THE Nations Interest: In Relation to the pretensions OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE Duke of York, &c. discoursed AT LARGE IN A LETTER TO A FRIEND.  Quicquid usquam Perfidiae, & Doli; Quicquid Inclementiae, Superbiaeque, audisti aut legisti: Quicquid( Denique) Impietatis, & Morum pessimorum sparsim habet aut habuit Orbis Terrae; Totum Hic, Cumulatum videas, Acervatumque reperias. Petrarch. in Epist. 
LONDON, Printed for James Vade, at the Cock and Sugar-Loaf, near St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet. MDCLXXX.   

THE Nations Interest: In Relation to the pretensions OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE Duke of York, &c.  
SIR,  
§. 1. IT is not the particular Case of your Friend only, but of a great many( otherwise) Worthy and Eminent Persons, to be mis-led, and intoxicated, by the plausible pretence of a Free Estate, into a passionate Fondness, and Admiration of a Popular Government; never distinguishing betwixt the Form and Essence of a Commonwealth; the mistake whereof( each for the other) has proved so fatal in this Age; nor calling to mind that it was the misfortune of those that surfeited of our Kingly Regiment, and gaped as impatiently after Novelty as any now a days can do; to lose the substance of Liberty and Happiness, in persute of the Shadow. Nay, and too too many( believe me Sir) there are also, that, sacrificing all considerations of Conscience and Religion to their Mammon Interest, do labour with all the Vigour and Artifice imaginable, to create in the Multitude a loathing of their present Manna, and a fresh longing for their late egyptian Leeks and garlic. So that you are not to look upon my Endeavours to set things aright, as to this Point, to be the pure Effects of my Compliance with your Desires for the satisfaction of your Friend, but rather of a pressing and indispensible Duty.  
Neither your Friend, nor any other Republican will, I presume, maintain that a Free Estate( as they call it) is not subject to any Violations; because woeful Experience will confute, and force them to confess either that a Commonwealth may Degenerate; or, at least, that the so much cried up Model of the Late times was no Commonwealth: And they must not only renounce their Senses, but even the Faith of Story also, which sufficiently proves that republics have been sometimes invaded with Usurpations; sometimes debauched and embas'd with Oligarchy; mostly( by reason of their Weakness and Divisions) subdued or compelled to truckle under their Neighbouring Princes; but always tormented with Faction and Convulsions. Nor in truth, has that Party as yet been able to produce any Arguments but such, as in effect, beg the Question; by presupposing great Unity in the Coalition, great Probity in the Intention, and great Purity in the Exercise; which being admitted, we should so little need to differ about Forms, that perhaps we should scarce need any Government at all.  
As for myself, Sir, I ever abhorred Bloodshed, and do deem one Party in all Wars guilty of murder; a Crime which as it cries High for Vengeance, so ought it to cry loud for Unity and Moderation; into which blessed Path may This balance us, that we be not again Balotted into a Field of Blood: I pled for Liberty; not the Name, but the Thing; and design not to assert Tyranny, but Kingship;( as it relates to the Laws of the Land) to whose protection I am entitled by my Birth, for the preservation of my Freedom in Person and Estate; and that with more assurance, than possibly can be secured under the Government of Many, who scruple not commonly to term that Justice( and without Remedy too) which is down right Faction. So that with these thoughts about me I shall readily aclowledge( you may imagine) that even Monarchy itself is but as Earthen Ware,( though of the finest and strongest Sort) and liable to sundry Contingences; nothing under the Heavens being completely Perfect. In the Constitution of Governments, 'tis childish to think upon erecting of Babels against a Deluge; but the Design must be to embank against Floods, and enclose the best that may be against Trespassers. This being premised, I shall proceed to handle the Matter in question, not Metaphysically, in Notions abstracted from their Subjects( a Pastime which our Platonicks much delight in) but Morally and Reasonably; and enforce such Arguments only as are plain, sensible, and appropriate to our own country; leaving the Notional to our Book-men, whose Volumes, calculated for all Climates, swell big against the Evils of the Rule of MANY, or Democracy. Neither shall I presu●e to insist upon any such insuperable difficulties, as are of a quality too high for a private Pen to meddle with, must necessary obviate the establishing of a popular Platform amongst us; but lay before you in the First place, the present State of the Nation, so Far forth only as may carry any immediate Relation to the Subject; and then draw all to an Application.  
§ 2. THIS iceland, now, is a large Continent, abundantly populous; and governed( I may say) by the Subordinate Influence of the Nobility and Gentry; who live plentifully, and at ease upon their Rents, extracted from the toil of their Tenants and Servants; every one of of them Acting the Prince within the Bounds of his own Estate, where he is in a manner Absolute. His Servants and Labourers are as Vassals, his Tenants indeed are Free, but yet in the Nature of Subjects; whom he orders in his Courts, draws Supplys from by his Fines, and Awes by his Power and Oaths of Fealty, to great Submissions. The more his manors are, and the more indulgently he behaves himself( like a good Prince) the larger is his Territory, and the more aweful are his Commands. A Rich and Potent Neighbour gives Check to an inferior; He again being over-ruled by one that is more considerable than himself. But yet none of these, with respect to his Quality and Estate, will admit of a Parity with a meaner Neighbour, much less with his Tenant or dependant.  
Into the Rank of Gentry do our Officers, Citizens, and Burghers aspire to be enrolled: So that no sooner by Arms, Office, or Trade, do they acquire a competent Stock, but forthwith for Land it is disposed; and then, disowning the Title of Soldiers, Citizens, or Burghers, they take to themselves the Degree and Name of Gentlemen, with Arms not improper; for England within itself, has been so often shuffled from High to Low, that there is scarce any Artificer but may find his Name in the Heralds-Book, though not his Pedigree, which Ingenuity yet and Good Will may easily supply; and thus being equipped with a Title and Estate, they set up suitably the Dominion within their Territories; which none do dispute, as having no right to intermeddle with what a man has or does within himself: For by Gentry I understand not such only as are so in Blood, but in Quality also; such as live easily and like Princes, upon the Labours of their dependants.  
Out of This Order are usually constituted our Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace &c. By the countenance of which Authorities they so order all Elections to Parliament, or otherwise, that the Countys Commonly follow their respective Factions, and the Commonalty in their Votes are managed by Them, as a Horse by his Rider. Now as the Agrarian or Interest of Land, is principally in these Two Ranks; So also is the Consequence thereof, Power and Command; which emboldens them to such a Height of Spirit( natural to our Nobility and Gentry) that they are too apt to undervalue Persons of inferior Condition,[ Burgesses and mechanics,] with whom to Intermarry, by our Old Law was a Disparagement for a Ward; and this Spirit of Generosity is not to be suppressed, so riveted is it in their Natures, but by the Eradication of their Qualities at least, if not their Persons.  
