THE CHARACTER OF A Bigoted Prince, etc.   

THE CHARACTER OF A Bigoted Prince; AND WHAT ENGLAND May Expect from the Return of such a One.  
Licenced, May the 9th, J. F. 1691.  
LONDON: Printed, for Richard Baldwin, at the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-lane, 1691.   

THE CHARACTER OF A Bigoted Prince, etc.  
IT has been the great unhappiness of the Kingdom of England, for some Years last passed, to be troubled with two very Different sort of Persons of quite contrary Tempers; the one Party of so very Costive a Faith, that they could believe nothing, and the other of so easy a Belief that they could swallow every thing; the first of these could not see the Sun of Truth in its brightest Meridian; and even Mathematical Demonstration signified nothing in order to persuade them; they could not (or at least would not) see their Native Country hurried to the very Jaws of Ruin, and imitated Nero in his stupidity, who could unconcernedly Tune his Harp when Rome was in Flames; every thing about 'em seemed pleasant and gay, they never suffered their minds to be ruffled with anxious Thoughts for the Future, so they enjoyed the present, and observed in the Literal (but corrupted) sense the command of our Saviour, to take no care for the Morrow; the most surprising Relations moved them not a jot, and they gave as equal a Credit to an Information or Confession upon Oath, as they would have allowed to a Chapter in Rabelais his History of Garagantua.  
The other were of a quite different stamp, they could credit the most improbable Stories, and the most far fetched Lies were with them esteemed as Oracles; they were ever at Coffeehouses or places of such resort, still listening to every idle Pamphleteer's Discourse, with more Attention than to a Sermon; they could not see a Chimney on Fire, but immediately some Treachery they believed was in agitation; and a Drunken Midnight Quarrel in the Streets Alarmed their Thoughts into the Belief of a Massacre; they had nothing in their Mouths but Plots and Designs; and Holy Writ itself stood upon the same bottom in their Creed with some Witnesses Depositions; their Imagination hag-rid with Suspicious and Fears, daily presented them with such frightful Scenes, that they were not only uneasy to themselves, but likewise to all about them, which rendered their Days unpleasant, and their Night's unquiet, insomuch that some of them durst not go to Bed for fear next Morning they should wake and find their Throats Cut.  
From these two very corrupt Humours in the late times; were produced those two odious Characters of Whig and Tory, which were banded about so long in Jest, that they soon turned Earnest, and he was thought either a Knave or a Blockhead who would not suffer himself to be Dignified or Distinguished by one of those Titles. This Humour continued for some Years with great Violence and Disorder, during the latter end of the Reign of K. Charles the Second; in all which time 'tis obvious whoever wore the Crown, a great Person then at Court managed Affairs at the Helm.  
That great Prince (who had seen both the Extremes of a Prosperous and an Adverse Fortune) by his Death Yielded the Throne to his only Brother, in the beginning of whose Reign the two Discriminating Names before mentioned seemed to have been utterly forgotten; the former in seeing a Prince the Darling of their thoughts and wishes now become a Monarch, and the latter in their mistaken apprehensions of his unexpected Clemency in affording them Liberty of Conscience.  
The Storm was now abated, and men's Tempers grew more composed, the Virtues of the Sovereign filled every Mouth with His Praises; His Goodness, His Justice, and His Piety was the Theme of common Discourse, and nothing but the Name of James the Just heard in the most ordinary Conversations.  
It does not become a Subject too nicely to inquire into the Miscarriages of a Crowned Head; but this must be confessed; very ill things were done, even to the Alteration of the fundamentals both of our Religion and Government; and this must be owned by every one whose Ears are not stopped by invincible Prejudice or Partiality.  
'Twould be vain labour to descend to particulars in a Discourse which is designed to be of another Nature. The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, tho' long time Abrogated by the coming of our Saviour, hinders not, nor forbids me to reflect on the Dangers I escaped in the Wilderness. I may Lawfully, I think, select such Days in the Year to consider how Corporations were Regulated, Bishops Imprisoned, and other Irregularities committed in the late Reign, without assembling a Conventicle, and there in some lewd Harrang swell every Miscarriage to a prodigious greatness. The Actions of Princes (Evil ones especially) are their own proper Heralds, and every one of his Subjects carries some short Remarks of his Reign in their Memories.  
