THE Case of His Royal Highnesses Suc­cession (in regard of the present cir­cumstances of Plots and Popery) has been, The Dukes Succession the Common sub­ject of the Press. of late, sufficiently agitated, Pro, and Con; while the Advocates of Both sides pretend equally to support themselves upon Arguments drawn from Nature, Law, and Scri­pture preten­ded on Both sides. Scripture, Law, History, Custom, and Political Ex­pedience. [Et Pila minantia Pilis] Now as it is utterly impossible for a Contradiction, to be Both ways in the Right; so the Difficulty will not be much less, for a Common man, in a Proposition of this Nicety, to distinguish betwixt the Truth, and the [Page 2] Paradox; and to determine, upon which side the Reason lies. Or what if the Contendents themselves should yet, in some degree, have left the very Pinch of the Point betwixt them? For it is not the bare Citing of a piece of Scripture, Texts, and Presidents may be mis­applyed. or a Record, that does the business; but the fair Expounding, and Ap­plying of it, with a due Regard to the Context of Times, Persons, Interests, Occasions, and other Cir­cumstances. There is a great difference betwixt the Counsels of Factious Times, and of Peaceable; of Vsurpers, and of Lawful Princes; the Concessions of Kings in a Moral State of Liberty, and of Kings un­der a kind of Duresse. We should, in fine, distin­guish betwixt the Sacred, and Inviolable Resolutions, that are founded upon Equity, and the Common Good, and those Temporary shifts, which are only Invented to serve a present Turn of State. Heresie, and Sedition, pre­tend Texts, and Presi­dents. Was there ever any Sedition that did not recommend, and support it self upon some pretext of Law and President? Was there ever any Heresie, or Schism, that did not ad­vance it self under the Countenance of some Text? And yet Heaven forbid, that we should think ever the worse, either of the word of God, or of the Law of the Land, for being made use of as a Cloak to so much wickedness. He that has a mind to destroy the Discipline, the Order, or the very Doctrine of the Church of England, shall Quote ye twenty Texts for't; and as many Presidents, (if there shall be oc­casion) for Diverting, or Cutting off the Succession; nay for Deposing the King Himself, and Changing the very Form of the Government. This is no more then what has been actually done in the Memory of Man. Texts and Presidents to all purposes. 'Tis a hard matter to imagine a New Case: So that let the Instance be what it will, it is but look­ing back into Former Ages, to match it; where you [Page 3] shall be sure to find Choice of Presidents ready made to your hand (like Cloaths in a wholesale Shop) of all Sizes, and Colours.

Wherefore we should have a care, Have a Care of perverted Authorities. methinks, of dealing in perverted Texts, and Presidents. The Devil himself fishes with these Baits; and (as some body says) the Rabble swallow them whole, with­out either examining, or dreaming of the Danger, till they feel the Hook in their Guts. Or, if I may change my Metaphor; the Common people are caught just as we catch Larks; 'Tis but setting up a fiue Thing for a Wonderment, they all flock to't as far as they can see it, and never leave Flickering about it, till the Fowler has them in the Net. A Pomp of words, and Colours, to the Multitude; is but the Casting of the Sun in their Eyes from a Looking-Glass; the more they look at it, the less able are they to discern what the matter is: and the great mis­chief is this; they never take themselves to be so Clear-sighted, as in those cases wherein they are Stark-blind. They are akin to what d'ye call him's Mon­sters; their Eyes are in their Breasts, and their Brains in their Bellies: And therefore whoever would make an Interest with the Vulgar, applies himself not to their Vnderstandings, but to their Passions, and Appetites. He comes with Absolons Exclamation in his mouth, Oh! that I were made a Iudg in the Land! which seldom fails of being the Prologue to some approching Tragedy. But let me try now, if I can find my way back again. The Dispute, Pro, and Con.

There is an Assertion laid down, That all the Hu­man Acts, and Powers in the world, cannot hinder the Descent of the Crown upon the Next Heir of the Bloud. This Position, the Assertor undertakes to make Good by Scripture, Law, History, and Reason. [Page 4] And his Opponents, on the other side, undertake, up­on the very same Authorities, to Overthrow it; and I find a very Extraordinary Pen engag'd in the Con­troversie: We shall enquire, first, How this Question came at this time, to be set a Foot; and then, into the Quality of the Question it self. How the Que­stion came to be set a Foot.

There was a Bill brought into the House of Commons, in May last; (which was Twice read) for disabling His Royal Highness to Inherit this Imperial Crown, because of his Departure from Vs to the Ro­mish Communion. The matter going no further, and That Parliament being soon after Dissolv'd; there came forth, in Print, a Pretended Copy of that Bill; which was publish'd by a Person (if a mans Affe­ctions may be judg'd by his Practices) that has as little kindness for His Majesty, as for his Royal Bro­ther; and not one jot more for the Church of Eng­land, then for That of Rome: Of both which Aver­sions, there are Instances more then enow: Beside that in the very same Pamphlet, he carries an Infe­rence, from the Case of Foreclosing the Duke, The King Re­moved by Consequence. to the same Right of Removing the King himself; in case of disability (as he says) to do the Kingdom any Good. So that instead of pursuing the seeming ends of the said Bill; that is to say, the Preservation of His Ma­jesty, and the Protestant Religion, by This Act of Ex­clusion; he very fairly, and for brevity sake, Sweeps all together. By the Character of the First Publi­sher, we may Imagine the Intent of That Publication: Who were the Aggressours. And it is further to be noted, that the Anti-Ducal Party were the Aggressors; and it would have lookt like a yielding of the Cause, to have let the Subject fall without a Reply. So that the Blame (if any shall arise from this Matter) must be laid at his door that mov'd the Question: which Question is briefly This.

[Page 5] Whether the Parliament of England, The Case Put. may by the Laws of England, Exclude the next Heir of the Bloud from Succession to the Crown. Some are of opini­on for it, others against it. But the Legality, or Illegality of such an Act, is a Point that I am not wil­ling to meddle with, either one way, or other. For whether the thing may Lawfully be done, or not, there may be Danger yet, and Inconvenience, in the putting of the Question, So that, in the Order of Reasoning, A preposte­rous Questi­on. it should be first agreed, that this is a fit Question to be put, before we joyn Issue upon the Merits of the Main Cause. For my own part, I think it had been much better let alone; and that out of divers respects, in their due places to be consider'd.

First, Reasons why the Question ought not to have been Put. as to the Question it self; it is a Ticklish Point, to say, what a King of Great Britain, with his Two Houses of Parliament, either Can, or Cannot Lawfully do: when perhaps it would puzzle the Three Inns of Court, to State, and Determine the ve­ry Priviledges of the Single House of Commons. Se­condly, I do not know how far Private men may be allow'd to pronounce upon the Power of that Govern­ment, to which they are Born Subject. Thirdly, This Particular Case renders the Undertaking more Invi­dious, and Dangerous: The King, 'tis true, calls the House of Commons to Consult, and Advise de Ar­duis Regui; (Of which Ardua That now in hand is undoubtedly the Chief) but I cannot yet learn that the Soluta Multitudo were ever joyn'd with their Re­presentatives in the Commission. Fourthly, what can be more Hazardous, then the Probable Effects of this Dispute? It Splits the People directly into Two Parties; One of which is certainly in the wrong: and the Publick Peace endanger'd upon the Division. Beside that the People being made Iudges of a Case, [Page 6] that they do not one jot Vnderstand; The People Incompetent Judges of the Case. it looks as if they were not call'd upon, so much for their Opinion, as for their Help. The Publishing Manifesto's of this kind is not so much the Stating of a Case, as the Pre­engaging of an Interest; for it is not a Rush matter, to the Multitude, whether the thing be Lawful, or Not, An Error of dangerous Consequence. according to the Law of the Land: Let but Them be once possess'd, that it is Reasonable, and for the Common Good, (thô in Truth, never so Inconve­nient, and Vnreasonable) the Old Story of Self-pre­servation, and Kings being Constituted for the Good of the People, (in their mistaken sense) will make it Lawful. And when it comes to That once, the Go­vernment is Lost. Great mis­chief, and A Popular Error, upon the Mat­ter here in Debate, must necessarily draw after it a train of dismal Consequences: as distraction of Thought, in the bus'ness of Conscience, and Duty; an Aversion to their Superiors; Irreverence to the Laws, and a Spirit of Opposition to all Publick Acts of Civil Administration; if not an Vsurpation of the Power it self. And all This is no more, then to pass a Sen­tence in a Case where we our selves have given 'em the Chair. The very Exprosing of the Question, is a kind of Reference; as who should say, Gentlemen, can the Parliament disinherit the Duke or not? And This They take for an Authority, to proceed upon, to an Arbitration. No Benefit by the Question. Now, on the Other side, I can­not find so much as one Colourable Pretence of Ad­vantage, by the broaching of This Dispute, to Coun­tervail all these Mischiefs.