And indeed the establishing of a Free Estate( so called) were otherwise Desperate and Impracticable;( which the prevailing Mecanicks among the Swisses, soon found to be true) It being of the very Essence of a Common-wealth, to reduce all Degrees to a Parity. For as Titles and Honours are incident to King-ship; so also are Equality of Place, and Birth, to Democracy; unless where, in case of Office, for the Time only, they are entitled to a Precedency. Reduced you must be, Sir, to the Condition of the Vulgar; for though you are already styled Commoners, yet that is only a Fallacy of the Name, and deludes our Statists; you being such, no otherwise than Representatively, and rather the managers of the Peoples purse, than purely Commons. Neither yet would the bare procuring of such a Parity be sufficient to do your Friend's Business; unless he could also get a Supreme Power established in some such Body Corporate, Compacted and Permanent, as, by reducing of divers meet Cities, Forts, and Castles, under its Command as the Head Colony, might give Law to the several Countries, and mould them into a Vassalage competent to make up a free Estate: But this you know is as well impious, as upon ten thousand accounts impossible to be effected. Nay, and though this point were also obtainable, yet would not our Nobility and Gentry have either the Honour of the Name, or Benefit of the Thing; nor would it be instiled the Common-wealth of England, but of that particular place that should so usurp upon the rest of the Nation; and then too our pay must be as they impose, our Liberty as they vouchsafe it, and we subject to our Inferiors.  
Nor is this Discourse to be looked upon as mere Drollery; for from This embryo have issued those Commonwealths which are so famed in Notion; as Rome, Carthage, Athens, Lacedaemon, Corinth, Thebes, &c. Great Cities of that Name, which, having subdued the adjacent Territories, denominated the Dominion; wherein only those of the Freedom( Citizens and Denizens) had Vote or Power; the Nobles and Gentlemen being purely Tributary to the Chief City; unless they transplanted themselves, renounced their Cities, and so, by degrees, advanced into the Honour of a Burgess; as we now do exercise our Junior issue. And little different are at this day the celebrated Common-wealths of Venice, the United Provinces, the Swisses; not to instance in those Petty States of Genoua, Ragusa, Geneva, &c. All of them mostly denominated from those Principal Cities, which give Law to the adjacent Provinces. Those indeed of the Hollanders and swissers, tho' they derive not, so directly, their Title from One City, yet are they( in Substance) of the same Composure; being only an United Body of Corporated Cities, combined in One, for Mutual Defence against Invaders, but of an equal Power to impose upon the Neighbouring Territories, siituate under the awe of each respective City, or Town-Garrison. It falls not within my Memory, that there ever was, or at This Day is, a Free-Estate in the whole World, that's managed by the Gentry Inhabiting at large, or by any People not combined within the Jurisdiction of their Walls; except the Grisons; who are a scattered People of a mean Quality, having long since disowned their Gentry; and are without Walled Towns or Garrison; whose Confusions make them easy for Conquest, were their Country worth it, and not secured by the United Cantons.  
But to apply the Premises; can your Friend, or any other Man of the same Stamp imagine, that our Nobility and Gentry( as now in Power) will ever be induced to admit a Parity; will level their Degree and Domination to a Proportion with their Coppy-holders? Nay, will renounce the wearing of a Sword, and learn to make one? Will submit to become Tributary to the Neighbour-Colony? If this can be brought about; then perhaps( and not till then) may we again hope to aspire from our present Glorious State of King-ship, to a Free-state in Clown-ship; or at least, from the Free-giving of Subsidies, to the Majesty of a sceptre; to the Forced-payment of Tribute to the High and Mighty Burgher; such as was that High and Mighty Butcher, who, not many years ago was commissioned by the Swisses, as one of their Chiefs to be God-Father to the French Kings Son. Now as Plato phansi'd his Community, and Sir Thomas Moor his Utopia; so are some of these big with hopes of a Rotation; thereby to reassume their idolised Model of a Commonwealth, out of the scattered Gentry, in the nature of a House of Commons. But since nothing but new Experiments will serve such mens Turns, I could wish they would find other Subjects to try Conclusions upon, than the Estates, Lives, nay, the very Souls of Christians. You well remember I'm sure, Sir, that we once ran the Loss of Those, and the hazard of These, upon the cloudy prospect of a Chimaera in the Brains of some: The word Liberty deluded us into Patience, and patience from 1648. 1660. brought forth not less Payments, but more Servitude. And let them not hope to bring Countenance to their Cause, by alleging( as they have once done) that they could never be permitted to to foster up their Babe to full perfection; for they will ever be opposed by all Wise and Loyal men, who having experimented the Evils of such a State, will be as vigilant and industrious to keep it from getting footing among us again, as those that are otherwise, can be to bring it on. Beside that, you cannot have forgot, Sir, that from 1648. to 1653, they had it from the Nurse, and( had they stuck to their Pretences) might in five years time( or never) have set it upon its Feet; only they too soon( poor wretches) found the sweets of Usurpation. But then it could never have been of any long Continuance, as manifestly appeared from the great scorn and bitterness that the Supporters of it were reproached with, when it was dissolved; there was not so much as one Bloody Nose in the defence of that, High and Mighty State; all the members of it being held in the utmost degree of detestation, as they most justly deserved. And though these Rumpers, ' itis true, came twice into play, yet were they only made use of to serve a Turn, as being fit to be made a Property of; for it was presently found that it was not the desire of their Rule, but of a further change, that inspirited the People against the Army; and they( being next at hand) had no sooner remounted the empty Saddle, but( before they could be well warm in their Seat) they were again Unhors'd with a public Leave, as appeared by the bonfires( upon That Occasion) that might have lighted them to the Lands-end, if they had dared to be seen among them. So that it is plain from what has been said, that it is not the sense or Interest of a Few, that can long sway a Nation; for if the public Spirit be averse, at the long run it will prevail; the more Dispute there is with it, the more perverse it grows. And whatever such Enthusiasts may dream, even when the Multitude have the Power, the Command yet rests in a Few: The most active Spirits led the Herd, and engross the Place, the Profit, and the Sway: This, in generous minds, begets, Disdain, and that, Faction; for when all are equal, thousands think themselves as deserving of Rule, as those that carry it; to satisfy all is impossible, to please few displeases the Most: The Transactions of that Party from 1648. to 1660. have made this as sensible, as they rendered themselves contemptible. In a word, the Nobility and Gentry of England have Spirits pure, naturally just and generous, like Fire aspiring( as a pyramid) from low to high; and never resting till it contracts itself into an Unity at top: So God is One, or he were not God, nor could he Rule the World; and if your Friend likes not this President, but still continues to delight in the Rule of Many, let him begin a Pattern in his own Family, and he may there, possibly, have enough to do.  
