mind to swear Allegiance at all or else are very fairly inclined to forfeit it And yet what a world of fine Speeches what a stir and what a pother doth our Author tell his Friend in the Countrey this and that and t'other Lord made in the House of Peers against the Swearing And every jot as wise a business 't is which indeed considering the drift of it deserves a Capital Animadversion that this Gentleman in Print is pleased to start such a Question as this Whether Monarchy as well as Episcopacy be Jure Divino and not to be bounded by Human Laws What the drift is of raising such Quaeres among the Populacy at such a time as this let sober Men consider A man might easily ghess what a Monarch not bounded by a Human Spirit would do to such a Spright as this who ought rather to be answered with that old Motto Ratio ultima Regum which would be hung about his Neck by a Prince of as little Humanity as this Man himself appears to be after all the Graces and Bounties by him received and thus ungratefully requited The Kings one single Act of sparing such a Factionist as well as all the other Acts of his Majesties Government doth manifest that he himself affects only a Temperate Monarchy to govern by Law Nor can the Bishops he justly charged with affecting any other or ever to have had any other design about it than this to teach the people there is so much of a Divinity in the Rights and Persons of Kings that they ought in their High Station to be Reverenced and Obeyed by the Subject for conscience sake This Divine Right is certainly due to them and to Bishops also who are Governours under them not to be thought alterable under any pretence whatsoever till his Majesty can be fairly convinced of some better way of ordering the Affairs of a National Church which may more effectually answer the Good Ends of Regal Government and truly till that be done by this Letter-man 't is downright Sedition with Treason I fear in its Belly for him to design the making of a Party against Bishops to hinder the passing of any Expedient be it an Oath or any other that might fortifie so Fundamental a part of the Monarchy LETTER 5. AND to secure all this they resolve to take away the Power and Opportunity of Parliaments to alter any thing in Church or State only leave them as an Instrument to raise Money and to pass such Laws as the Court and Church shall have a mind to The Attempt of any other how necessary soever must be no less a Crime than Perjury ANIMADVERSION Court and Church That is to say The King and the Bishops for the Court is nothing without the King They are well joyned together for take away either of these and they both fall together the Government being so ordered in England that they stand Props to each other Therefore as dull a Politician as I am if I meant to raise Sedition or commence Rebel I would not say a word against the King and Monarchy that would be too foul at first whatever my Aim were but away with Bishops and then of course I shall be able to talk of and with his Majesty But yet in case I should so plainly discover my purpose to imbroil the Nation as Some-body hath done by baiting the Bishops both in and out of the House of Peers I confess I should hardly believe a King would have the patience to let me go about and discourse and write and print thus to drive on my design among the Subjects in City and Countrey It would be a wonderful Evidence of his Lenity and such as might melt me or the heart of any Man that is not in Nature a Tygre or of the strain of the people of Shaftsbury into a time Repentance Especially if it be considered that the scope of this last Paragraph is to suggest unto the people as if the King with his Ministers and the Bishops were plotting a Destruction of the Power of Parliament so as it shall not be able to alter any thing in Church or State nor be able to make and alter Laws in future as their Predecessors have done without incurring the crime of perjury This is a strange Age that no Doctrine will take but that of altering or pulling down an ancient Government before we are provided either of Amendments for what we are to alter in the old or of a new and better Form to be substituted in its room when we take it away But a thing it is much more strauge that one single Sophister having lately undergone and deserved an alteration of his Fortune so as to have been turn'd out of his great Offices and the Court too for his Tricks should gain the Ears and Belief of so many Noble Peers and seal up their Eyes too that they should not see his design of revenge through all his pretences which alas had never been thought of but Bishops and King and Court too had continued very good Men and we should have had neither Speech nor Protestation of his as long as he could have enjoyed nor had we so long as he did enjoy a Courtiers share among them Nor would he ever have vouchsafed the kindness of any Letters to his Friends in the Countrey but the Oath of Test might have passed current as a good Expedient for preserving the Government from any unnecessary alteration and he would have told you also another Tale had it hapned that any Parliament-Man should have risen up then as vile as himself to act the same part for an Alteration or rather Subversion of the Government and he could readily have maintained the Test very necessary to be taken by Parliament-Men to secure both King and Parliament from the ruine designed And moreover he can tell you that it is no news for Parliament-Men before they enter the Parliament to take an Oath to be true to the Government as it is Established and yet not to reckon themselves so bound up by the Oath as to lose their power and liberty to debate and resolve upon such Alterations afterward in the Establishment as shall be found needful What needed then all this Clamour of his seeing the Test would have done no more than the Oath of Allegiance doth oblige the Parliament to maintain the present Establishment of Church and State against all Alterations till King and Parliament shall judge them needful to be made As shall be made evidenâ—ation when I come to conâ—ider it in more ample manner And yet what a Clâ—tter hâ—â—e we had aboâ—â— iâ— LETTER 6. AND 〈…〉 of the 〈◊〉 Fabrick a pretenâ—e shall be taken from the 〈…〉 raisâ—d anâ— a real 〈◊〉 from the sâ—allness of 〈…〉 standing Army and 〈◊〉 in due time the Cavaliâ—r and 〈…〉 will be madâ— greatâ—r Fools but as 〈◊〉 Slaves as the rest of the Nation ANIMADVERSION THe Cavalier and Churchman do very well remember when it
Clifford â—â—ll and yet to prevent his ruine this Session had the sooner end As for the Lord Clifford me thinks he might before now have been left at rest in his Grave but there is it seems another Lord in the World is resolved he shall not because while his Lordship tugg'd hard and lay gaping for the Office of Lord Treasurer my Lord Clifford got between and carried it away for which he will never forgive his memory nor any of his Friends Nothing could please after this no not the Great Seal it self though one would have thought that enough to fill the Swallow of any Gnat. But Oh! the Dear Bag was gone the Buâ—t-end of all his hopes and so neither Seal nor Pursâ— could satisfie Nothing now but Revenge for then his Lordship saw plain the Mortality of his own Court-Interest drawing on which had been long before forfeited by many a Juggle Then his Piety began to work when his Covetousness had nothing to work upon and nothing after this could be thought of but Fire and Flames of Zeal to scatter about the Court and Kingdom A loud and sudden Cry must be raised in fear of Popery by pretence of which the old trick the Nation was to be forthwith intoxicated and the Lord Clifford confounded and all Papists also were to be put out of Office because the Maker of this Out-cry was in fear to be so I write not this to plead for their being in Office but only to observe how pat the little Adversary timed all things for his own purpose of commencing the new Game of Popularity He foresaw his own Faâ—e and labour'd hard to get in elsewhere before they had quite thrown him out at White-Hall that so when he went off he might in a new World turn up Trump as the Faith 's great Defender against Popery This was the reason why he spurr'd on that Act so eagerly to run Papists out of Office and why he afterwards appeared so vigorous in putting the Act in execution for in all the time since the King 's Happy Resâ—auration we never heard till this sudden sit of his Lordships having been in any fright before about the Papists or any other sort of Religion whatsoever So that from the time of this first fright we are to reckon the Rise of all the Jealousies and Contests that have ensued lately or which may ensue about the Affairs of the Government and of all the late ill Impressions which have been craftily and most industriously made upon the minds of the people to prepare them if possible for a Mutiny LETTER BUt the Letter goes on thus In this posture matters were found in the Session of Parliament that began Octob. 