THere never did, nor perhaps ever will come, a matter of greater importance, taking in all circumſtances, before a Parliament, than the of late much agitated buſineſs of Succeſſion; upon the right ſtating whereof, the preſent and future quiet and proſperity of this poor diſtracted Nation, does inevitably depend. I cannot therefore, Sir, but extremely commend your reſolution, and wiſh the ſame to all your Fellow Members, of conſidering fully ſo momentous an Affair; wherein, that I may give you all posſible ſatisfaction, I will in their order lay before you my naked ſenſe upon every of your queſtions, viz. 1. Whether the Parliament have power to alter the Succeſſion? 2. Allowing that they have, whether the reaſons on which the late Houſe of Commons proceeded againſt the D. to wit, his departure from the Church of England to that of Rome, and thereby giving Birth and Life to the late damnable and Helliſh Plot, be ſufficient? 3. What dangers the Nation will be under, in caſe the Crown deſcends upon a Popiſh Succeſſor, or more particularly upon his R. H. Theſe Queſtions are great and Weighty, and their ſolution requires not only greater prudence and judgement, but great courage and honeſty; I wiſh I could be equally confident, I ſhould not be found wanting in the former, as I am certain I ſhal not in the latter. But that I may no longer keep you from pasſing your own cenſure in both inſtances, I deſire, you will conſider ſeriouſly, not only the frame and conſtitution of the Engliſh Laws, but likewiſe thoſe of Nature; for on the due conſideration of both, the true Anſwers to your Queſtions muſt be founded.

Man was no ſooner brought into the World, than he found he could not preſerve his beeing, nor attain the end ont's happineſs, without entring into ſociety; nor yet, having entred into ſociety, without a ſtrict obſervance of compacts and agreements; that all men, having a natural equal right to all things, there could be no Society without Government and order: That to ſecure this State, it was neceſſary, Men ſhould not only keep their Promiſes, and ſpeak truth with their Neighbours, but ſubmit themſelves to a Governour, ſufficiently impowered in all diſputes, to force their complyance to his final ſentence and determination; it was requiſite to put into his hand, an unlimited abſolute Power, becauſe otherwiſe it could not be ſupreme, nor he their Governour: For the exerciſe of this they choſe the moſt wiſe, honeſt, and couragious Perſon, binding him to no other Law, than what in reaſon and conſcience he ſhould find moſt conducing to the good of the Community, founded upon that Golden and Eternal Law of Reaſon, of Nature, of doing to all Men as you would be done unto. For pasſion and ſelf-intereſt diſabling Men from judging aright in their own caſes, they wiſely made a man without private intereſt, themſelves agreeing to ſupport his expences, and thereby placing him above controverſies of his own, he became an impartial common Father, not posſible to be more kind or indulgent to one than to another, while they continued equally obedient. Now, becauſe their attendance upon labour would incapacitate themſelves, and that one could not have a better pretence thananother, they alſo agreed, that the Empire ſhould be hereditary; conſidering that not only inſtruction which none elſe could give, but likewiſe the vertues of the Father might with the bloud be tranſmitted to the Children; — Sed diu Lateque victrices catervae Conſiliis juvenis revictae, Senſere quid mens rite, q •… d indoles Nutrit afauſtis ſub penetralibus Poſset, quid Auguſti paternus In pueros animus Nerones. Fortes creantur ſortibus, & bonis Est in juvencis, eſt in equis patrum Virtus: nec imbellem feroces Progenerant aquilae columbam. Doctrina ſed vim promovet inſitam Rectique cultus pector aroborant. Hor. l. 4. Car. Ode. 4. But even they, who ſpread their Arms ſo far, Arms uſed as much to Victory as war, By the brave Youth o'recome, were taught to know, What a great mind, as greatly bred cou'd do, What mighty things by him must needs be wrought, Whom Nero got, and whom Auguſtus taught. Courage and vertue in the blood are ſown, Nature in this her ſelf has equal ſhown: The brave are Sparks but of their Fathers Fire. In Beaſts weſee the vertue of the Sire; Nor does the Kingly Bird, belov'd of Jove, Stain his great Race and hatch a feeble Dove. Education urges on to deeds, The inbred vertue ſleeping in it's ſeeds, With nobler thoughts inſpires Heroick minds, And ſtrengthens all the greatneſs that it finds. a Rule that can no more faile in Men, than in Beaſts, but when interrupted by ſome very accountable accidents.

Wiſdom having thus brought men from the ſtate of War and Poverty, into a condition, of peace and plenty, tis plain nothing but folly and madneſs can diſturb or deſtroy that happineſs. 'Tis then very evident, that whether you conſider Mankind, like muſhrooms, ſprung up in the night, as the Poets Fable of the Dragons Teeth ſlain by Cadmus and ſown in the ground, the Foundation of Hobs's fancy, as before him of Ariſtotles; or deduce as more conſonant to reaſon, and Scripture, his origine from one Man; the grounds of Government and Obedience muſt ſtill have been the ſame, and founded upon the foregoing conſiderations; whence it will evidently appear, that in all parts of the World, Empire muſt have been Monarchical at the beginning. To this truth not only profane, but ſacred ſtory bears Teſtimony. Principio rerum, ſayes an Author of great credit, gentium nationumque imperium penes Reges erat: And wherever in the old Teſtament Government is ſpoken of, whether of the Jews from Adam downwards, or of the Neighbour Nations, even of ſuch little ones, as were confined within Walls, as of Jericho, Tyre, and Sidon, there is no mention but of Kings, and ſingle Rulers, till after the death of Moſes and Joſhua; when the Tribes dividing from their common bond, began to ſet up Chiefs and Heads of their own degenerating by degrees from Monarchys, their primitive inſtitution; but meeting with ill ſucceſs in all their changes, they begg'd at laſt to have, like other Nations a King to go in and out before them. This having been, and ſtill being the moſt general, we may ſafely conclude it, thebeſt of all conſtitutions; But as there is nothing certain, not fix'd in the Univerſe, but al things in perpetual fluctuation, ſo the manner of Dominion has met with many changes and revolutions in the ſeveral Ages and parts of the World, according to the prudence or imprudence of Governours, and other concurring accidents. From one where the power was firſt veſted, it fell into the Hands of a few, and from the few into the hands of many, where finding no reſting place, but ſoon falling into Anarchy and confuſion, it wheel'd about again to it's firſt form; and yet even there, the unſteady courſe of humane affairs permits it no longer to continue, then till the unequal courage and vertues of the Succeſſors, make way for the incroachments of the Ambitious, or the folly and madneſs of the giddy multitude, to give it freſh rounds and turns: So that if a man would examine things ſtrictly, he would find more reaſon to give to every of the Governments of the World, rather the name of a fluctuating Oligarchy, than that by which they are commonly called; for upon exact ſcrutiny it would perhaps be found, that even the moſt abſolute Monarchs admit ſome He or She Privadoes, or Copartners into the managment of their Scepters. In the beginning the burden of a Crown was not ſo heavy, nor the cares ſo many, as to need Adviſers, or Supporters; then Integrity was ſo great in Prince and People, that his will, was their undiſputed law, the emergent Dictates of his pleaſure, no written conſtitutions, ſilenc'd all their controverſies: Populus nullis legibus tenebatur arbitria Principum pro legibus erant. But after upon great increaſe, and ſpreading of mankind, the Princes found it neceſſary (as Jethro, Moſes Father in law, had done in the caſe of the Jews) to diſtribute ſome part of their power, but with dependence upon themſelves, among the Elders, chief and wiſeſt of their people, and to conſult with them, at their pleaſure, in all the weighty Affairs of ſtate. Hence came the Egyptians Magi, not Conjurers as is commonly received, but Aſtronomers and Counſellors of State, the beſt Judges of meum and tuum, in a Country, where thoſe boundaries were often interrupted, by the overflowings of Nilus; to this likewiſe are owing the Eaſtern Monarchs, Sophies, Colledges of wiſe and diſintereſſed Philoſophers, and ſtudying and employ'd in the good of their Countreys, as well thoſe of China. Indoſtan, or the great Mogul; the Tartars, and the Perſi • ns, as of others; After whoſe Exam •… s the Turks inſtituted their Divans, practiced by the Emperours of Fez and Morocco, and by all the reſt of Africa. The ſame reaſons gave the Ethiopian Prieſts, and the Druids (of the Gauls and Brittians, originally the ſame people) their power, and to the Jews their Sanhedrim; to the Germans their Dyets, and to the Romans their Senate, to the Pope as a temporal Prince, his Colledge of Cardinals; to the Saxons, our immediate Anceſtors, not to inſtance in more, their Wittena Gemot, or great Council, ſince the Norman conqueſt alter'd in Name and other circumſtances; though not in the foundation, to that of our preſent Parliaments. In all which 'tis very obſervable, that the Prieſts the Flamens, and Archflamens, (for ſuch there were among the moſt barbarous, who had their glimmerings of a future life) always held the firſt form, and were in the management even of State Affairs, of greateſt credit. But to paſs by the reſt, and come to our own, in which we are moſt immediatly concern'd, we ſhall find, that upon the Roman Empires going to wrack, and their Colonies with many of the Natives being hence drained, to ſupport it's tottering State; there aroſe a contention between the B •… tiains and the Picts, for the dominion of this Iſland; they were both originally the ſame people, but the Picts contemning the vaſſalage and the Cuſtoms of the Romans, to which the other had ſubmitted, fled into the extremeſt parts called Scotland, from the Iriſh Inhabitants, who were anciently known by no other Name, and now returning with aſſiſtance, were too hard for the Brittains. Hereupon they were forced to intreat the help of the Saxons, a Warlike people of Germany. The motion being communicated by Hengiſt, to whom it was firſt made, they embraced it, conditionally they might have the continuance of their own Laws and Cuſtom and the conquer'd Country equall ydivided, among the Adventurers; for they undertook not the voyage, ſo much with deſign of aſſiſtance to others, as of advantage to themſelves. Hengiſt ſurmiſing this to the Leaders, they ſoon aſſembled and drew together 9000 men, beſides Wowen and Children. On the confines of the River Elbe, as their Neighbours the Franks had done before, on the Banks of Sala; and as theſe did here ſo did they thre enact by mutual agreement, the performance of thoſe Artcles, appointing that Hengiſt and his line ſhould be their Leaders, and their Kings; reſerving to themſelves, the power of chooſing a new Monarch, only upon the failure of his iſſue. Accordingly they ſet ſail, and ſoon arriving in England, had firſt the Iſle of Thanet, and after Kent •… ſigned for their Province; after many bickerings, freſh ſupplies, and inundations of their own People, they at laſt not only drive out the Picts and Scots, but even the Brittains; forcing • hem into the remote part of Wales and Cornwall; the certain conſequence of unnatural civil Wars, and diſſentions; where the contending Parties ever become looſers, making way for ſome ſtranger, or third Perſon to ſnatch a way the prize. Policy would have taught the Brittains, that Leagues with an overpowerful State always prove deſtructive to the weaker; and that they could not reaſonably have expected, from forreign asſiſtance, any other fate than that of the Lamb in the fable, who calling for the Lyons aid againſt the Wo •… , had only the pleaſure of ſeeing him firſt chaſed away, and himſelf immediately after devoured; or then that of the Mouſe and the Frog, who while ſtriving with each other for the maſtery, gave the Kite an opportunity of ſweeping away both. Not to inſtance more remotely, it was this that ſoon after upon the Saxon diviſions, encouraged the invaſion of the Danes, and gave England to the Normans, and Ireland to the Engliſh. And not long ſince while King and Parliament were diſputing for the Supremacy, Liberty and Prerogative, made the way for others to deſtroy both, and inſtead of an excellent well temper'd Government, to ſet up an intolerable, and moſt arbitary Tyranny. I hope the ſenſe of the unexpresſible calamities, under which the Nation then groan'd, will teach us to avoid ſuch miſeries for the future; another civil War, being like without a miracle, to enſlave us to a Tyrant of another Nation, which like the Devils entring in a ſecond time, wou'd make our latter condition, ſeven fold worſe than the former; from which in all appearance, nothing but Providence, and a Spirit of moderation, and concord, can defend our Country.

