It was admitted by an illustrious statesman in France, in the seventeenth century, that it was the true interest of England to maintain and defend her Protestant church against popery. As his observations are so striking, and also so applicable to our present circumstances, I shall not hesitate to quote them. The book bears this title, _The Interest of the Princes and States of Christendom_, and consists of several chapters, in each of which he treats of _The Interest_ of a particular country. There is a chapter on _The Interest of England_, from which I quote the following passages: “Queen Elizabeth (who by her prudent government hath equalled the greatest kings of Christendom), knowing well the disposition of her state, believed that the true interest thereof consisted, _first_ in holding a firm union in itself, deeming (as it is most true) that _England is a mighty animal, which can never die except it kill itself_. She grounded this fundamental maxim, _to banish thence the exercise of the Roman religion_, as the only means to break all the plots of the _Spaniards_, who under this pretext, did there foment rebellion.” Alluding to some other particulars of that reign he adds:—“By all these maxims, this wise princess has made known to her successors that besides the interest which the king of England has with all princes, he has yet one _particular_, which is that, _he ought_ thoroughly to acquire the advancement of the Protestant religion, even with as much zeal as the King of Spain appears protector of the Catholic.” This was the language of a statesman. King James, therefore, did not seek the _interest_ of his country, but _that_ of the papacy[38]. [Footnote 38: See _The Interest of the Princes and States of Christendom, by the Duke De Rohan, translated into English by H. H._ Page 53, 12mo. 1641.] A few words will suffice to shew that King James intended to subvert the liberties of his subjects, to root out Protestantism, and to re-establish popery.