they had sent one of their own Officers to govern it on their stead As for the Prince of Orange taken in his own single Capacity he was far from being a Separate Nation or Independent Government which this Gentlemen's Discourse proceeds upon or indeed Supreme Governour of any Nation at all not of the Principality of Orange for this was by Dr. Sherlock's Event of Providence and by Conquest taken from him long ago Nor was the Prince of Orange a Sovereign Independent Prince in Holland for he was there under the Government of the States Nor was it ever heard there was a Prince of Breda So that this Gentleman's Discourse faulters in that which should have been the very subject of it He should have said that any great Man who had received Wâ—ong might in true Reason right himself by the best means that he or his Friends could make against any Man who was not his Sovereign or fellow Subject and this by the Law of Reason or Nature not by the Law of Nations For what had the Law of Nations to do in the business when there was no Nation Injured or that demanded Satisfaction For surely he will not say that King Iames had done Wrong to the Principality of Orange or that the Person of King William alone or of his Queen either is a Nation Yet one of the two he must say â—o make his Discourse hang together Thirdly 'T is deny'd there were great and violent 〈◊〉 of an injury to the Right of Succession This if made good might do his Cause some service let us see then what strong Proofs he brings to evince it Two sorts of Arguments he alledges to prove it The fiâ—st is the Prince of Orange's Declaration certainly this Man is infatuated Our English Proverb Ask my Master if I be a Thief contains as good a Plea as this yet the poor Man triumphs mightily and thinks his Work is done when he has barely repeated it But what says the Declaration Why it says That all the good Subjects of these Kingdoms do vehemently suspect that the pretended Prince of Wales was not born of the â—ueen and that many doubted of the Queen's Bigness and of the Birth of the Child and yet there was not any one Thing done to satisfie their Doubts So says the Declaration indeed and if a Man may be believ'd in his own Cause against our own knowledge when he might hope to get Three Kingdoms by saying so all is as true as Gospel and as clear as Demonstration otherwise our Reason will I hope give us leave to suspect at least Misinformation in the Case if not Self-partiality And I do not like either the Sincerity or the Care of him that penned it in saying first that All good Subjects vehemently suspected c. and then dwindling afterwards into Many doubted c. A sober Man would not have quoted the Declaration unless to defend it but this Gentleman builds on it as on his Principle But how will he justifie the Declaration when it says that not any one thing was done to satisfie Doubters or himself for hinting so impudently p. 14. That the principal Persons concerned had not the least Satisfaction given them Was not the Testimony of near Fifty sworn Witnesses of Credit enough to satisfie reasonable Men in a matter of Fact No says he p. 13. No private Depositions of such as are dependents or otherwise liable to suspicion can in reason be taken for satisfactory Evidence Does this Man consider how many Protestants how many Persons of unblemish'd Honour he taints with suspicion of Perjury and Treason against the Nation by hinting they are so sworn in attesting the Bigness of the Qâ—een and the Birth of the Prince of Wales Unhappy Mr. Ashron who had such Judges and such Jury-men as though fit to condemn him without any one Witness or any one Proof but merely upon Suspicion or Presumption yet such multitudes of legal Witnesses are held insufficient to satisfie those of the â—ame Party of the Truth of a matter of Fact far more evident Certainly this pretended Scrupulosity of theirs which is so loose at some time and so strait-lac'd at another is more lodged in their Wâ—d than in their Reason But on how he bussles and runs about the World to pretend a flaw in this most sample Atteâ—tation The Old Roman Laws are haâ—ed in by Head and Shoulders p. 13. though he knows well they are generally no where observed especially those he mentions they being indeed such extravagant Nâ—ceties that it would look like perfect Madness now a days to offer to bring them into play Then comes in our Old Common Law p. 14. Allowing a Writ of Inspection and the Old Law Books giving directions to prevent and discover Subernation Now if there were any Thing done contrary to our Laws that makes for his purpose Why does he not produce it and urge it Especially why did not the Contention when they were so vehemently press'd to it by the Loyal Party go about to Discover this pretended Subordination Why did not they or any other since this Government came in make us of his Writs of Inspection and his Chapter in the Old Law Books Did none of them know Old Laws Wâ—its and Chapters but this learned Setler of the Royal Succession This I can assure him that durst the Convention have attempted it they should have sound even at that time very many other Witnesses of Credit able both to satisfie the nicest Scrupulosity conâ—ute the Calumny and confouâ—d the Authors and Abetâ—ers of it But they were affâ—aid such an important Truth should be made too evident to the whole World because it would at once have spoiled the Prince of Orange's Declaration and have shamed their own Rebellions Resolution of deposing King Iames and setting up another in hâ—s Head A Pretence which was so necessary to be started and upheld must not be Discovered by the Framers and Abetters of it to be a manifest Impestuce as they knew well it would have been had they gone about to examine it I omit to give a fuller Answer to his Citations out of the Old Roman Laws and our Old Common Laws because they have been considered very particularly in a Discourse puâ—posely made upon those 〈◊〉 subjects Entituled De Ventre Iâ—spiciendo or Remarks on Mr Ashron's Answerer which shews clearly from those Laws themselves in the places he cites and from those Oracles of the Law Bâ—acton and my Lord Coke that neither the one nor the other are at all to his purpose His other Pâ—oofs of this injury justifying the War are a company of Its as pag. 13 Iâ— there was no reasonable Care taken to prevous and remove these Suspicions and pag. 14. If no such Care was taken c. If the principal Persons concerned had not the least Satisfaction given them If the whole Thing was managed with Secrecy and suspicious Circumstances c. But he no where affirms that all the particular Ifs
or any one of them was positively true and consequently he attempts not to make good nor â—ffers the least Proof that the War upon this Score was Iust nor that the Law of Nations he so much talks of gives the Invader any Right or Title to the Crown nor lustly that there were great and as he only phrases it violent Presumptions of this Injury to the Right of Succession Whence follows that he has not even said one single Word in juâ—â—â—fication of this New Government or of the Swearing Party and so he is infinitely short of clearing the whole Matter as he in big Words pretended at the beginning of this Discourse Certainly our Governours were either very unwise in clinsing no better a Wâ—iter to defend their Cause or else which is the very Truth their Cause it self can bear no better a Defence Since then this stout Champion of our new Government is so mightily in love with Iâ—s it were not amiss to ansâ—er him with more Ifs than he brings which moreâ—ver a thing he â—o where does for fear of a Confute we dare vouch to be true We affirm then That if this Invasion was intended above three quarters of a Year before it was executed or more the French King sending King Iames word of it half a Year before If it was long befoâ—e concerted between the Prince of Orange and the Confederates to dethrone King Iames without any Respect to the Prince of Wales as yet but a young Embrio if so much or to the maintaining our Religion or Liberties or to any of those other specious Pretences taken up afterwards but on the Confederates parts at least merely for fear he might be brought to 〈◊〉 with France or stand Neuter and to make the silly English lose their Lives and beggar themselves to maintain the Quarrel of Foreigners If the main thing that encouraged the Confederates to that Uâ—dertaking was the Knâ—wn Hatred of the English Men in general â—o King Iames's Religion that King's Zeal to make those of his Persuasiâ—n â—s free is the rest of their Fellâ—w Subjects which they hop'd would highly disgust very many â— and theâ—r Assurance that they had a Factions Lying and Discontented Party here who would make way for his Ejectment by giving about and countenancing such Stories and Libels as would encline great part of the Nation to a Revolt If among the rest this Flam of a supposititious Prince of Wales nor dream'd on by any till then wâ—s comed â—â— the Politick Mint at the Hague sent over into England to be made current here by their Party and then the Dissatisfaction which themselves had raised hâ—re was taken up for a Pretence and inserted in the Prince of Orange's Declaration to give the idle Story a greater Authority and to gloss over such an unnatural and so unjust an Invasion If ample Satisfaction was given by the Oaths of Multitudes of Credible and Honourable Witnesses when the Dissatisfaction came to some height it being highly unwise for a King to humor every idle Report or honor it with such a solemn Examination If the Queen's Deliveâ—y was far from being carried secretly and suspitiously as one of his Ifs shameâ—â—â—y â—ints but in opâ—n Day-light before a Multitude of People of All sorts indifferently no Person of Honor being denied Entrance who had the Curiosity to be present If the Prince and Princess of Orange who were Two of the Persons chiefly concern'd being absent far off in Holland and not denied coming over if they would might have sent some whom they could trust to be present or at least had press'd their Sister who was here and whose Joint Concern it was to be exactly curious in a Business so highly importing â—hâ—m all and yet none of them though so hugely obliged by then Interest to doe this did ever make any kind of Means or Applicaâ—ion in order to their so just Satisfaction which it had been a Madness not to have done had they indeed had any real Doubt Nay more If to carry on the politick Sham the Princess of Denmark who was the Third Person so nearly concerned after having avoided with all the Industry imaginable to be present at the Queen's rising and going to Bed left she should be forced to see what she was loth to know and resolved not to wâ—tnâ—ss viz. the Queen's Pregnancy would needs coâ—trary to the Will of her Father who express'd some Trouble that she should then â—e absent because she being satisfied in the Thing her self might be the better able to satisfie her Relations run out of the way to the Bath and to be purposely absent just at the time the Queen reckoned to be delivered though she had most pressing reasons of Interest to be here at that time nor could without most manifest Injustice be denied all the Liberty allowable â—o one of the same Sex both to satisfie her sâ—lf and others though at the same time it was given out that she was sent away by her Fâ—ther lest she should discover the pretended Cheat Iâ— none of the Three nearly concâ—râ—ed nor any other made the least Scruple nor pretended the least Dissatisfaction in the World when the Queen was â—elivered of other Chiâ—â—ren formerly though not half the number was presenâ— untill a Male Child was born which to thâ—iâ— Râ—gret put them by the Hopes and Expectaâ—ion of succeeding in thâ—ir turns â—he Next If instead of offering any Proof at all or any one Witness of the contrary to invalidate or counteâ—balaâ—ce in the least degree this consonant Testimony of so many Persons of untaiâ—ted Honour and Sincerity this Farce to gull â—nd mad the silly credulous People was carried on and abeâ—â—ed with nothing but Multitudes of Lyes printed and baw'd about to serve a present Turn as that the Woman whose Child it was was come out of Holland and would appear to justifie it that it was brought to St Iames's sometimes in a Coach someâ—imes in a Warming-pâ—n that the Midwife had coâ—fessed the Cheat c. All which are eâ—iâ—ced to be Falshoods by this that they werâ— never prov'd or attempted to be prov'd thâ—ugh it was so highly necessary If the factious Members in the Conventiâ—n that voted up this new King were pâ—est by the loyal Party to call this matter into Examination yet could never be brought to doe it though it were in it self of the highest Concern imaginable to our Nation and withall most absolutely necessary to justifie this otherwise barbarous Invasiâ—n of the Prince of Orange and their own Treasonable Abdication of King Iames Lastly If this heavy Charge against the Kiâ—g and Queen of trumping up a Sham Prince of Wales was induâ—â—riously spread throughout the Three Kingdoms not out of any real Zeal of presâ—rving the â—â—ue Succession but onely as a fit occasion to throw off That and the Monaâ—chy too as hereditary by Lineal Descent by changing it into an Elective as frankly acknowledged by one of the greatest Abdicating Pâ—ers of the
