though I had never the pleasure of feeing you, fent me frequent affurances of your extraordinary predilection and regard. This it often delights me to recollect, and which could never have happened without the fpecial appointment of the Deity, that royalty itfelf courteously favoured me, who had apparently written against kings; and afforded to my integrity and veracity, a teftimony next to the divine. For, why fhould I fear to say this, when I confider how zealously and how highly all perfons extol that illustrious queen? Nor do I think, that he who was the wifeft of the Athenians, and with whom I by no means wish to compare myself, was more honoured by the testimony of the Phythian oracle, than I am by the approbation of fuch a queen. If this had happened to me, when a young man, and orators might have taken the fame liberties as poets, I fhould not have hefitated to prefer my fate to that of fome of the gods themfelves; for, while they contended for the prize of beauty or harmony before a human judge, I, in the most glorious of all contests, had the palm of victory adjudged to me by the voice of an immortal. Thus honoured and careffed, no one but a common hangman would dare to treat me with disrespect; and fuch an one has both done it and caufed it to be done. Here you take great pains, as Salamafius had done before, to prevent us from juftifying our ftruggles for liberty by the example of the Dutch; but the fame answer will ferve for both. They are mistaken who think that we want any example to direct us. We often found it neceffary to cherish and support, but never to rival the Dutch in their struggles for liberty. If any extraordinary courage in the defence of liberty be requifite, we are wont, not to follow others, but to go before them and to lead the way. But you alfo employ the most paltry oratory, and the most flimfy arguments, to induce the French to go to war with us. "The fpirit of the French," you fay, "will never deign to receive our ambaffadors." It has deigned, which is much more, voluntarily to fend ambaffadors three or four times. to us. The French therefore are as noble minded as ufual; but you are degenerate and fpurious, and your politics betray as much ignorance as falfehood. Hence,

you

you attempt to demonftrate that "the negotiation of the United States was purposely protracted, because they wifhed neither to treat with us, nor to go to war with us." But it certainly behoves their High Mightineffes not to fuffer their counfels to be thus expofed, and, I may fay, traduced by a Genevefe fugitive; who, if they fuffer him any longer to remain among them, will not only debauch their women but their counfels. For they profefs the moft unfeigned amity; and have lately renewed a peace with us, of which it is the wifh of all good men that it may be perpetual. "It was pleafant," he fays, "to fee how thofe ruffian ambaffadors," he means the English, "had to contend with the mockery and the menace of the English royalifts, but chiefly of the Dutch." If we had not thoroughly known to whom the murder of our former ambaffador, Doriflaus, and the affronts which were offered to our two other ambaffadors are to be afcribed, we might well exclaim, lo! a flanderous informant, who falfely accufes the very perfons, by whofe bounty he is fed! Will you any longer, O Batavians! cherish and fupport a man, who, not contented with practifing the moft infamous debaucheries in the church, wishes to introduce the most fanguinary butchery into the ftate; who, not only expofes you to violate the laws of nations, but falfely imputes to you the guilt of fuch violations?

The laft head of his accufations is, "our injuries to the reformed churches." But how our injuries towards them, rather than theirs towards us? For if you recur to examples, and turn over the annals of history from the Waldenfes and the Thouloufians to the famine of Rochelle, you will find that we, of all churches, have been the laft to take up arms against tyranny; but the first "to bring the tyrant to a fcaffold." Truly, because we were the first who had it in our power; and I think that they hardly know what they would have done if they had experienced fimilar opportunities. Indeed I am of opinion, that he against whom we wage war, muft neceffarily, and as long as we have any use of reafon, be judged an enemy; but it has always been as lawful to put an enemy to death, as to attack him with the fword. Since then a tyrant is not only our enemy, but the public enemy

of

of mankind; he may certainly be put to death with as much justice on the fcaffold, as he is oppofed with arms in the field. Nor is this only my opinion, or one of recent date; for common fenfe has long fince dictated the fame to others. Hence Tully in his oration for Rabirius, declares, "If it were criminal to put Saturninus to death, arms could not, without a crime, have been taken up against Saturninus; but if you allow the juf tice of taking up arms against him, you must allow the juftice of putting him to death." I have faid a good deal on this fubject at other times and in other places, and the thing is clear enough in itfelf; from which you may conjecture what the French would have done if they had the power. I add, moreover, that those who oppose a tyrant in the field, do all in their power to put him to death; indeed, whatever fophiftry they may ufe, they have already morally put him to death. But this doctrine is not to be imputed to us more than to the French, whom you with to exempt from the imputation. For whence iffued that work of "Franco Gallia," except from Gaul, or "the defence againft tyranny?" A book which is commonly afcribed to Beza. Whence oth rs, which Thuanus mentions? But, as if I were the only author of the doctrine, you fay, "Milton makes a pother about that, whofe raving fpirit I would have chastised as it deferves." You would have chaftifed, mifcreant? You, whofe attrocious proceedings, if the church of Middleburgh, which was difgraced by your impieties, had punished as they deserved, it would long fince have committed you to the keeping of the Devil; and if the civil power had rewarded you according to your defert, you would long ago, have expiated your adulteries on a gibbet. And the hour of expiation feems on the point of arriving; for, as I hear, the church of Middleburgh, awakening to a right fenfe of your enormities and of its own difgrace, has expelled fuch a priest of lechery from her communion, and devoted you to perdition. Hence, the magiftrates of Amfterdam have excluded you from the pulpit, that pious ears may no longer be fcandalized, by hearing the founds of your profligate effrontery in the bofom of the fanctuary. Your Greek profefforship is now all that is left you;

