ADVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF
Great Britain,
WITH Respect to Two Important Points of their Future Conduct.
I. What they ought to expect from the King.
II. How they ought to behave to him.
LONDON:
Printed for
J. Baker
in
Pater-Noster-Row,
1714. Price Six-pence.
ADVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF
Great Britain.
THE PUBLICK PEACE is justly the concern of every true lover of his Country, the Warmth and Fire that appears on every side in its turn, and Prompts us to fall in upon one another, with Resentment for Miscarriages, rather than Caution against them, may be justly suspected to proceed more from private and narrow Views, than from that generous and broad hearted principle of Love to a Country which every Man would be distinguish'd by, but which so few Understand.
No Man can be said to pursue the true interest of his Country, but he that makes it the utmost End of all his Measures to restore and establish the PUBLICK PEACE; This alone makes a Nation Great, Rich, Powerful, and Happy. Without Peace the World is a raging
Bedlam,
where every (
Lunatick
) Inhabitant is separated from the rest to prevent them Devouring and Destroying one another; A great Forrest where the Inhabitants are all Beasts of Prey, watching to tear one another to Pieces, the stronger Hunting after the Weaker, the Greater falling upon the Less.
Peace is the End of Society, the Reason of Government, the Consequence of Laws, and the Felicity of Life.
By PEACE here I am to be understood to be speaking of the Civil Peace; Peace at home, (
viz.
) with our Rulers, and with our selves; and I make the Distinction here, because I shall industriously avoid entring into that Part which has occasioned so much the Breach of our Peace
at home
for some time past, (
viz.
)
Peace
as it relates to War, Alliances, Treaties,
&c.
with our Neighbours abroad.
We have been miserably divided among our selves for some time. The Feud which began in the Court has spread it self thro' the whole Nation, and has so Universally prevail'd, that it has been next to impossible for any Man, private or publick, but much less the latter, to live and call himself a NEUTER: The Breach at Court in the displacing the Ministry, tho' it was not the first of the Fire, yet it was the first of the Flame. The HOUSE, (
Nation
) was on Fire before, in the secret Discontents and Uneasinesses that possess'd the Parties one against another, and which shew'd it self upon every Occasion; but it was not broken out till the displacing the Ministry, and dissolving the Parliament in 1710. Then it was a perfect Flame, which burnt out to the terror of all good Men who wish'd well to their Country; burning up all our National Peace, embarking the whole Kingdom in the Disorder, and threatning to leave us a prey to the first Enemy that had Hands to lay hold on us.
The Parties who bandied the Nation against it self, and by whose Rage our Ruin was so near, may without making use of the invidious Names given to one another, be thus distinguished. (1.)
The People displaced,
who to make themselves popular, decry'd the Persons and Measures of those who had displac'd them, suggesting the Ruin of the Constitution, Invasion of Liberty, and overthrow of the Protestant Succession, in favour of the Pretender. (2.) The People in Place, who to confirm themselves, vindicated their displacing the other, by suggesting Male-Administration, selfish Designs, and corrupt Practices to the Detriment of the Nation, ruining the People by the length of the War, and denying them necessary Peace, on pretence of obtaining it at last with more Advantages by the Continuance of the War.
I hope it will not be expected I should enter here into the Merits of the respective Pretensions, and so make this Tract which is designed for the closing these Breaches, be a Declaration of the carrying them farther on, taking on me a Power of judging and censuring either one side or other; this is no part of a Reconciler, which is my Province at this time; I shall therefore only draw two Observations from the brief Account given above of our late Divisions, which I leave to the Reflection of those who have been concerned.
1. That the
Old Party
would never have stood out so long, had they believed the
New,
would have been able to have maintained themselves so firmly against the Vigorous and Powerful Attacks they were to meet with.
2. The
New Party
would not have done many things which they were obliged to do, nor have made use of many of those Hands which at last they were obliged to make use of, if the
Old
had not stood out so obstinately, and so long.
By these two unhappy Incidents, the Party War among us was both Spun out to a greater Length, and blown up to a greater Flame than either side at first foresaw, or as I believe intended; till it came to that highth that it began to be the Opinion of serious and judicious Men on both Sides, that it could never be made up, that the Parties could never part without Blows, and that it must in a short time involve us in Confusion and Blood.
But the Issue as well in what is seen, as in what was but just appearing, has shewn us that things were not quite so bad as we feared; and that there were yet a Body of Men, even in the new Ministry,
and at the Head of it too,
who tho' they made use of Instruments for their Convenience, yet saw with other Eyes than those Instruments saw with, and pursued other Ends than they pursued.
