This made them easie to be perswaded to believe that it was their Prerogative to Call and Prorogue and Dissolve Parliaments at their own Pleasure and accordingly to do it in effect at the pleasure that is at the perswasion of those Favourites Whereas not only the Notion is false and set up only for the Advantage of Favourites and Criminals but the Practice was doubly mischievous to the Kings themselves For 1. It was a great cause of Discontent heightned the Differences between the King and the People and made the Kings Cause so much the worse in those Differences and unjustifiable being often times a wilful and obstinate refusal of Justice and Protection of Criminals against the whole Nation 2. It deprived the King as well as the People of the proper Remedy of those Mischiefs For Parliaments are the great Security under God of Kings from Abuses as well as of the People from Oppression and the Persons were either Guilty or Not Guilty If Guilty they ought to be try'd and either suffer according to their Crimes or if there were any special reason for it be pardon'd If not Guilty yet ought they to be try'd that their Innocence might be cleared and the Nation satisfy'd Fifthly The same may be observ'd concerning the great Noise that was made of the Monarchy and the Church as if both were design'd to be presently destroyed which were nothing but false Clamours to incense People and raise a Faction by the Instigation of those evil Men for their own support and defence against Justice The just Punishment of Criminals who betrayed both King and People was the Destruction of Monarchy and Reformation of the manners of the Clergy the Subversion of the Church in their account But by these means were a great many honest well-meaning People impos'd upon and a mighty Faction rais'd Whereas it is certain that the English Monarchy being not meerly an Honorary matter but of great Use and Advantage to the whole Nation both at home and abroad if it be not abused the People and their Representatives in Parliament have always so well understood their Interest therein and do so at this day that nothing but some extraordinary matter ever could or can alienate their Affections from it This is plain in the case of King Charles I. when notwithstanding the great Provocations which are set out in the Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom 15 Dec. 1642. and some others that Parliament would neither have destroyed the Monarchy nor hurt the King though out of those Confusions a violent Party was rais'd which did both nor would the Nation after be quiet till his Son was restored And for the Church the Bishops and Ecclesiastical Courts might have been quiet had they been truly Christian as they would be called But that which moved the Indignation of most understanding and honest Men against them was to see Christianity prophan'd and Offices of Religion sought and used as Secular Employments to see Formality encouraged sincere Piety though perhaps mixt with some unnecessary Scrupulosity oppressed and the Ministers of the Righteous Kingdom of Christ turn Promoters of Arbitrariness and Tyranny And it is no wonder if such Causes produce such Effects Sixthly It was the raising and heightning of that Faction by the Favourites and Criminal Party that brought things to that Extremity of a War which otherwise might have been composed and all satisfy'd with the Removal of a few Evil Men from about the King the Punishment of a few Criminals and the Reformation of a few necessary things But while these Evil Counsellors and Favourites raised that Faction for the security of themselves under the pretence of the King and the Church they thereby laid the Foundation of the real Destruction of both for some time And I wish all honest Men may take warning by it now and not suffer themselves to be impos'd upon again after such an Example For there is Just such another Faction which hath gone very high of late especially in the business of Elections under the same Pretences of the Monarchy and the Church wherein the greatest Sticklers were those sort of Persons which the Vindicators of the last years Transactions recommend to Favour that is the Criminals of the two last Reigns the Counsellors Agents and Accomplices of King James and the Regency-men and Haesitators who refuse to act under King William with whom the Papists joyned under-hand And their greatest Opposition was for the most part against such as were most Cordial and Active for the present King and Queen I have but one thing more to observe which comes now into my mind and hath not been so well considered as it ought and that is the great and mischievous Influence which such prodigal and unadvised conferring of Honours as was begun by King James I. and has been continued fince is apt to have in the producing of such Troubles Honor and Riches are things which may be of good use for the Benefit of others when they fall to the share of Good Men who have Hearts to make use of them for that purpose But I very much doubt whether ever any Man was the better for them On the contrary it is apparent that many nay most are the worse for them if they be raised much above their own Rank And it is certain that they are no good Men who are very greedy of either but such as will comply with the Means whereby they are to be obtained be they what they will If the