THough the Reflecting upon the Errors of Popery be extreamly commendable, yet the amuſing of the World with Lyes, is not only mean and baſe, (hardening even the Papiſts themſelves;) but a thing alſo that has endanger'd both Church and State, as all Loyal men of the leaſt Capacity now plainly ſee, and acknowledge. 'Tis not the jingle of a few words, nor is it the empty noiſe of Religion, that can make an Intelligent and Awakn'd People fancy, That a Republican Obſerver dreads the Depoſing of Kings, or that a Regicide in temper fears the Stabbing of them. Theſe are Chymaera's, Phantomes, and Notions below the very reach of the Vulgar; nay the Mythology or true Engliſh of them is as manifeſt as the Sun it ſelf in its Meridian. Yet when I remember, that the Stories of Papal Diſpenſations to the Dying Members of that Communion were never more earneſtly and zealouſly inſiſted upon (by Tongue, Care, and the reſt of them) than when the King and all his known Friends were deſign'd for Slaughter, I cannot think it unbecoming a Faithful Subject to examine a little this Authors Comment on the aforeſaid Letter, and ſee whether he may not be juſtly ſuſpected of having the former Project in his Heart, ſince he has at firſt daſh the ſame Cry in his Mouth with the old Care of Religion in pretence, which has uſher'd in, and cloak'd alſo the moſt diſmal and blackeſt Villanies ever the Nation yet ſaw or heard of.

His wiſe Proem is a doubt, Whether the Letter be his Lordſhips; Becauſe he thinks forſooth, That it ought to have had the Atteſtation of the Lieutenant, of the Reverend Doctor Hawkins, or ſome other good Proteſtant. 2dly. Becauſe 'twas Printed by T. B. and not by His Majeſties Printers: And 3dly. Becauſe 'tis Printed (as the Paper mentions) for one Mead, who is no known Bookſeller he ſays.

To theſe Reaſons I Anſwer, that the Lieutenant did not only bring it to the King, but his Lordſhip has to hundreds and hundreds of very Worthy Proteſtants (who during his Confinement came often to him) moſt ſolemnly declar'd his Innocence, together with a deteſtation of all Plots, and all Kingkilling or Depoſing Doctrines whatſoever. Now as for T. B. whether he were one of the Aſſigns of Bill and Barker, or whether Mead be Free of the Company, I know not; yet this I am ſure of, that the Argument is very ſilly and weak; and if I miſtake not, the reſt will be found in the ſame Mood and Figure▪ But before I proceed, I cannot (I confeſs) but ſmile to ſee how Complemental and full of Ceremony the Spark is with the aforeſaid Loyal and Sober Clergy-man, who, inſtead of having due Reſpect or Reverence pay'd him (when Fitz-Harris's buſineſs was on the Anvil) was nothing but Sir Reverenc'd, and Vilified by the whole Cabal; and the like they would again do, not only to Him, but to the whole Hierarchy, were their Sails a Trip, or their Out-ragious Hands and Tongues unfetter'd.

Now for the Obſervations themſelves, the firſt is; That a Papiſt for all his Grimaces (and conſequently his Lordſhip, if he be one) never really pray'd for the King, it being abſolutely forbidden by a Synod at Dublin, as Father Walſh the Franciſcan has it (he ſays) in Print.

The point I confeſs would ſeem very ſtrange, were not this an Age of Riddles; and certainly 'tis at leaſt Myſtery, and a kind of Riddle too, that Papiſts dare not Pray for the Welfare of their Soveraign, and yet dare Fight for it. They can Juggle it ſeems with His Majeſty in their Words, and remain yet real in their Actions, even to the hazard of their Lives and Fortunes. Nay the Engliſh Papiſts (for againſt them this ſhot is I ſuppoſe Levell'd) have often challeng'd (we find) all their Enemies in the Nation, To ſhow any one man of them (whether Gentle or Simple) that was ever Falſe or Ʋnfaithful. But I wiſh for the ſake of all True Proteſtants (who will not I am ſure ſend the like defiance) that Pug's Deputy, I mean this new Couranteer, had kept the Witneſs conceal'd, his Name being I fear a little Scandalous; for the Papiſts here, have not only call'd him all along Macedo, Lyar, &c. but the whole Town knows that he was in open War with his Order, and formally Excommunicated alſo for his goodneſs. Yet the matter upon ſecond thoughts may paſs; for a Witneſs is often the better, for a Blot in his Eſcutchion provided he be Advantagious to the Brethren and their Cauſe.

