THE Jacobite Principles Vindicated.

AS much as Engliſh-men have been famed for their Hearts, they have been always re­proached for their Heads. They have always loſt their Wits by Na­tional In•oxications. They have been always a tempeſtuous, a heady, and a divided People: But they never were more apparently ſo, than they have been in this laſt Change. They have not only out-run their Own, but the Pretences of their Deliverer. He came not for a Crown, but to re­dreſs our Grievances; but we would give the Crown, yet neglect our Grie­vances, and all Amendment of our Conſtitution: And we will ſtill main­tain our Injuſtice in the one, and Folly in the other. Thoſe that reſolve to do ſo, may ſee Maeſtricht taken after Mons and Namur, Flande•ſubmitted to France, the Confederacy broken, and we (divided as we are, and ſhall be, amongſt our ſelves) left to grapple with all that Power, which has now for four Years employed ſuch united Forces. Nor can we hope God will work a Miracle to ſupport ſo unjuſt a Quarrel. They may ſee all this War brought into our own Bowels, into this divided Kingdom; may ſee it make Havock and Deſolation upon this Iſland; in a word, may ſee Friends and Kindred killing and deſtroving one another, embruing their Hands in each others Blood; and then our pretended Fears may become true, thoſe Miſeries overtake us, with the pretended Suſpicions of which we have coloured over and countenanced our unrighteous Doings. But you think it is too late to or•w back, and you can ſee no ſecurity in the Reſtoration; you can't ſee our Lives, and our Re­ligion, our Liberty, and our Property will be ſafe. I averr you impoſe upon your ſelf, and one Man impoſes upon another. But you ſay you are frighted at the Diſcourſes of ſome, both Pro­teſtant and Catholick, Jacobites. You ſay they talk for Slavery, and that when we are Slaves, we may be made Papiſts. Yet if you would conſider, you have been invited by publiſhed Pamphlets to reflect who among the Jacobites are likely to give you ſatis­faction. Would you have Men ſet their Names to what they write? There are Men that you believe are in King James's Intereſt, that you have no reaſon to believe would ſa­crifice their Country or their Religion, and that I aſſure you have as true a love for thoſe good things you men­tion as you can have your ſelf, and that would joyn with you and any Engliſh-men, to ask in a reſpectful manner for every honeſt thing that is neceſſary to ſecure us from Arbitrary Power, and the Violence of all ſorts of Prieſts, and that are themſelves ſatis­fied, and can authentically ſatisfie5 you that the King has been a long time willing to make all thoſe neceſ­ſary Conceſſions that will ſecure the Church of England, as the Eſtabliſhed Worſhip, make an Impartial Toleration ſafe, and for the future put our Li­berties and Property out of the Power (as much as good and wholſom Laws can do it) of Male-adminiſtration; nay, that are ſatisfied he muſt be willing to do ſo if ever he will come home. There are Jacobites that be­lieve what Gourville is related to have once ſaid concerning our Kings; Qu'n Roy d'Angleterre qui veut eſtre l'Homme de ſon Peuple, eſt le plus Grand Roy du Monde, mais s'il veut eſtre quel­que choſe d'avantage par Dieu, il n'est plus Rien. There are Jacobites that are for Reformations, though they believe them more laſting under un­conteſted Titles than where Title is too great a part of the Diſpute; that think it Lawful for Kings, and their Parliaments, to limit and explain the Nature of Prerogatives, though they think it ſafer to the Conſtitution to leave it to the three Eſtates ſo to do, than for one or two of them to inno­vate too rudely without the Conſent of the other; that own a great Dif­ference between the Changing or Abolition of ſome particular Laws, and altering Fundamentals. And the greateſt Aſſertors of Liberty muſt ac­knowledge, that Prerogatives in Kings, ſuitable to the Reſpective Conſtitu­tion, are neceſſary to maintain thoſe Conſtitutions, and to protect their Subjects, and conſequently that in all Pacts and Compoſitions their People make with them, due care ſhould be taken even by the People, not to take from their Kings any eſſential Powers. Prerogative, like a River, ſometimes gains, and ſometimes de­creaſes in its Banks; but the Balk of the Community ſails ſafeſt when it keeps its own Natural Channel, ac­cording to the reſpective Conſtituti­ons. Bacon, that writes the Unifor­mity of the Government of England, is certainly no over Monarchical Au­thor; yet he has this Expreſſion in relation to King Stephen: Too much Counter-ſecurity from the King to the People, is like too many Covenants in Marriage, that make room for Jealouſy, and are but Seeds of an unquiet Life. After all, it is certainly the Nature of Engliſh-men to delight in, and they have been uſed to a Limited, Explained, and Hereditary Monarchy; and Natu­ram licet expellas furca tamen ipſa recur­rat, will be found true in a Politick, as well as a Natural Senſe, by all thoſe who would change our Government into an Abſolute Monarchy or Downright Democracy, or that will interrupt the Succeſſion. The Lancaſtrian Uſurpa­tions, and the Late Times, witneſs this. But perhaps ſome of theſe Ja­cobites you complain of, may think to diſgrace what I have ſaid, by cal­ling theſe Notions Republican. To theſe Gentlement I will firſt Anſwer, That ſince we are ſo Elemented for a Com­mon-wealth, there is no keeping it out but by a Reformation of the Monar­chy, that may as apparently Anſwer all the Reaſons why Government was firſt depoſited in the Magiſtrates hands, either by God, or the People. I will not