27. 1673. which being suddenly broken up did nothing ANIMADVERSION 'T is a condition of Affairs much to be lamented that so many Sessions of Parliament have of late been broken Re infecta and we might very much wonder at it considering His Majesties great delight which he hath had in the good Advices and Affections of His Parliament did we not know that some Envious Ones made it their Business to sow Tares and cast Blocks 〈◊〉 the way to impede all happy Proceeding that either House might be Imbroiled in its self and both with one another and so be utterly incapacitated for any dispatch of Publick Business The Instances are too sad to be mentioned and I wish they were for ever in oblivion which necessitated His Majesty for the very Honour of Parliament it self and of His Government to put an end to many strange Debates and Controversies which could by no other means be done but by ending the several Sessions For even in that House whose true Interest is inseparably and more especially annexed to that of the Crown Imperial of this Realm and cannot stand without it there was found a new Lord this last Session whose Speech if we may believe a Paper called a Speech carefully Printed under the Name of the Earl of Shaftsbury vented many strange Passages upon the Debate of appointing a day for the hearing of Dr. Shirley's Cause by the Peers which shew plainly enough who it was which backt and befooled the Doctor to a perpetual attendance on that Business not for any good will to him who poor Man was made a meer Stalking-horse but to catch other ends and create Mischief to King and Kingdom by strangling the great Affairs and Hopes of His Majesty in the mid'st of His many pressing Publick Occasions for Supplies to the want of which Supplies in good time we are to ascribe the late loss of Repute with the other Publick Inconveniences and Damages in our Naval Interests c. which have been complained of Such Men there are as study first how to tye up the Hands of the King and His Ministers with Necessity and then make the People cry out at them for not doing what they were disabled to do And therefore that the Nation may know to what Male-content the King and People do owe those Damages and the fruitlesness of the last Session of Parliament and from thence gâ—â—ess who it was that drave the design of frustrating also the several Sessions that went before it It will not be amiss to give the World some account here of divers Passages of that Speech Printed with the Title of the Earl of Shaftsbury which no Man that reads but would swear it his This Speech confesses the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Bishop of Salisbury had at the same time made Speeches to shew that to set a day to enter upon a Hearing in the Lords House of the Cause of Dr. Shirley before the Great Concerns of the King and Kingdom in Supplies of Money and other Bills should be dispatched would be to induce several Grand Inconveniences As first That seeing both Houses had been highly engaged in Contests with each other about their respective Priviledges occasioned by that Cause the appointing of a short day for their Lordships to hear it would immediately bring on the like Contests again and so cause a Breach betwixt the Houses and Secondly That after such a Breach made for the sake of a private Cause no ordinary way being left for dispatch of the many Publick Bills depending in the Houses or for raising of Moneys the whole Business of Naval Preparations and of other Great Affairs and of the Reputation and Interests of the King and Kingdom at home and abroad would unavoidably fall to ruine And their Lordships were told They could not but be convinced in their Coâ—sâ—iences that if that matter of Shirley were then prosecuted it must cause a Breach This was the Sence also of most other Noble Lords But alass that Printed Speech makes the Earl of Shaftsbury ring another Tune as if his Lordship had other Publick Business or as if it had no longer been Shirley's private Business but his Own so that if we may believe that Print the People need no other Evidence to shew who was the Designer of
is not ignorant how this Protestation came on nor can the World be ignorant how far his Hand went in promoting it care having been taken by some Body during the time his Lordship was in the Country before the last Session of Parliament to employ certain Emissaries and Agents to carry up and down not only to many Lords in and about this City but likewise to all the most noted Coffeâ—-houses Copies of a Letter said in the Superscription of it to have been first written to the Earl of Carlisle and to have been subscribed Your Lordships humble Servant SHAFTSBURY My Lord of Carlisle is a very noble Person and I would not by any means mis-represent him he having seen too many Experiments of Male-contented Demagogues and their little Tricks to be caught by them or to countenance them 'T is rather to be supposed the Penner made bold with him It was necessary to direct it to some Body and easie to send Copies along with it at the same time to be communicated to every Body for there was no fear but among the Coffee-hâ—unters there would be found Copiers enough to furnish both City and Kingdom the Design being laid now by this new Epistle to prepare Mens Minds for a crying down the present Parliament seeing there are too many Wise Men in it and too Loyal to be shaken by a Shuttlecock and for crying out for a New Parliament while in the mean time matters are so labour'd in the Old One as we have abundantly seen the last Session that no Business should be done by them and then there may thence arise as is imagined an unanswerable Argument for a Trial of Skill in Electing a New for his Tool the Presbyter despairing to get Dominion by the way of the King wants only opportunity to be Canvasing and Tugging for another Forty-One-Parliament and would never be at rest till he hath gotten both Houses over his Head again at Westminster So that if the other Nonconformists will well apprehend the improvement of their own Interest let them know that as they have reason to decline them being their worst Enemies by principle so they have the fairest opportunity in shewing themselves firm henceforth to the Crown to stand most fair in the good opinion and favour of His Majesty as a Party much more tolerable in the Constitution of the Government And then there can be no fear of that they call Persecution because the reason and occasion of it will be gone No Creditor but will be kind when he hath gotten Security Even so it is with Kings and other Governours they grieve no Party more than other when they are once secured they will pay the Debt of Obedience and Loyalty for 't is their Interest to cherish and see every Party thriâ—e and flourish if it be not dangerous Arguments in that Epistle his Lordship offers none having long since arrived to that Noble Confidence as to think his own word sufficient warrant for any Assertion therefore he boldly saith 't is the Interest of the King the Lords and the Commons to have a New Parliament without any more ado But for his Reasons we must have recourse to the Protestation it self which are first for the Dissolution of this Parliament and they are but these few following First The Protestation saith It is according to the ancient Laws and Statutes of this Realm that there should be frequent and new Parliaments and that the practise of several years hath been accordingly 'T is true the Kings of this Realm have formerly had cause to delight in calling them and our Chronicles tell us also that till the Barons Wars came and after the Barons Wars were ended down to the