GREAT BRITAIN's JUST COMPLAINT FOR HER Late Measures, Present Sufferings, And the Future Miseries She is exposed to.  
With the Best, Safest, and most Effectual WAY of Securing and Establishing Her Religion, Government, Liberty & Property, Upon Good and Lasting Foundations.  
Fully and Clearly Discovered, In ANSWER To Two Late Pamphlets, concerning the Pretended French Invasion.  
Printed in the Year MDCXCII.   

Great Britain's Just Complaint FOR Her Late Measures, Present Sufferings, and the Future Miseries She is Exposed to.  
THE last great Revolution in Britain (which doth so much exercise the Heads, Hands, Purses and Pens, of the Inhabitants of this Island) is not to be paralleled by any Instance from ancient or modern History. When we have ransacked the Annals of all the Nations of Europe, and travelled as far as the Indies to find an Example, we shall at last be forced to acknowledge, after all Circumstances are exactly weighed, That we have been blindly following the Dictates of our own personal Prejudices and intoxicated Judgements, rather than tracing the Footsteps of our Predecessors, or of the most zealous Assertors of public Liberties in other Nations. I do not deny, that in every Province and Kingdom of the Universe we may find Instances where Subjects have been at last necessitated by force of Arms to secure themselves, their Religion and Liberties, against such violent and repeated Acts of Tyranny in their Princes, as did visibly endanger the Frame of the Government itself, as well as the Safety of every Individual: And many Princes have lost their Crowns by a tract of Cruelties and Exorbitances in Government, and an incorrigible Obstinacy and Deafness to all the humble Petitions and repeated Complaints of their Subjects.  
But we scorned to be confined within such ancient Rules, to be regulated by the Practices of our Forefathers, or to be taught at the Expense or by the Experience of others. We have walked without Guides, amidst dark and dangerous Precipices: Our Fears have overrun our Reason; we have taken things upon Trust, without searching them to the bottom; and we have been imposed upon, by the cunning and artificial Disguises of self-designing and ambitious Men, to overlook a most infallible way of securing Liberty and Property to all future Ages; which the Ambition of the Prince of Orange, and the hard Circumstances of our own King, had put into our hands. We have vacated a Throne, for the pretended Disertion of a Prince, violently forced away by a surprising Defection of his Children, Servants, Subjects and Soldiers; and under the terror of dangers threatening his Life and Liberty. We have justified this Severity, by enumerating Miscarriages in Government; which, though Errors and Mistakes, were very far from overturning Foundations; and which the King was put upon by the artifice and cunning of his Son in-law, who was grasping at his Crown: And we have obstinately refused all Treaties, when offered; whereby Grievances might have been redressed, and provided against for the future; and we have ventured upon such Steps as have no Precedent, and furnished an Example for History, which will be found too desperate and expensive for imitation.  
Yet so far hath this Poison spread and diffused itself, that though the pretended Reasons of our Proceed appear at last to be empty, false and forged; though the principal Actors are ashamed of their former grounds, and love the sound of Conquest better than that of a Deliverance, and are countenanced in it by the Practices as well as Inclination and Maxims of our present Monarch; there are some People who would gladly continue the Cheat, and amuse us still with a Hodgepodge of Right of Succession, Election, and Conquest, and the lofty and agreeable sound of Religion, Liberty, and Property; which appears to be as little the care as it was the design of our principal Reformers.  
Hence it is, That we have of late been entertained with two famous Pamphlets, the one entitled The pretensions of the French Invasion examined; Licenced, or rather written, by the E. of Nottingham: The other is A Letter to a Friend, concerning the French Invasion; which must be the Offspring of a Person of equal Quality with the former, since his Character stamps it legitimate, without a Licence. These two Pieces do not in the least answer the Figure which the Authors, who are assigned them, make in the World: For all along, they falsify, disguise, or absolutely conceal Matter of fact; they labour to impose Falsehoods for Truths, and their base Alloy as good Coin upon us: They advance Positions for undoubted Maxims, which have been controverted all the World over, and upon this Sandy Foundation they raise their Building; and their Reasonings are either false, sophisticated, or most conclusive on the other side.  
To make good this Charge, and acquit myself of the Duty I own my Country and fellow Subjects, in contributing my Mite towards the rectifying their Judgements in such a nice and important Affair, wherein our own Peace and Happiness, as well as that of our Posterity, is so much wrapped up. I shall endeavour to make a full and distinct Answer to these Two Pamphlets, by a true  and impartial Deduction of Matter of fact, by setting out the public Councils, Designs, and Conduct of particular Persons, in their true Light, without those Disguises which were Artfully thrown over them; and by their own Reasons and Maxims, concluding a great deal more forcibly against themselves: And to deal fairly by them, I shall confine myself to those very Arguments, which are assigned by the Author of The French Invasion examined, as the Motives upon which the Restauration of King James is desired and endeavoured; viz. The repairing the Injury done to the King, the settling the Government upon its old Basis, the delivering us from the Oppressions we suffer under the present King, and the securing the Protestant Religion for the future.  
There is no Englishman but must allow these Considerations to be Grave, Weighty and Important; and if as True as Considerable, sufficiently conclusive and persuasive for a speedy Restauration. I will then enter upon a particular Enquiry; and I do not despair, before I have done, to establish the Truth, as well as the Importance of those Reasons, against the Cavils of those Authors: I join them together, because their Reasonings are much the same, equally leveled against the aforesaid Motives, and must stand or fall together.  
As to the first Motive Of the repairing the Injury done to King James. If it can be made appear, That he was unjustly upon false Pretences deprived of his Birthright by his Subjects, who by Nature and Oaths were bound to defend him in it; then must it be acknowleged a Duty by all, as well as those Authors, to repair that Injury done him, by restoring his Right again. I shall apply myself particularly to the clearing of the Injustice done him, since upon that a great part of the Controversy depends, and most of the Reasons assigned by these Authors against his Restauration will fall to the ground: In doing of which, I must look higher than the beginning of King James' Reign; the early and unnatural Ambition of the Pr: of Orange, as well as the necessary connection and series of Affairs, oblige me unto it.  
It was not the danger which our Religion and Liberties were threatened with, from the Designs and bad Administration of King James, and a tender regard to the British Subjects, for their Love and Respect to his dearest Consort, and Himself, with the Interest which his Birth and Marriage gave him in us, first induced the Prince of Orange to look towards these Kingdoms and our Affairs. The late King Charles (notwithstanding of all the tenderness he had discovered for that Prince's Education, and care for his Interests, in espousing them so vigoursly upon all occasions against the States of Holland, who would gladly have secured themselves, by depressing him and his Family, against those prophetic Fears they lay under, for their beloved Rights and Liberties) was the first that felt the Effects of his Nephew's towering and boundless Ambition. No sooner did the Prince of Orange find himself reinstated, by the Authority and Interest of his Uncle, in the Posts of Grandeur possessed by his Father and Predecessors, and so put into a Condition to appear upon the Stage, and mingle in the greatest Affairs of Europe, but he gave lose Ranes to his Ambition, to range wherever it could perch and fix; without being restrained or frighted by those common Rules or Barriers, which Morality and Religion had placed as Spoaks too mean in his Opinion to stop the Career of a bold and daring Spirit.  
Britain was the Place he fixed his Eye upon; neither could Relation, or Gratitude, place any rubs in his way. The lazy Temper of that Monarch, addicted to his Pleasures, and his being without Children, the Religion of his Brother, and want of Male Issue, together with his own Alliance with the Royal Blood, and some Discontents of the People, which were begotten and heightened by the Addresses and Malice of a few Grandees, promised him a plentiful Harvest in return to his Cabals, and Cajoling Insinuations; upon which those Grandees were applied unto; and as quick and hearty returns made by them, with assurance of Zeal, Dependence and Fidelity, being glad of so considerable a Support. Hence sprang all those fatal Divisions which so long time exercised that Prince, his Councils, and Parliaments.  
To spirit this Party in England, and to fix himself one Degree nearer the Crown, which he so much longed for, the Prince made his Addresses, and was Married to the Lady Mary, much against the inclination both of the King and Duke, who did very well foresee the Consequence, and were afraid of so near a Conjunction with so restless a Spirit. But it is well known who disposed the King to agree to the Match; for which, and other good Services then in betraying his Master, he is well rewarded now, rather than for any Merits he had to plead upon this Revolution.  
After this Match, our Divisions and Discontents past all Bounds; nothing less than the interruption of the Royal Line, by a Bill of Exclusion, would satisfy. I know the danger of our Religion, from a Popish Successor, was pretended; but the Prince of Orange's immediate Succession to the Crown, in the Right of his Princess, was the thing truly intended by the Prince's Agents, and Privadoes: Nothing else, but such a hidden secret Design, could have inclined so many Men of Sense and Reason, to refuse the great Concessions was offered 'em; which without Danger, or the bad Consequences of neglecting a just Title, did equally secure Religion and Liberty. To this Project were Sacrificed all those great and mighty Securities, which K. Charles would willingly have Granted in favour of our Religion and Liberties, to be rid of that troublesome Bill of Exclusion; and thus we lost the greatest, and best Establishment we ever had in our view; and which would legally, peaceably and willingly, have been settled upon us, without any farther trouble, danger or expense: So early did this Prince's Ambition become fatal to our Liberties and Properties.  
Hence sprang all those Councils and Measures, which did so much Discontent the People; and put that King upon the Quo Warranto Project, thereby to temper and qualify Parliaments, which the Cabals and Machinations of the Prince had rendered so warm and uneasy to him. Hence sprang that Ferment, and those bad Humours, which gave Life and Motion to the Duke of Monmouth's Invasion and Pretences, who all a long had been made a Stolen by some; though the Prince lay close at the bottom, and seemed to favour the Man; until at last he perceived that the Duke did in earnest catch at that he so much longed for himself. With what regret, yea indignation, must every English Breast be filled upon that blessed occasion we lost, which might have prevented our present Expense of Blood and Treasure, and all those Fears and Miseries we are now groaning under, and know not when we shall be at an end of? It is with unspeakable Grief I am obliged to remember so great a Loss; nor do I mention any thing, but what is very well known for a Truth to some Persons yet alive, and which I have seen clearly verified by some convincing Dispatches which are yet extant, and which shall be carefully preserved until they may be with safety produced. Doth not Sir W. Temple, in his Memoirs, licenced and published of late, acknowledge the greatest part of what is here asserted? as if, in this reforming Age, People were to make their Court by publishing of Services, for which their Posterity may have reason to curse their Ashes. Thus we see what fatal Influences the Prince of Orange's Ambition had scattered upon our Councils and Measures, during the later end of K. Charles his Reign: Neither will he be found less active and successful, by himself and Agents, during K. James' Administration, as will appear from a particular Enquiry into the pretended Abdication.  
This strange and mysterious word, which to this day is not well understood, neither can be explained, nor rightly fitted to what was intended by it, either by the Authors of it, or by any body else, was first made use of in the Kingdom of Naples, some Ages ago; and begot that fatal Sruggle between the Anjovin and Arroganian Factions, which at last quite ruined that flourishing Kingdom, and brought it under a foreign Yoke, under which it continues to this day. I shall not criticise upon it, nor examine how improperly it is applied in the Case of King James, (though that be obvious enough to any Man who understands the Civil Law, or the proper and genuine signification of the Word) but shall only inquire into the subject matter, which according to the Sense of our Reformers, amounted to Abdication & a Vacancy; and that is King James' Disertion and Invasion of the fundamental Laws and Liberties of England.  
As to the first, how properly his being forced away may be called a Disertion, will best appear from a true Narrative of Matter of fact; which I shall give the Reader: And though it may contain several things which are not generally known, and yet contribute exceedingly to the clearing of this point, I shall deliver nothing but Truths, which can be made evident, either by Letters, or Evidence above all exception. No sooner was the Prince of Orange landed, but it quickly appeared to the World how strangely successful his Agents had been in their Negotiations. The Poison was universally spread, and the Pretences of his Declaration greedily swallowed down without Examination; though I shall make it appear, before I have done, That it was partly forged, and nothing of it ever intended to be performed. There was nothing sound or untainted in the whole Kingdom: His Children run away from him; the Clergy juggle with him; his domestic and menial Servants betray him; his Subjects flock in to the P. of Orange; his Army disert; and the very Creatures which he had raised from the Dust form Designs to deliver up his Person.  
Was not this a Scene, the most wonderful and astonishing that was ever presented upon the Stage of human Affairs? What ground had the King to think that his Person could be with any manner of Safety, amongst a People who had thrown off all Ties and Duties which could rationally be depended upon in the like case? When that natural Affection which was due from Children to their Parents was quite forgotten; when the Love, Respect, Service, and Gratitude, which is due from Servants to their Master and Benefactor, was entirely thrown off, and unheard of Treachery cherished in their places? When that Allegiance which is due from Subjects to their Prince was debauched, and running into another Channel? When that Fidelity, which was due from Soldiers, (both as Subjects, and Men who make a particular Profession of Honour) to their Prince, General and Nursing Father, was so generally corrupted, that he was advertised by his General Officers, That the Army was quite poisoned, and would not fight? When his own Ministers and Counsellors were in Pay and Correspondence with the Invader, and pushing him into Councils and Measures, which might increase the present Ferment, and facilitate the Prince's Designs? What hopes of Accommodation, or Assurance of Safety, could remain, without renouncing all Reason, Sense, and Discretion? especially if we consider that as soon as the account came that Oxford's, and St. Alban's Regiment of Horse commanded by Langston, and Cornbury and Heyfort with their Dragoons, were deserted and gone into the Prince, he called his General Officers and Colonels together at London; amongst which were Churchil, Kirk, Trelauny, Grafton and others; and acquainted them, he had called a free Parliament, that he was resolved to secure Religion, Liberty and Property, at their Sitting. He obtested these Officers to let him know if there was any thing farther which they desired for the Security of their Religion and Liberties, and he would most willingly grant it; and withal desired, That if there was any amongst them who could not be satisfied, to let him know it, and he would frankly grant them Passes for themselves and Equipage, to go in to the Prince. Upon which, they all answered cheerfully and unanimously That they were fully satisfied, and would hazard their Blood, to the last drop, in his Service: And yet how basely and ungratefully some of them afterwards dealt by him, is too well known, and was enough to give that Prince just Jealousies of his own Safety amongst Men so lost as to all sense of Honour and Integrity.  
And yet so loath was this Monarch to part from a People who had forsaken him first, though surrounded with Fears and Distractions, under which any other Person would have sunk, that he made offers of a Treaty; which the Prince accepted, not that he designed to come to any Settlement upon it, but because he durst not unmask himself so far as to refuse it; and was in hopes to find some Pretext or other to break it off. Upon this, the Commissioners met on both sides, but with so little Inclination, on the Prince's side, to come to an Accommodation, which would have bereft him of that sweet Morsel he had been so long labouring for; nay, he discovered so firm a Resolution to attain his ends, without scrupling any thing, how severe soever, which could compass them; that those noble Lords, who were empowered by the King to treat for him, did acquaint his Majesty with the insuperable Difficulties they met with in their Negotiation; and that they thought themselves bound in Duty to let him know that his Person was not in Safety under the Power of a Prince, who by the haughty and rigid Conditions he proposed, or rather imposed, and his still marching on, notwithstanding the Treaty, did visibly enough discover some farther hidden Design. This must certainly be thought Warning enough from Persons who were even then leaning to the strongest side, and so would not have hazarded such advice, unless forced to it by Truth and Horror of the Design; or put upon it by the Prince himself, to frighten the King away, who was sensible his Stay did check his Designs, and so was resolved to be rid of his Person some way or other.  
Upon this the King thought fit to withdraw; and afterwards sent the E. of Feversham, from that place, with such ample Concessions, and such real discoveries of a sincere Intention, to satisfy his People to the full, that the Prince was extremely alarmed upon it, and did plainly see the miscarriage and ruin of all his Designs, if Feversham's Message should be imparted to the English that were about him; for though there were some, who upon all occasions were forward enough to advise the utmost Severities against the King's Person, yet by far the greatest part for Number, Interest and Quality, were at the bottom for an Accommodation with the K. which would have settled and bettered the Nation; but at the same time would have quite dashed the Prince's Hopes and Expectations; and therefore some bold Stroke must be given, that so much Patience, so great Labour, and so many Crimes might not be lost; the Public Faith must be broken, and Feversham must be secured, without so much as acquainting the Persons of Quality of the English Nation who were about him with it, though all a long he had pretended to act by their Advice. But in so nice a Conjunction he was afraid to trust to their Affection, as knowing very well they would have p●y'd more than was fitting, for his Interest, into the pretended Cause of the Earl's Confinement, and his Message: the Goodness of which would certainly have preserved the Public Faith inviolable in the Earl's Person, notwithstanding of the Crime alleged against him, and continued in the Treaty; whereas by this Method the Message was concealed, the Treaty was quite broken off, and the King would most certainly be frighted to steal away. After such a series of Defection amongst all sorts of People, after such an Advice sent by Persons whom he had trusted with the most important Concerns of his Crown and Kingdom, after such an open Breach of the public Faith, and after such visible and open discoveries of the Prince's secret Designs and unlimited Ambition, a Passion which never scruples to sacrifice every Remora to its Establishment where it Predominates; Is there any cool and rational Man will censure the King's Conduct in disbanding that Army, which had for the most part made a Defection from him; and in taking care of his Person by a speedy Retreat from amongst such wavering Subjects, dangerous and disingenuous Enemies. But in farther Evidence of the King's unwillingness to part from his People, and of the Prince's fix d and determinate Resolutions to force him to as great a distance as he could, being always jealous of a Reconcilement, which would have quite buried his ambitious Thoughts and Designs; I shall give the World a particular account of the most important Steps taken by either Relative to their several Designs.  
