ACTS of Mercy descend with Power, and come well Recommended from the Crown, to be Received with the highest Gratitude by the People: but Acts of Justice are our Lasting Securities; And tho' we are Aptto pitty the Afflicted, yet Publick Crimes require Publick and Real, Expiations.

[Page 2] Such as I am, from Observation and Good Wishes, pretend to discern Safety, and the Kingdom in a State of Recovery, past danger of Relapse; but Justice must be Vindicated. There are Measures, in proper Season, Ne­cessary for Confirming All, least the Govern­ment seem Precarious and, Desperate Persons, having Screwed up the Preparatories for our Ruin to the height, may discourage, very Use­ful Subjects, if, instead of Effectual Attone­ments, they shall be Able to Word Us into their Impunity.

In good Earnest, my Lord, nothing urges a Sensible Man more to speak his Mind Free­ly, than while his Purse is draining, or Blood letting out in the Rescue of his Fellow Sub­jects (and the more remote they are, the more at Heart it is with him) to find the Ene­mies of his Country, and their Peace, at Home, in Plenty, and Ease, scarce Tribu­tary, but Remaining in Preferment, or En­joying the Acquisitions of Rapine; Ready, perhaps, for more upon the first Opportuni­ty, and in the mean time, under the Tender­ness of some Illustrious, Spotless, Friend, be­tween a Smile and Disdain, laughing in [Page 3] their Sleeves, at the Worshippers of Truth, and despising the Companions of Honesty.

I am so much a Roman, as to shed a Tear for an Acquaintance in Misery, but cannot forget who Condemned a Son. When I hear it said, Spare him for his Parts? My Reply is, Punish him the more, and not make that which Explains his Condemnation, the Reason of his Indemnity, I can no more Excuse an Ill Man, for his good Parts, than, I would be supposed to write against the Church of England, in answering the Bishop of Rochester, or to Arraign the Profession of the Law, from whence so many of the No­bility, are Descended, in saying, there have been Wicked Judges, and as Bad Coun­cellors.

The Text that informs me, the Samaritan was Neighbour to the Traveller, tells me, likewise, who was not. He is my Neigh­bour, who pours Oyl into my Wounds, and my Friend, that lets me retain the Image of God, in the Freedom of a Man. Wit, and Parts, [Page 4] are of full Age at Five and Twenty, and must form into Judgment, with Reference to some Fundamental of Principle, by Thirty, otherwise, it is an Escape, if He runs not into Depravation, and a narrow One, if the publick Justice of his Country do's not at one time, or other, overtake his Extraordinary Actions.

I am, therefore, English-man enough to hope for Justice, and Christian enough to desire it in Mercy, yet so Exerted, That she may shew her Head, in this glorious Revolution, and call to Account, those Unfaithful Servants who Deli­vered up her Keys, & Notorious Offenders, that broke in upon her Administration, Pursuing her Assertors to destruction, if the same God, who many Thousand Years ago brought the Chil­dren of Israel out of Egypt, had not Remem­bred Us in her Low Estate, and Excited this Heroick Prince to Assist the Restoring our Paths, in the Establishment of our Religion and Laws; Secure for Ages: Unless Divided, through Prejudice, and Trifling Disappoint­ments, instead of joining, as one Arm, a­gainst our Common Adversaries Abroad, re­gardless of the whole, We part into Con­temptible [Page 5] Faction, and Labour among our selves; Or, Frighted into a Stupidity at the Very Sight of our Escape, we become Unser­viceable to our own Advantages; Or rather, Degenerated by a Vicious Age, we have lost our Courage, and our Priests their Zeal.

If the Markets of Fortune do not take up our Thoughts, the Fields of Honour are Open to all our Virtues; The Desolation in Ire­land calls for our Sharpest Resentment, and the Outrage of France is a Scene Worthy our Gallantry. Things, like Men, have their Climacterick, they may out live, but they shall Languish; Periods, also, are set, the Harvest of Impiety may be Ripe for the A­venger, and the Visible Concurrence of Hu­man Means is a Sign the Decree is gone out.

The Authorities are too many to be Repeated, and discoursed upon in the Compass of a Let­ter, but they are Known and Satisfactory to All, whose Interest, affection, or long habit of maxim controuls not the Use of their Judgment; And too strong to be confuted in a Day, when the most Noble Part of Liberty, the Dictates of [Page 6] Reason are allowed, Vouching to Us, That Kings by a General Derogation from the Laws, they are Trusted to Support, may Distress Themselves.

It is not Impossible, but Liberty Regained in One Quarter of the World, may sound Charmingly into Another, and Wisdom Pre­vail against Bigotry to an Empty Name. Constitution of Government, and Ancient Laws may gain a Preference before the Will or Empire, and Considerate People groaning under Heavy Burthens, if a Friendly Hand ap­pears to Ease then Shoulders may incline to throw them down, and hearken after a clear Possession of Religion, and Property with Old Age, under their own Vines and Fig-Trees, rather than Fatigue in Slavery, to be Driven up and down, as Chaff, by the Breath of Lust, and Training up their Children, from Generation to Generation, to Pall Untimely Sacrifices to the Wild Efforts of Ambition.

Nor is any Prince, so far above the Reach of Fate, but if the Happy and Wise Restorer prove Comprehensive to Fix Nations upon [Page 7] their Respective Solid Interests, Uniting Con­traries, as in the Body of Man, so to Ballance, and from thence to Work up one mighty Compound in the Bodies of State, but the Nursery of the Cardinal may happen to End in Convincing the Oppressor.

