Chapter II: Part 2

_Citt._ 'Tis the custom of the City I confess, for the _Lord Mayor_ to _Summon_ and _dissolve Common-Councils_, and to put all points to the _Question_; but we'l finde a cure for that too. 'Tis a thing we've been a good while about already; the bringing down the _Authority_ of the _City_ into the _Major part_ of the _Commons_.

Bum. _Now if the_ Mayor _and_ Aldermen _should be aware of this, they'l never endure it; but we must leave that to time. But hark ye_ Citt. _I thought our Friends refusing of the_ Sacrament had been matter of Conscience.

Distinctions of Consciences.

_Citt._ Why so it is man, but take notice then, that you are to distinguish of _Consciences_: There is, _First_, a _plain, simple Conscience_, and that's a Conscience that will serve well enough to keep a man _Right_, if he meet with nothing else to put him _out of the way_. And then there's a _Conscience_ of _State_, or _Profit_; and _that Conscience_ yields, as a _Less Weight_ does to a _Greater_; an _Ounce_ turns the _Scale_, but a _Pound_ carries the _Ounce_, and no body blames the _Weaker_ for being over-power'd by the _stronger_. There is a _Conscience_ of _Profession_ too; which is a _Conscience_ that does not so much regard the _Reason_ of the _thing_, as the being _True_ to a _Party_, when a man has past his _Word_: and this is the _Conscience_ of a man of _Honour_, that fights for his _Whore_. There is likewise a _Conscience_ of _Religion_, and that's a _quiet peaceable Conscience_, that rests in the Affections of the _Heart_, in submission to _Lawfull Institutions_; and in serving _God_, and doing Good to our _Nighbour_, without _Noise_ or _Ostentation_.

Consciences of State or Interest.

Bum. _Well, but I see a great many very_ Consciencious men _that love to_ Pray _and_ Sing Psalms _next the_ Street, _that their Neighbours may hear 'um; and go up and down_ shaking of their Heads, _and_ wringing of their Hands, _crying out of_ the Calves _of_ Bethel, _and the_ High places, Popery, Prelacy, _and the_ Common-Prayer, _in such a manner, that 'twould grieve a bodies heart to see 'um_.

_Citt._ These are _Consciencious men Bumpkin_, and this is the _Conscience_ of _State_ or _Profit_, that I told ye of.

Bum. _Ay, but I have seen some men in Fits of the_ Spirit, Jump, _and fling about a_ Pulpit _so desperately, that they set the children a crying_ to have 'um let out. _One while they'd_ raise _themselves upon their_ Tip-toes, _and_ Roar out _upon a suddain, you'd have thought they had been pinch'd with_ Hot Irons; _and then all in an Instant, they'd_ Dop down again, _that ye could hardly see 'um; And so_ fall _into a_ faint, lamenting Voice, _like the_ Grone _of a poor woman_ three quarters spent in Labour. _Nay there was One of 'um that gap'd, and held his mouth open so long, that People cry'd out_, The man has a Bone in his Throat. _Those must needs be very_ Consciencious Men, Citt.

_Citt._ They are so _Bumpkin_, but 'tis the _same Conscience_ still; for it works all manner of ways. We took up this Mode I suppose, from the _Transports_, and _Grimaces_ of the _Pagan Priests_, in the Ceremony of their _Sacrifices_, which had a very effectual operation upon the People.

Bum. _Nay_ Citt, _these Men have a Holy way of_ Language _too, as well as of_ Behaviour, _for all their_ Talk _is of_ Heaven, _and_ Heavenly things, _the_ Saints _and_ the New Jerusalem; _they deal mightily, in_ Expositions _upon the_ Viols, _and_ the Little Horn: _and then they are bitterly severe against_ Wicked Magistrates, _and those that_ Lord it over Gods Heritage. _They are_ in fine _a very_ Consciencious _sort of People_.

_Citt._ Oh beyond question so they are: But this is still a Branch of the _same Conscience_. I have known indeed some people so Transported with this same _Talkative Holiness_, that it has been a kind of _Spiritual Salivation_ to 'um, they continue _spitting_ when they have not one drop of _Moisture_ left 'um in their _Bodies_.

Bum. _Prethee_ Citt, _tell me in Honest_ English, _where shall a body finde the_ simple, _and the_ Religious Consciences _thou told'st me of_?

Not many Religious Consciences.

_Citt._ Why every man living has the _Former_ of 'um, but takes no notice on't: But for the _Latter_ sort, 'tis very scarce; and you shall find more of it perhaps in _one Jayle_, or in _one Hospital_, then in all the _Courts_ of _Christendom_. It is commonly _the Blessing of men in years_, in _sicknesse_, or _in adversity_.

Bum. _Ah_ Citt, _that I were but as capable of Learning as thou art of Teaching! Pre'thee explain thy self a little upon the_ Conscience _of_ Profession _too_.

A Conscience of Profession.

_Citt._ Observe me what I say then, _Bumpkin_; There is a _Profession_, _Particular_, and _General_: _Particular_, as when _One Cavalier_ serves another in a _Duell_, he's oblig'd to't by the _Profession_ of a _Sword-man_, without Formalizing upon the _Cause_. There's a _Conscience_ of _Profession_ even among the _Banditi_ themselves. What is it but the _Profession_ of _Presbytery_, that makes the whole Party oppose _Episcopacy_; as the _Independents_ do _Presbytery_, the _Republicans_, _Monarchy_, and the like.

Bum. _Now I thought that there might have been_ Conscience _of_ State, _as well as of_ Profession _in These Cases_.

_Citt._ Thou sayst very well, _Bumpkin_, and so there is, and of _Profit_ too; and it was much the same Case too, throughout the Circle of our Late Revolutions, when we _Swore_ and _Vow'd_ from the _Oaths of Allegiance_, and _Canonical Obedience_, to the _Protestation_, the _Solemn League and Covenant_, the _Engagement_, the _Negative Oath_, the Oath of _Abjuration_, and so till we swore round, into the _Oath of Allegiance_ again.

Bum. _What do you mean now by your =Generall Profession=?_

_Citt._ I mean the _Subordination_ of a _Partiall_ to a _Generall_, of a _Private Profession_ to a _Publick_; as thou seest in the Late Times, _Bumpkin_, how strictly the _Divided Reformers_ kept themselves to This Rule, so long as the _Common Enemy_ was upon his Legs.

