THE State and Interest OF THE NATION, With respect to His Royal Highness THE Duke of York, Discoursed at large; in a LETTER to a Member of the Honourable House of Commons.  
LONDON, Printed in the Year, 1680.   

THE State & Interest OF THE NATION, etc.  
SIR,  
§ 1. WELL were it for this poor distracted Nation, were there less ground, than there is, for your Opinion, that it is not the particular Case of your Friend only, but of a great many (otherwise) Worthy and Eminent Persons, to be misled, and intoxicated, by the plausible pretence of a Free Estate, into a passionate Fondness, and Admiration of a Popular Government: never distinguishing betwixt the Form and Essence of a Commonwealth; the mistake whereof (each for the other) has proved so fatal in this Age; nor calling to mind that it was the misfortune of those that surfeited of our Kingly Regiment, and gaped as impatiently after Novelty as any now adays can do; to lose the substance of Liberty and Happiness, in pursuit of the Shadow. Nay, too too many, I fear me, there are, that sacrificing all considerations of Conscience and Religion to their Mammon, Interest, do labour with all the Vigour and Artifice imaginable to create in the Multitude a loathing of their present Manna, and a fresh longing for their late Egyptian Leeks and Garlick. So that you are not to look upon my Endeavours to set things aright, as to this Point, to be the pure effects of my Compliance with your Desires for the satisfaction of your Friend, but rather of a pressing and indispensable Duty.  
NEITHER your Friend, nor any other Republican will, I presume, maintain that a Free Estate (as they call it) is subject to no Violations; because woeful Experience will confute, and force them to confess either that a Commonwealth may Degenerate; or, at least, that the so much cried up Model of the Late Times was no Commonwealth: And they must not only renounce their Senses, but even the Faith of Story also; which sufficiently proves that Republics have been sometimes invaded with Usurpations; sometimes debauched and embased with Oligarchy; mostly (by reason of their Weakness and Divisions) subdued or compelled to truckle under their Neighbouring Princes; but always tormented with Faction and Convulsions. Nor, in truth, has that Party as yet been able to produce any Arguments but such as, in effect, beg the Question; by presupposing great Unity in the Coalition, great Probity in the Intention, and great Purity in the Exercise; which being admitted, doubtless we should so little need to differ about Forms, that perhaps we should scarce need any Government at all. Now for my Own part (on the other side) I abhor Bloodshed, and deem one Party in all Wars guilty of Murder; a Crime which as it cries High for Vengeance, so ought it to cry Loud for Unity and Moderation; into which blessed Path may This balance us, that we be not again Balotted into a Field of Blood: I plead for Liberty; not the Name, but the Thing; and design not to assert Tyranny, but Kingship; (as it relates to the Laws of the Land) to whose protection I am entitled by my Birth, for the preservation of my Freedom in Person and Estate; and That with more assurance, then possibly can be secured under the Government of Many; who scruple not commonly to term that Justice (and without Remedy too) which is down right Faction. So that with these thoughts about me I shall readily acknowledge (you may imagine) that even Monarchy itself is but as Earthen Ware, (tho' of the Finest and Strongest Sort) and liable to sundry Contingences; nothing under the Heavens being completely Perfect. And in the Constitution of Governments, 'tis childish to think upon erecting Babel's against the Deluge; but the Design must be, to embank against Floods, and enclose the best that may be against Trespassors. This being premised, I shall proceed to handle the Matter in debate, not Metaphysically, in Notions abstracted from their Subjects (a Pastime which our Platoniques much delight in) but Morally, and Reasonably; and enforce such Arguments only as are plain, sensible, and appropriate to our own Country; leaving the Notional to our Bookmen, whose Volumes, calculated for all Climates, swell big against the Evils of the Rule of MANY, or Democracy.  
§ 2. I SHALL not here presume to insist upon such other Insuperable Difficulties, (of a quality too High for a private person to meddle with) as must necessarily obviate the establishing of a popular Platform amongst us; But lay before you in the First place the present State of the Nation, so far forth only as may carry any immediate Relation to the Subject; and then apply the Premises to the Point in hand. This Island, now, is a large Continent, abundantly populous; and governed (I may say) by the Subordinate Influence of the Nobility and Gentry; who live plentifully, and at ease upon their Rents, extracted from the Toil of their Tenants and Servants; and every one of them Acts the Prince within the Bounds of his own Estate, where he is purely Absolute; his Servants and Labourers are in the Nature of his Vassals, his Tenants indeed are Free, but yet in the Nature of Subjects; whom he orders in his Courts, draws Supplies from by his Fines, and Awes by his Power and Oaths of Fealty, to infinite Submissions. The more his Manors are, and the more indulgently he behaves himself (like a good Prince) the larger is his Territory, and the more awful are his Commands. A Neighbour more Rich and Potent gives Cheque to his Inferior Neighbour; and brings his Petty-Princeship into awe; He again being overawed by one that is greater and more powerful than himself in Estate and Friends. But none of these, with respect to his Quality and Estate, will admit a Parity with his Inferior Neighbours, much less with his Tenant or Dependent.  
INTO the Rank of Gentry do our Officers, Citizens, and Burghers aspire to be enroled: So that no sooner by Arms, Office, or Trade do they acquire a competent Stock, but forthwith for Land it is disposed; and then, disowning the Title of Soldiers, Citizens, or Burghers, they take to themselves the Degree and Name of Gentlemen, with Arms not improper; for England within itself, has been so often shuffled from High to Low, that there is scarce any Artificer but may find his Name in the Heralds-Book, tho' not his Pedigree, which Ingenuity yet and Good Will may easily supply: And thus being Equipt with a Title and Estate, they set up suitably the Dominion within their Territories; which none can dispute, because they have no right to intermeddle with what any man has or does within himself: For by Gentry I intent not only such as are so in Blood, but so in Quality also; such as live easily, and like Princes, upon the Labours of their Dependants.  
