Absolute and Despotick Power in the King They were fit Instruments to sacrifice the Laws and Religion of the Kingdom to the Will of their Sovereign P. 40. They neither knew nor feared nor cared for the Laws P. 82. The Members of Parliament would not stick to sacrifice the Liberties and Laws of the Kingdom to the King 's Will. P. 153. They devolv'd the Power of Making and Repealing Laws on the King's Pleasure P. 24 It was impossible the Grand Segnior should have fitted himself better with Instruments for promoting an Arbitrary Government than he K. J. did P. 31. No body can deny but they were well chosen for the Work for which he designed them Yet this Author could not think they were so very well chosen when he makes them stand up for the Laws and struggle with the King against Arbitrary Power till they made his Nose burst out a bleeding for vexation as you have heard before Now would you believe that this K. J. who was so highly bent to be Absolute and Arbitrary would be content to be a Vassal to France Yet this Author asserts it so positively p. 45. as to say that it is manifest And p. 183. That he took care to put it out of his own Power to help the Protestants Qui occidere quemquam nolit posse velit It is not natural for an Arbitrary Man to desire any thing to be out of his Power much less would he take care to put it out of his own Power If he did it must proceed out of an inveterate malice to the Protestants yet they all think His being there was their Preservation that he hindered the Irish not only from Massacres but from Burning or Plundering Dublin and the whole Country when they left it and many other Outrages And our Author when he is upon painting out the Barbarity of the Irish does frequently confess it and insist upon it and as frequently deny it when his Spleen rises against K. J. He cries out c. 3. s 13. n. 3. d. 4. p. 172. And when men were thus slaughtered with his K. J's approbation This is a very heavy Charge and what was the reason of it Because says he they were killed with K. J's Protections in their Pockets I am afraid there is no Case where we could come upon the Comparison betwixt the Protestant and the Irish Army in Ireland Of K. J. keeping his Protections with more disadvantage to the Protestants than that of keeping their Protections or punishing the Breaches of them In this I appeal to Secretary Gorge's Letter in which he gives a remarkable Instance of K. J's both granting Protections to the Protestants and making it good to them notwithstanding the greatest provocations viz. Secretary Gorge's Wife and Family were not only Protected and Preserved by K. J. in Dublin while he was in so considerable a Post against K. J. as to be Secretary to the General Schomberg then at the Head of an Army in Ireland to drive K. J. out thence but upon their application to K. J. he gave them leave and his Pass port to go to the Secretary to Schomberg's Army And thus by K. J's Clemency he had his Wife and Family restored safe to him at the same time that he was endeavouring to dispossess K. J. of all he had in the World The Secretary in his Letter aggravates the Breach of Protections and want of Discipline in Schomberg's Army by shewing how regularly King James governed his Army and not only threatned severe Penalties upon the Breach of his Proclamations and Protections but duly exacted them The respective Penalties injoyned in the said Proclamation says the Secretary viz. K. J's Proclamation against plundering and other Irregularities are severely and impartially executed on the respective Offenders My Family tells me that the Week before they left Dublin there were two private Soldiers publickly executed before a Protestant Baker's Door for stealing two Loaves not worth a Shilling And a Fortnight before a Lieutenant and Ensign were publickly executed at a place where on pretence of the King's Service they prest a Horse going with Provision to Dublin Market Two others were condemned and expected daily to be executed for the like Offence These severe Examples confirming the Penalties of these publick Declarations contribute so much to the Quiet of the Country that were it not for the Country Raparees and Tories theirs 't is thought would be much quiâ—ter than ours The truth is too many of the English as well as Danâ—s and French are highly oppressive to this poor Country whereas our Enemies have reduced themselves to that Order that they exercise Violence upon none but the Proprieties of such as they know to be absent or as they Phrase it in Rebellion against them whose Stock Goods and Estates are seized and set by the Civil Government and the Proceed applied for and towards the Charge of the War These are the Words of the Secretaries Letter where you see it was K. William's Army that destroyed and K. James's that protected the Country And as many Protestants as staid at home and trusted themselves to King James's Protection preserved their Goods and Improvements and live now plentifully while those that fled from him lost what they had and smart now severely under these Necessities which their Neighbours escaped who either would not or could not fly from the Mercy of their Natural Sovereign The Secretary says here That they seized the Estates of the Absentees But I must add to this That where any Application was made in behalf of Absentees and any tollerable Reason given for their not returning there was not only no advantage taken of their not coming in within the time limited in K. J's several Proclamations to that purpose but they had Time sine Die given them come when they could and in the mean time their Goods were preserved and though seized by the Sheriffs for the King's use being forfeited by the Laws there the King commanded the Sheriffs to deliver the Goods into the hands of such Friends of the Absentees as made Application