An answer to the late King James's declaration to all his pretended subjects in the kingdom of England, dated at Dublin-castle, May 8, 1689 ordered by a vote of the Right Honourable the House of Commons, to be burnt by the common-hangman. Welwood, James, 1652-1727. 1689 Approx. 54 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2004-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A65409 Wing W1298 ESTC R38525 17543130 ocm 17543130 106558 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A65409) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 106558) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1108:15) An answer to the late King James's declaration to all his pretended subjects in the kingdom of England, dated at Dublin-castle, May 8, 1689 ordered by a vote of the Right Honourable the House of Commons, to be burnt by the common-hangman. Welwood, James, 1652-1727. [4], 31, [1] p. Printed for Dorman Newman ..., London : MDCLXXXIX [1689] Includes half-title page. Attributed to Welwood by Wing and NUC pre-1956 imprints. "Published according to order." Advertisement: p. [1] at end. Reproduction of original in the Cambridge University Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. 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Great Britain -- History -- William and Mary, 1689-1702. 2003-08 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-09 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-10 Rina Kor Sampled and proofread 2003-10 Rina Kor Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-12 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion AN ANSWER TO THE Late King IAMES's DECLARATION . AN ANSWER TO THE Late King IAMES's Declaration TO ALL HIS Pretended SUBJECTS IN THE Kingdom of England , Dated at Dublin-Castle , May 8. 1689. Ordered by a Vote of the Right Honourable the House of Commons , to be burnt by the Common-Hangman . Published according to Order . LONDON : Printed for Dorman Newman , at the Kings Arms in the Poultry . MDCLXXXIX . AN ANSWER TO THE Late King IAMES's Declaration TO ALL HIS Pretended SUBJECTS , &c. WHEN one reflects upon the continued Conduct of the Late King Iames both before and after his Accession to the Crown , and the dismal Consequences thereof to these Three Kingdoms , and at last to himself , I cannot but regret the Fate of those Princes , that abandon their true Interest , Reason , Conscience and Honour , to Iesuitick Councils , and enslave themselves to a Party , justly abominated by the better part of the Romish Church it self , for their gross Encroachments upon Religion , Morality , and all that 's Sacred among men . When I look back to the many Tragedies acted by that Fraternity , both in this , and the last Age , scarce a Kingdom or State in Europe , where their Villanies have not come up to the utmost reach of depraved Nature : When I call to mind the Horrid Desolations , Murders and Wars , they have been instrumental of , in the most remote parts of the World ; witness some Millions of Souls in Iapan , and other parts of Asia , sacrific'd not many Years ago , to their Ambition and Intrigues , under the Notion of propagating the Catholick Faith ; I say , when I consider all these things , I am the less surprized with the dismal Effects of their Councils in England , since the same Fate attends them every where . But I must confess , That among all the Martyrs to Loyola's Principles , there is none more justly claims our Compassion , than the Late King Iames. To see a Prince , naturally of no bad Temper , imposed upon by these zealous Bigots , to trample upon the Religion and Liberties of His People , contrary to Fundamental Laws , and the most solemn Promises and Oaths , under the false Mask of Piety and Zeal to the Catholick Faith , and at length to find him seduc'd to abandon His Kingdoms , and thereby an absolute necessity put upon the Representatives of the People , to fill up His Throne , vacated by His own Fault , is a Subject that naturally displays the vanity of human Greatness . And I may add , That the unaccountable Doctrine of Passive Obedience , as it was the Source of a great many Mischiefs among our selves , so what has befallen that King , may be partly imputed to it ; for the believing , That without controul he might do what he pleas'd , encourag'd him to take such measures as have brought upon him all his Misfortunes . I cannot but at the same time represent to my self , with that emotion of mind the affrighted Passenger looks back upon the devouring Billows he has lately escap'd , the dismal Scene of Ruin that so lately threatned us , and that Abyss of Misery we had certainly been plung'd into e're now , if his present Majesty had not opportunely delivered us from the very Jaws of Death and Ruin. That any of the Protestant Perswasion at home , should be sound Repiners at this mighty Deliverance , is in my humble opinion , an unaccountable piece of Ingratitude and Weakness at once ; When all the Reformed States abroad , look upon this great Revolution in Brittain , as the most happy Providence that has appear'd on the Theatre of Europe this Century of Years . The late mighty Enterprize of His Majesty , was the Result of the united Consultations of all the Foreign Protestant States and Princes in this part of Christendom ; who setled upon it , as the last Cast of the Dye , for their Religion and Liberty ; and with a trembling Expectation , made Vows to Almighty God , for the Success of an Attempt , they wisely soresaw , carried in its Womb , the Fate not only of these Three Kingdoms , but of all the Reformed Churches of Europe . When Heaven had smil'd upon this stupendious Attempt , and had beyond the usual Tract of Providence , vouchsafed us a Deliverance scarce equal'd in the Records of Time , Who would have imagin'd that England should produce such a sort of Monsters , as seem to be in love with Slavery and Ruin , the necessary Consequences of their Folly ? And that there are such a sort of Men , we have a plain Demonstration in these unhappy Wretches that have so industriously dispers'd through this great City , that Paper called , King James His Declaration to all His Loving Subjects in the Kingdom of England . A Paper , I could have wish'd for King Iames's own Honour had been buried in Eternal Oblivion , since it contains a heap of Falsities , that was below a Prince to affirm , and which are known to be so , by no fewer than the people of Three