time of King James Parliaments were modest in their station and easie to the King so that the Business of the Kingdom went on current without long Speeches and hot Disputes But in King James his time the Presbyter or Puritaâ— as Men then called him whom Queen Elizabeth in her time not without much ado kept down began to spread his Wings grew numerous and headstrong so that they were able to furnish the Commons House with a Canvasing Party and did it constantly at every Election and divers Members of the House of Peers who in those days affected Preferment at Court and wanted it and envied others that had it or were otherwise male-content or intoxicated with mistaken Zeal of new Phantsies about Religion or Church-Government were not wanting to make a Party of Lords to second that fiery part of the Commons who carried matters divers times so high that That King was necessitated towards the latter end of his Reign for the Honour of his Crown and Preservation of the Government in qâ—iet often to dissolve them Of which the Puritan that is the Presbyter always made advantage by exceeding Clamour against the Court to gain the ignorant and unwary part of the people to his party And so you see to what sort of Men we owe the new invention of Frustrating Parliaments After this comes King Charles the First to the Government upon whom they perpetually practis'd it in all Parliaments that he called and at length you know that working upon the Kings Necessities in the year 1641. they in a manner constraâ—ned him to perpetuate them in Power which was the ruine of the Royal Government and at length of all Government it self It is to be noted also that it was not till the beginning of his Reign that they took up the other New Trick of State which was seeing they durst not yet be so bold as to strike at the King himself for supposed defaults in Government they resolved to strike as near him as they could and so they began to make it constant work to fall upon his Chief Ministers of State and always in the Intervals of Parliament made it their Business to fill the Kingdom with Clamours against them so preparing them thereby as a Sacrifice to their own ends and cruelty and to the Peoples folly against every call of a Parliament Thus it was from the time of the old Duke of Buckingham who by a brave Defence in Parliament made good his Station to the time of that most brave though most unfortunate Man the Earl of Strafford whom they worried to death by Popular Tumults after he had bastled them at the Bar in defending himself most gloriously As they did also Archbishop Laâ—d a Man of high design for the Honour of the King and Glory of the Church which they charged on him to be for introducing of Slavery and Popery so that all the rest of the King's Ministers were glad to flee for safety of their Lives Nay they stopt not here but being flusht drew up Articles of High Treason against the Queens Majesty And then we too sadly remember how easily afterwards they passed on to a Charge against the King himself I write not this as if I meant to scandalize or cast an Odium upon that ancient Right
A PACQUET OF ADVICES AND ANIMADVERSIONS Sent from LONDON To the Men of SHAFTSBVRY Which is of Use for all His MAJESTIES Subjects in the Three Kingdoms Occasioned by a Seditious Pamphlet Intituled A Letter from a Person of Quality to His Friend in the Country LONDON Printed in the Year 1676. A Pacquet of Advices and Animadversions sent from London to the Men of Shaftsbury c. Ye Men of Shaftsbury both Lords and Gentlemen T IS well that in this Interval of Parliament we have some time for Contemplation and rest from Business that so we might reflect upon what we have done as well as consider what we ought next to do and in cool Blood ponder the Nature and probable Events of those Counsels that some of us so fiercely prosecuted in the Last Session 1675 together with the By-ends of such as first set them on foot and engaged us to serve them the danger whereof while we were in the heats of Passion and Transaction it was hardly possible for us to apprehend And now SIRS this being our season for thinking pray you think in the first place who gave the Occasion for so long an Interval Why was it that His MAJESTY was constrained to put an End to your High Debates and by so long a Prorogation but that it was your Little Friend 's Great Aim it should be so and that the KING should not be able to do otherwise I mean Mephistophiles the Faery Fâ—end that haunts Both Houses of whom I have been told the Witty Duke of Buckingham likened him to Will-with-a-Wisp that uses to lead Men out of the way then leaves them at last in a Ditch and Darkness and nimbly retreats for Self-security This no doubt the Noble Duke had not only observed long since in his srequent Jilting with others but had also if he please to remember fresh experience of him in his late shifting of Counsels ere he left White-Hall So that I suppose all Intelligent Persons will be wary how they imbarque with him any more For this is the prime Quality of the Person now let us next see what the Contents of that LETTER are to the Friend in the Country Truly whoever was its Father it looks like somewhat that would fain get out in the World in the Figure of XLI for upon strict view it will appear so as I shall shew you by and by with every Feature Limb and Proportion of the Old Faction insomuch as there can be no Man that ever felt the sad Consequents of that Year or remembers the Sea of Blood that then we swam in and many Years after with the Plundrings Free-Quarters and Desolations that followed on every side and what in thâ—â—nd we got by the Faction but must reckon himself bound in Conscience and Prudence to bid his Friends in the Country and City too to learn by considering the dark Contrivances past whose dire Effects a little After-time brought to light how to understand the present and prevent a being gull'd in the future and to take heed how they entertain fly Insinuations and Discontents about matters above them or give ear to the Voice of the crafty Charmer Wherefore for his Country-Friend's sake and more particularly for your sakes I hasten to the unraveling of this LETTER which I will not call his though those that have ask'd him do say he but saintly denies it and in such phrases as signified plain enough that he would not for all the World but be thought the Author or at least the Intelligencer So pleasing is the Itch of a little Wit in Print that some Men would not lose it at any rate But from you my good Friends of Shaftsbury I doubt not to find more Wisdom than to be Witticised out of the good old plain way of Honour Allegiance Publick Interest and Peace or to be Wisp'd and Lanthorn'd in the dark by a small Goblin into the Bryers at best but rather I fear into the Pit of Destruction The LETTER IT begins with divers Suggestions 1. That the Test which was under debate in the House of Peers the last Session of Parliament was a State-Master-piece first hatcht among the Great Church-Men ANIMADVERSION RIght 41. in the very Front Thus began the STATE-MASTER-PIECE of those Days it is the common Method of preparing for Rebellion and so it hath been in all Ages For when any one designed it he first assaulted not the Prince himself that would have been too gross but began with some one principal Part or Person of his Government and so proceeded by degrees to alter it Thus it was in 41 For though the Designers well knew the Temper of England that it would not be Govern'd without the Old State Ecclesiastical yet they first found fault with the Governours the Bishops and when they had taken off some of the Persons then they next devised how to diminish their Power and lastly took away their whole Order and so one Pillar of the Throne being gone it was not long ere they tutor'd the People to the overturning of the other as useless and dangerous so that you know what became of the Throne it self Nor were they by the Rules of Ungodly Policy to be blamed for this For when once Men are dipt in an ill beginning they presently think they are bound to prosecute and each Man concludes to himself in the Langaage of Catiline The Ills which I have done cannot be safe But by attempting greater But why the Bill of Test should be Father'd on the Bishops more than upon the other Lords of Parliament I see not since the