§. 3. NOW my hand's in, I shall venture to set one step further, and refresh your memory with a View of our Condition whilst this Free-State kept above Water, the Past being the surest Clew to direct us in our Conjectures upon Futurities. In those days we were never free( you may remember) from the apprehensions of an Insurrection at Home, or an Invasion from Abroad; living in continual Jealousies even of our very next Neighbours. These Fears obliged us to maintain a considerable Force at Land and Sea, which, lying idle, corrupted, as standing Water in a Pool, and every moment threatened fresh Combustions, as they were blown up this or that way by their new Masters; but at the best( like our old Lord-Danes) they were most insupportably burdensome and odious to the Country, by their Quartering; and to keep them as much in action as possibly we could, we were fain either to be perpetually amusing them with pretended Discoveries of some new feigned Plot or other, or else to engage them in Foreign Wars. For the support of this Army( now) we were compelled to daily Contributions, besides great and innumerable Customs that were exacted; together with the Excise,( a Brat begotten in the Low Countries, with their State, which makes them free indeed, but then it is in in Purse, not in Privilege) a Tribute which no King of England did always demand, before they enforced us to pay it; which being ever before looked upon as poison, we then took as physic; and for the bare, but necessary mention whereof, in the House of Commons, that Grand Patriot( as they styled him) Mr. Pym, was by a young Spirit( not without great Applause) called to the Bar: Add hereunto the Benevolences, Sequestrations, five and twentieth parts, a Tax of fifty Subsidies at once,( though the late King suffered so much by the demand of twelve only) Fines and Compositions, sale of Kings, Bishops, Deans and Chapters, and Delinquents Lands, the two parts of Papists Estates, nay a share of our very Charities to the distressed; and all this over and above the ordinary and constant assessments that were levied. How was it all devoured by this Army, whose belly indeed was bottonles? and yet what Arrears did we owe them just before the King's Return? Three millions at least! Reform it we durst not, and our constant charge to maintain it could not be less than two Millions yearly. In a word, we never used to be in a worse condition, than when free from Rebellions, because when the people were quiet, we had no Lands either to sequester or to sell. Our Trade fell to nothing, our traffic was interrupted, our Gold walked beyond Sea more freely than in our own Country; and we lost no less than 2000 Sail of Ships in two or three years time: There was no settlement, but we were every day dancing after a new Whistle; ten Models we had in proposal at one time, and every Faction ready with Blood to aver his own way to be the best. By our known Laws we could not be imprisoned, but by a Regular proceeding in a Course of Justice; but under our free Estate( on the other side) upon the most slight suggestions of a spiteful Neighbour in Authority, we were presently seized by the sergeant at Arms, with his exorbitant Fees! No Bail, no Habeas Corpus, no regular way of Justice to do us right! but, after a Twelvemonths stay in Goal, if we could make good Friends, and humble ourselves to our potent Adversary, we might possibly be discharged; but without amends, or knowing of our Crime. Lo thus, while we cajoled ourselves with the Name of Freedom, we lost the Thing; and became free, only to be made the most despicable of Slaves.  
By this, Sir, you see that the Question in hand might be decided in a few words; and only by alleging the invincible Inclination of the English to Monarchy, as it is now established: For as no man can well be wronged with his consent, so neither is any man to be obliged( were there any such thing in the case) against his Will. And indeed how should a Government, founded upon inequality and force, ever subsist without it? Or a State that must necessary be the mere Adjective of an Army, become a Substantive? With as much Reason might I also object matter of Title, because the same Estate, with a flaw in the conveyance, or clogged with Statutes and Judgments, is not surely of like value, as if it had been descended clearly from the great Grandfather, and were free from Claims and encumbrances. But it shall be the next part of my business, with all convenient brevity, to show that the present established Government, as it excellently complies with the Laws, Genius, and Interest of this Nation, so it comprehends all the Benefits of a Commonwealth in great perfection.  
To demonstrate how it complies with our Laws and Constitutions, let it suffice, That( Monarchy, in these Nations, being more ancient than Story or Records, more venerable than Tradition itself) our Laws were born( as it were) under this Climate, habituated to this Diet and Air, grafted into this Stock; and though we have( thanks be to God) forgotten our Norman, yet will it be very hard for us to learn Greek, much less Utopian; That in the late Usurper's time, our Lawyers, with one Voice, importuned him rather to assume the Style and Power of a King, to which they found all our Laws were shaped, than retain that of a Protector, unknown to the Law: That nothing rendered the late Architects of a Commonwealth more obnoxious, than that( notwithstanding their infinite Discords in other things) they generally agreed in the necessity of subverting all our Fundamental Laws, in order to their Design: Which Consideration( we are in Charity to believe) obliged the sober men of all Parties, the true Patriots,( nay and even the chiefest Pillars of the Parliaments Cause too) to unite themselves with the Royal Interest; as not enduring to hear of those violent and dangerous Alterations which they plainly saw a republic must necessary introduce.  
For its suiting with our Genius, examine we( in the first place) the various Revolutions that have happened to this iceland; Britains, Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans; or( more nearly) the changes in their Descents from the direct Line to the Collateral; or( yet nearer) the times of Insurrection and deposing Kings; Edward and Richard,( both the Seconds of the Name) and we shall find King-ship ever to have been in fashion. Nay, that of King John is more notorious, for when the People had in a sort dethroned him, and sworn Allegiance to Lewis of France, yet when John died, the same People not only Expelled the Foreigner, but having got the Power into their own hands, they crwoned King John's Son, being then an Infant without Interest or Adherents: Nor will all our Chronicles afford us one single Instance of any Design or Endeavour to erect a Free Estate;( before the late unnatural times furnished the President) no not when Wat tiler, or Jack Straw revell'd it with their Clowns. Neither is this Genius ever to be changed; for reflect we( in the second place) that as our English Nature is not like the French, suppling to Oppression, and apt to delight in that Pomp and Magnificence of their Lords, which( they know) is supported with their Slavery and Hunger; Nor like the Highland Scots, where the Honour and Interest of the Chief is the Glory of the whole Clan: So doth it as little( or less) agree with the Dutch humour, addicted only to traffic, Navigation, Handicrafts, and sordid Thrift, and( in defiance of Heraldry) every man fancying his own Scutcheon. For does not every one amongst us, that has the Name of a Gentleman, labour his utmost to uphold it? He that has not, to raise one? To this end, do not our very Yeomen commonly leave their Lands to the Eldest Son, and to the other nothing but a Flail, or a Plow? Did not every one( in the days of our late blessed Martyr) pinch himself in his Condition, to purchase a Knight-hood or small Patent? What need further proof? You cannot but remember, Sir, how that bare glimpse and shadow of Monarchy under cromwell, and his Son Dick,( though persons even at the same time hated and scorned; and that too upon a most impious and scandalous account) was, for mere resemblance sake, admitted as tolerable, and( in respect of a Commonwealth) courted: Which clearly evinces, how grateful the substance must needs be to all true English Spirits.  
