A dialogue betwixt Whig and Tory. Wherein the principles and practices of each party are fairly and impartially stated;

Table of contents

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- ADVERTISEMENT.

- To the KING.

- To the honest English Protestant READER.

A Dialogue between WHIG and TORY, &c.

Tory. WELL met old Acquaintance; who would have thought seven years ago, to have seen you and I at Whitehall together in the same Interest?

Whig. In the same Interest; why, who thinks that now?

Tory. What, in one of your old peevish Fits? I thought now all things go to your Mind, you would have been in better Humour.

Whig. You were begotten, born and bred in Mistakes, and I doubt not but you will continue so to your end: Yet you cannot be so grosly mistaken sure as to think all things go to any honest Englishman's Mind; when you, who were the Tools of the two last Reigns, the Instruments of all our past and present Misfortunes, and the declar'd Cause of the War which brought on the late Revolution, are notwithstanding the only Men courted by this Government.

Tory. I am afraid you will never be pleas'd with any Monarchical Government.

Whig. That is a Point I know you have been long endeavouring to put upon the World, but more industriously upon the Court; yet I wonder at your Impudence of urging it now, since it is so fresh in every Man's Memory, how zealously the Whigs struggled in the late Convention to settle the Monarchy, whilst you contested as zealously to make it an Anarchy.

Tory. We will talk more of this by and by: But if you were so instrumental as you say in setting up this Government, why are you so out of Humour with what you have made your selves?

Whig. Disappointment you must allow a just Cause of •esentment. We hop'd from new Lords, new Laws, new •inisters, and new Methods: but if still we are to have ••e same Ministers, and consequently the same Methods, •he very Tools of the two last Reigns, and consequently •he same Work; this I take (in my Lord H—s Phrase) • be a Change, without an Alteration; and, in my Opi •••n, gives too just occasion of Dislike: and I cannot but •••nk this way of managing Affairs, must end unhappily, •oth to Prince and People.

Tory. But how come, you and I to be so concern'd either •or the Prosperity of Princes, who never think of us, •ut as we can serve some present Turn of theirs; or for the •nterest of Mob, who will sing Ballads upon us under the •allows, when we are hanging there for their sakes? Pre ••ee Whig, grow wise, and do not torment thy self thus •ith State-Affairs; let Princes take care of themselves, and •he People of themselves, and let us take care of ourselves. My Method is, to get what I can, and let Courts do what they will.

Whig. Why then, Sir, with your leave, your Method is • foolish as it is knavish: For whoever sells his Country •o a lawless Power, leaves himself nor his Family no Certainty, no Property in what he has gotten by his Treachery; nay, his Estate is as often the Snare, as the Comfort of his Life. It proves sometimes a Naboth's Vine •ard, and makes him the Eye-sore of some hungry Court Favourite. And I would ask, Whether a small Estate fenc'd about with Laws, and the Possession thereof secur'd •o you and your Family, is not of more Value, than a much greater Revenue, of which you cannot assure your self the Possession one minute? Your Forefathers thought the Laws and Liberties of England worth their Care and Contest, and waded thro Rivers of Blood to leave them in force to their Posterity. And the Church once made it an Article of their Religion, Nolumus Leges Angliae mutari: But thou dost renounce all the Principles of Humanity, of common Sense, and of Religion, and oughtst to be driven out of a Country which thou makest open Profession to sell and betray. And as for what you say of the Ingratitude of Princes and People, the one to his faithful and affectionate Subjects, the other to their zealous Patriots; this does not discharge you from your Duty to either. But (in answer to the first) if you will serve Princes no farther than you serve your Country in serving them, that Service will always reward it self; and for the Mob, as you are ever pleas'd most mannerly to call your Countrymen and Fellow-Citizens, if any prove so sordid as you alledg, I shall answer you in the words of our Saviour Forgive them, for they know not what they do: And let his Ex¦ample teach you better Principles, who, notwithstanding all the Scoffs and Indignities he met with, laid down h•• Life upon the Cross for the Benefit of Mankind. B•• your Principles make you the Triumph of Heathens, a• bring you upon the same foot with brute Beasts.

Tory. Come don't tell us Stories of our great Grandfat••• who troubled themselves about Trifles: There is a Fashio• in Government (as well as in Clothes) which must • comply'd with, according to the Humour of the prese•• Age; and you may as well pretend to shape all Gowns b• Queen Elizabeth's Fardingale, as to shape our Court • Counsels according to the Sentiments of that or othe• times, which were as different too from one another, • we are different from them.

Whig. As for your Fashion of Government, Mr. Tor• I hope it is either gone to the Grave with King Charles, • to France with King James; and could heartily wish yo• would follow it to either Place. But pray before you g• let me ask you in what Age or Time it was, that Men • Sense, or Men of Honour, did prefer Will and Pleasure • Laws, or Slavery to Freedom? As I take it, the Prin¦ciples of Liberty and Property have always been in fashion amongst Men of Sense and Estates in England, and eve• will be. But your Principles can never find Professors bu• amongst Fools and Beggars.

Tory. Whatever our Principles are, you find both the•• and us prefer'd to you and yours, even by a Government of your own chusing; and let that satisfy you as an An¦swer to that Point.

Whig. Not at all; that only proves a Mistake some¦where; and where the Mistake is, if you please, we wi•• inquire: and I think it will best appear by examining th• original Rise, Principles and Practices of both Parties.

Tory. Come on then, a clear Stage, and no favour.

Whig. As for your original Rise, 'tis certain, you ow• your being known in the World, to the horrid and exe¦crable Designs of the two late Kings to set up arbitrary Power and Popery amongst us; then were all the Jails Brothels, and Kennels rak'd for Villains of fear'd Con¦sciences and desperate Fortunes: your Arl—ns, Cliff—d• Os—s, were then thought upon for Ministers of State and under them were bred such a pack of Wretches, as th• Court of Tiberius would have been asham'd of. In the La•• they were of the same sort with the Ministry: Wha• Age can parallel your N—ms, your N—ths, you• Jeff—ys, Sc—gs, Rain—ds, Wri—s, &c. and •••ir under Managers Graham and Burton? &c. Then ••to the Pillars of what they then call'd the Church of ••land, tho so disguis'd at that time, that it was scarce •wn by its most dutiful, most affectionate, and most •is Children; I need say no more of them, than that • were compos'd of Bishops, and a Clergy prefer'd by • Kings, who were about to set up Popery and Tyranny; • therefore were to chuse such Men into the Govern ••nt of the Church, who they thought would be most ••plying with those Purposes, and whose Looseness of ••als might bring most Discredit upon the Protestant •••igion: and whoever remembers Park—r, Cart—t, •nows C—w and Wat—n, will (I think) be of the ••inion they were not ill chosen for the abovesaid Pur •••es.

Tory. But you see whatever Purposes they were chosen • several of the Bishops oppos'd Popery with the grea • Bravery imaginable.

Whig. True, they did oppose a Popish Clergy being ••ight into their Bishopricks, Churches and Colleges; • who but a mad Man would have expected any other •n them? But did they ever stick at any thing that ••ht advance arbitrary Power over the Laity? Did they • conjure the People to Passive-Obedience, Non-Re ••nce? &c. Did they not tie us Hand and Foot, and ••ow us like Daniel into the Lions Den? Nay, did they ••r stick at building his Popish Church for him, whilst • contented himself to make use of their Hands? But ••en they saw that after they had gone so far in the Service, others were taken in to finish the Work, and to reap ••e Fruit of what they had sow'd and planted: This was ••deed intolerable, and then it was, and not before, that ••ey begun to make a noise about the Protestant Religion and •nglish Liberties, and to preach backward all their former •ermons.

Tory. But you cannot deny but that they were very in ••rumental to the Revolution.

Whig. I own they were for some time, like Fishes who •ave got a Worm in their Heads, they did frisk and leap •ut of their own Element; but like them too, they soon •ung'd into it again; for King James was scarce got to •eversham, before they repented what they had done, and ••om that day to this have given all the Proofs and Marks • an invincible Hatred and Enmity to the present Government: They oppos'd the King's coming to the Crown, •ell into Cabals for the weakning his Government when •e was King, and rais'd Rebellion without, and Plots within the Kingdom for the restoring King James, &c. Nay, at this time it is undeniable, that wherever th• Clergy are most numerous, the Jacobites are most nume¦rous too; there are more Jacobites ten for one in ever• Cathedral Town, than in any other Towns, accountin• number for number: And how the Universities are gene¦rally disaffected to this Government, is notorious; the reproach and rail against the very Bishops and Clergyme• prefer'd in this Reign. The Archbishop of Canterb••• himself, whose Learning, Piety, and Excellencies of a kinds, are so eminent, that it seems impolitick in them, a• well as unjust to reproach him; yet him too do they ra•¦scoff at, and treat with the foulest Invectives. In shor• those who every day piously attend the Service and reli¦gious Worship of the Church, who most frequently a•• Communicants in the holy Sacrament, these they will no•¦withstanding call Presbyterians, canting, whining Hypocrit• &c. and esteem none sound Members of their Body, b• those who drink with them, and come up to all the• highest Points of Dominion, Tyranny, and Uncharitabl•¦ness to all those who are not of their Faction: I will no• call it their Church, because I think it a Dishonour to th• best Reform'd Church in the World, to be serv'd by such a Clergy as are not only a Scandal to the Name of Pro¦testant, but to the Name of Religion; and who, unde• the Title of Protestant Priests, are labouring with a•• their Power the Return of King James, with his Poper• and Slavery, and preach and pray openly for his Restora¦tion, whilst no Exhortation for Obedience to our presen• King, our great Deliverer from Popery and Slavery, heard from any Pulpit, no Passive-Obedience nor No• resistance is nam'd in this Reign: And if for the sake • their Livings they are forc'd to pray for the King an• Queen, it is in so faint and low a Voice, as if they ha• no mind to be heard either by God or the People.

