give cause to suspect it For the Revoking and Imprisoning Sir Bevel Skelton the English Agent in France upon a Supposition that he had talk'd of it and Rewarding him afterwards with the Lieutenancy of the Tower are plain Contradictions and therefore the English and Dutch had reason to believe the League and Insist upon it when the French themselves had discover'd it Now compare all this with Mr. Coleman's Letters and the barbarous persecutions of the French Protestants so tragically carried on in France and which were also going on to be Imitated in England at the same time that the French Memorial was deliver'd and you will have all the Reason in the World to to continue your belief of it for the greater security of England Thus have I given a brief Survey of the late King's Tyranny in Matters of publick Fact as the natural consequence of his Espousing and Advancing the Popish Religion upon the Ruins of the Reformed I must now acquaint you what Course the Nation took to procure their Deliverance Who seeing themselves Involv'd in such deplorable Circumstances Gaul'd under the Yoke of Papistick Tyranny Afflicted at the dismal prospect of being depriv'd of the Exercise of their Establish'd Religion and the loss of their Civil Properties and Privileges After they had ineffectually imploy'd all Dutiful and Obliging Methods to Reclaim the King and waited till England was on the Brink of Destruction before they would assume their Natural Right and Defend themselves God Almighty who from Heaven beheld their approaching Calamities put it into the Hearts of some thoughtful Persons of all Qualities Degrees and Conditions in the Kingdom to make their humble Application to the Illustrious Prince of Orange who as a Soveraign Independant Prince nearly allyed by his own Blood but nearer by his Virtuous Princess to the Crown of England and a Protestant in his Religion had an undoubted Right to interpose between the late King and his injur'd Subjects and according to his own Benignity and the Example of his Illustrious Progenitors Defend and Deliver an oppress'd People Divine Providence having thus prescrib'd the Means of our Deliverance some good Men whose Names ought to be Celebrated with Eternal praises found a way maugre the danger that attended it to Address this magnanimous Prince Lay the Complaints and Dangers of the Kingdom before him and Implore his Gracious Aid and Effectual Assistance to Free a Languishing people from inevitable Ruin promising to Live and Dye with his Highness in so Glorious an Enterprize Animated by his known Piety and Christian Compassion his Native Heroick Bravery and the Prayers and Necessities of a miserably Harrass'd and almost Ruin'd Kingdom he was pleas'd to undertake our Deliverance and to the Goodness of God and this Great Prince's Wise and Valiant Conduct only We owe that Mercy for tho God can work miraculously for the Accomplishment of his own Will yet in Human Reasoning no other Prince but our now Gracious King was qualify'd to undertake it For He is a Prince of a Ripe and Excellent Apprehension of a strong and profound Judgment has a Right Notion in all Ambiguities and is not easily Impos'd upon by the Sentiments of others Able to Determine in all Occurrences by the strength of his own Genius and yet never unwilling to hear the Opinions of his Counsellors Deliberate in his Resolves and Firm in his Purposes Undaunted in Dangers and of a steddy Conduct in Security That knows how to gain Power and how to make it Pleasant and dureable by the Regular use of it as appeared to all the World in the Upright and Discreet management of this Great and almost Miraculous Revolution The States of Holland accommodated the Prince of Orange with Shipping and other Necessaries for this glorious Expedient and meritted our eternal Gratitude but having met with ill Returns * Dutch Design Anatomized from some Mercenary Pens I shall take off the Scandal and Reproach they have thrown upon that Action by shewing it Kind Grateful and Justifiable to all the World There are many Considerations that justify the Interposition of the States of Holland and the first is That 't was to preserve the Peace of Europe for all their Neighbouring Princes perceiving the growing power of France to threaten the Welfare and Quiet of Christendom and that the Obsequious compliance of the late King James in all the Proceedings of that Towering Monarch as well as Monsieur le Comte d'Avaux's Memorial shew'd a dangerous Allyance between those Two Crowns the Princes of Europe and the States of Holland enter'd into a Confederacy to prevent the Conjunction of the Armies of these two Princes and save Europe This memorable Concurrence happening about the same time that the Prince of Orange had promis'd to Assist the People of England in Redressing their Grievances and Restoring them to their Just Rights and Privileges Whilst the Prince of Orange was doing that Good Office in England the other Princes in the League watch'd the the Motions of France and made them uncapable of helping each other and so the Emperor of Germany the Pope himself and the rest of the Confederate Princes as well as the States of Holland were in the same design against the late King James as the only means to preserve the peace of Europe Besides in this Generous Action the States of Holland writ after an English Copy and express'd their Gratitude for the same Good Office the English did them on the like occasion * Hist Belg. p. 203. when the Spaniards threaten'd not to leave a Protestant alive in Holland Those Provinces are of the same Religion with us and when they saw our Prince had form'd Designs to make us all Papists or Destroy us even Humanity oblig'd them to succour us when the whole Nation so apparently wanted it but the best Reason for what they did except those of common Christianity is given by themselves as I find it in an Extract of the Resolutions of the States of Holland upon the 28th of October 1688. where among other Reasons for Assisting the Prince of Orange with a Fleet and an Army this is one The King of France say they hath upon several Occasions shew'd himself disaffected to that State which gave Cause to fear and apprehend that in case the King of Great Britain should happen to obtain an Absolute Power over his People that then both Kings out of Interest of State and Hatred and Zeal against the Protestant Religion would endeavour to bring that State to confusion and if possible quite subject it There is no question but this Wise and Prudent State saw our Ruine would in time prove their own also and Foreseeing and Preventing it will Justify them before God and all the World Now to shew that other Princes were of the same Opinion with the States of Holland and saw the Designs of the F. K. and the late King James threaten'd the Peace and Safety of Europe Let us take a
without Intermeddling in Nice and Secret Matters of State that are out of his Reach and Inconsistent with his Duty that heartily Obeys the King in all his Commands that do not thwart the Laws of God Nature or his Country that Honours Loves and Defends the King's Person Crown and Dignity and Chearfully Contributes to the Support of his Government that makes his Private Concerns stoop to the Publick Good and Sustains those Losses with Patience that he suffers for the Common Interest One that can distinguish betwixt Slavish Fear and Religious Obedience betwixt the Interest and Cause of a whole Nation and the Clamours and Discontents of a Litigious and Incorrigible Faction One that will be True to his King without being False to his God or Treacherous to his Country And to conclude One that like the Poet 's Dyal always stands True tho' the Sun of Reward or Favour never shines upon him In this Portraicture of an English Subject in Little you may see the whole Design of Christianity on this Subject which is Keeping every thing within its proper Bounds without Needless Increments or Criminal Abatements of Royal Authority which always terminate in Vanity or Wickedness and consequently are extreamly prejudicial to the Receiver and Detractor 'T is the Evil in the Increase and Use of Power that those declaim against who are for no more than a Legal Obedience for Non-Resistance in its proper Latitude has its true Weight and Value with us as much as any other Christian Duty and tho' we cannot swallow it so Glibly as it was Adulterated in the late Prescription to serve a Temporizing Interest abstracted from the Publick Good yet