Service these were his own words to the King another was preferr'd to the Command of the Lord Plymouth's Regiment I cannot but commend this Noblemans Ingenuity in owning the true Cause and not pretending as others Conscience and publick good for his motives But I am sorry he should forget not only the obligations of gratitude which he is under for his Bread and for his Honor but also who says Appear not wise before the King and give not Counsel unask'd He has learning enough to understand the meaning of in consilium non vocatus ne accesseris 'T is to be hop'd he may repent and 〈…〉 wit may be turn'd into Wisdom As for the D. of M I believe him perfectly drawn in by designing Politicians for ends of their own who never intended him more than as an useful Tool afterwards to be laâ—d aside 'T is no wonder that one of his Youth and Spirit shou'd be tempted with the Baits and Allurements of a Crown the splendor and gaity of Power has blinded many Elder men's understandings But that they never had him in their thoughts for K. appears from the Author of Plato Redivivus and indeed if they had they went the wrong way to work They shou'd not have engag'd him so far as to deserve his being turn'd out of his Command as General a Post that wou'd have best enabl'd him to seize upon and make good any pretence to the Crown after the death of his Majesty I am apt to believe his Grace is sorry for what is past I am certain it were his Interest to throw himself at the Kings Feet and quit the Counsels of those men who intâ—iegâ—â—ng for themselves puff him up with false hopes and yet sufficiently discover that nothing is farther from their hearts than his Exaltation or what is so much in their mouths publick service to the King and Country 'T is much better for him to be content with the second place in the Kingdom than by pretending to the first against all manner of reason and the obligations oâ— gratitude forfeit all his Fame and Honor Life and Fortune The Petition being already answer'd I will only observe that His Majesty intending to turn them out sent Mr. Secretary to the E. of E. for a List of the Papists he mention'd in the Guards But the Noble Peer had none to give but may be suppos'd to have taken the story upon hear say from some that had the malice to invent it And now must the Nation suffer themselves to be rid by any Faction because designing particular advantages they guild all with the specious pretences of Religion and Loyalty particular respect for the Church of England by opening her Doors to all Diâ—senters and for the Monarchy by clipping the Kings power to prevent the Papists Contrivances against his Person Examine whether the zealous sticklers for the Protestant Religion have any at all or if they have whether it be not as far from that Establish'd by Law as Popery Whether if the King wou'd grant their desires receive them into Offices and Power they wou'd not stand up in justification of the Court as fiercely as now they do the contrary What has been before may well be expected again He that considers this and that malice never spoke well of any will give the Factious little credit especially when against reason and sense they wou'd impose upon us that the King himself is in the Plot or as one the Members in a printed Speech tells the House The Plot is not so much in the Tower as in White-Hall there 't is to be search'd for and thâ—â—e to be found And all 〈…〉 noâ— unking himself and put his Crown into their hands and against Law his Coronation-Oath and brotherly affection pass the Bill of Exclusion to the prejudice of himself and the whole Kingdom This is not a single or private man's opinion but the judgement of the Supreme Tribunal of England the House of Lords where upon the first reading it was thrown out with the odds of 63 agâ—inst 31 for which reason their Lordships are call'd Masquerading Protestants Tories Papists or their adherents as if the Lords must not be allow d the priviledge the Commons take with any of their Bills without censure and affront But why for their Act must His Majesty be loyally libell'd and dispers'd It had been time enough one wou'd have thought to have call'd him Papist c. had he rejected the Bill after it had pass'd both Houses Oh! then who cou'd have doubted but his doing more against the Papists than any of his Predecessors had been promoting their Interest that his pardoning no man condemn'd nor stopping the execution of any Law against Recusants was making it no Ploâ— and that passing the Test was letting in Popery by whole-sale He that can believe these things is prepar'd for any thing to say a Lobster is a Whale or a Whale a Lobster that the Moon is a Green-Cheese and the Sun a round Plate of red hot Iron and then I presume it may not be decided whether we are Fools or Madmen Let us not idly and unjustly bely our Consciences and publish to the Nation and all the World that nothing can secure us against Popery but the shaking and alteration of the Monarchy by the Bill of Exclusion an Act in it self unjust and impolitick both for the King and People No man is to be punish'd expost-facto by the Laws of this and all other Countries Besides why shou'd the Duke more than any Fanatick of England be outed his Birth-right The Scripture says You must not do â—vil that good may come of it And Prudence will tell us That this an evil that must be attended with greater For the minute that it passes the Duke is at liberty to recover his Right by secret or open Viâ—lence Foreign or Domestick He is declar'd an Enemy and a Traytor condemn'd without Trial or Conviction This piece of injustice must be defended by an Assotiation or an Army this Army must be entrusted in the hands of the King or a General either may make himself Absolute and Arbitrary and therefore if people are now afraid of slavery from the Government what may then be their apprehensions And if they are jealous of the King what General will they find to entrust Those meanly skill'd in story know that Commanders of Armies have at pleasure subverted Commonwealths and Kingdoms Agathocles from being General became Tyrant of Syracusa Pisistratus of Athens Sforza of Millain the Medici of Florence the Caesars of Rome and not to go so far off Cromwel of the three Kingdoms Most of the Roman Emperors were dethrown'd by their Generals and therefore this cannot but make the King as unwilling as the People to entrust this great Power in any person And yet without such a trust the Act of Exclusion is not woth a straw nor with it can we be secur'd against Slavery whether the Duke conquer or be overcome The Duke
