produce such knowledge and the Reasons may induce such belief First Dr. Gauden some time before the whole was finished was pleased to acquaint me with his design and shewed me the Heads of divers Chapters and some of the Discourses written of them and after some time spent in perusal he vouchsaft to ask my Opinion concerning it and after some consideration according to the freedom he gave me to speak my thoughts I told him I supposed it would be much for the King's Reputation Honour and Safety But I expresly added I stuck at the lawfulness of it and modestly askt him how he satisfied himself so to impose upon the World To which he so readily replied that I concluded he had thought on it before look on the Title 't is the Pourtraicture c. and no man draws his own Picture which satisfied himself and tho' we might argue it a little did at present silence me my heart being so inclinable to what was the scope of the whole And I perfectly remember that in the second Chapter which is of the Death of the Earl of Strafford there being these words which now in the Printed Book of the first Edition are page 8. l. 18 19 20. He only hath been least vext by them who counselled me not to consent against the Vote of my own Conscience He told me whom he meant by that passage viz. the then Bishop of London Dr. Juxton which tho' most Readers understand now after it hath been so long spoken of yet many then did not of which number I was my Age rendring me less acquainted with the Characters of Great Men. Secondly some good time after what had passed as is related in the preceding Paragraph we being both in London and having dined together Dr. Gauden in the afternoon desired me to walk with him to a Friend when we were gone part of the way He told me he was going to the Bishop of Salisbury Dr. Duppa whom he had acquainted with his design to fetch what he had left with his Lordship to be perused Or to shew him what he had further written and as we drew near his house he desired me that after a little general conversation I would withdraw and leave them two alone which accordingly I did and when they had been some considerable time together He came forth and we return'd As soon as we were in the street he gave me this account of their conference My Lord of Salisbury told me there were two Subjects more He wisht I had thought on and propounded them to me viz. The Ordinance against the Common-prayer book And the denying his Majesty the attendance of his Chaplains Which are now the 16th and 24th Chapters in the Printed book and desired me to write two Chapters upon them which I promised I would But before we parted he recall'd that request and said I pray go you on to finish what remains and leave these two to me I will prepare two Chapters upon them which accordingly he did as Dr. Gauden own'd to me and others whom he had made privy to the whole and never pretended to have written these as he did to have done all the rest Thirdly Dr. Gauden some time after the King was murdered upon my asking him whether He the King had ever seen the Book gave me this answer I know it certainly no more than you but I us'd my best indeavours that he might for I delivered a copy of it to the Marquess of Hartford when he went to the Treaty at the Isle of Wight and intreated his Lordship if he could obtain any private opportunity he would deliver it to His Majesty and humbly desire to know his Majesties pleasure concerning it But the violence which threatned the King hastning so fast He ventured to print it and never knew what was the Issue of sending it For when the thing was done he judged it not prudent to make farther noise about it by enquiry Fourthly I once asking him for we seldom were in private but somewhat was discourst of this Book even to the last time I saw him after he was Lord Bishop of Worcester Elect whether that King Charles the Second knew that he wrote it He gave me this Answer I cannot positively and certainly say he doth because he was never pleased to take express notice of it to me But I take it for granted he doth for I am sure the Duke of York doth for he hath spoken of it to me and own'd it as a seasonable and acceptable service and he knowing it I question not but the King also doth Fifthly Mr. Gauden his Wife Mr. Gifford who transcrib'd a Copy of it if I be not much mistaken and which Copy I think was that sent to the Isle of Wight tho' in this I am not so positive and my self believ'd it as much as we could believe any thing and when we spake of it in his presence or in his absence did it without the least doubt of his having writ it being as much assur'd of it as 't was possible we could be of any matter of fact and 't is unaccountably strange that all we who had the best reason and fairest opportunities to know the truth should all be deceived or impos'd upon which we were to the highest degree imaginable if Dr. Gauden wrote it not Sixthly Dr. Gauden delivered to me with his own hand what was last sent up after part was Printed or at least in Mr. Roystons hand to be Printed and after he had shew'd it me and seal'd it up gave me strict Caution with what wariness to carry and deliver it and according to his Direction I delivered it Saturday Decem. 23. 48. in the Evening to one Peacock Brother to Dr. Gaudens Steward or Bayliff sometime before deceased who was instructed by what hands He should transmit it to Mr. Royston and in the same Method a few days after the Impression was finished I received six Books by the hand of Peacock as an acknowledgment of that little I had contributed to that Service one of which I have still by me SECT III. Containing such probable Arguments as confirm my self and may help to convince others that I am not deceived nor would deceive them by a false Story in what I have declared in this matter First DR Gauden in the beginning of the long Parliament which carried on the War against the King preach't before them on Zech. 8.19 last words Love the Truth and Peace which Sermon was Printed and the House of Commons presented him with a large Silver Tankard with this Inscription Donum Honorarium Populi Anglicani in Parliamento Congregati Johanni Gauden c. which constantly went about his House And He had been inclinable to the Parliaments Interest till He found they went beyond their first Pretensions and the expectations of Himself and other good Men. But when He discover'd that He endeavour'd to redeem his Errour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by bending to the contrary extream
it to all impartial men I could almost say to the most partial who will compare and weigh before they censure to judge between us where lies the stubbornness but however I refer my self to the Righteous Judge to determine betwixt us who best knows the ends and designs which put you upon writing so rashly on a Subject for which you appear so ill furnisht and me whom you have constrained to it in a necessary vindication of my self and the Truth And tho' you conclude with a modest disclaiming a pretence to Miracles let me at parting advise you to take courage for if you satisfie any wise man by such weak and inconsistent Arguings as that part of P sc consists on in which the Essex Dr. is concerned 't is that Drs. opinion your performance may vye miracles with any Miracle-Mongers celebrated in those Roman Legends which as one wittily saith were written with Leaden Heads and Brazen Fore-Heads SECTION IV. I Shall in the next place say somewhat to another Paper publish'd some months before of the same subject Intituled Restitution to the Royal Author c. which I confess I was then desired to answer but forbore not being personally concerned But Dr. Hollingsworth having forced me to what I have now done it seems necessary to add some few remarks upon this Paper lest my not taking notice of it should be misinterpreted to be a tacite acknowledgment of some difficulties in it not to be grapled with And I must do this Author the right to own him to be a Person of another figure than I have had to do with in the preceding Section One who writes not extempore Quicquid in buccam in calamum catches not up every groundless Report and flying Rumour and Ecchoes it back as an Oracle But seems to have weighed and considered what he writes endeavouring the best Information he could get and hath driven it as far as it would go and relates in some particulars what is true and puts some colour of Probability upon those in which he is mistaken or was ill informed and does all with modesty and candor and as becomes a man who hopes to obtain what he aims at by sober Reason and dint of Argument not by Hectoring and noisie Clamour and I shall treat him as a Person who deserves this Character which ex animo I give him and hope He will not count me an Enemy for telling him the Truth but esteem it rather kindness than rudeness to shew him where he is mistaken And first I shall set down as he himself hath done the Earl of Anglesey's Memorandum for furnishing me with which I give him my Thanks for though I have seen the Original in Mr. Millington's hand I had no Copy of it ready by me MEMORANDUM KING Charles the Second and the Duke of York did both in the last Sessions of Parliament 1675 when I shewed them in the Lords House the written Copy of this Book wherein are some Corrections and Alterations written with the late King Charles the First 's own Hand assure me that this was none of the said King 's Compiling but made by Dr. Gauden Bishop of Exeter which I here insert for the undeceiving others in this Point by attesting so much under my Hand ANGLESEY Now this Gentleman is pleased to raise three Objections against this Memorandum to enervate the Force and Credit of it notwithstanding which Objections I think this Memorandum very authentick and