sport of Mousing they will ever be lovers of a Commonwealth and enemies to Monarchy This is plain from former as well as later proceedings since the discovery of the Popish Plot when they began to shew themselves in their proper colours when they cry'd not only the Court but the Church was Popish and all that are for the establish'd Government You cannot now be loyal unless you be factious nor a Protestant if no Presbyterian But pray observe none tell you this but the spawn of those seduc'd or concern'd in the late Rebellion men turn'd out or that wou'd get into Court-Imployments that account themselves slighted or disoblig'd men of great Ambition or of desperate Fortunes who make all this noise and clutter to be taken off To what purpose else did the late House of Commons make the Vote against the bargain or hopes of Court-preferment but that such a design was driving between some leading Members and Courtiers Can they after such a discovery pretend zeal for Religion and the good of their Countrey For shame let not Faction and private Interest make men forgetful of the publick of the peace and quiet of the Nation Let them secure our Constitutions against the encroachments or invasions of any whether Presbyter or Papist and remember that the most forward in the Long Parliament were soon turn'd out by others and because what is Sawce for a Goose is Sawce for a Gander this of course will be the fate of those who now glory in being Ringleaders of Faction to thwart and oppose their Sovereign Nay it may possibly be worse the Gentlemen the Knights of the Shires may be kick'd out by Mechanicks by Citizens and Burgesses for he that practiseth Disobedience to his Superiours teacheth it to his Inferiours Sir W. I. Sir F. W. Collonel T. c. all know were disoblidg'd and if taken into favour the Employments and Honours they covet wou'd stand up for the Court as much as now they do against it Whether the Petitioning Lords be not of the same temper will best appear from the story of every single person One of them has the humour convey'd with 's Bloud His Father was a Gentleman that appear'd zealous in the long Parliament for the good of his Countrey the first that brought in the complaint of Ship-money But soon after when he was made a Lord and a Courtier he chang'd notes and sung another song no man more for the Monarchy in its defence he lost his life and at his death publickly repented his actings against the Earl of Strafford His Son was made an Earl upon the Kings return sent Ambassador Abroad and Lord Lieutenant into Ireland to get this Command be dispis'd not the Courtship and assistance of Coll. T. though a R. C. and a Creature of his R. H. to whom he made no slender professions not being satisfied with gaining vastly in that Station five years he grew peevish in hopes of being sent the second time nay rather than fail he is content to be Commissioner of the Treasury in hopes that by the Courtship and Interest of some Women no matter what Religion they are of he may come to be Lord Treasurer But not like to gain the White Staffe and perhaps not caring to govern an empty Exchequer he bent his thoughts again towards Ireland slighting the Treasury he is outed and grows more discontented and at last turn'd out of Council the next day he repeats a Speech of E. of S. his making and unask'd presents a piece of Councel and Advice to his Soveraign pretending as a Peer it was his duty I am sorry his zeal made him forget that Peers have no right of advising the King but when he makes them of his Council or by Writ Summons 'em to Parliament And what 's very odd he advises just the contrary to what he and the other Noble E. had done the year before when Courtiers This Noblemans Life wou'd make a Comical History he knows how to put on all shapes and in the late times was not ignorant how to make an Apple-tree supply the place of a Pulpit he knew how to serve himself in all turns and changes and he has not fail'd since 1640. to have been often out and in with the several Higher Powers To give him his due he is a man of extraodinary parts but if one of these Lords said true when he was a Courtier and the other newly remov'd they are all fitted and turn'd for confounding and amusing but not for extricating out of difficulties He wants not Wit to hold forth in the House or in the open Air upon occasion nor is he meanly Skill'd in the Methods of Court-Pleasures as well as Business He must have an ill memory that forgets who advis'd the breaking of the Triple-League and making an Alliance with France and a War with Holland pronouncing in the Language of the Beast Delenda est Carthago that a Dutch Commonwealth was too near a Neighbour to an English Monarch the shutting up the Exchequer the granting Injunctions in the case of the Bankers and lastly the sourse of all of our present misfortunes the general Indulgence These things being found of ill consequence and the Ministers remov'd as designers of Popery Presbytrie Atheism or Irreligion Arbitrary or French