In the next Paragraph this Munkyiſh Obſerver will have it ill Manners in the Writer of the ſaid Letter, for ſaying his Lordſhip has long lain under a falſe and injurious Calumny, ſeeing his Lordſhip was Impeach'd (he ſays) by the higheſt Court of Judicature in the Kingdom; yet he will have it, that if the Letter be his Lordſhips own, 'tis only the word of a dying Romaniſt for the concern of his Church, and that perchance He did it to gain Abſolution; or that there may be an Equivocation in the words.

As for his Lordſhips affronting the Parliament by proteſting thus his Innocence, I ſhall ſpeak a little to it by and by; deſiring the Reader to tell me firſt, If this be a Crime, what do the Saints then deſerve, who have Branded that very Houſe of Commons which Impeach'd his Lordſhip, with the Title of Penſioners, and a thouſand other Villanous Taunts and Nicknames? Now for the buſineſs of Diſpenſations here mention'd (for the altering of the Phraſe is only to ſhow his Elegance) 'twas too groſs, too Childiſh to ſtand long on its Legs; for who could imagine (when the hurry was once over, and all the Elephants and Camels ſwallow'd) that two or three Retailing Scriblers of this new Faction ſhould Monopolize to themſelves the whole Secret, when as no body elſe, no not the Converts from Popery ever heard of that Trick before. Beſides, how ſtrangely odd muſt it appear to any thinking man, that his Holineſs ſhould be ſo liberal, when 'twas Cockpit lay that he would looſe by the Intrigue, and yet permit his Pupills from time to time to ſuffer in their Perſons and Eſtates for not going to Church, even to Prayers of his own making, (if the word of a True Proteſtant were to be taken.) But the Impoſture and deſign is now diſcover'd; and we know the Credit of the Kings Evidence was to be mantain'd, to deſtroy both the King and Monarchy together. No wonder then that a man of Probity in his Actions, a man without Welt or Gard in his Expreſſions, and a man alſo that died with great Reſignation and Peace, (as all the Proteſtants about him can teſtifie) ſhould be tax'd by theſe men of Equivocation, even when he uſes the Words of Oates's own Charge which his Lordſhip had it ſeems formerly gotten; nay the very Words (if I be not much deceiv'd) which the ſaid Oates Swore at the Bar of the Lords Houſe againſt him.

His 4th. Obſervation (for the 3d. will follow next more methodically) is on his Lordſhips affirmation, That the murdering of Kings, and the taking up of Arms againſt Them, is, to his knowledge, no authoriz'd Principle of the Popiſh Religion. This makes the little Gentleman touchy, and ſay, That the Averment is either deluſive, or falſe, ſince Papiſts have Rebell'd even in England and Ireland, ſeeing their Councils have declar'd, and catagorically concluded it in expreſs terms; and laſtly, ſeeing their greateſt Doctors have avow'd it alſo.

To this I firſt ſay, If owning Rebellion lawful by the determination of One or more ſpiritual True-Proteſtant-Aſſemblies, (for ſuch a Meeting, I ſuppoſe, in our Caſuiſt's ſenſe is a Council) and if the aſſerting it by the Doctors and Preachers of the Communion; and again, if the practiſing it by the Flock in general, makes the Poſition an authoriz'd Principle of a Religion; I can tell our ſaid Caſuiſt, with a vengeance, whoſe Religion this Doctrine is an authoriz'd Principle of; with this aggravation too, that 'twas never explicitly nor implicitly diſown'd by the Party; nay, rather than recant, ſeveral of the Fraternity have lately dy'd the Devil's Martyrs for it, we know. But 'tis not my Province to Accuſe the Brethren, or Excuſe Popery; but to Vindicate a Noble Peer, and a Loyal Subject, who died a Chriſtian, and hop'd for Salvation by the Merits of the Bleſſed Jeſus only. To the buſineſs then, in God's Name.

The whole Engliſh World knows, That my Lord Petre was accus'd of intending the King's Depoſition and Death; nor is any body ignorant with what zeal 'twas proclaim'd through the Kingdom, That the lawfulneſs of it was a Popiſh Principle, even a certain Tenet of that Religion. Now, ſeeing his Lordſhip thought it (as he ſays in his Letter) a duty he ow'd to Truth and his own Innocence, to clear himſelf of the Treaſon; was it not abſolutely neceſſary (if he could truly and knowingly do it) to declare the Doctrine a Calumny, and to his knowledge to be no Principle of his Church? I ſay, was it not neceſſary for him to do thus? eſpecially when 'twas evident that our very believing this a part of his Religion, infinitely ſtrengthned the Evidence and Charge againſt him?