Realm who owned to a Person of known Integrity that he believed the Prince of Wales to be as truly born of the Queen's body as his own Son of his Wife 's and that therefore they were resolved to pluck up both Root and Branch which in other words is to change the Government If I say all these Particulars be true as we dare affirm them to be and are ready to pâ—ove by unquestioâ—able Testimonies and as most of them are most notorious then we may safely conclude that the Birth of the Prince of Wales was no just Occasion of a War nor consequently can be derive hence a Right to the Government by the Law of Nations justifying his Invasion as this Gentleman pretends I pity his Weakness in compaâ—ing p. 15. this open Carriage of things in the Birth of that Prince before Multitudes of People of all sorts indifferently to a Juggâ—e between Three the pretended Father and Mother and a Mâ—dwife to suboâ—n a false Chiâ—d He thinks it too of great Weight That the Juâ—y upon hearing the whole Evidence gave Iudgment that tâ—at Child was supposititious What Straws wil Men catch at when their Cause is sinking But why does he not tell us what Evidence the Jury he speaks of proceeded upon Because it would shame his alleadging it 'T is this as I have been informed The Hereford 〈◊〉 Woman was held Incapable of Children which made the next Heir to the Estate suspect no Child was born A crafty Lawyer who undertook to discover it first made Enquiâ—y what poor Women the midwife ' had delivered about that time and found that â—ne of them had her Child missing having discovered this he fâ—ights the Woman by telling her there was a great Rumour that the had murthered her Child and that she should be hanged if she did not produce it alive or dead Hereupon she made known the whole Intrigue of the Midwife and the pâ—etended Parents and the Juggle came to be consist Is this in any Regard like our Case None were sworn there but the two Persons immediately conâ—erned who hoped to enjoy the Estate and a Countrey Midwife who was to have a share in it for her Project at least we may be sure a good lusty Bribe So that here waâ— in really but One Witness the pretended Parents being barred from witnessing in their own Câ—use Counâ— now the Number of our Witnesses and weigh their Worth and how that they were not Persons 〈◊〉 out but came accidentally as they hapt to hear of the Queen's Coâ—â—ition and it will appear impossible they should be capable of a Confederacy or Subornation Again The Queen was never held to be barren She had had formerly divers Daughters and a Son and it was likely and no more but what by the course of Nature is generally expected that She should at another time have a second Male-Child ' Nor did any Mother of the Child appear to own it as the Lying Parts a goâ—d wâ—â—e pretended she would all those kind of Romances serv'd like Buttâ—esses or Scaffolds to raise this new King to his Height and build up our New Governâ—ent and therefore when things were better settled and could stand without them they were taken down again and laid aside as useless In a word let him bring an Evidence in any degree like that which his Herefordshire Jâ—ry had and we shall acknowledge the Wrong done to the Natioâ— and to the Râ—yal Family and grant the War had there been any just Till then let not such Personages lie under such intolerable Slanders let not Christianity and Duty be so wickedly violated nor the People of England deluded and scandalized with such Talk without Proof and sâ—ch heavy Câ—arges laid without the least colourable Shadow of Evidence to juâ—â—ifie that they are so much as in any degree Probable much less as he mouths it great and violent Presumptions and least of all what they ought to have been absolutely certain Truths Thus much of his great and violent Presumptions c. Next follows for though he be a very slender Prover yet he is still a very big Pretender his Too gâ—eat Evidence of a form'd Design to subvert the Establisht Religion and Civil Liberties of the Nation I suppâ—se he calls it Too great Evidence because 't is so great that it dazles the Night as the Sun does at Noon-day so that no Man can see it or bâ—hold it else why is it too great Now when a Man has too much of a thing 't is very unkind and even ill-natur'd and hard-hearted not to spare a Little of it to his Friends to whom he owes it and who both want it and expect it from him But we mistake his Genius he is a Praâ—ing not a Proving Writer Nor does he evidence the Calumny otherwise than by referring us again to his Alcoran the Prince of Orange's Declaration Whatever he finds there he makes account is a First Principle and so bring of too great Evidence it can need no Proof An impartial Narrative of matters of Fact known to most in England will give us a true Light to judge of this Point King Iames his Religion and the hatred which the generality of the Nation had against it made all those who were of a different Persuasion look with a jealous Eye upon his Actions and apt to make the worst Constructions of every thing he did in favour of Papists Nor is it to be thought that he wanted many Enemies of the Old Excluding Faction who stood watching all Opportunities to bâ—eed him Vexation and disaffect his Subjects by malicious Insinuations Those of our Church who were heartily Loyal did grieve exceedingly to see him give his Enemies too fair occasions to work him Mischief They judged that the setting up the High Commission Court over Ecclesiasticks were there nothing in it but the Novelty of it should not have been attempted in such Circumstances if at all The making one of the Iesuits Men more odious to our Nation than Turkish Mâ—sties a Privy-Counsellor could they fear'd have no other likely Effect but to exasperate all England to the highest degree They conceived that the Dispensing with the Test and putting Roman-Catholicks promiscuously into Offices Civil and Military might have been let alone 'till the Test it self were Abrogated which would certainly have been more easily obtained had not this forward Anticipation put our Church of England out of humour and made them more warily stand upon their Guard and resolve unanimously to part with nothing that could any way he likely to advantage them But that which most Startled our Church was the Design of giving Liberty of Conscience to all Dissenters they had sadly experienced in the long Parliament's Time and in Oliver's Days how those Men had trampled the Church of England under Foot and they feared that this setling them by Law on an even level with themselves might in time give those restless Men opportunity to play the same Franks over again In
THE Loyal Martyr VINDICATED AFTER Mr. Ashton's Paper had been shewn by the Sheriff to those that sit at the Helm and that it was known there were more Copies of it given abroad so that it was impossible to sham or disguise it it raised in them as I am informed very sollicitous Apprehensions what Effects it was likely to work in the Minds of all the true Sons of the Church of England to see a genuine Member of that Communion with his last Breath admonish his prevaricating Brethren of the enormous Crimes of Perjury and Rebellion in which they they had of late so deeply plunged themselves denounce Prophetically to them the Judgments attending their Apostacy if not timely repented of profess so stoutly his Allegiance to his much injured and unjustly Dispossessed Prince seal our Church's Doctrine of Non-resistance with his dearest Blood and dye so resignedly chearfully nay joyfully in Testimony of that Christian Principle could not but be apprehended to our Statis's to be the most powerful Motives imaginable to reclaim those who had been misled by false Information or seduced by Interest into a Repentance of their Errors and to establish the rest in the Loyal Principles to which they had hitherto adhered Besides the honest unaffected Reason which appears in the Account he gives of his Tenets and Conscientious Proceedings and the Christian Moderation and sincere Piety which he observed throughout his whole Paper Praying heartily for his very Enemies though unjustly thirsting after his Blood the proper Temper of a dying Martyr could not but recommend the Contents of it to the esteem of every indifferent Reader and even be able to shock all such as were not resolutely byass'd Nor can I blame them for being so highly concerned that such a Legacy was left to the Loyal Party Those politick Men were well aware of the successful Methods by which Christianity was Propagated at first and that The Blood of the Martyrs was the Seed of the Church and therefore they judged it very Expedient that some speedy and effectual Means should be taken to stop the prejudicial Effects which it would otherwise produce It was then thought the best way to seem to slight and undervalue the Paper by Printing it themselves and at the same time to endeavour to baffle and confute it by an Answer going along with it penned with as much plausibleness as the Cause could bear But Truth is not easily trampled down His Christian Constancy has made too great an Impression in the Hearts of his Admirers to permit his Meritorious Sufferings to lie under the Scandal of a Treasonable Guilt and has given Courage to some of the meanest of them to vindicate his Cause and Credit against the wicked Slanders and weak Reasons of this mercenary Writer though he foresees that if they be discovered they can expect no other Reward but the same fatal End The Holland Lyon has begun to taste English Blood and finds it so sweet that it draws on an Appetite of shedding still more To fall then to our Reply His First Sham for the whole Piece is a continu'd fardle of such Stuff is That the Paper is none of Mr. Ashton's This if made good would they hoped take off the Authority and Influence of it as noâ— being the proper Act of the Martyr but of some other of that Party â— it required therefore his best