bubble and delude the Nation till Insensibly to us and with Security to himself he might appear in his own Likeness and do here what in France he had promis'd His Engaging in an Expensive and Bloody War against the States of Holland could have no other Design but to weaken the Protestant Interest both in that Commonwealth and in his own Kingdom Provocations they had given him none nor could he assign any Reason of State on his own part unless he fetch'd it from the Romish Alcoran that says we must have no Peace with Hereticks and allows all Acts of Injury and Violence to Protestants His stifling the Popish Plot and delivering the Papists as much as in him lay from the Danger into which it had cast them His being the Author or at least the Great Encourager of Sham-Plots charg'd upon Protestants His continued Confederacies with the Known Enemy to the Disobliging of his own People His Betraying of Europe by false and flattering Promises when he might have prescrib'd what Terms of the Peace he pleas'd during the whole Course of his Mediation at Nimeguen or in Conjunction with the Dutch and other Allyes have continued the War against France to the greatest Advantage that ever was put into the Hands of the Confederates is a manifest Proof how he stood affected And tho' he made great Shews as if he had been in earnest all was but Deceit and Colour for at length contrary to all the Rules of Policy and without Ground or Pretext for such Proceedings a Peace was clap'd up * Sir W. Temple's Memoirs in the Dutchess of Portsmouth's Chamber by the Intervention and Pursuit of Monsieur Barillon to the great Amazement and general Prejudice of all Christendom His then Majesty's neglecting to Assist the French Protestants under great Persecutions for their Religion was more than a Tacit Consent to their Utter Extirpation His Intailing the Duke of York upon the Nation contrary to the Desires and Endeavours of Three Parliaments and that not out of Love to his Person but Affection to Popery which he knew that Prince was engag'd by Solemn Oath to establish are Sufficient Evidences of Charles the Second's Religion and his being engag'd in the Design of Subverting ours which I think no Man will question that was not concerned with him in it 'T was by a strange Providence as well as great Oversight in the Conduct of the late King that we arriv'd at this Discovery for so many good Men that believ'd the Tremendous Oaths his Majesty Charles the Second had swallow'd and thought it impossible he should prevaricate in so solemn a Matter were so fix'd in their Opinions of King Charles's being a Protestant and so Outragious against them that durst but whisper the contrary that had it not been for his Receiving Absolution and Extream Unction from a Popish Priest a little before his Death and for what he left in Writing under his own Hand he would still have pass'd for a True Protestant and the Nation in favour of that Monarch would have still been kept under their former Delusions And Tho' at the same time it gives us but an Indifferent Character of this Prince who for the Lucre of a Crown thus notoriously dissembled with God and Man and that in all his Declarations and Speeches to the Parliament and in Complying in the Offices and in Communicating in the Holy Sacrament of the Church of England he wore the Vizor of a Protestant when he was a Member of the Church of Rome and was by Oath when he chang'd his Religion at St. Germains in France oblig'd to set up Popery Yet it gives us an Everlasting Abhorrence of Romish Principles which for the Sordid Interest of that Idolatrous Church did not only Dispence with but Indulge such Crimes as the worst of Heathens and Pagans would blush at the Thoughts of And here tho' the Series of the Narration will hardly allow it I will draw a Veil before the Picture of this Unhappy Prince and without Exposing his Intricate and Bifarious Actions to a more Open View and Censure content my self by telling the Reader he Liv'd in a Cloud he Dy'd in a Storm But by what means he came to his End God knows tho' the Suddenness and Meanness of his Interment Rais'd many Suspicions Neque Sepulchrum quo recipiat habet portum corporis Ubi remissa humana vita corporis requiescat a malis He had no Tomb nor with a Port was blest Where after Death his Corps in Peace might rest I am not unsensible that some Judicious Enquirers into these Affairs will think I ought to have begun the Designs of Advancing Popery and Arbitrary Power with the Reign of the Family of the Stewarts in this Kingdom But since I cannot with Justice think the first two Kings design'd to bring in Popery and having Occasion to take notice of every of their particular Efforts for the Introduction of Arbitrary Power in their several Reigns in the subsequent Discourse I thought it excusable that I began no Earlier than the Restoration of Charles the Second and therefore proceed to shew what Methods were taken by him to Erect those Idols and subvert our Religion and Laws and they were principally Four First 1. By Abusing the Credulity of the Nation with the fond Hopes of such Privileges and Immunities as were never intended them Of this kind was his Declaration from Breda which promis'd Indulgence and Liberty of Conscience to all Protestants that would live peaceably under the Civil Government But if we had look'd before us and not suffer'd our Prejudices against the many late Mock-Governments the Tyranny of our Fellow-Subjects and the Transports of being deliver'd from them in the Accession of the Rightful King to his Throne to have blinded our Eyes we might easily have perceiv'd that it was never in his Thoughts to perform it For the Previous Obligations he was under to the Church of Rome had a Virtue to Supersede and Annul his Engagements to English Hereticks So that all he Intended by that Declaration was to Tye up the Hands and Lull those into a Tameness of Admitting his Return into his Dominions whom a Jealousie of being afterwards persecuted for their Consciences might have awaken'd to withstand and dispute it 'till they had better Security And so it came to pass for he was no sooner seated in the Throne of his Ancestors and saw himself secure but he discharg'd himself from every thing that the Royal Word and Faith of a Prince had oblig'd him to perform Secondly 2. By Sowing Discord Dividing Protestants Alienating their Affections and Imbittering their Minds one against another that being so Divided and Enrag'd they might contribute to each other's Destruction or by weakning their Interest become an easie Prey to the Fury of Papists And truly nothing but an Early Prospect of this Method could have Embolden'd King Charles to enterprize upon our English Liberties and the Reform'd Religion For tho' there have been