The Time I parted with to Undress the Commissioner in my Last, my Lord was to come the Better at the Adviser in This, and tho' I might reduce the Historian to another Character with Ease, yet taking no Pleasure in Accusation, I will consider some Para­graphs in the beginning of your Second, in­troducing me to your Notions of Councel at the Latter End, and refer all the Rest to Those, who more Concern'd in the Reflecti­ons, may if they think Fit, find a more Com­pendious Way of Answer.

[Page 9] Answer. Upon what Terms the Powerful Earl of Dorset admitted your Person, accepted and recommended your Plea, is strange to none, who have the Honour to know that Lord, the Strength of his Unquestionable Judg­ment gave Way to the Object of his Compas­sion; But if his Lordship had vouchsafed me leave to Publish such a Plea, a Thought would have come in my Head, that he put me upon my Country, and the most I could hope from his Indulgence was, that if they found me Guilty of Ignorance, he would not Trouble himself to Charge me with more Understand­ing, than my Present Circumstances required, and from that Minute should have determined with what regard to move towards his Lord­ship in a Second; For tho' Easy to be intreat­ed, is the very Note of Greatness, and from the Consideration of Infirmity, the worst of Men sink gently with them, nor is Disdain to be seen in their Countenances without a Line of Charity; Yet, on the other side, my Lord, the Uncorrect Looseness of Argument Profanes Honour, and Care is to be taken by Men of Talent, least the Dignity of the Patronage, lessen in the Presumption of the Client; Not, [Page 10] that the Gravity of your Pen ought to ap­proach his Lordship with the Ceremony of an Ambassador; nor yet, my Lord, after a Daub of vain Complement, with such an In­difference, or Negligence of Hand, as if your Design was upon the Quality, not the Au­thority you Address to.

A Meen between both, agreeable to the Case, with respect to the Person, Soft but with­al Masculine, is far better Written to a Lord, than, It was my chance, I know not How to have a share, &c. That Language cannot Usher an Apology with Reputation into the Opinion of the most Uncurious, I fancy after one Letter, with so much Ignorance in it; such was my Unhappiness to have Share, &c. A Style more becoming your Condition, my Lord, than Chance, or I know not how, in another, More pressing into the Good Nature of the English-man, because the One has in it, a Symptom of Reluctancy, the Other, of Force or Disaffection, and Looks as if the Man was Still the same Inward (which Heaven forbid) but our Redemption a­gainst his Will, had put him to the Necessi­ty [Page 11] of Apology, for his Share in the Enslaving Us.

It was your Chance, you know not how, in your Sleep, it may be, to have a great many Papers Conveyed under your Pillow, which made you Dream of Black-birds and Gold-finches, of Goose Quills and Crow Quills, Assassinations, and Bow upon Bow, where the Steeple of Bow, brought in the Story of the Cross-Bow, and a Thousand Fantastio Miscellanies, the Ramble of a Mercurial Working-Brain, And from the Natural Aversion you have to any p. 6. Business, that may Reflect Severely, your Inclinati­on rather leading you to the other Extream, that is, rather to Commend too much, what in the least seems well done, than to Aggravate what is Ill done by others, For instance, my Lord, Tarentum in your Satyr upon the French Historiographer where you bring in the Presbyterians pleasing Themselves with Ex­pectation of Religious Liberty, from a Share they had in the Restoration of Charles the Second, or Troubled at Forgetting the Promise of Breda, and from the Innate, Healing Quality you are indued with, [Page 12] rather to commend too much, what in the least seems well done, than to aggravate what is ill done by others, Charity all over, you submit to ho­nour them, as thus far Contributory to the Blessed Work, That if they had not Driven him Out, he had never been re­stored.

From that natural Aversion you have to Reflect, your Inclination we all know, leading you to Panegyrick be­tween sleeping and waking, your Lord­ship Writ, That which King James the Second Calling for the Papers, and having Read them, and Altered di­vers p. 7. Passages (not Telling Us, what those Alterations are, but no doubt, for the Good of the Protestant Religion.) Caused to be Printed, by his own Authority (Per­fectly against your Will) as to be seen before the Book, and in every Line of it (your Lordship being wholly Passive, and rather bearing a Share of Grief for the Victims, than Contributing to the Fall of their Honours (the Dearest part of Them) [Page 13] after Dispatching their Bodies, and Came Out under the Name of Histo­ry, deserving another Denomination. And when the Benign Virulency of your Wit had pursued Men with Un­charitable Characters beyond Death, with more Delight, than Constraint of Mind, Et quae, Poeticis magis Decora Fa­bulis, quam Incorruptis rerum gestarum Monument is tradenda fuerunt, no sooner is the Artillery turned, but you are in Pas­sion for my Lord Russel, you Lamented, after you had been Fully Convinc'd by Discourse with the Reverend Dean of Can­terbury, of that Noble Gentleman's great Pro­bity and Constant Abhorrence of Falsehood. De­licate Words! But that was a good while after you say, such was your Ignorance of the Upright, but Obscure, Lord. Russel, your Lordship, who had liv'd so many Years about the Town, could not be Convinced of his Probity, till after he had suffered Martyrdom, any more than you understood his Grace of Canterbury took Exception to the Legality [Page 14] of the Ecclesiastical Commission, till after my Lord of London had been Cited, Ap­peared, had Answered, and the Unjust Sen­tence past upon him.

