get me over into England with any pretence to be manag'd there by my Lord Sh and if I would have been obsequious to my Inspirers and witness against the Duke I knew not what I was to have had 10000 l. for being a Knave and if I would not I should be hang'd for being Honest. I humbly begg'd therefore of His Majesty that since I had done my Duty even with hazard of my Life and acquainted Him with the plain Truth of their Intrigue He would please to protect me Hereupon His Majesty took an occasion to speak of another that had 4000 l. offerd him to come over and said to me these very words as far as I can recollect them Mr. S. I have been present at all the Examinations relating to the Plot and I do protest I have not found one single Circumstance that concurs to abet it but it wholly depends on the words of two or three odd Men. He was also graciously pleas'd to promise me His Pardon under the Broad Seal lest they should Prosecute me upon other acounts as Writing Controversie-Books c. as also His and the Council's Protection telling me withall that it was a Council business and therefore that I was to appear at the Board the next Council-day which I did Where the Oath being tender'd Rookwood's Papers were read I addrest my self to my Defence And First I shew'd the Falshood of that Pretence that I made means to come into England or so much as had a thought of it not by my self there being no Letter or Paper of mine alledg'd or produc'd nor I am sure producible to that purpose nor that can be pretended to have been writ before I was sent for not by Mr. Rookwood for I there confuted that pretence by many clear and unanswerable Arguments As that as appears by his very Papers I would not acquaint him with the true place I was going to nor hold Correspondence with him By the Orders lying dormant so long e're it reach 't me whereas had I been fond of going into England upon such a score or made means to have procured an Order to that end I should have been diligent to look after it By my taking Pains to go as far as the Brill to fetch my Winter-Cloaths by my having taken a Chamber till Spring at which Time I had purposed to go to Abbeville in France as likewise by my having laid in my Winter-Provisions of Turf Butter c. All which was Attested to Mr. Sidney by the Gentleman of his Horse who paid my Landlady for her Chamber and saw the rest of my Provisions By the Surprize I was in when the Order to call me into England was delivered me By the meer casual meeting with Rookwood's Man at the Hague which occasion'd my Visiting his Master the second Time which had it not happened the Order had never come to my hand at all And lastly by this that I never capitulated for my Pardon before-hand but in the Protestation I had put forth utterly renounc't it nor spoke of it to Mr. Sidney nor petitioned for it in my Letter to the King but readily obeyed His Command as was my Duty relying solely on my own Integrity whereas had I been Conscious to my self of having known and conceal'd two such horrid Plots so long and consequently been highly Guilty of Misprision of Treason no Man of ordinary Discretion but would have secured that dangerous Point while he was yet in safe Circumstances and out of the Reach of our English Laws The Paper also signed by the Three at the Hague was produc't and Mr. Sidney was present to testifie all the Particulars that came to his Knowledge which abetted my Defence I was very large and particular in my Discourses of this Nature till both His Majesty and the whole Council were perfectly satisfied of my Ingenuity and Rookwood's Knavery After which I was Questioned about some Tenets of certain Catholick Writers and about a Story which I and others heard in Flanders from a Gentlewoman about some Words said to be spoke by one of those who dyed to all which being still as my Lord Chancellor told me npon my Oath I Answered according to the best of my Knowledge as became a sincere Christian But I was so far from Charging it upon that Gentleman or making him a Plotter for it that I Declared openly having first ask't His Majesties Pardon for speaking freely That both he and the other Four nay all the rest that suffer'd for the Plot did in my Opinion dye innocent A thing which I believe few at that time of day durst have done but being upon my Oath I was resolv'd to speak my true thoughts without fear or favour of any The whole Narrative of which Particulars I as I was then commanded gave in under my Hand to the Council where they are yet to be seen I desire it may be observed that these Two last Points about which I had been examined came in onely accidentally and were far from being the Occasion of my being sent for or coming over For the whole Series of this Transaction shews manifestly the sole Occasion of my coming was to speak to Rookwood's Papers concerning the Two pretended Plots and that the others came in on the by onely Which will stop the Mouths of my Traducers and Maligners who give it out not onely that I made means to come but also that this was the sole at least main Reason of my coming and it seems would have had me forswear my self to gratifie Parties But I humbly thank their Kindness Non sic didici Christum My Comfort is that those who did Calumniate me upon that score are either malicious and partial Men bigotted Ladies or silly babbling Women and I have learn't so much Philosophy as to consider that 't is to be expected every thing should act as it is I beseech God to forgive the first and to give the others more Discretion to guide their Zeal for the future 'T is besides my present Purpose to Relate what Wiles were used and Traps laid here to circumvent me and in all likelihood take away my Life The Importunity of the impeaching Folks to get into my Company was incredible Upon this being never at quiet I was forced to change my Lodging abscond yet this could not stave them off For they came to that Impudence as to tell me they had an Order from the King and Council to know where I liv'd under pretence forsooth of protecting me which oblig'd me for my safety to send in a Note to my Lord of Radnor then President of the Council Complaining of their Insolence who came out to me with my Lord Sunderland and when I had related to him my just Fears of some Mischief intended against me he delivered me from my Apprehensions by bidding me-tell them he had given me a Command that none should know my Lodging but himself For knowing my Lord Shaftsburys Resentment against me for
