THE Arguments of an Author loſe a great deal of their Weight, when we are perſuaded that he only writes for Argument's ſake, and has no real Concern in the Cauſe which he eſpouſes. This is the Caſe of one, who draws his Pen in the Defence of Property, without having any; except, perhaps, in the Copy of a Libel, or a Ballad. One is apt to ſuſpect, that the Paſſion for Liberty, which appears in a Grubſtreet Patriot, ariſes only from his Apprehenſions of a Gaol; and that, whatever he may pretend, he does not write to ſecure, but to get ſomething of his Own. Should the Government be overturn'd, he has nothing to loſe but an old Standiſh.

I queſtion not but the Reader will conceive a Reſpect for the Author of this Paper, from the Title of it; ſince, he may be ſure, I am ſo conſiderable a Man, that I cannot have leſs than forty Shillings a Year.

I have rather choſen this Title than any other, becauſe it is what I moſt glory in, and what moſt effectually calls to my Mind the Happineſs of that Government under which I live. As a Britiſh Free-Holder, I ſhould not ſcruple taking place of a French Marquis; and when I ſee one of my Countreymen amuſing himſelf in his little Cabbage-Garden, I naturally look upon him as a greater Perſon than the Owner of the richeſt Vineyard in Champagne.

The Houſe of Commons is the Repreſentative of Men in my Condition. I conſider my ſelf as one who give my Conſent to every Law which paſſes: A Free-Holder in our Government being of the Nature of a Citizen of Rome in that famous Commonwealth; who, by the Election of a Tribune, had a kind of remote Voice in every Law that was enacted. So that a Freeholder is but one Remove from a Legiſlator, and for that Reaſon ought to ſtand up in the Defence of thoſe Laws, which are in ſome degree of his own making. For ſuch is the Nature of our happy Conſtitution, that the Bulk of the People virtually give their Approbation to every thing they are bound to obey, and preſcribe to themſelves thoſe Rules by which they are to walk.

At the ſame time that I declare I am a Free-holder, I do not exclude my ſelf from any other Title. A Free-Holder may be either a Voter, or a Knight of the Shire; a Wit, or a Fox-hunter; a Scholar, or a Soldier; an Alderman, or a Courtier; a Patriot, or a Stock-Jobber. But I chuſe to be diſtinguiſh'd by this Denomination, as the Free-Holder is the Baſis of all other Titles. Dignities may be grafted upon it; but this is the ſubſtantial Stock, that conveys to them their Life, Taſte, and Beauty; and without which they are no more than Bloſſoms, that would fall away with every Shake of Wind

And here I cannot but take occaſion to congratulate my Countrey upon the Increaſe of this happy Tribe of Men, ſince, by the Wiſdom of the preſent Parliament, I find the Race of Free-Holders ſpreading into the remoteſt Corners of the Iſland. I mean that Act which paſs'd in the late Seſſion for the Encouragement of Loyalty in Scotland: By which it is provided, That all and every Vaſſal and Vaſſals in Scotland, who ſhall continue peaceable, and in dutiful Allegiance to His Majeſty, His Heirs and Succeſſors, holding Lands or Tenements of any Offender [guilty of High-Treaſon] who holds ſuch Lands or Tenements immediately of the Crown, ſhall be veſted and ſeized, and are hereby enacted and ordained to hold the ſaid Lands or Tenements of His Majeſty, His Heirs and Succeſſors, in Fee and Heritage for ever, by ſuch manner of holding, as any ſuch Offender held ſuch Lands or Tenements of the Crown, &c.

By this Means it will be in the Power of a Highlander to be at all times a good Tenant, without being a Rebel; and to deſerve the Character of a faithful Servant, without thinking himſelf obliged to follow his Maſter to the Gallows.

How can we ſufficiently extol the Goodneſs of His preſent Majeſty, who is not willing to have a ſingle Slave in his Dominions! Or enough rejoice in the Exerciſe of that Loyalty, which, inſtead of betraying a Man into the moſt ignominious Servitude, (as it does in ſome of our neighbouring Kingdoms) entitles him to the higheſt Privileges of Freedom and Property! It is now to be hoped, that we ſhall have few Vaſſals, but to the Laws of our Countrey.

When theſe Men have a Taſte of Property, they will naturally love that Conſtitution from which they derive ſo great a Bleſſing. There is an unſpeakable Pleaſure in calling any thing one's Own. A Free-Hold, tho' it be but in Ice and Snow, will make the Owner pleaſed in the Poſſeſſion, and ſtout in the Defence of it; and is a very proper Reward of our Allegiance to our preſent King, who (by an unparallel'd Inſtance of Goodneſs in a Sovereign, and Infatuation in Subjects) contends for the Freedom of his People againſt themſelves; and will not ſuffer many of them to fall into a State of Slavery, which they are bent upon with ſo much Eagerneſs and Obſtinacy.

A Free-Holder of Great Britain, is bred with an Averſion to every thing that tends to bring him under a Subjection to the arbitrary Will of another. Of this we find frequent Inſtances in all our Hiſtories; where the Perſons, whoſe Characters are the moſt amiable, and ſtrike us with the higheſt Veneration, are thoſe who ſtood up manfully againſt the Invaſions of Civil Liberty, and the complicated Tyranny which Popery impoſes upon our Bodies, our Fortunes, and our Minds. What a deſpicable Figure then muſt the preſent Mock-Patriots make in the Eyes of Poſterity, who venture to be hang'd, drawn and quartered, for the Ruin of thoſe Civil Rights which their Anceſtors rather than part with, choſe to be cut to Pieces in the Field of Battel? And what an Opinion will after Ages entertain of Their Religion who bid fair for a Gibbet, by endeavouring to bring in a Superſtition, which their Forefathers periſhed in Flames to keep out?

But how inſtructive ſoever the Folly of theſe Men may prove to future Times, it will be my Buſineſs more immediately to conſult the Happineſs of the Age in which I live. And ſince ſo many profligate Writers have endeavoured to varniſh over a bad Cauſe, I ſhall do all in my Power to recommend a good One, which indeed requires no more than barely to explain what it is. While many of my gallant Countreymen are employed in purſuing Rebels half diſcomfited through the Conſciouſneſs of their Guilt, I ſhall labour to improve thoſe Victories to the Good of my Fellow-Subjects; by carrying on our Succeſſes over the Minds of Men, and by reconciling them to the Cauſe of their King, their Countrey, and their Religion.

To this End, I ſhall in the Courſe of this Paper (to be publiſhed every Monday and Friday) endeavour to open the Eyes of my Countreymen to their own Intereſt, to ſhew them the Privileges of an Engliſh Free-Holder, which they enjoy in common with my ſelf, and to make them ſenſible how theſe Bleſſings are ſecured to us by his Majeſty's Title, his Adminiſtration, and his Perſonal Character.

I have only one Requeſt to make to my Readers, that they will peruſe theſe Papers with the ſame Candour and Impartiality in which they are written; and ſhall hope for no other Prepoſſeſſion in favour of them, than what one would think ſhould be natural to every Man, a Deſire to be happy, and a good Will towards thoſe, who are the Inſtruments of making them ſo.

HAving in my firſt Paper ſet forth the Happineſs of my Station as a Free-Holder of Great Britain, and the Nature of that Property which is ſecured to me by the Laws of my Countrey; I cannot forbear conſidering in the next place, That Perſon who is entruſted with the Guardianſhip and Execution of thoſe Laws. I have lived in one Reign, when the Prince, inſtead of invigorating the Laws of our Countrey, or giving them their proper Courſe, aſſum'd a Power of diſpenſing with them: And in another, when the Sovereign was flattered by a Set of Men into a Perſuaſion, that the Regal Authority was unlimited and uncircumſcribed. In either of theſe Caſes, good Laws are at beſt but a dead Letter; and by ſhewing the People how happy they ought to be, only ſerve to aggravate the Senſe of their Oppreſſions.

We have the Pleaſure at this Time to ſee a King upon the Throne, who hath too much Goodneſs to wiſh for any Power, that does not enable Him to promote the Welfare of His Subjects; and too much Wiſdom to look upon thoſe as His Friends, who would make their Court to Him by the Profeſſion of an Obedience, which they never practiſed, and which has always proved fatal to thoſe Princes, who have put it to the Trial. His Majeſty gave a Proof of His Sovereign Virtues before He came to the Exerciſe of them in this Kingdom. His Inclination to Juſtice led Him to rule His German Subjects in the ſame Manner, that our Conſtitution directs Him to govern the Engliſh. He regarded thoſe which are our Civil Liberties, as the natural Rights of Mankind; and therefore indulged them to a People, who pleaded no other Claim to them than from His known Goodneſs and Humanity. This Experience of a good Prince, before we had the Happineſs to enjoy Him, muſt give great Satisfaction to every thinking Man, who conſiders how apt Sovereignty is to deprave human Nature; and how many of our own Princes made very ill Figures upon the Throne, who, before they aſcended it, were the Favourites of the People.

What gives us the greateſt Security in the Conduct of ſo excellent a Prince is That Conſiſtency of Behaviour, whereby He inflexibly purſues thoſe Meaſures which appear the moſt juſt and equitable. As He hath the Character of being the moſt prudent in laying proper Schemes; He is no leſs remarkable for being ſteady in accompliſhing what He has once concerted. Indeed, if we look into the Hiſtory of His preſent Majeſty, and reflect upon that wonderful Series of Succeſſes which have attended Him, I think they cannot be aſcribed to any thing ſo much as to this Uniformity and Firmneſs of Mind, which has always diſcovered it ſelf in His Proceedings. It was by This that He ſurmounted thoſe many Difficulties which lay in the Way to His Succeſſion; and by which, we have reaſon to hope, He will daily make all Oppoſition fall before Him. The fickle and unſteady Politicks of our late Britiſh Monarchs, have been the perpetual Source of thoſe Diſſentions and Animoſities which have made the Nation unhappy: Whereas the conſtant and unſhaken Temper of His preſent Majeſty, muſt have a natural Tendency to the Peace of His Government, and the Unanimity of His People.

Whilſt I am enumerating the publick Virtues of our Sovereign, which are ſo conducive to the Advantage of thoſe who are to obey Him, I cannot but take Notice, that His Majeſty was bred up from His Infancy with a Love to this our Nation, under a Princeſs, who was the moſt accompliſhed Woman of her Age, and particularly famous for her Affection to the Engliſh. Our Countreymen were dear to Him, before there was any Proſpect of their being His Subjects; and every one knows, that nothing recommended a Man ſo much to the diſtinguiſhing Civilities of His Court, as the being born in Great Britain.

To the Fame of His Majeſty's Civil Virtues, we may add the Reputation He has acquired by His Martial Atchievements. It is obſerved by Sir William Temple, that the Engliſh are particuly fond of a King who is Valiant: Upon which Account His Majeſty has a Title to all the Eſteem that can be paid the moſt Warlike Prince; tho' at the ſame time, for the Good of His Subjects, He ſtudies to decline all Occaſions of Military Glory; and chuſes rather to be diſtinguiſhed as the Father, than as the Captain of His People. I am glad his rebellious Subjects are too inconſiderable to put him upon exerting that Courage and Conduct, which raiſed him ſo great a Reputation in Hungary and the Morea, when he fought againſt the Enemies of Chriſtianity; and in Germany and Flanders, where he commanded againſt the great Diſturber of the Peace of Europe. One would think there was Reaſon for the Opinion of thoſe, who make Perſonal Courage to be an Hereditary Virtue, when we ſee ſo many Inſtances of it in the Line of Brunſwick. To go no farther back than the Time of our preſent King, where can we find, among the Soveraign Houſes of Europe, any other Family, that has furniſhed ſo many Perſons of diſtinguiſhed Fortitude? Three of His Majeſty's Brothers have fallen gloriouſly in the Field, fighting againſt the Enemies of their Native Countrey: And the Bravery of his Royal Highneſs the Prince of Wales, is ſtill freſh in our Memory, who fought, with the Spirit of his Father, at the Battel of Audenarde, when the Children of France, and the Pretender, fled before him.

I might here take Notice of His Majeſty's more private Virtues, but have rather choſen to remind my Countreymen of the publick Parts of His Character, which are ſupported by ſuch inconteſtable Facts as are univerſally known and acknowledged.

Having thus far conſider'd our Happineſs in His Majeſty's Civil and Military Character, I cannot forbear pleaſing my ſelf with regarding him in the View of One, who has been always Fortunate. Cicero recommends Pompey under this particular Head to the Romans, with whom the Character of being Fortunate was ſo popular, that ſeveral of their Emperors gave it a Place among their Titles. Good Fortune is often the Reward of Virtue, and as often the Effect of Prudence. And whether it proceeds from either of theſe, or from both together, or whatever may be the Cauſe of it, every one is naturally pleaſed to ſee his Intereſts conducted by a Perſon who is Uſed to good Succeſs. The Eſtabliſhment of the Electoral Dignity in His Majeſty's Family, was a Work reſerved for him finally to accompliſh. A large Acceſſion of Dominion fell to Him, by His ſucceeding to the Dukedom of Zell, whereby He became one of the Greateſt Princes of Germany; and one of the moſt powerful Perſons, that ever ſtood next Heirs to the Throne of Great Britain. The Dutchy of Bremen, and the Biſhoprick of Oſnaburg, have conſiderably ſtrengthned his Intereſts in the Empire, and given a great additional Weight to the Proteſtant Cauſe. But the moſt remarkable Interpoſitions of Providence, in favour of him, have appeared in removing thoſe ſeemingly invincible Obſtacles to his Succeſſion; in taking away, at ſo critical a Juncture, the Perſon who might have proved a dangerous Enemy; in confounding the ſecret and open Attempts of his traiterous Subjects; and in giving him the delightful proſpect of tranſmitting his Power through a numerous and ſtill-increaſing Progeny.

Upon the whole, it is not to be doubted but every wiſe and honeſt Subject will concur with Providence in promoting the Glory and Happineſs of His preſent Majeſty, who is endowed with all thoſe Royal Virtues, that will naturally ſecure to us the national Bleſſings, which ought to be dear and valuable to a free People.

EVERY one knows, that it is uſual for a French Officer, who can Write and Read, to ſet down all the Occurrences of a Campaign, in which he pretends to have been Perſonally concern'd; and to publiſh them under the Title of his Memoirs, when moſt of his Fellow-Soldiers are dead that might have contradicted any of his Matters of Fact. Many a gallant young Fellow has been killed in Battel before he came to the third Page of his ſecret Hiſtory; when ſeveral, who have taken more care of their Perſons, have lived to fill a whole Volume with their military Performances, and to aſtoniſh the World with ſuch Inſtances of their Bravery, as had eſcaped the Notice of every Body elſe. One of our late Preſton Heroes had, it ſeems, reſolved upon this Method of doing himſelf Juſtice: And, had he not been nipp'd in the Bud, might have made a very formidable Figure in his own Works, among Poſterity. A Friend of mine, who had the Pillage of his Pockets, has made me a Preſent of the following Memoirs, which he deſires me to accept as a Part of the Spoils of the Rebels. I have omitted the Introduction, as more proper for the Inſpection of a Secretary of State; and ſhall only ſet down ſo much of the Memoirs as ſeem to be a faithful Narrative of that wonderful Expedition, which drew upon it the Eyes of all Europe.

Such was the End of this Rebellion; which, in all Probability, will not only tend to the Safety of our Conſtitution, but the Preſervation of the Game.

IT is with great Satisfaction I obſerve, that the Women of our Iſland, who are the moſt eminent for Virtue and good Senſe, are in the Intereſt of the preſent Government. As the fair Sex very much recommend the Cauſe they are engaged in, it would be no ſmall Misfortune to a Soveraign, tho' he had all the Male Part of the Nation on his Side, if he did not find himſelf King of the moſt beautiful Half of his Subjects. Ladies are always of great uſe to the Party they eſpouſe, and never fail to win over Numbers to it. Lovers, according to Sir William Petty's Computation, make at leaſt the Third Part of the fencible Men of the Britiſh Nation; and it has been an uncontroverted Maxim in all Ages, that, though a Husband is ſometimes a ſtubborn Sort of a Creature, a Lover is always at the Devotion of his Miſtreſs. By this means it lies in the Power of every fine Woman, to ſecure at leaſt half a Dozen ablebodied Men to His Majeſty's Service. The Female World are likewiſe indiſpenſably neceſſary in the beſt Cauſes to manage the Controverſial Part of them, in which no Man of tolerable Breeding is ever able to refute them. Arguments out of a pretty Mouth are unanſwerable.

It is indeed remarkable that the Inferiour Tribe of common Women, who are a Diſhonour to their Sex, have, in moſt Reigns, been the profeſs'd Sticklers for ſuch as have acted in Oppoſition to the true Intereſt of the Nation. The moſt numerous Converts in King James's Reign, were particularly noted to be of this kind. I can give no other Reaſon for ſuch a Behaviour, unleſs it be, that it is not for the Advantage of theſe Female Adventurers the Laws of the Land ſhould take Place, and that they know Bridewell is a Part of our Conſtitution.

There are many Reaſons why the Women of Great Britain ſhou'd be on the Side of the Free-holder, and Enemies to the Perſon who would bring in Arbitrary Government and Popery. As there are ſeveral of our Ladies who amuſe themſelves in the reading of Travels, they cannot but take Notice what uncomfortable Lives thoſe of their own Sex lead, where Paſſive-Obedience is profeſſed and practis'd in its utmoſt Perfection. In thoſe Countries the Men have no Property but in their Wives, who are the Slaves to Slaves: every married Woman being ſubject to a domeſtick Tyrant, that requires from her the ſame Vaſſalage which he pays to his Sultan. If the Ladies would ſeriouſly conſider the evil Conſequences of arbitrary lower, they would find, that it ſpoils the Shape of the Foot in China, where the barbarous Politicks of the Men ſo diminiſh the Baſis of the Female Figure, as to unqualify a Woman for an Evening Walk or Countrey Dance. In the Eaſt Indies a Widow, who has any Regard to her Character, throws her ſelf into the Flames of her Husband's Funeral Pile, to ſhew, forſooth, that ſhe is faithful and loyal to the Memory of her deceaſed Lord. In Perſia the Daughters of Eve, as they call them, are reckoned in the Inventory of their Goods and Chattels: and it is a uſual Thing when a Man ſells a Bale of Silk, or a Drove of Camels, to toſs half a dozen Women into the Bargain. Thro' all the Dominions of the Great Turk, a Woman thinks her ſelf happy if ſhe can get but the twelfth Share of a Husband, and is thought of no manner of uſe in the Creation, but to keep up a proper Number of Slaves for the Commander of the Faithful. I need not ſet forth the ill Uſage, which the fair Ones meet with in thoſe deſpotick Governments that lie nearer us. Every one hath heard of the ſeveral Ways of locking up Women in Spain and Italy; where, if there is any Power lodged in any of the Sex, it is not among the young and the beautiful, whom Nature ſeems to have formed for it, but among the old and wither'd Matrons, known by the frightful Name of Gouvernantes and Duegna's. If any ſhould alledge the Freedoms indulged to the French Ladies, he muſt own that theſe are owing to the natural Gallantry of the People, not to their Form of Government, which excludes by its very Conſtitution every Female from Power, as naturally unfit to hold the Sceptre of that Kingdom.

Women ought in reaſon to be no leſs averſe to Popery than to arbitrary Power. Some merry Authors have pretended to demonſtrate, that the Roman Catholick Religion could never ſpread in a Nation, where Women would have more Modeſty than to expoſe their innocent Liberties to a Confeſſor. Others of the ſame Turn, have aſſured us, that the fine Britiſh Complection, which is ſo peculiar to our Ladies, would ſuffer very much from a Fiſh-Diet: And that a whole Lent would give ſuch a Sallowneſs to the celebrated Beauties of this Iſland, as would ſcarce make them diſtinguiſhable from thoſe of France. I ſhall only leave to the ſerious Conſideration of my Countrey-Women the Danger any of them might have been in, (had Popery been our National Religion) of being forced by their Relations to a State of perpetual Virginity. The moſt blooming Toaſt in the Iſland might have been a Nun; and many a Lady, who is now a Mother of fine Children, condemned to a Condition of Life, diſagreeable to herſelf, and unprofitable to the World. To this I might add the melancholy Objects, they would be daily entertained with, of ſeveral ſightly Men delivered over to an inviolable Celibacy. Let a young Lady imagine to herſelf the brisk embroidered Officer, who now makes Love to her with ſo agreeable an Air, converted into a Monk; or the Bea • , who now addreſſes himſelf to her in a full bottom'd Wig, diſtinguiſhed by a little bald Pat •• covered with a black Leather Skull-Cap. 〈◊〉 forbear to mention many other Objections▪ which the Ladies, who are no Strangers to th • Doctrines of Popery, will eaſily recollect: Th •… I do not in the leaſt doubt, but thoſe I hav • already ſuggeſted, will be ſufficient to perſuad • my fair Readers to be zealous in the Proteſta •… Cauſe.

The Freedom and Happineſs of our Britiſh Ladies is ſo ſingular, that it is a common Saying in foreign Countries, If a Bridge were built croſs the Seas, all the Women in Europe would flock into England. It has been obſerved, that the Laws relating to them are ſo favourable, that one would think they themſelves had given Votes in enacting them. All the Honours and Indulgences of Society are due to them by our Cuſtoms; and, by our Conſtitution, they have all the Privileges of Engliſh-born Subjects, without the Burdens. I need not acquaint my fair Fellow-Freeholders, that every Man, who is anxious for our ſacred and civil Rights, is a Champion in their Cauſe; ſince we enjoy in common a Religion agreeable to that reaſonable Nature, of which we equally partake; and ſince, in Point of Property, our Law makes no Diſtinction of Sexes.

We may therefore juſtly expect from them, that they will act in concert with us for the Preſervation of our Laws and Religion, which cannot ſubſiſt, but under the Government of His preſent Majeſty; and would neceſſarily be ſubverted, under that of a Perſon bred up in the moſt violent Principles of Popery and arbitrary Power. Thus may the fair Sex contribute to fix the Peace of a brave and generous People, who for many Ages, have diſdained to bear any Tyranny but theirs; and be as famous in Hiſtory, as thoſe illuſtrious Matrons, who, in the Infancy of Rome, reconciled the Romans and the Sabines, and united the two contendng Parties under their new King.

THERE is no greater Sign of a bad Cauſe, than when the Patrons of it are reduced to the Neceſſity of making uſe of the moſt wicked Artifices to ſupport it. Of this Kind are the Falſhoods and Calumnies, which are invented and ſpread abroad by the Enemies to our King and Countrey. This Spirit of Malice and Slander does not diſcover itſelf in any Inſtances ſo ridiculous, as in thoſe, by which ſeditious Men endeavour to depreciate His Majeſty's Perſon and Family; without conſidering, that his Court at Hanover was always allowed to be one of the Politeſt in Europe, and that, before he became our King, he was reckoned among the greateſt Princes of Chriſtendom.

But the moſt glorious of His Majeſty's Predeceſſors was treated after the ſame Manner. Upon that Prince's firſt Arrival, the inconſiderable Party, who then laboured to make him odious to the People, gave out, That he brought with him twenty thouſand Laplanders, cloathed in the Skins of Bears, all of their own killing; and that they mutiny'd becauſe they had not been regaled with a bloody Battel within two Days after their Landing. He was no ſooner on the Throne, than thoſe, who had contributed to place him there, finding that he had made ſome Changes at Court which were not to their Humour, endeavoured to render him Unpopular by Miſrepreſentations of his Perſon, his Character, and his Actions. They found that his Noſe had a Reſemblance to that of Oliver Cromwel, and clapt him on a huge Pair of Muſtachoes to frighten his People with: His Mercy was Fear; his Juſtice was Cruelty; his Temperance, Oeconomy, prudent Behaviour, and Application to Buſineſs, were Dutch Virtues; and ſuch as we had not been uſed to in our Engliſh Kings. He did not fight a Battel, in which the Tories did not ſlay double the Number of what he had loſt in the Field; nor ever raiſed a Siege, or gain'd a Victory, which did not coſt more than 'twas worth. In ſhort, he was contriving the Ruin of his Kingdom; and in order to it advanc'd Dr. Tul • tſon to the higheſt Station of the Church, my Lord Sommers of the Law, Mr. Mountague of the Treaſury, and the Admiral at la Hegue of the Fleet. Such were the Calumnies of the Party in thoſe Times, which we ſee ſo faithfully copied out by Men of the ſame Principles under the Reign of His preſent Majeſty.

As the Schemes of theſe Gentlemen are the moſt abſurd and contradictory to common Senſe, the Means by which they are promoted muſt be of the ſame Nature. Nothing but Weakneſs and Folly can diſpoſe Engliſhmen and Proteſtants to the Intereſts of a Popiſh Pretender: And the ſame Abilities of Mind will naturally qualify his Adherents to ſwallow the moſt palpable and notorious Falſhoods. Their ſelf-intereſted and deſigning Leaders cannot deſire a more ductile and eaſy People to work upon. How long was it before many of this ſimple, deluded Tribe were brought to believe, that the Highlanders were a Generation of Men that could be conquer'd! The Rabble of the Party were inſtructed to look upon 'em as ſo many Giants and Saracens; and were very much ſurprized to find, that every one of 'em had not with his broad Sword mow'd down at leaſt a Squadron of the King's Forces. There were not only publick Rejoycings in the Camp at Perth, but likewiſe many private Congratulations nearer us, among theſe Well-wiſhers to their Countrey, upon the Victories of their Friends at Preſton; which continued till the Rebels made their ſolemn Cavalcade from Highgate. Nay, there were then ſome of theſe wiſe Partiſans, who concluded, the Government had hired two or three hundred hale Men, who looked like Fox-hunters, to be Bound and Pinion'd, if not to be Executed, as Repreſentatives of the pretended Captives. Their Victories in Scotland have been innumerable; and no longer ago than laſt Week, they gained a very remarkable One, in which the Highlanders cut off all the Dutch Forces to a Man; and afterwards diſguiſing themſelves in their Habits, came up as Friends to the King's Troops, and put them all to the Sword. This Story had a great Run for a Day or two; and I believe one might ſtill find out a Whiſper among their ſecret Intelligence, that the Duke of Mar is actually upon the Road to London, if not within two Days march of the Town. I need not take Notice, that their Succeſſes in the Battel of Dunblain are magnified among ſome of them to this Day; though a Tory may very well ſay with King Pyrrhus, That ſuch another Victory would undo them.

But the moſt fruitful Source of Falſhood and Calumny, is that which, one would think, ſhould be the leaſt apt to produce them; I mean a pretended Concern for the Safety of our Eſtabliſhed Religion. Were theſe People as anxious for the Doctrines, which are eſſential to the Church of England, as they are for the nominal Diſtinction of adhering to its Intereſts, they would know, that the ſincere Obſervation of publick Oaths, Allegiance to their King, Submiſſion to their Biſhops, Zeal againſt Popery, and Abhorrence of Rebellion, are the great Points that adorn the Character of the Church of England, and in which the Authors of the Reformed Religion in this Nation have always gloried. We juſtly reproach the Jeſuits, who have adapted all Chriſtianity to Temporal and Political Views, for maintaining a Poſition ſo repugnant to the Laws of Nature, Morality and Religion, That evil may be committed, for the ſake of Good, which may ariſe from it. But we cannot ſuppoſe even this Principle, (as bad a One as it is) ſhould influence thoſe Perſons, who, by ſo many abſurd and monſtrous Falſhoods, endeavour to delude Men into a Belief of the Danger of the Church. If there be any relying on the ſolemn Declarations of a Prince, famed for keeping his Word, conſtant in the publick Exerciſes of our Religion, and determined in the Maintenance of our Laws, we have all the Aſſurances that can be given to us, for the Security of the eſtabliſhed Church under His Government. When a leading Man therefore begins to grow apprehenſive for the Church, you may be ſure, that he is either in danger of loſing a Place, or in deſpair of getting one. It is pleaſant on theſe Occaſions, to ſee a notorious Profligate ſeized with a Concern for his Religion, and converting his Spleen into Zeal. Theſe narrow and ſelfish Views have ſo great an Influence in this Cry, that, among thoſe who call themſelves the Landed Intereſt, there are ſeveral of my Fellow Free-Holders, who always fancy the Church in Danger upon the riſing of Bank-Stock. But the ſtanding Abſurdities, without the Belief of which no Man is reckoned a ſtaunch Churchman, are, That there is a Calves Head Club; for which (by the way) ſome pious Tory has made ſuitable Hymns and Devotions: That there is a Confederacy among the greateſt part of the Prelates to deſtroy Epiſcopacy; and that all, who talk againſt Popery, are Presbyterians in their Hearts. The Emiſſaries of the Party are ſo diligent in ſpreading ridiculous Fictions of this Kind, that at preſent, if we may credit common Report, there are ſeveral remote Parts of the Nation in which it is firmly believed, that all the Churches in London are ſhut up; and that if any Clergyman walks the Streets in his Habit, 'tis ten to one but he is knock'd down by ſome ſturdy Schiſmatick.

We may obſerve upon this Occaſion, that there are many particular Falſhoods ſuited to the particular Climates and Latitudes in which they are publiſhed, according as the Situation of the Place makes them leſs liable to Diſcovery: There is many a Lye, that will not thrive within a hundred Miles of London: Nay, we often find a Lye born in Southwark, that dies the ſame Day on this Side the Water: And ſeveral produced in the loyal Ward of Port-ſoken of ſo feeble a Make, as not to bear Carriage to the Royal-Exchange. However, as the Mints of Calumny are perpetually at work, there are a great Number of curious Inventions iſſued out from Time to Time, which grow current among the Party, and circulate through the whole Kingdom.

As the Deſign of this Paper is not to exaſperate, but to undeceive my Countreymen, let me deſire them to conſider the many Inconveniencies they bring upon themſelves by theſe mutual Intercourſes of Credulity and Falſhood. I ſhall only remind the Credulous of the ſtrong Deluſion they have by this Means been led into the greateſt part of their Lives. Their hopes have been kept up by a Succeſſion of Lyes for rear thirty Years. How many Perſons have ſtarved in Expectation of thoſe profitable Employments, which were promiſed them by the Authors of theſe Forgeries! How many of them have died with great Regret, when they thought they were within a Month of enjoying the ineſtimable Bleſſings of a Popiſh and Arbitrary Reign!

I would therefore adviſe this blinded Set of Men, not to give Credit to thoſe Perſons, by whom they have been ſo often fooled and impoſed upon; but on the contrary, to think it an Affront to their Parts, when they hear from any of them ſuch Accounts, as they would not dare to tell them, but upon the Preſumption that they are Ideots. Or if the Zeal for the Cauſe ſhall diſpoſe them to be Credulous in any Points that are favourable to it, I would beg of them not to venture Wagers upon the Truth of them: And in this preſent Conjuncture, by no means to ſell out of the Stocks upon any News they ſhall hear from their good Friends at Perth. As theſe Party Fictions are the proper Subjects of Mirth and Laughter, their deluded Believers are only to be treated with Pity or Contempt. But as for thoſe Incendiaries of Figure and Diſtinction, who are the Inventors and Publiſhers of ſuch groſs Falſhoods and Calumnies, they cannot be regarded by others, but with the utmoſt Deteſtation and Abhorrence; nor, one would think, by themſelves, without the greateſt Remorſe and Compunction of Heart; when they conſider, that in order to give a Spirit to a deſperate Cauſe, they have, by their falſe and treacherous Inſinuations and Reports, betrayed ſo many of their Friends into their own Deſtruction.