Kingdoms . In giving my Reflections upon this Declaration , the Respect due to one that was lately a Crowned Head , with some other just motives , obliges me to do it with more reservedness than perhaps such a Paper deserves ; and instead of a needless exposing a Prince , that has His Honour too much sunk already , in the eyes of all Europe , I shall with all the Calmness and Candor possible , examine the Declaration it self , without Reflections upon the Prince whose it is ; and shall not omit one single Sentence in it , that can be interpreted even by Himself , of any Consequence . Thus His Declaration begins , Altho the many Calumnies and dismal Stories , by which Our Enemies have endeavoured to render Us and Our Government odious to the World , do now appear to have been advanc'd by them , not only without any ground , but against their own certain Knowledg ; as is evident by their not daring to attempt the proving these Charges to the World , which we cannot but hope , hath open'd the eyes of Our good Subjects , to see how they have been imposed upon by designing men , who to promote their own Ambitious Ends , care not what Slavery they reduce Our Kingdoms to . It seems King IAMES continues in His wonted road , of taking wrong measures both of Persons and Actions , which has been the occasion of all His Misfortunes . When he talks of his Enemies , that have rendred him and his Government odious to the World , He mistakes himself , if he means those Worthy Patriots , that being weary of his insupportable Incroachments upon the Religious and Civil Liberties of these Nations , did lend a hand , to deliver themselves and Fellow-subjects from a Ruine that seem'd almost inevitable . But if He had been at the pains to make an impartial Survey of his own Actings , and the pernicious Counsels of a sort of Men about him , He might easily come to know , That His only and real Enemies were those Popish Emissaries , that valued not how much His Honour suffer'd , nor His Crown were indanger'd , if so be they might bring about their own hidden Designs ; and were willing to sacrifice both Him , and His Interests , to their own by-ends Never Prince was so unhappy in His Cabinet-Councel as He ; and that false light which led Him to imploy none about Him , with any intimacy of confidence , but those of His own Persuasion , prov'd an Ignis fatuus , that cheated Him into Paths never trod by any of His Predecessors , but to their destruction . If He had been so happy , as to have continued in His most Secret Councels a great many Persons of the Reform'd Religion , whom He kept at a distance , though to amuse the Nation He allowed them the empty Names of Privy Councellors ; He had not brought three Kingdoms to the brink of Ruine , nor upon Himself so hard a fate . Yet I must acknowledge some part of the obligation we have to these Gentlemen , that of late had the sole conduct of King IAMES His Affairs ; For in giving Him such Counsels as His greatest Enemies could have wish'd Him , they prov'd the occasion of our being at this day happy under the Auspicious Reign of Their Majesties , being Princes of the same Religion and Interests with Their People ; And we may justly say , as Themistocles of old , We had undoubtedly perish'd , if we had not perish'd . How little is King Iames oblig'd to His Secretary that penn'd this Declaration , since he so foolishly rakes up the Remembrance of those things that made Him and His Government odious to the World , by the names of Calumnies and Stories , which it was so much his Master's Interest to bury in silence ? Good God! Were the late palpable and baresac'd Incroachments upon the Fundamental Laws of the Nation , but Calumnies ? Were the open Violations of Solemn Oaths , Promises and Ingagements , but Stories ? Does King IAMES , or His French and Irish Councellors imagine , that we have so soon forgot His Promises made in Council not many hours after His Brother's Death , and his conspicuous Breaches of them not many months thereafter ? Can we allow our selves to forget , that all the Trusts both in Court , Bench , and the Army , were fill'd up with these very Men , whom Reiterated Laws had rendred incapable of them ? Was a Person 's sitting at the Council-board , whose very being found in England was death by the Law , but a mere Calumny ? Can a few months be able to obliterate the Memory of that Affair of Magdalen Colledge , one of the most open Invasions of Property that could be ? Have we lost the Remembrance of that Illegal Ecclesiastical Court , and the Tyrannick Judgments past therein ? Have we not seen a Reverend Prelate suspended from his Function , merely because he would not do what he could not , that is , for not condemning a man unheard ? Have not we seen Seven of the Spiritual Peers of England , sent Prisoners to the Tower , and brought as Criminals to the Bar , for barely representing the Reasons , why they could not obey an Arbitrary Command , contrary to their Conscience ? Both England , and our Neighbouring Nation have too many Reasons , to remember the Late King Iames's assuming to himself an Arbitrary and Despotick Power , not only to dispence with Laws , and the firmest Constitutions , but to act diametrically opposite to them . Can King Iames's Oratory persuade us , That the continuing to Levy the Customs and additional Excise , ( which had been only granted during the Late King Charles's Life ) before the Parliament could meet to renew this Grant , was but a Calumny ? Was the strange Essay of Mahometan Government , acted at Taunton and Lyme ; and the no less strange Proceedings of that Bloody Chief Justice , in his Western Circuit , ( justly term'd his Campaign , for it was an open Hostility to all Law ) for which , and the like Services , he had the reward of the Great Seal , were they all but Stories ? We have too good Reason not to forget the many Violences committed by the Soldiers of a standing Army in most Parts of England and Scotland , which are the most severe and insupportable Invasions of Property . These , and such like , with a great many more , were the things that render'd King Iames's Government justly Odious to the Brittish World , and made these three Kingdoms groan after Liberty . If so grave and Tragick a Subject , could allow it , I could be almost tempted to laugh at that Expression in the Declaration , of his Enemies not daring to attempt the proving these Charges to the World ; which is all