that durst raise so evil a Report of Dr. Gauden as to the Covenant might presume to six this Phantome of his own on the Doctor That the Doctor told him that he made the K.'s Book And whether Dr. Gauden did affirm it to Dr. Walker or Dr. Walker misreported Dr. Gauden both these Testimonies are very infirm and cannot stand against the opposite Reasons and Authorities P. 32. Dr. Walker answers to four things objected by Sir W. Dugdale The most material he saith is concerning Major Huntington from whose mouth he says he will in the Faith of a Christian declare without diminution or wresting of it which he says was this p. 33. When that Book was published and so confidently reported to be the King 's then surely or I believe here something is wanting or his hand trembled these are the Papers I see him so usually take out of his Cabinet but this was but my Conjecture and I never declared it to be otherwise for I assure you I never read one Line or Word of the Papers in the King's hand and I cannot say there was one Passage in these Papers which is this printed Book for how should I never having look'd into them This Account of Major Huntington he says he faithfully relates as in the sight of God Now if Dr. Walker be proved by several Witnesses of good Credit to have reported a Relation greatly different from that which the Major gave to several Friends and Relations at several times concerning the Matter in question I suppose the agreeing Testimony of several such competent Witnesses will greatly invalidate Dr. Walker's Relation and if the Reader shall be convinced that Dr. Walker hath misreported Major Huntington's Testimony it may be a Prejudice to his Report of Dr. Gauden's Now first Dr. Walker confesseth p. 32. That he often heard Major Huntington's Testimony to be this That whilst he attended his Majesty or had the guarding of him he saw the King frequently take these Papers out of his Cabinet and sometimes read them sometimes wrote more and that when he saw the Book he declared Those Chapters in it were those very Papers he had so seen Which two Relations are contradictory Now it is very probable that what Dr Walker affirms he so often heard alledged as Major Huntington's Testimony might come to the Major's ears in his Life-time and had he disliked it would have contradicted it to such Friends as inquired the Truth of that Business whose Testimonies I shall now set down And first the Testimony of the Learned Dr. Robert Hall Son of the Famous Joseph Hall Bishop of Exeter who was Treasurer of the Church of St. Peter's Exon to whom the Major was near related by his Marriage and with whom he sojourn'd sometime at Clist-hidon the Doctor 's Benefice this Reverend Dr. Hall hath told me and others That Major Huntington waiting on his Majesty at Holmeby assured him that he had seen the King writing some of those Papers which the Major had opportunity to read and knew that such as he did then read were the same as are now printed To this of Dr. Hall I add that of Richard Duke Esq and Justice of the Peace in Devon who lately declared to me and another Judicious Divine That he heard the Major affirm the same almost in the same words And Sir Will. Courtney a Person of great Honour as I am credibly informed when this Relation was read or told to him as Dr. W. reported it was pleased immediately to say That he well knew the Major and had heard him aver the like Report as Mr. Duke and others have declared These Evidences confirm what Dr. Hollingworth relates p. 21. of his Defence That a Non-conforming Minister told him viz. That Major Huntington told him with his own mouth That he procured some Papers that made up part of this Royal Book from the hands of Fairfax the Parliament General which were taken after Nazby Fight and kept by the Lord Fairfax and that afterward the said Major presented them to the King with his own hand Dr. Hollingworth adds I spare the Man's Name for particular Reasons but if I am called to do it I will depose the Truth of his Saying so upon Oath But I hope the Testimonies now following will prevent that labour the first is that of the Reverend Mr. Will. Read Archdeacon of Barnstable in these words I do hereby Certifie That I dining with Bp. Lamphlugh at his Palace in Exon some Years since there hapning some discourse concerning K. Charles the First his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and some said there was a Doubt made Whether the said King were the Author of the said Book or no I told the Company then at the Table That I had heard from several Persons of good Credit many Years ago that one Major Huntington did affirm That after Nazby Fight he took that King's Cabinet wherein several Meditations of the said Book were written with his own hand and that he afterwards delivered them into the King 's own hands which he received with very much Joy and gave him many Thanks for restoring them to him And I do farther Certifie That one Rich. Duke of Otterton in the County of Devon Esquire being then at the Bishop's Table did positively affirm That what I had reported concerning Major Huntington was true he knowing well the said Major and having heard him with his own mouth affirming to him that what I have above set down was true In witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand this 18th day of July A. D. 1692. Will. Reade Archdeacon of Barum This is confirmed by that of Mr. Cave Beck p. 27. of Dr. Hollingworth's Character of Charles the First in these words That some Years after the King's Tryal Major Huntington at Ipswich assured me That so much of his Majesty's Book as contained his Meditations before Nazby Fight was taken in the King's Cabinet and that Sir T. Fairfax delivered the said Papers unto him and ordered him to carry them to the King And the Major affirmed that he read them over before he delivered them and that they were the same for Matter and Form with those Meditations in the printed Book and that he was much affected with them and from that time became a Proselite to the Royal Cause He also told me That when he delivered them to the King his Majesty appeared very joyful and said He esteemed them more than all the Jewels he had lost in the Cabinet P. 10. of Dr. H.'s Defence he repeats this Passage That Dr. Meriton dining with Sir T. Pilkington the late Lord-Mayor he hapned to meet with Dr. Walker at that Table where Dr. Walker with his usual Confidence asserted Dr. Gauden to be the Author of the King's Book On which Dr. Meriton turned upon him with the Story of Mr. Simmonds's communicating the whole business to Dr. Gauden Upon which he was so confounded that he had nothing to say for himself which being seconded
Prince or what Church can be safe if they should which God forbid fall under the Power of Men of such Principles who sought to destroy Monarchy with the best of Monarchs and with Him the best Reformed Church The Reign of Charles the First for seventeen Years together was such as the Prophet describes Psal 144. When our sons grew up as young plants and our daughters were as the polished corners of the temple when there was no leading into captivity no breaking or invasion of the land no decay of our stores our sheep or oxen And yet what Murmuring and Complaining was there in all our Streets There was no Bloud shed in all that time until this Generation of Men grew intoslerable by affronting and publishing Factious and Seditious Libels against both the King and Church and then a few Marks of such as openly began our Divisions were set on some of them that others might avoid their pernicious Ways such as Prin Burton and Baltwick the first of which confest That if his Head had been cut off when his Ears were cropt he had deserved it The Arch-bishops Speech hath truly set forth their Attempts and Deeds And as for the Condition of the Church the Care of the Governours was that we might worship God in Holiness and Beauty too so that the King's Daughter might not only be glorious within but her Garments might be of Needle work Such by the Blessing of God is our present Condition but that we may cease to wonder at these Men Dr. Walker that was a Member of our Church one that admired the Parts and Piety of the Holy Martyr after forty three Years should seek to deface the Portraicture of that Glorious King and deprive the People of that precious Depositum than