I Have heard that ſeveral Ladies of Diſtinction, upon the Reading of my Fourth Paper, are ſtudying Methods how to make themſelves uſeful to the Publick. One has a Deſign of keeping an open Tea-Table, where every Man ſhall be welcome that is a Friend to King George. Another is for ſetting up an Aſſembly for Baſſet, where none ſhall be admitted to Punt, that have not taken the Oaths. A Third is upon an Invention of a Dreſs which will put every Tory Lady out of Countenance: I am not informed of the Particulars, but am told in general, that ſhe has contrived to ſhew her Principles by the ſetting of her Commode; ſo that it will be impoſſible for any Woman, that is diſaffected, to be in the Faſhion. Some of them are of Opinion that the Fan may be made uſe of with good Succeſs, againſt Popery, by exhibiting the Corruptions of the Church of Rome in various Figures; and that their Abhorrence of the ſuperſtitious Uſe of Beads, may be very aptly expreſſed in the make of a Pearl Necklace. As for the Civil Part of our Conſtitution, it is unanimouſly agreed among the Leaders of the Sex, that there is no Glory in making a Man their Slave, who has not naturally a Paſſion for Liberty; and to diſallow of all Profeſſions of Paſſive Obedience, but from a Lover to his Miſtreſs.

It happens very luckily for the Intereſt of the Whigs, that their very Enemies acknowledge the fineſt Women of Great Britain to be of that Party. The Tories are forced to borrow their Toaſts from their Antagoniſts; and can ſcarce find Beauties enough of their own Side, to ſupply a ſingle Round of October. One may, indeed, ſometimes diſcover among the Malignants of the Sex, a Face that ſeems to have been naturally deſigned for a Whig Lady: But then it is ſo often fluſhed with Rage, or ſowered with Diſappointments, that one cannot but be troubled to ſee it thrown away upon the Owner. Would the pretty Malecontent be perſuaded to love her King and Countrey, it would diffuſe a Chearfulneſs through all her Features, and give her quite another Air. I would therefore adviſe theſe, my gentle Readers, as they conſult the Good of their Faces, to forbear frowning upon Loyaliſts, and Pouting at the Government. In the mean Time, what may we not hope from a Cauſe, which is recommended by the Allurement of Beauty, and the Force of Truth! It is therefore to be hoped that every fine Woman will make this laudable Uſe of her Charms; and that ſhe may not want to be frequently reminded of this great Duty, I will only deſire her to think of her Countrey every Time ſhe looks in her Glaſs.

But becauſe it is impoſſible to preſcribe ſuch Rules, as ſhall be ſuitable to the Sex in general, I ſhall conſider them under their ſeveral Diviſions of Maids, Wives and Widows.

As for Virgins, who are unexperienced in the Wiles of Men, they would do well to conſider how little they are to rely on the Faith of Lovers, who in leſs than a Year have broken their Allegiance to their lawful Soveraign; and what Credit is to be given to the Vows and Proteſtations of ſuch as ſhew themſelves ſo little afraid of Perjury. Beſides, what would an innocent young Lady think, ſhould ſhe marry a Man without examining his Principles, and afterwards find herſelf got with Child by a Rebel?

In the next Place, every Wife ought to anſwer for her Man. If the Husband be ingaged in a ſeditious Club, or drinks myſterious Healths, or be frugal of his Candles on a rejoycing Night, let her look to him, and keep him out of Harms way; or the World will be apt to ſay, ſhe has a Mind to be a Widow before her Time. She ought in ſuch Caſes to exert the Authority of the Curtain Lecture; and if ſhe finds him of a rebellious Diſpoſition, to tame him, as they do Birds of Prey, by dinning him in the Ears all Night long.

Widows may be ſuppoſed Women of too good Senſe not to diſcountenance all Practices, that have a Tendency to the Deſtruction of Mankind. Beſides they have a greater Intereſt in Property than either Maids or Wives, and do not hold their Jointures by the precarious Tenure of Portions or Pin-Money. So that it is as unnatural for a Dowager, as a Free-Holder, to be an Enemy to our Conſtitution.

As nothing is more Inſtructive than Examples, I would recommend to the Peruſal of our Britiſh Virgins the Story of Clelia a Roman Spinſter, whoſe Behaviour is repreſented by all their Hiſtorians, as one of the chief Motives that diſcouraged the Tarquins from proſecuting their Attempt to regain the Throne, from whence they had been expelled. Let the Marry'd Women reflect upon the Glory acquired by the Wife of Coriolanus, who, when her Husband, after long Exile, was returning into his Countrey with Fire and Sword, diverted him from ſo cruel and unnatural an Enterprize. And let thoſe who have out lived their Huſbands never forget their Countrey-woman Widow Boadicia, who headed her Troops, in Perſon againſt the Invaſion of a Roman Army, and encouraged them with this memorable Saying, I, who am a Woman, am reſolv'd upon Victory or Death: But as for you who are Men, you may, if you pleaſe, chuſe Life and Slavery.

But I do not propoſe to our Britiſh Ladies, that they ſhould turn Amazons in the Service of their Soveraign, nor ſo much as let their Nails grow for the Defence of their Countrey. The Men will take the Work of the Field off their Hands, and ſhew the World, that Engliſh Valour cannot be matched, when it is animated by Engliſh Beauty. I do not however diſapprove the Project which is now on Foot for a FEMALE ASSOCIATION; and, ſince I hear the fair Confederates cannot agree among themſelves upon a Form, ſhall preſume to lay before them the following rough Draught, to be corrected or improved, as they in their Wiſdom ſhall think fit.

N. B. This Aſſociation will be lodged at Mr. Motteux's, where Attendance will be given to the Subſcribers, who are to be ranged in their reſpective Columns, as Maids, Wives, and Widows.

THOUGH I have already ſeen, in The Town-Talk, a Letter from a Celebrated Engliſh-Man to the Pretender, which is indeed an Excellent Anſwer to His Declaration, the Title of this Paper obliges me to publiſh the following Piece, which conſiders it in different Lights.

ONE may venture to affirm, that all honeſt and diſintereſted Britons of what Party ſoever, if they underſtood one another, are of the ſame Opinion in Points of Government: And that the Groſs of the People, who are impoſed upon by Terms which they do not comprehend, are Whigs in their Hearts. They are made to believe, that Paſſive Obedience and Non-Reſiſtance, Unlimited Power and Indefeaſible Right, have ſomething of a venerable and religious Meaning in them; whereas in Reality they only imply, that a King of Great Britain has a Right to be a Tyrant, and that his Subjects are obliged in Conſcience to be Slaves. Were the Caſe truly and fairly laid before them, they would know, that when they make a Profeſſion of ſuch Principles, they renounce their legal Claim to Liberty and Property, and unwarily ſubmit to what they really abhor.

It is our Happineſs, under the preſent Reign, to hear our King from the Throne exhorting us to be zealous Aſſertors of the Liberties of our Countrey; which exclude all Pretenſions to an arbitrary, tyrannick or deſpotick Power. Thoſe, who have the Misfortune to live under ſuch a Power, have no other Law but the Will of their Prince, and conſequently no Privileges, but what are precarious. For though in ſome arbitrary Governments there may be a Body of Laws obſerved in the ordinary Forms of Juſtice, they are not ſufficient to ſecure any Rights to the People; becauſe they may be diſpenſed with, or laid aſide at the Pleaſure of the Soveraign.

And here it very much imports us to conſider, that Arbitrary Power naturally tends to make a Man a bad Soveraign, who might poſſibly have been a good One, had he been inveſted with an Authority limited and circumſcrib'd by Laws. None can doubt of this Tendency in Arbitrary Power, who conſider, that it fills the Mind of Man with great and unreaſonable Conceits of Himſelf; raiſes Him into a Belief, that He is of a Superior Species to His Subjects; extinguiſhes in Him the Principle of Fear, which is one of the greateſt Motives to all Duties; and creates an Ambition of magnifying Himſelf, by the Exertion of ſuch a Power in all its Inſtances. So great is the Danger, that when a Soveraign can do what He will, He will do what He can.

One of the moſt Arbritary Princes in our Age was Muley Iſhmael, Emperour of Morocco, who, after a long Reign, dy'd about a Twelve Month ago This Prince was a Man of much Wit and natural Senſe, of an active Temper, undaunted Courage, and great application. He was a Deſcendent of Mahomet; and ſo exemplary for his Adherence to the Law of his Prophet, that he abſtained all his Life from the Taſte of Wine; began the annual Faſt, or Lent of Ramadan two Months before his Subjects; was frequent in his Prayers; and that he might not want Opportunities of Kneeling, had fixed in all the ſpacious Courts of his Palace large Conſecrated Stones pointing towards the Eaſt, for any occaſional Exerciſe of his Devotion. What might not have been hoped from a Prince of theſe Endowments, had they not all been rendered uſeleſs and ineffectual to the Good of his People by the Notion of that Power which they aſcribed to him! This will appear, if we conſider how he exerciſed it towards his Subjects in thoſe three great Points which are the chief Ends of Government, the Preſervation of their Lives, the Security of their Fortunes, and the Determinations of Juſtice between Man and Man.

Foreign Envoys, who have given an Account of their Audiences, deſcribe this holy Man mounted on horſeback in an open Court, with ſeveral of his Alcaydes, or Governours of Provinces about him, ſtanding bare foot, trembling, bowing to the Earth, and at every Word he ſpoke, breaking out into paſſionate Exclamations of Praiſe, as, Great is the Wiſdom of our Lord the King; Our Lord the King ſpeaks as an Angel from Heaven. Happy was the Man among them, who was ſo much a Favourite as to be ſent on an Errand to the moſt remote Street in his Capital; which he performed with the greateſt Alacrity, ran through every Puddle that lay in his Way, and took Care to return out of Breath and cover'd with Dirt, that he might ſhew himſelf a diligent and faithful Miniſter His Majeſty at the ſame Time, to exhibit the Greatneſs of his Power, and ſhew his Horſemanſhip, ſeldom diſmiſs'd the Foreigner from his Preſence, 'till he had entertain'd him with the Slaughter of two or three of his Liege Subjects, whom he very dexterouſly put to Death with the Tilt of his Launce. St. Olon, the French Envoy, tells us, that when he had his laſt Audience of him, he receiv'd him in Robes juſt ſtain'd with an Execution; and that he was blooded up to his Elbows by a Couple of Moors, whom he had been butchering with his own Imperial Hands. By the Calculation of that Author, and many Others, who have ſince given an Account of his Exploits, we may reckon that by his own Arm he killed above Forty Thouſand of his People. To render himſelf the more awful, he choſe to wear a Garb of a particular Colour when he was bent upon Executions; ſo that when he appear'd in Yellow his Great Men hid themſelves in Corners, and durſt not pay their Court to him, till he had ſatiated his Thirſt of Blood by the Death of ſome of his loyal Commoners, or of ſuch unwary Officers of State as chanc'd to come in his Way. Upon this Account we are told, that the firſt News enquir'd after every Morning at Mequinez, was, Whether the Emperour were ſtirring, and in a good or bad Humour? As this Prince was a great Admirer of Architecture, and employ'd many Thouſands in Works of that Kind, if he did not approve the Plan or the Performance, it was uſual for him to ſhew the Delicacy of his Taſte by demoliſhing the Building, and putting to Death all that had a Hand in it. I have heard but of one Inſtance of his Mercy; which was ſhewn to the Maſter of an Engliſh Veſſel. This our Countreyman preſented him with a curious Hatchet, which he receiv'd very graciouſly; and asking him whether it had a good Edge, try'd it upon the Donor, who ſlipping aſide from the Blow, eſcap'd with the Loſs only of his right Ear; for Old Muley, upon ſecond Thoughts, conſidering that it was not one of his own Subjects, ſtopp'd his Hand, and would not ſend him to Paradiſe. I cannot quit this Article of his Tenderneſs for the Lives of his People, without mentioning one of his Queens, whom he was remarkably fond of; as alſo a Favourite Prime Miniſter, who was very dear to him. The firſt dy'd by a Kick of her Lord the King, when ſhe was big with Child, for having gather'd a Flower as ſhe was walking with him in his Pleaſure Garden. The Other was baſtinado'd to Death by his Majeſty; who, repenting of the Drubs he had given him when it was too late, to manifeſt his Eſteem for the Memory of ſo Worthy a Man, executed the Surgeon that could not cure him.

This Abſolute Monarch was as notable a Guardian of the Fortunes, as of the Lives of his Subjects. When any Man among his People grew rich, in Order to keep him from being dangerous to the State, he uſed to ſend for all his Goods and Chattels. His Governours of Towns and Provinces, who form'd themſelves upon the Example of their Grand Monarque, practiſed Rapine, Violence, Extortion, and all the Arts of Deſpotick Government in their reſpective Diſtricts, that they might be the better enabled to make him their yearly Preſents. For the greateſt of his Viceroys could only propoſe to himſelf a comfortable Subſiſtence out of the Plunder of his Province, and was in certain Danger of being recall'd or hang'd, if he did not remit the Bulk of it to his Dread Soveraign. That he might make a right Uſe of theſe Prodigious Treaſures, which flow'd in to him from all the Parts of his wide Empire, he took Care to bury them under Ground, by the Hands of his moſt truſty Slaves, and then cut their Throats, as the moſt effectual Method to keep them from making Diſcoveries. Theſe were his Ways and Means for raiſing Money, by which he weaken'd the Hands of the Factious, and in any Caſe of Emergency, could employ the whole Wealth of his Empire, which he had thus amaſſed together in his ſubterraneous Exchequer.

As there is no ſuch Thing as Property under an Arbitrary Government, you may learn what was Muley Iſhmael's Notion of it from the following Story Being upon the Road, amidſt his Life-Guards, a little before the Time of the Ram-Feaſt, he met one of his Alcaydes at the Head of his Servants, who were driving a great Flock of Sheep to Market. The Emperor ask'd whoſe they were: The Alcayde anſwered with profound Submiſſion, They are mine, O Iſhmael, Son of Elcherif, of the Line of Haſſan. Thine! thou Son of a Cuckold, ſaid this SERVANT OF THE LORD, I thought I had been the only Proprietor in this Countrey; upon which he run him through the Body with his Launce, and very piouſly diſtributed the Sheep among his Guards, for the Celebration of the Feaſt.

His Determinations of Juſtice between Man and Man, were indeed very ſummary and deciſive, and generally put an End to the Vexations of a Law-Suit, by the Ruin both of Plaintiff and Defendant. Travellers have recorded ſome Samples of this Kind, which may give us an Idea of the Bleſſings of his Adminiſtration. One of his Alcaydes complaining to him of a Wife, whom he had received from his Majeſty's Hands, and therefore could not divorce her, that ſhe uſed to pull him by the Beard; the Emperor to redreſs this Grievance, order'd his Beard to be plucked up by the Roots, that he might not be liable to any more ſuch Affronts. A Countrey Farmer having accus'd ſome of his Negro Guards for Robbing him of a Drove of Oxen, the Emperor readily ſhot the Offenders: But afterwards demanding Reparation of the Accuſer, for the Loſs of ſo many Brave Fellows, and finding him inſolvent, compounded the Matter with him by taking away his Life. There are many other Inſtances of the ſame Kind. I muſt obſerve however under this Head, that the only good Thing he is celebrated for, during his whole Reign, was the clearing of the Roads and High-Ways of Robbers, with which they uſed to be very much infeſted. But his Method was to ſlay Man, Woman and Child, who lived within a certain Diſtance from the Place, where the Robbery was committed. This extraordinary Piece of Juſtice could not but have its Effect, by making every Road in his Empire unſafe for the Profeſſion of a Free-Booter.

I muſt not omit this Emperor's Reply to Sir Cloudeſly Shovel, who had taken ſeveral of his Subjects by Way of Reprizal for the Engliſh Captives that were detained in his Dominions. Upon the Admiral's offering to exchange them on very advantageous Terms, this good Emperor ſent him Word, The Subjects he had taken were poor Men, not worth the Ranſoming; and that he might throw them over Board, or deſtroy them otherwiſe as he pleaſed.

Such was the Government of Muley Iſhmael, The Servant of God, the Emperor of the Faithful, who was Courageous in the Way of the Lord, the Noble, the Good.

To conclude this Account, which is extracted from the beſt Authorities. I ſhall only obſerve that he was a great Admirer of His late Moſt Chriſtian Majeſty. In a Letter to him, he Compliments him with the Title of Sovereign Arbiter of the Actions and Wills of his People. And in a Book publiſhed by a French Man, who was ſent to him as an Ambaſſador, is the following Paſſage, He is abſolute in his States, and often compares himſelf to the Emperor of France, who he ſays is the only Perſon that knows how to reign like himſelf, and to make his Will the Law.

This was that Emperor of France to whom the Perſon who has a great Mind to be King of theſe Realms owed his Education, and from whom he learned his Notions of Government. What ſhould hinder One, whoſe Mind is ſo well ſeaſoned with ſuch Prepoſſeſſions, from attempting to copy after his Patron, in the Exerciſe of ſuch a Power; eſpecially conſidering that the Party who eſpouſe his Intereſt, never fail to compliment a Prince that diſtributes all his Places among them, with unlimited Power on his Part, and unconditional Obedience on that of his Subjects.

BY our lateſt Advices, both from Town and Countrey, it appears, that the Ladies of Great Britain, who are able to bear Arms, that is, to Smile or Frown to any Purpoſe, have already begun to commit Hoſtilities upon the Men of each oppoſite Party. To this End we are aſſared, that many of them on both Sides Exerciſe before their Glaſſes every Morning; that they have already caſhiered ſeveral of their Followers as Mutineers, who have contradicted them in ſome political Converſations; and that the Whig Ladies in particular deſign very ſoon to have a general Review of their Forces at a Play beſpoken by one of their Leaders. This Sett of Ladies, indeed, as they daily do Duty at Court, are much more expert in the Uſe of their Airs and Graces than their female Antagoniſts, who are moſt of them bred in the Countrey: So that the Siſterhood of Loyaliſts, in reſpect of the fair Malecontents, are like an Army of regular Forces, compared with a raw undiſciplined Militia.

It is to this Misfortune in their Education that we may aſcribe the rude and opprobrious Language with which the diſaffected Part of the Sex treat the preſent Royal Family. A little lively Ruſtick, who hath been trained up in Ignorance and Prejudice, will prattle Treaſon a whole Winter's Evening, and ſtring together a Parcel of ſilly ſeditious Stories, that are equally void of Decency and Truth. Nay, you ſometimes meet with a zealous Matron, who ſets up for the Pattern of a Pariſh, uttering ſuch Invectives as are highly misbecoming her, both as a Woman and a Subject. In anſwer therefore to ſuch diſtoyal Termagants, I ſhall repeat to them a Speech of the honeſt and blunt Duke du Sully to an Aſſembly of Popiſh Ladies, who were railing very bitterly againſt Henry the Fourth, at his Acceſſion to the French Throne; Ladies, ſaid he, you have a very good King, if you know when you are well. However ſet your Hearts at reſt, for he is not a Man to be ſcolded or ſeratched out of his Kingdom.

But as I never care to ſpeak of the fair Sex, unleſs I have an Occaſion to Praiſe them, I ſhall take my Leave of theſe ungentle Damſels; and only beg of them, not to make themſelves leſs amiable than Nature deſigned them, by being Rebels to the Beſt of their Abilities, and endeavouring to bring their Countrey into Bloodſhed and Confuſion. Let me therefore recommend to them the Example of thoſe beautiful Aſſociates, whom I mentioned in my eighth Paper, as I have received the Particulars of their Behaviour from the Perſon with whom I lodged their Aſſociation.

This Aſſociation being written at length in a large Roll of the fineſt Vellum, with three diſtinct Columns for the Maids, Wives, and Widows, was opened for the Subſcribers near a Fortnight ago. Never was a Subſcription for a Raffiing or an Opera more crowded. There is ſcarce a celebrated Beauty about Town that you may not find in one of the three Liſts; inſomuch, that if a Man, who did not know the Deſign, ſhould read only the Names of the Subſcribers, he would fancy every Column to be a Catalogue of Toaſts. Mr. Motteux has been heard to ſay more than once, that if he had the Portraits of all the Aſſociates, they would make a finer Auction of Pictures, than he or any Body elſe had ever exhibited.

Several of theſe Ladies indeed criticiſed upon the Form of the Aſſociation. One of them, after the Peruſal of it, wondered that among the Features to be uſed in Defence of their Countrey, there was no mention made of Teeth; upon which ſhe ſmiled very charmingly, and diſcovered as fine a Sett as ever Eye beheld. Another, who was a tall lovely Prude, holding up her Head in a moſt majeſtick Manner, ſaid, with ſome Diſdain. She thought a good Neck might have done His Majeſty as much Service as Smiles or Dimples. A Third looked upon the Aſſociation as defective, becauſe ſo neceſſary a Word as Hands was omitted; and by her Manner of taking up the Pen, it was eaſy to gueſs the Reaſon of her Objection.

Moſt of the Perſons who aſſociated, have done much more than by the Letter of the Aſſociation they were obliged to; having not only ſet their Names to it, but ſubſcribed their ſeveral Aids and Subſidies for the carrying on ſo good a Cauſe. In the Virgin Column is one who ſubſcribes fifteen Lovers, all of them good Men and true. There is another who ſubſcribes five Admirers, with one tall handſom black Man fit to be a Colonel. In ſhort, there is ſcarce one in this Liſt who does not engage herſelf to ſupply a Quota of brisk young Fellows many of them already equipt with Hats and Feathers. Among the reſt, was a pretty ſprightly Coquette, with ſparkling Eyes, who ſub-ſcribed two Quivers of Arrows.

In the Column of Wives, the firſt who took Pen in Hand writ her own Name and one Vaſſal, meaning her Husband. Another ſubſcribes her Husband and three Sons. Another her Husband and ſix Coach-Horſes. Moſt in this Catalogue paired themſelves with their reſpective Mates, anſwering for'em as Men of honeſt Principles, and fit for the Service.

N. B. There were two in this Column that wore Aſſociation Ribbons: The firſt of them ſubſcribed her Husband, and her Husband's Friend; the ſecond a Husband and five Lovers; but upon enquiry into their Characters, they are both of them found to be Tories, who hung out falſe Colours to be Spies upon the Aſſociation, or to inſinuate to the World by their Subſcriptions, as if a Lady of Whig Principles could love any Man beſides her Husband.

The Widows Column is headed by a fine Woman who calls herſelf Boadicea, and ſubſcribes ſix hundred Tenants. It was indeed obſerved that the Strength of the Aſſociation lay moſt in this Column; every Widow, in Proportion to her Jointure, having a great Number of Admirers, and moſt of them diſtinguiſhed as able Men. Thoſe who have examined this Liſt, compute that there may be three Regiments raiſed out of it, in which there ſhall not be one Man under fix Foot high.

I muſt not conclude this Account, without taking Notice of the ASSOCIATION-RIBBON, by which theſe Beautiful Confederates have agreed to diſtinguiſh themſelves. It is indeed ſo very pretty an Ornament, that I wonder any Engliſh Woman will be without it. A Lady of the ASSOCIATION who bears this Badge of Allegiance upon her Breaſt, naturaly produces a Deſire in every Male-Beholder, of gaining a Place in a Heart which carries on it ſuch a viſible Mark of its Fidelity. When the Beauties of our Iſland are thus induſtrious to ſhew their Principles as well as their Charms, they raiſe the Sentiments of their Countreymen, and inſpire them at the ſame time both with Loyalty and Love. What Numbers of Proſelytes may we not expect, when the moſt amiable of the Britons thus exhibit to their Admirers the only Terms upon which they are to hope for any Correſpondence or Alliance with them! It is well known that the greateſt Blow the French Nation ever receiv'd, was the dropping of a fine Lady's Garter, in the Reign of King Edward the Third. The moſt remarkable Battels which have been ſince gained over that Nation, were fought under the Auſpices of a Blue RIBBON. As our Britiſh Ladies have ſtill the ſame Faces, and our Men the ſame Hearts, why may we not hope for the ſame glorious Atchievements from the Influence of this Beautiful Breaſt-Knot?

IT being the Deſign of theſe Papers to reconcile Men to their own Happineſs, by removing thoſe wrong Notions and Prejudices which hinder them from ſeeing the Advantage of themſelves and their Poſterity in the preſent Eſtabliſhment, I cannot but take Notice of every Thing that by the Artifice of our Enemies is made a Matter of Complaint.

Of this Nature is the Suſpenſion of the Habeas Corpus Act, by which His Majeſty has been enabled in theſe Times of Danger, to ſeize and detain the Perſons of ſuch, who He had Reaſon to believe were Conſpiring againſt His Perſon and Government. The Expediency and Reaſonableneſs of ſuch a temporary Suſpenſion in the preſent Juncture may appear to every conſiderate Man, who will turn his Thoughts impartially on this Subject.

I have choſen in Points of this Nature to draw my Arguments from the firſt Principles of Government, which, as they are of no Party, but aſſented to by every reaſonable Man, carry the greater Weight with them, and are accommodated to the Notions of all my Readers. Every One knows, who has conſider'd the Nature of Government, that there muſt be in each particular Form of it an Abſolute and Unlimited Power; and that This Power is lodg'd in the Hands of thoſe, who have the Making of its Laws, whether by the Nature of the Conſtitution it be in One or more Perſons, in a ſingle Order of Men, or in a mixt Body of different Ranks and Degrees. It is an Abſurdity to imagine that thoſe, who have the Authority of Making Laws, cannot ſuſpend any particular Law, when they think it expedient for the Publick. Without ſuch a Power all Government would be defective, and not arm'd with a ſufficient Force for its own Security. As Self-Preſervation by all honeſt Methods is the firſt Duty of every Community, as well as of every private Perſon, ſo the publick Safety is the general View of all Laws. When therefore any Law does not conduce to this great End, but on the contrary in ſome extraordinary and unnatural Junctures, the very Obſervation of it would endanger the Community, that Law ought to be laid aſleep for ſuch a Time, by the proper Authority. Thus the very Intention of our Habeas Corpus Act, namely, the Preſervation of the Liberties of the Subject, abſolutely requires that Act to be now ſuſpended, ſince the Confinement of dangerous and ſuſpected Perſons, who might ſtrengthen this Rebellion, and ſpread a Civil War through all Parts of this Kingdom, ſecures to us our Civil Rights, and every Thing that can be valuable to a Free People.

As every Government muſt in its Nature be arm'd with ſuch an Authority, we may obſerve that thoſe Governments which have been the moſt famous for publick Spirit, and the moſt jealous of their Liberty, have never failed to exert it upon proper Occaſions. There cannot be a greater Inſtance of this, than in the old Common wealth of Rome, who flatter'd themſelves with an Opinion that their Government had in it a due Temper of the Regal, Noble, and Popular Power, repreſented by the Conſuls, the Senators, and the Tribunes. The Regal Part was however in ſeveral Points notoriouſly defective, and particularly becauſe the Conſuls had not a Negative in the paſſing of a Law, as the other two Branches had. Nevertheleſs in this Government, when the Republick was threaten'd with any great and imminent Danger, they thought it for the common Safety to appoint a Temporary Dictator, inveſted with the whole Power of the three Branches; who, when the Danger was over, retired again into the Community, and left the Government in its natural Situation. But what is more to our Caſe, the Conſular Power itſelf, tho' infinitely ſhort of the Regal Power in Great Britain, was intruſted with the whole Authority which the Legiſlature has put into the Hands of His Majeſty. We have an Eminent Inſtance of this in the Motto of my Paper, which I ſhall Tranſlate for the Benefit of the Engliſh Reader, after having advertiſed him, that the Power there given to the Conſul, was in the Time of a Conſpiracy. The Senate therefore made a Decree, as uſual, when they have Matters before them of ſo Horrid a Nature, That the Conſuls ſhould take Care the Common-Wealth did not ſuffer any Prejudice. By Virtue of this very great Power which the Senate allows to the Magiſtrate, according to the Antient Cuſtoms of Rome, He may raiſe an Army, wage War, make Uſe of all kinds of Methods to reſtrain the Aſſociates and Citizens of Rome, and exerciſe the Supreme Authority both at Home and Abroad in Matters Civil and Military; whereas otherwiſe the Conſul is not inveſted with any of theſe Powers without the expreſs Command of the People.

There now only remains to ſhew, that His Majeſty is legally poſſeſt of this Power; and that the Neceſſity of the preſent Affairs requires He ſhould be ſo. He is entruſted with it by the Legiſlature of the Nation; and in the very Notion of a Legiſlature is implied a Power to change, repeal, and ſuſpend what Laws are in Being, as well as to make what new Laws they ſhall think fit for the Good of the People. This is ſo uncontroverted a Maxim, that I believe never any Body attempted to refute it. Our Legiſlature have however had that juſt Regard for their Fellow-Subjects, as not to entertain a Thought of abrogating this Law, but only to hinder it from operating at a Time when it would endanger the Conſtitution. The King is empowered to act but for a few Months by Virtue of this Suſpenſion; and by that Means differs from a King of France, or any other Tyrannical Prince, who in Times of Peace and Tranquillity, and upon what Occaſion he pleaſes, ſends any of his Subjects out of the Knowledge of their Friends into ſuch Caſtles, Dungeons, or Impriſonments as he thinks fit. Nor did the Legiſlature do any Thing in this that was unprecedented. The Habeas Corpus Act was made but about five and thirty Years ago, and ſince that Time has been ſuſpended four Times before his preſent Majeſty's Acceſſion to the Throne: Twice under the Reign of King William and Queen Mary; once under the Reign of King William; and once under the Reign of Queen Anne.

The Neceſſity of this Law at this Time aroſe from the Proſpect of an Invaſion, which has ſince broke out into an actual Rebellion; and from Informations of ſecret and dangerous Practices among Men of conſiderable Figure, who could not have been prevented from doing Miſchief to their Countrey but by ſuch a Suſpenſion of this Act of Parliament.

I cannot however but obſerve, that notwithſtanding the Lawfulneſs and Neceſſity of ſuch a Suſpenſion, had not the Rebellion broke out after the paſſing of this Act of Parliament, I do not know how thoſe who had been the moſt inſtrumental in procuring it, could have eſcap'd that popular Odium, which their malicious and artful Enemies have now in vain endeavoured to ſtir up againſt them. Had it been poſſible for the Vigilance and Endeavours of a Miniſtry to have hindered even the Attempt of an Invaſion, their very Endeavours might have proved prejudicial to them. Their prudent and reſolute Precautions would have turned to their Diſadvantage, had they not been juſtified by thoſe Events, which they did all that was in their Power to obviate. This naturally brings to Mind the Reflection of Tully in the like Circumſtances, That amidſt the Diviſions of Rome, a Man was in an unhappy Condition who had a Soare in the Adminiſtration, nay even in the Preſervation of the Common-Wealth. O conditionem miſeram non modo adminiſtrandae, verum etiam conſervandae Reipublicae!

