ELEVENTH Collection of Papers Relating to the Present Juncture of Affairs in England and Scotland.  
VIZ.  
I. An Answer to the Desertion Discussed, being a Defence of the late and present Proceed.  
II. Satisfaction tendered to all that pretend Conscience for Non-submission to our present Governors, and refusing of the New Oaths of Fealty and Allegiance.  
III. Dr. Oats his Petition to the Parliament, declaring his barbarous Sufferings by the Papists.  
iv An Account of the Convention of Scotland.  
V A Speech made by a Member of the Convention of the Estates in Scotland.  
VI The Grounds on which the Estates of Scotland declared the Right of the Crown of Scotland Forfaulted, and the Throne become Vacant.  
VII. The Opinion of two eminent Parliament-Men, justifying the Lawfulness of taking the Oaths of Allegiance to King William and Queen Mary.  
London printed, and are to be sold by Richard Janeway in Queen's-head-Court in Pater-noster-Row, 1689.   

AN ANSWER TO THE DESERTION DISCUSSED.  
IF many of our Long-robed Divines, puffed up with a Conceit of their own Parts, would but keep closer to their Texts, and their Duties, most certainly our Peace and Union would be much firmer, and more assured than it is. For being swayed by Interest and Profit, they are more afraid of losing the Advantages of Earthly Preferment, than the Treasures of Heavenly Felicity. Unless they swim in their own Wishes and Desires, all Things are out of Order. The Church is in danger, they cry; here are Sharers coming in among Us: And by an odd kind of Ecclesiastical Policy, seem rather inclinable to return under the Yoke of Popery, then to endure the Equality of a Dissenting Protestant; rather to be at the check of a Pope's Nuncio, then suffer the Fraternity of a Protestant Nonconformist. They said nothing to the late King, till he began to touch their Copy-holds: then they called out for Help; and now they are angry with their Relief, because they are afraid of well they know not what. And this is their Misfortune, that if all things answer not the full Height of their Expectations, they are the first that should be last dissatisfied. If all things go not well, as they imagine, they presently grow moody and waspish; and while they insinuate their empty Notions into others, who admiring the fluency of their Pulpit Language, either out of Ignorance, or Laziness, allow them a Prerogative over their Understandings, the whole Nation must be embroiled by their Surmises and Mistrusts.  
Else what had that Gentleman, who wrote the Desertion Discussed, to do to busy his Brains with a Subject, neither appertaining to his Function, nor proper for his Talon? Why should ●e be setting himself up against the voted Judgement of the chiefest and greatest part of the Kingdom? A Man of his Profession would have doubtless better employed himself, in contemplating the Story of the Three Murmurers against Moses; and there have learned a more sanctified Lesson, then to exalt his Sophistry against the Debates of a Solemn Assembly contriving the Public preservation. For certainly never was a fairer Prospect than now, since the many Revolutions under which the British Monarchy has laboured, of its being restored to its ancient Grandeur and Renown, and of enjoying the Advantages of Peace and Prosperity in a higher measure than ever. So that it must be looked upon as the Effect, either of a most pernicious Malice, or a strange distraction of Brain, for such Discussers as these, to be throwing about the Darnel of their nice and froward Conceptions, on purpose to choke the Expectations of so glorious a Harvest. For they must be Men that want the government of right Reason within themselves, as being enslaved either to vicious Custom, or partial Affection, or else they would never run themselves and others with so much precipitancy, into the shame and ignominy of upholding the subvertors of National Constitutions. And all this to blacken and defame the noble Endeavours, and prudent Counsels of those renowned Patriots that pursued the only means to rescue a languishing Monarchy from impending Thraldom and Ruin.  
He does not wonder, he says, that a Man of so much sense and integrity as his Friend is, should be surprised at the Thrones being declared Vacant by the Lower House of Convention. For how, says his Friend, can the Seat of the Government be empty, while the King, who all grant, had an unquestionable Title, is still living.  
But the Discusser here forgot, that it had been the resolved Opinion of two Parliaments already, That there was no Security for the Protestant Religion, the King's Life, or the established Government of the Kingdom, without passing a Bill for disabling the Duke of York to inherit the Imperial Crown of England and Ireland; and that unless a Bill were passed for excluding the Duke of York, the House could not give any Supply to the King, without Danger to his person, the Hazard of the Protestant Religion, and Breach of the Trust in them reposed by the People. Upon which a Bill did pass the Commons, and was sent up to the Lords for their Concurrence, by which James Duke of York was excluded and made for ever uncapable to Inherit, Possess or Enjoy the Imperial Crown of this Realm, etc. and he adjudged Guilty of High Treason, and to suffer the Pains and Penalties as in Case of High Treason, if after such a Time he should claim, challenge, or attempt to possess or exercise any Authority or Jurisdiction, as King, etc. in any of the said Dominions. 'Tis true, the Lords did not pass this Bill, for Reasons well known; yet was it such a mutilation to the Duke's Title, to be disabled from succeeding in the Kingdom, by the whole Body of the Commons, who are the Representatives of the Nation, that it can never be said, that all Men granted his Title unquestionable, as the Discusser imposes upon the World. Besides the many Instances in History, of several Princes who have forfeited their Succession, and consequently their Title to the Crown, for revolting from the Established Religion of the Realm.  
But, says the Discusser, for I look upon his Friend and Him to be all one; (and that he does but put the Question with one side of his Mouth, and answer it with the other) I had thought our Laws, as well as our Religion, had been against the Deposing Doctrine.  
That's not the Question; but whether a Prince may commit those Miscarriages in Government, whether he may not so far, peccare in Leges & Rempublicam, as to incur the Forfeiture of his Regal Power? and whether a Prince may be allowed to subvert the ancient Constitutions and Religion of a Nation, and yet be said to be the Lawful King of that Realm? These are the Questions: For than it is not the Law that deposes him, nor the Religion that justifies it. But it is He that deposes Himself: 'tis the bad Advice of Evil Counsellors to which he Listens, and which he follows to the ruin of the Kingdom, contrary to the Original Contract between Princes and People, grounded upon the Foundations of all Original Government; I say, 'tis that Adhering to Evil Counsel which deposes a Prince by degrading him from a Lawful King to an Unlawful Tyrant, and renders him Liable to the Animadversion of the Law, and the impeachments of the oppressed and injured People. To assert otherwise were to deprive all National Law and Religion of their self Defence; which is against all the Law and Religion in the World. I am apt to believe that Christ himself had not very good Opinion of the lawfulness of Herod's Regality, when he sent him that Message, Go tell that Fox, Herod: Which I look upon as a Deposal and Degrading of that Arbitrary Prince by the Founder of our Religion, in his own Breast and Judgement, though he forbore the Execution of his Celestial Power. And therefore it is not the Error of Religion, but the Fault of those that do not well distinguish, that Religion suffers in her Doctrines. For only he who governs according to Law is a King, he that endeavours to subvert the Law, is none. Nor is every rambling and precipitate Brain to be Judge of this neither, but the Solid Law, and fundamental Constitutions of the Realm. So that the Country Gentleman was mistaken in his Thoughts, both of our Laws and our Religion. However the pretended Scrupulous Country Gentleman desires the Discusser to expound the State-Riddle of the Vacancy; and to give him the Ground of the late extraordinary Revolution.  
To which the Discusser gives no direct answer at present, but desires his Friend to take notice, That the Gentlemen of the Convention, who declared a Vacancy in the Government, laid the main Stress of their opinion upon the King's withdrawing himself. For that since the Story of the French League, and the Business of the Prince of Wales were passed over in silence, most Men believed that the pretended Breach of that which they called the Original Contract was no more than a popular Flourish.  