which we have not a more sacred Relick of any of the Martyrs and Fathers since the Aposties days is matter of Wonder and Astonishment He tells us that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an Impostor framed by Dr. Gauden and imposed on the Nation by him without the Knowledge and Consent of the King and so deprives Him of the best Evidence of his Wisdom and Innocence and lays him open to all the odious Reproaches contained in the Livels of the Regicide Ludlow and his Fellows for those being the false Reports of profest Enemies were confuted by the King in his Life-time in answer to their Undutiful Remonstrances which may be seen in the Reliquiae Carolinae and particularly in the Regal Apology but the Confident Assertions of an avowed Friend upon a Motive of a troubled Conscience a Doctor of Divinity a Member of that Church that Yearly Celebrates His Memory as their Martyr lays a Claim to and commands the Belief of the vulgar People and if the Prejudice be not speedily removed may be of dangerous Consequence for who would willingly be a Subject to such a Prince as shall publickly and without any Contradiction pass for a Traytor a Tyrant and Murtherer or be a Member of that Church which shall Canonize such a Prince and Celebrate His Memory in a Yearly Solemnity as their Royal Martyr And if Charles the First be still represented as such and His Murther openly justified what Monarch can be secure espectally when such as Dr. W. shall assure the World That the best Defence that ever was or could be made in His behalf the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Sham and Imposture and at most a Pious Fraud and this done by one that professeth a great Love and Veneration for the King by one that reveals it as a Secret the concealing whereof had been a great Trouble to his Conscience and one that makes solemn Appeals to God the Searcher of Hearts and Avenger of Wrong that what he says is Matter of Fact seen with his own eyes Hoc ithacus velit magne merchantur atridae This is such a Spark of Wild fire as will put all the combustible Provision which the Commonwealth's Men have heap'd together into a Flame an Engine like the Trojan Horse out of which Armies of Antimonarchical Men not yet discover'd may in a short time appear for the subverting of our yet flourishing Monarchy It is therefore a necessary Duty for all that love the present Establishment to extinguish those Sparks which being wrapt up in a multitude of Libels are scattered thro' the Nation and spread like Fire among Thorns The Reverend Dr. Hollingworth hath with great Courage opposed this growing Mischief and hath got many Hands for his Assistance but the inflamed Party rage the more and as Water cast on the Smith's Forge where the Bellows are still blowing it increaseth and prolongs the Heat so that there needs the addition of more Help as of many Waters to extinguish such Fires every Man is concerned when the Fire is got into his Neighbour's House among others I willingly offered my helping Hand and resolve by Godâ—s assistance not to recede for any Opposition that I have or shall meet with the Province which I have undertaken is to quench that Fire brand which Dr. Walker hath thrown upon the Portraicture of King Charles the First the most magnificent Monument that any Prince hath left behind him the fall whereof would shake Monarchy itself his Attempt is furious but his main Strength is like the French Valour which is spent in a single Charge and that being already sustained as I doubt not of a compleat Victory over this daring Enemy and utterly exting uishing his Fire-brand So I hope my Success may encourage those States-men or Souldiers whose more peculiar Province it is to dissipate those Libels of Ludlow and his Accomplices who by their Subterranean Fires and Ignes Fatui seek to mislead the Ignorant and Credulous Mobile into their destructive Snares There are still among us combustible Materials and such credulous or malicious Fools who as Solomon says make it their sport to cast abroad such Fire-brands Arrows and Death and the Flame is broken out among the Cameronians in our Neighbour-Kingdom and too many in this Nation warm themselves by the Sparks which they have kindled And St. James adviseth us to behold i. e. to consider how great a matter a little Fire kindleth of which the Experience we have had in that single Spark of the Scottish Covenant since the Year 1643 of which Dr. Gauden observes p. 182. of his Anti-Baal That it was so far like that from Mount Sina with Fire and Smoak Earthquakes and Burning and loud Noise of Trumpets attended with infinite Mischief Fury Misery and Confusion on King and Parliament Priest and People And what less is designed by that proscribed Regicide Ludlow who with an unheard of Insolence defied the Laws and Justice of the whole Nation directing his Trayterous Libel to the hands of Sir Edward Seymour a chief Counsellour of Estate and that Juncto of Republicans that Abet his Design in many such rebellious Libels as are scattered through the Nation to set it into a
Flame And they have not the Understanding of Children that having been often burnt do not dread the Smoak of such Fires 'T is not for his sake alone that such Libels are divulged but to shew their Antipathy to Monarchy itself even in the Persons of such as God by a Series of Miracles hath raised to make us a happy People And certainly there is some Fire under that Smoak where the King's Supremacy over Ecclesiastical Assemblies is exploded and Episcopal Ordination is accounted a Transgression And where King Charles the First is dealt with in Effigy as he was in Person as a Tyrant Traytor and Murtherer of whom the World was not worthy Dr. WALKER's True Modest and Faithful ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR of ' ΕΙΚΩΠΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ Strictly Examined and Demonstrated TO BE False Impudent and Deceitful The First PART WHether the King's Portraicture were drawn by his own or another Hand as it is no Diminution of his known Virtues whereof those Meditations are but a Reflection that cannot express the Perfection of his Devout Soul and Innocent Life so neither can it be any Extenuation of their Guilt who so barbarously murther'd his Person and after so long a time do now disturb his Ashes to rob him of this precious Jewel To what end this Impotent Piece of Malice is now attempted I cannot Divine unless it be by the just Judgment of God to perpetuate their Infamy who glory in that which all the World besides themselves know to be their abominable Sin and Shame Had there been any Probability that the Regicides could have found any other Author of those Incomparable Meditations they would more industriously have pursued that Method but finding bâ— the Examination of Royston the Printer Mr. Levet testifies That Royston told him that he was imprisoned because he would not declare that the King was not the Author of that Book Dr. Holling p. 9. before several Committees that this course would destroy their Design they resolve to deal with his Book as they had done with his Person to Defame it by scandalous Reflections â—oud Calumnies and false Glosses and Misinterpretations And they found a fit Instrument to attempt their Design a Person that was a Compendium of all the Villanies and Impieties of the Age who had been a profest Enemy to Monarchy a Pleader for Divorces on Trivial Occasions and against Tithes and the Clergy which he hath left in several printed Tracts as his Portraicture this is that Infamous Milton whom the Regicides hired by the Price of three hundred Pounds to Deface that Royal Monument but all in vain for by his over-doing he hath quite undone the Design for first he takes it pro confesso that it is the King's Book and says That the King left it behind him as the best Advocate and Interpreter of his own Actions p. 3. of his Preface And says That because the King co 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ed at the Bar that his Reasons could not be heard neither he nor his Friends should have cause to find fault being met and debated with in that open Court of his own erecting But his Proceedings against this Book were like those of his Fellow-Regicides against his Person For p. 2. of his Preface He accuseth the Book as having nothing of Solidity in it being