A Full and Final Proof OF THE PLOT From the REVELATIONS: Whereby the TESTIMONY of Dr. TITUS OATES and Mr. WILL. BEDLOE is demonstrated to be Jure Divino, And all Colours and Pretences taken away that might hinder the Obstinate from Assenting to the Truth and Sincerity of their EVIDENCE.  
Dedicated to all roman-catholics and Infidels.  
By E. C. Doctor of the Civil Law.  
LONDON, Printed for Thomas Simmons, at the Prince's Arms, and Jacob Samson, next door to the Wonder Tavern in Ludgate-Street. M DC LXXX.   

THE PREFACE To the MEMBERS of the Romish Church.  
NOtwithstanding the Dedication of this Pamphlet be directed to you, I have, contrary to Custom, addressed it to those of our own Church; the great zeal I ever had for her Prosperity causing me to observe a considerable Party under her shelter that expressed but a cool resentment of a Plot, though they cannot deny one; and my design being as well to confirm the wavering, as to soften the obstinate, I inferred, they could not be without a just claim to the meaning of these Papers: And thinking it not proper to link you together, I have chose rather to make of you Standers-by, and Hearers, in order to a conversion, whilst I freely exert and lay myself out upon them. I hope to obtain my end here, whatever ill success I meet with from you; it being the only way I can propose to secure us from the effect of a Plot; for 'tis well known, after your Conspiracies are discovered, your first Artifice is to insinuate an opinion of your Innocence, and then to induce Men to argue against, and question Circumstances, by your Arts adulterated and made contradictory, and lastly, to drill them on to a disbelief of all; than which nothing can he more menacing the safety of the Government; your Interest hereby being unshaken, and a Liberty given of entering into new Cabals, and of acting as with more security, so with more power and strength. I wish you could part with a little of that stiffness and obstinacy which is seen amongst you all, Reason then might probably hope to be caressed, and Matters without bitterness impartially discussed; but I confess I always had slender hopes of your acknowledging a Conviction in Cases of this nature; and therefore am prone to think my labour will turn to no account upon so hard and stony a Ground. However, I could not but give you this opportunity of being disabused, in imitation of St. Paul, who thought it the Duty of his Apostolical Function to preach the Gospel in many Places where he was assured beforehand it would never be received. I know there are great difficulties to be encountered before you dare think of owning a Plot; for the most of you are so enslaved, nose-ringed, and dragged by your ambitious Priests, that a Man under their Tuition has no more to do with his own Soul, than a Bear with his Snout, that veers and answers to every check of his testy Keeper. A Popish-Priest accounts himself God's Churchwarden of Souls, seizes them, and manages their Eternal Concerns as he pleases; the Consciences of his seduced Flock exactly resembling the Poors Boxes that are made to receive any thing he shall think fit to put in, Brass, Copper, or any other base Metal; How should we expect then a Confession from you, when your Priests keep the Keys, and you cannot unlock without them? or if you could, conscious of the great disparagement and disgrace that would accrue to your Religion thereby, you would think it your best Interest to deny and for swear any criminous Informations against you. Again, there is a sort to most of you comparatively harmless, I mean the modish Sparks of your Church, who will not acknowledge a Plot in point of Honour, lest it should condemn that Religion which they believe entailed upon them with their Ancestors Estates; and therefore judge it as great a scandal to change hereditary Errors, as to assume new Coats of Arms, and deface the old, both of them being esteemed as the Ancient Bearings of their Families. But in short, whatever guesses me may make at the Reasons of your aversion to reveal and discover, this is undeniably plain and palpable, That you are so muzzled by Infallibility, that you must believe upon pain of damnation every thing your Church says, both in relation to this Plot, and all other Affairs in the World touching his Holiness. But I look upon this as a Curse the Almighty usually annexes to a false Religion, to give the Members of it over to be deluded and infatuated, to have their Judgements corrupted and depraved, and to create in them a disposition to believe all manner of Lies, Falsehoods and Dissimulations: And then the Consequence of this delusion is their having a perverse Notion of Good and Evil, an inverted sense of Sin and Villainy, which is the sole Cause of that violent ferment and fever we so often find in distempered Governments. 