It is a great matter, The Dispute Justified. you'l say, the Clearing of a Truth; especially of a Truth so necessary to be known; that the safety and well being of every Particular man; the Preservation of our King, Kingdom, and Religion, depends upon the People's understanding this [Page 7] matter aright. If either this suggestion be not put home, or that the matter here suggested can be made good, I shall submit my self to be better Instructed in it.

First, The Question a Moot-Point. as to the clearing of the Truth;—Magno Iudice se quisque tuetur. The very Question is a Moot-point. One Probable is set up against Another; and the Learned Themselves are Divided upon't. There are Presidents produced on Both sides; and Objecti­ons also on Both sides to Those Presidents. And in short, it must be the work of a Casuist, as well as of a Common Lawyer, to decide this Controversie. How shall the Common people come to distinguish between the Right, and the Wrong; where the Doctors them­selves Differ? Or how is it possible, to make any thing Clear, to Those that want Capacities to Vnder­stand it? How shall They come to separate matter of Fact, from Right? To know what Presidents are Warrantable, or what Cases Parallel, and what not; without any sort of acquaintance, either with Law, or History; with the Intrigues of Parties and Facti­ons; or the secret Ressorts of State? If it be said that These Books are written only for such as are Com­petent Judges of the Subject they Treat of; my An­swer is, that it were well enough, if they could be kept from falling into Other hands. But lying open, indifferently, to All, it is to be fear'd that the Argu­ment does more hurt where it is not throughly under­stood; then Good, where it is. And there is This further to be said; that in all Cases of Appeal to the People, whether they Vnderstand them, or not, they never fall of siding with those Propositions, that Promise Liberty, to the Subject, and Fetter the Government. So that their Partiality, in One Case, is as bad as their Ignorance, in Another.

[Page 8] If it be agreed, Not one of a Thousand un­derstands the Point. that a man cannot be the better for any thing that he does not Vnderstand; (or at least, so far as he does not Understand it) and that not one man of a thousand understands the Stress of the Point here in Issue; the pretence of clearing the Truth falls to the ground: Or however, there is not one man of a Thousand the Better for't.

But now on the Other side; Or what if the People did un­derstand it? let us suppose the people so wise, that every man that reads the Case sees through it. This might serve to set some peo­ple Right, and to Confirm Others. But Right? In What? In the Critical Explication of a Riddle of State: which would serve us just to as much purpose, as the Knack of Solving other Common Riddles. It would make us, (as many other Curiosities do) only a lit­tle more Learnedly, and Vnprofitably Troublesom. It is not the Common peoples Province, to dive into the Arcana Imperii; and it is as little, either their Duty, or their Interest, to intermeddle in the Mysteries of Government. As the Vniverse it self is compacted into one Body, by the Orderly Disposition, and Con­tiguity of Parts: So is every Political Society also bound up in One Community, by a Regular Distribu­tion, and Subordination of Degrees, Offices, and Fun­ctions. And is not all This, the Work and Dictate of the same Almighty Providence? He that made the World, appointed the Order of it; and assigned to every Part, its proper Place, and Station.

But to proceed now, upon the admittance of a Supposition, that the Subject matter of this Dispute is competently Vnderstood. An Unprofita­ble Question. 'Tis as Broad as 'tis Long, take it which way ye please: And the very same thing, to the People, whether it goes For the Duke, or Against him. If they find that a Parlia­ment [Page 9] Cannot Disinherit him, they are but where they were before; unless they should Impose it up­on the Government by Force. And what, on the Other side, if the Parliament may Legally Do it? May they not as Legally yet Refuse it? So that the People are ty'd up This way, as well as the Other; without any manner of Benefit, beyond the bare knowledg whether the thing may be done, or not. If the Parliament will, they May; and if they will not, they may let it alone. But it many times falls out, that Overtures of this Nature serve rather as a Temptation to the doing of some thing at a Venture, then a simple, and candid Deliberation, whether a thing may be Lawfully done, or no. Or what if This thing may Lawfully be done? we are never the nearer yet: if His Majesty has not as well the Will to do it, as the Power: And it seems more reasona­ble to believe that he has not, then Otherwise; ha­ving so expresly declared his mind to the Two Houses of Parliament against it, in His most Gra­cious speech of May last, in the words follow­ing.

I am as ready to join with you in all the ways, His Majesties Speech. and means, that may Establish as Firm a security of the Protestant Religion, as your own hearts can wish; and This not only during My time, (of which I am sure you have no fear) but in all future Ages, even to the end of the world: And therefore am come to assure you, that what Reasonable Bills you shall present, to be pass'd into Laws, to make you safe in the Reign of any Successor (so as they tend not to Impeach the Right of Succession, nor the Descent of the Crown in the True Line; and so as they Restrain not the Iust Right of any Protestant Successour:) shall find from Me a [Page 10] ready Concurrence. And I desire you to think of some more effectual means for the Conviction of Popish Re­cusants, and to expedite your Counsels as fast as you can, that the world may see Our Vnanimity; and that I may have the Opportunity of shewing you how ready I am to do any thing, that may give Content and Satis­faction to such Loyal, and Dutiful Subjects.

Now if so it be that the very Question it self, (thô handled with all the Simplicity of Thought Ima­ginable) carries along with it so many Difficulties, and Inconveniences; and without any Benefit at all to the Publick; as is already set forth: what shall we say if upon a Fair, and Temperate Examination of the Arguments employ'd for the support of this Disinheriting Proposition, It is a Questi­on of dange­rous Conse­quences. it shall appear, upon E­vident Reason, and a Natural Deduction of Conse­quences, that, whether the Duke Stands, or Falls, the meer Ventilation of the Question opens a Gap to let in all those Calamities upon us, by unavoidable Inferences, which we propound to avoid by a Pre­ventional Exclusion? To say nothing either of the Boldness of the Argument, from a Private Pen, or of the Opposition of a Subject to the Solemn, and De­clared Will of his Sovereign: And That Declarati­on too, recommended to Us by a Previous Grant of the Thing in the whole World which we would be thought to set the highest value upon, the Secu­rity of the Protestant Religion by all ways Imagina­ble, to This, and to Future Ages. Truly the Trumping up of This Question, has an Ill Visage any way; but the doing of it directly against His Majesties Will, made known with his own Lips to the Con­trary; This makes it look a great deal more Suspici­ous. For to what End is it to put our selves in a [Page 11] Sweat, upon a Question, whether or no the King may Lawfully do such a Particular thing; when he has told us before-hand, that he Will not do it; and the thing cannot be done, Without him? And the Other way, it looks Worse; and carries such an Innuendo along with it, as who should say: Look ye, my Masters; Heres a thing the Government May do if they please; and it is absolutely necessary to be done: But if They Will not;—and so forth.