incited him to this senseless Barbarity or that they will long connive at it No certainly it too much misbecomes any Man who has the least Sense of Piety towards such near Relations or of Generosity towards Personages of so high a Station and who have born so great a Figure in the World even although they may be thought to have been subject to some Failings to be willing they should be thus publickly branded for Monsters by the licentious and intemperate railing of every petty Buffoon whence I hope you will suspend that rash Judgment till you see whether his Book passes currently after it is expos'd without some severe Animadversion Nay were that Unlikely Supposition of yours True yet 't is incredible that Persons even of any Ordinary Prudence much less such as they would not have been chary to abuse Princes so nearly Ally'd to them with such Foul and Contumelious Language but would rather have made Choice of some sober and grave Writer who knew what good Manners and Decency meant to lay open the plain Naked Truth had Necessity so requir'd in a Style full of charitable and respectful Expressions towards their Persons and with a sensible regret that he was forced to expose their Faults and not to have employ'd such a foul-Mouth'd Thersites whose whole Book is woven quite thorow with such rancorous Invectiveness that could a Mad Dog speak he could scarce vent his Cerberean Foam with more Venome All Wise Men who have a good Opinion of the Present Governours fear this Libeller has gain'd a fair Title to a Pillory or the Gallows for such impudent Slanders against their Relations notwithstandding his glavering Flatteries to curry Favour with them even the highest Encomiums from such a dirty Pen are at the best but scurvy Commendations Thus much for the Manner of his Writing As for the Matter of it you may please to observe that the Title of his Libel is The Secret History c. In the Name of Wonder how comes this inconsiderable Wretch to be better acquainted with the Secrets of State than all the Heard of Mankind besides There have not wanted Times of late in which there was Impunity enough for Factious Men to speak such Truths as could be prov'd or had any degree of Likelihood in them even against Majesty it self there wanted not Politicians who had Wit enough to know them had they been real Vertties nor Boldness and Malice to detect them Yet we never heard of such a Complicated Series of Bloody Contrivances till Blatant in whose Breast these Horrid Secrets lay hid from the Worlds dull Eyes bolted out this Unexspected Discovery of them But how comes he then and none but he to know these Secrets Was he ever Secretary to any of those several Princes or Popes that he should be so well Vers't in their most private Transactions and pronounce upon them with such a Confidence Yet he must be more than that he must be of their Cabinet-Council too Nor will even such an intimate Familiarity with their Persons and Outward Transactions justify the abominable Suggestions that are delivered as so many Certain Evident Truths in this Libel of his He assumes to himself yet a far greater Priviledge than the knowing all the Arcana Imperii This is too superficial an Object for his reaching Brain He Fancies himself a little God Almighty and dives into their very Thoughts and which is a Prerogative peculiar to the Divinity searches their very Hearts and most retruse Intentions and when he has done he turns their Consciences inside-outwards For otherwise the Particulars he huddles up together will fall short of inferring what is still the Burthen of his Song The Design of introducing Popery and Slavery He keeps a huge Pother about the French King and King Ch. his siding with him and seconding his Intentions whereas every wise Man knows that there is no True Friendship betwixt Kings They all do what they think is best for their Interest and strive to circumvent one another by Policy They commonly look one way and row another The French may make Proposals and our Kings if they see it expedient may in Out-ward Shew admit their Pretences and in their Treaties give way seemingly to their Intentions so they can but gain the Point they aim at though they never meant them nor had the same Motives the others had Sometimes too Kings may tell the Parliament what was really then their Intention yet change of Circumstances intervening may shew the complying with them in that particular to be hic nunc Imprudent and highly Inconvenient The Common Good is their proper Object and 't is hard for any to know what is such so well as themselves by reason of their High Station and Vniversal Intelligence both at home from their Ministers and abroad by their Ambassadors Yet the subtile Wit of Blatant can penetrate into their inmost Breasts and tell their Thoughts to an Hairs breadth He thinks Solomon for all his Wisdom was but a Fool and the Scripture much to blame in saying That Cor Regum inscrutabile The Hearts of Kings are unsearchable Their most dark and opacous Meanings are to his Lynx's Eyes as transparent as Chrystal However we poor undiscerning Mortals be of opinion that his leaden Skull and short Line of Reason are utterly unable to fathom such depths Nay he knows of all Secret Letters between Party and Party as well as if he had writ them with his own Hand though now and then if he fears them unauthentick he is put to make them current with an If. But of his Proofs and Arguments hereafter Indeed he tells us candidly in his Preface That he will not apologize for the Truth of what 's contained in his Libel Now the Crimes charg'd in it are of the highest nature and against Personages of the highest Dignity which the Scripture forbids us to speak evil of Wherefore one would think such an Action as this of all things in the World should need an Apology and such an Apology too as carries with it the clearest Evidence and strongest Conviction and that otherwise our Blatant will gain to himself the Repute of an Apostate from all Common Honesty Civility Charity and Christianity Nay he is to shew us too the Necessity of publishing to the open World such horrid Crimes of such Personages even though True since all secret Truths especially such scandalous ones are not as himself confesses in his Preface to be trumpeted about at all times if at all And lastly he needs a good lusty Apology why he delivered those supposed Truths in such a scurrilous manner How comes it then that he so kindly indulges himself the heavy and most necessary Task of Apologizing Because says he as for what was more publickly carried there are the loud and general Complaints of the Kingdom to confirm it By the word Kingdom he means we are to think Himself and his own factious Party and especially the Traytors and their
