The Mischief of CABALS: OR, THE Faction exposed. WITH SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR A Lasting Settlement,  
In a LETTER to a MEMBER of PARLIAMENT.  I know no Resolutions more worthy a Christian King, than to prefer his Conscience before his Kingdoms. K. Charles 1. Eikon Basil. c. 6. 
LONDON, Printed, and are to be sold by Randal tailor, near Stationers-Hall. 1685.   

SIR,  
HAD you known how averse I have always been from ripping up old Sores, or hitting others on the Teeth with their past Miscarriages, when they promise to grow wiser and mend their Manners, you would not, I am confident, have imposed upon me so ungrateful a Task, as the giving you an account of the extravagant Proceedings of some of our late pretended Patriots, which promoted, if not occasioned, the Tragical Scene like to have followed, had not Providence miraculously interposed.  
But when you assure me, 'tis not only convenient, but very necessary for the public Service, in the present posture of Affairs, to expose to the World the fatal Consequences of Factions and Cabals, and the unwarrantable Resolutions of a prevailing part of the Commons in our two last Parliaments, that others may thereby take warning to avoid that unhappy Rock, whereon their Predecessors have so unluckily split; this powerful Charm, which shall ever Influence all the Actions of my Life, together with the weight of your own Commands, have forced me at last to a compliance. And tho' for the most part, this Subject has been already handled by several Pens, and particularly by the Author of the Lawyer outlawed, who made it his business to show by several Reasons and Arguments, besides divers Acts of Parliament, and a great many Presidents and Records, that as the Fears and Jealousies of the People were groundless and imaginary, so the Resolutions of the Leading Members at that time were Arbitrary and Illegal, contrary to Magna Charta, and the fundamental Laws of the Nation: Yet at your request, since the Gentlemen were pleased to get their Votes Printed, by way of an Appeal to the People, I will amongst others briefly offer you my Thoughts upon the matter, but after some few preliminaries, will begin mine where that Gentleman ended his Discourse.  
You remember, I suppose, what a Noise, what a Bustle has been made with contrived Stories, and continual alarms of Plots and Conspiracies upon our Religion and Liberty, like the Romans Hannibal ad Portas, when there was no danger of either; and what a stir they kept with their tumultuous Petitions and Addresses from all the Fanaticks and Republicans of the Kingdom in Winter 79. for the Parliaments sitting, which alone they thought was able to cure this malady imaginaire: And yet when the Parliament met, and sat long enough to have redressed all the real Grievances of the Nation, our Worthy Patriots even left us in a worse condition than they found us. The late King of ever blessed Memory, whom God has taken from an ungrateful Generation that was not worthy of him, to Reign with himself in Glory, offered them a great deal more than Subjects ought in duty to expect from their sovereign; yet nothing but the very unhinging of the Government, by that Antimonarchical project the Bill of Exclusion, would in any measure satisfy their Ambition. The Loyal Gentlemen of the Country, who dutifully obeyed their Princes Lawful Proclamation, were tossed from Post to Pillar by their Catchpoles, and their Ban-Dogs, as Traytors to the People, and kept several Weeks under a tedious and chargeable confinement, without the lest pretence of Law, or Colour of Justice: And at the same time Sidney and Ludlow, and all the Republican Gang of 41. who were skulking abroad ever since his late Majesties most happy Restauration, flocked home with all possible expedition, and were the great Favourites of our Leading Members. But it was certainly a very Comical passage how civilly they treated Mr. William Stawell, one of their Abhorrers, who had the courage to disobey their unwarrantable Summons, and tell their Messenger, if he did any thing contrary to Law, he would answer for't, as the Law directs, in the same County, where the Fact was committed. The Leading Members were so puzzled at this unexpected Answer, that they knew neither how to digest nor revenge so great an affront, while Mr. Stawell had so much Law of his side; yet thinking it absolutely necessary to find out some shame or other to blind the World, lest this should be made a Leading carded for others to slight their pretended Authority, they very obligingly Voted the Gentleman sick, and unable to appear before them; and therefore were pleased to allow him a months time for his appearance. Votes 4. December 1680.  
But this, and( if you except the grand project of Exclusion) all the other tricks and devices they made use of for eleven Weeks together to inflame and distracted the People, seemed but a Flea-bite, if compared with the unparallelled Votes they passed some days before they forced the King to a Prorogation: When Sampson-like, who by pulling down the Pillars of the House, destroyed more Philistines on the day of his Death, than in his whole Life before, they did more mischief by shaking the Foundation of the Government the three last days of their sitting, than in all the rest of their turbulent Reign.  
Resolved,( say they) That His Majesty in His last Message, having assured this House of his readiness to concur in all other means, for the preservation of the Protestant Religion; This House doth declare, that until a Bill be likewise passed for Excluding the D. of York, this House cannot give any supply to His Majesty, without danger to His Majesties Person, extreme hazard of the Protestant Religion, and unfaithfulness to those by whom this House is entrusted. Votes 7th Jan. 1680.  
In this Vote we may observe with some Astonishment the great Condescensions of a Gracious Prince, and the ungrateful Returns of a stubborn People, who got a knack, of late days, to stand upon such trucking and bartering with their sovereign, as their Predecessors durst not have offered in former Ages. Once indeed they presumed on the Usurpation of H. 4. who, because of his unjust Title, they thought would deny them nothing: And therefore in the Second Year of his Reign, The Commons desired they might have Answer of their Petitions before the gift of any Subsidy; to which the King answered, He would confer with the Lords, and do what should be best, according to their Advice. And the last day of the Parliament He gave this Answer, That that manner of doing had not been seen nor used in no time of His Progenitors or Predecessors, that they should have any Answer of their Petitions, or knowledge of it, before they have shewed and finished all their other business of Parliament, be it of any Grant, Business, or otherwise: And therefore the King would not in any ways change the good Customs and Usages made and used of ancient times. But now, it seems, the case is altered, and No Cure, No Money, is always the Bargain. The King proffers to concur with them in all other Expedients for their security, without any Limitation or Restriction, against the groundless Fears and Jealousies they pretended; but the Hoghen-Moghen scorned to accept of any thing He could safely consent to: And therefore when His Majesty pressed them to think of a supply for the relief of Tangier, they, as became such Loyal and Dutiful Subjects, flatly refused it, because of the apparent Danger it threatened to His Majesties Person, and to the Protestant Religion, if the Moors were beaten upon their own Dunghill.  
Thus all Expedients are quiter out of doors, and Voted not only insufficient, but dangerous; and no care must be taken to rescue Tangier out of the hands of Barbarians, for fear of hazarding His Majesties Person, and the Protestant Religion, by weakening the Mahometan Interest: No regard to the growing Greatness of France, nor the least thought of securing a distracted Nation from the Designs of so potent an Enemy, and not a Groat to be given for the Honour and welfare of the Kingdom, without the forbidden fruit, the Bill of Exclusion. And so hot they were upon this unlucky scent, that like Aesop's Dog in the Manger, they would neither give any Money themselves, to supply the Kings urgent Necessities, and to maintain his Credit( wherein was contained that of the whole Nation) either at home or abroad, nor as much as in them lay, suffer others to part with any; to which purpose, least the Pursestrings of the Nation, which they kept very close, should chance to fail them, they bethought themselves of an enchanted Padlock, never before made use of, for their further Security; and to that end they passed the following Vote.  
Resolved, That whosoever shall lend, or cause to be lent by way of advance, any Money upon the branches of the Kings Revenue, arising by Customs, Excise, or Hearth-Money, shall be adjug'd to hinder the sitting of Parliaments, and shall be responsible for the same in Parliament, Votes ibid.  
But why should Subjects be condemned of this Bug-bear Crime, for lending the King their own Money upon a valuable Consideration? Or why forejudg'd by the House of Commons, who never had the Power of Judicature? What, are we gone back again to Forty One, to be thus hag-ridden a second time? or can we be thought altogether so stupid, as to have forgot the Tyrannical Usage we then received from a pack of Villains, that called themselves the House of Commons, and thought their Nemine Contradicente was enough to avoid both Law and Gospel? No Sir, A burnt Child dreads the Fire; and the Nation having by a dear bought-Experience opened their Eyes, are of late more afraid of their fellow-Subjects Usurpation, than ever they have been of the Princes Encroachment: And therefore this Unwarrantable Vote signified no more, but to let the People know what they might expect from such Patriots, if they had kept any longer in the Saddle; since they had as much Power to get all the Money of England into their Custody and Disposal, as to make it Penal in any one to dispose of his own, as he pleased. But let us hear their last Speech and Confession on the happy day of their Prorogation, which restored many an Honest Man to his Liberty, and the Nation to some interval of Tranquillity.  
Resolved, that whosoever advised his Majesty to prorogue this Parliament, to any other purpose than in order to the passing of a Bill for the Exclusion of the Duke of York, is a Betrayer of the King, the Protestant Religion, and of the Kingdom of England; a Promoter of the French Interest, and a Pensioner to France. Votes 10. Jan. 1680.  
