of his words and fpeeches here, and of his anfwers and behaviour at his trial. "It is a fad fate," he faith, " to have his enemies both accufers, parties and judges." Sad indeed, but no fufficient plea to acquit him from being fo judged. For what malefactor might not fometimes plead the like? If his own crimes have made all men his enemies, who elfe can judge him? They of the powder-plot against his father might as well have pleaded the fame. Nay, at the refurrection it may as well be pleaded, that the faints, who then fhall judge the world, are "both enemies, judges, parties, and accufers." So much he thinks to abound in his own defence, that he undertakes an unmeasurable task, to befpeak "the fingular care and protection of God over all kings," as being the greatest patrons of law, juftice, order, and religion on earth. But what patrons they be, God in the fcripture oft enough hath expreffed; and the earth itself hath too long groaned under the burden of their injuftice, diforder, and irreligion. Therefore "to bind their kings in chains, and their nobles with links of iron," is an honour belonging to his faints; not to build Babel, (which was Nimrod's work, the first king, and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel,) but to destroy it, efpecially that spiritual Babel: and firft to overcome those European kings, which receive their power, not from God, but from the beaft; and are counted no better than his ten horns. "Thefe fhall hate the great whore," and yet" fhall give their kingdoms to the beaft that carries her; they thall commit fornication with her," and yet "fhall burn her with fire," and yet "fhall lament the fall of Babylon," where they fornicated with her. Revelations chap. 17 and 18. Thus fhall they be to and fro, doubtful and ambiguous in all their doings, until at laft, "joining their armies with the beaft," whofe power firft raised them, they fhall perish with him by the "King of kings," againit whom they have rebelled; and " the fowls fhall eat their flesh." This is their doom written, Revel. xix. and the utmost that we find concerning them in thefe latter days; which we have much more caufe to believe, than his unwarranted unwarranted revelation here, prophefying what fhall follow after his death, with the fpirit of enmity, not of St. John. He would fain bring us out of conceit with the good fuccefs, which God hath vouchfafed us. We measure not our caufe by our fuccefs, but our fuccefs by our cause. Yet certainly in a good caufe fuccefs is a good confirmation; for God hath promised it to good men almoft-in every leaf of fcripture. If it argue not for us, we are fure it argues not againft us; but as much or more for us, than ill fuccefs argues for them; for to the wicked God hath denounced ill fuccefs in all they take in hand. He hopes much of thofe "fofter tempers," as he calls them, and "lefs advantaged by his ruin, that their confciences do already" gripe them. It is true, there be a fort of moody, hotbrained, and always unedified confciences; apt to engage their leaders into great and dangerous affairs paft retirement, and then upon a fudden qualm and swimming of their confcience, to betray them bafely in the midft of what was chiefly undertaken for their fakes*. Let fuch men never meet with any faithful parliament to hazard for them; never with any noble fpirit to conduct and lead them out; but let them live and die in fervile condition and their fcrupulous queafinefs, if no inftruction will confirm them! Others there be, in whose consciences the loss of gain, and those advantages they hoped for, hath fprung a fudden leak. Thefe are they that cry out, the covenant broken! and to keep it better flide back into neutrality, or join actually with incendiaries and malignants. But God hath eminently begun to punish thofe, firft, in Scotland, then in Ulfter, who have provoked him with the moft hateful kind of mockery, to break his covenant under pretence of ftricteft keeping it; and hath fubjected them to those malignants, with whom they fcrupled not to be affociates. In God therefore we fhall not fear what their falfe fraternity can do against us. He feeks again with cunning words to turn our fuccefs into our fin. But might call to mind, that the fcripture * A fevere rebuke this to the Prefbyterians. H 3 fpeaks fpeaks of thofe alfo, who "when God flew them, then fought him;" yet did but "flatter him with their mouth, and lyed to him with their tongues; for their heart was not right with him." And there was one, who in the time of his affliction trefpaffed more against God. This was that king Ahaz, He glories much in the foregiveness of his enemies; fo did his grandmother at her death. Wife men would fooner have believed him, had he not so often told us fo. But he hopes to erect "the trophies of his charity over us.' And trophies of charity no doubt will be as glorious as trumpets before the alms of hypocrites; and more especially the trophies of