so in Merit else they can hardly escape being undiscovered in their Adversity It 's almost as hard for a Prince to be concealed in a Disguise as for the Sun to be hid with a transparent Cloud I was not long ago at the Mercy of a Butler and must now be obliged to the Fidelity of an Inn-keeper and how dangerous is it to trust to those who must live by Gain when then they might have 1000 l. to discover my Person The tumbling of the Waves resembles the Instability of the Mob who cry Hosanna to day and crucify to morrow When the Sky is serene the Surface is smooth but when Storms arise they threaten both Heaven and Hell What Mountains of Water seem ready to invade the Skies and how do the bottomless Gulphs seem ready to disgorge upon Hell yet had I rather be here than amongst my rebellious Subjects who are swoln by the Winds of Error and Sedition But Thanks to my Guardian Angel I am within sight of Land and almost out of the Limits of my cursed Dominions Now am I arrived in a most Christian Country and under the Protection of the most Christian King This Place though it had not been called so before doth now deserve the Name of Havre du Grace as having indeed afforded a safe Haven to a Monarch who has been tossed by a Tempest of Rebellion Ave Regina Coelorum Ave Domina Angelorum Salve radix salve porta Ex qua mundo lux est orta Gaude Virgo gloriosa Super omnes speciosa Vale O valde decora Et pro nobis Christum exora CHAP. XVI On his Majesty's being conducted to Paris met by his Brother the Duke of York and entertained at the French Court. IT 's true I am now safe from the Fury of my rebellious Subjects but alas I am a King without a People and like a new married Husband deprived of his beloved Bride I had scarcely tasted the Sweets of the Throne when I was deprived of my Soveraignty per Force and instead of giving Laws to my own Subjects am now constrain'd to wander amongst Strangers I had not near obtain'd a plenary Possession when the Sword of an Usurper did serve me with an Ejection and instead of going to Paris in Triumph as did some of my Predecessors I am glad to go thither as a Supplicant and Fugitive And whereas my Ancestors did wear the Crown of France I must now be obliged to that Monarch to preserve me for the Crown of England and court his Endeavours for my Restitution Where my Fore-fathers us'd to command I must obey and am glad to be entertain'd as a Subject where I ought to be a Soveraign The Kings of France have been Prisoners in England and now the Monarch of Great Britain is a Fugitive in France So great is the Difference betwixt a King of England belov'd of his Subjects and one who is at Variance and War with his People for they who would have enabled me to come hither as a Conqueror have now constrain'd me to become a Petitioner But more than enough of this melancholy Theme I must strive to make the best of my present Condition in order to establish my future Repose Here I am safe from the Rage of Rebellion and injoy the Society of my Royal Relations Here I have a Palace instead of a Wood and the Society of Princes in lieu of Clowns I hold not my Life from the Courtesy of Peasants nor am I in hazard of Discovery by tatling Females Here I can despise the Proclamation of the Rebels and am neither in hazard by their Flattery nor Force It behoves me now to re-assume my Spirits and represent my Case to other crown'd Heads and solicite them vigorously to espouse my Cause lest the bad Example should reach themselves I must declaim warmly against all Commonwealths as mortal Enemies to the Name of Kings I must also alarm the Church of Rome and make the Pope understand the Danger of his Tiara and that my Republican Subjects have not only sworn the Destruction of all Crowns but will involve the Mitres in the same Fate CHAP. XVII On his Majesty's offering his Mediation betwixt the Prince of Conde's Faction and that of Cardinal Mazarin supported by the French King and the Odium which he thereby brought upon himself from both Parties MY Friends if divided can't give me that Assistance which I am sure they might do if they were united and therefore it 's my Interest to have that effected Circumstances do specify Actions of which this is a remarkable Instance If I were upon my Throne and in full Prosperity it would be my Advantage to pour Oil into the Flames that by their mutual Divisions I might triumph over both and make good my Title to the Crown of France but now that their Help is my only Refuge I must endeavour an Accommodation But of this I am resolved to take special Care that as much as I can I will side with the Crown which is the common Interest of all Monarchs On his Majesty's being suspected by both Parties The Office of Mediator I find very ungrateful and he that parts Quarrellers must have Blows for his Pains Of all Men alive I am the least obliged to my Stars for their malign Influence blasts all my Designs so that I can neither be in Peace at home nor abroad My direful Fate pursues me every where and not only involves my self but all my Relations in Ruine I thought that Monarchy had been sacred in France and the Persons of Princes not to be approached without Fear I thought that their Monarchs had been successful in making themselves to be look'd upon as Gods on Earth by keeping the greatest part of their Subjects in Ignorance that there was a God in Heaven but now I find that the Contagion of Rebellion hath spread every where and that my Mother though a Princess of the Blood is not secure in France and that that Deference is not paid to the Royal Family in her own Country which she would have extorted from the Subjects in mine O ye Saints if ye have Ears to hear or Hearts to consider have Compassion on a forlorn distressed Prince who can neither be safe at home nor abroad restore me to my Crown that I may restore your Worship or if I cannot restore it that I may at least connive at it If the Catholick Church have any of your Merits in her Treasure let them be made use of to my Advantage Ave Maria. CHAP. XVIII On Mrs. Lane's Arrival in France His Majesty's being disappointed of Mademoiselle d' Orleans and treating with the Duke of Lorrain for the recovering of Ireland HOW inveterate is the Malice of my natural Subjects that not only pursue my self but those who entertain'd me and vent their Rage against a poor Gentlewoman who befriended me I am not in a Capacity of giving her a Royal Reward but shall entertain her with Royal Honour and