that does not hinder us from Digesting it better and Practising it more Dutifully and Constantly than those who were as Ready to Throw it up as they were to Imbibe it or that still Retain it to do further Mischief And having thus secur'd our Loyalty and Fidelity to our Sovereign under this Supposition I shall re-assume the Argument for Resistance when the Necessity of it is as Certain and General as ours was All differing Persons about Non-Resistance agree in this That if a King is resolutely bent to Destroy his Subjects and that no Perswasion can alter his Purpose but that he stocks himself with such Ministers and Officers as will co-operate with him in the execution of his Tragical Designs his Subjects may Desert him Decline his Government and Service and seek Protection where they can find it Of this Opinion is the Excellent Grotius Barclay Pufendorf Bodin Bishop Bilson Bishop Sanderson Dr. Hammond and Mr. Falkener I confess they say the case is not to be put as almost impossible to happen yet I think it but Reasonable to suppose it here because I shall prove it in the Sequel beyond Contradiction that the late King James was under a necessity of destroying his Protestant Subjects that all his Actions openly declared it and therefore may say with the Author of Jovian That 't was Lawful to resist him since he himself has said in the same Page That he should be tempted to pray for the Destruction of such a Prince as the only means of delivering the Church and for that Reason I am charitably inclin'd to think that the great Promoters of Non-Resistance never intended this Doctrine should extend beyond Private and Tolerable Evils for stretching it to Intolerable and Universal Mischiefs would have proclaim'd 'em void of Sence and common Discretion as well as Humanity which can no way agree with some of their Characters Sober Men would soon be agreed about the Resistance pleaded for if they were not more prejudic'd against the Word than against what is intended in the Thing either as to the Object or End of it for to resist Violent Usurpations and Horrid Cruelties is not Resisting the Supreme Authority or the Ordinance of God but opposing Murderers and Cut-Throats who under Venerable Disguises are Destroying the People and covering the Land with Blood and Carnage Names and Titles can never Sanctifie or Alter the Nature of Facts the thing done and the Manner and End of doing it will denominate the Action For tho as King he may put his Subjects to Death by form of Law he cannot kill or otherwise destroy them without it but at the same time he gives himself another Epithet looses the Right he had and ceases to be a King by such repeated Acts of Illegality and Tyranny The Ends of Government which is the Peoples Good are as Sacred as the Prince's Authority and if as the Apostle says he be not to us the Minister of God for Good he looses the Title of God's Minister for his Servants they are whom they obey St. Paul never Intended to Abrogate the Laws of Nature which gives every Individual Person a Right to his Own nor Expose Men to Beggary Slavery Inevitable Ruine here and Damnation hereafter for Resisting a Prince that was ingaged to destroy his People since no Man that has not lost the use of his Reason can believe that Murdering Ruining and Inslaving the Bodies and Souls of the People is any part of Civil Government or that Resisting an Implacable Tyrant is Resisting the Ordinance of God when 't is plain that God never gave him any such Authority To say that such Kings are set up by the Almighty as a Punishment for our Sins is no Argument against Resistance but a strong one for it for the Pestilence Famine and the Sword of Foreign Enemies are all of them Evils sent by God for the punishment of our Offences yet I think no Man will say but we ought by all Natural and Humane Indeavours to free our selves from those Calamities without an immediate Revelation The like may be said of Tyrants for the contrary would level us with Beasts which may be Sold Kill'd and Devour'd at the Will of those that have power over them So that from what has been said 't is evident that Resisting Tyrants is not Resisting the Supreme Authority but Defending our selves against the Insults of a Destroyer under the cover of another Title This Consideration will set us right and not Rob us of the pleasant Idea's that spring from our Deliverance for if any for by Ends deny what has been said above to be a Truth now they will be of another Mind at the Day of Judgment when things shall appear as they are The Ends of Resistance and Self-Defence does also prove the Lawfulness of it as it Respects the King or his Subjects who are equally concern'd in the Benefit of it Is it not better for a King to Assure his Authority by rendring it Just and Moderate than expose it to danger by Arbitrary Attempts Is it not better to comply with the kind Persuasions and Dutiful Admonishments of his true Friends and Faithful Counsellors which is always presumed to go before Actual Resistance than to feel the bad Effects of his own misguided Will Cicero says Cicero pro Balb.
late King James's Reign was a Necessary Tyranny and so much the more necessary to push him forward to accomplish his Designs that this Necessity was impos'd upon his Conscience by the Laws of his Church under the Expectation of Rewards or Dread of the Punishments that would attend his Obedience or Disobedience to their Decrees All the Popish Writers agree that * Beccan Theol. Scot. p. 1. c. 13. quaest 5. Tho. Aquin. Summmae quaest 10 art 3. Durand Sancta Portian quaest utrum Haeret. sint tolerand quaest 5. Bellarmin de hicis l. 3. c. 21. Concilio Tolof p. 46. Concil Later 4. every Prince ought to Exterminate his Protestant Subjects that the Omission of that Duty is Damnable and that putting them to Death when they have nothing else to lose is a Just Meritorious Action And we have Reason to believe if Heaven was to be purchas'd God pleas'd the Papists gratify'd and his own Ambition and Prejudice humour'd in doing it the late King would not leave these Blessings behind him Now where the People claim a Right to their Privileges as well as the Prince to his Prerogative the Prince will certainly begin his Reign with the Destruction of those that have a Right to oppose his Absolute Authority And these Maxims of a Right to do it in Conscience were the Inducements to King James's Tyranny which we might expect to see Increas'd but never Relax'd for tho' he might change his Councils he could not change his Conscience nor whilst he had such Directors of it as the Jesuits are can it be suppos'd otherwise but that he would follow the Lessons they taught and he imbib'd as conducing to his Eternal Happiness Fifthly 5. It was a Consummated Tyranny nothing remain'd Entirely Free but all was subjected to the good Pleasure of his own Will His Arbitrary Power influenc'd all in Authority His Privy Council generally speaking were made up of such as would concour with his Unlimited Authority and were oblig'd by their Interest to assist the Project and Subvert all that oppos'd it The Judges gave it for Law that he had a Dispencing Power and ought not to be Resisted in the Exercise of it The Magistracy was infected with the same Malady and the Soldiery were oblig'd to defend it with Sword in Hand 6. It was as intended an Eternal Tyranny for besides that his Abrogating the Laws gave an Example to his Successors to trace his Methods and in time make themselves as Despotick Princes as the Czar of Moscovy or the Turkish Emperor he was introducing a Suppositious Heir that should be train'd up in the same Principles and invested in the same Power and so keep out a Protestant Successor whose Religion would better instruct him in his Duty in maintaining his own Prerogative and yet indulging his Subjects in such a Liberty as does no way Impair or Attaint their Allegiance Whereas a Popish Successor would have made Tyranny as perpetual as 't is Absolute 7. To conclude The Tyranny of the late King's Reign was an Incurable Tyranny If it had arose from the Heat of Youth Time might have quench'd that Fire in correcting the Cause If it had proceeded from any Corporeal Disease a Remedy might have been found to cure it If it had been the Effect of an Incurable Disorder in his Intellects or Temperature we might have flatter'd our selves that it would last but one Reign or that Defect might have been supply'd by a Regent But none of these can be objected against the late