Bum. _But who do you mean by the =Common Enemy=?_

_Citt._ I mean, the _Court_, and the _Church-Party_. So long (I say) all our Brethren of the Separation joyn'd as one man, against that _Inordinate Power_; and herein we were _Conscienciously True_ to our _General Profession_; but so soon as ever we had subdu'd that _Popish_ and _Tyrannical Interest_, through the _Conscience_ of our _General Profession_, we then consulted our _Particular_; and every man did Conscienciously labour for the Establishment of _his own_ way. But now we come to the great Nicety of all; that is to say, the _Conscience_ of making a _Conscience_ of using _any Conscience at all_: There's a Riddle for ye, _Bumpkin_.

Bum. _I must confess I do not understand one Bitt on't._

A Conscience of using no Conscience at all.

_Citt._ That's for want of a Discerning Spirit _Bumpkin_. What does _Conscience_ signifie to the _Saints_, that are deliver'd from the Fetters of _Moral Obligations_, by so many _Extraordinary_ and _Over-riding Priviledges_, which are granted in a peculiar manner to the _People of the Lord_? What's he the _better_, or the _worse_, for _keeping_ or for _breaking_ the _Ten Commandments_, that lies under the _Predestinarian Fate_ of an _Unchangeable Necessity_ and _Decree_? What needs he care for any _other Guide_, that carries within himself an _Infallible Light_? Or He for _any Rule at all_ that cannot _sin_? For the _same thing_ may be _sin_ in _another man_, which in _Him_ is _None_.

Bum. _Really this is admirable: So that we that are the =Elect= are bound up by no =Laws= at all, either of =God= or of =Man=._

_Citt._ Why look you now for that; we _Are_, and we are _Not_. If it so happens that the _Inward_ and _Invisible Spirit_ move us to do _the same thing_, which the _Outward_, and _Visible Law_ requires of us; in _That Case_ we are _Bound_; but so, as to the _Spirit_, not to the _Law_: and therefore we are bid to _stand fast in our Christian Liberty_.

Of Christian Liberty.

Bum. _That's extreamly well said, for if =We Christians= should be Shackled with =Human Laws=, which can only reach the =Outward Man=, then are =the Heritage of the Lord=, in no better Condition then the =Wicked=, and the =Heathen=._

The Extent of it.

_Citt._ Oh! th'art infinitely in the Right: for if it were not for this _Christian Liberty_, we could never have _Justify'd_ our Selves in our _Late Transactions_: the _Designe_ of _Overturning the Government_ had been _Treason_; taking up _Arms_ against the _King_, _Rebellion_; _Dividing_ from the _Communion_ of the _Church_ had been _Schism_; appropriating the _Church Plate_, and _Revenues_ to _Private Uses_, had been _Sacriledge_; Entring upon _Sequester'd Livings_ had been _Oppression_: taking away mens _Estates_ had been _Robbery_; _Imprisoning_ of their _Persons_ had been _Tyranny_; using the name of _God_ to all This, would have been _Hypocrisy_, forcing of _Contradictory Oaths_ had been _Impiety_, and Shedding the _Blood_ both of the _King_, and his _People_, had been _Murther_: And all This would have appear'd so to be, if the _Cause_ had come to be _Try'd_ by the _Known Laws_ either of _God_, or of _Man_.

Bum. _Make us thankfull now! What a blessed State are we in, that =Walk up to our Calling=, in =Simplicity= and =Truth=, whose =Yea= is =Yea=, and whose =Nay= is =Nay=. 'Tis a strange way thou hast, =Citt=, of making things out to a man. Thou wert saying but now, that the =same thing= may be a =Sin= in =One Man=, and =not= in =Another=. I'm thinking now of the =Jesuites=._

_Citt._ Oh That's a _Jugling, Equivocating, Hellish_ sort of _People_; 'tis a thousand pitties that they're suffer'd to live upon the Earth; They value an _Oath_ no more then they do a _Rush_. Those are the _Heads_ of the _Plot_ now upon the Life of the _King_, the _Protestant Religion_, and the _Subversion_ of the _Government_.

Jesuites and Phanatiques compar'd.

Bum. _Ay, Ay, =Citt=, they're a =damn'd Generation= of =Hell-hounds=. But, as I was thinking just now; we have so many things among =Us=, like some things among =Them=, that I have been run down some times allmost, as if We =our selves= were =Jesuites=; though I know there's as much difference, as betwixt =Light=, and =Darknesse=: and for my part, =I defie them as I do the Devill=._

A vast Difference betwixt them.

_But =Citt= thou hast so wonderfull a way of making matters plain, I'de give any thing in the world thou'dst but teach me what to say in some Cases, when I'm put to't. One told me t'other day, =You are rather worse then the= Jesuites; (says he) =for when =They= break an =Oath=, they have some =mental Reservation= or other for a =Come-off:_ But _You_ Swallow your _Perjuryes, just_ as _Cormorants_ do _Eeles_; an _Oath's_ no sooner _In_ at _One End_, then _Out_ at _t'other_.

_Citt._ Let your Answer be This, _Bumpkin_, That the _Lawmaker_ is _Master_ of _his own Laws_; and that the _Spirits dictating_ of a _New Law_, is the _Superseding_ of an _Old one_.

Their Practices compar'd.

Bum. _These are hard words_, Citt; _but he told me further_, don't _You_ Justifie _King-Killing_ (_says he_) as well as the _Jesuits_? Only _They_ do't with _Pistol_, _Dagger_, and _Poyson_; and _You_ come with Your _Horse_, _Foot_, and _Cannon_: _They_ proceed by _Excomunicating_, and _Deposing_; by _dissolving_ the _Character_, _first_, and _then destroying_ the _Person_; and just so did _You_. _First_, ye _Depos'd_ the _King_, and _Then_ ye _Beheaded Charles Stuart_. And then you need never go to _Rome_ for a _Pardon_, when every man among you is _his own Pope_.

The Fanaticks Clear'd.

_Citt._ Now your Answer must be This; That we had, _First_, the _Warrant_, for what we did, of _an Extraordinary Dispensation_. (as appear'd in the providence of our Successes) _Secondly_, we had the _Laws_ of _Necessity_, and _Self-preservation_ to Support us. And _Thirdly_, the _Government_ being _Coordinate_, and the _King_ only _One_ of the _Three Estates_; any _Two_ of the _Three_ might deal with the _Third_ as They thought _Fit_: Beside the _Ultimate Soveraignty_ of the _People_, over and above. And now take notice, that _the same Argument_ holds in the _Subversion_ of the _Government_.

Bum. _Now you have Arm'd me Thus far, pray'e help me on, one step farther; for I was hard put to't not long Since, about the businesse of the_ Protestant Religion. _What is_ That, _I pray'e, that ye call the_ Protestant Religion?

Of Dissenting Protestants.