against those who shall declare me a Papist or that I have a Design to introduce Popery And though those who are sharp-sighted may laugh at such a Provision as rather giving than taking away Cause of Suspicion yet when it dare not be openly talk'd of amongst the Vulgar it will not obtain a common Belief And the Church of England whom I support against the Phanaticks will certainly support me against their Censures And thus when I have made one Party of Protestants to bait the other sufficiently if the Church of England prove refractory afterwards to my Designs then I shall endeavour by remitting the Rigour of the Law to ingage the Dissenters on my side to favour an universal Toleration by which my Friends the Papists may have ease if the Episcopal Party begin to grudg at my Favours towards them or to fear that at last they may dispossess themselves CHAP. XXXI On his Majesty's selling of Dunkirk to the French King for 500000 l. THis I know will be censured as an impolitick Action and the shutting my self out of the Continent whereunto this Town opened a Door by which I might have invaded France and the Netherlands when I pleased It 's true that it was a Monument of England's Glory but such an one as being erected under the Conduct of an Usurper is not for the Credit of me nor my Family and therefore lest it should be an Allurement to re-intice my People to a Commonwealth I will make it a Sacrifice to my Cousin the French King Not that I owe so much to his Kindness but that he may supply my present Necessities with his Money And to testify my farther Resentments of that impious Rebellion the Citadels which Oliver built shall be raz'd throughout my Dominions and the Towns which held out against my Father dismantled and if it were not that the Consequence would be fatal to my self every one of them should be sowed with Salt their Inhabitants made to pass under Saws of Iron and have their Flesh torn with the Briars and Thorns of the Wilderness But I must pretend other Causes to the People lest they should be enraged as that I won't keep up Garisons amongst them when there is no need to disturb their Commerce nor leave it in the Power of other Kings to do it when the Places which are capable of being garison'd are dismantled though in reality it is to prevent the Rebels from nestling there or having recourse to them to favour their Rebellion the best way to be rid of the Harpies being to destroy their Nests And that I may free my self at once as much as is possible from that viperous Brood as I have already disbanded the Army under pretence that I would not keep up one in time of Peace but in reality because I would not have such a Body of well-disciplin'd Troops of their Principles together lest at any time they should make head against me as against their former Masters the Parliament Richard c. So now I 'll forbid their old Officers to stay within 20 Miles of London and the Remainders of the Troops I 'll send to fight against the Spaniards in my Wife's Quarrel and if they never return as I hope few of them will I can very well bear the Loss CHAP. XXXII On the Parliament's beginning to grow sensible of the Incouragement given to the Catholick Religion by his Majesty's Declaration Decemb 1662. Their Petition on that head and his Majesty's publishing a Proclamation against Papists thereupon IT 's a mischievous thing for a Soveraign to be limited and to be obliged to act the King only by halves How happy is my Brother of France who is not troubled with such Fetters but his Will does pass for an uncontroulable Law I abhor those Parliaments for they are nothing else but Spies upon Kings and dive into their most reserved and hidden Intrigues I find they begin to suspect my Religion and grudg at the Favours which I show to the Papists and therefore I must proceed slowly and surely Their Zeal to my Prerogative is regulated by their own Interest which makes them oppose my Dispensing Power So that I find I am only absolute against Phanaticks and Republicans but when I come to meddle with the Church of England my Power is limited and the Parliament must then be Sharers of the Soveraignty Their Petitions against my Administration may issue in Remonstrances against my Government as it happened in my Father's time and therefore it is my Interest to flatter them a little and by a Proclamation against the Papists to create an Opinion of my Firmness to the Protestant Religion in the Publick draw Money from the Purses of the Commons and so to recoil to give the stronger and heavier Blow CHAP. XXXIII On the News of some more Plots by the Phanaticks against his Majesty both in England Scotland and Ireland The Execution of the Earl of Argyle Lord Wariston c. in Scotland and some of those concerned in the Plots in England and Ireland I Find that I shall bring my Designs about by Degrees and under the Notion of Plotters execute Vengeance upon mine Enemies without incurring the Censure of being bloody or cruel It 's true that it may seem hard that I should take the Earl of Argyle's Head who was the Person that set the Crown upon my own But during this Extacy of Loyalty in which the Nations are at present the Method of such Proceedings will be