(I speak of it in relation
to the strong Hopes they have of succeeding by a _French_ Power) is an
uncurable Distemper. I have often wonder'd to hear Persons, otherwise of
great Penetration and Sense, grow constantly Delirious upon this Topick.
The Wagers that have been lost upon that very Prospect wou'd have
purchas'd him a little Kingdom. Time has open'd a great many People's
Eyes; but there is a set of Men who are enslaved to the _French_
Projects, and so far infatuated, that nothing can cure them. If fooling
him with sham Descents, neglecting all Opportunities of assisting, if
banishing him, excluding him by solemn Articles, will not satisfy 'em as
to this Particular, 'tis my Opinion they wou'd not be convinc'd, if they
should see _France_ chaffering for his Head, and finish the Twenty Eight
Years old Politicks with 100000_l_. being what is set upon it. There is
no extraordinary difference between disposing of another Man's Right,
and disposing of his Person. There was a Time when _France_ gloried in
the Ostentatious Title of being the Assylum of distress'd Monarchs, and
I remember I was once dispos'd to have almost deify'd their Monarch upon
that Score; but when I took the Frame of his Politics, and examin'd
every Wheel and Spring by which they moved, I rescued my self from the
Prejudices I had been nurs'd up in; and though I always pursu'd the same
End, yet I was a constant Enemy to their Method, which I was convinc'd
were all directed another Way, and that a Restoration upon a _French_
Footing was a Chimerical Project, and that if it had taken Effect by
their Arms, _England_ must have had another Doomsday-Book, and have
suffer'd once more under an Arbitary Discipline, more dreadful than that
of _William the Conqueror_, from whom _England_ has been struggling to
retrieve her self ever since. I had formerly made a Resolution with my
self not to hearken to a Love-Intrigue, but upon a Prospect of putting
an end to such Amusements. The long time I had been out of the Army,
gave me several Opportunities to make Enquiry after a Person who was
capable of making me happy in that Respect. I took a singular Care when
any Thing was offer'd that way, to consult my Reason more than my
Passions, and had fix'd before my Eyes, the per-plex'd State I liv'd in
those Weeks I held a Correspondence with the _Spanish_ Lady. 'Tis a
dangerous practice when a Person shuts his Eyes among Precipices, and
neglects Consultation where the Choice