THE wonderful Revolution that hath fallen out in the Island of Great Britain since September last, 1688. is justly at present the discourse and amazement of all Europe; but chiefly in the three Kingdoms of Scotland, England and Ireland, whose Inhabitants are the Parties most concerned in it; and no wonder, since a greater Deliverance, more unexpected, and that hath plainer Characters of a Divine Contrivance and Conduct, hath neither been heard of, nor seen, in any place of the World, in any of the former Ages of it. But there is a greater Wonder now to be observed amongst us than the Deliverance we have received (if any thing can be greater) viz. That there are many of us who seem to be much discontented with it, and express themselves in such a manner, as if they were offended with Heaven it self, for being so propitious to us; and seem ungratefully to envy his Honour, whom God made the great Instrument of our Deliverance. Strange! that another Change should come under the desires of reasonable men, which must of absolute necessity occasion a fatal Relapse into the same Miseries we were so deeply plunged, and likewise occasion the inevitable and lasting ruine, not only of our potent De­liverer, but also of all those Royal Branches of the Royal Family, in whose prosperity all the hopes of England's Hap­piness are certainly reposed.

While I frequently hear such Murmurings and Whis­perings as tend to such a fatal End, I cannot but be sur­prized, both with astonishment and grief: astonishment, it being wonderful men should be displeased with their own Safety and Happiness: and grief, it being easie to ap­prehend those ill Consequences to the Publick, that usually attend such Discontents and undutiful Murmurings, so ma­liciously and industriously promoted.

And though I am very sensible of my own utter unfit­ness for so great an undertaking, as the allaying of those Heats and Animosities that so much disturb the qui­etness and peace we have in our hands, if we would but embrace it, and be contented to enjoy it: yet I hope I shall be forgiven of all, even of those who perhaps may have an aversion to this Discourse, for the very sinceri­ty of my Intention; for the Author assures his Reader, that his Condition is so obscure, his Acquaintance in the World so narrow, and (as you will easily perceive by this Pamphlet, both as to the matter and style of it, which falls so much below the dignity of the Subject, and is so rude and unpolisht) his Habitation is somewhat solitary, and in a manner rural; and thereforefore it cannot be imagined that Self-interest should share in his Design: no, suffer him only quietly to put in his poor mite into the Treasury, and if he in any measure contribute to the Publick Peace and Happiness of that Church of which he glories to be a Mem­ber, even that of England, as it is now by Law established; and of that Kingdom, which he accounts it the greatest part of his civil happiness to be a Subject in, he is sufficiently satisfied; which design he is sure no man can possibly blame.

I would therefore, as an Introduction to what fol­lows, ask but this question of those Persons that seem so discontented with our present Tranquility. Gentlemen, what is it you would be at? what do you desire? If they speak plainly, and give a round answer to this question, it must be this; We would have King WILLIAM and Queen MARY dethroned again, and have them either voluntarily to return back from whence they came, or else [Page 5] to be sent back again by force; we would have King JAMES the Second restored to his Crown and Dignity, and reinstated in his Throne and Government. This must be the Answer, or else I cannot imagine what some men keep such a noise for. Fair and soft, Sirs! This is a demand of the greatest consequence and importance that ever Eng­land heard; I assure you it's not likely to be yielded to without very mature and serious deliberation; and I am very confident, would men suffer their Reason to act free­ly, without the strong Biass of Interest or Passion, they would see it as unfit to be asked, as they certainly must de­spair of having it granted. For, upon the whole, the yielding to the Proposal, would be a fatal Relapse into all those Miseries, under which we so lately groaned; and as it is in the case of a Relapse into the same Distempers from which Patients seemed almost to be freed, their last condi­tion is much more dangerous than their first; so undoubt­edly it would be with us. And this will the more clearly appear, upon a serious consideration of these three things.

• 1. What condition we were in before the happy arri­val of their present Majesties.
• 2. What condition we are now in by this happy Revo­lution.
• 3. What a miserable condition we must of necessity fall into upon such a second Revolution as would satisfy some mens desires.

As to the first of these, it's to be hoped that you will not take it ill, if upon your proposal, we make a review of that state you would reduce us to. I assure you, we are as sorry, even for King JAMES's sake, that the reflection is so unpleasant, as possibly you can be; yet if we find it to be a miserable Condition, you will, I hope, excuse us, if we be not willing desperately to rush our selves into it again.

Now I know not what in all the World is dear to a reasonable Creature, that was not (as our Circumstances were) in the greatest hazard of being utterly lost. For what is it that is most dear to us as Christians? Religion. [Page 6] What is most dear to us as English men? The enjoyment of our Liberties and Properties, secured to us by the Laws of the Land. What is most dear to us as individual single per­sons? The safety and protection of our Lives, Persons and Families. Now I dare appeal to all unprejudiced men, whether in any Nation under Heaven, that was so firmly in the possession of all these as we were a few years ago, they were ever in greater danger of being utterly lost, than they were here in England; so that the preservation of them is next to a Miracle.

That there was a Design to subvert the established Reli­gion of this Church and Kingdom, I hope no man will so much as question. King JAMES did quickly let us see what was so much feared by many before he came to the Crown, That it was great folly to imagine that a Prince so great a Zealot for his own Persuasion, would not think it his Duty to use that Power God had given him, to the pro­moting of that Religion he was so Zealous for; which could never be without the Extirpation of the Established Religion, accounted by him a Pestilent Heresie. To this end tended the Erecting of Chappels for Popish Devotion, and Publick Schools for Popish Education. Was it for no­thing, that an Ambassador was resident at Rome? And a Nuncio publickly entertained here, for a constant Correspon­dence between England and Rome? Why were all the Prote­stant Nobility and Gentry turned out of all places either of Honour, Profit, or Trust; and Papists put in their Rooms? What could be the design of that ducoy of Liberty of Conscience, at a time, when since the first begin­nings of those unhappy divisions of Protestants here at home, there was never less need of it? When not any Pro­testant Party amongst us, did so much as Petition for it; when the Generality of Dissenters were so well satisfied with the Church of England, that there were never fairer hopes of perfect Unity amongst us. But this was the matter; the division of Protestants amongst themselves would weak­en the whole Body of them, and render them the more ca­pable of an easie overthrow; a design, which the wiser [Page 7] sort of Dissenters quickly saw, and even the generality of them in a short time were satisfied in. For since it's as easie for the Arctick and Antarctick Poles to meet together; or for the East and West to be in Conjunction, as to reconcile Infallibility of one Religion, with a Toleration of all; the necessity of Extirpating all Hereticks, with a Connivance at all Heresies; all were easily convinced what such a Tole­ration tended to, and none were entrapped in the Snare, or trepanned with the Cheat, but a few hot-headed Zealots, ready to Sacrifice all to Ambition and Revenge. What could be the design of putting Papists in for Heads of Houses, Masters and Fellows of Colleges, in our famous Universities? What could be the design of Erecting a High Commission Court for Ecclefiastical Causes, for the suspend­ing and depriving of Bishops and Clergy; which was justly termed the New Inquisition of England? Why was that ensnaring Declaration so violently, and yet so unnecessarily prest upon the Clergy, to be read in Churches; and Seven Bishops imprisoned, and the whole Clergy of the Kingdom threatned with Deprivation for Non-Compliance? If these things, and a great many more, will not satisfie men, That there was a real Design of subverting our Religion, I know not what will.