Tory. Some few discontented Persons there may be per¦haps, who may deserve this Character, but I hope yo• do not lay this Charge upon the whole Clergy of England

Whig. No, I know there are many religious, learned an• good Men amongst them, and there will I hope be more if this Government continues: But that the Number • not small who have refus'd the Oaths to this present Government, you cannot deny; and that most of the High-Church, as they call themselves, those who (as a learne• Doctor said) have the Spirit of the Church in which the• were bred, tho they will not say with St. Paul, they have the Spirit of God [*]: Most of this Order, I say, profess to •••e the Oath of Allegiance to this King, as he is King • facto, not de jure. And by the Example of these Re •end Clergy-men, the Lay-Knaves and Fools are di •ted to take Oaths with mental Reservations, and pri •e Interpretations and Distinctions. And having no ••inciple but that of Self-Interest, in which case you •r renounce all Justice, all Humanity to your Fellow-••eatures; you profess Slavery to some, that you may ••d it over others; yea renounce and trample upon all •ws to serve a Turn, make a Jest of Liberty and Proper ••▪ And to gratify your Pride or Avarice, you have be •ray'd your Country, persecuted and murder'd your inno ••nt Countrymen and Fellow-Citizens, sold your Neigh •••rs to the French King, and your Laws and Religion to • late Kings; and even from the same Principles have ••en endeavouring to bring about the same Practices in ••s Reign too; and in order to it, have been tempting ••ur Lord and Master, in the Language of the Devil to • Saviour, All this will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down • worship me: and I hope he will answer you in his ••rds upon that occasion, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy ••ng. Thus have I given you in few Lines an Account of ••e Rise, Principles and Practices of your Party, with •hich I could fill a Volume: But I consider the Nation ••eds only a general Hint to refresh their Memory to ••rticulars. For the Smart of the Wounds receiv'd in the ••e Reigns from you, is yet most sensible to many honest ••glish-men.

Tory. If this Devil of a Tory be so black as you paint •••m, I wonder how he comes by so fair a Character, and • numerous a Party in the Nation, and so great a Coun ••nance from all Courts of contrary Interests.

Whig. Fair Appearances, and great Numbers prove no ••ing; the leudest Srumpets are often fair, and Fools and •naves have in all Ages out-number'd the Wise and Ho •est. How ye Tories came to have so great a Countenance ••om the last Court, I have already shew'd, and will •ince you command me) shew you how ye became the •avourites of this Court too, even by the same Means, •nd the same Man, that made you Favourites in King •harles's Time. For the M. of C. after all his mischie •ous Management of Affairs in that Reign, having by •n ill Fate to this poor Nation, got into some small Pre •ence of Merit, by little Assistances he gave to the late Revolution; upon this he sets up again for Ministry. But being apprehensive that those honest Gentlemen, who had •o bravely expos'd their Lives and Fortunes for the Re •emption of their Country, and were so well acquainted with his Methods in the late Reigns, would be jealous o• his having too great a Credit with the King, he though• it his best play to begin with them; and from his firs• coming to Court, labour'd to insinuate Jealousies into th• King of those Gentlemen as Commonwealths-men, Haters • Monarchy, &c. and having likewise an implacable Pique t• Parliaments, for their Impeachment and Imprisonment o• him, he at the same time represents that part of the Go¦vernment envious of the King's Power, and always en¦deavouring to make him a King of Clouts, a Duke o• Venice, &c. Thus by misrepresenting the King's be• Friends, he made way to bring in his old Practices, an• his old working Tools (whom he represented to be Me• of Business, and Friends to Monarchy) into this Cour• too; and being assisted afterwards by the E. of N. an• some others, ye have indeed carry'd all before you: an• how much to the Interest of the Nation, and the Honou• of the King, let all the World judg, who have seen thi• poor Kingdom every year for this last four years brough• to a reasonable Apprehension of being invaded from Abroad, and betray'd at Home; and in a word, to subsis• only by a Miracle.

Tory. All this rambling Story you have told is a wil• Supposition, and straining the Intention of this nobl• Lord to your own malicious Purpose, who design'd nothin• more in bringing in these Gentlemen you call the King• Enemies, than by reconciling them to the King and hi• Government, to make the Foundation of it broader an• deeper: And I know not how this comes to be such • Crime, and so ill Policy with us. I have heard, that Henr• the Fourth of France, who was esteem'd a wise and politick Prince, thought it very good King-craft, to cares• his Enemies of the League, and to make his Court to the Jesuits.

Whig. And pray, what did he get by it? Did he ever gain either of them heartily into his Interest? Were not those of the League ever ready to plot with the Spaniard, &c. against him? And for his dear Friends of the Church, not all his Renunciation of his old Religion, and his old Friends; not all his Gifts, his Caresses, and his Courtship could reconcile them to him, or so much as save his Life, when they had it in their Power to destroy it. For those jealous Gentlemen, the Jesuits, never would believe they had his Heart, till it was sent them in a Box to La [*] Fleche to be buried there.

Tory. But notwithstanding your Jesuits Tale of a Tub, I • undertake that all the Tories (as you call them) in •land, both Clergy and Lay-men, shall take the Oaths • the King, and serve him heartily, provided he will • one thing.

Whig. What's that?

Tory. Utterly discard you Whigs, and give us the Penal ••ws again upon the Fanaticks.

Whig. And would that make the Foundation of the Go •••nment broader and deeper, as you talk'd just now? •••ides, have you not heard a Story of one Sampson, Sir, •o after he had resign'd his Lock of Hair in which his •ength lay, was deliver'd up to his Enemies by those he • trusted? But supposing what you propose (if gran •••) might win you to be Williamites, were King James ••d; yet I am mistaken, if whilst he lives, and the King • France continues as powerful as at present, you will ever • drawn by any Courtship, to engage so far in the Inte •••ts of this Government, as to swear otherwise to the ••ng than as King de facto, nor will you make your Re ••nciliation to King James desperate. Answer to this ••int plainly and truly.

Tory. Wise Men will always secure a Retreat; and Self •eservation is a first Principle with all Men. And as a •entleman said wittily upon this occasion, As long as the •overnment can maintain it self, and will maintain me, •is sure of me: But I have liv'd too long at Court to die • Martyr for any Monarch, and will always behave my ••lf so in one Court, as to be well with the next. And •o perhaps this is not all that this Government might ••asonably wish from us, yet I can tell you they do not be ••eve that they shall mend themselves, by changing us for ••u, for divers and sundry Reasons.

Whig. Pray let us have some of them.

Tory. First, because you are for a Commonwealth Go ••rnment, and Haters of Monarchy.

Whig. That is, that we are mad Men, and void of all •ommon Sense and Reason; for whoever hath either of ••ese, will know a Commonwealth to be a Chimera im •racticable, and impossible to be brought about in England. • Macchiavel be of any Authority, he says, in his 55th Chapter upon Government, That where there is not an Equa ••ty in the Conditions and Estates of a People, it is impossible for •hat People or Nation to erect and settle a Commonwealth. He gives you Examples to confirm this, but I think there are some more to our purpose, as being more recent and nearer home. Upon the Revolt of the Low-Countries from the Spanish Yoke, it was necessary for them to put themselves under some Form of Government; and the For• being in their own free Choice, seven of the seventee• Provinces, who were a trading sort of People, much upo• an Equality in their Condition and Fortune, and had fe• Families of Nobility or Gentry among them, fell natu¦rally into a Commonwealth-Government: But the othe• ten Provinces, having great Numbers of Nobility and Ge•¦try, tho they were more immediately under the Tyran•• of the Spaniard, and had been more particularly sensible o• D' Alva's Cruelty and Oppression, notwithstanding cho• rather to continue under the hated Government of Spai• than to accept of the Invitation the other seven Province• had made them of coming into the more hated Project of Commonwealth; so impossible it is to reconcile Men di•¦tinguish'd by Titles and Fortunes, to mix themselves in common Level with the People upon any Consideration o• Disgust whatsoever. And whoever will look over wh•• pass'd here in England from the Year 1648, to the Yea• 1660. will be yet more convinc'd of the Truth of th• Assertion, and of the Nonsense of any Commonwealth Design in this Nation. Perhaps there were never at an• time so many Men of strong Inclinations for a Commo•¦wealth-Government as then, nor of greater Abilities t• effect such a Design: And yet they found the Nobilit• Gentry and dignify'd Clergy such a Rub in their way, i• no Art, no Force could remove; and at last they we• brought into that Confusion and Disorder by attempting i• that the very People and Army who were in this Projec• of a Commonwealth, and had overthrown the Monarch• in order to it, and could support Cromwel in a singl• Person, yet after his Death saw a necessity of restoring th• Monarchy again, and assisted towards it. But this wa• the Dust which the two last Courts threw into the People Eyes, when they would make them blind to arbitrar• Power and Popery; and is now one great Artifice th• Jacobites depend upon, whereby to separate the Friends • this Government from its Support, tho it will always be Jeft to understanding Men. I have heard a Story of Lady, who passing thro a Croud to her Coach, and havin• a rich Jewel on her Breast, cover'd the Jewel with one o• her Hands; which a Pickpocket in the Croud observin• steps up to her, and claps his Hand upon a Place belo• which he thought would oblige her to remove her Han• from her Breast, to defend it: But the Lady apprehendin• the Thief's Design, very prudently neglected the fall Attack, and apply'd both her Hands to the securing he• Jewel, and by that means came off safe. And so Gen¦tlemen, whenever you make your false Attack upon o• ••mmonwealth, we shall for the future take it for the ••nal to us, that your real Aim is at our Liberties and •••perties, and shall apply both our Hands and Hearts to • securing those Jewels of inestimable Price. But to be •ous, in our case the Whigs (as I said in the beginning of • Discourse) have given sufficient Proof how little they ••gn'd a Commonwealth, and how hearty they were to • Monarchy, in their struggling so zealously to set the •wn on the King's Head.

Tory. We own you were for giving him the Name of a •g; but after all, speak sincerely, did you design to ••e him any more than a King of Clouts, a Duke of Ve • or a Stadtholder?

Whig. We design'd to make him as great a King as the ••ws of England and our antient Constitution make any •••ng: And if you pretend to make him more, take the ••nour of it. But, Sir, upon this occasion your Party •e for making his present Majesty less than either a Duke Venice, or a Stadtholder of Holland: For in proposing to ••e him a Regent, you make him only a Journy-man •g, a Subject to King James, and accountable to him. • what the Whigs did to deserve being suspected of a ••mmonwealth Design, or of any Intention to lessen the •g's just Power, I am yet ignorant.

Tory. You are wilfully so then; for what could the mea •••g of the Convention be to settle the Revenue of the ••wn from three Years to three Years, and to take away • Revenue of the Chimny-Mony, one of the fairest Flowers • the Crown, but lessening the King's Power, and making • Government precarious?

