Unpublished
A2
I will, for once, suppose some Foreigner, unacquainted with our Temper and Affairs, to be disturb'd in his Walks by some of the Revels made at Charing
Gentlemen, though I am no Englishman, I rejoyce as much at the Fall of a Tyrant as any of you: Sure this QUEEN ANNE exceeded both Nero and Caligula in Acts of Cruelty. May I beg you to relate to me some Particulars? As for you, Gentlemen, who express such unusual Joy, no doubt but there are at this time Multitudes of your Relations and Friends in Prison, who were to be Executed the next Day, if this Lucky Accident had not prevented it.
Give me leave to imagine some poor Disconsolate honest Gentleman; at the same Time accidentally among them, thus answering this Foreigner: Alas; Sir, This good Queen, whom they now Report to be Dead, during a Reign of Twelve Years, never shed one Drop of Blood for any Misdemeanors against Her Self.
For. Well, Sir, allowing what you have said to be true; May not the late Administration have been rendered Merciful by the Indulgence of those entrusted with the Execution of the Laws; and yet, the Queen, of whom we are speaking, have been in her own Nature a wicked and cruel Person?
Gent. Alas! Sir, Quite the contrary; This excellent Queen was the greatest Pattern of all Princely and Christian Virtues that ever adorn'd a Throne; Just, Patient, Firm, Devout, Charitable, Affable, Compassionate, the sincerest Friend, the kindest Mistress, the best Wife.
For: Perhaps She was of a different Religion, inclin'd to Popery, which has been for many Years held in the utmost Detestation in this Country.
Gent. Sir, This Pious Princess, as She was early Educated in the Religion of her Country; so amidst a Court corrupted both in Principles and Manners, She gave constant Proofs of Her unshaken Perseverance in it; and by Her unblemish'd Life, prov'd as great an Ornament to the Church of which She was a Member, as She was a steady Professor of its Doctrine, and constant Frequenter of its Devotions. Tb the Protestant Religion She Sacrific'd Her most tender Interests. Where is that boasted Patriot who acted a more generous Part for the Good of his Country in the most perilous Times? And since Providence set the Crown upon Her Head, in what single Instance hath She departed from those Maxims?
For. I confess then I am at a loss to find but the Cause of so great an Exultation for the Death of so excellent a Princess: But it hath sometimes happen'd, by the Connivance of good Monarchs, that their People have been Oppressed, and That perhaps might be your Case in the late Reign.
Gent. So much otherwise, that no Annals can produce a Reign freer from Oppression. Our Gracious Queen never accepted the Persons of the Wicked, nor overthrew the Righteous in Judgment. Whose Ox or whose Ass did She take? She was always ready to Relieve, but never to Oppress the Poor, the Fatherless, and the Afflicted. Her Heart was not lifted up above her Brethren; nor did She turn aside from the Commandment to the Right or to the Left. Her compassionate Mind pity'd even those Countries which suffer'd by the power of Her Victorious Arms. Where are the least Effects of the Pride and Cruelty of Queen ANNE to be discovered? So impossible is it to brand Her Government with any Instance of Severity, that perhaps, it may be more justly Censur'd for Excess of Clemency. A Clemency, the continuance whereof had once brought Her into the utmost Distress, till that tender Regard, which She had always shown for the Liberties of Her Subjects, taught them in Return to struggle as
For. Give me leave to make another Supposition. Princes sometimes turn Liberality into Profusion, squander their Treasure and impoverish their People: May nothing of this Kind be laid to the Charge of the deceas'd Queen?
Gent. You cannot but have heard, that when She came to the Crown, She found a dangerous War prepar'd for Her, which it pleas'd God to bless Her with unexpected Success: When the Purposes seem'd to be answered, for which it was Undertaken; She thought fit to stop the vital Streams of the Blood and Treasure of Her People, and to put a Period to a War, that now serv'd only to gratify the Covetousness or Ambition of those She was Confederated with, as well as the vast Designs of a Faction at Home; and with Peace to endeavour to settle such a Commerce as might in some measure reimburse Her Subjects of the vast Treasure they had expended. Alas! Here is her Crime: Touching these Points She is now call'd in Question by those Gentlemen. As for her own Expences, I wish they had reach'd as far as the Necessaries and Conveniencies of Life, which some can testify She has often deny'd Herself,
For. From what you have said, I readily Condemn the unseasonable Joy of those Gentlemen: But Mankind are govern'd by their Interests. You, Englishmen, seldom disguise your Passions. A Monarch may have a thousand good qualities; but particular Men, who do not feel the benign Influence of them, may be tempted, perhaps, to wish for a Change.
Gent. Give me leave to Whisper you: That Man of Quality, whom you see in such an Extacy, enjoys by Her Majesty's Bounty one of the most advantageous Places of the Kingdom. ———— That other Gentleman's Coach that stands there at the Door, was Bought with Her Majesty's Mony. ———— The Lac'd Coat, the Hat and Feather that Officer wears were Purchas'd with Her Pay; and you see Her Arms on his Gorger. ———— This Noble Person's Relations having been brought from the lowest Degree of Gentlemen, and surfeited with Riches and Honours by Her Majesty: So that She may truly complain, She has nourished and brought up Children, but they have Rebelled against HER.