stuft with naught else but the common Grounds of Tyranny and Popery And p. 6. That the King used more running Fetches to Undermine our Liberties and put Tyranny into an Art than any British King before him Which are such palpable Falsities as the Father of Lies would not own and of which he gives the Reader a plain Confutation p. 8. in these words That they who before hated him for his high Misgovernment as he miscals it nay fought against him with display'd Banners in the Field now after the printing of his Book applaud and extol him as the Wisest and most Religious Prince that lived And the Reformer turn'd Regicide they saw the Truth of the King's Declarations made manifest and all their Slanders of the King confuted And Milton's great Objection against him for ever silenced which was That the Testimony of one Man in his own Cause affirming cannot be of any moment to bring in doubt the Authority of a Parliament denying the Allegation Which is as if the Testimony of those that had rob'd and slain an innocent Man in the face of the Sun deserved more Credit than his dying Testimony against his Murtherers and the Matter of Fact attested by more than a thousand Witnesses They saw the Mask taken off and the Rebel appear where the Reformer was represented As for that Impudent Calumny That the KING's BOOK is stuft with Grounds of POPERY 't is what his Masters durst not accuse Him of and from which the whole Course of his Life so well known to the Nation would acquit him particularly some of those private Letters of his which the Parliament publisht wherein he declared to the Queen That he differed from her in nothing but her Religion His Dispute with the Marquess of Worcester yet in print though by a partial Hand that relates it to the King's Disadvantage his constant Devotion at our Prayers and Sacrament his Solemn Protestations at York in the head of his Army at Oxford when he sealed the Truth of his Profession by receiving the Sacrament at the hands of the Archbishop of Armagh as he did also in the Cathedral of Exeter after he had defeated Essex's Army in Cornwal And which is the best Confirmation his declaring at the last instant of his Life that he died a Christian according to the Profession of the Church of England as it was left him from his Father the farther Proof of this would be but as some Apologies the calling that in question which was not doubted of before and raising a Suspicion of it Therefore I leave this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and pursue that Sacrilegious Milton who in p. 4. relating how some Men by Polity have accomplished after Death that Revenge upon their Enemies which in Life they were not able He to this Book applies the Example of Caesar whose last Will and Testament being read to the People and what bounteous Legacies he had bequeathed them it wrought more to the avenging of his Death than all the Art he could ever use to win their Favour in his Life time Which the Royal Martyr foretold in that most Christian Sentence wherewith he closed his Book Vota dabunt quae bella negarunt The true meaning whereof his Majesty gives in the Chapter concerning the Uxbridge Treaty viz. What we could not get by our Treaties we may gain by our Prayers Out of which Flower that venemons Spider would extract Poison But the Book shines throughout with such Beams of Light as evidently display the Innocency and Piety of that incomparable Prince and the Impiety and Perfidy of his Enemies and hence it is that they so hate it But what Temptation hath prevailed with some Persons
in this Age to revive their Calumnies against the Royal Martyr and to justifie his Murther it is hard to guess unless it be that there is a Commonwealth at the bottom for whoever will defend a Rebellion against so good a Prince will not stick to oppose the best that shall succeed him their Principles being Antimonarchical But this is not my present business the Question which I am to discuss is Whether King Charles the First or Bishop Gauden were the Author of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dr. Walker in a late Book hath peremptorily affirmed That it was composed by Bishop Gauden and sent to the Press by him That it was penned by the King and printed by his Order I shall endeavour to demonstrate as far as a Matter of Fact done so long since will admit And that the Reader may not think me a Pragmatical Person as medling with a Business wherein I am not concerned and which hath been undertaken by a more Eminent Person I shall briefly acquaint him with the Occasion of my being ingaged in this Dispute I were importuned by two Eminent Doctors to declare what I knew concerning the Book in question and accordingly I subscribed my Name to that Testimony printed in Dr. Hollingworth's Answer to a Libel that goes under the Name of Ludlow in these words I had the hap to be acquainted with Bishop Gauden as long as he was our Diocesan and I have heard him often affirm That he was fully convinced that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was intirely that King's Work Tho. Long. In answer to Dr. Hollingworth's Book there comes forth another Libel under the same Name of Ludlow to which there is a Preface prefixed subscribed by one Joseph Wilson of Yarmouth though I am so credibly informed that I believe there is no such Person and that neither Ludlow nor Wilson wrote any of those Books but a Juncto of Republicans whoever the Authors be it appears that they are deeply immerged in the Guilt of Regicide which they endeavour to justifie and in the very words of Milton not only Defame the Book affirming That it begins with Falshood and ends with Fraud but also Blaspheme his Person in the same words of that profligate Person p. 4. of his Iconoclastes viz. That the King never loved never fulfilled never promoted the true Ends of Parliament If there were such a thing as a Metempsychosis I should think thac the Souls of Bradshaw Milton and other Regicides had a Transmigration into the Souls of this Juncto of Republicans Wherefore as I account it my bounden Duty to Vindicate the Royal Martyr to the best of my Knowledge and the utmost of my Power so I shall still esteem it as a Point of Honour rather than of Reproach to be evil spoken of by such a Juncto of Men as were so far from sparing the Reputation of the Royal Martyr that in a most barbarous manner they deprived him of his Life nor is it more evident that he or they who have most impudently published those Libels against that best of Kings do strike at Monarchy in general as well as at that most Innocent and yet most Defamed Monarch and lay a Foundation for a Commonwealth for it is most rational to conclude that they who sought and where they could not find a just Cause for their Rebellion made their own Groundless Fears and Jealousies an Occasion for the most Unnatural and Bloudy Civil War that so Rent three Flourishing Kingdoms will ever acquiesce or rest satisfied with the Administration of the Government by any that shall succeed to the Crown though they shall excel that Royal Martyr in Wisdom Clemency Temperance and other Vertues as much as he excelled any of his Cotemporary Monarchs I say it is not more evident that they will be Seditious in the State than that they will be as Troublesome and Factious in the Church whose Principles lead them against the Doctrine and Discipline by Law established and for that cause hate the Persons of the Legislators all which hath been practised by their Predecessors and is designed by the present Managers of the late Libels who if the present Governours in Church and State were as much in their Power as in the Year 48 and had but one Neâ—k they would not stick to destroy all at one Blow as their Predecessors thought they had done Now as in the Preface before mentioned there is no Author to be found so neither is their any Proof in the whole Libel produced to Invalidate the Testimonies so clearly alledged by Dr. Hollingworth after a most exact Enquiry concerning the Author of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which will be demonstrated hereafter it is my business now only to confirm my own in order to which I shall not urge to prove Bishop Gauden's Kindness to me though I may truly as Dr. Walker doth the Parliament's Favour to Bishop Gauden by presenting him with a Piece of Plate it being