that Kings are accountable to none but God A set of Judges are pickt out to overturn the very Fundamentals of Humane Society and Annihilate the very ends of Goveroment This the King knew must be done by Judges that had abandoned all â—igh Opinon of God and Nature and had quitted all sence of Conscience and True Honour and had wholly given up their Judgments to the foolish Enticements of Ambition and Flattery And when he had found out such it was easie for him to say with â—is Grandfather of the same Name Let me make what Iudges I please and I will easily have what I please to be Law No wonder then these Judges having Instruments drawn up by Brent which pass'd the Great Seal to Indemnifie them for whatever they did or said Illegally affirm`d it to the King for Law That the King was an Independent Prince That the Laws of the Kingdom were the Kings Laws That the Kings of England might Dispence with all Laws that regarded Penalties and Punishments as oft as necessity required That they were Iudges and Arbitrators who have Power to Iudge of the Necessity which may induce them to make use of these Dispensations And Lastly That the King of England could not Ronounce a Prerogative annexed to the Crown By Vertue of which Concessions and Opinions of the Judges all the Laws in England made in the Reigns of our four several Princes for the security of the Natinn against Popery and Arbitrary Government were rendered of no Effect By Vertue of these Concessions Arundel of Warder was made Lord Privy Seal Alibon a Judge and Castlemain was sent with great Pomp an Embassador to Rome to be there contemn`d and dispis`d by his Holiness for the bad name which his Master had among all the Princes of Europe and the ill Opinion the Pope himself had of him By Vertue of these Concessions it was that the greatest part of the Kingdom`s Military Safety and Defence was put into the hands of persons incapable to be intrusted with them by the Express Laws of the Kingdom and that the Execution of the Ancient Laws and Statutes of the Realm against divers sorts of Treasons and other hainous Crimes was stopt By Vertue of these Concessions Sir Eâ— Hale`s waâ— made Lieutenant of the Tower to Terrifie the City with his Morter-pieces and level his Great Guns to the Destruction of the Metropolis of the Kingdom when the Word should be given him By Vertue of these Concessions it was that Peters was made a Privy Counsellor to outbrave the Arch-Bishop râ— Canterbury and the Bishop of London that he had his four Provincial Bishops and that the Priests and Jesuites swarm`d in all parts of the Kingdom Built themselves Convents hired Mass-Houses made open Profession of their Foppish Religion in the Chief City of the Nation and in several of the Great Cities and Towns of the Kingdom and publickly Ridicul`d the Scripture in their Pulpits All which Transgressions of all the Laws of the Land both Civil and Ecclesiastick are so fully Represented in the Memorial of the Protestants to their Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Orange That they cannot be more fully nor more sensibly repeated But the Inundation stopt not here it was to be a general Deluge or nothing at all To which purpose all Obstructions that oppos`d the Torrent were to be level`d or remov`d out of the way for effecting of which there could be no Engine thought sufficient but that of the Ecclesiastical Commission so Arbitrary in its Original that it had nothing but the Pillars of the Prerogative to support it and mana`d with that Arbitrary Fury by Iefferies That he look`d like a Monstrous Titan Warring against the Heaven of Law and Justice For he had no way to carry Illegality with a high hand but by arrogant Domineering and surely Incivility while he had nothing to offer to any Person that offerâ—d Law to him but Sic Volo Sic Iubeo To tell a Peer of England and the Bishop oâ— London so much his Superior only that he sate upon the Throne of his Commission he that was not to be mentioned with the Bishop in the same day was such a foul piece of Exeâ—berance of his Guild-Hall Eloquence which only could have dropt from the Lips of insulting Barbarism All that can be said for him is this That as many Men commit Absurdities when loaden with Wine this was one of his Extravagancies in his Drink of Honour And indeed after he had tasted of that potent Charm the whole Course of his Behaviour seemed to be a meer Intoxication which made him afterwards make use of the same Receipt to drown both his Life and his Dishonour together However the Suspending this Noble Peer and â—ishop contrary to all pretence of Law for reâ—using to â—bey the Kings unjust and illegal Command was no such Advantage to the King 's Causâ— that he had so much reason to â—hank the Chancellor or Peters either for putting him upon committing a greater Aâ—t of Injustice to justifie a less The Bishop was too wâ—ll and â—oo generally beloved among all the Professors of Prâ—testantism for the Papists to put such an Affront upon â—o Eminent a Father of the Proâ—estant Church for them not to refent it even the more prudent