I know not How brings your Lordship to a Position of Assurance There have been indeed those whose Haughtiness of Mind bearing down all the Rest of their Faculties hath deceived them into a Superlative Idea of their being Above Apology they have perished in Falls Unnatural tho' not Unpitied But if a Bishop a Pattern of Humility One who to be Great among Us is to be our Minister shall Dare give it under his Hand that He always thought next to Committing Offences Nothing can be more Grievous to an Ingenuous Mind than to be put upon the Necessity of making Apologies In English no more but Owning a Miscarriage in Decency of Reasoning to Unload his Conscience if that be so very Grievous to the Ingenuous Mind of a Bishop I take his Apologies to be like his Compliances One the Result of more than Ignorance or Chance the Other of much less than Contrition and without charge upon my Self of any Disrespect either to his Quality or Function Conclude tho' with a Modesty even to Tameness of Expression that the Best and most Ingenuous Part of the Apology Lyes in Confessing the Necessity to make it To what Advantage might an Elaborate Man in Concern for the Injuries done his Country display this Abundant Paper How easily my Lord might a Pen if like yours Incapable of Parting with a Luxuriant Stroak for the sake of Persons or Families take down these Altars of Praise you have Built to Others Contriving to annex your self however without Detraction from the Merit due to any whomsoever I will reduce the Overflowings within Bank bring them to Fact and Qualifie the Magnificent Apology Shewing that your Better Understanding Proceeded not from Argument but Appearance terrible Aspect and dreadful Apprehension your own Words my Lord are very Dogmatical Full Satisfaction may seize People in Lightning and they may be Struck with the Convincing of Thunder Only by the way my Lord whereas you seem to intitle your self to something or other within Guess by incurring the Displeasure of our Two Last Kings in declining to Write against the States of Holland during the First and Second Dutch Wars I humbly desire if any thing in these Papers tempt your Lordship to a Third Apology or a Reply that you will please to let us know if they desired you to Write in Prose for neither of those Wars or Depredations afforded Subject Matter for one Paragraph of Truth How Specious soever the First might be rendred in the Frenchified Heat of our Honey Moon after the Restoration the Effect of Private Sentiments in Religion here tho' he seemingly took part with the Dutch against us I am sure No Man will say but the Second was an Apparent Violation of the Law of Nations the Triple League broke on our side with Grief be it remembred by Us and very unkind in your Lordship not to bury against all the Rules of Mutual Defence and Notwithstanding the most direct Warning of the Fatal Consequences of such a Breach that a Wise Man our Agent abroad could possibly insinuate To our Great Reproach my Lord Opening a Passage to the Common Disturber of Manking and for ought I know too great a Cause of all the Blood that has been and may be shed in Christendom from the Ravage of that Imperious Monarch of France beside a Subjugation of Us here to Popery and Slavery or the Inevitable Fury of a Civil War if in return of Good for Evil the Dutch had not Aided our Deliverance from the Influence of all those Pernicious Counsels and I make no doubt but your Lordship knew then as well as I do now that Invention must have been the Guide of your Undertaking and the Topick Dimunition of Glory if you had obeyed their Commands The Tenth Page of the Letter If I have now given your Lordship any Satisfaction touching my Fair Dealing in my part of that Book I doubt not but what follows will give you more when I shall assure you of my having refused to Write a Continuation of the same History For my Lord it was sometime after the Duke of Monmouth 's Overthrow and Execution that King James the Second required me to Vndertake such another Task and presently set about a Second Part To that purpose his Majesty gave me a sight of Multitudes of Original Papers and Letters together with the Confessions of several Persons then taken in England and Scotland who did seem to Outview one another who should reveal most both of Men and Things relating to the Old Conspiracy as well as to the Duke of Monmouth 's and the Earl of Argyle 's Invasion But finding the Innocence of Divers Persons of Honour and Worth touched in those Papers And by that time beginning Vehemently to Suspect Things were Running apace towards the Endangering our Laws and Religion I must say I could never be induced by all his Majesties reiterated Commands to go on with that Work. Instead of that tho' I had all the Materials for such a Narrative within my Power for above Three Years and might Easily have finished it in Six Weeks yet I chose rather to Suppress and Silence as much I could all that New Evidence which if openly produced would have blemished the Reputation