THE REASONS Why the L^rd. Marquiſs of Dorcheſter printed his Letter The 25^th. of February, 1659. Dated the 13^th. of the ſame Moneth.Together with my ANSWER to a printed Paper, called, A true and perfect Copy of the Lord ROOS his ANSVVER to the Marquiſs of DORCHESTERS LETTER, Written the 25^th. of February, 1659.

ON the 12^th. of February laſt, about five in the afternoon, I received the Lord Roos his Paper, mentioned in my printed Letter, and immediately thereupon I writ that Anſwer, and ſent it away Poſt the next day: And though, both before and after, I was frequently informed, what reports he gave out in the Countrey, yet I held them onely worth my ſcorn, and at that time had not the leaſt intention of making any thing publick; my Letter being writ ad hominem, and not for the Preſſe. But when I ſaw for three days together (before I thought of printing it) thoſe ſcandalous Papers, that were ſcatter'd up and down, Poſted, and Cry'd by the Common Cryer all London over: And this done (beſides the injuries moſt uncivilly offered unto my Daughter, when She had not put him one penny in debt) to confirm by ſo notorious an Act his idle boaſting, that I was afraid to meet him; I was compell'd ſo to vindicate my ſelf, being deprived of all other means; for then I well knew he durſt not Fight. The Poſted Papers I need not recite, becauſe they are ſo common; For the Jewels and Plate therein mentioned, the firſt were all her own, except one Necklace of Pearl, and ſome trivial Diamonds: The Plate was no more than ſhe uſed in her Bed-chamber, and under the value of Threeſcore pounds: Before ſhe ſecured theſe, ſhe was often threatned they ſhould be all taken from her, and not ſo much left her as a Ring or Spoon: And ſince, I intreated Perſons of Honor to acquaint his Mother (which they did accordingly) that I would make good both what her Son, and my ſelf gave her, and at their owne Rates; But all would not ſerve, Spleen and Folly prevailed againſt Honour and Reaſon. And now upon the whole matter, whether, and how far I am juſtifiable in publiſhing that Letter, I willingly ſubmit to the judgement of any indifferent perſon. And thus I come to the Lord Roos his Anſwer to the Lord Marquiſs of Dorcheſter's Letter, &c.

This Whelp hath for this Moneth been lick'd over and over, and is yet without form, a rude and indigeſted lump; If you had uſed the like quickneſs in your Reply, as I did in my Anſwer to your Letter, and therein required an accompt of me with my Sword in my hand, and in ſtead of Eleven dayes I allow'd you, you had given me but Two, nor ſo much neither, but in reſpect of the diſtance of our dwellings; If in that ſhort time you had not heard from me, with full ſatisfaction to your demand, you might then upon ſome grounds have divulged this and more; but now after a Moneths ſpace, when you durſt not do like a Man, to anſwer like a Childe, cleer from the purpoſe, and moſt apparent ſcope of my Letter, which was to provoke you to Fight, and not to Rail; This I ſay would have ſtigmatiz'd you with an indeleble mark, if you were capable of more Infamy, then is now upon you. FOR YOƲ ARE STILL A COWARD, AND DARE NOT FIGHT. This Expreſſion I muſt uſe often, as Cato did his Puto Carthaginem eſſe delendam: You know the Saying, Cloath an Ape in Tiſſue, and it but adds deformity to the Beaſt; and, the more a Coward ſeeks to conceal, the more he diſcovers his Fears: Of the truth of this you are a ſhameful Example. What a noyſe, and bluſtering do you make, to appear Some-body, as if with Homer's Ʋlyſſes you had got the Winds into your empty Bottles? but all in vain; for 'tis with you like a Jade in the Myre, Your labouring to get out, but plunges you the deeper in. FOR YOƲ ARE STILL A COWARD, AND DARE NOT FIGHT. You ſay, I was amongſt my Gally-pots and Clyſter-pipes, when I gave my Choler ſo violent a Purge: If ſo, I was preſcribing a Clyſter for you to take before our Meeting, elſe I ſhould ſooner have had you in my Noſe, than in my Sight. You go on; I had better have been drunk, and ſet in the Stocks for it, when I ſent the Poſt with a Whole Pacquet of Chartels to you. I mention this ingenious Peece of Eloquence, for no other end then to ſhew what Wit there lies in the Froth of Ale. You proceed, That If I underſtand any thing in my own Trade, I could not but know, that the Hectique of my own Brain, is more deſperate then the Tertian Fits of yours, which are eaſily cured with a little Sleep. Is it poſſible for any man to be ſo ſtupid, as to publiſh himſelf in print a Common Drunkard? This is the plain Engliſh of your Tertian Fits, which if you had called Quotidian, you would eaſily have been beleiv'd; though indeed they have out-laſted any Quartan. You talk of Tutors and School-maſters; I