A LETTER to a Friend, upon the Dissolution of the Late Parliament, and the Calling of a New One. Together with a LIST of those that were against making the Prince and Princess of Orange, King and Queen. SIR, AS I do fully acquiesce in the Wisdom and Authorny of the King in his dissolving of the late Parliament: So I'm perfectly persuaded, that he did it upon motives relating to his own Honour, and to the safety and happiness of his People, and not in subserviency to any Prerogative Design, nor to please himself with an Exercise of Regal Power. And I will venture to say, that nothing could have induced him, so abruptly, as well as unexpectedly, to have dismissed a Parliament, that first advanced him unto, and then by so many free and vast Contributions, endeavoured to support him in the Throne, but the finding them unserviceable to the Uniting of Protestants, the vindicating of our Laws and Liberties, and the punishing of those who had subverted our Constitution, which as they are the only Justifiable Grounds, both of his coming hither, and of his accepting the Royal Authority; so nothing less than the pursuing hose Ends, can vindicate his descent into England from being an Unrighteous Invasion; and his ascending the British Ihrones, from the Reproach of an Ambitious Usurpation. How could a Prince of his Integrity and Wisdom think that the obtaining and wearing of a Crown was honourable and just, while the Reasons upon which he received and possesseth it, were not only controlled, and reproached, but exposed and ridiculed? Nor is it possible for His Majesty to believe, that the Late King was so heinously guilty, as to forfeit all Right to Sovereignty, while those who advised him unto, and were the Ministers of all his misgovernment, whom the Law makes chief, if not only accountable, were esteemed Guiltless and Innocent. He could not but foresee, that the Abdication of King James is easily Reversible, and that he himself holds his Crown very precariously, if there were nothing to justify the Enthroning the one, and the Dethroning t'other, but the hasty and Arbitratious Vote of the Majority of the Two Houses. And he must needs look upon all that was alleged, concerning the Late King's violating the Original Contract, and his subverting the Laws of the Constitution, as Fiction and Dream, while there were none to be found, that counselled him unto, or assisted him in it. And as this justifieth the Wisdom of His Majesty in the dissolving of the late Parliament, so we may from hence easily conclude, both upon what prospect and hope he hath been pleased to call a New One, and by what measures those to whom the right of Electing Members doth belong, are to guide themselves in the Ensuing Choice. Nor do we only want a Parliament that may confirm establish, and support His Majesty in the Throne, but which may proceed on those Principles, as does render his Accession to it necessary, as well as honourable and just. And as the Nation is once more furnished with an opportunity of choosing such a Representative Body, as may vindicate and assert its Ancient Laws, Rights and Liberties; so there is a fresh advantage offered us, of testifying our Loyalty to his present Majesty, and of promoting his Greatness, as well as of providing for our own future safety. I need not tell you, that the Ends to be proposed in the Service of those who are to be Elected, are, that Your Throne may be settled upon firm and righteous Foundations; and that all His Majesty's Subjects may live at ease and unity under His Government. 'Tis therefore first incumbent upon all wise and honest Men, that they elect such to represent them, as may both allow and confirm unto the King all the Ancient and Legal Rights of the Crown, and yet at the same time recover and secure all those Privileges unto the People, which the invading and wresting from them, gave occasion unto, and can alone justify the late Revolution. Whosoever seeks to enrich the King with the Spoils of his Subjects, and so adorn them with what our Late Monarch ravished from them, can design no less, than that the same Fate should befall him, which overtook his Predecessor; which is the robbing him first of his People's Affections, and then of his own Authority. 