ANY Judicious Man, who will be at the pains attentively to read the
following Speeches, and compare them with the Papers left by Lord
Derwentwater, Colonel Oxburgh, and the other Rebels
lately executed, must soon be convinc’d, That they all proceed from the
same Mint, and are fram’d on purpose to spirit up the Faction to a New
Rebellion.
There’s such an Uniformity in the Stile, Matter, and Way of Arguing,
as sufficiently proves this; so that instead of being the Speeches of
the deceas’d Rebels, they plainly appear to be the Composure of others,
who endeavour to serve the Cause not only at the Expence of those poor
Mens Reputation, but even of their Souls, by prevailing upon them to
deliver such Papers as their dying Sentiments, and the Result of their
own Thoughts.
This is very plain in the Case of Mr. Hall, who being ask’d at
the Place of Execution, if the Paper he deliver’d was writ by himself,
he avoided giving a direct Answer, and only said it contain’d his
Sentiments; tho ’tis highly probable he never carefully read it, if we
consider the notorious Falshood which he is made to assert, That the
Rebels conquer’d the King’s Troops at Preston.
Besides, he and Mr. Paul were so far from being stedfast to the
Pretender’s Interest, as is given out in the Speeches, and so little
fond of what they call Martyrdom, that ’tis very well known they us’d
all possible Endeavours to save their Lives, would have disown’d the
Pretender’s Claim, and renew’d their Oaths to the Government, could
they have obtain’d their Pardon on that Condition. The Speech-makers
were not ignorant of this, but they resolv’d to delude the unthinking
Populace, and to make those Men pass for Valiant and Glorious Martyrs;
tho, in truth, they liv’d and dy’d the most hateful Dissemblers, both
with God and Man, that ever were heard of.
But to come to the Speeches themselves.
Mr. PAUL’s SPEECH.
Good People, I am just going to make my Appearance in the other
World, where I must give an Account of all the Actions of my past Life:
and tho I have endeavour’d to make my Peace with God, by sincerely
repenting of all my Sins, yet forasmuch as several of them are of a
Publick Nature, I take it to be my Duty to declare here, in the Face of
the World, my hearty Abhorrence and Detestation of them.
REMARKS.
’Tis easy to perceive that this Paragraph is calculated to gain Credit
to what he was afterwards to say; but the judicious Reader will
discover the Artifice, and that the Author is far from being ingenuous.
’Tis very odd, in a Protestant Divine, to talk of making his Peace
with God, by a sincere Repentance of all his Sins, and not say one
Word of Faith in the Merits of Jesus Christ; without which, Repentance
can neither be sincere nor perfect. This looks so like the Popish
Doctrine, that Penance is a sufficient Atonement for Sin, as gives
every one just Cause to suspect the Author’s Religion.
He takes notice, that several of his Sins were of a Publick Nature,
and that he thought it his Duty to declare his hearty Abhorrence and
Detestation of them in the Face of the World; but how much he juggled
in this Matter, will be evident by the two following Paragraphs, and
the Reflections upon them.
The SPEECH.
And first, I ask Pardon of God and the King, for having violated
my Loyalty, by taking most abominable Oaths in Defence of Usurpation,
against my Lawful Sovereign King James the Third.
And as I ask Pardon of all Persons whom I have injur’d or offended,
so I do especially desire Forgiveness of all those whom I have
scandaliz’d by pleading Guilty. I am sensible that it is a Base and
Dishonourable Action; that it is inconsistent with my Duty to the King,
and an entire Surrender of my Loyalty. Human Frailty, and too great a
Desire of Life, together with the Persuasions of several who pretended
to be my Friends, were the Occasion of it. I trust God of his infinite
Mercy, upon my sincere Repentance, has forgiven me; and I hope all good
Christians will.
REMARKS.
Since the Author owns, that several of his Sins were of a Publick
Nature, he ought to have been very particular and exact in the
Enumeration of them; but he mentions only two, viz. his taking
what he calls most abominable Oaths in Defence of Usurpation, and his
pleading Guilty to his Indictment.
He must be a very superficial Reader, who does not observe, that these
things, which Mr. Paul calls Sins, were attended with others of
as heinous and publick a Nature; of which he says not one Word. For his
taking the Oaths, if he thought them abominable, was not only a Crime
against his pretended Lawful Sovereign, King James III. but a
dreadful mocking of God, and treacherous Imposition upon the present
Government, and his Country; and so much the more, that he continu’d in
this abominable Practice till the time the Rebellion broke out: and it
was aggravated by this heinous Circumstance, That he went from the very
Pulpit in which he preach’d by the Authority of the present Government,
to join those who rose in Arms against it. Had he been a sincere
Penitent, such hateful Prevarication with God and Man must have star’d
him in the Face, and call’d for an express and humble Acknowledgment
of it; whereas he confines his Repentance to what he did against the
Loyalty which he fancies he ow’d the Pretender.
One might have expected, from a true and ingenuous Penitent, an Account
of the Reasons why he calls the present Government an Usurpation:
for tho perhaps he might think, that the Word of a dying Priest
was Authority enough for the Bigots of his Party, he ought to have
consider’d, that others would expect very strong and convincing
Arguments to prove, that his single Judgment should be prefer’d not
only to that of our present Legislature, but of all our Parliaments;
who, ever since we were a Nation, have asserted it to be their
indisputed Right to dethrone Tyrants, and to settle the Succession
in such a manner as they thought most conducible to preserve the
Liberties of the People. Nothing can be more evident than this in
all our Histories and Acts of Parliament before the Reformation; and
he must have been prodigiously ignorant, if he did not know that.