OUT of This Order are constituted our Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and all that execute the Authority of a Judge; by the influence of which Powers, they so order all Elections to Parliament, or otherwise, that the whole Country's Commonly follow their respective Factions, and the Commonalty in their Votes are managed by Them, as a Horse by his Rider. So that as the Agrarian or Interest of Land, is principally in these Two Ranks; So is the Consequence thereof, Dominion and Command; which emboldens them to such a Height of Spirit (natural to our Nobility and Gentry) that they are too apt to undervalue Persons of Inferior Quality, [Burgesses and Mechaniques,] with whom to Intermarry by our Old Law it was a Disparagement for a Ward; and this Spirit of Generosity cannot be suppressed, so riveted is it in their Natures, but by the Eradication of their Persons, or at least their Qualities; to which strange effect I have heard some Grandees vent a Sense.  
AND indeed the establishing of a Free Estate (so called) were otherwise Desperate and Impracticable; and therefore it was the Course that the prevailing Mechaniques, among the Swisses, were forced to take: How else shall we be levelled to a Parity, which is of the very Essence of a Commonwealth? For as Titles and Honours are incident to Kingship; so also are Equality in Place, Degree, and Birth, to Democracy; unless where, in case of Office, for the Time only they are entitled to a Precedency. Reduced you must be, Sir, to the Condition of the Vulgar; Commoners already are you in Title, which yet is but a Fallacy of the Name, and deludes our Statists; for indeed you are so only Representatively, being rather the Tribunes and Leaders of the People's strength, and the Governors of their purse, then purely Commons. Neither yet will the bare obtaining of such a Parity be sufficient to do your Friend's Business; unless there be a Supreme Power established in some Body Corporate, Compacted and Permanent; such as is That of London, where the Grandeur of That City (but that it is never to be debauched into such a Degree of Disloyalty and Fanaticism) might possibly erect itself into a Free-State, (could it once overcome all opposite Interests) and by that great Magazine of Treasure and Men, there embodied, give Law to the whole People scattered as they are in a large Continent: Having, First, reduced some meet Cities, Forts, and Castles, which being Garrisoned from the Head-Colony would awe the Country's, and mould them into a Vassalage competent to make up a Free-Estate. But then our Nobility and Gentry would neither have the Honour of the Name, nor Benefit of the Thing: 'Twill be instiled the Commonwealth of London, not of England; And our Pay must be as They Impose, and our Liberty as They vouchsafe it; only in This it will be the less agreeable, that we must be Subject to our Inferiors.  
NOR is This Discourse to be looked upon as mere Drollery; for from This Embryo have issued those Commonwealths which are so famed in Notions; as those of Rome, Carthage, Athens, Lacedaemon, Corinth, Thebes, etc. Great Cities of That Name, which having subdued their adjacent Territories, denominated the Dominion; wherein only those of the Freedom (Citizens and Denizens) had Vote or Power; the Nobles and Gentlemen being purely Tributary to the Chief City; unless they transplanted themselves, renounced their Cities, and so, by degrees advanced into the Honour of a Burgess, as we now do exercise our Junior Issue. And little different are at this day the celebrated Commonwealths of Venice, the United Provinces, the Swisses; not to instance in those Petty States of Genova, Ragusa, Geneva, etc. all of them mostly denominated from those Principal Cities, which give the Law to the adjacent Provinces. Those indeed of the Hollanders and Swissers, tho' they derive not, so directly, their Title from One City, yet are they (in Substance) of the same Composure, being only an United Body of Corporated Cities, combined in One, for Mutual Defence against Invaders, but of an equal Power to impose upon the Adjacent Territories, situate under the awe of each respective City, or Town-Garrison. It falls not within my Memory, that there ever was, or at This Day is, a Free-Estate in the whole World that's managed by the Gentry Inhabiting at large, or by any People not combined within the Jurisdiction of their Walls; except the Grisons; who are a scattered People of a mean Quality, having long since disowned their Gentry; and are without Walled Towns or Garrison. 'Tis a small Territory, possibly of extent to an Inland Country; upon Emergences, the whole People at a set day, meet in the Open Air, where the Major Vote (as with you Knights of the Shire) cries up the Magistrates, and Determines War. Their Confusions makes them easy for Conquest, were their Country worth it, and not secured by the United Cantons.  
NOW to apply the Premises; can your Friend, or any other Man of the same Stamp imagine, that our Nobility and Gentry (as now in Power) will ever be induced to admit a Parity; will levelly their Degree and Domination to a Proportion with their Copy-holders'? Nay, will renounce the wearing of a Sword, and learn to make one? Will submit to become Tributary to the Neighbour-Colony? If this can be brought about; then perhaps (and not till then) may we again hope to aspire from our present Glorious State of King-ship, to a Free-state in Clown-ship; or at least, from the Free-giving of Subsidies, to the Majesty of a Sceptre; to the Forced-payment of Excise to the High and Mighty Burgher; such as was that High and Mighty Butcher, who, not many years ago was commissioned by the Swisses, as one of the Chiefs to be Godfather to the French Kings Son. As Plato fancied his Community, and Sir Thomas Moor his Utopia; so are these people big with hopes of a Relation; thereby to reassume their Idolised Model of a Commonwealth, out of the scattered Gentry, in the nature of a House of Commons. But if nothing but New Experiments will serve their Turn, I could wish they would find other Subjects to try Conclusions upon, than the Estates, Lives, nay, the very Souls of Christians. You well remember I'm sure, Sir, that we once ran the Loss of Those, and the Hazard of These, upon the hopes of a Chimaera in the Brains of some: The word Liberty deluded us into Patience, and Patience from 1648. to 1660. brought forth not less Payments, but more Servitude. And let them not hope to bring Countenance to their Cause, by alleging (as they did before) that they could never be permitted to foster up their Babe to full perfection; for that they will ever be opposed by all Wise and Loyal men, who having once experimented the Evils of such a State, will be as vigilant and industrious to keep it from getting footing among us again, as those that are otherwise, can be to bring it on. Beside that, you cannot have forgot, Sir, that from 1648 to 1653. they had it from the Nurse, and (had they stuck to their Pretences) might probably in five