All which is such an imperfect piece of Incoherence, that none but a madman would have thrust in by Head and Shoulders, as the Discusser has done. For how can it be inferred that the Breach of the Original Contract, should be a Popular Flourish, because the Clandestine League, and the False Birth are hitherto passed over in silence? As for the surreptitious Birth, one would think it was sufficiently dilated upon in the Declaration of the Lords; and why it is not farther brought upon the Stage, there may be several Reasons given; and among the rest, because it may be thought that the Imposture will vanish of itself, and so there will be no need of casting an Eternal Blot upon the memory of them that contrived and owned it. Then for the Clandestine League, it Suffices that there is apparent Proof of it in Bank. But to call the Breach of the Original Contract pretended, and a Popular Flourish, is a yerk of Malicious Reflection, which only serves to expose the Discusser to Public censure. For as there is nothing more certain, then that there is an Original Contract between the King and People of England, the Breach of which has cost the Effusion of so much Blood; so is it as certain that that Original Contract was never so infallibly broken than it was of late. Which as it is allowed by all the Laws of God and Man, to be a sufficient ground to seek a Remedy; so was nothing more vigorously urged by the Convention. Which might have convinced the Discusser, that they did not pretend it for a popular Flourish.  
But now, lest the Country Gentleman should be shogged by seeing the Votes of so considerable a Meeting, debated by a private Hand; the Discusser reminds him, That a Parliament and a Convention are two different Things. The latter, for want of the King's Writs and Concurrence, having no share in the Legislative Power.  
But the Discusser forgets, that it was only a Convention of Lords that sent to Richard the Second to meet them at Westminster; which the King at first promised to do; but upon altering his Mind, sent him another peremptory Message, that if he would not come according to his Promise, they would choose another King; and then proceeding farther, according to that Power they had, expelled against the King's Will several of his chiefest Favourites from the Court; constrained others to put in Sureties to appear at the next Parliament, and caused several others to be arrested and committed to several Prisons. If a Convention could do this where the King was present, what signified the Writs and Concurrence of an absent Prince. Nor did they contend for Legislative Power, but only met in a kind of embodied Dictatorship to take care of the present Necessity of Affairs.  
But this, says the Discusser, was not justifiable, for that the Nenessity which they pretended, was either of their own making, or of their own submitting to, which is the same Thing. But this is all Nonsense. For if the Necessity was of their own making, then were the Lords and Commons the Authors of all the Miscarriages which they laid to the late King's Charge; If of their own submitting to, then would they never have called out for succour and craved Relief from their Oppressions. No— They were those crying Grievances summed up in the Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westmister presented to their Present Majesties upon the Twelfth of February Last; which when the late King could not justify them by force of Arms, but fled for it, not being able to answer his endeavours to subvert and Extirpate the Protestant Religion and the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom, put them to that necessity of assembling after an Unusual Manner, to provide for the Common Safety.  
How ever the Discusser will have it a Necessity of their own creating, though never so false. For, says he, if the King had either not been driven out of his Dominions, or invited back upon honourable Terms, they needed not have had recourse to such unusual singular Methods of proceeding. And thus the Discusser rambles out of one Untruth into another. For he fled from offered Treaty, forsook the defence of his own Forces, and left them to be disbanded in Arrears and without Payment; slipped from his own Council by Night, after he had appointed to meet them in Consultation the next Morning. Nor could he justly suspect, that any Violence would have been offered to Him in particular, being so well assured as he could not choose but be, of the Generous Inclination, and profound Respect which the Prince had to his Person. But if the Gild of peculiar Miscarriages hastened his Departure, or overswayed him toleave the He●m of Rule without any Form or Face of Government: That could ne'er be called an Expulsion out of his Dominions. And therefore when a certain Gentleman waiting on him at Feversham besought him to return to London, he gave the Person this Reply, That he was an honest Gentleman, but knew not what he knew. And when he had once abandoned the Kingdom all forlorn without either Head or Conduct, without Council, or any Countenance of Authority, then according to the Judgement of the Commonwealth of Venice in reference to the Succession of Henry the 4 th'. it belonged to the Nobility and chief Persons of the Land, as they are the chief Defence of the Royal Authority, to take care of the Public Safety, whether by usual or unusual Methods of proceeding it matters not; and they have both the Authority of Law and Necessity to justify their Proceed.  
As for his being invited back upon Honourable Terms, 'tis well known how he returned back, and went through the City on the Sunday Night, attended by his own Guards, and lodged in White-Hall, and this most certainly in order to an Accommodation. Only because the Prince was coming to Town, he was sent to, and for the avoiding any Disturbance that might be prejudicial to his Person, was humbly desired to retire to Ham-House, with Liberty to make choice of what Persons he thought fit to attend him. Which he promised to do; but recollecting himself, and desiring to know whether he might not return back to Rochester, word was sent him the next Morning that he might do as he pleased. All this while here was no Constraint put upon him; so that he could not be said to be driven out of his. Dominions, but that it was his own Choice to forsake it.  
Notwithstanding all this, The Discusser will undertake to prove, That the King before his withdrawing had sufficient Grounds to make him apprehensive of Danger, and therefore it could not be called an Abdication.  
But through the whole Pursuit of his Argument, the Discusser most wretchedly mistakes the Point, quite mistaking the Effects for the Causes. For, says he, Had not the King great Reason to retire to secure his Person and his Honour, when he had met with so many unfortunate Disappointments, with so many surprising and unparallelled Accidents? When part of the Army was revolted, and the Remainder too apparently unserviceable; When the People had such fatal and unremovable Prejudices against his Service? When there were such terrible Disorders in the Kingdom, and all Places were either flaming or ready to take Fire? What should a Prince do when he had scarce any thing left him to lose but himself, but consult his Safety, and give way to the  Evil?  
These are very great Disappointments and evil Accidents indeed to befall a Prince. But the Discusser forgets to tell ye, That the Prince brought all these Inconveniencies upon himself. The Discusser tells ye that part of the Army revolted, but he omits to tell ye, that it was out of a Generous Principle, for that being Protestants, they would not imbrue their Hands in the Blood of their Fellow. Protestants and Countrymen, nor be Instruments to enslave the Nation. He tells ye of terrible Disorders in the Kingdom; but does not tell ye, it was time for the People to be in Disorder, when they saw such Encroachments upon their Ancient Franchises, such Inundations of Popery flowing in upon their Consciences, and such a rapid Violence of French Thraldom tumbling in upon their Necks. He complains that all Places were either flaming or ready to take Fire, but forgets to tell you who were the Incendiaries.  
These therefore, with several others of the same Nature, being the true Causes that drew the foresaid Inconveniencies upon the King, it follows, that though the Secondary Constraint of his withdrawing might be occasioned by the Effects, yet the Primary Cause of his withdrawing proceeded from the First Causes which produced the Effects. Consequently such a Retiring was voluntary and not forced; because he may be justly said to fly from something of dreaded Punishment, rather than pursuing Danger, from which he was always at a distance far enough off, but dubious what would become of him as to the Former.  
The Discusser makes many other grievous Complaints to justify the King's First withdrawing (for hitherto he is altogether upon that) but when he comes to sum up all. In short, says he, when the Forts and Revenue were thus disposed of; when the Papists were to be disbanded, and the Protestants not to be trusted; when the Nation was under such general and violent Dissatisfactions; when the King in case of a Rupture had nothing upon the matter but his single Person, to oppose against the Prince's Arms, and those of his Subjects; when his Mortal Enemies were to sit Judges of his Crown and Dignity, if no father; when Affairs were in this tempestuous Condition, to say that a Free and Indifferent Parliament might be chosen, with the Relation to the King's Right as well as the People's, and that the King had no just visible Cause to apprehend himself in Danger, is to outface the Sun and trample upon the Understandings, and almost upon the Senses of the whole Nation.  