Prince who hath the disposing of Honors and Preferments be wise and vertuous be sparing and prudent in conferring them only upon consideration of Worth and Merit it will be an effectual means to incline the People to apply themselves to such means which will be of great advantage to the Commonwealth But if he be prodigal and inconsiderate in the disposing of them he will not fail to attract to him many ill Men of no vertue who will certainly flatter and deceive him make it their business to please him for their own advantage at any rate rather than faithfully serve him And the more Honours he confers upon such the greater Burden he thereby brings upon himself He must provide for his own Creatures and if he hath not good and lawful means to provide for them they will not fail of Projects even of indirect means by him to provide for themselves Besides the Appetite is unsatiable The Man 's no more satisfy'd when made a Lord than when but a Knight I 'm sure not more happy nor when made an Earl than when but a Baron nor when made a Marques than when but an Earl but a Baron but a Knight but a private Gentleman But he needs more his Needs are increased and must be supplied one way or other And from this Root did spring many of those Illegal Projects in the Reigns of King James I. and King Charles I. which in the end produced those bitter Fruits we have been
either an Act of impudent Imposture and a Cheat or Abuse or it may be feared we are again relapsing into the same unhappy Circumstances But I suppose I shall make it appear that there is a double Imposture in it that is That neither had the Writer that Authority for what he did which was design'd he should be thought to have had nor was it designed sincerely to serve the Publick Authority of the Nation the Present Government but to cover the Evil Practices of those Persons who were the Authors of our Disappointments the last Year that they may the better do the like again this And probably if the business be well examined he will be found to have been employed by some of them who are therefore the proper Authors of it for that end and not by that Honourable Person whom they have made so bold with by this Dedication of what 's written as he saith in Defence of others There are three Phrases by which usually the Leave of Authority for the Publication of Books is briefly expressed The most common is Licensed which signifies a written License under the Hand of some Person authorized to give it Another is with Allowance which implies a Verbal Leave but of some Person of great Place and Authority The third is what the Authors have thought fit to prefix to this Book Published by Authority And this as I take it implies more than a bare leave viz. Something of a Command and of some great Authority more than a bare Allowance or License of a Secretary of State But what that Authority should be by which this is published I believe will not be easie to find or discover Only what it is not will not be difficult to perceive even from the consideration of the Book it self and divers Passages in it Nothing can be so truly innocently honestly and plainly said but it may be contradicted or opposed by a Man of Wit and Parts with some colour and appearance of Reason of which the Oration of Carneades against Justice is a sufficient Instance and by one who hath no great store of either with Railing and Foul Language of which this Pamphlet we are now considering presents us with a pregnant Instance No less than Folly Enthusiasm Visionar Enthusiastick Illumination deluded Notion of Inspiration Indiscretion Excentrick Zeal Quakers Impulse are all at one Volly let fly at the Author of the Reflections by this mighty Champion the Vindicator of the King the Parliament and the whole State at his first Charge all in one Paragraph published by Authority if we will believe him besides divers single Shots afterwards as Silly precipitant Zeal hot Politician Lucid Intervals Extatick Sermon Revengeful Spirit c. After such a Charge it is no wonder to see such a Champion with no little Ostentation insult over his vanquished Adversary and upbraid him with his confined Sphere narrow Sphere short Line want of Knowledge of Affairs of State small Skill in Affairs abroad gross Ignorance in the Affairs of Europe little Skill in Politicks none at all in History unacquaintedness with Philosophy and such gross mistakes in the Motion of natural Bodies as to believe a moving Cart may be stayed by Witchcraft Such stuff as this is agreeable enough to the quality of a Mercenary Writer a temporizing Observator a Mountebank a Quack and might have passed with some ordinary Licencers But as it doth never advantage any Cause so it is usually a sign of either a very barren Cause or a very shallow brain where it is much used without any Proof or Reason And therefore Men in great Authority do rarely imploy such Writers or if they do do it only by some Secret Encouragement not by any Publick Authority And if this general consideration be not sufficient to render the Authors suspected of Imposture in that respect the Writer himself hath supplied us in the very next Page with special matter to help it out telling us that the King by a Prodigy of good Nature has laid aside the Resentment such a Pamphlet would have met with in any Reign but His And if this be not yet enough he immediately