Brackly was mended by the Addition of the Rich Parsonage of Burton on the Wold in the same County Nor did the Reward of this Service extend only to Sybthorp but slew a Cathedral Height for Dr. Abbot Archbishop of Canterbury refusing to License this Sermon to be Printed was soon after Suspended from his Bishoprick and Dr. Laud that did License it being then Bishop of St. Davids was Translated to London and afterwards to the Metropolitan See of Canterbury Nay so strong run the Tide of Preferment then in this Corrupted Channel that few Divines or Common or Civil Lawyers were preferr'd to any considerable Place either in Church or State that did not in the Pulpit and on the Bench vigorously maintain these Novel and Destructive Opinions to the Scandal of their Functions and intended Ruin of the Kingdom To this Doctrine must be ascrib'd the Mischiefs of all former and later Reigns under the Protection of which any King may play the Tyrant without Control tho' it often proves Fatal to him that lays the Train And so it happen'd to Charles the Second for no sooner had his Unlimited Power been so Strenuously Asserted that he was come to give the finishing Stroke but his Death seem'd Necessary and Seasonable to make way for the Duke of York to open the Execution of the Grand Design in a bare-fac'd Subversion of the Religion and Laws of England At the Beginning of the Restoration so great an Opinion was conceiv'd of His Highness the Duke of York that his partial Admirers would suffer no Man to Insinuate his being Reconcil'd to the Church of Rome but set him up under all the Noble Qualities that might render him Acceptable to a Credulous People not only as Merciful in his Temper Just in his Dealings and endu'd with all Gracious Inclination to our Laws and the Rights of the Subject but for one Orthodox in his Religion too and who would prove a Zealous Defender of the Doctrine Worship and Discipline of the Church as Establish'd by Law In this Persuasion they continu'd some Years and tho' he had at length withdrawn himself from all Acts of Fellowship with the Church of England Refus'd the Test injoin'd by Law for distinguishing Papists from Protestants had Resign'd his Office of Lord High Admiral stood Excluded from the House of Lords and that so many Parliaments had eadeavour'd to Exclude him from Succession to the Crown because he had Revolted to the See of Rome and thereby became Dangerous to the Establish'd Religion yet all this would make no Impression upon a Wilfully Deluded and Obstinate Sort of Protestants but in Defiance of all Means of Conviction they would persuade themselves that he was still a Zealot for our Religion and a great Patriot of the Church of England Nor could any thing undeceive them till upon his Brother's Death he openly declar'd himself to be a Papist and afterwards in the Fumes and Raptures of his Victory over the late Duke of Monmouth had discover'd and proclaim'd his Intentions to overthrow both our Religion and Laws Yea so closely had some seal'd up their Eyes against all Beams of Light and harden'd themselves against all Evidences from Reason and Fact that had Success attended the Duke of Monmouth's Arms the late King had gone off the Stage with the Reputation among them of a Prince tender of the Laws of the Kingdom and who notwithstanding his being a Papist would have preserv'd the Reform'd Religion and maintain'd the Church of England in all her Rights and Grandures And tho' his whole Life had been but one continu'd Conspiracy against our Civil Liberties and Privileges he had left the Throne with the Character and under the Esteem of a Prince that in the whole Course of his Government would have regulated himself by the Rules of the Constitution and the Statutes of the Realm Aditum nocendi perfido praestat fides Sen. in Oed. Act. 3. Scen. 1. So Simple Truth does her fair Breast Disarm And gives Base Treachery a Power to Harm King Charles being now Dead the late Duke's Expectations Answer'd and his Ambition gratify'd with a Crown at his first coming to it he endeavour'd to Confirm some and Gain other of his Subjects into a good Opinion of him and their own Happiness under his Government And therefore in his first Speech to the Parliament declar'd so much Tenderness for them and such a Dear Respect for the Preservation of their Liberties that the Cajoll'd Parliament from an Excess of Satisfaction shew'd as much Affection for him as ever Parliament did to a Prince of their own Religion and gave Money till he himself put a stop to the profuse and excessive Expressions of their Satisfaction It must be granted that the Lives of some Professors are not so bad as the Consequences of their Erroneous Opinions and it was charitably thought by the Parliament that the late King James tho' a Papist would not Govern so Arbitrarily as the Encourag'd Doctrines of the Age gave him Leave to do But when they saw their Errour and perceiv'd that Popery and Arbitrary Power were never to be parted that the Monks and Friars Enter'd to Act in their proper Habits that Seminaries were set up in several Places and Houses fill'd with these Religious Furies that the Laws being in the late Reign betray'd into his Hands he unmercifully Stabb'd and Dispatch'd them and that his Antecedent Oaths and Promises were all come to nothing how it fill'd them with Resentments for his having thus Abus'd their Credulity Deceiv'd their Expectations and Reproach'd their Gloryings and Boastings of him But alas it was then too late to seek a Remedy for those Evils that an Easie Belief and a Fond Compliance with Empty Popish Promises had brought upon us Now we Feel what we would not See and Prevent at a Distance Quid nobis certius ipsis Lucret. Sensimus esse potest quo vera ac falsa notemus And what thing can there be more sure than Sense By which we Truth discern from false Pretence We smarted under our own Rod and had plenty of miserable Occasions for the Religious Exercise of that fatal Duty Passive Obedience Our Satisfactions in our New King were vanish'd and the Hopes of living happy Subjects under him were sunk into Apprehensions of Approaching Slavery A general Consternation fell upon the whole Body of the People and the very Tools that assisted the late King in subverting their own Religion and the Civil Rights of their Brethren were afraid in so Universal a Calamity that themselves should also feel the sad Effects of that Thunder with which they had Arm'd their Tyrant In how happy a Condition was James the Second before he violalated his Oaths and Promises and so might have continu'd if he could have prescrib'd any Limits to his Desires of Reigning more Absolutely than the Laws of the Constitution would allow him He had all things at pleasure to make him Great among his own Subjects
short view how these Princes carried it one towards the other None are Ignorant that the F. K. as soon as he apprehended that a pretended Zeal for Religion was the only way to advance his Ends and humor his Ambition but that he trumpt it up in all Courts where the same Religion was profess'd Religion was a Cloak to his Designs when he made an Incursion into the Spanish Netherlands and in the last Dutch War * Anno 1671. from whence We may date all our Misfortunes He in Conjunction with the King of Great Britain to destroy the States of Holland Intimated by his Ambassadors to the Pope to the Emperor of Germany and all other Princes whom he had a mind to deter from lending Assistance to the Dutch that they were a Nation fallen into Abominable Heresies and therefore all Christians were oblig'd in Conscience to War against them and rend in pieces that flourishing Republick and this furnish'd King James with the same Religious pretences against his own People At the very beginning of the late King's Reign the F. K. set him a Pattern at home and broke the inviolable Edict of Nants * Vid. Ed. Nants 1685. and King James in imitation of so pious an Example set up his dispencing Power in England violated his Oaths and Promises to his People and both under pretence of Zeal for Religion but all the Roman Catholick Princes were sensible to what eminent dangers that boasted Zeal had reduc'd them to for what Reverence what Veneration could they think those Princes had for the Name of Christian that made no Conscience of their Oaths that broke their Faith with Christians and leagu'd with Infidels who prefer'd the Crescent of Mahomet before the Cross of Christ and brib'd the Turks to begin a War against the Emperor * 1683. and Ruin that Capital City Vienna which is the Bulwork of Christendom against the Incursions of the Barbarians Who can think that Spiritual Things ever imploy'd the thoughts of that Monarch unless in order to Temporals that reflects with what violence he makes ostentation of his Zeal at home and at the same time espouses the Cause of the Protestants in Germany and Hungary perswading them to follow the Fortune of Count Teckeley and to joyn with the Turk to demand satisfaction for the violence offer'd to their Religion And this deceitful Artifice and Chichanery was the Cause that the Pope for some time resolutely refus'd to elect Fourbin into the Coledge of Cardinals As this affected Devotion of