IT ſeems a ſtrange piece of Arrogance that any man ſhould reflect on a Declaration, becauſe it does not begin as he would have it; that is, with a Manifeſtation of our Clandeſtine League with France, whereby and Army of Frenchmen, together with our Papiſts, Iriſh, and other Mercenaries, might eſtabliſh Popery in England. The Reflector ought to have conſidered, that a Clandeſtine League, tho' it may be very notorious to its Exiſtence and Effects, may likewiſe be very difficult to prove, according to the meaning of the Word Clandeſtine. But that there is ſuch a one, we have the Teſtimony of the King of France, in a Memorial delivered to the States of Holland; and though it has been ſince diſowned by our Court, and Mr. Skelton upon it committed to the Tower; his ſhort Confinement, and ſudden Advancement to a Regiment, ſhews that his Diſgrace was but a trick of State: It is alſo an inconſequential way of Arguing, that becauſe the Prince does not begin his Declaration with it, therefore there is no ſuch League, things of that high conſequence being eaſier and better carried on by ſecret Meſſages than Writing under Hand and Seal.

2. In his ſecond Reflection, he tells us the Prince had needed leſs Apology, if he had pretended only to have come to deliver the King from Evil Counſellours, and to ingage him further in the intereſt of Europe; forgetting the Prince does declare to us he comes for that end, tho' not ſingly, and brought over his Army to ſecure him from the Rage and Fury of thoſe Evil Counſellours. His next Quarrel is, that the Prince uſes the Stile, Of We and Us within His Majeſties Dominions; a thing, I believe, ordinary enough in Great Princes, when they ſpeak, or write, to their Inferiours. The Prince of Orange is General of a great numerous Army, Admiral of a vaſt Fleet, State-holder to a High and Mighty Commonwealth, and conſequently, too great to ſpeak in the Stile of a Private Perſon; ſo that Rewarding, Puniſhing, Commanding, Advancing, may very naturally fall within his Power. Nor is it any Crime to indeavour the calling of a Free Parliament, and ſettling the Nation, tho' by ways and methods unuſual in our days, nothing being more frequent, in our Hiſtories, than for our Barons, with Arms in their Hands, to compel their Kings to call and hearken to their Parliaments: But now there being a ſtanding Army of forty thouſand Mercenaries in the Land, it was grown a Crime to Petition for a Parliament, and a Folly to expect a free one, new Charters and Corporations, and a general nomination of incompetent Magiſtrates, having taken the Election of Members for Parliament out of thoſe Hands, the Laws of the Land, and Memorial Cuſtom, had intruſted with them. According to the new Scheme deſigned by thoſe Upſtart and Popiſh Counſellours, no man was to Elect, or be Elected for Parliament, that would not ingage, as far as in him lay, to take away the Penal Laws and Teſt; nay, thoſe Wicked Counſellours prevailed yet farther upon His Majeſty; and he that pardoned ſo many of his Enemies, was not ſuffered to forgive his beſt Friends, and moſt Loyal Subjects a refuſal or excuſe in that particular.

That the Prince will ſend back his Army, ſeems to ſome a ſtrong preſumption that he will not ſtay behind, ſince even our own lawful King thinks himſelf not ſafe without an Army of Mercenaries, in his own Kingdom. From a ſtrain'd phraſe or two, Of We and Us, Require and Command, ſometimes uſed in his Declaration, to infer, That the Prince of Orange intends to make himſelf King of England, ſeems to all Rational Men a very Captions and Unſatisfactory way of arguing, and a very Unjuſt Calumny caſt upon ſo great a Prince, ſince more than once, in expreſs terms, he Declares he has no deſign upon His Majeſties Crown or Perſon, ſo that all that Reproach falls to the Ground.