The Saxons having at length gain'd the Victory, purſued their reſolutions, even during the Heptarchy, as far as the frequent and almoſt continued Wars would permit: after the ſtronger had ſwallowed up the reſt, they centured into a ſingle Monarchie; and in the perſon of Alfred, Collected into one body the ſubſtance of their Laws, attempted before in part by K. Ina: and yet to be met with in Lambert. The execution of theſe by the after incurſions of the Danes, being interrupted, they were at laſt methodiz'd by the Confeſſor; by whoſe death, the Normans poſſeſſed the Crown, they were rejected, & the uſages of their own Countrey, and the effects of their Princes will, in their ſtead, impoſed upon the people; who Stomaching their being thus enſlaved, after long grumblings, and often calling to be ruled by the Laws of holy Edward, they had by firs the reſtoration of them in great meaſure, eſpecially in the firſt Harry's days, the better to ſecure his Uſurpation. But that not continuing, at length a Rebellion broke forth, & produced the confirmation of them, in the great Charter, or Magna Charta; which in the main, as the beſt Lawyers will tel you, is nothing elſe but the repetition, or examplification of their old Ordinances, and ever ſince have been the foundation of all our Statutes. According to theſe the people were to be Governed, Liberty and Property ſecured againſt the incroachments of invaders, and Juſtice to be diſtributed in the ſeveral Shares, or Shires of England, as in Germany, where Tacitus tells us, Jura per pagos reddebant; For to make their conditions moſt eaſie, the controverſies were to be determined in their own Voiſinage, by the Hundreder, or Lord of the Mannor, from whom they might appeal to the Comes, or Lord of the Countie, who, with the aſſiſtance of ſeveral Aldermanni, or Hundreders, pronounced ſentence. Upon this Cuſtom is founded our Judges of Aſſizes, and the ſeveral Juſtices of the Peace their Aſſeſſors. From this Countie Court, the laſt final Appeal was to the Great Council, after the Conqueſt called by the name of Parliament, and compoſed of the great Lords, Spiritual, and Temporal, aſſembled in the preſence of the King, when, and where he was pleaſed to ſummon them. To this general meeting, came from all the parts of the Kingdom, as manie as were aggrieved, either by themſelves, or their Attorneys, or Lawyers: And hence it is, that we ſo often find it mentioned, not only in Spelman, but in Hoveden, Malmsbury, Marthew Paris, and the reſt of the Monkiſh Writers, that to this Curia Magna did reſort the Princes, Lords, and Chief men, and Cauſidici ab omni parte Regni: From whence aroſe the miſtake in after Ages, as if thoſe Lawyers, who were only the Attournies,and Pleaders of their Clients Cauſes, made any part of the great Council, unto which the Commons, (whatſoever Mr. Bacon, Petit, or any former Writers can ſay of their Juriſdiction) were not admitted till the latter end of Henrie 3. raign, when he obſerving the difficulties under which his Father had long ſtruggled, wiſely allow'd them ſuch a conſtitution, and particular Priviledges of their own, as might ſerve to Counterballance the Power of the Lords, grown ſo exorbitant that without due poiſing and equal Liberation, no otherwiſe to be done, It muſt of neceſſity endanger the overthrow of the Monarchie, and the diſturbance of the whole Nation. He is therefore to be accounted the firſt Author of our preſent Parliamentary uſages, and after his preſcript they to this day receive their Summons, and their beeing; and yet if we narrowly look into the matter, we ſhall finde they are more altered in Faſhion than in ſubſtance, notwithſtanding their often gaining both upon the Crown and the Lords, by the Kings firſt allowance of their management of the purſe-ſtring of the Kingdom; for the Lords Houſe alone was made, and ſtill continues the Court of Judicature, & the ultimate decider of Appeals, where according to their firſt inſtitution, no original Cauſe was to take place; to the houſe of Commons he has left the firſt motions of Grants, & Aids or Subſidies, who repreſent the People now, as the Lawyers did before, and cannot in Propriety of ſpeech as well as of Juſtice be called by other name, nor allowed greater Power, than of Attorneys. The write ſayes plainly, The Lords are to adviſe and deliberate with the King, upon certain weighty affairs of ſtate, the Commons to conſent, & do what, in ſuch caſes, the King ſhal thereupon enact; whence it clearly follows, that their Power depends wholly upon the Princes pleaſure, and reaches ex inſtituto, no further than to the matters by him propounded, and therefore could not intermeddle with any thing elſe without his Permiſſion; The Commons then were called together to repreſent the peoples grievances, to pray, and receive redreſs, as the King, with the advice of the Lords ſhould ordain, and to ſignifie ſo much to the ſeveral places, for which they ſerve; Printing not being then found out, and promulgation being of abſolute neceſſitie to the obligation of all poſitive conſtitution. To this Council the people flock'd, as their buſineſs, or their humour led them, in confus'd multitudes repreſenting by petition their grievances; the Lords appointing a Select number of their own, firſt to conſider whither they were fit to be propounded to the reſt; the ground of our preſent Committees. The Commons attending bare-headed for the Reſolutions, conſented to them as do Plaintiffs, and Defendants to the Judges deciſions in the Courts of Weſtminster-Hall. Hen. 3. as was ſaid before, to leſſen the power of the Lords, and bring a confuſed Aſſembly to a Regular meeting, ordained everie Shire, City, and Burrough to ſend two Knights, and two Burgeſſes, as Attorneys for the others: yet till ſometime after, they had no conſtant Speaker, nor thoſe priviledges, of which length of time, and conceſſions of Kings have given them poſſeſſion.

But as neither, nor both Houſes, have any original Right or Power, but, as all Creatures do upon the Almighty, ſo their Lives depend upon the Breath of the Princes Noſtrils, and with his Call or Command, come into, or go out of the World: ſo has the King, on the other ſide, condeſcended and promiſed, That he will not without their Conſents and Approbations repeal old, nor make any new Statutes; but more particularly, in thirty three Parliaments he has confirmed the Foundation of all, Magna Charta, the boundaries of their Libertie, and his Prerogative; and in three declar'd it ſo much unalterable, that any Act of Parliament or Judgement, made or given contrary to it, ſhall be, and is hereby made ipſo facto null and void. And that with good reaſon; for this being the Summary of all ancient Laws and Cuſtoms, and the exact Rule and Meaſure of Right and Wrong, as well between the King and his Subjects, as between one another, made or confirmed anew by the unanimous conſent of every individual Perſon of full years, at the firſt coming into the Kingdom, and ſubmitting to the Government of Hengiſt and his Succeſſors, and conformable to the Laws of Nature, of Nations; Quod tibi non vis fieri alteri non feceris, ought without diſpute to remain ſacred and inviolable, and to be imprinted in the minds of all free-born Subjects, and carried about with them in their underſtandings, as the Phylacteries of old in the Garments of the Jews. By all which 'tis plain, that as the Kings Image and Inſcription makes the Coin, ſo his Approbation or Fiat makes the Laws current; and conſequently, the ſupreme Legiſlative Power is ſolely veſtedin him, who may therefore allow or reject at pleaſure whatever Ordinances his Houſes judge adviſable: The contrary would be a Soleciſm in Government, giving to the King the Title only, and leaving to his Subjects the Power of Kingſhip; This making the Governed the Governours, and therefore implying in it ſelf a manifeſt Contradiction, needs I hope no further Confutation.

Now in order to anſwer your firſt Queſtion, you muſt remember, that Magna Charta provides, That no Freeman ſhall be diſſeized of his Free-hold, put out of his Inheritance, or forejudged of Life or Limb, but by Legal Proceſs, the Laws of the Land, and Judgement of his Peers; and by another Branch, That the Kings Rights and Priviledges ſhall be preſerved untouch'd. One of the chiefeſt, and upon which all the reſt depend, as on a Corner-ſtone, is, the Hereditarineſſe of the Monarchy, ſo that no attainder by Parliament, or otherwiſe, ſhould hinder the Deſcent of the Crown upon the next of Blood; the Laws ſuppoſing the King never dies, which he muſt do, if the Empire were Elective: and to the obſervation of theſe Laws, on pain of Damnation, the preſent and former Kings have all been ſworn: So that the King having no power to act contrary to his Oath at Coronation, and the Laws in being, and the two Houſes having none at all but what is derived from him, 'tis plain the next Heir cannot be put by the Succeſſion, without great impiety and violation of Juſtice. And this has been declared ſo in all preceeding Parliaments not aw'd by Uſurpers, as well as by the practice of our Anceſtors. And that which moſt confirms it, is, That never any yet claimed the Crown in Parliament, but under the pretence of Lineal Deſcent, which was never allowed when falſe, but when there was not a power in the true Owner equal to the Invader's. Nor does the King alone in this particular lie under the obligation of Oaths; The Lords and Commons have not only bound themſelves by act of Parliament, 1 Jac. cap. 1. to defend the true and lawful Heirs of the King, acknowledged the undoubted Succeſſors, with their Lives and Fortunes to the Worlds end; but do alſo ſwear as often as they meet, or take the Oaths of Allegeance and Supremacy, to defend all the Priviledges, Rights, and Preheminences of the Crown, (under which none can doubt, but Deſcent in the Right Line is included) againſt all Pretenders whatſoever, whether Forraign or Domeſtick.

