[Page] Mr. TOLAND's CLITO DISSECTED.
AND FULLER's Plain Proof OF THE True Mother OF THE Pretended PRINCE of WALES.
Made out to be no PROOF.
In two Letters from a Gentleman in the Country to his Friend in London.
LONDON: Printed in the Year 1700.
Price Sixpence.
THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER.
THE two Pamphlets which fall under the Censure of my Friend, who has oblig'd me with the following Remarks, having made no little noise, and met with a kinder Reception than either of 'em deserv'd, I was persuaded to send these two Letters abroad, in order to take off from the Prejudice they might have giv'n several [Page] against Truth. Both of 'em are for imposing upon our Belief, tho' they endeavour to carry on the Cheat by different ways; and as the first makes it his Endeavour to persuade us to accept of new Schemes in Matters of Religion, so the last spends his Time in forging new Discoveries in Affairs of States. Mr. Toland perhaps may take it amiss that he is coupl'd with Fuller; and that a Man of his Philosophy and Poetry, should be joyn'd with a Person of such unheard of Stupidity: but my Friend must account for that, he haveing sent 'em to me as the Reader [Page] sees 'em. Lest therefore he should be misunderstood, as to his Principles of Government, tho' he bas taken the right side in defending it against one that would pull it down, by destroying its Foundation, the best of Religions, I think my self oblig'd to acquaint the World, he's as great a Foe to Popery as any sanctified Member whatsoever, of Hall or Parlour; and is so far from being against his Country's Interest in its present Establishment, that he thinks himself much more happy in his Obedience to His Sacred Majesty K. William, than if [Page] S. Germains were transplanted to Kensington, and the little Gentleman in France were to kill his Stags on our Continent, as they'd make us believe He slaughters his Boars on their's. And tho' he may be thought to aim at that which is no Compliment to his present Superiors, whom God has set over him, I'll pawn my Life for him, he'd be as active in defence of his King and Country, as the best Man of 'em all that exclaims against Jesuits, and raises Arguments against the Infallibility of the Triple-Crown, should there be occasion for it. The Religion he [Page] has been bred up in, is the Church of England in its purest Doctrines, and if he has not hitherto acted altogether as becomes his Holy Profession, he takes this Resolution for the future of opposing those who shall endeavour to set up new Religions, and those who have the Impudence to give their Votes for none. The Expressions he makes use of may look somewhat harsh, but he thinks it an usage good enough for an Atheist, and an Entertainment not improper to treat a Lyar with.
Mr. TOLAND's CLITO Examin'd, IN A LETTER To a FRIEND.
THE Poem you sent me, reach'd Astrop on Thursday last, and having a sight of Mr. Toland's Name in the Preface, I immediately fell to work, to see what an Author, who had made such a Bustle in the World had oblig'd us with. The Publisher, who without doubt is Mr. Toland himself, for I can't suppose so ill a Man can have any Friend, begin's with the same Introduction as other Pretenders to the Press, that it had been handed about in Manuscript, that several Copies had crept abroad, and underwent different Characters and Judgments; and therefore to give People a due light into the Principles which some Men counted [Page 2] pernicious, he had sent it abroad in order to recover 'em from the Prejudice such and such Misrepresentations might have given 'em. I conclude with him indeed, that Poetry is not his Business; and I am sure His at present can be no Body's Diversion but his own; tho' I could wish he would rather divert himself that way, than publish OCEANAS, and write Panegyricks on Milton; and give us the Lives and Characters of the worst of Men, in order to debauch us into the Imitation of 'em. But I can't but wonder at his way of conveying the Knowledge of his Humility to us; He never was heard to value himself for any thing in Verse beyond a Song, which in my Opinion, is, he had no mean Sentiments of his Lyrick Poetry. Without doubt his Mistress Victorina, who has had many a lamentable Ditty from him, can tell us whether he reaches up to the Perfections of the incomparable Motteux, or bears any Resemblance to the Character of the Prince of Sonnet-Makers, Mr. Durfey. As for the Name of the Poem, how he comes to call it CLITO, or, the Force of Eloquence, when he Himself, not his pretended Friend, act's the Orator, I know not, and it looks something like a Mistake. Had he given it the Heathenish Name of TOLAND, or [Page 3] ADEISIDEMON, I am apt to think this abominable Issue of his Brain would have had a more significant Apellation. And tho' CLITO be too good a Name for a Person who has any Intimacy with a Man of his Character, Yet I must joyn with him in approving his Choice of ADEISIDEMON for himself, which is in down-right English (not Unsuperstitious, as he terms it) but one that fears neither God nor Devil.