adds his own Sentence of Self-condemnation And where the King forgives its ill manners to stint the Royal Bounty by ill Treating the Griminal For if any one besides this Champion would be guilty of such ill manners it ought not certainly to be believed that any one near the King or of any great Authority would by Publickly Authorizing it Much less that so ill a treatment should be Authorized by that Noble Lord to whom they have presumed to Dedicate it Sure I am he had no great reason to do it if he acted any great part in the Transactions and the Vindication be written in Defence of others What is here inferred from the Modesty and Decency of the Terms and Language may likewise be inferred from the Truth and Honesty of the Suggestions Assertions and Inferences It would be too long to examine all and besides needless I will therefore for brevity sake only confront three or four of the Assertions with the words of the Reflections and leave the Reader to consider how proper and likely such Candor and Ingenuity is to be Published by Authority Pag. 9. He chargeth the Author of the Reflections speaking of the Danish Forces with Asserting plainly They will prove a greater Burthen than Advantage to us Whereas the words of the Reflections are only thus The Season of the year is now far gon that they are more like to prove a Burden this Winter than any Advantage to us And this is called a Calumny Pag. 13. but with how great reason the Reader may there see Again in the same Pag. 13. reciting the words of the Reflections concerning our Losses at Sea he concludes Speaking of the Author that He boldly adde That our Merchants Ships have been made a prey to those who should have been their Guide and Convey Whereas the Reflections insted of holdly adding what he saith cautiously premise a Parenthesis which this honest and candid Gentleman was so bold as to leave out viz. If the Complaints of our Merchants and their Mariners be true But never did our Champion behave himself more bravely and like himself than when he comes to talk of the Abdication That one Paragraph of the Reflections makes him lay about him indeed like a Man of mettle for three Paragraphs together It seems he was not a little concerned at it and where the Concern lay is not hard to be perceived But here I shall only take notice of one instance more for my present purpose leaving the rest to the Readers observation Pag. 21. he tells us Our new Politician is downright offended at the Parliament for finding King Jame's Departure an Abdication of the Government c. This certainly is no less than a piece of Jesuitical Modesty where-ever this Traveller learnt it The words of the Reflections are down right the contrary There was
reason enough to declare the departure of King James under his circumstances an Abdication of the Government c. And this is not only said but so cleared and demonstrated there in few lines as hath given no little Satisfaction to some persons of no mean parts and learning but no less Disturbance it seems to this Gentleman as may be farther noted hereafter Another Assertion or two I must take notice of for the singular Charity expressed in them Those as they are groundless and cannot be deduced by any good Inference from the Reflections so may they be confronted with other Writings of the same Authors in print This Man saith he speaking of the Author of the Reflections would drench the World in Blood Sacrifice whole Hecatombs to his Revenge and once more set these Kingdoms off their Hinges by a precipitate Method of rendring Men desperate Page 21. Such another is the Suggestion page 22. Why should King James ' s Ministers and Counsellors all of them without distinction fall under the stroak And again page 23. Our Author fondly concludes c. because he hath not been glutted with the Blood of the Delinquents I need note no more of this kind Those are so foul and infamous Words that if written and published without very good grounds do of themselves sufficiently make good one part of my Charge against this Pamphlet Certain I am that no such thing was ever intended in the Reflections And from these Words in the Paragraph under his consideration Not one of those who by their wicked Counsels and Compliances betrayed not only their Country but their King himself c. hath yet been brought to condign Punishment or from any other in that Book I do not see how any such matter can be deduced But if confronted with what the same Author hath written in his Apology for Mr. Stafford page 17. and elsewhere it will all there appear as false as here it doth groundless What hath been already noted I suppose is sufficient to make good the Charge of a False and Infamous Libel The Piety of it may be discerned by the Respect therin given to the Sacred Scriptures where he saith that the Expressions Taught of God Children of Light Sensual not having the Spirit and many others of that kind smell of the late deluded Notion of Inspiration page 2. and by the regard therein expressed to the Providence of God and to the Study and Consideration of his Works and Dealings with the Sons of Men pag. 26. and by the Reproachful Terms which after the mode of the late Atheistical Times are very confidently bestowed upon sincere Piety and genuine Religion But I have no mind to cast Pearles before Swine by a full Explication of these things but leaving him and such Abderites to the Correction of some Hippocrates shall content my self with those Evangelical Promises Matth. 