But becauſe there are a ſort of Men, who, from the foregoing Conſiderations, being conſcious they cannot maintain the Power of Parliament in this particular, have recourſe to the Law of Nature, I will give you a Scheme of that, even in their own Sence and Theorems. The Law of Nature is co extended with the Power of Nature; there is therefore nothing naturally unlawful, and every man, whether he be wiſe, or whether he be a fool, is ſui juris. Every thing endeavours to conſerve it ſelf within the State of Nature, and to be ſui juris, i. e. to do what he will, to repel all Force, to live ex ingenio ſuo, i. e. to be an enemie to every man but himſelf, if he contradicts his Will. Men are lyable to ſeveral Paſſions, i. e. have ſeveral Appetites, by which naturally they are engaged againſt one another; and by the Law of Nature they inforce, i. e. they contend equally jure naturae, which I Engliſh, by the Law of Power. One man is ſtronger than another by force, and ſo compels him, who before was ſui juris, to be alterius juri, when he hath him bound, diſarmed, or takes away all his Power of offending, or holds him in fear or obliges him by benefit, or expectation of benefit, by which last means he ſubjects both his Body and his Mind, as long as his Fear or Hope lasts, but no longer: By the former he ſubjects his Body only, which is the ſafer way. Again, One man may be ſtronger than another by Wit, and ſo are men ſubjected to be alterius juris, by Opinion, Religion, or Superſtition, Errour and Deceit. Two then are ſtronger than one, and therefore the more conſenting have the greater right of Nature against the fewer diſsenting, may urge, and compel, and deprive them of their Natural Right, and, in brief, treat them as enemies. And becauſe no man can ſecure himſelf againſt a whole World of ſingle men, who have every one the ſame Right againſt me, that I alone have againſt every one, and much leſs againſt a number joyned together; 'tis therefore neceſſary for me, who elſe can have no ſecurity to enjoy what I have, nor probability to acquire many of the Deſirables of Life, to aſſociate my ſelf, and depart from ſo much of my natural Right, as prudence and reaſon oblige me to do, which is pacto vivere, i. e. jus civitatis, the Law, Right, or Power of the Commonwealth: So that I have henceforth no more Right to the Law of Nature, than is allowed me, or not forbidden. I ſay, not forbidden, becauſe, what is not forbidden, I retain. And this is the Foundation of Laws;and though a Law be Poſitive, yet the Virtue of it is Negative, and as much as to ſay, You ſhall not uſe your Liberty of Nature in this particular. By which 'tis very evident, that after men have entred into Society, thoſe things that before were lawful, ceaſe to be ſo any longer; Right, and Wrong, Juſt and Unjuſt, depending on the Conceſſions, Covenants, and Agreements of the Perſons thus combining into one Bodie. And therefore nothing is more unreaſonable and fallacious than to aſſert, That the Power and original Right of Nature for the forming, or altering any Government, ſtill continues, and may at pleaſure be reſumed by the major part, or their Repreſentatives; whereas that Power is reſtrained, and can never more be made uſe of, without every ſingle Perſons conſent in the whole Community, or •… oſning the Bonds of Society, and re-inſtating them in the condition of War and Miſery, Madneſs and Folly. The ground of the miſtake muſt be Inadvertencie, or Inconſideration, in not regarding, That promiſes once made can never be broken, no not by the greateſt number, without the free conſent of every individual party concerned. This Power of reſtraining the Right of Nature, is Empire: If in one it is Monarchie, if in ſome it is Ariſtocracie, if in the common Counſels of the People it is Democracie; all theſe Governments are lawful, where they are Governments. Now to disturb or ruine any of them, is Rebellion, and returning to the state of Nature, and utterly unlawful; which yet any man, or companie of men, may do by the original Law of Nature, i. e. by might and Power; but at his or their peril under the impeachment of Folly, of not obtaining his or their End, of loſing the benefite of Society, and of being •… ated as Enemies. Now, becauſe men are not guided, or governed by Reaſon always, no man, or companie of men are to be truſted to their own diſcretion, and the conduct of their own Reaſon; for every mans Reaſon, is Reaſon to himſelf, but the Reaſon of the Communitie is the Reaſon of State, not the Reaſon of the man. And therefore, the Supreme is always entruſted with this Reaſon, and in the Exerciſe of it ought to be ſecured by a tranſcendent Power, to give Check to the pretentions of the Enemies of Society. This muſt be done two ways: I. By aſſuring a ſtrength competent againſt any Attempts of retrieving their original Right of Nature: 2. By an equal Adminiſtration of Juſtice, and good Government; for, Res nolunt male adminiſtrari. The end of Government is, That men may live together unanimouſly in the equal uſe of Civil Laws. The end of Religion is, to be happy in the next World; and therefore ought not to interfere with Civil Laws, or thoſe by which the good this Life is regulated. But becauſe the Motives to Obedience to thoſe Laws do very much depend upon the Rewards and Expectations of a Future State, they are therefore neceſſarily conjoyned; ſo that whatever Religion is eſtabliſhed by Law, becomes Law, and ought not in prudence to be chang'd and diſturb'd. Whoever hath a private Religion or Opinion, ſeing it is not more in our power to have mentem ſanam than corpus ſanum, yet if the man be not mad, or injurious, he may and ought to enjoy it freely without puniſhment, provided he do not violate the peace of the City: If he do, 'tis nor Sincerity, but Hypocriſie; and ſeeing there may be bona mens in malo articulo, all liberty ought to be afforded, that can reaſonably & modeſtly be claimed by any of thoſe who pretend a tender Conſcience. Now if you conſider throwly theſe Poſitions, you will find not onely the Reaſons of entring into Society, but the Cauſes of its Continuance, and Decay fully aſſerted. The Rules of Government are as demonſtrable, as any Mathematical Problems; and where the Supreme is wiſe, there can be no Rebellion, or not dangerous; and wherever there is, the Government is infirm and fooliſh. In order then to your Queſtion, you muſt obſerve, That Power is an equivocal Word, and is ſometime taken for the Right and Force of Nature, ſometimes for the Right and Force of Laws. In the firſt ſenſe 'tis called vis, or potestas; in the latter, jus, or dominium. The firſt ſort of Power men in ſociety have renounced, and cannot uſe without returning to the State of War, where every man has as equal Right or Power over another, as another has over him. The ſecond ſort of Power is that which the Laws of the Society warrant, and by which 'tis ſaid, Illud tantum poſſumus, quod de jure poſſumus. Now if we conſider the Power of Parliaments bounded by Laws, in the letter ſenſe, 'tis plain they can have none to bar the Duke from Succeſſion, becauſe the Laws Common and Statute leave them no ſuch Power, and in Nature and Reaſon, after entring intoSociety, they can exerciſe no more than is left them by the Agreements of the Society. In the firſt ſenſe, 'tis true, they have power to do what they pleaſe, as two is ſtronger then one: But then it muſt be remembred, that the uſing that Power looſens the bond of the Commonwealth, the whole having no more Right over Peter and Paul, while they break not the Laws of the Country, than Peter and Paul had over all the reſt. If it were not ſo, there would be no Right nor Wrong in the World, neither ſubſequent nor antecedent to Humane Conſtitutions; Virtue and Viec would be but empty Names, Scar-crows for the Fools and the Weak: For every thing would be lawful, that a man had force or ſtrength enough to juſtifie. A Principle deſtructive of Government and Society, of Peace and Happineſſe. Everle Thief and Murderer, Robber and Traytor, if ſucceſsful, being honeſt perſons, guilty of no Miſchiefs. Thus indeed Vice becomes Virtue, Proſperum ſcelus virtus vocatur. This therefore not being to be allowed among men, much leſſe Chriſtians, the Parliament cannot juſtifie a Power of putting by the next Heir, by the Conſtitutions of the Kingdom, nor by thoſe of nature; which allows not the major part to have recourſe to natural Force or Liberty, without leaving all the reſt of the Members to their choice of entring either into none, or a new Form, or continuing under the old. And thoſe that aſſert the Parliament may do what they pleaſe, know not what they ſay, if they deny others the ſame freedom; and if they do, 'tis bidding all men Draw, & try who has the ſtrongeſt Arm, and the longeſt Sword, making Might or Power the onely Rule of Juſtice, and Meaſure of Humane Actions. But this ſo dangerous miſtake is grounded upon not conſidering, that what was lawful before I became a Member of the Society, ceaſes to be ſo after. When a Bargain is once concluded between one man and a thouſand, the thouſand cannot without injuſtice break the Agreement, nor without folly expect the ſingle man will not take the firſt opportunity to be reveng'd, and obliege them to their firſt Contract. And whether he prove ſucceſsful or no, it will occaſion ſuch Miſchiefs & Calamities, that they will too late repent their Follies, and find no other comfort, than the ſad one which this ſcrap of Latin affords, Supplicium ſtultorum ſtultitia. But further, if you rightly examine things, you will find, that the Lords onely act for themſelves, and that the Commons of England do no otherwiſe repreſent the People than as Attorneys, who, therefore are preſum'd limited to the firſt Conſtitutions, and Fundamentals, that is, the Common Law, or Magna Charta, whoſe Bounds if they exceed, they forfeit the Patent or Commiſſion by which they act. This is agreeable to Reaſon, and the practice of Former Ages, when the Commons being ask'd their Conſents to new Matters, went home and conſulted their Principles, and according to their directions gave in their Anſwers, as you may find at large in the Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores, and as in the preſent as well as ancient uſage in the Dyets of Germany, and States of Holland. And thus it was in the Senate of Rome, who, though they had the Supreme power as a Parliament in England, yet in the making of any new Law, there was a Rogatio Legis, an expoſing of it in Tables to the view of all for a certain limited time, wherein if the meaneſt ſhewed Arguments why it ſhould, it was wholly laid aſide. And ſo dangerous a thing have Innovations in this ſort been accounted by the Ancients, that among the Locrenſes, and other Commonwealths of Greece, new Laws were propounded with Ropes about the propoſers Necks, ſubmitting themſelves to the loſs of their Lives, if the propoſition were not approved by every ſingle perſon. And in Poland, no King can be elected without the conſent of every individual Elector. And indeed in ſo material an Inſtance, as the deſignation of a Supreme Governour, upon whom depends th • Fates of Thouſands, no majority, Parties, or Factions, ought to prevail. The ſame care have our Anceſtors taken in the caſe of Jurors; concluding it neceſſary, for deſpoiling a man of his Life or Fortune, to have the matter of Fact ſo plain and conſpicuous, that it ſhould not be poſſible for any to doubt or long diſpute it: And upon this reaſonable Suppoſition it is, that they are not allowed either meat or drink, or that eleven agreeing, while One diſſents, ſhould make a Verdict. And can the publick Concern of the Nation, of putting by the next of Blood from his Right to the Crown, be of leſs moment? Conſider this in time, leſt hereafter by a dear bought repentance, you confeſſe your fatal Errour. Beſides, the Commons do not repreſent one ſixth of the Nation, their Electors being onely ſuch freeholders,as are worth 40s. a year, or upwards, together with the Freemen of Incorporated places; theſe are far ſhort of the Body of the people; and for them to fetter the reſt, who have none or leſs Eſtates, is to make themſelves Lords and Tyrants, and to the others not Servants, but Slaves and Villains; a power unreaſonable, and therefore not to be allowed by the Clergy, who, as ſuch, have no hand in the Election, and are a conſiderable part of the People; nor by the Husband men and Labourers, and many others, who, without Freedom inhabite Corporations, who bearing their proportion of the publick charge, are equally intituled to the protection of the Laws, Free-born-Subjects, and therefore unask'd cannot be preſumed to conſent to any alteration of Government either in the Form or Perſon, by making an Hereditary Monarchy, Elective. Such a Power once acknowledged, may after at pleaſure change it into Ariſtocracy, or Democracy. Nor, in my opinion, is it a mean Argument againſt the Commons, being the Repreſentation of the whole People, That of 512. Forty ſhould be enough to oblige the Conſent of all the others; That London ſhould ſend but four, when an old Burrough with a Shepherd and a Dog does half as many; and, That Cornwal, which in the Number of Shires is but the two and fiftieth part, makes above an eleventh; and yet London, the ſixth part of the Kingdom, but the 128. part of the whole Repreſentative. Whoever weighs this Inequality, muſt find out a new ſignification of Words, if he calls the Parliament the Repreſentative of all the Commons of England. Let it be remembred, how eaſie it is to make a ſecond Rump, by Cunning, and Addreſs, Threats and Tumults, to make the Houſe ſo thin, that forty agreeing ſhall be ſtill the major Party; and then ſee how far the Nation muſt conclude themſelves bound by their Actings. One may well conclude, all that Voted againſt the Act, and all, or moſt that were abſent, will fight for his Title againſt whom it was made, as well as all, or moſt of thoſe that: hold not themſelves repreſented; and what can be the iſſue of this, but a renewal of the Yorkiſt and Lancastrian Quarrel, in which was ſpilt the blood of 20000, beſides that of ſeveral Kings and Princes, and Nobles without number? And yet it appears in Story, That the Right Heir was never kept out beyond the ſecond Deſcent, nor that ever any Uſurper, Though Armed with Power, claimed the Crown, but by pretending to be of the Right Line; nor did the Parliament ever conſent, out when aw'd by Fear, and a vaſt Army. As for the Act 13. Eliz. the beſt Lawyers will tell you, 'tis now out of doors, made in defence of a poſſeſſor without Title, againſt the rightful Heir, at that time excluded for Reaſons as obvious as tedious here to be mentioned, but after joyfully received and ſolemniz'd in Parliament, 1 Jac. and Obedience promiſed to him and his Heirs for ever; ſo that now, in the opinions of many, that Statute ought no more to be urged, than that which made Oliver Protector, and excluded his preſent Majeſty and his Line.