Having got rid of the Preface, it is but necessary we fall into the Poem; and the first thing worth Observation here, is the Character of his Familiar, and his Request,
We have some Reason to question the truth of this Gentleman's Character from the Company he keeps, but grant him what we believe he is not, it adds to our Author's mistakes, to m [...]e him understand so well, and yet desire to be inform'd. In my Opinion, Adeisidemon ought to have made the Question, and [Page 4] Clito to have resolv'd it; but 'tis not the first time Mr. Toland has undertaken to teach his Superiours, and instruct those who had more Knowledge than himself. But to begin with our Man of Eloquence.
Let me tell you, Sir, this promise of his is enough to raise our Expectations, and make us hope to have the whole Mysteries of Nature unfolded. But Mr. Toland has a natural Aversion for Mysteries, and is so far from endeavouring to set perplex'd or dark things in the light, that the thought of our Saviour Incarnation is enough to make him Blaspheme against the Being that caus'd it, and the mention of the Resurrection, to make him give the Lye to that Omnipotence that has ordain'd it. And tho' he may be carry'd away in the Opinion of himself, that he can make which side he favours most, have the Advantage, yet if he's no better Orator than his Poetry shews him to be, he'll shoot wide of the Mark.
A Rant indeed, he might well call himself Almanzor in the Preface, when he pretends to the Attribute of the Almighty in the Poem, and may properly give his the name of a Creating Pen, since it gives Being to such unheard of Impieties.
Now the Fiend begins to shew his Cloven Foot, and puts off his Disguise, and disuades Men from the Fears of Death by saying nothing in 'em is Immortal, and yet every part which composes their Humane structure Eternal. Homo frontis audacissimae! At this time of day to preach up the Doctrine of Mundus est Aeternus, when the Author of All Aeternity has said, it should not, and to dare to affirm the Soul to be mortal, when the Apprehensions of its being not capable of dying is the only dissuasive from doing ill, and making us give a loose to our Lusts, like the Beasts which perish.
If this, or the Mighty feats that went before, is the Business of an Orator, I know nothing of the Matter: a Cicero may indeed harangue upon the investigators of such hidden Truth's, but an Aristotle or a Cartesius must find 'em.
Liberty is the Cloak He makes use of, to enslave us, and bring us under the Dominion of Five Hundred Kings, when the Constitution of our Happiness consists in being govern'd by One. But He may move His Tongue long enough before his Prosaick Poetry can lead us into the mistake of making Chains for our selves, and seeking imaginary good before that which is real.
Certainly He fancy's himself to be Mr. Tr—d, and that He wrote the Argument against the Standing Army; but [Page 7] the World is wiser than to think any such thing, as knowing He was picking holes in the Skins of the Fathers, when the Parliament were saving Theirs by Disbanding the Standing Troops. However, he lik'd the Fact, He might have omitted the Commendation of it for the sake of a certain Gentleman, whose Character He runs into some time after.
The Nation is healthy enough without his Purges, and he may have occasion perhaps for Catharticks himself, after he has dabled a little longer with Madam Victorina.
As for the usurp'd Power he talks of, I don't believe King William (tho' he has the ill Manners to liken him to Brutus) will give him leave to destroy it, or permit him to form what 'tis every Monarch's interest to joyn against.