It is not to be doubted but there was a Party of Men who were secretly inclin'd to propagate the Interest of the Pretender tho' they put on a different Face in all their Transactions; these foolishly, and very weakly, flattering themselves that they should find an Opportunity to turn up their own Card Trump, joined themselves with the Party who were uppermost, and as they thought for that Reason strongest.
Two things were to be observed of these Mens Conduct all the while they were playing this Game (
viz.
) that (1.) They were willing to precipitate the publick Affairs into all the warm and extravagant Hights they could lest the displac'd Party, finding room to hope well of moderate Measures, should think of reconciling themselves to the Ministry, and coming in. (2.) They secretly inflam'd the said displac'd Party against the Ministry, and propagated every secret step that might alarm them, that as they might be more averse to a Reconciliation on one Hand, so the Ministry might be provok'd on the other, not to hearken any more to Accommodations.
Thus the secret Party had acted till they thought their Game so sure, and their Interest so strong, that they could overmatch any Man who they had the least Reason to suspect would oppose them, and aiming at no less than the Prime Ministry, they resolved either to bring it into their own Hands, or if not, then to bring it into their own Management.
The End which these men aim'd at, as before they sound Impracticable as things stood; the Person who possess'd the Power of Prime Minister, having views quite different from theirs, and which they were indeed penetrating enough to see would at last overthrow them.
Their next step then was to make him uneasy, and to render him suspected; reproaching him with being a Presbyterian in his Heart, inclin'd to the Whigs, and having taken secret Measures to betray them all to a new Scheme of Moderation; to erect a third Party between the Extreams of the other two, and so to lay them wholly aside.
This part they carry'd on with more Success than they at first expected; for the Prime Minister, tho' he form'd no middle Party as they alleag'd, yet seeing evidently that they drove on at a rate that would certainly plunge the Queen, not only into Breaches with her Neighbours, but with her own Subjects; Also that they had views fatal to the publick Peace, and founded also upon impracticable Schemes which must necessarily ruin themselves; I say, seeing this was the Case, after in vain endeavouring to keep them within the bounds of Reason, and Duty to their Country and themselves; and after having long born the scandal of their Measures, and been reproach'd in Publick, as if he had been the Actor of what he so often, and so constantly opposed, he gradually declined them, yielded to the Importunities of the Times, left them to try their own Wisdom, and at last drew entirely out of the Management.
It was not three Days that these Men stood by themselves, but they appeared to be unequal to the weight they had taken upon them, and that they were no more capable to guide the State without that able Head they had parted from, than he was able by his Wisdom and Authority to Guide them, and keep them within those moderate Measures of Government which alone could preserve them. The weakness discovered it self so far that the
of their new Model immediately fell asunder, and every one setting up for themselves, they began to fall into that Confusion that was foretold them.
This step of the Prime Minister was infinitely to his Advantage, in that it restored him to the Opinion of some honest Men who had been prepossess'd against him for those Steps which it was now apparent were the Produce of a secret Faction who topt upon the Ministry; and who as it now evidently appeared were in an Interest that no honest Man could longer join with. It was also advantageous to the Publick, that this secret History might come to light, and that the Mischiefs these hot Men were likely to bring upon us, might be prevented.
In this Posture Affairs stood when Heaven took the Work into its own Hand, and the Queen who was not a little touch'd with the Folly and Heat of these Men, had taken her first step contrary to their Measures, and given the Treasury from them, was struck with Death to the unspeakable Grief of all her faithful Subjects, who albeit our Divisions had lessened the common Charity of the People one towards another, had yet a profound Veneration, and an unfeign'd Duty and Affection to her Person, having been brought to it by the most engaging, inoffensive, tender and affectionate Treatment of all her Subjects, without Distinction, the most exemplary Life, steady Piety, and Beneficent merciful Reign of any Soveraign that ever sat upon the
British
or
English
Throne.
When the Queen was Dead, the immediate thing that presented was the LAW. By this the Successor to the Crown, and the Duty of the Ministers of State were so experesly laid down, the Persons who were to assume the Regency appointed, and the severe Penalty to be inflicted on the least Neglect so set forth; that no secret Designs of any Men, or Party of Men could possibly prevent the Protestant Succession taking Place.
This it must be confessed has confirm'd the Opinion of those who before these Things happened, professed themselves satisfy'd in the Security of the Parliamentary Provision for the Succession, and were therefore not so apprehensive of the Danger of the Pretender as others were, who yet were sincerely in the Interest of the Protestant Succession; I am no more making this Tract a Defence of one Party, than an Accusation of the other: It has not been equally the Opinion of all those who were really out of the Measures of the Ministry, that they were Favourers of the Pretender; and much might be said to prove they must have been Masters of very indifferent Politicks, if they had any such Thoughts. It is now out of the Question; the Event proves it otherwise; and those Jacobites who entertained Hopes of such a Thing, discover that they little weigh'd the Nature of the Settlement it self, which was such, that the greatest Friend to the House of
Hanover
scarce knew what to Devise for their farther Security, except the placing some of the Family here, which they found was not practicable on several Accounts.
