I Have met with your Book, without the Civility of your fencing me one; but I quickly found reason not to wonder at that: for upon reading you over, I found Civility none of your Talent; and tho' I am so far from being in the least con­cerned at your ungentile Behaviour, and unhandsome Usage of myself, that I think it really an Honour to be reflected on by a Person of your Principles, and should have the worse Opinion of myself, if I had the good word either of you, or those of your Party: yet, Sir, when I read over your barbarous dealing with that ex­cellent [Page 2] Prince; King Charles I. your dirty and Tinker­like Names by which you call him, and those many undeserved Indignities you load his Sacred Memory withal, truly, Sir, it makes my Heart ake, and my Flesh tremble, to think at this time of the Day, and under such a Government, there should be found so bold, so impudent, and so unmannerly a Person in the King­dom, that dares belch forth such leud, such dishonoura­ble and false Things, against one who was the Lord's Anointed, and your own lawful and undoubted Sove­raign.

What, Sir, do not you know, that the greatest part of the Nobility, Gentry, and Commons of England, do to this very Day continue and preserve a great Venera­tion for the Name and Memory of King Charles the First? Have you forgot when the Nation was restored to its Rights and Laws, not over-awed by an Insolent and Threatning Army, that they chose a Representative that presently expressed the Sence of the Nation, as to that Prince, and condemned by an Act of State, all those who had any hand in his Murther, and appointed a Day (which you, like yourself, scornfully call a Mad­ding-day) for ever to bewail the Sin, and thereby to prevent those Judgments, which they thought, that Horrid Act might be justly attended withal? Cannot you further remember, or have you not heard, that Their present Majesties had two Sermons preached be­fore them, the last Thirtieth of Ianuary, that both They, and the rest that heard them, might the better be en­gaged to renew their just Sence of, as well as deep Sor­row for the detestable Fact? And, Sir, did not the Lords and Commons appoint two Preachers, to help their sorrowful Meditations that Day; the one, the Right Reverend Bishop Kidder; and the other, the [Page 3] Reverend Dr. Sherlock? And have you not read those Sermons, for which the two Houses thanked them, and ordered them to be Printed for the Good of the Na­tion, that the Memory of that Great Man might be kept alive, and the Sence of his Horrid Murther pre­served in the Breasts of the People? Come, Sir, if you have not read them, I will give you an Account of some Passages in them both; and I beseech you, for your Soul's good, to mind them; for 'tis pity any one Body in the Kingdom should not know them, that so they may be preserved from the Poyson and Infection of such scurrilous Books as this of yours is.

Pag. 20 says the good Bishop: ‘On this Day it was, that our Soveraign, of blessed Memory, fell by the Hands of Violence and Wickedness, then was his Righteous Blood shed; and tho' we gave no explicit Consent to this barbarous Murther, and perhaps, with the Iews, have said, That if we had been in the Days of our Fore-fathers, we would not have been Parta­kers with them; yet all this while we may deceive ourselves, and others, if we do not confess this Sin with great humility, and abandon all propensity to so great a Wickedness.’

And Pag. 22. says this good Man, ‘We may learn what cause we have to be humbled for our Fathers Sins, and more particularly for the Wickedness com­mitted on this Day; then was the Nation stained with the Righteous Blood of an innocent and excel­lent Prince; that Bloud God will require of the principal Criminals and Accessories also of the first Offen­ders, and their Associates; and as we would not be charged with it, let us humble ourselves before God, the Stain can be removed no otherways, than by Tears of Repentance, and the Blood of Jesus.’

[Page 4]And truly, Sir, before I cite the next passage, let me tell you, here is very bad News for you, and all your Adherents, and therefore, instead of vindicating, tho­rough the hardness of your Hearts, I pray you humble yourselves before God, that so the continuance in this Sin may not be your Ruin.

Pag. 25. Speaking further of this Murther, he says thus: ‘It will admit of no extenuation, it was an A­ction foul and deformed, barbarous and cruel, with­out excuse or plea, he must be lost to the Reason of a Man, and the Tenderness of a Christian, whom it strikes not with Horrour.’

Pag 26. ‘We are all concerned in this Day's Work, to bewail the Wickedness of Men, and improve the amazing Providence of God.’

And once more, ‘We have since this Fatal Blow was given, suffered severely, and what the Iews say of the Calf in the Wilderness, That there is something of it in all their Sufferings, may with as much Truth be said of the barbarous Murther of this Day. Our Suf­ferings have been the Product of the horrid Sin of this Day, for many of them, they bear the Mark and Signatures of it.’

And truly, Sir, let me tell you, if the Bishop be in the right, as all good Men conclude he is, I am sure you are very much in the wrong, and ought to repent and give Glory to God, by confessing your great Fault, in so villanously bespattering such a Man, as this Great and Good King was.

If after this you look into the Sermon preached the same day before the Commons, by that great and well-studied Divine, Dr. Sherlock, you will find pag. 5. these words: ‘[Page 5]The Sin we this Day lament, I shall make no scru­ple to call it, what you have this Day, in your Pub­lick Prayers to Almighty God, confessed it to be, the barbarous Murther of an excellent Prince.’

And Pag. 10. ‘If we add to this, the Character of his Person, and those Princely Vertues which adorned his Life, such Vertues as are rarely found in meaner Persons; nay, which would have adorned even an Hermit's Cell, it still aggravates the Iniquity of his Murther.’

And at the bottom of the Page you will find some­thing that truly concerns yourself, and upon that score I have transcribed it.

There is a Spirit of Zeal and Faction, the Principles of which, if not restrained, will ruin the best Princes, and overturn the best Government in the World: for they make little difference between Princes, when they can find Pretence and Power.

Now, Sir, I say again, have you not read, or at least heard of these two Sermons? And durst you then venture out into the World, thus armed with hellish Revenge, and black Malice, to stab the Memory of, and murther a-fresh, a Prince, for whom so great, so wise a part of the Nation have so unspeakable, and with­al so just a Value and Veneration? Good God! when Men are once hardned in Sin, and by living long in it, have contracted Habits and Customs, what bold and impudent things will they not both say and do! God Almighty open your Eyes, and shew you the Evil of your ways, before it be too late, that so you may not perish in, and by this your great Iniquity.

[Page 6]And now, Sir, I come to Examine your Letter it self.

The Title page is, General Ludlow's Letter to Dr. Hollingworth.

Pray, Sir, how durst you assume this Name? for we are not so ignorant who you are, as it may be you think we are. Pray, Sir, do not you know, that Lud­low (for the Name of General belongs not to him) hath stood condemned for above Thirty Years, as an exe­crable Traytor, by Act of Parliament; and that when he had the Confidence to come lately to London, the Spirit of the Nation rose so up against him, that the then Parliament addressed to the King, to issue out his Proclamation, in order to apprehend him, that he might suffer that Death his Treason deserved, and the Law had provided; upon Notice of which, you know he fled. Now certainly, Sir, you are a very bold Man, and 'tis pity the Government does not take you at your Word, and hang you up in his stead; for there is a Debt due from Ludlow to the Justice of the Nation: and I know no Man fitter to pay it, than he that is so fond of the Traytor, as to personate him, and in his Name to vindicate those Actions for which he stands condem­ned.

