matchless Piece as could not have enter'd into the Breast of any but a Bejesuited Herostratus in hopes to purchase the infamous immortality of a Popish Saintship by reducing to Ashes the greatest Bulwark and Magazin of the Protestant Religion in Europe Rome was set on Fire by Nero to have rebuilt it again more Glorious and that he might have space enough for one of the most sumptuous Palaces so design'd under the Sun thereby to have made the Mistress of the Earth the wonder of the World But London was fired not only to destroy the Wealth and Habitations of the City never to have risen more but with an intention to extirpate the Inhabitants themselves to boot and to have turn'd the Venerable and Spacious Pile into a depopulated Wilderness by a general Massacre of the People under the Consternation of the spreading Flames The standing Streets provided and furnished with Incendiaries with fresh Materials to revive and restore the weary Conflagration and when taken in the Act rescued out of the Hands of those that seized them and sent to St. Iames's to be there secured from the Rage of the Multitude and then dismist without Prosecution An excellent way to have made all sure by mixing the Blood of the Inhabitants with the Ashes of their Dwellings the only Cement which the Papists believed would fastest bind the Fabrick of the Romish Church And what greater piece of Perfidie could there be than while the D. was riding about the Streets under pretence of assisting to quench the Fire that his Guards were at the same time employed to prevent the People from removing their Goods and his Palace made the Refuge of such as were taken in the very fact of cherishing and fomenting the Flames This the Committee of Parliament trac'd so far that it cost the Life of the poor Gentleman that gave the Information of these Things to the Chair-man of the Committee to prevent any further Discovery and secure the D. from the Danger of his Life Coleman's crying out There was no Faith in Man was a most undeniable Testimony of the Treachery of his Master notwithstanding all the faithful Service he had done him and was it not a Magnanimous and Generous Act of a Prince to betray as he did to the Gallows not only his most trusty Servant but his Fellow-Partner in the Conspiracy More inhumane still was the Barbarous Murder actually contriv'd and brought to perfection by the encourag'd Instruments of the Duke For he it was that sent word to Coleman to bid him take no care for that Sir Edmondbury Godfrey should be remov'd out of the way and at the same time took the like care that his Servant Coleman should follow him For it was Detection that he feared and the Duke well knew that the Dead could never tell Tales The Particulars of the Murder and how far the Circumstances of it reached the Duke are too fresh in Memory to be here inserted and Dispensation for Deeds of the blackest hew were so easily obtained that it was no wonder the Duke so little boggled at a single Murder to conceal the designs of general Massacres wherein he was engag'd In pursuance of which he was no less industrious to bring the Presbyterians and all the Dissenting Protestants within the Snare of his Sham-plot in order to the Destruction of thousands of Innocent Persons This Dangerfield discovered to the World and his Informations taken upon Oath before Sir William Roberts and Sir William Poultney are extant wherein he gives an Account of his being introduced several times into the Duke of York's Presence Particularly that being once among the rest admitted to the Duke of York's Closet at White-Hall he kissed his Hand upon his Knees And then being taken up by the Duke he gave him a little Book containing the whole Scheme of the Presbyterian Plot for which the Duke thank'd him as also for his diligence in the Catholick Cause and wishing good Success to his Undertakings Added these words That the Presbyterian Plot was a thing of most mighty Consequence and I do not question but the Effects of it will answer our Expectation especially in the Northern Parts where I am well assur'd the major Part of the Gentry are my Friends and have given sufficient Demonstrations to me as also of their Intentions to prosecute this Presbyterian Plot for they are no strangers to the Design At the same time he ordered Dangerfield to be very careful of what he communicated to the Persons who were to be the Witnesses in that new Plot lest he should be caught in the Subornation and so bring a terrible Odium upon the Catholicks and make himself uncapable of any further Service Then for Encouragement in the prosecution of the Sham-Plot the Duke promis'd that he would take care that Mony should not be wanting and ordered him with all the Expedition the Thing would allow to make a Discovery of it to the King At the same time the Duke also made divers Vows and bitter Execrations to stand by him in the Thing and engaged upon his Honour to be his Rewarder and in Earnest gave him Twenty Guinies with his own Hand and telling him withal what a great Reputation he had gained among the Catholicks and that in a short time he should see the Catholick Religion flourish in these Kingdoms with a great deal more to the same purpose Of the truth of which among many others there could not be a more convincing Proof than the bitter Enmity which the Duke bore to Dangerfield after his Discovery and the severe Usage which he receiv'd from Iefferies the Duke's Creature and the Rhadamantine Dispenser of his Revenges In Scotland he Rul'd or rather Reign'd tho in his Brother's Life-time with a more Arbitrary and Lawless Controul And there it was that he breath'd forth his Venome against the Protestants utter'd his Tyrannous Maximes with more freedom and exercis'd his Tyranny with a more boundless and exorbitant Extravagance For there it was that he first undertook to exercise the power of Sovereign