for them And where the Irish Sheriffs refused or delayed to deliver such Goods they were severely punished and forced to do it or others put in their places that would For you cannot imagine but it went mightily against the Grain with them to be forced to restore the Goods of those who as they supposed were in actual Rebellion and their declared Enemies and which they expected and they thought reasonably as a Reward for their Services For who would not take the Spoil of their Enemies The Irish understood it as if the King still had an Eye towards his Protestant Subjects and preferred their Interest though in Rebellion against him before that of the Irish though at that time serving him or as Dr. Gorge words it better That King James considered the Protestants who were in Arms against him rather as deluded Subjects than as obstinate Rebels The Irish Protestants who staid
shewn For being by a particular Clause in that Act enabled by themselves or whom they should appoint to try and purge out all insufficient negligent scandalous and erroneous Ministers they erected Tribunals in every Presbytery as arbitrary but more senseless than the Inquisition and did but one good Act to purge out those Episcopal Presbyters who complied with their Schism and Usurpation for which they could never want a pretence because Ordination or Collation from Prelates was always made one Article in their Visitations and thought erroneous enough to spew any out of their Churches But as to these Deprived Clergy I must here take notice of a distinction much used in England to mollifie Lay-Deprivations viz. That the Bishops and Clergy Deprived by Act of Parliament lose not their Character only are barr'd by the Secular Power to exercise it in such Districts But Act 35. of Sess 2. of the first Parliament of William and Mary in Scotland those Ministers who did not Pray for King William and Queen Mary and were therefore Depriv'd were afterwards prohibited to preach or exercise any part of the Ministerial Function either in Churches or elsewhere upon any pretext whatsoever And in the 38th Act of the same Session they do as much confound our State-distinction of de Facto and de Jure which they say is cunningly of late spread abroad to weaken and invalidate the Allegiance sworn to their Majesties And therefore they order a Certificate to be subscrib'd by all who take the Oath declaring K. W. and Q. M. to be King and Queen as well de Jure as de Facto And they say That in all these things they have dealt more frankly and plainly if not more honestly and sincerely than we have done in England They think it more fair and open Dealing plainly to Foresault the King for Male-administration than to Abdicate him for flying to save his Life And when he is gone that he should not take the Right to the Crown along with him and leave K. W. nothing but a de Facto Possession which they think a Betraying K. W. to the last Degree and making him no better than an Usurper They think it the same thing to debar Clergy-men from the Exercise of the Ministerial Function as to leave them no Place to exercise it in And as Charitable to allow nothing to the Depriv'd as to name something for them and put it into Hands where they are sure never to come by it But I know not so well how they 'll solve that Contradiction which seems to be betwixt their Claim of Right 11 Ap. 89. and their Confession of Faith Ratified and Established Act 5. of 2 Sess 1 Parl. William and Mary Read over in their Presence and inserted Verbatim in the Body of the Act. The Claim of Right begins in these Words Whereas King James being a profest Papist did assume the Regal Power c. And the first of their Claims is in these Words That by the Law of this Kingdom no Papist can be King or Queen of this Realm And yet in the abovesaid Confession of Faith Chap. 23. It is Decreed and Established as the true Christian Doctrine in these Words viz. Infidelity or Difference in Religion doth not make void the Magistrates just and legal Authority nor free the People from their due Obedience to him But I must not exceed the bounds of a Preface For if I should only Name all the Hardships and Oppressions the illegal and arbitrary Proceedings of which the Jacobites complain of in Scotland say they are ready to make good by undeniable Vouchers I should swell this beyond the Bulk of Dr. King's Book and that the Truths of the Proceedings in Scotland would if possible out-number the Falstoods he relates of Ireland But for a fuller Account of these Scots Affairs I refer you to a small Tract called A Letter to a Friend giving an Account of all the Treatises that have been Publish'd with Relation to the present Persecution against the Church of Scotland Printed for Jo. Hindmarsh Among these as to the State Affairs be pleased to consult that Tract called The late Proceedings and Votes of the Parliament of Scotland contained in an Address delivered to the King And for the Affairs of the Church An Account of the present Persecution of the Church of Scotland in several Letters The Case of the present Afflicted Clergy of Scotland The Historical Relation of the late General Assembly held at Edinburgh And the Presbyterian Inquisition And there you will find such Cruelties used towards the Loyal and Episcopal Party in Scotland as were unheard of in Ireland and by Dr. King's Principles would justifie any Foreign Prince to interpâ—se on their behalf And if it be true which he lays down as the Foundation upon which he builds all that he says in his Book viz. That if a King design to destroy one main Part of his People in favour if anâ—ther whom he loves better he does Abdicate the Government of those whom he designs to destroy contrary to Justice and the Laws If this be true the Episcopal Party in Scotland think it would free them from all Obligation to K. William's Government