that the Reign of my late Batavian Mafter, was in every Refpect equal to that of the famous Elizabeth. Sir W. Ral. Not that it's worth my while to enter the Lifts with fuch a petty-fogging Dog, as thou art, or the Cause in Debate admits any Manner of Parallel: But fince thou haft the Impudence to defend fo monsterous a Paradox before all this Company, inform us what noble Things this Hero has performi❜d, to deferve all that naufeous idle Flattery, which hardly none but Sectaries, Deifts, Republicans, and particu larly the Rafcals of thy Kidney, when he was alive, confpir'd to give him. A. Smith. Why, in the first Place, he deliver'd England, then just upon the Brink of being devour'd by Arbitrary Power and Popery. He won the noble Battel of the Boyn, reduc'd Ireland, appeas'd the Dif orders of Scotland, reap'd a new Harvest of Glory every Campaign in Flanders, and at laft, after an obftinate expensive War, forc'd a haughty Tyrnt, who had infulted and bully'd the whole Chriftian World for almoft forty Years, to clap up a Peace with him upon his own Terms at Ryfwick, by which he was oblig'd to vomit up mumberless Provinces and Towns, which he had difhonourably ftollen from their true Proprietors. Sir W, Ral. And as for his perfonal Qualities, what haye you to fay of them? A. Smith. Whether you behold him at Home or Abroad, in the Cabinet or the Field; in fine, whether you confider him as a King, a General, a Statef man, a Husband, or as a Master, you'll find his Character uniformly bright in all thefe relative Stations: Affectionate to his Queen, merciful to his Subjects, liberal to his Servants, careful of his Soldiers, and providing, by his great Wifdem, againft all future Contingencies that might hereafter difturb the Tranquility of Europe. But as for his Munificence to his Servants and Favourites, I may venture to fay, that few Princes in Hiftory ever went fo far as he. 13. Sir Sir W. Ral. This laft Claufe is not fo great a Commendation to him as you imagine. Well, and is this all, for I wou'd not willingly interrupt you, 'till you have gone the full Length of your Panegyrick? A. Smith. Tis all I think needful to fay upon the Occafion, and enough, in my Opinion, to eftablish his Reputation to all fucceeding Ages. Sir W. Ral. Let us carefully examine the feveral Particulars; and when we have fo done, we fhall be able to determine on what Side the Truth lies. Imprimis, You tell me he deliver'd England from Tyranny and Popish Superftition: But was there no other Way of accomplishing his Deliverance, but by fending a certain Relation to Grafs, and wounding the Monarchy in fo tender a Part, which had fuffer'd fo terribly in the late unnatural Rebellion of 41? If what one of the ancient Fathers fays, be true, That the whole World is not worth the faving, at the Expence of a fingle Lye, furely Great Britain, which makes fo fmall a Part of the Univerfe, hardly deferv'd to be deliver'd from an imaginary Rúin with fo much Perjury, Infidelity, and Ingratitude. Befides, he folemnly protefted in his Declaration, That he had no Intention to make himself King, yet he exercis'd the Regal Power, the very Moment he landed: So that unless there had been a Crown in the Cafe, I am afraid he would hardly have crofs'd the Water to rescue the Church of England. A. Smith. This is indeed what his Enemies and fome envious People have objected to him. Sir W. Ral. Nothing of that can be laid to my Charge, who was never known to your Hero either Beneficio or Injuria; but as I ftill preferve an invincible Affection for my native Country, my Zeal for the Welfare of that, makes me affume this Freedom. To be plain with you then, I can hardly believe he had any extraordinary Concern for the Profperity of England, upon whom he threw the greatest Burden of the the War; whofe Troops he fuffer'd to fight without their Pay, in Flanders, at the fame Time when a Parcel of unworthy Foreigners had Store of Gold and Silver in their Pockets. Neither can any Man perfwade me he had the leaft Affection for the Royal Family, from which he was defcended, who suffer'd fuch numberless Invectives and Libels to be publish'd® against his Royal Grandfather, both his Uncles, and, in fhort, the whole Family of the Stuarts, yet never call'd any of the Authors or Printers to an Account for't, during the whole Courfe of his Reign. A. Smith. Aye, but a Hero, you know, has other Bufinefs to Mind, than the Bagatelles of the Prefs. Sir W. Ra!. And yet this Hero could condefcend to mind these Bagatelles, as you call them, with a Witnefs, whenever they were level'd against him£lf or his Favourites. But to proceed, Can any one in his Senfes believe, that this Deliverer ever fet the Monarchy and true Conftitution of England to Heart, under whofe Reign all the Democratical Treaties, both of