of the Constitution The Constitution and Laws thereof being agreed upon and it being impossible for Humane Prudence to foresee all Accidents which must be provided for therefore as they arise the Administration necessarily must lie in these two Things The making farther Laws subordinate still to those fore-priz'd as occasion requires and seeing them executed that is in Legislation and Judgment The One is the Business of the Supreme Authority the Other of the Inferior Magistrates or Officers and Executioners of the same according to that Fundamental Agreement made by the People Our Government now as constituted in order to this Administration is we know a mixt Government A Government is known to be pure or mixt by the placing the Supreme Authority If the People place it singly in the King or singly in the Nobles or singly in the People then it is a pure Monarchy Aristocracy or Democracy But when it is placed in all Three it is a mixt Government as Ours is where there are no Laws in the Administration made but by King Lords and Commons These Things I pursue only so far as is necessary to the reaching my main Purpose and the leading me to a right discernment of the present Condition into which we are now brought in regard to this said Government The Supreme Power of the Nation being placed in a Parliament which is a Corporation of King Lords and Commons that is the Supreme Authority residing in King Lords and Commons as One Corporation there does appear at this Conjuncture a Dissolution of the Government A Dissolution manifestly as to the Exercise of it This Appearance does arise from the opening of the last Scene For the King being now gone gone from his People and departing from his Government that One Corporation we speak of is broke so that there remains now no subject for that supreme Authority It being evident that a Parliament wherein an Essential point of our Constitution does consist cannot now be Assembled And the Providence of God it self hath extraordinarily determin'd our Case If a King dies he hath a Successor and the Right devolves upon Him but whilst the King lives he hath no Successor and the Right remaining in Him and no Other and he being divided from his Lords and Commons the Subject of the Supreme Power or this One Corporation whereof the King is a Chief Essential and Constituent Part does perfectly cease and must necessarily cause a Dissolution I choose not to found this upon what does more convince Others which comes to this Account The King by his frequent Malversation in the Government and rooted Design of subverting our Religious and Civil Rights for the Introduction of Arbitrary Power and Popery which being aggravated by such an Endeavour as the destroying that Share in the Government which every Commoner hath that hath Right to choose his Representative in Parliament by his Garbling Corporations and so evacuating this Liberty in effect and by such an endeavour also as the exterminating his Protestant Subjects seeing that Religion which he would have introduced is such as by the Principles of it if it comes into Domination must do so to all Hereticks and thereupon may he be look'd on no longer as Rex but Hostis and Hostis Publicus Besides the subjecting us to a Foreign Jurisdiction and the very changing the Government by that indefinite Dispensing Power over the Laws as was carved to him by his Judges from Regal to Despotical It is judged by them that he is fallen thereupon from his Royal Dignity and that the Universality thereby have Warrant not only to defend themselves against him but by Vertue of that Sanction which is tacitly implyed in the Laws of the Constitution to proceed on to take the Forfeiture He hath made of his Government and Depose Him For it is a fond thing think they to imagine any Laws without a Sanction and impossible there should be any other Sanction in Treaties between Free Nations or between a Free People and the Governour they set over Themselves than Force to be used by the Parties concern'd there being no Third Party on Earth to appeal to in such Cases However this be it being taken for granted That the Government is dissolved and I suppose upon that preceding Account of the One Corporation I say being broke the Supreme Authority that lay before in the Three as united in One does escheat or fall to the Community who must therefore choose a new Subject for that Power and it lies at their Discretion to place it in what Subject they please They may lodg it in the Lords and Commons alone without a King if they think that Government best the matter lies altogether upon their Agreement and Consent I suppose it most likely that they will agree to place it again in a Monarch Lords and Commons the Person only left at Choice and Care had to prevent all Danger of Law in the Case according to the Ancient Constitution Though what Man can know the Mind of a Nation when once come together if he knows his own Mind There is one thing we have now Opportunity to obtain which we can never recover again if it be lost and that is what His Highness the Prince of Orange hath made one of his two Designs The Delivery of the People from Slavery which can never be done effectually and radically but upon this Advantage The delivering us from Popery is contained in the setling our Religion and that being a Work of great length is the business more properly of a Parliament but this is a thing must be done by the Community and consequently by thofe that are the Representatives of it a Convention so called in regard to a higher Capacity hereunto and not a Parliament for that represents the People not as in a Community but as in a Common-wealth where there is pars imperans as well as subdita which now is not A Parliament makes Laws for the Administration but the People as in a Community make Laws for the Constitution I would therefore humbly offer it to the Consideration of those who shall meet as Members of this Convention That in order to the Effect premised they do but agree and pitch upon this one certain Point of good Policy that where they place the Supream Authority they lay also the Rights or Properties of it that is the Iura Majestatis Majestas being Maxima Potestas all together The Rights of Majesty or the Supream Power are mainly these The first is Legislation or making Laws and this undoubtedly lies in a Parliament The next is the Power of raising Arms or Armies or the Militia the Power of making Peace and War or the Power of the Sword which is necessary to maintain those Laws The third is a Power over our Estates or the Purse or raising Mony which must maintain the Sword. A fourth is the Power of choosing Magistrates to rule Us according to these Laws such as Judges and Sheriffs
with Hereticks do watch for all Advantages and Opportunities to destroy them being commanded thereunto by their Councils and the principles of their Church and instigated by their Priests The History of the several Wars of the Barons of England in the Reigns of King Iohn Henry the Third Edward the Second and Richard the Second in Defence of their Liberties and for redressing the many Grievances under which the Kingdom groaâ—'d is a full representation of the Infidelity and Treachery of those Kings and of the Invalidity of Treaties with them how many Grants Amendments and fair Promises had they from those Princes and yet afterwards how many Ambuscades and Snares were laid to destroy those glorious Patriots of Liberty what Violations of Compacts and Agreements and what havock was made upon all Advantages and Opportunities that those false Kings could take Read their Histories in our several Chronicles FINIS A FOURTH Collection of Papers Relating to the Present Juncture of Affairs in England VIZ. I. The Prince of Orange's first Declaration from the Hague Octob. 10. 1688. With his Highnesses Additional Declaration from the Hague Octob. 24. 88. Corrected by the Original Copy printed there II. The Bishop of Rochester's Letter to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners III. The Prince of Orange's Speech to the Gentlemen of Somersetshire and Dorsetshire coming to joyn his Highness at Exeter Nov. 15. 88. IV. A true Copy of a Paper delivered by the Earl of Devonshire to the Mayor of Darby Nov. 20. 1688. V. An Address of the Mayor c. of Lyn-Regis in Norfolk to the Duke of Norfolk And the Duke's Answer Decemb. 6. 88. VI. A Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in and about the City assembled at Guild hall Decemb. 11. 1688. VII A Paper delivered to the Prince of Orange by the Commissioners sent by his Majesty VIII The King's Letter to the Earl of Feversham on his Majesties leaving White-hall with the Earl's Answer IX A Declaration of the Prince of Orange to the Commanders in Chief of the Dispersed Regiments Troops and Companies to keep them together in Order X. An Address of the Lieutenancy of London to the Pr. of Orange XI An Address of the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council of London to the Prince of Orange XII A Speech of Sir G. Treby on delivery of the City Address Licensed and Entred according to Order London printed and are to be sold by Rich. Ianeway in Queen's-head Court in Pater-Noster Row 1688. THE DECLARATION Of His HIGHNESS VVilliam Henry By the Grace of God PRINCE of ORANGE c. Of the Reasons inducing him to appear in Arms in the Kingdom of England for preserving of the Protestant Religion and for restoring the Laws and Liberties of England Scotland and Ireland IT is both certain and evident to all Men that the Publick Peace and Happiness of any State or Kingdom cannot be preserved where the Laws Liberties and Customs established by the Lawful Authority in it are openly Transgressed and Annulled More especially where the Alteration of Religion is endeavoured and that a Religion which is contrary to Law is endeavoured to be introduced Upon which those who are most immediately concerned in it are indispensably bound to endeavour to preserve and maintain the established Laws Liberties and Customs and above all the Religion and Worship of God that is established among them and to take such an effectual care that the Inhabitants of the said State or Kingdom may neither be deprived of their Religion nor of their Civil Rights Which is so much the more necessary because the Greatness and Security both of Kings Royal Families and of all such as are in Authority as well as the Happiness of their Subjects and People depend in a most especial manner upon the exact observation and maintenance of these their Laws Liberties and Customs Upon these Grounds it is that we cannot any longer forbear to declare That to our great regret we see that those Counsellors who have now the chief Credit with the King have overturned the Religion Laws and Liberties of those Realms and subjected them in all Things relating to their Consciences Liberties and Properties to Arbitrary Government and that not only by secret and indirect ways but in an open and undisguised manner Those Evil Counsellors for the advancing and colouring this with some plausible Pretexts did invent and set on foot the King 's Dispensing Power by virtue of which they pretend that according to Law he can Suspend and Dispense with the Execution of the Laws that have been enacted by the Authority of the King and Parliament for the Security and Happiness of the Subject and so have rendred those Laws of no effect Though there is nothing more certain than that as no Laws can be made but by the joint concurrence of King and Parliament so likewise Laws so enacted which secure the Publick Peace and Safety of the Nation and the Lives and Liberties of every Subject in it cannot be repealed or suspended but by the same Authority For though the King may pardon the Punishment that a Transgressor has incurred and to which he is condemned as in the Cases of Treason or Felony yet it cannot be with any colour of Reason inferred from thence that the King can entirely suspend the Execution of those Laws relating to Treason or Felony Unless it is pretended that he is clothed with a Despotick and Arbitrary Power and that the Lives Liberties Honours and Estates of the Subjects depend wholly on his good Will and Pleasure and are entirely subject to him which must infallibly follow on the King 's having a Power to suspend the Execution of the Laws and to dispense with them Those Evil Counsellors in order to the giving some credit to this strange and execrable Maxim have so conducted the Matter that they have obtained a Sentence from the Judges declaring that this Dispensing Power is a Right belonging to the Crown as if it were in the Power of the Twelve Judges to offer up the Laws Rights and Liberties of the whole Nation to the King to be disposed of by him Arbitrarily and at his Pleasure and expresly contrary to Laws enacted for the Security of the Subjects In order to the obtaining this Judgment those Evil Counsellors did before-hand examine secretly the Opinion of the Judges and procured such of them as could not in Conscience concur in so pernicious a Sentence to be turned out and others to be substituted in their Rooms till by the Changes which were made in the Courts of Judicature they at last obtained that Judgment And they have raised some to those Trusts who made open profession of the Popish Religion though those are by Law rendred incapable of all such Employments It is also manifest and notorious that as his Majesty was upon his coming to the Crown received and acknowledged by all the Subjects of England Scotland and Ireland as their King without the least Opposition though he made then