_Citt._ You are to understand, that by the _Protestant Religion_ is meant the _Religion_ of the _Dissenters_ in _England_, from the _Church_ of _England_; As the _First Protestants_ in _Germany_ 1529. (from whom we denominate our Selves) were _Dissenters_ from the _Church_ of _Rome_: And So _Call'd_ from the famous _Protestation_ they enter'd against the _Decree_ of the _Assembly_ at _Spires_, against _Anabaptists_.

Bum. _So that I perceive We_ Set up _the_ Protestant Religion; _we did not_ Destroy _it: But they prest it Then, that the_ Church of England _was a_ Protestant Church, _and that the_ Jesuites _had only_ Design'd _the_ Destruction _of it, where as_ We _did_ Actually Execute _it_.

_Citt._ Your Answer must be, that the _Church_ of _England_, though it be a little _Protestantish_, it is not yet directly _Protestant_: As on the Other side, it is not altogether the _Whore_ of _Babilon_, though a good deal _Whorish_; and therefore the Reply to That must be, that we did not _Destroy_, but only _Reform_ it.

Bum. _Why I have answer'd People out of my Own_ Mother-Wit, _that we did but_ Reform _it_. _And they told me again, the Cutting of it off_ Root and Branch, _was a very Extraordinary way of_ Reforming.

The meaning of Root and Branch.

_Citt._ The Answer to That is Obvious, that the _Cutting Off Root and Branch_, is only a _Thorow_, or a _Higher degree_ of _Reforming_. But upon the whole matter, it was with _Us_ and the _Jesuites_, as it was with _Aaron_ and the _Magicians_; we did _Both_ of us, make _Froggs_, but _We alone_ had the Power to quicken _the Dust of the Land, and turn it into Lice_.

Thou art by this time, I presume, sufficiently instructed in the _Methods_, and _Fundamentalls_ of the _Holy Cause_. I shall now give you some necessary Hints, to fit, and quallify you for the Province that I intend you. But besure you mind your _Lesson_.

Bum. _As I would do my_ Prayers, Citt, _or I were Ungratefull, for you have made me for ever._

_Citt._ Come we'l take _t'other Sup_, first, and then to work. _Who wayts there without? Two Potts more, and shut the door after Ye._

A great part of Your businesse, _Bumpkin_, will ly among _Parliament-Rolls_ and _Records_; for it must be _Our Post_ to furnish _Materialls_ to a _Caball_ only of _Three Persons_, that may be ready upon Occasion, to be made use of by the _Grand Committee_.

Rolls and Records hunted for Presidents.

Bum. My _Old Master would say that I had as good a guesse at a_ Musty Record, _as any man; And 'twas my whole Employment almost, to hunt for_ Presidents. _Nay the People would Trust me with_ Great Bags _home to my Lodging; and leave me alone sometimes in the_ Offices _for four and twenty hours together._

_Citt._ But what kind of _Presidents_ were they that Ye lookt for?

Bum. _Concerning the_ Kings Prerogative, Bishops Votes, _the_ Liberty _and_ Property _of the_ Subject; _and the like: And such as They wanted, I writ out._

_Citt._ But did you Recite them _Whole_? or what did you _Take_, and what did you _Leave_?

Bum. _We took what serv'd our Turn, and left out the Rest; and sometimes we were taken =Tripping=, and sometimes we =Scap'd=: But we never falsify'd any thing. There were some dogged Passages, indeed we durst not meddle with at all; but I can turn ye to any thing you have occasion for, with a wet-finger._

Lessons of behaviour for the Well-affected.

_Citt._ So that here's One great point quickly over; in thy being Train'd to my hand: A man might lay thee down _Instructions_, now, for thy very _Words_, _Looks_, _Motions_, _Gestures_; nay thy very _Garments_; but we'l leave those matters to Time, and Study. It is a strange thing how Nature puts her self forth, in these _Externall Circumstances_. Ye shall Know a _Sanctifi'd Sister_, or a _Gifted Brother_ more by the _Meene_, _Countenance_, and _Tone_, then by the Tenour of their _Lives_, and _Manners_. It is a Comely thing for Persons of the Same Perswasion, to agree in these _Outward Circumstances_, even to the _drawing_ of the _same Tone_, and _making_ of the _same Face_: Always provided, that there may be read in our _Appearances_, a _Singularity of Zeal_, a _Contempt of the World_, a _fore-boding of Evills to come_; a _dissatisfaction at the Present Times_; and a _Despair of Better_.

Bum. _Why This is the very Part, that I was Made for; these Humours are to be put =On=, and =Off=, as a man would shift his =Gloves=; and you shall see me do't as Easily too; but the =Language= must be got, I Phansy, by Conversing with =Modern Authours=, and frequenting =Religious Exercises=._

_Citt._ Yes, yes, and for a help to your memory I would advise you to dispose of your Observations into these _Three Heads_, _Words_, _Phrases_, and _Metaphors_: Do you conceive me?

The Force of Looks and Tones.

Bum. _There's not a word you say, falls to the Ground. And I am the more sensible of the force of =Words=, =Looks=, =Tones=, and =Metaphors= (as ye call 'um) from what I finde in my self. =Ours= certainly may be well term'd a =Powerfull Ministry=, that makes a man cry like a Child at the very =Noyse= of a Torrent of =Words= that he does not =Understand One Syllable= of. Nay, when I have been out of reach of hearing the =Words=, the very =Tone= and =Look=, has =Melted= me._

A Moving Metaphor.

_Citt._ Thou canst not but have heard of _That Moving Metaphor_ of the late Reverend _Mr. Fowler_: _Lord Sowse us;_ (says he) _Lord Dowse us, in the Powdering-Tubb of Affliction; that we may come forth Tripes worthy of thy Holy Table._ Who can resist the _Inundation_ of This _Rhetorique_? But let us now pass from the _Generall Ornaments_ of our _Profession_, to the _Particular businesse_ of our _present Case_.

I need not tell you, _Bumpkin_, of the _Plott_, or that we are all running into _Popery_; and that the best Service _Englishman_ can do his Country, would be the ripping up of This Designe to the _Bottom_.

Bum. _I am so much of Your Opinion, that you have Spoken my very Thoughts._

_Citt._ Bethink your self, _Bumpkin_; what _Papists_ do you know?

Bum. _Oh, hang 'um all, I never come near any of 'Um._

_Citt._ But yet you may have Heard, perhaps, of some people that are _Popishly affected_.

Bum. _Yes, yes; There are abundance of Them._

_Citt._ Can you prove that ever they _Sayd_, or _Did_ any thing, in favour of the _Papists_?

Bum. _Nay there's enough of That I believe; but then there are such_ Huge Great men among 'um.