Yet to demonstrate this matter to the full, consider only the mighty endeavours that were used to abrogate the Pe­nal Laws and Test; in which the King used so much in­dustry, that he truly took methods too much below Royal Dignity to effect it. What a mean office for a King to be­come an earnest Sollicitor of his Subjects, to that which they could not in Conscience nor Honour yield to; and then a disobliger of all his Kingdom, for removing them from all places, upon so necessary a refusal! The design must be mighty great, when Arts both so mean and so harsh, were used to accomplish it. But this was it; The Papists had then stood upon even ground with all other Subjects; and the great advantage of Authority on their side, would quick­ly have raised their Ground above us; the doors of both Houses of Parliament had been set wide open to them, [Page 8] whence the House of Peers might quickly have been filled with new Creations, and the House of Commons as quickly made Popish by Force or Fraud in Elections, Corporations being framed and regulated agreeable to the design; and what could be then expected, but a sudden Establishment of Popery? The whole Nation did see this Project so clearly, that the greatest part of the Dissenters were so sensible of the mischief, that though they had smarted somewhat hardly under the Lash of the Penal Laws but a little while before, yet they would rather ven­ture the Continuance of them, than run the hazard of ru­ining the substance and being of the Protestant Religion a­mongst us; nor could all the virulent Pamphlets thrown a­bout to exasperate them, by a Tragical Commemoration of their former Suffering by the Penal Laws, ever perswade them so far out of their Senses, as not to be fully assured, that the Little Finger of the Popish Inquisition would be heavier upon them, than the Loins of all the Penal Laws made since the Reformation against them. And indeed to the Fidelity of that Party at that Critical time, are we to ascribe a great share of the disappointment the Popish Party met with, being much chafed, that the Grand Cheat of the Toleration had no better success.

And as all these plain matters of fact, are more than suf­ficient to convince us of the Mischievous Design of subver­ting the Established Religion in these Kingdoms; so are they a plain and evident proof, that there was certainly a Private League between the Late King James and the French King for bringing this to pass, tho there were nothing else to evince is. For it could never be hoped that the Popish Party here in England could do it, their Strength and Interest were not sufficient to accomplish such a Design. There was a fine Ar­my indeed, but most of them Protestants, who would hard­ly be commanded by Popish Officers, to ruine their Religi­on; for men must certainly fight very faintly, when the edge of their Swords is turned against themselves, and their success is certain desolation to their Country. From whence one of these two things must follow; either that King James [Page 9] had no Resolution to change the Religion of this Nation, the contrary of which appears by what hath been said; and besides, to say so, is to put the greatest affront and dishonour upon the Late King that can be, and calls his Wisdom and Discretion highly in question, in the conduct of his Affairs; that he should do all these mean, harsh, and suspitious things before alledged, for no other end, but to bring an obloquy upon himself, to render his Government uneasie, fearful, and suspected, and to disoblige all the three Kingdoms. But if it cannot be admitted, that a person of any common seuse or reason, should be guilty of so much Indiscretion, that might in the end prove so fatal to himself, then we must acknow­ledge that some Foreign Power was certainly to be made use of; since no reasonable man proposeth to himself any end, but withall he proposeth means proportionate to that end, in order to the acquiring of it: and now we would fain learn, what other Force can so much as come under the Pro­bability of being made use of, but the French?

And now that which makes this Design abundantly the more inexcusable in it self, and the more insupportable to us, is this; That this Church, and the Religion professed in it, run such a great hazard from a Prince, from whom the Members of that Church, and Professors of that Religion, had all the reason in the world to expect much kinder usage. For I am sure never any Prince could be more highly obliged by Subjects, than King James was by the Members of the Church of England, both before, and after he was King. Not to run so far back as the unhappy Wars in his Father's time of ever Blessed and Glorious Memory, when the Church of England was ruined, and a great many of the Members of it, of all degrees and conditions, exposed to the greatest mi­series, for their firm adherence to the Interest of the Crown. Nor yet to speak of his Late Majesty King Charles the Second's happy Restauration; it's enough only to reflect upon our du­tiful behaviour to King James himself, both when Duke, and King. Who were the great opposers of the Bill of Exclu­sion, in Parliament, both in the House of Lords and Com­mons, and out of Parliament all the Kingdom over; and [Page 10] preferred their standing fast to the Duke's Interest at that time, to all their own Interest in the World: What Re­proaches, Disgraces, Insolencies, nay Threats were cast up­on, and used towards us, we very well remember. Was there ever any King received by his People, or proclaimed in all Places, with greater Satisfaction, Joy and Acclama­tions, than he was? For who then doubted of the Sincerity of King James the Just? Who were they that so readily set­led the Revenue of the Crown, and gave larger supplies than the necessity of Affairs required? Who were they that stood the Shock, and ventured their Lives in suppressing of that dangerous Rebellion of Monmouth? Were they not all Members of the Church of England, who preserved the Crown for King James before he came to the possession of it, by opposing the Bill of Exclusion; and kept it upon his Head when he was possessed of it, by suppressing Monmouth's Rebellion? And this brings to my mind an Expression, in the Oxford Reasons, against signing the Address of their Bi­shop Dr. Parker; for being told that their refusal of the Ad­dress would exasperate the King, and move him to take rougher Methods against the Church; their Answer was, That if the remembrance of the Services of the Church to the Crown in those two Affairs, of the Bill of Exclusion, and Monmouth's Rebellion, were not sufficient to secure the King's kindness to, and protection of the Church of Eng­land and its Members, the signing of such insignificant Ad­dresses would never do it; and truly I cannot tell what else could do it.

But the truth of it is, the Papists have all along, upon all occasions so ill requited the Fidelity of the Protestants to their Popish Princes, as if they had a mind never more to be obliged in that nature. I need not speak of the obli­gations put upon Queen Mary, the Daughter of Henry the Eighth, and the barbarous usage shewed them in a very lit­tle while after; nor of former dealings of that kind in France: the present King of France hath demonstrated this to the full; he ows his possession of the Crown of France, and consequently all his Glory he so proudly boasts of, to [Page 11] the firm adherence of his Protestant Subjects to his Interest. He hath several times publickly owned this, and yet his Cruelty to them hath far surpassed all Heathen Barbarity. And now I am very sorry that such a hearty Endeavour to subvert the Religion established in this Church, which could not be, without the ruine of those, to whom the late King JAMES was so highly obliged, hath given such another fresh Instance, that Popery will not suffer Kings so much as to be grateful to their Subjects; for by this means they have more than satisfied the World, that it's utterly unsafe for a Protestant Kingdom to be under the Government of a Po­pish Prince.

But since all men have neither that knowledge of, nor that zeal for their Religion, that it were heartily to be wished they had, yet every man is very sensible, when their Li­berties and Properties, and the Laws by which they are secured, are invaded: and lest the Endeavours to subvert Religion, should not have been sufficient to have provoked the Nation, there was added to this a plain Invasion of the Rights of the Subject, and of the Laws upon which they are grounded; to let the World know, that there was no mistake in those men, who affirmed, that Popery could ne­ver be introduced into this Kingdom, unless Slavery usher­ed it in. It were endless to make instances of this; the Master and Fellows of Magdalen Colledge are a sufficient proof of this, who were deprived of their Freeholds, by a most arbitrary Sentence of a Court, that in the whole con­stitution of it, was utterly illegal; and in an Affair of this nature, a Judge altogether incompetent; where the Per­sons concerned were admitted to no legal Tryal, before the competent Judges, by a Jury of the Vicinage, as in those Cases is the Law of the Nation; but were removed by Per­sons, who had no more right to disposess them of their Freeholds, than the Persons, receiving such an injurious Sentence, had to dispossess their very Judges of theirs. And it was no wonder that the general Cry of the Nation, fol­lowing that unjust and Arbitrary Sentence, was, All our Freeholds and Estates shake by this Sentence.

Another proof of this Invasion of our Rights and Estates was, the most exorbitant and extravagant Fines, put upon persons by the plain Arbitrary Will of the Judges, as if they would declare to the World, their design was rather to ruine the Delinquent, than punish the Delinquency. This was so frequent, that every Term shewed how easily, for very small faults, men might be ruined in their For­tunes in a trice.

