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
and here 's the short and long of the case And therefore the Parliament must never yield that the Bishops shall Vote in case of Blood for the consequence of it will be to alter the very Frame of our Government and cursed be he that removes his Neighbours Landmark A SPEECH AGAINST THE PENSIONERS IN K. Charles II. Reign WIthout doubt the last Parliament had great Matters in agitation and the inquiry they made about the Pensioners of the preceding Parliament was no small one but rather one of the chief things they had in hand for had they been permitted to have perfected that it had been a good recompence for the disappointment which the Nation sustain'd in their other expectations by the suddain Prorogation And without all question nothing is fitter for the thoughts of a Parliament than to take into consideration how to punish them that had proved the Pest and had almost if not altogether ruin'd the Nation and how to prevent the like mischief for the future The Name of a Pensioner is very distastful to every English Spirit and all those who were Pensioners I think are sufficiently despised by their Country-men And therefore I will mention only two or three things that will lye at their doors before I offer my advice what is to be done Breach of Trust is accounted the most infamous thing in the World and this these Men were guilty of to the highest degree Robbery and Stealing our Law punishes with Death and what deserve they who beggar and take away all that the Nation has under the Protection of disposing of the Peoples Money for the honour and good of the King and Kingdom And if there were nothing more than this to be said without doubt they deserve a high censure Besides the giving away such vast Sums without any colour or reasonable pretence There is this great mischief will follow upon it Every man very well knows that it has put the King into an extraordinary way of expence And therefore when he has not such great supplyes it must of necessity bring the King into great want and need And shall not only give him an ill opinion of all Parliaments that do not supply him so extravagantly but perhaps put him to think of ways to get Money that otherwise would never have entred into his thoughts so that whatever ill may happen of this sort these Pensioners are answerable for it Furthermore they have layd us open to all our Enemies whoever will invade may not doubt to subdue us For they have taken from us the Sinews of War that is Money and Courage all our Money is gone and they have exhausted the Treasure of the Nation and when People are poor their Spirits are low so that we are left without a defence and who must we thank for bringing us into this despicable condition but these Gentlemen who notwithstanding this had the face to style themselves the Kings Friends and all those who opposed their practices were Factious and Seditious They had brought it to that pass that Debates could not be free if a Gentlemans Tongue happen to lye a little awry in his Mouth presently he must be called to the Bar or if that would not do whensoever any Gentleman that had a true English Spirit happen'd to say any thing that was bold presently away to seek the King and tell him of it and often times more than the Truth And thus they indeavoured to get an ill Opinion in the King of his best Subjects And their practice was the more abominable because their Words and Actions gave the occasion to force those smart Expressions from the Gentlemen that spoke them for their honest hearts were fired with true Zeal to their King and Countrey when they beheld the impudence and falseness of those Pensioners It 's true we find that in or about the 10th year of Richard II. it was indeavoured to get a Corrupt Parliament for our English Story says that the King sent for the Justices and Sheriffs and enjoyn'd them to do their best that none should be chosen Knights and Burgesses but such as the King and his Council should name but we find it could not be effected The next that occurs to my thoughts is that in the 4th year of Henry IV. the Parliament that was called at Coventry named the Lay-mens Parliament for the Sheriffs were appointed that none should be chosen Knights or Burgesses that had any skill in the Laws of the Land The next that I remember is that in Henry VI. time in the year 1449 or 50 when the Duke of Suffolk was Accused by the Commons and Committed to the Tower the King Dissolved that Parliament not far unlike our case of my Lord D but it differs in this that Suffolk was Committed to the Tower as of right he ought but we were deny'd that Justice against D only Henry VI. made the cases thus far even that he set Suffolk at liberty after he had Dissolv'd that Parliament Soon after a Parliament was called wherein great care was taken in choosing of Parliament Men that should favour Suffolk But they so far failed of their purpose that his appearance at the Parliament gave great distaste to the House of Commons and they were so far incensed that they began the Parliament with a fresh Accusation against him and others So that you may see that it was not in the power of the Court to corrupt the House of Commons In the time of Henry VIII about the 20th year of his Reign when the Parliament was active against Pluralities and Non-Residence there was an Act passed to release to the King all such Sums of Money as he had borrowed at