Brackly was mended by the Addition of the Rich Parsonage of Burton on the Wold in the same County Nor did the Reward of this Service extend only to Sybthorp but slew a Cathedral Height for Dr. Abbot Archbishop of Canterbury refusing to License this Sermon to be Printed was soon after Suspended from his Bishoprick and Dr. Laud that did License it being then Bishop of St. Davids was Translated to London and afterwards to the Metropolitan See of Canterbury Nay so strong run the Tide of Preferment then in this Corrupted Channel that few Divines or Common or Civil Lawyers were preferr'd to any considerable Place either in Church or State that did not in the Pulpit and on the Bench vigorously maintain these Novel and Destructive Opinions to the Scandal of their Functions and intended Ruin of the Kingdom To this Doctrine must be ascrib'd the Mischiefs of all former and later Reigns under the Protection of which any King may play the Tyrant without Control tho' it often proves Fatal to him that lays the Train And so it happen'd to Charles the Second for no sooner had his Unlimited Power been so Strenuously Asserted that he was come to give the finishing Stroke but his Death seem'd Necessary and Seasonable to make way for the Duke of York to open the Execution of the Grand Design in a bare-fac'd Subversion of the Religion and Laws of England At the Beginning of the Restoration so great an Opinion was conceiv'd of His Highness the Duke of York that his partial Admirers would suffer no Man to Insinuate his being Reconcil'd to the Church of Rome but set him up under all the Noble Qualities that might render him Acceptable to a Credulous People not only as Merciful in his Temper Just in his Dealings and endu'd with all Gracious Inclination to our Laws and the Rights of the Subject but for one Orthodox in his Religion too and who would prove a Zealous Defender of the Doctrine Worship and Discipline of the Church as Establish'd by Law In this Persuasion they continu'd some Years and tho' he had at length withdrawn himself from all Acts of Fellowship with the Church of England Refus'd the Test injoin'd by Law for distinguishing Papists from Protestants had Resign'd his Office of Lord High Admiral stood Excluded from the House of Lords and that so many Parliaments had eadeavour'd to Exclude him from Succession to the Crown because he had Revolted to the See of Rome and thereby became Dangerous to the Establish'd Religion yet all this would make no Impression upon a Wilfully Deluded and Obstinate Sort of Protestants but in Defiance of all Means of Conviction they would persuade themselves that he was still a Zealot for our Religion and a great Patriot of the Church of England Nor could any thing undeceive them till upon his Brother's Death he openly declar'd himself to be a Papist and afterwards in the Fumes and Raptures of his Victory over the late Duke of Monmouth had discover'd and proclaim'd his Intentions to overthrow both our Religion and Laws Yea so closely had some seal'd up their Eyes against all Beams of Light and harden'd themselves against all Evidences from Reason and Fact that had Success attended the Duke of Monmouth's Arms the late King had gone off the Stage with the Reputation among them of a Prince tender of the Laws of the Kingdom and who notwithstanding his being a Papist would have preserv'd the Reform'd Religion and maintain'd the Church of England in all her Rights and Grandures And tho' his whole Life had been but one continu'd Conspiracy against our Civil Liberties and Privileges he had left the Throne with the Character and under the Esteem of a Prince that in the whole Course of his Government would have regulated himself by the Rules of the Constitution and the Statutes of the Realm Aditum nocendi perfido praestat fides Sen. in Oed. Act. 3. Scen. 1. So Simple Truth does her fair Breast Disarm And gives Base Treachery a Power to Harm King Charles being now Dead the late Duke's Expectations Answer'd and his Ambition gratify'd with a Crown at his first coming to it he endeavour'd to Confirm some and Gain other of his Subjects into a good Opinion of him and their own Happiness under his Government And therefore in his first Speech to the Parliament declar'd so much Tenderness for them and such a Dear Respect for the Preservation of their Liberties that the Cajoll'd Parliament from an Excess of Satisfaction shew'd as much Affection for him as ever Parliament did to a Prince of their own Religion and gave Money till he himself put a stop to the profuse and excessive Expressions of their Satisfaction It must be granted that the Lives of some Professors are not so bad as the Consequences of their Erroneous Opinions and it was charitably thought by the Parliament that the late King James tho' a Papist would not Govern so Arbitrarily as the Encourag'd Doctrines of the Age gave him Leave to do But when they saw their Errour and perceiv'd that Popery and Arbitrary Power were never to be parted that the Monks and Friars Enter'd to Act in their proper Habits that Seminaries were set up in several Places and Houses fill'd with these Religious Furies that the Laws being in the late Reign betray'd into his Hands he unmercifully Stabb'd and Dispatch'd them and that his Antecedent Oaths and Promises were all come to nothing how it fill'd them with Resentments for his having thus Abus'd their Credulity Deceiv'd their Expectations and Reproach'd their Gloryings and Boastings of him But alas it was then too late to seek a Remedy for those Evils that an Easie Belief and a Fond Compliance with Empty Popish Promises had brought upon us Now we Feel what we would not See and Prevent at a Distance Quid nobis certius ipsis Lucret. Sensimus esse potest quo vera ac falsa notemus And what thing can there be more sure than Sense By which we Truth discern from false Pretence We smarted under our own Rod and had plenty of miserable Occasions for the Religious Exercise of that fatal Duty Passive Obedience Our Satisfactions in our New King were vanish'd and the Hopes of living happy Subjects under him were sunk into Apprehensions of Approaching Slavery A general Consternation fell upon the whole Body of the People and the very Tools that assisted the late King in subverting their own Religion and the Civil Rights of their Brethren were afraid in so Universal a Calamity that themselves should also feel the sad Effects of that Thunder with which they had Arm'd their Tyrant In how happy a Condition was James the Second before he violalated his Oaths and Promises and so might have continu'd if he could have prescrib'd any Limits to his Desires of Reigning more Absolutely than the Laws of the Constitution would allow him He had all things at pleasure to make him Great among his own Subjects
short view how these Princes carried it one towards the other None are Ignorant that the F. K. as soon as he apprehended that a pretended Zeal for Religion was the only way to advance his Ends and humor his Ambition but that he trumpt it up in all Courts where the same Religion was profess'd Religion was a Cloak to his Designs when he made an Incursion into the Spanish Netherlands and in the last Dutch War * Anno 1671. from whence We may date all our Misfortunes He in Conjunction with the King of Great Britain to destroy the States of Holland Intimated by his Ambassadors to the Pope to the Emperor of Germany and all other Princes whom he had a mind to deter from lending Assistance to the Dutch that they were a Nation fallen into Abominable Heresies and therefore all Christians were oblig'd in Conscience to War against them and rend in pieces that flourishing Republick and this furnish'd King James with the same Religious pretences against his own People At the very beginning of the late King's Reign the F. K. set him a Pattern at home and broke the inviolable Edict of Nants * Vid. Ed. Nants 1685. and King James in imitation of so pious an Example set up his dispencing Power in England violated his Oaths and Promises to his People and both under pretence of Zeal for Religion but all the Roman Catholick Princes were sensible to what eminent dangers that boasted Zeal had reduc'd them to for what Reverence what Veneration could they think those Princes had for the Name of Christian that made no Conscience of their Oaths that broke their Faith with Christians and leagu'd with Infidels who prefer'd the Crescent of Mahomet before the Cross of Christ and brib'd the Turks to begin a War against