The invading the Rights of Corporations, was more than sufficient proof, that our Liberties, Estates and Laws were in the greatest hazard. The despoiling them of all their Ancient Privileges, struck at the very Foundation of the Government it self; the altering all the Ancient Pre­scriptions in choosing of persons for Representatives in Par­liament, struck at the very Fountain of our Laws, both in being, and to be made.

But above all things tending to the ruine of all our Se­curity in our Laws, Liberties and Properties, none is more worthy of our serious consideration, than that Hellow of Di­spensing Power, that would have devoured all at a morsel, and swallowed all at one draught, if need had been; there was no Law, no Privilege able to stand in the way of this Leviathan. This was such a Power, that once being yield­ed to, in the full latitude it was claimed, would have ren­dered all Laws in England not only uncertain and insecure, but utterly needless; nay, altogether ridiculous. For to what purpose should the Nation be put to so much trouble and charge, to elect Representatives for the House of Com­mons; or why should Persons, who have either a natural Right, as Noblemen, or a deputed Right, as Commoners, go from all parts of the Kingdom, to enact Laws for the good and profit of the Realm, if the Sovereign Power can dispense with them, whenever their backs are turned? To what purpose is all this wast? Or why should the Nation be fooled with Laws, which when made, promise us the greatest security, in all things that are most valuable; when in the mean time, at the mere will of the Prince in dispen­sing with these, all our Security is turned into Despair; and [Page 13] all our Expectations, grounded on those Laws, wholly fru­strate, and quite blown up?

The Imprisonment of the Seven Bishops, who all deserve to have Statues erected to their Memories, for so couragi­ously stemming that Tide of Oppression, that was like to have sunk us into the deepest miseries both in our Religious and Civil Rights: This Imprisonment, I say, tho it was dismal and gloomy, yet blessed be God, their Tryal that followed upon it, occasioned the absolute baffling of that Dispensing Power, by those learned and stout Gentlemen, their Coun­cil, who dared at such a time, to vindicate our Laws from so much Violence, and our Liberties from such Oppression.

But then if we add to all this, That we were not so much as safe in our Persons and Families, our Condition will ap­pear the more deplorable. How many were there, who abandoned their Native Country, upon the apprehension of those Dangers that Innocency it self was not able to secure them from? Was not the Lord De La Mere exposed to the greatest danger by a false Accusation, and pressed earnestly to acknowledg a Capital Crime, of which in the end he was found innocent? Was not the now Reverend Bishop of Salisbury forced to fly for his Life, and could hardly obtain the liberty of breathing in a Foreign Air, or the benefit of the Protection of Foreign States and Princes; excepted in all Acts of Grace as the greatest Criminal? And yet upon the strictest enquiry into the reason, why Royal Power was so armed against this Person, it will be hard to find any other, than this, that he was the Author of the History of the Refor­mation; which will be a sufficient Monument for that Great Man when he is dead, and for his undaunted Courage and Zeal for, and great Abilities and Industry in defending a Re­ligion his then Majesty had so great an aversion to. Add to this, the cruel Corporal Punishments, inflicted upon several Persons both in City and Country. In fine, The unspeakable Oppression of the Souldiery, by vertue of whose quartering at pleasure, neither men's Families or Persons were secure from the greatest violence; most of the Corporations of the King­dom are too too able to give a sad and deplorable account of [Page 14] this, who felt the Insolencies of Mercenary men, permitted in all their Extravagant Mischiefs, to inure the Nation by degrees to Slavery and Oppression.

I know that many will not be pleased with such a repre­sentation of our late Miseries; But they must pardon us, if we judg it fit to reflect upon them, since they seem so extreamly desirous to involve us in them again. For upon a review of these Particulars, which are undeniable matters of Fact, we cannot possibly think that a continuance in such a mise­rable Condition, was, or is, or can be a desirable State, tho it never advanced further; much less can we think it tolerable, when the whole Nation were more than satisfied, that these were but the beginning of those Sorrows we had such a dismal Prospect and Apprehension of, had the de­signs afoot made a further Progress; And we would pray them to pardon us, that we are not willing to be so treacherous to our selves, and our Posterity, as to throw our selves into that Misery, from whence we have been so miraculously delivered.

Now, tho I do not find any Man that will take upon him the impossible Task of justifying these Proceedings; but rather all of force must acknowledg there were very many Male-administrations in the Government, yet they strive to excuse them, as much as may be. I must tell them, would the matter bear it, we would be as willing to do it as they. And we must let them know, that our case is the more to be pitied, because we were so like to be ruined and undone by a Prince, whom no honest Man in the Nation, did ever so much as desire, should sall into those misfor­tunes that have overtaken him; but upon the contrary, were extreamly afflicted, to see a [...]atal necessity of the ruin of either King or Kingdom in a very short time, and would most willingly have contributed our utmost to the preven­ting of it, had it lain in our Power. But this is the mi­sery, the more pains men take to palliate these things, the more still it appears, there was a wilful, fixed and unmo­vable Resolution of driving these things to the height.

For while it's said, That the Late King, being very zea­lous for his Religion, and giving the Conduct of his Con­science [Page 15] to the guidance of men sworn to that interest; we cannot wonder if their perpetual solicitations, and unweari­ed importunities, highly prevailed upon him to gratifie their desires, in which he was withal satisfied that he was doing God singular good service; this very excuse is our greatest Complaint. For was it not easie to divine what a Protestant Nation had reason to expect from a Prince alto­gether guided by those who have sworn their destruction? And the very taking of these men into his secretest Councils, was an open declaration to the Three Kingdoms, that their destruction was at no great distance; for we know, and all the World knows, that such men as swarmed about White­hall, were employed in nothing more, than in contriving and projecting the utter destruction of Heresie and Hereticks, as they account us all to be: And therefore had the late King James consulted either his own or his Peoples safety, he would never have been so influenced by such men, nor gi­ven the least suspicion that he was so. But his making a Je­suit openly a great Minister of State, whose very being in the Kingdom was Treason; his entertaining openly a Nun­tio from Rome, the swarming of Priests both Regular and Secular, of several Orders about him, cannot but shew that their Assumption into such Privacy, so destructive to his People, was really a matter of his own mere choice.

And here let me add, That the Priests and Jesuits in their management of Affairs in the late King's time, were both the falsest and the foolishest men in the world, tho they had the fairest game to play, that ever men in their Circum­stances could wish for before, and fairer than I trust they will ever obtain again. They were very false and treache­rous to their great Patron and Benefactor; for they consult­ed their own interest so much, that they minded neither the Honour nor Safety of their King. For while he was driving so Jehu like, it was their duty faithfully to have represented to him, what was like to be the issue of such proceedings, what dishonour the so frequent breach of his Word must be, and how fatally dangerous the exasperating of three King­doms must be; and therefore seriously to have advised him [Page 16] to slower and milder methods; and to have declared their satisfaction, that they had rather commit the great design its self to the Divine Providence, in methods more agreeable to the Genius of the Nation, than hazard his Majesties Ho­nour and Safety in such violent and harsh measures. But the truth of it is, they saw they had nothing to rely upon, but the King's Life; and that was as uncertain as any other mans; and therefore they were willing to drive at all fu­riously: For (say they) if we succeed, we have our aim, the day is our own; if not, we know the worst of it, we are but where we were; we can as easily retire to the Cells we crept from, as we left them; but whether the King sink or swim, is the least of our concerns. And ah! that these Wretches had fallen alone, without drawing such a Prince into such misfortunes with them, by their precipitate Coun­sels! Let this therefore be for ever another instance of Po­pish Treachery and Falshood to their Princes; for these men always act as if they gloried in being the Instruments of the Destruction of Kings, or Kingdoms, or Both.

