WHat pretence hast thou to take place of me? What vast Gygantick Crimes hast thou Com­mitted, that thou shouldst dare to think, thou deser­vest to be Greater than I? Have not I Transgrest all the Laws of God and Man? Did not I Subveret a State? Change its Religion and Government, Murder its Prince, and set whole Rivers of His best Subjects Blood a Flowing? Did not I do all this, and hast thou the Impudence to pretend to Merit more, and have a greater Share in the Infernal Empire, than I?

All this thou didst, I do Con­fess it; But if thou wouldst have but the Patience to hear me, I do not Que­stion but to make appear, that I and my Predecessors have done much more Meritorious Things, for our Great Lord and Master the Devil, than ever thou didst, or couldst do.

Hell and Furies! What didst thou ever do more, than Whore thy own Daughter, and help thy Son Caesar Bor­gia to Poison, and make away all the Opposrs and Obstacles to his Greatness?

Well, that is something; it shew­ed how willing, and ready, I was to Tread in the Footsteps of my Predecessors, and give a good Example to all my Flock; but be Patient, and I will tell thee the Right, I and my Brother Popes have to be Vice-Royes here below. Thou Alas! Valuest thy self for having been the Ruin of one Prince and State: But, How ma­ny Emperors have we forc't to come, and Lay their Necks under our Feet? How many Kings have we caused to be Assassinated? How many Princes to be Murthered? How many Kingdoms and States to be Ruined by Civil Wars and Dissentions? Have not we caused Prin­ces to Rebel against, and Murther the Kings their Fathers? Subjects to Depose their Lawful Sovereigns, and set up Tyrants in their Rooms? And in Fine, Did we not bring Anarchy and Confusion into all Na­tions, when our Interest required it; or when those at the Helm did not Regu­late themselves as we would have had them? All this thou knowest we did, and must Confess it, there being Milli­ons of Instruments here, whom we Em­ployed to those ends, to Confirm and Testify it.

I Grant all you Popes together have been Fruitfully and Bravely Wicked; But hath any one of you, Attempted, Performed, and Compleated, such Great, Noble, and Numerous Crimes as I have [Page 2]done? Did not I, and my Companions under the Pretext of Religion, Subvert both it and the Government, and cry­ing out against the ill Management of the State, the Treachery, and want of Conduct in Ministers, and by pretending to reform the Helm, bring the Nation in­to such a Combustion, that we Gain­ed our Point; which was, That we might have the Liberty to Act those Wickednesses, that the others who were there before us were Accused of, but which indeed never came into their Thoughts, not having the Sence or Cou­rage to Perform, or at least were Re­strained by their Consciences; the Li­berty of which, we Cryed out mighti­ly for, because we knew ours would allow us all we could desire.

All this I know, and how Suc­cessful you were in it, but you were on­ly the Executioners of the Roman Con­trivances; We drew the Model, and set you at Work, Your King's Death that you brag so much of, was first Resolv'd on at Rome, before it came into your Noddles, and so far, you were only the blind Ministers of our Resolutions.

I am sure that's false; For none of us all, but Aimed chiefly at him, though we seemed to Look, and Squinted another way. You might per­haps have the same Design, but you ought not therefore to Arrogate to your self all the Honour, being we thought on it, and designed it as soon as there was any Probability of doing it; and e­ven performed it as soon as it lay in our Power. Indeed we found it a difficult Task, and without your Help, perhaps we should not have been able to have Compass'd it. We were forced to raise Fears and Jealousies of an Arbitrary Go­vernment; and in that I must Confess, we found your Party extreamly useful to us, and very skilful to Infuse the Poi­son into Peoples Minds; and by these Means, we Arrived at what we so much had Railed against, amd seemed to Ab­hor; that is to say, an Unlimited Power. We Trampled all Laws down under our Feet, and made such New Ones, as were fit for our Purpose, and Interests. The Truth is (to bring this to pass) we made it Cost the Nations whole Seas of Blood: Trade was Destroyed, Maidens were Ra­vish't, Mothers had their Infants Ript out of their Wombs; the Father Stab his Son, and the Son his Father; and nothing was more common, than to see Brother Drink his Brother's Blood to the Health of our Cause, when he cal­led him an Enemy, and Traitor to his Country.

I Laugh at all these Flourishes, they are but the common, and usual Ef­fects of our Conspiracies: Had but our late Plot Succeeded in England, you would have seen them bravely Acted, and Repeated even to a Degree above Admiration; they would have Surpas­sed your Envy, and even have caused in you your self, a Dread and Terror.

But must you not Confess, that your Instruments were but pittiful base Creatures, and ashamed of their Task, since they Denied it at their Exe­cutions, whereas you see my Brood in Scotland, not only begun bravely by their Rebellion, and Murthering the Arch-Bishop of Saint Andrews, but Ac­knowledged the Fact at their Tryals and Deaths; and not only Maintained the Lawfulness of it, but also Dyed Martyrs for the Doctrine of King-killing; where­as your Chicken-hearted Heroes, were both ashamed of what they would have done, and disowned what the brave Doctors of your Church hath Taught.

Come, don't Reproach us, they had been Fools if they had Owned it; nay, and we had taken Care to per­swade them they should have been Dam­ned too; besides Peoples Opinion of an Action, is generally Regulated by its Success, which we being Disappointed of, all our Interests and Reputation in the World, would have been Lost and Ruined, had they not stifly Denied it. Therefore, I say, do not Reproach us; for can you, or your Brood, as you call them, ever pretend to Match our Trea­cheries, Treasons, Plots, Conspiracies, Mas­sacres, &c. Do you think you ever can?

Perhaps we may; but of that, I'le tell you more hereafter.