This is but the old Cant in a new Dress, and the refined Language of billingsgate orators, who always think it the best Policy to cry Whore first, the better to stop the mouths of their Adversaries. But I appeal to any Man of common Sense, if these very Men, even at that time, were not the grand Promoters of the French Interest, and consequently Pensioners to France. For had that politic Monarch employed so many Agents into Enggland, 'tis plain he could not have pitched on a surer way to forward his Designs, than the dividing and distracting the People here; which these Gentlemen have notoriously done to the utmost of their Power. And to say, they were so Generous as to have served him gratis, is so far from lessening, that it will much aggravate the Crime; since the Man that betrays his Country for a Reward, is far more excusable, than he that does it out of mere Malice and Ill-will. I will easily allow them, which I think no Man in his Wits will deny, that the French King has been these many years past, and is like to continue, because 'tis his Interest, the great Disturber of our Israels Peace. He is sensible, we are the only Nation now able, if united amongst ourselves, to give a Check to his unlimited Ambition, and defeat his long hatched Designs of an Universal Monarchy. 'Tis his Business therefore to foment our Differences, and set us together by the Ears, till he finds himself in a Condition to fall upon us, and destroy us. He has already found out our Blind Side, our frightful Apprehensions of Popery and Arbitrary Government upon every slight, or rather no occasion, which the Author of the Book called the Policy of France, has long since chalked out as the most infallible way to break us all to pieces. But if we consider what sort of Men have of late years pursued this very Method, with more than ordinary Zeal, have studied all ways imaginable to inflame the Nation, and bring their sovereign into an odium with his People, and by this Means have given the French an opportunity to add Casal and Strasbourg, Courtray, Luxemburg, and other Places of Importance to his new Acquisitions, and to cast several Slurs and Affronts upon this Kingdom both by Sea and Land: We shall easily find, that whoever received the Pensions, these very Gentlemen that cry so loud against it, were the grand Promoters of the French Interest. I am sorry this can be said of any, much less of so many of the Representatives of the Commons of England; or that any should be found among them so unmindful of the public, or so far infatuated with a blind unseasonable Zeal for Religion, as instead of opposing the Common Enemy, to serve and forward his Designs. Yet this much we have to say to our Comfort, that even in that House there was a Remnant left that bowed not the knee to Baal, as Loyal Subjects, and as hearty Lovers of their Country, as ever sate within those Walls, tho' still out-voted by the cunning and address of the Faction, who with their plausible Pretences of Religion and Liberty, when they really meant Slavery and Confusion, by unhinging the best of Governments, carried all before them. For 'tis plain, there is nothing more dangerous to our present Peace and future Happiness than the creating such unlucky divisions and misunderstandings amongst us; nothing more necessary for our Preservation, than a lasting union and a mutual confidence between Prince and People: And therefore as all good Subjects are now satisfied, these Gentlemen were lead by another bias than that of the public good; so I question not but every true Englishman will mark all those for the future, that will run upon the same Scent, and look upon them as Betrayers of their Country, hired by our Enemies to prepare us for Destruction. But how, I beseech you, could the Proroguing of that Parliament, be a promoting of French designs? What have they done, all the while they sate, in opposition to France, or what have they omitted to please that ambitious Prince, and secure him in his Conquests; all their Votes and Resolutions, their Addresses and Remonstrances being all along subservient to his Ends and Purposes? The reason was, I suppose, that having set up for Popular Patriots, to please the unthinking Multitude in some measure, they thought it necessary to give them a few Sugar Plums, by seeming to huff against the French, tho' it was the least of their Thoughts to disoblige so good a Friend: As on the other side they passed in the following vote high compliments on their zealous Sticklers in London, who had been all along very useful to the Ringleaders of the Faction, to engage them further in the Cause.  
Resolved, that the thanks of this House be given to the City of London, for their manifest Loyalty to the King, their care, charge, and vigilancy for the preservation of his Majesties Person, and of the Protestant Religion. Votes ib.  
I wish the Gentlemen, since their Hand was in, had so far obliged their Friends in London, as to have given us any one instance either of their Loyalty to the King, or of their Care for the established Religion, in the whole course of their unhappy Government. I know very well, there were at that time many Loyal and Conscientious Protestants in London, whose prudent conduct and management of Affairs, has since very much contributed to the Peace and Welfare of the Nation. But at this time they were only ciphers, out of all Power and Command, and daily run down under the Notion of Tories and Papists in Masquerade. As for those Worthies here caressed and applauded for the Watchmen of Israel, who have since either fled for their villainies, or got under the Hatches for several misdemeanours, none but such Patriots would have left them unpunished, much less have thanked them for their black Exploits; who made London then the Nursery of the Faction, as formerly it was the Seminary of the late horrid Rebellion: where all the wicked Measures, all the illegal Votes and unmannerly Addresses, that have been since made use of within Doors or without, were contrived and hammered by Factious Clubs and Cabals, several Months before the Parliament sate, and divers Copies distributed among the Leading men; whereof the late King had a full account given him by a Gentleman that seemed to be of the Gang, but was so honest as to let his Majesty know the whole Mystery of Iniquity. In fine, so Insolent they were, and so Violent against the Monarchy, that it was impossible for the King to be at ease, or the Nation at quiet, while such Incendiaries without, to back the Associators within Doors, had the management of the Capital City, which in effect is the Rudder of the whole Kingdom; And therefore all his Majesties other endeavours to get the better of the Faction, as his now Proroguing, then dissolving his Parliaments,( whereby instead of mending they became still more furious at their next Meeting) signified no more than Hercules in the Fable now and then cutting off one of Hydra's Heads, which grew double as often as cut off. But when the King, having tried in vain all other Expedients, seized upon the Charter of London, which they had forfeited over and over; then, and not till then, he gained a complete Victory, and with that single blow cut off all the heads of the Monster.  
Now the Associators finding the Fanaticks in London so active and so zealous in the Cause, 'twas no wonder if in return they made bold a little to stretch both the Law and the Gospel, to oblige such useful and necessary Tools; especially when they could ease their Friends, and run down their Enemies with the same Breath: And therefore 'tis wisely  
Resolved, that it is the Opinion of this House, that the City of London was burnt in the year 1666 by the Papists, designing thereby to introduce Arbitrary Power and Popery into this Kingdom. Votes 10. Jan. 1680.  
For it was well known, the Fanaticks were shrewdly suspected of this horrid Crime, six of them having confessed the Design at the place of Execution, and named the time within a day, near upon five Months before it happened; as may be seen in the Gazette 26. of April 66. Nero's Policy therefore must be used, to turn it another way, and the Wicked suffer for the Sins of the Godly; tho' not out of any hatred either to the worst Principles or Practices, that ever the Papists were accused of, but merely to make them a Stalking-Horse, the better to come at their own Game. The Gentlemen certainly were true Friends indeed, who to hid the Knavery of their Party, generously ventured to expose their own Folly to the World. What rational connection, I pray, can we find between the burning of London and the introducing of Popery, or between that and Arbitrary Power? As if the Papists made Slavery a piece of their Religion, to whose Care and Prudence, as Freeborn Englishmen, we owe all our Fundamental Rights and privileges, and even the most excellent Constitution of Parliaments. Yet suppose, the Papists were such Fools,( as certainly they must be the merest idiots upon Earth, or they are basely belied) as to prefer Slavery to Liberty, and think that horrid Conflagration serviceable to their purpose; how came they to miss of the End, at least not to push for't, since they sped so well, even beyond all Expectation, in the Means they proposed? Where lay their Money in Bank, or their Men in readiness? Who opposed this formidable Army, or how came they to vanish without doing some Execution.? But enough of this ridiculous, Nonsensical Stuff, contrived by Knaves, and believed by Fools, and most unluckily canonised at last in St. Stephens chapel, to the everlasting shane of the Authors.  
As for their intended kindness to the D. of M. which really turned to his Disadvantage, to have such Mediators as wanted Mediators and Pardons for themselves, to get him restored to his former Places and employments, it was grounded upon the same Foundation with the former. They wheedled the Poor Man, to serve their own Ends, from his Duty and all worldly Happiness, with the Chimerical Hopes of a Crown, which he had neither Right to Enjoy, nor Brains to Support; and being in Law but Filius Populi, they made him Don Populario to his ruin. For 'tis always observed, that the Devil owes the Fool a spite, when he makes him a Politician.  
Thus our Associators, like the Old Dragon in the Revelation, having great Wrath, because they knew they had but a short time, laboured to make the best of it they could for their Purpose; and therefore ceased not to spit their Venom on all sides to oblige their Friends, and revenge themselves on their Enemies: For tho' they expected every moment the pale Messenger of Death; yet like true Cargilites they continued to the very last minute blaspheming against the Government. But the Fatal Hour is come at length, and the Hoggen Moggen, who acted as if they had the same Commission with the Prophet Jeremiah, 
Jer. 1.10.  whom God had set over Nations, and over Kingdoms, to root-out and to pull down, and to spoil and to destroy, and to build, and to plant; nevertheless with the least Blast of their Princes breath, they presently gave up the Ghost, and moulder'd away into nothing.  