well known that he collated on me one of the first Prebends of his Church in his first Year and I should be very injurious to his Memory to attest any Untruth concerning him the Occasion on which I ground my Evidence I well remember was this On the 30th of January in the Bishop's first Year the Bishop preached in the Cathedral in the Forenoon on Jonah 1.14 We beseech thee O Lord we beseech thee let us not perish for this man's life and lay not on us innocent bloud for thou Lord hast done as it pleased thee By the Bishop's order I preached in the Afternoon my Text was the Evangelical Promise Isa 49.23 Kings shall be thy nursing-fathers and their Queens thy nursing-mothers Whereon as occasion offered I aggravated that detestable Parricide perpetrated on the Person of the Royal Martyr and among other Arguments I urged the Piety and Clemency of that most excellent Prince reading out of his Book several Paragraphs to that purpose and one other from a Speech to the Commissioners at Newport against some that thought him Revengeful That he was so far from seeking Revenge that if a Straw lay in their way to hurt them he would stoop and take it up to prevent it Adding God forgive them for I do The Duties of the Fast being over I was invited to sup with the Bishop and standing with him by the Fire-side he gave me Thanks for my Sermon and then declared to me what I have attested And now that I may not appear to be a single Witness in this Evidence I subjoyn these following Attestations first that quoted by Dr. Holling p. 10. That Mrs Gauden told a Lady of good Quality That she had a great concern for the eternal State of her Husband because he pretended he was the Author of that Book when to her knowledge he never wrote it This Dr. Hollingworth had from a Minister in London To this I shall subjoyn the agreeing Testimony of Mr. Gifford who lived with Dr. Gauden and as
shewed me the Heads of divers Chapters and some of the Discourses written of them and after some time spent in the Perusal he vouchsaft to ask my Opinion concerning it and after some Consideration I told him I supposed it would be much for the King's Reputation Honour and Safety c. Ans I have another Testimony of Dr. Walker's which the Reader shall have at large which is dated March 23d 1690 where he declares That he is uncertain whether he ever read this Book in Manuscript or only saw it with its Title of the Chapters Now as the growth of a Testimony by material Additions and Alterations is accounted a Prejudice against it so much more when something is affirmed in the later which was denied in the former Testimony for in p. 4. he says He perfectly remembreth that in the second Chapter of the Earl of Strafford where it is said He only hath been least vext by them who counselled me not to consent against the Vote of my own Conscience Dr. Gauden told him that Dr. Juxon was meant by that Passage Which was common Discourse shortly after the Earl's Death though Dr. Walker makes it a Secret There were printed some Reflections shortly after the Book was published and in the Frontispiece Bp. Juxton described behind a Curtain dictating the Book Dr. Walker's Testimony concerning the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 March 23 1690 was as followeth Bp. Gauden wrote that whole Book two Chapters only excepted the one about Liturgies the other of Refusing the King the Attendance of his Chaplains which two Chapters were written by Bp. Duppa Dr. Walker well remembring that Bp. Gauden told him That Bp. Duppa upon the Perusal of this Book told Bp. Gauden that the two forementioned Heads were fit to be writ upon and therefore desired him to draw up two Chapters on the same but after farther Consideration he told him That he would write those two Chapters himself Dr. Walker farther observed That considering Dr. Gauden's Circumstances it was very obvious why Dr. Gauden should not think of writing on those Heads because the Doctor disused the Liturgy and had never been one of the King's Chaplains and so not so sensible of writing on those two Chapters The bigger part of the Copy of this Book was delivered by Bp. Gauden to Mr. Simmons as Dr. Walker conjectures One Peacock Bp. Gauden's Steward's Brother received part of those Papers from Dr. Walker particularly the Picture sealed up these were put up in a Trunk between the Lady Warwick's Points Peacock delivered these Papers to another Person unknown to Dr. Walker One Lieutenant Arraker seized Mr. Simmons's Papers in Carter-lane on a Sunday among which the Proof-sheets of this Book were which were restored to Mr. Simmonds on Munday by order of Col. Rich upon the Intercession of Dr. W. Some of the Proof-sheets having the Greek Title on the outward Leaf were scattered in Carter-lane and gathered up by Simmonds's Son or some of the Family as soon as the Troopers were gone Bp. Gauden told Dr. Walker that he delivered a Copy of this Book to the Marquess of Hartford when he went to the Treaty at the Isle of Wight and desired him to deliver it to the King if he could find an Opportunity and know his Majesty's Pleasure whether he would give leave that it might be published but whether the King did ever receive the Papers the Bishop could not tell he received no account of the same as he told Dr. Walker a little before his Death Dr. Walker enquired of the Bishop how he could satisfie himself in imposing this Book on the World The Bishop replyed Consider the Title being the King's Portraicture and no Man useth to draw his own Picture Dr. Walker and Mr. Gifford were both privy to these Affairs living together in the Bishop's House though the Doctor is uncertain whether he ever read this Book in Manuscript or only saw it with its Title of the Chapters though he thinks that Mr. Gifford might Copy it out Dr. Walker discoursed Major Huntington at Tunbridge about the King's Papers who told him That he had been under Examination about that Affair before several Committees of Parliament and all that ever he said was That he had seen several Manuscripts of the King 's whilst he attended him which he conjectured might be those but never affirmed them to be so because he never read one word of them Of this Testimony we shall have occasion to make use hereafter P. 4. Dr. Walker says Dr. Gauden shewed me the Heads and some of the Discourses and after some time spent in Perusal I expresly added I stuck at the Lawfulness of it and modestly askt him How he satisfied himself so to impose upon the World In p. 35. Dr. Walker makes his Apology for discovering this Secret after he had supprest the knowledge of it for forty Years and complains how hard measure it would be not to suffer a Man to reveal that by concealing of which he fears God is displeased and he necessitated to labour under a continued Uneasiness and Dissatisfaction of his own Mind And he confesseth he had many cogent Reasons to persuade him that God was not well pleased with Dr. Gauden others and himself for what we contributed to it This is well considered but it is very inconsiderately added what he says in a few Lines after That he suffered this Discovery to be wrung and wrested from him by some Body's impertinent Affectation to meddle with what he understood not for if he had been really troubled in Conscience for concealing that Secret which he there gives for the revealing of it i. e. Because as we must not speak wickedly for God nor talk deceitfully for him neither may we do so for any Man And as St. Augustine says An officious Lye ought not to be told to save the whole World And that there was more than Appearance of Pious Fraud in this Affair which by his Silence he contributed to the maintaining of a Person truly consciencious would have timely freely and ingenuously have made the Discovery and not suffered the Wound to rankle and disquiet him for forty Years together and not seek ease by discovering of it till he was forc't to it in his own Defence Dr. Walker adds p. 4. That he dining sometime after with Dr. Gauden in London he went with him after Dinner to Bp. Duppa and Dr. Gauden having had some discourse with the Bishop Dr. Gauden told Dr. Walker That the substance of their discourse was to this effect That the Bishop told Dr. Gauden there were two Subjects more which he propounded to the Doctor to write on viz The Ordinance against the Common Prayer and the denying the Attenaance of his Majesty's Chaplains but on second Thoughts the Bishop desired the Doctor to leave the writing on those two Heads to him which accordingly he did as Dr. Gauden own'd to Dr. Walker and others who were privy to the whole Ans I am fully
