done Oh but a Peace being Concluded at Nimeguen this Army that was got together by one Sessions of Parliament was hardly got dissolv'd by two And all things rightly examined was not that One Sessions too soon for presently after the Disbanding of that Army 't is very memorable and observable what Rebellion broke out in Scotland and how it was tim'd and as for the many Papists which he would insinuate were thrust into that Army it is a most notorious Lye for those Papists that were in it were only some few Officers that came home upon the King's Proclamation with the Duke of Monmouth's Regiment out of France and they too were cashier'd their Commands long before the Peace made or the Disbanding of the Army was thought of and how this Army as he suggests was probably to be made use of in carrying on of the Popish Plot may be gather'd if I mistake not from an Information Oates once gave in That the Officers of it were all to be Murdered in a Night by the Popish Party to render the Army useless for any Service against them Then besides this Open Force sayes he there was Listed under-hand a greater of which Oates 's Narrative acquaints us with the chief Officers So the Noble Dr. did with Commissions too but the Devil a one was ever yet produced for us to see nor as I have been told did the Dr. himself know one of these principal Officers he has made bold to mention viz. My Lord Arundel of Warder when he very lately did see him but that worthy Divine is something apt to be troubled with dimness of sight when over-strain'd with swearing as some Privy Councellors in being can bear him witness In the next place to his Malicious and Impudent Suggestion That the succeeding Parliament after the Long Parliament were by their sudden Dissolution prevented from bringing those to their Tryals which the Former had committed I answer and the whole Kingdom must testify with me It is most scandalously false For had they so intended they sate time enough to have brought six times the Number to their Tryal No the face of things began to look then another way The Popish Plott seem'd like a Card turn'd up Trumps only to be play'd upon a hard Push when any Trick they aim'd at was like to be lost As for Example When the King would not give up the E. of D. to be torn in pieces trump with the Popish Plot that will fetch it or nothing immediately New Dangers of Popery are Apprehended and there is a Young Plot in the Belly of the Old One But at last when that Lord had rendered up himself and desired a speedy Tryal difficulties and perplexities were started about Joyning Issue then immediately there arises a squobble about Priviledges An Endless confus'd Riddle which no body e're yet could tell the meaning of but not a grain of Justice weigh'd out all this while but the course of it stopt and the Nation kept in suspence terror and perplexity with almost every man's hand at his Neighbours Throat and all for a punctilio Justice I doubt was not what the prevailing Faction at that time Aim'd at For as I promised before I will speak Truth A prevailing and a dangerous Faction were in that Parliament and will be in every Parliament 't is to be feared so long as Schismaticks and Make-bates are tolerated in their Insolencies by Wilful blindness or scarfulness of Magistrates that should suppress them and enabled to carry so great a sway in Elections as to return frequently so many Old Rebels against the last King to sit in the House of Commons only to raile and bandy Factions for the Ruin of this No the Popish Lords in the Tower were to be well husbanded and that Parliament was Dissolv'd not that they should not bring those Lords to Tryal but because they would not Having shot this Bolt Now he runs on his Story to several Worthy Peers Petitioning for the Sitting of a Third Parliament whereof by the way let us take notice the E. of Hunt was One who having since discover'd the foulness of the main design at the bottom has avoided the Infection return'd home into the Favour and Service of his King and Safety of his Honour And as that Petition was followed by Others of a more tumultuous nature so the reflections our Author makes upon 'em are to deal plainly as Impertinent as they were for he sayes That his Majesty was possest by some about him that such Petitioning was tumultuous and that at the same time little Emissaries were ordered to discourage it amongst the rest Sir George Jeoffries here in the City Prithee Brother Pamphletteer why little Emissaries Sir George Jeoffries is a Gentleman and was at that time Recorder of London and as I conceive under that character not so very unproper to advise the City how far in Loyalty Obedience to the Law and good Manners they ought to preserve their Duty Respect and Deference to their Sovereign and his Commands and for all that quoted scrap of the Parliaments Address against him wherein they accuse him for Informing the City of London that such manner of Proceedings might hazard the Forfeiture of their Charter I suppose it had been never the Worse for that Wise City to have taken his Counsel and have sav'd perhaps the trouble which a small Instrument Entituled Quo Warranto lately got amongst them may put them to But it is the way of hireling Scriblers for that Party now-a-dayes to Quote Votes Resolves and Addresses of the House of Commons for Lawes forsooth as if we were no longer to respect the Statutes of the Realm for our Guide but buy a pennyworth of Votes every day and consult out of them how far we are to yield Obedience to Edicts of so great an Authority as a Kings who is over us in all Causes next under God the Supreme Head and Governour For he is at the same rate again as to the Anti-Petitions as he calls emor Abhorrencies that were by many of the Loyal part of the Kingdom presented to his Majesty in a just resentment and detestation of the former Undutiful and Irreverent Proceedings of their fellow Subjects which as it was at that time the most seasonable and honestest course that good Subjects could take to clear and signalize their Respect and Fidelity to a Prince nos'd and affronted by the Insolent and Vile behaviour of a dangerous and unruly Faction So I cannot but with Horrour remember the Tyrannical and Oppressive Authority which the House of Commons durst usurp afterwards over their fellow-Subjects how many of us were persecuted by their Ban-dogs and Pursuivants how many that knew not so well the Charter of their Liberty were forced to yield obedience to their Unwarrantable and Peremptory Votes Led in Captivity shamefully several Miles through their Native Countries up to London committed to Illegal and Chargeable Prisons harrass'd with Arbitrary Fines or Censures brought on
SOME REMARQUES Upon a late Popular Piece of Nonsence CALLED Julian the Apostate c. TOGETHER With a Particular VINDICATION OF HIS Royal Highness THE DUKE of YORK By some Bold TRUTHS in Answer to a great many Impudent Calumnies raised against HIM by the Foolish Arguments False Reasonings and Suppositions imposed upon the Publick from several Scandalous and Seditious Pamphlets Especially from one more Notorious and generally Virulent than the rest sometime since Published under the Title of A TORY PLOT c. By a Lover of Truth Vertue and Justice Si fractus Illabatur Orbis Impaâ—idum ferient Ruinae Horat. Lib. 3. Ode 3. LONDON Printed for T. Davies 1682. PREFACE TO THE READER THe Pamphlet called A Tory Plot coming sometime since to my Hands when I was far distant from London and at a Quiet Retirement did very much surprize me and gave me in the midst of my dear Shades and Meadows often very Melancholy wayward Thoughts When I read the Matter it contained Considered the End it aimed it and reflected on what sort of Creature might probably be the Author of it I could not forbear Condemning in my self the Vice I know not sometimes how to get rid of called Ambition for when I reflected that half a score sheets of Paper so weakly furnished as I found that Trifle to be carry'd popular force enough to shake the Affections of a People towards a Prince whom they Owe so much to as this Thankless Nation does to the Heroick Vertue Valour and Sufferings of His Royal Highness I could not but in some measure prize my