sometimes even very anciently when upon extraordinary Occasions they met out of Course a Precept an Edict or Sanction is mentioned to have issued from the King But the times and the very place of their ordinary Meeting having been certain and determined in the very first and eldest times that we meet with any mention of such Assemblies which times are as ancient as any Memory of the Nation it self hence I infer that no Summons from the King can be thought to have been necessary in those Days because it was altogether needless Secondly The Succession to the Crown did not in those Days nor till of late Years run in a course of lineal Succession by right of Inheritance But upon the Death of a Prince those Persons of the Realm that composed the then Parliament assembled in order to the choosing of another That the Kingdom was then Elective though one or other of the Royal Blood was always chosen but the next in lineal Succession very seldom is evident from the Genealogies of the Saxon Kings from an old Law made at Calchuyth appointing how and by whom Kings shall be chosen and from many express and particular Accounts given by our old Historians of such Assemblies held for electing of Kings Now such Assemblies could not be summon'd by any King and yet in Conjunction with the King that themselves set up they made Laws binding the King and all the Realm Thirdly After the Death of King William Rufus Robert his elder Brother being then in the Holy Land Henry the youngest Son of King William the first procur'd an Assembly of the Clergy and People of England to whom he made large Promises of his good Government in case they would accept of him for their King and they agreeing that if he would restore to them the Laws of King Edward the Confessor then they would consent to make him their King He swore that he would do so and also free them from some Oppressions which the Nation had groan'd under in his Brothers and his Fathers time Hereupon they chose him King and the Bishop of London and the Archbishop of York set the Crown upon his Head which being done a Confirmation of the English Liberties pass'd the Royal Assent in that Assembly the same in Substance though not so large as King Iohn's and King Henry the thirds Magna Charta's afterwards were Fourthly After that King's Death in such another Parliament King Stephen was elected and Mawd the Express put by though not without some Stain of Perfidiousness upon all those and Stephen himself especially who had sworn in her Father's Life-time to acknowledg her for their Sovereign after his Decease Fifthly In King Richard the firsts time the King being absent in the Holy Land and the Bishop of Ely then his Chancellor being Regent of the Kingdom in his Absence whose Government was intolerable to the People for his Insolence and manifold Oppressions a Parliament was convened at London at the Instance of Earl Iohn the King's Brother to treat of the great and weighty Affairs of the King and Kingdom in which Parliament this same Regent was depos'd from his Government and another set up viz. the Arch-Bishop of Roan in his stead This Assembly was not conven'd by the King who was then in Palestine nor by any Authority deriv'd from him for then the Regent and Chancellor must have call'd them together but they met as the Historian says expresly at the Instance of Earl Iohn And yet in the Kings Absence they took upon them to settle the publick Affairs of the Nation without him Sixthly When King Henry the 3 d. died his eldest Son Prince Edward was then in the Holy Land and came not home till within the third Year of his Reign yet immediately upon the Father's Death all the Prelates and Nobles and four Knights for every Shire and four Burgesses for every Borough assembled together in a great Council and setled the Government till the King should return made a new Seal and a Chancellor c. I infer from what has been said that Writs of Summons are not so essential to the being of Parliaments but that the People of England especially at a time when they cannot be had may by Law and according to our old Constitution assemble together in a Parliamentary way without them to treat of and settle the publick Affairs of the Nation And that if such Assemblies so conven'd find the Throne vacant they may proceed not only to set up a Prince but with the Assent and Concurrence of such Prince to transact all publick Business whatsoever without a new Election they having as great Authority as the People of England can delegate to their Representative II. The Acts of Parliaments not formal nor legal in all their Circumstances are yet binding to the Nation so long as they continue in force and not liable to be questioned as to the Validity of them but in subsequent Parliaments First The two Spencers Temp. Edvardi Secundi were banished by Act of Parliament and that Act of Parliament repealed by Dures Force yet was the Act of Repeal a good Law till it was annull'd 1 Ed. 3. Secondly Some Statutes of 11 Rich. 2. and Attainders thereupon were repealed in a Parliament held Anno 21. of that King which Parliament was procur'd by forc'd Elections and yet the Repeal stood good till such time as in 1 Henry 4. the Statutes of 11 Rich. 2. were revived and appointed to be firmly held and kept Thirdly The Parliament of 1 Hen. 4. consisted of the same Knights Citizens and Burgesses that had served in the then last dissolved Parliament and those Persons were by the King's Writs to the Sheriffs commanded to be returned and yet they passed Acts and their Acts tho never confirmed continue to be Laws at this Day Fourthly Queen Mary's Parliament that restored the Pope's Supremacy was notoriously known to be pack'd insomuch that it was debated in Queen Elizabeth's time whether or no to declare all their Acts void by Act of Parliament That course was then upon some prudential Considerations declined and therefore the Acts of that Parliament not since repealed continue binding Laws to this Day The Reason of all this is Because no inferior Courts have Authority to judg of the Validity or Invalidity of the Acts of such Assemblies as have but so much as a Colour of Parliamentary Authority The Acts of such Assemblies being entred upon the Parliament-Roll and certified before the Judges of Westminster-Hall as Acts of Parliament are conclusive and binding to them because Parliaments are the only Judges of the Imperfections Invalidities Illeâ—â—lities c. of one another The Parliament that call'd in King Charles the second was not assembled by the King 's Writ and yet they made Acts and the Royal Assent was had to them many of which indeed were afterwards confirmed but not all and those that had no Confirmation are undoubted Acts of Parliament without it and have ever
since obtained as such Hence I infer that the present Convention may if they please assume to themselves a Parliamentary Power and in Conjunction with such King or Queen as they shall declare may give Laws to the Kingdom as a legal Parliament A LETTER to a Member of the CONVENTION SIR I Hear you are elected a Member of this next Convention and therefore expect to see you very suddenly in Town but I caâ— tell you my mind more freely in Writing and you may think better of it when you see it before you and therefore I have rather chose to give you the trouble of this Paper than to leave all to a personal Conference at our next Meeting I will not dispuâ—e with you about what is past or what is to come it is too late to do the first and as for the second whatever becomes of other Arguments Interest is most apt to prevail and therefore all that I beg of you is to take care that you do not mistake your own and the Nations Interest in a matter of such high Concernment There is no less Affair before you than the Fate of Princes and of three Kingdoms which requires the most calm mature and deliberate Advice and yet when you come to London you will find such Distractions and Divisions in Mens Counsels that all the threatning Dangers of Popery were not a more formidable prospect to Considering Men all old Animosities are revived and new ones fomented every day some are visibly acted by Ambition others by Revenge the Dissenter is very busie to undermine the Church and the Commonwealths Man to subvert Monarchy and the Lord have Mercy upon us all I doubt not but you will readily confess that it is the common Interest to have things settled upon such a bottom as is most like to last and then I am sure you must consult both Law and Conscience in the matter and keep to your old Establishment as near as you can for when there are so many Distempers in Mens Minds and such contrary Interests it is no time to innovate it is no time to lay new Foundations when there are frequent Earthquakes which will not give them time to settle The Revolutions of State have been so quick and sudden of late that all prudent Men will be cautions how they try Experiments which are commonly dangerous and uncertain but especially in matters of Government which depend on the good liking of free and moral Agents and when so many Hundred Thousands are to be satisfied you can never guess at the prevailing Opinion by the major Vote of a Convention Let us then consider what is most likely to give the most general satisfaction to the Nation for that I am sure is most likely to be lasting and because you may be a Stranger to these Matters yet I will give you an Account of the different Projects now on foot as well as I can learn them Some are for sending to the King and Treating with him to return to his Government under such Legal Restraints as shall give security to the most jealous Persons for the preservation of their Liberties Laws and Religion and if he will not consent to this to make the next Heir Regent Others are for declaring the Crown forfeited or demised and proclaiming the Princess of Orange Others will have the Government dissolved and begin all de novo and make the Prince of Orange King or Crown him and the Princess together and postpone the Title of the Princess Ann till after the Prince's