Either King William is not our Soveraign Lord, or the Comparison between him and Brutus is not adaquate. The City of Rome had from the Foundation of its [Page 8] Empire, till Julius Caesar's Time been a Free State, and had imbib'd an Hatred from its very Original against Kings, I cannot therefore but agree with our Author, that if Brutus had cloath'd himself with the Soveraign Power, the Romans would not have had such a Love for his Memory, but how the Application comes to be made to us, I'm very far from knowing the reason, since 'tis very plain the Constitution of our Kingdom requires a Soveraign, and His present Majesty has actually accepted and invested Himself with that Dignity.
The drift of this last Line, is to call in question the Justice of our present Settlement by Act of Parliament, and by Buzzing about, that the next Heir to the Crown after Her Royal Highness, is a Foreigner and of the House of Lunenburgh, to make way for a Commonwealth. And this he has the Impudence to say in the next Line but one, he expects from William's Love., but it's thought His Majesty loves his nearest Relations a great deal better than Mr. Toland.
Here our Poet takes the Gift of Prophecy upon him, but does it in such terms, that the Wind and Weather Man, Dr. Gustavus Parker would be asham'd of. Every body knew Heaven was high before he gave us to understand it; but what swaying over thy Buildings is, I know no more than the Man in the Moon. In short, he might have forborn talking of the Height of our Buildings, when the Royal Palace of White-Hall lies levell'd with the Ground.
That may be, and not be a jot the worse for 'em. People, I thank God, begin to know Toland pretty well, and he may threaten till his Heart ach's before any one will take notice of it. However, he has shew'd us what a Champion of the Truth he is, when he falls a reviling the Messengers of the onely True God, and is for burning His Temples, as the Villain did that of Diana at Ephesus, only to be talk'd of. I knew indeed, Mr. Toland had an Aversion to Episcopacy, and the Establish'd Church of England, but never heard before he was fall'n out with [Page 10] Hypocrisy, or had shaken hands with his fromer Regards for the formal Gentlemen with short Cloaks, who not long since had him in their Service.
By Priest-craft is meant serving God in his Ordinances, and by Religion, an irregular Scheme without any Matters of Faith in it beyond what his Reason can explain to him; so that the last might well be safe, when none but such as he, would meddle with it; and he might well have a War with the first, when it taught such a Purity of Belief, as ran counter to the Impurity of his, which is, that the Friends to God, are the Foes to his Creatures.
Now our Spark's for soaring, when, tho' he is not so swag-belly'd as Father Dominick, yet, his Guts, like his, were never made for Mounting. But there's no danger of his reaching Heav'n while he continues obstinate in such Principles as [Page 11] bear no Communication with it. However, he's for renewing the Giants War, and like another Tiphoeus, is for scaling Heav'ns Walls, which he's in the right of it again, for calling High. I could wish Mr. Toland did not furnish us with the following Explication of these four Lines, (viz.) That when he had debauch'd his Votaries from their Faith and Allegiance, he would question the Being of our Soveraign Lord, God Almighty, in his Trinity and Unity, and dethrone the Second and Third Persons in it. If this be not his Opinion, and the Sense of his words, I ask his pardon, but I am sure 'tis that of the Deists, which abominable Sect he's not altogether a Stranger to,
Good again! He himself has taught us a Form to pray by, and yet is offended at our making use of it. If God is a [...]y with us, it matters not if we sue for Pardon, and deprecate the Vengeance we are threatned with: He's too just a Judge to take Bribes, that is, accept the Sorrows of a true Penitent, as he has promis'd us in his holy Word, and it's impossible for Him after He is once provok'd [Page 12] to be appeas'd. This is robbing God of His Chiefest Attribute His Mercy, and flinging every one into a State of Damnation; For without doubt, there is no Man living but has offended his Maker some time or other. This is a Scheme of believing with a witness, and credat Judeus Appelles, for neither I nor any rational Being can.
