in a fair hand which he judged to be the King 's own and he told me when he real the King's Book in print he found in one Chapter the very same things word for word as far as he could remember with that Manuscript Paper What Chapter the King was then writing of I cannot tell neither did I ever ask my Father but if I may conjecture of it at this distance I should guess it might be that wherein he Complains of being deprived of his Chaplains for while my Father was there the Parliament sent down some Chaplains of their own to attend upon Him Thus Sir you have what I can recollect concerning this Matter Be pleas'd not only in this but in whatsoever else I can serve you to Command Your ready Servant and Faithful Friend Tho Dillingham A little before this Letter came to my hands I had another from a Learned Fellow of Trinity College in Oxford with an enclosed Paper in it taken by his own hands from the Original now in the possession of the Gentleman 's own Son Fellow of Exeter College which enclosed was this IF any one has a desire to know the True Author of a Book Entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I one of the Servants of King Charles I. in his Bed-Chamber do declare when his said Majesty was Prisoner in the Isle of Wight That I read over the above-mentioned Book which was long before the said Book was printed in his Bed-Chamber writ with his Majesties own hand with several Interlinings Moreover his Majesty King Charles I. told me Sure Levet you do design to get this Book by heart having often seen me reading of it I can Testifie also That Royston the Printer told me that he was imprison'd by Oliver Cromwel the Protector because he would not declare that King Charles I. was not the Author of the said Book Signed and Sealed Octob. 16th 1690. Wil. Levet And again understanding that one Mr. Hearne now Schoolmaster of Amesbury and formerly Amanuensis to Sr. Phillip Warwick who waited upon the King at the Isle of Wight as a Clark and Writer as did also Mr. Odert and Mr. Whitaker could give me some Account from Sr. Phillip as to this Book I went to him when he was last in London and desired to know what Assistance he could give me as to the proving the Truth of the Books being the Kings who presently with his own hand gave me this following Testimony I Robert Hearne formerly Servant to Sir Phillip Warwick do Attest That I have often heard my said Master Sir Phil. Warwick as likewise Mr. Odert and Mr. Whitaker declare That they had Transcribed Copies of the late King Charles the First 's own Copy of his Book Entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 written with His said Majesties own hand Witness my hand In the Presence of Phil. Mist Fr. Shipton Robert Hearne I have but one thing more to take notice of as to this Matter and that is a Story of this Authors concerning Mrs. Gaudens declaring to Bish Nicholson of Gloucester upon receiving the Sacrament that her Husband wrote the Book how far this man is to be credited as to any Story he tells I leave the Reader who has looked his Book over impartially to judge but however seeing he is so fond of and so apt to pick up any thing that he thinks will serve his wicked design even to the very Mistakes of the Press as is apparent in the Words Barking and Recalled with which he makes such ridiculous Work I will give him a Rowland for his Oliver and will Answer this Story with another quite contrary to his from the same Gentlewoman There is a Reverend and Learned Minister now of London who does assure me that a Lady of good Quality told him sixteen Years agoe That being in discourse with Mrs. Gauden she told her that she had a great Concern for the Eternal State of her Husband because he pretended to be the Author of that Book when to her knowledge he never writ it the Reverend Person tells me he has forgot the Ladies Name or else he would freely have had his own mentioned but the Story it self he very well remembers and I am sure he is to be credited as much as any man that wears a Gown And thus good Reader thou hast here Sir John Brattle's Testimony for the Book in 47 Mrs. Simmondses that her Husband dyed asserting the Book to be the Kings own Dr. Meriton's declaring his putting Dr. Walker to silence with his Story of Mr. Simmonds Mr. Cliffords Account of Mr. Simmonds committing it to the Press by the King's Command together with Alteration of the Title by Dr. Jerem. Tayler and his Composing and Correcting it not from Dr. Gauden's but Mr. Odert's own Copy Mr. Long 's Letters positively declaring Dr. Gauden's confessing it to be the King 's own Book Major Huntington assuring a Non-conformist Minister that he presented some of the same Papers that made up part of the Book taken at Nazeby Fight which was three years before Dr. Walker pretends Dr. Gauden sent it to the King Dr. Dillingham's reading some of the Book presently after the King came from Newcastle Mr. Levet's seeing and reading the Book in the Isle of Wight a great while before it was printed and Mr. Hearne's Testimony from Sir Phil. Warwick Mr. Odert and Mr. Whitaker who all attended the King in his Imprisonment as Clerks and Writers and if all these will not weigh down the vain Tattle and confident Say-so of single Dr. Walker from single Dr. Gauden then the Lord have Mercy upon us for we must needs be got to an almost Jewish State of Incredulity From which good Lord deliver us Good Reader there is one thing more to take Notice of which had almost slipt my Memory and that is this bold mans triumphing over King Charles I. upon the score of a Prayer taken out of Sir Phillip Sidney's Arcadia made to an Heathen God and as he impudently assert made use of by him in the time of his Captivity Now I must desire thee to observe the Spight as well as Falsity of this Reflection for if Dr. Gauden made this whole Book as Dr. Walker asserts and the Copy he sent to the King was never returned nor made use of in any of the Impressions then the Prayer was put in by Dr. Gauden and the King no ways concerned in it and consequently it is a Scandal founded in the greatest Malice and ill Will to the Reputation and Vertue of this Great Man but as I deny and have fully proved that Dr. Gauden was not the Author of this Book so I must acquaint thee that this Prayer which this man makes himself and his Party so prophanely merry withal was not printed in the first Edition by that Copy sent by Mr. Simmonds to the Press but was foisted in afterwards by some crafty and designing Person on purpose to expose the Book and to lessen that deserved Credit