Death if he survive the Princess I shall not pretend to tell you which of these I should prefer were it Res integra for the Question is not which you and I should like best but which will be the firmest Foundation for the Peace and Settlement of these Kingdoms 1. As for the first though it be horribly decried and such Men foolishly exposed as Friends to Popery and Arbitrary Power yet I could never meet with any Man yet who had the face to reject all Treaty with the King upon any other pretence but that it was in vain that it is impossible he should give any Security to the Nation that he would Govern by Law which is so ridiculous a pretence that it will satisfy no Body but those who are resolved that he shall never return For as little as I am versed in this matter I could frame such Laws as should put it utterly out of the King's Power to invade our Liberties or Religion However I am sure we should have thought our selves very secure would the King have called a Free Parliament and given them liberty to have made what Laws they pleaseâ— and that which would have given such general satisfaction before had it been granted I suspect should it be now granted and refused that would give as general dissatisfaction nay the very refusal to Treat will be thought such a scandalous neglect of our Duty to a Sovereign Prince and give such Jealousies to People that those who oppose it are only afraid that the King should comply as will be the foundation of universal Discontents which will shew themselves upon the first occasion It is certain would the Convention Treat with the King either they would agree or they would not agree if they could not agree upon the proposal of reasonable Securities this would satisfie Multitudes of People that they had tried if they did agree this would give universal satisfaction and there were an happy end of all our Troubles But now let us suppose that part of the Convention should prevail which is against Treating with the King and for deposing or setting him aside without more ado let us consider what is like to be the most probable Consequence of this Iâ— is certain this fundamental Change in the Government cannot be made by any Legal Authority for the Convention will not pretend to any such Legal Power and there can be no Parliament without a King and a King whose whole Authority depends upon a Convention that has no such Authority is but in a weak state as to Civil Right No Man will think himself bound in Conscience to obey him and when every Mans Conscience is free let such a Prince beware of Epidemical Discontents And let you and I calmly consider what Discontents may probably arise upon such a Juncture 1. First then All those who think themselves bound by their Oath of Allegiance to defend the King's Person Crown and Dignity who wonder at Men of Law who talk of a Forfeiture or Demise of the Crown while the King lives and flies out of his Kingdoms only for the safety of his Person and because he will not trust himself in the power of his Enemies I say all such Persons will be greatly discontented at Deposing the King and will never own any other King while their own King to whom they have sworn Allegiance lives and tho you should suppose such Conscientious Men to be very few
place her Father in his Throne again This is not impossible for Vertue is greater than a Throne For my part I think you will put a very hard thing upon so excellent a Lady and I pray God give her Grace to resist the Temptation A Regency is more tolerable because a Nation must be governed and none so proper to govern it as the next Heir but I should think none who expect to wear a Crown should countenance Subjects in deposing their King nor accept of a Crown upon such Terms as to take it off of a Father's Head It is a dangerous thing for a Prince who has a Title to the Crown to own that the Crown may be forfeited or demised by such a withdrawing if this be not so the Princess has no Right to the possession of the Crown yet and if it be so her Crown is worth a great deal less than formerly it was especially if she own this Secret by accepting the Crown which her Ancestors always concealed and which the best Subjects of England would not believe before what they may do after this I know not Thirdly The next Design I verily believe without the knowledg or thought of the Prince who has too great a Mind to think of any thing which in the opinion of any wise Man could stain and fully his Glory is to give the Crown to the Prince of Orange for it must be a Gift if any thing for he has no immediate Title to it that I know of This is upon a pretence that the Government is dissolved and therefore we must begin de novo which is very ridiculous when the King is still alive and the Laws in as full force as ever only the Regular Administration of Government at present interrupted by the King's absence but this is not the worst of it for it is a dangerous pretence too especially to Men of Quality and Esâ—â—tes as you are for if the Government be dissolved our Laws are dissolved and Honour and Property dissolved with them and then I doubt the Mobile will come in for their share in the new Division of the Lands and set up for Men of as good Quality as any for if our Laws are gone we return to a state of Nature in which all Men are equal and all things common this I believe you will not be for for the Reason above-mentioned If then the Laws continue the Government is not dissolved and the Crown is not a Gift but an Inheritance still as much as your Estate is and then the Prince of Orange cannot have it in his own Right because his own Princess and the Princess Anne are before him consider then what the consequence of this Project would be 1. This alters the essential Constitution of the English Government by changing an Hereditary into an Elective Monarchy a thing which I know some Men are very fond of for then the next occasion they can find to quarrel with their Prince they may with as much ease turn it into a Common-Wealth for when the Crown is at the Peoples disposal they may if they please keep it to themselves 2. This will entangle all Men of Conscience in new Difficulties for the Oath of Allegiance does not only bind us to the King but to his Heirs and Successors which must be understood of the next lineal Heir where there is no Authority to alter it and whatever a Parliament may be thought to have with the Authority and Consent of the King no Man pretends that a Convention of the Estates has any Legal Authority to do it I should be as heartily glad as any Man to see the Prince of Orange legally seated on the English Throne but these are Difficulties I cannot break through Thus I have given you my hasty Thoughts and pray God to direct you I am Yours POSTSCRIPT THere is one thing more I would beg of you that the Story of French League to cut Protestants Throats in England maâ— be wâ—ll examined for this did more to drive the King out of the Nation than the Prince's Army and if this should prove a Sham as some who pretend to know say it is it seems at least to be half an Argument to invite the King back again In short remember you are a Convention not a Parliament and therefore nothing can give Authority to what you do but the good liking of the People and as Necessity only can justify your meeting without the King's Writs so I hope you will take care to do nothing but what will justify it self to God the King and your Country An ANSWER to the Author of the LETTER to a Member of the CONVENTION Reverend Sir YOur Name your Quality your Religion and your Design in Publishing this Letter are wholly unknown to me but the confident Assertion pag. 3.6.16 That you are sure it can never be Answered sounds so like a Son or rather a Father of the Infallible Church that it has provoked me if not to answer yet at least to reflect upon some Passages in this Magisterial Composure § 2. Whatever becomes of other Arguments Interest is most likely to prevail You Sir suppose your Parliament-Man in these words to be one who will regard no Arguments from Justice Reason Religion or the Laws of God or Man Interest is the only thing which is likely to prevail an excellent Complement to a Parliament-Man but it goes higher yet and takes in the Majority of the States for no one Man shall ever determine these great things § 3. You tell him That All the threatning Dangers of Popery were not a more formidable Prospect to considering Men than the present Distractions and Divisionâ— Now surely this is a very bold and daring stroke but that I am certain these pensive thoughtful Men are not either very numerous or very considerable otherwise the few of the Church of England that are over-thoughtful in this Point deserve much Compassion because they disquiet themselves and others out of pure tenderness of Conscience and an over-great Loyalty but then there is no danger to be apprehended from them and they will in time satisfy their own Scruples and in the interim I doubt not infinitely more Men dread the Dangers of Popery even to this Day than all the Common-wealth-Men Dissenters ambitious and revengeful Wretches which you have so artfully mustered up to fright the Country Esquire with can over-ballance Strange it is in the mean time that the Dangers of Popery which last October appeared so formidable should in so short a time vanish or rather dwindle into nothing But God by the Ministry of the Prince of Orange and his Friends has brought this about In the rest of that Section I agree with you and approve of it The two next Sections being only a representation of the different Parties of Men now upon the Stage I leave as I find them § 6. Though the Opinion of those who are for sending to the King and treating with him
to return to his Government under such legal Restraints as shall give security to the most jealous Persons for the preservation of their Laws Liberties and Religion iâ— horribly decryed c. yet the only Reason against it is because it is vain Now Sir that Reason is so very good that it may perhaps justily that dreadful Consequence you so shrink at for though I do not doubt but you are a wonderful Legislator yet if Twenty wiser Men than you were joined with you to frame these new Laws yet let but a Popish Prince have the Supreme Executive Power and the Legal Prerogatives and he will break through all your Restrictions with wonderful Facility as we have seen by Experience But then if you leave him the Name and take away the Power of a King you set up a Common-wealth immediately which will not end with your Popish Prince but there will be stickling to keep all things in the same State in the following Reign of what Religion soever the Prince is which was the Reason why the Limitations offered by Charles II. in 1679 were rejected And let it be remember'd also how well that Prince that was supposed to be a Protestant kept his Word and the Solemn League and Covenant which he solemnly with Hands and Eyes lifted up to Heaven swore to observe in Scotland c. Well but we would have thought our selves very secure if the King would hâ—ve called a Free Parliament Yes Sir if he would have call'd it Freely so that it had been the production of his Will without Force but Sir it is notorious he was resolved the Parliament should either not be free or not meet and if your Memory will not serve you to recall the virulent Reflection on the humble Petition presented by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal the 17th of November last in which the Author tells us That the summoning a Parliament 〈◊〉 is so far from being the only way to preseâ—ve His Majesty and the Kingdom that it will be one of the principal causes of much Misery to the Kingdom c. and nothing would do then but driving the Prince of Orange out of the Kingdom with Force and Arms. Now I say Sir If you cannot remember