Beſides, every unprejudiced Man will conſider how mildly and equitably this Power has been uſed. The Perſons confined have been treated with all poſſible Humanity, and abridged of nothing but the Liberty of hurting their Countrey, and very probably of ruining both themſelves and their Families. And as to the Numbers of thoſe who are under this ſhort Reſtraint, it is very obſervable, that People do not ſeem ſo much ſurpized at the Confinement of ſome, as at the Liberty of many Others. But we may from hence conclude, what every Engliſhman muſt obſerve with great Pleaſure; that His Majeſty does not in this great Point regulate Himſelf by any private Jealouſies or Suſpicions, but by thoſe Evidences and Informations which he has received.

We have already found the good Conſequences of this Suſpenſion, in that it has hindered the Rebellion from gathering the Strength it would otherwiſe have gained; not to mention thoſe Numbers it has kept from engaging in ſo deſperate an Enterprize, with the many Lives it has preſerved, and the Deſolations it has prevented.

For theſe and many other Reaſons the Repreſentatives of Great Britain in Parliament could never have anſwered it to the People they repreſent, who have found ſuch great Benefits from the Suſpenſion of the Habeas Corpus Act, and without it muſt have felt ſuch fatal Conſequences, had they not in a Caſe of ſuch great Neceſſity made Uſe of this cuſtomary, legal, and reaſonable Method for Securing His Majeſty on the Throne, and their Countrey from Miſery or Ruine.

WE are told, that in Turkey, when any Man is the Author of Notorious Falſhoods, it is uſual to blacken the whole Front of his Houſe: Nay we have ſometimes heard, that an Embaſſador, whoſe Buſineſs it is (if I may quote his Character in Sir Henry Wotton's Words) to 〈◊〉 for the Good of his Countrey, has ſometimes had this Mark ſet upon his Houſe; when he 〈◊〉 been detected in any Piece of feign'd Intelligence, that has prejudiced the Government, and miſled the Minds of the People. One cou'd almoſt wiſh that the Habitations of ſuch of our own Countreymen as deal in Forgeties detrimental to the Publick, were diſtinguiſhed in the ſame Manner; that their Fellow-Subjects might be cautioned not to be too eaſy in giving Credit to them. Were ſuch a Method put in Practice, this Metropolis wou'd be ſtrangely checquer'd; ſome entire Pariſhes wou'd be in Mourning, and ſeveral Streets darkned from one End to the other.

But I have given my Thoughts in two preceding Papers, both on the Inventors and the Believers of theſe publick Falſhoods and Calumnies, and ſhall here ſpeak of that Contempt with which they are and ought to be received by thoſe in high Stations, at whom they are levell'd. Any Perſon indeed, who is zealous for promoting the Intereſt of his Countrey, muſt conquer all that Tenderneſs and Delicacy which may make him afraid of being ſpoken ill of; or his Endeavours will often produce no leſs Uneaſineſs to himſelf, than Benefit to the Publick. Among a People who indulge themſelves in the utmoſt Freedoms of Thought and Speech, a Man muſt either be inſignificant, or able to bear an undeſerved Reproach. A true Patriot may comfort himſelf under the Attacks of Falſhood and Obloquy, from ſeveral Motives and Reflections.

In the firſt Place he ſhou'd conſider, that the chief of his Antagoniſts are generally acted by Spirit of Envy; which wou'd not riſe againſt him, if it were not provoked by his Deſert. A Stateſman, who is poſſeſt of real Merit, ſhou'd look upon his political Cenſurers with the ſame Neglect, that a good Writer regards his Criticks; who are generally a Race of Men that are not able to diſcover the Beauties of a Work they examine, and deny that Approbation to Others, which they never met with themſelves. Patriots therefore ſhou'd rather rejoyce in the Succeſs of their honeſt Deſigns, than be mortified by thoſe who miſrepreſent them.

They ſhou'd likewiſe conſider, that not only Envy, but Vanity has a Share in the Detraction of their Adverſaries. Such Aſperſions therefore do them Honour at the ſame Time that they are intended to leſſen their Reputation. They ſhou'd reflect, That thoſe who endeavour to ſtir up the Multitude againſt them, do it to be thought conſiderable; and not a little applaud themſelves in a Talent that can raiſe Clamours out of nothing, and throw a Ferment among the People, by Murmurs or Complaints, which they know in their own Hearts are altogether groundleſs. There is a pleaſant Inſtance of this Nature recorded at length in the Firſt Book of the Annals of Tacitus. When a great Part of the Roman Legions were in a Diſpoſition to mutiny, an Impudent Varlet, who was a private Centinel, being mounted upon the Shoulders of his Fellow-Soldiers, and reſolved to try the Power of his Eloquence, addreſs'd himſelf to the Army, in all the Poſtures of an Orator, after the following Manner: You have given Liberty to theſe miſerable Men: ſaid he, (pointing to ſome Criminals whom they had reſcued) but which of you can reſtore Life to my Brother? Who can give me back my Brother? He was murder'd no longer ago than 〈◊〉 Night, by the Hands of thoſe Ru •• ians, who are eatertain'd by the General to butcher the poor S •••… ery. Tell me, Blaeſus, (for that was the Name of the General, who was then ſitting on the Tribunal) tell me, Where haſt thou caſt his dead Body? An Enemy does not grudge the Rites of Burial. When I have tired my ſelf with kiſſing his cold Corps, and weeping over it, order me to be ſlain upon it. All I ask of my Fellow-Soldiers, ſince we both dye in their Cauſe, is that they wou'd lay me in the ſame Grave with my Brother. The whole Army was in an Uproar at this moving Speech, and reſolved to do the Speaker Juſtice, when, upon Enquiry, they found that he never had a Brother in his Life; and that he had ſtirred up the Sedition only to ſhew his Parts.

Publick Miniſters would likewiſe do well to conſider, that the principal Authors of ſuch Reproaches as are caſt upon them, are thoſe who have a Mind to get their Places: And as for a Cenſure ariſing from this Motive, it is in their Power to eſcape it when they pleaſe, and turn it upon their Competitors. Malecontents of an inferiour Character are acted by the ſame Principle; for ſo long as there are Employments of all Sizes, there will be Murmurers of all Degrees. I have heard of a Countrey-Gentleman, who made a very long and melancholy Complaint to the late Duke of Buckingham, when he was in great Power at Court, of ſeveral publick Grievances. The Duke, after having given him a very patient Hearing, My dear Friend, ſays he, this is but too true; but I have thought of an Expedient which will ſet all Things right, and that very ſoon. His Countrey Friend asked him, what it was. You muſt know, ſays the Duke, there's a Place of five Hundred Pounds a Year fallen this very Morning, which I 〈◊〉 to put you in Poſſeſſion of. The Gentleman thanked his Grace, went away ſatisfied, and thought the Nation the happieſt under Heaven, during that whole Miniſtry.

But farther, every Man in a publick Station ought to conſider, that when there are two different Parties in a Nation, they will ſee Things in different Lights. An Action however conducive to the Good of their Countrey, will be repreſented by the Artful and appear to the Ignorant as prejudicial to it. Since I have here, according to the uſual Liberty of Eſſay-Writers, rambled into ſeveral Stories, I ſhall fetch one to my preſent Purpoſe out of the Perſian Hiſtory. We there read of a virtuous young Emperor, who was very much afflicted to find his Actions miſconſtrued and defamed by a Party among his Subjects that favour'd another Intereſt. As he was one Day ſitting among the Miniſters of his Divan, and amuſing himſelf after the Eaſtern Manner, with the Solution of difficult Problems and Aenigma's, he propoſed to them in his Turn, the following one. What is the Tree that bears three Hundred and ſixty five Leaves, which are all Black on the one Side, and White on the other? His Grand Viſier immediately replied, it was the Year which conſiſted of three Hundred and ſixty five Days and Nights: But Sir, ſays he, permit me at the ſame Time to take Notice, that theſe Leaves repreſent your Actions, which carry different Faces to your Friends and Enemies, and will always appear black to thoſe who are reſolv'd only to look upon the wrong Side of 'em.

A virtuous Man therefore who lays out his Endeavours for the Good of his Countrey, ſhould never be troubled at the Reports which are made of him, ſo long as he is conſcious of his own Integrity. He ſhould rather be pleaſed, to find People deſcanting upon his Actions, becauſe when they are thoroughly canvaſſed and examined, they are ſure in the End to turn to his Honour and Advantage. The reaſonable and unprejudiced Part of Mankind will be of his Side, and rejoyce to ſee their common Intereſt lodged in ſuch honeſt Hands. A ſtrict Examination of a great Man's Character, is like the Trial of a ſuſpected Chaſtity, which was made among the Jews by the Waters of Jealouſy. Moſes aſſures us that the Criminal burſt upon the drinking of them; but if ſhe was accuſed wrongfully, the Rabbins tell us, they heighten'd her Charms, and made her much more amiable than before: So that they deſtroyed the Guilty, but beautified the Innocent.

EVery Engliſhman will be a good Subject to King George, in Proportion as he is a good Engliſhman, and a Lover of the Conſtitution of his Countrey. In Order to awaken in my Readers the Love of this their Conſtitution, it may be neceſſary to ſet forth its ſuperior Excellency to that Form of Government, which many wicked and ignorant Men have of late Years endeavour'd to introduce among us. I ſhall not therefore think it improper to take Notice from Time to Time of any particular Act of Power, exerted by thoſe among whom the Pretender to His Majeſty's Crown has been educated; which wou'd prove fatal to this Nation, ſhou'd it be Conquer'd and Govern'd by a Perſon, who, in all Probability, wou'd put in Practice the Politicks in which he has been ſo long inſtructed.

There has been nothing more obſervable in the Reign of His preſent Gallick Majeſty, than the Method he has taken for ſupplying his Exchequer with a neceſſary Sum of Money. The Ways and Means for raiſing it has been an Edict, or a Command in Writing ſigned by himſelf, to encreaſe the Value of Louis d' Ors from Fourteen to Sixteen Livres, by Virtue of a new Stamp which ſhall be ſtruck upon them. As this Method will bring all the Gold of the Kingdom into his Hands, it is provided by the ſame Edict that they ſhall be payed out again to the People at Twenty Livres each; ſo that Four Livres in the Score by this Means accrue to His Majeſty out of all the Money in the Kingdom of France.

This Method of raiſing Money is conſiſtent with that Form of Government, and with the repeated Practice of their late Grand Monarque; ſo that I ſhall not here conſider the many evil Conſequences which it muſt have upon their Trade, their Exchange, and publick Credit: I ſhall only take Notice of the whimſical Circumſtances a People muſt lie under, who can be thus made poor or rich by an Edict, which can throw an Alloy into a Louis d' Or, and debaſe it into half its former Value, or, if His Majeſty pleaſes, raiſe the Price of it, not by the Acceſſion of Metal, but of a Mark. By the preſent Edict many a Man in France will ſwell into a Plumb, who fell ſeveral Thouſand Pounds ſhort of it the Day before its Publication. This conveys a Kind of Fairy Treaſure into their Cheſts, even whilſt they are under Lock and Key; and is a Secret of Multiplication without Addition. It is natural enough however for the Vanity of the French Nation to grow inſolent upon this imaginary Wealth, not conſidering that their Neighbours think them no more Rich by Virtue of an Edict to make Fourteen Twenty, than they wou'd think 'em more formidable ſhould there be another Edict to make every Man in the Kingdom Seven Foot high.

It was uſual for his late Moſt Chriſtian Majeſty to ſink the Value of their Louis d' Ors about the Time he was to receive the Taxes of his good People, and to raiſe them when he had got them ſafe into his Coffers. And there is no Queſtion but the preſent Government in that Kingdom, will ſo far obſerve this Kind of Conduct, as to reduce the Twenty Livres to their old Number of Fourteen, when they have paid them out of their Hands; which will immediately ſink the preſent Timpany of Wealth, and re-eſtabliſh the natural Poverty of the Gallick Nation.

One cannot but pity the melancholy Condition of a Miſer in this Countrey, who is perpetually telling his Livres, without being able to know how Rich he is. He is as ridiculouſly puzzled and perplexed as a Man that counts the Stones on Salisbury-Plain, which can never be ſettled to any certain Number, but are more or fewer every Time he reckons them.

I have heard of a young French Lady, a Subject of Louis the Fourteenth, who was contracted to a Marquis upon the Foot of a Five Thouſand Pound Fortune, which ſhe had by her in Specie; but one of theſe unlucky Edicts coming out a Week before the intended Marriage, ſhe loſt a Thouſand Pound, and her Bridegroom into the Bargain.

The Uncertainty of Riches is a Subject much diſcourſed of in all Countries, but may be inſiſted on more emphatically in France than any other. A Man is here under ſuch a Kind of Situation, as One who is managed by a Jugler. He fancies he has ſo many Pieces of Money in his Hand; but let him graſp them never ſo carefully, upon a Word or two of the Artiſt they encreaſe or dwindle to what Number the Doctor is pleaſed to name.

This Method of lowering or advancing Money, we, who have the Happineſs to be in another Form of Government, ſhould look upon as an unwarrantable Kind of Clipping and Coining. However, as it is an Expedient that is often practiſed, and may be juſtify'd in that Conſtitution which has been ſo thoroughly ſtudied by the Pretender to His Majeſty's Crown, I do not ſee what ſhould have hinder'd him from making Uſe of ſo expeditious a Method for raiſing a Supply, if he had ſucceeded in his late Attempt to dethrone His Majeſty, and ſubvert our Conſtitution. I ſhall leave it to the Conſideration of the Reader, if in ſuch a Caſe the following Edict, or ſomething very like it, might not have been expected.

IT has been uſual theſe many Years for Writers, who have approved the Scheme of Government which has taken Place, to explain to the People the Reaſonableneſs of thoſe Principles which have prevailed, and to juſtify the Conduct of thoſe, who act in Conformity to ſuch Principles. It therefore happens well for the Party which is undermoſt, when a Work of this Nature falls into the Hands of thoſe who content themſelves to attack their Principles, without expoſing their Perſons, or ſingling out any particular Objects for Satyr and Ridicule. This Manner of Proceeding is no inconſiderable Piece of Merit in Writers, who are often more influenc'd by a Deſire of Fame, than a Regard to the publick Good; and who, by this Means, loſe many fair Opportunities of ſhewing their own Wit, or of gratifying the Ill-Nature of their Readers.

When a Man thinks a Party engaged in ſuch Meaſures as tend to the Ruine of his Countrey, it is certainly a very laudable and virtuous Action in him to make War after this Manner upon the whole Body. But as ſeveral Caſuiſts are of Opinion, that in a Battel you ſhou'd diſcharge upon the Groſs of the Enemy, without levelling your Piece at any particular Perſon; ſo in this Kind of Combat alſo, I cannot think it fair to aim at any one Man, and make his Character the Mark of your Hoſtilities. There is now to be ſeen in the Caſtle of Milan, a Cannon-Bullet, inſcribed, This to the Mareſchal de Crequi, which was the very Ball that ſhot him. An Author who points his Satyr at a Great Man, is to be looked upon in the ſame View with the Engineer who ſignalized himſelf by this ungenerous Practice.

But as the Spirit of the Whigs and Tories ſhews itſelf, upon every Occaſion, to be very widely different from one another; ſo is it particularly viſible in the Writings of this Kind, which have been publiſhed by each Party. The latter may, indeed, aſſign one Reaſon to juſtify themſelves in this Practice; that, having nothing of any Manner of Weight to offer againſt the Principles of their Antagoniſts, if they ſpeak at all, it muſt be againſt their Perſons. When they cannot refute an Adverſary, the ſhorteſt Way is to libel him; and to endeavour at the making his Perſon odious, when they cannot repreſent his Notions as abſurd.

The Examiner was a Paper, in the laſt Reign, which was the Favourite-Work of the Party. It was uſher'd into the World by a Letter from a Secretary of State, ſetting forth the great Genius of the Author, the Uſefulneſs of his Deſign, and the mighty Conſequences that were to be expected from it. It is ſaid to have been written by thoſe among 'em whom they looked upon as their moſt celebrated Wits and Politicians, and was diſperſed into all Quarters of the Nation with great Induſtry and Expence. Who would not have expected, that at leaſt the Rules of Decency and Candour would be obſerved in ſuch a Performance? But inſtead of this, you ſaw all the great Men, who had done eminent Services to their Countrey but a few Years before, draughted out one by one, and baited in their Turns. No Sanctity of Character, or Privilege of Sex, exempted Perſons from this barbarous Uſage. Several of our Prelates were the ſtanding Marks of publick Raillery, and many Ladies of the firſt Quality branded by Name for Matters of Fact, which as they were falſe, were not heeded, and if they had been true, were innocent. The Dead themſelves were not ſpared. And here I cannot forbear taking Notice of a Kind of Wit which has lately grown into Faſhion among the Verſifiers, Epigrammatiſts, and other Authors, who think it ſufficient to diſtinguiſh themſelves by their Zeal for what they call the High-Church, while they ſport with the moſt tremendous Parts of Revealed Religion. Every one has ſeen Epigrams upon the deceaſed Fathers of our Church, where the whole Thought has turned upon Hell-Fire. Patriots, who ought to be remember'd with Honour by their Poſterity, have been introduced as Speakers in a State of Torments. There is ſomething dreadful even in repeating theſe execrable Pieces of Wit, which no Man who really believes in another Life, can peruſe without Fear and Trembling. It is aſtoniſhing to ſee Readers who call themſelves Chriſtians, applauding ſuch Diabolical Mirth, and ſeeming to rejoyce in the Doom which is pronounced againſt their Enemies, by ſuch abandoned Scriblers. A Wit of this Kind, may with great Truth be compared to the Fool in the Proverbs, who plays with Arrows, Fire-brands and Death, and ſays, am I not in Sport?

I muſt, in Juſtice to the more ſober and conſiderate of that Party, confeſs, that many of them were highly ſcandalized at that Perſonal Slander and Reflection which was flung out ſo freely by the Libellers of the laſt Reign, as well as by thoſe profane Liberties which have been ſince continued. And as for thoſe who are either the Authors or Admirers of ſuch Compoſitions, I would have them conſider with themſelves, whether the Name of a good Churchman can attone for the want of that Charity which is the moſt eſſential Part of Chriſtianity. They would likewiſe do well to reflect, how, by theſe Methods, the Poiſon has run freely into the Minds of the Weak and Ignorant; heightned their Rage againſt many of their Fellow-Subjects; and almoſt diveſted them of the common Sentiments of Humanity.

In the former Part of this Paper, I have hinted that the Deſign of it is to oppoſe the Principles of thoſe who are Enemies to the preſent Government, and the main Body of that Party who eſpouſe thoſe Principles. But even in ſuch general Attacks there are certain Meaſures to be kept, which may have a Tendency rather to gain, than to irritate thoſe who differ with you in their Sentiments. The Examiner would not allow ſuch as were of a contrary Opinion to him, to be either Chriſtians or Fellow-Subjects. With him they were all Atheiſts, Deiſts, or Apoſtates, and a ſeparate Common-Wealth among themſelves, that ought either to be extirpated, or, when he was in a better Humour, only to be baniſhed out of their Native Countrey. They were often put in mind of ſome approaching Execution, and therefore all of them adviſed to prepare themſelves for it, as Men who had then nothing to take care of, but how to die decently. In ſhort, the Examiner ſeemed to make no diſtinction between Conqueſt and Deſtruction.

The Conduct of this Work has hitherto been regulated by different Views, and ſhall continue to be ſo; unleſs the Party it has to deal with, draw upon themſelves another kind of Treatment. For if they ſhall perſiſt in pointing their Batteries againſt particular Perſons, there are no Laws of War, that forbid the making of Repriſals. In the mean time, this Undertaking ſhall be managed with that generous Spirit which was ſo remarkable among the Romans, who did not ſubdue a Countrey in order to put the Inhabitants to Fire and Sword, but to incorporate them into their own Community, and make them happy in the ſame Government with themſelves.

FOR the Honour of His Majeſty, and the Safety of His Government, we cannot but obſerve, that thoſe who have appeared the greateſt Enemies to both, are of that Rank of Men, who are commonly diſtinguiſhed by the Title of Fox-hunters. As ſeveral of theſe have had no Part of their Education in Cities, Camps, or Courts, it is doubtful whether they are of greater Ornament or Uſe to the Nation in which they live. It would be an everlaſting Reproach to Politicks, ſhould ſuch Men be able to overturn an Eſtabliſhment which has been formed by the wiſeſt Laws, and is ſupported by the ableſt Heads. The wrong Notions and Prejudices which cleave to many of theſe Countrey-Gentlemen, who have always 〈◊〉 out of the way of being better informed, are not eaſy to be conceived by a Perſon who has never converſed with them.

That I may give my Readers an Image of theſe Rural Stateſmen, I ſhall without farther Preface, ſet down an Account of a Diſcourſe I chanced to have with one of them ſome Time ago. I was Travelling towards one of the remote Parts of England, when about Three a-Clock in the Afternoon, ſeeing a Countrey-Gentleman trotting before me with a Spaniel by his Horſe's Side, I made up to him. Our Converſation opened, as uſual, upon the Weather; in which we were very unanimous; having both agreed that it was too dry for the Seaſon of the Year. My Fellow-Traveller, upon this, obſerved to me, that there had been no good Weather ſince the Revolution I was a little ſtartled at ſo extraordinary a Remark, but would not interrupt him till he proceeded to tell me of the fine Weather they uſed to have in King Charles the Second's Reign. I only anſwered that I did not ſee how the Badneſs of the Weather could be the King's Fault; and, without waiting for his Reply, asked him whoſe Houſe it was we ſaw upon a Riſing-Ground at a little Diſtance from us. He told me it belonged to an old Fanatical Cur, Mr. Such a one, You muſt have heard of him, ſays he, He's one of the Rump. I knew the Gentleman's Character upon hearing his Name, but aſſured him that to my Knowledge he was a good Churchman: Ay! ſays he with a kind of Surprize, We were told in the Countrey, that he ſpoke twice in the Queen's Time againſt taking of the Duties upon French Claret. This naturall • led us into the Proceedings of late Parliaments▪ upon which Occaſion he affirmed roundly, tha • there had not been one good Law paſſed ſinc • King William's Acceſſion to the Throne, excep • the Act for preſerving the Game. I had a mind to ſee him out, and therefore did not care for contradicting him. Is it not hard, ſays he, that honeſt Gentlemen ſhould be taken into Cuſtody of Meſſengers to prevent them from acting according to their Conſciences? But, ſays he, what can we expect when a Parcel of Factious Sons of Whores—He was going on in great Paſſion, but chanced to miſs his Dog, who was amuſing himſelf about a Buſh, that grew at ſome Diſtance behind us. We ſtood ſtill till he had whiſtled him up; when he fell into a long Panegyrick upon his Spaniel, who ſeem'd indeed excellent in his Kind: But I found the moſt remarkable Adventure of his Life was, that he had once like to have worried a Diſſenting-Teacher. The Maſter could hardly ſit on his Horſe for laughing all the while he was giving me the Particulars of this Story, which I found had mightily endeared his Dog to him, and as he himſelf told me, had made him a great Favourite among all the honeſt Gentlemen of the Countrey. We were at length diverted from this Piece of Mirth by a Poſt-Boy, who winding his Horn at us, my Companion gave him two or three Curſes, and left the Way clear for him. I fancy, ſaid I, that Poſt brings News from Scotland. I ſhall long to ſee the next Gazette. Sir, ſays he, I make it a Rule never to believe any of your printed News. We never ſee, Sir, how Things go, except now and then in Dyer's Letter, and I read that more for the Style than the News. The Man has a 〈◊〉 Pen it muſt be own'd. But is it not 〈◊〉 that we ſhould be making War upon Church 〈◊〉 England Men, with Dutch and Swiſs Soldiers, Men of Antimonarchical Principles? Theſe Foreigners will never be loved in England, Sir; they have not that Wit and Good-Breeding that we have. I muſt confeſs I did not expect to hear my new Acquaintance value himſelf upon theſe Qualifications, but finding him ſuch a Critick upon Foreigners, I ask'd him if he had ever Travelled; He told me, he did not know what Travelling was good for, but to teach a Man to ride the Great Horſe, to jabber French, and to talk againſt Paſſive-Obedience: To which he added, that he ſcarce ever knew a Traveller in his Life who had not forſook his Principles, and loſt his Hunting-Seat. For my Part, ſays he, I and my Father before me have always been for Paſſive-Obedience, and ſhall be always for oppoſing a Prince who makes uſe of Miniſters that are of another Opinion. But where do you intend to Inn to Night? (for we were now come in Sight of the next Town) I can help you to a very good Landlord if you will go along with me. He's a luſty jolly Fellow, that lives well, at leaſt three Yards in the Girt, and the beſt Church of England Man upon the Road. I had a Curioſity to ſee this High-Church Inn-keeper, as well as to enjoy more of the Converſation of my Fellow-Traveller, and therefore readily conſented to ſet our Horſes together for that Night. As we rode Side by Side through the Town, I was let into the Characters of all the principal Inhabitants whom we met in our Way. One was a Dog, another a Whelp, another a Cut, and another the Soa of a Bitch, under which ſeveral Denominations were comprehended all that Voted on the Whi Side in the laſt Election of Burgeſſes. As for thoſe of his own Party, he diſtinguiſhed then by a Nod of his Head, and asking them how they did by their Chriſtian Names. Upon on Arrival at the Inn, my Companion fetch' out the jolly Landlord, who knew him by his Whiſtle. Many Endearments, and private Whiſpers paſſed between them; tho' it was eaſy to ſee, by the Landlord's ſcratching his Head, that Things did not go to their Wiſhes. The Landlord had ſwell'd his Body to a prodigious Size, and work'd up his Complexion to a ſtanding Crimſon by his Zeal for the Proſperity of the Church, which he expreſſed every Hour of the Day, as his Cuſtomers dropt in, by repeated Bumpers. He had not time to go to Church himſelf, but as my Friend told me in my Ear, had headed a Mob at the pulling down of two or three Meeting-houſes. While Supper was preparing, he enlarged upon the Happineſs of the neighbouring Shire; For, ſays he, there is ſcarce a Preshyterian in the whole County, except the Biſhop. In ſhort, I found by his Diſcourſe that he had learned a great deal of Politicks, but not one Word of Religion, from the Parſon of his Pariſh; and, indeed, that he had ſcarce any other Notion of Religion, but that it conſiſted in Hating Presbyterians. I had a remarkable Inſtance of his Notions in this Particular. Upon ſeeing a poor decrepid Old Woman paſs under the Window where we fate, he deſired me to take Notice of her; and afterwards informed me, that ſhe was generally reputed a Witch by the Countrey People, but that, for his Part, he was apt to believe ſhe was a Presbyterian.

Supper was no ſooner ſerved in, than he took occaſion, from a Shoulder of Mutton that lay before us, to cry up the Plenty of England, which would be the happieſt Countrey in the World, provided we would live within our ſelves. Upon which, he expatiated on the Inconveniencies of Trade, that carried from us the Commodities of our Countrey, and made a Parcel of Upſtarts as rich as Men of the moſt ancient Families of England. He then declared frankly, that he had always been againſt all Treaties and Alliances with Foreigners; Our Wooden Walls, ſays he, are our Security, and we may bid Defiance to the whole World, eſpecially if they ſhould attack us when the Militia is out. I ventured to reply, that I had as great an Opinion of the Engliſh Fleet as he had; but I could not ſee how they could be pay'd and mann'd, and fitted out, unleſs we encouraged Trade and Navigation. He replied, with ſome Vehemence, That he would undertake to prove, Trade would be the Ruine of the Engliſh Nation. I would fain have put him upon it; but he contented himſelf with affirming it more eagerly, to which he added two or three Curſes upon the London Merchants, not forgetting the Directors of the Bank. After Supper he asked me if I was an Admirer of Punch; and immediately called for a Sneaker. I took this Occaſion to inſinuate the Advantages of Trade, by obſerving to him, that Water was the only Native of England that could be made uſe of on this Occaſion: But that the Lemons, the Brandy, the Sugar, and the Nutmeg, were all Foreigners. This put him into ſome Confuſion; but the Landlord, who overheard me, brought him off, by affirming, That for conſtant uſe, there was no Liquor like a Cup of Engliſh Water, provided it had Malt enough in it. My Squire laughed heartily at the Conceit, and made the Landlord ſit down with us. We ſate pretty late over our Punch; and, amidſt a great deal of improving Diſcourſe, drank the Healths of ſeveral Perſons in the Countrey, whom I had never heard of, that, they both aſſur'd me, were the ableſt Stateſmen in the Nation: And of ſome Londoners, whom they extoll'd to the Skies for their Wit, and who, I knew, paſſed in Town for ſilly Fellows. It being now Midnight, and my Friend perceiving by his Almanack that the Moon was up, he called for his Horſes, and took a ſudden Reſolution to go to his Houſe, which was at three Miles diſtance from the Town, after having bethought himſelf that he never ſlept well out of his own Bed. He ſhook me very heartily by the Hand at parting, and diſcover'd a great Air of Satisfaction in his Looks, that he had met with an Opportunity of ſhewing his Parts, and left me a much wiſer Man than he found me.

IN the Wars of Europe which were waged among our Forefathers, it was uſual for the Enemy, when there was a King in the Field, to demand by a Trumpet in what Part of the Camp he reſided, that they might avoid firing upon the Royal Pavillion. Our Party-Conteſts in England were hertofore managed with the ſame kind of Decency and Good-Breeding. The Perſon of the Prince was always looked upon as Sacred; and whatever ſevere Uſage his Friends or Miniſters met with, none preſumed to direct their Hoſtilities at their Soveraign. The Enemies of our preſent Settlement are of ſuch a coarſe kind of Make, and ſo equally void of Loyalty and Good Manners, that they are grown Scurrilous upon the Royal Family, and treat the moſt exalted Characters with the moſt opprobrious Language.

This Petulance in Converſation is particularly obſerved to prevail among ſome of that Sex where it appears the moſt unbecoming and the moſt unnatural. Many of theſe act with the greater Licentiouſneſs, becauſe they know they can act with the greater Impunity. This Confideration, indeed, engages the moſt generous and well-bred even of our She Malecontents, to make no ill Uſe of the Indulgence of our Law-givers; and to diſcover in their Debates at leaſt the Delicacy of the Woman, if not the Duty of the Subject. But it is generally remarked, that every one of them who is a Shrew in domeſtick Life, is now become a Scold in Politicks. And as for thoſe of the Party, who are of a ſuperior Rank and unblemiſhed Virtue, it muſt be a melancholy Reflexion for them to conſider that all the Common Women of the Town are of their Side; for which Reaſon they ought to preſerve a more than ordinary Modeſty in their Satyrical Excurſions, that their Characters may not be liable to Suſpicion.

