A DIALOGUE between two Friends, wherein the Church of England is Vindicated in joining with the Prince of Orange in his Descent into England.
A Dialogue between a Churchman and a Dissenter.
Church-man.
OH! Neighbour, I am heartily glad to see you; I have long desired to have an hour's
Discourse with you, that I might know your Sentiments of the Present Conjuncture.
Dissenter.
Sir, I thank you for my kind Reception, and shall endeavour to make my Visit as agreeable
as I can.
Ch.
Well, Neighbour, what do you think of the Times now?
Diss.
Why, to tell you the truth, I cannot but be pleas'd with the Humour of a Gentleman,
who died lately, and injoined his Relations to bury him with his Face downward, saying,
That in a short time the World would be turned upsidedown, and then he should be
the only Person who lay decently in his Grave.
Ch.
Why, I must confess there has been a considerable Revolution, but I hope we Churchmen
have still kept up our Reputation.
Diss.
Ay to be sure; but I hear Hue and Cry has lately been sent after your Doctrines of
Passive Obedience, Non-Resistance, Jure Divino-Monarchy, &c. And they say some Roguish Fellow [Page 2]has pack'd them up, and run with them back as far as Forty one.
Ch.
Indeed our Passive Obedience and your Addresses have been the two great Supporters of the King's Hopes; but he has now found, to
his Sorrow, that we no more designed to obey Arbitrary Commands, than you Address'd
for Establishment of Popery: But here's the Mischief of it, you Dissenters will still
be condemning us before you have heard us either Explain our Doctrines, or Distinguish
the Times.
Diss.
Come, come, don't tell me of Explaining or Distinguishing, Honesty is Uniform, and
needs no such Shifts: Why did you not Explain and Distinguish while the Court smil'd,
and you had the Whip in your hands? As for our Addressing, 'tis plain to all the World
we only designed to return the King Thanks for that Common Liberty and Ease we had from your Severities.
Ch.
'Pray' Neighbour, be not so warm; you know the Complement was attended with the Promise
of Lives and Fortunes, but not to be too nice upon your Good-Breeding in the Case;
lend me but a little Patience and I'll demonstrate to you that the Proceedings both
of our Clergy and Laity in this late Revolution have been consonant to their former
Doctrines, Reason it self, and the Constitution of this Kingdom.
Diss.
Well, I commend you at least for fair Promises, I wish you perform them better than
a Great Man before you has performed his.
Ch.
That I shall leave to the Judgment of the Impartial: But first of all I must crave
leave to tell you, That I shall not here undertake to defend the extravagant Notions
of every Upstart, who, through Prospect of Advantage, might flatter the Court with
his own Chimaera's: But, by the aforesaid Doctrines, I mean those generally preached up by the Learned
and unbiass'd Clergy, and approved of by all the thinking Men of our Church.
Diss.
I must confess I cannot expect you should defend the Excesses of every Novice; but
I can by no means reconcile these late Proceedings to those Doctrines which were Asserted
by the most Learned of your Clergy.
Ch.
Which therefore of our Doctrines would you insinuate to me?
Diss.
Why, in short, to see a Company of People up in Arms, and joining with an Invader,
who had so Zealously Asserted Passive Obedience, Non-Resistance, &c. and had taken several Oaths, disabling them upon any Pretence whatsoever to
take up Arms without the King's Order, &c. This I say is a Riddle to me.
Ch.
Your Objection I confess is weighty, though obvious and the common talk; but being
prepared by many Premeditations on this Subject, if you please to lend me a little
Attention, I shall endeavour to satisfy your Difficulties.
Diss.
'Tis what my Charity much desires.
Ch.
First, therefore, to deal ingenuously with you, I confess, at the beginning of this
Revolution I was under a very great Surprize: I, who have been in Arms for His Majesty,
a warm stickler for the Church of England, puffed up with all the Bravado's and Excesses of an Oxford Loyalty, must needs be Alarmed to hear our Nobility and Gentry beating up for the
Prince of Orange, even in the Bowels of our Country. But when I came more seriously to reflect upon
the Foundations of our Government, as well as those antecedent Obligations which
God Almighty has reserved as his own inviolable Prerogative, I began to regulate
my Zeal by calmer measures. And making a more impartial and strict Inquiry into the
Opinions of Learned Men concerning the Regal Power, I found this most generally agreed
upon; viz. That the Obedience and Disobedience of Subjects must be measured by the peculiar
Constitutions of every Kingdom, without respect either to the Jewish Polity, where
things were determined by God Almighty's special Command, or the Behaviour of the
Primitive Christians, who had few or no Legal Rights to Assert.
Diss.
Ay, but you Churchmen flattered the Court so long, till our Constitutions were all
swallowed up in the Abyss of Prerogative.
Ch.
I must confess while Kings are a Protection to Liberty, Property and Religion, the
World is naturally prone to flatter them; neither would it be good Breeding to make
too nice Inquiries into the Limits of a Prince while he does not exceed them; but
when Distress comes impetuously upon a Nation, when Life and All that is Sacred to
us lies at Stake, then the Inquiry is not only just; but necessary.
Diss.
What Conditions therefore will you Churchmen at length confine your Prince too?
Ch.
Why, I shall present you with a short, but impartial view of the Constitutions of
this Kingdom, as I find them most faithfully and ingenuously represented by the Royal
Martyr in his Answer to the Nineteen Propositions, in these Words, viz. There being Three kinds of Government among Men, Absolute Monarchy, Aristocracy and Demooracy, and all these having their particular Conveniences and Inconveniences, the Experience
and Wisdom of our Ancestors hath so moulded this out of a mixture of these, as to give to this Kingdom the Conveniences of all Three, without the
Inconveniences of any one, as long as the Balance hangs even between the Three Estates,
and they run jointly on in their proper Chanel, &c. In this Kingdom the Laws are jointly made by a King, House of Peers, and House of
Commons, chosen by the People, all having free Votes, and particular Priviledges,
&c. And in this Kind of Regulated Monarchy, that the Prince may not make not use of his Power to the Hurt of those for whose
Good he hath it, and make use of the Name of Publick Necessity for the Gain of his
private Favorites and Followers, to the detriment of his People; the House of Commons
(an excellent Conserver of Liberty) is solely entrusted with the Levying of Monys,
and the Impeaching of those, who for their own Ends, though countenanced by any surreptitiously
gotten Command of the King, have violated that Law which he is bound to protect, &c. Since therefore the Power Legally placed in both Houses, is more than sufficient to Prevent and Restrain the Power of Tyranny, &c. Our Answer is, Nolumus Leges Angliae mutari. So far this Royal Author. And indeed what could a generous Prince acknowledg, or
a Priviledg-asserting Subject desire more? Therefore, upon the whole, it appears
by the Confession of the best of Men, as well as the wisest of Princes, that we are
under a Government so well appointed for Society and the Exigencies of Humane Kind,
that nothing but Folly can think of Establishing a better, and nothing but a Jesuit
disturb it: The Scriptures themselves seem to have meant it when they tell us that
Caesar's Prerogative must never come in Competition with that of God Almighty, and that Governors
shall be a Terror to evil Works. Here King [Page 5]and People have each their Territories, and all the Provision imaginable made against
those Distractions which either Interest or Passion should attempt. From all which
what can be more naturally inferred, but that we in this Kingdom are by no means obliged
to resign up our selves to Violence and Oppression, but that Passive Obedience has
its Limits, and the Oath of Allegiance its Restrictions: A regulated and conditionated
Monarch can expect no Obedience from me but what is Conditional too; and what an
Absurdity does it seem, that by a Legal Oath I should swear an absolute Obedience
to that Authority which is not Absolute? Besides, those Subsidies which were granted
by the Clergy in several of Queen Elizabeth's. Parliaments for the Relief of the French, Dutch and Scotch Protestants, against their Oppressors, plainly shew that it was all along the Opinion
of the Church to Resist in case Rights and Religion were Invaded: Neither am I perswaded
that the learned and unbyass'd Clergy of our present Church ever meant any other Obedience
than an active Conformity to the Intent of the Law, or a Passive Submission to the
Penalties of it. Therefore though upon the Foundations of our Government, an impatient
Spirit might with a great shew of Reason establish a very extensive Latitude, in asserting
the Subjects Right; yet in Favour of Monarchy, which I Reverence, and with Respect
to the Present Conjuncture, I shall only now trouble you with these four Propositions, supposing a mixt Government;
1. That Suspicions and Jealousies of a Prince's sinister Designs are no sufficient
Grounds for Subjects violently to assert their Rights, but in this Case the Event
of things must be left to Providence. 2. That though one Man, or a greater number
of Men receive manifest Injuries by the Abuses of Government, yet while they are but
an inconsiderable part of the Community, they are in Duty bound rather to submit
to Oppression, than interrupt the common Peace: But, 3. When Dangers become demonstrable,
when Religion it self, and the very Foundations of Government are so undermined by
the Insinuations of an inconsiderable party, who have obtained the Ear of their Prince,
that its unavoidable Ruine must necessarily follow. In this Case I cannot see any
Reason why Right may not be asserted. But, 4. When a Foreign Prince with a considerable
Army Invades a Nation, upon pretence of putting a stop to such [Page 6]violent Proceedings, besides, perhaps some just Causes of a War; I say in this Case,
That the whole Nation may and ought to rise and put themselves in such a Posture,
that they may be able to return him Thanks acording to the Merits of his Favours,
without being jealous of his Greatness. And indeed our present Case is so circumstantiated,
that I Question whether it may be paralle'd in History; and let any Man tell me where
the Subjects of a Limited Monarchy, tired out with the Abuses of Government, did by sighting for their King encourage
Oppression by the Blood of Thousands, when they might effect a Treaty in all probability
with little or no Bloodshed, by joining with a Prince of their own Interest, who,
perhaps, can shew more just Causes of a War than one?