the less taken notice of and it 's absolutely necessary for my purpose that the Earl of Argyle should be taken out of the way the Greatness of his Power and his Zeal for his Religion may otherwise prove great Impediments to my Designs I have Pretences enough against him because of his Activity in the Parliament's Rebellion and his Death will be acceptable to the Church of England because he was Head of the Presbyterians and the Friends of the late Marquiss of Montrosse and all the Cavaliers will concur with my Design against him and though there is no doubt but that he will profess his Innocence on the Scaffold yet the Authority of a publick Sentence will be of greater Weight or at least restrain the People from open Murmurings By his Death I shall have also this farther Advantage that the Power of his Clan will be thereby reduced and neither be formidable to my self nor Successors it being the Interest of all Crowns to guard against too potent Subjects As to Sir Archibald Johnston of Wariston though he be not so great in Power yet he is nothing inferiour to the other in Policy but indeed far above him and as the Trojans ow'd their Destruction more to Vlysses's Counsels than Achilles's Arms it 's my Interest to rid my self of a Politician who is my Enemy as soon as of one who is greater in Power and Quality And though it be reckon'd no great Policy for a Monarch newly re-establish'd to cement his Throne with
Their Address against Papists His Majesty's Proclamation on that Head The Prosecution of Protestant Dissenters Declaration of War against Denmark The Insurrection in Scotland in 1666. The burning of his Majesty's Ships at Chattam by the Dutch c. p. 119. XLII On the murmuring of the People at the Consumption of the Treasure His Majesty's granting leave to the Parliament's Commissioners to take the Publick Accounts His raising an Army of 30000 Men and disbanding them On the Parliament's being displeased with it The Sessions of Parliament in July October and February 1667. His Majesty's Speeches to them Proclamation against Papists Displacing of Chancellor Hide and League with the Dutch c. p. 124. XLIII On the Proclamation against Dissenters in 1669. Inviting the Dutch and Swedes into a League with us proposing a nearer Alliance with the Dutch and forcing the Treaty of Aix La Chappelle upon the Spaniards and the French p. 128. XLIV On the Interview betwixt his Majesty and his Sister the Dutchess of Orleans at Dover and her Advice to him to break the Triple League and concur with the French King to destroy the Dutch and the Protestant Religion and render himself absolute in England Her leaving one of her Maids of Honour created afterwards Dutchess of Portsmouth behind her and her own Death speedily after her Return into France p. 131. XLV On Colonel Blood ' s Attempt to steal the Crown A Proclamation against Papists to please the Parliament The second War with the Dutch The shutting up of the Exchequer The falling upon the Dutch Smyrna Fleet before War was declared and the Declaration of War thereupon p. 141. XLVI On the Dutch's surprizing our Fleet in Southwold-bay the Duke of York being Admiral His Majesty's Declaration to the Dutch The Progress of the French in the Vnited Provinces His Majesty's and the French King's Proposals to the Dutch and their rejecting them and making the Prince of Orange Stadtholder p. 148. XLVII On his Majesty's suffering the Parliament to meet Novemb. 1673. His Speech to them concerning the Indulgence and the Dispensing Power and the Necessity of raising more Forces for carrying on the Dutch War Several unsuccessful Fights with the Hollanders The Letter from the Dutch to influence the Parliament who addressed against the Match betwixt the Duke of York and Dutchess of Modena The Prorogation which ensued thereupon A Proclamation against Papists and the Consummation of the Marriage p. 154. XLVIII On his Majesty's Speech to the House of Lords upon the Address of the Commons against his Declaration of Indulgence The Answer of the Lords thereunto The Vote of the Commons for Ease to Protestant Dissenters and that part of their Address which desired that all in Places of Power and Trust should take the Sacrament according to the Church of England p. 163. XLIX Vpon the Complaints of the Commons that Ireland was like to be over-run with Popery because of his Majesty's Proclamation allowing Papists to live in Corporations and giving them equal Liberties to the English Their Address concerning the Danger of the Protestant Interest there and that Mr. Richard Talbot should be remov'd from all Publick Imployment and denied Access to Court And their Address concerning English Grievances with Reflections on the Miscarriages of his Majesty's former Designs of being impower'd to raise Money without Parliament on extraordinary Occasions and having an Vniversal Excise settled on the Crown p. 166. L. On his Majesty's making Application to the Parliament of Scotland upon his failing of Money from the Parliament of England the Scots insisting first upon the Redress of their Grievances and sending Duke Hamilton and others to London for that end p. 172. LI. On the Spanish Ambassador's Proposals for an Vnion betwixt England and Holland and declaring that they must break with England if the same were not accepted The Manifesto of the Dutch to the Parliament of England wherein they appeal to them for the Righteousness of their Cause The Parliament's Endeavours thereupon for a Peace and his Majesty's agreeing to it without including the French King p. 178. LII On his Majesty's proroguing the Parliament because of their impeaching his Ministers forming Bills against Popery and for the marrying of those of the Royal Family with Protestants and educating their Children in that Religion Clamours rais'd in the Nation that we were running