their Fault and not mine if their Security be not provided for By this means I shall amuse the Publick and prevent the general Disgust of the Nation And if I can but preserve my Honour with the People I shall despise the Reflections of particular Men for herein I think Saul acted truly like a Monarch that though Samuel had denounced the Anger of God against him for disobeying his Commands he was not in the least solicitous about that but pray'd that the Prophet would honour him before the People he took care of his Concerns for this Life let it fare with him as it would for what was to come But to what I say my self my Friends shall have Instructions to add the Right of making Peace and War is in me alone that if they with-hold Money I will neither declare War nor make Leagues that I have already exhausted my own Treasury in rigging out 44 Ships of War to preserve their Trade and convoy the Merchants and yet the City of London is so ungrateful as to refuse me Credit for 200000 l. and therefore if my People perish it 's their own Fault Those Suggestions will be readily imbib'd and diligently improv'd by the Courtiers and Clergy and then let my Enemies insist as much as they please upon the Necessity of shutting the Door towards France else our Treasure and Trade will creep out and their Religion and Tyranny creep in I am sure to have the Advantage of them when my Dictates shall be delivered from the Pulpits once per Week as the Oracles of Heaven And thus I shall make void all their Efforts for lessening the Power of France which I perceive they dread as carrying with it the Bane of their Heresy and Republican Principles and therefore it 's as necessary for my Design that the Power of the French King be kept up as it is necessary for theirs that it should be brought low I am unhappy that notwithstanding of all my Pensions an Address for an Alliance with the States c. should be carried in the House and have but two Negatives against it especially considering that they alledg it to be unprecedented to grant any Money till the Wars and Alliances for which they are demanded be signified in Parliament which plainly implies their Distrust of me that though I should have the Money yet I would not answer their Address which is so mischievously composed and so strongly back'd with popular Reasons that it seems to be calculated for possessing the Subjects that I would never suffer the French King to increase his Strength so much to the manifest Hazard of my Kingdoms if I were not engaged in the same Design with him I do also perceive that the Allegations of my Friends in the House of their intrenching upon my Prerogative by directing me with whom to make Alliances is nothing regarded but their Practice defended by former Precedents of Parliaments who have not only advised to Alliances but also confirm'd them as in the Reigns of Edward III. Richard II. and Henry V. c. And though my Pensioners were more serviceable in voting against the Manner and Words of the Address than formerly that there should be one yet they are worsted by a considerable Majority so unhappy is it for a King to depend upon the Humour of his Subjects which is as unconstant as the Waves of the Sea and liable to the Tossings of every Wind for however complaisant they have formerly been yet now they are all on a fire again about Popery and France So that I find my self under a Necessity of cooling them by an Adjournment and checking them by a severe Speech for intrenching on my Prerogative of making Peace and War in such an unprecedented manner while King and Parliament were not at mutual Enmity By which they would seem to claim a Privilege not only of directing me what Alliances to make but also to insinuate that it were not in my Power to make any without their leave so that I shall be look'd on by Foreigners as a King merely in Title I shall also take care that their Proceedings shall not dare to appear in print Whereas my Speech shall publickly proclaim their Disloyalty and the Speaker being made to my purpose I shall hinder the Commons from debating the Adjournment or diving into the Intrigues of the Court for if ever they begin to meddle in it he shall have Orders to quit the Chair by which the House must break up of Course and then the French shall have liberty to pursue their Conquests without Interruption by the Clamours of my Heretical Parliament who as also those that they represent shall be duly chastis'd in time convenient CHAP. LXII Vpon the Prince of Orange's Arrival at Whitehall and Marriage with the Lady Mary eldest Daughter to the Duke of York The Address of the Commons thereupon and their insisting upon the Alliance with the Dutch and War against France THe safest and most secure way of ridding ones self of an Enemy is to smite them under the fifth Rib while they imbrace them on pretence of Kindness And as Charles the IXth of France and Queen Katherine contriv'd the Destruction of the Protestants under the Covert of a Marriage with their Chief the King of Navar I may carry on the like Design by matching my Niece with the Prince of Orange Saul gave his Daughter Michal to David to be a Snare to him Nor is it out of any Kindness to my Nephew the Prince of Orange that I do now marry him upon my Niece He hath not hitherto behaved himself so like a dutiful Nephew as to deserve such a Favour having not only been the chief Support of the War against the French but incouraged the Dutch boldly in their Wars against my self But it may be this Match may take him off or at least will afford me an Opportunity of attempting it with more Vigour and Frequency than hitherto However let the Success as to that be what it will this Advantage I am sure of reaping from it that my Protestant Subjects will be thereby pleased and their Jealousies as to my Design of introducing Popery and Arbitrary Government abated so that being the less suspected I shall go on with the more Success and forward my Purpose My Parliament I perceive are pleas'd with this Alliance and have therefore ordered me an Address of Thanks yet their Fears and Jealousies are not so much quieted as to leave me at freedom from their Solicitations but still they insist on my not admitting any Treaty of Peace by which the French may be left in possession of any thing that they have taken since the Pyrenaean Treaty and confine their Promises of Support to my making a War with France How happy are unlimited Monarchs whose Will is their Law and whom their Subjects dare not controul but my Stars have not yet blessed me with any such Influences I cannot imagine how this phanatical discontented Humour hath