persuaded by the little Knowledge that I had of Bp. Duppa that all the Art that Bp. Gauden had could never have drawn Bp. Duppa to consent with and assist him in what Dr. Walker accounts a Pious Fraud more than appearance of Evil the very concealing of which was a Trouble to Dr. Walker's Conscience forty Years together or if he had done such a thing he would have hazarded his Majesty's Favour whose Judgment was as he declares in the last of his Meditations on the Reformation of the Times That as good Ends cannot justifie evil Means so nor will evil Beginningâ—s ever bring forth good Conclusions And if Dr. Gauden had written that Period he had been Self condemned as well as by the Apostle those are who say Let us do evil that good may come of it Now if others how many Dr. Walker saith not and perhaps he might not know all that were privy to the whole it is probable some of them before their Deaths might have revealed this Secret or if any of them were living would have been produced to confirm the Doctor 's Testimony but we must take all on his word Though if Bp. Duppa had written on those two Heads there might be some difference observed in the Stile which appears to Dr. Walker himself to be exactly of the same Thread and hugely differing both from the Bishop's and the Doctor 's manner of writing as will appear hereafter But the reason which he gives why it was unlikely that Dr. Gauden neither thought nor wrote on these Subjects seems very infirm p. 7. he says Dr. Gauden was less concerned to think on them What less than to think of writing on the Covenant which Dr. Walker says he had taken p. 7. and against which not long after he wrote a large Treatise Or was he less concern'd to write of the Common Preyer Book which was made the Apple of Contention especially when that Dr. Walker observes a little before p. 7. That when Dr. Gauden discover'd his Error he endeavoured to redeem it by an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by bending to the contrary Extream Or was he less concern'd to write of the necessary Usefulness of his Majesty's Chaplains in his great Distress when the Doctor himself had the Attendance of two such as Dr. Walker and Mr. Gifford Doubtless the Doctor could not but apprehend it to be a most Unchristian Rigor to have the Attendance of his Spiritual Monitors and Comforters denied to him when he was in Extremity and appointed as a Sheep for the Slaughter Dr. Gauden knew better and was more concerned to write on this Subject than to give Rules to the Prince how to Govern the Kingdoms P. 5. Dr. Walker asking Dr. Gauden Whether the King had ever seen the Book Answered I know it certainly no more than you but I sent a Copy of it by the Marquess of Hartford when he went to the Isle of Wight intreating him on a private Opportunity to deliver it to his Majesty and humbly desire to know his Majesty's Pleasure concerning it but the Violence which threatned the King hastning so fast he ventured to print it and never knew what was the Issue of sending it Ans It looks very odly that Dr. Gauden having committed so great a Business to the Marquess's Management should never having many Opportunities after his return from the Isle of Wight enquire Whether the King had seen the Book and how he approved of the Design And no less strange that Dr. Gauden should presume to print such a Volume in the King's Name and make such Appeals and Protestations as if he had been made his Majesty's Proxy and were authorized Jurare in Animam suam And what great Hopes could the Doctor conceive that the publishing of the Book could stop the current of Violence which threatned the King when it had born down all the Mediation used by forreign Ambassadors all the Opposition made by the then Parliament voting his Majesty's Concessions a sufficient Ground for a Treaty of Peace the many Insurrections and Revolts of the People by Land and of the Navy by Sea and the Scots Remonstrances and Arming on his Majesty's behalf What hopes I say could Dr. Gauden conceive that his Book should be a Charm sufficient to calm that impetuous Torrent which grew the more rapid for all those Oppositions This and the Doctor 's Neglect to enquire of the Marquess whether the King did approve of the Pious Fraud may induce the considering Reader to believe that the Doctor did not convey any such Book of his to his Majesty by the Marquess for which we have no Evidence besides Dr. Walker's bare Word and in the first Testimony Dr. Walker says That Dr. Gauden had no account of it a little before his Death Tho' the Marquess and the Doctor lived somewhile after the Restauration And Dr. Walker says That Dr. Gauden being askt Whether K. Charles the Second knew that he wrote the Book answer'd That he could not certainly say he did because he never took notice of it to him but he took it for granted because the Duke of York knew it and spake of it to him and owned it as a seasonable and acceptable Service and he knowing it I question not but the King doth also Ans For all this we have only Dr. Walker's bare Word and that imports not that the King knew it but upon a Presumption that the Duke did Now to this Dr. Hollingworth replies p. 4. It is strange that if the King Charles the Second knew of it and the Marquess of Hartford and Bp. Duppa who could have informed the King of the great Merit of Dr. Gauden in writing and publishing that Book that Dr. Gauden should have no Preferment but the Bishoprick of Exeter for the present and that when as Dr. Walker says he had a Promise of Winchester he failed of it And as Dr. Gauden says The King seemed averse from giving it to him which was to fail of his Word And as Dr. Gauden confesseth he was not certain that the King knew of it a little before his Translation from Exeter to Worcester I say it is strange that the King should deny him any Kindness especially that which he had promised when he gave Dr. Reynolds the Bishoprick of Norwich and offered others to Persons that had deserved Rewards of another kind Dr. Walker says That Mrs. Gauden his Wife Mr. Gifford who he thinks transcribed a Copy of it and himself believed it as much as they could any Matter of Fact Ans As to Mrs. Gauden I have had a Report as from Dr. Walker That she being interrogated on the Sacrament Whether her Husband was the Author of this Book She declared upon her taking the Sacrament That he told her that he was This is confronted by Dr. Hollingworth p. 10. who was assured by a Reverend and Learned Minister in London that a Lady of good Quality told him That she being in company with Mrs. Gauden she
to believe that Dr. Symonds had a perfect Copy by which it was printed and by it he was enabled to correct the Proof-sheets And it is possible that Dr. Gauden might cause a Copy of this to be transcribed by Mr. Gifford as Dr. Walker thinks Mr. Clifford declares That the King for fear the Original should be lost ordered Mr. Odert Secretary to Sir Edw. Nicholas Principal Secretary of State to transcribe it and lodged the Original in the Marquess of Hartford's hands And by the Copy of Mr. Odert he i. e. Mr. Clifford and Mr. Milbourne did print the Book And further he saith That he never heard nay that he was sure that Dr. Gauden was never concerned in that Book by which Mr. Milbourne and Mr. Clifford printed it And Mr. milbourne the Printer and Mr. Clifford who were concerned in the printing of it say That the Copy by which it was printed came to his hands all at once Sect. 5. p. 23. Is an Answer to a Treatise intituled Restitution to the Royal Author wherein is set down this Memorandum of the E. of Anglesey on a printed Copy of the King's Book K. Charles the Second and the Duke of York did both in the last Sessions of Parliament 1675 when I shewed them in the Lord's House the written Copy of this Book wherein are some Corrections and Alterations written with the late K. Charles the First 's own hand assure me that this was none of the said King 's Compiling but made by Dr. Gauden Bishop of Exon which I here insert for the Undeceiving others in this Point by attesting so much under my Hand