I do not believe that History can parallel the Joys and Triumphs of any Nation upon their Deliverance from Oppression, with the universal Triumphs of the English upon the never to be forgotten late Revolution; they seemed like Men kept a long time in Durance, and now were blest with the sweets of Liberty; nay, even some of our present Murmerers themselves were most forwardly Active to show their Zeal for the than Prince of Orange, who by his coming seemed to open the Scene of a new World, and restore the English to the Poet's time of the Golden Age again.  
But like true Israelites, we long again for the Onions and Garlic of Egypt, and would fain be under our old Taskmasters once more; the Wound which was seemingly Healed, is now broke out again, and what we lost in the Ancient Tory, we find revived in the Modern Jacobite.  
We were told in a Prophetic Discourse some years since, what Treatment we were to expect if a Prince of the Romish Communion should settle upon the Throne; the effects of which every one who is not wilfully Blind must acknowledge. Did he not drive Jehu-like in a full Career to Rome? Were not his Emisaries in every great Town in England Regulating Corporations, and Poisoning the Minds of the People with Popish Doctrines? Were not all places of Trust both Civil and Military filled up with those of the Romish Faith, or others whom he made use of for his own ends? Were they not come to an excessive height of Impudence both in their Sermons and Discourses? Was not the Torrent swelled so high that they hourly expected the Deluge? Were not the Fences of the Law (the Security of the Subject) attempted to be broke down? And Magna Charta, when in Opposition to the Princes will, be valued no more than a cancelled Deed of Conveyance; Was not an Ambassador sent to Rome, and a Nuntio Entertained here (to settle the Protestant Religion no doubt) and a thousand other Practices committed as directly opposite to the Interest of the English Nation, as Fire is contrary to Water. Was all this done in a corner? Were not their Actions as barefaced as the Sun? And after all this, and the Deliverance we Enjoy, must we go into the House of Bondage again, and put on those Fetters we so lately shaken off?  
Let the seeming warmth of this Parenthesis be a little excused; yet I must confess, such considerations as these are almost valid enough to justify a Passion, and make Anger appear no Fault; for were the Roman Catholics the only Asserters of the Rights of the late King James, the wonder would be little; bodies often Sympathize at a distance, and they by several Obligations are bound to wish him Success; and while they terminate in empty Hopes, let them still regale themselves with their airy Diet; I pity the deluded Creatures, but cannot blame them, because they Act upon their own Principles; and 'twould be as unnatural for them not to Pray for his Return, as for a Cardinal, in hopes of the Popedom, to wish success to the Protestant Forces; or a Calvinist to Drink a Health to Monsieur Catinat: But when a sort of Men guided, as they pretend, by the Dictates of an unerring Conscience, shall at this time of day openly declare for an exploded Interest, and these Protestants too, Men no ways leven'd with Popery, or any of her Doctrin's, but Zealous Maintainers of the Church of England, Devout and Pious, Charitable and Just, in the chief Employments of the Church, and the Brightest of the Golden Candlesticks: For these so openly to declare their Aversion to this Present Government, and their Fondness for the Last, is what does not a little elevate and surprise (to use an Expression of Mr. Bays) and comes almost as near to a Miracle as Transubstantiation.  
A late very Eminent Doctor of the Church, when the Prosecution was Violent against the Dissenters, wrote a most Learned Tract, concerning the Nicety of a Scrupulous Conscience; wherein he very curiously Anatomizes the several Meanders and turnings of that invisible Operation, and Proves that Humour, Discontent and Interest do frequently wear the Livery of Conscience. How nice soever some may be in point of Religion, I wish these Gentlemen could acquit themselves from the forementioned Disguise with which they masquerade their Political Conscience.  
One would wonder what strange bewitching Sophistry the Church of Rome makes use of to blind the Understandings of her Votaries, to that degree, that they are continually mistaking their own Interest, and tamely to deliver up their Bodies, Souls, Reputation and Fortunes for the Reversion of Purgatory hereafter, only for the slight gratification of their humours here; and I appeal to the greatest asserter of King James his Interest, if they can produce any Crowned Head in England since the Conquest, who was half so Infatuated and bigoted to the Interest of the See of Rome, as the late King: Indeed we Read of a Religious Edward, and a Pious, Devout Henry; but our English History cannot afford us one Instance of a Prince who would Sacrifice his own Honour, his Kingdom's Safety, his Interest Abroad, and the Love of his Subjects at Home, merely out of a mistaken Zeal to the Advancement of the Romish Faith; the most solemn Oaths and Protestations esteemed no more than words of Course; and that which was held Sacred amongst all mankind, valued as nothing in competition with a Command from the Apostolic Chair: The old Lady at Rome with all her Wrinkles, has still some Charms to subdue great Princes; and though she has Abused, Deposed, and Murdered so many of her Lovers, yet she finds every day some new Admirers who are proud of her Charms; a Practice which comes as near a Miracle, as any that Church in her Legends can boast of; and I hope some passages in the late Reign are not so forgotten, but they may serve to justify the truth of the Assertion.  