Govermnent must any of such Principles assoon as turn'd out of Court be receiv'd into the Countrey as if these two had different Interests Whoever say there is more than one Common-weal in both are Deluders and Incendiaries and Betrayers of the Nation Those that strive to divide the King and his people are to be look'd upon as pensioners of France and to be most severely punish'd There are that can tell Tales what Great man since the Plot offer'd a Reconciliation with the D. and for a Restoration to his former Power and Greatnesse wou'd be his servant to all intents and purposes But the D. cou'd not be perswaded one that had as often chang'd Parties as Proteus his shapes and the Chamaelion his Colours cou'd be true to any Interest but his own and therefore rejected his many Messages on this subject Another Peer whose Son is in the Lower House is the great Tribune of the people wou'd have had a Dukedom added to the Garter to make both Sing to another Tune A fourth wou'd fain be a Privy Councellor in Reversion A fifth not long since at any rate of purchase wou'd have been Master of the House to the Duke Strange that a Protestant Lord shou'd think of serving a suppos'd Popish Prince and after hope though thus mounted on Horseback to get to Heaven It wou'd be tedious to give particular accounts of all only by the way observe that a Young Lord newly come to Age own'd himself to his Majestie Disoblig'd because after a Voyage to Tangier his great Valour there shown And spending his youth in his Princes Service these were his own words to the King another was preferr'd to the Command of the Lord
King in the Three Kingdoms to fight his Quarrel and if he comes in by force he may well use us as a conquer'd Nation break our old and give us what Laws and Religion he pleases Whereas if we attempt no such thing we shall not run the hazard of a CIVIL WAR the King being as likely to out-live as to be out-lived by His Brother If he shou'd chance to succeed peaceably he cannot be presum'd to offer any alteration in Religion so much against his Interest and who never forwarded any in his own Family suffers his Children to continue in the Church of England knowing that Christianity forbids compulsion for its propagation To say he wou'd be priest-ridden is ridiculous why he more than the French King who openly opposes the Popes Usurpation and assumes to himself the cognizance even of Church-affairs This is but a pretence to impose upon the ignorant and the credulous if there be not Laws enough already new ones may be made to prevent any such intention When all Offices and power are in the hands of Anti-papists I cannot see where can be our danger But this if granted wou'd not be all the Monarchy is hereby made elective and the possessor may as well be remov'd as the successor debarr'd In order to this is there not a History of the Succession publish'd shewing that the Monarchy is rather elective than hereditary Of which here I will only say that the Writer is a notorious Plagiary and steals all out of a seditious Book writ on the same Subject by Parsons the Jesuite under the Name of Doleman in Queen Elizabeths time with design of distracting the people and making way for a Spanish Conquest and Inquisition the Presbyterian Transcriber proves himself of the same Jesuitical principles and with equal honesty pursues the same ends Usurpation and Slavery 'T is not to be doubted but that there has been frequent interruptions of the Succession of the Crown but no title but that of the Sword was ever put in ballance with proximity of bloud and he that will oppose Fact to Right is very unjust and argues not upon the principles of Morality nor the Laws of Nations Much such another good Christian is the Writer of The appeal to the City who tels us if we set up a King with none or a crack'd title we shall have the better Laws and instances that Richard the 3d. an Usurper a Murderer and a Tyrant made excellent Statutes But he might had he been just have found the Laws of that King outdone by those of our present Soveraign whose title none can question And yet it is not unreasonable to suspect a design on foot of subverting the Monarchy if it be consider'd that the passing the Bill against the Duke will not alone satisfie his adversaries who further expect that all those now firm to the King be remov'd and their trust put into considing hands and thus when they had him in their own power it wou'd be no hard matter to act their pleasure The Speech disown'd by the protestant Lord and burnt by the Hangman a fate the Author does certainly deserve tells us in plain English We must have a Change and a King we may trust and well affected Counsellors with much more treasonable and seditious stuff These things and the frequent mentioning the fates of Edw. 2. Rich. 2. and Hen. 6. cannot but alarm his Majesty and restrain him from ever complying with such persons against his only Brother He has so often affirm'd the Bill shou'd never pass that he cannot now without diminution of