Rule refusing to take the Oath of High Commissioner which the Law of the Country requir'd as here he had denied to take the Test and to shew how he intended to govern England when it came to his turn there it was that in the hearing of Persons of great Credit he had this worthy Apothegm That tho in England the Lawyers rul'd the Court yet in Scotland he would rule the Lawyers There it was that he positively denied to give the Parliament any security for the Preservation of their Religion in case he succeeded to the Crown And being told of the Terms that the King had offer'd to the Parliament of England tho much harder and more dishonourable than any which they required he replied That the King never intended any such Limitations should pass nor did he offer them but when he knew they would not be accepted And farther to demonstrate his imbitter'd hatred of the Protestants
Nation that had so little respect for Kings and that the occasion was never more favourable seeing many of the Princes of Germany were already entered into the League and that the King of France was powerful enough to be able to promise to his Allies in the Issue of that War satisfaction both as to their Honour and Interests whereby he prevailed with that Prince to enter into secret Alliance with France And for his greater Assurance and the more to confirm him Henrietta Dutchess of Orleans went for England and proposed to her Brother in the Name of the Most Christian King that he would assure him an Absolute Authority over his Parliament and full Power to establish the Catholick Religion in his Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland But withal she told him that to compass this before all things else it would be necessary to abate the Pride and Power of the Dutch and to reduce them to the sole Province of Holland and that by this means the King of England should have Zealand for a Retreat in case of necessity and that the rest of the Low-Countries should remain to the King of France if he could render himself Master of it This is the Sum of that famous League concluded at Dover fram'd and enter'd into on purpose for the Subjugation of these three Nations to Popery and Slavery However as at first this Treaty was kept so close that it was no way to be discover'd so before the Effects appear'd it was necessary that the Parliament after the old wont should be gull'd to the giving of Money for the carrying on this grand and deep Conspiracy The Parliament met Octob. 24. 1670. where the Lord Keeper Bridgeman guided more by his Instructions than by any knowledge he had of the devilish Design omitted nothing to make Both Houses sensible of the great Service done to England and in a manner to all Mankind by chaining up the devouring Lyon that was never satiated with Prey and the more to incite their Liberality he told them of several other Leagues which the King for the good of his People and the Advancement of the Trade of the Nation had made with other Princes as the D. of Savoy the King of Denmark and the King of Spain by which as his Lordship was pleased to say it was evident that all the Princes of Europe sought his Majesties Friendship as acknowledging they could not secure much less improve their present Condition without it concluding that for the Support of these Alliances the annual Charge of His Majesties Navy came to no less than Five hundred thousand Pounds nor could be maintain'd with less Upon the telling of which Story notwithstanding the immense Sums lavish'd to no purpose or rather to our Loss in the former War with Holland notwithstanding they had given the Additional Duty upon Wines for Eight years amounting to Five hundred and sixty thousand Pounds and confirmed the Sale of the Fee farm Rents no less their Gift being a part of the Publick Revenue to the value of one Million and Eight hundred thousand Pounds they could not hold but gave with both hands again a Subsidy of Twelve Pence in the Pound to the real value of all Lands and other Estates proportionably with several more beneficial Clauses in the Bargain to which they joyned the Additional Excise upon Beer Ale c. And lastly the Law Bill which being summ'd up together could not be estimated at less than two Millions and half So that for the Tripple League here was a Tripple Supply and the Subject had now all the reason to believe that this Alliance which had been fix'd at first by the Publick Interest Safety and Honour was by these three Grants as with three Golden Nails sufficiently clinched and rivetted But now therefore was the most proper Time and Occasion for the King and his chosen Ministers to give Demonstrations of their Fidelity to the French Monarch and for his Sacred Majesty by the Forfeiture of all these Obligations to his Subjects and the Princes abroad and at the Expence of all this Treasure given for quite contrary Uses to recommend himself the more meritoriously to his Patronage The Parliament therefore after they had given all this Money were presently Prorogued and sat no more till the latter end of February 1672. that there might be a competent time allowed for so great a work as was designed and that the Architects of our Ruine might be so long free from the busie and odious Inspection of the Parliament till the work were finish'd And now all Applications made by his Majesty of Great Britain to induce Foreign Princes into the Garranty of the Peace of Aix la Chapelle ceased while on the other side those who desired to be admitted into it were here rejected The Duke of Lorrain who had always been a true Friend to the King and for his Affection to the Tripple League had incurred the French King's Displeasure with the loss of his Country Seizd upon in the year 1669. against all the Laws not only of Peace but Hostility yet by vertue of the Dover Treaty was refused the favour to which others had been so earnestly