Their Address against Papists His Majesty's Proclamation on that Head The Prosecution of Protestant Dissenters Declaration of War against Denmark The Insurrection in Scotland in 1666. The burning of his Majesty's Ships at Chattam by the Dutch c. p. 119. XLII On the murmuring of the People at the Consumption of the Treasure His Majesty's granting leave to the Parliament's Commissioners to take the Publick Accounts His raising an Army of 30000 Men and disbanding them On the Parliament's being displeased with it The Sessions of Parliament in July October and February 1667. His Majesty's Speeches to them Proclamation against Papists Displacing of Chancellor Hide and League with the Dutch c. p. 124. XLIII On the Proclamation against Dissenters in 1669. Inviting the Dutch and Swedes into a League with us proposing a nearer Alliance with the Dutch and forcing the Treaty of Aix La Chappelle upon the Spaniards and the French p. 128. XLIV On the Interview betwixt his Majesty and his Sister the Dutchess of Orleans at Dover and her Advice to him to break the Triple League and concur with the French King to destroy the Dutch and the Protestant Religion and render himself absolute in England Her leaving one of her Maids of Honour created afterwards Dutchess of Portsmouth behind her and her own Death speedily after her Return into France p. 131. XLV On Colonel Blood ' s Attempt to steal the Crown A Proclamation against Papists to please the Parliament The second War with the Dutch The shutting up of the Exchequer The falling upon the Dutch Smyrna Fleet before War was declared and the Declaration of War thereupon p. 141. XLVI On the Dutch's surprizing our Fleet in Southwold-bay the Duke of York being Admiral His Majesty's Declaration to the Dutch The Progress of the French in the Vnited Provinces His Majesty's and the French King's Proposals to the Dutch and their rejecting them and making the Prince of Orange Stadtholder p. 148. XLVII On his Majesty's suffering the Parliament to meet Novemb. 1673. His Speech to them concerning the Indulgence and the Dispensing Power and the Necessity of raising more Forces for carrying on the Dutch War Several unsuccessful Fights with the Hollanders The Letter from the Dutch to influence the Parliament who addressed against the Match betwixt the Duke of York and Dutchess of Modena The Prorogation which ensued thereupon A Proclamation against Papists and the Consummation of the Marriage p. 154. XLVIII On his Majesty's Speech to the House of Lords upon the Address of the Commons against his Declaration of Indulgence The Answer of the Lords thereunto The Vote of the Commons for Ease to Protestant Dissenters and that part of their Address which desired that all in Places of Power and Trust should take the Sacrament according to the Church of England p. 163. XLIX Vpon the Complaints of the Commons that Ireland was like to be over-run with Popery because of his Majesty's Proclamation allowing Papists to live in Corporations and giving them equal Liberties to the English Their Address concerning the Danger of the Protestant Interest there and that Mr. Richard Talbot should be remov'd from all Publick Imployment and denied Access to Court And their Address concerning English Grievances with Reflections on the Miscarriages of his Majesty's former Designs of being impower'd to raise Money without Parliament on extraordinary Occasions and having an Vniversal Excise settled on the Crown p. 166. L. On his Majesty's making Application to the Parliament of Scotland upon his failing of Money from the Parliament of England the Scots insisting first upon the Redress of their Grievances and sending Duke Hamilton and others to London for that end p. 172. LI. On the Spanish Ambassador's Proposals for an Vnion betwixt England and Holland and declaring that they must break with England if the same were not accepted The Manifesto of the Dutch to the Parliament of England wherein they appeal to them for the Righteousness of their Cause The Parliament's Endeavours thereupon for a Peace and his Majesty's agreeing to it without including the French King p. 178. LII On his Majesty's proroguing the Parliament because of their impeaching his Ministers forming Bills against Popery and for the marrying of those of the Royal Family with Protestants and educating their Children in that Religion Clamours rais'd in the Nation that we were running back to 41. The Court's mediating a Peace betwixt France and Holland and sending 10000 of their own Subjects into the French King's Service p. 185. LIII On the meeting of the Parliament again April 1675. Their falling upon Bills for the Benefit of the Nation and being diverted by the sudden bringing in of a Test into the House of Lords to be imposed upon all in Places of Power or Trust Civil Military or Ecclesiastical obliging them to declare their Abhorrence of taking up Arms against the King or any commissionated by him and to swear that they would not at any time endeavour the Alteration of the Government either in Church or State p. 190. LIV. On the Debate betwixt the Lords and Commons about the Lords hearing of Appeals from any Court of Equity with the Behaviour of the Bishops in that Affair and the Opposition which they met with from the Earl of Shaftsbury c. p. 199. LV. On the meeting of the Parliament after the Prorogation His Majesty's Demand of Money to build Ships The Commons insisting upon the Bill for a Habeas Corpus Against sending Men Prisoners beyond Sea Raising Money without Consent of Parliament Against Papists sitting in either House For the speedier convicting of Papists and recalling his Majesty's Subjects from the French Service and the Duke of Buckingham ' s Speech for Indulgence to Dissenters p. 202. LVI On the Motion for an Address by the House of Lords for dissolving the Parliament The Address's being cast out by the Majority and the Protestation of the Country Lords thereupon p. 205. LVII On the filling of the Benches with durante beneplacito Judges The publishing of some Books in favour of the Papists and Prerogative The French King 's letting loose his Privateers amongst the English Merchants And the sending of Ammunition from his Majesty's Stores to the French King p. 211. LVIII On the meeting of the Parliament after the long Prorogation Febr. 1676. His Majesty's Demand of Money recommending a good Correspondence to the two Houses The Question whether the Parliament was not dissolv'd by that unprecedented Prorogation Sending some Lords to the Tower for insisting on it The granting of Money by the Commons p. 218. LIX On the Commons throwing out the Bill intituled An Act for securing the Protestant Religion and another for the more effectual Convicting and Prosecution of Popish Recusants p. 224. LX. On the Address of the Commons concerning the Danger from the Power of France and their Progress in the Netherlands His Majesty's Answer It s not being thought satisfactory by the Commons who presented a second to which his