his own honour as well as safety alter his well-grounded resolution taken upon the sense of conscience and duty the present and future good of himself and people An act that wou'd be the highest violation of Magna Charta that ordains none shou'd be put by his birthright and inheritance but by the Law of the Land and legal process And therefore I hope what cannot be suppos'd will be granted will no longer be insisted on lest the consequences prove fatal One thing I cannot but admire that the Duke shou'd be absolutely excluded on supposition of being a papist for otherwise he is allow'd by all a Prince of incomparable vertues and endowments leaving no room for enjoying his right in case he become Protestant Do they suppose an alteration of opinion impossible that 's false and foolish There are instances of men that have changed often and to mention no more the Dukes Grandfather Hen. 4. twice alter'd his opinion Besides it is unjust and contrary to their own practice for L. Br. was an imprison'd Plotter but as soon as he became a Convert without further process or tryal he was innocent and acquitted We do in this exceed the Papists in France and condemn our Protestant Ancestors and all others abroad who accus'd them as Antichristian and Rebellious for opposing their lawful King Hen. 4 on the score of Religion for the Parisians lov'd his person and stood upon no other condition than his turning Papist to receive him for their Soveraign as all the other R. C's of that Kingdom had done before And therefore I very much suspect we are grown weary of Monarchy and with an inconstancy natural to Islanders affect a Change tho' for the worse To this I am induc'd by many Reasons and not a little from a Protestant Lords Speech the last Sessions That the people of Athens were so fond of good King Codrus that they resolv'd to have none after him But to attempt this piece of folly and wickedness will inevitably embroyl us in a Civil War And of that the event is so uncertain that we ought to dread the loss of all by striving to enlarge our present liberties This madness ordinary prudence will carefully avoid because in all probability the King must get the better his condition is not like his Fathers He has standing Troops which the other wanted to Guard his Person he has the Militia in his own hands he has no Scotch nor Irish Rebellion to divide or distract his Forces and above all he has the Parliament in his own power to let them Sit or no Sit at his pleasure and their good behaviour And 't is happy he has this power to secure himself from popular jury at this time especially when whatever the Papists have done we daily see others run into Clubs and Cabals distinguishing themselves by Green Ribbans by general Committees and Sub-committees where all Transactions of Parliament are first design'd and hammer'd Collections made a Common Pursue manag'd and Agents employ'd in every County to prepare and influence the people write and disperse false News Libels against the Government Addresses made and sent into every Shire and Burrough and if the Members do not go down to their Elections they can Print for them such Speeches as serve their purpose Witness one my Lord Vaughan spoke at his election though his Lordship was not out of London I have
as false and damnable But 't is justified both by Books and Practice of the whole Presbyterian party 't is so plain and fresh in our memories I need not instance in the Authors St. Peter's Chair is not more Infallible than that of an Assembly of Presbyters in a National Classis or Synod Men of these Antichristian Principles stirr'd up the Late Rebellion and being active and diligent drew in many unwary honest men beyond the power of retreating Did not the Faction here tamper in Scotland where the promoters of the Covenant that Godly instrument apply'd to the Crown of France for protection as appears by the Letter found with the Lord Lowden therefore sent to the Tower But what was the issue of this Contrivance but Confusion and Misery through the three Kingdoms the Presbyterian party over-power'd by the Independents and these again by the Army a Commonwealth set up and soon after turn'd into a perfect Tyranny under Oliver Cromvel after more money had been illegally squeez'd from the Subjects by Ordinances and Loans Sequestrations and Decimations Excise and other Impositions than was ever known before or since The people weary call home their Prince who by an excess of mercy and clemency sparing to root up men of these Principles gave way to their infecting others with the same humour of discontent 'T is to be observ'd that the year 1535. is remarkable for the Geneva Reformation and the spawning of the Jesuits Order and that our unlucky home-bred Divisions were fomented if not first set on foot under hand by directions from the Court of France as well as from Rome the Interest of that State as well as of the Church depending on our Distractions to which end Richlieu that great Minister imploy'd many Pensioners into