The King, when he came to London, sent a Message to Sir Thomas Stamp, now Mayor, and to Sir Simon Lewis, two eminent Aldermen of that City; desiring them to acquaint their Brethren, and others of the Common Council, That he was resolved to put himself into the hands of the City, there to remain until by a free Parliament he had given all Satisfaction to his People, by securing their Religion, Liberties and Properties, to the full; hoping, that in the mean time, they would take care to guard and secure his Person. The foresaid Persons communicated this Message, as they were desired; but by the influence and interest of Sir Robert Clayton the offer was refused, and the security of his Person would not be assured to him. Here is plain demonstration, both of the King's Willingness to piece up with his People, and of the Danger which threatened his Person. When the King came from Feversham to Whitehall, Monsieur Zuylestein delivered him, at Somerset house, a Letter from the Prince, which was designed to have reached him before he came from Feversham; wherein he was desired, but in the Style of a Command, not to come any nearer London than Rochester: To which the King very meekly returned an Answer, That he would have complied with the Letter, had it come sooner to his hands. Can there be any more doubt, after this, of the Prince's unjust and ambitious Designs, to put such a Restraint upon a Monarch in his own Dominions, whose undoubted Title he had acknowleged, both by his Declaration and a Treaty: This was a piece of Haughtiness and Insolence above all Example, except what his own future Practices hath furnished us with.  
As soon as the King came to Whitehall, he wrote to the Prince, inviting him to St. James', allowing him his own Dutch Guards to secure his Person, and assuring him, That upon their Interview he would fully satisfy the intent of his Declaration. But this was no satisfaction to the Prince: He had a secret and concealed aim at the Crown; and provided he could gain that point, he liked it the better that it were Vested with all the Power he so much complained of in his Declaration: His Conduct since hath sufficiently cleared this to these Nations: An Interview, which was so much desired by the King, did not suit with this darling Project; he could neither well ask it, nor expect to have it granted. Besides, he found the Torrent of the People's Affections, which had run so swiftly towards himself, was then at a Stand, and in danger to be turned into another Channel, if the King remained at Whitehall, and at liberty to apply himself to the regaining of his Subjects Hearts; which he was sincerely resolved to court and acquire at any rate, being free from the bad Influences and Advices of those Ministers which were in Confederacy with the Prince. Upon all which, it was resolved that Count Solmes should possess the several Posts at Whitehall with Dutch Guards, and make the King a Prisoner: And about two a Clock in the Morning he received Orders from the Prince, by the Mouths of three noble Lords, to be gone immediately from his own Palace; and accordingly he was sent Prisoner to Rochester, attended by Dutch Guards, and all this performed with unspeakable Rudeness and Indignities done to his Person.  
He was disturbed at an unseasonable hour, with a Sentence of Banishment from his own Palace, passed upon him by his Son-in-law, who pretended only to settle and fix his Crown by redressing of Grievances, and that Sentence pronounced unto him by three of his own Subjects, who accompanied it with some unmannerly Severities, which their fears of a courser Treatment, if he stayed, put them upon. He was refused his own Guards to attend him, and his own Coach to carry him to Rochester, though he declared, That he could not travel by Water in so cold a Season, against Wind and Tide, without greatly endangering his Health. Good God that such Barbarities should be practised, and afterwards justified, by Christians, which Pagans and Infidels would be ashamed of.  
Whilst the King stayed at Rochester, and during the Sessions of those Lords and Commons, who first put the Administration of Affairs into the Prince's Hand, and moved for calling of the Convention, he sent a Message to the present B of Winchester, which he desired might be communicated to the rest of the Bishops; acquainting him with his Resolutions to come either publicly or privately, and put himself into the Hands of my Lords the Bishops to be under their Protection●, until at their Sight, and by their Advice, he had fully settled and secured every thing in a free Parliament. This Message the Bishop of Winchester did impart to the rest; and their return to it was, That they could not receive him, either publicly or privately, under their Protection; for in that case they would be responsible for his Safety, and they were not in a Condition to secure him against the Ambition of the Prince, who was resolved to accomplish his Designs; and surrounded with so many Troops, after so many Advertisements given him of the danger his Person was in, by People who might know it, and whose Testimony was not to be suspected; and those Advertisements fortified and confirmed, by the Prince's strange and unaccountable Carriage, in breaking the public Treaty, in imprisoning my Lord Feversham contrary to the public Faith, thereby to elude the Effects of his Message, in refusing a personal Treaty, depriving him of his Liberty, putting him under Guards, and in banishing him imperiously and unmannerly from his own Houses. After so many fruitless Applications to the Prince, to the City, and to the Bishops, only to be secured as to his Person, until by a free Parliament he had given full Satisfaction to his People. Can there be any Person who is not become Bankrupt, as to common Sense and Reason, who will blame the King for withdrawing, and thereby endeavouring to put himself in Safety? And it is evident, notwithstanding all those ineffectual Applications, he was resolved upon every occasion to court his Subjects to return to their Duty: Witness his Letters addressed to several Members of his Privy Council; and also that Letter written from St. Germains, and designed for the Convention of Estates, which they would not so much as receive or read.  
I would now gladly know after what manner, and upon what account, in what sense, and for what reason the King can be said to have deserted. Desertion, according to common sense and acceptation, is a voluntary Neglect and Withdrawing his Person, Care and Influences, from attending that Administration, Protection and Exercise of the Government, which is due from him to the People committed to his Charge; when no Force compelled him, no Danger threatened him, and the People were willing to retain him. Is this applicable to the King's Case? May not the Invading his Dominions with foreign Troops and an armed Power, the Imprisonment of his Person, putting him under Guards of Foreigners, and banishing him from his own Houses, be properly enough called a Force? May not those extraordinary Indignities done him by the Prince, and those Advertisements given him by several Persons of Quality, Knowledge, and Interest, of his hard and difficult Circumstances, be very well called Dangers, according to the common Rules of Prudence and Discretion? With what Sense can the universal Defection of his Children, Servants, Soldiers and Subjects, the rejecting all Treaties, whether personal or by Proxy, the Refusal of all Applications made by him to the City, Bishops, and Convention of Estates, be understood an unwillingness in his Subjects to part with him, or a voluntary Withdrawing or Neglect on his side? We must renounce common Sense, and quite invert the Nature of things, before a Withdrawing so circumstantiated will pass upon the sober part of Mankind for a Desertion.  
Besides, it is a Maxim laid down by the Author of the Pretences of the French Invasion examined, p 4 l. 3. and downwards, That where a King or Queen is submitted to, and owned by Oaths, and other Methods required in such Cases, the King himself is not at Liberty to give up his own Power, and consequently cannot Desert; much less can the People wrist it from him A Man hath himself much more Right to lay down that Power which is legally vested in him, than any other Person or Persons can have to take it from him I hope this learned Gentleman will allow us the Benefit of his own Maxims, which we are willing to admit of. It cannot be denied King James was submitted unto, and owned by Oaths and all other Methods required in such Cases; and so not at Liberty to give up his own Power, though never so willing: And consequently this pretended Desertion must march off the Stage, according to the Author's own Rules.  
But the Disbanding of the Army, in the Sense of this Author and others, was so illegal a Step, that it must pass for his dissolving of the Government. Why truly, common Prudence advised the Discarding of an Army, which had dealt so treacherously with their Prince and Benefactor: And I would gladly know, what Statute this Measure of the King's trespassed upon. I challenge the Author to point it out to us. I have heard it alleged, That the King could not raise and maintain an Army without the Consent of Parliament: But his power of Disbanding was never yet questioned, much less made a Crime: If the first be justifiable, the last must be much more so. From what has been said, I hope the Desertion is quite shut out of doors: The Reasons adduced make unanswerably against it; and the Pamphleteer's own Maxims knock it dead without Mercy; by which the greatest part of the Author's Pamphlet and Reasonings falls to the ground, since he goeth all along upon the Supposition that the People were still willing to have acknowleged his Rights and secured their own, to have treated and come to an Accommodation with him: as also that the Prince never proposed any thing, but to have Grievances fairly redressed, which was still insisted on by the Prince and People in the most humble and usual Methods: But that the King wilfully deserted, threw up the Government, refused all Treaties, and left them in a perfect Anarchy, to shift for themselves. The Falsity of all which is already plainly enough demonstrated, and the Abdication must halt, having lost the better half of its Foundation.  
I come next to examine the Maladministration, which makes up the other part of this Structure; in prosecution of which, I do not intent to play the Advocate, to defend and justify any Breaches made upon the Laws and Liberties of my Country: I am as tender of those great Concerns as any Man can be; I love them as well; I value them as high, and shall be always ready to hazard as far for their Establishment, as a good Englishman, who knows their Worth, aught to do. And perhaps I have given better Evidences of this, than the Authors of these Pamphlets can bring for themselves, notwithstanding their Fustian Words and high Pretences.  
But Mistakes in Government will be slipping in under the best Reigns; and it is not every Error can furnish a good Reason for such important Revolutions, such general Defections, such deviations from that Duty which is due to Princes from the Obligation of Oaths, the Ties of Nature, and the Laws of the Land; and for dethroning of Kings, inverting the nature of the Monarchy, and the interrupting the Royal Line and Succession. Such Alterations have been accompanied in all Ages with such Confusions, Convulsions, Blood, Ruin and Desolation, that nothing but the necessary Rescue of the Government itself, and of all the public and private Rights which are wrapped up in it, from a clear, plain, visible, undeniable, and otherwise unavoidable Ruin and Destruction, with a Certainty and Conviction that the Remedy proposed will prove feasible and successful, without running us into the same dangers and difficulties; ●●n furnish the least shadow or pretence for Experiments which are to be attended with such Dangers, founded upon the Breach of so many sacred Ties and Obligations, and Supported with such Expense of Blood and Treasure.  
We ought to be very sure, That the Errors complained of would certainly have overturned all Foundations, and entirely rob us of our Rights; That those Errors did certainly arise from the natural Disposition of the Prince himself, obstinately and incorrigibly bend to pursue them to the utmost, whatever the Consequence might be, and not rather from the Impulse of corrupted Ministers, from a Design to ruin him and make a Property of us, in serving the ambitious but guilded Pretences of some other Person; before we run headlong into such Measures. But alas! I am afraid we are not able to stand this Trial, which every cool and thinking Man must allow to be very reasonable; and upon an exact and impartial Enquiry it will be found, That with all this Bustle, Noise, Blood, Treasure, and Pretence for public Good and Liberty; we have been destroying what we have built up; grasping unsuccessfully at that amidst the dangers, Cruelties, and Expenses of a War, and with the Breach of so many sacred Ties and Engagements, which we might have Insured to ourselves and Posterity with much ease and innocence; and wreathing a Yoke about our N●cks, which will gall and pinch us more severely than what we endeavoured to throw off.  
The maladministrations charged upon King James by those Pamphletteers, are shortly summed up by them in the Western Severities, the High Commission, the turning out of Office all good Protestants, the attempting to reverse all the Penal Laws, the putting unqualified Men into Places of Trust, Profit and Power; the exercise of the Dispensing Power, the excluding the Fellows of Magdalen College, and putting in Papists; with the Imprisonment and Trial of the Bishops. It seems these Authors are of opinion that any Reason, how weak and unconclusive soever it be, should pass as good Coin upon us, since they come from such Magisterial and Florid Pens. But if they designed that their Authority alone should pass for Reason amongst us, they ought to have subjoined their Names, to add thereby some Value and Weight to Arguments and Grounds, by far too weak in themselves to support so lofty a Building as is founded upon them. Some of the Misgovernments here enumerated, which I have exactly Copied from p. 6. l. 8. and downwards, of The Pretences of the French Invasion examined, are false, others maliciously aggravated, and the rest the King was forced upon by the Importunity of Ministers who were gained by the Prince, and offered such Advices only with a design to render him odious to the People, and thereby to dispose them for this happy Revolution, which hath since fallen out. But to examine them severally;  
As to the Western Severities, I believe it will not be denied, even by this Government, that the Duke of Monmouth his Invasion was a Rebellion; and that the Lives and Fortunes of all engaged in it, were by the Laws of the Land forfeited to Justice. I am hearty sorry that so much Blood was shed by the Hands of the common Executioner; but it is very well known to many Persons of Honour and Quality, that those great Severities were only to be ascribed to the insolent and cruel Temper of J●ss●ries, P●llexsen and Kirk; that the King himself was extremely offended at it, and immediately put a stop to their Proceed so soon as he was acquainted with them: And it is strange enough how this comes to be charged so ●ome upon King James, by the Champions of th' s Government, since King William by his a piercing and employing of Kirk and P●ll●xsen, 〈◊〉 plainly discovered to the World, That either he did not look upon ●hose Severities to be unseasonable or 〈◊〉, or also that he loved them the 〈◊〉 for th' it 〈◊〉 and bloody Dis●●●●tio●, as 〈◊〉 for his Service and Designs; otherwise such Butchers would not have 〈◊〉 countenanced by a Reforming 〈◊〉.  
The High Commission Court I will 〈…〉: But we know very well Who ●dvised it; and we see one of the most active Members of it in a fair Way of Preferment now; and certainly our present King would not honour such a Man, or trust his Affairs into his hands, if he looked upon that Commission to have been a good ground for Abdication.  
The turning out of Office all good Protestants, and the putting of unqualified Men into all Places of Trust, Profit and Power, is a large Strain of Eloquence, which though like the usual Flights of the supposed Author, is too light and false for so grave and weighty a Subject: For many Places of Profit, Trust, and Power, were kept filled with good and zealous Protestants; and we know to whose Councils and Advice, and at whose door we must charge the filling of so many Places of Trust with unqualified Persons. If an E. of Sunderland and Lord Churchil had not been Ministers of State and Favourites then, perhaps the Leo had not yet been exchanged for Kensington It is to their faithful Counsels and Influence we own the Advancement of Father Peter to the Council Board; the new modelling of the Irish Army and Government; the Magdalen College Reformation; the Regulation of Corporations; the Closeting, and the Imprisonment and Trial of the Bishops: And if so, there is a certain Prince who is really more guilty of those Miscarriag s than the Abdicated Monarch, since he was the main Engine who set those noble Lords to work; and I am afraid his Conduct since, when examined, will in a great measure make good the Charge.  
It's natural enough for a Prince to carry some little savour to those of his own Religion, and easier for a treacherous Minister to trapan him into more Indulgence for them, than the Laws c●n w●ll allow; and those two Lords being entirely Devoted to the Advancement of the Prince's Designs, did employ their utmost Interest with the King to bring him into all those Measures, which did so much favour and precipitate this Revolution. There were some faithful Servants who quickly discovered the Roguery of this, and stoutly made head against it; but a blind zeal having betrayed the new Converts into those Measures, and the time serving Courtier being joined with the Pack, Roguery became too hard for true Honesty; and yet it was with great difficulty, and matchless Importunities, the King was wrought upon to do several of those Things which were the only important Errors. It is well known, that it was with no small trouble he was prevailed upon to admit Peter's to the Council-board. And as to the Regulating of Corporations, the King gave his Opinion against it to the very last; and I dare appeal to the Earl of , whose Testimony is not to be suspected by this Government, if in his access to the King about the Regulations, in those Countries were he was Lieutenant, he did not discover the Truth of what I here assert, from the King's own Complaints to his Lordship, How greatly he was importuned to give way to those Measures, from which in his own Judgement, he was so averse.  
We might have continued Ignorant, in a great measure, of the particulars of all this fine Christian Policy, if upon the Revolution these honest Agents, in so good a work, had not (by boasting of their several Merits, Diligence and Activity, in betraying an honest hearted Prince, and so the more Credulous to his own ruin) discovered all the Steps of this Intreigue; but in the Opinion of some every thing is lawful for the obtaining of a Crown. If it be alleged, that most certainly the Prince never dreamt of the Crown of Britain until it was presented to him, as a reward from a grateful People for their Deliverance; his promises of Places at Court, and Governments of Forts, before he came from Holland, which were only in the disposal of the King of Great Britain; his imprisonment of the E. of Feversham, who was a public Messenger, and Peer of England, and under the Cognizance of none but the King; his imprisoning and banishing King James from his own Palace, though acknowleged as the just Monarch by his own Declaration; his banishing the French Ambassador out of England as soon as he came to London, and before the Administration was put into his Hands, by which these Kingdoms were engaged, without their own Consent, in a War with France, without so much as any pretence of Entertainment given to their Abdicated Monarch, being a considerable time before K. James' retreat thither; were direct, positive and most Solemn Acts of Sovereignty, before ever the Crown was conferred upon him; and are so many plain and evident Indications of that early Ambition I have charged upon him. And in farther Evidence, that all his Designs, from the very first, were aimed at the Crown; and the Crown Vested too with the most towering Prerogatives: When the Convention was Deliberating, upon some future Provisions, against Arbitrary Power, the Prince sent my Lord Wharton to several Lords, and Mr. Coulin to Sir Edward Seymor, and Mr. Hambden, and other Commoners, to let them known, That if the House insisted so much upon Limitations, that he would return again, and leave them in the lurch to the Mercy of King James: So generously Tender was this great Deliverer of our Religion and Liberty. As to the Dispencing Power, assumed by King James, I do not pretend to justify it. I am hearty sorry that so bad a Measure was taken, to carry on and establish so desirable and necessary a Good and Birth right of Mankind, as Liberty of Conscience, which carries its own native Beauty and Usefulness, so visibly stamped upon it, as could never have failed to obtain an Establishment from the Reason and Judgement of an English Parliament: But this would have so much united the Hearts and Affections of English Subjects with their King, and laid such an invincible rub in the Way of the Prince's ambitious Designs, that it became one of the nicest and most sicklish Points to manage, the hardest to ward off, and the most dextrous and artful part of their Game; there was no downright opposing of so general and desirable a Good; 〈◊〉 was easier to poison and divert 〈◊〉 The King was first put upon Establishing this Liberty by a Proclamation, that so the Parliament might be prejudiced against a Thing, which otherwise they would have granted, upon the account of the first Measure taken about it; but finding that the general Good and Benefit, which was to be reaped from this Liberty, would have digested and sweetened this Pill; from a pretence of saving the King's Honour from a Foil, and making all sure, though really with a design to ruin Him and baffle the Thing, they put him upon the Regulating and Closeting Projects, and upon obliging the Clergy to read his Proclamation for Liberty of Conscience from their Pulpits. This did alarm the Bishops, as was designed, and obliged them to think upon Petitioning against it; upon which, those Beautefeux, being afraid lest the KING should call in his Proclamation, having always found it hard enough to bring Him to such Methods; they ordered the business so, that the Bishops were so long in presenting of their Petition to the King, that though their Reasons had convinced and satisfied Him, there was not time enough to countermand his former Orders, though never so willing. Upon which they took occasion to incense the King against them, as if they had delayed their Petition so long, with design to embroil Him with his People; and so they run the Bishops into the Tower, and from thence to the Barr.  