the Emperor * 1683. and Ruin that Capital City Vienna which is the Bulwork of Christendom against the Incursions of the Barbarians Who can think that Spiritual Things ever imploy'd the thoughts of that Monarch unless in order to Temporals that reflects with what violence he makes ostentation of his Zeal at home and at the same time espouses the Cause of the Protestants in Germany and Hungary perswading them to follow the Fortune of Count Teckeley and to joyn with the Turk to demand satisfaction for the violence offer'd to their Religion And this deceitful Artifice and Chichanery was the Cause that the Pope for some time resolutely refus'd to elect Fourbin into the Coledge of Cardinals As this affected Devotion of the F K. was subservient to his Ambition so James IId's Biggotry was early suspected to rise from the same Cause as the Earl of Shaftsbury declar'd before King Charles II. in a Speech * Shaftsbury's Speech State tracts Part 1. p. 463. in the House of Lords that the Duke of York had quitted his Religion that he might gain a powerful party to his Faction And this agrees with a Letter written about the same time and Recorded in the fifth Book of Collections wherein the Author tells the Duke of York that 't is the opinion of all Men that he Apostatiz'd from his Old and embrac'd a New Religon not as Charm'd by its Perfections but allur'd by the promises of an Absolute Monarchy and the blandishments of a Despotick Power which by this means would one time or other fall into his Hands Afterwards the same Letter admonishes the Duke to beware lest being dazled with the splendour of the French Monarchy he should endeavour to overthrow the best Government in the World since he seem'd to imitate King John who offer'd to turn Mahometan if the Emperor of Morocco would assist him with a Force to Revenge the Insolency of the Barons who vindicated their Liberties against the Encroachments of their King The Successes of France in War the intimate correspondence between the Duke of York and that King who manag'd England by the Politicks of Cardinal Richlieu and Mazarine at length induc'd the Duke of York to publish himself a Papist and knowing that thereby he hazarded the loss of the Church of England party he cajoll'd the Dissenters and heap'd his Favours upon them that they might be the Tools of his Ambition and also caress'd the Romanists both at home and abroad that they might be inclin'd for Religion sake to assist him But the Catholick Princes fathomed his design which was staged under the mask of Piety and joyn'd with the Interest of France and therefore Pope Innocent XI was not only incens'd with the French King and when he was drawing his last breath recommended his Emnity to the Cardinals that stood about him but also deliver'd it as his Judgment * Vindic. Gov. p. 44. that the designs of the late King James tended only to his own Ambition and his Brother 's of France and therefore did not receive the Earl of Castlemain his Ambassador with so much Honour as was due to such a magnificent and sumptuous appearance for his Holiness knew how all things were so manag'd by the Jesuits that every thing should be a Sacrifice to the Ambition of France and therefore as the Pope Complimented the late King James with a coolness of affection so he allways suspected him sometimes discover'd his Animosity and received the News * Vid. representat of Dangers in pol. tract par 2. p. 398. of his Abdication with transports of Joy and Gladness 'T is manifested the Emperor of Germany concurr'd in opinion with the Pope for after the late King's Abdication when he beg'd the Emperor's assistance in his misfortunes * Tracts of pol. col 12. vid. the Emp. of Ger. Letter and made use of his affection to the Romish Religion as a motive to encline him the Emperor return'd this Answer That the late King James 's Affairs had been now in a prosperous condition if he had hearkn'd to the advice of his Ambassador * Comitis de Kaknuits and not to the perfidy and flattery of the F King and had hindred by his Authority and Arms the F from violating the League and Peace whereof he was made Guarrantee by the Treaty of Nimeguen Now says the Emperor How can I assist you who must be forc'd to oppose the Forces of F and the Turk who did not doubt of the Fidelity and Assistance of England for the greatest injury that can be offer'd to our Religion is done by the F who is Confederated with the Turk the inveterate Enemy of Christianty So that the Jesuits that perswade the Roman Catholick Princes for their Religion sake to desert the Friendship of our Potent Monarch who has restor'd us to our Dying Liberties is just as if they should perswade the Confederate Princes to declare for those two Kings who not only design'd to enslave all Europe but also cherish'd the cause of the Infidels against the Christians and this brings me again into England And here it would be vain and impertinent in me to attempt to give a
of his People to prevent Distractions and the effusion of Christian Blood to call a Parliament free in all its circumstances but the late King was pleas'd to Deny their Request till the Prince of Orange had acquitted the Realm * vid. his Answer to the Lord's Petition Several Privy Counsellors before this had advis'd his Majesty to call a Parliament without delay and before his Subjects Ask'd it assuring him that if any attempts were made upon his Royal Person or Authority it would effectually engage many honest Men to stand by him besides no ill consequences could be suspected from it because it would always be in his Power to Prorogue or Dissolve it and then he might at the last Shift trust to his Land and Sea Forces But The Jesuites who had his Ear and Heart entirely open and fix'd to their pernicious Counsels on the other hand represented to him that he would be in Danger to see the great Forces which he had then on foot join with his Parliament against him or at least Discontents and Divisions would arise amongst them But if he stood his Ground and suffer'd no Parliament to meet All would faithfully adhere to him so long as he absolutely rely'd on his Forces And accordingly he took this last and worst Advice and would never be brought off till it ended in his Ruin In order to fight the Prince the late King having sent a great Army before he marches down to Salisbury himself where continuing a while and finding his Army daily Desert and being assur'd by the Lord Feversham and others that he could not Rely upon the remaining part of his Soldiery who unanimously declar'd they would not fight against Protestants nor offend the Prince that Heaven had sent for the Deliverance of the Nation from Popery with a very small Number of Attendants the late King returns again to London and in Council orders the Lord Chancellor Jeoffreys to * vid. the Proclamation dat Nov. 30th 1688. Issue out Writs for the Sitting of a Parliament at Westminster on the 15th Day of January following And To second this plausible Pretence of Gratifying the Prince and the whole Nation in Calling a Parliament the late King by three Noble Peers sets on foot a Treaty with the Prince for the Security of the Parliament's Sitting without Interruption the Accommodating all Differences and Restoring Peace and Tranquility to the Nation The Prince freely accepts it and with the Advice of the Lords and Gentlemen assembl'd with him his Highness was pleas'd to send the late King such Proposals as he was pleas'd to say * The Letter to a Bishop q. 14. were Better and Fairer than he could or did expect from him But all this on the late King's part was only a Flourish a Touch of the Jesuits