LESTRANGE'S NARRATIVE OF THE PLOT.  
Set Forth for the EDIFICATION Of His Majesty's LIEGE-PEOPLE.  
LONDON, Printed by I. B. for Hen. Brome at the Gun at the West-End of S. Paul's, 1680.   

L'ESTRANGE'S NARRATIVE, etc.  
IN This Age of Narratives, We should do with our Books, methinks, as Victuallers do with their Ordinaries; every Author hang up a Table at's Door, and say, Here you may have a very good Narrative, for Threepences, a Groat, or Sixpence, or Higher if you pl●ase ●or we have 'em of all Sorts and Sizes: The only Danger is, the Popping of Cat and Dog's Flesh upon us, for Coney, and Venison. For take 'em one with another, at the Common rate of Narratives, there's hardly One of Five that will pass Muster. But what is a NARRATIVE? you'll say.  
A Narrative is a Relation of something that may be seen, felt, heard, or understood: Or otherwise; It is a Relation of something that Cannot be either seen, felt, heard, or understood: For we have Our Narratives of things Visible and Invisible; Possible and Impossible; True and False: Our Narratives of Fact, an● our Narratives of Imagination. In One word: There was ne●er any thing Said, Done, or Thought of, Since the Creation; nor so much as the Fancy of any thing, tho' it was never Said, Done, or Thought of, but it will Bear a Narrative. So that the only point will be, out of This Infinite Diversity of Narratives, Which is the Narrative here in question.  
NOW the Narrative here in question, is the Narrative of The PLOT; but then there will arise Another Question; Of WHAT Plot? For there are as many sorts of Plots as there are of Narratives. There are Plots of Passion, and Plots of Interest; Plots General and Particular; Public and Private; Foreign and Domestic; Ecclesiastical and Civil: There are Plots to U●dermine Governments, and Plots to Support them; Plots Simple, and Counter Plots; Plots to make Plots; and Plots to Spoil Plots; Plots to give Credit to Sham-Plots; and Plots again to Baffle, and Discountenance Real Ones: Plots Jesuitical, and Phanatique; Plots Great and Small; High and Low; In short, There is not any thing under the Sun, that may serve us either for Pleasure, or Convenience, but we have a Plot upon't: And the Master-Plot of all, is the Plot how to get the Money out of One Pocket into Another; as is well Observed by one of the Ancients. For what is it that sets all Trades and Professions a work, Nay and all wickedness too; As Murder, Calumny, Oppression, Perjury, Subornation, Corruption, etc. But a Plot upon Money?  
NOW to come to my point. This Discourse is not a Wild and Rambling Narrative of some Indefinite Plot, that no body knows what to make of, or where to find it: But it is a Narrative (by way of Excellence) of THE Plot: that is to say, the Capital and Hellish Plot which is now in Agitation, for the Destruction of Our Prince, Religion and Government, to the Horror and Amazement of all the Reformed Catholics in Christendom. I call them Reform Catholics, rather then Protestants, because I take the Catholic to be the Ancienter Family of the Two: The Denomination being used in the Primitive Church; and not only to denote a Generality, or Universality of Profession: but also to Distinguish Orthodox, and Obedient Christians, from Schismatics, and Heretics. 'Tis cast in my Dish I know, as a Reproach, that I will not own myself to be a Protestant. Now so far as Protestant is a Catholic, or as the Church of England is That which They call Protestant, 'tis all one to me, whether I pass for a Reformed Catholic, a Church of England-man, or a Protestant. But when Heresy, and Schism comes to shelter itself under the Cover of Protestantism, (which is but too common a Case) I have no Ambition to be accounted any of those Protestants. So that my Crime is only that I am a Church-of-England-Protestant. But to return to my Theme.  
LET the Reader take notice, that as these Papers are only a Narrative of that Plot which is notoriously known, and distinguished from all other Plots, by the Emphasis of THE Plot: So it is L'Estrange's Narrative of That Plot; from whom no more Light can reasonably be expected then what arises out of matters within the Compass of His Observation. He does not pretend, either directly, or indirectly, to have been Entrusted by any of the Priests, or Jesuits; Or to have been present at any of their Bloody and Desperate Consults; or Privy to any of their Letters, Messages, or Commissions: So that We can say nothing at all to the Particulars that have been given in by the King's Witnesses: Or if we Could, the doing of it would signify no more than the holding of a Candle to the Sun: For whoever carefully peruses Their Writings and Depositions, compares their Testimonies; and yet doubts of the Plot, is litt●● better, certainly, then Sealed up under the spirit of Blindness, and Delusion. Let no body therefore expect from These Sheets, any Repetition of what the King's Evidences have Delivered, and Deposed with so much Solemnity already; but rather repair to the Memorials that they have committed to the Public, which are many, and Copious, for a Full, and Final Satisfaction. And in the mean time I shall apply myself to the making out of the Plot here in Question, my own way, (which, in strictness of speaking is not so properly a Plot, as an Intrigue.)  
THE Difference betwixt a Plot, and an Intrigue, I take to be This; a Plot may be Solitary, as when a man contrives or casts about with himself how to get a Dinner, (for the purpose) an Office, a Pension, etc. He brings his Ends about by his Own Wits, as by Cogging, Wheedling, Hectoring, Swearing, Lying, or the like, as best makes for his purpose; but an Intrigue is always Social, and managed by Intelligence and Confederacy; So that it seems to be a kind of a Plot with Complices, and yet it is not absolutely That neither. For the Critics will have a Plot to import only a General Resolution, or Agreement upon some Common End; and an Intrigue to signify a Certain Artifice, or Mystery in the manner of bringing it about. Of Intrigues, some are direct Conspiracies; as where a Design is Governed by the Contrivance, Advice, and Consent; and Emproved to the Common Advantage and Behoof of all the Parties therein concerned. Of This Kind, were the late Intrigues of the fanatics against the Government; where, as they all contributed to the Ruin of the Public, so did they all, in some measure, Partake of the Quarry. There are Other Intrigues which are not so much a ●●rmal Confederacy as a Blind Co-operation of several Part es, toward the gaining of such or such an End, by working upon the Passions and Weaknesses of one another, without ever Concerting the matter betwixt them▪ and This is the Quality of the Plot whereof I am now about to Treat.  
WE have been told abundantly of the Popish Plot, The Booksellers Beware houses are Crammed, and there Stalls charged with the Memorials of it; All our Courts of Justice, and Journals of State bear witness to it. It has set all Tongues and Pens going; and all Christendom Rings of it; So that since nothing can be added to what is already delivered upon This Single Subject, my business will be only to take up the Story where the great Evidences of the Truth of it have been pleased to let it fall.  