skill to make this Credible Let us then examine his Arguments His First Proof is Because 〈…〉 with too much Art and Care to be the Work of one who professes he thought it better to employ his last minutes in Devotion p. 8. What a ridiculous Cavil is this His last minutes were at the place of Execution which the Martyr professeth he thought it better to employ in Devotion and holy Communion with his God than in making Speeches which if they were Loyal and delivered his Thoughts fully were likely to be interrupted and so not attended with the designed Success and therefore he chose rather to deliver what he had to say in Writing Now comes this Gentleman and pretends if his Words have any Tenour or Sense in them that he must have compos'd this Paper of his aâ— his last minutes that is at the Gallows which he says he could not do with so much Art and Care those minutes being taken up otherwise viz. In Devotion and therefore forsooth the Paper is none of his As if he had not time enough between his Sentence and the Execution of it to compose a Paper both larger and more full of Art and Care had he minded such Advantages than this was Or as if good Men whose Piety enclines them to spend their last minutes in holy Thoughts could not in the time anteceding use both their best Art and Care to pen a true Account of their Principles and the Cause for which they Suffered but indeed there is little Art or Care in the Master or Sense of the Paper but a plain and candid Discovery of his Thoughts and Affections both towards God and the World and as for the manner of Writing it if it were indeed such as this Man exhibits it there was neither any the least Art or Care shewn in it but perfect Negligence or rather great Ignorance and Folly throughout the whole as will be seen shortly His Second Reason to prove the Paper was not the Martyr's is Because Mr. Ashton says he was illiterate and unskilled in the Law and yet uses such Bug-words as Impending Prevaricating Premisses and Consequence and gives such a peremptory Iudgment about the Laws of the Realm in a Case acknowledged by all ingenious Men of his own Party to have a great deal of difficulty in it this Man will say any thing though never so openly false Not one Mâ—n of his Party ever thought there was the least difficulty in this That it was Treason by our Laws to resist a legal Prince or acknowledge any other for King while he lives No not this Writer himself as appears by his not thinking it his best play to alledge the Laws of the Realm buâ— flying off and recurring to the Law of Nations And as for the Law as it relates to his own Case he was far from Peremptory as is manifest from his saying I am told I am the First Man that ever was condemned for High-Treason upon bare Presumption or Suspicion Do not these Words I am told sound as modestly as is possible and bar all shew of his passing such a peremptory Iudgment about the Laws of the Realm as he puts upon him p. 8 What will not this Caviller say But 't is pleasant to observe what Prancks he uses all along 'T is plain Mr. Ashton meant no more but that he was illiterate that is unlearned and unskilful in the Law as appears by his desiring the Iudges to observe for him what might be for his Advantage And sure a Man who has not made the Law his Study for the Word reaches no farther
by the Wheel of Fortune was laid flat and the Vnsteady Authority of our new Governours was bandied most miserably from Post to Pillar and could find no Foundation to fix upon nor any Basis that would fit it None had hitherto been so Hardy to offer to maintain by Reason that they were rightfull and lawfull King and Queen Yet I am credibly informed that a certain Gloomy-look't Divine relying I suppose on some mystick Exposition of the Revelation had preached a Sermon which would insinuate that King William had a Right to England by Conquest which was formerly ready to be published but upon the taking of Mons some sâ—op was put to it at that time If this be as true as it is told me with much assurance we English-men have reason to bless God for that Success of the French King as the most beneficial Event of Providence that has befall'n us this long time for had that Project been heartily encouraged our Countrey-men had been all Slaves and every Farthing in the Nation at the Conquerour's Devotion it being indeed in that Case his own so that when Parliaments would give no more he might by setting up his Title when he pleased take all and this was the Fifth Title which has been set on foot At length comes this Gentleman and seeing all the other Titles to be but impertinent Shifts and not at all likely to take he will needs strain a Note above Ela and settle it on a higher Foundation viz. on the Law of Nations which allows Independent Governments to right themselves by Force or by making War on him that injures them But because he saw no War was made no Army fought nor a Stroke struck â— so that none who was not mad with Revelation could dream of a Conquest giving him Right over England he very politickly twists with it and with the Success of this Iust War p. 11. the Consent of the People too This I must confess is a more extraordinary and more refined Notion than any of the other 't is made of Contradictions and is of a Composition altogether Monstrous We use to instance in Chimeras by a Hirco-cervus a Goat-Stag or some such whimsical Conceit that imports two or more different Natures clapt together But this new fangled Notion of Right he has invented consists not of merely different but opposite Natures War and Force signifie Involuntariness in those they are exercised upon and Consent signifies Voluntariness Again the Effect of War and Force is to subdue Resisters and Consent of the whole Nation signifies no Resisters at all So that to come in by Force of War and at the same time by Consent is to be beaten voluntarily to be forced willingly to resist yieldingly to submit withall our Hearts yet against our Will or whatever Nonsense of this kind this incoherent and self-divided Notion of Right affords us But to say the Truth there was neither a fair War subduing the resisting Nation against their Consent nor a clear free and deliberate Consent of the whole Nation but as will shortly appear a mere Trick manag'd by an Ambitious Invader and his Confederates seconded by a Party of Male-contents and Rebellious Deserters and carried on by a complicated Series of unproved Pretences and Forgeries to bubble and fool the Common People and bring us into the Slavery and Beggary we now groan under We will put this young new-hatcht Kingly-Title its best Cloaths on and then see how finely the Royal Robes become it and how prettily the Baby will look There is besides the Laws of the Land says he p. 11. a Law of Nations by which Sovereign Independent-Governments when injured may Right themselves by a Iust War Here were great and violent presumptions of an injury to the Right of Succession and too great Evidence of a formed Design to subvert the Establisht Religion and Civil Liberties of the Nation and this War had Success therefore the Sovereignty was duely transferred and so there can be no dispute left to whom our Allegiance is due This is the full substance of the Discourse he had put together as he told us p. 10. to clear this whole Matter Let us now take it gently to pieces and lay each part of it down easily lest it fall asunder of it self and shatter into Incoherent Atoms before we come to handle it closely 'T is deny'd then that there were in our Case two Nations or several Independent Governments 'T is deny'd there were great and violent presumptions of the Injury mentioned 'T is deny'd there was too great Evidence of the form'd Design he pretends 'T is deny'd the Prince of Orange acquired his Authority by making War or that he righted himself by Force or came by the Consent of the People and therefore since he has no Right either by fair Means or foul Means 't is deny'd he has any Right at all what he has how he came by it or how he still keeps it shall be declared hereafter First then That there is a Law of Nations distinct from that of particular Kingdoms every Man knew â—efore so that he needed not have been so large in a Point so universally acknowledged but 't is becoming his small Politicks to ampâ—â—fie mightily and carry all before him Victoriously in Things which no Man living denies But to be short and slight or rather perfectly silent in those pâ—rticulâ—rs on which the Decision and the Truth of the whole business depends we grant him then that Independent Governments may when injured have a Right to demand and if it be deny'd them take Satisfaction by force of Arms for 't is no more than every Man knows and yields to but 't is deny'd that this comes home to his Purpose or does his Cause the least service For Secondly 'T is deny'd that there were here Two Independent Governments and so his Discourse falls to the gâ—ound The Sâ—ates of Holland indeed make a Government but those good Men who never told lye in their Lives disclaim'd the Action by their Ambassador and like wise Men lest it should not succeed would not be seen in it but made use of Fâ—ot of Wâ—elp to do their own Jobbs 'till the Six hundred thousand Pound came to be pay'd them and then indeed they so far own'd it heartily and took our Money very readily Besides they were Allies to King Iames which makes it contrary to the Law of Nations to which he recurrs And lastly if they made this War and had Success in it I am sure the Prince of Orange was not such an Independent Governour as to make it without them it would follow by this Discourse that They and not He are our Lords and Masters a Title which the Hollanders do not quâ—t but still assert on due occasions That their State-holder manages England for their behoof as appears by their carriage in the Mogull's Countrey where they seiz'd some of our Merchants Effects by pretending that England was now under Holland and that