the F K. was subservient to his Ambition so James IId's Biggotry was early suspected to rise from the same Cause as the Earl of Shaftsbury declar'd before King Charles II. in a Speech * Shaftsbury's Speech State tracts Part 1. p. 463. in the House of Lords that the Duke of York had quitted his Religion that he might gain a powerful party to his Faction And this agrees with a Letter written about the same time and Recorded in the fifth Book of Collections wherein the Author tells the Duke of York that 't is the opinion of all Men that he Apostatiz'd from his Old and embrac'd a New Religon not as Charm'd by its Perfections but allur'd by the promises of an Absolute Monarchy and the blandishments of a Despotick Power which by this means would one time or other fall into his Hands Afterwards the same Letter admonishes the Duke to beware lest being dazled with the splendour of the French Monarchy he should endeavour to overthrow the best Government in the World since he seem'd to imitate King John who offer'd to turn Mahometan if the Emperor of Morocco would assist him with a Force to Revenge the Insolency of the Barons who vindicated their Liberties against the Encroachments of their King The Successes of France in War the intimate correspondence between the Duke of York and that King who manag'd England by the Politicks of Cardinal Richlieu and Mazarine at length induc'd the Duke of York to publish himself a Papist and knowing that thereby he hazarded the loss of the Church of England party he cajoll'd the Dissenters and heap'd his Favours upon them that they might be the Tools of his Ambition and also caress'd the Romanists both at home and abroad that they might be inclin'd for Religion sake to assist him But the Catholick Princes fathomed his design which was staged under the mask of Piety and joyn'd with the Interest of France and therefore Pope Innocent XI was not only incens'd with the French King and when he was drawing his last breath recommended his Emnity to the Cardinals that stood about him but also deliver'd it as his Judgment * Vindic. Gov. p. 44. that the designs of the late King James tended only to his own Ambition and his Brother 's of France and therefore did not receive the Earl of Castlemain his Ambassador with so much Honour as was due to such a magnificent and sumptuous appearance for his Holiness knew how all things were so manag'd by the Jesuits that every thing should be a Sacrifice to the Ambition of France and therefore as the Pope Complimented the late King James with a coolness of affection so he allways suspected him sometimes discover'd his Animosity and received the News * Vid. representat of Dangers in pol. tract par 2. p. 398. of his Abdication with transports of Joy and Gladness 'T is manifested the Emperor of Germany concurr'd in opinion with the Pope for after the late King's Abdication when he beg'd the Emperor's assistance in his misfortunes * Tracts of pol. col 12. vid. the Emp. of Ger. Letter and made use of his affection to the Romish Religion as a motive to encline him the Emperor return'd this Answer That the late King James 's Affairs had been now in a prosperous condition if he had hearkn'd to the advice of his Ambassador * Comitis de Kaknuits and not to the perfidy and flattery of the F King and had hindred by his Authority and Arms the F from violating the League and Peace whereof he was made Guarrantee by the Treaty of Nimeguen Now says the Emperor How can I assist you who must be forc'd to oppose the Forces of F and the Turk who did not doubt of the Fidelity and Assistance of England for the greatest injury that can be offer'd to our Religion is done by the F who is Confederated with the Turk the inveterate Enemy of Christianty So that the Jesuits that perswade the Roman Catholick Princes for their Religion sake to desert the Friendship of our Potent Monarch who has restor'd us to our Dying Liberties is just as if they should perswade the Confederate Princes to declare for those two Kings who not only design'd to enslave all Europe but also cherish'd the cause of the Infidels against the Christians and this brings me again into England And here it would be vain and impertinent in me to attempt to give a
and that in no case whatsoever they might be Resisted to which I shall add no more till I have answer'd the Calumny of the Papists who charge the Revolution upon the Principles of our Religion Pere d'Orleans the Jesuit with design to draw off the Roman Catholick Princes from a * Revolution d'Angleterre Tom 3. p. 395. Confederacy with King William and other Protestant Princes for the preservation of Europe and to perswade them to unite their Arms with those of France and the late King James on whose success as he says depends the Glory and Stability of the Popish Religion after he has scandalously told them that this Confederacy was a Combination against God and his Messias the subtle Missionary would insinuate that the late King was Depos'd merely upon the account of his Religion and that if he had been of no Religion or any thing but a Papist he had never lost his Crown which is a great Calumny and to say no worse a wilful mistake for in Antient times long before the Reformation had footing in England and when the profession of the same Religion ty'd Men in one Communion and Worship and when there could be no Apprehension of Grudges upon the Pretence of Different Persuasions in Religion there were equal Animosities and Struglings between the Antient Britains and their Kings as often as they thought their Laws and Liberties were in danger of being Invaded or Destroy'd by them None that converse with History can be ignorant that the same Innate and Congenial Temper has always sway'd these Northern Climates in all Ages within the Reach of History and was observ'd to be Predominate by Julius Caesar him self in his own Reign here Tacitus has an Instance very applicable to this purpose * Ipsi Britanni selectum tributa injuncta Imperii munera impigre obeunt si Injuriae absint has aegre tolerant jam domiti ut pareant nondum ut serviant Tacit. in Vita Agricolae Sect. 13. The Britains saith he are easily assembl'd pay Taxes freely and execute Offices in the Government chearfully if no Injuries be offer'd them for they are willing Subjects but impatient under Slavery When they were under the Power of the Normans they had often Recourse to their Arms to prevent the Incroachments and abate the Oppressions of that Race of Kings although they were All of the same Religion as is apparent in the Reign of William the First who upon the Opposition he met with relinquish'd his Pretence to Conquest and swore to govern the Kingdom by its Antient Laws William the Second was defeated by many of his Subjects who took part with his Elder Brother Robert Duke of Normandy because Rufus had violated the Laws From the same Cause when Duke Robert rais'd an Army against his other Brother Henry the First the greatest part of Henry's Army Revolted to Robert because as Matthew Paris says Henry had already been a Tyrant Another Commotion was rais'd against this Prince and the Party headed by Stephen Archbishop of Canterbury King John was brought to Reason by the Resistance he found by the Great Prelates Nobility and Gentry who slighted the Pope's Bull for Abolishing their Great Charter and valu'd neither the King's Arms nor the Pope's Excommunicating of them all when they stood in Competition with their Antient Rights and Privileges What Troubles and Danger did the Barons and Bishops bring upon Henry the Third for Violating their Privileges His Reign gave Birth to the Complaint that fill'd the Subjects Mouths in the Reign of King James viz. That Judgment was committed to the Unjust the Laws to the Lawless Peace to Men of Discord and Justice to the Injurious So that not only the Nobility Gentry and Commonalty but the Bishops of his own Church Warr'd against him threaten'd him with Excommunication and that if he would not be reclaim'd from his Illegal and Arbitrary Proceedings they would conferr with the other Estates of the Realm and as they had done in his Predecessor's Time would chuse a New King And if in so Antient Times when Popery was on the Meridian of Glory and Power not only the Laity but the Prelates of the Church thought it Lawful to Resist their Monarchs who were breaking in upon their Liberties why may not Protestants do the same without Scandal to their Holy Religion when they had greater Reasons and stronger Provocations than former Times could pretend to Their Religion was never in danger by any of those Kings But ours had receiv'd a deadly Wound by James the Second and was almost Expiring till we took shelter under a Prince who is not only able to Protect his own Subjects but to hinder other Nations from being brought under the Yoke of Slavery The Reader I hope will easily perceive that these Instances are not urg'd to flatter the Rage or gratifie the Passions of Seditious Rebels but only to shew that it has always been the Genius of the English Nation under all Forms of Religion to be very Tender of their Privileges and gave greater Proofs of their Zeal for them in Times of Popery than ever they have done since ehe Protestant