And as they were the falsest Men to their Prince, so they were the foolishest; for never Men took so improper means to attain their Ends, as they did. In truth they left nothing undone, which any man could wish them to do, who never so earnestly wished a disappointment of all their Designs; as a Reverend Divine and great Man of our Church said, in his Sermon on the Thanksgiving-day, they were Politicians by Book, and never consulted the Genius and Humour of that People they had to do with. It may be they are thought very wise Men and great Politicians in other Countreys, but they can never in England expect any thing but the reputa­tion of the most imprudent and unpolitick of Men; and I hope this great Instance will be sufficient to convince all Princes, how unsafe it is for them to trust Men of little Honesty, and less Discretion.

If it be again said, That the late King, in all these things so deservedly decried, was inform'd of the Legality of them by his Judges, whose Advice in the like Cases all our Kings have relied upon; so if he erred, it was their fault; and be­sides, [Page 17] such as do unlawful things by the King's Command, are liable to answer for it notwithstanding, but not the King Himself. To this the Answer is very easie: The whole Nati­on knoweth very well, that when the Judges at any time gave just and good Advice, according to the Law, and the best of their knowledge, if it thwarted the Design intend­ed, there was a Quietus ready at hand for their descent from the Bench; and thus, the whole Reign of King James, there was a perpetual Change of the Judges, till they were so modelled, as to secure the Interest driven at; nay in the very last famous Tryal of the Seven Bishops, all know, that two of the Judges were immediately removed, for giving their Opinion contrary to that Interest. So that it is ex­tremely plain, the King was not advised by his Judges, but the Judges by him, how they should act at their Perils, and he would have no other than such as would serve his design; as for such as acted by his Authority, either in Civil or Military Affairs, it's plain few or none were allowed of, but such as would serve the Popish Interest; what meant else the Change of Charters; the Regulating of Corporations; the so frequent alterations of the Governors of them; the removing of all Officers that would not comply; the pre­vious Questions put so diligently all over the Kingdom, to Deputy-Lieutenants, Officers of the Militia, Justices of Peace, Magistrates of Cities and Boroughs, concerning Elections of future Members of Parliament? The King then was so far from suffering Persons to be brought to Tryal for their unjust and illegal Actions, that as he would have no other Persons in his Service, so he avowed their Prote­ction. In vain it was to expect a redress of these things, since even in the beginning of that Reign, when that King was so much obliged to the Fidelity of the Nation, for op­posing the Duke of Monmouth so vigorously, yet that very House of Commons, who but a little while before, was so highly cajolled and caressed by the King, went away with a Repulse to their honest Address, against Papists bearing Offices without legal Qualifications, and in a sew days after, he prorogued them, and never met them more. Since then, the [Page 18] late King would have no other Persons to serve him, nor any in places of Trust, but such as highly disserved the Na­tion; since he protected such Persons in all their illegal Pro­ceedings; certainly all they did, is clearly imputable to him­self, for so he would have it, and no otherwise.

In fine, while it's said, King James was lawful King of England, accountable to none for his Actions, but God only; that all we had to do, was to submit either Active­ly or Passively; that our Oaths had obliged us against all Resistance of his Majesty, or those commissioned by him; and therefore let the worst be supposed that can be, we cannot justify our reliction of him, or transferring our Alle­giance from him.

Now in the first place, this is a plain acknowledgment, That we had very great cause of complaining; and only helps us with this Accumulation of our Misery, we have no possibility of Redress. Now it's a desperate Condition a Prince is brought to, that the only Justification of his Pro­ceedings, consists in asserting an unlimited and uncontrou­lable Power; and indeed, it is much the worse, when this is done to a Nation that never have, nor never will ac­knowledg themselves to be Slaves to be ruled by the Arbi­trary and Despotick Power of their King; but are Subjects governed by their King in the Execution of the Laws of the Land.

Again, There is nothing more certain than this, That there is so great reference to be had to Governors and Go­vernment, that every small irregularity in Government ought not to lessen the Affection or Fidelity of Subjects, such as Injuries accruing only to some private Persons; or if they be of a publick and general Nature, yea, even against Laws in force; yet, if it be in matters of small concern and importance, it is rather to be born with, than the Peace of the Government to be disturbed; it is in such Cases duly to be considered, that nothing perfect is to be found under the Sun; that Changes and Alterations upon such small accounts, would render Government very un­steady and uneasy, to the main end of it, which is the [Page 19] peace of Mankind. But, what if the Case be such, that there is no less attempted than the ruin of Souls and Bo­dies, and Fortunes, of far the greatest part of the Subjects? What if those Laws are laid aside, and rendred useless, which were enacted of set purpose, to secure the Religion and Property of all the Subjects, without ever consulting the Legislative Power; nay, after a great part of that Power hath remonstrated against it? What if such Courses be taken, as perfectly destroys the very being of Parliaments, and makes a summoning of them utterly im­practicable, according to the Fundamental Constitutions of the Kingdom? Does not these, and such like Proceedings, perfectly dissolve the Government to our hands, and deprive the King of the best Security he hath for his Crown, to wit, the Security of the Laws so dissolved? And that this was our Case, is apparent by what is before written: And this brings to my mind, a saying of the late King James, at his first Ac­cession to the Crown, That he desired to be no greater King, than the Laws of England made him; and upon my Conscience had he continued always in that mind, and acted accordingly, he might, nay, he would have Reigned a Glorious King, to the great Joy and Satisfaction of all his Subjects.

I suppose it will be granted, That the end of all Govern­ment is the Protection and Peace, and Security of the People, by governing of them agreeably to the Laws enacted for that end; now, if this end cease, and all things be acted contrary, is there not an end of that Government, with relation to the Peoples concerns in it? And in such case, what can reasonably be expected from them by the Laws of God, of Nature, and Self-preservation, the first and great Principle of Nature, but that they should look for better terms where they may have them?

All this whole matter is grounded upon a false Opinion of Government being Jure Divino, even with relation to the species or kind of Government; nay, to the very Person or Family regnant; than which there cannot well be a greater Paradox; for tho it be most true, that Government in gene­ral, is of Divine and Natural Right; yet all the World will [Page 20] never be able to make either of these two things appear, viz. ei­ther that this or that Species of Government, is of such a right; for example, Monarchy in contradistinction to all other; or much less, that this or that family or person hath such a Divine or natural right to such or such a Kingdom or Dominion: for upon this Principle we condemn all other kinds of Govern­ment as sinful; we oblige our selves to perpetuate the Suc­cession of the same Family, in a direct Line, in the same Do­minion; a thing by the experience of all Ages known to be impossible, and of which this Kingdom, on several occasions, hath taken very little notice. For he is a mighty stranger to the English Histories, who knows not that some Persons have been removed from the Administration of the Regal Power, by the Authority of Parliament; and others Crowned in their stead, while the former were in being: and likewise in the Succession of the Crown, little regard hath been had to the next in Proximity of Blood, what­ever outcry we make now; and certainly when it was Enacted in Queen Elizabeth's time, That it should be a Prae­munire for any person to affirm, That it was not in the power of the Parliament to settle the Succession of the Crown, they were far from dreaming of this Chimaera of Divine Right. And certainly when a Parliament in Henry the 8th's time gave that King Power to settle the manner of the Suc­cession, and nominate the Successors as he thought fit, they were far from this Divine Right too. Nay, this Opinion that men would so fain impose upon us, is destructive of all Right of Conquest or Prescription; for against Divine and Natural Right, none of these are prevalent; for still the former Obli­gation remains to the kind of Government and Family plea­ding such a Divine Right; which would be so far from con­ducing to the Peace of Mankind, the great End of all Go­vernment, that it would certainly perpetuate Blood, War, and lasting Confusions.