Having storm'd the Gates of Heav'n, the next thing he does is to make a visit to the Devil, and dispossess him likewise of his Authority. He's a Fiend indeed fit enough to supply his place, but I doubt, not prevailing enough to rob him of his Post. And tho' I cannot prove any such Local place in Being, as this of Fire and Brimstone is, yet since God has spoken of it by the Mouth of His Prophets; and our Saviour Himself has made use of the Terrors of it, in order to our Salvation, I give an implicit Belief to the Sacred Writ, which he questions the Truth of, and which may bring him to those Punishments he may wish too late, he had not spoken so slightly of.
This is a Confirmation in express terms of what went before; and as he deny'd the Punishment there, here he actually declares there are no such Beings as the Punishers, and takes the part of a Sceptical Divine, who said that Eve had no such thing as a Tempter, but that the Depravity of her own Nature (tho' God had made her without Sin) caus'd her to rob the Tree of Life, and original Sin was born with the World, not the after growth of One who was the most Beautiful part of it.
I wish this were applicable to himself, and he would hearken to the Advice of the Scripture he despises, or else our Parliament would handle him as they did in a place which gives Birth to no Venemous Insects, but yet was the place of this poisonous Creature's Nativity, that the strictness of their Laws may tie up his Hands from doing hurt, and dispersing such Doctrines as are contrary to sound Truth, and take all manner of occasion [Page 14] to dilate their Infection amongst such as are remiss in providing against 'em.
As he before rob'd God of His Mercy, so now he has made bold with another of His Attributes, which is His Justice; and having got the Thunder-bolt in his Hand, he's for breathing new Souls into his Fellow Creatures, or if they have a mind to keep their old ones, he's for dispatching them, and making way for his Creating Pen (as he calls it) to form others. But whatever he may think, I'm of opinion, mending is none of his Province, tho' confounding may; and if he had the Gift of Reformation, he has so many Faults of his own to employ himself at home, that he need not go out in search of Business. abroad.
That is as much as to say, when he drops the pursuit of doing ill, which is his Business, to mend the Matter, he betakes himself to his Mistress; and tho' [Page 15] he us'd rough Expressions, as Thunder-bolts, &c. to frighten the Men into Vice, Victorina is such a perverse, cunning Baggage, that she'll not be driven; but he must speak fine and well, if he would bring her upon the Couch of Iniquity. A sign he has a better Opinion of the Fair Sex than his own; and that he does not pretend he has spoken well of his new System of Religion, when all his fine Words are kept in Reserve, to make a Convert of his Bona Roba with.
Let me tell you, we are more beholding to his Love than we are to his Eloquence, the last was gotten into such a fit of raving and blustring in Heroicks, that we should all have been flung upon our Backs by the force of it, had not the first interpos'd, and hush'd the Storm-Well, I hope next time he falls a thundring, his Mistress will come in his Head, to prevent the Effects of it, and lay that Evil Spirit of his which hurry's him away to his own destruction; for I'm persuaded it's much better to be a Whore-Master than a Deist.
Had I been in CLITO's place, I should have had another Opinion, and approv'd of what he said of his Mistress, much better than what he spoke of his God. When he speaks of the first, he's all over Obedience and Reverence, but when he makes mention of the last, he seems possest with the Spirit of Rebellion, and looks as if he rose in defiance against Him that created him. As for his Lady, I know her not, and she may be Virtuous, as he gives us his Word, she is; But for himself, he may be assur'd it's none of his Fault, if she be not downright Vitious.
Thus I have sent you my Thoughts of the Present you made me; and should at the same time, give you my Sentiments of Fuller's Narrative, had not I already swell'd 'em beyond the Bulk of a single Letter. You may expect my Observations next Post on the Trifler in Prose, as you now have those dispatch'd to you on the Pains-taker in Verse. In the mean time, take these Observations on the Poetical Man of Eloquence with the rest▪ He's a Poet without Versificacation, [Page 17] an Orator without Elocution, a Disputant without Reason, a Subject without Obedience, a Boaster without Performance; and the Body of his Poem has as little an agreement with the Title of it, as his way of living bears proportion to the Name he bears of a Christian; and he may write himself a Deist, as long as he pleases, I am satisfied his manner of writing shews him little better than an Atheist.