Having premised these things only to make Room for what Follows, I begin upon this reconciling Foundation. The Protestant Succession, and the Doubts and Fears concerning it, or concerning who was for or against it, being then at an End by the Successor's being voluntarily and freely put into actual Possession, (for the King tho' not yet present in his proper Person, is yet in an actual and legal Possession of the Crown.) This I say being done, and being done even by those very Persons whom we have so often charged with being for the Pretender, what then remains but that we cease that foolish strife, forget the Wrongs done to one another, and bury the Resentment of past Follies in the Joy of the present Establishment, joining together upon a disintressed Principle, to cultivate our own Advantages.
This is our only present Security; if we may be perswaded to this, we may preserve the Possession of the Crown to the Protestant Race of
Hanover,
against all the World; if not, if we will divide into Factions and Parties, and be still tearing one another to Pieces, the most Contemptible of all Pretenders may give us trouble, the constant Fears of it uneasiness, and the least Attempt from abroad overcome and confound us.
It is hard to say what is now left for us to Quarrel at:
Mark such as sow Divisions.
If any Man now would open Wounds, and revive Party Dissentions, what can it be for, but to carry on a narrow Principle, a private Interest, and make a Gain of the Ruin of his Country?
The Succession is secured, and in that our whole Demands are secured: In a Protestant King, a Rightful, Lawful, Parliamentary
Hanover
King all we can wish for is contained; the Protestant Religion secured; the Church of
England,
and the
Kirk
of
Scotland
Reciprocally established; the Toleration of Dissenters is contained in a temper of Moderation; the Laws are protected; Liberty and Property engag'd for; Parliamentary Authority recogniz'd; every thing that was in Danger is made safe, that was in doubt ascertain'd, that was disputed, settled, and nothing remains for us but for every Man to
Study to be quiet, and to do their own Business.
If any hot Man shall object that this is an Exhortation Politically made to skreen Criminals from Justice, and that the late Management should be enquir'd into and examined; I say, such a Man shows what manner of Spirit he is of. But let him be the Man to accuse, let him name the Crime and the Criminal, and let him be sure to answer for a false Accusation, and begin if he thinks it is necessary; but then let Offenders of all Parties have equal Justice, and if they can think of beginning the new Reign in this Manner, let them go to Work when they please.
But is this a time for that Work, or rather since Faults on every Side are to be found, is it now our Business to reconcile our selves to one another, and forget for one another the Causes of our former Feuds, that we may not fall into the like again.
What a Stage of Parties, of Strife, of Rage and Fury, shall we make the Reign of the King to be, if we go this way to Work? How shall we deprive His Majesty of the Blessing and Comfort of his Subjects, and our selves of the Blessing and Happiness of his Protection and Favour? And make our selves miserable under that very Influence which we thought to make us Happy.
Can we expect the King desires to be King, of but part of his People? do we think he comes in loaden with Resentment, and that he will permit one half of his People to fall upon the other, upon the single Question of, who is, or is not best affected to him, and most in his Interest? That he should set up an Inquisition upon the Conduct of Parties before he was King, and a Retrospect upon the general Behaviour of the People when he had nothing to do with them? Will he begin to punish what his benign Predecessor would not, and shed that Blood which she would have saved? OR on the contrary, will his Majesty rather be pleased that all Animosities and Prejudices should be bury'd in a general Charity, and all Party Offences laid asleep in an act of Oblivion, that his Subjects may be easy, that none may tremble at his Coming, but that he may have the Hearts and Hands of every Subject with him, and may be the King of all his Peoples Wishes.
This leads me to the first Important Question mentioned in my Title, (
viz.
)
What we are to expect from
his Present Majesty. Let me enquire of it Negatively.
1. We have not Reason to expect in his Present Majesty a raw Youth, unexperienced in the art of Government, that knows not how or when to relax, or restrain the Humours of Parties, or to lead the People he is to Govern; that must give up himself to be impos'd upon by his Counsellors, and knows not how, or where to bestow his Favours, or shew his Dislike: I am not complimenting his Majesty when I tell you the King was not born Yesterday, nor is his Knowledge in the publick Affairs of
Europe
to learn: He will indeed be a Stranger in some of the Customs and Usages of our Court, and Country, to which he will soon accommodate himself; but he is not a Stranger in the Office of a King; he has been a Soveraign Prince many Years, and cannot be at a Loss to know either his Office, or Duty; and as he will know how to avoid failing in his part, so he will not be Ignorant when we fail in Ours.