As to our Interest, briefly,( to wave tedious and politic Discourses) there is no man, but with half an eye may foresee that a republic( were there any possibility of settling one) would destroy all our present Peace and Felicity, ruinated our Trade and traffic, involve us in a Field of Blood, alarm all our Neighbours, make our best Allies our bitterest Enemies, and probably draw upon us the united force of Christendom, to crush the Embryo; which would be the utter destruction and enslaving of this most free and prosperous Nation,( could it but once be capable of a due sense of its own Felicity) to the Tyrannical Domination of a Foreigner. Beside,( at best) by what Title can we pretend to hold Scotland, and Ireland, should that of Descent be avoided; for Consent there is none, nor can any be expected?  
§. 5. BUT I come now directly to assert, That the Present Government eminently includes all the Perfections of a Free-Estate, and is the Kernel( as it were) of a Commonwealth in the Shell of Monarchy. To begin with the Essential Parts of a Commonwealth: If ever there were a Free and Honourable Senate( or Parliament) under the Cope of Heaven it is here; where the Deputies of the whole Nation most freely chosen, do with like freedom meet, Propound, Debate, and Vote all matters of Common Interest: No Danger escapes their Representing, no Grievance their Complaint, no public Right their Claim, or Good their demand; in all which, the least breach of Privilege is usually branded with Sacrilege: And though there lies no Appeal to the dispersed Body of the People,( a Decision manifestly impracticable in Government, and fitter indeed for Tribunes to move, than Nations to admit) yet( Elections being so popular, and Conventions frequent) the same end is attained with much more safety and convenience. As to the Executive Part of the princes Power, he exercises it by Ministers and Officers, not only sworn, but severely accountable: And though both He and the Lords have their Negatives in passing of Bills, and it be the King only, that by his Royal Fiat, makes our Laws; yet no Tax being imposable but by the consent of the Commons, nor any Law( without it) of such validity, that the Ministers of Justice will enforce it, there is a wise and sweet necessity for the King, and likewise for the Lords, to pass all such Bills as are convenient for the People, and not greatly hurtful to the Prince. And those that duly weigh the Reason of things, do find a Negative in the King to be a most safe preservative of Peace to the People, who have as much comfort under the protection of his Prerogative, as they have Benefit by their own Privileges; For in truth, this Bug-bear Negative( as our Republicans labour to represent it) is an impenetrable Target, to shelter and secure the Government from being altered at the Will of the Commons, if at any time they should again prove factious. This( being in reason manifest) has also been confirmed by great Experience; our Kings having rarely obstructed any Bill which they might safely grant; but on the other side, passed many High Acts of mere Grace; circumscribing their Prerogative, and clipping its Wings; nay better had it been for us, if they had not pierced its very Bowels.  
This is that Triple-Cord that could never yet be broken, though it has been Cut asunder; This is our Gold seven times refined; for every Bill, being thrice red, Debated, and Agreed in Either House, is at last brought to the King for his Royal Assent;( which is the Mint of our Laws:) a trial so exact, that surely no Dross can escape it; since all Interests must thereto concur; as truly it is but fit they should, in the Establishment of That which must Bind all. This is that Temperament, which purges our Humors, and( at once) endues us with Health, Vigour, and Beauty: No Vote is here precipitated; no Act huddled up; as by sad Events, you saw they formerly used to be, when the Power was engrossed by a pretended House of Commons, purged and moulded to the Interests of a Faction; a Consequence but Natural to such Premises! Nothing was ( there) weighed, but as in a balance consisting of one Scale; our Laws were Mandrakes of a Nights Growth; and our Times as Fickle as the Weather of the Multitude.  
The King has the Power of making War, but then he cannot well be said to have the Means; so that it does not amount to extraordinary much more, than a Liberty to Fly if he can get Wings. He has a Sword also; but Himself alone very rarely draws it: And though he has the sole right in the Militia, yet is he pleased to wear it only as a decent Weapon; Vouchsafing to the Nation, in a large Degree, the Use and Benefit of it. He chooses his Ministers;( as who doth not his Servants?) but then they pass through such a Test, as none but the soundest Integrity can abide. He can hinder the stroke of Justice with his Pardon,( tho' still, the Jaws not being muzzled, it will Bite terribly) but then( on the Other side) the means of Relieving his Wants rests in the Commons, to balance his Will, and induce him to a Correspondence with Parliaments.  
That his Person should be Sacred, is most Needful, to avoid Circulation of Accounts; Reasonable, since it carries with it the Consent of Nations; Just, that he become not the mere Butt of Faction, and Malice, and be in a worse Condition than the Basest of Vassals; Honourable, that the Nakedness of Government be not daily uncovered; Wise, in the Constitution that so we may not( at once) both Trust, and Provoke, by forcing him to shift for his Own indemnity; no danger to the public seeming so Extreme, as the Outlawry of a Prince; no Task( by daily Experience) so difficult, as the Arraigning of any Power, whether Regal or Popular: And if we make Golden Bridges for Flying Enemies, much more should we afford them to Relenting Sovereigns, against whom we have no remedy but Prayers and Patience. Upon this account, in our Neighbour Kingdom of France, even Princes of the Blood are not subjected to Capital Punishments. Finally, very safe it is in the Consequence; for should a King be never so wicked and Tyrannical, yet being( by the danger threatening his Corrupt Ministers) stripped of Agents, his Personal Impunity might signify something to Himself, perhaps, but nothing to the People.  
