it all that they assume to themselves an Arbitrary Rule but whoever refuses Subscription and Obedience to their Acts and Decrees stands Excommunicate without Mercy And Then if he persist follows Out-Lawry Forfeiture of his Goods his Revenue for Life Letters of Caption for the Seizing of his Person and Close Commitment as a Traytour If he does not yet Appear they take out Letters of Intercommuning making it Treason to Receive or hold any Correspondence with him This is Executed by a Warrant to the Civil Judge from a Commissioner of the Presbytery and upon his Refusal to see the Sentence put in Execution he himself incurrs the same Danger And the same Tyranny was Exercis'd by the Two Houses upon the English Government Whose Orders were Impos'd upon the Nation for Laws and Obedience requir'd to them under Pain of Life Liberty or Estate at Pleasure What a Mockery is it now to talk of Religion Kings Parliaments or Laws where the Dictates of Mechaniques shall Over-rule the Articles of the Apostolique Faith and the Vote of a Seditious Conventicle Dissolve the Order and Authority of a Legal and Establish'd Government The Tyranny of the Presbytery over the Consciences Lives Liberties and Estates of the People ALtho' These Vsurpations upon the King and the Government it self do Naturally Presuppose and Imply an Oppression upon the Subject It will not be amiss yet more particularly to Expose the Inevitable and the Scandalous Slavery of living under That Dominion as well in regard of their Vnlimited Power as of their Inherent Cruelty and Rigour In the Matter of Conscience Life Liberty and Estate Enough is said already in the very Case of their Covenants wherein without any respect to the Lawfulness of the Thing or the Conscience of the Person it was Sequestration and Emprisonment to Refuse them even where it was the Hazzard of Damnation to Take them and being once Engag'd 't was Death to Repent The History of Scotland abounds with Instances upon This Subject but I shall rather bring my Observations Home to the Covenanters of our Own Age and Nation The Early Plunders of Sir John Lucas Sir William Boteler The Lady Rivers with other Persons of Eminent Condition both Lay-men and Divines are to be read at large with the Inhumane Insolences that were Acted upon their Persons and Relations in Mercurius Rusticus but the Out-rages that follow'd were so Great and so Many that These are hardly worth the Mentioning and the Other would be too Tedious to Recite for the Whole Story of the Rebellion was carry'd on with Rapine and Bloud How many Noble-mens Houses were turn'd to Prisons without the Masters knowing either his Accuser or his Offence Several Gentlemen of Quality put on Ship-board and half smother'd in the Heat of the Year where they contracted Diseases and by an Arbitrary Power were to have been Transported nobody knew whither Others were Sold for Slaves into Plantations Near 100 Ministers were brought out of the West and Clapp'd up in Lambeth-house where almost all of them were Destroy'd by a Pestilential Feaver Nay so Profane was their Barbarity that upon Sunday the 5th of March 1642. Dr. Featly Preaching that day at Lambeth-house order was given to dissolve the Congregation and the Reformers took with them some great Guns to do the Work At which time some Mischief was done and there had been more but for a Gentleman who is at present an Eminent Person in the City who snacht away the Linstock just as they were going to give fire upon the Congregation into the Quire of the Chappel This I have upon the Credit of a Man of Worth and Value I could tell you of a Minister in Covent-Garden that refus'd Christian Burial to the Body of a Gentleman that was Quarter'd for his Loyalty One that made it a Moot-Point upon an Anniversary Fast whether or no the Kings Death were a Murther And These People were as well the Masters of our Estates as of our Persons See Scobell's Collection of Acts and Ordinances by their own Power taking upon them to Sequester Delinquents Borrow Money upon the Publique Faith gathering of Other Peoples Rents and Debts Levying of Money Raising of Horse Assessing at Pleasure Sequestring Church and Crown-Lands Gulling the People with Irish Adventures Laying new Imposts Authorizing the Breaking Open of Locks and Examining upon Othe for Discovery of Delinquents Money and Goods Raising Continuing and Enlarging several Excises Borrowing Money for the Scots Taxing the Whole Nation Appropriating the Profits of Tonnage and Poundage to themselves Compounding for Wardships Beside their Impositions of a Weekly Meal their Monthly Assessments and other Impositions upon the People to an Incredible Value and without any Colour of Law As there is no Freedom either of Conscience Person or Estate under their Boundless Dominion so there 's no living under them with either Peace or Reputation If a Man and a Woman Live in such a manner of Conversation that it is Possible for them to be Lewd together in Private the Presbytery shall take it for granted that they are so and without any Evidence require them publiquely the next Lords day perhaps before the Congregation to discharge themselves upon Othe that they are Innocent Which if they do and that they purge themselves of the suspected Crime they shall yet be forc'd to do open Penance for their Misbehaviour But if two Persons shall be Presented under a Suspicion of Incontinence and that being Conven'd and Examin'd there shall appear any strong Presumptions that they are so tho' there be no Proof in the Case they shall yet be made Close Prisoners to feed on Bread and Water and no body to come at them to try if either by Proof or Confession any thing can be made out against them by the next Court-day If not they are Dismiss'd but upon Condition that if ever they be seen together again unless in the Church or in the Market it shall be taken pro Confesso that they are Guilty There was a Husband that confessed to his Wife some Faults that he had committed and She out of Zeal told a Presbyterian Minister the Story for which the Minister very fairly Convented him and made him do Publique Penance This Practice has Parted many Men and their Wives and stirr'd up Feuds never to be Reconcil'd Nay a man shall not Sue for a Debt upon a Bond or a Landlord for his Rent but the Presbytery shall take the Judgment of it to Themselves as a Course Scandalous to the Profession where any of their own Gang is Concern'd They must have an Oar in every Boat In Scotland they interpos'd in the Business of Salt-Pans Salmon-Fishing Fairs and Markets and fell heavily upon some Scottish Merchants in Edinburgh for carrying Wheat to Spain in a time of Dearth But the Trade of Wax thither was Unpardonable as not only feeding Gods Enemies but maintaining their Idolatry To say nothing of the Absurdity in their Constitution
remove from Honour and Punish such as God has Condemn'd of what Estate Condition or Degree soever It is not Birth-Right only nor Nearness of Bloud that maketh a King Lawfully to Reign over a People professing Christ Jesus but Princes for Just Causes may be Depos'd Kings Princes and Governours have their Authority of the People and upon Occasion the People may take it away again Thus far Knox Now for Buchanan The People says he have the same Power over the King which He has over any One Man They are Better than the King and of Greater Authority and may bestow the Crown at Pleasure The making of Laws belongs to Them They may Arraign their Prince The Ministers may Excommunicate him and He that by Excommunication is cast into Hell is not worthy to Enjoy any Life upon Earth It were Good says he that Rewards were appointed by the People for such as should Kill Tyrants as there are for those that Kill Wolves or Bears or take their Whelps The Seizing and Emprisoning of King James in Aug. 1582. being Adjudg'd Treason by the Three Estates in Decemb. 18. 