disposition and temper not to prescribe or necessitate them to any particular form And then consequently it will follow that what lawful Right or Power every King claims is by reason of the constitution of the Government and not from Nature If there be any such thing as this Natural Right it must be inherent in all lawful Kings for if some of them have it why not all of them And if any have every King else has the same And if this be so where was the Natural Right of King Stephen and Henry II both born out of the Realm their Fathers Forraigners and at the same time there were others who by right of descent were nearer to the Crown than either of them It was not this natural right that invented the coronation oath neither is it by reason of it that every King of England is bound to take it before they can require any of their Subjects to do them homage and fealty If there be any such thing as this natural right then it will follow that all the Kings of the earth but one are Usurpers because this natural right must arise from Primogeniture and there can be but one man at the same time who is the rightful Heir and Successor to Adam and consequently all others that pretend to be Kings usurp upon his right So that this notion of a natural right pulls down the thing it pretends to set up When a Common-wealth is changed into a Monarchy is it this natural right that makes him King who is first set up Or when a Family is extinct that has been long in possession of the Crown and the Body of the People chuse a King from amongst themselves is it by this natural right that he attains to this dignity But as a multitude of other absurdities would follow upon it so the Apostle puts the thing out of dispute when he says That Kings are the Ordinance of man And here I will leave Kings to resolve which is their best title whether this natural right or the constitution of the Government Differences and disputes do but too frequently arise betwixt the King and People and therefore I will tell you what I conceive to be advisable when such ill humours are afloat Consider whose demands do best suit the common good For by a serious and impartial examination of that you will be able to discover who is in the right For if you follow this rule exactly it will not misguide you And take this Observation along with you When the State is distempered you will find for the most part if not always that the cause of offence proceeds from the Court. And the reason of it is very evident Because so long as English men injoy their rights they have no occasion to quarrel with the King for they need nothing else But Kings as they are always think they are too short in power and those that are about them are too apt to incourage those desires in Kings because the more absolute he is the more able he is to gratifie his Creatures Now in this case let not the opinion of the Clergy govern you for none are blinder Guides than they and no one thing hath done more mischief in this Nation than their politicks If you happen to be on the prevailing side use your advantage with Moderation This you are obliged to do as you are a good Christian and self-interest pleads for it for since the events of all things are uncertain there may come another turn and then in reason you may expect fair quarter from them whom you treated so well in the day of your power If your Party come by the worst remember these two things First don't think the worse of your Cause by reason of the Success Neither make any mean submission nor do any other sordid thing to get out of your trouble use only lawful and honest means for if you are in the right sooner or later it will prevail and then in the end you will come off with double honour 2. If you are examined as a criminal confess nothing only argue against the insufficiency of what is objected against you For First It is an argument of your courage and resolution Secondly By confessing any thing you help them to evidence against your self and others for you furnish them with time and place and then it is an easie matter for a Knight of the Post to give such an evidence against you as is not easily disproved Thirdly It 's very seldom that you will meet with better usage though you confess never so much unless you will turn accuser of others and give evidence against them which is so base a thing that I would advise you to undergoe any extremity rather than do that For as your own Party will for ever abhor you and your Memory so the other side will despise and slight you as soon as you have done their business and all that you can do for the future will never wipe off such a blot If you are concerned in the prosecution of any publick Criminal let your proceedings be tempered with Justice and Moderation For I have seen it fatal to several who have strained and forced the Law to the destruction of others yet in the end fell into the Pit they digged for others and perished by their own Law When the State is so sore that it makes a Man an Offender for a Word and the times are so evil that the prudent keep silence Then are all meetings to be avoided save only such as are upon real business recreation or for Neighbourly Visits and those too in as small numbers as may be for Spyes and Informers will thrust themselves into Consults and Cabals and of all others will say the hottest and most violent things in hopes that believing that all proceeds from the fervency of their Zeal you may thereby be induced to say something that will bring you within the compass of the Law Or if you have the discretion or good hap to say nothing yet your very being in the same Company where such things have been said or uttered may either make you criminal or at best hand involve you into a great deal of trouble without bringing any advantage to the Cause you do assert And besides he that herds in Cabals must implicitely adhere to the opinion of that Company for by asserting his own Judgment in opposition to theirs though he be never so much in the right he runs the hazard of being reproached for a Spye or Deserter As you ought not to refuse any danger when a proportionable advantage will thereby accrue to the Cause you would support so in such sore times you ought to avoid the doing of any thing unnecessary hot and provoking unless where you or the Cause will reap benefit thereby For young men either through the heat of their years or the instigation of more crafty people are too often prevailed upon to do many things that in
my thoughts what is to be done In the first place I do propose that every Man of them shall on their knees confess their fault to all the Commons and that to be done at this Bar one by one Next That as far as they are able that they refund all the Money they have received for secret Service Our Law will not allow a Thief to keep what he has got by stealth but of course orders restitution and shall these proud Robbers of the Nation not restore their ill gotten goods And lastly I do propose that they be Voted incapable of serving in Parliament for the future or of injoying any Office Civil or Military and order a Bill to be brought in to that purpose For it 's not fit that they who were so false and unjust in that Trust should ever be trusted again This Sir is my Opinion but if the House shall incline to any other way I shall readily comply provided a sufficient mark of Infamy be set on them that the People may know who bought and Sold them A SPEECH For the Sitting of PARLIAMENTS And against FAVOURITES A King of England at the head of his Parliament is in his full strength and power and in his greatest Splendor and Glory It is then that he can do great things and without a Parliament he is not very formidable Therefore when Kings leave off the use of Parliaments and rely upon the Advice of particular Favourites they forsake their chiefest Interest they lay aside the Staff that supports them to lean upon a broken Reed that will run into their hands and this is proved by the Example of former Kings What Kings perform'd such Enterprizes and did such wonderful things as those who still consulted their Parliaments And who had more the Command of the Peoples Purses than those Kings who met the Natives frequently in Parliament As Witness Hen. I. Edw. I. Edw. III. Hen. V. Hen. VIII Q. Eliz. and what Kings were so mean and obscure despised by their Neighbours and abhorr'd by their Subjects as those who left off the use of Parliaments and doted upon their Favourites As witness Will. II. King John Henry III. Edward II. Richard II. Henry VI. And I think it 's undeniable that when the King leaves off Parliaments he forsakes his Interest he refuses the good and chooses the bad I wish it could not be said that for two years last past the use of Parliaments has almost been laid aside It 's too true that Parliaments have been delayed and there is but a little between delaying and denying and the first step to a denyal is to delay Every Man knows