meritorious to promote their Religion without regard had to the way or means of effecting it though it be by Butchering their King Murthering Father or Children prostituting their Wife or overthrowing the Government Be it never so unnatural or repugnant to Gods Commands and agreeable to these two are all the rest of their Principles So that I would fain see how it is possible to live in quiet with a People whose Religion obliges them to destroy all Converse or Humane Society to Murther their Neighbours Assassinate their King and Subvert the Government when it is in their Power for my part I cannot see how they can or are fit to live but with People of their own Faith and belief Brutes and Christians can never live and Converse together for none but Men of their Principles can live in safety with them And agreeable to their Principles has been their Practice all along What Rebellion or to use their own word Commotions have we had but their hand has been chiefly in it I know they would cast the Odium of the late Wars upon the Presbyterians they may well be afforded to lye for their Cause who will do every thing else for it though never so Inhumane or Unnatural they may well deny that Plot when they have the Impudence to deny this and to cast this also upon the Presbyterians but why should they not lye in these cases whose Religion is a Lye But it 's very well known who began the Late War there is no Man but is sensible that the Papists carryed on the business against the Scots It is too notorious that a great Woman imployed her Agents to the Papists to incourage them to contribute to that Work I 'll not name her because of the Act of Oblivion and besides She is dead I believe every one knows who I mean The Papists have renounced the Government they have forfeited the Benefit they might have by the Laws in that they will not take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy or when they do swallow them it is with such Mental Evasions that they don't think themselves to be obliged or bound by them which in effect is a denying them and what are these two Oaths but a reasonable Security that the Government requires them and all others to give and he that denyes to assure the Government that he will to the best of his power maintain it does in plain English acknowledge another power and that when he has an opportunity he will do his best to destroy this and bring in that Is that Government obliged to preserve them who will destroy it Are they to have any benefit of the Laws who will not obey them They have renounced the Government they have denyed the Kings Authority and therefore they are to be used as Enemies to both and then what severity is it to banish such People For what must we do It 's plain that whilest they are here we shall never be in quiet there is something in their Religion that obliges them to be unquiet for what reason had they at this time to plot or disturb us had not they all things at Hearts-ease they cannot expect to be in so good a condition if they had a Prince of their own choosing they were free from all chargeable and troublesome Imployments and Offices their Estates were not burdened with the Forfeitures due by Law an easie hand was layed upon them and the way to preferment was by being of their Religion they had got into almost all the profitable Imployments they were above and we below they had what they desired and yet all this would not do But if this be too much then let us do with them as the Children of Israel did with the Gibeonites they had made a League with them that they should live amongst them but least they might do them harm They made them Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water Joshua 9. notwithstanding the League And if the Papists must live amongst us let us give their Estates to the King to ease our own and reduce them to such a Condition that since they will not live at peace with us let us put it out of their power to hurt us If they must live amongst us and have their Estates I shall humbly propose that we may know them let them wear a particular Habit or carry some Mark whereby they may be distinguish't from the rest of the Nation In Rome the Whores wear a peculiar Garb In the time of a Plague we set a Mark upon the House that is Infected and shall these People have none who are the Pest of the Land it 's to them that we owe all our Disquiet and let us know how to avoid them I cannot think of any other way how to be secure against them we have no great benefit by convicting of them kissing goes so much by favour and they are so tender a place that this Man and the other is pickt out to be exempted from the Penalty of the Law there is such Picking that few are left These are my Thoughts and if any thing I have proposed may be of use I am very glad of it if not I hope I shall have your Pardon for troubling of you A SPEECH OF THE CORRUPTION OF THE JUDGES THere is not under the Sun a better if so good a Government as ours But the best constituted Government in the World is subject to one great fatality and that is whatever benefit we have by the Laws at least most of the Priviledges we enjoy by it depend upon the Will and pleasure of those who are to see to the execution of the Laws For Laws that are not put in execution are vain and empty things signifying nothing for Execution is the Life of the Law and without that they are a dead Letter Laws unexecuted are not far unlike to a Gun which if rightly used is a Weapon of great defence but otherwise of no great use and if it be charged it may do much mischief unless it be levelled at the right mark So our Laws if they are not executed what advantage arises to us more than from a wast paper And if they are made use of yet if they are not directed to their proper end they may hurt those they ought not So that it is out of doubt that they who are intrusted with the execution of the Laws it is an indispensable duty incumbent on them that they take care not only that the Laws be duly put in execution but also that they pursue their proper end and design in short that neither the Innocent be condemned nor the guilty acquitted Therefore the execution of the Law is so clear and undoubted a right of every Subject that no power whatever can dispense with it And they whose Duty it is to see it done if they either pervert or hinder the Law from having its course are highly criminal and ought to be called to a strict account