But the King, whom no Irregularities in Parliament could put out of Love with so good and wholesome a Constitution, and the necessities of the Kingdom then requiring it, to quiet, if possible, the Minds of the distracted People, upon the Dissolution of the former, issued out new Summons for calling another: Yet considering that for some years before, the Faction in the House of Commons, and their Agents in London, went hand in hand, supporting and encouraging each other, to the great prejudice of the public, he resolved for once to try their humour at Oxford; where notwithstanding all the Endeavours of the Fanaticks, while they ruled the Roast in that Ancient and Famous Nursery of Learning, during the late Usurpation, to corrupt the young Collegians with the old Leaven, Religion and Loyalty were still triumphant.  
The Faction quickly apprehending the Disadvantages they should lye under, near so Learned, and so Loyal an University, where their Shams would not take, nor their Practices bear Water; where they should want their Cabals to prepare Schemes, and the unruly Rabble to make a Noise, immediately put their Heads together to divert this, as to them, most Fatal Resolution. And having drawn up an Unmannerly sort of a Petition, not so much Praying as threatening the King with the ill Consequences of removing his Parliament from London; which they got signed by as many Lords as they could get of their Gang, to the number of Sixteen, they pitched upon the unhappy Earl of Essex to present it to his Majesty; who cheerfully undertook the Province, that he might seem the Ringleader of the Party, and ushered it in with a most Impertinent Harangue 
* 25. Jan. 1680.  which they had prepared for him upon that Occasion. But the King was too Wise to be imposed upon by such Men; whom he knew so well, that their Petition, in stead of working any Change, confirmed him in his former Purpose; and therefore the Petitioners were dismissed without any further Satisfaction.  
This unexpected Repulse put the Faction to some Stand; yet having no other Remedy, they got the Speech and Petition immediately printed, by way of Appeal, as their Custom was, to the Multitude; but in few days after, the chief Heads of both were briefly confuted by an honest Gentleman, whose Answer, you tell me, never came to your hands; and therefore because Loyal and Short, and withal somewhat Prophetical, as to that unfortunate Earl, I will here insert for your Perusal.  
My Lord.  
THo' the great Esteem I have always had as well for your Lordships Parts and Prudence, as your Fathers Loyalty, inclines me to make a favourable Construction of your Words and Actions; yet the late Speech, and Petition published under your Name, are of so strange a nature, and of so ill an aspect in our present Circumstances, that I cannot but acquaint you with my Thoughts upon that unseasonable Subject; wherein did I not see my sovereign so nearly concerned, that many do construe, this was not so much Petitioning, as threatening his Sacred Majesty, I would have silently passed it over, and butted my Resentments in Oblivion.  
I am sorry, my Lord, you begin with so weak an Observation from Histories and Records, as that many Parliaments have been unfortunate when called at Places remote from the Capital City. Did you ever observe how unfortunate many have been, when called in this Capital City; or how many have been unfortunate, when elsewhere convened? Do not all Writers of the late Rebellion observe it a great oversight in our Royal Martyr, not to have called his long Parliament to York, or some other Place, remote from London; where so many Factious Cabals were constantly held, and so many Pernicious Contrivances daily hammered, besides the Rabbles tumultuous running to Westminster-Hall, and the Common Councils petitioning, or rather advising his Majesty,( mechanics turning Politicians, and leaving their Shops and Trade, to sit at the Helm of Government) that all wise men conclude, thence came the Plague of War and Desolation upon the whole Kingdom?  
But your Observation is not so weak, as your Presidents are Emphatical and Mysterious. You instance three unhappy Kings, and without the least ground in History, you seem to suppose the Places of calling their Parliaments, the Cause of their Miscarriages. I am sure, my Lord, you know the contrary is manifest by our most authentic Monuments and Records. To Popular Fears and Jealousies, fomented by Ambitious and Discontented Grandees and pretended Patriots, these, as most Princes in general, owed all their troubles and calamities; as now we do in a great Proportion.  
To these Henry II. by you mentioned, owed the unnatural Broils and Distractions of his Kingdom, when they and Lewis the VII. King of France, to make the Case the more Parallel, incited the Son to rebel against the Father; in which nevertheless they were thus far more excusable than others, that the Son was no Bastard, but the undoubted Heir of the Crown, and a titular King.  
These were in like manner the chief Cause of all the Mischiefs and miseries of Henry the Third's Reign, when under the Colour of redressing the Peoples Grievances, they brought upon the Nation the greatest Grievance of all, an Intestine Civil War for many years together: And tho' they loudly pretended to fight for the Liberty of the Subject, yet themselves were no better than so many Tyrants; as ancient and modern Authors have observed. Baker p. 86.  
As for Henry VI. his Fate was the Consequence of his Grandfathers Usurpation; for De male quaesitis vix gaudet tertius Haeres. The People at last weary of their Change, began to open their Eyes, and think it better to submit to their Lawful Prince, than to a violent Usurper. Nevertheless this Revolution could not have been effected but with a great deal of difficulty, had not a gap been opened by the Ambition of wicked Statesmen, who to have the sole Management of Affairs to themselves, contrived the death of the Kings Uncle, and only Support, the Good Duke of Gloucester; as now some conspire against His Royal Highness, the better to enable themselves to dispose of the King as they please.  
These are the chief Heads of your unseasonable Speech, but your Petition runs a little further. In the first place you aggravate the Dangers of Popery, of which all true Protestants are sufficiently Apprehensive; yet withal, my Lord, we are too sensible the Papists are not our only Enemies. We have whole Swarms of ungovernable Sectaries, and Republicans in great numbers, that seem to hate the Name, but in themselves love the practise of Arbitrary Power; that pretend to stand for the Church of England, but really advance Presbytery; Infine, that would fain persuade us they are great Lovers of the King, tho' by their Actions we may easily see, they care but little for his Government.  
You are troubled it seems, that the next Parliament is to meet at Oxford, where( you say) neither Lords nor Commons can be in safety, but will be daily exposed to the Swords of the Papists, and their Adherents; of whom too many have crept into his Majesties Guards. Do you know, my Lord, of any such Papists now in the Guards? If you do, 'tis your Duty to your King and Country to have them secured: If not, 'tis a groundless Surmise, and a very frivolous Pretence, unfit to be mentioned by Persons of Honour. Certain it is, we have more reason to believe such unseasonable Petitioners are addicted to Presbytery, than his Majesties Guards inclined to Popery: For the later do openly protest against the Papists, have often taken Tests and Oaths against that Religion; but the former are zealous Solicitors for the Fanaticks, and endeavour to unite them to the Church of England, not by their coming to us, but ours to them, we loseing our own Ground, and they still keeping theirs. But to wave this, if his Majesty thinks himself safe at Oxford, and doubts not to commit his Sacred Person to his Guards, what Reason have you to apprehended any Danger? Sure, 'tis his Majesties death, not yours, the Papists have hitherto designed: How then can you be so Apprehensive, while he is secure?  
As for the Kings Evidence, I doubt not but they will cheerfully endure a little Inconvenience, to make an end of this Execrable Plot. 'Tis an advantage most of them have, that they have been brought up and used to want and hardship; which now, I am confident, they will not decline, to consummate the great Work they have so well begun.  
My Lord, I wish as hearty as any man in England, the frequent Meetings of Parliaments, and the good Correspondence of Prince and People. I am perhaps as much concerned as another, to have the Liberty of the Subject preserved inviolable. Yet when I see those, that should be the Preservers of this Liberty, first invade it, and endeavour to monopolise Arbitrary Power to themselves, I think self-preservation allows me to oppose them. 'Tis a true saying, Corruptio optimi pessima, and experience tells us, that Parliaments may err as well as Kings.  
I will Conclude with a short Reflection on some Transactions preceding the long Parliament in the late King's Reign; where 'tis observable, that his Majesty finding his Parliaments still Retrograde, and bent rather to foment than compose the Differences of the Kingdom, in September 40. He summoned the Great Council of his Peers, to consult about the weighty Affairs of the Nation: But this( saith a late Historian) was not very well liked of by those who favoured the Scots, whose chief Design aimed at the calling of a Parliament, which they feared the meeting of the Peers might prevent. Wherefore the Earls of Bedford, Hertford, Essex, Warwick, Mouldgrave, Bullingbrook and Bristol, and the Lords Say, Brook, Paget, Mandevile, and the Lord Edward Howard, presented a Petition to the King, representing many great Distempers and Dangers, threatening the Church and State, and his Royal Person; as Sundry Innovations in Matters of Religion; increase of Popery, by employing Papists in places of Trust; the great Mischief that might ensue, if the Forces raised in Ireland should be brought into England, &c. For Remedy whereof, they pray, that a Parliament might be Summoned, to redress these Grievances, and punish the Authors; and likewise to compose the War with Scotland without Blood, and unite both Kingdoms against the Common Enemy of the Reformed Religion. And this was seconded by another Petition to the same Effect, from their Common Hackney, the Common Council of London. See Baker p. 470.  