If there is not ſome Method found out for allaying theſe Heats and Animoſities among the Fair Sex, one does not know to what Outrages they may proceed. I remember a Heroe in Scarron, who finding himſelf oppoſed by a mix'd Multitude of both Sexes with a great deal of virulent Language, after having brought them to a Submiſſion, gave Order (to keep them from doing farther Miſchief) that the Men ſhould be diſarmed of their Clubs, and that the Women ſhould have their Nails pared. We are not yet reduced to the Neceſſity of applying ſuch violent Remedies; but as we daily receive Accounts of Ladies batteling it on both Sides, and that thoſe who appear againſt the Conſtitution make War upon their Antagoniſts by many unfair Practices and unwarrantable Methods, I think it is very convenient there ſhould be a Cartel ſettled between them. If they have not yet agreed upon any thing of this Nature among themſelves, I would propoſe to them the following Plan, in which I have sketched out ſeveral Rules ſuited to the politeſt Sex in one of the moſt civilized Nations.

THAT in every Political Rencounter between Woman and Woman, no Weapon ſhall be made uſe of but the Tongue.

That in the Courſe of the Engagement, if either of the Combatants, finding herſelf hard preſt by her Adverſary, ſhall proceed to perſonal Reflexions or Diſcovery of Secrets, they ſhall be parted by the Standers by.

That when both Sides are drawn up in a full Aſſembly, it ſhall not be lawful for above Five of them to talk at the ſame Time.

That if any ſhall detract from a Lady's Character, (unleſs ſhe be abſent) the ſaid Detractneſs ſhall be forth with ordered to the loweſt place of the Room.

That none preſume to ſpeak diſreſpectfully of His Majeſty, or any of the Royal Family, on Pain of three Hours Silence.

That none be permitted to talk ſpightfully of the Court, unleſs they can produce Vouchers that they have been there.

That the making uſe of News which goes about in Whiſper, unleſs the Author be produced, or the Fact well atteſted, ſhall be deemed Fighting with white Powder, and contrary to the Laws of War.

That any one who produces Libels or Lampoons, ſhall be regarded in the ſame manner as one who ſhoots with poiſoned Bullets.

That when a Lady is throughly convinced of the Falſhood of any Story ſhe has related, ſhe ſhall give her Parole not to tell it for a certain Truth that Winter.

That when any Matter of Doubt ariſes, which cannot otherwiſe be decided, Appeal ſhall be made to a Toaſt, if there be any ſuch in the Company.

That no Coquette, notwithſtanding ſhe can do it with a good Air, ſhall be allowed to Sigh for the Danger of the Church, or to ſhiver at the Apprehenſions of Fanaticiſm.

That when a Woman has talked an Hour and a half, it ſhall be lawful to call her down to Order.

As this Civil Diſcord among the Siſterhood of Great Britain is likely to engage them in a long and lingring War, conſiſting altogether of Drawn Battels, it is the more neceſſary that there ſhould be a Cartel ſettled among them. Beſides, as our Engliſh Ladies are at preſent the greateſt Stateſwomen in Europe, they will be in danger of making themſelves the moſt unamiable Part of their Sex, if they continue to give a Looſe to intemperate Language, and to a low kind of Ribaldry, which is not uſed among the Women of Faſhion in any other Countrey.

Diſcretion and good Nature have been always looked upon as the diſtinguiſhing Ornaments of Female Converſation. The Woman, whoſe Price is above Rubies, has no Particular in the Character given of her by the Wiſe Man, more endearing, than that ſhe openeth her Mouth with Wiſdom, and in her Tongne is the Law of Kindneſs. Beſides, every fierce She-Zealot ſhould conſider, that however any of the other Sex may ſeem to applaud her as a Partiſan, there is none of them who would not be afraid of aſſociating himſelf with her in any of the more private Relations of Life.

I ſhall only add, that there is no Talent ſo pernicious as Eloquence, to thoſe who have it not under Command: For which Reaſon, Women who are ſo liberally gifted by Nature in this Particular, ought to ſtudy with the greateſt Application, the Rules of Female Oratory, delivered in that excellent Treatiſe, entitul'd The Government of the Tongue. Had that Author foreſeen the Political Ferment which is now raiſed among the Sex, he would probably have made his Book larger by ſome Chapters than it is at preſent: But what is wanting in that Work, may, I hope, in ſome Meaſure, be ſupplyed by the above-written Cartel.

A Phyſician makes Uſe of various Methods for the Recovery of ſick Perſons; and tho' ſome of them are painful, and all of them diſagreeable, his Patients are never angry at him, becauſe they know he has nothing in View beſides the reſtoring of them to a good State of Health. I am forced to treat the diſaffected Part of His Majeſty's Subjects in the ſame Manner, and may therefore reaſonably expect the ſame Returns of Good-Will. I propoſe nothing to my ſelf but their Happineſs as the End of all my Endeavours; and am forced to adapt different Remedies to thoſe different Conſtitutions, which are to be found in ſuch a diſtemper'd Multitude. Some of them can ſee the unreaſonable, and ſome of them the ridiculous Side of wrong Principles, and, according to the different Frame of their Minds, reject an Opinion as it carries in it either the Appearance of Wickedneſs, or of Danger, or of Folly.

I have endeavoured to expoſe in theſe ſeveral Lights the Notions and Practices of thoſe who are the Enemies to our preſent Eſtabliſhment. But there is a Set of Arguments, which I have not yet touched upon, and which often ſucceed, when all others fail. There are many who will not quit a Project, tho' they find it pernicious, or abſurd: But will readily deſiſt from it, when they are convinced it is impracticable. An Attempt to ſubvert the preſent Government is, God be thanked, of this Nature. I ſhall therefore apply the Conſiderations of this Paper rather to the Diſcretion than the Virtue of our Malecontents, who ſhould act in the preſent Juncture of Affairs like experienced Gameſters, that throw up their Cards when they know the Game is in the Enemy's Hand, without giving themſelves any unneceſſary Vexation in playing it out.

In the Reign of our two laſt Britiſh Soveraigns, thoſe who did not favour their Intereſt might be ungenerous enough to act upon the Proſpect of a Change, conſidering the precarious Condition of their Health, and their Want of Iſſue to ſucceed them. But at preſent we enjoy a King of a long-lived Family, who is in the Vigour of his Age, and bleſt with a numerous Progeny. To this we may add his remarkable Steadineſs in adhering to thoſe Schemes which he has formed upon the matureſt Deliberation, and that ſubmiſſive Deference of his Royal Highneſs both from Duty and Inclination to all the Meaſures of his Royal Father. Nor muſt we omit that perſonal Valour ſo peculiar to His Majeſty and his Illuſtrious Houſe, which would be ſufficient to vanquiſh, as we find it actually deters, both his foreign and domeſtick Enemies.

This Great Prince is ſupported by the whole Proteſtant Intereſt of Europe, and ſtrengthened with a long Range of Alliances that reach from one End of the Continent to the other. He has a great and powerful King for his Son-in-Law; and can Himſelf command when he pleaſes the whole Strength of an Electorate in the Empire. Such a Combination of Soveraigns puts one in Mind of the Apparition of Gods which diſcouraged Aeneas from oppoſing the Will of Heaven. When his Eyes were cleared of that mortal Cloud which hung upon them, he ſaw the ſeveral Celeſtial Deities acting in a Confederacy againſt him, and immediately gave up a Cauſe which was excluded from all Poſſibility of Succeſs.

But it is the greateſt Happineſs, as well as the greateſt Pleaſure of our Soveraign, that his chief Strength lies in his own Kingdoms. Both the Branches of our Legiſlature eſpouſe his Cauſe and Intereſt with a becoming Duty and Zeal. The moſt conſiderable and wealthy of his Subjects are convinced, that the Proſperity of our Soveraign and his People are inſeparable: And we are very well ſatisfied, that his Majeſty, if the Neceſſity of Affairs ſhould require it, might find, among the moſt dutiful of his Subjects, Men celebrated for their military Characters, above any of the Age in which they live. There is no Queſtion but his Majeſty will be as generally valued and beloved in his Britiſh as he is in his German Dominions, when he ſhall have Time to make his Royal Virtues equally known among us. In the mean while we have the Satisfaction to find, that his Enemies have been only able to make ill Impreſſions upon the low and ignorant Rabble of the Nation; and to put the Dregs of the People into a Ferment.

We have already ſeen how poor and contemptible a Force has been raiſed by thoſe who have dared to appear openly againſt his Majeſty, and how they were headed and encouraged by Men whoſe Senſe of their Guilt made them deſperate in forming ſo raſh an Enterprize, and diſpirited in the Execution of it. But we have not yet ſeen that Strength which would be exerted in the Defence of His Majeſty, the Proteſtant Religion, and the Britiſh Liberties, were the Danger great enough to require it. Should the King be reduced to the Neceſſity of ſetting up the Royal Standard, how many Thouſands would range themſelves under it! What a Concourſe would there be of Nobles and Patriots! We ſhould ſee Men of another Spirit than what has appeared among the Enemies to our Countrey, and ſuch as would out-ſhine the rebellious Part of their Fellow-Subjects as much in their Gallantry as in their Cauſe.

I ſhall not ſo much ſuſpect the Underſtandings of our Adverſaries, as to think it neceſſary to enforce theſe Conſiderations, by putting them in Mind of that Fidelity and Allegiance which is ſo viſible in His Majeſty's Fleet and Army, or of many other Particulars which, in all humane Probability, will perpetuate our preſent Form of Government, and which may be ſuggeſted to them by their own private Thoughts.

The Party, indeed, that is oppoſite to our preſent happy Settlement, ſeem to be driven out of the Hopes of all human Methods for carrying on their Cauſe, and are therefore reduced to the poor Comfort of Prodigies and old Women's Fables. They begin to ſee Armies in the Clouds, when all upon the Earth have forſaken them. Nay, I have been lately ſhewn a written Prophecy that is handed among them with great Secreſy, by which it appears their chief Reliance at preſent is upon a Cheſhire Miller that was born with two Thumbs upon one hand.

I have addreſſed this whole Paper to the Deſpair of our Malecontents, not with a Deſign to aggravate the Pain of it, but to uſe it as a Means of making them happy. Let them ſeriouſly conſider the Vexation and Diſquietude of Mind that they are treaſuring up for themſelves, by ſtruggling with a Power which will be always too hard for them; and by converting His Majeſty's Reign into their own Miſfortune, which every impartial Man muſt look upon as the greateſt Bleſſing to his Countrey. Let them extinguiſh thoſe Paſſions, which can only imbitter their Lives to them, and deprive them of their Share in the Happineſs of the Community. They may conclude that His Majeſty, in Spite of any Oppoſition they can form againſt him, will maintain his juſt Authority over them; and whatever Uneaſineſs they may give themſelves, they can create none in him, excepting only becauſe they prevent him from exerting equally his natural Goodneſs and Benevolence to every Subject in his Dominions.

IF we may believe the Obſervation which is made of us by Foreigners, there is no Nation in Europe ſo much given to Change as the Engliſh. There are ſome who aſcribe this to the Fickleneſs of our Climate; and Others to the Freedom of our Government. From one or both of theſe Cauſes their Writers derive that Variety of Humours which appears among the People in general, and that Inconſiſtency of Character which is to be found in almoſt every particular Perſon. But as a Man ſhould always be upon his Guard againſt the Vices to which he is moſt expoſed, ſo we ſhould take a more than ordinary Care not to lie at the Mercy of the Weather in our moral Conduct, nor to make a capricious Uſe of that Liberty which we enjoy by the Happineſs of our Civil Conſtitution.

This Inſtability of Temper ought in a particular Manner to be check'd, when it ſhews itſelf in Political Affairs, and diſpoſes Men to wander from one Scheme of Government to another: Since ſuch a Fickleneſs of Behaviour in publick Meaſures, cannot but be attended with very fatal Effects to our Countrey.

In the firſt Place; It hinders any great Undertaking, which requires Length of Time for its Accompliſhment, from being brought to its due Perfection. There is not any Inſtance in Hiſtory which better confirms this Obſervation, than that which is ſtill freſh in every one's Memory. We engaged in the late War with a Deſign to reduce an exorbitant Growth of Power in the moſt Dangerous Enemy to Great-Britain. We gained a long and wonderful Series of Victories, and had ſcarce any Thing left to do; but to reap the Fruits of them: When on a ſudden our Patience failed us; we grew tired of our Undertaking; and received Terms from thoſe, who were upon the Point of giving us whatever we could have demanded of them.

This Mutability of Mind in the Engliſh, makes the ancient Friends of our Nation very backward to engage with us in ſuch Alliances as are neceſſary for our mutual Defence and Security. It is a common Notion among Foreigners, that the Engliſh are good Confederates in an Enterprize which may be diſpatched within a ſhort Compaſs of Time; but that they are not to be depended upon in a Work which cannot be finiſhed without Conſtancy and Perſeverance. Our late Meaſures have ſo blemiſhed the National Credit in this Particular, that thoſe Potentates who are entered into Treaties with His preſent Majeſty, have been ſolely encouraged to it by their Confidence in His perſonal Firmneſs and Integrity.

I need not, after this, ſuggeſt to my Reader the Ignominy and Reproach that falls upon a Nation, which diſtinguiſhes it ſelf among its Neighbours by ſuch a wavering and unſettled Conduct.

This our Inconſiſtency in the Purſuit of Schemes which have been thoroughly digeſted, has as bad an Influence on our Domeſtick as on our Foreign Affairs. We are told, that the Famous Prince of Conde uſed to ask the Engliſh Embaſſador, upon the Arrival of a Mail, Who was Secretary of State in England by that Poſt? as a Piece of Raillery upon the Fickleneſs of our Politicks. But what has render'd this a Misfortune to our Countrey, is, that Publick Miniſters have no ſooner made themſelves Maſters of their Buſineſs, than they have been diſmiſſed from their Employments; and that this Diſgrace has befallen very many of them, not becauſe they have deſerved it, but becauſe the People love to ſee new Faces in High Poſts of Honour.

It is a double Misfortune to a Nation, which is thus given to Change, when they have a Soveraign at the Head of them, that is prone to fall in with all the Turns and Veerings of the People. Salluſt, the Graveſt of all the Roman Hiſtorians, who had form'd his Notions of Regal Authority from the Manner in which he ſaw it exerted among the Barbarous Nations, makes the following Remark: Plerumque Regiae Voluntates, uti vehementes, ſic mobiles, ſaepe ipſae ſibi advorſae. The Wills of Kings, as they are generally vehement, are likewiſe very fickle, and at different Times oppoſite to themſelves. Were there any Colour for this general Obſervation, how much does it redound to the Honour of ſuch Princes who are Exceptions to it▪

The natural Conſequence of an unſteady Government, is the perpetuating of Strife and Faction among a divided People. Whereas a King who perſiſts in thoſe Schemes which He has laid, and has no other View in them but the Good of His Subjects, extinguiſhes all Hopes of Advancement in thoſe who would grow Great by an Oppoſition to His Meaſures, and inſenſibly unites the Contending Parties in their Common Intereſt.

Queen Elizabeth, who makes the greateſt Figure among our Engliſh Soveraigns, was moſt eminently remarkable for that Steadineſs and Uniformity which ran through all Her Actions, during that long and Glorious Reign. She kept up to Her choſen Motto in every Part of Her Life; and never loſt Sight of thoſe Great Ends, which She propoſed to Herſelf on Her Acceſſion to the Throne, the Happineſs of Her People, and the ſtrengthening of the Proteſtant Intereſt. She often interpoſed Her Royal Authority to break the Cabals which were forming againſt her Firſt Miniſters, who grew old and died in thoſe Stations which they filled with ſo great Abilities. By this Means ſhe baffled the many Attempts of her foreign and domeſtick Enemies, and entirely broke the whole Force and Spirit of that Party among her Subjects, which was popiſhly affected, and which wasnot a little Formidable in the Beginning of her Reign.

The frequent Changes and Alterations in publick Proceedings, the Multiplicity of Schemes introduced one upon another, with the Variety of ſhort-lived Favourites, that prevailed in their ſeveral Turns under the Government of Her Succeſſors, have by Degrees broken us into thoſe unhappy Diſtinctions and Parties, which have given ſo much Uneaſineſs to our Kings, and ſo often endangered the Safety of their People.

I queſtion not but every Impartial Reader hath been before-hand with me, in conſidering on this Occaſion, the Happineſs of our Countrey under the Government of his preſent Majeſty; who is ſo deſervedly Famous for an inflexible Adherence to thoſe Counſels which have a viſible Tendency to the publick Good, and to thoſe Perſons who heartily concur with Him in promoting theſe His generous Deſigns.

A Prince of this Character will be dreaded by his Enemies, and ſerved with Courage and Zeal by his Friends; and will either inſtruct us by his Example, to fix the Unſteadineſs of our Politicks, or by his Conduct, hinder it from doing us any Prejudice.

Upon the Whole, as there is no Temper of Mind more unmanly in a private Perſon, nor more pernicious to the Publick in a Member of a Community, than that Changeableneſs with which we are too juſtly branded by all our Neighbours, it is to be hoped that the ſound Part of the Nation will give no farther Occaſion for this Reproach, but continue ſteady to that happy Eſtabliſhment which has now taken place among us. And as Obſtinacy in Prejudices which are detrimental to our Countrey, ought not to be miſtaken for that virtuous Reſolution and Firmneſs of Mind which is neceſſary to our Preſervation, it is to be wiſhed that the Enemies to our Conſtitution, would ſo far indulge themſelves in this National Humour, as to come into one Change more, by falling in with that Plan of Government which at preſent they think fit to oppoſe. At leaſt we may expect they will be ſo wiſe as to ſhew a Legal Obedience to the beſt of Kings, who profeſs the Duty of Paſſive Obedience to the Worſt.

WHen the Athenians had long contended againſt the Power of Philip, he demanded of them to give up their Orators, as well knowing their Oppoſition would be ſoon at an end if it were not irritated from Time to Time by theſe Tongue-Warriors. I have endeavoured for the ſame Reaſon to gain our Female Adverſaries, and by that Means to diſarm the Party of its principal Strength. Let them give us up their Women, and we know by Experience how inconſiderable a Reſiſtance we are to expect from their Men.

This ſharp political Humour has but lately prevailed in ſo great a Meaſure as it now does among the beautiful Part of our Species. They uſed to employ themſelves wholly in the Scenes of a domeſtick Life, and provided a Woman could keep her Houſe in Order, ſhe never troubled herſelf about regulating the Commonwealth. The Eye of the Miſtreſs was wont to make her Pewter ſhine, and to inſpect every Part of her Houſhold Furniture as much as her Looking Glaſs. But at preſent our diſcontented Matrons are ſo converſant in Matters of State, that they wholly neglect their private Affairs: for we may always obſerve that a Goſſip in Politicks, is a Slattern in her Family.

It is indeed a melancholy Thing to ſee the Diſorders of a Houſhold that is under the Conduct of an angry Stateſwoman, who lays out all her Thoughts upon the Publick, and is only attentive to find out Miſcarriages in the Miniſtry. Several Women of this Turn are ſo earneſt in contending for Hereditary Right, that they wholly neglect the Education of their own Sons and Heirs; and are ſo taken up with their Zeal for the Church, that they cannot find Time to teach their Children their Catechiſm. A Lady who thus intrudes into the Province of the Men, was ſo aſtoniſhing a Character among the old Romans, that when Amaeſia preſented herſelf to ſpeak before the Senate, they looked upon it as a Prodigy, and ſent Meſſengers to inquire of the Oracle, what it might portend to the Commonwealth?

It would be manifeſtly to the Diſadvantage of the Britiſh Cauſe, ſhould our pretty Loyaliſts profeſs an Indifference in State-Affairs, while their diſaffected Siſters are thus induſtrious to the Prejudice of their Countrey; and accordingly we have the Satisfaction to find our She-Aſſociates are not idle upon this Occaſion. It is owing to the good Principles of theſe His Majeſty's fair and faithful Subjects, that our Countrey-Women appear no leſs amiable in the Eyes of the Male-World, than they have done in former Ages. For where a great Number of Flowers grow, the Ground at a Diſtance ſeems entirely cover'd with them, and we muſt walk into it, before we can diſtinguiſh the ſeveral Weeds that ſpring up in ſuch a beautiful Maſs of Colours. Our great Concern is, to find that Deformity can ariſe among ſo many Charms, and that the moſt lovely Parts of the Creation can make themſelves the moſt diſagreeable. But it is an Obſervation of the Philoſophers, that the beſt Things may be corrupted into the worſt; and the Ancients did not ſcruple to affirm, that the Furies and the Graces were of the ſame Sex.

As I ſhould do the Nation and themſelves good Service, if I could draw the Ladies, who ſtill hold out againſt His Majeſty, into the Intereſt of our preſent Eſtabliſhment, I ſhall propoſe to their ſerious Conſideration, the ſeveral Inconveniencies which thoſe among them undergo, who have not yet ſurrender'd to the Government.

They ſhould firſt reflect on the great Sufferings and Perſecutions to which they expoſe themſelves by the Obſtinacy of their Behaviour. They loſe their Elections in every Club where they are ſet up for Toaſts. They are obliged by their Principles to ſtick a Patch on the moſt unbecoming Side of their Fore-heads. They forego the Advantage of Birth-Day Suits. They are inſulted by the Loyalty of Claps and Hiſſes every Time they appear at a Play. They receive no Benefit from the Army, and are never the better for all the young Fellows that wear Hats and Feathers. They are forced to live in the Countrey and feed their Chicken; at the ſame Time that they might ſhew themſelves at Court, and appear in Brocade, if they behaved themſelves well. In ſhort, what muſt go to the Heart of every fine Woman, they throw themſelves quite out of the Faſhion.

The above-mention'd Motive muſt have an Influence upon the gay Part of the Sex; and as for thoſe who are acted by more ſublime and moral Principles, they ſhould conſider, that they cannot ſignalize themſelves as Malecontents, without breaking through all the amiable Inſtincts and ſofter Virtues, which are peculiarly Ornamental to Womankind. Their timorous, gentle, modeſt Behaviour; their Affability, Meekneſs, Good-Breeding, and many other beautiful Diſpoſitions of Mind muſt be ſacrificed to a blind and furious Zeal for they do not know what. A Man is ſtartled when he ſees a pretty Boſom heaving with ſuch Party-Rage, as is diſagreeable even in that Sex which is of a more coarſe and rugged Make. And yet ſuch is our Misfortune, that we ſometimes ſee a Pair of Stays ready to burſt with Sedition; and hear the moſt maſculine Paſſions expreſt in the ſweeteſt Voices. I have lately been told of a Countrey-Gentlewoman, pretty much famed for this Virility of Behaviour in Party-Diſputes. who, upon venting her Notions very freely in a ſtrange Place, was carry'd before an honeſt Juſtice of Peace. This prudent Magiſtrate obſerving her to be a large black Woman, and finding by her Diſcourſe that ſhe was no better than a Rebel in a Riding-Hood, began to ſuſpect her for my Lord Nithiſdale; till a Stranger came to her Reſcue, who aſſur'd him, with Tears in his Eyes, that he was her Husband.

In the next Place our Britiſh Ladies may conſider, that by intereſting themſelves ſo zealouſly in the Affairs of the Publick, they are engaged, without any neceſſity, in the Crimes which are often committed even by the Beſt of Parties, and which they are naturally exempted from by the Privilege of their Sex. The worſt Character a Female could formerly arrive at, was of being an ill Woman; but by their preſent Conduct, ſhe may likewiſe deſerve the Character of an ill Subject. They come in for their Share of political Guilt, and have found a Way to make themſelves much greater Criminals, than their Mothers before them.

I have great Hopes that theſe Motives, when they are aſſiſted by their own Reflections, will incline the Fair Ones of the adverſe Party to come over to the National Intereſt, in which their own is ſo highly concern'd; eſpecially if they conſider, that by theſe ſuperfluous Employments which they take upon them as Partiſans, they do not only dip themſelves in an unneceſſary Guilt, but are obnoxious to a Grief and Anguiſh of Mind, which doth not properly fall within their Lot. And here I would adviſe every one of theſe exaſperated Ladies, who indulges that opprobrious Eloquence which is ſo much in faſhion, to reflect on Aeſop's Fable of the Viper. This little Animal, ſays the old Moraliſt, chancing to meet with a File, began to lick it with her Tongue till the Blood came; which gave her a very ſilly Satisfaction, as imagining the Blood came from the File, notwithſtanding an the Smart was in her own Tongue.

I Have purpoſely avoided, during the whole Courſe of this Paper, to ſpeak any thing concerning the Treatment which is due to ſuch Perſons as have been concerned in the late Rebellion, becauſe I would not ſeem to irritate Juſtice againſt thoſe who are under the Proſecution of the Law, nor incenſe any of my Readers againſt unhappy though guilty Men. But when we find the Proceedings of our Government in this Particular traduced and miſrepreſented, it is the Duty of every good Subject to ſet them in their proper Light.

I am the more prompted to this Undertaking by a Pamphlet entituled, An Argument to prove the Affections of the People of England to be the beſt Security of the Government; humbly offer'd to the Conſideration of the Patrons of Severity, and apply'd to the preſent Juncture of Affairs. Had the whole Scope of the Author been anſwerable to his Title, he would have only undertaken to prove what every Man in his Wits is already convinced of. But the Drift of the Pamphlet is to ſtir up our Compaſſion towards the Rebels, and our Indignation againſt the Government. The Author, who knew that ſuch a Deſign as this, could not be carried on without a great deal of Artifice and Sophiſtry, has puzzled and perplex'd his Cauſe, by throwing his Thoughts together in ſuch a ſtudy'd Confuſion, that upon this Account, if upon any, his Pamphlet is, as the Party have repreſented it, Unanſwerable.

The famous Monſieur Bayle compares the anſwering of an immethodical Author to the Hunting of a Duck: When you have him full in your Sight, and fancy your ſelf within reach 〈◊〉 , he gives you the Slip, and becomes in ••… ble. His Argument is loſt in ſuch a Varie •… of Matter, that you muſt catch it where you 〈◊〉 as it riſes and diſappears in the ſeveral 〈◊〉 of his Diſcourſe.

The Writer of this Pamphlet could, doubtleſs, have ranged his Thoughts in much bette • Order, if he had pleaſed: But he knew very well, that Error is not to be advanced by Perſpicuity. In order therefore to anſwer this Pamphlet, I muſt reduce the Subſtance of it under proper Heads; and diſembroil the Thoughts of the Author, ſince he did not think fit to do it himſelf.

In the firſt Place I ſhall obſerve, that the Terms which the Author makes uſe of are looſe, general, and undefined, as will be ſhewn in the Sequel of this Paper; and what leſs becomes a fair Reaſoner, he puts wrong and invidious Names on every thing to colour a falſe Way of Arguing. He allows that the Rebels indiſputably merit to be ſeverely Chaſtiſed; that they deſerve it according to Law; and that if they are puniſhed they have none to thank but themſelves, (p. 7.) How can a Man after ſuch a Conceſſion make uſe ſometimes of the Word Cruelty, but generally of Revenge, when he pleads againſt the Exerciſe of what, according to his own Notion, is at the moſt but rigid Juſtice! Or why are ſuch Executions, which, according to his own Opinion, are legal, ſo often to be called Violences and Slaughter? Not to mention the Appellations given to thoſe who do not agree with him in his Opinion for Clemency, as the Blood-thirſty, the Political Butchers, State Chirugeons, and the like.

But I ſhall now ſpeak of that Point, which is the great and reigning Fallacy of the Pamphlet, and runs more or leſs through every Paragraph. His whole Argument turns upon this ſingle Conſideration; Whether the King ſhould exert Mercy or Juſtice towards thoſe who have openly appeared in the preſent Rebellion? By Mercy he means a general Pardon, by Juſtice a general Puniſhment: So that he ſuppoſes no other Method practicable in this Juncture, than either the Forgiving All, or the Executing All. Thus he puts the Queſtion, Whether it be the Intereſt of the Prince to deſtroy the Rebels by Fire, Sword, or Gibbet? (p. 4.) And, ſpeaking of the Zealots for the Government, he tells us, They think no Remedy ſo good, as to make clear Work; and that they declare for the utter Extirpation of All who are its Enemies in the moſt minute Circumſtance: As if Amputation were the ſole Remedy theſe political Butchers cou'd find out for the Diſtempers of a State; or that they thought the only Way to make the Top flouriſh, were to lop off the Under Branches. (p. 5.) He then ſpeaks of the Coffee-houſe Polititians, and the Caſuiſts in Red-Coats; Who, he tells us, are for the utmoſt Rigour that their Laws of War or Laws of Convenience can inſpire them with. (p. 5.) Again, It is repreſented, ſays he, that the Rebels deſerve the higheſt Puniſhment the Laws can inflict. (p. 7.) And afterwards tells us, The Queſtion is, Whether the Government ſhall ſhew Mercy, or take a Reverend Divine's Advice, to ſlay Man and Woman, Inſant and Suckling? (p. 8) Thus again he tells us, The Friends to ſevere Counſels alledge, that the Government ought not to be moved by compaſſion; and that the Law ſhould have its Courſe. (p. 9.) And in another Place puts theſe Words in their Mouths, He may ſtill retain their Affection, and yet let the Laws have their Courſe in puniſhing the Guilty. (p. 18.) He goes upon the ſame Suppoſition in the following Paſſages; It is impracticable in ſo general a Corruption, to deſtroy All who are infected; and unleſs you deſtroy All you do nothing to the purpoſe (p 10.) Shall our Rightful King ſhew himſelf leſs the true Father of his People, and afford his Pardon to None of thoſe People, who (like King Lear to his Daughters) had ſo great a Confidence in his Virtue as to give him All. (p. 25.) I ſhall only add, that the concluding Paragraph, which is worked up with ſo much artificial Horrour, goes upon a Suppoſition anſwerable to the whole Tenor of the Pamphlet; and implies, that the Impeach'd Lords were to be Executed without Exception or Diſcrimination.

Thus we ſee what is the Author's Idea of that Juſtice againſt which all his Arguments are levell'd. If, in the next Place, we conſider the Nature of that Clemency which he recommends, we find it to be no leſs univerſal and unreſtrain'd.

He declares for a General Act of Indemnity. (p. 20.) and tells us, It is the Senſe of every diſpaſſionate Man of the Kingdom, that the Rebels may, and ought to be Pardoned, (p. 19.) One popular Act, ſays he, wou'd even yet retrieve all, (p. 21.) He declares himſelf not over-fond of the Doctrines of making Examples of Traitors. (ibid.) And that the Way to prevent Things from being brought to an Extremity, is to deal mildly with thoſe unfortunate Gentlemen engaged in the Rebellion.