or have said that within such a time there will be a change or any other thing that tends to disturb the Government you ought to present it If any Parson or Vicar not having taken the Oaths has officiated at his Benefice since the 2d of Feb. last you ought to present them for it is as much an offence in them to officiate when they have not qualified themselves as if they had never been presented and their contempt is very great Gentlemen Tho I have not mentioned any other parts of your business yet I know you will not neglect them that which I have spoke to does so immediately concern us that I thought it necessary to inlarge upon it And since God has so wonderfully delivered us we could never answer it if we do not our parts for if we perish through our own neglect our blood lyes at our own doors and we deserve the burial of an Ass if we dye like Fools but I trust we shall not nor do I suspect you will be remiss in your parts and therefore I will trouble you no further but dismiss you to your business and I pray God direct you in it A Persuasive to UNION UPON King JAMES's Design to Invade England in the Year 1692. PEace in a Nation is like Health to a Natural Body whose Value is not sufficiently known but by the want of it God Almighty is wonderfully gracious to this Land not only in continuing to us the Blessing of Peace but teaching us the Worth of it by letting us see the Nations round about us at War and groaning under all the miserable Effects of it whilest it is kept at a distance from us and we are only at some Expence which is unavoidable all Circumstances considered unless we will submit to that Monster the French King and indeed God has done so many and great things for us that nothing is wanting to compleat our Happiness but our selves Of all the Mercies this Nation has lately receiv'd I think our Deliverance from King James was none of the least if it be a Mercy to be deliver'd from Popery and Slavery That we were in great danger of it I think 't was very evident from what we had suffer'd and King James had apparently further design'd to do had he been let alone a little longer for his Government was become so exorbitant that Men of all Persuasions many of the Papists not excepted did think his Yoak intollerable and that it was highly just to be relieved against his Oppression For when the Prince of Orange Landed there was scarcely any Man that appear'd for King James nay a great many of his Army deserted him which coldness and neglect could not probably proceed from any thing so much as from the ill opinion they had of his Cause Now if any that were then so indifferent and passive have now conceived a better opinion of him it may well be suspected that a particular pique or some sinister byass guided their Motion at that time and if so it 's no matter what side they are on for those who are govern'd in such Cases by any thing but a publick principle are easily turn'd about by every breath of Air. Nor can I imagine what can give any Man a better opinion of King James than he had of him before he went into France the only place as he says he could retire to with safety considering how improbable it is that any instructions which that Tyrant may give him will make him less inclined to Popery and Arbitrary Power I suppose it is no news to you that King James did lately intend to Land with a French Force I am persuaded that most people believe it they that don't may as well doubt whether there was a Gun-powder Plot for it is as plain as a thing of that nature can be which has not actually taken effect and it is as certain that he and those his good friends had been here several weeks since had they not been kept back by those Easterly Winds which continued so long Yet that did not break their measures it only delay'd the matter for at last they were ready to put all things on Board but were happily prevented by the wonderful Success of our Fleet for which the Name of the great God be prais'd The defeating of their design is a Mercy never to be forgotten for no design that we know of that was ever form'd against this Nation could be more bloody and destructive than this would have been For King James in his Declaration does expressly say That his intent is to spend the remainder of his Reign as he has always design'd since his coming to the Crown These words speak a great deal of Comfort to England for they cannot mean less than what he has already done When he took the Customs against Law Carried on Sham-plots by his countenance and bribery to destroy honest and worthy Men When he bereaved the Corporations of their Liberties and Franchises When he turn'd out Judges for acting according to their Consciences and filling the Benches with the Raff of the Gown When he avowedly set up Popery and erected publick Chapels in all parts of the Kingdom When he placed notorious Papists in the Seat of Justice and brought a Jesuit into his Councels which was more than any Popish Prince but himself