major part of their Lordships were Zealous in the opinion and promotion of it as a thing that would prove a notable means of the Crowns Stability and the KING's Peace and Safety But it seem'd more advisable to your Prime Engineer after he had labour'd to render the Test as odious as he could then to fasten it on the Bishops that it might the better suit with that lucky Pattern of 41. But more of this Test hereafter where I particularly consider it LETTER 2. THat the Bishops do design to make a distinct Party of the High-Episcopal-man and the old Cavalier by tempting them with the hopes of enjoying all the Power Great Offices and Advantages by overthrowing the Act of Oblivion if they can get any to fight the Old Quarrel over again ANIMADVERSION LOok ye into that Book called An exact Collection of all Remonstrances Declarations Votes Orders Ordinances c. which was Printed Anno 1642. and in the Fourth Page of that Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom which your Masters presented the year before to His Majesties Father you 'l find the Old Copy of your New Calumny against the Bishops for they were then charged with a Design to introduce a Change and by imbroillâ—g the King and his People with Disputes about Prerogative and Liberty to create unto themselves a distinct Party under a Pretence of being for the King that so
having the advantage of siding with Him and under the Notion of Men addicted to His Service they might in the end gain to themselves and their Partakers the Places of greatest Trust Power and Advantage in the Kingdom Who would have imagin'd that Men could be thus Ungrateful to His Majesty after so Gracious an Aâ—t of Oblivion as to be found reviving the Old Names of Distinction What is this but to set the Old Quarrel on foot again and to begin it upon the same Point of charging the Bishops as the Causers of it Thus Nero made it his business to set Rome on fire and then charged the Fact upon the Christians Who are they that are most likely to be Projecting unto themselves the Power and Great Offices of the Kingdom but you your selves who are ready to make room with an Out-cry against the Great Officers There is one among you who knows how to drive a Bargain for Great Offices at the price of your heads if any Body thought it worth the while to truck with him and then we should know who they are that take Courses to overthrow the Act of Oblivion and in the mean while do shoot Slanders at his Majesty and His Ministers through the Bishops sides as if it were they that joyntly design against it whereas His Majesty hath been so far from breaking the First that 't is not long since he granted a Second Act of Oblivion and your Friend MEPHISTOPHILES Himself had so great a share in the benefit of it that one would even swear it was granted for His sake or that He principally for His own sake procured it Therefore he had best take heed He do not bring on a Popular State too fast unless they will beforehand seal him another Oblivion lest My Lords the People come at length to knock at his Door for a better Account and set up Brook-house anew for him hereafter LETTER 3. NExt That the Bishops design to have the Government of the Church sworn to as unalterable and so tacitly owned to be of Divine Right toward the attaining of which station Churchmen easily break through all Obligations whatsoever ANIMADVERSION THus the Blows light on the Bishops but his Aim is at His Majesties Government onely 't is not time of day yet to let us know what he would be at For in the mean time he writes fair after his 41 Copy for you may read in the Grand Remonstrance of the Commons Anno 1641. that it was charged on the Bishops in those days That they imposed a New Oath for maintenance of their own Power God forbid that that Remonstrance which then took the Frame of Government all in pieces should be thought to be the Act of an House of Commons Many thousands are yet living who know it was but a Party in that House who by the help of Tumults continually flowing out of the City like a mighty Inundation upon Whitehall and Westminster did by Threats and Violence upon both Houses animate a Presbyterian Party in that House to be able to over-awe the rest and carry on that Remonstrance by head and shoulders as they did also afterward many other strange Petitions Declarations Votes and Ordinances to the dishonour of the King in order to the undermining of His Authority and the ancient Government of the Kingdom And this way they carried matters so long and with such heat and fury that in tract of time the best part of the House of Commons perceiving they were not able to stop this Career by any prudent Counsels or Endeavours resolved to sit no longer with such Company to be made a State and Property to such Unparliamentary Proceedings and so at length departed from them to Oxford whither His Majesty and most of the House of Lords also had been forced to retire from the insolent Assaults daily made by the City Multitudes which were under the Countenance and at the Command of that All-commanding Party of the Commons seconded by some few of the Lords who helpt to hold up the Form and Shadow of a Parliament so long till the very Name of a House of Peers was at last Obliterated A sad Instance it is to teach their Successors what they may expect in future whensoever seduced through Discontent or Envy to affect Popularity they shall again which God forbid separate their own personal Interests and that of their Peerage from the Interests of the Crown upon any though the most specious pretences whatsoever Here what the King himself said of those Tumults in His 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for doubtless He could best tell who felt the effects of them and What person is there that ever loved Him or engaged for Him would be willinâ— to see His Son our most Gracious King assaulted with the like Or that can with patience hear that some Lords and other persons are turn'd Tradesmen and Exchange men in tâ—â— City and become free there of the Company of Demagogues They were saith he not like a Storm at Sea which yet wants not its terror but like an Earthquake shaking the very foundations of all than which nothing in the World hath more of horror No Declaration from the Bishops who were first insolenced and assaulted nor yet from other Lords and Gentlemâ—n of Honour nor yet from my self could take place for the due repression of those Tumults and for the securing not onely our freedom in Parliament but our very persons in the Streets When I found things thus I hoped by my withdrawing to give time for the ebbing of their tumultuous fury Note here ye Shafsburians first the Bishops assaulted then the Members of Parliament and then the King Himself this was the fruit then and this would be again the issue of your Little Leaders trading with ill-humours in the City against Bishops but that there is a Sound and Loyal Magistracy to balance Male-contents and observe both him and them in all their Motions so that it will be a hard matter for that small Boutefeu to Blow up the Government again by undermining it on the Bishops side for one Trick of State is not to be shewn twice within the memory of man so that now I suppose he hath lived to see the utmost of his old Trade of Jugling having Jugled himself out of all at Court and being past hope of Jugling himself in again all his Fears being well understood there he sets up at t'other end o' th' Town to Jugle up a Mutiny in the City in hope to find Combustible matter there to set Fire to in the Countrey and at length inflame a Party for his purpose in this Parliament or rather in a New One which he supposes will be the likeliest Expedient And truly he did as good as tell us so in that Letter written above a Twelve moneth since out of the Counâ—rey to the Earl of Carlisle at London or rather imposed upon him Which was indeed superscribed to his Lordship but intended for a Fireball among
