His MAJESTY'S LATE LETTER IN Vindication of Himself; Dated at St. Germane en Say, the Fourteenth of this Instant January, 1688/9.  
JAMES R.  
MY LORDS; When We saw that it was no longer safe for Us to remain within Our Kingdom of England, and that thereupon We had taken Our resolutions to withdraw for some time; We left to be communicated to you and to all Our Subjects, the Reasons of Our withdrawing: a And were likewise resolved at the same time to leave such Orders behind Us to you of Our Privy-Councel, as might best suit with the present state of Affairs: But that being altogether unsafe for Us at that time; b We now think fit to let you know, that though it has been Our constant care since Our first Accession to the Crown, to Govern Our People with that Justice and Moderation, as to give, if possible, c no occasion of Complaint; yet more particularly upon the late Invasion, d seeing how the Design was laid; and fearing that Our People, who could not be destroyed but by themselves might by little imaginary Grievances, b● cheated into a certain ruin: To preven● so great Mischief, and to take away not only all just Causes, but even Pretencey 〈◊〉 Discontent; We freely, and of Our own accord redressed all those Things that were set forth as the Causes of that Invasion: And that We might be informed by the Council and Advice of Our Subjects themselves, which way We might give them a further and a full satisfaction; e We resolved to meet them in a Free Parliament; And in order to it, We first laid the foundation of such a Free Parliament, in restoring the City of Lond●n and the rest of the Corporations to their ancient Charters and Privileges; and afterwards actually appointed the Writs to be Issued out for the Parliaments Meeting on the 15th. of January; f But the Prince of Orange seeing all the Ends of his Declaration answered, the People beginning to be undeceived, and returning apace to their ancient Duty and Allegiance; and well foreseeing that if the Parliament should meet at the time appointed, such a Settlement in all probability would be made, both in Church and State, as would totally defeat his ambitious and unjust Designs, resolved by all means possible to prevent the Meeting of the Parliament: g And to do this the most effectual way, he thought fit to lay a restraint on Our Royal Person; for as it were absurd to call that a Free Parliament, where there is any Force on either of the Houses, so much less can that Parliament be said to act Freely where the Sovereign, by whose Authority they Meet and Sir, and from whose Royal Assent all their Acts receive their Life and Sanction, is under actual Confinement. The hurrying of Us under a Guard from Our City of London, h whose returning Loyalty We could no longer Trust, and the other Indignities We suffered in the Person of the Earl of Feversham when sent to him by Us; and in that barbarous Confinement of Our own Person, We shall not here repeat, because they are, We doubt not by this time, very well known; and may, We hope, if enough considered and reflected upon; together with his other Violations & Breaches of the Laws and Liberties of England, which by this Invasion he pretended to restore, be sufficient to open the Eyes of all Our Subjects, and let them plainly see what every one of them may expect, and what Treatment they shall find from him, if at any time it may serve his purpose, from whose hands a Sovereign Prince, an Uncle, and a Father could meet with no better Entertainment. i However the sense of these Indignities, and the just apprehension of further Attempts against Our Person by them who already endeavoured to murder Our Reputation by Infamous Calumnies (as if We had been capable of a supposed Prince of Wales) which was incomparably more Injurious, than the Destroying of Our Person itself; together with a serious reflection on a Saying of Our Royal Father of Blessed Memory, when He was in the like Circumstances, That there is little distance between the Prisons and the Graves of Princes (which afterwards proved too true in His Case) could not but persuade Us to make use of that which the Law of Nature gives to the meanest of Our Subjects, of freeing Ourselves by all means possible from that unjust Confinement and Restraint. k And this We did not more for the Security of Our own Person, than that thereby We might be in a better Capacity of transacting and providing for every thing that may Contribute to the Peace and Settlement of Our Kingdoms: For as on the one hand, no change of Fortune shall ever make Us forget Ourselves, so far as to Condescend to any thing, unbecoming that High and Royal Station, in which God Almighty by Right of Succession has placed Us: l So on the other hand, neither the Provocation or Ingratitude of Our own Subjects, nor any other Consideration whatsoever, shall ever prevail with Us to make the least step contrary to the True Interest of the English Nation; which We ever did, and ever must look upon as Our own. OUR WILL and Pleasure therefore is, That you of Our Privy-Councel, take the most effectual Care to make these Our Gracious Intentions known to the Lords Spiritual & Temporal in & about Our Cities of London and Westminster, to the Lord Mayor and Commons of Our City of London, and to all Our Subjects in general; m And to assure them, that We desire nothing more, than to return and hold a Free Parliament, wherein We may have the best opportunity of Undeceiving Our People, and showing the Sincerity of those Protestations We have often made of the preserving the Liberties and Properties of Our Subjects and the Protestant Religion; more especially the Church of England as by Law Established, with such Indulgence for those that Dissent from Her, as We have always thought Ourselves in Justice and Care of the general Welfare of Our People, bound to procure for them. And in the mean time You of Our Privy-Councel (who can judge better by being upon the place) are to send Us your Advice, what is fit to be done by Us towards Our Returning and the Accomplishing those Good Ends. And We do require you in Our Name, and by Our Authority, to Endeavour to Suppress all Tumults and Disorders, that the Nation in general, and every one of Our Subjects in particular, may not receive the least prejudice from the present Distractions that is possible. So not doubting of your Dutiful Obedience to these Our Royal Commands, We bid you Hearty Farewell. Given at St. Germane en Say the 〈◊〉 of January 1688/9. And of Our Reign the Fourth Year.  