own poor Condition which Fate had placed too low to be worth the Malice of Knaves and yet in a happiness too finely wrapt up and couched for the Envy of Fools to find it I waited much and expected long an Answer to a Libel which Reflected so notoriously as that did upon the Government and struck so impudently at the very being of it I thought it impossible that in so glorious a Metropolis as that of London the Center of all the Arts and Learning of this flourishing Kingdom so Good and Gracious a King as our present Just and Merciful Sovereign so Gallant a Prince so Unfailing a Friend and so Kind a Master as his Generous Brother could ever want Servants able and ready to take in hand so glorious a Cause and not suffer so lewd and bare-faced an Affront as that to the Dignity and Prerogatives of the Crown as well as the Rights of the Royal Family to go uncorrected I thought all this but I was much deceived In just Indignation then â—o the Ingratitude or Ignorance of Unprofitable Servants and in honour to the Authority and Character of that Glorious Monarch whom it is my greatest Pride that I was born to live a Subject under I thought it my Duty as an Englishman and an Honest man to exert what little Abitities I have if I have any at all to do his Cause either as he is personally or relatively concerned in that sawcy Libel the Justice it deserves I was ashamed to think that Men who live by the Service and Favour of a Prince and whose Well-being does or ought to depend entirely upon his should when their Bellies are fill'd every day with his Bread and their Purses with his Bounty lay their hands upon their Mouths or keep them in their Pockets and neither say or do any thing for his Vindication and Service but are rather apt to cringe and bend the Knee to the most insolent of his Enemies and when they falsly tell him they are his Friends whisper it in his Ear for fear some Acquaintance spy whom they know to be in the Train should hear it Of this sort are those who come and bow at his rising in the Morning and then go to some Rebel Clubb and tell the Secrets of the Bed-Chamber for a Dinner Of this sort are those who get Preferments in the best and most profitable Offices of a Court and employ the credit of their Master's Service against his Interest in the Country And of this sort are those that often divert a Princes Encouragements and Favour from his Friends and when the stream of his Goodness is running the right way turn it aside from the Merit it was aimed at to flow upon Tools like themselves whose Bribes have corrupted them unable and unfit to be Employ'd and too unfaithful to be Trusted After having therefore vainly expected some Months an Answer to the above-mentioned Pamphlet I took it in hand though late most for my own Satisfaction and in Complyance to the desires of some private Friends that often mourn with me for the Calamities of their afflicted Native Country And after having finished it and pleased them with something they found in it more than my self I lay'd it by thinking it too late to make it Publick in regard the Credit of the Paper it Corrected seemed to be blown over and the noise of it utterly forgotten Besides being in hopes by the daily Success of the King's Affairs that some lucid Intervals were coming to ease the Publick Madness I thought it would not be proper to disturb the tender Peace that was brooding over us by stirring up anew the unruly Storm that seemed at present to decline to some Calmness But in the midst of these soothing hopes I was alarum'd afresh with another gust from the Old unquiet Corner and that was the stinking blast of a Deacon that had long been grip't and in pain with the Business till out it came rattling with the Title of Julian the Apostate I read it over and lay'd it by for the use I thought it only deserved 'till being accidentally one day at Court for as little Bus ness as I believe Forty more had there who seemed nevertheless Fifty times busier than I did up comes me two meer Motions with their Politick faces on a little Worm wriggling behind them impatient of an approaching Knighthood near trim'd they were and their shooes very clean Sedate their Countenances and soft their aspect till one of them of a sudden gathering his browes over his eyes cry'd How Julian the Apostate Ay says his Companion with the same dull Grimace Julian the Apostate A shrew'd Fellow I 'll warrant him an unanswerable Piece Things as they stand will never do Measures must be altered Bless us thought I surely I am in a Trance and this is one of Don Quevedo's Visions Can this Fellow be fit to serve in the Palace of a King Administer in Office to the Mighty Ruler of Three great Kingdoms and talk at this wretched rate So I bit my Lip turn'd aside went home entered my Closet and taking Pen Ink and Paper resolved for once to convince a Politician if by chance he can read that the Author of Julian the Apostate is not so dreadful a Bugbear but that a Man of Moderate gifts may answer him without breaking his Brains or falling into a Consumption And so having made
out of it and I hope Hang'd too and all I humbly conceive no breach of Privilege neither But our Noble Author to shew how fit an Advocate he is for his Party will needs be at it and Juggle in his very Preface which should be his Apology None shall be questioned out of Parliament for any thing spoken or transacted in it That is None shall be liable to the Law for what he says in Parliament provided he keep the bounds of Privilege which I humbly conceive is limited notwithstanding the late new started Doctrines That they are the only Judges of it themselves why else do they desire the Continuation of their Privileges every new Sessions by their Speaker The King is the Judge of those Provileges then for how can any Man grant what is fitting that is not suppos'd the Judge what is so Though therefore none be liable to the Law for what he says in Parliament provided he keep the bounds of Priviledge yet I hope any Corporation that sends up a Member to Serve for them in Parliament being sensible that that Member has abus'd or not discharg'd his Trust by proceeding unwarrantably in his Station running into a faction to do nothing the King desires of them to vex him with Bills for Dis-inheriting a dearest Brother with a thousand other Contrivances to perplex the good of the Kingdom and Embroil rather than Settle it I hope such a Corporation in an honest sence how they have been misrepresented by the Servant that they have sent to the King may have liberty to censure the Proceedings of such an unfaithful Servant and to Vindicate themselves too by any humble Address to His Majesty to assert their constant and loyal Adherence to his Government and if need be Abhorrence of any Transactions either of their own Servant or any else that would grow their Master tending to the Disturbance or Dissolution of it Oh But have a care says the Preface a little farther when His Majesty shall say to those dry Bones Live and they shall stand upon their feet they will be the fittest to declare their resentments c. Now do but mark this facetious Gentleman rather than lose his Jest what will he not do Just now he was Pleading the reverence and deference due to the Memory of the Parliament and here he scurrilously calls â—â—m a Company of dry Bones can there be any thing more Prophane than that the dry Bones of a dead Carcass commonly stink in the Nostrils of the living a very civil Metaphor and a great Complement to the Representatives of a Nation truly Oh but look to it they will be fittest to declare their resentments I hope it will never come to that that we of the Country who send up Members to Serve for us in the great Convocation of the Kingdom shall stand in awe of the Power we trust 'em withal I hope they are to sit there for our good and our peace not for our terror But more of this hereafter And now To the first part of his Pamphlet let us see how far he has proved the rise growth and discovery of a Popish Plot Have at it He sayes If the declaration of the common or publick Judgment be not a competent ground for us to settle our belief upon he knowes not what can be suppos'd to be for if ever the King be infallible he would