years' time have set it upon its Feet; but they found the sweet (poor Wretches) of engrossing Power to themselves: But than it could never have been of any long Continuance, as manifestly appeared from the great scorn and bitterness that the Supporters of it were reproached with, when it was dissolved; there was not so much as one Bloody Nose in the defence of that High and Mighty State; but all the persons were held in the utmost degree of detestation, as they most justly deserved. And though these Rumpers, 'tis true, came twice into play, yet were they only made use of to serve a Turn, as being fit to be made a Property; for it was presently seen that it was not the desire of their Rule, but of a further change, that inspirited the People against the Army; and the Rump (as being next at hand) had no sooner mounted the empty Saddle, but (before they were warm in their Seat) they were again Unhorsed with a Public Leave, as appeared by the Bonfires (upon That Occasion) that might have lighted them to the Landsend, if they had dared to be seen among them. So that it is plain from what has been said, that it is not the sense or Interest of a Few, that can long sway a Nation; for if the public Spirit be averse, at the long run it will prevail; the more Dispute there is with that spirit, the more embittered it will be found: For, whatever such Enthusiasts may dream, even when the Multitude have the Power, the Command yet rests in a Few: The most active Spirits lead the Herd, and engross the Place, the Profit, and the Sway: This, in generous minds, begets Disdain, and that, Faction; for when all are equal, thousands think themselves as deserving of Rule, as those that carry it; to satisfy all it is impossible, to please few displeases the Most; the Transactions of that Party from 1648. to 1660. have made this as sensible, as they made themselves contemptible. In a word, the Nobility and Gentry of England have Spirits pure, naturally just and generous, like Fire aspiring, as a Pyramid, from low to high; and never resting till it contracts itself into an Unity at top: So God is One, or he were not God, nor could he Rule the World; and if your Friend likes not this Precedent, but still continues to delight in the Rule of Many, let him begin a Pattern in his own Family, and he may there, possibly, have enough to do.  
§. 3. NOW my hand's in, I shall venture to set one step further, and refresh your memory with a View of our Condition whilst this Free-State kept above-Water, the Past being the most certain Line to direct us in our Conjectures upon Futurities. We were never free (you may remember) from the Apprehensions of an Insurrection at Home, or an Invasion from Abroad, and lived in continual jealousy, even of our very next Neighbours. These Fears obliged us to maintain a considerable Force at Land and Sea, which, lying idle, corrupted, as standing-Water in a Pool, and every moment threatened fresh Combustions, as they were blown up this way or that way by their new Masters; but at the best (like our old Lord-Danes) they were most insupportably burdensome and odious to the Country, by their Quartering; and to keep them as much in action as possibly we could, we were fain either to be perpetually amusing them with pretended Discoveries of some new-feigned Plot or other, or else to engage them in Foreign Wars. For the support of this Army (now) we were compelled to daily Contributions, besides great and innumerable Customs that were exacted, together with the Excise, (a Brat begotten in the Low-Countries, with their State, which makes them free indeed, but than it is in Purse, not in Privilege) a Tribute which no King of England durst demand, before they enforced us to pay it; which being ever before looked upon as Poison; we than took as Physic; though in that Age, it was generally believed that no Englishman would ever swallow it; and for the bare but necessary Mention whereof, in the House of Commons, that Grand Patriote (as they called him) Mr. Pym was by a young Spirit (not without great Applause) called to the Bar; add hereunto the Benevolences, Sequestrations, five and twentyth parts, a Tax of fifty Subsidies at once, (though the late King suffered so much by the demand of twelve only) Fines and Compositions, sale of Kings, Bishops, Deans and Chapters, and Delinquents Lands, the two parts of Papists Estates, nay a share of our very Charities to the distressed; over and above the constant Contributions that were levied. How was all this devoured by the Army, whose Belly indeed was bottomless? and yet what Arrears did we owe them just before the King's Return? three Millions at least! Reform the Army we durst not, and our constant charge could not be less than two Millions yearly, to supply it; In a word, we never used to be in a worse condition, than when none would Rebel, because when the People were quiet we had no Lands either to sequester or to sell. Our Trade fell to nothing, our Traffic was interrupted, our Gold walked beyond Sea more freely than in our own Country; and we lost no less than 2000 Sail of Ships in two or three years' time: There was no settlement, but we were every day dancing after a new Whistle; ten Models we had in Proposal at one time, and every Faction ready with Blood to aver his own way to be the best. By our known Laws we could not be imprisoned, but by a Regular proceeding in a Course of Justice; but under our free Estate (on the other side) upon the most slight suggestions of a spiteful Neighbour in Authority, we were presently seized by the Sergeant at Arms, with his exorbitant Fees! no Bail, no Habeas Corpus, no regular way of Justice to do us right! but, after a Twelvemonths stay in Goal, if we could make good Friends, and humble ourselves to our potent Adversary, we might possibly be discharged; but without amends, or knowing of our Crime. Lo thus, while we cajoled ourselves with the Name of Freedom, we lost the thing, and became free, only to be made the most despicable of Slaves.  
BY this, Sir, you see that the Question might be decided in a few words, only by alleging the Inclination of the People to Monarchy, as it is now established: For as no man can well be wronged with his consent, so neither is any man to be obliged against his will. And indeed how should a Government, founded upon inequality and force, ever subsist without it? Or a State that must necessarily be the mere Adjective of an Army, become a Substantive? With as much Reason might I also object matter of Title, because the same Estate, with a flaw in the conveyance, or clogged with Statutes and Judgements, is not surely of like value, as if it had been descended clearly from the great Grandfather, and were free from Claims and Encumbrances. But it shall be the next part of my Business to show that the present established Government (as it excellently complies with the Laws, Genius, and Interest of this Nation, so it) comprehends all the Benefits of a Commonwealth in great perfection; and this I shall do as briefly as I can.  