Indeed for our amusement we were once told by a popular Pen, That allowing a King upon the English Throne, Principled for Arbitrary Government and Popery, yet he was Clogged and Shackled with Popular and Protestant Laws, that if he had ne'er so great a mind to't, there was not a Subject in his Dominions would dare to serve him in his Design. How true this Assertion has since proved, let any indifferent person judge; the late King himself both dared and found no small number of his Subjects as resolute as their Master, to alter the whole Frame of the English Government; he found not Men only of his own Communion, but Men of all Religions, or rather of no Religion at all, whose desperate Fortunes push't'em on to the most daring Enterprises; his single Command added Life to their Motions; and no wonder he found Tools to Work withal, when all the Obligations of Law were shrunk into the small compass of a Princes Will, and the musty Lines of Magna Charta dwindled to a Sic volo, sic jubeo.  
Several other artifices were used, to let us conceive a Popish Prince no such terrible Bugbear as common Fame represents him; as that the Idolatrous Superstition of the Church of Rome was by a long series of time so worn off the minds of the People, and the Reformation so strongly Rooted, the Church of England so firmly Established, the Romanists so detested for their Innovations in Doctrine and Absurdity in Ceremonies, etc. that it was impossible ever to fix Popery here: But, alas, 'twas mere Delusion, we quickly saw through the Juggle, and the State-Quacks discovered their Leigerdemain tricks too openly; and had not Almighty God by a most surprising, and almost unparlleled Providence Delivered us, I know not by this time, but that the Name Protestant had been as odious in England, as the Term of Huguenot is now in France; and the Dominicans and Franciscans left their Cells in Lincolns-Inn-Fields and the Savoy, to have Sung their Regina Coelorum in all the Cathedrals in England.  
I am not Ignorant how some Persons do still Magnify the Merits of the late King, as to his Private Virtues, as his being Descended of the Blood Royal, his Inviolable tenderness for his Friend, the exact Correspondency of his Mouth and Heart, his Courage against the Dutch, etc. but these were glimmering Rays of his, which shined upon some few only; for when he came to his Meridian, they changed their Nature, and the scorching Beams of his Zeal for his Religion got the Ascenednt of all his other Accomplishments, which so clouded his discerning Faculties, that he mistook his Friends for his Enemies, and his Enemies for his Friends; the most sage and deliberate Advices given him in opposition to beloved Jesuits, were censured as intrenchments upon his Prerogative, and the single Ipse Dixit of Father Peter, valued above the Joint Council of the Realm; the Colleges of Oxford and Cambridg esteemed as Nurseries of Heretics, and the Precedent and Fellows of Magdelen College most illegally Ejected from their just Rights, to receive upon the Foundation a sort of Sparks who were neither Scholars nor Gentlemen. Privilege was swallowed up by Prerogative, and Know I am your King, was a Supersedeas to all manner of humble Petitions and Remonstrances; his Priests, those fatal Scorpions, he so hugged in his Bosom, were the chief Incendiaries, and contrary to our known Laws, swarmed over from Douai and St. Omers, greedily gaping after Preferments, which they needed not have wanted, could his Will alone have placed them in Ecclefiastical Dignities; they must be humbly content with Titular and Imaginary Bishoprics in Nubibus, till the stubborn Heretics who Enjoyed 'em, would at once part with their Reasons and their Livings together.  
But the greatest occasion of his Arbitrary Government, and the Aera from whence he may date all his late Misfortunes, was his Friendship with the French King, a right Son of Ishmael, whose Hand is lifted up against every Man's, and every Man's against his; a Man who has not one single Virtue to counterbalance that prodigious stock of Vices which harbour in his Breast; a Man who has built a Reputation upon the Ruins of his Neighbours Kingdoms; and yet with this gallic Nimrod did the Unfortunate King James contract a most lasting Alliance.  