Papistâ— thought it a Proceeding too harsh and unreasonable and the more moderate look'd upon it as too base and unworthy so that the Hot-spurs of the King's Council were losers on every side And besides it was such a stabbing Contradiction to the King's Speech in Council upon his Brother's Death That since it had pleased God he should succeed so good and gracious a Prince as his dear Brother he was resolved to â—ollow his Example more especially in that of Clemency and Tenderness to his People That the Barbarous suspending this Bishop was one of Royal Word Which though he had falsified already in his severity to Oates and Dangerfield yet the Person of a Peer and Bishop and a Star of the first Magnitude in the Church of England rendered much more conspicuous But the King was under a necessity he had declared one thing to the Protestants but he had bound himself to do another for the Papists If he falsified with the Protestants the Papists could absolve him if he proved unfaithâ—ul to the Papists they would never forgive him And in this Dilemma he resolved to â—ollow the Maxim of his Profession Not to keep Faiâ—h with Hereticks Neither were the steps he made the steps of Stateâ—convenience now and then upon an exigency but all in a huddle out of his Zeal to make large steps for fear he should die and leave the Papists worse than he found them These severe Proceedings against the Bishop of London werd the Violation of that part of his Declaration wherein he promised the Preservation of the Ecclesiastical Government as Established by Law But the Barbarous usage of the Gentlemen of both Maudlin Colledges was an unsanctified breach of
Sovereign Igniâ— fatuus to misguide them into all the Snares of Ruine and Perdition Execrable Oathes were the chief Court-Acknowledgments of a Deity Fornications and Adulteriâ—â— the Principal Tests of the Peoples Loyalty and Obedience Certain it is That the Kingdom was never in a better Posture for the King to work upon it than at the time of his return into England For such were the Contests for Superioriâ—y among those who had taken upon them the Government after the Death of Oliver such the Confusions and Disorders that from thence arose that no body could probably see where would be the end of the general Distraction unless it were by reducing all things to their primitive Condition under a Prince whose Title was so fair to the Crown For which all Parties were the more inflamed by the King 's reiterated Oathes Promises and Declaâ—ations to those of the Church of England to maintain the Protestant Religion to the Dissenters That he would Indulge their Tender Consciences with all the Liberty they could rationally desire And so inâ—atuated they were with these Ingratiating Wheedles that should all that knew him beyond-Sea both at Colen and in Flanders have spoken their Discoveries with the Voices of Angels nay should the Letter which he Wrote with his own Hand in the Year Sixty Two to the Pope have been shewn them in Capital Letters they would have been all looked upon but as Fictious and Inventions to obstruct the Happiness of the Nation The king was not ignorant that in order to bring his intended Designs about he was furnished already with a Stock of Gâ—ntlâ—men who being forced to share the misfortunes of his Exiles and consequently no less imbitteted against those whom they looked upon as their Oppressors he had moulded many of them to his own Religion and Interest by Corrupting them in their Banishment with them insomuch that a certain Gentleman offered to prove one day in the Pensionary House of Commons That of all tâ—e Pâ—râ—ons yet Persons of all Ranks and Qualities who sojourned with the King Abroad there were scarce any then alive except Prince Rupert Lord M. and Mr. H. Coventry who had not been prevailed upon by His Majesty to Nor could their being restored to their â—states at his Return separate them from their Master's Interest for that besides the future expectations with which the King continually fed them they had bound themselves by all the Oaths and Promises that could be expected from them to assist and co-operate with him in all his Dâ—signs though they were dispensed with from appearing bare-fac'd So soon therefore as the Parliament that gave him Admittance into the the Kingdom was Dissolved the King call another the first of his own Calling and so ordered the matter that the greatest part of the Masked Revolters got in among the real Protestants By which means all things went Trim and Trixy on the King's sideâ— They restored him the Milltia which the Long Parliament took from his Fatherâ— They Sacrificed the Treasure of the Nation to his Profuseness and Prodigality They offered up the Righâ—s and Liberties of the People by advancing â—is Prâ—rogative and what was most conducing to the King's P. Designs they made him by private Instructions those Penal Statutes which divided the Two prevailing Protestant Parties and set them together by the Ears by Arming one Party of the Protestants against the rest such a darl-advantage to the Papists and upon the obtaining of