diſpute the Original of Go­vernment at this time, but I will offer one thing to theſe Speculators to conſi­der of, which is, That whilſt they too much cajole Kings, they loſe their6 Intereſt with the People, and miſlead an Engliſh Monarch, and make way for that Government both in Church and State, which they would (if they underſtood how) oppoſe. They help the Real Common-wealths men to Arguments, and give the Presbyte­rians opportunity to inſinuate, and gain the Hearts of the People. Per­haps were the People of England a Prima Materia, I would be very well content that the Draughts of theſe ſuperfine Projectors ſhould be debated, but I think Machiavel was as good a Politician as moſt of Them; and yet he ſays, If the Variations of Times are not obſerved, and Laws and Cuſtoms al­tered accordingly, much Miſchief muſt follow. And in another Place, he af­firms it a very had Thing to keep them in Servitude, who are diſpoſed to be Free. And whoever has reflected upon the extravagant Courſes we have taken to be ſo, ever ſince the Beginning of the late Civil Wars, cannot ſure doubt of our Diſpoſition: For tho we have been miſtaken in our Cures, no body can be miſtaken in our Pro­penſity. I am no Lord, nor ever de­ſire or hope for any Title. I had ra­ther ſerve my Country in the Lower than the Ʋpper-Houſe; and if my Country never thinks fit to ſend me to that neither, I ſhall never Court, much leſs Bribe, for that Imployment from my Country: for I would not be Bribed in it. Yet conſidering how much the Power of the Lords has in ſome Reigns been a check to the Incroachment of Kings, and in others to the hot-headedneſs of the People, I ſhould be willing to ſcrew up the Ari­ſtocratical part of our Government, though not to the heighth it ſome­times has had in our Policy: but the preſent Ferments of England make it impracticable. And tho ſome Men are, I am not for driving Nails that will not go; when we may without breach of Conſcience let that Work alone to a more cl•a••ſighted Age. Though I think our Oaths, and the Original Contract of our Law Books, bind us to reſtore the King; yet I know no Obligation we lie under to reſtore Power to the Lords, but as there ſhall appear both great Feaſibi­lity and Expediency: I am not for hazarding much for bringing things exactly and minutely to my Platform. It will be always enough for me, if the Fundamentals of our Govern­ment are preſerved. A Trimmer in Politicks, if it means one that would avoid Extremities, and compoſe Things, and not one that ſerves himſelf by all Times and Changes, is a Name and Character that I ſhall al­ways revere. But to give theſe Gen­tlemen a farther Anſwer, I muſt tell them, that it is plain, by undeniable Matter of Fact, that to thoſe Perſons that ingaged in the Scotch Plot, tho he had not tried his Fortune in Ire­land, nor could the Perſons ingaged aſſure his Return, even upon ſuch Condeſcenſions; yet the King granted under the Broad Seal of that King­dom, a full Redreſs for all Grievances, and that at the Requeſt of People that had oppoſed him; ſo that talking of Terms will be no harſh Language to him now; he can want no farther Illumination, by a longer Series of Misfortunes, to let him ſee, that Compliance with his People is his true and only Intereſt. In a private Pamphlet, and in a private Capacity,7 it is not proper to ſtate the Manner and Bounds of our Redreſſes: But did ever People re-admit a King they had ejected upon the Male-admini­ſtrations of his Miniſters (if they could any ways help it) without ma­king good Proviſions? Can any body imagine we expect the People of England ſhould? The Men of S•nſe, and Quality, and Eſtates, amongſt the Jacobites, be they Proteſtants or Papiſts, don't wiſh they ſhould do it. Would you have Tryals ſecured? It is the Intereſt of all Parties, care ſhould be taken about them, or all Parties will ſuffer in their turns. Plunket, and Sidney, and Aſhton, were doubtleſs all Murdered, tho they were never ſo guilty of the Crimes wherewith they were charged: The one Tryed twice, the other found guilty upon one Evi­dence, and the laſt upon nothing but preſumptive Proof. Either let Pri­ſoners have Counſel, or the Judges be forced to be more impartially ſo than they were in any of theſe Caſes; and let Juries underſtand that only Allegata and Probata are to direct their Ver­dict, and not Deadly Feuds, Foreign Belief, or State Neceſſity. In Scotland, at all Tryals, the whole is taken down in Writing, Word for Word, as well all Probations, as what is ſaid, both by the King's Advocate, and the Pannel or Criminal, and is all made a Record; that After-times (when the heat of the Proſecution is over) may examine whether the Judge dealt im­partially; and if he did not, and is a­live at the review of thoſe Proceedings, if the Priſoner ſuffered Death by his warping the Law, the Judge is to un­dergo the ſame Puniſhment; and if he is dead, the Heirs of the injur'd Perſon is to recover equal Damages to what they ſuſtained in their Fortune, by his illegal Sentence, from the Heirs of the Ʋnjuſt Judge. The Saxons puniſhed falſe Judges by giving Satisfaction to the Party wrong'd by them; and as the Caſe required, by Forfeiture of the Reſidue to the King, and by his diſabling them for ever for Places of Judicature, and by leaving their Lives to the King's Mercy. Who can have the Face to oppoſe the Revival of ſome­thing equivalent to that Law? But I will not diſcuſs too particularly the Particulars I ſhall mention. The granting of that Bill for Judges, that the Prince of Orange refuſed, and Whitlock's for Tryals, will be the Glory of King James's Reign, whenever he is Reſtored.