back to 41. The Court's mediating a Peace betwixt France and Holland and sending 10000 of their own Subjects into the French King's Service p. 185. LIII On the meeting of the Parliament again April 1675. Their falling upon Bills for the Benefit of the Nation and being diverted by the sudden bringing in of a Test into the House of Lords to be imposed upon all in Places of Power or Trust Civil Military or Ecclesiastical obliging them to declare their Abhorrence of taking up Arms against the King or any commissionated by him and to swear that they would not at any time endeavour the Alteration of the Government either in Church or State p. 190. LIV. On the Debate betwixt the Lords and Commons about the Lords hearing of Appeals from any Court of Equity with the Behaviour of the Bishops in that Affair and the Opposition which they met with from the Earl of Shaftsbury c. p. 199. LV. On the meeting of the Parliament after the Prorogation His Majesty's Demand of Money to build Ships The Commons insisting upon the Bill for a Habeas Corpus Against sending Men Prisoners beyond Sea Raising Money without Consent of Parliament Against Papists sitting in either House For the speedier convicting of Papists and recalling his Majesty's Subjects from the French Service and the Duke of Buckingham ' s Speech for Indulgence to Dissenters p. 202. LVI On the Motion for an Address by the House of Lords for dissolving the Parliament The Address's being cast out by the Majority and the Protestation of the Country Lords thereupon p. 205. LVII On the filling of the Benches with durante beneplacito Judges The publishing of some Books in favour of the Papists and Prerogative The French King 's letting loose his Privateers amongst the English Merchants And the sending of Ammunition from his Majesty's Stores to the French King p. 211. LVIII On the meeting of the Parliament after the long Prorogation Febr. 1676. His Majesty's Demand of Money recommending a good Correspondence to the two Houses The Question whether the Parliament was not dissolv'd by that unprecedented Prorogation Sending some Lords to the Tower for insisting on it The granting of Money by the Commons p. 218. LIX On the Commons throwing out the Bill intituled An Act for securing the Protestant Religion and another for the more effectual Convicting and Prosecution of Popish Recusants p. 224. LX. On the Address of the Commons concerning the Danger from the Power of France and their Progress in the Netherlands His Majesty's Answer It s not being thought satisfactory by the Commons who presented a second to which his
and Contrivances of my Enemies who are also yours and do profane the Days which the Church hath consecrated to your Memory And blessed be thou O Holy Virgin who hast hitherto favoured my Designs with such Success Opto nimis ut imprimis Des mihi memoriam Ut decenter frequenter Tuam cantem gloriam Ave Maria. CHAP. IV. On the Divisions amongst the Scots Presbyterians upon his Majesty's bringing his Father 's old Friends into Places of Power and Trust about him AS I conceiv'd so hath it happened the Scots Presbyterians are all in pieces those that are rigid did at first suspect me and now they have begun to declare against me and insinuate already my Breach of Covenant They are very sharp-sighted but I must outwit them Their Clergy are not all of a piece those who are strictest I must declare against and fall in with that Party which is most complaisant If I can but once prevail with them to yield in a little they 'l comply with me more and more by Degrees The Usurper Oliver being now in their Country I must improve the Opportunity The Nobility are easy to be perswaded that a Commonwealth will totally ruine their Honour The Clergy are mortal Haters of Independency and the People have an old Grudge against the English so that it will be easier to unite them in opposition to the Enemy than to bring them to a good Opinion of my Government But as when a Ship is in Hazard all Hands are imployed to save her I have found it easy to perswade the moderate Presbyterians to admit my Friends to Places of Power and Trust to assist against the Common Enemy And then if there be no Probability for me to conquer I shall be in a better Capacity to destroy And when the Presbyterians are totally subdued I shall be the better able to deal with the Independents And those of the Scots Clergy who comply with my Designs in reference to the State will also at length come to be of my Sentiments as touching the Church for I can already perceive that the Favours of the Court and Hopes of Preferment do dazle their Eyes And as for the Puritanical Sect call'd Remonstrators I will blacken their Fame by the Imputation of Rebellion and make them odious to the Country as Complyers with the English for which end I will suborn some of my Friends who shall put the Notion in their Heads to begin a Correspondence and then accuse them O! all ye Holy Apostles and thou St. Peter who art their Prince pray for a Blessing on my Endeavours Your Successors teach me that there is no Means unlawful which can be made use of for the Benefit of the Roman Catholick and Apostolick Church And therefore I make my Application to you that I may be enabled to triumph over the now prevailing Party of my Subjects who are Despisers of your Holy Order and pretend to a Parity among Ministers expresly contrary to the Divine Charter of the Roman See Tues Petrus ✚ Sancta Maria exaudi nos ✚ CHAP. V. On his Majesty's Defeat at Dumbar I Have lost the Day but they are my Enemies who fell which doth not a little allay my Grief The Presbyterians say they are punish'd for my Breach of Covenant and I look upon it as the Merits of their old Disloyalty such an easy Matter is it to turn those Occurrences as the Protestants do their Scriptures like a Nose of Wax Nor does