First of them came to an untimely End The second died with Trouble of Mind The two next were deposed from Government and violently put to Death The next died suddenly to say no more of it and the last dethroned himself lives miserably and in all human probability will not die happliy One of them was struck to the heart by an Arrow another by Greif two perish'd by the Hands of cruel men The next died of an Apoplexy I guess the Fate of the last but I will not take upon me to prophesie I wish all those who desire to be call'd Protestants would understand their own happiness and joyfully and thankfully acknowledg it to live under a Protestant King and a Protestant Queen a Blessing rare in these Kingdoms and not known for many years past God grant them a long and prosperous Reign attended with all the Instances of Glory and Felicity that under their auspicious Influence true Religion may flourish and detestable Popery may for ever be banish'd out of their Dominions FINIS Books lately Printed for Ric. Chiswell THe Case of Allegiance in our present circumstances considered in a Letter from a Minister in the City to a Minister in the Country A Breviate of the State of Scotland in its Government Supream Courts Officers of State Inferiour Officers Offices and Inferiour Courts Districts Jurisdictions Burroughs Royal and Free Corporations Fol. Some Considerations touching Succession and Allegiance A Discourse concerning the Worship of Images preached before the University of Oxford By George Tully Sub-Dean of York for which he was Suspended Reflexions upon the late Great Revolution Written by a Lay-Hand in the Country for the satisfaction of some Neighbours The History of the Dissertion or an Account of all the publick Affairs in England from the beginning of September 1688. to the Twelfth of February following With an Answer to a Piece call'd The Dissertion discussed in a Letter to a Country Gentleman By a Person of Quality K. William and K. Lewis wherein is set forth the inevitable necessity these Nations lie under of submitting wholly to one or other of these Kings And that the matter in Controversie is not now between K. William and K. James but between K. William and K. Lewis of France for the Government of these Nations An Examination of the Scruples of those who refuse to take the Oath of Allegiance by a Divine of the Church of England A Dialogue betwixt two Friends a Jacobite and a Williamite occasion'd by the sate Revolution of Affairs and the Oath of Allegiance An Account of the Reasons which induced Charles the Second King of England to declare War against the States-General of the United Provinces in 1672. And of the Private League which he entred into at the same Time with the French King to carry it on and to establish Popery in England Scotland and Ireland as they are set down in the History of the Dutch War printed in French at Paris with the priviledge of the French King 1682. Which Book he caused to be immediately suppress'd at the Instance of the English Ambassador Fol. An Account of the Private League betwixt the late King James the Second and the French King. Fol. The Case of the Oaths Stated 4to The Answer of a Protestant Gentleman in Ireland to a late Popish Letter of N. N upon a Discourse between them concerning the present posture of that Country and the part fit for those concern'd there to Act in it 4to An Apology for the Protestants of Ireland in a brief Narative of the late Revolutions in that Kingdom and an Account of the present State thereof By a Gentlemen of Quality â—to A Letter from a French Lawyer to an English Gentleman upon the present Revolution 4to Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria a Christo nato usque ad Saeculum XIV Facili ethodo digesta Qua de Vita illorum ac Rebus gestis de Secta Dogmatibus Elogio Stylo de Scriptis genuinis dubiis supposititiis ineditis deperditis Fragmentis deque variis Operum Editionibus perspicue agitur Accedunt Scriptores Gentiles Christianae Religionis Oppugnatores cujusvis Saeculi Breviarium I 〈…〉 untur suis locis Veterum aliquot Opuscula â—ragmenta tum Graeca tum Latina hactenus inedita Praemissa denique Prolegomena quibus 〈…〉 ma ad Antiquitatis Ecclesiasticae studium spe 〈…〉 ia traduntur Opus Indicibus necessariis â—uctum Autore GVILIELMO CAVE SS Theol. Profes Canonico Windesoriensi Accedit ab Alia Manu Appendix ab ineunte Saeculo XIV ad Annum usque MDXVII Fol. 1689.
Numerus Infaustus A SHORT VIEW Of the Unfortunate Reigns OF WILLIAM the Second HENRY the Second EDWARD the Second RICHARD the Second CHARLES the Second JAMES the Second sine Caede Sanguine pauci Descendunt Reges siceâ Morte Tyrrani London Printed for Ric. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church yard 1689. LICENSED June 25. 89. J. Frasier TO THE READER MEeting accidentally the other Day with a Passage in Heylins Geography which he sets down in these words p. 225. I will present you with a fatal Observation of the Letter H. as I find it thus versed in Albions England Not superstitiously I speak but H this Letter still Hath been observed ominous to Englands good or ill c. A sudden Conceit darted into my Thoughts from the Remembrance of former Reading that such Kings of England as were the Second of any Name proved very unfortunate Princes both to themselves and to their People Whereupon I consulted the English Chronicles and out of them I have drawn a summary Narration of the Lives and Reigns of Six Kings For the Matter of Fact I have faithfully adher'd to the History and yet I have not transcribed their Method Style or Language The Writing of this was an Entertainment for afew of my idle Hours and perhaps the Reader may be pleased to divert himself for a few Minutes in the Perusal Numerus Infaustus THE LIFE and REIGN OF WILLIAM the Second Nick-Named RVFVS THE First William gain'd England by Conquest and bequeath'd it to the Second by Will. By his Invasion he usurped the Right of his Cosin Edgar and by his Legacy he infringed that of his Heir He put out Harold the unlawful Possessor of the Kingdom and put by Robert his Lawful Successor William the Second of that Name of fewer years than his Brother but of greater Interest in the Inclinations of his Father with hasty Steps ascended the Throne entring the Royal Palace at the wrong Door He indear'd himself to the one by the resemblance of Humours and the roughness of his Temper and over-reach'd the other by the Credulity and Easiness of his Disposition Giving no more deference to the Obligation of Promises than to the Right of Primogeniture His Vows to God his Word to his Brother and his Ingagements to his Subjects were all plighted with a like sincerity and with the same Integrity observ'd and maintain'd He was positive and sturdy and that pass'd for Valour He was crafty and politick and that was reported for Wisdom He was accounted Religious when he pursued his own Temporal Advantages and was reputed prophane when he invaded the priviledges of the Church He was immeasurably covetous only in Order to the being unreasonably profuse and under the pretence of Religion he committed the greatest Acts of Enormity and Impiety His incontinency was not taken notice of because he could not transgress the Vow of Matrimony and tho' in speculations and Disputes he seem'd concern'd for Religion yet by his Actions he appear'd to be a practical Atheist The course of his Life was turbulent and uneasie and the manner of his Death violent and untimely He was no sooner mounted on the Throne but troubles arose to discompose his quiet Robert his Eldest Brother highly resenting this great Injury to be justled out of his Seat by the partiality of his Father and the Incroachment of his Brother began to think of some timely Expedients for the Recovery of his Right and being assisted in his pretensions by several of the Nobility in England as Odo Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent Roger Montgomery Earl of Shrewsbury Hugh de-Grandemenil Robert Moubray Earl of Northumberland William Bishop of Durham and divers others of the Clergy and Nobility who raised great forces and possessed themselves of many considerable places the King was constrain'd to compound for his Peace by an assurance of three Thousand Marks per Annum to his Brother during Life and the Reversion of the Crown of England after his decease and by a Solemn promise to restore to the people their Ancient Laws and to indulge them the Liberty of hunting in his Forests By these condescensions he dissipated the present Storm that impended over his Head and gain'd some short Respite from his growing Troubles This Tempest was hardly allay'd in the South but fresh Clouds began to gather in the North. Malcolin King of the Scots thinking it a fit Opportunity to purvey for himself and inlarge his Borders when his Neighbour was imbroyl'd with intestine Commotions makes a sudden and furious incursion into Northumberland over-runs the Country burns and destroys all before him and returns home loaden with the spoils of the Inhabitants without the least hinderance or opposition And tho it was not long before King William was sufficiently