5.11 12. 1 Pet. 4.14 and rejoyce in them too while the Mercenary Writer may chance to feel the smart of his own Prophaneness in selling his Conscience for a Mess of Pottage And now to return to our Enquiry What Authority it should be which hath ordered the Publication of such a Libel Of the King we are secure that it was not he by what hath been recited before and of the Parliament were we not otherwise secure this Writer hath given us the like assurance telling us He knows not but he may be blameable in playing the Advocate or in daring to suppose that the great Council of the Nation needs a Vindication page 16. And the same we may conclude for the same Reason of that Noble Lord whose Patronage he thinks but reason he should allow to what 's written in defence of others It remains then that either he had none at all and then he is an Impostor upon that account or that it was from some of those others in whose Defence it was written and then is he no less an Impostor in concealing whose it was and giving occasion by this Dedication to make that Noble Person be believed by inobservant Readers to be the Man And this we have reason to believe is the Truth if the Scope and divers Passages of this Vindication be well considered It is true he pretends much Zeal and Concern for the Vindication of the King and of the Parliament but that is no more than every Knave and Cheat will do to those he intends to abuse the Officious Kisses of an Enemy and therefore whether sincere or feigned is to be determined by the concurrence of other Indications And 1. It appears by his own shewing that he is a very officious Advocate and was never retained or imployed by either of them 2. Nor was there much cause of Vindication in respect of either of them for most of the Transactions noted were reflected on as matters of Disappointments and Unhappiness rather than Faults in them 3. And these Disappointments being imputed not only by the Author of the Reflections but by the Parliament it self to the unfaithfulness and Treachery of Persons intrusted and imployed the Vindication of such Transactions could not be sincerely intended to serve the King or gratifie the Parliament but to cover those Evil Practices and Persons which not only the Author of the Reflections but the Parliament also desired and endeavoured to discover And that this was really the Design of this Mercenary Pamphlet whoever had their Hands in it and all the Complements to the King the Parliament and the Earl of Shrewsbury Principal Secretary of State a meer Disguise to cover that Design and an Abuse upon that Noble Person at least there are divers Observables in it perswade me to believe 1. The very Beginning discovers his Mind and what he was full of It is a Severe Censure against prying too narrowly into the Secrets of Government and Mysteries of State But if the Reflections be well considered there is no other occasion for it but Honest Endeavours for such a Discovery as is before mentioned that is of what his business was to cover 2. He there also discovers or to use his own term bewrays himself to be a genuine Disciple of the Mercenary Writers of the late Reigns by magnifying the Policy of a Foreign State as if our Laws were defective only he shews himself but a Novice in the Trade in that he takes his Precedent from Veuice and not from France or Turkâ—y Of his sense of the English Constitution I shall take notice hereafter 3. And he presently after discovers his Affection to the English Nation which he more than once without any just occasion that appears terms an ungrateful Nation 4. He bewrays himself indeed and discovers his rotten and unsound Notions and Sentiments concerning our presen Settlement and the Bight of King William and Queen Mary to the Gevernment of these Kingdoms And that he himself is either one of that Mungrel Temporizing Party which hath obstructed our compleat Settlement and underhand retarded the Reduction of
Ireland or at least doth prostitute his Mercenary Pen to gratify that Party For he plainly unhinges King Williams Title and sets it upon a false bottom while he makes King James's Abdication to consist only in his Departure This is it which he finds fault with in the Reflections that they do not admit the Departure of King James to be an Abdication without any regard to his precedent Actions And that this is his meaning doth farther appear by his quarrelling the Author for interpreting the Departure to be rather the flight of a Criminal from Justice than of an innocent Man Metus causâ cum animo reverlendi And this being so it cannot proceed but either from a dishonest Mind and an ill design to undermine the Justice of the present King's Title or from Ignorance For no good Author ever yet called the Flight of an Innocent Man Metus causa an Abdication And because his pretended great Learning and Reading of History will not permit us to believe the latter he can blame no body but himself if we impute it to the former And the Truth is I see not how he can avoid that imputation For if he really thinks what is there said to be a severe insinuation against the late King and that no Kings are to be brought to Justice he is a temporizing Person to comply and flatter a Government