have ever been to this day, a sincere lover of the constitution of my
country; zealous for liberty and the protestant interest; but a
constant follower of moderate principles, a vigorous opposer of hot
measures in all parties. I never once changed my opinion, my principles,
or my party: and let what will be said of changing sides, this I
maintain, that I never once deviated from the revolution principles, nor
from the doctrine of liberty and property on which it was founded.
I own I could never be convinced of the great danger of the pretender in
the time of the late ministry, nor can I be now convinced of the great
danger of the church under this ministry. I believe the cry of the one
was politically made use of then to serve other designs, and I plainly
see the like use made of the other now. I spoke my mind freely then, and
I have done the like now, in a small tract to that purpose not yet made
public; and which if I live to publish I will publicly own, as I purpose
to do everything I write, that my friends may know when I am abused, and
they imposed on.
It has been the disaster of all parties in this nation to be very hot in
their turn; and as often as they have been so I have differed with them,
and ever must and shall do so. I will repeat some of the occasions on
the whigs' side, because from that quarter the accusation of my turning
about comes.
The first time I had the misfortune to differ with my friends was about
the year 1683, when the Turks were besieging Vienna, and the whigs in
England, generally speaking, were for the Turks taking it, which I,
having read the history of the cruelty and perfidious dealings of the
Turks in their wars, and how they had rooted out the name of the
Christian religion in above threescore and ten kingdoms, could by no
means agree with. And though then but a young man, and a younger
author, I opposed it, and wrote against it, which was taken very
unkindly indeed.
The next time I differed with my friends was when king James was
wheedling the dissenters to take off the penal laws and test, which I
could by no means come into. And, as in the first, I used to say, I had
rather the popish house of Austria should ruin the protestants in
Hungaria, than the infidel house of Ottoman should ruin both protestants
and papists by overrunning Germany; so, in the other, I told the
dissenters I had rather the church of England should pull our clothes
off by fines and forfeitures, than the papists should fall both upon the
church and the dissenters, and pull our skins off by fire and fagot.
The next difference I had with good men was about the scandalous
practice of occasional conformity, in which I had the misfortune to make
many honest men angry, rather because I had the better of the argument,
than because they disliked what I said.
And now I have lived to see the dissenters themselves very quiet, if not
very well pleased with an act of parliament to prevent it. Their friends
indeed laid it on; they would be friends indeed if they would talk of
taking it off again.
Again, I had a breach with honest men for their maltreating king
William; of which I say nothing, because I think they are now opening
their eyes, and making what amends they can to his memory.
The fifth difference I had with them was about the treaty of Partition,
in which many honest men are mistaken, and in which I told them plainly
then that they would at last end the war upon worse terms; and so it is
my opinion they would have done, though, the treaty of Gertrudenburgh
had taken place.
The sixth time I differed with them was when the old whigs fell upon the
modern whigs, and when the duke of Marlborough and my lord Godolphin
were used by the Observator in a manner worse, I must confess, for the
time it lasted, than ever they were used since; nay, though it were by
Abel and the Examiner; but the success failed. In this dispute my lord
Godolphin did me the honour to tell me, I had served him and his grace
also both faithfully and successfully. But his lordship is dead, and I
have now no testimony of it but what is to be found in the Observator,
where I am plentifully abused for being an enemy to my country, by
acting in the interest of my lord Godolphin and the duke of Marlborough.
What weathercock can turn with such tempers as these!
I am now on the seventh breach with them, and my crime now is, that I
will not believe and say the same things of the queen and the late
treasurer which I could not believe before of my lord Godolphin and the
duke of Marlborough, and which in truth I cannot believe, and therefore
could not say it of either of them; and which, if I had believed, yet I
ought not to have been the man that should have said it for the reasons
aforesaid.
In such turns of tempers and times, a man must be tenfold a vicar of
Bray, or it is impossible but he must one time or other be out with
everybody. This is my present condition, and for this I am reviled with
having abandoned my principles, turned jacobite, and what not. God judge
between me and these men. Would they come to any particulars with me,
what real guilt I may have I would freely acknowledge; and if they would
produce any evidence of the bribes, the pensions, and the rewards I
have taken, I would declare honestly whether they were true or no. If
they would give a list of the books which they charge me with, and the
reasons why they lay them at my door, I would acknowledge my mistake,
own what I have done, and let them know what I have not done. But these
men neither show mercy, nor leave place for repentance; in which they
act not only unlike their master, but contrary to his express commands.
