THE Credulity and Superstition of Man­kind hath given great Opportunities and Advantages to cunning Knaves to spread their Nets, and lay their Traps in order to catch easie and unwary Creatures; these being led on by Ignorance, or Stupidity, they by Pride or Ambition, or else a Vile and Mercenary Principle; Therefore seeing we are in this State of Corruption, bred up to believe Contradictions and Impossibilities, led by the Nose with every State Mountebank, and Monkish Iugler, moved like Puppets by Strings and Wires; it seems high time to vin­dicate Humane Nature, and to free her from these Shackles, laid upon her in the very Cradle; for Man (who ought to be a Free and Rational Animal) in his present State is only an Engine and Machine, contriv'd for the Vanity and Luxury of Priests and Tyrants, who claim to themselves, and seem to Mo­nopolize the Divine Stamp, tho' we are all made of the same Materials, by the same Tools, and in the same Mould, equal by Nature, met together and link'd in Societies by mutual Contracts, plac'd by turns one above another, and entrusted for some time with the Power of executing our own Laws, and all by general consent for the Publick Good of the whole Community; this is the genuine Shape and Figure of Primitive and Sound Government, not distemper'd and fatally infected with the mon­struous Excrescencies of Arbitrary Power in one single Member above all the Laws of the whole; Infal­libility, Divine Right, &c. started by Knaves and Sycophants, believ'd by Fools, who scarce ever heard of the Greek and Roman Histories, and never read their own. I shall therefore give some Ex­amples (out of an infinite number) of People ru­in'd and utterly destroy'd by their easie Credulity, and good Nature, matter of Fact being a stronger Proof, and better Rule to steer Mankind, than the empty Notions of the Schools, invented only to perplex and confound our Ratiocination, lest it should discover the naked Truth of things. The present Letter will confine it self only to Publick Promises, Oaths, and Solemn Contracts, scandalously violated by the Roman Catholicks ▪ not with Heathens and Hereticks only, but amongst themselves: We will begin with the more remote Countries.

The Spaniards and Portugueses have acted so trea­cherously with the Africans, and the Natives of both Indies, that the Cruelty of the History would be in­credible, if it was not related by their own Hi­storians; their Leagues and Treaties (the most sa­cred Bonds under Heaven) were soon neglected, and the Spirit of their Religion broke all before it; how many Millions of those innocent Creatures were murder'd in cold Blood, and for Pastime sake, with all the variety of Torments that the Devil could inspire into them; how soon were the vast Regions of Mexico, New Spain, Peru, Hispaniola, Bra­sel, &c. depopulated, above twenty Millions of the poor harmless Inhabitants being put to death in full Peace, and they the best natur'd People in the World, and very Ingenious; tho' they may seem Savages to a sort of Men, who think all Barbari­ans that differ from them in Habits, Manners, Cu­stomes, Diet, Religion, Language, &c. not consi­dering that all-wise Nature hath contriv'd a diffe­rent Scene of things for various Climates; Nay, such is the Inhumanity of these Catholick Nations here at home, that they will frequently bring Strang­ers (settled amongst them by the Laws of Com­merce) and their own fellow Subjects into the In­quisition ▪ especially if they are Rich, upon a pre­tence of some Heretical opinion, tho' they them­selves at first protect and license the Opinion; as in the case of Molino, whose Book had receiv'd an Imprimatur from most of the Inquisitors of Spain and Italy, and even from the Infallible Head of the Church, yet afterwards it was burnt, and he himself together with many of his Followers mise­rably tortur'd; the Pope scarce escaping the Pu­nishment. The Generous Marshal Schomberg (dri­ven out of France for his great Services) who had won many Battels for the Portugueses, and sav'd their Country, could not be suffer'd to end his Old Age amongst them, but was forc'd in the midst of Winter to commit himself to the Sea, and fly to an inhospitable Shoar.