revenged on his Invader whom he reduced to the necessity of paying the Ancient Homage due to the Crown and to give assurance of his future fidelity by New stipulations yet such an enterprise could not be accomplished without a vast expence of Treasure and a great loss of Men. The King who was very prodigal of his promises but slow and penurious in the performance neglected the payment of the Composition made with his Brother Robert whereupon he makes his Application to the King of France who presently furnish'd him with considerable supplies by which Assistance he assaulted and took several Towns in Normandy and by his success obliged King William again to raise a powerful Army and to transport them into that Country where tho by his crafty Address he avoided the Effusion of Blood and the consumption of his Forces yet he wasted his Treasure and purchased a Truce with the King of France by the mediation of Mony. And now all things were calm and quiet but not long so the Skie began to be overcast with gloomy exhalations and troubles arose upon an occasion as unusual as unnecessary Malcolin King of the Scots was a generous and magnanimous Prince and being at Peace and full Amity with his Neighbours he undertook the Toyl of a Journy as far as Gloucester to pay a Royal Visit to his Ally and Friend the King of England Who either out of a Humour Pique or Pride would not vouchsafe so much as to see him which Barbarous return to the Civility of the affronted King did so exasperate him that he posted back to his own Country made ready a powerful Army with all Expedition and again infested Northumberland Ravaging thro' the Country without Comptrol and enriching his Followers by the Ruin and desolation of harmless and unconcerned people And tho' in the prosecution of this design he lost his Life and the Life of Edward his Eldest Son and his whole Army intirely Routed and Defeated being drawn into an Ambuscade by Robert Moubray the Kings Lieutenant yet King VVilliam suffer'd a great diminution of his Honour and Fame by so unhospitable a Refusal of a common Respect to his equal in Degree
proclaimed her and the Prince who was at that time also in France Enemies to the Kingdom banish'd them and their Adherents and strongly guarded the Seas with three Fleets to intercept their passage The Queen by the help of Foreign Friends got together a considerable Army and landed near Harwich and was presently reinforced by the conjunction of the Earl Marshal the Earl of Lancaster the Earl of Leicester and many other Lords and Bishops The King was astonish'd at the News being utterly irresolute what course to take He had no Counsellors about him but the Spencers London was not to be trusted his Army was wavering the people from all Counties flocking in to the Queen In this perplexity he secretly withdraws from the Court attended by the two Spencers and a very few others and being disappointed of his Retreat to the Isle of Lundy He hides himself in the Abby of Nethe where within a short time he was taken his Followers all apprehended and the two Spencers publickly and ignominiously executed and himself committed to the custody of the Earl of Leicester After Christmas a Parliament was call'd wherein it was agreed to Depose the King and set up his Son who refusing to take the Crown unless his Father would freely resign it the poor King as tamely surrender'd the Scepter as he had before unworthily weilded it and having formally renounced and abdicated the Government and the Speaker of the Parliament renounced all Allegiance to him in the Name of the whole Kingdom he was taken from the Earl of Leicester from whom his Enemies thought he had too kind usage and being hurried from place to place and wearied with all manner of severity and indignity wasted by starving tormented by noisome stinks and attempted by Poyson he was at last barbarously and inhumanely stifled to death between two Pillows The Murder being disavow'd by the Queen the Executioners of it fled and died miserably THE LIFE and REIGN OF RICHARD the Second IF Magnanimity Valour Piety Gentleness Liberty and other Heroick and Princely Qualities were communicable by Generation if vertue could be intayl'd If the gifts of the mind descended by Inheritance or were demisable hy Will or inseparably annex'd to the Body no man could ever have a juster Pretension to Glory and Fame than Richard the Second the only Son of that incomparable Hero Edward the black Prince and grand Son of that most illustrious and victorious Edward the Third But Children do not always resemble the Features of the Father to the great shame and scandal of the Mother Wit and Vigor are seated in the Brain and Children are not begotten by the Head. Richard was a Child at the death of his Father and never acted like a man during his own Life A Crown was too heavy a Load for his tender Brows and the Reflection of its Brightness daizled his Eyes The Transactions of State during his Minority are not to be the Subject of my Recital since the Event of all Affairs that were prosperous is to be imputed to the Conduct of his Guardians and where any Accidents interrupted his Prosperity it ought not to be attributed to his misfortune I shall therefore pass over such Occurrences as are recounted by Historians during his pupillage and begin my Remarks at that Period when he assumed the Regal Government And first he deposed the Lord Scroop from his Chancellor-Ship because he refused to seal some extravagant grants made by the King and receiving the Seal from his Hands he kept it for a certain Time and with it seal'd such Grants and Writings as he thought fit at his own absolute will and pleasure His Army sent against France commanded by the Bishop of Norwich was not very prosperous but laying Seige to Ypres as they past through Flanders were forced by the Power of a French Army coming to their Relief to raise the Seige and retreat And tho the Bishop advised the King to lay hold on that Opportunity to try the Fortune of a Battle with the French and he pretended over Night to be in a mighty hast and Eagerness to ingage in that enterprise yet in the Morning the Humor was off and consulting his own ease and safety he appointed the Duke of Lancaster to go on that Inployment who spinning out the Time with dilatory Preparations till the Bishop was return'd the Project was disappointed the undertaking came to Nothing and the Dispute was ended in a short lived Truce Neither did the Expedition into Scotland tend to the Honour of the King or Advantage of the Kingdom for the Scots having made Incursions into England taken and burnt divers Towns upon the Borders and enriched themselves by a general depredation of the Country The Duke of Lancaster with the Earl of Buckingham was dispatcht with a mighty Army to repress them but having entred Scotland and not being able by any Art or Stratagem to provoke the Scots to Battel they returned without obtaining any further Satisfaction then a suitable Revenge in burning and destroying many Towns there And tho a truce was made with the Scots yet without any Regard to the Stipulation they again entred the Borders and took Berwick But now the unfortunate King began to form Plots against his own honour and Quiet for being incensed against the Duke of Lancaster whether upon real or upon imaginary Provocations a design was laid to have that great man Arrested and arraign'd of Treason before Sir Robert Tresilian chief Justice tho by the Law of the Land his Tryal ought to have been by his Peers and it is easie to imagin what would have been the Issue of such irregular Proceedings but the Duke having timely intimation of the mischief and contrivance against him withdrew himself opportunely to his Castle of Pomfret where he stood upon his guard till by the laborious travel and powerful intercession of the Kings Mother tho by reason of her Corpulency she was most un-fit for such an Imployment the King was pacified and reconciled to the Duke The Scots still meditating Revenge and the French King still ready to foment the quarrel prepared for a fresh Invasion of England and receiving auxiliary Ayds of great Number and strength from the French once more entred the English Borders King Richard receiving Advertisement of it with great Speed rais'd a mighty Army and marching in Person at the Head of them entered Scotland burnt Edingburgh proceeding without Control but could by no means draw the Scots to Battle they in the mean Time to divert the Kings progress made a descent into Cumberland and Besieged Carlisle to the relief of which the King approaching with so formidable an Army obliged the Scots to retreat into their own Country and upon their Recess the King returned into England bringing with him neither Honour nor Advantage by so fruitless an Expedition After these things and some other passages not so directly appertaining to the History of his Life King Richard began to hasten his own