2. Tho' his Majesty is a Prince of known Benignity, and goodness of Disposition, and Infinitely beloved by his own Subjects, for his Lenity and Moderation, even where his Power is absolute, and where the Obedience of his People rises up to a Degree that we would call Slavery; yet I say we are not to expect his Majesty will suffer, as has been too much the Case in our two last Reigns, himself to be trampled on, his Goodness and Forbearance play'd upon and abused, his wisest Measures of Government ridicu'd, his Councils slighted and condemned; I believe his Majesty will give us no Reason to do thus, and we ought not to expect he will Patiently bear it.
3. We ought not to expect that upon every Malecontent Party that may think themselves not kindly enough treated, or that may be turned out of Place and Office,
&c.
as must often be the Case; we may be permitted to Libel and Insult him? It is certainly the Neglect of this part, even to a Fault, that has brought our Pamphlets up to such a Degree of Buffoonry, and such unsufferable Insolence, that no time in the Memory of Man, or of History, can shew the like; and which the even Criminal Mercy of her Majesty's Reign, in every Ministry, gave too much Encouragement to.
It is a strange Case, and owing to nothing but the looseness of the Rein, with which our Princes have always govern'd; that no sooner has the Soveraign here dismiss'd a Minister of State or a set of Ministers of State, but those Ministers turn Malecontents against that Administration they are dismiss'd from, lay wait for the Ministers that succeed, Watch for their halting, throw Dirt at them on all Occasions, load their best Actions with Scandal and Calumny, aggravate every mistake to a Degree of Crime, blacken their Measures with the Reproach of both Folly and Knavery, and charge them with Treasonable Designs against the Liberties of their Country; in a Word, strive to render them odious and burthemsome to the People, that a popular cry being raised against them, the Soveraign may first be last be obliged to part with them; nor is this all, for altho' this Resentment be immediately levelled at the Ministers of State, yet it always Points at the Soveraign, nay, and touches him too, slily insinuating either his Incapacity to Govern, or his Indolence in Management, his being engross'd in a Favourite, led blindly by the Nose, deluded, besieged, imposed upon, and the like, all which tend to lessen the Soveraign in the Eyes of the Subject, and bring Government it self into Contempt.
Many ways this has been our Case, in the two former Reigns especially, and innumerable Mischiefs attend the Government of this Nation from this one beginning, and as all these have had the greater Influence from the too great Lenity and Forbearance of the Soveraign, giving way to the erecting Parties and Factions in the Houshold and Court, so it is hoped we may say that we ought not to expect his present Majesty should subject himself, and his Administration, to the same Uneasiness.
I have seen something of the English Courts in former Reigns, and have observed that when Ministers of State have been dismissed, it has not been as it is now. If the Prince for Reasons of State thought fit to dismiss his Servants, or to change Hands in the Administration of his Affairs, the great Man dismiss'd, or the set of Men dismist, submitted; they took it for a Misfortune to lose their Princes Favour, and by a Modest and Dutiful Behaviour always stood ready, and express'd their willingness to deserve the return of it: Far was it from such in those Days to demand Reasons why they were dismiss'd, or to raise Parties against those that came in; to undermine them in their Stations, and bring the Soveraign to the Necessity of taking them in again.
Neither did the new Servants taken in, fortify themselves against those who were turned out, by endeavouring to misrepresent their former Conduct to the Soveraign, or to lessen them in the Eyes of the People, and thereby to block up the Way against their returning into Business. But on the contrary, they were always ready to do Business together in whatsoever Station of the Government the Soveraign might be pleased to employ them.
Nor was ever the changing Hands in the Administration till now, accounted the changing a Party. Ministers of State fell and rise single, and alone, and it was not found needful at the Change of a Secretary, or of a Treasurer, to change Councils and Measures, turn out all the Inferior Officers in the Houshold and Revenue, and even to all Officers, Civil and Military in the Kingdom, changing Lieutenancies, removing Justices of the Peace, and even in the very Church, observing the Party Interests of the Ministers of State, in placing Chaplains, making or translating Bishops, and the like.
This I must confess Appears to me to be a Foundation in the Government, of something that should not be named, and which in time if not redress'd, will certainly bring all our Kings under Tutelage, and be fatal even to Monarchy it self: How this shall be redress'd, I am not to dictate. All that I say to it here, is, that I hope we will not expect such Proceedings under the Reign of his Present Majesty, who as we believe of him, that he Understands the Nature of Government too well to confine himself to the narrow Measures of a Party, so much less can we reasonably believe he will suffer himself to be
governed by
a PARTY; which indeed would be fatal to himself, and to us all.
