OBSERVATIONS Upon a late LIBEL, called A Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend, concerning the Kings Declaration, &c

WE live in an Age where ill humor and Malice to the Government do so prevail, that men rail without any manner of distinction, and without examining what things are good or bad in themselves; there seemeth to be no other Rule allowed by one sort of Men, than that they cannot Err, and the King cannot be in the Right: This general Maxim is so easie, by taking the trouble of any further enquiry, that no wonder if it is cherished and entertained; and those who are so prepossessed, are ready to turn the best things to a wrong sense, and to receive such an interpretation of every thing that comes from the Court, as their Misleaders are pleased to impose upon them.

The Wiser sort of them knowing nothing is so destructive to their ends, as that the Government should take such measures as might silence their Objections, have an inte­rest to blast every thing that is done on that side, and to disfigure with the colours they put upon them, all such things as might undeceive the People, and reconcile them to the Crown; for at the same time they appear so eager to have Grievances redressed, their more secret Prayers are that they may be increased: If the Court maketh any false steps, or giveth any provocation, it raiseth Noise and Clamour, the voice against it is loud; but the killing grief that afflicteth them inwardly, and galleth them to the soul, is, when the King doth a gracious or a plausible Act to the Publick.

Of this there cannot be a greater instance than their being so afflicted at the Kings late Declaration: It was an evidence of their grief, that it was so long before they an­swered it: It was received with a silent indignation that the Court should presume to out-argue them; and though they had rage enough to rail, yet they were for some time restrained from their usual Dialect by the reverence that is due to Reason, even when it is contrary to our Passions or Interests.

At last when they saw the effect it had in the Nation, and being not without reason apprehensive, that mens eyes might be so opened as to see them through their popular Disguise, they thought of two ills, it was advisable to chuse the least; and rather than lie under the general reproach of having nothing to say, they chose to venture a Reply, though they could not make a good one, presuming upon the success they had met with in their imposing upon the world, and believing it would be so favourably dispo­sed on their side, that where their false Arguments could not pass, they would at least be connived at.

This being after more than one Meeting resolved at a Consult, out cometh a Letter to a Friend, which of late signifieth little less than a Proclamation set out by the Autho­rity of the high and mighty Conservators of England, there is only this difference which is for their advantage, that if these Letters take in the world, they are imputed to the wisdom of these great Governors; if not, they are easily laid upon some foolish [Page 2] fellow that would be scribling; by which means the veneration due to these Princes of the People remains unblemished and entire.

This coming with other Pamphlets to me in the Country, I was tempted to make some short Observations which are submitted to the censure of the unbyassed Reader. First they are troubled, that though Parliaments are frequent, they are short and useless.

The King hath done his part in calling Parliaments often, for which he is to be thank­ed; except it can be made evident it was his fault that they were of no longer conti­nuance: so far from that, it is plain these men who complain have been so much the cause of the late Dissolutions, that one would swear they designed to provoke the King to them, and that he hath had in these cases so much patience, he can hardly answer it to the Nation, whose peace he is entrusted with and bound to preserve.

The Excesses of the Commons were beyond the cure of lower Remedies, and there was no other choice left, than either to part with the Parliament, or let the two Houses continue fitting in a state of Hostility hardly possible to be reconciled; of which the consequences are so obvious, and might have been so fatal, that we are to thank God the Constitution of the Government hath lodged this necessary Power in the Crown to preserve us from Ruine upon such occasions.

But fain they would have Parliaments sit as long as they please, and I cannot blame them, Authority is sweet, and a Member of Parliament that would have us believe he bringeth all the sense of his Country or Corporation along with him, cometh to teach the King better manners, and to advise him to keep better company. I say for such a dignified Creature as this is, by one word of the Kings mouth to be reduced into his own single self again, is so cruel a charge, that no wonder if men so degraded are angry at it, and would be glad, instead of being as little men as their Neighbors, to gain that su­periority which Nature denied them, by virtue of an Authority to continue for their lives.

It seemeth then by this, that a long Parliament is not in it self a Grievance, for now they would have one that they think their Party shall prevail in it.