There is one thing more I cannot but observe in your Title-page, and that is, your Quotation out of one of Bishop Burnet's Sermons, and by which you would seem to justifie your calling the Thirtieth of Ianuary, the Madding-day; the Words are these, which I transcribe on purpose, to let the World see what a Cheat you are [Page 7] willing to put upon your Readers, and thereby suppose them to be the most silly Persons in Nature.

I acknowledge it were better, if we could have Iob's Wish, That this Day should perish, and the Sha­dow of Death should cover it, that it should not see the dawning of the Day, nor should the Light shine upon it; it were better to strike it out of the Calen­der, and make our Ianuary terminate at the 29th, and add these remaining Days to February.

Now I appeal to any Man of Common Sence and Inge­nuity, whether he can wrest these words to your malici­ous Design, when they appear at first fight only a Rheto­rical Flight, whereby that Right Reverend Person would express the detestableness, and horridness of the Fact, which he bewailed that Day, a way that all Orators have given themselves the liberty, to declaim against any thing that was notoriously bad in its Nature and Conse­quences: and yet so fond are you of these words, in hopes by them to impose upon your credulous Reader, that you repeat them again, pag. 9. and sillily tell me, you hope by them to have offered something to cool my red-hot Zeal for the Observation of that day: Poor Man, how much are you mistaken, when these very Words carry so much in them of the Bishop's abhor­rence of the Fact, that if it was possible to raise my O­pinion of the necessity of still keeping that Day, they would contribute towards it.

The next thing that offers in your Book, is an Epistle Dedicatory; and pray let us see who are the Persons that are thought worthy to Patronize this modest and harmless Book, that tells the Truth, the Whole Truth, [Page 8] and nothing but the Truth; sure, either the King and Queen, or else the Lords of the Council, are only fit to have their Names prefixt to a Book, that defends the Rights of the Nation, their Laws and Liberties, against the Encroachments and Usurpations of a proud Nimrod, and hardened Pharaoh, and in plain English, a merci­less Tyrant, as you are pleased, in your wonted man­nerly way, to stile King Charles the First, pag. 68. No, no, Sir, your Common-wealths-Men are always for encreasing their Party, and courting the Populace, and therefore this famous Tract must be dedicated, To all sincere Lovers of Old England, inhabiting in the Pa­rish of St. Buttolphs Aldgate, London: tho' when we come to examine these Words well, I believe you will find you have mistaken your Men, and will miss of your Aim in this Dedication. If indeed you mean Old England, as I am sure you ought to do, and which re­ally I believe, and that upon good grounds, you do not, namely, the Government of England, by King, Lords, and Commons, I do then assure you we have (and I thank God for it) abundance of those in Aldgate Parish, who scorn to suffer themselves to be put upon by such insinuations as these are; they love their Country, and its Laws and Liberties, and desire no more to see the Day, wherein Ordinances supersede Acts of Parliament, and Kings forced by Tumults from their Palaces, and Subjects with armed Force assaulting their Natural Prince, and Armies turning their Masters out of Doors, and the Faithful and Loyal Nobility and Gentry thrown by the Hands of Violence, and against all Law, out of House and Home, and many of them seeking their Bread in strange Countries, who desire no more to see the Day when worthy Persons are forced up to London to compound for their Estates at Goldsmiths, and Haber-dashers-Halls, [Page 9] only for doing their Duties, and stand­ing by their Prince, according to the Laws of the Land, and the Oaths they had taken, no more to see the Day wherein their King is Imprisoned, denyed the Comfort of his Servants and Chaplains, and at last mur­thered by a vile Brood, a Generation of Vipers, who neither fear God nor Man.

Sir, If these be the Men you address to, you have lost your Aim, and your Letter will find no Welcome, to my knowledge, in the Parish of Aldgate; as for o­thers in my Parish, and I know but few of them, that are Lovers of Old England in your Sence; that is, Lo­vers of Old England, as it consists of a very few Lords, and half a House of Commons, in opposition to, and in an actual War with their Lawful Soveraign; or, as it consists of a Rump, made up of Forty eight Persons, assuming the Confidence to stile themselves, The Com­mons of England, and raising Money at Will and Plea­sure upon their Fellow-Subjects, contrary to the Funda­mental Constitution of the Kingdom, as for such as these, you may take them to yourself, and make much of them; for I assure you, they are in no Credit with us, who are true Lovers of Old England indeed.

You begin your Epistle with a prophane Piece of Wit, such as Men of your loose and irreligious Tem­per are always fond of the Subject of, namely, the Church, and the Clergy; but the best of it is but bor­rowed: and truly, I being so dull, as you report me to be, shall not undertake to reply to it, for fear I should run into the same wicked folly, both you and the Au­thor of it have always been apt to be guilty of. And besides, Sir, your hideous and base Reflections upon King Charles the First, have made me too melancholly [Page 10] to indulge the gayety of my Fancy, if I was naturally given that way: I do not cast my eye upon any part of your Book, without horrour and consternation of Mind, to think, there is yet in the World, a grey hair­ed Man, with one Foot in the Grave, provoking God, by shooting out his bitter and poysonous Arrows into the Sides of a Person whose Memory is so precious to so vast a Number of the devout and serious part of the Nation, and therefore I shall betake myself with all the brevity I can, to consider your various Charges you so impudently draw up against the King and Queens Grandfather, both in your Epistle, and in the Book it self; which is more than I am concerned to do: be­cause I only undertook to defend the last Eight Years of his Life, and acknowledged Mistakes in his Govern­ment before, which I proved, he not only offered, but actually rectified, and therefore I thought we ought all to imitate God, who pardons a Sinner, and calls his Errors no more to a remembrance, when he testifies his Repentance by a thorough Reformation. But God, Sir, it appears by your Spirit and Actions, is none of your Pattern; but rather then you will not gratifie your Lusts against this Great King, you will look into every part of his Life, and arraign him for every particular Error; nay, will pick up every ill-natured Lye, and false Suggestion, that his sworn Enemies endeavoured to blast his Credit amongst his Subjects withal, and in the mean time not shew so much good Nature, or com­mon Christianity, as to speak of one of his Vertues, tho' so many were conspicuous in him thorough his whole Reign. No, Sir, that would not serve your Ends, nor answer the Design of your Party, which the wise Men of the Nation are sufficiently aware of, and, I hope, will take Care to prevent.

[Page 11]In your Epistle, you tell us of a Letter which the Prince wrote to the Pope, which from the beginning to the end savours of Popery; and you mention four Particulars to prove it.

First, You tell us, That he prosesses nothing could affect him so much, as Alliance with a Prince, that had the same Apprehensions of True Religion with himself: For God's sake, Sir, read over the Letter again, and tell me where there is such a word, or any thing like it; I have the Letter now before me, as it is in Rushworth, and I assure you upon reading it again and again, I find nothing like it; and I hope I am not so dull, but I understand Common Sence, and if it was not for the unmannerliness of the expression, I would, I am justly provoked, to say, Leave your L—.

Secondly, What, Sir, You say, That he calls Popery the Catholick, Apostolick, Roman Religion, all others No­velty and Faction? In what part of the Letter find you this, Sir? I tell you, it is false; there is not one Syl­lable of this nature throughout the whole; and I chal­lenge the whole World of Malice to shew me any thing like it in the Letter. And now again, Sir, who ought to leave there L—?

