best actions in the world especially if Christianity have any Truth in it And therefore I do earnestly Advise in behalf of the Present Government that the Ingenious Author of this Letter to a Friend would study somthing to be said as to the Truth Honesty and Religion of the Revolution lest the Jacobites Triumph But I must not forget one thing which the Letter to a Friend pag. 5 6 does mainly Insist upon as the Chief Argument why if K. James should Return we were to expect no Mercy from him which is his Barbarous treatment of the Protestants in Ireland after he went over thither in the year 88 89. The Jacobites are Glad that they have got this hold against Us for they insist upon it That K. James shew'd not only Great Lenity and Compassion but Care and Concern for the Protestants in Ireland while he was there insomuch that they can hardly instance any Request ever they made to him which was deny'd He was so far from Disobliging them that he really Courted them to the no small Disturbance of the Irish who thought themselves not so much Regarded as their Merit in their own conceit above that of the Protestants did require The Jacobites Appeal in this to the Magistrates and Representatives of the Chief Towns in the North of Ireland which was the only part of the Kingdom where they stood out in Arms against K. James viz. Derry and Eneskâ—llen and among them Belfast was the Richest and most populous of any of the Cityes in the North And consequently which had most occasion to make application to the Government upon several Emergencies And the Jacobites do put it upon that Issue that the then Sovereign of Belfast who was and is still an unsuspected Protestant will not say that one of the many Addresses to K. J. was rejected or not fully and readily Answered which he made in behalf of that Town or of the Protestants in those parts of the Country And that the Orders which K. J. gave upon these addresses of the Protestants were not duely and punctually observ'd and where any Breaches were made upon them by the Irish who were very ill pleas'd with them which was but seldom they were not severely Punish'd for it as far as K. J ' s. power did extend But as it was he made these his Protections very effectual to the Protestants And this will be justified not only at Belfast but by the Rest of the Magistrates and other Men of Note in all the North and in the whole Kingdom of Ireland during K. J's being among them And this the Jacobites are positive in notwithstanding all that is endeavour'd in a late Book call'd The State of the Protestants of Ireland under the late K. James's Government c. which they pretend to Disprove in Matter of Fact and say They would expose it to the world if any who think the contrary wou'd for a Tryal obtain for them the Liberty of the Press That Generosity wou'd become the Author that he might Fight his Adversary upon Equal Terms But in the mean time till that can be done they do proclaim it and I am sorry to find that they have the suffrage of the Irish Protestants here and even of the English Army which went over thither That the Protestants of Ireland Suffered more and the Country was more Ruin'd by K. W.'s Army than by K. J.'s They tell us from the Mouths of Gentlemen coming over every day from thence That last Winter there was a great Famine in that Country the poor Irish being suffer'd to Starve in the High-ways eating dead Horses and Carrion This I had from several Gentlemen who have seen it The Jacobites infer from this That the Consequences of that War are not over as yet in that Kingdom no nor in this For who can tell the Issue of the present War with France when our Taxes will be at an end and whether it be not possible that England may be Drain'd as poor as Ireland They say we are ingag'd in a Contest like that of York and Lancaster which lasted above a hundred years and Rooted out many of the Noble Families of England with vast Consumption of Blood and Treasure They say That when all this is put into the Scales it will infinitely out weigh all the Frightful Apprehensions of K. J.'s Reign And consequently that his Return would be the Greatest Blessing to this Nation That nothing he can be fancy'd to do in the short Remainder of his Reign carryes any proportion to the Continuance of this War to our Posterities And they say That his Mild and Gentle Carriage towards the Protestants of Ireland when as many of them as could to a very small number were in actual Rebellion against him and they were the most bitter and implacable Enemies he had and are so still They say that his Tenderness and Preservation of these under all these provoking Circumstances is a great specimen of his Nature and what we might expect from him if he should Return again into England But chiefly for this Reason That if he came into England his Interest would be to preserve England and with all his objected Faults I think none ever doubted but that he alwayes endeavoured what