THE SECOND

DEFENCE OF THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND,

AGAINST AN ANONYMOUS LIBEL

ENTITLED

"THE ROYAL BLOOD CRYING TO HEAVEN FOR VENGEANCE ON THE ENGLISH PARRICIDES."*

TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN,

BY ROBERT FELLOWES, A. M. OXON.

A GRATEFUL recollection of the divine goodness, is the | cured the paltry aid of some despicable hirelings, and first of human obligations; and extraordinary favours suborned some of his silly and extravagant admirers, to demand more solemn and devout acknowledgments; support him under the weight of the unexpected and with such acknowledgments I feel it my duty to begin recent disgrace which he had experienced. This will this work. First, because I was born at a time, when immediately appear. Such are the signal favours the virtue of my fellow-citizens, far exceeding that of which I ascribe to the divine beneficence, and which I their progenitors in greatness of soul and vigour of en- thought it right devoutly to commemorate, not only terprize, having invoked heaven to witness the justice that I might discharge a debt of gratitude, but parof their cause, and been clearly governed by its direc- ticularly because they seem auspicious to the success tions, has succeeded in delivering the commonwealth of my present undertaking. For who is there, who from the most grievous tyranny, and religion from the does not identify the honour of his country with his most ignominious degradation. And next, because own? And what can conduce more to the beauty or when there suddenly arose many who, as is usual with glory of one's country, than the recovery, not only the vulgar, basely calumniated the most illustrious at- of its civil but its religious liberty? And what nachievements, and when one eminent above the rest, tion or state ever obtained both, by more successful inflated with literary pride, and the zealous applauses or more valorous exertion? For fortitude is seen reof his partizans, had in a scandalous publication, which splendent, not only in the field of battle and amid the was particularly levelled against me, nefariously un- clash of arms, but displays its energy under every diffidertaken to plead the cause of despotism, I who was culty and against every assailant. Those Greeks and neither deemed unequal to so renowned an adversary, Romans, who are the objects of our admiration, emnor to so great a subject, was particularly selected by ployed hardly any other virtue in the extirpation of the deliverers of our country, and by the general suf- tyrants, than that love of liberty which made them frage of the public, openly to vindicate the rights of prompt in seizing the sword, and gave them strength the English nation, and consequently of liberty itself. to use it. With facility they accomplished the unLastly, because in a matter of so much moment, and dertaking, amid the general shout of praise and which excited such ardent expectations, I did not dis-joy; nor did they engage in the attempt so much, appoint the hopes nor the opinions of my fellow- as an enterprize of perilous and doubtful issue, as in a citizens; while men of learning and eminence abroad contest the most glorious in which virtue could be sighonoured me with unmingled approbation; while I nalized; which infallibly led to present recompence; obtained such a victory over my opponent, that not- which bound their brows with wreaths of laurel, and withstanding his unparalleled assurance, he was obliged consigned their memories to immortal fame. For as to quit the field with his courage broken and his repu- yet, tyrants were not beheld with a superstitious revetation lost; and for the three years which he lived af- rence; as yet they were not regarded with tenderness terwards, much as he menaced and furiously as he and complacency, as the vicegerents or deputies of raved, he gave me no further trouble, except that he pro- Christ, as they have suddenly professed to be; as yet

| tion, which may be an object of envy to others, rather than of regret to myself. I am far from wishing to make any vain or arrogant comparisons, or to speak ostentatiously of myself, but, in a cause so great and glorious, and particularly on an occasion when I am called by the general suffrage to defend the very defenders of that cause; I can hardly refrain from a suming a more lofty and swelling tone, than the simplicity of an exordium may seem to justify and much as I may be surpassed in the powers of eloquence. and copiousness of diction, by the illustrious orators of antiquity; yet the subject of which I treat, was never surpassed in any age, in dignity or in interest. It has