AFTER a Nice and Particular Deduction of the main Plot, they do unanimously Close upon This Assertion; that it was a Jesuitical Influence that Ruined the Late King, and Irritated the Faction: and that it is a Popish Ferment still at This day, that puts all the Schisms into motion. And for P●oof thereof, Doctor Oates refers us to the Instance of the Four Jesuits, and the Dominican that mingled with the Fifth Monarchy men, for the Burning of London; (Deposition 3●.) And to the Care that ●as taken for Tampering Scotland into a Rebellion as appears in everal Other Parts of his Depositions. The Dr. having made it out upon Oath that the Papists make use of the fanatics to compass their Own Ends upon the Government; So soon as he has done This, he gives over the point. It must be My part now, to Tack my own Observations to the Doctors; and, by showing, on the Otherhand, what Advantages the Schismatics make likewise of the Papists, for the Compassing of Their Ends, to lay open the Effects of so dangerous a Complication. This Addition we must take for granted would have been supplied by the Dr. himself, both as a ●oyall Subject to his Prince, and as a True Son of the Established Church, if matters of greater Moment had not taken him off at Midway: So that in Truth, This is rather a Continuation of the Drs. Narrative, than a Composition of my own. We are not to imagine that These Interests are Tied up by any Instrument of Compact, or Covenant; to Join in a League Offensive against the Government; but our mischief arises from a Resemblance of their Principles and not from any Correspondence of Understanding betwixt them. And yet while they seem to be blowing up and Countermining one another, they do really destroy Us; and it is the Church in the Middle that Suffers by the Distemper of the Two Extremes.  
NOW though I cannot allow it upon any Terms that they help one another by Consent; nothing can be plainer yet than that while they play, each of them their Own Game, the One still leads into the Others hand. If Popery Influences Schism, That Schism Slides as naturally into Popery, as Motion from One place of Rest tends to another. There's the Principle espoused already, and the Rest is only the Changing of the Name; The very Unfixing of a man is half the work done already; for he is so far advanced upon his way toward a new Settlement. It is a thing worthy of Note, the different manner of dealing with the Church of Rome, betwixt the Episcopal Clergy, and the Non Conformist; The ●ormer proceed by Dint of Argument, the Otoer only by Opprobrious Clamour, and Reviling; and ●or one fair Blow at the Pope, they make a hundred Rude ones at the Bishops; and (which is yet a fouler Scandal) the most Eminent, and Venerable Champions that ever put Pen to Paper in the Defence of the Reformed Communion, have been the Persons which they have still singled out for the Subject of their Exemplary Cruelty, and Rigour. which shows that their (Pretended) Quarrel is to the Name rather than to the Opinion. I call it a Pretended one: For if they Quarrel in Earnest with the Name of Popery, they fall foul upon the Best Friend they have in the World: For it is That single Pretext that Supports their Cause. It is observable also on the Other side; that notwithstanding all their Fierce and Virulent Exclamations against Priests and Jesuits, the Church of Rome does not vouchsafe them so much as one syllable in Return; and the Reason is This; The Conventicles are doing the Papists business to their hands; and the Enlarging of the Schism is the readyest way imaginable for the bringing in of Popery: So that it is but Commuting a Real Service for a little Dirty Language.  
BUT is it True then, that the Popish Emissaryes are so busy, and bear so great a sway among Our Dissenters? Yes (says Dr. Oats in his Dedicatory to the King) They were the First Authors and Contrivers of the Late Unnatural War; and of his Late Majesty's Unspeakable Sufferings and Barbarous Usage. It was These (says the Dr.) that brought him to his end, etc. And again, They were in most, if not all the Counsels that Contrived his Ruin. Two Jesuits (Simmons and Compton) were to pay the Thousand Pound promised to the Discoverer of the King after the Battle of Worcester, and Milton was a Known Frequenter of a Popish Club; Lambert a Papist of above Thirty years standing. What promises (says the Dr. again) did they make to Cromwell after his Majesty's Escape, to persuade the French King for Our Sovereign's Banishment out of France?  
AND is not This now as clear an Evidence as a body would wish, to prove the Industry, the Power, and the Malice of That Restless Party; and to show how they were In at all Destructive Plots and Counsels? Was it not a strange zeal too, that when Cromwell was Master of the Three Kingdoms, and had so great an Interest at Stake; the King might have Scaped yet for want of a Price upon his Head, if Father Simmons and Compton had not engaged for the Thousand pound Reward that was promised to Him that would deliver him up? Nay they were fain to Quicken Cromwell himself, to get the King Banished out of France. Which shows First, that the Papists trusted more to their Power with Cromwell, though a Schismatique, then to their Power with the French King, tho' a Roman Catholic. And Secondly, That they thought the French King would do more for a Schism, then for the Holy Church itself: Which Implies a High Degree of Mutual Confidence betwixt Their Priests and Our Dissenters.  
IT is a Common Objection in This Case, that the Dr. is too young to speak many of these things upon Knowledge; and that it would have been well, if he had produced some Historical Authority in Confirmation of the Reports, that Lambert was a Papist, and Milton a Frequenter of a Popish Club: And so in other like Cases. This is a doubt easily Resolved, for the thing it self being a Privacy in its own Nature, It was only Proper for the Registries of the Society, and not of a quality to be Inserted into Our Public Annals. The Dr. tells us Further, Pag. 29.) that Father Moor and Brown were sent into Scotland, with Instructions to carry themselves like Non conformist Ministers, and to Preach to the Disaffected Scots, etc. He tells us likewise (Pag. 67.) of Seditious Preachers, and Catechists, set up, sent out, maintained, and directed what to Preach in their Own, or Other Private Conventicles, and Field meetings, etc. Now This, I am told, is no Proof of the thing Done; but only of a Proposition and Design for the doing of it. But yet we find in the Drs. Reflections upon the Late Times, that the thing was there really done; and Pag. 8. that Blundel did actually teach Treason in several places of London.  
NOW if it be True, (As who dares question what the D●. Averrs?) that the Papists managed the Separatists in the late War; and that all Our Miseries proceeded from the Influence of Their Counsels; and that they are at This day, as Active, and as Powerful as ever: It follows, that the D●nger is as great No●, as ever it was; and that there is no security for ●his Nation, so long as the Agents for P●pery have This Retreat. We should never have known that the Papists had had so great a hand in Our late Broils; and in the Counsel, and Execution of the Murder of the Late King▪ if Dr. Oates had not Discovered it. For the Late King himself knew nothing of it and all the Memorials we have of those Times, even ●rom the most Popular Writers, are wholly Silent in it, in such sort as we find it, Here to be represented. There was a Seditious Clamour, I remember, against an Army of Papists, (as they called them.) that were on the King's side; but not One word of a P●p●st that was to be found among the Schismatics, in their Conventicles▪ Nor should I readily believe the Story at large, as it is now Reported, if any man but Dr. Oates had said it. I have run through the List of the Re●ici●es I have had Opportunities of knowing the Principal men of the Party and tracing all their Committees; and I cannot say that I found any one man upon That Roll, wh●m I so much as suspected for a Papist. So long as the work went Smoothly on▪ they called themselves (I remember) a Covenanting, a Fasting and a Praying People: But so soon as ever the Wind Turned, the Godly Party was presently Transformed; and those that I took before for Dissenting Protestants, are now made appear to have been, the greater Part of them, Priests, and Jesuits. It seems to be somewhat Unequally Divided, that the Schismatics should have the Benefit, and the Papists Support all the Scandal of the Rebellion; Would it not be better to let them fairly share the Profit and the Loss, betwixt them? And That's the Drs. sense too; for he does not deny but that the Separatists Acted Their Parts also: tho' only as men Imposed upon, and Outwitted, and under the Guidance, and Direction of the Papists.  