Thirdly, You say, That he protested, he did not e­steem it a matter of greater Honour to be descended from great Princes, than to imitate them in the Zeal of their Piety, who had often exposed their Estates and Lives in the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. And pray, where is the fault in this; I hope any Man that knows what the Holy Cross means, in its proper sence, which is nothing else but the Christian Religion, purchased up­on the Cross, by the Blood of Jesus, will say, that this Protestation is so far from blackning this Great Prince, that it redounds to his Credit and Honour. And truly, [Page 12] Sir, he that considers his Life and Death, will say, He made this good to a tittle; for he lost both, not only for his standing up for the Laws of his Country, but for the Defence of the best constituted Christian Church in the World.

Fourthly, You say, That he solemnly engaged to the Pope, to spare nothing in the World, even to the ha­zarding of his Life and Estate, to settle a thing so plea­sing to God, as Unity with Rome. Surely, Sir, you are past all manner of shame, and a Man would think you was possess'd; for there is not one word of this in the Letter, and none but a Person, who cares not what Falsities he obtrudes upon the World, in order to de­ceive the silly and credulous part of Mankind, would have so boldly Printed such a notorious Falshood as this is, and who ought to leave his L—, Sir. And as for his Reply to the Pope's Nuncio, which you mention af­ter these Falshoods, pray tell me in what Authentick Author, I may find it; for I assure you, you have put so many false things together before, that you have so much lost your Credit with me, that I will believe no­thing of your bare assertion; and I do not doubt, but every Body that reads us both, will be of my mind. Come, come, Sir, had you done like an honest Man, that was resolved to serve Truth, and not a Faction, you would have told the World, that when the Great Spanish Favourite, at his first coming to Madrid, began to talk of his changing his Religion; he answered, He came for a Wife, and not for a Religion: you would have told us what Mr. Rushworth does, pag. 83. That when they used so many various Arts to allure him to Popery, that he remained steadfast to his Religion; neither did he express any shew of change; further, you would [Page 13] have told what Mr. Iohnson the Scotch-man, in his Latin History of those times, acquaints us withal; namely, that when the Romish Divines came about him, and pressed him to profess the Romish Religion, and desired that he would hearken to those Reasons they would give him, against those who had disturbed their Anci­ent Religion, he positively denied it, and let them know, He was so setled in his Religion, that he would not be pluckt from it; you would have further have told, When they found all their Attempts upon him in vain, they inveighed against Gondomar, because he had in­formed the King and State, that the Prince had a Dispo­sition easie to be wrought upon, to be made a Catho­lick, Caba. p. 329.

But, Sir, these are real Truths, and therefore not fit for the Pen of such a designing Demigogue as you are: your business is by degrees to destroy the Monarchy, and hope the wounding of this Great and Good Man's Reputation will contribute toward it, and therefore no wonder we hear of none of his Vertues, and in particu­lar that of his constancy to the Religious Perswasions of his Mind.

It may be now you expect I should give myself the trouble to answer your first Letter; but I will spare my self the labour, because I understand it is recommended to a better Hand, who understands the Records and Transactions of those times thoroughly, and who I do not doubt in time, will do you and your leud Book Ju­stice; for so I will still call it, because it was leudly de­signed, and had as leud an effect: for it was the occasi­on of most of those unmannerly and undutiful Reflecti­ons, that have been lately made against this excellent Prince, both in City and Country; which indeed was the only thing that provoked me to the Defence of that [Page 14] King; and therefore, Sir, you that unprovoked began the Quarrel, and stirred the Coles, are the Makebate, and not I, who honestly defended a wronged and inju­red Person, which is the Duty of every good Christian Man, and will have the Answer of a good Conscience, let such as you are rage and foam at Mouth never so much at it.

The next thing I shall take Notice of, is the punish­ment of Doctor Leighton, by representing of which in the blackest Colours, you would beget in your Rea­ders bad Thoughts of this excellent Prince, and his Reign.

Sir, It may be, I am something of your mind, that he met with hard Fate, and such, as if I had been in the World, and one of his Judges, with my present sence of things, I should not have consented to. But after all this, Sir, let me tell you, Dr. Leighton was a great Transgressor, and deserved a severe Punishment, if it be true what Mr. Whitlock writes, as I do not in the least question but it is: for Mem. p. 14. he tells you his Crimes in these words: ‘Dr. Leighton, a Scotch­man, for his Book, entituled, Sion's Plea, dedicated to the last Parliament, counselling them to kill all the Bishops, by smiting them under the Fifth Rib; and railing against the Queen, calling her a Canaanite, and Idolatress, had the Sentence of the Star-Cham­ber.’

Good, Sir, must it be Persecution, to call such a foul-mouthed Person to an Account, and to punish him? Why truly then, Laws and Governments are very silly and precarious things, and Men may say and do what they lift, (which will certainly make a blessed World) and the King's Reign must be bloody, that secures itself against the Violence and Railing of the worst of Malefa­ctors. [Page 15] Sir, Had any Man said or writ at this rate a­gainst your beloved Rump, I know what Fate he must have met withal, and you yourself would have called it Justice, and not Persecution.

And now, Sir, before I come to your Scotch Affair, a few words with you about Pryn, Bastwick, and Bur­ton, whose Story you recite at large in your Book, and all with a design to blacken this Prince.

Sir, I have looked into the Story of these three Men with some care, and here, if you please, I will make you my Confessor: And I must tell you, it is no Cre­dit to you; for if I was to choose one for Modesty and Honesty, I would as soon pitch upon a Jesuit as your self. I do, upon a full Consideration of the whole, wish from my Heart, that their Punishment had been some other way.

I do not think (if it be lawful for a private Person, as I am, to pass a Judgment upon the Publick Actions of a then Legal Court) that the way of punishing those Persons, was not at all politick or prudent; because not for the Interest, as things then stood, either of the King, or the Church; it gave too great an occasion for the designing Men of that Age, to open their mouths, and thereby to alienate the Hearts of the Common Peo­ple from the Government, and consequently prepared them, to joyn with them in any Action of Revenge, when time and opportunity should serve; and if Bishop Laud had kept in his Study at that time, and not ap­peared at all, either to hear the Tryal, or assist in the Sentence, it had been better both for him, and those Designs of Uniformity he had so much set his Heart upon.

[Page 16]Yet, Sir, for all that, I do not think these three Men were wholly to be passed by, because of their se­veral Characters and Professions; or that the Justice of the Nation ought to have been afraid of accounting with such bold Men, as they shewed themselves. Pray, let any Man read over their several Writings, which were the occasion of those severe Censures, and if he be an unprejudiced, and undesigning Person, and yet commend them, I will forfeit a great deal more than I am willing to lose. Certainly, more violent, rude, and unbeco­ming Reflections were never uttered, such Sarcasms, and Invectives, such bare-faced Abuses, as if they had got a Pattent from the Powers below, to speak evil of Dignities.

Mr. Burton speaking of the Bishops, instead of Pil­lars, calls them Catterpillars; instead of Fathers, Step-Fathers, with abundance of other Aspersions, that truly are not fit to be named.