Diss.
I must confess what you have said seems to carry a great deal of Reason and Moderation
with it, which I must allow.
Ch.
Let but a moderate Papist lend me one grain of his own Principles, and I am confident
he cannot but be of my Mind; for may we but modestly measure the King's future Proceedings
(had we trusted him with Victory) by those we had already seen, how dismal would the
Prospect be? Should we but recollect how barefacedly he has been striking at the Northern
Heresy ever since the Oxford Parliament; what Mercy could we expect? How far some of the Protestant Nobility
were engaged in an Association to assert their Rights, I shall not here pretend to
determine, but this we may modestly presume, That all their Crimes were seen through
a Popish Magnifying-Glass, and no Artifice neglected to ruine them. An ingenious Gentleman
was deservedly applauded for his Rhetorical Colours in the Narrative of that Conspiracy,
and I was well pleased with a Gentleman's Fancy, who imagined another Interest would
now engage him to atone for his unhappy Continuance in the High-Commission Court,
by Writing what he observed of the Popish Designs, during his stay there. Another
eminent Instance of those Violences which were Encouraged above, was the Presenting
Two and fifty Persons in the County of Northampton as disaffected to the Government, and branding them with all the Scandals imaginable;
many of which I personally know to be as Faithful to the Crown, and in all Respects
as honest and worthy Gentlemen as any in the [Page 7]Kingdom. But to come nearer the Present Conjuncture, how were our Law, Properties, and all, prostituted by a few Dispensing Gentlemen,
some of them perfectly incapable of any Place of Trust, and all of suspected Integrity.
How surprizing was it to see persons of the most contemptible Character placed among
our Bishops; and all the sacred Authority lodged in a Court which was erected against
an express Act of Parliament? What a Riddle was it that our learned Prelates (hitherto
the great Supporters of the Crown) should be Imprisoned for acting according to their
Consciences, in refusing to Read that which pretended to establish the greatest Liberty of Conscience? Could any one that saw Six hundred Scholars up in Arms, and chearfully demonstrating
their Loyalty in the Western Rebellion, ever think to see the Fellows of Magdalen Colledg ingratefully turned out like Dogs, and perhaps one of the finest Foundations
in Europe, become a Kennel for Miscreants, who were more unworthy to be Members of an University,
upon the account of their Insufficiency, than they were incapable of it by Law? It
seem'd almost a Jest to me to see in Christ-Church persons of that eminent Character and Learning, superintended by a Wretch not fit
for common Converse. In which Society there is a Person in whom the Gentleman and
the Scholar do very eminently meet, and who for his happy Conduct and great Care to
maintain the Repute of that Colledg during these Violences, has certainly now all
the Title to the Deanry that either merit, or the common Rules of Gratitude can afford
him. But to proceed, I say to see how all Freedom of Elections to Parliament was in
a manner taken away; how the Poll at Northampton was like to be Regulated by Powder and Bullet, and the whole Government managed by
Father Petre, Pen, Lob, and a few more such mercenary Wretches; and all this to introduce a Religion contrary
to Scripture, and destructive of all Society, for which we expected great things would
have been said while the Asserters of it had Command of the Press, and the Countenance
of a Prince, yet nothing was produced but Fallacy and Nonsense: These, I say, (not
to mention the subverting Succession, a League with France, and those horrid Murthers laid to the Court) are Provocations too great even for
Primitive Obedience: But seeing these Violences have in all probability found their
period, and [Page 8]the Betrayers of God and their Country are now coming to Answer for themselves, I
shall leave further Reflections to a free and unbyass'd Parliament.
Diss.
Ay, but what was it that encouraged these Violences? Was it not your unseasonable
Zeal for an unlimited Obedience? your Oxford Decree, and such like Monuments of the Heats of that Age?
Ch.
Why, to tell you sincerely my Opinion in the Case; I am perswaded there were Two Parties
in the Nation undermining the Government; the one by more secret and mysterious
Methods endeavoured to introduce Popery; the other by more evident and bare-faced
Proceedings, attempted the Extirpation of Monarchy: Therefore the Generality of the
Churchmen being more sensible of the Designs of the latter, endeavoured to stand like
Moses in the Gap with those you term unseasonable Doctrines, which I also take to be the
Occasion of the Oxford Decree; for though in my own private Opinion I never approv'd of it, but wished it
might have perish'd in the same Rogus with the Books it condemned; yet I am so well satisfied of the Learning and Integrity
of those worthy Gentlemen who were chiefly concerned in it, that I do really believe
it was only promoted for the Preservation of the Government.
Diss.
Ay, you Churchmen have such a way of Respecting one another, that you had like to
have fooled us, and your selves out of all; neither could I ever find you were sensible
of the approaching Calamities, till Oppression touch'd your own Copy-holds.
Ch.
What you object to us in this Case seems to redound to our greatest Honour: for by
our Principles we had always such a Reverence for Monarchy, that we were willing to
connive at the failings of a Prince as long as we could; but having our Rights established
by Law, we knew when we came to be oppress'd: The very Foundations of our Government
were assaulted, and so we were forced to make Enquiry into our Constitutions.
Diss.
So then at length you will acknowledg the Prince of Orange not only to be a great, but a just Deliverer.
Ch.
Since I have been better acquainted with the horrid Designs of our Adversaries, and
found the Contest to be only [Page 9]between Papist and Protestant, I am not only highly sensible of the Prince's Generosity,
but have inferred the Justice of his Cause from the marvellous Providences which have
wrought his Success: It is certainly part of his Character, that as his first Pretences
were modest, so Fortune has not tempted him to exceed them; and we have still all
the Reason in the World to imagine that he only generously designed to relieve us
from Oppression, without any sinister Intent of making himself Great: The Noble Cause
he has undertaken is the Protestant Interest, and I doubt not but the Lord of Hosts
will fight his Battels. Indeed the Success of this his first Enterprize has been so
wonderful and surprizing, that it will make an Annal suspected, and seem a Fable to
Posterity: For who will believe that a King, who, had he acted agreeably to the true
Interest of Himself and People, might have been almost the Balance of Christendom,
who was prepared with a standing Army, and always Remarkable for his Conduct in War,
should be invaded by a near Neighbour, Son, and Nephew; and now in a Months time so
generally deserted by his Nobility, Gentry, and Military Forces, as to choose, before
the Sword was drawn, to fly for Refuge to a Prince whose Title he and his Ancestors
had long disputed? This, I say (as the Learned Dr. Burnet Argues at large) was the Lords doing, and ought to be marvellous in our Eyes.
Diss.
It was indeed an unparall'd Act of Providence; but now our Deliverance is so far Compleated,
what are you Churchmen willing to do towards an Accommodation, and to the Healing
of those Differences which in a great measure have contributed to the Growth of Popery?
Ch.