This is the true History of the Dispencing Power, and of the Bishop's Persecution, which was so warmly, and bitterly urged against the King, as undeniable Proofs that his Inclination to Catholics was too strong for the Laws. But to speak plain English, I hope those Stretches, in favour of Catholics, which were Criminal in King James, are not become more Legal and Meritorious in King William; the exercise of the Dispencing Power in their favours, I hope, is as much a fault now as ever. The Charge will be denied; but I shall make it good when I come to discourse upon the Third Motive to the King's Restauration. Are not Catholics employed now in the Army, though not qualified by Law? It will be alleged they are Foreigners; so much the worse; for an English Catholic will still have some regard for the Laws and Liberties of his Countrymen; whereas a mercenary Foreigner is absolutely at the disposal of his Master. Are not the Catholics as much Countenanced, and in the exercise of as much Liberty for their Religion, as ever? The necessity of humouring a Confederacy, which must support us, the great Strength of which are Catholics, may be urged as a very good Reason for this; but if we examine it to the bottom, this threatens our Religion more than any Indulgence was granted them by King James. When the Catholics of England hold their Liberty merely from the favour of the Protestants of England, they must be thankful for it, and humble under it: but when they come to derive their Favours, Immunities, and Liberty, from the necessity of our Circumstances, and humble Regard and Deference we must pay to Catholic Princes, without whose Assistance and Friendship we cannot Subsist; their Spirits, Hopes and Haughtiness, will be enlarged by it: They must make grateful acknowlegements to those Catholic Princes, by whose kind Influences they enjoy their Liberty. This begets a Correspondence with and Dependence upon Foreign Princes; and we do not know how far, by the Instigation of Catholics here, those Princes may be prevailed upon to improve the necessity we have of their Alliance, to the advantage of those of their own Religion amongst us. The House of Austria, within our remembrance, was the most zealous Champions for the Roman Religion, and the dependence of the Catholics of England upon that House hath been always terrible and troublesome to this State: And though their Losses, and the growth of France, hath humbled and leveled all the towering Thoughts and Ambition of that Family, which did so much exercise both the Councils and Forces of their Neighbours, yet since by our Assistance that House is to recover its Losses, and France to be reduced within its ancient bounds; with their lost Provinces, the House of Austria may resume their old Designs: They were but covered up, not extinguished; concealed through Weakness, to be discovered upon a greater Increase of Strength and Vigour; in which case we may come to be whipped for our present Politics  
May the great God avert those dangers and difficulties which environ us, and visibly threaten the Religious and Civil Concerns of these Kingdoms. We have been pulling Destruction with both our hands upon ourselves, and desperately risking our Religion and Civil Rights without any necessity; and unless we repent, and repair these Errors, the Punishments we deserve will certainly overtake us. We have turned away our King, whose Right and Title was certain and unquestioned, nay we have chased him from us with unspeakable Indignities, upon the Pretence of Errors in Government, which he was put upon by the Artifice of his Enemies, and which he was willing to have repaired at our own Sight: He courted us by repeated Applications to carve out our own Securities for our Religion and Civil Rights; but we have obstinately refused any Treaty with him. We have set ourselves up for a Mark of Reproach to future Ages, by our foolish and invincible Malice and matchless Impudence, in Vacating a Throne by a pretended Abdication, which imports a Voluntary Resignation; and yet the Abdicated M narch never made any, but asserts his ●itle to this day. We have ground d this Abdication upon a wilful Desertion in our Prince, when we forced him away for the Preservation of his Life; and upon Mistakes in Government, which he was trapan'd into, and which he was willing to have repaired; but we would not; as if every Error in Government had been a Sin against the Holy Ghost, which neither can be attoned for, nor forgotten. The Injury done to our Sovereign is very visible from what I have written; and so Reparation ought to be speedily made, notwithstanding all the Reasons given by these two Pamphleteers against it. But before I enter upon answering their Objections, I shall discourse upon the other three Motives assigned for the King's Restauration, and make them equally plain with the first I have already handled; which will in a great measure prevent or take off all Objections can be made.  
The second Motive was the Settling the Government upon its old Basis; which is visibly interrupted and quite unhinged by this Abdication. We have turned our Hereditary Monarchy into an Elective: We have cut the Royal Line, interrupted the Succession, and destroyed the just Rights of innocent Persons, upon a pretended Abdication which though well founded, is but personal, and cannot be extend d any farther. To this it is answered by the Author of The Pretences of the French Invasion examined, p 10. l. 1. and downwards, That the Breach, as to the Person of the Reigning King, was made by himself, having deserted; That the Convention did not make, but found the Throne vacant; That in Regard there were so many clear Indications of the Imposture of the Prince of Wales, the Convention applied to the present Queen, who was the next and undoubted Heir; and at her Request, a Title was given to her Husband, and that 〈◊〉 for Life, though he was much nearer in Blood than Henry IU. and Henry VII. successively made Kings of England; That much greater Breaches have been made, since the Conquest, in the Lineal Succession, by deposing the Reigning King, and setting up his Son, or a remoter Person, which he acknowledgeth an Injury to the King so deposed; and that the saving the Succession to the Princess of Denmark and her Heirs, shows how far the Convention was from any such thing as is alleged.  
By such Reasonings the Author of this Pamphlet discovers but small Knowledge in History, and the Affairs of his own Country; little Judgement and Veracity, joined with a great deal of Disingenuity and Impudence. How truly the Breach made in our Monarchy, by the Abdicating Vote, is to be laid at King James' door, upon the Account of his Desertion, may appear from what I have already said: And though this Author doth very confidently assert, That the Throne was void by Desertion, it seems the Convention were not of that Opinion, but found it necessary to declare it so by a Vote, before there was Access to fill it again; and the Earl of Nottingham was then quite another Man, and of other Principles, than we find him now, as an Author, or Licenser only. A Regency was not in the least akin to a Vacancy. But to humour the Author, suppose there was a Vacancy, either before or after the Vote, which he pleaseth; a Vacancy in a Monarchy is a certain infallible Mark of its being elective: For in a Hereditary Monarchy, such as this of England, upon the Natural, or Civil Death too (if the Author pleaseth) of the Regnant Monarch, the Right of the next Successor doth immediately take place; and the People, whether by their Representatives in Parliament, or otherwise, do humbly submit to and acknowledge, not declare and authorise, his Native Title. Our Law-books teach us, That the Kings of England can never die: The meaning is, That in an Hereditary Monarchy the Throne cannot be without a Possessor, were it but for a Moment; so that where either there is the least Vacancy, or where the next Possessor wants a Sentence of the People to give him a Title; that very Sentence, however disguised, is an Election; and together with the preceding Vacancy, doth certainly and indispensably stamp the Monarchy Elective.  
Is it not highly impudent in this Author to tell us, that there are many clear Indications of the Prince of Wales being an Imposture; and, at the same time, not to let us know what they are, and upon what Grounds they are so clear and evident? Can this Author be so vain as to think we must take his Word for a Thing upon which so much depends; no less than the justice, or injustice of a Sentence, which must stand the Nation in so much Blood and Treasure, so many Perjuries and repeated Acts of Violence and Oppression, to support and maintain? Or doth he therein follow the Example of the Prince of Orange in his Declaration? Which tells us of many just and visible Grounds of Suspicion, that the Prince of Wales was not Born of the Queen, and refers the Inquiry of that Truth to a free Parliament. King James also hath made the same reference, in a Letter from St. Germains, nay desired the last Parliament to look narrowly into that Affair; and yet the Prince hath never to this day desired the Parliament to fall about this important Search, nor acquainted us with any of those just and visible Grounds of Suspicion. Is it not very strange, That the only plausible Pretence, in all the Declaration for his undertaking, should be so much overlooked; wh●n a clear and plain discovery of such an infamous Cheat and Imposture, would have fully justified the Proceed of the Convention of Estates, the present Settlement of the Crown, given us all peace of Conscience and Satisfaction under it, and would really and truly have Abdella cated King James for ever in the H●arts and Affections of every honest Englishman? The Prince in Honour was concerned to have pressed it; and the supreme Senate was obliged in 〈◊〉 and Ju 'tice to have made a fu●● Discovery of the Truth or Falls hood o●●t, especially when they have 〈◊〉 so much pressed and challenged, 〈◊〉 it were in the face of the World, 〈…〉 about it by King James, and 〈◊〉 Petitioned so to do by seve●●● rio●s of Honour and Quality in October, 1690. and which was delivered into many of the Members Hands; besides the times and circumstances of Affairs were the most ●●●sonable for such an Enquiry. It was not to be supposed, that the Witnesses could either then be bribed or overawed into a partial Testimony; and there was all imaginable encouragement for freedom of Questions for confronting the Deponents, and producing Counter Evidences, if there were any such; so that the whole Matter might have been laid open and cleared, to the satisfaction of all Persons concerned. The vindicating the Honour and Justice of the Nation; the quieting of so many People's Consciences, who think themselves bound by their Oaths of Allegiance to the King's next and immediate Heirs; the regard due to an innocent Child, if the Imposture be not cleared; the satisfaction of the Christian World, and the securing these Kingdoms from those great Dangers and Confusions, which are certain and infallible upon Competitions, in point of the Royal Succession; were great and unanswerable Motives for an Enquiry, nay amounted to the Weight of a Duty due from them to their Constituents, themselves and Posterity. What can any thinking Man conclude from such a Neglect and Omission, but that the Evidence, for the reality of the Prince of Wales his Birth, was clear and convincing; and the Counter Evidence, which was pretended against it, false and forged; that the Prince of Orange, in his Declaration, had rather Studied to amuse the World with great and specious Pretences, than to satisfy them as to the realty and truth of his Grounds; and that the Convention and Parliament have followed the Dictates of Passion and Prejudice, more than the Rules of Prudence and Justice. It cannot be supposed they forbore to trace this Imposture from any tenderness to the King's Reputation, which would have been so deeply Wounded by a discovery of the Cheat. So much time and pains spent unsuccessfully, in laying open the Earl of Essex's pretended Murder, shows evidently how glad they would have been of any occasion, or probable pretence, whereby to blacken King James.  
So that the Nation must even rest satisfied without any further Evidence of this Imposture, than some pretended Suspicions which were both groundless, and raised industriously by those public Agitators for this Revolution: As for Instance, The Princess of Denmark being forced out of the way to the Bath at the time of the Queen's Delivery; whereas it is very well known, and can be made appear, by Persons of undoubted Honour and Integrity, that the King was against it, that her Physicians in Ordinary were against it, and that pains was taken to search about for Physicians who would advise her going, as expedient for her Health; so early were they contriving Pretences for this Calumny. But the Prince and Princess of Orange were all along Suspicious that the Queen was with Child; and yet no care was taken to satisfy them about it. Did they ever acquaint the King with their Suspicions, and desire some Method might be taken to remove them? And were they refused it? This was the proper and usual way in such Cases: And since it was not taken, there is no ground for Complaint. The King could not dive into Suspicions; which, in my Conscience, I am persuaded they never entertained. And lastly, it is alleged no care was taken to satisfy the Nation, who were full of doubts about the reality of his Birth. But why did they doubt? Were any Methods neglected, which used to be observed? Or any Persons secluded, who ought to have been present? Did they give any intimation of their Suspicions by humble Petition or Remonstrance, and desire to be satisfied about 'em? The Queen had formerly brought forth Children without any pretended Jealousies. Who could foresee that such a black and hellish Calumny would be then invented? Yet the Wisdom of God Almighty knowing how far the Wickedness of this Age would extend; and as an earnest, I hope, of his good and kind Intentions to this Nation, hath Providentially furnished us with a better and more numerous Evidence of the Birth of this Prince, than can be brought for the realty of the Birth of any Prince, or private Person in Europe; and hath yet fortified and confirmed it by another Conception, and Pregnancy of the Queens, to the Birth of which Child many Persons of all Qualities have been called, and invited in an extraordinary manner; so willing is the King to satisfy even our malicious groundless Complaints. But it seems our Rulers have no doubts upon that Head, in which they desire to be satisfied, or find it not for their interest to have them cleared.  
From what hath been said, it is evident that there is a real Prince of Wales, who must be considered as such so long as the pretended Imposture is not cleared to us, and who hath Injustice done him by the Convention of Estates; for though the Abdicating Vote were well founded against the Father, it was only personal to Him, and cannot reach the Son: In which Case, the Princess of Orange's Right being only from the Gift and by the Election of the People, is a manifest Breach of the Royal Line, and hath quite altered the Nature and Frame of our Hereditary Monarchy. As to the Title given to the Prince during Life, at her Request, the Princess of Denmark, by the Rules of Succession in an Hereditary Monarchy, is unquestionably ●ex Heir to her Sister the Princess of Orange, if she die without Children: By the Survivancy of Royalty lodged in the Prince, after the Princess' Death, there is another manifest Injury done to the Princess of Denmark and her Children; there is another unquestionable Breach made upon the Royal Line, and the ancient Constitution of our Monarchy; and there is a second Election of a Monarch by the Convention, to the Prejudice of the next undoubted Heir, lest the first Instance had not made a stro g enough Precedent for an Elective Monarchy for the future. And whereas it is pretended, That the Prince had his Title at the request of the Princess, who was the next Heir, and willing to give him Place, where is this request and Concession of the Princess to be seen? When was it presented to the Convention; or where is it recorded? But though it were real, what is that to the Princess of Denmark and her Heirs? Can a Compliment, intended by the Princess of Orange, from herself to her Husband, cut off their Rights? Again, is it not evident, That by such a request it's confessed the present Settlement of the Crown is by the Election and from the Gift of the People; and plainly acknowledged that there is a Right in them to alter the Succession, and make a Breach of the Royal Line at their Pleasure?  
But it is alleged, We have the practice of our Predecessors to warrant our present Measures, who have made much greater Breaches in the Lineal Succession, deposed Kings, and given the Crown to Persons remoter from the Royal Blood than the Prince of Orange; and that in the Cases of Hen. IU. and Hen. VII. In this the Author discovers himself to be ignorant of the History and Affairs of his own Country, in mistaking the Case of Hen iv in giving us an Instance in Hen. VII. of a Breach of the Lineal Succession, to the Prejudice of the surviving King and next Heir, since it is very well known that Richard the Usurper was killed in Battle, and lest no Heir behind him; and King Henry being undoubt d Heir of the House of Lancaster, by his Marriage with the Heiress of the House of York, united the two Roses, and had an unquestionable Title to the Crown, without any Breach in the Lineal Succession: And also in omitting to give us the Instance of Edw. III. which are all the Examples our History affordeth, and are very far from making a Precedent in our Case. Edw. III. was the eldest Son, and undoubted and nearest Heir of the Crown; and though he mounted the Throne during his Father's Life, yet it was upon his Father's Resignation: And though he had all the Heat and Ambition of a young Man, and discovered during his Reign a largeness and greatness of Soul more than ordinary, yet he constantly refused the Crown, until his Father's Resignation was obtained. This can be none of those greater Breaches of the Succession, hinted at by our Author; and doth not at all suit the Case of King William: And Hen. IU. makes as bad a Precedent for our Practice. King Ri. II. resigned in the favour of Hen. had not Children to be prejudiced by his Resignation: King Henry was the next Heir, the Pretences of the House of York being not then set on foot; but that Family acquiesced in his Right as well as the rest of the Kingdom: So that our own Histories can as little furnish us with Examples, to justify our present Practice, as those of other Nations. If in the Instances assigned, the horrid Violences of Richard the Third, the Male Administrations of Richard the Second and Edward the Second, could not in the Opinion of this Author warrant their Dethronnig, from the Character of Injuries done them, he must certainly be jesting all along with us in his Pamphlet, in justifying an Abdication, for less and shorter Errors; and the Tory Nottingham is forced at last to peep out from under his Republican Disguise.  
As to the Pretence, That by saving the Succession to the Princess of Denmark and her Heirs, the Convention hath sufficiently shown how far they were from designing any Alteration in the Succession, or the ancient Constitution of our Monarchy; it is equally weak and frivolous with any of the rest; and lays a Foundation for another Election, as it is expressed in the Vote: For the Provision is not to the Princess of Denmark's Heirs simply, as the Author falsely and disingenuously represents, but runs thus, To the Princess Ann of Denmark and the Heirs of her Body; which failing to the Heirs of the Body of the said K. William, which excludes all collateral Pretenders of the Orleans and Palatine Families, who would have been comprehended under the general Notion of Heirs. It was not possible for the Wit of Man to contrive a Vote, which in so few Words could more visibly alter the Nature of our Hereditary Monarchy, make more and stronger Precedents for an Elective, occasion more Interruption in the Succession, and lay a better Foundation for the like for the time to come. For in this Sentence we have a Breach in the Person of the reigning King, by the Abdication; we have another Breach in the Person of the Prince of Wales; we have the People conferring the Crown by Election upon the Princess of Orange, to the Prejudice of that Prince his Title; we have a Survivancy of the Government settled in the Prince of Orange, by a second Act of this Elective Power of the People, to the prejudice of the Princess of Denmark and her Heirs, which makes a third Breach in the Succession; and lastly, we have all the Collateral Heirs of this Crown quit● cut off by the Entale; by which the Monarchy is to b extingu shed, or a Series of Elective Monarches buckled upon this Nation, us strongly as those good Patriots could do it by their Sentence. Let any wise and thinking Man judge, if this be not such a palpable and visible ●●●inging of all the ancient Frame and Constitution of our glorious Monarchy, as deserves the warmest Endeavours and most diligent Application of every honest Man, for the settling of this our ancient English Government upon its old Basis, by the Restauration of K. James.  