a Word they apprehended they were to fence with their Enemies on both hands and therefore they combined Veleus Testindine factâ to link themselves unanimously against the universally Dâ—â—pensing Power and in Maintenance of the Test. On the other side King Iames was very earnest to have a general Liberty of Conscience setled by Law It had ever been his Tenet that Persecution purely for Conscience sake was Vnchristian Besides he judged it would enrich the Nation as it had done Holland by inviteing Strangers hither and encouraging Trade the conveniency of our Ports above those of our Neighbours being an efficacious Motive to draw the Traffick from them to us He judged too that this universal Toleration if wisely setled and managed might be a means to compose the Bedlam Animosities here about Religion which had so often distracted the Nation and within our Memory turned the Government topsie-turvy Nor was it one of his least Motives though not the only one as some apprehended to gain those of his own Religion a Toleration among the rest of the Dissenters a thing to speak impartially to which both his Honour and his Conscience could not but exceedingly encline him These Conveniences meeting in one took such full hold of his Judgment that he was exceedingly fond of a Project which did seem to him so hugely Advantageous to the Nation Hereupon he try'd all Sweet means imaginable to bring it about but found all his Caresses ineffectual to induce our Church Party to permit it to be enacted in Parliament which was his main design Wherefore he saw there was no other Expedient but to turn out such Officers as opposed his Intentions and for the present to put in Dissenters to whom he knew it would be grateful and by that means to compass such a Parliament as was likely to establish this Liberty of Conscience by Law He hop'd it would not much displease our Church since he declared he would continue to them the Prerogative above others to be still the State-Religion established by Law to enjoy all the Bishopricks and Benefices and by that means to have vast Priviledges aâ—â— Advantages over any others whatsoever But they were jealous that this was not sufficient to secure them for the future And hence as it happens when both Parties are stiff in their contrary Preâ—ensions mutual Diskindnesses past towards one another which ill meaning Men laid hold on and made use of to disaffect the Nation and so facilitated the way to welcome the Invader Now all this while What had Kâ—ng Iames done to make his Son in Law and his own Nephew nay his own Daughter turn their Father out of his Kingdoms There was nothing taken from our Church but the Power of Persecution our Principles he meddled not with nor intruded Men of Heterodox Tenets into our Bishopricks and Livings whereas now we have Soctnians and Latitudinarians softed into our Chief Cathedrals and ouâ— Parish Churches so that we may expect shortly without God's special and undeserved Mercy our Church will be made an Amsterdam of all Religions Their Swearing Allegiance at a venture attones for all their Heretical Tenets let them be as Dâ—mâ—able as they will or can be Had our Governour for to call him Head of such a dâ—fferent natured Church were to call it a Monster taken away our â—xternal Grandure or our Revenues it had been less pernice us â—o our Church than what it now suffers For not outward Splendor or Râ—bâ—s but True Principles of Faiâ—b are that which make a Church The Câ—â—iâ—tian Church under the Ten Heathen Persecutions was still a most perfect and pure Church hâ— keeping her Principles untainted and admitting none into her Communion that were polluted with False Tenets though it wanted then all these outward Ornaments and Accessaries So that both the very Essence and Being of our Church goes on nâ—w corrupting every Day and her Revenues too in great part are given away to Aliens Whereas King Iames never injured us in the least either in the one of those respects or the other nor have we any more than a suspicion that he ever meant it though he shew'd some Resentments against the personal Opposition or rather uncompliance of some of our great ones which was a trifle in Comparison Whereas the Prince of Orange's declaring he came over to maintain the Protestant Religion was a meer Pretence being so far from maintaining or upholding our Principles of Faith or assisting our Church that as appears by the Event he has taken Care to corrupt the One and is making haste to destroy the Other the War therefore if any cannot be said to be just upon that Account As for what King Iames is pretended to have done in prejudice of our Civil Liberties which required the Prince of Orange's over-charitable vindicating them He was told by his Judges that it was his due Prerogative and suppose he had something extended that why should this oblige a Son and Daughter to invade a Father Had he beggar'd the Nation by Heavy Taxes it had been worse for them when their turn came to enjoy it But to magnifie the Roâ—al Prerogative had been a high Benefit to them especially in a Nation which was in great part of Common-wealâ—hish Principles and ought to have been esteemed meritorions Again The greatest Encroachment upon our Civil Liberties that was objected was the Dispensing universally with the Laws against the Dissenters whence it was inferred he might by the same Reason dispense with any other Law or suspend the Execution of it and then adieu to our Civil Liberties But it ought to be remembred that when he did this he declared his Judgment at the same time what it estimable Common Goods it would being to the Nation which cannot be pretended the Dispensing with any other Law whatsoever and he judged himself to be by his Office as indeed he was Oveâ—seer of the Common Good It may be remembred that it enrich'd not himself but rather impoverished him for he lâ—st the Fines and Forfeitures raised upon Conventicles So that 't is manifeâ—â— he aimed onely at the Common Good of the People and not at his own private Interest and therefore if he had erred it ought to have been very pardonable and not have been made such a heinous Fault as deserv'd an Invasion and the Loss of his Crown Again If King Iames over-reach'd it was in order to get Universal Liberty of Conscience settled by Law which suiting so exactly with the Dutch Methods could not to a Dutch Prince be a just Ground for such an Vnnatural Quarrel especially since it was intended to take the Grievous Yoke of Queen Elizabeth's Laws from off the Necks of those of the Presbyterian Persuasion which being the Religion that Prince had espoused and been bred up in it ought rather to have obliged him than have exasperated him so highly as to draw his Sword at his Father This Preteâ—ce then of maintaining our Civil Liberties and of Justifying the
War upon that score is so open a Sham past upon us poor English Gulls that it gives it self the Lye even from the Principles of our New Governours themselves Fourthly It is denied there was any War at all either intended or proclaimed or acted Princes that conceive themselves aggrieved use to be so generous as first to complain and demand Satisfaction and if this be denied then to dâ—â—ounce War and prâ—seâ—ute it Thiâ— is the Law of Nations and the common Custom of the World But here was no Complaint no Demand of Satiâ—fâ—ction noâ— any War proclaim'd but denied to the very time of their Larding nor was any battel intenâ—â—d That Warlike and Noble Prince witness his false-hearted Declaration came over to wheedle not â—â— fight Some Thâ—â—saâ—â—â— of Souldiers he did indeed bring over with him and they might crâ—â—mp and perhaps muster but for coming forwards within the Lists till the King's Army had voluntarily dispersed it self or offer to join Bâ—ttel with them you must pardon them Alas They were so far from the least Thought of taking upon them that Boldness that 't is weâ—l known how upon the Delay of our Renegadoes coming over to them they had called a Council not of War or of Fight but of Flight for it was there in a Panick Fear resolved to be gone most valiantly the next day had not one of them unexpectedly arrived who brought the reviving Tidings of more chief Officers to follow whose shamefull Deserting as it gave them the Courage to stay so it amused the King that he durst not venture to trust the rest not knowing the Number of his firm Friends since those who had the greatest Obligations in the world to be so had so dishonourably run to his Enemy and turned Traitors War implies some kind of Bravery in its Notion but in this case there was nothing but a sneaking Treachery and a more Trick to fâ—ight â—some with the apprehension of an univeâ—sal Defection of the King's Army and to debauch the rest with Shams and Lyes This was the War this the Success of War which p. 11 this idle Talker so much braggs of and on which he builds the Prince of Orange's Right to the Government A strange War without doubt where never a Stroke was struck and as strange a Success of War which depended not on the Battled Courage of the Dutch but on the Treachery of the English Till now all Maâ—kind verily judged that Success in War imposed Victory or Conquests and Can it be called a Victory â—here none fought Besides a Victor signifies a Conquerour and then England should be his by Conquest notwithstanding the Consent of the People afterwards unless the People compounded it with the Conquerours before hand as the Kentish-Men did with William I. otherwise all is his Lâ—â—â—ly 'T is denied there was an unanimous Consent of the People He distinguishes p. 23 between a Right to the Government and the Manner of assuming it The Right she says was founded on the 〈◊〉 Causes of the War and the Success in it But the Assuming it was not by any way of Forcâ— or Violence but by a free Coâ—â—ent of the People It see us then the Government originally was 〈◊〉 his even while he was in Holland if he could but catch it and so if he were but so wise as to know his own Right and his own lot 〈◊〉 of which none can doubt â—he came over with a Design and full Intention to get it Yet himself in his Deâ—laâ—atiâ—n disclaimed any such Intention and continued to doe so all along till the very time of châ—sing him even after King Iames was gone and his Army dispersed and consequâ—ntly after the Success of the War such as it was was acquired So that this acute Gentleman gives us a New and Sixth Title to the Crown which was never known to that Prince himself nor ever owned by him nor hinted in any of his Proclamations nor which is strange acknowledged or intimated by the Convention when they voted him King and were at an utter Loss on what Ground to settle his Title while the true King was yet living nor lastly thought on dâ—eam'd on or heard on by any Man in the World till himself writ and one would think that had not his bad Cause suspended his Use of Common Sense he could not but see that the very Word Acceptance of the Government which he here uses pag. 23. is clearly relative to their Giving him the same Government and unless we will wrong the Use and signification of Words giving it as a Kindness too since no man can be said to accept that as a Gift which was his own before But give it they did and accordingly he left his hand and thanked them for the Favour And I wonder to what end if this Disâ—ourse of his be true was all that mad Clutter about the Abdication Vote to make room for a new King and give him a Title For if K. William had Right even then to the Government upon the score of a successfull War King Iames had no Right at all but was absolutely outed whether he had abdicated or not abdicated But it seems they were all Fools to this Gentleman whose quick sight could descry a Title which was hid from the dim Eyes of the whole Consenting Nation But was there indeed a free Consent of the People Let us see A Consent is said then to be free when there is neither Force overâ—awing Men nor Fraud either circumventing them with false Motives or frightening them with false Fears Now the Common People were bubbled at that time with a Thousand Lyes about the Prince of Wales Smithfield-Fares a League made with France to enslave us all nay that we were all sold to the French King and in Danger to have all our Throats cut by him They conserted then upon such Suppositions not absolutely and so these Suppositions being found to be false their true Reason consented not but they were surprized terrified and amaâ—ed into a false grounded Passion which made them in a hurry doe they knew not what whereas the most sedate Deliberation and most true Repâ—esentation of things is requisite to such a Free Consent as submits all the Subjects Lives and Fortunâ—s to the maintaining this New Governour in the Throne as they must do whoever own their Allegiance due to him At least he will say the Convention represented the Nation and â—e consented and that 's enough I deny all Three It was neither a Legal Representative and so let it Vote what it will it binds no Man nor consequently is it enough for his Purpose Nor did the People who chose the Commons intend to empower them to alter the most fundamental Law of the Land and make a New King as they pleased Besides if they would needs do it they ought to have first repealed the Laws for the Royal Succession and all those other Laws too which make it Treason to obey or acknowledge any other