I shall now Appeal to any man: that has either Seen, or diligently read the Transactions of Those Times, whether or no he could ever have imagined that such a world of Priests, and Papists had wormed themselves into the Counsels and Congregations of That Faction, as the Dr. now Assures us there did. And what was the business, but This? The Papists carried the matter so Close, and looked so like Schismatics, that it was morally Impossible to discern the One from the Other, Now upon the Admission of the same Mixture, and Danger, at present, and the same difficulty likewise of distinguishing a Disguised Papist from an Outlying Protestant; we are lost unless we absolutely Clear those Kennels, since there is no Pu●ging of them. And the means of doing it, is Fair, Honest, and Obvious; and I would sa●, (if I durst open my Mouth so wide) of ABSOLUTE NECESSITY too. Let but the Laws be vigorously put in Execution, and the great Work is done. We shall not need to declaim upon the Probable Inconveniences that will arise from a longer Sufferance of This Licence: But we shall in good time show the Approaches they have already made, toward the Government; and that the Non-Conformists make as good use of the Papists, One way, as the Papists do of the Non-Conformists, Another.  
THE Increase of the Schism is the True measure of the Church's Detriment; for the One Loses just as much as the Other Gets. But the greatest mischief of all is the Dissolution of Order; For it is not only the Double Loss and Disadvantage of so many Friends, degenerated into so many Enemies; but the Loosening of the Band makes all fly to pieces; And turns That Community into a Multitude, which, ere while, was a Government. And This Dissolution does highly gratify our Adversaries, on Both hands; for Once out of Discipline, we are as bad as out of Protection: and in the Condition of a routed Army, when Twenty men in Good Order Value a Thousand Fugitives; For O●r Strength, as well as Our Reputation leaves us with our Union; and the Bulwark of the Reformation is left naked, and without either Honour, or Defence. If This should come to be the Case, what can we expect, but either to be at the Mercy of a Foreigner, or for want of a Common Enemy to become a Prey to one another? It is as natural, This, (though we know it upon Experiment too) as it is for one Grain of Sand to fall from Another, for want of a Mortar, or Cement to bind them together: Or as it is for point blank Contradictions to Cross one Another. And when the day of Controversy comes, what will all the Fractions of Dissenting Protestants signify, more, than so many Lose Atoms that will need a more miraculous Concourse of Accidents then ever the Philosopher dreamt of▪ to Jumble them into a Body. I will not deny but that they may so far Unite as to make head against a Common Danger; but they must live then like Salamanders, always in the fire; as being by their very Principles in a perpetual State of War; Impatient of one another, and consequently Encapable of any Political Establishment. He that thinks otherwise needs only look behind him to be convinced; where he will find, that through all the late Turns and Changes of State, the Prevailing Party did still set up for itself, to the Exclusion of all Others: Endeavouring to Erect a New Government, by Order, and Restraint, out of the Ruins of the Old one, which they had destroyed by Liberty, and Confusion. How wretched now is the Condition of those people who by dividing themselves, (upon mere Capriccios) from Regular Societys', do in effect, cut themselves off from their Claim to the Ordinary Comforts of Providence, and Nature; turning Peace itself into a Curse, which to all men in their Right Wits is undoubtedly the greatest of Blessings.  
AFTER a long, and I hope not (altogether) an Impertinent Preface, I shall now draw near to my Text. The King's Witness have given Evidence of a Popish Conspiracy; and not only of a Conspiracy carried on among Themselves, but of a Practice also upon the Schismatics, by casting of Scruples into their Heads; by Instilling dangerous Positions: by Preaching, in fine, & Catechising among them in Disguises; to Embroil the Government. Now let the World bear me Witness that I have nothing at all to do with the Original Plot; or the Priests Artifices of Moulding, and Cajolling the Dissenters any further than in a resignation to Truth and Authority: My purpose being only to set forth the Emprovements that have been made, under the Cover of One Plot, toward the Advancing of Another. I shall Date This my Narrative from the Transmigration of the Conspiracy; and so carry it on through all the steps of its Progression; as the Manner of Representing matters, the Probable Intent, and Effect of That way of Proceeding; The Translating of a Popular Odium, from the Papists, to the Government, and so mounting by degrees from a Zeal against Popery, to a Sedition against the State.  
IT is no Lessening of This Execrable Plot, to say that Subjects ought dutifully to acquiesce in the Resolutions of their Superiors: And that all Clamorous Appeals from the Magistrate to the Multitude are only so far pardonable, as the Abundance of Good will may help to excuse the want of Moderation and Discretion. So that a great part of those Fierce and Unmannerly Transports that have been employed upon This Unhappy Occasion, and without any regard, either to Quality or Sex, or, in truth, to the very Foundations of Christian Charity, might have been much better let alone; since they serve only to inflame the Vulgar, without any sort of avail to the Cause in question. It is no better, then either a Translating of the Judicature from the King and his Courts of Justice to the Rabble; or else a Complaint to the People brought in with a side-wind, against the Government; which are two dangerous Points; striking at his Majesty's Sovereignty the One way, and at his Reputation the Other: And yet all This is Tolerable, if it goes off so; and without blowing up a Passion into a Design. But we shall better understand the Drift of it by the Sequel. If it rests Here, it is only a laudable Zeal Ill managed: For it is not the Cutting Strictures of a sharp Tongue or a Virulent Pen, but the Sober and Impassionate Sentence of Law; that by Prisons, Axes, and Gibbets, determines These Controversies. In one word, let them vent their Indignation against the Principles and Practices of the Church of Rome, in what Terms they please, and make Popery as Odious as they can, provided that they do not encourage Tumults; and that they contain their Passions within the Bounds of Truth and Justice. If they once pass those Limits, Knowingly, and by Consent, 'tis no longer Zeal, but Confederacy.  
This Caution of keeping so strictly to the Rules of Truth, and Justice, has a respect, First, to the manner of representing both Persons, and Things; and Secondly, to the matter of Fact. Now if to the Intemperance of Words there be added a Malicious Aggravation of Circumstances, with Fiction, and Imposture over and above; 'tis to be feared that all is not right at the bottom. I shall be here encountered with a Reproof, for being so Tender, forsooth, of the Reputation of the Papists; and yet any man that is not Intoxicated with Popular Fumes, or led Hoodwinked into a False Conception of things, must necessarily see, that my great Concernment is for the Honour and Dignity of Christians; It being our Duty, to proceed according to the measures of Good Faith, and Justice, even with the worst of Infidels. But people you'll say may be mistaken, and give Credit to False Reports, without either Malice or Design. This is Confessed, and none of those Errors shall be put to account. If you ask me, To what End? Or, What's the Benefit of Imposing these Flams upon the Nation? It is easily Answered, First, that the Plying of the Multitude perpetually with Alarms, and Terrors, does in a manner turn their very Brains, take away their Judgements; and render them fit Instruments for the boldest, and most Unwarrantable Undertake. So soon as they are once touched in the Crown with These Conceits: 'tis but Sadling their Noses with a pair of State-Spectacles, and you may persuade them upon Newmarket Heath that they are Tumbling down Dover Cliff. Secondly, the very Perso●s that so artificially make the People Sick, are to reap the Profit of the Cure; which is such an●ther kind of Remedy as if a man should beat out his Brains for fear of the Headache. Briefly, they do first make the people M●d, and then by the Consent of the Madmen they themselves ar● m●de Governors of the Bedlam. But without any m●●e Descanting upon the Good or the Evil the Grounds or Consequences of Matters; we shall now deliver some few Instances to our present purpose.  