Dr. Bastwick breathes nothing but Fire and Brim­stone, and throws down his Thunderbolts upon the Heads of the Bishops, as if he was the great Comman­der of the Clouds. And I beg the Reader to take a taste of all the rest, from one particular passage which I find in Mr. Whitlock, Mem. p. 25. in his Answer to the Information against him, in the Star-Chamber, you have these words: ‘That the Prelates are Invaders of the King's Prerogative, Contemners and Despisers of the Holy Scripture, Advancers of Popery and Super­stition, Idolatry, and Prophaneness; also, they abuse the King's Authority, to the Oppression of his Loyal Subjects, and therein exercise great Cruelty, Tyran­ny, and Injustice, and in execution of those impious Performances, they shew neither Wit, Honesty, nor Temperance, nor are they either Servants of God, [Page 17] or the King, but of the Devil, being Enemies to God, and of every living thing that is good.’ Which the said Dr. Bastwick is ready to maintain; and Mr. Whit­lock adds immediately, to shew the wilfulness of the Man, That none of his Friends could prevail with him to expunge this, and other-like passages, out of his An­swer.

Now, Sir, pray tell me, who can plead for such a Spirit as this is, or what Government can suffer such Indignities and Provocations as these are.

As for Mr. Pryn, he lived to see and rectifie a great many of his Errors, and to be a Thorn in the sides of such Men as you, who had overturned the Govern­ment, and violated all the Laws of the Land; and I wish he had seen them before, that he might have esca­ped those Punishments, which made such a noise, and turned to so bad an Account in the Kingdom, and there­fore I shall say no more upon this matter, but this: That the great mistake the Nation was then in, and many are to this very day, is, that these three Men suffered for pure Religion, for being severe Christians in their Lives and Conversations, and standing up for the Cause of Christ; whereas it appears throughout the whole Sto­ry, it was for Libelling the Government, and putting Indignities and Affronts upon the then Legal Admini­strators, such as no Government, that values itsself, and its Honour, upon the face of the Earth would bear, with­out just Resentments, and sutable Punishments. Chri­stian Religion teaches Men to be modest and peaceable, and with all patience to suffer for well doing, and to acknowledge God's Justice, when his Rod is laid upon their Backs for evil doing. And so much by way of Answer to that part of your Book, by which you have endeavoured to blacken the good King's Reign, and to [Page 18] run down the Reputation of Bishop Laud, and to express your Indignation against me, for saying other ways he was a good Man; which I still say, and have a very good Man to back me, namely, Judge Whitlock, a Man of a clear Credit, and sound Judgment; who, as his Son tells us in his Mem. said of him, That he had too much fire, but was a just and good Man. And truly, Sir, I think it is more like a Christian to speak well of a Christian Bishop, than to call him by such spiteful and reproachful Names, as you have done in your scurri­lous Book.

I come now to make some Reflections upon your Scotch Story, which you have told with so much Ve­nome and Partiality, that you have every ways acted like your malicious and ungodly self, and shewn you are a Man so resolved for a Party, that rather than not serve it to purpose, you will call Darkness Light, and Light Darkness.

You begin with a Relation of Bishop Laud's compo­sing a Common-Prayer-Book for them; and tell us how the Mutinies and Disturbances in Scotland sprung from thence; which truly I am very sorry for: for I am sure it had been better for them, and the Christian Re­ligion professed amongst them, if they had submitted to the Usage of the Book, and continued it ever since. The Worship of God would have been performed with Order and Decency, and in a way suitable to his Di­vine Nature and Perfections, and consequently could not have been exposed to the Contempt and Scorn of Men wickedly and atheistically inclined; nor yet have been nauseous to the soberly, wise, and seriously devout part of that Kingdom, as now it is, by reason of those rude, and undigested Addresses, those extempore and unpremeditated Expostulations with God, those bold [Page 19] and saucy Applications, that for want of a good Book, or a well framed Form of Prayer of their own before­hand, and committed to Memory, are so commonly made use of in their Pulpits: too many of the Accounts of which, we have lately, since the Great Turn in Scotland, received from very good Hands, and undeni­able Testimonies.

I, but this bold-face says, This Liturgy was not only composed by Bishop Laud, but sent by him to the Pope and Cardinals for their approbation; and this Story I must not dare to deny: But with your good leave, Mr. Modesty, I will venture upon the piece of Confidence, as to tell you, I do not believe it, and that because you assert it; you, whom I have proved already to falsifie, and misrepresent every thing that you pretend written Authority for: What! Bishop Laud send to the Pope and Cardinals for their Approbation of a Liturgy, al­most the same with our own? Sure, Sir, you have for­got the hatred the Popes of Rome, as well as the Dissen­ters, have to our Church Common-Prayer-Book: You have forgot the Bull of the Pope, in the Tenth of Queen Elizabeth, which commands all his pretended Catholick Children not to attend upon the Publick Liturgical De­votions of our Church, and that under the severest Cen­sure of the Apostolical Chair, and you have also for­got (but you have always a bad Memory, for any thing that makes either for Monarchy or Episcopacy) that the Papists upon that Account, and by Virtue of the Authority of that Bull have declined our Publick Ser­vice ever since. And therefore 'tis very likely Bishop Laud should send a Liturgy to Rome for its approbation, which hath so long stood condemned by the highest Authority that presides there.

[Page 20]In short, Sir, I cannot but conclude from this Story, that you have got a Secret, or else you would have blushed to have vented such an altogether improbable, and yet so designedly a malicious Tale as this is, and therefore notwithstanding your Marginal Caution, I will say, Leave your fooling, and think not to abuse the good People of England with such Insinuations, as will gain a belief from none, but those who are resol­ved to believe all you boldly assert as Oracle, against the clearest and brightest Reasons to the contrary.

Well, Sir, you say it was sent into Scotland; pray let me ask you one Question: In whose Name, and by whole Authority was it sent? Was it put upon them by a Rump Parliament, an usurping Protector, or by their lawful and undoubted Soveraign? If by their Soveraign, pray then, Sir, why if they did not like it, did they not first submissively petition their lawful King, and let him know, how disgustful the Liturgy was to many of his Subjects in that Kingdom? What must nothing serve these pure and refined Reformers, but Fire presently cal­led from Heaven, must Clubs and Staffs, and Old Wo­mens Joynt-stools, decide the Controversie betwixt their Soveraign and them? Must they presently assault one of the Bishops; the Earl of Traquaire, the Lord Provost, and Council of the City, and threw down the Lord Treasurer going to the Council, taking from him his Hat, Cloak, and White Staffe by violent Hands? Good God! what dutiful, what harmless, and peaceable Sub­jects are these? How much do they deserve such an Ad­vocate as our Letter-Writer? And what worst of things will not a Seditious Commonwealth's-man plead for, when he will vindicate such Barbarities as these are. But to go further with you, Sir, Must these Men of their own heads, without any Warrant from the Legal [Page 21] Authority of the Nation, enter into a Covenant with­out the King; nay, against his Will and Pleasure? As they could not but know, and that because they had entered into one with King Iames's Consent, in 1580, to defend the Purity of Religion, and the King's Person and Rights against the Church of Rome: What are these two Covenants of one and the same Nature, entred in­to by one and the same Authority; a Covenant entred into by King Iames's Consent, under his Hand and Seal, and a Covenant entred into by a faction against the Consent of King Charles, a Covenant to defend them­selves and their Religion, against all the Usurpations of Rome; and the other solemnly, nay, rather tumultu­ously, and riotously taken, against compliance with the Church of England, the greatest Bulwark against Rome, and all its Encroachments upon the true Government of Christ the Head, which I think the Zeal, Learning, and Divinity of the Members of the Church of England, did sufficiently demonstrate the last Reign. Away, Sir, with such stuff as this is, and do not fancy the whole Race of Mankind to be so blind, as to be lead into such Ditches, as such blind and malicious Guides as you are endeavour to seduce them.