There's no managing of this Discourse, without making frequent mention of his Royal Highnesses Quality, and Title; and yet (saving my Duty to him in all his Capacities) I shall keep my self in these Papers, upon a Punctual Noutrality, as to His Pre­tensions: My bus'ness being only to Acquit my self, in what I ow to my Religion, my Prince, and my Country, where I find any of these Sacred Interests Concern'd. The King wounded through the Duke. As for Instance; where any Contemptu­ous Reflections are past upon the Person of the Duke, His Majesty himself becomes a sufferer, through the Indignities that are cast upon his Brother. Or where the Same Argument, that is levell'd at the Duke, strikes the King too and the Government. In These Cases I reckon my self to be at Liberty.

The Motives, The Motives to the Bill of Exclusion. or Inducements to This Project of Exclusion, together with the very Form it self; are set forth in the Pamphlet abovementioned, under the Title of A Copy of the Bill concerning the Duke of York, viz.

That James Duke of York, The Exclu­ding Clause of the pretended Bill. Albany, and Ulster, having departed Openly from the Church of England, and having publickly prosest, and own'd the Popish [Page 12] ligion, which hath notoriously given Birth, and Life to the most Damnable, and Hellish Plot, (by the most Gracious Providence of God lately brought to Light) shall be excluded, and disabled, and is hereby exclu­ded, and disabled, for ever, from Possessing, Having, Holding, Inheriting, or Enjoying the Imperial Crowns and Governments of this Realm, and These King­doms; and of all Territories, Countries, and Domi­nions, now, or which shall hereafter be, under His Majesties Subjection; and of, and from all Titles, Rights, Prerogatives, and Revenues with the said Crowns, now, or hereafter, to be enjoy'd: And that upon the Demise, or Death of His Majesty, without Heirs of his Body (whom God long preserve) the Crowns, and Governments of these Kingdoms, and all Territories, Countries, and Dominions Now, or which shall Hereafter be, under His Majesties Subjection, with all the Rights, Prerogatives, and Revenues, therewith of Right enjoy'd, and to be enjoy'd, shall devolve, and come upon such person who shall be next Lawful Heir of the same; and who shall have al­ways been truely, and professedly, of the Protestant Religion now Established by Law within this King­dom; as if the said Duke of York were actually dead, &c.

Here is First, to be consider'd, The Ground and Extent of This Exclusi­on. the Ground of This Exclusion; and Then, the Extent of it. The Ground of it is said to be the Dukes Departure from the Church of England, to the Romish Religion; as that which notoriously gave BIRTH, and LIFE to the PLOT.

Now Dr. Tonge, The Duke gave neither Birth nor Life to the Plot. that knows better, tells us, that this is No New Plot; but an Old one, Continu'd: and Dr. Oates, most Expresly, in the Twenty third [Page 13] Paragraph of his Narrative, Proved by Dr. Oates. informs us, That the English Fathers of St. Omers, writing to Thomas Whitebread, and Other Fathers Here; pray'd them to prosecute their Design of taking away the King; and if his Royal Highness should not comply with them, to dispatch Him too: For they did fear, that not any of the Stuarts were men for Effecting Their Purposes. And in this Letter. Instructions were given to the Fathers, to feel how his Royal Highness stood Affected. In the Paragraph following, the said Fathers render This Account to the aforesaid Letter, That they had found, that althô the Duke was a Good Catholick, yet he had a tender Affection to the King; They durst not Trust the Duke with the knowledg of any design. and would scarcely be engaged in That Con­cern; and if they should once intimate their Designs, and Purposes unto Him, they might not only be fru­strated of their Design, but also might lose his Favour. Which Letter the Deponent Saw, and Read in the Month of February. And Dr. Oates moreover, gives This Evidence against the Conspirators, up­on the Tryals of Ireland, Pickering, and Grove; Fol. 22. of the said Tryal: that They did intend to dispose of the Duke too, The Duke to be dispatched too. in Case he did not appear Vi­gorous in promoting of the Catholick Religion. And this is not All neither: For the Doctor aforesaid, in the Appendix to this Narrative, under the Head of The General Design of the POPE, Society of IE­SUS, and their Confederates in This Plot, Sub­joyns this further Testimony, Fol. 64.

That in case the Duke of York will not accept these Crowns, Dr. Oats his Narrative Fol. 64. as forfeited by his Brother unto the Pope; as of His Gift; and Settle such Prelates, and Dig­nitaries in the Church, and such Officers in Commands, and Places, Civil, Naval, Military, as He hath Com­missioned; [Page 14] (as Above) Extirpate the Protestant Re­ligion, and in order thereunto, ex post facto, consent to the Assassination of the King his Brother, Massacre of his Protestant Subjects; Firing of his Towns, &c. by Pardoning the Assassins, Murtherers, and Incendi­aries; The Duke to be Poyson'd, or Destroy'd. That then, He be also Poyson'd, or Destroy'd, after they have for some time abused his Name and Ti­tle to Strengthen the Plot, &c. Proceeding in the same Page more Particularly, that the Royal Family of the Stuarts, are condemn'd to be cut off, Root and Branch; and namely the King, Duke of York, and Prince of Aurange; because that Family hath not an­swer'd their Expectations; nor have they any hopes that any of them will comply with this their bloudy De­sign, No hopes of the Dukes Compliance. when full discover'd to them. And Fol. 65. As to the Duke of York; notwithstanding they acknow­ledg his Sincerity, and Affection to Their Religion, and to the Society; and his Demonstration thereof, by his taking Bedingfield (a Iesuit) for his Confessour; they Design to dispose of Him as is abovesaid.

How could the Dukes Change of Religion now, The Duke clear'd by Dr. Oates. give Birth to a Plot that was in Agitation, before That Change? And so for his giving Life to't; we have Proofs here of the Clear Contrary, under the Hand and Oath of the Prime, and Eminent Disco­verer of the Plot it self. Here are First, Instructi­ons from St. Omers Hither, for the feeling of the Dukes Pulse; and Secondly; it appears by the Re­turn to Those Instructions, that they durst not give his Royal Highness the least hint of the Design. Beside, that in despair of the Dukes Complyance, they had mark'd out his R. H. for Slaughter, as well as His Majesty. A new, and unheard of way, cer­tainly, of giving Life to a Plot, for a Prince to run [Page 15] the risque of being Assassinated himself, for fear he should disappoint it. This Calumny of State being re­moved, Security to his Religion. That of Religion, I suppose, will not bear so much weight, as bordering too near upon a Doctrine, which all true Protestants do, with One voice, Con­demn.

As to the Extent of this Imaginary Exclusion, The Extent of This Ex­clusion. we may take a Computation of it, partly from the Frame of This pretended Bill, and partly from a view of the Consequences that Attend it: For upon the Naked sight of the Bill, one would think that the Dukes Case were the single point in Question. But whosoever looks a little further, will find a Snake in the Grass; and that more Inconveniences may be grafted upon This President; then the very Contri­vers of the Project themselves were aware of, of which, by and by.

