special Charge and Direction so soon as the said Fleet or the greatest thereof shall be reassembled and joyned together then presently with the first opportunity of wind taking into his Charge also the Ships stayed and prepared at Portsmouth and Plimouth together with such fire Ships and other Vessels as shall be provided for this expedition to return to Rotchel with all possible diligence and do his best endevor to relieve the same Letting his Lordship know that order is taken for the victualling of the Fleet by Petty warrant so long as it remaineth in Harbor for the sparing and lengthening of the Sea victuals And if it so fall out that the Earl of Denbigh do set forward on his voyage towards Rotchel before the whole Fleet shall be joyned with him we pray your Grace to give him such Direction that he may leave order that the Ships which are behind shall follow him with all speed Monday 2 Iune The King came to the Parliament and spake thus in brief to both Houses Gentlemen I Am come hither to perform my duty I think no man can think it long since I have not taken so many days in answering the Petition as ye spent weeks in framing it And I am come hither to shew you that as well in formal things as in essential I desire to give you as much content as in me lies After this the Lord Keeper spake as followeth MY Lords and ye the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons his Majesty hath commanded me to say unto you That he takes it in good part that in consideration of setling your own Liberties ye have generally professed in both Houses that ye have no intention for to lessen or diminish his Majesties Prerogative wherein as ye have cleared your own intentions so now his Majesty comes to clear his and to subscribe a firm League with his People which is ever likely to be most constant and perpetual when the Conditions are equal and known to be so These cannot be in a more happy estate then when your Liberties shall be an ornament and a strength to his Majesties Prerogative and his Prerogative a defence of your Liberties in which his Majesty doubts not but both he and you shall take a mutual comfort hereafter and for his part he is resolved to give an example in the using of his power for the preservation of your Liberties that hereafter ye shall have no cause to complain This is the sum of that which I am to say to you from his Majesty And that which further remains is That you hear read your own Petition and his Majesties gracious Answer The Petition Exhibited to his Majesty by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled concerning divers Rights and Liberties of the Subjects with the Kings Majesties Royal Answer thereunto in full Parliament To the Kings most Excellent Majesty HUmbly shew unto our Soveraign Lord the King the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled That whereas it is Declared and Enacted by a Statute made in the time of the Reign of King Edward the first commonly called Statutum de Tallagio non concedendo That no Tallage or aide shall be laid or levied by the King or his Heirs in this Realm without the good will and assent of the Archbishops Bishops Earls Barons Knights Burgesses and other the Freemen of the Commonalty of this Realm And by Authority of Parliament holden in the five and twentieth year of the Reign of King Edward the third it is Declared and Enacted That from thenceforth no person should be compelled to make any Loans to the King against his will because such Loans were against Reason and the Franchise of the Land and by other Laws of this Realm it is provided That none should be charged by any Charge or Imposition called a Benevolence nor by such like Charge by which the Statutes before mentioned and other the good Laws and Statutes of this Realm your Subjects have inherited this Freedom That they should not be compelled to contribute to any Tax Tallage Aid or other like Charge not set by common censent in Parliament Yet nevertheless of late divers Commssions directed to sundry Commissioners in several Counties with instructions have issued by means whereof your People have been in divers places assembled and required to lend certain sums of Money unto your Majesty and many of them upon their refusal so to do have had an Oath administred unto them not warrantable by the Laws or Statutes of this Realm and have been constrained to become bound to make appearance and give attendance before your Privy Councel and in other places and others of them have been therefore Imprisoned Consined and sundry other ways molested and disquieted And divers other charges have been layed and levied upon your People in several Counties by Lords Lieutenants Deputy Lieutenants Commissioners for Musters Iustices of Peace and others by command or direction from your Majesty or your Privy Councel against the Laws and free Customs of the Realm And where also by the Statute called The great Charter of the Liberties of England It is declared and enacted That no Freeman may be taken or imprisoned or be disseised of his Freeholds or Liberties or his free Customs or be Outlawed or Exiled or in any manner destroyed but by the lawful Iudgement of his Peers or by the Law of the Land And in the eight and twentieth year of the reign of King Edward the third it was declared and enacted by Authority of Parliament That no man of what Estate or condition that he be should be put out of his Land or Tenements nor taken nor imprisoned nor disherited nor put to death without being brought to answer by due process of Law Nevertheless against the tenor of the said Statutes and other the good Laws Statutes of your Realm to that end provided divers of your Subjects have of late been imprisoned without any cause shewed and when for their deliverance they were brought before your Iustices by your Majesties Writs of Habeas Corpus there to undergo and receive as the Court should order and their Keepers commanded to certifie the Causes of their detainer no cause was certified but that they were detained by your Majesties special Command signified by the Lords of your Privy Councel and yet were returned back to several Prisons without being charged with any thing to which they might make answer according to the Law And whereas of late great companies of Soldiers and Mariners have been dispersed into divers Counties of the Realm and the Inhabitants against their wills have been compelled to receive them into their houses and there to suffer them to sojourn against the Laws and Customs of this Realm and to the great grievance and vexation of the people And whereas also by Authority of Parliament in the 25 year of the reign of King Edward the third
remember that in my first Speech unto you for proof of my love to my People I craved your Advice in this great and weighty affair But in a matter of this weight I must first consider how this Course may agree with my Conscience and Honor and next according to the Parable uttered by our Saviour after I have resolved of the Necessity and justness of the Cause to consider how I shall be enabled to raise Forces for this purpose As concerning the Cause of my Children I am now old and as Moses saw the Land of Promise from an high mountain though he had not leave to set his foot in it so it would be a great comfort to me that God would but so long prolong my days as if I might not see the Restitution yet at least I might be assured that it would be That then I might with old Simeon say Nunc dimittis Servum tuum Domine c. Otherwise it would be a great grief unto me and I should die with a heavy and discomforted heart I have often said and particularly in the last Parliament and I shall ever be of that mind That as I am not ambitious of any other mens Goods or Lands so I desire not to enjoy a Furrow of Land in England Scotland or Ireland without Restitution of the Palatinate And in this mind I will live and die But let me acquaint you a little with the Difficulties of this Cause He is an unhappy man that shall advise a King to War and it is an unhappy thing to seek that by Blood which may be had by Peace Besides I think your intentions are not to engage me in War but withal you will consider how many things are requisite thereunto I omit to speak of my own Necessities they are too well known Sure I am I have had the least help in Parliament of any King that ever reigned over you these many years I must let you know that my Disabilities are increased by the Charge of my Son's journey into Spain which I was at for his honor and the honor of this Nation By sending of Ambassadors by maintaining of my Children and by assisting of the Palatinate I have incurred a great Debt to the King of Denmark which I am not able yet to pay The Low-Countries who in regard of their nearness are fittest to help for the Recovery of the Palatinate are at so low an ebb that if I assist them not they are scarce able to subsist The Princes of Germany that should do me any good are all poor weak and disheartned and do expect assistance from hence For Ireland I leave it to you whether that be not a back-door to be secured For the Navy I thank God it is in a better case then ever it was yet more must be done and before it