To allow the Parliament ſo Deſpotick a Power, is to ſubmit at preſent, and make our ſelves obnoxious to unaccountable miſeries hereafter. What ſhall hinder a Parliament, who at pleaſure makes every thing lawful or unlawful, as they are aw'd by a ſtrong hand, or left at libertie by a weak, to do any thing, though never ſo extravagant; to ſell the Kingdom to the French, or any rich enough to make the purchaſe? I confeſſe, I think it a hard propoſition (and that which makes the Government of a ſingle man, though Tyrannical, more tolerable than this of ſo many) That the major part of 700. as they may be ordered of leſs than 100. who as Commons have no inderivative Power, & are only called to adviſe and deliberate with the Prince, as Counſellors, ſhould make that lawful that could not be done ſo without their Conſents, and me a Rebel for reſiſting, though I have the greateſt part of the Nation on my ſide, and my Actions warranted by all thoſe that are called Fundamental, and held ſacred, and inviolable by Engliſhmen, as our Bibles are by all Protestants. He that remembers England has been given by a King to the Pope, and offer'd to the Turk, and that a bold & reſolute Prince has humbled Parliaments, as much as ever a weak and gentle has exalted them, ought not to think it impoſſible, but that the Parliament may one time or other be wrought to ſell, or inſlave the Peoples Libertie: For, a worthy Author has it, Nothing but a Parliament can deſtroy a Parliament; and we know there have been that deſerved no other Titles, than of Indoctum & Inſanum Parliamentum. I ſhould not wonder, that men reſolved rather to quit their Country, than yield it to an Arbitrary power, or any pretence whatſoever, with the bold Romans Farewell applied to this Kingdom, Vale venalis civitas mox peritura, ſi emptorem inveneris. I need not put you in mind of Penſioners, or tell you a mercenary parliament is an acry Notion: What has been, may be again. I reverence a well-conſtituted Parliament as much as any man: and look upon it as an excellent preſervative of Juſtice and Liberty; yet I am not ſo fond of the Name, as to make it an Idol: 'tis not at all improbable, but that it may be ſo managed, as to become the Inſtrument of the peoples Slavery, and the Princes Tyranny; and therefore, I hold it no more lawful to aſcribe Omnipotencie, or Infallibilitie in all Determinations to a Parliament, than to a Pope or Council; the one is not more circumſcribed and bound up by Scripture and Apoſtolick Traditions, than is the other by the Fundamental Laws of the Land, (ſuch there are in every Country, as Magna Charta is in this) by Nature, and by Reaſon: All which tell us, That no ſingle man in Community is to be put by his Right or Property by any ſubſequent Law againſt his own Conſent: and that if he be, he is at liberty to regain it any how, by force, or by violence, without the leaſt imputation of Wrong, or Injuſtice.

As for your ſecond Queſtion, you will find its Anſwer eaſily deducible from what has been ſaid already; For, allowing that the Parliament have power (which yet without every individual perſons Conſent they cannot have, either by Nature, or their own Conſtitutions) to alter the Succeſſion; yet no motives can be ſufficient to induce men in their ſenſes to ſuch an Act, but plain tranſgreſſions and violations of the Laws in being; nothing elſe being a Crime, or penal. The Apoſtle tells us, If there had been no Law, there would have been no ſin; and that though ſin was in the world before, yet till after the Law, it neither was nor could be imputed: i. e. Yeſterday I killed my neighbour, but that was not unlawful, conſequently not puniſhable, becauſe the Act againſt it was but this day enjoyned, and every man is left to the uſe of his natural power, in ſuch instances as the Laws do not reſtrain. This is ſo plain a truth in all Countries, where Men are not govern'd like Beaſts, that 'tis not onely folly but madneſs to aſſert the contrary: The Abettors are not to be convinc'd by Arguments and Reaſons, but by Hellebore and Bedlam. Now, there being no Laws in being, that enjoyn the Heir of the Crown of England to believe as the Church of England, his departure from that to any other Church can be no Argument for his Diſinheriſon. But the other part, his giving life, and birth to the plot, is of another conſideration, and, if true, deſerved not only his being put by the Crown, but his Life: And therfore, I conceive, if that had been evident, he had not eſcap'd ſo eaſily, nor indeed could he, without the imputation of great partiality and injuſtice upon the Houſe of Commons: No mean Argument of the Duk's Innocence to any conſidering perſon. For, if they proceeded ſo far upon an Illogical Conſequence, or unreaſonable Propoſition, to wit, That his going over to the Church of Rome muſt have given birth and life to the Helliſh Plot, what would they not have done farther, if they could have prov'd, that he was indeed the Author? which he muſt have been of neceſſity, if he gave birth and life to it. Now leſt the World ſhould take every thing done by any Factious number to be the Act of all the Commons, much leſs of the Parliament, and ſo defame the Juſtice and Integrity of the Engliſh Nation, and leſt the people ſhould believe whatever they aſſert, as Oraculous, as the Vulgar do of things in Print; 'tis neceſſary to examine this matter very narrowly, and enquire how they came by this Diſcovery, or why, if it were real, they inflicted no ſeverer a puniſhment than an Act, that the beſt Lawyers tell us would have been of no force, had it paſſ'd even the Royal Aſsent; which I cannot think it ever would, becauſe contrary to the King's Oath at Coronation, & his Promiſe & Reſolution declar'd even in that very Parliament, where many doubt its paſſing the third time among the Commons, and none diſpute but that the Lords would have rejected it upon the firſt reading. The grand Diſcoverer, Dr. Oats, has not accuſ'd his R. H. but, one the contrary, in publick and private, acquitted him from any guilt, or knowledge; as, beſide his printed Narrative and Depoſitions in Parliament, may be made out by Perſons of unqueſtionable Honour. Could then a Vote make matters of Fact, Truth or Falſ-hood? That depends upon natural and eternal Cauſes, and Connexions of unalterable Principles. Surely no, nor would any man in his Senſe have given the more credit,though it had paſſ'd 500000 Votes inſtead of 500. If twenty Colledges of Virtuoſo's, or Greſhamites, ſhould conſpire to vote the old Philoſopher in the right, who every where aſſerted Snow was black, yet could they not perſuade one Plowman to disbelieve his Senſes, and ſubſcribe to ſo ridiculous an Opinion. And as to Capt. Bedlow, (and upon theſe two the whole Hinge of the Plot does turn, for the reſt came in but in ſubſidiam probationis) he pretended at firſt to know no more than the inhumane Murder of Sir Edmondbury Godſrey; and yet however he became more knowing after, he never accus'd his R. H. which he wold certainly have done, had he found one probable Circumſtance; even upon his Death he acquitted him. Yet, to ſay Truth, his accuſation wold have been of leſs credit, for his having been ſo miſtaken in his main Diſcovery, as to be contradicted by Prance; the reaſon, I ſuppoſe, why no Narrative in Capt. Bedlow's Name, was ever publiſh'd. Read Mr. Oates his Depoſitions, and you will find the D. was to run the ſame fate of his Brother, (whoſe ſacred Life God long preſerve) if he would not approve of all their Villanies, and after his Majeſties Murder accept the Crown as Feudatory from the Pope: And, without diſpute the villanous Contrivers of the Plot would have ſpared neither: which is plain by Mr. Oates his aſſerting upon Oath in the Name of the Jeſuits, that no good was ever to be expected from the Race of the Stewarts, with other Reflections on the R. Family, with ſubmiſſion not fit to have been publiſhed: And further, that they had reſolved, notwithſtanding his Love to their Religion, not to truſt him with a Secret, his great affection for his Brother would perſwade him to reveal. It is then impoſſible, he could give Birth and Life to a Plot, to which he never was privy? as for Colman's Letters, in my Lord Danby's Words, the beſt evidence we yet have of the Plot, they were not writ by the D's allowance or conſent, nor do they ſpeak of introducing Popery otherwiſe than by gaining an Indulgence, and that by a Parliament. Beſides, 'tis notoriouſly known he was offered his Pardon and large Rewards, if he would confeſſe the Plot. And 'tis ſenſeleſs to imagine, (none can, but an unthinking Crowd) that he would not ſpeak a Truth to ſave his Life, at leaſt not damn his Soul by dying with 〈◊〉 in his Mouth (after which nor previous to it, there could be no Abſolution) but to the laſt notwithſtanding the repeated offers of Pardon and Reward, he proteſted his Ignorance and Innocency.

Oh, but, ſay ſome, how then could the Commons proceed as they did? Why, perhaps the publiſher of that deſigned Bill abuſes them; but if he did not, they do, who conclude the Major part conſented to it. Thoſe that did, may be ſuppoſed hurryed on by miſguided Zeal; paſſion, or prejudice, impoſed upon by Suggeſtions, as agreable to the King's pleaſure to baniſh him for ever by Law, who in Obedience went into a voluntary exile for a ſeaſon; If this be not, I confeſſe I am at a loſſe for the Reaſon: But of this they were ſoon convinc'd by his Majeſty's Speech to the contrary. Beſides, it had been but equal to have given his R. H. liberty to make his Defence; to condemn a Man unheard is no where practiſed, where there is the leaſt ſhadow of Government. The Laws of God, and of Nations forbid, nay, make it inconſiſtent with Society, to hang a Man firſt, and convict him after, or, to puniſh any one 〈◊〉 poſt facto. My Lord Strafford's Caſe was never to be brought into preſident, and if that were not ſufficient, the whole proceedings by Act of Parliament ſince his Majeſties Reſtauration were condemn'd, as illegal and contrary to all Morality. And would not the D's Caſe have been juſt the ſame? Do you but make it your own, and you will be of that Opinion.

Whence I conclude, that the Reaſons on which the late Houſe of Commons proceeded againſt the D. were inſufficient, becauſe not only not warranted, but contrary to the Laws in being, as well as to thoſe of Nature, and all Societies under Heaven. And now I come to your third Queſtion, what dangers the Nation may be under in caſe the Crown deſcends upon a Popiſh Succeſſor, or more particularly upon his R. H?

For anſwer to which we muſt conſider, that dangers to any Country are Forraign or Domeſtick, Invaſions from abroad, or Encroachments a home. Againſt the former, every Kingdom is in danger, be the Prince of any or no Religion, and therefore the People are obliged to be always on their Guard. Againſt the latter the hazard lies in the Princes neglect, or breaking of the bounds of his Subjects Liberty, Property, and Religion: and ſince the ſafety of all Princes depends upon the contrary, why a Popiſh one ſhould offer it more then another, I cannot comprehend; and more particularly why his R. H. ſhould deſign it, is not at all likely, if we examine either the influence Popery can have over the Government, or conſider impartially the D's Character.