'Tis from hence the Sacred Heroes of your Church endeavour to destroy the Morals and Religion of Nature itself, to raze out and annihilate the first and greatest Principles of Humanity; as to account it no breach of the 6th Commandment to kill any that shall not favour their Designs, or cherish their Opinions; to state it as a Meritorious Act to murder the Lord's Anointed, when they have branded him with the mark of Heretic; as assuring the impious Aggressor he will be hurried to Heaven, though the Almighty has declared he shall be damned. These outrages of Barbarity they practise, as necessary Requisites to promote the Interest and Pomp of your Church; the Commission of all kinds of Sins, they account but a slight cracking the Tables of Stone, which because it is done upon the score of God and Religion, any of their wicked Casuists can cement, and make more firm than ever. Religion heretofore recommended itself to the World by the Piety and Virtue of its Votaries; they that led the best and most innocent Lives, were concluded to be of the soundest Opinions, and worthy the Imitation of Good Men; but now the Scene is changed, a modern fashion has invaded us that's better received, and more zealously practised: Men in these times choose their Religion by the viciousness of her Professors; he that can show the largest Catalogue of Crimes, is supposed to have acted best for the Honour and Reputation of his Church; the most eminent Sinner is adjudged the greatest Saint; and as we reckon him a sneaking Butcher that never stole a Hide, or killed a Sheep, so he, by the Pope, is reputed a rascally Jesuit, of a spurious Litter, that has not fired a House, or stabbed a Justice. The first Order and Discipline in your Seminaries, for the training up Youth, is long since taken to pieces, and a new one Instituted; your Novices are instructed not in talkative Argument for Religion, but a real athletic Contest for it; your Schools of Disputation are turned into those of Fencing; and he that can boast himself the greatest Proficient in the Art of Poisoning, slight of Stabbing, and skill in making Fire-balls, is esteemed better qualified for the Service of Holy Church, the Defence of her Usurpations, than either of her Impertinent Champions Baronius or Bellarmine. And I must confess, you have hit upon right Measures, this is infallibly the most expedite and successful manner of promoting Religion that can be; that of Reason and Argument is very tedious, and People are won but slowly by it; in this Case, if you meet with a Man tough and tenacious of his own Sense, 'tis but cutting his Throat, and the Work is done; for 'tis in effect gaining a Proselyte by destroying a Heretic. Gentlemen, in short, I am of opinion, 'tis as impossible to find a violent Papist without a Head full of crafty Designs and Tricks to advance the credit of his Religion, as it is to conceive any Man to be careless and negligent of the thing he most esteems and values; but that which most impetuously drives you on in the pursuit of your aims, is a persuasion that your Works justify, and are merit of themselves to save you, without the necessary condition of a good Life; and within this Magic Circle the Devil himself wants skill to fright you; no hazards, no wickedness can daunt you. Hanging and Quartering you embrace as the Illustrious Badges of Martyrdom, and what we term the ignominy and desert of Traitors, you call the Glory and Reward of Saints; so that Justice which should lop off and deaden your Villainies, by this means seems preposterously to assist and succour them, and to give life to new Plots by preventing the old. And, Gentlemen, will you not confess there is a Plot? Will you deny that your Priests are of such restless and furious Tempers? Will you still style it the slander of Innocency, the misfortune of Good Men, and the affliction of Saints? with the same Impudence we expect you will deny the noted Powder-Plot, the savage Massacre in Ireland, the several Barbarous Assasinations in France, others in Poland and Lituania. You will deny too, that some of your harmless Jesuits were hanged in, and the rest drove out of China by the Emperor for their Plots and Undermine there. 'Tis not long since they grew so dangerous in the Court of France, that they were sentenced to perpetual banishment by that Monarch; and though by their subtleties and arts they have wound themselves in again, yet he employs them with the same fear and circumspection the Common People do Fire, which though it be necessary to warm them, and boil or roast their Meat, yet are they loath to trust it out of sight, without a faithful Watchman. Therefore, Gentlemen, be better natured, acknowledge you have your share of evil and turbulent Men; they are in all Societies more or fewer, 'tis no shame to own it. This is all I desire and beg of you, 'twill be a great Point gained, and the most reasonable request in the World, for than you cannot say 'tis impossible there should be a Plot; there may be one, and there may not, shall be your Card, which is the fittest Preparative I can hope or wish for in order to your candid reading the following Pages.  
