Nation which is tied down by fuch Religious and Solemn Engagements, the People's Loyalty will keep pace with their Morality; and that in Proportion as they are fincere Chriftians, they will be faithful Subjects.

N° 7

Friday, January 13.

Veritas pluribus modis infracta: Primùm infcitiâ reipublicæ, ut aliena; mox libidine affentandi, aut rurfus odio adverfus dominantes. Obtrectatio & livor pronis auribus accipiuntur: quippe adulationi foedum crimen fervitutis, malignitati falfa fpecies libertatis ineft. Tacit. Hiftor. 1. I. Truth is infring'd feveral ways; either thro' Ignorance of Publick Affairs, the Luft of Flattery, or Hatred of the Government. We liften with Pleasure to Envy and Detraction, becaufe Flattery is the Vice of Slaves, but Malignity carries with it the falfe Appearance of Liberty.

TH

HERE is no greater Sign of a bad Caufe, than when the Patrons of it are reduced to the Neceffity of making ufe of the most wicked Artifices to fupport it. Of this Kind are the Falfhoods and Calumnies, which are invented and fpread abroad by the Enemies to our King and Country. This Spirit of Malice and Slander does not difcover itself in any Inftances fo ridiculous, as in thofe, by which feditious Men endeavour to depreciate His Majesty's Perfon and Family; without confidering that his Court at Hanover was always

allowed

allowed to be one of the Politeft in Europe, and that, before he became our King, he was reckoned amongst the greateft Princes of Christendom.

But the most glorious of His Majesty's Predeceffors was treated after the fame Manner. Upon that Prince's firft Arrival, the inconfiderable Party, who then laboured to make him odious to the People, gave out, That he brought with him twenty thousand Laplanders, clothed in the Skins of Bears, all of their own killing; and that they mutiny'd because they had not been regaled with a bloody Battle within two Days after their Landing. He was no fooner on the Throne, than thofe, who had contributed to place him there, finding that he had made fome Changes at Court which were not to their Humour, endeavoured to render him Unpopular by Mifreprefentations of his Perfon, his Character, and his Ac. tions. They found that his Nofe had a Refemblance to that of Oliver Cromwell, and clapt him on a huge Pair of Mustachoes to frighten his People with: His Mercy was Fear; his Justice was Cruelty; his Temperance, Oeconomy, prudent Behaviour, and Application to Bufinefs, were Dutch Virtues; and such as we had not been used to in our English Kings. He did not fight a Battle, in which the Tories did not flay double the Number of what he had loft in the Field, nor ever raised a Siege, or gain'd a Victory, which did not coft more than 'twas worth. In fhort, he was contriving the Ruin of his Kingdom; and'in order to it advanc'd Dr. Tilletfen to the highest Station of the Church, my Lord Sommers of the Law, Mr. Mountague of the Treafury, and the Admiral at la Hogue of the Fleet. Such were the Calumnies of the Party in thofe Times, which we fee fo faithfully copied out by Men of the

fame

fame Principles under the Reign of His present Majefty.

As the Schemes of thefe Gentlemen are the moft abfurd and contradictory to common Senfe, the Means by which they are promoted must be of the fame nature. Nothing but Weakness and Folly can difpofe Englishmen and Proteftants to the Interefts of a Popish Pretender: And the fame Abilities of Mind will naturally qualify his Adherents to fwallow the most palpable and notorious Falfhoods. Their felf-interested and defigning Leaders cannot defire a more ductile and eafy People to work upon. How long was it before many of this fimple deluded Tribe were brought to believe, that the Highlanders were a Generation of Men that could be conquer'd! The Rabble of the Party were inftructed to look upon 'em as fo many Giants and Saracens ; and were very much furprised to find that every one of 'em had not with his broad Sword mow'd down at leaft a Squadron of the King's Forces. There were not only publick Rejoicings in the Camp at Perth, but likewife many private Congratulations nearer us, among thefe Well-wishers to their Country, upon the Victories of their Friends at Preston; which continued till the Rebels made their folemn Cavalcade from Highgate. Nay, there were then fome of these wife Partizans, who concluded, the Government had hired two or three hundred hale Men, who looked like Fox-hunters, to be Bound and Pinion'd, if not to be Executed, as Reprefentatives of the pretended Captives. Their Victories in Scotland have been innumerable; and no longer ago than laft Week, they gained a very remarkable One, in which the Highlanders cut off all the Dutch Forces to a Man; and afterwards difguifing themselves in their Habits, came up as

Friends

Friends to the King's Troops, and put them all to the Sword. This Story had a great Run for a Day or two; and I believe one might still find out a Whisper among their fecret Intelligence, that the Duke of Mar is actually upon the Road to London, if not within two Days march of the Town. I need not take notice that their Succeffes in the Battle of Dunblain are magnified among fome of them to this Day; though a Tory may very well fay with King Pyrrhus, That fuch another Victory would undo them.

But the most fruitful Source of Falfhood and Calumny, is that which, one would think, fhould be the leaft apt to produce them; I mean a pretended Concern for the Safety of our Establish'd Religion. Were thefe People as anxious for the Doctrines which are effential to the Church of England, as they are for the nominal Distinction of adhering to its Interefts, they would know, that the fincere Obfervation of publick Oaths, Allegiance to their King, Submiffion to the Bifhops, Zeal against Popery, and Abhorrence of Rebellion, are the great Points that adorn the Character of the Church of England, and in which the Authors of the Reformed Religion in this Nation have always gloried. We juftly reproach the Jefuits, who have adapted all Chriftianity to Temporal and Political Views, for maintaining a Pofition fo repugnant to the Laws of Nature, Morality and Religion, That Evil may be committed for the fake of Good, which may arife from it. But we cannot suppose even this Principle, (as bad a One as it is) fhould influence thofe Perfons, who, by so many abfurd and monftrous Falfhoods, endeavour to delude Men into a Belief of the Danger of the Church. If there be any relying on the folemn Declarations

of

of a Prince, famed for keeping his Word, conftant in the publick Exercises of our Religion, and determined in the Maintenance of our Laws, we have all the Affurances that can be given to us, for the Security of the Established Church under His Government. When a leading Man therefore begins to grow apprehenfive for the Church, you may be fure that he is either in danger of lofing a Place, or in defpair of getting one. It is pleafant on thefe Occafions, to fee a notorious Profligate feized with a Concern for his Religion, and converting his Spleen into Zeal. Thefe narrow and felfifh Views have fo great an Influence in this Cry, that, among those who call themselves the Landed Intereft, there are feveral of my Fellow Free-Holders, who always fancy the Church in Danger upon the rifing of Bank-ftock. But the ftanding Abfurdities, without the Belief of which no Man is reckoned a ftanch Churchman, are, That there is a Calve's-Head Club; for which (by the way) fome pious Tory has made fuitable Hymns and Devotions: That there is a Confederacy among the greatest part of the Prelates to deftroy Epifcopacy; and that all, who talk against Popery, are Presbyterians in their Hearts. The Emiffaries of the Party are fo diligent in fpreading ridiculous Fictions of this kind, that at prefent, if we may credit common Report, there are feve ral remote Parts of the Nation in which it is firmly believed, that all the Churches in London are fhut up; and that if any Clergyman walks the Street in his Habit, 'tis ten to one but he is knock'd down by fome sturdy Schifmatick.

We may obferve upon this Occafion, that there are many particular Falfhoods suited to the particular Climates and Latitudes in which they are published, according as the Situation of the Place

makes