the Loan in the 15th year of his Reign it 's said that it was much opposed but the reason that is given why it passed is because the House was mostly the Kings Servants but it gave great disturbance to the Nation And this is the only case that I can remember that comes any thing near to our Pensioners but we cannot find that they or any Parliament took Money to Vote So that we must conclude that there was never any Pensioners in Parliament till this Pack of Blades were got together Therefore Sir what will you do Shall these Men escape shall they go free with their Booty Shall not the Nation have Vengeance on them who had almost given up the Government It was they who had perverted the ends of Parliaments Parliaments have been and are the great Refuge of the Nation that which cures all its Diseases and heals it Soars But the Men had made it a Snare to the Nation and at best had brought it to be an Engine to give Money If therefore these go away unpunisht we countenance what they have done and make way to have Pensioners in every Parliament but far be any such thought from any Man that sits within these Walls And having said this I will in the next place humbly offer
appearance look very brave and for the present may gain a popular applause but in the end serve only to expose the Persons themselves and the Cause they stand by For a hot-headed or rash Action of any one Man especially if he be of note furnishes the other side with sufficient matter to brand the whole Party with it if therefore you shall at any time be put upon doing any such thing do but desire those that propose it to lead you the way and if they refuse you may be sure that it was not your good they intended but to promote some selfish end of their own though they foresaw that it would expose if not ruine you These Directions and what else can be given you will not much avail without your own improvement of them which must be done by reading and observation and those sorts of Studies seem to be most eligible by men of generous tempers which tend most to fit a man for the publick Service and next to God's Law there is nothing more necessary for an English-man than to be well acquainted with the Law of his own Country to the attaining of it several Books are to be read of which I do in particular recommend to you Coke's Institutes Croke's Hubbert's Dyer's and Vaughan's Reports and especially the latter for though it contains but a few Cases yet they contain in them such strong reason as gives great Light into other matters Next to these all my Lord Bacon's Works and a Book called Bacon's Uniformed Government of the Laws of England which is worth its weight in Gold Next Lambert's Saxon Laws Fortescue of the Laws of England A Book Intitled De Pace Regis Regni and another called the Rights of the Kingdom and a small Book Intitled Nihil dictum quod non dictum prius Most if not all of these you will find in my study and they may easily be read over in a few Months and time enough allowed for Business and Recreation When you have gone through them I am perswaded that they will not only give you an appetite to read them over again and make observations as you go along but also to enquire after other Books of that sort Next to a knowledge in the Law History is very necessary and especially of our own Country And though we have many Chronicles yet the Lives of our Kings that are written by particular hands are the best and give the truest account of things It is also necessary to look into the Histories of other Countreys and the Lives of Famous Men as those that pass under the Title of Plutarch's Lives Grotius de jure belli pacis is allowed by all to be one of the best Books that ever was writ And notwithstanding the clamour that is made against Machiavil I would not have you to pass him by for that part of him against which the out-cry is made it is only Instructions what a Tyrant is to do if he will reign safely yet he does not perswade any King to it but is much against it as you will see in reading over his Works To read a Play or Romance now and then for diversion may do no hurt but he that spends most of his time in such Books will be able to give a very ill account of it Be your Studies what they will yet be sure to drive the nail only as you find it will go That is in the first place never go to your Study but when you find your self very well disposed to it for to do otherwise is to go against the grain and nothing that way can be well done In the second place stay no longer at it than you can taste what you read for after that your thoughts begin to be unsteady or wander it is loss of time to prosecute it nay it will occasion you to lose much of what you had gained before and so you will go backwards instead of forwards For nothing is more mischievous in studying than to tye ones self to a certain time of going to it or staying so long or reading so much together for we are not at all times alike disposed to our Book Now by studying only when we are disposed though we do not seem to make such haste yet we make better speed for a Book read over once this way is of more advantage than thrice read over if these precautions are not observed When you are to debate in Parliament or upon any other publick occasion and since the end of speaking is to convince Observe these two following Directions First Argue as directly and closely to the matter as you can for this is the surest way to prevail