4. No more are we to expect from his Present Majesty, that he will come into every Party Resentment, and gratify that hellish Passion of Revenge which some People wish for, and which they think they owe to their late Mortifications: This would be to make his Majesty a Party Man against the Interest of his Kingdom, and against the Peace and Felicity of his own Reign. His Majesty will not appear Ignorant what to dislike, and what to approve, what to resent, and what to pass over. No doubt but many People have taken Liberties in the precedent Reign, which they would not have taken had his Majesty been upon the Throne, it was ever so in every Reign: If the Resentment of the Successor were to be push'd at these Things, as the Resentment of Parties would push them, many People might be made uneasy, who for the future may perhaps become Loyal and Faithful; and many People may be undone, whose Ruin shall not add one Grain to the Safety or Happiness of his Majesty's Reign. I am perswaded every Jacobite that behaves quietly and inoffensively under his Majesty, may yet hope for the same Security and Protection which he enjoy'd under King
William,
and Queen
Anne.
There is no Question but many a Jacobite will by such a merciful Administration be in time reduced to his Duty, who by the Violence of Resentment would be continued in Enmity, and perhaps be made desperate. Here let it be observed that by Jacobite I am to be understood a quiet passive Jack, not an intreaguing, ploting, busy turbulent Jacobite; let such receive the due desert of their Folly, and whoever breaks the Peace of his Majesty's Reign, let him neither claim or receive any Mercy.
His Majesty is a King, and not a private Man, and when he is supposed to Practise the great Vertue of Moderation it is supposed he will Practise it as a King; that is to say, that it shall be extensive,
Godlike
to every Penitent, giving room to Men to forget the Rancour of their Spirits, and forbearing to take Advantages of the Folly and Blindness of his Subjects. If we pretend to expect Punishment, and the Extremity of the Law upon every weak Man who has been drawn in to offend against the Protestant Succession, you will make the King's Reign, which we hope to see Mild and Merciful, turn'd into a general Judicature, and all his Enemies that would not, that he should Reign over them, slain before him: A sight which I dare say his Majesty's generous Heart would abhor, and which might make him terrible, but would never make him dear to the British Nation.
If the Jacobites, who shall behave Quietly and Dutifully to the King, have thus nothing to expect that is terrible, much less will any other of his Majesty's Subjects whose Crimes are not such as call for Justice from the Nation as a civil Society. But all his Majesty's Subjects are as it were put upon their Behaviour, and have room given to testify their Loyalty and Fidelity, whether suspected or no by their future Conduct.
And this Brings me to the other part of my Subject, (
viz.
) how we ought to behave to the
King upon his Coming among us.
A general Answer might suffice for this (
viz.
)
like good Subjects,
Faithfully, Loyally with Obedience and Affection; and like good Christians living under him quiet and peaceable Lives, in all Godliness and Honesty: But this is not speaking extensively to the present Case, nor giving sufficient Directions to the People how to regulate their Conduct so as may discharge their Duty as Subjects, and engage the Soveraign, whom God and the Laws have set over them, to Rule them not as a King only with Authority and Justice, but as a Father of his Country, and of his People, with Tenderness and Affection.
I pay no Compliment to his Majesty when I presume to say he comes over every way qualified both by natural Disposition, and premeditated Resolution to treat us with all that Clemency, Lenity, Tenderness and Moderation that we can desire: It is our immediate Duty, as Subjects, to apply our selves to merit that Benign Carriage, to engage him to us, and to give him no cause to think his Affection to all his Subjects ill placed.
And that this Exhortation may be effectual in general to us all, I take the Liberty to begin with the Jacobites: These, I divide into Originals, and New Converts I have that Charity for these last, as to believe they have been drawn into Jacobitism, rather from their being perswaded to believe its Success was certain, and infallible, and that they should so recommend themselves to the next turn, than from any particular Conviction of the Invalidity of Parliamentary Settlement, or of the superior Right of the Pretender. Their slip is pardonable no doubt on two Conditions. 1. That they have committed no overt Act which amounting to Treason, renders it absolutely necessary to reduce them not to Obedience, but to Example: and 2.) That they immediately resolve to return to their first Principles, and testify their sincere Repentance by a Constant steddy Loyalty to the present King, till by the length of time they may be naturalized in their Obedience, and it may be as just to forget their Offence as it would be now to punish it.