Anglesey Ans Whether the whole or any part of this Memorandum were the Hand writing of the E. of Anglesey is not proved and therefore the Author of the Restitution might more freely reflect on it supposing it not to be the Earl's and that First by the Impropriety of the Expressions as calling his then Royal Highness which was the proper Court-phrase the D. of York but what is more material is that both the King and Duke should assure him That this was none of K. C. 1st's Compiling but made by Dr. Gauden Bp. of Exeter which is a greater Impropriety to call him that dyed Bp. of Worcester Bp. of Exeter which Charles the 2d must needs know having had so great a Contest with him when he granted him the Bishoprick of Worcester who had a Promise of Winchester of which Dr. Walker gives a large account p. 15 16 17 18. And whereas the Earl says they both did assure him c. Quere what Arguments they used Dr. W. himself would not have taken their bare Words for an Assurance seeing that he still reserved a liberty to dissent from what he says He was so well perswaded of as of any matter of Fact if more probable Arguments were produced But against the bare Word of this Royal Pair the Author observes the publick Acts of Charles the 2d who Anno 1660 gave Mr. Royston as a Requital of printing his Father's Book the sole Priviledge of printing all the Works of K. C. 1st among which this Book hath a particular Character of Recommendation the substance of the Priviledge is in these words Charles the Second c. whereas we have received sufficient Testimony of the Fidelity and Loyalty of our Servant Richard Royston and of the great Losses and Troubles he sustained for his Faithfulness to our Royal Father of Blessed Memory and Our self in printing and publishing many Messages and Papers of our said Blessed Father especially those most excellent Discourses and Soliloquies by the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Know ye that it is our Royal Will and Pleasure and we do by these Presents grant to the said Richard Royston c. the sole printing and publishing of the said Messages Papers and Discourses contained in the Book intituled Reliqiuae Sacrae Carolinae with other Papers and Declarations concerning our said Royal Father c. The same Priviledge was granted to Mr. Royston by K. James the Second Anno 1685 whence the Author of the Restitution leaves it to the Readers to judge whether these publick Declarations of both the Kings made with all the Circumstance of Advantage are to be believed before a blind Manuscript written by a doubtful Hand and grounded on a private Relation to which may be added that K. James the Second in a Letter from Rochester before his Departure quoted a Passage out of his Father's Book viz. There is but little between the Prisons and the Graves of Princes To this Dr. W. answers That Kings are not so Critical as to inspect the Particulars of their Royal Grants To which it may be replied That if they had been well informed that this Book was written by Bp. Gauden as the Memorandum says they did affirm it was a Crime Laesae Majestatis to say they publickly and personally attested that to be their Father's when they believed the contrary To this Dr. Walker rejoyns an Answer by a Parallel Case Of a Printer's having a License to print K. David 's Psalms containing in number 150 Would this saith he prove that David was the Pen-man of them all No say I because the Titles prefixt to many of the Psams declare that some of them were penned by other Authors as Moses who lived long before David Heman Asaph c. who lived after him and yet the Denomination may be taken from the greater part of the Psalms which are acknowledged to be David ' s. But how could that King give a Priviledge to print his Father's Works if he knew that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is especially recommended and for the sake of which the Collection was made were not his Father's But as if this Objection had been foreseen it is sufficiently confuted by the Distinction made by both the Kings between the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which they own to be their Royal Father's and other Papers and Declarations concerning their Royal Father for the drawing up of which they conceived he made use of his Ministers and Secretaries though it be well-known that his Majesty of Blessed Memory was wont not only with great Deliberation to review the first Draughts but taking his Pen in hand to tell them merily That he was a pretty good Cobler and made such Additions and Alterations as he thought fit insomuch as they who knew him most intimately affirmed That if he had been a Secretary to any other Prince he would have been esteemed as an Oracle But here it may be enquired How the two Kings were so well assured themselves that the Book was written by Bp. Gauden as to assure others of it Whereas Dr. Walker says That Dr. Gauden himself knew not to his dying day whether Charles the Second ever knew it but by Conjecture because the Duke of York knew it It seems then the King must have the certainty from the Duke and he that considers the Circumstances in which the Duke
just Rights and Enjoyments in Piety Loyalty and in those Duties of Equity and Charity which he owed to God and Man Further than this Dr. Gauden never approved nor owned the Covenant nor ever shall any part of it How good soever it shall seem in some things and Expressions yet an evil Sence must not be covered under good Words nor any Godly Expressions be afterwards wrested to abet Ungodly Actions the whole Mass of the Covenant seemed to be sweetned by those general Salvo's and Restrictions put into it Of having Regard in all things to the Word of GOD to the Duties of Mens Places and Callings and to the Power of Godliness Let Mr. Crofton keep to these and so keep his Covenant for surely these can bind no Man to any thing injurious to any honest Man or honest Office in Church or State Of Dr. Gauden 's free and publick Declaration of his Judgment as to the Covenant in general and particular Hundreds besides God and his own Conscience are Witnesses and if such a Declaration of his Sence what ought to be the meaning of it in Conscience and Honesty will add any strength to Mr. Crofton 's Sence of it or the Design of making it Sacred not Sacrilegious much good do them I believe they will sooner be drawn to Dr. Gauden 's sober Episcopacy than to their Presbyterian Exorbitancy which he ever openly abhorred and never secretly complied with if he had it had been as much against his Conscience as against Reason Law Justice Charity and Religion and he must have had no Peace till he had publickly repented and recanted such Dissimulation which he abhors as Hell Now though some Men might expect that the Doctor should have positively declared that he never took the Covenant and think these large Circumlocutions to be but an Evasion and raising of Dust to blind Mens eyes let the Reader reflect That in the first place he writes this to assure the World that he never took any Oaths but those appointed by Law which he expresly denyeth the Covenant to have been And the Doctor knew that Oaths are generally to be taken in the usual sence of the words in which it is penned and according to the meaning of those who impose it 2ly That he expresly mentioneth any Engagement League or Vow under which Terms the Covenant must be comprehended 3ly That he declared publickly his Judgment for Bishops and Episcopacy as by Law was established in England p. 277. which the Covenant diametrically opposed 4ly That he never would nor could assent to the Covenant in any Sence but such as was consistent with his former Oaths the Laws of the Land and Preservation of Episcopal Government in its just Rights and Enjoyments c. all which the taking of the Covenant directly opposed 5ly That his Compliance with the Presbyterian Exorbitance would have been such a Dissimulation as he abhorred as Hell And after all this published to assure the World against that Objection viz. That he was one of the Number of Covenanters which he says Mr. Crofton reckoned him without his Host I should think it a very strong Argument that though he should have told Dr. Walker that he wrote the King's Book he were not to be believed being Testis sihi inconsistens If there be any Faith or Honesty in Men these Reasons which