erected upon no better ground than a pretended Abdication But if he really believes the grounds upon which the Convocation declared that Departure an Abdication which were that Kings precedent Actions to be good then is he basely Mercenary to dissemble his own Opinion in compliance with some of that mungrel Party who are still for a Regency And this Government can never be safe while such Persons are permitted to have access to any Office of Secretary of State My Principles I had published in Print long since in the Important Questions and again lately but before his Pamphlet came to the Press in an Apology for Mr. Stafford and therefore had no Masque of my own for him to remove But I hope I have by this time taken off one from him and shall presently take off another for I doubt not but this Leaf and the first Leaf of the next Sheet contain the Characters of those Persons in whose Defence this Masque call'd a Vindication was Written and by whose Authority it was Published It was not the King nor the Parliament nor the Principal Secretary of State for whom this Service was designed It was Written in the Defence of others and who those others were we may here perceive plainly enough They are of Three sorts 1. The Regency-men those who were principally designed to be gratified in the Paragraph last mentioned and indeed in the whole undertaking 2. King James 's Counsellors Agents and Accomplices to be exempt from condign Punishment 3. One or Two in King Charles 's Reign wrought upon through the Temptations and Snares of a Court and some Persons who in either of the Two last Reigns had stumbled upon unwarrantable Measures and these are to be received into Favour There is one sort more they should also have put in had it not been too gross a matter to have been mentioned at this time and that is the French Kings Pensioners who there is reason to believe had not left off their old trade in the Transactions of the last Year but there are none of them but may be comprehended among some of these here specified And as these plainly were designed to be served by this Pamphlet so I doubt not but some of these set the Work on foot and were the contrivers of its Dedication to the chief Secretary of State and are therefore properly the chief Authors of it Qui facit per alium est perinde ac si faciat per seipsum c. qui facit de reg jur 6. As for the Person imployed to write it it seemed very apparent to me in the perusal to be in divers passages a mere personated business and to be written invita Minerva and which is worse reluctante Conscientia which when I observed it moved so much plty in me that I presently struck out such passages as would too plainly have discovered him and I thought too severe for a man in such a case and I heartily pray God give him Repentance and forgive him But for those who imployed him for that he wrote it not of himself but was put upon it by some others is but a natural consequence of what I have said we may plainly discover something of their Character by this Vindication First It is plain that they are men of Craft and Tricks for this is plainly a trick put upon the Chief Secretary of State to make the World believe that he was concerned and if they were so bold with him the King himself may have reason to look about him lest he be trick'd by them Secondly They must be such as had some considerable concern in the pretended Vindication and acted a great and notable not noble part in the Transactions that is immediately or mediately in our Disappointments a much different part from what was acted by the Noble Person whom they craftily apply to as one concerned by participation in the same actions with themselves and undoubtedly will be apt to play the like tricks with the King himself if they can by putting him upon such actions as may justifie themselves at least and so engage him to stand by them in their illegal practices an Artifice by which the last race of our Kings have been often abused and not yet forgotten Thirdly What I have before observed of the Writer must be true also of the principal Authors nay more certainly true of them whom he designed to please For whatever was his own Opinion it was accomodated to the Sentiments of them who imploy'd him and therefore they must be men of no good Opinion of this Government nor cordial Friends to the present King and Queen so that this and my last observation do mutually confirm each other Fourthly Nor are they men of very sound notions concerning the true English Constitution and Government as may be collected from their slighting expressions used upon what in the Reflections is observed concerning the Privy Council and secret Cabals calling it the Authors Eutopean Model and from some expressions let fall concerning the Calling and Dissolving of Parliaments of which more hereafter Thus much of their Character may be easily and plainly perceived by this Masque which they call a Vindication But because it is a matter of no small importance to the present King and Queen and to the Peace and Happiness of these Nations for our quiet Enjoyment of the admirable Mercy which Almighty God hath so graciously conferred upon us and for our better improvement of the Advantage he hath put into our hands that these Persons who by their Craft and evil Designs have occasioned our former disappointments may