the Citizens here as appeared by the Industrious Spreading Copies of it in all the Coffee-houses and the effect which it and his other Practises since had and which lately inspired Mr. Jenks with the wisdom of a Statesman to instruct His Majesty and move the matter at Guildhall in Common-Council to be managed in the old Presbyterian way of Petitioning a sort of Saucy Humility much used by that Tribe in the beginning of their Rebellion These things should not be remember'd but that they themselves are pleased to revive them and give us cause to judge that they hope one day to have a Pull for it in a New Parliament with the Bishops and then with His Majesty In order to which MEPHISTOPHILES hath one Expedient more upon the Anvile and that is to use all manner of Tricks that may be by LONG SPEECHES and LONG DEBATES among the Lords and the STARTING of CONTROVERSIES about Priviledge betwixt their Lordships and the Commons to FRUSTRATE Dispatches of the King and Kingdome 's Business and so Necessitate the Present Parliament to become Unserviceable that he may obtain a Plausible Pretence to draw in the People to cry out for a New One as the onely Cure of all our Maladies But how improbable a thing that is if not impossible you shall find evidently proved before the end of these Animadversions LETTER 4. AS the Bishops design to have the Government of the Church sworn to as unalterable so in requital to the Crown they declare the Government absolute and arbitrary and allow Monarchy as well as Episcopacy to be Jure Divino and not to be bounded by Humane Laws ANIMADVERSION MOre Sacks to the Mill upon the Bishops Load them till ye sink 'em That it seems must be first done then down with Monarchy that follows of course as we well and wofully remember 'T is done then like a Workman to tell the World that Episcopacy is alterable that the People may not in any sence own it to be of Divine Right and so it will be easily concluded that Monarchy also is alterable because his Believers cannot believe it to be Jure Divino 'T is a great Crime indeed Sirs in the Bishops that they stand thus in the way of this Alterability and that they maintain Kings to have any Divinity about ' em We have had of late many fine Points publickly Printed and exposed to the Debates of the Multitude such as this Whether Kings be made of Clouts or no but What deserves the Man that starts such Hares as these which no man can run down but he must run the ready Road to Rebellion and Alteration of Government which its impossible to prevent unless we hold up the Veneration that is due to the Head and Members of this Monarchy But had I any thoughts of Rebelling or were I a Cashier'd or Broken Statesman not likely in fair weather to lift aside my Rivals and get in again with the Monarch my Master I would had I so little in me of a Christian or a good Subject take all the course I could to gather Clouds about him and create a Storm that I might force him to come to me for shelter or take me to himself again to help him to weather it Had I long'd and long done any thing for the place of Treasurer and unluckily mist the Bag and by all the good Qualities of Judas pretended as high merit to it as any man or to the Seale or to any Grand Office of State that such a Gnat of Ambition as I durst venture to swallow had I been bobb'd out of All I would even fall to Courting the People after the same manner and Preach up the Mortality of Kings till I and my Myrmidons could fright him out of his Divinity and replace me and scare him our of the remembrance also of all my Jugglery into a new Oblivion to secure me Then would I remove and laugh at all my Opposites and the Citizens too and leave them at last to contemplate my wisdom and their own folly All this Sirs with the help of one of your Shaftsbury Consciences I could easily do And if this could not be done then would I march on further and follow the dictates of Nature for Self-preservation and sticking close to the Multitude drive them on to do any thing that might hamper the King and shackle the Monarchy or if need require transform it into the hands of Conservators or else in case that cannot be precipitate my self and it to the very bottom of Democracy rather than not be revenged on my Sovereign Master for favouring and preferring my fellow-servants and competitors before me The Poet saith We are Princes all if we prevail And gallant Villains if we fail Would not any Man then think it well done of the Bishops to plead for the Divinity of Kingly Government and of the Episâ—opal which is a part of the Kingly when there are some in the World that design to handle them without all Humanity and would had they opportunity by a commonruine both of King and Bishops too late convince this Nation that by all means there ought to be a joint Interest of mutual preservation maintained betwixt them and that the Monarchy cannot in reason be supposed maintainable without it If this be so as I shall sufficiently manifest anon when I come to consider the late clamour against the TEST then 't is high time for all Men that have sworn Allegiance to apprehend that the Government of Church and State ought to be sworn to as so Divine as not to be alterable till they can tell us a way how to lay aside the Right of Episcopacy at this time in England without ruining the Monarchy If so be then I have a purpose to make good my Allegiance to the King how can I scruple to swear not to alter the Church which is a principal part of his Kingly Government By the one Oath I have sworn to him in both his Capacities Personal and Politick which are never to be separated why then should I deny an Oath obliging me not to alter the Kingly Polity of the Church which is as much the Kings Government though stiled Ecclesitstical as the other part is which we term Purely Civil Consider then ye Men of Shaftsbury the Obligation to both parts of the Government is equal by vertue of your Oath of Allegiance and if his Majesty and the Bishops and many Noble Peers have thought of passing a New Oath they did no more but what is very necessary in the midst of all the present Underminings of this Monarchy on its Episcopal quarter that is they thought it wisdom to fortifie that part with Mens swearing to it expresly and plainly by a new Oath which is no more than what was implicitely contained before in their old Oath of Allegiance and which is not to be found fault with more than the old by any but such persons as either hold it not lawful or have no
seasonable especially in a time wherein many of the Old Kindlers are visibly blowing this Old Coal again to revive it and with it to over-heat the Brains and Consciences of men into a zeal of the same Obligation in stead of repentance that ever they took it But hear what the King said of it and 't is enough to forewarn and advise men of any Conscience or discretion in the future That saith he which makes such Confederations by way of Solemn Leagues and Covenaâ—ts the more to be suspected is That they are the common Road used in all Factions Perturbations of State or Church Where Formalities of extraordinary zeal and piety are never more studied and elaborate than when Politicians aâ—itate most desperate designs against all that is setled or sacred in Religion and Laws which by such skrues are cunningly yet forcibly wrested by secret stâ—ps and less sensible degrees from their known Rule and wonted practice to comply with the humors of those men who aim to subdue all to their own will and power under the disguises of Holy Combinations Wisdom and Truth greater than this or more Divine never was uttered by any Prince since the days of Solomon And it ought to be for ever written in the hearts of Subjects because we can seal to it upon the sad experience we had in our late Civil Wars to the utter ruine of all Religious Profession which men ought to take care by sincerity and integrity of life to hold up in the height of Reputation as the most sacred thing in the World Otherwise what we may expect of the pretences and disguises of the most Sanctimonious Combinations the same king tells us in the following words They are Cords and â—ythes will hold mens Consciences no longer than force aâ—tends and twists them for every man soon grows his own Pope and easily absolves himself of those Ties which not the command of Gods Word or the Laws of the Land but only the subtilty and terror of a Party casts upon him Indeed such illegal ways seldom or never intend the engaging of men more to Duties but only to Parties therefore 't is not regarded how they keep their Covenants in point of Piety pretended provided they adhere firmly to the Party and design intended The Imposers of such a League will admit of any mens sences