invited and though his Envoy was sent back with Complements and many Expressions of Kindness yet he was told withal that the French Invasion was a torrent not to be stopp'd at that time which was as much as to say the Case was alter'd and the Tripple League must signifie nothing At the same time also the Emperour by a Letter invited himself into the same Garranty in conformity to one of the Articles of the said Treaty of Aix Upon receipt of which Letter the King assured the Spanish Embassador that he was glad his Imperial Majesty was so ready to come into the League and told him he would cause an Instrument to be prepared in order to his Admission But when the Resolution was taken and orders given for preparing the said Instrument it was moved that Mr. Secretary Trevor who was not initiated in their holy Mysteries might not have the drawing of it though it was his proper Province By which means the Popish Cabal having made themselves sole Masters of the thing at first a reasonable honest Draught was brought in but before it was perfected Monsieur Colbert being consulted the King was possessed with an opinion that the admitting the Emperor would be attended with dangerous Consequences and that in case he came into the League his Majesty would be engaged in all his Quarrels and bound to make his Forces March into the farthest parts of Germany as often as it should happen to be Invaded by the Great Turk which Secretary Trevor oppos'd as much as he was able and endeavoured to satisfie the King that the Garranty of the Tripple League as well as of the Treaty of Aix related only to Hostilities either from France or Spain yet the wary Men of the Cabal being on the King's side carry'd it and so the
Emperor was put off with a Flamm Nay so soon as the Two Confederate Monarchs had thus made a shift to cut the Gordian Knot the now pitiful but formerly vaunted Tripple League was trampled under foot turn'd into Ridicule and less valued than a Ballad Insomuch that to talk of admitting others into the Tripple League was reprehended in print as a kind of Figure of Speech commonly called a Bull. And farther to shew how much he hated the thoughts of the Triple League which he had made for the good of Christendom his most Sacred Majesty suffered an Agent of his one Marsilly whom he had sent to invite the Switzers into the Garranty who was Surprized and taken Prisoner by the French in the execution of the Commands he had not many Months before received from Whitehall to be broken upon the Wheel at Paris tho one single Word from the King would have sav'd his Life Neither did he take it ill that upon the Scaffold Twenty Questions were put to him relating to his own Person or that in such a publick and infamous Place a strict inquiry should be made as to what had pass'd between him and the King of England for that was the best Title they could afford him for all his late Favours And thus it is plain that the Tripple League was broken for no other ends than to be subservient to the ends of the French King to ruin the Dutch and to bring the Three Kindoms of England Ireland and Scotland under the Yoaks of Arbitrary Power and Roman Catholick Idolatry after a total Abolition of the name of Parliaments and subversion of the Fundamental Laws Gratias tibi piissime atque invictissime Rex Carole Secunde And thaâ— he might not as much as in him lay meet with after-rubs Mr. H. C. dispatch'd into Sweden to dissolve the Tripple League in that Kingdom which he did so effectually by co-operating with the French Ministers in that Court that the Swede after it came to Rupture never assisted to any purpose or prosecuted the Ends of the said Alliance only by arming himself at the expence of the League first under a disguised Mediation acted the French Interest and at last threw off his Vizard and drew his Sword on the French side in the Quarrel And at home when the Project ripen'd and grew hopeful the Lord Keeper was discharged from his Office and both he the D. of Ormond Prince Rupert and Secretary Trevor were discarded out of the Committee for Forreign Affairs as being too honest to comply with the Intreagues then on foot Mr. Trevor being the first Secretary of State that was ever left out of a Commission of that Importance All things being so well thus far disposed toward a War with Holland there wanted only a Quarrel and to pick one required much invention The East-India Company was summon'd to know whether they had any thing to object against them but the Dutch had so punctually complyed with all the Conditions of the Peace at Breda that nothing could there be found out And as to the Tripple League they were out at the same time in pursuance of it and to be ready upon occasion to relieve the the Spanish Netherlands which were then threatned by the French But at length a way was found out that never hapned because it was never so much as imagin'd before by sending the Fanfan a sorry inconsiderable Yatcht but bearing the English Flag with Orders to sail into the middle of the Dutch Fleet single out the Admiral and to fire two Guns at him a thing as ridiculous as for a Lark to dare a Hobby However the Commander in Chief in respect to his Majesties Colours and in consideration of the Amity between both Nations paid the Admiral of the Yatcht a Visit to know the reason of his Anger and understanding it was because the whole Fleet had fail'd to strike to his Oyster-boat the Dutch Commander excus'd it as a thing that never hapned before and therefore could have no Instructions in it and so they parted But the Captain of the Yatcht having thus acquitted himself return'd full freighted with the Quarrel he was sent for Which yet for several Months was pass'd over here in silence but to be afterwards improv'd as the design ripen'd For there was yet one jolly prank more to be plaid at home to make the King more capable of