which he set so high a value that neither the necessity of his Aâ—â—airs at any time afterwards nor the Application and Interposure of several Parliaments for removing the Grounds of our Differences and Animosities by an Indulgence to be past into Law could prevail upon him to forego the Advantages he had got of keeping the Protestants at mutual Enemy one with another and making them useful to his own Designs Nor was this all But that he might carry on his Popish Designs the more saâ—ely and covertly under the cursed Masque of Hypocrisie he procured the passing of an Act in his Pensionary Parliament 1662. whereby it was made Forfeiture of Estate and Imprisonment for any to say The King was a Papist or An Introducer to Pâ—pery Nevertheless notwithstanding he was thus become a Protestant by the Law of the Laâ—d to repeat how he exerted the Power given him by the Parliament how he Persecuted and Prosecuted the Protestant Nonconformists throughout the Kingdom how he caused to be Excommunicated Imprisoned and Harrased when not a Papist in the Three Kingdoms was so much as Troubled or Moleâ—ted is a thing that would be altogether needless as being so well known to the World I had almost forgot another great kindness which the Parliament did him which was at the private Instance of the King to Abrogate the Trienial Act by which the Sitting of a Parliament once in Three Years was infallibly secured to the Kingdom So well did this Monarch know where the Shoe pinched him and so crafty was he to take his Advantage from the Delirium and Frensâ—e the Nation was in upon his Restoration to obtain the repealing of the Principal Laws by which his wrigling into Arbitrary Government would have often been curbed and restrained But whether it were that the prodigall Zeal of those Members began to cool conscious perhaps that they had already opened too large a Gap to Tyrannous Invasion upon the Liberties of the People which they had so Treacherously laid at the King's Mercy or whether it were that the King resolved to quicken his to Arbitrary Rule to the end he might see Popery flourish in his own days certain it is that the next attempt was to make Parliaments themselves the Ministers and Instruments of his own Popish Ambition and our Slavery In order hereunto He falls a Buying and Purchasing at certain and Annual Rates the Vote of the Members at what time the greatness of the Number of those that stood ready for Sale as well as their Indigencies and Lusts made the Price at which they were to be bought so much the easier Now being thus hired by His Majesty with their own free Offerings of the Nations Money How many Bills did they pass into Acts for Enslâ—ving and Ruining a Third part of the Kingdom under the Notion of Phanaticks and Dissenters And all this in graritude of their Sallaries and to accomplish the Will and Pleasure of their Lord and Master the King whose Bought and Purchas'd Vassals and Slaves they were All this while what can we say or think other but that the Purchaser as well as the Sellers were guilty of betraying the People who had intrusted them And then to make a President by Law for Tyranny these Hirelings empowered the Justices of the Peace to disleize Men of their Estates without being Convicted and found Guilty by Legal Juries of the Transgressions whereof they stood Accused By which they not only overthrew all the Commons and Stature Law of the Land but they
by an Enacted Law And no leâ—s frankly they Surrendred the Power of the Militia into his Hands of both which Acts being done in haste they had leisure enough afâ—erwards to repent But notwithstanding all the great Kindness of this Parliament and their more than extraordinary Liberality to the King of several Millioâ—s of the Peoples Money which was with the same Profusion wasted upon his Pleasures and the carrying on his Designs for the Introducing of Popery and French not a Penty hardly to the good of the Nation while â—hâ— Sâ—amen were sed with a Bit and a Knock and the Merchants that supplied the Stores of the Navy were Cheated of their Money and never paid to this day with what Scorn and Contempt he â—sed them and how far from that Esteem and Veneration he profesâ—ed to have for them while he was wheedling for his Restauration is apparent to all the Kingdom 'T is true the King continued them till all Men of impartial Knowledge and Judgment thought them Dissolved by Law and â—ill that they were Dissolv'd by himself the 25th of Ianuary 1678. not that they Sat so long but were discontinued and contemptuously spared from Meeting to Meeting many times by the inâ—imated Ordeâ—s and to promote the Designs of the French King and â—ever suffered them to Sir but when the King was in extreâ—m necessity of Money Among the rest oâ— those Prorogaâ—ions there was one at a time when the greatest urgency in Affairs the greaâ—est danger that threatned the Eâ—glish Nation required their Sittlng when they were diving into the Bottom of the Popish Plot and endeavâ—uring to bring to condign Punishment the chief Instruments which the King had made use oâ—â—o compâ—ss his