fuch an afpiring charity, as offers in his prayer to fhare victory with God's compaffion, which is over all his works. Such prayers as thefe may haply catch the people, as was intended: but how they please God is to be much doubted, though prayed in fecret, much lefs written to be divulged. Which perhaps may gain him after death a short, contemptible, and foon fading reward; not what he aims at, to ftir the conftancy and folid firmnefs of any wife man, or to unfettle the confcience of any knowing chriftian, (if he could ever aim at a thing so hopeless, and above the genius of his cleric elocution,) but to catch the worthlefs approbation of an inconftant, irrational, and image-doting rabble; that like a credulous and haplefs herd, begotten to fervility, and enchanted with thefe popular inftitutes of tyranny, fubfcribed with a new device of the king's picture at his prayers, hold out both their ears with fuch delight and ravishment to be ftigmatized and bored through, in witness of their own voluntary and beloved bafenefs. The reft, whom perhaps ignorance without malice, or fome errour, lefs than fatal, hath for the time mifled, on this fide forcery or obduration, may find the grace and good guidance, to bethink themselves and recover. of England, I fhould be as copious in words, and empty of matter, as moft men think Salmafius has been in his defence of the king, I might feem to deferve juftly to be accounted a verbose and filly defender; yet fince no man thinks himself obliged to make so much hafte, though in the handling but of any ordinary fubject, as not to premise fome introduction at leaft, according as the weight of the fubject requires; if I take the fame course in handling almoft the greatest fubject that ever was (without being too tedious in it) I am in hopes of attaining two things, which indeed I earneftly defire: the one, not to be at all wanting, as far as in me lies, to this moft noble cause, and moft worthy to be recorded to all future ages: the other, that I inay appear to have avoided myfelf that frivoloufnefs of matter, and redundancy of words, which I blame in my antagonist. For I am about to difcourfe of matters, neither inconfiderable nor common, but how a moft potent king, after he had trampled upon the laws of the nation, and given a fhock to its religion, and begun to rule at his own will and pleasure, was at laft fubdued in the field by his own fubjects, who had undergone a long flavery under him; how afterwards he was caft into prifon, and when he gave no ground, *This tranflation of the author's "Defenfio pro Populo Anglicano" Mr. Toland afcribes to Mr. Washington, a gentleman of the Temple. either H 4 either by words or actions, to hope better things of him, he was finally by the fupreme council of the kingdom condemned to die, and beheaded before the very gates of the royal palace. I fhall likewife relate (which will much conduce to the eafing men's minds of a great fuperftition) by what right, especially according to our law, this judgment was given, and all these matters tranfa&ted; and fhall easily defend my valiant and worthy country men (who have extremely well deferved of all fubjects and nations in the world) from the most wicked calumnies both of domestic and foreign railers, and especially from the reproaches of this moft vain and empty fophifter, who fets up for a captain and ringleader to all the reft. For what king's majesty fitting upon an exalted throne, ever fhone fo brightly, as that of the people of England then did, when thaking off that old fuperftition, which had prevailed a long time, they gave judgment upon the king himself, or rather upon an enemy who had been their king, caught as it were in a net by his own laws, (who alone of all mortals challenged to himself impunity by a divine right) and fcrupled not to inflict the fame punishment upon him, being guilty, which he would have inflicted upon any other? But why do I mention these things as performed by the people, which almoft open their voice themselves, and teftify the prefence of God throughout? who, as often as it feems good to his infinite wifdom, ufes to throw down proud and unruly kings, exalting themselves above the condition of human nature, and utterly to extirpate them and all their family. By his manifeft impulfe being fet on work to recover our almoft loft liberty, following him as our guide, and adoring the impreffes of his divine power manifefted upon all occafions, we went on in no obfcure, but an illuftrious paffage, pointed out and made plain to us by God himfelf. Which things, if I fhould fo much as hope by any diligence or ability of mine, fuch as it is, to difcourfe of as I ought to do, and to commit them fo to writing, as that perhaps all nations and all ages may read them, it would be a very vain thing in me. For what style can be auguft and magnificent enough, what man has parts fufficient to undertake fo great a tafk? Since we find by experience, 5 |