AT the time when Mr. powel the Merchant was so long missing, what a Rabble of Formal Relations went about then, of his being Trepanned a Shipboard, in what Company; what Money in his Pocket▪ what Forebodings of his Fate: and all terminating in a peremptory Conclusion that he ●as Murdered by the Papists; and not so few as five and Twenty or Thirty Pamphlets Trumpetting these Tidings all over the Kingdom. And yet not one Syllable of Truth in't at last.  
What a Noise was there about Sir Harry Titchbourn's House: Even to the very Catalogue of the Arms that were There taken: as 166. Muskets, 54. Case of Pistols, 37. Saddles, 47. Daggers, 2. Barrels of Bullets, 3. Bundles of Match; Letters sent express to Certify the Truth of the Story; and Copies of them dispersed presently at St. Alban, and elsewhere, without any Colour in the World for the Report. And so for the Hearse full of Arms that was Intercepted at Banbury, the Hampers of Fire balls that were found in the Savoy, and Somerset-house; which were only certain Rockets, Serpents, and other Artificial Fireworks which Mr. Choqueux had publicly prepared for the Entertainment os a Solemn Festival: And yet all these sham's were blown up and down the Kingdom, by News-letters and Printed Libels, with as much Confidence as if they had been Articles of Faith; and no doubt of it, but many Thousands of his Majesty's good Subjects believe them to This day, for want of being better informed. What a Bustle there was about Mr. Langhorns being Buried in the Temple, and what Remarks upon the Government for showing That Countenance to Papists? And upon the persons also that Assisted at That Funeral; when all This while, there was no more in the Case then only the Body of a Gentleman that died in Holburn, and was There Interred, upon the night to the day of Mr. Langhorns Execution.  
THE History of bedingfield's being privately Conveyed out of the Gate house, and a Dead Body left in his place, passed so Current, that Sir William Waller himself (tho' he perhaps could smell a Jesuit as far as another body) took a long Journey into the North upon't, to catch the wrong Bedingfield. The Circumstances of that Adventure would be too Comical for This place. We could tell you the Conduct of the whole Stratagem, and what names here at London went into the Black Book for not believing it. A man would really bless himself to see the Romances, the Glosses, and the Scurrilous Buffoneries that were published by the Ribald Scribblers here about the Town, upon This Subject.  
BUT then, the landing of Forty Thousand French upon the I'll of Purbeck, shook the very Foundations of the Earth: The Factions drew presently into Cabals, upon the Tidings of it, with Horrible and Contumelious Reflections upon Those in Authority, as Parties to the Conspiracy. At Coventry they broke up the Market upon the News on't; and the Common people Immediately divided into Knots, and Consultations; some of them coming very Fayrly to This Resolution, that there was no way but cutting the Papists Throats, to hinder them from Joining. But This Advice was soon Contradicted, and so the Mischief went no farther: Who knows what This Invention might have produced, if the Credit of it had continued but four and twenty Hours longer?  
THE most Formidable Story of All, is the Conspiracy of the Prentices: and there was such Work made with Capt. Tom, as if the Grand Signior had been pouring down Highgate Hill with a hundred and fifty thousand men at's heels. There were so many Thousands of them upon the List by Tale and most of them Papists too; An account of what Contributions to the Charge, (alas!) of a Threepenny or Groat-Clubb; whose Throats were to be Cut; and through what Constables Teritoryes they were to take their March; and This Scandal upon the Body of this Loyal, and Honourable City, exposed in Ballads and Libels by every rascally Pamphletier. And what was all This mighty matter at last, but a parcel of good Jolly Lads that had been busy at the burning of the Pope, and prevailed upon to set their hands to the Petition that was then afoot? These Blades, finding that the Petition had given Offence, propounded the doing something on the Other Side too, that might show they were neither fanatics, nor Papists; and so they gave public Notice in Thompson's Intelligence of their Intentions upon the Anniversary of his Majesties Restauration to burn the Rump. The First time perhaps that ever a Conspiracy against the Government was notified in a News-Book. I shall now show you in an Instance or two, how bold they make with the Kings Witness, as well as with the rest of his Majesties Subjects; and what Slurs they put upon the World (the Citizens of London Especially) under the Countenance of the Plot, and Authority of the King's Evidence.  
there'S a Pamphlet entitled, A Narrative of unheard of Popish Cruelties toward Protestants beyond Seas: Or a New Account of the Bloody Spanish Inquisition, Published as a Caveat to Protestant's, by Mr. Dugdale. Printed for, etc.  
THIS New Account (as I am credibly Informed) is only an Old thing Reprinted; The Subject Suited to the Humour of the present Season, and Mr. Dugdale upon the Title-Page exhibited as the Author of it, and Ric. Dugdale Subscribed to the Dedication. This was the Second Slur that past the Press under That name. The First Impression went off Clear with Mr. Richard Dugdale in the Title page, as the Composition of Mr. Dugdale the Witness; but the Booksellers finding the business to be Smoked, the Witness name being taken notice of to be Stephen, and not Richard, he very prudently left out the Christian name in the Second Impression, and made it only Mr. Dugdale, and so it went for the Witnesses again. His work being only to find out a Witnesses Namesake, by great good Fortune he pitched upon an Alehousekeeper in Southwark of That Name, to carry off his Project; and the man (as I am told) is a very Honest man. Now here are Three Abuses fobbed upon us at once, First, an Old Book for a New one; Secondly, one that knows nothing of the matter in question, under the Semblance of one of the Kings Witness. And Thirdly the Sergeant of a False Author. But the most remarkable piece of all is yet to come.  
IT was my Hap, some three or four Months since, to cast my Eye upon a Book, Entitled, A Narrative and Impartial Discovery of the Horrid Popish Plot: carried on for the Burning and Destroying of the Cities of London and Westminster, with their Suburbs, etc. And Dedicated to the Surviving Citizens of London ruined by Fire, etc. I came to This Pamphlet with Expectation of some Notable Discovery; especially finding a Promise in the Title page of Depositions, and Informations NEVER BEFORE PRINTED: But when upon the Perusal, I found the Narrative part of it to be taken, Verbatim almost, out of two or three old Seditious Libels against the Government, that were printed by Stealth, some ten or a dozen years ago, (before Mr. Bedloes time of Action) and scattered up and down in most of the Public Houses upon the great Roads of England▪ by half a score sometimes in a place, according to the Ordinary Method of the Faction in such Cases; I made a strict Enquiry into the matter, and this was the business.  