the great need we have had of a Parliament these Seventeenth Months and why has it not met till now It 's very well known how earnestly it was desired by all good Protestants and true Englishmen and what applications have been made to His Majestie that it might sit and it could not be obtain'd till now And it is not to be forgotten how often it has been Prorogued and the Notice that has been given to the Nation of the several Prorogations the first time that we heard of them was by the Gazett in which is seldom any thing of truth and then out comes a Proclamation for a Prorogation about a day or two before the day of meeting When Gentlemen have disposed their Affairs that they may attend at the Parliament and possibly were on their Journey towards London upon the Road they meet the News of the Prorogation very good usage and there is nothing to be said in Justification of such short Notice but that when His Majesty by His Proclamation had appointed a farther time for the meeting of the Parliament that in plain English no Man must believe it would meet For if Gentlemen did believe it they would prepare for it and if they are prepared it 's but reasonable that sufficient Notice should be given to prevent them Certainly they who advised the King in this matter intended that none of His Majesties Proclamations should have any credit For His Majesty he put out several Proclamations against the Papists and we see how they are regarded not the least obedience yielded to them And this giving of such short notice was certainly done on purpose that those Proclamations should neither be obeyed nor believed Thus is the K. abused thus does he loose the hearts of his People and thus is the Nation abused What will become of us when we cannot believe what His Majesty says Out of Parliament the King cannot speak to his People in a more notable way than by Proclamation and as the matter is order'd these are not regarded In a Subject nothing is more Infamous than to say of him that his word is not to be relyed on he does not regard what he says And therefore what Villains are they who by their Advice do bring the King but into the suspition of it This delaving of Parliaments seems to portend the laying of Parliaments aside and if so an Army will follow for the King must govern either by a Parliament or an Army for one of them he must have now the way to get rid of Parliaments is this First Although they meet sometimes yet something must be started to hinder their success or if that wont do Prorogue or Dissolve them before any thing be finisht and thus Parliaments will be made useless and this being done it will not be long before they become burdensome and then away with them for good and all Kings only then grow out of conceit with Parliaments when their Favourites are so overgrown and their Actions are so exorbitant that they will not indure to be scann'd by a Parliament And therefore to save themselves they perswade the King to keep off the Parliament though it be to his great hurt For the last Trump at the Day of Judgment will not be more terrible to the World than the sound of an approaching Parliament is to unjust Ministers and Favourites That State is sick of a grievous Distemper when Kings neglect their Parliaments and adhere to Favourites and certainly that woe is then fallen upon that Nation which Solomon denounces for says he woe to that Nation whose King is a Child And without question he meant a Child in Understanding and not in Years We have had in England Kings who when they were Children by the help of a wise Council have govern'd very well But after that they took matters into their own hands it went very ill with England as Richard II. Henry VI. who whilest they were Children the Government was steer'd aright but their understanding not growing as fast as their Years they assumed the Government before they were ready for it and so managed matters that it 's better not to name them than to reckon them in the Catalogue of the Kings And there is yet another reason why great Favourites should advise against Parliaments Kings that dote too much upon
or have said that within such a time there will be a change or any other thing that tends to disturb the Government you ought to present it If any Parson or Vicar not having taken the Oaths has officiated at his Benefice since the 2d of Feb. last you ought to present them for it is as much an offence in them to officiate when they have not qualified themselves as if they had never been presented and their contempt is very great Gentlemen Tho I have not mentioned any other parts of your business yet I know you will not neglect them that which I have spoke to does so immediately concern us that I thought it necessary to inlarge upon it And since God has so wonderfully delivered us we could never answer it if we do not our parts for if we perish through our own neglect our blood lyes at our own doors and we deserve the burial of an Ass if we dye like Fools but I trust we shall not nor do I suspect you will be remiss in your parts and therefore I will trouble you no further but dismiss you to your business and I pray God direct you in it A Persuasive to UNION UPON King JAMES's Design to Invade England in the Year 1692. PEace in a Nation is like Health to a Natural Body whose Value is not sufficiently known but by the want of it God Almighty is wonderfully gracious to this Land not only in continuing to us the Blessing of Peace but teaching us the Worth of it by letting us see the Nations round about us at War and groaning under all the miserable Effects of it whilest it is kept at a distance from us and we are only at some Expence which is unavoidable all Circumstances considered unless we will submit to that Monster the French King and indeed God has done so many and great things for us that nothing is wanting to compleat our Happiness but our selves Of all the Mercies this Nation has lately receiv'd I think our Deliverance from King James was none of the least if it be a Mercy to be deliver'd from Popery and Slavery That we were in great danger of it I think 't was very evident from what we had suffer'd and King James had apparently further design'd to do had he been let alone a little longer for his Government was become so exorbitant that Men of all Persuasions many of the Papists not excepted did think his Yoak intollerable and that it was highly just to be relieved against his Oppression For when the Prince of Orange Landed there was scarcely any Man that appear'd for King James nay a great many of his Army deserted him which coldness and neglect could not probably proceed from any thing so much as from the ill opinion they had of his Cause Now if any that were then so indifferent and passive have now conceived a better opinion of him it may well be suspected that a particular pique or some sinister byass guided their Motion at that time and if so it 's no matter what side they are on for those who are govern'd in such Cases by any thing but a publick principle are easily turn'd about by every breath of Air. Nor can I imagine what can give any Man a better opinion of King James than he had of him before he went into France the only place as he says he could retire to with safety considering how improbable it is that any instructions which that Tyrant may give him will make him less inclined to Popery and Arbitrary Power I suppose it is no news to you that King James did lately intend to Land with a French Force I am persuaded that most people believe it they that don't may as well doubt whether there was a Gun-powder Plot for it is as plain as a thing of that nature can be which has not actually taken effect and it is as certain that he and those his good friends had been here several weeks since had they not been kept back by those Easterly Winds which continued so long Yet that did not break their measures it only delay'd the matter for at last they were ready to put all things on Board but were happily prevented by the wonderful Success of our Fleet for which the Name of the great God be prais'd The defeating of their design is a Mercy never to be forgotten for no design that we know of that was ever form'd against this Nation could be more bloody and destructive than this would have been For King James in his Declaration does expressly say That his intent is to spend the remainder of his Reign as he has always design'd since his coming to the Crown These words speak a great deal of Comfort to England for they cannot mean less than what he has already done When he took the Customs against Law Carried on Sham-plots by his countenance and bribery to destroy honest and worthy Men When he bereaved the Corporations of their Liberties and Franchises When he turn'd out Judges for acting according to their Consciences and filling the Benches with the Raff of the Gown When he avowedly set up Popery and erected publick Chapels in all parts of the Kingdom