As for the Fortified Towns, it was but Reason that his then Highness the Prince of Orange, who came over to rescue the Nation from Arbitrary Violence and Oppression, should demand them to be put into his Power, well Knowing them to be then in the Hands of Irish Papists and Cutthroats, of whom the People stood in Perpetual Fear, and who were rather a Consternation then Security to the Kingdom. And the same reason holds in Relation to the Revenue. For all the World knows, what Vast Sums had been Squandered away by the late King, when Duke, to keep off the sitting of Parliaments, and to buy off the Members when they Sat; and when that Money was spent so much to the Detriment of the Realm, what Solicitations were made to the French King for more, to carry on the Popish Cause and Interest. It was as well known how the Revenue had of late Years been Embezled to keep up a standing Army of Irish Ragamuffins; as if England were now in its Turn to have been conquered by Ireland, as formerly Ireland had been conquered by England. From which fears when his present Majesty had delivered the Nation, it was but reason that his Army should be paid out of the Public Stock for their happy Toil and labour. For the Public Revenue of all Kingdoms and States was ever Originally intended for the Preservation, and not the Destruction of the People.  
Upon the Disbanding of the Papists, the Discusser makes a special Observation, That no Test-Acts nor any Others could bar the King from Listing them as Common Soldiers. This perhaps may be true; that is to say, that a Protestant Prince may list Papists, and a Popish Prince Protestants, to follow him in a lawful War. But when a Popish Prince in a Protestant Nation had made his chiefest Levies of Popish Common Soldiers to over-aw his Protestant Subjects, and put his sole Confidence in them for his known and open Designs and manifest Endeavours to introduce Popery into a Protestant Kingdom, contrary to the Law, 'twas time then to think of disbanding such Vermin, and ridding them out of the Land. And the reason why the Protestants could not be trusted was as certain. For if the King would not trust his Protestants, nay disarmed them, when Papists were both armed and Employed, what reason had the Protestants to trust the King. And this was that which among other Things created and fostered those General and Violent Dissatisfactions in the Nation. For Men have naturally a general and violent Antipathy against having their Throats Cut if they can help it. And therefore since the Kingdom by a Miraculous Providence had obtained its Redemption, 'tis to be wondered the Discusser should imagine 'twas ever intended that the late K. should be in a Condition again to oppose either his own or the persons of any others against the Arms of the Prince or those of his own Subjects. And whereas, he says, that the King's Mortal Enemies were to be the Judges of his Crown and Dignity, the Discusser should have done well before he had made his Reflection upon so many Eminent Patriots, to have consulted Grotius, l. 1. c. 4. Par. 8. and the Example of Pausamias King of Lacedamon there cited. Certainly there was no such Impossibility but that a Free and Indifferent Parliament might have been chosen to deal equally between the King and the People. For though the King perhaps might be conscious that he could not so well rely upon the Kindness of those to whom he had always had such an inveterate Antipathy, yet he might have relied upon the Justice of so many Great and Worthy Personages. So that it is the Discusser himself who outfaces the Sun and tramples upon the Understandings and Senses of the whole Nation, who makes these little Rhetorical Flourishes to palliate and obscure the Truth, and to insinuate among the People, as if Wrong and Injustice had been done, where nothing was acted but what was a due debt to Self-Preservation. And with the same Brazening the Discusser outfaces the Sun, and tramples upon the Senses of the Nation, to assert that a Desertion of the Government, after such Proposals, which were rather Assurances of his Safety, was no Desertion. He had been safer in the Affection of the People, when all his evil Counsellors had been removed from about him; he had been safer from the Importunities of his Priests and Jesuits; He had been more secure from running himself into farther danger, and safer in the Enjoyment of his Royal Dignity. But he who had so Solemnly sworn to Establish Popery in England or die in the Attempt, thought himself no where safe perhaps, but where he might be procuring his future Bliss, by the Performance of his Vow.  
The Discusser now advances to the King's second withdrawing, and puts the Question, what the King had done to incar a forfeiture by his first Retirement? Indeed what had he not done? If the Discusser forgot in his Discussing Heat, the Declaration presented to their Present Majesties would have rubbed up his Memory. Among the rest there was one, That he had endeavoured to Subvert and Extirpate the Protestant Religion, and the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom, by raising and keeping a Standing Army in the Kingdom in time of Peace, without Consent of Parliament, and quartering Soldiers contrary to Law; and by causing several of his good Subjects to be Disarmed at the same time when Papists were b●th Armed and Employed. Now to what purpose was all this, but to Subject the Kingdom to the Tyranny of the Pope? In such a case Barelay cited by Grotious, l. 1. c. 4. per. 10. gives this for his Opinion, Si Rex regnum alinet, aut alij Subjiciat, amitti ab eo Regnum. To which Grotius himself adds, Si Rex reipsa tradere regnum aut Subjicere molliatur, quin ei resisti in hoc posse non dubite. Alind est enim Imperium, aliud habendi modus; qui no mutetur, obstare potest Populus.  
After all this, it cannot be imagined that the King returned the second time with an intention to govern; unless he might govern at his own will and Pleasure as he did before. But that would not be suffered him; for they who had now avoided the Yoke so near putting about their Necks, would never endure it should come so near their shoulders again. Therefore all the Probality in the World is on this side, That the King perceiving, that by taking the Government upon him again, he should not be able to attain those Ends which he had made the Business of his whole Reign, resolved to relinquish it altogether. At which time being at liberty to go or stay, his Departure must of necessity be accounted Voluntary, and consequently an Absolute Abdication.  
Lastly, it is impossible that the King could be frighted out of his Dominions, by the making of two or three Addresses to his then Royal Highness the Prince of Orange; for it was no more than rationally he could expect would be done; more especially from the City to the Person, who next under God had delivered them from their Continual fears of Fire and Sword. Nor by the denying him a little Gold to Heal with; which looks like an improbable Story of the Discusser's own framing. These are Motions so inconsiderable for a King to forsake his Dominions, that the Discusser seems to have Conjured them up merely to degrade the Courage of the Absenting Monarch, and to mortify his own Discussion. But after all, the Question may be fairly put, whether Withdrawing, in the Construction of our Law, does not rather imply a Gild, than an Apprehension of Danger, unless it be that of being called to an Account, since the Query always propounded to the Jury is, Did he fly for't? Which indeed ought to be the Legal Determination of this Dispute.  
However the Discusser goes on, and tells us, We are to observe, that to abdicate an Office always supposes the Consent of him who quits. And this he affirms to be the meaning of the Word out of Sallust, Tully, Livy and Grotius. But both the Supposal, and the Asseveration are false. For Consent implies, that the Question must be put, Whether the Person will Abdicate or no? Which never was put to any Abdicator in this World. Upon a forced Resignation it has. But a forced Resignation is no Abdication. Certain it is that Abdicare signifies to renounce, forgo, or abandon. And the Motives to this Abdication are various, and generally prevailing upon the Reason of the Person that Abdicates himself, according to the Condition of Affairs and the Circumstances he is under. And therefore though a Magistrate may abdicate with the consent of others, yet he rarely does it out of a natural Inclination. Thus it cannot be imagined that Lentulus, one of the Conspirators with Catiline, abdicated the Praetorship, with the Consent of his own Will, for he was one of the most aspiring Men in the Universe; but because he found himself so obnoxious that he could hold it no longer: Thus Sylla abdicated the Dictatorship out of a Vainglorious Opinion of Felicity that attended him, and to show that he had such an awe over the Romans, that though he were a Private Person, no body durst call him to an Account for the Cruelties he had committed. History tells us, that Dioclesian abdicated the Empire, for madness that he could not have his Will of the Christians. How does the Discusser know, but that King James abdicated the Government because he could not have his Will of the Protestants? Charles the V th' abdicated the Empire, because he found his wont Good Fortune had left him. Bernard Rasfield Bishop of Munster finding himself between two Grindstones, the Persecution of the Germane Priests, for going about to deprive them of their Concubines, and the Pope's Excommunication, if he did it not; abdicated his Principality and Bishopric, that he might be at quiet. Lastly, to show that Abdication does not always imply Consent, Brutus compelled Tarqvinius Collatinus to abdicate the Consulship, only because his Praenomen was invisum Civitati. And then as for what the Discusser adds out of Grotius, That a Neglect or Omission in the Administration of Government, is by no means to be interpreted a Renunciation of it; there's no Body censures the late King for any Omission or want of Diligence in the Administration of his Government, for he was too diligent indeed; and that Diligence was the main Grievance which disgusted the People; his Diligence to extirpate the Protestant Religion; his Diligence to subvert the Laws and Liberties of the Ringdom; and his Diligence to introduce Popery. And this Diligence, 'tis to be feared, was one of the main Causes of his Abdication: Had he omitted more, he would have had less reason to have abdicated. And therefore it is a Vanity to infer that there can be no Pretence for an Abdication, because the Word, as he says, always, that is very rarely, or never, supposes the Consent of him that quits. For that it is not in the Nature of Man to abdicate Empires, Kingdoms, Wealth and Honours, but there must be some compulsive Reason within that moves them to it. When Princes find the Times and Constitutions of the Kingdom will not bear their Government; when Emperors grow stiff and stark with Age, and begin to feel the Lashes of ill-Fortune; when Ambitious Aspirers perceive they must take other Measures to compass their Designs, than they swallow a selfdenying Ordinance, and think it convenient to retire from the Cares of the World, or out of Harms way.  