It has been the Practice, as well as the Principle of the Church of
England since she became Protestant: For all the World knows,
that in the beginning of the Reformation, under Henry VIII. she
own’d the Power of Parliaments, in settling the Succession, about which
there were several Acts made in his Reign. In that of his Son, King
Edward VI. it appears plain enough that the leading Protestants
were of the same mind, when they agreed to set aside his Popish
Sister Queen Mary, and to settle the Crown on Lady Jane
Grey. And ’tis as well known, that the famous Martyr, Bishop
Ridley, did openly preach against Queen Mary’s Title, at
Paul’s-Cross.
In Queen Elizabeth’s Reign it appears, by the Records of
Parliament, that the Bishops of the Church of England did
unanimously agree not only to set aside the Title of Mary
the Popish Queen of Scots, who was next Heiress to the
English Crown; but also to take off her Head, because of her
Plots against Queen Elizabeth. ’Tis no less evident, from the
History of that Reign, That the Bishops and Clergy of England
enabled the Queen, by their Purses and otherwise, to support the
Protestants of France and the Netherlands, who had
taken Arms against their Tyrannical Sovereigns; and also those of
Scotland, who had dethron’d the Mother, and set up the Son.
In the Reign of King James I. the Church of England
concurred in like manner to support the Protestants of the United
Netherlands and Germany against their Tyrannical Princes;
and they continu’d the same Endeavours in the Reign of King
Charles I. when even Archbishop Laud, the Idol of our
High-Church Clergy, concurred in granting Subsidies for the Support
of the French Protestants, who were in Arms against their
persecuting Sovereign. What the Church of England did towards
dethroning King James II. for his Tyranny, is too late to be
forgot; and Mr. Paul cannot but know, that she annually thanks
God in her Office on the 5th of November, for bringing over the
Prince of Orange, and making all Opposition fall before him,
till he became our King and Governour. This, no doubt, he frequently
concurred in; and had his Jacobite Repentance been sincere, he ought
to have acknowledg’d that as publickly as the other things, which he
thought it his Duty to declare in the Face of the World.
Upon the whole, it appears to be of too great Importance for the
Speech-makers to think, that Mr. Paul’s bare Assertion, without
any Argument, was sufficient to weigh down such a Train of Authorities.
His begging Pardon of those whom he has scandaliz’d by pleading Guilty,
is the Form which the Ghostly Fathers of the Rebels have put into
all their Mouths; as appears by Lord Derwentwater’s Speech,
&c. But since he calls this a base and dishonourable Action,
inconsistent with his Duty to the King, and an entire Surrender of his
Loyalty; it deserv’d a greater Act of Contrition, than to ascribe it
barely to human Frailty, a too great Desire of Life, and the Persuasion
of pretended Friends. Here again he shews himself a very loose
Protestant, when he relies upon his own Repentance, without one word of
our Saviour’s Merits for a Pardon at the hands of God.
The SPEECH.
You see, my Countrymen, by my Habit, that I die a Son, tho a very
unworthy one, of the Church of England: but I would not have
you think that I am a Member of the Schismatical Church, whose Bishops
set themselves up in opposition to those Orthodox Fathers, who were
unlawfully and invalidly depriv’d by the Prince of Orange. I
declare that I renounce that Communion, and that I die a Dutiful
and Faithful Member of the Nonjuring Church; which has kept it self
free from Rebellion and Schism, and has preserv’d and maintain’d
true Orthodox Principles, both as to Church and State. And I desire
the Clergy, and all Members of the Revolution-Church, to consider
what Bottom they stand upon, when their Succession is grounded upon
an Unlawful and Invalid Deprivation of Catholick Bishops; the only
Foundation of which Deprivation, is a pretended Act of Parliament.
REMARKS.
Here’s a new Discovery, for which the World is oblig’d to the
Speech-makers, that the Habit makes a Son, or a Priest, of the Church.
It had been well for the She-Comedian, who acted Roxellana,
that this Doctrine had obtain’d in the Reign of King Charles
II. for then she might have been a Countess without Dispute, and her
Son Heir to an antient Earldom, because she was marry’d to an Earl by
his Coachman in a Priest’s Habit. Parson Paul might also have
been better inform’d by his good Friends the Papists, among whom ’tis a
common Proverb, Cuculla non facit Monachum, That the Coul does
not make a Monk: but the plain Design of this Paragraph is to incense
the Mob against the Government, as if they were going to hang up the
Church. That was the Reason why Mr. Paul went to Tyburn
in his Priest’s Vestments, which he needed not have done. We know
the time when the Clergy took a great deal of Care to prevent such a
Scandal to their Cloth, and that was when they degraded the Reverend
Mr. Sam. Johnson, before he was whipt, for writing against
Popery and Tyranny; tho he had more Honesty, and a better Title to his
Orders, than any of those who pretended to take them from him. But
this lets us see where the Blame lies, if carrying Mr. Paul
to Tyburn in his Priest’s Vestments was a Disgrace to the
Church. There are some in the World, who think the Character of a
Jacobite Priest indelible, tho they did not think so of that Brave and
Learned Patriot, Mr. Johnson. But however that is, ’tis no more
Reflection upon the Government, that Priests should be hang’d in their
Habit, than kill’d in the Field for Rebellion; and this we may venture
to say, that Parson Paul dishonour’d the Habit more by wearing
it in the Pulpit, than at the Gallows.
At the same time his Friends have a very good way to make themselves
amends, by laying up his Vestments with those of St. Garnet
and Faux, where the Bigots may adore them as precious Relicks;
and perhaps this was the reason why the Parson would not die in a
Lay-Habit, tho he was disguis’d in one, when taken up for his Treason.