Ignorance and Chance, by your own Ac­count, have carried the Ascendant over the Last Scenes of your Life, my Lord, in a won­derful Manner; But, a Reader, less Tender, than your Answerer, tho' he would not altogether disown the Philosophy, that Accident go­verns the World, Adding, in Subordination to Providence, for Chance makes Cases here, Engaging Men, for the better Connection in Support of Societies to Mutual Obliga­tion by unexpected Standing in Need One of Another; Yet, by the Course of your Actions, from the time of a Certain Ser­mon, for which you had No Thanks, and from whence (such is the Curse of Va­riance between a King and Subjects, the People receive the Banished from Court, and the Court Embraces the Disregarded by the People) some derive your Advance­ment, and Others your Misfortune; From [Page 15] that Hour, my Lord, to the day of the Bishops Tryal, above Eight Years in a State of Ignorance, and Chance, as you carelesly alledge, but of most Dangerous Observance, (as Sense interprets) such a Reader, my Lord, would sooner imagine the Parts were made for the Sake of the Representer, knowing how well they Suit­ed his Genius to Describe them; than that Chance, brought your Lordship so often, and so Artificially, upon the Stage.

He that with a Common Eye looks in­to this your Second Letter, shall find in it, Expostulation, no Apology; Raised above that by the First Admittance, Re­morse Vanishes, the least Shadow of Condescension to Chance, and I know not How, brings your Lordship to a Position of Assurance. There have been indeed, those, whose Haughtiness of Mind bearing down all the Rest of their Faculties, hath deceived them into a Superlative Idea, of their being Above [Page 16] Apology, they have perished in Falls Unnatural, tho' not Unpitied: But, if a Bishop, a Pattern of Humility, One who to be Great among Us, is to be our Minister, shall Dare give it under his Hand, that, He always thought next to Committing Offences, Nothing can be more Grievous to an Ingenuous Mind, than to be put upon the Ne­cessity of making Apologies; In English no more, but Owning a Miscarriage in De­cency of Reasoning to Unload his Con­science, if that be so very Grievous to the Ingenuous Mind of a Bishop, I take his Apologies to be like his Compliances, One, the Result of more than Ignorance, or Chance, the Other, of much less than Contrition, and without charge upon my Self of any Disrespect either to his Quality or Function, Conclude, tho' with a Modesty, even to Tameness of Ex­pression, that the Best and most Ingenuous Part of the Apology, Lyes, in Con­fessing the Necessity to make it.

[Page 17] To what Advantage might an Elabo­rate Man, in Concern for the Injuries done his Country display this Abundant Pa­per; How easily, my Lord, might a Pen, if like yours, Incapable of Parting with a Luxuriant Stroak for the sake of Per­sons or Families, take down these Altars of Praise you have Built to Others, Con­triving to annex your self, however with­out Detraction from the Merit due to any whomsoever, I will reduce the O­verflowings within Bank, bring them to Fact, and Qualifie the Magnificent A­pology, Shewing that your Better Under­standing, Proceeded, not from Argu­ment but Appearance, terrible Aspect, and dreadful Apprehension your own Words, my Lord, are very Dogmatical; Full Satisfaction may seize People in Light­ning, and they may be Struck with the Convincing of Thunder.

[Page 18] Only, by the way, my Lord, whereas you seem to intitle your self to some­thing or other, within Guess, by incur­ring the Displeasure of our Two Last Kings, in declining to Write against the States of Holland, during the First and Second Dutch Wars, Pag. 6. I humbly desire, if any thing in these Papers tempt your Lordship to a Third Apology, or a Reply, that you will please to let us know, if they de­sired you to Write in Prose, for neither of those Wars, or Depredations afforded Subject Matter for one Paragraph of Truth; How, Specious soever, the First might be rendred, in the Frenchified Heat of our Honey Moon after the Restoration (the Effect, of Private Sentiments in Re­ligion here, tho' he seemingly took part with the Dutch against us) I am sure, No Man, will say, but the Second was an Apparent Violation of the Law of Na­tions, the Triple League broke on our side (with Grief be it remembred by Us, and very unkind in your Lordship not to bury) [Page 19] against all the Rules of Mutual Defence, and Notwithstanding the most direct Warn­ing of the Fatal Consequences of such a Breach, that a Wise Man, our Agent a­broad, could, possibly insinuate; To our Great Reproach, my Lord, Opening a Passage to the Common Disturber of Man­king, and, for ought I know, too great a Cause of all the Blood that has been, and may be shed in Christendom from the Ra­vage, of that Imperious Monarch of France, beside a Subjugation of Us here to Popery and Slavery, or the Inevitable Fury of a Civil War, if, in return of Good for Evil, the Dutch had not Aided our Delive­rance from the Influence of all those Perni­cious Counsels, and I make no doubt but your Lordship knew then, as well as I do now, that Invention must have been the Guide of your Undertaking, and the To­pick, Dimunition of Glory, if you had o­beyed their Commands.

Answer. Blemishes, my Lord, are from the Cause; nor will I ask Pardon to say, 'Tis as necessary to live in the Disesteem of some, as the Good Opinion of Others. The Overthrow of the Duke of Monmouth was in the Name of King, and if what our Neighbours assert to be Law in Scotland, be Reason in England, the late Kings assuming the Regal Power of this Protestant Kingdom being a Papist, was in it self a Forfeiture of his Exercise of the Authority. If the Eyes of the People had been as Open to apprehend it, as his Chappel was Early to declare it, their Hands had been Strong enough to have brought a General to Town, then, Con­firming the Bill of Exclusion, And placing [Page 23] the Crown, where it now is. The Ge­nerosity of Trust in the English, towards their King at his First Accession to the Throne, Over-ruling their Jealousie, Rea­sonable from his Conduct of many Years before, but Demonstration of Entire Af­fection to their Kings, while any Tolera­ble Bounds, will hold Them, very Ho­nourable in Them, but very much to be Deplored, was the End of that Duke: Re­bellion had been a Word in his Attainder, if he had not taken upon him the Title of King, that part of him which Died, had perhaps been less than Execution, and his Defeat, not so much as an Overthrow. King James, my Lord, made good that Cause by the Continuation of his own History to the time of his Departure, and King William and Queen Mary, (whom God for ever preserve) by Consent, and Au­thority of the Estates have given it Immor­tality.