There was a Consult of three or four Booksellers over a bottle of Wine, what Subject a man might venture upon at That time, for a Selling Copy: One of the Company was of Opinion that a Book of the Fires would make a Smart Touch; and so they all agreed upon't; and propounded to get some of the Kings Witness hands to't; Naming first one, and then another, they came at length to a Resolution; and pitched upon Trap ad Crucem, and The History of the Fires; as two books that would afford matter enough, if they could but get them put into a Method, and have a Certain persons hand to the Owning of ●hem. Hereupon they applied themselves to One to draw up the Story; and so it went to the Press under his hand, all but what was Printed Copy; and he made Several Alterations too in the Epistle, out of his own head, after it was composed at the Press. So that here are a Couple of Old Libels turned into a New Narrative, and the King's Magistrates, and Officers defamed afresh, and the menage of This Scandal committed to the hand of a Common Calumniator. As to what Concerns Mr. Bedloes Evidence I have nothing to Say; nor to the Papists burning the City; nor to any one point in the Pamphlet which Mr. Bedloe can pretend to Speak to upon Knowledge; but This I shall Say; that there are Several Groundless and dangerous Passages in it; and that the most Inslaming and Seditious of them are only Libels of Ancient Date, Reprinted; That it was a Contrivance Set afoot by Booksellers for Profit, drawn up according to their Order and Direction, and an Abuse in the very Original Intendment: Th● Citizens and the Kings Witness being only propounded as a Property toward the gaining of it some Reputation.  
IT is Sufficiently known, with what Greediness These, and a Thousand other Impostures, and Aggravations have been Swallowed by the Common people; and made use of as Instances to Illustrate and Confirm the Plot. But What? you'll Say, There's a Mourneval of Booksellers upon a Trial of Skill in their Own Trade: One Knave Invents a Story, and a Thousand Fools Believe it. How does all This amount to the Proof of a Faction? Why truly; tho' it looks very Suspiciously, considering Who they are that Advance and encourage, and the Interest that is promoted by these Mistakes: Considering also with what Violence, and Industry they are carried on, and that the Cry too run all one way: I shall yet content myself with a Probable Surmise that there may be a Factious-Intent; as if I should See a man riding Post from Barnet towards London, I would lay ten to One that This man is going for London; and yet 'tis not Impossible neither but he may take up by the way: if I find afterward that he went thorough, I should think it a hundred to one that his purpose was for London, when he First Set out: This is the very Case. These Practices are the High way to Sedition, and 'tis Ten to One that they'll come up to't at last: which if they do 'tis a Hundred to One that they Designed it, from the Beginning.  
IT is a very Ill Sign too, the Fierceness of the Abettors of these Shameless, and Ridiculous Forgeries ag ainst any man that has not Faith enough to believe that the Moon is made of Green Cheese: And This they call a Ridiculing of the Plot; and making Sport with Sentences of Parliament, and Judicial Proceedings. I would fain see where either the King, the Parliament, or any Court of Justice has verified any Single point that I have reflected upon: And I defy the Devil himself, in any of his Servants, to Say wherein I have not paid all due Respects, as well to the Persons of the King's Witnesses, as to their Evidence. What Diminution is it to Dr. Oates his Narrative, to say that the Contrivances of the Mercenary Booksellers, and Scribblers herein mentioned are sham's. What Contradi ction or Abatement in it to the Truth, or Credit of the Popish Plot, to show that there is a Schismatical Plot afoot too; and that One moves under the Countenance of Another: Now to Pretend a Plot, where there is None, is next door to the Denial of it where it Is. Shall any man Argue that the Disparagement of a Juggle, weakens a Truth? Sr. Edmondbury Godfrey was never the Less Murdered, because Mr. Powel escaped. Shall any man Infer That there were no black Bills Provided, because there were no Arms found in Sir Henry Titchburns house? Or because the Prentices were but in Jest, that therefore the Bloody Pilgrims were not in Earnest: The Justification of Mr. Choqueuxes Fireworks has no effect at all upon the Teuxbury mustard-Balls. What is my Affirming that Langhorn was not Buried in the Temple, to the Business of Valladolid, or Salamanea? The Hearse of Arms was a Flam. And what Then? must the Evidence therefore of the Pistol and the Dagger be one too? And I would fain know what Relation bedingfield's escape out of the Gatehouse, (after he was Dead) has to the Consult at the White horse Tavern in the Strand.  
As to the Popish Plot that is Sworn by the King's Witnesses, I lay my Faith at their Feet, without any further Enquiry, or Dispute. But where I find Rank and Palpable Falsehoods and Contrivances Imposed upon the World for Certain Truths, and nothing but Passion and Confidence to Support them; I reckon myself bound in Duty (so far as in me lies) to lay open the Abuse. For this way of Bruiting up a Plot where there is none, is a Design of a most dangerous Consequence, and a Snare to all Honest men. It is a kind of Experiment upon the Humour of the Multitude, to try what they will Bear, and whether they be yet mad enough or not, to swallow Impostures without examining. If they find the People in Tune for their Purpose, and Charmed into such an awe, that at the very name of a Plot they shall Dare like Larks under the dread, even of a Painted Hobby; There's the Foundation of a Civil War, and an Arbitrary Power laid already. They shall make what Plots, and what Plotters they please; and every man that stands in their way, shall be a Papist or a Traitor, according as they think fit to represent him to the Rabble. If this be the fruit of being given over to believe Lies, we have great reason sure to take all possible Care that we be not deluded, and to distinguish betwixt the voice of Authority, and That of Rumour. The Common way of Reply upon This Topique is to break out into Exclamations, and to hit a man in the Teeth with the Shame of the Meale-Tub, and Twenty Such Fooleries; as if there were no more in the business than a Malicious Imagination; and only a more colourable Invention to discredit a Real Plot, under pretence of a Counterfeit, and casting a Mist before the People's Eyes, that they should not know one from tother. My Answer is Short; that we have the matter of Fact in proof Here before us: That the True Plot and the Counterfeit are in such manner Separated, that the One is not at all in dispute, and the other is Condemned. And we shall now show you what use is made by a Faction under the Disguise of prosecuting Papists, to Defame, and to Destroy several of his Majesties Loyal Subjects and Church of England Protestants. For let a man's Actions, his Conversation, his Religion be what they will, 'tis but besmearing him with the Scandal of being Popishly-Affected, and his Work is done. There is a kind of Spell in the Word Popery. It transforms a Man into a Beast: And like the Great Medicine, it turns whatever it touches into Plot. If a man will not believe it to be Christmas at Midsumer, he's in the Plot; If he loves his Church, his Prince, and his Country, and stands for a Burgess or a Common Councell-man, 'tis but Saying that he's Popishly affected, and he becomes presently as an Heathen or a Publican. If he refuses to Associate, or Petition, he shall be Marked; and well too if he scape So; For we have gotten a Trick, when men will not do as we would have them, of laying them up for Treason; (no matter for Evidence) and when we have put them out of Reach of a Habeas Corpus, 'tis but showing them a Payr payr of Heels ourselves, and leaving Them to Struggle with the Law. As for Example.  