Arbitrary and Popish Design Very remarkable is the Actions of the Preceding Night which was follow'd by the Morning Prorogations the relation of which is so gross that we think to draw a Curtain over it lest common Fame should lead us into an Error in any particular However this is certain that Prince Rupert the next Morning understanding what Resolutions were taken pressed the King with all the vehemency imaginable that Argument and Reason could enforce but at the same time the Duke of York stuck close to his Proâ—her telling him That his Cousin Rav'd c. so that the Duke that advised for the Ruine of the Nation was believed but the Priâ—ce that spoke his Mind freely for the Good of the Kingdom was dismisled for a Mad-man So well did the King Act his Part that when his well-meaning Counsellors lent their assisting hands to prevent the Consequences of French and Popish Dictates they were mistaken in the Man and gave their wholsome Advice to him that was not â—ound to take it During this Sessions of Parliament many foul things came to light for while the King had raised an Army and prâ—ssed the Parliament for Money to maintain them under pretence of making a War with France which was the earnest desire of all the Protestant pâ—rt of the Kingdom The Parliamenâ— were â—ully informed that while the King boasted of the Alliaâ—ces which he had made for the Preservation of Flanders and the Protestant Religion both at home and abroad he was secrâ—tly entred into Treatiâ—s and Alliâ—ncâ—s at the same time with the French King and Mr. Garroway of the House of Commons had gotten a Copy of the private Treâ—ty between the King of England and the French King at the same Instâ—nt that the Secretary and the others of the Court Parâ—y cried out a War iâ—somuch that several that were then in the House of Commons began to blush when they saw the Cheat so palpably discerned It was farther discovered That a great Favoueite of the Dukes had been sent over into France under a pretence oâ— Expostulating and requiring Satisfaction for the Injuries which the English had received from the French but in reality to carry the Project of Articles for the Peace and to the setâ—le and confirm all things fasâ— about the Money that was to come from France and to agree the Methods for Shamming the Conâ—ederates about their expected Alliances They found themselves cheated of all the Pole Bill Money which they had given so little a while before upon the Assurance of a War intended against France â— the greatest part of which they perceiv'd was immediately tho appropriated to the French War only converted to other Uses as the paying of old Debts so that very little was left for paying any Necessaries bought or to be bought towards the pretended War with France Nor were they ignorant of the real Design for which the King had raised his Army and what care the King and his Brother took that there should be no other Officers in that Army than what were fit for the Work in Hand which was to introduce Popery and French Government by main force The greater part being downright Papists or else such as resolved so to be upon the first Inâ—imation The Duke recommending all such as he knew â—it for the Turn and no less than an hundred Commissions were Signed to Irish Papists to raise Forces noâ—withstanding the Act by which means both the Land and Naval Forces were in safe Hands And to compleat the Work hardly a Judge Justice of the Peace or any Officer in England but what was of the Dukes promotion Nor were they ignorant of the private Negotiations of the Duke carried on by the Kings Connivance with the Pope and Cardinal Norfolk who had undertaken to raise Money from the Church sufficient to supply the King's Wants till the Work werd done in case the Parliament should smoke their Design and refuse to give any more Nor was the Parliament ignoranâ— what great Rejoicing there was in Rome it self to hear in what a posture His Majesty was and how well provided of an Army and Money to begin the Business The Parliament also understood while they were labouring the War with France and to resist â—he growth of Popery and Arbitrary Power That the King underthand assisted the French with Mâ—n and Ammunition of all sorts and soon after that a Câ—ssation was concluded both at Nimeguen and Paris That the King had got some Money from France for that Job by which the French King was now sure to hold all his Conquests â—broâ—d which had England been real to the Coâ—â—edâ—rates might have been easily wrested out of his Hands But it seems it was not so muâ—h Money as our King expected which made him Angry so that he began to threaten That if the Fâ—ench King did not perform his Promise of 300000 l. Annuity for Three Years he would undo all thaâ— he had done against the next Parliament But the French King derided those vain Threatâ— menacing in his turn That if the King of England would not be content with his Tâ—rms and do and say to the Parliament according to his Directions he would discover both him and hiâ— Correspondents in betrayiâ—g the Nâ—tion and discover all