The Author of A Letter to a Friend concerning the French Invasion, did certainly foresee these Difficulties the former Author had run himself into; and being unwilling to shipwreck his Reason upon such gross Absurdities, he broadly hints at Conquest: And in this he but seconds the Author of the Answer to the Paper delivered by Mr. Ashton at his Execution, Licenced by a Secretary of State; who boldly, and without Disguise, pleadeth upon that Title. This Plea, though it be not liable to the same Absurdities with the other, yet labours under greater; since by one blow, and with one dash of his Pen, he levels at the Birthrights of the Subjects, as well as of the Monarch; and undeavours to extinguish the Freedoms of Englishmen, as well as the ancient Government; and certainly to entail upon and place us actually under that Slavery, the fear of which is the best Reason they assign for restraining us from assisting our King in his Return; as if such remote fears of Slavery were more dreadful than present Servitude, which is the necessary consequence of Conquest. These Champions make very bold with their Prince, and wound his Honour and Interest deeper than the keenest Enemies could do: Such Blunders must fall in, when Men reason rather from Passion than from steady and generally received Maxim, and labour to defend a deeply tinctured Republican Revolution by Tantivy Monarchical Principles.  
It is strange to see a Man who is endued with a rational Soul, whose greatest Prerogative and Excellency consists in a clear  and distinct Exercise of Reason, so blinded with foolish Prejudice, as rather than submit to plain and convincing Truth, choose to betake himself to this unaccountable notion of Conquest; which is absolutely inconsistent with the Prince's Declaration, destroys the Maxims and Grounds, upon which the Convention of Estates (from whom the Prince derives his Title) did proceed; overturns the Subjects Claim to Rights and Privileges, the pretended care of which is the best Support of this Government; brings home to our Fancies and Imaginations the most frightful Ideas, which a freeborn People can form to themselves of Tyranny and Slavery, with all the terrible and desolating Consequences which attends them; and consequently lays us under Obligations, from a due regard to ourselves and Posterity, and Duty to our Country, to shake off the Yoke with all Speed, though with neversomuch Hazard and Difficulty.  
The Prince, in his Declaration, after an Enumeration of Grievances, assures us He came for no other Design, than to have a free and full Parliament assembled, and the Elections made and returned according to the ancient forms; and that the Members of this Parliament should meet and sit in full freedom, until such Laws be prepared, as the two Houses should concur in, and find necessary for Maintenance of the Protestant Religion, and securing the Peace, Honour and Safety, of this Nation; that there may be no more Danger of falling at any time under Arbitrary Government; and that he had nothing before his Eyes, in this Undertaking, but the Preservation of the Protestant Religion, the Covering of all Men from Persecutions for their Consciences, and the securing to the whole Nation the free Enjoyment of all their Laws, Rights and Liberties, under a just and legal Government. For the accomplishing of which, since he had only brought a Force with him, for defending his Person, against the Violence of Evil Counsellors, all the Peers of this Realm, Lieutenants, Deputy-Lieutenants, and others of all Ranks and Degrees, are invited to assist him against all who shall endeavour to oppose the redressing of Violences done to the Constitution of the English Government. These Pretences can never be adjusted to the Notion and Title of Conquest. The Nobility, Gentry, and Commons of this Realm, acting in a free and legal Parliament, for the securing of their Laws, Rights and Liberties, under a just and legal Government, neither can nor will ever design it.  
I will charitably suppose the Convention of Estates, and their Constituents, did believe they had valuable Rights and Privileges, their Religion, Liberties and Properties, which were derived and secured unto them from positive Statutes and Laws of the Land, as well as from the Dictates of Nature and Original Contract; that those Rights and Privileges were invaded, and in danger to be lost; which made them run into that general Defection, and make a Present of the Crown to the Prince of Orange, as the only expedient they could then think of. So long as the Prince's Title runs in this Channel, they are at Liberty, when they please, to review those Measures, examine the Grounds, and upon a Rectification of their Judgements, and Conviction that their beloved Rights and Privileges may be better secured under their ancient Monarch, to betake themselves again unto him. Sublata causa, tollitur effectus. Or they may inquire into the Conduct and Government of the Prince, whether it Quadrate with the Original Contract they made with him; whether their Rights and Privileges have been entirely preserved; and if they can discover any bad Influences or Aspect towards Liberty and Property, then to make a Sacrifice of the Workmanship of their own Hands to a fresh Establishment of those Sacred and Venerable Rights, by the Maxims of this last Revolution; The Interest of the People is paramount to that of the Prince.  
But if our Conquest take place, then Adieu to Rights and Privileges, Liberty and Property. The old musty Statute Books and Records of Westminster hall and the Tower, may be committed to the Flames, as so much waste Paper: His Will and Pleasure must be the Law whereby we are governed; our Liberties must lie at the Mercy of his Ministers; and our Properties must be committed to the Stewardship of his Soldiers. Let us examine the Condition of Conquered People and Provinces, from ancient and modern History. Their old Government, Laws and Customs, which they had been enured to from their Infancy, recommended and endeared to them by long Use and Acquaintance, must be swept off the Stage; strange Orders, strange Customs, strange Ministers, must take their place: Our Persons, our Liberty, our Estates, and all our most valuable Earthly Enjoyments, must lie at the Mercy, Pleasure, and Will, of the Conqueror: Industry and Virtue will vanish, there being no Reward for them; for a Conquered People must aspire no higher, than to learn to obey submissively, and to eat the Bread of Tribulation and Affliction with Patience: The care and desire of Posterity will languish; being unwilling to beget Children, to become Slaves and miserable as ourselves. The Indian Women strangled their own Children, after their Birth, that they might not become Servants to the Spaniards; and Dutch Severities will be found nothing short, upon the Record of History, of Spanish Cruelties. The Annals of all Nations can furnish us with dreadful Instances of the unspeakable Miseries of a Conquered People: We may find those Examples of the Calamities of that Condition, which would make us embrace Death for a Favour, and be able to sink us into utter Despair, unless at the same time these very Histories had given us a view of the strenuous and successful Endeavours of those generous and worthy Spirits, who have despised Dangers, Difficulties, Torments, and Death itself, for the Rescue and Deliverance of their Country and fellow Subjects. The greater and more terrible the Dangers were, the more vigorously and undauntedly did they court them, when they were in pursuit of so glorious a Quarry. The Efforts of Conquered Nations for the Recovery of their lost Liberties, stand fairest upon the Records of Fame, and are handed down to us with the greatest Exactness and Encomiums; as if our Ancestors had judged it necessary, and all Writers had conspired together to rouse up, when Occasion called for it, that desire of Liberty, which was born with us. If Conquest must be forced upon us as our present Lot; I hope all true Englishmen now will discover as great a Sense, as any upon Record of a vindicative Duty to their Country, and love for their Liberties, be as tender and careful to transmit them safe and sound to their Posterity, as their Ancestors have been vigilant and active in handing them down to them; that they will be no less careful of the ancient Government and Monarchy of this Nation, than of their own particular Rights; since every blow which reaches the one, must certainly wound and endanger the other; and that it shall be impossible to make the English a Conquered People, because they will generally choose not to be, rather than to be Slaves.  
It may be alleged, that all that I have said upon Conquest might have been forborn, since the King sets up for no such Title; perhaps it is not seasonable to do it: But to have Conquest so publicly pleaded for in Pamphlets, Written or Licenced by Secretaries of State, and that without any Check or Punishment from the Prince is very suspicious, especially if upon Examination of those Oppressions which we suffer under the present King, we shall find his Conduct smell Rank that way. If we be treated as a Conquered People, the Misery is still the same, or rather greater; though the Prince who deals so by us should be called a Reformer.  
It being made evident and plain, That King James was highly injured, and the ancient Government quite unhinged, by the Sentence of Abdication and our late Measures. I come next to examine how exactly the Prince hath fulfilled, and made good unto us the pretended Ends and Designs of his Declaration; how well he hath kept the Original Contract we made with him; and what benefit we may expect to reap for the future by this Revolution. I shall take his Conduct in both Kingdoms jointly under Consideration, since he hath not only united them in the same Declaration, but likewise issued out a Declaration apart for Scotland; intimating thereby, That the Oppressions in that Kingdom were more weighty and numerous than here, and that the Arbitrary Designs of our Prince did always first commence there, to make a Precedent for this Kingdom; and that the Conduct and Posture of Affairs there, did always certainly Prognosticate to the curious Observer, what was designed to be Copied and Executed here. I do not pretend to give a particular detail of the present Administration in that Kingdom; but there are some considerable Errors have been acted there which have made a Noise, and raised such public Complaints there, as hath conveyed the Knowledge of them here to us.  
The assuming a Power of Dispensing with the due Execution of Laws, enacted by King and Parliament for Security of Religion, Liberty, and Happiness of the Subject, is much urged against King James, as a great Motive to the Prince's undertaking. A Dispensing Power assumed by any Prince, doth fatally threaten the Liberties of a People where it is practised, and makes them Tenants at Will for those Privileges which the Laws of the Land hath given them a Freehold in. This is really such an important Point, and of such Consequence for the Subject to have been cleared, that it was indispensably the Duty of a Reforming Prince, Convention of Estates, and Parliament, to have decided this Controversy, and placed such Marks and Boundaries for the future, so plain and obvious both to Prince and People, that each might have known their particular Rights, and governed themselves for the future accordingly. But our Parliaments have thought fit to leave it where they found it, dark and undecided to this day; and the Prince hath discovered he was well enough pleased with this Omission, by taking as large and broad Steps that way, as any can be charged upon King James.  
The Irish Treaty furnisheth us with a convincing Proof of this; where such Indulgences were granted unto them solely and singly by his own Authority, with relation to the exercise of their Religion, pro● of their Arms, dispensation from Oaths, and security against ●rsuits for their Plunderings; as were directly contrary to the Laws of the Land, the Safety, Rights, and Privileges of the Protestant Subjects of that Kingdom. This Treaty, I do acknowledge, was afterwards ratified by Parliament; but though in some Cases the Authority of Parliament may give a legal Being for the future, yet that new Life commenceth only from the date of their Sanction, and doth not justify preceding Errors; and the many Difficulties which arose in both Houses about the Ratification, was a clear Innuendo how dangerous and illegal they judged the Treaty to be. How strangely are we altered? King James' exercise of this Dispensing Power, could neither be forgotten nor attoned for; but King William's stretch that way, shall obtain a Parliamentary Approbation; such is the Justice and  Integrity of these Times.  
But we need not look so far as Ireland for Instances: We have our personal Liberties secured to us by positive and express Statutes, and Methods appointed by our Law, whereby to recover our Liberties when lost, with such severe Animadversions against those who obstruct the due course of Law in obtaining of our Freedom, with such great and considerable Damages appointed in that case, as plainly enough Points out unto us the Value and Worth of this true English Privilege. It is the choicest piece of our Magna Charta, and Original Contract; and, for my part, I should much rather allow a Prince to dispense with Penal Statutes, and issue out a Proclamation for Liberty of Conscience, than to sport himself at Pleasure with my personal Freedom; without which there can be no relish in any other Enjoyment; and yet there never was a Reign wherein our Birthright in this hath been more abused, spoiled, and broken in upon. The English Subjects have been put into Proclamations, and clapped into Prisons for High Treason, and refused the benefit of their Habeas Corpus, though there was no Information upon Oath against them, according as the Law appoints to warrant such a Procedure: Nay so grossly, frequently and impudently, have our public Ministers affronted the Laws upon this Head, that they have found themselves obliged to apply to Parliament for Pardon: For we have found out a new Trick in this Government, and reforming Age, first to act all imaginable Violences against the best and choicest of our Laws, and than to obtain either a Ratification or Pardon in Parliament; whereby they have struck our English Constitution, and the Liberty of the Subject, Dead at one Blow, by Debauching our Parliaments into a Confederacy against, (in place of Protecting,) the Liberties of the People, and so making the Nation as it were Felo de se. No period of History doth furnish us with such wholesale Merchants for our best and most valuable Rights; neither do we know when this Trade shall be at an end, or when our Rulers will be weary of Tricking us out of our Liberties. We have a fresh Instance of late of the Knowledge and Learning of our Judges: When the Earls of Huntingdon, Midleton, and others moved at the Bar for their Habeas Corpus, there was no Information upon Oath against them to warrant a refusal; otherways to be sure we should have heard of it: But Aaron Smith must make Affidavit that they had Evidence for the High Treason charged against them, which could not be got ready; and so by his Liberty and Freedom of Conscience, save in some measure the Credit of the Court: By this fine new Knack, they were all remitted back to Prison again. Such Judges may at last come to be fit enough for the Bench even under a Conquest; but in the mean time all such Expedients, which are not warranted from the Statutes, do rather prove the Injustice of the Court, than fulfil the Law; and however it may be Gilded, we cannot but see and feel the bitter Pill we must swallow.  
Was not the Habeas Corpus Act suspended for many Months? It's true this was done by Parliament; but so much the worse, if our own Delegates, in whose Hands we trust the care, but not the entire surrender of our Liberties, make a Compliment of that which is not in their Power, to the Ambition or Necessities of any Prince. Parliaments can no more justly over-turn Foundations, than the Prince can. Such Privileges as are derived from King and Parliament, upon the account of the Subjects Temporary Conveniences, are trusted to the review of the same Court; but these Fundamental Privileges, which are the Birthright of Nations, and derived Originally from the Laws of Nature itself; such as the Freedom of our Persons, and Dominion over our Properties, fall only under the Cognizance of Parliaments, for their better Establishment against such Breaches, as the depraved Nature of Princes and their Ministers will be making upon them.  
The Nature and Design of Societies, hath occasioned a partial Submission of these two great native Privileges to the safety of that Body Politic, by punishing of Crimes; and to the support of it, by Taxes, which we grant ourselves; but in no Construction of Reason, Sense, or Justice, can Delegates be understood to be impowered, to make an entire surrender of those Rights into the Hands of any Prince, were it but for a moment. It may be alleged, That the safety and necessity of the Government put our Rulers upon such extraordinary Measures. If reasons and pretences of State (the Secrets of which are always locked up in the Prince his Breast) can apoligize for such bold Struck s, against our most Fundamental Privileges and Laws; Where is there any Right or Immunity, which we can call our own, or be assured off? Since such pretences shall never be wanting to entitle the Prince to an absolute Dominion over 〈◊〉 Property, as well as over our Liberty; since the last is more valuable than the first; Why may not Reasons of State, as justly render him Master of the one as of the other?  
If it was to preserve our Liberties from the insults of King James, we placed the Prince upon the Throne, we have certainly either mistaken the Disease or the Cure; since he cannot be preserved upon it at a cheaper rate, than a Sacrifice of what we intended to preserve, we are to learn nothing from this Revolution, but a surer and more infallible way of enslaving the Subject. King James never dreamt of such a Method. An English Parliament was hitherto esteemed a Court inseparable from the true Interest of Englishmen; but a little more Training under so good a Master may make them change Principles, and become in time as complacent and good natured as ever the French and Swedish States were. Nothing, it seems, in Gratitude, can be refused to our Deliverer. But though Gratitude be a Virtue, it ought to have its Bounds, lest it run us farther than designed or intended at first, even to the destruction of those Rights, for the Preservation of which we desire to appear so grateful. The King of Denmark, in our time, by the Merit of some Actions performed for his People, and during their first Raptures of gratitude for it, sound the way to Enslave them, by changing an Elective and Limited, into an Hereditary and Despotic Monarchy.  
The admitting of unqualified Persons into Places of Employment, and the erecting the High-Commission-Court, were thought great Crimes in King James, and mighty Errors in Government; and yet the first is as frequently practised in the Army as ever; and how much further the Prince's dependence upon Popish Confederates may lead him in favour of Catholics, must be owing to their Moderation; for we lie at their Mercy upon that head, and may come to be made sensible, that our Foreign Allyances may prove as troublesome and uneasy to us, in favour of Papists, as King James' Religion was: And as to the last, the Prince must either look upon that Court to be no Crime, or by favouring the most active Members in it, he must destroy and invert that old English Maxim, That our Kings can neither Err, nor be Punished; but that evil Counsellors are liable to both.  
The turning out the Fellows of Magdalen College from their Freeholds, contrary to that Provision in Magna Charta, That no Man should lose his Life or Goods, but by the Law of the Land, is not to be justified; and yet falls much short of the putting People to death, under this Government, by Martial Law, before it was Enacted. Few Men will ever scruple to secure their Lives, with the loss of their Places. The Quo Warranto and Regulation Projects, were much to be complained of; but we may very easily imagine to whose Practices they were owing, by the Countenance and Preferments the Authors and Promoters of those Councils received from this Government; neither can the Quo Warrantoing of Charters be so illegal, as the Declaration would make us believe; since King William himself treads in the same Path, by imposing a Governor upon New England, upon the Quo Warranto Foot, contrary to the Opinion of his Privy-Council.  