King James for he Nurs'd it many Years in his own Bosom it grew up with his Understanding and was a true Tyranny in its Design necessary as impos'd on him by his Conscience evident in all his Actions Universal in its Object and Extent Consummated in its Degrees Eternal in its Consequence and altogether incurable by reason of his Age and introducing a Popish Heir without the Application of such a Speedy and Effectual Remedy as God was pleas'd to send us in our Extremity Some of the late King James's Friends are pleas'd to extenuate the Crimes they cannot defend in charging all the Faults of his Reign upon his Ministers which if allow'd to be True might lessen them in part but not discharge him of the whole For if the Master's Actions be never so Innocent or Inoffensive yet if out of Cowardice or Affection he becomes the Patron of his Servants Insolencies and Outrages by Protecting or not Punishing their Misdemeanours he renders himself Guilty and will share in the Contempt and Hatred of his People But when we consider how he labour'd the Point himself by Closetting Persuading and Threatning many Great Men and others to engage with him in his Design of Setting up Popery and Dispencing with Laws and whose Image and Superscription it bears the Glory of the Enterprize will be all his own for I can never think his Ministers capable of all those Extravagancies themselves any further than that they knew it would please him Indeed I can very easily suppose them chiefly Devoted to their Own Interests and willing to Share in the Spoil of Ruin'd Subjects yet methinks there should be some kind Remembrance of their Native Country that would sometimes check the Dissoluteness of such Arbitrary Managements And a certain Pride that Men take in acting prudently and not exposing themselves to the Hatred and Derision of all Mankind should have stopp'd their Carier in such Illegal Proceedings And so it appear'd for at last under these Apprehensions we find many that deserted the late King after he thought himself sure of them and resign'd their Places and refus'd to act by his Commission or obey his Orders after their Names were Inserted in Commissions and their Persons Actually Engag'd in his Service So that 't is plain this Project was the Issue of his own Brain heated by the Jesuitical Dictators of his Conscience The Fountain was corrupted and then no wonder the Streams run foul Something might be said in favour of the late King if he had set up his Dispencing Power for a General Good but 't is evidemt that it was only intended to enable Papists to ruin Protestants and therefore the Irish Parliament in their Act of Attainder put it out of their King's Power to exercise his Prerogative in shewing Kindness to Protestants that wanted it For when * See The State of the Protestants in Ireland by Bishop King p. 179. Sir Thomas Southwell was contrary to the Articles on which he Surrender'd himself condemn'd for High Treason against King James and at the Request of the Lord Seaford that King was willing to Pardon him and sent his Warrant to the Attorney-General Sir Richard Neagle to draw a Fiat the Attorney-General positively told the King he could not Pardon him and tho' the late King seem'd to be in a Heat and told Sir Richard he had betray'd him yet it must be presum'd they Understood one another for so the Matter ended and Sir Thomas went
into Scotland with the Lord Seaford without being able to obtain a Pardon for his Life or Estate From this and other Instances that might be given we may see their Popish Juggling for when an Act of Parliament is made against a Papist 't was no less than Treason to question the King 's Pardoning and Dispencing Power but when an Act bears hard on a Protestant and their King as he pretends has a Mind to Ease them then the King has no Power to Dispence he cannot grant a Pardon his Hands are bound up by Law So that the End of Setting up this Dispencing Power was only to shelter Papists from the Law and ruin Protestants for the Papists in their Hearts we see are as much against it as the Protestants To go on The late King declar'd in Council that he would publish such a Proclamation in England as he had done in Scotland and that none should have Employments under him that would not co-operate in taking off the Penal Laws And he began to execute these Resolutions with a Conduct full of Violence and Injustice The Lord Bishop of London was put out of the Privy Council and Suspended from his Episcopal Office because he would not Suspend Doctor Sharp now Archbishop of York without Legal Process The Earl of Rochester was depriv'd of his Office of Lord Treasurer because he would not change his Religion And the Duke of Sommerset lost his Office because he would not violate the Laws of the Kingdom in performing the Honours at the Reception of the Pope's Nuncio as is usual at the Introduction of Ambassadors To say in Excuse of this that James the Second turn'd out Great Officers of State because they would not obey him and concurr with his Intensions is to publish a Truth that ought to have been Conceal'd by his own Party because it was an evident Demonstration that his Intentions were Unjust and level'd against our Laws and Religion In Things Lawful tho' not Expedient he found a Tacit Compliance nay some of them to keep him in Temper perhaps comply'd further with him than the Strictness of the Law would justifie as Men pull down some Houses at a Fire to preserve the whole Town from Burning But to comply in all things had been to forfeit their own Honours to justifie his Illegalities and Tyranny 2. The Second Means that the late King James employ'd for the Destruction of the Religion and Liberties of England was granting an Ecclesiastical Commission directly contrary to Law This declar'd by what Methods he intended to govern for every Step he made was a new Project to assert his Arbitrary Power and acquaint his Subjects that he would make all Laws Useless that all Power should rest in his own Hands and the Administration be Issu'd from no other Source but his own Will and Pleasure for there was no Occasion for such a Commission but only to shew what he would be at and declare his Purpose to ruin the Church of England Therefore the Commissioners were Devoto's of the Court for the Archbishop's Name was put in but to grace the Matter They knew before that he would not Act and therefore to colour the Sham they oblig'd him to ask Leave to be absent To make this Commission more Illegal a Papist is appointed one of the Commissioners and the whole cloathed with as Absolute a Power as the late King himself was aspiring after They had not only Power to Repress and Punish all Abuses punishable by the Ecclesiastical Laws and to proceed against Offenders by Interdiction Suspention Excommunication Perpetual Imprisonment c. but they had also Power to Exercise their Authority in all Parts of England to Visit Cathedral-Churches the Universities Colleges Parishes Schools and Hospitals to Judge in all Causes and make new Laws Rules Orders and Statutes and Abolish the Old ones as the present Necessity requir'd notwithstanding any Privilege Statute Exemption or Prerogative to the contrary Which was such a boundless Stretch of Power as never had nor I hope never will have any other President than it self Thirdly He pursu'd his Arbitrary Methods by 3. Setting up Popery in Opposition to the National Religion to Ruin his Protestant Subjects and force the whole Kingdom under Subjection to the Papal Laws which had already sentenc'd them to Destruction and that nothing less could be the Design of this Unhappy Monarch will evidently appear if we consider how Popery represents us to the World and how Papists think themselves oblig'd to treat us under those Characters The modestest Terms the Popish Writers can afford the English Protestants is That they are a Pack of Sacrilegious Usurpers of their Church's Patrimony and a Nest of Obstinate Hereticks that ought to be Sacrific'd to their Revenge and Rooted out of the World by any Means whatsoever and this say they is always to be attempted by every good Prince according to Bellarmine's Salvo Ne sint fortiores nobis Unless they be too strong to be subdu'd For otherwise even Massacres are never condemned but when they are unsuccessful And how then they would have us'd us if they could have established their Mischiess by Laws as Bloody as their Minds let the Marian Persecution acquaintus And why should we tempt them again whose