3. In his third Reflection, he tells us the Prince wants a clear Call, and that a Son againſt a Father, a Nephew againſt an Unkle, a Neighbour againſt a Neighbour, cannot be ſuch: That he is Son-in-Law, and Nephew to His Preſent Majeſty, gives the Prince a fair and juſt pretence to interpoſe in our Affairs; had he been a Foreigner as our Reflector terms him, it might have look'd like an intended Conqueſt; had he not been a Neighbour, it had been impoſſible for him to have afforded us this ſeaſonable Aſſiſtance. But ſome think, that where attempts are made to introduce the Catholick Religion, by a Conſpiracy, againſt the Laws that ſecure and eſtabliſh the Protenſtant Religion and the Teſt, that only can keep the Papiſts out of the Government: And to carry on this Conſpiracy the better, the old Charters are taken away under pretence of forfeiture, and ſurrender; new ones granted, ſuch as might bring Elections within the power of thoſe Evil Counſellours; Papiſts upon the Bench, a Jeſuite in the Council; and whole Troops of them in the Army: 'Twas high time for a Proteſtant Prince, that had ſo near relation to the Crown of England, to look about him, and chooſe rather to be Cenſur'd by our Reflector, and ſuch as he, for entering upon the Stage a little before his time, than be juſtly Reproach'd and Curs'd, to the end of the World, by all ſuch as love the Proteſtant Religion, and Ancient Government of England, for appearing too late in their Defence. The Example of Henry the Fourth, of France, may teach us how hard it is for a Proteſtant Prince to obtain his Right, where the Catholick Religion is Predominant; nor was the new Armour of Popery he put on, at laſt, ſufficient to defend the old Proteſtant againſt the Stab of a Jeſuited novitiate.

4. His fourth Reflection acquaints us, the Proteſtant Religion is at once expos'd and hazarded, for if the King prevail what can the Prince of Oranges ſort of Proteſtants expect at his hands; which are indeed, all ſorts of Froteſtants that I know of, for the Presbyterians, Independants, Phanaticks, Church of England men, are in his Army: 'Tis fair warning, and I hope God will give the Proteſtants Grace to make the right uſe of it: As for their changing Maſters, 'tis a Chimera of his own, and utterly Foreign to the Declaration he pretends to reflect upon. Leſt we ſhould forget, he reminds us with that admirable Demonſtration of, Iſay, that the whole Proteſtant Religion is at ſtake; for which I heartily thank our Worthy Reflector, for tho' it be very true, we had not ſeen it in Print but for him.

5. In his fifth reflection, he tells us that ſome Laws are better broken than kept, which will not be eaſily granted; tis indeed true, that ſome Laws were better be repealed than continued: But then they muſt be Nulld bu the ſame power they were conſtituted, and not by any part of it in contradiction to the whole.

His inſtance is, that Chriſtianity could not have been introduc'd, had the Pagan Laws been Executed; by which Parallel he would warrant Popery to be the true Chriſtianity, and the Proteſtant the Healthen Perſecutors; Laws for Idolatry cannot bind, therefore Laws againſt it cannot; a very ſtrange inference, and I allow that a Lawful Authority by exceeding their juſt Bounds, may act unlawfully, but the Legiſlative power cannot, ſince all over the World the Supream power ever was abſolute, be it in one or more. He ſays no Man is obliged to maintain a Religion that is not true, be it never ſo Legally Eſtabliſhed: So that is but ſaying the Proteſtant Religion is not true, and His Majeſty, notwithſtanding His repeated ingagement, is no longer bound to protect it. For in the words of our Reflector 'tis an abſurdity and impiety to do ſo.

6. The ſixth thing conſiderable in our Reflector is, his defence of the Diſpenſing Power, and the uſe His Majeſty, ſeduc'd by his Evil Councelors, makes of it; which is no other than the ſetting aſide of all our Laws made for the ſecurity of the Proteſtant Religion; But ſure ſuch a Prerogative can never be Legally veſted in the Crown, which if admitted, were the deſtruction of all Law.