For which Reason it was thought best to Assault him by way of Surprise and to hurry him to Prison upon a pretended Conspiracy which People would be astonished at but not have time â—â— unravel For the King and his Brother were assured That the Convicting of the Earl of Shaâ—tsâ—ury upon a Charge of Levying War and Conspiring to seize his Person would be a kind of Moral proof against every other Person whom they had a mind to accuse of the same Crime Since People would be easily persuaded That a Person of his Prudence and Câ—nduct would not easily embark himself in such a dangerous Enâ—erprise without a proportionable number of Persons who by their Power Quality and Interest might be supposed to be able to carry it on So that all the Noblemen and Gentlemen of England that ever had any converse or acquaintance with the Earl supposing them to be Persons obnoxious to the Court were involved in his Ruine But it will remain an eternal Monument of Reproach upon R. Subordination That after all the Industry of the Court and their obsâ—quious Instruments after all their layiâ—g their Heads together to form cohering and probable Proofs of the Charge intended to be laid against him after an illegal Trick devised to have tryed him within their own Jurisdiction on the Verge which was so contrary to Law that it was exploded by their own Bene placito Lambskin Men that at length he was acquitted by a Grand Jury the most Substantial for Estates Integrity and soundness of Judgment that had been returned for many Years in the City to the never dying praise of the Two Sheriffs Mr. Pilkinton and Mr. Shuâ—e A Disappointment which so inceâ—sed the King and his dear Brother That they resolved to make an Istington Village oâ— the chief Metropolis of the whole Nation and what they could not do by Fire to effect by wresting from them their Franchises and Priviledges â—ar more ancient than the descent of those that wrested them for a time out of their Hands For this reason the Attorney General was ordered to bâ—ing a Quo Warranto against the City Charter under the pretence of their petitioning for the Sitting of the Parliament a thing so far from being a Crime that it was the undoubted Right of the Nation And yet such was the awe which the antiquity and legality of the Charter had upon the Judge that the Fountain of Justice was forced to shift his Chief Justice till he could fix upon one that durst to adventure to pronounce Sentence against it Which as it was the greatest Invasion that could be against the ancient and fundamental Constitution of the Kingdom so it plainly laid open the King`s pious Intentions of Governing by Law which according to the new Interpretation of the Court was the downright subverting of all that was most Sacred and Valuable in the Nation to the end the King might have it in his Power to violate the electing of a Parliamâ—nt and nominate and obtrude upon all Persons of the Kingdom his own Slaves and Creatures Papists and Traytors to their Country so by reducing one of the most ancient Corporations and levelling it with one of the meanest Villages in the Kingdom that he might command the Mayor and Sheriffs and by their means the Juries of the City on purpose to have the Lives of all his Protestant Subjects at his Mercy And that this was his end was apparent by the Consequences for when once the King by the overthrow of the Charter had made sure of his own Sheriffs and Juries Heavens How were the Laws of God and the Kingdom wrested by misinterpretation How were the Precepts even of Morality it self transversed The Wiâ—nesses for the King caressed and countenanced in their known Subordination The Testimonies for their pretended Criminals brow-beaten and all the Arguments of Law and Reaâ—on urged by the most Learned Council of the Nation over-ruled by Hectoring and Swaggering Judges to take away the Lives of the L. Russel Col. Sidney Armstrong and several others meerly to gratifie the Rage of Popish Revenge Such were the Violences of the Court at that time in defiance of Justice as if all fear of giving account to future Parliaments had been thrown off or that they never intended to be troubled with them more till they had framed the Nation into such a posture as to chuse such Members as would not only forgive such Villanies but go sharers with them in the spoil of the Kingdom But then followed the Barbarous and Horrid Murther of the Earl of Essex which how far it could be laid to the King's Charge we shall not here pretend to determine tho it seem somewhat strange that the King could find no other Morning to accompany his Brother to the Tower but that very Morning that the Earl was Murthered will no doubt very much augment the Suspition of future Ages and it will be as odly looked upon that when Letters and Proposals were sent to some great Persons near the King That if his Majesty would but grant a Pardon to Two or Three Men that shyuld be named when the Favour was granted the whole Mystery of the Contrivance should be discovered and the Contrivers and Actors be particularly derected such a Proposal should be slighted