can be prepared as it ought to be it will require a new Charge as well for its own strength as for the securing of the Coasts My Children I vow to God eat no bread but by my means I must maintain them and not see them want In the mean time my Customs are the best part of my Revenues and in effect the substance of all I have to live on All which are farmed out upon that condition That if there be War those Bargains are to be disannulled which will enforce a great defalcation Subsidies ask a great time to bring them in Now if you assist me that way I must take them up beforehand upon credit which will eat up a great part of them This being my Case To enter into War without sufficient means to support it were to shew my teeth and do no more In the mean time I heartily thank you for your Advice and will seriously think upon it as I pray you to consider of those other parts My Treasurer to whose Office it appertains shall more at large inform you of those things that concern my Estate Thus freely do I open my heart unto you And having your hearts I cannot want your helps for it is the heart that openeth the purse not the purse the heart I will deal frankly with you Shew me the Means how I may do what you would have me and if I take a Resolution by your Advice to enter into a War then your selves by your own Deputies shall have the disposing of the Money I will not meddle with it but you shall appoint your own Treasurers I say not this with a purpose to invite you to open your Purses and then to slight you so much as not to follow your Counsel nor engage you before I be engaged my self Give me what you will for my own means but I protest none of the Monies which you shall give for those uses shall be issued but for those ends and by men elected by your selves If upon your offer I shall find the means to make the War honorable and safe and that I resolve to embrace your Advice then I promise you in the word of a King That although War and Peace be the peculiar Prerogatives of Kings yet as I have advised with you in the Treaties on which War may ensue so I will not treat nor accept of a Peace without first acquainting you with it and hearing your advice and therein go the proper way of Parliament in conferring and consulting with you And happily the Conditions of Peace will be the better when we be prepared for War according to the old Proverb That Weapons bode Peace Your kind carriage gives me much content And that comforts me which my Lord of Canterbury said That there was not a Contrary voice amongst you all like the Seventy Interpreters who were led by the breath of God I am so desirous to forget all rents in former Parliaments that it shall not be in my default if I am not in love with Parliaments and call them often and desire to end my life in that entercourse between me and my people for the making of good Laws reforming of such Abuses as I cannot be well informed of but in Parliament and maintaining the good Government of the Commonwealth Therefore go on cheerfully and advise of these Points and my Resolution shall then be declared Hereupon the House of Commons immediately took into consideration the matter of Supply And Sir Edward Sackvile afterwards Earl of Dorset spake thus to that Subject SInce Supply unto his Majesty is now in question of which I hope there will be no question I humbly ask leave of this Honorable Assembly to speak my Opinion assuring you That when a Treaty of Grievances shall be on foot it shall appear I will not sit silent if I find my self able to say any thing that may lend a hand to unload my Country of that heavy burthen it now groans under by reason of the innumerable number of Monopolies which like so many Incubusses and Succubusses exhaust the Vital spirits and so press down those Parts which ought to enjoy
Majesty will be likewise pleased strictly to command all your Iudges and Ministers of Iustice Ecclesiastical and Temporal to sée the Laws of this Realm against Popish Recusants to be duly executed And namely that the Censure of Excommunication be declared and certified against them and that they be not absolved but upon publick satisfaction by yielding to Conformity Answ. His Majesty leaves the Lawes to their Course and will order in the point of Excommunication as is desired X. That your Majesty will be pleased to remove from places of Authority and Government all such persons as are either Popish Recusants or according to direction of former Acts of State to be justly suspected Answ. This his Majesty thinks fit and will give order for it XI That present order be taken for disarming all Popish Recusants legally convicted or justly suspected according to the Laws in that behalf and the Orders taken by his late Majesties Privy-Council upon reason of State Answ. The Laws and Acts in this Case shall be followed and put in due execution XII That your Majesty be also pleased in respect of the great resort of Recusants to and about London to command forthwith upon pain of your indignation and severe execution of the Laws that they retire themselves to their several Countries there to remain confined within Five miles of their places Answ. For this the Laws in force shall be forthwith executed XIII And whereas your Majesty hath strictly commanded and taken order that none of the natural born Subjects repair to the hearing of Masses or other Superstitious Service at the Chappels or Houses of Foreign Ambassadors or in any other places whatsoever we give your Majesty most humble thanks and desire that your Order and Commandment therein may be continued and observed and that the Offenders herein may be punished according to the Laws Answ. The King gives assent thereto and will see that observed which herein hath been commanded by him XIV That all such Insolencies as any that are Popishly affected have lately committed or shall hereafter commit to the dishonor of our Religion or to the wrong of the true Professors thereof be exemplarily punished Answ. This shall be done as is desired XV. That the Statute of 1 Eliz. for the payment of Twelve-pence every Sunday by such as shall be absent from Divine service in the Church without a lawfull excuse may be put in due execution the rather for that the penalty by Law is given to the poor and therefore not to be dispenced withal Answ. It is fit that this Statute be executed and the Penalties shall not be dispenced withal XVI Lastly That your Majesty would be pleased to extend your Princely care also over the Kingdom of Ireland that the like courses may be there taken for the restoring and establishing of true Religion Answ. His Majesties cares are and shall be extended over the Kingdom of Ireland and he will do all that a Religious King should do for the restoring and establishing of true Religion there And thus most gracious Soveraign according to our duty and zeal to God and Religion to your Majesty and your safety to the Church and Common-wealth and their peace and prosperity we have made a faithfull Declaration of the present Estate the causes and remedies of this increasing disease of Popery humbly offering the same to your Princely care and wisdom The Answer of your Majesties Father our late Soveraign of famous memory upon the like Petition did give us great comfort of Reformation but your Majesties most gracious promises made in that kinde do give us confidence and assurance of the continual performance thereof In which comfort and confidence reposing our selves we most humbly pray for your Majesties long continuance in all Princely felicity The Petition and Answer being read it was further intimated to the Commons That as his Majesty took well their minding him of the care of Religion so he would have done and granted the same things though they had never petitioned him neither doth he place his Answer to this Petition as a wheel to draw on other affairs and designs but he leaves them to move in their own Sphere and what he hath done in this particular comes from these two Fountains Conscience and Duty to his Father who in his last speech recommended unto him the Person but not the Religion of his Queen At the same time the Duke signified to both Houses that by the Kings command he was to give an account of the Fleet and the preparations thereof and said that the first and last time he had the happiness to speak in that Auditory it was of the Spanish Treaty and then he was so happy as to be honored and applauded by both Houses of Parliament and he made no question but speaking now with the same heart he should be no less acceptable to them And he made this request to the House of Commons to believe that if any hath spoken or shall speak in discharge of his conscience his zeal of Reformation any thing which may seem to reflect upon some particular persons he shall be the last man that will apply this to himself because he is confidently assured of two things first that they are just not to fall upon him without cause and secondly that himself shall do nothing that unbecomes a faithfull Englishman And for the Method of his ensuing Discourse he chose rather to speak by way of Objection and Answer then in one continued Speech as a speedier means to give the Commons satisfaction Object 1. By what Counsel those Designs and Actions of War were carried and enterprised Answ. By the Counsel of the Parliament appointed according to the Act of both Houses the 23. of March 1623. by those Counsels his Majesty was guided and applied himself accordingly for the defence of the Realm the securing of Ireland the assisting of our Neighbors and others our Friends and Allies and for the setting forth the Navy-Royal His Majesty looking into his purse saw enough to do all the former Actions but not this latter For when he came to consider of the Navy there was neither money nor preparations yet looking upon the Affairs of Christendom he found that of most necessity Hereupon his Majesty of famous memory did him viz. the Duke the honor as to write from Newmarket to him at London a Letter to this effect That looking into the Affairs of Christendom he found it necessary that a Royal-Fleet shouâ—d be prepared and set in readiness but that he had no Money wherefore himself meaning the Duke and his Friends must begin to lay it out and no doubt but others would follow and by this means the King might lie the longer concealed and undiscovered in the Enterprise as bearing the name of the Subject onely and other Princes in hope to draw him on would sooner come to the business Upon this Letter the Duke said he leaped into the Action with all alacrity and