Certainly no Man that entertains the least Zeal for his Country can now wish, had he no other Motive to see all these Calamities brought upon it which an attempt for the Pretender must now Involve it in: If the Jacobite Cause was desperate before, as to thinking Men was apparent, it must be nothing but Lunacy and Euthusiasm to entertain any Expectation of its Success now. From whence it seems just to conclude now, that he who Joyns in an Attempt for the Pretender at this time cannot be thought to do it so much with an Eye to the Success, as to the immediate Plunder of a War, that he may Fish in the troubled Water, and catch up some trifle out of the Ruins of his Country. This is one of the worst sort of Incendiaries, who sets a House on Fire purely and on purpose to rob the disordered Inhabitants when they are in a Hurry and Consternation.
Now I can not think any of these new Converts or second-hand Jacobites, for such they are, can yet be so far advanced as to seek the Confusion of their Country upon so vile a Consideration as that of sharing the Ruins I have therefore nothing to say to such, but to let them see their Case is desperate and irretrievable, and they will soon see what is the next step they have to take.
As to original Jacobites Nonjurant, Profest, and openly so, who were so from the beginning of Jacobitism it self, I can only say to such,
be it with you according as you behave,
I have here no room for farther Discourse with you.
That the Case of Jacobitism is now desparate, we need but little Argument to perswade them to, if Possession be 11 Points of the Law, 'tis yet more so of the Throne; and I need go no farther to Convince you of it than this. It was not long ago when a great Man in the
French
Armies laid it down as a Fundamental in this very Case, that King
James
could never be restored in
England
by the Sword, but that it must be done by dividing the People of
Britain,
and making way for them to bring him in themselves. This was publish'd afterwards in a Paper called the
Doway Letter.
I am willing to take it for granted either way, as the Jacobites please: If the Interest of Jacobitism be restored by Management at home, they need no more than to consult their own Reason; and see if they can tell themselves where their prospect lies: They had the Folly and Simplicity to flatter themselves that they were in a Way for it lately, imagining tho' against all common Sence, that the Ministry were in their Interest. Their Zeal for the Pretender made them blind, and though there were a Thousand Demonstrations, that they were only dup'd and made Tools of, to serve the present occasion of the Ministry without the least thought of doing any thing for them as they called it, yet so willing were they to believe what they so weakly, though earnestly, hoped for, that they shut, out all just Suspitions from their Understandings and acted with the Ministry as if the Ministry had acted with them.
But when the thing came to the Test, when Heaven took the Work into his own Hands, by removing her late Maesty, then it appeared how they were mistaken, that they had been only made
ools of, to serve a turn with, and that for the Interest of the Pretender, was no part of the Project.
If then there was no real Design in their Favour before, no Body will be so weak to suppose they are in a better State now, and therefore I may be allowed to say the Case of Jacobitism is now grown desparate as to the Art and Management of Parties at home; and as to its being propogated by Force from abroad, that I believe the Jacobites themselves have despair'd of long ago
This being the Case, and Jacobitism being effectually suppress'd, what have we to do with any other Divisions? What Bone of Contention is left among us?
We have nothing to do then, but to Unite in a general Behaviour of Duty and Affection, and laying aside the Memory of former Breache,s let the King have their Services and Assistance of the whole Nation, give him leave to be King of ALL his People, give him room to make use of ALL their help, to possess all their Hearts, and have the Strength of all their Hands.
There are two principal Articles which have been the Causes, or at least have been given as the Reasons, of all our Parties, and of all the Divisions that have ever happened in this Nation; and which as they would be effectually taken away by this Unity and Agreement of the Nation in their Behaviour to his present Majesty: So if any Contention or Strife happened among us after it, the World would plainly see it was a wicked Design to undermine the Government, and disturb the publick Peace, and with any just Foundation, these two Articles are; 1. The Danger of the Pretender. 2. The Danger of the Church: both these I say would be taken away in a Firm and resolved Loyalty, and Affection to the King, his powerful Hand strengthened by the Affections of his People to him, and they made invincible by their Union, with one another, would secure us against the first, and his Zeal for the Preservation of their Right, in all its Parts would prevent the Apprehensions of the last.
In his Majesty's Zeal for the publick Good, and watchful concern for its Safety, all Danger from Enemies abroad, or from Parties at home will be taken away, all State Jealousies bury'd, and all Party Animosities bury'd. The Danger of the Pretender will be lost, the very Remembrance of it will dye, a brave and a magnaimous Prince at the Head of an united Nation can leave us no room for Apprehensions, nor the Friends of the Pretender any room for Hope: Popery, and Jacobitism must no more shew their Faces, or have the least Pretences for their Cause; let them make what Efforts they can, they will be Laught at by the World: Not the Power of the
French,
or of the
Spanish
Monarchies, whether united or not United, can give us any Uneasiness in that part; we shall be always ready, and always able to Encounter them.