Morals for the late King never intended to perform one Syllable of these Specious Pretences and therefore having sent away the Queen the Child Count Dada the Pope's Nuntio Father Petre and caused the Broad Seal to be thrown into the Thames he only shew'd this Complaisance to Gain Time for his own Departure into France after them What a fair Opportunity was now at the very last put into the late King's Hands to have Redeem'd his Honour Settl'd the Nation and prevented all ill Consequences to his Person and Affairs if he had pursu'd his own propos'd Methods for an Accommodation and kept his Voluntary Promises but he would not So that we can solve these Self-sought Evils no otherwise but by saying What Heaven in the Eternal Council of his own Will has Decreed can never be Revok'd and that for the Accomplishing God's Divine Pleasure Men act directly contrary to their own Interests which has been notorious in the whole Conduct of this Unhappy Prince and has been Jocosely observ'd by others I remember to have seen a Letter written into France from Ireland by a French Commander there giving an Account of the late King James's Management of his Affairs in that Kingdom wherein he expresses himself after this manner That if the late King James had as many Kingdoms to lose as are number'd in Europe his own Conduct would forfeit them all for if he had Twenty Counsellors and Nineteen of them were Men of approv'd Wisdom and Integrety and but one Fool and sensless Person among them he would certainly follow the advice of that blind Bayard in opposition to all the other Sages But Without reflecting upon his Counsellors the late King confirm'd the French Gentleman's Opinion of himself in pursuing the False and Destructive Opinions of those that advised him to withdraw himself against the wholesome Counsels of so many Wise Men that advis'd Calling of a Parliament in order to his own and the Nation 's future Happiness and made it appear a Project so weak and silly that there seems something of a Divine Infatuation in it But he had promis'd the Queen and as some say taken the Sacrament upon it to follow her and thought fit rather to break his Promise with a whole Nation than not humour a pettish Woman Go he must go he will let whatever will be the Consequence of it And therefore to do all the Mischief he could before he went and leave the Realm in all the Confusion was possible He Order'd all those Writs for the Sitting of a Parliament that were not sent out to be burnt and a Caveat to be Enter'd against the making use of those that were sent out and about the same time sent Orders to the Earl of Feversham to Disband the Army and Dismiss the Soldiers which was done accordingly And then the late King made his first Attempt to leave the Kingdom How could the Jesuits have done their King a greater Injury than in persuading him to a continual Breach of his Promises which expos'd his Honour and Integrity to common Censure and drew the Contempt of the whole Nation upon him as a Prince never to be trusted At his first Accession to the Throne one of the Things his Favourites magnify'd him for was for being True to his Word but he resolv'd to prove the contrary and break it in every Instance He promis'd to protect the Church of England and maintain the Protestant Religion when his whole Design was to destroy both and declar'd it in every Action He promised to Govern by Law and not Arbitrarily and at the same time was Investing himself and his Ministers with a Power to destroy them He promis'd an equal Distribution of his Favours and that he would serve himself and the Government indifferently with the Use of All his Subects yet set up Papists to crush the Protestants And when driven to the last Extremity when his All was at Stake He promis'd to Call a Parliament when he was resolv'd it should have no Effect and therefore burnt the Writs to hinder their Sitting He promis'd by this Means to secure the Peace and Happiness of the Kingdom when he had resolv'd before-hand
Unanimous Vote and Universal Election of the People Confirm'd and Recogniz'd by the same Authority and Law of England by which all his Royal Predecessors enjoy'd the Imperial Crowns of these Kingdoms besides the Undoubted Right of his Excellent Princess and his own Right of Blood and that the Submission of the People and Determination of the Estates of the Kingdom grounded not only upon the Supream Law of Publick Good but also upon the Known and Declar'd Positive Laws and Constitutions of this Government as there has been Occasion in all Ages from the first Foundation of this Limited Monarchy and that this is Conclusive to all Private Subjects Yet because we ought to Resolve Cases here that may stand with the Reason of Mankind when they are debated abroad and that some that have writ on the Behalf of the Government by their weak and precarious Arguments have set up divers Titles that make it look like a Fanciful Chimera or built upon a Sandy or Fictitious Bottom and have more disparag'd the Revolution by their Impertinencies than all that have exercis'd their Pens or Spleens against it I crave Leave to be a little more particular upon it The Crown of England as placed on the Head of our Dread Sovereign William the Third stands Firm and Immoveable there on the Right of the Case and the Reason of the Thing without the Props of Art Oratory or Learning to support it Shuffling between Providential Settlement Conquest and Topping Protections of Power scandalize the King 's Legal Title and mis-lead his Subjects Let but the Matter express it self plainly and it will carry an Entire Conviction and Satisfaction with it in its own Genuine Phrase and Designment 'T is truly and plainly stated in the Prince of Orange's Declaration and is neither more nor less than what briefly follows James the Second directly contrary to his Coronation-Oath breaks through all the Establish'd Laws of the Land Invades and Subverts the Religious and Civil Rights Liberties Privileges and Properties of his Subjects which he solemnly Swore to Protect and Defend and in an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Manner Dissolves the Constitution of Church and State by Usurping a Power unknown to the Constitution and as Inconsistent with it as Light with Darkness His Subjects perceiving All going to Ruin having first us'd all Means to Reclaim him but to no purpose Assume their Natural Right in Defence of their Laws their Lives their Religion and to preserve them Entire oppose the Violent and Arbitrary Methods of the late King and apply themselves to the Prince of Orange our now Gracious King who had a Just Expectation of a Right to the Crown and humbly pray His Highness to assist them in Recovering and Defending their Legal Rights together with his own Title to the Succession both apparently Invaded and endeavouring to be Destroy'd by Clandestine Methods This Illustrious Prince gives the People Assistance and by the Blessing of God and the Mutual Appearance of the Nation for their Self-Defence and Preservation James the Second Conscious of his own Guilt in endeavouring to subvert the Constitution and breaking the Original Contract between King and People and that by the Advice of Jesuits and other Wicked People he had Violated the Fundamental Laws and thereby Abdicated the Government he leaves the Kingdom Upon which Vacancy of the Throne His Highness the Prince of Orange together with his Royal Consort of ever Blessed Memory the next Indisputable Heir to the Crown in a Full and Free Representation of the whole Community and Body of the Kingdom is and are Declar'd and Constituted King and Queen