I perceive I am stopped in my Assertion, and a little Dabbler in Politics challenges me to prove the Contract: 'Tis true, we cannot show the Original Deed, with their Signets and Names affixed to it; but he must surely be Delivered over to Unbelief, who cannot credit such Circumstances as serve to clear the matter from all doubt or hesitation: Who Promoted the Marriage of the Duke with the Princess of Modena? Who Defrayed the Charges of her Journey, and Paid the greatest part of her Fortune, but the French King? If this will not satisfy, pray examine Coleman's Letter to Sir William Throgmorton; the Duke's then agent at the French Court, where he tells him, That when the Duke comes to be Master of our Affairs, the King of France will have all reason to promise himself all that he can desire; for according to the Duke's mind, the Interest of the King of England, the King of France, and his Own, are so closely bound up together, that 'tis impossible to separate them one from the other, without the ruin of them all three; but being joined, they must notwithstanding all opposition, become Invincible: There are other Letters between Mr. Coleman and Father le Chaise which carry such undeniable Marks of a Contract between King James when Duke of York and Lovis le Grand, that none but those Devested of common Sense, can have reason to doubt it: If this is not thoroughly convincing, let any one consult the Memorial given in by Monsieur d' Avaux, the French Ambassador at the Hague, Sept. 9th 1688, which if the curious Reader desire to see at length, I refer him to the 1st Vol. of Mercurius Reformatus, or the New Observator, No. 5. wherein the Ingenuous Author of that Paper, does prove it beyond all possibility of Contradiction. There are several other Arguments as unquestionable as the former, which for brevity's sake, I omit.  
And now 'tis time to breathe a while, and consider what are the those Regal Virtues, of which, if a Prince has not a share, he will hardly answer the expectations of his People, nor the ends of Government; they are generally reckoned to be Piety, Prudence, Justice, and Valour; but if his Piety degenerates into Biggottism, his Prudence into unsteady Timerousness, his Justice into acts of Cruelty and Severity, and his Valour into Rashness and Obstinacy; what ever his Flatterers may say of him, yet certainly he is unfit to Govern.  
Let the Reader apply the Character where he pleases, and find a Crowned Head whereon to fix these four Vices, by another name called Virtues. How much of the Comparison may fall to the late King's share, we know not; but of his Bigotry, Zeal, (or what other Name you please) to his Religion, I believe by this time the World wants not to be convinced; for if for Arguments sake we should allow (what we cannot believe) viz. a Merit in Religious Actions, certainly the late King has bid the fairest for Cononization, after his Death, of all the Crowned Heads who have lived these two Centuries, who would Sacrifice three Kingdoms to the Capricios of a Priest; but be it unto him according to his Faith; and indeed it is but just he should expect a Crown in Heaven, if for its sake he has lost one on Earth.  
This in a few Lines we have given the Character of a Bigoted unfortunate Prince: But leaving him at his Devotions, let us a little return homewards, and observe a sort of Men who are so very Impatient under this Government, that their very Looks express their Discontent; they are as uneasy, though in the Sunshine of Liberty, as the Slaves at Algeirs are with their Chains; they cannot take an Oath to a Government that will Protect 'em, and nothing will ever satisfy them, but the Return of their Old Master.  
Good God to what stupidity is Mankind arrived? To dislike the most easy Government in the World, to Espouse that which is the most Barbarous in its Nature: A Government that in measures of Cruelty exceeds even the most Savage Communities on the Coast of India! A Government so debauched with false Religion, that considering the Interest of Mankind, and the ill usage it exposes men's Persons and Fortunes to, it could be almost wished that such a Religion had never been known in the World. In the name of Wonder, what would these Gentlemen have? They were many of them (at least many pretended to be) uneasy under the last, when Popery and Arbitrary Government seemed to come as an Armed Man; and now they are almost beyond the possibility of such Fears, they Murmur: Of what Mercurial Temper are the English composed, that they can never be settled? Popery was once their Terror, and now that is removed, they fear they know not what; like Men in Fevers, they are Restless in this Bed, and when removed to another, are as uneasy in that. I appeal to any of them, if the pressures that gawl their Shoulders, either in their Persons or Fortunes, was not brought upon themselves by their own perverse Obstinacy, for which Conscience is still the pretence; the Government would have them Live easy, and enjoy their Estates and Preferments both Civil and Ecclesiastical, nor would molest them while quiet they might sit under their Vines and under their Figtrees, but they will not; and if Men will turn themselves out of all, in compliance to a humour, who can help it?  