a watchful Eye on the Proceedings and Actions of those who come thither from abroad on what pretext soever and so herewith I rest White-Hall March the 16th 1640. Your Lordships most Humble Servant Henry Vane Dr. Ker Dean of Ardagh his Deposition concerning the Calumny thrown upon King Charles the Martyr for giving a Commission to the Rebels in Ireland I John Ker Dean of Ardagh having occasionally discoursed with the Right Honourable George Lord Viscount Lanesborrough concerning the late Rebellion of Ireland and his Lordship at that time having desired to certifie the said Discourse under my Hand and Seal do declare as followeth That I was present in Court when the Rebel Sir Phelim Oneal was brought to his Tryal in Dublin and that he was Tryed in that Court which is now the High Court of Chancery and that his Judges were Judge Donelan afterwards Sir James Donelan Sir Edward Bolton Knight sometimes Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer Dungan then called Judge Dungan and another Judge whose name I do not now remember And that amongst other Witnesses then brought in against him there was one Joseph Travers Clerk and one Mr. Michael Harrison if I mistake not his Christian name and that I heard several Robberies and Murthers proved against him the said Sir Phelim he having nothing material to plead in his own defence And that the said Judge whose name I remember not as abovesaid Examined the said Sir Phelim about a Commission that the said Sir Phelim should have had from Charles Stuart as the said Judge then called the late King for levying the said War That the said Sir Phelim made Answer That he never had any such Commission and that it was proved then in Court by the Testimony of the said Joseph Travers and others that the said Sir Phelim had such a Commission and did in the beginning of the said Irish Rebellion sâ—… the same unto the said Joseph and several others then in Courts Vpon which the said Sir Phelim confessed that when he surprised the Castle of Charle-mount and the Lord Caulfield that he Ordered the said Mr. Harrison and another Gentleman whose name I now do not remember to cut off the King 's broad Seal from a Patent of the said Lord's they then found in Charle-mount and to affix it to a Commission which he the said Sir Phelim had ordered to be drawn up And that the said Mr. Harrison did in the face of the whole Court confess that by the said Sir Phelim's order he did stitch the Silk Cord or Label of that Seal with Silk of the Colours of the said Label and so fixed the Label and Seal to the said Commission and that the said Sir Edward Bolton and Judge Donelan urging the said Sir Phelim to declare why he did so deceive the People He did Answer That no Man could blame him to use all means whatsoever to promote that Cause he had so far ingaged in And that upon the second day of his Tryal some of the said Judges told him that if he could produce any material proof that he had such a Commission from the said Charles Stuart to declare and prove it before Sentence should pass against him and that he the said Sir Phelim should be restored to his Estate and Liberty But he answered That he could prove no such thing nevertheless they gave him time to consider of it till the next day which was the third and last day of his Tryal Vpon which day the said Sir Phelim being brought into the Court and urged again he declared again that he never could prove any such thing as a Commission from the King And added that there were several Outrages committed by Officers and others his aiders and abettors in the management of that War contrary to his Intention and which now pressed his Conscience very much and that he could not in Conscience had to them the unjust Calmniating the King though he had been frequently solieâ—ted thereunto by fair Promises and great Rewards while he was in Prison And proceeding further in this discourse that immediately he was stopt before he had ended what he had further to say the sentence of death was pronounced against him And I do further declare That I was present and very near to the said Sir Phelim when he was upon the Ladder at his Execution and that one Marshal Peake and another Marshal before the said Sir Phelim was cast came riding towards the place in great haste and called aloud stop a little and having passed through the throng of the spectators and guards one of them whispered a prety while with the said Sir Phelim and that the said Sir Phelim answered in the hearing of several hundreds of People of whom my self was one I thank the Lieutenant General for his intended mercy but I declare good People before God and his Holy Angels and all of you that hear me that I never had any Commission from the King for what I have done in Levying or Prosecution of this War and do heartily beg your Prayers all good Catholicks and Christians that God may be merciful unto me and forgive me my sins More of his Speech I could not hear which continued not long the Guards beating off those that stood near the place of Execution All that I have written as above I declare to be true and am ready if thereunto required upon my Corporal Oath to attest the truth of every particular of it And in Testimony thereof do hereunto Subscribe my Hand and affix my Seal this 28th day of February 1681. John Ker Locus Sigilli And now Reader having vindicated the Honour Piety and all other Vertues of this Great Prince from the Death-bed Declaration of one that was once his greatest Enemy having cleared the Truth of his Book beyond Contradiction having proved