A lord's speech without doors to the lords upon the present condition of the government.

A LORD'S SPEECH Without Doors, To the Lords upon the present CONDITION of the GOVERNMENT.

My Lords,

PRay give me leave to cast in my Mite at this time, upon this great debate; and though it be with an entire dissent to some leading Lords, to whom I bear great reverence, it is according to my Con∣science, and that is the Rule of every honest mans acti∣ons. My Lords, I cannot forbear thinking that a grea∣ter reproach can hardly come upon any People, than is like to fall upon us Protestants, for this unpresidented usage of our poor King: We feared the security of our Religion because of Him, and are now like to vio∣late a great part of it by forfeiting our Loyalty towards Him; Religion is the pretence, but some fear, a New Master is the thing: This I take to have been the bu∣siness of to day; for notwithstanding we see how feeble a thing Popery is in England, that it is beaten without blows, and routed so effectually, that it can never hope, nor we justly fear, it should return upon us, and con∣sequently our Religion pretty secure, yet I don't see that this satisfies us, unless the King goes also: He must be turned away, and the Crown change its Head; for if the Crown be not the Quarrel, more then Property, and his Majesty's Person, then his Religion; Why did not the Prince stop, when he heard a Free Parliament was calling by the Kings Writs, (where all matters, especially that of the Prince of Wales might have been considered) or at least, where his Majesties Commissioners of Peace met him? who advised him to advance and give his Maje∣sty that apprehension of his own insecurity; and if any thing but a Crown would have served him, Why was a Noble Peer of this House clapt up at Winsor, when his Majesty sent him on purpose to invite the Prince to St James? a Message that affected all good mens Hearts more then any thing, but his Majesty's return, it lookt so Natural and Peaceable. But it seems, as if it had been therefore affronted, for the invitation could not have been received without the Kings remaining King; and who was there that did not lately say, it should be so? and who is there now that does not see it is not so? we can, my Lords, no longer doubt of this, if we will re∣member that the same night the Prince should have an∣swered his Majesties kind Message, The Kings Guards were changed, and at midnight, the Princes Guards were clapt upon his Majesties person, and which is yet more ex∣travagant to accomplish the business, Three noble Lords, in view, were sent to let him know, It was not for his safety, or the Princes honour, that he should stay in his own Palace. A strange way, my Lords, of treating ones own King in his own House; I cannot comprehend how it was for the Prince's honour the King should go against his will, or how it was against his honour that his Majesty should be safe in his own House: I leave it with your Lord∣ships to think who could render the Kings stay unsafe at White-hall, after the Dutch Guards were posted there. My Lords, this I confess is the gret Iniquity that sticks with me, and deserves our severest s rutiny and reflecti∣on; that after driving our King away we should offer to address our selves to any body to take the Govern∣ment, as if he had formally disserted it: It becomes us rather to ask, where the King is? how he came to go? and who sent him away? I take the honour of the ••eerage of England to be deeply ingaged, both at home and abroad, to search out this matter, and especially those, who are now present, most of whom owe their share in that noble Order to his Majesty, his brother, Father or Grandfather. It is not unreasonable to believe the King had not gone at first, but upon some Message sent, and Letters received, to take care of his Person, fo•• that nothing less then the Crown was intended; but being not out of his own Territories, and therefore no dissertion, abdication or demise, as the Criticks of the conjuncture we are under pretend, (for the King may be where he will in his own Kingdom) we see while it was in his choice to go, he returned, and by as good as our advise too; so that we cannot in truth say his Dissertion is the cause; for it is plainly the eff••ct of our late extraordinary proceedings. If any should say, He needed not have gone now, it is a great mistake, for a King ought to go, if he cannot stay a King in his own Kingdom, which Force refused to let him be: And to stay a Subject to another Authority, had been a meaner forfeiture of his Right, then can in justice be charged upon his retirement: Wherefore his going must and will lie at their doors that set him an hour to be gone out of his own Palace. Many are angry (and yet pleased) that he is gone for France; but where, my Lords, should he go? Flanders dared not receive him; Holland, you could not think he should go to; and Ireland you would hare liked less; and when we consider how far a League with France has been made the cause of his Misfo••tune (though to this day it i•• in the Clouds) what other Prince had the same obligation to receive and succor him: Therefore whatever arts are us••d to blacken his retreat, we canno•• with any shew of reason imagine that he c••uld think hims••lf safe with us, that had Exercised Soveraign power without him our Soveraign Lord, and under the protection of a Forraign Prince and his Army; though at the same time, we had Sworn Al∣legiance to him, and that it was unlawful for us to take up Arms against him under any pretence whatever.