Had thoſe Evil Counſellors only prevailed with His Majeſty, to have Diſpenſed with the Penalties inflicted on Catholicks and other Diſſenters, for ſerving God according to their Particular Conſciences, tho' perhaps contrary to Law, the matter had never been Complained of: But to put them into places of Higheſt truſt, to make one Lieutenant of Ireland, another Preſident of the Council, a third Lieutenant General of the Tower, a fourth a Judge; imploying numbers of them in the Army, Court, &c. is a tranſgreſſion of the Law, which is certainly very dangerous, if not immediately, yet in its inevitable Conſequences, to the Proteſtant Religion and Government, and therefore a miſchief remote only (as an Egg is from a Chicken) from the worthy reflectors Malum in ſe, which he acknowledges this Diſpenſing Power extends not to. And the particular Catholicks breaking the Law in theſe points, are without excuſe: For no Man is obliged in Conſcience to be a Judge, a Prieſt, a Miniſter, a Privy Councellor, a Courtier, or a Souldier in time of Peace; contrary to the Laws of the Land. Nor do thoſe Laws deprive the King of the ſervice of any of his Subjects abſolutely; ſince all men if they pleaſe may Capacitate themſelves for imployment. If the High Commiſſion Court be at an End, Magdalem Colledge and the Biſhop of London reſtored, we may in all appearance thank the honeſty and Caution of ſome of its worthy Members, and the Noiſe of what our Reflector calls the Prince of Orange's Invaſion; though ſome will ſay, a diſcent upon England made by a Prince of the Blood, Married to the Eldeſt Daughter of the preſent King, upon the invitation of many Lords both Spiritual and Temporal, and of the conſiderable Gentry Commonalty of all Counties, might here deſerved a fairer Name. Nor ought any man to complain if his honeſt Neighbour break violently into his houſe at a time when his Family cry out Fire or Murther; the Common obligation of humanity, and a due care of their own preſervation, exact no leſs of them. But this Paper is not intended for a vindication of the Prince, I will therefore return to my Reflector again, who undertakes for all good Proteſtants that they only refus'd to repeal the Teſt, by reaſon of the ſecurity it affords their Religion. As if they had caſt off all care of their Civil concerns, and were only intent upon Religious affairs, ſo as to conſent to give his Majeſty a Majority of Papiſts in the Houſe of Lords; by which he might have two Negative Voices upon all Laws to be offer'd: and an Houſe of Pears ready to repeal the Habeas Corpus Bill, and ſuch Statutes as any ways ſeem to incumber what Papiſts think his Majeſties Prerogative, of which they maintain the Diſpenſing Power to be an Eſſential part; and well they may, ſince it is the very power, by which he maintains them in their places and imployments: So that by leave of my worthy Reflector, the conſideration of Religion, tho' they are the principal, are not the only reaſons, that have determined all good Proteſtants to a Non-concurrence with His Majeſty in the repeal of the Teſt.

8. In his eighth Reflection he tells us, that Chappels are places of Devotion; ſo are the Turks Mosques, and the Jews Synagogues, yet no good Chriſtian but would be offended to ſee them multiply'd and encouraged, either in his own, or his Neighbours Country.

9. In his ninth he tells us, the King was content the Teſt ſhould remain: I anſwer, theſe Evil Counſellours were not content the Teſt ſhould remain, but ſent their Regulators and other Agents, to threaten, promiſe, remove and change the Magiſtrates in all Corporations, in order to the procuring Members of Parliament, ſuch as were to enter the Houſe under ſolemn promiſes, and firm reſolutions, to take off the Penal Laws and Teſt, notwithſtanding all the weighty, nay, convincing Arguments they might meet with there to the contrary: A deſperate ſort of Senators, and fitter for Catalines Conſpiracies than an Engliſh Parliament. Nor did theſe Evil Counſellours ceaſe to ſollicit even Knights of the Shire, till the general indignation their propoſals met with, together with the noiſe of the Prince of Orange's preparations, frighted them from a further proſecution of their enormous attempt. He ingeniouſly confeſſes the ſeizing of Charters to have been a fault, ſo there is no conteſt between us on that point; but he adds, That the Prince of Orange has nothing to do with it; now others think him highly concern'd in it, for if according to Sir Thomas Moore, Rex Poteſt Juriper Parta mentum & poteſt & deſtrui; or according to the Opinion of later times, a Parliament may make a Bill of Excluſion; a Prince that has ſo near a Relation to the Crown of England, ought not to ſuffer any foul play in the calling together ſuch an Aſſembly as may null his Title, or preclude him of his Right to the Crown, in time to come. 'Tis true, the Council of ſeizing Charters was given in the laſt Kings Reign, and moſt of them then ſeized, but no man can deny but ſome have been condemned and ſeized in the Reign of his preſent Majeſty, and reſtored not till the univerſal apprehenſion of the aforeſaid Invaſion; ſo that we are promiſed a Free Parliament, only becauſe they cannot put one of their own framing upon us.