as of the common Cause we shall not need to tell them with what care and patience we have in the middest of our Necessities attended their Resolutions but because their unseasonable slowness may produce at home as ill effects as a Denial and hazard the whole Estate of things abroad we have thought fit by you the Speaker to let them know that without more loss of time we look for a full and perfect Answer of what they will give for our Supply according to our expectation and their promises wherein as we press for nothing beyond the present state and condition of our Subjects so we accept no less then is proportionable to the greatness and goodness of the Cause neither do we press them to a present Resolution in this with a purpose to precipitate their Counsels much less to enter upon their Priviledges but to shew that it is unfit to depend any longer upon uncertainties whereby the whole weight of the Affairs of Christendom may break in upon us upon the sudden to our dishonor and the shame of this Nation And for the business at home we command you to promise them in our Name that after they have satisfied us in this our reasonable Demand we shall not onely continue them together at this time so long as the season will permit but call them shortly again to perfect those necessary businesses which shall be now left undone and now we shall willingly apply â—it and seasonable remedies to such just Grievances which they shall present unto us in a dutifull and mannerly way without throwing an ill odor upon our present Government or upon the Government of our late blessed Father and if there be yet who desire to finde fault we shall think him the wisest reprehendor of errors past who without reflecting backward can give us counsel how to settle the present estate of things and to provide for the future safety and honor of the Kingdom The Heads of Sir Richard Westons Message for drawing a more speedy resolution from the House besides that formerly understood concerning the King of Denmark Count Mansfield and his Majesties Army in the Low-Countries were these I. THat his Majesties Fleet being returned and the victuals spent the men must of necessity be discharged and their wages paid or else an assured mutiny will follow which may be many wayes dangerous at this time II. That his Majesty hath made ready about forty ships to be set forth on a second voyage to hinder the Enemy which want onely victuals and some men which without present supply of money cannot be set forth and kept together III. That the Army which is appointed in every Coast must presently be disbanded if they be not presently supplied with victuals and clothes IV. That if the Companies of Ireland lately sent thither be not provided for instead of defending that Country they will prove the Authors of Rebellion V. That the season of providing healthfull victuals will be past if this Moneth be neglected And therefore his Majesty commanded me to tell you that he desired to know without futher delaying of time what supply you will give him for these his present occasions that he may accordingly frame his course and counsel Which Message produced this Answer from the Commons Most gracious Soveraign YOur Majesties Dutifull and Loyal Subjects the Commons now assembled in Parliament in all humility present unto your Royal wisdom this their Loyal Answer to the Message which your Majesty was pleased by the Chancellor of your Exchequer to send unto them desiring to know without any further deferring of time what Supply they would give to your Majesty for your present and extraordinary occasions that you might accordingly frame your Courses and Counsels First of all they most humbly beseech your Majesty to know and rest assured That no King was ever dearer to his people then your Majesty no people more zealous to maintain and advance the Honor and Greatness of their King then they which as upon all occasions they shall be ready to express so especially in the Support of that Cause wherein your Majesty and your Allies are now justly engaged And because they cannot doubt but your Majesty in your great wisdom even out of Justice and according to the Example of your most famous Predecessors will be pleased graciously to accept the faithfull and necessary Information and Advice of your Parliament which can have no end but the service of your Majesty and safety of your Realm in discovering the Causes and proposing the Remedies of these great Evils which have occasioned your Majesties Wants and your Peoples Grief They therefore in confidence and full assurance of Redress therein do with one consent propose though in former time such Course hath been unused that they really intend to assist and supply your Majesty in such a way and in so ample a measure as may make you safe at home and feared abroad for the dispatch whereof they will use such diligence as your Majesties pressing and present occasions shall require His Majesty makes this Reply to the Commons Answer Mr Speaker THe Answer of the Commons delivered by you I like well of and do take it for a full and satisfactory Answer and I thank them for it and I hope you will with all Expedition take a Course for performance thereof the which will turn to your own good as well as mine but for your Clause therein of presenting of Grievances I take that but for a Parenthesis in your Speech and not a Condition and yet for answer to that part I will tell you I will be as willing to hear your Grievances as my Predecessors have been so that you will apply your selves to redress Grievances and not to enquire after Grievances I must let you know that I will not allow any of my Servants to be questioned amongst you much less such as are of eminent place and neer unto me The old question was What shall be done to the man whom the King will honor but now it hath been the labor of some to seek what may be done against him whom the King thinks fit to honor I see you specially aim at the Duke of Buckingham I wonder what hath so altered your affections towards him I do well remember that in the last Parliament in my Fathers time when he was an Instrument to break the Treaties all of you and yet I cannot say all for I know some of you are changed but yet the House of Commons is alwayes the same did so much honor and respect him that all the honor conferred on him was too little and what he hath done since to alter or change your mindes I wot not but can assure you he hath not medled or done any thing concerning the Publick or Commonwealth but by special directions and appointment and as my Servant and is so far from gaining or improving his Estate thereby that I verily think he hath rather