For admitting the disinherison contended for, Suppose the Disinherison. Lawful. to be Lawful; it must be either simply so, upon a kind of Omnipotent, and Vnaccountable Prerogative in Government; or Conditionally so; which needs no further Explanation; Then to refer, to its known, Legal, Visible, and Intelligible Limitations. But if it be Lawful the former way; it is Lawful, without any respect to Crimes of State; Opinions in Religi­on; Personal Defects, or Inhabilities; Minorities; Families, or the Like. And then the Power may be as well transferr'd from One, to More, as from One to Another; for I do not know of any Law, that per­mits the One, The danger of Absolute, and Unknown Power. and prohibits the Other. So that at this rate; this Hereditary Government may be turn'd into an Elective, into an Aristocrasie, a Democrasie, or into a Medly of all these, at pleasure. And it is not to say, what? Do ye think that Kings, or Parlia­ments [Page 16] will be mad? We have heard of Parliamentum Insanum, and read of Princes that have been next door to it: and though we are safe enough at Pre­sent, it is not Impossible, but Posterity may come to have More of them. Wherefore it should be in State, as it is in Play; there should be some Com­mon Rules Agreed upon, to keep shufflers, in Order, as well as fair Gamesters. A Necessity of Some known Fundamen­tals. No Government can stand, without a Foundation; and That Foundation must be known too, and Stable; without Running to the Cabalistical Notions of Salus Populi, and Instinct. This is it, that preserves a Nation in a due Tempe­rament of Dominion, and Subjection; where every man knows his Post in the Government, and stands Firm upon his Own bottom. The Foundations of Government should be like Those of the Earth; not to be moved: For Otherwise, our Lives, Liberties, and Estates, are but Precarious, and at Mercy. In a Popular Parliament, the Crown goes to wrack, in a Prerogative Parliament, the People. We have seen, and felt, the One; and there are those yet in Being, that have Heard of the Other. And from the Periods of these Distempers we furnish our selves with Presidents, (as we have Occasion) either for Tyranny, or Sedition: as if the doing of an Ill thing Once, were an Authority for the Repeating of it. And from what Root is it that all these Disorders Spring; but the Spinning of the Thred too Fine; and Resolving the Plain and Practical Duties of Government, and Obedience, into Mystery, and No­tion; without shewing any State, or degree of men, what they are to Trust to? A thing may be Lawful and yet Inconve­nient. I do not speak in this place to the Legality of things, but to the Vtility of them; and to Evince, that it is possible for a Thing to be Lawful, and yet Extremely Inconvenient. Sup­pose [Page 17] an Act of Parliament, to Prohibit the Making or Importing of any sort of Arms, or Ammunition; the Authority would not at all Excuse the Consequence. And the Consequence, in This matter, is the Main Import of the Question, what Good, or what Ill, will probably ensue upon it, either the One way, or the Other.

But in our way to That Disquisition, Four Obsta­cles to be re­moved, before the King pass the Bill. We should take Notice that there are Four Points to be all clear'd, before we can reasonably expect His Majesty should come to a Resolution: That is to say; 1. The Lawfulness of the Thing. 2. Natural Affection. 3. Matter of Conscience. And 4. Reason of State. In the First Case of the Four the Learned in the Law may be Consulted; but in the Other Three the King himself is the only Competent Iudg.

What if we should, for Quiet-sake now, let the First point pass for Granted, and suppose his Maje­sty convinc'd of the Legality of the Act? There is yet a Brother; a Prince; and a Friend in the Case: A Person that has as frankly ventur'd his Bloud, for his King, and his Country, as the meanest Subject in His Majesties Dominions. And there may be cer­tain Stimulations of Honour, as well as Impulses of Natural Affection. Let but any Generous Subject make it his Own Case, and ask his Own heart, what he himself would do under these Circumstances? And who knows further, but a Scruple of Conscience may fall in too with this Tenderness of Nature, upon the thought of depriving a Legal Heir, by so extra­ordinary a way, of his Vndoubted Birth-Right? If This should be the Rub, there's no getting Over it. Or if the way were Clear thus far; yet if His Majesty should see any thing in the Tendency of the [Page 18] Proposition, either Inconsistent with the Dignity of His Office, or with the Peace, and Security of His Government, and People; such Reason of State would undoubtedly put a Stop to any such Bill. How far These Reasons, or any of them, may prevail toward the Preventing, or Obstructing of This Project; we shall not presume to enquire. But as to the Man­ner of Promoting it, on the Other side; the Quality, the Force, and the Consequences of their Argu­ments; there are many things to be noted in them that seem worthy of Consideration.

It is a strange thing, No Notice taken of Li­bels against His Majesty, and His Go­vernment. in the Menage of This Cause, where the Honour, and Safety of the King appears to be the Main Point in Question: First, that men should be so Quick-sighted, as to see things in their Consequences So Remote; and yet, at the same time, So Blind, as not to discern the Affronts; and Indignities that are dayly offer'd to His Maje­sties Authority, nearer hand; and the hazzards that more directly strike at His Sacred Person. My Cha­rity persuades me, that if some of them had taken notice of the dangerous Practices hereby intended; their Loyalty would have render'd them as Zealous, and Officious the Other way: For if a Prince be destroy'd; 'tis the same Case to every good Subject, whether it be done by a Phanatick or a Iesuite. And then the Honour they have for the King, in His Fa­mily, as well as in Himself, would have Interpos'd, in the Vindication of our Sovereigns Brother from the Malice, and Contempt that has been past by Se­veral Pamphleteers upon the very Person of his Roy­al Highness. 'Tis like they would have had the Pru­dence too, not to have markt out unto the Rab­ble, all the Dissenters to this Bill, as Conspiraters, and the Betrayors of their Country, till they should have [Page 19] seen the Result of this next Parliament; for fear they should find Kings, Lords, and Commons un­der That Character. This is not Reasoning of the Case, but downright Setting the Dogs at a man.

There is no doubt in the world but many an Ho­nest man, A well mea­ning Mistake as Dangerous as a Malicious one. and a welwisher to his Prince and Coun­try stands well enough Affected to this Bill; (as ma­ny did in 1641. to the Pretensions then a Foot) But when they found that Other people made Ill Use of Their Good meaning, and improv'd the Countenance of Reforming the Government to a Violent Dissolution of it; How many thousand In­stances might a body produce of an unprofitable, and late Repentance, among those Credulous and well-minded Gentlemen? And it is to be consider'd also, that Their Mistakes contributed no less to the Ruin of the Church, and State, then the Malice of the most potent Conspirators: Nay More perhaps; for the Error of an Honest man misleads other Ho­nest men by Example, and gives a kind of Authori­ty to the wickedness. Now thô this Parallel does not run upon all four; yet the Cases jump exactly in This; The Old Cause Re­viv'd. the same Anti-Monarchical Principles which were the Ground-work of That Sedition, are now set a foot again in Concurrence with the present Proposition; and supported also by some of the Active Promoters of it. So that let the Design be never so Innocent, or Lawful in it self; if it be yet made use of to Introduce the Old Disloyal, and Re­publican Leaven; it is much the Case as if a man should set Fire to his House, for fear of Thieves. Now whether the Liberties of the Press be so great, so foul, and so dangerous, or not, as I have repre­sented them, it shall be seen in a few words, and left to the Reader to judg of the Intention of such [Page 20] desperate Positions, and what may be the Event of such Bold Beginnings, if not seasonably Prevented. Upon the Publication of these Papers I should be glad to find some of the Fierce Sticklers for the Kings safety by the Exclusion of the Duke, as Nim­ble, on the Other side, for the Honour, and Safety of His Majesty, in Punishing the Authors, and Pro­moters of these Libels.