These, my Lord, were as fair pretences, and as plausible Inducements to have a Parliament then called, as any you can offer at present for the Meeting of the next in London; and yet the World knows what pernicious Designs were then a hatching against the King and Government by those very Persons who promoted that Petition: and happy had his Majesty and the whole Nation been, had he rejected their Importunity. To every thing there is a Season, saith the Wise Man; and without doubt there is a Season for Petitioning. 'Tis certainly our Duty, with all Humility to beg of our sovereign what we think necessary for the public; but to press him to it, when he declares against it, for good Reasons as we ought in good manners to suppose, is a very great Presumption, not to be endured in a Subject. If the Laws have settled in the King the absolute Power of Calling, Adjourning, Proroguing and Dissolving his Parliaments, when and where he pleases, shall we be Wiser than the 
* Neminem oportet Sapientiorem esse Legibus. Cook.  Laws, and Limit our Princes Will, or question his Prerogative?  
In Fine, when Discontented Statesmen are found the Promoters of such Petitions, 'tis Natural to suspect they do it for some Sinister Design; Timeo Danaos & dona ferentes. If the great Politician Achitophel hanged himself through discontent, because his Counsel was not followed, we cannot in Prudence but think others will leave no ston unturned to gratify their Passion. There are some Weathercocks in the World, who had a hand in all the Revolutions of their time, modo harum, modo illarum partium, but never Faithful to any; if Your Lordship be so far overseen, as to join with Those, they will cetainly leave you in the Lurch, when 'tis too Late to Repent. Therefore in time consider the Wise Man's Advice: My Son, fear thou the Lord and the King, and Meddle not with them that are given to Change; for their Calamity shall rise suddenly, and who knoweth the ruin of them both. Prov. 24.21.  
I am Yours &c. 28 Jan. 1680 / 1.  
Now if we compare the last Paragraph of this Letter with the Fatal End of that unhappy Earl, we shall find the Prediction verified to a Hair, and the Gentleman's Conjectures turned in a manner into a prophesy. The Poor Man found at last to his Sorrow, he was left in the Lurch by Crooked Achitophel, when it was indeed too late to Repent; and therefore out of Remorse of Conscience, and deep Despair, for the baseness of his Crimes against his sovereign, rendered yet more odious with the blackest of Ingratitudes, in conspiring the Death of his Prince that heaped so many favours upon him, and in a great measure raised him from Nothing; notwithstanding all his Pretended Zeal for Religion, he was yet so Irreligious and Wicked, as to lay violent hands upon himself.  
But enough of this ungrateful Subject; and now let us observe a little the Motions of that Abortive Parliament at Oxford, whither the Leading Members are conducted, as it were in Triumph, by Formidable Bodies of the Faction, to strike Terror into all their Opposers. The many Foils and disappointments they received in the Preceding Parliaments, were so far from bringing them to any Calmness or Moderation, that now they are resolved with greater Heat and Violence than ever, to pursue their former Designs. In the Westminster Parliament, tho' they made bold to insert in one of their Bills a Clause for repealing the Statutes 
* Votes 16 Dec. 1680.  de Scandalis Magnatum, thereby to bring the Lords upon an even Level with themselves; and to Vote several Peers, without any trial or Conviction, 
* 7 Jan. 1680.  Enemies to the King and Kingdom, for advising his Majesty against the Bill of Exclusion: Yet they were so modest, as not to declare against the whole House, notwithstanding that his Majesty had  told them in his Message some daies before, 
* 4 Jan. 1680.  He was confirmed in his Opinion against the Bill of Exclusion by the judgement of the House of Lords, who rejected it. But here we find them of a Braver Spirit, fit to bind Kings in Chains, and Nobles in Fetters of Iron: And therefore when the Lords, according to the known Laws of the Land, rejected their contrivance of impeaching Fitzharris, and referred him to be tried at Common Law, they like bold britons, charged the whole House of Peers with the highest Violation of Justice imaginable: And  
Resolved, That it is the undoubted Right of the Commons in Parliament assembled, to impeach before the Lords any Peer or Commoner for Treason, or any other Crime or Misdeanour. And that the refusal of the Lords to proceed in Parliament upon such Impeachment, is a denial of Justice, and a violation of the Constitution of Parliaments. Votes 26 March 1681.  
But I wish the Gentlemen had been so just to themselves, as to have  told us, What Grounds they proceeded upon in this particular, in Case they had any, besides their unaccountable Nemine Contradicente. I am sure, if we understand the great Charter of our Liberties, and the Fundamental Birthright of every Commoner, to be tried by Juries in all Capital Crimes, where the Criminal is allowed to make divers Peremptory Challenges, and as many more as he can show Cause, 'tis most undoubted, nothing could have been more Illegal than the Impeachment of Fitzharris, nothing more unwarrantable than this very Resolve. Besides 'tis well known, that in the 4th Year of Ed. 3. after the Lords had been prevailed upon to give judgement on Sir Simon de Bereford and several other Commoners, for the Murder of Ed. 2. and his Brother the Earl of Kent, there is an express Proviso still extant upon Record, that the Lords should not for the future be obliged to judge any but their Peers.  
And it is assented and accorded by our Lord the King, and all the Grandees in full Parliament; that albeit the Peers, as Judges of the Parliament, h●ve taken upon them, and rendered judgement, &c. That yet the said ●●ers, who n●w are, or shall be in time to come, be not bound or charged 〈◇〉 render Judgments upon others than their Peers. Nor that the Peers of the Land have POWER to do this, but thereof ever to be discharged and acquitted: And that the aforesaid judgement rendered be not drawn to Example or Consequence in time to come, whereby the said Peers shall do contrary to the Laws of the Land, if the like case happen, which God forbid. 4 Ed. 3. N. 6. And pursuant to this Proviso, when Sir William Cogan was accused in Parliament by Sir Richard Clevedon, 5. R. 2. N. 43 and 44. the Lords having heard the Cause, remitted both Parties to the Common-Law.  
Where then is the undoubted Right of the Commons to impeach, or what Law or Statute can warrant their imposing upon the Lords to judge whom they please, contrary to such express Acts of Parliament? Or what could be their Reason to be so much concerned for Fitzharris, a professed Papist, but to delay his Trial, when after Impeachment he could not be brought to Justice but at their svit, that by assuring him his Life, they might force him to pretend some new Discoveries, to breed more Confusion? They knew very well the Man had nothing to discover but his own villainous Inventions, which he purposely contrived to save his Neck from the Gallows, charging himself with new Crimes, to avoid the punishment of the old. And Sir R. C. one of his Godfathers in Newgate made it plain enough, when he  told the House at Oxford, 
Debates. p. 6.  Fitzharris asked him, whether he had not said enough to save his Life? But still it was the same thing to them, Plots true or false would equally serve their turn; or rather false ones would be more Useful, because they could turn them which way they pleased: And therefore to the very last they used all their Arts and Endeavours to bring him off, Right or Wrong, and to frighten the Judges from their Duty, they passed the following Vote;  
Resolved, that for any inferior Court to proceed against Edward Fitzharris, or any other Person lying under an Impeachment in Parliament, for the same crimes for which he or they stand Impeached, is an high breach of the privilege of Parliament. Votes 26. March 81.  
Sure these Gentlemen dreamed they were gone back to 41. and made perpetual Dictators, that they offered at this Rate to impose their wild Ordinances upon the Nation, in opposition to the fundamental Laws of the Land. 'Tis pity his Majesty did not suffer them to sit a little longer, that we might have more of such edifying Resolutions. And I wonder how could Prince or People be weary of so obliging a House of Commons, who laboured with a great deal of Pains and Industry, to imitate Christ's saying in the Revelation, Behold I make all things new, Rev. 21.5. New Laws, new Religions, and many new frames of Government, might we be assured of by this time, had not the Almighty seen their Predecessors, the Rebellious Long-Parliament, had given us too much of those Blessings. If Caligula sucked blood when a Child, what could People hope from him when a Man? And if the Faction at Oxford arrived in six days time to that height of Insolence, as the Commons in 41. did not come near in six months, what a happy Reformation might we expect, had they also been made perpetual. But they lived too fast to live long, and notwithstanding this extravagant Vote, with the terrible Bugbear in the Belly on't, the privilege of Parliament, which had formerly sunk both Law and Gospel, Fitzharris was brought to Justice, and discovered at the place of Execution both his Own and his Patrons villainy.  
'Tis observable that in K. James 1. his time the bloody Traytors concerned in the Gun-powder Treason, were all tried and convicted by the course of the Common Law; and tho' the Parliament was then sitting, and the Design levelled as much against them, as against the King and Royal Family, yet not one of them did the Commons offer to impeach; neither is it to be imagined, that so wise a Prince, and so great a Master of Kings-craft, would have suffered them to meddle with any of his Prisoners, since he did not allow them to take the least cognizance of the whole matter, where the inferior Courts had power to proceed. No voting of Plots was then in fashion, no examining of Witnesses by Secret Committees of the House of Commons, no suing of Pardons or Rewards for mercenary needy Informers, as we have had of late days, to carry on the most uncouth ill-shaped Monster, that ever appeared in Nature. All was calmly examined, and judicially determined in the ordinary Courts of Justice without any further Appeal.  