When he placed notorious Papists in the Seat of Justice and brought a Jesuit into his Councels which was more than any Popish Prince but himself ever did When he set up a High Commission When he set up in Time of Peace a numerous Army to the Terror of his Subjects and allowed so little for their Quarters as it amounted to little less than Free-quarter When he assumed a Dispensing Power and declared he would be obey'd without reserve These and a great many other Irregularities were the product of his Reign and it is not very probable that he is brought to a better temper by any thing that he has seen or learnt by his Conversation with the French King and it is as little probable that King would have treated him as he has done had he discover'd in King James any disposition to govern more mildly and reasonably for the future How much he is influenced to the contrary is very evident by designing to bring in the French upon us the people of all others this Nation ought most to dread â—n some Histories they are called the Old Enemy of England and very truly may be called the irreconcilable Enemy of England For who ever looks into Story will find that France has occasiond more trouble to England than all the World besides nay there has scarcely been any ill design against the Nation but France has had a hand in it as if their very Climate did necessitate them to be at Enmity with us If any of our Kings has design'd to enslave us they have entred into a Confederacy with France as the People of all others most likely to serve their purpose and it has always gone ill with England when our Kings have made an intimate friendship with the French
considering that Popery was so long professed in this Nation To that a short Answer will serve That the Pope's Authority was never establish'd here by Law altho' he was allowed many things by reason of the Superstition and Blindness that then overspread this Island yet the King and Parliament could never agree to give him any power by Law nay when he grew immodest in his Encroachments upon the Church they made Laws to restrain him but the Truth is it was the Resolution of the Parliament and especially of the Lords that protected the Nation against the Pope but if Popery should now come in we should have it to all intents and purposes for it would possess both Church and State it must have all Q. Marys days are a sufficient Warning what we must expect from a Popish Successor and how far their Promises are to be relyed on for by the assistance of the Men of Norfolk and Suffolk it was that she did her business and what Promises did she make to them not to make any alteration in Religion and said many other fine things yet as soon as she was setled on the Throne the first thing she did was to alter Religion with the greatest violence and effusion of Blood that was possible and these Men of Suffolk and Norfolk felt the first stroke of her Hand and perhaps the greatest heat of her Fury But I have too far digressed from my first Argument which is That if Protection from the King is not given to his Subjects or Obedience in the Subjects is not paid to the King then if one side fail the other is discharged and the Condition being broken the Obligation is void And this was the reason why Vortigern the Saxon King was deposed by his Lords for he was grown too friendly to Heugist the Dane and the Lords perceiving that he intended to betray the Land to him they to prevent the Common Destruction and because by this practice he had absolved them of their Allegiance therefore they deposed him and set up his Son Vortimer because he was a true lover of his Country There are several other Instances of the like nature which would be needless to be cited because I should rather amuse than satisfie you of the Truth should I recount them all In the next place I do conceive that the King until he be Crowned is not so much King to all intents and purposes as he is after he is Crowned for if the crowning of the King be but a meer Ceremony or Compliment of State and not essential in giving him a Right to the Allegiance of the Subject then certainly no King of England would be troubled with the Ceremony of being formally crowned because then there will lye no Obligation upon him to take the Coronation Oath and so he may be more at liberty to act according to his Will because his Conscience will not be clogged with the weight of so solemn an Oath and then with less Infamy and Reflection he may suspend or pervert the Laws and therefore with submission to better Judgments I am not convinced that the King whilst he is uncrowned has that Right in our Allegiance as he has after that the Crown is set upon his Head in the same way that it ought to be done for before the Crown is set upon his Head by the Archbishop or other person appointed to do it the Nobility and People are asked if they will do their Homage and Service to him which by the way implies that the People are at liberty in the thing and that if he be Crowned it is by their Leave and Election then if the People consent the King takes the Coronation Oath which is to preserve the Church our Laws Liberties and Properties and to administer Justice indifferently and thus when he has Sworn to us the Crown is immediately put upon his Head and then the Nobility and People do their Homage to him and according to this has been the Practice ever since there were Kings in England And I believe there is scarcely an Instance where the People ever swore to the King before be had taken his Oath to them If there be any such President it is to be look'd upon as irregular and not to be a Direction to us for it is not impossible but such a thing may happen but however is it reasonable that one or two Instances shall be sufficient to invalid a Practice of several hundred years to the contrary And is it not a piece of nonsence that we should adventure our Religion and Properties and all we have in the Hand of him that for ought we know has an Obligation on him to ruine or give us up to a Foreigner and not in the first place to take Security from him that he will defend and do us right before we repose so great a Trust in him for otherwise such Confusion and such Contradictions would follow that the Wit of Man cannot invent how to salve them But I acknowledge there are some Instances where the People have sworn to the Succession in the life-time of the Father and thence some do inferr that the King is entitled to our Allegiance before the Crown is set on his Head but this under correction will not hold for it does not appear but that the intended Successor swore to them also at the same time and it is very probable he did yet if he did not it cannot thence be concluded that the King has Right to our Allegiance before he is Crowned for whenever it happen'd that the Successor was sworn to in the life-time of his Father if afterwards he came to the Crown he took the Coronation Oath before the People swore Allegiance to him And therefore it is very plain that an Oath taken to the Successor in the life-time of his Father is nothing more but a declaring the good liking they have of the Successor and that if in case he will promise to defend them and their Properties when his Father or Predecessor dies they will elect him for their King as possibly it might now fall out if in case the Duke of Monmouth were legitimate Don't you think that the People would be very inclinable to swear to his Succession next after the King And I believe you will never find it done but when the King had the Hearts of the People or out of the hopes they had in the Successor for English Men if the King pleases them he may have all they have even to their Skins as a wise man said If an English King will be kind to the People he can never want their Heads Hands and Purses and therefore it is that in the most peaceable and tranquil times that ever the Land saw when King and People had a mutual Confidence of each other we find things done by the King that are more irregular in those times of agreement than was done in times of greater confusion and the reason is because