one , as if a Man in the severest fit of the Gout , should be desir'd to prove that he is so , when the Sense of the Pain proves too sad a remembrancer of his Distemper . And indeed , this part of King Iames's Declaration merits no other answer , than that of the Philosopher , to him who deni'd motion , When making a step up and down the Room , he vouchsafed him no other Refutation of his Ridiculous Assertion , than these two words , hicne Motus ? In fine , It will be equally impossible to persuade the World , that these Actions , that render'd King Iames's Government Odious to the World , were but Calumnies and Stories , as to persuade a Man upon the Rack , that he feels no pain . How unluckily have the Penners of this Declaration , stumbled upon that Expression , of his Enemies not caring what Slavery they reduce the Kingdoms to ? Quis tulerit Gracchos ? That King Iames had in a great measure , enslav'd these Nations , and was upon the Ripening his designs , in Conjunction with Lewis the 4th , to teach us a French kind of Subjection , has appear'd in legible Characters , by the whole Scheme of his Actings : But , since his present Majesties Accession to the Throne , there is not the least footstep of Slavery left us ; we are blest with a King that takes the Advice of his Parliament , and owns no distinct Interest from that of his People ; a Prince , who to deliver us from Popery and Slavery , has ventur'd his All , and who by his Conduct at home , and his Allies abroad , is capable to render us happy , if our own Divisions and Folly do not precipitate us into an inevitable and unpitied Ruin. In the next place , King Iames tells us , That since his Arrival in Ireland , the Defence of his Protestant Subjects ( as he calls them ) their Religion , Priviledges and Properties , is especially his Care , with the Recovery of his own Rights . And to this end , he has preferr'd such of them , of whose Loyalty and Affection he is satisfied , to places both of the highest Honour and Trust about his Peson , as well as in his Army . The reading of those Lines , puts me in mind of the Parallel so exactly observ'd betwixt the French King , and King Iames , in all their Conduct , and particularly in both their way of asserting the calm Methods us'd by them towards their Protestant Subjects . When that Common Enemy of the Christian Part of Europe ( as the present Pope was pleased to call him ) had out-done all the Nero's , and Iulian's of old , in the art of Persecution , and had render'd himself abominated to the World , by the Cruelties committed by his Dragoon Missioners upon those very People that had done him the best Offices , and preserved the Crown upon his Head in his Minority ; yet at the very same time , Lewis the 14th , and his Ministers , have had the Impudence to affirm , That no other Methods were us'd to convert these poor Victims , but those of fair Persuasion and Calmness . Just so King Iames , that he may follow as near his Copy as possible , having since his Arrival in Ireland , abandoned the Protestants of that Country to the merciless Rage of an Enemy irreconcilable , from both a Principle of Religion and Civil Interest , who within his View have laid desolate whole Counties , and acted Barbarities proper only to themselves , and their French Confederates ; and by which they have forc'd away a great many Thousands from their Country , at the point of Starving , having sav'd nothing of their Fortunes from so universal a Calamity . Yet , notwithstanding all this appears in the Face of the Sun , King Iames , that he may not come short of his Patron , boldly affirms , That the Religion , Priviledges and Properties of his Protestant Subjects ( as he names them ) are his chiefest Care over and above . What a gross Contradiction is it to common Sense and Reason , that a Prince bigotted to the Romish Religion , and enslav'd to Jesuitick Councils , should make that Religion , which in his Opinion , is an execrable Heresy , become his equal Care , with what he calls the Recovery of his Right ? Sure I am , in this Expression he has mightily overacted his part , and nothing but a belief capable to receive Transubstantiation , can be persuaded of the fair meaning of it . If the Proposition could possibly admit of a favourable Construction , then it must necessarily follow , That King Iames is of another Communion than that of Rome , which were a great injury done him to suppose , seeing he has given us such convincing Proofs to the contrary : For every Roman Catholick is obliged to look upon the Protestants as Hereticks , and their Religion as Heresy ; and we have once every year the imaginary Successor of Saint Peter , formally Cursing us in Person ; and from his plenary Power , declaring us to be fallen from all our Civil Rights . If King Iames had said , The Protestants are his Care , meaning the Conversion of them to his Religion by the calm methods of a Dragoon Mission , he would have found no great difficulty to have been believ'd . But to affirm that , That pestilent Northern Heresie , the Protestant Religion , was his care , is , indeed a stretch beyond the ordinary pitch of Jesuitick Equivocation it self . We have had occasion enough to be acquainted with the Charity of the Church of Rome , towards those of our Religion ; It has been both fervent and burning : And lest we should forget what has been done in former Ages , France and Savoy have of late set before us new instances of the Charity of that Church . No doubt King Iames's sincerity in this assertion , is the same with that of all his Promises : And , albeit when he was upon the Throne , we were told in some of his Proclamations , That we were bound to obey without reserve ; it 's hardship upon hardship to be oblig'd , now when he is justly Abdicated , to believe without reserve . But , that we may the easier be persuaded of King Iames's care of the Protestants of Ireland , and their Properties , let us take a short glance of the great favours he has bestowed on them , since his Arrival there . One would think , that a Man's Estate , his House , Furniture , his Arms , Money , Chattels , and the like , were included under the word Property : King Iames his care has been so transcendently great of this sort of Property , that there are at this day , in England and the Neighbouring Nations , Noblemen , Gentlemen , Clergy , Merchants , and Tradesmen , whose Estates , seiz'd upon by King Iames's Order , amounts to more than Four Millions of Pounds Sterling : If any doubt the Truth of this , I refer them to the List and Account , taken of the Irish Protestants by the Commissioners appointed by the King for that effect . Neither is there , at present , one single Protestant within that Kingdom , that can rationally assure himself of one moments possession of what the Barbarous Irish has left them yet undestroyed . Who knows not , That upon-weighty Reasons , the Wisdom of the Kings of England thought it very dangerous to trust the Natives of Ireland with Arms , knowing from many funest Experiences , they were a People impatient of the English Yoake , and ready to accept all occasions to throw it off . But King Iames treads quite another Path ; instead of dis-arming these his darling Wild Irish , they are the only People he can trust , as knowing their surious Zeal to His Religion , and their Hereditary hatred to the English Nation , renders them fit Instruments , to execute the Designs concerted betwixt Him , and his Intimate Allie , the French King : And , which , to capacitate them the better to effectuate , he has wisely dis-armed before-hand , the whole Protestants of that Kingdom , and prepared them ready Victims for their Bloody Enemies , when ever it shall be time to give the Blow . I confess , it requires the greatest stock of patience , to hear one boldly affirm his Care of my Life , and at the same time to see him give me up , bound and defenceless , into the Hands of my cruel and mortal Enemies . There is another transcendent Instance of King IAMES's Care of the Protestants in Ireland , their Religion , and Property , which merits to be engraven in Corinthian Brass , to Posterity . All that are in the least acquainted with the Laws and Affairs of that Kingdom , know , That the Act of Settlement is the great Security of the Protestants , their Religion , and Properties , and the Fundamental Right they have to their Estates , conquer'd from the Rebellious Irish , at the expence of their Blood and Treasure . By this Act , the lasting Landmarks are sixt among the Protestants themselves , and between them and the Natives . This is indeed the Magna Charta of the Protestants of Ireland , and the true Basis of their Liberties and Properties ; upon the taking away of which , the Superstructure must tumble to the ground . Now King IAMES's Care of the Protestants is of so high a nature , that in His first Speech to His Mock-Parliament , consisting all of Papists ( except about Five or Six ) May 7. he assures them , He would consent to the enacting such Laws as might relieve them of the Act of Settlement . And May 10. we find it moved in the House , That nothing could be more advantageous to the King and Countrey , than to destroy the horrid barbarous Act of Settlement ; and whosoever shall alledg the contrary , shall be deem'd an Enemy to both . Thereafter we find it mov'd by one of the Worthy Members of that Parliament , That the Act of Settlement should be publickly burnt by the Common Hangman . Behold the transcendent Care of King IAMES for the Priviledges and Properties of the Protestants of Ireland ! His accustomed Zeal obliges him at the first meeting of His Packt-up Popish Parliament , to put them in mind of the best methods to Repeal the Great Security of the Protestants Estates . His impatience to have this done , could not stay till it had been propos'd by any of the Members themselves ; He must needs demonstrate his tenderness to his belov'd Irish , by leading them the way how to break off the English Yoak , and make an inroad upon those Properties the Protestants had acquired at the expence of their Blood. As I intimated before , it was ever the Maxim of English Policy , to bridle in the unwearied Attempts of the Irish , for regaining their Countrey , by a good standing Army in that Kingdom , consisting of Protestants : But here we have another Testimony of King IAMES's Care of the Protestants , in His turning out of all Places in the Army , those of that Persuasion , to make room for others of his own Religion . It was the Policy of all Nations to keep the People they had conquer'd , in as great ignorance of the Art of War , as possible , lest sometime or other they might shake off their Yoke , by a vigorous Rebellion . But King IAMES inclin'd to take other measures , and be at the greatest pains to teach an ind●cible Nation the use of Arms , that they might learn in due time to shake off the English Government . As to the other part of the above-mentioned Assertion , That he had advanced several of the Protestants in Ireland , to Places both of the highest Honour and Trust about His Person , as well as in His Army . To pass a just judgment upon this Assertion , we need only consider What sort of Persons are at present about King IAMES both in Civil and Military Capacities , and we shall find it hard to meet with one single Person of the Protestant Persuasion in the number . I could heartily wish , that all King IAMES His Actions could as easily admit an excuse as this ; For the Authority assum'd upon Him by Monsieur d' Avaux , and His other French Guardians , puts it almost beyond His Power to employ English Roman Catholicks , far less English Protestants . At the Council-board we find none of the Protestants . The Offices of Lord Lieutenant , Chancellor , Privy Seal , Secretary of State , Commissioners of the Treasury , Lord Chief Iustice , Sollicitor General , Attorney General , and all the Places of the Long Robe , are enjoy'd by Roman Catholicks . As to Military Capacities , there is not one single Garisen , Fort , nor Castle within the whole Kingdom , except London-derry and Iniskilling , but are fill'd up with both Popish Governors , Officers and Soldiers . In the Army , all the Field Officers are either French , or Native Irish of the same Religion : Yea , the French's absoluteness both at the Council-board and the Army , has of late given the greatest Jealousie and Discontent to some that have done King IAMES the best service . In the end of this first Paragraph we are told , That King IAMES , by granting His Royal Protection to such , whose minds were shaken by the Arts of His Rebellious Subjects , has dispell'd their Apprehensions , and effectually secur'd them against the Attempts even of their private Enemies . And then adds , His ears have been always open to their just Complaints : And so far has His Royal Mercy been extented to