1583. and some of the Criminals Executed an Assembly of Ministers and Elders at Edinburgh in 1585. did not only Authorize and Avow the Action but also ordain'd all people to be Excommunicated that would not Subscribe to their Judgment And Andrew Melvil being Cited to Answer for Treason deliver'd in a Sermon declin'd the King's Authority Affirming that what was spoken in the Pulpit ought first to be try'd by the Presbytery and that neither King nor Council might in the first Instance meddle therewith although the Speech were Treasonable Upon King James his Coming to the Crown of England he order'd the Proroguing of the Assembly at Aberdeen which was to have met in 1604. to a longer day But thirteen or fourteen of them for all this met formally at the day appointed The Lords of Council discharg'd their Meeting Whereupon they Protested That in Conscience and in Duty to Almighty God they were bound to preserve the Churches Right and neither Could nor Would give way to that Power the King had Sacrilegiously Vsurp'd over it Hereupon they were Convented and Appeal'd from the King's Council to the next General Assembly I had almost forgotten the Determination of Wilcock and Knox who Positively gave their Judgments That it was Lawful to Depose the Queen Regent Whereupon she was solemnly Process'd Sentenc'd and Depriv'd The Positions of the Presbyterians under Queen Elizabeth THe Church sayes Cartwright wherein any Magistrate King or Emperour is a Member is Divided into some that are to Govern as Pastors Doctors and Elders and into such as are to Obey as Magistrates of all sorts and the People The Admonitour holds it sit That he and his Companions may be deliver'd by Act of Parliament from the Authority of the Civil Magistrates As Justices and Others from their Indictings and Finings Every Fault says Cartwright that tendeth either to the Hurt of a Man's Neighbour or to the Hindrance of the Glory of God is to be Examin'd and Dealt in by the Order of the Holy Church Nay the very Suspicion of Avarice Pride Superfluities in Meat or Clothing falls under their Lash All men says Goodman are bound to see the Laws of God kept and to Suppress and Resist Idolatry by Force Nor is it sufficient for Subjects not to Obey the Wicked Commands of Princes but they must Resist them and Deliver the Children of God out of the hands of their Enemies as we would deliver a Sheep that is in danger to be devour'd by a Wolf If the Magistrate shall refuse to put Mass-Mongers and false Preachers to Death the People in seeing it perform'd shew that Zeal of God which was commended in Phineas Subjects do promise Obedidience that the Magistrate might Help them which if he does not they are discharg'd of their Obedience If Magistrates without Fear transgress God's Laws themselves and Command others to do the like they are no more to be taken for Migistrates but to be Examin'd Accus'd Condemn'd and Punish'd as Private Transgressors Evil Princes ought by the Law of God to be Depos'd and Inferiour Magistrates ought chiefly to do it And now hear Gilby to the same Tune Kings Princes and Governours have their Authority of the People and upon Occasion the People may take it away again as men may revoke their Proxyes and Letters of Atturney It is Lawful sayes he to kill wicked Kings and Tyrants the Subjects did kill the Queen's Highness Athalia Jehu kill'd the Queens Majesty Jesabel Elias being no Magistrate kill'd the Queen's Majesty's Chaplains Baal's Priests These Examples are left for our Instruction where Justice is not Executed the State is most Corrupt If neither the Inferiour Magistrates says he nor the greatest part of the People will do their Offices in Punishing Deposing or Killing of Princes then the Ministers must Excommunicate such a King It would be Endless to follow these Instances as far as they would carry me so that I 'le back now again into Scotland and you will find them much of the same Opinion under Charles I. as they had been under his Royal Father The Positions of the Kirk under the Late King IN their Protestation of September 22. 1638. against the King's Declaration they say First That what Subjects do of their own heads is much better than what they do in Obedience to Authority the One Savouring of Constraint but the Other being Voluntary and Chearful Obedience Secondly That the Parliaments Power does no more reach to the Placing of Officers Originally in the Church than the Church has Power to make States-men in the Common-wealth Thirdly The Parliament can make no Law at all concerning the Church but only Ratifie what the Church Decrees And after it has Ratify'd it yet if the Assembly of the Church shall Prohibit it and Repeal that Decree of the Church all the Subjects are discharg'd from yielding Obedience to the Act of Parliament Fourthly The Assembly has Power to discharge all Subscriptions to the Confession of Faith commanded to be Subscrib'd by his Majesty and as it is Interpreted by Him or his Commissioner Fifthly The Assembly without the King is the Church and the only Judge Competent fit to Interpret and Explain all Doubts arising upon the Confession of Faith Commanded by his Majesty Sixthly Tho' the Law be Interpreted yet if the Interpretation be dislik'd by Most of the Kingdom the Body of the Kingdom for whose Good the Law was made may crave the lawful Redress of Grievances sustained by that Law Take Notice here that they had already Actually trangress'd the Law without staying for Leave and Justifi'd the Doing of it Seaventhly The Assembly is Independent either from King or Parliament in Matters Ecclesiastical Eighthly That the King is to Receive all the Determinations of an Assembly as a Son of the Church tho' they be not matters of Faith but only of Government and concluded by
same time his Majesties Proclamations and Declarations are said to be Contrary to Law pag. 449. And all Officers are forbidden any way to Publish or to Proclaim the same The King's Commissions of Array are Declar'd July 20. to be against Law the Liberty and Property of the Subject And the Actors in it to be Esteem'd Disturbers of the Peace of the Kingdom pag. 478. And again pag. 576. All such Persons as shall upon any Pretence whatsoever Assist his Majesty in this War with Horse Arms Plate or Monies are declar'd Traytors to his Majesty the Parlialiament and the Kingdom and to be brought to condign Punishment The Poyson of their Artificial Delusions you will find Maliciously enough Defus'd in their Remonstrance of May the 26. 1642. pag. 263. And the Doctrine of That Declaration summ'd up with great Exactness in his Majesties Answer to it contracting the Venome of it into These Six Positions First That they have an Absolute Power of Declaring the Law And that whatsoever they declare to be so ought not to be question'd either by King or People so that all the Right and Safety of the Prince and Subject depends upon their Pleasure Secondly That no Presidents can be Limits to Bound their Proceedings which If so The Government of the Turk Himself is not so Arbitrary Thirdly That a Parliament may dispose of any thing wherein the King or Subject hath a right for the Publique Good speaking all this While of the Remnant of the Two Houses That they without the King are This Parliament and Judge of This Publique Good and that the King's Consent is not Necessary So that the Life and Liberty of the Subject and all the Good Laws made for their Security may be dispos'd of and Repeal'd by the Major Part of Both Houses at any time present and by any Wayes and Means Procured so to be and his Majesty has no Power to Protect them Fourthly That a Member of either House ought not to be troubled or meddled with for Treason Felony or any Other Crime without the Cause first brought before Them that they may judge of the Fact and their Leave obtained to Proceed Fifthly That the Sovereign Power resides in Both Houses of Parliament The King has no Negative Voice and becomes Subject to their Commands Lastly That the Levying of Forces against the Personal Commands of the King tho' accompany'd with his Presence is not Levying War against the King But to Levy War against his Laws and Authority which they have Power to Declare and Signifie is Levying War against the King And that Treason cannot be Committed against his Person otherwise than as he is Entrusted with the Kingdom and Discharging that Trust and that they have a Power to judge whether he discharges it or no. And to justifie their Usurpations they do maintain pag. 270. That the Kings of This Realm are Oblig'd to pass all such Bills as are Offer'd unto them by Both Houses of Parliament It would be superfluous to tell you of their Proclaiming Fasts and Assuming to themselves other Rights of Sovereignty under the specious Pretence of a Parliament But to shew you that it was All an Imposture If the King will not Agree the Two Houses they say may Act without him If the Two Houses Differ the Sovereignty rests in the House of Commons As in the Case of a Bill they sent up to the Lords for Directing a Protestation which they had Fram'd to be generally taken throughout England This Bill the Lords Rejected Whereupon the Commons pass'd this Vote That That House did conceive that the Protestation made by them is fit to be taken by every Person that is well Affected in Religion and to the Good of the Common-Wealth and therefore doth declare That what Person soever shall not take the Protestation is Vnfit to bear Office in the Church or Common-Wealth And so they order'd the Knights Citizens and Burgesses to send down to the several Places for which they serv'd Copies of that Vote of the House concerning the Protestation and that the Vote should be Printed They began with a Contempt of the Lords they Lay'd them quite Aside at last and in the Conclusion they Themselves were upon their Own Arguments Confounded by the Rabble You see the Dominion these People Challenge over their Master and it cannot be expected that they should give any better Quarter to their Fellow Subjects But it is Their Way of making Kings Glorious and Patronizing the Liberty of the People The Positions of the English-Covenanters as to the Liberty and Propriety of the Subject IN May 1641. they enter'd upon their Design with the Protestation above-mention'd in these Words I A. B. do in the Presence of Almighty God Promise Vow and Protest to Maintain and Defend as far as Lawfully I may with my Life Power and Estate the true Reformed Protestant Religion express'd in the Doctrine of the Church of England against all Popery and Popish Innovations within this Realm contrary to the same Doctrine and according to the Duty of my Allegiance to his Majesties Royal Person Honour and Estate as also the Power and Privileges of Parliament the Lawful Rights and Liberties of the Subjects c. Here was First an Vsurpation in the Imposing of it and Secondly an Abominable Fraud in the Construction of it The Matter of it was so Plausible that it went down without much Enquiring into the Authority of it but upon the Commons declaring that the Doctrine of the Church of England had no Regard to the Maintaining of the Descipline and Government of it And Afterward that the Sovereignty was Virtually in the Two Houses and that by This Protestation they were Oblig'd to serve That Interest Mens Eyes came then to be Open'd and they saw their Errour For they were call'd upon according to their Solemn Vow and Protestation to Subscribe for Money and Plate pag. 340. and to Maintain Horse Horse-men and Arms for the Defence of the King and Both Houses of Parliament In York-shire there was a Neutrality Propounded by some Persons of Eminent Condition in the County but the Lords and Commons Declar'd against it pag. 629. as a Contradiction to the Tye of their General Protestation And it went so high that they past a Vote Oct. 15. 