It must be confessed, that when once the Persons of Kings grow Contemptible, or little in the Eyes of their Subjects, their smallest Miscarriages are Magnified to that degree, as very often Terminates in their Ruin: But there is an Error on the other hand, when the worst Actions of Princes shall be thought Innocent (for according to some persons Creed, a King can do no wrong) and the belief of Passive Obedience is carried so high, that even his Arbitrary Proceedings shall be winked at: This is to exceed even the Arts of the Turkish Policy, who pay not a greater Veneration of their Grand Signiors, than some of our Zealots do to the late King, they solemnly drink his Health upon their Knees, and Pray for him in their Private Devotions affectionately; nor do they forget him in the Public Liturgies of the Church, for every one knows the secret Mystery of Bless and Protect the King our Governor. To be short, nothing will serve them but his Return, to Redeem them out of their imaginary Bondage; for this they Wish, for this they Pray: Nay, the Jews themselves do not at this day with greater impatience and mistaken Zeal expect the coming of the Messias, than these kind of Men do for the Restauration of King James to his Crown and Dignity.  
Let us therefore a little examine what specious Pretences they have for such an Ambition; and though indeed they are as shy of Revealing the Secret, as they would be of a Fairy Treasure; yet by some expressions occasionally dropped in Conversation, 'tis not very hard to Conjecture some of them.  
As first, they are great pretenders to Moral Justice; they say King James had a great deal of Wrong done him, and being their Sovereign Prince, they are Obliged to see him Righted. Are they so? but who gave them the Commission? Their Conscience, they will tell you, but their Conscience is so great a Riddle, that it will never be Expounded; their Conscience would have King James in his Throne again, though never so much Bloodshed and Miseries might ensue; their fondness to his Person closes their Eyes and stops their Ears to all the Calamities their fellow Subjects must necessarily suffer by such a Revolution; nay, this very Conscience of theirs, was one of the chief occasions which prompted the late King to commit those Arbitrary Actions in his shortlived Reign; they told him he might do what he pleased, and for his Actions, was accuntable to none but God, though he should turn upsidedown our Laws, Religion, and Liberties, and that we were tamely to submit our Necks to the Blow when ever he should Command it, in spite of Laws, though it were in the Power of our Hands to save ourselves by a just Defence. No wonder then upon such considerations as these, and prompted by the Native Cruelty of his own Religion, he permitted those unaccountable Actions to be committed; and he is as much beholding to those fiery sticklers for the loss of his Crown, as he was to Father Pretre's, and other Jesuetick Advice.  
It is the Nature of Mankind to covet Liberty, and to have all things about them easy and free: Now I would ask these Gentlemen what greater Freedom they can expect, were their beloved Prince Reinstated in his Throne again, than what they now Enjoy? Are not their Fortunes secured to them by the best Laws in the World? Who goes about to Invade their Properties, or divest them of their Estates? Yes, they Reply, some Bishops and other Ecclesiastical Persons have lost their Livings and Means of Subsistence, because:— Yes, the Because is very well known, because they cannot take the Oaths. It would have been wished, that those Reverend Persons would have Informed the World with the Reasons of their Noncompliance, which might have regulated the unthinking minds of some of their bigoted Followers, who outdo even the Votaries of the Church of Rome in an Implicit Faith; and believe 'tis not Lawful for them to Swear to the Government, because Dr. such a one refuses the Oaths. A very pretty conclusion; but allowing it to be Conscience in their own acceptation, I believe when Humour, Prejudice, and some other niceties are separated from it, the thing called Conscience will appear in this Case but an Airy Notion.  
Some of the most Moderate of them, I confess, who are great Lovers of the late King, could wish him here again without the Assistance of the French; but if their Faith was but as strong and powerful as their Hopes, they might certainly remove Mountains, and join the Alps to St. Michaels-Mount in Cornwall; but these are Wishes as Improbable as they are Impossible to be Effected; for you may as easily separate Heat from Fire, or Moisture from Water, as divide the Interests of King James, from those of Lewis the Fourteenth; no, no, like Hypocrates his Twins they must Live and Dye together; and therefore these sort of Men deserve rather our Pity than our Laughter.  
But there are another sort who will have their Old Master return again, though by never such indirect Means; and are as glad when they hear of the Success of the French Arms, as they would be to Receive the News of the Death of some Decrepit Relation of theirs, who by his Exit, leaves them a plentiful Estate. And let Mons and Flanders, Savoy, and all the Confederate Countries be reduced to heaps of Ruins, so their Dear King may come to his Throne again, though he Entered the City of London with Luxemburgh and Boufflers at the Head of fifty Thousand French Dragoons.  