And it is observable that those who were for the first Long Parliament, and against the second, are now the chief men that would have a third: How far this should recom­mend the opinion either to the King or the Nation, I leave every man to judge; but to do these men right, they are for the present so modest they will not speak out, so I will do it for them.

The little thing they would have is a House of Commons that may do what they will, how they will, and as long as they will, that is for ever, whether the King liveth or dieth, they must not be discomposed, nor their Authority interrupted, for I would fain know where lieth the real difference between having a Parliament sit for ever, or till all Grievances are redressed: the distinction will be very nice in an Age where it is Treason against the People not to grumble against the Government. These rich Mines of Fears and Jealousies can never be exhausted in our time, so that the Workmen are sure not only to be employed for their lives, but to secure their Posterities being so after them.

The Monarchy in the mean time would be in a good case to be under the continual Wardship of such severe Guardians; and these very Gentlemen who have upon an­other occasion affirmed that the very name of King must of necessity carry the authori­ty along with it, would not fail to give a full instance to the contrary, if they could ever catch our Master in the Net of a Perpetual Parliament.

They are troubled that the Declaration should be read in Churches, from which this Observation naturally ariseth, that they apprehend the making it so publick, may both expose them, and do the King right to the People; else sure they would not of a suddain be so well natured, as to discourage the reading it, if they had thought the weakness of the Argument might have brought any disadvantage upon the King.

This Paper hath laid down Maxims that are very new in our Constitution, The King can make no ill Orders because they must be by advice of his Council. This is a new Govern­ment, and the Monarchy put so much into the Venetian shape, that a man would have much ado to distinguish them.

It will be granted that the King is to hear the Advice of his Council, but for him to be bound by it, would make that greater than the Parliament; where if the King hath right to refuse any Bill that is offered, sure he may in Council reject any Opinion. I am confident it is not their meaning to attribute such an Authority to the present Council; I am persuaded it is far from their thoughts to wish the King should be swayed by a num­ber [Page 3] of men who are so little in their favour, and especially since it wanteth the help of those whose abilities and other Vertues in their opinion did formerly support it. This Complement must therefore be intended for another Council, a confiding Council that is to be made up with the rest of the New Model, we may suppose is prepared against the Bill of Exclusion is pass'd, and then they do not care how much power they give to themselves, or take away from the King.

To excuse the not giving Money for Tangier, they pretend they could not be secure of its being disposed to that use. It is hard they should expect the world should believe them in this, when it is certain they do not believe themselves. The experience we have had in our own time may sufficiently convince them of the injustice of that Objection; and to say Paper Laws are nothing, is to say our Liberties and Properties are nothing, since we hold them chiefly by that tenure: But the truth is these men would impose upon us, that an Act of Parliament will secure nothing they do not like, and do every thing they have a mind to: For instance, An Act for excluding the Duke is all-sufficient. An Act for limiting him Impossible. An Act of Exclusion will secure all. All other Laws are but Cobwebs not to be relied upon. These Riddles are delivered to us with such authority, that we are to receive them as Oracles, and it is become a mortal sin for any man to question the sense of them.

This slender way of reasoning being so openly liable to confutation, and the disguise so thin that every body must see through it, they have recourse to that common place, the PLOT, for a Butteress and a support to Arguments that are too weak to bear up themselves.

It is a retreat when they are beaten in Dispute, an answer to any question at a pinch; it is but saying there is a horrid Plot against our Religion, the Kings Life is in danger, the Pilgrims are coming from St. Jago, and the Earl of Shaftsbury is to be murthered, and the Popular Champion triumpheth without the help of Sense, against his Adversa­ry. That there hath been a Plot, is as certain, as that the men who most exclaim against it are of all men living the most unwilling to part with it: they cherish and nurse it up with more care than the Jesuites themselves; they hug it so fast, that it sheweth how much they value it, as the dear instrument they make use of to destroy the Government. The Day of Judgment would not be much more terrible to some men, how little soever they are prepared for it, than that day which should wind up the bottom of this beloved Plot, that men might come into their wits again. Ungrateful men then, that speak ill of the only thing in this world that supporteth them: But the good men in their hearts are far from meaning it any harm. Were the Plot once over, the Earl of Shaftsbury would be quite degraded, lose his respect at Wapping, and his authority in the Coffee-Houses. His Lordship would put off his dissembling-shape, and in this be a true mour­ner: for never man could have a greater loss, and no doubt it would out of grief make him retire into some hidden corner, rather than see himself reduced to the miserable ne­cessity of being quiet for want of sufficient matter to trouble himself and the world with; so that when these men pretend to desire an end of the Plot, it is a Jest fitter for a Smile than an Answer.