In a word, I am sure our Government is such, as will acknowledge, That the Kings of England are bound to govern their People, not as they please, but according to the Laws of the Land: Now I would fain ask these few [Page 21] Questions upon this Concession, Whether it be just, that the King should be absolutely secured by the peoples Oath of Fidelity to him; and if they break it, Gibbets, Axes, Whip­ping-Posts, Pillories, Exile, Confiscations of Goods, are their just and deserved Punishments; and yet the People should have no Security in the Earth, by any Oaths the King makes to them, but he is still at his liberty to break them, and the People without all possibility of redress, if he do so? And consequently, Whether the Coronation-Oath be a meer matter of form, and administred only to mock God and the Nation; since after all, the King may at pleasure break it, and the whole Kingdom hath no remedy but God help? Whether when Christ and his Apostles prescribed to us general Rules of Subjection and Obedience to Govern­ment; they did not leave the several Nations in the possessi­on of those Civil Rights they enjoy'd notwithstanding, but engag'd Mankind to be all Slaves to the Lust and Will of their Governours, without possibility of controul? Whether any acting in this Kingdom by an illegal Commission, can possibly be esteemed to act by the King's Commission, which we are sworn not to resist; since it's certain that all Illegal Com­missions are null and void in themselves, and that Men are bound to resist such in their own defence; since the Subject is never to suppose any private Will of the King in the go­verning of his People, contrary to the publick Will of his Laws; and is always to be supposed, that he who takes upon him the just defence of the Laws, is so far from resisting the King, that he is really defending of him? If the Case be not thus, then we certainly are commanded to swear, and actually do swear, to expose our Persons, Families, Fortunes, Laws, Liberties, nay Religion it self, to as many Mens Wills as may have the Conscience to act against us, or ruine us in any or all these particulars by Illegal Commissions. In fine, Whether the King's being generally said to do no wrong, be not to be interpreted, either because he most commonly employs other persons in the execution of his Commands, either Legal or Illegal; or else in respect that the King being sworn to govern by Law, he is not to be supposed to act [Page 22] against it? If the First, then they that execute illegal Com­mands, are liable to be called in question and punished for so doing; but if the King protecting them with all his Power, prevent this Justice, doth he not then make these Illegal Executions his own, whether we will or no? If the Se­cond, then we are to conlude, That no Illegal Act is a Re­gal Act; and consequently, if a King either by Himself, or by Others commissionated by him, oppress and ruine his People in all particulars that are of greatest concern to Man­kind, he so far Unkings himself, and puts his People upon an absolute necessity of Self-defence.

As for the lawfulness of transferring our Allegiance to Their present Majesties, the Reverend Bishop of Salisbury, in his excellent Letter to his Clergy, hath so fully cleared that Point, that it were presumption in me further to under­take the Defence of it.

Let me only add, That the late King shewed the most fix­ed Resolution in the World, by his going to France; for what was this, but rather than suffer any Redress of the in­supportable Grievances of his People, he would rather for­sake and abandon them, and apply himself to the sworn Ene­my of his Kingdoms, both in their Religion and Civil Rights? King James sent to the Prince of Orange some Noblemen to treat with him, but had not the patience to stay long after the Answer; but rather than listen to the calling of a Free Parlia­ment, withdrew himself voluntarily, when no Enemy was near him. His coming back again to Whitehall was a meer force put upon him; for at Feversham, when Persons of Quality in those parts tendred him their best Service, his constant Answer was, The most acceptable service you can do me, is to facilitate my departure, and procure means for my going beyond Sea: And whatever noise is made about his leaving Whitehall the second time, yet it's plain his resolution was still to depart, as a thing he was be­fore most solemnly engaged to do; and so to leave his Peo­ple, rather than enter upon fair and legal ways of giving them satisfaction: and this the Lords and Commons in Con­vention, as freely chosen as ever Representatives were to any Parliament in England, have avowed to be an Abdication of [Page 23] his Government, and Vacating of his Throne. And I would know but these two things in this particular, Whether, in the con­dition we were left by the King's departure, any better, juster, or speedier course could be taken, to save the Nation from those Miseries and Confusions it must necessarily have fallen into, in that state of Anarchy the King left us, than that of calling such a Convention? And then, Whether such a Convention, so freely called and chosen, when met, doth not conclude the Nation by their Resolutions, since all knew their Election was for this very purpose, to restore us the Happiness of a settled State, and by electing of them, inclu­ded Themselves and their Consents to their Resolves, as much as ever they did in other Elections to Parliament. As for those Redresses that were made just upon the News of the Prince's Intention for England, they were done at such a time as too plainly shewed it to be the product of Fear and Necessity, not of Choice; and it's well known, that what Kings in straits are forced to do; when free, they voluntarily and readily undo; and the worst wish I wish King James is, That what he did then, he had done a twelve-month before; tho even then the greatest matters continued as they were, viz. Persons in all Offices of Trust without legal qualificati­ons, by virtue of the Dispensing Power, then not in the least disowned.

By what I have said, it plainly appears, that our Con­dition, when their Majesties arrived here, was most deplo­rable, without any hope of a redress, our Miseries daily growing upon us; and it's not uneasie for any man to di­vine, what our Case must certainly have been, had not God raised up this mighty Deliverer, our present King, to put a stop to those unhappy Proceedings; and if we be so insensi­ble of this great Deliverance▪ and so soon have forgot our former Thraldom, and our just fears of worse; I can say no more, but that we are as bad as the Israeliets, desiring Egypt again, when their faces were towards Canaan; and lusting for the Flesh-pots there, when they were feeding on Angels Food. And so I come to shew the danger of our Relapse, by considering the happy Estate and Condition we are in by this blessed Revolution.

We may take up in these Nations that Song of David, When the Lord turned again the Captivity of Sion, then were we like unto them that dream. The Deliverance was so strange and wonderful, that it appeared plainly the Lord's doing, and therefore mar­velous in our eyes. We may look upon the Providence that gave the Prince of Orange, our now most Gracious King, so just a right to succour us, as wonderful, even that happy day, wherein the Auspicious Marriage of that Royal Pair was con­summated, to the great joy and lasting security of the Peace and Happiness of these Nations. This was, I am sure, a great earnest of the Divine Goodness, and a happy Omen of this blessed Fruit of it.

I know not what to admire most at in this prodigious Deliverance; That a matter of so great importance, that must of necessity be communicated to several persons both at home and abroad, should take no air all the while, till just it was ready to be executed; so that the Deliverance was sudden and unexpected, no-ways looked for at that time, or in that manner, is scarce to be exemplified: the means used to effect this Design, being so unproportionate to this great end designed, makes the success a Prodigy. The extent of this Blessing is not the least thing considerable in it; it is general to the whole Nation, every one shares in the Delive­rance; those only excepted, that would fain have made us miserable. For as the Religion and Civil Interests of all were equally in danger, so the Security of both is extensive to all: Nay, this Revolution secures Truth, and the Pro­fession of it, to other Nations; for it's well known what hazard the Protestant Religion every-where had been in, had it been subverted in this famous Island. And therefore, how­ever ungrateful we may be, who yet have the more imme­diate advantage of it; yet I am sure all Protestant Europe are li [...]ting up their Hearts, Hands and Tongues in the Praises of the God of Truth, who hath so signally appeared for our Deliverance; and in that, for their security.

Let us look upon our present Condition; Would we be con­tent to be happy, and compare it to what we were a Twelve-Month ago? then we were almost in Despair, sadly thinking with our selves, to what strange Countries we should repair to avoid the impending Storm; our Bishops were thrown into Prisons, our Clergy threatned with Deprivations and Suspensi­ons, our Universities pursued with Quo Warranto's, our Col­ledges invaded by the Locusts of Egypt; the Abomination of the Mass, and Idolatry and Superstition of Popery set up in all the Corners of City and Countrey; our Judges carrying about Shavelings, to preach before them in their Circuits; and they themselves in their Charges, at Assizes, preaching Sermons of Transubstantiation, and Submission to the See of Rome: Pro­testants discountenanced, discarded, disgraced; Papists every where, in City, in Countrey, in Court, in Armies, in Forts, in Navies, in Corporations, in Counties, lording it over us. Parliaments intended us worse than none, the Complement of our Miseries being expected from them, as Elections were then ordered; which made all good Men wish from their Souls, That whatever our Condition was, or might be, yet we might never see a Parliament sit in England, during King James the Second's Reign; since they would never be suffered to do us good, and in all probability could not fail in doing us much harm.