ever did When he set up a High Commission When he set up in Time of Peace a numerous Army to the Terror of his Subjects and allowed so little for their Quarters as it amounted to little less than Free-quarter When he assumed a Dispensing Power and declared he would be obey'd without reserve These and a great many other Irregularities were the product of his Reign and it is not very probable that he is brought to a better temper by any thing that he has seen or learnt by his Conversation with the French King and it is as little probable that King would have treated him as he has done had he discover'd in King James any disposition to govern more mildly and reasonably for the future How much he is influenced to the contrary is very evident by designing to bring in the French upon us the people of all others this Nation ought most to dread â—n some Histories they are called the Old Enemy of England and very truly may be called the irreconcilable Enemy of England For who ever looks into Story will find that France has occasiond more trouble to England than all the World besides nay there has scarcely been any ill design against the Nation but France has had a hand in it as if their very Climate did necessitate them to be at Enmity with us If any of our Kings has design'd to enslave us they have entred into a Confederacy with France as the People of all others most likely to serve their purpose and it has always gone ill with England when our Kings have made an intimate friendship with the French
affirm that ours is perfect in comparison of any other Government in the World for if we consider those Nations that have Parliaments that Assembly is of little or no use to the People but to pass into Laws the Edicts of their King But God be praised our Parliament is of far greater use and advantage to us for there it is that our Grievances are redressed and Laws that by process of time are become useless or burthensome are repealed and new and profitable Laws and Statutes are made and in a word Barliaments to our Neighbours are their Burden but our great Happiness Secondly All manner of Taxes and Impositions are laid upon the People at the Will and Pleasure of the King But we can have no Tax imposed upon us but by our Consent in Parliament and there is this peculiar to us from the rest of the World That no English-man can be taxed for his Hand-labour whereas in other Countries and especially France every man pays for what he gets by his Labour In France every Labourer pays two parts of three to the King as if he get Six pence in a day Four pence is paid immediately to the King's Officer Thirdly In other Countries War and Peace is made by the King without consulting the People and they are chargeable to that War tho' made without their Consent or against their Interest So it is with us our King has the sole power of making War and Peace but the Sinews of War is in the People I mean Money and that they cannot part with but with our own Consent And although the Matter of War and Peace is an Arcanum Imperii and that no man as some say may pry into it save they to whom the King is pleased to communicate it Yet I conceive in this our Government where the People are so essential a part of it that they ought to be satisfied with the Ground and Reason of the War before they make themselves chargeable to it and the People are not bound to support every War that the King may engage in for methinks it 's all the reason in the World that a Man should be satisfied with the Cause before he part with his Money and I think that Man is very unworthy of the Honour to serve his Country in Parliament who shall give away the Peoples Money for any other thing but what shall be effectually for the good and advantage of the People and Nation Fourthly The Estates and Goods are taken from the People without assigning a Reason of it but only that it is the Mind of the King to have it so But here no Man can be deprived of his Estate or Goods but by due course of Law for Possession is that the Law is very tender of But although some say That the King's Commission may not be resisted in any case whatsoever I shall not argue that point because this is not a proper time for it and I hope we shall never have occasion to try it if it ever should happen I 'll lay the Blame at the door of his Ministers for our King is a merciful Prince and loves not such things Yet this I am sure cannot be denied That every Man's House is his Castle and may defend himself and his Goods against those that shall assault or molest him and I cannot believe that Man can be really a Friend either to his King or Country but rather does it out of some sinister end or to curry Favour with the Court that shall extol the King's Prerogative above the Laws because this Doctrine if true quite destroys the Fundamentals of our Government for if ever you set the King above Laws then it must necessarily follow that the King derives his Title to the Crown of England not from the Laws of England but from something else but I am sure that man does the King no great Service who puts the King to seek his Title to the Crown of England any where else than from the Laws of England To set the King above all Law but that of his own Will does so directly tax the Justice of God Almighty that I cannot believe him to be a good Christian that is of that Opinion Fifthly In other Countries the Subjects are Imprisoned and Hanged at the Command of the King without any other Reason given But none of us can be deprived of Life Limb or Liberty but for some Offence first committed against some known Law Sixthly Our Neighbours are pressed and forced to serve in foreign Countries against their Wills and are hanged