in plain English most deliberate wilful and wicked Murders being committed under Colour and Pretence of Law of most of which Judgment hath been reversed by Authority of Parliament and that I think it differs not much in the fight of God whether a Man have his Hand or his Tongue dip'd therein And I doubt not but the great and good Sir Matthew Hale would have been of the same Opinion which this Gentleman who gives him those deserved Characters will find some Reason to believe if he please to peruse but The Account of the Good Steward concerning the Gift of Elocution But to the business The Votes of 23 Jan. have enumerated thirteen Heads of Crimes for every one of which some Persons may be excepted out of the Bill of Indemnity Against all Punishments of these our Lawyer takes Exception as Punishments never declared or promulged and which by the Standing Laws and Common Justice of the Realm could not be inflicted That is to say They are neither Treason Felony nor Misdemeanours For for all those there are Punishments declared and to be inflicted by the Standing Laws and Common Justice of the Realm I must add Nor Crimes punishable by any Statute And this is the least that these Words can imply So that we must suppose that they are nothing like any of those we meet with in the Impeachments Indictment Articles c. against those Flatterers and Evil Counsellors and Instruments of Princes which my Lord Coke mentions in his Chapter of Flattery or any others to be found in our Records Books of Entries Reports or Statutes not so much as those concerning the High-Commission Court 17 Car. I. But the contrary of all this is so well known to all who have looked into the Records and Books aforesaid that it is as needless as improper for this Paper to offer to recite them But in stead of that I will shew him that which is more that is That the Parliament may declare those things to be Treason the punishment whereof is sufficiently known which never were nor can now by the Ordinary Judges though in the late Reigns they are believ'd to have exceeded their Bounds be judged such and that by the express Words of the Statute 25 E. 3. And because that many other like Cases of Treason may happen in time to come which a man cannot think or declare at this present time it is accorded That if any other Case supposed Treason which is not above specified doth happen before any Justices the Justices shall tarry without any going to Judgment of the Treason till the Cause be shewed and declared before the King and his Parliament whether it ought to be adjudged Treason or other Felony Besides for such Crimes as are of their own Nature great Crimes and not meerly by some positive Law of the State there is neither Law nor Reason why the Legislative Authority in any State should not order and inflict such Punishments as they deserve And among those may doubtless be reckoned all such as have a direct tendency to the Subversion of the Laws and Government of any Stateâ— But Treason against the Kingdom as well as against the King may be found in our Books of Law and History And now I know not what most to admire in this Gentleman his profound Skill in the Law the Modesty of his Assertions or his Honesty and Conscience I cannot but think him a very proper Person to have been one of the Servants of former Crowns one of the last Kings Ministers Officers or Instruments of Justice He was certainly well qualify'd for lit and his Zeal for their Vindication discovers that he had some concern of his own in it And so confident a Gentleman and so qualify'd one would think should get in somewhere now at least into the Parliament and no doubt but set up by the Faction and a great stickler there one of those who are recommended by our Vindicators not only for Pardon and Indemnity but for Favour and Employment to our present King And no doubt but he will be well served by them as well as he was the last Year I cannot let this pass without some further Reflection It is not at all besides the Design of my Writing and no great Digression from that particular matter I am now upon Our other Vindicator tells us that His Majesty came a Stranger to England and but darkly informed of the true Arcana of the last two Reigns and of the Practices and Principles of particular Men it being so much their interest to vail them from his View Whence it is to be suppos'd that at his coming to the Government the Representation made him of Persons and Things could not but receive a Tincture of the many different Principles and Interests of those who made them Considering which it 's no wonder that in such a Maze of Business and Mist of various Representations his Majesty's Bounty might happen to to be misplac'd in some one or other page 29. I know not any thing more truly and reasonably said by that Writer It was indeed a great Disadvantage his Majesty was under being unacquainted with the Principles and Interests of Persons And as that was just Cause both of Caution in the Choice and of Excuse of him from any ill Choice upon the recommendation of others so doth it aggravate the Fault of such recommendations and recommend the Service of such as detect them I shall therefore for the more comple at Detection of some ill Men to what I have before observed add this for Confirmation 1. That the Persons concerned in these Vindications are Men of dangerour Principles