PRay give me leave to cast in my Mite at this time , upon this great debate ; and though it be with an entire dissent to some leading Lords , to whom I bear great reverence , it is according to my Conscience , and that is the Rule of every honest mans actions . My Lords , I cannot forbear thinking that a greater reproach can hardly come upon any People , than is like to fall upon us Protestants , for this unpresidented usage of our poor King : We feared the security of our Religion because of Him , and are now like to violate a great part of it by forfeiting our Loyalty towards Him ; Religion is the pretence , but some fear , a New Master is the thing : This I take to have been the business of to day ; for notwithstanding we see how feeble a thing Popery is in England , that it is beaten without blows , and routed so effectually , that it can never hope , nor we justly fear , it should return upon us , and consequently our Religion pretty secure , yet I don't see that this satisfies us , unless the King goes also : He must be turned away , and the Crown change its Head ; for if the Crown be not the Quarrel , more then Property , and his Majesty's Person , then his Religion ; Why did not the Prince stop , when he heard a Free Parliament was calling by the Kings Writs , ( where all matters , especially that of the Prince of Wales might have been considered ) or at least , where his Majesties Commissioners of Peace met him ? who advised him to advance and give his Majesty that apprehension of his own insecurity ; and if any thing but a Crown would have served him , Why was a Noble Peer of this House clapt up at Winsor , when his Majesty sent him on purpose to invite the Prince to St James ? a Message that affected all good mens Hearts more then any thing , but his Majesty's return , it lookt so Natural and Peaceable . But it seems , as if it had been therefore affronted , for the invitation could not have been received without the Kings remaining King ; and who was there that did not lately say , it should be so ? and who is there now that does not see it is not so ? we can , my Lords , no longer doubt of this , if we will remember that the same night the Prince should have answered his Majesties kind Message , The Kings Guards were changed , and at midnight , the Princes Guards were clapt upon his Majesties person , and which is yet more extravagant to accomplish the business , Three noble Lords , in view , were sent to let him know , It was not for his safety , or the Princes honour , that he should stay in his own Palace . A strange way , my Lords , of treating ones own King in his own House ; I cannot comprehend how it was for the Prince's honour the King should go against his will , or how it was against his honour that his Majesty should be safe in his own House : I leave it with your Lordships to think who could render the Kings stay unsafe at White-hall , after the Dutch Guards were posted there . My Lords , this I confess is the gret Iniquity that sticks with me , and deserves our severest s rutiny and reflection ; that after driving our King away we should offer to address our selves to any body to take the Government , as if he had formally disserted it : It becomes us rather to ask , where the King is ? how he came to go ? and who sent him away ? I take the honour of the ●eerage of England to be deeply ingaged , both at home and abroad , to search out this matter , and especially those , who are now present , most of whom owe their share in that noble Order to his Majesty , his brother , Father or Grandfather . It is not unreasonable to believe the King had not gone at first , but upon some Message sent , and Letters received , to take care of his Person , fo● that nothing less then the Crown was intended ; but being not out of his own Territories , and therefore no dissertion , abdication or demise , as the Criticks of the conjuncture we are under pretend , ( for the King may be where he will in his own Kingdom ) we see while it was in his choice to go , he returned , and by as good as our advise too ; so that we cannot in truth say his Dissertion is the cause ; for it is plainly the eff●ct of our late extraordinary proceedings . If any should say , He needed not have gone now , it is a great mistake , for a King ought to go , if he cannot stay a King in his own Kingdom , which Force refused to let him be : And to stay a Subject to another Authority , had been a meaner forfeiture of his Right , then can in justice be charged upon his retirement : Wherefore his going must and will lie at their doors that set him an hour to be gone out of his own Palace . Many are angry ( and yet pleased ) that he is gone for France ; but where , my Lords , should he go ? Flanders dared not receive him ; Holland , you could not think he should go to ; and Ireland you would hare liked less ; and when we consider how far a League with France has been made the cause of his Misfo●tune ( though to this day it i● in the Clouds ) what other Prince had the same obligation to receive and succor him : Therefore whatever arts are us●d to blacken his retreat , we canno● with any shew of reason imagine that he c●uld think hims●lf safe with us , that had Exercised Soveraign power without him our Soveraign Lord , and under the protection of a Forraign Prince and his Army ; though at the same time , we had Sworn Allegiance to him , and that it was unlawful for us to take up Arms against him under any pretence whatever .