the other Knight being Robert Clifford it was agreed in Parliament that he should have the voices of both because the other must of necessity be absent And they both amongst other things petitioned the Council that if the King in his Person should come on the Sea they might have such a liberty to wait upon him as they might make their Lieutenant during the time for the service of their places But the Council that allowed the rest or most of their demands answered to that Le Councel ne pent faire Then he estimated the nature of the offence by the consequences which follow the not guarding of the Seas viz. 1. The losses already shewed 2. The prevention of Trade which gives life to the wealth of the Kingdom 3. The weakning of the Naval strength the Merchants being thereby discouraged from building ships which they cannot use In 1 Rich. 2. the Commons opened the two chief and almost whole Causes of the weakning the Kingdom at that time the neglect of Chivalry and eminent vertue not regarded nor rewarded the decay of Trade since the Navy was grown weak besides all the loss of quiet possession of so large a Territory as the Seas of England and Ireland by the free use of which the ancient glory and greatness of the Crown of England hath so constantly subsisted Then he instanced in Michael de la Pool Lord Chancellor who in 9 Rich. 2. mis-spent Subsidies given pro salva custodia maris as appears in the Roll and was adjuged in Parliament though for other offences because some other Lords of the Council had been trusted with him and it was not fit to impeach him sans les companions they taking it for a crime without question fit to be complained of Secondly in William Duke of Suffolk who for the same fault being Admiral onely in the right of Henry Earl of Exeter his Ward was by the King extraordinarily commanded into banishment Then he brought examples of such who had been put to death and confiscated for not safe-guarding Towns and Castles and Forts which are of like nature with not safe-guarding the Seas and with losing the possession of the Crown To the Fifth he said The staying of the ship called the Peter of Newhaven and detaining part of the goods was against the Marine Laws of England against the Common Laws against the Laws of Merchants and consequently the Law of Nations By the Marine Laws agreeable to the Civil Laws sentence given by any Subject or other against the King may upon new proof be revoked but not without new proof He made by his Patent a Judge of all Maritine Causes as well as Keeper of the Seas his Jurisdiction was to be exercised juxta leges nostras civiles Maritimas and accordingly to hear all Causes and generally to proceed ex officio mero mixto promoto secundum leges nostras Civiles Maritimas Against the Common-Laws All Justices and all other deputed to do Law or Right are commanded by Act of Parliament to permit the course of ordinary Justice and although they be commanded to do the contrary that they do execution aright and according to justice as far as in them lies and so for any Letters of Commandment which may come unto them from us or from any other or by any other cause Against the Law of Nations Against what is agreed by the Leagues between us and Forain Nations That the Subjects of Nations in Amity with us shall be well used and permitted without Molestation for what cause or occasion soever according to the Laws and Customs of the places where they shall be Lastly against the Laws of Merchants which is to have Celerem justitiam The Consequences of this Offence are 1. Great damage to our English Merchants that have suffered by reason of it in Forain Parts as they alleadge 2. It is a discouragement to those that are Subjects to the Marine Jurisdiction 3. An example that may serve hereafter to justifie all absolute Authority in the Admiral without Law or Legal course over the ships and good of all Merchants whatsoever and so no security to Merchants Lastly He instanceth in the Duke of Suffolk who was adjudged in Parliament for Treason and among other offences it was laid to his charge that he took to his own use goods Piratically taken and expresly against the Order determined by the Lord Protector and the whole Council whereunto his hand had been for the restitution of them Next were read the Sixth Seventh and Eighth Articles viz. VI. Whereas the honor wealth and strength of this Realm of England is much increased by the Traffick chiefly of such Merchants as imploy and build great warlike Ships a consideration that should move all Counsellors of State especially the Lord Admiral to cherish and maintain such Merchants The said Duke abusing the Lords of the Parliament in the One and twentieth year of the late King Iames of famous memory with pretence of serving the State did oppress the East India Merchants and extorted from them Ten thousand pounds in the subtil and unlawfull manner following About February in the year aforesaid he the said Duke hearing some good success that those Merchants had at Ormus in the parts beyond the Seas by his Agents cunningly in or about the moneth aforesaid in the year of the said late King endeavored to draw from them some great sum of money which their poverty and no gain by that success at Ormus made those Merchants absolutely to deny whereupon he the said Duke perceiving that the said Merchants were then setting forth in the course of their Trade four Ships and two Pinaces laden with goods and merchandise of very great value like to lose their voyage if they they should not speedily depart The said Duke on the first of March then following in the said year of the said late King did move the Lords then assembled in the said Parliament whether he should make stay of any Ships which were then in the Ports as being high Admiral he might and namely those ships prepared for the East India voyage which were of great burthen and well furnished which motion being approved by their Lordships the Duke did stay those ships accordingly but the fifth of March following when the then Deputy of that Company with other of those Merchants did make suit to the said Duke for the release of those Ships and Pinaces he the said Duke said he had not been the occasion of their staying but that having heard the motion with much earnestness in the Lords House of Parliament he could do no less then give the order they had done and therefore he willed them to set down the reasons of their suit which he would acquaint the House withall yet in the mean time he gave them leave to let their said ships and Pinaces fall down as low as Tilbury And the tenth of March following an unusual joynt action was by his procurement entred
in the Book-Case in the Third year of Edw. 3. which was here urged cannot be proved to be in Parliament time and this the Lords of the Grand-Committee thought fit to offer to the consideration of the House Hereupon the House was moved to give power to the Lords Sub-Committees for Priviledges c. to proceed in the search of Presidents of the Commitment of a Peer of this Realm during the time of Parliament and that the Kings Council might shew them such Presidents as they have of the said Commitment And that the said Sub-Committee may make the Report unto the House at the next access All which was granted and agreed unto and these Lords were called unto the said Sub-Committee viz. The Lord Treasurer Lord President Duke of Buckingham Earl of Dorset Earl of Devon The Earl of Clare The Vicount Wallingford Vicount Mansfield Lord North. And the Kings Council were appointed to attend the Lords The Lord President reported the Proceedings of the said Sub-Committees for Priviledges c. upon Commitment of the Earl of Arundel viz. That the Kings Council had searched and acquainted the Lords Sub-Committees with all that they had found in Records Chronicles and Stories concerning this matter Unto which the said Lords Sub-Committees had given full Answer and also shewed such Presidents as did maintain their own Rights The Presidents being read which for the length we forbear to mention It was resolved upon the Question by the whole House Nemine dissentiente That the Priviledge of this House is That no Lord of Parliament the Parliament sitting or within the usual times of Priviledges of Parliament is to be imprisoned or restrained without Sentence or Decree of the House unless it be for Treason or Felony or refusing to give Surety of the Peace And it was thereupon ordered That the said Lords Sub-Committees for Priviledges c. or any five of them shall meet this afternoon to consider of a Remonstrance and Petition of the Peers concerning the Claim of their Priviledges from Arrests and Imprisonments during the Parliament Which was conceived by the Lords Sub-Committees for Priviledges according to the Order of the House and was read openly viz. May it please your Majesty WE the Péers of this your Realm assembled in Parliament â—inding the Earl of Arundel absent from his place that sometimes in this Parliament sate amongst us his presence was therefore called for But thereupon a Message was delivered unto us from your Majesty by the Lord Kéeper That the Earl of Arundel was restrained for a misdemeanor which was personal to your Majesty and had no relation to matters of Parliament This Message occasioned us to enquire into the Acts of our Ancestors and what in like cases they had done that so we might not erre in any dutiful respect to your Majesty and yet preserve our right and priviledge of Parliament And after diligent search both of all Stories Statutes and Records that might inform us in this case We find it to be an undoubted right and constant priviledge of Parliament That no Lord of Parliament the Parliament sitting or within the usual times of Priviledge of Parliament is to be imprisoned or restrained without Sentence or Order of the House unless it be for Treason or Felony or for refusing to give Surety for the Peace And to satisfie our selves the better we have heard all that could be alleaged by your Majesties Council learned at the Law that might any way weaken or infringe this claim of the Peers And to all that can be shewed or alleaged so full satisfaction hath been given as that all the Peers of Parliament upon the Question made of this Priviledge have una voce consented That this is the undoubted Right of the Peers and hath unviolably