he thought was for the Good of England But on the other hand it was certainly his Interest to have Destroy'd at least to have Disabled the Protestants in Ireland because he was morally assured they would Joyn with K. W. when he came over which they did as soon as they were able and were the men who had the chief hand in the Victories abtain'd against K. J. at the Boyn Athlone Agram c. and of whom the Irish were most afraid as Doctor Gorge Secretary to Schomberg in Ireland Witnesses under his hand And if K. J. had Destroy'd these Enemies of his the Irish Protestants when it was in his Power for a whole Summer together he had not in probability been Driven out of Ireland to this day at least you will Grant me that it had not been so easily done Now Consider say these Jacobites If K. J.'s Good Nature tho' Baited by all the violence of the Friars and Irish who would fain have Destroyed these Protestants to Secure themselves If All this and his own visible Security for who would not Destroy his Enemies could not prevail upon his natural Goodness and Clemency to Suffer or Connive at the Irish for it needed not have appeared to be His Act to Destroy these Protestants What Malice can Suggest that it was his Design to Destroy them The Jacobites speak not in this of all the Irish they say we cannot Deny that many of them have Approv'd themselves Loyal and Gallant Men not only in Foraign Countrys but now at Home where tho' Vn-Disciplin'd Vnarm'd bred many Ages in Servitude and Vnacquainted with War yet without Aid of any Foraign Troops except at the Boyne made such Defence as Oblig'd K. William in Person to Raise
Trust and Friendship It may be Supposed that K. William does not yet know of this or is not at Leisure from his Greater Business to Examine into it at this Juncture But Sir it will well befit you in the mean time to think of something to be said to Qualify the Out-crys of the Jacobites upon this Occasion If any thing they say had appear'd under K. James's Hand tho' Counterfit as the Tryal of Grandval towards the Assassination of K. William they would have thought themselves Obliged to have Inquired and Detected the Forgery otherwise that they could not have sufficiently Vindicated his Honour At least K. James himself would have Disown'd it which if he Scrupl'd or Neglected to do after it came to his Ears it would indeed be a Ground of Suspision that could not easily be Rubb'd off Therefore Sir for the Kings Honour for the Satisfaction of the Nation and the silencing these Jacobites for the love of Truth take some Pains in these things Your Circumstances do enable you to Enquire more Effectually than other Men and to know the Truth in which we beseech you to let us all Participate at least so far as that yours and others Silence herein Confirm not the Jacobites and make others doubt that all the Cry about Glen-Coe and other Matters have not been without some Cause Sir The Jacobites Report upon us That the Assâ—ssinations and Shamm-Plots which we charge upon others discover their Father by their Phizz and comparing them with others of the same Production they plainly tell who it was that Begat them This Method they say has been some Body's Practice ever since his appearing in the World He began with the De-Witts and brought about a Glorious Revolution there He would make one almost in Love with Evil to see how much Good it Produces His Enemys and who pretend to know him well say that his Nature is so incapable of Mercy that his Revenge can never be satisfy'd with less than Blood They tell how he Boasted to K. J. himself then Duke of York Anno. 1679. That it had cost him above 1200 Lives by Execution in cold Blood to bring his Army to that Discipline it was in The particular Instances and manner of Manageing these Crueltys they say exceed all former Examples of a Ferile and Implacable Disposition and if they were put together would fill a History They say you will see full Proof of this in The Netherland Historian Printed at Amsterdam Anno. 1675. And Translated out of the Dutch The Book first open'd to me at p. 117. Where is the Story of Collonel and Quarter Master General Pain and Vin who they say was pitch'd upon as the Sacrifice to save the Reputation of the States and the New-made State-holder upon the Irruption the French made into their Country in December 72. When they took and Destroyed Boode grave Sâ—…mmardam c. The blame was laid upon Collonel Pain and Vin his Cowardice and Correspondence with the Enemy else they had Routed the French no Doubt Therefore his Highness had Collonel Pain and Vin brought before a Council of War which 10. Janu. 72 73. Condemn'd him to perpetual Banishment c. But found nothing worthy of Death against him But this could by no means Satisfy his Highness who by his Letter there insented of the 19. Janu. 73. Ordered a Second Tryal and to proceed with all Strictness c. Which was done And the Council of War 16. Janu. 73. Persisted in their