Whereas by the Declaration, the slighting and rejecting of Petitions delivered by Subjects, with Submission and Respect, is considered as a high Strain of absolute Power; yet when the People of Scotland had secured to themselves the Privilege of Petitioning, by their claim of Rights; and in pursuance, and by virtue of that Privilege, the greatest part of that Parliament, which placed the Crown upon his Head, had humbly addressed unto the present King for his assent to some Votes, which they had passed for Establishing of Religion and Liberty, and which were agreeable to their ancient Laws and Privileges, they were scornfully and disdainfully refused and rejected. If by the Declaration it was a fault to treat a Peer of England as a Criminal, for asserting that the Subjects were not bound to obey a Popish Justice of Peace; it cannot be a piece of Justice in King William to pass a Sentence of Banishment upon the Earl of Feversham, who is a Peer of England, within these few Weeks, without so much as alleging a Crime against him.  
Since by the Declaration, the obliging People to deliver their Opinion before hand, as to the repealing the Test and Penal Laws, and the turning out of Employments such as would not promise lustily, is represented as so fowl a piece of Collusion. The Closeting of Members of Parliament now, to pre-engage their Votes in Affairs depending before them, and the Disgraces which some obstinate Persons fell under upon it, should have been forborn, unless King William be dissatisfied with the Prince of Orange's Declaration, and the Rules and Maxims therein Established.  
According to the Scottish Declaration, the appointing of Judges in an unusual manner, and giving 'em Commissions, which were not to continue during Life, or good Behaviour, was highly illegal; yet K. William, after he got the Crown, found he was mistaken in that Paragraph, and nominated the whole Bench, without subjecting them to a Trial and Approbation of Parliament, according as Law and Custom required; did not think fit to continue their Commissions during Life or good Behaviour; and appointed them a Lord Precedent, though by express Statute he was to be elected by the Bench.  
By the Declaration, the imposing of Bonds upon whole Counties without Act of Parliament, and the permitting of free Quarters to the Soldiers, are declared to be high and intolerable Stretches of Government: The same hath been practised in this Government, with greater Confidence, less Compassion, and other aggravating Circumstances. Bonds have been imposed by Authority of Council, without Warrant of Parliament, as may appear from 〈◊〉 public Proclamations; and many Thousands of Soldiers have been maintained upon free Quarter, and for many Months together countenanced and abetted in it by the Government; and the Funds for reimbursing the Country, which were appointed by Parliament, have been otherways diverted.  
The Commissionating the Officers of the Army, to sit as Judges upon the Lives and Estates of the Subjects, and the putting People to death without a legal Trial, Jury, and Record; were complained of in the Declaration; were thought good Reasons for Forefaulting of K. J. and were provided against upon this last Setlement of the Crown: And yet both the caution given by the Sentence against K. J. and the future Provision made by the Estates, prove to weak to restrain this Government from practising the same things, by ordering and impowering Colonel Hill, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, to put Glencou and all the Males of his Clan, under Seventy, to death; which was partly executed upon them, without any legal Trial, Jury, or Record. Neither can their former Enmity, and opposition to the Government, furnish any Apology for so barbarous a Murder, since they had all either actually taken the benefit of the Indemnity then granted, and so were Pardoned, or had Protections in their Pockets, which put them under the immediate care and safeguard of the Government. It may puzzle the best Heads to find out the reason why Irish Papists, though stated Enemies, should be indulged to the prejudice of our Laws and Rights; and yet Protestants, though formerly Enemies, barbarously Massacred, when indemnifyed and under protection; unless K. W. be resolved, from the Obligations he is under, and the Deference he must pay to the Pope and Popish Princes, to embrace every occasion of destroying the one, and cherishing the other.  
By the Declaration we are assured, That the Prince will concur in every thing that may procure the Peace and Happiness of these Nations, and which a free and lawful Parliament shall determine; and yet how many necessary and useful Bills, for the Happiness of the Nation, have been stifled by the Interest, Intrigues, and Solicitations of the King himself, his Ministers and Courtiers; and the Royal Assent refused to many Bills in our Neighbouring Kingdom: And in this to the Bill about Judges, which was thought so necessary an expedient for the Establishing of Justice, and to cut off their servile Dependence upon the Court, which was charged as such a blemish upon the Judges in K. James' Reign, and was always looked upon as dangerous to the Lives and Liberties of the English Subjects.  
We were assured that the only design of the Prince's Undertaking, was, The preservation of the Protestant Religion, the covering all Men from Persecution for their Consciences, and the securing to the whole Nation the free enjoyment of all their Laws, Rights and Liberties, under a just and legal Government. How well and truly he hath confined himself within these Limits, and other Bounds he prescribed to himself in his Declaration, may partly appear from what hath been said; and shall yet be made more clear and evident by a true and impartial Enquiry into his Conduct, and some considerable Stretches which have been made in Points not glanced at by the Declaration, because they were Strains of Absolute and Despotic Power, which K. James' Reign did not furnish us with any Instances of the like.  
The Power of imposing Taxes is unquestionably lodged in Parliament; and the People of this Island have a natural Right unto, and Dominion over their Properties; and the Prince cannot share with them in it, in whole, or in part; except in so far as they consent to it themselves, by their Representatives in Parliament: And our Parliaments, though abundantly liberal in other respects, have never indulged the least Liberty to our Monarches on that head; being so far tied to their Trust; and their Constituents Interest: And the Estates of both Kingdoms judged it necessary, upon the present Settlement of the Crown, to assert the People's Right in it; and plainly to express it as one of the Conditions of that Settlement. And yet the Privy Council of the Kingdom of Scotland have openly and avowedly, in Contempt of the ancient Laws and late Original Contract, by their public Proclamations, commanded and appointed, under the severest Penalties, the Subjects of that Kingdom, at their own Charge and Expense, to furnish a great number of Horses for the use and service of the Army; and for carrying Ammunition and Provision of Victuals, with Men to attend the said Horses: And I am informed, That when upon cool and second Thoughts the Council, considering what they had done, how illegal it was, and the danger they had run themselves into by it, thought fit to apply unto the Parliament for an Approbation, it was refused them.  
Extravagant Bail was complained of, and provided against by the States of both Kingdoms; and yet it is daily and frequently imposed, and exacted many times far above the Value of their Estates.  
The Freedom of Elections to Parliament, from the Bribes and Directions of Court and Courtiers, was expressly conditioned by the States of both Kingdoms, upon their Tender of the Crown. How well that is kept and observed, may appear from the bare faced and open Applications made to Counties, Corporations, and particular Electors, for the Choice of such and such Persons, with Threats and promises of Reward. Nay, I have known Three thousand Pounds expended for secret Service, to prevent the Election of a Person who had been eminently Serviceable to this Government, bec●me he was found tighter to the ●nterest of his Country, than to the Court▪ for there never was a Reign wherein the Interest of King and People are more confidently stated as contradistinct, than in this, though it be only the Consent and pretended Interest of the People, giveth Birth, Rise, and Title to it.  
The frequency of Parliaments, for redressing of Grievances; the amending, strengthening, and preserving of the Laws, with all Freedom of Speech and Debates in them, was insisted upon and fundamentally established by the States of both Kingdoms, when they elected their present Majesties to the Throne How well this is observed and made good to both Kingdoms, is obvious enough. It is not for redressing of Grievances, amending or preserving the Laws, they are assembled; but for giving of Money. The craving Necessities of the State, the pressing Circumstances of the Confederates and foreign Affairs, the early Preparations of the French King, an honourable Peace, the Good of the Protestant Religion, and Fears of King James; are become the cruel and everlasting Topics, the common and ordinary Stolen, whereby the true Intent of Parliaments is baffled, and the Money business quickened and finished. The last is now so much the business of Parliaments, and the firit so little, that it is an equal Wager that this Court may come at last to plead Prescription against Parliaments, as to any other business but Money-bills.  
As to freedom of Speech and Debates, though there be none questioned for it, yet Members are so frequently Discouraged and Frowned upon at Court, Disgraced and turned out of Employments, whenever they launch out into an enquiry after Grievances, or the present Administration: And upon the other hand, the Places of Honour and Trust, and the Money of the Nation, are so openly and visibly employed for debauching of Members from a sense and feeling of the true Interest of the People, and for divesting them of all the public and generous Notions, Zeal, unwearied and bold Endeavours for the Rights and Privileges of the Subject, the joint Good and Interest of King and Kingdom, which hath been hitherto so much the Glory and Entertainment of brave English Spirits in our Parliaments; that this native and necessary Freedom of Speech and Debates, is more visibly threatened, and more effectually destroyed, than ever could have been done by Force, Sentence, or Imprisonment. We are sooner wheedled with false, if gilded, Pretences, than hectored or huffed into a Court Compliance.  
Lastly, was there ever a Reign, wherein the plunderings and Free qu●●terings of Soldiers was more counteranced, and the People more grievously oppressed by them, than in this? The Complaints of Scotland upon that head already hinted at, the irregular and unheard of Abuses and Miscarriages of the Irish Army, the Desolations brought upon that miserable Kingdom by them, and the daily Instances we mo●t with of that nature in this Kingdom, are convincing and undeniable Evidences of the Truth of it. Nay, to such a pass is it already come, that when a Secretary of State was applied unto, by persons injured, who were entirely in the Interest of the Government, and presented by the Knight of the Shire with Complaints against the Abuses and free Quartering of Soldiers; they were scornfully rejected with this Answer, That Men and Horses must eat: Meaning, no doubt, that since the Taxes designed by the Parliament for that end, were necessarily to be applied unto the use of the Confederates, the people must be doubly burdened for the Subsistence of the Troops. Such brave Guardians are our present Rulers become of the English Liberties.  
Here we have a sad but true Catalogue of our Miseries; only it is not full and complete. The present Administration can furnish us with a great many more Instances: But I have confined myself to a Deduction of those grosser Errors, which visibly infringed the Pretences of the Prince's Declaration, and the Petition of Rights; the securing and preserving of which, was the Reason expressly assigned for his Election into the Throne. If in the Infancy of his Government, when his sense of Gratitude for the Gift of Three Crowns, if ever, must be fresh in his Memory: when the Hearts and Hands, as well as the Purses of the People, were necessary for his Support; when his Honour as well as Interest called for a different Conduct, he run so warmly into such Measures: what must we feel, when he comes to sit sure and be fixed upon his Throne?  
We may certainly conclude upon the Inclinations and future Designs of a Prince, by his preceding Conduct, and the choice of his Ministers; and from both these Reflections, in the present Case, we have but a melancholy View of our future Condition. Are not those very Men, who in both Kingdoms were the Authors, Contrivers, and Actors of the most Arbitrary and grievous Proceed, which were complained of, during the Reigns of our two last Monarches, become the Ministers, the Darlings, the Favourites of this Reign? Have they changed their Principles and Maxims? The former Instances, in which they have their share, may convince us to the contrary.  
Is it to be imagined that a Prince, who signalised his Entry upon the Stage of public Affairs with a breach of the most solemn Oaths to the contrary, the Destruction of the Liberties of his Native Country, and by grasping at a Power which the Nature, Law, and Constitutions of that Government denied to his Character in it; will be more tender of his Oaths to us, and of our Constitution? His past Conduct may clear it up unto us; we are Strangers to him, and he to us; his Affections, as well as his Birth, are foreign; he distrusts and despiseth us, as treacherous to our former King; He may love the Treason, but hates the Traitors. It is not a single Crime can entitle us 〈◊〉 his Favour; it is by a Sacrifice if 〈◊〉 of King and Country we can touch his heart; it is only by this double Treason we can get into his Confidence. The Fate and Disgrace of those Persons, who upon this Revolution frankly sacrificed the first, but knew not how to subdue their Scruples as to the last, may sufficiently prove this Truth. We have none but ourselves to blame for this Mischief: By our Abdicating Vote, and subsequent Measures, our ancient, just, and legal Government, is destroyed and overturned; and in so doing, we have disengaged him from the Promises he made in his Declaration, since it was only under a just and legal Government that we were assured of his Endeavours to preserve our Laws, Rights, and Liberties. Let us yet a little farther examine the Benefits we shall reap from this Revolution, the Means we have to support it, and what will probably be the Issue of all these great Transactions.  
The malignant aspect of our late Measures, towards our beloved Rights and Privileges, seems to be pretty well cleared already, and scarce admits of an aggravating Thought more; unless we consider that we are like to pay the Price of a perfect and lasting Cure, for downright Poison and a mortal consuming Favour: But perhaps this Victorious Prince, by his Conquests and admirable Conduct, will raise the Military Glory of this Nation so high, and enlarge her Territories and Command so far, as shall quite darken and eclipse the Lustre and Fame of our greatest and most fortunate Kings; and thereby alleviate, or quite bury our Sense and Feeling of past, present, and future Miseries. If the Laurels and Conquests of a Monarch, which are first drenched in Tears, and are founded upon the Slavery of the People, can atone for such Miseries, the French at this Day would be the happiest People in Europe. This will not pass upon English Men, who observe from their Histories, that the most Victorious of their Monarches have always been most tender and careful of their Liberties; and I am afraid that even this faint Comfort shall not be afforded us. What reason have we to expect, that by the Conduct and Military Knowledge of a Prince, (against whom the Naked and Undisciplined Irish made Head for three Campaigns together,) we shall be able to gain Troops and Provinces, from the more Numerous, better Disciplined, and Conducted Troops of France? For though the Author of A Letter to a Friend concerning a French Invasion flatters us, with our Victories over the French at the Boyn, Athlone, Agrim, and Limrick, and from thence foretells our Success in Flanders; they were still but Undisciplined Irish we subdued, with difficulty enough in some of those Places; and our Victories over the French in Ireland or Flanders, have not as yet burdened our Gazettes. We have already expended many Millions of Morey, and lost many Thousands of Men, and have nothing in return for all this Consumption of Blood and Treasure, but the Reduction of Ireland; which vigorous and early Measures could have secured unto us at the beginning, and prevented the utter Ruin and Desolation of that Country; and our late Victory at Sea over the French, to comfort us for our two former Disgraces at Bantry and Beachy, the shameful loss of many of our Navy Royal to the Enemy, the seizure of so many Hundreds of our Merchant Ships, and our Misfortunes in Flanders: Some of our former Princes, with a far less Expense of Men and Money, when Affairs were managed with true English Councils, and executed by English Men, have subdued whole Provinces, and given Law to Europe. But we go now upon Politics, and are governed by Measures, which are Calculated rather for the Interest of Foreign Confederate Princes, than adjusted to the Honour, Profit, and Good of England. This Confederacy hath cost us already a great deal of Money; and it's plain, that the particular Interests, Ambition, and Pretences of these Foreign Princes gave Birth to the Prince's Undertaking, rather than any kind regard to our Religion, Rights and Liberties. It is pleasant enough to imagine that the Pope, the Fathers of the Spanish Inquisition, and the Authors of the Hungarian and Piedm●ntish Persecutions, against those of our Religion, should be so concerned to establish the Protestant Belief amongst us; and that those Foreign Princes, who have extinguished the least shadow of Liberty and Property in their own Dominions, have such pangs of Conscience, and tender Regard for our expiring Liberties. They wanted our Money and our Troops, to carry on their several Pretences; and if they could be still sure of Feasting, and making War at our Expense, the Favour would be as acceptable from the Hands of King James, as from the Prince of Orange: But the Prince who must stand equally obliged to them for his mounting the Throne, and support in it, was judged a fit Instrument, more humble, obedient and active, for emptying the English Treasures i● to Dutch Exchequers, than ever they could expect from our Native King, whom they were afraid would be found more steady to a true English Interest, than to gratify their unsatiable and boundless Pretences.  
King James was a good Husband of his Treasure, and they were afraid would never be induced to part with any of it to them, but for equivalent Returns of Glory and Profit to the Nation. They knew the Prince had a w●●k side, which might be better ●●ought upon: His towering Ambition, and v●st unlimited Desires after Command and a noisy Fame, exposed him continually to the bait they designed him; which was, to pay him in a●y Titles, empty Compliments, and feigned Pretences of Service and Obsequiousness, for our good English Gold, and brave English Troops. The Plot hath succeeded, and we paid them very handsomely for the Trick they put upon us; we have made vast Issues of Men and Money; we have liberally fed those needy Princes and their Troops; it is probable that more Money will be expected and demanded from us; what are we to have for all this Expense we have already made, and yet can see no end of? What Cities, what Provinces, are we to have? Is the French Navy to be burnt, or put into our hands? Are our old Pretences to the French Crown, at least to the Maritime Provinces, to be made good unto us? Or are we to reap nothing but the vain Honour of having contributed towards the Establishment of our Neighbours, by our own Ruin?  
The Duties of Neighbourhood are mutual; and suppose them as strong and binding as the Author of A Letter to a Friend concerning the French Invasion would make them, they plead as strongly for us as against us: There lies as great an Obligation upon the Confederates, to assist us in the Recovery of Normandy and Guienne, as upon us to recover the lost Provinces in Flanders and upon the Rhine, for them: No doubt our present King hath taken Care for it in his Treaties with the Confederates; if he have not, it is a plain Discovery that the Interest of Foreigners is dearer to him than that of England. How unjust is it to ●ob us of the fruits of so many Millions spent, and of so many which are in hazard, with our Religion, Liberties, and our All to boot? If there be any effectual care taken for this, by his Treaties, it were very fit the Nation were made acquainted with it, and that we certainly knew what we were to have, and what Security the Confederate Princes have given for making good such Treaties; it must be more than Words and common Security, that can balance the real Deeds and Kindnesses which we are daily conferring upon them.  