A Revenue he has, for the support of his State and Family, Ample; for the Ordinary Protection of his People, Sufficient; but for any considerable Undertaking, Defective; and for public Oppression so Inconsiderable, that when Prerogative was most Rampant, our Greatest Princes( and some doubtless we have had, the most Renowned warriors of their Age) could never, prudently, aspire to make themselves Absolute. The Royal Revenue is proportioned to the Maintenance of Courts, not Camps, and Fleets: In fine, it is very Competent for Ordinary Disbursements, and as for Extraordinary he resorts to Parliaments; the Wiser He, and the Happier We! Now there is nothing more Demonstrative, than that, upon Examination, we may find the present Government to be( compared with all the other Models of the Late Times) a mighty Ease to the public Charge; we allowed the Tyrant cronwell no less then a constant Revenue of 1900000 l. to support him in his Usurpation; and yet That Sum( beside all his other intolerable Squeezings) at the years end, cleared not the Account by far. Under the Rump a great deal more was yearly Collected out of the Bowels of the People, to maintain the Army; and yet for all that we could never be at quiet, but were perpetually embroiled in Wars either Abroad or at Home, by our active Spirits, some to feed their Ambition, others their Purses: And such a Spirit we red of, working in all Free-States, Ancient and Modern. What shall we say now of the expenses of the Late King, if examined by This Standard? His Revenue in Lands, Perquisites, and Customs, exceeded not 700000 l. a year; and yet by the good management of that most Thrifty and Temperate Prince, that petite Annuity furnished a glorious Court, a Noble Equipage for the Honour of the Nation, and paid off a considerable Fleet; which never was much improved, afterwards, by all our vast Payments, when we were so unfortunate as to fall into Others hands. Nay and our present Charge is rather a Sport, than a burden, compared with their Monthly Tax.  
True it is, that while we live with Men, we shall be subject to That which is the Effect of their Nature, Sin; nor is it possible to reap the more General Fruit of the best established Policy, unless we submit to some possible Inconveniences. But yet I defy your Friend, and all other Projectors of Common-wealths, to contrive greater Freedom for their Citizens, than is provided by Magna Charta, and The Petition of Right; or show that it is not much easier to Violate, than to Mend them; for Thereby, our Lives, Liberties, and Estates are, under Monarchy, secured and established as well( I think) as any thing, on this side Heaven, can be. It is no fanaticism to say, that the Subject has his privileges, as well as the King; and no Prince ever attempted any Violation of them, but at the Long Run, he suffered in that point of his Prerogative that let in the Opportunity. Hence it is that the Rights of the People have grown stronger and stronger against the Prince, and sometimes have hurried his Person to be a Sacrifice; always, his Instruments; whereof few, in our History, can we red, that, Designing against the Law, have died in peace. If, possibly, One Prince( as King Harry) by his High Spirit, sweep all before him, yet his Infant Successor is fain to make amends for his Fathers Violations: So that Liberty( we see) is no less Sacred, than Majesty; Nolime tangere being its Motto likewise: And in case of any, the least Infringement,( as Escapes in Government may happen, even in the most perfect) it is resented as if the Nation had received a Box on the Ear. If it be( as they say) the Glory of a Free-State, to Exalt; the Scandal of Tyranny, to Embase our Spirits; doubtless the established Form is our Only Common-wealth; for all that we got by the Change of it, was but the learning quietly to take the Bastinade. Nay, and at the very worst that can be imagined, it is much more easy( were it Lawful) for us to dispute our Rights with a single Prince, and his Trembling Agents; than( as it was our Case formerly) with a Knot of Sovereigns that are backed with the Sword.  
We are now again able to distinguish( which we could never do under their Free-Estate, for all the fair Promises they made us) the Legislative, and the Ministerial Authority: For tho' both of them are Inherent in the King, yet are not both of them his own peculiar and Personal Act. We know that the House of Commons has not the Power of a Court-Leet, to give an Oath, nor of a Justice of the Peace, to make a Mittimus: And this Distinction, doubtless, is the most Vital part of Freedom, and far more considerable to poor Subjects, than all these mens pretended Rotations; as, on the contrary, the absolute Jumbling and Confounding of them, is an Accomplishment of Servitude; for which all republics, I fear,( and our late one more especially) have more to Answer, than any Limited Sovereign can have. And certain it is, that as our Prince, in his Personal Capacity, makes no Laws; so neither does he, by himself, Execute or Interpret any: No Judge takes notice of his single Command, to justify any Trespass; no not so much as the breaking of a hedge; his Power is Circumscribed by his Justice; he is( equally with the meanest of his Subjects) concerned in that Honest Maxim; We may do just so much, and no more, than we have Right to do. And it is tolerably enough said, with respect to his Political Capacity, He can do no wrong, because, if it be wrong, he does it not; it is voided in the Act, and punishable in his Agent. His Officers, as they are alike liable, so, perhaps, they are more Obnoxious to Indictments and Suits, than any other; by how much their Trespass seems to be of a Higher Nature, and gives greater Alarm: His Private Will does not Countermand his public; his Privy Seal still buckles to his Great Seal, as being( in a sense) the Nations, as well as His; His Order supercedes no Process; and His Displeasure threatens no man with an hours Imprisonment, after the Return of Habeas Corpus: An Under Sheriff is more Terrible, a Constable more Sawey, a bailiff more troublesome than He: And yet by his Gentle Authority, by this Scabbard of Prerogative( as some in derision have lewdly termed it) which( if it Would) Could scarce Oppress an Orphan; Tumults are curbed, Faction Moderated, Usurpation forestalled, Intervals Prevented, Perpetuities Obviated, Equity administered, Clemency Exalted, and the People made Happy to a degree even of Satiety and Wantonness.  
To Conclude this Point: What shall I add more? The Act enjoining the Keepers of the Great Seal, under pain of High Treason, to Summon a Triennial Parliament, of Course, by Virtue of the Act, without further Warrant; The Act forbidding the Privy-Council to intermeddle with Meum & Tuum; the Law abolishing the Star Chamber, High Commission, &c. Branding all past, and Bridling all future enormities: The Statutes limiting the King's Claims, the Acts about Quartering of Soldiers, and Habeas Corpus; beside many other principal Immunities, wherewith( by the Especial Favour of God, and the Bounty of our Princes) we are Blessed, far beyond any of our Neighbours: Above all, our Assurance( by the Goodness and Clemency of our present Dread Sovereign) readily to obtain such further Addition and perfection of Liberty and Security,( if any such there can be) as may consist with Modesty and Liberty itself, to ask: Does not all this Proclaim aloud, that we are the mirror of Governments, Envy of Monarchies, and shane of Common-wealths; who cannot but blushy to see themselves so Eclipsed and silenced, in all their Pretences to Freedom? And does it not more than justify my Assertion, that with all the Ornaments of the Noblest Kingdom, we have, likewise, all the Enjoyments of a Free-Estate.  
§. 6. HAVING thus given you the Reasons why I conceive, the Project of fixing the Model, which your Friend terms a Free-Estate, here among us, would be Impracticable; presented you with a Prospect of the mischiefs and Distractions that were the Consequents of a like attempt from Forty to Sixty; Asserted the natural Print and Inclination of the English to Monarchy, exclusively of any other Form of Regiment whatsoever; anatomised the Royal Prerogative, and summed up the great Immunities, Blessings and Privileges which we do peculiarly, and above any other People or Nation in the known World, at this day enjoy, under the established Government Ecclesiastical and Civil: I shall now apply myself directly to touch upon the Second Branch of your Commands; I mean the Affair of the Black-Box, and the Design of Interrupting and Inverting the Legal Succession of the Crown of these Kingdoms.  