The present French King renounced all his Pre­tences on Flanders, concluded the Pyrenean Treaty, and swore at the Altar, not to meddle with that Country, but how well he observ'd that Sacred Covenant, Baron D' Isola will best inform you in his Bouclier d'Etat, for which he was thought to be poison'd; neither hath the French Monarch been contented to break all Faith and Measures with the Spaniard, but he hath gone about to deceive and ruine the Pope, Emperour, all the Princes and Ele­ctours of the Empire, the Prince of Orange, Duke of Lorrain the Swizzes, the Dutch, and the English, and not only these his Neighbours and Allies, but his own Protestant Subjects, who had all the Se­curity that Solemn Edicts, Oaths, and Promises could afford them, besides many other obligations upon the Crown for bringing the King to the Throne; [Page 2] yet all of a sudden they found themselves oppress'd and destroy'd by his Apostolical Dragoons ▪ their Temples razed, their Wives and Children taken a­way, their Goods and Estates confiscated, them­selves cast into Prisons, sent to the Gallies, and of­ten shot at like Birds: His seising of Lorrain, Franch Compte, Alsace, Strasburgh, Luxemburgh, the Princi­pality of Orange, the County of Avignon, Philips­bourg, the whole Palatinate, the Electorates of Mentz, Treves, and Cologn, his building of Cittadels in the Empire and in Italy, &c. are so contradictory to National Agreements, and Publick Treaties, that scarce a Iesuit or a Frenchman can have Impudence enough to defend them; a Banditto, a Pyrate, or a Pick-pocket would be asham'd of such Actions; and an ordinary Man would be hang'd for a Crime a Million times less. His seising upon Hudson's Bay, and leading the English into Slavery; the French Treachery in the Engagement at Sea between us and the Dutch, their frequent seizing of our Ships, are light things, not worthy our Resentment, be­ing under the Conduct of a Monsieur whom the World so justly vilifies and despises.

The Emperour can have no good Pretence to con­demn the King of France, or any other Catholick Prince for breach of Common Faith and Honesty, since he himself hath plaid the same Game with his Protestant Subjects, inviting some of the Chief of the Hungarian Nobility to Vienna, under the co­lour of Treaty and Friendship, and then cutting off their Heads, seizing their Estates and Properties, destroying their Pastors and Churches, and extir­pating the whole Reform'd Religion, after he had promis'd and stipulated to protect and give them the liberty of their Consciences. The Parisian Ma­sacres were carried on and executed under a Mask of Friendship, all the Principal Protestants of France being invited to the healing Marriage, to Revel and Caress, were Barbarously Butcher'd at the Toll of a Bell in their Beds, when they dream'd they slept securely. The Irish Massacre of above 200000 Pro­testants was no less Treacherous, it was a Copy of the Spanish Cruelty in the West Indies, to whom the Irish are compar'd by Historians for their Idle­ness and Inhumanity, tho' not for their Wit.

The Persecutions of the Protestants in the Valleys of Piedmont, are another instance of Popish Imma­nity and baseness; they were under the common shelter of publick Pactions and Treaties, and had been solemnly own'd by the Dukes of Savoy, to be the most Loyal and the most Couragious of their Subjects. The present Duke, who undertook this last Persecution, was not content to destroy them with his own Troops, but call'd in the French to assist at the Comedy, to shoot them off the Rocks▪ to hunt them over the Alps, and to sell the strongest of them to the Gallies, that the very Turkish Slaves themselves might deride and insult over them▪ Catholicks, who have not Power or Opportunity to execute the same things▪ seem to condemn the Con­duct in Publick, but sing te Deum in Private, and as soon as ever they have got a sufficient Force, com­mit the like Barbarities, so essential to their Reli­gion, that all the instinct of Nature cannot separate them. The Holy Father at Rome (tho' he sets up for a moderate and merciful Pontificate) order'd te Deum to be Sung up and down, for the extirpation of Heresy out of France and Piedmont; and our English Catholicks have given us (as their Army and Interest encreas'd) several proofs, how well they can juggle and disguise themselves; setting up Courts of Inquisition, turning Protestants out of all Employs▪ and even out of their Freeholds, dispensing with Laws, Ravishing Charters, packing Corporations, &c. and all under a notion of Liberty or a Divine Right; they with their Accomplices defended illegal Declara­tions, and set up an Authority above all our Laws, under the Cloak of a sham Liberty of Conscience▪ racking at the very same time the Consciences of the Church of England Men, and undermining the Foun­dation of our State: If Mr. Pen and his Disciples, had condemn'd the unlawfulness of the Declarations and the Dispensing Power, when they wrote so fast for Liberty of Conscience, they had then shew'd a generous zeal for a just Freedome in Matters of Re­ligion, and at the same time a due veneration to the Legislative Power▪ (Kings, Lords, and Commons) but the secret of the Machine, was to Maintain and Erect a Prerogative above all Acts of Parliament, and consequently to introduce upon that bottom Tyranny and Popery; yet, notwithstanding all this uncontroulable Power, and shew of Grandeur, an Easterly Wind, and a Fleet of Fly-Boats, would cancel and undo all again. Our Monkish Historians relate of King Iohn, that being in some distress, he sent Sir Tho. Hardington, and Sir Ralph Fitz-Nichols, Ambassadours to Mirammumalim the great Emperour of Morocco, with offers of his Kingdom to him, upon Condition he would come and aid him, and that if he prevail'd, he would himself turn Mahometan and renounce Popery.