_Citt._ Pluck up a good heart _Bumpkin_; the _Greater_, the _Better_; We fear 'um not. Rub up your Memory, and call to minde what you can say upon _Your own Knowledge_, and what you have _Heard_; either about _Sir Edmond-Bury Godfrey_, The _Plott_; The _Traytors_ that Suffer'd, or the _Kings Evidence_.

Bum. _I have seen people_ shrug _sometimes, and lift up their_ Hands _and_ Eyes, _and shake their_ Heads, _and then they would clutch their_ Fists, _look sour_, _make_ Mouths, _and bite their_ Nails, _and so: And I dare swear I know what they thought._

_Citt._ Ah _Bumpkin_, if they had but so much as mutter'd, they'd been our own.

Signs in Evidence.

Bum. _Well but hark ye_ Citt, _I hear People swear_, or in WORDS to this Effect; _why may not a Man as well swear_, in SIGNS to this Effect? _and that they lifted up their_ Eyes, _and_ hands, _bent their_ Fists, _knit their_ Brows, _and made_ Mouths, to this or that Effect?

_Citt._ No, that will never do _Bumpkin_, but if thou could'st but phansy that thou heard'st them _speak_.

Bum. _Why truly I never thought on't, but I saw a_ Parson _once, the Tears flood in his Eyes, as one of 'um went by to Execution. But your_ Surcingle-men, (_as our Doctor told us last Lords day_) _are all of 'um_ Papists in their Hearts.

_Citt._ Why what's the _Common-Prayer Book Bumpkin_, but a mess of _Parboyl'd Popery_?

Bum. _I'm a dog, if our Minister does not pray for the_ Queen _still._

Sad Times.

_Citt._ Nay, we are e'en at a fine pass, when the _Pulpit_ prays for the _Queen_, and the _Bench_ Drinks the _Duke of Yorks Health_. But to the point, bethink your self well; a man may forget a thing to day, and recollect it to morrow. Take notice however, that it is another main point of your Instructions to procure _Informations_ of this quality.

Bum. _I'le fit you to a hair for that matter: But then I must be running up and down ye know, into_ Taverns, _and_ Coffee-houses, _and thrusting myself into_ Meetings, _and_ Clubs. _That licks mony._

_Citt._ Never trouble your self for that, you shall be well paid and your expences born: Beside so much a head from the State, for every Priest that you discover.

Bum. _Well! these_ Priests _and_ Jesuites _are damn'd fellows._

_Citt._ And yet let me tell you _Bumpkin_, a _bare fac'd Papist_ is not half so bad as a _Papist_ in _Masquerade_.

Bum. _Why what are those I prethee?_

Church worse to Dissenters then Jesuites.

_Citt._ They are your _Will-worship-men_, your _Prelates Brats_: Take the whole Litter of 'um, and you'l finde _never a barrel better Herring_. Let me tell thee in Love _Bumpkin, these Curs_ are forty times worse to _Us_ then the _Jesuits themselves_; for the _One_ is an _Open Enemy_, the _Other_ lies gnawing like a Canker in our _Bowells_. And then being train'd up to _Latin_ and _Greek_, there's no opposing of the _Power of Godlinesse_ to the _Sophistry_ of _Human Reason_: Beside that, the _Law_ is _For_ us in the _One_ Case, and _Against_ us in the _Other_.

Bum. _Which way shall we go to work then, to deal with this Generation of Men?_

_Citt._ We must joyn the _Wisdom_ of the _Serpent_, to the _Innocence_ of the _Dove_; and endeavour to compass that by _stratagem_, which we cannot gain by _Argument_. But now am I going to open a _Mistery_ to thee, that's _worth_----

Bum. _Prethee the_ Worth _on't_ Citt: _For talk is but talk, the_ Worth _is the_ Main point.

_Citt._ Why then let me tell thee _Bumpkin_, the _Mistery_ that I am about to disclose to thee, was _worth_ to our Predecessours not long since, no less then _Three Kingdoms_, and _a better penny_. But I'le seal your Lips up, before I stir one step further.

Bum. _Why look ye_ Citt, may this Drink never go thorough me, if ever blab one Syllable of any thing thou tell'st me as a Secret.

_Citt._ Hold, hold, _Bumkin_, and _may it never come up again if thou do'st_; for we'l have no shifting.

Bum. And may it never come up again neither if I do.

The strange agreement of Dissenters.

_Citt._ Well, I'm satisfy'd, and now give attention; thou seest how unanimously fierce all the several Parties of the _Protestant Dissenters_ are against the _Papists_. Whence comes this _Conjunction_, I prethee, of so many _separate Congregations_, that are many of them worse then _Papists, One_ to _Another_? There must be in it, either _Conscience_, or _Interest_: If it were _Conscience_, we should fall foul _One_ upon _Another_, and for matter of _Interest_; when the _Papists_ are _destroy'd_, we are but still where we were.

Bum. _This is a crotchet_, Citt, _that did not fall under my Night-Cap._

The scope of that Agreement.

_Citt._ Be enlighten'd then. It is not the Destruction of those that are _Really Papists_, that will do our Work; for there's nothing to be got by't. But it must be our business to make _those people_ pass for _Papists_, that are _not_ so, but only have _Places_ to Lose: such as we our selves, by the removal of them, may be the better for; and _This, Bumpkin_ must be _our Master-piece_.

Bum. _I had this very phansy my self_, Citt; _but it stuck betwixt my Teeth, and would not out._

_Citt._ You hear now in General, what is to be done; You must be next instructed in the Acts of _Raising_, _Cherishing_, and _Fomenting_ such _Opinions_; in what Cases to _Improve_ them, and where to _apply_ them.

Who are Popishly affected in the first place.

Bum. _I'm perswaded my Masters Brother had this very thing in his Head, though he never made any words on't to me, He had got a List of all the considerable Offices and Employments in the Kingdom: And I remember he was us'd to say, that most of the respective_ Officers _were either_ Corrupt, _or_ Popishly affected. _If they were_ Publick Ministers; _either the_ Kings Councells _were_ betray'd, _or they put him upon Governing in an_ Arbitrary way, _and without_ Parliaments: _As for the_ Judges _there was either_ Bribery, Absolute Power, _or_ Oppression _laid to their Charge; and so all the rest were branded for_ Frauds, Imbezilments, _and the like, according to the Quality of their businesse: All the_ Governours _of_ Towns, Castles, _and_ Forts, _were_ Popishly Inclin'd; _and not to be Trusted. And then all_ Ecclesiasticall Officers, _whatsoever, within four or five, were half way at_ Rome _already._

_Citt._ This is well remembred, _Bumpkin_; Now 'tis worth a bodies while to make _these Blades_ passe for _Papists_, and _Traitors_, that leave _Good Offices_ behinde 'um. Nay, we must not suffer so much as any man, either of _Brains_, or _Fortune_ (that does not joyn with _Us_) to passe untainted.