You would not( I know Sir) have imposed a Trouble of This nature, either upon yourself, or Me, had you been Ignorant, or Insensible of the Active and Inveterate Malice of some Turbulent, Evil-minded Persons( professed Enemies to all Civil Rule and Order) who perceiving the Eye of Authority, necessitated to abate of its usual Stricktness over them, upon the Discovery of the Hellish Plot now in Agitation, and Designing not to let slip so Eminent an Occasion of expressing their Malevolence to the Government, and of improving the just Odium the Papists at present lie under, into some degree of Reputation to their own Party, both at once; have mightily endeavoured and bestirred themselves, by false Reports, forged Tales, and Discoveries, Invidious weapons of the most solemn Acts and Resolutions of State, Virulent and Audacious Pamphlets of all Sorts, both Printed and Written, and by a Thousand other Tricks and Inventions, of the like quality, wherewith the Father of lies and Slanders has from time to time supplied them, to sow Seeds of Discord and Animosity in all Families as well public as Private, raise Storms of Jealousy and Discontent, Alienate the minds and Affections of the People from their Sovereign, Principle them into Disloyalty, poison them in their Allegiance, and to divide them into Parties and Factions: And all this too under the Plausible Cover of zeal against Popery, and Arbitrary Encroachments; but with a Direct( though Covert) Aim at the Subversion of the most Excellent Form of Polity by Law established among us, to make way for the Introduction of certain Licentious and fantastic Whimsies of their own. But finding now by Experience that from all these undue Practices and Pretences( how plausible soever) they could promise to themselves little or no Assistance toward the compassing of the Treasonous Ends aforesaid; and taking advantage of Apprehensions, and Bitterness of the Multitude against the Presumptive Heir, upon his being, by these Incendiaries, represented as a Principal in the Conspiracy; They, laying their Heads together again, resolved to change their Battery; and wholly apply themselves to the Altering of the Legal Succession of the Crown: Thus providently Computing upon it, that could they but once of an Hereditary turn This into an Elective Kingdom, and get a Prince of the Peoples choosing, 'twas but picking a Quarrel with him,( and what's more easy than to find a Hole in another mans Coat?) Dethroning him, and then their Work were done, their Model would fall in of Course. To this end now, with dark Hints, and secret Whispers, they bore their Credulous proselytes in hand, as if the K. had Legitimate Issue: Not intending yet, that this Report should forthwith become public; but to keep it in Reserve till they might gain their Point by't, and then blow it down again with the same facility as they had raised it. But the Flam Squaring so exactly with the then Predominant Humour of the Rabble, not only went down without Chewing, but also spread itself so much beyond expectation, that the Authors of it soon found themselves obliged to gratify the Curiosity of some prying men of the Faction with the Grounds and Reasons of this their Belief. They had their Story at their Fingersends; Suggested a Marriage( or Contract at least) between the K. and Mrs. W. while Beyond-Sea, and that the late B. of D. had Consigned a writing( in a Black-Box) into the Custody of Sir G. G. that had been produced before several Persons, and imported as much as all This came to. This impudent Pretext met with Credit from such as were prepared to entertain what they so earnestly desired should be true; and passing from an effect of mere spite in some few, to a Subject of Loose and Idle Discourse in a great many, at length reached the Court: So that Authority( though knowing full well that it was Impossible that any thing of This should be real, yet) Searching with much Strictness of enquiry into the matter, soon detected the whole to be a most villainous Imposture; to the great Satisfaction of all honest and Peaceable men, and no less Confusion of such as had suffered themselves so easily to be Imposed upon. The Principals, in the mean time, growing Desperate, upon seeing that not only their wicked Intents were thus discovered and deseated, but also that their Credits, Flesh and all, lay at stake; their Familiar helped them out at this dead List, and prompted to the representing the Business to the Multitude, asa Contrivance of the Papists,( who( believe me) have faults enough of their own to answer for, without standing accountable for those of other people) to discredit a just Claim.  
Now they were too crafty, not to foresee that such an undertaking were to give themselves the lie, in the face of the Sun; and not to be set upon, but by, first, trampling under foot all Sense and Obligations of Truth, Conscience, Honour, common shane, and Allegiance; but to such Proficients in Wickedness, these Considerations were rather an Encouragement than a dissuasive; so that they took the Task in hand, and performed it( under the Notion of A Letter to a Person of Honour, concerning the affairs of the Black Box.) to the horror and astonishment of Christianity, nay of human Nature itself. For, pursuing the Subject of their late Appeal from the Country to the City,( though improving and supplying it with fresh additions of twenty times lewder Tenets than the former) they inserted little less than downright Treason into five of the seven Printed Pages, in which that pretended Letter is contained; and stuffed every Paragraph of it with all the falsehood, Sedition, Slander, Insolence, Contumely, and Detraction, imaginable: Only in this they have overshot themselves, that they have daubed on the Colours so abominably Thick and Unskilfully, and reasoned after so extravagant a manner,( every subsequent Period of it being a sort of Confutation of the Precedent) that there is no great danger of any sober mans being seduced into a favourable Opinion of so palpable a Cheat. They assert a Coordination of Government, cry up the Sovereign Power of the People, insinuate the King to be accountable to his Subjects, represent him capable of Self-Deposition, speak contemptuously of his Sacred Person, bring him into the Plot against his own Life, Libel the Privy Council, attaint the Blood Royal, 
a See Par. 23, 24. and Fol. 64. of Dr. Oates's Narrative of the Plot. And Ireland's trial, Fol. 22.  even in the face of the most solemn Evidence to the contrary; and fling about their poison( upon all Conditions and Qualities) at so horrid a rate, that it is enough to make a man tremble, the very Thought of it: Insomuch, that did but that illustrious Person, of whom, with a Brazon'd Front, they presume to make a Stale, for the better passing off their villainy, know where, or what they are, he has too great a sense of Honour, Duty, and Filial Tenderness, not to be the First, that should hurry them into a Court of Justice. For as he has too much Courage to be frighted out of any thing that is his Due; so has he too much Justice also, to invade the Property of another: And since the King's Declaration( which by this time possibly may have come to your Hand, and which is since past into a Record) has fully determined upon the Right of Succession, it is the Duty of every good Christian and Subject to rest satisfied, and lay aside all Contrastations upon that point. Now there is Implety in the bare Proposition of Erecting a cracked Title; beside that in all probability we should find such a Remedy worse than the Disease itself: For thus, a Personal Quarrel would be set a foot, and at the long run the Spirits of this Generous People beyond measure Disgusted, in that they must, then, be subjected to their Equal; who, to retain his Usurpation, will be forced to Repeat and Accumulate those Violences, whereof we had most woeful experience under the Old Protector: Otherwise, he will soon be made the Object of our Contempt,( as was Cromwel's Son, with his easy and Gentle way of Acting) and his Name be used only as a Cloak to cover the Avarice and Excrbitances of a Ravenous Faction. Neither, in truth, could this Project prevent a Relapse into our former Calamities, because our Fears( in that case) will ever be great and continual, and, consequently, our Charge proportionable. To be brief, all the Evils and Miseries that were brought upon us by the Army, the Rump, and all the other Architects of our Slavery in the late Times, will certainly be sound Tolerable, compared with the Genuine Effects of so Desperate and Unwarrantable a Proceeding.  