of England c. Now since 't is visible that the late King James was fled and that it was absolutely necessary the Government should be supply'd and some other King plac'd in the Throne who accepting the Crown upon the Conditions tender'd with it would give Assurance of Governing by the Laws of the Constitution and secure our Happiness under him there can remain no reasonable Objection against his Title Besides His Sacred Majesty King William the Third in a more especial manner is God's King as being appointed by his Providence by whom Kings Reign assisted by his Almighty Power and the Glorious Instrument in his Hand to Enterprize and Accomplish such a Deliverance as in common Gratitude without Respect to other Right in all Nations of the World has been constantly Rewarded with a Crown and more particularly in England upon that Respect Alone has justly meritted the Sovereignty His present Majesty is also God's King as being the Wise and Valiant Champion of all the Reformed Churches in Europe and who with his Sword his Head and Heart fights for Christ's Religion and to rescue the Professors of it from mighty Combinations to destroy them Root and Branch In which Great and Glorious Work God Almighty has signally own'd him as his Anointed King in preserving his Sacred Person in the Open Dangers of Wars and from the many Close and Barbarous Conspiracies of Ingrateful Regicides He is also the People's King as being their Voluntary Choice when they had no King and Establish'd by those Laws that were of their own making and the Precedents of their Fore-Fathers on the like Occasions For to rise no higher than the Norman Race William the Second Henry the First King John King Stephen Henry the Fourth Henry the Fifth Henry the Sixth and Henry the Seventh had no other Title but the Consent Election of the People and a Parliamentary Recognition of their Rights But King William the Third 's Right is not only Recogniz'd by a Statute-Law but his Person and Right is Guarded by an Act of Assotiation wherein all his Subjects have oblig'd themselves to Defend him with their Lives and Fortunes and to Revenge the Injury of his Person upon all the Agressors And what could be more done to declare his Right and engage our Obedience 'T is the Rarity of these Things happening and a general Ignorance in the History of Precedent Times that makes such Proceedings seem strange and unaccountable to those who have been Nurs'd up in Slavish Notions and apprehend not the Necessity of those Overtures against King James the Second and Supplying the Throne by the Coronation of William the Third For Our present King William came into as Empty a Throne as the late King James himself did a Civil Death in the Eye of the Law making as effectual a Vacancy as a Natural Death and therefore King William had the same Forms of Investiture as if his Abdicated Predecessor had left the World as well as his Native Country Why then should Men create themselves Trouble or disquiet their own and other Men's Consciences by Vexatious Disputes against the Divine Will Positive Laws and the Concurrence of a whole Nation Solomon was not David's Heir and yet he Reigned and was Obey'd with good Conscience Joram was Ahab's Son but Jehu succeeded King Joram had a Right from Ahab but Jehu from God
always Differences among them concerning Ecclesiastical Government and Discipline and about Forms and Modes of Divine Worship yet they always accorded in Essentials of Religion and in the Preservation of their Natural and Legal Rights and Privileges as well as in a Common Detestation of Popery and Tyranny and the Sinister Arts of promoting them But when these Fiery Bombs of a Popish Court were by various Hands thrown among Protestants all went to wrack by our fatal Divisions and such an Unlimited Power was thrust into the Hands of Caesar over our Lives Religion Laws Estates and Liberties that if his Amorous Intrigues and Careless Temper had not diverted him he had certainly arriv'd at that Pitch of Absoluteness in Church and State that he aspir'd after and had laid all his Subjects at the Discretion and Will of the Monarch 3. The next Expedient that King Charles employ'd to accomplish his Design was Encouraging and Cherishing Papists upon every Occasion when it might be done without an open Reflexion on himself or Government and yet sometimes he broke through those Maxims also tho' one would have thought their Intolerable Insolencies on every Gleam of Royal Favour might have justly check'd his Clemency Instances of his particular Respects for that People might be easily given but because it will be particularly discours'd in his Successor's Reign I shall give but Two here and those were His Conniving at their Increase and Executing the Laws with greatest Rigour against Protestant-Dissenters giving private Instructions to his Judges to stifle the Execution of the Laws against Popish Recusants tho' directly levell'd against them and but by a forc'd Construction inflicted upon Protestants 4. But the last and most Effectual Stratagem for the Service of this King 's Arbitrary Ends was Tying all his Ecclesiastical Promotions to the Preaching up Passive Obedience and Non-Resistance And in this he succeeded so unluckily that those who refus'd to comply with this Upstart Doctrine were scarce reckon'd among the Number of Christians whilst a little Court-Zealot that had nothing else to recommend him but a Blind Obedience to the Orders of Whitehall in Preaching up this Slavish Doctrine was Dignify'd with the Title of a True Son of the Church and Loaded with Preferments Into what a doleful Condition was this Nation reduc'd when Religion was forc'd to truckle to New-invented Politicks and our Laws were Brib'd into a Conspiracy against themselves Now both Pulpit and Press were Surfeited with such Discourses as these viz. That Monarchy was a Government by Divine Right That it was in the Prince's Power to Rule as he pleases That it was a Grace and Condescention in the King to Govern by Laws That for Parliaments to Direct or Regulate the Succession border'd upon Treason and was an Offence against the Law of Nature and That the only Benefit left to Subjects in case the King will Tyrannize over their Consciences Persons and Estates is tamely to suffer and as they Absurdly express'd it to Exercise Passive Obedience Thus were Minds and Consciences of the Subjects corrupted with such Pestilent and Slavish Notions that at length the whole Nation was betray'd into such a Stupidity and Insensibility of their Religion and Legal Rights that our Limited Monarchy was almost turn'd into an Absolute Tyranny and our Antient Privileges dwindl'd into nothing Under pretence of Preserving the Church too many of the Clergy gave themselves over to an Implicit Serving of the Court and became not only Advocates but Instruments for the Robbing Corporations of their Charters Imposing Sheriffs upon the City of London who were not Legally Elected and of Fining and punishing Men Arbitrarily for no Crime save their having by Modest and Lawful Ways Asserted their Own and the Nations Rights Under pretence of Jealousie of the Fanaticks they became Tools under this King for Justifying the Dissolution of so many Parliaments the Invasion made upon their Privileges the Ridiculing and Stifling Popish Plots the Shamming of Forg'd Conspiracies upon Protestants the Condemning of several Men to Death for High Treason who could be Render'd Guilty by the Transgression of no Known Law and finally for Advancing the Duke of York into the Throne who was engag'd in a Conjuration against Religion and the Civil-Government and whom Three