42. That such Persons as shall not Contribute to the Charge of the Common-wealth in This Time of Imminent Necessity shall be held fit to be Disarm'd And the same day they Voted the Sequestring of Church-Lands Delinquents Estates and Revenues of the Crown They Order'd Victuals and other Necessaries for the Army to be taken up upon Publique Faith Nov. 29. 42. pag. 763. and where any thing was Refused to Force it And likewise they appointed a Committee of Six Citizens of London or any Four of them for the Assessing all such to the twentiâ—th Part of their Estates as had not contributed upon the Propositions of raising Money Plate Horse c. in Proportion to their Abilities
of making Tradesmen Judges in Matters of Faith and the Unmannerly Temper of it where a Taylor or a Shooe-maker shall Sit and Vote Cheek by Jowle with his Sovereign Having made a Faithful Report of the Pretended Powers the Avow'd Principles and the Open Practices of these Troublers of our Israel so far as the Discovery may honestly conduce to our Present Purpose we shall now lay open the Mystery of Iniquity in the Secret Contrivances of their Cabal and upon no less Authority than the Faith and Honour of King Charles the Martyr in his Remarques upon the Proceedings of the Scottish Covenanters The Device of our standing Committees in 1641. with Subordination to the Close Committee was only an Imitation of the Preparatory Tables of Advice in Scotland with Subordination to their General Table And There Effectually was lodged the last Result of Counsel It was Compos'd of Men of Brains Popularity Boldness and such as were most Obstinately Engag'd to the Faction whether Preaching or Ruling-Elders The Acts of Assembly were but the Dictates of the General Table as in England the Two Houses still agreed to the sense of the Close Committee There it was that the Abuses of Government were Inspected Reformations Modell'd Court-Offices dispos'd of all Conspiracies Form'd and Digested And the Preachers Expresly directed what Points to Press and which Nail to drive There can be no better Accompt given of their under-hand dealing than they give of Themselves in their two Private Papers of Instructions Printed in the Late Kings Large Declaration Fol. 282. c. with his Majesties Notes upon them toward the Securing of a General Assembly which was to meet at Glasgow Nov. 21. 1638. The One of them being directed to one Lay-Elder and the Other to some One Minister in every Presbytery for the Packing of their Party In the Former of them you have in terms these following Particulars in Charge That some one Minister and Gentleman in every Presbytery meet of together to resolve upon the Particular Commissioners to be Chosen and use all diligence with the rest of the Ministers and Gentlemen that such may be Chosen And Because nothing will avail so much for our Purpose where the most part of the Misters are disaffected as that the Gentlemen be present to Vote in Presbyteries it would be presently try'd whether this be put in Execution and if the Minister be slow in urging it the Gentlemen themselves to urge it and put themselves in Possession That they linger not they would be urged again to send their Commissioners to Edinburgh before the First of October by this we shall know our own strength the better at our Meeting And the Gentlemen at least the greatest part of them would be warned to be at Edinburgh Septemb. 20. And that only the Gentlemen who are nam'd Commissioners to the Presbytery for chusing their Commissioners for the Assembly with some to assist them that day stay at home and those to come away immediately after the Election That in every Presbytery there be a Particular Care taken of the Informations against the Prelates for Instructing our Complaints The Other Paper of Private Instructions of Aug. 27. 1638. runs as follows THese Private Instructions shall be discovered to none but to Brethren well affected to the Cause Order must be taken that none be Chosen Ruling-Elders but Covenanters and Those well affected to the Business That where the Minister is not well Affected the Ruling-Elders be Chosen by the Commissioners of the Shire and spoken to particularly for that Effect That they be careful no Chapter-men Chappel-men or a Minister Justice of the Peace be chosen although Covenanters except they have publiquely renounc'd or declar'd the Vnlawfulness of their Places That the Ruling-Elders come from every Church in equal Number with the Ministers and if the Minister Oppose to put themselves in Possession notwithstanding any Opposition That the Commissioner of the Shire cause Convene before him the Ruling-Elder of every Church Chosen before the day of the Election and enjoyn them upon their Othe that they give Vote to none but to those who are Nam'd already at the Meeting at Edinburgh That where there is a Nobleman within the Bounds of the Presbytery He be Chosen And where there is none there be Chosen a Baron or one of the Best Quality and be only a Covenanter The King observes Fol. 315. that This Assembly of Glasgow had not so much as the Face of an Ecclesiastical Meeting not a Gown worn by any Member of it unless it was by one or two Ministers that liv'd in the Town The Appearance of it was in a manner wholly Laical Among the Members of it were Seaven Earls Ten Lords Forty Gentlemen One and Fifty Burgesses many of them in Colour'd Cloths and Swords by their Sides all which did give Voyces not only in very high Points of Controversie but also in the Sentences of Excommunication pronounc'd against the Bishops and Others Nay and all things in the Assembly carri'd by the Sway of these Lay-Elders Insomuch that it was a very rare thing to hear a Minister Speak there Now let any man Judg whether this be a Church-Assembly or the Embryo of a Common-Wealth A Conscientious Consultation for the Reforming of Religion or a Seditious Practice for the Embroiling of the State How applicable is that Invective against Popery in the Libel concerning the Growth of it to the Case of Presbytery The Power of it is Absolute says the Author of it and the Decree is Infallible It can change the very Nature of things making what is Just to be Vnjust and what is Vice to be Virtue All Laws are in the Cabinet of its Breast and it can dispose of Kingdoms and Empires as it pleases It makes it a Mortal Sin even to doubt of any part of its Religion and demands under pain of Damnation the Subjection of all Christians to its Authority That Word of Reformation misappli'd has serv'd it to justifie all the Executions Assassinations Wars Massacres and Devastations whereby the Discipline hath been Propagated It is almost Vnconceivable how Princes can yet suffer a Power so Pernicious and Doctrine so Destructive to all Government Their strict Othes and Vows of Obedience to the Presbytery Evacuate the Fealty due to the Sovereign What difference now more than in the Name betwixt the Papal Tyranny as he has set it forth and the Presbyterial as it appears from their own Words and Deeds What Power can be more Absolute Or what Decrees more Infallible than That of the Presbytery Which challenges Obedience to all its Dictates both from Prince and People under pain of Life Liberty Dominion and Estate It Over-rules Laws sets up Othes of Treason against Othes of Allegiance and covers the Crime of Rebellion with the Title of Virtue It takes upon it self the Office of Christs Vicar Deposes Kings and under the Masque of Religion dissolves the Order and Authority of