what was shortly after to be executed upon his Neighbours The Exchequer for some years before by the Bait of more than ordinary Gain had decoy'd in the greatest part of the most wealthy Goldsmiths and they the rest of the Money'd People of the Nation by the due payment of Interest till the King was run in Debt upon what account no body knew above Two Millions Which served for one of the Pretences in the Lord Keeper's Speech at the Opening of the Parliament to demand and obtain a Grant of the forementioned Supplies and might plentifully have suffic'd to disengage the King with Peace and any tolerable Good Husbandry But as if it had been perfidious to have apply'd them to any of the Purposes declar'd instead of Payment it was privately resolv'd to shut up the Exchequer lest any part of the Money should have been legally expended but that all might be appropriated to the Holy War in prospect and those far more pious Uses to which the King had dedicated it This Affair was carried on with all the secresie imaginable lest the unseasonable venting of it should have spoil'd the Wit and Malice of the Design So that all on a sudden upon the First of Ianuary 1671. to the great astonishment ruine and despair of so many interested Persons and to the Terror of the whole Nation by so Arbitrary a Fact the Proclamation issu'd forth in the midst of the Confluence of such vast Aids and so great a Revenue whereby the Crown publish'd it self Bankrupt made Prize of the Subject and broke all Faith and Contract at home in order to the breaking of both abroad with more advantage What was this but a Robbery committed upon the People under the Bond and Security of the Royal Faith by which many hundreds were as really impoverish'd and undone as if he had violently broken into their Houses and taken their Money out of their Coffers Nay that would have look'd Generous and Great whereas the other was base and sneaking Only it seem'd more agreeable to his Majesties Temper to rob his Subjects by a Trick than to plunder them by direct and open Force Of alliance to this only with some more Gâ—ains if more could be of Vileness and Unworthiness in it was that Action also of seizing part of the Money collected for the Redemption of Slaves out of Argiers and fetching it from the Chamber of London where it lay deposited to that end into the Treasury from whence it was to be dispos'd and made use of for the Enslaving the Nation Could there be an Action of greater barbarity
Liberties of Scotland as himself Such Exorbitancies of Injustice and Arbitrary Power that his Brother could never have endur'd in a Subject had they not been acted all along with his knowledg and consent Otherwise had not the King been strangely infatuated to believe that whatever his Brother did was for the advancement of that Cause to which he was so well affected himself he could never have been so unapprehensive of the Danger he was in from a Brother so actually in a Conspiracy against his Life For which Reason he was by the E. of Shaftsbury said to be a Prince not to be parallel'd in History For certainly besides the early tryal which the King had of his Ambition beyond-sea he had a fair warning of the hasty Advances which he made to his Throne in a short time after his Marriage to the Queen For no sooner was it discover'd the Queen was unlikely to have any Issue by the King but he and his Party make Proclamation of it to the World and that he was the certain Heir He takes his Seat in Parliament as Prince of Wales with his Guards about him He assumes the Princes Lodgings at White-hall his Guards upon the same place without any interposition between him and the King so that the King was in his Hands and Power every night All Offices and Preferments are bestowed upon him and at his disposition Not a Bishop made without him After this he changes his Religion to make a Party and such a Party that his Brother must be sure to Dye and be made away to make room for him And for the undeniable proof of all this at length the Plot breaks out headed by the Duke his Interest and Design Plain it was that where ever he came he endeavour'd to remove all Obstacles to his intended Designs out of the Way And therefore some there are who attribute the extremity of the Duke's rigour toward the E. of Argyle to the great Authority which the Earl had in the High-lands and the Awe which he had over the Papists as being Lord Justiciary in those Parts and his being able upon any Occasion to check and bridle the Marq. of Huntly from attempting the Disturbance of the Publick Peace or the Prejudice of the Protestants However this is observable That notwithstanding the height of Severity which was extended to him there was as much Favour shewn the Lord Macdonald whose invading the Shire of Argyle with an Armed Force merely because he was required by the said Earl as being a Papist to deliver up his Arms was never so much as questioned nor so much as a Reprimand given him for what he did tho when the Council sent an Herauld to him to require him to disband his Forces he caus'd his Coat to be torn from his Back and sent him back to Edinburgh with all the Marks both of Contempt of themselves and Disgrace to the Publick Officer But his Religion was sufficient to atone at that time for his Treason And now the Duke having a standing-Army of Five Thousand Foot and Five Hundred Horse in Scotland at his Devotion as well as in England and the Parliament the main Object of his Hatred and his Fear being dissov'd back he returns into England where under the Shelter of his Brother's Authority he began in a short time to exert his tyrannous Disposition and play the same Unjust and Arbitrary Pranks as he had done in Scotland and because it was not seasonable yet to make use of armed Forces he set his Westminster-Hall Redcoats like Pioneers before a marching Army to level the way for Popery