TO demonstrate how it complies with our Laws and Constitutions, let it suffice, That (Monarchy, in these Nations, being more ancient than Story or Records more venerable than Tradition itself) our Laws were born (as it were) under this Climate, habituated to this Diet and Air, grafted into this Stock; and though we have (thanks be to God) forgotten our Norman, yet will it be very hard for us to learn Greek, much less Utopian; that in the late Usurper's time, our Lawyers, with one Voice, importuned him rather to assume the Style and Power of a King, to which they found all our Laws were shaped, than retain that of a Protector, unknown to the Law: That nothing rendered the late Architects of a Commonwealth more obnoxious, than that (notwithstanding their infinite Discords, in other things) they generally agreed in the necessity of subverting all our Fandamental Laws, in order to their Design; which Consideration (we are in Charity to believe) obliged the sober men of all Parties, the true Patriotes, (nay and even the chiefest Pillars of the Parliaments-Cause too) to unite themselves with the Royal Interest; as not enduring to hear of those violent and dangerous Alterations which they plainly saw a Republic must necessarily introduce.  
FOR its compliance with our Genius, examine we (in the first place) the various Revolutions that have happened to this Island; Britain's, Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans; or (more nearly) the changes in their Descents from the direct Line to the Collateral; or (yet nearer) the times of Insurrection and deposing Kings, Edward and Richard, (both the Seconds of the name) and we shall find King-ship still in fashion. Nay, that of King John is more notorious, for when the People had in a sort dethroned him, and sworn Allegiance to Lewis of France, yet when John died, the same People not only Expelled the Foreigner, but having got the Power into their own hands, they Crowned King John's Son, being then an Infant without Interest or Adherents: Nor will all our Chronicles afford us one single Instance of any Design or Endeavour to erect a Free Estate, (before the late unnatural times furnished the Precedent) no not when Wat Tyler, or Jack Straw revealed it with their Clowns. Nor yet is this Genius ever to be changed, for Reflect we (in the second place) that as our English Nature is not like the French, supple to Oppression, and apt to delight in that Pomp and Magnificence of their Lords, which (they know) is supported with their Slavery and Hunger; Nor like the Highland Scots, where the Honour and Interest of the Chief is the Glory of the whole Clan: So doth it as little (or less) agree with the Dutch humour, addicted only to Traffic, Navigation, Handicrafts, and sordid Thrift, and (in defiance of Heraldry) every man phansying his own Scutcheon. For does not every one amongst us, that has the name of a Gentleman, labour his utmost to uphold it? Every one that has not, to raise one? To this end, do not our very Yeomen commonly leave their Lands to the Eldest Son, and to the other nothing but a Flail, or a Blow? Did not every one (in the days of our late blessed Martyr) pinch himself in his Condition, to purchase a Knighthood or small Patent? What need further proof? You cannot but remember, Sir, how that bare glimpse and shadow of Monarchy under Cromwell, and his Son Dick, (though persons even at that very time hated and scorned, and that too upon a most impious and scandalous account) was for mere resemblance-sake admitted astolerable and (in respect of a Commonwealth) courted; which clearly evinces, how grateful the substance must needs be to all true English Spirits.  
AS to our Interest, briefly, (to wave tedious and Politic Discourses) there is no man, but with half an Eye may foresee that a Republic (were there any possibility of settling one) would destroy all our present Peace, and Felicity, ruinated our Trade and Traffic, involve us in a Field of Blood, alarm all our Neighbours, make our best Allies our bitterest Enemies; and probably draw upon us the united force of Christendom, to crush the Embryo; which would be the utter destruction and enslaving of this most free and prosperous Nation, (could it but once be capable of a due sense of its own Felicity) to the Tyrannical Damnation of a Foreigner. Beside, (at best) by what Title can we pretend to hold Scotland and Ireland, should that of Descent be avoided; for Consent there is none, nor can any be expected.  
§. 5. BUT I come now directly to assert, That the Present Government eminently includes all the Perfections of a Free-Estate, and is the Kernel (as it were) of a Commonwealth in the Shell of Monarchy. And, first I shall begin with the Essential Parts of a Commonwealth, which are three, viz. the Senate proposing, the People resolving, the Magistrate executing. For the Senate (or Parliament) if ever there were a Free and Honourable one under the Cope of Heaven it is here; where the Deputies of the whole Nation most freely chosen, do with like freedom meet, propound, debate, and vote all matters of Common Interest: no Danger escapes their representing, no Grievance their complaint, no Public Right their claim, or Good their demand: In all which, the least breach of Privilege is branded with Sacrilege; and though there lies no Appeal to the dispersed Body of the people, (a Decision manifestly impracticable in Government, and fitter indeed for Tribunes to move, than Nations to admit) yet (Elections being so popular and conventions frequent) the same end is attained with much more safety and convenience. The Prince may likewise (in some sense) be said to have only an Executive Power, which he exercises by Ministers and Officers, not only sworn, but severely accountable; and though both He and the Lords have their Negatives in passing of Bills, and though it be the King only, that, by his Royal Fiat makes our Laws; yet (no Tax being imposable but by the consent of the Commons, nor any Law (without it) of such validity, that the Ministers of Justice dare enforce it) there is a wise and sweet necessity for the King, and likewise for the Lords to pass all such Bills as are convenient for the People, and not greatly hurtful to the Prince; and those that duly weigh the Reason of things, do find a Negative in the King to be a most safe Preservative of Peace to the People, who have as much comfort under the protection of his Prerogative, as they have Benefit by their own Privileges: For in truth, this bugbear Negative (as our Republicans labour to represent it) is an impenetrable Target, to shelter and secure the Government from being altered at the Will of the Commons, if at any time they should prove Factious. And this (being in reason manifest) has also been confirmed by great Experience; our Kings having rarely obstructed any Bill which they might safely grant; but on the otherside, passed many High Acts of mere Grace, circumscribing their Prerogative, and clipping its Wings; nay better had it been for us, if they had not pierced its very Bowels.  