The World is farther oblig’d to this Priest, for another important
Discovery; to wit, that he was not a Member of the Schismatical Church,
but dy’d a dutiful and faithful Member of the Nonjuring Church of
England, which has kept it self free from Rebellion and Schism,
and has preserv’d and maintain’d true Orthodox Principles, both as to
Church and State. The Folly and Inconsistency of this Declaration is
evident at first View, and the Malice of it is what ill became a dying
Man. ’Tis well enough known that he liv’d a Priest, tho he did
not die a Member, of what he call’d the Schismatical Church;
and he continu’d in her Communion till he went to join the Rebels at
Preston. This is another of his publick Sins, which he forgot in
his Enumeration of ’em in the beginning of his Speech; but he thinks to
atone for that, by renouncing her Communion at Death.
’Tis pleasant to hear his Reasons for calling the Establish’d Church
Schismatical, and that is, because her Bishops set themselves up
in opposition to those Orthodox Fathers, who were unlawfully and
invalidly depriv’d by the Prince of Orange. So that according
to him the Church of England is Schismatical, Republican, and
Antimonarchical, as well as Dissenters: but had the Speech-maker’s
Head been cool, he would have consider’d, that his Argument, were it
conclusive, could not make all the Establish’d Church Schismaticks, but
only those Bishops who came in place of his depriv’d Orthodox Fathers,
and such as liv’d under them; now all those Bishops being dead, the
Schism, according to Mr. Dodwell, the grand Champion of the
Party, ceas’d with them. By this we see, that the Party has no fix’d
Principle; for tho they applauded that Author, and look’d upon him as
their Oracle, yet now they differ from him: so that we find it to be
true of this Set of People, That evil Men and Seducers grow worse and
worse.
The Parson equally discovers his Malice and Ignorance, by finding fault
with that Deprivation; for had he ever read the Statute of Provisors,
made in the 25th of King Edward III. he might thereby have
known, ‘That the Church of England was founded in the Estate of
Prelacy, by the Kings, Earls, Barons, and other Nobles of this Realm,
to inform them and the People of the Law of God, &c. And that
certain Possessions, as well in Fees, Lands, Rents, as in Advowsons,
which do extend to a great Value, were assign’d by the said Founders to
the Prelates, &c.’ And since it is so, ’tis a known Maxim in Law
and Reason, That they who have a power to make, have a power to unmake:
and it will be acknowledg’d as a very good reason all over the World,
to deprive such Prelates as refuse to swear or give Allegiance to the
Government, that founded their Prelacys, and protects their Persons.
He might also have seen, by the 5th of the 25th of Henry
VIII. that the Bishops of Salisbury and Worcester were
depriv’d, because not regarding their Duties to Almighty God, nor
the Cures of their Bishopricks, they dwelt at Rome, and other
Parts beyond Sea, &c. And the Reason given for this Power, then
exercis’d by the King and Parliament, is the same with that already
mention’d in the Statute of Provisors. Besides, every one knows, that
in King Henry VIII. and King Edward VI’s Time, the
Bishops held their Commissions only during the Pleasure of the Prince,
and as his Delegates.
If the Speech-maker’s Friends object, that this relates only to the
Temporalities of the Bishops, ’tis answer’d, that in the Commission
taken out by Archbishop Cranmer for his Archbishoprick, his
Power of ordaining and turning out Presbyters, is also deriv’d from the
King. The Commission is at large in Dr. Burnet’s History of the
Reformation, Collection of Records, p. 90.
But perhaps the Example of that Excellent Primate and Martyr won’t have
much weight with the High-Church Party; therefore I shall give them one
of Bishop Bonner, who was as Bloody and High a Churchman as any
of themselves. He took out a Commission from King Henry VIII. in
the Preamble of which ’tis asserted, ‘That since all Jurisdiction, both
Ecclesiastical and Civil, flow’d from the King as Supreme Head, and he
was the Foundation of all Power; it became those who exercis’d it only
at the King’s Courtesy, gratefully to acknowledg that they had it only
of his Bounty, and declare that they would deliver it up again when it
should please him to call for it.’ The Commission is exhibited at large
in Dr. Burnet’s History of the Reformation, Vol. 1. Collection
of Records, No 14.
’Tis true, that the way of giving Temporary Commissions to Bishops for
the Exercise of their Episcopal Power, is now laid aside: but since
that Power is still deriv’d from the Sovereign, by virtue of a Conge
d’Eslire, ’tis impudent in our High Church Priests to complain of
the Deprivation of the Nonjurant Bishops by King William and
his Parliament; especially if we consider, that Bishops were antiently
chosen in Parliament, till the time of Henry I. and that ’tis
by Act of Parliament our Princes were impower’d to erect and confer
Bishopricks; as appears by 31 H. VIII. c. 9. & 13. and by
the 37th of his Reign, c. 17. ’tis declar’d, ‘That Archbishops,
Bishops, Archdeacons, and other Ecclesiastical Persons, have no manner
of Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical, but by and under the King, the only
undoubted Supreme Head of the Church of England.’
By the 25th Henry VIII. c. 20. the Chapter is oblig’d
in twelve Days to chuse the Person nam’d by the King in the Conge
d’Eslire; if they do not, his Nomination is sufficient: and the
Archbishop and Bishops, to whom the King’s Signification is directed,
are oblig’d to consecrate the Elect within twenty Days, as well as the
Chapter is to present him, on pain of a Premunire.
Yet tho the English Prelacy is so plainly a Creature of the
State, and enjoys all its Power and Revenues from it; our High Church
Priests are so traitorous and unconscionable, that they would have the
Bishops to enjoy part of the Legislature as an Estate by themselves,
and be capable of Posts of State, and of Ecclesiastical and Civil
Power, without any Dependence on the State: which, instead of one Pope
over Christendom, is to set up twenty six Independent Popes
in England, and run both Church and State into Anarchy and
Confusion.
It is in vain for them to alledg, that they dispute King
William’s Power, because he was not a Lawful King; for we have
heard already, that by the antient Constitution of England, our
Parliaments always asserted their Power to dethrone Tyrants, and to set
up such in their stead as would maintain the Nation’s Privileges.