an unconquerable Evidence to prove the Truth of what I have so sincerely declared concerning this Book and in a just Vindication of it I will first answer all his Objections produced against it and farther subjoin a Remark which I hope may be of some use and therefore not unacceptable which could be given by no other Pen. First Objection It calls the Duke his then Royal Highness The Duke of York which was no Court-Language in 1675 there being neither Reason nor Custom for such a length of Distinction at that time Answ 1 st Loquendum cum vulgo and I appeal to Experience if he were not call'd the Duke of York ten times to once that he was call'd His Royal Highness and for the length the former is the shorter of the two But he proceeds in the same Objection Now it is somewhat unlikely that a Person of Honour and a Courtier especially one of my late Lord Anglesey's sense should be guilty of such an Impropriety Answ No Impropriety at all especially if we consider this was not spoken in Court but privately writ in a Leaf before the Book for in such like cases even Courtiers confine not themselves to the Punctillios they observe in speaking or in writing what is to be publish'd 2. I hope I may convince himself how weak and non-concluding this Argument is by a Passage with which he hath furnish'd me in the same Page line 36 37. viz. His pt Majesty King James the Second if that Abbreviation pt stand for present as I perceive 't is generally believed to do let us form two parallel Arguments His Argument against the Earl of Anglesey's being Author of the Memorandum runs thus A Courtier and a Person of such sense as the late E. of Anglesey could not write this Memorandum because 't is unlikely such an one should be guilty of such Impropriety of Language as to call his then Royal Highness Duke of York which was no Court-Language in 1675. Very good Now suppose it should in time be questioned Whether this Gentleman wrote the two Sheets call'd Restitution c. and one should argue against it with a parallel Argument A Man of such sense could not write them because 't is somewhat unlikely that he could be guilty of such Impropriety of Language as to call him His present Majesty King James the Second which is neither Court-Language nor Country-Language in 1691. Now what think you Sir would this Argument exclude you from being the Writer of these Sheets If not why should a less Impropriety of Language exclude the E. of Anglesey from being the Writer of this Memorandum especially if we consider that supposing but not yielding if he exprest himself not like a Courtier 't was a private Note in a Leaf of a Book which might be seen or never seen and you have made yours publick to the wide World 2. Second Objection We are informed by the Advertisement that in the written Copy of the Εἰκὼν Βασιλικὴ there are some Corrections and Alterations written with the late King Charles the First 's own Hand which is no contemptible Argument if we had no other that the King was the Author otherwise we should be at a loss for the Reason of his Majesty's correcting the Manuscript and suffering it to pass under the Title of his own Composure Answ What the Corrections by the King 's own Hand seem to you to be an Argument of seems to me quite contrary and I assuredly believe this corrected Copy was that sent by the Marquess of
being true for tho' Mr. Simmonds was once Minister of Rayne and Dr. Gauden Dean of Bockin which are neighboring Towns yet I question whether the Men were ever neighbours And that Mr. Simmonds was not gone from Raine Before Dr. Gauden came to Bockin But I need not urge that for what I aver and am as sure of as I can be of any matter of fact which is most notorious proves the impossibility I charge the Drs. story with home and beyond contradiction for before this Book was thought of or many of the subjects had hapned of which it treats Mr. Simmonds was sequestred for his Loyalty fled into the Kings Quarters and on Mr. Attkins a plundered Minister as they then call'd them who was fled into the Parliaments Quarters was placed in his sequestred living of Rayne I came to Dr. Gaudens August 1644. and I never knew Mr. Simmonds all the while I liv'd there tho' I knew him well when the book was printing as I may touch in place convenient and relate the occasion of our intercourse Somewhat runs in my mind of his being with my Lord Capel who was his Patron and had given him the Parsonage of Rayne who commanded about that time for the King in Shropshire but what need I multiply words about what I am not certain of when I am as certain as I can be of any thing he was far from being Dr. Gaudens Neighbour or any possibility of sending for him how trimly soever and with a good grace the Story is told not much to the credit of the teller of it or the confirmation of the thing he tells it for it so exposes it self it needs no farther confutation and I will be so kind as to slip an advantage of loading it with heavier aggravations tho' so much provoke't If any thing seem to deserve a farther answer I must request the Reader to call to mind or read over again my first Section where there is enough to satisfie him for I never pretended to carry the whole to the Press but as is there honestly declared a part of it I proceed to the 2d Paragraph p. the 38. Algate Drs. P. sc And whereas 't is said That Dr. Gauden told K. Charles II. he made the Book the truth of the Story is this that he putting in for the Bishoprick of Worcester and meeting with some opposition from Bishop Sheldon the King askt him what pretences he had to so great a favour he answered that he put out his Fathers Book which answer tho' true in some sense yet being ambiguously spoken as it got him the Bishoprick so it also gave rise to the late Earl of Anglesey's Memorandum which hath made so great noise in the World Essex Drs. Reply Good Sir if a man should be so bold as to ask a few Questions would you answer them as roundly as you would chouse the World with this Dream 1. I pray Sir did you hear all this 2. Have you any man of truth or modesty to produce as a Voucher 3. In sober sadness do you in cool blood believe it your self 4. Or to speak home will you confirm it by your solemn Oath as the Essex Dr. is ready to do the Story with which he will confront it ' The truth of the Story is this so you say but pace vestrâ by your good leave I cannot obtain leave of my self to believe one sentence in all your ten lines and for a better reason than you give for your incredulity where you use that phrase and my reason how silly and weak soever it may seem in plain English is because there is not one wise or true word in all this most falsly call'd Truth of the Story And I even wonder that Providence should furnish me with so exact a knowledge of this affair which I thought of little use before till it inabled me to confute this shameless fiction and I will for once be as confident as you and say the truth of the Story is this as I had it from Bishop Gaudens own mouth immediately upon his nomination to be translated from Exeter to Worcester But before I relate his words to me on that occasion let me make some few remarks upon some particulars 1. Whereas 't is said Dr. Gauden told K. Ch. II. c. whoever said so said what was not so He never told him See Sect. 1. Reason 4. 'T is strange he should himself tell the King and yet not know the King knew it but by inference because the D. of Y. did 2. He putting in for the Bishoprick of Worcester let that uncouth phrase pass But he did not put in for Worcester but rather was put off with that instead of Winchester pardon the expression what follows will justifie it at least excuse it 3 The King askt him c. still worse and worse the King askt him no such question nor was there the least shadow of occasion why he should and the Bishop never answered as is said he did for no Question needed no Answer 4. Ambiguously spoken not spoken at all therefore not spoken ambiguously remember the Logick Rule Ab est primi adjecti ad est secundi valet negatio As for Instance if a man be not their Majesties Chaplain he is not their Chaplain at Algate unless it be helpt out with speaking ambiguously 5. Helpt him to that Bishoprick sc Worcester instead of Winchester He was right enough served for speaking so ambiguously if he had so spoken 6. Gave rise to the late E. of Angleseys Memorandum In good earnest Sir were you awake when you dream'd all this Was the King Ch. the II. who was known to be a man of extraordinary sagacity and quickness in discerning mens temper and words so easily imposed upon and cheated by a fallacy to believe what it was his Interest more than any mans not to believe but upon most cogent evidence and convincing reasons and to tell it so freely and with assurance to the E. of Anglesey as his Memorandum declares with all due circumstances so that his Memorandum may sleep in a whole skin for all these dreams but of that more in due place hereafter Having past these short remarks upon the particular passages I shall now confront his truth of the Story with this Story of Truth in the Bishop's own words Only give me leave before I relate his words to say that besides the friendly freedom which he always used to me in kind communicating his concerns to me I can guess but at two reasons why he should tell me so fully and punctually what I shall presently relate Either 1. It was to prevent my being surprized at his missing Winchester which some who were most intimate with him knew he had the promise and upon that the expectation of Or 2. Providence stoopt so low to furnish me with a clear Reply to such a sensless feigned dream as I am confuting by it Now follow Bishop Gaudens words to me on this