is in the Plot is a Papist and intends arbitrary Gâ—vernment Oh! ridiculous nonsensical fancy If â—he Plot be against his Person and Government and contriv'd by Rapists and among them as â—edlow has sworn none in England but have receiv'd the Sacrament upon 't and he be of the number he must joyn with others to cut his own throat stab shoot or poyson himself But her 's fome mystery in this pretty invention Charles Sâ—uart conspires against the King this imitating the Long Parliament in his Fathers time who fought for the King for his politick capacity against himself his Natuâ—al his Person But if he were a Papist wou'd he have pass'd into Laws every Bill tender'd him by both Houses as well before as since this Plot in their disfavour and yet we know one of the godly Party was lately fin'd 500 l for saying The Duke of York was a Papist and the King little better a saying no longer minc'd nor whisper'd but now loudly and plainly spoken every day Cou'd he have been wrought to a change of Religion in the time of his banishment he had not withstood the offers of foreign Princes and the solicitations of a fond Mother to reinstate him in his own Dominions with absolute arbiâ—rary power But he was too much a Christian and too good a King not to prefer continuance in exile to the designs of enslaving his Subjects either in their souls or in their bodies Must he now in an Age desirous of rest and quiet be upâ—raided with such purposes that had resolv'd against them in the heat of his youth the great spur of ambition Now when to compass this wicked and ridiculous project is as impossible as before it was the contrary when after his restoration besides foreign assistance offer'd at any rate and to any purpose he had an obsequious General a victorious Fleet and Army and a Parliament whose zeal and devotion seem'd in nothing to be bounded but by the limits of his own pleasure when to the immense treasure he was possest of bestow'd among his people with equal bountyâ—s it was given he might have added vastly by the confiscations of more than half the Estates and Wealth of the three Kingdoms But instead of this he often press'd his Parliament to expedite the Act of Oblivion disbanded his Army and enlarg'd the Fleet by making one Squadron of more value than all three in the time of Queen Eliz. disabl'd in all his Dominions without exception all Papists from bearing any Office Civil or Mititary Has he not pass'd the Bill exclâ—ding for ever all Popish Lords out of the House â—o which his Father cou'd never be perswaded Has he not like wise curtaylâ—d the Royal power by two other Acts that of the Habeas Corpus and against Quartering of Souldiers Three Statutes for which he might have had as many Millions had he insisted on a bargain or known how to distinguish between his own private Interest and that of the subject or the truckling way of Bartering when the gâ—od of his people was concern'd Why did he but for the sake of the Protestant Religion refuse the elder Daughter of the Crown to the Dauphin of France and marry her to the Prince of Orange And this without putting his Parâ—iament to the charge of a â—ortion or a much greater Sum which they wou'd have gladly given had he made the proposition And no other cou'd be the motives of recalling his Troops from France raising an Army for the defence of the Netherlands at the expence of above 200000 l. more than was given and his prohibiting Trade with that Crown These things put a stop to the progress of that victorious King's Arms occasionâ—d his quitting Mâ—ssina and clapping up a general peace when he was just at the point of his propos'd Conquest If our Prince intended an arbitrary Government why besides his former neglecting the opportunity wou'd he disable himself for the future by parting with one of the greatest instruments for that purpose the Court of wards and Liveries Tenures in Capite and Knight-Service purvevance c. And what did he receive for this excess of bounty for the chiefest and most useful flower of the Crown but a trifle a feather half the Excise not above a fourth of the others yearly value And after all this Knaves invent and Fools believe he is now â—etting up for Tyranny and Popery when his years are past the heat of ambition his Coffers empty France disoblig'd and his own people alarm'd and bent against it with all imaginable resolutions of oppsition Can any man imagine that a person who disarms himself intends to fight Besides What one Illegal Arbitrary Act has he done in his twenty years Reign Whom has he defrauded of an Ox or an Ass of life or possession Where has he in any one instance invaded magna charta our Rights Properties or Liberties What Bill tender'd by Parliament for the security of our Lives or Fortunes has he rejected He pass'd all without exception As for the Bill for intrusting the Parliament with the Militia for a limited time reason then and experience since has prov'd it was a needless encroachment on the Royal Prerogative without the least prospect of publick good and to have parted with thaâ— power but for a moment was for so long to unking and divest himself of a power he cou'd not be certain wou'd be ever restor'd As