manage the Plot Whereupon my Lord Russel Algernon Sidney c. were out off The Earl of Essex ' s being murdered in the Tower The Trial and Sentence of Mr. Speke and Mr. Braddon for endeavouring a Discovery thereof The Continuance of the Surrender of Charters c. p. 303. Copies of two Papers written by the late King Charles II. Published in 1686. by King James ' s Authority who attested that he found them in his Brother 's Strong Box written in his own Hand p. 309. A brief Account of Particulars occurring at the happy Death of our late Soveraign Lord King Charles II. in regard to Religion faithfully related by his then Assistant Mr. Jo. Hudleston p. 316. ΕΙΚΩ'ΠΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ ' ΔΕΥ'ΤΕΡΑ CHAP. I. On his Majesty's being converted into the Catholick Church THIS I know will be offensive to my Subjects if it should take air and therefore in Policy am obliged to conceal it but that I am secure enough as to God and my own Conscience I have no reason to doubt 'T is the Catholick Church whereof I am now a Member and it 's that Church which in the Bibles of the Hereticks themselves is called the Pillar and Ground of Truth then why should I scruple to submit my self to her Direction Did not my Grandfather K. James though he maul'd Bellarmine give the Pope the Title of Most Holy Father and declare his Readiness to meet the Church of Rome half way Did not my Father whom the very Hereticks acknowledg a Martyr in like manner give the Pope those Titles which they call Names of Blasphemy If he had thought the Catholick Religion damnable or believed that the Church of Rome teaches the Doctrine of Devils would he ever have taken a Catholick Princess into his Bosom or granted such Concessions in favour of her Religion and suffered it to spread so much in his Dominions Would he have imployed the Irish in his Armies after they had cut the Protestants Throats or would he ever have made Arch-Bishop Laud his Favourite who brought such Innovations into the Church of England and declared his good liking to a Cardinal's Cap if the Church of Rome were but a little reformed So that I am safe enough as to what concerns my Soul having not only the Sentiments of the Bishop of Rome positively for me but also those of the alterius orbis Episcopus not at all against me Then surely I may venture my Salvation on the same bottom with my Mother and embarque in a Church which uncontrovertibly appears not to have been altogether disrelishing to my Father Let it go which way it will I am of the surest side the Catholicks say that out of the Church of Rome there is no Salvation and Protestants acknowledg that in the Church of Rome there is Salvation and though it should be true what I have learn'd from my Tutor Hobbs and am indeed inclin'd to believe that all Religion is but a Trick of State to keep the People in obedience yet a Profession of Religion is necessary for a Prince as well as others according to Machiavel's Maxim Plebem dum vis fallere finge Deum and certainly that Religion of which it is a Fundamental Principle that Ignorance is the Mother of Devotion is most agreeable to a Prince who would maintain or advance his Prerogative for where it is allowed as amongst all Protestants to examine the Dictates of their Ghostly Fathers in relation to the Church it must unavoidably follow that the People will also claim the like Privilege to canvass the Orders of their Civil Fathers in relation to the State Then let the Hereticks talk as they please of the Kings of the Earth giving their Power to the Beast I see that it is undoubtedly the best Expedient for any Monarch who designs to be absolute to be an obedient Son to the Church of Rome who can insure him not only his Subjects Persons but also their Consciences and Purses seeing they must do and believe as the Church will have them True it is my Misfortune that a Protestant Bishop and several Protestant Lords who have follow'd me hither are privy to my Conversion which might indeed prove fatal to my Affairs if it were not their Interest as well as mine to conceal it but seeing their Restitution depends on mine I have no reason to fear that they will divulge it And for the Satisfaction of the Church of Rome though I have no Cause to profess to be of the Religion of Protestants who murdered my Father and give the Ignominious Character of an Idolatress to my Mother yet seeing the Principles of the Catholick Church allow Mental Reservation and that Christ himself did not reject Nicodemus thô a Night-Disciple the Roman Catholicks cannot be angry that I still profess my self a Protestant especially seeing thereby I shall be the more capable of doing them Service and thus I find my self obliged to give an early Assent to my Grandfather K. James's Maxim which he had from Lewis XI of France who never learn'd any other Latin Words viz. Nescit regnare qui nescit dissimulare Nor do I know why it should be any greater Stain to my Honour to feign my self a Protestant for the Crown of Great Britain than it was to my Grandfather Henry the IV. to feign himself a Catholick for the Crown of France and may my Endeavours have the same Success but a happier Exit And seeing the World will have it that there is a God I can lose no more but a little Breath to make some Addresses if there be none but seeing it 's safer to venture with the bulk of Mankind than to rely on the Efforts of some Men of Wit I am resolved to lift up the following Prayer O thou Almighty Being who createdst the Heavens and the Earth by whom Kings reign and Princes decree Justice to thee I refer my Cause for a final Decision Thou art King of Kings who puttest down one and settest up another and therefore the fittest for me to make Application unto I have been taught by those who call themselves thy Ambassadors and would have me to believe it to be thy Law that Kings are accountable to none but thy self as being thy Vicegerents and Gods on Earth Vindicate therefore the Justice of my Cause against those Men who have not only usurp'd my Throne but thine for I am accountable to none but thee Give Success to my Arms and Endeavours against them And seeing thou hast said that Vengeance is thine and thou wilt repay it let not the hoary Heads of those who shed my Father's and thy Vice-gerent's Blood go down in Peace to the Grave And give me Strength O thou most High to execute Vengeance upon a bloody Nation Thou who didst grant Samson ' s Desire to be reveng'd on the Philistines for his two Eyes listen to my Petition I request thee that I may be aveng'd for my Father's Blood and the unjust Vsurpation of my own Throne CHAP.