ON the 6th of April last, about 7. in the Morning, Major Ovington and Mr. Thomas King were taken out of their Beds and Charged with High Treason; their Boxes and Papers Rifled, and Themselves Examined apart; but nothing of Ill appeared against them. The Magistrate began with the Major; and when he had tried both by fair means and foul, to get him to sign such Papers and Informations as he himself had ready drawn; finding that he would not be wrought upon, he left the Major, and went to Mr. King, telling him how sorry he was to see him drawn into such a horrid Business: How that his Majesty had the matter before him, and that there were 6. or 7. Witness that appeared against him. Mr. King, in great Admiration, asked what this mighty business might be: but he went back to the Major, without giving any Reply: and after a little while returned to Mr. King. Major Ovington (Says he) has dealt Generously with me, and he shall far the better for't; for I do not desire the Destruction of any man: But still professing more kindness to Mr. King, for his Father's Sake, and looking upon Him as a Person only drawn in. So he pressed Mr. King to a Confession, and told him, if he would but Subscribe Such a Paper as he would draw up, and knew to be True, he would not Commit him, and it should be the better for him. Mr. King asked him what he would be at, and told him that if the Major had charged him with any Ill thing toward the King, or the Government, he was an Unworthy man. Whereupon he went his way, and Committed the Major to the Gatehouse.  
The Magistrate having left Mr. King at his own House, came back to him immediately, and told him, 'tis well Mr. King (says he) that you are fallen into my hands; for if I please, there's but a step betwixt You and Death; I am loath to Commit you, because I know it will be your Ruin; every thing being made out so clear against you; Mr. King still urging to know what all This meant, the Magistrate went to the further end of the room, and fell to writing; Mr. King, being desirous to see what he wrote; He held the Paper in his hand and asked him if he did not know of a Design to Seize the Tower, and rescue the Lords; and several other lewd Things. To which Mr. King replied, that it was all Villainy. The Magistrate gave Mr. King a Bottle of Cider, and Treated him with an Appearance of much kindness. After a while, he took Mr. King in his Arms; telling him he saw he was resolved upon his Own Ruin. Mr. King desired that he might apply himself to the Secretaries of State to be Examined by Them; which the Magistrate took Ill, pretending that his Majesty had left the business to Him. He was trying a long time to prevail upon Mr. King to swear against Major Ovington; but not succeeding, he threatened to lay him in Irons; and so Committed him to the Gatehouse, with Order to the Keeper, that the Gentlemen should not come together, nor receive any Message, without having taken any Examination upon Oath, before his Commitment; neither after it, was there one word of Treason Sworn against him. He was Committed betwixt Twelve and One upon the 6th, and the Deposition against him was taken the day after he was Committed, at the Rhenish-wine house in Channel Row, Threatening also to lay the Witness, in Irons, if he would not Depose what he the Magistrate had drawn up. The Copy of the Mittimus follows.  WHEREAS Oath hath been made before Me, that the Person I herewith send in Custody to you (Mr. Thomas King) hath Treasonably contrived a Rebellion, and falsely Designed the accusing several of His Majesty's Loyal Peers and Subjects of the said Treason. These are therefore to Will and require you in his Majesty's Name to receive and Keep the Body of the said Thomas King in safe Custody. until he shall be Discharged by due Course of Law. Given under my Hand and Seal the 6 th' Day of April. 1680. 
THESE Gentlemen being brought into the Court by their Habeas Corpus the next Term, the prosecution was looked upon to be Illegal, and Ridiculous, to the highest Degree; there appearing no colour from the Information, or Examination, either for the matter Charged upon them, or so much as the bare Commitment; Only it was observed, that beside the Injustice of a Commitment without Evidence, the Crime was laid Treason, on purpose that they might not be bailed in the Vacation.  
THIS I hope will not be denied to have been a Sham-Plot; and promoted by a Faction too: For it was the work of Twenty Libels to defend the Proceeding: The Persons accused are Gentlemen of approved Loyalty, Fair and Honourable Conversation, and men zealously affected to the Church of England. There was an attempt made by the same Magistrate at the same time upon another Gentleman in the same House, (a Cavalier of unquestionable Loyalty and Honour) and upon a like pretence too; But That Trepan was let fall again.  
here'S the Fruit of taking up Plots upon Trust; and running Headlong from the Fear, nay, from the very Name of Popery, into the Thing itself. Let any man show me a more Imperious Tyranny, if he can, or a more Implicit Faith; then for men to be worse than Spirited away thus, contrary to the Law, and without Remedy; and and run down for Criminals by a Popular Consent, without understanding one Syllable of the matter in question. These Practices and Excesses are the Subject of my Narrative; and so far from misrepresenting the Popish Plot, that there is not any sort of Correspondence, in This Case, betwixt the One, and the Other. And I defy any man to show, wherever I let fall so much as One word of the Popish Plot, but with a modest and due Respect to the Government. Neither, in effect, am I become the Mark of every Paltry Libeler, for reflecting upon the Reality of the One Plot; but for the exposing the Juggle of the Other. And it is Time certainly for every man to look about him, when our Lives, Liberties, and Fortunes lie all at mercy; and every Honest man exposed to the Animosities of Faction, and Revenge: For we are not judged by what we are in Our Selves, in Our Conversations, and Opinions; but by what we are said to be. What becomes of Magna Charta, at This rate, and the Privileges of an English man's Birth right? If men shall be hurried into jails without Evidence, because they will not Subscribe either Confessions, or Accusations, touching matters which they know nothing of, and Witnesses Tampered afterward by Menaces, for Proofs ex post Facto, to colour such Illegal Commitments? We have had but too much of This already; and no body knows whose Turn it may be next: Since what was the Case of these Gentlemen, may be any man's.  
DOES it not behoove us, now, to distinguish betwixt Reason, and Clamour; betwixt Truth, and Calumny, betwixt the Acts of Authority, and the Licence of Tumults; betwixt the Just and Temperate Deliberations and Resolutions of Government, and the violent Heats and Partialityes of the Common-people? How come the Multitude to be Judges of Plots, and Popery, more than of Other Crimes and Misdemeanours? For That's the Tribunal of the Faction, where every man is to be made a Traitor, or a Papist, as They think meet. And it is not enough neither to be fairly acquitted upon a Trial before a Court of Justice; for the Bench and the Jury are presently arraigned upon't by an Appeal to the Rabble.  
It is a great point gained, where a Faction has gotten so much the Command of the People, as to make them believe every thing that They Say, and approve of every thing that they do. There is a Plot no doubt on't; but That Plot does not yet create Another Plot, where there is no Plot at all. The Popish Plot has Bounds, and Limits; the Kings Witness tell us what it is, and where it lies; and we have had nothing New of That Plot, now a good while. But this Imaginary Plot, is a Plot upon a Perpetual Plot, and to keep the Nation So long in Awe of the Popish Plot, till the Faction may execute Another Plot of their Own. And what is that Other Plot of their Own, but, First▪ to break in upon the Ministers and Friends of the Government; and Secondly, to undermine the very Foundations of it. This is no more Said, than what their Practices make good▪ and the Series of the Design hangs as Naturally, one piece to Another, as if they were but so many Links of the Same Chain.  