for refusing Our King may press any of us for the defence of the Nation but I never heard that the King could press any English-man to serve beyond the Seas Seventhly In other Countries though the King or his Officers commit never so many or great Outrages and Cruelties upon the People yet have the People no Remedy against either the King or his Officers But with us though our Law says That the King can do no Wrong yet his Officers and Ministers may and if any Man shall do an unlawful thing though by the King's Command that man is accountable to the People for it and it is the Right of every English-man to call him to account for if neither the King nor his Officers are answerable for a breach of the Laws then our Laws signifie nothing and are but a dead Letter and we no better than Slaves These Particulars I have now mentioned I suppose may be sufficient to convince any reasonable man of the Excellency of our Government I shall not proceed further into Particulars or discourse how and with what Caution all our Laws are made and how Justice is administred in all Cases for I should not only weary you but want time to finish so great a Work therefore I shall say this in part That in no Government in the World the People live with such Liberty and Security of what we enjoy when the Laws are duly observed and followed as we do no Prince more safe and happy than ours when he holds to the Laws and it is the mutual Interest of both King and People to maintain the Laws It is the Interest of the People to support the King in his Legal Prerogative and it is the Interest of the King to preserve the People in their due Rights and Liberties for the Happiness of one is bound up in the Welfare of the other There is a certain ballance betwixt the King's Prerogative and the Peoples Properties and he that endeavours to turn the Scales to either side does in effect endeavour the destruction of both for the Interest of the King and People are so interwoven that we cannot separate or distinguish one from the other In a word our Government is both the Envy and Admiration of our Neighbours But Gentlemen notwithstanding our excellent frame of Government yet I find that many are impatient under it and thirst extreamly after that which is called a Common
Courage did not out-run their Discretion for they did not adventure to name the Prince of Orange but pretended the contrary to the Duke of Newcastle and used as much Artifice to delude him as if it had been of the highest consequence to secure him though he was attended by none but those of his own Family And there was as much preparation and consulting in order to surprize York as if it had been the most considerable Garrison in England though kept only by twenty Men and they as ready to yeild and declare for the Prince as they could have wisht And when they were possest of the Town they set strict Guards at every place and suffered none to go out or come in till they were fatisfied with their business and were as wary as if a considerable Force had been ready to sit down before the place And with the like Steps they moved at Notingham and other places And though no doubt they ingaged in the business with a great deal of Zeal and Resolution yet the Declaration of the cause of their Assembling was penn'd with great caution perhaps as a considerable Man amongst them said to keep themselves within the Statute for their Declaration neither charged King James with Male Administration nor complained of the danger we were in but the Sum of it was to joyn with the Prince of Orange in declaring for a Free Parliament Whereby they put it into King James his power to oblige them to put up their Swords as soon as he pleased for when ever he issued out his Proclamation for a Free Parliament they were bound in Honour to lay down their Arms And then what very great Service can they boast of who could hold their Swords in their hand no longer than King James pleased And though they may pretend to Merit highly yet not to the degree with those who moved forward to Joyn the Princes Army For by their Motion they prevented King James from having a true Account of their Numbers and as they would daily increase so every Account he had of them would make them still more confiderable They shewed thereby that they were resolved not to look back but would either conquer or dye They did not mince the Matter but spoke plain English of King James and of our Condition and thereby animated the Country as they Marcht and made all sure behind them so that the further they Marcht the greater Service they did for 500 Men thus moving would in a short time occasion 40000 to rise in Arms whereby in a few days they would not only be reported but in effect be so considerable and formidable as to support the Cause they had espoused and either reduce King James to Measures or drive him out of the Kingdom So that this seems to be the great thing that so astonished King James and put him to his Wits end For as to the Princes Forces their Number was not valuable and if pressed very hard would not too obstinately stand it out because it was evident they had a Retreat in their thoughts and accordingly had provided for it The desertion in his Army he could not much regard because it did not amount to 2000 Men till he ran away But as to those who intended to Joyn with the Prince of Orange his Army he would with dread behold the Storm coming upon him for he might observe the Cloud no bigger at first than a Mans hand increased so fast that it would quickly over spread the whole Heavens and prove so great a weight that it would bear down all before it for their Numbers would quickly swell very high and it could not be foreseen where