though it has been our constant Care since Our first Accession to the Crown to govern Our People with that Justice and Moderation as to give if possible no occasion of Complaint yet more particularly upon the late Invasion seeing how the Design was laid and fearing that Our People who could not be destroy'd but by themselves might by little imaginary Grievances be cheated into a certain Ruine To prevent so great Mischief and to take away not only all just Causes but even pretences of Discontent We freely and of Our own accord redressed all those Things that were set forth as the Causes of that Invasion And that We might be informed by the Counsel and Advice of Our Subjects themselves which way We might give them a further and a full Satisfaction We resolved to meet them in a Free Parliament and in order to it We first laid the Foundation of such a Free Parliament in restoring the City of London and the rest of the Corporations to their ancient Charters and Priviledges and afterwards actually appointed the Writs to be issued out for the Parliament's Meeting on the Fifteenth of Ianuary But the Prince of Orange â—eeing all the Ends of his Declaration Answered the People beginning to be undeceiv'd and returning apace to their ancient Duty and Allegiance and well foreseeing that if the Parliament should meet at the time appointed such a Settlement in all probability would he made both in Church and State as would totally defeat his Ambitious and Unjust Designs resolved by all means possible to prevent the Meeting of the Parliament And to do this the most effectual way he thought fit to lay a restraint on Our Royal Person for as it were absurd to call that a Free Parliament where there is any force on either of the Houses so much less can that Parliament be said to act freely whâ—re the Sovereign by whose Authority they meet and sit and from whose Royal Assent all their Acts receive their Life and Sanction is under actual Confinement The hurrying of Us under a Guard from Our City of London whose returning Loyalty We could no longer Trust and the other Indignities We suffered in the Person of the Earl of Feversham when sent to him by Us and in that Barbarous Confinement of Our own Person We shall not here repeat because they are We doubt not by this time very well known and may We hope if enough considered and reflâ—cted upon together with his other Violations and Breaches of the Laws and Liberties of England which by this Invasion he pretended to restore be sufficient to open the Eyes of all Our Subjects and let them plainly see what every one of them may expect and what Treatment they shall find from him if at any time it may serve his Purpose from whose Hands a Sovereing Prince an Uncle and a Father could meet with no better Entertainment However the Sense of these Indignities and the Just Apprehension of further Attempts against Our Person by them who already endeavoured to murder Our Reputation by infamous Calumnies as if We had been capable of supposing a Prince of Wales which was incomparably more Injurious than the Destroying of Our Person it Self together with a serious Reflection on a Saying of Our Royal Father of blessed Memory when he was in the like Circumstances That there is little distance between the Prisons and the Graves of Princes which afterwards proved too true in his Case could not but persuade Us to make use of that which the Law of Nature gives to the meanest of Our Subjects of freeing Our Selves by all means possible from that unjust Coâ—fiâ—â—ment and Restraint And this We did not more for the Security of Our own Person than that thereby We might be in a better Capacity of transacting and providing for every Thing that may contribute to the Peace and Settlement of Our Kingdoms For as on the one hand No Change of Fortune shall make Vs forget Our Selves so far as to cond scâ—nd to any Thing unbecoming that High and Royal Station in which God Almighty by Right of Succession has placed Vs So on the other hand neither the Provocation or Ingratitude of Our own Subjects nor any other Consideration whatsoever shall ever prevail with Us to make the least step contrary to the tâ—â—e lâ—â—erest of the English Nâ—â—ioâ— Which we ever did and ever must loâ—k upon as Our own Our Wall and Pâ—â—â—sure therefore is That You of Our Privy-Council take the most effectual Care to make these Our gracious Intentions known to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in and about our Cities of London and Westminster to the Lord Mayor and Commons of Our City of London and to all Our Subjects in general And to assure them That We desire nothing more than to return and hold a Free Parliament wherein We may havâ— the best Opportunity of undeceiving Oâ—r People and shewing the Sincerity of those Proteâ—â—ations We have often made of the preserving the Liberties and Properties of Our Subjects and the Protestant Religion more especially the Church of England as by Law established with such Indulgence for those that dâ—ssent from her as We have always thought Our Selves in Justice and Care of the general Wellfare of Our Peopâ—e bound to procure for them And in the mean time You of Our Privy-Council who can Judge better by being upon the Place are to send Us Your Advice what is fit to be done by Us towards Our Returning and Accomplishing those good Ends. And We do require You in Our Name and by Our Authority to endeavour so to suppress all Tumults and Disorders that the Nation in general and every one of Our Subjects in particular may not receive the least Prejudice from the present Distractions that is possible So not doubting of Your Dutiful Obedience to these Our Royal Commands We bid You heartily Farewell Given at St. Germains en Laye the 14th of Ianuary 1688. And of Our Reign the Fourth Year By Hiis Majesties Command MELFORT Directed thus To the Lords and others of our Privy-Council of Our Kingdom of England His Majesties Letter to the House of Lords and Commons Writ from St. Germains the Third of February 1688. JAMES R. My Lords WE think Our Selves obliged in Conscience to do all We can to open Our Peoples Eyes that they may see the true Interest of the Nation in this Important Conjuncture and therefore We think fit to let you know that finding We could no longer stay with Safety nor act with Freedom in what concerned Our People We left the Reasons of Our Withdrawing under Our own Hand in the following Terms THe World cannot wonder at My Withdrawing My Self now this Second time I might have expected somewhat better Vsage after what I writ to the Prince of Orange by my Lord Feversham and the Instructions I gave him but instead of an Answer such as I might have hop'd for what was I to expect after the Usage I received by his
making the said Earl a Prisoner against the Practice and Law of Nations The sending his own Guards at Eleven at Night to take Possession of the Posts at White-hall without Advertising Me in the least manner of it The sending to Me at One a Clock after Midnight when I was in Bed a kind of an Order by Three Lords to be gone out of My own Pallace before Twelve the next Morning After all this How could I hope to be Safe so long as I was in the Power of one who had not only done this to Me and Invaded My Kingdoms without any just occasion given him for it but that did by his First Declaration lay the greatest Aspersion on Me that Malice could invent in that Clause of it which concerns My Son I appeal to all that know Me nay even to himself that in their Consciences neither he nor they can believe Me in the least capable of so Vnnatural a Villany nor of so little common Sense to be imposed upon in a Thing of such a nature as that What had I then to expect from one who by all Arts hath taken such pains to make Me appear as black as Hell to My own People as well as to all the World besides What Effect that had at Home all Mankind have seen by so general a Defection in My Army as well as in the Nation amongst all sorts of People I was born Free and desire to continue so and though I have ventured My Life very frankly on several occasions for the Good and Honor of My Countrey and am as free to do it again and which I hope I shall yet do as Old as I am to redeem it from the Slavery it is like to fall under yet I think it not convenient to expose My Self to be Secured as not to be at Liberty to effect it and for that Reason do withdraw but so as to be within Call whensoever the Nations Eyes shall be opened so as to see how they have been Abused and Imposed upon by the specious Pretence of Religion and Property I hope it will please God to touch their Hearts out of his infinite Mercy and to make them sensible of the ill Condition they are in and bring them to such a Temper That a legal Parliament may be called and that amongst other Things which may be necessary to be done they will agree to Liberty of Conscience for all Protestant Dissenters and that those of My own Persuasion may be so far considered and have such a share of it as they may live Peaceably and Quietly as English-men and Christians ought to do and not to be obliged to transplant themselves which would be very grievous especially to such as love their own Countrey And I appeal to all Men who are Considering Men and have had Experience Whether any thing can make this Nation so Great and Flourishing as Liberty of Conscience Some of Our Neighbours dread it I could add much more to confirm all I have said but now is not the proper time Rochester Decemb. 22d 1688. But finding this Letter not to be taken to be Ours by some and that the Prince of Orange and his Adherents did Maliciously Suppress the same We Writ to several of Our Privy-Council and directed Copies thereof to divers of You the Peers of the Realm believing that none durst take upon them to intercept or open any of Your Letters But of all these We have no Account But We wonder not that all Arts are used to hinder You from knowing Our Sentiments since the Prince of Orange rather chose against all Law to imprison the Earl of Feversham and by Force to drive Vs away from Our own Palace than receive Our Invitation of coming to Us or hearing what We had to propose to him well knowing that what We had to offer would content all Honest and Reasonable Men and was what he durst not trust You with the Knowledge of Those False and Wicked Reflections on Vs relating to the French-League and to Our Son the Prince of Wales We require You to examine into and thereby satisfie Your Selves and all other Our Subjects where the Imposture lies We hope God will not permit You to deprive Your Selves of a lawful Prince whose Education shall be such as may give a Prospect of Happiness to all Our Kingdoms hereafter We are Resolved nothing shall be omitted on Our part whenever We can with Safety return that can contribute towards the redâ—ess of all former Errors or present Disorders or add to the Securing the Protestant Religion or the Property of every individual Subject intending to refer the whole to a Parliament Legally Called Freely Elected and held without Constraint wherein We shall not only have a particular Regard to the Support and Security of the Church of England as by Law Established but also give such an Indulgence to Dissenters as Our People shall have no Reason to be jealous of not expecting for the future any other Favour to those of Our own Persuasion than the exercise of their Religion in their own private Families And because many of Our well-meaning Subjects whose unnecessary Fears for the Protestant Religion and the unhappy Mistakes of the Prince of Orange's Ambitious Designs which they did not sufficiently see into time enough have been Fatally led beyond what they first intended viz. the Preservation of their Religion c. to the Breach of all Laws and even to the total Dissolution of the Anâ—ient Government it self and knowing themselves thereby to be Obnoxious may despair of Our Mercy We do therefore declare on the Word of a King That Our Free Pardon shall not only be extended to them but to all Our Subjects to the worst even those that Betrayed Us some few Excepted Resolving in that Parliament by an Act of Oblivion to cover all Faults heal all Divisions and restore Peace and Happiness to all Our Subjects which can never be effectually done by any other Methods or Power Having thus firmly Resolved on Our part whatsoever Crimes are omitted whose Posterity shall come to suffer for these Crimes We shall look upon Our Selves as Justified in the sight both of God and Man and therefore leave it with You expecting You will seriously and speedily consider hereof and so we bid You heartily Farewell Given at St. Germains en Laye the Third of February 1688. And of Our Reign the Fourth Year The Letter to the Commons was Verbatim the same To the Officers and Souldiers of the Army JAMES R. THe Regard We have for you as Gentlemen and Souldiers obliges Us to endeavour to restore you to that Reputation for Courage Loyalty c. which has till now been inseparable from English men which by your late fatal Defection from Us your lawful Prince whose particular Care you ever were is now become Contemptible even to those you joyned with against Us nor can any thing restore you to your former Character but a sudden and hearty return to