Farewell.   

A Full and Final Proof OF THE PLOT From the REVELATIONS: Whereby the TESTIMONY of Dr. TITUS OATES and Mr. WILL. BEDLOE is demonstrated to be Jure Divino, etc.  
Dear Brethren of the Church of England,  
THE prevailing Motive (as I hinted before) towards this Essay, is my great Concern at the unbelief of some, and the doubts of others about the late Popish Plot; having heard Men of all sorts and Qualities in Coffeehouses, and at other public Meetings, constantly singling out this for the Topick of their Discourse. Amongst this Mixture of Men, as their Sense is differing, so their Opinions are various; some doubting and questioning many Circumstances of the Evidence; others objecting against the Reputation and Honesty of the Witnesses; one condemning the Plot in gross, looking upon it as a Forgery, and mere Fiction of Interest to depress the Romish Faction; another concluding it a sly Trick of demeur Jack Presbyter to set the Papist and the Loyal Protestant to worry one another; to weaken and enfeeble the Party of the Church of England, and then, like a Rebellious Cheat, to vault himself into the great Saddle of Government. 'Tis not my purpose to determine which of these Designs the Plot was formed for; a Plot there was, and for aught I know still is, against the best of Kings, the Purest of Religions, and the freest of Governments: And of how dangerous a Consequence it is not to have a firm and earnest belief of this Plot, is the whole design of this Pamphlet to insinuate. As I always thought, usurping the Sovereignty of Censure, and assuming the Monopoly of Judging, was not to be tolerated; so on the other side I ever looked upon a looseness of talking, and liberty of thinking any thing, no less insupportable, and therefore concluded extravagancies in belief were as punishable by the Magistrate, as Corruptions in Manners; Errors in Opinion upon any small disgust of the disaffected Party being soon hatched into disorders and breaches of the public Peace and Repose. Thus it is in relation to the Plot; if every Man must be his own Carver, and permitted to believe what he pleases of it, it will soon dwindle into a Chimaera, and vanish into the contempt of a Romance; for whilst one denys what the other believes, and a third rejects what both of them believe, and so forward, till there are as many Opinions as Men, and these proceeding from perverse Apprehensions, Passions or Interest, must necessarily enervate the force and reality of a Plot; for though all the matter of Fact and Substance of it be not disowned by any one singly, yet if you take them all together, and allow every man the refusal of his Particular, you'll find by calculation the whole Fabric no more than a strong Phantasm, or Enthusiastic Vision; and this great Machine but a stately Paper-Building contrived to amuse and affright an easy and credulous People. 'Tis necessary therefore in this distraction to establish an Hypothesis, on which to rear a certain and unerring Belief; humane Reason, I know, wants Sinews to effect it, every one being conceited of his Talon, and thinking it as much against the privilege and freedom of Nature to have Sense imposed upon him, as Chains: We must have recourse to a more awful Standard, to a Supreme Being, that has an absolute Authority over our Opinions, a despotic Power to control our Thoughts, and to set up an universal unanimity in Belief sifted from the spurious Whimsies of Ignorance and Conceit. To settle in all Men such an entire confidence and assurance of this damnable Conspiracy, I do my business, if I prove, that the Evidence of Dr. Titus' Oats and Mr. William Bedloe is Jure Divino, of Divine Authority, and that whatever they say in reference to the Plot, can be no Contrivance or Figment of their own, but the Dictate of a Spirit long since promised out of the Revelations by John the Divine. My intended Explanation of the Text I hope will put the Plot out of all Controversy, and force us all to confess, that Dr. Oates and Mr. Bedloe discover by Illumination, or a Supernatural Light, and thereby render their Evidence unquestionably true Jure Divino. To be short, the Holy Record in John is this, And I will give power unto my two Witnesses, and they shall prophesy one thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in Sackcloth. Revelat. Chap. 11. v. 3.  