Religion obtain'd amongst us Which may at once confute the Jesuits and convince the World that we did not resist the late King James because he was a Papist but because he was a Tyrant tho' it has been observ'd in England that Popery was the first Step to Arbitrary Power and the nearer any of our Kings inclin'd to Popery so much the more did our Privileges decline till at last they were almost totally destroy'd by a Prince that openly profess'd it and all our Crime is that we would not be content to be Ruin'd by the late King and his Popish Emmissaries and rather chose to desire Protection Liberty and the Restitution of our Privileges from His Present Majesty than abide in the Condition of the vilest Slaves to the late King James A Crime for which I am very confident no Papist tho' he Rail at us with his Tongue can condemn us in his Conscience And this brings us to the last Plea that our Opponents are pleas'd to enter against the Doctrine of Resistance and securing our Obedience to the late King viz. That we are oblig'd by our Oaths to Obey and not Resist him upon any Pretence whatsoever To which I Answer How large an Extent soever some Men may give to the Oaths they took in pursuance of an Act of Parliament in the 13th of Charles the Second yet they ought to remember what must always be suppos'd as the Natural Condition of every Oath Rebus sic stantibus Things continuing in the same State as they were in at the Time of Taking these Oaths for otherwise the Obligation ceases when Things are so changed that they are Unlawful or impossible to be observ'd When we took these Oaths to the late King we believ'd he would observe and keep his own Oath at his Coronation and protect us in
give cause to suspect it For the Revoking and Imprisoning Sir Bevel Skelton the English Agent in France upon a Supposition that he had talk'd of it and Rewarding him afterwards with the Lieutenancy of the Tower are plain Contradictions and therefore the English and Dutch had reason to believe the League and Insist upon it when the French themselves had discover'd it Now compare all this with Mr. Coleman's Letters and the barbarous persecutions of the French Protestants so tragically carried on in France and which were also going on to be Imitated in England at the same time that the French Memorial was deliver'd and you will have all the Reason in the World to to continue your belief of it for the greater security of England Thus have I given a brief Survey of the late King's Tyranny in Matters of publick Fact as the natural consequence of his Espousing and Advancing the Popish Religion upon the Ruins of the Reformed I must now acquaint you what Course the Nation took to procure their Deliverance Who seeing themselves Involv'd in such deplorable Circumstances Gaul'd under the Yoke of Papistick Tyranny Afflicted at the dismal prospect of being depriv'd of the Exercise of their Establish'd Religion and the loss of their Civil Properties and Privileges After they had ineffectually imploy'd all Dutiful and Obliging Methods to Reclaim the King and waited till England was on the Brink of Destruction before they would assume their Natural Right and Defend themselves God Almighty who from Heaven beheld their approaching Calamities put it into the Hearts of some thoughtful Persons of all Qualities Degrees and Conditions in the Kingdom to make their humble Application to the Illustrious Prince of Orange who as a Soveraign Independant Prince nearly allyed by his own Blood but nearer by his Virtuous Princess to the Crown of England and a Protestant in his Religion had an undoubted Right to interpose between the late King and his injur'd Subjects and according to his own Benignity and the Example of his Illustrious Progenitors Defend and Deliver an oppress'd People Divine Providence having thus prescrib'd the Means of our Deliverance some good Men whose Names ought to be Celebrated with Eternal praises found a way maugre the danger that attended it to Address this magnanimous Prince Lay the Complaints and Dangers of the Kingdom before him and Implore his Gracious Aid and Effectual Assistance to Free a Languishing people from inevitable Ruin promising to Live and Dye with his Highness in so Glorious an Enterprize Animated by his known Piety and Christian Compassion his Native Heroick Bravery and the Prayers and Necessities of a miserably Harrass'd and almost Ruin'd Kingdom he was pleas'd to undertake our Deliverance and to the Goodness of God and this Great Prince's Wise and Valiant Conduct only We owe that Mercy for tho God can work miraculously for the Accomplishment of his own Will yet in Human Reasoning no other Prince but our now Gracious King was qualify'd to undertake it For He is a Prince of a Ripe and Excellent Apprehension of a strong and profound Judgment has a Right Notion in all Ambiguities and is not easily Impos'd upon by the Sentiments of others Able to Determine in all Occurrences by the strength of his own Genius and yet never unwilling to hear the Opinions of his Counsellors Deliberate in his Resolves and Firm in his Purposes Undaunted in Dangers and of a steddy Conduct in Security That knows how to gain Power and how to make it Pleasant and dureable by the Regular use of it as appeared to all the World in the Upright and Discreet management of this Great and almost Miraculous Revolution The States of Holland accommodated the Prince of Orange with Shipping and other Necessaries for this glorious Expedient and meritted our eternal Gratitude but having met with ill Returns * Dutch Design Anatomized from some Mercenary Pens I shall take off the Scandal and Reproach they have thrown upon that Action by shewing it Kind Grateful and Justifiable to all the World There are many Considerations that justify the Interposition of the States of Holland and the first is That 't was to preserve the Peace of Europe for all their Neighbouring Princes perceiving the growing power of France to threaten the Welfare and Quiet of Christendom and that the Obsequious compliance of the late King James in all the Proceedings of that Towering Monarch as well as Monsieur le Comte d'Avaux's Memorial shew'd a dangerous Allyance between those Two Crowns the Princes of Europe and the States of Holland enter'd into a Confederacy to prevent the Conjunction of the Armies of these two Princes and save Europe This memorable Concurrence happening about the same time that the Prince of Orange had promis'd to Assist the People of England in Redressing their Grievances and Restoring them to their Just Rights and Privileges Whilst the Prince of Orange was doing that Good Office in England the other Princes in the League watch'd the the Motions of France and made them uncapable of helping each other and so the Emperor of Germany the Pope himself and the rest of the Confederate Princes as well as the States of Holland were in the same design against the late King James as the only means to preserve the peace of Europe Besides in this Generous Action the States of Holland writ after an English Copy and express'd their Gratitude for the same Good Office the English did them on the like occasion * Hist Belg. p. 203. when the Spaniards threaten'd not to leave a Protestant alive in Holland Those Provinces are of the same Religion with us and when they saw our Prince had form'd Designs to make us all Papists or Destroy us even Humanity oblig'd them to succour us when the whole Nation so apparently wanted it but the best Reason for what they did except those of common Christianity is given by themselves as I find it in an Extract of the Resolutions of the States of Holland upon the 28th of October 1688. where among other Reasons for Assisting the Prince of Orange with a Fleet and an Army this is one The King of France say they hath upon several Occasions shew'd himself disaffected to that State which gave Cause to fear and apprehend that in case the King of Great Britain should happen to obtain an Absolute Power over his People that then both Kings out of Interest of State and Hatred and Zeal against the Protestant Religion would endeavour to bring that State to confusion and if possible quite subject it There is no question but this Wise and Prudent State saw our Ruine would in time prove their own also and Foreseeing and Preventing it will Justify them before God and all the World Now to shew that other Princes were of the same Opinion with the States of Holland and saw the Designs of the F. K. and the late King James threaten'd the Peace and Safety of Europe Let us take a