that Duty which you have so unduly quitted which We doubt not of being verily persuaded that even those that first left Our Service had no just Prejudice against Our Person but were Betray'd and Decoy'd by Persons employ'd by or in Confederacy with the Prince of Orange who by most wicked and malicious Lyes had represented Us as black as Hell to Our Subjâ—cts who We hope do now see into their evil Designs which they câ—uld never have thus far accomplished but by deluding you into a belief of the Imposture of Our Son the Prince of Wales the French-League the Death of Our Brother the late King c. of all which they well know Vs Innocent and daâ—e not therefore bring on the Stage to be Examined and Searched into according to their former Promises And can you then without Indignation Serve thâ—se who have thus Villanously Betrayed Deluded and made a Property of you And now having obtained their Ends by your Assistance Neglect Dâ—â—spise and Evilly Intreat you For to the eternal Shame of all English men â—one but Foreigners are now trusted in the most Honourable Pâ—sts in and about White-hall and London whilst you are sent abâ—oad as Mercenaries and made subservient to them cast back your Thoughts on the Villanies of their Actions who sate in Our Councils and Betray'd Vs adding Treachery to the blackest of Ingratitude enquire into the Morals of those General Officers that Deserted Vs and Misled You and indeed into the Principles of most of these in their present New Government and you will soon be convinced That 't was not Religion though that was made the specious Pretence that influenced their Actings but Interest and Ambition We charge not these Crimes but on some particular Persons well knowing that the greatest part both of Officers and Souldiers in Our Army were not faulty in their Allegiance And therefore We shall only look forward and resolve to reward all according to their Demerits and prefer those first who continue untainted and shall be quickest in returning to their Duty which We doubt not but that e'er long by God's Blessing We shall by appearing in Our own Kingdoms give them an opportunity to do and consequently to retrieve their own Honours as becomes true hearted English-men and Lovers of their King and Countrey Given at St. Germains en Laye the 14th of February 1688 And in the Fifth Year of Our Reign But to return to our Discoursâ— Such a free Consent as suffices in this Case of transferring a Kingdom and the Allâ—giances of all their fellow Subjects ought to have been General of the whole Nation unanimous hearty and most deliberate not done in a sudden heat not check'd nor overaw'd not protested against especially it ought to have been grounded at least upon good tolerable Sense all which were here wanting This in case their free Consâ—nt could do the Work But let their Consent be the best qualified in the World it can never be sufficient for this purpose for no Consent of those who have no Râ—ght to a Thing though it were never so free is able to give away another Man's Title who is known to have had a true and undoubted Right to it Well May a Conspiracy of my Servants Tenants and of my Children joyned with them have the Power to dâ—ive or fright me out of my House But not all these together though never so many can give away that Right which the Laws of the Land and in our Case God's Law too have made my Property Thus much for his new Coined Notion of Right by the Law of Nations own'd by none but this singular Writer who seeing all other Titles of this upstart Government baffled was forc'd for a shift to recurr to this Whimsie But since he was pleased to decline the Law of the Land and run to a Superior Law viz. that of Nations we shall take leave to mind him for He and his Party seem to have quite forgot it or rather indeed to out-brave and laugh at it of the Supreme Law of all the Law of God which commands us to Honour our Father and Mother and not to covet much less to rob or cheat another and least of all so near and so Revered a Relation of what is rightfully his Let us consider then what Good and Conscientious Christians would have done in the Case of the Prince and Princess of Orange For First If their Party with their Consent or Connivance invented those Stories which he makes the just Occasion of the War on purpose to turn out their Father it was in many regards the most hideous and the most villanous Injustice that can be imagin'd Secondly If those Falshoods were suggested to them by others they knew the Genius of the English Subjects was apt to raise and believe the most Senseless Falshoods of him out of hatred to his Religion and so they ought to have considered that there was no kind of Evidence of this Story nor so much as one Witness that the Prince of Wales was a Counterfeit nor as appears by their not producing it in their Justification when it was so necessary any one tolerable Reason able to persuade a prudent Man the Thing was true Whereas on the other side there were as was said near Fifty Sworn Witnesses of clear Honour and Reputation testifying the contrary any Two or Three of whom were sufficient to carry the greatest Estate or take away the Life of any Man in England They knew too that if the pretended Injury done to them were not really true they must incurr the dreadful Indignation of a just God for breaking divers of his Commandments in that one Action by Dishonouring Injuring and Slandering their Innocent and near Related Neighbour And who would hazard their Soul upon such odds Thirdly If they did indeed doubt of it before the Birth they ought as was said to have sent some trusty Persons or have signified their desire that some here whom they could confide in should be present If they only doubted of it after the Prince was Born they might have demanded that the same Persons might have Counter-interrogated and Examin'd the Witnesses now they were bound in Conscience to use all such honest and wary Means before they proceded thus to the highest Extremities Fourthly If greatest Proof against no Proof could not satisfie them Why did they not to clear their Honour that they had not acted Unjustly Undutifully or Unchristianly since the time they came hither bring the Matter into a new Examination Since nothing could more contribute to settle them in the Throne had it been prov'd an Imposture nor have more obâ—iged all England to them nor have more taken off the Scandal of the World and have satisfied every Man of the Iustice of their Proceedings Lastly If it had been done for the good of Europe and to bring the French King lower though this could not justifie this Invasion yet Why was not at least the wisest Course taken for
this Had the Prince of Orange pursued only the Ends express'd in his Declaration and obliged King Iames as he might easily have done to redress Abuses here and make a lasting League with the Confederates abroad it had in all likelihood by this time reduced the French King to a low Condition For then King Iames had been able to unite all the Force of England Scotland and Ireland and bend them unanimously against the Common Enemy Whereas now our Men and Money too are employ'd in Fighting against one another in Scotland and Ireland nor only so but England it self whose free Consent he so much brags of is so Distracted that we know not how soon we may fall into the same Misfortunes some out of Conscience not daring to hazard their Souls in Swearing Allegiance to one whose Title the most zealous Adherers to him cannot agree on nor themselves are satisfied with and far more of them being disgusted to see our Countrey beggared to maintain the Quarrel of Foreigners and enrich our greatest Enemies the Dutch so that this Pretence of pulling down the Heighth of France though I doubt not but it was the Intention of the Confederates was far from being the main Design of the Prince of Orange He could then have no other Motive of Invading England Driving out his Father and Usurping his Throne but mere Ambition seconded by Dutch Policy making use of our Rebelliousness silly Credulity and our addictedness to Lying that they might cheat us of our Money make us defend their Quarrel and impoverish us to that degree that we should not dare to resent it when they get our Trade and câ—zen us of our Plantations as they have done often and then to crown the Dutch Jest laugh at us for a Company of dull-headed block headedly Fools when they have done But I must not forget the Instances he brings to prove this Invasion to be agreeable to the Church of England's Doctrine and vouch'd by the Law of Nations and those are these Three First he Instances in Queen Elizabeth giving Assistance to the Dutch against the King of Spain p. 16. Now this hath been so well answered already in the Defence of the Bishop of Chichester's Dying Declaration that I do not see any Reason to concern my self with it and methinks this Answerer should have first answered what had been alledged there before he ventured on this Instance but some Men have a peculiar Confidence to bring in Things over and over though they have been answered sufficiently and yet never take notice of the Answers However it is sufficient here to observe that this is nothing at all to his purpose he tells us but four lines before That what he is to make out is that the then P. of O by his Relation to the Crown had a just Right to concern himself in the Vindication of our Religion and Liberties and that this is not repugnant to the Doctrines of the Church of England p. 15. And I pray good Sir Had Queen Elizabeth any Relation to the Government of the Low Countries And if not how does this Instance prove that which he is to make out that the Prince of Orange by virtue of his Relation to the Crown had a just Right to concern himself and his Instance proves that any Prince whether they have any such Relation or not have a just Right to concern themselves And what I pray is all this to a Title by Conquest Let it be admitted