the readiliest expect him to be so when he has the concurrent Advice and Consent of the whole Nation Nay he sayes there is infinitely greater cause for conforming our belief to the Opinion of the King Lords and Commons in a matter of fact throughly examin'd then to obey the Lawes they make To this I answer That King Lords and Commons are not nor can be infallible As they are Men they are liable to errors and may be deceived in matters of Opinion by the imperfections of their humane Nature in matters of fact by the false Informations of Perjur'd and profligate Villains who are to swear for bread and have no longer hopes to eat then their Evidence is useful For could any Government or Authority upon Earth be Infallible one might as well as another and Consequently our Author would make a good Argument for the Church of Rome and the Pope in Cathedrà may with as much reason pretend to be Infallible as any Prince in Christendom in his Senate I hope our Pamphleteer is a better Protestant then this Argument amounts to Granting then that King Lords and Commons are not Infallible he has not yet by his argument prov'd the rise growth and discovery of a Popish Plott But now he comes to supposing well let us see what he supposes Supposing sayes he that the aforesaid Resolves and Proclamations were not made nor issued without the maturest deliberation and fullest assurance of the truth of those Testimonies and Evidence that occasioned them it cannot be reputed too great credulity to believe that Popery was to be introduced by those Means and Methods that the Discoverers of the Plott attested very good Here he supposes that the aforesaid Resolves and Proclamations were not without the fullest assurance of the truth of the Evidence and yet not three lines farther he tells us that as to Scotland and Ireland in which the Design was laid as well as in England Affairs have been so managed that it is still as to us kept in a great manner secret Was then that Vote of the House of Commons that there was a Popish Plott in Ireland as well as here made upon the maturest deliberation and fullest assurance when affairs have been so managed that it is yet a Secret why was this Fellow trusted with Pen and Ink Well but now look too 't now let us look about us He has been but tuning his Instrument all this while now he 's resolv'd to tickle it away indeed as for Example Old sturdy England being as he sayes a Nation alwayes Jealous of their Rights and Liberties it was despaired that she would be wheedled to put on the Roman Yoke and therefore there was no hopes of bringing that about but by force The Author of this Book must be some Jesuited bewhiggify'd and privy to all their Councels he could never give so round an account what they thought else And now sayes he there wanted a plausible pretence to get up an Army Politick Worm and therefore that we may Epitomize his long-winded Impertinent story he tells us there was a Sham War propos'd with the French and the Parliament induc't to comply with the design he makes a very Worthy Parliament of it the mean while For if a Sham-War were to be impos'd upon the Nation he makes the Parliaments as guilty of the Imposture as any Minister of State he would pretend to blacken Then he goes on how An Army of 30000 men was appointed to be raised and a Tax levied for their Pay Well and they were pay'd as far as the Tax would go and what harm
as an English House of Commons should not be so Wise too as not suffer any such Name as a Leading Man amongst 'em One would Imagine that in such a high Convention chosen out the whole Kingdom every one should have Wisdom and Reason enough of his own to guide his Opinion by and not run and Baa like a silly Sheep after the Low-Bell of another's Cant. And this arises most commonly from the choosing Men to be our Representatives in Parliament that are hardly of years of Discretion to take care of themselves sending Boyes that have not yet worn the School-brand out of their Buttocks to sit and consult upon the good of the Nation allow Things of 18 or 19 to make Speeches in a Senate-House before they know how to make a Theam what a Shame is this Methinks we ought to choose for the great Convocation of the Kingdom Men qualify'd with the best Brains as well as best Estates among us Men of the best Understanding and Experience and those too fortify'd with Principles of Honour and Virtue not giddy-headed Boyes unable yet to look after their own Estates and therefore very unfit Guardians of the Properties of their Neighbours who when they come into the House for want of Judgment to distinguish betwixt Good and Evil hunt with the loudest Cry add to the Noise and by Noise carry the Bus'ness I mean such Bus'ness as the Leading Men think fit to set on foot and that is commonly Faction Now by the Leading Men I understand either those grey Foxes who are well skill'd in the wayes and Methods that brought on our late Confusions and hope by the same means for their own private ends to Imbroyl us again or discontented Spirits who by the ill Example of others that have gain'd their Point by the same means hope by running against the King and broaching Popular Grievances to be bought off by Preferments These are for the most part Practising Lawyers which in Reason however Custom has prevail'd ought no more to be admitted into Parliaments than Butchers into Juries For Can it be reasonably supposed those should endeavour the making good Laws in the Parliament House that are to live by the breaches of 'em in Westminster-Hall No they will be sure not to work strong in one place for fear of spoiling their Trading in another I would indeed have good Lawyers that is Men who understand the Constitution of the Government sit in the House with all my heart but methinks they should be such as had left off the Practice of Law were to preserve the Estates they had already gotten by compiling sound Laws and not such as were to raise themselves Fortunes by by picking flawes in brittle ones For my part so long as I live I will never give my Voice for the Election of a Practising Lawyer for it is to the sway with such and their Accomplices who aim at Disorder have born in the late Parliaments that we owe for the most part our present Differences and Distempers upon the cursed hopes whereof was raised that never to be forgotten mischief which threatned us I mean a Treasonable Association the form of which was lately found in the E. of Sh. Closet and of which almost the whole Kingdom have Loyally profest their Detestation and Abhorrence As for the censure our silly Pamphletteer has pass'd upon those Abhorrers I think it not worth the wasting of Ink and Paper to remark upon it he having been only very dully Pert upon the occasion recited part of a great many honest Addresses and rail'd most foolishly upon the Tenure of them to as much purpose as if one should expose the beautifullest Picture in the World and ask the Company if they ever saw any thing so ugly would not that be a notable Jest Just such a merry Monster is our Author But as to his qualifying of this above-mentioned horrid Association by comparing it to that Pass't into an Act in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth it is so obvious so notorious a piece of Falshood that it would be a Jest to go about to confute it his being much troubled any one should prefer Ignatius's Doctrine before Calvin's I think indeed reasonable for they are so very much alike they ought never to be distinguish't But having overthrown the Bulk of his Pamphlet I think it not worth my while to rake in the Rubbish but beg leave to make one concluding Observation viz. To what end was there such striving and struggling to get the Bill of Exclusion Is there so very great a disproportion in the Age of the King and his Brother that His Majesty must necessarily dye first I think and I hope not Methinks there arises in Moraâ— Conjecture a very ill-natur'd Consequence upon this that is to say The eager pursuit of a Bill of Exclusion looks not so honestly as 〈◊〉 was pretended to be done For considering a Vote once Pass'd thâ— House That if His Majesty shall come by any Violent Death which Goâ— forbid they will revenge it to the utmost