As to what Concerns the Capital Plot, in the proceedings upon the Conspirators, and the Subsequent Severityes upon the Papists; all This is an Act of the Government. But the Superfaetation of Other Plots, which neither the State, nor the Witnesses take any notice of: Plots that have no Affinity or Connexion with the Principal; nor, in Truth, any Existency in Nature, other then in the Forge of a Fanatical, and Republican Brain. These Plots are not so Sacred, I hope, but a body may ask, Whence they Come, and Whither they Go, without any Offence, either to Authority or Good manners. Nay, what if a man should examine them, by what Commission it is, that they change their Style, and render Papists, in the Original, into Popishly Affected, in the Translation? How it comes, of a Down right Popish-Plot, to be a Popishly-Affected-Plot? This stretch puts the Church-of-England Men into a worse Estate than the very Papists. For there are certain Known and Political Conditions, whereupon a Papist may come off, by satisfying the Law; But Popishly-Affected is such a Drag Net, it sweeps All. In Other Cases, there must be Probata, as well as Allegata; but Here, the simple Allegation does a man's business; for how is it possible for any man to prove a Negative, and a Thought, which he must do, to discharge himself of being Popishly-affected?  
The Common People take Popishly Affected I know, for one of the Deulishest things that can be said of a man; especially as it is dressed up with Plots, Massacres, Conflagrations, etc. to make it the more Terrible. And therefore whensoever the Faction has a mind to expose any man to the Outrages of the Rabble, they are pleased to give him the Honour of This Character; which presently raises the Country upon him, as if he were a Wolf, or a Common Enemy. Now This Brand of Popishly Affected is not Set upon a man for any Correspondency of Dangerous or Erroneous Principles that he has with the Church of Rome; but they make use of it as a Discriminating Mark betwixt themselves and Other men. He that will not believe all the Fooleries They tell him, nor join in all the Iniquities that they propound to him: He that will not Contribute, Swear, Petition, Vote, Associate, as They would have him, That man comes Immediately to be Popishly Affected. He that speaks Reverently of the Dignity, or the Persons of Bishops; the Orthodox Clergy, the Ministers of State and Justice; the Service-book, the Rites and Appointments of the Church in opposition to the Assemblyes-Directory, with the Practices of their Slovenly and Licentions Conventioles; That man's Popishly Affected. To Preach up Obedience to Civil Magistrates; To cry down Schism; To choose a Good Friday rather, or an Ash-wednesday, for a Fast, than a Whitson-Tuesday; to lay more stress upon the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, than the Solemn League and Covenant; To Advance the King above the Two Houses; To deny the Sovereignty of the People; and to maintain that God is the God of Order, and not of Confusion, All This is to be Popishly-Affected.  
But let us now Consider how This Calumny comes to be taken up; What's the Drift, and (if This work goes on) what will Probably be the Issue of it.  
It may be observed, that so long as we were upon the Scent of Priests and Jesuits; the Plot in motion; and that every day presented Fresh Game of Papists, and Conspiracies: So long, I Say the Faction joined with the Government in a Common Care, for the Peace and Safety of the Public: Only with This Difference; that whereas the Magistrate proceeded to the Necessary Punishment of Offenders, according to the Gentle, and Impartial Methods of Law and Justice: and with Humanity and Compassion for their Persons and Errors, the Faction, on the Other hand, precipitated all things with Violence, and Clamour. Not contenting themselves with the bare Oblation of so much Blood, for the Satisfaction of Public Justice, unless they turned the Tragedy into a Farce too, and made Sport with the Calamities of the Miserable. And what was All This Vehemence and Pother, but to Elevate the Opinion of their Zeal (in proportion to the Noise they made) above all others, and Tacitly to reproach the Government for their Candour, and Moderation.  
Nor did they keep themselves within the Bounds of Inferences, and Tacit Implications, long neither; But so Soon as ever any man came off, whether through the Insufficiency of Proofs, or the Incompetency of Witnesses, they flew open-mouthed in the face of the Bench and Jury: and in so bold a manner too, as if the Tribunal were only to Hear the Cause, the Jury to stand with their fingers in their mouths, and the Pit to Decide it? What is become of the Manhood, and Generosity of the English Nation; That we are fallen into This Insatiate Thirst of Blood? Where's our Respect to our Superiors; while we thus Arraign Authority? Where to our Selves, in the Seditious Usurpation of a Right that does not belong to us; and in Contradiction to the Duties of Allegiance, and Common Prudence? Where to our Fellow-Subjects; in our Needless, and Unmannerly Importunities, for more Rigour than the very Letter of the Law will bear? Is This doing as we would be done by? Or is it doing either as we Have been done by? But I shall now come to the Transition of the One Plot into the Other, and the turning of Papists into Popishly-affected; wherein I must distinguish betwixt the Words and Intent of Authority, and the Unwarrantable Application and Construction of the Faction.  
In all Changes of State the Pillars must first be removed, before the Frame of the Government can be dissolved. And therefore 'tis discreetly done, for a Faction to begin with Persons, ere they broach their Opinions; For it would be a great Oversight to pick a quarrel with the Administration, and at the same time to be laying of New Foundations. It is also another point of Skill, the Running of People down (as I find it in a Coffee house Author) without the Assistance of the Penal Statutes, or the Formality of trying men by their Peers. And nothing does That Exploit more effectually, than the Device of Popishly Affected. It is a snare, that all the Precaution in the world cannot avoid; and a most Insensible slip from Religion, to Sedition; as we find in the Progress of our present Distempers. For the business of Popery is now in a great measure laid aside; and the Dissenters and Republicans at work as hard as they can drive; the One to undermine the Church, and the Other the Monarchy; and jointly engaged in a Common Endeavour and Design for the Ruin of Both. So that the same Plot, in Effect, is carried on still, but in Other Names, and by Other hands. The Original Quarrel was to the Papists: This is to the Popishly-affected. The Church of Rome was struck at in the One, and the Church of England is struck at in the Other: And what the Jesuits began, the Schismatics are now to Finish. Let no man question the Truth of This, unless he will First put out his Eyes for his Credit; or bring a Certificate from the College that he is Non-Compos, and does not know Chalk from Cheese. Provided always, that These People prove not at last to be Dr. Oates' Jesuits in the shape of Schismatics; as I have heard of some Schismatics too in the shape of ●esuits. I shall be told that This is only a Blind to cover the Popish Plot; whereas in Truth that Pretext is only a Blind, to cover the Other; and all their shifts are but so much Lime thrown in the People Eyes, to Blear, and Confound them that they may not distinguish Prelacy and Popery, Papists, and Church-Protestants, the One from the Other.  
AND another Trick they have got; which is, to run canting with their Appeals to the King and Parliament; as if the very Suggestion of This Plot were a Contradiction to the Evidence of the Other; and consequently to the Authority, Justice, and Resolution of his Majesty and the Three Estates. Are not our Impostors come now to a prodigious degree of Boldness, when they shall dare to Father such sham's as These upon the Supreme Authority of the Nation. But what's all This, to the old Story of Fathering Murder, Sacrilege, and Rebellion upon God Himself. 'Tis very True, that the King and Parliament have agreed upon't, and declared themselves fully fatisfyed that there is a Damnable Popish Plot, but not one word of a Popishly-Affected Plot; neither do I find that our Refiners, and Improvers of Mischief have any Commission for the extending of the Popish Plot so far; and themselves at last to be the Judges of That Popish Affection: Much less for the turning of That Reproach upon the Church of England, which was intended only against the Opinions, and Practices of the Church of Rome. It will be said that they do not blast the Church of England, but here and there a Rotten member of it, that carries on the Popish Interest under That mask? 'Tis very right, that, take them in the good Humour, and they will yet allow Two Bishops of the Twenty six to be Protestants; And Four Protestant Divines in the City of London; So that here's no Formal Attaque made as yet upon the Body of the Church; Only Dr. Owen, Mr. Baxter, and two or three more of them lie Pelting at the Outworks, while the Lay-Brothers are employed, some in Mining; others in Drawing here and there a Principal Stone, or Timber out of the Building; and every man, in his place, and station (according to the Covenant) contributing toward a Total Ruin: Only the work is now carried on by Other hands; or at least under Other Appearances. The Plot in Substance seems to be much the Same, saving only the Exchange of Popery for Schism. We shall now briefly Touch upon the Methods by which these Ends are to be brought about.  