he has freely pass'd all Laws has he not as chearfully offer'd to enact any thing that was agreable to Justice and Reason for our further security in Religion Liberty and Property From these considerations nothing will appear more vain and idle than our Fearâ— and Iealousies our Factious and Seditious reflections on the Government I will not say without great caution but we may run into those very things we so much dread and wou'd avoid Popery and French Government or which is equally destructive of our Birth-rights and Happiness Presbytery and a Commonwealth This will be no groundless surmise if we look back and observe that the Leav'n against the establish'd Constitution both in Church and State has sowr'd almost the whole lump the poyson of Presbytery formerly known by the name of Puritanism hatch'd at Franâ—ford and Geneva grown to a head in Scotland with the Reformation has infected the generality of the Kingdom the common Traders and Dwellers in Cities and Corporations and the unthinking and illiterate part of the Gentry with hatred against Monarchy and the Church of England This was certainly the invention of Rome to overthrow us by thus sowing Divisioâ—s they well foresaw our Kingdom and Church in it self divided cou'd not long stand All the Antimonarchical Principles are the same in both the one as well as the other deny Supremacy in the King the Iesuiâ— will have the Pope and the Presbyter Iesus his Head King-killing and Depoâ—ing Dâ—â—trine is disown'd by all honest Papists as the Author even of Plâ—tâ— Rediâ—iâ—â—â— doeâ— confess tho'
though his Lordship was not out of London I have not heard before that Sir Samuâ—l Morlâ—nds Speaking Trumpet cou'd convey a voice a hundred Miles distance But this is nothing with our True Protestant Intelligencer B. H. who printed an Address from the City of Colchester that never was seen nor presented by any of the Inhabitants as by an Instrument under the Town-Clarks hand does plainly appear But though Swearing be Lying is not against the interest or practice of the Godly the Presbyterian true off-spring of the Ignatian Fathers who out do them in the Doctrin of Piâ— Fraudes as well as in all other their immoral and Antimonarkick Principles And now considering that none that have any thing to loose can ever get by a Rebellion and that there is no just pretence for one our Liberties and Properies not being broken or invaded the Rich unless they are mad will never begin and yet with or without their assistance a Rising of Iack Cade or Wat Tyler instigated by greater persons will but inlarge the Regal Power and enrich the Crown And for these and many more reasons I look upon the Threats or Fears of Rebellion as idle and vain as our Jealousies and Apprehensions of Popery never possible in England but by a Civil War since their numbers here are but as one to 230. and by an exact calculation in the three Kingdoms the whole number of Papists is but as one to 205. non Papists and their wealth and possessions is not one to 300. If their power had been so terrible they wanted not since the Plot provocaâ—ions to make us feel as well as hear on 't But these noises are like Armies in disguise at Knights-bridge and Regiments of Horse hid in Cellars under ground and blowing up the Thames to drown London artifices formerly us'd to draw in the easie and the credulous But 't is to be presum'd the same trick will not pass twice upon us in one and the same Age while the bleeding wounds of the last are still so fresh in our memories To remedy and compose our present madness and distractions and prevent future evils must without doubt be the hearty endeavor of all honest men who expect this will be a healing Parliament that will make up all our breaches and unite our divisions by the methods of prudence and discretion weighing the true causes and applying fit remedies without regard to faction or interest heat or passion refâ—ecting how unreasonable it is to suspect in the King or his Ministers any design of introducing Popery and Arbitrary Government a malicious and idle invention set on foot with purpose to enflame the Kingdom by men who were outed or desirous of Court-Imployments disoblig'd Persons or French Pensioners That the Bill of Exclusion is not like to pass either the Lords House or the King because in it self unâ—ust impolitick and dangerous not only to the Prince but to the Subject That all other legal ways for preventing Popery and Presbytery are to be taken by those who design the preservation of the establish'd Monarchy and Religion That this is already or may with case be secur'd against the attempts or power of any Popish Successor That our fears in this point are groundless and at best founded upon accidents that may never happen That 't is the highest Imprudence to run into real present to avoid possible future evils That innovations of this sort wou'd be against the Princes interest who having not a 4 th part of the Revenue necessary for the support of the Crown must be under a necessity of complying with 〈…〉 Parliament and that his temper practice and Declarations secure us against impositioâ— of this nature That it be consider'd whether the unquiet apprehensions from the Plot may not be laid by a speedy and impartial tryal and execution of all the accus'd and convicted and the Kings after granting a general pardon with such exceptions as have been usual The doing this will beget a right understanding between the King and his people defeat the contrivances of our adversaries restore us to peace and quiet at home and rescue 〈◊〉 â—â—om contempt and danger abroad and make the Naâ—â— of Parliament as famous and renown'd as some Libellers endeavour to make it base and odious How this to be compass'd you your selves are deservedly made the Judges and therefore I will not like the foolish Orator 〈◊〉 Hannibal the Art of War Fiat Iustitia â—uat Câ—lâ—â— FINIS