occasion After the Death of the Bishop of Winchester I next morning waiting on the King found a remarkable alteration in him His Majesty was sad uneasie and out of his usual good humour and temper I could not but observe it but at present took no farther notice of it the second morning I found him so as much or rather more than on the preceding day yet neither then did I take any notice of it to him but when I had a short time waited on him withdrew but the third morning having been fully inform'd that my Lord Chancellor had by himself and all the Interest he could make prest the King to bestow the Bishoprick of Winchester upon the Bishop of Worcester Dr. Morly I thus Addrest my self to his Majesty Sir with all humillity I beg your leave to speak to you and your Majesties Gracious Pardon for It. Sir I well know not only how well becoming but how much it is the duty of every good Subject to contribute to the ease and satisfaction of his Prince And I cannot but conceive that your Majesty is in some streight between the Honour of your word by which you graciously pleas'd to Promise I should Succeed my excellent Friend the late Bishop of Winchester And the importunity by which you are prest in the behalf of another I therefore with greatest willingness release you freely of that Promise Here said the Bishop the King stopt me Vouchsafed to embrace me in his Arms with these expressions My Lord I thank you and it may not be long ere I have opportunity to shew you how kindly I take it And in the mean time you shall have Worcester and to make it to you as good as I can all the Dignities of that Church I know not how it comes to pass being in my disposal I give you the disposing of them all during your time that you may prefer your Friends and have them near about you And now I appeal to the Judgment of every considerate reader whether this story which I had for the substance and to the best of my memory in the very words from Bishop Gaudens own mouth when the thing was fresh and recent carry the fairest and most likely characters of truth or the Algate Dr's story For which he brings no proof but his own meer say so as indeed it is impossible he should for this must be a true story or else a dream and vision of my own Imagination the latter of which it is both Naturally and Morally next to impossible it should be First Naturally for I never pretended to so pregnant an Invention as to devise a story so self consistent in all its parts for falshoods will not jamm or hang coherently together be they told with never so good a Grace and Magisterially cram'd down Mens belief with huffing menaces and hectoring Rhetorick To fright men to swallow them at their peril For fear of being counted contumacious Witness the flaws and incoherences of all the Algate Dr's Narratives of this matter catcht up from uncertain Rumours and pieced out with groundless phancies of his own addition inconsiderately Secondly Morally impossible for Nemo gratis nequam No man will lie without advantage much less to create prejudice to himself And I am sure there is not so much as the appearance of a temptation to induce Dr. Gauden to tell it me as I solemnly aver he did if it had not been the truth nor to me to feign it in cool blood and deliberately to appeal to the God of Truth and Righteousness as a Witness and Avenger which I neither would or durst do to gain the World This might abundantly suffice to answer the Algate Dr's Sham Story concerning the Bishoprick of Worcester in the second Paragraph of his P. sc yet tho' I be well aware that over-doing is for the most part undoing and adding probabilities after clear and full evidence doth more harm than good and like setting shores and props to a strong house creates suspition that 't is tottering or like to fall without them yet I will for once run that risk and hazard and add these three Arguments to confirm what is before affirmed 1. 'T is highly probable that Dr. Gauden had the promise of Winchester obtained by his most entire Friend Bishop Duppa who besides the Power he had with the King having been his Tutor could unriddle to him as questionless he did the whole Affair of Εἰκὼν Βασιλικὴ to which he had been not only privy but a party and plead that to obtain the favour of that promise for him because divers of his intimate Friends had knowledge of his expectation to succeed in that See and why should he abuse his Best Friends with a groundless Flam 2. Because the King was so uneasie and deferr'd some days to give it Dr. Morly notwithstanding all the Interest made for him and His Majesties own inclination to him as having been beyond Sea with him in his Banishment why not give it presently as soon as vacant but after some days demur and uneasiness till his promise was released by him to whom 't was made 3. I will venture to reveal a secret at this distance which was then industriously conceal'd to prevent being made matter of sport upon the disappointment The Great House built by Sir Dennis Gauden the Bishop's Brother upon Clapham Heath in which Sir Dennis after lived and I think now Mr. Ewers was built as I was assured by one who knew it well to be the Mansion-house of the Bishoprick of Winchester being in that Diocess for 't is well known that Winchester-house beyond the Bridge had been pulled down and turn'd into Rent and Tenements and another was to be built or bought in lieu of it by the Bishop and setled as a Mansion-house for that See as after Winchester-house in Chelsea was purchased by Bishop Morley and made part of the Bishoprick of Winchester tho' before in the Bishoprick of London these Diocesses being parted by the Thames I could add many more circumstances relating to this Affair but at present forbear as judging them needless I am at length arrived at the third and last Paragraph of the Algate Drs. P. sc which is to compensate and make amends for all the impertinences of the preceding for thus it begins Algate Drs. P. sc But to put all things out of doubt concerning this Book give me leave to tell this Story I was not many weeks ago in conversation with Sir John Brattle a worthy person and who hath long enjoy'd a considerable Office in the Royal Mint with whom discoursing about King Charles the First and particularly of the suspicions raised of the truth of the Book He frankly told me and assured me the truth of this Story that in the year 47. King Charles having drawn up the most considerable part of this Book and having writ it in some loose Papers at different times desired Bp. Juxton to get some friend of his whom he
could commend to him as a trusty person to look it over and to put it into an exact Method the Bishop pitcht upon Sir John's Father whom he had been acquainted with for many years who undertaking the Task was assisted by this his Son who declares he sate up with his Father some nights to assist him in methodizing those Papers all writ with the King 's own hand Thanks be to God Sir John is yet alive and is ready to give the same Account to any man that asks him Essex Drs. Reply Jam ventum est ad Triarios Sir John Brattle is a person whose name I do not remember I have heard before and therefore make no Judgment prejudicial or of disadvantage to the Character here given of him But as the Algate Dr. tells the Story I doubt it may prove as meer a Story as the rest But before I come to my particular Remarks upon it I confess 't is not unpleasant to observe that when the Dr's hand was in at Coyning Stories which I have proved to be of both so base Metal and false an Impress he should have recourse to the Royal Mint to borrow a more Authentick Stamp for what else can an Office there add to a Testimony in a matter of fact But with all due respect to Sir J. Br. I would ask the Dr. a few Questions 1. May it not be possible without any diminution of Sir John's veracity that in more than forty Years there may be some mistake of other Papers for these or some other lapse of Memory about a matter in which he was concerned but once or twice and that but transiently and on the by or was Sir John who must be then a young man and 't is likely but in a private capacity so well acquainted with the Kings hand which 't is probable he had seldom or never seen I believe few private Country Youths or young Gentlemen are so very well us'd to their Soveraigns hand-writing as to make a Critical Judgment of it and to be able with assurance to distinguish it from the writing of all other men 2. I would gladly know when and where the King desired this of Bishop Juxton for I refer my self to those who lived in those times observed the passages of them whether they ever so much as heard that the King and Bishop Juxton saw each other after his Majesty was driven from Westminster by the Tumults till he was violently brought to St. James's Jan 19. 