It is true, good men have been used thus in former times; and all the
comfort I have is, that these men have not the last judgment in their
hands: if they had, dreadful would be the case of those who oppose them.
But that day will show many men and things also in a different state
from what they may now appear in. Some that now appear clear and fair
will then be seen to be black and foul, and some that are now thought
black and foul will then be approved and accepted; and thither I
cheerfully appeal, concluding this part in the words of the prophet, _I
heard the defaming of many; fear on every side; report, say they, and we
will report it; all my familiars watched for my halting, saying,
peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and
we shall take our revenge on him_. Jer. xx. 10.
Mr. Poole's Annotations has the following remarks on these lines; which,
I think, are so much to that part of my case which is to follow, that I
do not omit them. The words are these:--
"The prophet," says he, "here rendereth a reason why he thought of
giving over his work as a prophet; his ears were continually filled with
the obloquies and reproaches of such as reproached him; and besides, he
was afraid on all hands, there were so many traps laid for him, so many
devices devised against him. They did not only take advantage against
him, but sought advantages, and invited others to raise stories of him;
not only strangers, but those that he might have expected the greatest
kindness from; those that pretended most courteously; 'They watch,' says
he, 'for opportunities to do me justice, and lay in wait for my halting,
desiring nothing more than that I might be enticed to speak, or do
something which they might find matter of a colourable accusation, that
so they might satisfy their malice upon me.' This hath always been the
genius of wicked men. Job and David both made complaints much like
this." These are Mr. Poole's words.
And this leads me to several particulars, in which my case may, without
any arrogance, be likened to that of the sacred prophet, excepting the
vast disparity of the persons.
No sooner was the queen dead, and the king, as right required,
proclaimed, but the rage of men increased upon me to that degree, that
the threats and insults I received were such as I am not able to
express. If I offered to say a word in favour of the present settlement,
it was called fawning, and turning round again; on the other hand,
though I have meddled neither one way nor the other, nor written one
book since the queen's death, yet a great many things are called by my
name, and I bear every day the reproaches which all the answerers of
those books cast, as well upon the subjects as the authors. I have not
seen or spoken to my lord of Oxford but once since the king's landing,
nor received the least message, order, or writing from his lordship, or
any other way corresponded with him, yet he bears the reproach of my
writing in his defence, and I the rage of men for doing it. I cannot
say it is no affliction to me to be thus used, though my being entirely
clear of the facts is a true support to me.
I am unconcerned at the rage and clamour of party men; but I cannot be
unconcerned to hear men, who I think are good men and good Christians,
prepossessed and mistaken about me. However, I cannot doubt but some
time or other it will please God to open such men's eyes. A constant,
steady adhering to personal virtue and to public peace, which, I thank
God, I can appeal to him has always been my practice, will at last
restore me to the opinion of sober and impartial men, and that is all I
desire. What it will do with those who are resolutely partial and
unjust, I cannot say, neither is that much my concern. But I cannot
forbear giving one example of the hard treatment I receive, which has
happened even while I am writing this tract. I have six children; I have
educated them as well as my circumstances will permit, and so as I hope
shall recommend them to better usage than their father meets with in
this world.
I am not indebted one shilling in the world for any part of their
education, or for anything else belonging to their bringing up; yet the
author of the Flying Post published lately that I never paid for the
education of any of my children. If any man in Britain has a shilling to
demand of me for any part of their education, or anything belonging to
them, let them come for it.
But these men care not what injurious things they write, nor what they
say, whether truth or not, if it may but raise a reproach on me, though
it were to be my ruin. I may well appeal to the honour and justice of my
worst enemies in such cases as this:
_Conscia mens recti fama mendacia ridet._
CONCLUSION BY THE PUBLISHER.
WHILE this was at the press, and the copy thus far finished, the author
was seized with a violent fit of an apoplexy, whereby he was disabled
finishing what he designed in his further defence; and continuing now
for above six weeks in a weak and languishing condition, neither able to
go on nor likely to recover, at least in any short time, his friends
thought it not fit to delay the publication of this any longer. If he
recovers he may be able to finish what he began; if not, it is the
opinion of most that know him that the treatment which he here complains
of, and some others that he would have spoken of, have been the apparent
cause of his disaster.
* * * * *
[Transcriber's Notes:
The transcriber made these changes to the text to correct obvious
errors:
1. p. 10, Jacobities --> Jacobites
2. p. 12, lordtreasurer --> lord treasurer
3. p. 20, an as unchristian --> as an unchristian
4. p. 37, withont --> without
End of Transcriber's Notes]