The Reader may now ſee in how fallacious a Manner this Writer has ſtated the Controverſy: He ſuppoſes there are but two Methods of treating the Rebels; that is, by cutting oft every one of them to a Man, or pardoning every one of them without Diſtinction. Now it there be a third Method between theſe two Extremes, which is on all Accounts more eligible than either of them, it is certain that the whole Courſe of his Argumentation comes to nothing Every Man of the plaineſt Underſtanding will eaſily conclude, that in the Caſe before us, as in moſt others, we ought to avoid both Extremes; that to deſtroy every Rebel would be an exceſſive Severity, and to forgive every one of them an unreaſonable Weakneſs. The proper Method of Proceeding, is that which the Author has purpoſely omitted: Namely, to temper Juſtice with Mercy; and, according to the different Circumſtances that aggravate or alleviate the Guilt of the Offenders, to reſtrain the Force of the Laws, or to let them take their proper Courſe. Puniſhments are neceſſary to ſhew there is Juſtice in a Government, and Pardons to ſhew there is Mercy; and both together convince the People, that our Conſtitution under a good Adminiſtration does not only make a Difference between the Guilty and the Innocent, but even among the Guilty between ſuch as are more or leſs criminal.

This middle Method which has been always practiſed by wiſe and good Governors, has hitherto been made uſe of by our Soveraign. If, indeed, a Stranger, and one who is altogether unacquainted with His Majeſty's Conduct, ſhould read this Pamphlet, he would conclude that every Perſon engaged in the Rebellion was to die by the Sword, the Halter, or the Axe; nay, that their Friends and Abettors were involved in the ſame Fate. Would it be poſſible for him to imagine, that of the ſeveral Thouſands openly taken in Arms, and liable to Death by the Laws of their Countrey, not above Forty have yet ſuffered? How would he be ſurpriz'd to hear, that, notwithſtanding His Majeſty's Troops have been Victorious in every Engagement, more of His Friends have loſt their Lives in this Rebellion, than of His traiterous Subjects; though we add to thoſe who have dy'd by the Hand of Juſtice thoſe of them who fell in Battel? And yet we find a more popular Compaſſion endeavoured to be raiſed for the Deaths of the Guilty, who have brought ſuch Calamities on their Countrey, than for the Innocent who periſhed in the Defence of it.

This middle Method of Proceeding, which has been purſued by His Majeſty, and is wilfully overlooked by the Author, beſt anſwers the Ends of Government; which is to maintain the Safety of the Publick by Rewards and Puniſhments. It is alſo incumbent on a Governor, according to the received Dictates of Religion: Which inſtructs us, That he beareth not the Sword in vain; but ought to be a Terror to Evil-doors, and a Praiſe to them that do Well. It is likewiſe in a particular manner the Duty of a Britiſh King, who obliges himſelf by his Coronation-Oath to execute Juſtice in Mercy, that is, to mix them in his Adminiſtration, and not to exerciſe either of them to the total Excluſion of the other.

But if we conſider the Arguments which this Author gives for Clemency, from the good Effects it would produce, we ſhall find, that they hold true only when apply'd to ſuch a Mercy as ſerves rather to mitigate than exclude Juſtice. The Excellence of that unlimited Clemency which the Author contends for, is recommended by the following Arguments.

Firſt, That it endears a Prince to his People. This he deſcants on in ſeveral Parts of his Book. Clemency will endear his Perſon to the Nation; and then they will neither have the Power nor Wi •• to diſturb him. (p. 8.) Was there ever a cruel Prince, that was not hated by his Subjects? (p. 24.) A mercifull good-natur'd Diſpoſition is of all others the moſt amiable Quality, and in Princes always attended with a popular Love, (p. 18.)

It is certain, that ſuch a popular Love will always riſe towards a Good Prince, who exerciſes ſuch a Mercy as I have before deſcribed, which is conſiſtent with the Safety of the Conſtitution, and the Good of his Kingdom. But if it be thrown away at random, it loſes its Virtue, leſſens the Eſteem and Authority of a Prince, and cannot long recommend him, even to the weakeſt of his Subjects, who will find all the Effects of Cruelty in ſuch an ill-grounded Compaſſion. It was a famous Saying of William Rufus, and is quoted to his Honour by Hiſtorians. "Whoſoever ſpares perjured Men, Robbers, Plunderers and Traitors, deprives all good Men of their Peace and Quietneſs, and lays a Foundation of innumerable Miſchiefs to the Virtuous and Innocent."

Another Argument for unlimited Clemency, is, that it ſhews a couragious Temper: Clemency is likewiſe an Argument of Fearleſſneſs; whereas Cruelty not only betrays a weak, abject, depraved Spirit, but alſo is for the moſt part a certain Sign of Cowardice. (p. 19.)—He had a truly great Soul, and ſuch will always diſdain the Coward's Virtue, which is Fear; and the Conſequence of it, which is Revenge. (p. 27.) This Panegyrick on Clemency, when it is governed by Reaſon, is likewiſe very right; but it may ſo happen, that the putting of Laws in Execution againſt Traitors to their Countrey may be the Argument of Fearleſſneſs, when our Governors are told that they dare not do it; and ſuch Methods may be made uſe of to extort Pardons, as would make it look like Cowardice to grant them. In this laſt Caſe the Author ſhould have remembred his own Words, that then only Mercy is meritorious when it is voluntary, and not extorted by the Neceſſity of Affairs, (p. 13.) Beſides the Author ſhould have conſidered, that another Argument which he makes uſe of for his Clemency, are the Reſentments that may ariſe from the Execution of a Rebel: An Argument adapted to a cowardly, not a fearleſs Temper. This he infers from the Diſpoſition of the Friends, Well-wiſhers, or Aſſociates of the Sufferers, (p. 4.) Reſentment will inflame ſome; in others Compaſſion will, by degrees, riſe into Reſentment. This will naturally beget a Diſpoſition to overturn what they diſlike, and then there will want only a fair Opportunity, (p. 12.) This Argument like moſt of the others, pleads equally for Malefactors of all kinds, whom the Government can never bring to Juſtice, without diſobliging their Friends, Well-wiſhers, or Aſſociates. But, I believe, if the Author would Converſe with any Friend, Well-wiſher, or Aſſociate of theſe Sufferers, he would find them rather deterr'd from their Practices by their Sufferings, than diſpoſed to riſe in a new Rebellion to revenge them. A Government muſt be in a very weak and melancholy Condition, that is not armed with a ſufficient Power for its own Defence againſt the Reſentment of its Enemies, and is afraid of being overturn'd if it does Juſtice on thoſe who attempt it. But I am afraid the main Reaſon, why theſe Friends, Well-wiſhers and Aſſociates are againſt Puniſhing any of the Rebels, is that which muſt be an Argument with every wiſe Governor for doing Juſtice upon ſome of them; namely, that it is a likely Means to come at the Bottom of this Conſpiracy, and to detect thoſe who have been the private Abettors of it, and who are ſtill at work in the ſame Deſign; if we give Credit to the Suggeſtions of our Malecontents themſelves, who labour to make us believe that there is ſtill Life in this wicked Project.

I am wonderfully ſurprized to ſee another Argument made uſe of for a general Pardon, which might have been urged more properly for a general Execution. The Words are theſe; The Generality will never be brought to believe, but that thoſe who ſuffer only for Treaſon have very hard Meaſure, nor can you with all your Severity undeceive them of their Error. If the Generality of the Engliſh have ſuch a favourable Opinion of Treaſon, nothing can cure them of an Error ſo fatal to their Countrey as the Puniſhment of thoſe who are guilty of it. It is evident, that a General Impunity would confirm them in ſuch an Opinion: For the Vulgar will never be brought to believe, that there is a Crime where they ſee no Penalty. As it is certain no Error can be more deſtructive to the very Being of Government than this, a proper Remedy ought to be applied to it: And I would ask this Author, Whether upon this Occaſion, The Doctrine of making Examples of Traitors be not very ſeaſonable; though he declares himſelf not overfond of it. The way to awaken Men's Minds to the Senſe of this Guilt, is to let them ſee by the Sufferings of ſome who have incurr'd it how hainous a Crime it is in the Eye of the Law.

The foregoing Anſwer may be apply'd likewiſe to another Argument of the ſame Nature. If the Faction be as numerous as is pretended; if the Spirit has ſpread itſelf over the whole Kingdom; if it has mixed with the Maſs of the People; then certainly all bloody Meaſures will but whet Men the more for Revenge. If Juſtice inflicted on a few of the moſt flagrant Criminals, with Mercy extended to the Multitude, may be called bloody Meaſures, they are without doubt abſolutely neceſſary, in caſe the Spirit of Faction be thus ſpread among the Maſs of the People; who will readily conclude, that if open Rebellion goes unpuniſhed, every Degree of Faction which leads to it muſt be altogether innocent.

I am come now to another Argument for Pardoning all the Rebels, which is, that it would inſpire them all with Gratitude, and reduce them to their Allegiance. It is truly Heroick to overcome the Hearts of one's Enemies; and when it is compaſſed, the Undertaking is truly Politick. (p. 8.) He has now a fair Opportunity of Conquering more Enemies by one Act of Clemency, than the moſt ſucceſsful General will be able to do in many Campaigne. (p. 9.) Are there not infinite Numbers who would become moſt Dutiful upon any fair Invitation, upon the leaſt Appearance of Grace? (p. 13.) Which of the Rebels could be ungrateful enough to reſiſt or abuſe Goodneſs exemplified in Practice, as well as extoll'd in Theory? (p. 20.) Has not His Majeſty then ſhewn the leaſt Appearance of Grace in that generous Forgiveneſs which he has already extended to ſuch great Numbers of his Rebellious Subjects, who muſt have died by the Laws of their Countrey, had not his Mercy interpos'd in their Behalf? But if the Author means (as he doth, thro' this whole Pamphlet by the like Expreſſions) an univerſal Forgiveneſs, no unprejudiced Man can be of his Opinion, that it wou'd have had this good Effect. We may ſee how little the Converſion of Rebels is to be depended on, when we obſerve that ſeveral of the Leaders in this Rebellion were Men who had been pardoned for Practices of the ſame Nature: And that moſt of thoſe who have ſuffered, have avowed their Perſeverance in their Rebellious Principles, when they ſpoke their Minds at the Place of Execution, notwithſtanding their Profeſſions to the contrary while they ſolicited Forgiveneſs. Beſides, were Pardon extended indifferently to All, which of them would think himſelf under any particular Obligation? Whereas by that prudent Diſcrimination which His Majeſty has made between the Offenders of different Degrees, He naturally obliges thoſe whom he has conſidered with ſo much Tenderneſs, and diſtinguiſhed as the moſt proper Objects of Mercy. In ſhort, thoſe who are pardoned would not have known the Value of Grace, if none had felt the Effects of Juſtice.

I muſt not omit another Reaſon which the Author makes uſe of againſt Puniſhments; Becauſe, he ſays, thoſe very Means, or the Apprehenſions of them, have brought Things to the paſs in which they are, and conſequently will reduce them from bad to worſe, (p. 10.) And afterwards, This Growth of Diſſaffection is in a great Meaſure owing to the groundleſs Jealouſies Men entertain'd of the preſent Adminiſtration, as if they were to expect nothing but Cruelty under it. If our Author would have ſpoken out, and have applied theſe Effects to the real Cauſe, he could aſcribe this Change of Affections among the People to nothing elſe but the Change of the Miniſtry: For we find that a great many Perſons loſt their Loyalty with their Places; and that their Friends have ever ſince made uſe of the moſt baſe Methods to infuſe thoſe groundleſs Diſcontents into the Minds of the Common People, which have brought ſo many of them to the Brink of Deſtruction, and proved ſo detrimental to their Fellow-Subjects. However, this Proceeding has ſhewn how dangerous it would have been for His Majeſty to have continued in their Places of Truſt a Set of Men, ſome of whom have ſince actually joined with the Pretender to His Crown: While others may be juſtly ſuſpected never to have been faithfull to Him in their Hearts, or, at leaſt, whoſe Principles are precarious, and viſibly conducted by their Intereſt. In a Word, if the Removal of theſe Perſons from their Poſts has produced ſuch popular Commotions, the Continuance of them might have produced ſomething much more fatal to their King and Countrey, and have brought about that Revolution, which has now been in vain attempted. The Condition of a Britiſh King would be very poor indeed, ſhould a Party of his Subjects threaten Him with a Rebellion upon his bringing Malefactors to Juſtice, or upon his refuſing to employ thoſe whom he dares not truſt.

I ſhall only mention another Argument againſt the Puniſhment of any of the Rebels, whoſe Executions he repreſents as very ſhocking to the People, becauſe they are their Countreymen, (p. 12.) And again, The Quality of the Sufferers, their Alliances, their Characters, their being Engliſhmen, with a thouſand other Circumſtances, will contribute to breed more ill Blood than all the State-Chirurgeons can poſſibly let out, (p. 12.) The Impeached Lords likewiſe, in the laſt Paragraph of the Pamphlet, are recommended to our Pity, becauſe they are our Countreymen. By this way of Reaſoning, no Man that is a Gentleman, or born within the three Seas ſhould be ſubject to Capital Puniſhment. Beſides, who can be guilty of Rebellion that are not our Countreymen? As for the endearing Name of Engliſhman, which he beſtows upon every one of the Criminals, he ſhould conſider, that a Man deſervedly cuts himſelf off from the Affections as well as the Privileges of that Community, which he endeavours to ſubvert.

Theſe are the ſeveral Arguments which appear in different Forms and Expreſſions thro' this whole Pamphlet, and under which every one that is urged in it may be reduced. There is indeed another Set of them, derived from the Example and Authority of Great Perſons, which the Author produces in Favour of his own Scheme. Theſe are William the Conqueror, Henry IVth of France, our late King William, King Solomon, and the Pretender. If a Man were diſpoſed to draw Arguments for Severity out of Hiſtory, how many Inſtances might one find of it among the greateſt Princes of every Nation? But as different Princes may act very laudably by different Methods in different Conjunctures, I cannot think this a concluſive Way of Reaſoning. However, let us examine this Set of Arguments, and we ſhall find them no leſs defective than thoſe abovementioned.

One of the greateſt of our Engliſh Monarchs, ſays our Author, was William the Conqueror; and he was the greater, becauſe he put to Death only one Perſon of Quality that we read of, and him after repeated Treacheries; yet he was a Foreigner, had Power ſufficient, and did not want Provocations to have been more bloody. (p. 27.) This Perſon of Quality was the Earl Waltheof, who being overtaken with Wine, engaged in a Conſpiracy againſt this Monarch, but repenting of it the next Morning, repaired to the King who was then in Normandy, and diſcovered the whole Matter. Notwithſtanding which, he was beheaded upon the Defeat of the Conſpiracy for having but thus far tampered in it. And as for the reſt of the Conſpirators, who roſe in an actual Rebellion, the King uſed them with the utmoſt Rigour, he cut off the Hands of ſome, put out the Eyes of others, ſome were hanged upon Gibbets, and thoſe who fared the beſt, were ſent into Baniſhment. There are indeed, the moſt dreadful Examples of Severity in this Reign: Tho' it muſt be confeſs'd, that, after the Manner of thoſe Times, the Nobility generally eſcaped with their Lives, tho' Multitudes of them were puniſhed with Baniſhment, perpetual Impriſonment, Forfeitures, and other great Severities: While the poor People, who had been deluded by theſe their Ringleaders, were executed with the utmoſt Rigour. A Partiality which I believe no Commoner of England will ever think to be either juſt or reaſonable.

The next Inſtance is Henry the IVth of France, who (ſays our Author) ſo handſomely expreſſed his Tenderneſs for his People, when, at ſigning the Treaty of Vervins, he ſaid, That by one Daſh of his Pen he had overcome more Enemies, than he cou'd ever be able to do with his Sword. Would not an ordinary Reader think that this Treaty of Vervins was a Treaty between Henry the IVth and a Party of his Subjects? For otherwiſe how can it have a Place in the preſent Argument? But inſtead of that it was a Treaty between France and Spain; ſo that the Speech expreſſed an equal Tenderneſs to the Spaniards and French; as Multitudes of either Nation muſt have fallen in that War, had it continued longer. As for this King's Treatment of Conſpirators, (tho' he is quoted thrice in the Pamphlet as an Example of Clemency) you have an eminent Inſtance of it in his Behaviour to the Mareſchal de Biron, who had been his old faithful Servant, and had contributed more than any one to his Advancement to the Throne. This Mareſchal, upon ſome Diſcontent, was enter'd into a Conſpiracy againſt his Maſter, and refuſing to open the whole Secret to the King, he was ſent to the Baſtile, and there beheaded, notwithſtanding he ſought for Mercy with great Importunities, and in the moſt moving Manner. There are other Inſtances in this King's Reign, who notwithſtanding was remarkabable for his Clemency, of Rebels and Conſpirators who were hanged, beheaded, or broken alive on the Wheel.

The late King William was not diſturbed by any Rebellion from thoſe who had once ſubmitted to him. But we know he treated the Perſons concerned in the Aſſaſſination-Plot as ſo horrid a Conſpiracy deſerved. As for the Saying which this Author imputes to that Monarch, it being a Piece of ſecret Hiſtory, one doth not know when it was ſpoken, or what it alluded to, unleſs the Author had been more particular in the Account of it.

The Author proceeds in the next Place to no leſs an Authority, than that of Solomon: Among all the general Obſervations of the wiſeſt Princes we know of, I think there is none holds more univerſally than Mercy and Truth preſerve a King, and his Throne is eſtabliſhed in Mercy. (p. 18.) If we compare the different Sayings of this wiſe King, which relate to the Conduct of Princes, we cannot queſtion but that he means by this Mercy, that kind of it, which is conſiſtent with Reaſon and Government, and by which we hope to ſee his Majeſty's Throne eſtabliſhed. But our Author ſhou'd conſider that the ſame wiſe Man has ſaid in another Place, that "An evil Man ſeeketh Rebellion, therefore a cruel Meſſenger ſhall be ſent againſt him." Accordingly his Practice was agreeable to his Proverb: No Prince having ever given a greater Teſtimony of his Abhorrence to Undertakings of this treaſonable Nature. For he diſpatched ſuch a cruel Meſſenger as is here mentioned to thoſe who had been engaged in a Rebellion many Years before he himſelf was on the Throne, and even to his elder Brother, upon the bare Suſpicion that he was projecting ſo wicked an Enterprize.

How the Example of the Pretender came into this Argument, I am at a Loſs to find out. The Pretender declared a general Pardon to All: And ſhall our rightful King ſhew himſelf leſs the true Father of his People, and afford his Pardon to none, &c. (p. 25.) The Pretender's general Pardon was to a People who were not in his Power; and had he ever reduced them under it, it was only promiſed to ſuch as immediately joined with him for the Recovery of what he called his Right. It was ſuch a general Pardon as would have been conſiſtent with the Execution of more than nine Parts in ten of the Kingdom.

There is but one more Hiſtorical Argument which is drawn from King Philip's Treatment of the Catalans. I think it would not be unſeaſonable for ſome Men to recollect what their own Notions were of the Treatment of the Catalans; how many Declamations were made on the Barbarity uſed towards them by King Philip, &c. (p. 29.) If the Author remembers theſe Declamations, as he calls them were not made ſo much on the Barbarity uſed towards them by King Philip, as on the Barbarity uſed towards them by the Engliſh Government. King Philip might have ſome Colour for treating them as Rebels, but we ought to have regarded them as Allies; and were obliged by all the Ties of Honour, Conſcience, and publick Faith, to have ſhelter'd them from thoſe Sufferings, which were brought upon them by a firm and inviolable Adherence to our Intereſt. However, none can draw into a Parallel the Cruelties which have been inflicted on that unhappy People, with thoſe few Inſtances of Severity which our Government has been obliged to exert towards the Britiſh Rebels. I ſay no Man would make ſuch a Parallel, unleſs his Mind be ſo blinded with Paſſion and Prejudice, as to aſſert, in the Language of this Pamphlet, That no Inſtances can be produced of the leaſt Lenity under the preſent Adminiſtration from the firſt Hour it commenc'd to this Day, (p. 20.) with other aſtoniſhing Reflexions of the ſame Nature, which are contradicted by ſuch innumerable Matters of Fact, that it would be an Affront to a Reader's Underſtanding to endeavour to confute them. But to return to the Catalans; During the whole Courſe of the War, ſays the Author, which ever of them ſubmitted to Diſcretion, were received to Mercy, (p. 22.) This is ſo far from being truly related, that in the beginning of the War, they were executed without Mercy. But when in Conjunction with their Allies, they became Superior to King Philip's Party in Strength, and extended their Conqueſts up to the very Gates of Madrid, it cannot be ſuppoſed the Spaniſh Court would be ſo infatuated as to perſiſt in their firſt Severities, againſt an Enemy that could make ſuch terrible Reprizals. However, when this Reaſon of State ceaſed, how dreadful was the Havock made among this brave, but unhappy People! The whole Kingdom without any Diſtinction to the many Thouſands of its innocent Inhabitants, was ſtript of its Immunities, and reduced to a State of Slavery. Barcelona was filled with Executions; and all the Patriots of their antient Liberties either beheaded, ſtowed in Dungeons, or condemned to work in the Mines of America.

God be thanked we have a King who puniſhes with Reluctancy, and is averſe to ſuch Cruelties as were us'd among the Catalans, as much as to thoſe practiſed on the Perſons concern'd in Monmouth's Rebellion. Our Author indeed, condemns theſe Weſtern Aſſizes in King James's Reign, (p. 26.) And it would be well if all thoſe who ſtill adhere to the Cauſe of that unfortunate King, and are clamorous at the Proceedings of his preſent Majeſty, would remember, that notwithſtanding that Rebellion fell very much ſhort of this both in the Number and Strength of the Rebels, and had no Tendency either to deſtroy the National Religion, to introduce an Arbitrary Government, or to ſubject us to a Foreign Power; not only the Chief of the Rebels was beheaded, but even a Lady, who had only harbour'd one of the Offenders in her Houſe was in her extreme old Age put to the ſame kind of Death: That about two hundred and thirty were hanged, drawn, and quartered, and their Limbs diſperſed through ſeveral Parts of the Countrey, and ſet up as Spectacles of Terror to their Fellow-Subjects. It would be too tedious a Work to run through the numberleſs Fines, Impriſonments, Corporal Puniſhments, and Tranſportations, which were then likewiſe practiſed as wholſome Severities.

We have now ſeen how fallaciouſly the Author has ſtated the Cauſe he has undertaken, by ſuppoſing that nothing but unlimited Mercy, or unlimited Puniſhment, are the Methods that can be made uſe of in our preſent Treatment of the Rebels: That he has omitted the middle way of Proceeding between theſe two Extremes: That this middle Way is the Method in which His Majeſty, like all other wiſe and good Kings, has choſen to proceed: That it is agreeable to the Nature of Government, Religion, and our Britiſh Conſtitution: And that every Argument which the Author has produced from Reaſon and Example, would have been a true one, had it been urged for that reſtrain'd Clemency which His Majeſty has exerciſed: But is a falſe one, when apply'd to ſuch a general, undiſtinguiſhing Mercy as the Author would recommend.

Having thus anſwered that which is the main Drift and Deſign of this Pamphlet, I ſhall touch upon thoſe other Parts of it, which are interwoven with the Arguments, to put Men out of Humour with the preſent Government.

And here we may obſerve, that it is our Author's Method to ſuppoſe Matters of Fact which are not in being, and afterwards to deſcant upon them. As he is very ſenſible that the Cauſe will not bear the Teſt of Reaſon, he has indeed every where choſen rather Topicks for Declamation than Argument▪ Thus he entertains us with a laboured Invective againſt a ſtanding Army. But what has this to do in the preſent Caſe? I ſuppoſe he wou'd not adviſe his Majeſty to disband his Forces while there is an Army of Rebels in his Dominions. I cannot imagine he would think the Affections of the People of England a Security of the Government in ſuch a Juncture, were it not at the ſame time defended with a ſufficient Body of Troops. No Prince has ever given a greater Inſtance of his Inclinations to rule without a Standing-Army, if we conſider, that upon the very firſt News of the Defeat of the Rebels, he declared to both Houſes of Parliament, that he had put an immediate Stop to the Levies which he had begun to raiſe at their Requeſt, and that he would not make uſe of the Power which they had entruſted him with, unleſs any new Preparations of the Enemy ſhould make it neceſſary for our Defence. This Speech was receiv'd with the greateſt Gratitude by both Houſes; and it is ſaid, that in the Houſe of Commons a very can did and honourable Gentleman (who generally votes with the Minority) declared, that he had not heard ſo gracious a Speech from the Throne for many Years laſt paſt.

In another Place, he ſuppoſes that the Government has not endeavoured to gain the Applauſe of the Vulgar, by doing ſomething for the Church; and very gravely makes Excuſes for this their pretended Neglect. What greater Inſtances could His Majeſty have given of his Love to the Church of England, than thoſe he has exhibited by his moſt ſolemn Declarations; by his daily Example; and by his Promotions of the moſt eminent among the Clergy to ſuch Vacancies as have happened in his Reign. To which we muſt add, for the Honour of his Government in this Particular, That it has done more for the Advantage of the Clergy, than thoſe, who are the moſt zealous for their Intereſt, could have expected in ſo ſhort a Time; which will farther appear, if we reflect upon the valuable and Royal Donative to one of our Univerſities, and the Proviſion made for thoſe who are to officiate in the Fifty New Churches. His Majeſty is, indeed, a Prince of too much Magnanimity and Truth, to make uſe of the Name of the Church for drawing his People into any thing that may be prejudicial to them; for what our Author ſays, to this Purpoſe, redounds as much to the Honour of the preſent Adminiſtration, as to the Diſgrace of others. Nay, I wiſh with all my Soul they had ſtooped a little ad captum vulgi, to take in thoſe ſhallow fluttering Hearts, which are to be caught by any thing baited with the Name of Church, (p. 11.)

Again; The Author asks, Whether Terror is to become the only National Principle? With other Queſtions of the ſame Nature: And in ſeveral Parts of his Book, harangues very plentifully againſt ſuch a Notion. Where he talks in Generals upon this Topick, there is no queſtion but every Whig and Tory in the Kingdom perfectly agree with him in what he ſays. But if he would inſinuate, as he ſeems to do in ſeveral Places, that there ſhould be no Impreſſions of Awe upon the Mind of a Subject, and that a Government ſhould not create Terror in thoſe who are diſpoſed to do ill, as well as encourage thoſe that do their Duty: In ſhort, if he is for an entire Excluſion of that Principle of Fear which is ſuppoſed to have ſome Influence in every Law, he oppoſes himſelf to the Form of every Government in the World, and to the Common Senſe of Mankind.

The Artifice of this Author in ſtarting Objections to the Friends of the Government, and the fooliſh Anſwers which he ſuppoſes they return to them is ſo very viſible, that every one ſees they are deſigned rather to divert his Reader, than to inſtruct him.

I have now examined this whole Pamphlet, which, indeed, is written with a great deal of Art, and as much Argument as the Cauſe would bear: And after having ſtated the true Notion of Clemency, Mercy, Compaſſion, Good-nature, Humanity, or whatever elſe it may be called, ſo far as it is conſiſtent with Wiſdom, and the Good of Mankind, or, in other Words, ſo far as it is a moral Virtue, I ſhall readily concur with the Author in the higheſt Panegyricks that he has beſtowed upon it. As likewiſe, I heartily join with him in every thing he has ſaid againſt Juſtice, if it includes, as his Pamphlet ſuppoſes, the Extirpation of every Criminal, and is not exerciſed with a much greater Mixture of Clemency than Rigour. Mercy, in the true Senſe of the Word, is that Virtue by which a Prince approaches neareſt to Him, whom he repreſents; and whilſt he is neither remiſs nor extreme to animadvert upon thoſe who offend him, that Logick will hold true of him which is apply'd to the Great Judge of all the Earth; With thee there is Mercy, therefore ſhalt thou be Feared.

WE find by our publick Papers, the Univerſity of Dublin have lately preſented to the Prince of Wales, in a moſt humble and dutiful Manner, their Diploma for conſtituting His Royal Highneſs Chancellor of that Learned Body; and that the Prince received this their Offer with the Goodneſs and Condeſcenſion which is natural to his illuſtrious Houſe. As the College of Dublin have been long famous for their great Learning, they have now given us an Inſtance of their Good Senſe; and it is with Pleaſure that we find ſuch a Diſpoſition in this famous Nurſery of Letters to propagate ſound Principles, and to act, in its proper Sphere, for the Honour and Dignity of the Royal Family. We hope that ſuch an Example will have its Influence on other Societies of the ſame Nature; and cannot but rejoice to ſee the Heir of Great Britain vouchſafing to Patronize in ſo peculiar a Manner that Noble Seminary, which is perhaps at this Time training up ſuch Perſons as may hereafter be Ornaments to his Reign.

When Men of Learning are acted thus by a Knowledge of the World as well as of Books, and ſhew that their Studies naturally inſpire them with a Love to their King and Countrey; they give a Reputation to Literature, and convince the World of its Uſefulneſs. But when Arts and Sciences are ſo perverted as to diſpoſe Men to act in Contradiction to the reſt of the Community, and to ſet up for a kind of ſeparate Republick among themſelves, they draw upon them the Indignation of the Wiſe, and the Contempt of the Ignorant.

It has indeed, been obſerved, that Perſons, who are very much eſteemed for their Knowledge and Ingenuity in their private Characters, have acted like Strangers to Mankind, and to the Dictates of right reaſon, when joined together in a Body. Like ſeveral Chymical Waters, that are each of them clear and tranſparent when ſeparate, but ferment into a thick troubled Liquor when they are mixed in the ſame Vial.

There is a Piece of Mythology which bears very hard upon Learned Men; and which I ſhall here relate, rather for the Delicacy of the Satyr, than for the Juſtneſs of the Moral. When the City of Athens was finiſhed, we are told that Neptune and Minerva preſented themſelves as Candidates for the Guardianſhip of the Place. The Athenians, after a full Debate upon the Matter, came to an Election, and made choice of Minerva. Upon which, Neptune, who very much reſented the Indignity, upbraided them with their Stupidity and Ignorance; that a Maritime Town ſhould reject the Patronage of him who was the God of the Seas, and could defend them againſt all the Attacks of their Enemies. He concluded with a Curſe upon the Inhabitants, which was to ſtick to them and their Poſterity; namely, That they ſhould be all Fools. When Minerva their Tutelary Goddeſs, who preſides over Arts and Sciences, came among them to receive the Honour they had conferr'd upon her, they made heavy Complaints of the Curſe which Neptune had laid upon the City; and begg'd her, if poſſible, to take it off. But ſhe told them it was not in her Power; for that one Deity could not reverſe the Act of another. However, ſaid ſhe, I may alleviate the Curſe which I cannot remove: It is not poſſible for me to hinder you from being Fools, but I will take care that you ſhall be Learned.

There is nothing which Bodies of Learned Men ſhould be more careful of, than, by all due Methods, to cultivate the Favour of the Great and Powerful. The Indulgence of a Prince is abſolutely neceſſary to the Propagation, the Defence, the Honour and Support of Learning. It naturally creates in Men's Minds an Ambition to diſtinguiſh themſelves by Letters; and multiplies the Number of thoſe who are dedicated to the Purſuits of Knowledge. It protects them againſt the Violence of Brutal Men; and gives them Opportunities to purſue their Studies in a State of Peace and Tranquillity. It puts the Learned in Countenance; and gives them a Place among the faſhionable Part of Mankind. It diſtributes Rewards; and encourages Speculative Perſons, who have neither Opportunity nor a Turn of Mind to increaſe their own Fortunes, with all the Incentives of Place, Profit and Preferment. On the contrary, nothing is in itſelf ſo pernicious to Communities of Learned Men, nor more apprehended by thoſe that wiſh them well, than the Diſpleaſure of their Prince, which thoſe may juſtly expect to feel, who would make uſe of his Favour to his own Prejudice, and put in Practice all the Methods that lye within their Power to vilify his Perſon, and diſtreſs his Government. In both theſe Caſes, a Learned Body is in a more particular Manner expoſed to the Influence of their King, as deſcribed by the wiſeſt of Men, The Wrath of a King is as the Roaring of a Lion; but his Favour is as the Dew upon the Graſs.