I will not insist upon the violations of Laws and Treaties in the Low Countries, or the Spanish Tyranny over them▪ because the Spaniards have got so much by that Persecution and Cruelty, that they might be tempted to practise the like again; for by forcing the Netherlanders to take up Arms for their defence, and by necessitating Queen Elizabeth to assist and pre­serve them, they have set up a Free and Glorious State (as they themselves have call'd them in some Treaties) that hath preserv'd the languishing Mo­narchy of Spain, and the Liberty of Christendome.

The Base and Cowardly Massacre of that great Hero William Prince of Orange, of the Renowned Admiral Coligny, and the Prince of Conde; the many Bloody Conspiracies for the Extirpation of the whole Race [Page 3] of the House of Orange; the Murders of Henry the 3d ▪ and Henry the 4th, are all Records and ever­lasting Monuments of Popish Barbarity▪ what in­credible Effusions of Blood hath been occasion'd by the frequent revolts of the Popes against the Emperours▪ by the Image-Worship, and the Holy Wars? What Treachery in the Bohemian Trans­actions and Treaties? What Inhumanity in burning Ierome of Prague, and Iohn Hus? when they had the Emperours Pass, and all other publick securi­ties from the Council it self, that put to Death those two Good Men.

The Reign of Queen Mary, is another Scene of the Infidelity and Treachery of the Church of Rome, what Oaths did she take, what Promises and Protestations did she make to the Suffolk Men who had set the Crown upon her Head, and yet they were the first that felt the strokes of a Persecution from Her. Read her History in Fox's Martyrs, and Doctor Burnet's History of the Reformation.

The many Conspiracies to destroy Queen Eliza­beth and King Iames, the Gunpowder-Plot, the Coun­sels carried on in Popish Countries to take off King Charles the First, and the many late Popish Plots are a continued Series and Thred, carried on by the Church of Rome, to break thro all Laws both of God and Man, to erect an Universal Monarchy of Priest-Craft, and to bring the whole World under their Yoke. The Sweeds have taken an effectual and commenda­ble way, to keep Popish Priests and Iesuits (those Boutefeus and disturbers of Societies, the declared Enemies to the Welfare of Mankind) out of their Countries, by Gelding them, and consequently ren­dring them incapable of Sacerdotal Functions, tho the Priests have found out a Salvo, and will say Mass and Confess, if they can procure their Testicles again, and carry them in their Pockets either preserv'd or in Powder: In Aethiopia, China, and Iapan, the Roman Priests have been so intollerably turbulent, and such extravagant Incendiaries, that they have been often Banished and put to Death; so that now they disguise themselves all over the Eastern Nati­ons, under the Names and Characters of Mathema­ticians, Mechanics, Physitians, &c. and dare not own their Mission to propagate a Faith, which is grown ridiculous all over Asia.