former Sentence only added to appease the Wrath of his Highness that the Prisoner should be brought to the Place of Publick Execution and there by the Hang-Man to have a Sword Sway'd over his Head Thus Resolv'd at Alphen the 16. Janu. 73. But his Highness's Thirst was not thus to be Asswag'd it must be Quench'd as Soloman in the Siege of Rhodes says to his General By Rhodium Blood or Thine If not by French yet by firth Blood as was in his Power to Spill Therefore he Orders a Third Tryal and himself Sate Judge and his Highness in his own Person for no other would do it Condemn'd the Prisoner to Death with particular Directions for speedy Execution Which Sentence says the History on the 23. was Pronounced at Alphen and the same Day Executed his Head being Cut off at the Third Stroak but he to the very last kept to his former Protestation against his having had any Communication with the Enemy whereof some were suspicious but Accused him of bare Cawardice Thus that History And there was some body would have had Admiral Herbert brought to a Second Tryal for his being beat at Sea by the French in the Year 90. But that Trick would not do here say the Jacobites at least so soon Sir I will not take up your time with Hundreds of such Instances which the Jacobites do Urge nor do expect that you should Answer them all particularly It will be Troublesome but if you can find something to say to them in the General it will do well But I cannot Omit that never-Dying Story of the De-Wits because the Jacobites do make so great Noise with it They desire us to observe the several Steps and Degrees by which his Highness Advanced himself to the State-Holder-ship over the bellys of these Brothers whom the ' bovesaid Dutch History p. 70. Calls the Greatest Wits and Posititians of the World And they say you will find many Strokes in all that Management of the same Refin'd Politicks as in this Revolution First that his Highness's Partizans had taken care to have it Spread through the whole Country that the De-Wits had Secret Designs to Betray them to the French The Nation being thus Substantially Poison'd with an ill Opinion of their Governours next the Mobb is set on Foot to Demand of their Magistrates that his Highness should be amde State-Holder without Delay This was prettily Coppy'd say the Jacobites by Lord L. who Headed the London Mobb into Westminster-Hall with Papers in their Hatts Demanding his Highness to be made King when the two Houses of Convention seem'd to be Doubtful about the Matter But after this they soon came to a Conclusion The English Mobb upon this Revolution did imitate their Masters in Holland as if the same Spirit had possessed them and they had both Acted upon the same Cause and Principles But in this there was a Remarkable Difference that as the abovesaid History tells p. 45. They turn'd out all the Ministers of the De-Wit and Louvestayn Faction But here K. James's Arbitrary Ministers are still employed tho' all the Complaints in his Highness's Declaration are only against these Ministers and no otherwise against K. James than by an Innuondo that he must of necessity Design to Reign Arbitrarily whenever it should be in his Power because he made use of such Ministers it must be suppos'd with that Prospect of Arriving at full Arbitrariness in time by the help of their Administration In the next place
your Wit which could Search so Deep as to find Reasons why Wives may Leave their Husbands and Subjects Abdicate their Prince at their Pleasure And nothing is so Surprizing as these Reasons which you produce for this viz. Because a Wife may be Ravished and forc'd from her Husband therefore it is Lawful for her to yield to an Adulterer Nay to invite him to come and Drive away her Husband to Intrigue with this Gallant under-hand Contrive and Assist him to Frighten her Husband out of his House to save his Life and then to make a Present of it together with her self to her Deliverer And then it is Justly and Legally their own for What made him Run away and leave his House And his Wife holds still Faithful to her Matrimonial Vow she only Change the Object she is for Matrimony still And therefore by her Vow to her First Husband she is bound to the Second She only Transferrs her Allegiance And therefore it is the same Allegiance still All this the Jacobites think is the Consequence of Comparing this Revolution with the Conquest of the French King in Flanders c. p. 7. Because they are Ravished and Forc'd from their Natural King therefore you would Insinuate that your Case is the same who Invited over a Foraign Prince Intrigu'd with him under hand did Assist him to Frighten away our Natural and Lawful King to Save his Life and then made a Present of his Crown together with your Selves to your New Deliverer from the Slavery of an Old Husband And all his Possessions are now Justly your own for What made him Run away and Leave his Kingdom We are still Faithful to our Oath of Allegiance