As to the Armed Force of England, I think there may be ways found out to make our Militia as ſerviceable as any Mercenary Bands, to employ all our Officers that have had Military Experience, to raiſe from time to time ſuch Numbers of Officers, and ſuch Nurſeries of Private Centinels, as may make both the King and King­dom ſafe, add to the Glory and Ma­jeſty of our Monarch, and yet not leave the leaſt Umbrage for Jealouſie in the Minds of the People. But this is not a time of day for me to lay be­fore the World ſuch Plans. I will not hold forth ſuch Doctrines under any Government I think Unjuſt, and that I think too have not the Honeſty to embrace them if I would. But if ever I ſee an Engliſh Parliament under a Rightful Prince, I will not be want­ing in offering my Mite, in this and all other things that may contribute to the Good of my Country: And ſure8 no body can be ſo unreaſonable as to be unwilling to hear from One that has given Teſtimony of his Loyalty to his King and Nation too, any thing that ſuch an One will propoſe, to eſta­bliſh the Throne, and quiet the Minds of his Fellow-Subjects. Praetorian Bands in Rome Butchered as well as Guarded their Emperors. It is but ve­ry lately that the Janiſaries Depoſed the Grand Seignior, and King James's own Army Deſerted from Him in theſe Kingdoms; and I am confident I can ſhew, that the Love of his Subjects is the beſt Standing Army for an Engliſh King as well as how he ſhall have it, and be able to look all his Foreign Enemies in the face to boot: But, I ſay, it is not time for the Publication of theſe things by my hand, nor will I be too prolix upon any one thing; therefore to come to Parliaments.