the Counterfeit Ludlow a great Lyar and also defended the King from the base and false Imputation of the Irish Rebellion I have no more to say than only to tell thee That if the present Faction cannot employ a more modest and mannerly Champion than this man is I have done for I do not love to be put to the trouble so often of raking in sinks and stinking dunghils and if he wants employment and will be Scribling again I desire him gravely and seriously without railing and buffooning to Answer these following Quaeries I. Whether King Charles I. dyed by the hands of Justice or was actually Murdered II. Whether those that abet his Death now are not vertually as guilty of it as his Judges were III. Whether they that vindicate that Death can be true and steady Subjects to King William and Queen Mary IV. Whether this mans and others asserting the Justice of the War against the King and crying up his Death be not to prepare the People to do the same thing against and upon others when Time and Opportunity shall serve V. Whether he is to be believed in any thing he says and does not deserve a Pillory that tells so horrid a Lye as that the King sent to Sir William Balfour to cut off the Lord Lowdens Head by Nine of the Clock next Morning without any Process of Law VI. Whether he does not deserve a severe Censure that belyes my Lord Strafford with Words spoke at the Cabinet-Council notwithstanding the Marquess Hamilton Earl of Northumberland Lord Treasurer and Lord Cottingten upon their Honours declared being present at the same Council they heard no such Words VII Whether they are not great Fools or designing K that believe any thing this Libeller writes against King Charles the First VIII Whether he hath not done me a greater Honour than ever I could expect or can deserve to belye defame and abuse me with the same Pen he has abus'd King Charles the First and that purely for His sake Lastly Whether that Holy and Renowned Martyr Arch-Bishop Cranmer and that stout Reformer Martin Luther would not appear worse Men than this Scribler has made King Charles I. if we should believe nothing of them but what their grand Enemies the Priests and Jesuites have writ against them After I had finished the Defence of the King's Book I received this Letter from a Reverend Minister of Ipswich in Suffolk which deserves to be taken Notice of SIR SOME years after the Kings Tryal Major Huntington at Ipswich assured me That so much of the said Book as contained His Majesties Meditations before Naseby Fight was taken in the Kings Cabinet and that Sir Thomas Fairfax delivered the said Papers unto him and ordered him to carry them to the King and the Major affirmed that he read them over before he delivered them and that they were the same for Matter and Form with those Meditations in the Printed Book and that he was much affected with them and from that time became a Proselyte to the Royal Cause He also told me That when he delivered them to the King His Majesty appeared very joyful at the receiving of them and said he esteemed them more than all the Jewels he had lost in the Cabinet Also I remember when I waited upon my Lord Vicount Hereford into Holland who was sent by the Parliament with other Lords to bring home King Charles II. my Lord sent me to Dr. Earl then at the Hague to request his Knowledge whether the King was Author of the said Book the Dr. told me as sure as he knew himself to be the Translator of it into Latin so certain he was King Charles was the Author of the Original in English For my part I am apt to believe no Person was able to frame that Book but a Suffering King and no Suffering King but King Charles the Martyr Your Humble Servant Cave Becke FINIS
Paulo app their transgressions are like to bring them to that confusion of the Israelites when they had no King Judg. 21. every one did what seemed good in his own eyes because they feared not the Lord Jhos 10. they said What should a King do to us The young men presumed to be wiser than the elder Isai 3. the viler sort despised the honourable Lament ult and the very serving men ruled over them I profess when I saw these things so clearly I could not blame the King to be so backward in giving his assent to the settling of our Presbyterial discipline in that Kirke for the great inconveniences that might follow thereupon to Him and his Posterity there being so many strong Corporations in that Kingdom to lead on a Popular government such a number of people that have either no or broken estates who are ready to drive on any alteration and so weak and powerless a Nobility to hinder it Multos dulcedo proedarum plures Res angustoe veb ambiguoe domi alios scelerum Conscientia stimulabat C. Tacit. And now Madam I hope those Men who have of late so boldly ventured to throw the most Sticking Dirt in the Face of this Great Prince and Patient Martyr will by Repentance give glory to God and do so no more in hopes of which I after my Prayers and Earnest Wishes for the Preservation of your Ladyship and whole Family and particularly for the long life and health of your Noble Lord to whose good Counsels and indefatigable Labours we of the Church of England owe so much do take leave of your Ladyship and subscribe my self MADAM Your Ladyship most Humble and Faithful Servant Richard Hollingworth A Further Defence OF THE KINGS Book c. Reader THis Declaration of Mr. Henderson's was communicated to me some Weeks ago by the Reverend Mr. Lamplugh Son to the late Arch-bishop of York and it had been Reprinted before now but that I understood there was an Answer coming out against my Second Defence of King Charles I. and therefore I was resolved to stay a little longer that so if there was any thing in it worth Answering I might make but one Trouble of it and at last out it came with a Title as false as the greatest part of the Book it self Namely Ludlow no Lyar which I do not doubt but thou wilt be convinced of by that time thou hast read a little further The Truth of it is the whole Book is so full of Rancour and Malice of Unmannerliness and Railing