of some Honourable Persons Answer Blemishes my Lord are from the Cause nor will I ask Pardon to say 'T is as necessary to live in the Disesteem of some as the Good Opinion of Others The Overthrow of the Duke of Monmouth was in the Name of King and if what our Neighbours assert to be Law in Scotland be Reason in England the late Kings assuming the Regal Power of this Protestant Kingdom being a Papist was in it self a Forfeiture of his Exercise of the Authority If the Eyes of the People had been as Open to apprehend it as his Chappel was Early to declare it their Hands had been Strong enough to have brought a General to Town then Confirming the Bill of Exclusion And placing the Crown where it now is The Generosity of Trust in the English towards their King at his First Accession to the Throne Over-ruling their Jealousie Reasonable from his Conduct of many Years before but Demonstration of Entire Affection to their Kings while any Tolerable Bounds will hold Them very Honourable in Them but very much to be Deplored was the End of that Duke Rebellion had been a Word in his Attainder if he had not taken upon him the Title of King that part of him which Died had perhaps been less than Execution and his Defeat not so much as an Overthrow King James my Lord made good that Cause by the Continuation of his own History to the time of his Departure and King William and Queen Mary whom God for ever preserve by Consent and Authority of the Estates have given it Immortality The Old Conspiracy is not a Language but in those Times when Judges deliver for Law that surprizing a Garrison apart from the King is an Overt Act
An Answer TO THE Bishop of ROCHESTER's Second LETTER AN ANSWER TO THE Bishop of Rochester's SECOND LETTER TO THE Earl of Dorset c. By an English-man LONDON Printed for A. Smith MDCLXXXIX AN ANSWER TO THE Bishop of Rochester's SECOND LETTER c. Right Reverend ACTS of Mercy descend with Power and come well Recommended from the Crown to be Received with the highest Gratitude by the People but Acts of Justice are our Lasting Securities And tho' we are Aptto pitty the Afflicted yet Publick Crimes require Publick and Real Expiations Such as I am from Observation and Good Wishes pretend to discern Safety and the Kingdom in a State of Recovery past danger of Relapse but Justice must be Vindicated There are Measures in proper Season Necessary for Confirming All least the Government seem Precarious and Desperate Persons having Screwed up the Preparatories for our Ruin to the height may discourage very Useful Subjects if instead of Effectual Attonements they shall be Able to Word Us into their Impunity In good Earnest my Lord nothing urges a Sensible Man more to speak his Mind Freely than while his Purse is draining or Blood letting out in the Rescue of his Fellow Subjects and the more remote they are the more at Heart it is with him to find the Enemies of his Country and their Peace at Home in Plenty and Ease scarce Tributary but Remaining in Preferment or Enjoying the Acquisitions of Rapine Ready perhaps for more upon the first Opportunity and in the mean time under the Tenderness of some Illustrious Spotless Friend between a Smile and Disdain laughing in their Sleeves at the Worshippers of Truth and despising the Companions of Honesty I am so much a Roman as to shed a Tear for an Acquaintance in Misery but cannot forget who Condemned a Son. When I hear it said Spare him for his Parts My Reply is Punish him the more and not make that which Explains his Condemnation the Reason of his Indemnity I can no more Excuse an Ill Man for his good Parts than I would be supposed to write against the Church of England in answering the Bishop of Rochester or to Arraign the Profession of the Law from whence so many of the Nobility are Descended in saying there have been Wicked Judges and as Bad Councellors The Text that informs me the Samaritan was Neighbour to the Traveller tells me likewise who was not He is my Neighbour who pours Oyl into my Wounds and my Friend that lets me retain the Image of God in the Freedom of a Man. Wit and Parts are of full Age at Five and Twenty and must form into Judgment with Reference to some Fundamental of Principle by Thirty otherwise it is an Escape if He runs not into Depravation and a narrow One if the publick Justice of his Country do's not at one time or other overtake his Extraordinary Actions I am therefore English-man enough to hope for Justice and Christian enough to desire it in Mercy yet so Exerted That she may shew her Head in this glorious Revolution and call to Account those Unfaithful Servants who Delivered up her Keys Notorious Offenders that broke in upon her Administration Pursuing her Assertors to destruction if the same God who many Thousand Years ago brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt had not Remembred Us in her Low Estate and Excited this Heroick Prince to Assist the Restoring our Paths in the Establishment of our Religion and Laws Secure for Ages Unless Divided through Prejudice