The Case is quite altered now, as is obvious at first sight; our Religion hath the greatest Security, our Bishops and Clergy the greatest Protection, our Vacant Bishopricks are filled with the most wise and learned of the Clergy, Colledges are restored to their proper Owners; the Idolatry of Popery dare not shew it self any where; the Wind hath blown these Locusts of Priests, Jesuits, &c. beyond the Seas, to their former Lurking-Places; every one sits safe under his own Vine, enjoying securely the Liberty of an Englishman, the Property he is possest of; our Councils, Navies, Armies, Magistrates, are Protestants; and a Security to our Religion, dearer to us than our Lives: our Judges are as at the first, and our Counsellors as at the be­ginning.

Pray Gentlemen recount with your Selves, What was our greatest Hope, our only Comfort on Earth, in those Days of our Dustress? What was it that sustained our Spirits and de­livered us from utter Dispair? What did we discourse of every­where to one another, as the sole Foundation of our Hopes of Freedom and Relief? Was it not that the King was a Mor­tal Man, and after him we had a Reserve of the Prince and Princess of Orange for our Security? How often then did we cast our Eyes and Hearts upon the Belgick Shore, trusting that at last the Providence of God would whaft over that blessed Pair to the lasting Joy of this British Island? The Papists knew this very well, and could never think themselves safe, till these Princes Interests were defeated, and thereby, as they thought, all our Hopes frustrate. But God that brings Good out of the greatest Evil, by his infinite Wisdom and Power, converted that Project by which they intended to perpetuate the Slavery of these Nations, to an accelerating or hastening our Deliverance, sooner than ever we hoped for it; for never was there a juster Cause given any Prince, to quarrel with a Possessor, than was given the Prince of Orange, when he saw not only all our Laws violated, and the People of England enslaved, but likewise his just Interest in the Crown, in Right of his Princess the immediate Heir, so violently invaded, without any Satisfaction given, usual in such Cases, of the Sincerity of that Affair of the pretended Prince of Wales; in which not only this whole Nation was violently suspicious, upon very great Grounds, but likewise the intended Fraud was the Discourse of Europe. This Matter hath been sufficiently written of, and for my part, if there were no more to create a Diffidence in me not possible of receiving any Satisfaction, this would be more than suffici­ent, that I never heard of any Satisfaction given, to the Great and Vertuous Lady the Princess Ann of Denmark in this whole Affair; and yet it was highly just she should have received it, in respect of her Proximity to the Crown; and likewise in re­gard of that Fruitful Womb, God hath been pleased to bless her Highness with, whose Children have a very fair Prospect to the Royal Inheritance: it had been likewise very easy to have done it, because her Highness was perpetually upon the very [Page 27] place where the Scene was acting, just till the time of its finish­ing, and then it was most necessary she should have been there; and it's impossible to imagine, had it been a real Thing, care would have been taken that she should have been present; but on the other Hand, if it was not real, then it was altogether necessary, that of all Persons she should be out of the way, and such care was accordingly taken: And as her Satisfaction was both just and easy, so it would have been of mighty advantage to the convincing of the Nation of the Truth of it, her High­nesse's Evidence would have been of more weight, than all those at Council-Board, in respect none will bear witness against their own Interest, especially in a matter of so great Moment, unless it be very true. All the answer ever I could hear to this most material ground of Suspicion, is, either that there was no Obligation to give any such Satisfaction, or that the Princess did not desire it, and was not curious of being sa­tisfied. To which this is only fit to be said by way of Reply, that the first is a desperate, and the second a senseless Answer. Is it not then a great Favour of God to us, that the Delive­rance we so earnestly wished, and the Persons on whom our Eyes were fixed, are thus come to our Deliverance? our very Enemies hastening it sooner than ever we looked for it.

Is it not the Joy of all good Men, who love the Prosperity of our Sion, and pray for her Peace, to see a Protestant King and Queen in England, a Happiness Britain hath not been fa­voured with, since the Death of Queen Ann the Wife of King James the First? We have no Dalilah in the Bosom of our Sampson, to allure him to betray his own and the Nations Strength, that we may be the easier Prey to the Philistines: The Marriage of our Kings, to Ladies of the Popish Persuasion, hath been so plain a Cause of the Nations Misery, that we have great cause to rejoice in so happy a sight, as both King and Queen to be of the same Religion, and that which is the pro­fessed and established Religion of their Kingdoms: and its great­ly to be hoped, the Wisdom of our Parliament will make it no small part of their Care, to prevent the Mischiefs that have so constantly attended our Kings being so unequally yoked. Our King and Queen draw not now several Ways, their Princi­ples [Page 28] are the same; as they are in Bed and at Board one, so it's our great Comfort to see them repair to the same Churches, exercised in the same Devotions, addressing to the same Altar; in a word, of the same Faith and Religion, to the great encou­ragement of their Subjects, to follow so pious, so great an Example: So that there are no hopes now of the Philistines plowing with Sampson's Heifer. The Royal Interest is now absolutely the same with that of the People; for their Majesties and their People, are more surely tyed together by the Bonds of that Religion, for which both have an equal Zeal, than by any Political Obligations whatsoever; so that now both re­joice in the mutual Prosperity of each other, their Majesties re­joicing in their Peoples Security, and they again in the Royal Protection, as in all Things, so chiefly in that which is the best of all Things, Religion.

Neither are we to neglect the Consideration of that, which deservedly makes his present Majesty the Darling of these three Kingdoms, nay, like another Titus, the Delight of Mankind, viz. that the King, the Prince of Orange, had no such great matters to look for as to his own Interest, to move him to en­counter so great Dangers, to undergo so much Trouble. He was considerably great in the Low-Countries; he hath no Chil­dren to enjoy the Crown after his own Death: so that it plainly appears his Zeal for Religion, his great concern for the bleeding state of these Nations, his love to Justice, did much more pre­vail with him to this Heroick and Glorious Undertaking, than any concern of his own in the Case.

Now upon the whole, if we despise so wonderful a Mercy, and become so bereft of Reason as to be weary of Happiness, and court perpetual Slavery, and abandon our present Security and Tranquillity, for those Miseries we have reason to look for upon such an unwise change; What can we then expect but to be treated by God as the despisers of his greatest Goodness, and to perish without so much as the pity of Men, since we knew not how to prize a lasting Security, when we had it in our Hands, and consequently that our Relapse must be very miserable to us?

But if at last we propose to our Selves the Miseries that must unavoidably fall upon us; if the Sins of this Nation so provoke God, as to bereave us of that Happiness we now enjoy, and if we be wise may entail it upon our Posterity, by another Revo­lution some Men so eagerly desire, we cannot but be convinced that a Relapse is highly dangerous; I do profess, that the Ca­lamities that fatally attend such a Revolution, are so tremen­dous and horrible, that the very apprehension of them cannot but strike considerate Men into the greatest Confusion and Amazement: we can expect nothing else, but that our Mise­ries should occasion our being a Proverb and a By-word, a his­sing and reproach of Popish Nations, who gape for our Ruine, and greedily thirst after our Destruction; and on the other Hand, that we should be followed with Execrations and Curses, from the Protestant World, for so treacherously betraying that Truth we had so great a Zeal for; that a Nation that glorifi­ed so justly in being accounted the Bulwark of the Protestant Religion, should so fatally occasion the total overthrow of it.

