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.
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
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
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
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
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