Government was firſt framed for the good of Mankind in this Life, without any regard to another, and depended upon a due and equal adminiſtration of juſtice in the Governour, and Obedience in the governed. This was long obſerved in the World before Religion entered, eſpecially Chriſtianity, which all allow, neither did, nor could alter the Laws of the City, or Common-wealth. Evangelium non abolet politias is every where an allowed Maxim, drawn from our Saviour's own Words; Friend, who made me a Ruler or judge among you? The Law is open, and by that the controverſies between you and your Brother are to be decided. He came not to diſturb, but to enlarge, and confirm the peace of the City, and his Laws conſidered a-part are as conſiſtent with thoſe of a Kingdom, as the by-Laws of any Corporation within a greater State. He declared his Kingdom was not of this World, and therefore could not deſign to alter the grounds of Government and Obedience, which are one and the ſame in all Countries whether Chriſtian or Pagan, founded upon ſelf-intereſt and preſervation, and continued by mutual Relation of Love and Duty, Protection and Obedience; things, that truly conſidered, can never be altered by the ſuper-induction, or change of any new or old Religion. If then Chriſtianity make no alteration, 'tis impoſſible the ſub-diviſions, or particular Sects ſhould. So that whatever Opinion, either King or Subject be, in point of Religion, Popiſh or Proteſtant; Lutheran or Calviniſt, Presbyterian or Epiſcopal, the ends of Government peace and quiet, Liberty and Property may be ſecured and enjoy'd, and the end of Religion too, eternal Salvation; this depending on moral Duties, and Conformity to the Laws of the Land; our Saviour having threatned Damnation to thoſe who reſiſt the higher Powers; the greateſt of puniſhments being appointed both by the Jewiſh and Chriſtian Law to Rebellion, called by the firſt, the Sin of Witchraft, and in the laſt, a fighting againſt God himſelf.

Now all Laws that concern our temporal eſtate being made in the times of Popery, I cannot find why they ſhould be changed by a Popiſh Monarch; nor how, without a change or violation the Subjects can ſuffer. As for the Laws that eſtabliſhed the Proteſtant, and aboliſhed the Popiſh Religion, they cannot be otherwiſe altered but by an equal power, with that from whence they had their Being, King and Parliament, who agreeing can by a change no more prejudice the publick in order to Heaven, than they did before; that being only accidental and extrinſecal to the Subſtance of Religion, by which alone, and not by Forms or Ceremonies Men are to be ſaved; every Country making differences in ſuch things according to the ſeveral intereſt of States, or humours of the people; as in England the Commonwealth is tempered by the King's holding the Ballance, between the power of Lords and Commons, and that upon the taking away of either, the Government muſt be deſtroyed: ſo the Religion of England, or indeed of any Kingdom, where there are ſeveral Sects, ſeem only to be preſerved by fixing a Ballance, which taken away, muſt be the ruine of the whole; and therefore undeniable policy will tell us, that the Epiſcopal legal Government is no otherwiſe to be preſerved, but by equally indulging the Non-Conformiſts and the Papiſts, for to ſuppreſs both is now impracticable, and to ſuppreſſe one alone will be found impolitick. A Truth grounded upon the preſent State of Europe, where, while England kept the Ballance between France and Spain, the univerſal Monarchy was a Dream, or groundleſſe Fancie: but that being removed, 'tis impoſſible, if two or three Martial and prudent Princes happen ſucceſſively to govern France, but that before imaginary Empire will really fall to the Lot of that Nation, unleſſe all the other States joyn againſt it, and give our Country the power it enjoyed, when Spain was an equal Match in the Contention. For my own part, I ſee nothing to be dreaded in caſe of a Popiſh Succeſſor, becauſe he alone cannot alter the Laws, nor the Religion; nor can he the execution, ſince that is out of his, and in the hands of ſuch as are not only ſworn to it, but upon failure lyable to great Penalties and Forfeiture, notonly to the Prince, who poſſibly might, but to the Informer, who cannot be ſuppoſed to remit his proportion. And conſidering that the Laws in being have entruſted the executive power of the Militia by Sea and Land, and of diſtributive Juſtice in Courts, and all Offices of Truſt, as well in the Country, as about the Princes Perſon, and the power of making, and altering Laws in the Hands of Men of Anti-popiſh Principles, I cannot apprehend, why we ſhould conceive any danger from a Princes enjoying to himſelf any Heterodox Opinion whatever. For to think he would impoſe them upon his Subjects; is to conclude him not only imprudent, but diſtracted; ſince it would be to create himſelf diſturbance, without the leaſt proſpect of advantage: for what does he get or looſe by their being of this, or that Perſwaſion? His Good, his Wealth, his Glory, his Honour, and Security, conſiſts in their conformity to the eſtabliſhed Government, and for their future Happineſſe he cannot as a Prince be ſolitcious; 'tis out of his Province, and now out of Faſhion for Kings to be Prieſts and Prophets. This then would be folly, and to purſue it would be madneſs, becauſe it would be to oppoſe his ſingle ſtrength, (for in this caſe he would ſtand alone) to the united force of Lords and Commons, and the whole Body of the People. And who knows not, that in this Senſe Dominium fundatur in voluntatibus hominum. For without an Army, and a very great one, he could not compaſſe his impertinent project, this Army he could not raiſe without a vaſt Treaſure; this Treaſure he cannot have but from his own people in Parliament, who will not give it to their prejudice. For out of Parliament he cannot have enough, even for his ordinary Expence, much leſſe for the defence of the Kingdom againſt forraign Attempts; becauſe upon the death of the preſent, the following Succeſſor will find ſo much fallen off, that there will not be left one third of the preſent inſufficient Revenue for all neceſſary Uſes of the Crown: An Argument that alone may convince the ſober and unbyaſs'd, that be he of what perſwaſion ſoever, he muſt of neceſſity comply with his Parliament who can't be ſuppoſ'd neglectful of the great Concern of Religion. And to think that the Papiſts at home, or abroad will give it, is Folly, or Inconſideration. Thoſe at home could not by the ſale of all their Fortunes make the Fond; that can never be ſuppoſed by men in their wits: nor indeed can I ſee, why they ſhould contribute at all, ſince their gain by offices, of which they are now incapable, would be but advantagious to ſome; and why ſhall the whole be at a loſſe for the profit of a few, & that uncertain? Beſides, that party is now more a Gainer, by freedom from offices of Charge and Trouble, than they could then be by the partial Advantage of Employments. The Papiſts abroad will leſs find their Accompt; for Princes of all Religions, and the only preſent rich and powerful one of That, expends his Money for Earthly Glory, leaving, as he ought, the Heavenly to the Spiritual Princes. Theſe all are, ever were, and will be, ſuch Lovers of Wealth, Pomp, and Grandour, as not to beſtow it in the purchaſe of Heaven, which they know is not to be bought for Silver or for Gold. The Pope regaining Peter-pence could not invite him, if he had the Sum, for if you compute that, you will find it a Trifle, 6666, reckoning it after the way of the preſent Chimney-money, ſet for 160 odd thouſand pounds, at two ſhillings a Chimney; whereas that was only a peny a Houſe, not a peny a Chimney, as in this Caluclation is allow'd, when Houſes are much more than in thoſe days. And for the Firſt-fruits and Tenths, they are no leſſe inconſiderable. For Indulgences, Appeals, and the conſequent Charges, they are trivial and accidental, and go not into the Pop's, but into particular Officers pockets. Beſides, no one Pope can hope to ſee ſuch a Deſign effected; and the Nephews and Nieces will prevent their converting their Riches to the advantage of the Succeſſors. And as for the Church or Abby-Lands, they could not on this accompt be of any moment, ſince if reſtor'd to the Church which would be uncertain, as the effect of War, they would fall into the hands of Clergy-men, who have nothing before hand to contribute.

Now conſidering that the late rais'd Army, under 30000 men, put the King to the charge of more than a Million; how many Millions, think you, muſt be requiſite for a much greater Army, neceſſary for ſo great a Deſign; when the Oppoſition will be ſtrong and laſting, the very Lifted Millitia being above 160000? And ſuppoſing that all the Papiſts in the three Kingdoms would become Voluntiers in this extravagant Expedition, the whole would be ſtill as diſproportionat, and as unliklely to prevail, as an Army of Pigmies, with Spears of Bulruſhes,mounted on Crans, againſt an Army of Gyants, riding on Elephants, and every way well appointed for War.

In the year 1672. (and they cannot ſince be much encreas'd) the Papiſts, upon a Survey of them, Conformists and Nonconformiſts ſeverally, were found throughout England to be under 27000. Men, Women, and Children: In Scotland the diſproportion is greater on the proteſtant ſide; in Ireland, on the Papiſts: Yet by a Medium of all three, there would be 203. Proteſtants to one Papiſt. What then can be dreaded from them, though asſiſted with an Army of profligat Hirelings, (for none elſe would fight to deſtroy Religion, and enſlave their Country) and a Prince of their own Perſwaſion, whoſe Example could win but on the mean and baſe, the flattering and mercenary Courtiers, to hold with him, as with other Kings, their Necks awry? So inconſiderable a Number could not ſhock the main Body of the People, ſighting not as the others, for Opinion, or for Pay, but further, for Liberty, Property, Religion, and Eſtate; of which being poſſeſt, though the others were equal in Numbers, theirs would be the advantage, according to that Rule, Milior eſt conditio posſidentis. And indeed, conſidering the Athelſtical bent and humour of the Nation, whoſe Religion is generally in their Mouths only, and not in their Hearts, I am apt to conclude, the great Heat and Contention is founded upon the apprehenſion of the loſs of Church and Abby-Lands, not of proteſtantiſm; and the rather, becauſe it is urged, Nullum tempus occurrit Ecoleſiae: The Maxim is & Regi; and yet we find, though moſt of the Lordſhips of England belonged formerly to the King, they are now poſſeſt by others without danger of reaſſumption, and yet even that has been practiſed in former Kings Reigns, and adviſed by parliaments who al ways reputed them unalienable. And yet why we ſhould now be more ſollicitous for fear of the Church, than of the King, I cannot underſtand; ſince either preſcription, or their own Conſent, lies againſt both, and that even in the infancy of the proteſtant Religion, upon the return of Popery by parliament, the Pope did in Q. Mary's Reign, by his Legat Cardinal Poole, confirm to the Laity the Temporal poſſesſions of the Clergy. And can any one imagine that how, when a contrary Religion is of ſo long ſtanding, and the profeſſors as far exceeding the Papiſts in number, as they did then the Proteſtants, a parliament would be kinder? Earthly Intereſt will ever weigh more than Heavenly; the World being now ſo much enlightned with Knowledge and Letters, beyond its former Experience, when not only Salvation, but Wiſdom, hung upon the Lips of the prieſts, it be will be imposſible for men to be perſwaded, even upon their Death-beds, to beſtow all for the gaining of Heaven. The Statute of Mortmain was made in the height of Popery, and none but Fools can ſuffer themſelves to be impoſed upon, that a Statute of Reſtitution could be posſible in the Meridian of a contrary Religion. This is well known to the leading and conſidering men; who having Deſigns upon great Offices and preferments in the State, make the Care of the Church a pretence only to their Ambition. 'Tis notoriouſly evident, That no men were more violent for the general Indulgence, nay for Popery, in 167 • . (not to mention their before breaking the Triple League, and entring into an Alliance with France) than thoſe who now are accounted the only Lovers of an Engliſh Intereſt, and the Proteſtant Religion. A Reſtitution of the Great Seal, or a Treaſurers White Staff; a Diamond-hilted Sword, or being a Publick Miniſter, might perſwade the ſame Perſons to act again as arbitrariouſly as before, ſet up France and run down Holland, with a delenda eſt Carthago. Good God! how ſtrange it is, that men who changed with every Wind as that of their own Private, not their Countries Intereſt, blew; or ſome younger Spirits influenced by their Precepts & Examples, in hopes to make new, or retrive crack'd Fortunes, ſhould ride and hurry the Nation to ſo much Heat and Paſſion, as endangers our utter ruine and deſtruction, either from Inteſtine Diviſions, or Forreign Invaſions! Conſider this in time, before you are bemir'd and bewitch'd by any Will o'th' Wiſp, who now leads you aſtray, and will certainly leave you in the lurch, when he has gain'd the Point he drives at. Judge of future by former Actions, and remember, if we muſt have any, That the old is better than any new Maſter.