THIS is that Triple-Cord that could never yet be broken, tho' it has been Cut asunder; This is our Gold seven times Refined; for every Bill being Thrice Read, Debated, and Agreed in Either House, is at last brought to the King for his Royal Assent; (which is the Mint of our Laws:) a Trial so exact, that surely no Dross can escape it; since all Interests, must thereto concur: (as truly it is but fit they should, in the Establishment of That which must Bind all.) This is that Temperament, which purges our Humours, and (at once) endues us with Health, Vigour, and Beauty: no Vote is Precipitated; no Act Huddled up; as by sad Events, you saw they formerly used to be, when the Power was engrossed by One of the Estates, purged and moulded to the Interests of a Faction; a Consequence but Natural to such Premises! Nothing was (There) weighed, but (as in a Balance consisting of one Scale) our Laws were Mandrakes of a Night's Growth; and our Times as Fickle as the Wether of the Multitude.  
THE King indeed has the Power of making War, but then he has not the Means; so that it signifies little more, than a Liberty to Fly if he can get Wings; or to go Beyond Sea, provided he can waft himself over without Shipping: He has a Sword, but Himself alone can never draw it; and the Train'dbands (in whom he has the sole Right) are a Weapon which he decently wears, 'tis true; but the Nation only may (in Effect) be said to have the Use and Benefit of it. He chooses his Ministers; (as who doth not his Servants?) but than they pass through such a Test, as none but the soundest Integrity can abide: He can hinder the stroke of Justice with his Pardon, (tho' still, the Jaws not being muzzled, it will By't terribly) but then (on the Other side) the Power of Relieving his Wants rests in the Commons, to Balance his Will, and induce him to a Correspondence with Parliaments.  
THAT his Person should be Sacred, is most Needful, to avoid Circulation of Accounts; Reasonable, since it carries with it the Consent of Nations; Just, that he become not the mere Butt of Faction, and Malice, and be in a worse Condition than the Basest of Vassals; Honourable, that the Nakedness of Government be not daily Uncovered; Wise, in the Constitution, that so we may not (at once) both Trust, and Provoke, by forcing him to shift for his Own Indemnity; no danger to the Public seeming so Extreme, as the Outlawry of a Prince; no Task (by daily Experience) so difficult, as the Arraigning of any Power, whether Regal or Popular; and if we make Golden Bridges for Flying Enemies, much more should we afford them to Relenting Sovereigns: (Upon which account, in our Neighbour Kingdom of France, even Princes of the Blood are not subjected to Capital Punishments.) Finally, very Safe it is in the Consequence; for should a King be never so wicked and Tyrannical, yet being (by the Danger threatening his Corrupt Ministers) stripped of Agents, his Personal Impunity might signify something to Himself, perhaps, but nothing to the People.  
A Revenue he has, for the support of his State and Family, Ample; for the Ordinary Protection of his People, Sufficient; but for any considerable Undertaking, Defective; and for Public Oppression so Inconsiderable, that when Prerogative was most Rampant, our Greatest Princes (and some doubtless we have had, the most Renowned Warriors of their Age) would never, prudently, aspire to make themselves Absolute. The Royal Revenue is proportioned to the Maintenance of Courts, not Camps, and Fleets: In fine, it is very Competent for Ordinary Disbursements, and as for Extraordinary he resorts to Parliaments; the Wiser He, and the Happier We! Now there is nothing more Demonstrative, then that upon Examination, we may find the present Government to be (compared with all the other Models of the Late Times) a mighty Ease to the Public Charge; we allowed the Tyrant Cromwell no less than a constant Revenue of 1900000 l. to support him in his Usurpation; and yet That Sum (beside all his other intolerable Squeezing) at the years end, cleared not the Account by far. Under the Rump a great deal more was yearly Collected out of the Bowels of the People, to maintain the Army; and yet we could never be at quiet neither, but were perpetually embroiled in Wars either Abroad or at Home, by our active Spirits, some to feed their Ambition, others their Purses: And such a Spirit we read of, working in all Free-States, Ancient and Modern. What shall we say now of the Expenses of the Late King, (if examined by This Standard) whose Revenue in Lands, Perquisites, and Customs, exceeded not 700000 l. a year; and yet by the good management of that most Thirsty and Temperate Prince, that petite Annuity furnished a glorious Court, a Noble Equipage for the Honour of the Nation, and paid off a considerable Fleet; which never was much improved afterwards by all our vast Payments, when we were so unfortunate as to fall into Other hands. Nay and our present Charge is rather a Sport, than a Burden, compared with Their Monthly Tax.  
TRUE it is, that while we live with Men, we shall be subject to That which is the Effect of their Nature, Sin; nor is it possible to reap the more General Fruit of the best Established Policy, unless we submit to some possible Inconveniences. But yet I defy your Friend, and all other Projectors of Commonwealths, to contrive greater Freedom for their Citizens, then is provided by Magna Charta, and The Petition of Right; or show that it is not much easier to Violate, then to Mend them; for Thereby, our Lives, Liberties, and Estates are, under Monarchy, secured and established (I think) as well as any thing, on this side Heaven, can be. It is no Soloecism to say, that the Subject has his Prerogative, as well as the King; and sure I am, he is in as good condition to maintain it; the Dependence being less on his side. Beside that no Prince ever attempted any Violation thereof, but that, at Long Run, he suffered in that point of his Prerogative that let in the Opportunity. Hence it is that the Rights of the People have grown stronger and stronger against the Prince, and sometimes have hurried his Person to be a Sacrifice; always, his Instruments; whereof few, in our History, can we read, that, contriving against the Law, have died in peace. If, possibly, One Prince, (as King Harry) by his High Spirit, swept all before him, yet his Infant Successor is forced to make amends for his Father's Violations: So that Liberty (we see) is no less Sacred, than Majesty; Noli me tangere being its Motto likewise: And in case of any, the least Infringement, (as Escapes in Government may happen, even in the most perfect) it is resented as if the Nation had received a Box on the Ear. If it be (as they say) the Glory of a Tree-State, to Exalt; the Scandal of Tyranny, to Embase our Spirits; doubtless the Established Form is our Only Commonwealth; for all that we got by the Change of it, was but the learning quietly to take the Bastinade. Nay, and at the very worst that can be imagined, it is much more Easy (were it Lawful) for us to dispute our Rights with a single Prince, and his Trembling Agents; then (as it was our Case formerly) with a Knot of Sovereigns that are backed with the Sword.  