No more can that other Amusement,
the Danger of the Church,
have any Foundation among us, unless it be founded in Parties and Divisions; which Parties and Divisions will bring in all the Mischiefs of the former Reign, and make his Majesty's Days as unhappy and uncomfortable as those of his Predecessors.
But this general Union of Affections would remove all Jealousies, prevent that State Plague of governing by Parties, it would dissolve Tests and occasional Bills upon the Arms of the Government, to Embrace all its Subjects with an equal Affection; and open the Heart of the governed to such a Faithful and Affectionate Behaviour, that every sort of Men being true Lovers of the establish'd Government, could not be capable of any Designs to its Prejudice.
This is the Moderation I am recommending, and this alone. I am not pleading to cover any Man whom Justice ought to punish, let the Law have its Course upon all; let none mistake me. But if we would make the Nation and the King Happy, enable his Majesty to Rule Happily and Gloriously, we must resolve to bury this Party temper, this Spirit of Animosity and Envy that is among us; to be one easy People under the Reign of one Glorious King.
I can most plainly perceive that there are a set of People who begin to move among us already with the same Spirit which has ruined us, as to our Peace, once or twice before, who not knowing
what Spirit they are of,
begin already to be
Calling for Fire from Heaven;
and will think they are highly injur'd, and resent it even against a new Administration, if their Party Resentments are out aveng'd on those who they single out for Objects of Justice, as they call it; and if the King does not immediately fall upon all those that they shall take upon them to call Enemies of the Succession whether it were really so, or no.
In their several Pamphlets which they continue to publish upon that Head, they are already whetting the Edge of the popular Temper, and suggesting that those People who contrary to former Reproaches, appear to be heartily in the Interest of the Present King only feign to be so.
As to the general Consent of all People, as well in the Ministry as out of it, to proclaim the Protestant Successor, they say it was not in the Power of any to withstand it; that the Acts of Parliament had made such effectual Provision to settle an immediate Administration, and that in such Hands as were certain to put that Settlement in Execution; and had added such severe Penalties for the least delay, or neglect of Duty in that Case, that no Man could stir in Favour of a contrary Interest; and therefore they found themselves under a Necessity of falling in with the Protestant Succession, least they should be fallen upon by the whole Administration who found themselves vested with all the Military and Civil Authority, the Executive Power suffering no Interval of its Authority.
How much this Justifies those People who could not say with the general Opinion that the Danger of the Succession was so great before, as was suggested, tho' it might be very material to the clearing up the Honesty of the Persons, yet as I know it is a String which those I am now speaking of do not care to have touch'd, I therefore purposely omit.
But I must take leave to say, that many who did not go along with the late Gentlemen in all their Warmth against the Ministry, were yet as Sincere Friends to the
Hanover
Succession, as they, and Embrac'd as heartily the Interest of his Present Majesty as they; and it will never prevail with his Majesty to condemn all those as his Enemies, that did not see the same Reason to Quarrel with the Administration of his Predecessor as other Men did.
While I am saying this, and to avoid the Reproach which these Men are already raising, (
viz.
) that this is to prevent Punishment,
&c.
I give up at once every Man to them who the Law without Partiality, without Party-Justice, without straining Facts by Innuendoes will fairly and clearly condemn. Let them proceed and take what Measures Legally can be taken.
But the Moderation I insist upon is, that no Man be condemn'd by Clamour censur'd first by Party, and then sentenc'd by Tumult; that Prejudices be laid aside, and the general FEUD of Parties laid asleep, that seeing the main End is attained, the debate about who was for, or against, unless they acted Criminally against it, may dye, that Men may no more be made Offenders for a Word, and be judg'd by Negatives, that they were NOT so, and so, and did NOT do so, and so.
If any Men are Criminal, bring them forth, we are not speaking, I say, of suffering Criminals to Escape, but of not making Innocent Men Criminal, whether they will or no, and keeping a Breach open in our Charity, because Men will not be of our Opinion in Matters of State; if these Men think they can hurt those Men by Law, who they Condemn by the Tongue, let it be done; if nothing else will satisfy them, let them try their Hands with Impeachments and Persecutions for Male Administration, and let them go back what length they please.
This I say again is far from the Design of this Discourse, I ask no Forbearance, no Indempnity for Men who are abnoxious to Punishment from the Law, they that would take such an Advantage of a perswasive to Peace and Moderation shall be defeated in it by this Challenge. We know that too much Mercy was never the Sin of that Party of Men we speak of. Let them do what they think they can do by Justice, if they think they have so great an Advantage in their Hands.