Oh, but (ſay ſome) If we have a Popiſh Succeſſor, he will be the worst of Tyrants, being oblig'd (ſays the Author of the Few Words among many) to extirpate his Proteſtant Subjects, under the pain of Excommunication & Damnation, & that by vertue of the Council of Lateran. An Aſſertion very groundleſs, whether you conſider at large the Princes Intereſt, with which ſuch a Practiceis incompatible, his being a King, depending upon his Subjects; and a powerful one upon their Multitude, Strength, and Riches: or if you conſider the Influence Christianity it ſelf has upon the Civil Magiſtrate, or the particular Obligations of this pretended Decree; Concerning which, you are to know, that this Council is not eſteem'd General, nor the Decrees of this (wholly rejected by Canus and Bellarmine) nor of any Council, eſteem'd infallible, or obligatory in point of Diſcipline, where they are not receiv'd and corroborated by the Temporal Prince, who has the power of rejecting all or what part he thinks fit of ſuch Decrees; as appears not only in this, but in that of Trent, which is not univerſally received either in France or Germany. Beſides, theſe few that own this Council, ſay it was never deſign'd againſt Sovereign Independent Princes, nor was it ever practiſed out of Italy: So that why it ſhould be dreaded in England cannot be found reaſonable, ſince at this day in France, Germany, and other Countries, where the main Body of the People is Popiſh, Proteſtants are permitted their Freedoms, and their Fortunes. A ſufficient Argument, that Popiſh Princes fear no ſuch Sentence from Pope or Council. In ſome places of Germany, the people are governed ſucceſſively by Popiſh & Proteſtant Princes, Lutherans by Calvinists, further aſunder than Church of England and Papist, without inconvenience or diſturbance, taking their turns morning and afternoon in the publick Churches; and notwithſtanding the differences in Speculative matters, nor poſſible to be avoided, live together as they ought in the Union of Charity, the only bond of perfection, and Badge of true Chriſtianity. So that Papiſts may be good Kings, and good Subjects, as they are de facto, and have been, and therefore may be again. And to ſhew how little particular Opinions can alter the Duties of Allegiance and Subjection, let it be remembred; That in the King of France his Deſcent upon Holland, and in the time of his whole War with that State, he could never get a Popiſh Spy.

But here I am not ignorant the Perſecutions of Queen Mary will be urged, though impertinently; for beſides that the odds was then on the Papiſts ſide, yet in her Six years Reign as Speed and Baker tell us, there were but 277 put to death, and of theſe above 200 profligate Perſons, all dying by the Law, then, and ſeveral Ages before in being, De Haretico comburendo, by which ſeveral ſuffer'd in Queen Elizabeth's and King Jame's days for Arianiſm ſince abrogated. So that, as the caſe now ſtands in England, none can ſuffer as Hereticks, till ſome new Law be firſt made, and that, you know, muſt be by Force, or Parliament. The firſt is ſhewn impoſſible, and the latter improbable: Yet if ſuch an Act paſsd, it muſt be eſteem'd conſonant to the deſires of the whole Nation. So that the Martyrs of Queen Mary's days can no more be accounted ſuch, than thoſe who have ſuffer'd ſince the Popiſh Plot, both being puniſh'd juſtly, according to the Laws in being. Theſe laſt are reckoned 170 in the ſpace of eighteen Mouths; of which, 147 ſtarved and died in Priſon, and 23. executed, to every of whom Pardon and Reward was offer'd, would they but confeſs themſelves guilty, and make a Diſcovery; beſides five ſince condemned, and many more fled, ſtarving and begging in other Countries. And here I confeſs my amazement and wonder, that ſo many Lay-men and Clergy-men, Learned and Illiterate, ſhould all continue obſtinate in the denial of this damnable and helliſh Popiſh Plot, when the Conſpirators own'd that cruel one of the Gunpowder Treaſon.

Nor can the Objection be leſs trivial of the hazard to the Kings Sacred Life, while a Papiſt is to ſucceed; ſince a Clement or a Raviliac is not more eaſily found among them, than a Poltrot or an Andelot among the Hugonots or Presbyterians. But it is no greater diſparagement to have ſingle Inſtances of Wickedneſs in a Soceity, than to the Apoſtles, that there was a Judas in the number. 'Tis much more eaſie for Papists to give, than to receive upon this account a Rowland for an Oliver. They can not only return the number of Aſſaſſins, but in ſtead of a few private ones; ſhew them many publick Executioners of Kings and Princes, and in ſtead of particular Aſſerters of the King-killing and Depoſing Doctrines, as Mariana and La Forest, (who yet do it but Problematically, and are with their Books cenſured and condemned by the Eight Univerſities of France, and the General of the Jeſuits Order, and the whole Body of the Catholicks, and expreſly forbidden by the univerſally receiv'd Council of Conſtance, Seſſ. 5.) I wiſh there could not be found whole Shoals of the Reformed that avow thoſe Antichriſtian Principles, not only abroad, but in England and Scotland. Baxter, yet alive, has never recanted the Tenets of his Common-wealth; not his owning, in his Saints Reſt, his not finding upon theſtricteſt examination, to have done amiſs, in fomenting the late Rebellion. I need not menti Outlandiſh Names of Calvin, Beza, Paraeus, &c. nor thoſe of Scotland, Knox, Bu chann &c. a Page would not contain all Miltons Engliſt Tutors and Scolars in this particular, whoſe Religion is Treaſon and Rebellion, and whoſe Devotion is all Cheat and Hypocriſie, and who are ineed ſo much the worſe and more dangerous Jeſuits, as their Doctrines are in Engliſh, & openly maintained, whilſt the other publickly diſavow what they are accus'd of. Thoſe all with one voice ſay, Dominion is jure divino; the others ſay, 'tis founded in Grace, and deriv'd from the People in trust, who upon male adminiſtration may reſume their first Grant, dethrone and murder their Sovereign, in spite of all the obligations of Oaths and Promiſes of Faith and Allegiance. Now though it's poſſible both Parties may be miſtaken, yet I am ſure the Papiſts Errour is on the ſafeſt ſide for Princes. Conſider, Sir, ſeriouſly, and tell me, if you find not of the two, the Jeſuits of Glaſcow and Geneva more pernicious to Peace and Government, than thoſe of Rome or St. Omers: Compare their Pract •… es and their Principles, and try whether the Paris Maſſacre of 40000, by D'avila, and as is plain in Story, a politick Stratagem, be not ſeventy times exceeded by the Warr of that Country and Germany, to name no more, upon the ſcore of Reformation: Whether the much-nois'd Numbers ſlain in Ireland, computed by the Ingenious and Learned Sir William Petry, on both ſides, during the whole Rebellion, not above 36000, in a conquer'd Country, ſet on foot for their Liberty and Eſtates, not for Religion, be not far outdone by the late Rebellion of England, contriv'd and carried on by the Godly party. This was not Chriſt's Method of planting the Goſpel; 'tis the Sword of the Spirit, and not that of the fleſh, that muſt propagate Religion; yet excepting our own Country, where it came not in dry-ſhod, have not the Reformers every where waded deep in Blood in oppoſition to popery? I need not inſtance, the Countries are obvious, and 'tis an undeniable Truth, that there has been ten times more War and Bloud ſhed, on the ſcore of Religion ſince Luther and Calvin's time, then was in all the parts of Europ before, while popery was at the higheſt. But beſides all this, the Vote of the late Houſe of Commons, has moſt certainly ſecured on that ſide all danger to the King's Sacred Perſon, Whom God long preſerve; for if now any ſhould be ſo mad, as to be Authors of ſo great an Impiety, conſidering the vaſt inequalities of their Numbers, they could not expect leſs then the loſs of their own Lives, and of the whole party, & therefore by that Vote they are not only charmed into Loyalty, if otherwiſe diſpoſed, but qualified to guard the King's Perſon, if admitted, from the attempts of any other Conſpirators; ſo that their mutual ſafeties depend upon each other. And therefore it were adviſeable, ſince other acts forbid their acceſs to Court, for all the Papiſts to quit their Country or their Religion, leſt they might hereafter ſmart for the Act of Nature, or the wickedneſs of any other Faction, if not likely, at leaſt not impoſſible. Sacred and profane ſtory furniſhes us with many inſtances of plots made by one, and father'd on another party. And the beaſt in the Apologue with a Lump of Fleſh on his Fore-head, was not imprudent in quitting the Forreſt upon the Lyons proclamation. That all horned Beaſts ſhould at their peril depart; for when he was asked, why he ran away, he anſwered, If the Lyon ſaid, the Lump was a Horn, it would be in vain for him to contend, or after hope an eſcape. And really, I ſee no ſecurity in the change of Religon, ſince people are ſo impoſed upon, to ſwallow Gudgeons in believing, if that indeed they do what they ſo loudly ſpeak, that after all Oaths, Teſts, and Sacraments, they are ſtill Papiſts in Maſquerade, and have Bulls and Dispenſations for diſſembling and perjury; a Suppoſition not only idiculous, but reflective upon the Wiſdom of the Parliament: for if no mark of diſcrimination, nor ſcent can be found to diſcover the blown Deer, and ſeparate them from the reſt of the Herd, 'tis in vain to hunt, and the Parliament have taken great pains to find out papiſts, but to no purpoſe, a cenſure no leſs ſevere upon them, than 'twould be folly in the Pope to expect Obedience from thoſe he abſolved from all Obligations: For the Oaths do not only allow them to ſwear Fealty and Homage to one Prince, but bind them to renounce all others, and being ſo taken in the plain literal Sence and Acceptation of the Words, there can be no reſerve. For however the Jeſuits are accuſed to allow Equivocation and mental Reſervation, they are not yet arrived to that impudence of owning to the World ſo monſtrous an Impiety. And therefore I hope the new Sheriffs of London re abuſed by their Friend who publiſhes their having taken the Oathes and Abjurations in their own meanings, and tellus, that how contrary ſoever, that may be to the plain Words, yet 'tis conformable to the Senſe and Intention of the Impoſers, the Parliament. A new Doctrine I confeſs, and very expreſſive of a tender Conſcience. For if you examine it aright, you will find it turns the deſign of Oaths, into Folly, leaving them no force, nor Men under any Obligation. For it is all one to ſwear, and not to ſwear at all, if the taker of the Oath may do it in his own, and not in the Impoſers Senſe; it reconciles extreams, makes a narrow half-pynt City Conſcience, and one as large and wide as the great Tun of Heidelberg, the ſame. Here will be no longer stumbling at straws, nor leaping over Blocks: ſtraining at a Gnat, and ſwallowing a Camel will be a Jeſt; all will go down with equal eaſe, and all tyes between King and Subjects will ceaſe; the Oaths of Coronation and Allegiance are Fopperies, Chaff to cath the credulous; neither will be perjured, if the one prove a Tyrant, or the other a Rebel. So monſtrous a Tenet ought not to ſcape publick Animadverſion. And I do as verily believe, a Jeſuit ſham'd that Pamphlet upon the Sheriffs, as that the Papiſts made Venner's plot, and the two following of 1662, and 1666. altho in their ſtead the poor innocent Fifth Monarchy men and Phanaticks paid the reckoning at Tyburn. But if indeed there were Diſpenſations to he had, is it ſuppoſable by Men (Fools may take a Wind-Mill for an inchanted Caſtle, and Don Quixor-like, fight against the wind) that any would forfet Liberty, Fortune or Country, much more Life it ſelf, as is notorious many have done, rather than take theſe Oaths.