48 to be tried and barbarously murdered The King indeed then obtain'd leave for the good man to come to him and assist him in extremis for neither his Age nor Character permitting him to be serviceable to him in following him in the Wars He liv'd Private and Retir'd and I never heard he saw him till upon the sad occasion forenamed and that was after the Book was Printed Thirdly Supposing but by no means granting that the King had desired Bishop Juxton as is said to desire a trusty Friend to do it why another rather than the Bishop himself Had the King any Friend more trusty than Bishop Juxton or was He too good or above doing such service for his Master who had not a Servant who honoured and lov'd him more or was He too busie to attend it when he was wholly out of all imployment and injoy'd the most undisturbed privacy and quiet of any man that had serv'd the King in any eminent degree Or was Bishop Juxton less fit and able than a private man when the Book consists of Policy and Piety and who a fitter Judge of what concern'd the first than one who had so long been Privy Councellor and Lord High Treasurer of England And for the second he was one on whom the King rely'd as much or more than on any Man for the conduct of his Conscience as appear'd by his singling him out to be with him in his Preparations for Death and upon the infamous Scaffold of his Martyrdom and who was so able a Divine that tho' his Publick Imployments hindred him from Preaching often yet when He did perform'd it so well I remember I heard a Bishop who was able to judge say He thought him one of the most excellent Preachers He ever heard and gave Instance in a Sermon He heard him preach at Court of Repentance And why must Bishop Juxton desire another man to do that work for which had there been any such work to be done He himself was the fittest man alive for Fidelity for Ability for Inclination to his Masters Service and for vacancy and leisure 4. Lastly I pray which of these stories in your P sc would you have us believe Your first of sending it to Mr. Simmonds by a trusty Messenger or your last of the Kings own delivering it to his trusty Servant Bishop Juxton They cannot both be true if that not this if this not that they are so contrary we must suppose the Algate Dr. the Relater of the One and their Majesties Algate Chaplain the Relater of the other I confess the doubt is too hard for me to solve I must e'ne leave it to be agreed betwixt themselves I might add I have heard near half a dozen stories about this Book all as inconsistent with one another as these two Yet all told with equal assurance a sufficient prejudice against them all with all unprejudiced Persons Algate Dr. P sc And whosoever after this will suspect this Book is certainly a man of that temper who will keep up his prejudices against this great man in spight of all evidences tho' as clear as the Sun at Noon and for my own part I must tell him that I think it not worth the while to attempt his farther satisfaction because nullum remedium Deus posuit contumaciae God Almighty hath not provided a remedy for resolved stubbornness in the ordinary course of dealing with men and if nothing but miracles will convince them I have no Commission to pretend to them Essex Drs. Reply Sir tho' I will not vapour and huff my Reader with comparing what I have truely sincerely and as in the sight of God written concerning my Knowledge and Belief about this Book fairly declaring the means of my Knowledge and the Reasons of my Belief to the Sun at Noon as you think good to compare your waking Dreams and random guesses which deserve not to be likened to the light of the Moon a day before or after its change yet I abhor keeping up prejudices against that great and excellent Prince and have only given the account in the first and second Sections and reply'd to your slanders and reproaches which extorted from me this unwelcome labour to clear my Reputation you having according to your Talent as Mephibosheth complain'd of Ziba slandered me to the whole Nation and to my Lord the King by presuming to dedicate such stuff to their sacred Majesties And if you persist to slander ne videaris errasse I leave
Hertford from Dr. Gauden as I gave account Sect. 1. Reas 3. on purpose to be corrected allow'd or laid aside as his Majesty should think good See the Section referr'd to And if the King himself had been the Author Why was not the Book in his own Hand-writing as well as the Correction and Alterations or why any Corrections of a fair Copy if he had finished the Original himself before 't was copied Or why if he sent it to be printed did he not send the corrected Copy rather than an imperfect one which needed his Correction and Alteration These Considerations confirm me beyond the least Hesitancy this was the Copy the Marquess of Hertford brought his Majesty at the time of the Treaty in the Isle of Wight But the Violence towards him hastned so fast he could not transmit it back and Dr. Gauden and Bp. Duppa thought it better to print it as it was than to defer it till it would be too late to do him the Service they designed by it 3. Objection the Third The making Bp. Gauden the Author of this Book is another Disadvantage to the Credit of the Memorandum for the Stile the Air and Thought of Εἰκὼν Βασιλικὴ is as different from the Management of Bp. Gauden's Writings as 't is possible to imagine but out of respect to the Bishop's Memory I forbear to insist upon the Comparison Answ This Objection from the Stile is a very thin and feeble one as I could easily make appear if I would enter upon the Theme of critical Judging of the Authors of Books by the Stile in which they are written and to name no more I might fetch Assistance from Elias Du Pin a Sorbon Doctor in his excellent new Bibliothec of Ecclesiastical Writers by many Volumes of which he hath obliged the Learned Part of the World and raised their Expectation and Desire of the rest But I will avoid such an unnecessary Digression it being sufficient to blunt the edg of this Objection to suggest these two Considerations First It ought to be considered whether the Writings compar'd are of the same kind for a Man may differ more from himself when his Writings are of different kinds than two Strangers differ in their Stile whose Design and End of Writing is the same As the Sermons or Disputings of different Men may be more like one another if you compare Sermon with Sermon and Disputation with Disputation than the Stile of the same Man is like it self if you compare different kinds of his Writings as Sermons with Disputations or either of these with an Oration fitted for a Learned Assembly And 't is an Observation very common that the Ancient Fathers greatly differ in their Stile and Air and Notions in their popular Harangues and Exhortations their Polemick Tracts and their Books of Devotion So that whatever Dr. Gauden's way of management were in his other Writings the difference of the Subject between them and this Book gives a fair account of the different Stile Air and Thought admitting it were as great as the Objection would suppose it Secondly If the Stile and Air of Mens Writings be various when the kinds of their writings are different though they write without Disguise and only change their Stile to accommodate it to the Subject or Kind of Writing in which they are engaged How much more reasonable is it to allow it must be so when they on purpose do induere Personam personate another Man and endeavour to the utmost to appear like him for whom they write and whose Name and Circumstances they tacitly assume What wonder that Idem non est Idem the same Man appears not like himself when he feigns himself to be another as Bp. Gauden did and wrote this Book as in his Majesty's Name though to be used allowed or altered as the King should please I have heard it hath been the custom of former Reigns for the Lord Chancellor some Privy Councellor or a Juncto of the Council to pen or draw up Speeches to be spoken by the King in Parliament or on some other Solemn Occasion or in Declarations Now any Man of Sense will readily grant that they who pen such Speeches keep not to their own Stile or Air or Thought which they use when they speak in their own Name or Person but do the best they can to adapt them to the Royal Person for whose use and service they are prepared and thus it most evidently was in this present Case He proceeds in this Objection 'T is likely therefore that King Charles the Second and the then Duke might tell the late Earl of Anglesey which his Lordship might possibly forget that the Manuscript was not King Charles the First his Hand but a Transcript of Dr. Gauden's writing which as it agrees with matter of Fact it gives a fair account of the Alterations in the Copy which the Memorandum grants were made by the King Answ This is soon said but very ill contrived for 't is not only highly improbable but meerly suppositio impossibilis If the King had writ it why not correct his own Copy But how should Dr. Gauden receive it from the King He was utterly unknown to him lived at a great distance from him in the Parliament's Quarters was under preudice with the Royal Party I am sorry this Gentleman writes for once so like him who feigned the Story of the King 's sending it to Mr. Simmonds and he sending for his Neighbour Gauden and lending it him and all this dispatch'd in a trice when Mr. Simmonds had been so many Years driven for his Loyalty from his Neighbourhood But the fair and faithful Account and which indeed agrees with matter of Fact is this was the Copy the Marquess of Hertford carried to the King when he went to the Treaty at the Isle of Wight from Dr. Gauden and was humbly submitted to his Majesty's Wisdom to be altered corrected approved or disallowed and disposed of as he should please and accordingly the King corrected it to fit it more to his own Sense Having finished his Objections against the Memorandum this Gentleman proceeds thus to his Second Strength 2. Supposing this Memorandum had all the pretended Advantages I shall now produce such Proof against it which the Circumstances of the Evidence considered must be allowed to over-ballance his Lordship's Attestation 1. We have the Letters Patents of King Charles the Second Dated Nov. 29 1660. in which R. Royston of London Bookseller has that sole Priviledg given him of Printing all the Works of King Charles the First among which Εἰκὼν Βασιλικὴ is mentioned with a particular Character of Commendation 2. The same Priviledg for Re-printing the Works of King Charles the First is granted to the above-mentioned R. Royston by his present Majesty King James the Second as appears by his Majesty's Letters Dated February 22 1685 6 which Grant refers expresly to the First Edition published by R. Royston in the Year 1662 and in which his Majesty