affirm that ours is perfect in comparison of any other Government in the World for if we consider those Nations that have Parliaments that Assembly is of little or no use to the People but to pass into Laws the Edicts of their King But God be praised our Parliament is of far greater use and advantage to us for there it is that our Grievances are redressed and Laws that by process of time are become useless or burthensome are repealed and new and profitable Laws and Statutes are made and in a word Barliaments to our Neighbours are their Burden but our great Happiness Secondly All manner of Taxes and Impositions are laid upon the People at the Will and Pleasure of the King But we can have no Tax imposed upon us but by our Consent in Parliament and there is this peculiar to us from the rest of the World That no English-man can be taxed for his Hand-labour whereas in other Countries and especially France every man pays for what he gets by his Labour In France every Labourer pays two parts of three to the King as if he get Six pence in a day Four pence is paid immediately to the King's Officer Thirdly In other Countries War and Peace is made by the King without consulting the People and they are chargeable to that War tho' made without their Consent or against their Interest So it is with us our King has the sole power of making War and Peace but the Sinews of War is in the People I mean Money and that they cannot part with but with our own Consent And although the Matter of War and Peace is an Arcanum Imperii and that no man as some say may pry into it save they to whom the King is pleased to communicate it Yet I conceive in this our Government where the People are so essential a part of it that they ought to be satisfied with the Ground and Reason of the War before they make themselves chargeable to it and the People are not bound to support every War that the King may engage in for methinks it 's all the reason in the World that a Man should be satisfied with the Cause before he part with his Money and I think that Man is very unworthy of the Honour to serve his Country in Parliament who shall give away the Peoples Money for any other thing but what shall be effectually for the good and advantage of the People and Nation Fourthly The Estates and Goods are taken from the People without assigning a Reason of it but only that it is the Mind of the King to have it so But here no Man can be deprived of his Estate or Goods but by due course of Law for Possession is that the Law is very tender of But although some say That the King's Commission may not be resisted in any case whatsoever I shall not argue that point because this is not a proper time for it and I hope we shall never have occasion to try it if it ever should happen I 'll lay the Blame at the door of his Ministers for our King is a merciful Prince and loves not such things Yet this I am sure cannot be denied That every Man's House is his Castle and may defend himself and his Goods against those that shall assault or molest him and I cannot believe that Man can be really a Friend either to his King or Country but rather does it out of some sinister end or to curry Favour with the Court that shall extol the King's Prerogative above the Laws because this Doctrine if true quite destroys the Fundamentals of our Government for if ever you set the King above Laws then it must necessarily follow that the King derives his Title to the Crown of England not from the Laws of England but from something else but I am sure that man does the King no great Service who puts the King to seek his Title to the Crown of England any where else than from the Laws of England To set the King above all Law but that of his own Will does so directly tax the Justice of God Almighty that I cannot believe him to be a good Christian that is of that Opinion Fifthly In other Countries the Subjects are Imprisoned and Hanged at the Command of the King without any other Reason given But none of us can be deprived of Life Limb or Liberty but for some Offence first committed against some known Law Sixthly Our Neighbours are pressed and forced to serve in foreign Countries against their Wills and are hanged for refusing Our King may press any of us for the defence of the Nation but I never heard that the King could press any English-man to serve beyond the Seas Seventhly In other Countries though the King or his Officers commit never so many or great Outrages and Cruelties upon the People yet have the People no Remedy against either the King or his Officers But with us though our Law says That the King can do no Wrong yet his Officers and Ministers may and if any Man shall do an unlawful thing though by the King's Command that man is accountable to the People for it and it is the Right of every English-man to call him to account for if neither the King nor his Officers are answerable for a breach of the Laws then our Laws signifie nothing and are but a dead Letter and we no better than Slaves These Particulars I have now mentioned I suppose may be sufficient to convince any reasonable man of the Excellency of our Government I shall not proceed further into Particulars or discourse how and with what Caution all our Laws are made and how Justice is administred in all Cases for I should not only weary you but want time to finish so great a Work therefore I shall say this in part That in no Government in the World the People live with such Liberty and Security of what we enjoy when the Laws are duly observed and followed as we do no Prince more safe and happy than ours when he holds to the Laws and it is the mutual Interest of both King and People to maintain the Laws It is the Interest of the People to support the King in his Legal Prerogative and it is the Interest of the King to preserve the People in their due Rights and Liberties for the Happiness of one is bound up in the Welfare of the other There is a certain ballance betwixt the King's Prerogative and the Peoples Properties and he that endeavours to turn the Scales to either side does in effect endeavour the destruction of both for the Interest of the King and People are so interwoven that we cannot separate or distinguish one from the other In a word our Government is both the Envy and Admiration of our Neighbours But Gentlemen notwithstanding our excellent frame of Government yet I find that many are impatient under it and thirst extreamly after that which is called a Common
Francis Hargrave THE WORKS OF THE Right Honourable Henry late L. Delamer AND Earl of Warrington CONTAINING His Lordships Advice to His Children Several Speeches in Parliament c. WITH MANY OTHER Occasional Discourses On the AFFAIRS of the Two Last Reigns BEING Original Manuscripts Written with His Lordships own Hand Never before Printed LONDON Printed for John Lawrence at the Angel and John Dunton at the Raven in the Poultrey 1694. TO The Right Honourable THE EARL OF WARRINGTON My Lord SInce my late Lord Warrington your Father trusted me with the care of your Education your Lordship has made so great a Progress in all things which I Taught you that I am now forced to procure you another Tutor You are become in a little time a great Master of several Languages and most parts of Philosophy and I may say without flattery that your Lordship hath Genius Learning and Piety enough to make one of the Best and the most Accomplish't Gentleman in England But yet your Quality requires something more for it is not enough for one in your Lordships High Station to be Humanist Geographer Historian and I may add a good Man too he must be also a States-man and a Politician but being neither my self I must repeat the same thing over again to my Shame and to your Credit that your Lordship wants a better Master Amongst several of the most Eminent Men which I could recommend to your Lordship I found none so Learned nor indeed so fit to make deep Impressions upon your Mind as your Lordships Noble Father whose Writings belongs to you as well as his Estate I don't doubt but you will strive to get the best share of his Learning nor can you fail of an Extream Delight by drawing Sciences but of the same Spring from whence your Noble Blood did flow His Book then being yours both by Inheritance and by the particular gift of its Authour it would be unjust to present it to any other but your Lordship and needless to recommend it or beg your acceptance for 't Therefore omitting any longer Preface in Recommendation of these Golden Remains I 'll only take leave to make this Observation upon them That as there is nothing wanting in them for your Lordship's Instruction both by Humane Learning and Solid Devotion I have fitted you with the Master that I look't for and whom you wanted From whom having obtained all the Qualifications which your Noble Soul is capable of you have no more to wish for but that you may live and practice 'em and it will be to me both a great Satisfaction and Honour to see my Work finisht by the same Artist who put it first into my hands and trusted me with the beginning of it It will be enough for me that I have put my hands to such a Master-piece and shall be highly honoured if your Lordship take notice of my Endeavours and sufficiently Rewarded if you grant your Protection to him who has no other Ambition than to be Your Lordships Most Humble most Obedient and most Devoted Servant J. Dela Heuze THE CONTENTS I. HIS Lordships Advice to his Children page 1 II. An Essay upon Government p. 36 III. Reasons why King James Ran away from Salisbury p. 56 IV. Observations upon the Attainder of the late Duke of Monmouth with some Arguments for the Reversing thereof p. 70 V. Of the Interest of Whig and Tory which may with most safety be depended on by the Government on the account either of