This being his Caſe, and theſe his Motives, might he not then knowingly deny the Principle, when ſeveral learned men had told him 'twas an aſperſion; when many zealous Engliſh Papiſts had, he knew, written againſt it; when he heard that Books that maintain'd it had been cenſur'd and burnt in Popiſh Countreys; and eſpecially, when he ſaw (even whilſt he lay in Priſon in a manner for the King) that the Pope's eldeſt Son, even the Popiſh King of France, with all that Clergy, tell his Holineſs to his face, That they deteſted this Doctrine; for Princes held their Crowns from God alone; ſo that no Power under Heaven, could Depoſe them, much more Murther them; Nay, his Lordſhip alſo knew, that the good old Man, inſtead of damning his Child for the Fact, did (even ſince this Declaration) ſend him his Bleſſing; which no body (I think) believes he would have done, had His Majeſty deny'd Tranſubſtantiation, Purgatory, or any real Tenet of the Popiſh Religion.

By this then we ſee, that the Council of Lateran (which impos'd even Tranſubſtantiation on all Papiſts,) is far from obliging them to the depoſing Doctrine; and this Dr. Heylin (that great Champion againſt Popery) in his Certamen Epiſtolare, plainly ſhews; and truly I ſhall much ſooner follow the Opinion of that eminent Divine, than Mr. Obſerver's. But ſtill I ſay, that Popery is Popery; and tho' Papiſts may be Loyal, many things in their Religion may be yet Erroneous; nor will I be the ſooner a Jew, becauſe he is thus far in the right, as to believe Moſes and the Prophets.

So much then for this point; and now let's fall to the 3d Obſervation, which is extremely remarkable and pleaſant; it being on that part of the Letter which puts Mr. Obſerver into an Extaſie, and far above the Altitudes of Dol Common.

His Lordſhips words are theſe, That of the folly as well as falſhood of Oates's Information, the ſober part of Mankind are (as he conceives) e'r this ſufficiently convinc'd. To which the Gentleman ſays, That the Paragraph ſmells rank of the Prieſts Contrivance; That it arraigns the Juſtice of the Nation; That it affronts His Sacred Majeſty, the Pa • l • ament, the Judges, &c. calling them in effect Fools and Mad-men; That ſober men are ſo far from being convinc'd, as the Letter means, that on the contrary, Oates ſtands (in ſpight of all the little Romiſh Arts) unſhaken, and as firm as the Pillars of the Earth; but the Popiſh Subornations and Tricks have been abundantly derected by Providence, to their confuſion, as appears in the Caſe of Knox and Lane. Then to conclude, he ſays, That He who with deep aſſeverations avouches one Ʋntruth, cannot expect to be believ'd in another Affirmation; by any but Bankrupts in Reaſon, and Prodigals in their Faith.

What a Rhapſody, and heap of unſorted, and (which is more) contradictory things, has the Gentleman rak'd up here altogether, to his own confuſion and ſhame, (if a Whig had the grace to have any!) For, what an encouragement does he give to Perjury, and any profligate wretch, if a Witneſs, muſt never be queſtion'd after Judgement? Magiſtrates and Governours are not Gods, tho' they are call'd ſo; They muſt commit upon ſuſpicion, and believe an Oath, when they have no reaſon to doubt it, and therefore 'tis Juſtice in Judges to condemn (even an Innocent,) if really, and in their conſcience, they think him guilty. Our very Law-books ſhew us many ſad Precedents of this Nature, without diſhonouring thereby the Government; and the Papiſts themſelves, (tho' ſufferers) have had th • ingenuity to own this Truth, as we ſee in the Lord Caſtlemain's Manifeſto: yet, had they been ſilent or dogged, Mr. Settle in his Narrative, and the Obſervator alſo in his Loyal Treatiſes, have fully prov'd the point, and anſwer'd all the Phanatical Objections and Pretences. But who could have imagin'd (had we not had a long and repeated experience of it) that Claudius ſhould rail at Debauchery, or that True-Proteſtants ſhould be ſo tender of the Honour of the Government, who blaſphem'd againſt all that is Sacred, if their own Copyholds come once to be touch'd?

To paſs by then the ſcandal they have caſt upon Juries, by their Ignoramus's and other Notorious Verdicts; Have they not defam'd all our Courts, by publickly decrying and diſowning the Now PLOT; tho' Perſons of Rank and Quality have been the Witneſſes; tho' the Condemned themſelves have confeſt the Conspiracy; and tho' no one of them have had the impudence to deny it at their Execution, which even in conſcience he ought to have done, had he been Innocent? Nor can any thing more unanſwerably prove the Truth, Tenderneſs, and exact Probity of the ſaid Witneſſes, than that ſo many Noted True Proteſtants (who have been lately Impriſon'd) are now at Liberty for want of Evidence; a thing never heard of in the Salamanca Intrigue. Is not then Mr. Obſerver's complaint againſt Defamation from the bottom of his heart, when all his party have ſtill aſpers'd the King, and all his beſt and trueſt Miniſters?