There are some Irreverences toward the person of His Royal Highness which are not with Decency to be recited, Scandalous Reflections upon His Roy­al Highness. and which for Other Reasons I am wil­ling to pass over; contenting my self only with the modestest of a great many in the Author of the Plea to the Dukes Answers. Consider his Humours, (says he) So Fierce, Revengeful, and Resolute: But I'le say no more: who knows not how Improper it is to make a Woolf a Shepherd? Nay he goes further yet: If the Duke be a Papist, (as none deny him Now) he's an Heretick, as To, or From Vs: And what shall we do? Not do by the Papists, as They would by Vs? But what's That? He tells us Three or four lines be­fore; That it is a Maxim among Papists, not only that the Pope may at his Pleasure Depose Kings, and dispose of Crowns: but further, That the People may ever chuse a King, Seditious Po­sitions. when he should else be an Heretick, So that after the Popes Example of Deposing Protestant Kings, We may Depose Popish. This is a Nail Home driven; and yet for fear it should not hold, he has be bestow'd a Rivet upon it. I hope he will allow a Popish King to be an Ill one; and for That, he tells ye that when Kings themselves be Ill ones, God not only approves of their Removal, but even Himself does it. Which is a most Emphatical way of Expound­ing his Meaning: For not only ILL DUKES but KINGS (I perceive) THEMSELVES are as [Page 21] well to be remov'd, if they be ILL ones. There's Another Libel that takes the very same Byass too; he begins with the Duke, and Ends with the King: Laying it down for a Maxim, that the King May be remov'd for Inhability to Govern: And then for an Vse of Application, he gives us the Late Instance of Portugal for a President. Nay I have not found any man yet, so Cautious upon This Sub­ject, but he has let fall somthing, Tantamount; And in truth the Question does Naturally lean That way. Some tell us that the People are the Source of Government; and that the Last Resort in All Cases of Principal Import must be to Them. Whereas, First, there was a Providential Power, before any Subject Actually in Being, for That Power to exer­cise it self Upon: Secondly; there is nothing more Common, then for a People to convey away what Right they have, beyond a Power of Revocation. And if a man desires to see the Covenants; the An­swer is, that the Conditions are either Exprest, or Imply'd: Which word IMPLY'D serves to all Turns and Purposes Imaginable. By a Power IMPLY'd, a Protestant, as well as a Popish Successour may be Disinherited: A King in Possession, Depo­sed, whether Good, or Bad. For who can set forth the Terms and Condition of an Unknown, and an Unbounded Power. A Government, we are told, cannot be suppos'd Destitute of a Power to preserve it self, in Cases of Manifest, and Publick Dangers. If we enquire where That Power of preserving the Government is plac'd; the Reply is This: That Governours are set up for the Good of the People; and when They fail of doing their Duty, the People may provide for themselves: That is to say, the People, by their Representatives in Parliament. [Page 22] But what if That Representative, should prove False too? The King was not pleas'd with the Par­liament of 1641. nor the People with the Late Long Parliament: what's to be done Next; but only to go together by the Ears about it, and when they have their Bellies full, only Shuffle the Cards, and deal again. From these dark Reserves of Govern­ment, the point Rises by Degrees into Cases of In­stance, and Illustration. As in the Case of Lunacy, or Vnfitness to Govern; of if a Prince be really bent to Alienate his Kingdom. In These Cases it is taken up for granted, that the people may Depose and Sub­stitute Another Sovereign. But who shall judg now when such a Case arrives? If the People; they judg for Themselves; and only take the Government out of Other hands, to put it into their Own: what if they should say that This is the Case where it is not; Or that it is not, where it is? If the King do but keep a Guard to preserve His Person from an Assas­sin; or make a Foreign Alliance, upon the Com­mon Terms of Priviledg that all other Crowned Heads proceed upon; he lies at the Mercy of the People, if they shall think fit to Interpret This to be a Design upon an Arbitrary Power, or the Aliena­tion of His Dominions; and that he is consequently Deposable.

It carries a very Ill face with it, The Kings Case, and the Dukes are un­luckily Cou­pled. that the Two Cases of Disinheriting the Duke, and Deposing the King should be so Unluckily Coupled, that you shall very rarely find the One without the Other: And little more then This Difference betwixt them: that the One IS to be done Forthwith, and the Other MAY be done (when the people please) at Leisure. If ever this Question should come to be taken up again; I do verily believe that the House of Commons [Page 23] will not thank the Refiners upon the Former Bill, for charging the Proposition with so many Suspicious Aggravations; as for ought any body knows, may endanger the whole Bus'ness. For These Venerable Patriots did only, out of an Excess of Zeal, Intend the Exclusion of the Duke, without Clogging the Bill with any subsequent Incumbrances, upon the Crown. There are some Qualifications, I know, that look as if they would be thought to stick to the single Matter of the Bill; and distinguish betwixt an Heir Presumptive, and Apparent, a King in Posse, and in Esse; and fortifie themselves with Authorities to warrant the Proceeding. The Duke is a Subject, they say: and not properly an Heir of the Crown; but only in Possibility so to be. The Unwary Rea­der will Imagine now, that the Duke, being a SUB­JECT, may be put By; but that if the KING were of the Romish Communion, they could not meddle with Him. And yet, according to the Propositi­ons above-mentioned, His Majesties Case would be found no better than His Brothers. The King no safer, then the Duke. And not on­ly so neither, but the very saying that he is so, in Construction, makes him so, even thô he should give up His Life, as His Father did, for the Reformed Profession.

It is not to say that This is either Impossible or Vnlikely: For, First, the Thing has been done al­ready. That is to say, This Popular Power has been already laid down as a Fundamental Right in the People. The Dange­rous Conse­quences of placing the Power in the People. Secondly, That pretended Power has been exerted in a Formal Charge, of Popish, and Tyran­nical Designs, upon a Prince, the most Innocent per­adventure, in those Two Particulars, that ever Liv'd. And Thirdly, A sentence of Death, past, and Executed, upon That Innocent Person, in the [Page 24] Name, and by the Assumed Authorities of the Com­mons of England. So that This Imagination is not a Chimaera, but a True, and Tragical History of a Prince murther'd, even in Our days, upon This Foundation. And then for the Probability of the same Thing over again, now in Agitation; we have the Writings of the very Persons Concern'd, in Evi­dence against them, For notwithstanding their Forma­lizing upon the Lawfulness of the Thing, in regard That his Royal Highness is but a Subject; they are Now come up roundly to the Point of Opposing, and Rejecting him, even supposing that he were their Sovereign: and without the Ceremony of an Act of Parliament in the Case.

The House of Commons passed a Vote upon May 11. last past, The Com­mons Vote. that if His Majesty should come by any Vio­lent Death (which God forbid) they would Revenge it to the Vtmost, on the Papists: Which Vote they Ex­plain'd in their Address of the 14, by saying that they would be ready to Revenge upon the Papists, any Violence offer'd by THEM to His Sacred Majesty: By THEM tis said, because it might be Understood Otherwise, that an Anabaptist might Commit the Crime, and a Papist suffer for't. This Vote, and Address, are Printed Both together in the same Pamphlet; and with a most Dangerous prospect up­on His Majesties Person: if Malice on either hand should take place. For the Edge of the Reasoning is turned against it self; while the One Faction is Provoked, and the Other Encouraged to the most Execrable Villanies Imaginable.

The Libel Here Reflected upon, is called Eng­lands Safety: and said in the Title Page to be Pub­lished for Information of all True Protestants, that they may not be affraid, nor ashamed openly in Parlia­ment [Page 25] to Act, and oppose any Popish Successour and his Adherents from Inheriting the Crown of England, in Case His Majesties Life (which God forbid) be taken from him.