upon the Papist Methinks 〈◊〉 looks as if the Bill had been Pass'd His Majesty might easily haâ— been taken off and the whole Design turned upon the Unfortunaâ—â— Duke which the Multitude would easily have swallowed in Supposition of his being a Papist and he too that way have been made Sacrifice to the general fury in this broyl what Government what Usurpation might not have been broacht And this I observe one of the probable Effects that might have followed a Bill for his Exclusion Secondly That whereas we have heretofore been Alarum'd with mighty Noises of French Pensioners I think it would be very seasonable considering the late vast Returns of Money from France to enquire who those French Pensioners have been or are whether such as have fomented our Differences at home which is certainly the Interest of our Enemies abroad or those that have endeavoured to Preserve the Government and Kingdom in Peace and Tranquillity whether the Party who in all their Intelligences and Pamphlets are now courting the French King for a hopeful true Protestant one likeliest to adhere to him when ever he thinks fit to cast an Eye this way or those who would once have made War upon him and obstructed the Growth of his formidable greatness could Money have been granted for maintaining the Honour and Charges of such a War but this is a Point will most properly be enquired into when the Natural History of our present Divisions shall come to be Written and then too we may give perhaps a guess at what sort of Prince or Government this our Author and his Party desire to be Subjects under whether or no it be our Present Good Gracious Merciful Just Long-suffering King whom Heaven in its Mercy for ever Preserve from the Cursed Bloody Hands of Hypocrites his Enemies Amen FINIS
the sence of the Primitive Christians about Page tâ—… 18th Julians Succession Now in a discourse under these contents A Man would reasonably imagine we were to be treated considering the end our Author drives at with an account of some publick Acts and Endeavours of the Christians to obstruct and cut off the Succession of this Julian we might expect here some president for an Act of Exclusion warranted from a practice of so ancient a standing as that of the Primitive Christians as our Author calls them in Constantius's time tho they were indeed Arrians but instead of that in the very beginning of this Chapter we are told we cannot expect to read of any endeavours used to prevent this Succession and to fore-close him upon the score of his Religion And why Because sayes our Author Julians coming to the Crown a Pagan was a perfect surprize to the World so that instead of giving us here a President for an Act of Exclusion even in the like case all he informs us of is That it was the sence of the Primitive Christians not to fore close as he calls it any one upon the score of his Religion at least before they knew of his defection Now here is a neat way of arguing this Fellow has when he would compare and make Parallels is it not All I say from hence is if it were the opinion of the Primitives I think it ought to be the sence of us that are Christians too if Religion and Justice be not growing into contempt among us not to fore-close any man upon the score of his Religion till we are sure at least from better Arguments then the malitious insinuations of his Enemies whom he has a spirit too Royal and too great to bow to and the Oaths of perjur'd profligate Villains that he has left it But to come as near to the business he would foist upon us as is possible which is to tell us the sence of the Christians at that time I 'l put the case modestly for him concerning Julians Succession The first thing he does in this Chapter after a merry frisk or two by way of bob to Addressers in the beginning meerly to shew the nimble disposition of his parts is to give us the most accurate account he can of Julians undoubted and indisputable right to the Empire and truly to do him Justice it is the only methodical reasonable well joyned story or discourse in his whole Book After he has shown us this bless us how he seems to extend and raise himself for the force of the blow that is to follow but let us see how we can bear it After he had summed up the short History of Julians right to the Empire he has pleased to express himself thus If this will not Page the 11th do I know not what measures of divine right speaking you must know very despicably of the Assertors of any such right will serve their turn unless they would have a Crown drop from the Clouds And yet sayes he The Fathers had the conscience to set aside such a Title as this Well we desire to see how and that 's but reasonable Why sayes he Gregory after Julian was dead he very much given to Gregory in the very beginning of an Invective calls after Constantius in Heaven and expostulates the matter with him there That is to say after Julian was dead Gregory calls Page the â—2d after Constantius who dyed before him to pass a Bill of Exclusion and set aside the Apostates Title to the Throne is it not so Risum teneatis amici Now sayes our worshipful Author at the end of this Quotation Page the 24th here is enough to shew that Constantius would never have made Julian Caesar c. Now I think this as neat a Conclusion as the Argument will bear I think the point of Succession as handsomely settled as any serupulous man could in conscience desire I think our Author has satisfied us That the Fathers would have set aside Julians Title to secure their Religion for Gregory sayes he called after Constantius about it when they were both dead and told him the Apostate ought not to succeed and that was as well as if all the Fathers had remonstrated to him in his life time Gregory good man honest Gregory did all he could in the business he was for shutting the Stable Door according to the Proverb his wisdom truly was great but it was something Phrygian Now either the Fathers would have remonstrated to Constantius in his life time against Julians Succession and forgot to tell us so or under the Rose our Author doth prevaricate which in plain English is little better then Lying or else they deputed Gregory to do it for them and he like a false Brother Father writ invectives in his own name and got all the honour of Expostulating against Julians Succession after he was dead to himself But to be serious a little if upon this occasion it be possible And under a great tryal of my patience I speak it This Monster of an Author is so unconscionably dull and has so little mercy on those that fall under the Condemnation of reading him that after having thus Quoted Gregory like a Coxcomb to a purpose for which every body that peruses it with the least attention must laugh at and despise him he cannot forbear glutting us with more Impertinency still and telling us that the same Father will give us better measure in another place now this other place is but another piece of the old Gregorian Invective As our Author hath translated him yet I will take pains to transcribe a little of it I would give our Author and his friend Gregory as fair play as I can and thus it runs What have you done O Divinest Emperor and greatest love of Christ for I am fallen to reprehending you as if you were present â—ark it â—entle Reaâ—er I beâ—ech ye and in hearing although I know you to be much above my reproof being placed with God and inheriting the glory which is there and are only gone from hence to Exchange your Kingdom what strange kind of Council is this which you have taken who did far excel all other Kings in wisdom and understanding Thus has our Author Translated it now I desire the Reader to accept of my Translation upon this Translation and see if it serve not as well to the purpose As thus then Hubbubbeo Vat ast dou don noow dou diveenest Imperour and in Creat favourship vid The Irish houl in this manner over their dead friends Graves and much to this purpose Creest gra for I must make expostulation upon dee as if dou didst hear me doe dou dost not hear me indeed neider vy voudst dou dy I pridee now and leave dy Cousin Julian all dy Land and Possessions dou voo hadst so much Visdom and Solidity St. Patrick be vid dy shweet shoule vy didst dou make dye amongst