There is then no cauſe to fear the Papiſts will be undiſcoverable, or that they can be terrible, conſidering the ſmallneſs of their Number, tho the D. of Y. ſhould come to govern. For beſides that it would not be in his Power, nor for his Intereſt, as is already ſhewn, to innovate the Conſtitutions of Church and State, nothing like it can be dreaded from his Character, which all knowing, and diſintereſted Perſons will thus give you; That he is a Prince of ſo many admirable Endowments and excellent Qualifications both by Nature & by Art, as make it a queſtion to which of the two he is moſt indebted, and render him matchleſs in the preſent, and rarely exceeded by any in former Ages. He is not only of innate Courage, fearleſs and intrepid as a Lion, but a Commander of great Experience, both at Land and Sea; preferring the laſt more for his Countries ſafety and honour, than his own eaſe or pleaſure; In all things temperate and ſober, in his Actions between Man and Man nicely juſt, in his Word and Promiſes ſtrictly faithful, and religiouſly punctual, ſincere in his Friendſhips and Profeſſions, a kind Brother, and a dutiful Subject, an obliging Husband, and an excellent Maſter, a great lover of Buſineſs, ſedulous and diligent, and indefatigable in Labours; affable and eaſy of acceſs, patient in hearing and diſpatching the meaneſt, of quick Apprehenſion, and ſound Judgement; and tho in this traduc'd by Envy, Malice, and Deſign; yet I defy the worſt of his Enemies, to inſtance wherein he ever ſpake impertinently on any Subject. He is what the French call un bonest homme, too comprehenſive to be Engliſh'd by one Word, ſignifying, A Perſon compoſed of all the good Qualities that make Men truly valuable; He was born to retrieve the ſinking Glory of the Engliſh Nation, a Truth once readily acknowledged by all, and would be ſo at this day, if the contrary were not impoſed by the cunning of the Ambitious, under the diſguiſe and pretence of Zeal for Religion; in which, whatever his private Opinions are, he deſires not a liberty he would not grant. He is not of a narrow perſecuting Spirit, ſo much in love with his own, as to deſpiſe the Opinions of all others. He would have every Man enjoy the right of Nature, Liberty of Conſcience, without diſturbance of the publick peace. In a Word, he is brave and generous, liberal but not profuſe, reſolute but not ſtubborn, great but not proud, humble but not abject; in all his Actions he ſhews himſelf a Gentleman, but in none forgets that he is a Prince. He is not an Angel, but a Man, and therefore not free from ſome Paſſions and human Fraitlties; but in the World there cannot be found a Prince with fewer. He needs not boaſt the Statues of his Anceſtors, he has a ſtock of fame and vertue of his own, large enough to make him great. He is doubly related to the Title of his Grand Father Henry the 4th, by Birth, and by his Sufferings. Without flattery he may be accounted the moſt illuſtrious of modern Hero's, and very little, if at all out-done by Caeſar or by Alexander, by Hannibal or by Scipio. The Engliſh, Scots, and Iriſh, have been Witneſſes of this Truth to their Honour and Renown. The French, the Spaniards, and Flemmings and the Dutch, the German, Sweed and Dane, have ſeen and felt his Actions to their coſt & tothir Envy. And what has this great Min done, to have felt his Vertues and his Lawrels wither'd and forgot? Is it for expoſing his perſon, like a common Sea man for the Glory of the Engliſh Nation? or is the change of the peoples Affections owing to the alteration of his Opinions about the Modes and Circumſtances of Religion, for, in reality 'tis no more? Oh! no, it proceeds from the ſubtilty of ſome Fellow-Subjects, who under pretence of Love for the publick, and Zeal for Religion, deſign for themſelves a Tyranny, and therefore endeavour by all the arts of Malice to remove out of the way of their Ambition this great Perſon, the only Obſtacle; impoſing upon the World; that all themſelves aim at, are intended by the D. when nothing is further from his thoughts, than a purpoſe of governing England otherwiſe than by the eſtabliſh'd Laws. A Lye may for a while ſully and eclipſe the brighteſt Innocence, but at length it muſt break through thoſe Clouds with a greater increaſe of Luſtre and of Glory. 'Tis good Machiavilian policy, calumniare fortiter, aliquid adherebit; Throw Dirt enough, ſome of it will stick. There was a time, when only Vice was ſafe, and honourable, and nothing fatal but to be brave and vertuous; and the best Citizens were therefore proſcribed; and why ſhould it be wondred that in England, as well as in Rome, or Athens, no Ariſtides ſhould be baniſhed for being too good?

Now conſidering that Laws may bind a King (which to deny is folly and madneſs) and that there are already enough & more may be added, to prevent a Popiſh Succeſſors miſchieving Protestant Subjects, if there were no Laws to this purpoſe, yet prudence and right reaſon would continue to us the enjoyment of Liberty, Property and Religion, let never ſo bigotted a Papiſt aſcend the Throne: much leſs is any alteration to be apprehended from the Duke, who beſides all thoſe Obligations, does further ſecure us by his innate Goodneſs and temper: 'tis no wonder his Majeſty ſhould ſo often forbid the intermedling with Succeſſion; ſince he could not but conclude from ſo unreaſonable a procedure, ſomething elſe might be deſigned, beſides the ſecurity of the proteſtant Religion; under the ſaireſt Tufts of Graſs, we know Snakes are likelieſt to be hid. For firſt, there was no cauſe to conclude the D. ſhould certainly out-live his Royal Brother; or if he did, that he would or could alter the Government; nor ſecondly, that he ſhould always continue of his preſent Opinion in Religion, ſince he that once changed might do ſo again, upon the alteration of his temper, never at a ſtand, or the ſame in any perſon, or upon his fuller conſideration of the Controverſie. But if in this he ſhould remain unalterable, and chance to out-live him, his conſenting to ſuch an Act would never prevent great Effuſion of Bloud, civil War, and unaccountable Miſeries and Calamities; for let Men Fancie what they pleaſe, the D. would ſtill have no ſmall party in England, all or moſt of Scotland and Ireland would be entirely for him; he is accounted by both a Prince of their Bloud, and by their Laws, who no more than thoſe of England allow their Kings mortal, to be their Soveraign upon the Death of his predeceſſor, without the Formalities of Proclamation or Coronation; and who knows not that the united force of theſe two Kingdoms with the power within the third, would counter ballance all the reſt of the Might of England. Beſides, Scotland and Ireland being diſtinct Kingdoms, and governed by Laws of their own Parliaments, no Act made by that of England can be binding in any inſtance, much leſs in excluding their Sovereign. Now over and above thoſe advantages, all the popiſh Princes of Europe (and they, if united, are too ſtrong for the Proteſtant) would be on his ſide, if Religion have that power ſome Men apprehend. But if it have not, yet France would account it their intereſt to reinſtate the D. in his poſſeſſions, for then they two joining (to which nothing elſe could invite the King of England) all rubs in the way of the Univerſal Monarchy would be certainly removed. And what would the Conſequence of this be, but a running into the inconveniency we would now avoid, Popery and Arbitrary Government, otherwiſe not only an uncertain, but an imaginary Fear. Though this ſhould not happen in the perſon of the D. yet his excluſion may otherwiſe occaſion it. For let it be conſidered, that to keep him out, an Army muſt be maintained, which will encreaſe our Charge, another great evil; and that Army muſt have a General, and who can be aſſured that either the then King or the General, or both ſhall not hereafter turn Papiſts, and changing with their Religion their Tempers, by the asſiſtance of that Army ſettle an abſolute and Deſpotick power, enſlave us, and exerciſe an uncontroulable Tyranny over our Minds, our Bodies and Eſtates Remember what our late revolution did produce, and forget not the Rump no • Oliver, whoſe publick Taxes were Mountains compared with thoſe Mole-Hills under which we now ſeem ſo much to ſuffer and be buried. If the Rider gives his Horſe the Reins, he knows not whither an unbridled Fury may at laſt carry him.

'Tis not imposſible, but the putting by the D. may end in a depoſing the preſent poſſeſſor: For if the late King was not only reputed a papist, but executed for deſigning the Introduction of popery, though all the World knows he was a ſtiff aſſerter of, and a Martyr for the proteſtant Religion; and if now a preſumed papist be declared unfit to ſucceed; how much more unfit muſt a papist be declared to Govern? And how can we be aſſured, that Caracter ſhall not hereafter be fixt upon our King, when we know one of the Brethren was not long ſince Indicted for ſaying, The D. was a Papiſt, and the K. little better? and that already every Member of the Church of England, the very Biſhops, all but Two not excepted, are called papiſts in Maſquerade? Succeſs makes men bold againſt God and Man; and we arrive not at the heighth of Inſolence but by degrees, nemo repente fit turpiſſimus. Read the Pamphlets, and obſerve not the Whispers, but the loud Diſcourſes, and then tell me whether you can call this a groundleſs Surmiſe. If the King cannot pardon the Earl of Danby, or any Criminal, (which that Noble-man no more is, upon the account of his pardon, than all his predeceſſors who have ſhewn him the way) then indeed he is no longer the Supreme, and may well enough be concluded already depos'd more than in Effigie. And yet this Doctrine is maintain'd by the Loyal Conſiderer of the great and wighty Conſiderations touching the Succeſſion, and publickly ſold in the Court of Requeſts; and another poſition no leſs pernicious, held by him and many of the ſame principles, That there can be Treaſon againſt the State, againſt the people, againſt the Government, excluding the Kings perſon, for whoſe ſecurity alone the Satutes have provided againſt Treaſons, not finding it agreeable to Reaſon, or our own Poſitive Laws, to exalt above the King's, the Majeſty of the People. If ſuch Doctrines be openly avow'd, witneſs that Pamphlet, and the Modeſt Anſwerer of the King's Declaration about his Marriage, 'tis no wonder the King ſhould depend upon other Guards for his Safety, than the Affections of, at leaſt, ſuch loyal Subjects.