Bum. _Thou say'st Right_, Citt; _for whosoever is not_ With _us, is_ Against _us._

_Citt._ Thou hast spoken patt to This point, _Bumpkin_, but yet thou begin'st at the wrong End; For you must first get the skill of _Raising_, and _Improving a Report_, before ye come to the _Fixing_ of it: For that's a Nicety not to be medled with, till we come to the taking out of the very Pins, and the Unhinging of the Government; So that the _First Clamour_ must be Level'd point-blank at some _Known_, and _Eminent Papists_.

Bum. _Well, but what shall we_ Charge 'um with?

_Citt._ Why, if we were Once at the bottom of _This Plot_ (which, upon my soul, _Bumpkin_, is a most hideous one) and wanted _matter_ for _Another_, I would charge them with a designe of betraying us to a _Foreign Enemy_.

Bum. _As how a_ Foreign Enemy _pre'thee?_

A Heavy Charge.

_Citt._ As Thus: I would charge 'um with holding an Intelligence with the Emperor of _Morocco_, for the Landing of _five and thirty thousand Light-horse men_ upon _Salisbury Plain_.

Bum. _Pre'thee_, Citt, _don't_ Romance.

Nothing Incredible.

_Citt._ Pre'thee do not _Balderno_, ye should say; Speak _Statutable English_, ye Fool you. Thou think'st perhaps that the people will not believe it: Observe but what I say to thee; let it but be put into the _Protestant Domestique_, that his _Imperiall Majesty_ is to hold up his hand at the _Kings Bench-barr_ for't, and let me be Dogs-meat if they do not swallow That too. Why pre'thee, _Bumkin_, we must make 'um believe stranger Things than This, or we shall never do our businesse. They must be made to believe that the _King_ intends to play the _Tyrant_; that all his _Counsellors_ are _Pensioners_ to the _French King_; that all his _Enemies_ are turn'd his _Friends_, o'th sodain, and all his _Friends_, his _Enemies_; That _Prelacy_ is _Anti-Christian_; all our _Clergy-men_, _Papists_, the _Liturgy_ the _Masse-Book_, and that the _Ten Commandments_ are to be read _backward_.

Bum. _Blesse me_, Citt, _what do I hear?_

Popish Ministers may have Orthodox Offices.

_Citt._ Come, come, Sirrah; y'are under an Oath; and This is the plain Truth on'. What is it to Thee and Me, I pre'thee, whether the _Great Ministers_ be _True_, or _False_; Or what _Religion_, the _Clergy_ are of, so long as their _Livings_ ye Rogue, are _Orthodox_, and their _Offices well-Affected_.

Bum. _This does Qualifie, I must confess. But you were saying, that the First Clamour should be levell'd at some_ Known _and_ Eminent Papists: _Now what comes after That, I beseech you?_

_Citt_. You may safely Mark all Their Friends then for _Popishly-Affected_; and so consequently on to all that _Love them_, and all that _They Love_. When this Opinion is once started, 'tis an Easy matter, by the help of _Invention_, and _Story_, to improve it; and by this means we shall come, in a short time to secure all the _Councils_ of the Nation to _our Party_, that are chosen by _Suffrage_. If you were read in History you would finde, that still _as the_ Papists _set the House on fire, the_ Non-conformists _took the Opportunity of rosting their own Eggs_.

Who are Popishly affected.

Bum. _Yes, yes, I understand ye. As for Example now,_ One _goes to the_ Lords _in the_ Tower, another (_as you were saying_) _drinks the_ Dukes Health, _a_ Third _prays for the_ Queen: _a_ Fourth _Phansies_ Two Plots; _a_ Fifth _refuses the_ Petition, _a_ Sixth _speaks well of my_ Lord Chief Justice, _or calls the_ Protestant Domestick _a_ Libel. _All these now are_ Popishly-Affected.

_Citt._ Save your breath _Bumpkin_, and take all in one word: whosoever will not do as we would have him shall be _made_ so.

But now to the matter of _Invention_, and _Story_; I hate the over-hearing of Discourses, in Blinde Allyes, and such ordinary _Shams_: I'm rather for coming downright to the _Man_, and to the _Poynt_; after the way of the Protestant Domestique.

Matters of Moment.

Bum. _Ay, ay: There's your_ free Speaker. _Well_ Citt, the King wants such men about him. _But pre'thee hear me; Is it certain his Majesty has Lent the King of_ France Three Millions?

_Citt._ No, no; some Two and a half; or thereabouts.

Bum. _Why, if the King would but make a League now with the_ Swiss _to keep the_ Turk _off_, That way; _and another with the_ Protestants _in_ Hungary, _to keep off the_ French, _the whole world could never hurt us._

_Citt._ Nay that's true enough, but then the _Pole_ lies so damnably betwixt _Us_ and the _Baltique_.

Bum. _I'de not value that a Half-penny, so long as we have the_ Waldenses _to Friend._

_Citt._ And then _New-England_ lies so conveniently for _Provisions_. But what do you think of drawing _Nova Scotia_, and _Geneva_ into the _Alliance_?

Bum. _Ay, but there's no hope of that: so long at the King follows these Counsells._

_Citt._ Thou art a great Read man I perceive in the _Interests of States_.

Bum. _I have always had a phansy to_ Stows Survey _of_ London, _and those kinde of Books._

_Citt._ But Good _Bumpkin_, what's thy Opinion of the _Bishops Votes_, in Case of _Life and Death_?

Bum. _Ay, or in Cases of_ Heaven and Hell _either. Why as true as thou art a man_ Citt, _we have but_ three Protestant Bishops _in the Nation; and I am told they are warping too._

_Citt._ Prethee why should we look for any _Protestant Bishops_ in the _Kingdom_, when there's no _Protestant Episcopacy_ in the _World_? but for all this, we may yet live to see the _Rufling_ of their _Lawn sleeves_.

Bum. _Oh, now I think on't; dist thou ever reade the Story of_ Moses _and the_ Ten Tables?

_Citt._ The _Two Tables_ in the _Mount_ thou mean'st.

Bum. Gad _I think 'tis the_ Two Tables. _I read it in Print t'other day, in a very good Book, that as sure as thou art alive now,_ the Bishops in _Henry the 8th._ made the _Ten Commandments._

_Citt._ Why that was the reason, _Bumpkin_, when the _Lords and Commons_ put down _Bishops_, they put down the _Ten Commandments too_; and made _New ones_ of their _Own_. And dost not thou take notice that they put down the _Lords Prayer_ too, because 'twas akinn to the _Popish Pater-Noster_? and then for the _Creed_, they cast it quite out of the _Directory_.