Religion is Cruelty and smells so much of Fire that the very Smoak makes us tremble The Laws of England always intend the Preservation of the Subject but Popery when Triumphant in respect of Protestants is destructive to all Laws contrary to the Law of Society to the Law of Government to the Law of Empire to the Law of Royalty and especially to the Laws of a Mix'd Monarchy such as England's are and Protestants can never be safe where 't is Regnant First 1. Popery is against the Laws of Society in all Protestant Countries as well as in England for according to the Romish Tradition the Reform'd are all Hereticks and as such are Ipso Facto depriv'd of the Right they had to their Goods their Children their Liberty their Privileges and even of their Country and ought to be regarded only as Robbers * Becan Theol Scol p. 1. cap. 15. quaest 6. Thieves Murtherers Rebels and Traytors condemn'd to Death by the Church and ought to be deliver'd to the Secular Power to be Executed And to compleat the Tragedy that Holy Church appoints prodigious Recompences to Princes that Exterminate them and Anathematize those that refuse it Now whilst a Popish Prince lies under the Persuasion that his Protestant Subjects are such as his Church represents them that they are not a People nor have Right to any thing they possess he lies under so great a Temptation to destroy them that they had no Reason in the World to trust him with their Lives or suffer him to set up a Power that will inevitably destroy them Secondly 2. It is not less Incompatible with the Law of Government for that is design'd to Protect and Defend And how can that
Laws do not only totally exclude Papists from Military Offices but injoin them to be Disarm'd also Notwithstanding James the Second did not only Arm them but put them into the First Employments of the Army and all other Stations And was so fond of them that no Consideration either of Quality Loyalty or Merit except he was a Papist could Recommend any Man to this King's Favour or give him Title to the common Kindness of a Civil Reception but all were Smil'd or Frown'd on as they were distinguish'd by their Religious Principles Men may live happily under a Government and yet be excluded from having any Office or exercising any Authority under it and therefore the late King's Fondness and the Papists Forwardness to thrust themselves into Employments gave a great Suspition that it was for no good End that he put Wise and Experienc'd Men out to make room for a sort of Raw Papists who being not us'd to Publick Business were not capacitated for it No Man can imagin that the late King made this bold Adventure in Employing Papists for nothing or that he would disoblige the Body of his People for their sakes only without designing some other Advantage to himself by it He must have some peculiar Service for these Unqualify'd Favourites to do in which the rest of the Nation would not inter-meddle The Contest was between the King 's Absolute Power on the one side and our Laws and Religion on the other And therefore to know what Work their King had for them to do and to what End he would have employ'd these Services here is but to see Vide State of Ireland under the Reign of the late King James what Use he put them to in Ireland and how they demean'd themselves towards Protestants where the Scene was open'd and all manner of Violences committed upon Protestants by his Authority He also corrupted the Exercise of Justice on which depends the Safety of the Nation and the Stability of the Throne The Judges were Tamper'd with and Admitted upon Condition of favouring and promoting the late King 's Arbitrary Power and the Popish Interest Those Judges were Depos'd who were fix'd in their Religion and Resolutely defended the True Interest of their Country and others put into their Places of no Honour Integrity or Capacity but known Temporizers or Papists who were excluded by the Laws of their Country Upon this follow'd very Arbitrary and Illegal Proceedings in the Courts of Judicature A Prosecution was carry'd on against Seven Reverend Prelates for Petitioning the King to Redress their Grievances and giving their Reasons why they could not obey his Arbitrary Commands Causes were Try'd in the Court of King's Bench that were only Cognizable in Parliament Partial Corrupt and Unqualify'd Persons were Return'd and Serv'd on Juries in Cases of High Treason that were not Free-Holders Great Bail requir'd of Persons Committed in Criminal Causes Excessive Fines Impos'd for small Offences Illegal and Cruel Punishments Inflicted without Example or Law to warrant them And for a finishing Stroke The late King was also pleas'd to Grant and Seal a Commission to several Unqualify'd Persons to Examine the Revenues and Search into the Foundations of all the Hospitals in the Kingdom and see to what Uses they were first given by their Benefactors And into the Estates that some time ago belong'd to Monks Friars and other Religious Orders of the Romish Church with Intent to Restore them to the Papists who complain'd to the late King that they were Wrongfully Depriv'd of them In brief Never any Prince in so short a time committed so many Irregularities and made such Inroads upon our All as James the Second did by his Dispencing Power in England his Absolute Power without Reserve in Scotland and his Actual and Absolute Destruction of the Liberties and Religion of the Protestants in Ireland To which if we add the more than seeming Probability of the late King 's Leaguing with France for the Extirpation of the Northern Heresie 't will compleat his Design and make the intended Ruin of England unavoidable for more Hands would have made lighter Work and Experienc'd Artists would have finish'd it sooner I will not urge this League as a plain and positive Truth tho' I am strongly inclin'd to believe it and therefore shall only produce my Reasons and leave them with the Reader to judge as he pleases Mr. Coleman who must be presum'd to know much of his Master's Mind being in the same Interest and the Tool he work'd with in all his Secret Practices gives great Suspicion of the Truth of this Combination in a Letter to Sir William Throgmorton Feb. 1. 1678. You well know saith he that when the Duke comes to be Master of our Affairs i. e. to be King of England the King of France will have Reason to promise himself All things that he can desire And in a Letter to Father Le Chaise Confessor to the French King he says That His Royal Highness was convinc'd that His Interest and the King of France 's were the same And whether he ever thought fit to change his Mind since his Accession to the Crown his own Actions will better declare than any Gloss of mine In this State of Amity Things continu'd between the French King and the Duke of York till he was King And when the Prince of Orange's Fleet was preparing for his Noble Expedition into England they seem'd to rest on the same Foot for Monsieur le Comte d' Avaux the French King's Ambassador at the Hague in a Memorial to the States General acquaints them That his Master knowing the great Preparations for War that their Lordships were making both by Sea and Land was not without some Design form'd answuerable to the greatness of those preparations and his Master believing that it threaten'd England he had Commanded him to declare on his part that the Bands of Friendship and Allyance between him and the King of Great Britain will oblige him not only to assist him but also to look upon the first Act of Hostility that shall be committed by your Troops or your Fleet against his Majesty of Great Britain as a manifest Rupture of the Peace and a Breach with his Crown To this Memorial the States of Holland gave Answer That they Arm'd after the Example of their Neighbours to be ready upon Occasion 'T is true the French Ambassador does not mention the League in express words yet he gives very shrewd Hints that there was some such thing as a League or an Equivilent between the two Crowns and so the States of Holland took it For in their Answer to the English * The Marquiss d'Arbaville Ambassadors's Memorial their Lordships tell him That they were long since fully convinc'd of the Allyance which the King his Master had treated with France and which has been mention'd by Mr. Le Comte d'Avaux in his Memorial The Industry and Care that has been us'd to stifle this League does also