But I am afraid we have not so much as a bare Promise of any thing. The increase and growing Strength of our Monarchy lies so visibly cross to the several Pretences and Interests of the Confederates, that they would be deaf to any such Proposal; and the Prince depends too much upon them for the support of his present Title, to press such ungrateful things. Can any Man of Reason believe that the Dutch and the House of Austria will agree to have the French Fleet put into our hands, which would render us Sovereigns of the Ocean, as well as of the Narrow Seas? Or is it not next to Frenzy, to imagine that the House of Austria will ever give way that we should recover our ancient Footing in France, either in whole, or in part; by which so many Catholic Cities and Provinces would be subjected to Heretics, the Communication betwixt Spain and Flanders cut off, by shutting up the Channel on both sides; and our Monarchy put into such a condition as would visibly shock the ambitious designs of that House; which they would again resume, upon recovery of their lost Provinces? So that we are not to expect any new Acquisitions, with all this vast Expense, but are to rest satisfied with the Honour, or Folly rather, of raising the House of Austria to its ancient Greatness; and building up a Power, which would more fatally threaten us and the rest of Europe, than that which we must be at such Pains and Expense to pull down.  
If the Prospect of a successful War be so little encouraging, what have we to fear and feel from an unfortunate Issue? How sadly may we come to be whipped, when we shall be obliged to take back our Abdicated Monarch, whether we will or no? There will be nothing then to trust to for the Safety of our Religion and Liberties, but the good Nature and true English Temper of a Prince, whom in that Case we have injured, slighted, and despised to the last degree: Nay, upon the Issue of a successful War against France, we may be obliged to undergo the same Fate. So far will this War, in any Event, be from terminating in an Establishment of our present Settlement, that it doth visibly tend to the contrary. This will appear no Paradox to any Man who doth exactly weigh the different Interests and Politics of the several States of Europe, with Relation to us, and amongst themselves. Such a curious and diligent Observer will quickly discover how much more agreeable King James' Restauration would be to the secret concealed Interest of all our Neighbouring States, than the Prince of Orange's present Royalty.  
The good Intentions of France towards it, is not to be doubted. The House of Austria, after their Pretences upon France are satisfied, do certainly become Favourers of King James' Restauration, both upon the account of Religion, and to remove a Dutch Stadtholder from being King of Britain; thereby to facilitate their ancient Pretences upon those revolted Provinces. The Dutch will hearty agree to his Restauration, to get rid of their Stadtholder, who presseth so hard upon their Liberties; they will be in no more Fears from France, from this supposed Issue of the War; and the Interest of England would always oblige its Monarch to cover and protect them from the Ambition of the House of Austria. The best Wishes of Sweden cannot be wanting, were it only by the Admission of the Prince of Wales' Right, to place the Prince of Denmark a Remove farther from the Crown; since his Accession to the Royalty amongst us, by Virtue of his Princess' Title, might endanger the Conquests which that Crown hath made upon Denmark. And since the Politics of Denmark, with relation to us, are solely levelled at his Brother's Interest; whenever the Indignities done to the Prince and Princess of Denmark shall oblige them to resume that Duty and Loyalty which is due from them to their kind old Father, who is still ready to receive them, and to secure unto them those Advantages which they can never expect from the Pr. of Orange; the Concurrence of that Crown towards King James' Restauration can be no longer wanting. I do but hint at things, which are of sufficient Importance to make all true Englishmen, who love their Country and their Liberties, to bethink themselves seriously how to cover and secure all those great and valuable Rights from the Oppression of the P. of Orange, the Miseries, Poverties, and Dangers, which will inevitably attend either a successful or unsuccessful War. We have thrown ourselves into a State-Hurricane, from which there is no way of escaping, but by restoring the just and legal Government of this Nation into its ancient and unquestioned Channel.  
Having fully established and made out the first three Motives assigned for K. James' Restauration, I shall inquire a little into the fourth and last, viz. the Securing of the Protestant Religion for all future Ages. This appears a great Paradox to the Author of The Pretences to the French Invasion examined; at which he falls into Exclamations against Mankind, as the oddest Piece of the Creation, for believing such incredible things. But it is not his bold, impudent, and false Assertions, supported only by empty and noisy Eloquence, which can hid the Danger from us, that our Religion as well as our Liberties and Properties lies under from this Revolution. For clearing the Truth and Weight of this Motive, I shall make it evident, That our Religion was in no probability of being overturned by K. James' Practices before this Revolution: That it was in our power to have secured it, even against our Fears and Jealousies, without any Breach upon the ancient Government; That the Dethroning of Monarches upon the Pretence of Religion, hath been fatal and destructive to all the several Protestant States who attempted it; That according to all appearance, it will be equally fatal in our Case and Circumstances: And lastly, I shall make it evident, from a full and distinct Answer to all the Arguments adduced by the Authors against King James' Restauration, that the best, surest, and most infallible way, whereby to secure the Protestant Religion, our Liberties and Properties, upon lasting and durable Foundations, is, by returning to our Duty, and restoring our Abdicated Monarch by as general a Consent as he was chased away by us.  
It is very natural and common with Mankind, and with Princes as well as others, to have some more particular regard towards those of their own Religion, to wish them well, and to endeavour their ease, when it lies in their Power; so that it was nothing extraordinary to find King James labouring to give his Catholic Subjects a Right and Title to that ease and security, which the Laws of the Land had deprived 'em of. I do not believe that Liberty of Conscience in general, and the covering of People from Persecution on that score, can be rationally condemned as destructive and ruinous to the Protestant Religion; we ought to have a better Opinion of the Principles of our Faith, and be better convinced of their Truth and Excellency, than to be afraid to have 'em baffled or shaken, much less ruined, by the Reasons of any other Persuasion. That Religion which dares not show its Face publicly, and stand the shock of all its Adversaries, without skeening itself under the Severity of Penal Laws, furnisheth great Suspicion to curious and prying Men of its weakness and insufficiency: But this, I hope, is not our Case; our most holy Religion is built upon that Rock of Ages, which can never be shaken; is fortified by the Testimonies of the Law and the Prophets, and expressly contained in the Word of God, or derived from thence by clear and necessary Consequences, and can subsist by its own worth and excellency, without robbing the rest of Mankind of that Liberty their Birthright Entitles them to, and enslaving Consciences. So that King James his Principle about Liberty of Conscience, if duly and legally Established, will be allowed: But it is the Method we complained of, which discovered some farther Design than bare Liberty of Conscience, and thereby did visibly threaten our Civil Rights and Liberties, and endanger our Religion.  
Why, truly the Measures taken were unjustifiable; but we know to whose Council and Advice they were owing: The whole was a Plot upon that Prince, to spoil the Project of Liberty of Conscience, which would have rivitted him in his Throne; and to improve his Inclinations for the Roman Religion to his own ruin and destruction. But suppose something more was intended by some, than a bare Liberty; perhaps the opening, a Door of Preferment to Catholics, or the propagating that Religion over this Island: Such an undertaing is irrational, foolish and desperate; can never be accomplished; and the impossibility of it is so plain and obvious, that no Man who understands the World, and knew England and English Men so well as King James did, could believe it practicable. And as to the miraculous and enterprizing Faith of Priests and new Converts, the zeal, folly, and warmness of their Brains, will always prevent any real Mischiefs; nay, K. James his Reign, even upon the supposition that it were as bad as is alleged, is an undeniable Proof that the Protestant Religion cannot be undermined, nor the Popish Religion Established in these Kingdoms, by the Address or Authority of any Prince.  
I shall give it for granted, that all imaginable Methods were taken for propagating the Popish Religion; that they were indulged in the public Exercises of it; that Court Preferments were thrown upon them, merely upon the account of their Religion, without any Virtue or M●rit to Entitle them to it; that Protestants were absolutely, and upon all occasions, discouraged, that it was endeavoured to make the World ●e●●●ve, that all Favours and Preferments were for the one, and nothing but Dis●races and Frowns for the other; that there was the greatest Care, Pains and Application, in the World, made use of, to make the Army and Courts of Judicature. I do belive, by this supposition, I have outdone all that the most malicious Enemies will urge against K. James; and yet all the World knows what little Progress was made, how few Converts were gained, and how really weak their best and surest Precautions did appear when it came to the touch. If so many of his Subjects, Soldiers and Servants, were prevailed upon by Fears and Jealousies, which were maliciously and industriously heightened above what any reason, which was given for them, could well bear; what must then have been the Consequence, if by real, public, and undoubted Discoveries, the King's intentions to ruin the Established Religion, had been made unquestionably plain and evident: Nothing less than an universal Defection, and his perpetual Banishment from the Hearts and Affections of every English Man, could have followed.  
The Catholics of Britain are not one of a hundred; they have neither Heads, Hearts, nor Hands enough to force a National Conversion. As the Protestants are the most Numerous, so the Laws and Constitutions are upon their side; their Civil Rights and Liberties are twisted together with their Religious; and whosoever strikes at the last, must infallibly wound the first. It is not easy to overturn the Laws and Fundamental Constitutions, whereby Religious and Civil Rights are secured to free born People; we are in Possession by our Laws of our Religion, and of that Liberty which distinguisheth our Happiness from that of other Subjects; we love it, and know it's true worth; we value and esteem ourselves above other People, upon the account of our native Freedoms, and we will not easily part with 'em; all Attempts and Designs upon them have been unsuccessful. Ambitious Princes, and Arbitrary Ministers may be forming Projects and Designs, fortifying them the best way they can, and making Parties for it; but our Constitution, together with the Protestant Religion, which is now become part of it, and our Laws, will prove always too hard for them at last: Nothing can expose or betray our Religion and Constitution to any danger, but overmuch fondness in the People to a Prince, who under some popular Mask and Pretence, covers close and fatal Designs against either. Let us but examine the present condition of our neighbouring States, and we shall find that Raptures of Love in the people hath overturned more Constitutions, and built up more Despotic Governments, than the Force or Address of Princes could ever do. It is commonly received for a Truth, That Love is blind and credulous, and certainly holds good, with relation to a Political Affection. There is a certain allowable Jealousy in the People, which is very consistent with the Duty, Affection, and Respect due to the Prince; and guards and protects their Laws and Constitution. Without some Measures of this Jealousy, the Constitution will be always in danger; and this Antidote can never be wanting in the Protestant Subjects of Britain, under a Popish King: His Religion gives us such a lively and active Jealousy of him, and his Designs makes us so watchful, and puts us so much upon our guard, that all the Efforts of such a Prince, though never so dextrous, supported by so weak and inconsiderable a Party as the Catholics of Britain, can never endanger Religion and Liberty. Rather his Circumstances and Inclinations to those of his own Religion, their ease and quiet, might have been improved into farther and more real Securities for Religion and Liberty, by a wise and discreet Treaty, orderly managed in Parliament.  
To all this it may be alleged, That though the Catholics of Britain be not a Party sufficient to carry on, and effectuate such Designs; yet the Forces of the Hector of France were still at the Command and Service of his Dear and Faithful Ally, for carrying on so good and meritorious a Work, as that of Reducing again Great Britain into the Bosom of the Roman Church: This is maliciously and artfully enough suggested; but let us examine it a little. How does it appear that King James was become so lost to all Reason, Morality and Discretion, as to resolve to call in a French Power to overrun a Country which was his own, and destroy a People who were living peaceably under him; by which, from one of the most Considerable and Potent Monarches of Europe, he became the Least and most Contemptible? His refusal of French Troops and Assistance, when threatened with a Foreign Invasion, seems to be no great Proof of this; and his betaking himself at that time to the Love and Affection of his Subjects, as it was a plain discovery he was not Conscious to himself of any real Design, which could destroy that mutual Love and Confidence betwixt Prince and People, which is a Debt due from the one to the other, however his Measures might have been Traduced, or maliciously Poisoned; so it may let us see how improbable it is to imagine, that a Prince could ever form Designs of destroying a People whose Affections he durst trust in such an Extremity. Again, What Reason is there to imagine that the French King would be so ready to furnish Troops, and be at the Charge of such a Reformation? He is generally allowed to be a Prince who studies his own Interest the most of any; and fits all his Maxims, his Conduct and Allyances, exactly to it; and never takes a step, which upon the remotest view, may seem to cross the Interest of his Crown and Monarchy: And if it do appear, as certainly it will to any judicious thinking Man, that the Reducing Great Britain to the Bosom of the Roman Church may greatly endanger the Crown of France, than all ●●●rs of a French Reformation will fall to the Ground.  
The English Pretences to the most considerable Maritime Provinces, nay upon the Crown of France itself, are generally known; and Histories can inform us how troublesome, how dangerous, and how successfully they were many times carried on against those Monarches; partly by the natural Boldness, Spirit, and Courage of the English, far surpassing that of the French; but more especially from the Inclination of the French themselves to live under a Government which was so much easier, and more agreeable than their own; it being natural for People to covet the same Plenty and Freedom, which they see is enjoyed and possessed by their Neighbour. Hence it was, that though we lost all our Footing in France, yet still our Forces and Enmity was more dreadful to those Monarches, than that of any other State in Europe, though more considerable for its native Strength, and consigning by dry Marches upon 'em; and they always Courted our Friendship and Alliance, with the greatest Submissions and Applications imaginable: And until the Reign of Q. Elizabeth, the French did always choose rather to divert our Invasions with their Money and Treaties, than to encounter them by Force; being afraid to grapple with that Power, which they had so often felt to their Cost. Since that time, neither our Friendship hath been so much Courted, nor our Enmity so carefully Avoided as formerly. This doth not proceed from the increase of the French Power, and decrease of ours; though the Revenues and Military Force of France be strangely augmented since; ours, in proportion, hath received the same increase: Our Treasure is augmented; and that being the Sinews of War, quickly furnisheth and maintains every thing else: And the other States of Europe are, from the Circumstances of Affairs, better disposed for Allyances with us, than ever they were in the time of our Ancestors. So that France is but still France, and England in the same Proportion with it, as to Force and Revenue; and in a more promising Condition of making Allyances, and of being more usefully served by them: Our Pretences are still the same, and every whit as Strong and Just, and we as willing and desirous to make Advantage of them; and yet we are in no respect so formidable to that Crown, as formerly; nor in a Condition to shake that State, and make such impressions into the Heart of France, as our Ancestors have done: The true Reason is our difference in Religion; for we being Protestants, and France Popish; this sets the Two Nations at a greater distance from mutual Correspondence and Contrivances, which must necessarily preceded and occasion important Revolutions, than all their former Animosities, Emulation, and Duty to their natural Prince could ever do. Loyalty to Princes, National Considerations, and Point of Honour and Reputation, do many times give way to present and future Advantages: But when Religion and Point of Conscience comes in to gather and cement all those divided Interests together, and unite them, as it were, into one bundle, they become the more hard and difficult to overcome. This plain and evident Reason cannot escape the Knowledge and Reflection of so wise a Prince, as the French King is acknowledged to be. The difference in Religion is a much greater Security to him against our Attempts, than his Armies, Fleets, or Strength of his Towns. The Sense of Religion doth many times rouse and influence the Courage and Resolutions of Men, when other humane Considerations prove to weak to quicken their drooping Spirits: Catholics will fight to the last, to escape the Dominion of such as they believe Heretics; when, perhaps, French Men would be willing enough to come under the English Government, which is so much easier and better than their own. I do not question but this very Consideration alone, will prove strong enough to keep the French King from endeavouring our Reunion to the Roman Church; which would make the Pretences of an English Monarch more dangerous, than ever by our Union with Scotland, which formerly gave such notable Diversions to our Forces both at Home and in France: That Prince's Disputes with the Pope, for Point of Prerogative, shows plainly that he never will endanger his Crown in his own Person, or Posterity, to serve the Interests and Desires of the Papal Chair; from all which we may safely conclude, that the Protestant Religion in Britain, was in no great danger of being ruined by King James, though really as bad as he was represented.  
If our Religion and Liberties were placed so much out of danger of being overturned, by the Laws and Franchises we were then in Possession of, how much better might we have established them for the future, and placed them above the shadow of any Danger, by embracing and improving the Offers which our lawful Prince made us, of carving out our own Satisfaction and Securities. He was surprised with an astonishing Defection of his Subjects, with a Conspiracy of a great many Princes and States against him. He knew no place but France to retire unto; where he might have a Cover for his Head, but could have no great Expectations of being quickly restored to his Throne by a Power which had so much other Diversion. He was unwilling in his old Age to go into Exile, was very desirous to leave a perfect Calm to his Son, before his own Death, which by the cours of Nature, and the ordinary Destiny of his Family, he could not believe was very remote; and had a Love and Kindness to us still, as a Father for his disobedient Children. All which would have procured us, from our lawful King, a lasting, legal, full, and happy Settlement; would have established our Religion, bettered and secured our Liberties upon lasting Foundations, without any trouble, and with a great deal of innocency. How many crimes would have been avoided by following this Method; and how many more prevented, which will be necessary, if we be obstinate, to support and maintain the Injustice we have done? How many Millions of Money, and how many Lives might have been saved, or at least more profitably employed, by the Conduct and good Husbandry of our Lawful King, for the Honour of England, restraining the unbounded Pretences of ambitious Neighbours, and in giving Peace and Quiet to Europe? There is no question, but a King who was so unwilling to leave us, and had so much of an English Spirit, would have gone into any Measures, with relation to foreign Affairs, that his Parliament should have thought fitting; in which case, what returns of Glory and Profit would this Nation and Monarchy have reaped from this Blood and Treasure, which is now absolutely lost and thrown away, and our future Expenses and Dangers daily growing upon us, with as little hope of Success? My heart is so rend and torn with the thoughts of it, that my Pen is ready to drop out of my hand as I writ: But we wantonly longed for an Abdication, without examining the true Value of what we refused, and the Consequences were to follow upon the other Measures. We have made a religious War of it, which may be fatally returned upon us; and we never considered that Defections upon Pretences for the Protestant Religion, seldom or never terminate otherwise than by the Destruction of Religion and Pretenders both. It seems God Almighty did always discover more of Passion and Worldly Designs, than true Zeal for Religion, in those Undertake; and I am afraid, That since we deserve the like Charge, our Punishment may be the same, unless by a seasonable and early Repentance we prevent it.  