It is said Dangerfield was a Rogue, granted, and yet as I hear, this Rogue was brought into both Houses just before the Debate, to whip them up into the Bill of Ex­clusion, but now they tell a very strange thing, which is, that Dangerfield is become truly honest. It is much, and in my opinion, it is a visible but the Knave. That this man should be made honest would be a mighty Cure, And such a one as some of his Doctors would be loth to work upon themselves. In the mean time I cannot but put them in mind that it looketh a little Popish, not only to give a general Indulgence to such a known sinner, but immediately to make a Saint of him. If the Gathered Churches can do such Miracles, it is well, but if they should endeavour to put false ones upon the world, it might disparage their prudence, and lessen their reputation; of which I am so tender, that in kindness to them I give them this warning of it.

It is true that in some respects the Maxim is not inconvenient for these good men, That there can be neither Fools nor Rascals on their side, and that the being of their opinion, like the Crown, taketh away all Defects: By virtue of this charm Dr. Oats is a Divine, Mr. Mountague a Protestant, Lord Lovelace a Saint, Sir Thomas Armstrong a Patriot, and Sir Harry Capel a Statesman.

I cannot but take notice of the fears the Earl of Shaftsbury hath for himself, and in [Page 4] good nature would be glad to ease him of them; in order to it, I beg of him to believe the Papists are as tender of his life, as his Lordship is of the Plot: and for the same rea­son, because he is of use to them, he hath absolutely saved them by spoiling a good Plot, and dressing it so scurvily by the help of his under-Cook, that now it maketh even the best mens stomachs rise at it. He serveth up things so much above the strongest digestion, that few men can be persuaded to swallow them. So that a man may affirm, that if it was a folly in the Papists to kill Sir Edmond Godfrey, it would be a madness in them to hurt the Earl of Shaftsbury.

These Gentlemen are angry with the Guards which are so illegally kept up. Pray since when are they judged so? is it only since the Duke of Monmouth was put away from them? strange! that since that time there must be such a change, that he must be made lawful, and they illegal. It must be confessed, that next to the Laws, the Guards are the things of the world these men most hate: Fie upon them naughty fellows, rhey stand between them and home. The good men would fain have a safe victory, and do their business without venturing their skulls. For would it not be a cruel thing for an honest well-meaning Mutineer for his Zeal to destroy the Government, whilst he is about it, to have his brains knockt out, and so lose the benefit of spoiling the Aegyptians. Verily it is much better to have the Guards down, that he may walk into Whitehal with less peril of his person, and help to remove the Dukes Creatures out of all places Mili­tary and Civil.

For be it known to all men by these presents, that the Duke is more dangerous to us as he is the Great Minister of State, than as he is the next Successor. Say you so, Gen­tlemen, men guessed before this was your meaning; but I am sorry for your sakes you are so unwary as to discover it: Why such earnestness to remove the Successor, when the danger is confessed to be greater from the Minister? Come, speak out, the Position is, The Duke governeth all; consequently every man in employment is his Creature, for that they are to be turned out, and these Gentlemen taken in: the design is well enough laid, and would do them more good than the Bill of Exclusion, which is but a pretence, and a thing fitted for other ends: But they did not do well to blab this out before it was time, it is a thousand pities the Scheme should not take, but I very much doubt it as things now stand, which is to be lamented, that the good men should have ta­ken so much pains, and all likely to be to so little purpose.

After having arraigned the Declaration, they come to justifie the proceedings of the Commons in the two last Meetings, and speaking of some of their Addresses, say, The nature, and true state of Affairs would not bear a milder way of representing things to his Majesty. Let them speak truth, was it not rather the nature of those men, whose pride and anger made them delight in handling the King roughly, and persuade the House, when they were asked what should be done with Tangier, to answer with Pope­ry and a Remonstrance.

