than one parliament in his kingdom, and, by this means, he has made them as gentle as asses, and, without either wincing or braying, carry his edicts through all his large territories. He makes no requests; sic volo sic jubeo, is all the language he uses; I am much in love with his government, and may shortly send you some of his policies. Be careful of your health this spring, and have a care of changing the air, unless in France; farewell. G. W.

A VOICE FROM THE DEAD:

OR,

THE SPEECH OF AN OLD NOBLE PEER:

BEING THE EXCELLENT

ORATION OF THE LEARNED AND FAMOUS BOETIUS, TO THE EMPEROR THEODORICUS.

London, printed and sold by Richard Janeway, 1681. Quarto, containing eight

pages.

SIR,

IAM not ignorant, that we are in a time, wherein it is, as it were,

much easier to fly, than to speak of the state of this empire without offence to any; and that all discourse, which at this present may be framed, will ever be suspected by those, who have made even our thoughts criminal to your majesty.

Yet, must I needs say, it is a matter very hard to be silent in so great revolutions of affairs, since Nature hath not created us like crocodiles, who are said to have eyes to weep, and not a tongue to complain. Í perceive we lose, as it were, all that which we have of Roman in us, and that, in this universal disaster, where all the world should strengthen their arms against violence, men are contented to do, as in thunder, every one prays the thunder-bolt may not fall upon his own house, and very little regards the danger of his neighbour: so likewise we see many senators, whose dignity ought to put into their mouths good and forcible words for the defence of justice, satisfying themselves to avoid the blow, and expecting safety in common ruins:

As for myself, I freely protest, that being born of blood which never learned to flatter any man, and seeing myself in a rank where my silence may prove injurious to the publick, since I cannot uphold liberty, already too much leaning to its ruin, I will, at least, support the image of it, and in so general a servitude, speak something, wherein I will either discharge my conscience for the present, or comfort my ashes for the time to come.

Alas! sir, when I behold you sitting upon the throne of glory, whereunto the hand of God seemeth to have raised you by a miracle, forti

fied you by discretion, and blessed you with so many prosperities; 1 cannot chuse but remember, with the most tender resentments of my heart, the calms of the first years, when you took into your hand the stern of this large empire. Who ever saw divers metals so happily commixed, as we then beheld different nations united into one intire body under your authority? What consent in affections? What correspondence in all orders? What vigour in laws? What obedience in subjects? What agreement in the senate? What applause amongst the people? What policy in cities? What good fortune in arms? blessing in all the success of your affairs?

What

Seemed it not, that God had affixed to your standards and edicts some secret virtue, which made the one triumph in war, and the other become prosperous in peace, with so much terror and reputation, that even things opposite of their own nature, knit themselves firmly together -for your benefit ?

O, sir! what is become of that golden face of your government? who hath metamorphosed it into this leaden visage? perhaps, you thought it was a part of the greatness of your majesty, to hold a senate under, to whom all the good emperors have so much ascribed, that they esteemed them as necessary for their greatness, as leaves about the rose to set out its beauty.

I could tell you, sir, how much these counsels are pernicious, were it not that the experience of the years of your reign hath taught you more than all the malignity of men can deface. If you will be pleased to call as yet to counsel your wit and understanding, which God hath reple. nished with so many fair and noble lights; believe me, you shall find this people is as the herb Basil, which rendereth a good savour, as it is said, when gently handled, and createth scorpions when rudely chased. Hold us in the estimation and condition, wherein you have hitherto retained us, and you shall see nothing more tractable than the Roman people; but, if you proceed with these violences, by which some daily pervert your good nature, it is to be feared, lest this severity produce not rather poison, even for those who hope out of it to derive sweet

ness.

Our enemies cease not to exasperate you, upon want of respect due to your majesty; and yet, God knows, we have so regarded royal authority, that seeing it in most unjust hands, where it lost its lustre, we suffered it not to lose the fruit of our obedience.

Allow, sir, the liberty, which ever hath been the most precious inhe ritance of this empire. You have placed men over our heads, who, to become great, and unwilling to seem any thing less than what they are, seek to smother in our miseries the baseness of their own birth, and believe the means to justify their own carriage, is to take away eyes from those who have them, and to render tongues mute, lest they may learn a truth. Now-a-days, to be born rich is to become a prey, and to arrive at go vernment with some super-eminencies of wit, is to raise enemies; all great actions are suspected; and it seemeth, that to find safety, we must seek it either in ignorance or idleness.

We have so learned to obey, that we would not, hitherto, so much as enter into consideration of the distribution you made of your favours,

leaving them more free, than are the sun's rays, and contenting us to honour the character of your majesty, as well on rocks, as marbles and silver. But now, when we see the precious interests of the kingdom, in hands less pure than we wish, what else can we do in so publick a calamity, but here most humbly remonstrate that which the subtle dissemble, the miserable suffer, the good deplore, and even the very stones relate?

Where is the time, Sir, when we heard those noble words to proceed from your mouth, that the flock may be sheared, not flayed; that a body overcharged sunk to the ground; that there was no tribute comparable to the precious commodities derived from the love of subjects. Now, all the cities and countries bewail the rigorous concussions they feel, to satisfy, with their sweat and blood, the avarice of some particulars, who are, notwithstanding, as greedy as fire, and more insatiable than the abyss.

I exasperate not here our miseries, by an amplification of words. I have, Sir, made you to see, when you pleased to hear me in your cabinet, the tears of provinces, which softened your heart to compassion, and opened your hands to liberality; so that if your good affections be not altered by some, you are capable enough to discharge heaven of all promises, which it hath made unto us, by the happiness of your empire.