The Old Conspiracy, is not a Language, but in those Times, when Judges deliver for Law, that surprizing a Garrison, a­part [Page 24] from the King is an Overt Act of Treason to destroy the Person of a King within the Statute of 25 Ed. 3d.

What greater Invasion can there be, than when Judges shall Force in upon Ex­press Words of Law, and Kill a Man by a Rule of Court. 6 Ed. 6. The Statute says, That if any Person, beyond Sea, at the time of an Outlawry for High Treason, surrenders himself within a Year after he shall have leave to Traverse the Indictment upon which the Outlawry is grounded, and be admitted to Tryal. What can be inferred from these Words, but if the King will Execute him upon that Outlawry, he must have Patience till the Year Expires, O­therwise, a Fair Tryal must be allowed; for who can tell but it may come into his Heart to deliver himself to Justice according to the Forms of that Law, the very last Point of the Year; And are not those Invading Judges, whom the Law Trusts, not only, to be Councel for the Prisoner, but directs them to expound all Penal Laws most Bene­ficially [Page 25] in favour of Life, to send a Subject in Cool Blood, Nay, which is worse, to force the Natural Born Subject of a Free State, out of their own Dominions, send him out of the World upon these Terms, and Sanctifie it with the Name of an Execution, this my Lord, is Invasion also, and Conspiracy.

Or, when the Law is Positive, that Men must be tryed in the County where the Facts are Committed, and be Executed in the same County, where they receive Judgment, for the Prerogative Dealers, to gratify the Vain Humour of a King, and Mount a Chief Justice, only to send a Wretch contrary to Law, to be put to Death at the Head of a Regiment, in Terror, for­sooth, that the Rest may continue more Unlawfully together, than he Deserted them.

These are Invasions my Lord, that have been may encountred with that which is no Invasion, but Reprisal of the People's Rights, and Liberties; Such Invasions, as made the Re­nowned Hales, Foreseeing our Dangers [Page 26] from Colour of Law, say, The Twelve Red-coats in Westminster-Hall, where ca­pable of Doing the Nation more Violence than Twenty Thousand in the Field.

But, my Lord, if so soon, after that Kings Ascending the Throne, as the Un­fortunate Duke of Monmouth's Last Return into England, you began, Vehemently to sus­pect Things were Running apace towards the Endangering Our Religion and Laws, so that you could not be induced by all his Majesties reiterated Commands to go on with the Work of History, because you must have Blemished the Reputation, that is, Libelled, the Innocence of some Per­sons of Honour, One would think, That Vehemence of Suspicion, might have grown into Satisfaction in less than Three Years, and your Lordship have broke loose from the Conspirators long before the Tryal of the Bishops.

[Page 24] Answer. I am apt to think, the Bishop of Peterborough had, as far, my Lord of London's Good-will in that Commission, as was possible, for so Faithful a Bishop, to consent, that any, but himself, should execute his Trust; because, from the Character of that Bishop, he might, under the Necessity of his Affairs, hope for Performance, and Good Offices; but your Lordship of Rochester, who sate Il­legally in the Grand Commission, and in Favour at Court, have no reason to flatter your self, but the Appearance of my Lord of London's Good-will toward you, in the matter was, Prevention; And we, to whose Reading you issue out this Manifesto, can take it for no other, than a Continuance of your Regard for that Commission which suspended him. The Jurnal you present us with, of Eine Carriage, &c. during the time of your exercising that Jurisdiction with the Ex­cellent Bishop of Peterborough, has this Melancholy in it too, my Lord, That [Page 25] the Excellencies of my Lord of Peterborough one way, compared, at that time, with your Excellencies another, it may be thought his Excellency carried in the Medium; Nor yet could you have done otherwise, for the most Pious and Learned Clergy in the World must have concluded you quite out of the Protestant Reli­gion, if you had not maintained the Rights of the Bishoprick in the infe­riour Respects you mention; and every Body living beside, would have be­lieved you gone into Utter Darkness, or in very great and Personal Hatred to the Bishop of London, if a Suspen­sion, from which an ordinary submissi­on would discharge him, as you have said, should lay his Lordship so low in your Esteem, Or so Immediate in your Fear of displeasing the Court, as to turn out his Officers, and Abandon him to that Extremity, or render him so Obnoxious, as not to be consulted in the disposal of his Vacant Preferments. Especially, when the Papists did not [Page 26] value what Heretick you put in, so the Game was kept on, till the Managers were ready to Sweep and Distinguish at once.

But a Thinking Man, my Lord, will summ up all this, and resolve from it, That you sate Knowingly in the Eccle­siastical Commission, because you acted Discreetly in that for the Diocess; and was so Exact in pursuing my Lord of London's desires, because, to gratifie the pleasure of the Court, you sate in the First Com­mission, which was Illegal, and the Act of Suspending my Lord of London, there­fore, void; In consequence all the Deri­vations were so too, and the Commis­sion for the Diocess to my Lord of Peterborough, and your self, being under the same Fate, All you did, was, per­haps, in strictness, against Law, and not only the more Inexcusable, if you had acted without my Lord's Directi­ons; but Unsafe as to the Actions them­selves, if my Lord's Approbation had [Page 27] not warranted them into a Connivance, so that Acting in Commission, for the Diocess of London, was in the Bishop of Peterborough, as Publishing the Suspen­sion was in the Dean of Paul's, an Ex­pedient of Necessity to chuse the least of Two Evils; but more Amiss in you, my Lord, because you, who sate in the Ec­clesiastical Commission, did it, in confir­mation of the great Evil which drew on the necessity of that.