he Page the 71st calls it to summ up all in a word he tells us that the first Christians suffered indeed according to the Laws of their Country whereas those under Julian were persecuted contrary to Law who did not fairly enact sanguinary Laws against them but put them to death upon Shams and pretended Crimcs Now how this agrees with what our Author told us before in Page the 66th let the Reader look back and he will soon be satisfied for there he tells us Julian's persecution was but a Flea-biting to what the Christians formerly felt That he good man wrought upon mens covetousness more then their fear yet here Page the 71st he was a Cruel Murderer and putter to death Nay upon pretended Crimes too what credit ought to be given to so impudent a Fellow as this who will rather give himself the Lye then use the memory of an Enemy to God and a reviler of his Blessed Son as it deserves yet this is he whom a true Protestant party as they call themselves cry up for a Libel written against their Christianity and a most Religious Zealous Pious Lord has chosen for his Chaplain And these indeed are the reflections of our Author upon the behaviour of the Christians against Julian with this Title had he charged his dreadful Murdering piece of all the Ninth Chapter But finding that it would not go off so has primed it with a new one of passive obedience which may more properly be called an Appendix to his Preface for it is a solution of the case how far we ought to be obedient to a Popish Prince Now though it be palpable enough at what head he Aims his odious Title And though I own my self a naturally devoted Servant to that Illustrious Heroick Virtuous Sufferer whom I never could be convinced by any proof or the strickest enquiry I could yet make barring publick suspicion deserved that denomination yet here Abstracting the case from the Person I am contented for once to take the frivolous discourse in hand as this trifling Author has stated it and see what dammage according to his Arguments are likely to accrue from a Popish Prince granting there could be such a thing to the Established Religion of these Kingdomes After which allowing the esteem our Authors party have for the service he has done them if it appear from his own Arguments to the contrary that our Religion according to its Establishment in its inward perfect purity of doctrine and it 's outward defence and bulwark of the Law be so confirmed that if it forsake not its own strength nothing at home can shake or disturb it much less persecute it I think it were but Reason if Peace and Truth according to their pretensions be the things they so much labour for that they henceforth return into the Arms of the Church the obedience to the Law renounce their Pharisaical pride of separation and let the People of England be once more fellow Christians and fellow Subjects If then as our Author says Page 73d We have our Religion settled by Page the 73d such Laws as cannot be altered without our own Consent what need he in the next page have asked the foolish Question Whether or no we are to go to Mass to Morrow or have our Throats out If as he says there can be no Page the 75th need of passive obedience for our Religion but by our own Treachery to it in parting with those good Laws which protect it and in agreeing to such as shall destroy it why all these noises and clamors why these alarums among us why these outcries of approaching Persecution and imminent Popery If the Laws of the Kingdom absolutely and entirely tend as certainly they do to the maintenance of the established Church and the rooting out the Superstitious Religion of Rome and if there be no power in England Civil or Military but what meerly depends upon the Authority of those Laws and cannot move without it where are those dangers we so foolishly affright our selves withall or whence can they arise From within our selves I am sure they cannot except Popery be to grow upon us out of the Earth like Mushrooms in a Night or gather over our heads like a thick Cloud in the Air and rain down a shower of Armed Papists in ready Rank and File to over-run and destroy us er'e we can think of our defence Popish black bills 't is true have been sent to a Rendezvous by the Post but never more heard of An Army of Pilgrims too were Landed but to no purpose neither Yet these things were in a time when we had a dangerous Plot ready to discharge it self among us but now the Pay-Master of the Imaginary Army to be raised for the use of that Plot is gone into another World the rest of the Principal Officers under a close Imprisonment and like to lie there Nay all their Commissions lost too and not somuch as one Cypher of Father Oliva's to shew for the bus'ness What grounds are there for our Fears now Are not all the Popish Nobility in the Kingdom excluded from their Votes in the House of Lords Or can any Man be a Member of the Lower House who does not take the Oaths of Allegiance Supremacy Test and Sacrament according to the Church of England And are not these Two Houses the great Council of the Kingdom who are to prepare by Votes all manner of Instruments for the preservation of our Safety and Religion and Confirmation of our Rights to be passed into Laws by the Royal Assent And can there in a Government and Church thus Established thus Fortified be fears of Popery or Persecution from it self No were there but another Test to pass through the Kingdom against Separation and Schism as there is against Popery I think then even our own Treachery to our Religion were impossible to be supposed in parting with those good Lawes which should protect it I believe then the 35th of Elizabeth would no more be struck at but put in due Execution Rebels and Mutineers reduced and made obedient to the Government and Laws Mechanicks kept to their Shops and not suffered to turn their Ware-houses into Nurseries of false Doctrine Prophaneness Blasphemy and Rebellion And since as our Author says it would be Treachery to part with those good Lawes which protect our Religion They who would Abolish this Law are not 't is to be feared so true Sons of the Church as they ought to be by Leaving so wide a gap for all manner of Confusion to enter in at and rend the peaceful Bowels of their Mother No Let us banish those needless Fears that serve for nothing but to perplex the sweetest Peace that ever a happy Nation was blest withal and avoid those Enemies of our Prosperity that would promote them Let all true Sons of the Established Church resolve by Loyalty to their Prince Obedience to his Authority Mutual Love Charity and entire Union
sayes the Page Ib. Gentleman farther if he does not persecute Hereticks with fire and sword he lyes at the Popes Mercy to have his Kingdom taken away from him Indeed Mr. Author and that 's a very weighty Consideration But do you think in your Conscience that he will part with it so Truly a deep foresight into politick Consequences is a great blessing to one that is to write much upon Supposes Though if a man might be so bold as to put in a word with you really it seems unto me Noble Sir Poll. that you do please to speak of more then need be done for if you dare to Engage this Popish Successor after you have established your Interest by your project from bringing in his Religion to let us poor Protestants live in Peace and Quietness as I believe you may I 'l Engage the Pope shall be very favourable to him and for a very small Quit-Rent let him keep the Copyhold of his Kingdom Bless us how things will be managed when the Reader of Covent Garden comes to be a primiere Minister and I Ambassadour Extraordinary to his Holiness but till that time comes I can foresee no fear of a Popish Persecution nor very great danger of the Popes disposing of these Three Kingdoms Well but what are we to think now if as our Author sayes into the Page Ib. bargain that besides the danger of being dethroned by the Pope if he does not persecute Protestants he runs also the hazard of being served as the Two Henry 's of France were Why truly nothing is Impossible but we hope it is not altogether so probable that a King should be stabb'd in a Protestant Country for not persecuting its Religion let him keep the Enemies