These are hopeful Protestants i'faith, blessed Reformers and Defenders of the Christian Church; fresh Straw and a dark Chamber, cooling Purges, Leeches and Blood-letting are only fit for such as these; they are Mad beyond the cure of Hellebore: But because it is necessary sometimes to Answer a Fool according to his Folly. Let us ask 'em what mighty Mischiefs have the Dukes of Savoy, and Bavaria, the Electors of Brandenburg, Mentz, and Cologne, the Emperor of Germany, the King of Spain, and the United Provinces done these Gentlemen, that they are so mighty Angry with them, and could wish the Sculls of all their Subjects were to Pave the way for King James his Accession to ae forfeited Throne? how came these involved in the Quarrel? must King James his supposed Right, like Pharoah's Lean Kine, swallow up all other Prince's Properties? What has he done to be so much the Darling of Mankind, that other men's Glories must be Eclipsed to make his Glimmering Rays shine the Brighter? Are great Britain, France and Ireland, to be the only Goshen, and must there be Darkness all over Europe besides? These Men are a most strange sort of Political Predestinarians, who will allow no Peace nor Plenty to any but their Master and his Friends; and it is hard to be determined, whether Folly or Madness has the greatest share in the Composition of their Hopes. All Pity and Humanity to their fellow Creatures is laid aside, and they seem to exceed the Indian Cannibals in acts of Cruelty, for how severe they may be to Strangers, they yet seldom Devour those of their own Tribe; no Man that hears 'em Discourse, can certainly keep within the bounds of Moderation; for who ever has the patience to hear their Arguments, will certainly expect better Reasons in Bedlam, from the Lucida Intervalla of a Lunatic.  
The Love of ones Country, was ever by the most Polite Nations, esteemed as the Characteristical mark of a Noble Soul, and Vincit Amor Patriae, seemed to be Written in indelible Marks upon their Breasts; for this the ancient Greeks and Romans were Famous. Remarkable to this purpose is the Relation Livy gives us of Curtius a Noble Roman, who when the Earth was sunk with a wide Gap in the Middle of the Forum, and it was told, it would not come together again, unless some Prime young Nobleman were put into it; he to Deliver his Country, mounted on Horseback, Road into the Gaping Chasma: But we on the contrary, have a sort of Men amongst us, who would gladly see their Native Soil overrun with a knot of Villains, to gratify one Man's Lust of Power on the one hand, and their unaccountable Humour on the other. I would fain ask them, supposing the possibility of such Success, whether the French Arms are so well bred, as to distinguish them from the rest of the English Sufferers by such a Revolution (to which that of the Goths and Vandals in Italy, was but a civil Visit)? I fear like Tarpeia the Vestal Virgin, who Covenanted with the Sabines to betray the Capitol to them, for what they wore on their left Arms; but when they were Entered, into of Bracelets which she intended, they threw their Targets upon her, and Pressed her to Death; so would these very Men Suffer in the Common Calamity; for the French, as well as other Nations, agree in this, That though they Love the Treason, they Hate the Traitors.  
To Invert a little the Words of Mr. Dryden to the Reader, before his Poem of Absalon and Achitophel, Every Man is a Knave or an Ass on the Contrary Side; and there's a Treasury of Merits in Sam's Coffeehouse, as well as in Richard's at the Temple; but the longest Chapter in Deuteronomy has not Curses enough for wellwishers to the French.  
It was the Speech of a Moderate Gentleman in the Long Parliament, when the Faction in the House of Commons was high against the Bishops, and the Established Church, Gentlemen, (says he) let us see the Model of your New intended Superstructure, before you pull down the Old one. If we should ask some of these Fiery Bigots for the Interest of the late King, what Advantages they can propose to themselves by his Return; unless like the unrewarded poor expecting Caviliers at the Restauration of King Charles the Second, they can be content to be Loyal and Starve; for if the latter end of King James his imaginary Reign, should be of a piece with his first real beginning, he will still neglect his truest Friends, and stick close to Flattering Enemies. With so deep a Root has the Advice of a Chancellor, about the year 1660, still remained in the Breasts of the Princes, Oblige your Enemies, and your Friends will be true to your Interest.  
But I have wandered from my Subject, by a long, but I hope, not very Impertinent Digression, and therefore (ask my Reader's Pardon) return to my Subject, or rather the Applicatory part of it. We have seen the Character of the Prince and his bigoted followers; And as all things are best set off by Examples, let us now draw a Parallel or Landscape of the two different Complexions of the Reigns of King William and Queen Mary, and King James, and what we are unavoidably to Expect, should Almighty God in the Course of his Providence, for our Punishment, and the gratification of some restless Spirits, bring King James to his Throne again: Of the Ease and Tranquillity of the first we are certain, but of the Horror of the latter, the most terrible Ideas we can form of it in our Imaginations will come short of the Life; for as the safety we now enjoy, almost exceeds our Hopes; so the Stripes we must then feel, will transcend our very Fears.  