Adherents By the same Figure of his kind of Rhetorick as by making the Dissenters or rather the most bigotted and furious part of them the only Protestants he by consequence ever and anon Christens those of the true Church of England by the Name of Papists I cannot but note here how this poor man quite forgets what he is about The Title of his Pamphlet is The Secret History c. And he stuffs out his Book with Matters publickly carried and which as he says a whole Kingdom loudly complained of These are some of honest Blatant's SECRETS which made such a noise that every one must needs hear of them whether they would or no especially his Factious Crew who were the persons that made that Noise for their Mouth and their Ears are not far asunder Unless he will maintain for he does as great Feats as this in his Book that a whole Kingdom complained loudly of they knew not what and that he is the only man forsooth that has ferreted out these Publick Secrets But to the point The Kingdom notwithstanding some Taxes which were inconsiderable if we compare them with K. Ch. the Second's long Reign liv'd in Peace and Plenty and for all his ill Husbandry and his being addicted to his Pleasures Faults tho' no way excusable yet incident to many Princes he was beloved generally by his People and his Death much lamented Again under the Reign of K. Iames there were no Taxes at all And as for some forward Proceedings which disgusted many he acted by the Advice of his Judges assuring him that his Prerogative of which every King is tenacious did warrant the Legality of his Actions Indeed I must joyn with Mr. Blatant in this That he had the Misfortune to have had an haughty Chancellor whose Humour led him to carry all things with huffing and a braggadochio height of Arbitrary Authority which did not a little contribute to lose his Prince the Love of many and that King 's different Religion made the People easily susceptible of sinister Impressions which disgusted men made it their Business to improve and heighten with ridiculous Lyes and groundless Jealousies But why does not he apologize for the Truth of the more secret Transactions A man would think that the more secret they are the more clear the Proofs ought to be since the Blacker the Objects are the more Light is requisite to make them perfectly Visible Why no Apology then for the Truth of those private Concerns wrapt up in the mysterious Veil of Cabinet-Counsels and State-Policy The Reason why he gives none is because The Consequences and Events are his Testimonies But this poor Babbler is mightily out in his Logick for we ought to see his Premisses are true e're any Truth can follow from them Since if this be not first made good let his Consequences be as well knit to them as he pleases his Conclusions may all be false Now the Consequences he draws rely upon some pretended Papers Letters and Treaties and an innumerable company of wild Stories babbled up and down by the Factious Party that forged them themselves These therefore a solid man would have made it his first care to prove that they could not be Forgeries or Mistakes But never was Writer so slight in that main Performance He barely puts down That such a thing was printed such a thing written or talkt and so lets it shift as well as it can for its own authentickness and appuys himself on the hope he has of his Reader 's Byass towards his side or on his good-natur'd Credulity and if these fail him goodnight to Blatant's whole Libel At least if the Reader must trust his Word or Judgment it would have been some glimmering of Satisfaction to him had he told him what Means he had above other men to know such Passages to be true where he had seen the Records in whose Hands they are or were and such-like and not to leave his Reader in an Amusement how he came to be so particularly enlightned as to know that what was thus printed or written or said was a Certain Truth and to be firmly rely'd on Thus much for his Premises on the Truth of which all depends Next even supposing some of his Premises were Certainly True yet his pretended Consequences can never be a perfect Apology unless he shews the necessary Connexion of the one to the other For if the thing might possibly spring from another Cause than what he assigns viz. the Design of introducing Popery and Slavery then 't is far from being an Apology for the Truth of that for which he brings it To examin this then a little more narrowly I affirm That either these Consequences which are to testifie the Truth of those more secret Transactions do follow naturally from the more publick one or they require some Skill to deduce them If the former then every man of an ordinary pitch of Reason would be able to see them as well as this Owl-ey'd fellow and his Party and then he might have spar'd his Pains it being to no purpose for in that case he would have told us no News but what we knew before If the later we ought to be satisfy'd of Blatant's Skill in drawing his Consequences and partly on his unbyast Sincerity His Passion too visibly manifests his want of the later and as for the former he must pardon us if we cannot admire him for 't is visible through his whole Libel that his Malice so transports him that as shall be seen he makes any thing follow out of any thing Nay should a sober man deduce them they do far more naturally bear another shape and can fright no man unless such weak Souls whom Blatant's Bugbear Stories have made believe that every Bush is a Spright Take an Instance or two how tho' this Libeller may be gifted in other Performances yet his Skill in drawing Consequences is very untoward and even ridiculous The Dutch War is levell'd by him p. 42. at the meer bringing in of Popery and Slavery Whereas they being our known Competitors in Shipping and Trade and daily encroaching upon us not to speak of their owing us satisfaction for old Injuries recounted in the Book entituled Amboina a War once in Seven or at farthest Ten Years was ever held by our wisest Statesmen in former times for I meddle not with what is our Interest now as seasonable and necessary as is the lopping off the under-growing Suckers that intercept the Sap from the Tree which gave them Life and Nourishment And it has ever been imputed to K. Iames the First as the most impolitick Act he ever did and of the most dangerous Consequence to the Interest of England that out of his too great love of Peace he did not curb the Growth of Holland but let them rise to such a heigth of Power as to be our Equals at Sea in which the Wisdom of Q. Elizabeth and her Council thought fit severely to restrain