The Speech enumerates so many sorts of Churches of England,
that it will be hard to tell, according to the Notions of the Faction,
how many they will come to at last. Here’s a Schismatical Church of
England, a Nonjuring Church of England, a Revolution
Church of England; he might have added a Perjuring Church of
England, of which he himself, and his Fellow Criminal Mr.
Hall were noted Members. ’Tis ridiculous to assert, that the
Nonjuring Church has kept it self free from Rebellion; for all the
World knows, that the Men of that Stamp begun what he calls the
Rebellion against the late King James, and they have been Rebels
to all our Sovereigns ever since: so that if any Set of Men in the
Island deserve to be call’d Rebellious and Antimonarchical, ’tis they.
Was it not for Rebellion, that Mr. Paul and others of his Party
have lost their Lives? We know indeed, that not only the Nonjurors, but
even some others of the Church of England, are shy of calling it
Rebellion; yet ’tis so in the Eye of the Law, and in the Opinion of all
those Powers in Europe, who have own’d his Majesty’s Title. Then
let the World judg, whether Parson Paul’s Authority or theirs,
is most to be rely’d on.
’Tis perfectly ridiculous then to alledg, that the Nonjuring Church
has kept it self free from Rebellion and Schism, when they have not
only been in a Course of Rebellion ever since the Revolution, but
separated from their Brethren, and set up private Conventicles, as
well as disown’d the Head of the Church: which certainly makes them
Schismaticks in the highest sense. Nor is there a Protestant Church
in the World at this day, whose Communion they don’t reject. They may
talk then of being Catholick as long as they please, but they can be
so in no other sense than that they are for a Roman Catholick Prince,
and for such an Union with the Church of Rome, as is betwixt
her and the Church of France; which Mr. Lesley, the
Pretender’s Chaplain, and one of his Bishops, propos’d long ago in his
Pontificate and Regale.
Mr. Paul seems miserably to have forgot himself, in saying that
he dy’d a dutiful and faithful Member of the Nonjuring Church, when the
World knows that he continu’d a Member of the Establish’d Church till
the Rebellion begun; and it can be prov’d, that he wou’d have been glad
to have continu’d so, and to have own’d the present Government a very
little before his Death, tho the Speech calls it a Usurpation, could
the Promises and Oaths of such a perfidious Wretch been rely’d upon, or
thought worthy of being accepted.
The SPEECH.
Having ask’d Forgiveness for my self, I come now to forgive others.
I pardon those, who under the Notion of Friendship persuaded me to
plead Guilty. I heartily forgive all my most inveterate Enemies,
especially the Elector of Hannover, my Lord Townshend,
and all others who have been instrumental in promoting my Death.
Father, forgive them! Lord Jesus, have mercy upon them, and lay not
this Sin to their Charge.
REMARKS.
After he has rail’d at the Church and State, he pretends that he has
ask’d Forgiveness for himself, and comes to forgive others; and first,
those who under the Notion of Friendship persuaded him to plead guilty.
’Tis common, we see, for those who are false themselves, to call others
False Brethren; yet ’tis evident by the Clemency shew’d to others
who pleaded guilty, that those who advis’d him to do so, were his
best Friends: but since there were such Aggravations in his Case and
Character, as made him unworthy of the like Favour, his Blood lies on
his own Head.
His way of forgiving others is very extraordinary, when he calls them
with his dying Breath his most inveterate Enemies; and among those, he
points out the King, under the Title of Elector of Hannover,
and my Lord Townshend. This smells of so much Rancour, that it
is not reconcilable with the Spirit of Christianity, and at the same
time it shews the height of Prevarication with God and Man; since in
his Applications for Mercy he gave the King his Royal Titles (which
he now denies him) and him whom he call’d his King at the Gallows, he
thought fit to call a Pretender in his Petitions. His pointing at my
Lord Townshend in such a particular manner, is to mark out that
Noble Lord to the Fury of the Jacobite Mobs; a piece of Revenge
that is abominable in any Man, but execrable in a dying Minister, who
knew that my Lord Townshend could not in Faithfulness to the
King behave himself any otherwise than he did, or become an Intercessor
for a Man of so vile a Character, as Mr. Paul appears to have
been, to all that know him. But the Spirit of Rage and Malice, by which
the Parson was acted to the last, will further appear by the following
Paragraph, and the Reflections upon it.
The SPEECH.
The next thing I have to do, Christian Friends, is to exhort you
all to return to your Duty. Remember that King James the Third
is your only Rightful Sovereign, by the Laws of the Land, and the
Constitution of the Kingdom. And therefore if you would perform the
Duty of Justice to him, which is due to all Mankind, you are oblig’d
in Conscience to do all you can to restore him to his Crown: For it
is his Right, and no Man in the World besides himself can lawfully
claim a Title to it. And as it is your Duty to serve him, so it is
your Interest; for till he is restor’d, the Nation can never be happy.
You see what Miseries and Calamities have befallen these Kingdoms
by the Revolution; and I believe you are now convinc’d, by woful
Experience, that swerving from God’s Laws, and thereby putting your
selves out of his Protection, is not the way to secure you from those
Evils and Misfortunes which you are afraid of in this World. Before
the Revolution, you thought your Religion, Liberties, and Properties
in Danger; and I pray you to consider how you have preserv’d them
by Rebelling. Are they not ten times more precarious than ever? Who
can say he is certain of his Life or Estate, when he considers the
Proceedings of the present Administration? And as for your Religion,
is it not evident that the Revolution, instead of keeping out Popery,
has let in Atheism? Do not Heresies abound every day; and are not
the Teachers of false Doctrines patroniz’d by the Great Men in the
Government? This shews the Kindness and Affection they have for the
Church. And to give you another Instance of their Respect and Reverence
for it, you are now going to see a Priest of the Church of England
murder’d for doing his Duty. For it is not me they strike at so
particularly, but it is thro me that they would wound the Priesthood,
bring a Disgrace upon the Gown, and a Scandal upon my Sacred Function.