declares that all the Works of his Royal Father were collected and published which former Impression as I have already observ'd makes particular mention of Εἰκὼν Βασιλικὴ Now I leave it to any unprejudiced Person to judg whether it is in the least probable that either of their Majesties should tell the late Earl of Anglesey that this excellent Book was written by Dr. Gauden since they both have owned it to be their Royal Father 's in so publick a manner So that to use the Expression of the Advertisement If the Declaration of two Kings made with all the Circumstances of Advantage may be believed before a blind Manuscript written by a doubtful Hand and grounded upon a private Relation then we have sufficient Evidence to satisfy the World how much this Adviser has endeavoured to impose upon it Answ As to the Letters Patent to print this Book amongst the Works of King Charles the First on which depends the whole strength of the Argument I confess 't is a nice and tender Point which good Manners rather than want of good Reasons restrain me from fuller answering I think it may suffice to say with Modesty and Caution Kings use not so critically to inspect all the minute Particulars of their General Royal Grants but sign them as drawn up for the best Advantage of the Grantee and an Under-Secretary or Clerk who drew the Patents put in what Mr. Royston reckoned up and desired and never boggled at inserting Εἰκὼν Βασιλικὴ among King Charles's Work because it was so reputed by most and few knew the Mystery and they who did did all they then could to hide and conceal it And suppose either of the Kings had examined every particular it was at utmost but conniving at a vulgar Errour which it was not their interest too nicely to discover And indeed the Argument is so palpably weak that I am perswaded this Writer being a Person of so good Sense puts no Stress upon it but added it for Number rather than Weight being rather too hot than too heavy to be dealt with and for want of better which 't is exceeding hard to find to prove what is not true brings in such an Argument as in the Schools we call captious or Argumentum odiosum which Respondents use allowably to reject not answer because 't is designed not for real Proof but to involve the Answerer in some Odium and Danger and dismiss it unreply'd to not because they cannot but because they dare not answer it or with Beneseance shew its Weakness And yet to approach one Step closer what understanding Man believes all the other particular Pieces which make up the whole Volume of the Works of K. Charles I to be originally penn'd by himself but knows many of them were prepared by his Secretaries and Council and then perused and approved by him and so became his by adding the Royal Stamp of his Approbation and Owning of them And the same was designed in this Book as hath been shewed before I shall conclude this Discourse of the Letters Patent to Mr. Royston to Print the King's Works and inferring this to be undoubtedly so because named amongst them with a parallel Case of a supposed License to print the Works of as great a King Admit Mr. Royston had obtain'd a Patent to have the sole Printing the Works of King David and to make all sure that no Man might in the least invade his Priviledg had got it explicitely inserted into his Patent all the Works of King David that is to say the whole Book of Psalms containing in number one hundred and fifty which is no hard Supposition would it have followed hence that he who granted this Patent had publish'd to all the World that he knew and believ'd that David was the real Pen-man of them all tho some of the were certainly written some Ages after David's Death after the return of the Babylonish Captivity and some by Heman Asaph c. I grant his Patent might secure his Right to print all the 150 but 't would be an invalid Argument to prove that David wrote all It needs no Application Having thus far vindicated the Truth of the Earl of Anglesey's Memorandum and consequently the Honour of his Lordship's Memory from the Charge of Forgery cast upon it by shewing good reason why I cannot allow the pretended Proof against it to over-ballance his Lordship's Attestation which how sufficiently I have performed I freely leave to the Judgment of all impartial Readers I shall now subjoin the Remark I promis'd to set down when I had answered the Objections against the Memorandum And it is to shew by comparing two signal Providences about this Book how it seems to be the Will of God for what special Ends is best known to his holy and unsearchable Wisdom at some of which I may give my humble Guesses in due place both to have this Book published and owned as the Composure of King Charles the First for some time and then to have the full Truth in due time come to that light in which the starting those fresh Contests about it is like to set it The First which I call a signal Providence towards its being publish'd is the preventing its being seized upon and stopt in the Press when the Proof-Sheets if not also so much of the Copy as those Sheets contained were actually in the Hands and Possession of and carried away by as great an Enemy of the King's as any Man living was as Mr. Simmonds described him to me I beg pardon for the length of the Story which I shall relate from Mr. Simmonds because I think it worth the knowing and also because 't is an Evidence I write not in this Affair by Hearsay and Conjecture as most do but as of what I was privy to and had an hand in all along from first to last Upon Monday January the 8 th or 15 th for I have written Memorials by me which assure me it could not be so early as the 1 st nor so late as the 22 d Mr. Simmonds came to my Chamber at Warwick-House where I then was Chaplain and as a Man affrighted abruptly spake to me We are undone or in great danger to be so if you do not help us which I hope you may being in this Family And when I ask'd him what the matter was he having a little recovered himself told me the following Story and when he had done we consulted what remedy was to be used His Story was as followeth I was said he a while since at a Gentleman's House a Friend of mine in Hertfordshire whilst I was there there came a Troop of Horse of Col. Rich's Regiment to quarter there-abouts and the Lieutenant whose Name is Arwaker quartered in my Friend's House He and I had many fierce Disputes about the Cause betwixt the King and Parliament and the Army's usage of his Majesty By which he was so provok'd that at last he told me he would not
suffer it and said he would revenge it were it not that he would not violate his Quarters Whereupon I thought the Place too hot for me to tarry longer in and therefore hasted back to London to my Lodgings in Carter-Lane Not long after that Troop came up to London and the same Lieutenant quartered at the Bell in the same Lane And yesterday about twelve as I was coming from Church to my Lodgings we met each other in Carter-Lane He knew me but said nothing to me but turned again when he had past me and dogg'd me to the House I lodg'd in As soon as I was in and had shut the Door he discharged his Pistol with a brace of Bullets to mark the Door and hasted away to the Bell. As soon as the Master of the House told me he was gone I got away and he presently returned with six Troopers and search'd the House for me and breaking open my Closet took away all my Papers and the printed proof Sheets which lay loose upon my Table but they seeing them blotted and thinking them to be but waste-Paper and not understanding the Title it being Greek or not having look'd into them threw them down in the Dirt which they of the House observing gathered up We then after consulting what to do concluded the best if not the only way we could take was to get a Note from Col. Rich to his Lieutenant to restore all he had so taken from Mr. Simmonds It hapned even beyond our Hopes and Expectations that the very same day Col. Rich came to dine at Warwick-House and between Prayers and Dinner I desired Mr. Charles Rich after Earl of Warwick to request a Favour for me of the Colonel who beckoned him to him cross the Room and desired him to do me a Kindness and referr'd him to me to know what it was the Colonel drew me aside and ask'd what it was I desired of him I then ask'd him if there were not one Lieutenant Arwaker in his Regiment he said there was I then told him he had upon a pique broke open a Minister's Closet and taken away all his Sermon-Notes and other Papers and to disguise the better jocularly added He hath undone a poor Parson in robbing him of all his Tools and pray'd him to write a Note to him to require him to restore them The Colonel was so kind and just upon my fetching Pen Ink and Paper to write a Note to him to re-deliver all which he did so punctually that Mr. Simmonds told me he missed not one Paper when his Landlord who carried the Note brought them for he durst not appear himself so good and speedy Success we had even beyond our Hopes and there was no time to examine the Papers all being dispatch'd the next day after they were seized Now whatever others may think I judg it a Sign that God would have them publish'd for some eminent Ends which as I before hinted I may touch hereafter tho I argue not from his Permissive to his approving Providence The second signal Providence which seems to me to signify that on the other side God would now have the Truth of this Affair brought to light is the Discovery of this Memorandum in so publick and unexpected a manner which is as generally known as the Memorandum it self to wit at the Sale of the Earl of Anglesey's Books by publick Auction 'T is like no Eye had seen it from the time of the Writing of it and if Mr. Millington had not casually opened the Book