Pepif Cabal, yet, upon his Restoration, he rightly judg'd it to be his Intereft to put himself, at the Head of the Proteftant Powers in Europe; and, with fome Variation, to pursue the Wife Measures chalk'd out by Oliver Cromwel, for the Pacification of the North. We may alfo here take Notice, that affoon as His Britannick Majefty was informed of the horrid Tragedy acted at Thorn, in order to fhew his juft Refenment of that Piece of Popish Barbarity, His Majefty fent his pofitive Commands to the Magiftrates of Hanover, to caufe two Romi Priefts who were tolerated there, to depart from thence in 24 Hours, which was executed on the 20th of December.

The King of Denmark was not wanting to fhew his Zeal for the Proteftant Cause, having on this Occafion, writ the following Letter to the King of Poland, viz.

Your

You

YOUR Majefty will undoubtedly call to Mind the feveral Representations we have made to you, and to the Republick of Poland, in a Brotherly and cordial Manner; and among others, 'those we have made by our laft Letter of the 14th of June, in favour of those of our Communion in Poland and Lithuania, who are called Nonconformifts, and who are daily oppreffed by the • Romish Clergy.

We flattered ourselves, that our Interceffions ' would have engaged your Majefty to put a Stop < to those unheard of Proceedings, to protect their • Churches, to cause those that have been taken from them fince the Peace of Oliva to be restored, to maintain them in the peaceable Exercise of their Religion, and to redrefs all their other Grievances; and we founded our Hopes upon your Majefty's known Equity.

C But we have feen with Grief, that not only · your Majefty and the Republick of Poland have entirely difregarded our juft Representations, but al⚫ fo that they continue to take away their Churhes; and that they are more and more endeavouring • under any Pretext, and by indirect Means, to deprive them entirely of their Rights and Privileges, confirmed to them by the fundamental Laws of the Kingdom of Poland.

Our Concern increafed beyond Expreffion, when < we faw the dreadful Sentence of the laft Af⚫fefforial Tribunal of Warsaw against the poor City of Thorn and its Proteftant Inhabitants, by which feveral Perfons of Note and others, have not only been condemned to one of the most cruel and infamous Deaths on Account of a Tu• mult and fome Exceffes of the Populace against the Jefuits, but their Church moreover taken from them, their Schools demolifh'd, the Form

' of

of their Regency fubverted; in a Word, their Privileges, fo dearly bought and confirmed by the Peace of Oliva, deftroyed, and all without any other Ground than the falfe Depofitions of the Jefuits, and the Declarations of Witneffes of the feme Stamp with the Jefuits, without giving the • accused a fufficient Time to prepare for their De• fence, nor fo much as a Hearing; having thus been condemned in fuch a hafty and tumultuous Manner, that few Instances can be produced of fuch a Partiality and Injustice.

This affords us Ground to believe, that the Fefuits have themselves raised this Tumult, with a view to have an Oppertunity to deprive at once the Proteftants, in a moft horrid Manner, of their Lives, Honours, Eftates and Privileges: The rather, fince the hatred of the Roman Clergy is grown to fuch a Pitch, that unless God interpofes, the Proteftant Religion will be utterly exC tinguifhed in all Poland and Lithuania, notwithC standing the Precautions taken to fecure their Liberties and Privileges, as well by the fundamental Laws of the Kingdom of Poland, as by the Ca'pitulations confirmed at the Elections of fucceffive Kings, and even by your Majefty, in a moft fo• lemn Manner, and by the moft facred Oaths.

Your Majefty will eafily judge, that we cannot fee without the deepeft Concern and Compaffion, 'all those unprecedented Perfecutions against those ' of our Communion: And we hope your Majesty 'will have Regard to the juft Prerogatives of that poor City, and take to Heart the fad Condition it is reduced to, by reverfing the unjuft Sentence of the Affefforial Tribunal of Warfaw, and by establishing an Impartial Tribunal compofed of juft and impartial Members of both Religions, in order to examine anew and determinethat Affair.

'By

By fo acting your Majefty will not only do a Work acceptable to God, who can no ways delight in the bloody Sacrifice of fo many innocent Perfons, and who has referved to himself alone the Power over Confciences; but you will like⚫ wife prevent your Glory from being tarnished by ⚫ the Execution of fo many valuable Perfons, whose 'Blood would cry to Heaven for Vengeance: And by relieving those of our Communion, your Ma< jefty will give us a figna! Proof of your Friendfhip towards us, which will engage us to fhew on all Occafions that we are with Attachment, &c.

FREDERICK IV.

Nor was the King of Sweden remifs in Interpofing in favour of the Proteftants of Thorn; for affoon as he heard of the fevere Sentence pronounc'd against them, his Swedish Majefty order'd his Minifter at Warfaw to intercede for them in his Name, and in the Strongeft manner. The Reason, why his Swedish Majefty did not write to the King of Poland, as the other Proteftant Potentates have done, is because the Crown of Sweden did, fome Years ago, acknowledge King Stanalillas, and not having as yet made a formal Treaty with King Auguftus, the prefent King of Sweden could not, with due Decorum, begin an Intercourfe of Letters with his Polish Ma jefty.

On the other hand, the King of Pruffia was not contented with calling upon the Proteftant Powers; but at the fame time, order'd his Minifter at Vienna, to make a lively Reprefentation of the Affair of Thorn to the Emperor. Hereupon his Imperial Majefty held a Cabinet Council, wherein that Affair having been taken into Confideration, his Imperial Majesty

C

Majefty wrote with his own hand a Letter to the King of Poland, and order'd another to be wrote to the Senate at Warfaw, and the Tribunal of the Crown; ' Containing smart Expoftulations about their precipitate and hafty Proceedings in fo Important ' and serious an Affair, wherein the Lives and Fortunes of fo many Men, and the Chief Magiftrates ' of a great City, were concerned; And reprefenting to them, that on this Occafion, they ought ' rather to have imitated the Mildness aud Clemency his Imperial Majefty had used towards the City of Hamburgh, in a Cafe wherein his Imperial Majefty was himself highly affronted, in the Perfon of his Minifter.

The Emperor's Letter, with the other abovementioned, made no fmall Impreffion on the King of PoLand, who was no fooner return'd from Warsaw to Drefden in Saxony, but he wrote a Letter to the Lutheran Magiftrates at Thorn, wherein he expreffes his 'Concern for the violent Execution done in their City, to which his Majefty had not contributed in any direct way, having been obliged, according to the Laws and Conftitutions of Poland, to fign the Refult of the Refolutions of the General Dyet of the Kingdom, in which the Affair of Thorn was comprehended: Befides, that his Majefty had been pofitively affured, that the Sentence given by the Affefforial Tribunal at Warsaw, would not be literally executed.

About this Time, his Pruffian Majefty being inform'd, that the Jefuits and their Agents and Votaries at Thorn, not contented with their late enormous and unheard of Proceedings, were ftill carrying on their cruel Perfecution, and labouring totally to extirpate the Proteftants of that City, fent to his Polish Majefty at Drefden, another Refcript, or

E

Letter