And many are of Opinion, it would have been very much for the Honour and welfare of the Nation, had the late King taken the like method in the prosecution of oats his Popish Plot, which would have prevented the distractions of his People, and wholly defeated the designs of his Enemies; who no sooner got the management of that ridiculous Stuff into their hands, but they improved it every day more and more to his Majesties disadvantage, still grafting new Plots on the old Stock, to keep the People in a continual ferment, till the grand Plot appeared at last, which had not Providence miraculuosly prevented, would have certainly proved the ruin both of King and Kingdom. And who, I pray, were the Ringleaders of this horrid Conspiracy, but the great Dictators of the Faction, and the noisy asserters of our Religion and Liberty in those two Parliaments? where, as we are since convinced, our true Protestant Patriots made all this bustle about the Popish Plot for no other end, but that they might under the Umbrage of that, carry on their own undiscovered. Well might they cry his Majesties Life was still in Danger, who best knew what Hellish Machinations they had on foot against his Sacred Person, which yet they laboured with a great deal of Art and Cunning to throw upon the Papists, on whom they had already voted 
* Votes 2. Nov. 80.  in case the King should come by any violent Death, they would revenge it to the utmost, tho' none more likely to act it than some of themselves, as soon afterwards appeared. For, when they perceived that neither their illegal Votes, nor insolent Addresses, nor all their other Arts and Contrivances could prevail with the King to lay his Crown at their feet; and found moreover, that the main body of the Faction, their Friends in London, whose Purses and Consciences they always had at their Devotion, were upon declining, and like to loose the Charter they had so vigorously made use of against the Giver: then they thought it high time to bestir themselves, and try since nothing else was like to succeed, what could Sword and Blunderbuss do.  
This was the Plot indeed, and the well-contriv'd Design, where no Art was wanting to secure the success, no Power but Providence able to defeat it. The Common People were already managed to some purpose, the Knaves prepared for executing any villainy, and the well-meaning Fools kept still gaping after the ridiculous Contrivances of the Papists, which if compared to this, will seem but a mere phantom or Shadow: For their forty Thousand Black Bills, their screwed Guns and Silver Bullets, their Spanish Pilgrims and Irish Auxiliaries, their White-Horse Consult and D' Oliva's Commissions, and in fine, the whole frame of that Bears Cub, is no more than a Childish piece of Pageantry, in comparison of the late Conspirators methodical attacks upon the Government; as their seditious Petitions and factious Addresses, their riotous Elections and perjured Ignoramus's their antimonarchical Bill of Exclusion and treasonable Project of Association, and to crown the Work, their Council of Six and Rye-house undertaking.  
The Train is so Obvious and Visible in the Later, and the Chain so easy to be traced link by link, while there is but little or no Coherence in the Former, that the most any man in his right Wits can do, is to believe any part of the one, or disbelieve the least tittle of the other.  
But why should I seek knots in Bulrushes, or dwell any longer on a thing so plain? the whole Mystery of Iniquity is sufficiently revealed, and not only sworn to by many of the living, but owned and confessed by the dying Conspirators; Whereas we have little or nothing to support the Credit of the other, but the bare oaths of a pack of Jayl-birds and the most notorious of Villains, who for their Bread and Liberty were ready to swear any thing, while they had a head-strong Faction to back them, and pawm upon the People their Romantick Dreams for new Revelations.  
Now, if at last we sum up our Accounts, and compute our Loss and Gain upon the whole matter, as every prudent Man will do even in his private Concerns, what is the Nation the better for this way of proceeding? The Monarchy was thereby not only brought low, but upon the very brink of Destruction; the established Religion defamed, and the Orthodox Clergy made a Grievance; divers of his Majesties good Subjects daily harassed, and tossed from Post to Pillar; our Credit and Reputation lost abroad; and our Trade and Commerce in a manner ruined: And all this while not one to be named, that was a Gainer by the matter, but scandalous libelers, factious Newsmongers, and perjured Informers.  
This is not all, our Parliaments, which in former Ages were deservedly looked upon as the great Physitians of the Body politic,( because of late years the Leading Members in the House of Commons proved such Quacks and Mountebanks, as seemed to have only the Art of Killing, but not of Curing any) suffered so much in their Credit, especially with such as are apt to throw the Faults of the Professors upon the Profession, and the Miscarriages of some Members upon the whole Constitution, that many are of Opinion, it will be no small difficulty for the next to Retrieve their Reputation. It grieves me to find what some Ingenious Gentlemen have observed, that of the eight, which have been summoned these 60 years past, we have had but One that we could truly call a Loyal or good Parliament. The rest, through the unhappy Choice of ill Members, who aimed more at their own Ends and Designs than the public good, some endeavouring by Caballing and Bawling against the Government, to get themselves bought off with Honours and employments, others labouring to promote Fanaticism and turn the Monarchy into a Common-Wealth, have occasioned such distractions, such wild Notions and chimaeras among the People, that many an honest man thinks he has Reason to wish, as the least of the two Evils, rather to have no Parliaments, than to be plagued with the like for the future.  
But the Distemper, I hope, is now pretty well over, and the Nation having had sufficient Experience of the Fatal consequences of Faction and Sedition, will( I doubt not) take such Measures at this time, as will make the next a healing, restoring Parliament; such as will not increase, but rather redress our Grievances, bring all the Enemies of the Government to Condign Punishment, procure and fix a good understanding between Prince and People, and thereby( the only Means to do it) Retrieve the Reputation their Predecessors have so unluckily lost, to the great Prejudice of the public.  
This is the sure and short way to our present Settlement and future Happiness, so earnestly wished for by all Loyal Subjects, and no less dreaded by the Disturbers of our Israels Peace; who have therefore now all their Engines at work, to render this as fruitless as they have former Parliaments. The Fanaticks and the Republicans, of late turned Trimmers, as the more Mischievous sort of Animals, and such as fancy themselves disobliged, or whose Crimes have rendered them obnoxious to the Government, who think they can have no Safety, at least no possibility of compassing their Ends, but by our disorder and Confusion, now keep constant Clubs and Cabals, in all the Corners of the Town, to contrive such Schemes and Measures, as they think most proper to frustrate all honest Mens Expectations, by rendering the next Sessions ineffectual.  
It has been always their Policy to begin with Religion, as the most popular topic they can make use of, to engage the unthinking Multitude in the Cause, according to Machiavel's Rule, Quoties vis fallere plebem, finge Deum: Tho' 'tis well known, the old Heathen Philosophers were far better Christians than such noisy Reformers as we have had of late days, who were every Moon for chopping and changing, paring and clipping Religion, till they would have left us none at all. It was Erasmus his Drollery, Quid rerum nunc geritur in Anglia? Consulitur de Religione. And it has been our Misfortune ever since to have been perplexed with the same Endless Consultations; till at length Christianity itself was Spirited away from among us by an Ignis Fatuus of an Imaginary Religion, and nothing in a manner left to the established Church, that we could call Primitive, but Poverty and Persecution. And all this while, which was our fatal Error, we never considered before-hand the Lives and moral Actions of those Refiners of the Reformation, that we might thereby know what spirit they were of: But, as if God wanted the Devils assistance to defend his Church, the losest Debauchees, and the greatest Hypocrites, no sooner pretended to stand up for Religion and Liberty, but they were immediately canonised by the gaping Crowd into tutelar Saints and true Protestant Patriots. Thus poor Perkin Warbeck, and his good natured Cornudo, to omit many hundreds more of the same Stamp, were cried up for the main Pillars of the Protestant Religion, that stood in the Gap against the Inundations of Popery; tho' at the same time little better than Atheists, and when their Vizards were pulled off, and they could stay no longer here, then each of them thought fit, for their Spiritual Recreation, to led about a Holy Sister in their Travels, to propagate their Gospel in Foreign Countries.  
But Expedients, say they, we must needs have to secure the Protestant Religion, otherwise the Nation will be at length prevailed upon to return from whence they came, and once more to observe the Souldiers posture, As you were. I wish in the mean time we had an effectual Expedient to Cure some Peoples brains of Maggots and chimeras, who seem to tremble with fear, where there is no possibility of Danger. Our Religion, I am sure, is already as well secured, and as firmly established by the Care and Vigilance of our Ancestors, as the Law is able to make it, or human wit can device; there being so many severe Statutes in force against all its Opposers, even to the making it 
* 23 Eliz. 1. Sect. 2. & 3. Jac. 4. Sect. 22, 23.  Treason to pervert or be perverted, that no Power on Earth, but our own folly, can alter or destroy it. Besides, to remove all Objections, and satisfy, if possible, the most scrupulous amongst us, His Majesty that now is, whose Word has ever been as Sacred, and as punctually observed, as the most Solemn Laws by any of his Ancestors, was graciously pleased, upon the late Kings Decease, to declare himself in Council, and give us this further assurance: I shall make it my endeavour to preserve this Government both in Church and State, as it is now by Law established. I know the Principles of the Church of England are for Monarchy, and the Members of it have shew'd themselves Good and Loyal Subjects, therefore I shall always take care to defend and support it.  
Now if all these be thought insufficient, what new Expedient can be found able to secure us? If People be so base as to imagine, His Majesty will regard neither the established Laws, nor His Royal Word, nor yet His undoubted Interest, to what purpose should People dream any more of Expedients, since the Laws formerly made are as full and as binding, as any can be framed a new. Unless they will offer( and that to be sure is their aim) to clip the Prerogative, which is already pared so very near the quick, that nothing more can be partend with, without apparent danger to the Monarchy. And therefore no honest man, or which is the same, no true lover of the Government, will approve of, much less promote any thing, that may tend to a further diminution of it; none but such as would fain dash both Church and State, one against the other, will offer to weaken the Crown, on pretence to support the mitre; whereas indeed nothing can secure the one, but the strength and power of the other, which have been always observed, like hippocrates his Twins, to Laugh and Weep, Live and die together.  