those that were in Arms against Him , that He has actually pardon'd several hundreds of them , and most notorious Criminals are kept in an easie Confinement . In reading this Period , I find King IAMES would impose upon our Belief and Senses something as much contradictory to it self , as Transubstantiation ; and the one as hard to be digested as the other . The Church of Rome tells us magisterially , That albeit our Seeing , Feeling , Smelling , and Taste , combine together , to assure us , that the Bread and Wine is really such , yet we must not give credit to these fallible Senses of ours ; but take it upon trust , from the Church , That what our Senses tell us to be Bread and Wine , is quite another thing ; and that there is nothing there left of any such Elements , after once the Priest has mumbled over the three Words . Thus , King Iames , having long accustomed himself to an Arbitrary Power over our Persons and Properties , when King ; He cannot refrain from venturing an Essay of it upon our Reason and Senses , even when he is laid aside : For , albeit our Senses are continually entertained with hundreds of Objects , that bear in upon our Reason , a certain Perswasion that the poor Protestants of Ireland , are every day flying away from that Country , at any rate , to avoid the many Barbarities exercised upon them ; and that that Kingdom is become the Scene of Misery and Dissolution ; yet King Iames would have us wisely lay aside these mean helps of Sense and Reason , and take it upon his bare Word , that there is no such thing ; which I think very few will be inclinable to do . If what is asserted upon this subject be true , and consequently our Senses and Reason so strangely beguiled , it necessarily behoves us to pass no milder Judgment upon those Noblemen , Bishops , Gentlemen , and Persons of all ranks , that have left their Country , since King Iames's arrival there , but that they are quite out of their Wits : For what better Name can be given to Persons that have left their Country , Estates , and Employments , to become here the greatest Objects of Charity , when not only they might have been safe at home , but secured against the attempts of their private Enemies ? In this Word private Enemies , we are obliged to King Iames's Secretary ( whether out of Ignorance , or Design , I know not ) for a fairly insinuated distinction of the Protestants in Ireland , their private and publick Enemies . We know that all Roman Catholicks are tyed , by the dictates of their Church , to be Enemies to the Protestants ; and to extirpate them , when it comes in their power : And this , as flowing from a publick interest of Religion , may justly be termed a publick Enmity : But the Natives of Ireland , over and above that publick quarrel of Religion , have a private one of Revenge , for recovering from the Protestants their Lands acquired by the Sword ; and no age has passed since the Conquest of Ireland , but what has afforded bloody proofs of the revengeful Spirit of that People , upon this score . If free quartering , plundering , robbing , disarming , seizing on Estates , imprisoning , murdering in cold Blood , and the like , be a securing these poor Protestants against their private Enemies , they have no reason to complain of King Iames his Conduct : But , alas ! to be ruin'd , and in the mean time to see the Authors of it boldly affirm , that they do us all the Offices of Kindness , is the hardest of fates . I would fain know where are these hundreds that he has pardoned ; for those that flee every day from that unhappy Countrey , cannot instance us a single one of them : And for these that are kept in such easie confinements , their condition , of all Men , is most deplorable , seeing they lie at the Mercy of an Enemy , that waits but for a favourable juncture , to Sacrifice them to their Revenge . What sort of securing , the Protestants of Ireland meet with , against their private Enemies ; and what is the ordinary effect of Protections given to these poor credulous People , will appear by this one instance , among thousands of others , of a Protection given to a Farmer , in the County of Antrim , in these Words , I Richard Hamilton , Lieutenant-General of his Majesties Forces in Ulster , do hereby receive into his Majesty's Protection , the Body and Goods of James Hunter , of Bullymenach , in the County of Antrim , Yeoman ; and do promise and oblige my self , that none of the Army shall molest and hurt him , or take any thing from him . Given , &c. The poor protected Man , thus noos'd , returns to his House , and follows his labour ; but anon , down comes upon him the Rabble of the Army , like an inundation of Goths and Vandals ; sweep all before them , and leaves nothing behind them , but a starving Family . The wretched Man making his address to Hamilton , receive this cold answer ; I promised to protect you from the Army , but I have no power to restrain the Rabble . In the beginning of the second Paragraph , we are told of the Care King James has taken of the Church of England , that they be not disturbed in the exercise of their Religion , and possession of their Benefices ; and that all Protestant Dissenters enjoy Liberty of their Consciences , without the least molestation . And out of his Royal Care for the prosperity of his People ( as he calls them ) he has recommended to his Parliament ▪ as the first thing necessary to be dispatched , to setle such a security and Liberty , both in Spiritual and Temporal Matters , as may put an end to these Divisions , which has been the source of all their Miseries ; being resolued , as much as in him lies , to cut all Liberty and Happiness on his People so far , as to put it out of the power of his Successors , to invade the one , or infringe the other : And this , he takes God to Witness , was always his design . The first part of this long period , is but a repetition of what had been formerly said , in the first Paragraph , of the Protestants , their Religion , Privileges , and Properties being his chief Care ; and what truth , that can bear , we have shewed already . There is one thing , that I find King Iames was ever inclinable to value himself upon , and which he here likewise mentions ; I mean , his tenderness to Protestant Dissenters , and his Principle for Liberty of Conscience . They are very thick sighted , that could not discern what lay at the bottom of this Liberty , and what could be the true motive that should have induced one of King Iames's Religion to do it ? But because he has been at the pains , so often , during his Reign , to assure us , That it was his Opinion Conscience should not be constrained , nor People forced in Matters of Religion ; and particularly in his Declaration for Liberty of Conscience , dated August 4. 