My Lords, if this be not virtually and in effect to pull the Crown off his Head, and dethrone him un∣heard, I am to learn my Alphabet again. This is short warning to give Kings, for us at least, my Lords, that

boast of Loyalty and were brought to these Seats by the favour of the Crown. What can other Nations think of the Nobility of this, if we come not to a juster tem∣per? God defend us and our Children after us from the ill consequences of what has been done, and pre∣vent the rest. Had we imbraced the happy providence of his Majesties return, we might have improved it, that the Children unborn should have blessed us: Then we had reformed safely, for by joyning Title to our actions, we had made them legal: This we should have had from his Majesty, or a plain denial, which would in some measure have excused so rare and unu∣sual an enterprise: Nor can I comprehend which way it is possible to Guard the Princes honour, but by doing his Majesty Right; for your Lo••dships may please to remember, that in the Memorial of the States, that was Printed amongst us, which they gave to all the publick Ministers at the Hague, to justifie their lending the Prince their Forces upon this expedition, they do expresly say, It was upon condition not to dethrone the King, or alter the Succession, and in my opinion, we are in the high way to both.

My Lords, we are Protestant Christians, as well as Peers of the Realm, and are now upon our Religion and Conscience, as well as Honour, to do right: Let us so act as we can answer it to God and Man, and not stum∣ble at Straws and leap over Blocks: Errors cannot be cor∣rected by committing greater; nor one part of the Go∣vernment be mended, by beating out another to do it. I need not tell your Lordships, that by our Laws, Kings cannot err, and therefore they are not accountable, but their Ministers are, without whom a King cannot per∣form any act of Government, which is the reason of the maxim; and therefore let them be punished that the Law only makes guilty. This our wise Ancestors con∣trived to save the Head of the Government whole, and to prevent the confusion and dishonour that might other∣wise be apt to attend the Form of it, nor is it, indeed a thing that ought to be indured by us Peers, to suppose that he that raised us so high, could be for any reason thrown by us so low.

My Lords, let us limit the King if you please, but not renounce Him; there is a difference between re∣straining and destroying Him. What need of such ex∣traordinary remedies, since that which secures the Go∣vernment under one King will do it under another. Popery it self can never come in but over the Bridg of Diespotick or Absolute power, and if we can secure our selves from that, we are as safe against Opinion as a∣gainst Ambition, and till we are so by an amendment, of our constitution, we are exposed to the meer good nature of the Prince in Possession who ever he be: And to render what I have said to your Lordships not unreasonable, and what I have to move your Lordships to, in the close of my Speech, not ungrateful; I be∣seech your Lordships that we may cast up our account, and see how our loss and gain stands, so far as we have gone in our late change.

We have lost a lawful King, and got an unlaw∣ful Protector, as our Law stands; we have missed a le∣gal and a free Parliament, and have got a Convention that cannot make Laws, nor call a Parliament that can, but what will need a confirmation from a better Au∣thority.

We have lost the reputation of keeping our faith with Hereticks, by breaking our solemn oathes with our King, in the time of his extreamity, because we thought him such, though he gave us leave to lay down our Com∣missions, that we might not have the temptation or oc∣casion to betray Him; But we have got the reputation of good Protestants by it, though I fear, not of good Men, in that some of us have not only not shown our selves religiously concerned for our Religion, but in some respect, not honestly; that besides a Thousand per∣sonal immoralities, could press advance money from the King over night, to bear the charges of disserting Him next day, against our warm and repeated Vows, to take his fa e, and dye at his Feet? and that any of us should be Sainted for this treachery, and numbred among the He∣roes for our running away, cannot surely be the Lords doing, let Dr Burnet say what he will, and yet it is very marvellous in some mens eyes for all that. These are the Sparks, my Lords, that hunt the poor Kings Blood, though we know they had hardly had any in their veins but for his bounty, and yet are the favorites of the re∣formation. For Christ's sake, my Lords, let us not at this rate christen Villany, and rank Dishonesty among the Graces. Popery it self could not have done more, and it is cer∣tain, we are even with the Papists now to all intents and purposes.