short view how these Princes carried it one towards the other None are Ignorant that the F. K. as soon as he apprehended that a pretended Zeal for Religion was the only way to advance his Ends and humor his Ambition but that he trumpt it up in all Courts where the same Religion was profess'd Religion was a Cloak to his Designs when he made an Incursion into the Spanish Netherlands and in the last Dutch War * Anno 1671. from whence We may date all our Misfortunes He in Conjunction with the King of Great Britain to destroy the States of Holland Intimated by his Ambassadors to the Pope to the Emperor of Germany and all other Princes whom he had a mind to deter from lending Assistance to the Dutch that they were a Nation fallen into Abominable Heresies and therefore all Christians were oblig'd in Conscience to War against them and rend in pieces that flourishing Republick and this furnish'd King James with the same Religious pretences against his own People At the very beginning of the late King's Reign the F. K. set him a Pattern at home and broke the inviolable Edict of Nants * Vid. Ed. Nants 1685. and King James in imitation of so pious an Example set up his dispencing Power in England violated his Oaths and Promises to his People and both under pretence of Zeal for Religion but all the Roman Catholick Princes were sensible to what eminent dangers that boasted Zeal had reduc'd them to for what Reverence what Veneration could they think those Princes had for the Name of Christian that made no Conscience of their Oaths that broke their Faith with Christians and leagu'd with Infidels who prefer'd the Crescent of Mahomet before the Cross of Christ and brib'd the Turks to begin a War against the Emperor * 1683. and Ruin that Capital City Vienna which is the Bulwork of Christendom against the Incursions of the Barbarians Who can think that Spiritual Things ever imploy'd the thoughts of that Monarch unless in order to Temporals that reflects with what violence he makes ostentation of his Zeal at home and at the same time espouses the Cause of the Protestants in Germany and Hungary perswading them to follow the Fortune of Count Teckeley and to joyn with the Turk to demand satisfaction for the violence offer'd to their Religion And this deceitful Artifice and Chichanery was the Cause that the Pope for some time resolutely refus'd to elect Fourbin into the Coledge of Cardinals As this affected Devotion of the F K. was subservient to his Ambition so James IId's Biggotry was early suspected to rise from the same Cause as the Earl of Shaftsbury declar'd before King Charles II. in a Speech * Shaftsbury's Speech State tracts Part 1. p. 463. in the House of Lords that the Duke of York had quitted his Religion that he might gain a powerful party to his Faction And this agrees with a Letter written about the same time and Recorded in the fifth Book of Collections wherein the Author tells the Duke of York that 't is the opinion of all Men that he Apostatiz'd from his Old and embrac'd a New Religon not as Charm'd by its Perfections but allur'd by the promises of an Absolute Monarchy and the blandishments of a Despotick Power which by this means would one time or other fall into his Hands Afterwards the same Letter admonishes the Duke to beware lest being dazled with the splendour of the French Monarchy he should endeavour to overthrow the best Government in the World since he seem'd to imitate King John who offer'd to turn Mahometan if the Emperor of Morocco would assist him with a Force to Revenge the Insolency of the Barons who vindicated their Liberties against the Encroachments of their King The Successes of France in War the intimate correspondence between the Duke of York and that King who manag'd England by the Politicks of Cardinal Richlieu and Mazarine at length induc'd the Duke of York to publish himself a Papist and knowing that thereby he hazarded the loss of the Church of England party he cajoll'd the Dissenters and heap'd his Favours upon them that they might be the Tools of his Ambition and also caress'd the Romanists both at home and abroad that they might be inclin'd for Religion sake to assist him But the Catholick Princes fathomed his design which was staged under the mask of Piety and joyn'd with the Interest of France and therefore Pope Innocent XI was not only incens'd with the French King and when he was drawing his last breath recommended his Emnity to the Cardinals that stood about him but also deliver'd it as his Judgment * Vindic. Gov. p. 44. that the designs of the late King James tended only to his own Ambition and his Brother 's of France and therefore did not receive the Earl of Castlemain his Ambassador with so much Honour as was due to such a magnificent and sumptuous appearance for his Holiness knew how all things were so manag'd by the Jesuits that every thing should be a Sacrifice to the Ambition of France and therefore as the Pope Complimented the late King James with a coolness of affection so he allways suspected him sometimes discover'd his Animosity and received the News * Vid. representat of Dangers in pol. tract par 2. p. 398. of his Abdication with transports of Joy and Gladness 'T is manifested the Emperor of Germany concurr'd in opinion with the Pope for after the late King's Abdication when he beg'd the Emperor's assistance in his misfortunes * Tracts of pol. col 12. vid. the Emp. of Ger. Letter and made use of his affection to the Romish Religion as a motive to encline him the Emperor return'd this Answer That the late King James 's Affairs had been now in a prosperous condition if he had hearkn'd to the advice of his Ambassador * Comitis de Kaknuits and not to the perfidy and flattery of the F King and had hindred by his Authority and Arms the F from violating the League and Peace whereof he was made Guarrantee by the Treaty of Nimeguen Now says the Emperor How can I assist you who must be forc'd to oppose the Forces of F and the Turk who did not doubt of the Fidelity and Assistance of England for the greatest injury that can be offer'd to our Religion is done by the F who is Confederated with the Turk the inveterate Enemy of Christianty So that the Jesuits that perswade the Roman Catholick Princes for their Religion sake to desert the Friendship of our Potent Monarch who has restor'd us to our Dying Liberties is just as if they should perswade the Confederate Princes to declare for those two Kings who not only design'd to enslave all Europe but also cherish'd the cause of the Infidels against the Christians and this brings me again into England And here it would be vain and impertinent in me to attempt to give a
in-Law could counter-balance so many Great and stupendious Interests or the Sacred and Inviolable Obligations that ingaged him to God and the publick good of so many Millions of Souls that depended on it Every Prince of the Royal Blood of England is in Right of that Blood oblig'd to regard England as his Own Country and to take care of the Inhabitants over whom he has a Right to Reign that the Demeans of the Crown be not Wasted nor the Subjects Injur'd and the nearer he approaches the Succession the greater is his Obligation to Defend them from Violence and his Country from Ruin to which Country next unto his God * Chari sunt parentes chaâ—â—i liberi propinqui familiares sed omnes omnium charitates Patriae una complexa est pro qua quis bonus dubitet mortem oppetere fi ea sit profituturus 〈…〉 and before all other Relations whatsoever he stands Particularly and Religiously concern'd for its Peace and Preservation His Highness the Prince of Orange could not neglect it now in common Prudence without manifest prejudice to his Right of Succession for the People of England by applying to his Highness had not only Recognized his Right to the Succession but also acqaainted him in their Memorial that if he refused them Succor under their present Ill Circumstances they would Assume their own Right and Free themselves and how far their Resentments of such a Slight might have Transported them is not easy to imagine Now altho the Reasons alledg'd are sufficient to shew the Justice of the Prince's Interposing between the late King and his Subjects yet I shall shew also that it is justified by many Presidents and where the Emergencies were not so considerable as ours nor their Titles to the Government so Incontestable as the Prince of Orange's was to the Crown of England who yet are Celebrated in History for their great Atchievements on such Occasions Constantine's quarrel with Maxentius * Eusebius Eccl. Hist p. 