Fidelity or Numbers In a Letter to a Friend p. 82 VI. A Discourse shewing who were the true Incouragers of Popery Written on the occasion of King James 's Declaration of Indulgence p. 88 VII A Speech in Parliament for the Bill of Exclusion That the next of Blood have no Absolute Right to the Crown p. 94 VIII A Speech against Arbitrary and Illegal Imprisonments by the Privy Council Several Laws for the Restraint of this Power Instance of the Exercise of this Power on Sir Gilbert Gerrard about a Black-Box An Objection answered p. 100 IX A Speech against the Bishops Voting in case of Blood Lord Coke 's Opinion against it An Act of Parliament Good to which their Consent is not had Bishops no Peers though Lords of Parliament p. 107 X. A Speech against the Pensioners in the Reign of King Charles II. p. 115 XI A Speech for the sitting of Parliaments and against King Charles the seconds Favourites p. 121 XII A Speech in Parliament on the occasion of some Justices being put out of Commission in the said Reign p. 129. XIII A Speech for the Banishing the Papists p. 133 XIV A Speech on the Corruption of the Judges Laws to prevent it Some Instances thereof particularly Sir George Jeffreys when Judge of Chester p. 138 XV. Some Observations on the Prince of Orange's Declaration On the Exit of King Charles II. and Entrance of the late King whose Administration becoming Exorbitant brought on the Present Revolution The Arbitrary Proceeding of K. James excellently set forth by the Declaration c. In a Charge to the Grand Jury p. 353 XVI A Speech against the Asserters of Arbitrary Power and the Non-Swearers p. 385 XVII A Perswasive to Union upon King James his design to Invade England in the Year 1692. p. 401 XVIII Some Reasons against Prosecuting the Dissenters upon the Poenal Laws p. 412 XIX A Discourse proving the reasonableness of the present Revolution from the Nature of Government p. 421 XX. Whether a Conspiracy to Levy War is an Overt Act of Conspiring or Imagining the Death of the King p. 437 XXI Reasons for an Union between the Church and the Dissenters p. 457 XXII Of the Absolute Power Exercised in the late Reigns and a Defence of King Williams Accession to the Throne Election the Original of Succession Succession not very Ancient Division among Protestants a step to Arbitrary Power Enemies to the Act of Indulgence Disaffected to the Government p. 467 XXIII A Speech concerning Tyranny Liberty Religion Religious Contentions Laws of Advantage to the State cannot hurt the Church Of Conquest Of God's ways of Disposing Kingdoms and against Vice p. 483 XXIV The Legality of the Convention-Parliament though not called by Writ p. 509 XXV A Resolution of Two Important Questions 1. Whether the Crown of England be Hereditary 2. Whether the Duke of York ought to be Excluded p. 541 XXVI The Case of William Earl of Devonshire for striking Collonel Culpepper p. 563 XXVII Arguments against the Dispensing Power p. 583 XXVIII Prayers which his Lordship used in his Family p. 597 XXIX Some Memoirs of the Methods used in the Two last Reigns The Amazing Stupidity of those that would reduce us again into the same Condition p. 613 XXX Some Arguments to prove that there is no Presbyterian but a Popish Plot and against the Villany of Informing in 1681. p. 627 XXXI Monarchy the best Government and the English beyond all other With some Rules for the Choice
a share in building a House that lays here and there a Stone as he that lays the Foundation and raises much of the Superstructure upon it which is the very Case betwixt the high Church-men and the Dissenters and though our high Church snarle at the King and treat him with over-familiar Language yet what they have said and done does not so much denote their repentance as that they are disobliged and disappointed because it is not accompanied with amendment of life which is the truest sign of penitence for I doubt there are very few of them that can boast that they are less debaucht and profane If the matter then be so and they on their part have not done any thing to invite or incourage the Dissenters to come to Church they should be the least of all Men that should complain of their absenting Upon the whole Matter then The Dissenters by falling in with the Indulgence have done that which in the consequence will set up Arbitrary Power But the high Church-men have in express terms preached up and assisted Arbitrary Power and have treated the Papists as their Friends So that they having been chiefly instrumental and layed a Foundation for Popery and Slavery I may without pretending to the gift of Prophecy adventure to say that whenever it comes to extremity the greatest brunt will light upon them and their Heads will sheild the blows from others who used all lawful means to have prevented the Mischeif that is coming on apace Thus I have laid open the Fault on all sides let then the high Church be more charitable and the Dissenters less stiff and sweamish and let every one indeavour to live like People professing the Gospel and I hope that God may yet have mercy upon this poor Nation A SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT FOR THE Bill of Exclusion I Wish I could have been silent and I wish there had not been an occasion for this dayes debate but since we are brought into this condition it behoves every Man to put to his Shoulder to support this tottering Nation And in this Matter that is now before us we ought to consider very well for a great deal depends upon it and therefore I hope that every Gentleman will speak and Vote as God shall put it into his heart without any prejudice or pre-possession A Bill to Exclude all Papists from the Crown will produce a great many Inconveniences on both hands because his R. H. being a Papist it will set him aside therefore we are to consider which is the lesser evil and to choose that If the D. be excluded you are told how unjust it is to take away his Right from him that the Crown is his Inheritance if he survive the K. and besides you provoke him and all the Papists in England to Rise and cut our Throats On the other hand it 's plain that when we shall have a Popish K. our Religion and Laws are not secure one Moment but are in continual danger So that the case in short is this Whether we shall sit still and put it to the venture of having a Popish Successor then we must either submit our Heads to the Block or fight and be Rebels Or else to have a Law that will justifie us in the defending our Religion and Laws In plain English whether we would fight for or against the Law I think I have put it right and now let every Man make his choice that loves either his God or his Countrey As to the D's Right to the Crown I wish it were clearly known what sort of Right it is he claims and whence he derives it He is not Heir Apparent neither do I think that our Law knows any such thing as an Heir to the Crown but only as a Successor And therefore the D. nor any other whatever can pretend the same Title to the Crown as the Son of a Subject can to his Fathers Estate after his decease for with Subjects they do not succeed but inherit It is not so as to the Crown for there they succeed And it is from a not rightly considering the word Heir as it is a Synonymous term with that of Successor that has made so many to be deceived in the D's Title to the Crown for this word Heir to the Crown was not heard of till Arbitrary Power began to put forth Before William the Conquerour's Time it would have been a senseless word when the people set up and pulled down as they saw cause And till Queen Elizabeth it was not much in fashion when the Crown was so frequently setled by Act of Parliament and the Next of blood so often set aside when the Son seldom followed his Father into the Throne but either by Election in the Life-time of his Father or else by Act of Parliament So that to make the D. either Heir Apparent or Presumptive to the Crown it must be proved either by the Constitution of the Government or by some Law or Act of Parliament If therefore he has a Title to the Crown it 's necessary to know what it is and whence he has it but if he has none it 's not unjust to pass the Bill or any otherwhere he shall be particularly named But I will say no more of this least I may seem to be against Kingly Government which I am not If the D. be Excluded because he is a Papist yet it is no injustice Why will he be of that Religion that the Law endeavours to suppress The Subjects who are of that Religion forfeit Two parts in Three of their Estates and shall any Subject by reason of his Quality be exempted from the Law I hope not Besides if a Subject forfeit two parts it 's reasonable that the next of blood or any that is of that Religion should be excluded from the Crown because the Law has prohibited all Papists from having any Office Civil or Military because their Principles are inconsistent with the Government and then how preposterous would it be to make him the Head of the Church and the Preserver of our Laws and Liberties whose Religion obliges him to ruine and destroy both So that if the D. had not by his practices given us just cause to except against him yet barely as he is a Papist he ought to be Excluded But when it is considered that he has held a correspondency with the Pope and the French King to subvert our Religion and Laws what protection can we expect from him if he be King It is a sensleless thing to imagine that he will not disturb us in our Religion and Laws seeing whilest he is a Subject he is practising to destroy us and them Therefore for my part I think we betray both our Religion and Laws if we do not pass this Bill There is one Opinion which prevails much in the World which as it is false so it does a great deal of hurt and that is this That every Government in the World was