all Governments The King in his Declaration before-Mention'd Fol. 404. among other of their Vnchristian Extravagances takes Notice of their Refusal to Pray for Sir William Nesbett upon his Death-bed because he had not Subscrib'd the Covenant and that they did Formally bar non-Covenanters from the Communion in Express terms with Blasphemers and Adulterers refusing Baptism in the Churches of Ministers that had not taken the Covenant even to Children that were born in the same Parish The Unchristian Rigour of this Discipline is such says the Authour of Toleration Discuss'd Pag. 334. that It Crucifies weak Consciences with Needless Infinite and Incurable Scruples that Haunt Dog and Torment us in the most Necessary and Ordinary Actions of Humane Life At the Church at the Table at the Market at Home and Abroad At all Times in all Places and upon all Occasions in our Thoughts Words and Deeds As to Excess in Eating It is Censurable either in the Quantity or in the Quality So that in the first place the Eldership is to provide one Common Gage for the Stomachs of the Whole Parish for fear of a Mouthful too much And in the Second Place It is made a matter of Salvation or Damnation whether a man Eats Beef or Venison And so for Excess in APPAREL one Inch more than to cover your Shame is a Superfluity and One Peny more in the Pound than the Allowance of the Presbytery is made as much a mans Soul is Worth It is the same thing for VAIN WORDS A Nurse shall not dare to still her Child but with a Psalm and you must not presume so much as to ask What a Clock it is without a Text to prove that the Question tends to Edification Nay they have drawn CHIDING within the Compass of Ecclesiastical Censure So that Masters shall not reprove their Servants nor Parents their Children without Leave of the Eldership And they have taken in BRAWLING too and made every Billingsgate Quarrel a Subject of Consistorial Cognizance Vnder LEWD CUSTOMES are Censur'd all sorts of Publique Sports Exercises and Recreations that have been long in Vse as having their Original from the Times of Paganism or Popery As Comedies Interludes Wrastlings Foot-Ball-Play May-Games Whitson-Ales Morrice-Dances Bear-Batings c. All GAMES that bring Loss are also Prohibited as Tennis Bowls Billyards c. And so are UNCOMELY GESTURES So that a man may be given to the Devil for Lolling upon his Elbow or Sitting upon his Back-side before the Deacon of the Parish Nay our very THOUGHTS are Censurable and 't is enough to be suspected He that sues to recover a Debt shall be suspected of Avarice and he that refuses to Crouch like the Ass under the Burthen shall be suspected of Pride To pass now from their Rigours to their Scruples There goes a Story of some of them that made it a Matter of Religion to Piss a Bed and Ride Hobby-Horses because it is said Except you become as little Children you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven But Bancroft in his Holy Discipline Pag. 368. tells you of those that made Hawking and Hunting and Womens laying out of Hair to be Cases of Conscience and Walker consults Field particularly whether it be in any respect Tolerable for Women that profess Religion and the Reformation to wear Doublets Little Hats with Feathers Great Gowns after the French and Outlandish Fashion Great Ruffs and Hair either Curl'd or Frizl'd or set out upon Wyres c. And Cholmlye desires to be resolv'd whether the strict Prohibition of not Kindling of fire on the Sabboth be of the substance of the Moral Precept Among all these Scruples I find no Difficulty made in the Cases of Dethroning Kings Demolishing Churches Killing and taking Possession c. But to conclude with the Treatise aforesaid From the Triple-Crown'd Consistory that Lords it over Souls Bodies and Estates over Kings Nobles and Commons over Laws Magistrates and all Sorts and Ranks of Men and Interests That Turns Gospel into Law Communities into Deserts Men into Beasts Good LORD DELIVER VS THE END Covenanting is the Method of the Party Al Leagues without Authority are Seditious The Pretended Ends of the Covenant The steps by which the Holy Discipline Advanc'd into a Direct Rebellion They persecuted the Queen Regent into her Grave The Daughter had no better Quarter than the Mother They treated King James as ill as they had done his Mother The Conspiracy under Queen Elizabeth was nipp'd in the Bud. The Scotch Rebellion of 1637. The Rise Method and Progress of it They Levy Arms against the King for the Glory of God The Practises of the Scotch and English compar'd The Usurpations of the Two Houses The Rigours of the Covenant The Kirk Betray'd and Sold the King in his Distress Lowdon's Second Speech at a Conference Oct. 6. 1646. Answer to the Vote of Sept. 24. 1646. * Lowdon's Speech to his Majesty 1646. The Covenanters Barbarous Propositions to his Late Majesty The Two Houses as bad as the Scotch It was the Faction of Scotland not the Nation that Ruin'd the King Their dealing with the King at Holdenby Their Rigour at the Isle of Wight and the Horrid Murther of Montross The Covenanters Justifie the Murther of the Late King upon the Restauration of This. Presbytery is Inconsistent with any other Government The Presbyterians Will is their Law The Tyranny of the Pretended Parliament in 1641. The Tyranny Cruelty and Profaneness of the English Covenanters They Disposed of our Estates and Persons at Pleasure Their Scandalous and Uncharitable Censures The Scottish General Table was the Pattern of the English Close Committee Their Private Instructions The Medly of their Assembly The General Assembly is but the Embryo of a Common-wealth Presbyterial Tyranny Excess in Eating Censurable In Apparel Vain Words Chiding Lewd Customes Rediculous Scruples
TYRANNY AND POPERY Lording it Over THE CONSCIENCES Lives Liberties AND ESTATES BOTH OF KING AND PEOPLE LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun at the West End of St. Paul's Church-Yard 1678. TYRANNY AND POPERY Lording it over the Consciences Liberties and Estates both of King and People To all those that Love either their Religion their Prince their Country or Themselves THis and no less than All This is the Import of the Matter in Question The Government is charg'd by a Faction to be Tyrannically and Popishly Affected and This Pamphlet is to Prove that the very Faction which charges This upon the Government is in all Matters Ecclesiastical and Civil Publique and Particular the great Imposer and Usurper it self But before I enter upon the Subject I do here previously Swear by the Hopes of a Christian that I am not mov'd to this Discourse by any Biass either of Partiality or Faction That I have no Aversion to the Party any further than as I find them the Mortal Enemies of our Government Laws and Freedoms and that in the Prosecution of this Argument I will not Press one Syllable according to the best of my Skill and Knowledge beyond the strict Limits of Truth and Reason My Purpose being only to Vncover the Pit that the Vnwary may not a second time run Headlong into the same Precipice I shall begin with the Platform of the Scottish Presbytery and shew you the Sovereign and Unaccomptable Power which that Judicatory claims to it self My next work will be to observe the Harmony betwixt Simeon and Levi Their Consistorians and Ours in the Frame and Scope of their Discipline In the next place we 'll Compare their Positions and then conclude with a View of their Usurpations Arbitrary Practises and Proceedings and all This extracted from the Vndeniable Memorials and Records of the Times and Actions whereof we are about to Treat and in as few words as may be to speak Home to it and Clear The Platform of the Scottish Presbytery THe Presbyterial Government has Four Judicatories A Parochial Session A Presbyterial Consistory A Provincial Synode And A General Assembly The Parochial Session is constituted of One Minister or More with a Competent Number of Lay-Elders their Presbyteri non Docentes and Deacons It meets once a Week or oftner if there be Occasion and takes Cognizance of all Parochial Cases concerning External Order and Censure If there be but One Minister in the Parish he is Constant Moderatour If More they take their Turns as they can agree upon 't and they are all of them Equal in Honour and Jurisdiction There passes no Act without the Joynt Consent of the Minister Lay-Elders and Deacons or Plurality of Votes and Note that the Minister has no Casting Voice The Power of Binding or Loosing of Censures Ecclesiastical and of External Order and Worship is Radically and Equally in All So that the Lay-Elders and Deacons have as much the Power of the Keys as the Ministers To support this Jurisdiction they have their Four Sacred Orders which they challenge to be of Divine Right First Their Preaching Elders whom they call Ministers Secondly Doctors or University Professors Thirdly Lay or Ruling-Elders who have as much Authority in the Debate and Decision of Matters of Faith Worship Polity Ecclesiastical Censures as the Preaching-Elders Fourthly Deacons Take notice that their Lay-Elders and Deacons are Annual and Consequently one Year Sacred and Another Profane This Session meddles only with things Parochial as the Ordering of the Parish-Church and Peculiar Service the Censure of Lesser Scandals as Fornication Drunkenness Scolding Sabboth-breaking c. And in Difficult Cases they apply themselves to the Presbytery In their Censures they impose Civil Punishments and Fines they Emprison Offenders at pleasure Cart them through the Town set them in Pillories Shave one Half of their Heads Cut off their Beards Nay they take upon them by their own