But they would do well to remember, that he who despises Christ’s
Priests, despises Christ; and he who despises him, despises him that
sent him.
REMARKS.
After profaning the Name of our Saviour, by seeming to pray that
he would forgive those who had been instrumental in promoting Mr.
Paul’s Death; the Speech-maker gives himself the lye, by exciting
his Auditors to a new Rebellion: and the Motives he uses for it are
only a parcel of vulgar Topicks and bold Assertions, suited to the
Taste of the Jacobite Mob, without one word of Argument to
support his Propositions; for he knew the Credulity of the High-Church
Faction, and that if he cou’d prevail upon them to exert themselves
for the Pretender, they wou’d not fail in their usual brutish manner
to attempt a Revenge on those, whom he points out as his own and the
Pretender’s Enemies.
’Tis remarkable however, that he does not offer one Law or Text to
justify the Pretender’s Claim, which he so positively asserts, but goes
on with a pitiful Declamation, to persuade them to a new Rebellion,
from the Topicks of Interest. And he insists upon the Calamities that
have befallen these Kingdoms by the Revolution, without giving one
Instance of those Calamities. We may see the Hand of the Jesuit in this
way of Reasoning; for crafty and knavish Men always betake themselves
to Generals. In this he follows the Example of the Holborn
Doctor, who did what he cou’d to blacken the Revolution, and the
Methods made use of to effect it, by general Slanders, without offering
at one particular Instance to justify what he says.
Nothing can more demonstrate the Infatuation of Mr. Paul, or
those who made his Speech, than his telling the People that before
the Revolution they thought their Religion, Liberties, and Properties
in danger; and that instead of preserving them by Rebellion, they are
now become ten times more precarious than ever. Had Satan appear’d in
a visible Form, he cou’d not have utter’d any thing more deceitful
and false. By this Instance ’tis plain, that the great Accuser of the
Brethren triumphs in the Weakness, as well as the Wickedness of those
he has deluded: For even the late Archbishop Sancroft, and
other Patrons of the Nonjurant Party, give Mr. Paul the lye, as
to the first part of his Proposition, and common Sense falsifies the
latter. To prove this, we need only to observe, that Sancroft
and the rest of the Bishops, who refus’d to read K. James
II’s Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, alledg’d that it was an
Invasion upon our Civil and Religious Liberties. And because they set
forth this in their Petition to that Prince, they were committed to
the Tower, and brought to a Tryal as traitorous Criminals: but
to their good fortune, the Law, which they had formerly too much run
down, prevail’d against that Arbitrary Power of the Prince, which they
had so long preach’d up; and the Arguments which were made use of by
the late Lord Chief Justice Pollexfen, Lord Sommers,
and other Whigs, in behalf of the Constitution, prevail’d so far,
that they were honourably acquitted. Upon which, Dr. Sancroft
and his Brethren did so much resent these Tyrannical Proceedings of
King James II. that they concur’d with others in the Happy
Revolution: and Archbishop Sancroft himself, tho afterwards the
Head of the Nonjuring Party, did take the Keys of the Tower from
Skelton, K. James’s Lieutenant, and join’d, with other
Bishops afterwards Nonjurors, in a Declaration for applying to the
Prince of Orange, on the 11th of December 1688, after
King James had run away, to obtain a Parliament for securing
our Laws, Liberties, Properties, and the Church of England in
particular.
This is enough to shew, that the Heads of the Nonjurant Party were then
convinc’d that our Religion, Liberties, and Properties were in Danger;
which sufficiently confutes Mr. Paul’s Insinuation, that they
were not.
And as to the other part of his bold Assertion, that they are ten times
more precarious now than ever, common Sense and Experience give him the
Lye; for Thanks to God, we have now a Protestant, whereas we then had a
Popish King on the Throne: and Malice itself can’t say, that profess’d
Papists are contrary to Law made Members of the Privy Council,
Commanders in the Army, and obtruded upon our Universities, instead of
Protestants illegally turn’d out, as was the Case in those days.
Besides, by the Revolution, which Mr. Paul thinks fit to call
a Rebellion, we have obtain’d an irrevocable Law, that none who has
been a Papist, is a Papist, or marries a Papist, shall from henceforth
sit on our Throne; but that they shall always be of the Communion of
the Church of England, as by Law establish’d. This is such a
Security for our Religion, as England never had before. And
as to our Civil Rights, Liberties, and Properties, we have, by the
Declaration of Rights, enacted into a Law, such a Security, as our
Ancestors never enjoy’d a better, nor can any Nation in Europe
shew the like. With what face then could this dying Traitor say, that
our Religion, Liberties, and Properties are ten times more precarious
than ever? Certainly a Man who could thus appear before the Tribunal
of Heaven, with such a Lye in his Mouth, must have been judicially
harden’d, and given up to a reprobate Sense.