in respect of the present Government For if these Crimes be not punishable by Law then are all they who invited the Prince of Orange to come in with an Army and all that associated with him Traytors and he himself an Invader and Usurper 2. They are Men of Arbitrary Principles and so dangerous to the Nation and the true ancient Constitution of this Government For if these Crimes be not punishable by Law our English Monarchy is gone and we are already fallen into a French or Turkish Tyranny 3. They are dangerous Persons to be employed or trusted in respect of their Genius Men of smooth voluble Tongues and of Confidence to impose any thing Of which I could add divers Instances to those I have noted before But I will add only this because it may serve also for another purpose He tells us If the thirteen Heads c. had been reduced into a Law one third at least of the Nation had been involved who with their disoblig'd Relations and Dependents is not so contemptible a Flock c. Now if every one of this third part had but one Relative or Dependent they would make two thirds if two they would make the compleat number of the Nation but if many of them have 10 20 100 as many certainly have they would far exceed the number of
wicked Courses hereafter But above all the Judges and Bishops who betray'd also their own Professions ought to be made Examples What special Reasons there may be to mitigate any part of the Punishment in any of them they being not many belongs to the Parliament to consider But in general they ought to be good and weighty On the other side when the Offenders are many and the Grime and Punishment Capital it is usual and reasonable to punish only the Principals and most notorious and to pardon all the rest as in cases of Rebellion and Insurrections because of the Evil Consequence of taking away the Lives of so many Persons whereof perhaps many were missed by the Principal of them and might prove good Men afterward In such cases they are all to be looked upon as one Body and the taking off the Heads and Principals of them is a kind of a capital Punishment of that Body of Men. But when the Crime and Punishment are of a lower Nature as Misdemeanors which being very various the Punishment is more discretionary as Fine or Fine and Imprisonment both according to the nature of the Crime it is not so nor is there any reason it should For a Pecuniary Punishment may be inflicted on many without any Inconvenience And in the present Cases it may be proportioned according to the Rates assessed upon the Criminals in some of the late Taxes and some Disabilities might very properly be made part of the Punishment But in these discretionary Punishments divers things are to be taken into consideration And one or two I will mention on the side of Mercy 1. The Example of our Heavenly father now in our own ease who hath shewed Mercy and sent so great a Deliverance notwithstanding the sinful and wicked state of the Nation 2. The Papists and the wicked Examples of those late Popish Kings have been the principal Corrupters of the Manners of the Nations and therefore if they who have been mislead by them suffer not so deep as otherwise they ought it is but reasonable So much for Punishment of Criminals and now for Preferment The Vindicators think it an Invasion upon the Kings own Liberty to deny him the use of such Persons as through the Temptations and Snares of a Court were guilty of Compliance in things blamable c. if their great Parts and Acquaintance with Affairs of State make them necessary I have known some persons cry'd up for notable cunning and shrew'd Men whom when I have hapned to understand more neerly I have found to be Men of Craft indeed but such as did consist not so much in greater Knowledge of Business than other Men had as in the use of a greater Latitude in Acting than some other Men would use And such Persons may be so far from being necessary to a Prince that they may be dangerous As I remember one of those cunning Men I mention'd being apply'd to by three Persons then of good Credit for his Advice in a Cause easie to have been relieved in Chancery as it was afterwards by his Cunning involv'd them all and some others for Witnesses in a notorious Forgery Subornation and Perjury Parts without Fidelity which is inconsistent with Compliance in Blamable things ought not to recommend any Man to a Prince's Service This I say to shew the Insufficiency of his Argument in that part Nor am I so rigorous as not to agree with him in the former as he states the Case only the person ought to be very necessary and the Prince to be very cautious how far he relies upon him Nay I will go further with him and suppose the Person stand accused or even impeach'd in Parliament I would not deny him the use of such a person in due time that is when he hath been try'd and either cleared and acquitted or for some special good cause legally pardon'd Otherwise that which those persons say is an Invasion upon the Kings Liberty to deny him is an affront to the Government tends to the Subversion of the Constitution and to the disparagement of the present Cause both of the King and Kingdom makes it look like a matter of Trick and Violence and not as I take it to be of clear and necessary Justice The Protection and Employment of Criminals being one of the great Grievances of former Reigns and as