In the mean time I admire the caution of those Wise and Good Men, who as the Paper saith, thought the Commons had gone too far, insomuch as mentioning Money till our safety was fully provided for. They must be very jealous that could suspect any such danger; for besides that we are very safe in the management of those that led the House, who no doubt will ever have a most particular care of us in these cases; one may assure the Wise and Good Men of a further and better security, which is, that the Government is not yet so low as to sell it self so cheap. As for what the Commons proposed, when-ever they have a mind to deal, it is to be hoped they will offer some more equal Bargain, than to demand from the King the whole power of the Crown both Civil and Military, and to propose from themselves things so general, and so low, that the Supreme Wisdom of the Nation could hardly be thought in earnest when they offered them.

It is added for a further excuse that jealousies easily arise amongst Numbers, which is enough to hinder any intended Agreement. The answer to this is, that it is true, there did arise some jealousies, that the Promoters of an Agreement with the King did not forget themselves in it; but the Gentlemen who were concerned being sensible of it, did for their Vindication procure a solemn Vote, That no Member of the House should receive any place from the King without the leave of the House, which was so perfect a cure for jealousie, that they are unjust to be against all expedients, after this had been so prosperous. I am half in a rapture, when I think of this glorious Vote, worthy to be written in Letters of Gold, and impossible ever to be enough commended: By the first part of it they shewed their self-denial, and by their second their deference to a House [Page 5] they thought at least they governed. Great men sure they must be, and blessed with so happy genius, that could so mingle their Discretion with their Generosity, as at once to gain honor, and provide for their interest. The answer to the Kings Charge upon them for their Arbitrary Orders, is so weak and faint, that it cometh very near a confession of their guilt in it, and it would be unkind to press them too hard in that which they them­selves seem to be ashamed of. I will only take notice of one expression, which is, That they have erred with their Fathers. If this is not true, it is no good Argument: and if it is true, they must allow it to be as good a one for the Papists, as it is for the Commons.

They come next to support their Votes against particular persons, and do very boldly assert it may be made good by Law, The King ought to have no person near him who hath the misfortune of such a Vote upon him. Great Lawyers no doubt have their part in this asserti­on: but they who in so many cases dispute the Authority of the Crown, must allow men in this to demur to theirs; and I am troubled that a Vote of the Commons must be called a Misfortune; because it looketh as if chance or sudden heat, rather than the de­liberate Debates and Justice of the House had produced it. Where there is a setled Rule, and that Right only prevaileth, as mens guilt maketh them fall, so their innocence ab­solveth them. But if men must depend upon their good or ill Stars, or upon the wasp­ish humor of an Assembly when an angry Planet reigneth, the consequence is, that a man though never so faultless may by misfortune without guilt be transformed by a Vote, into an enemy of King and Kingdom; that is to say, into a man fit to be knocked on the head, and the Murtherer to be rewarded as the Law formerly directed for killing a Wolf; and yet God forbid one should think the Commons intended him any harm.

Well, but if the House declareth they have just reason to fear such or such a person dangerous, must there be Order and Process of Law before he can be removed?

When the Commons have just reason to fear such a thing, it is to be hoped the whole House knoweth that just reason, or else they would not Vote it: when-ever therefore they will tell that just reason to the King, he is to blame in case he findeth it so, if he doth not comply with them; but if he judge otherwise, he hath as much right to refuse, as they can pretend to have to ask. But if it must be so, that not only the real, but the pre­tended fears of some angry men, who may have influence enough to mislead an Assembly not sufficiently informed, are to have such an Authority, that the Kings Negative to them is disallowed, it is such a change of the Constitution, that the Legislative Power is wholly melted down into one of the parts that hath yet no power to do any Act that is binding without the concurrence of the Lords, and the Kings Royal Assent.