this Disaster so much affect my Throne as it does disgrace their own solemn League Nor does it so much dishearten my Friends as it will certainly divide theirs and while Presbytery and Independency strive for the Mastery the Crown and the Mitre may play their Game If the Defeat be ascribed to the ill Conduct of the Presbyterians as I shall be industrious to have it believ'd it will open a wider Door for the Advancement of my Friends as fitter for Conduct and Command And if once an Army be modelled to my Mind I doubt not of succeeding in my Designs And by the Opposition which I know I shall meet with from the Roundheads I shall be further justified in my Breach of Contract with them as a Party who are Enemies to all Government ✚ St. Peter favour my Designs which are for the Advancement of thy Holy Chair and bring my three Kingdoms again into the Bosom of the Church from which like wandring Sheep they have gone astray they have left thee the only Rock on which the Church can be firmly founded And seeing thou and thy Successors were intrusted with a Power to absolve Subjects from their Allegiance to Heretical Soveraigns you can also absolve a Catholick Soveraign from all Ties laid upon him by Heretical Subjects ✚ Kyrie Eleyson ✚ Christe Eleyson ✚ Ave Maria Gratia plena CHAP. VI. On the Defeat of his Majesty's Forces at Innerkeithing c. and his raising another Army to march into England THE Scots have shew'd their Affection to me but Heaven thinks fit to blast their Endeavours Nor is it possible for a Kingdom divided against it self to stand The hot-headed Zealots ascribe it to my own Perjury with my Father's Tyranny and my Mother's Idolatry But I rather think that the Curse due to Rebels hath seiz'd on them and that the Blood of my Father is required at their Hands who were the first that durst oppose him How remarkable is that Justice which brings those very Men against them whom formerly they themselves did assist against him and that the Covenant on which they founded their Security should now be made the chief Ground of the Quarrel and that those very Men to whom they sold their Soveraign should now sell their People by hundreds for Slaves But those Reflections I must keep to my self and so long as I have need of them must flatter the Scots who are now resolved to invade England and to model me an Army more agreeable to my Mind and then shall I see if my Church-of England-Friends will own me in Adversity as they did my Father in his Prosperity and so long as he was able to advance and protect them And if they do not as I suspect that they will not because most of them comply with the Currant of the Time it will also justify my Breach to them if ever the Fates restore me to my Throne I have now again a considerable Army and pretty well purg'd from Puritanical Humours but still I must pretend a Zeal for the Covenant to please the Temper of the Scotish Nation and blunt the Darts which are thrown at me by the Presbyterian Remenstrators but when we are in England I know what to do and how to distinguish my Friends from my Foes The Catholicks and Church-men shall have the fairest Quarter though I must still pretend Friendship to the Presbyterians there if it were for no other end but to make Oliver jealous of them and because some of them are very
to have it introduc'd here and therefore concur with the Phanatical Members to oppose the keeping up of a Standing Army and as they have excluded their Brethren the Dissenters they are also unwilling that the Roman Catholicks should be Sharers with them in Places of Power and Trust so that my Episcopal Subjects are indeed very Loyal but it 's on this Condition that they alone may enjoy the Bag and if either I or any of my Successors shall put out our hands and touch them in their Property I make no doubt of it but they will curse us to our Face and therefore I must take care to drive on cunningly but not furiously so that when I have a mind to be reveng'd on any of my Enemies I must represent them as Fanaticks and Commonwealths-Men then shall I be sure to have them baited from the Pulpits nor shall they find any more favourable Treatment when they come before the Benches CHAP. L. On his Majesty's making Application to the Parliament of Scotland upon his failing of Money from the Parliament of England the Scots insisting first upon the Redress of their Grievances and sending Duke Hamilton and others to London for that End MY Case is very desperate when I must have recourse to the Poorest of my Subjects for Money and that the Richest refuse it My Father and Grandfather took such Measures as tended to the keeping of Scotland low so that it 's no wonder that that Nation should have fail'd them in their Distress They were obliged by their Coronation-Oaths to live some part of their time there lest the Substance of the Kingdom should be spent in England by the Nobilities being obliged to frequent the Court but Reasons of State induc'd them to do otherwise for the Scots being a People tenacious of their Privileges and zealous for their Religion did oppose their Measures for advancing the Prerogative whence it became necessary to humble them lest their Example should have had bad Influence on the two other Kingdoms My Father it 's true would have proceeded further and design'd to have chastis'd their Contumacy with the Sword but how unsuccessful it proved in the Event is too late and recent to be forgotten their Kindness to me was truly remarkable in declaring me their King immediately upon his Murder but I am afraid that my treatment of them since hath effac'd those good Impressions which they had of me then seeing I have not only overturn'd the Presbyterians who were at that time my greatest Friends but cut off the Chief of their Patrons and brought the whole Party under the lash Cursed be the Necessity