and

and this you will foon lofe, except one fingle letter, of which you will not be the profeffor, but the pupil, penfile from the top 1. Nor do I omen this in rage; I express only the truth; for I am fo far from being offended with fuch revilers as you, that I would always wifh for such perfons to revile me; and I esteem it a mark of the divine benevolence, that thofe, who have moft bitterly inveighed against me, have ufually been perfons whofe abuse is praise, and whose praife is infamy. But what ferved to reftrain the irruption of fuch impotence of rage? "Un

lefs," you fay, "I had been fearful of encroaching on the province of the great Salmafius, to whom I relinquish the undivided praife of victory over his great antagonist." Since indeed you now profefs to confider me great, as well as him, you will find the difficulties of your undertaking increased, particularly fince his death; though I feel very little folicitude about the victory, as long as truth prevails. In the mean time you exclaim, that "we are converting parricide into an article of faith, to which they fecretly defire, though they do not openly dare to afcribe, the una nimous confent of the reformed churches; and Milton fays, that it was the doctrine of the greatest theologians, who were the principal authors of the reformation." It was, I fay; as I have more fully fhewn in the tenure of kings and magiftrates, and in other places. But now we are become fcrupulous about doing what has been so often done. In that work, I have cited paffages from Luther, Zuinglius, Calvin, Bucer, Martyr, Paræus, and lastly, from that Knox, who you fay alone countenances the doctrine which all the reformed churches at that time, and particularly thofe of France, condemned. And he himself affirms, as I have there explained, that he derived the doctrine from Calvin and other eminent theologians of that time, with whom he was in habits of familiarity and friendship. And in the fame work you will find the fame opinions fupported by the authorities of fome of our more pure and difinterested divines, during the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth. You conclude your work with a prolix effufion of your devotional abominations to the Deity. You dare to lift up your adulterous eyes and your obdurate heart to heaven! I will throw no impe

diments

diments in your way, but leave you to yourself; for your impiety is great beyond the poffibility of increafe. I now return, as I promifed, to produce the principal accufations against Cromwell, that I may fhew what little confideration particulars deferve, when the whole taken together is fo frivolous and abfurd. "He declared in the prefence of many witneffes, that it was his intention to fubvert every monarchy, and exterminate every king.' We have often seen before what credit is due to your affertions; perhaps one of the emigrants afcribed this saying to Cromwell. Of the many witneffes, you do not mention the name of a fingle one; but afperfions, fo destitute of proof, must be deftitute of permanence. Cromwell was never found to be boaftful of his actual exploits: and much lefs is he wont to employ any oftentatiousness of promise or arrogance of menace refpecting atchievements which were never performed, and the performance of which would be fo difficult. Thofe, therefore, who furnished you with this piece of information, must have been liars rather from a fpontaneous impulfe or a conftitutional propenfity, than from deliberate intention, or they would never have invented a faying fo contrary to his character and difpofition. But the kings, whofe trembling apprehenfions and vigilant precautions you labour to excite, instead of accommodating their policy to the opinions which may be cafually uttered in the street, had better enter on the confideration of the fubject in a manner more fuitable to its dignity, and more likely to throw light upon their interefts. Another accufation is, that Cromwell had perfuaded " the king fecretly to withdraw himself into the Isle of Wight." It is well known that the affairs of Charles were often rendered desperate in other ways, and thrice by flight; firft, when he fled from London to York, next, when he took refuge among the Scotch in the pay of England, and laftly, when he retired to the Ifle of Wight. But "Cromwell perfuaded this last measure." This is to be fure beyond all poffibility of doubt; but I wonder that the Royalifts fhould lavish fuch an abundance of praise respecting the prudence of Charles, who seems scarce ever to have had a will of his own. For whether he was among his friends or his enemies, in

the