The first Example I find in History, is Zisca's War in Bohemia, against the Emperor Sigismond; which though managed as successfully in the beginning as any thing we can flatter ourselves with, yet had an end very fatal to the Reformation in that Kingdom. The Civil Wars in Germany, managed by the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse, against Charles V had no better Issue; many Imperial Cities and Provinces were lopped off from our Communion, and the principal Actors themselves were remarkably Sufferers by it, and their Families wear the Scars of it to this day. The second Bohemian War, under the Elector Palatine, whom they had chosen for their King, was yet more fatal to that Kingdom than the first, and almost ruined the King of Denmark, did exceedingly weaken the Protestant Interest in Germany, and laid the Foundation for the present Grandeur of France, which is so terrible to Europe at this time: Upon the Event of that War the Civil Rights and Liberties of the Subject, as well as the Protestant Religion in the Kingdom of Bohemia, were entirely ruined and extinguished: The principal Electorate of the Empire, together with the Palatinate of Bavaria, were wrested out of a Protestant, and placed in a Popish Family: Several other Protestant Princes and States were lost; and the French possessed of both the Alsatias, which hath since given infinite Disturbances to that Empire. And the Hungarian War commenced first upon pretence of Religion, and came at last to be managed by Tekely, hath quite buried the Protestant Religion in Hungary and Transilvania; and it is very Remarkable, That so long as they kept Petitioning as Subjects, (Though with Arms in their Hands, for the free Exercise of their Religion,) they were constantly Victorious, and got into the absolute Possession of the greatest part of that Kingdom; and might have fully secured their Religion and Liberties, by Concessions and Immunities which the Emperor offered them in repeated Treaties: And yet no sooner was the Crown given to Tekely, and an Alliance made with the Turks to support him in it, but by a series of Misfortunes all their former Successes were unravelled, and their Affairs reduced to the miserable Condition we now see them in.  
What sad alarms may such Instances give us? How truly do they point at our Case; and perhaps our Fate? Can any of the  Examples discover such plain and visible Marks of worldly Ambition, Self-interest, and corrupted Designs and Artifices, for their Original, as have evidently actuated the Contrivers of and principal Agitators in our Revolution? And yet how fatally were they punished? And can we hope to escape? The Emperor Ferdinando was in a worse Condition to resist the Elector Palatine, backed by the Protestant Princes of Germany, countenanced by Br●●an and Holland, and the present Emperor Rodolph was under harder Circumstances to support a War against his Hungarian Rebels, and the Turkish Power, than any that France hath to grapple with from Us and our Allies; and yet their numerous Armies and strong Allies, could not secure them from those Miseries which did at last overtake them. There is no way for us to get safe from the Precepices we have been walking upon, to retrieve our Religion from the desperate Danger we have run it into, and to settle and secure it; but by a National returning to our Duty, which will sufficiently atone for so general a Defection, by resuming that Treaty we so foolishly br k off and refused; and thereby securing Religion and Property, by those Concessions which our Sovereign is still ready to grant us: Let us put it home to him, and lay it at his own Door; let him have it in his Choice to return by his People if he pleaseth; convince him that his Protestant Subjects, upon securing their Religion and Liberties, will repair their former Errors, by contributing hearty towards his Restauration. And if he decline to return upon a Protestant and English Foot, there is an end of the Controversy, and of all Disputes amongst Protestants; for Religion and Liberty will never be Sacrificed by true English Men.  
I am come in the last place to the Objections raised, by the new Authors, against King James' return; which are stuffed with virulent, false, and sophistical Reasonings; and, in a great Measure, taken off by what hath been already said. The first thing they endeavour to frighten us with, is a Conquest, and with Popery and Slavery as the necessary Consequences of it; since it is impossible K. James can return otherways, because K. William will not Abdicate. I abhor the thoughts of Conquering my native Country, as much as any Man; more it seems than The Author of a Letter to a Friend, who would allow of it in the Person of K. William, and I am against it in any Case. But by whom are we to be Conquered; and to whom must the Conquest belong? Are we to be Conquered by such Troops as K. James, in point of Prudence, and according to the practices of all Ages in the like Case, must bring with him for the defence of his Person, and the untying of that Force which the Prince hath put upon us? I know no reason, why it may not be as Lawful for K. James to bring Fifteen thousand Men to assist him in recovering his Throne, as it was for the P. of O. to bring the like Number to chase him out of it; and that without giving any Jealousy to us of a Conquest? Thrice that Number were too few to make a Conquest of this Island; and I hope they will be so well seconded, and so far out numbered by the Accession of his own Subjects, upon a feeling Discovery of the Pr. of Orange's Tyranny, as well as of the Injustice done their King; as may justly Stamp it a Revolution brought about by English Men, who have Conquered their Passions and not their Country; rescued, and not enslaved the Nation; and who have preserved, and not endangered their Religion.  
Is this imaginary Conquest to make us Slaves to the Fr. King, or Catholics and Slaves to K. James? I cannot believe the first: For I do not think K. James so much in love with the French King, as to make him a Present of Three Crowns to the prejudice of Himself and his Posterity; and so become either his Subject, or his Vassal. These are suppositions fit only to pass upon Children, deserves no serious Answer; and plainly shows the weakness of the Cause, which can furnish no better Reasons wherewith to defend it. As to the last; The French King will never force us to be Catholics, for the Reasons already assigned; and it doth as little agree with his Interest, to have us Slaves to our Monarch. Friendships are seldom lasting amongst Neighbouring Princes, rarely continue during their own Lives, and are never transmitted to to their Posterities; so many Reasons and Jealousies of State are falling in, which occasion frequent and unavoidable Breaches: And a King of England, who is Absolute and Master of his Subjects, would be a great deal more troublesome and dangerous to France than otherways; and so it is not very probable that that Monarch will ever contribute to make us a Conquest to K. James, and introduce Popery and Slavery amongst us. There is one sure way to prevent this danger of Conquest, and that is by the vigorous endeavours of every Enlish Man, to repair the Injury done to our Abdicated Monarch. King William's unwillingness to Abdicate, which these Authors threaten us with, can't put a stop to it: His breaches upon our Laws and Constitution, and his violation of the Original Contract made with himself deserves it; and it is not all his Partisans and Troops, can cover him from Abdication whenever the People of England thinks fit to declare it.  
We are told next by these Authors, That K. James is become so in love with the French Government, that we shall never so much as have his Promise for securing our Religion and Liberties, even though we have no reason to depend upon that, or any other Security he can give us; since he hath undertaken to the Pope and K. of France to make void all when he is upon his Throne; and that it is visible from his Carriage in Ireland to the Protestants there, that neither the sad Example of K. Charles the First, who suffered for the like Attempts towards Arbitrary Power, nor the fresh Remembrances of his own Misfortunes, will ever oblige him to lay aside his Arbitrary Designs: And however instrumental Protestants may be in his return, that Pardon for their former Failings is all can be expected from him, without obtaining the least kind regard to their Religion or Liberties on that Score.  
I would gladly know upon what Grounds they assert, that K. James will grant no Security at all for Religion and Liberty? Have they made the Experiment, and been refused? It is not a bare Assertion can convince us of the Truth of it, since we are assured to the contrary. I have heard of a Scotch Plot for Restoring King James; the particulars of it I am not acquainted with: Only I have been told, That upon the Application of some few Gentlemen of that Nation unto him, he frankly granted them, under the Broad Seal of Scotland, all that was proposed for the security of Religion and Liberty; and agreed to several Immunities which the P. of O. refused that Nation, though he was solemnly engaged to grant them when the Crown of that Kingdom was tendered unto him. Here is more than a bare Promise; the Concessions are passed under the Broad Seal, and granted by him, when his Affairs were in Promising Circumstances, at the desire of a few Gentlemen who had been active against him, and who could make no such considerable Addition unto his Party, as might induce him to it; unless his own Inclinations, when free from the pressure of designing Ministers, and readiness to rectify whatever was grievous to the People, had put him upon it. Can it be doubted after this, that he will deny any thing that is necessary for the good and happiness of his Subjects whenever they apply seriously unto him for it?  
But he must make good his Engagements to the Pope and King of France, and make void all when he remounts the Throne, which his hard Circumstances obliged him to grant. If this were made plain unto us, there would be a great deal of weight in it; all the Evidence we have for it is the Veracity of the Author, which goeth no great length; being founded only upon supposition, that he could not be countenanced by those Princes without such an Engagement. This is an Argument that concludes more forcibly against themselves; since it is reasonable to imagine, that more solemn and sacred Engagements in favour of the Holy Chair, and a Conviction of more punctual and ready Performances, were necessary to induce the Pope, and so many Popish Princes to countenance a Protestants mounting the Throne, to the prejudice of a Papist.  
I am yet to learn what were the great Merits of the Irish Protestants since the Revolution, the fresh Obligations laid upon him, and what were the new Discoveries he gave us there of his hatred to Protestants, and irregular Arbitrary Courses. I have seen a Book written by Dr. King, which these Authors refers us to, as sufficient Evidence to make good their Charge; but it is so scandalously and notoriously False, and stuffed with so many gross Errors, and wilful Mistakes, in point of History and matter of Fact, even in many things which fall under my own Knowledge, that the Doctor seems to have Calculated his Book for a Virulent false Libel; thereby to merit some Benefice from this Government, rather than for our Information by a true and impartial History: And the World shall be obliged with a particular Account of his Falsehoods and Calumnies, by a full and impartial Account of those Transactions. But to come close home to the Charge; Did not the Irish Protestants generally declare for the Prince of Orange? Did they not actually either appear in Arms for the Prince, or quit the Kingdom? And those who stayed, were not they rather lookers on than actors, or any ways useful towards the asserting the King's Rights? I do not design this as a satire against the Protestants of Ireland; the Measures taken there gave them much better grounds for their Fears than any we can pretend; but only to show that the Protestants of Ireland contributed not Endeavours towards his Restauration, but run generally along with the Stream against it; and so cannot be said to have made any new Experiment of his Kindness to, and grateful sense of Obligations performed by Protestants. They never desired, or obtained, any new Securities for their Religion and Liberties, upon the Account of Services performed for him; and so have no fresh Branches of Promise to charge upon him, as our Authors do insinuate, whereby to deter the Protestants of Britain from contributing towards his Restauration.  
On the contrary, we have a very convincing Argument, from his Care of his Protestant Subjects there, tho' either actually Enemies, or at best but idle Spectators; and his constant Endeavours to protect them from the Insults and Fury of the Irish, of whom he was not fully Master; to persuade us of the Gratitude and kind Returns we may expect from him, when at liberty, and obliged by our Services, to express it. How carefully did he preserve their Estates and Goods? With how much tenderness did he give free Passage to the Women and Children from Londonderry, when by denying it he must infallibly have carried the Town? With what exact Discipline did he Govern an Army, serving without Pay, until King William's Protestant reforming Troops which were under Pay, by their unheard of Plunderings, Robberies, and Oppressions, committed upon the poor Protestants within their Lines, gave such Examples of Insolence and lose Discipline, that the Irish could be no longer restrained, as formerly, though they never acted so extravagantly as the others. And I dare appeal to all the Irish Protestants, if the greatest part of the ruin of that miserable Country be not due to the Plunderings, Abuses, and want of Discipline, in King William's Army; which, though Protestant, and Reformers, did far outdo the wild Irish in desolating the Country, without regard to Friend or Foe: And I have heard many Irish Protestants affirm, That their Preservation and Protection was due to K. James' own particular Care over them.  
As to the Proceed of the Irish Parliament, he did so much wrestle against them, was so little Master of himself and Actions, and so much in the hands of Irish, that he is rather to be pitied than blamed for them: And 'tis very hard and unreasonable, that when a King is forced from a Throne by his Protestant Subjects, and opposed by them in his Endeavours after the recovery of his Inheritance, and so necessitated to betake himself to the Assistance, Protection, and Services of Catholics, unless he would Renounce his undoubted Rights, which neither the Laws of God nor Man oblige him to; that Acts of Grace, which his Circumstances, and the necessity of their Assistance, forced from him, should be charged upon him as Crimes. Let us labour for his Restauration; let us get him into our hands, and deliver him from that cruel Necessity which carries him farther than his Inclinations would otherwise do; and whenever he is at liberty to act as an Englishman, he will convince us that he is such.  
The Treatment that Charles I. met with is a sad Instance of the Vanity of all human Greatness, and a lasting Reproach to our Nation; but reacheth a more pertinent and apposite Reproof to K. William's Conduct, than K. James'. The most considerable and important points which occasioned those fatal Disputes betwixt that Prince and his People, were illegal Imprisonments, the undue refusal of Liberty to Prisoners upon Bail, the free quarterings and Plunderings of Soldiers, and the unwarrantable exacting of Money from the Subject without Consent of Parliament. Are not all these illegal and arbitrary practices frequently repeated in this Government, and without any Precedent from K. James' Reign?  
The many Pages employed by the Author of A Letter to a Friend concerning the French Invasion, to prove, That the Nonswearing Protestants, as well as others, can merit nothing by their endeavours for the King's Restauration, but a bare Pardon at most, discovers more Logic and Method in dividing of his Text, than true, solid and convincing Reason: For since a few Scotish Gentlemen, who had acted warmly and vigorously against him, and could contribute but little to his Service, were able to procure not only Pardon, but those great and important Securities for their Religion and the Liberties of their Country, which K. William had refused to the Desires and Addresses of a Parliament that had given him the Crown, and pray engaged his Consent before the Gift: Is it to be imagined, That so many worthy Prelates, Lords, Gentlemen, and inferior Clergy, who have testified so much Zeal, Firmness, and Fidelity, by their Sufferings, joined with the early Repentance and vigorous Endeavours of others for his Service, who have been hitherto blinded and misled, will not prove of more Weight, Importance, and Consideration, with him; be as kindly treated, and their Country for their sakes: Or rather, will not all Securities for Religion and Liberty be granted, from a due regard to their Application, as well as from his own Inclination? Neither is it to be feared that any of their former Measures, which unhappily and accidentally have contributed towards that Ferment which begot this Revolution, will be remembered against them; since the King is sensible how far he himself was imposed upon, as well as his Subjects, by the Cunning and Artifice of wicked and corrupted Ministers which were about him. And whatever Jealousies this Author may labour to infuse into the minds of People, of the fiery and lax Principles of the Jacobites, with Relation to the Protestant Religion, Church of England, and English Liberties; there are Jacobites, whose Principles are better, more fixed and rational, who have already, and will upon all occasions never fail to give greater and more generous Testimonies of their zeal and affection for the Establishment and Security of those great Concerns, than any can be brought by our present Ministers and topping Reformers; and who will never be found with this Author in justifying a Conquest of their native Country.  
The Caution which is given us against another Revolution, lest the Monarchy receive more vigour from a Restauration, than is convenient for the Liberties of the Subject, which the Author fortifies from an Instance in the Return of Charles II. at which time, betwixt zeal, flattery, and fear, the King increased in Power, and the People lost their Liberties; concludes very strongly against himself, and for what I have been all along pressing. If we do but consider the true reason of those Concessions made in favour of the Monarchy, upon the Return of K. Charles, the Nation was so wearied out, exhausted and undone, by the Tyrannies and Executions, Taxes, Imprisonments, and other arbitrary Courses against their Liberties and Properties, that were practised during that Anarchy which intervened betwixt the Murder of the Father and Return of the Son, that upon a Prospect of some Relief, by the reestablishment of the ancient Monarchy, the People fell into such Raptures of Joy, which never fails of making Subjects so liberal to Princes, as many times occasions a hearty but late Repentance. If K. William continue a little longer to oppress our Liberties, and drain our Purses; or if the Title of Conquest be advanced, we shall be infallibly exposed to the like hazard again; which cannot be prevented, but by an early Return to our Duty, whilst we have some Patience, Wit and Money, left, to enable us to take care of ourselves and our Posterity.  
The hard and difficult Questions which this Author thinks he hath gravelled us with, and the obligation of the Oaths of Allegiance to K. William, comes next to be considered. The first Question is, Whether we think ourselves bound in Conscience to fight for Popery against the Protestant Faith. I Answer not; nor doth this Answer make any thing for King William, since in no Sense can the fight for the Restauration of King James be called the fight for Popery against the Protestant Religion; for it is both K. James' Interest and his Inclination to return upon a Protestant Foot; and by assisting him in it, we vindicate the Honour of our Religion, and rescue it from the Dangers which threatens it from this Reign.  
The second Question is, Whether we think ourselves bound in Conscience to fight for our Prince against the Laws and Liberties of our Country. I Answer in the Negative; and we do assure the World, That it is from a tender regard to our Laws and Liberties, as well as from a sense of Duty, to repair the injury done our Exiled Prince, that we resolve to contribute to his return. The ancient Constitution was broke in upon by the Abdication, and our Laws, Rights and Liberties, have been more eminently and signally overrun during the P. of Orange's Kingship, than by any of our most Violent and Arbitrary Princes, even when he was under the greatest Obligation, clearest and distinct Barriers placed against it; and we are possessed with reasonable ●●ars, nay a certainty of having 'em ●●i●e ruined and extinguished by his future Conduct, which layeth an Obligation upon all true English Men to repair these Breaches made upon the Constitution, and to vindi●●●● and restore their oppressed and ●●ined Laws and Liberties, by returning K. James and the P. of O. into their proper and respective Stations.  