In the Person of the King, we have a Prince who is truly (what the Historian says of Titus) Humani generis Deliciae, who has centred in his Person all the Valour and Wisdom of his Ancestors: A Prince so truly Great, that those Laurels which add such Lustre to another's Brow, look but faintly on His, He needing no additional Varnish to set off His Native Goodness: A Prince, Born to be the Arbiter of Christendom, whom all the Crowned Heads and States of Europe Adore as the only Person who must break the Jaws of the French Leviathan: Not the greatest Dangers which so terrify pusilanimous minds, can at all move Him, who caring not for an inactive inglorious Greatness, exposed his Sacred Person to Rescue these ungrateful Kingdoms from the moct insupportable Tyranny of Arbitrary Power; since which, in Ireland he gave most Invincible Proofs both of his Courage and Conduct; the United Force of Europe could not concert their Measures against France, till his Presence Influenced their Counsels at the Hague, to which he went through a thousand Perils at Sea; after a short Return, He is now gone again to Flanders to head that Prodigious Army: Victory seems to accompany him in Attempts of War, and his worst Enemies must own him to have the very Soul of Courage.  
In the Person of the Queen, we have a Second Queen Elizabeth; but with respect to her Sacred Ashes, we may say, the Copy far exceeds the Original. Never did a Crowned Lady show more Conduct and Magnanimity than when the French Fleet was upon our Coast, when her Illustrious Husband was Fight in Ireland: A Princess, whose thousand Charms make her fit to Rule, and Command even Respect from her very Enemies (if any such there are;) her Majesty is Tempered with so much Mildness, that at the same time, she neither invites nor forbids Access; the Glory of her own Sex, and the Admiration of ours.  
Under these two Illustrious Persons is England, etc. at this time Governed by the most exact Laws that ever were made, the Prerogative of the King not Dominating over the Privileges of the People, the Church of England Flourishes, not withstanding the Peevishness of some of her Votaries; and the Dissenters enjoy their Liberty of Conscience without Design: The great Blessing of this Nation, viz. the Parliament, does frequently Meet, and their Votes are Unanimous for Supplies for the Nations Good: The Taxes by them Levied are (excepting by some few discontented Spirits) willingly Paid, and the People satisfied that their Money is Employed for the uses intended, not Lavishly and Unaccountably thrown away on Pensioners, etc. every Man enjoys his Plentiful or Competent Fortune, with all the freedom Imaginable; no Tricks are made use of to Decoy us into Slavery; from the very Prospect of which, the King designs by his utmost Endeavours to free us by appearing himself in Person at the Head of the Confederate Army, in opposition to the Power of France: He designing to Rescue the Glory of the English Nation from that Stupidity, the Luxury, and Effeminacy of the late Reigns had obscured it with; and we have nothing to render us unhappy but our own groundless Fears and Jealousies, in which unaccountable Humour, if we still persist, like the Seditious amongst the Jews, we shall do ourselves more Mischief within the Walls, than our Enemies could possibly do without, when the Glory of their City and Nation yielded to the Arms of the Romans, who could never have Conquered them, had not their Murmurers within done more Execution to themselves, than all the Battering Rams of Titus could possibly Effect against their Walls.  
But now to show the Reverse of the Medal. If King Jame's return to reassume his justly Forfeited Right, as no Human Reason can possibly suppose him to come in without the Assistance of the French, let us consider what a Field of Blood will our Country be; he coming in like a Conqueror, will make us quickly Feel the Difference between the Easy Government we now Live under, and the Insupportable Tyranny we must then endure; his imaginary Zeal for the Defence of the Protestant Religion, being long since quenched by the Affronts he pretends to have suffered by those of that Communion; then will Rome Erect her Standard in Defiance to all the Methods of the Reformation, and Popery become the standing Religion of the Nation.  