WE are now again able to distinguish (which we could never do under their Free-Estate, for all the fair Promises they made us) the Legislative and the Ministerial Authority: For tho' both of them are Inherent in the King, yet are not both of them his own Peculiar and Personal Act. We know that the House of Commons has not the Power of a Court-Leet, to give an Oath, nor of a Justice of the Peace, to make a Mittimus: And this Distinction, doubtless, is the most Vital part of Freedom, and far more considerable to poor Subjects, than all these men's pretended Rotations; as, on the contrary, the absolute Jumbling and Confounding of them, is an Accomplishment of Servitude, for which all Republics, I fear, (and our late one more especially) have more to Answer, than any Limited Sovereign can have. And certain it is, that as our Prince, in his Personal Capacity, makes no Laws; so neither does he, by himself, Execute or Interpret any: No Judge takes notice of his single Command, to justify any Trespass; no not so much as the breaking of a Hedge; his Power is Circumscribed by his Justice; he is (equally with the meanest of his Subjects) concerned in that Honest Maxim; We may do just so much, and no more, than we have Right to do. And it is tolerably enough said, He can do no wrong, because, if it be wrong, he does it not; it is void in the Act, and punishable in his Agent. His Officers, as they are alike liable, so perhaps they are more Obnoxious to Indictments and Suits, than any other; by how much their Trespass seems to be of a Higher Nature, and gives greater Alarm: His Private Will cannot Countermand his Public; His Privy Seal still Buckles to his Great Seal, as being (in a sense) the Nations, as much as His; His Order supersedes no Process; and His Displeasure threatens no man with an hours Imprisonment, after the Return of HabeasCorpus: An Under-Sheriff is more Terrible, a Constable more Saucy, a Bailiff more Troublesome, than He: And yet by his Gentle Authority, by this Scabbard of Prerogative (as some in derision have lewdly Termed it) which (if it Would) Could Scarce Oppress an Orphan; Tumults are Curbed Faction Moderated, Usurpation Forestalled, Intervals prevented, Perpetuities Obviated, Equity Administered, Clemency Exalted, and the People made Happy to a degree even of Satiety and Wantonness.  
TO Conclude this Point: What shall I add more? The Act enjoining the Keepers of the Great Seal, under Pain of High Treason, to Summon a Triennial Parliament, of Course, by Virtue of the Act, without Further Warrant; The Act forbidding the privy-councel to intermeddle with Meum & Tuum; the Law abolishing the Star-Chamber, High-Commission, etc. Branding all Past, and Bridling all Future Enormities: The Statutes limiting the King's Claims, and relieving his Tenants from Exaction of Forfeitures; Beside many other principal Immunities, wherewith (by the Especial Favour of God, and the Bounty of our Princes) we are Blessed, far beyond any of our Neighbours: Above all, our Assurance (by the Goodness and Clemency of our present Dread Sovereign) readily to obtain such further Addition and Perfection of Liberty and Security, (if any such there can be) as may consist with Modesty and Liberty itself, to ask: Does not all this Proclaim aloud, that we are the Mirror of Governments, Envy of Monarchies, and Shame of Commonwealths; who cannot but blush to see themselves so Eclipsed and Silenced, in all their Pretences to Freedom? And does it not more than justify my Assertion, that with all the Ornaments of the Noblest Kingdom, we have likewise all the Enjoyments of a Free-Estate?  
§. 6. AFTER all these solid Blessings and Advantages, which we Reap from the most Excellent of Governments, and of Princes; the bare Fruition of the Tithe whereof, would be sufficient to transport the Best to pass of our Neighbour Nations into all the Cordial and Passionate Expressions of Joy and Gratitude imaginable: After all these Comforts (I say) a Body would think, there should scarce be found one single Murmuring and Disaffected Person in the whole Kingdom. And yet so hard is our Fate; our Hearts infensible; and so Ingenious are we in starting Fears and Jealousies; that a great part of us deprive ourselves of the Enjoyment of all our present Felicities, through a too Eager and Pensive Solicitation for Futurities. Nay so miserably Hoodwinked is our Reason, that our Carefulness to avoid miscarrying upon a Scylla, hurries us Violently into the other Extreme of splitting upon a Charybdis. Popery and Tyranny (we cry) are breaking in upon us like a Deluge; the Presumptive Heir is of the Redletter Stamp: and therefore another Sect of our Pseudo-protestants, apprehending the Danger and the Impracticableness of a Commonwealth-Government here amongst us, do hope to mend the matter mightily, by propounding the setting up of a Single Person either of a Cracked Title, or of a New Line; upon the death of his present Majesty without Legitimate Issue: Whom God preserve.  