and Arbitrary Controul to march in over the ruin'd Estates and murder'd Bodies of their Opposers The Judges were his Slaves the Juries at his Beck nothing could withstand him the Law it self grows Lawless and Iefferies-ridden plays the Debaushee like himself Justice or something in her likeness Swaggers Hectors Whips Imprisons Fines Hangs Draws and Quarters and Beheads all that come near her under the Duke's displeasure Alderman Pilkington for standing up for the Rights and Liberties of the City and for refusing to pack a Jury to take away the Earl of Shaftsbury's Life is prosecuted upon a Scandalum Magnatum at the Suit of the Duke Convicted and Condemn'd in a Verdict of an Hundred Thousand Pounds And Sir Patience Ward for offering to confront the suborn'd Witnesses is Indicted of Perjury for which he was forced to fly to avoid the Infamy of the Pillory though in all his Dealings so well known to be a Person of that Justice and Integrity that for all the hopes of the Duke he would not have told an untruth Sir Samuel Barnardiston for two or three treacherously intercepted Letters to his Friends in the Country fin'd Ten thousand Pounds which he was not suffer'd to discharge by Quarterly Paiments but the Estate seiz'd by the Duke's Sollicitors to the End they might have an Opportunity to be more prodigal in the waste of it But his hunting after the Lives as well as the Estates of other was more intolerable and that by the prostituted Testimony of Suborn'd Irish Rogues and Vagabonds and when that would not take the desir'd Effect by the forc'd Evidence of persons ensnar'd and shackl'd under the Terrors of Death till their drudgery of Swearing was over Men so fond of Life that they bought the uncertain Prolongation of a wicked Mortality at the unhallow'd price of certain and Immortal Infamy And therefore not knowing how to Die when they knew not how to Live accounted it a more gainful Happiness to quit the Pardon of Heaven's Tribunal for the Broad Seal of England By this means fell the Virtuous Lord Russel a Sacrifice to the Bill of Exclusion and the Duke's Revenge and yet of that integrity to his Country and untainted course of Life of whom never any spoke evil but those that knew no Evil in him only because he was one of those that sought to exclude the Duke from the hopes of Tyranny and Oppression the Duke was resolv'd to exclude him from the Earth But then comes the Murther of the Earl of Essex for that it was a most Barbarous and inhuman Murther committed by Bravo's and Bloody Ruffians set on hir'd and encourag'd by Potent Malice and Cruelty the pregnant Circumstances no less corroborated by Testimonies wanting only the confirmation of Legal Judicature has been already so clearly made out that there is no place left for a hesitating belief A Truth so conspicuous as stands in defiance of the Ridiculing Pen of R. L'Estrange to sham it over with the Buffoonry of his Bantring Acquirements It cannot be imagin'd but that so black a Deed of Darkness was carried on by the Contrivers with all the secrecy that could be studied by humane Wit But never yet was humane Wit so circumspective but that the most conceal'd of Villanies have been detected by strange and little Accidents which all the Foresight of humane Sagacity could never prevent More
THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE REIGNS OF K. CHARLES II. AND K. IAMES II. Printed in the Year 1690. PREFACE IT is one of the Encomiums given to Suetonius That he made Publick to the World the Vices and Miscarriages of the Twelve Caesars with the same freedom with which they were by them Committed And there is no question but one of his chiefest reasons for so doing was this Because he would not deceive Posterity and all agree that he was Contemporary with the Three last So that the Enormities of Domitian could not but be fresh in his Memory when he wrote his Life and there might be several Persons Living as might have the same Partial Affections for Domitian as there are now Adorers of C. II. and J. II. For which reason there is a wary Caution among some People That Truth is not always to be spoken Which perhaps may be sometimes True but as the Case stands with these Sheets not at all to be taken notice of The pains of this short History being as well to Vindicate as to Inform and written in Opposition to one of the French King 's most Scandalous Libels and bitter Invectives against our Present Sovereign Intitled The True Portraicture of William Henry of Nassau c. Now to have made a Particular Answer to all the Extravagancies and Impertinent Flams of a Malicious Libeller would have been a Fending and Proving altogether fruitless It was therefore thought the more concise way to bring the Two Last Reigns upon the Stage and then let all the World judg of the Furberies and Tyranny of those Times and the Integrity Sincerity and Sweetness of Their Present Majesties Reign As for the Truth of what is here contain'd I will not Apologize for it for as to the more secret Transactions the Consequences and Events are my Testimonies and for what was more publickly carried there are the loud and general Complaints of the Kingdom to confirm it So that I shall say no more THE SECRET HISTORY c. WHEN Charles the Second was restored to the Thrones of England Scotland and Ireland never any Monarch in the World came to the Possession of so large a Dominion with more Advantages to have done good for himself to his Subjects at home and to his Allies abroad The People all experienc'd in Martial Discipline as having but newly sheath'd the Sword of Civil War and Foreign Conquest so that their Valour was dreaded abroad where-ever he should have menac'd an Enlargement of his Territories Besides all this he had the Love of his Subjects equal if not superior to any Prince that ever reign'd before him and he had the Affection of â—is Parliament to the