of bald and false Assertions of Slander and base Reflections that it is a Shame to and a Confutation of it self and every Leaf of it stinks in the Nostrils of all the good and sober of all the wise and unprejudic'd Readers that I have either met with or can hear of and it is a Dishonour to the Cause of the Enemies of King Charles I. to have no better a Champion to throw down the Gauntlet in its behalf and there are no men about the City cry it up but the great Enemies of Monarchy and Episcopacy let their Hypocritical Professions be what they will The Book is Dedicated to a Reverend Kinsman of mine under the Name of Wilson from Yarmouth and what can we expect but Falsehood when he begins at this rate For my Kinsman assures me there is no man of that Name in Yarmouth but an ordinary Saylor and I hope the World will believe the Talent of such a Man lyes otherwaies than to write such Letters The short is the whole Book as appears by the Stile the Air and Scurrility of it all is writ by one and the same Pen and as so I shall Answer him The Party now so hotly engaged against Monarchy and Episcopacy which they strike at thro' the sides of King Charles I. I know are very much enraged at my Defence of King Charles's Holy and Divine Book and therefore take all Courses to buoy up Dr. Walkers Credit and to lessen or else to attempt to prove false the Authorities I have named and to how good purposes this Answerer has done it I now come to shew I tell the World pag. 7. of my Defence the Intercourse betwixt Sir John Brattle and my self about that Book and that he assur'd me that he helped his Father in 47 to Methodize the Papers that so far as they were then drawn up by the King that made up the greatest part of that Book all writ with the Kings own hand and I also assert That Sir John has owned the same since not only to my self but many others of my Friends To which he Replies That Sir John who he agrees with me is a very worthy Person never told me nor any other Person that the Papers he spoke of were writ with the King 's own hand and though the stress of the Evidence does not lye in that for if they were writ in 47 Dr. Gauden's Claim is out of doors for Dr. Walker acknowledges they were not sent to the King till the Treaty in 48 and that Treaty too upon which the Troubles came so fast upon the King which was about a year after yet for all that I do venture to tell him that what he asserts of Sir John Brattle is false and Sir John sent me word that he was a Damnable Lyar and is pleas'd with great Resentment and Indignation to declare he never told any man any such thing and that what he told me and my Friends as to the Kings hand is all true and therefore he must be a Knight of the Post that will venture to give his Oath for such a thing which indeed I shall not wonder at considering what sort of Men there are in the world and what designs are carrying on by that sort of Men at this time The next thing I assert is the Account of Mrs. Simmonds whom he owns to appear a good and discreet Woman and in earnest he saies he is assured her Reverend Husband was so too which I am glad to hear from him for then I am sure he would not dye with a Lye in his mouth and if he did not I know what Dr. Walker did I say Mrs. Simmonds told me her Husband declared to the last the Book to be the Kings Did she deny this to his Friend that waited upon her Not a word of it in his Letter only I concealed the whole Truth because I did not say he dyed of the Small-Pox which I never asked her nor she never told me and whether he did or no it was not material to my business in hand nor casts any Reflection upon what I say unless a Man cannot confess a Truth when he lies a dying of the Small-Pox Risum teneatis I but Mrs. Simmonds says she never heard of her Husbands being in a Shepherds Habit and therefore Mr. Clifford's Evidence is quite ruin'd certainly now Reader take Notice This is but a Circumstance in Mr. Clifford's Account and no doubt is
true notwithstanding Mrs. Simmonds Ignorance of it for we all know all Men do not think fit in Undertakings of such danger and difficulties as this was of Printing and Correcting a Book of this nature to make their Wives acquainted with every thing they do in order to save themselves but what is this to Mr. Clifford's Evidence As to Mr. Odert's Transcribing of it and they printing it by his Copy and no other which as Mr. Milbourn the Printer has since assured me came all at once to them which wholly spoyls that Assertion of Dr. Walker's of bringing some of the last sheets to the Press by Dr. Gauden's Order Further What is this to Dr. Jerem. Tayler's getting leave by Letter of the King to change the Title from the Royal Plea with which they printed the first sheet into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the Reasons Mr. Clifford in this Narrative asserts which wholly routs Dr. Gauden's Excuse to Dr. Walker when he thought he could not with a good Conscience write such a Book in the KING's Name and he Answered Look upon the Title who draws his own Picture These Accounts of Mr. Clifford ought to have been disproved by this Answerer or else the Evidence is as clear as the Sun at Noon and so I do not doubt will continue notwithstanding all this foolish barking at it but it is common when Men want Reason they fall to little and contemptible Cavils as our Author has here done Another thing I name for the weaking Dr. Walker's Assertion that Dr. Gauden was the Author of that Excellent Book of the King 's is what passed betwixt Dr. Meriton and Dr. Walker at the late Lord Mayors Sir Tho. Pilkington's I say Dr. Meriton told me that he put Dr. Walker to silence with the Story of Mr. Simmonds lending Dr. Gauden the Book and Dr. Gauden's transcribing it and so returning it to Mr. Simmonds again and that Mr. Marryot stood by heard the debate and did justifie Dr. Meriton's Conquest of Dr. Walker And what says my Adversary to this Why here he claps his Wings and Crows and says I have committed two Mistakes that the Discourse was not at dinner but after