BY This Invention of Popishly Affected they can Pick their Men, and cast out all that are not for their Turn; the Word being only made use of for a Distinction betwixt the Adherents to the Church, and the Protestant Disenters. pray see (says the Author of England's Great Interest) that you choose Sincere Protestants, Men that do not play the Protestants in Design; and are indeed, Disguised Papists; ready to pull off their Masque when time serves. [When the barefaced Papist cannot do it, (says the Instrument of Association, Pag. 4.) the Protestant in Masquerade shall; the Stratagem of This very day: And above all to be watched against.] And in an Account from Guild-Hall, they are called Protestants in Masquerade, in good time to be taken notice of, and receive the Reward due to their Merits. [To be marked (says Another) as the worst of Papists, and so dealt with in City and Country.] Now for Variety-Sake they call them Courtiers; Pensioners, and the like; and the Clergy are Treated (as upon the late Election of Knights of the Shire at Chelmsford in Essex (in the stile of Jesuitical, Dumb Dogs; Dark Lanterns; Baal's Priests; Damned Rogues; Jacks and Villains; The Black Guard; The Black Regiment of Hell, etc. And a General Exception made (by the Writer of the Seasonable Warning) to all men in Office, Preferment, Salary, or Court-Employment. So that here's in a manner the one Half of the Kingdom (and the Legal Half too) as much as in Them lies) excluded from a share in the Common Interest of the Nation▪ with what A●m● and Intent, let the World judge.  
THE Popish Plot is Sworn by all the Witnesses to have been Levelled at the Life of his Sacred Majesty, the Subversion of the Government, and the Destruction of the Protestant Religion. Now Whosoever well considers the manner of Proceedings, together with the S●ile, and Doctrine of the Positions that are now afoot, (though pretendedly upon Another Bottom) will find many Passages that look Untowardly the Same way.  
First, as to the Life of the King, and the Direct Subversion of the Government, the Faction is not advanced so far yet; for That's a Villainy that must be Imposed upon the People, as a thing in such and such Cases to be Lawful, before there can be any Thought of putting it in Practice. And herein, Our late Reformers have outdone the Jesuits Themselves: For over and above the Exposing of a Prince, on the One side, for Heresy, and, on the Other side, for not submitting to Christ on his Throne; and equally on Both sides to the Utmost Extremities; we have got Here the start of them, in Erecting a Principle that makes the Sovereign further Accountable to the People, upon a point of State; as we shall presently make appear by several Instances. Now if it be once laid down for a Maxim, that upon such or such Conditions, the Subjects may take away the Life of their Prince if they will; 'tis Damnable Odds that upon such a Supposition, some Reprobated wretch or other will do it if he can.  
I shall begin with the Acute Author of the Weighty Considerations Considered. I will hope (says he) Pag. 6. there are very few in This Nation so Ill Instructed, that do not think it in the Power of the People to DEPOSE a Prince who really undertakes to Alienate his Kingdom, or to give it up into the Hands of Another Sovereign Power; or that really Acts the Destruction, or the Universal Calamity of his People. The Author of the Plea to the Duke's Answer says that when Kings themselves be Ill ones, God not only Approves of their Removal, but even Himself does it.  
The Political Catechism places the Government in the Two Houses of Parliament. The Late Letter to a Person of Honour, etc. says, there may be a Self-Deposition of a Prince actually Regnant. And again, The Weighty Considerations Considered, lodges the Government in the Major Part. And almost every Fresh Libeler speaks to the same Purpose. Now do but once admit, that a King May Forfeit his Royal Authority, and you shall never fail of those that will say, he Has done't; So long as there are men in the world that had rather Govern, then Obey: And the stress does not lie upon the Quality of the King's Actions neither, but upon the Construction that shall be made of them, by any Reprobated Band of Conspirators, that shall presume to Censure them. Whatsoever the Faction shall think fit to call Misgovernment, must be so Interpreted, and Reputed: and to Them only must we repair, as to the Oracles of Law, and Conscience. The Safety of the King and Government, our Religion, Laws, and Freedoms, are only, according to This Position, dependent upon the Humour of the Multitude: So that it is but Their bare Saying, that the King has Forfeited his Cronn, the Church their Privileges, the Nobility their Session of Peerage; the Commons their Character of Representation; the Merchants their Liberty of Trade; the Gentry▪ and Commonalty their Lives, Freedoms, and Estates, and the work is done. This was the Course of all our late violent Changes of Government; and the Positions which are now every day recommended to the Nation toward the Playing of the same Game over again, were the Groundwork of all our Late Miseries and Confusions.  
Now as to the Church: Are not the Dissenting Ministers at work again Tooth and Nail against the Act for Uniformity; and Preaching up a Schism, under the Colour of Formalizing upon Scruples? Do they not first Instigate the People (in Contempt of Law, and Order) to a Separation; and then furnish them with the best pretences they can, for their Disobedience? What will become of the Protestant Religion, when the Restraint of Ecclesiastical Discipline and Jurisdiction shall be taken away; and men left to Themselves to go their own ways, and choose their own Religions at Pleasure? If This be not an attempt upon putting the Last ●ranch of the Popish Plot in Execution by an Extirpation of the Protestant Religion; then the Church of England, (as it is legally established) must be confessed, in Their Opinions, not to be Protestant: And consequently be called to an Account for That supposed Defect, as not being Comprehended within the Equity of their Good Will and protection.  
I could multiply These Instances without end; but here's enough said to give Evidence of a Pestilent Design. But whether it be a Design of a Popish Contrivance, tho' set a foot by the Fanatiq●●s; or purely a Fanatical Design; I shall not Determine; but leave the Animadversion of it to the Consideration of Authority, and appeal to the most Partial Reader for the Truth on't; Concluding with This Observation. That there is great Malice as well as Danger in the Project: For Through all this Audacious Licence of Libelling the King himself, the privy-councel, the Judges, the Jury; etc. of Tearing the Church to pieces, and Treasonably undermining the very Foundations of the Government, by the Erecting of Republican Maxims wholly Inconsistent with, and utterly destructive of This Imperial Monarchy: I do not find yet so much as One Dissenters Pen engaged in the Vindication of His Majesty, or the Support of the Government, to expiate for the Numberless Pamphlets they have Published toward the Scandal and Destruction of both; Or in Justification of Themselves to the World, that they are as great Enemies to the Substance of the Popish Plot as they would be thought to be, and as great Friends to the King and Government.  
The End.