Did that Forger think or could K. Ch. imagin that the benefic'd Clergy in Russia the Country of the Abyssins and many others are at the Pope's beck or under his Jurisdiction At least if it means all under the Pope could it be thought fit that the Roman Catholicks in America should contribute to the European Wars 4. What mean the Words cause and compel every wise man knows that all the Pope can do in such cases is to exhort or permit leaving it to the respective Princes to whom they are subject to compel them to contribute and that himself can compel none out of the Ecclesiastical State of which he is the Temporal Prince 5. What an impertinent thing it is to request that the Pope would admonish them all to have no Commerce with England A very likely thing that so many Nations will wrong their own Interest in such an high manner as to leave Trading with England at the Pope's Entreaty Lastly Grant it That the then Governours in England were sworn Enemies to Monarchy yet what a loud and senceless Lye it is That both in Germany Spain France Polonia c. and in the very Dominions of the Great Turk they have raised and fomented dangerous Insurrections and that to that purpose they supply the Charge and make large Contributions to it And certainly they must be very large ones that can supply the Charge of pulling down the settled Government of all those Countries besides what the large c. includes and making so many Common-wealths of them Is not this man frantick to write at this mad rate Yet this he makes vast use of nay and to abett it he names Father Dawly that went to Rome about it Now the truth is That that Gentleman's Business was to get K. Iohn the Fourth to be own'd for K. of Portugal by the Pope and by that means to obtain Bishops for that Kingdom then quite destitute of them and the Point where it stuck was That the Pope out of fear of disgusting Spain hung back then from acknowledging that Prince for King and Bishops according to their Laws could not be had without the King's nomination This is the Truth of that Affair the rest is meer Fiction and the silliest one into the Bargain that ever was forg'd which in all likelihood was the reason that the whole Story was torn out of Whitlock's Memorials before they were publish'd lest it should discredit the whole Book and its Author Just such another Flam p. 144 145. is his Story of a Treaty with the K. of Poland about establishing the Roman-Catholick Religion and this he calls An undeniable Convincement to all the World of the Truth of what has been hitherto said Observe by the way that all he has said hitherto cannot so convince but it may be denied if the Strength of this Story which is to support them all does hap to faulter No doubt then but he will exert his very utmost Endeavours to make it evident since so precious a Concern as is the Vndeniable Truth of that has been said hitherto lies at stake He proves it notably by its standing still Recorded under K. Ch. his own Hand By my Faith this looks terribly By the way 't is the first time I ever heard that Kings did use to record things with their own Hands But let that pass How proves he that it stands still recorded under his own Hand Marry he proves it with an If If says he the Original of the Instructions be extant Very good The Argument stands thus If the Original of the Instructions to the Ambassador be still extant then the thing is undeniably true Well but is the Original indeed still extant I do not know that says Blatant and can only say If it be Is there at least an Authentick Copy of it extant He knows not that neither else we should have heard News of it Nor if there were is it sufficient to render his Proof undeniable it being wholly built on this that the thing stands Still recorded under the King 's own Hand So that the Truth of all that he has hitherto said for 144 Pages stands or falls by the strength of the doughty and most substantial Proof If. Whence if honest If chance but to totter and 't is Ten Millions to none it will seeing its very nature and notion expresses Tottering and 't is known that a Conditional Proposition puts nothing in re then all Blatant's Heroick Atchievements hitherto as to their Truth fall to the Ground Does such a silly Puppy ever hope to gain Belief from any man that is not a meer Natural Yet this is the very Genius of his way of Talking throughout his Book He will speak so Big and run on with such a rushing Career that he over-bears the Reason of a well-minded Reader and wheedles or rather hurries him into a Belief that all is Real that is deliver'd so confidently but if he be so considerate as to suspend till he sees the Force of his Proof not a Line shall he find that has the least shew of true Evidence but that what gives a kind of Counterfeit Life to his whole Discourse is his sputtering and keeping a great coil and clutter to amuse weak Readers and put them at their Wits-end what to think Only they can see that either Blatant is the Greatest Lyar living or every man he is offended at is the Greatest Knave in Nature Whether of them is thus faulty any sober man may easily divine by his Natural Reason without needing to go to a Wizzard We have seen by these few Instances pick't out of many and I made choyce of those I judg'd his strongest and most important what a terrible Beast Blatant is at laying his Grounds and drawing his Conclusions and that either his own Forgeries or those of others are generally his onely Premisses or else that his Consequences from some True Principle or True Relation of Matter of Fact are meer Paralogisms Which put together shew him to be a Desertâ—â— of Human Reason which consists in the inferring Necessary Consequenceâ— from firm Premisses or Principles Iâ— remains now to Examin what he defers to Authority For if he botâ— wilfully baffles Reason and withâ—â— despises Authority he has nothing iâ— the World left to support his Credit in the least but must be lookâ—â— upon as a wretched Deserter of Human Nature and a Brutish Monsteâ— in the shape of a Man How saucily he bears himself towards particular Persons tho' seaâ—ed in a high Place of Authority hiâ— Carriage towards Sir Lionel Ienkins one of King Charles his Principal Sâ—â—cretaries of State informs us p. 119â— That Worthy Gentleman behav'â— himself so moderately and civilly in that Employment that he was esteem'd by all but the Factious to be a true Lover of Integrity and Justice nor was he Hated even by those generally but onely by some few of them and this meerly upon the Score of executing his Office which when their