dinner and that Dr. Meriton began the discourse with Dr. Walker and not Dr. Walker with Dr. Meriton and by these two things he vainly fancies he has invalidated the whole Testimony Now suppose I did mistake as to these two petty Circumstances which I am pretty well assur'd I did not for Dr. Meriton told the story as occasioned by meeting together at my Lord Mayors dinner and did not as far as I can remember descend to such Minute particulars Pray good Reader What is this to the story it self namely The affirming he did so silence Dr. Walker that he had not a Word to say for himself Which is so true and will be upon just occasion attested by others as well as my self that I do here in the face of the World challenge Dr. Meriton or Mr. Marryot to deny one syllable of the substance of it either as to the one his telling his success in the dispute and the other justifying of it as really true The next thing I produce against Dr. Walker is Mr. Long 's Evidence and his attesting in two Letters to Dr. Goodall that Dr. Gauden did affirm to him that he was fully convinced that the Book was entirely the King 's own Work and what says my Answerer to this stabbing Evidence For for truly it is and I am sure gives the Faction a great deal of Vexation and foaming Rage why truly the Reply to this is very diverting Mr. Long writ the Vox Cleri and Mr. Long is against Free Prayer and Comprehension c. and what then is Mr. Long not to be believ'd because of his Opinion as to these things Has Mr. Long by any art of Immorality Sedition or Rebellion wholly forfeited his Credit or Reputation so that his Word is not to be taken No Reader upon a just Enquiry I find him to be a grave learned serious and pious Divine in that esteem amongst his Brethren that I will venture again to say That it is no disparagement to Dr. walker's Memory to assert that his Testimony is to be heeded and believed before Dr. Walker's and I am not willing to be provoked because the one of them is dead to give my Reasons for it There are two things more I give the World an Account of in my Defence of this Great Mans being the Author of that Book which were too hot for my Adversaries fingers and therefore he durst not touch them The one is Major Huntington's Story told from his own mouth by a Non-conformist-Minister to my self Namely That some of those Papers that were part of that Book were taken at Nazeby kept by General Fairfax and obtained from him by the Major and afterwards by him presented to the King and here I challenge him or any Man to deny the Truth of this Story and that because that Non-conformist-Minister is of such esteem and credit in London that I am sure they will blush to deny what he asserts if I should name him which I am ready to do when called by Authority The other Story is about Dr. Dillingham's asserting That he saw and read part of this Book of the King 's and that long before Dr. Gauden pretended to send it to the King Now know Reader that this Account was given me by a Reverend and Learned Minister in London as well as he could remember it and therefore that we might have a more full and satisfactory Relation of it I got him to write to Dr. Dillingham's Son a Minister and to desire him to let us know what Communications his Father had made to him about this Matter who civilly returned this ensuing Answer which I am sure will not be unpleasing to all those who are Friends to Truth and Justice I Have heard of that Controversie you mention and have now in my hands Dr. Hollingworth's Book wherein there is something said concerning my Fathers bearing Witness to the Truth of King Charles being the Author of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though there might be something added to that Relation as to the time and place when and where he was a Eye-witness of it An Account whereof as near as I can remember from what I have had from his own mouth is as follows While the King was at Holmeby my Father went from Cambridge to wait upon this Earl of Montague's Father who was then with the King there while the King was at Dinner one of the Bed-Chamber shewed my Father the King's Closet wherein was his Library and Papers while he was there he that came with him was accidentally called away when my Father seeing a Black Box on the Table that was lock'd but not very close spyed a corner of a Paper hanging out and took the boldness to draw it so far out as that he could read several Sentences it was newly written
THE CHARACTER OF King Charles I. From the Declaration of M R. ALEXANDER HENDERSON Principal Minister of the Word of God at Edenburgh and Chief Commissioner from the Kirk of Scotland to the Parliament and Synod of England Upon his DEATH-BED WITH A Further DEFENCE of the KING 's Holy Book To which is Annex'd Some Short Remarks upon a Vile Book call'd Ludlow no Lyan With A Defence of the KING from the Irish Rebellion By Rich. Hollingworth D. D. London Printed and are to be Sold by R. Tayler by Amen-Corner 1692. LICENSED July 28th 1692. Rob. Midgley To the Right Honourable THE MARCHIONESS of Carmarthen Madam THE Defence of Good and Innocent Men and the Vindicating of their Memories from those base and barbarous Aspersions they are many times loaden withal by men under whose tongues is the poyson of Asps are Employments every way becoming those who are Disciples of the HOLY JESUS and have solemnly promised to follow His Example and which I am certain will speak Peace and Comfort to them when others who give themselves the liberty to detract and defame to scandalize and ill-report the Best of Men will sink at last under the Load of their own Guilt and the Terrours of their angry and discontented Minds The sense of which has been a very great support to my self ever since I have undertaken the Vindication of the Name and Memory of King CHARLES I. and has enabled me in some good sort to scorn and live above all those Reproaches that by a certain Faction have been without Truth or Modesty so freely fastned upon me and I am so far from being weary of the Task I have engaged in that