the vulgar, stupified by the subtle casuistry of the priest, had not degenerated into a state of barbarism, more gross than that which disgraces the most senseless natives of Hindostan. For these make mischievous demons, whose malice they cannot resist, the objects of their religious adoration; while those elevate impotent tyrants, in order to shield them from destruction, into the rank of gods; and to their own cost, consecrate the pests of the human race. But against this dark | array of long received opinions, superstitions, obloquy, and fears, which some dread even more than the enemy himself, the English had to contend; and all this, under the light of better information, and favoured by an impulse from above, they overcame with such sin-excited such general and such ardent expectation, that gular enthusiasm and bravery, that, great as were the I imagine myself not in the forum or on the rostra, numbers engaged in the contest, the grandeur of con- surrounded only by the people of Athens or of Rome; ception, and loftiness of spirit which were universally but about to address in this as I did in my former dedisplayed, merited for each individual more than a me- fence, the whole collective body of people, cities, states, diocrity of fame; and Britain, which was formerly and councils of the wise and eminent, through the styled the hot-bed of tyranny, will hereafter deserve to wide expanse of anxious and listening Europe. I seem be celebrated for endless ages, as a soil most genial to to survey as from a towering height, the far extended the growth of liberty. During the mighty struggle, tracts of sea and land, and innumerable crowds of specno anarchy, no licentiousness was seen; no illusions tators, betraying in their looks the liveliest interest. of glory, no extravagant emulation of the antients in- and sensations the most congenial with my own. Here flamed them with a thirst for ideal liberty; but the rec- I behold the stout and manly prowess of the Germans, titude of their lives, and the sobriety of their habits, disdaining servitude; there the generous and lively taught them the only true and safe road to real liberty; impetuosity of the French; on this side, the calm and and they took up arms only to defend the sanctity of stately valour of the Spaniard; on that, the composed the laws, and the rights of conscience. Relying on and wary magnanimity of the Italian. Of all the the divine assistance, they used every honourable ex-lovers of liberty and virtue, the magnanimous and the ertion to break the yoke of slavery; of the praise of wise, in whatever quarter they may be found, some which, though I claim no share to myself, yet I can secretly favour, others openly approve; some greet me easily repel any charge which may be adduced against with congratulations and applause; others, who had me, either of want of courage, or want of zeal. For long been proof against conviction, at last yield thenthough I did not participate in the toils or dangers of selves captive to the force of truth. Surrounded by the war, yet I was at the same time engaged in a ser- congregated multitudes, I now imagine, that, from the vice not less hazardous to myself, and more beneficial columns of Hercules to the Indian ocean, I behold the to my fellow-citizens; nor, in the adverse turns of our nations of the earth recovering that liberty which they affairs, did I ever betray any symptoms of pusillanimity so long had lost; and that the people of this island are and dejection; or shew myself more afraid than be- transporting to other countries a plant of more benecame me, of malice or of death: For since from my cial qualities, and more noble growth, than that which youth I was devoted to the pursuits of literature, and Triptolemus is reported to have carried from region my mind had always been stronger than my body, I to region; that they are disseminating the blessings of did not court the labours of a camp, in which any com- civilization and freedom among cities, kingdoms, and mon person would have been of more service than my- nations. Nor shall I approach unknown, nor perself, but resorted to that employment in which my ex- haps unloved, if it be told that I am the same person ertions were likely to be of most avail. Thus, with the who engaged in single combat that fierce advocate of better part of my frame, I contributed as much as despotism; till then reputed invincible in the opinion possible to the good of my country, and to the success of many, and in his own conceit; who insolently of the glorious cause in which we were engaged; and challenged us and our armies to the combat; but I thought, that if God willed the success of such glorious whom, while I repelled his virulence, I silenced with atchievements, it was equally agreeable to his will, his own weapons; and over whom, if I may trust to that there should be others by whom those atchieve the opinions of impartial judges, I gained a complete ments should be recorded with dignity and elegance; and glorious victory. That this is the plain unva and that the truth, which had been defended by arms, nished fact appears from this; that, after the most nebie should also be defended by reason; which is the best queen of Sweden, than whom there neither is nor ever and only legitimate means of defending it. Hence, was a personage more attached to literature and to while I applaud those who were victorious in the field, learned men, had invited Salmasius or Salmasia for I will not complain of the province which was assigned to which sex he belonged is a matter of uncertainty me; but rather congratulate myself upon it, and thank to her court, where he was received with great disthe author of all good for having placed me in a sta- tinction, my defence suddenly surprized him in the

will the helmet of Pluto any longer serve you für a disguise. And you will swear downright, as long as you live, either that I am not blind, or that I was quicksighted enough to detect you in the labyrinth of imposture. Attend then, while I relate who he is, from whom descended, by what expectations be was led, or by what blandishments soothed to advocate the royal cause.