Dr. Gauden gives may satisfie the Reader that he never took the Covenant for Page 178 he declares That if the Parliament had been full they had not any power to make take or impose any Oath contrary to the Laws of England which they were entrusted to observe not to break abrogate or change without the K.'s Consent And in the same Page he saith He is confident he doth those Men no Injury who were the chief Engines and Charioteers to say they did all things more out of Polity than Piety and by this Covenant they intended the advance of a Party not of the Publick Interest and our Laws Ad quas evertendas nemo sobrius accessit Which he thus Englisheth To the Subversion of which by popular Combinations and Covenantings without the Prince's or Supream Power 's Consent no Man comes but drunk with Pride or Passion Ambition Covetousness or Superstition And in p. 279. he says It is Perjury to take a false and unjust Oath as well as to break a true and lawful Oath Now who will believe Dr. Walker so as to think Dr. Gauden to be guilty of all these horrid Crimes which he condemns in others In Page the 69th he says That in the intended Sence it was execrable and that every such Covenanter must be so to GOD and Man nothwithstanding the remaining Lords and Commons in the two Houses and the Scottish Commissioners and the Assembly all Sacred no doubt did take the Covenant Sept. 11th 1643 Which he scoffs at in p. 70 and in p. 71. he declares what he means by the words Oath Vow and League saying That no Vow Oath League or Sacred Covenant can bind contrary to our Duty to God the King the Country the Church and Laws under which we live In p. 80. That the Authority imposing it was not Legal And in p. 81. That such Vows bind to nothing but the breaking of them And in p. 111. That we read not of any Covenant ever so imposed or taken by any Subjects without or against the Consent of their Soveraign's Power but it proved a bloody Issue hardly cured with a Miracle and that after the Effusion of much Civil Blood P. 184 He tells his Reader how the Covenant was blasted by the Oxford Reasons And p. 185. That this Combination against Episcopacy without doubt first damnified and destroyed the former King Of which saith he I have greater grounds than it is fit to tell all the World That it was contrary to the Oaths of Allegiance Supremacy and Canonical Obedience he proves at large p. 189 195 197. Now what a Monster of Men must he be that knowing all these things before should take such a Covenant in any sence whatsoever or having taken it should expect so great a Preferment as the Bishoprick of Winchester Here then we have Dr. W. brought to this Dilemma If Dr. Gauden did take the Covenant he was guilty of all that he condemned in others ut supra and then that Argument which Dr. Walker urged to his Tutor whereby he says he could have silenced him viz. That Dr. Gauden wrote the Chapter against the Covenant because he spake so much in favour of it is very weak And if he wrote not that then probably no other of that Book And if he did not take it as I am in Charity convinc'd he did not how Criminal was Dr. Walker to publish to the World to the Defamation of his good Patron that communicated his Secrets to him that he was so vile a Man as to make himself guilty of all those horrid Crimes abovementioned and then also it is very probable that he
Council none reasoned more like a Senator among the Lawyers as an Oracle in the Camp like Coesar among the Bishops as a Constantine in the Temple as a Saint on the Scaffold as an undanted Martyr who by his Arguments was more than Conqueror over them who overcame him by their brutish Valour and Arms in a word one of his greatest Failings was the excess of his Clemency distrust of his own Judgment and his easie Concessions to his subtile Adversaries to whose Importunity he granted so much till they had no more to ask nor he to give and some of them were not ashamed to provoke him the more because they knew he had Charity enough to forgive them all and indeed he forgave them that could not forgive themselves such as God hath said he will not forgive who continue to offend out of malicious Wickedness Being ask'd of C. Hammond his Jaylor What Regret his Spirit had against his Enemies he answered I can forgive them Collonel with as good an Appetite as ever I eat my Meat after Hunting and that I 'll assure thee was no small one In his Meditations on Death he prays not so much that the bitter Cup of a violent Death may pass from him as that of God's Wrath may pass from all those whose hands by deserting him were sprinkled or by acting or consenting to his Death were embrued with his Bloud After these Acknowledgements of his Enemies it were as needless as it is endless to sum up the Testimonies of such of his Friends as best knew him and his Conversation As first of his Father who could well judge of his Proficiency in Learning and Piety of which I have given an account Secondly His Vertuous Brother Prince Henry who perceiving how studious and reserved his Brother was took the Archbishop's Cap and put it on his head saying If I live Charles I will make thee Archbishop of Canterbury At the Age of Thirteen on Easter-Munday 1613 he was strictly examined in order to his Confirmation by two Bishops in Presence of Dr. Hackwell his Tutor to the great satisfaction of them all He read and noted several good Authors and contracted their Arguments into a narrow but clear compass such as Hooker Bp. Andrews and Archbishop Laud's Arguments against Fisher the Jesuite of which he made excellent use in his Dispute with Henderson at Newcastle and the Divines sent to worry him at the Isle of Wight But they that will not be persuaded by what hath been already said neither will they believe though one should rise from the Dead no nor then neither will these Infidels be perswaded for although as his Majesty both prayed and foretold God hath in great Mercy granted the Royal Family and the Church which died with the Father and rose again with the Son a Restauration most like to a Resurrection from the Dead yet will they not be persuaded But to prevent their seducing of others I proceed 2ly to shew that the King did design this Work for although Dr. Walker pretends that Dr. Gauden would excuse his imposing this Book on the World by shewing the Title and saying No Man useth to draw his own Picture yet we know that Coesar did and none but Coesar could write his own Commentaries so did that great Emperour and Philosopher Antoninus in that excellent Book De Seipso which Dr. Merike Casaubon in his Englishing that Book calleth his Meditations And how usual is it for great Men to keep Diaries of their special Actions and Concerns as Archbishop Laud did After which Examples the King may be presumed to have done the like and that he did design so to do hath been shewn by the undoubted Evidences which have been manifested concerning some Chapters of that Book taken at Naseby and restored by Major Huntington to the King at Holmeby to which I may add that he began it while he was besieged in Oxford and more yet when confined at Holmeby and that the whole was finished by his own hand at the Isle of Wight where they were seen both by Friends and Enemies even by Col. Hammond himself and that Captain of whom Bp. Fowler produceth a sufficient Testimony that he was convinced of his Majesty's Piety and Innocence by reading his Meditations which made him lay down his Commission and become a Convert as Major Huntington had done before In a Book called the Princely Pellican printed 1649 the Author gives us as he affirms in the Title-page satisfactory Reasons that his Sacred Majesty was the sole Author of the Book in question which he wrote at the instance of several Persons of Quality who knew him to have been a constant Attender on his Majesty's Person against such Reflection as had been published against those Divine Essays and first he tells us that the occasion of them was that the Parliament had misrepresented him to his People of which he complained in these words O that my Subjects knew the Integrity of my Heart towards them and that as they could not see his Heart so neither would the Parliament permit his Presence to plead his own Cause But many odious scurrilous and treacherous Libels were published against him which yet he perused with a modest Smile