Authority to Banish whom they please out of the Bounds of the Parish which is a Direct Usurpation of Sovereign Power In Case of a Pecuniary Mulct inflicted or of a Child born in Fornication they will not allow the Infant to be Baptiz'd if either of the Parents have not paid the Fine or secur'd it or satisfi'd the Church The Presbytery is next and it is made up in some places of More in others of Fewer Parishes and the King himself is not Exempt from the Power and Jurisdiction of this Consistory nor in Effect from the Authority of the very Parochial Session living within the Precinct either of the One or of the Other This Judicatory is Compos'd of all the Parochial Ministers within its Compass and a Lay-Elder for Each Parish so that the Lay-Elders are Equal to the Preaching Elders both in Number and Power and a Botchers Vote goes as far under that Capacity in Divine Matters as the Voice of the most Reverend and Learned of the Clergy only a Lay-Elder cannot properly be a Moderatour tho' in several Cases they have dispens'd with that Scruple This Court takes Cognizance First Of what is Referr'd or Presented to them from every Individual Parish 2. Of all Capital Crimes and Scandals of the Highest Degree 3. Of such Offences as fall under the Censure of Excommunication 4. Of all Appeals from Sessions 5. Of all Differences that cannot be Compos'd or Determin'd in the Parochial Conclave 6. Of the Visitation and Censure of what 's amiss in Every Parish either in Preacher or Other 7. Of the appointing of Readers and School-masters They meet commonly once a Week or a Fortnight at which Meetings all the Ministers in their Turns Exercise as they call it in the expounding and applying of Texts of Scripture In these Exercises they have a sort of People which they call Expectants of such or such a Presbytery who are Licensed to Preach in any Parish-Church within its Bounds These Expectants have usually some smattering in Divinity as Country-School-Masters or the like and they are Authoriz'd to do all Ministerial Acts except Baptizing or Administring the Lord's Supper without Holy Orders Imposition of Hands or any Qualification for the Sacred Function There are more or fewer Presbyteries in a Country according to the Number of Parishes but all of them Independent One from Another If the King himself be Cited he must Appear or be Excommunicate for Contempt and submit his Earthly Scepter to their Scepter of Christ as they term it and from thence receive Christ's Laws and Ordinances As no Person is Exempt so neither is any Crime whatsoever that is either Committed or suspected to be Committed within the Limits of their Jurisdiction but they hook it in as scandalous to a Christian Profession A Provincial Synode is an Associate Body of the Commissioners chosen out of all the Individual Presbyteries within the Precinct of the Province they meet twice or thrice a year and Exercise an Over-ruling Power over all the Presbyteries within that Province in such manner
Acts of Parliament Ninthly It is Lawful for Subjects to make a Covenant and Combination Without the King and to enter into a Bond of Mutual Defence Against the King and all Persons whatsoever tho' against several Acts of Parliament Tenthly It is Lawful for themselves sitting in an Assembly to Indict a New Assembly without the King's Consent Eleventhly If Subjects be convented before the King and Council for any Misdemeanour they may Appeal from the King and Council to the next General Assembly and Parliament if they think either the Glory of God or the Good of the Church concern'd in the Matter in Question Twelfthly They do not desire the King to Indict a General Assembly as needing his Authority but rather for his Honour and for the Countenance of their Proceedings Alledging that if the Prince shall omit to do his Duty the People from whom he had his Power Originally may Resume it Thirteenthly If the King's Voice shall be deny'd to any thing tho' never so Vnjust and Illegal that shall be carry'd by the Major part of the Assembly his Majesty is bound Jure Divino to enforce Obedience to to those Acts and the Counsellors or Judges refusing to Execute shall be Excommunicate and depriv'd of their Places and Estates Fourteenthly An Assembly may Abrogate Acts of Parliament and discharge the Subject from Obeying them if they any way reflect upon the Business of the Church Fifteenthly The Protestation of the Subjects against Laws Establish'd either before the Judges of the People or the People themselves who are born to be Judg'd doth void all Obedience to those Laws without ever bringing of them to be discuss'd before a Competent Judge Sixteenthly The Major part of the People may do any thing they say which they Themselves conceive Conducing to the Glory of God and the Good of the Church any Laws to the Contrary notwithstanding These Positions you will find in his Majesties Large Declaration concerning the Tumults in Scotland pag. 407. et Deinceps We shall now see how the Counterpart of this Confederacy behav'd it self in England And shew you the Doctrine and Principles of the Faction in the very Infancy of the Rebellion as appears out of their own Acts. See Husband 's Exact Collections Printed in London 1643. The Positions of the English-Covenanters and First In Case of the King's Authority AFter that the Faction had Extorted from his Late Majesty such Concessions as never any Prince granted before Himself And when they had Defam'd his Government and his Person and Poyson'd his People with Contemptuous and Scandalous Libels Upon March 2. 1641. They began to Vnmask and to discover to the World that their Design was not to Reform but to Govern and upon Pretence of Fearing an Invasion from Abroad took the Power of the Militia into their Own Hands at Home Resolving upon the Question p. 96. That the Kingdom be forthwith put into a Posture of Defence by the Authority of Both Houses This Vote was seconded by Another of March 15. pag. 112. That in Case of Extreme Danger and of his Majesties Refusal to give them the Power of the Militia the Ordinance agreed on by Both Houses for the Militia doth Oblige the People and ought to be Obey'd by the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom His Majesty insisting upon the Illegality of This Proceeding Both Houses pass'd this following Vote March 16. That when the Lords and Commons in Parliament which is the Supreme Court of Judicature in the Kingdom shall Declare what the Law of the Land is to have This not only Question'd and Controverted but Contradicted and a Command that it should not be Obey'd is a High Breach of the Privilege of Parliament pag. 114. Finding themselves Pinch'd upon this Point they fly to a Distinction betwixt the Letter and the Equity of all Laws pag. 150. There is say they in Laws an Equitable and a Literal Sense His Majesty is Entrusted by Law with the Militia but 't is for the Good and Preservation of the Republique against Foreign Invasions or Domestique Rebellions not that the Parliament would by Law Entrust the King with the Malitia against Themselves or the Common-wealth that Entrust Them to provide for their Weal not for their Woe So that upon Certain Appearance â—or Grounded Suspicion that the Letter of the Law shall be emprov'd against the Equity of it the Commander going against its Equity discharges the Commanded from Obedience to the Letter The Pretence of Defending the Government is now Advanc'd to the Reforming of it Apr. 9. 1642. The Lords and Commons do Declare That they intend a Due and Necessary Reformation of the Government and Liturgy of the Church pag. 135. Having already by Violence Encroach'd upon the Militia as against a Foreign Power the First Considerable Use that they make of it is to Employ it against his Majesties Authority and Person Before Hull and Pass'd Two Votes Apr. 28. in Justification of the Action Resolved c. That his Majesties declaring of Sir John Hotham Traytour being a Member of the House of Commons is a High Breach of the Privilege of Parliament And That without Process of Law it is against the Liberty of the Subject and against the Law of the Land Nay they Vote it May 17. To be against the Law of the Land and the Liberty of the Subject his Majesties Commanding of Skippon to attend him at York and The very Removing of the Term to York from Westminster sitting the Parliament they Vote to be Illegal and Order the Lord Keeper notwithstanding his Majesties Command not to Issue out any Writs or Seal any Proclamation for that Adjournment May 20. They Order also the Putting of all the Magazines in England and Wales into the Hands of Persons well Affected to the Parliament pag. 194. They find themselves now in Condition to Threaten the King and the Kingdom with Open War And pass upon the Question these Three following Votes First That it appears That the King Seduc'd by Wicked Counsel intends to make War against the Parliament who in all their Consultations and Actions have propos'd no other End unto themselves but the Care of his Kingdoms and the Performance of all Duty and Loyalty to his Person Secondly That whensoever the King maketh War upon the Parliament it is a Breach of the Trust reposed in Him by his People Contrary to his Oath and tending to the Dissolution of his Government Thirdly That whosoever shall Serve or Assist him in such Wars are Traytors by the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom c. And Persuant to these Votes July 12. they Resolve That an Army shall be forthwith Rais'd for the Safety of the King's Person Defence of Both Houses of Parliament and of Those who have Obey'd their Orders and Commands and preserving of the True Religion the Laws Liberty and Peace of the Kingdom pag. 457. All these Votes and Declarations they cause with all Solemnity to be Printed and Publish'd but at the