and neglected Now after all these Tricks and Stratagems of the King to introduce Tyranny and Slavery to stifle the Popish Plot by throwing it upon his Protestant Subjects after such an obstinate and stedfast Conjunction with the Sworn Enemy of the Nation the French King for the Subversion of our Laws Liberties and Religion after so many Slights and Contempts to put upon the grand Council of the Kingdom which he never assembled but to empty and drain the Purses of the Nation But to shut the Door against all Objections that can be made in his behalf there is one proof yet remaining behind which must be an undeniable convincement to all the World of the Truth of what has been hitherto said as standing still recorded under his own Hand if the Original of the Instructions be extant and that is the following Memorial of his Ambassador to the King of Poland in the Year 1667. Most Illustrious Prince THE King my Master has Commanded me to let Your Majesty know the Resolutions he has taken in All Points to concur with the mosâ— Christian King in giving your Majesty all possible Assistance for the Establishing your Majesty's Title in such â—ays as your Majesty shall think most Effectual for the sâ—curing your Crown and Digâ—iâ—y and further Honâ—ur of your Queen and Royal Issue The King my Master being truly sensâ—ble of tâ—e great Misfortuneâ— of those Pâ—inces whose Powâ—r must be bouâ—ded and Reason regulated by the Fantastick Humour of their Subjects Till Prince can be â—reed from these Inconveniencies The King my Master sees no possiblâ— prospect of establishing the Roman Catholick Religion If thiâ— be not enough to discover his Inclinations and the whole drift of
two Nations so well matched it was the Dukes Contrivance to Suborn and Bribe two indigenâ— and desperate Vilâ—ains to go over and Fire the 〈◊〉 Shipâ— as they lay in their â—arbours â—nd when he had done thatâ— it was the same Treachery that with a sham story lulled his â—rother â—â—lâ—ep and prâ—cured the Firing of our Ships at â—â—â—â—ham The burning of London was such a marâ—hless piece as could not have entered into the Breast of any but a bejesuited Herostratus in hopes to purchase the infamous immortality of a Popish Saintship by reducing to Ashes the graetest Bulwark and Magazine of the Protestant Religion in Europe Rome was set on Fire by Nero to have re-built it again more Gloriousâ— and that he might have space enough for one of the most sumptuous Pallaces so designed under the Sun thereby to have made the Mistress of the Earth the Wonder of the World But London was Fired not only to destroy the Wealth and Habitations of the City never to have risen more but with an intention to extirpate the Inhabitants themselves to boot and to have turned the Venerable and Spacious Pile into a depopulated Wilderness by a general Massacre of the People under the Consternation of the spreading Flames The standing Sâ—reets provided and furnished with Incendiaries with fresh Materials to revive and restore the weary Conâ—â—â—gration and when taken in the Act resâ—ued out of the Hands of those that seized them and sent to St. Iames's to be there secured from the Rage of the Mulâ—itude and then dismissed without Persecution An excellent way to have made all sure by mixing the Blood of the Inhabitants with the Ashes of their Dwellings the only Cement which the Papists believed would fasten and bind the Fabrick of the Romish Church and what greater piece of Persidy could there be than while the Duke was riding about the Streets under Pretence of Assisting to quench the Fire that his Guards were at the same time employed to prevent the People from remâ—ving their Goods and his Palace made the Refuâ—e of such as were taken in the very â—act of cherisâ—ing and fomenting the Flames This the Committee of Parliament trac'd so far that it cost the Life of the poor Gentleman that gave the Information of these Things to the Chair man of the Committee to prevent any further Discovery and secure the D. from the Danger of his Life Coleman's crying out There was no Faith in Man was a most undeniable Testimony of the Treachery of his Master notwithstanding all the faithful Service he had done him and was it not a Magnanimous and generous Act of a Prince to betray as he did to the Gallows not only his most trusty Servant but his Fellow Partner in the Conspiracy More Inhumane still was the barbarous Murder actually contriv'd and brought to perfection by the encourag'd Instruments of the Duke For he it was that sent word to Coleman to bid him â—ake no care for that Sir Edmundbury Godfrey should be remov'd out of the way and at the same time took the like care that his Servant Coleman should follow him For it was Detection that he feared and the Dâ—ke well knew that the Dead could never tell Tales The Particulars of the Murder and how far the Circumstances of it reached the Dâ—ke are too fresh in Memory â—o be here inserted and Disâ—ensation for Deeds of the blackest hew were so easily obtaiâ—ed that it was no wonder the Duke so little boggled at a single Murder to conceal the