Whig. The Chimny-Tax being grown a Grievance more •••sible and more odious to the common People than any •••er; and the Danger of being enslav'd by giving such ••at Revenues (for Life) to the two last Kings (by ••ch they were inabled to maintain Standing Armies, • to subsist without Parliaments) was so fresh in the ••mories of all thinking Englishmen, and so apprehended • them, that the King's Friends thought it greatly for • Service to take away the Burden of the one, and the ••prehension of the other from the People; and by using •••ferent Methods to those which had been follow'd in the ••rmer Reigns, to make his present Majesty's Government •re acceptable to all good Men, and that he might hereby ••gn in the Hearts of his Subjects, and be distinguish'd by ••em: which Method, if pursu'd, would have given us a •rer Prospect of our Affairs, than at present I am afraid • have. But this is not the Interest of wicked Ministers, •o when Kings take their Courses, lose these Dominion over them: their Business is therefore to make Prin• jealous of Encroachments of Parliaments, of Comm••¦wealth Designs amongst the People, to represent the Kin• Interest separate from the Interest of his Subjects; a• then, to ingratiate themselves with him, and raise th••¦selves in his Opinion for their Parts and Abilities, t• offer him Schemes of Politicks, to prevent Designs aga•••• him which were never thoght on. Thus these ho• Jago's first work a Prince up to Jealousies and Hatred his People, by false Suggestions; and then, as a Rem• against the Mischiefs they have suppos'd, put him u• Designs ruinous to his Country and himself. But in • mean time, by appearing thus zealous for what they • the King's particular Interest and Glory, they insin•••• themselves into some sort of Princes Favour, they bec••• Confidents of all Court-Intrigues, and grow great • rich; they dispose all Offices, and crush all who are their Creatures, and at last come to awe and govern Ki•• themselves. As Waiting-Women, who when they h• debauch'd their Mistresses by their mercenary Sollic•¦••tions, and are become the Trustees of their Frailty, t• no longer tast the Busk, nor bitter Reproofs for misplac• a Pin or Patch; but from Servants become Mistresses, Faults are then found with them, no Liberty deny'd the• even the Purse, and the rich Petticoat is absolutely at Waiting-Woman's Service, till at last they bring th• Mistresses to Infamy and Beggary. And so to return the Ministry again; by this kind of Management t• make their Masters Kings of Clouts, necessitous, misera•• and despis'd Princes. For Example; What made the • King James a King of Clouts, but those evil Counsell• who put him upon a Despotick and Dispensing Pow•• and propagating a Religion against Law; who put • upon preferring Papists and Irish, to Protestants and Engl••• who advis'd his seizing Colleges and Charters, setting High-Commission-Courts, and making Parliaments • Laws a Nose of Wax? Deny this if you can, Mr. T• Nay, as to your Idol-King, Charles II. (who notwi••¦standing I believe much the worse of the two Broth•• as sinning against a better Understanding, and grea• Obligations) was it not by these Counsels and some these Counsellors, that this Gentleman was made a K••• of Clouts too, from having all the Advantages at the t• of his Restoration that ever King was bless'd with? • was belov'd, delighted in, and courted by his Subjec• was respected Abroad, in Plenty and Power at Home; a• could direct the Votes of a Parliament with a Nod (m••• than he could at last with his Exchequer) yet after • this, in a few Years, by the Management of some of • present Evil Counsellors, who gave him ill Impressions •his Subjects, made him out of love with Parliaments, • poison'd him with lawless Power, and Love of Tricks • worst of Poisons to an English King) who, for their • filthy Interest, persuaded him to sell Dunkirk, break • Triple League, and enter into Measures with France, de ••ctive to the Interest of this Nation, and of all Europe: • these Measures, I say, he at last became distasteful to • Subjects, and was forsaken by a Parliament the most •ch'd to him, and in love with his Person to a Fault; so • at last his Necessities drove him to become a Pensioner France [*]. And if you will believe Mr. Dryden, his Poet •reat, he concluded his Reign in these miserable Cir •••stances, of being [despis'd Abroad, and living on Tricks • Home.] And how these Gentlemens Father and •••ndfather were made Kings of Clouts by the like Mea ••••s and the like Ministers, by endeavouring at lawless •ver, and laying aside Parliaments, &c. even the Histo •• of those Times publish'd by their own Authority, ••ke it out plainly. And now, Mr. Tory, if you please • will examine a little into the few Examples we have • Princes who have practis'd a contrary method to • before-mention'd one; we will inquire what Effects •t sort of Government has produc'd, and we need go • farther, I think, than Queen Elizabeth's Reign, the ••mediate Predecessor to the Scotish Race, to fetch a Com •ison that will answer all Objections: And to give the •uty of her Government its due Lustre, let us set it off •h the Difficulties that attended it, and surrounded it • the beginning. Let us consider her in the first place—〈◊〉 the weaker Sex,—a Woman—having no [†] right • tho a lawful Title;—the greatest part of her •bjects of a contrary Religion to her—The Queen • Scotland, her next Neighbour, a Pretender to the •own—Ireland in open Rebellion: The King of Spain, • greatest Monarch of Europe at that time, her mortal ••emy and Invader—Plots and Conspiracies by the ••pists against her at home—And no Ally abroad but •e Dutch, then an Infant State, and supported by her.—••d yet we see this poor weak Woman in the midst of all ••ese Disadvantages, absolute and uncontroul'd at Home, •ful and glorious Abroad. This indeed seems very ex •••ordinary; let us inquire therefore what Methods were then practis'd in order to the producing such wonder• Success: Was it by corrupting Elections, or making P•¦sioners of Parliament-Men?—No, for her Court• pleaded (as well in bar of being Parliament-Men as being Sheriffs) that they were the Queen's Servants: that by this we may reasonably conclude there was nothi•• to be got by it in those Days.—Was it by imployi•• her Sister Queen Mary's Ministers, or courting her Enem• the Papists?—No,—For she made England too hot • the one, and adorn'd almost every Gibbet in the Nati•• with her Justice upon the other.—Was it by a Standi•• Army then?—Not that neither; for she had no Art• nor no Guards, but her Gentlemen-Pensioners, and Y•• men of the Guard. I know you'l say, How the Devil a• she bring Matters about as she did, without using any of • admir'd Methods of our late Times?—In good soo• even by so homely and plain a Receipt, that you'l lat• at me when I tell it you—Only—by loving, and co••¦ting the Love of her People, and not preferring Scotl••• French, nor Irish Favourites to them (as in the late Reig•—By being just to their Rights and Liberties, and devot• to their Interests—By rewarding bountifully, and p•¦nishing severely—By encouraging honest Men, a•—browbeating State-Projectors and Tricksters; Kna•• who persuade Princes, that their Interest is separate fr•• the Interest of their People;—who counsel them stretch Prerogative, or be overfond of it;—who end••¦vour to breed unkind Thoughts in them to their be• Friends and honestest Subjects. This sort of Gentlem•• were out at Heels in her time. She, like a truly wi•• Woman, never seem'd fond of Despotick Dominion, n• of those who flatter'd her with it, and put her upon i• for she knew, that Nolo Dominari is the readiest way • Power in England, and that it is soonest found of those w• seek it not.—She—wisely thought, that to be th• Deliverer of Europe, was a greater Character than to b• Conqueror of it; and that it would be more truly glorio•• to redeem one single Town from Slavery, than to enslav• the whole World. Not like some of her Successor• who (unworthy to be Sovereigns of the Noble Order th• Kings of England wear) have chosen rather to be th• Dragon than St. George, rather to destroy than to defe•• their Kingdoms. She never took Mony from her Subject• but she gave them a Pennyworth for their Penny, an• was seldom nice in affording them such Laws as the thought necessary to their Safety. For being well assur• or her own just intentions, she never suspected their And thus at last she got an absolute Power even over th• •s,—as a good Wife gets a Power over her Husband, •oving and obeying him. And now I think I have suf •••ently exemplify'd what sort of Ministers and Methods • are which make Princes great and glorious Monarchs, • which make them Kings of Clouts. And whether this •er Character belongs to the Whig or Tory, I submit to • Judgment of every impartial and reasonable Man. But •n with your Charge.

Tory. It is objected against you Whigs also, that you do • love the King's Person.

Whig. What an Accusation hast thou blunder'd upon, •n very Irish Tory, thou eternal Trifler! Not love the •g's Person!—'Tis a Thought fit only for a Chamber •d, when the Chaplain or Valet offer their Service to •. Kings are to be lov'd by Millions of their Subjects •o never see their Persons (as Heaven is by Mankind) • their Providence and Care of their People, for the In •••nces they dispense of their Justice and Mercy, and for • universal Good and Benefits which they scatter amongst •••ir Subjects. And in this Point their Thoughts and ••signs should be God-like; and by any other sort of •vers than these, any King will be as slenderly accom ••ny'd in his Misfortunes, as King James was to Feversham. ••t beside, this Accusation is as false as it is foolish: pray, •, Who shew'd the most early Inclination to the Prince • Orange's Person, the Whigs or the Tories? Who went •o Holland first, and begun the Project of the Prince of ••ange's coming over hither, Whigs or Tories? Who put the •own upon his Head when he did come, Whigs or Tories? •t to come nearer to the Point; Did not the Whigs shew • most apparent Partiality to the Prince of Orange's Person • all the Points of the Settlement of the Crown, and ••rticularly in giving it him for Life, overlooking at the ••me time the P. of D's Title, and the Lineal Succession? •id they not to a Man stand by the King's Authority in ••e Debate concerning the P. of D's Revenue, and leave ••e Disposal of that Affair intirely to the King's Pleasure? •nd now after four Years being us'd like the worst of •nemies for all these Services; after being shut out from ••eaking to the King, and almost from seeing him; after •eing discountenanc'd and frown'd upon, they have notwithstanding (like the humorous Lieutenant) ever shew'd • grutching to his Grace upon the least Incouragement or •nvitation; and have at the opening of every Sessions, for three Winters successively, still been ready to swallow the •ame Sweetnings, and to be coaks'd by a Clap on the Cheek, like an old City Cuckold and Cully, and have been wrought into a Credulity, which nothing but their Fondness and Dotage on the King's Person could ha• effected.

Tory. But you will not deny that you have sometim• express'd your selves peevishly concerning the King.

Whig. And what Lover that hangs or drowns hims••• for his Mistress, does not do the same? Railing in a Lo•• is an infallible Symptom that he is far gone in the Distem¦per; and no Woman ever yet resented it when it ca•• from that Cause. But our Court has not learn'd to distin¦guish between those who are angry with them, in conce•• for their Prosperity, and those who seem'd pleas'd wi•• them in hopes that they are in the way to Destructi•• And to speak plainly, Sir, the Partiality and Courtsh•• which the King hath shew'd to you Tories, in spite of • your apparent Hatred of his Person, as well as your pr•¦fess'd Dislike of his Title and Government, and the Av••∣sion he has shew'd to the Whigs, and Contempt of all the Advances and Addresses, has begotten ugly Reasonings • jealous and prying Men, as if there were a Biass towar• the Principles of former Governments, rather than • those this Government declar'd for, and set up upon: An• even the wise and well-meaning Tories begin once aga•• to smell a T—d, when you hold it so near their Nos• But come, proceed.

Tory. You are likewise accus'd of being wedded to • Party, and by that means will reduce his Majesty to • King of a Faction only of his Subjects.