Bum. _Now as thou lay'st it down to me, the Case is as clear as Christal. And yet when I'm by my self sometime, I'm so affraid methinks of being_ Damn'd.

_Citt._ What for, ye Fop you?

Bum. _Why for_ Swearing, Lying, Dissembling, Cheating, Betraying, Defaming_, and the like._

The Brethren are only for Profitable Sins.

_Citt._ Put it at worst, do not you know that every man must have his _Dos_ of _Iniquity_? And that what you take out in _One way_ you abate for in _another_, as in _Profaning, Whoring, Drinking_, and so forth. Suppose you should see P O Y S O N set in Capital Letters, upon _seaven Vials_ in a _Laboratory_; 'twere a madness I know, for any man to venture his Life upon 'um, without a _Taster_. But having before your Eyes so many instances, of men that by drinking of these Poysonous Liquors, out of a _Consumptive, half-starv'd_, and _Heart-broken_ Condition, grow _Merry, Fat_, and _Lusty_, would not you venture too? Imagine These _Seven_ _Waters_ to be the _Seven Deadly Sins_, and then make your _Application_.

Bum. _Nay, the Case is plain enough, and I cannot see why that should be a_ Poyson _to_ me, _that's a_ Preservative _to_ Another: _Only our Adversaries twit us with Objections of_ Law _forsooth, and_ Religion.

_Citt._ Wherefore the Discipline of the Late Times sav'd a great deal of puzzle. Mr. _Prynn_ sent _His Clients_ to Mr. C_ase_ for _Religion_; and Mr. _Case_, in requital, sent _His_ to Mr. _Pryn_ for _Law_; which kept up a concord among the _Well-affected_. But your Lesson in both these Cases, falls into a very Narrow compass.

Bum. _Pray'e let it be_ Plain _that I may_ understand _it; and_ short _that I may_ Remember _it._

Three Positions.

_Citt._ Keep close only to these _Three Positions: First_, that the _King_ is _One_ of the _Three Estates; Secondly_, that the _Sovereign Power_ is in the _People_; and _Thirdly_, that it is better to obey _God_, then _Man_. These Fundamentals will serve to guide ye in allmost any dispute upon this Matter, that can occur to you.

Bum. _But what becomes of me, if my Adversaries should turn the question another way?_

_Citt._ I'le fortify you there too. And let me tell you that he'l have much ado to keep himself Clear of one of these Two Rocks: Either of Dashing upon the _Plott_, or upon the _Liberty of the Subject_. As for Example,

L'Estrange Confuted.

There's _L'Estrange_; as wary a Dog perhaps, as ever pist; and yet ye shall see how we have hamper'd Him. I writ the thing my self, ye must know, though it comes out in the Name of _the Authour of the Weekly Pacquet of Advice from_ Rome. 'Tis Dedicated to _Both Houses of Parliament_; and Design'd just for the 26th. of _January_: So that if the Parliament had Set, there would have been means us'd to have had him Question'd for't.

Bum. _Gad, I know where y'are now. 'Tis in the_ Preface _to the_ History of the Damnable Popish Plott.

_Citt._ Ay, that's it. I'le give ye First, the _Words_ in't that concern _L'Estrange_, and you shall _Then_ see the _Writings_ of _His_ that I have reflected upon.

Bum. _Oh, 'Tis a devilish witty Thing,_ Citt; _I have seen it. Methinks the Rogue, should hang himself out of the way. I'le go to_ Mans Coffee-house _and see how he Looks on't._

_Citt._ No, no, Pox on him; he's an Impudent Curr; nothing less than a Pillory will ever put Him out of Countenance. This Toad was in _Newgate_, I know not how long; and yet he'l take no warning.

Bum. _You must consider,_ Citt, _that he writes for_ Money; O my Soul, they say, the Bishops have given him five hundred Guynnyes. _But pre'thee_ Citt; _hast not thou seen_ the Answer to the Appeal, Expounded.

_Citt._ Yes, but I ha' not read it.

Bum. _Why then take it from me,_ Citt, _'tis one of the shrewdest_ _Pieces that ever came in Print._ L'Estrange, _you must know, wrote an_ Answer _to the_ Appeal.

_Citt._ We've a sweet Government the while, that any man should dare to fall foul upon _That Appeal_.

Bum. _Well, but so it is; and_ Another _has written Notes upon_ Him: _You cann't imagine_ Citt, _how he windes him about's Finger; And calls him_ Fidler, Impudent, Clod-pate; _and proves him to be a_ Jesuite, _and a_ Papist, _as plain as the Nose of a mans Face: he shews ye how he accuses the_ Kings Evidence; _and that he is in_ Both Plots, _in I know not how many places._

_Citt_ drawing up Articles.

_Citt._ I have known the man a great while; and let me tell ye in Private, I am to draw up _Articles_ against him. But I have been so busy about my _Lord Chief Justices Articles_, and _Other Articles_ against _a Great Woman_, that lay upon my hand, that I could not get leisure; and yet I should have met with him long e're This too, for all That, but that the _Committee_ Sits so cursedly Late: And then they have cut me out such a deal of work about the _Succession_. Well I heard a great Lord say, that _That History of his deserv'd to be burnt by the hand of the Common Hang-man_.

Bum. _Bravely sayd,_ Citt, _I Faith: who knows but we two may come to be_ Pillars _of the_ Nation? Thou _shalt stand up for the_ City, _and I for the_ Country.

_Enter_ Trueman _out of a Closet._

Enter _Trueman_.

_Citt._ Trepan'd, by the Lord, in our own way.

_Trueman._ Nay hold, my Masters; we'l have no flinching. Sit down, ye had best, without putting me to the Trouble of a Constable.

_Citt._ Why we have said nothing, sir, that we care who hears; but because you seem to be a Civill Gentleman, my Service to you, Sir.

Bum. _Ay, Sir; and if you'l be pleased to sit down and Chirp over a Pot of Ale as we do, y're wellcome._

_Citt's_ Faculty and Employment.

_True._ Very-good; And _You_ are the _Representative_ (forsooth) of the City, and _You_, of the _Country. Two_ of the _Pillars_ of the _Nation_, with a Horse-Pox; A man would not let down his Breeches in a House of Office that had but _Two such Supporters_. Do not I know you, _Citt_, to be a little _Grubstreet-Insect_, that but t'other day scribled Handy-dandy for some _Eighteen-pence_ a _Job_, _Pro_ and _Con_, and glad on't too? And now, as it pleases the stars, you are advanc'd from the _Obort_, the _Miscarriage_, I mean, of a _Cause-splitter_, to a _Drawer-up_ of _Articles_: and for your skill in _Counterfeiting hands_, preferr'd to be a _Sollicitor_ for _Fobb'd Petitions_: You'l do the _Bishops bus'nesse_, and You'l do the _Dukes bus'nesse_; And who but _You_, to tell the _King_ when he shall make _War_, or _Peace_; call _Parliaments_, and _whom_ to _Commit_, and _whom_ to _let go_? And then in your Fuddle, up comes all; what such a Lord told you, and what you told him; and all this Pudder against your Conscience too, even by your own Confession.