The terrible Aspect of things from Court upon the London Clergy; your standing in the Gap to hinder some other Persons, prepared to be thrust in, upon your leaving that Commission; and if such Persons had got it Absolutely into their Power, 'tis possible that most learned and Pious Cler­gy had been somewhat otherwise Em­ployed than they were, and had been too much taken up in defending them­selves from the Violent Persecutions of the Popish Party, to have leisure to confute and triumph over the Popish [Page 28] Cause,] can have no other meaning but that if the Papists had got the Diocess of London into their Power, for nothing else can be collected from the word Absolutely with the Terrible Aspect of that Court, which had no other Ten­dency, 'tis more than Possible, for 'tis Absolutely Certain, that all those of the London Clergy who had Resolution of Adhering to the Protestant Religion, (that is, All those who by a Vigorous, and Ready Allegiance in Defence of the Protestant Religion now, shall justifie to all the Protestants at home, and a­broad, they would have forsaken their Livings then,) had been Deprived, or o­therwise Engaged in too much Persecu­tion by the Popish Party, to have leisure to confute the Popish Cause, and to tri­umph over Both, as they do now, if they can see their Felicity.

But your Lordship's standing in the Gap to hinder those Persons, who were prepared to take that Diocess Absolutely [Page 29] into their Power, is not Discernible; On the contrary, Open War being proclaimed between the Two Parties, All those E­minent Supervisors of the Church who continued in Court were so far Endearing the Conspiracy on the Popish Side, as to weaken the Protestant, by going on with the Impracticable Distinction of Pro­testant Loyalty, against Protestant Reli­gion; while the Papists made it their Business to single out the Flower of our Patriots in Church and State, hunting them down with Renegades, and Mas­queraders of our own Faith, to Death, and Obscurity, as well, for their Entertain­ment, as Interest.

Answer. You are in the right, My Lord, to say, The truth of an English­man consists in the Reality of his Acti­ons; it gives me notice, at the same time, not to depend upon his Glistering Senten­ces, nor be deceived by his plausible Apologies. For if any but the Bishop of Rochester himself should tell me, He [Page 32] had added to the number of the Petiti­oning Bishops, if he had understood the Question; I would answer it with a Smile. The Bishop of Rochester had the same Organs disposing, and Methods of Advice, to inform his Judgment, as the other Bishops had; If, to say no worse, his Courage to Adhere had been the same: and to add these words, As well as I did afterwards upon their Trial, is Ignorance repeated, Ignorance upon Ignorance, to the last Minute.

The Bishops maintained their Post with Honourable, but not, Unexam­pled, Constancy, and the Impudence of the Jesuite was no Diminution to the Credit of their Fortitude; The King­dom stood as Firm to Them, the War­rant of Their Commitment was also, in it self, a Warrant for Correcting that Va­gabond, and a Pass for their Religion to Travel. No sooner were their per­sons in the Tower, but we were ready for the Field, to Extricate them, not only, [Page 33] from the Present difficulties they laboured under, and Convince your Lordship the Protestant Religion, and Interest was no Forsaken Cause, but to Clear them at Once, from the Enemies of their Religion, and the Rivals to their Possessions.

I hope, their Lordships will prove Firm to Us, and their Bishopricks now, as in a chearful Allegiance, No longer Puz­ling our Enjoyment with Unaccountable Reserves, nor make Us such Cruel Re­turns as to suffer the Profound Respect we have for Them, to Object against the Security of Our Selves. It is the hap­piness of the Church of England that her Proselytes are not Slaves, they Reverence their Spiritual Guides, and Honour their Faithful Advisers, the least distance be­tween them is the Torment of their Lives; but they will not be Undone in Blind De­pendance, nor yield that the Private Con­science of the Bishop, Or the Less will of the Priest shall be the Uncancellable Obli­gation upon all their Actions, and the Un­alterable Law of their Souls.

[Page 34] The presence of our Great and Brave Men in, and about the Court of King's Bench at that Trial, seemed a Kind of Par­liament met to Defend the Church, and State, Awing the Trembling Mercena­ries, (for Honorary, and Judge are lost in the Abuse) upon the Polluted Cushion, even, to Convulsion in Every Joint; But the Invincible Arguments at the Bar, you admire, my Lord, were on­ly so many Gentlemen of the Robe with Brief in Hand, and plain Law in their Mouths, not a Syllable of Conjura­tion, or The least depth of Mystery, and Charm.

When the Councel for the King, to shew the Moderation of the Conspirators, be­ing content with Misdemeanour, could no more resemble the Case to Treason, than the New Councel for the People could Jest his Reverend Clients into For­nication, by the Mercury, of a False Step in the Church being Harlotry in [Page 35] Emblem. When the highest Viola­tion of Sacred Promise not to take Publick Advantage of what was own­ed in Private upon that express Con­dition; With the careful Evidence of that Diligent Clerk of the Council, could not furnish the Undaunted Jury, you magnifie, with the least ground of Fact to find a General Verdict against them, nor a Line of Law from the Bench to direct a special one.