Though it be far above my Character to dictate what is fittest to be done at so great
and difficult a Conjuncture, yet my humble Wishes, are, that the Guardians and Supporters of our Church may resolve
upon such Condescentions as may satisfy reasonable Men, and prevent any longer Dissensions
amongst us: Yet this I would advise you and your Party, i. e. to stay till you are Invited, and not to thrust your selves into our Church: We are
now in the hopeful Crisis of our Fever; and therefore you ought to take care lest by tampering too much, you
disturb Nature in those methods she has took to digest her Humours, and so ruine all.
I am not ignorant that at the beginning [Page 10]of the Reformation when a Church was to be made out of a Church, several Ceremonies
were retained in Compliance to that Age, which a violent Alteration would have too
much surprized; but now, the Humours of Men being changed, may justly be laid aside.
On the other hand, I am perswaded with the Author of Foxes and Firebrands, that Rome has all along been industrious to foment our Divisions, by sending us Emissaries,
who could artificially dissemble a tender Conscience, and make credulous People believe
that all the Decencies of our Worship were nothing but Foppery, Superstition, and
the Remainders of Popery: Therefore I say my Wishes are, that a Free and Unbyass'd
Parliament will tread the middle path, bearing an equal Respect to the Decenies of
our Church, and the tender Consciences of reasonable Men.
Diss.
Well, Neighbour, I am heartily glad to see these happy effects of our Calamities;
and, as I think, there can be no Government so perfectly appointed as to satisfy all,
yet I approve so well of your Temper and Wishes, that I hope we may all Unite upon
such or the like terms.
Ch.
Therefore to end our Dispute, I shall only now detain you with my hearty Prayers,
that the Result of this ensuing Convention on Jan. 22. may be happily to settle the Crown; and that in the succeeding Parliament, the
management of these Difficulties may fall into the Hands of such Wise and Unbyass'd
Persons, that Peace and Truth may be established upon everlasting Foundations, and
no sinister Interest interrupt so great a Design.
Diss.
Sir, you have infinitely encouraged me to wait upon you oftner, we being I think now
either both Churchmen, or both Dissenters.
Ch.
Sir, The Design of this Conference was to tell you freely my Sentiments, and I intend
ere long to make it more publick, being willing to provoke some more learned and
judicious Pen to perfect what I have here weakly attempted.
Farewel.
His Majesties Letter to the Lords and Others of his Privy Councel.
MY Lords, When we saw that it was no longer safe for Us to remain within Our Kingdom
of England, and that thereupon We had taken Our Resolutions to withdraw for some time, We left
to be communicated to you and to all Our Subjects, the Reasons of Our withdrawing:
And were likewise resolved at the same time to leave such Orders behind Us to you
of our Privy Councel, as might best suit with the present state of Affairs: But that
being altogether unsafe for Us at that time; We now think fit to let you know, that
though it has been Our constant care since Our first Accession to the Crown, to govern
Our People with that Justice and Moderation, as to give, if possible, no occasion
of Complaint; yet more particularly upon the late Invasion, seeing how the Design
was laid; and fearing that Our People, who could not be destroy'd but by themselres,
might by little imaginary Grievances, be cheated into a certain Ruine: To prevent
so great Mischief, and to take away not only all just Causes, but even Pretences of
Discontent; We freely, and of our own accord redressed all those things that were
set forth as the Causes of that Invasion: And that we might be informed by the Councel
and Advice of our Subjects themselves, which way we might give them a further and
a full Satisfaction, We resolved to meet them in a Free Parliament; And in order to
it, We first laid the Foundation of such a Free Parliament, in restoring the City
of London and the rest of the Corporations to their ancient Charters and Priviledges; and
afterwards actually appointed the Writs to be issued out for the Parliaments meeting
on the 15th of January: But the Prince of Orange seeing all the [Page 12]Ends of his Declaration answered, the People beginning to be undeceived, and returning
apace to their ancient Duty and Allegiance; and well fore-seeing that if the Parliament
should meet at the time appointed, such a Settlement in all Probability would be
made, both in Church and State, as would totally defeat his ambitious and unjust Designs,
resolved by all means possible to prevent the meeting of the Parliament: And to do
this the most effectual way, he thought fit to lay a restraint on Our Royal Person;
for as it were absurd to call that a Free Parliament, where there is any force on
either of the Houses, so much less can that Parliament be said to act freely where
the Soveraign, by whose Authority they Meet and Sit, and from whose Royal Assent all
their Acts receive their Life and Sanction, is under actual Confinement. The hurrying
of Us under a Guard from Our City of London, whose returning Loyalty We could no longer trust, and the other Indignities We suffered
in the Person of the Earl of Feversham when sent to him by Us; and in that barbarous Confinement of Our own Person, We shall
not here repeat, because they are We doubt not by this time very well known; and may,
we hope, if enough considered and reflected upon, together with his other Violations
and Breaches of the Laws and Liberties of England, which by this Invasion he pretended to restore, be sufficient to open the Eyes of
all our Subjects, and let them plainly see what every one of them may expect, and
what Treatment they shall find from him, if at any time it may serve his Purpose,
from whose Hands a Soveraign Prince, an Uncle, and a Father could meet with no better
Entertainment. However, the sense of these Indignities, and the just Apprehension
of further Attempts against Our Person, by them who already endeavoured to murther
Our Reputation by infamous Calumnies (as if We had been capable of supposing a Prince
of Wales) which was incomparably more injurious, than the destroying of Our Person it Self;
together with a serious Reflection on a Saying of Our Royal Father of blessed Memory,
when He was in the like Circumstances, That there is little distance between the Prisons and the Graves of Princes (which afterwards proved too true in His Case) could not but persuade Us to make
use of that which the Law of Nature gives to the meanest of Our Subjects of freeing
Our selves by all means possible from that unjust Confinement [Page 13]and Restraint. And this We did not more for the Security of our own Person, then
that thereby We might be in a better Capacity of transacting and providing for every
thing that may contribute to the Peace and Settlement of Our Kingdoms: For as on
the one hand, no change of Fortune shall ever make Us forget Our Selves, so far as
to condescend to any thing unbecoming that High and Royal Station, in which God Almighty
by Right of Succession has placed Us: So on the other hand, neither the Provocation
or Ingratitude of Our own Subjects, nor any other Consideration whatsoever, shall
ever prevail with Us to make the least step contrary to the true Interest of the
English Nation; which We ever did, and ever must look upon as Our own. Our Will and Pleasure
thereof is, That you of Our Privy Councel, take the most effectual care to make these
Our Gratious Intentions known to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in and about Our
Cities of London and Westminster, to the Lord Mayor and Commons of our City of London, and to all Our Subjects in general; and to assure them, that We desire nothing more,
than to return and hold a Free Parliament, wherein We may have the best Opportunity
of undeceiving Our People, and shewing the Sincerity of those Protestations We have
often made of the preserving the Liberties and Properties of Our Subjects and the
Protestant Religion; more especially the Church of England as by Law establish'd, with such Indulgence for those that dissent from Her, as We
have always thought Our selves in Justice and Care of the general Welfare of Our People
bound to procure for them. And in the mean time You of Our Privy Councel, (who can
judg better by being upon the place) are to send Us your Advice, what is fit to be
done by Us towards Our returning and the accomplishing those good Ends. And We do
require you in Our Name, and by Our Authority, to endeavour so to suppress all Tumults
and Disorders, that the Nation in general, and every one of Our Subjects in particular,
may not receive the least Prejudice from the present Distractions that is possible.
So not doubting of your Dutiful Obedience to these Our Royal Commands, We bid you
heartily Farewel.
Given at St. Germans on Laye the [...] January 1688/9. And of Our Reign the fourth Year.
Directed thus, To the Lords, and Others of our Privy Councel of Our Kingdom of
England. By his Majesties Command.
MELFORT.
Some Remarks on the late Kings pretended Letter to the LORDS, and Others of his Privy Council.
IT begins thus, ‘My Lords, When we saw that it was no longer safe for us to remain within our Kingdom
of England, &c.’
His Majesty would have given great Satisfaction to the World in discovering where
the Danger lay in tarrying here; from whom, and for what cause.
He is pleased to say farther: ‘We now think fit to let you know, that though it has been our constant care since
our first Accession to the Crown, to govern our People with that Justice and Moderation
as to give, if possible, no occasion of Complaint, &c.’
I do not understand why his Majesty would not let us know these his Gracious Intentions
before, when they might have done Himself and Us Good.