of the Church from hurting the Protestants and certainly the Protestants will be able to keep their Enemies from hurting of him or the Pope from taking away his Kingdom either 100000 Protestants will be too hard for all the Pope's Bulls in Christendom This Policy I believe Any Successor let his private Perswasion be what it will may find very necessary in England and Twenty to One be wise enough to practise it too for Henry the Fourth of France it is very observable was not Kill'd by Ravillac till he left the Protestant Religion and encouraged Popery had he kept it under still and Establish'd the Reformed above it it is an even wager but he might have dy'd in his Bed and been gather'd to his Fathers in Peace Besides it is not absurd to imagine that it was not so much an Ecclesiastical as a Temporal Policy which sent the Villanous Dagger to that Brave Prince's Heart But our Author has indeed a most extraordinary Rule of Policy of his own and we may perceive it plainly enough by that which follows For says he Let things fall as they will though some persons may be so happy as to think he will not persecute yet every body must grant that he may persecute that the thing is Possible Now from this hour Thou most Confounded Author do I declare Immortal enmity with thee nor will ever be Ambassadour to the Pope nor shalt thou be ever a Minister of State It is possible in the Devil's name that a Popish Successor may persecute And is this the Mouse that thy Mountain of a Book has brought forth at last and ought a Bill of Exclusion to pass for this because Thou say'st it is possible that a Popish Successor may persecute hadst Thou stuck to thy first Argument That our Religion can never be in a condition of Persecution but by our own Treachery to it in parting with those good Laws which protect it and in agreeing to such as shall destroy it hadst Thou kept to that Foundation thou mightest indeed have raised some discourse of Reason but that the possibility that an evil may happen is sufficient for any reasonable men to raise their fears of it upon or a lawful cause to use unnatural and unequal means to prevent it is an opinion I would gladly see thee put in practice It is not impossible but that thou mayest come to be a Slave in the Turkish Galleys one day and compelled to live a wretched painful life for several miserable years together why dost thou not generously hang thy self for a remedy against it for such an accident may happen to thee the thing is possible Or if since it is possible that a Popish Successor may persecute that it would be therefore just and reasonable to exclude him why thou vile blunderer it is possible too if that be all that a Protestant Successor may persecute as well as a Popish one that a Protestant Successor may turn Papist it is possible that the best Prince may change his Nature and turn a Tyrant neither of these accidents but are possible in Nature so by thy Argument all Heirs to the Crown ought to be therefore Excluded and no more Kings reign over us because 't is possible they may one way or other prove persecutors I am very much afraid indeed that 's the vile false consequence thou wouldest dispute for But to come closer to thee in thy rule of possibility it is not impossible but that such a Parliament may come as to Vote a Bill for the rooting out of our Religion and Establishing Popery or a Worse in its place were it therefore reasonable to pass a Law that never any more Parliaments should Sit in England nay as thou hast stated it it really carries the more specious pretence of danger of the two for it being impossible that our Religion in its lawful Establishment can be peaceably altered if any way by any other means then an Act of Parliament the King too being but one man and the Parliament many it is more reasonable that the opinions of the many should sway the will or inclination of one then that the will of one should over-rule the opinions and inclinations of the many since therefore it is impossible that any Successor can lawfully violate the Protestant Religion but by the concurrence and consent of a Parliament All thy Argument amounts to is Take away Parliaments and our Religion in law is safe For ever the Nation is beholding to thee for thy parts and by the service thou art fit to do the State by thy Policy we may guess what the Church may hope from thy Divinity Well but after all sayes our Author Since it is possible that a Popish Successor may persecute it is even high time that we look about us and see what we have to trust to The Gospel doth not so much as allow any means when we cannot escape by Flight betwixt denying and dying for the Earth Well but by what Law must we dye By none sayes our Author that I know but Parasites Sycophants and Murderers may Now I dare venture to hold this Author of ours Fifty pound to a shilling that amongst all his Noble acquaintaince there is not
Led them out of the Plains of Moab to the Top of Pisgah where the Lord shewed him all the Land of Gilead unto Dan and all Nepthali and the Land of Ephraim c. And said unto him This is the Land which I sware unto Abraham unto Isaac and unto Jacob saying I will give it unto thy seed but Moses was not suffered to go over thither but dyed in the Land of Moab Moses thus dead Joshua by the appointment of God succeeded him as Judge over Israel After Joshua's death we read that they forsook the Lord and served Baal and that the Anger of God was hot against Israel nevertheless the Lord raised up Judges and was with the Judge and delivered them out of the hands of their Enemies but when the Judge was dead they returned to Corruption again till the Lord left them to be proved by the 5. Lords of the Philistims and all the Canaanites c. among whom they dwelt and who were to prove Israel to know whether they would hearken to the Commandments of the Lord but they did Evil and were sold into the hand of the King of Mesopotamia whom they served Eight Years but upon their Cry to God he raised up a Deliverer one Othneil who governed them 40 years to him succeeded Ehud after him was Shamgar till renewing their sins they again were sold to Jabin King of Canaan delivered afterwards and restored by Deborah under whom they had rest 40 years After her God raised up Gideon or Jerubbaal who delivered them from the Midianites after him his Son Abimelech was made by them King Abimelech being dead there rose up to defend Israel Jola after him Jair and in this manner were they governed by Judges till the time of Samuel And he in his age made his Sons Judges over Israel who walked not in his wayes but turned aside after lucre took Bribes and perverted Judgment upon which the Elders gathered together and demanded a King of Samuel to govern them like other Nations This King was Saul Chosen by God himself there was the absolute Command of God for the Anointing him King over Israel Neither was there any Succession cut off for Reuben had no right ever of it and the original of Kingly Power in Israel by Gods appointment began in Saul So that Kingly Power as much a jest as they make of the matter appears plainly by this to be originally Jure Divino Were Power grounded in the People Abimelech's race who before was chosen King by the People must have succeeded but it did not and the first Successive Monarchy that ever was Established in Israel was Jure Divino by God's own Law and confirmed by Promise to David but our Author desires to know How came David afterwards to Reign How came the Crown translated from Benjamin to Judah Why was it not continued in the Tribe Would our Author give himself to read the Scripture sometimes he would write honester Pamphlets and ask more pertinent Questions for the Kingdom was never Established upon Saul for having transgressed the Commandment of God by a prophane Sacrifice Samuel told him he had done foolishly for he had not kept the Commandment of God for God would have established his Kingdom else upon Israel for ever but that now he had sought a man after his own heart which was David So by this it appears that though Saul himself was King the Kingdom was never confirmed or promised to his Seed And therefore the translating of it to David of the Tribe of Judah is no