But how far it is Applicable to the Protestants in Ireland to justifie their Carriage towards King James will be seen in what follows Suppose say they it were true which Dr. King asserts as it is most false That K. James while he was in Ireland did endeavour totally to overthrow the Church Established by Law there and set up that which was most agreeable to the Inclinations of the major Number of the People in that Kingdom who are Roman Catholicks The Jacobites ask if this were so Whether it be not fully vindicated in the 4th Instruction of those which King William sent to his Commissioner in Scotland dated at Copt-Hall 31. May 89. in these Words You are to pass an Act Establishing that Church Government which is most agreeable to the Inclinations of the People By which Rule they say That it was as just to set uâ— Popery in Ireland as Presbytery in Scotland And that the Law was not more against the one in Ireland than against the other in Scotland That the Parliament in Ireland was liable to less Exception than that in Scotlandâ— The one called in the usual Form by Writs from their Natural King to whom they had Sworn the other by Circular Letters from a Foreign Prince to whom they ow'd no Obedience who could not nor did pretend any other Authority over them or Right to the Crown besides The Inclinations of the People Which therefore they say in return for their Kindness he has made the Standard for Church Government as well as the Government of the State That it is only alleged that King James intended to do in Ireland what he did not do when it was in his Power and what King William actually did in Scotland viz. To overturn the Church then by Law Established
will prove a Tyrant It is natural for Men to affect Absoluteness Who Loves to be Controul'd We must always be under the Power of some or other and the effect of a Revolution is but Changing the Person wherein you must run a Hazard for as one said upon a certain occasion There is nothing so like as Two Kings And it is a terrible sort of a Cure to slaughter half the Nation upon an Experiment which our Author himself confesses to be very uncertain or indeed impossible to have any good Effect if lost Liberty cannot be retrieved but the Danger and the Mischief is certain And our Author does not see a Remedy It is the common Fate of these Rebellions for Liberty to be made a Prey to their Deliverers And then half the People must be destroy'd by a new Deliverer to gain Liberty to the other half And if they be mistaken in the Man then half of the remaining half must go And if they be mistaken again then half of that half and so on for ever This is our Author's Receipt for Liberty And he says It is for the Good of the People Of which People I beseech you of those that are Kill'd to gain Liberty for the rest But how do you compute the Good of the People Is it not from the Major part This Author I have heard is a good Mathematician he cannot be mistaken Reckoning Now if half of the People be destroy'd to purchase Liberty to the rest here is no Good but Hurt done to the People Because there is greater Hurt done to the one half of the People than the fancy'd Good can be to the other I suppose our Author has not represented himself in his own mind to be one of that half which was to be Destroy'd But being one of the surviving half he thinks it best the other half should be Destroy'd to purchase Liberty for those that remain But if this Experiment be repeated a a second Time and half of the remaining half be taken off then there is no Comparison but this must be for the Hurt of the People Especially considering that this Principle opens a door to an Eternal Halfing them at this Rate And we may see it by Experience where this Doctrine obtains that that Country I am sorry England should come into the Account seldom enjoys a longer Respite from the Ruin of one Revolution than to take breath feed up and fatten for another And what can prevent it where People are thus Disciplin'd and Encourag'd to Rebellion And have a never-failing Pretence given them to Kick when-ever they are Wanton Nothing but a Miracle can stop them till Ruin upon Ruin has humbled them and convinc'd them by Demonstration of the pernicious Consequence of these loose Principles of Government Plutarch in the Life of Timoleon tells That the Towns in Sicily would not trust him being lately over-run with Violence and Outrage and exasperated against all Leaders of Armies for the sake chiefly of Calippus an Athenian and Pharax a Lacedemonian Captain and the Mischiefs they had suffered by their Treachery For both of them having given out that the Design of their coming was to introduce Liberty and depose Tyrants they did so Tyrannize themselves that the Reign of former Oppressors seem'd a Golden Age if compar'd with the Lordliness and Exaction of these pretended Deliverers who made the Sicilians reckon them to be far more happy that did expire in Servitude than any that had liv'd to see such a dismal Freedom Thus Plutarch And Lucan reck'ning over the Miseries of the Civil-Wars of Rome which were all for Liberty envies the happy Condition of those who live under Absolute Tyrannies He crys out Faelices Arabes Medique Aeaque Tellus Quam sub porpetuis tenuerunt fata Tyrannis I could give 1000ds of Instances of the truth of this in all Nations they are enow to make a History And if a History were written of the Mischiefs of Liberty and Publick Good or the Good of the People that is what Mischiefs have been wrought in the World under the Pretence of Publick Good the Good of the People and asserting of their Liberties I will undertake the Comparison That more visible Mischief has come to the People more Destruction of the Publick Good and greater Loss of Libery and Property by this one Method than by all other Sins and Wickedness of Mankind put together