Come, Sir, the Story is too long for my designed brevity in this Answer, and therefore I will give you in short, the Sence and Judgment of Mr. Whitlock upon it (an Author, I suppose, none of you will disallow) and then leave it to the Candid Reader, to think whether this Scotch Rebellion deserves to be extolled and magni­fied at that rate you have done it: He tells you, pag. 26. Memor. ‘That the King studying (tho highly offended at these Asfronts) how to compose the Discontents, sends Marquess Hamilton, his High Commissioner, for setling the Peace, who when he came thither, and asked [Page 22] them what they expected in satisfaction for their Grie­vances, they answered, after pretences of Loyalty, as all Rebels ever have done, till they got Power in their hands, that they would sooner renounce their Baptism, than their Covenant (An admirable sign of their know­ledge of the difference of Covenants).’

And pag. 27. he tells you, in the King's Name the Marquess proposed moderate and healing things (for so I must call them) which he contracted into two Propo­sals which you may read there, he afterwards upon a further Consultation with the King, to whom he posted, came back with a Declaration of the Kings, wherein he ordered the Service-Book to be nulled,together with the Book of Canons, and the High Commission, with a great many other things mightily gracious and con­descending, in particular, a General Assembly to be held at Glasgow, Nov. the 8th, and a Parliament at E­denburgh, May 5th, wherein all by-gone Offences should be pardoned, and a General Fast indicted. Yet all this would not satisfie these new and blessed Reformers, but as the King grants, so they lay their Heads together, and resolve to make further Demands, and that they may encrease their Party.

Pag. 28. we find their Seditious Remonstrances, De­clarations, and Pamphlets were dispersed, and their E­missaries and Agents insinuated into the Company of all those who were any ways discontented or galled at the Proceedings of the State of England. And withal he tells us particularly, pag. 29. That the Gentlemen who were imprisoned for the Loan, disrained for the Ship-money, or otherwise disobliged, had Applications made to them from the Covenanters, and secretly fa­voured and assisted their Designs; so did many others, especially those inclined to the Presbyterian Govern­ment, [Page 23] or whom the Publick Proceedings had any ways disgusted. And afterwards, when the King had justly raised an Army to suppress these notorious Disorders, yet for all that he consents to a Treaty (such was his inclinations to do good to his undeserving Subjects) and Commissioners are appointed on both sides, and they come to a conclusion, agreeing upon Seven Articles, which the Reader may find pag. 29, which were signed by the Scots Commissioners, and a present performance on their part promised and expected, though immedi­ately notwithstanding the King, as he tells us, justly performed the Articles on his side. The Scots publish a Paper very seditious, and against the Treaty, which (as it deserved) was burnt by the common Hangman, and not with standing the first Article agreed upon, was, To Disband the Forces of Scotland within Twenty four hours after the first Agreement; yet these perfidious Persons, he tells us, kept part of their Forces in a Body, and all their Officers in Pay, and kept up their Fortificati­ons at Leith.

And now let the Reader judge by this, how deserving these Men are such Commendations, as this pestilent and bold Letter-Writer gives them. And whereas this scandalizing Person has the Confidence to assert, That the king when he came home, burnt by the common Hangman, the Pacification he had made, I must tell him, he talks as he hath done all along throughout his Letter, falsely, and against his own Reading and Know­ledge: And for this I appeal to Bishop Burnet, in his Memoirs of the two Hamiltons, where pag. 782. he acquaints us, That the Scots published a false and scan­dalous Paper, entituled, Some of His Majesties Treaties with his Subjects of Scotland: so untrue and seditious, that it was burnt by the Hands of the common Hang­man. [Page 24] And are not you a base Person then, to obtrude such a Lye upon the World as you have done; but it is no wonder, the Father whose Cause you have served in this rude and seditious Libel is the Father of Lies.

Well, Sir, after various Rudenesses and Assaults of the Peace and honour of His Majesties Government, the Scotch Covenanters sent new Commissioners to the King, who pag. 31. had great resort to them, and many se­cret Councils held with them by the discontented Eng­lish, especially those who favoured Presbytery, and were no Friends to Bishops; I, and those who inclined to a Republick, had much correspondence with them, and they courted all, and fomented every Discontent, and made large Religious Promises of future happy Days; and after all, these steady and zealous Enemies to Rome, as you esteem them, he tells you, proclaimed their Dis­contents, and implored Aid from the French King, by a Letter under the Hands of many of their principal A­ctors, which they the less doubted, upon Confidence of Cardinal Richelieu, Con the Pope's Nuncio; which I think is much worse than sending a Civil Letter to the Pope, as the King, when Prince of Wales did, and which considering in whose Country he was, he could not safely avoid; and which is more than you can charge the Memory of Bishop Laud withal; but you know, Some Men can better steal a Horse, then others look on: And it has been the Custom of your Party always to sanctifie the vilest of Actions. Nay, he tells you further, that it was said they were encouraged to take up. Arms from this Cardinal Richelieu, by his Chaplain Chamberlaine, whom he sent to them; and by a Letter which Hepburn, Page to his Eminency, brought to divers, both here and in Scotland.

[Page 25]And now, Sir, I appeal to all the ingenuous and con­sidering, to all the wise and unprejudiced part of this Age, who read over this Story, who were in fault, the King, or the Covenanters? And whether His Ma­jesty had not just reason, after such Discoveries as these were, to clap up some of them in Prison? and whether he had been to blame, if for such traiterous Correspon­dencies with a Popish Prince, and a Popish Favourite, he had chopt off some of their Heads.

And this is all I think good to say, by way of An­swer, to your Scotch Affairs; and truly I think it is enough of all reason to convince the World, what De­fenders of the Christian Faith, and the Rights and Laws of their Country, these Covenanters were. God bless the Kingdom of Scotland, I, and England to, from such Reformers as these are; and I hope the greatest part of the People of both Nations will say Amen to it, with all readiness and cheerfulness.

And thus, Sir, without any Obligations on my side, (for as I Told you in my Defence, I only would concern myself with the last Eight Years of King Charles) I have run through, and proved your Accusations spite­ful and false, which you have so liberally vented to de­fame this Great and Good Man; and I hope I have gi­ven the World a just satisfaction how much you are to be credited as to all the other things you assert; you, I say, who rather than you will not serve your Cause, will offer to the World the greatest Lyes and Untruths in Na­ture.