268. had no other ground and that was enough than that Maxentius Tyranniz'd over the Romans for which Constantine Invaded him Slew him and was receiv'd by the Romans as their Deliverer As remarkable was his Raising War against his Brother in Law Licinius because he persecuted the Christians for which when he had overcome the Tyrant the Christians plac'd him on the Throne in Licinius's Room and Historians have Celebrated his Name as a most Holy and Generous Champion in the Cause of Christ and their Country Constantine the Younger Son of Constantine the Great threatned his Brother Constantius with a War and made him desist from persecuting the Catholick Bishops and forc'd him to Restore Athanasius to his Bishoprick of Alexandria The like was done by King Pipin and Charles the Great against the Lomlards and by all the Christian Princes against the Turk in the Holy War To come nearer our own times Queen Elizabeth gave a Powerful Aid to the Hollanders * Vid. English Chron. and Hist of her Life against the Tyranny of the Spaniards King James the First * See his Manifesto 16. and K. C. Declaration on that Subject on the behalf of the Prince Palatine against the Emperour of Germany King Charles the First assisted the Rochellers with a Fleet and an Army against the French King in the cause of Religion and was incouraged to it by several of his Bishops and 't was always look'd upon as a great Blemish on the Reign of King Charles the Second and gave suspicion of his being in the Popish Interest that he suffered the F. K. to proceed so far in destroying his Protestant Subjects without such a seasonable Interposition as might have prevented it or gain'd an Opportunity of making his Reign glorious and his Kingdom easy by a War which in all probality would have brought that Monarch into better Terms for the Advantage of Europe So that from the Reasons aforementioned and the Presidents now alledg'd his Highness's Expedition to Rescue an Injur'd People from the Tyranny of Arbitary Power was one of the most Generous and Pious Enterprizes that any Age has acquainted us with and that the Good of this Nation was the only motive that gave birth to this undertaking see it in the Words of his Highnesses own Declaration Since the English Nation has always testified a most particular Affection and Esteem both to our Dearest Consort the Princess and to our selves we cannot excuse our selves from Espousing their Interests in matters of such high Consequences and from contributing all that lies in us for maintaining both of the Protestant Religion and of the Laws and Liberties of those Kingdoms and for the securing to them the continual enjoyment of all their just Rights to the doing of which we are most earnestly solicited by a great many Lords both Spiritual and Temporal and by many Gentlemen and other Subjects of all Ranks Therefore it is that we have thought fit to go over into England and to carry over with us a Force able by the Blessing of God to defend us from the Violence of those Evil Counsellors and we being desirous that our Intentions in this may be rightly understood declare that this our expedition is intended for no other design but to have a free and lawful Parliament assembled as soon as is possible and that in order to this all the late Charters by which the Elections of Burguesses are limited contrary to the Antient custom shall be considered as Null and of no Force and likewise all Magistrates who have been unjustly turn'd out shall forthwith Resume their former Imployments as well as all the Boroughs of England shall return again to their ancient prescriptions and Charters and that the Writs for the Members of Parliament shall be addressed to their proper Officers according to Law and Custom That also none be suffer'd to choose or to be chosen Members of Parliament but such as are qualified by Law and that the Members of Parliament shall meet and sit in full freedom that so the two Houses may concur in preparing such Laws as they upon full and free debate shall judge Necessary and Convenient both for the confirming and executing the Law concerning the Test and such other Laws as are necessary and convenient for the security and maintenance of the Protestant Religion c. Thus his Highness was pleas'd to declare his intentions with which the Nation was so Intirely satisfied that they conquer'd all that Read or heard them insomuch that many Persons of Quality and others met his Highness at Exeter put themselves under his Conduct and many other Lords and Great Men who had rais'd Forces in all parts of the Kingdom to strengthen the Prince's Expedition were marching with all speed to joyn his Highness's Troops And now A War being ready to break forth in the Bowells of the Kingdom several Spiritual and Temporal Lords in an humble Petition to the late King advise him in order to Redress the Grievances
Consideration of Affairs Abroad which makes it fit for you to expedite your Business not only for making a Settlement at home upon a good Foundation but for the Safety of all Europe The Lords having declar'd by a Vote of that House That Popery was Inconsistent with the Government of England the Commons upon the 28th of January passed the following Vote viz. Resolved THat King James the Second having endeavour'd to Subvert the Constitution of this Kingdom by breaking the Original Contract between King and People and by the Advice of Jesuits and other Wicked Persons having withdrawn himself out of this Kingdom hath Abdicated the Government and that the Throne is thereby Vacant This Vote occasion'd several Conferences between the two Houses of Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber at Westminster the Substance whereof as they are transmitted * 〈◊〉 Debate at large between the House of Lords and House of Câ—â—â—â—â—â— to us will be occasionally produc'd in the Sequel But on the 7th of February the Lords sending a Message to the Commons that they had Agreed to the Vote sent them up on the 28th of January last without any Alterations on the 12th of February following both Houses Unanimously Agreed to Declare as followeth The Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons Assembled at Westminster VVHereas the late King James the Second by the Assistance of divers Evil Counsellors Judges and Ministers employ'd by him did endeavour to Subject and Extirpate the Protestant Religion and the Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom By Assuming and Exercising a Power of Dispencing with and Suspending of Laws and the Execution of Laws without Consent of Parliament By Committing and Persecuting divers Worthy Prelates for humbly Petitioning to be excus'd from Concurring to the said Assumed Power By Issuing and Causing to be Executed a Commission under the Broad Seal for Erecting a Court call'd The Court of Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs By Levying Money for and to the Use of the Crown by Pretence of Prerogative for other Time and in other Manner than the same was Granted by Parliament By Raising and Keeping a Standing Army within the Kingdom in Time of Peace without Consent of Parliament and Quartering of Soldiers contrary to Law By Causing several good Subjects being Protestants to be Dis-arm'd at the same time when Papists were both Arm'd and Employ'd contrary to Law By Violating the Freedom of Elections of Members to Serve in Parliament By Prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for Matters and Causes Cognizable only in Parliament and by divers other Arbitrary and Illegal Courses And whereas of late Years Partial Corrupt and Unqualify'd Persons have been Return'd and Serv'd on Juries in Trials and particularly divers Jurors Serv'd in Trials for High Treason which were not Free-holders And Excessive Bail had been Required of Persons Committed in Criminal Causes to Elude the Benefit of the Laws made for the Liberty of the Subject And Excessive Fines have been Impos'd And Illegal and Cruel Punishments Inflicted And several Grants and Promises made of Fines and Forfeitures before any Conviction or Judgment against the the Persons upon whom the same were to be Levy'd All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known Laws and Statutes and Freedom of this Realm And whereas the late King James the Second having Abdicated the Government and the Throne being thereby Vacant His Highness the Prince of Orange whom it hath pleas'd Almighty God to make the Glorious Instrument of Delivering this Kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power did by the Advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and divers Principal Persons of the Commons cause Letters to be written to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal being Protestants and other Letters to the several Counties Cities Universities Boroughs and Cinque-Ports for the Choosing such Persons to represent them as were of Right to be sent to Parliament to Meet and Sit at Westminster upon the 22th Day of January 1688. in order to such an Establishment as that their Religion Laws and Liberties might not again be in danger of being Subverted Upon which Letters Elections have been made And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons pursuant to their respective Letters and Elections being now Assembl'd in a Full and Free Representative of this Nation taking into their most Serious Consideration the best Means for attaining the Ends aforesaid do in the first place as their Ancestors in like Cases have formerly done for the Vindicating and Asserting their Antient Rights and Liberties Declare That the Pretended Power of Suspending of Laws or the Execution of Laws by Regal Authority without Consent of Parliament is Illegal That the Pretended Power of Dispencing with Laws or the Exercise of Laws by Regal Authority as has been Assum'd and Practis'd of late is Illegal That the Commission for Erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes and all other Commissions and Courts of the like nature are Illegal and Pernicious That Levying of Money to or for the Use of the Crown by Pretence of Prerogative without Grant of Parliament for a longer Time or in other Manner than the same is or shall be Granted is Illegal That it is the Right of the Subject to Petition the King and all Commitments and Prosecutions for such Petitioning is Illegal That the Raising or Keeping a Standing Army within the Kingdom in Time of Peace unless it be by Consent of Parliament is against Law That the Subjects being Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Condition and as Allow'd by Law That the Election of Members of Parliament ought to be Free That the Freedom of Speech and Debates or Proceedings in Parliament ought not to be Impeach'd or Question'd in any Court or Place out of Parliament That Excessive Bail ought not to be Requir'd nor Excessive Fines Impos'd nor Cruel and Unusual Punishments Inflicted That Jurors ought to be duly Impannell'd and Return'd and Jurors which Pass upon Men in Trials for High Treason ought to be Free-Holders That all Grants and Promises of Fines and Forfeitures of particular Persons before Conviction are Illegal and Void That for Redress of all Grievances and for the Amending Strengthening and Preserving of the Laws Parliaments ought to be held frequently And they do Claim Demand and Insist upon all and singular the Premisses as their Undoubted Rights and Liberties and that no Declarations Judgments Doings or Proceedings to the Prejudice of the People in any of the said Premisses ought in any wise to be drawn hereafter into Consequence or Example To which Demand of their Rights they are particularly Encourag'd by the Declaration of His Highness the Prince of Orange as being the only Means for Obtaining a full Redress and Remedy therein Having therefore an Entire Confidence that His said Highness the Prince of Orange will perfect the Deliverance so far advanc'd by him and will still preserve them from the Violation of their Rights
King of Poland that if he broke his Oath and violated the Laws the People of that Kingdom should not be oblig'd to pay him Obedience and these two Cases are Parallel in Fact with the late King James's in Deserting the Kingdom of England The Fundamental Laws of Hungary * Bonfin decad 4. lib. 9. C. 11. Restrain and Limit the Power of their Kings by a Coronation Oath expresly conditional and have given so many Instances of their Right to Depose them * Chalcondil Hist l. 2. p. 120. that 't were lost labour to Recite them having refer'd to the Authors that Treat on that Subject In Spain we find Peter of Castile Depos'd for a Suppositious Birth and Philip of Arragon for Incontinency Indeed the Nobility and Commonality of that Kingdom have formerly took such a Power and Liberty in Censuring the Actions and Deposing their Kings for slight and trivial Causes that they are not fit to be reckon'd among the material Instances of other Nations in cases of Certain and extreme Necessity In the ancient Kingdoms of Denmark * Pontanus l. 8. c. 9. Sweden and Norway which are all of Gothic Original the meanest people had a Voice in the Elections of their Kings and if mistaken in their Choice they Depos'd him and chose another still giving preference to the Royal Family if there were any of them qualify'd Sometimes they wholly neglected that Method and Elected the Brave and Valiant Hero that had signaliz'd his Kindness and Courage in the Expulsion of a Tyrant and Rescuing their Privileges out of the hands of an Oppressor And sometimes they chose a private Person whose Eminent Parts and Probity had mark'd out as worthy of that Dignity which himself ne're thought on Give me leave to give you a Remarkable Instance in the Kingdom of Sweden of the Tyranny of an Absolute Monarch Christern the Second King of Denmark obtain'd the Crown of Sweden by Conquest and looking upon the Ancient Privileges of those Subjects as Inconsistent with his Royal Dignity quickly came to Resolutions of destroying of the Senators and Principal Noble-men that he thought Enemies of his Imperial Arbitrary Power and to facilitate the execution of his barbarous Decree he put on a Kinder Visage than he commonly wore suffering no Cloud to possess his Royal Brow but appear'd in shew of Respect and Kindness that he might oblige them to trust that before suspected him Under this Visor of Friendship and Affability he invites the Lords to a magnificent Feast at Stockholm where two days together they were splendidly treated and the third day basely Murther'd This surprizing bloody start from a King to a Tyrant so terrify'd the Nation that it put them upon freeing themselves and whilst they were revolving various Means to Accomplish it a Deliverer appears in the Person of Gustavus Ericson descended from the Ancient Kings of Sweden and Nephew to King Canutson who so effectually check'd the Tyrant that Christern who had Abdicated the Government by his continued Tyranny was so Hated by his Subjects Deserted by his Soldiers and beaten by his Rival that he consummated his Abdication by flying out of the Kingdom and Gustavus the Generous Deliverer by a Convention of the Estates * Peterson in Chronic. Holsat l. 8. was Elected and Crown'd King of Sweden which he Govern'd happily all the days of his Life I am sensible that some will tell me that things are now otherwise than I have related of Denmark and that the Government there is an Absolute Monarchy to which I reply Let them take it for their pains I did not speak of things as they are now perverted by Fear and Force but as they were Originally constituted and dare promise him that will give himself the pleasure of reading the English History of the State of that Kingdom he will not think the Model ought to be transported into England Portugal by telling Alphonsus the Third that if he would not adict himself to the Affairs of the * History Portual in Reign Alphons 3. l. 6. and Ordin Portugal 17. l. 2. Sect. 3. 4. 5. 