Norman Followers he promised a restitution of their Ancient Laws and an indulgence to some Priviledges which were much valued by the people of those times but with the necessity the obligation ceased and he became a Bankrupt of his Word and Promise As little did he regard his Promises to God his Creator for being dangerously sick at Gloucester and despairing of Recovery he made a Solemn Vow that if he were restored to his Health he would lead a New Life and give over all his disorderly Courses but the restoration of his strength was accompanied with the return of his former vicious inclinations and he became ten times more the child of wrath than he was before He is reported to be very lascivious and incontinent but in regard he did not defraud his own Wife having never been married and was not observed to debauch the Wives of other Men he only passeth for a simple Fornicator and even in that not at all curious not entertaining a select Concubine but promiscuously trucking with any Woman that came in his way To shew how conscientious he was in matters of Religion take the words of Sir Richard Baker in his Chronicle of England p. 35. He appointed a Disputation to be held between Christians and Jews and before the day came the Jews brought the King a present to the end they might have an indifferent hearing the King took the present encouraging them to quit themselves like Men And swore by St. Lukes face his usual Oath that if they prevailed by Disputation he would himself turn Jew and be of their Religion A young Jew on a time was converted to the Christian Faith whose Father being much troubled at it presented the King sixty Mark intreating him to make his Son to return to his Judaism whereupon the King sent for his Son commanding him without more ado to return to the Religion of his Nation But the young Man answered he wondred his Majesty would use such Words for being a Christian he should rather perswade him to Christianity With which Answer the King was so confounded that he commanded the young Man to get him out of his sight But his Father finding the King could do no good upon his Son required his Mony again Nay saith the King I have taken pains enough for it and yet that thou mayst see how kindly I will deal you shall have one half and the other half you cannot in Conscience deny me In one Act he shew'd himself a Tyrant and an Atheist for fifty Gentlemen being accused for Hunting and killing the Kings Deer he caused them to be condemned to the Trial by Fire which they escaping untouch'd by the miraculous Providence of God and he thereby defeated of his greedy expectation by the Confiscation of their Estates fell into an outragious Passion and cry'd out How happens this is God a just Judg in suffering it Now a Murrain take him that believes it But vengeance from Heaven soon overtook him that did not believe it for the King though warned by Dreams and other uncommon Presages of some approaching Disaster appointed a Hunting in the new Forest upon the second of August When the day came he began to be perplexed with the remembrance of those ominous Bodings and stay'd within till Noon But having at Dinner driven away all care and fear by drinking himself into hardiness and security he mounled his Horse and eagerly folowed the Chase shortly after Sir Walter Tyrrel a Knight of Normandy to whom the King at their going out had given two Arrows very strong and sharp telling him That he knew how to shoot to purpose having a very fat Buck in view and at a convenient distance to be struck let fly an Arrow which glancing on a Tree or else grazing on the Back of the Deer reach'd the King hit him in the Breast and he immediately dropt down dead Thus fell Nimrod the mighty Norman Hunter destroy'd by that very sport in which he took such excessive delight violently brought to death on that occasion by which he had deliberately design'd the destruction of many others and in that very place where his Father had depopulated so many Town and ruined so many Religious Houses for the accommodation of wild Beasts and to gratifie his own inordinate pleasures THE LIFE and REIGN OF HENRY the Second THO' the Accession of Henry the Son of Geoffrey Plantagenet Duke of Anjou to the Crown of England be not branded with the unsavory Terms of Intrusion or Usurpation yet whosoever will impartially revolve the Chronicles of those Times may modestly conclude that he jumpt into the Throne over the back of his Mother Maud commonly styled the Empress was the only Daughter and Heir of Henry the first and tho she was an Empress and afterward a Dutchess yet she could never arrive at the Station of a Queen Stephen usurp'd the Crown and kept it from her and Henry her Son confirm'd the Disseisin by compounding for his own Succession without any regard to his Mothers Title Whether she was lockt up in an unknown Prison or estranged by Banishment or secretly made away it were a great Presumption in me to assert since the Writers and Historians of those days make no positive Determination in the matter But that she was civilly dead that no Notice was taken of her Right and Legal Claim to the Government after she had so unsuccessfully contended with King Stephen nothing can be more manifest Henry her Son was a young active and Valiant Prince very potent endow'd with great possessions and in expectation of greater Additions He was in his own Right Duke of Anjou in Right of his Wife Duke of Guyen and Earl of Poietou and in Right of his Mother Duke of Normandy and presumptive Heir to the Kingdom of England This greatness of Estate added to the Greatness of his Spirit and buoy'd up by the Hopes of a far greater augmentation of his Fortunes push'd him on to set up for himself in a competition for the Crown of England to the Achievement of which many accidents concurring as the untimely Death of Eustace the Son of King Stophen the melancholick despair of his Mother the Empress upon her improsperous contest with Stephen and the Loss of her Brother and other her fast Friends he came to a composition with King Stephen and a perfect Reconciliation was made between them choosing rather to succeed him by Adoption than to wait the natural Descent of his Inheritance by the Death of his Mother Whether a Prophetick foresight of the short Period prescribed to the Reign of King Stephen or a secret design to catch some opportunity to accelerate His own Investiture prompted Him on to this Accommodation lies only within the compass of conjecture but so it fell out that his Possession by Survivership was not long Prorogued the Agreement being made in January by mutual consent and consummated in October following by the Death of King Stephen Henry the Second being
who unanimously press the King to apply a Remedy to their Greivances in the Rere of which they urge the Banishment of Gaveston The King seing no safety in expostulation consents to their Demands and the several Articles like those of the Council of Trent are injoyn'd under an Anathema and pain of Excommunication Hereupon Gaveston was sent into Ireland but as the Chief Goovernour not as an Exile where after he â—ad stay'd a while and acted things much conducing to his Reputation King Edward not able to endure his absence or indeed to live without him remanded him home and married him to the Sister of the Earl of Glocester but Gaveston was incorrigible his Power exceeded all Limits and his expences all possibility of supply the Kings Revenue was wasted the Queens maintenance retrenched and all diverted to the accommodating the Luxury of the Favorite The Lords began to ferment in a new Discontentment and repairing to the King positively told him if he did not immediately remove Gaveston out of the Court and Kingdom they would rise in Arms against him as a perjur'd King. But he after he had strugled a while between Love and Fear condescended to his pertual Banishment making his return a capital Offence and so to be proceeded against if ever found in the Kingdom Gaveston once more is dispatcht out of England and goes to France where finding no safe Abode he past into Flanders and there meeting with no secure shelter he secretly returns to England relying on the immovable Favor of the King and the interest of the Duke of Gloucester The bewitched King received him with transports of joy and slipping out of the sight of the Lords and all other Observers betook himself to York carrying his beloved Minion with him The Lords hearing of it make after him and choosing the great and potent Earl of Lancaster for their General sent a Message to the King to deliver Gaveston into their Hands or at least to send him peremptorily out of the Kingdom But being abused by evil Counsel and disregarding the Message from the Lords he marcht from place to place seeking a sure refuge for his dear Favourite refusing to stay with the Queen who with tears beg'd his company and lodg'd him in Scarborough-Castle which being furiously assaulted by the Confederate Lords Gaveston thought it best to render himself desiring only the favour to be allow'd once to see the King's face and the King reciprocally ask'd the same Gaveston was sent under a Convoy toward Wallingford but being intercepted by the way and forced from his Guard by the Earl of Warwick after long deliberation his Head was struck off at a place call'd Blacklow In