This doth so much out-go even our modern Plato, that it will be a harder matter than perhaps these Gentlemen think, to get either the King or the Nation to consent to it. Men are not so well edified with the practice of the Commons in this last Age, or the justice that hath been usually distributed by their Sovereign Committees, as to devolve the whole power into their hands, thinking it much better lodged where it is by the present Constitution. But it is said the Commons by their late Methods do not fine men, nor deprive them of Life, Liberty, Lands or Offices beneficial. I would first ask, is it not a Fine, and to many men the worst kind of Fine, to be excluded from the lawful advanta­ges every Subject is born to. Would not a Merchant think it a Fine, if he were sentenced never to go to Sea again? Or to come nearer, Would not these very men of Law who will have this pass upon us, take it unkindly, and think it a Fine, if they were excluded from all Practice? 'Tis true, if they would always argue for their Clients; as they do now for the Commons, their loss perhaps might not be very great; but presuming better things of them, I conclude the sentence would be very heavy, and that they would think it so.

Concerning Life, if the definition of an enemy to King and Kingdom is a certain crea­ture that is not fit to live, then the Commons have done all they can to take away the lives of those they have so sentenced, except they had sent a select Committe to strangle them, which had not been so convenient till the Laws are removed, which would have made it Murther; so that they must either say that a man who doth what lieth in him to kill me, meaneth no hurt to my life, which is but indifferent sense; or they must confess there was plain Murther in the intention of those Votes.

For to borrow their own stile, it may be resolved by the authority of impartial reason, that whosoever Voted any of those persons enemies to King and Kingdom with any other intent than that the said Persons should be absolutely destroyed, is a Mad-man, an Ideot, a Promoter of Lunacy, and an enemy to Common Sense.

[Page 6]Then for Liberty, see whether that is touched or no. If Liberty signifieth a power of doing every lawful act, and that it is a lawful act for every Subject to have access to his Prince, then without some act committed to forfeit that common right, it is a wrong in any one man, or any number of men to Address to the King for the incapacitating any one man in this case. Sure men will not say our Liberty is not invaded except we are thrown neck and heels into a Dungeon. It is a tenderer thing than that cometh to, and it hath been formerly judged even by a House of Commons, that mens being sent away against their wills upon Forein Employment, was a Confinement. By this it may appear that it is possible to make an unjust Demand as well as to give an unjust Sentence: And though the King hath power to refuse any thing that is asked of him, whatever some men would persuade us to the contrary, yet that doth neither absolve the Commons, nor any other man from the guilt of making a request that is not just, nor from the folly of making one that is not pertinent.

Let us see now whether even mens Lands would not have been reached by these Votes, if these good Gentlemen might have had their will; for by the same rule that a true Protestant Jury must have been directed by them not to find it Murther in any man to kill an enemy to King and Kingdom, they must upon any dispute of title of Land, give it without going from the Bar against any man so branded and proclaimed. Sure a French or Dutch-man, at a time when they are in open War with us, would hardly hope to carry a cause against an English-man in Westminster-Hall; no more is a man to pretend, whilst under a Character that putteth him into a state of Hostility with England, to keep up a suit against a Neighhor, or expect the benefit of the Law, which is to give no protection to publick Enemies.

As to Offices beneficial, it must be confessed they shew some gentleness at last, and give so much indulgence to those they have displaced by their Votes, that I do not see but any of them may upon due application, and expressive and fit remorse for the insolence of resisting their high and mighty pleasure, be admitted to be a Constable or Headborough in Wales or Cumberland, or some such unexpected Office in which the Publick State Af­fairs are not immediately concerned, where they may exercise their Magistracy, and enjoy their dignity without prejudice to the Nation.

This Grace seemeth the fitter to be acknowledged, not only because it is perhaps the first evidence that party hath given of their good nature, but because they do in this deal more gently with those against whom they have Voted, than they do with his Ma­jesty himself as well as they love him; for by what I can perceive, the King is only to eat and drink, and perform some offices of nature. They are kind men; but it was not arti­ficially done to leave it out, that A King is to have some Pocket-money for play things, since it is but reasonable for them to use a thing kindly, which if they can have in their power, they intend to make so good use of.

That wise and great Princes have sometimes hearkened to Addresses of this kind, is not truer, than that they have oftner denied them: for the King to do in all cases like a wise and a great Prince, as it is a general proposition, all who do not know him have reason to wish it, and all who do have very good grounds to hope it. But as far as one sort of men may be concerned in their own particulars, I guess wrong, if it would not be too fatal a thing to them ever to joyn in Prayer for it.