this you shall never be trusted to frame Laws if I can help it There is another and a better Reason to refuse a Treaty than the fearing the King should comply Suppose that he should grant all that you can ask bating White-Hall the Reveâ—â—e the Title of King and the Right of calling Parliaments and making Peace and War What Security have we that he will acquiesce in this low restrained Estate Oaths Laws and Promises we had before but what did they signify Who shall be Guarantee what shall we do if he break out again In short quis eustodiet Custodes So that the many who desire a Treaty are desired to read the Enquiry into the presenâ— State of Affairs that they may not come into the Discipline of the severe Lady who has taught the Protestants in France and Piedmont a Lesson which England too must have gone through with if God and H. W. P. O. had not saved us But if the Convention should refuse to treat and Depose the King it would act without a Legal Power § 8. Why Sir here is no occasion to talk of a Deposition the King is gone of his own accord freely and they are only to consider whether we shall perish in a State of Anarchy reâ—al him and suffer over again all that is past and all that was intended but prevented or whether they shall recognize the next immediate Heir and enquire who that is Well but the next Heir it seems shall have small joy of it his whole Authority depending on a Convention that has no Authority In good time Will the Authority of this Prince when acknowledged depend on the Authority of the Convention Did Queen Elizabeth or King Iames I owe all their Authority to the Parliaments which recognized their respective Rights But no Man will think himself bound in Conscience to obey this Heir Have you Sir the keeping of all Mens Consciences or the knowledg of their Thoughts I can assure you mine is not in your custody § 9. All those who think themselves bound still by their Oath of Allegiance to defend the King's Person his Crown and Dignity c. will be greatly discontented Why Sir then they may go over into France and be admitted into his Guards and perhaps the generous Allowance given him by the French King will maintain them if their Heresie do not over-ballance their Loyalty and turn it into a Crime as it happened to the Hâ—gonots Well but they will never own any other whilst their own King lives Assuredly this is a wonderful Man if he could but as certainly inform us of the number as he can of the Thoughts and future Actions of these Loyalist's Well but if they should happen to be Persons of known Prudence Abilities Integrity Honesty though they were never so few and never so tame it would give a terrible stroke to this Toâ—tâ—ring Government Why Sir all or the greatest part of such Men in the Nation were a dreadful Body tho they were and ever will be few but Sir there must be a considerable Body of such Men first satisfied in the Convention a number without Doors are already satisfied and more will when the States have passed their Resolves and the remainder of the Men of this High Character who will still remain Discontented if they are any thing Peaceable though not over Tame will never be able to shock the most Tâ—â—tering Government in the World by their Examples how well soever he thinks of them Yet § 10. He endeavours to shew the number will not be small because many who joyned with the Prince are ashamed of what they have done and ask God pardon for is and are ready â—o undo it as far as they can Well Sir how many such do you know besides your self A List of these Men were worth the having and may perhaps be easily taken if one knew how to separate them from the rest however I should not fear greatly the terrible Shock of these wonderful Men till I had better information of their Numbers than you can possibly give us They were not willing to part with the King tho they were horribly afraid of Popery Why Sir has the King changed his Religion in France or are those Gentlemen so fond of the King that they would now be contented to suffer all that Popery threatned so lately Or are they become as weary of their Delivery as they were before of Popery Or will they sacrifice their Laws Religion old Foundations and Free Parliaments to their Allegiance to their King If you say Yes I have done if no then you would have what was not to be had and will not be contented with what may be hâ—d and if the Number of these Men is great farewel
Administration of Justice so that it is really a Dissolution of the Government since all Trials Sentences and the Executions of them are become so many unlawful Acts that are null and void of themselves The next Thing in our Constitution which secures to us our Laws and Liberties is a Free and Lawful Parliament Now not to mention the breach of the Law of Triennial Parliaments it being above three Years since we had a Session that enacted any Law Methods have been taken and are daily a taking that render this impossible Parliaments ought to be chosen with an entire Liberty and without either Force or Preingagements whereas if all Men are required before-hand to enter into Engagements how they will vote if they are chosen themselves or how they will give their Voices in the Electing of others This is plainly such a preparation to a Parliament as would indeed make it no Parliament but a Cabal if one were chosen after all that Corruption of Persons who had preingaged themselves and after the Threating and Turning out of all Persons out of Imploiments who had refused to do it And if there are such daily Regulations made in the Towns that it is plain those who manage them intend at last to put such a number of Men in the Corporations as will certainly chuse the Persons who are recommended to them But above all if there are such a number of Sheriffs and Mayors made over England by whom the Elections must be conducted and returned who are now under an Incapacity by Law and so are no legal Officers and by consâ—quence those Elections that pass under their Authority are null and void If I say it is clear that things are brought to this then the Government is dissolved because it is impossible to have a Free and Legal Parliament in this state of things If then both the Authority of the Law and the Constitution of the Parliament are struck at and dissolved here is a plain Subversion of the whole Government But if we enter next into the particular Branches of the Government we will find the like Disorder among them all The Protestant Religion and the Church of England make a great Article of our Government the latter being secured not only of old by Magna Charta but by many special Laws made of late and there are particuâ—ar Laws made in K. Charles the First and the late King's Time securing them from all Commissions that the King can raise for â—udging or Censuring them If then in opposition to this a Court so condemned is ercted which proceeds to Judg and Censure the Clergy and even to disseise them of their Free-holds without so much as the form of a Trial though this is the most indispensable Law of all those that secures the Property of England and if the King pretends that he can require the Clergy to publish all his Arbitrary Declarations and in particular one that strikes at their whole Settlement and has ordered Process to be begun against all that disobey'd this illegal Warrant and has treated so great a number of the Bishops as Criminals only for representing to him the Reasons of their not obeying him If likewise the King is not satisfied to profess his own Religion openly though even that is contrary to Law but has sent Ambassadors to Rome and received Nuncio's from thence which is plainly Treason by Law If likewise many Popish Churches and Chappels have been publickly opened if several Colledges of Iesuits have been set up in divers parts of the Nation and one of the Order has been made a Privy Counsellor and a principal Minister of State And if Papists and even those who turn to that Religion though declared Traitors by Law are brought into all the chief Imploiments both Military and Civil then it is plain That all the Rights of the Church of England and the whole Establishment of the Protestant Religion are struck at and design'd to be overturned since all these Things as they are notoriously illegal so they evidently demonstrate That the great Design of them all is the rooting out of this Pestilent Heresy in their stile I mean the Protestant Religion In the next place If in the whole course of Justice it is visible that there is a constant practising upon the Judges that they are tâ—rned out upon their varying from the Intentions of the Court and if Men of no Reputation nor Abilities are â—ut in their places If an Army is kept up in time of Peace â—â—d Men who withdraw from that illegal Service are hanged up as Criminals without any colour of Law which by consequence are so many Murders and if the Souldiery are connived at and encouraged in the most enormous Crimes that so they may be thereby prepared to commit greater ones and from single Rapes and Murders proceed to a Rape upon all our Liberties and a Destruction of the Nation If I say all these things are true in Fact then it is plain that there is such a Dissolution of the Government made that there is not any one part of it left sound and entire And if all these things are done now it is easie to imagine what may be expected when Arbitrary Power that spares no Man and Popery that spares no Heretick are finally established Then we may look for nothing but Gabelles Tailles Impositions Benevolences and all sorts of Illegal Taxes as from the other we may expect Burnings Massacres and Inquisitions In what is doing in Scotland we may gather what is to be expected in England where if the King has over and over again declared that he is vested with an Absolute Power to which all are bound to obey without reserve and has upon that annulled almost all the Acts of Paâ—liament that passed in K. Iames I. Minority though they were ratified by himself when he came to be of Age and were confirmed by all the subsequent Kings not excepting the present We must then conclude from thence what is resolved on here in England and what will be put in Execution as soon as it is thought that the Times can bear it When likewise the whole Settlement of Ireland is shaken and the Army that was raised and is maintained by Taxes that were given for an Army of English Protestants to secure them from a new Massacre by the Irish Papists is now all filled with Irish Papists as well as almost all the other Imployments it is plain that not only all the British Protestants inhabiting that Island are in daily danger of being butchered a second time but that the Crown of England is in danger of losing that Island it being now put wholly into the Hands and Power of the Native Irish who as they formerly offered themselves up sometimes to the Crown of Spain sometimes to the Pope and once to the Duke of Lorrain so are they perhaps at this present treating with another Court for the Sale and Surrender of the Island and for the