Is there any Man of Senſe and For­tune, that does not know them to be the Conſervators of all that we hold dear? Can there be an unjuſter thing, any thing more fatal, than a partial Repreſentation of the Minds and In­tereſts of Men in that Houſe? Tho' this Reign has taught them to do ve­ry little elſe but give Money, or Sanc­tion to, or Pardons for the Irregularities of Miniſters; yet the Deſign of their Inſtitution is as well to provide Reme­dies for the Complaints of the King­dom, as Caſh for the Prince's Coffers. I will not debate what is neceſſary to make them Free, but I am ſure they ſhould be ſo. I will not ſay how often they muſt ſit, but I am ſure they ſhould frequently. Both theſe Conſide­rations are••teſt for their own Houſe, and I am not willing to make narrow Spirits peeviſh: But ſure no Man of Intereſt, or that hopes to keep any Reputation with the World, will de­ny they ſhould be free and frequent, and that they ſhould not be too much Officer'd, that they may be Faithful.

I ſhall not enter into a Detail of what is the Work of Parliaments; but there is One Thing I am ſure is very properly Theirs; and that is, to make an exact Scrutiny into the Publick Adminiſtration, and to bring Mini­ſters (who are above the reach of Common Courts of Judicature, and can ſtem all other Proſecutions;) I ſay, It is the Work of Parliaments to bring ſuch Miniſters to condign Pu­niſhment, if they deſerve it.

I know not any thing wherein Princes, and ſome of their Subjects, have been more unfortunately miſ­taken, than in their Wiſhes that Mi­niſters ſhould be Impunible: whereas Favourites that are not a Cement be­tween Prince and People, that don't conſult in all their Actions the Laws of the Conſtitution, and Inclinations of the Inhabitants, become Rocks of Offence, and bring Ruin, ſometimes upon Al•, too often upon their Princes, and, God be praiſed for it, more generally upon Them­ſelves. What is the Reaſon of that admirable Maxim, That the King of England can do wrong? Why do the People of England make him an Epi­curean God ſo happy in the enjoy­ment of His own Majeſty? Why do we ſay, That He neither can nor does diſturb the Peace of our World, but becauſe His Eyes and His Ears, His Omniſciency and His Omnipreſency, are comprehended in his Miniſters; but becauſe, if thoſe Miniſters are Troublers of our State, they are to be puniſhed, even for Inadvertencies, and9 much more for Sins of Malice? Tho' this Revolution has blotted out all our Ori­ginal Contract, razed all our Statutes and Law-Books, turned our Monar­chy topſie-turvey, and ſcandalouſly prevaricated from all our Civil Com­pacts, by employing the Men that perſuaded King James to, and acted in what we imputed to him as falſe ſteps; yet it was his Miniſters ſhould have been puniſhed, and not he him­ſelf dethroned; and ſure King James, after he has found ſo many Miniſters were falſe, others flattering and fooliſh, cannot be unwilling to leave it an everlaſting Law to his and our Poſte­rity, that Miniſters ſhall be accountable. It is our Law, tho' both weak and profligate Men have, the one fancied, and the other pretended the contra­ry; and for that Reaſon, and that Reaſon only, it ought to be written more legibly in our Statute-Books: Is it not the Intereſt of Kings, that Mi­niſters ſhould not Male-adminiſter a­way all the Affection of their good and loving Subjects? Is it not the In­tereſt of Kings, that the Repreſentative Body ſhould plainly ſhew them by whom and how they are betray'd? Yet, after all, thoſe that will read that excellent Chapter in Machiavel, which ſhews how neceſſary it is for the Conſervation of the State, that any Citi­zen be ſecurely accuſed, p. 277. of his Works, ought to read the two next pages, which ſhew, that unjuſt Ca­lumnies are no leſs pernicious to a Com­monwealth than legal Accuſations are profitable and good; and there you will find a great difference betwixt Accuſation and Calumny. Miniſters ought to be puniſhed; I am ſatisfied the King is willing they ſhould be ſo, for the future: Sunderland's Miniſtry ſuggeſts that Advice to Him very ef­fectually and ſtrongly; but Beaute­feaux alſo are to be ſuppreſſed in all well ordered States.