As to his Question, Who can say he is certain of his Life or Estate,
when he considers the Proceedings of the present Administration; it is
brimful of the greatest Malice and Falshood, and utter’d on purpose
to expose the Ministry to the Rage of the Jacobite Mobs; which shews
us how sincere Mr. Paul was in his Professions to forgive his
Enemies. But it is our Happiness that none of the Party can say, that
the present Ministry pack Juries, or suborn Evidence, to swear Men out
of their Lives and Estates, as the Tories always did when they sat at
the Helm. Nor can Malice charge the present Ministry with bringing
Quo Warranto’s, to deprive Corporations of their Charters, on
pretence of having forfeited them by Tumults; as was practis’d in the
Reigns of King Charles and King James II. notwithstanding
the just occasion which the Faction has given for doing it every
where, by such groundless and barbarous Tumults and Rebellions, as
were never heard of in England before. As to the Security of
our Lives and Estates, the Rebels themselves, who have been brought to
Tryal, can bear Witness, that they have had the Benefit of the 7th of
William III. which is more favourable and indulgent to Traitors,
than the Laws of England before the Revolution; for by this Act
they are allow’d a Copy of their Indictment five days, and a Copy of
the Pannel two days before Trial, to make their Defence by Counsel, and
Proof by Witnesses upon Oath. And the Court is oblig’d, on the Request
of the Prisoners, to assign them Counsel, who are to have free Access
to them; besides which, none can be try’d according to that Act, but on
the Oath of two lawful Witnesses, either both to the same Overt-Act, or
one to one Overt-Act, and the other to the other: which are all such
Privileges as Englishmen never enjoy’d before the Revolution.
Since all this is evident by our Statute-Books, and by Matter of Fact,
it plainly shews the Ignorance and Malice of Mr. Paul and his
Speech-makers.
As to his other Insinuation, that the Revolution, instead of keeping
out Popery, has let in Atheism, nothing but unparallel’d Impudence
could have utter’d it. The late Bishop of Sarum did justly
observe at Sacheverel’s Trial, that nothing had so much
contributed to the Growth of Atheism in the Nation, as the Clergy’s
playing fast and loose with Oaths: and as this was the avow’d Practice
of Mr. Paul and his Party, to take Oaths to the Government, on
purpose to undermine it, and to abjure the Pretender, while at the
same time they carry’d on his Interests; the Growth and Patronage
of Atheism; is justly ascrib’d to his own Faction. There can be no
stronger proof of this, than their Breach of solemn Leagues and Oaths,
and making the late Queen Anne so notoriously contradict her
self from the Throne. Besides, does not all the World know, that her
Tory Ministry, and particularly two of her Secretaries of State, were
guilty of the most avow’d Perjury? Were not the Generals of the Rebels,
as well as he who betray’d the Confederate Armies to France,
guilty of wilful Perjury? And were not many of the High-Church Members
of the House of Commons, and the High-Church Clergy guilty of the like?
Can any thing be a greater Proof of Atheism than wilful Perjury? Does
it not deny the very Being, and all the Attributes of God Almighty?
With what face then could this dying Traitor charge others with
Atheism, of which he and his Party are so demonstrably guilty?
He seems to make a Distinction betwixt Atheism and Popery, and to give
the latter the Preference, which is another Proof of his Ignorance and
Malice; for every Man who has read the Casuistical Divinity of the
Jesuits, which is the very Soul and Support of Popery, must needs know,
that the whole Scheme of that Divinity is Atheistical: and therefore
it has a long time been the Opinion of some of the ablest Protestant
Divines, that it is next to impossible for a Man of Learning and
Knowledg of the World to be a Papist, and not be an Atheist at the same
time.
For Mr. Paul’s other Insinuation, that Heresies abound every
day, and that the Teachers of false Doctrines are patroniz’d by the
Great Men now in the Government, he ought to have given some well-known
Instances to support his Assertion; but his Business was to slander:
so that this needs no other Answer, than that it ill becomes those who
preach and maintain the abominable Doctrines of Popery and Slavery,
Heresies destructive to the Bodies and Souls of Men, to charge the
Ministry with patronizing the Teachers of false Doctrines, merely
because they won’t break thro Law to gratify the persecuting Humour of
High-Church, against Men who differ from their Brethren in some Matters
of Speculation, or mere Circumstantials of Religion.
But the true Cause of all this Malice is, that Mr. Paul was now
for his Rebellion brought to the Gallows, which he calls the Murder
of a Priest of the Church of England for doing his Duty. We
have heard before, that the Practice for which he was condemn’d to
be hang’d, is directly contrary to the Doctrine of the Liturgy of
the Church of England; so that ’tis ridiculous as well as
hateful for him to call a due Course of Law Murder. Faux and
Garnet, when they were hang’d for the Gunpowder-Plot, and those
who suffer’d in King William’s time for the Assassination, went
out of the World with the like Reflections upon the Government; so
that these being only Words of course from Rebels at the Gallows, they
deserve no further regard.
Nothing can be more villanous and profane than the last part of this
Paragraph, where he falsly asserts, that the Priesthood was struck
at thro him, &c. How he could reckon himself a Priest, since
he was ordain’d by a Schismatical Bishop in 1709, I can’t tell; but
be that how it will, ’tis never reckon’d a Disgrace to the Clergy
in a Protestant Country, when any of that Order are justly executed
for capital Crimes: nor was it reckon’d so even among his Brethren
the Papists in Spain and Catalonia, where Priests were
hang’d for Rebellion on both sides by the Houses of Bourbon and
Austria, according as either prevail’d; but more especially by
King Philip, since Mr. Paul’s Friends, the late Tory
Ministry, betray’d the Catalans: and I suppose that no body will
doubt that those two Royal Families have as great a Respect for the
Order of the Priesthood, as our High Churchmen. It is true indeed, that
the Pope, the Great High Priest, has always claim’d the sole Power of
animadverting upon the Clergy, as his own proper Sons; but one of the
most Christian Kings, who took a Bishop in Rebellion, with a Coat of
Mail upon him, knew very well how to distinguish betwixt the Priest
and the Rebel; and when the Pope demanded the Bishop to be set at
liberty as one of his Sons, the French King sent his Holiness
the Bishop’s Armour, and bid him see whether that was his Son’s Coat or
no; making use of the vulgar Latin Translation in the Case of
Joseph’s Coat that was sent to his Father, Vide an hæc sit
tunica filii tui? Had Parson Paul gone to the Gallows with
the Lay-Habit in which he rebell’d in Lancashire, and was taken
up in London, it might have sav’d the Honour of the Gown, but it
would have been no Argument for the Honesty of the Priest.