§. 7. TO this Probable Account of the Business of the Black-Box, and Representation of the mischievous Consequences of any attempt to Erect a cracked Title, or Interrupt the true Succession of the Crown, must( you say) be subjoined, an enquiry into the principal Colours and Artifices, that these Troublers of our Israel make use of, to palliate and conceal from the Dim-sighted Mobile, the poison and Disloyalty of their more secret Projects and Machinations. And truly( not knowing into what hands these Papers may fall) I shall not grudge my Pains in this particular; For although, as Islanders we cannot hope to be clear of all Tincture of levity; though we are so ingenious at starting Fears and jealousies( being most Obstinately Tenacious of our Liberties) as sometimes to deprive ourselves of the Fruition of the Present felicities, through too eager and Pensive, a solicitation for the Future; and so prove to be overheated upon the question of Religion, as to be scarce Capable of avoiding a Sylla, without being violently hurried upon the other Extreme of Mis-carrying in a Charybdis: Yet are we again generally so Just, Loyal, Conscientious, Sincere, and Resolute a People, as to fall upon Tearing any man in pieces( even though he had before, in his Disguise, taken advantage of our Credulity) that should presume in direct Terms, to recommend the Changing of the established Government, for any other Model of Policy whatsoever. And indeed This is a Truth too Notorious, ever to be put to the trial. But yet so Houd-winkt at this time, is our Reason; that the very Umbrage of the Presumptive Heirs being of the Red-Letter-Stamp, is of itself,( without any other Sleights) found Sufficient to create in us a firm Belief, that Popery, and Tyranny( the old Stales,) are breaking in upon us like a Deluge. So that with producing Arguments, to Moderate our Apprehensions as to the One; to prove the almost Impossibility of Effecting the Other, were there never so great a Disposition that way; and with an Offer at an Expedient of my own, in reference to the Security of our Religion, and Freedoms; I shall put a Period to this Tedious scribble.  
No man is more willing than myself, to grant that the Popish Religion is little better than a Compound of mere Secular Interest, hypocrisy, and Superstition; and that the very Principles of the Jesuits do inspirit and Prompt them to the acting of outrageous Violences, upon the Persons of those that enjoy a greater Light and Purity of the Gospel, than themselves. But yet I must aver( on the other hand) that, Since, through the peculiar Mercy and Providence of God, and the Indefatigable Industry and Vigilance of Authority; all their Machinations have hitherto been defeated, and their Conspiracies against Church and State rendered Abortive; it will become us both as Men and Christians, to temper our Passions, and to rest satisfied with the singular Care and Concern, that the Government vouchsafes continually to express both for our present and future safety and preservation, in all Respects. Full well I know, that nothing is of greater Concernment than the Security of that Religion, which, by the Blood of so many blessed and Glorious Martyrs, has( by Gods immediate blessing) been so firmly established amongst us. But then we are to take special heed too that we lend not over easy an Ear to such as cry up Religion, and design Faction; as cry out Zeal for the Lord of Hosts, when they intend only Self Interest; to keep up a party; an affencted way, or to be the Ipse dixit of a County: Religion has not at all prospered by undue practices to advance it. 'Tis Meekness, Patience, Humility, and other the Graces of the Spirit, that Convince and Convert; when Rigidness, Censuring and the Sword Inflame and Harden. Has not Gods power, or truth, Evidence to secure itself? let but the Gospel have Free-passage, and it will make its own way: For all true Protestants do unanimously disown the Promotion of it by the Sword, as totally Unchristian; and bequeath it to the Pope, and the Turk. Was not, now, the maintenance of our Fundamental Laws the pretence of our late Quarrel? Found we not the Spirit of the Nation roused up, upon the sound of a Trumpet? Popery, was it not decried, and Religion, Protestant Religion, judged to be in danger? Were we not called out to the battle, upon the account of Zeal, with Curse ye Meroz? And yet under our Free-Estate( as they termed it) our Religion( so much of it especially as could be called Protestant) turned into Wantonness; and our Divisions became so great, that we durst not exasperate, by advancing that Idol of the Presbyters, Discipline; nor indeed could we, if we durst; for the most active of our Statists, If they had any Religion at all 'twas that of the Sectary, which they owned as the main Supporter of their Model, whose Interest it was to give Licentiousness to all. As for Laws, those which we adored for Excellency and Antiquity, they were( by them) of necessity altered, in our Freedoms of Person and Estate, wherein true Liberty is principally concerned: For when the House of Commons( or rather the Rump of it) had engrossed the sovereign Power; they both Imposed Taxes, and levied them, by virtue of a trifling Ordinance, which could never be done before, but by an Act of Parliament, solemnly and regularly passed by the King and the Three Estates: And having of Tribunes of the people,( as it were) and their Bulwark against High Payments, and Impressures, demanded by the King, advanced themselves into the degree of Princes; they took upon them to assess and impress us at pleasure; and we might complain as long as we would of the Reiterated burden; but there was no remedy but Patience; because no Appeal left us, themselves being both Parties and Judges.  
I could hearty wish there were at present no more reason to be apprehensive of Popery, than there was in those days: But yet, let his R. H's. persuasion be what it will, this I 'm sure of, that Dr. oats has deposed upon Oath, that the Jesuits were so far from saying or acting indifferently, as to his person, that in their Hellish Plot, they had markd him out also for Slaughter, with his most Royal, most Protestant Brother. Now the late marquis of Argyle was wont to lay it down as a Principle in Policy, that it was the Character of a wise man, not to let the World know what Religion he was of: But( for my own part) I cannot in Charity but hope the best( as to Christian tenderness and moderation in Religious concernments) of a Person, that has been so Lectur'd and tutored by our late Glorious Martyr,( as well as by Experience) into a Veneration for, and a perseverance in that Pure, Reformed Religion; the Principles of which he sucked in with his very Milk, and in Defence of which his ever blessed Father laid down his most precious Life upon a Scaffold. You may red his words thus. I do require you, ( addressing to his present Majesty) as your Father, and your King, that you never suffer your Heart to receive the least Check against, or Disaffection from the True Religion established in the Church of England: I tell you I have tried it, and after much Search, and many Disputes, have concluded it to be the best in the World, not only in the Community, as Christian, but also in the special Notion, as Reformed; keeping the middle way between the pomp of Superstitious Tyranny, and the meanness of fantastic Anarchy, &c. To this sense, spake he, when he had no more to speak.  