For. Truly, Sir, I am amaz'd at what you say; and vet there appears so much Candour and Confidence in your Assertions, that I can hardly suspect the Truth of them. I have travell'd through many a desolate Country, and heard the Groans of many an afflicted People, who would have thought themselves Blest, if the united Vertues of this Lady had been parcell'd out among all their Governors. Those Virtues of Princes that most dazzle the Eyes of Mankind, are often dearly paid for by their People, who are forc'd to purchase them a Place in the Annals of Fame, at the dear price of their Blood and Treasure: And I believe they would seldom find fault with them for being peaceably inclined. I am a Stranger, and in such a disorderly Night as this, may meet with some Affront, so must bid you Farewel; hoping you will find this me no holy News contradicted. B
I may appeal to any Impartial Reader, whether there is any thing fore'd or unnatural in this Dialogue; and then desire him to pass his Judgment upon the Proceedings of Those who rejoyc'd at Her Death. But to return to my Enqulry.
The Circumstances of Qu. Elizabeth much resemble those of Her present Majesty, with this Difference; that Qu. Elizabeth was forced upon many great and remarkable Pieces of Severity, from which it has pleased God to free Her present Majesty; I hope, as a particular Blessing upon Her Reign, and Indulgence to Her merciful Temper. Tho' there were many Factions at that time, both of the Papists and Puritans, to neither of which She gave much Quarter, so that Her very Life was often Couspir'd against by many Setts of Villains amongst the Papists; tho' She had no Posterity to revenge Her Quarrels, but, on the contrary, Her Ministry had most Reason to be afraid of the Vengeance of the Successor; yet She carried the Respect and Duty of Her Subjects with Her, even to the Grave. By the wise and close Management of Her Ministry, Her being Sick of the Small
I do not find one single Address from either House of Parliament, advising Queen Elizabeth to vest her Captain
When this prudent Queen had demanded and obtained from the Dusch the Town of Flushing, Castle of Ramekins, and the life of Brill, to be Surrendered to her as Cautionary for Repayment of the Sums She might expend in their Service, I do not find any Englishman at that Time pleading the Cause of the Distressed Provinces, (which then indeed was allow'd to be a proper Style) complaining of the narrowness of their Frontier, and remonstrating against this as a hard Bargain: Nor do I remember that Her Successor was thank'd by the Nation for giving up those cautionary Towns, which She thought as Safe in Her own Hands as in those of the best of Her Allies.
This excellent Queen was sometimes indeed attack'd with Pamphlets; particularly by one Intituled, The Gulph wherein England will be Swallow'd by the French Marriage: For which, Stubbs and Page, (the one the Author, the other the Disperser) lost each their right Hand. And to shew that Men in those Days had both a Sense of their Duty, and their Guilt; when Stubbs had his right Hand cut off, he immediately uncovered his Head with the other, and cry'd. God Save the Queen! I never read that during the Time of the Execution, they were protected by a Mob of Chinney
What cause shall we then Assign of this tumultuous and excessive Joy of the Party; their Industry to spread, and their Eagerness to believe, what they so much wish'd? Were all the Glories and Blessings of Queen ANNE's Reign so soon to be forgotten? Were their Protestations of Loyalty and Affection nothing else but Petitions for Preferment? or did they proceed only from the fear of Newgate and Tyburn? Might not all her Cates and Labours that (in Her Circumstances) could have no other End but the Welfare of her People, have deserv'd one pitying Tear? Could not even (allowing their own Supposition) her mistaken Zeal for restoring the Peace and Commerce of her Subjects, her Tenderness to their exhausted Purses, and her Care to transmit their Liberties Sale to Posterity, plead for one relenting Thought? Might not some Regard have been paid to her Personal Virtues, and to the rare Example She has left behind her, of the con-
And is the Death then of this excellent Princess become so absolutely necessary at this Time for the Welfare of her People? I should rather imagine, even allowing their Fears and Jealousies to be well founded, that some Degrees of Prudence, Temper and Tenderness for their Fellow
'That it is good to put an evil Day far off; that one can be more Terrible than that which brings Confusion, Disorder, and perhaps a Civil War; that Providence may find a way to disappoint our Fears. It is possible the Spirit of Faction may abate, and that even these formidable Enemies of the Succession may vanish, or return to a Sense of their Duty and Danger: That France may fall under the Government of a Minor, and have Business enough at Home: Nay, it is possible, the Pretender himself may Die before her present Majesty: And considering the changeable Condition of British Affairs, it is not improbable, that the Whigs may recover their Credit both at Court and in the Country, and then to be sure all Things
Out of Respect to my Country, I would fain believe the Number of such Miscreants to be but few: What would all the rest of the World think of us else? Would not they look upon us as the most ungrateful, factions, sickle Race of Mortals under the Sun? Histories are full of the dismal Effects of the Government of Tyrannical Princes, and of their fatal Ends; and they are justly set up as Bacons to warn others of the same Rank from the Rocks and Shelves whereon they have split: But are there no Memoirs of the Undutifulness of Subjects, and the fatal Consequences of their factious and ungovernable Tempers? I am afraid the general Current of History will inform us, that Tyrannical Princes have been more punctually obey'd than the Good and
For shame then let us not verify the Description which the Ambassador made of us, who being desired by his Master to give a Character of the English Nation: As a full Answer to his Demand, presented him with a Medal, on the one side of which the English Monarch was pictur'd as a Lion, and all his People about him like Lambs: And on the Reverse, the Monarch like a Lamb, and all the People like Lions.