The said Assessment to be Levy'd by Distress and Sale and in Case of Refusal the Parties to be Emprison'd pag. 767. With further Authority Feb. 3. 42. p. 777. to Break open any Chests Trunks Boxes Dores with Power to Seize such Chests with Money or Goods for the Satisfaction of the Sums Assess'd And the same Power Amplifi'd they granted to Commissioners for Levying of Money by a Weekly Assessment upon London and Westminster and every County and City in England and Wales the City of London being Rated the Weekly Sum of 10000 l. and Others in Proportion You have here from their own Publique Acts for I cite none of their Pamphlets a Breviate of the Powers they assumed to themselves over King and People And this so Early in the War too that the Faction was not as yet sure in the Saddle For This was all before 1643. You shall now see the Execution of these Arbitrary Principles by the Covenanters of Both Kingdoms in their Turns and you shall Confess that tho' the Rigours of the Kirk may serve as a Foil to any Other Tyranny the English have yet had the Honour to out-strip their Masters According to the Common Method of Innovatours their First Work was by Press and Pulpit to Defame the Government their Next was by Popular Artifice to stir up the Multitude by Tumults to Reform it and Lastly if they found their Party strong enough to Depend upon to Enter into a Confederacy and Set up for themselves This was the Course that Knox Willock and their Followers took in Scotland under the Queen Regent in 1555. and afterward under King James VI. And Cartwright with his Complices went the same way to Work also under Queen Elizabeth only the Conspiracy of Arthington Hacket Coppinger Wigginton c. was Discover'd and the Plot Disappointed But the Libels and Tumults in Scotland 1637. which led to that Impious Bond and Covenant in 1638. had better success See his Late Majesties Large Declaration upon That Subject And after their Pattern so had the Practices in England in 1641. when the Parliament was so Over-aw'd by Tumults that the Vote of the Two Houses was no other in Effect than the Sense of the Rabble in the Lobby It was but their Bawling for Justice upon the Noble Earl of Strafford their Crying down of Bishops and Popish Lords and the thing is Done The Riots were so Great that the Lords press'd the Commons at a Conference to Joyn with them in a Declaration for the Suppressing of them But it was Answer'd saying We must not Discourage our Friends This being a time we must make use of All our Friends God forbid says Mr. Pim that the House of Commons should proceed in any way to Dishearten People to obtain their just Desires in such a way Exact Collections pag. 532. The Kirk would have said that they did not know with what Spirit they were Over-Rul'd as they told King James in the Case of Gibson and Black for delivering Treason in the Pulpit The next thing that follow'd in Course was a Combination and That shall be the first Point we 'l handle in the Common Practices of the Party which in One Word amounts to no less than the Dissolution of a Legal and the Setting up of a Tyrannical Government The Practices and Usurpations of the Presbyterians upon the Civil Government TO be as Clear now in their Practices as I have been in their Positions you shall have as good Evidence for their Proceedings as you have had already for their Principles And I 'le begin with the Foundation of their Empire their Audacious and Mysterious Covenant Not with the Matter or the Design of it but only to shew you that Covenanting is the Method of the Party The First Covenant of Scotland bears Date Decemb. 3. 1557. at Edinburgh The Second at Perth May 31. 1559. The Third at Sterling Aug. 1. And a Fourth at Leith Apr. 27. 1560. They Enter'd also into Another Covenant at Ayr Sept. 4. 1562. which Knox calls a New Covenant In England 1583. they Subscrib'd their Discipline and Enter'd into a League both by Promise and Writing to do their Parts toward the Establishing of it In Scotland 1638. so soon as ever they had settled their Tables of Advice the First Act of those Tables was their Solemn Covenant And so likewise in England the Commons Impos'd a Protestation and then went on to Covenants and Othes without End Here 's an Vsurpation upon Sovereignty the very first step they set in the Exacting of an Oth without due Authority beside that all Leagues of Subjects among themselves are in the Eye of the Law no better than Seditious Conspiracies Wee 'l come now to the Pretence of these Covenants which is only an Artifice of Inveigling the Silly People into a Confederacy against the Government under the Notion of Promoting the Common Good The End of the First Scottish Covenant above-mention'd at Edinburgh is said to be the Defence of Christs Gospel and his Congregation and of every Member of it against all Opposers to the Death The Second at Perth goes further and Extends to all Persons that shall trouble them upon what Pretence soever In the Third at Sterling they bind themselves from any Correspondence with the Queen either by Word or Writing In their Fourth at Leith they Covenant a Direct Revolt and the reducing of all men by Force that are not of their Opinion In their Last Bond at Ayr they declare against all men as Enemies that shall not submit to their Government And upon the Whole Matter they Found all their subsequent Proceedings upon the Obligation of the First Covenant for the Defence of Christ's Gospel The Pretext of the Scottish Covenant in 1638. was the Defence of the King's Majesty his Person and Authority in the Defence and Preservation of the True-Religion Liberties and Laws of the Kingdom As also the Mutual Defence one of another against all sorts of Persons whatsoever And the English Protestation of 1641. looks the very same way viz. for the Maintenance of the Doctrine of the Church of England the Power and Privileges of the Parliament and Liberty of the Subject And what 's the very Title of their Solemn League and Covenant in 1643. but Reformation and Defence of Religion the Honour and Happiness of the King the Peace and Safety of the Three Kingdoms So soon as ever they had by these specious Appearances decoy'd an Inconsiderate Part of the Nation into the Net they Emprov'd the Fraud by Expounding upon all their Bonds and Covenants quite Contrary to the Common Intent and Acceptation of the same And made way thereby to the Destruction of all those Interests which the People thought they had Sworn to Preserve But the Subject was so hamper'd betwixt the Dread of the Othe among those that did not understand the Nullity of the Obligation and the Forfeiture of Life Fortune and Estate if they should not persue it
for her Self and Family she would have a Mass in Private But the Preachers decrying that Toleration in their Pulpits produced a Dangerous Tumult against the Freedom of her own Chappel After several Riots and Open Rebellions which were still promoted and seconded by the Presbytery In July 1564. the Queen was Marri'd to the Lord Dainly And June 19. 1566. brought to bed of a Son afterward James VI. in the Castle of Edinburgh In 1567. they sent the Queen Prisoner to Lochlevin and pass'd an Act of Assembly for the Securing and Disposing of the Person of the Infant-Prince with Direction to move the Queen to a Resignation of her Government and the Appointing of a Regent during his Minority which by Force and Menaces her Majesty was compell'd to do and her Renunciation and Commission Publish'd at the Market-Cross at Edinburgh the Prince being Crown'd and Anointed King in the Church of Striveling the Third day after the Publication being July 29. On the 20th of August the Earl of Murray was Elected Regent King James being as yet but Thirteen Months old At the Beginning of the Spring in 1568. the Queen made her Escape and was convey'd to Hamilton where several Lords meeting in Council her Resignation was declar'd Void as Extorted by Fear and Proclamation issu'd against the Rebels that had Usurped her Authority The Dispute in short was brought to a Battle May 13. the Queens Army Defeated and She her self fled into England for Protection where the Faction never left the Persute of her till they brought her to the Scaffold But here you 'l say there was a Foreign Interest and Popery in the Case If That were All how came it that they handled the Young King at as Course a rate every jot as they had treated his Mother tho' their Natural Prince and afterward the Celebrated Champion of the Protestant Cause The Government of Scotland had been Administer'd by Four Regents when upon the Earl of Morton's desire to be Discharg'd of his Regency the King not twelve years old as yet accepted of it and his Acceptation thereof was Proclaim'd at Edinburgh March 12. 