This Preface was worded by somebody that knew well enough what he said; and without Dispute intended to be as good as his word. We shall not need to look any further for his Meaning than to Grammar, and Common Construction. The Question was put, The Question Changed, from Heir, to Successour. in Case of the Presumptive Heir: And He has streyn'd the Point already, and remov'd it to the Successor and his Adherents; From the Expectant to the Occupant, from the Duke, to the King; and so premeditates, and Encourages a Rebellion, in the very Body of his Proposition: For His Majesty that now is, must be Dead, before the Libellers De­vice against the Successour can take Effect; and King, and Successour, in This Case are all one. Now upon This Principle, there needs no more than to say, A desperate Consequence. that any King is a Papist, to Depose him. Nay admitting This Power to be in the People; Acts of Parliament are but Matter of Course; and they may do the thing even as well, without giving any Reason for't; Upon the Ground of their Vnaccountable Prerogative. It would be known too, what his meaning is by the Parliament he speaks of, that is Openly to oppose the Successour. It cannot be under­stood of King, Lords, and Commons; for the King is the Party Opposed, and Excluded. And then I would as willingly learn what kind of Opposition it is, that he intends. It must be an Opposition, either of Force, and Violence, or an Opposition in the way of Argument, Counsels, and Debate. It cannot be the Latter sure; for what could be more ridiculous, then to expect that a Prince should pass a Bill for the [Page 26] Deposal of Himself. And if it be the Other, we are e'en Half-Seas-Over already, into a New Re­bellion. There is not such a Monster in Nature as a Headless Parliament: We have had the Ex­perience of it; and without Rubbing the Old Sore, or Reciting the Calamities it brought up­on This Nation; I shall only say This; I can­not bethink my self of any sort of Oppression, ei­ther in Religion, Property, or Freedom; or of any One Crying sin, in that Impious, and Seditious In­terval, that scap'd us. I could add several other In­stances, of the same Complexion with those above Recited; which I shall forbear, partly out of Re­spect, and in part to keep my self within Compass. For I must not Quit This Subject without giving fur­ther Evidence of a Confederacy against the King and Government; like those that Rob the House, under colour of Helping to Quench the Fire; and in the very Instant of Pretending to save the Kingdom, they are laying their Heads together how to Destroy it: Witness the most Audacious Libel (perhaps) that ever flew in the Face of any Government.

It bears the Title of A Political Catechism, The Political Catechism. concerning the Power, and Privileges of Parliament; taken, (as pretended) out of His Majesties Nine­teen Propositions of June 2. 1642. with a Constru­ction, and Application, much at the rate of the Devils Gloss upon the Text to our Saviour upon the Pinacle of the Temple. The Compiler of This Libel, makes His Majesties Answer to be, Effectu­ally, an Admittance of the Right, and Reason of the Propositions: and the Publisher of it recommends the Doctrine of 1642. to the Practice of 1679. We'l take a short View, First, of the Quality of the Propositions; Secondly, of the Kings Sense upon [Page 27] them: And after That of our Catechists New model of Government. The main Scope of the Propositi­ons is This.

All Privy-Councellors and Ministers of State to be discharg'd; The Scope of the Ninteen Propositions. and their places Supply'd by direction, and Approbation of Both Houses: And all to be Vn­der such an Oath, as They shall agree upon. The Great Affairs of the Nation to be Transacted in Parliament, and no Publick Act of the Kings to be Valid, unless Subscribed by the Major part of the Councel. (Chosen ut supra.) The Number of the Councel to be Limited; and all Vacancies fill'd, by direction of Parliament. All the Great Officers, and Iudges to be so Chosen: The Militia acknowledg'd to be in the Two Houses; and They likewise to have the Approbation of the Tutors and Governors of the Kings Children; and of Those that Attend them. All Forts, and Castles to be put into the hands of Persons approv'd of by the Two Houses. The Kings Guards, and Military Forces to be Dis­charg'd (thô the Rebellion was Now begun.) No Peers Created in time to come to Sit and Vote in Par­liament, without the Consent of Both Houses, &c.

There will need no Other Descant upon These Propositions, (being so Gross in themselves) but on­ly the Citing of some Passages out of His late Ma­jesties Answer, in Reflection upon them.

These Demands (says the Late King) are of That Nature, Husbands Col­lections Pag. 316. that to Grant them were in Effect, at Once, to Depose both Our self, and Our Posterity. These things being past; we may be waited upon bare-headed; We may have Our hand kist; the Stile of Majesty Conti­nu'd to Vs; and the Kings Authority declared by Both Houses of Parliament, may be still the Stile of your Commands; We may have Swords and [Page 28] Maces carry'd before Vs; and please Our self with the sight of a Crown, and Scepter. (And yet even these Twigs would not Long flourish when the Stock upon which they grew are Dead) But as to True, and Real Power; We should remain but the Outside; but the Picture; but the Sign of a King, &c.

And Again, Thô we shall always weigh the Advices both of Our Great, and Privy-Councel, with the Pro­portionable Consideration due to them; yet we shall al­so look upon their Advices, as Advices, not as Com­mands, or Impositions; Vpon Them, as Our Coun­sellors, not as Our Tutors, and Guardians; and upon Our Self as their King, not as their Pupil, or Ward. Pag. 318. And Further Pag. 320. We call God to Witness, that as for Our Subjects sake these Rights are vested in Vs; So for Their sakes as well as for Our Own we are resolved not to quit them; nor to subvert (thô in a Parliamentary way) the Antient, Equal, Happy, Well-poised, and never enough Commended Constitution of This Kingdom; Nor to make Our self of a King of England, a Duke of Venice, and This of a Kingdom a Republick. Moreover Pag. 322. The Common people, when they find that all was done By them, but not For them, will at last grow weary of Journey-work, and set up for themselves; call Pari­ty, and Independence, Liberty; devouring the E­state which had devoured the Rest; Destroy all Rights, and Proprieties, all Distinctions of Families, and Merit; And by This means the splendid, and Ex­cellently-distinguish'd Form of Government, end in a Dark, Equal Chaos of Confusion, and the Long Line of Our many Noble Ancestors, in a Jack Cade, or a Wat Tiler.

[Page 29] After the Mockery of the Abovemention'd Pro­positions, and the Kings Just and Prophetical Judg­ment made upon them; we shall only Add, that the Ruin of the Late King, The Kings Ru­in was and is design'd. was as Certainly the Intent of Those Vndutiful Demands, as it was the Effect of them in the Execution of the Powers claim'd Thereby: and we may as reasonably conclude, that the same Pretensions, now over again, are publish'd with the same Ends; and that the Sufferance of This Licence will Naturally run into the same Consequen­ces. For the whole work of moving a Rebellion is but, First, to possess the people with Ill Thoughts of the present Administration; (which is done Abun­dantly already in Swarms of Defamatory Libels, which we meet with every day in the street) Second­ly, to possess the People with False Opinions, in the Matter of Government and Duty; which is the bus'­ness of our Political Catechism: Thirdly, to Put those Principles and Thoughts in Execution; which is Express'd by the Drift of Another Pamphlet new­ly come out of the Press; Entitled, An Appeal from the Country, to the City, of which we shall say som­thing in Course, taking only a Taste by the way of our Catechistical Positions.

If the King be Regulated by the Law (say they) then is the King Accountable to the Law, Seditious Po­sitions. and not to God. Only. Pag. 1. The Immediate Original of the Kings Power was from the People: and if so; then in questioned Cases the King is to produce his Grant, (for he hath no more then what was Gran­ted) and not the People to shew a Reservation; For All is presumed to be Reserv'd, which cannot be prov'd to be Gran­ted away.

Vpon the Late Kings saying in his Answer to the Nineteen Propositions, Pag. 321. That the Power Legally placed in Both [Page 30] Houses is more then sufficient to prevent, and restrain the Power of Tyranny; our Politick Catechizer Infers, the Two Houses to be the Legal Iudges, when there is danger of Tyranny: And to have Legal Power to Command their Iudgment to be Obey'd, for Prevention, as well as Restraint of Tyranny. And not only when Arms are Actually rais'd against them; but when they discern, and accordingly declare a Preparation made Towards it. And that they have Legal Power in such times of Danger, to put into safe hands, such Forts, Ports, Magazines, Ships, and Power of the Militia, as are intended, or likely to be intended to Introduce a Ty­ranny. And a Legal Power also to Levy Mony, Arms, Horse, and Ammunitions upon the Subjects, in such Cases of Danger even without, or against the Kings Consent.

These are his Positions in the very Terms; and the passing over of such Indignities upon His Maje­sties Royal Office, and the Honour of the Monarchy it self, without either Punishment, or Reproof; looks like a Tacite Legitimation of the Utmost Violences upon his Sacred Person. And now Consider the Matchless Malice, A Malitious Inference. and Absurdity of his Inference. The King having thus expounded himself in the same Page; The House of Commons (an Excellent Con­server of Liberty, but never intended for any share in Government, or for the Chusing of them that should Govern) is solely intrusted with the First Propositions of raising Monies, &c. And again the Lords being trusted with a Iudicatory Power, are an Excellent Skreen, and Bank between the Prince and People.