because it gives your Opponents the less advantage against what you say And besides nothing is a greater argument of a sound judgment than to be able to bring the matter to a point Secondly Be not over sollicitous for words and Phrases when either they hinder you from digesting your matter throughly or occasion you to say any thing that has not some weight in it Apt words and quaint Phrases are very good adornments of Speech yet they are not so necessary as that for want of them a Man of good understanding ought to be silent For deep and weighty Notions though delivered in a very rough stile will touch the reason and convince the understanding many degrees beyond light and frothy thoughts though drest up in the best Language imaginable For Sense is beyond words as much as the Substance exceeds the shadow And certain it is that you will in speaking gain applause by good Sense rather than by the finest Words and Phrases It 's Sense that pleases the Wise and Men of Judgment and Words and Phrases without Sense Tickle the Ears of insipid people In private Conversation remember these things Be the discourse merry or serious let what you say be rather good and to the purpose than much For he that talks a great deal does rather expose himself than divert or oblige the Company A Man is seldom accounted a Fool for speaking too little but is too often so esteemed for speaking too much because in the multitude of words there will not want folly In the next place let neither your behaviour or discourse be formal or starcht for a tincture of that in either takes off the pleasure which the World does generally propose and expect in Conversation For as this does at first proceed from affectation so it will always appear to be such and any thing that is forced or constrained in company is never welcome He that affects an over grave behaviour or set way of speaking does it rather to admire himself than to please others and whatever satisfaction they may take in it themselves yet it tends to no other end than to render them ridiculous to every Company they come into Promote the Discourse you find is most agreeable to the Company if it be not against your Opinion but say
all of that Party Every thing moved in Parliament for our settlement receives its opposition from that Party and I do averr that amongst that Party there are none of them who have been preferred by the King have given a Vote but have opposed every thing that was for the Publick good Whatever tends to recal K. James or to facilitate his readmission is vigorously disputed for by that Party And tho' they now stand so stifly for his Interest yet they passively lookt on whilst he was driven out of this Kingdom which is an undeniable Argument that they either wanted Courage or Interest and a defect in either of them makes them rather to be despised than fear'd for if they had neither Courage nor Interest to serve K. James in whom they have so much inclination it will not much mend the matter when this King is in the same Case They have not the face to justifie the late Illegal Proceedings yet are very busie to keep in and get into Imployments the very Persons that were then made use of I don't desire that these People should be removed to make more room for me for I am very well satisfied with the Post I am in and with all possble thankfulness acknowledge his Majesties Grace and Favour but I say this because I wish that every Man the King makes use of were altogether as honest and affectionate to his Service as I am and as able to serve him as I am willing I was and am of opinion that the King made a very wrong step when he employed so many of that Party because it would unavoidably abate the Zeal of many of his Friends and I fear it has had this further bad effect to make those People believe that either he is afraid of them or that they are necessary to him whose utmost hopes or expectations were to shroud themselves under an Act of Oblivion I am far from reflecting upon what the King has done for it lyes heavy upon my Spirits as oft as I think of it but I should rejoyce if I could offer any thing to help the King to make the best of a bad bargain For he has a very ticklish game in his hands If he should now all at once discard that Party no doubt it would confound his business very much for the present and on the other hand if he do not so carry it towards Friends till with more convenience he may put them off that they may see it is necessity and not choice that makes him take this course he will be in great danger of loosing most if not all of them and if so the King will be in very untoward Circumstances For then he will be under the necessity of depending wholly upon this Party and consequently he must run up to all the excess that they have formerly practised and yet he shall not be sure of them for as soon as they can make a better bargain they 'l leave him to shift for himself This I conceive to be the Kings Case and I wish any thing could be thought on that would do his business effectually I do highly approve the Kings Method relating to Ecclesiastical matters in giving of the Church Preferments to none but Moderate Men and of Exemplary Lives for hereby the fierceness of the High Church-Men will be abated and the over-niceness of the Dissenters taken off and consequently bring both sides to better temper which is the first and principal step in order to uniting of Protestants In like manner if