been enjoyed by them Wherefore we your Majesties Loyal Subjects and humble Servants the whole body of the Peers now in Parliament assembled most humbly beseech your Majesty that the Earl of Arundel a Member of this Body may presently be admitted with your gracious favor to come sit and serve your Majesty and the Commonwealth in the great Affairs of this Parliament And we shall pray c. This Remonstrance and Petition to this Majesty was approved by the whole House who agreed that it should be presented by the whole House to his Majesty and it was further agreed That the Lord President the Lord Steward the Earl of Cambridge and the Lord Great-Chamberlain should presently go to the King to know his Majesties pleasure when they shall attend him These Lords returning the Lord President reported that his Majesty had appointed that day between two and three of the clock for the whole House to attend him with the said Remonstrance and Petition in the Chamber of Presence at Whitehall And it was agreed That the Lord Keeper should then read the same to the King and present it unto his Majesty The Twentieth of April the Lord President reported the Kings Answer unto the Remonstrance and Petition of the Lords to this effect That their Lordships having spent some time about this business and it being of some consequence his Majesty should be thought rash if he should give a sudden Answer thereto and therefore will advise of it and give them a full Answer in convenient time The 21. of April 1626. It was ordered That the House should be called on Monday next being the 24. of April Which was done accordingly And the Earl of Arundel being called the Lord Keeper signified unto the House That his Majesty had taken into consideration the Petition exhibited by their Lordships the 19. of April concerning the Earl of Arundel and will return an Answer thereunto with all expedition The 2. of May it was ordered That the Lord Keeper should move his Majesty from the House for a speedy and gracious Answer unto the Petition on the Earl of Arundels behalf The 4. of May 1626. the Lord Keeper signified unto their Lordships That according to the Order of the 2. of May he had moved his Majesty from the House on the behalf of the Earl of Arundel Who answered It is a Cause wherein he hath had a great deal of care and is willing to give their Lordships satisfaction and hath it in his consideration how to do it and hath been interrupted by other business wherein Mr. Attorney hath had occasion of much conference with him as their Lordships are acquainted But will with all conveniencie give their Lordships satisfaction and return them an Answer The 9. of May 1626 the House being moved to petition the King touching the Earl of Arundel certain Lords were appointed to set down the form of the said Petition who reported the same in writing as followeth viz. May it please your Majesty WHereas the whole body of the Peers now assembled in Parliament did the 19 day of April exhibit to your Majesty an humble Remonstrance and Petition concerning the Priviledge of Peers
and condition he died in Summer 1658. being about the age of seventy years Trinity 5. Car. Banco Regis The first day of this Term upon a Habeas Corpus to Sir Allen Apsley the Lieutenant of the Tower to bring here the body of Iohn Selden Esq with the cause of Detencer he returned the same cause as was in Mr. Stroods Case And Mr. Littleton of the Inner-Temple of Counsel with Mr. Selden moved that the Return was insufficient in substance therefore pray'd that he might be bayled and said that it was a matter of great consequence both to the Crown of the King and to the Liberty of the Subject But as for the difficulty of Law contained in it he said under favour the Case cannot be said Grand And so proceeded to his Argument which for the Reasons before mentioned we have postponed and concluded that the Prisoner ought to be bailed The same day Sir Miles Hubbord Benjamin Valentine Denzil Holles Esq were at the Bar upon the Habeas Corpus directed to several Prisons And their Counsel were ready at the Bar to have argued the Case for them also But because the same Return was made for them as for Mr. Selden they all Declared they would rely on this Argument made by Mr. Littleton Some few days after Sir Robert Heath the Kings Atturney General argued that this Return was good and that Mr. Selden and the rest of the parties ought not to be bailed and that within the Return there appears good cause of their commitment and of their detaining also He said The Case is great in expectation consequence and concerns the Liberty of the Subject on one part whereof the Argument is plausible and on the other part it concerns the safety and Soveraignty of the King which he said is a thing of greater weight and that the consideration of both pertains to you the Judges without flighting the one or too much elevating the other and so proceeded to his Argument of which more at large hereafter and concluded that the Prisoners ought to be remanded When the Court was ready to have delivered their opinions in this great business the Prisoners were not brought to the Bar according to the Rule of the Court. Therefore Proclamation was made for the keepers of the several Prisons to bring in their Prisoners but none of them appeared but the Marshal of the Kings Bench who informed the Court that Mr. Strood who was in his custody was removed yesterday and put in the Tower of London by the Kings own warrant and so it was done with the other Prisoners for each of them was removed out of his prison in which he was before But notwithstanding it was pray'd by the Counsel for the Prisoners that the Court would deliver their opinion as to the matter in Law but the Court refused to do that because it was to no purpose for the Prisoners being absent they could not be bailed delivered or remanded The evening before there came a Letter to the Judges of this Court from the King himself informing the Court with the Reasons wherefore the Prisoners were not suffered to come at the day appointed for the resolution of the Judges These were the words of the Letter To our Trusty and welbeloved Our Chief Justice and the rest of Our Justices of Our Bench. C. R. TRusty and welbeloved we Greet you well Whereas by our special commandment we have lately removed Sir Miles Hubard Walter Long and William Stroud from the several prisons where they were formerly committed and have now sent them to our Tower of London understanding there are various constructions made thereof according to the several apprehensions of those who discourse of it as if we had done it to decline the course of Iustice We have therefore thought fit to let you know the true Reason and occasion thereof as also why we commanded those and the other Prisoners should not come before you the last day We having heard how most of them a while since did carry themselves insolently and unmannerly both towards us and your Lordships were and are very sensible thereof and though we hear your selves gave them some admonition for that miscariage yet we could not but resent our Honour and the Honour of so great a Court of Iustice so far as to let the world know how much we dislike the same And having understood that your Lordships and the rest of our Iudges and Barons of our Court of Common Pleas and Exchequer whose advices and judgments we have desired in this great business so much concerning our Government have not yet resolved the main Question we did not think the presence of those Prisoners necessary and until we should find their temper and discretions to be such as may deserve it we were not willing to afford them favour Nevertheless the respect we bear to the proceedings of that Court hath caused us to give way that Selden and Valentine should attend you tomorrow they being sufficient to appear before you since you cannot as yet give any resolute opinion in the main point in Question Given under our Signet at Our Mannor at Greenwich this 24 Iunii in the 5 yeer of our Reign Within three hours after the receit of those Letters other Letters were brought unto the said Judges as followeth To Our trusty and well-beloved Our Chief Justices and the rest of Our Justices of Our Bench. C. R. TRusty and well-beloved we greet you well Whereas by our Letters of this days date we gave you to understand our pleasure That of those prisoners which by our Commandment are kept in our Tower of London Selden and Valentine should be brought tomorrow before you now upon more mature Deliberation we have resolved That all of them shall receive the same treatment and that none shall come before you until we have cause given us to believe they will make a better demonstration of their Modesty and Civility both towards us and your Lordships then at their last appearance they did Given under our Signet at our Mannor at Greenwich this 24 day of Iune in the fifth year of our Reign So the Court this Term delivered no opinion and the imprisoned Gentlemen continued in restraint all the long Vacation Note That in this Term a Habeas Corpus was prayed to the Pursevant of Arms for four Constables of Hertfordshire to whose custody they were committed by the Lords of the Privy-Council and the Habeas Corpus was granted on their behalf but then they were committed to the Custody of other Pursevants and so upon every Habeas Corpus they were removed from Pursevant to Pursevant and could have no fruit of their Habeas Corpus all this Term. There wanted not some who upon the Kings dissolution of this Parliament and his ill success in two former Parliaments did advise that his Majestie for the future might be no more troubled with the impertinencies of Parliaments holding out for example the like