After This open, and Audacious way of Autho­rizing a Commotion; it is but Natural for an In­cendiary to blow the Coal, and to apply his Cla­mour to the People, to bid them Vp and be doing. And that's the part our Boute-feu-Appellant has to play. A Scandalous Address to the City. But how does this Scandalous Pamphlet ad­dress it self to the City; after so Fresh, so Loyal [Page 31] and so Generous an Instance from the whole Body of it, of their Scorn, and Detestation of a Sediti­ous Practice. Why should a Wat Tyler expect bet­ter Quarter from a Lord Mayor under Charles the Second, Mr. Walworth. then he had from a Lord Mayor under Richard the Second? Nay That very Rebellion of 1641. is most Injuriously charg'd upon the City of London; The City of London has been always Loyal. for Gourney, Ricaut, Garraway, and the most Considerable of the Citizens, were not only against it in their Opinions, but Oppos'd it to the Ut­most, with their Estates, and Persons. And That Honourable City has not yet forgotten, either the Calamities of the War; or the Methods and In­struments which brought so great a Reproch, and Mischief upon the City. Beside that it is as much their Interest as their Duty, and as much their Incli­nation as either, to support the Government. For by a War they must of Necessity suffer doubly; and not only in the Loss, or Abatement of their Trade; but in the deep Proportion of their Taxes to the Charge of the War. This Scribler I perceive, has read Hodge upon the Monument; Hodge upon the Monument. and writing af­ter That Copy follows the same Phansie; of the Ci­tizens looking about them from the Top of the Pyramid.

First, The Libeller sets up for an Oratour. says he, Imagine you see the whole Town in a Flame oc­casioned this second time by the same Popish Malice which set it on Fire before. At the same Instant Phansie that among the distracted Croud you behold Troops of Papists Ravishing your Wives and Daughters; dashing your little Childrens brains out against the Walls, Plundering your Houses, and Cutting your Own Throats by the name of Heretick Dogs. Then represent to your selves the Tower playing off its Canon, and battering down your Houses about your Ears. Also Casting your Eye toward Smithfield, Imagine you see your Father, or your Mother, and some of your [Page 32] nearest and dearest Relations ty'd to a Stake, in the Midst of Flames; when with Hands and Eyes lifted up to Heaven they Skream, and Cry out to That God for whose Cause they Die; which was a frequent Spectacle the last time Popery reign'd among us. Phansie you behold those beautiful Churches erected for the True Worship of God, abused and turn'd into Idolatrous Tem­ples to the Dishonor of Christ, and Scandal of Religion. The Mi­nisters of Gods Holy Word torn in pieces before your Eyes; and their very best Friends not daring to speak in their behalf; your Trading's Bad, and in a manner Lost already; but Then the Only Commodity will be Fire and Sword: The Only Object; Women running with their Hair about their Ears; Men cover'd with Blood, &c.

Now to Match this Dismal Prospect of Imagina­ry Calamities to Come, we shall mind this man of Frightful Apprehensions, with a Brief Summary of what this Nation has really suffer'd in Fact, and brought upon it self, by giving credit to such Sto­ries as these, without any other Effect. See His Majesties Declaration of Aug. 12. 1642. Collect. Pag. 540.

One day the Tower of London is in danger to be taken; The Old Story. and Information given that Great Multitudes, at least a Hundred, had that day resorted to visit a Priest, then a Prisoner there by Order of the Lords: and that about the time of the Information, about fifty or sixty were then there; and a Warder dispatcht of purpose to give that notice: Vpon Inquiry, but four per­sons were then found to be There, and but eight all that day, who had visited the Priest. Another day a Tay­lor in a Ditch over-hears two passengers to Plot the Death of Mr. Pym, and of many other Members of Both Houses. Then Libellous Letters found in the Streets, without Names. (probably contrived by them­selves; and by Their Power, Published, Printed, and Enter'd in their Iournals) and Intimations given of [Page 33] the Papists Training under ground, and of notable Provision of Ammunition in Houses; where, upon Examination, a Single Sword, and a Bow and Arrows are found. A Design of the Inhabitants of Covent-Garden to Murther the City of London. News from France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, of Armies ready to come for England. And again, Pag. 536. they cause Discourses to be Published, and Infusions to be made of Incredible Dangers to the City and Kingdom, by that our coming to the House: (in the case of the five Mem­bers) An Alarum was given to the City in the Dead time of the Night, that we were coming with Horse and Foot thither, and thereupon the whole City put in Arms: And howsoever the Envy seem'd to be cast upon the De­signs of the Papists, mention was only made of Actions of our own.

Upon a fair understanding of the whole, this sup­position of his is no more then the Counterpart of the old Story: And the Declamatory dangers that he foresees in Vision, were outdone by those sensi­ble Cruelties and Oppressions that this poor King­dom suffered in very deed. And now to bear him Company in his Phansy, we shall give you a Truth for his Imagination.

First Imagine the whole Nation in a Flame, Truth for his Vision. and brought to the Extremities of Fire and Sword by the Malice of the same Faction that embroyl'd us before; and at the same Instant, Phansy whole Droues of Coblers, Draymen, Ostlers, Quartering upon your Wives and Daughters, till ye want bread to put in your Childrens Mouths; (which was the very Case) your Apprentices discharg'd of their Indentures by Ordinances; your Houses Rifled; your Accompt-Books Examin'd; Servants corrupted to betray their Masters; your Persons sent on Ship-board, transported, or thrown into nasty Dungeons; or in mercy, perhaps your Throats cut, by the Name of Popish Dogs, and Cavaliers. And all this only for refusing to Renounce God and your [Page 34] Soveraign. Then represent to your selves the Thimble-maker, once again Lieutenant of the Tower; your Citizens clap up, orders for the Demolishing of your Gates and Chains; and nothing less than Military Execution threatned ye, unless you will Redeem your selves with 100000 l. a Mouth Contribution, toward the perpetua­ting of your Slavery. Then cast your Eye toward Cheapside, Corn-hill, Charing-Cross, Pallace-yard, Tower-hill, nay, White-hall it self; and there Imagine your Father, your Brother, your Citizens, the Nobility, Gentry; nay, the King himself, and his best Friends and Ministers under the hand of the Common Executioner; Appealing to God, for whose Cause they dy'd. Which was a frequent spectacle, when the King reign'd no longer among you. Phansie again that you behold those Beautiful Chur­ches erected for the true Worship of God, abused and turned into Stables, and the Pulpits into Iugling Boxes, to Hocus your Wives and your Daughters, out of their Bodkins and Thimbles: and there to hear nothing but Heresie and Sedition, to the Dishonour of Christ, and Scandal of Religion. Phansie the Ministers of Gods Holy Word cast out of their Livings by Hundreds, and with their Wives and Children expos'd to the wide World to beg their Bread. Your Women running with their Hair about their Ears, One half to the Works like Pioneers, the other dancing attendance at some Merciless Committee to put in Bayl for a Malignant Child, or Husband; men cover'd with Blood, lost Limbs, and mangled Bodies, with Horrors of Conscience over and above.

If it be true, We should do well to look about us. that these and forty times more Cruelties were committed: And that the People were frighted into these Pre­cipices only by shadows: If it be true again, that those Glorious Pretenders when they had the King and his Papists (as they call'd his most Orthodox Friends) under foot; that these Peo­ple, I say, never lookt further after Religion; but fell presently to the sharing of the Church and Crown Revenues among themselves, It will concern every sober man to look well about him, and to make use of his Reason, as well as of his Faith, for these Fore-boders seldom Croak but before a Storm. This Subject has carry'd me too far already, but I shall be shorter in what follows.