I thank God every fresh Provocation gives me the Pleasure as well as Advantage of knowing and understanding the incomparable Merits of that Great Man better and the Courage to communicate them to others And amongst many other things that have come to my hand since I began the Defence of this Great PRINCE This for the sake of which I make bold to give Your Ladyship this Trouble at present is one of the greatest and fullest that I ever saw and no doubt will be satisfactory to all sorts of Men because of the Person who was the Author of it Namely The chief Person of the Presbyterian Party in Scotland and the most employed by them for setting up and Vindicating their Kirk-Discipline I have shewn it since I had it to several Persons of great Names and at great Posts in our Church who were all as mightily taken with it so desirous it should be Reprinted that the World might see how unjustly this Great Persons Name is dealt withal by too great a Number of many Bad Men of this Age which as soon as I resolved to Reprint I at the same time resolved it should with Your Ladyships Leave come out under Your Honours Umbrage and Protection which You have a Right to not onely upon the score of Your own Zeal for that Great Prince 's Memory and Vertues but also upon the Account of the Faithfulness and Integrity the Loyalty and Steadiness of Your Ancestors to the CROWN and Dignity thereof for it is well known That Your Noble Grandfather lost his Life as General of His Majesties Forces at the first Fight against the Rebels at Edgelvill for his Great Master's Just and Righteous Cause and that Your as Noble Father was at the same time imprison'd for his steady Adherence to the Royal Interest and that both of them as they ventured their Lives so they greatly impaired a vast Estate But however that in the mean time they Acted becoming Good Men Good Christians and True Lavers of the Religion and Laws of their Country which includes their being Good Subjects and consequently took the better and more Justifiable Part this ensuing Narrative I am sure will make good and clear to all Men who are not resolved let what will be said to continue their base and ill designed Prejudices The Declaration is this The Character of King CHARLES I. VVHereas the greatest part of the distempered People of these miserable distracted Kingdoms have been and are wofully abused and misled with malicious misinformations against his sacred Majesty especially in point of Religion and moral-Wisdom whereof I confess with great grief of heart my self to have been amongst many moe of my coat none of the least who out of Imaginary fears and jealousies were made real Instruments to advance this un-natural War wherein so much Innocent Protestant Blood hath been shed and so much downright Robbery committed without fear or shame of sin to the scandal of the true Reformed Religion as cannot but draw down heavy Judgements from Heaven upon these infatuated Nations and more particularly upon Us who should have instructed them in the way of Truth Peace and Obedience I conceived it the duty of a good Christian especially one of my profession and in the condition that I lie expecting God Almighty's Call not only to acknowledge to the All-merciful God with a humble sincere remorse of Conscience the greatness of this offence which being done in simplicity of Spirit I hope with the Apostle Paul to obtain Mercy because I did it through Ignorance But also for the better satisfaction of all others to publish this Declaration to the view of the World to the intent that all those especially of the Ministery who have been deluded with me may by God's Grace and my example though a weak and mean Instrument not only be undeceived themselves but also stirred up to undeceive others with more alacritie and facilitie that the scandal may be removed from our Religion and Profession and the good King restored to his just Rights and truly honoured and obeyed as God's Anointed and Vicegerent upon Earth and the poor distressed Subjects freed from those intollerable Burdens and Oppressions which they lye groaning under piercing Heaven with their Tears and Cries and a solid Peace settled both in Kirk and Common-wealth throughout all His Majesties Dominions to the Glory of God and of our blessed Mediator and Saviour the Lord Christ I do therefore Declare before God and the World That since I had the Honour and Happiness to Converse and Confer with His Majesty with all sort of freedom especially in Matters of Religion whether in relation to the Kirk or State which like Hypocrates Twins are lynked together that I found him the most intelligent Man that ever I spoke with as far beyond my Epression as Expectation grounded upon the Information that was given me before I knew him by such as I thought should have known him I profess that I was oft-times astonish'd with the solidity and quickness of his Reasons and Replies wondred how he spending his Time so much in Sports and Recreations could have attained to so great Knowledge and must confess ingenuously that I was convinc'd in Conscience and knew not how to give him any reasonable Satisfaction yet the sweetness of his Disposition