We find in our Engliſh Hiſtories, that the Empreſs Matilda, (who was the great Anceſtor of His preſent Majeſty, and whoſe Grand-daughter of the ſame name has a Place upon ſeveral of the Hanover Medals) was particularly favoured by the Univerſity of Oxford, and defended in that Place, when moſt Parts of the Kingdom had revolted againſt her. Nor is it to be queſtioned, but an Univerſity ſo famous for Learning and ſound Knowledge, will ſhew the ſame Zeal for her illuſtrious Deſcendent, as they will every Day diſcern His Majeſty's Royal Virtues, through thoſe Prejudices which have been raiſed in their Minds by artful and deſigning Men. It is with much Pleaſure we ſee this great Fountain of Learning already beginning to run clear, and recovering its Natural Purity and Brightneſs. None can imagine that a Community which is taxed by the worſt of its Enemies, only for overſtraining the Notions of Loyalty even to bad Princes, will fall ſhort of a due Allegiance to the beſt.

When this happy Temper of Mind is fully eſtabliſhed among them, we may juſtly hope to ſee the largeſt Share of His Majeſty's Favours fall upon that Univerſity, which is the Greateſt, and upon all Accounts the moſt Conſiderable not only in his Dominions, but in all Europe.

I ſhall conclude this Paper with a Quotation out of Cambden's Hiſtory of Queen Elizabeth, who, after having deſcribed that Queen's Reception at Oxford, gives an Account of the Speech which ſhe made to them at her Departure; concluding with a Piece of Advice to that Univerſity. Her Counſel was, That they would firſt ſerve God, not after the Curioſity of ſome, but according to the Laws of God and the Land, that they would not go before the Laws, but follow them; nor diſpute whether better might be preſcribed, but keep thoſe preſcribed already; obey their Superiors; and laſtly embrace one another in Brotherly Piety and Concord.

AMONG all the Paradoxes in Politicks which have been advanced by ſome among us, there is none ſo abſurd and ſhocking to the moſt ordinary Underſtanding, as that it is poſſible for Great Britain to be quietly governed by a Popiſh Sovereign. King Henry the Fourth found it impracticable for a Proteſtant to reign even in France, notwithſtanding the Reformed Religion does not engage a Prince to the Perſecution of any other; and notwithſtanding the Authority of the Sovereign in that Countrey is more able to ſupport it ſelf, and command the Obedience of the People, than in any other European Monarchy. We are convinced by the Experience of our own Times, that our Conſtitution is not able to bear a Popiſh Prince at the Head of it. King James the Second was endowed with many Royal Virtues, and might have made a Nation of Roman-Catholicks happy under his Adminiſtration. The Grievances we ſuffered in his Reign proceeded purely from his Religion: But they were ſuch as made the whole Body of the Nobility, Clergy, and Commonalty, riſe up as one Man againſt him, and oblige him to quit the Throne of his Anceſtors. The Truth of it is, we have only the Vices of a Proteſtant Prince to fear, and may be made happy by his Virtues: But in a Popiſh Prince we have no Chance for our Proſperity; his very Piety obliges him to our Deſtruction; and in Proportion as he is more Religious, he becomes more Inſupportable. One would wonder, therefore, to find many who call themſelves Proteſtants, favouring the Pretenſions of a Perſon who has been bred up in the utmoſt Bitterneſs and Bigotry of the Church of Rome; and who, in all Probability, within leſs than a Twelve-month, would be oppoſed by thoſe very Men that are induſtrious to ſet him upon the Throne, were it poſſible for ſo wicked and unnatural an Attempt to ſucceed.

I was ſome Months ago in a Company, that diverted themſelves with the Declaration which he had then publiſhed, and particularly with the Date of it, In the Fourteenth Year of our Reign. The Company was ſurprized to find there was a King in Europe who had Reigned ſo long and made ſuch a Secret of it. This gave occaſion to one of them, who is now in France, to enquire into the Hiſtory of this remarkable Reign, which he has digeſted into Annals, and lately tranſmitted hither for the Peruſal of his Friends. 〈◊〉 have ſuppreſſed ſuch Perſonal Reflexions as are mixed in this ſhort Chronicle, as not being to the Purpoſe; and find that the whole Hiſtory of his Regal Conduct and Exploits may be comprized in the remaining Part of this Half-Sheet.

This Year containing farther the Battels which he fought in Scotland, and the Towns which he took, is ſo freſh in every one's Memory, that we ſhall ſay no more of it.

IT is a melancholy Reflection, that our Countrey, which in times of Popery was called the Nation of Saints, ſhould now have leſs appearance of Religion in it, than any other neighbouring State or Kingdom; whether they be ſuch as continue ſtill immerſed in the Errors of the Church of Rome, or ſuch as are recovered out of them. This is a Truth that is obvious to every one, who has been converſant in foreign Parts. It was formerly thought dangerous for a young Man to Travel, leſt he ſhould return an Atheiſt to his native Countrey: But at preſent it is certain, that an Engliſhman, who has any tolerable Degree of Reflection, cannot be better awakened to a Senſe of Religion in general, than by obſerving how the Minds of all Mankind are ſet upon this important Point; how every Nation is ſerious and attentive to the great Buſineſs of their Being; and that in other Countries a Man is not out of the Faſhion, who is bold and open in the Profeſſion and Practice of all Chriſtian Duties.

This Decay of Piety is by no Means to be imputed to the Reformation, which in its firſt Eſtabliſhment produced its proper Fruits, and diſtinguiſhed the whole Age with ſhining Inſtances of Virtue and Morality. If we would trace out the Original of that flagrant and avowed Impiety, which has prevailed among us for ſome Years, we ſhould find that it owes its Riſe to that oppoſite Extream of Cant and Hypocriſie, which had taken Poſſeſſion of the People's Minds in the Times of the great Rebellion, and of the Uſurpation that ſucceeded it. The Practices of theſe Men, under the Covert of a feigned Zeal, made even the Appearances of ſincere Devotion ridiculous and unpopular. The Raillery of the Wits and Courtiers, in King Charles the Second's Reign, upon every thing which they then called Preciſe, was carried to ſo great an Extravagance, that it almoſt put Chriſtianity out of Countenance. The Ridicule grew ſo ſtrong and licentious, that from this time we may date that remarkable Turn in the Behaviour of our faſhionable Engliſhmen, that makes them Shame-faced in the Exerciſe of thoſe Duties which they were ſent into the World to perform.

The late Cry of the Church has been an Artifice of the ſame Kind with that made uſe of by the Hypocrites of the laſt Age, and has had as fatal an Influence upon Religion. If a Man would but ſeriouſly conſider how much greater Comfort he would receive in the laſt Moments of his Life from a Reflection that he has made one virtuous Man, than that he has made a thouſand Tories, we ſhould not ſee the Zeal of ſo many Good Men turned off from its proper End, and employed in making ſuch a kind of Converts. What Satisfaction will it be to an Immoral Man, at ſuch a Time, to think he is a good Whig! Or to one that is conſcious of Sedition, Perjury, or Rebellion, that he dies with the Reputation of a High-Churchman!

But to conſider how this Cry of the Church has corrupted the Morals of both Parties. Thoſe, who are the loudeſt in it, regard themſelves rather as a political, than a religious Communion; and are held together rather by State-Notions, than by Articles of Faith. This fills the Minds of weak Men, who fall into the Snare, with groundleſs Fears and Apprehenſions, unſpeakable Rage towards their Fellow Subjects, wrong Ideas of Perſons whom they are not acquainted with, and uncharitable Interpretations of thoſe Actions of which they are not competent Judges. It inſtills into their Minds the utmoſt Virulence and Bitterneſs, inſtead of that Charity, which is the Perfection and Ornament of Religion, and the moſt indiſpenſable and neceſſary Means for attaining the End of it. In a Word, among theſe miſtaken Zealots, it ſanctifies Cruelty and Injuſtice, Riots and Treaſon.

The Effects which this Cry of the Church has had on the other Party, are no leſs manifeſt and deplorable. They ſee themſelves unjuſtly aſperſed by it, and vindicate themſelves in Terms no leſs opprobrious, than thoſe by which they are attacked. Their Indignation and Reſentment riſes in Proportion to the Malice of their Adverſaries. The unthinking Part of them are apt to contract an unreaſonable Averſion even to that Eccleſiaſtical Conſtitution to which they are repreſented as Enemies; and not only to particular Perſons, but to that Order of Men in general, which will be always held Sacred and Honourable, ſo long as there is Reaſon and Religion in the World.

I might mention many other Corruptions common to both Parties, which naturally flow from this Source; and might eaſily ſhew, upon a full Diſplay of them, that this Clamour, which pretends to be raiſed for the Safety of Religion, has almoſt worn out the very Appearance of it; and rendered us not only the moſt divided, but the moſt immoral People upon the Face of the Earth.

When our Nation is overflowed with ſuch a Deluge of Impiety, it muſt be a great Pleaſure to find any Expedient take Place, that has a Tendency to recover it out of ſo diſmal a Condition. This is one great Reaſon why an honeſt Man may rejoyce to ſee an Act ſo near taking effect, for making Elections of Members to ſerve in Parliament leſs frequent. I find my ſelf prevented by other Writings (which have conſidered the Act now depending, in this particular Light) from expatiating upon this Subject. I ſhall only mention two ſhort Pieces which I have been juſt now reading, under the following Titles, Arguments about the Alteration of the Triennial Elections of Parliament: And, The Alteration in the Triennial Act conſidered.

The Reaſons for this Law, as it is neceſſary for ſettling His Majeſty in his Throne; for extinguiſhing the Spirit of Rebellion; for procuring foreign Alliances; and other Advantages of the like Nature; carry a great Weight with them. But I am particularly pleaſed with it, as it may compoſe our unnatural Feuds and Animoſities, revive an honeſt Spirit of Induſtry in the Nation, and cut off frequent Occaſions of brutal Rage and Intemperance. In ſhort, as it will make us not only a more ſafe, a more flouriſhing, and a more happy, but alſo a more Vertuous People.

IT is the Ambition of the Male-Part of the World to make themſelves Eſteemed, and of the Female to make themſelves Beloved. As this is the laſt Paper which I ſhall addreſs to my Fair Readers; I cannot perhaps oblige them more, than by leaving them as a kind of Legacy a certain Secret which ſeldom fails of procuring this Affection, which they are naturally formed both to Deſire and to Obtain. This Noſtrum is comprized in the following Sentence of Seneca, which I ſhall tranſlate for the Service of my Countrey-women. Ego tibi monſtrabo Amatorium ſine medicamento, ſine herba, ſine ullius Veneficae carmine: ſi vis Amari, Ama. I will diſcover to you a Philter that has neither Drug nor Simple, nor Enchantment in it. Love, if you would raiſe Love. If there be any Truth in this Diſcovery, and this be ſuch a Specifick as the Author pretends, there is nothing which makes the Sex more unamiable than Party-Rage. The fineſt Woman, in a Tranſport of Fury, loſes the Uſe of her Face. Inſtead of charming her Beholders, ſhe frights both Friend and Foe. The latter can never be ſmitten by ſo bitter an Enemy, nor the former captivated by a Nymph, who, upon Occaſion, can be ſo very Angry. The moſt endearing of our beautiful Fellow-Subjects, are thoſe whoſe Minds are the leaſt imbittered with the Paſſions and Prejudices of either Side; and who diſcover the native Sweetneſs of the Sex in every part of their Converſation and Behaviour. A lovely Woman, who thus flouriſhes in her Innocence and Good-Humour, amidſt that mutual Spite and Rancour which prevails among her exaſperated Siſterhood, appears more amiable by the Singularity of her Character; and may be compared, with Solomon's Bride, to a Lilly among Thorns.

A Stateſwoman is as ridiculous a Creature as a Cott-Quean. Each of the Sexes ſhould keep within its particular Bounds, and content themſelves to excel within their reſpective Diſtricts. When Venus complained to Jupiter of the wound which ſhe had received in Battel, the Father of the Gods ſmiled upon her, and put her in mind, that inſtead of mixing in a War, which was not her Buſineſs, ſhe ſhould have been officiating in her proper Miniſtry, and carrying on the Delights of Marriage. The Delicacy of ſeveral modern Criticks has been offended with Homer's Billingſgate Warriors; but a ſcolding Heroe is, at the worſt, a more tolerable Character than a Bully in Petticoats. To which we may add, that the keeneſt Satyriſt, among the Antients, looked upon nothing as a more proper Subject of Raillery and Invective, than a Female Gladiator.

I am the more diſpoſed to take into Conſideration theſe Ladies of Fire and Politicks, becauſe it would be very monſtrous to ſee Feuds and Animoſities kept up among the ſoft Sex, when they are in ſo hopeful a Way of being compoſed among the Men, by the Septennial Bill, which is now ready for the Royal Aſſent. As this is likely to produce a Ceſſation of Arms, till the Expiration of the preſent Parliament, among one half of our Iſland, it is very reaſonable that the more beautiful Moiety of His Majeſty's Subjects ſhould eſtabliſh a Truce among themſelves for the ſame Term of Years. Or rather it were to be wiſhed, that they would ſummon together a kind of Senate, or Parliament of the faireſt and wiſeſt of our Siſter Subjects, in order to enact a perpetual Neutrality among the Sex. They might at leaſt appoint ſomething like a Committee, choſen from among the Ladies reſiding in London and Weſtminſter, in order to prepare a Bill to be laid before the Aſſembly upon the firſt Opportunity of their Meeting. The Regulation might be as follows:

'That a Committee of Toaſts be forthwith appointed; to conſider the preſent State of the Sex in the Britiſh Nation.

'That this Committee do meet at the Houſe of every reſpective Member of it on her Viſiting-Day; and that every one who comes 〈◊〉 it ſhall have a Vote, and a Diſh of Tea

'That the Committee be empowered to 〈◊〉 for Billets-doux, Libels, Lampoons, Li ••… , Toaſts, or any other the like Papers and R • cords.

'That it be an Inſtruction to the ſaid Committee, to conſider or proper Ways and M • thods to reclaim the obſtinately Opprobrious and Virulent; and how to make the Ducking-Stool more uſeful.'

Being always willing to contribute my Aſſiſtances to my Countrey-women, I would propoſe a Preamble, ſetting forth, 'That the late Civil War among the Sex has tended very much to the Leſſening of that antient and undoubted Authority, which they have claimed over the Male Part of the Iſland; to the Ruin of good Houſwifery; and to the Betraying of many important Secrets: That it has produced much Bitterneſs of Speech, many ſharp and violent Conteſts, and a great Effuſion of Citron-Water: That it has raiſed Animoſities in their Hearts, and Heats in their Faces: That it has broke out in their Ribbons, and cauſed unſpeakable Confuſions in their Dreſs: And above all, That it has introduced a certain Frown into the Features, and a Soureneſs into the Air of our Britiſh Ladies, to the great Damage of their Charms, and viſible Decay of the National Beauty.'

As for the enacting Part of the Bill, it may 〈◊〉 of many Particulars, which will naturally ariſe from the Debates of the Tea-Table; and muſt, therefore, be left to the Diſcretion and Experience of the Committee. Perhaps it might not be amiſs to enact, among other Things,

'That the Diſcourſing on Politicks ſhall be 〈◊〉 upon as dull as Talking on the Wea •••… .

'That if any Man troubles a Female Aſſembly with Parliament-News, he ſhall be marked out as a Blockhead, or an Incendiary.

'That no Woman ſhall henceforth preſume to ſtick a Patch upon her Forehead, unleſs it be in the very middle, that is, in the neutral part of it.

'That all Fans and Snuff-Boxes, of what Principles ſoever, ſhall be called in: And that Orders be given to Motteux and Mathers, to deliver out, in exchange for them, ſuch as have no Tincture of Party in them.

'That when any Lady beſpeaks a Play, ſhe ſhall take effectual Care, that the Audience be pretty equally checquered with Whigs and Tories.

'That no Woman of any Party preſume to influence the Legiſlature.

'That there be a general Amneſty and Oblivion of all former Hoſtilities and Diſtinctions, all publick and private Failings on either ſide: And that every one who comes into this Neutrality within the Space of Weeks, ſhall be allowed an Ell extraordinary, above the preſent Standard, in the Circumference of her Petticoat.

'Provided always nevertheleſs, That nothing herein contained ſhall extend, or be conſtrued to extend, to any Perſon or Perſons, Inhabiting and Practiſing within the Hundreds of Drury, or to any other of that Society in what Part ſoever of the Nation in like manner Practiſing and Reſiding; who are ſtill at liberty to Rail, Calumniate, Scold, Frown and Pout, as in afore-times, any thing in this Act to the contrary notwithſtanding.'

IT requires no ſmall Degree of Reſolution, to be an Author in a Countrey ſo Facetious and Satyrical as this of Great Britain. Such a one raiſes a kind of Alarm among his Fellow-Subjects, and by pretending to diſtinguiſh himſelf from the Herd, becomes a Mark of publick Cenſure, and ſometimes a ſtanding Object of Raillery and Ridicule. Writing is indeed a Provocation to the Envious, and an Affront to the Ignorant. How often do we ſee a Perſon, whoſe Intentions are viſibly to do Good by the Works which he publiſhes, treated in as ſcurrilous a Manner, as if he were an Enemy to Mankind? All the little Scramblers after Fame fall upon him, publiſh every Blot in his Life, depend upon Hear-ſay to defame him, and have recourſe to their own Invention, rather than ſuffer him to erect himſelf into an Author with Impunity. Even thoſe who write on the moſt indifferent Subjects, and are converſant only in Works of Taſte, are looked upon as Men that make a kind of Inſult upon Society, and ought to be humbled as Diſturbers of the publick Tranquillity. Not only the Dull and the Malicious, which make a formidable Party in our Iſland, but the whole Fraternity of Writers riſe up in Arms againſt every new Intruder into the World of Fame; and a thouſand to one, before they have done, prove him not only to be a Fool, but a Knave. Succeſsful Authors do what they can to exclude a Competitor, while the Unſucceſsful with as much Eagerneſs lay in their Claim to him as a Brother. This natural Antipathy to a Man who breaks his Ranks, and endeavours to ſignalize his Parts in the World, has very probably hindered many Perſons from making their Appearance in Print, who might have enriched our Countrey with better Productions in all kinds than any that are now extant. The Truth of it is, the active Part of Mankind, as they do moſt for the Good of their Contemporaries, very deſervedly gain the greateſt Share in their Applauſes; whilſt Men of Speculative Endowments, who employ their Talents in Writing, as they may equally benefit or amuſe ſucceeding Ages, have generally the greateſt Share in the Admiration of Poſterity. Both good and bad Writers may receive great Satisfaction from the Proſpects of Futurity; as in After-ages the former will be remember'd and the latter forgotten.

Among all Sets of Authors, there are none who draw upon themſelves more Diſpleaſure, than thoſe who deal in political Matters, which indeed is very often too juſtly incurred; conſidering that Spirit of Rancour and Virulence, with which Works of this Nature generally abound. Theſe are not only regarded as Authors, but as Partiſans, and are ſure to exaſperate at leaſt one half of their Readers. Other Writers offend only the Stupid or Jealous among their Countreymen; but theſe, let their Cauſe be never ſo Juſt, muſt expect to irritate a ſupernumerary Party of the ſelf-intereſted, prejudiced, and ambitious. They may however comfort themſelves with conſidering, that if they gain any unjuſt Reproach from one Side, they generally acquire more Praiſe than they deſerve from the other: and that Writings of this kind, if conducted with Candour and Impartiality, have a more particular Tendency to the Good of their Countrey, and of the preſent Age, than any other Compoſitions whatſoever.

To conſider an Author farther, as the Subject of Obloquy and Detraction. We may obſerve with what Pleaſure a Work is received by the invidious Part of Mankind, in which a Writer falls ſhort of himſelf, and does not anſwer the Character which he has acquired by his former Productions. It is a fine Simile in one of Mr. Congreve's Prologues, which compares a Writer to a Buttering Gameſter, that ſtakes all his Winnings upon every Caſt: So that if he loſes the laſt Throw, he is ſure to be undone. It would be well for all Authors, if, like that Gentleman, they knew when to give over, and to deſiſt from any farther Purſuits after Fame, whilſt they are in the full Poſſeſſion of it. On the other Hand there is not a more melancholy Object in the Learned World, than a Man who has written himſelf down. As the Publick is more diſpoſed to Cenſure than to Praiſe, his Readers will ridicule him for his laſt Works, when they have forgot to applaud thoſe which preceded them. In this Caſe, where a Man has loſt his Spirit by old Age and Infirmity, one could wiſh that his Friends and Relations would keep him from the uſe of Pen, Ink and Paper, if he is not to be reclaimed by any other Methods.

The Author indeed often grows old before the Man, eſpecially if he treats on Subjects of Invention, or ſuch as ariſe from Reflections upon Human Nature: For in this caſe, neither his own Strength of Mind, nor thoſe Parts of Life which are commonly unobſerved, will furniſh him with ſufficient Materials to be at the ſame Time both pleaſing and voluminous. We find even in the outward Dreſs of Poetry, that Men, who write much without taking Breath, very often return to the ſame Phraſes and Forms of Expreſſion, as well as to the ſame Manner of Thinking. Authors, who have thus drawn off the Spirit of their Thoughts, ſhould lie ſtill for ſome Time, till their Minds have gathered freſh Strength, and by Reading, Reflection and Converſation, laid in a new Stock of Elegancies, Sentiments, and Images of Nature. The Soil, that is worn with too frequent Culture, muſt lie fallow for a while, till it has recruited its exhauſted Salts, and again enriched itſelf by the Ventilations of the Air, the Dews of Heaven, and the kindly Influences of the Sun.

For my own Part, notwithſtanding this general Malevolence towards thoſe who communicate their Thoughts in Print, I cannot but look with a friendly Regard on ſuch as do it, provided there is no Tendency in their Writings to Vice and Prophaneneſs. If the Thoughts of ſuch Authors have nothing in them, they at leaſt do no harm, and ſhew an honeſt Induſtry and a good Intention in the Compoſer. If they teach me any thing I did not know before, I cannot but look upon my ſelf as obliged to the Writer, and conſider him as my particular Benefactor, if he conveys to me one of the greateſt Gifts that is in the Power of Man to beſtow, an Improvement of my Underſtanding, an innocent Amuſement, or an Incentive to ſome moral Virtue. Were not Men of Abilities thus communicative, their Wiſdom would be in a great Meaſure uſeleſs, and their Experience uninſtructive. There would be no Buſineſs in Solitude, nor proper Relaxations in Buſineſs. By theſe Aſſiſtances, the retir'd Man lives in the World, if not above it; Paſſion is compoſed; Thought hindred from being barren; and the Mind from preying upon itſelf. That Eſteem, indeed, which is paid to good Writers by their Poſterity, ſufficiently ſhews the Merit of Perſons who are thus employed. Who does not now more admire Cicero as an Author, than as a Conſul of Rome! And does not oftner talk of the celebrated Writers of our own Countrey, who lived in former Ages, than of any other particular 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 Perſons among their Contemporaries and Fellow-Subjects!

When I conſider my ſelf as a Britiſh Free-holder, I am in a particular Manner pleaſed with the Labours of thoſe who have improved our Language with the Tranſlation of old Latin and Greek Authors; and by that Means let us into the Knowledge of what paſſed in the famous Governments of Greece and Rome. We have already moſt of their Hiſtorians in our own Tongue: And what is ſtill more for the Honour of our Language, it has been taught to expreſs with Elegance the Greateſt of their Poets in each Nation. The illiterate among our Countreymen, may learn to judge from Dryden's Virgil of the moſt perfect Epic Performance: And thoſe Parts of Homer, which have already been publiſhed by Mr. Pope, give us reaſon to think that the Iliad will appear in Engliſh with as little Diſadvantage to that immortal Poem.

There is another Author, whom I have long wiſhed to ſee well tranſlated into Engliſh, as his Work is filled with a Spirit of Liberty, and more directly tends to raiſe Sentiments of Honour and Virtue in his Reader, than any of the poetical Writings of Antiquity. I mean the Pharſalia of Lucan. This is the only Author of Conſideration among the Latin Poets, who was not explained for the Uſe of the Dauphin, for a very obvious Reaſon; becauſe the whole Pharſalia would have been no leſs than a Satyr upon the French Form of Government. The Tranſlation of this Author is now in the Hands of Mr. Rowe, who has already given the World ſome admirable Specimens of it; and not only kept up the Fire of the Original, but delivered the Sentiments with greater Perſpicuity, and in a finer Turn of Phraſe and Verſe.

As Undertakings of ſo difficult a Nature require the greateſt Encouragements, one cannot but rejoyce to ſee thoſe general Subſcriptions which have been made to them; eſpecially ſince if the two Works laſt mentioned are not finiſhed by thoſe maſterly Hands, which are now employed in them, we may deſpair of ſeeing them attempted by others.

AS the Care of our National Commerce redounds more to the Riches and Proſperity of the Publick, than any other Act of Government, it is pity that we do not ſee the State of it marked out in every particular Reign with greater Diſtinction and Accuracy, than what is uſual among our Engliſh Hiſtorians. We may however obſerve in general, that the beſt and wiſeſt of our Monarchs have not been leſs induſtrious to extend their Trade, than their Dominions; as it manifeſtly turns in a much higher Degree to the Welfare of the People, if not to the Glory of the Soveraign.

The firſt of our Kings who carried our Commerce, and conſequently our Navigation to a very great Height, was Edward the Third. This victorious Prince, by his many excellent Laws for the Encouragement of Trade, enabled his Subjects to ſupport him in his many glorious Wars upon the Continent, and turned the Scale ſo much in Favour of our Engliſh Merchandiſe, that, by a Balance of Trade taken in his Time, the Exported Commodities amounted to Two Hundred Ninety Four Thouſand Pounds, and the Imported but to Thirty Eight Thouſand.

Thoſe of his Succeſſors, under whoſe Regulations our Trade flouriſh'd moſt, were Henry the Seventh, and Queen Elizabeth. As the firſt of theſe was for his great Wiſdom very often ſtyled the Engliſh Solomon, he followed the Example of that wiſe King in nothing more, than by advancing the Traffick of his People. By this Means he reconciled to him the Minds of his Subjects, ſtrengthened himſelf in their Affections, improved very much the Navigation of the Kingdom, and repelled the frequent Attempts of his Enemies

As for Queen Elizabeth, ſhe had always the Trade of her Kingdom very much at Heart, and we may obſerve the Effects of it through the whole Courſe of her Reign, in the Love and Obedience of her People, as well as in the Defeats and Diſappointments of her Enemies.

It is with great Pleaſure that we ſee our preſent Soveraign applying his Thoughts ſo ſucceſsfully to the Advancement of our Traffick and conſidering himſelf as the King of a Trading Iſland. His Majeſty has already gained very conſiderable Advantages for his People and is ſtill employed in concerting Schemes and forming Treaties, for retrieving and enlarging our Privileges in the World of Commerce.

I ſhall only in this Paper take Notice of the Treaty concluded at Madrid on the 14th of December laſt, 1715; and by comparing it with that concluded at Utrecht on the 9th of December, 1713, ſhew ſeveral particulars in which the Treaty made with his preſent Majeſty is more advantageous to Great Britain, than that which was made in the laſt Reign; after this general Obſervation, that it is equally ſurprizing how ſo bad a Treaty came to be made at the end of a glorious and ſucceſsful War; and how ſo good a One has been obtained in the Beginning of a Reign diſturbed by ſuch inteſtine Commotions. But we may learn from hence, that the Wiſdom of a Soveraign, and the Integrity of his Miniſters, are more neceſſary for bringing about Works of ſuch Conſequence for the publick Good, than any Juncture of Time, or any other the moſt favourable Circumſtance.

We muſt here premiſe that by the Treaty concluded at Madrid in 1667, the Duties of Importation payable upon the Manufactures and Products of Great Britain, amounted upon the eſtabliſhed Valuation in the Spaniſh Book of Rates, (after the Deduction of the Gratia's). In Andaluſia to 11⅓ per Cent. in Valentia, to 5 per Cent. and in Catalonia to about 7 per Cent. or leſs; and conſequently upon the whole aforeſaid Trade, thoſe Duties could not exceed 10 per Cent. in a medium.

After this ſhort Account of the State of our Trade with Spain, before the Treaty of Utrecht under the late Queen, we muſt obſerve, that by the explanatory Articles of this laſt mentioned Treaty, the Duties of Importation upon the Products and Manufactures of Great Britain were augmented in Andaluſia to 27 ⅕ per Cent at a Medium.

But by the late Treaty made with His preſent Majeſty at Madrid, the ſaid Duties are again reduced according to the aforeſaid Treaty of 1667 And the Deduction of the Gratia's is eſtabliſhed as an inviolable Law, whereas, before, the Gratia's of the Farmers particularly were altogether precarious, and depended entirely upon Courteſy.

That the common Reader may underſtand the Nature of theſe Gratia's, he muſt know that when the King of Spain had laid higher Duties upon our Engliſh Goods, than what the Merchants were able or willing to comply with, he uſed to abate a certain Part: which Indulgence, or Abatement, went under the Name of a Gratia. But when he had Farmed out theſe his Cuſtoms to ſeveral of his Subjects, the Farmers, in order to draw more Merchandiſe to their reſpective Ports, and thereby to increaſe their own particular Profits, uſed to make new Abatements, or Gratia's to the Britiſh Merchants, endeavouring ſometimes to outvy one another in ſuch Indulgences, and by that Means to get a greater Proportion of Cuſtom into their own Hands.

But to proceed: The Duties on Exportation may be computed to be raiſed by the Utrecht Treaty, near as much as the foreſaid Duties of Importation: Whereas, by the Treaty made with His preſent Majeſty, they are reduced to their ancient Standard.

Complaint having been made, that the Spaniards after the Suſpenſion of Arms had taken ſeveral New-England and other Britiſh Ships gathering Salt at the Iſland of Tertuga, a very full and juſt Report concerning that Affair was laid before Her late Majeſty, of which I ſhall give the Reader the following Extract:

'Your Majeſty's Subjects have, from the firſt Settlement of the Continent of America had a free Acceſs to this Iſland; and have without Interruptions, unleſs in Time of War, uſed to take what Salt they pleaſed there: And we have Proofs of that Uſage for above 50 Years, as appears by Certificates of Perſons who have been employed in that Trade.

'It doth not appear, upon the ſtricteſt Enquiry, that the Spaniards ever inhabited or ſettled on the ſaid Iſland; nor is it probable they ever did, it being all either barren Rock, or dry Sand, and having no freſh Water or Proviſions in it.