there being some time betwixt the putting it up and the Sale of it it might in likelihood have fallen into some Hand who would either have not regarded it or concealed it to which may be added Dr. Hollingsworth's unseasonable provoking me to declare what I now have done in my own necessary yea unavoidable Vindication of my self from his insulting and most false Accusations For what remains of the two Sheets tho I forbear the transcribing them 't is to avoid a tedious Work which is needless not to conceal any strength in them for I shall faithfully reply to all that hath any seeming weight in it In Sir William Dugdale's Account here quoted there are four Things asserted to all which I shall answer in order denying what I know to be Mistakes and granting what I know or believe to be true or probable and give the Reasons of such my Denying or Granting 1. The first and most material Passage is that concerning Major Huntington to which I say two things 1. That this Account of his Testimony is wholly different from what was used to be alledged as his and I have very often heard but never met with this before and 't is highly improbable that the Lord Fairfax would take any thing out of the Cabinet and send up the Cullings to the Parliament who publish'd his Majesty's Letters on which the 21 chap. of the Book is written nor had Gen. Fairfax that Respect or Tenderness for the King then though he was heartily against his Murder 2. I will in the Faith of a Christian declare what I had from Major Huntington's own Mouth without diminution or wresting of it I had so often heard Major Huntington's Testimony alledged that whilst he had attended his Majesty or had the guarding of him he saw the King frequently take these Papers out of his Cabinet and sometimes read them sometimes write more and that when he saw the Book he declared those Chapters in it were those very Papers he had so seen I having I say so often heard this alledged and knowing well it was impossible to be true had as earnest a desire to speak with him as I ever had to speak with any Man but could a good while meet with no Opportunity but after some time being at Tunbridg-Wells the Major coming thither with his Son-in-law Sir J. Friend a fair occasion offered for after some small Acquaintance and Converse upon the Walks the Major invited me to his Lodgings at Caverly-Plain which I most readily accepted and made him a Visit one Afternoon When I came he received me very kindly and all the Company besides himself being engaged in their Divertisements I had as free an opportunity as I could wish to discourse of this Affair after a while I told him I had a Favour to beg of him in granting which he would greatly oblige me He answered to this purpose he would not deny me any thing in his Power wherein he might serve me I then told him what I heard as I have above related and earnestly intreated him to tell me what he knew or had said of that Book He willingly condescended and began thus 'T is like you have heard how much Trouble this hath put me to I have been examined by one Committee after another and that time after time about it and many things alledged that I should say But I will tell you freely and fully all I know or ever said concerning it
A True ACCOUNT OF THE Author of a Book entituled Εἰκὼν Βασιλικὴ OR The Pourtraiture of His Sacred Majesty in His Solitudes and Sufferings Proved to be written by Dr. Gauden Late Bishop of Worcester WITH An Answer to all Objections made by Dr. Hollingsworth and others Published for Publick Satisfaction by Anthony Walker D.D. Late Rector of Fyfield in Essex With an Attestation under the hand of the Late Earl of Anglesey to the same purpose Veritas est Filia Temporis Magna est praevalebit Some Men have turned aside to vain Janglings understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm Licensed and Entred according to Order LONDON Printed for Nathanael Ranew at the Kings-Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1692. A Modest and Faithful Account OF Εἰκὼν Βασιλικὴ The Introduction IF Dr. H. had been pleased to consult me by Word or Letter before he had so falsly accused me of telling a false Story which if I may not say might have been expected in Justice or at least in common Civility yet I will say he had not only been kinder to me in saving me this unexpected and unwelcom labour but juster to himself in not answering a matter before he heard it and by preventing the appearance of making more haste than good speed by a teeming impatience to be delivered of a false Conception And tho' by his Reproachful Charge he hath given me sufficient provocation and by his hasty writing without due information no less advantage to reply in such a style as he hath chosen to begin in yet in this Vindication to which he hath constrained me by unavoidable necessity unless he expects that as a Felo de se I should by silence give consent to his unjust Calumnies I shall keep that modest temper which becomes one who designs no Personal Quarrel nor writes for Victory but Truth the search and discovery of which needs no Tricks no little Arts or big Words but is best attained by sedate proceeding and plain and open dealing And to evidence my Resolution to keep strictly to this Method I shall subjoyn these particulars by way of Introduction First That I will not meddle with any thing but what concerns my own just Vindication my inclination not allowing me to do more for I should greatly rejoyce to find the Title of the Doctors Book made good as near as is possible worthy of that Excellent King of happy memory whose Honour I believe is better secured by the Reputation of his acknowledged Wisdom Celebrated Virtues Exemplary Patience and Christian Magnanimity in his Sufferings than by such Defenders and either needs none or deserves one more considerate and better inform'd who might avoid such mistakes as I meet with in that part of the Postscript wherein I am attacqued for one remarkable flaw mars the beauty of a whole Piece and palpable Errours cause all the Truths with which they are mixt to be doubted of and call'd in question and Defences so managed overthrow their own design and end and usually do more harm than good Secondly I solemnly appeal to the Searcher of Hearts Avenger of Falshood and Revealer of Secrets that I will write nothing of the Truth of which I am not throughly persuaded and that by as full Evidence as I judge such a matter of fact needs and at such a distance of time is capable of Thirdly I will with undisguised openness produce the means by which I know what I profess the knowledge of and the Reasons upon which I believe what I profess the belief of and the probable Arguments upon which my Opinion is grounded as to those particulars concerning which I pretend no more than thinking them to be as I declare them And having with Honesty and Candour laid down such means of my knowledge such Reasons of my belief such probable Arguments for what I think I shall willingly submit them to the Judgment of every indifferent Reader And if they be not cogent and convincing to bring him to be of my mind let him retain his former Sentiments but withal I beg his leave that without his censure or displeasure I may retain mine till Means of Knowledge Reasons of Belief Arguments for thinking otherwise be produced which in an even ballance may out-weigh mine And when I meet with such I promise to yield without contumacy or exacting Miracles for my conviction for tho' I cannot allow every random Story and ill grounded Conjectures for good Evidence nor dare follow an Ignis fatuus or esteem a Will-in-the-Wisp to be a safe Guide yet will I not rebel against the Light when as clear as the Sun at noon day to which tho' Dr. H. hath been pleased to compare his Arguments I doubt not when I come to examine them to make it appear it had been an extravagant Hyperbole to have likened them to the faintest Moon-shine SECT I. THE Question in debate being concerning the Author of that famous Book intituled Εἰκὼν Βασιλικὴ or the Pourtraiture of His Sacred Majesty in his Solitudes and Sufferings whether it were written by that Royal Martyr or some other hand And an Opinion being raised that Dr. Gauden wrote it which spread and prevailed much upon a Memorandum of the E. of Anglesey's coming to light which his Lordship had writ in a blank Leaf before the said Book and by reason of the Relation I am known to have had to him I having been often asked what I knew or thought of that Report having declared the substance of what I am now forced to publish more fully And this being the supposed Crime for which Dr. H. hath handled me so roughly as to accuse me to have assisted an Objection against the King's being the Composer of it to the utmost of my power with a false Story In order to wipe off so rash not to say so rude an Accusation I shall with all possible clearness proceed by these five Steps First I will declare what I know of this Book and by what means and what I believe of it and for what Reasons Secondly I will produce such probable Arguments as confirm my self and may satisfie others that I am not mistaken nor deceived nor would deceive others Thirdly I will distinctly consider and fully answer all that Dr. H. hath produced to the contrary Fourthly I will endeavour to give satisfactory Answers to the Objections I meet with from an abler Pen. Lastly I will declare why I have acknowledged such my knowledge and belief when requested and set down my Reasons for so doing 1. Negative 2. Positive And by these Steps I hope I shall free my Reputation from that odious Reproach of being guilty of assisting an Objection by a false Story at least I shall free my self from confirming by my silence what I judge to be an Errour SECT II. I Know and believe the Book whose Author is enquired after was written by Dr. Gauden except two Chapters writ by Bishop Duppa so far as the subjoyned means may