10. His tenth Paragraph needs no anſwer.

11. In his eleventh, he tells us there were but two Papiſt Judges, as if the Laws were not broken unleſs Judges were all Papiſts; or that Judges ſitting contrary to Law could give a Legal Sentence. Both theſe defects he ſuppoſes ſupplyed by the Diſpencing Power, a power ſufficiently baffled by thoſe Gentlemen of the lorg Robe of Councel for the Biſhops, and not defended by either Judges or Councel, on the other ſide; for which two of the Judges, Jones and Holloway, loſt their places on the Bench.

12, 13. His twelfth and thirteenth concern Ireland and Scotland and therefore I will leave them untouch'd, to the Gentlemen of thoſe Nations, who beſt underſtand, and are moſt ſenſible of the Oppreſſions they are under.

14. In his fourteenth, he pleads the Validity of the Kings Declaration for Liberty of Conſcience, tho' that pretended Prerogative has been diſcuſs'd and baffled in Parliament, within theſe few years, and deſerted as ſuch by His late Majeſty; he affirms, that the King, as Head of the Church, might oblige the Biſhops to cauſe the Declaration to be read in the Churches, which if they had complyed with, in the Opinion of many good Proteſtants, they had precluded themſelves of their Votes in parliament againſt it; for with what forehead could they Vote againſt the Declaration, when they had cauſed it to be read in their Churches? An Act amounting to no leſs than maintaining; or owning, the Diſpencing Power.

15. In his fifteenth, he allows the Prince and Princeſs of Orange, have in terms full of reſpect ſignified to the King their deep regret which all theſe things have given them, and their thoughts about Repealing the Teſt and Penal Laws as an expedient of Peace, but blames him, it ſeems, for doing all this ſo reſpectfully and privately, and would rather had it done by a Manifeſto, that ſome of the Princes, Friends might be Impriſoned for delivering it, as Captain Lenham is for bringing over the Declaration. He tells us next, the King has come up almoſt to Fagel's Letter, which was the Declaration of their Minds, viz. The Church of England Teſt, and Laws of Supremacy to remain; then urging the Kings Conceſſions, which may be obſerv'd to bear date only from the report of the Princes preparations for England.

16. He tells us in his ſixteenth, that the Prince thinks a free Parliament to be the laſt and great Remedy for theſe Evils, but complaints theſe Wicked Counſellours are againſt it, for fear of being called to account, that they had preingaged Voices to take off the Penal Laws and the Teſt, and regulated Corporations and Burroughs, that ſo they might aſſure themſelves of the Members of Parliament; he allows the charge, but ſays what has all this to do with the King? No man ſay it has, and the Prince only requires the removal and puniſhment of thoſe Evil Counſellours in a Free Parliament.

17. Next our Reflector tells, that there never was a Parliament abſolutely Free, but that Drink, Money, and other evil Arts, have had a great ſway in Elections: This is true, but no reaſon that we ſhould conſent to a General or Fundamental Corruption of our Elections, becauſe we cannot avoid ſome few and caſual ones. Then he would have had the Prince have deſired the King to have laid aſide thoſe Evil Counſellours, as if it were not Notorious, that the Princes diſlike of ſome men has been their ready way to preferment in our Court; and Embaſſadors for Holland have been, of late, choſen out of thoſe he has moſt averſion for, as if theſe Wicked Counſellours feared nothing ſo much as a good underſtanding between His Majeſty and the Prince of Orange.

19. In the Nineteenth he tells the Prince and Princeſs of Orange's queſtion concerning the Birth of the Prince of Wales, ſaying, That during the Queens pretended Bigneſs, and in the manner in which the Birth was managed, there have appear'd ſo many juſt and viſible ground of ſuſpicion, that not only the Prince himſelf, but all good Subjects in England do vehemently ſuſpect that the Pretended Prince of Wales was not born of the Queen.