King 2. It stands not with the dignity of the King to arrest any man C. 4. 73. The King makes a Lease for years rendring rent with condition of re-entry for non-payment he shall take advantage of the condition without any demand and the reason there given is that a decorum and conveniency might be observed So it is not befitting for the King in person to arrest any man but the King may command another to do it Bracton lib. 2. de acquirendo rerum Dominio fol. 55. sayes That the Crown of the King is to do justice and judgment and facere pacem without which the Crown it self cannot subsist Severall constructions are to be made upon those severall words and the last words facere pacem imply that the King hath a coercive power Britton f. 1. amongst the Errata The King said in person Because we are not sufficient in person to do every thing We divide the charge into many parts We are the peoples Iustice and a Iustice implies one that hath power to do justice in every kind to wit by imprisonment or otherwise 20 H. 7.7 C. 11.85 it is said That the King is the chief Iustice. And Lambert in his Justice of Peace fol. 3. saies That in antient Histories the chief Iustice of England is called Capitalis Justicia Prima Justicia after the King in England So that the King hath the same power of Iustice as the Chief Iustice had This imprisonment here which is before conviction for any offenâ— is not used towards the Subject as imprisonment for any fault but is rather an arrest or restraint to avoid further inconveniencies 14 H. 7.8 A Iustice of Peace may arrest men riotously assembled for prevention of further mischief And the Book also saies That he may leave his servants there to arrest men for safeguard of the peace It is a case well known that if a house be set on fire every man may pull down the next house for prevention of greater mischief so it seems concerning the Incendiaries of the State they ought to be restrained and supprest lest others should be stirred up by them to the same combustion 22 ass 56. and 22 E. 4.45 in false imprisonment the Defendant justifies because the Plantiff was mad and out of his wits and that he had done some harm and that he had bound and beat him to avoid further harm which might have happened by his madnesse And the justification was held good So it is in matter of Government to avoid commotions the King ought to use his coercive power against those that are enraged The objection was that this course was against the Petition of Right But I answer That this case is out of the words of that Petition the words of the Petition were Whereas by the Statute called The great Charter and by the Statute of 28 E. 3. no free-man may be taken or imprisoned yet against the tenour of the said Statute c. divers of your subjects have of late been imprisoned without any cause shewed and when for their deliverance c. they were brought before the Iustices by Writs of Habeas corpus there to undergo and receive as the Court should order and their Keepers commanded to certifie the cause of their deteyner and no cause was certified but that they were detained by your Majesties speciall command signified by the Lords of your Council and yet were returned back to severall prisons without being charged with any thing to which they might make answer according to Law These last words are observable Without being charged with any thing to which they might make answer These words do not refer to the Return of the Habeas Corpus for the cause returned therein cannot be traversed 9 H. 6. 54. but the Court took it as true But the setting forth of the cause and the answer to the same cause is to be upon other proceedings to wit upon the indictment for the offence or otherwise And there is great difference between the return of a Writ to which a man may answer and the return of an Habeas corpus 10 E. 4. 3 H. 7.11 are that if the Sheriff return Rescous all certainties of every circumstance ought to be shewed because it is fitting that a thing certain be brought into judgment And upon shewing of the grievance as above the Petition is that no free-man in any such manner as before is mentioned be imprisoned or detained such and it hath relation to such imprisonment which is mentioned in the premises And imprisonment mentioned in the premises of the Petition is where no cause at all was mentioned then where any cause is shewed is out of the Petition and that such is the word relative appears by C. 11 62. where many cases are put to the same purpose which see The third objection was That the Return was generall and uncertain The Counsell on the other side had divided the words of the Return but that is to offer violence thereunto for an exposition shall not be made by fractions but upon the whole matter For the first words notable contempts It hath been said that the addition of the word notable is but to make a flourish But I say That notable is not the emphasis of the Return but it onely expresseth the nature of the offence and yet notable is a word observable by it self in the Law and implyes that the thing is known and noted By 27 E. 1. Sheriffs shall be punished that let notorious offenders to bayl and by the Statute of 4 H. 4. chap. 3. a notorious or common thief shall not make his purgation and 26 E. 3.71 in a trespasse for fals imprisonment the Defendant said That the Plantiff came into the Town of Huntington and because he was seen in the company of R. de Thorby who was a notorious thief he as Bailiff of Huntington took him upon suspition I confesse that for contempts is generall yea it is genus generalissimum and within the Petition of Right but the words are against Our Self It hath been said That this might be by irreverent words or gestures and Our Government It hath been said that this might be by contempt to the Kings Writ or by Retraxit as Beechers case is To this I answer That those words which are spoken to one purpose ought not to be wrested to another and this is against the common meaning of the words C. 4. Thou art a murderer the Defendant shall not afterwards explain it to be a murderer of Hares for the highest murder is intended So here the highest Government is intended 4. It hath been objected that for stirring up of sedition against Us may perhaps be but an offence Finable But those words joyned with the former words shew this to be an offence of the highest nature sedition is a speciall contempt And although sedition in it self may be but a generall offence yet here it is Sedition against Us and Our Government which makes
offence treason is baylable And that he is baylable here I will offer two other reasons 1 st The Return here is for sedition and there is an information in the Star-chamber against the Prisoner for seditious practises against the King and his Government I will not affirm that they are the same offence but there is some probability that they are the self-same and if they be the same offence then the sedition here intended is not treason and so the party is baylable 2 ly This Prisoner was ready at this Bar the last Term and here was a Grand-Iury at Bar the last Term and here was the Kings Counsell present who are most watchfull for the King and yet an Indictment was not preferred to them against this Prisoner Which things induce me to be of opinion that the offence here mentioned in this Return is not treason or so great as is pretended on the other side I will remember one case which perhaps may be objected and yet I think they will not object it and so conclude 11 R. 2. Parliament Roll 14. in the printed Statute c. 3. and 5. where it appears that divers questions were propounded by the King to Tresilian and Bealknap the two chief Iustices and to the other Iustices one of which questions was How they are to be punished who resisted the King in exercising his royall power c And the answer of the Iudges was una voce that they are to be punished as traitors and 21 R. 2. c. 21. this opinion was confirmed But afterwards in 1 H. 4. c. 3. and 4. and 1 H. 4. in the Parliament-Roll numb 66 67 the Iudges were questioned for their opinion in Parliament They answered That they were threatned and enforced to give this opinion and that they were in truth of the contrary opinion And Bealknap said That he acquainted and protested to the Earl of Kent aforehand that his opinion was alwaies to the contrary But the Parliament was not content with these excuses but they were all adjudged Traitors and Tresilian's end is known to all and Bealknap was banished for his Wife in 2 H. 4. brought a Writ without naming her husband because he was banished And the said Statute of 21 R. 2. was repealed Therefore upon the whole