I will but briefly recount some of those Mischiefs, that any reasonable Man cannot but apprehend must overtake us upon such a Relapse; if we consider with what Rage and Fury, with what thirst of Revenge, not only the late King, (whose natural Temper doth not much dispose him to a forgetting of Injuries) but all of the Popish Party must return amongst us, what are we to expect? Is the late King ever the less a Papist than before? Hath he abated any thing of his Zeal for that Su­perstition? Have the Jesuits, &c. any other Sentiments of us and our Religion than they had? ask the Protestants of Ireland, and they will inform you, who fly as fast out of that Kingdom, as ever the French Refuges forsook France. If we were so un­justly used when we had given no Offence, what are we to look for when the worst of Crimes shall be laid to our Charge? If our Religion [...] [...]ear lost, our Laws and Liberties invaded, when all the Obligations of the Earth were upon the Prince to protect them, how utterly must all be lost, when the Resent­ments of so late Affronts, shall expose us to all the direful Effects of an ungoverned Zeal, and enraged Revenge?

But besides, How are we to expect that such a Revolution should be brought about? I am very confident England and Scotland, will never be willing to afford so great a Strength as is sufficient for such an Enterprize; some hot-headed Men may assist a stronger Party from Abroad, but they will never undertake to do it alone: No, no, we plainly see it's an Irish and French Power must do this; thence Men, Money, and Arms must come: this is so certain, that I do not believe any Man in the Nation so bereft of Sense, as to expect it any other way. And now what a Train of Miseries this Dragons-Tail draws after it, is not easy either to be thought or exprest: if ever such a dismal Calamity should befal us, we shall want ano­ther Jeremiah to write the Lamentations of our Judah and Jerusalem. I do not think that ever any Nation under Heaven was exposed to a more barbarous Desolation, than this poor Na­tion must be upon such an unhappy Change. How hath the French King used his own Subjects, to whom by the Oaths of God, upon his Soul, he owed all Protection? and if so cruel at Home, what are we Strangers to expect from his Armies, but all the Outrages that attend an insulting Conquest, of an Enemy, who hath resolved our Ruine, and sworn the Extirpa­tion of our Religion? If the cutting us off from being a Peo­ple should be the price of it; what are we to expect, whose unhappy Connivance hath occasioned all his Greatness, and whose Strength and Riches, are the Shears that now clips his Wings, from soaring to that height of Universal Empire, he so vainly and proudly grasps at? And the Truth is, this is a great Misery, that upon such a Change the Crown of Eng­land is most likely to devolve, not from King William to King James, but from King William to King Lewis of France; which the great God of Heaven avert. We have heard of Princes sposled of their Dominions by that King, but never could hear yet of any Prince restored by him. Can it possibly enter into the Thoughts of any reasonable Man, that the King of France will employ his Forces by Sea and Land, and spend his Treasures, in conquering of these Kingdoms, and then quietly deliver them up to another to possess? who himself labours so deeply of the Dropsy of enlarging his Dominions, that neither Faith of Treaties, Laws of Nations, Oath of God, [Page 31] nor the sence of common Equity and Justice, could ever yet bind him, from making the most unjust Encroachments upon his Neighbours wherever he could. And this is the more to be considered, because it's very easy to believe that the Popish Clergy of England would be willing enough it should be so, King Lewis being more able to maintain his Conquest, than King James can ever be supposed to be to maintain his Posses­sion, and their Security; and if the Popish Clergy may justly be supposed to become so indifferent in this case, it's easy to foresee, how the Laity of that Persuasion might be induced to a Satisfaction, since these so slavishly, and indeed so brutishly, hang their Consciences at those Mens Girdles; so that upon the whole, King Lewis is like to be the only Gainer, altho I am far from thinking that they who make this noise amongst us, aim at any such thing, yet it is worth their while seriously to consider, whether it will lye in their Power to prevent or help it.

As for the Irish, their Carriage to Protestants in King Charles the First's Time, and now to the Protestants at this very in­stant, is more than sufficient to satisfy us what Measures we are to expect from them; their natural Barbarity, their constant Aversion to the English Nation, their thirst after a Reprisal upon Protestants Estates, to make up the pretended Damages they have sustained, their ignorant and blind Zeal for a rooted Superstition, are too much to convince us, with what Intentions they must invade us; and what are like to be the Effects of their barbarous Cruelty? In a word, it's Papists are certainly to be employed to do this grand Feat, who will be sure to give the Protestants, that shall be so unwise as to assist them, the same Thanks that Queen Mary gave those of Suffolk; that the King of France hath given his Prote­stants; and that the late King James did so lately give the Church of England; they will find, at last, to their Cost, the Effects of that unalterable Maxim amongst them, That no Faith is to be kept with Hereticks.

But then how is it possible for us, without the highest con­cern in the World, to represent to our selves the Consequen­ces [Page 32] of such a Change, with relation to their present Majesties, and the Princess Ann of Denmark? I am very loth to in­sist too long upon this, its so extreamly Tragical; Is this the Gratitude we owe to the most magnanimous, couragious, and charitable Undertaking, that ever was, to rescue three Nations out of the Jaws of Popery and Slavery? Can we find in our Heart to expose our great Deliverer to so much Danger in his Person, and Ruine in his For­tune, who so readily ventured Life and Fortune for our Good? Can we so willingly deprive our selves of all our Hopes reposed in these Protestant Branches of the Royal Family, as for ever to render them uncapable of doing us any further Kindness, or affording us any further Prote­ction? Have we so little sense of the most steadfast Con­stancy, and the unmovable Fidelity of these great Persons, to the Religion and Interest of these Nations, which could never be byaffed by the Authority of a King and Father, nor shaken by the violent Temptations, and As­saults upon their Constancy? Who by their fixed Reso­lutions to adhere to our Interests, had the worst of Arts used to deseat them of their just Rights; for would they have but complyed with the Designs projected against us, I dare say neither they nor we had ever been troubled with a Prince of Wales. Can we expect in another De­luge of Misery, to have another Prince of Orange, so suc­cessfully and miraculously to draw us out of it: No, no, it's to be hoped the Nation will never be prevailed upon to incur the Guilt of such Ingratitude to Persons we owe our Religion, Laws and Liberties to: We will never do that which will so justly expose us to the Censures of the World, and render us unworthy, in any Circumstances, of any Foreign Assistance, so utterly inconsistent with the Safety of those who afford it. In a Word, we will be so just to our Selves, as not to entail Popery and Bondage to our Posterity; for if we lose these great Persons, where can we fix our hopes of any Relief?

Can we likewise, without Astonishment, think upon the Condition of Lords and Commons, in this present Parlia­ment, [Page 33] in case of any such Change of Affairs, without Horror? Have we chosen so many worthy Patriots, to re­present us there, only to expose them to the greatest Mis­chiefs? Have they been so faithful to re-settle us into a most happy Condition, by securing our Religion, Laws, and Liberties, to be left at last to the Fury and Malice of Popish Vengeance? Did the Famous Nobility and Ge­nerous Gentry of this Kingdom, venture all for the Secu­rity of the Nation, to no other purpose, than to lose Honour, Estate, Life, and all, for their Zeal to their Re­ligion, and Love to their Country? Surely as we cannot but believe, that this must be the Consequence of such an unhappy Change, with relation to the Nobility and Gentry of this Kingdom; so it's not to be doubted but that all England will conceive a just Indignation, against such Ingratitude, and will apprehend themselves obliged to espouse their Interest cordially and unanimously, who have so wisely, and with so much Courage, secured to us all Things capable of our utmost Esteem.