But 'tis plain, Religion is not the Matter in Question, nor Conscience the Motive of all these Frights and Apprehensions. Worldly Interest is the Spring that moves all the Wheels, and provided these Men of Zeal and Devotion, could but secure in their own Hands all the Offices and Employments in the kingdom, I am morally certain, they would not much care what Mode of Religion should be in Fashion. For my part, tho' I have as much reason perhaps as another to wish, that none should be employed in any considerable Station amongst us, but the obedient Sons of the Church of England, and that I see no manner of grounds to fear, while the Laws which the King has been graciously pleased to promise, should be the Rule of his Government, are so strict and severe against all Dissenters, there shall be any other advanced in this Kingdom; whatsoever His Majesty may think fit to do, which is no business of ours, in His other Dominions, especially in Ireland, where it is not only lawful, but perhaps very necessary to employ some Persons of known Integrity, to balance the Cromwellians, and the ungovernable Fanaticks there, who( I am  told) have raised themselves from nothing to very considerable Estates by Fighting for Oliver, and therefore cannot easily forget the Principles nor the practise, which of Weavers, cobblers, and other pitiful mechanics, made them Esquires, Knights, and Peers of that Realm. Tho' I say, there is no Moral Possibility of any others being preferred here, but such as will, at least seemingly comform according to Law; yet to give you my own thoughts upon that Point, I must tell you, that as I have been always of Opinion, that Honesty is not only the best Policy, but the best Religion, it being confessed by all, that the Honest Man only goes to Heaven; and as it cannot enter into my Head, how it is possible for any to be really solicitous about Religion, that practices nothing of it in his Life or Conversation: So I could never yet be induced to believe, it was the Interest either of Church or State to make an outward Profession of the established Religion a necessary step to Preferment. That indeed with the practise and other Endowments must be always exacted in Spiritual Promotions; but Merit only and good Services to the Crown should, in my Opinion, be thought enough to recommend Candidates to Civil or Military employments. And as it is Demonstrable, the Monarchy has been very much weakn'd, by making that the Standard of the Princes favour, which neither King nor Kingdom were a Straw the better for; so 'tis plain the Church suffered extremely by the accession of thousands of Atheists and profane Libertines, who pretended to be of her Communion for no other Reason, but to qualify themselves for Offices and Preferments; by which means, besides the Opportunity given to such ill men to execute any villainy upon an occasion, to the great hazard of the State, many a well-meaning Christian was very much scandalized, and a Gap opened to her Enemies to throw all the dirt they could upon the most primitive reformed Church in the World. 'Tis certainly an odd sort of Policy, to exclude one that signalized his Ability and his Loyalty to the Crown, for some differences in Religious Opinions, owned even by ourselves unnecessary to Salvation; and prefer another that never gave any one Instance of either, because he makes no Conscience of taking, nor will perhaps of breaking, any Test or Oath that is tendered him.  
We see the politic French Monarch, tho' Himself and the Generality of his People are zealous Papists, do nevertheless prefer such of his Protestant Subjects as he finds deserving, to places of Trust and Profit, sends them Envoys and Ambassadors to his neighbouring Princes, makes them Captains and Colonels in his Army, and raises them by degrees according to their Honesty and Capacity, as appears by Monsieur Schomberg, whom tho' a zealous Protestant, he made marshal of France, and consequently General in his turn, one of the highest Stations and of the greatest Trust in his whole Kingdom. Neither can the French Papists be offended at the Advancement of any such, when they consider 'tis but Equity and the undoubted Right of the Subject; because that part of political Justice, which is called Distributive, always makes it a due Debt upon the Prince to reward his Subjects according to their Deserts, as the Vindicative part does oblige him on the other side to punish Offenders according to their Demerits; with this only Difference, that he can with much better Conscience forgive the one, than forget the other.  
Besides, when a Prince has several Factions, whether Religious or Civil in his Dominions, as Protestant and Papist, Guelph and Gibelline, which he cannot easily reconcile, 'tis his Interest, by employing them indifferently according to their Parts and Loyalty, to keep the balance in an equal Libration; that while they are at enmity amongst themselves, they shall have no Aversion to him, who impartially rewards them in proportion to their Deserts: which must needs create such an Emulation betwixt his Subjects, that they will strive to outdo each other to serve their Prince, to the great Advantage of the public; and every one, instead of depending on the idle Interest of his Party, will endeavour to lay a better and a more useful Foundation, that of his own Merit, to raise him to Preferment. Whereas the contrary practise will slacken the Hearts and Hands of many an able Subject, who thinking themselves obliged in Honour not to quit their Party, and perhaps in Conscience also not to change their persuasion for Worldly Interest; if they find they are upon that account uncapable of a due Encouragement, they will be remiss in promoting their Princes service: For it is always observed, that Honour and Reward are the great Motives to Zeal and Diligence for the public; few being now-a-days of the old Philosophers temper, to to love virtue for itself; and therefore the Poet was very much in the Right, when he said, Quis enim Virtutem amplectitur ipsam, Praemia si tollas?  
Ay, says one, but if that were once allowed, the Protestant Religion would soon decay, and People turn Papists, in great Numbers. A good riddance of them, say I; for 'tis plain nothing could be more the Interest of the established Church, than to be quit of all her Counterfeit Members, who follow Christ for the Loaves; because of all Enemies the pretended Friend is the most dangerous. Since therefore 
* N●mo aestimet bonos ●●sse de Ecclesia decedere: Triticum non rapit ventus, nec arb●rem s●lid● radice sun●atam proc●ll● subvert●t ●●nan●s paleaetempestate jactantur. S. Cyprian.  no True or Real Protestant, none but Libertines and dissembling Conformists would desert the Churches Communion in the Case supposed; where is the Harm, if that Temptation were removed, and the withered unprofitable Branches left to fall off by Degrees? Such as insist upon this Objection, I am sure, are either silly Fools that understand not what they say, or they have the Jesuits and the Dissenters sense of the established Religion, that it must have Baits and Allurements to gain Proselytes; which is certainly the greatest Scandal imaginable upon any Church or persuasion whatsoever. For Truth will ever prevail, Magna est veritas & praevalebit; and tho' it may be Clouded for some time, yet it can never be overcome, because it always stands firm upon Feet of Iron, without any mixture of day. Are not we then extremely obliged to such rare Advocates, who seem to pled for the established Church, and with the same Breath endeavour to make her Ridiculous to her Enemies? As if she were not able to stand her Ground in Spirituals, without a M●nopoly of all the temporal Advantages of the Kingdom; which( as St. Jerome 
* Postquam Ecclesia c●●pit Christia●os ha●●re Magistratus, facta ●st quidem opibus maior, said virtutibus minor. S. Hierom.  has long since well observed) does very often rather hinder, than advance the Purity of the Gospel. Yet this I perceive, is the ordinary Meth●d of the Faction, to make loud pretences of Zeal for the Church, and of Loyalty to the King, and at the same time take such Measures under this Mask, as will effectually Weaken, if not Destroy both in the Conclusion.  
But the Main Point is yet behind, which if they can but compass by Hook or by Crook, they are cock-sure of the Victory; but if they should fail, as undoubtedly they will, all their other Arts and Contrivances will prove insignificant. The Revenue settled on the late King, tho very inconsiderable to support the Grandeur and the ordinary Charge of the Government, has been a great Grievance to the Godly Party, and no small Block in their way to a thorough Reformation, that is in plain English, the Subversion of Church and State. And therefore they have now all their Engines at work to hinder the settling on his present Majesty such Branches of it, as are not already made perpetual, that He may not be able either to defend His People, or to offend His Enemies. But as the Devil, when he intends most Mischief, transforms himself into an Angel of Light, so do our giddy gospelers, to hid their Cloven Foot of Separation, pretend to be zealous Advocates for the Church of England, when really they design Her ruin, which they know has no Security under God, but in the Strength and Power of the Monarchy. They boast, that besides some Lords and several Commoners of the established Religion, they have got a Prelate or two( and you may remember they allowed us lately but two Protestant Bishops) to join with them in their Insolent Proposal for Clipping the Prerogative; which if refused, as they expect it will, because unreasonable and of very ill Consequence, they hope it may then beget such Misunderstandings between King and Parliament, as will make them part without providing for the Security of the public. Yet because they find the Nation is now grown weary of Confusion, and the mayor Part, out of a sense of Duty and common safety, inclined to comply with their sovereign for the support of the Government, they h●●e another Project, which they think will better take, and in Process of Time will do their Work as well, viz. that the Revenue be not settled but from Year to Year, at most not above three Years together, that they may, like Dutiful Subjects, keep their sovereign on his good Behaviour; by which Means they are sure of frequent opportunities to shuffle the Cards again, and venture in spite of Fate another Game for the Good Old Cause.  