several Parliaments for those Reasons would have Excluded from the Succession But When I say these Enormities were committed by the Clergy I desire not to be understood as if I intended to comprehend all that Sacred Order under the Guilt of such Rash and Inconsiderate Designs for there were many Good Men among them who were so far from Sacrificing our Religion and Laws to Popery and Arbitrary Power that they publickly declar'd their Dis-likes and Abhorrence of such Extravagant Proceeding tho' they wanted Power to stem the Torrent that was overflowing both Church and State and as soon as Providence minister'd an Occasion were the first that put to their Hands to stop the Violence of the Stream and Confine the Power of the Late King within the Bounds of Law and Justice But to return from this Digression This Passive Obedience Doctrine was broach'd by some Modern Divines about the middle of the Reign of King James the First who in Opposition to Buchanan Knox and other Scotch Ministers that gave too great Encouragement to Sedition and Rebellion and to Curry Favour with that Monarch run into contrary Extreams under the Names of Duty and Loyalty So hard and difficult it is to observe the Golden Mean Dr. Harsnet Bishop of Chichester was the first I meet with in that Reign that gave himself the Liberty from these Words Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's to discover New Notions in Politicks as well as Divinity and to Assert publickly That the King had an Absolute Right to all that Subjects were possessed of And for this Service in Betraying his Country he was Translated from the Diocess of Chichester to Norwich and thence to the Archbishoprick of York In the Beginning of the Reign of King Charles the First these Preachments run something higher and Dr. Manwaring holding forth before that King at Whitehall Invested him with an Uncontrollable Authority gave him Power to Raise Taxes or Subsidies without Consent of Parliament and in the Conclusion resign'd all the King's Subjects to the Devil that refus'd to obey it For which he was presented to a Fat Living in Essex and afterwards promoted to the Bishoprick of St Davids which under what sad Constellation or Fate I know not has often been Pester'd with Men of the same Principles The Promotion of these Temporizers encourag'd Dr. Sybthorp a Confident and Kinsman to Dr. Lamb to attempt the Mending his Circumstances by Tracing their Steps And in an Assize-Sermon at Northampton on Rom. 13.7 he laid our All at the King's Feet and left poor Subjects nothing but Tears for their Loss and Prayers to be supply'd in their Wants Thus bating Preferments Sybthorp soon obtain'd his Ends and his Vicaridge of
and that in no case whatsoever they might be Resisted to which I shall add no more till I have answer'd the Calumny of the Papists who charge the Revolution upon the Principles of our Religion Pere d'Orleans the Jesuit with design to draw off the Roman Catholick Princes from a * Revolution d'Angleterre Tom 3. p. 395. Confederacy with King William and other Protestant Princes for the preservation of Europe and to perswade them to unite their Arms with those of France and the late King James on whose success as he says depends the Glory and Stability of the Popish Religion after he has scandalously told them that this Confederacy was a Combination against God and his Messias the subtle Missionary would insinuate that the late King was Depos'd merely upon the account of his Religion and that if he had been of no Religion or any thing but a Papist he had never lost his Crown which is a great Calumny and to say no worse a wilful mistake for in Antient times long before the Reformation had footing in England and when the profession of the same Religion ty'd Men in one Communion and Worship and when there could be no Apprehension of Grudges upon the Pretence of Different Persuasions in Religion there were equal Animosities and Struglings between the Antient Britains and their Kings as often as they thought their Laws and Liberties were in danger of being Invaded or Destroy'd by them None that converse with History can be ignorant that the same Innate and Congenial Temper has always sway'd these Northern Climates in all Ages within the Reach of History and was observ'd to be Predominate by Julius Caesar him self in his own Reign here Tacitus has an Instance very applicable to this purpose * Ipsi Britanni selectum tributa injuncta Imperii munera impigre obeunt si Injuriae absint has aegre tolerant jam domiti ut pareant nondum ut serviant Tacit. in Vita Agricolae Sect. 13. The Britains saith he are easily assembl'd pay Taxes freely and execute Offices in the Government chearfully if no Injuries be offer'd them for they are willing Subjects but impatient under Slavery When they were under the Power of the Normans they had often Recourse to their Arms to prevent the Incroachments and abate the Oppressions of that Race of Kings although they were All of the same Religion as is apparent in the Reign of William the First who upon the Opposition he met with relinquish'd his Pretence to Conquest and swore to govern the Kingdom by its Antient Laws William the Second was defeated by many of his Subjects who took part with his Elder Brother Robert Duke of Normandy because Rufus had violated the Laws From the same Cause when Duke Robert rais'd an Army against his other Brother Henry the First the greatest part of Henry's Army Revolted to Robert because as Matthew Paris says Henry had already been a Tyrant Another Commotion was rais'd against this Prince and the Party headed by Stephen Archbishop of Canterbury King John was brought to Reason by the Resistance he found by the Great Prelates Nobility and Gentry who slighted the Pope's Bull for Abolishing their Great Charter and valu'd neither the King's Arms nor the Pope's Excommunicating of them all when they stood in Competition with their Antient Rights and Privileges What Troubles and Danger did the Barons and Bishops bring upon Henry the Third for Violating their Privileges His Reign gave Birth to the Complaint that fill'd the Subjects Mouths in the Reign of King James viz. That Judgment was committed to the Unjust the Laws to the Lawless Peace to Men of Discord and Justice to the Injurious So that not only the Nobility Gentry and Commonalty but the Bishops of his own Church Warr'd against him threaten'd him with Excommunication and that if he would not be reclaim'd from his Illegal and Arbitrary Proceedings they would conferr with the other Estates of the Realm and as they had done in his Predecessor's Time would chuse a New King And if in so Antient Times when Popery was on the Meridian of Glory and Power not only the Laity but the Prelates of the Church thought it Lawful to Resist their Monarchs who were breaking in upon their Liberties why may not Protestants do the same without Scandal to their Holy Religion when they had greater Reasons and stronger Provocations than former Times could pretend to Their Religion was never in danger by any of those Kings But ours had receiv'd a deadly Wound by James the Second and was almost Expiring till we took shelter under a Prince who is not only able to Protect his own Subjects but to hinder other Nations from being brought under the Yoke of Slavery The Reader I hope will easily perceive that these Instances are not urg'd to flatter the Rage or gratifie the Passions of Seditious Rebels but only to shew that it has always been the Genius of the English Nation under all Forms of Religion to be very Tender of their Privileges and gave greater Proofs of their Zeal for them in Times of