The long and dreadful Civil Wars of France, the many Massacres and Persecutions, and lastly the Siege of Rochel, are living Instances how far we may rely upon Engagements and Laws, both as to the taking of that Bulwark, and the promised relief from hence, The Protestant Defenders of it, refusing to rely any longer upon Paper Edicts, and the word of a Most Christian King, had this City granted them as a cautionary Town for their Security, for before they had alwaies been deluded out of their Advan­tages by fair Promises, insignificant Treaties, and the word of a King; yet Lewis the 13. following the vitious Examples of Treacherous Princes, fell upon this Glorious City, which, upon the account of their Laws and Priviledges, made a resistance and brave defence, (having never heard of Passive Obe­dience amongst their Pastors) thinking it more lawful to defend their Rights, than it was for Lewis to in­vade them.

As for the late and present Reign here in England, they are too nice and tender things for me to touch; whether the Transactions of them are consistant with the Coronation Oaths, the many Declarations, Protesta­tions, publick and solemn Promises, I am no fit Judge; they are more proper for the Gravity of an Historian, or the Authority of a Parliament to handle, than for a private Gentleman in a Letter to his Friend: The Bishops Papers, and the P. of Orange's Declara­tions are the best Memoirs of them, but they only be­gin, where the two parts of the History of the growth of Popery and Arbitrary Government left off, and how far we may trust to Catholick Stipulations, Oaths and Treaties, the facts of past and the present Age are the best Criterions and Rules to guide and determine us; for what happens every day▪ will in all probability happen to morrow, the same Cau­ses alwaies produce the same Effects; and the Church of Rome is still the same Church it was a hundred years ago, that is, a Mass of Treachery, Barba­rity, Perjury, and the highest Superstition; a Machine without any principle or setled Law of Motion, not to be mov'd or stopt with the weights of any private or publick Obligations; a Monster that de­stroys all that is sacred both in Heaven and Earth▪ so Ravenous that it is never content, unless it gets the whole World into its Claws, and tears all to pieces in order to Salvation; a Proteus that turns it self into all shapes, a Chameleon that puts on all Colours according to its present circumstances, this day an Angel of Light, to morrow a Belzebub. A­mongst all the Courts of Christendome where I have Conversed, that of Holland is the freest from Tricks and Falsehood; and tho' I am naturally jealous and suspitious of the Conduct of Princes, yet I could never discover the least Knavery within those Walls, it ap­pear'd to me another Athens of Philosophers, and the only Seat of Iustice and Vertue now left in the World; as for the Character of the Prince of Orange, it is so faithfully drawn by Sir Will. Temple, Doctor Burnet, and in a half sheet lately Printed, that I, who am so averse from Flattery, that I can scarce speak a good word of any Body, or think one good thought of my self, will not write any further Panegyrick upon his Highness, only that he is a very Honest Man, a Great Souldier, and a Wise Prince, upon whose Word the World may safely rely. A late Pamphle­teer reviles the Prince with breaking his Oath when he took the Statholder's Office upon him, not consi­dering that the Oath was impos'd upon his Highness in his Minority by a French Faction, then jealous of the [Page 4] aspiring and true Grandeur of his Young Soul; that the States themselves (to whom the Obligation was made) freed his Highness from the Bond; and that the necessity of Affairs, and the Importunities of the People forced that Dignity upon him, which his An­cestors had enjoy'd, and he so well deserv'd, that he sav'd the sinking Commonwealth (their Provinces be­ing almost all Surpriz'd and Enslav'd by the French) compared to the gasping State of Rome after the loss at Cannae; His Highness was no more puft up with this Success, than he had been daunted with Hard­ships and Misfortunes; alwaies the same Hero, Just, Serene, and Unchang'd under all Events, an Argument of the vastness of his Mind; whereas on the contrary, Mutability, (sometimes Tyrant, sometimes Father of a Country, sometimes Huffing, other times Sneaking) is oftentime a Symptome of a Mean and Cowardly Soul, vile and dissolute, born for Rapine and Destruction.