THERE is no man shall be more willing than myself to grant that the Popish Religion (if it may deserve the Name) is little better than a Compound of mere Secular Interest, Tyranny, Hypoc●●sie, Homicide, and Delusion; and that the very principles of the Jesuits do inspirit and egg them on to the inflicting of all manner of Outrageous Violences upon the Persons of those that enjoy a greater Light and Purity of the Gospel than themselves. But yet I must aver (on the other hand) that, since through the peculiar Mercy and Providence of God, and the Indefatigable Industry and Vigilance of Authority; all their Machinations have hitherto been defeated, and their Conspiracies both against our Church and State rendered Abortive; it will become us both as Men and Christians, to temper our Passions, and to rest satisfied with the singular Care and Concern, that the Government vouchsafes continually to express both for our present and future safety and preservation, in all Respects. Full well know, that nothing is of greater Concernment than the Security of that Religion, which by the Blood of so many blessed and Glorious Martyrs has (by God's immediate blessing) been so firmly Established amongst us. But then we are to take special heed that we lend not too easy an Ear to such as cry up Religion, & design Faction; that cry out Zeal for the Lord of Hosts, when they intent Self-Interest; to keep up a party; an Affected way; or to be the Ipse dixit of a County: Religion has not at all prospered by undue practices to advance it. 'Tis Meekness, Patience, Humility, and those Graces of the Spirit, that Convince and Convert; when Rigidness, Censuring, and the Sword Exasperate and Harden. Has not God's power, or truth, Evidence to secure itself? Let but the Gospel have Free passage, and it will make its own stay: For all true Protestants do unanimously disown the Promotion of it by the Sword, as totally Unchristian; and bequeath it to the Pope and the Turk. Was not, now, the maintenance of our Fundamental Laws the pretence of our late Quarrel? Found we not the Spirit of the Nation roused up, upon the sound of the Trumpet? Popery, was it not decried, and Religion, Protestant Religion, judged to be in danger? Were we not called out to the Battle upon the account of Zeal, with Curse ye Meroz? And yet under our Free Estate, (as they called it) our Religion (so much of it especially as could any way be termed Protestant) turned into Wantonness; and our Divisions became so great, that we durst not exasperate, by advancing that Idol of the Presbyters, Discipline; nor indeed could we, if we durst; for the most active of our Statists, (if they had any Religion at all) 'twas that of the Sectary, which they owned as the main Supporter of their Model, whose Interest it was to give Licentiousness to all. As for Laws, those which we adored for Excellency and Antiquity, they were (by them) of necessity altered, in our Freedoms of Person and Estate, wherein true Liberty is principally concerned: For when the House of Commons (or rather the Rump of it) engrossed the Sovereign Power, they both Imposed Taxes, and Levied them, by virtue of a trifling Ordinance, which could never be done before, but by an Act of Parliament, solemnly and regularly passed by the King and the Three Estates: And having of Tribunes of the people, (as it were) and their Bulwark against High Payments and Impressures, demanded by the King, advanced themselves into the degree of Princes; they took upon them to assess and impress us at pleasure; and we might complain as long as we would of the Reiterated Burden; but there was no remedy but Patience, because no Appeal left us, themselves being both Parties and Judges.  
I COULD heartily wish there were at present no more reason, to be apprehensive of Popery coming amongst us, than there was in those days: But yet, let his Royal Highness' Persuasion be what it will, this I'm sure of, that Dr. Oates has deposed upon Oath, that the Jesuits were so far from saying or acting, Indifferently, as to his Person, that in their Hellish Plot, they had marked him out also for Slaughter, with his most Royal, most Protestant Brother. Now the late Marquis of Argyle was wont to lay it down as a Principle in Policy, That it was the Character of a wise man not to let the World know what Religion he was of: But (for my own part) I cannot in Charity but hope the best of a Person, (till I shall be convinced of the contrary, by more certain and positive Arguments, than any that I have yet been able to meet with) that has been so Lectured and Tutored by our late Glorious Martyr, (as well as by Experience) into a Veneration for, and a Perseverance in that Pure, Reformed Religion, the Principles of which he sucked in with his very Milk, and in Defence of which his ever Blessed Father laid down his most precious Life, upon a Scaffold. You may read his words thus; I do require you, (addressing to his present Majesty) as your Father and your King, that you never suffer your Heart to receive the least Check against, or Disaffection from the True Religion established in the Church of England: I tell you I have tried it, and after much Search, and many Disputes, have concluded it to be the best in the World, not only in the Community, as Christian, but also in the special Notion, as Reform; keeping the middle way between the Pomp of Superstitious Tyranny, and the Meanness of Fantastic Anarchy, etc. To this sense, spoke he, when he had no more to speak. Nay, and so zealous, this way, was our English Solomon, (the Duke's Grandfather) King James, that rather than any of his Progeny should ever come to be tainted with the Errors and Idolatries of the Church of Rome, he made it his Prayer to Almighty God, that they might be taken out of the World first.  
AS to the apprehensions of Tyranny, I hope, by what I have already delivered in the Body of this Discourse, it is evident, that there is less ground to fear it, than many people might before imagine, for that it is next to an Impossibility to introduce it. And, upon probable grounds, I persuade myself, that should the Duke ever have the occasion offered, yet would he be wiser than to make trial of the Experiment, knowing so well as he must needs do, that should the English Liberties be violated in the example but of any one single Person, the whole Nation would take itself to be concerned upon that account, apprehend itself ready for the Fetters, and, thereby, what with Fear, what with Hate, such a Storm would be raised, as might shake the surest Foundations of the Government; and so very much has Majesty already felt by the Fury of the People, that it will be chary (doubtless) of giving occasion to encounter it again.  
BUT 'tis farther Objected (it seems) that there is a Vindictive and Implacable Spirit in the Case. Now this is most manifest (indeed) that there have been Provocations to the height; but shall we therefore continue to provoke, because we have begun? 'Tis a Rule (you know) that he that does wrong, never forgives, but he that has wrong, may. The Interest of Revenge is passionate, but the Interest of Profit arises from a Passion that prevails more; and he is very weak, that anteposes Rumour and vain Passion, when it stands in Competition with his Safety. To speak home, Interest rules the whole World; and Princes (as others) design more the security of their own Greatness, than a petty Revenge that may hazard it: But for this search we the Experiences of past Ages. Henry the Great of France, was so far from punishing any of the holy League, that laboured, by all means possible, to keep him from his Right, and to murder him, that (on the contrary) he employed those very Persons that were his main Opposites, in his Armies, in his Offices, and in his Counsels. And what shall we say of King James, who sent Messages, made Vows, menaced Revenge, and all to prevent that fatal Stroke from falling upon his Mother, (the Queen of Scots) under Queen Eliz. but to no effect. Observe the Issue now; Shortly Q. Eliz. dies, and those very Lords that acted personally in the Mother's Death, were the most forward to court the Son to the Crown, and he became established with all Prerogatives incident to the English Sceptre. What? Acts he in the way of Revenge? No; he, like a wise Prince, feeling the Warmth of so Rich a Climate, is so passionate to confirm his own Greatness, that he not only forgets the Injury of his Mother, but manages his great Affairs by the hands of those very Persons that were Contrivers of it; yet through Her Blood did he derive his Title! Nor do we read of one of these Nobles, or their Issue, that suffered Diminution, by any Resentment, upon that account. His wise Father also, that had been beaten into the knowledge of the English Spirit, writes thus: Let no Passion, (my Son) betray you to any study of Revenge upon Those whose Own Sin and Folly will sufficiently Punish theu, in due Time: Be confident that most of all Sides that have done Amiss, have done so, not out of Malice, but Misinformation, or Misapprehension of Things. None will be more Loyal to Me or You, than those Subjects, who, sensible of Their Errors, and Our Injuries, will feel, in their own Souls, most Vehement Motions to Repentance, and earnest Desires to make some Reparations for their former Defects, etc. The like said he at his Last Hour. But what do we Doubt or Distrust? May we not have a Protestant Parliament upon all Exigencies; and the disposal of Commands and Offices secure to us, for a Time, in case of His Majesty's decease? Have we not a Protestant Council, a Protestant Militia, a Protestant Clergy, and a Protestant People; what can we (in reason) desire more?  