The Votes to forbid men to lend the King money, are to these mens thinking not only justifiable, but very wise ones too. These are Epithetes which it seemeth belong to every thing they do, or else I would ask where is the Justice of doing that for which they have no authority, or the Wisdom of doing that which hath no effect; only it sheweth their good will, by throwing the greatest indignity they could upon the Government. Men will lend still notwithstanding this mighty Vote, and perhaps upon easier terms than these Gentlemen would require for any money they part with in Parliament. In the mean time would these equitable men take it well, if by their example the King should send to all the Burroughs and Counties in England not to chuse such and such men, nor to trust those with a share in making Laws, who have in the late Parliaments assumed to themselves the priviledge of breaking them? The argument is at least as strong on the Kings side, without any Complement to Majesty, as they can pretend to make theirs, up­on the pretence of distrust, or the mis-application of the Publick Money: and yet I per­suade my self, they would hardly allow such a proceeding, or commend it, as they do their own, to be wise and justifiable.

[Page 7]They take so much care of the Houshold, that one would ordinarily suspect they had some Correspondence with the discontented Reformadoes of the Green-Cloth. I who live in the Country will never speak against the smell of Beef, no more than I will recom­mend that of Match to be at White-Hall instead of it: But I am far from apprehending the Country Farmer to be concerned in the late Retrenchments; for ever since the Ta­bles were removed out of the Hall, and the Brewis turned into Fricassees, they have lost their part in them, and especially since the Kings coming in, not only the Country Far­mer, but the Country Gentleman; and if you will the Country Lord too might have been shrewdly disappointed if they had depended upon the Hospitality of the White-Staves for a Dinner: That whole business was brought into so unpopular a shape, that the Nation will hardly take up Arms to restore three or four Tables; they are rather pleased to see them put down, since they were so transformed, and wholly altered from their first institution.

The Bankers are called the Bane of the Nation; if so, I have a great mind to be­lieve, if it was possible, it was for that reason alone, the Earl of Shaftsbury broke them. I never was partial to that sort of men, and so will leave them to make their own Apolo­gies: but I must say, it seemeth a little hard to me to make these Positions, The Bankers nor any body else must lend the King Money. The Kings Wants are only to be supplied by Parlia­ment. The Parliament is not to give the King a farthing. These laid together, have in my judgment a very odd appearance: Ay, but the King shall have money enough upon good terms from the Parliament: Shall he so? These good terms are to come; for those that have hitherto been offered are so far from tempting, that they may rather fright the King from dealing with the same Chapmen. Would these Gentlemen grow a little kinder and treat for a Mortgage of the Crown, allowing equity of Redemption, it might incline the King to hearken to them; but by all that appeareth yet, we may conclude nothing less will satisfie than a total surrender and passing away his title to them.

In the case of 35 Eliz. it is pretended the Commons did not assume the power of su­spending Acts of Parliament: what was it then? They did a thing they had a mind to in a manner they cannot justifie; they have as much right to make a Law, as they have singly to declare what is Law: but because they seem to give up the cause by the flatness of their answer, I will only add, that as their zeal in this case transported them beyond their bounds, it is to be hoped, time and second thoughts will reduce them to a better temper against the next Meeting.