I come now, Sir, to apply myself, Sir, to the De­fence of what I have said in my Book, in the behalf of King Charles, from your rude Impleadings of them, and [Page 26] Reflections upon them. And here, Sir, I will be plain with you, I am not at leisure to play the Buffoon, by making a Return to your Raillery, and little Witticisms, wherewith you entertain your Reader in the beginning of your Libel; but will follow the Advice of a wiser and honester Man than either you, or any of your Par­ty are, or will be, that is King Solomon, namely, Not to answer a fool according to his folly, least I be like unto him.

You say, That those gracious Acts which I mention, were bought of him: And what then? What hath been more usual ever since Parliaments had a Being in England? Pray look into the Statute-Book, and tell me, what gracious Favours can you find bestowed by the se­veral Kings of this Realm upon their People, that those People have not made their Acknowledgments for them, by presenting their Soveraigns with great Sums of Mo­ney? And how comes this to be a fault in King Charles, more than in all his Predecessors?

But buy these Acts did they? Pray, who had the disposal of the Money? How was it laid out? Was it given to the King to do what he lifted withal? No, Sir, you know the contrary; and that amongst the rest of the Uses it was put to, you know a great part of it was bestowed upon the Scots, for the good Service they did, in rebelling against their King, and putting two Kingdoms into a flame; and they returned home by the Favour of your Friends, loaden with the Nation's Treasure; when, if they had had their deserts, they had gone back with Halters about their Necks, as a sign of what was due to them, for so traiterously invading a Kingdom they had nothing to do withal.

[Page 27]But however, to shew he did nothing willingly as to these condescending Acts, you tell us, when he past the Poll-Bill, he demurred to the passing of the Bills for taking away the Star-Chamber, and the High Commis­sion: And what then? May not King's take time to consider, as well as other Men? Must they, who con­sidering the Charge God hath entrusted them withal, ought to have better Eyes in their Heads than other Men, must they, I say, only act like Bruits, and do things without previous thoughts, without a Why, or Wherefore? Who would sit in a Throne, if the Condi­tion of it must be the divesting himself of the Reason and Consideration of a Rational Creature.

But, Sir, I will answer this Aspersion in the King's own Words to the Two Houses, and then leave the Reader to judge, whether you have done fairly, to lessen his Grace upon this Account, his Words are these: ‘I must tell you, That I cannot but be very sensi­ble of those Reports of Discontent, that I hear, some have taken, for not giving my Consent on Saturday: Methinks, it seems strange, that any one should think, I could pass two Bills of that importance as these were, without taking some fit time to consider of them; for it is no less than to alter, in a great measure, those Fundamental Laws, Ecclesiastical and Civil, which many of my Predecessors have established.’

[Page 28]And truly, I hope, this will satisfie (tho' not you, and such as you are) yet any good Man, who is not resolved for a Party, as to this paticular Refle­ction.

Another thing you reflect upon me for, is, saying, That his signing the Bill for taking away my Lord Strafford's Life, offered violence to the peace and quiet of his Mind, all the Days of his Life. And here, Sir, I cannot but take Notice, how you endeavour to make sport with this good Man's Conscience; but let me tell you, I have always observed, that those Men who make sport with other Mens Consciences, have none of their own; and I am sure you have shewn none throughout this scurrilous Letter, unless Lying ad Slandering be the signs of Grace ad Good Conscience in a Common­wealth's-man.

Pray, Sir, why might not the King scruple this? Do not you know, what unusual Arts and Methods were made use of, before they could agree upon a Bill to take away this Great Man's Life? Do not you know how many of the House of Commons protested against it? how thin the House of Lords was, when it passed there? how the Rabble were brought down to threaten the House, and in a clamorous way (which you call peaceable) to cry, Iustice, Iustice; and how they post­ed up the Names of the Protestors, in order to expose them to the fury ad danger of the discontented and designing part of the City? And do not you know after all, they were so little satisfied with the Legality of their Proceedings, that they in the very Bill itself inferred a [Page 29] Clause, that this should not be made use of as a Prece­dent for the time to come, and after all this, might not a pious and compassionate King scruple the signing of such a Bill from a very good Conscience.

Come, Sir, to answer this to the full, and vindicate the King's scruple, I will here present to the World, for their satisfaction, the Sence, not of a House of Peers consisting of Seventeen or Eighteen Members; nor of a House of Commons consisting of not many above an Hundred, but the Sence of two full Houses of Lords and Commons, who took off the Attainder of that Noble Earl; the Words in the Act are those:

WHereas Thomas late Earl of Straf­ford was Impeached of High­Treason, upon pretence of en­deavouring to subvert the Fundamental Laws, and called to a Publick and Solemn Arraign­ment and Tryal before the Peers in Parliament, where he made a paticular Defence to every Article objected against him; insomuch, that the Turbulent Party then seeing no hopes to effect their unjust Designs by any ordinary way and method of proceedings, did at last resolve to attempt the Destruction and Attain­der of the said Earl, by an Act of Parliament to be therefore purposely made, to condemn [Page 30] him upon Accumulative Treason, none of the pretended Crimes being Treason apart, and so could not be in the whole, if they had been proved, as they were not; and also adjudged him guilty of Constructive Treason, that is, of Levying War against the King, though it was only the Commanding an Order of the Council-Board in Ireland, to be executed by a Serjeant at Arms, and three or four Soldiers, which was the constant Practice of the Deputies there for a long time; to which end they having first presented a Bill for this intent to the House of Commons, and finding there more opposition than they expected, they caused a multitude of tumultuous Persons to come down to West­minster, armed with Swords and Staves, to fill both the Palace-Yards, and all the Approach­es to both Houses of Parliament with fury and clamour, and to require Justice, speedy Justice against the Earl of Strafford: And ha­ving by these, and other undue Practices, ob­tained that Bill to pass in the House of Com­mons, they caused the Name of those resolute Gentlemen, who in a Case of innocent Blood had freely discharged their Consciences, being Fifty Nine, to be posted up in several Places [Page 31] about the Cities of London and Westminster, and stiled them Staffordians, and Enemies to their Country, hoping thereby to deliver them up to the Fury of the People, whom they had endeavoured to incense against them, and then procured the said Bill to be sent up to the House of Peers; where it having sometime rested un­der great Deliberation, at last in a time when a great part of the Peers were absent, by rea­son of the Tumults, and many of those who were present protested against it, the said Bill passed in the House of Peers; and at length his late Majesty King Charles the First of Glo­rious Memory, granted a Commission for gi­ving his Royal Assent thereunto; which never­theless was done by his said Majesty with exceeding great sorrow then, and ever remem­bred by him with unexpressible Grief of Heart, and out of his Majesty's great Piety, he did publickly express it, when his own Sacred Life was taken away by the most detestable Tray­tors that ever were.

[Page 32]And I hope when this is read and considered, it will sufficiently vindicate the King, and his Conscience, and stop the Mouths of such clamorous and seditious Per­sons as you are.

You tell us in another place, to lessen the King's Grace in granting the Triennial Act, that it did not extend so far, as by Law the Parliament might have required, there being at that time two Acts of Edward, the Third, for a Parliament to be holden once a Year: And what then, was it no Act of Grace to grant over and above, that if the King did not call a Parliament within such a time, that then the Lords Lieutenants, the Deputy Lieutenants, and so on, might do it; nay, if they neglected their Duty, it should at last be in the Power of the very Constables to do it.