And consequently that there is no Comparison 'twixt the Evils of Tyranny and of a Civil War for Liberty and the Publick Good and that the Mischief of this Pretence of Publick Good is infinitely less Tolerable and a more universal Ruin to the People than any Tyranny of Lawful Governors that ever was in the World It is by many Degrees the Greatest and most Lawless Tyranny of the two and always brings greater Evils Confusion Disorder Rapin Violence Contempt of Laws and Legal Establishments more intolerable Mischiefs of all Sorts than those it pretends to Remedy But of all Pretences for Rebellion Religion is the most Ridiculous because a Civil War introduces greater Immorality loosens the Reins of Discipline and is more contrary to the Spirit of True Religion than any other Thing in the World True Religion is not Propagated by the Sword It is a small still Voice that cannot be heard in War It is built like Solomon's Temple without the Noise of a Hammer War confounds it and debauches it The most Profligate and Licentious Court bears no Proportion in Wickedness to the Lewdness Blasphemy and Contempt of all that is Sacred which Reigns and Overflows in Camps It was an old saving Nulla fides Pietasque viris qui Castra sequuntur I desire this Author to make a just Computation betwixt the Godliness of the Protestant Army in Ireland this Revolution and the common strain of Wickedness which was Practic'd there before by the People in time of Peace I have been told that this Author did express his just Indignation against the wild and bare-fac'd Debauchery of the Army from his Pulpit in Dublin so far as to say It was come to that pass that it was a Scandal for any Woman of Reputation to be seen in Company with a Red or a Blew Coat for which he incurr'd the heavy Displeasure of the Sparks and Beau's in the Army who practis'd all mad Lewdness and Prophanity with both hands earnestly with all their Strength and Power with the same Zeal and Fervor that they Rusht into the Battle They thought the one as much their Duty as the other Dr. Gorge in his Letter from the Camp n. 2. Appendix tells us That they thought Religion but Canting and Debauchery the necessary Character of of Soldiers And he had good Reason to know being at that time Secretary to the General But the Case is notorious all Men know it The truth is that Army has Debauched generally all that they have left alive in that Kingdom and have left the Marks of their Wickedness
Princely Affection expressed to all your loving Subjects in your Majesty's gracious Speech at the opening of this Session which we most humbly beseech your Majesty may be forthwith printed and published And we farther crave leave humbly to represent to your Majesty our Abhorrence and Detestation of the late Treasons and Defections of many of Your Majesty's Subjects in this and Your other Kingdoms and the unnatural Usurpation of the Prince of Orange against the Laws of God and Man professing with our Voice Tongue and Heart That we will ever be ready to assert and vindicate Your Majesty's Rights to Your Imperial Crown with our Lives and Fortunes against the said Vsurper and his Adherents and all other Rebels and Traitors whatsoever Ordered the 10th of May 1689. by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled that this Address be printed B. Polewheele Dep. Cl. Parl. Numb 2. Dr. Gorge Secretary to General Schomberg in Ireland his Letter dated April or May 1690. to Collonel James Hamilton in London to be communicated to the Lady Viscountess Ranelagh the Lord Massereen and others Honoured Sir THe Fire saith the Royal Prophet kindled in my Breast and I spake with my Tongue Perhaps some Sparks of that Fire so enflamed my Zeal to the publick Good of this Countrey that I have not onely spoke with my Tongue but wrote with my Pen those Truths which I know have redounded more to my particular Prejudice than to the publick Service He that follows Truth too near saith a wise man may lose his Teeth and a wiser than he tells us that he who professeth some Truths may thereby lose his Life yet in the same Period tells us that he shall be no loser thereby the Satisfaction and Contentment which constantly attends Integrity being much sweeter than the Advantage of Temporal Security Liberavi Animam meam and if this make me vile I am content to be more vile I know God hath put Enmity between the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent and I as well know that it is as vain for Man's Prudence to attempt to unite what God hath divided as it is sinfull to divide what he hath united I speak not a little to my satisfaction what you know to be true That our Adversaries who are more God's than ours want neither Power nor Malice to crush us such is the Goodness of God that they dare not own their Hatred but are content not only to make me fall from my present Station soft and easie but are willing to make my Remove an Advantage to me little thinking that taking me off from being Secretary to the General and making me Secretary of State necessitates one of my Principles to be the more prejudicial to theirs You know that notwithstanding all their publick and private Opposition They are come up to many of our Principles and we still continue our Distance to theirs which for the better memory I shall enumerate in the following Method the better to obtain your Belief in other particulars which I shall here subjoin You know that I ever asserted that those Principles and Practices which God blessed with Success in the former Irish War were most like to have the same success in this which I told you were as followeth 1. Though the Irish Papists had then as appears by the excellent Preface to the Act of Settlement made that Rebellion the most horrid and universal as ever befell this Kingdom and that nothing but the final Extirpation of the British