the mean time the King of Scots taking notice in how unready a posture Affaires were in England how the King remitted all case of the Government to Gaveston and that he gave himself up to Luxury and Licentiousness in a short time and with little or no opposition reduced almost all Scotland to his obedience and encouraged by that success He entred England burnt and took several Towns and being encounter'd with a splendid Army raised by King Edward more resembling a Court than a Camp and consisting of a hundred thousand men he with an Army hardly amounting to thirty thousand utterly overthrew and defeated them This misfortune was follow'd by the loss of almost all Ireland and the treacherous Rendition of Berwick which yet King Edward was in a fair way to recover had not the Earl of Lancaster discover'd his immoderate kindness to Hugh Spencer the younger whom he had substituted and embraced in the room of Gaveston and thereupon withdrew his forces from his assistance These Crosses were accompanied with the loss of Northumberland whereof all the Towns were taken or burnt by the Scots and an incredible number of Prisoners and Cattel carried into Scotland King Edward in vain attempting to seek a Reprizal and at last forced to pass over all hopes of satisfaction by the conclusion of a Truce The unhappy King postponing the affections of his Subjects to the fond love of a Darling advanced Hugh Spencer to the highest pitch of Honour and Favour committed all Affairs to his sole Administration he in perfect imitation of his Predecessor servilely complying with the Kings Humours and arrogantly insulting over the Lords They to remove this insupportable Nusance continue in Arms confederate together and send a peremptory Message to the King requiring the confirmation and execution of the Articles formerly granted otherwise threatning to constrain him by force of Arms and accordingly assembled a mighty body about Dunstable where the King then lay but by the interposition of the Prelates an Accommodation was made and all things agreed to their mutual satisfaction Soon after a Parliament was call'd wherein the King complain'd that the Lords had taken up Arms had murthered Pierce Gaveston and done him many other Affronts they on the other side justifie their Proceedings as not undertaken against but for the Preservation of his Person and the punishment of the publick Enemies of the Kingdom but the Queen with the Prelates and the Duke of Gloucester found an Expedient to qualifie these heats the Lords became humble Suitors to the King for his Grace and Pardon and he receives them kindly as dutiful and loyal Subjects But this Reconcilement not being founded in sincerity was but of a short duration The two Spencers Father and Son became intolerable in their Covetousness Oppression and Arbitrary disposal of all Affairs wherefore the Earl of Lancaster with divers other Lords entred into a new Confederacy binding themselves by Oath to live and die together in the maintenance of the Rights of the Kingdom and to procure the expulsion of the two Spencers In pursuance hereof they gather a great Army march to London and insist stoutly on their former demands to which once more the King is induced to condescend by the mediation of the Queen and the Prelates and by publick Proclamation the Spencers are banished but in a short time after the Edict was revoked they recall'd and restored to their former place and authority The wind â—â—gan now to change and by a strange caprichio of fortune the King got the Ascendent over the mutinous Lords conquered them in Battel slew many of them in the Field and put many to death by the Sword of Justice but so soon as the heat of Revenge was a little qualify'd repented of his proceeding Hitherto the miserable King received only slight wounds in the extreme parts of his Body now he received a stab at the Heart The Queen enraged to see her Husbands love diverted upon upstart Favorites and disdaining to be a Pensioner to their pleasure found a plausible Excuse to repair into France where to be revenged on her Husband for his neglect of her she continued in too scandalous a familiarity with the Lord Mortimer The King being advertised of it commanded her to return and she delaying to come he
Destiny and by Imprudent Actions pernicious Counsels and an Arbitrary Assertion of his indisputable Prerogative to kindle those Flames of Mutiny and Discontent which never were extinguish'd but at the Expence of his own Blood and the Loss of his Crown Robert Vere Earl of Oxford and Marquiss of Dublin was his Darling and Michael de la Pool was his Favorite The first a Gentleman of commendable good Parts he created Duke of Ireland tho he himself was but Lord of it the other a man of mean extraction he made Earl of Suffolk and Chancellour of England both very obnoxious and not accomplish'd with such Merits as might advance them in Titles or Offices beyond the Ancient Nobility without Envy or Obloquy These Wicked Counsellors set a false Glass before the short sighted King and abused him with erroneous representations of his own sufficiency absolute Authority and uncontrollable Power Insomuch that in a Parliament then call'd the King began sharply to expostulate with the Lords and by an undecent Comparison with the Freedom of their Tenures to Challenge to himself an unquestionable liberty This haughty Carriage of the King exasperated the Parliament and fermented them to such a degree of dissatisfaction that instead of consenting to grant him a Subsidy toward his Wars they fell foul upon the New Chancellour and never gave him over till they obtain'd a severe Judgment against him to the Forfeitures of his Life and the Confiscation of his Estate The adverse Party were highly nettled at these proceedings and being push'd on by Revenge and Malice they combined in a horrid Design to Murther the Duke of Gloucester and such other Lords as cross'd the King in his extravagant Courses which Flagitious Plot was to be perpetrated upon an invitation of them to a Supper in London Sir Nicholas Brember the former Lord Mayor was a prime Instrument in this Enterprise but the King imparting this matter to Richard Exton the present Mayor and endeavouring to make him an Accomplice in the Action he would by no perswasions be induced to consent to so vile an Attempt and thereupon they desisted from the further prosecution of it Notwithstanding this and many other untoward passages a Subsidy was granted to the King under certain Limitations but the Parliament were so disgusted because the King had respited the Execution of the Judgment against the Chancellour that they positively declared unless the Chancellour were removed they would proceed no farther in a Parliamentary Course The King hereupon grew Cholerick and plainly told them he would rather apply himself to the French King for Assistance than submit to his Subjects Yet upon good Reasons offer'd by the Lords a great change was made in the Ministers of State and particularly the Chancellour was removed and so desirous were the Lords and Commons to have the Duke of Ireland excluded from the Kings Presence that they were content he should receive thirty Thousand Marks on condition he would transport himself into Ireland But no sooner was the Parliament dissolved but the King recanted all his condecensions revoked all Orders against the Chancellour the Duke of Ireland and the rest and received then into higher Favour than they were in before And tho' the Earls of Arundel and Nottingham performed a Noble exploit hardly to be parallel'd in History yet their Service was disregarded and their persons slighted because the Duke of Ireland gave them no countenance By whose contrivance a New Plot was laid to destroy the Duke of Gloucester and the easie King surrounded with Parasites and corrupt Judges suffer'd them to pursue their extravagant practices and Two Thousand Persons were at once indicted before Sir Robert Tresilian the Chief Justice He then propounded certain Queries to Robert Belknap Lord Chief Justice and other Judges which they soon resolved in defiance of the Law and the priviledges of Parliament And notwithstanding he stood in such ill Terms with his people yet a way was found to pack Juries in London and Indictments were found of many Crimes against some of the Lords Whom having a design to persecute he summon'd the Judges Justices and Sheriffs of the Kingdom that he might be informed what power of Men they could assure him of to serve him against the Lords And intending shortly to call a Parliament he tamper'd with them to have no Knight or Burgess chosen but such as the King and his Council should Name But finding by the Answer of the Sheriffs that they could not raise any Forces upon such a pretence nor infringe the Ancient Liberty in Elections to Parliament the King and the Duke of Ireland sent into all parts to raise men in this Quarrel against the Lords consulting on some Devices how to intrap them The Duke of Gloucester being advertised of this had a secret Conference with the rest and assembling a numerous Body of Men stood upon their Guard and sent Commissioners