highest degree But after all this he was no sooner setâ—ed in his Throne but through the Influâ—nce of Evil Consellors upon a dispositiâ—n naturally vicions and easily corrupted with Effeminate Pleasures he abandon'd himself to all manner of Softness and Voluptuous Enjoyments and harbouring in his Bosom the worst of Vices base Ingratitude betray'd himself that he might betray his People For where the Constitution of a Nation is such that the Laws of the Land are the Measures both of the Sovereigns Commands and the Obedience of the Subjects whereby it is provided that as the one are not to invade what by Concessions and Stipulations is granted to the Ruler so the other is not to deprive them of their lawful and determin'd Rights and Liberties there the Prince who strives to subvert the Fundamental Laws of the Society is the Traytor and the Rebel and not the People who endeavour to preserve and defend their own Nor must we ascribe the Miscarriages of his Reign altogether to the remissness of his Nature but to a Principle of Revenge which his Mother had infus'd into him not so much for the loss of her Husband but out of her inbred Malice to the Protestant Religion which no where flourish'd in that Splendour as in England foster'd anâ— cherished by the vow'd Enemy of this Nation his Brother the D. of York who haâ— been openly heard to declare in his Bed chamber at St. Iames's That he was resolv'd to be reveng'd upon the English Nation for the Death of his Father And what an Ascendant this Brother had over him the whole Kingdom has felt by sad and woful experience For indeed the King had all along an Affection for him so entire and baneful to the Nation that he could only be said to Reign while his Brother Rul'd With all these Royal Vertues and imbred and fomented Animosities to render him at his return a Gracious Sovereign to this Kingdom let us trace him from his Cradle to find out those Princely Endowments which invisibly encreasing with him as he grew in Years dazled in such a manner the Eyes of the doating Politicians of that Age to recal him against that known and vulgar Maxim of Common Prudence Regnabit sanguine multo Ad Regnum quisquis venit ab exilio When he was but very young he had a very strange an unaccountable Fondness to a wooden Billet without which in his Arms he would never go abroad nor lie down in his Bed From which the more observing sort of People gathered that when he came to Years of Maturity either Oppressors and Blockheads would be his greatest Favourites or else that when he came to reign he would either be like Iupiter's Log for every Body to deride and contemn or that he would rather chuse to command his People with a Club than rule them with a Scepter And indeed they that made the first and last Conjectures found in due time they were not altogether in the wrong For the Throne was no sooner empty by the death of his Father before he could be permitted to seat himself in it but he gave us a plain discovery what sort of People they were who when he came to Reign were most likely to have the Principal Room in his Favour and Trust and by whose assistance he was in hopes to tyrannize over his English and Scottish Subjects For when the Parliament of Scotland sent to him as he was then cruizing about Guernsey to treat with him about receiving him to be their King he would not so much as transact with them till he had first sent to Ireland to assure himself whether those Rebels who had murder'd no less than two hundred thousand Protestants were in a condition or no for him to cast himself upon their Assistance But those hopes failing in regard they were in a fair way to be subdu'd themselves he was at length inclin'd to entertain the Overture made him by the Scots And yet even then was his mind so full fraught with the thoughts of Despotical Dominion and purposes of introducing Popery into his Territories that had it not been for the P. of Orange he would never have comply'd with the Terms which the Scots had order to propose tho' no other than what were necessary for the security of the
yet there was another quickly hatch'd of the same stamp and nature though carried on by other Instruments Nell Wall an Irish Papist and a Wench formerly employed only to empty Close-stools at White-Hall but afterwards for her Religion advanced to be one of the French Dutchesses Women and so to the King's Favour by which she became a great States-Woman as well as a common Whore To this Woman a great part of the Popish Secrets were discovered and by her means Fitz-Harris was first introduced to the Dutchess and then to the King where he was told That the Plot would undo them unless a way could be found to make a Counter-plot therefore he was bid to try all ways to effect it for that no Cost should be spared but such Rewards should be given as were fit for so great a Service Draw Painter here England's pious Protestant Monarch Counter-plotting with his Popish Concubine and her Close-stool Wench against his Parliament and Kingdom in favour of those that sought the destruction of both The business of this Irish Tool was to find out Seditious Lampoons and Pamphlets and carry them to White-Hall where he had Audience and private Conferences with Nell Wall the Dutchess and the King himself and where he had sometimes given for secret service a Hundred and Two Hundred Pound at a time and was no less slabber'd by his Gracious Soveraign than Dangerfield had been before So zealous were We for the Popish Cause that rather than miss of the Designs of enslaving the Nation by Arbitrary Government and Popery that We would have declar'd our selves even to have kiss'd the Tail as well as the Cheeks of the most Contemptible Creatures in the World Nor must it be omitted as an Argument of His Majesty's great Zeal for the Protestant Religion That when one Sergeant a Priest made a discovery of the Popish