Argument for the cutting off a Succession established for so many Ages as this Ancient Monarchy of England has been But here 's arisen another Question Quest How came David to put Adonijah by the Throne and seat Solomon in it Asnw Why did Adonijah Rebel and usurp the Kingdom from his Father while he was yet alive Did the Duke of York ever Rebel nay did he ever murmur against the King his Brother Have not the King's Commands been always Sacred to him what Dangers has he refus'd what Exile not chosen when the King gave his Decree for it though had it been in his Nature he might like a rebellious Absolom have stood upon terms of Privilege too but while one chose rather to be a stiff-neck't Duke than a beloved Son He chose rather to be a dutiful Brother than a stubborn Subject Neither was the Right of Succession to the Throne of David by any Law settled upon the Elder and besides the Rebellious Usurpation of Adonijah David had before sworn that Solomon should Reign after him and sit upon the Throne in his stead so that in the first place here was no Entail of Succession violated though Rebellion if any thing might have warranted it But in our Law ev'n in case the Heir to the Crown should Rebel though he should be attainted of Treason to incapacitate him of Succession this would not do if his Head stood upon his Shoulders neither for the Descent of the Crown upon that cures even an Attainder But a Bill of Exclusion is a new-sangled thing that never was heard of before inconsistent in it self tending both in Law and Reason to nothing else but embroyling us into general Confusion and utterly exterminating the very foundation of the Monarchy Thus far I hope we have sufficiently overthrown the legality of a Bill of Exclusion insomuch that no such thing can be pass'd in Law without taking the whole frame of the Government to pieces and setting up a new one But the Arguments our Author urges which such a Bill is not against the Oath of Allegiance and the Consequences he deduces from them are indeed very considerable First He tells 't is Nonsence to affirm that any one is a Man's Heir or Successor while himself lives Then I say the Oath of Allegiance is against common sence and by Sir F. W's Argument in the House against Expedients Void therefore in it self and of no force for if an Act of Parliament against common sence be in it self Void certainly any Oath against common sence instituted by Act of Parliament is so too But why is it Nonsence to affirm That any one is a Man's Heir or Successor while himself lives Because says he the Successor Commences such only at his Predecessor's Death which by the way seems to me much the more Nonsence of the two for every Successor to the Crown at the instant of his Predecessor's Death De Jure becomes no longer Successor but very Possessor though not confirm'd so De facto till his Coronation so that to do the Oath of Allegiance Justice it is no Nonsensical Oath for all our Author 's Nonsensical Argument but an Oath that obliges every true Subject to Adhere to the King and his Lawful Successors and whosoever go about by any unlawful Act as we have prov'd one of Exclusion must be to deprive the Duke of York of his Right to Succession does it against the Oath of Allegiance and
is no better than perjur'd But now all the Question is says our Scribler whether such a particular man has so unalterable right to such a ones Heir that no crime Can forfeit that Right nor no Power annul it To which I answer as he himself hath taught me Force and Violence and the longest Sword may annul any thing but the Business he would bring in here is the forfeiting Crime which what it is in our present case we should better have known He says If the hasty Dissolution of so many Parliaments and a Noli Prosequi had not hindered and so he proceeds to make a Fiction of Case and indeed it is a Substantial Fiction by his old way of supposing Now let us once more see what he supposes for by this suppose he pretends to resolve the Query what the forfeiting Crime is in our present Case Very good Suppose says he him that expects to be Heir perverted from the Protestant to the Popish Religion Now out of this Suppose we are if we think fit to suppose agen that he means the Duke of York and then we are to let him know 't is but a malicious at best and no charitable Supposition and till there are better grounds than any the Publick have been inform'd of yet to six it upon I shall grant no such Supposition at all In the next place says he Suppose his Principal Servant and greatest Confident bragging of the apparent likelihood of rooting out this â—estilent Northern Heresie and of the Zeal of his Master in the Cause c. Now we are sure and need not suppose that by this Servant and Confident is signify'd Coleman and therefore I must tell he is pleased to suppose what I believe himself and almost every body else knows to be a false thing for Coleman was none of his Principal Servant or Confident but Cashier'd the Service of his Highness's Family many years since and I have been told the reason why he was discharged the Office of Secretary to the Dutchess was for that he stood suspected even then of being too busie with Matters of an ill kind though they were not particulariz'd or prov'd against him and if so good Mr. Pamphletteer what becomes of your Suppose But to proceed Supposing all this says he We can hardly imagine a Crime to be blacker Then what Then a suspition of designing the Subversion of the Established Religion and in it of the Government A very pretty point our Author has brought his Bus'ness to He has proved the Lawfulness of the Bill of Exclusion because he is pleased to suppose and suspect that the Duke may design the Subversion of the Religion and Government is any man to suffer by the Law of England for Suspition Surely no Then certainly the Excluding the Duke from his Inheritance upon bare Suspition is not altogether so legal as our Author would have the World think it is But the man is a little reasonable for all that for about four Lines afterwards says he Now let us consider introth and I think it is time of all Conscience well but what shall we consider Let us consider says he whether a Parliament have not Power to inflict such a Punishment on such Offences with all my heart It is says he from the Laws Enacted by Parliament that such an Act has such a Punishment awarded to it This as he has express'd it is Nonsense and as he means it is false for no Laws are Enacted by Parliament all Laws are Enacted by the King in Parliament and though he go on to tell us that Felonies are by the Law Punished by Death as well as Murder yet till he show us a Law that any man shall be Hanged for Suspition of Felony or Murder he seems to have considered to very little purpose and his Suppose is in as bad a condition as e'r it was 'T is very well worth any man's observation how the Champions for this Cause manage Matters they write incessantly but such crude and indigested stuff comes daily from as visibly discovers what an unhealthful condition it is in Now is our Author vomiting up a lump of confus'd Notions for the Mobile to lap at and that is forsooth what a Parliament can do and first indeed he is a little civil and will vouchsafe to joyn the King with them and pray let us see to what purpose They says he can Attaint any man or take off the Attainder as they see good I hope though good Mr. Author it must be for sufficient cause shown that they shall proceed to Attaint any Man or else by your leave they violate the Great Charter of England and whatsoever does so is Destructive of the Being of the Government Destructive of Publick Safety Destructive of the general Liberty either let the great Charter be the Rule and Standard our Parliaments are to govern their Votes Acts by or let us burn and cancel it for ever Our Law says It is unalterable and whoever Votes or Consents to any thing against the tenure and holding of that Charter I may presume to say is little better than a betrayer of the Publick Good and an Enemy to the Kingdom The People of England hold their Liberties and Properties by virtue of Magna Charta nothing can alter it and whatsoever does so call it an Act of Parliament or what