He who was but lately a Subject of mean Quality is now attended with Royal State and I who am a King by Birth and Inheritance am thus reduc'd to the greatest of Straits Thus the Omnipotent leadeth away Princes spoil'd and overthroweth the Mighty and thus he poureth Contempt upon Princes and weakneth their Strength so that this Day may the Vanity of the World be discovered when Servants are seen upon Horses and Princes walking on the Earth as Servants Now I am arrived at a Place of Security where several of my Friends have found a safe Retreat Surely the Saints have interceded for me and preserv'd me from all the Dangers of my Way This ghostly Father is very kind for he knows that I am still the hope of their Party and Heaven seems to declare that I must espouse them as my own They do indeed requite my Father and Mother's Kindness and are as tender of me as they were of them Thus may Princes learn to extend their Compassion towards the meanest of their Subjects when it 's in their Power to crush them for a Mouse may requite a Lion's Kindness I have now the Satisfaction of some sutable Company whereas before I was immured amongst Clowns Now here 's a Clergy-man a Gentleman and a Peer a small Representative of all the three States with whom I may safely advise how to retire so that in the midst of my Affliction God hath asswaged my Grief Here I find a more convenient Subsistance and can take some Repose for my wearied Limbs till my galled Feet which are not used to travel may grow whole again and fit for another Journey But alas how variable is the Wheel of Fortune and how quickly is all my Joy over-clouded I thought I had found a secure Place to hide in but the Malice of my Enemies pursues me throughout Yet blessed be God I have escap'd the Snare which they laid for me he hath broken the Net and I am escaped in as miraculous a manner as David did from Saul when they were both together in the same Cave so that as Saul sought David every Day but God delivered him not into his Hands he hath been graciously pleased to protect me from the Fury of the Rebels who have hitherto sought me but in vain for God is my Hiding-place and hath sent his Angels who smote the Sodomites with Blindness to do the same to those who sought after me but have not hitherto been able to find me though they came into the very place where I was CHAP. XI On the Proclamation against entertaining his Majesty and offering 1000 l. to any that would discover him HOW is the World turn'd up-side down when they who are guilty of the vilest Treason dare proclaim their Soveraign a Traitor and they who have no Right to their Estates but through his Clemency deny him any Residence in his own Dominions Where the Word of a King is there is also Power but now both my Name and Authority are despised and by an unparallel'd Audacity they have taken upon them to abolish the Regal Dignity and though they be great Pretenders to Religion yet they do not consider the Divine Prohibition not to touch his Anointed nor to do his Prophets any harm but rather wrest and misapply the Scriptures and look upon themselves to be the People who must bind the Princes of the Earth with Fetters and load their Nobles with Chains But do thou deliver me O Lord from the violent and blood-thirsty Man who hunts after my Life that the King may joy in thy Strength and greatly joy in thy Salvation But what do I say or why should I be discourag'd for all these things will justify my Procedure when I shall be re-advanced to the Throne of my Fathers for shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this CHAP. XII On his Majesty's leaving Mr. Huddleston's and riding before Mrs. Jane Lane to Bristol c. in order to his embarquing for France NOW I must leave my Catholick Landlord but it 's in order to go to a Catholick Country where instead of being conceal'd by a poor Priest I shall have the Protection of a mighty King I have hitherto acted the Part of a Master but now I must learn to act that of a Servant and instead of being conducted by Men must submit to the Conduct of a Woman and though all Passes ought to be given by my Authority yet now I must make use of another's and that also procur'd from the Rebel-Usurpers So that what I ought to decline in point of Honour I am forc'd to comply with in regard of my Safety How mutable are all sublunary Comforts when he who hath sat as a Monarch on his Throne is now obliged to change both Habit and Name and he who was born Soveraign over some Millions of Men must now act the Servant to an ordinary Gentlewoman he to whom Princes themselves did uncover must now attend his Mistress with Hat in hand But Heaven seems to favour my Inclinations and not to be angry at my hidden Designs for the Catholicks whose Religion I have imbraced are hitherto the Instruments of my Preservation and now I must be obliged to the fair Sex to whom I have a more than an ordinary Propensity On his Majesty's passing through a Troop of Rebels before Mrs. Lane undiscovered How hard is my Fate that I who ought to protect others cannot now protect my self and that I should be in continual Danger from my Subjects who are obliged to spend their Lives and Fortunes in my Defence But the Angels who blinded the Eyes of my Enemies that they could not find me when seeking for me in the House where I was can as easily smite them with Blindness now when they do not suspect me and carry me safely through them O all ye Angels and Saints as ye tender the Advancement of the Holy Catholick Church watch over me for Good Ye who smote the Host of the Syrians with Blindness that brought them to Samaria instead of Dothan do the like to these Men who hunt after my Life that they may not perceive me Blessed be ye O ye Saints and Angels who have heard my Request and brought me safe through this imminent Danger and vouchsaf'd unto me such a signal Deliverance may I incur your Displeasure and forfeit your Protection if when I am restored again to my Throne I don't remember my Vows to promote every thing that may tend to the Advancement of the Church of Rome which allows so much Honour to Saints and Angels of whose Protection and Guardianship I have had such a visible Demonstration ✚ Hallelujah Ave Virgo singularis Mater nostri Salutaris Coeli decor stella Maris Arca mundi mystica Nos in hujus vitae Mari Ne permittas naufragari Sed favoris vela Cari Clemens in nos explica Amen On his Majesty's being chid by the Cook-maid at Long-marston for not winding up the Jack