Popery than ever they have done since ehe Protestant Religion obtain'd amongst us Which may at once confute the Jesuits and convince the World that we did not resist the late King James because he was a Papist but because he was a Tyrant tho' it has been observ'd in England that Popery was the first Step to Arbitrary Power and the nearer any of our Kings inclin'd to Popery so much the more did our Privileges decline till at last they were almost totally destroy'd by a Prince that openly profess'd it and all our Crime is that we would not be content to be Ruin'd by the late King and his Popish Emmissaries and rather chose to desire Protection Liberty and the Restitution of our Privileges from His Present Majesty than abide in the Condition of the vilest Slaves to the late King James A Crime for which I am very confident no Papist tho' he Rail at us with his Tongue can condemn us in his Conscience And this brings us to the last Plea that our Opponents are pleas'd to enter against the Doctrine of Resistance and securing our Obedience to the late King viz. That we are oblig'd by our Oaths to Obey and not Resist him upon any Pretence whatsoever To which I Answer How large an Extent soever some Men may give to the Oaths they took in pursuance of an Act of Parliament in the 13th of Charles the Second yet they ought to remember what must always be suppos'd as the Natural Condition of every Oath Rebus sic stantibus Things continuing in the same State as they were in at the Time of Taking these Oaths for otherwise the Obligation ceases when Things are so changed that they are Unlawful or impossible to be observ'd When we took these Oaths to the late King we believ'd he would observe and keep his own Oath at his Coronation and protect us in
Ishbosheth had Right by Descent from Saul but David was made King And 't was for the sake of Religion that they were thus Plac'd and Displac'd In France Childeric was Depos'd and Egidius or Gillon a mere Stranger but in Reputation for Probity and Wisdom was Elected in his stead Pepin was Elected King and Thierry Depos'd Pepin Grandson to the former was by Parliament Crown'd King tho' there was of that Marovinian Race in Being Charlemain's and Hugh Capet's best if not only Title was the Choice of the People So that I wonder the French Writers should question the Legality of the late Revolution in England since if we look back into the Original of other Kings and how they came to their Crowns King William's Title to the Crown of England is as good as the best and much better than some now Reigning in Europe for if all the Monarchs and Governments in Europe that have succeeded such Depositions or Abdications have been Unlawful and Usurp'd there is not one Monarch or Government in all Europe nay scarce in the whole World that can say they have a Lawful Authority but must acknowledge according to the Doctrine of D' Orleance that they are all Usurpers Which I wonder he had the Confidence to Assert since he cannot be ignorant that the French Kings enjoy their Crowns in Consequence of the Abdications and Depositions of their Predecessors and the People's Elections which succeeded those Dethronements So that King William 's Title to the Crown of England is as good as King Lewis's to France if not better for their own Historians give great Suspicion of Unfair Dealings and Sly Practices in the Elections of some of the French Kings but neither Envy it self nor the most Inveterate of all our Enemies could ever object it against King William that by any Acts of Force or Arts of Corruption he endeavour'd to work on the Members of either House to labour his own Advancement but that it was the Free Election of the Majority after long Debates and Consultations on other Expedients His Majesty did not like King Harold lay Violent Hands upon a Crown but only Accepted it when it was Offer'd And which shews his Goodness and Justice he receiv'd it too on the Conditions that were offer'd with it which gives us a lasting Assurance of the Regularity of his Government His Vertue and his Merit recommended him to England by their Free Election he was made King and that is the Right he Claims by and being the most Righteous and Lawful that can be without a Miracle it makes out Allegiance and Obedience to him become our Indispencible Duty But That which I but hinted before and now comes to Crown all the rest and put it quite out of Dispute for ever is It was God's Doing the Immediate Hand of Heaven was in it And truly nothing less could have accomplish'd such Miraculous Things We all know what the Nation Felt and Fear'd the Overturning of this Church and the Subverting this Government Now all this being stopp'd our Religion secur'd our Temporalities safe and a Check put to the Spirit of Persecution and all in so short a Time must be ascrib'd to an Almighty Power and Goodness That when the Design of our Deliverance was Form'd and Essaying there should be so extraordinary a Concurrence of all Favourable Accidents and disposing all Men's Minds the same Way That the Precipitation and Folly of our Persecutors in opening their Ill Designs so Early and the Unrelenting Cruelty put in practice in a Neighbouring Kingdom should send us over so many Thousand Witnesses to awaken us and shew us what we were to expect when that Bloody Religion became Triumphant amongst us and what all Oaths Promises and Laws should signifie as soon as they could break through them And that this should happen at the same time when the late King was Suspending Laws in favour of the Papists That our Enemies should go on so fast and Bare-fac'd That they should grasp so much at once and suffer the Hook to be so ill cover'd when the Bait was thrown out And that all their Designs should be blasted by themselves must be ascrib'd to the Eternal who brings to Light the hidden Things of Darkness and suffers the Wicked to be taken in the Snare they prepar'd for others Further That the great Supporter of Persecution should start a Quarrel with the Head of that Mystical Babylon and divert his Force to a New War an unjust one to be sure since he began it And so many great Princes should Unite to Stop his Carier and preserve Europe That so great an Army as the late King had Rais'd from whom our present King might expect a stout Opposition should voluntarily Desert grow Supine and comply with Reason and the Good of the Nation That such a Divided People should so Unanimously Concurr in in Electing the same Person to be their King and that this mighty Deliverance should be perfected without Shedding of Blood agreeable to the Proposals and Intentions of our Great Deliverer the Laws of the Land and the present and future Tranquility of the whole Nation must be the Lord 's Doing and ought to be Commemorated to his Eternal Glory and Accompany'd with a Grateful Retribution and Dutiful Obedience to our Gracious King who hath done such great Things for us Which is the last Particular 'T is doubtless one of the most palpable Signs of a Base Profligate Nature not to be oblig'd by Favours 'T would be an Injury to a Beast to call him Ingrateful That Epithet no Being can deserve but one that is degenerated into something more Vile than the worst of Animals that has broke through all that is Modest Ingenious and Tender and Apprehensive in Humane Nature And for the Noble Creature Man to be guilty of Ingratitude in Offending our Deliverer or Dishonouring our Sovereign by any Rash or Unadvis'd Words or Actions who sav'd us from Ruin who snatch'd us from the Brink of Destruction To return him Evil for Good to requite his Favours with Indignities to Diminish his Power by taking too much upon themselves to Mis-represent his Gratious Intention or Lessen or Detract from his Goodness is to sink below Comprehension and render himself unworthy of the Blackest Thought With what Emotion and Grief of Mind then can we think of those that are already grown so Insensible of their past Dangers and forgetting the Mercy of their Deliverance abuse Modest Ears with Invidious Reflections upon the Supream and Subordinate Authority they ought to obey How is Conversation Sour'd by those Animals that like Tame Ducks are always dabling in Nasty Gutturs that Espy and Publish all Men's Faults but their own and can no more rest from Reproaching their Superiours than a Crow from feeding on Carrion Jealousies like Bull-Rushes grow out of the Mud of their own Brains and their Suspicious and Ungrounded Glances discover more Rancour than direct Contumelies They boast of their Affection and mighty
