quietudes, as your former was of heat and zeal: whether mere compassion hath altered your judgment, or that you fear your own turn may be next, I cannot tell; but I easily perceive you, and the greatest part of honest thinking Protestants, as well as you, begin, though late, to suspect, that Catholicks have wrongfully suffered the loss of their fame, their goods, their fortunes, and many their lives. Nor do I wonder to see you touched with some concern at our miseries; for besides the sad spectacles of bloudshed, (which I mention without any resentment, or disrespect to the government) the prisons have been filled with us, whole families ruined and exiled, poor widows and innocent orphans have perished through distress, the very woods and deserts have not wanted men dying with cold

the original copy, now before me, I am doing only an act of justice to the Catholics, and am conforming to the rule laid down by Baxter, in his work just mentioned.

The name of the author does not appear. It is said to be" By a Well-Wisher to his Countrey," and is subscribed M. B. The reason given for its being first made public, is "to shew the connexion between the principles it contains, and the late Popish Plot." In the original, there are several marginal notes, and references to the texts of scripture quoted. These I have omitted, as unnecessary; and for the same reason, about two pages at the end, of a conclusion and objections answered, are left out. The other alterations are still more trifling.

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and hunger; and all this upon account of a plot, horrid indeed, and detestable in itself, but which could never yet be proved against us, by any one credible witness, or probable circumstance evincing the crime.

True it is, Dr. Oates, Captain Bedloe, and others, of debauched lives and desperate fortunes, allured by gain, and encouraged by indempnities, have positively sworn (if bare positive swearing, without any other probability of truth, may stand for good evidence), to a multiplicity of particulars. But these men have been, and are, so notoriously stigmatized with all sorts of vice and infamy; their oaths have been confronted with so many self-contradictions; their forgeries accompanied with such incredible, such impossible circumstances; their lyes and fables so stuffed with absurdities, non-sence, and follies; the crime of perjury so often, so palpably proved against them in short, both their past and present villainies are now become so apparent and perspicuous, that the greatest part of the nation hath an abhorrence of them.

But you tell me, (and you are in the right) that the thing which hath rendered credible the testimony of otherwise incredible witnesses against us, and which hath invalidated all contrary evidence given in our behalf, is a perswasion many Protestants have, that the Catholick

religion is made up of traitorous principles, destructive to peace and government. You say, you have been informed by common report, by printed books, nay, by some ministers in their very pulpits, that Catholicks hold it an article of faith to believe, that the Pope can depose kings, absolve their subjects from their allegiance, and dispose of kingdoms to whom he please. That to murder Protestants, and destroy the nation by fire and sword, for propagation of the Catholick faith, are works of piety, and meritorious of heaven. These, and the like horrid aspersions, together with I know not what feigned idolatries, superstitions and abuses, are (as you have rightly intimated) laid to the charge of Roman Catholicks, whereby to render both their faith and persons odious to many otherwise well-meaning people, who, not sufficiently examining the truth of things, but taking all for granted, judge nothing ill enough can be said or done against men so principled.

And is it not strange and severe, that principles, and those pretended of faith too, should be imposed upon men, which they themselves renounce and detest? If the Turk's Alcoran should, in like manner, be urged upon us, and we hanged up for Mahometans, all we could do or say in such a case, would be patiently to die, with protestation of our own innocence. And this is the posture of our present condition; we abhor, we renounce, we abominate such prin

ciples; we protest against them, and seal our protestations with our dying breaths. What shall we say? What can we do more? To accuse men as guilty in matters of faith, which they never owned, is the same thing as to condemn them for matters of fact, which they never did.

You press the question, and say, some of our general councils, several papal decrees, and many of our doctors and divines, assert the aforementioned principles. Sir, I have been instructed in the articles of my faith, and I acknowledge the lawful authority of general councils, yet I profess I never learnt, or found asserted in any of them, such principles. And I propose unto you, this plain and short dilemma; either the above-named principles are esteemed by us matters of faith, or not. If they be, what farther can be required of us, than to deny and forsake such a faith? And this we constantly do. But if they be not matters of Catholick faith, nor owned by us as such, why are Catholicks, as Catholicks, punished for them? Why is our religion persecuted on that account? Let those in God's name, if any there be of what religion soever, who hold such tenets, suffer for them. Why should the innocent be involved with the guilty? There is neither reason nor justice in it.

Hereunto some persons (I hope out of zeal and misinformation, rather than malice) stick

not to say, that dispensations, and I know not what indulgences and pardons, whereby to legitimate the crimes of lying and forswearing, when the interest of our church requires, is a main part of our religion; and by consequence, the denial of our principles, is no sufficient justification of our innocence. I answer, first, it is in the highest measure censorious in any one, to impose upon all our ancestours, and the greatest part of mankind, who are, or have been members of our religion, such an excess of folly and wickedness; as must needs have perverted all humane society. Secondly, if we could lawfully deny the principles of our faith, when interest requires, why have we lost our estates, our liberties, our lives, for the profession of it? To what purposes are oaths and tests devised, to entangle us? How impertinently is the frequenting the Protestant church, and receiving the communion, proposed unto us, and refused by us? Thirdly, Though many men may be induced to lye, and forswer, when they have some hopes or prospect thereby of temporal advantage, yet that persons dying for their conscience and religion (as divers have done, and those no fools even by the confession of our adversaries) should be so stupendiously sottish and mad, either to imagine that lyes and perjuries, for concealment of treason, murder, massacre, and destruction of others by fire and sword, should be acts of virtue, pleasing to God, dispensable by the Pope, and meritorious of heaven; or