The Discusser says, We have but two Instances with us which look like an Abdication since the Conquest, which are in the Reigns of Edward II. and Richard II. both which were unjustly deposed by their Subjects. 'Tis true, they were so far from looking like Abdications, that they were no Abdications at all. For both those Princes being under a strict Confinement, it was impossible for them to abdicate, unless they could have made their Escapes. Therefore they were forced Resignations, and consequently formal Deposals. Nor had the Queen or Henry of Lancaster any cause to declare the Throne Vacant, as having already taken care to fill it themselves: And whether those Princes would have resigned or no, it would have signified little to them that were by Claim in Possession. But the Discusser has overslipped one Instance of a Perfect Abdication since the Conquest, which the King would have certainly felt to his Cost, had not the Pope and the Poictovins been his true Friends: and the Case was much the same as at this Time. For the Lords and Barons of the Realm in the Reign of King John, having often desired the King to restore them their Ancient Rights and Liberties, and finding nothing but Delusions, resolve no longer to be abused but betake themselves to Arms. The King then lying at Windsor, and perceiving himself too weak for the Lords, thought it no good way to proceed by Force but rather by Fraud, and therefore sends to the Lords, that if they would come to Windsor he would grant their Demands. Thither the Lords repairing, though in a Military Manner (for they durst not trust the King's Word) he saluted them all kindly, and promised to give them Satisfaction in all they demanded: And to that Purpose in a Meadow between Stains and Windsor, called Running-Mead, he freely consented to confirm their former Charters; and was content that some Grave Personages should be made choice of to see it confirmed. But the next Day, when it was to be done, he withdraws himself privately to South-Hampton, and thence to the Isle of Wight: Where it was concluded that he should send to the Pope, acquaint him with the Mutiny of his Lords, and require his Holinesses help. In the mean time the King lay skulking up and down for three Months together in Corners, that no Body knew where to find him; or which was worse, as some writ, roving and practising Piracy upon the Neighbouring Seas.  
Whether the Lords and Barons did in Words declare this to be a Vacancy of the Throne, is not material to inquire. Perhaps they were not so curious in those Days: But what they did in Deeds, amounted to the same as if they had done it in Words. For perceiving themselves thus eluded, they swore upon the Holy Altar to be revenged. And what Revenge that was likely to have been is easy to conjecture, by their swearing Allegiance afterwards to Lewis the French King's Son, and bearing Fealty to him till the Death of the King. Whence it may be inferred, That if a Prince in Hostility with his Subjects deserts his Kingdom, upon any Account, They who are next to the Government are not to hesitate as King John's Barons did, in expectation of the King's Return, but immediately to take care of the Common Safety, lest they should bring the same Ruin upon the Kingdom, as those Barons did by their Delay.  
Lastly, If the Discusser will not be convinced by what has hitherto been said, Let him examine the King's own words, and try whether he can pick out any better Construction out of them then that which I shall make.  
Says the late King in his Letter to the Earl of Feversham, Things being come to that Extremity, that I have been forced to send away the Queen, and my Son the Prince of Wales, that they might not fall into my Enemy's hands, I am obliged to do the same thing, and to endeavour to secure myself the best I can, etc. Expressions of a disponding Mind, and only full of Grief for the Disappointment of the Popish Career. The King was afraid of the Queen, and his Son the Prince of Wales as he calls him, and therefore deeming it convenient to send Them out of the way, believes himself obliged to follow them. 'Tis true, there might be some Reason perhaps for him to send Them away; but none to send away himself, not being under the same Circumstances. For let it be Paternal or Conjugal Affection, or both together; What could be a greater Desertion than this, for the sake of a Wife and a Son to leave three Kingdoms at six and seven? He speaks of securing himself as well as he can, but mentions nothing of Danger; only leaves it to the Lord Feversham and others to presume the Causes of his Fears. But certainly the apprehension of Danger can never excuse a Sovereign Magistrate from the Desertion of his Dominions, at the same time striving and struggling under the Pangs of the Dissolution of Government. If such a Desertion of his Territories in that forlorn and languishing Condition, to accompany the Tribulations of a Wife and a Son, be not a perfect Abdication of his Territories, the Words relinquish, desert, forgo, abandon, abdicate, have lost their Signification. Thus Lysimachus in Plutarch, de sera vindicta Dei, after he had surrendered his Person and Dominions to the Getae, for a Draught of Drink, in the extremity of a parching Thirst, when he had quenched his Thirst cried out, O pravum Hominem! that for so small a Pleasure have lost so great a Kingdom. He would be thought very unfit to be the Master of a Ship, that should throw himself into the Sea, when his Vessel and Cargoe were almost ready to perish. And I will appeal to the Lord of Wemm himself, whether if he were to try an Abdicating Prince upon this Point, with the same Huffing and Domineering as he did Inferior Offenders, he would take it for a good Justification to say, I had thought, or I apprehended my Person to be in Danger. Rather it becomes a Prince at such a time to exert his Courage, and contemn his own, when the public Security lies at Stake, especially when the Remedy propounded was so easy as the Convoking of a Free Parliament. But to withdraw at such a perilous Conjuncture from the Application of his desired, nay almost implored Assistance; What can the Discusser think of himself to deny so plain an Abdication?  
And this I take to be the Opinion of the late King's Abdication, intimated by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal assembled at Guild-Hall, Decemb. 1688. where they are pleased to say, That they did reasonably hope that the King having sent forth his Proclamation and Writs for a free Parliament, they might have rested secure (as doubtless the King might also have done) in that Meeting. But his Majesty having withdrawn himself, etc. they did therefore unanimously resolve to apply themselves to his Highness the Prince of Orange, etc. That is to say, The King having withdrawn himself from the Cure of the Grand Distempers of the Nation, and consequently Abdicated the Government, they resolved to apply themselves to a more Skilful, at least a more Willing Physician. Which had the Discusser more considerately discussed, when he wrote his Discussion, would have saved him a great deal of trouble and expense.  
Thus much for the Reasons which the Discusser brings to prove that the King, before his withdrawing, had sufficient Grounds to make him apprehensive of Danger, and that therefore it cannot be called an Abdication. That which follows, being altogether grounded upon certain Statutes and Laws of the Land, to the knowledge of which the Discusser seems to be a great Pretender, is answered in a Word, That they who pronounced the Throne Vacant, understood the Latitude of their Power, and the Intent and Limits of the Laws and Statutes of this Realm to that Degree, that if nothing else, the Consideration of that might have deterred the Discusser from the Presumption of appearing so vainly and scandalously in the World. Nor would I be thought so impertinent to transgress the Bounds of my own Understanding as he has done. For indeed, to tell ye the Truth, if the Discusser should come to a Trial at Westminster-Hall, I am afraid the Lawyers will certainly inform him that he has very much either mistaken or misquoted his Authors.  
