An answer to a scoffing and lying lybell; put forth and privately dispersed under the title of A wonderful account of the cureing the kings-evil, by Madam Fanshaw the Duke of Monmouth's sister.

Date:
1681
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An answer to a scoffing and lying lybell; put forth and privately dispersed under the title of A wonderful account of the cureing the kings-evil, by Madam Fanshaw the Duke of Monmouth's sister. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    elfe they Would not ftill gv about with thefe Effronteries, to abufeapenbn.foinnpqent, and fo confiderable in the Eyes ofali good Men,and loy.al-Subjedls, as the Duke of Monmouth. This is the Common Caufe, the Ruine of the Nati¬ on, by the overthrow of our Religion, and fet- ting up Popery in its Room, and as the onely means to do this, their Hopes new chiefly relye on the D.cfT. being a Papift, and his fucceed-. ing to the Crown *, therefore, they make ufe of all ways imaginable, no matter how unlawful, howfcandaloustogood manners, nor how con- tray to Morality or Civility, nay,to all Law and Government, fo it may advance this Intereft, which they fo feduloufly endeavour to pro¬ mote, and by removing all Obftacles, and De¬ faming all perfons,from the highlit to the low- eft, that ftand in their way. In the laft place, as to the particular abufe to the Duke of Monmouth,. the end is likewife lain enough, only becaufe they judge him to e an Obftacle,and that no fmall one, to the D. fucceeding to the Crown*, For otherwife ma¬ lice it felf could not object any-thing to this Noble perfon, that might give the leaft occaficnof a Libel again-ft him. But as Thales faid , being, asked what was the moll hurtful thing in the World, he anfwered Malice *, for it hurts even the belt things if it touches them: So I fay, this Malicious and Invenomus Libel¬ ing, may do hurt to the cleareft Innocency in the world, for there are many fo Evil-natur’d and affeded,that they greedily fuck the poyfbn from fuch Venomous Weeds. The Foundation on which this Libel is built, is the known printed Paper of the Dukes Cu¬ ring the King’s-Evil, and left that in the Vul- gars eyes Ihould feem to give him any Title of claim to Legitimacy, and fo to Succeflion to the Crown of his Father fwhom Godpreferve to defeat all their hopes by along Reign) they raifed in oppofition to that, this Story of his Sifter, Curing the Evil in a Man, as well as he in a Maid *, upon which, the Libeller makes ma¬ ny Toking Difcants, fcofffng at the Proteftant Religion, and the Dukes Legitimacy. And alfo concludes his Story, That the Duke alfo Jhortly intended to Jhut himfelf up with the Lyons in the Tower, to prove himfelf of Royal Race *, with fuch like abufive and Scurrilous Wit and Drollery. All which, as it might be juftly anfwered with Laughter and Scorn, fo I (hall make but a Ihort Reply ♦ Improbi Confdium in extremum incidit Malum. They think by this means to doth* Noble Duke a prejudice, but it may in the end fall up¬ on their own heads. It is very well known,that the curing of the Struma^ or filthy running fores, called by us, the King's-Evil, from long cuftom derived to our King,from Edw.thz Confeffor,in curing this Evil Difeafe by ftroaking j is no for, as the Libeller moft fillily would intimate, thereby intimating,that the Dgke of Monmouth was fo ambi tious, as to look and endeavour for the Crown (a thing they fear becaufe a P rot eft- ant ) and this way to raife Jealoufies in his Roy¬ al fathers bread:, and awaken his anger and dif- pleafure againft him, a'S prefuming too much * This no doiibt, the malice of the Libeller points at, and would thereby let the people fee, that the Story of the D. of Monmouth's Curing the, E vil, was made by the Proteftant party, or by fome of his Creatures,only to make him look’d on as a lawful Succeflor,and Legitimate, by rea- fon of the curing the Evil, and this they would overthrow by this Rediculous ftory of cheir Li¬ bel. 1 am apt to believe , whoever fie was that wrote the Libel,hz& alfo fome nger in the Black. Boxy which he cannot forbear to mention, But as I have faid, ’twas a weak and moft Redicu¬ lous thing in the Duke of Monmouth's Creatures to raife fuch a ftory of the Dukes Curing the Evil, to prove his Legitimacy lawful, and fo heir to the Crown,for it is not Intail’d to the Heir, but to the Crown it felf, and tho’ thofe who were no right Heirs to the Crown, once in pof- feffion of the Crown, polfelTed the fame Gut* But what if this ftory of the Duke of 'Mon- mouth's Curing the Evil be true, is it fo ftrange a thing, when we fee it done by every Seventh Sou, who at leaft pretend to it, and therefore if he did Cure it, or Ihould again Cure it, that might better prove he was a Seventh Son, theii Legitimate or Heir to the Crown* But we know that JPhyfitians who give Natural caufes to things that feem.Supernatural to the Vulgar,' do attribute the Caufe more to the parties Ima¬ gination,than to the Virtue of the Totich’ and how far the power of Imagination has wrought upon a perfon, hath been leen in far greater mi¬ racles than curing a running Sole j fo that there is no marvel or wonder , if a Maid fo ftrongly: pofleftby the power of her Imagination, Ihould grow well by the Touch of the Dukes hand,and might very well pafs without this Libellers ma¬ licious and Defamitory ftbry,, in Rediculing the A&ion, andfcbffing at the perfon of this moft Noble Peer. . . But as the Libeller Concludes withaWifh, That the Lyon will Crown the Duke, of Mon¬ mouth with his Imperial Paw,that way declaring the lawful Succeffor, by removing the worit King's-Evil out of the way *, fo 1 fhall cbnclude. That I wilh this braying Afs, Inveloped in a Lyons Skin, may according, to the Table in fopy be found out and well beaten, for endea-' vouring to affright and difturb others under his Lyonijh Mafquerade. Afinus Aftno pulcherrluiusi FINIS. ■' : ' ' ' London^ Printed for T. B* i68x«