being esteem'd by all as God be prais'd I was ever held an Honest man it would be judged I refus'd to come because I would not be perjur'd by denying what I knew and therefore if I were shy to appear to answer my Accuser whom I as yet knew not but supposed he was in England it would especially as the Times went be loudly proclaimed That all which had been inform'd to have been said by me was true These were the Reasons I gave of the necessity of my going into England Whether the last of them and my hazarding my Life upon that score have received the just Return from some Persons who ought to have had more Christianity and Honour in them than to slander their Neighbour without caring to know how Matters past I leave even to their own Guilty Consciences to judge His Majesty having received my Letter in which I petition'd to be clear'd from this Calumny was pleased to send to his Envoy a Copy of Mr. Rookwood's two Papers and an Order to confront us before him e're we came as to the Contents of them This being judg'd the surest Expedient of knowing whether he or I had bely'd the Truth A Messenger brought the Papers who came also to call Mr. Sydney into England with an Order to bring me over with him wherefore the very next day he sent the Gentleman of his Horse to Amsterdam to require me to attend him In the Morning after I had arrived at the Hague he commanded me to dine with him I was perfectly ignorant of the Order to confront us or what he had to say to me Mr. Rookwood had got light of it and never left solliciting me to dine with him at his own House saying That he too was invited but he would send his Excuse for us both I admired at his Importunity but after Dinner he discover'd his Reason by telling me That we were to be confronted that Afternoon about some Papers that he had been forced to send into England concerning some words that if he did not misremember had past between us about the Plot earnestly begging of me for his Credit 's sake to admit his Words and make my own Interpretation and he would witness that was my Meaning Then and not till then did I apprehend that Rookwood was the Person who had rais'd that Lye of me and put me to suffer all that Obloquy and Vexation Which when I resented in such Language as it deserv'd telling him plainly I would not admit one word but what I truly spoke nor make any Interpretation for his sake who had so grosly abused me that if he had writ Falshoods they should lye at his door to his shame I would stand to precise Truth and I was sure Truth would stand by me At which he fell into high Language and threatned me That if I were Uncivil to him he had Friends in England should hang me high enough Finding this wrought nothing with me but that I return'd a scornful Smile to his Threats and answer'd them with a flat Defiance he grew moderate blam'd his Passion and fell to Entreaties again At length we came to his Composition That I should not impeach his Credit nor reproach him for forging but put the blame upon his bad Memory and he would not justifie his Memory I knew he was able to work me Mischief in England so I condescended to grant him that Civility as long as it abated nothing of the Truth of what had past between us To Mr. Sydney's we went and his two Papers were read in every Particular of which that were of moment or related to the Plot I baffled him One Passage was very remarkable Mr. Rookwood said I certainly you have a Memory of another nature from the rest of Mankind that could write into England that I told you of two Plots whenas I told you plainly I did not believe any Plot. How says Mr. Sydney Do not you believe the Plot Mr. Rookwood fearing I should have related all our Discourse at large which would have shewn too clearly that there was more than a Bad Memory in the Business immediately prevented my Reply with these words No Sir his Charity for Dying men was so great that he could not believe they died with a Lye in their Mouths At which Concession of his I caught readily and said to Mr. Sydney Observe this Sir I beseech you If I told him as he confesses that I judg'd that all who dy'd for the Plot said true at their Deaths then since 't is known they all dy'd denying they knew of any Plot I must hold withal nay tell him I held there were no Plotters and if no Plotters then no Plot and if I told him I believ'd there was no Plot then how could I tell him at the same time I knew of Two Plots or indeed of any When we had ended Mr. Rookwood went away very ill satisfy'd And tho' I had gain'd this main Point yet I was not perfectly satisfy'd neither for these were but fleeting words and I fear'd Mr. Sydney's Memory he being then in extreme haste might not enable him to speak firmly and particularly to our whole Discourse by which I might come to lose half of the Advantage I had gotten There were besides Mr. Sydney two other Gentlemen present at this Rencountre one of them was call'd Mr. Plott the name of the other I remember not Wherefore I prest upon Mr. Sidney's Patience who was now very busie in putting up his things being to part within five hours and civilly demanded the Justice of him that himself and the other two who were not to come over with us would while the Matters were yet fresh in their Memories Signe to a Paper containing the several particulars in which I had confuted Mr. Rookwood and requested that he would bring it with him to be read before the King and Council which was done accordingly To Sea we went and when we came near Greenwich I requested the favour of Mr. Sydney that I might go to London in his Boat and in his company to his House and there to stay and lodge till I was conducted by him to His Majesty lest it should be pretended that some body had treated with me to warp me a great Policy then of the Plot-framers which he civilly granted The next Morning at Eight the King Order'd him to bring me to his Closet where His Majesty was present with my Lord Sunderland The King after I had kist his Hand ask't me What meant this Information of Rookwood's I assur'd His Majesty it was a perfect Forgery not only without any Ground but directly contrary to all the Discourse that had past betwixt us I know well reply'd the King that he is a Rogue for he took Money of Oliver and betray'd me and my Friends but what Motive should he have to send such a lying Information to a King and a Council Hereupon I acquainted His Majesty with their manifest Design which was to