When the Salute upon their Acquittal, was so much the Joy of our Hearts, as to become loud Acclamation, and, if the Voice of the People, be the Voice of God, shook the Battlements of one Hall, Piercing the inner Chambers of another, and putting the Mis-led King in mind, if not of the Day of Judgment, at least of the Battle of D— And that, if one sort of Protestants, Jealous of their Re­ligion, and Property, from a Match with France, Discontinuance of Parlia­ments for Thirteen Years together, Im­posing [Page 36] Arbitrary Taxes, and Commissi­ons, And lastly, having Occasion for a Parliament, by hoping to suppress a dam­nable Popish Conspiracy in the power of his Cabinet Council, lest the Parliament should be out of Humor, and Grievances retard Benevolences; If one sort of them, in Fear of Popery Unseen, had strength to hollow his Unhappy Father out of Three Kingdoms: Popery, and Slavery in Full View, must, of Necessity, Unite Prote­stants of all Perswasions whatsoever, against those Common Enemies, who, by play­ing Under-hand Games, had prevailed upon the Generous Church of England to Disbelieve, and from thence to Hate, and Prosecute the Jealous Dissenter, Mana­ging them, for Generations, to the Tear­ing one another in Pieces, and Promoting Divisions among themselves, while the Papist wrought up his Design to seize both, if the Great Restorer had not In­terposed.

[Page 37] When the Conspirators run about Whitehall, like Men in a Tempest, and the Priests traversed the Park to St. James's, like Ghosts, for Consternation was in all their Looks; and Leyburn, the Titular, crawling to Dinner, bid the Fraternity Retrench, for the Cause was lost. If this be True, my Lord, and an Honest Description of that Cause, without Rheto­rick, it follows, That the more success­full the Step was to our Rescue, the Plainer I have made it, That Full Sa­tisfaction seized your Lordship in Light­ning, and you were struck with the Con­vincing of Thunder.

The same Reasons of not hazarding your Preserment, which made you re­main in Court, Writing Histories, Acting in Commissions, Suffering the Declara­tion to be Read in your Diocess of Ro­chester, Ordering it to be Read in your Deanry of Westminster, and staying to be the Last Man born from the Tables; the [Page 38] very same Reasons, my Lord, of not hazarding your Preferment from the Pro­testant Quarter obliged you to withdraw from the Popish, in that Critical Day of the Bishops Tryal.

And the lofty strains of Encomium up­on the Bishops, the Great Men of the Kingdom, the Invincible Arguments of the Lawyers, the Undaunted Jury, the strong Fleet, consisting of Twenty Sail and more, (when we were sure of the Seamen from their Irreconcileable Hatred to Popery, and their Constant Fidelity to the Pro­testant Religion, and Cause) with the Formidable Army, the Honest, and Consci­entious part whereof was satisfied their Valour would be their Ruine, Others applying the same Argument to the Ten­der part of themselves, and most of the new raised Common Soulders such, as never saw an Enemy, but a Constable, nor set Foot in a Garison, but a Gaol; In a word, my Lord, your Eloquence upon all Mankind, who, long before, your [Page 39] Lordship, quitted their Temporal Circum­stances, and took up the Cross, satisfied, that nothing in this World is an exchange for the Prospect of another, beside the Ho­nour of Avowing Just Principles, are but so many Reflections upon your self; and (notwithstanding your Aiery Notion at the beginning of this Letter, That no­thing can be more Grievous in your Thoughts, next to Committing Offences, than Apologies, no Remorse appearing in a Cursory perusal, Yet in the Anatomy much less is to be found, Laying about you, upon any Terms whatsoever, Catch­ing at every thing, from the First Dutch War to the Bishop's Trial, and at every Body that can but carry his Head above Water, and some as likely to drown) in this Glorious, but not so very Miraculous, Revolution, Page. 3. as your Lordship would per­swade us to believe, and write Us into for the sake of your Posthumous Conversion.

[Page 40] All this, my Lord, rises in a natural Re­mark upon the very words of your Let­ter to the rest of the Ecclesiastical Com­missioners, though Courtier-like written in the Contrary Stile. Page 21. And if the great Veneration I entertain for the Bishops of this Protestant Kingdom did not restrain me, Comparing the Advice given by them to King James the Second, and the Abhorrence refused (which make so large a part of your Letter, and so much in­sisted on,) with the Times of them, when the Prince of Orange had been at the Credit of so many hundred thousand pounds to assist our Deliverance, and ready to Sail, with the Carriage of some of Them hitherto towards him, and the Nation, since he has made it good to us, and we ought to throw our selves at his Feet, in Duty and Acknowledgement becoming so great an Enterprize; I could say, much more, than that, The Divinity of Kings lies in the Hu­manity of their Actions: That an Abhorrence, at that time, had been a Backsliding from the [Page 41] Protestant Religion, and an Apostasie from the Understanding, of those Great and Lear­ned Men, That the Advice it self came too late, and the Merit impaired in the Unseasonable, and Extraordinary, Ap­plication: Extraordinary, because it is evi­dent from your Letter, It was of your own Seeking; For though the King had sent for You, yet nothing passed but ge­neral Expressions of Favour, and Duty between You, and, in Fact, the King had Altered his Mind, and Resolved not to Enter into any Particulars with you, if you had not made it your own Re­quest to Him; Page 27, 28, 29, 30. And so very Unseasona­ble, that if I had been in the Place of such preliminary Consultation, I should humbly have Offered, That my Lords the Bishops would please to refer his Ma­jesty to his Popish Councils, by which he had for so many Years been con­ducted, rather than, so late, have thought it any Service to the Protestant Religion, and Interest, voluntarily to inform him, how he might Amuse the [Page 42] People with more vain Promises, Unspirit their Hopes, and Disappoint the Expedi­tion, Leaving Us, a Reproach to our own sense, a Certain Prey to our Mortal Ene­mies, and the Disdain, if not, the Dan­ger of Christendom.