One thing ſeems naturally here to fall in my way, which I beg leave to handle in the moſt inoffenſive manner that I can. I foreſee this will leſs pleaſe ſome Men, for whom no Man living can have a greater Honour than I have; yet I think it of ſo much Neceſſity and Importance, that I can­not forbear mentioning it. There was not an ill thing done in King James's Reign, that I did not call ſo then; and all that know me, know that I have taken it as my Province to repreſent Truths, be they never ſo bold or bit­ter, whilſt they are for Inſtruction. I I am no Advocate for any Man's Faults, nor for any Faults, tho' I would be charitable and good-natu­red, forgiving and forgetting, towards all Mens Perſons. Methinks the State of things require this meaſure. I ſcarce believe there ever was a Peri­od of Time, wherein an Univerſal Amneſty was ſo requiſite; a forget­fulneſs, as well as forgiveneſs of all paſt Crimes. Methinks all ſides ſtand in need of this Temper. If the Mini­ſters of King James exceeded in their Management of our Affairs, as doubt­leſs they did, we have doubtleſs ex­ceeded too in our Revenge upon the King's Perſon; and beſides, thoſe that have fallen in with the Uſurpation have not proceeded againſt any one Man that has been in their hands, for any thing that was done amiſs in the two late Reigns; and therefore me­thinks it is very hard, if we cannot forgive thoſe that have undergone10 Baniſhment, (which in all Countries has been reckoned ſome ſort of Pu­niſhment) or ſuch as have hazarded Priſons, or the Gallows, every day. Why ſhould we not forgive all thoſe that ſerve him amongſt us, or that are with the King (tho' they may have had Faults) when we deſire, or I am ſure ought to deſire, that the whole Land ſhould be forgiven? All Parties, and almoſt all Men, have ſome way or other been to blame; and there­fore there ſeems to me to be a little too much Paſſion and Self-interest in keeping up old Grudges. I avoid ſay­ing there is any infatuation in keep­ing them up, tho' I cannot think that it is the likelieſt way to prepare the King to cloſe with Wiſe Councils, to revive or continue our Piques: For the King can ſcarce be ſuppoſed to be without ſome Kindneſs for thoſe who have either followed His Fortunes, or ventur•d their Necks for Him; and conſ quently, it is not perh•ps ad­viſable to make thoſe that tranſact in his Affairs (tho' they have been pec­cant) believe they can have no Quar­ter, no Share in him, unleſs he return with a High Hand. They will have ſome Opportunities to put ill Con­ſtructions upon good Advices. I have read of but few of thoſe Heroic Spi­rits in any Age, who have ſo diveſted themſelves of all Regard for their own Perſons and Poſterity, as to be willing to become a Sacrifice to their Coun­try. I think this Age affords feweſt Inſtances of thoſe Great Minds; and therefore I think it the likelieſt way to m•ke Men inſtrumental towards the Good of their Country, to ſhew them that they ſhall find their own Account in being ſo. I hope I have expreſſed my ſelf in as modeſt and in­offenſive words as any, in which I could conceive my Thoughts; and I hope I ſhall not be ſo miſ-underſtood, as if I would juſtifie any thing that was by any body done amiſs; for I will not juſtifie a falſe ſtep, even in the King; but I would have us lay aſide all the Byaſſes of Factions and Friendſhips, and much more all Enmi­ties, that we may unanimouſly offer to the King Right Notions, and thereby Reſtore Him to His Hereditary Kingdoms. After all, I would not have leſs than ſuch a Repentance as gives evidence of Amendment entitle to Abſolution, but I would leave Room and Rewards for ſuch Repentance.