REMARKS UPON Fuller's Plain Proof, &c.
TO keep my word with you, I have gone through the fatigue of reading the dullest Book in Nature, with the least appearance of Truth in it that ever saw the Light. Our Author gives it the Title of Plain Proof, but I durst to be sworn his Readers will give it another Name, and will agree with me, that he has so little made out the Matter in dispute, that he has more perplext the Cause than ever. Without doubt this Fuller might have done some Service for the present Government, but I have no reason to conclude that the Duke of Shrewsbury gave him the Certificate he impudently puts at the back of his Title, for his bringing the Birth of the Prince of Wales to light; and tho' I should be as glad to have him prov'd an Impostor as any Englishman living, yet you must excuse me, if I suspend my Belief of an Assertion which is Midwif'd [Page 19] into the World by a Person of his Character. I have read his Life too lately to be in love with his manner of Living; and since Truth's are often questioned from Men who have known Talents at Lying, you must not think me an Infidel if I don't give Credit to a Lye, that comes from a known Lyar. There's no dispute but the Lord Mayor and Aldermen are highly oblig'd to him; but if they have giv'n him a Penny, which I suppose he wrote his Dedication for, they have return'd the Obligation more than threefold on his Head, and kept his strong Mountain which bids defiance to all its opposers, sometime longer than it would otherwise from dwindling into a Mole-Hill. Sir Richard Levet and his Right Worshipful Brethren have more sense, than to beleive what the House of Lords, and the Honourable the Commons, would not give Credit to; and tho' they are such good Protestants as to be sticklers in good Earnest against Popery, yet the cause of Religion is of it self so good an Argument for keeping this young Gentleman still at St. Germains, that they have no need of having recourse to a Fuller to keep 'em steady and unshaken in their present Loyalty, or have any occasion of laying hold on Illegitimacy to support [Page 20] their Pretensions when the preservations of their Laws, Liberties, and all that's dear to 'em, are sufficient Pleas in favour of their Conduct. As for my own part, tho' I'm a better Subject than this Affidavit Man, yet I can never believe his Depositions till they are back▪d by those of as many noble Persons, as those about the Truth of the Prince's Birth were; and if I forbear giving Credit to him, 'tis not so much for the P—sake, as for his own, who is so great a stranger to any thing that looks like Truth.
In his Preface he begins with the Reports that our English Travellers make of this Unfortunate young Gentleman's Atchievements, and the hopes the Roman Catholicks have beyond Sea of establishing him and their Religion yet in these Kingdoms. As for the first, some young Gentlemen are more sprightly than others, and I should be glad if he were of as common Birth, as Fuller reports him to be of, so he was English Born, to hear of any Fellow Subject's Improvement; and for the last, I've a better Opinion of the Roman Catholicks Prudence, than that they should tell a known Enemy and Spy, they design'd to Sing High Mass shortly in St. Paul's Cathedral, but am apt to fancy Mr. Fuller has been in some Goal [Page 21] or other, rather than a holding Disputes at Antwerp, or a travelling in the Countries at Home, Cheating His Majesty's Subjects, than conversing with Father Sabran, or Hunter beyond the Seas. Nothing more seem's material in the Preface than the Reason he gives for not publishing this dull Pamphlet sooner, and that is, because he expected a Hearing before the Lords, which they Honourably refus'd him, and rather serv'd for an Argument to forward the Suppression of such Scandalous Papers, than their Publication.