These, Sir, are the wild Imaginations of a restless sort of People amongst us, whose Religion, like the Story of the Salamander in the Fire, never thrieves but in Confusion. And therefore I should be sorry, that any Member of the Church of England, whose Doctrine I am sure is quiter opposite, should be so far misled, as to join with them in such Disloyal Contrivances. We may easily observe from late and former Experience, that the Welfare of all Nations, but more particularly of this, wholly consists in a good Understanding, and mutual Confidence between Prince and People; and that if the one be jealous of the other, neither our Peace at home, nor Trade abroad can be Durable; for both domestic and Foreign Enemies will daily gain ground upon us, and make us at length a Prey to their Malice or Ambition.  
Besides, if we consider the Grievous Complaints of former ages against monopolies, and the frequent Disputes about the Kings Prerogative, and the Liberty of the Subject, with the many Evils that followed to the great Hazard of the public, which were all founded on the want of Money, we shall quickly conclude with the Emperour Theodosius, Periculosissimum Animal Pauper Rex: And that it is neither Dutiful nor Prudent in Subjects to tempt their Prince to go out of the beaten Road, and strain his Prerogative, or harken to the Devices of Projectors, for the support of his Government. His Majesty in his most Gracious Declaration was pleased to take particular notice of the Loyalty both of the Members and of the Principles of the Church of England, and promised upon that Account to defend and support it. But, if in stead of continuing Loyal and Faithful, according to our Duty and to our Conscience, we should endeavour by raising a Faction in the State, to make the Crown uneasy, we cancel the Obligation of this Gracious Promise, and give his Majesty occasion to make us as uneasy as he pleases. For 'tis manifest, as his Majesty well observed, the Laws of England are sufficient to make the King as great a M●narch as he can wish: And if he were forced by the Baseness of some People to take fuch Measures in his own Defence, which I am certain, nothing but their perverseness could induce him to do, 'tis Demonstrable, he could raise more Money that way in one year, than he can expect from his Parliament in three.  
This could be made out by several Instances, yet because I have always been a great Enemy to Projects, and very averse from cutting out new ways for raising the King Money, when a Parliament, if mindful of their Duty and of the public Good, is undoubtedly the Best and the most Natural Method, I will instance only two Branches, and make no extravagant Calculation, to prove my Assertion. 
2 & 3 E. 6. C. 19.  The first is, that if the * Laws made by K. Edward 6. and confirmed by Q. Elizabeth and K. James, against eating of Flesh in Lent and other Fasting-days, were put in execution, where the least Penalty is ten shillings and ten days Imprisonment for the first, and double for the second Offence( not to mention higher 
* 5 Eliz 5. Sect. 15. & 35 EliC. z. 7. 22. & 17 Car. 1. C. 4.  Forfeitures since imposed) most People rather than be obnoxious to such Penalties, or obliged to abstain from Flesh near 150 days in the Year, two Fifths of the whole, would give a yearly Sum, at least 20 shillings one with another, and save triple by it in the price of Fish, for Licences from the King, according to a Proviso made in one of the said Statutes: Provided always, and be it ordained and enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That this Act or any thing therein contain●d, shall not in any wise extend to any Person or Persons, that heretofore hath, or hereafter shall have obtained any Licence of our Sovereign Lord the King, his Heirs or Successors. 2 & 3 Ed. 6. C. 19. Sect. 5. Now all knowing Men do generally agree there are in England at least six Millions of Persons, and we may reasonably suppose above two Fifths liable to this Statute, who consequently would yield to the Crown two Millions and a half of Pounds Sterling per An. near double the Produce of the three great Branches of the Revenue, the Customs, Excise, and Hearth Money. Secondly, If his Majesty, which God forbid, should find the Members of the Church of England refractory, and thereupon think fit to countenance the Dissenters,, and suspend the Penal Laws against them, pursuant to the Bill passed both Houses in the last Parliament at Westminster, he might ●ave their Hearts and Purses at his Devotion, if it were for no other Reason, but to spite the established Church, and seem to ●utdo them in Loyalty. And since there are in England above ●ix hundred thousand Dissenters and Libertines, who would ra●her pay 12 pence a Sunday, that is 52 shillings per An. than and obliged to go to Church; his Majesty might receive above a ●illion and a half more upon this Account.  
Thus I have shew'd you in part, how the King might raise ●oney enough to supply his Necessities, without the Assistance ●f a Parliament; yet at the same time I must tell you, I do not approve of the Method, nor do I believe his Majesty will ever make use of any such Artifice, who valves more a Penny with the Affection of his People, than a Pound gained by any other Means. Nevertheless, it makes it plain, 'tis our Interest as well as Duty, not to tempt him too much; for if it be a true saying, Cervus lacessitus lo, what shall a lion be, when provoked beyond Measure?  
As for that Factious Contrivance of the Cabal, to have the Revenue settled but from year to year, or some limited time, 'tis so Base and so Disloyal a Project, that it is not to be imagined the Parliament would propose, or the King accept of any such thing. 'Tis enough to make all Honest Men abhor it, that it was never off r'd to any King of England, but to his Majesties Father, our Royal Martyr, whom the bloodhound, that hunted him to the Scaff●ld, thought fit to feed as it were with Sugarplums, till they wheedled him out of all Power, and then made him a Sacrifice to secure their Usurpation. But the Impudence of the Faction is very prodigious, who have the Face to think of such a Proposal, and at the same time talk of the Necessity of a general Act of Indemnity, to forget and forgive all past Miscarriages. would it please them, think you, to have such a Pardon as would secure them from Justice from year to year, or from one Session of Parliament to another, as they are pleased to propose about the Revenue? Or would they have the Revenue so Limited, and the Pardon made Absolute? This I am sure no Honest man will approve of; none, but a party in the late Conspiracy will offer or promote. I am sensible an Act of Oblivion, provided the Crown were secured against further Attempts, would be a great Means to quiet Peoples minds; whereof a great many are still Apprehensive, the Conspirators, that fled from Justice, will one time or other be taken, or freely come in, and to save their own Bacon, will discover their complices in that Hellish Design, which( as Captain Walcot confessed in his last Speech at Tyburn) was laid very deep, and the King had a great many men to take judgement of: But otherwise 'tis only accquitting the Faction of all their former Contrivances, and exposing the Monarchy to their future Designs.  
This would be a Fatal error indeed, and of so pernicious a Consequence, that we need not fear there will be any such Pardon granted, without good Provision made on the other side to keep the Disaffected in awe. And 'tis manifest there is no possibility of providing for, or securing the Crown, nor consequently the Peace and Tranquillity of his Majesties good Subjects, any other way than by settling for ever a sufficient Revenue for the Support and Defence of the Government against all the Machinations of its Enemies. For to settle a fond, tho otherwise considerable, for a term of years, or during Life, is like the Jesuits Powder, which puts the ill Humors asleep for some time, but destroys not the Original Cause of the Distemper. And if we consider that the Nation would think it less grievous, to be taxed yearly a Million of Money for seven years together, than obliged to pay four Millions in any one year, without being charged a Farthing for the other six, because the former operates like Physical diet, but the later like a Violent Purgation, we shall find 'tis no less the Peoples than the Princes Interest to have the Revenue made certain and perpetual. It was well observed by the best Parliament that ever met in our Days, That nothing conduceth more to the Peace and Prosperity of a Nation, and the Protection of every single Person therein, than that the public Revenue thereof may be in some measure proportioned to the public Charge and expense. 13 & 14 Car. 2. Cap. 10. Sect. 1. Since therefore the Charges of the Government are for the most part perpetual, is it not the undoubted Interest of all Honest Men, and particularly of those that have any thing to lose, to allow and settle upon the Crown for ever such a proportionable Revenue, as may secure them in the peaceable Possession of the rest? As for the present, 'tis our Comfort, that God in his Mercy has been pleased to set a Prince to reign over us, so extraordinarily qualified for the greatest Undertakings, that we may well conclude, He was born to retrieve the sinking Glory of the English Nation, in whom the Prudence of Henry the seventh, and the Courage of Henry the Eighth, without the Dross, either of the formers close parsimony, or of the laters too much Severity, do meet in Perfection: So that in His Days notwithstanding all the Snarlings of an inveterate sort of People, we need not fear any considerable Disturbance. But if it please God to call him, which I hearty wish may not be till after a Long and Prosperous Reign, from an Earthly to a Heavenly Crown, and leave no Issue Male, or but a Child to succeed him, what shall then become of the Monarchy, if at the same time the greatest part of the Revenue happens to expire? The people will dwindle afresh into several Parties and Factions, the Republicans have an opportunity to push for their Darling Commonwealth, and the Crown because poor, and the Successor not very active, will be in danger of being made a Prey by the strongest Arm and longest Sword; which will inevitably turn our British Paradise into a Field of Blood, and involve the three Kingdoms in endless Confusions.  