of it though divers or contrary with any Salvoes Cautions and Reservations so as they cross not the chief design against the Church and their King There are many thousands yet living who can witness to the truth of it that they had no sooner involved the several Parliamentary Parties in the guilt of that Covenant but they all fastened several Sences and Constructions upon it such as might best suit with the several ends and designs of their particular Parties They like Samson's Foxes had their heads looking divers ways but were tied together by the Tails had one common Interest which tied them fast to each other in Agreement for the destruction of King and Bishops They easily absolved one another and each man himself from the seeming obligations of the Covenant to Loyalty and Government as fast as their particular occasions called them off to other Resolutions And if we may believe Sir Henry Vaâ—e it was in the penning so worded that the Noose might not be too strict and narrow for Conscience to escape out of it when occasion should require For when that Gentleman came to Tower-hill to dye he told us to this purpose that himself had been one of the Commissioners that went out of England into Scotland and was present there in those Councils then on Foot betwixt both Kingdoms which contrived that Covenant And when it was objected by some that if the Terms of the Covenant should run so high for preservation of the King and His Family as they seemed to be the King perhaps might notwithstanding be utterly hardened against it and frustrate all the good intents of it towards himself And in such case it was propounded in Council what then should be done At last it was concluded an Addition should be made to it of that ominous Clause In the preservation and defence of the Religion and Liberties of the Kingdoms A Clause which was made use of afterwards to prove that the Nation might be established in a Government without any regard to the King or His Family For manifestation of this Truth there needs no more but to cast an eye back upon that fatal Remonstrance of the Army dated at St. Albans 20th November 1648. penned by Ireton Cromwel's Son-in-law the main scope whereof was â—o prove That they ought to take away the Kings Life with a pretence and form of Justice and extirpate His Family And truly I have the greater cause to remember this having at that time read the Arguments contained in several Prints against it to manifest unto the Authors of such Counsels and all the world that such a Course of proceeding against the King of England is Irrational Monstrous and in consequence pernicious to the three Kingdoms Nevertheless the Argumentation of Colonel Ireton carried it And whosoever pleases to consult the Contents of that Army Remonstrance shall find that the best Arguments he had except the Sword were all fished out of several Topicks contained in the Covenant among which the main one fetcht from that afore cited Clause was like the Sword of Goliah noâ— like it to cut asunder all Obligations both Sacred and Civil and was improved to this point That seeing these Nations were brought to such a pass as the Argumentator wâ—s pleased to say That the ends of the Covenant could not be attained by a Government with â—â— King and his Family Therefore those ends being the Principal Considerations of Mens Covenanting ought to be made good by another Government without any regard of Him or His who were but of a Secondary consideration And thus out of the Belly of that Trojan-Horse the Covenant sprang that Hobby-horse of a Republick with Cromwell on the back of it who himself at length convinced in Judgment about forms of Government saw and confessed by making himself the sole single person in Authority that no Rest is to be â—ad by Government in this Nation but by a Monarchy After this my good Friends of Shaftsbury I suppose you will not venture to gainsay but that it was well done of the Parliament and Bishops too since you will have them nam'd in particular to pass two such Acts as might keep men out of Magistracy in Corporations and out of Command in the King's Militia whose Consciences can yet relish and not abhor such a Covenant or such a Treasonous Maxim in State That the King's Authority may be made use of or turn'd against his Person And yet anon before the end of this Letter the Author will tell you of very strong Instances and Cases Somebody cited in the House of Peers wherein it was and may be lawful again so to do
in danger if you call a New Parliament This Objection they pretend to answer by saying there 's no fear of danger because Men of Quality of Estates and of the best Understanding and such as will give Money will be chosen But I reply this Argument hath more Malice than Reason to support it because it reflects as if these were not such The Generality of this House of Commons are known to be men of the best Quality and of Estates and of the best understanding All their Fault is in the Opinion of the Conspiring Party that they too well understand them and their Design and what the true interest of the Crown is and that as they ever have been so they still are tight and firm to it and the Government and that the great interest of the Nobles Gentry and Commons of the Land lies in being so This they understand Besides they are men best acquainted and expert in the management of Parliamentary Affairs and therefore more likely than men newly elected to make dispatch of them if the Projectors did not study all ways to impede them for other ends than the â—ase and supply of the Crown And therefore a New Parliament is not now to be called for these following Reasons I. Because it is not for the honour of the King to be as it were Trepann'd thus by Tricks or worried by Clamors and Importunities into a necessity of calling a new Parliament because it will in the judgment of wise men at home and of Princes abroad be no other than an imposing upon him in one main point of his Prerogative which is to use His own discretion and take His own time for the summoning and dissolving of Parliaments II. It cannot be for his safety or advantage because if Money be wanting know he must pay dear for it before the New One will give it and What can they give which may not more readily be had by the present Parliament if the just indignation of His Majesty and His two Houses shall arise against the stratagems oâ— the Prime Projectors and defeat them I cannot forget what mine eyes have seen in the days of His Royal Father therefore since years teach wisâ—om and the experience of like matters in time past gives instruction for the future it cannot but be good to bring them fresh into remembrance Let us therefore remember how it was with King Charles the First It was the cunning of the same Faction having an aking Tooth at the Bishops and consequently a design to alter the Government as now they have again which they could not easily do without clamouring about matters of Religion and against some Errors and Excesses of the Court and the King's Ministers Therefore as they plied that point home in hope to gain the people so in the beginning of His Reign they finding the King in necessity of Money to satisfie His Fathers Debts and for other great occasions at home and abroad and knowing that a Parliament must be called for Raising Money they laid the Plot thus First to work upon that necessity by high popular demands such as must either bow the King to comply with them and then it would be easie for them to pursue their wild projects of alteration in State and Church or else it would constrain him to break them And that they feared not knowing it could not be long before he would have occasion to call a Second Parliament which they by the like demands would bring to nothing as easily as before unless the King would consent to them which they presumed he would never do And it came to pass as they had before contrived that the King was frustrated of the hopes he had of three or four Parliaments by sending them away one after another not getting one peny but he being tired out and having perceived that they entred upon such debates and made such demands as intrenched upon the Interest of His Crown and that a condescension to them would have brought both him and it into contempt he was constrained to shift without Parliaments to his great