had sent upon that errand, when he was taken beside Ostend; and that the way of returning the money was by a bill of exchange from a banker of Paris upon a Jew in Amsterdam, payable to the said other prisoner, Jacob Martinet.' Adding, "That his servant knew nothing of the secret, but only was employed to carry the letters betwixt Martinet and him, and the said Monsieur Rayon. And that he knew nothing of the design till Martinet drew him into it. and assured him, that there was the like design in most of the ' towns of Holland.'

Being desired to give account of the design itself, he gave it thus: That the said Martinet and he were to let in a great many French by threes and fours, under the notion of deserters from the French army, and that, before-hand, they were to provide several private lodgings for them to be ready upon call. In the mean time he and Martinet were to provide a great many firelocks, under the pretence of buying them, in order to sell them again to the new raised regiments in Flanders. That, when they had got into town a comC petent number of French in the manner above-mentioned, they were to concert with the said Monsieur Rayon a particular night, in which he, with other two regiments, should be in readiness to march from the nearest places of the French conquests, to Sluys, by such ways as were laid down in a plan agreed betwixt them. That, at the night and hour appointed, the said Martinet and he 6 were to have all the French in readiness with their arms to fall C upon the garison, there being ordinarily but two-hundred men upon duty at a time; and having cut them off, they were at the same time to open the east gate to the other French, under the command of Monsieur Rayon, and being joined together to take possession of, and keep the town for the French king, whose army, at the same time, was to fall down with all diligence and force upon the frontiers of Holland.' He further acknowledged, that he 'doubted not but the French were tampering with some in most of 'the towns of Holland to the same effect; and that he knew, there ( were several great sums of money returned by bill to Amsterdam to this end, and that there were several agents up and down Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Bergen, Upsom, the Bush, Utrecht, Leyden, and all other towns in Holland, who were busy in making intrigues 'to betray the respective towns to the French for several sums of money, and promises of great preferment,'

6

Cornelius Reolands, being found guilty upon his confession, was removed, and immediately thereafter Jacob Martinet, the other pri soner, was brought to his tryal. Who stoutly denied he knew any thing of a design to betray the town of Sluys into the hands of the French, or that he had ever entertained correspondence with Monsieur Rayon, or Monsieur de Terry, to that or any other effect. Whereupon Reolands's servant, with whom the above written letters were found, was produced against him as an evidence; who, being sworn, deposed, That he had received the letters, which had been taken about him at Ostend, from his master Reolands, and that he the said Jacob Martinet was present, when his master gave them

him, and that Martinet desired him to return as soon as possible, giving him half a pistole to drink, saying, that, if he got a good answer of some money business he had written about, he, the deponent, should be well paid.'

Martinet briskly denied that he ever had seen this witness, or had been in company with Reolands but once in his life, about six years ago. The evidence, immediately in open court, required two men, whom he knew, to declare, if they did not several times see his master Reolands and Martinet together at the Maurice Head tavern in Sluys; who upon oath declared they had often seen them both go into, and come out from that tavern, they two all alone, and that within less than these two months. Notwithstanding all which, Martinet stood firmly to his denial.

At length the declaration and confession of his accomplice Reolands was read before him, whereat he seemed to be much stunned, having often changed colour, the time of the reading it. But, in sisting in his denial, and the law not allowing the confession of one accomplice to be sufficient proof, he was adjudged to be put to the torture. Whereupon all things being ready for it, his courage failed him, and he told the people appointed to put it in execution, that he would confess all he knew of the affair he was charged with, be fore the judges.

Being thereupon called into court, he freely confessed, 'His being upon a plot with Reolands to deliver up the town of Sluys to the French, after the manner contained in Reolands's confession, with this particular circumstance, that in a letter, written to him by 'Monsieur de Terry, secretary of war under the Duke of Lux.· emburgh, he was promised ten-thousand livres more than was to be given to Reolands, together with a place in the presidial court of Sedan, worth three-thousand livres per annum.' And thereafter being desired to decypher the letter written in cyphers found about Reolands's man; he freely did it in these words, as was dictated by him from the letter given him in open court.

'SIR,

"WE have fully concerted the manner we are to act here, in de livering up the town; and it rests only, that you be as ready to effectuate your part at a precise time to be appointed, which both Mr. Reolands and I think to be most proper sometime in the middle of May next, because the army of the States will not be in the field till the end of that month at soonest; you see what I ❝ venture to serve so great and generous a prince, and it is but a small part of what I would do to serve him. Be sure you, by the bearer, adjust the exact time and way of your being in a readiness to accomplish your part of the design; and I think it were time, that some of these soldiers should be stealing in, as you know. After receipt of yours, we will be every day making one step or other to forward the thing: and though I doubt not but by the same bearer you will send the bill as you promised; so I assure you, I am more persuaded of the reasonableness of having a

C greater sum ready in some hand, to make use of for gaining others 6 to our interest, as perhaps the affairs will require. I need not 6 say more, but commit my fortune to your conduct, who am

Sluys, April 1, 1690.

Sir,

Your faithful and humble Servant,
JACOB MARTINET.