I fear this Moderation, and forgi­ving of Enemies, will be thought a hard Leſſon; but, I bleſs God, I have practiſed it, and I think it not only the nobleſt Precept in Chriſtian Morality, but an admirable Rule in Civil Pru­dence, eſpecially in our Caſe; for it is as difficult for a Party that is ſubdivi­ded within it ſelf to pull down an Uſurpation, as it can be for a divided Kingdom to ſtand.

But I am ſenſible I have made too long a Digreſſion, and therefore muſt omit many other particulars, upon which I would explain my ſelf, and the Senſe of many other Jacobites; and I can aſſure you, I am ſorry that any Jacobites ſay any thing that of­fends well-meaning Men: but I wiſh, for their own ſakes, my Country-men would not take a Standard, either of the King's Inclinations, or the reſt of his Friends, from their indiſcreet Tattle. There are in His Intereſt thoſe that know, that to talk too loftily and dogmatically, to diſpute, as they do11 in the Schools, concerning Prerogative and the Nature of Monarchy, to ſtand nicely upon Punctilio's, to conſult Ariſtotle's and Xenophon's Kings, is as unlikely a way to come to a mutual Accommodation, as to peruſe and and or am of Plato's Commonwealth, Sir Thomas More's Utop a, Harrington's Oceana, &c. There are Men of his ſid, that think (as the great Lawgiver Solon did) that a Government muſt be framed according to the Nature of the Governed, and that he is the beſt Subject, as well as Politician, that a­dapts all his Notions to our Tempers; that conſiders Men, as well as peruſes Books, when he is to draw a Scheme; and I believe, as you ſay, that the high flights of ſome Jacobites hinder many honeſt Men from coming into his Intereſt; and farther, that they ſometimes miſlead the King. Never­theleſs, there are in his Intereſt Men that I aſſure you are not frighted at Words, nor ſtartled at Nicknames, that know the King of England makes the greateſt Figure in Europe when he is beſt with his People, and that is when he governs by the Meaſures of Com­monweal. Theſe Men know, a good Commonwealths-man was not a Cha­racter of Reproach in our Legiſlation and Politicks, till all our Glory dwin­dled, and the Abſoluteneſs of Miniſters was more conſulted than the true In­tereſt of King or Kingdom; till a pack of Knaves forged a ſeparate Intereſt between the King of England and his People, and till they began to call a Mix'd Monarchy an errant Bull, and would Reform our State by Meta­phyſical and Court Diſtinctions: whereas, if our Hiſtories and Statute-Books were conſulted, they are every where full of Explanations. Are theſe Gentlemen you complain of weary of Magna Charta, (which was but a Revival and Recitation of the Saxon Liberties, and ancient Britiſh Laws?) I will prove them farther, That Laws and Lawful Prerogatives may be ſo a­buſed, that it may be fit to take away the One, and to deſire that the Other may never be again ſo uſed; and that our former Kings have thought ſo. But I will go no farther back than the Conjunction of the Two Roſes, and they may find that in Henry the Se­venth's Time Empſon and Dudley ha­raſſed the People by obſolete unre­pealed Laws; nay, it has never been thought mean by our greateſt Kings to make Condeſcentions to their People: And, as haughty as King Henry VIII. was, my Lord Herbert in his Hiſtory of his Reign, tells you, That in his firſt Parliament he Repealed, Explained, or Limited thoſe Statutes, by which his Father had taken Advantage of his People; and (as my Lord Herbert judiciouſly obſerves therein) was wil­ling to reſtrain his own Authority, in ſome ſort, that he might enlarge the Peoples Confidence and Affection. This that King did in the celebrated part, to wit, in the beginning of his Reign, tho' he had at the ſame time his Exchequer what was equivalent to Seven Millions Sterling now, and was in peaceable Poſſeſſion of his Throne, and had no particular preſſing Occaſion to pleaſe his People. How much more neceſſa­ry is this meaſure to regain the Peo­ples Confidence and Affection towards an Exil'd Prince? The Author of this Hiſtory (my Lord Herbert of Cherbury) profeſſes in his Epiſtle Dedicatory great Deſerence to Kings; and that12 the King (to whom he dedicates his Hiſtory) had luſtrated by his Gracious Eye, and conſummated by his Judicious Animadverſions, all the parts of that Hiſtory, as faſt as he finiſhed them. And therefore this Inſtance ought to be of great weight with every body, even with thoſe Jacobites you talk of. It is a Royal, as well as my Lord Herbert's Hiſtory of Henry VIII.