which occasions my application to them and may those Disciples of Passive Obedience the Church-of England-Men be dealt with in the same manner as they have dealt with me They pretended to receive me without any previous Terms and to own the Divine Right of my Succession to the Throne but now when I have settled the Discipline of their Church and brought the Dissenters under their feet they are also for disputing my Commands and confining my Prerogative within narrower Limits I must now try whether their Brethren the Episcopal Party in Scotland will be any thing more ingenuous and if they can really perform what they have so solemnly promised they have undertaken to assist me with 22000 Horse and Foot where-ever I shall have occasion then surely they may let me have the Money and save their Men which would do my business in an effectual Manner and that no means may be left unattempted I will send the Earl of Lauderdale their great Patron to perswade them to it But my cursed Fate continues inauspicious and I find that the Party in Scotland are very insignificant being not so much as able to grant me one Subsidy but instead of that I am presented with an Address of their Grievances and a smart Remonstrance against Lauderdale's Ministry back'd by the greatest of the Peers of Scotland whose Noise and Complaints have reach'd me in England and until those be redressed they won't so much as hear of any Overtures for Money I was made to believe that an unbounded Loyalty had been so universally diffused through that Kingdom that the Episcopal Party ador'd and the Presbyterians fear'd me but Experience teaches the contrary else what means this bleating of the Sheep and lowing of the Oxen the Episcopal Party though they alone are capable of being admitted to Parliament either cannot or will not give me Money and their Libel of Grievances are but an old Presbyterian Remonstrance newly vamp'd being an Impeachment of my Administration both in Church and State and including Desires in favour of the Dissenters They complain of the Monopoly of Salt which hath increased the price of it so much that what was formerly had for 4 cannot now be bought for 20s though the Inconvenience of this Monopoly was represented to me They do also murmur against the Impositions on Brandy and Tobacco and that the Lords of the Articles who were originally no more than a Committee of the Parliament's appointment are now advanc'd above Parliaments themselves That the Mint and Coinage are corrupted Persons ignorant and insufficient created Judges That the Bishop of Edinburgh and others of the Clergy are countenanc'd in preaching reflectingly upon the Parliament That Magistrates are illegally imposed upon the City of Edinburgh That eminent Offices are accumulated upon single Persons and conclude this Point with the Male-administration of my Revenue and the Earl of Lauderdale's excessive Greatness In the next place they complain of the Severity of the Laws against the Presbyterians and that my own Power is too great in Church-Affairs so that the Nations seem resolved to join Complaints against my Government and how fatal the Issue of that may be I can easily conjecture from by-past times therefore I must dismiss Duke Hamilton with a favourable Answer and promise a Redress of Grievances in Parliament that so I may allay their present Heat 'T is happy for me that I have two other Kingdoms by which I can overawe them or else their Address had been back'd by the Sword and they would probably have brought me on my Knees before their Parliament as they have done several of my Predecessors or have cut off my Head but I shall henceforth endeavour to put them out of a Capacity to deal so by me or any of my Successors And whereas the Presbyterians do tenaciously adhere to the pretended Liberties of their Fore-fathers instead of Rods by which they were chastis'd by my Father I shall henceforth order it so that they shall be punish'd with Scorpions that they may be rendred altogether unable to raise any Rebellion at home or assist the Parliament of England and the Protestants of Ireland abroad I will take such effectual Course to render them contemptible that they shall not henceforth have the Vanity as in my Father's time to think that the Representation of their Pressures can find
and injur'd Prince might afford me a safe Retreat in this Kingdom yet I find that I cannot be safe from Insults because I advis'd that the Cardinal should be remov'd On the Consummation of the Marriage and the young Prince's Birth Hymen I have found exorable but Mars continues obstinate I have been successful in my Love though not by my Sword My next great Care must be to keep the thing secret else it will rejoice my Enemies and disgust my Friends the former that I have so much degraded my self and rid them from the Fear of my Foreign Allies and the latter that I have thus put my self out of a Condition of relieving them from the Yoak of a tyrannous Usurper so that the Sweets which I enjoy are mix'd with sowr and my Stars have still a malign Influence The same Precautions must be us'd as to my Brother and we must weather this Point as well as we can As my Comforts increase so do my Cares I have a Queen and a Prince but cannot provide for them as I ought However there 's Vengeance entail'd upon my Enemies for here 's one more of the Line to revenge his Grandfather's Blood CHAP. XX. On the French King 's concluding a Treaty with Oliver by which his Majesty and the Royal Family were to be excluded France and his going thereupon into the Low-Countries SInce the Kingdoms to which I have a natural and hereditary Right would not entertain me it 's no wonder that this to which I have only a Title should refuse it so that my unlucky Fate hath now stripp'd me of all my Possessions both Real and Titular I have no reason