this and the laft Age, were not only publish'd with Impunity, but the Abettors of fuch villainous Doctrine, thought the only Perfons that were in the true Interest of the Nation, and deferving to be preferr'd? Was England fo utterly deftitute of able Generals, that a Regicide, profcrib'd by Act of Parliament, must be fent for over to head our Forces in Ireland? A. Smith. You'll never leave off harping upon this String. Sir W. Ral. And lastly, Have we not very violent Reasons to fufpect, that he never had any true hearty Concern for the Proteftant Intereft, whatever he pretended to the contrary, who fo notoriously facrific'd it at the Treaty of Ryfwick; who, to enable him to carry on the late Revolution against his Uncle and Father-in-Law, enter'd into a League; one of the first Articles of which, was, to oblige the King of France to do Juftice to the furpations of the Roman See? And lastly, Who, if he had no Averfion, had certainly no Affection for the Church of England, the Support, as well as Ornament of the whole Reformation, which evidently appear'd by his beltowing its beft Preferments upon illos quos pingere nolo, a Sert of moderate lukewarm Gentlemen, that were willing (good Men) to throw up the Conftitution, whenevér their Enemies fhould ask them the Question. What fhall I fay of others, that were advanc'd for no other Merit, but because they had been juftiy punish'd in former Reigns for their feditions Practices, or defcended from Oliverian Parents; or laftly, becaufe they held Antimonarchical and Antihierarchical Doctrines, both in Pulpit and Prefs, which they honeftly call'd Free-Thinking? A. Smith. Nay, this is mere Clumny; for, can any Thing but the blackett Envy prefume to attack him upon the Score of Religion? Sir W. Ral. For once, I'll fpare his Religion, yet 'tis certain his Minilters had not the leaft Tincture of it. To the eternal Honour of his Reign, be it ob. ferv'd, all the Socinian Treatifs that ftole into the World in the late accurfed Times of Licentioufnefs and Disorder, were fairly reprinted, and these, together with the modern Improvements of Deifi, fold in the Face of the Sun, without the leaft Check or Difcountenance from any at the Helm : 'Twas come to that Pitch at laft, that a Man might better call the Divinity of our Saviour into Queftion, than the Legality of that Revolution; and fafer infult the Afhes of King James the Ift, Charles the Martyr, and the whole Royal Line, than attack fuch a lewd, perjur'd, infamous Scoundrel as Oats. Tis a general Maxim, That the Court always fteers its Course ad Exemplum Cafaris; and that a fhrewd Guefs may be made of a Prince's Morals, by thofe of his Minifters. If this Obfervation holds good, a Man would find himself ftrangely tempted to fay fome harfh Things of your Monarch, which good Manners and Decency oblige me to pafs over in Silence. A. Smith. But ftill you fay nothing of Ireland. A. Smith. Sir W. Ral. Far be it from me to detract in the leaft from any Man's Actions: But this, I think, I may affirm, without the leaft Sufpicion of Malice, That the Exploit of the Boyne, every Thing confider'd, is not altogether fo miraculous as his flattering Di, vines and Gourtiers would reprefent it; for, after all, where was the Wonder, that a well-difciplin'd regular Army fhould defeat an unfortunate difpirited Monarch, with none but a few raw, unpractis'd, naked Troops about him? And then his giving the forfeited Eftates there to his Minions, in open Contradiction to what he had promis'd the Parliament, does not feem to argue fo great a Concern for keeping his Word. As for Scotland, the Subverfion of Epifcopacy, and Murder of the Glencow-men, (not to mention the perpetuating of the Convention, during his whole Reign, and by that Means depriving the Country of electing proper Members) will, I believe, look fo frightful in future Story, that few of your Heroe's Flatterers will mention the Adminiftration of that Kingdom to his Credit. A. Smith. Well then, but Flanders? Sir W. Ral. I thank you for reminding me of it. I am of Opinion then, that, baring Namur, he might have put all the glorious Harvests he yearly reap'd there, into his Eye, and not have prejudic'd his Royal Sight in the least. However, as I know full well what a mighty Advantage one powerful Prince, that commands by his own fingle Authority, has over a many-headed Confederacy, where all are Commanders, I fcorn to infift upon this Point. For this Reafon I will not enumerate, nor enlarge upon the conftant ill Succefs that everlaftingly attended him in Flanders, but come to the Peace of Ryfwick, which was his own proper Act and Deed. And here 'tis worth our obferving, that by his leaving the poor Emperor in the Lurch, the City of Strasburg unluc kily continu'd in the French Hands; and that either 1 5 out |