particular account of the Prince his successful and prosperous Expedition where there were so many Eye-Witnesses of that great and miraculous Providence that was visible in the progress thereof which was such as shew'd the undertaking to be acceptable to Almighty God who prospers the endeavours of Good Men but taketh the wicked in the Nets which they spread for the Innocent I shall therefore only tell the Reader that His Highness the Prince of Orange being happily and safely arriv'd in England He was Saluted and Welcom'd with all the demonstrations and transports of Joy and Gladness that an ill us'd Nation were able to Express under a sense of their Calamity and a hopeful prospect of Deliverance from a cruel Tyranny This Joy and Satisfaction daily increas'd as his Highness's Declaration was spread through the Kingdom For the Jesuits having loaded this Pious and Noble Expedition with all the Odium of Virulent Pens and Tongues his Highness's Declaration which shew'd the End of his coming was not with any design upon the Person of the late King Aspiring at his Crown or with any intention to subdue the Kingdom as had been maliciously suggested but purely that the Abuses and Grievances of the People Pathetically and Truly Enumerated in his Highness's Declaration might be Redress'd by a Parliament free in all its circumstances all Fears and Jealousies vanish'd and Men of all Qualities hasten'd to put themselves under the Auspicious Conduct of this Illustrious Prince that God in the Eternal Counsel of his Wisdom had Appointed to be the Glorious Deliverer of England Now let all Men judge of the Equity of his Highness's Demands and the Justice of his Proceedings His Own and his Princess's Right to the Succession of the Crown was like to be supplanted by a supposititious Child and a flourishing Kingdom in danger of Destruction and both evidently plainly and certainly so And can any Man think he ought to Renounce his Own and his Princess's Right and frustrate the Expectation of a whole Kingdom to which he was Allied by Blood Nature and all the sacred Obligations of Religion rather than disturb the progress of a Jesuitick Tyranny cover'd under Royal Authority Sure none in the World can think so Had this Illustrious Prince conceiv'd any Prejudice against this Unfortunate Monarch James II. Turn'd his Eye toward the Crown or would have seen England's Misery before the Oppress'd Subjects themselves Represented it to him and pray'd his Relief His Highness was not without an earlier * Defence de la Nation Britanique p. â—â— knowledge of it and Solicitations to do what at last Necessity compell'd him to For there are many yet alive in Germany Holland and England that very well remember how much his Highness was Importun'd at James the 2d's first coming to the Crown to make a Descent into England with a Force able to Redress the Affairs of that Country and prevent the inevitable Ruin which so openly threaten'd it This was known immediately after the Death of Charles the Second when one of the most powerful Princes of Europe having represented to his Highness that All was going to Ruin and would be utterly lost in England if a sudden Interposition of the Prince of Orange did not prevent its impending Destruction and therefore Offer'd him what Assistance was requisite for such a Noble and Pious Enterprize but that Puissant Prince receiv'd no other Answer but that his Highness was in hopes that God and that King 's own Interest would possess him with better Sentiments and therefore his Highness would Attempt nothing in that kind against the late King till he was forc'd to it by the last Extremity but if his hopes were disappointed and there was no other Remedy he would not be wanting in his Duty And God be prais'd his Highness at length in due time perform'd his Promise and Silenc'd all that declaim against it It cannot be imagin'd that his Highness was pleas'd to see the Efforts of the late King in abolishing the Penal Laws against Papists which were so essentially necessary to our Preservation nor can his Highness be thought easy at the sight of the late King 's climbing up a Precipice from which he must necessarily fall or by an Artificial and Politick Silence incourage K. James's Ministers to carry all things to such Extremities as might render his Conduct Odious for the Letter of Mr. Fagell upon this Subject will be an Eternal Monument of the Free and Sincere proceedings of his Highness with the late King in this whole Matter Much less can our Adversary deny that his Highness was Requested by the People to Defend their Religion Rights and Privileges for God Almighty to the eternal Confusion of our Enemies suffer'd themselves to declare it in a Memorial they publish'd to all the Confederate Princes with design to break the League they were so much afraid of for after they had in that paper undecently treated his Highness and menac'd him with I know not how many Tragical Stories they yet acknowledge that He was Invited by the Nation Nor could his Highness hinder the Lords and other Persons of the best Quality in England from shewing their Grievances and Imploring his Gracious Succor when the Extremities they were under compell'd them to it and also told Him that if his Highness refus'd them they would enter into their Natural Right and Defend themselves by their own strength against a Power which was become as they declar'd to his Highness in their Memorial a Power of Destruction Let our Adversaries now tell us if the Case was not very Important and whether the Prince of Orange ought to have contemn'd the just Fears of the English and all the Protestants of Europe who are imbark'd in the same Interest and Danger and have slighted all the Princes that either by themselves or by their Ministers perswaded his Highness to enter upon an Action on which depended the Common Safety of Europe I don't believe they dare say after all the Facts we have enumerated that his Highness ought to contemn the Publick or dispute Matters of so great Notoriety but if the English Fears were well grounded and their Oppressions True and Real and that if his Highness could not perswade himself from being of the same Opinion with the rest of the World that he could refuse to assist those that requested it in such a pressing necessity and on an Occasion where Providence appear'd so expresly for our Deliverance and which if neglected perhaps could never be Retriev'd Now let the French Missionaries or their English Pupils produce their Fine Reasons and tell us if his Highness ought to forget his God his Religion the Rights of his Princess his Own the Liberty of England and of Holland which must Infallibly share in the Misfortunes and Depredations of England the Protestant Religion breathing its last and all Europe in danger of losing its Liberty Let them also tell us if they can whether the Respects due to a Father
being such that where one Party does not perform his Covenant the other are absolv'd from theirs Which Advice being approv'd the Lords and Great Men of the Kingdom Assemble at Soissons Depose Childeric and Elect Pepin to be their King But above all I am amaz'd to hear the * Advice de Refugies p. 60. French Missionaries and other Writers so openly and scandalously Declaim against Dethroning Kings when the very Monarch that now enjoys the Crown of France wears the Crown in Consequence and by Right of such Depositions Nay It would be no hard matter to prove that almost all the Governments in the World owe their Settlements to Conventions of Estates Assembl'd and Authoriz'd by a Necessity of providing for the Publick Safety So that the Conventional Parliament of England in Deposing James the Second made no Incroachment upon the Rights of Kings nor Violation of the Law of God of Nature or the Law of Nations but agreeably to all these Laws Asserted their own Rights in taking more Care for the Safety of a whole Kingdom than the Pretentions of a Single Person who endeavour'd to destroy it And in this they did but follow the Practice of former Ages in their own Country as will appear by and by in the following Examples God has invested Kings with a Power to do Justice but not to commit Violences and therefore when they wilfully convert their Authority into a Power of Destruction as James the Second did Subjects have a Right by the Law of Nature to Repel Force by Force for the Necessity of Publick Safety is a Law so Sacred that it Abolisheth all others that oppose it and Justifies all the Revolutions and Settlements in the World that are built upon that Foundation It is the First and greatest Obligation of Mankind to procure and promote the Welfare of the Body whereof they are Members which if every one would think himself oblig'd to do there would be a Circulation of Safety and Prosperity through the whole * Eâque lege notus sis ut ea habeas principia naturae quibus parere quae semper sequi debeas ut utilitas tua communis utilitas sit vicissimque communis utilitas tua sit Cicero lib. 3. expresseth this to the Life in saying That we are born under a Law and instructed by the Principles of Nature that oblige us to prefer the Common Good before our own so that at length the Common Good may be our own Advantage also With a single Respect to this Common and Mutual Good the Light of Reason shining in Wiser Heathens which yet shines brighter in Christians exalted by Revelation dictated the Necessity of Government as an Instrument without which it could not possibly be attain'd Fair Useful Just and Equal Rules of Conversation were by Common Consent agreed on and some One or More Persons Renown'd for Wisdom Probity and Courage were Intrusted and Impower'd to Inforce as Occasion should require the Community to observe them Which Ruler was bound by Mutual Compact to govern by the Rules agreed on and under that Condition the People gave their Oaths to obey