pernicious to the Kings as to the People And if this be the Case of any person now employed he cannot be a a good Man or worthy of any Favour at all if he would desire his own Security at the rate of so great an Inconvenience both to the King and to the Government and especially under our present Circumstances and not rather willingly retire for some time and if innocent modestly put himself upon a fair Tryal or if Guilty of any thing considerable humbly submit and beg Pardon And this is the truest Wisdom in such case For they who obstinately stand out in such cases do usually bring mischief to themselves or the King and the more highly they carry it out among Men the more they provoke the Judgments of God upon themselves of Excision or in some remarkable manner according to the Nature of the Crime All Courts and Judicatures ought to maintain their Authority and so much the more when notoriously violated or when there are any attempts to evade or oppose it And especially at this time when we are either doing Justice and Equity against the late King himself or plainly playing Tricks with him and exposing the Iniquity of our own Hearts There is but one thing more which I think worth my taking notice of in this Pamphlet for Trifles I have passed over good store all along and that is what he saith pag. 32. that The Calling or Dissolving of Parliaments is ordinarily one of the most mysterious Problems of State and one of the truest Touchstones of Skill in the Art of Government To Men of ill Designs or who understand not the true Constitution of this Government it may be so indeed But to honest and understanding Men nothing is more easie It was the Law of this Nation before Magna Charta or any Statute now in Force was made and it is still the Law That Parliaments be held once a year or oftner if need be And I will tell this Gentleman in the Words of King James I. that which will effectually explain this Mystery and solve the Problem A King says he governing in a setled Kingdom leaves to be a King and degenerates into a Tyrant as soon as he leaves off to rule according to his Laws And a little after Therefore all Kings that are not Tyrants or Perjured will be glad to bound themselves within the Limits of their Laws And they who perswade them the contrary are Vipers and Pests both against them and the Commonwealth Speech 21. March 1609. This most ancient Institution is not more ancient than wise useful and necessary and of a just proportion to the other parts of the Constitution The Commons in the Counties are represented by the Grand Jury who are to enquire and present what is amiss there and the Lords by the Free-holders who are the Judges And as the Counties have their Court once in a Month the Kingdom their Courts of Common Law for private and ordinary matters four times in the year that is in effect once in a Quarter so the whole State had and still ought to have their Session for Publick and Extraordinary matters concerning the whole Kingdom once in the year The great business of this is to enquire into and inspect the Actions of the Great Officers Privy Counsellors and Judges c. and of the King himself if he do any thing contrary to Law and the common Interest of the Nation to interpret their own Laws where there is occasion and resolve other Difficulties to receive and hear Petitions redress Grievances and give Relief c. And this is an Institution as much for the Honour Safety and Ease of the Prince as for the Security and Commodity of the People For if the Prince act as he ought to do by Advice of Privy Council and of such persons as in their several Places are by Law to advise him The Parliament being to convene within the year must needs be such a Check to them that they will rarely dare to propose any thing mischievous or illegal and more rarely be able to bring it to effect and whatever it be the King is secure and the Counsellor or Officer to answer for it Now an Institution of so great Antiquity so agreeable to the other parts of our Constitution of so great Importance in the Government secured by two several Acts of Parliament in the Reign of that wise and magnanimous Prince Edw. 3. still in force besides others ought not certainly to be eluded with vain Pretences of Reason of State and abused as it hath been by the whole last Race of our Kings to their own hurt and to the great disturbance and almost Dissolution of a most Noble Constitution to gratifie ill Men by long Intermissions abrupt Prorogations and Dissolutions and by long Continuances for no other reason but to corrupt the Members to betray their Trust As by Law they ought to be assembled once a year so ought they also by Law to fit effectually till all Grievances be redressed and business dispatch'd before their Departure v. 4. Inst p. 11. For if our Kings by their Oath be obliged to Govern according to Law they are certainly obliged to it in this particular it being the chief part of the Government Parliamentum departiri non debet dummode aliqua Petitio pendeat indiscussa vel ad minus ad quam non fit determinatum Responsum Et si Rex contrarium permittat perjurus est saith the Ancient Modus tenendi Parliament of which Mr. Selden allows some Copies he had seen to be as ancient as Edw. 3. Tit. of Hon. p. 611. But this is not a place to insist more largely upon this matter nor indeed doth it need it FINIS