Whig. This will appear much otherwise, if you w•• please to remember who brought in the E. of N. to b• Secretary of State, and many others of that Party, a• how few of your Faction were displac'd by the Whigs whe• they had Interest with the King. But this Charge wi•• appear most foully true upon you, who by the basest In¦gratitude and Villany fell upon undermining those wh• brought you into the Government the minute you wer• possess'd of the King's Ear. And yet you see, notwith¦standing all your barbarous Treatment of us, we have al¦ways come in chearfully to all Votes for Mony, all Loans and all other Measures to support your Credit and the com¦mon Interest; till both are fallen so low, that the People Clamors were never so loud, nor their Dissatisfaction never so great. You, like Solomon's Harlot, are for tearing the Government asunder, if you may not have the Po•∣session of it. We have shew'd on the other hand true mo¦therly Tenderness, and consented rather that it should remain in your Possession intirely, than be torn in piece• betwixt us; till it appear'd to all the World what a vile Step-mother you have been, and how you have starv'd and •••s'd a Government worthy your most indulgent Tender •••s and Care. And yet I am not for refusing any Tory •t gives proof of his sincere Repentance, and of a ••ve to his Country, but with all my heart would give • share of the fatted Calf to make the returning Pro •al welcome: tho I cannot but think it reasonable, that • should submissively seek the Government, and not the ••vernment submissively seek you; that you should own ••r Sin against Heaven and against your Country, and ••e Security of another course of Life for the future, • not justify your Faults, and persevere in them. If I •ld see amongst any of you the least Consideration for • common Good and Benefit of Mankind, and the universal Welfare of your Fellow-Creatures, to which you • bound by the Law of God and the Law of Nature, • to which all the Heathens, who were not barbarous, •d a most profound Reverence and Obedience, and pre •••'d to all private Interest, to Wives, Children, Estate, • to Life it self: If I can find any amongst you a Lover • his Country, a sincere Supporter of the Laws, Liber •••s and Interest of the English Nation, I am as much his ••rvant, tho he be a Not—m, a Ca—n, or a R—r, • if he were a Sh—•, a Ru—ll, a Som—rs, or a •—d. But instead of shewing any regard to the In ••rest of the Nation, any Bowels for your Country, any •elf-denial in point of private Interest; have you not sold •ur Country and their Birth-rights upon all Occasions •ike Esau) for a Mess of Pottage? Have not some of ••u put off Human Nature, Human Reason, and all common Honesty so far, as to conspire to bring in a French •ower, to gratify your private and personal Piques? To •ring in Popery and Slavery to rule over you, because you •annot tyrannically rule over your Fellow-Subjects? Remember what the Presbyterians got by being so active in •estoring the two late Popish Kings, hoping to be reveng'd •hereby upon the Independents and other Dissenters. Were •hey not mingled in the same Persecution with the others, •ay more oppress'd and mark'd out for Wrath, as being more numerous and more considerable than any other Sect? •ust so must the Church and their Proselites expect to fare •rom the hands of their Popish Friends (whose Cause they •re so zealously propagating) they may admit them to the Honour of being the Cat's-foot, but not a bit of the Ches •ut. No Whig, no Fanatick, but will then have as fair Quarter (at least) from King Lewis, as you; for King James I take to be only a Cypher and Property to your French Lord and Master, who when he has finish'd his Work, will finish his Life too. And do you Jure Divino, you truly loyal Gentlemen, think that you will find mo•• Favour then for being more attach'd to King James Interest? No, be assur'd, the most inveterate Enemies • King James will meet with as favourable a Treatment a• least as you, who have profess'd your selves so violent•• enamour'd of King James's Person, and of the right Line Reflect a little upon the King of France's Conduct at the time of the late Revolution: He knew long before the Prince of Orange's Design of making a Descent into England and could have prevented it a thousand ways; but inste•• of that, he writes to Barillon, then his Ambassador • England, to know in what condition King James was • oppose the Prince's Forces. He being a Foreigner, an• judging only by outward Appearances, represents th• Army of King James sufficiently powerful to resist what Force the Prince of Orange could bring: whereupon th• French King believing that the English and Dutch wou'd b• this means weaken and destroy one another, and leave • fair Game for him the next Year against the Emperor and Flanders; and to take away all Apprehension from the Dutch of their needing an Army for their own Defence and to give all Encouragement to their Design upon Eng¦land, he draws all his Troops from the side of Flanders and falls upon Philipsburgh: which Army if he had march'• towards the Spanish Frontiers in Flanders, the Dutch dur• not have transported a Man, and the whole Design of th• Descent had been at an end. From hence it is plai• what Friendship the French King had for his dear Brother King James, and what you may expect from this Man o• Honour and good Nature, when you have serv'd his turn • Come, grow wise and honest, and let us not divide under this or that Ministry, under this or that Faction or Party; but let us all unite against the common Enemy: let us make the Publick Interest, and the Support of the Go¦vernment as it is establish'd by Law, our chief and only Aim; and for all Projectors and Conspirators, whether for a Commonwealth, or French Tyranny, or any other Tyranny, I wish they were all hang'd on the same Tree, the first for Fools, the others for Miscreants and Villains. And thus much, and no more, am I for being wedded to a Party.

Tory. I own you have told us a fair Tale; but nothing i• prov'd, nothing appears undeniable, but your Venom and Enmity against the Church and her Friends.

Whig. If you mean the French Story needs proving, the Disgrace of Barillon when he return'd to Versailles upon the account of mistaking and misrepresenting the English Affairs, is notorious: But besides, the Story proves it self •••e than a thousand Witnesses; and for the rest, I have •ted nothing but what every English Man is knowing of. •d as for what you charge me with in relation to the ••urch, I see little reason for it; unless, as St. Paul says, • account me your Enemy because I tell you the Truth. • my part I reverence the Church of England as much • any Man: But I am not for sacrificing the Laws and •erties of the Publick, nay the very Nation it self, to a •eign Conquest, for the Sound of a word. I have a due •ect for the Priesthood too, and am their Servant, but •er can submit to be their Slave; I honour their Coat, • cannot be content to strip my self of mine in respect to • A moderate Respect is decent, and our Duty; more •ke to be Superstition at least, if not Idolatry: and to •ship a wooden Priest appears to me as bad as worship ••g a wooden God.

Tory. Now you are running into your usual Violence • Heat; and let me tell you as a Friend, it does you no ••d neither with the Church nor Court, which latter has •ery low Opinion of those Men who express too much ••rmth in what they say or do.

Whig. And therefore their Affairs have succeeded accor •••gly. Let the Nation be Judg, Whether if Men of ••rmth had been put in Office by our Ministers, the ••xes would not have been more justly and carefully col •••ted, than they have been by those lukewarm Mana ••rs they have employ'd; who, like the unjust Steward, ••en the King's due was an Hundred, bid their Neigh ••urs write down Fifty? Or, do you think the Deputy ••eutenants of Surry would have absconded last Year, when ••ey were order'd to raise the Militia upon King James's ••ming down to Normandy, if they had been Men of •armth to the Government? Or that King James's ••iends would dare to profess their Opinions, and carry • their Designs so publickly? That they would presume • insult the Government in every Coffee-house; nay, in ••e Mall and Whitehall it self? That they would dare to •reaten you to your teeth, as they do, with Invasions, •escents and Rebellions; or would venture to correspond •ith France, and go forward and backward every day to •ing James; nay, raise Regiments of Horse and Foot un •er your noses for a Rebellion, if Men of Warmth and •eal were in the Government? But it is from hence •hat all these Insolences take their Rise, that the Enemies •f the Government are come from hating it, to despise it; •hat its Friends are discourag'd to appear for it, and that •hose Officers and Soldiers who in King Charles's time •ould have broken the Heads of those whom they heard reflect upon the King's Person or Government, will • this Reign hear both treated very odly; not that t• want Affection to either, but out of a fear to offend, • shewing themselves Men of warmth and Partymen, th• Characters being so abominable to our Court.

Tory. You Whigs have been the occasion of all this t• for you were so irreconcilable to some Ministers of St• at the beginning of the Revolution, because they h• made a few slips in the late Reigns; or perhaps beca••• they had hang'd some of your Friends, a Father, or B••¦ther, or so; that you forc'd them to take in some Perso• whom they themselves thought not very proper for t•• Government: But if you will run a Man down, he • support himself at any rate; for Men are but Men. A• withal I believe they hop'd that a Place would buy a• Party out of their Principles, and that all whom th• brought into the Government, would be oblig'd by th• means to be for the Government.

Whig. This is very far fetch'd, Mr. Tory, tho it is t• the first time I have heard it. But as to the first part • this Paragraph, the Matter of Fact is false: The Wo• were willing to forget all past Miscarriages, and be reco•¦cil'd to any Minister that could be honest, as I shew• you before. But these Gentlemen quickly convinc'd a• the World, that they were grown so old and stiff in the former Mischiefs, that they were capable of no oth•• Bent or Impression, but what they had taken in the la• Reigns. And it was plain to every Man who had Ev• that they were no sooner in the Ministry, but they fe• into their old Schemes, which no honest Man could com• into; and which I am afraid the Court has not found th• good Effects from, which these Evil Counsellors promis'• It's true, by giving Places to all that were supple an• complying, you have brought in the Knaves of all Parties But since that which brings them into the Service of th• Government, is their own Interest, and not that of th• Government; it will be reasonable for our Rulers to ex¦pect, that the whole Design of such Men will be rathe• how to serve themselves of the Government, than ho• to serve it. To conclude, Sir, notwithstanding all yo• have said in excuse of your Ministers and their Method• I cannot but remain in my first Opinion, That the Men • easy Phlegm, born on the Confines of Indifference, as Sir Samue• Tuke in F—ch-like Fustian describes our lukewarm Neutrals are not fit Men to be employ'd in our Government, as the Case stands at present, but will prove as destructive to i• as downright Jacobites.

Tory. All this is taking things for granted which we •y, and accusing Men of what you do not prove; and • were so, you confess there are Knaves of your Party

Whig. The Truth of what I say in relation to your Par ••is so notorious to all the World, that it would be as •ertinent to go about proving it, as to prove there is ••n; even you your selves have confess'd, and preten •• to repent of your Principles and Practices in King ••mes's time, tho you are now return'd to your Vomit. • as to what you say of our having Knaves amongst us, •ust confess it too true; and am as much afflicted as • can be, that any Whig should invade your undoubted • sole Right of being Knaves, and selling and betray • their Fellow-Subjects. But yet we hope we may claim • distinction to be made betwixt our Party, who not only •••fess, but have maintain'd to the death the Religion, ••ghts and Libertys of their Country; and yours, who • King Charles's and beginning of King James's Reign •e up all these things; and who, tho you are employ'd • and sworn to the present Government, made publick ••joicings at the Slaughter of our Armies and Destruc ••on of our Fleets. If the Whigs have the misfortune of ••me Knaves professing themselves of their Party; our ••viour himself had a Judas amongst his Twelve, and •t that did not at all discredit the Doctrine and ••inciples of the Apostles; nor does our having some •naves among us, make it as reasonable and equal to ad •ere to your Party, that are the profess'd Enemies of ••eir King and Country, as to depend on those who •ave generally in all times and on all Occasions declar'd •heir Affection to their Country, Love of its Laws and •eligion, and have since the Revolution shew'd their Zeal •or the present Establishment.