Let us proceed now to guess at the Source of this unseasonable Exultation. I begin with the common Cant of the whole Party, The Fear of a Popish Successor and Popery. The loss of the D. of Glocester, and the want of Hopes of Posterity from Her present Majesty, are Misfortunes never enough to be lamented: But is it not a very ungenerous way of proceeding, instead of Comforting and Supporting their Prince, under this Calamity, to Insult and Despise her for it! To multiply their Affronts and Indignities because She wants Posterity, who might possibly revenge them May such ignoble and base Sentiments he far from the Thoughts of every true
That the Protestant Succession is in the utmost Danger.
That in order to strengthen it, a bad understanding must be kept up between the Successor and Her present Majesty; the Ministry, and all who are vested with Power and Authority in the Nation.
For this end the Successor must be persuaded that those are his mortal Enemies; and the Ministry on the other hand must be told that he is coming to hang them all up.
That they hope the Ministry are firm Friends to the Pretender; that they ought to be so, having no other Game to play; and that they should be sorry to find them otherwise inclined.
That at this Moment the Queen is expiring; and the Guards gone down as far as Dover to meet the Pretender. Now Rejoyce all true
From these Premisses, I think it will be very hard for the most sagacious Man alive to inferr, Which of Three Things are most ill Favour with these Gentlemen who are so C
Another Cause of their Joy upon the Spreading of this false News, is, Their discontent at the Peace, And in this indeed the Queen has Reason to Rejoyce, That She hath no Enemies but such as are Enemies to Peace. But is not the Hopes of a new War an admirable Subject for Joy, a most endearing Token of their Love to the Successor, and one of their new Methods of keeping up his Interest, to represent him to the People as bringing over War in his Train? It is foreign to my present purpose to enter into a full Discussion of this Subject: But the Quarreling with the Peace, because it is not exactly to our Mind, seems as if One that had put out a great Fire, should be sued by the Neighbourhood for some lost Goods, or Damag'd House; which happen'd (say they) by his making too much haste. Let me Advise them in general, not to disrelish Blessings, because they may want some Ingredients, which their extravagant and sickly Appetites seem to demand, to leave some Part of the Government of the World to its Maker, and not to believe that He is confined to the narrow
May I presume to descend from those high Topicks, and to suppose that the sublime and publick Spirits of these Patriots, may have a little Alloy of a baser passion; and that Self Interest had some share in this extraordinary Festival. Far be it from me to deny them the due use of so humane a Passion; Let the hopes of seeing better days produce a secret Satisfaction: But may they not be so affected, without being Brutal and Barbarous? They might have enjoyed the pleasant prospect of the approaching Favours of the new Monarch, without insulting the Ashes of the Dead! May that Reign be Glorious and Happy! But I shall always believe, that insulting the Memory of Her present Majesty, will be understood as an ill Compliment to Her Successor. The fatal Event of Her Death, 'tis true, puts an end to their Allegiance, but not to the Obligati-
There remains still another Cause, which I am afraid operates as strongly as any of those already mentioned: It is a common Observation, that the offended Party often forgives; but the offending Party but seldom. It is
Thus I think I have briefly enumerated the Causes of their Joy: Viz.
A Prospect of a new Foreign War.
A fair Chance for a Civil War.
The Expectation of the Monopoly of the Government.
The Hopes of having the Tories all Hang'd. And,
Their Consciousness that they ought to be so themselves.
At the same time, far be it from me to Charge all who are called by the Name of Whigs with such villainous Inclinations and Designs; amongst whom I know there are many worthy and excellent Persons. I would not willingly be guilty of a Breach of Charity, which I could wish all Parties were possess'd of in a greater Measure. I would have every Body, who is conscious of his Guilt in any of the forementioned Particulars, to reflect seriously upon what I have hinted at; both those who curs'd the Queen in their Heart, and those who curs'd her the open Streets: But of all others their
The Melancholy Occasion of Her Majesty's Sickness had this in common with other ill Accidents; That some Advantage could be made of it in discovering the impotent Malice and Factious purposes of some, who would otherwise have been more cautions in disguising their Inclinations, 'till they believ'd they might discover them with Safety, and thereby make a Merit with the more abandoned part of their Faction God he thanked, Her Majesty wants not those faithful Subjects who will defend both Her Person and Reputation, against the felonious Attempts of such impious Wretches, and who would serve her in the last Moments of her Life with as much Fidelity and Zeal, as if She had Twenty Sons and Daughters to inherit after her. Her Times are in the Hands of that Almighty Being whose Minister She is, and in whom She