sorrow and it proved to be the great occasion of the late War enough to shew what it is for a King in want of Money in these days to call a New Parliament of whose kindness he hath had no experience especially when he hath already a Parliament in being most dutiful wise and able to do his and his Kingdoms business if some few persons would please to study peace and leave off contention The truth of the forementioned Plot of the Commons in those days I shall by and by more particularly demonstrate In the mean while you may remember I told you this sort of Game they began in the latter end of the Reign of King James and now you shall see how they plaid it Before that time the Commons never medled at so high a rate but in the Nineteenth year of that King when he called a Parliament about the assistance of the Prince Palatine his Majesty was in great want of Money to relieve the Palatinate and great hopes were given him of a Supply What was the Issue of this necessity of calling it The King had a mind to Adjourn the Parliament but for a little season and for some Reasons which he foresaw required it whereupon the Faction presently interposed and drew the rest of their Fellow-Members to Petition him against Adjournment insomuch that the wise King being Jealous of his Prerogative and not liking that the Commons should so much as meddle with it though in a way but Petitionary he very much resented it and told a Committee which they sent to him about it That he took it very ill the Commons should dispute his Reasons of Adjournment all Power being in him alone to Call Adjourn and Dissolve Parliaments This made the Faction so bold and Mutinous in discourse every where that His Maiesty was fain to put forth a Proclamation against talking of State-affairs with such inordinate liberty The time of the Parliaments Adjournment being expired they came together again and what then The Palatine Cause requiring Supply more than before and the Lord Treasurer having in a Speech laid open the Kings Wants and how empty his Coffers were the Faction thought they should now in his Necessity be able to work him like Wax therefore in stead of Money they immediately salute him with a Catalogue of his Faults the growing Mischiefs of his Government and dictate unto him Remedies and they called it A Petition and Remonstrance The King then by Letter to the Speaker sharply complains of this Indignity imputes it not to the House it self but to the boldness of some fiery and popular Spirits in the House of Commons which were the Predecessors of our present Faction whom he brands with Breach of his Prerogative Royal by debating publickly Matters which were above them Nevertheless having him at a pinch for Money they grew the bolder and hereupon drew up
of that desperate Faction which at every Election crept in among them they were reduced into a state not onely unpracticable and useless but dangerous to the Crown During this Twelve years interval the Faction now lay at lurch in City and Countrey â—retting and corroding in the bowels of the Government and collecting matter of new accusations against the King and his Ministers out of those extraordinary courses which the necessâ—ty they had forced on them compelled them to take for upholding the Government and which their Factions providence reâ—erved in mind on purpose to make use of whensoever time should bring a necessity upon the King to call another Parliament It was so at length that they contrived this necessity for they truck'd with the Scots and by corresponding there brought them into England in the Year 1639. which put the King to a great charge to raise an Army to oppose them But the matter being composed a Pacification was agreed on the Scots were to be paid a sum of Money and Money the King must provide for them So necessity at last made him call that fatal Parliament which began Novemb. 3. 1641. Which being met the Faction began now to work on his Majesty to purpose told him no Money was to be had but by borrowing and men would not credit them unless they could be sure the Parliament might fit long enough to repay it So by this means the King being desirous to rid away the Scots out of the Kingdom was wrought upon for raising the Money to pass that prodigious Act which enabled that Parliament to fit at Westminster as long as they pleased and so to do what they liâ—t Then you know how they used the King afterward for his kindness what strange things they did and to what Conclusion at length they came From whence arises this sharp Instruction for all succeeding Kings That while this Faction reigns upon the face of the Earth they takeheed of relying upon them in a time of the Crown 's necessity and of giving them opportunity by calling a new Parliament in hope of getting Money forasmuch as woful experience hath shâ—wn us they at such a time make it their business to ask not to give and never to leave asking till they come to be disposers both of the King and Kingdom This is it they would now be at and have fixed their Party for it all over the Nation to scuffle hard at new Elections So I suppose I have sufficiently cleared my Second Reason by ample Experiments that it cannot be for the King's advantage or safety in such a time as the present to part with this Parliament and call a new unless it were possible that a Leopard should change his spots or a Blackmore his skin or that this Mercurial Faction which is now by its Leaders and Drivers made more mad than ever for an opportunity should change its nature and become tame on a sudden and be fix'd in a greater honesty and kindness to this King than they were to his Grandfather and Father or in truth to the established Government and Interest of the Crown Credat Judaeus Apella Non ego 3. A Third Reason ariseth from the natural Temper and Constitution of the Party in respect of the Government He understands little that seeth not Presbytery to be the bottom of all that Bottom wherein we have seen embarquing many years unpreferred Clergy-men broken Factions cashier'd Courtiers guilty Officers by pocritical Citizens mistaken Zealots of both Sexes old Sinners but young Saints and their pedling Levites whose work it is from house to house to blow the Bellows round the Kingdom All which use to employ their Talents to draw in many of the honest-hearted Gentry though not into the same opinion with them in Religious matters yet to side and vote with them in their pretences of redressing publick Grievances reformation of Abuses removing or doing justice upon evil Counsellors and the like And with these charms they have been wont to hold many publick-spirited Countrey-Gentleman fast to their side till they have humbled the King the Court and all the Fast-friends of the Government and brought all to their bow they give them the slip into further proceedings they pull off their Visors shew their Faces and slie higher and higher till they top all that is above and tumble it down as they did of old often in Scotland and of late in England To that Malign Ulcer of Presbytery it is that most of the ill humours of the Kingdom flow because the Preshyterian is for some National Government of the Church though in such a way as is utterly inconfident with the Monarchy The reason of it is plain because it derives no Power from the King but pretends only from the King of Kings Christ yet would have a Secular Influence to Govern the Kingdom in their own Spiritual way which is by a Parity of Presbyters a Power purely Aristocratical directly contradistinct to the form of Monarchy to which the single Bishop only is agreeable because he arrogates not any influence in Government over the people but what he derives from the King Now then so it is that seeing some National Church-Government is that which must be and the Episcopal is that which is the Kings best hold and most firm to him therefore the 〈◊〉 and Leaders of present Quarrels being â—aln from all their interests in Court common Cunning tells them they must strike in with the men of the other Form to build new Fortunes upon the ruine of the Court and the Bishops if they mean to be great and Govern which cannot be more readily done than by becoming pretended Reformers of the old Government in the Church and by introducing a Church-Arisâ—ocracy into the room of it for if one be not the other must be and if so be they slip into the head of it they will never be without such a Conscience as will engage them to maintain it being men of a versatile principle So that when I view the Printed Lists of them me-thinks I already see Lords States or at least Twenty four Conserâ—ators that would be assisted by the Spiritual Aristocracy of a General Assembly for they reckon all is done if they can but come to tug for it in another Parliament This brings us to take notice of a Second Objection against their design of breaking off the Parliament which the projecting Polititiaâ—s seem to flight and 't is this That the Church and this Parliament will fall together 'T were but vain to write much more to shew the grand probability of it and of the debasement or ruine of this glorious Monarchy if the Faction can finish what they have projected But why is it that they utter'd and printed lately so mâ—ny severe Reâ—lections upon his Majesty and his Government Why hath this LETTER upon which I have here written these ANIMADVERSIONS made it its main scope to cast all the Odium of the evils therein pretended upon