But quid verba audiam cum facta videam, to what purpose are Words when we see Facts? And as to his Moderation, I appeal to
the Pope himself, or the French King, who chiefly blame him for his Rashness and want
of Temper; and as for his Justice, among a thousand publick Instances to the contrary,
he should remember his discountenancing and turning out of their Employments all
such as would not enter into his Idolatrous Worship, and comply with his illegal
and arbitrary Designs. Besides, what Justice can Hereticks expect from a Prince,
who is not only a Papist, but wholly devoted to the Order of the Jesuits, and values
himself for being a Member of those Reverend Cut-throats? ‘Yet more particularly upon the late Invasion, seeing how the Design was laid, and
fearing that our People, who could not be destroyed but by themselves.’ The Design was to preserve the Nation from falling under the cruel Dominion of the
[Page 15]French, and to keep our selves from being dragg'd by the Hair of the Head to Mass,
and from undergoing all those Miseries which those of the same Religion, and for the
same Cause, have endured now lately in France and Savoy. ‘To prevent so great a Mischief, (that is to say, destroying our selves,) and to take away not only all just Causes, but even Pretences of Discontent: We freely
and of our own accord, redrest all those things that were set forth as the Causes
of that Invasion.’ I appeal to the common Faith of Mankind touching the Insinserity of these Words,
whether if this Invasion had not been, these and worse Grievances had not followed.
‘And that we might be informed by the Counsel and Advice of our Subjects themselves,
which way we might give them a further and full Satisfaction; We resolved to meet
them in a Free Parliament, &c.’
The late Kings of England have been as desirous of a Parliament as Popes of a Free and General Council; there
being nothing they have more studiously avoided, and greatlier feared.
‘But the Prince of Orange seeing all the Ends of his Declaration answered, the People beginning to be undeceived,
and returning apace to their ancient Duty and Allegiance, resolved by all possible
means to prevent the meeting of the Parliament, &c.’
How far the Prince of Orange has been from preventing the meeting of a Parliament, we need only consult our senses.
‘The hurrying us under a Guard from our City of London, whose returning Loyalty we could no longer trust, and the other Indignities we suffered
in the Person of the Earl of Feversham, when sent to him by us, and in that barbarous Confinement of our own Person, we shall
not here repeat.’
Do's any Man think the Prince of Orange would have had the same gentle Treatment from the King, had he been in like manner
under his Power? And as to the Kings concernment for the unheard of Suffering of the
E. of F. I do not wonder at it, having ever had so little Affection, or rather so great an
Antipathy to his English Subjects.
‘This will be sufficient to open the Eyes of all our Subjects, and let them plainly
see what every one of them may expect, and what Treatment they shall find from him,
if at any time [Page 16]it may serve his Purpose, from whose Hands a Soveraign Prince, an Ʋncle, and a Father
could meet with no better Entertainment.’
All wise and good Protestants are so certain of happy times under the Government of
this most excellent and incomporable Prince, that they have nothing left to fear
or desire, but that God would preserve him from the Hellish Fury of the Papists And
as to all these Relations of a Soveraign Prince, an Uncle, and a Father: The King
would have done well to have acquitted himself to the Prince as became all these Relations.
‘However the Sense of these Indignities, &c. And as if we had been capable if supposing a Prince of Wales.’
I believe and know that the Conscience of a Popish Prince, wholly under the Conduct
of the Jesuits, will find no Difficulty in consenting to so pious a Fraud, provided
it can be carryed on with all prudent Cautions.
‘For as on the one hand, no change of Fortune shall ever make us forget our selves,
so far as to condescend to any thing, unbecoming that High and Royal Station, in which
God Almighty, by right of Succession has placed us. So on the other hand, neither
the Provocation or Ingratitude of our own Subjects, nor any other Consideration whatsoever,
shall ever prevail with us to make the least step, contrary to the true Interest of
the English Nation.’
His Majesty's sincere Friend the French King, with whom he now enjoys a nearer Converse,
will also concur with him in this good Design of promoting the true Interest of England. And as to his Majesty's Inclinations to Mercy, and passing by Provocations, we need
mention no other Instances, but those in the West, where the Cruelties exercised on
those unfortunate People, cannot be parallel'd in any History of Barbarians.
‘Our Will and Pleasure therefore is, that you of our Privy Council, take the most effectual
care, to make these our gracious Intentions known to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and to all our Subjects in general, and to assure them that we desire nothing more,
than to return and hold a Free Parliament, wherein we may have the best Opportunity
of undeceiving our People, and shewing the Sincerity of those Protections [Page 17]of preserving (especially) the Church of England as by Law established.’
A Man wou'd wonder any Prince that overlooks what his Secretary writes, should suffer
such apparent and palpable Untruths to pass: For is it not manifest to all the World;
That the late King, through the Jesuits Counsel, did all that was possible to weaken
and overturn (especially) the Church of England, as well by open Declarations and Practices, as by more secret Ways and Contrivances,
inciting one part of his Protestant Subjects to destroy the other, and then immediately
after exposing them for it, and encouraging and inspiring these later with a Spirit
of Revenge and Retaliation.
And thus having briefly can over whatever seems material in this Letter, I shall desist
from Repetitions, and insisting on mere words of Course, and Matters of form, seeing
this would be to tire to Reader's Patience, and a lesning of his Judgment.
Reasons for Crowning the Prince and Princess of Orange King and Queen jointly; and for placing the Executive Power in the Prince alone.
WHereas the Grand Convention of the Estates of England, have asserted the Peoples Right by declaring, That the late King James the Second, having endeavoured to Subvert the Constitution of the Kingdom, by breaking the Original Contract between King and People: And by Advice of Jesuits, and other wicked Persons, having Violated the Fundamental Laws: And having withdrawn himself out of this Kingdom, has Abdicated the Government, and that the Throne is thereby Vacant. For which Misgovernment He has forfeited [Page 18]the Trust of the Regal Inheritance of the Executive Power, both in Himself, and in
His Heirs, Lineal and Collateral; so that the same is devolved back to the People,
who have also the Legislative Authority; and consequently may of Right Give and Dispose
thereof, by their Representatives, for their future Peace, Benefit; Security, and
Government, according to their good Will and Pleasure. And forasmuch as it is absolutely
Necessary, that the Government be speedily setled on sure and lasting Foundations,
and consequently, that such Person or Persons be immediately placed in the Throne,
in whom the Nation has most reason to repose an entire Considence: It therefore now
lies upon Us to make so Judicious a Choice, that we may, in all Humane Probability,
thereby render Our selves a Happy People, and give Our Posterity cause to Rejoice,
when they shall read the Proceedings of this Wise and Grand Convention. Who is it therefore that has so highly Merited the Love and good Opinion of the People,
the Honour of Wearing the Crown, and Swaying the Scepter of this Land, as His Illustrious
Highness the Prince of Orange? who with so great Expence, Hazard, Conduct, Courage, and Generosity, has happily
Rescued Us from Popery, and Slavery; and with so much Gallantry Restored Us to Our Ancient Rights, Religion, Laws, Liberties,
and Properties: for which Heroick Action, we can do no less, in Prudence, Honour,
and Gratitude, than Pray Him to Accept Our Crown.
II. It is better to settle the Exercise of the Government in One who is not immediate
in the Line, than in One that is; (1.) Because it is a clear Asserting of a Fundamental
Right, that manifests the Constitution of the English Government, and covers the Subjects from Tyranny and Slavery. (2.) It cuts off the
Dispute of the pretended Prince of Wales. (3.) The old Succession being legally Dissolved, and a new one made, the Government
is secured from falling into the Hands of a Papist.
III. The making the Prince and Princess of Orange King and Queen jointly, is the Nation's Gratitude and Generosity: and by re-continuing
the Line in Remainder, is manifested the inestimable Value the People have for the two Princesses, notwithstanding the Male-administration of the Unhappy Father.
IV. The present State of Europe in General, and of these Kingdoms in Particular, require a Vigorous and Masculine
Administration. To recover what's lost, rescue what's in danger, and rectify what's
amiss, cannot be effected but by a Prince that is consummate in the Art both of Peace
and War. Tho the Prince and Pincess be King and Queen jointly, and will equally share
the Glory of a Crown, and we the Happiness of their Auspicious Regin: yet the Wisdom
of the Grand Convention is manifested,
First, In placing the Executive Power in One of them, and not in Both; for two Persons,
equal in Authority, may differ in Opinion, and consequently in Command; and it is
evident no Man can serve two Masters.