Persons Laws Religion and Government was designed and endeavoured by that War Yet the then English Government thought not fit to tread in their Steps but still declined making the War either National or Religious and did declare and as you know made their Declaration good at the end of the War That those of the Irish Papists as could prove their constant good Affection to the English Interest as many then did were as secure in their Properties as any of the British Nation or Religion and by this means so divided their Interest that Sir Ch. Coote's Northern Army was most of it composed of Irish Papists who fought faithfully and successfully against their Countreymen and many yet living know faithfully the White Knight of Kerry and others as Eminent as he served General Cromwell 2. By publick Proclamation in those times they protected Papists and well as Protestants who would live peaceably under their Government from any violence to be done them by the Soldiers two private Soldiers being publickly executed in the face of the whole Army for stealing two Hens from an Irish-man not worth six pence for violating the Proclamation the first day General Cromwell made his advance from Dublin towards Droghedagh 3. They forbid under the like penalty of death without mercy any contempt or violation of the Lord General 's publick Orders and Proclamations 4. They prohibited all free quartering on the Countrey or any Soldiers quartering without Billets from the Constable and would not suffer any Soldier to quarter himself 5. They likewise under severe penalties forbid private Soldiers stragling from their Colours without Passes and ordered both Civil and Military Magistrates to apprehend such straglers to send them to their Colours then to be punished according to their respective merits 6. They gave great Encouragement to Papists as well as Protestants who would give Hostages for their fidelity and joyn with them 7. They severely punished all open Debauchery and Impiety and would frequently affirm that good Conduct was more usually bless'd with success than courage of Armies 8. Though they protected as aforesaid Papists as well as Protestants from the Soldiers violence yet they left both to be Fin'd Imprison'd or Sequester'd by the Civil Magistrates according to their respective merits 9. Both Officers and Soldiers were required to be aiding and assisting to put in execution all Orders or Directions of the Civil Magistrate especially such as referred to the well management of the publick Revenue 10. They laboured all they could to lessen the Charge of England and to encrease the publick Revenue of Ireland 11. On assurance of punctual performance they contented themselves with four days pay in a week and placed the other three days to be paid out of forfeited Lands Lastly By this Abatement of their Pay and leaving Rebels Goods Stock and Lands and the publick Revenue to be improved by the Civil Magistrate and making the Soldiers duly pay for their quarters they soon raised in this Kingdom a Revenue which bore a moity of the charge of the War I might enumerate many other particulars which having been the subject matter of my Discourse with your self and some late Letters I have wrote to Major Wildman I intentionally decline You know how often and how early we pressed the necessity of restoring a Civil Government in this Province and how often and openly we declared that the ruine of the Countrey must be the prejudice and endanger
Kingdom and that they also apprehend and seize upon all and every person and persons who shall after the time limited hereby and contrary to the Intent hereof keep or conceal any Arms or Ammunition and return their Names with a brief account of their Offence to the Commissioners of our great Seal that they may be proceeded against for the same and that they send such Arms and Ammunition as they shall so seize unto our next Garison or Magazin of Stores Given at our Court at Chapelisard this 31st day of July 1690. in the second Year of our Reign Numb 7. Queries proposed by the Grand Jury of the City of Dublin to the Judges and resolved by them Novemb. 21. 1690. 1. WHether popish Freeholders who raised and maintained Soldiers in their Houses for their Sons or others that submitted to their Majesties Declaration took Protections and did not violate the same ought to be indicted for their former abetting of the Rebellion or not Yes 2. Whether popish Farmers who took Commissions and raised Men but received no Arms and were not in service and submitted on the Declaration and took Protection and did not since violate ought to be indicted or not Yes if they have Chattels real else not 3. Whether common Soldiers or other poor Cottiers now amongst the Rebels no way entituled to any Estate in Lands are by Court intended to be indicted or not Not at present 4. Whether an old Proprietor that entred into Possession by virtue of the late Acts ought to be indicted or not Yes 5. Whether popish Widows who were such before the present Rebellion and do still continue Widows and have Jointures and that have abetted the Rebellion in maintaining Soldiers in their Houses for their Children who took Commissions and acted thereby in this Rebellion ought to be indicted for Treason or not Yes 6. Whether popish Freeholders Electors of Parliament Men who signed Indentures of their Elections to the Sheriffs and have committed no other Crimes ought to be indicted of High Treason for abetting of the Rebellion or not Yes 7. Whether Protestants who accidentally and undesignedly hapned to meet at the place in their County when the Papists were electing Parliament Men to the late pretended Parliament and that after such Election for fear of Death or other Punishment subscribed Indentures of such Election ought to be indicted or not No. 8. Whether Farmers who took Commissions and acted thereby were at the Siege of Derry were afterwards disbanded banded that submitted upon their Majesties Declaration and never since acted any thing against the Government ought to be indicted for the said former Crimes or not Yes if they have Chattels real 9. Whether persons who were Officers and others in Rebellion who deserted and came over from the Rebels to their Majesties Obedience and continue obedient under the protection of the Government ought to be indicted or not Yes Numb 8. Two Speeches by the Bishop of Meath one to King James when the Clergy waited on his Majesty at Dublin Castle in March 168â—â— the other to K. William at his Camp nigh Dublin July 7. 