Discovering his Design and his Bribing Offer and seeing such a bold Pretence of that Party to get Knowldege of my Lodging I had good reason to fear that their Plot was either to kill me at my Door or to bolt into my Chamber and then accuse me of Speaking Treason or of confessing to them that I did indeed know of two such Plots as Rookwood had informed but out of Fear or Interest was not willing to reveal them Sir I do protest to you faithfully this is the true History of that affair in every particular as far as my Memory Reaches for I have not my Papers by me and the Truth of the main Branches of it which sustain all the rest do not depend upon my meer sayings or my Memory but upon Authentick Testimonies known matters of fact and on my Papers given in to the Council containing great part what I said before them to be found yet among their Records And I am confident that my Lord Sunderland and my Lord Sidney are Persons of that Honour that they will witness the Truth of this Relation of mine as far as it engages their Testimony Having premised this plain and Candid Narrative of that business I now come to comply with your other Request that I would note down how many open falsities are contain'd in that half page which you sent me First then whereas he says confidently that one Sergeant made a Discovery of the Popish Plot from Holland This is manifested to be a most palpable Untruth both by the protestation I put forth and spread as soon as ever I heard of that report And by my protesting the contrary before the Secretary and Mr. Rookwood when I first received the order to come by my abjuration of my knowledge of any such Plot before Mr. Sydney and all this while I was yet in Holland likewise by my declaring before His Majesty in his closet and afterwards before the Council upon my Oath that I knew of no such Plot nor believ'd it Nay by the words of Mr. Rookwood himself who was the Informer when we were Confronted So that I cannot but Admire that any Man who has the least regard whether what he says or prints be True or no would venture to Assert so Notorious a Falsehood 2 dly He says I caus'd my discovery to be Transmitted to the Court This is worse than the other for besides what has been even now alledg'd the whole course of this Transaction shows that I was wholly the Ignorant of Mr. Rookwood's Papers which inform'd of that discovery Nor did or could Rookwood tho' hard put to it Challenge me to have sent or caus'd to be sent any such matter which was Obvious and easy for him nay necessary to have done when we were Confronted this being the only way to clear himself and confound me who then deny'd it Lastly had I caus'd any such discovery to be Transmited to the Court it would have been alledg'd against me by the Council at least by some of my Lord Shaftsbury's party to my utter confusion when I deny'd it before them upon my Oath and have unavoidably prov'd me to be be a perjur'd Villain 3 dly He says I had aen Intention to have discover'd several others This is still more surprizing Can this illuminated Gentlemen see into my Intentions Or does he pretend to know this from my Words and outward Actions But if Denying it Swearing Writing Protesting the contrary Confuting my Slanderer and the whole Course of my Carriage from the very first to the very last be the best Signes of any Man 's inward Intentions then 't is most manifest That I intended no such thing as this Man Asserts with such a Careless Confidence but the direct contrary He can then pretend nothing in the World but a Revelation of my Intention which I much fear he will hardly be able to shew us 4 thly He says I was first bribed off by Pillory Carr. Now Sir I do protest to you in the Presence of God That I cannot call to mind that I so much as know any man living of the Name of Carr and that I as little know who he should mean by Pillory-Carr only I hope Pillory Carr was some very Rich man For if Ten thousand Pound could ot bribe me on to witness a Truth as he believes Rookwood's Information to be there must in all the reason in the World a far greater Sum be requisite to bribe me off otherwise I must be a Great Fool that no better understood my own Interest and my own Safety too But to be serious if this Gentleman can name me any one honest Man who will attest that I ever had the least acquaintance with the Person he names Pillory-Carr I will give all the World leave to repute me a Lying Villain if not I am sorry to tell him that he must be content to wear that infamous Character himself for it will stick to him whether he will or no. Now my Circumstances hapt to be such that it quite spoils his Calumny For desiring to be private I convers'd ot with so much as one English man while in Holland except the Secretary and those of Mr. Sydney's and Mr. Rookwood's Families and if Pillory Carr was none of them he must not be look'd for in Holland and my cautiousness as soon as I came to England to keep close with Mr. Sydney till I had spoke with the King and made all the Discoveries I could make of the true Plot which was to bribe me to witness what my Pay-masters should inspire utterly spoils any Pretence of my being bribed off here 5 thly He says I was slightly and slyly examined Now Sir I was examin'd so slyly that it was openly before the whole Council nor was there ever a fuller Board all the Lords being big with expectation of what strange matters I should discover which was rais'd by this that I had God be praised the Character of a Sincere Person which none of the other Plot-Swearers ever had insomuch that I have been inform'd how even His Majesty himself was startled when he was told that I was to come in to make Discoveries of it Nor was my Examination slight as this Gentleman presumes It lasted about two Hours and not only His Majesty and the Chancellor but many other Lords took their Turns to question me I wonder whence this Gentleman had his Intelligence who still contradicts Matter of Fact though never so patent and notorious 6 thly He says I was sent back with God knows how much Money And this is so perfectly false that the whole Council and Thousands of others who convers'd with me a long time after in London can witness the contrary For in the Order to call me hither after their Promise there exprest That I should return in Three Months they immediately added these words If he shall so think fit and because I did not think fit to do so they were pleas'd still to renew