him So that those People that think themselves bound by their Oaths to an Absolute Obedience to their Prince without Reserve forget that the Rulers Office is merely Relative to their People's Welfare and they also forget their first Obligation to seek the Good of the Community If a Ruler act contrary to his Trust by setting aside the Laws of the Constitution made and agreed on by Prince and People as necessary for the Conservation of every Individual Person and by excercising an Arbitrary Power of his Own Erecting evidently seeks the Ruin of that Body he ought to preserve the Necessary Defence of themselves is no Offence against the Nature of Government which was Originally Instituted for the Preservation and not for the Destruction of the Society and therefore cannot be looked upon as Criminal The Judgment of the great Melancton concerning Government in his Exposition on the Fifth Commandment will clear this Point In regard saith he something will go amiss in every Society for the Love of Peace we must bear with many Faults of our Princes and so long as they design well in the main tho' they fall into Mistakes we ought to bear them with Patience and hide their Frailties as much as possibly we can But of a Tyrant he says a few Lines before * Nec praetextu operis Divini excusanda aut tuenda sunt vitia nec propter loci dignitatem tolerandae sunt manifestae Atroces injuriae impietates flagitiosae libidines Tyrannorum sine fine grassantium sed reliqua politia cui Deus gladium dedit recte facit cum Caligulas Nerones similia portenta removent a Gubernatione That the Pretence of a Divine Right can neither excuse or justifie his Crimes nor the Dignity of his Office tolerate him to exercise a Wicked and Wilful Tyranny but when his Impieties and Injuries to his People are evident and unsufferable the Powers to whom God hath in such an Extremity committed the Sword to protect and deliver an Oppress'd Nation may remove him from the Government as the Romans did Caligula Nero and other Monsters of Cruelty who were not only Enemies to the Commonwealth but to all Mankind Indeed when an Absolute Government hath for the Sins of the People taken firm Rooting which Thanks be to God was not England's Case I deny not but such as were born under it ought to be content with their Servile Condition till Heaven is prevail'd with by their Prayers and Piety to release them from Thraldom But in a Free Estate the Case stands as is before rehears'd Polanus in proposing the Question whether we ought to obey an Absolute and Tyrannical Prince exactly answers the Case of England under the Reign of the late King James saying We must distinguish between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy in the former it must be born with because the Prince does but exercise his own Authority like Nebuchadnezzar But Sed si Rex seu Princeps habeat limitatum adstrictum certis conditionibus in quas juravit seu quas se promisit servaturum Penes Status aut Primores Regni seu Principatus est coercere Regis seu Principis Tyrannidem immanitatem Syntag. lib. 10. cap. 62. if the King or Prince governs in a Limited Monarchy where he receives his Crown on certain Conditions which he promises and swears to observe but instead of it breaks his Oath and sets up a Despotick Power unknown to the Constitution and Inconsistent with the Safety of it the Estates of the Kingdom may depose him from his Royal Dignity And this is Melancton's meaning also as may be collected from his Words already cited cui Deus gladium dedit to whom God hath given the Authority The Case thus stated makes England unconcern'd in the Deep Submissions of the Primitive Christians who tho'
Injury So that the Inference from these Premisses will utterly overthrow the Objection of our Adversaries in favour of the late King James For if a Patron that out of a Principle of Cruelty exposeth the Life of his Slave makes a Forfeiture of his Property in him much more may a Prince for the same Reason forfeit all his Interest in his Free-born Subjects And if a Natural Father who seeks the Destruction of his Son does therefore lose all just Claim to that Son's Obedience much more may a Prince who is but a Casul Political Father and is invested with that Relation only by Agreement and Compact may a Fortiori for the same Reason make a just Forfeiture and lose all just Claim to the Obedience of his Political Children So that the Convention of the Estates Assembl'd at Westminster in Deposing the late King and conferring the Crown upon our Gracious King William the Third have done nothing against the late King James but what they were necessitated to do and what they are justify'd in doing by the greatest Authorities in the Christian World At the late King 's Going off and making no manner of Provision for the Administration of the Government the Nation seem'd to be in the same Condition they were in when the Original Contract was first made and the same Care was requisite to settle the Distracted Affairs of the Realm under that Confusion wherein he left it as if we never had been bless'd with any Settlement at all and consequently the Convention upon the Vacancy of the Throne had Power to Model Things as the present Circumstances of the Publick exacted without being confin'd to the Presidents of former Ages and yet so great was the Modesty of that Venerable Assembly and their Care to prevent Innovations that they did nothing but what had been already done upon the like Occasion many Hundred Years before How the Clergy the Barons and the Commons deported themselves towards King John five Hundred Years ago and Deposing him and Electing Lewis of France I have already acquainted you and therefore shall say no more here than that the Grounds of their Proceedings were for Re-gaining those Franchises that were notoriously invaded by that Arbitrary Prince and are contain'd in the Great Charter of England King Edward the Second tracing the same Arbitrary Methods the Barons send him word That * Trussell 's Hist p. 2â—6 unless he put away Peirce Gaveston that corrupted his Counsels and squander'd his Revenue and also addicted himself to Govern by the Laws of the Land they would with one Consent Rise in Arms against him as a Perjur'd Person And so they did and Beheaded his Minion Gaveston notwithstanding the King 's earnest Sollicitation for his Life The same Fate attended the Spencers And a Parliament being call'd without his Consent at length himself was Depos'd who confess'd the Sentence of his Deposition was just that he was sorry he had so offended the State as they should utterly Reject him but gave the Parliament Thanks that they were so * Trussell 's Hist p. 218. gracious to him as to Elect his Eldest Son their King King Richard the Second being laps'd into the same Misfortune of Affecting a Tyrannical Government the Lords and Commons declare unto him then at Eltham That †Knighton An. 1386. in case he would not be govern'd by the Laws Statutes and Laudable Customs and Ordinances of the Realm and the Wholsome Advice of the Lords and Peers but in a Head-strong Way would exercise his own Will they would Depose him from his Regal Throne and promote some Kinsman of his of the Royal Family to the Throne of the Kingdom in his stead But this Warning having no Effect at length a Parliament is Call'd without the King's Consent or Approbation by Henry Duke of Lancaster They requir'd him to Resign his Crown which tho' he condescended to and actually perform'd it as directed yet the * Trussell l. 2. p. 43. Parliament then Sitting thinking this Abdication not sufficient to build upon because the Writing might be the Effect of Fear and so not Voluntary and Spontaneous they thereupon proceed to a Formal Deposition in the Names of all the Commons of England upon the Articles Exhibited against him which consisted of Twenty nine Particulars and the greatest part of them relating to the Affairs of that Time in which this Age is not concern'd I have contracted them into a narrower Compass than in the Trussell's Hist Original without omitting any thing that is material and are what follows viz. That King Richard the Second wasted the Treasure of the Realm That he Impeach'd several Great Lords of High Treason that Acted for the Good of the Kingdom by Order of Parliament That he perverted the Course of Justice and took away the Lives and Estates of certain Noble-Men without Form of Law That he affirm'd All Law lay in his Head and Breast and that all the Lives and Estates of his Subjects were in his Hands to dispose of at pleasure That he put out divers Knights and Burgesses Legally Elected and put in others of his own Choice to serve his Turn That he Rais'd Taxes contrary to Law and his own Oath And Banish'd the Archbishop of Canterbury without Just Cause or Legal Judgment pronounc'd against him For these Reasons he was formally Depos'd by Parliament who at the same time Consented that Henry Duke of Lancaster should be Crown'd King tho' the Right of Blood was in Edmund Earl of March because now Henry the Fourth had signaliz'd himself in Delivering the Nation from the Tyranny of Richard the Second And after the same manner tho' with a more Free and Absolute Election proceeded the late Convention of Estates in Deposing James the Second and filling the Vacant Throne with our present Monarch William the Third who under God was the Glorious and Happy Instrument of Freeing England from the Tyranny of the late King These Proceedings I have already prov'd to be consentaneous to all Laws And to confirm it shall only add That amongst all the Unfortunate Princes that have been laid aside by their Subjects none were more justly Dethron'd than James the Second We read of some Princes that were Depos'd because they were Infected with the Leprosie but I think none will pretend that Leprosie under the Law was as Incompatible with the Government as Tyranny and Setting up of Idolatry was at this Juncture for that Disease was not in the power of Oziah to help but Tyranny was the Efflux of the late King 's Arbitrary Will and the Gratification of his Sensual Appetite Besides Leprosie is but a Disease in the Body but Tyranny in the Soul Leprosie was but a Ceremonial Evil but according to this manner of Speaking Tyranny is a Moral Evil. Leprosie does but infect Tyranny destroys King Childeric of France was Depos'd for Slothfulness and neglecting the Affairs of the Kingdom and it it must be acknowledg'd this shameful
