518

Limitation of Credit due to the Two Papers.

Philip Stanhope, second Earl of Chesterfield, who (as shown on p. 507) bad closely attended the death-bed of his honoured master, thus notes his absence when the rites were performed: "My master, King Charles the Second, falling desperately ill of something like an apoplexie, the privy council ordered mee and two other privy councellors to watch all night with his Majesty; who, towards the morning, finding himselfe decline, commanded every body to leave the room, except his brother the Duke of Yorke, the Earl of Bathe, and the Lord Feversham; which being done, it is more than probable that a Romish priest was introduced by a back door that opened by his bedside, and that his Majesty died a Roman Catholicke. But halfe an hower after that wee had been put out, wee were recaled into the roome again; and then his Majesty prayed heartily with a protestant Bishop [viz. Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells], (which in his sickness til that time hee had refused to do); yet when the Bishop desired him to receive the Sacrament, he answered him, that hee hoped hee had already made his peace with Heaven, and refused it. Hee died with as great resolution and courage as a man is capable of; never repining at the loss of life, but wishing often that death would make haste to free him from his pain, and the bystanders from their attendance.

"Immediately after the King's death the Privy Councel assembled, where all the counsellours and other great offisers kist the hand of King James the Second, and told him that their offices were void by the death of the last King. Whereupon his Majesty commanded both them and others to keep their places till further order; and after this, his Majesty made a very handsome speech to his privy council, promising to maintain the Laws and the Religion as they were established, and so dismist them: commanding them to goe immediately and see him proclaimed in the citty, which was accordingly done that afternoone."— Chesterfield MS. found at Bath House in 1809-10, p. 46 of Memoir.

We attach little weight, proportionate to that which James had laid, to the Two Papers, written by the Late King Charles II. of Blessed Memory; an original folio-size print of which, on eight pages, enriches our private collection at Molash. Each is attested by James as being "a true copy of a paper written by the late King my Brother in his own hand, which I found in his closet." That the handwriting was that of Charles we have no reason to doubt, in the absence of the original; but the composition was some other person's. The hand feels like Esau's, but the voice is certainly that of his brother Jacobus. Indeed, it is Jacob's voice echoing the teaching of his mother. For him to prevail on the King to transcribe certain short papers, by way of making him read them and meditate on their argument, was no difficult matter to achieve. Charles was quite capable of composing much better theses himself, had he chosen so to do. That he had long been favourably disposed towards many of the tenets of Rome's hierarchy we admit freely; but in his usual robust health he would not have given his total adhesion. The wretched errors of the fanatics, who boasted perpetually of their "true Protestantism" being the sole religion, while their actions proved them to be destitute of Christianity, was the chief cause of weakening his faith. Their noisy polemics made him distrust the strength and beauty of our Church of England, in which distrust he erred fatally. Our Church is far superior to its mere "Protestantism." In themselves the Two Papers are by no

"The Prince-Protecting Providences."

519

means unimportant; but there is no proof of Charles having intended them to be his solemn declaration of faith and private opinion. They were left undated, unsigned. We accept Algernon Sydney's manuscripts as genuine; although not totally beyond suspicion of having been tampered with by Toland; but the attestation of these Stuart documents, "found in the King's strong box," proves only the caligraphy. (We give both on pp. 522, 523.)

While the Romanists rejoiced at having once again a Roman Catholic on the throne, for the first time since Catharine of Arragon's daughter reigned, there were many who considered James to be the favourite of Heaven, guarded hitherto by special interventions of Providence, such as were then deemed miraculous.

The folio pamphlet entitled "Day Fatality; or, Some Observations of Days Lucky and Unlucky, pen'd and publish'd whilst his present Majesty, the most serene King, JAMES II. was Duke of York, persecuted by the Excluding Party, and Retir'd into the Low-Countries," was in 1686 republished in a second impression, with large additions; especially the "Prince-Protecting Providences" and "The Swan's Welcome." All written by an Officer at Arms, author of a Book entitled Introductio ad Latinam Blasoniam, etc. We borrow from his pamphlet this Poem:

The Shipwreck of the Gloucester. (May 6th, 1682.)

G

Reat JAMES, whom Shipwrack lately hath assail'd,

But whom Divine Protection never fail'd,

And upon whom great Glory is entail'd,
And at whose presence, all his foes are quail'd:
Still trust in Him, who is of Kings the shield,
And to good Princes always help doth yield.
Those that presum'd thou wert of God forsaken,
Must now confess themselves Fools, and mistaken.
The malice of the Devil, Wind and Sea,

To check thy Fortunes, can hold forth no plea.
Good Omens still accompany thy state,
And God Himself forbids disastrous Fate.
The malice of thy Foes has now an end;
And they, with the lost Frigate downward tend:
But thou, buoy'd up with Providence Divine,
Shall float above, and fear no undermine.
He whom the Seas did dare, but could not harm,
Need not to fear the mean Phanatick Swarm:

A Signe from Heaven bas those Jews confounded,
Whose cancre once against thy Face abounded.