as she provided for my Safety I will take care of hers and repay her with Publick Respect for her Private Service My Predecessors of England have match'd with the Imperial Family and must the King of Great Britain and Ireland be thought too low for a Dutchess My Father thought it a Condescension to take a Daughter of France but I am not thought worthy of a remoter Princess What vain things are Titles and Honour without the Substance of Riches and Power But if I be unsuccessful in Royal Amours I have not been so in those which are meaner and can satisfy Nature though not my Grandeur My Loyal Subjects being unable to defend me and the French King though my Kinsman unwilling to sustain me I must now have recourse to inferiour Princes whom if I had my Right I should be able to command but now must be obliged to court their Assistance and quit part of my own Title for a Reward How hard is my Condition that I should be reduced to call other Princes the Protector of my Subjects and with the Addition of Royal which would denote their Independance But why may not they protect them as well as me and injoy the Name as well as perform the Thing It 's true my rebellious Subjects will say that my making Application to Catholick Princes and not to Protestants is a shrewd Cause to suspect my Religion but I must consult my own Interest and not their Humours Those of them who are the firmest Protestants are already either jealous of me or have avowedly declar'd against me and for the Pillars of those who call themselves by the Name of the Church of England they are already privy to my Reconciliation to the Church of Rome which they don't much disapprove because I feed them with Hopes of bringing the Church of Rome to an Accommodation with them and she will certainly do it that she may the better animate them against the Puritans who being the most obstinate of all the Hereticks if they were once out of the way the rest will the more easily be brought to comply for I perceive my Episcopal Friends do still believe the Church of Rome to be a true Church and the other Party to be none and therefore a Reconciliation will be more easy with the former than the latter especially considering how near they approach in Discipline and Ceremonies to the Church of Rome The Advances which Bishop Laud's Party made towards their Mother-Church also in Doctrine will be a great step towards the desired Union but that which will chiefly contribute thereunto is the implacable Hatred which my Grandfather and Father did always take care to nourish in those of the Church of England against the Puritans which is now increas'd by the late overturning of their Hierarchy so that if ever I be restor'd the one will infallibly assist me to destroy the other and when the Destruction of the Round-heads is effected and my Father's Blood at the same time sufficiently reveng'd I shall next take the other Party to task and seeing it is not Principle but Interest which keeps them from complying with the Church of Rome I 'l use my Endeavours to have it accomplished or by the Church or at least the hottest of them shall smart for it and thus I shall revenge my self on them too for playing the Poltroon and sotting in Taverns while my Father was led to Execution and declining to join my self when I entred England But as to my Treaty with the Duke of Lorrain I shall reap these Advantages from it If he once be possessed of Ireland he will be assisted by the Spaniards to whom the Irish have a natural Inclination and with his Help from thence I shall keep my rebellious Subjects in the other two Nations in perpetual Vexation both with Incursions on that side and from Flanders Or if this don't take effect the very Apprehensions of it will alarm the French and move them rather to assist me themselves than venture to give the Spaniards such an Advantage for they may not only join the Duke of Lorrain's own Subjects from the Netherlands but when the Duke has footing in Ireland he may easily join the Spaniards in their own Dominions and invade France CHAP. XIX On his Majesty's falling in love with one of his own Subjects in France his marrying her and having a young Prince by her who was afterwards created Duke of Monmouth HOW hard is my Fate that I am still design'd to be a Conquest and that also to my own Subjects first by the Arms of their Men and then by the Amours of their Women One might have reasonably thought that I had received so many Affronts from my own People that I should never have been enamour'd on any of them but to my sad Experience I find it otherwise and that Cupid tyrannizes over Kings as well as others and commands us as imperiously as we command them with a sic volo sic jubeo Alas that Love is Proof against all Cures and that I cannot oblige it to withdraw at my Commands which I find it entertains with as much Disdain as the Waves of the Sea did those of my Predecessor who smote them with his Scepter and forbad them to approach his Chair Thus I who might be courted by the greatest of Foreigners must languish in love for one of my Subjects as if the Fates had decreed both Sexes of them an absolute Conquest over me If I marry her I am sure to lose my Interest and if I do it not I must sacrifice my Content for her Vertue I find altogether insuperable I must therefore comply with my Brother James's Advice and marry her privately before him and a Priest and thus I may consult my present Repose and take my measures in time to come by future Contingents Nor am I like to be less unfortunate in the Quality of my own Match than also in my Allies by that of my Brother who is catch'd in the like Snare but who can resist the Charms of Love We must needs deplore the Hardness of our Destiny to have Mars and Venus triumph over us at once and each of them force us to an unequal Surrender Our Father was reputed a Man of Chastity but it 's strange that Incontinence should be our Inheritance I wish that it may not be hereditary from our Mother of whose Honour I ought not to be suspicious but the Current of Fame and our own Constitution may justify at least this passing Reflection which if it should be true makes me but Neighbour-like for my Cousin the French King lies under a more publick Scandal and that not without ground that he 's the Spawn of a Priest For whatever is the Cause this I find by Experience that Cardinal Mazarin has more Influence upon him than all the Peers and Grandees of his Kingdom and though the Laws of Nations which forbid the Violation of Hospitality especially to a neighbouring