* By this means the Romans establish'd their Empire in sharing the Advantages of it among the People whose Obedience is secur'd by Acts of Grace and Protection from Danger and truly did not the boundless Ambition of Unwary Monarchs blind the Eyes of their Reason from discerning their True and Lasting Interests they would never run into such Extreams of Arbitrary Sway as render'd their Government Odious and their Persons Hated No King in Europe has more his own Will and lives more happily than He which conforms his Inclinations and Actions to the Sense of the Law and the Love of his People and in this Sense he may be as Absolute as he pleases without Overturning the World to accomplish it He can Desire nothing but what will be freely Granted him nor Do any thing that will be Distasted And what can the greatest Monarch in the World desire more than to have his Wants Liberally Supply'd his Actions Universally Approv'd and Applauded This and no other End is the Design of the Resistance contended for but that a Prince misguided by ill Counsel may without Injury to his Person or Diminution to his Rightful Authority if fair Means can prevail be Reclaim'd from Violating the Rights of his Subjects and brought to a Temper consistent with his Own and his Subjects Happiness And if any Ill-minded Men carry it further we can only say that the Abuse of a Thing does not impeach the Lawful Use of it Let those that offend the Law suffer for the Breach of it Another End of Resistance is the Good of the People for when all other Means to reduce the Prince into a right Temper has with all due Respect and Submission been us'd but effected nothing then and not before Resistance is necessary for our Privileges are granted by the same Laws by which the Prince has his Authority and makes an Universal Defection or Resistance lawful when all would be Ruin'd without it for the Doctrine of Non-Resistance is not of Constant and Eternal Obligation in all Circumstances Calling to Account are Acts of Authority but Resistance for Self-Defence is a Right of Nature and Inalienable In every Province and Kingdom of the Universe we may find Instances where Subjects have been necessitated to secure Themselves their Religion and Liberties by Resisting their Prince whose repeated Acts of Tyranny did visibly threaten their Ruin and this was always look'd upon as a sufficient Reason to dispence with their Allegiance especially when the Necessity was not pretended or Created by themselves but apparently forc'd on them by their Prince who was oblig'd to preserve them When our Saviour was walking in the Garden and expected the Jews to come and Seize him by Violence he was pleas'd to command that he which had a Sword should take it and being told there were Two Swords he said it was Enough How Enough Not to encounter the Arm'd Multitude that came along with Judas he could not think so But they were Enough to let his Disciples know that upon such Occasions they had a Right to defend themselves In Extream Dangers we are allow'd to make use of Extream Remedies Former Ages it seems were Strangers to the Doctrine of Non-Resistance for Resistance has been allow'd by Kings themselves Henry the Second allow'd it by causing his * Barons to Swear â—russel's History of 〈…〉 that if he should not perform the Covenants between himself the King of France and Richard Earl of Poictou his Son they should renounce him and join with the King of France and Earl Richard against him Richard the First when he went to War in the Holy Land substituted William Bishop of Ely and Lord Chancellor of England to Govern in his Absence who abusing his Authority the Bishops Earls and Barons having Routed his Party they Depos'd and Banish'd him and these Proceedings were approv'd and confirm'd by the King himself at his Return So that in those Early Days the Nobility Clergy and People had no Apprehensions of an Irresistible Power in Kings and those Commission'd by them when they found their Power grew Tyrannical and Unsupportable King John attempting to destroy the Liberties and Privileges of his Subjects granted by Magna Charta the Bishops Barons and Great Men of the Kingdom of all Degrees and Conditions took up Arms against him and never laid them down till the King and the Prince his Son had sworn upon the Holy Evangelists to maintain the Subjects Privileges and if they should break them that it should be lawful for his Subjects to Renounce their King and to gain them by Force And this was never accounted Rebellion for the Pardon that follow'd it was mutual not only for those that adher'd to the Earl of Gloucester but for those also that took part with the King In the Reign of Edward the Second this Doctrine of Resistance was asserted upon several Occasions and so gross were the Enormities of this Prince that in an Act of Indempnity in the First of Edward the Third the particular Illegal Acts of the King his Father are recited and all that Resisted him are Pardon'd without loading their Memories with Reproachful Epithets Henry Duke of Gloucester oppos'd the Tyranny of Richard the Second and had the Crown for his pains and those that came over with him were pardon'd in decent Language without calling them Rebels or Traytors So that it seems the Parliaments of Edward the Third and Henry the Fourth that Pass'd these Acts of Indempnity had no ill Opinion of the Doctrine of Resistance in Cases of Extream Necessity To which give me Leave to add the Opinion of a Learned Man on this Subject and I shall ease the Reader of further Trouble 'T is * Opusc advers Adulat consid 7. Gerson the famous Chancellor of the University of Paris who says 'T is an Errour to assert that an Earthly Prince as long as his Dominion lasts is not engag'd to his Subjects in any thing for according to the Divine Law Natural Equity and the true End of Power as Subjects owe their Prince Fidelity Subsidy and Obedience so their Prince owes them Fidelity and Protection and in case he does Publickly Obstinately and Imperiously oppress them their Natural Right takes place and makes it Lawful for them to Repel Force by Force So that the late King James has no Reason to complain of Hard Measure from his late Subjects For if the King of England be a Limited Prince as certainly he is and bound by Oath to Govern according to Law and that his Authority depends upon the Right Exercise of it and can claim no Allegiance but upon those Conditions they are not to blame for they did not Desert or Resist him till he had Renounc'd to be their King according to the Constitution by avowing to Govern by a Despotick Power unknown to the Constitution and Inconsistent with it The Breach was first made on his part by Renouncing to be their King according to the Law that made