As for the Princess, she may without any flattery be stiled the Honour and Glory of her Sex; the most Knowing, the most Virtuous, the Fairest, and yet the best Natur'd Princess in the World; Be­lov'd and Admir'd by her Enemies, never seen in any Passion, always under a peculiar Sweetness of Temper, extremely moderate in her Pleasures, tak­ing delight in Working and in Study, Humble and Affable in her Conversation, very pertinent in all Questions, Charitable to all Protestants, and fre­quenting their Churches: The Prince is often seen with her at the Prayers of the Church of England, and she with the Prince, at the Devotion of his Church; she dispenses with the use of the Surplice, Bow­ing to the Altar, and the Name of Iesus, out of Compliance to a Country that adores her; being more intent upon the Intrinsick and Substantial Parts of Religion, Prayer and Good Works: She speaks several Languages even to Perfection, is entirely Obedient to the Prince, and he extremely dear to her; in a word, She is a Princess of many extra­ordinary Virtues and Excellencies, without any ap­pearance of Vanity, or the least mixture of Vice; and upon whose Promise the World may safely de­pend: As for the many Plots and Conspiracies a­gainst this Royal Couple a short time may bring them all to light, and faithful Historians publish them to the World.

Lastly, We may observe that whereas it hath been the Maxim of several Kings, both at home and abroad of late years, to contend and ourvie each other in Preying upon, and Destroying not only their Neighbours, but their own Protestant Subjects, by all methods of Perfidiousness and Cruelty; the only way to establish Tyranny, and to enslave the natural Freedom of Mankind, being to introduce a general Ignorance, Superstition, and Idolatry; for if once People can be perswaded that Statues and Idols are Divinities and adorable, and that a Wafer is the Infinite God, after two or three Ridi­culous Words, utter'd by a vile Impostor and Im­pudent Cheat, then they may easily be brought to submit their necks to all the Yokes that a Tyrant and a Priest can invent and put upon them; for if once they part with their Reason, their Liberty will soon follow; as we behold every day in the misera­ble enslav'd Countries where Popery domineers. On the contrary, it hath always been the steddy and im­mutable Principle of the House of Orange to rescue Europe from its Oppressours, and to resettle Govern­ments upon the Primitive and Immortal Foundation of Liberty and Property; a Glorious Maxim, taken from the Old Roman Commonwealth, that Fought and Conquer'd so many Nations, only to set them Free, to Restore them wholsome Laws, their Natural and Civil Liberties; a Design so Generous, and every way Great, that the East groaning under the Fet­ters and Oppressions of their Tyrants, flew in to the Roman Eagles for Shelter and Protection, un­der whose Wings the several Nations liv'd Free, Safe and Happy, till Traitours and Usurpers began to break in upon the Sacred Laws of that vertuous Constitution, and to keep up Armies to defend that by Blood and Rapine, which Iustice would have thrown in their Face, and Punished them as they deserved; the Preservation and Welfare of the People being in all Ages call'd the Supreme Law, to which all the rest ought to tend.

From the foregoing Relation of matter of Fact, it appears most plain, that the Roman Catholicks are not to be ty'd by Laws, Treaties, Promises, Oaths, or any other bonds of Humane Society; the sad ex­perience of this and other Kingdoms, declares to all Mankind the invalidity and insignificancy of all Con­tracts and Agreements with the Papists, who notwith­standing all their Solemn Covenants with Hereticks, do watch for all Advantages and Opportunities to de­stroy them, being commanded thereunto by their Councils and the principles of their Church, and in­stigated by their Priests.

The History of the several Wars of the Barons of England, in the Reigns of King Iohn, Henry the Third, Edward the Second, and Richard the Se­cond, in Defence of their Liberties, and for redressing the many Grievances (under which the Kingdome groan'd) is a full representation of the Infidelity and Treachery of those Kings, and of the Invalidity of Treaties with them; how many Grants, Amend­ments▪ and fair Promises had they from those Princes▪ and yet afterwards how many Ambuscades, and Snares were laid to destroy those glorious Patriots of Liberty; what Violations of Compacts and Agreements, and what havock was made upon all Advantages and Opportunities, that those false Kings could take: Read their Histories in our several Chronicles.