and Influence that they found it had amongst and upon all the wise and considering men of the Kingdom and therefore I expect to hear no more of this base Story for the time to come or if they will take the boldness to raise it again I hope Reader I have furnished thee with a sufficient Answer to it Some short Remarks upon a Lewd Book called Ludlow no Lyar. Reader AFter a certain bold Libeller had sent into the World a Second Arraignment of King Charles the First by way of Letter to my self I being touch'd with the Sence of the ill Effects that Book might have upon the credulous and unthinking part of the Nation did think it convenient to let the world know the false Imputations he had laid at the King's door and therefore in order to it did consult and make use of such Authorities as I thought unquestionable and I am sure are for the most part so except one which I have been but lately Convinced of and which is one of their own and which they make no little use of but let the Authorities be what they will this Wicked Man is resolved to be in the right as long as there is any rude Vote or scandalous Libel Remonstrance or false Story to be found in print and to be communicated to this present Age and neither Friend nor Enemy if they write any thing in behalf of the great King ought to be believed if he may have his Will and let what Acts of Parliament be quoted for the Justification of that Prince yet he still was a Tyrant and a Man neither of Honour nor Religion But to my main design in which I promise to be very short First Reader I must desire thee to take Notice That I have Dedicated my Second Defence to the Arch Bishops Bishops Nobility Gentry Clergy and Commons of the Nation in which I tell them of the Books that have been Printed since this last Revolution against the Constitution both of Church and State which did sufficiently shew the Design on Foot to which not one Word of Answer is this Libel I further tell them what Destruction this Spirit once backed with power will make of them and all they have of which no Notice taken for which indeed I do not blame him for he knows in his Conscience all I say is true and I hope the Body of the Nation for the time to come will be so wise and provident as not to let things run so far as to make a Second Tryal of that Spirit by which they have suffered and that so smartly already In the beginning of my Defence I do honestly upbraid him for taking upon him the Name of that Traytor Ludlow and tell him that he ought to suffer in his stead being so forward to Represent him and Vindicate those Actions for which he stands Condemned and this he is pleased to pass by too no doubt being convinced if he had his due he would quickly be put out of Capacity of poysoning the Nation with such Infamous Pamphlets The next thing I shall make a few Remarks upon is the Letter of the Prince of Wales to the Pope I tell him in my Defence that as the Letter is in Rushworth his Accusations of that Great Prince from that Letter are false and made up of Lyes upon which he grows great in his own eyes and triumphs over me as if he had got a compleat Victory leaving me dead upon the spot for he produces another Letter in which is contained all he Charges upon the Prince The Truth is I had heard a little before his Libel came out from a Reverend Neighbour of mine that Mr. Rushworth in his First Edition Dedicated to Rich. Cromewel then called Protector had put in this Letter of his but afterwards in those Editions after the Restoration not being able to justifie the Letter put this in the room of it both which I have good Reason to believe are alike true that is they are both of them spurious and I Challenge this bold Writer or any of his Party to name a man that ever saw or took either of these Letters out of any Archive or Publick Record at Rome Madrid or London that there was a Letter sent to the Pope I grant but that it was pleasing to the Pope I deny and that for this very Reason because the Pope did so greatly delay the Dispensation for the Marriage which I dare say he would not have done if he had had such hopes of making England Catholick as they call it again as such a Letter as this from such a Person that was next to the Crown did give him The Pope of Rome knew England so well and the Advantages of it to the Papal Chair that I am sure he would have granted an hundred Dispensations at first asking for such an opportunity as this But good Reader I must entreat thee to observe that this Libeller though he makes such a Noise about a Letter which could not all Circumstances considered be avoided yet he takes no Notice of what I assert as to the Princes answering the Spanish Favourite that he came for a Wife and not for a Religion nor of Mr. Rushworths Attestation of his steadiness to his Religion nor of Mr. Johnsons Account of his fixedness to his Principles notwithstanding all the Applications of the Priests to him No no these things do not answer the ends of this man and his Party which in short are to destroy Church and State and therefore not one Word of them or any other Vertues of this Prince I will warrant you and therefore the Old Cry of one of his Judges is still among them Blacken him blacken him as this man has done to purpose with his Lyes and false Accusations As for the Story of Prynne Bastwicke and Burton with whose Sufferings he endeavours to bespatter the Reign and Spirit of King Charles I. I will onely answer him over and above what I said in my Answer to his lewd Libel with this true Account which I promise to make good when ever called to it by my Superiours Namely That Mr. Prynne being in discourse with a Friend of mine after the Happy Restoration told him to this purpose That the Crimes of himself and his Fellow Sufferers were so great that if the Justice of the Nation had cut off their Heads instead of their Ears they had had nothing but what was due to them by which Mr. Prynne who knew his and their Deserts better than this Defender of them either does or will shewed himself a true Penitent and one that would have scorned as well as grieved for such an Advocate as this wicked man is The next thing he falls foul upon me is for speaking favourably of Arch-bishop Laud whom he treats with all the scurrility imaginable now I must confess though I believe that great and learned Man was mistaken in the temper of the Nation and did somethings with too great an