the King would for the future dispose of all such places as become vacant to none but Moderate Men and especially give the preference to such as deserv'd well of him this would be to the satisfaction of his Friends and could give no cause of offence to the contrary Party it would let his friends see what further kindness he intended them and the other would have no cause to complain or if they did they would loose ground by it And further to displace such as in Parliament Vote against the Interest of the King and Kingdom I think cannot be a question I am far from thinking it to be justifiable to displace Men for Voting according to their Consciences but when Men are for promoting of that which is against the Publick or for bringing in K James or bringing on Confusion to continue such in Imployment must discourage the Kings Friends and to put them out can offend none but such as whose good or ill will is equally to be regarded Besides the present juncture of Affairs there seems to be but one objection against turning out these sort of Men immediately and that is the doubt in what Interest the bulk of England lies This is a thing that may certainly be known but it would be a great deal more than this Paper can allow of to make it clearly out and yet I will humbly offer one thing that will in a few words give a great deal of light into it That when we have had two State Officers in the same station of different Parties it 's reasonable to suppose that all Persons that have business will apply themselves to the one or the other according to the Interest they are of if then it shall fall out that he who espouses the true Interest of his Country has three times the business of the other I conceive it no mean Argument where the weight of England is Much more I could say upon this Subject and I fear I have already exceeded the bounds of a Letter Yet if what I have said is worth your pains of reading there is no Body to whom I can with so much satisfaction communicate my Thoughts nor will better improve any advantage that may be made by it than your self But if I have not said much to the purpose I hope the honesty of my Inclination will obtain your pardon and continue me the honour of c. A Discourse shewing who were the true Incouragers of Popery Written on the occasion of King James his Declaration of Indulgence UPon the late Declaration of Indulgence many having absented themselves from the Church our high Church-men have from hence taken occasion to lay it down as a Maxime That if Popery be Establisht here in England the Dissenters are the only cause and occasion of it and by the Thunder and Noise that they make in their Pulpits and all other places a great many others are perswaded to be of their opinion yet I cannot assent to it though I am far from turning Advocate either for the Declaration or those that make use of it yet as a moderate and just Man I would set the Saddle on the right Horse and I am perswaded that any impartial considering Man will when he thinks on it seriously find That it is by the help not so much of the Dissenters as the high Church that Popery has put foot into the Stirrup and is ready to mount into the Saddle But yet
boasted most of Prayers and Tears when they have been touch'd by Arbritrary Power have found those things to be of no more force with a Prince that had will and means to be Arbitrary than the Cords on Sampson's Arms and then have they been very willing to make use of more violent applications For those who value themselves most upon this sort of Loyalty are generally such as are unconcern'd for the publick provided they can make themselves safe and may well be compar'd to the Fox in the Fable who having lost his Tail would have perswaded the rest to cut off theirs They that will not lift up their hand to save their Country are as much to be condemned as the Inhabitants of Meroz who were curs'd bitterly because they came not to the help of Lord against the Mighty Judges 5. v. 23. K. J. had so disjointed and made such havock of the Government that the first step towards the repairing our breaches was to lay him aside not out of any particular dislike to his Person but to his actions because what he had done was not to be suffer'd in any other Man for whoever shall hereafter do the like must expect the same measure K. J. being deem'd unmeet to sway the Scepter the next thing was to consider whether it was better to turn the administration into a Regency or clse to elect another in the Room of K. J. and after some time spent therein it was resolv'd as the best to place some other on the Throne because as that did make the least alteration that could be so whatever was amiss in the State would more easily be rectified than by another Method that was proposed Upon this give me leave to make one observation That altho' a Regency and a Common wealth are the same in effect being but several Names for the same thing yet there prevails an opinion where one would least suspect it That those who were for a Regency are the only men for Monarchy and that those who were for continuing the Administration under a King are for a Common-wealth how this opinion can be consistent with it self I do not apprehend unless that whatever is done for the good of the people brings us so much nearer to a Common-wealth and if so Kings will find it to be their interest as well as their duty to make their Administration easie to the people It