and at what degree they would stop He might plainly see that they had thrown away the Scabbard and contemned the thoughts of asking quarter for as they could never hope for another opportunity to recover their Liberties if they failed in this so they very well knew the inexorable temper of King James that it would be to no great purpose to sue for his Mercy whereby being made desperate and abetted moreover by the whole Nation he must expect the utmost that could be done by the united Vigour of Courage Revenge the Recovery of Liberty and Despair all which would make up too strong a Composition for King James his tender Stomach and turn his thoughts from fighting to contrive the best way to save his Life and this was the Storm that drove him away from Salisbury Observations upon the Attainder of the Late Duke of Monmouth THAT which is done by King Lords and Commons is so Sacred as not to be called in question by any power on Earth and what they do is so very good that the Wit of Man cannot devise any constitution that can proceed with more Justice or be less subject to err than they when rightly in Conjunction And therefore whoever he be that proposes to have any of their Acts reviewed must take care to set his words in great order by reason that that which in an Inferiour Court might be called error will scarcely indure the soft name of a mistake if done by King Lords and Commons But however it does appear that they have reconsider'd what they have done and thereupon have many times found that they might do better than to adhere to their first resolve especially in cases of Bills of Attainder which for the most part have rather been expedient than that the strict Rules of Justice were pursued and though in so doing their wrath did seem to burn very hot yet in effect for little more than a moment and even to end with the blow that struck off the Criminals Head for upon the Petition of his Heir his Blood has seldom been deny'd to be restored and this proceeds from the great humanity of this Government The Law of England being a Law of Mercy does in many Cases appoint a grievous punishment rather in Terrorem than that the penalty should be rigorously exacted for which reason it is that so few Attainders are now in force If then those Cases have met with so much compassion the Case of the Duke of Monmouth may well hope for the like favour since there is not any argument for the reversing of any other Attainder that cannot be urg'd with as great force in the case of the Duke and besides there is no president of the like case to be found and whilest it remains in force is of dangerous Consequence The Law is so very careful to do right in every case that it will not allow that any Man be judg'd without being heard or at least that a convenient time be allotted him for it if he think fit to appear and it does also require that the fact be fully and sufficiently proved without both of which no Man can be convicted of any offence in the ordinary course of Justice and this is and has ever been reputed the undoubted Right and Priviledge of every Subject of
boasted most of Prayers and Tears when they have been touch'd by Arbritrary Power have found those things to be of no more force with a Prince that had will and means to be Arbitrary than the Cords on Sampson's Arms and then have they been very willing to make use of more violent applications For those who value themselves most upon this sort of Loyalty are generally such as are unconcern'd for the publick provided they can make themselves safe and may well be compar'd to the Fox in the Fable who having lost his Tail would have perswaded the rest to cut off theirs They that will not lift up their hand to save their Country are as much to be condemned as the Inhabitants of Meroz who were curs'd bitterly because they came not to the help of Lord against the Mighty Judges 5. v. 23. K. J. had so disjointed and made such havock of the Government that the first step towards the repairing our breaches was to lay him aside not out of any particular dislike to his Person but to his actions because what he had done was not to be suffer'd in any other Man for whoever shall hereafter do the like must expect the same measure K. J. being deem'd unmeet to sway the Scepter the next thing was to consider whether it was better to turn the administration into a Regency or clse to elect another in the Room of K. J. and after some time spent therein it was resolv'd as the best to place some other on the Throne because as that did make the least alteration that could be so whatever was amiss in the State would more easily be rectified than by another Method that was proposed Upon this give me leave to make one observation That altho' a Regency and a Common wealth are the same in effect being but several Names for the same thing yet there prevails an opinion where one would least suspect it That those who were for a Regency are the only men for Monarchy and that those who were for continuing the Administration under a King are for a Common-wealth how this opinion can be consistent with it self I do not apprehend unless that whatever is done for the good of the people brings us so much nearer to a Common-wealth and if so Kings will find it to be their interest as well as their duty to make their Administration easie to the people It being resolved to fill the Vacant Throne the Prince of Orange was presently thought on as the fittest of all others for the purpose not so much for having been the chief instrument of our deliverance tho a great deal was due to him from the Nation in point of gratitude But the Crown was offered to the Prince of Orange in hopes of having the effect of his Declaration