Pray, Sir, do Justice to the King, and let not such an unparalell'd Act of Grace and Favour be buried and hid from the People; and therefore I say again, and do you reproach me for it as long as you please, that the granting this Bill, with so many additional Clauses, was certainly a greater Condescension than ever was made by any of his Predecessors.

Another thing you accuse this Good Man for, is his tampering with the Officers of the Army, to curb the Parliament, and to subdue them to his Will; and here you tell a long Story of Piercy and Goring, &c. such a Story indeed as the Faction was wont to make use of upon all occasions, to amuse and heat the People against their Prince; but the best of it is, there are so many [Page 33] incredible things in your Account, that I must tell you it hath not gained upon my Belief at all, and I hope before I have done with it, it will find as great a dif­ficulty to be believed by others. Amongst the rest you tell us that two of the Parties concern'd confess, that all the French that were about the Town were to be mounted (I suppose it was upon Hobby-Horses) and were to joyn with the Party; but that which is the Nicker is, That the Clergy would raise a Thou­sand Horse to assist them, and yet this Conspiracy was under an Oath of Secresie; and very likely in­deed when so many of the Clergy must be acquainted with it, as to raise by their own and their Brethrens Purses, a thousand Horse. Surely, Sir, you have a mighty Opinion of your self, and fancy the World so very silly as to believe every thing upon your Say so.

Come Sir, give me leave to undeceive the World and to expose your Honesty, your Knavery I mean, by letting them know the King's Account in this Mat­ter whose Words I must tell you, notwithstanding all your barbarous Reproaches, ought to find Credit with the World.

[Page 34] Husband's Exact Coll. Pag. 523.

[Page 42]And this I hope is enough to satisfie the World what a Calumniator our Author is as to this particu­lar.

Another thing you offer to impose upon the World withall, and to vilifie this great Prince is, as if he was under no necessity by reason of the Tu­mults to leave White-Hall; for you tell us they passed in a peaceable way, armed with no other Weapons than Petitions, and therefore they could not justly be called Tumults.

Certainly you are the most partial Man in the World, but I do not wonder at it, 'tis your passio­nate Affection for the Good Old Cause that makes you at every Turn leap over Hedge and Ditch and stick at nothing, tho never so false, if it serve but to re­commend your Cause to the heedless and unthinking Vulgar.

What did they pass peaceably when they with Clubs and Staffs in their Hands, cryed out, they would have no Groom-Porters Lodge at White-Hall, but would speak with the King himself when they pleased, When they beset the House of Lords Door, and cryed out in a riotous manner, Iustice, Iustice, when they entred the Abby at Westminster and broke the Organ, and tore in pieces the Vestments of the Church, when they threw stones at the Bishops, as they were coming to do their Duties at the House of Lords; when they beset the Bishop of Durhams Coach, and in all probability if a Lord of their Party had not [Page 43] interposed between them and their fury, they had mur­dered him, he telling them he was a good Bishop, and they answering him, But hang him, he is a Bishop for all that. These were peaceable Men with a witness, as innocent as wild Boars, and as harmless as Tygers.

The truth of it is, Sir, you have been so bold in this assertion, that you have given the Lye to almost all the Historians that have writ the Transactions of those Times, even to your Friend Mr. Whitlook, who in his Memorials gives quite another Account of these things; as the Reader may inform himself, if he pleases to con­sult him. And, Sir, to let the World know how false your Relation as to this matter is, I refer them to the Votes of the then Common-Council, Decemb. 31. 1641. wherein after they had cleared themselves, that neither the Court, nor any particular Member had any hand in those tumultuous and riotous Proceedings, and that they and every of them did disavow and disclaim the same, they resolve. That this Court, as the Representa­tive Body of the whole City, do promise from hence­forth, their best endeavours, to prevent and suppress in time to come, as far as in them lies, all such, or the like tumultuous Assemblies, and all mutinous and rebel­lious Persons.

Now, Sir, had these Men been such peaceable Men, certainly the whole Representative Body of the City would never have dishonoured their Judgments, by lay­ing that to their Fellow-Citizens charge, they were no ways guilty of. But, Sir, some body owes you a shame, and therefore helps you to vent such Lies as this is; namely, that the Citizens went in a peaceable manner, [Page 44] armed with nothing but Petitions. And truly, from such apparent Falshoods as these are, the Reader may better know how to rely upon any thing you assert.

Another Calumny with which you endeavour to re­proach the Honour and Memory of this pious Prince is, his unwillingness to issue out his Proclamations against the Irish Rebels; and when he did, commanding but forty to be Printed; for which you produce an Order of Secretary Nicholas to the Printer. The truth of it is, was this Story true, as you represent it, and was it designed, as you would fain make the World believe it was, it would be an unexcusable fault in the King, and strengthen the suspicion of too many bad Man, as to his consenting to, or at least conniving at that horrid Rebellion; and therefore Good and Great Prince, thou that didst so often bewail this Rebellion, and didst offer to go in Person to suppress it; thou, whose Righteous Soul was vexed and grieved with the thoughts of thy Protestant Subjects Hardships and Sufferings by the hands of those notorious and Blood-thirsty Villains, thou shalt here speak for thy self, and by thy own Pen con­fute such a Diabolical Reflection as this.

Husbands Exact. Coll. p. 247.

[Page 46]And now let the Reader judge, what this piece of Impudence deserves, for laying such a groundless flan­der at the Door of such a Person as King Charles was? I could be very severe upon you for this horrid Lye, and the more, because your Party all over the Town hug this Falshood, and make great use of it to reak their Malice upon the Name and Memory of this blessed Prince and Martyr.

I have but one thing more of this nature to take No­tice of, and that is, who were the first Beginners of the War: I know very well, you and your whole Party have always vindicated the Justice of your Proceedings, as if you were necessitated to take up Arms against the King, because he first raised an Army to bring in Arbi­trary Power. Sir, I have read over the Story as well as you, and according to the best Information I can give myself from the best Authors, the Parliament did really and indeed first draw the Sword, and sound the Trumpet to Battel: Was not mustering the Militia, and seizing of Hull, and denying the King Entrance in­to his own Garrison, and the Command of his own Magazine, entring into a State of Hostility, and bid­ding Defiance to all just Subjection to their lawful Sove­raign? Did not they Vote, before the King levied Men, any other wise than to have a Guard of Gentlemen about his Person, which any King in the World ought to have, especially in such dangerous Times as those were, That he intended to wage War against his People? And afterwards, did not they Vote an Actual War with him? which, I think, implies a necessity, or else it was done without Reason, as I am very well satisfied it was. And [Page 47] you need not have fallen so scurrilously upon me for the mistake of a word, as to give me the Lye (but good Manners I will never expect from a Man of your tur­bulent Temper and Principles). And whereas the King set up his Standard at Nottingham in August; did not the Lords and Commons in Iune before, make an Order for bringing in of Money or Plate, to maintain Horses, Horse-men, and Arms, naming a General, and other subordinate Officers; which, I think, was beginning the War to purpose.