My Lords , if this be not virtually and in effect to pull the Crown off his Head , and dethrone him unheard , I am to learn my Alphabet again . This is short warning to give Kings , for us at least , my Lords , that boast of Loyalty and were brought to these Seats by the favour of the Crown . What can other Nations think of the Nobility of this , if we come not to a juster temper ? God defend us and our Children after us from the ill consequences of what has been done , and prevent the rest . Had we imbraced the happy providence of his Majesties return , we might have improved it , that the Children unborn should have blessed us : Then we had reformed safely , for by joyning Title to our actions , we had made them legal : This we should have had from his Majesty , or a plain denial , which would in some measure have excused so rare and unusual an enterprise : Nor can I comprehend which way it is possible to Guard the Princes honour , but by doing his Majesty Right ; for your Lo●dships may please to remember , that in the Memorial of the States , that was Printed amongst us , which they gave to all the publick Ministers at the Hague , to justifie their lending the Prince their Forces upon this expedition , they do expresly say , It was upon condition not to dethrone the King , or alter the Succession , and in my opinion , we are in the high way to both .

My Lords , we are Protestant Christians , as well as Peers of the Realm , and are now upon our Religion and Conscience , as well as Honour , to do right : Let us so act as we can answer it to God and Man , and not stumble at Straws and leap over Blocks : Errors cannot be corrected by committing greater ; nor one part of the Government be mended , by beating out another to do it . I need not tell your Lordships , that by our Laws , Kings cannot err , and therefore they are not accountable , but their Ministers are , without whom a King cannot perform any act of Government , which is the reason of the maxim ; and therefore let them be punished that the Law only makes guilty . This our wise Ancestors contrived to save the Head of the Government whole , and to prevent the confusion and dishonour that might otherwise be apt to attend the Form of it , nor is it , indeed a thing that ought to be indured by us Peers , to suppose that he that raised us so high , could be for any reason thrown by us so low .

My Lords , let us limit the King if you please , but not renounce Him ; there is a difference between restraining and destroying Him . What need of such extraordinary remedies , since that which secures the Government under one King will do it under another . Popery it self can never come in but over the Bridg of Diespotick or Absolute power , and if we can secure our selves from that , we are as safe against Opinion as against Ambition , and till we are so by an amendment , of our constitution , we are exposed to the meer good nature of the Prince in Possession who ever he be : And to render what I have said to your Lordships not unreasonable , and what I have to move your Lordships to , in the close of my Speech , not ungrateful ; I beseech your Lordships that we may cast up our account , and see how our loss and gain stands , so far as we have gone in our late change .

We have lost a lawful King , and got an unlawful Protector , as our Law stands ; we have missed a legal and a free Parliament , and have got a Convention that cannot make Laws , nor call a Parliament that can , but what will need a confirmation from a better Authority .

We have lost the reputation of keeping our faith with Hereticks , by breaking our solemn oathes with our King , in the time of his extreamity , because we thought him such , though he gave us leave to lay down our Commissions , that we might not have the temptation or occasion to betray Him ; But we have got the reputation of good Protestants by it , though I fear , not of good Men , in that some of us have not only not shown our selves religiously concerned for our Religion , but in some respect , not honestly ; that besides a Thousand personal immoralities , could press advance money from the King over night , to bear the charges of disserting Him next day , against our warm and repeated Vows , to take his fa e , and dye at his Feet ? and that any of us should be Sainted for this treachery , and numbred among the Heroes for our running away , cannot surely be the Lords doing , let Dr Burnet say what he will , and yet it is very marvellous in some mens eyes for all that . These are the Sparks , my Lords , that hunt the poor Kings Blood , though we know they had hardly had any in their veins but for his bounty , and yet are the favorites of the reformation . For Christ's sake , my Lords , let us not at this rate christen Villany , and rank Dishonesty among the Graces . Popery it self could not have done more , and it is certain , we are even with the Papists now to all intents and purposes .