they are more proper for the Gravity of an Historian or the Authority of a Parliament to handle than for a private Gentleman in a Letter to his Friend The Bishops Papers and the Prince of Orange's Declarations are the best Memoires of them but they only begin where the two parts of the History of the growth of Popery and Arbitrary Government left off and how far we may trust to Catholick Stipulations Oaths and Treaties the Facts of past and the present Age are the best Criterions and Rules to guide and determine us for what happens every day will in all probability happen to morrow the same Causes always produce the same Effects and the Church of Rome is still the same Church it was an hundred Years ago that is a Mass of Treachery Barbariety Perjury and the highest Superstition a Machine without any Principle or setled Law of Motion not to be mov'd or stop'd with the weights of any private or publick Obligations a Monster that destroys all that is Sacred both in Heaven and Earth so Ravenous that it is never content unless it gets the whole World into its Claws and tears all to pieces in order to Salvation a Proteus that turns it self into all shapes a Chameleon that puts on all Colours according to its present circumstances this day an Angel of Light to morrow a Beelzebub Amongst all the Courts of Christendom where I have conversed that of Holland is the freest from Tricks and Falsehood and tho I am naturally jealous and suspicious of the Conduct of Princes yet I could never discover the least Knavery within those Walls it appear'd to me another Athens of Philosophers and the only Seat of Justice and Vertue now left in the World. As for the Character of the Prince of Orange it is so faithfully drawn by Sir William Temple Doctor Burnet and in a half sheet lately printed that I who am so averse from Flattery that I can scarce speak a good word of any Body or think one good thought of my self will not write any further Panegerick upon his Highness only that he is a very Honest Man a Great Souldier and a Wise Prince upon whose Word the World may safely rely A late Pamphleteer reviles the Prince with breaking his Oath when he took the Stat-holder's Office upon him not considering that the Oath was impos'd upon his Highness in his Minority by a French Faction then jealous of the aspiring and true Grandeur of his Young Soul that the States themselves to whom the Obligation was made freed his Highness from the Bond and that the Necessity of Affairs and the Importunities of the People forced that Dignity upon him which his Ancestors had enjoy'd and he so well deserv'd that he sav'd the sinking Common-wealth their Provinces being almost all Surpriz'd and Enslav'd by the French compared to the gasping State of Rome after the loss at Cannae His Highness was no more puft up with this Success than he had been daunted with Hardships and Misfortunes always the same Hero Just Serene and Unchang'd under all Events an Argument of the vastness of his Mind whereas on the contrary Mutability sometimes Tyrant sometimes Father of a Country sometimes Huffing other times Sneaking is often-times a Symptom of a Mean and Cowardly Soul vile and dissolute born for Rapine and Destruction As for the Princess she may without any flattery be stiled the Honour and Glory of her Sex the most Knowing the most Vertuous the Fairest and yet the best Natur'd Princess in the World belov'd and admir'd by her Enemies never seen in any Passion always under a peculiâ—r sweetness of Temper extreamly moderate in her Pleasures taking delight in Working and Study humble and affable in her Conversation very pertinent in all Questions charitable to all Protestants and frequenting their Churches The Prince is often seen with her at the Prayers of the Church of England and â—he with the Prince at the Devotion of his Church She dispences with the use of the Surplice bowing to the Altar and the Name of Jesus out of Compliance to a Country that adores her being more intent upon the Intrinsick and Substantial Parts of Religion Prayer and Good Works She speaks several Languages even to Perfection entirely obedient to the Prince and he extreamly dear to her In a word She is a Princess of many extraordinary Vertues and Excellencies without any appearance of Vanity or the least mixture of Vice and upon whose Promise the World may safely depend As for the many Plots and Conspiracies against this Royal Couple a short time may bring them all to light and faithful Historians publish them to the World. Lastly We may observe that whereas it hath been the Maxim of several Kings both at home and abroad of late Years to contend and outvie each other in preying upon and destroying not only their Neighbours but their own Protestant Subjects by all methods of perfidiousness and cruelty the only way to establish Tyranny and to enslave the natural Freedom of Mankind being to introduce a general Ignorance Superstition and Idolatry for if once People can be perswaded that Statues and Idols are Divinities and adorable and thaâ— a Waâ—er is the Infinite God after two or three ridiculous words utter'd by a vile Impostor and impudent Cheat then they may easily be brought to submit their Necks to all the Yokes that a Tyrant and a Priest can invent and put upon them for if once they part with their Reason their Liberty will soon follow as we behold every day in the miserable enslav'd Countries where Popery domineers On the contrary it hath always been the steady and immutable Principle of the House of Orange to rescue Europe from its Oppressours and to resettle Governments upon the Primitive and Immortal Foundation of Liberty and Property a Glorious Maxim taken from the Old Roman Common-wealth that Fought and Conquer'd so many Nations only to set them Free to Restore them wholsome Laws their Natural and Civil Liberties a Design so Generous and every way Great that the East groaning under the Fetters and Oppressions of their Tyrants flew in to the Roman Eagles for Shelter and Protection under whose Wings the several Nations liv'd Free Safe and Happy till Traitours and Usurpers began to break in upon the Sacred Laws of that vertuous Constitution and to keep up Armies to defend that by Blood and Rapine which Iustice would have thrown in their Face and punished them as they deserved the Preservation and Welfare of the People being in all Ages call'd the Supreme Law to which all the rest ought to tend From the foregoing Relation of matter of Fact it appears most plain that the Roman Catholicks are not to be ty'd by Laws Treaties Promises Oaths or any other bonds of Humane Society the sad experience of this and other Kingdoms declares to all Mankind the invalidity and insignificancy of all Contracts and Agreements with the Papists who notwithstanding all their Solemn Covenants
Estates that they are not to be subjected to the Arbitrary Proceedings of Papists that are contrary to Law put into any Employments Civil or Military Both We our selves and our Dearest and most Entirely Beloved Consort the Princess have endeavoured to signify in terms full of Respect to the King the just and deep Regret which all these Proceedings have given us and in Compliance with his Majesties Desires signified to us We declared both by word of Mouth to his Envoy and in writing what our Thoughts were touching the repealing of the Test and Penal Laws which we did in such a manner that we hoped we had proposed an Expedient by which the Peace of those Kingdoms and a happy Agreement among the Subjects of all Perswasions might have been settled but those Evil Counsellors have put such ill Constructions on these our good Intentions that they have endeavoured to alienate the King more and more from us as if We had designed to disturb the Quiet and Happiness of the Kingdom The last and great Remedy for all those Evils is the calling of a Parliament for securing the Nation against the evil Practices of those wicked Counsellors but this could not be yet compassed nor can it easily be brought about For those Men apprehending that a lawful Parliament being once assembled they would be brought to an account for all their open Violations of Law and for their Plots and Conspiracies against the Protestant Religion and the Lives and Liberties of the Subjects they have endeavoured under the specious Pretence of Liberty of Conscience first to sow Divisions among Protestants between those of the Church of England and the Dissenters The Design being laid to engage Protestants that are all equally concerned to preserve themselves from Popish Oppression into mutual Quarellings that so by these some Advantages might be given to them to bring about their Designs and that both in the Election of the Members of Parliament and afterwards in the Parliament it self For they see well that if all Protestants could enter into a mutual good Understanding one with another and concur together in the preserving of their Religion it would not be possible for them to compass their wicked Ends. They have also required all Persons in the several Counties of England that either were in any Imployment or were in any considerable Esteem to declare before-hand that they would concur in the Repeal of the Test and Penal Laws and that they would give their Voices in the Elections to Parliament only for such as would concur in it Such as would not thus preingage themselves were turned out of all Imployments and others who entred into those Engagements were put into their places many of them being Papists And contrary to the Charters and Priviledges of those Buroughs that have a Right to send Burgesses to Parliament they have ordered such Regulations to be made as they thought fit and necessary for assuring themselves of all the Members that are to be chosen by those Corporations and by this means they hope to avoid that Punishment which they have deserved tho it is apparent that all Acts made by Popish Magistrates are null and void of themselves so that no Parliament can be lawful for which the Elections and Returns are made by Popish Sheriffs and Mayors of Towns and therefore as long as the Authority and Magistracy is in such hands it is impossible to have any lawful Parliament And tho according to the Constitution of the English Government and immemorial Custom all Elections of Parliament-Men ought to be made with an entire Liberty without any sort of Force or the requiring the Electors to chuse such Persons as shall be named to them and the Persons thus freely elected ought to give their Opinions freely upon all matters that are brought before them having the Good of the Nation ever before their Eyes and following in all things the Dictates of their Consciences yet now the People of England cannot expect a Remedy from a free Parliament legally called and chosen But they may perhaps see one called in which all Elections will be carried by Fraud or Force and which will be composed of such Persons of whom those Evil Counsellors hold themselves well assured in which all things will be carried on according to their Direction and Interest without any regard to the Good or Happiness of the Nation Which may appear evidently from this that the same Persons tried the Members of the last Parliament to gain them to consent to the Repeal of the Test and Penal Laws and procured that Parliament to be dissolved when they found that they could not neither by Promises nor Threatnings prevail with the Members to comply with their wicked Designs But to crown all There are great and violent Presumptions inducing us to believe that those Evil Counsellors in order to the carrying on of their ill Designs and to the gaining to themselves the more time for the effecting of them for the encouraging their Complices and for the discouraging of all good Subjects have published that the Queen hath brought forth a Son tho there have appeared both during the Queen's pretended Bigness and in the manner in which the Birth was managed so many just and visible grounds of Suspicion that not only We our selves but all the good Subjects of those Kingdoms do vehemently suspect that the pretended Prince of Wales was not born by the Queen And it is notoriously known to all the World that many both doubted of the Queen's Bigness and of the Birth of the Child and yet there was not any one thing done to satisfie them or to put an end to their Doubts And since our Dearest and most Entirely Beloved Consort the Princess and likewise We our Selves have so great an Interest in this Matter and such a Right as all the World knows to the Succession to the Crown Since also the English did in the Year 1672. when the States General of the Vnited Provinces were invaded in a most unjust War use their uttermost Endeavours to put an end to that War and that in opposition to those who were then in the Government and by their so doing they run the hazard of losing both the Favour of the Court and their Imployments And since the English Nation has â—ver testified a most particular Affection and Esteem both to our Dearest Consort the Princess and to Our Selves We cannot excuse our selves from espousing their Interests in a Matter of such high Consequence and from contributing all that lies in us for the maintaining both of the Protestant Religion and of the Laws and Liberties of those Kingdoms and for the securing to them the continual Enjoyment of all their just Rights To the doing of which we are most earnestly solicited by a great many Lords both Spiritual and Temporal and by many Gentlemen and other Subjects of all Ranks Therefore it is that we have thought fit to go over to England and to carry over