matter I conclude that the Prisoner ought to be bayled On the same day Sir Miles Hubbart and Benjamin Valentine and Densill Hollis Esquires were at Bar upon an Habeas corpus directed to the severall Prisons and their Counsell was ready at the Bar to have argued the case for them also But because the same Return was made as above they said That all of them would rely upon this Argument made by Mr. Littleton The case of the grand Habeas corpus for Mr. Selden and others was now argued by Heath the Kings Atturney Generall That this Return was good and that the parties ought not to be bayled And that within the Return there appears good cause of their commitment and of their detaining also The case is great in expectation and consequence and concerns the liberty of the Subject on the one part whereof the Argument is plausible and on the other part it concerns the safety and soveraignty of the King which is a thing of great weight The consideration of both pertaines to you the Iudges without slighting the one or too much elevating the other The Return which now is before you is entire but I will first consider it as divided in parts First The first Warrant which is that of the Lords of the Privy Councill is generall that it was by the command of the Lord the King and this in former times was held a very good Return when due respect and reverence was given to Government but Tempora mutantur And this Return is no way weakened by any latter opinion for notwithstanding that the first commitment of a man may be generall for if upon the Return the true cause should be revealed to the Gaoler by this means faults should be published and divulged before their punishment and so the complices of the fact will escape and it is not fit that the Gaoler which is but a ministeriall Officer should be acquainted with the secrets of the cause But when the cause is returned in Court more certainty is requisite for then as it hath been objected something ought to be expressed to which the party may answer and upon which the Court may ground their Iudgment And to this purpose it hath been much insisted upon the Petition of Right but the Law is not altered by it but remains as it was before And this will appear upon the view of all the parts of the Petition 1 st The occasion of the Petition and the grievance is shewed in these words Divers of your Subjects have been of late imprisoned without any cause shewed c. But in this Return there is a cause shewed to which the parties may answer Then secondly the prayer of the Petition is That no free-man in any such manner as before is mentioned be imprisoned or detained that is such manner of imprisonment the ground whereof doth not appear Then the answer of the King to the Petition was in sundry words 2 Jun. 1628. in these words The King willeth that right be done according to the Lawes and Customes of the Realm c. Which answer gave not satisfaction And afterwards his answer was in a Parliamentary-phrase Soit droit fait come est desire But afterwards on the 26 of June 1628. the King expressed his intention and meaning in the said Answer It must needs be conceived that I have granted no new but onely confirmed the antient liberties of My Subjects c. A Petition in Parliament is not a Law yet it is for the honour and dignity of the King to observe and keep it faithfully but it is the duty of the people not to stretch it beyond the words and intention of the King And no other construction can be made of the Petition then to take it as a Confirmation of the antient liberties and rights of the Subjects So that now the case remains in the same quality and degree as it was before the Petition Therefore we will now consider how the Law was taken before the Petition and for the discussing thereof we will examine the second part of the Return and in it two things 1 st if the Return as it is now made shall be intended for true 2. admit that it is true if there be any offence contained within it which is good to detain the Prisoners For the first It is clear that the cause shall be intended true which is returned though in truth it be false and so are 9 H. 6.44 and F. Corpus cum causa 2. and C. 11. Baggs case 2 ly It seems that there is such a crime contained in this Return which is a good cause for detaining the Prisoners It is true that it was confidently urged in Parliament
Cases at the Council Table when great Causes were heard before the King and Council And when matters were agitated at a greater distance I was there also and went on purpose out of a curiosity to see and observe the passages at the Camp at Berwick at the Fight at Newborn at the Treaty at Rippon at the great Council at York and at the meeting of the Long Parliament The Observations I made during all the said time shall be further known if I be encouraged to proceed and that this my Forlorn be not repelled and defeated Thus have I good Reader acquainted thee in plain English with the Lines and rude Draughts of what hath been and what is like to be multorum annorum opus in which as I never did approve so neither could I perswade my self to tread in their Steps who intermingle their Passion with their stories and are not content to write of unless they write also for a Party or to serve an Interest and so declare themselves far better Advocates then Historiansâ—â— I profess that in singleness of heart I aim at truth which to me has alwayes seemed hugely amiable even without the tires and advantages of Wit and Eloquence And therefore in order to my greatest purpose I have esteemed the most unaffected and familiar Stile the best Altum alii teneant And so irresistible is the force of Truth and the Divine Providence so great that howsoever all possible diligence may have been used to carry things in secret and to act by colourable Pretences men often acting like Tumblers that are squint-eyed looking one way and aiming another Yet hath God in these our dayes brought to light such Secrets of State such private Consultations such strâ—nge Contrivances discovered by Letters Papers and Cabinet-memorials seised on in time of the War as otherwise probably neither we nor our Posterity should have ever known I conclude with the learned Spaniards opinion Satis est Historiae si sit vera quae ut reliqua habeat omnia si veritatem non habet obtinere nomen suum non potest J. RUSHWORTH 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 h.e. Anglorum leges Suadam consulta Senatus ausáque cuncta loquor tempore quaeque suo Excipis adverso si pectore ore maligno pluribus invideas Zoile nemo tibi The Printer to the Reader BEing obliged to get this Book finished against the ensuing Term I was constrained to make more haste then ordinary so that possibly some Faults have escap'd which I request the Courteous Reader to Pardon and Amend as they shall be met with VALE The right high and most mightie Monarch â—AMES by the Graâ—ce of God King of great Britaine Fraunce and Ireland c Defendor of the Faith Historical Collections THe grand business of State in the latter times of King Iames was the Spanish Match which had the Kings heart in it over-ruled all his Counsels and had a mighty influence upon the Universal State of Christendom This King affecting the name of a King of Peace and Peace-maker as his chief glory had designed what in him lay the setling of a general Peace in Europe and the reconciling of all Parties and professed that if the Papists would leave their King-killing and some other grosser Errors he was willing to meet them half way moreover he was ever zealous for the honor and height of regal Majesty and to maintain the glory of it in his Successors 't was his chief desire and care to match his Son with some Princess of most high descent though of a different Religion There had been a Treaty of Marriage between the late Prince Henry and a Daughter of Spain which on the Spaniards part was found a meer Complement carried on by the accustomed gravity and formality of that Nation For Cecil Earl of Salisbury the great States-man of that time pursued and drove the matter to that point that the Duke of Lerma finding no evasion disclaimed the being of a Marriage Treaty Nevertheless the Spanish Ambassador to acquit himself to this State and to clear his own honesty at a full Council produced his Commission together with his Letters of Instruction given under the Duke's hand Such manner of dealing might have been sufficient Cause of just Indignation against any future motion of this Alliance After death of Prince Henry the King set his thoughts upon a Daughter of Henry the Fourth late King of France as the fittest Match for Prince Charles and by Sir Thomas Edmonds his Legier Ambassador endeavored to know the minde of that State but could not discern their affections and was not willing to discover his own At length taking occasion to send the Lord Hayes Extraordinary Ambassador to the French King to Congratulate his Marriage with Anne the Infanta of Spain he resolved to make a thorow Trial The matter was put forth and in appearance well taken but proved of no effect For the Duke of Savoy was before-hand and prevailed for his Son the Prince of Piedmont During this Negotiation of Alliance with