being resolved to fill the Vacant Throne the Prince of Orange was presently thought on as the fittest of all others for the purpose not so much for having been the chief instrument of our deliverance tho a great deal was due to him from the Nation in point of gratitude But the Crown was offered to the Prince of Orange in hopes of having the effect of his Declaration for as it was his interest to perform what he had therein said and promised so the Nation was more likely to obtain a full redress of its grievances by him than by any other for he had the example of King James fresh before him he could not but very well apprehend that what could not be indured in King James would not be suffered in any other he knew very well that the Nation expected to have his Declaration made good to the full as well because he had promised as also because of the right they had to have their greivances redressed and that so far or so long as any part of it was denyed or delayed so far would the people be disappointed and think themselves deceived He could not but be sensible of the reproach and hazard he ran that having found fault with King James's Administration if he did not amend whatever was amiss and that to trifle with the Nation in any one particular would render all the rest suspected of what he had said or promised He told us in his Declaration that the greatness and security both of Kings Royal Families and of all such as are in authority as well as the happiness of their Subjects and People depend in a most especial manner upon the exact observation and maintenance of their Laws Liberties and Customs This so true a principle that he who governs accordingly cannot fail to prosper in all he puts his hand unto and he that says so and knows and understands what he says yet does not act accordingly cannot expect the love of his people He was very sensible how distastful a standing Army is to the Nation and much more when a considerable part of it is comopsed of Foreigners and that to increase the number of Foreign Troops would very much alarm the Nation unless it was by reason of scarcity of our own people or want of such as durst fight or for some such necessity and therefore to remove those apprehensions he promises to send back all the Foreign Forces he had brought along with him as soon as the State of the Nation will admit of it He promised to bring Ireland to such a state as that the Protestants and British interest may be there secured considering no doubt that as Ireland is the backdoor to England he could not be thought to be in earnest as to the good of England so long as he neglected the settlement of that other Kingdom because England can never reckon it self safe so long as things are out of order there having reason to sâ—spect that the irregularities in the Administration in Ireland will sooner or later affect England Lastly He promises to concur in every thing that may procure the Peace and happiness of the Nation which a free and lawful Parliament shall determine so that there may be no more danger of the Nations falling at any time here after under Arbitrary Government When the State is distempered a Parliament is so absolutely necessary that it is scarce possible to cure it without one but then that Parliament must be a free and lawful one as well in the manner of electing it as afterwards in their proceeding for if there be any foul play or underhand practice in the Elections or that when the Members come together they are over awed or corrupted this may have the name but nothing of the nature of a free and lawful Parliment and is like Physick ill prepared or applyed does more hurt than good In curing the distempers of the Government such reformation must be intire without any reserve for if any gap is left it will quickly let in as many irregularities as were before complained of for unless the very root and foundation of those distempers be removed it will prove no better than the skinning over of a Sore which whilst it seems fair to the eye is festring within and afterwards breaks out with greater Violence Upon a Revolution where the Government is Monarchical one of these things usually happens either that the King is continued in the Throne upon a new stipulation or contract between him and the people or else the Administration is put under a Regency
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
every one of us make let us never forget how short and uncertain our Lives are that we know not the number of our days that a time is set which we cannot go beyond and that we are not sure of our lives one moment that as the Tree falls so it lies that as Death overtakes us so Judgment will find us Therefore let us be so prepared for our change that whenever Death comes it may neither surprize us nor be unwelcome Wean our Hearts and Affections from the things of this World and fix them upon those that are more solid and permanent let us see how vain uncertain and unsatisfying they are let us remember that they are only lent and not given us and that when they are taken from us no wrong is done and therefore so long as thou art pleas'd to allow us the enjoyment of them let us thankfully receive them and carefully employ and improve them and when we are depriv'd of any of them let us not repine but in all things learn and practice a Submission to thy good pleasure Good Lord we beseech thee to bless our King and Queen in making them ever