This is not all our loss , we have rebelled against the fifth Commandment also , Honour thy Father ; and though we have got that of leaving Father for the sake of Religion , we could have but little Religion to do it in such a manner , to so affectionate a Father ; nor did it lessen the error , to have a Church of England Apostle to be Captain of her Life-Guard , in his Blew Coat , and Jack Boots , and an arrant temporal Sword in his Hand , to defend natural Affection and passive Obedience . This was an odd sort of compliance with our Saviours command , to put up his Sword , as one of St Peters Successors . My Lords , I must not stop here ; we thought we had been rid of Popish Souldiers , but find we have got as many Papists in our Dutch , as we had in our English Army : Now it is plain , that either all Papists are not a like , and then the danger we have apprehended from Papists , is not universal , as we have affirmed , but that they are to be lived with , since we are to be saved and guarded from the danger of Popery by them , or we have ill luck to think we can be safe from that Religion by those that are of it , because they are Dutch Men . My Lords , I am sory we can take such pleasure to see Strangers tread our Courts , pray God it does not show the way to other Countries to take their turns . But that a Dutch Papist should be so harmless a thing with us , that thought no Papist could be so , shows our contradictions to a madness : I know not how well our Souldiers like to give way to Dutch-Men , that thought they had purchased a preferance to Strangers at a dear rate ; but it is the justest thing in the World upon them , that the Prince should distrust those to Guard him , that had betrayed their own Master that loved them to a fault ; they may serve to be sent for Holland , to be knockt on the head in the Dutch-Mans quarrel , but never to be trusted at home , though they have given u● their Quarters with their King to Foreigners , so that the proverb is true upon them , they have hereby brought their Noble to Nine-pence ; yet to be just , I must confess it is a reproach due to their Officers , and not all of them neither , and time may give those the opportunity to retrieve the credit they have lost by othe● Mens faults .

We were also very apprehensive of the ill consequences of the dispensing Power , especially in the case o● Sr Edward Hales , but it seems the common Council of Lo●don are forbid to take the usual Oathes , and yet required to act , which is an unqualified capacity . We were in hopes we had lost a rude Army , but we have found a ruder ; Twenty places cry out of them , and Kingston certainly with great justice , that in two nights time was two hundred Pounds the worse for them ; and for Closseting we have got Questioning , that they that wont enter into Associations to protect the Prince of Orange , without one of our King , is to have no imployment , so that if the Prince should take the Crown , I am bound to defend him against my own King , and my sworn Allegiance , though he come in right of his Crown . Believe me , my Lords , it is the boldest bid that ever Men made ; I see Forty One was a fool to Eighty Eight ; and that we Church of England Protestants shall cancel all the merits of our Fathers , overthrow the ground and consequence of their most examplary Loyalty to King Charles the first and second , render their death , the death of fools , trample their Memories and Blood under our Feet , subject our selves to the just reproach of the Phanaticks , whose Principles and Practices we have outdone , even to that King , that we forced upon them , and by our example had brought them to live well withal . God help us , this my Lords makes me say , that either we must turn from being Church of England men , or steer an other course , for it is but too plain that Presbitery is leading us out of our antient way , and whether we believe it or no , our Church sinks , and will more , for that is the interest that suits best with a Dutch humour and conjunction ; and be sure , if we are so base to leave our King , God will be so just as to leave us ; and here , my Lords , I shall leave you , with this humble motion , that we make an humble Address to his Majesty to return home to us , that we may act securely , and not go out of the good old way , which may intail misery upon us and our posterity . I should think we have had enough of sending our Princes abroad , in that much of the inconveniency we have lay under , since their Restoration , has been chiefly owing to it : We have driven him where we would not have him go , and do what we can to provoke that League we have been afraid of ; and made a great part of the reason of this strange alteration in the Kingdom . Some tell us , it is too late , but I cannot comprehend the good sence of such an objection ; Is it at any time too late for a King and his People to agree ? after bloody Battels it has not been thought so , in all times and Nations ; and why it may not be without them , I never heard a good reason yet : If his going was unreasonable , it has hurt him more then us , since we may thence hope for the better terms ; if it was not a fault to go , it will be a great one in us , if we can have him home upon good terms , and will not ; for if I may , with leave , speak it , his return is as much our conveniency as his Advantage .

The offensive part of Him is gone , that is to say , the power of Popery , and what remains is our great interest to keep & improve to our own benefit and safty ; I mean , my Lords , His undoubted Title and Kingship . And whatever some hot men say , that are more governed by private avarice and revenge , then the publick good of these Kingdoms , I cannot but renew my motion to your Lordships , that we may send a Duke , an Earl , a Viscount and a Barron , and two spiritual Lords to invite his Majesty home , upon the constitution of the Government . And my Lords , forgive me if I say , that if we can but get our Juries , Sheriffs , Judges , High-Courts of Chancery and Parliaments setled as they ought to be ; the Army at least reduced , the Malitia better regulated , and a due Liberty of Conscience established to all Protestant Dissenters , and so far to Papists only , as the Law against Conventicles does admit , we may yet be happy ; and upon these terms , my Lords , and no other , will his Highness the Prince of Orange become truly meritorious with the English Nation .