Having found my way through the Porch, 'tis but necessary I should take some small Entertainment in the House, and here the first Course is a Narrative to pick at, which has all the Positive Assurance of Matters of Fact, while the second is an Epistolary Desert, with the resemblance of something that looks as much like nothing as can be. He tells you he was deliver'd of a small Narrative about the Prince's Birth four Years ago; that a Man of Quality gave himself the Trouble of Answering it, and examining the Features of this Brat of his Brain; and that the Noble Person who has made a Fool of him, was a Gentleman so well known among the Citizens of London, that he [Page 22] can't take up Goods without Ready Money. When he might have said, he himself was so well known, that no one could call in question the Truth of what that Worthy Person alledg'd against him. But I cannot but say this in his behalf, that the small Number of his Affidavits shew he has more Modesty in making Oath than his Predecessor T. O. D. D. of Famous Memory, who stretch'd his Pagan Lungs much beyond Number 6; and the Simplicity and Incredibility of 'em are such, that it's full as hard to believe the One, as 'twas formerly to take off People from giving Credit to the Other. To go on with his Depositions. 1. He's ready to Swear with all his Heart and Soul, when any Body will take his Oath, That the Countess of Tyrconnel, brought over two Big-Belly'd Women, in May 1688. with her, in the Monmouth Yatch, Capt. Wright Commander. 2. He avers upon his Soul, that one of these two Big-belly'd Women, fell to pieces at an Inn in St. Albans. 3. He avers again, as he hopes to be sav'd, the other Lady, who was not so near her Time, and could carry her Burthen farther, got safe to London, and was lodg'd in St. James's Palace in two Rooms joyning to the Marchioness of Powis's; and upon his unquestionable [Page 23] Veracity, her Name was Mrs. Mary Grey. 4. That the said Mrs. Mary Grey, fell into Labour on Saturday the 9th of June in the same Year, 1688; That Mrs. Wilks was brought to her, and that the Queen came instantly to St. James's, and pretended of a sudden to be in the same Condition; and Mrs. Grey being deliver'd, the Child was carried in a Warming-Pan by Mrs. Labbady (which he actually saw, by all that's good) through the narrow Gallery into the Back Room, next to that where the Queen lay. 5. To keep his Hand in at Averring, he avers that this same Mrs. Grey, and no Body else in her Skin, was sent away three Weeks after her Delivery, and that too by Command to Dover, in a Coach and six Horses, accompany'd by Father Lewis Sabran, the Marchioness of Powis's Woman, and the said Juror's own dear self; and that one Father Grey, a Secular Priest of Calice, met her there, and took her with him in the Pacquet Boat to Calice, and from thence to the Benedictine Nunnery at Paris. 6. To conclude and pin the Basket, he makes use of his own Word, and avers again, that the Lady was true Flesh and Blood, and did not care to end her Days in a Nunnery; wherefore she made a Breach in the Wall, [Page 24] and made her Escape from her Confinement, but in three days, after great Search, she was found, and sent back to the Cloister, to mumble over her Beads again.
These are the Six plain Proofs our Ductor Dubitantium has giv'n us of the young Prince's Illegitimacy; which, tho' they are not worthy of Reply, are thus expos'd as trivial, and as so many propositions without consequences. (1.) Suppose two Gentlewomen with Child did actually come over with my Lady Tyrconnel, does that Argue that the Countess brought 'em over for the use of the Queen? Certainly Her Majesty had no occasion to send to Ireland for Breeders, when so many young People were playing the Fool under Her Nose, and understood the Act of Generation as well as any Teague-lander whatsoever. (2.) 'Tis highly improbable if such a Design was in hand, and nothing would content our then Sovereign Lady but an Irish Bantling, that the Countess should pick out Women so near their Time, as that one of 'em should cry out at St. Albans in her way to London, and the other lie down in less than a Month after at St. James's 3. Take it for granted, that she was brought to and lodg'd in St. James's Palace, [Page 25] over my Lady Stricland's Lodgings, &c. Her Lodgings were at too great a distance from her Majesty's, and very disagreeable to the intended Design. For the Child was brought hot from the Body, which could never be, had it been born such a distance from the Queen's Appartment. Their Majesties Physicians made Oath in Chancery; That the After-birth was reeking, and how that could be after its being brought through two Chambers, the Narrow Gallery, and Her Majesty's Anti-Chamber; those who understand the Nature of it, and how soon it cools, cannot imagine. 4. The Devil must needs owe Mrs. Labbady a Shame, if after Matters were so closely concerted, as he would make us believe, she could be so impudent as to carry the Child in the Warming-Pan openly before a young Fellow, who at those Years was so far from keeping a Secret, as he is now from being trusted with one. 5. Let him aver his Heart out, that she went in a Coach and Six Horses to Dover, he shall never bring me to conclude from thence, that the P—of Wales his Mother was sent into a Nunnery. I'll be plain with him, it seems very improper to me, that a fair Lady, who had taken her Leave of Man's Flesh, and was retiring into a Convent, [Page 26] should take such a Lustful young Rogue with her as he was, in the Coach by way of Mortification. 6. Had the young Prince been her Son, and she such a Tender Mother of Him, she would (after her Escape from the Nunnery) made what haste she could to St. Germains; but, tho' Father Sabran's Letter says, she was so fond, she could not live from her Son, this Spark makes her otherwise, and so far from having her Bowels yearn after Him, that she takes to her Heels, and runs as fast as her Legs could carry her from the Sight of him.