It cannot be supposed that the Instructions he has Received from his great Patron Lewis, will easily be forgot; and he who when in a private Capacity would ever hardly forgive one whom he supposed had done him Wrong, will now be hardly brought to forget a National Indignity; he will never certainly listen to any Overtures of Capitulation; and 'tis impossible to believe that things can be ever Accommodated between an Incensed Prince, and (as he supposes) a Rebellious People. He has not so long Breathed in the Air of France, as not to learn its Tyrannical and Arbitrary Maxims; and the (as he thinks) Meritorious Zeal of Propagating his own Religion, will let him stick at nothing, how Arbitrary soever, to Establish it. We may indeed imagine him to be of a Merciful Nature, and that all shall be forgotten as if never done, and that an Act of Indemnity will make all even again; but those who are so blinded as to believe these fair Promises, let them but look into an Act of his own, Dated at his Residence in Dublin. And in a Proclamation of his, to his Pretended Subjects in Scotland, May 4. 1689. He is most Graciously Pleased, not only to Encourage his Friends to be Destroyer's of Mankind, but likewise offers them Pardons for such Inhuman Cruelties: Telling them in the said Proclamation, 'Tis his Pleasure they should Rise in Arms, and Assault and Destroy, and what ever Bloodshed and Slaughter, Mutilations or Fire-raisings should be done to these Rebels, (as he calls the Scotch) his Proclamation should be their sufficient Warrant for such Acts. If this is his Kindness for the Scotch Nation, can we think the English will more civilly be Treated?  
No, no, let us no longer Amuse ourselves with Fancies of his Clemency and Kindness. We live under a Government where we may be Happy if we please, and nothing but our Discontent can render us Miserable; for as certain as there is a Providence, if ever such a Fatal Revolution should happen, not Savoy, nor Piedmont, nor all the places where the Arms of the French have Ravaged, were ever such Scenes of Blood and Confusion as England will be. We are now in our Crisis, and a few Months will, in all probability, determine the fate of Europe in General, and of our own Country in particular; and upon the Success of the Confederate Army, Headed by our most Victorious Prince, depends the Liberty or Slavery of the most Civilised part of the World.  

Postscript.  
AT the conclusion of this Discourse, I imagine some Smiling Reader finding fault, and by his Looks would seem to tell me the Landscapes are as ill Drawn as they are ill Designed, and that the Lion is not so fierce as he is Painted, nor will the Return of a Prince of the Romish Communion be so Terrible to his Protestant Subjects as I would seem to represent. But in Answer to this, I must acquaint the Gentleman, that I fear I have committed un Error on the other Hand, and instead of adding fierce Colours to make the Piece seem Tremendous: I have used such faint shadows as do not heighten the Picture. Partiality and Prejudice are very ill Spectacles, and but too often cause a false Medium. I have seen a Picture, which if one looked Obliquely upon, on the left Hand were represented the Heads of three fair Ladies; but if you changed the Position of your Body, and stood on the right Hand of the Design, the very same Picture showed you a Monkey and two Parrots. I know not on which hand my Reader's Judgement stands, which valued Faculty of ours we find to be very often deluded; for if I may apply a place in Holy Writ, very pertinent to this purpose, only exchanging the Case of the Father for that of the Son; they who form such terrible Ideas of the Imaginary Severities they feel under the present Reign, where they are only beaten with Rods, will at the Return of their Idolised Prince, be Chastised with Scorpions.  
FINIS.    

Books Printed for R. Baldwin.  
NEw Predictions of the Fate of all the Princes and States in the World. price 4.  
Sodom Fair: Or the Market of the Man of Sin. Containing, a true Account of the Prices of the Pope's Pardons and Dispensations; being a Treatise very useful and necessary for all young English Papists, who intent to take Holy Orders, or Travel through Italy; and all such as intend to be cheated both out of their Souls and Mony. To which is added the History of ADULTERY, as it is now at Rome by Law Established; with the Life of Clement the Sixth, and Blasphemous Bull which he Published for the year of Jubilee, 1350.  
A Journal of the late Motions and Actions of the Confederate Forces against the French, in the United Provinces, and the Spanish Netherlands. With curious Remarks on the Situation, Strength and Rarities of the most considerable Cities, Towns and Fortifications in those Countries. Together with an exact List of the Army.  
The Present State of Christendom considered, in nine Dialogues, between I. The present Pope Alexander the VIII. and Lewis the XIV. II. The Great Duke of Tuscany, and the Duke of Savoy. III. King James the Second, and the Marescal de la Fevillade. IV. The Duke of Lorraine, and the Duke of Schomberg. V. The Duke of Lorraine, and the Elector Palatine. VI Lovis the XIV. and the Marquis de Louvois. VII. The Advoyer of Berne, and the Chief Syndic of Geneva. VIII. Cardinal Ottoboni, and the Duke de Chaulnes. IX. The young Prince Abafti, and Count Teckly.