you please may be impos'd upon our Obedience by Power but it is Void of it self Tyrannical and against the great and Sacred Right delivered us down through so many Ages by our Fathers from one Generation to another It would argue as much impertinence as he is guilty of himself to recount the many absurdities he has urged on this occasion as the instances of Legitimation and Illegitimation of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth both which were made in their turns Illegitimate and yet both were Legitimate when they came to succeed and would not any Body that reads this judge our Author deserved a blew Coat and a Muckinder for urging their Cases as Instances what the Parliament can do in such Cases when neither of the Acts pass'd against those Princesses stood good But what he says afterwards deserves Sugar Plumbs or nothing now we are beholden to him or never for he comes to the Point and says in a word That the two Houses have an absolute Dominion over the Lives Liberties and Estates of any Subject in the Kingdom why now we see what the Gentleman would be at here he speaks home The two Houses abstractedly have an Absolute Dominion c. Tush no matter for the King he is no body God knows when our Author would shew his Law We have had instances sayes he of Queens being Beheaded and who is nearlier related to the King than she that is one with him Oh brave Boys who nearer allied to the Privileges of the Crown than she that has had it set upon her head Why this is hearty now And if such a one says he
a stalking Horse for the Faction to poach by The Arbitrary Proceedings of the House of Commons over the Liberties of their Fellow Subjects grew Intolerable unreasonable illegal and burdensom Immediately the Mischiefs hatched in 41 began to be reviv'd in the Mouths and Memories of a great many People who to this day felt the smart of them and dreaded the like Tyranny and Oppression again till every day the credit of the Popish began more and more to break away and the Workings of the Faction seen through it something plainly This too as they are a wary Generation they themselves perceived and therefore thought it high time to new vamp up the decaying Plot and the Meal Tub Stratagem which brought in Dangerfield having succeeded so well Since a new Evidence was wanting nothing so plausible as a design of the like Nature to introduce Mr. Fitz-Harris Thus then they lay their Heads together and this is agreed upon The King must be Libel'd right or wrong why because it is Ad Populum for the vilest Natures are always best taken with Slander and Scandal and apt to believe the worst things of those which are above them so the Foundation of the Bus'ness is laid viz. the Libel but now to build upon this Foundation that is to six this Libel upon the Loyal Party for by this time the Guelphs and the Gibelines began to be distinguished there lay the difficulty and a difficult Point indeed it prov'd for when it was brought to that that Mr. Fitz-Harris who was to be the Discoverer asked his Pardon His Majesty was better advis'd than to give it him except he would desire it by telling honest Truths which was not in the Gentleman's Instructions at that time so he went to Newgate and the Design was all intangled But when the hopes of the Godly Party was got into Limbo Bless us how they busled how was he visited by Sir R. C. and Sir G. T. to take his Examination as they call'd it but whether they came to inform themselves or him that 's yet a Question for Matters were carry'd very privately This worthy Gentleman or Captain being brought to Westminster towards his Tryal for you know all our Discoverers are or should be Doctors or Captains as Dr. Oates Dr. Tongue Dr. Lower Capt. Bedlow Capt. Dangerfield Capt. Wilkinson and so forth this Captain then as I said being brought to Westminster in order to his Tryal it was just like the roasting of a Cat alive for as upon that occasion all the Cats in the Neighborhood will come and squale bristle and scratch for the rescue of their Companion so all the Evidences were alarm'd here The Dr. of Salamancha like a great Boar Puss came in the Van and roar'd most hideously the rest ran about the place whether with their tails an end I know not sputtering wawing and spitting too abominably Then and by these his Brethren was put into his hand his Plea of standing Impeach'd by the House of Commons and ought not therefore to be try'd by any Inferior Jurisdiction which Impeachment by this appears in all Moral probability hastened as it was by the Leading Men to have been made much rather to obstruct the safety of the King in not permitting a Traitor to be brought to Justice than any thing else a Vote having pass'd the Lower House upon the Lords refusing to receive the said Impeachment That to try Mr. Fitz-Harris in any Inferior Court was a Violation of their Privilege and against the Constitution of Parliaments and this too was Prosecuting of the Popish Plot this was bringing Traytors to Justice upon which let us reason a little If Mr. Fitz-Harris were Guilty of the highest Treason in the World as certainly he was and by such apparent Proofs that it was impossible he could escape Justice in any Court in England what need was there at that time for his being Impeached in Parliament who had so much bus'ness already of a higher Nature before them as the farther Enquiry into the Popish Plot as to which the greatest part of the Kingdom are yet in the dark the bringing of those Lords Impeached already to their Tryals who had lay'd so long under a close and burdensom Imprisonment that it is a shame to the English Liberty we so much boast of all over the World What Necessity was there for the House of Commons to engage themselves in such a Tedious Bus'ness as a Parliamentary Process must be against so inconsiderable a Creature as Fitz-Harris who was already a Prisoner by Warrant from the Council and lookt for every day to be brought to Trial by the ordinary course of Justice There must be something in this bus'ness more than ordinary and what this something was easily appears by the many Tricks and Circumventions us'd at his Tryal to Impede the Proceedings as first his own Plea upon the Vote above-mentioned try'd and in Law over-ruled so as it is apparent from thence that Vote was Illegal and against Justice Secondly the endeavouring to save him by setting him up even at the time that he stood Arraigned for the basest Traitor for a new Evidence For this we may thank that worthy Grand-Jury who immediately upon his single Deposition in those shameful Circumstances thought fit at a venture to find a Bill of Murder against the Earl of Danby and yet upon the hearing of several unquestionable Witnesses one of the same stamp resum'd Ignoramus upon Colledge's Indictment From this I say it is apparent whatever the meaning of the bus'ness was that the Impeaching this Fellow in Parliament tended naturally rather to obstruct the Safety of the King in not permitting such a Traitor to be brought to the speediest Justice than any thing else and by what Hands what Party the Treason he Dy'd for was set on foot is sufficiently evident from his last dying Confession written by his own Hand and deliver'd to Dr. Hawkins the worthy Minister of the Tower and to the said Doctor 's farther Relation of it deliver'd to the World in Print I refer the Reader Next as to His Majestie 's Declaration after Dissolving of the Parliament which sticks so much in our Gentleman's Stomack Wherein he gave assurance that he would call frequent Parliaments c. by our Author 's good leave according to a late distinction of a Brother Block-head of his they are not the many but the few that long for the performance of the first promise The many and best part of the People rest well assured of the performance do not long nor are clamorous for it They are satisfy'd the King may keep his word of using frequent Parliaments without the calling a New one once a Quarter 't is convenient as matters go that the King so time his Affairs as to get a Parliament that will mind his and his Peoples Interest and not be carry'd away by the Factious Designs and Intrigues of Leading Men any more I am ashamed so Great and Honorable Assembly