In a word, when we seriously consider the great Dan­ger the Protestant Interest is exposed to all over Europe, that nothing less is intended, than the rooting out of that vile pestilent Northern Heresy, as the Enemies of our Holy Religion are pleased to call it; I hope we will think more than once upon it, before we contribute so highly, to the utter Subversion of the Protestant Religion in general every where, as the cutting off of these three Kingdoms from it must necessarily occasion. It's well known that these Churches of Great Britain and Ireland, and more particularly that of England, have been justly look'd upon, as the Bulwark of the Protestant Religion in general; and therefore the Papists have used their utmost Fraud in un­dermining of her, and their utmost Violence in raising up their Batteries against her, assuring themselves, if they could but once gain this Bulwark, they would quickly, and with Ease make themselves Masters of the whole Fort; it's well known, that the French King durst never have used his Pro­testant Subjects, as he both perfidiously and barbarously did, [Page 34] if England had had the liberty to have espoused their Interest, and it was justly look'd upon as a wonderful Thing, that the King of England, should be declaring himself so much for Liberty of Conscience here, and yet on the other side of the Water, the French King should be using all sorts of Cruelties upon those of our Religion wholly to extirpate it, and yet King James should never become their Intercessor, nor declare to that King his just Resentments of his Acting so contrary to his constant Principles, especially when his using his Subjects so could not but strike all his own English Subjects into an Alarm, and put them upon sadly divining what in all proba­bility was like to be their own Fate in time. Why have the Protestant Princes and States entered into so strong a Confede­racy, looking upon their present Majesties as the Chief support of it, but upon the certain knowledg they had, of a Design on Foot to ruin them? and thus it may be easily conjectur­ed, what must be the Danger of the Protestant Religion a­broad, if England be rendred uncapable of giving Assistance to its Professors; nay more, if the strength of England be made use of to promote their Destruction. But its obvious this must be the result of the return of Popery and Slavery amongst us; so that upon the whole Matter, if ever such a Judgment from Heaven, should overtake us, as the return of this unclean Spirit of Popery, and its Usher Slavery, among us, we cannot but ex­pect that not only Seven, but a Legion of Miseries worse then we have felt, must return with it, sufficient to make our last Case worse then our first.

The Case being so plainly thus, is it possible that Men can ever be in love with such Miseries as these, not only upon themselves, but upon their Innocent Posterity. For the Word is Now or Never, and Now and Ever. And that we may never feel the Mischiefs of the last part of this Sentence, I hope we will take Care to Secure the first, that because not now there­fore they never shall prevail upon us. I beseech you, Gentle­men, who seem to be so willing to bereave us of our present Tranquillity, and to contribute what in you lies to bring a Deluge of Miseries upon us, in which you your selves must certainly be overwhelmed, if ever you be truly Zealous for, [Page 35] and faithful to the Truth of God profest in this Nation; I pray you to consider with your Selves, that if your Desires should succeed, and you should be aiding and assisting to it, what late Repentance and Horror must seize upon you, while you shall sadly then, when it is to late, reflect upon that De­struction you have brought upon your Country and Fellow-Country-Men, and it's not to be doubted, but at last upon your Selves too!

But if Men will continue obstinate in Mischief, and are re­solved to use their utmost Endeavours to rush us again into Confusions, and to set all in a Flame, it's to be hoped his Ma­jesty will have such a special regard to the Welfare of these Nations, in which that of his own, and all the Protestant Branches of the Royal Family, is so closely wrapt up, that he will most diligently inspect into the wicked Practices, and most villanous Designs of such ill-minded-Men; and indeed they ought betimes to bethink themselves, what the whole Kingdom must think those Men worthy of, who are Haters of their Peace, and Contrivers of their Destruction: for what ever Eyes they look with, and whatsoever Prospective-Glass they make use of, they must pardon us, who can see nothing but lasting Misery, attending their Projects and Designs: and therefore however they may hope his Majestys Clemency (which by their undutiful Language, bold and ungrateful Speeches, and insolent Attempts, in the Face of a Nation, resolved to continue their Happiness, by most constantly adhering to his Majesties Interests) they have already too much tryed; yet they are Fools to imagine his Majesty will suffer his innate Lenity and Gentleness, to be the greatest Cruelty to his faithful Subjects, by extending it to Persons obstinately bent upon his and their Ruin; nor can they dream, that a whole Nation, now secured of all that's dear to them, will much longer bear the bantering Affronts, and not only undutiful, but even Treasonable Practices of such Men who so carry themselves, as if they longed for nothing more than our Destruction.

And just as I was writing this, came to my Hands that Pa­per, pretended to be a Declaration from King James the Se­cond [Page 36] to all his Loving Subjects in the Kingdom of England. Perhaps there was never a greater piece of Insolence acted in any Nation, than dispersing of these in a Kingdom, where there is a King de facto upon the Throne; and the Resentment the House of Commons has shewed, is a sufficient proof of what I have just now said; but for the Paper it self, it carries all the Marks of Forgery that possibly can be: for would ever the late King tell his Subjects of England, of his kind usage to his Protestant Subjects in Ireland, who are so infallibly convinc'd of the contrary? For why should so many of the Bishops and Clergy, so many People of all Conditions fly out of that King­dom, even since his arrival there, and leave their Estates and Habitations, and cast themselves upon the Charity of England for a present Subsistance, if this Libel were true? Why, even at this very Time, do they embrace all opportunities of Transporting themselves, into this Island, with great Joy and Thankfulness? If Protestant Persons, Fortunes, Reli­gion, were in so much Safety, what makes the Protestants of Londonderry, &c. rather venture their Lives in their own Defence, and endure the Perils and hardship of a dangerous Siege, if the Protestants there were in so great Security? Surely the Forgers of this Libel imagine it possible to put out our very Eyes, and to hood-wink us to Destruction. Can we ever think that Protestants will ever be safe, or apprehend themselves so, where the French domineer, at the rate they must certainly be presumed to do in Ireland? For it's very reasonable to conclude that seeing Men, Ammunition, Money, and whatsoever is necessary for War, cometh from the French, that King will, nay, must rule the Roast. We will therefore believe our own Intelligence much better then this piece of Forgery, viz. that the very Papists of Ireland, are so appre­hensive of the French Tyranny, that they begin to wish for the mild Government of Protestant England, rather than ly under the insupportable Tyranny of Popish France. As for the large Promises made to England upon a surrender these Forgerers invite us to, I have said enough already, that Popish Faith can never be more truned by Protestants, and we are very well assured, that if it were possible for the Host of Heaven to come down upon Earth, to be Guarantee for [Page 37] the Fidelity of Papists to Protestants in any Treaties made with them relating to Religion; they would notwithstanding, upon the first safe Opportunity, violate them; and if these blessed Spirits should take upon them the Desence of the Guarantee and the Honour of it, they would presently disown their Patronage, and deprive them of the Honour of their being their Intercessors, and charge them with being Fa­vourers of the vilest Hereticks; for we would desire but one Instance wherein ever Protestants were used kindly by Papists where ever it was in their Power to use them otherwise.

Go on then, Great Sir, in the perfect­ing of that, which your Majesty hath so gloriously begun, and so magnanimously undertaken, and have had the assistance of the God of Truth, to the Joy of these Na­tions, to the Despair and Confusion of your Enemies, to the Security of the Protestant World; your Majestie hath the Hearts, the Hands, the Purses of your People at your Devotion; you have a Parliament, who having engaged whatsoever is worthy of Men of Honour, of Fortune, of Religion for your Assistance, will never be wanting to enable you to compleat Yours, Theirs, Ours, nay Europe's Happiness; You have the greatest Security of the Protection of that God, who is the Disposer of Kingdoms, by whom Kings reign, who hath hitherto blessed you with Success to a Miracle, You have, in fine, the best and most Glorious [Page 38] Cause, even the preserving of these Nati­ons (to which God, and Nature, and a Ge­neral consent of your People, have given you such a close Interest and near Relation) from all the Calamities that could befall either the Souls, Bodies, or Fortunes of Us and our Posterity. This I am sure is the hearty Prayer of all that are lovers either of our Civil or Religious Rights, and our secure, peaceable, and lasting enjoyment of them, that your Enemies may be clothed with shame, but upon your Head the Crown may long Flourish.