the Country seeing they have their Dependance wholly upon the Court and don't vote according to the Mind of those that chose them So that they are in the same Design with my self to swallow up the Peoples Liberties provided they may have some Court-Preferments The Lords do also insist upon the frequent Calling of new Parliaments which they alledg from the Records to have been their ancient Privilege and plead the Prescriptions of many hundreds of Years What pity that all those Monuments of Rebellion should not have perish'd in the great Conflagration that they might never have risen up in Judgment against me but seeing they are extant and so violently urg'd I 'll do the best I can to divert their Force I can insinuate to the Commons that these Proceedings of the Lords are not the Effect of any Zeal for the People but merely a Desire of Revenge upon the Lower House for their late controverting of their Privileges and an Aversion that any Commoner by his Service to the Crown should merit an Advancement to a Dignity equal with their own By these and such other Arguments as I can suggest I doubt not to have the present House of Commons on my side And suppose it true that they are not the real Representatives of the Nation as having forfeited that Title by going contrary to the Peoples Interest and Instructions yet the very Name of their Concurrence adds Credit to my Conduct and I doubt not but abundance of the Members who have found the Sweets of the Privilege of the House which protects them from their Creditors and many times confirms their Titles to Estates by Prescription because while they are Parliament-men they are secured in the Possession I say I have no reason to doubt but such Men will be against a Dissolution It was a wise and commendable Practice in my Predecessor Henry the VIIIth to make Parliaments long-liv'd for by that means he had the Opportunity of making them for his purpose and left a happy Precedent for his Successors Let the Murmurers grumble as much as they please and object the Custom of holding Parliaments thrice a Year before the Conquest and the Act of Edward III. that Parliaments should be holden once a Year or oftner I am not tied to those antiquated Rules If those Kings did not know the Extent of their own Prerogative I am not therefore obliged to allow any Intrenchments on mine But since Henry the VIIIth could protract the Duration of a Parliament beyond its former Length and the Customs of his Predecessors I may certainly be allowed to exceed the Examples of my Predecessors since his time especially having the Clergy on my side who have preach'd up the Prerogative higher than ever it was in former times and will defend my Practice by the Authority of their Gods But I am not to be so easily drawn from what 's my Interest by the Allegations or Addresses of some factious Lords for it 's my Wisdom to foment the Misunderstanding betwixt them and the Commons as much as I can and if I could but once bring them to have a mutual Distrust of one another and possess the Commons with an ill Opinion of the Arrogance of the Lords and their incroaching too much upon the Privilege of the Members who knows but it might procure such a Surrender to me as that which was lately made to the King of Denmark by his People who could not bear with the Contempt shewed to them by their Nobles and therefore did all of a sudden devolve the whole Power upon the King and render him Absolute Or if no such thing should happen yet by making the House for my purpose I can with the more Ease attain my Desires and if once the Commons were brought to comply the Popish Lords Court-Lords and Bishops will easily cast the Vote in the Upper House But let things go as they will I am sure of this one infallible Method I can possess the Clergy by means of the Bishops that if this Parliament be dissolv'd the Mitre and Crown are both in danger and then all those who are Enemies to my Designs shall be threatned with Hell and Damnation as opposing themselves to God's Ordinance to which they ought to be subject for Conscience-sake And on the other hand I am very sure that those Gentlemen of the House of Commons who have spent some hundreds and thousands of Pounds for the Advantages which they had a Prospect of enjoying by being Parliament-men will never submit willingly to a Dissolution nor be content to put themselves to the hazard of a new Choice And I am sure of my Pensioners for their Usefulness to themselves and me both ceases with their not being Parliament-men for as in that case they cannot do me any Service so neither can they tell where to have Subsistence I have had the good Fortune to put a Check upon those factious Lords and to throw out their Address by the Majority of Votes in which the Bishops were all on my side so happily are the Interests of the Church and Crown united Hence I find the Advantage of dissembling a Zeal for Religion though in my Heart I believe the whole to be a Cheat for my professing my self to be the grand Patron of the Church of England sets all the Clergy at work for me and they having the Conduct of the Peoples Consciences are useful Tools for any Soveraign The Country Lords have protested against the Votes for rejecting the Address and inserted their Reasons in the Journals of the House but it signifies nothing seeing they have lost their Cause however it shall remain as an Indictment against them and now that I have their Names as my Enemies on record I shall take care on occasion to treat them as such and make them odious to the Country by charging all the Miscarriages and Heats in Parliament and consequently the Obstruction of whatever might have been advantagious to the Publick upon them CHAP. LVII On the filling of the Benches with durante beneplacito Judges The publishing of some Books in favour of the Papists and Prerogative The French King 's letting loose his Privateers amongst the English Merchants And the sending of Ammunition from his Majesty's Stores to the French King HAving been hitherto unsuccessful in my Attempts of following French Counsels raising a Standing Army bribing Parliament-men and contriving Oaths to swear the People into Arbitrary Government I must try some new Methods and endeavour to carry on my Designs by Shadow of Law for which end it is necessary that I make a Reform amongst my Judges and instead of granting their Commission ad vitam aut ad culpam will make them hold them by a new Tenure of durante beneplacito by which they will be bound to their good Behaviour and not dare to disoblige me but give out my Will as the Oracles of the Law and then I can effect that by a Shadow of Justice which is not