for as it was his interest to perform what he had therein said and promised so the Nation was more likely to obtain a full redress of its grievances by him than by any other for he had the example of King James fresh before him he could not but very well apprehend that what could not be indured in King James would not be suffered in any other he knew very well that the Nation expected to have his Declaration made good to the full as well because he had promised as also because of the right they had to have their greivances redressed and that so far or so long as any part of it was denyed or delayed so far would the people be disappointed and think themselves deceived He could not but be sensible of the reproach and hazard he ran that having found fault with King James's Administration if he did not amend whatever was amiss and that to trifle with the Nation in any one particular would render all the rest suspected of what he had said or promised He told us in his Declaration that the greatness and security both of Kings Royal Families and of all such as are in authority as well as the happiness of their Subjects and People depend in a most especial manner upon the exact observation and maintenance of their Laws Liberties and Customs This so true a principle that he who governs accordingly cannot fail to prosper in all he puts his hand unto and he that says so and knows and understands what he says yet does not act accordingly cannot expect the love of his people He was very sensible how distastful a standing Army is to the Nation and much more when a considerable part of it is comopsed of Foreigners and that to increase the number of Foreign Troops would very much alarm the Nation unless it was by reason of scarcity of our own people or want of such as durst fight or for some such necessity and therefore to remove those apprehensions he promises to send back all the Foreign Forces he had brought along with him as soon as the State of the Nation will admit of it He promised to bring Ireland to such a state as that the Protestants and British interest may be there secured considering no doubt that as Ireland is the backdoor to England he could not be thought to be in earnest as to the good of England so long as he neglected the settlement of that other Kingdom because England can never reckon it self safe so long as things are out of order there having reason to sâ—spect that the irregularities in the Administration in Ireland will sooner or later affect England Lastly He promises to concur in every thing that may procure the Peace and happiness of the Nation which a free and lawful Parliament shall determine so that there may be no more danger of the Nations falling at any time here after under Arbitrary Government When the State is distempered a Parliament is so absolutely necessary that it is scarce possible to cure it without one but then that Parliament must be a free and lawful one as well in the manner of electing it as afterwards in their proceeding for if there be any foul play or underhand practice in the Elections or that when the Members come together they are over awed or corrupted this may have the name but nothing of the nature of a free and lawful Parliment and is like Physick ill prepared or applyed does more hurt than good In curing the distempers of the Government such reformation must be intire without any reserve for if any gap is left it will quickly let in as many irregularities as were before complained of for unless the very root and foundation of those distempers be removed it will prove no better than the skinning over of a Sore which whilst it seems fair to the eye is festring within and afterwards breaks out with greater Violence Upon a Revolution where the Government is Monarchical one of these things usually happens either that the King is continued in the Throne upon a new stipulation or contract between him and the people or else the Administration is put under a Regency
into Order and frâ— maintaining the Laws and supporting the Government Arbitary Doctrine never did any King good but has ruined many it shook King Charles the seconds Throne and tumbled down his next Successour and tho' such Kings are left without excuse when ruined yet I may say they only are not in fault for their Overthrow is in a great part occasioned by those who Preach up and advise the King to Arbitrary Power Did not other People cocker up and cherish Arbitrary Notions in the Peoples mind tho' such conceptions might sometimes get into his head yet they would never Fructify and come to Perfection if they were not Cultivated by Parasites who make their Court that way in hopes to make themselves great tho' with the hazard of their Masters Crown As it befell K. James whose Male-Administration rendred him unmeet to sway the Scepter and I am very well satisfyed that his Judgment was just for unless a People are decreed to be miserable which God Almighty will never do except thereto provoked by their Sins certainly he will never so tye up their hands that they shall not be allow'd to use them when they have no other way to help themselves Several Artifices were made use of in the two late Reigns for the introducing Arbitrary Power One of which was to insinuate into the minds of the People That the Succession of the Crown was the chief Pillar of the Government and that the breaking into it upon any pretence whatsoever was no less than a Dissolution of the whole Constitution and nothing but Disorder and Confusion would ensue This Doctrine prevailed with many and obtained no less than if the Crown had been settled in that Family by an Ordinance or Decree dropt from Heaven and that every one of that Line or Race had