'We take Leave to lay before Your Majeſty, the Conſequence of Your Majeſty's Subjects being prohibited to fetch Salt at Tertuga; which will in part appear from the Number of Ships uſing that Trade, being, as we are informed, one Year with another about 100 Sail.

'The Salt carried from thence to New-England is uſed chiefly for curing of Fiſh, which is either Cod, Scale-Fiſh, or Mackrel: The former of which is the principal Branch of the Returns made from the Continent to Great Britain by Way of Spain, Portugal, and the Straits, for the Woollen and other Goods ſent from this Kingdom thither. Beſides which, the Scale-Fiſh and Mackrel are of ſuch Conſequence, that the Sugar Iſlands cannot ſubſiſt without them, their Negroes being chiefly ſupported by this Fiſh: So that if they were not ſupplied therewith from New-England, (which they cannot be, if Your Majeſty's Subjects are prohibited from getting Salt at Tertuga) they would not be able to carry on their Sugar Works. This hath been confirmed to us by ſeveral conſiderable Planters concerned in thoſe Parts.

'Upon the whole, Your Majeſty's Subjects having enjoyed an uninterrupted Uſage of gathering Salt at Tertuga ever ſince the firſt Settlement of the Continent as aforeſaid, we humbly ſubmit to Your Majeſty the Conſequence of preſerving that Uſage and Right upon which the Trade of Your Majeſty's Plantations ſo much depends.'

Notwithſtanding it appears from what is above-written, that our Sugar-Iſlands were like to ſuffer conſiderably for want of Fiſh from New-England, no Care was taken to have this Matter remedied by the Explanatory Articles, which were poſterior to the above mentioned Report.

However in the Third Article of the Treaty made with His preſent Majeſty, this Buſineſs is fully ſettled to our Advantage.

The Britiſh Merchants having had ſeveral Hardſhips put upon them at Bilboa, which occaſioned the Decay of our Trade at that Place the ſaid Merchants did make and execute in the Year 1700, a Treaty of Privileges with the Magiſtrates and Inhabitants of St. Ander, very much to the Advantage of this Kingdom, in order to their removing and ſettling there: The Effect of which was prevented by the Death of King Charles the Second of Spain, and the War which ſoon after enſued. This Matter it ſeems, wa • ſlighted or neglected by the Managers of the Utrecht Treaty: For, by the 14th Article of tha • Treaty, there is only a Liberty given to the Bri+ tiſh Subjects to ſettle and dwell at St. Ander, upon the Terms of the 9th and 30th Articles of the Treaty of 1667, which are general. But no Regard was had to the forementioned Treaty of Privileges in 1700; whereas by the Second Article of the Treaty now made with His preſent Majeſty, the forementioned Treaty of Privileges with St. Ander is confirmed and ratified.

Another conſiderable Advantage is, that the French, by the Treaty made with His preſent Majeſty, are to pay the ſame Duties at the Dry-Ports, through which they paſs by Land-Cartiage, as we pay upon Importation or Exportation by Sea: Which was not provided for by the Utrecht Treaty.

By the Cedula's annexed to the Treaty of 1667, the valuable Privilege of having Judge-Conſervators (appointed to make a more ſpeedy and leſ expenſive Determination of all Controverſies ariſing in Trade) was fully eſtabliſhed. But by the 15th Article of Utrecht that Privilege was in effect given up. For it is therein only ſtipulated, That in caſe any other Nation have that Privilege, we ſhall in like Manner enjoy it. But by the 5th Article of the Treaty now made with his preſent Majeſty it is ſtipulated, that We ſhall enjoy all the Rights, Privileges, Franchiſes, Exemptions, and Immunities whatſoever, which we enjoyed by virtue of the Royal Cedula's or Ordinances by the Treaty of 1667. So that hereby the Privilege of Judge-Conſervators is again confirmed to us.

As nothing but the Reputation of His Majeſty in foreign Countries, and of his fixed Purpoſes to purſue the real Good of His Kingdoms, could bring about Treaties of this Nature: So 'tis impoſſible to reflect with Patience on the Folly and Ingratitude of thoſe Men, who labour to diſturb Him in the midſt of theſe His Royal Cares, and to miſrepreſent His generous Endeavours for the Good of His People.

SEveral Authors have written on the Advantage of Trade in general; which is indeed ſo copious a Subject, that as it is impoſſible to exhauſt it in a ſhort Diſcourſe, ſo it is very difficult to obſerve any thing new upon it. I ſhall, therefore, only conſider Trade in this Paper, as it is abſolutely neceſſary and eſſential to the Safety, Strength, and Proſperity of our own Nation.

In the firſt Place, as we are an Iſland accommodated on all Sides with convenient Ports, and encompaſſed with navigable Seas, we ſhould be inexcuſable, if we did not make theſe Bleſſings of Providence and Advantages of Nature turn to their proper Account. The moſt celebrated Merchants in the World, and thoſe who make the greateſt Figure in Antiquity, were ſituated in the little Iſland of Tyre, which, by the prodigious Increaſe of its Wealth and Strength at Sea, did very much influence the moſt conſiderable Kingdoms and Empires on the neighbouring Continent, and gave birth to the Carthaginians, who afterwards exceeded all other Nations in Naval Power. The old Tyre was indeed ſeated on the Continent, from whence the Inhabitants, after having been beſieged by the Great King of Aſſyria for the Space of thirteen Years, withdrew themſelves and their Effects into the Iſland of Tyre; where, by the Benefit of ſuch a Situation, a Trading People were enabled to hold out for many Ages againſt the Attempts of their Enemies, and became the Merchants of the World.

Further; as an Iſland, we are acceſſible on every Side, and expoſed to perpetual Invaſions; againſt which it is impoſſible to fortify ourſelves ſufficiently, without ſuch a Power at Sea, as is not to be kept up, but by a People who flouriſh in Commerce. To which we muſt add, that our inland Towns being deſtitute of Fortifications, it is our indiſpenſable Concern to preſerve this our Naval Strength, which is as a general Bulwark to the Britiſh Nation.

Beſides; as an Iſland, it has not been thought agreeable to the true Britiſh Policy to make Acquiſitions upon the Continent. In lieu, therefore, of ſuch an Increaſe of Dominion, it is our Buſineſs to extend to the utmoſt our Trade and Navigation. By this means, we reap the Advantages of Conqueſt, without Violence or Injuſtice; we not only ſtrengthen ourſelves, but gain the Wealth of our Neighbours in an honeſt Way; and, without any Act of Hoſtility, lay the ſeveral Nations of the World under a kind of Contribution.

Secondly, Trade is fitted to the Nature of our Countrey, as it abounds with a great Profuſion of Commodities of its own Growth very convenient for other Countries, and is naturally •••… titute of many Things ſuited to the Exigences, Ornaments and Pleaſures of Life, which may be fetched from foreign Parts. But, that which is more particularly to be remarked, our Britiſh Products are of ſuch Kinds and Quantities, as can turn the Balance of Trade to our Advantage, and enable us to ſell more to Foreigners, than we have occaſion to buy from them.

To this we muſt add, that by extending a well-regulated Trade, we are as great Gainers by the Commodities of many other Countries, as by thoſe of our own Nation; and by ſupplying foreign Markets with the Growth and Manufactures of the moſt diſtant Regions, we receive the ſame Profit from them, as if they were the Produce of our own Iſland.

Thirdly, We are not a little obliged to Trade, as it has been a great Means of civilizing our Nation, and baniſhing out of it all the Remains of its antient Barbarity. There are many bitter Sayings againſt Iſlanders in general, repreſenting them as fierce, treacherous, and inhoſpitable. Thoſe who live on the Continent have ſuch Opportunities of a frequent Intercourſe with Men of different Religions and Languages, and who live under different Laws and Governments, that they become more kind▪ benevolent, and open-hearted to their Fellow Creatures, than thoſe who are the Inhabitant • of an Iſland, that hath not ſuch Converſation • with the reſt of the Species. Caeſar's Obſervation upon our Fore-fathers is very much to 〈◊〉 preſent Purpoſe; who remarks, That thoſe 〈◊〉 'em that lived upon the Coaſt, or in Sea Port Towns, were much more Civilized, tha • thoſe who had their Dwellings in the Inlan • Countrey, by reaſon of frequent Communications with their Neighbours on the Continent.

In the laſt Place. Trade is abſolutely neceſſary for us, as our Countrey is very populous. It employs Multitudes of Hands both by Sea and Land, and furniſhes the pooreſt of our Fellow-Subjects with the Opportunities of gaining an honeſt Livelihood. The skilful or induſtrious find their Account in it: And many, who have no fixed Property in the Soil of our Countrey, can make themſelves Maſters of as conſiderable Eſtates, as thoſe who have the greateſt Portions of the Land deſcending to them by Inheritance.

If what has been often charged upon us by our Neighbours has any Truth in it, That we are prone to Sedition and delight in Change, there is no Cure more proper for this Evil than Trade, which thus ſupplies Buſineſs to the Active, and Wealth to the Indigent. When Men are eaſy in their Circumſtances, they are naturally Enemies to Innovations: And indeed we ſee in the Courſe of our Engliſh Hiſtories, many of our popular Commotions have taken their Riſe from the Decay of ſome Branch of Commerce, which created Diſcontents among Perſons concerned in the Manufactures of the Kingdom. When Men are ſowred with Poverty, and unemployed, they eaſily give into any Proſpect of Change, which may better their Condition, and cannot make it much worſe.

Since therefore it is manifeſt, that the promoting of our Trade and Commerce is neceſſary and eſſential to our Security and Strength, our Peace and Proſperity, it is our particular Happineſs to ſee a Monarch on the Throne, who is ſenſible of the true Intereſt of his Kingdoms, and applies himſelf with ſo much Succeſs to the Advancement of our National Commerce.

The Reader may ſee, in my laſt Paper, the Advantages which His Majeſty has gained for us in our Spaniſh Trade. In this, I ſhall give a ſhort Account of thoſe procured for us from the Auſtrain Low-Countries, by Virtue of the 26th Article of the Barrier Treaty made at Antwerp the 15th of November laſt.

This Branch of our Trade was regulated by a Tariff, or Declaration of the Duties of Import and Export in the Year 1670. which was ſuperſeded by another made in 1680. that continued till this laſt Tariff ſettled in 1715. with His preſent Majeſty. As for the two former, thoſe who are at the Pains of peruſing them will find, the Tariff of 1670. laid higher Duties on ſeveral conſiderable Branches of our Trade, than that of 1680, but in many Particulars, was more favourable to us than the latter. Now, by the preſent Tariff of 1715. theſe Duties are fixed and regulated for the future by thoſe which were moſt favourable in either of the former Tariffs: And all our Products and Manufactures (one only excepted, which I ſhall name by and by) ſettled upon rather an eaſier foot than ever.

Our Woollen Cloths, being the moſt profitable Branch of our Trade into theſe Countries, have by this means gained a very conſiderable Advantage. For the Tariff of 1680. having laid higher Duties upon the finer ſorts, and lower Duties on ordinary Cloth, than what were ſettled in the Tariff of 1670. His Majeſty has, by the preſent Treaty, reduced the Duties on the finer ſorts to the Tariff of 1670. and confirmed the Duties on ordinary Cloth according to the Tariff of 1680. Inſomuch that this preſent Tariff of 1 • 15. conſidered, with relation to this valu+ able part of our Trade, reduces the Duties at leaſt one ſixth Part, ſuppoſing the Exportation of all ſorts to be equal. But as there is always a much greater Exportation of the ordinary Cloth, than of the finer ſorts, the Reduction of theſe Duties becomes ſtill much more conſiderable.

We muſt farther obſerve, that there had been ſeveral Innovations made to the Detriment of the Engliſh Merchant ſince the Tariff of 1680. all which Innovations are now entirely ſet aſide upon every Species of Goods, except Butter, which is here particularly mentioned, becauſe we cannot be too minute and circumſtantial in Accounts of this Nature. This Article however is moderated, and is rated in proportion to what has been, and is ſtill to be, paid by the Dutch.

As our Commerce with the Netherlands is thus ſettled to the Advantage of our Britiſh Merchants, ſo is it much to their Satisfaction: And if His Majeſty, in the ſeveral ſucceeding Parts of his Reign (which we hope may be many Years prolonged) ſhould advance our Commerce in the ſame Proportion as he has already done, we may expect to ſee it in a more flouriſhing Condition, than under any of His Royal Anceſtors. He ſeems to place his Greatneſs in the Riches and Proſperity of his People; and what may we not hope from him in a Time of Quiet and Tranquillity? Since, during the late Diſtractions, he has done ſo much for the Advantage of our Trade, when we could not reaſonably expect he ſhould have been able to do any thing.

AS I was laſt Friday taking a Walk in the Park, I ſaw a Countrey Gentleman at the ſide of Roſamond's Pond, pulling a Handful of Oats out of his Pocket, and with a great deal of Pleaſure, gathering the Ducks about him. Upon my coming up to him, who ſhould it be but my Friend the Fox-hunter, whom I gave ſome Account of in my 22d Paper! I immediately joined him, and partook of his Diverſion, till he had not an Oat left in his Pocket. We then made the Tour of the Park together, when after having entertained me with the Deſcription of a Decoy-Pond that lay near his Seat in the Countrey, and of a Meeting Houſe that was going to be re-built in a neighbouring Market-Town, he gave me an Account of ſome very odd Adventures which he had met with that Morning; and which I ſhall lay together in a ſhort and faithful Hiſtory, as well as my Memory will give me Leave.

My Friend, who has a natural Averſion to London, would never have come up, had not he been ſubpaena'd to it, as he told me, in order to give his Teſtimony for one of the Rebels, whom he knew to be a very fair Sports-man. Having travelled all Night, to avoid the Inconveniencies of Duſt and Heat, he arrived with his Guide, a little after break of Day, at Charing-Croſs; where, to his great Surprize, he ſaw a running Footman carried in a Chair, followed by a Water-man in the ſame kind of Vehicle. He was wondering at the Extravagance of their Maſters, that furniſhed them with ſuch Dreſſes and Accommodations, when on a ſudden he beheld a Chimney-Sweeper, convey'd after the ſame manner, with three Footmen running before him. During his Progreſs through the Strand, he met with ſeveral other Figures no leſs wonderful and ſurprizing. Seeing a great many in rich Morning-Gowns, he was amazed to find that Perſons of Quality were up ſo early: And was no leſs aſtoniſhed to ſee many Lawyers in their Bar-Gowns, when he knew by his Almanack the Term was ended. As he was extremely 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 puzzled and confounded in himſelf what all this ſhould mean, a Hackney-Coach chancing to paſs by him, Four Batts popp'd out their Heads all at once, which very much frighted both him and his Horſe. My Friend, who always takes Care to cure his Horſe of ſuch ſtarting Fits, ſpurred him up to the very ſide of the Coach, to the no ſmall Diverſion of the Batts; who, ſeeing him with his long Whip, Horſe-hair Perriwig, Jockey Belt, and Coat without Sleeves, fancied him to be one of the Maſqueraders on Horſeback, and received him with a loud Peal of Laughter. His Mind being full of idle Stories, which are ſpread up and down the Nation by the Diſaffected, he immediately concluded that all the Perſons he ſaw in theſe ſtrange Habits were Foreigners, and conceived a great Indignation againſt them, for pretending to laugh at an Engliſh Countrey-Gentleman. But he ſoon recovered out of his Error, by hearing the Voices of ſeveral of them, and particularly of a Shepherdeſs quarrelling with her Coachman, and threatning to break his Bones in very intelligible Engliſh, though with a maſculine Tone. His Aſtoniſhment ſtill increaſed upon him, to ſee a continued Proceſſion of Harlequins, Searamouches, Punchinello's, and a thouſand other merry Dreſſes, by which People of Quality diſtinguiſh their Wit from that of the Vulgar.

Being now advanced as far as Somerſet-Houſe, and obſerving it to be the great Hive whence this Swarm of Chimeras iſſued forth from Time to Time, my Friend took his Station among a Cluſter of Mob, who were making themſelves merry with their Betters. The firſt that came out was a very venerable Matron, with a Noſe and Chin, that were within a very littl • of touching one another. My Friend, at the firſt View fancying her to be an old Woman of Quality, out of his good breeding put off his Hat to her, when the Perſon pulling off her Maſque, to his great Surprize appear'd a Smock-faced young Fellow. His Attention was ſoon taken off from this Object, and turned to another that had very hollow Eyes and a wrinkled Face, which flouriſhed in all the Bloom of Fifteen. The Whiteneſs of the Lilly was blended in it with the Bluſh of the Roſe. He miſtook it for a very whimſical kind of Maſque; but upon a nearer View he found that ſhe held her Vizard in her Hand, and that what he ſaw was only her natural Countenance, touched up with the uſual Improvements of an aged Coquette.

The next who ſhew'd her ſelf was a Female Quaker, ſo very pretty, that he could not forbear licking his Lips, and ſaying to the Mob about him, 'Tis ten thouſand Pities ſhe is not a Church-Woman. The Quaker was followed by half a dozen Nuns, who filed off one after another up Catherine-ſtreet, to their reſpective Convents in Drury-lane.

The 'Squire obſerving the Preciſeneſs of their Dreſs, began now to imagine after all, that this was a Neſt of Sectaries; for he had often heard that the Town was full of them. He was confirmed in this Opinion upon ſeeing a Conjurer, whom he gueſs'd to be the Holder-forth. However, to ſatisfie himſelf he asked a Porter, who ſtood next him, What Religion theſe People were of? The Porter reply'd, They are of no Religion; 'tis a Maſquerade. Upon that, ſays my Friend, I began to ſmoak that they were a Parcel of Mummers; and being himſelf one of the Quorum in his own County, could not but wonder that none of the Middleſex Juſtices took Care to lay ſome of them by the Heels. He was the more provoked in the Spirit of Magiſtracy, upon diſcovering two very unſeemly Objects: The firſt was a Judge, who rapp'd out a great Oath at his Footman; and the other a big belly'd Woman, who upon taking a Leap into the Coach, miſcarry'd of a Cuſhion. What ſtill gave him greater Offence was a drunken Biſhop, who reeled from one ſide of the Court to the other, and was very ſweet upon an Indian Queen. But his Worſhip, in the midſt of his Auſterity, was mollify'd at the Sight of a very lovely Milk-maid, whom he began to regard with an Eye of Mercy, and conceived a particular Affection for her, 'till he found to his great Amazement, that the Standers by ſuſpected her to be a Dutcheſs.

I muſt not conclude this Narrative without mentioning one Diſaſter which happened to my Friend on this Occaſion. Having for his better Convenience diſmounted, and mixed among the Crowd, he found upon his Arrival at the Inn, that he had loſt his Purſe and his Almanack. And though 'tis no Wonder ſuch a Trick ſhould be played him by ſome of the curious Spectators, he cannot beat it out of his Head, but that it was a Cardinal who picked his Pocket, and that this Cardinal was a Presbyterian in Diſguiſe.

YEſterday was ſet apart as a Day of Publick Thankſgiving for the late extraordinary Succeſſes, which have ſecured to us every Thing that can be eſteemed, and delivered us from every Thing that can be apprehended, by a Proteſtant and a Free People. I cannot but obſerve, upon this Occaſion, the natural Tendency in ſuch a National Devotion, to inſpire Men with Sentiments of religious Gratitude, and to ſwell their Hearts with inward Tranſports of Joy and Exultation.

When Inſtances of Divine Favour, are great in themſelves, when they are freſh upon the Memory, when they are peculiar to a certain Countrey, and commemorated by them in large and ſolemn Aſſemblies; A Man muſt be of a very cold or degenerate Temper, whoſe Heart doth not burn within him in the midſt of that Praiſe and Adoration, which ariſes at the ſame Hour in all the different Parts of the Nation, and from the many Thouſands of the People.

It is impoſſible to read of Extraordinary and National Acts of Worſhip, without being warmed with the Deſcription, and feeling ſome Degree of that Divine Enthuſiaſm, which ſpreads it ſelf among a joyful and religious Multitude. A Part of that exuberant Devotion, with which the whole Aſſembly raiſed and animated one another, catches a Reader at the greateſt Diſtance of Time, and makes him a kind of Sharer in it.

Among all the publick Solemnities of this Nature there is none in Hiſtory ſo glorious as that under the Reign of King Solomon, at the Dedication of the Temple. Beſides the great Officers of State, and the Inhabitants of Jeruſalem, all the Elders and Heads of Tribes, with the whole Body of the People ranged under them, from one end of the Kingdom to the other, were ſummoned to aſſiſt in it. We may gueſs at the prodigious Number of this Aſſembly from the Sacrifice on which they feaſted, conſiſting of a Hundred and Twenty Thouſand Sheep, and Two Hundred and Twenty Hecatombs of Oxen. When this vaſt Congregation was formed into a regular Proceſſion to attend the Ark of the Covenant, the King marched at the Head of his People, with Hymns and Dances to the new Temple, which he had erected for its Reception. Joſephus tells us, that the Levites ſprinkled the Way as they paſſed with the Blood of Sacrifices, and burned the holy Incenſe in ſuch Quantities as refreſhed the whole Multitude with its Odours, and filled all the Region about them with Perfume. When the Ark was depoſited under the Wings of the Cherubims in the holy Place, the great Conſort of Praiſe began. It was enlivened with a Hundred and Twenty Trumpets, aſſiſted with a proportionable Number of other kinds of muſical Inſtruments, and accompanied with innumerable Voices of all the Singers of Iſrael, who were inſtructed and ſet apart to religious Performances of this kind. As this mighty Chorus was extolling their Maker, and exciting the whole Nation thus aſſembled to the Praiſe of his never-ceaſing Goodneſs and Mercy, the Shekinah deſcended: Or to tell it in the more emphatical Words of holy Writ, It came to paſs, as the Trumpets and Singers were as one, to make one Sound to be heard in praiſing and thanking the Lord, and when they lift up their Voice with the Trumpets and Cymbals, and Inſtruments of Muſick, and praiſed the Lord ſaying, For he is good, for his Mercy endureth for ever; that then the Houſe was filled with a Cloud. The Prieſts themſelves, not able to bear the Awfulneſs of the Appearance, retired into the Court of the Temple, where the King being placed upon a brazen Scaffold, ſo as to be ſeen by the whole Multitude, bleſſed the Congregation of Iſrael, and afterwards, ſpreading forth his Hands to Heaven, offered up that Divine Prayer which is twice recorded at length in Scripture, and has always been looked upon as a Compoſition fit to have proceeded from the wiſeſt of Men. He had no ſooner finiſhed his Prayer, when a Flaſh of Fire fell from Heaven and burned up the Sacrifice which lay ready upon the Altar. The People, whoſe Hearts were gradually moved by the Solemnity of the whole Proceeding, having been exalted by the religious Strains of Muſick, and aw'd by the Appearance of that Glory which filled the Temple, ſeeing now the miraculous Conſumption of the Sacrifice, and obſerving the Piety of their King, who lay proſtrate before his Maker, bowed themſelves with their Faces to the Ground upon the Pavement, and worſhipped and praiſed the Lord, ſaying, For he is good, for his Mercy endureth for ever.

What Happineſs might not ſuch a Kingdom promiſe to itſelf, where the ſame elevated Spirit of Religion ran through the Prince, the Prieſts, and the People! But I ſhall quit this Head, to obſerve that ſuch an uncommon Fervour of Devotion ſhewed itſelf among our own Countreymen, and in the Perſons of three Princes, who were the greateſt Conquerors in our Engliſh Hiſtory. Theſe are Edward the Third, his Son the Black Prince, and Henry the Fifth. As for the firſt, we are told that, before the famous Battel of Creſſy, he ſpent the greateſt Part of the Night in Prayer, and in the Morning received the Sacrament with his Son, the chief of his Officers, and Nobility. The Night of that glorious Day was no leſs piouſly diſtinguiſhed by the Orders, which he gave out to his Army, that they ſhould forbear all inſulting of their Enemies, or boaſting of their own Valour, and employ their Time in returning Thanks to the great Giver of the Victory. The Black Prince, before the Battel of Poictiers, declared, that his whole Confidence was in the Divine Aſſiſtance; and after that great Victory, behaved himſelf in all Particulars like a truly Chriſtian Conqueror. Eight Days ſucceſſively were appointed by his Father in England, for a Solemn and Publick Thankſgiving; and when the young Prince returned in Triumph with a King of France as his Priſoner, the Pomp of the Day conſiſted chiefly in extraordinary Proceſſions, and Acts of Devotion. The Behaviour of the Black Prince, after a Battel in Spain, whereby he reſtored the King of Caſtile to his Dominions, was no leſs remarkable. When that King, tranſported with his Succeſs, flung himſelf upon his Knees to thank him, the generous Prince ran to him, and, taking him by the Hand, told him it was not He who could lay any Claim to his Gratitude, but deſired they might go to the Altar together, and jointly return their Thanks to whom only it was due.

Henry V. (who at the Beginning of his Reign, made a publick Prayer in the Preſence of his Lords and Commons, that he might be cut off by an immediate Death, if Providence foreſaw he would not prove a juſt and good Governor, and promote the Welfare of his People) manifeſtly derived his Courage from his Piety, and was ſcrupulouſly careful not to aſcribe the Succeſs of it to himſelf. When he came within Sight of that prodigious Army, which offered him Battel at Agincourt, he ordered all his Cavalry to diſmount, and with the reſt of his Forces, to implore upon their Knees a Bleſſing on their Undertaking. In a noble Speech, which he made to his Soldiers immediately before the firſt Onſet, he took Notice of a very remarkable Circumſtance, namely, that this very Day of Battel was the Day appointed in his own Kingdom, to offer up publick Devotions for the Proſperity of his Arms, and therefore bid them not doubt of Victory, ſince at the ſame Time that they were fighting in the Field, all the People of England were lifting up their Hands to Heaven for their Succeſs. Upon the cloſe of that memorable Day, in which the King had performed Wonders wirh his own Hand, he ordered the CXVth Pſalm to be repeated in the midſt of his victorious Army, and at the Words, Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy Name be the Praiſe, He himſelf, with his whole Hoſt, fell to the Earth upon their Faces, aſcribing to Omnipotence the whole Glory of ſo great an Action.

I ſhall conclude this Paper with a Reflection, which naturally riſes out of it. As there is nothing more beautiful in the Sight of God and Man, than a King and his People concurring in ſuch extraordinary Acts of Devotion, one cannot ſuppoſe a greater Contradiction and Abſurdity in a Government, than where the King is of one Religion and the People of another. What Harmony or Correſpondence can be expected between a Soveraign and his Subjects, when they cannot join together in the moſt joyful, the moſt ſolemn, and moſt laudable Action of reaſonable Creatures; in a word, where the Prince conſiders his People as Hereticks, and the People look upon their Prince as an Idolater!

WHEN Mahomet had for many Years endeavoured to propagate his Impoſture among his Fellow-Citizens, and, inſtead of gaining any Number of Proſelytes, found his Ambition fruſtrated, and his Notions ridiculed; he forbad his Followers the Uſe of Argument and Diſputation in the advancing of his Doctrines, and to rely only upon the Scimeter for their Succeſs. Chriſtianity, he obſerved, had made its way by Reaſon and Miracles, but he profeſs'd it was his Deſign to ſave Men by the Sword. From that time he began to knock down his Fellow-Citizens with a great deal of Zeal, to plunder Caravans with a moſt exemplary Sanctity, and to fill all Arabia with an unnatural Medly of Religion and Bloodſhed.

The Enemies of our happy Eſtabliſhment ſeem at preſent to copy out the Piety of this ſeditious Prophet, and to have Recourſe to his laudable Method of Club Law, when they find all other Means for enforcing the Abſurdity of their Opinions to be ineffectual. It was uſual among the antient Romans, for thoſe, who had ſaved the Life of a Citizen, to be dreſt in an Oaken Garland; but among us, This has been a Mark of ſuch well-intentioned Perſons, as would betray their Countrey, if they were able, and beat out the Brains of their Fellow-Subjects. Nay, the Leaders of this poor unthinking Rabble, to ſhew their Wit, have lately decked them out of their Kitchen Gardens in a moſt inſipid Pun, very well ſuited to the Capacity of ſuch Followers.

This manner of proceeding has had an Effect quite contrary to the Intention of theſe ingenious Demagogues: For by ſetting ſuch an unfortunate Mark on their Followers, they have expoſed them to innumerable Drubs and Confuſions. They have been cudgell'd moſt unmercifully in every part of London and Weſtminſter; and over all the Nation have avowed their Principles, to the unſpeakable Damage of their Bones. In ſhort, if we may believe our Accounts both from Town and Countrey, the Noſes and Ears of the Party are very much diminiſhed, ſince they have appeared under this unhappy Diſtinction.

The Truth of it is, there is ſuch an unaccountable Frenzy and Licentiouſneſs ſpread through the baſeſt of the People, of all Parties and Denominations, that if their Skirmiſhes did not proceed to too great an Extremity, one would not be ſorry to ſee them beſtowing ſo liberally, upon one another, a Chaſtiſement which they ſo richly deſerve. Their Thumps and Bruiſes might turn to account, and ſave the Government a great deal of Trouble, if they could beat each other into good Manners.

Were not Advice thrown away on ſuch a thoughtleſs Rabble, one would recommend to their ſerious Conſideration what is ſuſpected, and indeed known, to be the Cauſe of theſe popular Tumults and Commotions in this great City. They are the Popiſh Miſſionaries, that lie concealed under many Diſguiſes in all Quarters of the Town, who mix themſelves in theſe dark Scuffles, and animate the Mob to ſuch mutual Outrages and Inſults. This profligate Species of Modern Apoſtles divert themſelves at the Expence of a Government, which is oppoſite to their Intereſts, and are pleaſed to ſee the broken Heads of Hereticks, in what Party ſoever they have liſted themſelves. Their Treatment of our ſilly Countreymen, puts me in mind of an Account in Tavernier's Travels through the Eaſt Indies. This Author tells us, there is a great Wood in thoſe Parts very plentifully ſtocked with Monkies; that a large High-way runs through the middle of this Wood; and that the Monkies who live on the one Side of this High-way, are declared Enemies to thoſe who live on the other. When the Inhabitants of that Countrey have a Mind to give themſelves a Diverſion, it is uſual for them to ſet theſe poor Animals together by the Ears; which they do after this Manner. They place ſeveral Pots of Rice in the middle of the Road, with great Heaps of Cudgels in the Neighbourhood of every Pot. The Monkies, on the firſt Diſcovery of theſe Proviſions, deſcend from the Trees on either Side in prodigious Numbers, take up the Arms, with which their good Friends have furniſhed them, and belabour one another with a Storm of Thwacks, to the no ſmall Mirth and Entertainment of the Beholders. This Mob of Monkies act however ſo far reaſonably in this Point, as the victorious Side of the Wood find, upon the Repulſe of their Enemies, a conſiderable Booty on the Field of Battel; whereas our Party-Mobs are betrayed into the Fray without any Proſpect of the Feaſt.