have been long ſince out of their hands; but it is high time you were under their correction; and had I known you, aſwel before I ſent to you in a way of Honor, as I do now, I would for once have play'd the School-maſter my ſelf, and have brought, in ſtead of a Sword, a good Rod, the onely fit Weapon to encounter ſuch an Adverſary; FOR YOƲ ARE STILL A COWARD, AND DARE NOT FIGHT. You add; That now I begin to vapour, and tell you I have fought before; and that you have heard I have, with my Wife, and Poet; but if I came off with no more honor then when I was beaten by my Lord Grandiſon, I had better have kept that to my ſelf. What you mean by my Poet, I cannot imagine; but you may conceive 'tis not impoſſible for me to beat a Woman, ſince I declared ſuch a proneneſs to Cudgel you. The buſineſs between my Lord Grandiſon and my ſelf, is ſo fully known to the world, and his Second (an Eye-witneſs of what paſſed) yet alive, that there is no need for me to ſpeak a word therein; onely this, as a Hector (a name amongſt others you are pleaſed to beſtow upon me) I tell you, He that will Fight, though he have never ſo much the worſe, loſes no reputation: And I proteſt, I had rather meet with a man of Honour and Courage, though he did beat me (as you word it) then now to Fight and Beat you: But there's no great danger of that, FOR YOƲ ARE STILL A COWARD AND DARE NOT FIGHT. Next, you ſcrible about my cutting up Calves, and Dogs; and if by threatning to cram my Sword down your Throat, I do not mean my Pills, you are ſafe. Indeed, Experiments in Anatomy have much conduc'd to the bettering mans knowledge; and I make no doubt, had I the diſſecting of you in ſtead of a Calfe, I ſhould find the place, where Cowardiſe is ſeated. This would be an acceptable Diſcovery to our Colledge of Phyſicians. As concerning my Pills, thoſe you would moſt fear to take, muſt be prepared with Steel, for I know between Steel, and you, there is a great Antipathy. And whereas you ſay, There is no half quarter of a man but would venture to give me battle; Alas poor Wretch! you do not underſtand what Dirt you throw in your owne face; for your not daring to meet me, proves ex ore tuo, that you are leſs then half a quarter of a man; and ſurely here is both good Grammar, and Logick to boot. And now you tell me, I am moſt unſufferable in my unconſcionable ingroſſing of all Trades, That I am a Doctor of Civil Law, a Barriſter of the Common, a Bencher of Greys-Inn, a Profeſſor of Phyſick, a Fellow of the Colledge, a Mathemati­cian, Caldean, a School-man, and a piece of a Gramarian (as my laſt work ſhews, were it conſtrued) a Philoſopher, Poet, Tranſlator, Antiſo­cordiſt, Sollicitor, Broker, and Ʋſurer; a Marquiſs, Earl, Viſcount, Baron, and a Hector: And there is no dealing with me without a Brigade, if I have a Second for every capacity. What ridiculous ſtuff is here? Riſum teneatis Amici? yet I think a leſs number would ſcarce ſecure your Fears, and, even then, you durſt not appear in the Head of them; FOR STILL YOƲ ARE A COWARD, AND DARE NOT FIGHT. You ſay, for eating the Bread out of the Hectors mouths, you hope ſome of them will make me give them Compounding dinners, as well as I did to the reſt of my Fraternities. I think you ſcape fairly, if for abuſing them, you can be admitted to Compound for Dinners and Suppers too. You pithily write, That I meaſure another mans valour by comparing it with my owne. I underſtand in what ſenſe you would be taken, and laugh at it: But yet 'tis true, I ever did, and ſhall think, of all Gentlemen as I do of my ſelf, till I find them ſuch as you are: And now for the future, I ſhall meaſure all Cowards by your Scale. I will omit (for brevity) the reſt of your Billinſgate non-ſenſe (indeed your whole Letter is ejuſdem farinae) and give you this friendly admonition, That you be more careful and circumſpect hereafter, and not charge a fault upon another, when at the ſame inſtant you commit a greater in the ſame kind; I mean, your accuſing me of Railing, when you your ſelf tranſcend therein. I have but a word or two more, and I have done with you: You ſay, That I might have had the honour I deſired to have fallen by your Sword. I ſee the Proverb does not hold true in you, that Bad Memories have good Wits: I did not deſire abſolutely to fall by your Sword, but under the condition mentioned in my printed Letter: And as for the honor you vainly put upon falling by it; I think there is not any, but will beleive me without ſwearing; if I could have thought upon a more ignominious thing, I had named it. And now Sir, If your back be not ſufficiently loaden, go on, and I will lay more and more weight upon you, till you fall under the burden; AND STILL YOƲ ARE A COWARD, AND DARE NOT FIGHT.