There is one More, part Frenchman and part Sout so that one country, or one people, cannot be quite overwhelmed with the whole infamy of his extraction; an unprincipled miscreant, and proved not only by the general testimony of his enemies, but even by that of his dearest friends, whom he has alienated by his insincerity, to be a monster of perfidy, falsehood, ingra

only of men, but of women, whose chastity he is no more accustomed to regard than their reputation. To pass over the more obscure transactions of his youth, he first made his appearance as a teacher of the Greek language at Geneva; where he could not divest himself either of the knave or fool; but where, even while

convicted of so many enormities, he had the audacity to solicit the office of pastor in the church, and to profane the character by his crimes. But his debauch

being a king, that he is always in direct opposition to a king. And he who peruses the records of history, will find that more kings have been subverted by tyrants than by their subjects. He, therefore, who would authorise the destruction of tyrants, does not authorise the destruction of kings, but of the most inveterate enemies to kings. But that right, which you | concede to kings, the right of doing what they please, is not justice, but injustice, ruin and despair. By that envenomed present you yourselves destroy those, whom you extol as if they were above the reach of danger I and oppression; and you quite obliterate the difference between a king and a tyrant, if you invest both with the same arbitrary power. For, if a king does not exercise that power, (and no king will exercise it as long as he is not a tyrant,) the power must be ascribed,titude, and malevolence, the perpetual slanderer, not not to the king, but to the individual. For, what can be imagined more absurd than that regal prerogative, which, if any one uses, as often as he wishes to act the king, so often he ceases to be an honest man; and as often as he chooses to be an honest man, so often he must evince that he is not a king? Can any more bitter reproach be cast upon kings? He who main-secretly conscious, though perhaps not yet publicly tains this prerogative, must himself be a monster of injustice and iniquity; for how can there be a worse person than him, who must himself first verify the exaggerated picture of atrocity which he delineates?eries, his pride, and the general proffigacies of his conBut if every good man, as an ancient sect of philosophers magnificently taught, is a king, it follows that every bad one is, according to his capacity, a tyrant; nor does the name of tyrant signify any thing soaring or illustrious, but the meanest reptile on the earth; for in proportion as he is great, he is contemptible and abject. Others are vicious only for themselves: but tyrants are vicious, not only for themselves, but are even involuntarily obliged to participate in the crimes of their importunate menials and favourites, and to entrust certain portions of their despotism to the vilest of their dependants. Tyrants are thus the most abject of slaves, for they are the servants of those who are themselves in servitude. This name therefore may be rightly applied to the most insignificant pugilist of tyranny, or even to this brawler; who, why he should strenuously clamour for the interests of despotism, will sufficiently appear from what has been said already, and what will be said in the sequel; as also why this hireling chooses to conceal his name. Treading in the steps of Salmasius, he has prostituted his cry for the royal blood, and either blushing for the disgrace of his erudition, or the flagitiousness of his life, it is not strange that he should wish to be concealed; or perhaps he is watching an opportunity, wherever he may scent some richer odours of emolument, to desert the cause of kings, and transfer his services to some future republic. This was the manner of Salmasius, who, captivated by the love of gain, apostatised, even when sinking in years, from the orthodox to the episcopalians, from the popular party to the royalists. Thou brawler, then, from the stews, who thou art thou in vain endeavourest to conceal; believe me, you will be dragged to light, nor

duct, could not long escape the censure of the Presbyters; after being condemned for many heresies, which he basely recanted, and to which he still as impiously adhered, he was at last openly found guilty of adultery. He had conceived a violent passion for the maid-servant of his host, and even after she was mar ried to another, did not cease to solicit the gratification of his lust. The neighbours often observed them together in close converse under a shed in the garden But you will say this might have no reference to any criminal amours; he might have conversed upon horticulture, and have read lectures on the art, to the untutored and curious girl; he might one while hare praised the beauty of the parterres, or regretted the absence of shade; he might have inserted a mulberry in a fig, and thence have rapidly raised a progeny of sycamores; a cooling bower; and might then have taught the art of grafting to the fair. All this and more he might, no doubt, have done. But all this would not satisfy the Presbyters, who passed sentence on him as an adulterer, and judged him unworthy of the ecclesiastical functions. The heads of those, and other accusations of the like kind, are still preserved in the public library at Geneva. But, even after this had become matter of public notoriety, he was invited. at the instance of Salmasius, to officiate in the French church at Middleburgh. This gave great offence to Spanheim, a man of singular erudition and integrity; who was well acquainted with his character at Geneva, though at last, but not without the most violent op position, he succeeded in obtaining letters testimonial from the Genevese, but these only on the condition that he should leave the place, and couched in expressions rather bordering on censure than on praise. As soon