in the case of the Lawful Heirs whom every good Englishman and Protestant to their utmost Danger and Peril are ready to defend and maintain to take such Measures for our future Security and lawful Establishment as shall not by any Humane Art or Endeavour be liable to Interruption But as Precedents are least satisfactory or least confronting to obstinate Opposers where they make only for one party A Popish Sigismund deposed for Male-Administration in a Protestant Kingdom may not perhaps be allowed to carry its sufficient Justification with the Romanists and therefore the Tables ought to be turn'd and the Ballance made by Parallels of their own side the most prudent way of combating and securing a Victory in this matter being to lay the Scene of War in the Enemies Country To confute therefore and silence all the Romish Pretensions of Disgust and Murmur against the Injustice of such a Deprivation from Examples of Popish Deposals of Male-administring Protestants we 'll begin with Henry of Navarre afterwards Henry the Fourth of France The famous Holy League enter'd into by the Pope himself and so many potent Allies together with all the Romish Subjects of Franâ—e against that undoubted Heir of the Crown of France and at that time by succession the rightful King is so notoriously known to the World that all the tedious Particulars of the History would be impertinent Let it suffice here was a Prince the unquestion'd Inheritor of the Crown of France actually by all Open and Hostile Means and all such Hostility avowed and abetted and his very Birth-right fore-closed by the Pope himself opposed and denied his Accession to the Throne for no other Unqualifications but be a Hugonot that is of a Perswasion contrary to the Establish'd and Regnant Romish Religion in France being in all other Respects acknowledged a most excellent Prince Insomuch that after all other ineffectual Endeavours of recovering his Birth-right he had no means left to repeal his Exclusion and Debarment from the Throne but by his Abjuration of the Reformed Religion and return to the Romish Worship This Case of Henry the Fourth instead of a Parallel to ours does not come up to half the Justification of the present Measures of England For here was a Soveraign Prince under Deprivation for no other Default but his meer Religion for this Henry the Fourth being then but in his Entrance to the Empire if truly that was consequently yet at least whatever they might fear under no Dilemmas of the least breach of Compact with his People no Forfeitures for Male-Administration or Violation of the Laws of the Land or Rights of his Subjects their Dangers as then being only Apprehensions If therefore the meer private Opinion of a Crowned Head different from the Establish'd Religion of the Land has been of weight enough it self alone in their own Scales to oversway the Birth-Right of Princes and make a Bar to Empire and that too so solemnly confirmed and ratified even by the Sanction Apostolick the Decretals of Rome it self What Objections or Allegations can our Romish Disputants whether Foreign or Domestick make against the like Bar in Empire after so notorious an actual Male-Administration in the present Case of England such too visible Ruptures of the Laws of the Land and in defiance of all Obligations of Engagements Covenant Word Honour or OATHS themselves The next Example I shall point them to is that of the late Portuguese King who by the Ordinance of the States of Portugal ratified by the Pope's Assent was dethroned and his Brother invested with the Soveraignty and not only that but his Queen too taken from him Divorced and by a Dispensation married to his Brother The Grounds of this Deposal being only this that the King was sometimes taken with Delirious Fits. If such a Personal Infirmity was ground sufficient to displace the Crown Have not the Peopâ—e or Community of England in Convention asseâ—bled as much Right on their Side for the Deposal of a King for a far greater Infirmity of the two a more violent Madness his loâ—g tried and radicated Incapacity of being held either by the Bonds or Ties of Honour Laws or Oaths There being this infinite Difference between the Outrages of the one and the other as that a Prince so bigotted resolved for the Introduction right or wrong of his own Religion is the more Dangerous Frantick For his Superstitious Frency may push him to Violences that will hurt whole Nations whereas the Outrages of the other can be only Personal And if the Hands of the Lunatick Portuguese were thought Just to be tied up with no less Shackles than taking both his Kingdom and Queen away from him who shall Arraign the Wisdom of the English for depriving their King of his Kingdom much good may do him with his Queen under an infinite larger Capacity and more dangerous propensity to Mischief And for so doing what Warrant shall they want when the present unforced Desertion of the King and quitting the Helm has put the Power of Decision in that Point into their own Hands and lost him all Right of Appeal against the Alienation I shall venter to add one last Consideration viz. The Bull of Pope Pius Quintus against Queen Elizabeth by which the Pope deprives her of all Title to the Imperial Crown and all Dominion Dignity and Priviledg whatever declaring that all the Nobility Subjects and People of England and all others which have in any sort sworn unto her to be for ever absolved from any such Oath and all manner of Duty of Dominion Allegiance and Obedience c. and all forbidden to obey her or her Motions Mandates or Laws upon pain of Anathema Vide Bishop of Lincoln's Brutum Fulmen p. 6. I recite this unjust Deposal of a Lawful Queen by the pretended Authority of the Pope no other than to let the World know that the Romish Party have the least Reason in Nature to complain of the Deprivation of Princes They whose Infallible Guides can so insolently and arbitrarily place or displace Crown'd Heads not to mention the Illegality of the Pope's Interposition in the Affair in any kind for only acting by Law in Matters of Religious Changes for such were all Ecclesiastick Alterations of that Queen by the unquestion'd Authority of Acts of Parliament can be but ill furnish'd with Arguments against the present Deprivation enacted by the whole Community of England for such violent Measures and Foundations already form'd and begun for the subversion of Church and State against all Law. Reasons humbly offer'd for placing his Highness the Prince of Orange singly in the Throne during his Life I. IT will be a clear Assertion of the Peoples Right Firm Evidence of a Contract Broken and a sure Precedent to all Ages when after a most Solemn Debate the Estates of England Declare That the King having Abdicated the Government and the Throne thereby Legally Vacant They think fit to Fill it again with One who is
therefore to deal ingenuously with you I confess at the beginning of this Revolution I was under a very great Surprize I who have been in Arms for His Majesty a warm stickler for the Church of England puffed up with all the Bravado's and Excesses of an Oxford Loyalty must needs be Alarmed to hear our Nobility and Gentry beating up for the Prince of Orange even in the Bowels of our Country But when I came more seriously to reflect upon the Foundations of our Government as well as those antecedent Obligations which God Almighty has reserved as his own inviolable Prerogative I began to regulate my Zeal by calmer measures And making a more impartial and strict Inquiry into the Opinions of Learned Men concerning the Regal Power I found this most generally agreed upon viz. That the Obedience and Disobedience of Subjects must be measured by the peculiar Constitutions of every Kingdom without respect either to the Jewish Polity where things were determined by God Almighty's special Command or the Behaviour of the Primitive Christians who had few or no Legal Rights to Assert Diss. Ay but you Churchmen flattered the Court so long till our Constitutions were all swallowed up in the Abyss of Prerogative Ch. I must confess while Kings are a Protection to Liberty Property and Religion the World is naturally prone to flatter them neither would it be good Breeding to make too nice Inquiries into the Limits of a Prince while he does not exceed them but when Distress comes impetuously upon a Nation when Life and All that is Sacred to us lies at Stake then the Inquiry is not only just but necessary Diss. What Conditions therefore will you Churchmen at length confine your Prince too Ch. Why I shall present you with a short but impartial view of the Constitutions of this Kingdom as I find them most faithfully and ingenuously represented by the Royal Martyr in his Answer to the Nineteen Propositions in these Words viz. There being Three kinds of Government among Men Absolute Monarchy Aristoâ—racy and Demoâ—racy and all these having their particular Conveniences and Inconveniences the Experience and Wisdom of our Ancestors hath so moulded this out of a mixture of these as to give to this Kingdom the Conveniences of all Three without the Inconveniences of any one as long as the Balance hangs even between the Three Estates and they run jointly on in their proper Chanel c. In this Kingdom the Laws are jointly made by a King House of Peers and House of Commons chosen by the People all having free Votes and particular Priviledges c. And in this Kind of Regulated Monarchy that the Prince may not make not use of his Power to the Hurt of those for whose Good he hath it and make use of the Name of Publick Necessity for the Gain of his private Favorites and Followers to the detriment of his People the House of Commons an excellent Conserver of Liberty is solely entrusted with the Levying of Monys and the Impeaching of those who for their own Ends though countenanced by any surreptitiously gotten Command of the King have violated that Law which he is bound to protect c. Since therefore the Power Legally placed in both Houses is more than sufficient to Prevent and Restrain the Power of Tyranny c. Our Answer is Nolumus Leges Angliae mutari So far this Royal Author And indeed what could a generous Prince acknowledg or a Priviledg-asserting Subject desire more Therefore upon the whole it appears by the Confession of the best of Men as well as the wisest of Princes that we are under a Government so well appointed for Society and the Exigencies of Humane Kind that nothing but Folly can think of Establishing a better and nothing but a Jesuit disturb it The Scriptures themselves seem to have meant it when they tell us that Caesar's Prerogative must never come in Competition with that of God Almighty and that Governors shall be a Terror to evil Works Here King and People have each their Territories and all the Provision imaginable made