Secondly, It's highly necessary and prudent, rather to vest the Administration in the Husband,
than in the Wife.
(1.) Because a Man, by Nature, Education and Experience, is generally rendred more
capable to Govern than the Woman.
Therefore, (2.) the Husband ought rather to Rule the Wife, than the Wife the Husband,
especially considering the Vow in Matrimony.
(3.) The Prince of Orange is not more proper to Govern as he's Man, and Husband only, but as he is a Man, a
Husband, and a Prince of known Honour, profound Wisdom, undaunted Courage, and incomparable
Merit; as he's a Person that's naturally inclin'd to be Just, Merciful and Peaceable,
and to do all Publick Acts of Generosity for the Advancement of the Interest and
Happiness of Humane Societies, and therefore most sit under Heaven, to have the sole
Executive Power.
A LORD's-Speech Without Doors, To the Lords upon the present Condition of the Government.
PRay give me leave to cast in my Mite at this time upon this great Debate; and though it be with an entire dissent to
some Leading Lords, to whom I bear great reverence, it is according to my Conscience,
and that is the Rule of every honest Man's Actions.
My, Lords, I cannot forbear thinking, that a greater Reproach can hardly come upon
any People, than is like to fall upon us Protestants, for this unpresidented usage of our poor King: We feared the security of our Religion
because of Him, and are now like to Violate a great part of it by forfeiting our Loyalty towards Him; Religion is the Pretence, but some fear, a New Master is the Thing: This I take to have been to Business of to Day; for, notwithstanding
we see how seeble a thing Popery is in England, that it is beaten without Blows, and routed so effectually, that it can never hope,
nor we justly fear, it should return upon us, and consequently our Religion pretty
secure, yet I don't see that this satisfies us, unless the King goes also: He must be turned away, and the Crown change its Head; for if the Crown be not the Quarrel more than Property, and his Majesty's Person than his Religion; Why did not the Prince stop, when he heard a Free Parliament was calling by the King's Writs, (where all Matters, especially that of the Prince of Wales, might have been considered) or at least, where his Majesties Commissioners of Peace
met him? Who advised him to adrance, and give his Majesty that apprehension of his
own insecurity; and if any thing but a [Page 21]Crown would have served him, Why was a Noble Feer of this House clapt up at Winsor, when his Majesty sent him on purpose to invite the Prince to St. James's? a Message that affected all good Mens Hearts more then any thing, but his Majesty's
return, it look'd so Natural and Peaceable. But it seems, as if it had been therefore affronted, for the Invitation could not
have been received without the King's remaining King; and who was there that did not lately say, it should be so? I and
who is there now that does not see it is not so?
We can, my Lords, no longer doubt of this, if we will remember that the same Night
the Prince should have answered his Majesty's kind Message, The King's Guards were changed, and at midnight the Prince's Guards were clapt upon
his Majesty's Person; and which is yet more extravagant to accomplish the business, Three noble Lords, in view, were sent to let him know, It was not for his safety, or the Princes honour, that he should stay in his own Palace. A strange way, my Lords, of treating ones own King in his own House. I cannot comprehend how it was for the Prince's Honour the King should go against his Will; or how it was against his Honour that his Majesty should
be safe in his own House: I leave it with your Lordships to think who could render
the King's stay-unsafe at White-hall after the Dutch Guards were posted there?
My Lords, this I confess is the great Iniquity that sticks with me, and deserves our severest Scrutiny and Reflection; that after
driving our King away, we should offer to address our selves to any Body to take the Government, as
if he had formally disserted it: It becomes us rather to ask, Where the King is? how he came to go? and who sent him away? I take the Honour of the Pearage of England to be deeply ingaged, both at Home and Abroad, to search out this Matter, and especially those who are now present, most of whom owe their share in that noble Order to his Majesty, his Brother, Father, or Grandfather. It is not unreasonable to believe
the King had not gone at first, but upon some Message sent, and Letters received, to take care of his Person, for that nothing less than the Crown was intended; but
being not out of his own Territories, and therefore no Dissertion, Abdication, or
Remise, as the Criticks of the Conjuncture we are under pretend, (for the King may be where he will in his own Kingdom:) we see while it was in [Page 22]his choice to go, he returned, and by as good as our advise too; so that we cannot
in truth say his Dissertion is the cause; for it is plainly the Effect of our late
extraordinary proceedings. If any should say, He needed not have gone now: it is a great mistake, for a King ought to go, if he cannot stay a King in his own
Kingdom, which Force refused to let him be: And to stay a Subject to another Authority, had been a meaner forfeiture of his Right, then can in justice be charged upon his Retirement: Wherefore his going
must and will lie at their Doors that set him an hour to be gone out of his own Palace.
Many are angry (and yet pleased) that he is gone for France; but where, my Lords, should he go? Flanders dared not receive him: Holland, you could not think he should go to; and Ireland you would have liked less; and when we consider how far a League with France has been made the cause of his Misfortune (though to this day it is in the Clouds)
what other Prince had the same Obligation to receive and succor him: Therefore whatever Arts are used
to blacken his Retreat, we cannot, with any shew of Reason, imagine that he could think himself
safe with us, that had exercised Soveraign Power without him our Soveraign Lord, and under the protection of a Forraign Prince and his Army; though at the same time, we had Sworn Allegiance to him, and that it was unlawful for us to take up Arms against him
under any Pretence whatever.
My Lords, if this be not virtually and in effect to pull the Crown off his Head, and dethrone him unheard, I am to learn my Alphabet again. This is
short warning to give Kings, for us at least, my Lords, that boast of Loyalty, and
were brought to these Seats by the favour of the Crown. What can other Nations think of the Nobility of this, if we come not to a juster
temper? God defend us, and our Children after us, from the ill Consequences of what
has been done, and prevent the rest. Had we imbraced the happy Providence of his Majestyes
return, we might have improved it, that the Children unborn should have blessed us:
Then we had reformed safely, for by joyning Title to our Actions, we had made them legal: This we should have had from his Majesty,
or a plain denial, which would in some measure have excused so rare and unusual an
Enterprise: Nor can I comprehend which way it is possible to guard the Prince's Honour, but by doing his Majesty [Page 23] Right; for your Lordships may please to remember, that in the Memorial of the States, that was printed amongst us, which they gave to all the publick Ministers at the
Hague, to justify their lending the Prince their Forces upon this Expedition, they do expresly say, It was upon condition not to dethrone the King, or alter the Succession; and in my Opinion we are in the high way to both.
My Lords, we are Protestant Christians, as well as Peers of the Realm; and are now upon our Religion and Conscience, as well as Honour, to do right: Let us so act as we can answer it to God and Man, and not stumble at Straws and leap over Blocks: Errors cannot be corrected by committing greater; nor one part of the Government
be mended, by beating out another to do it. I need not tell your Lordships, that by
our Laws, Kings cannot err, and therefore they are not accountable, but their Ministers
are, without whom a King cannot perform any Act of Government, which is the reason
of the Maxim; and therefore let them be punished that the Law only makes guilty. This
our wise Ancestors contrived to save the Head of the Government whole, and to prevent the Confusion and Disorder that might otherwise be apt to attend the
Form of it; nor is it indeed a thing that ought to be indured by us Peers, to suppose that he that raised us so high, could be for any Reason thrown by us so
low.
My Lords, Let us limit the King if you please, but not renounce Him; there is a difference
between restraining and destroying Him. What need of such extraordinary Remedies,
since that which secures the Government under one King, will do it under another? Popery it self can never come in but over the Bridg of Despotick or Absolute Power; and if we can secure our selves from that, we are as safe against Opinion
as against Ambition; and till we are so by an Amendment of our Constitution, we are
exposed to the meer good Nature of the Prince in Possession whoever he be. And to render what I have said to your Lordships not
unreasonable, and what I have to move your Lordships to, in the close of my Speech,
not ungrateful: I beseech your Lordships that we may cast up our Account, and see
how our Loss and Gain stands, so far as we have gon [...] [...]st our late Change.
We have lost a lawful King, and got an unlawful Protecton, [Page 24]as our Law stands; we have missed a Legal and a Free Parliament, and have got a Convention
that cannot make Laws, nor call a Parliament that can, but what will need a Confirmation
from a better Authority.