as he arrived in Holland, he went to pay his respects | posed by his courteous and admiring friend; and perto Salmasius; where he immediately cast his libidinous haps this misfortune, added to his other mishaps in the looks on his wife's maid, whose name was Pontia; for royal cause, might have contributed to accelerate his the fellow's lust is always inflamed by cooks and wait- end. But on this hereafter. In the mean time, Salmaing-maids; hence he began to pay assiduous court to sius, with the fate of Salmasia, (for the fable is as apSalmasius, and, as often as he had opportunity, to Pontia. propriate as the name,) little thinking that in More he I know not whether Salmasius, taken by the busy at- had got an hermaphrodite associate, as incapable of tentions and unintermitted adulation of More, or More parturition as of procreation, without knowing what he thinking that it would favour his purpose of meeting had begot for him in the house, fondles the fruit of his Pontia, which first caused their conversation to turn on travail, the book in which he was styled Great; justly the answer of Milton to Salmasius. But, however this perhaps in his own opinion, but very unfitly and ridimight be, More undertook to defend Salmasius, and culously in that of other people. He hastens to the Salmasius promises to obtain for More the divinity- printer; and, in vain endeavouring to keep possession chair in that city. Besides this, More promises him- of the fame which was vanishing from his grasp, he self other sweets in his clandestine amour with Pontia; anxiously attends as a midwife the public delivery of for, under pretext of consulting Salmasius in the pro- those praises, or rather vile flatteries, which he had so secution of this work, he had free admission to the house rapaciously sought this fellow and others to bestow. at all hours of the night or day. And, as formerly For this purpose Flaccus seemed the most proper perPyramus was changed into a mulberry tree, so More* son that could be found; him he readily persuades, not seems suddenly transformed into Pyramus; but in pro- only to print the book, which nobody would have portion as he was more criminal, so he was more fortu- blamed, but also publicly to profess himself the author nate than that youth. He had no occasion to seek for of a letter to Charles, filled with the most calumnious a chink in the wall; he had every facility of carrying aspersions against me, whom he had never known. on his intrigue with his Thisbe under the same roof. But when I shew, as I can from good authority, how He promises her marriage; and, under the lure of this he has acted towards others, it will be the less astonishpromise, violates her chastity. O shame! a minister ing why he should so readily be prevailed on to comof the gospel abuses the confidence of friendship to mence such a wanton and unprovoked attack upon me; commit this atrocious crime. From this amour no comand with so little consideration, to father another's exmon prodigy accrued; for both man and woman suffer-travagance of slander and invective. Flaccus, whose ed the pains of parturition: Pontia conceived a morill,† which long afforded employment to the natural disquisitions of Salmasius; More, the barren and windy egg; from which issued that flatulent cry of the royal blood. The sight of this egg indeed, at first, caused our monarchy-men, who were famishing in Belgium, to lick their chops; but the shell was no sooner broken, than they loathed the addle and putrid contents; for More, not a little elated with his conception, and thinking that he had obliged the whole Orange faction, had begun to anticipate a new accession of professorships and chairs, when he deserted his poor pregnant Pontia, as beneath his notice, to indigence and misfortune. She complained to the synod and the magistrates, of the injuries and the treachery which she had experienced. Thus the matter was brought to light, and afforded subject for merriment and observation in almost all places and companies. Hence some ingenious person wrote this distich,

Galli ex concubitu gravidam te, Pontia, Mori, Quis bene moratam morigeramque negat ? ‡ O Pontia, teeming with More's Gallic seed, You have been Mor'd enough, and no more need. Pontia alone was not seen to smile; but she gained nothing by complaint; for the cry of the royal blood soon overwhelmed the clamour about the rape, and the cries of the ruined fair. Salmasius deeply resented the injury and insult which were thus offered to himself and his family; and the derision to which he was ex

Morus, the Latin name for mulberry. ↑ A little More, or mulberry.

country is unknown, was an itinerant bookseller, a notorious prodigal and cheat; for a long time he carried on a clandestine trade in London; from which city, after practising innumerable frauds, he ran away in debt. He afterwards lived at Paris, during the whole reign of James, an object of distrust and a monster of extortion. From this place he made his escape; and now does not dare to approach within many miles; at present he makes his appearance as a regenerated bookseller at the Hague, ready to perform any nefarious and dirty work to which he may be invited. And as a proof how little he cares what he says or what he does, there is nothing so sacred which a trifling bribe would not tempt him to betray; and I shall bring forward his own confession to shew that his virulence against me was not prompted, as might be supposed, by any zeal for the public good. When he found that what I had written against Salmasius had a considerable sale, he writes to some of my friends to persuade me to let any future publication of mine issue from his press; and promises a great degree of elegance in the typographical execution. I replied, that I had, at that time, no work by me ready for the press. But lo! he, who had lately made me such an officious proffer of his services, soon appears, not only as the printer, but the (suborned) author of a most scandalous libel upon my character. My friends express their indignation; he replies with unabashed effrontery, that he is quite astonished at their simplicity and ignorance of the world, in supposing that he should suffer any notions of right or wrong to disturb his cal

It is impossible to give a literally exact rendering of this; I have played upon the name as well as I could in English.-R. F.