Unseal those eyes, which you so often have opened for the comfort of your poor subjects, and in what part soever you turn them, you shall behold nothing but miseries. Is it not a strange thing, that slaves being sometimes sold to courteous masters, sweeten the sharpness of their condition by some gentle usage, and that there should be none, but the people of Rome, who yearly buy out their bondage? None but the people of Rome, who were made accountable for the goods pulled from them, and tributary for the shipwreck of their poverty?

From thence the way is taken to the oppression of magistrates, and some are persuaded, that, thoroughly to mow the meadow, you must humble the heads of plants most eminent. Paulinus is dispoiled, Albinus is guilty of treason: They are culpable enough, since they are rich and powerful. It is said, there can be no safety found but in their disgrace: and who seeth not, that these proceedings tend to the ruin of that most noble body, which almost thirty years maintained your royal crown?

But, alas! Sir, if we exclaim against witches, who poison fountains, how can we be silent, seeing endeavour is used to invenom the soul of the prince, who is the source of all counsels, to the end we may hereafter find poison, where we hope for remedies ?

Sir, only behold and imitate yourself, reassume that spirit, which made you reign in our hearts, as well as in your provinces: Distinguish flatterers from true friends; hearken to those, whose loyalty you have known in the success of so many prosperities.

Remember yourself, that you were made to reign over men, not as a man, but as the law; to bear your subjects in your bosom, and not

trample them under foot; to teach by example, and not constrain by force; to be a father of citizens, and not a master of slaves.

Remember yourself, kings are given by heaven, for the use of people, and that they ought not to have so much regard to the extent of their power, as not to consider the measure of their obligations. Handle the matter so, that the greatness of your majesty may appear in its goodness; and that this word, which you heretofore had in your mouth, may stick eternally in your heart, when you said, 'A good prince ought not to fear any thing so much, as to be too much feared.'

Boetius, who made this oration, was author of that incomparable philosophical discourse, De Consolatione, being consul of Rome, under the said Theodoricus, the first emperor of the Gothish race, about the year of our Lord 500. And this speech was first published long since in Causin's Holy Court, fol. 290. in these very words, as any person may find, that pleases to examine it. But Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit, the upshot of the business was, that the emperor was much offended at this his freedom; and, being spurred on by his three mischievous favourites, Trigilla, Congiastus, and Cyprianus, first banished, and afterwards murdered the wise and faithful Boetius, who had served him many years with an intire and irreproachable loyalty. And soon after Theodoricus himself died distracted, and the empire, in a very few years, was snatched from his successor, by the victorious arms of Justinian, emperor of Constantinople.

THE HONOUR AND COURAGE OF OUR ENGLISH PARLIAMENTS,

IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ELISABETH,

OF EVER BLESSED MEMORY,

IN DEFENDING OF HER, AND THE PROTESTANT RELIGION.

Expressed in some of the preambles of the acts for subsidies, granted to that famous princess.

Post tot

Tendimus in Latium?

That man who doth not defend his religion and country, having the law on his side, will, either through slavish fear, or for base interest, when times change, most certainly give up, and sacrifice both,

London, printed for John Wickins, at the White-Hart, against St. Dunstan's
Church, in Fleet-Street, 1681. Quarto, containing twenty-four pages.
An Act* of a Subsidy, with two Fifteenths and Tenths granted by the

Temporalty.

HE certain knowledge and perfect sense, which we your majesty's

Rastall's Stat. . Eliz, C. 27.

since your reign we hitherto have enjoyed, and now presently do enjoy, far beyond all other nations, our neighbours; yea, much augmented to our happiness, having regard to the former troublesome times amongst ourselves; doth vehemently press and inforce us, first and principally, with all our hearts and souls, to acknowledge our most bounden duty to Almighty God, the King of Kings, for his excellent, singular, und divine goodness, shewed to us his creatures, in preserving for our safety, after so many storms, your royal princely person our most gracious queen, and in guiding and directing the same for our happiness, in so happy an age, thus happily, quietly, and providently to govern us his people committed to your charge: And next for the same great benefits bestowed upon us by his merciful goodness, and through your majesty's person and regimen, to offer ourselves most ready, with all obeysance and loyalty, to serve, and most humbly to obey your majesty, as God's immediate minister on earth, and supreme governor over us, to the uttermost of our power and end of our lives. And furthermore, considering with ourselves, and beholding manifestly with our lives, the many notable, beneficial, and princely acts done by your majesty, with the assent of God's favour, in these few years, for the weal and surety of this your realm.

First, in restoring us to the favour, knowledge, and true service of Almighty God, by restoration into this Church of England of a sincere, uniform rule and order in Christian religion, by delivery of us and our consciences, from a foreign, unnatural tyranny and power, notwithstanding the many and great threatenings of worldly power to the contrary.

Next, by reducing this your realm, and all other your dominions, from war, wherein you found it, to peace with your neighbours: which two godly acts your majesty did accomplish immediately at your first entry to this your crown.

Thirdly, by the evident delivery of this realm from the great and manifest intended invasions, conspired and prepared by strangers (the ancient enemies of this realm) joining therewith the princely and upright preservation of the liberty of the next realm and nation of Scotland, from imminent captivity and desolation, and so without any bloody battle, most providently, though chargeable, delivering the force of the enemy intended against this realm to their reproof.

Fourthly, by repairing, storing, inriching, building, and reinforcing, this your realm, with the worthiest treasures of armour, ammunition, and all kind of provisions, offensive and defensive for war, and of a princely navy of ships for the service and defence of this your country, and us your people.

And next thereto, as it were in a time almost desperate and doubtful, for the weight of the matter, by converting of the loathsome, and vile, great, and long-grown bulk of copper and counterfeit monies, eating and daily consuming the honour and wealth of this realm, like a canker, into treasures only of gold and silver monies, without having any piece of copper money current in this realm, a singular pre-eminence above all countries in Christendom.