1577. where the Regent himself was Assisting As an Earnest of the Respect they bare to his Majesties Authority Andrew Melvil presented a Form of Church Government to the Parliament at Striveling in 1578. which they referr'd to certain Commissioners who agreed to such General Heads as did not touch the Authority of the King nor prejudg the Liberty of the State But this did not content Them so that they resolv'd to put their Conclusions in Practice the next Assembly without staying for a Ratification Spotswood's Hist. Fol. 302. In Glasgow the next Spring the Ministers put the Magistrates of the City upon Demolishing the Cathedral but the Tradesmen Interpos'd and Defended it In 1582. Montgomery was Process'd for Preaching at Glasgow The King by his Warrant commanded the Assembly to desist which the Moderatour peremptorily refus'd and thereupon the Officer pull'd him from his Seat and Clap'd him up in the Tolbuyth for which they Decreed him to be Excommunicate tho' the King himself earnestly perswaded them to the Contrary After this Contempt of the Kings Authority they made a Violent Seizure of his Person and carri'd him Prisoner to the Castle of Ruthen where they kept him Close Nine Months forcing him by a Writing under his hand to command the Duke of Lenox to Depart the Kingdom and Imposing upon him what Servants they pleas'd under pretence of Zeal to Religion and Care of his Person They did also Petition the next General Assembly at Edinburgh to give their sence of the Action Who made themselves Judges and did so highly approve of it that they appointed all Ministers to recommend the Actors of it as good Christians and Patriots pretending that there was no other way to preserve their Religion and Freedoms And yet this Duke dy'd soon after in France of the Reformed Communion For the Countenance of this Proceeding they force the King being but Seventeen years of Age to emit a Proclamation commanding all those that had Levy'd any Forces upon Pretence of his Restraint to Disband within Six hours upon Pain of Death and Declaring that he was at Liberty and had only his Friends about him In the Summer following under Colour of Viewing the Castle of St. Andrews It was contriv'd that the Gates should be shut upon his Followers and so he deliver'd himself from his Guard It would be but the same thing over again to Enumerate the Repeated Usurpations of their Government and the Contumacy of their Ministers their Rebellious Practises at Striveling Glasgow c. and that Horrid Outrage against the Octavians in Edinburgh Decemb. 17. 1596. When the King appoints a Feast they Indict a Fast the Council Orders the Ministers of Edinburgh to give Thanks for his Majesties Deliverance from Gowry's Conspiracy Their Answer was That they were not acquainted with the Business And when it was urg'd that they were only to affect the People with the Sence of his Majesties having scap'd a great Danger they Reply'd That nothing should be Vtter'd in the Pulpit but That whereof the Truth was known Nay they would not so much as pray for the Kings Mother when her Death was Resolv'd upon tho' the very Form was prescrib'd in the most Innocent Terms Imaginable viz. That it might please God to Illuminate her with the Light of his Truth and save her from the apparent Danger wherein she was cast And This would have been the Issue too of the English Project under Queen Elizabeth as appears by the Insolence of their Demands and the Virulence of their Writings if the Conspiracy had not been nipp'd in the Bud. The Scottish Insurrection in 1637. was only their Old Method Reviv'd Of which in a few Words Out of the Kings Declaration upon That Subject Upon occasion of a Seditious Uproar at Edinburgh Octob. 18. 1637. his Late Majesty order'd the Discharge of all such Meetings upon Pain of Death And his Proclamation being Publish'd at Sterling Lithgow and Edinburgh was encounter'd with a Protestation against it at the same Times and Places and with the same Solemnity as if they had been Both by the same Authority Immediately upon this Affront the Protestors erect Publique Tables of Council for Ordering the Affairs of the Kingdom without the Consent of the King and in Contempt of his Majesty and Council At These Tables having First agreed upon their Covenant they conclude upon Certain Propositions of Instruction to the Party No Answer must be made to State-Questions without Advice All Proclamations to be Protested against and to take nothing for Satisfaction Less than their Whole Demand This way of Anti-Protesting they made use of from first to last Upon his Majesties Proclamation for Dissolving the Assembly at Glasgow 1638. they did not only Protest and Refuse to Depart but Cited the Kings Council that Sign'd the Proclamation to appear before the King and
Parliament In This their Protestation his Majesty observes Eleaven Nullities and that In One Hour they made Void Six General Assemblies tho' Two of them Wholly and the Other Four in Part were Ratifi'd by Acts of Parliament In Another Hour they Damn'd all the Arminian Tenets without Defining what they were In Another Hour they Depriv'd One Arch-Bishop and Two Bishops And in One hour more they Abolish'd Episcopacy Deposing Four Bishops barely upon a Libel read in the Pulpit without Examining any One Witness against them and only for the Crime of Obeying Parliaments and General Assemblies All This they do as having the Cognition of Ecclesiastical Matters They Arm the Subject Block up and Force the Kings Forts and Castles Intercept Victuals and Ammunition for their Relief Tax the People Levy Soldiers against the King Issue out Warrants to Sheriffs for Commissioners of Parliament and when they are Ask'd why they do these things 'T is for the Good of the Church they say the Glory of God and the Preservation of Religion Kings Declaration pag. 415. These are the men that bind their Kings in Chains and their Nobles in Links of Iron according to the very Letter And you shall now see that the English Covenanters are as good Text-Proof as their Brethren Take Notice here That my Observations are restrain'd simply to the Actings of the Presbyterians without Imputing any thing to Them that was done by the Influence of the Independents It appears from what is already said that The Name of God was the Prologue to Both Rebellions The Form and Doctrine of the English League the very Translation of the Scottish It rests now to shew that the English Practices are so likewise and how far they have put their Seditious Positions in Execution What was the English way of Remonstrating and Declaring but the Scottish Mode of Protesting The General Assembly declines the Kings Authority in the Case of Treason and so did the House of Commons in the Case of their Members The Kirk refus'd to pray for the Queen and our Mock-Parliament made it Penal to Pray for the King And they both of them took upon themselves to Convene Assemblies Impose Othes and Subscriptions by their own Power To Banish the Kings Servants and Scandalize his Ministers And with a Scottish Grace the English Faction tells the King in Answer to one of his Declaration That his Suggestion is as False as the Father of Lies can Invent. As they agreed in the Intent of the Reformation So did they also in the Manner of it They Alarm'd the City of London at Midnight that the King was coming with his Papists to fire the Town and burn the Citizens in their Beds the Common Pretences of Scotland And after the Scottish Methode too they Rifled Winchester-Church in 1642. Burnt the Communion-Table in an Ale-House brake open several Leaden Chests wherein the Bodyes of some of the Saxon Kings were Deposited Casting the Dust into the Air and throwing the Bones of them at the Windows Hacking with their Swords the Crown that was there upon the very Statue of the King With the same Barbarity they proceeded at Chichester where they Pickt out the Eyes of Edw. VI. his Picture saying that all this was long of his Book of Common Prayer At Canterbury and Rochester they did the Like and turn'd the Church of St. Paul both into a Stable and an Ale-House It might serve in one word for all to say That they have put all their Positions before spoken of in Practice The Two Houses by their own Authority set up Ordinances for Laws settl'd the Militia stil'd themselves the Supreme Judicature of the Kingdome Chang'd the Whole Frame of the Government Punish'd those as Traytours that serv'd the King Seiz'd the Kings Forts Towns Magazines and Revenues Rais'd an Army against him Impos'd Taxes Excise Customes took away Episcopacy and the Common-Prayer and settled the Directory Proclaim'd Fasts spoil'd the King of his Authority made him a Prisoner under Colour of taking him into Protection and then for a Sum of Money with Judas betray'd their Master to be Crucifi'd All this and More was not only the Effect of the Covenant but the very Drift and Meaning of it as appears by the Artificial Emprovement of it to all their Purposes being the very Test of the Faction No man was allow'd to Practice the Law No man Admitted into the