FINIS.   

SATISFACTION tendered to all that pretend Conscience for Non-submission to our present Governors, and refusing of the New Oaths of FEALTY and ALLEGIANCE.  
In a LETTER to a FRIEND, By R. B. late Rector of St. Michael Querne, London, And now Rector of Icklingham All-Saints, Suffolk.  
SIR,  
I Cannot but admire at the Stiffness, not to say Obstinacy of some, in not complying with the present Government, considering the late danger of Popery, and that an Arbitrary Power was exercised amongst us by our late Rulers, in asserting their Dispensing Power, by the Mercenary Judges declared to be Law.  
You may remember in our late Conference upon this Subject, you pleaded in Defence of yourselves, and others, the Obligation you lay under to the Oath of Allegiance, with your Subscription to the Doctrine of the Church of England, contained in the 37 th' Article, and the First Canon of the Church: but if it appear that all this is rather grounded upon Mistake, than any solid Reality, I will not question your ready Submission.  
Oaths I confess are very strong Ties upon Men of Conscience, and they are to be tenderly dealt with until that Prejudice be removed; give me leave therefore with Sobriety and Meekness to inquire, Whether that Oath be still in Force, with the Obligation to it? if not, that Plea must vanish and disappear.  
And here first, let me remind you of the occasion of imposing the Oath of Allegiance; it was enjoined to distinguish betwixt Church and Court, Loyal and Disloyal Papists, upon that honid Gunpowder-Treason, which hath left a Stain of Villainy and Cruelty upon that Religion, never to be wiped off: Read over the Anatomy of that Oath, made by K. James the First in his Book of the Defence of it; And what is there in it that can stick upon any Protestant? except that Clause of denying all Foreign Jurisdiction▪ Prince, or Potentate: And this you seemed to hint at, when you said the Prince of Orange was a Foreign Prince.  
Will you be pleased in answer to this, to fix your Thoughts upon that of the great Apostle St. Paul, he is excepted that put all things under him. So here, without Question, the King may divest himself of all Authority and Power, and when this is done the Obligation ceaseth, as if he were really Dead. The Preface to the New Oath is not an authoritative Abdication; but rather a Declaration of Matter of Fact, that the late King James hath abdicated. So that in fine the main of the Controversy lies here, Whether the late King did abdicate? For, if he did, without all Question the Obligation of all Oaths taken unto him is ceased. In confirmation of the Affirmative, I shall endeavour to make it clear that any King may, And secondly, That the late King did abdicate.  
That Kings may denude themselves of their Princely Power and Sovereignty, appears from what was done by Charles the Fifth, Emperor of Germany, and King of Spain at the same time, who did abdicate both; and his Subjects took new Oaths of Fealty to other Princes. Some of those Times might question his Courage, but none did ever except against the Validity of it.  
May it not seem something unjust to deny this Liberty to Princes, when they find themselves overcharged with the Weight of Government, to retire into a Privacy for the better enjoyment of their inward Peace and Quiet? But I presume no Man will deny this Hypothesis. It remains to prove the Thesis, That the late King did abdicate.  
1. I will not dwell upon what was done by the Metropolitan, and other Lords of the Council, upon his first withdrawing; they came into the City, and with the Lord Mayor sent for the Lieutenant of the Tower, seize upon the Keys, dispossess the Soldiers, place a new Garrison there, and desire the Prince of Orange to assume the Regency; Why all this, if he had not Abdicated? Upon what other ground durst they raise Arms, seize upon his Royal Fort? Or how can they excuse themselves from formal Rebellion and breach of Oaths, if this be not granted, and is not unpresidented, That Princes shall take up their Sceptres again, when they have laid them down. But to pass by this.  
2. I would willingly be resolved by any Thinking Man, whose Judgement and Testimony is most authentic in this Particular; Whether I am to resolve myself into the Judgement of the whole Nation, in a full and clear Representation in Parliament, or into the private Fancies or Opinion of a few Men? I remember what you once replied to this, That every Man's Conscience is to judge for himself in point of Practice. But do you not know when, and by whom this Principle was exploded, whilst some were prosecuted for mere Matters of Worship? And shall this be pleaded by those Men who so vigorously have acted against it, when in its own Nature it is so destructive of the Civil Peace? A Line and a Line is an Abomination.  
Did ever any Government upon the Pretence of Conscience dispense with Disobedience in Things necessary to its Establishment? And can any Man expect to be excused from taking the Oaths, which is the only Moral Security the Government can expect or require; and upon this very Pretence, which if allowed, all Kingdoms must dissolve into Anarchy and Confusion; Religion and Conscience being the Common Pretensions of all Malcontents. This may suffice to satisfy any sober Rational Man, that is not resolved to maintain the Conclusion, be the Premises never so weak.  
Some there are that presume their Subscription to the Doctrine of the Church of England, in her Book of Articles, will not permit them to yield their Obedience to these Alterations. But if this shall prove a Mistake, and our Obedience shall be conformable to our Principles, will it not rather be esteemed Peevishness than Conscience?  
To discover the Mistake, let us consider when, and by whom, the Articles were composed; and refer the Practices of those Times to the Articles, as an authentic and clear Interpretation of them, and this also will vanish like Smoak.  
1. The Articles were made, or at least confirmed, in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, who was a constant asserter and maintainer of this Maxim, That it is lawful for a neighbouring Prince to relieve and defend the Subjects of another, when invaded in their Laws, Liberties, and Religion. Who was it that protected and assisted the Huguenots in France, against the Tyranny and Violence of their Princes? Was it not this Gracious and Heroic Queen? And who was it that protected the Netherlands against the Violence and Usurpations of the Spanish Monarch? And was all this contrary to the avowed Doctrines of our Church, of which she was the Defender? Was not this defended, or at least allowed of, by the Churchmen of those Times? must it be now inconsistent with the Principles of our Times? Do they bind our Hands, so that if we are invaded we may not crave the like Protection? Let any sober scrupulous dissatisfied Person give a sober Answer and Resolution to these Queries. The Dutch Netherlands erected a new Model of Government under her Protection, after they had shaken off the Spanish Yoke.  
2. Let it be granted, what ought not to be denied, That the late King did abdicate, and that the Government did devolve upon the People, and these in a full Representative of the whole Nation, whether in Parliament, or in a Convention, (it matters not which, whilst that was a free and fair Choice) have constituted these to be our Governors; Are we not to pay and swear Obedience unto them, as well as their Predecessors? And if this were rightly weighed, would answer an Objection from that Declaration, in the Act of Uniformity, I abhor that Traitorous Position, etc.  
If after all this Men will fix all upon a Jus divinum, and fly to Scriptures, let them give plain positive Texts, for a general Form, with Rules universally relating unto, and obliging all Places and Men. If they cannot, let them confess that God hath left all Nations and People, to be ruled by that Government and those Laws, which are most suitable to the Constitution and Temperament of the People; and this I lay down for a Foundation not to be overthrown. But to Answer: those places which are so much insisted upon, that of our Saviour's, St Paul's, and St Peter's, we need to make use of that absurd Assertion of some of the Romanists, That this was only enjoined and to be performed until they had opportunity to make a Resistance.  
This would slain the Glory of the Primitive Martyrs. Not a forced, but a voluntary Martyrdom deserves the Crown; however this gives a taste of the Loyalty of these Men and their Religion, to the maintaining of which the Popish Princes sacrifice all their Power and Policy.  