and Trifling Disappointments instead of joining as one Arm against our Common Adversaries Abroad regardless of the whole We part into Contemptible Faction and Labour among our selves Or Frighted into a Stupidity at the Very Sight of our Escape we become Unserviceable to our own Advantages Or rather Degenerated by a Vicious Age we have lost our Courage and our Priests their Zeal If the Markets of Fortune do not take up our Thoughts the Fields of Honour are Open to all our Virtues The Desolation in Ireland calls for our Sharpest Resentment and the Outrage of France is a Scene Worthy our Gallantry Things like Men have their Climacterick they may out live but they shall Languish Periods also are set the Harvest of Impiety may be Ripe for the Avenger and the Visible Concurrence of Human Means is a Sign the Decree is gone out The Authorities are too many to be Repeated and discoursed upon in the Compass of a Letter but they are Known and Satisfactory to All whose Interest affection or long habit of maxim controuls not the Use of their Judgment And too strong to be confuted in a Day when the most Noble Part of Liberty the Dictates of Reason are allowed Vouching to Us That Kings by a General Derogation from the Laws they are Trusted to Support may Distress Themselves It is not Impossible but Liberty Regained in One Quarter of the World may sound Charmingly into Another and Wisdom Prevail against Bigotry to an Empty Name Constitution of Government and Ancient Laws may gain a Preference before the Will or Empire and Considerate People groaning under Heavy Burthens if a Friendly Hand appears to Ease then Shoulders may incline to throw them down and hearken after a clear Possession of Religion and Property with Old Age under their own Vines and Fig-Trees rather than Fatigue in Slavery to be Driven up and down as Chaff by the Breath of Lust and Training up their Children from Generation to Generation to Pall Untimely Sacrifices to the Wild Efforts of Ambition Nor is any Prince so far above the Reach of Fate but if the Happy and Wise Restorer prove Comprehensive to Fix Nations upon their Respective Solid Interests Uniting Contraries as in the Body of Man so to Ballance and from thence to Work up one mighty Compound in the Bodies of State but the Nursery of the Cardinal may happen to End in Convincing the Oppressor The Time I parted with to Undress the Commissioner in my Last my Lord was to come the Better at the Adviser in This and tho' I might reduce the Historian to another Character with Ease yet taking no Pleasure in Accusation I will consider some Paragraphs in the beginning of your Second introducing me to your Notions of Councel at the Latter End and refer all the Rest to Those who more Concern'd in the Reflections may if they think Fit find a more Compendious Way of Answer The First Paragraph of the Letter My Lord I Cannot in good Manners make my Address to your Lordship in another Letter without Premising my most humble thanks for your favourable Acceptance of the Former and for your kind Recommendation of my Plea to Men of Honour and Goodness by the Powerful Authority of your approving it And now my Lord since you have in so generous a manner admitted me once to be your Client I am come again to put my whole Cause into your Hands For it was my chance I know not how to have a
share in one or two other Public Affairs of the late Times as obliges me to a second Defence Though I have always thought that next to the Committing Offences nothing can be more grievous to an Ingenuous Mind than to be put upon the Necessity of making Apologies Answer Upon what Terms the Powerful Earl of Dorset admitted your Person accepted and recommended your Plea is strange to none who have the Honour to know that Lord the Strength of his Unquestionable Judgment gave Way to the Object of his Compassion But if his Lordship had vouchsafed me leave to Publish such a Plea a Thought would have come in my Head that he put me upon my Country and the most I could hope from his Indulgence was that if they found me Guilty of Ignorance he would not Trouble himself to Charge me with more Understanding than my Present Circumstances required and from that Minute should have determined with what regard to move towards his Lordship in a Second For tho' Easy to be intreated is the very Note of Greatness and from the Consideration of Infirmity the worst of Men sink gently with them nor is Disdain to be seen in their Countenances without a Line of Charity Yet on the other side my Lord the Uncorrect Looseness of Argument Profanes Honour and Care is to be taken by Men of Talent least the Dignity of the Patronage lessen in the Presumption of the Client Not that the Gravity of your Pen ought to approach his Lordship with the Ceremony of an Ambassador nor yet my Lord after a Daub of vain Complement with such an Indifference or Negligence of Hand as if your Design was upon the Quality not the Authority you Address to A Meen between both agreeable to the Case with respect to the Person Soft