than K. Ch. did to abate his Height when he saw the occasion requir'd it for to oppose such a powerful Prince without necessity was very Impolitick Do not these known Matters of Fact clearly evince that he was very far from being a sworn Devote of his as Blatant has oftentimes shamelesly asserted And if so may we not safely conclude that he has all this while told us a most egregious Falshood and positively contradicted himself No I 'll warrant you he 'll come off well enough for all this True says he the outward Actions of that King do seem indeed very pregnant Testimonies of his Aversion to the French but if you did but look into his Intentions as I do the thing is quite otherwise for I read it plainly in his Heart that he did this prompted more by his own fears than out of any kindness he had for the Nation Well let his Love for the Nation alone a while and let us suppose since he will have it so another of his Contradictions to be true and that K. Ch. made head thus vigorously against the French out of Hatred to the English the Point yet sticks Does not this brisk Carriage of K. Ch. signifie that he was far from being the French King's Creature and that he was not enamour'd of him so as even to assist him to take our English Ships Let it be Fear of him if he pleases this abetts our Assertion that he was far from over-loving him whom he so feared or doting on a Person he could not trust He runs from the Business to tell us how the League was broke afterwards and multiplies Lyes upon Lyes well laid together to amuse us with a fine Story And what if upon Reasons of State it was broke afterwards Was that League engrav'd in Adamant so as to be perpetual He grants that it lasted till it had done the Work it was intended for that is This triple League and the Peace of Aix la Chapelle soon after concluded did put a stop to the French King's Cureer and was not that enough for his purpose The altering of Circumstances breaks Leagues every day This is no News to any man who has but read Gazetts The Suede he confesses p. 59 fell off too nay drew his Sword in the French Quarrel Did he intend too to bring in Popery or Slavery into his own Country by doing so Did he do this to give Demonstrations of his Fidelity to the French Monarch or recommend himself the more meritoriously to his Patronage as he banteringly imposes p. 54 55. upon K. Charles How comes it then to be such a Geometrical Demonstration against K. Ch. that he did it with that pretended Intention or out of a crouching Submissiveness to the French King whereas the doing the self-same action nay a worse was never thought to have the force of the least probability against the King of Sueden In good faith Mr. Blatant you e'en say any thing and entangle your self in Contradictions the more you blunder to get out of them The short is K. Ch. did like a wise Prince He was glad to live quietly by such a Powerful Neighbour if he could without danger to his Kingdom especially knowing he had a factious Party at home who desir'd no more but tangle him in such a War that he might be forc'd to truck his Prerogatives for needful Assistances which was the reason he kept fair with him as much as he could but when he saw his Encroachments threatned England then he acted vigorously to repress them even tho' he hazarded his own Inconveniences And this in Blatant's Language is giving Demonstrations of Fidelity to the French King and recommending himself to his Patronage But is it not pretty Non sence that he should p. 93. make K. Ch. know of the Plot the chief part of which was to kill himself that is know there was a Design on foot against his own Life and yet be the chief Stifler of its Discovery Which amounts to this That he was content to be kill'd and Felo de se in his Intention even while alive But how comes that Prince to be so rechlesly careless of his Life He was held to be naturally held timorous and the fear of Sudden Death is enough to startle the most resolute man even though a Saint Why he was strangely infatuated says Blatant p. 172. to believe all was for the concernment of the Cause to which he was so affected himself that is the bringing in Slavery and Popery Very good But was he willing to be kill'd to carry on that Concern It must be so in case he believ'd it And if he believ'd the other parts of the Plot I am sure he has granted he knew of it all it must have been upon the Credit of the Witnesses for nothing else appear'd to evince the Truth of it as the King himself openly and frequently declar'd in all Companies then he must believe withal the Lord knows how many methods laid to kill himself as by Shooting Assassinating Poysoning c. And 't is a strange Infatuation as he says well I add And such a one as Human Nature is scarce capable of to have the same reason to believe his own Murther was design'd that convinc'd him the other things those men attested were true and yet not be willing it should be look'd into that it might be prevented Now the Truth is the King utterly disbeliev'd the whole Plot as he often declar'd and held the Evidences of those Times to be a Pack of perjur'd Knaves Wherefore seeing so many Persons whom he verily judg'd did dye Innocent put to Death upon that score he could not in conscience tho' the Nation being put into such a ferment he was forc'd to give way for a while to the violence of the Stream suffer the Guiltless to be still thus barbarously murther'd and therefore he endeavour'd as far as Prudence would permit him to put some Blocks in the way of those Feet which were so swift to shed Blood What follows is yet worse and indeed as ill as can be and therefore it shall be my last Instance of his admirable Nonsence and Self-contradictions He pretends p. 72. that K. Ch. had an inveterate Malice to the Dutch meerly upon the account of their being Protestants Protectors of the Protestant Religion insomuch that he says p. 42 That it was thought most requisite to destroy them in the first place and he all along makes the D. of York to have the same Thoughts with him in that point and to co-operate with him in that Design Yet he is so Forgetful as to acquaint us with three such signal Favours done to the Dutch by the Duke as no man living would do his Best Friend much less as our Libeller pretends his avowed Enemy The first p. 160. that he purposely fell asleep at Sea to the end the Dutch for want of Orders might have an opportunity to wrest the Victory out of the Hands