Tory. Just now you seem'd to agree to a Comprehension, •nd were for welcoming the Prodigals, as you call'd them; •ow you are for excluding them again.

Whig. No, I am for receiving any Tory, as I told you, •hat seeks the Government, and becomes a true Penitent: •ut I would not have the Government seek them, nor would I have them entrusted in this critical time without some marks of their Repentance and Regeneracy; and by our Easiness give them the Opportunity of selling us to the French K. or K. James, as I fear some of 'em do at this time.

Tory. All that's Malice and Stuff, and not reasonably to be apprehended: And I tell you once more, it is the Opinion of some wise Men, that the King cannot follow a more fatal Counsel than to confine himself to any on• Party of his Subjects.

Whig. Then your Patrons have been advising him fatall• these four Years; for they have been persuading the Kin• to throw himself intirely into your hands.

Tory. They never refus'd to receive any Whig, tha• would comply, and come under their Protection; but • the King will chuse any one Party, I think we of th• Church are the most numerous and considerable, and ar• fittest as such to be employ'd by him.

Whig. Now you are retir'd into your Sanctuary, th• Church, you think you are safe, and it is indeed dangerou• pursuing you: But however I'll venture it; and since yo• force me, I must repeat again some of those Argument• I have given you already, why you are not fit to b• trusted by this Government. First, you Tories do no• believe your selves King William's Subjects, and therefor• are very unfit to be employ'd by him as his Servants▪ Secondly, it cools the Affections of the People, to se• those employ'd in Places of highest Trust, who they hav• a Demonstration are not for the Government even whe• they are in it. And by this Method it is plain the King (according to the Fable) loses his Shoulder of Mutton, by catching at the Shadow; and by aiming at both Parties, he has neither.

Tory. I confess I am for the King's relying on one Party as much as you are (tho not yours) but however, there are great and wise Men, as I told you, of another Opinion; and I have heard it ask'd, Why this method of uniting all Parties should not have as good an effect here as in Holland, for there the Prince of Orange reconcil'd all to the common Interest?

Whig. I'll tell you why: First, it appears all Parties there sincerely intended the Good of the Government; which, it is too plain, is not your case. Secondly, Neither Party had any other Head to repair to, as you Tories have. The Prince of Orange had no pretending Rival to the Right of Stadtholder; but the King has here a Rival, a Father-in-Law, who pretends a Right to the Crown, who is supported by the greatest Power that ever was known in Europe, so as to make the Event appear doubtful, even to those who are most zealous to this Government. And by this means the Friends of King James are encourag'd to be firm to his Interests, and Neutrals; nay, and even his fearful Enemies are frighted from acting with a Zeal against him. Is this a time then to be trying Experiments, to put our selves and our Affairs into the hands of Men bred up, and principled against the Design of this Government? Is this a time to reconcile our ••lves to our Enemies, and to take Men out of Plots, and place them in our Cabinet? No sure, with my Lord N—'s leave, this is not the time. In this time of danger, those who have been the antient and declar'd Enemies of King James, and who have most reason to expect being hang'd if he return, are most fit for the King to rely on. But when these Difficulties are master'd, as much Comprehension as you please. In the mean time your Education in Toryism, your Obligations to King James, and, which is more than both, your present Hopes from him, will make you so averse to this Government, that no Favour, no Courtship can engage you heartily in its Interests; and it is nonsense to expect you should fight for a Title you have always declar'd to disapprove of.

Tory. You are always harping upon that string: But ••pposing we do not approve of the making him King, ••t we know how to obey Kings when they are made; but ••u, after you have made a King, are using him like your •reature, clipping his Power, and finding fault with his •onduct. For my part, if I were a King, I would sooner •••give a Man that dislik'd my Title, than one who dislik'd my Conduct.

Whig. Why then, Mr. Tory, you would be none of the ••sest Princes: For he who finds fault with your Conduct may be your Friend, but he who finds fault with your Title must be your Enemy, or else a Knave, and acts against his Conscience. But how does this Article appear, of the Whigs being dissatify'd with the King's Conduct in any point, but in his employing you, and the Consequences of it? Is it from giving chearfully whatever •ums were demanded in Parliament? Is it being ready to advance Mony upon the most remote Funds, in offering their Persons to the Publick Service in all times of Danger, notwithstanding all Browbeatings and Discouragements; by breaking all Measures with King James and •is Party, that they discover their Dislike and Dissatis ••ction to the King or his Government? But if they •isapprove that the Friends of King James should be King William's Ministers, that those should be plac'd in all Offices who hate him and betray him, will he have reason to take their Dislike of this part of his Conduct so very unkindly from them, as to forgive it less than your re •ouncing his Right and Title to the Crown? But you Tories have got a Trick of bringing Kings into your Quarrels (as the Priests do God Almighty into theirs) and by placing them before you, hope to make your selve• safe, not caring how much you expose them: and you im¦pudently place your own Crimes unfairly upon others and whilst you your selves are daily libelling and lampoo¦ning the King's Person and Conduct most maliciously and triumphing in all his Misfortunes ingratefully (witnes• the publick Insolences at the Bath and Windsor, upon th• late Defeat in Flanders) you according to your wonte• Modesty, charge the Whigs with your own Faults; and a¦void being Criminals, by turning Accusers.

Tory. I know not what some hot-headed drunken Me• may have said and done at the Bath or elsewhere; b•• this I know, that a whole Party ought not to share th• Miscarriages of some few particular Men.

Whig. You are in the right if that were the case; b•• it is undeniable, that this Insolence is universal, and eve• amongst those of you employ'd and paid by the Go¦vernment.

Tory. This is a sore place I find you are ever complain¦ing of. But why are you angry with us for being i• Places? Did we seek them? Were we not sought, cou•¦ted, intreated to accept of Employments? And sinc• you provoke me, I'll tell you the reason: The King foun• none of you Whigs capable of or fit for Business; he sa• you too of a sour, morose Temper, jealous of Prerogativ• affecting Popularity, childishly fond of Trifles, and t•¦nacious of lawless Liberty; whilst we are frank and ea• in all these matters, and know the respect that is due t• Crown'd Heads.

Whig. That is, when they are rightful!

Tory. Come, you will make no Prince have the wor• Opinion of us for that: The Right Line, Passive Obedien• and Non-resistance, Prerogative, &c. will always sound we• in every King's Ear. And when he considers us Enemi•• to his Title only out a Principle of Loyalty, he will hav• reason rather to accuse his own Misfortune, than o• Vertue: we plainly and honestly told him our Principle• that we believ'd him a King de facto only; and our H•¦nour in this point made him rely upon our Honour • others.

Whig. Let us examine then how honourably, how grat•¦fully you have behav'd your selves to a King who ha•• rely'd on you, and oblig'd you so extremely. We will pa•• by those who refuse to swear Allegiance to him on th• fore-mention'd honourable Pretences, and only mentio• those who have accepted Employments of Profit and Trus• Have not even those in the Government, both in Englan• and Scotland, been plotting the Dethroning this King, who has trusted them so generously, and courted them so •indly? Particularly, did not one of your Party at the beginning of this Government give notice to the King's Enemies of Warrants against them, in order to their making their escape, and was discharg'd his Employment upon it? Did not a Brother of a certain Secretary give but blank Passes under the Hand and Seal of that Secretary, by which a Correspondence was carry'd on betwixt this Place and France securely? And was not this Gentleman on this account laid aside gently and privately, and this matter huddled up for fear of any Reflection on our Monarchical Favourites, and put on the Publick as Passes forg'd (as indeed they were by our own Officers) and a lame Proclamation put out with Rewards to the Discoverer, but without a Pardon for Life, when they knew the whole matter before-hand? Have not some Women lately been taken going to France (with Letters •o King James) with a Scotish Secretary's Pass, under his Hand and Seal? Was not an Officer of the Post-Office •ately found corresponding with France, and without any other Punishment for his Capital Crime, laid aside gently and privately? The Story of Captain John Layton, late Commander of the St. Albans, and which has been told •n the House of Commons, will shew you how faithfully •ou Tories serve the Government, and how fit you are •o be trusted. Captain Layton being order'd to cruise twenty Leagues off Ʋshant, by a Storm of Wind was driven to Cape Clear, where he met a French Privateer, and took her: The Captain of the Privateer ask'd Layton the Name of his Ship, which he told him; upon this the Privateer looking into his Pocket-Book, ask'd Layton how he came there, for by his Intelligence the Station of the St. Albans was to be twenty Leagues from Ʋshant, and no further. And the like Story is told of a Transport-Ship going to France with Prisoners some few Months ago, who meeting with divers Privateers, ask'd them how they durst be so bold as to cruise there, when four English Men of War were within six Leagues of them? they reply'd, they knew the Station of those English, and that they could not come where they were a cruising but by breaking their Orders. But the relation of the Sailor who was taken, and for some time serv'd aboard an Irish Privater, is yet more remarkable, for he deposeth, That they told him (three Months before the Straits Fleet fail'd from Spithead) both the time when they were to sail, the number of their Convoy, and likewise that the main Fleet was to go no further than beyo•• Ʋshant. Now how they could come by this Intelligenc• but from Officers imploy'd by and sworn to the Gover•¦ment, I know not; and if so, how faithfully and hono•¦rably you Tories serve those who trust you, and how • you are to be imploy'd in this critical Time, I appeal•• all the World.

Tory. These are malicious Stories; and if strictly e•¦quir'd into, will prove false I dare say.

Whig. Whenever there is a Committee of indiffere••• Men order'd to take the Examination, I am inform• all this will be prov'd, and much more: and how rea¦sonable it is to expect this and any other Treachery fro• you, will appear probable to those who see you in a• Offices daily and publickly drinking King James's Health• who see one Clerk going to a non-swearing Doctor, t• take Advice, whether he may serve the Government a• a writing Clerk without Damnation to his Soul? Ye• replies the Doctor, for thereby you keep out an i• Man, and may serve your rightful King upon occasion To see another Clerk valuing himself to his Compa¦nions, that his Place, thank God, does not oblige him to take the Oaths to the Government. To see Officer• of the greatest Trust in the Admiralty in Clubs twic• a Week with Mr. P—ps, Mr. Ew—rs, and othe• known Jacobites, and from Saturday to Monday constantly living with them Night and Day.