_Citt._ Y'are very much Mis-inform'd of Me, Sir.

_True._ Come, I know ye too well to be mistaken in you; and for your part, _Bumpkin_, I look upon you only as a simple Fellow drawn in.

_Bumpkins_ account of himself.

Bum. _Not so_ simple _neither, it may be, as you take me for. I was a_ Justices Clerk _in the_ Countrey, _till the bus'nesse of the_ Petitions; _and my Master was an Honest Gentleman too, though he's now put out of Commission: And to shew ye that I am none of your_ simple Fellows (_do ye mark_) _if ye have a minde to dispute upon_ Three Points, _I'm for you._ First, _the_ King _is_ One _of the_ Three Estates; Secondly, _the_ Sovereign Power _is in the_ People. _And_ Thirdly, _'Tis better to Obey_ God _then_ Man.

_Citt._ Always provided, _Bumpkin_, that the Gentleman take no advantage of what's spoken in Discourse.

_True._ No, there's my hand I will not; and now let's fall to work. If the King of _England_ be _One_ of the _Three Estates_, then the _Lords_ and _Commons_ are _two Thirds_ of the _King of England_.

_Bumpkin's_ way of Argument.

Bum. _Oh pox, you've a minde to put a sham upon the Plot, I perceive._

_True._ Nay, if y'are thereabouts:--Well; If the _Soveraignty_ be in the _People_, why does not the _Law_ run In the Name of our _Sovereign Lords_ the People?

Bum. _This is a meer_ Jesuitical Trick, _to disparage the_ Kings Witnesses; _for_ They _are part of the_ People. _Now do you take up the Cudgels_, Citt.

_True._ Do so, and we'l make it a short business, and let's have no shifting.

The Composition of the Committees.

Now to shew ye that I gave good heed to your Discourse, I'le run over the Heads of it as you deliver'd them. First, for _Committees_, and _Grand Committees_, what are they compounded of, but _Republicans_, and _Separatists_, a Medly of People disaffected both to _Church_ and _State_? This you cannot deny; and that they would not suffer any man otherwise affected, to mingle with them. Now beside the _scandal_, and _Ill Example_ of such _Irregular Conventions_, whoever considers their _Principles_, may reasonably conclude upon their _Designs_: For they are wiser, I hope, then to lay their Heads together to destroy themselves.

_Citt._ But it is hard, if _Protestants_ may not meet as well as Other People.

_True._ Yes, _Protestants_ may meet, but not in the quality of _Conspirators_, no more then _Conspirators_, may meet under the _Cloak_, and _colour_ of _Protestants_. The intent of the _Meeting_ is matter of _State_, and you turn it off, to a point of _Religion_.

_Citt._ But is it not matter of _Religion_ to joyn in a _Petition_ for the meeting of a _Parliament_, to bring _Malefactors_ to a _Tryall_, and to _extirpate Popery_?

What Petitions warrantable and what not.

_True._ Such a Petition as you Instance in, is in the appearance of it, not only _Lawfull_, but _Commendable_; But then it must be promoted by _Lawfull means_, and under _Decent Circumstances_. 'Tis a good thing to _Preach_, or C_atechize_, but it is not for a _Lay-man_ presently to pluck the _Parson_ out of the _Desk_, or _Pulpit_, that he himself may do the Office. It is a Good thing to execute _Justice_, but yet _a private man_ must not invade the _Judgment-Seat_, though it were to passe even the most _Righteous Sentence_.

_Citt._ The King may chuse whether he'l _Grant_ or no; So that without invading _His Right_ we only claim the _Liberty_ of _Presenting_ the _Request_.

No Petition to be press'd after Prohibition.

_True._ That may be well enough at _First_; but still, after _One Refusal_, and That with a _Publick Interdict_ on the Neck on't, forbidding the pursuance of it; such a _Petition_ is not by any means to be _Repeated_. _First_, out of _Respect_ to _Regal Authority_: _Secondly_, as the _King_ is the _Sole Judge_ of the matter: _Thirdly_, upon the _Importunity_, it is not so properly _Desiring_ of a thing, as _Tugging_ for it. _Fourthly_, It tends many ways to the Diminution of his Majesties _Honour_, in case it be Obtain'd: For it implys, either _Levity_, or _Fear_; or (to make the best on't) the _King_ confers the _Obligation_, and the _Heads of the Petition_ receive the _Thanks_. Now adde to all this, the _suborning_ of _Subscriptions_, and the _Inflaming_ of _Parties_, what can be more _Undutifull_ or _Dangerous_?

_Citt._ But do not you find many _Honest_ and _Considerable men_ concern'd in these _Petitions_?

The Nation poyson'd with False Principles.

The Injustice of our Common Wealthsmen.

_True._ Yes, in several of them _I_ do; and the main reason is This. There's no man under _Five and Fifty_, at Least, that is able to give any Account, of the _Designe_, and _Effects_ of this way of Petitioning in _Forty_ and _Forty One_, but by _Hear-say_: so that This Nation proceeds mostly upon the _Maxims_, and _Politiques_, which That _Republican_ Humour deliver'd over to us: But yet let the _Thing_, or the _Manner_ of it be as it will, Those that _disarm'd_, and _turn'd back_ the _Kentish Petitioners_ at _London-bridg_. Those that _Wounded_, and _Murther'd_ the _Surry-Petitioneres_ in the _Palace Yard_, only for desiring a _Peace_, and in order to the _Preservation_ of his _late Majesty_: _Those People_ methinks, that were so Outrageous _Against Those Petitions_ (and Several others of the same kind) should not have the Face now to be so _Violent, for This_. And whoever examines the _present Roll_, will find the _Old Republicans_ to be the _Ring-leaders_.

Bum. Really, _Citt_, the man speaks Reason.

The mean ways of promoting their Designs.

