Free-holder's answer to the Pretender's declaration

T&e Free-Holder’s ANSWER to th^
Pretenders DECLARATION
VE* by tbe Metcy of God, Free-bolders of Great-
Britain, to the Foptih Fretender, who fjiles
tfelf Ong of Scotland and ERgknd, and Defender of
FaitKOfe FIANCE,
flAv*lng feen a Libel which you have lately publiihed
agaimfl the King and Feople of thefe Realms under
|he Tide of aDECXARA X I ON, We, in’
.Jsftice to ,the Sentimenta of our own Hearts, have
^bought fit tu return you the following Anfwer; where-
'}n we lhah endeavour to reduce to Method the feveral
Particulars, which you,have contrived to throw together
with much Malice ; and no lefa confufion.
3 We belt v€ you fin cere in the ^rfl Part ©f your De-
iclaration,, where you own it wtuM be a great Satis-
fafiion to you to be placed upon the Throne by Our En¬
deavours j But you difeourage us from making ufe of
'them, by declating it to be your Right both by the
| Law's of God and Man, As for the Laws of God, w'e
I fhcft d think our felves gteat Tranfgreflers of them {hou?d
: we for yotir fake rebel againlt a Prince, who, tinder God,
I is the moApbtveHful Defender of tjta-fc Religion .which
j we think the molt pleafing to Him 1 And as for the Laws
d. ©( Man, we conceive thofe to be of that Kind, which have
been ena(fifed from Time tq Time for near thirty Years
pafi againft you and your ptetenfions, by the Lcgiiia-
\ture of this Kingdom.
You afterwards proceed to Invefii ’es againfi theRoyal
| Family ; which wedo affure you is a very unpopular
f Topick, except to your few deluded Friends among the
j Rabble.
You call them Aliens to y$uf Country, not confider-
Sng that King GEORGE has lived above a year longer
In England than ever you did. You fay they are Diftant
in Siloqd j whereas, no Body .ever doubted that King
f^tORGE is Great Grandfonto King JAMES the Firft,
tho* many be lie V^ that/you are not Son to King JAMES
the ad. Befides all the World acknowledges he is the
bsTseared to our Crown of the Prottfrant Blood; of which
I you cannot have one drop in your Veins, unlefs you de-
| rive it from luch Parents as you don’t care for owningj
.. ,> A; t ;
f ■■ Your next argument a^ainft the Royal Family is, that'
| they are Grangers to pur Language ; but they muft be
1 ftrangers to the Britiih Court who have told. you fo.
I However you mufl know, that we plain-Men.fhou’d pre-
I fer a King who wa^s a: (Iranger to our Language, before
w ho is a Granger to out Laws and Religion '* For
/we couM never endure T rench Sentiments, th©5 deliver’d
it our native Dialed; and'ihoivd abhor aH-Arbitrary
prince, tho* he Tyranniz’d over us in the fineft Eng-'
li life that ever was fpoken. For thefe Keafons, Sir, we ;
rannot bear the thoughts of hearing a Man that hasr
j been bred up in the Politicks of LOUIS the CKlV,vtalk.‘
\ inteHigibly from the Britife Throne ; efpecially ..when we
i conlider, however he may boaft of his i pea king Eng-
)|ife, he lays his Prayers in an unknown Tonguej
We come now to the grievaneeV for which in you?
Opinion w|i ought to take rip Arms ri,gainft ©rir prefent
Sovereign. The greateft you feem upon, arid
which is mofr in the'1 Mouths of yoiir Party, is the Uni¬
on of the two Kingdoms ; for which His MaJj^by ought
moft certainly to be depofed, becaufe it was
the Reign Of Her, whom you call your Dear Sifler of
Glorious Memory Other Grievances which you hint at
under His MaleftyY Adminiftration, are, the Murder of
King Charles the Tirft who was beheaded before King,
George wras born - and the Sufftrings of King Charles
the Second, which perhaps his prefent Majefty cannot
wholly clear himfelf of, becaufe he came into the world
a D-ay before His Refloration,
r ■: a.'. : s 'r ■ f
As on the one fide you arraign His prefent Majefef
by this moft extraordinaryRetroiped!, on the other hand
you condemn his Government by what we may call the'
Spirit of fecond Sight. You are not content to draw in-'
to his Reign thofe mifehiefs that were done ico Years
ago, unlefs you ^anticipate thofe that may happen ioo
Years hence. So that the keeneft of your Arrows either
fall fhort of him, or fly over his Head. We take it for
a certain Sign that you are at a lerfs for prefent Grievan¬
ces, when ypu are thus forced to ha.ve recourfe to your
future Profpedb, and future Miferies. Now, Sir, you
muft know, that we Freeholders have a natural averftoa .
to hanging, and don’t know bow to anfwer it to our
W ives'arid Families, if we feou’d venture Our Necks
upon the Truth of your Prqphefies; In our ordinary’
Way of Judging, we guefs at the King^s future Conduit
by what we have fe-en already ; and therefore beg you .
will excufe us if for the prefent we defer entring into a
Rebellion, to w hich you fo gracioufly invite us. When
we have as bad a, Profpedf of King George’s Reign, as'
we feou’d haveof yours, then will be your time to date
another Declaration from your Court at Commerci *
Which if w:e may be allow’d to Prophely in our Turnt
cannot poffibly happen before the hundred and fiftieth
Year of your Reign.
Having conftder’d the pajft and fiftfure Grievances meriY
tioned in yourDeclaration, we come now to the prefent;'
all of which are founded upon this fuppofition, That
whatever is done by his His Majefty or his Minifters
to keep you cut of the Britife Throne, is a grievance:
Thefe’Sir, may be Grievances to y ou, but they are none
to us On the contrary, wre lookupon them as the great-
eft Inftances of His Majefty’s Care and Tendernefs for
His People. Tb take them in @rder, The firft relates
to the Minifiry, who are chofen as you obferve very
rightly; out of the Worft, and not of the. beft of your
Subjedfs.; Now Sir, can you in ConfciencS think us to
be fuch F6ols‘ as to Rebell againft the King, for having
employed ihofe who are His moft eminent Friends, and'
were the greateft Sufferers in his Caufe before he Games
to the.,Crown ; and for having removed a General who
is nov/.adLially in Arms againft him, . and two Secre¬
tary's of State, both of whom have lifted themfelves inr
you?.