Tory. I know who you mean, one of them is a Nephew to one of the Gentlemen, and expects 40000l. from him▪ and would you have him renounce such an Expectance i• consideration of your Place?

Whig. No, but I would have the Government renounce such an Officer, that had such an Expectation from such an Uncle.

Tory. But where could you get such able Officers, if these were discharg'd?

Whig. As the Case stands, one honest Man will be of more service than ten such able Men: The Forms of Business will be quickly learn'd, and want of Experience will be less fatal to us, than want of Fidelity. Most of the Under-Places require a very indifferent Understanding, and little Experience to carry on the Business: And if you ascend to the Ministry, I cannot help thinking my Lord Sh—y, or Sir J. T—d as able Secretaries as the E. of N. and Mr. R—ll as able an Admiral as Mr. K. &c. What is it your able Men have done for us, pray, these four Years? Was ever any Government in so promising a Condition, as ours was at the time of the Revolution? Were we not the Hopes of all our Allies, and the Terrour of our Enemies? And is not the case alter'd with us? I fear it is. To be plain, a Ministry from Wapping could not have made worse work on't than yours have done. Ministers who know not so much as what Mony their Affairs will require, but ask the Parliament too little, and manage it so as to make it less: That want Intelligence so much, that Matters of the greatest Consequence have been publick in every Coffee-house three Days before it comes to the Secretary's Office; particularly the loss of our Merchants Fleet, and beating our Army in Flanders: As if (as one said) Secretaries, like Cuckolds, were to know their Dishonour and Misfortunes last. Then the Return of our Fleets for want of Provisions, laying out Mony in false Expeditions, and •anting it thereby in true Necessities; imperfect Or ••rs, from whence proceeds imperfect Execution; and ••sides, they prove an Excuse to Officers even in the •ost fatal Miscarriages; with a thousand more Misma ••gements and Treacheries from the top to the bottom of the Ministry, too tedious to relate here.

Tory. And do you think the Government would be ••tter serv'd at this time by Novices and Strangers to •usiness?

Whig. I have answer'd you that before: I think it would be much better serv'd by ignorant Friends, than understanding Enemies; tho I am far (at the same time) from granting you that Point, for I am sure there are more Men of Sense and Capacity to be found amongst the Whigs than amongst the Tories; and that Experience is not of such mighty Consequence as you would infer, will appear, if you will please to call to mind the Men employ'd in Publick Affairs by Cromwel. Was ever Government better serv'd than his? and yet he chose Men of the most private Condition, and one would have thought most unqualify'd for Publick Business, Taylors, Draymen, broken Shop-keepers, raw Scholars, and some few of the middling Gentry. But being careful to chuse Men principled against the Government of King Charles, and zealous for the Interest of the Government then on foot; they did Wonders, supported their Friends, and were awful to their Enemies; and this with all the Nobility, Gentry and Clergy, both Church of England and Presbyterian, in perpetual Combinations and Conspiracies against them at home, and a War in Ireland, Scotland, Holland, and Spain too, upon their hands. • you have an Instance of it in this Government, in • Person of one of your Secretaries of Scotland, who • bred in a very private way) has shew'd himself a • successful Statesman, and of great consequence to • Welfare of the King's Affairs in that Country, and • merely from his incorruptible Honesty, Zeal and Integ• to the present Government, without Experience or g• Insight into Business.

Tory. I must grant there is something in what • say, Union and Integrity will do great Matters: • you Whigs cannot pretend to this, for you are not • of you in the same mind; you have no Governme•• no Discipline in your Party, no Firmness to one a••¦ther, or to any Point: Your great P. F—y t• Cadet, and carries Arms under the General of the 〈◊〉 Saxons; the two Har—ys, Father and Son, are En••¦neers under the late Lieutenant of the Ordnance, a• bomb any Bill, which he has once resolv'd to red• to Ashes, tho it were for Recognition, or any thi• else that is most necessary to our Security: Your J• S. and Jack G. whenever they touch Penny, will to•• Pot too, and drink all in the Bowl, be it ever • deep. And besides this, you are always laughing, • spising or railing at one another; some of you are t• wise, some of you too witty, and some of you too ••¦nest for the rest; jealous and envious of one anothe• Favour and Preferment, every Man thinking hims••• fittest to be at the Head of Affairs, and hating and • flecting upon those who are so, and despising to be ••∣vern'd or directed by them. And at the same ti•• those who are at the top disdaining to look down upo• those below them, tho they were the steps by whi•• they did ascend; they grow stately to their Frien• and unmindful of their Fortunes, impatient of Address•• hard of Access, huddling into little Cabals, where th•• are wise and witty among themselves: Whilst we To••• on the contrary have but one Heart, one Voice, o• Purse and one Interest; excuse and justify one anothe• Faults, prefer the meanest Fool or Knave of our Pa•¦ty; and in return the Underlings are every Man in • perfect Obedience to his Superior, to vote, rail, write • talk according to Direction, and not otherwise.

Whig. I own there is too much Truth in what y•• say, and you speak Truth so seldom, that we ought • allow it you when you do: But I hope we have seen t•• Error of our Disunion, and shall mend it for the futur• 〈◊〉 however we may have had personal Differences, • likewise may have been too much divided, and too •inate in some Opinions, yet still in all Times, and •er all Discouragements, we have all agreed to the •e end, viz. the Publick Good of our Country, and • Support of its Laws and Liberties; and in this pre •••t Reign have been and are unanimous against King ••mes and his Interest, and have at all times with one ••nsent own'd his present Majesty, Rightful and Law •••, which I take to be the Shibboleth, to distinguish •••se who are alone fit to serve this Government. And • there be an Act of Recognition in force, I will be •d to say, all the other Steps of our ablest and ho •stest Statesmen will be upon boggy Ground; nor can •y Man be reasonably employ'd in any Office who •s not taken this Test: for whoever thinks King Wil •••m not rightful, must think King James is so; and the ••me Conscience which leads them to believe him right ••l, will incline them to assist that Right when they ••ve opportunity. But to return to the Point of your •harge, we must confess likewise that we have not been • much under the Government of our Superiours as •ou are, nor so industrious in supporting each other's ••ivate and particular Interests. But to the first I •ight answer, That Fools and Beggars are more easily ••d by the Nose than Men of Sense and Estates: •nd as to the latter, I must put you in mind, that ••e Societies of Ignatius and of Newgate are both of •hem as much united as you, in universal Mischief; ••r Roguery makes a stronger Glew and Cement than •ertue, because there are more Men capable of the •ormer than of the latter. And tho it were to be •ish'd, that the Whigs were more friendly, and had more •oncern for the Support of one another in all their ho •est Pretences; yet God forbid there should ever be such • Friendship and Partiality amongst them, as to con •emn and disgrace those who gain Victories, because •hey are not of their Party; and to support and de ••nd those who have lost the Ships, Trade and Honour of the Nation, because they are their Creatures. But on the other side, where it is without offence to Justice and the Publick Interest, all Unanimity and Friendship • to be admir'd, prais'd and pray'd for; and I hope you •ill find it amongst us for the future, till it becomes •he Subject of your Envy, instead of being an occasion of •eproach. To put an end to this Argument: 'Tis plain •ith all your Friendships, and Union, •nd other Politicks, you have brought the Nation, and all its Allies, to • lowest Condition both in Power and Reputation. • have almost put it out of the Skill of any Condu•• recover us; and whoever now takes the Administra•••• of Affairs upon them, will be apply'd to the Gov•••¦ment, like Pidgeons to the Feet of dying Men. • however to those who are true Lovers of their C•••¦try, no Time seems too late to attempt its Relief, • Difficulty so great as to discourage them from endea•••¦ring it; and tho as the Case stands, it is more • probable, we may miscarry under the best Conduct, • it is undeniable we must miscarry under yours. An• I take my leave.

FINIS.

Notes

*
The first Instance I have met of their Modesty.
↵

*
A College of Je
•
its in Anjou.

↵

*
A fine Character for an English King.
↵

†
A new Distinction our Statesman have lately found out.
↵

LIBERTY. SLAVERY.

DIALOGUE BETWIXT WHIG and TORY. •herein the Principles and Practices of each Party are fairly and impartially stated; that thereby Mistakes and Prejudices may be remov'd from amongst us, and all who prefer English Liberty and the Protestant Religion, to French Slavery and Popery, may be inform'd how to chuse fit and proper Instruments for our Preservation in these Times of Danger.

LONDON, Printed in the Year, M.DCC.X.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE following Discourse was first printed • the Year 1692. but as the same Causes w• always produce the same Effects, 'tis thought n• unseasonable to publish it now afresh: and if th• who have any regard to the Happiness of the Native Country, of whatever Party they be, w• peruse it with Minds free from Heat and Prejudic• the Publisher will attain his chiefest aim.

To the KING.

SIR,

THO the sacred Majesty of Kings (I am sensible) ought not in common cases to be approach'd by every little Busy-body, or frivolous Remonstrance-maker; yet when our Prince's Palace is • Fire, and his sacred Person in the midst of the Flames, •e meanest of his Subjects hath the Privilege then to •ve him warning of his Danger, and to assist to quench •e Fire: And this I am afraid, Sir, is at present too near •r Case, or I would not have assum'd the Boldness to •sturb your Repose, or have plac'd my self so disadvanta •eously before your Majesty, as I must expect to appear, •nder the Character of a publick Censor of the Manners • your Ministers, and a petty State-Reformer. But it is •ot I alone that am thus concern'd and busy for the Pub ••ck; the whole World are at this time mournfully reflec ••ing upon the miserable Estate we are fallen into from •hat happy and glorious Prospect of things which we had • 1688 and 1689: This has put all Men upon Enquiry ••to the Causes of the unhappy Change of our Affairs; •nd I find it agreed on all hands, that the principal Occasion •f our Misfortunes (or rather Mismanagements) is from •he intrusting those with the Government of all, who •ere the Creatures and Tools of the two last Reigns, and •re irreconcilable Enemies to your Majesty's Government; •hose who oppos'd your coming to the Crown; those who •eclar'd to your Face King James the only Rightful King; •hose who sold their Country and betray'd it to the two •ast Kings, and will be always ready to sell it even to the French King, if he prove the fairest Chapman.

I have heard that Thurloe, who was Secretary of Sta•• to Cromwell, being ask'd by King Charles II. how they d• support their Government so long, when all the Nobilit• Gentry and Clergy were against it? he reply'd, By intrusti•• those only in the Management of all Affairs, who were as hearti•• against that Nobility, Gentry and Clergy. I do not apply th• literally; for God be prais'd, your Majesty has a great pa•• of all these several Degrees of Men, who are most hearti•• and zealously in your Interests: But I mean by this, that yo• are to oppose your Enemies with their Enemies, not wit• their Friends; and that the Design of keeping out Kin• James with Jacobites, seems to be as impracticable, as h• Project prov'd of setting up Popery with a Protestan• Army.