saying I intend to wipe off these with a Spunge of Truth it shall be my Task at spare hours and many such it seems my Parliament will admit me to undeceive my People and to rectifie their misguided Judgments These were the grounds says that Author which induced his Majesty to this Work After this the King in his Garden at Theobalds communicated this Design to some of his Gentlemen of whose Abilities he was most confident particularly that he would shew the Reason of his Receding from the Parliament which he hoped would be to the full Satisfaction of his Subjects and of which he said That not one Line had fallen from his Pen which he might not confirm with Honour were it racked by never so rigid and uncharitable Construction Then he told us that another Subject of his writing should be The most Faithful Servant and Incomparable States-man that any Christian Prince could rely upon one said he whom I cannot without a pious and religious Sorrow remember condemning myself in nothing more than suffering my Hand to thwart the Resolution of my Heart having so expresly delivered my Thoughts and in so publick a manner as besides my own consciencious Fears which incessantly awaken'd me the Relation of so ungrateful an Action cannot but in succeeding Times succeed highly to my Dishonour To which a Gentleman of his Privy Chamber made answer That this could not be imputed to his Majesty but to their Doctrinal Assurance who maintained the Conveniency of it To which with a deep Sigh the King replied It is not safe for Princes to pin their Faith on Timing Prelates sleeves their future account shall neither lessen my Guilt nor solve my Honour And when another Gentleman said Sir If the sence of that Action
have so strong an influence on your Thoughts I hold it a more Princely Act rather to close then to lay open such a Wound to your Fame Oh no! in no cases Ned said his Majesty the way to cure Wounds is not to close but to discover them they rankle by being closed before they be cured As for Princely Pollicy I hold none better than sincere Piety it is my constant Resolve and shall be my daily Prayer that my Sins may be ever before me for there is such precious Eye-salve in a pious Tear that it allays the Distemper of an afflicted Spirit The next thing the King reflected on was how contrary the Actings of the Parliament were to their Promises in making him a most glorious King on which he said It should be his most supream Care to rely on God's sacred Providence which I am confident will never fail me but full of Deceit is the Heart of Man In this manner says the Author frequently and fervently did the King deliver his Mind and return to his Study The Author also gives the reason why his Majesty concluded every Section with a distinct Psalmody It was observed saith he by his Majesty's Chaplains and by us that waited on him that though he spake occasionally of all parts of Scripture yet he took such Comfort in the Psalms of David that he would usually repeat whole Psalms Mentioning that of St. Augustine In every part of Scripture I find something useful but in the Book of Psalms I find a Store-house of all things and if David a Man after God's own Heart were so afflicted that not only his Enemies but his familiar Friends who fed at his Table made that a Snare to ketch him what may I expect in these evil days He acknowledged God's Kindness to him in afflicting him which he thus expressed I have seen saith he and applied it to myself and found Comfort in the Application how when many Children were playing the Wags in the Street one amongst the rest was taken hold of and corrected and I found it to be by the Father of that Child and that 't was his Affection that caused him to correct it this is my Heavenly Father's course with me and I kiss his Rod his Afflictions hath gained me a Tongue for Passion said the King which made my Tongue inarticulate and the long course of Sufferings hath so lessen'd my Opinion of Sufferings that Passion is now a Stranger to me and I think myself happy in the chearful imbracing of my Unhappiness and the Distaste of the Publick hath made me my own private Secretary Then he mentioneth with what Comfort the King received these Papers after Naseby Fight saying I see that the gracious Eye of Heaven would not suffer me to be deprived of all Comfort Posterity shall see by these Papers that I know how to subdue my own Passion and solace myself with Divine Comforts in the height of my Affliction though the Enemy gain the Field a composed Patience shall crown me with a braver Victory I know no Triumph more Absolute than a Self-Conquest The Author adds That his Majesty's Idiom was so well known not only to his Attendants and Enemies but to forreign Kings and States that none but such as were guilty of Weakness or Perversness could question his Ability for such a Work His own Testimony at his Tryal that he knew the Laws of the Kingdom as well as any Gentleman that did not make Profession of them is an Authentick Proof of his Ability Another Argument I shall urge is the vast difference between the Kings Stile not only in his Portraicture but in many other Writings as may be seen first in several of those Letters and Papers which were taken at Naseby and set forth by the Parliament as the King 's of which tho they intended to make an ill use yet as his Majesty observes on that Subject His Enemies might be convinced by them he could both mind and act his own and his Kingdom 's Affairs so as becomes a Prince which my Enemies are loath should be believed of me as if I were wholly confined to the Dictates and Directions of others whom they brand with the name of Evil Counsellors He that believeth the Disputations that past between his Majesty and Henderson at Newcastle and these between him and the Commissioners in the Isle of Wight which his Enemies knew to be his being personally and viva voce managed and were admired by his Opponents must own the King's Ability and see the same strength and nerves in the Chapter of Church-Government though in the one he urgeth them as a Disputant in the other as an Orator but like himself in all Both Disputes are to be seen among his other Works I shall choose to commend such Works as are best known to be his Majesty's and recommend those which he wrote during his strict Confinement in Carisbrook after the Vote of Non-addresses which may be seen p. 279. of his Works to 295 which will shew a great Identity both in his way of Arguing and in the Stile After this to recompence my Reader 's pains if at least he account it so I shall compare Dr. Gauden's Stile with the King 's I choose a Book which the Doctor wrote concerning the Covenant to see whether he did imitate his Majesty in writing on that Subject because Dr. Walker affirms that Chapter was written by Dr. Gauden defend himself against some that said he wrote Nonsence whom he answers in these words p. 19. of his Anti-Baal He tells his Reader how the City of London were affected with Dr. Gauden's Pious Nonsence and Honest Blasphemy when preaching at St. Paul's before the Lord-Mayor and General Monke he did so Anatomize those cruel Medicasters and crafty Empiricks of the Times the slight Healers who made their Profit and Pleasure out of the Diseases Pain and Miseries of their Country How did the Rumpers then rage and tremble at the Truth and Courage of Dr. Gauden's Nonsence How were the Regicides astonished at the Sword of his Mouth that Word of God How were the Sacrilegious Merchants of Church Lands appaled before that Blasphemy which being like Thunder and Lightning by Dr. Gauden's Tongue and Pen quite blasted all the Glory of their Purchases of which so seasonable Sermons and Writings especially that of the Tears of the Church of England the Libeller expresseth a deep sence for from that time the bloody Babel fell and could rise no more from that day Many wicked Men began to look what Rocks and Mountains might cover them and by this time they may have a quicker sence of Dr. Gauden's Nonsence notwithstanding they have thick Skins brawny Hearts and cauterized Consciences You shall seldom find the Genius of two Authors more differing than these of the King and the Doctor his Majesty's Discourses were exceeding rational and curt but very convincing and the Meekness of his Expressions insinuated as Oyl to mollifie the hardest Temper By