And I am perswaded it was this which put him upon the designing and finishing of this Book Secondly The second probable Argument may be drawn from the 14th Chapter which is upon the Covenant And I beg pardon for relating this matter more minutely than may seem necessary that it may appear how and by whom I was furnished with it to render it more cogent After the Book was published being in Discourse with my worthy Tutor Dr. J. Barwick who died Dean of St. Pauls I being privy to the Truth of this affair out of curiosity ask'd him what He thought of this Book He so well knowing my Education and Principles wondered to hear me ask such a Question I beg'd his Pardon and told him the thing being doubtfully spoken of I made bold with him to ask his Judgment Well then said He I will prove it to you And thus attempted it it was writ by himself or by some other man but it could be writ by no other therefore by himself I desired him to prove his second Proposition which He did thus If by another it must be an enemy or a Friend but neither Enemy nor Friend could do it therefore it must be himself I once more desired him to prove his second Proposition which he attempted thus not by an Enemy for no Enemy of the King would represent him so much to his Advantage not by a Friend for no Friend of the Kings would write as He doth of the Covenant Now how easily could I have reply'd tho' at present I acquiesced that Dr. Gauden though now a most hearty Friend to the King had himself taken the Covenant which we may rationally conclude had induced him to write more favourably of it than any of the Kings Party or Friends or the King himself would ever have done 3. Third probable Argument may be drawn from Chap. 16. and 24. which as I shew'd before Res 2 d. Dr. Gauden told me were written by Bishop Duppa for the Ordinance against the Common-Prayer and denying His Majesty the Attendance of His Chaplains were Subjects which Dr. Gauden was less concerned to think on for 't is well known He had forborn the use of the Common-Prayer tho' 't was continued longer in his Church than in any thereabouts and had never been the Kings Chaplain but Bishop Duppa having been the Princes Tutor a long time Chaplain and a Bishop was as mindful of these particulars and as much concern'd to be so and with as great reason as any man living could be and therefore first desired Dr. Gauden to write on these Subjects but after recall'd that Motion and undertook to do it himself which he also performed as I shew'd before and his free declaring that he had neither thought of these Subjects nor wrote of them which it was so unlikely he should renders it very probable he spake Truth in declaring that he wrote the rest 4. I meet with expressions in the Devotional part very frequently us'd by Dr. Gauden in his Prayers for he used conceived Prayer both in his Family and in Publick which I never heard from any other Man and 't is very easie to observe that most Men even in ordinary Conversation and more especially in their Prayers tho' they vary in their method have peculiar Phrases and Modes of expressing themselves and where we find such occur 't is a probable evidence they proceed from him to whom they were peculiar 5. I am as sure as I can be of any thing that Dr. Gauden made the Extract out of this Book call'd I think Apophthegmata Coroliniana I am sorry I have not one by me to give a fuller account of it But the thing is most notorious that there was such a Book came out in a very short time after Printed by Mr. Dugard Now why should Dr. Gauden concern himself so much more than any other of the Kings Friends and dispatch it with such expedition had he had no more concern in it than other men and had not been inabled to finish it so speedily and could with such readiness take it in pieces and digest it into wise and weighty Sentences who had put it together and whose thoughts had dwelt so long and much upon it I cannot forbear to judge that to those who will consider it impartially it carries the fairest and highest probability to confirm what is before declared the reasonable belief of his being the Composer of it how much more when all the five are joyn'd together SECT III. Containing a full Answer to what Dr. Hollingsworth hath written in his P. sc concerning this Book ALthough the modest and faithful account I have given in the former Sections of what I know and believe of this Book and the Means of such my Knowledge and Reasons of such my Belief contains a sufficient Answer to whatever I meet with in this P script and might supersede my farther Labour yet that the Reverend Dr. may not think himself neglected or the Reader who it may be will not take the Pains to compare them may have no cause to suspect I wave a distinct reply because I find the task too difficult and lastly because this P sc gave the sole occasion and whole Provocation to my writing upon this Subject I will now distinctly consider every particular of the P sc which concerns this matter and either by referring to what is said before to prevent writing the same thing over and over or by subjoyning a farther clear Answer reply to the whole for the necessary vindication of the Truth and my injur'd self And that what the Dr. writes may have its full Strength and He have no pretence to complain any thing is omitted I will transcribe Verbatim all his Words and subjoin full Answers adapted to every Paragraph in that part of his P script which relates to the Question in debate The first Passage begins thus Pag. 37. Line 13. The last Objection against Him is his Divine and Holy Book It is not to be imagined with what Industry they have within this last Year endeavoured to perswade the World it was a Forgery and not of his compiling And there is a certain Essex Doctor of Divinity who hath assisted this Objection to the utmost of his Power with a false story which I will presently refute and set the whole in a true and proper Light The Essex Doctors Reply to the Algate Doctor who begins thus The last Objection against him c. He could scarce have exprest himself more improperly if he had studied to do it We may guess at his meaning by what follows but who ever made this Divine and Holy Book an Objection against him but rather accounted it his great honour and from a Man who writes for Crowned Heads to read more accuracy and caution might be expected and this stumble at the threeshold is no auspicious or lucky Omen but rather an earnest and tast of what we are to look for in the Sequel
and experience of which Instances might be given without number I beg pardon for this Digression into which the Dr. led me by an ill-grounded speculation which makes little to his purpose and I think hath done him little service yea will rather cause considerate Readers to suspect his want of better Arguments else he would not have had recourse to such thin and Airy Speculations which prove nothing but the weakness of their Judgments who put any stress upon them and would by them impose upon other men Yea give me liberty to add if the Drs. Argument hath any weight it seems to be in the wrong Scale and makes that end of the Ballance to preponderate which he endeavours to make appear the lightest for the evenness of the thought and expression the equality of the style and affection and the same Thread running quite through from first to last rather argues it an Artificial Composure of one who had vacancy for sedate and deliberate thinking than of him for whose Icon and Pourtraiture it was designed who was encompassed with so distracting an hurry of miseries as must often change the temper of his mind But to compensate for the weakness of the former part of this Paragraph it hath a sting in its Tail concluding that if Dr. Gauden wrote it he is next to an Atheist and that for that Reason the Essex Dr. if he had any value for his memory would have forborn telling it in all places with more than usual confidence as he hath done that is lest he represent him as an Atheist Essex Drs. Reply to which I say in general My Story represents him not so like an Atheist as your rashness represents you like a false Accuser of both him and me and for this Reason if Dr. H. had any kindness to the Reputation of his friend their Majesties Algate Chaplain he would have considered better before he had publisht with somewhat more than confidence such groundless Accusations and such crude and ill contriv'd Stories and more particularly why Dr. Gauden more an Atheist for preparing these discourses for the King to be own'd or laid aside as to His Majesties wisdom should seem good See Reason 3. Sect. I. than those who prepare Forms of Devotion for others to use or let alone as they see occasion And tho' my Story as I tell it vindicates him from that Imputation and I am not bound to answer for what you forge to be my Story being but your own dream Quod male dum recitas desinit esse meum I farther say that according to the old Axiom Amicus Plató Amicus Aristoteles sed magis Amica Veritas Tho' Dr. Gauden were a friend and Bishop Duppa a friend yet Truth is more a friend and I should count him no honest Casuist who would advise me to tell a Lye to save my friends Credit as your words imply you would have directed me had I consulted you in the case Alg. Drs. P. sc The Story in short that he the E. Dr. tells is this That Dr. Gauden then of Bockin in Essex made this Book and sent him then his Curate to the Press with it which command he obeyed and accordingly did so carry it in order to its Printing Essex Drs. Reply Good Sir use fairer play and be not so confident who accuse that for excess of confidence in me which hath not the