OCR Text |
Show ( 2 ) fa<'!ion to fee that her Majefty approv'd of th_e Tryal which for that purpofe had fo necefTanly imploy'd Jo much time. From whence 'twas believ'd not without fome grounds, that the next semon would perfetl: what feem'd then to be begun. . But the Parliament was no fooner nfen, than Affairs began to take an_ot;he~ Tm:n, and this abdicated Dot\:rine rev1v d man wllant; as if, like Ant<eus, it had recover'd ftrength from being thrown to the ground. I moll: confefs I was not furpris'd to fee it a!ferted with the utmoft Vigour in Vniver(ities, [orne riuid Cities and ignorant Boroughs ; but l was afloni!h'd when I beheld it publickly afrer· ted at a place where you have been feveral times chofen, and muft needs have fome Influence. I could never have thought that a Gentleman of a Nation, which, as a famous Revolu- Hifrorian tells us were fa afraid of Abfalute tio11s in Power, that. they dr~adedthe very name of King, Sweden. and laok'd upon Liberty M a dearer and more 1'·>0 • 1 • 8· valuable Blejjing tban Life, would have pro· fefs'd " that Kings are accountable to none " but God, and that Subjet\:s mull: obey, Minehead" notwithfranding any Tyranny and Oppref· Aiirefs. " fion whatfoever.'' If you had fo little_ of the true antient Swedifh Blood in your Veins, as to be fince1·ely of this Opinion, you rnigbt ba ve fl:ay'd iu your native Country, and found Tyranny and Opprej]ian eoough._tn Confcience to have exercis'd all your ~ero1ck Paffive Vertue; and this, which I thmk. buE an odd Compliment to ~en Anne, mi~htt have been a very proper one _to C~a:ler the Twelfth. It might have been Im~gm d, th~t you had renounc'd that Kingdom, becaufha1~ ( 3 ) had utterly' Jo'fl: all its Liberty ; and 'tis ve~ ry, ll:range ib~t you, who are ~appily efcap'd out of the Haufe of Bandage mto a blefied Canaan /hould be hankering after the Lech of Egypt. This can proceed from oo~hing elfe but your having forgot what a Condition your native Country v.:as in when ~ou left it, and that 'twas this very Dotlrme which gave occafion to all that Milery which has been for fome time fo compleat. Give me leave therefore, Sir, to fet it a little before you, becaufe I have been there lately, and have a pretty fl:rong Impreffion of it upon my Mind. But before I do this, it may be of ufe for us to look back into Hill:ory, to fee whether this Daflrine was receiv'd into Sweden with the Chrijlian Faith, or at what time, and by what means it was introduc'd. And here it will be but a prudent Caution to be very wary what Authors we give credit to; for there are fo many Antimanarcbical, Republican, Schifmatical Writers at prefent in the World, openly fcattering and propagating their laofe and profane Principles, that he who is to fpeak of Crown'd and Miter'd Heads, and tbe Clergy, is in great danger of being impos'd upon: For which reafon I will make ufe of fuch Authors, as are known to all the World to J,e well affeCl:ed to Monarchy and Epifcapacy. ~ lhall chiefly depend upon the two Hilte· rians following ; one is Monfieur Vertar, a French Abbot (whom I name firfr, becaufe I fhall have occafion to quote him firfl::) This . Gentleman has defervedly acquir'd the Repu; tation of an excellent Hiftorian by feveral fieces, but by none more than his Account f.lf the Revolutions in Sweden.~ And as this Trea,, . ~ 2 tif~ |