1687. I 'll beg leave to say , That in this , King Iames is no obedient Son of the Church of Rome ; for it has , over , and over again , decreed the extirpation of Hereticks : It encourages Princes to it , by the offer of the Pardon of their Sins : It threatens them to it , by denouncing to them not only the Judgments of God , but that which is often more sensible , the loss of their Dominions . It 's true , Bellarmine tells us , The Church does not always execute her power of deposing Heretical Princes , though she always retains it ; and he gives a very good reason for it , because she is not at all times in a capacity to put it in Execution : So the very same Reason , might have made it unadviseable to King Iames , when he was so liberal of his Tolerations , to extirpate Heresie , because it could not be then easily done : But we see the Right remains intire , and is put in execution , in such an unrelenting manner , in our neighbouring Countries , that it has a very ill Grace , to see any Member of that Church pretend to be against constraining the Conscience , in point of Religion : And when we consider , that neither the Policy and true Interest of France , nor the greatness of their Monarch , could withstand these bloody Counsels , that are indeed parts of that Religion ; I could never see any reason to induce us to believe , that the late Tolerations of Religion were proposed with any other design , but either to divide the Protestants among themselves , or to lay them asleep , till it was time to give the alarm for destroying them . And that , in the Opinion of that Church , the Glory of extirpating Heresie , is valued above all other great Actions , we have a remarkable instance in that famous Harangue , made by the Bishop of Valence , to the French King , in the Name of the Convention of the French Clergy at St. Germane , in Iune 1684. where that Prelate having recounted the innumerable Conversions made by that Kings Orders , Cares , and Liberalities , to use his very Words ; he subsumes thus : Ie bien même , que se chercherois vainement dans les sicoles passés , que l' appellerois vainement a mon secours , touts les éboges des primiers , et des plus saints Empereurs . It were , says he , in vain to search into the Ages past ; It were in vain to call to my assistance all the Panegyricks of the first and holiest of the Emperours : And afterwards he treats him with the Title of the Great Restorer of the Faith , and extirpator of Heresie ; and tells him , that these infinitely surmount all his other glorious Titles . And then , speaking of his Masters great Victories in Germany , Flanders , &c. and the Peace of Nimiguen , made upon the back of them , he concludes thus : That the Fruit , which the King had received by that Peace , made it fully apparent , what was the principal end he aim'd at , in his Victories ; meaning , the Extirpation of Hereticks . The late King Iames , has always copied so fair after Louis le Grand , That we have no Reason to question , but in this so glorious a work , of extirpating Heresie , he would have come up to the Original , if his Designs , and a favourable juncture of time had concurr'd together . When he tells us , That the first thing he has recommended to his parliament , is , to settle such a Security and Liberty , as may put an end to these Divisions , which have been the source of all our miseries , I find the greatest exactness of Truth , in these Words , if we but take them in the sence and meaning of the Speaker , viz. a Roman Catholick Prince . For , albeit we all know , that the first thing recommended by King Iames , to his Irish Parliament , was , The repealing the Act of Setlement ; which is , indeed , the great Charter , by which most of the Protestants enjoy their Estates : And tho' the destroying that Act , gives a mortal blow to the Protestant Interest in Ireland ; yet , according to the native Principles of King Iames his Religion , the repealing of this Act of Setlement , may well be called , The setling a Security , that may put an end to their Divisions , which has been the source of all our Miseries : That is to say , King Iames , from a Principle of Religion , is resolved to remove that Barrier , that protects the Protestants of Ireland , in their Separation from the Church of Rome ; That by its removal , he may be in a capacity conform to the Holy Dictates of that Church , and the laudable Example of Lewis XIV . to put an end to all Divisions in point of Religion , by forcing them to return to the Mother-Church , by the calm Methods of late , so happily used in France . And this , I am very inclinable to believe , he may , with a safe Conscience , take God to Witness , was always his Design . I am something surprized to hear King Iames his Secretaries , pop out their Master 's secret Designs , that were so much his Interest to conceal ; but the Truth is , we knew them before , to our Cost ; and we hope , are on the way , to be sufficiently secured against any further Effects of them . In the end of this Paragraph , we are told , That several Protestants , are now returned to their Country and Habitarious ; and that more would follow , if the Ports were open : But the Usurpers , ( as he pleases to call their present Majesties ) know too well the Sincerity of his intentions , to permit a free Passage for them . This , indeed , is all of a piece with the rest . We are Witnesses , every Day , of hundreds of poor Protestants of that Country , grasping every Opportunity , they can at any rate purchase , to abandon their Homes , and all that 's dear to them , that they may but escape with their Lives : And I defie any of King Iames his Friends , to instance me one single Person , of any Condition , that have dared to return Home , since his Arrival in Ireland ; none of them being so far in love with Destruction , as to venture on his Protection . In this Epithet , King Iames is pleased to bestow on their Majesties , he imitates his Patron , Louis le Grand ; who , I confess , has the greatest Reason of Hatred against his Majesty , as being the great Supporter of