We have lost the Reputation of keeping our Faith with Hereticks, by breaking our solemn Oaths with our King, in the time of his Extremity, because we thought him such, though he gave us leave
to lay down our Commissions, that we might not have the Temptation or occasion to
betray Him; But we have got the Reputation of good Protestants by it; though I fear, not of good
Men, in that some of us have not only not shown our selves religiously concerned for
our Religion, but in some respect, not honestly; that besides a thousand personal
Immoralities, could press Advance-Mony from the King overnight, to bear the charges of disserting Him next day, against our warm and repeated Vows, to take his Fate, and die at his Feet? and that any of us should be sainted for this Treachery, and numbred among the Heroes for our running away, cannot surely be the Lords doing, let Dr. Burnet say what he will, and yet it is very marvellous in some Mens Eyes for all that. These are the Sparks, my Lords, that hunt the poor Kings Blood, though we know they had hardly had any in their Veins but for his Bounty,
and yet are the Favorites of the Reformation. For Christ's sake, my Lords, let us
not at this rate christian Villany, and rank Dishonesty among the Graces. Popery it self could not have done more, and it is certain, we are even with the Papists now to all Intents and Purposes.
This is not all our Loss, we have rebelled against the fifth Commandment also, Honour thy Father; and though we have got that of leaving Father for the sake of Religion, we could have but little Religion to do it in such a manner, to so affectionate
a Father; nor did it lessen the Error, to have a Church-of-England-Apostle to be Captain of her Life-Guard, in his blew Coat, and Jack-Boots, and an arrant tempora. Sword in his Hand, to defend natural Affection and passive Obedienc [...]. This was an odd sort of Compliance with our Saviour's Co [...]mand, to put up his Sword, as one of St. Peters Successors. My Lords, I must not stop here; we thought we had been rid of Pop [...] Souldiers, but find we have got as many Papists in our Dutch, [...] we had in our English Army: Now it is plain, that either all [...] pists [Page 25]are not alike, and then the Danger we have apprehended from Papists, is not universal, as we have affirmed, but that they are to be lived with, since
we are to be saved and guarded from the Danger of Popery by them; or we have ill luck to think we can be safe from that Religion by those
that are of it, because they are Dutch-men. My Lords, I am sorry we can take such Pleasure to see Strangers tread our Courts,
pray God it does not show the way to other Countries to take their turns. But that
a Dutch Papist should be so harmless a thing with us, that though no Papists could be so, shows our Contradictions to a Madness. I know not how well our Souldiers like to give way to Dutch-Men, that though they had purchased a Preferance to Strangers at a dear rate; but it
is the justest thing in the World upon them, that the Prince should distrust those to guard him, that had betrayed their own Master that loved
them to a fault; they may serve to be sent for Holland, to be knockt on the Head in the Dutch-mans quarrel, but never to be trusted at home, though they have given up their Quarters
with their King to. Foreigners, so that the Proverb is true upon them, they have hereby brought
their Noble to Nine-pence. Yet to be just, I must confess it is a Reproach due to
their Officers, and not all of them neither, and time may give those the Opportunity
to retrieve the Credit they have lost by other Mens Faults.
We were also very apprehensive of the ill Consequences of the dispensing Power, especially in the case of Sr. Edward Hales; but it seems the Common Council of London are forbid to take the usual Oaths, and yet required to act, which is an unqualified
Capacity. We were in hopes we had lost a rude Army, but we have found a ruder; twenty
places cry out of them; and Kingstone certainly with great Justice, that in two Nights time was two hundred Pounds the
worse for them. And for Closseting we have got Questioning, that they that won't enter into Associations to protect the Prince of Orange, without one of our King, is to have no Imployment; so that if the Prince should take the Crown, I am bound to defend him against my own King, and my sworn Allegiance, though he come in the right of his Crown. Believe me, my Lords, it is the boldest bid that ever Men made; I see Forty one was a Fool to Eighty eight; and that we Church of England Protestants shall cancel all the Meritsof our Fathers, overthrow [Page 26]the Ground and Consequence of their most exemplary Loyalty to King Charles the first and second, render their Death, the Death of Fools, trample their Memories and Blood under our Feet, subject our selves to the just Reproach of the Phanaticks, whose Principles and Practices we have outdone, even to that King that we forced upon them, and by our Example had brought them to live well withal.
God help us, this my Lords makes me say, that either we must turn from being Church-of-England-Men, or steer another course, for it is but too plain that Presbytery is leading us out of our ancient way; and whether we believe it or no, our Church
sinks, and will more, for that is the Interest that suits best with a Dutch Humour and Conjunction; and be sure, if we are so base to leave our King, God will be so just as to leave us; and here, my Lords, I shall leave you, with this
humble motion, that we make an humble Address to his Majesty to return home to us, that we may act securely, and not go out of the good old way, which may intail Misery
upon us and our Posterity. I should think we have had enough of sending our Princes abroad, in that much of the Inconveniency we have lain under since their Restoration, has
been chiefly owing to it: We have driven him where we would not have him go, and do
what we can to provoke that League we have been afraid of; and made a great part of
the reason of this strange Alteration in the Kingdom. Some tell us, it is too late, but I cannot comprehend the good sence of such an Objection; Is it at any time too
late for a King and his People to agree? after bloody Battels it has not been thought so, in all
times and Nations; and why it may not be without them; I never heard a good reason
yet: If his going was unreasonable, it has hurt him more than us, since we may thence
hope for the better terms; if it was not a Fault to go, it will be a great one in
us, if we can have him home upon good terms, and will not; for if I may with leave
speak it, his return is as much our Conveniency as his Advantage.
The offensive part of Him is gone, that is to say, the Power of Popery, and what remains is our great Interest to keep and improve to our own Benefit and
Safety; I mean, my Lords, His undoubted Title and Kingship. And whatever some not Men say, that are more governed by private Avarice and Revenge,
then the publick Good of these Kingdoms, I cannot but renew [Page 27]my motion to your Lordships, that we may send a Duke, an Earl, a Viscount and a Baron, and two Spiritual Lords to invite his Majesty home, upon the Constitution of the Government. And my Lords,
forgive me if I say, that if we can but get our Juries, Sheriffs, Judges, High Courts of Chancery and Parliaments setled as they ought to be; the Army at least reduced, the Militia better regulated, and a due Liberty of Conscience established to all Protestant Dissenters, and so far to Papists only, as the Law against Conventicles does admit, we may yet be happy; and upon these terms, my Lords, and no other, will his Highness
the Prince of Orange become truly meritorious with the English Nation.
Reflections on a Paper called a LORD'S Speech without Doors.
THIS Noble Lord would have done ingenuously in letting the World know his Name, and
whether he be a Lord or not; for one cannot gather it from his Liberality, of casting in a mite at this time, when mean People, such as Trades-men, have more generosity, and effectually
contributed to the publick Peace and Honour of the Nation. And as to his dissenting to some leading Lords on the account of Conscience; we are in the dark as to what sort of Conscience his is, whether Papist or Phanatick
Conscience, or indeed whether it be any Conscience at all, which makes him differ
from some leading Lords; for the making of Speeches within or without Doors, is no
infallible Mark of either.
But he says, ‘He cannot forbear thinking that a greater Reproach can hardly come upon a People,
than is like to fall on us Protestants.’ Ah, good Soul, what's the matter? Are the Protestants at length sound to be the Firers
of their own City, or Sr. Edm-B. Godfrey, and the Earl of Essex's Murtherers? &c. Why no, ‘O its this unpresidented Ʋsage of our poor King.’ A good tender-hearted [Page 28]Jesuit i'le warrant thee, that has entred (with Campian) into an Holy League and Covenant to destroy all Protestant Kings and Princes, unless
they become as bigotted to the Society as the poor King was. But let me take the Boldness to ask your Honour one Question; Is there no time
when compassion is due to the Country? ‘Religion is the Pretence, but some fear a new Master is the thing.’ And is it any wonder if a new Master be desired, when the old one will not let me
serve him, but will destroy me, and perhaps himself too; this being a clear case,
and evident to all Orders and Degrees of Men among us.
‘We see how feeble a thing Popery is in England:’ and it is, I do not doubt, your Lordships great Grief that your old Master may not
be let in again, to strengthen and revive her drooping and almost decayed Spirits.