Designs of general Masâ—acres wherein he was engag'd In pursuance of which he was no lesâ— industrious to bring the Presbyterians and all the Dissenting Protestants within the Snare of his Sham-Plot in order to the Destruction of Thousands of innocent Persons This Dangerfield discovered to the World and his Information taken upon Oath before Sir William Roberts and Sir William Poultney are extant wherein he gives an Accounâ— of his being introduced several times into the Duke of York's Prefence Particâ—larly that being once among the rest admitted to the Duke of York ' Closet at White-Hall he kissed his Hand upon his Knees Aâ—d then being taken up by the Duke he gave him a little Book containing the whole Scheme of the Presbyterian Plot for which the Duke thank'd him as also for his diligence to the Catholick Cause and wishing good Success to his Undertakings added these words That the Presbyterian Plot was a thing of most mighty Consequence and I do not question but the Effects of it will answer our Expectation especially in the Northern Parts where I am well assured the Major part of the Gentry aâ—e my Friends and have given sufficient Demonstrations to me as also of their Intentions to prosecute this Prescyterian Plot for they are no Strangers to the Design At the same time he ordered Dangerfield to be very careful of what he communicated to the Persons who were to be Witnesses in that new Plot lest he should be caught in the Subordination and so bring a terrible Odium upon the Catholicks and make himself uncapable of any further Service Then for Encouragement in the Prosecution of the Sham Plot the Duke promised that he would take Care that Money should not be wanting and ordered him with all the Expedition the Thing would allow to make a Discovery to the King At the same time the Duke also made divers Vows and bitteâ— Execrations to stand by him in the Thing and engaged upon his Honour to be his Rewarder and in earnest give him Twenty Guineas with his own Hand and telling him withal what a great Reputation he had gained among the Catholicks and that in a short time he should see the Catholick Religion flourish in these Kingdoms with a great deal more to the same purpose Of the truth of which among many others there could not be a more convincing Proof than the bitter Enmity which the Duke bore to Dangerfield after his Discovery and the severe Usage which he received from Iefferies the Duke`s Creature and the Rhadamantine Dispenser of his Revenges In Scotland he Rul`d or rather Reign`d though in his Brother's Life-time with a more Arbitrary and Lawless Controul And there it was that he breath`d forâ—h his Venome against the Protestants utterâ—d his Tyrannous Maximes with more â—reedom and exercised his Tyranny with a more boundleâ—s and exorbiâ—ant Extravagance For there it was that he first undertook to exercise the power of Soveraign Rule reâ—using to take the Oath of High Commissioner which the Law of the Counâ—râ— required as here he had dâ—nied to take the â—est and to shew how he intended to Govern England when it came to his turn there it was that in the hearing of Persons of great Credit he had this worthy Apothegm That tho` in England the Lawyers ruled the Court yet in Scotland he would rule the Lawyers There is was that he positively denied to give the Parliament any security for the Preservation of their Religion in
who eat his last Meal with the Duke and wrote the same on his Death Bed as it seems to be confirmed by this Saying of Iefferies so it was by many concluded to be the occasion of hastning the King`s Death Concerning which the Opinions of the World are various and some severe and bearing hard enough upon his Successor But in regard it is a Mystery as the Embrio of Conjâ—cture which is only to be matur`d in the Womb of Time and to be Midwiv`d into the World by future Discovery we leave it to higher Scrutiny The Justice of Heaven perhaps not minding a present Revenge of his Death who had not only prevented the Prosecution of Noble and Innocent Essex`s Blood but so severely punished the Industrious Enquiry after it only this is further to be mark`d that the Irish Papists could for some time before fix upon the utmost Period of his Reign and the Duke was sent for in haste out of Scotland without any apparent Reason for it besides that the King's Permission was obtain'd with some difficulty However by the violent and tremendous Death of his â—rotâ—er he at length arrived at the long long wished â—â—r Heaven of his Ambitious Desires and beholds himself mounted upon the Pinicle of Roâ—alty only that his Fall might be more conspicuous He was no sooner Proclaimed but he declâ—red his Religion openly to his Privy Council however he began with a mild and caressing Declaration which he afterwards broke in every Line of it A meer Trap baited with Indulgence to Tender Consciences on purpose to catch the Dissenting Mice to deliver them when caught into the Paws of his ravenous Popish Cats but no sooner was he Crown`d but as if his Coronation-Oath and all his Promises so lately made had been no more