against those Distractions which either Interest or Passion should attempt From all which what can be more naturally inferred but that we in this Kingdom are by no means obliged to resign up our selves to Violence and Oppression but that Passive Obedience has its Limits and the Oath of Allegiance its Restrictions A regulated and conditionated Monarch can expect no Obedience from me but what is Conditional too and what an Absurdity does it seem that by a Legal Oath I should swear an absolute Obedience to that Authority which is not Absolute Besides those Subsidies which were granted by the Clergy in several of Queen Elizabeth's Parliaments for the Relief of the French Dutch and Scotch Protestants against their Oppressors plainly shew that it was all along the Opinion of the Church to Resist in case Rights and Religion were Invaded Neither am I perswaded that the learned and unbyass'd Clergy of our present Church ever meant any other Obedience than an active Conformity to the Intent of the Law or a Passive Submiâ—sion to the Penalties of it Therefore â—hough upon the Foundations of our Government an impatient Spirit might with a great shew of Reason establish a very extensive Latitude in asserting the Subjects Right yet in Favour of Monarchy which I Reverence and with Respect to the Present Conjuncture I shall only now trouble you with these four Propositions supposing a mixt Government 1. That Suspicions and Jealousies of a Prince's sinister Designs are no sufficient Grounds for Subjects violently to assert their Rights but in this Case the Event of things muâ—t be left to Providence 2. That though one Man or a greater number of Men receive manifest Injuries by the Abuses of Government yet while they are but an inconsiderable part of the Community they are in Duty bound rather to submit to Oppression than interrupt the common Peace But 3. When Dangers become demonstrable when Religion it self and the very Foundations of Government are so undermined by the Insinuations of an inconsiderable party who have obtained the Ear of their Prince that its unavoidable Ruine must necessarily follow In this Case I cannot see any Reason why Right may not be asâ—erted But 4. When a Foreign Prince with a considerable Army Invades a Nation upon pretence of putting a stop to such violent Proceedings besides perhaps some just Causes of a War I say in this Case That the whole Nation may and ought to rise and put themselves in such a Posture that they may be able to return him Thanks acording to the Merits of his Favours without being jealous of his Greatness And indeed our present Case is so circumstantiated that I Question whether it may be paralle'd in History and let any Man tell me where the Subjects of a Limited Monarchy tired out with the Abuses of Government did by sighting for their King encourage Oppression by the Blood of Thousands
when they might effect a Treaty in all probability with little or no Bloodshed by joining with a Prince of their own Interest who perhaps can shew more just Causes of a War than one Diss. I must confess what you have said seems to carry a great deal of Reason and Moderation with it which I must allow Ch. Let but a moderate Papist lend me one grain of his own Principles and I am confident he cannot but be of my Mind for may we but modestly measure the King 's future Proceedings had we trusted him with Victory by those we had already seen how dismal would the Prospect be Should we but recollect how barefacedly he has been striking at the Northern Heresy ever since the Oxford Parliament what Mercy could we expect How far some of the Protestant Nobility were engaged in an Association to assert their Rights I shall not here pretend to determine but this we may modestly presume That all their Crimes were seen through a Popish Magnifying-Glass and no Artifice neglected to ruine them An ingenious Gentleman was deservedly applauded for his Rhetorical Colours in the Narrative of that Conspiracy and I was well pleased with a Gentleman's Fancy who imagined another Interest would now engage him to atone for his unhappy Continuance in the High-Commission Court by Writing what he observed of the Popish Designs during his stay there Another eminent Instance of those Violences which were Encouraged above was the Presenting Two and fifty Persons in the County of Northampton as disaffected to the Government and branding them with all the Scandals imaginable many of which I personally know to be as Faithful to the Crown and in all Respects as honest and worthy Gentlemen as any in the Kingdom But to come nearer the Present Conjuncture how were our Law Properties and all prostituted by a few Dispensing Gentlemen some of them perfectly incapable of any Place of Trust and all of suspected Integrity How surprizing was it to see persons of the most contemptible Character placed among our Bishops and all the sacred Authority lodged in a Court which was erected against an express Act of Parliament What a Riddle was it that our learned Prelates hitherto the great Supporters of the Crown should be Imprisoned for acting according to their Consciences in refusing to Read that which pretended to establish the greatest Liberty of Conscience Could any one that saw Six hundred Scholars up in Arms and chearfully demonstrating their Loyalty in the Western Rebellion ever think to see the Fellows of Magdalen Colledg ingratefully turned out like Dogs and perhaps one of the finest Foundations in Europe become a Kennel for Miscreants who were more unworthy to be Members of an University upon the account of their Insufficiency than they were incapable of it by Law It seem'd almost a Jest to me to see in Christ-Church persons of that eminent Character and Learning superintended by a Wretch not fit for common Converse In which Society there is a Person in whom the Gentleman and the Scholar do very eminently meet and who for his happy Conduct and great Care to maintain the Repute of that Colledg during these Violences has certainly now all the Title to the Deanry that either merit or the common Rules of Gratitude can afford him But to proceed I say to see how all Freedom of Elections to Parliament was in a manner taken away how the Poll at Northampton was like to be Regulated by Powder and Bullet and the whole Government managed by Father Petre Pen Lob and a few more such mercenary Wretches and all this to introduce a Religion contrary to Scripture and destructive of all Society for which we expected great things would have been said while the Asserters of it had Command of the Press and the Countenance of a Prince yet nothing was produced but Fallacy and Nonsense These I say not to mention the subverting Succession a League with France and those horrid Murthers laid to the Court are Provocations too great even for Primitive Obedience But seeing these Violences have in all probability found their period and the Betrayers of God and their Country are now coming to Answer for themselves I shall leave further Reflections to a free and unbyass'd Parliament Diss. Ay but what was it that encouraged these Violences Was it not your unseasonable Zeal for an unlimited Obedience your Oxford Decree and such like Monuments of the Heats of that Age Ch. Why to tell you sincerely my Opinion in the Case I am perswaded there were Two Parties in the Nation undermining the Government the one by more secret and mysterious Methods endeavoured to introduce Popery the other by more evident and bare-faced Proceedings attempted the Extirpation of Monarchy Therefore the Generality of the Churchmen being more sensible of the Designs of the latter endeavoured to stand like Moses in the Gap with those you term unseasonable Doctrines which I also take to be the Occasion of the Oxford Decree for though in my own private Opinion I never approv'd of it but wished it might have perish'd in the same Rogus with the Books it condemned yet I am so well satisfied of the Learning and Integrity of those worthy Gentlemen who were chiefly concerned in it that I do really believe it was only promoted for the Preservation of the Government Diss. Ay you Churchmen have such a way of Respecting one another that you had like to have fooled us and your selves out of all neither could I ever find you were sensible of the approaching Calamities till Oppression touch'd your own Copy-holds Ch. What you object to us in this Case seems to redound to our greatest Honour for by our Principles we had always such a Reverence for Monarchy that we were willing to connive at the failings of a Prince as long as we could but having our Rights established by Law we knew when we came to be oppress'd The very Foundations of our Government were assaulted and so we were forced to make Enquiry into our Constitutions Diss. So then at length you will acknowledg the Prince of Orange not only to be a great but a just Deliverer Ch. Since I have been better acquainted with the horrid Designs of our Adversaries and found the Contest to be only between Papist and Protestant I am not only highly sensible of the Prince's Generosity but have inserted the Justice of his Cause from the marvellous Providences when have wrought his Success It is certainly part of his Character that as his first Pretences were modest so Fortune has not tempted him to exceed them and we have still all the Reason in the World to imagine that he only generously designed to relieve us from Oppression without any sinister Intent of making himself Great The Noble Cause he has undertaken is the Protestant Interest and I doubt not but the Lord of Hosts will fight his Battels Indeed the Success of this his first Enterprize has been so wonderful and surprizing that
without Consent of Parliament By Committing and Prosecuting divers Worthy Prelates for humbly Petitioning to be Excused from concurring to the said assumed Power By issuing and causing to be executed a Commission under the Great Seal for erecting a Court called The Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes By Levying Mony for and to the Use of the Crown by pretence of Prerogative for other time and in other manner than the same was granted by Parliament By raising and keeping a standing Army within this Kingdom in time of Peace without Consent of Parliament and Quartering Souldiers contrary to Law. By causing several Good Subjâ—cts being Protestants to be Disarmed at the same time when Papists were both Armed and Imployed contrary to Law. By violating the Freedom of Election of Members to serve in Parliament By Prosecutions in the Court of Kings-Bench for Matters and Causes cognizable only in Parliament and by divers other Arbitrary and Illegal Courses And whereas of late Years Partial Corrupt and Unqualified Persons have been returned and served on Juries in Trials and particularly divers Jurors in Trials for High-Treason which were not Freeholders And Excessive Bail hath been required of Persons committed in Criminal Cases to elude the Benefit of the Laws made for the Liberty of the Subjects And Excessive Fines have been imposed And Illegal and Cruel Punishments inflicted And several Grants and Promises made of Fines and Forfeitures before any Conviction or Judgment against the Persons upon whom the same were to be levied All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known Laws and Statutes and Freedom of this Realm And whereas the said late K. Iames the 2 d having abdicated the Government and the Throne being thereby vacant His Highness the Prince of Orange whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the Glorious Instrument of Delivering this Kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power did by the Advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and divers principal Persons of the Commons cause Letters to be written to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal being Protestants and other Letters to the several Counties Cities Universities Burroughs and Cinque-Ports for the Chusing of such Persons to represent them as were of Right to be sent to Parliament to Meet and Sit at Westminster upon the 22 d Day of Ianuary in this Year 1688 in order to such an Establishment as that their Religion Laws and Liberties might not again be in danger of being Subverted Upon which Letters Elections having been accordingly made And thereupon the said Lord's Spiritual and Temporal and Commons pursuant to their respective Letters and Elections being now Assembled in a Full and Free Representative of this Nation taking into their most serious Consideration the best Means for attaining the Ends aforesaid do in the first place as their Ancestors in like Case have usually done for the Vindicating and Asserting their Ancient Rights and Liberties Declare That the pretending Power of Suspending of Laws or the Execution of Laws by Regal Authority without Consent of Parliament is Illegal That the pretended Power of Dispensing with Laws or the Execution of Laws by Regal Authority as it hath been assumed and exercised of late is Illegal That the Commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes and all other Commissions and Courts of the like Nature are Illegal and Pernicious That levying of Mony for or to the Use of the Crown by pretence of Prerogative without Grant of Parliament for longer time or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted is Illegal That it is the Right of the Subjects to Petition the King and all Commitments and Prosecutions for such Petitioning are Illegal That the raising or keeping a standing Army within the Kingdom in time of Peace unless it be with Consent of Parliament is against Law. That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Condition and as allowed by Law. That Election of Members of Parliament ought to be Free. That the Freedom of Speech and Debates or Proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or Questioned in any Court or place out of Parliament That Excessive Bail ought not to be required nor Excessive Fines imposed nor cruel and unusual Punishments inflicted That Jurors ought to be duly empannell'd and return'd and Jurors which pass upon Men in Trials for High-Treason ought to be Freeholders That all Grants and Promises of Fines and Forfeitures of particular Persons before Conviction are Illegal and Void And that for redress of all Grievances and for the amending strengthening and preserving of the Laws Parliaments ought to be held frequently And they do claim demand and insist upon all and singular the Premises as their undoubted Rights and Liberties and that no Declarations Judgments Doings or Proceedings to the prejudice of the People in any of the said Premises ought in any wise to be drawn hereafter into Consequence or Example To which Demand of their Rights they are particularly encouraged by the Declaration of His Highness the Prince of Orange as being the only Means for obtaining a full redress and remedy therein Having therefore an intire Confidence that his said Highness the Prince of Orange will perfect the Deliverance so far advanced by Him and will still preserve them from the Violation of their Rights which they have here asserted and from all other Attempts upon their Religion Rights and Liberties The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster do resolve That William and Mary Prince and Princess of Orange be and be declared King and Queen of England France and Ireland and the Dominions thereunto belonging to hold the Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdoms and Dominions to them the said Prince and Princess during their Lives and the Life of the Surviver of them And that the sole and full Exercise of the Regal Power be only in and executed by the said Prince of Orange in the Names of the said Prince and Princess during their joint Lives and after their Deceases the said Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdoms and Dominions to be to the Heirs of the Body of the said Princess and for default of such Issue to the Princess Ann of Denmark and the Heirs of Her Body and for default of such Issue to the Heirs of the Body of the said Prince of Orange And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do pray the said Prince and Princess of Orange to accept the same accordingly And that the Oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by all Persons of whom the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy might be required by Law instead of them and that the said Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy be Abrogated I A. B. do sincerely promise and swear That I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to their Majesties King WILLIAM and Queen MARY So help me God. I A. B. do swear That I do from my Heart Abhor
to be printed and dispersed is contrair to Law. That the taking the Children of Noblemen Gentlemen and others sending and keeping them abroad to be bred Papists The making Funds and Donations to Popish Schools and Colledges the bestowing Pensions on Priests and the perverting Protestants from their Religion by offers of Places Preferments and Pensions are contrair to Law. That the disarming of Protestants and imploying Papists in the Places of greatest Trust both Civil and Military the thrusting out Protestants to make room for Papists and the entrusting Papists with the Forts and Magazines of the Kingdom are contrair to Law. That the imposing Oaths without Authority of Parliament is contrair to Law. That the giving Gifts or Grants for raising of Mony without the Consent of Parliament or Convention of Estates is contrair to Law. That the imploying Officers of the Army as Judges through the Kingdom or imposing them where there were several Offices and Jurisdictions and the putting the Leiges to Death summarily and without legal Trial Jury or Record are contrair to Law. That the imposing extraordinary Fines the exacting of exorbitant Bail and the disposing of Fines and Forfaultures before Sentence are contrair to Law. That the Imprisoning Persons without expressing the reason thereof and delaying to put them to Trial are contrair to Law. That the causing pursue and forfault Persons upon Stretches of old and obsolete Laws upon frivolous and weak Pretences upon â—ame and defective Probation as particularly the late Earl of Aâ—gyle are contraiâ— to Law. That the nominating and imposing Magistrates Councils and Clerks upon Burgâ—s contrair to the Liberties and express Charters is contrair to Law. That the sending Leâ—ters to the Courts of Justice ordaining the Judges to stop or desist from determining Causes or ordaining them how to proceed in Causes depending before them and the changing the Nature of the Judges Gifts ad vitam aut culpam unto Commissions Durante bene placito are contrair to Law. That the granting Personal Protections for Civil Debts is contrair to Law. That the forcing the Leiges to depone against themselves in Capital Crimes however the Punishment be restricted is contrair to Law. That the using Torture without Evidence or in ordinary Crimes is contrair to Law. That the â—ending of an Army in a Hostile manner upon any part of the Kingdom in a peaceable time and exacting of Locality and any manner of Free Quarter is contrair to Law. That the charging the Leiges with Law-burroughs at the King's instance and the imposing of Bands without the Authority of Parliament and the suspending the Advocates from their Imployments for not compearing when such Bands were offered were contrair to Law. That the putting of Garisons on private Mens Houses in a time of peace without the consent of the Authority of Parliament is contrair to Law. That the opinion of the Lords of Session in the two Causes following were contrair to Law viz. 1. That the concerting the demand of a Supply for a Forfaulted Person although not given is Treason 2. That Persons refusing to discover what are their private thoughts and Judgments in relation to points of Treason or other Mens actions are guilty of Treason That the fining Husbands for their Wives withdrawing from the Church was contrair to Law. That Prelacy and Superiority of any Office in the Church above Presbyters is and hath been a great and unsupportable Grievance and Trouble to this Nation and contrair to the Inclinations of the Generality of the People ever since the Reformation they having Reformed from Popery by Presbyters and therefore ought to be abolished That it is the Right and Privilege of the Subjects to protest for remead of Law to the King and Parliament against Sentences pronounced by the Lords of Session providing the same do not stop execution of the said Sentences That it is the Right of the Subjects to Petition the King and that all Imprisonments and Prosecutions for such Petitions are contrair to Law. That for redress of all Grievances and for the amending strengthning and Preserving of the Laws Parliaments ought to be frequently called and allowed to sit and the freedom of Speech and Debate secured to the Members And they do claim and demand and insist upon all and sundry the Premisses as their undoubted Right and Liberties and that no Declarations Doings or Proceedings to the prejudice of the People in any of the said Premisses ought in any ways to be drawn hereafter in consequence and example but that all Forfaultures Fines loss of Offices Imprisonments Banishments Pursuits Persecutions and Rigorous Executions be considered and the Parties seized be redressed To which demand of the Rights and Redressing of their Grievances they are particularly incouraged by his Majesty the King of England his Declaration for the Kingdom of Scotland of the day of October last as being the only means for obtaining a full redress and remead therein Having therefore an entire Confidence That his said Majesty the King of England will perfyte the Deliverance so far advanced by him and will still preserve them from the Violation of the Rights which they have here asserted And from all other Attempts upon their Religion Laws and Liberties The said Estates of the Kingdom of Scotland do resolve That William and Mary King and Queen of England France and Ireland Be and Be Declared King and Queen of Scotland to Hold the Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdom of Scotland to them the said King and Queen during their Lives and the longest Liver of them and that the sole and full exercise of the Royal Power be only in and exercised by him the said King in the Names of the said King and Queen during their joynt Lives And after their deceases the said Crown and Royal Dignity of the said Kingdom to be to the Heirs of the Body of the said Queen Which sailing to the Princess Ann of Denmark and the Heirs of her Body which also sailing to the Heirs of the Body of the said William King of England And they do pray the said King and Queen of England to accept the same accordingly And that the Oath hereafter mentioned be taken by all Protestants of whom the Oath of Allegiance and any other Oaths and Declarations might be required by Law instead thereof And that the said Oath of Allegiance and other Oaths and Declarations may be Abrogated I A. B. Do sincerely Promise and Swear That I will be Faithful and bear True Allegiance to Their Majesties King WILLIAM and Queen MARY So help me God. The manner of the Proclaiming of King WILLIAM and Queen MARY at White-hall and in the City of London Feb. 13. 1688 9. ABout half an hour past Ten in the Morning the Lords and Commons came from Westminster to White-hall in their Coaches and alighted at the Gate went up into the Banqueting-House where they presented the Prince and Princess of Orange with an Instrument in Writing for declaring their Highnesses