To prevent therefore such Fatal Calamities, as I do not question your Zeal in the Matter, so I hope your Fellow-Members, and the whole Representative Wisdom of the Nation, King, Lords and Commons, will take effectual care to secure your Country, not only in your own days, but as far as possible, for Future Generations. If you consider, how stiff and unreasonably obstinate People are sometimes, who like the Foolish Members in the Apologue combining against the Belly, refuse to help their Prince, tho' to prevent their own and their Countries ruin, you can have no Reason to leave a business of such Importance, as the Welfare of your Posterity, to blind chance, or to the humour and Capricio of pretended Patriots. The taking of Constantinople by Mahomet the Great gives us a remarkable instance of this sort of Madness, which made the Grecians of a Learned flourishing Nation, become the most ignorant Peasants, and the veriest Slaves in Nature. The poor Emperor went, as it were for Alms from door to door, begging of the Rich Citizens to contribute a little Money to enable him against the Common Enemy: but they pleaded Poverty, and would not part with a Farthing, till the Town was taken by Storm, and three hundred Millions of their Money brought into the Conquerors Coffers; who wondering how so Rich a City could be so easily won, said, If these People had bestowed but three Millions of this Money in defence of their City, I could never have taken it. But what need we go into foreign Countries, when we have instances enough at Home, and within our own Memory, to convince us of this Truth. The strange usage King CHARLES the first, and his late Majesty for some years past, received from an ungrateful sort of People,( who the more Gracious and obliging they found their Prince, the more Stiff and Refractory still they grew, to the undoing almost of the whole Nation) is warning enough to all honest and thinking Men, to provide against such dangerous Fits of Madness for the future.  
'Tis true, says one, it were to be wished such provisions could be made, as would for ever secure the Crown from all future Attempts both foreign and domestic; but then, on the other side, what security could the People have, that the Prince would not in two or three Generations shake off his Parliaments, and make Himself absolute? This, I must confess, is a very Popular Objection, and the main Block in our way to a Happy Settlement, which is never to be hoped for without a mutual Confidence between Prince and People: yet we see, it weighed not with the Parliament of Scotland, whose steady Loyalty in the late times of trial, and now in making the Revenue of that Kingdom Perpetual, has made all possible amends for the many Evils the Scotch Covenant has formerly brought upon us. And I hope, it shall never be said, that an English Parliament will be behind them in Duty or Affection to their Prince, or less mindful of the public; especially when they can have no other grounds for so doing, but bare unsupposable possibilities of future Inconveniences. For it is not to be imagined by Rational Men, that any King of England will ever be so far overseen, as to hazard the loss of all the hearts of his People, the only support and security of Princes, to make himself somewhat more absolute, while He may, even by the Laws of the Land, be as great a Monarch as any good Christian can wish; and the frequent Meetings and Counsels of King and Parliament are the only means to make both Prince and People Happy; because, as Solomon tells us, Without Counsel, Purposes are disappointed, but in the multitude of counsellors they are established. Prov. 15.22.  
Nevertheless, to obviate this and all other Objections of that kind, if we seriously consider Matters, we shall find that a middle course may be taken, by which we may avoid all these Inconveniences. For if a competent Revenue, that is, the Customs and the temporary part of the Excise, be made perpetual, to support the Crown against foreign or domestic Designs, upon the Death of the Sovereign; And because this is not sufficient to defray the necessary Charges of the Government, while our Neighbours have far great●● 〈…〉 settle an Additional Fond for Life, 〈…〉 every three years, otherwise all farther Levies of the same to cease; both Prince and People will then be secured, Parliaments even upon this account will be found still necessary, the Nation much eased in raising their Taxes, and the Crown made more considerable both at home and abroad.  
You will excuse me, I hope, if I do not any further descend to Particulars, or take upon me to tell you exactly, which your Fellow-Members can do a great deal better, how much may be a sufficient Fond to answer all the ends aforementioned. 'Tis enough to say in general, that I see no other Rule in that Case to be made use of, but the Consideration of the Strength and Riches of our Neighbour-Nations, and that the public Revenue of England must bear some proportion to theirs, unless we intend to live within ourselves, and think no longer on trading with foreign Countries. We see how much the French and Dutch have, within these fourscore years past, encroached upon our undoubted Right, the Dominion of the Narrow Seas, and by that upon our Trade and Commerce, the great Magazine of our Wealth, to the loss of many Millions a year to the English Nation. And we cannot in reason expect they will desist, until we put ourselves into such a posture, as will make it visible to the World, we are able to cope with them, and to recover our own; which yet is altogether impossible, as long as we have nothing else to depend upon, but temporary Taxes, to carry on a War; while they have vast Sums of Money in Cash, and a large yearly Revenue to oppose us, the French King about twelve Millions of Pounds sterling per an. and the Dutch, who in Queen Eliz. time styled themselves, The poor distressed States of Holland, above five Millions, coming in yearly into their public Treasury. For they cannot be ignorant, but that the extraordinary Charge of a War, falling upon us all of a sudden, will quickly make the People here so uneasy, that they will be content to quit their Right after all their losses, and clap up a Peace on any terms, rather than bear such heavy unusual Taxes any longer; so that if our Enemies can but prolong the War for some years, they will by degrees weary us out, and force us at last to a Compliance. 〈…〉  
But because the Circulation of Money is thought as necessary to the Body politic, as that of Blood to the Natural, and therefore the hoarding up such Sums in time of Peace would prove very prejudicial to Trade, the Life and Vigour of a Commonwealth, this intended Bank of Money may still be laid out to use on good Securities by Commissioners appointed by Act of Parliament, some of the most knowing, most honest, and best estated of both Houses, and the Interest constantly employed either in building Work-houses for the Strong, and Hospitals for the Sick and Disabled Poor of the Kingdom, or in some public Trade, as the Woollen Manufacture, Fishing, or the like, which will be of infinite Advantage to the whole Body of the Nation. Neither is it it to be reckoned the least, that this Method would in a short time spoil the sport of upstart cheating Bankers, who stick like Leeches daily sucking the Blood of the credulous unwary People, while they can find any faith upon earth; but when that fails them, so that they can suck no more, then they drop off, and to the ruin of hundreds of poor families wilfully break for many thousands of Pounds, tho perhaps not one of them had a hundred to begin withal, and run into the friars or the Kings-Bench, where they live like petty Princes upon the Fortunes of poor Widows and Orphans, to whom in case they condescend to come to any Composition, they will hardly allow a Crown in the Pound of their Principal Money. And which is very strange, there is no Corporal Punishment here, as in Foreign Countries, not so much as the Pillory to be inflicted in this Case, nor any other Remedy to be had, if the Bankrupt has the wit to secure his Books and Money, which he may easily do, when he designedly breaks to defraud his Creditors.  
This is a hard case indeed, and a very great grievance, well worth the Parliaments Care to contrive such Laws as may prevent the like for the future; But the Devil of Perjury is the grand Grievance of all, which best deserves their most serious Consideration: For if such as deal with Bankrupts are ruined in their Estates, and if upon that account others are frighted from laying out their Money, because for a little Gain they will not hazard the loss of their whole Fortune, which is a main obstruction to Trade; the True-Protestant Flayl of Perjury will not only ruin People in their Fortunes, but will Hocus Pocus them out of their Innocence, and sweep Estate, Reputation, Life and all away, to the uttter undoing of whole Families. Yet certainly 'tis a great Solecism in our Laws, that if one Robs another of Sixpence upon the Road, he is hanged without any more ado; but if a Banker cheats thousands of his Majesties Subjects, of Millions of Money, and can but get into the friars or Kings-Bench, he is as safe as a Thief in a Mill, and cares not a straw whether his Creditors do live or starve. And which is yet worse, if a forsworn Villain will set up for a Kings Evidence, and by his Perjuries murder never so many innocent Subjects, all he is to suffer, is to stand in the Pillory, or lose his more harmless Ears, instead of his Murdering Tongue. Whereas the Divine Law expressly orders, that Whosoever sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be  shed, Gen. 9.6.  
But the Truth is, tho' the Fundamentals of our Constitutions be undoubtedly the best Laws in the world, and the most suitable to the Genius of the English Nation; yet we have several defects on the one hand, and a great deal of rubbish on the other, that want a Reformation, the proper province of King and Parliament. And in this case, as I am certain of your Zeal, so I doubt not but your Fellow-Members will be forward enough to promote so good a Work, whereon the happiness of this Nation so much depends, which some of their Predecessors have strangely neglected. For I find the French Gentleman was not very much out in his Observation, when he said, that as the Roman Conclave's overbusying themselves with Temporal Matters and State-Affairs, which was none of their business, did no small injury to the Christian Religion; so several Members of our House of Commons for some years past, meddling too much with Religion, and prying into Intrigues of State, which was quiter out of their 
* 35 Eliz. The Queen herself  told the Commons, It was not meant they should meddle with matters of State, or Causes Ecclesiastical. And the like did K. James 1. Sandersons Hist. p. 510.  Sphere, made them very much neglect the true Interest of their Country. But now, I hope, we have got a true English Parliament, that will zealously promote the Good of the public, disable the Faction from making any disturbance, settle a sufficient Revenue upon the Crown, to support the Grandeur and necessary Charge of the Government, repeal the useless and enact new Laws for the advancement of Trade, and in a word, make their King as happy in this, as ever any of his Ancestors have been in their most Loyal and bountiful Parliaments: Which, because the only way to a Lasting Settlement, is the hearty wish of  
SIR, Your &c. 7. May