â—han so many Pills of Opium and believing himself environed with Power sufficient to maintain his Tyranny and Oprâ—ssion he invades Property by Expulsion of the right Owners tramples upon the Laws by his pretended Prerogative of suspending Power and goes about to pull down the stately Structure of the Protestant Religion by the Suspension of one and imprisoning and Arraigning at his Criminal Bar no less than seven of the most Eminent Fathers of the English Church And by a strange alteration of the Face of Government Treason over-rules the Law and Traytors impeached are fetch'd out of Jayl to sit Triumphantly domineering at the Helm of State and Iefferies the Daniel that in some measure might be said to be taken out of the Lyons Dens for the Cruelty of his Nature is advanced in open Hostility to Justice to wage War with the Fundamental Constitutions of the Kingdom A mean Spirit insulting over his Inferiors but a Spaniel to his Superiors who though he knew himself no more than a Tool in the Hand of a Popish Artificer the Shadow of Grandieur lofty under Contempt and domineering only in Publick yet having pawn'd his Soul for the hopes of an Embroidered Purse rather than decoil to Goodness careers on in Mischief and as if his Robes had not been Scarlet enough dies them deep in Innocent Blood and becomes his Master's Vassal to enâ—lave the Nation Such Counsellors as these hurried on the new Crowned King with such a Rapidness to accomplish the great Work of introducing Tyranny and Popery to which his own Fears of leaving the Papists worse than he found them as furiously carried him that he threw his Brother into his Grave as if he had not had leisure to Bury him or as if he had deem'd him not worth a Funeral whom he thought not worth a longer Life Unless perhaps he thought the Hypocrisie of pompous Obsequies would have but provoked his Brother`s injur`d Manes with which as common Fame had spread it he was already too much pestred I will not here dispute the Truth of Apparitions nor insist upon the vulgar Censures about the Town upon the Priests for not detaining him in the half-way-Prison but singing him out of Purgatory to make his Brother melancholy by facing him several times and giving him an astonishing stâ—oke upon the back as he was going down a pair of Staiâ—s in White-Hall yet this may be asserted That Guilt accompanied with Terror forms thoâ—e Apparitions in the Mind which work the same effect and obtain the same belief when once divulg'd among the Credulous as if they were real However it were it shewed he thought himself but little beholding to him for living so long and consequently no way oblig'd to retaliate a Succession so late in the year with so much loss of time And now the first influences of his Tyranny and Fury against the Protestants flew into Scotland where whatever Indulgence he shewed in England he issued forth a dreadful Proclamation against the Dissenters under the Notion of Enemies to the King and Government and Destroyers of the British Monarchy sufficient to have given a more early Alarm to the Dissenters in England had they not been â—ulâ—ed asleep by the softness of a present Repose and the Charms of their Decoy-Duke Penn the effect rather of their Simplicity than their Policy But the first Act of his Revenge in England brake forth uâ—on Dr. Oates He could not forget the Doctor 's Detecâ—ion of his Conspiracies against the Kingdom And because he could not â—ind ouâ— a way to hang him his Chief-Justice Iefferies found out a punishment to gratifie his Royal Fury worse than Death it self and till then unknown among Châ—istians in Imâ—tation of the Roman â—â—stuarium by whiâ—h the Roman Soldiers were often drubb'd to death or if they escap'd sent into perpetual Banishment As the Doctor was first of all Scourged by the common Executioner beyond all Precedent and then Condemn'd to perpetual Imprisonment A Sentence of void of all Christian Compassion that only a Iefferies could have invented A goodly sight to see Protestant Judges condemning a Protestant and the Deâ—ector of a most horrid Popish Plot upon the Evidence of known Papists and some of them nearly related to the Executed Traytors and this for Perâ—ury too upon the Testimony of Witnesses already â—alsified As if Justice were a thing that never had been Naturaliz'd in Heaven but only depended upon the Will of the Prince a kind of Tool to â—e used by his Bene-placito Slaves at his or their Discretion or the grand Poppet of the World to be shewed in various Dresâ—es and Disguises as the force of Judicature requiredâ— But as for Dangerfield he had been once â—is Darling frequently admitted to kiss his Hand while he was in Conspiracy with him to suck the Blood of the Innocent But there was no Attonement for his Revolting and Revealing the hidden Mystery of Iniquity Therefore he must dance the same Dance that Oates had done only the King did the World this small piece of Justice to throw away an inconsiderable Roman Cathotlick to satisfie the general Discontent upon his being Murder'd In the next place he calls a Parliament and renews