These confessions of both Jacob Martinet and of Cornelius Reolands being again read in open court, they both of them received sentence in these words:

Forasmuch as you Jacob Martinet, and you Cornelius Reolands, are by your own confession, and other legal proofs and letters, found guilty of holding a correspondence with Monsieur Rayon, 'colonel of a French regiment in the French king's army, and with 'Monsieur de Terry, secretary of war under the Marshal Duke of Luxemburgh, in order to betray the garison and town of Sluys to the French for a sum of money, agreed to be paid by the said Mon sieur de Terry, to you Jacob Martinet, and to you Cornelius Reolands, for doing thereof. By which action the whole province of Holland and neighbouring provinces would have been in emi" nent hazards of being thereupon ruined by the French army; 'therefore the court does hereby adjudge you the said Jacob Mar. tinet, to be taken back to prison, and thence, upon the sixth of May, instant, to be drawn upon a cart to the publick market-place of this town, and there to be hanged up by the neck on a gibbet, and, being near dead, to have your bowels ripped up, and there. after, being fully dead, to have your body divided into four quarters, to be disposed of as the court shall afterwards think fit, and your head to be severed from your body, and affixed upon 'the very same gate of this town which you designed to open to the enemy. Likewise the court adjudges you the said Cornelius Reolands, to be taken back to the prison, and, upon the said sixth of this instant May, to be taken to the said market-place of this town of Sluys, and there to be hanged up by the neck upon a gibbet until you be dead. And this we give for a final sentence against you both, wishing God may shew mercy to your 'souls.'

According to this sentence, upon the said sixth day of May instant, the said Jacob Martinet was brought to the place of execu tion, where he behaved himself very impenitently, and refused to speak to the people, and had the sentence executed upon him as aforesaid.

After him came Cornelius Reolands, who, both in prison, and at the place of execution, carried himself very devoutly and penitently: And, asking leave if he might speak to the people, he expressed himself in words to this purpose, a copy whereof he had given before. hand to the sheriff or scapen that attended him.

"Good Christian People,

I am brought here justly, for designing to betray my country o a foreign enemy for a sum of money. I confess myself guilty of the crime, and I beg God's forgiveness and your forgiveness for it, and am willing to die for it, as I justly deserve. I must say, did for some months resist the offers that were made me by the unhappy man that is gone before me; but at length my wants prevailed 'with me to accept what I thought would rid me out of them. This I do not say to excuse myself in the least; God forbid I should. And as I consented to betray this town, so I did promise to do another villainy, which indeed I forgot to tell my judges at my tryal; and it was, to see if I could prevail with any captains of ships, to betray their ships to the French, for which I was to receive money from the French secretary of war to give to those captains. I hope your displeasure against me for so villainous designs will end, when I have satisfied justice with my blood. I earnestly beg the assistance of your prayers for me, in this my agony; and I com. mit my soul to God, hoping to be saved by the merits of Christ, < my redeemer.'

Having delivered himself thus, and heard the minister that waited on him pray, and having prayed himself, he was just going to be turned off, when, pulling up the handkerchief that was over his eyes, he said, Good people, there is one thing my conscience obliges me to tell you with my last breath, and it is this: I am afraid there C are many such designs in hand, up and down this country, like this, for which I suffer; and I wish there may be some effectual " means to prevent them; for I assure you the French agents are very busy every where, and they spare no money to obtain their ends. I have no more to say, but again beg earnestly the assistance of 'your prayers: and I commit my soul to God.'

Having thus said, he was turned over the ladder, and his body afterwards, by order of the magistrates, was given to his friends to be buried.

Thus we have one sad example more of the ill effects of the French money towards our country and commonwealth; but we hope God will disappoint all their designs, and bring their accomplices to just punishment,

A DIALOGUE

BETWEEN FRANCISCO AND AURELIA,

TWO UNFORTUNATE ORPHANS

OF THE

CITY OF LONDON.

Licensed, November 4, 1690. London, printed for Randal Taylor, near Stationer's-Hall, 1690. Quarto, containing eight pages.

Francisco.

Guildhall, Nov. 3. 1690.

A Good morning to you, madam:-You are an early riser, I

see; though I as little suspected to meet you here, as to find a quaker behind the scenes in the play-house.

Aurelia. Why, sir, think you that young women have no business in Guildhall?

Franc. Yes, madam, but hardly so early in a morning. Had it been the fourteenth of February, I should have suspected you came hither to select one of the aldermen for your Valentine.

Aurel. You are pleased to be merry, sir :---What merits have I to deserve an alderman?

Franc. You cloud your own worth by your singular modesty; it is well known, that some, who have worn the purple, have taken their cook-maids into the bed with them; and, I hope, madam, their de serts ought not to be named with yours.

Aurel. You seem to be better acquainted with me, than I am with myself; but, sir, I hope you have not so ill an opinion of our sex in general, or of me in particular, to think that, in affairs of that nature, women are used to make the first advances.

Franc. Yes; in a little foolish gallantry, like this, a lady may go a great way, before she treads upon the heels of modesty.

Aurel. Yes, and that little foolish gallantry, as you are pleased to name it, shall be called fondness on our part; for it is the admirable temper of most of your sex, if you observe any thing in a woman's conversation, which you can interpret to your advantage, the nearer you find her approaches, the farther you fly from her, and tell it in company over a bottle-The truth of it is, Jack, I could love Mrs. such an one, but she is so coming, that

Franc. No more, no more, good madam.

Aurel. Yes, one word more, and then as silent as you please. Modesty on our part serves to whet and heighten your desires; for it is a virtue of such reputation, that, where you cannot find the ori. ginal, you dote upon the copy. Witness the truth of what I say, in the conduct of the lewdest women of the town, whose counterfeit vir. tue allures you to an intrigue, whereas an open declaration of their in. famous way of living would frighten you from an amour..