been distinguisht from the rest of mankind by more than ordinary Virtues and Indowments of Mind and Body But we know not of any such Divine Revelation and happy had it been if that Family had been so signal for its Justice and Piety we might then have prayed that there might not want one of them to sit upon the Throne to all Ages How much this Nation is obliged to that Family we very well Remember for the Wounds they gave us are not yet healed Election was certainly the Original of Succession for as the Living more safely and with the freer enjoyment of their Goods was the Original Cause that people Associated themselves into a Nation or Kingdom so for the better attaining that End did they set over themselves the best and Wisest of their Brethren to be their Rulers and Governours and this Administration was trusted in one or more hands according to the temper and Disposition of the People in which Authority they continued either for their Lives or for one Year or some other stated Period of time Where the Government was under a King he usually held it for Life and then upon his decease the People proceeded to a new Election till at last it fell into the hand of some very excellent Person who having more than Ordinarily deserved of his Country they as well in Gratitude to him as believing they could not expect a better Choice than in the Branches that would grow out of so excellent a Stock entailed that Dignity upon him and his Posterity This seems to be the most natural and Lawful rise of Succession I don't deny but some Successions have arisen from force but that was never lasting for that could not subsist or seem lawful longer than there was a force to support it Now those that come to the Crown by the first way of Succession I mean by the consent and approbations of the People does it not plainly imply that they ought to use that power for the good and advantage of their Subjects and not to their hurt and enjoy their Crown only upon that condition no man would ever suffer a Monster to inherit his Estate and Kings are no more exempted from the Accidents of Nature than their meanest Subjects and it is every days practice in private Families to exclude those that will waste their Estate and ruine the Family and if the Reason will there hold good then it is so much stronger in the descent of the Crown by how much the good of a whole Kingdom is to be preferred to that of one private Family Succession is not so very ancient in England as some People may apprehend till the time of William Primus commonly called the Conqueror it was lookt upon as a very precarious Title The next in Succession could reckon very little upon the Crown further than his good Inclinations and Sufficiency to Sway the Scepter did recommend him it being then very common not only to break into the Succession but even to set aside all that Family and Line when ever it was found that the Publick might suffer by their being at the head of the Government the Publick Good being the only Rule and Consideration that Govern'd that point William Primus upon his Death-bed declared that he did not possess the Crown by an Hereditary Right Heary Primus in his Charter acknowleged to hold his Crown by the Mercy of God and the Common Council K. Stephen Henry 2d Rich. Primus and King John all came in by Election so that till Henry 3d. there is scarcely to be found any Precedent of Succession since his time the Succession has been broke into several times and the Crown shifted from one Family to another by Act of Parliament and being so transferred by that Authority is the greatest Proof that can be that Succession is a very feeble Title without something else to support it and I think I may say Defective For says one of great Authority Never did any take pains to obtain an Act of Parliament to settle his Inheritance on his Heirs except he were an Alien or Illegitimate and therefore considering That by vertue of an Intail of the Crown by Act of Parliament in Henry the Sevenths time it is that the four last Kings have swayed this Scepter I could never understand that Divine Right that was by some stampt upon their Title to the Crown or that the Succession was preferrable to the Publick Good I have endeavoured to explain this point the more by reason that some object against the sufficiency of This Kings Title to the Crown because the Succession was broke through to let him into the Throne as if nothing could give a King a good Title to the Crown but Succession For my part I never saw any reason to be of that Opinion and if there be nothing but the Interruption of the Succession to object to this Kings Right if he continue to govern according to the Principle upon which the Crown was given him and according to the laudable Customs of the Realm I think that every man that wishes well to the Interest of his Country ought to bless God for this Revolution