I am not ignorant, that this King Henry VIII. is brought as an Inſtance of a King that could pull up Foun­dations, and do what he pleaſed; but there was a ſtrange Concurrence in his Time to help him in the buſineſs he was doing, and he did it by Parliaments, and often uſed Palliations; and per­haps if a Man looks obſervingly upon his Life, he was but the Head of the Rabble-rout; and that neither He nor the People knew what he would be at. It was an Age big with Changes; and his greateſt Exorbitances fell up­on a ſort of People who were wear­ing into diſeſteem, or were of a more private Nature. Beſides, he began his Reign with a wondrous good Grace, and he ſacrific'd now and then a Mi­niſter; and what he took from the Church, he divided amongſt the Gentry and Nobility. But, after all, I will own there are ſome Periods of his Reign, wherein the Prince went farther and faſter than the Peeple, and he had the good luck to do ſtrange things by in comprehenſible ways: For my Lord Herbert of Cherbury (as judicious and ſharp-ſighted an Author as he is) ſeems to wonder, and not to under­ſtand all the Occurrences of his Reign. His beginning it ſo condeſcendingly, makes it leſs a wonder, that the People were a great while apt to put good Conſtructions upon what he did after­wards. He gave up Empſon and Dudley meerly to their Rage; and Woolſey's Fall was pleaſing; and, as I juſt now intimated, he was more Sacrilegious towards the Church, which was then going down with the People, than he was otherwiſe Oppreſſive.

The next Perſon I will introduce ſhall be Qu. Elizabeth, whoſe Speech in the 43d year of her Reign, occaſi­oned by Complaints againſt Monopo­lies, is ſo excellent, that I think fit to tranſcribe it at length; tho' I will not commend the Sanguinary Laws ſhe made in matters of Religion, as well againſt Browniſts, &c. as Papiſts, no more than I will many other parts of her Reign. I have often wondred why meer Church of England-men cried out againſt, or Whigs ſo much extoll'd her, ten or twelve years ago; for ſhe was a meer Church of England-Queen: but I proteſt I know not how enough to commend this Speech which ſhe made to her Parliament; I wiſh eve­ry body would peruſe the Context of it in Camden, but the words of it are theſe:

I cannot but obſerve, before I go any farther, that this Queen was not willing to take upon her ſelf the faults of her Servants; but, on the contrary, gave them very hard Names. I muſt obſerve likewiſe, that Commonwealth was no odious Word then; for ſhe twice in this Speech; and in her time Secretary Smith wrote a Book of our Government, to which he gave that Title. This was an Age wherein Ma­jeſty could court, and Miniſters affect to be Patriots of the People; and yet Prerogative did not loſe much ground, altho' it ſometimes yielded.

But I will come nearer to our Times, as far as the Union of this Iſland. Sir Francis Bacon adviſed King James the Firſt (as you may find in his Reſuſcitatio) to amend by conſent of Parliament ſome of our Laws, and to expunge others, eſpecially Penal Ones.

He quotes a Learned Civilian (tho' he does not name him) that expoundeth the Curſe of the Prophet, Plu•t ſuper eos L•queos, of multitude of Penal Laws; which (continues he) are worſe than Showrs of Hail, or Tempeſts upon Cattel; for they fall upon Men.

He goes on, There are ſome Penal Laws fit to be retained, but the Penalty too great. And it is ever a Rule, That any over-great Penalty (beſide the acer­bity of it) deads the Execution of the Law.