This is not all our loss, we have rebelled against the fifth Commandment also, Honour thy Father; and though we have got that of leaving Father for the sake of Religion, we could have but little Religion to do it in such a manner, to so affectionate a Father; nor did it lessen the error, to have a Church of England Apostle to be Captain of her Life-Guard, in his Blew Coat, and Jack Boots, and an arrant temporal Sword in his Hand, to defend natural Affection and passive Obedience. This was an odd sort of compliance with our Saviours command, to put up his Sword, as one of St Peters Successors. My Lords, I must not stop here; we thought we had been rid of Popish Souldiers, but find we have got as many Papists in our Dutch, as we had in our English Army: Now it is plain, that either all Papists are not a like, and then the danger we have apprehended from Papists, is not universal, as we have affirmed, but that they are to be lived with, since we are to be saved and guarded from the danger of Popery by them, or we have ill luck to think we can be safe from that Religion by those that are of it, because they are Dutch Men. My Lords, I am sory we can take such pleasure to see Strangers tread our Courts, pray God it does not show the way to other Countries to take their turns. But that a Dutch Papist should be so harmless a thing with us, that thought no Papist could be so, shows our con∣tradictions to a madness: I know not how well our Soul∣diers like to give way to Dutch-Men, that thought they had purchased a preferance to Strangers at a dear rate; but it is the justest thing in the World upon them, that the Prince should distrust those to Guard him, that had betrayed their own Master that loved them to a fault; they may serve to be sent for Holland, to be knockt on the head in the Dutch-Mans quarrel, but ne∣ver to be trusted at home, though they have given u•• their Quarters with their King to Foreigners, so that the proverb is true upon them, they have hereby brought their Noble to Nine-pence; yet to be just, I must confess it is a reproach due to their Officers, and not all of them neither, and time may give those the op∣portunity to retrieve the credit they have lost by othe•• Mens faults.

We were also very apprehensive of the ill conse¦quences of the dispensing Power, especially in the case o•• Sr Edward Hales, but it seems the common Council of Lo••¦don are forbid to take the usual Oathes, and yet requi∣red

to act, which is an unqualified capacity. We were in hopes we had lost a rude Army, but we have found a ruder; Twenty places cry out of them, and Kingston certainly with great justice, that in two nights time was two hundred Pounds the worse for them; and for Closseting we have got Questioning, that they that wont enter into Associations to protect the Prince of Orange, without one of our King, is to have no im∣ployment, so that if the Prince should take the Crown, I am bound to defend him against my own King, and my sworn Allegiance, though he come in right of his Crown. Believe me, my Lords, it is the boldest bid that ever Men made; I see Forty One was a fool to Eighty Eight; and that we Church of England Protestants shall cancel all the merits of our Fathers, overthrow the ground and consequence of their most examplary Loyalty to King Charles the first and second, render their death, the death of fools, trample their Memories and Blood under our Feet, subject our selves to the just reproach of the Phanaticks, whose Principles and Practices we have out∣done, even to that King, that we forced upon them, and by our example had brought them to live well withal. God help us, this my Lords makes me say, that either we must turn from being Church of England men, or steer an other course, for it is but too plain that Pres∣bitery is leading us out of our antient way, and whether we believe it or no, our Church sinks, and will more, for that is the interest that suits best with a Dutch hu∣mour and conjunction; and be sure, if we are so base to leave our King, God will be so just as to leave us; and here, my Lords, I shall leave you, with this humble mo∣tion, that we make an humble Address to his Majesty to re∣turn home to us, that we may act securely, and not go out of the good old way, which may intail misery up∣on us and our posterity. I should think we have had enough of sending our Princes abroad, in that much of the inconveniency we have lay under, since their Re∣storation, has been chiefly owing to it: We have dri∣ven him where we would not have him go, and do what we can to provoke that League we have been afraid of; and made a great part of the reason of this strange al∣teration in the Kingdom. Some tell us, it is too late, but I cannot comprehend the good sence of such an objection; Is it at any time too late for a King and his People to agree? after bloody Battels it has not been thought so, in all times and Nations; and why it may not be without them, I never heard a good reason yet: If his going was unreasonable, it has hurt him more then us, since we may thence hope for the better terms; if it was not a fault to go, it will be a great one in us, if we can have him home upon good terms, and will not; for if I may, with leave, speak it, his return is as much our conveniency as his Advantage.

The offensive part of Him is gone, that is to say, the power of Popery, and what remains is our great interest to keep & improve to our own benefit and safty; I mean, my Lords, His undoubted Title and Kingship. And what∣ever some hot men say, that are more governed by private avarice and revenge, then the publick good of these Kingdoms, I cannot but renew my motion to your Lordships, that we may send a Duke, an Earl, a Viscount and a Barron, and two spiritual Lords to invite his Majesty home, upon the constitution of the Govern∣ment. And my Lords, forgive me if I say, that if we can but get our Juries, Sheriffs, Judges, High-Courts of Chancery and Parliaments setled as they ought to be; the Army at least reduced, the Malitia better re∣gulated, and a due Liberty of Conscience established to all Protestant Dissenters, and so far to Papists only, as the Law against Conventicles does admit, we may yet be happy; and upon these terms, my Lords, and no o∣ther, will his Highness the Prince of Orange become truly meritorious with the English Nation.