Ruminating with myself upon the aptness of these words to the present times, I was invited by my curiosity to reflect and dive into their sense, whereupon I found they related to other Chapters, as well as the matter in this; their Latitude comprehending all the remarkable Revolutions foretold by John. But above all this Verse has such a direct, immediate aspect and intuition upon the Fall of Babylon, threatened in a following Chapter, which our Protestant Divines conclude to be the Church of Rome; that it seems to squint only, and look awry at other Passages, but to appear with a full and gazing face upon this Prediction. The Prophecy of the Down-fall of the See of Rome we all know to be yet uncompleted; the foreboding Signs and Tokens of this Calamity are two preliminary Witnesses that shall prophesy; and as it is Gods usual Method when He intends to strike, to give warning of the Blow; so here it was revealed to John to declare, That the Almighty would send two Witnesses to prophecy, and give Evidence of the Whoredoms and Villainies of this Spiritual Strumpet, to discover the dark Intrigues of this Hellish Plot, to bring the Conspirators to a just Punishment, to free us all from the Tyranny and Yoke of Popery, and finally to batter down that Monster of Religion, and Bawd of Sin and Iniquity, the Pope himself. It may perhaps be asked, why Holy John mentions two Witnesses indefinitely without offering at some description of the Instruments in this Great Work? I answer, 'twas policy in him to mention them by the general character of Witnesses; he would not give plain and signal Marks of the Persons that were by an Eternal Providence pitched upon to over-turn this damnable Design, an Ignatian sort of People, whom he well knew to be ready charged with revenge and malice, by such a light given of the Discoverers, might have murdered or strangled them as Instruments intended to mischief their Cause, and quench the red-hot Iron upon the Anvel. Without doubt he could have supplied us with their Names, at least their two first Letters, for this any ordinary Juggler can do by erecting a Scheme, or casting a Figure; but then this would have exposed the Divine Mysteries to the busy curiosities of prying Men, who too often impiously attempt to rifle the Cabinet of Heavens Decrees, and prostitute them to humane Knowledge: I cannot believe that John talked at random as Men do in their Dreams, many of his Prophecies have been fulfilled; and to say he was not privy to the mystic Sense he uttered, were to make no more of a Prophet than a Puppet, that squeaks by the Voice, and moves by the Hand of the Manager.  
The next thing to be explained is the latter part of the Verse, which says, They shall prophesy one thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in Sackcloth.  
By this is suggested Dr. Oates' first disclosing the Intrigue, and heard with prejudice and aversion, to his great discouragement; telling a wonderful and strange Story, a hideous and dismal Conspiracy, and not believed; at length they shall both be received as Oracles of Truth by the Parliament; but by reason of some Occurrences and Conjunctures of State, that Great Council shall be Prorogued, and afterwards Dissolved; then shall these two Witnesses Prophecy in Sackcloth, i. e. they shall be for some time under a Cloud, exposed to the public Censure and Infamy of Cheats, being deprived of that which chiefly invigorated their Evidence: However, they shall still prophesy, and stoutly adhere to their first Affirmations, though sorrowful and dejected, and with heavy Hearts, and sad Countenances, for the safety of the Kingdom, preach up the imminent danger of a Plot; and so from Parliament to Parliament, till one thousand two hundred and threescore days are expired, they shall with great constancy and hopes of Justice expect to have a final Period put to it. And this I dare avouch is no distorted or wrested Sense of this branch of the Verse, but a free and natural understanding of the Metaphor. And Ver. 7. of the same Chapter. When they have finished their Testimony, the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless Pit, shall make War against them, etc. which interpreted, is, the Jesuits, with the Remains of an inveterate and cruel malice, shall persecute, and be ever attempting to revenge the ruin of their Cause upon the Persons of these two Witnesses. But I foresee it will be asked by the Curious and Inquisitive, why are only two Witnesses named by the Diviner, when there is so great a Herd of guilty Reformades come in to give their Testimony of, and assert the same numerical Plot? why should these be omitted, who are certainly assisting to win our persuasion of it, and but two mentioned? why, I'll tell you: Dr. Oats and Mr. Bedloe were the Principal Men commissioned by Providence to unravel this Bottom of Iniquity; the rest were only followers appointed by secret Purposes of the Divine Will to Corroborate and Dignify the Evidence of the former; it being rather an attendance of State and Triumph annexed to their Testimony, for the greater splendour of the Protestant Cause; for 'twas not necessary to intimate any but the Capital Witnesses; the Evidence of Dr. Oates and Mr. Bedloe being in Law sufficient to hang all the Subjects in England, if they were guilty. Two Oaths in Court for the King and Country are like a brace of Dragons that depopulate whole Cities, and devour all they approach; the zealous breath of honest Witnesses in point of Treason, carrying the same force with a strong West-wind of Egypt, that in a trice scours and cleanses the Land from Locusts, Malefactors, and Traitors.  