Scotland as did after his Successor Mazarine in England And therefore there is nothing more inconsiderate than to think we are not now acting and promoting French-Designs 't is their businesse to divide us and yet so to manage the Ballance that they let neither the King nor Parliament have the better or ever come to a Right understanding They can no otherwise obtain the Western Empire and 't is directly against their Interest ever to suffer England to be either a perfect Monarchy or an absolute Common-wealth Those that roar most against French Councils and Measures under-hand-bargains and agreements between both the Kings know they bely their own Conscience and that the French have us in the last degree of contempt This the E. of D. printed in his own vindication perhaps not ignorant that some of their Ministers did in the year 1677. and 78. before the breaking forth of the Plot declare That Monsieur L. had greater Interest and more Friends in England than the D. of Y. That the K. had need be on his Guard for he was in great danger of running the same risque with his Father when it was likewise enquir'd What Interest among the People two great Peers had who have since the Plot been the great Pillars of the Protestant Religion tho neither was ever reputed to have any were Ministers and Advisers in 1670. and 71. very good Friends to France and Popery Enemies to the Triple Alliance and to Holland c. It was also said That 300000 l. a year bestow'd in Scotland and England among the Factious and Discontented wou'd better serve the Interest of France than any Bargain they cou'd drive with the Ministers 'T is too well known that the greatest of these two Noblemen made a secret journey into France some weeks before the Plot after some private Transactions here with others among whom were Sir E. L. fam'd for Religion for Morality Major W. and H. N. as notorious for the same perfections and their love of Monarchy and hatred of a Commonwealth nor did A. S. want his Share in the Consultation a stout assessor of Prerogative witness'd by his and others living out of this Kingdom ever since the Kings Restauration untill they saw some likelyhood of a change the one returning about the time the D. of B. and the other Lords were in the Tower and the other a few months before the breaking forth of the Popish Conspiracy which no sooner came before the Parliament than some of the great Lords of the Committee for the Examination of the Plot kept their Consultations and manag'd much of that affair at Wallingford-House Major W. their Secretary where they concluded to take hold of this opportunity for the carrying on some long-hatched Designs of their own Nor is it to be forgotten that in June before a Letter was writ by an eminent person of the Faction and can be now produced That very shortly somewhat wou'd be discover'd that wou'd prevent our much longer walking in the dark and that one of the greatest Lords sent to an Astrologer to know whether he was not in a short while to be in the head of 60000 men The methods agreed upon in France and pursu'd here were to make a Court and Countrey-party to sow and disperse Jealousies between both and widen the Gap with all possible Devices which resolutions some here were the sooner induc'd to embrace upon this consideertion That they should not live to see the issue and were unconcern'd for what shou'd come after But yet I am too charitable to think if we have any French Agents at home they are impos'd upon by their own unwariness and the others cunning to act rather against than with their knowledge a part so much contrary to the Interest of England and the Duty of a Christian But however it be I am morally assur'd we are doing their work and if we are not Knaves and Pensioners we are Block-heads or Fools that are blind and besorted like men prepar'd for Destruction Quos Jupiter perdere vâ—lt hos dementat If any one talk thus he is presently call'd a Papist and a Tory every true Son of the Church of England and Loyal Subject is Branded with Nick-names and run down by Noise and Faction and he that opposes Popery if he defends not Presbytry is but a Protestant in Masquerade if he commends Monarchy and our Legal Constitutions to the discredit of a Commonwealth he is a Rascal a Villian and a dangerous person not considering that we are made Tools and Instruments for French purposes betray'd by their Cunning and Adresse to forward and act with our own hands our Slavery and Ruine Shall we be still blind and deaf to reason and demonstration Can we not reflect upon the French double-dealing in our late Civil Distractions and remember what the Lord Keeper Puckering tells the Parliament in Q Elizabeth's days That the Puritans even at the time of the Spanish preparations for Invasion were urging and pressing intestine Commotions where he largely sets forth their being as dangerous to the Crown and Mitre as the others and therefore that both were to be equally suppress'd Papists and Puritans I cannot find that either have since