1690. The Speech to King James May it please your most Sacred Majesty We the Clergy of this your Majesty's City of Dublin and as many of the rural Clergy as the Distraction of the Times would permit are come to congratulate your Majesty's Arrival and to assure your Majesty of their Resolution to continue firm to that Loyalty which the Principles of our Church oblige us to which in pursuance to those Principles we have hitherto practised We come may it please your Majesty to implore the Honour of Kissing your Majesty's Hand and your gracious Protection for our Persons Churches and Religion and a Liberty to represent our just Grievances as occasion shall offer And we shall ever pray c. His Majesty's ANSWER THE Distraction of the Times I cannot but be sorry for and for the Principles of the Church of England I am very well acquainted with them nor can I doubt the Loyalty of any Man that acts in pursuance to them and who do so need not doubt my Protection for their Religion Persons and Properties in as ample a manner as ever they enjoyed them And for your Grievances let me know them my self and I will Redress them The SPEECH to King William May it please your Majesty WE are some of the Remains of the Clergy that have ventured to stay behind our Brethren in Perillous Times and under great Discouragements for the Discharge of our Duty to God and the People Two of us are Bishops who together with Five more in the Kingdom thought our selves obliged to continue here to preserve the Succession of the Clergy by the Ordination of Priests and Deacons and the Seminary of the Church by Confirmation The rest of our Members are the Clergy of this City and the Rural Clergy The former of these have staid upon their Charge under great Wants and Discouragements having not only been deprived of all their Maintenance but exposed to daily Dangers in and for the Discharge of their Duties And the latter are Persons driven from their Cures and forced to seek Relief and Sanctuary in this City We may possibly be censured by those who understand not the Grounds and Reasons of our continuance in this Kingdom as Trimmers or Favourers of Popery From the first we are able to acquit our selves having been guilty of no Compliances but such as were the effects of Prudence and Self-preservation such as were the effects of Prudence and Self-preservation such as were at once both innocent and necessary and fit to be observed to a Power that was able to crush us far worse than it did And we are so far from being guilty of the latter that we humbly conceive That we could not more effectually oppose the growth and inundation of Popery than by keeping up the publick Assemblies by sticking to our Flocks and preventing their Seduction by the Romish Emissaries We do not come to crave your Majesty's Protection for our Persons our Churches our Religion or our Properties which have been all in some measure invaded Our Persons have been imprison'd our Churches taken from us our Properties destroyed by a late Act of Parliament that took away our Tithes and the free exercise of our Religion for some time interrupted A Request of this Nature might perhaps look like a distrust of your Majesty's care of us and seem to contradict the Glorious design of your coming into this Kingdom We have sensible that the generous End of your Majesty's Presence is to Rescue us from the Oppressions and Tyranny of Popery and are well assured that the same Paternal Affection that moved your Majesty to pity our distress will still protect us now we are delivered We come rather to bless God as the Author of our Deliverance and Your Majesty as the Happy Instrument raised up by his Providence for the effecting it to express our Gratitude and
227 Alben Howell 17 Dec. 88 Back Isle of Wight Cast away 5 Lively Prize 250 W. Tichburne Oct. 89 at Sea Retaken by the French  Fire-Ships Charles and Henry 120 W. Stone 29 Nov. 89 Plymouth Cast away  Alexander 150 Tho. Jennings 21 June 89 at Sea Burnt by accident  Eliz. and Sarah 100 28 Oct. 90 Sherenesse Sunk for securing the graving place  Hopewell 253 Tho. Warren 3 June 90 Downes Burnt  Emanuel 170 25 Feb. 89 Portsmouth Delivered to the Prize-Officers to be sold  John of Dublin 90 Portsmouth   Sampson 240 27 Oct. 89 Sherenesse Sunk for the graving pl.  Bomb-vessel Fire-Drake 202 John Votear 12 Nov. 89 at Sea Taken by the French 6 Dragon Sloop 57 Fred. Weyman 12 Jan. 89 Isle of Thanet Cast away 6 Drake 151 Thomas Spragg 90 Jamaica Cast on Survey 6 Blade of Wheat 150 25 Dec. 89 Plymouth Cast away 6 Supply Geo. Cross Delivered to her Owners 6 Dumbarton 191 Simon Row 90 Virginia Cast on Survey 6 Deptford Ketch 79 Tho. Berry 26 Aug. 89 Virginia Cast away 6 King's-Fisher Ketch 61 Rob. Audley 23 Mar. 89 at Sea Taken by the French 6 Talbot 91 Ch. Staggens 19 July 91 at Sea Taken by the French  Hulk Stadthouse 440 28 Oct. 90 Shereness Sunk for securing the graving place  Stephen 716 Woolwich Broke up SHIPS that have been Damaged by running on Shoar Rate Ships Names Tuns Captains Time and Place 2 Vanguard 1397 Richard Carter the 10th of September 1691. on the Goodwin Sands 3 Northumberland 1048 Andrew Cotton  Royal Oak 1107 George Byng  Elizabeth 1097 Henry Priestman  Warspight 892 Stafford Fairborne 3d of Septemb. 