Crown and not be charg'd on my aspiring Humour or Ambition And I know that a Parliament of such a Constitution will rather do any thing than hazard my Displeasure and not dare to impeach any Man because they know their own Guilt and so those who are my Tools for promoting the Catholick Religion and Arbitrary Government shall pass unpunished But that the Nation may not perceive my Intrigue and thereupon grow tumultuous the Commons shall have leave now and then to talk of Grievances and also to name those who are the Instruments of them but if they exceed their Bounds they shall be kick'd from one Adjournment to another chastised by Prorogations and Abatements of their Pensions and kept in obedience by Threatnings of Dissolution I have already some Experience of the good Effects of these Methods for now they have voted me double that Sum for building of Ships that they thought sufficient last Sessions and continued the double Excise upon Beer and Ale and have taken care to make the Nation have a good Opinion of their being still a legal Parliament when so great a Number of the Gentry of the Nation are appointed Collectors of the Money which they have given CHAP. LIX On the Commons throwing out the Bill intituled An Act for securing the Protestant Religion and another for the more effectual Convicting and Prosecution of Popish Recusants BY committing the factious Lords to the Tower my Designs run on more smoothly in the Upper House insomuch that those Bills pass'd them without any Opposition but they have not had the same Acceptation amongst the Commons who have thrown out the first after once reading and the second in the same manner with a Note of Disgrace as being contradictory to its own Title I perceive that the Commons though they don't love their Religion for Religion sake yet they have no mind to part with it because of their Interest for if Popery were introduced Arbitrary Government would find its way more easy and then they could neither be assur'd of their Places nor Pensions so that I must contrive some new Method But were I as happy in the Church-of England-Laity as I am in their Clergy there would be no need of such Precaution which makes me smile at the Apology of the Commons who are so very careful about the Credit of their Bishops tho they don't look upon their Concurrence with those Bills to be any way hurtful to their Reputation By this Method they diminish the Authority of their Church and exalt their own Wisdom above that of their spiritual Fathers whom they believe to be appointed by Divine Right to oversee and take care of the Affairs of the Church Nor can the Weakness of their Apology pass without a Remark that they should think it worth while to excuse them as not being the Contrivers and Promoters and yet own that they did not oppose those Bills nay they plainly confess that some of the Bishops were of the Cabal that hatch'd them Certainly it can never be safe to intrust one's self in that Church which owns that her Guides are blind or to commit one's Conscience to the Direction of such as don't know how to direct their own But if the Commons had hit upon the true Reason of the Concurrence of their Bishops they would find it to have been because the Mitres and Ceremonies which is all that they mean by their Church would be sufficiently secur'd though Popery were established and they being in present Possession might merit a Continuance by promoting the Catholick Interest under-hand Nor can I believe that the Commons don't perceive this seeing the Bishops advance such Clergy-men daily who incline mightily to the Church of Rome in the Doctrine of Justification which Luther their great Patron own'd to be Articulus stantis cadentis Ecclesiae and yet they won't admit of one Man to enjoy a Benefice who does not accept of Episcopal Ordination and conforms to the Ceremonies whence it 's manifest and apparent that by these they understand the Church And the Commons themselves though they seem now to differ a little from the Bishops yet make use of this Distinction to keep all but those of their own Communion out of any Publick Imployments And I am apt to think that could they but secure their own Interest in a Change as well as the Bishops can do theirs they would never make so much to do in opposing Popery which I am convinc'd by my own Experience is a Religion best suted of any to such as would live in those Enjoyments which Precisians call carnal Delights and that the greatest part of the Members are such I have reason to know for I am sure it has and does daily cost me Money And hence I conclude that it does not proceed from any Religious Principle that the present House of Commons do seem more opposite to have a Popish King than the Bishops CHAP. LX. On the Address of the Commons concerning the Danger from the Power of France and their Progress in the Netherlands His Majesty's Answer It s not being thought satisfactory by the Commons who presented a second to which his Majesty delay'd giving Answer and the Cause why His demanding of Money when he did answer Their giving 200000 l. and Adjournment with the Cause of it MY Subjects are now upon another Scent and from the Affairs of their Religion and Property at home are come to consider of the State of Affairs abroad I could be very glad that they should have forborn any such Motion but shall take proper Methods to render it ineffectual The Phanaticks and Commonwealth's-men do still foment Jealousies and having put Checks upon my Designs at home they are now for curbing my Allies beyond Sea and putting a stop to the French Conquests The Netherlands being look'd upon as the natural Barrier of England I must not positively refuse to assist them but shall form such plausible Pretexts as will excuse my Delay And in the mean time though I cannot go on with my part of the Design the French King may go on with his However I have promised them to use all Means in my Power for the Safety of my Kingdoms but that does not satisfy and therefore they presented me with another Address wherein they not only petition as becomes Subjects but boldly direct as if they were Masters by which they do manifestly entrench upon my Power of making Peace and War By proffering to assist me to the uttermost against France no doubt they think they have acquitted themselves bravely though it is no more than what in Duty they are bound to do let me be engaged in what War I please But seeing they press so much for my making of Alliances with the Dutch c. and to make an actual War with France I must give my Friends Instructions to argue against it in the House from the Inconveniences which may attend it as the seizing of our Ships and