But where the Law is not concern'd, where no Breaches of Constitution, no Oppressions, no Guilt is concerned, there let them tell us a Reason why Moderation, Charity, and a Christian Friendly Reconciliation of Parties, and an Oblivion of that wicked Spirit of Rancour and Malice, may not take Place among us. WHY having the main Article of our Protestant Succession secured, our Religion, Liberties, and Properties established, and all under the Protection of God, and a Protestant King, we may not join together to make that Protestant King Great and Glorious, his Days Happy, and his Reign Comfortable; none of which can be, if we will not with a full Consent of all Parties Unite in his Interest, and in our own. If we will not be at Peace with one another, what Peace can be expected for the King? How shall his Majesty be the Common Father of a Nation, tearing one another to Pieces, and endeavouring to Supplant one another in Interest, expose one another in Character, and accuse one another of Crimes never committed.
If we will not do this, if we will not drop the Party Quarrel, forget the Animosities and Heats we have foolishly run into, we shall all fall into Parties and Distractions again as much as ever, which a true Lover of his Country would tremble to think on. I cannot forget that I have often heard Men, whose tone yet I have observed to be a little alter'd since, I say I have often heard Men talk thus to one another.
"I care not what they do so the Protestant Succession be but secur'd: I have nothing to do with
who is in,
or
who is out,
what Ministry the Queen Employs, or what she turns out, let but our Liberties and Religion be safe, and let them but keep out the Pretender, and we have no more to say."
I cannot but throw these Discourses in the Way of some People at this time, thus;
SIR, We
hope all you desired is now obtained, all your demands answered. The Protestant Succession has taken Place, the Protestant Successor is in full Possession, the whole Kingdom seems to join with one Heart, and one Voice, to Congratulate him, and to join together in their Allegiance to him, what is the matter with you that you are Not satisfi'd now? What more would you have? Would you have us all Quarrel again about who is
Sincere,
and who Feigns? Whoever Feigns dare not own his Discontent, and perhaps in time will give it over. Shall we Quarrel, because we do not think every Body as earnest as we are our selves! This would be to fall out for the sake of falling out. This would be really, and in good Earnest to
sow Divisions;
and depend upon it, if you
sow Iniquity, you will reap Vanity;
if you sow Divisions, Divisions will grow, you will have a large Crop of Strife and Contention, Vexation and Perplexity, and we shall still be a miserable divided Nation, we shlal have no Comfort of the Protestant Succession, and the Protestant Successor will have little Comfort in us.
The Sum of this Discourse, and the true Design of the Author of it, is to recommend to the People of
Britain,
to consider their present Circumstances, to reassume that Temper, Moderation and Spirit of Union among themselves, which has always been a Token to them of approaching Deliverance. This is now the only Course left them, and in the pursuit of this, they can not fail of a generous Assistance from all Men that wish well to the Publick.
I know the hot Men of every side will oppose this, and some will make this use of it; that as there is now a Breach made, their Business is to make the Assault; as the
Turks
at the Siege of
Belgrade,
when, by Accident or Treachery, or what other means is not known, they found the Walls and Works of the City all blown up on a suddain, they immediately advanced to the Storm.
Let those who are of that Opinion in the present Case consider, that they make the Experiment at the hazard of their Country, and that as a Miscarriage will endanger not the Publick only, but themselves also, so let them remember that whoever Pushes his private Design at the Hazard of the publick Peace, shews that he Values his Country less than his single Interest.
But what is it these Men call breaking in? Breaking in upon Moderation, and upon Peace, is making War upon your selves. The Support and Preservation of our Country's Interest Depends upon a Steady, Wise, and Calm Administration, not straightned by the narrow Measures of Parties; for Government is above Parties, and ought to be preserv'd in its just Superiority to all private Designs; the only Limits of Government are the Laws, and the only end of Government is the publick Good.
The time is now come for us, all to act with a new Spirit, the War is over,
let the Spears be turned into pruning Hooks,
let the Rage abate, for the Contest is at an End, let us
Study to be Quiet, and do our own Business;
if any Man would sow Division, let us
Mark that Man,
and have no Communication with him.
As to those who have offended,
who
as above
I freely give up,
if the Law can take hold of any,
it is open,
any one may have Recourse to it. I doubt not his Majesty comes in with a temper of Clemency, and as
SAƲ L,
when he was proclaimed King of
Israel,
when the Party-men would have had him resented the Conduct of those who would not have had him
to have reigned over him;
if even any offending Jacobite is found, that Text and Example recommends them,
if Penite
to his Majesty's Royal Mercy. 1. Sam. 11. 13.
And
SAUL
said, there should not a Man be put to Death this Day, for to Day the
LORD
hath wrought Salvation in
Israel.
FINIS