And if I had found your Lordship in the Advice who had so often Exercised your Parts for Them before, notwith­standing your Letter to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, should readily have thought It proceeded from your Lordship, as One, rather Willing to Compound for a present Safety, upon Imaginary Con­ditions, than venture Calling to Account in a Manlike Reformation, which can ne­ver be, without some Stroaks, and more Marks of Impartial Justice.

Page 59 ^oFor, my Lord, tho' Moderation is Healing, yet the Body having been grie­vously Wounded, and Unable to dis­charge the Offices of a Political Life, when the Physicians with regard to the [Page 43] Constitution, have taken care to obviate the danger of Feaver, or other Distem­per, the First Applications are Corrosive; Laying open, and Probing of Wounds, by declaring Crimes, and designing Persons, is necessary; Proud Flesh must be taken off, whether, by Fine, De­gradation, or Confiscation, and Gangrene prevented, by Death, Banishment, or other Disability, according to the wis­dom of Parliament.

Page 60. In the beginning of a Persecution an Honest Man in a Lawful Employment may, with Anxiety, submit to a Rash Action, in hopes to hinder worse: but he must quickly repair, by a Good one, or with­draw, not presuming to go on under Colour to Mitigate the Violence of Times; For his Early Departure may Nip a Con­spiracy in the Bud, Stagger the Design, and save a Nation: Whereas, if he Con­tinues among them, the Plot gathers Strength, while his Reputation is a Snare to the Weaker.

[Page 44] Page 60.He that remains in a Station of Evil, pretending to keep out a Worse Man than himself, greatly aggravates his Crime, Apo­logy is gone in the very Capacity to Di­stinguish, for he makes his Judgment Stoop to his will, and Honesty Slave to Ambi­tion; But your Streamer, my Lord, is an Admirable Spark, He that, God help him, was in the middle of the Stream, poor wretch! when the Tide turn'd so Vio­lently against Our Establisht Church, and State; No warning: for he never heard of the name of Admiral parted with, rather than take one Test, and a Proviso obtained to secure Passage to the House of Lords in another; but was driven down, by Chance I Know not How, Lower than he expected, The Turn was so Sudden, before he could resist the Current, or get to Shore? otherwise, we had been Sure of him, for all the World Knows his Heart was with Us. That Man has nothing to do, but Apologise for a Stream; He got off, as soon as he Could, thinks to be at rest under an Act [Page 45] of Oblivion, and, it may be, Fifty thou­sand Pounds, or such a Trifling Sum, from half a Crown, to dry himself with; If that will pass for an Apology, upon my word, my Lord, one Streamer shall Outlive Five hundred Porpoises, and a Stemmer of Tides is a Goose to him.

Page 61.It is so far from being well, that so many forsook not the True Interest of the Nation, 'tis a Shame, that so many Did; but when I consider again, that true Protestant was a mark of Reproach, I wonder, we have so many Left. It is happy so ma­ny preserv'd their Integrity, and wretched so many Betra'yd it; That so many Stood Unmov'd by the Importunity of their King, whom they were Bred up to Honour, and in all things Else to Obey, and Pity their Honour was not Sooner Consulted in their Obedience.

Page 61. In Sense of Humane Frailty many Infir­mities are to be Overlook'd, but Ignorance is no Common Plea, for Those, who [Page 46] are Known to be Able, nor Chance, and Surprise, where the Province is Care? If it be a great Crime in a Centinel to Sleep at his Post, 'tis Unpardonable to take Opiate, and True, only to Prefer­ment, Stupify all the Rest of his Qua­lifications.

Page 61. False Steps are to be Considered; Heat of Spirit, may carry the Undiscerning Loyalty of Youth out of the way for a while, Or a Dazle from the Sun may in­toxicate him: but Temper is expected in Ripeness of Judgment, and Firmeness of Wisdom from Age.

Page 61. It may be thought some kind of Merit; or some Degree of Innocence, not to make more False Steps in a Slippery Ground, that is, Where Arbitrary Dominion has gained the Point, and from general Consent, as to a Conqueror, ready Obedience is Yielded to the Inconstant Motions of Unlimited Power. But when the Prerogative is labouring to break in up­upon [Page 47] the Fences of Known, and Written Laws, he is an Ill Husband that does not Endeavour to transmit that most Sacred part of his Inheritance, the Rights, and Liberties of his Countrey, to Posterity, Free from Incumbrance, as the Sweat, the Honesty, and the Blood of his An­cestors Secured, and left to him: And if he that Assists the Betraying those Rights, who, with Ignorance, and Chance, Sets up for Innocence, Merit, or Thanks, Imputes all to Slippery Ground, and 'tis well, 'tis no worse, Gentlemen, Take it as you find it, be contented, and mend for the Future; if he be Excusable, with such an Apology, there may be Room for our Enemies to dispute our Delive­rances, and Our Friends to question the Just Sense we have of it.

Compliance looks very well meaning, be­cause All are not Inflexible, and Allow­ance may be given to Better Understand­ing: But he that Complies in all Times, and Causes, Or he that Complies with [Page 48] many Bad Causes, Or the many Labours of one Bad Cause, if Great, or Learned, in the Eyes of the People, is a Dange­rous Creature; for the Powerful Argu­ment of Private Advantage with such an Example, draws in the Numbers; The First is neither True, nor of Reputation to Any Cause, and the Last makes a Good One Suspicious, unless some Ex­traordinary Act of Purgation assures him, and much more is required, than Break­ing Loose from Ecclesiastical Commissio­ners at the last Minute, when they were Ready to part by Consent, and the Con­spirators behind the Curtain, only di­rected them, like Generals, to draw up seemingly to Face the whole Body of the Clergy, to secure an Orderly Retreat in the Shape of Adjournment, with no more intent to meet again the Fourth of December, than, they designed to Establish Liberty of Conscience by a Religious Magna Charta, or than, they were so vain as to think, tho' the Dis­senters accepted a Liberty of Worship, they [Page 49] would ever consent to Repeal the Tests, or were able to Compass it Effectually for them, if they were so Ill inclined: but, as, I have said in my First, to Amuse Us by Forms of Justice, till they were in a Posture, to follow the Exam­ple of the Parliament of Paris, and af­ter disposing of our Principal Nobility, to put all the Rest under Military Recon­ciliation by the Assistance of France.

