THE CHARACTER OF A Disbanded Cour●●●●.  
Dedicated to the Author of that Famous Speech, called, The Speech of a Noble Peer.  By a Person of Quality. 
HE was Born of a considerable Family, Heir to a Fortune above contemptible; but with an aspiring mind, by much too high flown for his Quality, and his Estate.  
His Behaviour towards his King was so Loyal in times of difficulty and danger, that every body who knew him, knew he deserved Advancement; advancement at least as high as that of Haman.  
His dexterity in doing ill, made him thought capable of performing admirably well, if ever he came to be publicly employed and entrusted.  
So he was preferred for his Ability, to the highest places of Honour and Office; admitted into the Cabinet-Councils, made acquainted with all the Secret Wheels, and could tell how many Cogs there were in each wheel, upon which the great Engine of State was turned, and kept in motion.  
By the Favour of his Prince he acquired sufficient Riches, to support the splendour of a Family, new raised to the degree of Nobility.  
His Glory was once so eminently conspicuous, that there were but a few persons below the Crown, ●eem'd above him, and nothing was wanting to render his Felicity as lasting a● Nature intended his Life; but a heart that knew how to be grateful, to a most Munificent Benefactor.  
He thought all the Favours, and Honours, he enjoyed, were less than the reward of his Merit; that thought puffed him up with pride, such a sort of pride, as is usually attended with an irrecoverable fall, which was his Fortune, and at his fall, (like that of Lucifer, his Predecessor) might very well have been proclaimed, Woe to you the Inhabitants of the earth, for the Devil is come down among you●  
Open revenge against his Sovereign, being too dangerous to attempt, he presently resolves upon secret, he exposes all the Weaknesses and Infirmities of the Court; (from which no Court, or Ci●● or Country. is, or will ever be free,) and where he can find 〈◊〉 real faults he feigns imaginary ones, and passes them off for ●●●rant.  
By his new and false Optic, he represents every Molehill of 〈◊〉 stake, in the public administration, for a Mountain as tall as T●●…riff, and as dangerous as the top of Aetna; nay, he Multiplies, a●● Magnifies, the very miscarriages, which were the effect of his o●● evil Council.  
He amuses the freest Nation in the Universe, with wild rumours and extravagant apprehensions of Slavery; under the Governm●●● of a Prince, who in Acts of Favor, and Mercy, and Clemency, 〈◊〉 exceeded all his Predecessors.  
He fills the heads of the People full, with whimsical Fears, of fantastic Devils, Chimaeras, which only his Malice had raised, on p●●pose to frighten them out of their Loyalty, and their Wits, a●● prepare and ripen them, for Bedlam, or Rebellion.  
He makes the pretences of Liberty, the Stirrup to get up, 〈◊〉 Religion the Steed he Rides, in pursuit of his Monstrous ●●signs.  
With these pretences he cheats the Innocent, (after tickling t●●●● Fancies with the Feather of Ambition) and promising to o●●● their Eyes, serves them as the Apostate Angel did our Parents in paradise, only blows into them the Dust of Disobedience, and 〈◊〉 robs them 〈…〉 Jewels he undertook to bestow, (viz.) Liber●● 
* Liberty is not a Freedom for every man to do what he pleases; 〈◊〉 a freedom would empower the worst part of Mankind to Ruin, and slave the best. Just Laws, well executed, are the truest Liberties of Men, and should be the outmost extent of their wishes.  and Religion, 
† Religion does not consist in the stubborn adhering to a Faction, 〈◊〉 in crying up one Party or Profession as Infallible, and Censuring all 〈◊〉 as Damnable; but in doing Justice, and loving Mercy, and walking ●●●bly with God, says Malachi the Prophet. And it is first Pure, then P●●…able, says St. Paul the Apostle.  which are both so much talked of, and bot● little understood.  
Being a Gentleman of no Religion himself, he seems for all that to Espouse every Division, and Sub-division of it; every Faction, and Person, who are bold enough to stand stiff in opposition to the Ancient and Well settled Government.  
If he be by Inclination Covetous, and temperate by Nature and Habit; he rather chooses to invert Nature itself, than suffer a disappointment in his Designs of Revenge to which he makes a Sacrifice at once, both of his Virtues and his Vices.  
He keeps open house for Entertainment of all State-Male-Contents, without consideration of Quality or Qualifications.  
He Accompanies and Carouses, and Contracts Intimacy and Amity, with the lewdest Debauchees in all the Nation, that he thinks, will any ways help to forward his private Intrigues.  
He becomes all things, to all men, in the very worst of senses: perverting the design of St. Paul, that he may at least prevail upon some, to be as bad as himself.  
Nor are soft and easy men by him only deluded, he is too cunning for the very lawyers themselves, (though they are too cunning for all the rest of mankind) a most Eminent Attorney, and a famous Solicitor, and a Reverend Judge, are not free from the force of his Enchantments.  
By the Subtlety of his Insinuations, he bewitches to Associate with him, great part of the New, and of the Sons of the old Nobility: the Sons of such Fathers, as died in the faithful Defence of their suffering Sovereign.  
He Deceives (besides a number of other great Men, and great Councillors) a General of an Army, a Viceroy of a Kingdom, a Darling of the People, and a Son to the Greatest, and the best of Fathers upon Earth.  
He would fain be reputed as constant as the Sun; and yet this Age has produced nothing beneath the Moon, more fickle and variable, for he never was, and 'tis like never will be true to any thing, save only the Eternal Resolution of doing Mischief.  
Having lost his Honour with his Prince, and the good Opinion of the best Subjects and best Men; he cringes and creeps, and sneaks to the meanest and basest of the People, to procure himself among them, an Empty and vainglorious, because undeserved Name: the Patriot of his Country.  
And hoping to be shortly made, the little Head of the Great Rabble: he would persuade them to believe that they are all betrayed; and that the King himself is in the Plot against himself; as well as in the Plot against them.  
He Encourages them to strike home, against those whom he calls the Enemies of the King and Kingdom: (pointing at the Faithful-lest and most affectionate Servants to both) well knowing that th● mighty Fabric can never be shaken; till its main Pillars and Supporters, be by cunning and sly Stratagem, either destroyed or undermined.  
At last, through the Divine Providence, the Magical Mist he had cast before men's eyes, dissipates, and totally vanishes.  
The Hypocritical vail falls off, of its own accord, leaving his deformity naked, and openly exposed.  
His dearly beloved Mistress Popular Applause forsakes him, and to complete his undoing, he lives to see the Death and Burial of his Fame: even to the very Fame of his Polities.  
So that nothing remains to yield him Consolation, after such sensible and biting Disgraces; but only the Liberty he has left him, to follow the great Example of King David's defeated Politition.   

POSTSCRIPT to the Printer.  
IF you be curious to know who is meant by this Character; you may easily imagine, 'tis Simon de Montford Earl of Leicester: in whose time the Wood Parliament Sat at Westminster.  
He ' was one while a Prime Favourite of the King, one while the mere Idol of the People; sometimes a Rebel, and always a Rogue.  
However, If any man now alive, claim a Propriety in any part of the Character, you may tell him, the Author is a peaceable Person, and rather than stand a Suit at Law, let every one take what part he calls his own, and much good may it do him.  
Farewell.   

reprinted in the year, 1682.