and Statesmen and therefore concludes that Never any Countrey free like ours suffered any Standing Guards to be about their Prince The Guards it seems are great Blocks in the way of the Faction that the design cannot march on so fâ—st as they would have it His Lordship hath the wisdom of the â—olves in Aesop's Fables and would give us such Advice as if he took us all to be but Sheep silly enough to consent that the King should part with His Keepers and then the Faction knows how to HANDLE HIM without Mittens It was the fear of Faction and New Sedition that first set up these Guards and then both Parliament and People rejoyced in them as most needful for the safety of their Prince and his Government But now when FACTION is at the HEIGHT and BRAVES the KING to HIS FACE in HIS HIGHEST COURT in a MORE AUDACIOUS MANNER than at first THEY did HIS FATHER it is HIS LORDSHIPS OPINION the Guards should be taken off and then What shall hinder the Sheep from being brought to Slaughter The LETTER tells also what other strange Instances were Preached in the same House and selected out of the times of some weak Princes to shew that sometimes it can be no Traiterous Position to affirm That Subjects may take Arms against persons Commissioned by the King though the King be among them in Person What is this but to argue from particular Cases of extraordinary Contingency to Debauch men from Duties of ordinary Practice contrary to all Logick and Rule of Argumentation and from thence also to conclude 't is an Invasion of the Subjects Liberty to impose upon them an Oath to Swear for the Security and satisfaction of the King in a time of Publick danger and the visible Approches of Rebellion It tells us also how the Earl of Shaftsbury went on next to find fault wâ—th that Clause of the Oath of Test which obliges not to make any Alteration in the Church or State It seems not onely his Lordship but some others also were touched to the Quick by it and it was a sign of some Conscience in men to startle at an Oath to be taken against Alteration when nothing but Alteration is intended with an irreparable diminution of the Government both in Church and State as hath been manifested throughout this Discourse already First for the Church Who can judge otherwise when as the LETTER gives next an Account how the Earl of Shaftsbury in a Speech treated the Church some think he did it spightfully and that he was too Comically bold in reflecting upon the 39 Articles the Liturgy the Catechism the Homilies and the Canons All which were as the LETTER saith handled at large by his Lordship and To what end was it if not to make way for an Alteration in the Church and all her Concerns from the present Establishment His Lordship well knows 't is a little too dangerous for any man to Open his MOUTH yet a while against the King and the State That was not ventur'd on at first by the BOLD FELLOWS of 41. That comes of Course after the Faction hath been slusht with baiting of Bishops The Alteration of them is designed not too fierce at first but they will begin as their Old TUTORS did formerly by steps They of old did declare at first That THEY had No intent to let loose the Golden Reins of Discipline in the Church yet in a turn or two of the year they were so extravagant as to destroy it and introduce another and then Hell brake loose aginst the State as well as the Church There is so strict a Connexion and Dependence betwixt them that if you part with the one the other lies open to the next Assault and you shall part with it also Or if the least diminution befall the Episâ—opal Disâ—ipline and Government so as but tâ— qualifie the Bishops Dignity with an intermixture of Presbyters subordinate which I hear is the first part of the Design so much of an allay will by necessary consequence be given to the Crown Kingly Power and Interest For a Single Person Governing a Diocess is 1. More answerable in its Form to a Monarch and he knows nothing that knows not what a mighty Influence meer Form hath upon the very Minds of men and the Affairs of the World 2. The greater the Power and Dignity of the Bishop is the more able he will be upon all Occasions to Assist the Crown 3. He must also be the more ready because when single he will not be impeded by a Clog of Advices and Importunities of the cross-grain'd Brethren who by the Charm of well-acted Sanctimony which ever gains upon the Ignorant Vulgar will always be stealing away the Hearts of the People from him and consequently from the King because they will ever reckon themselves more obliged to follow Popular Patrons who will always be concerned to favour them more than the Bishop as Instruments more likely to serve Popular Ends. For these Reasons it will be the Crowns perpetual Interest to maintain the Episcopal Power entire and unmixt Give the Presbyter but an Inch and he will soon take an Ell. The natural Genius of the Faction is in Activity beyond the Jesâ—ites restless and proud as Lucifer and in hypocrisie as compleat and zealous as a Pharisee Who ever reads the Histories of Nations where they have had any thing to do will find this Character is true And for Fidelity to Kings I remember King James in his Basilicon Doron Believe me saith he who have tried them that you shall find more Faith among Highland Thieves and Robbers then in this Faction 'T is a true Serpent for if he can but get in his Head among the Bishops he will soon wind in his whole Body into the best share of Ecclesiastical Authority and as much as the Bishops lose is lost from the King whenever the Presbyters and their Patrons shall please to joyn Resolutions to dispute him There is one in the World understands this so well that he thinks it worth his while to spend whole Days and half Nights in Parliamentary Disputation against this Oath that so a Door may be kept open for some Alteration And if ever it comes which God forbid it may be ghessed what the Crown is like to get whenas the 29. Page of the LETTER saith The Lords against the Bill of Test were in no ways satisfied but plainly spoke out That Men had been might and were likely to be in either House too much for the King as they call'd it Which certainly was an odd saying to come out of the mouth of a Lord therefore I spare his Name But the LETTER is so crafty as to take another course for to make sure of their Lordships to the Faction it tells what this and that and t'other Lord said and how Wisely and Learnedly and Gallantly and Wittily every Lord of that Humour acquitted himself and sets down every one of their Names to the Accountâ— Though it be a questionable Point whether a Twelve-moneth hence any one Lord will think himself obliged for the Courtesie So I have done with that LETTER and leave the World to judge what he deserves who wrote it and what he who prepared the Materials and then supplied the Pen-Man with them As for the Publication of them it did put so high a Provocation upon both Houses of Parliament that they concurred in an Order which condemned it as it to be burnt by the Hangman And it was accordingly executed The Reviving oâ— it now at this time we judged most necessary to the end that a second Execution might be done upon it publickly by force of Reason as well as by Fire FINIS