After his affected Image of the Tyranny and Desolation that is breaking in upon us, he does as good as nothing, without [Page 35] working up the Peoples Horror and Astonishment upon those ap­prehensions, into a Direct Rage and Desperation. And this he endeavours to bring about by undertaking so positively for his Majesties Murther, as if he himself were of the Conspiracy: Very Peremptorily Issuing out his Orders to the City to be rea­dy with their Arms at an hours warning.

The first Hour (says he) wherein ye hear of the Kings untime­ly End, He gives the Kings Murther for granted. let no other Noise be heard among you, but that of ARM, ARM; to revenge your Soveraigns Death, both upon his Murther­ers and their whole Party; For that there's no such thing as an En­glish Papist, who is not in the Plot, at least in his good wishes. Let not fear of losing Part by your Action make you lose the whole by your Patience. Pag. 4. And then, Pag. 25. he points them out the very General to lead them; a respect which neither the City, nor the Illustrious Person himself, will thank him for, upon so disorderly an occasion: Enforcing his Proposition with this Inducement, That he who hath the worst Title ever makes the best King. Which is no Complement at all to his Majesty himself; for an Usurper, it seems, would be better for His turn. So that without any If's or And's the thing is given for Granted; and upon this Instigation, the least Rumour in the World, that way, puts the people upon a General Mas­sacre; as the bare Report lately of the French appearing before the Isle of Purbeck, had like to have done in several places. And then to the same Purpose, Pag. 23. They will vigorously, and speedi­ly attempt the Kings Ruine, unless he suddenly prevent it, by adhering to his Parliament, and ruining Them First. Whe­ther this be the way to Expose the Life of his most Sacred Majesty, or to Preserve it, let the World judg: And of the Irreverence of hand­ling so tender a Point at this Course rate. Nay, he does not only pronounce upon the Thoughts and Purposes of Men, but upon the most secret appointment of God himself. When God designs the Destruction of a King, or People, (says he) Pag. 11. he makes them deaf to all Discoveries. This Observation of his, I'm affraid is more to the purpose then he was aware of: For there are Discoveries of several sorts, that are Evident Enough, and yet not much taken notice of. To say nothing of the Censures he passes upon the Kings Actions, and Publick Resolutions of State: Only I wonder who made this Man a Judg in Israel. He quarrels his Ma­jesty, Pag. 3. For Prorogations, and Dissolutions of Parliaments. And Pag. 4. upon another Point. Pag. 23. He Pre-judges the Par­liament, [Page 36] as if they would give his Majesty no Supplies, unless he takes off the Heads of the Popish Faction, exclude the Suc­cesslon, and consent to such Laws, as must of necessity ruin them. In his 6 th Page, he shews himself so good an English-man, that he Professes, he would rather be under a French Conqueror then under the Duke, as Successor. And he goes so far too toward the Dislike of the Government it self, that he says, no Government but Monarchy can in England, ever support, or favour Popery, P. 7. He tells the City, Pag. 5. that their Enemies are young beggerly Officers, Courtiers, Over-hot Church-men and Papists, and charges the three First with lessening the Plot; and resembling the times to 1641. Now how is it possible, but the Positions of 1641. should put us in mind of the Rebellion of 1641? He begins his 10 th Page thus. After the Catholicks had thus brought the Fathers Head to the Block, and sent the young Princes into Exile, &c. Now to give the Devil his due, I cannot find so much as one Papist in the whole List of Regicides. He has, I confess, one admirable Fetch to prove His R. H. dangerous to his Majesty, because he is both a Friend, and a Brother, Pag. 17. as if the King were safer in the hands of his Enemies, then of his Friends. If his meaning be, that they are more dangerous in regard of Confidence, and Op­portunities; there is no Fence against that Danger, but utterly to cast off all the Bonds, and Dictates, of Society, and good Na­ture. We must contract no Friendships, and trust no Relations for fear they should out our Throats. How much more wretched then Beasts has our Appealer made us at this rate, by poysoning the very Fountain of Human Comforts▪

Though I have drawn out this Pamphlet already further then I intended▪ I must not close it yet without one General Obser­vation upon the People we have to deal with in this Contro­versie.

Calumny and Imposture have ever been the two main Pillars of their Cause; and if they can but wheedle the Vulgar, on the one hand, and defame the Friends of the Government, on the other, their business is done. There scarce passes a day without a Libel against both Church and State; without either Provoca­tion, or Punishment: which both shews their Malice, and con­firms them in their Insolence. There is nothing so Odious, and so Ridiculous together, as betwixt Droll, and Sophisme, these People represent the Publick Management of Affairs. And who [Page 37] can blame the Multitude now, under these Circumstances of Licence, and Delusion, if they either Forget, or Depart from their Duties? Is there not Law, and Power sufficient for the Preven­ting, or Suppressing these Indignities? Or is it a thing not worth the taking Notice of? for his Majesty to be told every day, in a Pamphlet, at his Palace-gate, that His Ministers are Traytors and Conspirators; His Courtiers a Pack of Knaves, and He himself but upon his Good Behaviour to his own Subjects? WILL it end Here? DID it end Here? But whence is it that all this Ve­nom and Confidence proceeds? The Former is only a Fermentation of the Old Leaven (for we have our Iesuits too) The Papal Iesuite is an Enemy to Heretical Kings, and the Protestant Ie­suite will have no Kings at all, and then for their Confidence, they have both Impunity▪ and Encouragement: the former proves it self; and I shall now conclude with a word or two concerning the other.

The bringing of this Devilish Plot upon the Stage, has struck all men of Piety, Loyalty, and Love to their Country, with Amazement, and Horror. The Murther of a Prince, the Subversion of our Government, and Religion; What can be more Exercrable? The thought of so Diabolical a Practice has justly transported the People to the highest degree of Rage against it, imagina­ble: And it is a Meritorious, and a Laudable Zeal too, so long as it contains it self within the Bounds of Law, and Duty: While the King, Council and Parliament are, in the mean time, sif­ting, and Examining the Design, and doing Justice upon the Offenders.

Now there are a sort of men, One Plot un­der another. that under the Countenance of This Plot advance another of their own, and 'tis but the Rub­bing of a Libel with a little Anti-Popery, to give it the Popular smack; and any thing else against the Government goes down Current. If a man Writes, or Speaks, or Reasons against them, he is presently a favourer of the Papists, a Lessener of the Plot, and run down with Nonsence, and Clamor. A Person of Untainted Honour and Integrity, puts in for a Parliament-man; 'tis but any Little Fellows taking advantage of the Humour of the Peo­ple, and Billing of him for having some Papist to his Kinsman, perhaps, or Visiting some Lord in the Tower; or under the com­mon Scandal of a Courtier, or a Pensioner, and he's gone to all Intents and Purposes. This is the Character they give to every [Page 38] man that loves the King, the Church, or the Law. They serve them as Nero did the Christians; they put them into Bears-skins; that is to say, they call them Papists, Pensioners, Conspirators, and then deliver them up to be worry'd by the Rabble. Shall we ne­ver distinguish between Indubitable Truths, and Transparent Fals­hoods? betwixt Words and Deeds, that stand in a direct Oppo­sition, the One to the Other? What Priviledg has a Phanatick to blow up a Government, more than a Iesuite? It must be con­fest, however, that he is the Braver Enemy of the two, for he scorns to sneak to the Execution of his Exploit with a Dark Lanthorn; and to take advantage of Authority by Surprize; but Arraigns Princes, and puts them to death in the face of the Sun; and at this Instant, charges the Church openly with Idolatry, Su­perstition and Oppression; the State with Tyranny; and the Law it self, with Error and Insufficiency. His first work is to Accuse his Superiors of Mis-government: And then he tells the People; next, that in Case of Mis-government they may resume their Power. And what's all this to the PLOT?