representing all their Relations of the Family of the Stuarts to be Rogues and Rascals he could not let even that B. King escape without some Mark of Infamy Taking occasion then p. 102. to inveigh against K. Ch. the Second for sending away the Parliament lest as he says they should prosecute some of the pretended Popish Conspirators he tells us That he did therein like his Father K. Ch. the First when the D. of Buckingham was accus'd of poysoning his Father viz. K. Iames the First By which words since he all-along makes K. Ch. the Second know of the Plot and yet protect the Plotters he not obscurely hints That good K. Ch. the First was privy to the poisoning his Father and therefore by sending away the Parliament protected his Murtherer from Prosecution Now the Truth is that when there is any great and sudden change Peoples Minds are naturally in a violent motion which hindering the settling a steddy Judgment of things they oft-times grow apt to entertain groundless Jealousies and egg'd forward perhaps by some politick great Persons who out of sinister ends hate those men they let fly at some one or more of them whom the Princes themselves judge Innocent In such a Case as this then it is that Kings have one of their hardest Games to play Their Conscience will not let them willingly sacrifice those they hold Innocent nor their Policy allow them to oppose the Torrent openly They are therefore in those cross and perplexing Junctures forced to take such measures as to gain time till those violent Heats spend themselves and evaporate and a calmer Temper succeeds that so they may be able to protect the one without disgusting the other This was the very Case of those two Princes for neither did K. Ch. the First believe the D. of Buckingham had murthered his Father nor K. Ch. the Second the least tittle of the Plot and therefore they judg'd it more becoming their Christianity and Duty of protecting their Guiltless Subjects to make use of their Prerogative by dismissing the Parliament till Mens Thoughts did settle than to be forced to yield to the Murther of those whom they deem'd to be Faultless in themselves though unfortunate by the undeserved Malice of the People or Parliament wrought up to a high ferment by some designing Politicians And therefore since this was in all likelihood the very Cause why K. Ch. the First did send away that Parliament whose Hatred towards the D. of Buckingham was known to him upon former scores antecedent to his Father's Death with what Charity with what Conscience could this Varlet hint That he protected him from Punishment though he knew him Guilty of such an Inhuman Parricide Again p. 22 he is not content that K. Ch. the Second should be held only Guilty of Adultery with the Lady Castelmain tho' God knows that alone was too shamefully sinful but as if he would prosecute his Soul after death to the nethermost Hell he will needs have him Guilty of Incest too at the same time by pretending that that Lady was his Sister by the Mothers side The Fact is very Horrid and the Charge Grievous and therefore we are to expect very clear Evidences to make it out otherwise our Blatant Beast will be convicted to be the worst of Ribalds and far from a Christian. His first Argument is It being the Opinion of several Persons who had reason to know more than others dill that she was begotten by the E. of St. A upon the Queens Body after the Death of Ch. the First How Opinion Is the man mad Is the Opinion of divers I cannot tell who sufficient Ground to charge a King thus publickly in print with Incest Let him bring such a Plea into a Court for publishing the like Slander of an ordinary person and then seriously bethink himself what a Judge and a Jury would have said to him I doubt he would scarce abide such a Trial before an Earthly Tribunal arm'd with no better Allegations than Opinions and dare he stand it out before the dread Tribunal of a severely just God who has commanded him under pain of Eternal Damnation not to violate his Sacred Law of Charity Observe his words and you shall see 't is just the style of babbling Gossips at their meetings when they have a mind to slander some Neighbour they hate and dare name no Author for fear of being caught and confuted 'T is the Opinion of some body that knows I know what that spoke with those that heard it from others who have reason to know more than we do c. What Stuff is this to ground so horrid an Accusation of a King upon But why does not this Slanderer if Opinion have such a Power with him reflect how it is the Opinion of all England that that Lady was not his Sister and that King Charles the First 's Queen never had any Child after his Death that many are not only of Opinion but have certain Knowledge that that Lady had both another Father and Mother than those he is pleased to assign her and can bring many Witnesses of her Birth and Extraction as That she was Daughter to my Lord Grandison and his Lady her Name register'd in the Parish Book where she was born all the Neighbourhood being Witnesses of her Education in her Infancy and her Relations that she was brought up afterwards with my old Lady Villers her Aunt Is it not a wilful Dotage then to prefer the Opinion of some few against the certain Knowledge of many and the Consent of the whole Nation His Second Proof is That Mr. R. O saw that Earl and that Queen married He must pardon me if I do not believe him But does it follow thence that that Queen had ever a Child or if she had that the Lady Castelmain was that Child Or why is it rather to be believed for that reason Must every Female Child be believ'd to be their Daughter because they were marryed and this notwithstanding the Certain and Firm Belief nay Knowledg of all her near Relations that she had other Parents What a beastly Fool is this where clearest Evidence was needful and expected to alledg nothing but perfect Nonsence How will this insulting Barbarian clear himself then of this graceless Slander He told us in his Preface That as for the more secret Transactions the Events and Consequences were his witnesses which voided the necessity of his Apologizing Now here is a Transaction the most Secret of any in the World and what Consequences what Events can he alledge to justifie the Truth of it Alas he had quite forgot that All he talks is at meer Random and such things use to go as they come they are taken up to serve the present purpose and dismiss'd again without ever thinking of them after But Blatant makes that Lady King Ch. his Sister by the Mothers side only which renders it but Incestuous to the half part and so in his Opinion