into Order and frâ— maintaining the Laws and supporting the Government Arbitary Doctrine never did any King good but has ruined many it shook King Charles the seconds Throne and tumbled down his next Successour and tho' such Kings are left without excuse when ruined yet I may say they only are not in fault for their Overthrow is in a great part occasioned by those who Preach up and advise the King to Arbitrary Power Did not other People cocker up and cherish Arbitrary Notions in the Peoples mind tho' such conceptions might sometimes get into his head yet they would never Fructify and come to Perfection if they were not Cultivated by Parasites who make their Court that way in hopes to make themselves great tho' with the hazard of their Masters Crown As it befell K. James whose Male-Administration rendred him unmeet to sway the Scepter and I am very well satisfyed that his Judgment was just for unless a People are decreed to be miserable which God Almighty will never do except thereto provoked by their Sins certainly he will never so tye up their hands that they shall not be allow'd to use them when they have no other way to help themselves Several Artifices were made use of in the two late Reigns for the introducing Arbitrary Power One of which was to insinuate into the minds of the People That the Succession of the Crown was the chief Pillar of the Government and that the breaking into it upon any pretence whatsoever was no less than a Dissolution of the whole Constitution and nothing but Disorder and Confusion would ensue This Doctrine prevailed with many and obtained no less than if the Crown had been settled in that Family by an Ordinance or Decree dropt from Heaven and that every one of that Line or Race had been distinguisht from the rest of mankind by more than ordinary Virtues and Indowments of Mind and Body But we know not of any such Divine Revelation and happy had it been if that Family had been so signal for its Justice and Piety we might then have prayed that there might not want one of them to sit upon the Throne to all Ages How much this Nation is obliged to that Family we very well Remember for the Wounds they gave us are not yet healed Election was certainly the Original of Succession for as the Living more safely and with the freer enjoyment of their Goods was the Original Cause that people Associated themselves into a Nation or Kingdom so for the better attaining that End did they set over themselves the best and Wisest of their Brethren to be their Rulers and Governours and this Administration was trusted in one or more hands according to the temper and Disposition of the People in which Authority they continued either for their Lives or for one Year or some other stated Period of time Where the Government was under a King he usually held it for Life and then upon his decease the People proceeded to a new Election till at last it fell into the hand of some very excellent Person who having more than Ordinarily deserved of his Country they as well in Gratitude to him as believing they could not expect a better Choice than in the Branches that would grow out of so excellent a Stock entailed that Dignity upon him and his Posterity This seems to be the most natural and Lawful rise of Succession I don't deny but some Successions have arisen from force but that was never lasting for that could not subsist or seem lawful longer than there was a force to support it Now those that come to the Crown by the first way of Succession I mean by the consent and approbations of the People does it not plainly imply that they ought to use that power for the good and advantage of their Subjects and not to their hurt and enjoy their Crown only upon that condition no man would ever suffer a Monster to inherit his Estate and Kings are no more exempted from the Accidents of Nature than their meanest Subjects and it is every days practice in private Families to exclude those that will waste their Estate and ruine the Family and if the Reason will there hold good then it is so much stronger in the descent of the Crown by how much the good of a whole Kingdom is to be preferred to that of one private Family Succession is not so very ancient in England as some People may apprehend till the time of William Primus commonly called the Conqueror it was lookt upon as a very precarious Title The next in Succession could reckon very little upon the Crown further than his good Inclinations and Sufficiency to Sway the Scepter did recommend him it being then very common not only to break into the Succession but even to set aside all that Family and Line when ever it was found that the Publick might suffer by their being at the head of the Government the Publick Good being the only Rule and Consideration that Govern'd that point William Primus upon his Death-bed declared that he did not possess the Crown by an Hereditary Right Heary Primus in his Charter acknowleged to hold his Crown by the Mercy of God and the Common Council K. Stephen Henry 2d Rich. Primus and King John all came in by Election so that till Henry 3d. there is scarcely to be found any Precedent of Succession since his time the Succession has been broke into several times and the Crown shifted from one Family to another by Act of Parliament and being so transferred by that Authority is the greatest Proof that can be that Succession is a very feeble Title without something else to support it and I think I may say Defective For says one of great Authority Never did any take pains to obtain an Act of Parliament to settle his Inheritance on his Heirs except he were an Alien or Illegitimate and therefore considering That by vertue of an Intail of the Crown by Act of Parliament in Henry the Sevenths time it is that the four last Kings have swayed this Scepter I could never understand that Divine Right that was by some stampt upon their Title to the Crown or that the Succession was preferrable to the Publick Good I have endeavoured to explain this point the more by reason that some object against the sufficiency of This Kings Title to the Crown because the Succession was broke through to let him into the Throne as if nothing could give a King a good Title to the Crown but Succession For my part I never saw any reason to be of that Opinion and if there be nothing but the Interruption of the Succession to object to this Kings Right if he continue to govern according to the Principle upon which the Crown was given him and according to the laudable Customs of the Realm I think that every man that wishes well to the Interest of his Country ought to bless God for this Revolution
so great draw him aside and then we shall see Peace in our Israel I doubt not Gentlemen but you will do your Parts and this is all that I have to trouble you with at this time THE LEGALITY Of the Convention-Parliament Though not called by Writ IT 's a new sort of Doctrine That where there is a Power to do a greater thing there cannot also be to do a less The Lords who are born Counsellors to the King and Kingdom the Members of the House of Commons were all duely chose by such as had Right to Elect Members for Parliament The two Houses meet at the same day and first declare the Throne vacant and then fill it with this King and Queen and they thus Elected these Lords acknowledge to be our Rightful and Lawful Soveraign Lord and Lady which is the greatest thing that the two Houses are capable of doing and have thereby according to the Maxims of those very Lords altered the Government in a most Essential point of it and yet say they All Subsequents tho' with the Concurrence and Consent of this lawful King and Queen are invallid unless supported by the Authority of this or some other Parliament because the last was not called by Writ in due form of Law So that the Representatives of the Nation Assembled without a Writ can only do one thing and that the highest to make a King And by like Reason If when Assembled by Writ can do every thing but the greatest But it is against all manner of Reason and Policy to suppose that the Power that can make a King