Thus I hope I have made out the sense of John's Prophecy, and I appeal to all the Orthodox Divines in Europe, if this be not the most proper and genuine Exposition of the Text.  
And now what strange Impiety will it be for any body to deny or question the Truth of this Plot? We must not censure where Heaven has set his Stamp; when the Testimony comes from the Eternal source of Truth and Wisdom, 'tis our duty to believe, though we despair to apprehend; for where we cannot rely upon our Reason, we must exercise our Faith. Every good Christian and Loyal Subject aught to believe as much of the Plot as is positively sworn, nor does it become us to question or stagger at any thing that they with so much courage and assurance have asserted. 'Tis impossible in this case to be imposed upon, or alured into the snare of Falsehood; for if John were inspired, which we believe as certainly as the Miracle of Cloven Tongues, we are sure to be grounded upon a firm Faith: His Prophecy being a secret of Divinity imparted to Illustrate the Attribute of God's Goodness, we have no more reason to boggle at the Truth of the two Witnesses, than the Doctrine of an Apostle: 'Tis impossible for them upon this Basis to speak a Falsehood; they are Engines, the Diviner says, actuated by Him, Witnesses He has chosen to lay open the Destruction our Enemies designed us. And as it is from hence both irrational and highly irreligious to deny the Being of a Plot in general; so to clip and pair part of it off, and believing it by halves, is no less impious; for owning the Discovery of the whole to Inspiration, 'twere to imply a Contradiction in Divinity to condemn part, and approve of the rest. We must therefore acknowledge every tittle of it, or it will be to no purpose to believe it mincingly. 'Tis not my design here to discourse of the Probabilities of men's Innocence, or Gild, by weighing Circumstances and Matters in a Humane Method, and in the Scale of Partial Reason; mine is a shorter and more compendious way, and not liable to fundamental Errors; Heaven has revealed the Plot, and 'tis needless for me to make wrangling scrutiny into it; for after I have done my best in such a search, I must, whether I will or no, acquiesce in a Supine Judgement of its truth, because Holy John hath said it, and I told you before whence he had it. But if we should stoop a little to the Cavils of the Contentious, what would this avail or signify? What if you allege you have good reasons to doubt of the Truth of some Particulars laid to the charge of the late Malefactors? Why, suppose you have, the main of the Accusations, and that which hanged them, was High Treason; the throng of such important business in a Witnesses Head may easily be conceived to justle out trivial Circumstances of Time and Place, and trapan him unawares into a false Computation: The Witness believes it was so and so, there done, and in such an order of time, and then punctually swears to it; this is no Crime in Conscience; if he errs, 'tis only a fault in memory; and so not a Lie, but a mistake, which a Court of Justice readily passes by and pardons: This Maxim being in vogue with us, as well as the Romish Casuists; Nemo peccat nisi actu voluntario. So this bubble of an Objection vanishes. But to humour the Captious a little further. Granting these are Lies couched under, and mixed with the Truth of the Evidence, and supposing the Witnesses Knaves, which is the utmost Malice can do; yet cannot I think there is any reason to separate ourselves from a total Belief of every thing they say, since the main of the Plot, in spite of the most seared obstinacy in Nature, will compel us to acknowledge a great part of it: And though we wholly depend upon them for our information, and pin our Faith upon their sleeves, yet ought we not to be so uncharitable, as to bring a suspicion of Imposture upon the whole: 'Tis true, in this case we are liable to abuse, and if they will deceive us in some things, they may; but for as much as we want a certain Criterion to judge of, and winnow Truth