But for a more Substantial Answer, by way of Satisfaction to these Scruples, let it be duly considered, that the Primitive Christians and we were under different and distinct Administrations; they lived under absolute Monarches, their Grandeur was won by the Sword, and confirmed by a pure Despotic Power; and therefore their Resistance had been unlawful, contrary to the Rule and Force of their Government: but it is quite otherwise with us. We are settled upon a Gothick Model, our Princes make no Laws without our own Consent; they are obliged to the execution of Laws made by ourselves with their Consent; they have no Power to dispense with the breach of them by others, nor to invade them themselves. This was owned by the seven Bishops, declared by former Parliaments; so that no Man is bound to pay their Allegiance any further; Let Caesar have what is Caesar's, and the Subjects what is theirs, their Laws, their Birthright. In some cases Moral positive Duties are superseded by what is naturally Moral, as in the Duties of the fourth Command, so here. Tho Government in general be founded upon Nature, yet this or that Form is but positive; and if it be not consistant with the end of Government, Self-preservation, Why should not it be either altered, or fixed in those who will prosecute the right end, the Preservation of the public Peace and Liberties of the People?  
To what hath been said, let me add, ex abundanti, the late King's retiring into France; if it amount not to an Abdication, it comes near unto a Forfeiture, and no Prince or State can have less Reason to endeavour to restore him to his Crown and Dignity, than that Monarch. Whence hath he his Claim but from Hugh Capet, and he from the Election of the great Men of the Kingdom? and why did they pretend to lay aside Charles Duke of Lorraine, whose Right it was by Succession, but merely upon this ground, He had joined himself to the Enemies of the Kingdom? and so they transfer the Crown unto another Family, that of the Capets. And does not all Christendom in general, and the English Nation in particular, look upon that great Man of France as a Common Enemy? shall not that which may hinder Succession, justify in part a translating of it unto another? But (blessed be God) all these are cleared in an Abdication, and that asserted by the Representative Body of the whole Nation.  
And now, good Sir, be persuaded to lay aside all Prejudice, submit your Sentiments to the Judgement of your Superiors, yield your Obedience and Fealty in taking the Oaths; this you see is your Duty, and not only so, but your Interest. It is not long since we were apprehensive of Popery, and the Church-of- England-Men did set themselves in direct Opposition against it, and all the Accesses toward it; for which the Generations to come shall call them blessed. But whence come these Apprensions to be lessened? can we expect a perfect Freedom from these Fears, should he be readmitted to his Authority? It is not possible a Popish Sovereign should keep Promise with his Heretical Subjects, as they style us; their words and Oaths, if Roman Catholics, bind no further than stands with the Interest of their Religion, and we know who both can, and will dispense with Oaths and Promises made to Heretics.  
Would you setter him by Laws? these have been, like Sampsons' Cords, easily broken: Would you place him under Tutors and Governors? He is no minor, cannot submit; aut Caesar, aut Nullus. Men are but Men at the best, and Time, and Preferment may alter their Judgements. However these would make him a Prisoner, and no King. Should we submit in hopes of another Opportunity; Would he not settle a Correspondence with Malcontents at Home, and Foreign Princes Abroad? and if he prosper in the Design, hath that Common plea, That his Promises are Void, because made by him when under Restraint? And then, What will become of all that is dear unto us, Religion, Lives, Liberties, and Estates? This is prevented by an Abdication; so that if he return, it must be by Conquest, and then he will rule by the Sword, we shall all be in the same Condition, lie under the charge of Heretics, Rebels and Traitors; the Government changed from a regulated Monarchy into an absolute Tyranny, our Religion abrogated; we shall be sold as Slaves, or burnt as Heretics. If Men love Bonds and Imprisonments, Rapine and Sequestration, Racks and Tortures, Fire and Faggots, let them continue this Humour and Aversation; but if none of these be lovely, as indeed they are not, let us bless God who hath redeemed us from the Hand of our Enemies, and the Hand of all that hate us. Let us join issue with the Divine Providence (which hath delivered us from all these Evils) in submitting and yielding our Obedience to our Sovereign Lord and Lady, by whose Conduct and Courage we are brought into a state of Freedom and Peace. Be not affrighted out of this by the false Rumours and Reports, spread abroad by evil-minded Men, but let us unite in our Submission to our present Rulers that thereby we may strengthen their Hearts and Hands in our common Defence.  
There remains one Prejudice, but no Objection arising from the vain Fears of some Men, that the Church gins to be shaken in her Authority, whilst matters of Religion fall under a Dispute, and no Convocation consulted with. But this, if fully considered, would swell a private Letter into too great a Bulk. Let me for the present desire you to consider, there is nothing designed in Doctrinals, but mere Matters of Ceremony, and a relaxation of some Laws, not consistent with the greatest Interest of the Nation in this present Juncture, the Union of Protestants. And out of experience, that the severity of those Laws never reclaimed one Dissenter, but rather did drive others out of the Pale of the Church; it is not unworthy of, but highly becoming the Wisdom of those worthy Patriots to find out a Method, whereby all Protestants of every Form may be brought into an easy Condition. This Subject, if this Letter find a candid Reception, may be more fully considered of, by  
Your very Friend, Servant, and Brother. R. B.   

To the Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, And to the Honourable the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses in this present PARLIAMENT Assembled; The Humble tition of TITUS OATS, D. D.  
Most Humbly showeth,  
THat your Petitioner in the Year 1678, discovered a horrid Popish Conspiracy for the Destruction of the late King Charles the Second, His Present Majesty, and the Protestant Religion within these Kingdoms; and proved it so fully, that several Parliaments, and Courts of Justice, before whom he gave his Testimony, declared their Belief of it by public Votes, and the Condemnation of several of the Conspirators. For which Reason, and because your Petitioner would not be terrified by their Threats, nor seduced by their Promises of great Rewards (with both which Temptations they often assulted him) to desist in his Discovery; the Jesuits and Papists pursued him with an implacable Malice, and endeavoured to take away his Fame and Life, by suborning Witnesses to accuse him of Capital Crimes: but being defeated in that Villainous Attempt, they first procured King Charles the Second to withdraw that Protection and Subsistence his Majesty had, at the Request of several Parliaments, allowed to your Petitioner; and then instigated his Royal Highness the Duke of York to prosecute your Petitioner in an Action of Scandalum Magnatum, for speaking this notorious Truth, viz. That he the said Duke of York was reconciled to the Church of Rome; and that It is High Treason to be so reconciled: wherein a Verdict and Judgement for one Hundred Thousand Pounds Damages were obtained against your Petitioner, and your Petitioner was committed to the King's Bench-Prison.  
After this, the same Popish Party obtained leave from King Charles the second, to prefer two several Indictments against your Petitioner, for two pretended Perjuries in his Evidence concerning the said Conspiracy, which they brought on to Trial in the Reign of King James the second; and your Petitioner was upon the Evidence of those very Witnesses, who had confronted him in three former Trials, and were disbelieved; and through the Partial Behahaviour of the Chief Justice Jeffreys, in brow-beating his Witnesses, and misleading the Juries, convicted of the said Pretended Perjuries, and received this inhuman and unparallelled Sentence following, viz. [To pay two thousand Marks to the King: To be devested of his Canonical Habit: To be brought into Westminster-Hall with a Paper upon his Head, with this Inscription, Titus' Oats convicted upon full Evidence of two horrid Perjuries: To stand in and upon the Pillory two several days, for the space of an Hour: To be whipped by the common Hangman, from Aldgate to Newgate on Wednesday, and to be whipped again on the Friday following from Newgate to Tyburn: To stand in and upon the Pillory five times in every Year of his Life; and to remain a Prisoner during his Life.] Which Sentence being intended, as your Petitioner hath just reason to believe, to murder him, was accordingly executed with all the Circumstances of Barbarity; he having suffered some thousands of Stripes whereby he was put to unspeakable Tortures, and lay ten Weeks under the Surgeon's Hands. Neither did their Cruelty cease here, but because your Petitioner, by God's Mercy miraculously supporting him, (and the extraordinary Skill of a Judicious Chirurgeon) outlived that Bloody Usage, some of them afterwards got into your Petitioner's Chamber whilst he was weak in his Bed, and attempted to pull off the Plasters applied to cure his Back, and threatened to destroy him: And that nothing within their Power or Malice might be wanting to complete your Petitioner's Misery, they procured him to be loaded with Irons of excessive Weight for a whole Year, without any Intermission, even when his Legs were swollen with the Gout; and to be shut up in the Dungeon, or Hole of the Prison, whereby he became impaired in his Limbs, and contracted Convulsion Fits, and other Distempers, to the great Hazard of his Life. All which illegal Proceed, and barbarous Inhumanities', your Petitioner humbly conceives were not only intended as a Revenge upon him, but likewise to cast a Reproach upon the Wisdom and Honour of four successive Parliaments who had given him Credit, and upon the Public Justice of the Nation. And your Petitioner humbly hopes that since the Papists themselves have verified and confirmed his Evidence by their late open and avowed Violations of our Religion, Laws, and Liberties, this Honourable House will vindicate the Proceed of former Parliaments, and discharge your Petitioner from those Arbitrary and Scandalous Judgements, and the unjust Imprisonment he lies under.  