1691. at the Hamose at Plymouth  Hope 1048 Peter Pritchard  Eagle 1065 John Leake  Sterling Castle 1059 Benj. Watters Note That this List extends onely to the 13th of November 1691. There is a large List of Men of War lost since that time besides above Two Thousand Merchant-men Numb 13. The Oath of Allegiance given to the Protestants in Cork Limerick and some other Garrisons by the Officers when King James drew out the Soldiers from these Garrisons into the Field YOU shall Swear that from this Day forward you shall be true and faithful to our Sovereign Lord King James and his Heirs and Truth and Faith shall bear of Life and Member and Terrene Honour and you shall neither know nor hear of any Ill or Damage intended unto him that you shall not defend so help you Almighty God 7 E. 2. tit Avowric 211. 4 E. 3. fol. 42. 13 E. 3. and in Britton 5 E. 1. c. 29. Numb 14. A Letter written to my Lord Russel in Newgate July 20. 1683. My Lord I Was heartily glad to see your Lordship this Morning in that calm and devout Temper at the Receiving of the Blessed Sacrament but Peace of Mind unless it be well-grounded will avail little And because transient Discourse many times hath little effect for want of time to weigh and consider it therefore in tender compassion of your Lordships case and from all the good Will that one Man can bear to another I do humbly offer to your Lordships deliberate thoughts these following Considerations concerning the points of Resistance if our Religion and Rights should be invaded as your Lordship puts the Case concerning which I understand by Dr. B. that your Lordship had once received satisfaction and am sorry to find a Change First That the Christian Religion doth plainly forbid the Resistance of Authority Secondly That though our Religion be establish'd by Law which your Lordship urges as a Difference between our Case and that of the Primitive Christians yet in the same Law which establishes our Religion it is declared That it is not Lawful upon any Pretence whatsoever to take up Arms c. Besides that there is a particular Law declaring the Power of the Militia to be solely in the King And that ties the Hands of Subjects though the Law of Nature and the General Rules of Scripture had left us at liberty which I be-believe they do not because the Government and Peace of Humane Society could not well subsist upon these Terms Thirdly Your Lordships Opinion is contrary to the declared Doctrine of all Protestant Churches and though some particular Persons have taught otherwise yet they have been contradicted herein and condemned for it by the generality of Protestants And I beg your Lordship to consider how it will agree with an avowed asserting of the Protestant Religion to go contrary to the General Doctrine of Protestants My end in this is to convince your Lordship that you are in a very great and dangerous mistake and being so convinced that which before was a Sin of Ignorance will appear of much more heinous Nature as in Truth it is and call for a very particular and deep repentance which if your Lorship sincerely exercise upon the sight of your Error by a penitent acknowledgement of it to God and Men you will not only obtain forgiveness of God but prevent a mighty Scandal to the Reformed Religion I am very loath to give your Lordship any disquiet in the distress you are in which I commiserate from my Heart but am much more concerned that you do not leave the World in a delusion and false Peace to the hindrance of your Eternal Happiness I heartily pray for you and beseech your Ldship to believe that I am with the greatest sincerity and compassion in the World My Lord Your Lordship 's most faithful and afflicted Servant J. Tillotson Printed for R. Baldwin 1683. Numb 15. The Earl of Sunderland's LETTER to a Friend in London Plainly discovering the Designs of the Romish Party and others for the subverting of the Protestant Religion and the Laws of the Kingdom Licensed and Entred March 23. 1689. TO comply with what you desire I will explain some things which we talked of before I left England I have been in a Station of great Noise without Power or Advantage whilst I was in it and to my Ruine now I am out of it I know I cannot justifie my self by saying though it is true that I thought to have prevented much mischief for when I found that I could not I ought to have quitted the service Neither is it an Excuse that I have got none of those things which usually engage men in publick Affairs my Quality is still the same it ever was and my Estate much worse even ruined though I was born to a very considerable one which I am ashamed to have spoiled though not so much as if I had encreased it by indirect means But to go on to what you expect The pretence to a Dispensing Power being not onely the first thing which was much disliked since the Death of the late King but the foundation of all the rest I ought to begin with that which I had so little to doe with that I never heard it spoken of till the