mean when Queen Elizabeth's Eyes were closed for from that time has this Government declined as if she had been the Life of it and that when she dyed it expired with her For the first Statutes now in force for the punishing of Drunkenness were made in the reign of King James the first and therefore it 's more than probable that till then this Vice was not grown up to a considerable Size It is strange that men can't enjoy one another without making their Conversation to become a Sin and that when People meet to be Merry they think they have left their Work unfinisht unless they transform themselves into Beasts and so great a force has it with many That they choose rather to be clothed with Raggs than to keep from the Spiggot It has brought many a man to a Morsel of Bread who was well to live before he fell into that Sottish course It is not for want of a sufficient punishment that it is grown to so great a height for per 4 Jacob. C. 5. He that is Drunk forfeits five Shillings or for refusal or want of Ability to pay it to be set in the Stocks Six Hours And for preventing of such Intemperateness per same Statute it is provided That he who remains Tipling and Drinking in any Inn Victualling-House or Ale-house shall forfeit three Shillings and Four Pence or be put in the Stocks for four Hours And by the same Statute it is provided That he who having been Convict of Drunkenness shall be again Convict of the like Offence He shall be bound to his good behaviour How this Law comes to lye asleep I know not for a Law without Execution is but so much Ink and Parchment and I cannot Imagine wherefore no more are punisht than there is considering how vast a Multitude they are that offend herein unless it be because the thing is become so common that people don't look upon it as an offence or else because the infection is so general that men think it unreasonable to have another punisht for that of which he is guilty himself But I am sure there ought to be a Reformation because the Honour of God suffers so extreamly by it and upon a Political account it ought to be suppressed Because as whole Families are impoverished and ruined by it so Mens Bodies are infeebled by it and rendered unfit for Labour and the Service of the Publick Inns Ale-houses and Victualling-houses are for relief of Way-fairing men Travellers and such others as cannot otherwise supply themselves with Meat and Drink and not for harbouring of lewd and idle people to consume their time and Mony in Debauchery as is declared per Stat. 1. Jac. C. 9. The Gains which are earned by relieving such Persons as the Law allows are honest and justifiable but a Curse must follow what is now â—â—ally got by Inns and Ale houses who can suffer People to be Drinking in their Houses till unreasonable hours in the Night nay even on Sundays and that too during the time of Divine Service and Sermon and there to be spending their Mony when at the same time they know that their Families at home are starving for want of it Did Tipling-houses consider what a Risque they run surely they would take more Care For when they receive their Licenses to sell Ale they enter into a Recognizance with Sureties To keep good Order in their Houses per Statute 1. Jac. 9. Every Innkeeper Victualler or Ale-house-keeper forfeits ten Shillings that suffers any to sit Tippling in their Houses except Traveliers or such as have not the Convenience of Eating and Drinking elsewhere Per Statutes 7. Jac. 10. and 21. Jac. 7. It is provided That any who shall offend against the Statutes made against Tipling and Drinking shall be disabled for three Years from Selling of Ale and besides a Conviction in any of these Cases is a Forfeiture of the Recognizance which they enter into when they are Licensed to sell Ale Such care has the Law taken but things are at that pass as if Drunkenness were no Offence or that there is no Law to punish it I cannot but observe to you how Providence has order'd things for the punishment of Ale-sellers almost in their own way For tho' Quartering of Soldiers without Satisfaction to the Houses is a very Illegal and Arbitrary Practice yet it may in some sort be just as to them they received thereby that Measure which they have Meeted to others These two things Gentlemen I do more especially recommend to your Inquiry because they do so immediately concern the Honour of God and Peace and Happiness of the Publick Besides them whatever is an Offence against the Publick Peace falls within your Inquiry and I believe you so well know them already that I will not loose your time in repeating of them Nor will all that you or any of us can do signify much till Debauchery is supprest and the Manners of the Nation are reformed whilst we bid God Defiance with our Lives and Conversation we cannot hope for success either in our Fleet or Army let our Courage and Conduct be never so great and tho' the supplys we gave to carry on the War were much greater than they are if we will not take Warning in time but go on from Sin to Sin this War by which we hope to secure Peace to our selves and Posterity may prove our ruine by Spinning it out so long till the Purses of the People are so Drain'd and the Nation so impoverished that it will be an equal Choice whether we have Peace or War being either Way exposed to the like Inconvenience There is some great let or hindrance lyes in the way of our Happiness or else why do we at this day stand looking upon one another like the Sons of Jacob as if we were at our Wits end not knowing what to think or expect notwithstanding the great Deliverances that God has wrought for us for we have been wonderfully preserved but not by our own Wisdom or Conduct for we have made no other use of those several Advantages which God has put into our hands but as if we expected that he would repeat his Miracles to preserve us Wherefore he has so signally appeared on our behalf no man can determine yet a Guess may be made for if his Mercies have their proper Effect upon us by turning us from the Evil of our Ways he will do more and greater things for us But if we make him no other return for all his Benefits than that of an unthankful and hardened heart Then has he shewed these great Signs amongst us that he may be Justified when he Judges and we be condemned out of our own Mouths which God of his Mercy prevent and to that end let every Man do his Duty at all times and at all Seasons and mind the Publick more than his own particular Advantage Let neither the Frowns nor Favour of Men tho' never