Yet there are some about your Majesty, who (for ba• and private Ends) endeavour to possess you with the de¦structive Politicks of courting and buying your Enemie• into your Service; and would persuade you, that Kin• James's Tories are the only Party truly principl'd for Mo¦narchy, and are fittest for Employment, as being lon• practis'd in Business: And that (on the contrary) you• Majesty's best Friends, whom they call Whigs, are not onl• ignorant, and unacquainted with Publick Business, but ar• Haters of Monarchy, of Commonwealth Principles; an• at best, for making their Kings no more than Dukes 〈◊〉 Venice, and Kings of Clouts. Now this is a Notion so false, so fatal to the Prosperity of your Affairs, and so dangerous to the very Being of your Government, that • cannot but think it highly necessary, that this matter should be fairly stated and laid before your Majesty. I am sensible how unfit I am for the Task, and how open I lie to a Charge of Presumption in attempting it, But as the Son of Cyrus, who was from his Birth dumb, broke Silence when he saw his Father in the Hands of his Murderers; so (since I saw no other Champion appear in this Cause) I resolv'd to break thro all Impediments, even those of Nature, and to endeavour the Rescue of my King out of the Hands of those who have already been the Ruin of two Kings, your Majesty's Predecessors, and who will undoubtedly bring you and your Affairs into great Difficulties, if you be not deliver'd from their Counsels.

In order to this, I have impartially made a Collection (in the following Dialogue) of all the Arguments which Whigs imploy against the Tories, or Tories against the Whigs, and submit it to your Majesty's discerning Judgment, and most piercing and distinguishing Wisdom (upon the whole) which of them are most proper for your Majesty to employ; those who were in the Interest of Popery ••d of France, or those who oppos'd both to the Death. • appeal to you, Sir, whether a Tory's being for the Di ••ne Right of Succession, and consequently for King James's Monarchy, makes him the fitter in Principle to be employ'd •y King William? Or, whether his boasted Skill in Busi •ess will be of any use to your Majesty, if he be in Prin ••ple and Inclination for King James, and believes King •illiam a King de facto only, without a Rightful Title, •nd in plain English, an Usurper? If these Gentlemen •as their Principles will naturally lead them to do) use all •heir Skill in their several Stations, to obstruct and make •ifficult your Affairs, to betray your Designs to your Enemies, to countenance and protect King James's Friends in •ll their Plots and Contrivances, furnish them with In •elligence, help them to Passes, Escapes, &c. all which things (it cannot be deny'd) have been and are daily done by some Persons employ'd in this Government: Of what Use, Sir, or Service then is this boasted Skill in Business to your Majesty's Interests? Certainly Men less conversant in Publick Affairs, who have a Zeal for your Government, would be of more Use and Service to you; Men who were persecuted by King Charles and King James either in their own Persons, or in the Persons of their Friends, who were fin'd, imprison'd, and some of their Relations hang'd in those Reigns, are more likely to act in earnest against King James, and in the supporting your Majesty and your Government, than those who had their Fortunes and their Families rais'd by King James and his Brother King Charles, and who hope to be rais'd yet more by his Return, or at least to secure in his Government what they have got in this, by obliging him and his Friends, at the Price of sacrificing you and your's.

For Example: Is it reasonable to believe the E. of N. whose Father and Family was rais'd by King Charles and King James for prostituting the Law (and his nauseous Rhetorick) to the Designs of those two Brothers, who himself was a Privy-Counsellor with Father Peters, and chosen by King James at the time of the Revolution to treat with your Majesty at Hungerford, in order to delay your Progress to London; and lastly, who so violently oppos'd your Majesty's being crown'd King, as to lay an eternal Obligation upon King James by it: I say, Sir, is it reasonable to believe this Gentleman so proper a Secretary of State to your Majesty, as the E. of S. who has so mortally disoblig'd King James, in being so early, and so zealous in your Interests, who went at the Head of that Message to King James wherein he was requir'd to retire from Whitehall; who has since that been so instrumental to place and preserve the Crown upon your Head; and has, in a word, broken all Measures so with King James, as to leave no possibility of a Reconciliation to him, and consequently has no Retreat from this Government, but is oblig'd in common Sense to serve your Majesty faithfully and zealously?

Or can your Majesty think Mr. K. who (it is generally said) believes himself the Son of King J. and it is known by all the World, owes his Fortune to him; who (if we may believe Report) at the time of the Revolution, agreed with Captain Tosyer, to carry the Ships he then commanded in the Straits to King James in France (had not the common Sailors very rudely oppos'd the Project) who after this acquitted himself so ill at Cadiz, in letting the Thoulon Squadron pass by him in his sight, without fighting them; and to conclude, has made so unaccountable a Campagn of it this Summer: Can your Majesty (give me leave to say, Sir) think this Gentleman (after all this) fitter to command the Fleet of England, than Mr. R. whose Provocations to King James are never to be forgiven by him; who was one of the most instrumental Men in England in placing you upon the Throne; who last Year gave you the greatest and most glorious Victory that ever was obtain'd by us at Sea; and whose Courage, Conduct and Fidelity the Parliament of England has unanimously attested?

And now, Sir (if I may presume so far) will your Majesty be pleas'd to examine what Honour, what Profit has accru'd to you, or the Nation, by your employing these Gentlemen who have of late been at the Head of the Ministry? For God's sake, Sir, cast up the Account of the last four Years Management, and see what you have gain'd by changing Whigs for Torys. Have not your Affairs gone backward both at home and abroad? Have not Mismanagements been multiply'd? Have you not cool'd your Friends, and yet not gain'd your Enemies? Do not almost all the Tories you employ drink King James's Health in your Wine, and serve him in your Offices? Do they not obstruct all Business which ought to be dispatch'd, and dispatch all Business which ought to be obstructed? browbeat your Friends, and delay them in the most just Pretences, but comply with your Enemies in their most unreasonable Demands; nay, connive at their Cabals and Conspiracies, and snatch them out of the Hands of Justice, when the Law has sentenc'd them to Death for their Treasons? Would not such Ministers and Friends as these be less dangerous to you, when profess'd Enemies, nay in Arms against you in the Field, than in your Council, Cabinet and Offices? Undoubtedly they would.

But I know the common Answer to all these kind of Complaints is, That it is more easy to find Faults than Remedies. If you please therefore, Sir, we will consider of Remedys, and I think there may be some found out both easy and certain, and they are these: First, Sir, be pleas'd to remove from your Person, Council and Offices of Trust, Men bred up and confirm'd in Principles destructive to our English Government, and hateful to your People; and to discountenance all State-Projecters, and Mountebank-Ministers, who make Wounds in the State to recommend their Balsam: Throw out, Sir, these Achans to be ston'd by the People, who will otherwise, I fear, prevent God's Favour to you; who blast your Success abroad, and rob you of the Affections of your Subjects at home, with their accursed thing, I mean that Tinsel Power with which these Miscreants dazle the Eyes of Princes, and lead them out of the right way. God is displeas'd with it: For uncontroulable and unaccountable Power is the Right and Attribute of God alone; and (as the Scripture tells us) He will not give his Glory unto another; nor suffer those to act like Gods, who are to die like Men. Your People also will be displeas'd with a Despotick Power; for the Kings of England are bound by Laws, by mutual Compacts, &c. (as you your self, Sir, have set forth most unanswerably in your Declaration when you came over) and if these are broken, English-men, who believe themselves Subjects to the Crown of England (as by Law establish'd) and not Slaves to any particular Person
Otherwise King James would have a fairer Pretence, than I hope we shall ever allow him.

; they become impatient, angry, and at length perhaps unreasonable. And whenever they see their King beset with Ministers of Lawless Principles (those wholesale Merchants of Arbitrary Power) they grow mistrustful and uneasy, and are apt in such Cases to shut their Purses, and open their Mouths. And give me leave to say, Sir, had not the People been made apprehensive and jealous, by seeing these Men in the Ministry, whose mischievous Methods they were so well acquainted with, and did so much abhor; no general Excise, no Loans, no Powers would have been thought by the People of England, too much to have intrusted you with; so highly they esteem'd your generous Relief of them, your unequal Courage, and the many other admirable Vertues they saw shine in you. An English King is the greatest Monarch upon Earth, when he reigns in the Hearts of his Subjects; and all other Methods to Power and Greatness have been found ineffectual in England, I remember I once saw written over a Mercer's Shop, Keep thy Shop, and thy Sh• will keep thee: and tho it be a homely Allusion, it is very applicable to the present Point; Keep your Laws, Sir, a• your Laws will keep you; support your People in their Right and Liberties, and Queen Elizabeth shall pass her Royal Word for them, they will support your just Prerogative a• home and your Honour abroad. And, Sir, by the way do not let your Flatterers give you a cheap Opinion of • Power deriv'd from the People; for it is undoubtedly from their Consent, that all Power must come: Nor let them make you uneasy that your Title to the Crown is from the universal free Choice of the Commons of England. Be¦lieve me, your Ministers, nor the two learned Bishops who have scribled upon this Subject, will ever be able to find you a better.

In the next place, discharge all Jacobites and Trimmer from Offices of Trust: For such as either desire King James, or from their Fear, or Wisdom, endeavour to deserve from him (so much as their Pardon) I humbly conceive are unfit for your Service at this Juncture; tho when the Government is more settl'd, I am for entertaining all who give Proofs of their Penitence for their past Actions and Opinions.

But, Sir, Purgatives will not alone perfect the Cure of your Government, and restore it to perfect Health; you must make use of Alteratives too, there must be a Change of Measures, as well as a Discharge of Men: And the Method I would humbly offer is this.

First; To make the Interest of England your chief Design and Aim; and since you are an English King, to become intirely an English-man. England is a Nation jealous of Rivals in her Prince's Favour, and thinks her self deserving of all his Care, and all his Caresses. If the People of England think you have a favourable Opinion of them, they will endeavour to deserve it; if not, they may perhaps deserve your worst Opinion too. This Humour of the Nation Queen Elizabeth found early, and apply'd her self so happily to it, as by this single Point to master all her Difficulties (the greatest it may be that ever Prince had to struggle with) whereas her Successors, by contrary Measures, brought themselves into very unfortunate Circumstances.