But we are desired and pressed to have some Care of the Protestant Religion, and Church of Christ, which will be visibly endangered by the King's Restauration all Europe over; and a due regard for the Rights and Liberties of all the Princes in Europe, which will be sacrificed by it; that this aught to be more tenderly minded by us, since we are Citizens of the World; and so the good of Mankind, or the greatest part of it, layeth a more sacred Obligation upon us, and is to be preferred to the particular Interest of our own Prince and Country. The security of Religion is a Duty never to be forgotten by good Protestants, and is never to be endangered and desperately hazarded by honest Men. But, alas! this hath been little regarded by our late Reformers. Have they not quite unhinged our Constitution, of which the Protestant Religion was become apart? Have they not already, and are they not in a fair way to ruin our Laws and Liberties, which are the best Fences about our Religion? After we are become Slaves, we may quickly be made any thing else; the multitude of new Converts in France, is an undeniable Instance of this. Have they not unnecessarily exposed the Protestant Religion, to the hazard of a rude and uncertain War; from the commencement of which, we can form no great hopes of a Successful Issue, and that in Conjunction with Allies, who are the greatest Enemies of our Religion; who when their particular Interests have been served by our Blood and Treasure, will certainly give us the slip, and nick some Opportunity, which our present Circumstances can never furnish them with, of Establishing themselves at the Expense of our Religious, and Civil Rights and Liberties? And finally, have we not dethroned our King, upon the account of his Religion; by which we have commenced a religious War, which may come to be fatally retorted upon us, and may endanger the whole Protestant Religion in Europe.  
A religious War is carefully to be avoided by Protestants, since they are the weakest; and no Pretence ought to be furnished to the Catholics for the like Measure: For though particular Animosities and Interest seem to divide them at present, how quickly may these be adjusted by the Necessities of one of the contending Parties, and how easy will it be then for the Pope to unite them together under the Banners of Religion, to give us, and the Protestants of Europe, a Rowland for our Oliver? This is no Chimaera or Dream; but we may probably expect to see and feel it. A far weaker Pretence, viz. the Union established amongst the Protestants of Germany, at Leipsick and Smalcald, gave Birth to the Catholic League there; which overrun all the Protestants, forced several Princes and Cities from their Communion, and endangered Denmark. It is upon such weighty Considerations, and to prevent the danger which threatens the Protestant Religion both at home and abroad, from our late Measures, that all true Englishmen and good Protestants ought to endeavour the Restauration of our King.  
As to the Caution given us to beware how we sacrifice the Rights and Liberties of all the Princes in Europe; the greatest part of the Princes and States of Europe are not engaged in this War against France, and consequently in no danger by it: The two Northern Crowns, Moscovy and Poland, Portugal, all the Princes and States of Italy, except Savoy, together with the Swissers, are in perfect Peace with France; and so the Supposition of this Author is absolutely false; the Original and Ground of this War is purely private Contests betwixt the Crown of France and House of Austria, and such other Princes as that House can draw into their Interest. Do we not see that the Princes of Germany themselves, who seem to have the most immediate Concern in it, and should understand and be more alarmed at the Consequences of it than we, do but make Merchandise of their Assistance, and engage in and withdraw from this War, as it contributes most to their particular Interests, and according as they are best paid by the several Principals? Do not the Northern Crowns, whose Territories and Provinces lie more exposed to the Consequences of this War than our Islands, maintain an exact Neutrality, which will give their Subject's Possession of the best part of the Trade of Europe? We are the only Fools who have been prevailed upon to engage inconsiderately in this War, to be at the greatest Charge of it, to drain our Blood and Treasure, and to hazard our Religion and Liberties by it, without so much as proposing any Return to balance this Expense and Danger. Our Conduct is such an Instance of Folly and Madness, as amazeth the present, and will not find Credit in future Ages.  
As to the Maxim established by the Author, upon which he buildeth all his fine Reasoning, it is false and Fanatical to perfection. Can any Man in his right Wits assert That the Interest of our Prince and Country must give place to the Interests of other States, suppose them to be the greatest part of Mankind? Much less than to those of the House of Austria, which is the present Case. Must the Interest of the British Monarchy be postponed to the Interest of the Mahometan and Pagan Countries, which make the greatest part of Mankind: Or must the Interest of Britain, and so of the Protestant Religion, which makes a part of it, give way to the Interest of the Pope and Catholic Princes, which make the greatest part of Europe? We may quickly guests what our Fate would be by following such a Rule, and may easily be persuaded that the Cause must be very bad, which requires such wretched Maxims and Reasonings to ●●pport it.  
The last Question is, Whether we would think ourselves bound to sight 〈◊〉 him, did we believe he would promote the same Designs he did before; and what we would think ourselves obliged to do in the like case, and under the same Circumstances, after he had remounted the Throne. The Answer is plain and obvious: By this Revolution, and the Consequences of it, the Prince of Orange's Ambition, and share in these Measures with which K. James was loaded, being sufficiently discovered to the World; together with the Roguery of those Ministers, who to serve the Prince's Design forced the King unwillingly enough upon those Steps which we complained of, with a design to ruin him; by the Restauration, and Punishment of th●s● Mi●●ste●●, the King and People both will be safe from any repeated Assaults of the Prince's Ambition, being so well cautioned by the first; and succeeding Ministers will be terrified from such Infidelities for the future. The Author supposeth a Case which will not probably fall out, and so is not weighty enough to restrain us from assisting our King in the recovery of his Rights, which positive Duty obligeth us unto. And whenever the like Case occurs, such corrupt Ministers, who advise such Measures, will become a more justifiable and easier Sacrifice, for the averting such Dangers, than our ancient Government and Constitution. And it is pleasant enough to imagine that wise and thinking Men can be imposed upon to continue under much more weighty Oppressions, gr after and more visible Dangers, threatening both Religion and Liberty, by K. William's Government, from a fear we may again fall under those lesser Evi●s which we suffered under K. James, and which were due rather to the Contrivances of the P. of O. than the King's own depraved Inclinations. And whereas it is complained, That such Pangs of Loyalty are unseasonable now, and should rather have been employed for keeping him in his Throne, than restoring him to it; why, truly few People did suspect that the Prince did really design what he so seriously and solemnly declared against; and every Man was struck into a State Lethargy by the suddenness of the Prince's Attempt, the wonderful Success it m●● with in the beginning, and the charming Wh●●l●e of securing Liberty and Property; which we are sadly and severely roused from at last, by unspeakable Oppressions, by the expiring Groans of Liberty and Property, and by the dreadful View of those Miseries, which threaten us from all hands and in all Events.  
As to the Obligations we lie under from the Oaths of Allegiance to the present Government, the Author himself acknowledgeth, That if we be convinced that our Oaths to King James are still binding upon us, the Obligation of the second is voided by it, which is a plain enough Answer to his own Argument; especially when we consider, that K. William's manifest Infractions of that Original Contract which we made with him, upon the maintaining and preserving of which our Allegiance was expressly founded, doth evidently and unanswerably dissolve and make void the Obligation of our Oaths, and much better solves all Scruples upon that head, than Dr. Sherlock's Providential Reasoning. And whereas it is asserted by this Author, That Allegiance can never be expounded to a lower Sense, than to live peaceably under the present Government, though we will not sight for it, and not to attempt any thing against their P●rsons or Crowns, not to hold Correspondence with their Enemies, nor to give any assistance to K. James for the recovery of his Thrones, in this he hath forgotten their own Practice: For our Reformers have taught us, That Allegiance may be expounded to a much lower Sense, even to the Abdicating the Monarch to whom the Allegiance was due, to the filling of his Throne, and transferring of that Allegiance to another; and would take it very ill to be charged with Perjury for it. Quis tulerit Gracchos de seditione loquentes?  
We are exhorted by our Authors to beware of contributing towards K. James' return, lest we engage our Country in a Civil War, and all the dreadful Consequences of it; the Destruction of our People, the utter Consumption of our Estates, the burning of our Houses, the Ravishing of our Wives and Daughters, the Extirpation of Families by Sword or Halter, and the utter Ruining our Cities, Towns and Villages, are the infallible Consequences of it. The mighty deluge of Blood which was shed, and the unspeakable Miseries which overwhelmed this Nation, during the struggle betwixt the Two Roses, and our Contests with King Charles I, are undeniable Proofs, and may convince us how fatal and destructive it is to beget and establish a Competition of Titles to the Crown, and to dethrone Monarches: And the Calamities which overrun France and Germany by the Civil Wars, which begun upon the Account of Religion, may let us see how displeasing it is to God Almighty, to have Religion made a cover for ambitious and private Designs. This Civil War is already Commenced, and we have established those Grounds and s●wen that Seed, from which we shall not fail to r●ap a plentiful Harvest of Blood and Ruin, without a speed● and vigorous Prevention: Nay we have been so fond of entailing certain Misery upon ourselves and Posterities, that we have coupled together two of the strongest Motives in the World for a rude and lasting War; viz. repeated Breaches in the Royal Line and Succession, and the vacating the Throne upon the pretence of Religion; either of which separately hath never failed to ruin whole Nations, Provinces and Cities. It is obvious at whose Door this is to be Charged; they who forced away their King, upon the account of his Religion, inverted the Nature of our Monarchy and the Succession, and refused all Treaties and Securities which were offered them, have laid infallible Foundations for those Mischiefs; and they who wish and labour for the return of the King, are the only true and skilful Physicians who clearly discover, and are willing to apply the most proper, nay only Cure, which remains for our Disease: And the Authors Reasonings from the Miseries of a Civil War, doth evidently Arraign their own Practices; and concludes most forcibly against themselves as the Promoters of it, since it is not to be supposed, that a just Right and Title is to give place to Force and Usurpation, and fall a Sacrifice to those Necessities which we first bring ourselves under, and then plead for our Excuse.  
In the last place we are cautioned against the King's return, from the intolerable Payments we must come under, for refunding those Sums which he hath borrowed of France, to maintain Himself, to keep Ireland, and to discharge the Forces that come to thrust him on us; which will prove a Ten times greater Tax for many Years, than those we pay for the support of this Government, which are not considerable, reckoning the abatement of Chimney-Money; and are much easier than what the French are accustomed to; and that we have paid as much formerly for assisting France to ruin Europe, and maintain Vice at home; and so may be very well satisfied with our present Payments which delivers Europe, and secures our native Country and Religion from utter Destruction. Our celebrated Authors could not have finished their fine Pieces with Reasonings, which more perfectly resembled the Pretences, Motives, and Grounds of this Revolution, by their Weakness, Falsehood, and Prevarications.  
How well our present Payments secure our native Country and Religion from Destruction, may appear from the ruin of Ireland, the Plunderings and free Quarters practised in Britain, the Breaches made upon our ancient Monarchy and Constitution, whereby a War is entailed upon Us and our Posterity; from the Violences done to our Laws, Rights and Liberties, and Original Contract made with K. William; and from the present visible and eminent Dangers which our Religion and Liberties are threatened with, by any probable Issue of this War, under a Prince, who hath quite overturned the Liberties of his own native Country, made fair advances towards the ruin of ours; and was never yet Successful in any Enterprise he undertook, except when he invaded his Father in Law, contrary to all Divine and Humane Rules, (which perhaps God designed as a Scourge to these Nations for our Sins,) and when he fought Luxemburgh's Outguards, at St. Denis, with the Peace in his Pocket, contrary to the public Faith and Law of Nations, as if he were Predestinated to be Successful only in Crimes, but unfortunate in heroic, brave, and generous Actions; such as restraining the ambitious Encroachments of Princes, and vindicating the Rights and Liberties of oppressed Nations; having always practised in his own Case, what he pretended to reform in another's.  
How little the Deliverance of Europe is carried on by our present Payments, is but too evident from the growing Successes of France in Flanders, and the taking their most considerable Towns and Fortresses in the sight and under the nose of our present Monarch and those mighty Confederate Armies. It is equally false, to insinuate, That our Payments during King Charles the Second Reign bore any proportion with the Taxes under this; and that they were employed only for assisting France, to ruin Europe: For the Subsidies we have already paid to this K. (which Sir Edward S●ymer, who might very well know it, assured the House of Commons, did amount to 18 Millions, before the last Impositions which were granted) do far exceed all the Taxes paid to K. Charles, joined with the several Payments made to our Edward's, our Henries, and our Elizabeth, who raised the Honour and Reputation of this Nation so high, and spread our Conquests so far: And it was to King Charles his Authority and Mediation, the Peace's of Aix-la-Chapelle and Nimiguen were due, which put then a Stop to the French Career: And I am afraid our present Payments will very hardly bring about a Peace again, upon the Foot of those Treaties; and we are to take it as a very great Favour, for which we are to be thankful to God and our present King, if the Taxes we pay during this Government, fall any thing short of the French Oppressions; and Four Millions a Year, over and above an Allowance for the Abatement of Chimney-Money and the ordinary Revenues of the Crown, are but inconsiderable Payments in the opinion of these Authors. It seems their Court Preferments are great and rich, that they are so little sensible of those Taxes, which are already become so heavy to this Nation, and of which we see no end.  
But the growing Debt to the French King for those Sums already spent upon K. ●ames 's Subsistance, and the defence of Ireland, and to be farther Exp●nded for his Restauration, will quite sink and undo this Nation. It appears that these Authors take it for granted, That the mercenary Temper of the Dutch, in demanding and obtaining Satisfaction for their Expenses, which 〈◊〉 of a tender regard forsooth to our Liberties they bestowed upon our Deliverance, will be exactly copied by other Princes: But this is the first Instance of such Merchandise; and it is not to be believed, that great Princes who study Fame, and tenderly regard their Honour and Glory, will imitate so base an Example. But suppose they should; our Author is as wide in his Estimate of this Expense, as in his other Reasonings. We are frighted with a Charge Ten times bigger, for many Years, than our present Payments, and yet will very much fall short of the half of one Years Tax we pay now. The Sums spent upon the King's Subsistence and Ireland, doth not amount to Three hundred thousand Lu●dores; and as for the Charge of his return I wish, and hearty pray, that all true English Men would unanimously concur together, to prevent the pretence of demanding any such Charges, the necessity of Foreign Troops, and even the remotest Fears of French Popery and Slavery, by returning our King with as general a Consent as he was forced from us; which will vindicate the Protestant Religion from the reproach of Deposing Principles, and establish it for the nature; will rese●●e the ancient Monarchy, and Constitution of this Nation upon its old Basi●, will repair the Injury done to our lawful King, whereby we may legaly obtain those Securities for our Religion and Liberties, which we are Courting unsucces fully amidst so many desperate D●●g●rs and Diff●●●l●●s; will infallibly relieve us from the weighty Oppressions and manifest Infractions of our choicest and most valuable Rights, which we at present feel, and have so much reason to be apprehensive of for the future; will deliver us from the heavy Burden of so many Taxes, which we have already paid, and which yet must be continued if we design to support a crazy and unjust Settlement any longer; which, after all our Blood and Expense must certainly fall to the ground, and give place to the natural Force and Weight of our ancient Government and Monarchy; to the just Title and undoubted Rights of our lawful Sovereign and his Posterity; to the Love, Affections, and native Inclinations of English Men when the present fit is over; and to the Interests of our Neighbouring Princes and States, which lie visibly cross unto it, so soon as their present Differences are at an end: And lastly, by this Method we shall be secured against those fatal Influences upon our Liberties, which never fail to accompany all forced, , and unexpected returns of Exiled Monarches.  
I do humbly beseech Almighty God, That of his Infinite Mercy, for the good of these Nations and of all Europe, he would open the Prince of Orange's Eyes, give him a sight and discovery of the Vanity as well as Injustice of possessing his Father's Throne; and incline his Heart to establish Religion and Liberty among us, and give Peace to all Europe, by doing an Act which would bury in Oblivion the famed Instances of Dioclesian and Charles V and immortalize his Name, even by restoring his old Father to his Right and Inheritance. Was it really the Danger our Religion and Liberties were in which put him upon coming to Britain, this would be an infallible way fully to secure them by new Laws and Concessions, against which there lay no Objection: Or was it to put himself at the head of the British Forces, thereby to give a Check to the towering Ambition of the French Monarch, this would more effectually do it; for either that King would think himself obliged, out of Gratitude to a Prince who is truly a Martyr for a supposed French League, to give a reasonable Peace to Europe, in order to King James' Restauration; or by a Refusal, our King was at Liberty to consult his own Interest, and to unite with the Confederates by the Advice of Parliament; which would make such a general and vigorous Application of the English Forces that way, without any fear of Domestic Distraction, as would quickly oblige that great Monarch to give ear to Reason, and a Peace to his Neighbours: And the Glory of having given Peace to Europe, and subdued himself, would place the Prince of Orange's Name upon the highest Pinnacles of Fame, furnish the greatest Character imaginable for History, give a great and noble Example to future Ages, declare him the Benefactor of the Christian World, and oblige all British Subjects to acknowledge, that he had most generously contributed his best Endeavours for the securing of the Protestant Religion, and the free Enjoyment of all our Laws, Rights and Liberties, under a just and legal Government, according to his Declaration.  
FINIS.   

ERRATA.  
PAge 5. Col. 1. Line 23. r. upon a Review of that bl ssed Occasion. p. 8. c. 1. l. 37. de●e in. p. 10. c. 2. l. 9 after Troops, add to support 〈◊〉 p. 13. c. 2. l. 16. 〈◊〉 it, r. th' y. p. 14. c. 2. l. 39 r. easy. p. 21. c. 1. l. 38. r. was not with. p. 22. c. 1. l. ●●. l●●e anoth r. p. 26. c. 1. l. 13. deal our. p. 27. c. 2. l. 21. r. Princes. p. 32. c. 1. l. 13. r. the. p. ●2. c. 1. l. 30 deal upon whole Counties. p. 37. c. 1. l. 6. after in add the. deal are. l. 23. r. Towns. p. 41. c. 2. l. 3. r. screening. p. 43. c. 2 l. 4. deal and his Designs. p. 4●. c. 2. l. 9 r. instanc. p. 54 c. 2. l. 32. 〈…〉 fail to furnish.