King Charles the Firſt had many Promiſes of being made great and glorious, provided he would part with his moſt faithful Friends and Counſellors, then ſtiled diſaffected and evil Miniſters; and by granting ſome ſuch ſmall Requeſts, he gave encouragement for asking, and left himſelf no room for denying greater. And indeed he was made great, and extraordinarily exalted from an Earthly to a Heavenly Throne, from a King to be a Martyr. Who can be ignorant, that however to demoliſh a ſtrong Fort, or a Tower well built, it be neceſſary to labour long about the Out-works and the Walls with Cannon and with Pick-ax, yet one only puff, though but weak, of a Princes Folly, or a Private mans Ambition, who has good store of Followers, Money, and Wit, is able to make the ſtrongeſt Empire totter and fall, before the Ruine be expected. Athelſtan the great Saxon King, out of jealouſie of State, was perſwaded to expoſe to the mercy of the Seas his Brother Elwyn, and thereby endanger'd the loſs of his Dominion; of which when he was put in mind, by his Cup-bearer's ſaying, upon recovering with one Foot the ſlip of the other, See how one Brother helps another, he cryed out, Ah Traytor, liveſt thou to upbraid me of that Folly, of which your ſelf was the Author? and thereupon cauſed him to be immediatly executed. Henry the Sixth had ſcap'd Depoſition and Murder, had he not conſented to his Uncle the Good Duke of Gloceſter's deſtruction, who living kept him ſafe, and dying threw him down. After the ſame method did the Earl of Northumberland bring about the Ruine of the Protector in Edward the Sixth's time; perſwading him to remove his Brother the Admiral, his only Bulwark and Support; of which Contrivance, though too late, be died not inſenſible, leaving to Poſterity a Caution to avoid the Rock on which he ſplit. The extraordinary Careſſes of a reconcil'd Enemy are ever to be diſtruſted, and always to be accounted dangerous; and he may well apprehend a Deſign, that finds ſuch, or any man, more than himſelf, ſollicitous for his Safety. The Wolves pretending kindneſs to the Sheep, offer'd to make a League with them, but not till they firſt had baniſh'd away their Dogs; this they no ſooner did, than they paid with the forſeiture of their Necks, the price of their credulity, and their folly. Nor is the Fathers Legacy to his Sons, of a Bundle of Twigs, leſs inſtructive, theſe which ſingle may with eaſe, cannot with difficulty, whilst united he bent or broken. Divide & Impera, is more uſeful for the Aſpirers to, than the Poſſeſſors of a Crown; and he that ſuffers himſelf to be impos'd upon in one, lays himſelf open to all Inſtances; and will quickly perceive, the more he grants, the leſs he is able to refuſe When a Prince finds his Subjects inſiſt upon things unreaſonable or unneceſſary▪ much more proceed contrary to his poſitive Commands, as in the Caſe of Succesſion, 'tis time to look about him, and ſuſpect they intend ſomewhat more than yet they diſcover.

The ſureſt way to compaſſe ones purpoſe, is to pretend the contrary; and if you will be with ſucceſs a Sinner, and exquiſitly wicked, you muſt pretend to be a Saint, and extraordinarily devout. You may with more ſafety eat your Cheſtnuts, if, Monkey-like, you make uſe of the Cats Claws to pull them out of the Fire. You cannot hope to enſlave your Country, but under the ſpecious Names of Reformation and Liberty. The people may be gull'd, and drawn to bite, if the Hook be baited with a fitting Fly. If you will ſet up Presbytery, you muſt pretend at firſt only to run down Popery: when the Popiſh Lords are outed, it will be eaſie after to exclude the Biſhops.

That here has been a long time, and ſtill is a carrying on, a deſign to ſubvert the Government and the Religion of the Nation, I perfectly agree with the Writer of The growth of Popery and Arbitrary Government: But I wiſh the Gentleman had nam'd, as he eaſily might, the Conſpirators. If you will believe, againſt all Truth and Reaſon, the before mentioned Anſwerer to the Declaration, they are center'd in his R. H. and He alone has been the Author of the Miniſters miſcarriages, or the Chances of ill Fortune, that have hapned ſince the Kings Reſtauration. One might have though Popery alone had been Crime enough to render him odious, without loading him with the Burden of others. Muſt they make him not onely preſumptive Heir, but preſumptive Criminal? But I confeſſe, he that ſo much defames, and ſo irreverently treats the King, may with leſſe hazard belie his Brother. The end is viſible, That what Juſtice cannot, popular Fury and the Rabble ſhould, take away the Beeing of that much injur'd Prince. Hence it is, he is ſaid to have been the Author of the Fire of London: His never to be forgotten pains and Diligence to ſuppreſs thoſe Flames, are ill requited. He was then known to be a zealous Proteſtant, and could he joyn with the Papiſts, who are now call'd the Authors, in a mean ſo deſtructive of Religion? And if that were the Deſign, what hinders its being effected? If the Papiſts muſt be acquitted, ſurely the Duke ought, in that the Phanatick Plotters executed in April before, confeſſ'd at Tyburn they had ſo contriv'd that fatal Scene, that it could not miſcarry: And indeed the Event verified their Prediction to aday, as to the Fire, though not to the reſt of their intended Tragedie. When Nero ſet Rome on fire, he commanded Chriſtianos ad Leones; an ill Preſident for Chriſtian Commonwealths: No man can make himſelf innocent by throwing his Crimes upon others. But thus it fares with his R. H. as well in this as in many more Inſtances. He is ſaid to be the Author of the Popiſh Plots, though not only Oates and Bedloe (the laſt confirming it at his Death) have acquitted him, but likewiſe my Lord Danby tells you, in his Printed Caſe, The King was ſo far from believing it, that it had never been brought upon the Stage, but for the D's Importunity. This alone, if there were not many more, is a ſufficient Argument of his Innocence, and abhorrence of the Fact; and yet now (forſooth) he muſt have revealed it after the King had given him the intimation, that the Conſpirators might convey away their Papers. If ſo, I pray, why were Colman's, or any others found? But it will appear on examination, that Beddingfield no ſooner receiv'd the Packet, (of which how Doctor Tongue could inform the Earl of Danby, then in Oxfordſhire, 27 mils beyond Windſor, ſo as to be with the King on that account within few hours after, is a Riddle) than he brought it to the Duke, telling him, there was miſchief deſign'd to his R. H. in particular, or to himſelf, or the Papists in general, for that the incloſed Letters were forged, and one of them from Dr. Fogorthy, to whoſe Perſon as well as Name he was, till then a perfect Stranger. This Packet the D. gave to the R. that very day, about the laſt of Auguſt; who looking on one of the Letters, ſaid, he had •… en the hand before. Some eight days after, Sir Edmundbury Godfrey ſent by Coleman the whole Diſcovery, with which the ſecond time the D. acquainted his Majeſty, who yet ſpoke not to the D. of the matter. The reſt of that Libel is as falſe as theſe two Particulars, which therefore for brevity I paſſe over, no man in his Wits being able to think it needs any otherConfutation than the Fire. But before I conclude, give me leave to tell you, That the D. has not expoſed his Perſon on all occaſions for the honour of the Engliſh Nation, but whereever he appeared carried Victory along with him, which in his abſence was not found. In the firſt war he beat the Dutch, in the ſecond he got the better; but in both, the change of Admirals alter'd our Succeſs: And whatever falſe ſteps our Miniſters have made, whoſe Baſtards are not to be laid at his doors, he is no otherwiſe accountable for them, then you or I, who had no power to reſiſt. Every one knows who have been the publick and loſe Managers of Affairs; and theſe can witneſs, the D. could never be reckon'd in their number. He had no hand in dividing the Fleet in the firſt War, nor in halling it up at Chatham before a Peace concluded. He was not privy to the Advice of breaking the Triple League, nor making an Alliance with France, which he no ſooner heard, than he oppoſ'd, foretelling, with Caſſandra's Fate, the Iſſue. He influenc'd not a War with Holland, nor ſetting upon their Smyrna-Fleet before a Breach declared. Delenda eſt Carthago was not his Sentence, nor his Act the Shutting up the Exchequer? nor was he the Author of Injunctions againſt the Bankers, nor of uſurping the Commons Right of filling their own Vacancies, nor conſequently, of the other Part or Link of this Chain and Contrivance, the Project of Indulgence; though, to give him his due, he was for purſuing ſteddily Reſolutions, when once taken; the contrary would be a leſſning our power, and a making us ridiculous at home and abroad. Afterwards, when theſe Meaſures were broken, and new ones embraced, he was for purſuing the Intereſt of England in defence of the Spaniſh Netherlands, and did as verily believe, and was as much impos'd upon, as the moſt credulous in England, that a War againſt France was then really purpoſed, when deſired by both Houſes, in 1678/7. His preparations to hazard his Perſon in that Expedition, are notorious Evidences of this Truth. Yet ſuch is his misfortune, that after all his Endeavours for the good of his Country, he is reputed a Lover of the French Intereſt, though none be more hated by that Crown, (an undenied proof of the mali •… of the Imputation) whoſe unwearied diligence has been formerly employ'd, and may now be well ſuſpected to foment and keep up diviſions between the King and his Subjects, the only way to prevent our oppoſing his long deſigned Dominion. An Obſervation, that alone ought to invite us to an Union, and a mutual Confidence, and to ſtudy in the Spirit of Moderation, the healing of our Breaches; remembring, That no Reaſon of State can be uſeful to the Publick, or juſtifie any Actions contrary to the Laws both of God and Nations; That it is a ſhame and a reproach upon us abroad, and an Inconvenience at home, to have a Plot kept ſo long on foot, wherein all who ſhould be found guilty upon unqueſtionable Evidence, might have been made long ſince Exemplary. A ſpeedy and impartial proceeding in this Caſe, without heat or paſſion, or conſideration of Parties, or of Intereſt, will remove all our Jealouſies and Fears, ſettle us upon the immovable Rocks of Truth and Honour, and acquit and vindicate to the World, That an Engliſh Parliament is not influenc'd by men, whoſe Ambition leads them to ſtudy their own private, more than the Publick Good; That they ſerve their King and Country for Glory, and for Conſcience, not for Gain or Preferment; That they deſign nothing but the preſervation of their Rights, Libertis, and Religion, by the Methods of peace and prudence; which without doubt may be for ever ſecured by the Laws already in force, or other new Additions, notwithſtanding a Popiſh Soveraign. The Kings of England have bound, and may again limite their Power with their own Conſent in Parliament: But if this Truth be denied, becauſe of that Maxim in our Laws, The King can do no wrong; it cannot, That their Miniſters and Officers, who muſt be, and are accountable for all, and puniſhable for Illegal Actions, may be ſo confin'd, as may make our Fears unreaſonable of any Encroachments or Innovations, let never ſo many Popiſh Princes much leſſe any one, ſucceed. Whoever ſuggeſts the contrary, is impoſed upon by Ignorance, Intereſt, or the Malice of crafty and deſigning Achithophels, who prefer their particular Advantage to Religion and Liberty, no other way really to be endangered, but by debarring the D. his Right of Succeſſion; which once paſt into an Act, will, in caſe he ſurvive, moſt certainly-bring upon the Three Kingdoms Horrour and Confuſion, Deſolation and Miſery, and all the ſad Effects of a Civil War. Evils ſo far from your Temper and Inclination, that I need not cautionyou againſt ſo much madneſſe and Folly, as inevitably attends the not regarding the Wiſemans Advice, My ſon, f • ar God, and Honour the King; and meddle not with thoſe that are given to change.

What I have written, I have written in obedience to your Commands, the love of Truth, and zeal for the Publick, being (as you know) neither Courtier nor Penſioner, never was, or like to be, addicted to Popery, not obliged by King nor Duke in any particular Grace or Favor, but being wholly Independent, and having ſomething to loſe, and ſenſible no others can ſuffer by War and Rebellion, I have uſed the ſame freedom without, as I hope you will within doors, for preventing thoſe Calamities which ſeem to do more than threaten the Nation; from which, nothing but Gods Providence, in the Wiſdom and Moderation, Courage and Prudence of our King and Parliament, can defend this unhappie and diſtracted Kingdom.