It was easy now to show that James the Unlucky, whom misadventures had pursued, was to be rightly considered James the Providentially Fortunate, since nothing had been so bad as it might have been. ""Tis true, he lost his Ship; but that is like the Snake's casting off his Skin (foreboding a Renovation of Felicity)." Not quite so consoling perhaps for the distinguished persons who were drowned on that occasion: there is always a hitch somewhere.

8

[Trowbesh Collection, Vol. V.]

Dn the most High and Mighty Monarch

King James the
the Second,

His Exaltation to the Throne of England.

BEING AN EXCELLENT NEW SONG.

TO THE TUNE OF, Hark! the thund'ring Cannons roar. [See p. 366.]

Ark! the Bells and steeples Ring!

HA

A Health to JAMES our Royal King,

Heav'n approves the Offering,

Resounding in a Chorus;

Let our Sacrifice aspire,

Richest Gums perfume the Fire,
Angels, and the Sacred Quire

Have led the way before us.

Through loud Storms and Tempest driv'n,
This wrong'd Prince to us was giv'n,
The mighty James preserv'd by Heav'n
To be a future Blessing:

The Anointed Instrument
Good great Charles to represent,
And fill our Souls with that content
Which we are now possessing.

Justice, Plenty, Wealth and Peace,
With the fruitful Land's increase,
All the Treasure of the Seas

With him to Us are given;
As the Brother, Just and Good,
From whose Royal Father's Blood
Clemency runs like a flood,

A Legacy from Heaven.
Summon'd young to fierce alarms,
Born a Mars in midst of Arms,
His good Angels kept from harms

The People's Joy and Wonder;
Early lawrels crown'd his Brow,
And the crowd did Praise allow,
Whilst against the Belgick Foe

Great Jove imploy'd his Thunder.

Brought them Peace and Conquest home,
Exil'd in Foreign Parts to roam,

Ungrateful Rebels vote him:

But spite of all their insolence,
Inspir'd with God-like Patience,
The Rightful Heir, kind Providence
Did to a Throne promote him.

May Justice at his elbow wait,
To defend the Church and State,
The subject, and this Monarch's date,
May no storm e're dissever:

May he long adorn this place,
With his Royal Brother's Grace,
His Mercy, and his Tenderness,

To rule this Land for ever!

56

64

Printed, and are to be sold by Richard Butt, in Princess-street, in Covent-Garden, 1684.

[White-letter. No woodcut. Date, March, 1681.]

Tom D'Urfey's Viennese Song, "Hark! the thund'ring Cannons roar" (given on p. 366), furnished the lively tune required for the foregoing Loyal Ditty on the Accession of James II.

Papers attributed to Charles the Second.

"Faith is not built on disquisitions vain,

The things we must believe are few and plain.
But since men will believe more than they need,
And every man will make himself a creed,
In doubtful questions 'tis the safest way
To learn what unsuspected Ancients say:
For 'tis not likely we should higher soar

In search of Heaven than all the Church before:
Nor can we be deceiv'd, unless we see

The Scripture and the Fathers disagree."

-Dryden's Religio Laici, 1682.

Subject to the limitations of credit hinted at on p. 518, we give here unmutilated copies of manuscripts said to have been in Charles's handwriting.

Copies of Two Papers written by the Eate King Charles EE. of Blessed Memory.

THE FIRST PAPER.

THE discourse we had the other day, I hope, satisfied you in the main that Christ can have but one Church here upon Earth, and I believe that this as visible as that the Scripture is in Print; That none can be that Church but that which is called the Roman Catholick Church. I think you need not trouble your self with entring into that Ocean of particular disputes, when the main, and in truth, the only question is; Where that Church is, which we profess to believe one Catholick and Apostolick Church, and it is not left to every phantastical man's head to believe as he pleases, but to the Church, to whom Christ left the power upon Earth to govern us in matters of Faith, who made these Creeds for our directions. It were a very Irrational thing to make Laws for a Country, and leave it to the Inhabitants to be the interpreters and judges of those Laws; For then every man will be his own Judge, and by consequence no such thing as either right or wrong. Can we therefore suppose that God almighty would leave us at those uncertainties, as to give us a Rule to go by, and leave every man to be his own Judge? I do ask any ingenuous man, whether it be [p. 4] not the same thing to follow our own fancy or to interpret the Scripture by it? I would have any man shew me, where the power of deciding matters of Faith is given to every particular man. Christ left his power to his Church even to forgive sins in Heaven, and left his Spirit with them, which they exercised after his Resurrection: First by his Apostles in these Creeds, and many years after by the Council at Nice, where that Creed was made that is called by that name, and by the power which they had received from Christ, they were the Judges even of the Scripture it self, many years after the Apostles, which books were Canonical and which were not. And if they had this power then, I desire to know how they came to lose it, and by what Authority men separate themselves from that Church? The only pretence I ever heard of, was, because the Church had failed, in wresting and interpreting the Scripture contrary to the true sense and meaning of it, and that they have impos'd Articles of Faith upon us, which are not to be warranted by God's word! I do desire to know who is to be Judge of that, whether the whole Church, the Succession whereof has continued to this day without interruption, or particular men who have raised Schisms for their own advantage ? This is a true Copy of a Paper I found in the late King my Brother's strong box, written in His own hand. James E.