End agree with that of Popery which is to Exterminate Hereticks By the Law of Government we are Objects of Protection by the Law of Popery we are Subjects of Destruction The Prince receives from God and the Society a Power to protect his People but he receives from the Church his Mother an Order to destroy them as Condemn'd Hereticks And which of these two Orders think you shall prevail with a Popish King above the other Why thot in which he is most Concern'd and to which Eternal Recompences are inseparably annex'd And then in what a sad Condition were the Protestants of England in the Reign of the late King Thirdly Against 3. The Law of Royalty to which Popery in the Case suppos'd has an absolute Antipathy as will appear if you consider that all Royalty necessarily contains three Things viz. the Consent of the People engaging to obey the Consent of the King promising to protect and the Manner by which the King and People confirm their Promises which is a Religious Oath Now a Popish Prince that governs a Protestant People will be always wanting on his part of the Contract if he takes the Maxims of his own Religion for the Rule of his Government 'T is a Contradiction to believe he will act against his own Inclination or that he will cancel the Antecedent Obligation which he was under to the Church his Mother in preserving Hereticks that are not a People but a loose sort of Animals doom'd to Destruction Does the Prince break his Faith in not performing the Oath he took when Invested with his Kingly Authority and promis'd to protect his People No say the Directors of his Conscience The Oath was against the Laws of Holy Church therefore sinful and void Besides say they the Prince took the Oath with Intention to break it and the Intention must always govern the Action especially when it falls under the Church's General Rule of not keeping Faith with Hereticks 4. To dismiss this Argument Popery is particularly against the Laws of a Mix'd Monarchy such as England's is because the Prince believes he has a Right to treat Hereticks as he pleases and may lawfully take away their Lives and seize their Estates without doing them any kind of Injustice for being fallen from the Right of Society he can do them no Wrong Besides All Princes that attribute to themselves an Absolute Power think they owe an Account of their Actions to none but God and a Prince under the Circumstances that we have observed will never think he displeases God by destroying Hereticks * Durand a San. Port. quaest 5. utr sint tolerand that as their Writers say are Enemies to GOD and Man So that we see the Advancement of Popery in a Protestant Kingdom is a necessary Introduction of Tyranny and Intails a Law of Misery and Desolation upon all Protestants And such was King James's Design here Let no Man argue the Impossibility of Introducing Popery into this Kingdom because the Number of Papists are but small in respect of the Protestants for that will not render the Design Impracticable but rather make the Execution of it more cruel and barbarous A whole Nation upon the matter must be coâ—rupted from the Faith of the True Religion or be destroy'd You know what Progresses were made towards it by Tying all Preferments to Popery Unarming Protestants putting the whole Strength and Power of the Kingdom into the Hands of Papists and sending over Irish Soldiers to increase a needless and dangerous Army And what this might have grown to in time was easier to foresee than Remedy for an Ordinary Strength Unresisted might Assassinate a whole Nation Fifthly 5. In the Heat of the late King's Zeal and Fury to procure such a Parliament as might set up a Power and Interest agreeable to his Humour and destructive to the Kingdom Quo Warranto's like Bombs were thrown into Cities and Boroughs to destroy the Freedom of Elections which is the Foundation of Government for What will become of the Liberty of Parliaments without the Freedom of Elections And how can England enjoy their Privileges without the Freedom of Parliaments All which were to be violated at once by this Undermining Project and Persons must be imposed upon them for their Representatives in Parliament which were none of their Choice but Press'd by a Popish Court and solely at their King's Devotion Some are pleas'd to express themselves in very harsh Language against that which they call the Pentionary Parliament as more zealous for the Advantage of the Crown than the Welfare of the Kingdom But what dreadful Consequences might be predicted from a Parliament consisting both of Papists and Popish Pensioners if it had been possible for the late King to have accomplish'd his Designs are almost beyond the Power of Melancholy to suggest them in Figures black enough to express their Horrour The Choice of a Parliament that would do whatever he thought fit was the only thing wanting therefore all things were dispos'd and regulated after such a manner as might bring such a sort of Men together at Westminster as might gratifie his Popish Arbitrary Ends and Vote Protestants to be the main Grievance of the Nation 6. Another Intrigue of the late King 's was to Ruin the Kingdom by a Chain of Consequences and as the Destruction of the Liberties of England was the Overthrow of the Protestant Religion so he would make the Subversion of our Religion serve to destroy our Liberties This made him impatiently covet that Papists might be freed from the Penal Laws and Tests which were the Barriers to Defend the Nation from Romish Usurpation And this piece of Tyranny above all the rest is most notorious A Protestant Nation makes Laws to preserve themselves from being Victims of Popish Fury These Laws were necessary at all times but more especially under the Reign of a King that had been pleas'd to declare himself a Papist and yet these are the Laws that the late King would violate and not violate only but utterly * Non tam commutandarum sed evertendarum rerum cupidi Abolish and persecuted those who had a Zeal to preserve them Imprisoning some Destituting others and Threatning all without Exception that dar'd to gain-say it For this End he rais'd an Army kept it up in Time of Peace and put into it as many Irish as he could find of the Posterity of those who committed the Barbarous and Bloody Murthers and Massacres on the Bodies of English Protestants in 1641. and to do the like to us in England or force us to submit to the cruel Yoke of Slavery and Superstition 'T is natural for a Prince to Raise Forces for the Defence of his Dominions when he fears Enemies from abroad But to entertain an Army in Times of Peace only to Rob his People of their Laws and Privileges to Ravage his Universities and to put publick Destroyers into the Govent must surely pass for a manifest Tyranny Our
to withdraw himself and leave it in Confusion Of these Riddles and Self-Contradictions we had continual Experience from his Creatures also who when they were under any Necessity of serving themselves by the Credulity of Protestants flap'd us in the Mouth with their King's Justness to his Word but when the Fish was caught threw away the Net and left the Protestants to repent their Easiness at leisure So that Doctor Cartwright had the only true Notion of a Popish King's Promises when in a Sermon Preach'd at his Deanary of Rippon he told his Auditors that the late King's Promises were Donatives and ought not to be too strictly examin'd or charg'd upon him but that we must leave His Majesty to explain his own Meaning For which and other like Services he was rewarded with the Bishoprick of Chester And the late King did the Doctor the Honour to Copy his Original and suffer'd neither Truth Faith nor Sincerity to accompany any of his Promises made to his good Protestant Subjects Nay if the late King would at any time have kept his Word he could not for by putting himself under the Power of the Roman Church he made it as impossible for him to keep his Faith with Protestants as it was for Sygismond the Emperor to prevent the Burning of Jerome of Prague to whom he had granted Safe Conduct when the Council of Constance had a Mind to Sacrifice him as a Contumacious Heretick Delays being dangerous and the late King 's Tricking evident His Highness the Prince of Orange by the Advice and Consent of the Body of the Nation took up a Resolution of sending out his Circular Letters to all Parts of the Kingdom to chuse Members for a Convention of the Estates of the Kingdom to Meet at Westminster and settle the Affairs of the Nation but before the appointed time of their Session came News was brought That the late King endeavouring to make his Escape was taken in * Decemb. 12. Kent and brought with Sir Edward Hales and Mr. la Baddy to Feversham in that Country Whereupon some Lords by what Politicks I am a Stranger to sent the Lords Feversham Ailesbury Yarmouth and Middleton to desire the late King to return to London which he comply'd with Came to Whitehall on †Decemb. 14 Sunday in the Evening and on * Decemb. 18. Thursday following summon'd a Council And to shew he Return'd with the same Principles and Resolutions that he went away with tho' he had then a lucky Opportunity to Ingratiate himself with his Protestant Subjects by doing some Pleasing and Popular Act in favour of them and their Religion directly on the contrary as if he courted his own Ruin all he did in that Last Act of his Government was shewing his Respect and Zeal for the Popish Interest and as if he had come back for no other End but to serve the Papists made an Order of Council to prohibit Pulling down their Houses and despoiling them of their Goods by the Tumultuous Rabble which tho' it was Good and Commendable in it self yet was needless in respect of the late King because the Committee of Lords had by a Publick Order taken Care in that Matter * Decemb. 