to the King requiring such Traytors and Seducers as were about his Person to be delivered up to them The King was advised by the Duke of Ireland the Earl of Suffolk and others about him to offer Calice to the French King to procure his Assistance against the Lords and with all sent to the Mayor of London requiring to make an estimate of how many able men might be rais'd in the City who making Tryal of what could be done on such occasion received this Answer from the People that they would never fight against the Kings Friends and Defenders of the Realm In the mean time the Earl of Northumberland interposed with his advice and perswaded the King to send for the Lords under safe Conduct and friendly to expostulate with them to which the Lords consented upon Oath given by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chancellour that no Fraud or evil practice should be used against them But being ready to come according to appointment they received intimation of an Ambush laid to intrap them and so desisted If the King was privy to this Plot he was guilty of an Action most unworthy of a Prince But the Conspirators were certainly known yet not call'd to Account for it After this upon a more secure Conduct from the King the Lords presented themselves before him and after some cholerick contest a Reconciliation was made and it was concluded that all matters should be heard and regulated in a Parliament speedily to be call'd Hereupon the Favorite-Lords were highly dissatisfy'd and plainly told the King they would not hazard their appearance at such a meeting and so the Duke of Ireland and the rest of that Faction withdrew from Court and absconded But the King not able to brook their absence ordered an Army to be rais'd for the safeguard of the Duke of Ireland and to reconduct him to his Presence who being encounter'd on the way by the Earl of Derby he fled and escaped by leaping into a River but after two or three years dy'd miserably in a foreign Country And now the Lords
having got matter enough against the King at least to justifie their taking up Armes march'd directly to London with forty thousand men and some of them going to the King in the Tower they shew'd him the very Letter which he had writ to the Duke of Ireland to levy an Army for their destruction as also the Letters writ to him by the French King importing a safe Conduct for him to come into France there to do Acts tending to his own dishonour and the prejudice of the Kingdom which being done they civilly retreated upon the Kings promise to come next day to Westminster to concert all matters but the fickle King alter'd his mind before he went to Bed and discover'd his purpose to avoid the meeting next day The Lords being advertis'd of this sent a peremptory message to him That if he did not come according to his promise they would choose another King that should hearken to the faithful Counsel of his Lords The King sensibly touch'd with this sharp message gave them a meeting and they positively insisting that the Traytors so often complain'd of should be removed from the Court he at last with much reluctancy consented to their Desires and so the whole Nest of Vipers was dissipated some expell'd the Court some bound by good Sureties to appear and answer and some committed to Prison When the Parliament met they proceeded roundly the corrupt Judges were arrested in their Seats of Judicature and carried to the Tower for acting contrary to the Agreement made in the preceding Parliament the Duke of Ireland and the rest of that Crew cited to appear and answer to certain Articles of High Treason and for non-appearance banish'd and their Lands and Goods seized to the Kings use Sir Robert Tresilian was hang'd Sir Nicholas Brember beheaded several others executed and the Judges condemned to die and the King obliged by Oath to stand to such order as the Lords should set down Some years after upon a Riot committed in London the King seised on their Liberties and took away their Charter which could not be restored till they paid a Fine of ten thousand pounds I intend a compendious Abstract and not a compleat History therefore I studiously omit the recital of many Transactions and Occurrences coincident with this relation as not having a direct and principal concernment in the Estate and Life of King Richard. Unstable Fortune had the Ascendent over all the Affairs of the poor King and the course of his Reign was imbroiled with a strange Vicissitude of prosperous and adverse Accidents The Duke of Gloucester and other Lords entring into a combination to seise upon the King the Plot was detected and their lives taken away for the assurance of his safety A Parliament was call'd wholly conformable to the Kings will they that opposed him were banish'd confiscated and executed and the whole power of it devolved on a certain select number of Commissioners to the great prejudice of the State and a dangerous example to future Times a Pardon was granted to all the Subjects except fifty whose Names not being expressed he kept the Nobility under an awe that if any of them offended him they might come under the notion of exempted persons and thus the King seem'd secure against all mischances But an unforeseen Accident grounded on a very slight occasion produced an extraordinà ry Revolution by which the whole frame of Government was unhinged and that Cloud which at first appear'd but of the bigness of a hand soon overspread the sky and dissolved in a tempestuous shower of Blood. The Duke of Hereford was banish'd the Kingdom for six years and several Persons of Note and Quality either by voluntary withdrawing or a compulsory Exile went beyond the Seas The Duke within a short time was advertis'd that his Father was dead and thereby he became Duke of Lancaster and that King Richard had seised into his hands all the Estate descended to him by his Fathers death And meeting often with the Archbishop of Canterbury then in Exile and mutually lamenting the deplorable condition of England the enormous actions of the King and the Impossibllity of ever reclaiming him they began to enter into Consulation by what means best to get him removed and in the very Nick Solicitations came from several Parts of England to urge the Duke to hasten over and to take the Government upon him promising all ready Assistance to that work The Duke presently grasp'd the Opportunity and without further Deliberation prepared for his Return and with a very few Lords and Gentlemen and about threescore Persons presently put to Sea and landed in York-shire which was no sooner known but several Lords and great Numbers of the Gentry and Common sort flockt into him And tho he was invited to come and take the Government upon him yet he pretended no other cause but to take Possession of the Inheritance descended from his Father and most unjustly seized and detain'd by King Richard. His Forces increased dayly and a mighty Army was got together and all the Kings Castles forthwith surrendred to him many of the Kings Friends were Arrested and some put to death All this while King Richard was in Ireland and for six weeks by reason of contrary Winds had no Notice of the Dukes Landing After which time wasting many daies in a dilatory Preparation he landed in Wales but hearing that all the Castles from the Borders of Scotland and Bristol were delivered up to the Duke of Lancaster that the greatest Part of the Nobility and Commons were joynd with him and his principal Counsellors taken and executed he fell into absolute Despair dismissed his Army bidding every one to shift for himself and the next Night stole away and got to the Castle of Couwey The Duke proceeded on his March and every day some Lords and Gentlemen of account came in to him and having proferred Conditions to the King with which he seem'd to be content he agreed to meet the Duke but upon his Journy was seis'd by an Ambush laid for him and carried to Flint-Castle Thither the Duke came and carri'd the King with him by easie Journeys to London and the next Day lodged him in the Tower. Presently a Parliament was called by the Duke but in the Name of King Richard aad many heynous Crimes laid to his Charge ingrost and sum'd up in three and thirty Articles for which the Parliament adjudg'd him to be deposed from all Kingly Honour and Princely Government thereupon the King by a formal Instrument made a Solemn Resignation of his Crown and Authority making it his Request that the Duke of Lancaster might be his Successor and in token thereof taking the signet from his Finger and puting it upon that of the Dukes Which being reported to the Parliament they approved of it and appointed the Sentence of his Deposition to be publickly proclamed We have followed this most unfortunate Prince to the last Scene of his Life but the manner