The Conclusion of this Paragraph is so very profane and blasphemous,
that it can’t be repeated without Horror. The Text here, misapply’d by
Mr. Paul, was spoke with relation to our Saviour’s Apostles, so
that the Missionaries of Popery and Slavery have nothing to do with
it. Our Saviour is represented by St. John the Divine, to walk
in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks; but those of Brass,
like Parson Paul, who rebel against Christianity, in behalf of
Antichristian Idolatry, have their Mission from the Pope and the Devil:
so that a Man cannot be a good Christian, without despising them and
him that sent them.
The SPEECH.
And now, Beloved, if you have any Regard to your Country, which
lies bleeding under these dreadful Extremities, bring the King to his
just and undoubted Right. That is the only Way to be freed from these
Misfortunes, and to secure all those Rights and Privileges which are in
Danger at present. King James has promis’d to protect and defend
the Church of England; He has given his Royal Word to consent to
such Laws, which you your selves shall think necessary to be made for
its Preservation. And his Majesty is a Prince of that Justice, Vertue
and Honour, that you have no manner of Reason to doubt the Performance
of his Royal Promise. He studies nothing so much as how to make you all
Easy and Happy; and whenever he comes to his Kingdom, I doubt not but
you will be so.
REMARKS.
This Paragraph continues Parson Paul’s rebellious Declamation,
which is very well adapted to the Cause he dy’d for. ’Tis the Encomium
of a false Prophet upon a spurious and counterfeit Prince, who stands
attainted by our Laws as an Impostor. But were it otherwise, the Parson
dies with a Lye in his right hand as to the Character of his pretended
King: for the World knows, that instead of giving that Security which
the Parson promises in his Name for the Church of England, he
would not so much as take an Oath for supporting the Traitor’s dear
Brethren, the Nonjuring Episcopal Party in Scotland; in which
perhaps he was right, since a Nonjuring Church ought to have
a Nonjuring King. Nay, he would not so much as countenance
the Church-of-England Liturgy with his Presence, because he
lik’d the Mass in Latin better. In short, there wanted
nothing to make this Paragraph a compleat intelligible Lye, but that
the Parson, to the Qualities of Justice, Vertue and Honour, which
he ascribes to his King, should have added Valour; a Quality
as applicable to a finish’d Coward, as those of Vertue, Honour, and
Justice are to one bred up in the Idolatry of Rome, and the
Tyrannical Maxims of France: and that this is the Pretender’s
Character, we can prove by Queen Anne’s Speech to Parliament in
1708.
The SPEECH.
I shall be heartily glad, good People, if what I have said has any
effect upon you, so as to be instrumental in making you perform your
Duty. It is out of my power now to do any thing more to serve the King,
than by employing some of the few Minutes I have to live in this World,
in praying to Almighty God to shower down his Blessings Spiritual
and Temporal upon his Head, to protect him and restore him, to be
favourable to his Undertaking, to prosper him here, and to reward him
hereafter. I beseech the same Infinite Goodness to preserve and defend
the Church of England, and to restore it to all its just Rights
and Privileges: and lastly, I pray God have mercy upon me, pardon my
Sins, and receive my Soul into his everlasting Kingdom; that with the
Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles and Martyrs, I may praise and magnify
him for ever and ever. Amen.
REMARKS.
Had not the High-Church Faction been bred up in as much Ignorance by
their Priests, as those of Rome, the Parson could never have
hop’d that his pitiful Rhapsody would be any way instrumental to make
them perform what he calls their Duty; which in plain English
(as the Act to oblige Papists to register their Persons and Estates,
well expresses it) is ‘to dethrone and murder his Sacred Majesty, to
destroy our present happy Establishment, to settle a Popish Pretender
on the Throne, to destroy the Protestant Religion, and cruelly to
murder and massacre its Professors.’ None but such barbarous Priests
as Mr. Paul could exhort them to do this, and none but such
ignorant Bigots could swallow the Suggestions of Hell as Christian
Doctrine: and since this is the way in which the High Church Party,
when brought to the Gallows, pretend to forgive their Enemies, we may
easily guess at their Clemency, had Heaven, for our Sins, have suffer’d
their Arms to prevail.
The Prayers of the Parson’s last Minutes for the Pretender, are
answerable to Mr. Paul’s Behaviour during the Course of his
Life. It would seem however, that he had forgot the Order of the
Toasts, which was follow’d by his Brethren in the last Reign, to put
the Church before the Queen; for here he has put his King before his
Church. But his Prayers are like to be equally effectual in both
respects; for God will not hear the Petitions of those who regard
Iniquity in their Hearts, as ’tis plain this Parson did.
He should however have told us what those Just Rights and Privileges
are, to which he prays the Church of England might be restor’d,
or he could not expect our Amen. ’Tis certain she enjoys as many
Privileges now, and is as well secur’d in them, as she has been at any
time since the Reformation. But if he meant that she should be restor’d
to all the Church-Lands, which were enjoy’d by the Secular and Regular
Clergy in time of Popery; that the Clergy should be Independent on the
State, as they pretended to be then, but could never obtain it; that
the High-Church Writ, de Hæretico Comburendo, should be reviv’d;
that some of the Inferior Clergy should sit in the House of Commons,
instead of the Popish Priors; that others should sit in the House of
Lords, instead of the Mitred Abbots; or, in a word, that it should be
in the power of the High-Church Clergy to King and Unking, to Christen
and Unchristen whom they pleas’d. If these are the Privileges and
Liberties he wants to have restor’d, his Prayers will never be granted
by God, because they are contrary to his reveal’d Will, nor listen’d to
by Englishmen, till they put off human Nature, and degenerate
into Brutes.
