dy to fall off
from, and return to them, for his own advantage.'

To the abovementioned pamphlet, written by Settle, various other answers
were published, some by writers of distinction, of which Sir Roger
L'Estrange was one; and to this performance of Sir Roger's, which was
entitled The Character of a Papist in Masquerade, supported by Authority
and Experience, Mr. Settle made a Reply, entitled The Character of a
Popish Successor Compleat; this, in the opinion of the critics, is the
smartest piece ever written upon the subject of the Exclusion Bill, and
yet Sir Roger, his antagonist, 'calls it a pompous, wordy thing, made
up of shifts, and suppositions, without so much as an argument, either
offered, or answered in stress of the question, &c.' Mr. Settle's cause
was so much better than that of his antagonist's, that if he had not
possessed half the powers he really did, he must have come off the
conqueror, for, who does not see the immediate danger, the fatal
chances, to which a Protestant people are exposed, who have the
misfortune to be governed by a Popish Prince. As the King is naturally
powerful, he can easily dispose of the places of importance, and trust,
so as to have them filled with creatures of his own, who will engage
in any enterprise, or pervert any law, to serve the purposes of the
reigning Monarch. Had not the nation an instance of this, during the
short reign of the very Popish Prince, against whom Settle contended?
Did not judge Jeffries, a name justly devoted to everlasting infamy,
corrupt the streams of justice, and by the most audacious cruelty,
pervert the forms of law, that the blood of innocent persons might be
shed, to gratify the appetite of a suspicious master? Besides, there
is always a danger that the religion which the King professes, will
imperceptibly diffuse itself over a nation, though no violence is used
to promote it. The King, as he is the fountain of honour, so is he the
fountain of fashion, and as many people, who surround a throne, are of
no religion in consequence of conviction; it is but natural to suppose,
that fashion would influence them to embrace the religion of the Prince,
and in James II's reign, this observation was verified; for the people
of fashion embraced the Popish religion so very fast, in order to please
the King, that a witty knight, who then lived, and who was by his
education, and principles, a Papist, being asked by a nobleman what
news? he made answer, I he