and many other considerable Towns and after a faint Resistance the whole Kingdom was subjected to the Triumphant Conqueror and the Interest of the King wholly exterminated England was so manacled with the Chains of an armed Power that they could not budge the Royal Party than call'd the Cavaliers were debar'd the liberty of meeting at home or stirring abroad their persons were disarm'd their Houses ransackt and their Estates brought into the unmerciful Inquisition at Goldsmiths Hall in some corners of the Land small Parties started up now and then to exert their Loyalty and manifest their Allegiance and the King was received into the Island of Jersey but by a Fleet sent thither by the Usurping power soon compell'd to forsake it so that these weak struglings like the last efforts of Nature tended only to diminish the number of the Kings Friends and to heighten his Infelicity In the year 1650 the King was invited into Scotland landed there safely received with all the demonstrations of joy and satisfaction and solemnly proclaimed King. But to disturb his Tranquillity and interrupt the calm fruition of his new acquired Soveraignty Cromwell that victorious Rebel who in the space of one year had reduced almost all the Garrisons in Ireland and Caesar-like made a compleat conquest of that Kingdom only by walking through it is dispatcht into Scotland who in July entred that Country with an Army of sixteen thousand men effective the Scots were not idle on their side but form'd an Army consisting of six thousand Horse and Dragoons and fifteen thousand Foot a party of whom attempting to beat up the Enemies Quarters about Musleburgh surprised the Out guards and routed the first Regiment that opposed them but were so warmly received by the rest that the Commander being wounded the whole party was disorder'd and pursu'd to the Army and the whole Camp in danger of a surprisal had not the King himself unexpectedly appear'd in person and stemm'd the Torrent But in September following hapned a fatal decision of the dispute at Dunbar where the Scots Army reinforced to above twenty thousand men and presuming on a certain Victory having inclosed their Enemies beyond a probability of an escape encountred the English Army then decreased to the number of twelve thousand and with much courage and gallantry charged them but the hand of God was in it their whole Army was routed four thousand slain and nine thousand taken Prisoners with the loss of three hundred on the Invaders side After which the Kings Interest in Scotland declined daily the Enemy getting advantage by the Dissention between the Court and the Kirk-party and Cromwel by springing of Mines but more by corrupting the Governour with money had Edinburgh-Castle surrendred to him the taking of which was follow'd with the loss of many more Garrisons Nevertheless the Scots were neither daunted in their Courage nor deficient in their Allegiance but proceeded to the Coronation of the King and he to the calling of a Parliament and having got together a good Body of an Army it was thought best that the King should give Cromwell the slip and make a sudden descent into England leaving him to take his swing and range through Scotland to make this Enterprise the more hopeful the Earl of Darby and many other Loyal persons began to peep out of their Recesses and to use all Expedition to joyn but a malignant Constellation still influenced K. Charles his Affairs some of his Abettors were intercepted some routed and the Earl of Darby discomfited and many Persons of Quality and resolution taken Prisoners At last came on the dismal Ingagement at Worster that critical Arbiter of the Kings cause from whence we may date the depression of the Monarchy the exaltation of Anarchy and Confusion of Governments I take no Pleasure in descanting too long on so unpleasant a Theme in a word the King was defeted his whole Army given up to death or captivity except a very few with whom he made his Escape and after some weeks spent in lurking disguising shifting and un-easy travelling he arrived safe in France The King was now actually devested of his three Kingdoms his Enemies victorious in Possession of his Right and usurping the Regal Authority under the Disguise of other Appellations how soever the grand Apostates from Loyalty dayly crumbled into Factions and Divisions and the Supream Authority frequently changed its Dress and put on a new Face yet all concur'd in the detestation of King-Ship and an abjuring the Family of Stuart To recount the transactions of the Junto at London or the Exploits of their Legions through all the Dominions subjected to the Common wealth of England might prove a tollerable Entertainment for the Reader but I have no Inclination to admire their Policy or cry up the Fame of the Protector My Business is to observe the disastrous Fate of an Exil'd King and there being yet no exact Memoirs transmitted to us of his Forrein Adventures to Sum up his Misfortune in a nine years Banishment by noting how miserably he was abandond ' thurst and kept out from the Possession of England Scotland and Ireland and all the Dominions and Territories belonging to them a Pensioner to Strangers and all Designs of his Friends at home or his Allies abroad frustrated and baffled But when the Almighty Governor of the World had so long scourged the Royal Family as to his wisdom seem'd sufficient and all the Practices of human Strength and Invention were rendred ineffectual in a sudden and unexpected manner without Means without Contrivance without the Success of a Battle or the operation of any Stratagem the Repulican Babel was over turned the King restored and peaceably seated in the Throne of his Ancestors From his Restoration he Reign'd more than twenty four years and I wish I could say happily But not being blest with a legitimate Issue he was continually teas'd with the Incroachments of an impatient Heir Having misapplied his Revenues which were vastly increased beyond all that was given to his predecessors he was by his Necessities induced frequently to call Parliaments and by his evil Councils as often prompted to dissolve them his gentle Disposition inclined him to an universal Indulgence but the malevolent Insinuations of self-interested men misled him to a Connivence at extraordinary Severities The Papists hated him for avowing so much Favor to the Church of England and Dissenters blamed him for a suspected Propension to the Church of Rome His constitution was happy but by his irregular courses he rais'd Batteries against his own Health and he might have lived longer if he had not lived so fast The Indowments of his mind were admirable but his immersion in Pleasures over-shadow'd his Reputation The prolonging of his Life had given an Adjournment to the Mischeifs that quickly assaulted both Church and State but one Sort of Men thought he lived too long whether any hand but his own contributed to the accelarating of his Death I
have no warrant to make any Asseveration Let the future Writers of History adjust that matter to the clear information of Posterity All I have to say is the News of his Death was published before there was any Report of his Sickness He died of an Apoplexy the Sixth of February 1684 and the whole Body whereof he was the Head was presently seised with convulsive Motions THE REIGN OF JAMES the Second THE Reign of James the Second was so lately begun and by the mercy of God so soon determin'd that every mans Remembrance of it may justly supersede the Trouble of a Repetition There needs no Art nor Arguments to convince the World that he was more unfortunate than all his Predecessors and every impartial Observer will allow that he was the principal Engineer that sapped the Foundations of his own Happiness If he had arrived at the Throne by an indirect Road If he had gain'd it by Conquest and ow'd his Title to the Umpirage of the Sword If he had come in by Intrusion Invasion or Usurpation by Craft or Violence by Force of Arms or the prevalency of Pensions If he had justled out the true Heir or supplanted the lawful Pretender or out-stript his Competitor by the aid of the people or over-topt his Opposers by the Assistance of Foreigners It had been no wonder that the Crown had totter'd on his Head that his Seat had been uneasie and his Government Short lived But when his Title was not disputed when he was saluted King by an Universal Acclamation welcom'd by the Addresses and congratulations of all his Subjects his Revenues settled and augmented his Enemies subdued and his Throne establish'd by a Loyal Parliament and a submissive people his Ruin must necessarily be imputed to himself and all his misfortunes undeniably accounted the Result of his own miscarriage So that while the Histories of all Ages and Nations do abound with Examples of the Strange Cruel False and unnatural Methods used by ambitious men to gain principalities King James must remain single upon Record as the only Person that willfully and industriously dethron'd himself We read of aspiring men who have dissembled changed and comply'd with the fashionable Religion of the Country to insure their possession But it is without president that a Prince quietly settled in his Throne courted by his Neighbours Obey'd by his Subjects without reserve or distrust not grudged nor affronted in the private Exercises of his own perswasion should be so intoxicated by the Fumes of Zeal to attempt the subversion of