to complain of France's dealing thus with Princes of the Blood when Britain and Ireland have done so by their natural Soveraign Bless me how strange a thing is it that the Arms of a traiterous Subject should be able not only to expel me from my own Dominions but disturb my Repose in those of others and how dishonourable and unnatural is it for one Monarch to countenance Rebellion against another But why should I say thus it is just with Princes as it is with the Pope he would impose his Infallibility upon others when he does not believe one word of it himself So we would have our own Subjects to obey us without Reserve as being obliged by God so to do and yet we countenance the Rebellions of one another's Subjects Thus did my Father make a shew at least of countenancing the French Hugonots against their natural Soveraign My Grandfather King James though a great Admirer of Kingcraft did in some sort espouse the Elector Palatine's Quarrel against his Soveraign the Emperor And my Predecessor Queen Elizabeth supported the Netherlands in their Rebellion against the King of Spain So that in short my Church-of England-Subjects may boast of their Loyalty what they please but I think they have very small Reason for they that make no Scruple to countenance the Rebellion of others will make no Conscience of rebelling themselves if ever they have occasion And thus if there be any thing like Divine Justice I am punished for the Sin of my Forefathers and as they countenanc'd the Rebellions of other Princes Subjects against them now others countenance the Rebellion of mine against me so that amongst us we shall expose the Dignity of Monarchy and make all our Pretensions be look'd upon as a Cheat. But it 's in vain to dispute the Fates have decreed it and I must obey so that rather than be sent from this Kingdom with Disgrace or any publick Remark I 'l abandon it willingly of my own Accord and save my Honour as much as I can CHAP. XXI On his Majesty's travelling into Germany and the Low Countries The Duke of Glocester's being importun'd and threatned by his Mother to turn Roman Catholick and the Duke of York's being charg'd to depart France INstead of being a Monarch of three potent Kingdoms I am now become a Citizen of the World and must be content to reside where I can find Reception It 's hard that Lewis XIV should have dealt thus with me and that the Advice of a Priest should take place to the Disadvantage of a Prince of the Blood Royal of France that he who covets the Title of the most Christian King should not be more hospitable to a Prince who suffers for the most Christian Cause that France should make a League with the Murderers of my Father and yet erect a Monument to render the Jesuits eternally infamous for stabbing of Henry IV my Grandfather that the French King who pretends to be Absolute himself should so far approve of my Subjects Rebellion against me appears with a very bad Aspect He 's not so much afraid of the Influence of the bad Example as willing to keep the King of Great Britain humble for fear I should pursue my Title to France and knowing that Republicks are unfit for Conquest he is rather inclinable to favour the New Commonwealth and prefer his Interest to his Reputation Nor is it the French King alone who opposes my Designs but my Mother I perceive has a hand in the pie though I suppose she is misled by an Overcharge of Zeal It 's not my Interest that any of my Brethren should openly profess the Romish Religion for that were a way to obstruct our Return and yet she not only sollicites but threatens my youngest Brother if he do not openly profess himself of that Church an Evidence that she had but little regard to my Father while alive when she tramples so avowedly upon his Commands now that he 's dead if the Εικον Βασιλικε was truly his wherein he not only advises me against any Change of my Religion but all the rest of his Children and though it 's true that I have changed mine in Obedience to a higher Command viz. that of Christ's Successor upon Earth and for the advancing of my own Interest yet it is not publickly known and by Consequence is not scandalous but for my Mother thus openly to scandalize the World by influencing my Brother to an avowed Breach of my Father's Commands is no sutable Return for that last Message which he sent her that his Thoughts had never strayed from her So that either she must not believe that Book to be his or is very impolitick to take such Measures However I will make the best Improvement of it I can and send for him away from under her Conduct which will be a good Argument for my Friends in England to prove that I am firm in my Religion and I will endeavour to perswade her that I do it out of Policy because I would not come to a Rupture with her My Brother James's being commanded out of France does justify the Policy of my former Conduct in not staying till I was sent away which though disgraceful enough to him would have been much more so to me Having had such slender Entertainment amongst Papists it