Plot from Holland which he caus'd to be transmitted to the Court with an intention to have discovered several others he was first brib'd off by Pillory-Carr then sent for into England slightly and slily examined had his Pardon given him and sent back with Five Pound a week to say no more And in this game that we may understand by whose Countenancing the thing was done Sir L. Ienkins shewed the utmost of his Parts and Fidelity being just enter'd Secretary in the room of another who did not care to venture so far as that both Fool as well as Knave did Among whose good Services to his Master we may reckon his endeavours as much as lay in his Power to conceal the Murther of the Priest at Abbeville in France upon intimation that he was coming into England to make a farther discovery of the Plot Which together with his fasting and other infallible tokens shewed him to be plainly what was well enough known before Father Goff's Creature as well as the King 's and Duke's Nor was it a thing less astonishing to the Nation to see the Parliament prorogued from time to time no less than seven times before permitted to sit on purpose to get time for the Popish Duke to settle the Protestant Religion in Scotland and to the end the Conspirators might get heart and footing again and retrieve their Losses in England and in this Interval it was that Messengers were sent to their Friends at Rome and others their Associates for Money to strike while the Iron was hot in regard that Scotland by this time was secur'd and all things in such a forwardness that now or never was the time but the Pope had such an ill opinion of our Soveraign's Fidelity that he slipt his neck out of the Collar and in imitation of him the rest excused themselves upon the score of their poverty Thus missing money from Rome and the rest of their Popish Associates and the King of France refusing to part with any more Cash there was no way but one at a forc'd-put which was to let the Parliament sit and to make them the more willing to give money to undo the Nation the King in a framed Speech told them of the wonderful Advantageous Alliances for the Kingdoms good he had made with Foreign Princes and particularly with Hâ—lland and how necessary it was to preservâ— Tangier which had already run him in Debt Upon which Considerations the Burden of his Song was More Money But the Parliament Incensed at the frequent Prorogations fell upon Considerations more profitable for the Kingdom such as were the bringing to Condign punishment the Obstructers of their Sitting the Impeaching of North for Drawing the Proclamation against Petitioning and three of the Judges for dismissing the Grand Jury before whom the Duke was Indicted of Recusâ—ncy before they could make their presentments the prosecution of the Popish-Plot and the Examination of the Meal-Tub-Sham all which they lookt upon to be of greater moment than the King's Arguments for his wants For it was well known that by His perâ—idious Dealings abroad he had so impaired his Credit with all the Foreign Princes to whom he sent that they slighted his Applications as one upon whose Word they could never Rely And as for the preservation of Tangier there was nothing less in his Thoughts A fine Credit for a Prince and an excellent Character to recommend him to Posterity that he had no other than his own Sinister ends upon the Grand Council of his Kingdom nor no other way to work them to â—hose ends unless by forging untruths to make them accessary to the betraying of the â—eople that had entrusted them The Parliament therefore bent all their Cares to secure the Kingdom from Popery â—oncluding that the Dukes Apostâ—tizing from â—is Religion was the sole Evil under which â—he Nâ—â—â—ons in a more particular manner â—roaned and consequently that he was to 〈◊〉 Dismoâ—â—ted But the King being reâ—â—lved not to forsake his Brother whatever â—â—came of the Kingdom out of a proâ—ense â—alice to the Nation and â—oresight of the Miseries which his Brother's Government would bring upon the people rather than out of any natural Affection that he bore him took such a high Resentment against these honest and just proceedings of the Houses that after he had Sacrificed the Lord Stafford to his hopes of obtaining money upon the Dukes undertaking to furnish him he Dissolved this Parliament too with promise of another at Oxford to sweeten the bitter Pill which he had made the Nation to swallow In the mean time all the Care imaginable was taken to bring the Protestant-Plot to perfection preparative to which Judges were selected with Dispositions Thoughts and Minds as Scarlet as their Gowns And the Choice of Sheriffs was wrested by force from the people that they might pick out Juries without Conscience and Honesty A Plot contrived by Perfidiousness and Treachery beyond the parallel of History A Plot with Parisian Massacre in the Belly oâ— it designing no less an Innundation of Innocent Protestant Blood under the colour and forms of Justice and yet
and with what Rage and Fury he intended to prosecute them he told several Members of the Parliament when they were endeavouring to get some Bills to pass for the Security of their Religion in case of a Popish Successor That whatever they intended or prepared against the Papists should light upon others Which tho it stopt him from taking the Advantage of any new Bills yet he was so just to his Word in behalf of the Papists that he pour'd all the Rigor of the Penal Laws against the Papists upon the Protestants in that Kingdom under the name of Dissenters whom he persecuted with that infatiable violence as if according to his own Expression he had fully concluded That it would never be well with Scotland till all the South-side of Ferth were made a Hunting Field For indeed that was the true in tent and drift of all his envenom'd Prosecutions of those People as well in England