2dly, 'Tis no less the Duty, than it is the Interest of all that would have the Nation formidable to its Enemies, and the King successful in his Undertake, that they depute and authorize those to act for them in Parliament, who without subverting or undermining the Church, may not only preserve unto Dissenters, that Liberty vouchsafed unto them for worshipping God; but who may restore them unto, and vest them in, all the Common Rights and Privileges of Englishmen. Nor will it be easy to persuade so great a Company of People, that they find their account in the late Revolution, unless they be admitted by Law to enjoy the same Advantages under the present King, which by dispencing with, and an usurpation over the Law, they were possessed of under the last. 3dly, We are to esteem them the fittest of all others, to be returned to serve in the Ensuing Parliament, who are likeliest to maintain in our Allies a confidence of us, and to encourage them both to continue the Confederacy, and to pursue the Ends of it. And therefore as we would not give jealousy unto them, and weaken the Union amongst themselves, and with us, we ought to avoid the choosing of those that have heretofore promoted the Grandeur of France, or that have either sought the Destruction of the Dutch, or expressed a malice and rancour towards them. 4thly, As we would not betray both the King and ourselves, we are to choose none but such who are entirely in his Majesty's, and in the Kingdom's interest; Which as it is impossible to believe of them, who acknowledge him only a King in Fact, but not by Right; so it is not easy to conceive how they should be forward and zealous to support him in the Throne, who opposed his coming to it. The Enemies to King James' Abdication are not like to be true and lasting Friends to King William's Sovereignty. In short, it is the duty of all that love the present Establishment, to be against those, whom you find them to be for, that refuse to swear Allegiance to their present Majesties. Nor are they worthy of the Vote of an honest Man, who are not satisfied with the Protection of the Royal Power, unless they have both the mastery of it, and the exerting and applying of it to the oppression of their Fellow-Subjects. 'Tis not a King, but a Tool under that name, which they desire. And instead of allowing him to be the Universal, and Equal Ruler of all His People, they seek to reduct and degrade him to be the Head of a little and Peevish Faction. Which that His Majesty may be preserved from all Temptations unto, through the wise Choice of those that are to sit in the following Parliament, is the unfeigned desire of, Sir, Your humble Servant. Berks Lord Norris. Buckingh. Sir Ralph V●rny. Camb. Sir Levinus Bennet Sir Robert Cotton Sir Robert Sawyer. Cornwall Sir B●urcher Wrey Fran. Robert's Sir John St. Aubin Charles Godolphin Nich. Glynn John Tanner Alexander Pendarvis James Praed John Rashleigh Fran. Vivian John Specot Sir Jos. Tredenham Hen. Seymor Sir John Coriton John Prideaux Cumberland. Sir Christ. Musgrave. Lerby John Coke. Devonshire Sir Edw. Seymor Christo. Bale Sir John fowel Rawlin Mallack William Cary Henry Nortleigh Sir Arthur Chichester Edm. Walrond Will Hayn Will. Coleman. Dorse●shire Tho. Strangways John Pole Sir Robert Nappier Edw. Nicholas Rich. Fowns Will. Okeden. Durham Will. Lampton Robert Byerly George Morland. Gloucestershire Will. Cook Th●. Master Sir Fra. Russell. Herefordshire Hen. Cornwall. Huntingtonshire John Bigg. Kent Sir John Banks Sir John Twisden Caleb Banks. Lanc●shire Fran. Cholmondley Sir Edw. Chisnall. Leicestershire Sir Tho. Halford Tho. Babington. Lincolnshire Charles Ber●e. Sir John Brownlow. Middlesex Sir Charles Gerard Ralph Hawtrey. Monmouth Marq. of Worcester. Norfolk Sir Will. Cook Sir Nevil Catlyn Sir John Turner Sir Fran. Guybon. Northamptonshire Edw. Montague Gilbert Dolben Sir Justinian Isham Lord Wenman. Northumberland Will. Forster Philip Brickerstaff Sir Ralph Car Roger Fenwick. Nottingham Lord Eland. Oxon Sir Robert Jenkinson Sir Tho Clarges Hen. Berty Sir Jon Doyley. Rutland Sir Tho. Mackworth. Salop Edw. Kynaston Andrew Newport Sir Fran. Edward's Sir Edw. Acton George Weld. Somerset Sir Rich. Heart Sir John Knight Edw. Berkley Sir Will. Basset Sir Will. Portman John Sandford Sir Francis War Francis Lutterel Nathan. Palmer Sir Edw. Windham Will. Helyar John Hunt Tho. Sanders. Southampton. Franc. Morley Sir Benj. Newland Sir Robert Holms Earl of Ranelagh Thomas Done Franc. Guin William Etrick John Pollen. Staffordshire. John Grace Robert Burdet John Chetwind Sir Henry Gough. Suffolk. Sir John Cordell Sir John Rous Sir John Barker Tho. Glemham Sir Hen. Johnson William Johnson Sir John Poley Thomas Knyvet Hen. Pooley Sir Robert Davers Sir Thomas Harvey. Surry. John Weston White Tichburn. Sussex. Sir William Morley John Alford Charles Goring Jun. Will. Morley. Warwickshire. Sir Richard Verney Sir Roger Cav● Lord Digby William Colemore. Westmoreland. Richard Lowther William Cheyne Wiltshire. Lord Cornbury Robert Hyde. Richard Lewis Peregrine Berty Henry Chivers Walter Grubb Charles Fox Sir Edm. Warnford John Dean Sir John E●nle Sir George Willoughby. Worcestshire Henry Parker Sir John Matthews. Yorkshire Earl of Danby Sir John Jennings Christopher Tancred. Brecon. E. Jones of Buckland. Denby Sir Rich. Middleton Edward Breh●n. Glamorgan Thomas Mansell Pembroke Sir William W●gan. LONDON: Printed in the Year 1690.