tenth degree of yours and do not forge and mangle a Story and then pin it upon me My Story is honestly and sincerely told in the first Section and thither I refer your self and the Reader for the truth and a fuller Answer to this lame Account without staying upon some palpable mistakes because but circumstantial Alg. Drs. P. sc Now the truth of the Story is this There was one Mr. Simmonds a learned and pious Minister who lived near Dr. Gauden in Essex and who out of a true affection to His Majesties Person and Cause writ a learned Defence of the King with which the King was so pleas'd that he presently resolved that this Person should have the perusal and correction of his Book and accordingly sends it by a trusty Messenger Essex Drs. Reply There is scarce a line which is not liable to just exceptions but small faults must be past over in one who writes so heedlesly or we should never have done But there is one so notorious he must be blind who doth not see it what then was he that made it viz. that Dr. Hollingsworth and their Majesties Chaplain at Algate do flatly contradict each other Here he saith the King sent it by a trusty Messenger to Mr. Simmonds but pag. 39. l. 19. that he desired Bishop Juxton to get some trusty friend to look it over and put it into exact order Non bene conveniunt one of the two should have had a better memory or conferr'd Notes before they had publisht things so inconsistent such palpable difference of Witnesses is a shrewd prejudice against their Testimony Algate Dr's P. sc The Book when looked over by him did so affect him and no wonder that he could not forbear sending for his Neighbour Gauden In order to make him happy with himself in the sight and reading of such an inesteemable Jewel Dr. Gauden would not be denied the kindness of taking the Book home with him for a few days which upon importunity Mr Simmonds knowing the Dr. at that time a well-wisher to the King granted Dr Gauden presently falls to transcribing of it and in some days with great labour and application finishes it and so returns the Original to Mr. Simmonds again within a while the great storm coming upon the King which at last God knows wholly overset him Dr. Gauden out of a true affection to his Master the King hoping thereby to do him service sends this Copy by the hands of this Dr. to the Press And so far and no farther was he concern'd in it Essex Dr's Reply Sir what with your usual confidence you introduce with The truth of the Story is thus is all meer Story but not one word of truth nor hath it the least blush or appearance of Possibility or so much as Probability as I hope to convince your self First Not probable any Man who knows any thing of the measures of Decency and the circumstances of the Persons of whom he writes as he should be supposed to do who presumes to Dedicate his writings to so wise a King and Queen would have contriv'd his story and told his tale more handsomely and would rather have said that the Parson of Rayne who was a very private man had waited upon Dr. Gauden who liv'd at the rate of a Thousand a year and made the greatest figure of any Clergy Man in Essex or perhaps in England at that time than boldly and bluntly to send for him what ever the occasion might be but let that pass a slip in good manners is a small fault compared to the impossibility of his stories
which was this When that Book was published and so confidently reported to be the King 's then surely or I believe these are the Papers I see him so usually take out of his Cabinet But this was but my Conjecture and I never declared it to be otherwise for I assure you I never read one Line or Word of the Papers in the King's Hand I was not so rude and I cannot say there was one Passage in these Papers which is in this printed Book For how should I never having look'd into them Now whether I should believe Major Huntington whose Account as in the Sight of God I faithfully relate as to the Scope or Substance of it or an Account so utterly inconsistent with it and which is in it-self so highly improbable let any considering Man judg 2. I confess as Sir William saith it might be seen at the Isle of Wight by Mr. Herbert and Mr. Levet for the Marquess of Hertford carried it thither but if the Title was Suspiria Regalia it was one of the King's Corrections For when Dr. Gauden first shew'd it me it was as is printed for when I was bold to ask him how he could so impose upon the World he bid me look upon the Title 't is the Portracture c. and no Man draws his own Picture as I said before Sect. the first 3. I confess also Mr. Royston might be sent to to prepare to print it and 't is likely the King might have sent it as he had corrected and altered it had not the Violence offered him prevented his purpose or they who us'd his Name to write in might do the same for the Printing it 4. For its being brought to Mr. Royston Decemb. 23. from Bishop Duppa agrees well with my Account as to the Persons but I rather think it was some days before unless he meant it of what he last received for I am infallibly sure having a written Memorial to help me that I brought up what was sent by me Saturday December 23. and I think delivered it to Peacock the same Evening In the second Authority produced viz. Mr. William Levet's long Letter though there be many things very well said with a loyal Zeal and just Indignation against the barbarous Usage of that excellent Prince yet there are but two Passages which respect this Book the latter of which about Mr. Royston is fully answered already The other is That he could depose the Book was his own having oftentimes observed his Majesty writing his Royal Resentments of the bold and insolent Behaviour of his Souldiers His rebellious Subjects when they had him in their Custody and that he had the happiness oftentimes to read the same in Manuscript under his Majesty's own Hand he being pleased to leave the same in the Window in his own Bed-Chamber Answ 1. There is no such Chapter or Title in all Εἰκὼν Βασιλικὴ and therefore though I do not deny but Mr. Levet might see his Majesty writing such his Resentments that is no Proof he wrote this Book in which that Writing is not found 2. That he read it in the King's Bed-Chamber in the time of the Treaty at the Isle of Wight this I can easily grant him for then and thither the Marquess of Hertford brought it but that it was under the King 's own Hand I must beg his pardon to believe he is mistaken unless it be understood of the Corrections and Alterations which the Memorandum saith were written with the King 's own Hand or his Majesty had transcribed it And now Sir whether these Authorities or my Answers to them and your Remarks upon the Memorandum or my Replies in Vindication of it be more sufficient to clear the Point in hand and give the Reader full satisfaction must be left to his own Judgment and if he will be pleas'd to consider and weigh both 't is all the Courtesy I beg of him or Courtship I will use to him SECT V. I shall conclude this Labour not chosen by me but impos'd upon me by Dr. H. for my own Vindication and to wipe off his false Accusation of being guilty of a false Story by a free owning these Reasons for which I have occasionally and when I have been desired to do it declar'd the Substance of what he hath forc'd me now to write though not in any measure to that degree he hath taken liberty to represent it And first negatively not to rob that excellent King of any Honour which was properly due to him No Man of my Rank loving him better or honouring him more while he lived or more abhorring his Murder or bewailing his Death or in my Station giving more open Testimony against it or sustaining greater loss for so doing but I need not vindicate my self in a case wherein I never heard my self accused or suspected But positively The Reason why I have done what I own was because As we must not speak wickedly for God nor talk deceitfully for him Job 13.7 neither may we do so for any Man even not for those who are called Gods 'T is a well known and as well approved a Saying of St. Augustin An officious Lie ought not to be told to save the whole World And I cannot deny but there was more than an Appearance of some pious Fraud in this Affair which I should by my Silence have contributed to the maintaining of when I was required to speak my Knowledg of it And though God had many Holy Righteous Gracious Ends to serve his Providence by in the Publication of this Book as to render the Murder of so good a King more abhorred to awaken many to Repentance who had contributed to it as I have heard it did to dispose the Nation to recal and with Acclamations of Joy to receive the returning Royal Family and many more Yet as I find it exprest in this very Book Chap. the last pag. 262. of the First Edition God's wise Providence we know oft permits many Events which his revealed Word the only clear safe and fixed Rule of good Actions and good Consciences in no sort approves And I confess I have many cogent Reasons to perswade me that God was not well pleased with Dr. Gauden others or my self for what we contributed to it And though for the foresaid Ends and many others he suffered it to succeed yet I know not but he may have other Ends now to serve by suffering this Discovery to be wrung and wrested from me I had almost said by some-bodies impertinent Affectation to meddle with what he understands not However it would be hard measure and such as other Men would be loth to have meted to themselves not to suffer a Man to reveal that by concealing which he fears God is displeased and so to necessitate him to labour under a continued uneasiness and dissatisfaction of his own Mind And if for avoiding this any be offended I cannot help it I only calmly intreat them to judge whether it