And truly, Sir, let me tell you, I will believe that pious Prince, and afterwards patient and couragious Martyr, before Ten thousand such pestilent Persons, as you by this Letter appear, a Person of so venemous a nature, that you turn every thing to Poyson you touch; which good King tells us, upon their voting his Inten­tions to enter into a State of War with his Parliament, that he had no more Intentions to do any such thing, than he had to make War with his own Children. And who further, when he came to look Death in the face, with all his Holy, Solemn, and Divine Thoughts about him, which is a time when we are ready, and that upon good grounds, to give Credit to the Asser­tions of Men who have lived very bad Lives, much more of a Person whose Life in his Retirements had been so much with God; as we may be satisfied from his heavenly Soliloquies and Meditations: I say, who even then discourses of this thing, namely, who were the Beginners of the War, at this rate, upon the mourn­ful, and dismal Scaffold.

And now all you Nations, and Kindreds upon the Earth, I appeal to you all, whether a King just going to appear before the Great God of Heaven and Earth, so prepared, and so assured within himself of an incorru­ptible Crown, is not to be believed before such a foul-mouthed, such a scandalous, and leud Miscreant as this Letter-writer is, who values not the Reputation of In­nocence itself, if it stand in the way of his Lusts and Passions, of his Revenge, against Monarchy and Epis­copacy.

[Page 49]And thus, Sir, I have answered, and I hope to satis­faction, your grand Impeachments and Accusations of this great and excellent Prince.

As for the other things with which you have stufft your Libel; as, The giving up the City for a Spoil to the Army, &c. (tho' I wonder you missed the blowing up the Thames to drown the City) I say, alas, Sir, you must not think to catch some Birds, (and there are, thanks be to God, great Numbers of them in the King­dom) with such Chaff as this is.

And for the several Petitions and Addresses they made to His Majesty, which you quote at large, why all the World knows, that the worst Undertakings have always been covered with the most specious and glittering Pre­tences; that is a very bad Cause indeed, that a Man of Wit and Parts, a Man of Interest and Design cannot paint out in seemingly fair and taking colours.

But pray, Sir, how comes it to pass, that we hear not one word from you of the King's Answers, and the Noble Defences he made for himself against all those Pretences of Glory and Honour to him, and of Peace and Happiness to the Kingdom.

No, Sir, your business was not to do Right to his Memory, but to draw him out in the blackest hue, that so you might serve the future Designs of your Party; namely, to extirpate Monarchy, and over­throw the Ancient Constitution of the Kingdom. And therefore I desire some good Man would, with the leave [Page 50] of him, who has Mr. Royston's Right to those famous Works of King Charles, print some of those Declarati­ons of his, and especially that large one of August 1642, wherein all his Enemies Cheats and Tricks are display'd and discovered to the full: Or else I wish, That every Parish in England, at the Publick Charge of the Parish, would buy the whole Book itself, and chain it up in some Publick Place, so that all good Men might have recourse to it, in order to inform their Minds of the true Merits of the Cause, betwixt this great Prince and his Enemies; which if done, I am sure the good Peo­ple of England would quickly be convinced, what little reason there was for a War with so condescending and gracious a Prince, and how little the Nation was be­holden to those pretended Patriots who commenced a War which hath proved so destructive and fatal to the Nation, the Effects of which not only we, but our Po­sterity will feel also, I fear, for many Generations.

And now, Sir, I am ready to take my leave of you, but before we part, I must needs reckon with you up­on the score of a Reflection you have made upon my self. You are pleased to say, You understand before I came to my Dotage, I was a Presbyterian Minister in Essex; which Words as often as I have read, in the midst of my Sorrows, for your scurrilous usage of King Charles have almost forced me to a smile, and I cannot but believe, that some crafty Knave finding you ready to pick up any Story, whereby you might serve your Cause, had a mind to put a trick upon you, and to expose the Truth of the rest of your Books, by this one so well known a Falshood.

[Page 51]And, Sir, let me tell you, because since the late Per­secution in Scotland by that Party of Men, it is a great­er Scandal to be called a Presbyterian than it was be­fore, and because I find abundance of Men have run a­way with such a Belief of me, I will therefore give the World a true Account of myself.

I was betwixt four and five Years of Age when the Covenant was taken, and Twenty one when the King was restored, at which time I was a Student in Cam­bridge, in 62, after I had taken time to consider the Nature and Terms of Conformity, which by my for­mer Education I was wholly a Stranger to; I was Or­dained by the Sacred Hands of Bishop Sanderson, in the same Church in which I was baptized, in 63, I was Li­censed by the Bishop of London, Dr. Sheldon, to a Le­cture in London, upon the Personal Recommendation of the late Arch-bishop of York, Dr. Dolben, in which Ci­ty I continued till 71, when I was presented by King Charles the Second to the Vicarage of Westham in Essex, where how I acted like a Presbyterian, let the four Tracts I writ, and all in the Defence of the Church of England testifie; from this place I was removed by Let­ters Pattents under the Broad Seal of England from King King Charles the Second, to the Chaplain-ship of Aldgate, which is so called in the Original Deed upon Record in the Rolls, and for the Service of which the King has reserved out of the Impropriation an Annual Stipend; where how I have lived, and discharged my Duty in some sort, I leave to the whole Parish to de­clare.

[Page 52]It is true, Sir, I have always been kind to Dissenters, and have conversed with all sorts of Men with an equal Freedom, and when the great Storm Eight and Nine Years ago fell upon the Dissenters in City and Coun­try, I preserved my own Parish from Charge and Trou­ble, to the great endangering of myself; which many of them have a grateful Sence of to this day, tho' some others have quite forgot it; but that is, because they are too like your dear self: for I never found Grati­tude, together with many other necessary Vertues, a­mongst Men of your Kidney, 'tis no part of your Re­ligion.

And now, Sir, what satisfaction will you make me for this scandalous Reflection? Why truly, all I expect is nothing but further Calumnies and Reproaches, Back­biting and Slandering of me; for that is the proper Trade and Employment of Antimonarchial Men; but however, Sir, let me beg of you, but to let the Memory of King Charles the First alone; and then I will pardon, as well as patiently bear all you can say against me, and the more willingly, because I think it an Honour to be abused by such Persons as you are.

Sir, I am just upon concluding, only spare me one word or two more: Whereas you call me in your Epi­stle, An hungry Levite; I would have you know I scorn it, and here tell you, That the Goodness of the Cause I am engaged in, carries me above the hopes of adding to what I have, and above the fears of losing it all: and whereas you say, Mr. Love lost his Head upon Tower-hill, which you are confident I will never do for any Cause. [Page 53] Sir, I tell you, that by the Grace and Assistance of God, had I a thousand Lives, I would lose them all at Tower-hill, or at another place, which you have so long de­served, before I would either compose or publish such an infamous Libel against the Piety, the Honour, and Memory of King Charles the First; a Libel which I cannot think you could have writ, unless you had been acted by Seven Devils worse than yourself; and then I am sure they are Devils indeed.

And so, Sir, I take my leave of you, praying the God of Heaven, if he has not given you over for your past Sins and Provocations to a Reprobate Sence, that he would open your Eyes, and soften your Heart, and cause you to see the evil of your ways, that so you may return to him with weeping and fasting, and more par­ticularly, if you live so long, upon the next Thirtieth of Ianuary: And hoping this Prayer will not be in vain, I subscribe myself,