here do tell it The Earl of Inchiquin and Captain Henry Boyle with the generality of the Protestant Gentlemen in the Province of Munster having entred into an Association in Decemb. 88. as the Protestants in Ulster and Connaught had done they resolved to seize upon Corke and Bandon as the places of greatest Strength and Consequence in the Province Their Design took effect at Bandon which joyned with them But the Lord Deputy having notice of their Proceedings sent Major-General Mac-Carty now Lord Mount-Cassell to observe them He pretending to keep fair with them they attempted bringing him over to declare for the P. of Orange and some of them had hopes of it but he proved too cunning for them prevented their seizing of Corke and when Captain Henry Boyle upon that disappointment fortified his House Castle-Martyr he besieged him there Upon this Sir Tho. Southwell in the County of Limerick and several other Protestant Gentlemen marched with the greatest Force they could make to raise the Siege in their march they seiz'd on all the Papists Horses and this Mr. Browne who was then one of them took the Horses of Neagle of Moyallow who was then High-Seriff of the County of Corke and a Man was killed in the Fray and all this our Author calls only making his escape from those who came to plunder him But to tell out my Story Sir T. Southwell and his Company hearing upon their March that Castle Martyr was surrendred he endeavoured to make his way to Sligo to joyn the Lord Kingston and other Associators in Connaught who were all in Arms and as this Author tells p. 170. he and 200 of his Men were taken by a small Party of K. J's Dragoons not much to the Glory of their Courage And this Author says p. 171. That they were over-persuaded to plead Guilty though they had not been guilty of any Overt Act that could be construed Treason What this Author means by Overt Acts or what by Treason he will tell us in the next and likewise give us some probable Reason why K. J. should Reprieve and afterwards Pardon Sir Thomas Southwell and all the rest who were engaged in that business and have such a particular Malice only at Browne whom he knew as little as any of the rest Otherwise he must give us leave to suspend a little our belief of his Narrative in this matter particularly that K. J. should influence either Judge or Jury to take away Mr. Brown's Life and that he should be inexorable in Mr. Brown's Case alone and yet so very merciful to all the rest is a Contradiction to believe if his Case or Circumstances did in no ways differ from theirs But it is no wonder that this Author cannot keep him self from Contradictions through the whole Series of his Book when the very Titles the Heads of his Discourse are contradictory one to another which one would think an ordinary Care might have avoided C. 2. s 8. n 10. the Title is That K. J's Desire to be absolute induced him to change his Religion And yet c. 3. s 1. n. 5. the Title is Zeal for his Religion made him act against his Interest to that Degree says this Author in his Prosecution of this c. 3. s 1. n. 5. p. 46. that the Protestants could not but conclude that K. J. was so intent upon destroying them that so he compassed that Design he cared not if he enslaved himself and the Kingdoms P. 45. That he had a setled Resolution not to mind any Interest which came in Competition with his grand Design of advancing Popery and the Slavery of the Nations To effect which it is manifest he was content to be a Vassal to France Thus the Author Here are Contradictions upon Contradictions That K. J. should be content to be a Vassal that he might be Absolute If you say that must be understood only of his other Grand Design viz. advancing Popery which had the Ascendant even over his Interest or his desire of being Absolute This will contradict the other Head of Discourse which gives the desire of Absoluteness in him the Ascendant over his Religion as being the Ground-work and Motive which induc'd him to change his Religion And yet page 10. of his Thanksgiving-Sermon Perhaps says he K. J. chiefly desired an Absolute Authority over his Subjects that he might compel them into the bosom of his Church And it does not appear a less Contradiction than any of these that a King should change the Principles of the Church of England as then taught for those of Rome out of a desire to be the more Absolute The Church of Rome 4 Coun. Lat C. 3 c. gives Power to the Popes to Depose Kings and they have shewn many Examples of it On the other hand the Church of England when K. J. forsook her Communion damn'd this Deposing Doctrine and the Practice of it and valued themselves upon the Principle of Non-Resistance to their King upon any Pretence whatsoever as their distinguishing Character and an essential part of their Religion and they had never varied from it nor was it thought by any or themselves that ever they would I am sure if they were not in earnest with it then they can give no demonstration now that they can be in earnâ—st with any thing and it is in every bodies mouth That K. J's trusting too much to their Passive Obedience hastened his Ruin which could not be if he had not thought this to have been their Principle Now for a King of this Opinion to quit this Church and go to that Church which teaches the Deposing Doctrine to do this out of a desire of Abâ—â—luteness is such a Contradiction as this Author would have seen at another time C. 3. s 12. n. 15. p. 153. he makes K. J. most absolute in the Parliament in Ireland That this Parliament openly profess'd it self a Slave to the King's Will and that he was look'd upon as a Man factiously and rebelliously inclin'd that would dare to move any thing after any Favourite in the House had affirm'd that it was contrary to the King's Pleasure Accordingly the Author instances several particulars of K. J's Absoluteness in this Parliament particularly That upon his signifying his dissatisfaction to the Repeal of Poyning's Act the Parliament let it fall with several other Acts tho' the Irish had talk'd much and earnestly desired the Repeal of Poyning's Act it being the greatest sign and means of their Subjection to England Yet p. 37. you have the Irish dispute his Orders and and stand on the Laws and they would not suffer him to dispense with their Act of Attainder c. And yet p. 18. They pish'd at the Laws as Trifles and declared they liked no Government but that of France that they would make the King as Absolute here as that King was there P. 31. The Temper and Genius of these Men were at Enmity to the Laws and fitted for Slavery They promoted and