the Liberty of Europe ; and who , in conjunction with his Allies , is best able to bring to Reason that insupportable Enemy of Christendom ; yea , of Mankind it self . It were an impertinent piece of Boldness , or rather , unpardonable Impudence , to offer to vindicate their Majesties from that injurious Designation ; since the Wisdom and Power of the Parliament , is paramount to all private assertions of their Majesties just Right : And that the most , if not all the Crowned Heads , and Soveraign Princes , and States of Europe , not only rank our present King , among the best and greatest Kings of England ; but promise to themselves , from his Assistance , to bridle Louis le Grand within his proper Boundaries . It was ever looked upon as a Principle of common Law ; That an Heir in Remainder , has just Cause to sue him that is in Possession , if he makes Wastes on the Inheritance that belongs to him in Reversion . That the Heir of a Crown should interpose , when he sees him that is in Possession , hurried on by bad Counsels , to subject an independant Kingdom , to a Foreign Jurisdiction , is much more reasonable , since the thing is of much more Importance ; and that this was King Iames his Case , is apparent , by the Transactions of the Earl of Castlemain at the Court of Rome ; and the rather , that by a great many Statutes , it was Treason to have Correspondence with that See : This joined to the setting up of a pretended Heir , in such a manner , as the whole Kingdom believed him supposititious , was a just and lawful Ground for one Sovereign Prince ( such as his Majesty was when Prince of Orange ) to make War against another , that had so abused his Power ; and 't is an unquestionable Maxim among Lawyers , That the Success of a just War , gives a lawful Title to that which is acquired in the Progress of it . Therefore , King Iames having so far sunk in the War , that he both abandoned his People , and deserted the Government , all his Right and Title to the Crown did thereupon accrue to his present Majesty , in the Right of Conquest : So that he might have lawfully then assumed the Crown : But his present Majesty chose rather to leave the Matter to the determination of the Peers and Representatives of the People , assembled with all Freedom in the Convention , who did thereupon declare him King ; so that , tho' he was vested with a just Title of Conquest , he chose rather to receive the Crown by their Declaration , than to hold it in the Right of his Sword. This I thought fit to say , not so much for Confutation of the injury done their Majesties in the above-mentioned Designation , which needs not my Pen ; but to state their Right to the Crown in such a Light , as may remove needless scruples of swearing Allegiance to them . In the beginning of the third and last Paragraph , King Iames tells us , That nothing but his own Inclinations to justice , could prevail with him to such a Proceeding , as that of his Care of his Protestant Subjects in Ireland ; and hopes his Protestant Subjects in England ( as he calls them ) will make a Iudgment of what they may expect from him . Indeed , it is no difficult Matter , to make a Judgment of what we may justly expect from him , if ever Divine Judgment , as the Reward of our Ingratitude for so great a Deliverance , should permit us to fall again under the heavy Yoke of a Popish Prince , whom we have so justly and happily thrown off . King Iames is of a Religion , that has , in a famous Council , decreed , That no Faith is to be kept with Hereticks ; much less with Subjects , that he looks upon , as so many Rebels ; and will not miss to treat them as such , whenever they give him the Opportunity of doing it . For his greatest Admirers do not run to that heighth of Idolatry , to imagine him so much Angel , as not to take all Methods to revenge such an Affront , and secure himself at our Cost , from such Treatment for the future . The Apprehensions of which Resentment , would strike such Terror in Men's Minds , that nothing would be capable to divert them from offering up All , for an Atonement ; and Popery and Slavery will be thought a good Bargain , if they can but save their Lives . Then we might lament our Miseries , when it should be out of our Power to help them ; for a Prince of Orange , is not always ready to rescue us , with so vast expence , and hazard of his Person . And I must say , if ever our Madness should hurry us thus far , we should become rather the Objects of Laughter , than of Pity . Therefore , King Iames promises and declares , That nothing shall ever alter his Resolutions to pursue such , and no other methods , as by his said Subjects in Parliament , shall be found proper for their common Security , peace and happiness . Such silly bates as these , will not now take ; and here is a great deal of Pains lost , to perswade us to relie upon Promises , so often made already , and as often broken . What Adjournments , Prorogations , and Dissolutions of Parliament , we have had of late , is not easie to be forgotten . We have found , to our sad Experience , that the Interest of the Court , and that of the People , were two incompatible things ; and to endeavour a Redress of the least Grievance , in a Parliamentary way , was not only a vain Attempt , but a design , branded with the infamous Name of Dissatisfaction to the Government . I need not be at the Pains to repeat all the Promises made by King Iames , of the same Nature with this in his Declaration ; and how well they were observed , we all know . Yet I cannot but take notice of one , made in his first Speech to his Privy-Council , an hour after his Brother's Death , printed by his own Command , in these Words : My Lords , before I enter on any other , I think fit to say something to you , since it has pleased Almighty God to place me in this Station ; and I 'm now to succeed to so good and gracious a King , as well as so very kind a Brother . I think fit to declare to you , That I will endeavour to follow his Example ; and most especially , in that of his great Clemency and Tenderness to his People . I have been reported to be a Man for Arbitrary Power ; but that is not the only thing , that has been said of me : And I shall endeavour to preserve this Government , both in Church and State , as it is now by Law established . I know , the Principle of the Church of England is for Monarchy , and the Members thereof have shown themselves good and loyal