Assertions and I am sure this man in this particular if any man believe him must be beholden to his blind Credulity and not to his Skill in History Another thing I call this man to Account for is his bold asserting the Kings burning by the Hang-man his own Pacification with the Scots when he came to London which I refute by a Passage out of Bishop Burnets Memoirs of the two Hamiltons it is true the Figures are mistaken but the Story is truly related as it is in that Bishops Book but to convince the World of the Malice as well as Falseness of this Reflection I shall present them with a greater Authority than the Bishops and that is an Act of State against the Scots concerning a scandalous Paper dispersed by them which the Reader may find at large in the Council Table-Book On Sunday the Fourth of August 1639. His Majesty being in Council was pleased to acquaint the Lords with a Paper he had seen at Barwicke Entituled Some Conditions of His Majesties Treaty with his Subjects of Scotland which Paper being in most parts full of falshood dishonour and scandal to His Majesties Proceedings in the late Pacification All which Consider'd the whole Board unanimously became humble Petitioners to His Majesty that this false and scandalous Paper might be burnt by the Hang-man to which Petition the Earl of Pembrooke Salisbury and Holland afterward known Enemies to the King's Cause Consented And now I hope this will stop this mans and his Friends mouths as to this particular for the time to come though considering the Malice of the man to the Memory of King Charles I am apt to question it As to what he and I both say concerning the Proclamations about the Irish Rebellion I shall pass it by at present and refer thee Reader to the Vindication I make by two undoubted Papers of the King's Innocency as to that horrid Rebellion at the latter end of this Paper The last thing I assert in the behalf of this Great and Vertuous Prince is what he says himself upon the Scaffold as to the first beginning of that unhappy and indeed needless War on the Parliaments side where he Clears himself by calling GOD to Witness unto whom he was shortly to give an Account that they began the War with him for the Truth of which he refers to the Dates of both their Commissions to which I have not one Word of Answer from this bold Libeller but in a shuffling way talking of pawning Crown Jewels which for what ends it was done or designed to be done it is not fit for him and I to judge for the Actions of Princes are above our Reach and ought not to be so narrowly pryed into yet I dare say it was not to begin a War because the Good Man so often protests against any Intention of War because so small a Sum of Money in comparison would so little have answered an Undertaking against so great and powerful an Enemy as the Parliament then was and though the King afterwards made that use of the Money after the War was actually commenced against him yet that is no Argument That that was the Primary Design And now Reader having given thee these short Remarks upon this filthy and scurrilous Book I have little more to entertain thee withal than to tell thee That this Author has with a great deal of Boldness and Falshood declared notwithstanding the honest Account I have given of my self from the Age of Twenty One and of my being Ordained by the hands of Bishop Saunderson as soon as by Law I was capable namely at the Age of Twenty Three that I was a Presbyterian but to Answer this in short I do here declare in the Presence of God that I never was a Presbyterian in my Life and further by God's Grace that I never will be one for I neither like the Principles of that Government nor the Spirit of too many of that Party for I abhor all Bitterness and Cruelty As for what he repeats out of Manvel which were made against Dr. Parker I pray God forgive him it is a Description that belongs not at all to me as all those know who have been acquainted with the course of my Life nor yet do Dr. Wildes Verses against Dr. Lee reach me at all for I bless God ever since I came to a competent Understanding I have loved the Constitution of the Church of England and done what in me lay to promote its true Interest and which I will never cease to do as long as I have Tongue to speak and a Pen to write I shall conclude this part of my Discourse with hearty Prayers to God for my Adversary that God would open his Eyes and change his Heart before he dies that so this Iniquity may not be for his Eternal Ruine The Irish Rebellion falsly and scandalously imputed to King CHARLES the First TO make good which I onely desire thee Reader carefully to peruse the Two following Accounts The one is a Letter by that Kings own Order by the Hands of Secretary Vane to the Lords Justices of Ireland Borelase and Parsons above half a year before the Rebellion giving them to understand the Intelligence the King had from abroad of some dangerous Designs by the Popish Party against the Peace of that Kingdom that so they might be awakened to take all possible care to prevent them The other is an unfolding the whole Mystery of the pretended Commission with the King 's Broad Seal to it which the Enemies of that King have and do still charge that gracious Prince withal and by Vertue of which they do lay all the innocent Blood then so barbarously spilt at his door and consequently do endeavour thereby to render his Name odious to all succeeding Generations the Account is by Dr. Ker Dean of Ardagh and as I am assured by a considerable Dignitary of that Kingdom yet alive Sir Henry Vane's Letter to the Lords Justices concerning some Informations of Danger in Ireland Right Honourable HIS Majesty hath Commanded me to acquaint your Lordships with an Advice given him from abroad and confirm'd by his Ministers in Spain and elsewhere which in this Distemper'd Time and Conjuncture of Affairs deserves to be seriously consider'd and an especial care and watchfulness to be had therein which is That of late there have passed from Spain and the like may well have been from other Parts an unspeakable number of Irish Church-men for England and Ireland and some good old Souldiers under pretext of asking leave to raise Men for the King of Spain whereas it is observed among the Irish Friars there a whisper runs as if they expected a Rebellion in Ireland and particularly in Connaght Wherefore His Majesty thought fit to give your Lordships this notice that in your Wisdoms you might manage the same with that Dexterity and Secresie as to Discover and Prevent so pernicious a Design if any such there should be and to have