but withal Masculine is far better Written to a Lord than It was my chance I know not How to have a share c. That Language cannot Usher an Apology with Reputation into the Opinion of the most Uncurious I fancy after one Letter with so much Ignorance in it such was my Unhappiness to have Share c. A Style more becoming your Condition my Lord than Chance or I know not how in another More pressing into the Good Nature of the English-man because the One has in it a Symptom of Reluctancy the Other of Force or Disaffection and Looks as if the Man was Still the same Inward which Heaven forbid but our Redemption against his Will had put him to the Necessity of Apology for his Share in the Enslaving Us. It was your Chance you know not how in your Sleep it may be to have a great many Papers Conveyed under your Pillow which made you Dream of Black-birds and Gold-finches of Goose Quills and Crow Quills Assassinations and Bow upon Bow where the Steeple of Bow brought in the Story of the Cross-Bow and a Thousand Fantastio Miscellanies the Ramble of a Mercurial Working-Brain And from the Natural Aversion you have to any Business that may Reflect Severely your Inclination rather leading you to the other Extream that is rather to Commend too much what in the least seems well done than to Aggravate what is Ill done by others For instance my Lord Tarentum in your Satyr upon the French Historiographer where you bring in the Presbyterians pleasing Themselves with Expectation of Religious Liberty from a Share they had in the Restoration of Charles the Second or Troubled at Forgetting the Promise of Breda and from the Innate Healing Quality you are indued with rather to commend too much what in the least seems well done than to aggravate what is ill done by others Charity all over you submit to honour them as thus far Contributory to the Blessed Work That if they had not Driven him Out he had never been restored From that natural Aversion you have to Reflect your Inclination we all know leading you to Panegyrick between sleeping and waking your Lordship Writ That which King James the Second Calling for the Papers and having Read them and Altered divers Passages not Telling Us what those Alterations are but no doubt for the Good of the Protestant Religion Caused to be Printed by his own Authority Perfectly against your Will as to be seen before the Book and in every Line of it your Lordship being wholly Passive and rather bearing a Share of Grief for the Victims than Contributing to the Fall of their Honours the Dearest part of Them after Dispatching their Bodies and Came Out under the Name of History deserving another Denomination And when the Benign Virulency of your Wit had pursued Men with Uncharitable Characters beyond Death with more Delight than Constraint of Mind Et quae Poeticis magis Decora Fabulis quam Incorruptis rerum gestarum Monument is tradenda fuerunt no sooner is the Artillery turned but you are in Passion for my Lord Russel you Lamented after you had been Fully Convinc'd by Discourse with the Reverend Dean of Canterbury of that Noble Gentleman's great Probity and Constant Abhorrence of Falsehood Delicate Words But that was a good while after you say such was your Ignorance of the Upright but Obscure Lord. Russel your Lordship who had liv'd so many Years about the Town could not be Convinced of his Probity till after he had suffered Martyrdom any more than you understood his Grace of Canterbury took Exception to the Legality of the Ecclesiastical Commission till after my Lord of London had been Cited Appeared had Answered and the Unjust Sentence past upon him Ignorance and Chance by your own Account have carried the Ascendant over the Last Scenes of your Life my Lord in a wonderful Manner But a Reader less Tender than your Answerer tho' he would not altogether disown the Philosophy that Accident governs the World Adding in Subordination to Providence for Chance makes Cases here Engaging Men for the better Connection in Support of Societies to Mutual Obligation by unexpected Standing in Need One of Another Yet by the Course of your Actions from the time of a Certain Sermon for which you had No Thanks and from whence such is the Curse of Variance between a King and Subjects the People receive the Banished from Court and the Court Embraces the Disregarded by the People some derive your Advancement and Others your Misfortune From that Hour my Lord to the day of the Bishops Tryal above Eight Years in a State of Ignorance and Chance as you carelesly alledge but of most Dangerous Observance as Sense interprets such a Reader my Lord would sooner imagine the Parts were made for the Sake of the Representer knowing how well they Suited his Genius to Describe them than that Chance brought your Lordship so often and so Artificially upon the Stage He that with a Common Eye looks into this your Second Letter shall find in it Expostulation no Apology Raised above that by the First Admittance Remorse Vanishes the least Shadow of Condescension to Chance and