Services done for the Government yet do their utmost to make it Contemptible Some of them carry their Fire in Dark-Lantherns sigh out their Sorrows for Mis-managements deplore the Danger that hangs over us and persuade the World that every thing is out of Order because themselves are out of Office Others Rail outright and carry the Brands Ends open in their Mouths to kindle Combustions and Archimago-like make Variance between the Head and the Body upon no other Ground than Obloquies Suspicions and Fears those Brats of Rotten Fame that have no Father but their own Invention These are A sort of Men Illuminated into a kind of Distraction whom nothing can please and what any thing cannot but displease ever constant to their Old Dislikes and the Beginning of New Wishes and who like the Bay of Biscay are always Rough and Angry let the Wind blow where it will Talk of Loyalty and Obedience you raise their Passion and they call you Tory If you talk Well of all Men they call you a Trimmer Speak of preserving a due Temperament in the State they call you a Whig or Republican And say nothing and they proclaim you a Fool because you are not a Busie-Body What a strange Pass are Things brought to by carrying all Things into Extremities Some Men by Overstraining the Doctrine of Obedience made it Contemptible Must we therefore wholly lay aside that Evangelical Precept Because we are not oblig'd to obey a Tyrant must we therefore dispute away our Duty to the King and make our Submission as Arbitrary as the Power we declaim'd against Because we ought not to submit to a Destroyer must we not obey our Preserver Because a more than ordinary Liberty of Censuring Publick Affairs was assum'd in our late Times of Confusion and Disorder must that Pragmatical Humour be continu'd to create new Jealousies and Disturbances now the State is settl'd a Good King in the Throne and Justice equally Administer'd through the whole Kingdom No! Sure 't is time for these Over-active State-menders to comport themselves with more Modesty and Decency to the Government to bind their Tongues to the Good Behaviour to Restrain Seditious Discourses and Intermedling in Publick Affairs to study to be Quiet and do their own Business to fear God honour and obey the King For whatever they think of it or however it may have been abus'd or mis-apply'd in former Reigns Obedience to Princes is the Doctrine of the Bible and the Indispencible Duty of Subjects to their Sovereign And therefore upon that Head I will here endeavour to settle it You cannot be ignorant what a Character our Enemies give us viz. That we are as Unchangeable as the Wind and as Unconstant and Quarrelsome as the Waves of the Sea that are always Fluctuating and dashing themselves to pieces Fickleness is the Reproach of our Nation abroad and has render'd us Vile and Cheap amongst other Nations Now an Opportunity is put into our Hands to confute those Prejudices by a Stability in our Allegiance to such a King and Subjection to such a Government as all Europe admire and envy us for Now we have an Advantage to shew our Complaints again the late King were True and that the Causes of them were Real and may gain a Reputation of our Conduct when we shew by our Actions that as we had the Prudence to change so much for the better so we have the Wisdom to know when we are well and the Honesty to continue so The Papists reproach our Religion with Disloyalty and therefore after we have struggl'd so hard to keep it we ought to shew it was worth Contending for and wipe off that Aspertion by extolling its Vertue because amongst other Excellencies it obliges us to a Fermety in our Allegiance beyond all other Motives in the World and that upon a Religious Foundation chiefly we build and maintain our Duty to the King and tho' Lower Considerations have sometimes their Place and Value yet that the Grand and Durable Obligations spring from those Sacred Maxims And I the rather press it to you upon this Score because it will justifie you before God make you appear truly Religious and Reasonable before Men and will be thought best Subjects by the King because your Loyalty is the Fruit of your Religion As for Interest it is so Uncertain and Changeable a Thing that it gives a Prince no Security in Relying upon that Topick nor a Subâ—ect can scarce trust himself with it For the same Reasons that now Induce Men to be Loyal may if the Scene should change a better Offer â—e made and a Pardon inclos'd prevail with the same Persons to be Rebels and Traytors Those that follow'd our Blessed Saviour for the Loaves whereof they eat and were fill'd soon forsook him And those that adhere to our King only as Rats and Mice do a Barn because there is Grain in it are in danger of Deserting him as soon as they find their Expectations frustrated Things are but at an Ill pass when Subjects Loyalty continues no longer than while they are Oblig'd by Favours and when every froward Person shall set up against the Court if he be not Advanc'd and Rewarded as his own Ambition and Avarice tells him he ought to be Gratitude and Thankfulness to a Prince are eternally due from his Subjects and is a good Foundation to build our Obedience upon but we have sorrowfully experienc'd that some Men's Loyalty have expir'd with their Shouts and Acclamations or at least but the Loss of an Employment and all the Reason that can be given for it is because their Duty was not grounded upon Religion and Conscience The People of England have been always great Pretenders to both and now if they have not so long wrangl'd about these Things that they have quite lost them and have had God and Conscience so long in their Mouths that their Hearts have almost forgotten there are any such Thing it now concerns them who have seen so many visible Interpositions of Providence in behalf of our King our Church and our Nation those strange and sudden Changes of Things and such a mighty Deliverance effected which nothing but the Right Hand of God could bring to pass it concerns them I say to shew that they have a true Sense of Religion and Conscience in practising an Uninteressed and Undissembled Obedience to their Sovereign Lord King William for this is all the Requital and Compensation they can make to His Majesty for all his Favours and Care of them and would in some measure sweeten and aleviate the Burthen of them Shall I be allow'd to say one thing without Offence or Imputation of Flattery That if ever any King might expect Chearful Obedience from us for his Own sake or claim it for God's sake King William that now Governs us may do it justly His Majesty's Great and Glorious Undertaking His Indefatigable Pains His Toilsom Days His Restless Nights His Anxious Cares in preventing