from Falsehood, and that, if I choose to be my own Conductor, 'tis an even Wager but I embrace a Lie, and reject a saving Truth; therefore if there were a hundred times more of the Plot sworn than there now is, I think it prudence to swallow all, and disgorge none; nay, I affirm, if there were ten Millions of Lies, I am obliged by the Law of Nature slightly to believe them all, rather than earnestly descent from one precious Truth, which, unespoused, would prove my utter ruin; for otherwise the bloody Machinators have as fair play at our Throats as ever, and the Discovery will be as ineffectual to frustrate their Designs, as looking upon a Train of Powder with a lighted Match laid to it, will hinder it from taking fire: The Sum is then, seeing we cannot distinguish between Truth and Falsehood, it behoves us passionately to embrace both together for our own safety and preservation. And pray let this be a bugbear to no body; for what is there in all this? Shall I keep a clutter and ado about Assent and Dissent, and in the interim have my Throat cut for my Curiosity? Shall I grin, and have an ill opinion of the Evidence, because the Plot is not contrived as I would have formed it, had I been a Conspirator? This is such Nonsense, as nothing but a pragmatical conceited Ass would be guilty of: We thank them very heartily for their Critical Wisdom and Skill in Plots; I am rather persuaded they are angry and peevish, because it was not rightly projected, and would be though to storm at the folly of the Design, when they secretly blame the ill fortune and success of the Undertakers. But it may very materially be urged, That in this mist of Evidence innocent Men may be condemned wrongfully, their Estates forfeited, and their Lives taken away, to the great scandal of Government, and the impious abuse of the Sword of Justice. To this 'tis answered, That in Cases of this moment and weight relating to the Body-Politick, 'tis better that now and then an Innocent suffer, than that all Malefactor's escape; for as in the Body-natural, labouring under a Fever, the Chirurgeon, to preserve the whole Mass from dissolution, draws from it both good and bad Blood together; there being so subtle and close a union between the corrupted and sound part of it, that no Art or Skill of his can free the Body of one, without taking a Portion of the other: So in matters of Justice, 'tis impossible for any Magistrate to make such nice discriminations between Innocence and Gild, as he shall be sure always to punish one, and acquit the other; bare Innocence being no vindication of itself, must bring proofs and violent presumptions to plead for it; when these are wanting, the Law devests her of that Title, and sets her in the rank of Criminals. But above all, the Witnesses that are upon their Oaths are to be heard and believed, notwithstanding any contrary conjectures and surmises, an Oath being to be esteemed and valued with all reverence as the most Sacred Engagement in the World: And for as much as a Witness is obliged to stake his Soul (a thing of inestimable price) to the Body of every Man to be Arraigned and Tried, I think a Judge and Jury are bound in Conscience to belive one, before the defence of the other; the damnation of a Witnesses Soul being a far greater loss, and infinitely above any advantage he can propose to himself from the destruction of his Body whom he Impeaches. There being therefore this vast disparity between the Condition of the Accused and the Evidence, we ought to listen to no Stories, or imaginary Allegations of honesty in the reputed Offenders, but to lay them aside, and proceed to sentence them as Criminals; and Justice all this while remains unblemished; the Witnesses being her Compurgators, though, if they be surprised in a Falsehood, they can be none of their own. Thus the Reputation of well Governed Societies skreens itself from all Imputations of Cruelty; and the Person condemned is not hereby so much injured in his Temporal Estate, as bettered in his Spiritual, the most Important Concern of