speaks 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 trespassed 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 fo 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 fhort, contemptible, and foon fading reward; not what he aims at, to ftir the conftancy and folid firmness of any wife man, or to unfettle the confcience of any knowing christian, (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 hapless herd, begotten to fervility, and enchanted with thefe popular inftitutes of tyranny, subscribed 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.

A

DEFENCE

OF THE

PEOPLE OF ENGLAND,

IN ANSWER TO

SALMASIUS'S DEFENCE OF THE KING*.

THE PREFACE.

LTHOUGH I fear, left, if in defending the people of England, I should be as copious in words, and empty of matter, as moft men think Salmafius has been in his defence of the king, I might seem to deferve justly to be accounted a verbose and filly defender; yet fince no man thinks himself obliged to make fo much hafte, though in the handling but of any ordinary fubject, as not to premife fome introduction at leaft, according as the weight of the fubject requires; if I take the fame course in handling almoft the greateft 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 caufe, and moft worthy to be recorded to all future ages: the other, that I may appear to have avoided myself that frivolousness 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 PopuloAnglicano" Mr. Toland afcribes to Mr. Washington, a gentleman of the Temple. either

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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 superstition) by what right, especially according to our law, this judgment was given, and all thefe matters tranfacted; and fhall eafily defend my valiant and worthy countrymen (who have extremely well deserved 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 scrupled 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 wisdom, uses to throw down proud and unruly kings, exalting themfelves 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 almost 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 illustrious 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 ftyle can be auguft and magnificent enough, what man has parts fufficient to undertake fo great a talk? Since we find by experience,

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perience, that in fo many ages as are gone over the world, there has been but here and there a man found, who has been able worthily to recount the actions of great heroes, and potent states; can any man have fo good an opinion of his own talents, as to think himself capable to reach thefe glorious and wonderful works of Almighty God, by any language, by any ftyle of his? Which enterprife, though fome of the most eminent perfons in our commonwealth have prevailed upon me by their authority to undertake, and would have it be my bufinefs to vindicate with my pen againft envy and calumny (which are proof againft arms) thofe glorious performances of theirs, (whofe opinion of me I take as a very great honour that they should pitch upon me before others to be ferviccable in this kind to those most valiant deliverers of my native country; and true it is, that from my very youth, I have been bent extremely upon fuch fort of ftudies, as inclined me, if not to do great things myfelf, at leaft to celebrate thofe that did) yet as having no confidence in any fuch advantages, I have recourse to the divine affistance; and invoke the great and holy God, the giver of all good gifts, that I may as fubftantially, and as truly, difcourfe and refute the faucinefs and lies of this foreign declamator, as our noble generals pioufly and fuccefsfully by force of arms broke the king's pride, and his unruly domineering, and afterwards put an end to both by inflicting a memorable punishment upon himself, and as thoroughly as a fingle perfon did with ease but of late confute and confound the king himself rifing as it were from the grave, and recommending himself to the people in a book publifhed after his death, with new artifices and allurements of words and expreffions. Which antagonist of mine, though he be a foreigner, and, though he deny it a thousand times over, but a poor grammarian; yet not contented with the falary due to him in that capacity, chofe to turn à pragmatical coxcomb, and not only to intrude in ftateaffairs, but into the affairs of a foreign ftate: though he brings along with him neither modefty, nor understanding, nor any other qualification requifite in fo great an arbitrator, but fauciness, and a little grammar only. Indeed

if he had published here, and in Englifh, the fame things as he has now wrote in Latin, fuch as it is, I think no man would have thought it worth while to return an answer to them, but would partly defpife them as common, and exploded over and over already, and partly abhor them as fordid and tyrannical maxims, not to be endured even by the most abject of flaves: nay, men that have fided with the king, would have had these thoughts of his book. But fince he has fwoln it to a confiderable bulk, and difperfed it amongst foreigners, who are altogether ignorant of our affairs and conftitution; it is fit that they who mistake them, fhould be better informed; and that he, who is fo very forward to speak ill of others, fhould be treated in his own kind. If it be afked, why we did not then attack him fooner, why we fuffered him to triumph fo long, and pride himself in our filence? For others I am not to anfwer; for myself I can boldly fay, that I had neither words nor arguments long to feek for the defence of fo good a caufe, if I had enjoyed fuch a measure of health, as would have endured the fatigue of writing. And being but weak in body, I am forced to write by piecemeal, and break off almost every hour, though the fubje&t be fuch as requires an unintermitted study and intenseness of mind. But though this bodily indifpofition may be a hindrance to me in fetting forth the juft praises of my moft worthy countrymen, who have been the faviours of their native country, and whofe exploits, worthy of immortality, are already famous all the world over; yet I hope it will be no difficult matter for me to defend them from the infolence of this filly little fcholar, and from that faucy tongue of his, at leaft. Nature and laws would be in an ill cafe, if flavery fhould find what to say for itself, and liberty be mute and if tyrants fhould find men to plead for them, and they that can mafter and vanquish tyrants, should not be able to find advocates. And it were a deplorable thing indeed, if the reafon mankind is endued withal, and which is the gift of God, fhould not furnish more arguments for men's prefervation, for their deliverance, and, as much as the nature of the thing will bear, for making them equal to one another, than for their op

preffion,