Your Petitioner doth therefore most humbly beseech your Lordships and your Honours, to take his deplorable Case into your generous and tender Consideration, and to give him such Redress therein as to your Lordships and your Honours great Wisdom, Justice, and Goodness, shall seem meet: And your Petitioner shall ever pray, etc.   

An Account of the Convention of SCOTLAND.  
THE Convention of Scotland met the 14 th' of March, 1685, in Obedience to the Prince of Orange's Lette●●; They choice the Duke of Hamilton their Precedent, ●fter which they had several Debates about the Duke of G●●don, a Papist, who keeps the Castle notwithstanding many offers of Surrender, does still keep it for King James.  
They read a Letter from the King of England, in which he exhorts them to lay aside all Animosities, and Factions, and mind the Public Good in securing the Protestant Religion, and the ancient Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom on sure and lasting Foundations, particularly that they would endeavour a Union between both Kingdoms, as one of the best Means for the Happiness of both, especially at this time, when the common Enemy is restless to procure the ruin of Britain, and the Protestant Religion .  
After which a Letter was read from King James, requiring them to support his Royal Authority, by many Threats and Promises, which made no Impression on them; but after some time they drew up, and sent a Letter to King William, full of dutiful Respects, promising to do that which may be acceptable to him, and suitable to the Genius of the Nation.  
After settling the Militia and other State-Matters, and having resolved the Power into themselves; they appointed a Committee of 24, made up of all the Estates, to settle the Government: Which Committee have provided for the full Meeting of the Convention Grounds and Reasons on which they have declared the Throne Vacant.   

A SPEECH made by a Member of the Convention of the States in SCOTLAND.  
WE are now called together by his Highness the Prince of Orange, to Consult and Deliberate, what Methods will be most proper to secure Our Religion, Laws and Liberties, in order to which, the first thing that will fall under our Consideration, is the settling the Sovereign Power.  
I take for granted that you are fully convinced, that King James the Seventh, by his many Violations of the Fundamental Laws, by his endeavouring to establish a Despotic and Arbitrary Power, and introduce Popery, (though he himself had confirmed all the Laws that were enacted in Favour of the Protestant Religion) has thereby subverted the Constitution, and (that our Miseries might have no Redress from him) has left us in a time when we needed his Protection most. The Eyes of all Europe are upon us, and it is in our Power to make our Selves, and our Posterity either Happy or Miserable, by making a choice, either to call back the same King James, and hazard once more all that Men account dear, to his Mercy; or to settle the Government on some other, under whom we may live Quiet and Peaceable Lives, without the perpetual Terror of being swallowed up by Popery and Arbitrary Government, which all good Men hoped were now banished, and yet behold a new Offspring is sprung up, which plead eagerly for both, though under the mistaken Names of Duty and Allegiance: It's strange that any Man can so far degenerate, as to prefer Slavery to Liberty, and that they should be so much in love with Chains, that when they were fairly shaken off, they should run suriously to be Fettered again; as if the Ottoman and French Government were so charming in our Country, that we cannot live without it, though we have so lately groaned under the dismal Burden of it: And it might have been supposed that even these, who had been Instrumental in Enslaving their Fellow-brethrens, and were grown Fat with Sucking the Nations Blood, would have taken another Method to Reconcile themselves, than by persuading us to purchase their Safety, at so vast an Expense as the Ruin of more than three Parts of the Nation will necessarily amount to.  
If we do but a little reflect on the Motives which these Men (blinded by Self-Interest) make use of, to delude the Nation into a Security that wanted very little of proving Fatal to it, and compare them with the strong Reasons, we have to dissuade us from being so imposed on, they will be found so Weak and Impertinent, that we must judge it next to Impossibility, to suffer ourselves to be twice Deceived. But if the Experience of our former Miseries, so lately hanging over our Heads, (the very Thoughts of renewing which, make all good Men to tremble) has not made us Wiser, and be not of Efficacy enough, to deter us from venturing another Shipwreck, and exposing all again to the Discretion of Roman Catholics: It's more than probable that GOD has abandoned us, and given us up to believe strong Delusions.  
First, They will endeavour to persuade us, that Kings are eximed from Punishments here on Earth, and nothing they do can be quarrelled by their Subjects, which indeed might with some Reason be urged among the Turks, who reserve nothing from the Power of their Sultan's, and where it's Death to dispute his Commands, though never so Arbitrary and Tyrannical: But with what Impudence can such Stuff be imposed on us, who never admit our Kings to the Government, till they swear to rule us according to Law, and no otherways? The Laws are the only Security we have for our Lives and Properties, which if our Sovereign subvert, Subjects cannot be blamed, for making use of the ordinary means to preserve them, and since that cannot be done without withdrawing Obedience from such a Magistrate as goes about to destroy them, such an Act cannot properly be said to punish him, (because we take nothing from him to which he has a just Claim, but do only shun the occasion of making ourselves miserable. The Speculative Doctrine of Passive Obedience, has done too much mischief among us, and what has befallen the King may be justly imputed to it, for the believing that without Opposition he might do what he pleased, encouraged him to take such measures as have drawn all these Misfortunes on him.  
Secondly, Others are so Fond as to believe, that we may be Secure in calling the King back, provided they so Limit him, that it will not be in his power to hurt us. These Men do not consider, how small a Compliment this is to a Man of the King's Temper, from ●● an Absolute Prince, as he was pleased to fancy himself, to content himself with the bare Title of a King; and how insupportable the Charge must be, if from being Master of all, he must force himself to comply with a thousand Masters, and see his Throne become his Prison. But how airy is it to fancy, that any Restrictions of our Contrivance can bind the King? For 1st, It's most certain they can never be Voluntary, and what is constrained and done by Force, is by Law declared to be Void and Null; to whose Assistance the Pope● Dispensing Power being joined, would quickly blow off these Samson Cords, and the Royal Power would again revive with all its Vigour and Luster.  
Thirdly, The King is of a Religion that has in a famous Council decreed, That no Faith is to be kept with Heretics, much less with Subjects whom he looks upon as so many Rebels, and will not miss to treat them as such, whenever they give him the Opporportunity of doing it; for his greatest Admirers do not run to that height Idolatry, to imagine him so much Angel, as not to take all methods to revenge so great an Affront, and secure himself at our Ghost from such a Treatment for the future; the apprehensions of which Resentments will strike such terror in men's minds, that nothing will 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 may lament our Miseries, but it will not be in our power to help them; for a Prince of Orange is not always ready to rescue us, with such vast Expense and so great hazard to his Person; and if our Madness hurry us so far, we deserve rather is pity than his resentment.  