In the next place, Sir, let me desire you to avoid concerning your self in Elections of Members in Parliament, or influencing them when chosen: the Parliament is a sacred part of the English Constitution, and like the Israelites Ark of old, is not to be touch'd profanely, but with great Danger to those who touch it so. And therefore, Sir, it will be ••ur true Interest to leave the People free to their Choice, ••d the Members free to their Opinions when chosen • is still fresh in our Memories, how much the Practices • the late Reigns in corrupting Elections, and closeting •embers of Parliament, enrag'd the Nation, and they ••d reason to resent it; for if (for the sake of a Vote) a •ember of Parliament shall be plac'd in an Office of •rust he is not fit for, this is destroying the Government •wo ways at once: For, to speak in the Phrase of the Ministry, it is making a Parliament of Clouts, and an Officer of Clouts at the same stroke. Rejecting Bills offer'd •y Parliament of publick Benefit, and for securing our •ntient Government, and the Fundamental Rights of the ••bject, was highly displeasing to the Nation also in the ••te Reigns, and will be so in all Reigns: As was likewise ••e denying the People their undoubted Right of frequent •arliaments. They had also in the late Governments an •nvention to make a Pump of the Parliament, and by •ouring in a Pint of Water, to fetch out a Tun: This •as justly most provoking to the Nation, and treasur'd up Wrath against the Day of Wrath.

The refusing of Bills, and the Contempt of Addresses •rom the Parliament against Ministers, or in any other Cases, has likewise given great Offence in former Reigns. For tho the House of Commons, seconded by the House of •ords, cannot reach the Life or Estate of any Person, but •y a full Proof in form of Law; yet because it is so difficult a matter to come at such a Proof, a Vote of the House of Commons against any Minister, has always been esteem'd by all Kings (who were well with the People) a sufficient Reason for the removing them from Court: and I have heard that our King Henry IV. (a warlike and wise Prince) upon an Address from the Parliament against some of his Ministers, reply'd, I know no Evil by these Men; but if they are thought unfit by my Parliament for my Service, I shall not think fit to continue them in it.

All these things, Sir, therefore are most carefully to be avoided by your Majesty: They will appear with a worse Grace in you, who have declar'd and made War against these Practices, than in your Predecessors. For as St. Paul says, Thou who hast said, Ye shall not commit Adultery, dost thou commit Adultery? Thou who hast said, Ye shall not steal, dost thou steal? You must by no means, Sir, give this occasion of Clamour and Recrimination to your Enemies. But be pleas'd to follow this General Rule, always to beware of the Ministers, and to avoid the Schemes and Counsels of King Charles and King James's Government, and then you can scarce err: For whatever is opposite to their Principles and Practices, is the direct Road to yo•• Security and Success.

In the next place, Sir, let Rewards and Punishment• be duly and impartially distributed; this is a Rule • which all Ages and Governments have paid the greate•• Respect and Observance, and to which the present Mo¦narch of France does chiefly owe the Prosperity of h•• Affairs: and without this Principle no Government ca• subsist. Your Ministers who serve you well and faithfull• must be distinguish'd from those who betray you, or serv• you carelesly and idely; and not smil'd or frown'd upon as they are supported or persecuted by this or that Par•• or Faction. (And by the way, Sir, a Prince in Englan• that rules according to the Laws and Interests of his Pe•¦ple, will never have occasion to make his Court to an• Party or Faction; nor can any Minister of any Part• serve you against the Interest of the Nation.) Let you• Soldiers be encourag'd, and prefer'd according to their Bravery and Abilities, without Favour or Affection: Th• bravest otherwise will follow the Example of Cowards, i• they find they have no Advantage over them by thei• Courage; for all Men would be Cowards if they durs• To an English Soldier a Smile or a kind Word is as accep¦table at some times as a Month's Pay; and if you wil• condescend to a Commendation of what they do well, the• will endeavour on the next occasion to exceed what the• did before: For if you are once Master of their Love you are sure to have the Disposal of their Lives. No• need you fear to punish them severely, provided you reward them bountifully. Let the Insolence of your Enemies be rebuk'd, and Rebels and Traitors to your Govern¦ment be severely punish'd, and not courted and caress'd for in the present State of Affairs all Mercy to your Ene¦mies is Cruelty to your self and Friends: and it encourage• your Enemies, and disheartens your Loyal Subjects, to se• these Insolents brave the Government unpunish'd, and t• see your treacherous Ministers solliciting the Pardon o• every condemn'd Traitor; and making their Court to King James at the Price of your Safety, is most provoking to every good Man. Besides, it looks like your having a Doubt of your own Right and Title to the Government▪ to be thus backward in asserting it; and is so interpreted by the Jacobites.

Intelligence as another Point of mighty Consequence and can scarce be purchas'd too dear: For it is the Sou• of Government, and directs all its Actions properly, and without it you consult in the dark, and execute blind fold you know not what to act, what to fear, where to attack or where to defend. I do not mean by this that we are to penetrate into the French King's Counsels, or rifle his Cabinet, that I am afraid is out of the reach of our Power, and of our Purse: But I cannot but think we may be able to know the Marches of their Armies, and the Motions of their Fleets, without selling our Souls to the Devil for Intelligence, or breaking our Exchequer.

Thus, Sir, I have set before your Majesty, what, in my poor Judgment, is for your Interest to pursue, and what is for your Service to avoid; what will make your Majesty and this Nation happy, what will make both unhappy: and I heartily pray the great, good and wise God, to di •••t, bless and prosper your Majesty in all your glorious ••signs for the Defence of these Kingdoms, and of Christe•dom, against the common Enemy. If I have us'd too great a Freedom, or have offended in what I design'd for your Service, I am sorry for it: I call God to witness, my Plainness proceeded from my Zeal and Affection to your Interests, and the Prosperity of your Affairs, and not from any factious, saucy or unmannerly Principle. I wish some abler Pen had taken upon him this Part. But I must own, it provok'd me to see my Country and my King so forsaken; the one of Advocates, the other of honest Counsel: and this urg'd me to take upon me these two Characters, of Advocate and Adviser, both which I confess my self very unfit for: Not, but that as I said in the beginning, I take it to be the Privilege, nay and the Duty too of every English Subject (provided it be perform'd form'd with a decent and due Respect) to lay before the King such Matters as may be dangerous to his Person or Government, to be conceal'd from his Knowledg (for we are not ty'd up in England to Spanish Forms, where the King must be wet to the Skin, if he whose proper Office •o is be not in the way to put on his Cloke.) And I beg your Majesty to believe what I have said is from a Faithfulness and Sincerity, which will in all Accidents and Difficulties preserve me unalterably,

Your Majesty's Most Loyal, most Dutiful, and most Obedient Subject.

To the honest English Protestant READER.

Honest Reader,

AT the beginning of the late Revolution, I dare say, it wa• not expected by thee or me, That it would have been n••¦cessary in this Reign, to have enter'd into Argument•• whether the Principles of Whig or Tory are most agreeable to t•• Constitution of the English Monarchy, or which Party were to b• chosen for the Support of our present King and Queen. But suc• is our Fate, that I am afraid it requires an abler Pen than min• to convince some, who it is highly necessary should be convinc'd that any of the Measures of the late Reigns were mistaken; the• are taught to believe those Monarchs in the Right, nay e•• those evil Counsellors too, who were so maul'd in the Declaratio• of 1688. and none are Rogues and Villains, and deserve to b• hang'd, but those who were most active in the bringing the preset King and Queen over, and in settling the Crown upon their Heads I thought it therefore high time that this Matter should be se• right; and in order to it, that the Principles and Practices o• Whig and Tory should be truly and impartially examin'd; whic• I have endeavour'd to do to the best of my Knowledg, and shall b• well pleas'd to see any other do it better from my poor Hint. • acknowledg the Looseness of the Stile, the want of Method in th• following Paper, and the many Repetitions this Dialogue-way • writing is liable to, will lay it open to the Lash of every Pedan• and Schoolmaster. But know, I write not for Fame, or out o• any Vanity of being an Author; and therefore I come not to you, as the Apostle says, in the inticing Words of Man'• Wisdom, but in Plainness and Truth, &c. I have state• the Matter so fairly, that some of the Tories may be Fools enough perhaps to think I have given them a Victory (and triumph o• their Admirals did in their being Gazetted, because the Council wo•¦•• Favourable, as to suffer them to pass for mistaken Blockheads, •ead of wilful knavish Lyars) But indeed I thought the Tories • so weak a Plea, that I might well allow them to make the •st of it, and have left nothing unsaid which I have ever heard ••m say in their Defence. What they have done the honest ••ople, and the Interest of England most Mischief by, is that ••am of a Commonwealth, which I have in the following Dis •••rse (I hope) convinc'd all honest Men is a false Notion, im •••cticable and impossible in England; however this is the Breast ••rk which they have always cover'd themselves with, when they ••sign'd to fire upon the Rights and Privileges, the Laws, Liber •••s and Properties of their Country: And whenever they do raise ••is Breastwork, we must endeavour to beat it about their Ears; ••am sure it is too weak to resist any Attack, and I hope (as •ays says) they fly, they fly, they fly, who first did make ••at Lye. What I have here written, is with an honest Design of ••ing Service to my Country; and if it either happens to inform • convince any to embrace the Publick Interest, and the common ••od of themselves and Fellow-Creatures, I have my end. And ••r the Tory Criticks, they may bite till their Teeth meet thro • Book, yet I shall be as insensible of their Malice, as they have ••en of the King's Mercy, Favour and Friendship to them. I will ••mfort my self, honest Reader, that I have thee on my side; and • long as thou dost continue firm in the Support of the English •aws and Liberties, thou dost build upon a Rock, against which, • hope, the Gates of Hell shall not prevail; and so long I will •uild upon thee, and hope for all Good from thee, and pray for all •lessings upon thee. Adieu.

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Title statement

A dialogue betwixt Whig and Tory. Wherein the principles and practices of each party are fairly and impartially stated;

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ID [ota]

http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/4327

ID [isbn10]

1106013263

ID [isbn13]

9781106013262

ID [TCP]

K050284.000

ID [BIBNO]

CW3305208926

ID [ECLL]

0541201000

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— A dialogue betwixt Whig and Tory. Wherein the principles and practices of each party are fairly and impartially stated;, Defoe, Daniel, attributed name. 1661?-1731,, Overton, Benjamin, attributed name.. 42p.,plate ; 8⁰. London :: printed [for S. Popping and T. Harriman] in the year,. 1710.. [Sometimes attributed to Daniel Defoe (Moore, Novak). Attribution disputed by Furbank and Owens, Defoe de-attributions. "The tract was attributed to 'B.O. Esq.' when re-issued in A collection of state tracts in 1706. J. O. Downie ... interprets 'B.O. Esq.' as signifying the Whig pamphleteer Ben Overton"--Furbank and Owens.] [Publishers' names supplied by Moore.] [First published in 1693 as 'A dialogue betwixt Whig and Tory: alias Williamite and Jacobite'.] [Reproduction of original from the British Library.] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT56887.] [Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group).]

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