14. before his Return to London To this Order in favour of the Papists he added another in Discharging Dr. Leighton a Popish Bishop out of Newgate So that instead of Reforming Abuses at his Return by Shipping off Priests and Jesuits Purging his Council Disclaiming his Arbitrary and Dispencing Power Pulling down Popish Meeting-places Disarming Papists and Encouraging Protestants which under his present Circumstances might have been in Justice and Reason expected from him we found nothing but an Invincible Resolution to persevere in his former Illegal Courses and make the Nation know that as soon as he had Power all things should run in the same Popish Arbitrary Channel as he left them in and that our Chains should be made Heavier by our late Strugling to shake them off A former Testimony of his Resolutions to favour Papists and advance their Religion upon every Smile of Providence was conspicuous in sending the Bishop of Winchester to restore Magdalen-College to the Protestants when he heard the Prince of Orange was coming but hearing a Storm had made it unlikely for His Highness to come that Winter the late King immediately recall'd the Bishop and continu'd the Papists in Possession of the College till the Certainty of the Prince's being Landed return'd the Bishop to compleat that Work which never would have been done if Necessity had not compell'd the late King to do it then in hopes to persuade the Nation he would change his Measures Now almost all the Garrisons Forts and Places of Strength in England were put into the Prince's Hands the Generality of the Nobility and Gentry and City of London had sent the Prince their Submission put themselves under his Conduct and invited him forthwith to come to London and take upon him the Care of the City and Kingdom Which being known by the late King he also Invited the Prince of Orange to come to St. James's and bring with him what Number of Troops he pleased The Prince of Orange communicated the late King's Letter to the Peers then at Windsor who concluded that the Shortness of the Time could admit no better Expedient than that the late King might be desir'd to remove to some Place within a reasonable Distance from London Ham was pitch'd upon as most convenient and Notice was sent of it to the late King by three Noble Peers accordingly But the Lords at Windsor hearing that Whitehall was again crouded with Irish-men Priests Jesuits and Papists did not think it Reasonable the Prince of Orange should accept the late King's Invitation and venture his Person near a Place haunted with such Bloody-minded and Profligate Wretches till the Prince's own Guards had taken Possession of the Posts about Whitehall to prevent that Danger Removing and placing the Guards made it late before the Lords could deliver the Message they brought from Windsor viz. That the late King would Remove to Ham Which at his own Desire and I suppose to facilitate his Purpose of going into France tho' that was a Secret unknown to others was chang'd to Rochester There the late King continu'd a while but resolving to be Nothing unless he might be Absolute like Children that have lost their Favourite Play-thing throw away all the rest in a Fit of Pettishness so he went into France left England very abruptly and the Convention took that Opportunity of parting with him Fairly Thus James the Second Abdicating the Government by other Previous Actions as well as his Flight yielded his vacant Throne to the Pr. of Orange and if His Highness had Ascended it without any other Ceremony as some Kings of this Nation have done before him on the like Occasion none could have blam'd him for making use of the Advantage his Sword had gain'd him But as he
which they have here Asserted and from all other Attempts upon their Religion Rights and Liberties The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons Assembl'd at Westminster do Resolve That William and Mary Prince and Princess of Orange be and be Declar'd 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 Survivor 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 Anne 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 This Offer being made in due Form and Accepted by the Prince and Princess of Orange now our Gracious King William and the late Queen Mary of Blessed Memory on the 13th Day of February 1688. the Lords and Commons order'd the following Proclamation to be Publish'd and Made WHereas it hath pleas'd Almighty God in his great Mercy to this Kingdom to vouchsafe us a Miraculous Deliverance from Popery and Arbitrary Power and that our Preservation is due next under God to the Resolution and Conduct of His Highness the Prince of Orange whom God hath chosen to be the Glorious Instrument of such an Inestimable Happiness to us and our Posterity and being highly sensible and fully persuaded of the Great and Eminent Vertues of Her Highness the Princess of Orange whose Zeal for the Protestant Religion will no doubt bring a Blessing along with her upon this Nation And whereas the Lords and Commons now Assembled at Westminster have made a Declaration and presented the same to the said Prince and Princess of Orange and therein desir'd them to accept the Crown who have accepted the same accordingly We therefore the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons together with the Lord Mayor and Citizens of London and others of the Commons of this Realm do with full Consent Publish and Proclaim according to the said Declaration William and Mary Prince and Princess of Orange to be King and Queen of England France and Ireland with all the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging who are accordingly so to be Own'd Deem'd and Taken by all the People of the aforesaid Realms and Dominions who are from henceforward bound to acknowledge and pay unto them all Faith and True Allegiance Beseeching God by whom Kings Reign to Bless King William and Queen Mary with Long and Happy Years to Reign over us God save King WILLIAM and Queen MARY Joh. Brown Cler. Parl. These Ample and Affectionate Demonstrations of the Nation 's Gratitude were as Kindly receiv'd by the King and Queen as they were Dutifully offer'd by their Subjects And thus the King was pleas'd to express himself upon the Notice of it to the Lords and Commons My Lords and Gentlemen THis is certainly the greatest Proof of the Trust you have in Us that can be given which is the Thing that makes Us value it the more and We thankfully accept what you have offer'd And as I had no other Intentious in my coming hither than to preserve your Religion Laws and Liberties so you may be sure that I shall endeavour to support them and shall be willing to do any thing that shall be for the Good of the Kingdom and to do all that is in My Power to advance the Welfare and Glory of the Nation And now with what Inexpressible Joy and Entire Satisfaction the whole Nation entertain'd Their Majesties Accession to the Throne and seeing those Illustrious Princes that had been hitherto their Hopes and Desires now become their Glory and Crown of Rejoicing is easier to imagin than delineate and therefore I must content the Reader by only saying that nothing was omitted that might express a True and Unfeigned Joy upon that Extraordinary Occasion Thus have I shew'd how by a continual Series of Illegal Actions the late King proceeded to Abdicate and Renounce the Government of these Kingdoms till he compleated it by leaving the Realm And also what an Inevitable Necessity there was at that Conjuncture and as Affairs then stood to supply the Vacancy of the Throne by the Inauguration of that Meritorious Prince that now enjoys it And tho' there needs no other Reasons to satisfie the Scrupulous and command a quiet Submission than that it was done purely for the Welfare of the Nation and was settl'd by Lawful Authority yet because the Enemies of our Peace and Settlement take too great a Liberty to Asperse these Proceedings and Amuse the Unthinking and Unsteady People with contrary Opinions I hope 't will be pardonable to Administer an Antidote against the Infection of Virulent Tongues and Seditious Practices and Reconcile those to Reason and their Duty that have been or still do lie in danger of being perverted by the Sophistry of a Turbulent Faction And this I shall endeavour by shewing that the late King 1. Did Voluntarily Abdicate the Government 2. That the Proceedings of the Convention of the Estates were Just and Necessary That 3. King William's Title to the Crown is Indisputable And 4. The Obedience of his Subjects their Indispensible Duty The late King was under an Obligation by virtue of the Original Contract between the King and People which Compact is Imbody'd in our Constitution Imply'd in our Laws and Runs through all our Histories his Coronation-Oath and the Trust repos'd in him by his People to govern according to the Tenour of our Laws as has been already largely prov'd But on the contrary he broke all the Fundamental Laws fell foul upon the very Essence of the Constitution it self and gave no Quarter to any thing that oppos'd his Arbitrary Usurpation And was not this a publick Declaration that he would not be kept within the Bounds of Law nor hold his Kingly Office upon those Terms The Original Contract made him a Legal King but if he might not act the part of a Tyrant he would be nothing at all He was oblig'd by Law to protect and defend the Protestant Religion but by his unfortunate Persuasion in Religion and his moderate Affectation of Arbitrary Power he thought himself concerned to Suspend the Laws that were the Barriers to secure it and to treat it as the Northern Heresie What was his Actual Suspending and Annulling Laws without Consent of Parliament but a necessary Implication in Common Sense as well as Legal Acceptation that he Renounc'd his Kingly Office