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Magnus, an honest Capuchin friar, being so dealt withal by a Jesuit, made not any defence of his own innocency any further than by ad- joining unto all the instances of his charge, " Mentiris impudentis- sime"! And this you will immediately find to be the substance of that answer which this book deserves; for, setting aside things re- lating to the former public troubles and disorders in these nations from the venom of all reflections, — from which I am secured by the government, law, and interest of the kingdom, all which in this re- vival of them are notoriously abused and trampled on,— and there is no one thing charged on me in the whole libel but that, either in the iTfiatter or manner of its relation, is notoriously false. Tlie task, I acknowledge, of making this discovery would be grievous and irk- some unto me, but that I must not account any thing so which may fall out amongst men in the world, and do remember him who, after he had done some public services, whereof others had the advantage, was forced to defend his own house against thieves and robbers.
The whole discourse is a railing accusation, such as the angel durst not bring against the devil, but such as hath many characters and lineaments upon it of him who was a false accuser and murderer from the beginning; neither is it capable of a distribution into any other parts but those of railing and false accusations. And for the first, seeing he hath manifested his propensity unto it and delight in it, he shall by me be left to the possession of that honour and repu- tation which he hath acquired thereby. Besides, his way of mana- gery hath rendered it of no consideration: for had it been condited to the present gust of the age, by language, wit, or drollery, it might have found some entertainment in the world ; but downright dirty railing is beneath the genius of the times, and by common consent condemned to the bear-garden and Billingsgate. His charges and accusations, — wherein, doubtless, he placed his principal hopes of success, though I much question whether he knew what he aimed at in particular or no, — may in so many instances be called over as to discover unto you with what little regard to Christianity, truth, or honesty, they have been forged and managed by him,
I shall begin with what he calls my practices, and then proceed to the principles he mentions; which is the best order his confused rhapsody of slanders can be reduced unto, though inverting that which he projected in his title.
I. One of the first charges I meet withal, upon the first head, is page 9, that I " was one of them who promised Cromwell his life upon his last sickness, and assured him that his days should be pro- longed." This, I confess, he manageth somewhat faintly and dubi- ously; the reason whereof I cannot guess at, it being as true as those other tales in the report whereof he pretends to more confidence.
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And I have no answer to return but that of the friar before men- tioned,— " Mentitur impudentissime ;" for I saw him not in his sick- ness, nor in some long time before. Of the same nature is what he affirms, p. 28, of my being the instrument in "the ruin of his son" Richard ; with whose setting up and pulhng down I had no more to do than himself. And such are the reasons which he gives for that which never was; for the things he instanceth in were my own choice, against all importunities to the contrary! so that the same answer must be returned again, — " Mentitur impudentissime." Page 10, he charges me that, in writing against the Papists, I re- flected upon the authority of the king, as to his power in matters of religion; which he repeats again, p. 34, and calls it " A covert under- minmg of the just authority of the king." Still the same answer is all that can be given. His majesty's supremacy, as declared and established by law, is asserted and proved in the book he intends, p. 404-406 [vol. xiv. p. 878-392]; nor is there any word in the places quoted by him in his margin that will give the least counte- nance to this false calumny. Besides, the book was approved by au- thority, and that by persons of another manner of judgment and learning than this pitiful scribbler, who are all here defamed by him. Page 12, he chargeth me with countenancing an accusation against the reverend Bishop of Chester, then warden of Wadham College ; which is a known lie, — and such I believe the bishop, if he be asked, will attest it to be. And so, p. 14, he says, I received a commission from Oliver to carry" gladium ferri;" but "mentitur impudentissime," for I never received commission from any man or company of men in this world, nor to my remembrance did I ever wear a sword in my life. His whole 34th page, had there been any thing of wit or in- genuity in fiction in it, I should have suspected to have been bor- rowed from Lucian's " Vera Historia," concerning which he affirmed that he wrote that which he had never seen, nor heard, nor did any one declare unto him; for it is only a confused heap of malicious lies, which all that read and know laugh at with scorn. Such like- wise is the ridiculous story he tells, p. 66, of my ordering things so that members of parliament should have a book, which he calls mine, laid in their lodgings by unknown hands; whereof there is not any thing, in substance or circumstance, that can lay the least pretence to truth, but it is an entire part of his industrious attempt to carry the whetstone.^ The same must be said concerning what he reports of passages between me and the then lord chancellor; which as I have good witness to prove the mistake that fell out between us not to have been occasioned by me, so I much question whether this author was informed of the untruths he reports by Doctor Barlow, 1 " Whetstone," an ancient reward for the person who told the greatest lie. — Ed.