we only Change the Object we are for Monarchy still and therefore by our Oath of Allegiance to K. James we are bound to K. William which is a Topick taken up in Soloman and Abiathar and several of our late Pamphlets for say they we only Transferr our Allegiance and therefore it is the same Allegiance still c. And the Jacobites desire you to remember that Marriage is a Mutual Contract and there is a Due Benevolence and Duty on both sides which if either Party the Husband as well as the Wife shall Neglect or be Guilty of Male Administration why should he not be Depos'd Propter Inutiâ—… Imperium and Good-Womam have the leave to choose another Husband And yet our severe Law will not allow it If you say there are Divorces in Marriage and why not in Government They will answer That for the Case of Adultery only Divorce is Allowed in Scripture and Consequently in our Law But that neither Scripture nor our Law Allows of any Case wherein it shall be Lawful for Subjects to take Arms against their King but on the Contrary Declares it to be unlawful upon any Pretence whatsoever And they make use of this as a strong Argument against us For say they The Law of God and of the Land would have made Exceptions in the one as well as in the other if they had thought it Reasonable And therefore that we must not make Exceptions against the Laws both of God and Man But to come close to the Matter without Smiles or Innuendo's They Desire your Answer whether if Dixmuyde and Furnes had Invited the French to come thither and had Betray'd these Towns into their Hands whether this could in Justice and Good Conscience have excus'd their Transferring their Allegiance and Swearing Oaths to the French King If you do not speak plainly to this they say you do not come up to the Case in hand Unless you will say as some of late have done that the P. of Orange has Conquered England as much as the French King has Dixmuyde c. And that tho' he does not at present set up the Title of Conquest for what Cause he thinks fit yet that he has it in 's Sleeve and may justly set it up when he Pleases For which Gilbert's Pastoral and several other Licensed Pamphlets have already made way And then we all hold our Lives Estates and Liberty only at his Good Pleasure I cannot Imagine why the Parliament does not take Notice of these sort of Pretenders to Politicks who would make them all absolute Slaves under the Arbitrary and Despotick Power of a Conqueror You say in the same place p. 7. That the Principle of Rights of Hereditary Kings to their Crowns being Sacred and Inviolable is Dangerous to the Vnfortunate because it lays a Necessity upon the Conqueror to take away his Life if he can as well as his Throne since he cannot lose his Throne without losing of his Life This say the Jacobites is the very Reason which Frightned K. James away for he Observed in his Father's Words that there are but few Steps 'twixt a Prince's Prison and this Grave And tho' some Kings have been suffered to Live some time in Prison as Edward the Second and Richard the Second c. Yet it still ended in their Murther Therefore K. James the Second had no mind to stay any longer in Prison least he might have made another of the Number But it often falls out that the Murther of one will not Secure the Usurpers Title And therefore Richard the Third Murther'd all he could get who stood 'twixt him and the Crown as did Athaliah O. P. c. And there are many Examples of the like in History And these Jacobites do think that this Consideration should rather Operate against such Bloody Attempts which cannot stop in one or two single Murthers but Run often to the Destruction of whole Families and even Nations rather than against the Right of Succession in Hereditary Princes The Preservation of which would have stopt these Oceans of Blood which have Drown'd many Great and Wealthy Nations for their Violating of this Sacred and Inviolable Right But you say Sir p. 8. That if this be so Princes have no Remedy against the Injury of Neighbour Princes for it is only the fear of Conquest and losing their Crowns that can keep Princes in Awe and bring them to Just and Equal Terms This the Jacobites say is too great a Reflection upon Kings as if there were ne're a Just King in the World And your putting it in these General Terms without an Exception they say Discovers you to be no Friend to Monarchy But even as to the Argument Have Princes no Remedy against the Injury of their Neighbour Princes but taking their Crowns from them Does every Injury deserve so great a Reparation When a King Grants Letters of Mart is not that some Remedy short of Dethroning his Neighbour Prince who has Injur'd him If I owe you a Penny it is Just to take a Thousand Pounds for it It will be Convenient Sir to Explain this a little further Page 9. You shew the Necessity of Swearing to a Conqueror because the whole Nation cannot Run away Answer If the whole Nation were against him there wou'd be no