down-right Popery The Miscarriage of the Father may very well serve as a Warning to the Son He fell in an Attempt less obnoxious and I have no great reason to hope for better Success in one which is more displeasing The People are very well satisfied with as much of Popery as Queen Elizabeth left and whoever designs to introduce more must do it insensibly by promoting such Clergy-men as are Well-wishers to it bringing in Favourers of the Roman Catholicks into the University by side-Winds and filling all Places of Power and Trust with those who are for the Design But it is not safe for me to trust my self to the Conduct of such furious Men as Clifford who has not Prudence enough to govern himself It can not be defended by any sort of Politicks to treat a Person who is capable of divulging an important Secret in that manner as he did the Gentleman who overheard us at the door that being the very Method to have it made publick and therefore though for the Conveniency which I should thereby reap in the Administration of my Government I could wish as well as he or any other that Popery were establish'd yet seeing I believe that all Religion is the Contrivance of Politicians I shall never hazard my own Quiet for any one sort of it As for the last Proposal of getting Money from the Parliament I am resolv'd to try it and must be preparing my Arguments before-hand to move them to grant it CHAP. LXVI On the Discovery of the Popish Plot in August 1678. by Dr. Oates and others The Design of the Jesuits against his Majesty's Life Sir Edmundbury Godfrey's taking Dr. Oates his Depositions The seizing of Coleman Secretary to the Dutchess of York and his Papers and the murdering of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey thereupon NEver was there any Prince so much expos'd to the Capricio's of Fortune as my self So that of all Men alive I am the least obliged to offer Incense at her Altars In my Youth I was expell'd my Dominions by Phanaticks and Enthusiasts since my Restoration I have been continually perplex'd by the perverse and stubborn Humours of the Church-of England-men though I restored their Discipline and now my Life is sought after by the Roman Catholicks whom I have so much oblig'd in the whole Course of my Reign even to the hazard of my Crown and Government I perceive that my seeming Neutrality enrages the Bigots of all Parties against me And hence the Jesuits do now seek to dispatch me because I am not willing to follow my Lord Clifford's Advice and go their pace They promise themselves undoubted Success in their Designs considering the French King's Power my Brother's Zeal for their Church and the Constitution of my present Army and because I am not willing to push on further than I conceive is for my Interest they are therefore willing to rid themselves of me O ungrateful and mischievous Generation I am now convinc'd that it 's not without Reason that the Society of the Jesuits is hateful even to some Catholick Countries and that their Motto Cavete vobis Principes is proper enough for them yet such are my Circumstances that I dare not testify my Hatred to their Order because of their revengeful and vindictive temper They who did not spare two Henries of France though professed Catholicks will never spare me who am esteem'd a Protestant and therefore though I do not love them I dare not avow that I hate them for they are not only to be dreaded for their Courage but for their Conduct which is very observable in this Particular They know that I have all along kept down the Phanaticks and therefore if they had succeeded in their Murder would have fathered it upon them and for this end have by their Interest amongst my Courtiers got Mr. Cleypool Son-in-law to the late Usurper committed to the Tower as having had a Design against my Person This they did reasonably conclude would have obtain'd Belief amongst the Vulgar because of the Disgrace I put on his Father-in-law's Corps and my Severity against the whole Herd of Dissenters and by this means the Church of England should have been so inflam'd against the Phanaticks that they would have done the Jesuits Work to their hand by ruining their Brethren and so weakning themselves Yet thanks to my Stars I have escaped the Snare and now being warned can provide for my own Safety though it will be a very hard Matter to escape their Fury Nor do I know any better Method than by my Brother's Interest to assure them of being favourably dealt with and make as if I did not believe the Accusation By this means I shall prevent those Efforts of their Revenge which their own Preservation may put them upon if they think that I do really believe them guilty for I doubt not but my Brother and they both will be ready to capitulate with me on these Terms that they may enjoy my Protection against the Resentments of the Nation who are terribly incens'd by Dr. Oates's Discovery and the Murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey for taking his Depositions Nor am I indeed any further pleas'd with this Detection of the Conspiracy than as to what concerns my own personal Danger for my Measures were well laid to have effected what they do so violently desire but their Precipitance and too much Haste hath spoiled all By Dr. Oates's Treachery to the Catholicks with whom he was engaged it 's easy to observe that Conspiracies are dangerous and that all Men are not to be intrusted with Secrets of State for let Ecclesiasticks of all Perswasions inculcate the binding Force of Oaths as much as ever they please yet when it comes to their own turn they break or observe them according as their Interest directs The Danger of Conspiracies may be further observed from Coleman's Conduct Princes had need to be well assured of the Fidelity of those whom they intrust with their Secrets Could any Man have imagin'd that one in his Station should have been so blab-tongu'd or that he would not have been more careful to have conceal'd his Papers It 's for my Brother's Interest and mine both that he should suffer Death though it 's our Policy to feed him with Hopes of a Reprieve at the Gallows left out of Revenge for our dropping him he should discover what he knows And tho the Murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey be barbarous yet it 's justifiable enough by Reasons of State it 's better that he should fall than that the Crown should be made to totter as it must certainly have done if what Coleman had told him should have been publickly known for I could neither in Honour nor Safety have abandon'd my Brother which would both have endangered my Throne and Reputation it being impossible for him to have been brought to a publick Trial without a Discovery how far I am concern'd in the Plot. However to prevent popular Tumults which would