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.