Subjects ; therefore I shall always take care to defend and support it . I know the Laws of England are sufficient to make the King as great a Monarch as I can wish : And as I shall never depart from the just Rights and Prerogatives of the Crown , so I shall never invade any Man's Property . He that can reconcile this Speech , with King Iames his after Actings , is the fittest Person I know , to explain the Popish Notion , of our Saviour's Body being in a thousand distinct Places at once . In these Expressions , he takes it very unkindly to have been reported a Man for Arbitrary Power , and promises a great many things , that are contradictory to it ; but how well he deserved the Character , all his Conduct has made it appear , with a Witness . We have one of the most remarkable instances of King Iames's being against Arbitrary Power , in his Declaration of the 12th . of February 1686 / 7. for a Toleration in Scotland ; where we find these new coin'd Words , thrice made use of , Our absolute Power ; with this addition , Which all our Subjects are to obey without Reserve . Now Absolute , in its natural Signification , importing the being without all ties and restraints ; then , the true meaning of this , seems to be , That there is an inherent Power in the King , which can neither be restrained by Laws , Promises , nor Oaths ; for nothing less , than being free from all these , renders a Power Absolute . Though the Term Absolute was enough to stretch our Allegiance ; yet that which comes after , is yet a step of an higher Nature , tho' one can hardly imagine , what can go beyond Absolute Power ; and 't is in these Words , Which all our Subjects are to obey , without Reserve . This is , indeed , the carrying Obedience many degrees beyond what the Grand Seignior yet ever claimed ; for the most despotick Princes in the World , before Lewis le Grand's time , thought it enough to oblige their Subjects to submit to their Power , and to bear whatever they thought fit to impose upon them : But , till the fatal Days of the Dragoon-Conversions , it was never so much as pretended , that Subjects were bound to obey their Princes , without Reserve ; and to be of his Religion , because he would have it so ; the only convincing Argument used by these booted Apostles of late . So , without doubt , this Qualification of the Duty of Subjects , was industriously put in here by King Iames his Jesuitick Counsels , to prepare the Protestants of Scotland for a terrible Le Roy lê vent , since the poor Pretensions of Conscience , Honour , Religion , and Reason , would have been reckonded as Reserves upon their Obedience ; which were all , by the Expressions , shut out . Before I leave this Paramount instance of King Iames's assuming to himself an Arbitrary Power , beyond what the Great Turk claims , and contrary to his own reiterated promises , I must take notice of another very comprehensive expression in that same Declaration for a Toleration in Scotland , and it 's this . We think fit to declare , That we will not suffer Violence to be offered to any Man's Conscience , nor will we use force , or INVINCIBLE NECESSITY upon any Man , on the account of his Perswasion , nor the Protestant Religion . When I first read these Words , I easily perceiv'd what caution was used in the choice of them ; for it is clear , the general Words of Violence and Force , are to be explained and determined by these last , of INVINCIBLE NECESSITY : So that King Iames very wisely promised only , to lay no invincible Necessity on his Subjects ; but for all Necessities that were not Invincible , they might expect to have felt a large share of them : For Disgraces , want of Imployment , Finings , Imprisonments , and even Death it self , are all Vincible things to a Man of a firmness of Mind ; yea , the Violence of Torture , the Furies of Dragoons , and the Precedents , used of late in France , might have been fairly included within this Promise , since a great and sublime Soul , fortified with an extraordinary measure of Grace , might be able to support under them . Now , since we have had so many experiences , of King Iames's faithfulness to his Promises , before he abandoned the Government , I pray , what Arguments has he of late given us , that he will be more observing of his Word , then hitherto he has been . Sure , the reducing Hereticks to the See of Rome , is no less Meritorious than before ; nor King Iames , by breathing a little of the French Air , and concerting Measures with Lewis the Fourteenth , become less Bigot . King Iames concludes his Declaration with assuring all his pretended Subjects , That if , within twenty Days after his appearing in person within England , they return to their Obedience , by deserting his Enemies , and joining with him , he will grant them his full pardon , and all past miscariages shall be forgot . This merits no other Answer , but what has been already said : Only this , he must have the worst Opinion of the frailty of Humane Nature , that can be brought to believe , That any Man , not altogether divested of his Reason , can be prevailed with , to join King Iames , though he were in England , except he be of that Religion that obliges him to assist a Prince , that sets up so fairly forthe Glorious Title of the Extirpator of Heresie ; and to venture all upon the uncertainty of seeing their Church Triumphant . And if there be any of the Protestant Perswasion , so strangely infatuated , as but to wish his Return , I shall entertain them with no other Answer , but the recomending to them that place of Holy Writ , Preached upon before the House of Commons , of late , by an eminent Divine , Ezra 9. v. 13 , 14. And after all that is come upon us , for our evil deeds , and for our great-trespass , seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our Iniquities deserve , and hast given us such a Deliverance as this : Should we again break thy Commandments , and joyn in affinity with the People of these abominations ; wouldst not thou be angry with us , till thou hadst consumed us , so that there should be noremnant , nor escaping ? FINIS . ADVERTISEMENT . A Vindication of the present great Revolution in England ; in five letters passed betwixt Iames Welwood M. D. and Mr. Iohn March , Vicar of Newcastle upon Tyne . Occasioned by a Sermon preached by him on Ian. 30. 1688 / 9. before the Mayor and Aldermen , for Passive Obedience and Non-Resistance . The Second Edition .