As to the apprehensions of Tyranny, I hope( by what I have already delivered in the Body of this Discourse) it appears, that there is less ground to fear it, than many people might before imagine; for that it is next to an Impossibility to introduce it. And upon probable grounds, I persuade myself, that should the Duke ever have the occasion offered, yet would he be wiser than to make trial of the Experiment; knowing so well as he must needs do, that should the English Liberties be violated in the example but of any one single Person, all the ties of Conscience and Allegiance would hardly be sufficient to restrain the Nation from holding itself concerned upon that account, and apprehended itself ready for the Fetters; whereby, what with Fear, what with Hate, such a storm would be raised, as might shake the surest Foundations of the Government; and so very much has Majesty already suffered by the Fury of the People, that it has no reason to be over earnest upon a fresh encounter of it.  
But 'tis farther Objected( it seems) that there is a Vindictive and Implacable Spirit in the Case. Now this is most manifest( indeed) that there have been provocations to the height; but shall we therefore continue to provoke, because we have begun? 'Tis a Rule( you know) that he that does wrong, never forgives, but he that has wrong, may. The Interest of Revenge is passionate, but the Interest of Profit arises from a passion that prevails more; and he is very weak, that anteposes Rumour and vain Passion, when it stands in Competition with his Safety. To speak home, Interest rules the whole World, and Princes( as others) do more intend the establishing of their own Greatness, than a petty Revenge that may hazard it: But for this search we the Experiences of past Ages. Henry the Great of France, was so far from punishing any of the holy League, that laboured, by all means possible, to keep him from his Right, and to murder him, that( on the contrary) he employed those very Persons that had been his main Opposites, in his Armies, in his Offices, and in his Councils. And what shall we say of King James, who sent Messages, made Vows, menaced Revenge, and all to prevent that fatal Stroke from falling upon his Mother,( the Queen of Scots) under Queen Eliz. but to no effect. Observe the Issue now: Shortly Q. Eliz. dies, and those very Lords that acted personally in the Mothers Death, were the most forward to court the Son to the Crown, and he became established with all Prerogatives incident to the English sceptre. What? Acts he in the way of Revenge? No; he, like a wise Prince, feeling the warmth of so rich a Climate, generously pardons the injury of his Mother, and we red not of so much as one of those Nobles, or their Issue, that suffered Diminution by any Resentment, upon that account. His wise Father also, that had been beaten into the knowledge of the English Spirit, writes thus: Let no Passion( my Son) betray you to any study of Revenge upon those whose own Sin and Folly will sufficiently punish them in due time: Be confident that most of all Sides that have done Amiss, have done so, not out of Malice, but Mis-information, or Mis-apprehension of Things. None will be more Loyal to Me or You, than those Subjects, who, sensible of Their Errors, and Our Injuries, will feel, in their own Souls, most vehement motions to Repentance, and earnest desires to make some Reparations for their former Defects, &c. The like said he at his last hour. But why do we Doubt or Distrust? May we not have a Protestant Parliament upon all Exigencies? Have we not a Protestant Council, a Protestant Militia, a Protestant Clergy, and a Protestant People? what( in reason) can we desire more, toward our future security?  
§. 8. YOU will not expect from me( I 'm sure) that I should so acquit myself of every Objection, as to leave all men satisfied; especially such as carry a bias of Preferment, Profit, or Faction: Men that have in design Exorbitances of Power, or Wealth, will hardly, with Arguments, be reclaimed: And some there are( I know) that have so long possessed their Heads with strong Notions, that they are not capable to take in Reason, against them; and thereupon, run on frantic in Error, till there be a Rotation in their Brains: Such there are, who with Confidence, so often have  told a lie, that, at length, themselves come to believe it to be a Truth: But we shall be too wise( I hope, should ever that day come) to prefer the Interest or Wilfulness of a Few, to the Safety and Welfare of the Whole. I shall not deny, yet, that it is easier to demonstrate what may be Evil, than positively to assert what will be Good: but however comparing Times with Things,( as is above represented) I doubt not to Evidence, that to keep where we are, and to be contented with our Lot, is a Course much rather to be embraced, as that which, in great probability may be Good; than, by pushing at Incertainties, to pull down most lamentable Confusions and Desolations upon our own Heads, which of necessity must be Evil. I therefore ever was, and still am of opinion, that it is both our Interest and our Duty to embrace, with Open Arms, the late, ample, generous Offers of his most Gracious Majesty, in order to Provisions for our future Security, in point of Freedom and Religion: As for the Rest, let us but have our Good Old Laws duly put in Execution; and then( by Gods assistance) we shall be in a Capacity to defy the Pope, the Devil, and all their Works, come what will come.  
§. 9. Thus, Sir, have I run through the several Heads that you were pleased to propound: And if, by what I have written, I be so fortunate as to make your Friend a Convert, 'twill be an infinite satisfaction to me; because, thereby I may hope to save a Soul; but, at the worst, I may say with the Text, that I shall hid a multitude of Sins. Now should I frame twenty Excuses to you for the Length, the Inequality, the Insufficiency, nay, and for the Boldness and Presumption of this Discourse; but I have neither Will nor Leisure to Trifle at such a rate: I am conscious to myself( no man more) of my great want of Abilities, requisite for an Undertaking of such Weight and Importance; only I was resolved to let you see, that no Considerations whatsoever were of force( with me) to withstand the Authority of your Commands. I have unbosom'd myself to you, Sir,( under the protection of a Private Letter) with all the Frankness and Simplicity imaginable; not doubting but you will make such use of it, as shall not redound to the Disadvantage of.  
SIR, Your most Obedient Servant,   

Some Books lately Published by James Vade, at the Cock and Sugar-Loaf near St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet.  
THe Sovereign, or a Political Discourse upon the Office and Obligations. of the Supreme Magistrate.  
The True Protestant Subject; or the Nature and Rights of sovereignty discussed and stated.  
A Brief Survey.( Historical and Political) of the Life and Reign of Henry the Third, King of England.  
A Seasonable-Memento, both to King and People, upon this Critical Juncture of Affairs.  
The Mystery and Method of his Majesties Happy Restauration laid open to public View: By John Prince, D. D. one of the late Duke of Albemarle's Chaplains, and Privy to all the Secret Passages and Particularities of that Glorious Revolution.   
FINIS.