but not granted and which I suppose will not be easily proved that no Foreign Prince hath a just Right to make War upon another Prince for Invading the Liberty and Religion of his own Subjects hath he therefore a just Right to make a Conquest of these People whose Liberties he pretends to defend and to set himself King over them Or had Queen Elizabeth upon pretence of securing the Dutch Liberties a just Right to make her self Queen over them In my Opinion it is a preâ—ty odd way of rescuing People's Liberties to make a Conquest of them and if this be the Case Princes and their Flatterers may talk of Piety and a Care of the People but all the World will see that the Design is not Religion nor Liberty to the People but a Crown to themselves and it cannot chuse but be very Pious and Religious to gain a Crown His next Instance is in King Iames's time When the Prince Elector was chosen King of Bohemia And how does this prove his Point Why he sent to King James for Advice and he had no mind he should engage in it And therefore the Prince of Orange hath a just Right to concern himself and to make himself King according to the Principles of the Church of England I perceive it is not for every body to make Consequences for who but our Authour could ever have found out how such wonderful Things followed from King Iames's denying his Son to engage in it Well But the Arch bishop wrote a Letter to the Secretary and said that he was satisfied in his Conscience that the Bâ—bemians had a just Cause and that the King's Daughter professed she would not leave her self one Iewel rather than not maintain so Religious and Righteous â— Cause And that may be too but without Reflection on that Princess that is no Evidence of the Righteousness of a Cause for some Kings Daughters will not leave themselves a Jewel rather than not to take away and keep a Kingdom from their Own Father and which is neither a Religious nor a Righteous Cause His Third Instance is in the time of King Charles the First When the King of Denmark had taken Arms to settle the Peace and Liberty of the Germans and was Defeated and King Charles thought himself concerned to assist him and Arch-bishop Laud drew up a Declaration setting forth the Danger and requiring the People's Prayers and Assistance to prevent the growth of Spain c. Now it does not appear whether thâ— King of Denmark's pretence of taking Arms was just or unjust for our Authour has a peculiar faculty of talking of Things at random and never stating them and bringing them down to the matter in Dispute But let that be as it will it makes no difference in the present Dispute for let the Cause of his taking Arms be originally what it will I hope King Charles might assist him to prevent his being over-run thereby securing the Peace and Safety of his own Kingdom And this was plainly the Case The King of Denmark had made War upon the Empire and was defeated and it â— had â—een â—eâ—t without Assiâ—â—ence the Emperour might have wholly subdued him which would not â—â—ely have ruined Denmark but have endangered all the Northern Princes and especially England as the Declaration it self speaks there will be an open way for Spain left to do what they pleased And what is this to our Authour's purpose Is there no difference between Assisting one Prince actually at War
his Faction would handle it could light on none but himself So that it was out of kindness to himself not to King Iames or the Nation that he let him escape Yet he Magnifies this Indulgence of the Prince of Orange exceedingly but I would ask him in what this Civility differs from that of Robbers who first strip the poor Travellers of all they have and then turn them a Grazing without a Penny in their Purse or as this pretty Gentleman phrases it p. 24. Allow them great Freedom to go where they please I would ask him too what one Thing was done by the Prince which look'd either Generous Civil or in the least degree Respectful towards a King and a Father and not rather most Barbarous and Rude Or what one Action of his gives us Reason to think he intended to accommodate Things with the true King and not rather to set up for himself The Martyr out of Love to his Native Countrey resented that All the new Methods of settling the Nation have hitherto made it more miserable poor and exposed to Foreign Enemies What says he to this Can Impudence it self deny this to be true Is not the Interest of England torn piece-meal and every Nation has a Limb of us Is not the Charge of securing Scotland reducing of Ireland the hiring Souldierâ— from Denmark and other Places the Bribing of Holland the Suiss-Cantons Savoy and other poor Confederates the keeping and paying two great Armies in Flanders and Ireland and the setting out a vast Fleet at Sea gone all out of our Pockets Has not the driving out King Iames and the Protecting our new Governor and his only put us upon such an expensive War that we are upon our last Legs it being absolutely impossible to squeeze Five Millions more out of our drain'd Purses to keep the War on foot another Year which is the least Summ that can now be expected For if Five Millions this Year have done nothing at all 't is to be fear'd that Seven Millions will scarce enable us to do much the next A certain Person employ'd in the Treasury who has the opportunity to know exactly the Incomes and Issues of the Exchequer assured a worthy Friend of mine that this Michaelmas there will have been paid out of it since this Revolution Fifteen Millions and that there is still an Arrear behind to the Army to the Navy and for Stores of Five Millions more And this besides many Thousands perhaps a Hundred of Thousands owing for the Wages of transport Ships and that for want of ready Money the Creditors are paid with Tallies so that those who have them can raise no Money without abating Four or Five Shillings in the Pound until the next Parliament gives Money to pay off all these Back-reckonings The insuperable Difficulty of doing which and withall of raising Seven Millions more to carry on the War the next Campaign not to mention the repaying the Money we have borrowed will make the great Work of Conquering France go but slowly on Every wise Man even of our State-Party clearly seeing and with regret complaining that in all appearance the War is as far from an End as it was at the Beginning Now where is all this Money to be had or whence to be raised Are not our Ships taken in great Multitudes our Traffick decay'd abroad our Trade at home the Tenants unable to pay their Landlords so that sometimes instead of bringing in their Rents they are forc'd to send to them for Money to pay their Taxes or else they must throw up their Farms Are not they already forced in many Places for want of Money to exchange one Commodity for another in the Markets Is not half our Cash gone out of the Nation so that in Holland alone our Guineas and Mâ—ll'd Money have been as frequent as their own Coin Is not Clipp'd Money which is not worth Transporting now in a manner the only currant Coin left in the Nation And to prevent the possibility our good Money should ever return again it is melted down in Holland into the drossie Alloy of their Sebellings and Stuyvers But the Transporting our Coin'd Money is not all They have invented more Expedients than One or Two open ones to impoverish England the Decus Thâ—amen inscribed on the Edges of our new Coin was Judg'd an effâ—ctual Preservative from Clipping and Fyling But now the Clippers who by the Law are to suffer as Felows are become the best Friends to the Trafficking part of the Nation and if they be not conniv'd at and the Melters down of our Mâ—ll'd and Vncircumcised Money into Bullion transported in vast quantities every Year into Holland as appears by the Entries in the Custom-house be not severely punish'd we must in a short time be contented with onely Copper and Tin Farebings or else be forc'd to debase our Money to the Dutch Standard If Captain Guy and several other Masters of Yatches and other Vessels both Dutch and English were strictly 〈◊〉 they could tell them what prodigious Number of Chests of Money in Specie or in Bullion have been transported these Three last Years into Holland and Flanders We have indeed some Returns from thence for they bring us prohibited Goods so that both in Exporting and Importing our English Laws are still Dispensed with without any permission from the Parliament and no Man though our Ruin depends upon it dares complain There is yet another odd Commodity imported which would much encrease the Revenue if it did but pay Custom and that is Shoals of Caterpillars that come over to devour the Fruits of our Labours the Dutch I mean and other Foreigners with their Wives and Children of which scarce a Ship or Hoy comes hither that brings not from Ten to Sixty c. These and the French Hugenots are transported hither to make up several new Colonies and compose a Secret Militia to be ready at a dead lift to enslave our Countrey if our Eyes being at length opened to see our impending Ruine we grow Head-strong and refuse to wear the Yoke which is preparing for us Again Have we felt nothing from the Insolencies of the Dutch Danes and other Foreigners wherever they come Lastly What are all those Losses put together in Comparison to the loss of so many English-men's Lives who have perish'd either by War oâ—â— through want of Necessaries or else by strange Diseases in Ireland and at Sea A Thousand or Two are swept away at a clap in this late prodigious Storm The loss of the Coronation and the other Ships that perish'd and the damage done to all the rest that suffered in their Rigging and otherwise in that Hurricane is not worth the mention by those who are so inur'd to continual losses of sundry kinds as we are though I 'm told by a knowing Person that the Repairing of that one Mâ—sfortune will require some Hundreds of Thousands of Pounds to be added to the former large Audit of the