The Clergyman at last comes to take some Care of his own Soul, and
prays that his Sins may be pardon’d, and that he may be receiv’d into
the Everlasting Kingdom, among Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, and
Martyrs: but ’tis observable, that in his whole Speech he does not pray
for any one thing thro the Merits of Christ; which shew’d how little
he understood the Gospel that he pretended to preach, and gives us too
just Ground to conclude, that as he did not live like a Christian, he
did not die one.
The SPEECH.
As to my Body, Brethren, I have taken no manner of Care of it: for
I value not the barbarous Part of the Sentence, of being cut down and
quartered. When I am once gone, I shall be out of the reach of my
Enemies; and I wish I had Quarters enough to send to every Parish in
the Kingdom, to testify that a Clergyman of the Church of England
was martyr’d for being Loyal to his King.
July 13. 1716.
William Paul.
REMARKS.
Here he tells us he had taken no manner of Care of his Body, and it is
plain, by his Speech, he took as little of his Soul, since he dy’d with
Malice in his Heart, and a Lye in his Mouth; as appears plain, if we
compare his Speech with the following Letters, which he wrote to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Lord Townshend.
The Conclusion of this Paragraph is so very extravagant and
hypocritical, considering the Submissions which he made to the present
Ministry, that it cannot but strike the Reader with Horror, to think
that one who valu’d himself upon his Sacred Function, should dare
thus to prevaricate in sight of God’s Tribunal; before which he was so
quickly to appear.
Since Mr. Paul regrets, that he had not Quarters enough for
every Parish in the Kingdom, to testify that a Clergyman of the Church
of England (he means his Nonjuring Church) was martyr’d for
being Loyal to his King; I shall add no more but a hearty Wish, that
his Incorrigible Brethren in Rebellion or Perjury, be they Clergy or
Laymen, may fall by the hands of Justice to supply that Defect.
The two following Letters were written by Mr. William Paul on
the 9th of July, to His Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.
May it please your Grace,
‘ATT my Tryall I thought I had a very good Plea, but was
advis’d by the Lawers, as the suerest way to obtain Mercy,
to plead guilty, upon which I threw my self wholly upon the
King’s Mercy. What Confession the Court would have from me,
I can’t tell; I am sure your Grace would not have me for
the World spake more than I know. I declare before Almighty
God, upon the Word of a Clergyman, I never brought any
Letter out of Preston, or went to any one Gentleman,
or spoke the least thing that tended that Way, viz.
to Rebellion, but came into my own Country, as fast as I
could, and so to London, where I was seizd and sent
to Newgate. I humbly desire your Grace once more to
believe me, and to use your utmost Endeavours to save a
poor Clergyman’s Life: If it will not be granted to spend
the Remainder of it in England, I beg you’ll be
pleesd to send me to the Plantations, or any where rather
then Tyburn. I humbly desire your Grace to consider
your poor afflicted Servant, and take him from this nasty
Prison.
‘My Lord,
‘I am your Lordship’s most Humble,
‘and most Obedient Servant,
William Paul.
‘My Lord, I never did, since I was in Newgate, pray
for the Pretender by any Name or Title.’
My Lord,
‘I BEG pardon for troubling your Grace, but presuming upon
your Goodness once again, humbly desire you to interceed
with his Royal Higness for Mercy. The dead Warrant is come
down for Exicution Friday next: What ill Steps I have made
in my Life past, I hope Almighty God will forgive me;
but the things that are laid to my charge, viz.
preaching up Rebellion, advising my Parishioners to take
up Arms, and that I preachd severall seditious Sermons,
all which are faulse upon the Word of a Clergyman, as I
have a Cirtificate to prove, for six Years, the time of
my being att Orton, handed by most of the Parish.
Another thing is objected against me, that I was concern’d
in sevral Consultations, but I am inocent and ignorant, I
cal God to witness, of any Design that was formd in any
Part of the Kingdome against the Government; and if ever
I knew of any Meeting, but where I was unfortunatly at
Preston, or Consultation, or ever ask’d or advis’d
any Body to rise in Rebellion, I am willing to suffer.
‘I desire your Grace will endeavour to save me this time
from that ignominious Death of the Halter, and despose of
me in what Part your Lordship pleaseth. If nothing can be
done, I humbly desire your Lordship’s Blessing and Prayers
for Patience and Courage in this severe time of Tryall. For
God sake, my Lord, do what lyes in your power to save the
Life of a poor afflicted Clergyman, the remaining Part of
which shall be spent in Prayers for your Grace, and all
that endeavour’d to bring me out of these great Troubles.
‘My Lord,
‘I am your Lordship’s most Humble
‘And most Obedient Servant,
William Paul.
Newgate,
9th July.
The following Letter was written by William Paul, the Night
before his Execution, to the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount
Townshend.’
My Lord,
‘MR. Patten was so kind to pay me a Visit in my
Affliction, and desired me if I knew any thing relating to
the Government, I would declare it. My Lord, I solemnly
declare, I call Almighty God to witness, I carried no
Letter of from Preston, tho I told Mr. Patten
so, which was only a Faint that I might go of; and if Mr.
Patten will do me justice, he can tell your Lordship
how uneasy I was when I discoverd my Rashness. My Lord,
I depend soely upon your Lordship’s Goodness in this my
miserable Condition. I wish my Lord, I could have my Life
saved, that I might shew to the World how heartily I am
sorry for all my past Errours; and no Man shall demonstrate
it more, then
‘My Lord,
‘Your Lordship’s most Humble,
‘And most Obedient Servant,
William Paul.
‘My Lord, Mr. Patten sayth it is an Aggravation to
my Crime, that I pray’d in expres Terms in Newgate
for the Pretender by the Name of K. James, I declare
I never did. I once more crave your Lordship’s kind
Assistance to procure me my Life.’