his Being; for if a Witness is pleased to forfeit Heaven by Perjury, the dying Man has a clear Conscience to support him under his misfortune, and 'tis probable may be a greater Gainer by a Sentence of Death, than a Concession of Life, having a blessed opportunity tendered of claiming Salvation by a signal Instance of Innocence to that God, who never fails to consider it in the other World. But to drive the matter to a higher Point: I am of opinion, That a Jesuit, Priest, or any other fiery Papist, ought to be hooked within the Penal Cognizance of the Law, as effectually as if he stood convicted of being a Party to the Conspiracy; but this, they say, would be barbarous and most unparallelled Injustice, because there are no overt Acts tending to the prejudice of the Government. But I look upon every the least of Persons beforementioned to be as so many Plotspies, and as deserving punishment as a Scout from the Enemy's Camp by Martial Law: Though they cannot all perhaps be proved to engage in the beginning of the Plot, they will be sure to be seen in the end of it: And State-Doctors say, Physic by way of prevention or anticipation, is safer than Remedies applied to encounter a Disease upon the spot; it being very difficult when the Savage Beast has fastened upon the Throat of Government to shake him off before he has strangled it. Again, suppose Jesuits, Priests, and other the zealous Bigots of the Romish Religion have not yet actually committed any mischief, or been corporeally active in any distractions amongst us; yet ought we not to be so simply good-natured to look upon them as harmless, inoffensive Persons, Intenders of the public Peace and Tranquillity: Are we not acquainted with their Tenets, their Principles, the absolute Dominion the Pope has over them, their obligation to blind Obedience, without the liberty of disputing the most impious of his Commands; the constant charge given them to promote their Religion upon any Terms, the vilest courses and means imaginable; their accounting it no murder to Assasinate a Heretic Prince, and all His Subjects, when the Holy Vizier has excommunicated them; but on the contrary, the highest merit and claim that they can prefer to the most glittering Crown of Saints; and all these horrible Credenda owned and defended in the Volumes of the most Learned, and best Casuists of their Church; since, I say, we are as certain that this is the Substance of their Religion, as that Goodness, Patience and Loyalty is the Sum of ours; and that these Principles are not by them to be maintained in notion only and speculation, but as the deposited Bullion of the Soul, upon advantageous occasions to be brought forth, and minted into action; we have more reason to fear them, than those that have already made their attempts; for as much as we cannot guests when they will pour upon us, their malice being quick and sudden, and like a Granada, bursting on all sides into Death and Ruin. We all know that Treason but intentionally proved, comes within the Verge of the Law, and Condemnation is awarded accordingly; and why pernicious, destructive, rebellious Opinions publicly owned and abetted, should not have the same force to condemn, I see not the least jot of reason: He that harbours an ill and dangerous Principle in his bosom, lodges an Enemy and Traitor in the Country of his Prince, that lies couchant under that Covert, till he has a fit opportunity to rouse, and fly in the face of Majesty. Every violently evil Man ought to be capitally secured from a power of doing mischief; for seeing we cannot execute his bad Principles without himself, and whilst there is life, thene will be Villainy, 'tis but justice they both should suffer together; and in this Case, though the Man perhaps, in pursuance of his Judgement, for want of a due time to humour his secular Interest, never was a notorious Rogue in practice, yet this preponderateth nothing; for whether he acts or no, the Vicious, Traitorous Will ought to pass for the Deed; 'tis High Treason in intellectu, and that's enough.  