_True._ Consider then the _Mean ways_ ye have of advancing your Pretensions, by _Falshoods_, and _Scandals_, to disappoint Honest men of _Elections_; The use ye make of the most _Servile Instruments_, to promote your Ends; your _fawning Methods_ of _Popularity_ toward the _Rabble_; your ways of undermining the _Government_ of the _City_, as well as of the _Nation_; your worse then _Jesuitical Evasions_ in matter of _Conscience_; your _Non-sensical Salvo's_, and _Expositions_ of _Christian Liberty_; your putting out the _Church of Englands Colours_, and calling your selves _Protestants_, when you are effectually no better then _Algerines_, and _Pyrating_ even upon _Christianity it self_; your Beating of the wood, in the History of our most _Seditious Times_, to start _Presidents_ and _Records_ in favour of your own Disloyal Purposes. The _Pharisaical_ Distinguishing of your selves from the _Profane_ (as you are pleas'd to stile all others,) even in your _Dresse, Tone, Language_, &c. Your Uncharitable _Bitternesse of Spirit_; your _lying in wait_ for _Blood_; and laying of _Snares_ for the _Unwary_ and the _Innocent_; and still vouching an _Inspiration_ for all your _Wickednesse_; your gathering of _all Winds_ toward the raising of a _Storm_; Your _Unity_ in _Opposition_, and in _nothing Else_: your _Clamours_, and _Invectives_ against _Priests_, and _Jesuits_, when it is the Church of _England_ yet, that feels the _Last effect_ of your _Sacrilegious Rage_. 'Tis not so much the _Officers_ of the Church, and State, that are _Popishly Affected_, but the _Offices_ Themselves; and Those in the first place (as you chuse your _Sins_ too) that are most _Beneficiall_. To say nothing of your wild _Impostures_ upon the _Multitude_.----

_Citt._ Now you talk of _Impostures_, what do you think of _L'Estrange's History of the P L O T_, and his _Answer to the A P P E A L_? Whether are Those Pamphlets, _Impostures_ upon the _Multitude_, or _Not_?

_True._ You were saying e'en now, That _The History of the Damnable Popish Plot_ was of your Writing; Answer me That Question, First; Was it so, or not?

_Citt._ No, it was not of my Writing; It was done by a _Protestant-Club_.

_True._ Why then let me tell ye, if a man may believe the _Preface_ to That _Club-History_, or the _Notes_ upon the _Answer to the Appeal_ (for I have read them all:) _L'Estrange's Pamphlets_ are great abuses upon the _People_: But if you had the Books about ye, the matter were easily clear'd by comparing them.

_Citt._ By good luck we have 'um all about us, that can any way concern this Question. And look ye here now.

Reflexions upon _L'Estrange_.

First, _He calls his_ Abridgement _of the_ Tryals, _The_ History _of the_ Plot, _without mentioning one word of the Original Contrivance, the Preparatives, manner of Discovery, and other Remarkables essential to a_ History.

2. _He omits_ Staly's _and_ Reading's Tryals, _which yet sure had Relation to the_ Plot.

3. _In his_ Epistle, _he seems to drown the_ Popish Plot _with suggestions of an_ Imaginary One _of the_ Protestants.

4. _The amusing People with such Stories, is notoriously a Part of the_ Grand Popish Designe.

5. _Whereas he tells us, that not one_ Material Point _is omitted, most Readers cannot finde the substantial part of Mr._ Bedloes _Evidence against_ Wakeman, _(P. 46 of the Tryall) So much as hinted at: Not to mention the gross shuffles, and Omissions in_ Pag. 77, _and elsewhere._

6. _He charges the_ Printed Tryals (_in his FREEBORN SUBIECT_ P. 15.) _with many_ Gross Incoherences, _and very_ Material mistakes; _yet Instances but_ One, _and corrected too, as an_ Erratum.

7. _When Our Posterity shall urge these Tryals for proof against_ Papists, _how easily may the subtle Villains stop their Mouths, by alledging from this Authour that_ no heed is to be given to the said Tryals; _(being so publickly own'd by a Person of his Note, and Late Qualification) to be guilty of so many, and such very_ Material Mistakes.

The Fore going Reflections Answer'd.

_True._ Observe here, _First L'Estrange_ expounds his _History_ in the _Title Page_, by restraining it to the _Charge_ and _Defence_ of _the Persons there mentioned_: Beside that he calls it an _Historical Abstract_, and a _Summary_, in his _Epistle_.

2. _Staleys Trial_ had no Relation at all to the _Plot_, and _Reading_ was not Try'd for's _Life_; and so not within the Compass of his intention exprest in the _Preface_.

3. The _Epistle_ acknowledges a _Detestable Plot_, and a _Conspiracy_: but advises _Moderation_, and that the _Rabble_ may not dictate Laws to _Authority_; for _that Licence_ was the Cause of the _Late Rebellion_.

4. It was more then a _Story_, the _Murther_ of the _Late King_, and the _Subversion_ of the Government, and the _suppressing_ of these _Necessary Hints_, and _Cautions_ is notoriously a part of the _Grand Phanatical Design_.

5. In _L'Estranges History_ here _Pag._ 79 and 80. there's every particular of Mr. _Bedloes_ Evidence in Sir _George Wakemans Tryal, Pag._ 46. with many other passages over and above: whereas your _Damnable History_ here _Pag._ 295. falls short at least by One Half. And then for the _shuffles_, and _Omissions_ reflected upon, _Pag._ 77. see _L'Estranges Words, Pag._ 88. _The Lord Chief Justice_ (says he) _after some Remarkes upon the_ Romish Principles, _summ'd up the Evidence, and gave Directions to the Jury:_ which is the substance of the _Page_ cited in the _Preface_. Touching your _Elsewhere_, it is in plain _English, No where_.

6. Look ye, here's more Juggling. He says S E V E R A L _Gross Incoherences_, and you have made them M A N Y: and then you have left out the _Parenthesis_, (_especially in the Latter of them_) which varies the Case too. And I remember again, that the _Erratum_ was supply'd after _L'Estrange_ had _corrected_ it: And sure it was a Gross one too, to expose a _Protestant Gentleman_ for a _Papist, Nine times_ in _two Pages_. I could shew ye several other _Material Mistakes_, but One shall serve for _all. Pag._ 45. (as I take it) of _Irelands Tryal_; which you will finde charg'd upon the Press, in _L'Estranges History, Pag._ 18.

7. Pray'e mark me now: _L'Estrange_ findes _Errours_ of the _Press_ in the _Other Tryals_ and _Rectifies_ them, in his _Own_: Now if Posterity shall finde in the _Right_, that the _Other_ are _wrong_, they are in no danger of being _Misled_ by the _One_, in what is _Corrected_ by the _Other_: And if they do not read the _Right Copy_ at all, there's no harm done to the Other, but they must take it as they finde it. So that this _Remark_ is so far from _Disparaging_ the _Proceedings_, that a greater Right can hardly be done to _Publick Justice_ by a _Pamphlet_. But now let the _Epistle_ speak for it _self_.

To the READER.

The Epistle to L'Estrange's History of the Plot.