‘But why did not the Prince stop, when he heard a Free-Parliament was calling by the
Kings Writs, where all matters, especially of the Prince of Wales, might have been considered, &c.’ As to a Free-Parliament, is it not evident to all the World that the King could not
bear it? Besides, who told his Lordship, that his old Master would abide by the Decisions
of a Free-Parliament, touching the Legitimacy or Spuriousness of his Prince of Wales?
‘The Kings Guards were changed, and at Midnight the Prince's Guards were clapt on his
Majesties Person.’ And I pray what harm befel him from this change?
It seems he might, notwithstanding, dispose of himself as he pleased. And was it decent,
when his own People forsook him, that he should be left at the Discretion of the Rabble?
‘It becomes us too to ask where the King is? how he came to go? and who sent him away?’ A notable Question indeed, and which every Apple-woman, or Broom-man can resolve.
‘But many are angry, and yet pleased.’ This is Nokes all over: Why then, angry and pleased is one and the same thing with your Lordship.
‘That he is gone for France: but where, my Lords, should he go? Flanders dared not receive him.’ Good your Honour why? is not his Catholick Majesty as zealous and hospitable as the
most Christian King? Ay but the Spaniard had no private Leagues of assisting each
other to root out the Northern Heresy, and other Intimacies which every Body must
not know of.
‘Holland you could not think he should go to.’ Yet there was a time when Holland was more kind to him and his Brother than France, and he has rewarded the former very well for it.
‘Therefore we cannot, with any shew of Reason, imagin that he could think himself safe
with us, that had exercis'd Soveraign Power without him our Soveraign Lord.’
Sure I am, no Man of Sense could think himself safe under his Power, that was unwilling
to part with his Religion and Property.
‘And under the protection of a Foraign Prince and his Army.’ And without his Protection, what wou'd have become of us?
‘Though at the same time we had sworn Allegiance to him, and that it was unlawful for
us to take up Arms against him under any Pretence whatever.’
I would know of your Lordship, Whether the Oath, in your Honour's sence, does not
make our Lives and Estates to depend on the Prince's mere Will and Pleasure?
‘My Lords, let us limit the King, if you please, but not renounce him.’ Did he tell your Reverence he would be limited? And was he not limited before? Besides,
a Prince of his Humour, and in his Circumstances, must needs be very easy, and his
Subjects very secure, under these Chimerical Limitations.
‘But we had lost a Lawful King;’ and gotten a more Lawful, and infinitely Better in his room.
‘Against our warm and repeated Vows, to take his Fate, and die at his Feet.’ I know not of whom the Gentleman speaks, unless it be of Addressers, whose Dissimulation
and deceitful Courtship I have ever more abominated than himself.
‘And that any of us should be numbred among the Heroes for our running away, cannot
surely be the Lord's doing, let Dr. Burnet say what he will.’ This Gentleman do's very well to put himself among the Run-aways; but it's more likely
his Reverence wou'd have bin Sainted, and made an Hero by staying behind.
‘For Christ's sake, my Lords, let us not at this rate christen Villany, and rank Dishonesty
among the Graces.’
A Man wou'd take his Lordship now for some Lincolns-Inn-Fields Mumper from his Cant; but he beggs in earnest, who's All is at Stake; I know your
Honour's Necessity, the State of [Page 30]who's Case is briefly this; The Papists, and especially the Jesuits in their Consults,
both at Home and Abroad, for the setting up of Popery, and extirpating the Protestant
Religion in England, have come to this decisive Conclusion, that it's impossible to effect this but under
a Popish King.
But says he further, ‘This is not all our loss, we have rebelled against the 5th Commandment also, Honor thy Father; and though we have got that of leaving Father
of the sake of Religion, we could have but little Religion to do it in such a manner,
to so affectionate a Father.’
Here his Reverence, I find, is not serious, but jokes on his poor King; for give me an instance where his Paternal Affection appear'd, unless his Fatherly
care of dragging us up in his own Religion be one?
‘Nor did it, says he, lessen the Error, to have a Church-of-England Apostle to be Captain of her Life Guard, &c.’
I wou'd ask my Noble Sir here one Question, (for the Jesuits are wont to be excellent
Casuists) Whether a Churchman, observing his own, and his Neighbours Houses a going
to be fired by Rogues, he may not use another Sword besides that of the Spirit, to
drive them away?
Now he is troubled, and in great conflicts of Spirit, ‘how our Soldiers are like to give way to Dutch-men.’
The Dutch Soldiers have behaved themselves with that Civility and Moderation, where-ever
they come, as may make others of that Profession blush at a Comparison in this point.
However, let not this Matter much afflict your Honour, or Reverence. There will be
care taken that our Soldiers shall not give way to Foreigners, nor to every Irish-man,
who you know were the Sparks and Darlings of the last Reign.
But now ‘it is but too plain, that Presbytery is leading us out of our Ancient Way.’ Never fear it, good Father, for there's no danger of either that, or Popery, being
the National Religion in England. And having satisfi'd you so far, I am not willing to tire my self with writing Replies
to every Word of your Speech without Doors.
The Bishops Reasons to Queen Elizabeth, for taking off the Queen of Scots, taken out of Sir S. D'Ewes Journal: offered to the Consideration of the Present Sect of Grumbletonians.
FOR that they had a long time, to their intolerable Grief, seen by how manifold most
dangerous and execrable Practices, the said Queen of Scots had compassed the Destruction of her Majesties Person, thereby not only to bereave
them of the Sincere and True Religion of Almighty God, bringing them and this Noble
Crown back again into the Thraldom of the Romish Tyranny, but also utterly to ruinate and overthrow the happy State and Commonweale of this
most Noble Realm; to banish and destroy the Professors and Profession of the True
Religion of Jesus Christ, and the Ancient Nobility of this Land, to bring this whole
State and Common-weale to Forreign Subjection, and to utter Ruine and Confusion;
which Malicious Purposes would never cease to be prosecuted by all possible Means,
so long as the said Queens Confederates, her Ministers and Favourites had their Eyes
and Imaginations fixed upon the said Queen, the only Ground of their Treasonable
Hopes and Conceits, and the only Seed-plot of all Dangerous and Traiterous Devices
and Practices against her Majesties Sacred Person. And for that, upon advised and
great Consultation, they could not find any possible means to provide for her Majesties
Safety, but by the just and speedy Execution of the said Queen, the neglecting whereof
might procure the heavy Displeasure and Punishment of Almighty God, as by sundry severe
Examples of his great Justice in that [Page 32]behalf left us in Sacred Scripture, doth appear; and that if the same were not put
in Execution, they should thereby (so far as Man's Reason could reach) be brought
into utter Despair of the Continuance amongst them of the true Religion of Almighty
God, and of her Majesties Life, and of the Safety of all her Subjects, and of the
Good Estate of this flourishing Commonweale.
For that she (the said Queen of Scots) had continually breathed the Overthrow and Suppression of the Protestant Religion, being poysoned with Popery from her tender Youth, and at her Age joyning in that false termed Holy League, and had been ever since, and was then a powerful Enemy of the Truth.
For that she rested wholly upon Popish hopes, to be delivered and advanced, and was
so devoted, and doted in that Profession, that she would (as well for the satisfaction
of others, as for the feeding her own Humour) supplant the Gospel where and whensoever
she might; which Evil was so much the greater, and the more to be avoided, for that
it slayeth the Soul, and would spread it self not only over England and Scotland, but also into all Parts beyond the Sea, where the Gospel of God is maintained, the
which cannot but be exceedingly weakned, if Defection should be in these two most
violent Kingdoms.
For that if she prevailed, she would rather take the Subjects of England for Slaves than for Children.
For that she had already provided them a Foster-father and a Nurse, the Pope and King of Spain; into whose hands if it should happen them to fall, what would they else look for
but Ruin, Destruction, and utter Extirpation of Goods, Lands, Lives, Honours and all?
For that as she had already by her poyson'd Baits, brought to Destruction more Noble-men
and their Houses, and a greater multitude of Subjects, during her being here, than
she would have done if she had been in Possession of her own Country, and arm'd in
the Field against them; so would she be still continually the cause of the like spoil,
to the greater loss and peril of this Estate; and therefore this Realm neither could
nor might endure her.
For that her Sectaries both Wrote and Printed, that the Protestants would be at their Wits end, Worlds end, if she [Page 33]should out-live Queen Elizabeth; meaning thereby, that the end of the Protestant World was the beginning of their own; and therefore if she the said Queen of Scots, were taken away, their World would be at an end before its beginning.