'Tis Pleasant to say, the Constant Experi­ence of all Wise Times has shewed, that Civil Dissentions, and Quarrels are best Ended by the Largest Acts of Indemnity: And 'tis as Easy to prove the Contrary, and to shew that all wise Governments, from Sparta, down to Rome, the Mistress of the World, were Supported by the Strict Execution of Impartial Justice, That Tyranny took possession of her, at last, and has ever pre­vailed more, by Flattering the wicked, than strength; That Civil Dissentions will never Extinguish, where there is matter of Faction, while some are too [Page 50] Great, and others too wise for the Laws of their Country—'Tis a very little while since, in the late Kings Reign, Pardons flew about like Wild Fire; and the Act of Oblivion, my Lord, after the Restau­ration, will shew you, that some of All sorts were Excepted.

Good Nature in England is soon Apt to have Compassion upon the Afflicted, but he that says, scarce any thing can be more Dan­gerous to the Party that is Uppermost, than to put English-men upon pitying those that suffer under it, Articles with a Sword in his Hand, and Threatens while he De­sires. Certainly, it can neither become the Honour, nor Consist with the safety of any Revolution, to let such Language pass, where Good Nature is Demanded: And tho' I presume to join in this part of your Advice, my Lord, that the Revolution may be mild in the Event, yet not for the same Reasons of being Bloodless in the whole Course of it, or believing there was much danger of [Page 51] Bloodshed, but Principally, to oblige the Merciful Disposition of the King, whose Goodness recommended the Act, and, then to try, if. Marks of Reproach, with Confusion of Face, may not strike deeper, and more lasting Impressions into the Minds of the People, restrain­ing them from Villanous Attempts for the Future, than Sanguinary Dispatches, the Work of a Minute, Forgot in an Hour.

Answer. Private Animosity, and Re­venge are not to be imagined in the Su­pream Assemblies of a Kingdom; My Lord, 'tis a great Oversight, or a higher Va­nity [Page 53] to Mention them: The Impetuous Spirit of Reformation, is not English, Unless Affection pass for a Crime; and Indifference a Virtue. To Compose Things after Sudden Commotions, to Calm Men's minds, for the present, a Generous, Good­natured, Charitable Temper is Best, be­cause a Sudden, hot-headed Tumult ought to be Quickly Appeased, and no more thought of; But when Conspiracies have been of long Standing, Obstinate, Car­ried on against the Laws of a Nation, by Inches, the Growth of Many Years, the Intriegue of Ages to Ripen and Effect, they bear no likeness to Sudden Com­motion; Nor can Affairs be Settled in a secure, and Lasting Peace upon any such Revolution, without Deliberate Coun­cels, Steddy Resolutions, and Bold Exe­cution.

The Firmest Settlement of any State, or Government after Great Changes, is, when the Prevailing Party goes to the Root of the Evil, as well in the Instru­ment, [Page 54] as the Design. The Surest Me­thod of Composing Things within, and Preventing Temptations to Berray from Abroad, is to let all Mankind see, no Injuries from thence shall pass Unac­counted for, because no Offenders at Home can Escape without Punishment.

If Ministers of State were brought to Un­derstand, that, according to our Laws, they gave their advice at their Peril, Kings would be well serv'd, and Subjects live Hap­py: Favourites would not only Examine Themselves, before they Entred upon those Important Trusts, but seriously Consider how to Carry Themselves when Engag'd; Nor would they Ever Attempt to accumu­late Honours and Fortunes by gratifying the Unreasonable Desire of their Master, if, they were, Once, well Satisfied beyond words, That the Powers of the Prince were not Strong enough to protect Them, while they live, nor Death it self to secure the Plunder to their Posterity.

[Page 55] Thus, my Lord, you see, according to the Premise of my First, I am no Dealer in the Art of Language, Nor Accuser, I do assure your Lordship, but a plain, Ordinary Man, a Reverencer of Publick Honesty, Impartial Ju­stice and Naked Truth. The Dearest Friend I have, cannot charge me with an Approach to Flattery, nor my greatest Ene­my, Justly yet, with any Act of Private Animosity, or Re­venge: Love for my Country raises me to Warmth, but no Im­petuous Spirit.

When I find a Man Acting a­gainst her Interest before, For­ward, in Advising her, out of his Station, now, I cannot help being Jealous and Satisfied, in [Page 56] my own Breast, the Notions laid down are Disagreeable to her Safety in General, however they may be taken for granted with reference to his Particular, am so much an English-man, as not to let them pass for Unanswerable Maxims and Standing Rules, without Opposition, of which the World is to Judge between Us.

Persons are not my Courtship, but Things my Industry, I Ho­nour the Great, pay Respect to the Deserving, and Share with the Really Afflicted; But, he that lays hold of Ignorance in so many Remarkable Transactions of his Life can be no sure Advi­ser; Nor, in my Humble Opini­on ought your Lordship to have [Page 57] Pleaded so Liberally, for all the Criminals in the Kingdom, Un­less you thought your self the last Man upon Earth to be For­given.

My Lord, Your Lordships most Humble Servant.

May the 25th. 1689.