cannot do every thing else that is necessary to settle the Government If those Gentlemen had understood the true meaning of Writs and been so ingenious as to confess it they would not have made that an Objection against the Validity of the last Parliament Writs are necessary in their proper time but not so necessary as to give the Essence to a Parliament for if there be any weight in this Reason a Writ is as necessary as the Consent of the Nation by their Legal Representatives to Establish any thing into a Law Writs can amount to no more than the Means by which the Parliament is concerned It will be granted that the present Writ of Summons was Established by the Government and not by the King and it cannot be deny'd that wherever the power of the Government rests it may if it see Cause direct that Parliaments shall be convened in any other manner or by any other means than by Writ For it is not the Writ that makes a man a true Representative but the Election of those who have right to choose for that place For otherwise the Sheriff or other Officer might have return'd whom he saw good and Elections would be needless But the Law has more expresly shewed that it is the Election that makes the Person a Right Member and so consequently the Election of the People is that which gives the Essence to a Parliament because the Law has under greivious pains commanded That Election shall be free And since the Constitution of the Government makes choice of Writs for the Canvening of the Representative Body of the Nation why was not the Parliament as duely concerned and the Acts they passed as good since it was impossible to be Summoned in due form and these Gentlemen might as well have insisted That a Nation may want a Power to help it self as to object against the Validity of the last Parliament because called without Writ By the Weight that they lay upon a Writ they do seem to make a Writ more necessary to a Parliament than our Allegiance is to the Government and if that be so that which is only a Circumstance in the Government is more to be regarded than what is necessary to the Peace of it But to grant that Absurdity What is it that has given the Sanction to these new Oaths that our sitting and Voting in Parliament has not put us under all the Disabilities of 30 Caroli for we are certainly within that Statute if the last Parliament had not power to alter those Oaths and if it had what else they did is as valid for all or none of those Acts are good If it be destructive of the Monarchy to declare those Laws to be good it may be also said to be alike destructive when the proper and only means to support it is made use of For the Nation had no other way left of coming to a Settlement A RESOLUTION OF Two Important Questions I. Whether the Crown of England be Hereditary II. Whether the Duke of York ought to be excluded SIR THE Questions that you have proposed to me are of such a nature that they require a very strict consideration because they are of the greatest moment in our present condition and therefore you have done me a great honour to command my Thoughts upon them in regard you might have had your Queries resolved by persons much more able than I am but since you desire my Opinion I will give it you very faithfully As I remember the first thing that you was in doubt of was Whether the Crown of England be Hereditary or no and to that I answer negatively That it is not Hereditary And in order to the clearing of this I will in the first place give you a short historical account of Matter of Fact till K. James I think it will not be denied that from the first known Times in this Island after that they had Kings till the Conquest but that the People Elected him for their King whom they best liked without regard had to the Issue of the deceased King and also that they deposed them very frequently and set up others in their stead when upon tryal they were found unfit for the purpose He that says otherwise confesses himself either not to have read our English Story or that he understood not what he read and if your self doubts the truth of what I affirm I will at any time give you a particular account of it till the entrance of the Normans William the First commonly called the Conqueror we must begin with him who it 's most certain had no Right or Title to the Crown by Inheritance or Descent and it is as true that he did not gain it by Conquest for Edgar Etheling who was alive and in England when William came in had an unquestionable right by Descent and therefore whilst he was alive William could not pretend any Title by Inheritance but must find out some other way to come to the Crown and therefore he pretended one while a Compact between him and Harold and again That it was left to him by Edward the Confessor by his Will yet he found that all these were but empty sounds for although he had a potent Army by which he might have done great things yet that Army only brought him into England but it was the Election of the People that
may have them And hence it might come to pass that the Son succeeded the Father as it befel in the case of Henry III. his Father K. John had been quarreling with his Barons and they called in Lewis the F. Prince to their aid and several swore to him but K. John dying and the Nation being willing to be at rest they chose rather to have Henry III. being a Child whom they had hopes to train up in the Principles of an English King than to admit Lewis who was a Foreigner Or else that out of Gratitude to the memory of their deceased King who had done good things for the Nation they chose his Son believing him to inherit his Father's Vertues and therefore deserved the Crown better than any other person as it befel in the case of Edw. II. and Rich. II. and Hen. VI. who all deceiv'd them and therefore were deposed I think the rest of the Instances where the Son has followed his Father into the Throne are where the Succession was continued to them by Act of Parliament or by Election in the life-time of the Father as it happen'd in the case of Rich. I. and Edw. I. But I think it is without all dispute a known Custom in England that where a man has any Estate either real or personal if it came to him by Descent although he has no further power of it yet during his Life he may dispose of it as to him shall seem meet and divest himself of it to all intents and purposes And therefore if the Crown of England comes by descent what hinders that he who enjoys it cannot alien or dispose of it during his own life for whenever it has been attempted the People has still opposed it as in the case of K. John when he laid down the Crown at the Feet of Pandulphus the Pope's Legate and he kept it three days for the Pope's use this being done without the Consent of the Nation the King was told He could not make any conveyance of it without the leave of the People and although he had the Pope for his Second who was obliged to stand by him in maintaining what he had done not only out of the advantage he would gain hereby against King John and his Successors but also to encourage his other Sons to the like Dutifulness and Obedience yet the People were Victors and the King fairly gave up the Cudgels Which methinks clears the Point very well for our Lawyers tell us That a President where the thing has been disputed is worth a thousand where there was no Contest I will give you another Instance though not the very same yet I think not impertinent to be mentioned Q. Mary upon her first enjoyment of her Husband Philip was very fond of him and thinking nothing to be too good for him she had a great desire to have him crowned but notwithstanding her Importunities the Parliament would not consent and she never had her Desire Whereas if the Crown had come to her by descent she need not have asked the Parliament leave nor had K. John been to blame to give away that which was absolutely his own It is true that in the life-time of H. II. his eldest Son was crowned but he first acquainted his Lords with his purpose which implies that he asked their consent which is very probable because they swore Allegiance to him which they would never have done had it not been with their good liking for the Lords were more sturdy in those days than they are in ours for they would yield no further than they saw there was Law and Reason for it I have heard it objected That the three Children of Hen. VIII succeeded to the Crown by his Will it may be so and yet not clear the point That the Crown comes by Inheritance for Hen. VIII had shaken off the Pope's Authority and the People might be very willing to accept his Son Edward for their King and it had been a wonder if they had refused him seeing he was a Protestant and one like to perfect the Reformation But in his Successor Q. Mary we find the President of bequeathing the Crown by Will overthrown for Edw. VI. by his last Will had given the Crown to Jane Seymour and to make the thing