By His Majesty's Command. MELFORT. Directed thus to the Lords, and Others of Our Privy-Councel of Our Kingdom of England.   

Remarks,  
THis Paper has been industriously and privately dispersed about the City, bearing the Title of his Majesty's Letter, being the Second (said to be by the Romanists) writ since his Desertion, to the Lords of the Privy Council; and because we have yet a veneration left for the Father of our Royal Princesses, we will forbear any severity in our remarks, as may seem designedly to aggravate those misfortunes his Majesty may lie under, though we cannot altogether be silent in a matter that leaves us all under the heavy imputation of the worst of Criminals: a His Mjesty is pleased in the beginning of his Letter to repeat the Reasons he gave in his first departure from Rochester, which because they are fully answered in another Paper, I shall here pass over, for being indeed writ in a hurry, and under apprehensions of danger, it is possible his more material and pertinent objections and reasons might have been slipped over; b but being now more at leisure, he has been pleased to let us know what we have been hitherto unfortunately ignorant of, and which our hardened infidelity, till we have more material demonstration than Words, will not readily let us assent to; how nice and cautious his Majesty has been of giving his People any just cause of complaint, may be guessed from this, that he has been pleased to trample upon, and in effect annul more Law▪ and Privileges in the four years of his Reign, than his Predecessors for fourscore years has made for our preservation: c Indeed as he is willing to suggest he made an offer of restoration and redress, but we way presume to believe he mistrusted his Game when saw the Trump turned up, and so like a wary Gamester was willing to change his Cards, or else refer himself to the good hap of another Deal: d His Majesty is pleased to tell us he had a desire to have all grievances redressed by a free Parliament, which he resolved speedily to call, but as this could not suit with the safety and wishes of some corrupt Ministers about him, so he was readily persuaded to quit those intentions; and though some of the Writs were issued out for their Sitting, yet he shown us the sincerity of his meaning by his sudden withdrawing: e That the Prince meant nothing else by his coming, than the re-settling the shaken Foundations of our Laws and Religion, by an open and free Convention of the States, is plain, from his great moderation since their Sitting, and we may justly say, he has been far more modest in all his demands, than we have been grateful in the readiness of our Grants. f I know not how we can believe his Majesty was ever under restraint since his so easy Desertion seems to contradict the Assertion: g That the City or Country had changed their resolution, we cannot apprehend, and their constant adhering to their first Addresses to the Prince, shows his Majesty has been deceived in his News: h How instrumental the Prince has been in defaming his Majesty, especially in the matter of the P. of Wales, all the Kingdom can judge, and we all could wish his Majesty's Reputation may be proved innocent and clear from so black a Design: However we wish that his Majesty had been pleased to have left the Infant among us, which after the proof of his Birth of the Queen had been a great Security of his Title to the Crown. i As his Majesty has received many signal proofs of our love and duty, so in this Retirement of his, he has been pleased to show us the first instance of his care of our Safety, k and as his Majesty never gave us reason to suspect the intention of his promises, never to molest or injure the peace and interest of his Kingdom of England, so we cannot but in gratitude wish his Majesty all the Peace and Quiet that his pious Zeal inclines him to. l His Majesty in his gracious Condescensions is pleased again to promise us the preservation of our Laws and Liberties, and especially the security of the Protestant Religion, but because we cannot invent other means to assure us of the performance of this than his Word, the repeated breach of which he has not as yet vouchsafed to acknowledge, we can hardly be sure of his Majesty's meaning, and may instead of finding redress of our grievances, be apprehended as Slanderers, and punished as Criminals.  
FINIS.   

Printed for John Fleming, 1688/9.