the general Religion current thro Three Kingdoms establish'd by Parliament and incorporated so into the Laws that the Religion of the Nation is the Law of the Nation and to obtrude upon his Subjects a way of Worship as dissonant from their Humour as repugnant to their Conscience a way exploded by the former Age and detested by this and so forseit his Right to the Imperial Crown of Three opulent Kingdoms upon a fallacious assurance of a Reprisal in Heaven is such a stupendious Act of supererogation as may serve to supply half the Roman Catholick Church with a superfluity of Merit On the Sixth day of February 1684 Charles the Second put off mortality and by his Death revived the Languishing Hopes of the Popish Expectants He departed about Noon and in that very Afternoon James the Second was proclaim'd in London and Westminster by Order of the Council To convince the World that howsoever the Parliament labour'd to Exclude him from Succession by political Ordinances and by a Course of Law yet that Design not being accomplish'd they would not so much as hesitate or demur upon the right of his Inheritance He on the other side saluted them graciously promised to imitate his Brother in his Tenderness to the people Celebrated the Loyal principles of the Church of England and past his Royal Word to take care to defend and support it The Collection of the Customs and the Duties of Tunnage and Poundage which were annexed to the Crown during the Kings Life were continued de bene esse till the Meeting of a Parliament All Men were Quiet and Contented and he was Congratulated with Addresses from all parts of England testifying a ready Obedience to his Commands and devoting their Lives and Fortunes to the defence of his person and the maintenance of his prerogative His Accession to the Crown was Solemnised with great Acclamations of Joy thro' the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland Ambasladours from Foreign Princes and States arrived daily presenting their Complements of Condolence for the deceased King and their satisfaction in his Assumption of the Regal power On the Twenty third of April the King and Queen were both Crown'd and at his Coronation he took the accustom'd Oaths to maintain the Laws and the establish'd Religion No King ever Ascended the Throne with less Opposition Disputes or preluminary Cautions none was ever attended with more apparent circumstances of Felicity or had a fairer prospect of becoming Glorious at home and formidable abroad The Parliament of Scotland having prevented him in his wishes and out done all their Predecessours in a redundancy of Zeal and Loyalty A Parliament met also at Westminster to whom the King reiterated his assurance of supporting the Church of England preserving the Government in Church and State as by Law establish'd and a resolution never to invade any Mans property In this very Juncture when the King had so endear'd himself to the Parliament by such Gracious Expressions and they reciprocally Courted him with all dutiful respect the unfortunate Earl of Argyle whose persecution was unparellel'd Attainted for Treason before the Law that made it so was promulgated and condemn'd only for scrupling to take the Test which in a short time after it was a Capital Offence to subscribe Landed in the Highlands of Scotland and set forth a Declaration to justifie his undertaking and to renounce all Allegiance to the present King who immediately communicated the Intelligence he had received to the Parliament and both Houses without delay express'd their Resentment in Raputres of Love and Zeal with protestations to stand by him with their Lives and Fortunes against all Opposers and particularly the Earl of Argyle and to demonstrate that it was no Complement they presented him with a Bill for settling the Revenues on him for Life and resolved on an extraordinary supply for these incident Occasions While these matters were transacting News came to the King that the Duke of Monmouth was Landed in the West of England an unseasonable Landing for that unhappy Gentleman when the Parliament was Charm'd with the good Words and amused by the great and gracious promises of the King with a small party but every day increasing who presently were proclaim'd Traytors and the King imparting the News to both Houses they forthwith in a transport of Loyalty reassure him that they will stand by him with their Lives and Fortunes against the Duke of
Monmouth and all other his Enemies and with an unusual Expedition they past two Acts to augment his Revenue by a New Imposition on Wine Vineger Tobacco and Sugar and to secure his person an Act of Attainder of the Duke of Monmouth It was morally impossible for such inconsiderable parties to effect their purposes the Parliaments in both Kingdoms were unanimous almost all people relyed on the King's word not doubting but he would continue a Defender of the Faith tho he was not a Professor And so the event proved for within a few days or weeks at most the whole Enterprise came to nothing the forces in each Kingdom were routed and dispersed the Duke and Earl both taken prisoners and both executed on the Scaffold Violent Hurricanes tear Trees out of the Ground but the shaking of small winds make the Tree take deeper Root the quenching of an intestine Rebellion alway sets the Prince some steps higher and depresseth the subject as much The Parliament had now sat long enough to do the Kings Business and the King had Business to do not fit to be intrusted to the Parliament whereupon it was adjourn'd to the fourth of August and from thence to the ninth of November At which time being reassembled the King made the first discovery of his claim to a dispensing Power telling them plainly that he will not want the Services of such men whom he accounted faithful but would imploy them in the Army tho they were not qualified according to the late Tests The Parliament modestly and civilly expostulated this unexpected resolution in an humble Address and proposed an Expedient to moderate the Extremity of the Law purely to gratifie the Desires of their Prince but this did not sound well in the Ears of the Court some other measures must be taken and so the Parliament was Prorogued to the tenth of February and here we may bid them adieu having after several Prorogations been dissolved as a company of inflexible stubborn Protestants who would not tamely comply with the King 's Arbitrary pleasure Several Noblemen and other persons were now indicted and try'd for their Lives some escaped by the merit of their ingenuous Defence some were respited from Execution and some suffer'd Death The Earl of Clarendon was sent Lord Lieutenant into Ireland that the Protestants might be cajol'd into a lavish credulity till matters were ripe for their Destruction An Army of twenty thousand men was rais'd and encamped at Hounslow-Heath because the Militia was not found to be useful and the late Invasions of Monmouth and Argyle were a sufficient warning to the King not to be taken again unprovided But the erecting of a Popish Chappel in the midst of the Camp and the open and daily celebration of the Mass there together with the setting up Convents of Friers and Schools and Seminaries of Jesuits in several places in London the unclean Beasts crossing the Streets and entring their Arkby couples began to startle the people and the Dispatch of the Earl of Castlemain to Rome as an Embassador to the Pope and the entertaining a Nuncio from him gave a mighty Umbrage of offence to all considering men That strict Injunction by Law for every man that exercised any Office to take the Oaths and Test was a great Barricado against the Preferment of Catholick Candidates the Judges must be consulted or rather directed how to apply some Remedy and they to their eternal shame made false Glosses on the Text betray'd the Law the impregnable Fortress of English Property and skrew'd up the Rules of a circumscribed Monarchy to an Absolute and Despotick Government to command without controul and to he obey'd without reserve But the putting a muzzle upon the old Laws to keep them from biting was not enough to carry on the work without introducing some Innovations wherefore a Commission was given to certain persons to order all Ecclesiastical Affairs with an Authority and extent almost unlimited and a Non-obstante to all Rights and Priviledges The first Essay made by this exorbitant Court was on the Bishop of London a person noble by Birth and high in Office reverenced and beloved by all men for his Candor Moderation and many eminent Vertues whom for a frivolous matter without colour of Law or Reason they suspended from his Episcopal Function It was now high time to recall the Earl of Clarendon from the Government of Ireland that the Sword might be put into the Hands of the Earl of Tyrconnel To enumerate the mischiefs that have accrew'd to the Protestants by his Administration would require a Treatise by it self let it suffice to say that in that miserable Kingdom Popery was predominant and bare faced Mass-houses set up in every Town and Village the Corporations changed their Charters condemned