Thus much for his six Affidavits, and I have nothing to do, except the taking Notice of one thing, before I make enquiry into his Seven Letters, and two Irish Certificates; and that is, the Reasons why Mrs. Grey was murder'd. She was put to Death, he says, because she should not discover her Son to be the Prince of Wales, and so break the Measures of the Court. If this be not Argumentum ab imbecisiori, I am highly mistaken. For to suppose a Woman to be a Mother of a Child, fond of it to the last degree, desirous of his Welfare, &c. and yet at the same time to repine at his Preferment, and discover her Son's Birth, tho' given out and receiv'd for a Branch [Page 27] of the Blood Royal, are as inconsistent as Falshood is with Truth, or a Person of Fuller's Character, with one who has an Abomination for Fuller's Forgeries.
But I spend too much Time upon what does not deserve my notice, and its altogether proper to keep my word with you, after having given you a promise of what I could wish I had made no mention of, i. e. to Communicate my thoughts of the Letters, whether they are genuine or no. Believe it, Sir, I perform this Task very unwillingly, as being in the Interest, of a Government he seems to Espouse, and which the D—of S—has given under Hand, that this Fellow has been serviceable to, but as the People of England have no reason to be apprehensive of any danger from their Enemies, whilst they are under the Security of his present Majesty's Protection, and are shelter'd by his Sword, and govern'd by his Sceptre, we have no manner of need to make use of little Artifices for the defence of a Cause which has occasion for nothing but it's own Glory and Sincerity to support it. Therefore I cannot be thought to side against my Country, if I declare the Letters which are any thing material, seem all written by one hand, tho' I question not he deliver'd those he speaks [Page 28] of to King William, and swore heartily before his Majesty, that they were genuine.
To begin with the Two first directed, to the Lords Montgomery and Castlemain. The Contents of 'em are the same in substance, and sent by the same Messenger of Integrity, William Fuller. And tho' we should be so favourable to him as to make no scruple at all in relation to the Person that Penn'd 'em down, yet we have good reason to doubt whether her Majesty if he wrote 'em, was so sollicitous about the recovery and flight of Mrs. Grey, for fear of discovering the true Mother of the Gentleman that goes by the Name of the P—of Wales. Other reasons of State might induce her to make enquiry after her, and it's so inconsistent with a Lady of any sparks of Christianity to desire any one to Assassinate her Eellow Creature, and at the same time address her self to Heav'n and Pray for Success in such a Hellish Affair, That I must needs be excus'd, if I say, this looks very much like Fuller, who first Forges a Matter, and afterwards abuses God's Holy name, by Swearing 'tis matter of Fact.