will make our Friends in England believe that we are still good Protestants especially now that I make Application for Assistance from Protestant States so that I must turn every thing to my Advantage as near as I can though I am not like to do much with the Republican States of Holland who being jealous already of the Family of Orange will be afraid lest I support their Interest Yet it will strengthen my Cause if I get but a favourable Answer because it will be an Argument in the Mouths of my Friends to prove that the Proceedings against me are dislik'd by Foreign Protestants CHAP. XXII On his Majesty's being invited into the Spanish Netherlands by Don John of Austria in name of his Catholick Majesty upon the Rupture betwixt Spain and France INstead of being able to serve my self every one would serve their turn of me the Spaniards who refused my Father a Wife do now proffer me their Assistance to regain my Crown that they may the better preserve their own Dominions My Presence they judg may be serviceable in Flanders to withdraw my Subjects who have join'd the French and now that I may be useful they condescend to court me and my Circumstances oblige me to try my Fate perhaps my being present in Person may draw over some of my Subjects from the Enemy and my being so near England may animate my Friends there to some brave Attempt and seeing Fortune favours the Bold I 'm resolved to adventure perhaps she may be sated with my past Miseries and instead of her usual Frowns vouchsafe me some Smiles The malign Influences of my Stars are it may be exhausted and the Aspect of the Heavens become more propitious The Tyrant's Oppression does fret my Subjects at home and if Victory should crown my Head with Laurels abroad I may soon return with Triumph to my Throne The Usurper having disobliged the Nobility by the height of Contempt abolishing the House of Lords and squeezing the Commons may perhaps incline them to witness their Resentments when they hear that I 'm at the Head of a numerous Army If the Church-of England-men act their Part as the Presbyterians have done theirs though I confess they are infinitely less obliged they might quickly give the Usurper such a Diversion as would oblige him to recal his Troops for his own Defence But alas the Miscarriage of all my Designs in England and the renewed Attempts of my Friends in Scotland give me reason to fear that the same ill Fate attends me abroad and therefore I think it best not to be with the Army in Person but send my two Brothers and what Men I have lest my former ill Fortune should give the Spaniards occasion to say that it had also an Influence on their Affairs in case their Army should be defeated CHAP. XXIII On the Defeat of the Spanish Army and the Surrender of Dunkirk to the English HOW are all my Hopes vanish'd in a Moment and my towering Designs brought down to the Dust My ill Fate not only pursues my self but involves my Allies in the same Destiny Those who flatter this fortunate Usurper will doubtless say now O nimium dilecte Deo for nothing can stand before him The Loss of this Battel does mightily affect me so many of my best Friends having done their utmost to retrieve our lost Cause in it but in vain and my two Brethren commanding in Person have also been made sensible of the Frowns of Fortune so that the whole Family will be henceforth esteem'd unsuccessful and what dangerous Consequences attend such an Opinion of Generals Experience hath taught in all Ages There happened nothing favourable in this Rencounter but that my Brother James being taken had the good Fortune to escape Whence I have some ground to hope that we are preserved for better Times and though Fortune at present favours Oliver so that neither Scots Dutch nor Spaniards can stand before him the Case will not always continue thus but the Wheel may turn upon him or his My Subjects begin already to be weary of the Anarchy in the State and the Presbyterians themselves of the Confusion in the Church The Nobility and Gentry are angry to be trod under-foot by his Officers who are Fellows of inferiour Quality And by their desiring him to take upon him the Title of King it shows that they have no Dislike to the Office and being sensible of his Breach of his Oath by taking the Government upon himself though a single Person modelling their Parliaments as he pleases though he was sworn to maintain their Privileges and governing them by an Army though he would not allow my Father the Militia they 'l quickly come to draw such Inferences that seeing we must be tyranniz'd over it were as good to be so by those who have a long time been in possession of the Throne and will take care to leave something worth the Enjoyment of their Posterity seeing they believe the Divine Right of a Lineal Succession whereas they who have no such Principle nor Pretence do only take care for themselves and make Hay while the Sun shines The giving up of Dunkirk to the English is a very strange and impolitick Act of France if they have not some more than ordinary Assurance of Oliver Had my Predecessor Queen Mary been possess'd of such a Post on the Continent the Loss of Calais would never have broke her Heart And if ever it happen that a warlike King injoy the British Diadem and Dunkirk at the same time the Kingdom of France may have Cause to repent of this Folly but as I said before they are not so afraid of a Republick CHAP. XXIV On Oliver's Death Richard's being declar'd Protector outed by Lambert and the Army c. DEath hath effected what my Arms could not and rid me of my greatest Enemy If there be any such thing as a Supreme Being the Saints and He have certainly heard my Prayers and on that very Day of the Month when Oliver triumph'd over me at Dumbar and Worcester Fate hath triumph'd over him so that now I may begin to pluck up my Spirits and hope that Fortune will favour me at length This Man being dead whom my Enemies did idolize they have not such another to fill up his room and by his nominating his Son Richard to succeed him he hath at once discovered his Folly and Hypocrisy his Folly in naming such an one who is unfit for the Charge and his Hypocrisy in claiming a Lineal Succession which he did all along so strenuously impugn Richard is deposed by the same Power that set up his Father which is a very remarkable piece of Justice the Divine Nemesis hath made them destroy their own Creature and they will at last destroy themselves Oliver raised himself by concurring with Enthusiasts and advancing the Power of the Army over the Parliament and by the same Method the Frame of his own Government is pulled in pieces CHAP. XXV