20. Next our Reflector tells us, That the Prince ought to have writ to the King for a private ſatisfaction in his Matter, which the King would no doubt have given in the manner that all reaſonable men do when they are examined againſt themſelves. All men allow the imputation of ſuch an impoſture, to be a gret reflection on their preſent Majeſties: But ſome think they have in a great meaſure drawn it upon themſelves, by omitting to have thoſe witneſſes by, and thoſe Methods obſerved, that our Laws require to prove the Birth of a Legitimate Prince of Wales: 'Tis not perhaps enough to ſay, that there were as many Witneſſes, and as good proof of it, as the Law exacts, ſtill the queſtion returns, why not the ſame perſons? a Legal proof admits of no Equivolent.

Our reflector will not deny, but there has been common ſame all over Europe, that this Prince of Wales was not Born of the Body of her Majeſty; and common belief of it amongſt proteſtants; this of it ſelf were enough to make the next Heir to the Crown look about, and move every ſtone that the matter might be examined by impartial methods in a free parliament, which is all that the Prince and Princeſs of Orange aims at: for their proofs to the contrary, 'tis not to be expected they ſhould acquaint the World with them before the Tryal.

22. In his two and twentieth Reflection on the eighteenth Paragraph, where the Prince ſays, He was invited to this Expedition by many Lords, both Spiritual and Temporal, and many Gentlemen, and Subjects of all Ranks; Our Reflector is pleaſed to tell him he is miſtaken as Monmouth was. Notwithſtanding thoſe eminent Peers, Gentry and Commonalty of all ſorts that are already in his Camp, and ſuch as are going daily, as well Souldiers as others; nor conſidering the great number of the Nobility that are in the Country and have not been examin'd, and that ſuch as were examin'd here in Town, did no more than anſwer Not Guilty to the Charge of High Treaſon: So that there are more Nobility and Gentry with him than with his Majeſty.

In his three and twentieth Reflection on the 19th and 20th Paragraph, where the Prince refers all to a free Parliament; our Reflector ſays it belongs not to him, to refer other mens buſineſs; as if the Prince had no relation to the Crown: Then tells us we are already in poſſeſſion of what the Prince promiſes us, as if the Catholicks were all out of imployment, the Diſpencing power given up, no ſtanding Army, no apprehenſions of Popery and Arbitrary Power, and a Free Parliament for redreſſing of Grievances of all kinds in being.

24. In the twenty fourth Reflection on the three laſt Paragraphs of the Princes Declaration, he tells us, The Prince has a manifeſt deſign upon the Crown, becauſe he ſummons the Nobility, Gentry and People of England to his Standard: And if ſo, who muſt ſtay with the King? To that may be anſwered, All ſuch as believe the Prince of Orange has brought this Army, and intends to make War upon England to ſubdue it to his meer will and pleaſure, trample all Laws, both Divine and Humane, under his Feet, dethrone his preſent Majeſty, and make himſelf King; they will ſtay and fight for him, or at leaſt to the beſt of their power, in ſome other manner aſſiſt and help him: On the contrary part, ſuch as believe the Prince means nothing of all this, but brought over his Army only the better to aſſiſt the Nobility, Gentry, and people of England, upon their earneſt deſires, and frequent ſolliciations, and reiterated complaints, in the recovering of the old Legal way of chooſing Members for Parliament, which by Illegal new Charters, on pretended forfeitures, was in a ready way to be for ever loſt, in reſcuing all the Laws of England from the devouring laws of a Diſpencing Power, in reducing Popery within thoſe bounds the Law has preſcribed it, which, like an Inundation, had ſo over-flowed its Banks, that our Religion and Government were in peril to be ſwallowed up by it; and finally, to redreſs theſe and all other grievances, if for theſe and no other ends or concerns, men think the Prince have landed here, ſuch men will take his part, eſpouſe his quarrel, and contribute to his ſucceſs: and in theſe caſes every man will judge for himſelf, as they did in our late Civil Wars.