Lett. 3. Being taken out of Mr. Crone's Pocket Book, and he afterwards convicted of High-Treason for the Contents of it and other Matters, I shall not call the Justice [Page 29] of the most equitable Court in the World in question, yet, though it shews Her late Majesty held a Correspondence with the Lord Montgomery by means of the Bearer who was under Sentence of Condemnation for it, I am apt to believe our Affairs were not so firmly established at that juncture, but His Majesty out of his great Wisdom would have caus'd the Letters which relate to Mrs. Grey to be made publick, in order to fix the Minds of some People, who at that time of day were bending towards the Belief of the aforesaid P—'s Legitimacy. One thing which I take particular Notice of in this Letter, is, that Fuller was trusted with Bills, and did not turn the Money to his own use.
Lett. 4. Is written, as he says, by Father Sabran a Jesuit; let who will be the Author of it, I dare acquit Fuller with a safe Conscience, that he did not write it himself. It savours too much of Piety to be any thing of his Dictating; and there's too great an Air of Roguery in it not to be of his Contriving. In short, he might bring it to the late Queen of ever blessed Memory, for all that I know; but it seems a little odd (if it was found in the Dutchess of Tyrconnel▪s Trunk) that a Prince of such a penetrating Judgment [Page 30] as his present Majesty is, should order a Business of such consequence to be entrusted in the hands of one who had broke his Trust before in Betraying his Mistress, and to let it be unpublish'd till this time, when no Prince in Christendom disputes the Justice of His Majesty's Rightful and Lawful Title.
Lett. 5. Has the Dutchess of Powis's Name to it, and is pretended to be under her Hand, when it looks very much like the Product of our Man of Deposition's own Head: Tho' 'tis not done so artfully as became a Man of his Invention; He should have made my Lady Dutchess to have spoken plainer; and since these two Ladies held such a free Correspondence together to have cloath'd his Meaning with less ambiguous terms. Tho' I am very ready to conclude, that an Affair of this Nature would scarce be trusted to any thing but Cyphers; and that notwithstanding he pretends it was taken out of the Dutchess of Tyrconnel's Trunk, it had seen the Light sooner, had not he put it there.
Lett. 6. Shews the dull Mr. Fuller's Head had been employ'd in Counterfeiting the Ingenious Mr. Carryl's Hand. That unfortunate Gentleman is too well known for his Stile, to address a Lady [Page 31] of Quality in that nature; and tho' some People who know how to Forge Bills, &c. may give us something not unlike his Hand, they may try long enough before they can reach up to the Perfections of his Head.
Lett. 7. Is far from being artfully contriv'd, and may be genuine for all that I know, for there's nothing in it, but the Duke's Sorrows for his Kinswomans Misfortunes, his Thanks to the Dutchess of Powis for her good Offices, and his Protestations that he cannot comply with Mrs. Greys desires of obtaining a Rockers Place, because of her Disposition. Several other things might make her Request improper, besides a Mothers tenderness of Nature, which he will have it to be, and tho' the General Opinion has so startled me, that I lean very much after the Desires of knowing the Truth of this Gentleman's Original, who is so much talk'd of, yet the Character of our Author, his known Disingenuity, and the Contempt he has met with from Both Houses of Parliament, confirms me that it cannot be as he asserts, tho' I cannot tell but it may be as a great many others think. I wish heartily for a Light into the Matter, but it must come from another hand, if it expects a Reception.
As for the two Irish Squires, who begin their Letter with Mr. William Fuller. Sir, their Information has as little Authority over me, as their Wive's Certificate; and I'm a Dog if I can think a Lady of the Dutchess of Tyrconnel's Temper could so far pocket up the Injuries of the Marriage-Bed, as to Caress the Women that had rob'd her of her Husband's Love, and not only pocket up a Rival's being with Child, but take a Voyage for England, to take care of her safe Delivery. This is such a piece of Condescention, your Termegant Wife nor mine would ever submit to; and tho' Fuller has made the Dutchess give 'em this President, the way to have our houses pull'd down upon our heads, is for us to follow the Duke's.
I would have t'other fling at this piece of Ridicule, but I am affraid I have said enough to make me lose my Interest with you, and get the Name of a Jacobite, than which nothing is more contemptible to