6. Kingdom the Estates of the Realm would Depose him and Elect another King and by Banishing their late Monarch for the barbarous Effect of his Frenzy have fully declar'd their Opinions in that Matter When the Kings of France abus'd their Authority that Nation afferted their Right as in Deposing Childeric Father of * Greg. Tower l. 2. c 11. Clowis and in the same manner proceeded against another Childeric in the Eighth Century And if we descend to the Race of Charles the Great their Histories will inform us that Louis Surnam'd The Good was Dopos'd by a General Assembly of the Estates at Thionville and the Articles on which they proceeded to his Deposition are to be read in Baronius and du Chesne le Comte After him the Estates Depos'd Charles the Gross and Charles the Simple and stood so much upon their Right to do it that when in another Instance they were threatned by Pope Adrian the Second with Excommunication they sent him word They would defend their Privileges and their Liberties unto Death In the Second Race of their Kings notwithstanding Charles of Lorrain was * Guil. de Nanz. ad an 987. Heir to Lewis the Fifth and consequently ought to have enjoy'd the Crown of France yet the Estates laid him aside for no other Reason but because he was suspected to be in the German Interest who were Enemies to France and gave the Crown to Hugh Capet Henry the Third that had been Depos'd in Poland was also Depos'd in France by Advice of the Sorbonne and the greatest part of the Estates When Theodore the Second attempted to make himself Master of the Lives and Estates of his Subjects they â—â—se against him Depos'd him Shav'd him thrust him into a Monastery and plac'd his Brother Chilpric in the Throne In the Time of Charles the Simple mention'd before finding him unfit to encounter the Insults of the Normans the Estates conferr'd the Soverignty on Lewis and Charlemain who tho' of the same Blood had not the same Right to the Crown And 't is but consulting their own * Important Maxims publish'd by Mr. Joly in 1663 Can. d' Egles Paris Histories to shew that that Nation was always in Possession of the Right of Explaining Limiting Extending and Altering the Succession as often as their Circumstances requir'd it And truly I cannot but wonder the French Jesuits who in favour of the late King James have so slovenly Rail'd against our †Pere d'Orleans Hist Revol d'Angleterre Convention of Estates for Deposing him dare bespatter the Judgment of their Infallible Pope Zachary whose Opinion being ask'd by the French Lords about the Lawfulness of Deposing King Childeric answer'd That the French were discharg'd of their Oath of Fidelity to Childeric since he had not acquitted himself towards them as he had solemnly promised the Nature of Conditional Contracts
Services done for the Government yet do their utmost to make it Contemptible Some of them carry their Fire in Dark-Lantherns sigh out their Sorrows for Mis-managements deplore the Danger that hangs over us and persuade the World that every thing is out of Order because themselves are out of Office Others Rail outright and carry the Brands Ends open in their Mouths to kindle Combustions and Archimago-like make Variance between the Head and the Body upon no other Ground than Obloquies Suspicions and Fears those Brats of Rotten Fame that have no Father but their own Invention These are A sort of Men Illuminated into a kind of Distraction whom nothing can please and what any thing cannot but displease ever constant to their Old Dislikes and the Beginning of New Wishes and who like the Bay of Biscay are always Rough and Angry let the Wind blow where it will Talk of Loyalty and Obedience you raise their Passion and they call you Tory If you talk Well of all Men they call you a Trimmer Speak of preserving a due Temperament in the State they call you a Whig or Republican And say nothing and they proclaim you a Fool because you are not a Busie-Body What a strange Pass are Things brought to by carrying all Things into Extremities Some Men by Overstraining the Doctrine of Obedience made it Contemptible Must we therefore wholly lay aside that Evangelical Precept Because we are not oblig'd to obey a Tyrant must we therefore dispute away our Duty to the King and make our Submission as Arbitrary as the Power we declaim'd against Because we ought not to submit to a Destroyer must we not obey our Preserver Because a more than ordinary Liberty of Censuring Publick Affairs was assum'd in our late Times of Confusion and Disorder must that Pragmatical Humour be continu'd to create new Jealousies and Disturbances now the State is settl'd a Good King in the Throne and Justice equally Administer'd through the whole Kingdom No! Sure 't is time for these Over-active State-menders to comport themselves with more Modesty and Decency to the Government to bind their Tongues to the Good Behaviour to Restrain Seditious Discourses and Intermedling in Publick Affairs to study to be Quiet and do their own Business to fear God honour and obey the King For whatever they think of it or however it may have been abus'd or mis-apply'd in former Reigns Obedience to Princes is the Doctrine of the Bible and the Indispencible Duty of Subjects to their Sovereign And therefore upon that Head I will here endeavour to settle it You cannot be ignorant what a Character our Enemies give us viz. That we are as Unchangeable as the Wind and as Unconstant and Quarrelsome as the Waves of the Sea that are always Fluctuating and dashing themselves to pieces Fickleness is the Reproach of our Nation abroad and has render'd us Vile and Cheap amongst other Nations Now an Opportunity is put into our Hands to confute those Prejudices by a Stability in our Allegiance to such a King and Subjection to such a Government as all Europe admire and envy us for Now we have an Advantage to shew our Complaints again the late King were True and that the Causes of them were Real and may gain a Reputation of our Conduct when we shew by our Actions that as we had the Prudence to change so much for the better so we have the Wisdom to know when we are well and the Honesty to continue so The Papists reproach our Religion with Disloyalty and therefore after we have struggl'd so hard to keep it we ought to shew it was worth Contending for and wipe off that Aspertion by extolling its Vertue because amongst other Excellencies it obliges us to a Fermety in our Allegiance beyond all other Motives in the World and that upon a Religious Foundation chiefly we build and maintain our Duty to the King and tho' Lower Considerations have sometimes their Place and Value yet that the Grand and Durable Obligations spring from those Sacred Maxims And I the rather press it to you upon this Score because it will justifie you before God make you appear truly Religious and Reasonable before Men and will be thought best Subjects by the King because your Loyalty is the Fruit of your Religion As for Interest it is so Uncertain and Changeable a Thing that it gives a Prince no Security in Relying upon that Topick nor a Subâ—ect can scarce trust himself with it For the same Reasons that now Induce Men to be Loyal may if the Scene should change a better Offer â—e made and a Pardon inclos'd prevail with the same Persons to be Rebels and Traytors Those that follow'd our Blessed Saviour for the Loaves whereof they eat and were fill'd soon forsook him And those that adhere to our King only as Rats and Mice do a Barn because there is Grain in it are in danger of Deserting him as soon as they find their Expectations frustrated Things are but at an Ill pass when Subjects Loyalty continues no longer than while they are Oblig'd by Favours and when every froward Person shall set up against the Court if he be not Advanc'd and Rewarded as his own Ambition and Avarice tells him he ought to be Gratitude and Thankfulness to a Prince are eternally due from his Subjects and is a good Foundation to build our Obedience upon but we have sorrowfully experienc'd that some Men's Loyalty have expir'd with their Shouts and Acclamations or at least but the Loss of an Employment and all the Reason that can be given for it is because their Duty was not grounded upon Religion and Conscience The People of England have been always great Pretenders to both and now if they have not so long wrangl'd about these Things that they have quite lost them and have had God and Conscience so long in their Mouths that their Hearts have almost forgotten there are any such Thing it now concerns them who have seen so many visible Interpositions of Providence in behalf of our King our Church and our Nation those strange and sudden Changes of Things and such a mighty Deliverance effected which nothing but the Right Hand of God could bring to pass it concerns them I say to shew that they have a true Sense of Religion and Conscience in practising an Uninteressed and Undissembled Obedience to their Sovereign Lord King William for this is all the Requital and Compensation they can make to His Majesty for all his Favours and Care of them and would in some measure sweeten and aleviate the Burthen of them Shall I be allow'd to say one thing without Offence or Imputation of Flattery That if ever any King might expect Chearful Obedience from us for his Own sake or claim it for God's sake King William that now Governs us may do it justly His Majesty's Great and Glorious Undertaking His Indefatigable Pains His Toilsom Days His Restless Nights His Anxious Cares in preventing