all Offices Civil and Military conferr'd on Papists the Act of Settlement which the King had so seriously promised to keep inviolated infringed and eluded and Gentlemen dispossessed of their Estates by erroneous Judgments the Protestants disarm'd and dismounted such as were able to remove forced to fly and such as stay'd behind subjected to all the Insolencies and Barbarities of Slaves vested with Authority To Scotland strict and severe Orders were sent to restrain all Field-Conventicles and in England the Dissenters were indicted fined and imprison'd And yet within a short time after a general Indulgence was publish'd to all Perswasions with a counterfeit saving to the Rights of the Church of England the King being made to believe that since he was secure from any Opposition from the Church of England they lying quietly intrenched under the Blinds of Non-resistance and Passive Obedience if he could but cast a mist before the eyes of the Dissenters and muffle their hands and charm them into a supine security the desired Reformation might proceed gradually without Interruption and after a while the Doors might be open'd and Popery let in with a full Breast But they were grosly mistaken in their Politicks The illegal proceedings against the Bishop of London seconded by the Arbitrary and most unjust persecution of the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge and the ejection of the President and Fellows of Magdalen Colledg in Oxford and the intrusion of profest Papists in their rooms open'd the eyes of all sorts and quickly taught the Dissenters what they were to expect whose Toleration was Temporary and precarious when such open Invasions were made on that Church that was firmly establish'd by Law. But unless the Jesuits and Popish Counsellors had been self murderers and conspired to overthrow their own Designs by their imprudent and precipitate actings they had never abused the poor King by such pernicious advice to attack the Church of England in the persons of the Bishops who were the Reverend Fathers of it to lay such a snare before wise and religious men as must endanger their safety or prejudice their Conscience and because they presented an humble Apology by way of Petition a priviledg allow'd to all men by the Laws
of God and Nature imploring to be excused from being made Instruments to countenance and publish the monstrous Assertion of an absolute and dispensing Power they were committed to the Tower Indicted of Misdemeanor compell'd to plead try'd by a Jury and fairly acquitted upon their Trial to the shame and confusion of their Prosecutors and to the unexpressible joy and satisfaction of the whole Nation The King hoping to establish that by a Law which he could not bring to pass by his will and power propos'd the calling of a Parliament whom that he might form to the Standard set out by the Popish Cabal he condescended to such mean shifts and such indirect practices by forestalling Mens Judgments and preingaging them against the Liberty and indifferency of their Votes and turning Men out of their Imployments who would not abjure the natural Freedom of their Reason that in mere Decency and Respect I forbear to inlarge upon it Neither will I any more than make mention of the Intrigue about the Birth of the Prince of Wales Great pains have been taken to offer convincing proofs to the World of the Legitimacy of that Child whereas there is nothing so hard to be proved as a Business of that Nature And the suspition of an Imposture has made such an Impression on common belief that an Act of Parliament in Favour of the Birth would hardly reconcile the people to a Submission The bloody Executions in the West of England upon the unhappy Abettors of the Duke of Monmouth exasperated Multitudes of People into Discontent and Mutiny but when it was reported that the King had given the Lives of so many wretched men by whole sale to his Servitors to be retail'd by them for Lucre and Profit the whole Nation was affected with that unexampled Barbarity and became seasoned with a secret Aversion to his Government The furious Drivers of the Jesuitical Plots began too late to be sensible of their mistaken Policy they had stretached the Prerogative so high that is began to crack they had by their damnable Counsel hurried the unfortunate King to the Brink of Ruin The Skie began to thicken with Clouds and Thunder was heard a far off Wherefore they began with all hast to tack about to unravel that work which with so many hands and such indefatigable industry they had been knitting Suddenly and unexpectedly a Proclamation issued to summon a Parliament with Exclusion of the Roman Catholicks soon after the Charter of London and all other Corporations was restored The Suspension of the Bishop of London taken off The Vice-Chancellor and others of Cambridg and the President and Fellows of Magdalen-Colledge in Oxford reinstated in their Places The monstrous Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs dissolved a Proclamation set out carrying the Face of a general pardon but Squinting at and Indemnity to Papists All men were fill'd with wonder at such a hudled and surprising Alteration that the great Ministers of State should so poorly truckle to the Satisfaction of the People that the King should send for the Bishops and court them from whom a little before he would not endure the Address of an humble Petition But the Riddle was soon unfolded and the wonder was turned into an Exultation of Joy at the miraculous Revolution of Affairs The Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Prime Gentry of England sadly resenting the Invasion on their Religion Liberties and Properties observing the arbitary and despotical proceedings in Scotland beholding Ireland wholly given up to Popery and Slavery and their own Ancient Laws and establish'd Religion subverted by him who had so often and so solemnly promised the maintenance and Protection of them they began to consult of some proper and effectual means to divert the impending mischiefs and to assure the restitution of their ravish'd Freedom To this end they made application to the most illustrious Prince of Orange the Champion and Protector of the Protestant Religion imploring his Aid to rescue them from Oppression and Slavery and to save their Liberties now expiring and at the last Gap. He with a Bravery and Generosity not to be matched in any History descended to their Relief and postponing all his own Interests and Advantages with the hazard of his person and the consumption of a vast Treasure landed in England not with a mighty Army least it should look like an Invasion neither with too small a Party least he should seem pusht on by a Necessity or ingaged in a desperate undertaking The King had a great Army on Foot which was quickly increased by a considerable Addition And with appearance of great Resolution and confidence of Success he marcht from London But he soon found by a fatal Experience that the Hands of his Subjects were directed by their hearts in which having forfeited his possession he was to expect no Service or Assistance from them On the contrary the Lords and Gentlemen from all parts of the Kingdom flock'd in with their Arms and Horses to joyn their Deliverer and many Trops and Regiments of the Kings Army deserted him not enduring to be mingled among Papists or be obliged to fight against Protestants The King in this Perplexity was wholly irresolute what course to take at last he posted to London where missing his Popish Favorites whom Fear of Punishment and the Terror of an evil Conscience had utterly dissipated he did not think it fit to trust his best and truest Subjects but secretly withdrew himself in a Disguise and being by a strange Accident discoverd he was reconducted to London from whence at his own desire he was attended to Rochester but not being able to live without the Ministration of Priests and Jesuits he slipt away to the Sea side and saild for France voluntarily and without constraint abdicating the Government leaving the Throne vacant and the Body of his People without a head Here ended the Reign of James the Second too violent to last long A Prince who when he was a Subject had the Reputation of being a valiant Leader afirm Friend and an immovable Observer of his word and Promise But the Assumption of a Crown the Flatteries of a bigoted Queen the desperate Counsels of a Popish and Atheistical Cabal with a blind Perswasion of meriting Heaven by the Adventure of all he had upon Earth hath exposed him to Censure and represented him under a contrary Character Perhaps he is absolved from the guilt of his personal vices by his Confessor and he shall be acquitted of the Remembrance of them by me I have so great a Reverence for those of his nearest Blood that I shall not by the Blots of my Pen imprint a Stain on his Memory or diffuse the Tincture on his Posterity The Conclusion Thus you have a breif Epitome of the unfortunate Reigns of Six of the English Monarchs Of Which the First Broke his Neck The next Broke his Heart And every one of them Broke his Vows to God and his Promises to his Subjects The