Ministry that had not taken it and it was Impos'd under a Penalty upon the Whole Nation And Then After the Taking of it it was made Death for any man to return to his Allegiance and all the Deserters of the Conspiracy that were murther'd under a Form of Justice were put to Death for Breach of Covenant When the late King May 1646. in his Distress apply'd himself to the Scotch and they receiv'd him as into Protection his Friends were kept from him at Newcastle by as strict an Order as afterwards at Holdenby But they Formaliz'd the Matter however how Base a thing it would be for Scotland to Deliver up their King and how Inconsistent with the Duty of their Covenant and how Dishonourable to the Army to whom in his Extreme Danger he had Recourse for Safety The Scotch Commissioners also Aggravating the Matter If it be Contrary say they to the Law and Common Practice of Nations to deliver up the meanest Subject fled to them tho' it be for the greatest Crimes How much more would the World abroad Condemn our Army for a Base Dishonourable Act if they should deliver up their Head and Soveraign having cast himself into their Hands to be Dispos'd of at the Arbitrament of another Nation Nay says the Chancellour I shall desire that the Word of Disposing of the Kings Person may be rightly understood for to Dispose of the Kings Person as Both Houses or Both Kingdoms shall think fit may in some sence be to Depose or worse But alas these Difficulties only stuck till the Price was agreed upon How Stiff they were till the Bargain was Struck and after That how Flat and Supple For Then he tells his Majesty plainly If he refuses the Propositions Both Kingdoms will be Constrain'd for their Mutual Safety to agree and settle Religion and Peace without him And he is told afterward by the Pretended Declaration of the Kingdome of Scotland of Jan. 16. 1646. that by reason of his Refusal there would be a Joynt Course taken by Both Kingdoms concerning the Disposal of his Person And Then a little After with respect had to the Safety and Preservation of his Royal Person In the Preservation and Defence of the True Religion and Liberties of the Kingdoms According to the COVENANT c. On Feb. 12. They Exhort their Covenanted Brethren the Assembly at Westminster to hold fast their Solemn League and Covenant to Entertain a Brotherhood and Vnity between the Nations but not a Syllable of the King And again Jan. 18. the General Assembly
of the Kirk presses the Two Houses to a Speedy Establishment of the Presbytery And here again no Mention of his Majesty But what 's the Sum now of these Propositions that stand in Competition with the Kings Freedome Life and Dignity First Only the Justifying and Confirming of all they had done Secondly The giving away of the Militia of England and Ireland for Twenty Years with Power to Raise Men and Money Thirdly His Majesty must Swear and Sign the Covenant Impose it upon the Three Kingdomes Abolish Episcopacy and settle Religion as Both Houses shall Agree Fourthly All Honours since 1642. must be made Null and Void No Peers admitted in Parliament for the Future but by Consent of the Two Houses Fifthly All Great Places and Offices of Honour in England and Ireland to be Dispos'd of by Consent of Parliament and in Fine his Majesty must deliver to Death Beggery and Scorn all that ever Serv'd him Thus was this Glorious Prince Betray'd and Sold according to the COVENANT Here 's the True English of it and the Divinity of that Moloch to which this Nation has offer'd up so many Noble Sacrifices Are not our Fundamental Laws Persons Consciences and Estates Secure and Happy under the Care and Wing of such Blessed Guardians How meanly have we Prostituted the Reverence of the Land and of the Government to the Lusts of these Imperious Shameless Ravishers Take Notice here of some of the Kirks following Resolves upon the Main Point in Question First That the Kings Taking of the Scotch Covenant and Passing Some of the Propositions does not Warrant Scotland to Assist him against England Secondly That upon bare Taking the National Covenant they may not Receive him Thirdly That the Clause in the Covenant for Defence of the Kings Person is to be understood In Defence and Safety of the Kingdom Fourthly That his Majesty shall Execute no Power in Scotland without satisfying every Point Fifthly That Refusing the Propositions he shall be dispos'd of according to the Covenant and the Treaties Nor would the Two Houses Probably have Us'd him any better if he had gone to Them For upon his First withdrawing himself they Voted it Treason and Death without Mercy for any Man to Harbour and Conceal the Kings Person upon a Supposition that his Majesty was then in London This was the 4th of May and on the 6th the Commons Voted him to Warwick Castle which was Unvoted again upon the 9th and in June they Voted the Kings going to the Scots a Design to prolongue the War Let me not appear to Confound the Faction of Scotland with the Nation for no Country affords greater Instances of Integrity and Honour Nay I have heard it from good Authority that the Kings going into Scotland which he most earnestly desir'd was carry'd in the Negative only by Two Voyces His Majesty is now under the Care of his New Governours and a Prisoner to the Covenanters at Holdenby where he desir'd only Two of his Chaplains that had not taken the Covenant and Then a Common-Prayer Book for his own Private Use but Neither could be Granted him At the Isle of Wight the same Faction had the handling of him again where they still Treated his Majesty much at the same Rate And they Us'd his Royal Successour not much better in 1650. When to Auspicate the Project for the Recovery of his Crown in the very Dependence of a Treaty at Breda with him upon the Instigation of the Kirk they Murther'd the Brave and Generous Montross with the most horrid Circumstances of Malice Imaginable And how they Us'd the King himself afterward at his Coming among them I am not willing to mention Nay when the Time appointed by Gods Providence was come for the Restoring of the King the Presbyterian Ministers in London Publish'd a kind of Squinting Gratulation upon That Occasion as if Popery were coming in with his Majesty for Company And the same Party upon the Re-Admission of the Secluded Members press'd upon the House of Commons these Two following Votes for the Justification of the Rebellion in 1641. and in order to the Exclusion of the Royal Party from the next Choice 1. I do Acknowledge and Declare that the War undertaken by Both Houses of Parliament in their Defence against the Forces rais'd in the Name of the Late King was Just and Lawful and that Magistracy and Ministry are the Ordinances of God 2. Resolv'd that All and Every Person who have Advised or Voluntarily Aided Abetted Assisted in any War against the Parliament since the First day of Jan. 1641. His or Their Sons unless He or They have since manifested their Good Affections to This Parliament shall be Vncapable to be Elected to serve as Members of the next Parliament So that as their Feud against Kings is Implacable their Aversion likewise to all those that Love their Prince descends from Generation to Generation How Inconsistent Presbytery is with Monarchy is sufficiently manifest But they 'l say for themselves that Kings may be Misled and that it is not the Form of Government that is Grievous to Them but the Male-Administration of it To which it may be Reply'd That All Governours under what Form soever are to Them Alike where they themselves are not Vppermost And that the Reformation of Personal Failings will not do their Business without the Total Subversion of all those wholesome and Profitable Laws that stand in the Way of their Discipline It being their Custome to Reproach Princes and their Ministers for straining the Prerogative while they Themselves at the same time Usurp over Kings Parliaments and People And Trample under their Feet All that is Sacred in Society and Government Princes 't is true may have their Errours and their Passions but what have the Innocent Laws done Are They Popishly Affected too But where ever Presbytery reigns there can be no Law but their own Will Did they not in Scotland Damn Bishops as Anti-Christian and Deprive Ecclesiastiques of their Voyces in Parliament Convention and Council notwithstanding Three Acts of Parliament that is to say of 1584. 1597. and 1606. expresly to the Contrary And did they not pronounce the Acts of the Assemblies of Glasgow and Perth to be Void and Illegal tho' Enacted as Municipal Laws Ask them now says his Late Majesty Large Declaration Pag. 416. by what Authority they do these things expresly against Acts of Parliament Acts of Council and Acts of General Assemblies They Answer that Those Acts of Assembly were unduely Obtain'd and that now they have Rescinded them For Acts of Parliament and Acts of Council they Express great Wonder that any man should Question their Authority over-Them For if Christ be above the King Christs Council must likewise be Supreme Parliaments being only the Council of the Kingdom And for the Kings Privy Council and Judges they must submit to the Councellours and Judges under Christ who is the King of Kings Nor is