If our common People have not Virtue enough left among them, to lay aſide this wicked and unnatural Hatred which is crept into their Hearts againſt one another, nor Senſe enough to reſiſt the Artifice of thoſe Incendiaries, who would animate them to the Deſtruction of their Countrey; it is high time for the Government to exert it ſelf in the repreſſing of ſuch ſeditious Tumults and Commotions. If that extraordinary Lenity and Forbearance which has been hitherto ſhewn on thoſe Occaſions, proves ineffectual to that Purpoſe, theſe Miſcreants of the Community ought to be made ſenſible, that our Conſtitution is armed with a ſufficient Force for the Reformation of ſuch Diſorders, and the Settlement of the publick Peace.

There cannot be a greater Affront to Religion, than ſuch a tumultuous Riſing of the People, who diſtinguiſh the Times ſet apart for the National Devotions by the moſt brutal Scenes of Violence, Clamour, and Intemperance. The Day begins with a Thankſgiving, and ends in a Riot. Inſtead of the Voice of mutual Joy and Gladneſs, there is nothing heard in our Streets but opprobrious Language, Ribaldry and Contention.

As ſuch a Practice is ſcandalous to our Religion, ſo it is no leſs a Reproach to our Government. We are become a By-word among the Nations for our ridiculous Feuds and Animoſities, and fill all the publick Prints of Europe with the Accounts of our Mid-night Brawls and Confuſions.

The Miſchiefs ariſing to private Perſons from theſe vile Diſturbers of the Common wealth are too many to be enumerated. The Great and Innocent are inſulted by the Scum and Refuſe of the People. Several poor Wretches, who have engaged in theſe Commotions, have been diſabled, for their Lives, from doing any Good to their Families and Dependents; nay, ſeveral of them have fallen a Sacrifice to their own inexcuſable Folly and Madneſs. Should the Government be wearied out of its preſent Patience and Forbearance, and forced to execute all thoſe Powers with which it is inveſted for the Preſervation of the publick Peace; what is to be expected by ſuch Heaps of turbulent and ſeditious Men!

Theſe and the like Conſiderations, though they may have no Influence on the headſtrong unruly Multitude, ought to ſink into the Minds of thoſe who are their Abettors, and who, if they eſcape the Puniſhment here due to them, muſt very well know that theſe ſeveral Miſchiefs will be one Day laid to their Charge.

AS there is nothing which more improves the Mind of Man, than the reading of antient Authors, when it is done with Judgment and Diſcretion; ſo there is nothing which gives a more unlucky Turn to the Thoughts of a Reader, when he wants Diſcernment, and loves and admires the Characters and Actions of Men in a wrong Place. Alexander the Great was ſo inflamed with falſe Notions of Glory, by reading the Story of Achilles in the Iliad, that after having taken a Town, he ordered the Governor, who had made a gallant Defence, to be bound by the Feet to his Chariot; and afterwards dragg'd the brave Man round the City, becauſe Hector had been treated in the ſame barbarous manner by his admired Hero.

Many Engliſhmen have proved very pernicious to their own Countrey, by following blindly the Examples of Perſons to be met with in Greek and Roman Hiſtory, who acted in Conformity with their own Governments, after a quite different manner, than they would have acted in a Conſtitution like that of ours. Such a Method of proceeding is as unreaſonable in a Politician, as it would be in a Husbandman to make uſe of Virgil's Precepts of Agriculture, in managing the Soil of our Countrey, that lies in a quite different Climate, and under the Influence of almoſt another Sun.

Our Regicides in the Commiſſion of the moſt execrable Murder uſed to juſtify themſelves from the Conduct of Brutus, not conſidering that Caeſar, from the Condition of a Fellow-Citizen, had riſen by the moſt indirect Methods, and broken through all the Laws of the Community, to place himſelf at the Head of the Government, and enſlave his Countrey. On the other ſide, ſeveral of our Engliſh Readers, having obſerved that a Paſſive and Unlimited Obedience was payed to Roman Emperors, who were poſſeſſed of the whole Legiſlative, as well as Executive Power, have formerly endeavoured to inculcate the ſame kind of Obedience, where there is not the ſame kind of Authority.

Inſtructions therefore to be learned from Hiſtories of this Nature, are only ſuch as ariſe from Particulars agreeable to all Communities, or from ſuch as are common to our own Conſtitution, and to that of which we read. Atenacious Adherence to the Rights and Liberties tranſmitted from a wiſe and virtuous Anceſtry, Publick Spirit and a Love of ones Countrey, Submiſſion to eſtabliſhed Laws, impartial Adminiſtrations of Juſtice, a ſtrict Regard to National Faith, with ſeveral other Duties, which are the Supports and Ornaments of Government in general, cannot bee too much admired among the States of Greece and Rome, nor too much imitated by our own Community.

But there is nothing more abſurd, than for Men, who are converſant in theſe Antient Authors, to contract ſuch a Prejudice in favour of Greeks and Romans, as to fancy we are in the wrong in every Circumſtance whereby we deviate from their Moral or Political Conduct. Yet nothing hath been more uſual, than for Men of warm Heads to refine themſelves up into this kind of State-Pedantry: Like the Countrey School-maſter, who, being uſed for many Years to admire Jupiter, Mars, Bacchus and Apollo, that appear with ſo much Advantage in Claſſick Authors, made an Attempt to revive the Worſhip of the Heathen Gods. In ſhort, we find many worthy Gentlemen, whoſe Brains have been as much turned by this kind of reading, as the grave Knight's of Mancha were by his unwearied Application to Books of Knight-Errantry.

To prevent ſuch Miſchiefs from ariſing out of Studies, which, when rightly conducted, may turn very much to our Advantage, I ſhall venture to aſſert, that in our peruſal of Greek or Roman Authors, it is impoſſible to find a Religious or Civil Conſtitution, any way comparable to that which we enjoy in our own Countrey. Had not our Religion been infinitely preferable to that of the antient Heathens, it would never have made its way through Paganiſm, with that amazing Progreſs and Activity. It's Victories were the Victories of Reaſon unaſſiſted by the Force of human Power, and as gentle as the Triumphs of Light over Darkneſs. The ſudden Reformation which it made among Mankind, and which was ſo juſtly and frequently boaſted of by the firſt Apologiſts for Chriſtianity, ſhew how infinitely preferable it is to any Syſtem of Religion, that prevailed in the World before its Appearance. This Pre-eminence of Chriſtianity to any other general Religious Scheme, which preceded it, appears likewiſe from this Particular, that the moſt eminent and the moſt enlightned among the Pagan Philoſophers diſclaimed many of thoſe ſuperſtitious Follies, which are condemned by revealed Religion, and preached up ſeveral of thoſe Doctrines which are ſome of the moſt eſſential Parts of it.

And here I cannot but take Notice of that ſtrange Motive which is made uſe of in the Hiſtory of Free-thinking, to incline us to depart from the revealed Doctrines of Chriſtianity, as adhered to by the People of Great Britain, becauſe Socrates, with ſeveral other eminent Greeks, and Cicero, with many other learned Romans, did in the like Manner depart from the religious Notions of their own Countrey-men. Now this Author ſhould have conſider'd, that thoſe very Points, in which theſe wiſe Men diſagreed from the Bulk of the People, are Points in which they agreed with the received Doctrines of our Nation. Their Free-thinking conſiſted in aſſerting the Unity and Immateriality of the Godhead, the Immortality of the Soul, a State of future Rewards and Puniſhments, and the neceſſity of Virtue, excluſive of all ſilly and ſuperſtitious Practices, to procure the Happineſs of a ſeparate State. They were therefore only Free-thinkers, ſo far forth as they approach'd to the Doctrines of Chriſtianity, that is, to thoſe very Doctrines which this kind of Authors would perſuade us, as Free thinkers, to doubt the Truth of. Now I would appeal to any reaſonable Perſon, whether theſe great Men ſhould not have been propoſed to our Imitation, rather as they embraced theſe divine Truths, than only upon the Account of their breaking looſe from the common Notions of their Fellow-Citizens. But this would diſappoint the general Tendency of ſuch Writings.

I ſhall only add under this Head, that as Chriſtianity recovered the Law of Nature out of all thoſe Errors and Corruptions, with which it was overgrown in the Times of Paganiſm, our National Religion has reſtored Chriſtianity it ſelf to that Purity and Simplicity in which it appeared, before it was gradually diſguiſed and loſt among the Vanities and Superſtitions of the Romiſh Church.

That our Civil Conſtitution is preferable to any among the Greeks or Romans, may appear from this ſingle Conſideration; that the greateſt Theoriſts in Matters of this Nature, among thoſe very People have given the Preference to ſuch a Form of Government, as that which obtains in this Kingdom, above any other Form whatſoever. I ſhall mention Ariſtotle, Polybius and Cicero, that is, the greateſt Philoſopher, the moſt impartial Hiſtorian, and the moſt conſummate Stateſman of all Antiquity. Theſe famous Authors give the Pre-eminence to a mixt Government conſiſting of three Branches, the Regal, the Noble, and the Popular. It would be very eaſie to prove, not only the Reaſonableneſs of this Poſition, but to ſhew, that there was never any Conſtitution among the Greeks or Romans, in which theſe three Branches were ſo well diſtinguiſhed from each other, inveſted with ſuch ſuitable Proportions of Power, and concurred together in the Legiſlature, that is, in the moſt ſoveraign Acts of Government, with ſuch a neceſſary Conſent and Harmony, as are to be met with in the Conſtitution of this Kingdom. But I have obſerved, in a foregoing Paper, how defective the Roman Commonwealth was in this Particular, when compared with our own Form of Government, and it will not be difficult for the Reader, upon ſingling out any other ancient State; to find how far it will ſuffer in the Parallel.

THERE is in all Governments a certain Temper of Mind, natural to the Patriots and Lovers of their Conſtitution, which may be called State-Jealouſy. It is this which makes them apprehenſive of every Tendency in the People, or in any particular Member of the Community, to endanger or diſturb that Form of Rule, which is eſtabliſhed by the Laws and Cuſtoms of their Countrey. This political Jealouſy is abſolutely requiſite in ſome degree for the Preſervation of a Government, and very reaſonable in Perſons who are perſuaded of the Excellency of their Conſtitution, and believe that they derive from it the moſt valuable Bleſſings of Society.

This publick-ſpirited Paſſion is more ſtrong and active under ſome Governments, than others. The Commonwealth of Venice, which hath ſubſiſted by it for near fourteen hundred Years, is ſo jealous of all its Members, that it keeps continual Spies upon their Actions; and if any one of them preſume to cenſure the eſtabliſhed Plan of that Republick, or touch upon any of its Fundamentals, he is brought before a Secret Council of State, tried in a moſt rigorous manner, and put to Death without Mercy. The uſual way of proceeding with Perſons who diſcover themſelves unſatisfied with the Title of their Soveraign in Deſpotick Governments, is to confine the Malecontent, if his Crimes are not Capital, to ſome Caſtle or Dungeon for Life. There is indeed no Conſtitution, ſo tame and careleſs of their own Defence, where any Perſon dares to give the leaſt Sign or Intimation of being a Traitour in his Heart. Our Engliſh Hiſtory furniſhes us with many Examples of great Severities during the Diſputes between the Houſes of York and Lancaſter, inflicted on ſuch Perſons as ſhew'd their Diſaffection to the Prince who was on the Throne. Every one knows, that a factious Inn-keeper, in the Reign of Henry the Seventh, was hanged, drawn, and quartered for a ſaucy Pun, which reflected, in a very dark and diſtant manner, upon the Title of that Prince to the Crown. I do not mention the Practice of other Governments, as what ſhould be imitated in ours, which God be thanked, affords us all the reaſonable Liberty of Speech and Action, ſuited to a Free People; nor do I take Notice of this laſt Inſtance of Severity in our own Countrey, to juſtify ſuch a Proceeding, but only to diſplay the Mildneſs and Forbearance made uſe of under the Reign of His preſent Majeſty. It may, however, turn to the Advantage of thoſe, who have been inſtrumental in ſtirring up the late Tumults and Seditions among the People, to conſider the Treatment which ſuch a lawleſs ungoverned Rabble would have met with in any other Countrey, and under any other Soveraign.

Theſe Incendiaries have had the Art to work up into the moſt unnatural Ferments, the moſt heavy and ſtupid part of the Community; and, if I may uſe a fine Saying of Terence upon another Occaſion, to convert Fools into Madmen. This Frenzy hath been raiſed among them to ſuch a degree, that it has lately diſcovered it ſelf in a Sedition which is without a Parallel. They have had the Fool-hardineſs to ſet a Mark upon themſelves on the Pretender's Birth-day, as the declared Friends to his Cauſe, and profeſt Enemies to their King and Countrey. How fatal would ſuch a diſtinction, of which every one knew the meaning, have proved in former Reigns, when many a Circumſtance of leſs Significancy has been conſtrued into an Overt Act of High Treaſon! This unexampled Piece of Inſolence will appear under its juſt Aggravations, if we conſider in the firſt place, that it was aimed perſonally at the King.

I do not remember among any of our popular Commotions, when Marks of this Nature have been in Faſhion, that either Side were ſo void of common Senſe, as to intimate by them an Averſion to their Soveraign. His Perſon was ſtill held as ſacred by both Parties. The Contention was not who ſhould be the Monarch over them, but whoſe Scheme of Policy ſhould take Place in his Adminiſtration. This was the Conduct of Whigs and Tories under King Charles the Second's Reign, when Men hung out their Principles in different coloured Ribbons. Nay, in the Times of the Great Rebellion, the avowed Diſaffection of the People always terminated in evil Counſellors. Such an open Outrage upon Majeſty, ſuch an Oſtentation of Diſloyalty, was reſerved for that infamous Rabble of Engliſhmen, who may be juſtly looked upon as the Scandal of the preſent Age, and the moſt ſhameleſs and abandoned Race of Men that our Nation has yet produced.

In the next Place. It is very peculiar to this Mob of Malecontents, that they did not only diſtinguiſh themſelves againſt their King, but againſt a King poſſeſſed of all the Power of the Nation, and one who had ſo very lately cruſhed all thoſe of the ſame Principles, that had Bravery enough to avow them in the Field of Battel. When ever was there an Inſtance of a King who was not contemptible for his Weakneſs, and want of Power to reſent, inſulted by a few of his unarmed daſtard Subjects?

It is plain from this ſingle Conſideration, that ſuch a baſe ungenerous Race of Men could rely upon nothing for their Safety in this Affront to His Majeſty, but the known Gentleneſs and Lenity of his Government. Inſtead of being deterred by knowing that he had in his Hands the Power to puniſh them, they were encouraged by knowing that he had not the Inclination. In a word, they preſumed upon that Mercy, which in all their Converſations they endeavour to depreciate and miſrepreſent.

It is a very ſenſible Concern to every one, who has a true and unfeigned Reſpect for our National Religion, to hear theſe vile Miſcreants calling themſelves Sons of the Church of England, amidſt ſuch impious Tumults and Diſorders; and joining in the Cry of High-Church at the ſame Time that they wear a Badge, which implies their Inclination to deſtroy the Reformed Religion. Their Concern for the Church always riſes higheſt, when they are acting in direct oppoſition to its Doctrines. Our Streets are filled at the ſame Time with Zeal and Drunkenneſs, Riots and Religion. We muſt confeſs, if Noiſe and Clamour, Slander and Calumny, Treaſon and Perjury, were Articles of their Communion, there would be none living more punctual in the Performance of their Duties; but if a peaceable Behaviour, a love of Truth, and a Submiſſion to Superiors, are the genuine Marks of our Profeſſion, we ought to be very heartily aſhamed of ſuch a profligate Brotherhood. Or if we will ſtill think and own theſe Men to be true Sons of the Church of England, I dare ſay there is no Church in Europe who will envy her the Glory of ſuch Diſciples. But it is to be hoped we are not ſo fond of Party, as to look upon a Man, becauſe he is a bad Chriſtian, to be a good Church of England Man.

THE general Diviſion of the Britiſh Nation is into Whigs and Tories, there being very few, if any, who ſtand Neuters in the Diſpute, without ranging themſelves under one of theſe Denominations. One would therefore be apt to think, that every Member of the Community, who embraces with Vehemence the Principles of either of theſe Parties, had thoroughly ſifted and examined them, and was ſecretly convinced of their Preference to thoſe of that Party which he rejects. And yet it is certain, that moſt of our Fellow-Subjects are guided in this particular, either by the Prejudice of Education, private Intereſt, perſonal Friendſhips, or a Deference to the Judgment of thoſe, who, perhaps in their own Hearts diſapprove the Opinions which they induſtriouſly ſpread among the Multitude. Nay, there is nothing more undoubtedly true, than that great Numbers of one ſide concur in reality with the Notions of thoſe whom they oppoſe, were they able to explain their implicit Sentiments, and to tell their own Meaning.

However, as it becomes every reaſonable Man to examine thoſe Principles by which he acts, I ſhall in this Paper ſelect ſome Conſiderations, out of many, that might be inſiſted on, to ſhew the Preference of what is generally called the Whig-Scheme, to that which is eſpouſed by the Tories.

This will appear in the Firſt place, if we reflect upon the Tendency of their reſpective Principles, ſuppoſing them carried to their utmoſt Extremity. For if, in this caſe, the worſt Conſequences of the one are more eligible than the worſt Conſequences of the other, it is a plain Argument, that thoſe Principles are the moſt eligible of the two, whoſe Effects are the leaſt pernicious. Now the Tendency of theſe two different Sets of Principles, as they are charged upon each Party by its Antagoniſts, is as follows. The Tories tell us, that the Whig-Scheme would end in Presbyterianiſm and a Common-wealth. The Whigs tell us on the other ſide, that the Tory-Scheme would terminate in Popery and Arbitrary Government. Were theſe Reproaches mutually true; which would be moſt preferable to any Man of common Senſe, Presbyterianiſm and a Republican Form of Government, or Popery and Tyranny? Both Extremes are indeed dreadful, but not equally ſo; both to be regarded with the utmoſt Averſion by the Friends of our Conſtitution, and Lovers of our Countrey: But if one of them were inevitable, who would not rather chuſe to live under a State of exceſſive Liberty, than of Slavery, and not prefer a Religion that differs from our own in the Circumſtantials, before one that differs from it in the Eſſentials of Chriſtianity!

Secondly, Let us look into the Hiſtory of England, and ſee under which of theſe two Schemes the Nation hath enjoyed moſt Honour and Proſperity. If we obſerve the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James I. (which an impudent Frenchman calls the Reigns of King Elizabeth and Queen James) We find the Whig-Scheme took place under the firſt, and the Tory-Scheme under the latter. The firſt, in whom the Whigs have always gloried, oppoſed and humbled the moſt powerful among the Roman Catholick Princes; raiſed and ſupported the Dutch; aſſiſted the French Proteſtants; and made the Reformed Religion an Over-balance for Popery through all Europe. On the contrary, her Succeſſor aggrandized the Catholick King; alienated himſelf from the Dutch; ſuffered the French Power to increaſe, till it was too late to remedy it; and abandoned the Intereſts of the King of Bohemia, Grand-father to His preſent Majeſty, which might have ſpread the Reformed Religion through all Germany. I need not deſcribe to the Reader the different ſtate of the Kingdom▪ as to its Reputation, Trade, and Wealth, under theſe two Reigns. We might, after this, compare the Figure in which theſe Kingdoms, and the whole Proteſtant Intereſt of Europe, were placed by the Conduct of King Charles the Second, and that of King Wiliam; and every one knows which of the Schemes prevailed in each of thoſe Reigns. I ſhall not impute to any Tory Scheme the Adminiſtration of King James the Second, on Condition that they do not reproach the Whigs with the Uſurpation of Oliver; as being ſatisfied that the Principles of thoſe Governments are reſpectively diſclaimed and abhorred by all the Men of Senſe and Virtue in both Parties, as they now ſtand. But we have a freſh Inſtance which will be remembred with Grief by the preſent Age and all our Poſterity, of the Influence both of Whig and Tory Principles in the late Reign. Was England ever ſo glorious in the Eyes of Europe, as in that Part of it when the firſt prevailed? Or was it ever more contemptible than when the laſt took Place.

I ſhall add, under this Head, the Preference of the Whig-Scheme, with regard to Foreignners. All the Proteſtant States of Europe, who may be conſidered as Neutral Judges between both Parties, and are Well wiſhers to us in general, as to a Proteſtant People, rejoice upon the Succeſs of a Whig-Scheme; whilſt all of the Church of Rome, who contemn, hate and deteſt us as the great Bulwark of Hereſy, are as much pleaſed when the oppoſite Party triumphs in its Turn. And here let any impartial Man put this Queſtion to his own Heart, whether that Party doth not act reaſonably, who look upon the Dutch as their genuine Friends and Allies, conſidering that they are of the Reformed Religion, that they have aſſiſted us in the greateſt Times of Neceſſity, and that they can never entertain a Thought of reducing us under their Power. Or, on the other hand, let him conſider whether that Party acts with more Reaſon, who are the avowed Friends of a Nation, that are of the Roman Catholick Religion, that have cruelly perſecuted our Brethren of the Reformation, that have made Attempts in all Ages to conquer this Iſland, and ſupported the Intereſt of that Prince, who abdicated the Throne, and had endeavoured to ſubvert our Civil and Religious Liberties.

Thirdly, Let us compare theſe two Schemes from the Effects they produce among our ſelves within our own Iſland; and theſe we may conſider, firſt with regard to the King, and ſecondly with regard to the People.

1ſt. With regard to the King. The Whigs have always profeſſed and practiſed an Obedience which they conceive agreeable to the Conſtitution; whereas the Tories have concurred with the Whigs in their Practice, though they differ from them in their Profeſſions; and have avowed a Principle of Paſſive-Obedience to the Temptation, and afterwards to the Deſtruction, of thoſe who have relied upon it. Nor muſt I here omit to take Notice of that firm and zealous Adherence which the Whig-Party have ſhewn to the Proteſtant Succeſſion, and to the Cauſe of His preſent Majeſty. I have never heard of any in this Principle, who was either guilty or ſuſpected of Meaſures to defeat this Eſtabliſhment, or to overturn it, ſince it has taken effect. A Conſideration, which it is hoped, may put to ſilence thoſe who upbraid the Whig-Schemes of Government, with an Inclination to a Common-wealth, or a Diſſaffection to Kings.

2dly With regard to the People. Every one muſt own, that thoſe Laws which have moſt conduced to the Eaſe and Happineſs of the Subject, have always paſſed in thoſe Parliaments, which their Enemies branded with the Name of Whig, and during the Time of a Whig-Miniſtry. And, what is very remarkable, the Tories are now forced to have Recourſe to thoſe Laws for Shelter and Protection: by which they tacitly do Honour to the Whig-Scheme, and own it more accommodated to the Happineſs of the People, than that which they eſpouſe.

I hope I need not quality theſe Remarks with a Suppoſition which I have gone upon through the whole Courſe of my Papers, that I am far from conſidering a great Part of thoſe who call themſeves Tories, as Enemies to the preſent Eſtabliſhment; and that by the Whigs I always mean thoſe who are Friends to our Conſtitution, both in Church and State. As we may look upon theſe to be, in the main, true Lovers of their Religion and Countrey, they ſeem rather to be divided by accidental Friendſhips and Circumſtances, than by any eſſential Diſtinction.

A Riſing of Parliament being a kind of Ceſſation from Politicks, the Free-holder cannot let his Paper drop at a more proper Juncture. I would not be acceſſary to the continuing of our Political Ferment, when Occaſions of Diſpute are not adminiſter'd to us by Matters depending before the Legiſlature; and when Debates without Doors naturally fall with thoſe in the two Houſes of Parliament. At the ſame time a Britiſh Freeholder would very ill diſcharge his Part, if he did not acknowledge, with becoming Duty and Gratitude, the Excellency and Seaſonableneſs of thoſe Laws, by which the Repreſentatives of Men in his Rank have recover'd their Countrey in a great meaſure out of its Confuſions, and provided for its future Peace and Happineſs under the preſent Eſtabliſhment. Their unanimous and regular Proceeding, under the Conduct of that honourable Perſon who fills their chair with the moſt conſummate abilities, and hath juſtly gained the Eſteem of all ſides by the Impartiality of his Behaviour; the abſolute Neceſſity of ſome Acts which they have paſſed, and their Diſ-inclination to extend them any longer, than that Neceſſity required; Their manifeſt Averſion to enter upon Schemes, which the Enemies of our Peace had inſinuated to have been their Deſign; together with that Temper ſo ſuitable to the Dignity of ſuch an Aſſembly, at a Juncture when it might have been expected that very unuſual Heats would have ariſen in a Houſe of Commons, ſo zealous for their King and Countrey; will be ſufficient to quiet thoſe groundleſs Jealouſies and Suſpicions, which have been induſtriouſly propagated by the Ill wiſhers to our Conſtitution.

The Undertaking, which I am now laying down, was entered upon in the very Criſis of the late Rebellion, when it was the Duty of every Briton to contribute his utmoſt Aſſiſtance to the Government, in a manner ſuitable to his Station and Abilities. All Services, which had a Tendency to this End, had a Degree of Merit in them, in proportion as the Event of that Cauſe which they eſpouſed was then doubtful. But at preſent they might be regarded, not as Duties of private Men to their endanger'd Countrey, but as Inſults of the ſucceſsful over their defeated Enemies.

Our Nation indeed continues to be agitated with Confuſions and Tumults; but, God be thanked, theſe are only the impotent Remains of an unnatural Rebellion, and are no more than the After-toſſings of a Sea when the Storm is laid. The Enemies of His preſent Majeſty, inſtead of ſeeing him driven from his Throne, as they vainly hoped, find him in a Condition to viſit his Dominions in Germany, without any Danger to himſelf or to the Publick; whilſt his dutiful Subjects would be in no ordinary Concern upon this occaſion, had they not the Conſolation to find themſelves left under the Protection of a Prince who makes it his Ambition to copy out his Royal Father's Example; and who, by his Duty to His Majeſty, and Affection to His People, is ſo well qualified to be the Guardian of the Realm.

It would not be difficult to continue a Paper of this kind, if one were diſpoſed to reſume the ſame Subjects, and weary out the Reader with the ſame Thoughts in a different Phraſe, or to ramble through the Cauſe of Whig and Tory, without any certain Aim or Method, in every particular Diſcourſe. Such a Practice in Political Writers, is like that of ſome Preachers taken Notice of by Dr. South, who being prepared only upon two or three Points of Doctrrine, run the ſame Round with their Audience, from one end of the Year to the other, and are always forced to tell them, by way of Preface, Theſe are Particulars of ſo great Importance, that they cannot be ſufficiently inculcated. To avoid this Method of Tautology, I have endeavoured to make every Paper a diſtinct Eſſay upon ſome particular Subject, without deviating into Points foreign to the Tenor of each Diſcourſe. They are indeed moſt of them Eſſays upon Government, but with a View to the preſent Situation of Affairs in Great Britain; ſo that if they have the good Fortune to live longer than Works of this Nature generally do, future Readers may ſee in them, the Complexion of the Times in which they were written. However, as there is no Employment ſo irkſome, as that of tranſcribing out of one's ſelf, next to that of tranſcribing out of others, I ſhall let drop the Work, ſince there do not occur to me any material Points ariſing from our preſent Situation, which I have not already touched upon.

As to the Reaſonings in theſe ſeveral Papers, I muſt leave them to the Judgment of others. I have taken particular Care that they ſhould be conformable to our Conſtitution, and free from that Mixture of Violence and Paſſion, which ſo often creeps into the Works of Political Writers. A good Cauſe doth not want any Bitterneſs to ſupport it, as a bad one cannot ſubſiſt without it. It is indeed obſervable, that an Author is ſcurrilous in proportion as he is dull; and ſeems rather to be in a Paſſion, becauſe he cannot find out what to ſay for his own Opinion, than becauſe he has diſcovered any pernicious Abſurdities in that of his Antagoniſts. A Man ſatirized by Writers of this Claſs, is like one burnt in the Hand with a cold Iron: There may be ignominious Terms and Words of Infamy in the Stamp, but they leave no Impreſſion behind them.

It would indeed have been an unpardonable Inſolence for a Fellow-Subject to treat in a vindictive and cruel Style, thoſe Perſons whom His Majeſty has endeavoured to reduce to Obedience by Gentle Methods, which he has declared from the Throne to be moſt agreeable to his Inclinations. May we not hope that all of this kind, who have the leaſt Sentiments of Honour or Gratitude, will be won over to their Duty by ſo many Inſtances of Royal Clemency, in the midſt of ſo many repeated Provocations! May we not expect that Cicero's Words to Caeſar, in which he ſpeaks of thoſe who were Caeſar's Enemies, and of his Conduct towards them, may be applied to His Majeſty; Omnes enim qui fuerunt, aut ſuá pertinaciâ vitam amiſerunt, aut tuá Miſericordid retinuerunt; ut aut nulli ſuperſint de inimicis, aut qui ſuperfuerunt, amiciſſimi ſint.—Quare gaude tuo 〈◊〉 tam excellenti bono, et fruere cum fortuná, et gloriá, tum etiam naturá, et moribus tuis. Ex quo quidem maximus eſt fructus, jucunditaſque ſapienti—Nihil habet nec fortuna tua majus, quam ut poſſis, nec natura tua melius, quam ut velis, quamplurimos conſervare.

As for thoſe Papers of a gayer Turn, which may be met with in this Collection, my Reader will of himſelf, conſider, how requiſite they are to gain and keep up an Audience to Matters of this Nature; and will perhaps be the more Indulgent to them, if he obſerves, that they are none of them without a Moral, nor contain any thing but what is conſiſtent with Decency and Good Manners.

It is obvious that the Deſign of the whole Work, has been to free the Peoples Minds from thoſe Prejudices conveyed into them by the Enemies to the preſent Eſtabliſhment againſt the King and Royal Family, by opening and explaining their real Characters; to ſet forth His Majeſty's Proceedings, which have been very groſſly miſrepreſented, in a fair and impartial Light; to ſhew the Reaſonableneſs and Neceſſity of our oppoſing the Pretender to his Dominions, if we have any Regard to our Religion and Liberties: And, in a word, to incline the Minds of the People to the Deſire and Enjoyment of their own Happineſs. There is no Queſtion, humanly ſpeaking, but theſe great Ends will be brought about inſenſibly, as Men will grow weary of a fruitleſs Oppoſition; and be convinced by Experience, of a Neceſſity to acquieſce under a Government which daily gathers Strength, and is able to diſappoint the utmoſt Efforts of its Enemies. In the mean while, I would recommend to our Malecontents, the Advice given by a great Moraliſt to his Friend upon another Occaſion; that he would ſhew it was in the Power of Wiſdom to compoſe his Paſſions; and let that be the Work of Reaſon which would certainly be the Effect of Time.

I ſhall only add, that if any Writer ſhall do this Paper ſo much Honour, as to inſcribe the Title of it to others, which may be publiſhed upon the laying down of this Work; the whole Praiſe, or Diſpraiſe of ſuch a Performance, will belong to ſome other Author; this 55th being the laſt Paper that will come from the Hand of the Free-holder.