Fourthly, What Arguments has the King given since he left us, to persuade us he will be more faithful in observing his Words and Oaths, than hitherto he has been? Does he not in a Letter lately printed here, expressly say he has ruled so, as to give no occasion of complaint to any of his Subjects? Is not the same Letter signed by one who sacrificed both Conscience and Honour to Interest, whose pernicious and headstrong Counsels has posted him to his Ruin, tho' all that has been done cannot make Him sensible of it? Sure the re - Heretics to the See of Rome is not less Meritorious than before, no● King James the Seventh, by breathing the French Air, become less Bigot: It were a Dream to fancy it. For so long as the Vatican thunders Excommunications against all such as do not use their utmost endeavours to extirpate Heresy, a Roman Catholic must have no Religion at all, if they be not terrible to him.  
The fourth Argument they made use of to persuade such as are and shall be chosen Members of the Convention, That their Interest to call back the King, is, That the Peace and Happiness of the Nation cannot be otherwise secured, nor Factions or Divisions extinguished. But what Factions do you observe, but such as they themselves do foment, on purpose to disturb our Harmony? all which would immediately die, if the Government were once settled on those who deserved it best: for then, if these Fops continued still fond of Popery and Tyranny, they would be chastised, as Disturbers of the Public Peace. The Argument may very justly be retorted; for if the King return, we will burst out into a flame; and England, which has already declared, will quickly be on our Top, an Enemy too Potent and too Numerous for us, tho' we were all united, besides the Danger to which such a Procedure will expose us, we cut off all hopes of an Union with that Nation, and thereby deprive ourselves of an unspeakable Advantage, which would redound to all sorts of People, and would be the only means to support an impoverished and sinking Nation. Neither is this the only Inconveniency, tho' it be a very great one; for if we state ourselves in opposition to England, by Restoring the King whom they Rejected, it is not to be doubted but he will use his uttmost endeavour to recover that Kingdom, the loss of which is so considerable. Now, seeing it were vain to suppose that the Scots alone were able to second his desires, he must needs have recourse to the French and Irish, whose Religion will procure a more entire Confidence than His Majesty can repose in any others. These therefore must be received into our Bosom; and because Scotland is the most proper place for Invading England, it must be the Scene of all the Blood and Confusion that this melancholy Thought gives us a Prospect of. And what treatment can such Sham-Protestants expect from these, who otherwise would have become their Friends and Allies? And what Figure will they pretend to make, when they set up for a separate Interest from all the Confederate Protestants in the World besides?  
The happy Success the PRINCE his Enterprise has met with, has made a considerable Alteration in the Affairs of Europe; for that great Enemy of the Protestants, and even of Christianity itself, who had proposed nothing less to himself than an Universal Monarchy, whom the Strictest Leagues and Contracts cannot bind, but without regard to GOD or Man, threatens all his Neighbours with utter Destruction; by the Scene's being changed among us, is so far humbled, that from a Proud and Insulting Enemy, he is become a Supplicant for Peace; well foreseeing, that if Britain join with those other Princes, whom his Insolence, Cruelty, and Avarice, has so justly Armed against him, his Ruin is Inevitable: So that if we have not Soul enough to enjoy this great Blessing, and can easily part with the Glory of being once more the Arbiters of Europe, let us at least have so much Christian Love and Charity for the Neighbouring Nations of our own Persuasion, as not to expose them to a necessary Participation of these Plagues, which our Common Enemies are preparing for us, and which will certainly Terminate in all our Destructions.  
Lastly, I beseech you to consider what Persons they are who would Instill this Poison in you, and you will find them of three kinds. First, those who Postponing the Common Good of the Nation, are wholly acted by Self-Interest, considering that in a Government where Justice and Mercy equally Flourish, Virtue and Merit, not Villainy, will be rewarded. Secondly, They who are ignorant of the Nature of Government, and were never at the pains to inform themselves what Measures the Law of Nature and Nations have set to men's Obedience, but are angry at every thing that thwarts their wild Notions, and will admit of nothing, though never so reasonable and convincing, if their dull Capacities cannot reach it. The third sort are such as have been instrumental in the enslaving their Country, and are afraid if they be called to an Account, they may be brought to suffer Condign Punishment; if such cannot succeed in their Design, they at least hope to be overlooked in a General Confusion, so they have nothing unessayed that may tend to their own safety; and if Heaven fail them, they summon Hell to their Aid; not that Love to their Prince, but mere Ambition and Interest, drives these Criminals to such Attempts; neither are they much to blame, if they are at such pains to sow Divisions among us. But no Person of Wit and Judgement, nor any Good Man that is truly Protestant, and minds the good of his Country, will suffer himself to be so grossly imposed on by such Firebands, who would build their Furture Imaginary Greatness on the Ruin of Our Religion, Laws, and Country.   

The Grounds upon which the Estates of Scotland Declared the Right of the Crown of Scotland FORFAULTED, and the Throne become VACANT.  
I. BBcause King James the Seventh is a Professed Papist.  
II. That the said King James did assume the Royal Power, and acted as King without ever taking the Oath required by Law.  
III. That he hath by the Council of evil Men invaded the Fundamental Constitution of the Kingdom, and changed it from a limited Monarchy to an Absolute and Despotic Power.  
iv Which Power he hath employed to the Subversion of the Protestant Religion, and the Violation of the Rights of the Subject. And thereby,  
V Hath inverted all the Ends of Government.   

The Opinion of two eminent Parliament-Men, justifying the lawfulness of taking the Oaths of Allegiance to King William and Queen Mary.  
I. FIdelity and Allegiance sworn to the King, is only a Fidelity and Obedience as it is due to him by the Law of the Land; for were that Faith and Allegiance more than what the Law requires, we should swear ourselves Slaves, and the King Absolute; whereas by the Law we are free, notwithstanding these Oaths.  
II. When therefore by the Law Fidelity and Allegiance ceaseth, than our sworn Allegiance ceaseth: for if Allegiance might be due by the Oath to one Person, whilst by the Law it ceaseth to him and becomes due to another Person, the Oath than would oblige Men to transgress the Law, and become Traitors and Rebels, whereas the Oath is part of the Law, and therefore aught to be so interpreted as may consist with it.  
III. Fidelity and Allegiance are due by the Law to King William, and not to King James: for the Statute of 25 of Edward 3 d, which defined all Treasons against the King, and is the only Statute to that purpose; now that Statute, by the King, understands not only a King de jure, but also a King de facto, though not de jure, against whom those Treasons Lie: whence the Lord Chief Justice Hales, in his Pleas of the Crown, p. 12. discoursing of that Statute, tells us, that a King de facto, and not the jure, is a King within that Act, and that Treason against him is Punishable, though the Right Heir get the Crown: and that this hath been the common Sense of the Law, Sir R. S. (upon application to him about it) hath assured us. And according to another Statute, 11 Hen. 7. ch. 1. It is declared Treason to be in Arms against a King de facto, such as Richard the 3 d was, though it was in behalf of a King de jure.  
So then by the Law of the Land, all things are Treason against King William, which have been Treason against former Kings, therefore the same Fidelity, Obedience and Allegiance, which was due to them, is due to him, and by Consequence may be Sworn to him by the Law of the Land.  
Allegiance and Protection are always Mutual, and therefore when King James ceased to Protect us, we ceased to owe him Allegiance by the Law of the Land; and when King William began to Protect us we began our Allegiance to him.  
These Considerations, are in our Opinion, sufficient to remove the Grand Scruple about the Oaths. If the dissatisfied Party accuse the Convention, for making the Prince of Orange King, it is not my Duty to judge those above me, therefore I shall only say that if they have done ill, Quod fieri non debuit factum valot; and they of the Clergy ought not to censure their Superiors, but obey according to the Law and Doctrine of Passive Obedience.  
FINIS.