For that since the sparing of her in the Fourteenth Year of Q. Elizabeths Reign, Popish Traitors and Recusants had multiplied exceedingly: And if she were
now spared again, they would grow both innumerable and invincible also: And therefore
Mercy in that case would prove Cruelty against them all: Nam est quaedam crudelis misericordia; and therefore to spare her Blood, would be to spill all theirs.
And for God's Vengeance against Saul, for sparing the life of Agag, and against Ahab for sparing the life of Benhadad was most apparent, for they were both by the just Judgment of God deprived of their
Kingdoms, for sparing those wicked Princes, whom God had delivered into their Hands.
And those Magistrates were much conmmended, who put to Death those mischeivous and
wicked Queens, Jezable and Athaliah.
And now I would desire our Grumbletonians (especially they of the Clergy) to consider how extreamly they have degenerated
from the good and laudable Principles of their Fore-fathers. They may see how urgent
the Bishops, and others, in Queen Elizabeth's days, were to have the Queen of Scots removed, (as above said) and how they encouraged the Queen to assist the Dutch against their Soveraign Lord, when he attempted them in their Religion and Laws;
but now they that first opposed One that has broken the Original Contract between King and People, and done horrid things, contrary to the Laws of God, Nature, and the Land, yet when
God, out of his merciful Providence, and singular favour to us all, has inclined
him (being sensible of his own Guilt) to leave the Throne, these Very Men that first
withstood him (as I said) begin to pitty him, plead for him, and extol him; and continually,
both in Pulpit, (for one of them lately said there, That a parcel of Attoms could as soon make a World, as a Convention make a King) and also in Coffee-houses, mutter and grumble against the Proceedings of the great
and Honorable Convention of the Kingdom, and are busy in sending out, and privately scattering their puling
[Page 34]Pamphlets, under the Titles of Mementoes, Speeches, and Letters, empty of ought else, but the spleen of a foolish and frustrated Faction. Good God!
what inconstancy, folly, and madness possesses the Breasts of these Men? to what a
miserable slavery would they lead us, and how fond and eager do they seem to have
him rule over Us, who (like the Stork in the Fable) has, and would make it his greatest
delight, to devour the best of free-born Subjects? But, I hope, that in a little time
they will know the Things that belong to the Kingdom's Peace, and dutifully pray for
(tho at present there is no uniformity in their Pulpits save in the Dissenters) and
submit chearfully and thankfully to him whom God has made the Glorious Instrument of our Deliverance from Popery and Slavery.
God save King William and Queen Mary.
Some Remarks on the late Kings pretended Letter to the LORDS, and Others of his Privy Council.
IT begins thus, ‘My Lords, When we saw that it was no longer safe for us to remain within our Kingdom of England, &c.’
His Majesty would have given great Satisfaction to the World in discovering where the Danger lay in tarrying here; from whom, and for what cause.
He is pleased to say farther: ‘We now think fit to let you know, that though it has been our constant care since our first Accession to the Crown, to govern our People with that Justice and Moderation as to give, if possible, no occasion of Complaint, &c.’
I do not understand why his Majesty would not let us know these his Gracious Intentions before, when they might have done Himself and Us Good.
But quid verba audiam cum facta videam, to what purpose are Words when we see Facts? And as to his Moderation, I appeal to the Pope himself, or the French King, who chiefly blame him for his Rashness and want of Temper; and as for his Justice, among a thousand publick Instances to the contrary, he should remember his discountenancing and turning out of their Employments all such as would not enter into his Idolatrous Worship, and comply with his illegal and arbitrary Designs. Besides, what Justice can Hereticks expect from a Prince, who is not only a Papist, but wholly devoted to the Order of the Jesuits, and values himself for being a Member of those Reverend Cut-throats? ‘Yet more particularly upon the late Invasion, seeing how the Design was laid, and fearing that our People, who could not be destroyed but by themselves.’ The Design was to preserve the Nation from falling under the cruel Dominion of the [Page 15]French, and to keep our selves from being dragg'd by the Hair of the Head to Mass, and from undergoing all those Miseries which those of the same Religion, and for the same Cause, have endured now lately in France and Savoy. ‘To prevent so great a Mischief, (that is to say, destroying our selves,) and to take away not only all just Causes, but even Pretences of Discontent: We freely and of our own accord, redrest all those things that were set forth as the Causes of that Invasion.’ I appeal to the common Faith of Mankind touching the Insinserity of these Words, whether if this Invasion had not been, these and worse Grievances had not followed. ‘And that we might be informed by the Counsel and Advice of our Subjects themselves, which way we might give them a further and full Satisfaction; We resolved to meet them in a Free Parliament, &c.’
The late Kings of England have been as desirous of a Parliament as Popes of a Free and General Council; there being nothing they have more studiously avoided, and greatlier feared.
‘But the Prince of Orange seeing all the Ends of his Declaration answered, the People beginning to be undeceived, and returning apace to their ancient Duty and Allegiance, resolved by all possible means to prevent the meeting of the Parliament, &c.’
How far the Prince of Orange has been from preventing the meeting of a Parliament, we need only consult our senses.
‘The hurrying us under a Guard from our City of London, whose returning Loyalty we could no longer trust, and the other Indignities we suffered in the Person of the Earl of Feversham, when sent to him by us, and in that barbarous Confinement of our own Person, we shall not here repeat.’
Do's any Man think the Prince of Orange would have had the same gentle Treatment from the King, had he been in like manner under his Power? And as to the Kings concernment for the unheard of Suffering of the E. of F. I do not wonder at it, having ever had so little Affection, or rather so great an Antipathy to his English Subjects.
‘This will be sufficient to open the Eyes of all our Subjects, and let them plainly see what every one of them may expect, and what Treatment they shall find from him, if at any time [Page 16]it may serve his Purpose, from whose Hands a Soveraign Prince, an Ʋncle, and a Father could meet with no better Entertainment.’
All wise and good Protestants are so certain of happy times under the Government of this most excellent and incomporable Prince, that they have nothing left to fear or desire, but that God would preserve him from the Hellish Fury of the Papists And as to all these Relations of a Soveraign Prince, an Uncle, and a Father: The King would have done well to have acquitted himself to the Prince as became all these Relations.
‘However the Sense of these Indignities, &c. And as if we had been capable if supposing a Prince of Wales.’
I believe and know that the Conscience of a Popish Prince, wholly under the Conduct of the Jesuits, will find no Difficulty in consenting to so pious a Fraud, provided it can be carryed on with all prudent Cautions.
‘For as on the one hand, no change of Fortune shall ever make us forget our selves, so far as to condescend to any thing, unbecoming that High and Royal Station, in which God Almighty, by right of Succession has placed us. So on the other hand, neither the Provocation or Ingratitude of our own Subjects, nor any other Consideration whatsoever, shall ever prevail with us to make the least step, contrary to the true Interest of the English Nation.’
His Majesty's sincere Friend the French King, with whom he now enjoys a nearer Converse, will also concur with him in this good Design of promoting the true Interest of England. And as to his Majesty's Inclinations to Mercy, and passing by Provocations, we need mention no other Instances, but those in the West, where the Cruelties exercised on those unfortunate People, cannot be parallel'd in any History of Barbarians.
‘Our Will and Pleasure therefore is, that you of our Privy Council, take the most effectual care, to make these our gracious Intentions known to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and to all our Subjects in general, and to assure them that we desire nothing more, than to return and hold a Free Parliament, wherein we may have the best Opportunity of undeceiving our People, and shewing the Sincerity of those Protections [Page 17]of preserving (especially) the Church of England as by Law established.’
A Man wou'd wonder any Prince that overlooks what his Secretary writes, should suffer such apparent and palpable Untruths to pass: For is it not manifest to all the World; That the late King, through the Jesuits Counsel, did all that was possible to weaken and overturn (especially) the Church of England, as well by open Declarations and Practices, as by more secret Ways and Contrivances, inciting one part of his Protestant Subjects to destroy the other, and then immediately after exposing them for it, and encouraging and inspiring these later with a Spirit of Revenge and Retaliation.
And thus having briefly can over whatever seems material in this Letter, I shall desist from Repetitions, and insisting on mere words of Course, and Matters of form, seeing this would be to tire to Reader's Patience, and a lesning of his Judgment.