§. 7. AS to the Project of erecting a Cracht Title, or a Single Person of another Line; (over and above the Heinousness and Impiety of the Proposition, and to wave tedious Canvassing) That must unquestionably be the most Desperate of all other Remedies, and infinitely worse than the Disease itself: For Thereby we should set on Foot a personal Quarrel; and (at the Long Run) beyond measure Disgust the Spirits of this Generous People, in that they will then be Subjected to their Equal; who, to retain his Usurpation, will be forced to repeat and accumulate those Violences, whereof we had most woeful Experience under the Old Protector: Otherwise, he will soon be made the Object of our Contempt; as was his Son, with his Easie and Gentle way of Acting; and his Name be used only as a Cloak to cover the Avarice, and Exorbitances of a Ravenous Faction. Nor can This Project prevent a Relapse into our former Calamities; because our Fears will ever be Great and Continual, and, consequently, our Charge proportionable. In a word, all the Evils and Miseries that were brought upon us by the Army, the Rump, and by all other Architects of our Slavery in the Late Times, will certainly be found Tolerable; compared with the Probable, and Genuine Effects of such a Desperate and Unchristian Proceeding.  
§. 8. YOU will not expect from me, (I'm sure, Sir) that I should so acquit myself of every Objection, as to leave all men satisfied; especially such as carry a Bias of Preferment, Profit, or Faction; Men that have in Design Exorbitances of Power, or Wealth, will hardly, with Arguments, be reclaimed: And some there are (I know) that have so long possessed their Heads with strong Notions, that they are not capable to take in Reason, against them; and thereupon, run on Frantic in Error, till there be a Rotation in their Brains: Such there are, that, with Confidence, so often have told a Lie, that, at length, themselves believe it to be a Truth: But we shall be too wise (I'm sure, should ever that day come) to prefer the Interest or Wilfulness of a Few, to the Safety and Welfare of the Whole. I shall not deny, yet, that it is easier to demonstrate what may be Evil, then positively to assert what will be Good: but however, comparing Times with Things, (as is above represented) I doubt not to Evidence, that to keep where we are, and to be contented with our Lot, is a Course much rather to be embraced, as that which, in great Probability, may be Good; then, by pushing at Incertainties, to pull down most lamentable Confusions and Desolations upon our own Heads, which certainly will be Evil I therefore ever was, and still am of opinion, that it is both our Interest and our Duty to embrace, with Open Arms, the ample, generous Offers of his most Gracious Majesty, in order to Provisions for our future Security, in point of Freedom and Religion: As for the Rest, let us but have our Good Old Laws duly put in Execution; and then (by God's assistance) we shall be in a Capacity to Defy the Pope, the Devil, and all their Works, come what will come.  
§ 9 Thus, Sir, have I run through the several Heads that you were pleased to propound. I have, in the First place, given you my Reasons why I conceive the Project of Fixing a Free-Estate, (as your Friend thinks fit to term it) here amongst us, would be utterly Impracticable; I have, in the next place, presented you with a Summary of those Mischiefs and Distractions, which were the Consequents of a Like Attempt, from 1640. to 1660. In the Third place, you find the Natural Bent and Inclination of the People to Monarchy, exclusively of any other Form of Regiment whatsoever, fully demonstrated; the Royal Prerogative Anatomised; and an Account of those great Immunities, Blessings, and Privileges which the English do at this day enjoy under the present Government Established, both Ecclesiastical and Civil, peculiarly, and above any other People or Nation in the known World. The Fourth, rips up the Ground of our Fears and Jealousies of Popery and Arbitrary Power flowing in upon us, should the Duke of York ever come to Sway the English Sceptre; and furnishes Arguments for the moderating and lessening our Apprehensions as to the One, and for the proving the almost Impossibility of Effecting the Other, were there never so great a Will and Disposition that way. In the Fifth place, you have represented the Danger and Impiety, of Erecting a Cracked Title, or a Single Person of a New Line; together with the probable Calamitous Effects that would inevitably ensue upon such an Attempt. And Lastly, I have presumed to offer my own Expedient, in reference to the Security of our Religion and Freedoms, for the Present and for the Future. Upon the Whole Matter, if, by what I have written, I be so fortunate as to make your Friend a Convert, 'twill be an Infinite Satisfaction to me; because, thereby I may hope to save a Soul; but, at the worst, I may say with the Text, that I shall hide a multitude of Sins. Now should I frame twenty Excuses to you for the Length, the Inequality, the Insufficiency, the Incoherence, the Freedom, the Extravagant Roving and Impertinencies, the Unskilful Management, nay and for the Boldness and Presumption of this Discourse: But I have neither Will nor Leisure to Trifle at such a rate. I am conscious to myself (no man more) of my great want of Abilities requisite for an Undertaking of such Weight and Importance; only I was resolved to let you see, that no Considerations whatsoever were of force (with me) to withstand the Authority of your Commands. I have unbosomed myself to you, Sir, (under the protection of a Private Letter) with all the Frankness and Simplicity imaginable; not doubting but you will make such use of it, as may not redound to the Disadvantage of,  
Sir, Your most Obedient Servant. Feb. 21. 1679/ 80.