In Mr. Fitz-harris's Case it is said the Commons could not come to a Conference be­fore they came to a Resolution: suppose it, what then? must that Resolution of necessity produce such Votes? If they had upon a cool Debate resolved that they were in the right, and sent to confer with the Lords either to have brought them to their opinion, or laid it aside if the Lords could have used arguments strong enough to convince them, they had prevented all objection. But to say the Commons could not resolve this amongst themselves without such injurious and unparliamentary terms as they were pleased to make use of in their Votes, is to say, if I have a difference with another man, and would discourse with him to compose it, I must needs for the better asserting my own right, send him word beforehand, he is a Rogue and a Villain, as a fitting Preliminary for a friendly Conference in order to an Agreement. For their Votes upon this occasion have, as much as in them lay, put the House of Lords under an Interdict, and fixed such a Cha­racter upon their whole Body, that if it were not a little sanctified by that chosen Rem­nant of Protesting Lords, I do not know but it might bear an Action, to be called by the Scandalous name of a Peer, after a Sentence that putteth all the Lords in as ill a condi­tion as those few that in the former Parliament they bestowed their Votes upon. How much soever these Gentlemen may flatter themselves in this matter, I can assure them, we in the Country understand it otherwise than they would have us: for by the infinite heat and strugling to put off his Tryal both in and since the Parliament, and by the Character of the Persons who principally appear in it, we are apt to conclude so warm a Contention must be grounded upon something very considerable; and we take it to be, that could this point be gained, men might either speak or act Treason with impunity; and that would be of such excellent use to some men, that no wonder if they are very earnest to compass it.

I am very glad to hear there is nothing to be said for those angry Men who have parti­cular designs; if any thing could have been said, I am confident it might concern some of those who have had a hand in this Paper, so far as to have persuaded them to venture at their Apology.

[Page 8]There is an Assertion made with the modesty and truth which belongeth to their Par­ty, viz. That all who are out of their places might have kept them. If I am either rightly in­formed, or may be allowed to guess from what they deserved, it is perhaps the only ex­cuse those men have for their ill manners, that from the prospect they had of being turn­ed out, they chose to prevent the Kings Justice, and to gain popularity, by endeavouring as much as in them lay to throw the affront upon him.

The Court hath long lain under the scandal of Popery, but it was news to me that they were for a Common-wealth too: This is so very unlikely, that for the sake of our Religion which dependeth so much upon their credit, I must give them warning to be a little more cautious in their Accusations, and take care that one part of their charge may agree with another; else as it happeneth to their Mufti Dr. Oats, men will be tem­pted by their alledging things impossible, to have doubts even of that part of their Evi­dence which may be true.

The last Paragraph telleth us how we shall be happy, and the King be himself. I was ea­ger to know this receipt, having a great mind for my own sake, and for every bodies else, to have such a thing compassed; but by taking the sense of the words as well as I can, it is no more than this in short: All will be well if the King will be entirely governed by the House of Commons; for we know they alone signifie the Parliament, as they have more than once given us to understand by their Votes: and that their Advices are to be Commands, is no more a doubt, than that their Orders are to be Laws. I shall give no answer to this, but may be permitted to guess the Kings will be le Roy s'avisera. In the mean time I have so great a desire to be happy my self, and that the Nation may be so too, that if any thing may be received under the unwelcome name of Expedients, I would beg leave to offer a few to their better consideration.

  • I. That no man who hath by notoriety of the fact within seven years last past promoted or connived at Popery, be thought now in earnest when he bawleth against it, or ever be ad­mitted into Publick Employment.
  • II. That no man who hath Principles against all Kings, may pretend to advise Ours.
  • III. That none who would have Places for themselves, shall have any Vote to put others out of them.
  • IV. That none who have thought fit to leave the Council, should ever so disparage themselves as to return into it.
  • V. That none may ever be thought fit for Counsellors, or any other Employment, who have so little wit as to expect the Nation should be angry with the King, because they are afraid for themselves.
  • VI. That no Member of either House who in former Parliaments never consulted his Consci­ence, be now allowed to be a Martyr for it.
  • VII. That no man who is a known Ass in his own business, may be thought fit to meddle with the Kings.

These things being granted, it is clearly my opinion, the King should stick at no­thing the next Parliament can ask of him. Mens minds would be so quieted when they saw a Foundation laid of such impartial Justice, that we might hope for Peace and Union; and when the Vizzard of Popularity is taken off, to see England look like it self again. This is to be desired for many reasons; and besides those which relate to the Publick, I wish it for a particular satisfaction to my self, who being void either of the [...]tion or the merit of pretending to any share in business, should think my self very happy in the enjoyment of [...] [...]ens Conversations, whose Politicks I cannot so well agree with, being confident that this would be a kind of Act of Exclusion upon these measures▪ and that the greatest number of the complaining men would be at liber­ty and unemployed.

Printed for C. Mason. 1681.

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