But I find my too great Passion and Love for Honesty, Integrity, and Allegiance has unawares made me deviate from my purpose, it being far from my design to think to convince any one of the reality of all and every part of this Plot by dint of ratiocination; and therefore I did at first institute another Method, which I intent to end with, and which is the only Expedient to allay our heats and animosities; 'tis this must hinder us from contradicting one another; 'tis this must make us come to a combination in Judgement concerning the Plot, to believe it, and make no more hums nor has about the matter of it; for we are told by Divine Authority, 'tis a damnable design against our Throats; we may believe too little, but not too much of it; and I do not think in so doing I enlarge and stretch my Conscience; that is not to meddle here, being a Judge only of Reason, and her Jurisdiction confined to Equity: In this Case I do but load my Faith, which Heaven has made with a flat bottom, not to be sunk by a moderate burden. And as I am in obedience obliged to receive, so in duty am I forbid curiously to examine and flaw-find the Plot, which Prohibition is only intended as a means to prevent differences and disputes amongst us. Do we seriously consider the Sense of the wisest Heads in the Nation, the Judgement of many cunning daniel's that have been most laboriously solicitous in our Interest, the unanimous Declaration and Vote of the House of Commons, the faithful and ingenuous Reports of the Privy-Council, the sagacious Opinions of all the Judges, we are no more able to resist the Evidence of this Plot, than we can with Christianity reject Articles of Faith agreed and concluded on in a general and lawful Council: Therefore in framing doubts about it, we implicitly Tax the Government with silliness and credulity, and do in effect call our Rulers Fools, and Magistrates Asses. 'Tis an approved Opinion, That in all Great Assemblies and Consults for the welfare of a Good King, a true Religion and Government, there is a presiding Spirit to direct and steer their Resolutions: God Almighty, ever when he is pleased himself to be the Discoverer of the Enemies of his Church, enlightening the Ministers of Justice, enlarging and amplifying the Powers of their Understandings, that they may be able to grapple with Stratagems and Intricacies, and to pierce through the darkest Shades and recesses of Night: So that the assiduous care of the King and His Council, the incessant Prosecutions of Parliament, the Vigilance and Activity of Justices of the Peace, do as fully evince the reality of a Plot, as all the oral Depositions of the Witnesses; these extraordinary Motions being never raised in public Magistrates but by Divine Instigation to confront malicious against a People whom Heaven has a mind to protect. What a folly is it then for Men to shuffle and cut, to carp at one Passage, and laugh at another of the Plot▪ and when they have done all they can to expose the matter of it, to take Sanctuary at Slander, asperse and vilify the Witnesses, derogate from their Integrity, bespatter their Lives, and rail against Irregularities of their Conversation? this can be nothing certainly but the virulent spleen and malice of such who are not to be answered, but physick'd for satisfaction, purged from those gross humours that thus fly up into, and annoy the Head. But if there be really any adult, personal vices, or extravagancies of the Witnesses, these are so far from proving a Ground to suspect the credit of what they say, that it bespeaks rather an itch of objecting, than a rational scruple in the Calumniators; for St. Ambrose says, Veritas a quocunque est, est a Spiritu Sancto; and at this rate we have a Father's word for it, the Devil, when he speaks truth, does it by Divine Impulse; 'tis not his being the Father of Lies that will evacuate a Truth; and therefore let the malice of our Adversaries urge what it can, Truth is Truth in spite of Hell. In fine, there is a Plot, a Plot of many years standing, assisted and encouraged by a Conjunction of Popish Interest throughout all Christendom; the total extirpation, ruin and murder both of Man, Woman and Child threatened, intended, and resolved on; and shall we not believe there's a Plot? for my part, I think it a necessary Article to be inserted in my Creed; it being certain, that nothing but a mistrust of it can prevent the due effect which the Discovery should have upon the Public: I am so satisfied and convinced from all outward Circumstances of the real existence of a Plot, that I'll suffer myself to believe all Impossibilities, rather than be persuaded there is none. I passionately repeat once more, and lay it home to your Consciences, That Dr. Oates and Mr. Bedloe are Mediums and Pipes employed by the Almighty to convey the Knowledge of this Masterpiece of Villainy to us: I have demonstrated this, lo any Man prove the contrary; for unless you pronounce John an Impostor, I am in the right; you cannot without Atheism deny the Antecedent, ergò you must own the Sequel; from whence will follow this Corollary; If you believe not these Witnesses, Dr. Oates, and Mr. Bedloe, the Prophets you have now with you, neither would you believe one though he rose from the Dead.  
FINIS.