It makes all the Execution of the Law comfortless to the Judges and Jury and wickedly injurious to the Persons accused for by this Man's Discourse the former can never tell whether or not they condemn an Innocent and the latter sees his Life and Honor exposed to Hap-hazard 'T is the Intention and that onely which the Law regards nor is any Action reputed by it to be Felony Murther Treason c. unless it be done Animo Felonico c. with a Felonious Intention c. and this Intention according to him can never be made plain so no Man â—ving knows or can know who dies deservedly who innocently Let him reflect that all that the Witnesses can do is to atrest the Overt-act or the Words spoken imprinted on their Senses but 't is the Duty of the Judges and Jury when once they are satisfied of the Witnesses Integrity to see that those Actions are necessarily connected with such an Intention as with its Cause and proceeded from it and if they be not satisfied but that possibly it might spring from another Cause they must be judged not to value how pretious a Man's Life is nor to regard much whether they legally condemn an innocent or no if they bring him in guilty and so they incurr the Guilt themselves of careless Murtherers Nor do the Judges deserve a better Character if they fail in the Duty of instructing them that the Law requires manifest Proof and that they ought not to proceed upon even high Likelihoods or Presumptions which we do experience do often deceive us But especially if they aggravate and enhance those Likelihoods to make the Jury proceed upon them as Certainties All which was but too visible in the Charge to this easily byast Jury Did this Gentleman who denies that Intentions can admit of plain Proof never hear of those Sayings That out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaketh or that the Tree is known by its Fruit i.e. a Man's Interiour by his Outward Actions Can we not know very manifestly that if a Man way-lay his Enemy and out of an Ambush assaults and runs him through he had an Intention to do him a Mischief Does not himself confess that had the Papers been in Mr. Ashton's own hand it had been a plain or manifest Proof of his knowing their Contents which Knowledge is of its own Nature altogether as secret as is an Intention Lastly Does he not tell us out of my Lord Coke that no Proof is sufficient but a manifest one and yet he sets himself to prove that there can be no plain or manifest Proof of an Intention which makes the Law require Impossibilities What Stuff is this to be vented by a Man chosen out to support the State vindicate the Judges and confute the solid Paper bequeath'd us by our dying Martyr After this he pretends that in his Iudgment one of the Papers was writ in the very same Hand in which this Speech was written that is it was writ by Mr. Ashton But he must pardon us if we dare not believe his Judgement which as has been abundantly shewn has scarcely judg'd right in one single Line of his whole Book But how frivolous is this Pretence of his Had the Judges or the Managers of the Tryal found the least Ground for such a Suspition it had been the easiest thing in the World to have compared that Paper with Hundreds of Accompâ—s Acquittances and Letters which were all seized in his House by Order from the State Nor could they have wanted Witnesses to have sworn that they believed such a Paper was writ by him as well as they did in the Tryal of my Lord Preston which is a very great Presumption that they found no such Paper under his Hand or so near resembling it as might induce any to swear it They found indeed another Paper of his which more vext them and hastened his Death than had they found any such other as this Gentleman pretends Concerning which take the Martyr's own Words out of part of that Paper left by him in a Friend's hands which are as followeth Being suddenly to give up my Accounts to the Searcher of all Hearts I think it a Duty incumbent upon me to impart some Things farther which neither the Interest nor Iniquity of these Times will I conclude willingly bear the publication of and therefore not fit to be inserted in the Sheriffs Paper Some time after the Prince of Orange's Arrival here when it was expected that pursuant to his own Declaration and the King's Letter to the Convention an exact Search and Enquiry would have been made into the Birth of the Prince of Wales there was a Scheme drawn up of that whole Matter and of the Proofs that were then and are still ready to be produced to prove his Royal Highness's Legitimacy but no publick Examination being ever had and the Violence of the Times as well as Interest of the present Government not permitting any private Person to move in it those Papers have ever since lain by But it being now thought advisable by some to have them printed and published and as at first they were designed addressed at their next Meeting to the Lords and Commons entreating them to enquire into that weighty Affair and to call forth examine and protect for who else dares to appear the many Witnesses to the several Particulars therein offered to be legally proved c. I was ordered to carry those Papers to the King my Master for his view that his Leave and Approbation might go along with the Desires of his good Subjects here and they being taken with me with some other Papers of Accounts c. in a small Trunck amongst my Linen and other private Things of my own and not in the Packet my Lord Preâ—ton being altogether a stranger to the whole proceeding by this means fell into the hands of our present Governours who though they wisely waved the producing them as Evidence at my Tryal yet have I just Reason to believe my greatest Crimes were contained in them and I do therefore conclude and hope that I only am designed to be sacrificed who only knew of them Nor am I surprised at it since nothing I think can be more prejudical to some Persons present Interest than the exposing of those Papers to the Publick which will set that pretended Mystery of Darkness in so clear a Light that all Mankind must be convinced of his Highness's being Born of the Queen and of their Wickedness who have malitiously and designedly asserted that innocent Prince to be an Impostor The Love and Compassion that I have for my native Countrey as well as Charity obliges me humbly to implore Almighty God to be merciful to it and not to charge this great Sin to the publick Account and that we may not farther provoke his Justice by our wilfully continuing in Errour and Mistake I beseech him to put it into the Hearts of the Lords c. at
their next Meeting to examine into that whole Matter and if before that time this be published to enquire after call for and if possible retrieve those Papers that were taken with me whereby the Obstinate will most certainly be convinced the Ignorant informed the Doubtful confirmed the Eyes of all opened and a sacred most important Truth made apparent to the whole World And may we not now with good Reason challenge those of the other Party to give an Answer to those Papers which were the true occasion of his Suffering and in behalf of Justice Truth and the good of the Nation to demand that the said Papers which are now stiffled may be produced and if possible confuted For since never greater fedulity was used by any other to set that Business in a manifest Light the Answering them must consequently be the surest Means to keep the Nation from being imposed upon in so weighty a Matter And if this be not done Will not all sincere Persons conclude hence that the Proofs of the Prince of Wales's Legitimacy contained in those Papers of Mr. Ashton are even in the Opinion of our Statâ—sts themselves absolutely unanswerable and all England be convinced that the Pretence of his being Supposititious was set up for no other End but to bring by that detestable Forgery the King and Queen into Odium and Disgrace and to make way for the Prince of Orange to seize on his Crown and reflect that from this one villaâ—ous Cheat all the Calamities that have befallen our deluded Nation have had their true Source and Origin I know the Observator upon Mr. Ashton's Papers denies there were any such but could it be done with our Security we do undertake to prove Circumstantially that they were in his Trunck when taken by the Government 's Order and farther that we will clear that whole Matter far more fully than has been done hitherto by many other Witnesses of unquestionable Credit and by most convincing Proofs and to satisfie all I terrogatories that can be offered by the most inquisitive Scrupler But to return to our Juries What matters it what was brought to light about those Papers afterwards The Question is what Evidence the Jury then had when they brought in their lawless Verdict If they had at that time no such Evidence as the Law requires i.e. if they had then no manifest Proof he died Innocent in the Eye of the Law and nothing can acquit his Condemners from being according to the same Law and God's Law too unconscientious Murderers And 't is of this kind of Innocence only the Martyr speaks when he declares himself Innocent about which Pâ—ssage this Gentleman who can neither understand another Man nor many times himself very well is very Gay and Pleasant Though 't is true the Martyr by owning his Duty to his lawful Sovereign does withall by consequence profess that though he had been legally Convicted of an intention to restore him and of acting too in order to that good End he had notwithstanding been Innocent also before God The Result of all the whole foregoing Discourse is this That our blessed Martyr is clearly vindicated from any Treasonable Guilt and proved to have died doubly Innocent in the sight of Heaven in dying for his Allegiance which provok'd this unreasonable Malice against him and in the Eye of the Law by being adjudg'd to die without manifest Proof or legal Evidence May his Noble Christian Fortitude and his Pious Example so influence his Prevaricating Brethren that they may repent them of their Perjury and Rebellion imitate his Constant Loyalty and be partakers of that Eternal Crown of Glory which he now enjoys for undauntedly owning and even to Death persevering in his Duty of Allegiance to his only Lawful and only Rightful Sovereign An Humble Petition to the Present Government SInce Nature does generally encline every Man to avoid his own Ruine and to do that which is apparently best for his own worldly Interest and Conveniency it cannot in common Reason and Prudence be imagined but that the generality of those who do adhere to King IAMES his Title would be glad to live at Ease and out of Danger by submitting freely to the present Government did not some Consideration that is of a Superior Nature and concerns their well-being in another World over-awe them and deter them from owning it Wherefore as we who write this do in our Names so we justly presume we may in the Names of those others protest in the presence of Almighty God who sees their Hearts that our refusing to take the Oath and pay a voluntary Allegiance to the present Governours does not spring from any inclination to Faction nor from Obstinacy nor yet from any Disaffection to their Persons but purely from this That we cannot be satisfied either by our own Reason or any Thing that has been hitherto writ upon that Subject that they have any Title to the Crown either by the Law of God or Man but on the contrary that both Divine and Humane Laws are against their wresting it by a Trick out of the Hands of their Father who was the undoubted rightful Owner of it and that their still Possessing and Detaining it from him is no less against the same Laws and consequently a doubly-unjust Vsurpation And therefore our Conscience tells us That we shall incurr the just Indignation of Almighty God and withal become Obnoxious by our English Laws to the Punishments due to Traitors should we yield to such illegal Compliances Wherefore we humbly Petition That for satisfaction to our Consciences our Governours would please to give Order that some grave and learned Man may compile a Treatise shewing their true Title to the Crown and manifesting how King Iames's legal Title by Succession comes to be annull'd And let him evince these Two main Points from any solid Principles of what nature soever acknowledg'd for such by the indifferent part of the World and so that it may appear by their giving Authority to that Treatise by such their Order that that is the true Ground of their Claim and the Title they will stand by Those who have writ in Justification of their Government are in so many Minds about the Ground of their pretended Right that instead of clearing it they have by their Disagreement satisfied all understanding Men that 't is very obscure even to their own Party whereas yet it ought to be of it self or else be made most Evident e'er it can in any Reason be held able to overthrow a Tenure so incontestibly Evident and Legal as was that of King Iames it being built on a long continued Hâ—reditary Succession abetted by the most Fundamental Laws of the Land and approved by the universal acknowledgement of the whole World We humbly request then to be inform'd which of those many Grounds advanc'd by their Writers themselves will think fit to make choice of and esteem thus Evident which we have not hitherto any Light to