as in Scotland in hopes by so severe an Exasperation they would have broken out into open Rebellion and so have given him a fair opportunity to have rooted them from the Earth by the Sword Which was evident from another Saying of his for that having one day given his Opinion of sober Dissenters and setting them forth as he thought in their Colours he concluded That if he might have his Wish he would have them all turn Rebels and betake themselves to Arms. Which tho it shew'd his good Will yet whether it were so prudently spoken by a Person that had so little either of Courage or Conduct as himself is a question unless he thought he could subdue them with the Spiritual Weapons of the Pope's Excommunications and Curses Nor did he at the same time remember that the heavy oppressions of the Spanish Inquisition tore from the Dominions of the Spaniard all the seven United Provinces notwithstanding all that D'Alva Parma and Spinola could do tho their Military Fame far exceeded his Thus we have seen the extent of his Christianity which we find cooped up within the narrow bounds of Popery Now for his Morality which if it signalize it self in any Virtue that celebrates a Great and Glorious Prince it must be in those two of Justice and Mercy which God appropriates most nearly to himself as the brightest Ornaments of his Divinity But whether the Duke were either Just or Merciful to the E. of Argyle will be the Question This Gentleman was one of the most Ancient and one of the most eminent Noblemen in Scotland and a Person of extraordinary endowments and as such a one had â—erv'd the King with his Parts his Person and Estate beyond what most Men of any Degree in the Nation either had done or were able to perform but because he would not so far comply with and oblige the Duke as to fall in with his Counsels for the Establishment of Popery and yield himself an Instrument to carry on his Designs of Popery and Arbitrary Power his Head must be-brought to the Block the Ancient Honour of his Family must be attainted and his ample Fortunes be confiscated To which purpose a certain Test being fram'd for all the Nobility and Gentry of Scotland to take not excepting all others who were capable of any Office or Employment in the Kingdom easy enough for the Papists to Swallow as being Calculated for their peculiar Advantage but difficult for the Protestants as being that which strangely confus'd and intangled their Consciences However the Earl was not so scrupulous neither to avoid all Occasions possible of incurring his Highnesses displeasure but offer'd to take it with this Proviso That he might declare in what sense he was willing to be sworn Accordingly he did draw up an Explanation of his own meaning and tho he were allowed to take the Oath according to that Explanation which was also conâ—ormable to an Explanation which themselves were forced to make for the satisfaction of the greatest part of the Kingdom that was dissatisfied in the Oath as well as the Earl Nay tho his Lordship did take it according to his own allowed Interpretation which was so far accepted that he was admitted to take his place in the Council yet upon a Capricio of the Duke's Justice the matter was call'd in question again but then such horrid Treasons were pick'd out of the Earl's Interpretation that he was Arraign'd and Condemn'd to lose his Head and Execution had been certainly done had he not made his escape Nevertheless his whole Estate was seiz'd he was divested of all his Titles and Dignities and contrary to the Custom of the Kingdom his Coat of Arms was despitefully torn at the Publick Market-Cross of Edinburgh and his Person hunted after in all places whither they thought he might be withdrawn even as far as Hamburgh And yet after all the scrutinies which sober Men have made the chiefest of the Scots Lawyers that were of unbiassed Principles could never find any thing in the Earl's Interpretation but what his indispensible Duty obliged him to both as a Christian a Subject of Scotland and a Privy-Councellor to the King But the D. was resolved to destroy him right or wrong And therefore being told there was nothing in what the E of Argyle had said or done which could be made a Crime by the Law of the Land His Highness out of the great Affection which he â—bore to so true a Protestant Peer was pleas'd to reply But may it not be wrested to Treason Which was such an Incouragement that when his Mind was once understood he wanted not Instruments that labour'd day and night to make that Question subservient to the D's impatient Thirst of Revenge and their own Advancement or else it might be to signalize his Resolution to over-rule the Lawyers in Scotland had they denied their Submission to his Good Will and Pleasure By the same Justice it was that Blackwood was Condemn'd upon a Pretence of having entertain'd upon his Ground certain Persons who were reported and said to have been at Bothwel-Bridg And this although there had been no notice given of their being Criminals or any ways Offenders nor any Proclamations were issued out against them by which Blackwood could be obliged to take Cognizance of the Circumstances they lay under And that which aggravated the Injustice was this That the Gentleman suffered after a General Act of Indemnity granted and that it was after the Council themselves had for four Years pass'd them by that either the Persons whom he had reliev'd came to be accus'd or he to be prosecuted upon this account And by the same Justice it was that Mr. Robert Bailzie of Ierismond was Hang'd and Quartered for a Crime of which he had been Impeach'd and Try'd before the Council and fin'd six Thousand Pounds Sterling And all this his Highness did by over-ruling the Lawyers of Scotland by which means he had made the Judges and Jury â—as malicious against the Protestants and as revengeful against the Asserters of the