mindful for what end they were raised to so high a dignity as to sit on the Throne of these Kingdoms namely to promote thy Glory and the good and welfare of their People let them see that this only is their best Interest and that nothing can make them so great and happy as by being zealous therein Let them with their Eyes drive away from their Throne all those that would draw them aside from thy Glory or the Good of their People and teach them the things that belong to their Peace And be gracious we humbly beg of thee to this poor Land and Nation make it happy in a long and prosperous reign of our King and Queen let all their Subjects conscientiously do their Duties in their several stations uphold every man in his Integrity that seeks thy Glory or wishes the Good of his Country let them not be dismaid when they see things go contrary to what they apprehend or wish they should do let them remember that though there be many Devices in a Man's Heart yet that the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand that God will bring about his own work in his own way and accomplish his pleasure in his appointed time and when that time is come he will not want Instruments to effect his purpose and let us learn that the wisdom of Man is foolishness with God for he can take the Crafty in their own Devices Therefore howsoever publick Affairs may move for the present let every one of us be diligent in our stations as we have opportunity let us patiently stand still and see the Salvation of God and submit to his good pleasure whatever it shall be And let thy Blessing rest upon this Family lift up the light of thy Countenance upon us and love us freely as it is a Family of note and eminency so make it remarkable for sobriety and good order and as it is above others so let it be exemplary for the good Conversation of every Member of it and thereby give occasion to others to glorifie thee our Father which is in Heaven Let us all be disposed to do that which is good and acceptable let those that are to instruct others be careful to walk suitable to the Precepts which they teach and those that are to learn let them be enclined and willing to receive Instruction Let us all do our Duties faithfully and honestly not with Eye-service like Brutes but as Rational Creatures that know how to chuse the good and refuse the evil And visit with thy Mercy we beseech thee all the Sons and Daughters of Affliction relieve them according to their several necessities lay no more upon them than they shall be able to bear sanctifie thy Hand to every one of them and in thy good time put an end to their Sufferings Let thy Correction be that of a loving Father for their amendment but not for their destruction and sanctifie all thy Visitations to us in particular Let us not repine at thy good pleasure if thou with-holds any thing we want or deprive us of any thing we already possess let us still say the Lord is righteous but we are less than and unworthy of the least of his Mercies the Lord gives and the Lord takes away and blessed be the Name of the Lord. Make us of a holy and humble Temper let it be our chief care to glorifie thee knowing that those that love and fear God are sure to want no good thing which he finds to be meet and convenient for them Teach us O Lord to order our Conversation aright Let us daily press after the price of the High Calling that is in Christ Jesus so that at the last we may attain to that blessed place of Rest where we shall have no more Want or Sorrow but to all Eternity sing Praises and Hallelujahs with the Father Son and Holy Ghost to whom for ever be ascrib'd as is most due all Honour Glory Might Excellency and Dominion both now and for evermore Amen OH Eternal Lord God thou art holy just and upright and of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity with the least approbation how then shall we dare to presume to lift up our Eyes or Hands unto thee which are so full of all manner of Defilement and Vncleanness Our ways have been perverse and crooked before thee and the Thoughts and Imaginations of our Hearts have been evil only evil and that continually with the ungrateful Lepers we have neglected and forgotten to return thee praise and thanks for thy Mercies and Benefits which thou with so open and plentiful a hand hast bestowed upon us We have not been careful to improve to thy glory the opportunities and talents that thou hast put into our hands we have forgot our vows and promises of better obedience have dealt deceitfully with thee in thy Covenant and started aside like a broken Bow by all which we have forfeited all the right and title that we might otherwise have laid claim to in thy favour and have rendred our selves the objects of thine eternal wrath and displeasure But thou O Lord who hast declared thy self to be a God pardoning Iniquity and to delight in Mercy not willing that any should be damn'd but that all should come and be saved regard us we beseech thee not as we are dead in Trespasses and Sins but look upon us in and through the Merits of our Saviour Christ Jesus who has paid a sufficient price for the Offences and Transgressions of us and of all the World having redeemed us by his most precious Blood give us such a steddy Faith in him that we may with considence approach the Throne of Grace oh pardon our Sins and do away our Offences for his sake we acknowledge we have offended and done that which is exceeding sinful in