more valid he caused the Nobility Bishops and Judges to set their Hands to it and yet Q. Mary prevailed against this Will but Arthur Son to Jeoffery who was Brother to Rich. I. and K. John was not only Son to the elder Brother but was designed by Rich. I. to be his Successor to the Crown So that if any thing would have prevailed against the Election of the People without doubt Arthur would have had the Crown and John must have waited longer But if the Crown of England comes by Descent or Inheritance I desire to ask by what Title all the Kings and Queens since the Conquest have possessed the Throne for no man can have the face to say that the first William came in by Descent but that his Title was either by Election Conquest or Vsurpation and all that have succeeded him out of his Loins are upon the same bottom with him and if his Title was not by Election then he and all his Successors can be termed nothing but Vsurpers who came in by force and have maintained it by might against Law for it is very well known that a Possession which is illegal at first cannot be better by continuing it nor does it mend the matter if they hold it never so long the Right remains the same And therefore having said this I do presume it will be as difficult to understand those things mentioned in the 30th Chapter of Proverbs Verse the 19th as it is to prove that the Crown of England comes by Descent But possibly when there shall be a Man so much wiser than Solomon that can unriddle those four things he may be able to clear this first and resolve all other Doubts that may be proposed to him but till that be I hope the People will hold their Right in disposing of the Crown and not be bound to admit the next of Blood if he be not fit for it I will now Sir proceed to your second Demand Whether the Duke ought to be excluded and to that I do answer affirmatively That he ought to be set aside for if he had not deserved it very justly the late House of Commons would not have been so vigorous and intent upon the Bill neither would the preceding mercinary House of Commons have said a word against him if his Faults had not been very plain but the whole thing is so evident that there needs nothing more to enforce the Reasons for his exclusion for Is it a small thing to hold a Correspondence with the Pope and the French King the two great Enemies to our Religion and Government to procure Pardons for Papists and keeping none about him but Papists or Popishly
but told the Parliament to their Face that he had so done and was resolv'd to proceed and he was as good as his word for he made Popish Officers Justices of the Peace and Judges upon which Loyalty began to decline for they fell away from him every day more than other But he stopp'd not here for that he might disoblige the Tories and Clergy as well as he had the rest of the Nation the Papists excepted he set up the High Commission and then the Declaration of Indulgence and for refusing to comply with it he clapp'd up seven of the Bishops in the Tower I am far from detracting from the Praise that is due to that Action of the Bishops yet give me leave to say the Merit of it is not so great as many have cry'd it up to be for they refused to read the Declaration more out of Self-Interest than out of regard to the Publick otherwise why did they not refuse to read the Declaration of Charles II. upon his dissolving the Oxford Parliament which struck more directly at the Heart of the Government than King James did yet not one Bishop refused it and accounted every one disaffected to the Government that did dislike it And that which further prevails with me to be of this Opinion is because some of these Bishops at this time refuse to take the Oaths It would be endless to run through all the Particulars of King James's Exorbitant Reign but in short he had turn'd the Government on its Head and was resolv'd to set up Popery instead of God's true Worship and his Absolute Will and Pleasure in the room of the Law and had fully accomplish'd his purpose if God had not sent us a Deliverer by whose assistance we thrust him from the Throne For having broke his Coronation-Oath and the Condition upon which he receiv'd the Crown he thereby lost all the Right of swaying this Scepter And by a just and real Authority with which the People of England are invested upon such occasions has the Nation by a full and free Consent placed King William on the Throne who I trust will be the Repairer of our Breaches How then ought we to rejoyce what cause have we to be thankful for such a stupendious Change when we had nothing but a fearful looking-for of utter Ruine we now enjoy the Protestant Religion instead of Idolatry and a just and equal Government instead of Slavery and all this brought about without the expence of Blood So that I stand amaz'd when I hear of any that are for recalling the late King James if there be any such I hope I shall not be accounted severe if I wish they were with him for I think it would be best and safest for them and every body else Can any Man be so senceless as to desire to set that man over them again who had once destroy'd their Religion and Liberties and had justly forfeited his Crown by Male Administration for when the King denies his Protection the People are discharged of their Obedience to him because the Obligation of Protection and Subjection is reciprocal Nay I may presume to say that the People have a greater Right to be well govern'd than any King can have to his Crown for their Right of being well govern'd was first in Nature and secondly it is necessary to the being of Mankind but so is it not that this or the other man be on the Throne nor even the form of the Government it self for that sort of Government is most necessary that is best for the Common Good We now fit safely under our Vines and Fig-trees and every man may Worship God without being hawled to a Goal the Bone is taken away that the Papists used to throw amongst Protestants to set them together by the Ears And truly it was always my Opinion that it would never go well with England till every man might worship God in his own way And this being thus happily accomplish'd I do beg your permission to offer my Advice which is this That all Protestants would now unite against the Common Enemy and forbear all Distinctions and Revilings though we may differ in some things yet let us neither reproach him that goes to his Parish Church nor be scandaliz'd at him that goes to a Barn let no man be offended at a Liturgy or set Form of Prayer nor think extempore Prayer is unacceptable to God every Tub must stand on its own bottom therefore let every man be more careful to mind and mend his own Failings than to observe the Faults of others let every man live up to the Doctrine he professes and sincerely act according to his Principles and prefer the publick before any private Interest and then it will go well with them here and hereafter Thus have I given you my scatter'd Thoughts which I have endeavour'd to put together as well as I could with the short leisure I have had As to the particular Business of this day it would be needless to offer you any Directions your Oath has sufficiently instructed you and I suppose most if not all of you understand your Duty as well as I can inform you therefore I will only say that whatever is an Offence against the Law is presentable by you Your Country has reposed a great and honourable Trust in you and I don't doubt your good and faithful discharge of it only this I desire to recommend to you That you will not find any Indictment or Presentment upon Suspicious or slight Evidence for it is unjust unreasonable and may be of fatal consequence to our selves or our Posterity A Man's Reputation is a precious thing and no man ought to be troubled unnecessarily And I do rather give you this Caution because it was the Practice of the Late Times and I hope we shall rather reform their Practices than follow them and come nearer to the Golden Rule of doing as we would be done by But in saying this I don't design to lead you out of the way of Justice that any who have offended the Law should escape Punishment Let the Guilty receive the Reward of their Doings and the Innocent suffer no Wrong and then shall we be a happy People So I will trouble you no further but to pray God to direct you in your Business SOME ARGUMENTS To prove That There is no Presbyterian but a Popish PLOT AND Against the Villany of Informing in 1681. I Will trouble you but with a few words before I proceed to the Particulars of your Charge and I hope no body of the Protestant Perswasion will be offended at what I have to say I have heard it positively affirm'd That 80 81. is become 40 41. That the same Game is now playing that was then If by this is meant That our old and restless Enemies the Papists are now at work that it is they who at this time are labouring our Destruction and that they are the Danger that threatens