He ſays alſo, There is a farth•r In­convenience of Penal Laws obſolete and out of uſe; for it brings a gangrene neg­lect, and habit diſobedience upon other wholſom Laws, that are fit to be conti­nued in practice and execution. So that our Laws endure the Torment of M•zen­tius, The Living die in the Arms of the Dead.

I choſe to expreſs my Lord Bac•n's Mind in his own Words: But I will add to what he has ſaid a farther in­convenience that I my ſelf have ob­ſerved in the reading of Hiſtories;〈…〉Powers, and ob•olete Penal Laws, have not only proved a Snare to the Peo­ple, but given Kings too often an Handle to fall into ſuch Meaſures as have proved deſtructive to themſelves. Powers in a Crown, that are wholly unfit to be exerciſed, are only Temptations to Oppreſſion and Miſunderstanding. Knight Service was once a very Poli­tick Tenure: It was once fit, before the ſeveral People of this Kingdom were mixed and civiliſed, that who­ever was born upon a Lord's Land, ſhould be brought up under his Care; and that no Woman that held Land of any Lord ſhould carry her Eſtate to any Man that was an Enemy to that Lord: yet in King James the Firſt's days, the ſame Sir Francis Bacon, tho' then Sollicitor-General to him, in a Conference with the Lords, by Commiſſion from the Commons, made a Speech to perſuade the Lords to joyn with the Commons in a Peti­tion to the King, to obtain Liberty to treat of a Compoſition with his Majeſty for Wards and Tenures This was in the ſeventh year of K. James's Reign, in Halcyon-days. The Speech is in the 34th page of my Lord Ba­con's Reſuſcitatio, and worth any Man's reading. He therein propoſeth, in Recompence of the Revenue of Te­nures, a more ample, a more cer­tain, and a more Loving Dowry; Lo­ving Dowry expreſſeth admirably well, that Kings ſhould be willing to change any part of their Revenue, for what may ſuit better with the Peoples inclinations. But I won't make Re­marks upon this Speech.

The next Paragraph ſpeaks of the Nature of thoſe things, and how it is changed with the times. Voca••••manent, Res fugiunt, are his words.

And the next Paragraph to that ſays a great deal in theſe two Axioms, Naturae vis maxima, & ſuus cuique diſcretus ſanguis: for reſtoring Chil­dren to the care of their moſt affecti­onate Relatives.

I come to the Reign of K. Charles I ▪ and muſt ſay, that the ſtrained uſe of ſome Powers and Prerogatives, for which the flattering Lawyers had ſome dark ſemblance of Authority in our Law-Books, gave the fatal Riſe to the late Civil Wars, which ended in the horrid Murther of that King; and when K. Charles II. was Reſtored, tho' the firſt Parliament he called will be allowed by every body to be ſuffici­ently devoted to him, yet he therein, when they were under the greateſt Tranſports and Raptures of Loyalty, paſſed many Acts that plainly own the great Inexpediency, if not Illegality of ſeveral things done in his Father's Days, and ſecured us againſt the like Abuſes hereafter; and had he lived, he muſt have owned that he himſelf had carried the Quo Warrantoes too far, or he would have ſate uneaſie; and thoſe very Men that were inſtru­mental in Quo-Warrantoing Corporati­ons, did every where declare, that Regulations, which (however illegal I take them to be in themſelves, how much ſoever I think them a Fanatick Rowland for the Church of England Oliver, yet I think they were agree­able to the Powers the Crown reſer­ved to its ſelf in the New Charters;) I ſay, That thoſe very Men that were inſtrumental to the Quo Warrantoing Corporations, did every where declare, that the Regulations in the ſucceeding〈…〉Power inſecure, and reſolved all our Government into an Abſolute and De­ſpotick Rule. Queſtionleſs there ſhould be ſome way to puniſh the Abuſes in Corporations, but the Penal Laws that are againſt Corporations have perhaps annexed to them too great a Penalty; perhaps it would be better to puniſh the Perſons that offend, than to fall up­on the poor innocent Charter. I would have the Body Corporate be able to do no wrong, tho' the Members may.