France the Duke of Lerma frequently intimated unto Sir Iohn Digby Ambassador Resident in Spain an extraordinary desire in the King his Master not onely to maintain Peace and Amity with the King of great Britain but to lay hold on all means that might be offered for the nearer uniting of their Majesties and their Crowns as also a disposition in this regard to match his second Daughter to the Prince of Wales The Ambassador replyed that His Majesty had little reason to give ear to this overture having not long since in the Treaty for the late Prince received such an unexpected Answer and Demands so improper and unworthy and that there needed more then ordinary assurance to induce him to believe that there was now so great a change and the match desired in good earnest and not propounded meerly to divert the match with France wherefore he expected the proposal of such terms of advantage and certainty as might gain a belief of their sincere Intentions Lerma promised a further Conference But by reason of a strong report that the Match with France was absolutely concluded and within few dayes to be published the business lay asleep until Sir Iohn Digby going for England was desired by the Duke to give him notice of the state of this Affair From hence Digby gives him to understand that there was no cause of dispair concerning this new overture unless the difficulty of the Conditions should make it desperate but if the Demands in point of Religion were no more then what would satisfie another Catholick Prince and to which his Majesty might yeild with Honor he knows that divers persons not of the meanest power were well inclined and ready to give their helping hand He said further that it were much better not to revive this motion then by impossible and unfitting
Propositions from either side to give distaste and lessen the Friendship between the two Crowns The Duke returned answer that all assurance and satisfaction shall be given concerning this Alliance And after Sir Digby's arrival at the Court of Spain he protested to him solemnly that the King desired it and swore for himself that he desired nothing more Hereupon Digby debated with him That the remembrance of their former Demands was yet unpleasing in England the difference of Religion the Opinions of Divines and the Cases of Conscience were still the same insomuch that his Majesty and his Servants had just cause to cease for ever from all thoughts this way Nevertheless they did not slight nor disrelish an Alliance with Spain for many of the greatest eminency in England judge it equally valuable with any other of Christendom though it be esteemed a matter of infinite difficulty Here the subtil Spaniard might perceive our forwardness though our Ambassador seemed to speak aloof off and with reservation The debate had this result that the difficulties should be digested into certain Heads and select Persons appointed for Conference but the Intent thereof was that the Kings on either side should not be interessed nor their names therein used till by the clearing of particulars there should be great appearances that the business would take effect Now because the difference of Religion was supposed the onely difficulty of moment it was thought fit to break the matter to the Cardinal of Toledo and the Kings Confessor and one Father Frederick a learned Jesuite having the repute of a Moderate man Upon the review of these proceedings Sir Iohn Digby advised the King not to suffer his other resolutions to be interrupted by this Overture which might be set on foot as a meer device to stagger the French Treaty and to keep his Majesty from declaring himself opposite to Spain in the business of Cleves and Iuliers which still remained uncompounded nevertheless he might be pleased for a while to suspend the conclusion of the Match with France and entertain this motion and to this end he desired from him not a formal Commission to treat but onely a private Instruction for his Direction and Warrant Such remote Conferences made way for that solemn slow-paced Treaty of the many years following wherein the advantage lay on the Spaniards side who were indeed very formal and specious in it but no way vehement and vigorous if we might suppose them in any sort real But the King of England having a prevalent inclination this way when he was once drawn in and elevated with hope was so set upon it that he would grant all things possible rather then break it off and was impatient of dissembling his own eagerness The business was mainly carried on by Conde Gondomar who was exquisitely framed for it and by facetious wayes taking the King in his own humor prevailed mightily The King removes all blocks that lie in the way of this Darling Design and studies all the wayes of rendring himself acceptable to Spain The Wall of this Island the English Navy once the strongest of all Christendome now lyes at road unarmed and fit for ruine Gondomar as was the common voice bearing the King in hand that the furnishing of it would breed suspition in the King his Master and avert his minde from this alliance Moreover the Town of Flushing the Castle of Ramakins in Zealand and Brill in Holland which were held by way of caution from the united Provinces to insure their dependency upon England the King resolved to render up as being meerly cautionary and none of his Propriety He rid his hands of those places to prevent requests and Propositions from the King of Spain who claimed the propriety in them and Gondomar put hard for them being accounted the Keys of the Low Countries Such was the Kings care and contrivance to keep faith with those Confederates and not offend Spain And to render this a politick action it was urged that the advantage of those Holds was countervailed by the vast expence in keeping them Howbeit the power of the English Interest in that State was by this means cut off and taken away and the alienation between King Iames and the United Provinces which appeared in latter times and was nourished by Bernevelt the head of the Arminian Faction and a Pensioner of Spain is now increased by the discovery and observation of these late Spanish compliances But the King of Spain and his Ministers had given but slender proof of any great affection yea or of sincere intention and upright dealing in this great affair For Sir Iohn Digby received certain Articles in matter of Religion after a Consultation had with their Divines which appeared very unworthy and were utterly rejected by him Yet afterwards upon a private Conference between him and some others to whom the cause had been committed a Qualification was therein conceived though not delivered as a matter there approved And the same Speeches after his return into England proceeded between him and Gondomar and were brought to that Issue that the King thought fit to acquaint a select number of his Council therewith who having heard the report of the former proceeding delivered their opinion That they found very probable ground for him to enter into a publike Treaty with as much assurance of good success as in such a case might be expected whereupon Sir Iohn Digby by Commission under the Great Seal was authorized to treat and conclude the Marriage and because the matter of Religion was in chief debate those qualified Articles that were brought out of Spain were sent back signed with the Kings hand who added something to them by way of clearer explanation They were to this effect THat the Popes Dispensation be first obtained by the meer Act of the King of Spain That the Children of this Marriage be not constrained in matter of Religion nor their Title prejudiced in case they prove Catholikes That the Infanta's Family being Strangers may be Catholikes and shall have a decent place appointed for all Divine Service according to the use of the Church of Rome and the Ecclesiasticks and Religious persons may wear their proper Habits That the Marriage shall be celebrated in Spain by a Procurator according to the Instructions of the Council of Trent and after the Infanta's arrival in England such a solemnization shall be used as may make the Marriage valid according to the Laws of this Kingdome That she shall have a competent number of Chaplains and a Confessor being Strangers one whereof shall have power to govern the Family in Religious matters In the allowing of these Articles the King thus exprest himself Seing this Marriage is to be with a Lady of a different Religion from us it becometh us to be tender as on the one part to give them all satisfaction convenient so on the other to admit nothing that may blemish our Conscience or
under the Marquess Ansbach The Evangelicks were put to the worst by General Buquoy in several encounters and were much terrified by the Duke of Bavaria who marched with an Army of Fifteen thousand Horse and Foot and a Train of Artillery proportionable and they were weakned by a Cessation of Arms in Hungary between the Emperor and the Prince of Transylvania In Spain they make all possible preparations for this War onely the King of England will not take the Alarm abhorring War in general and distasting the Palsgraves cause as an ill president against Monarchy and fed with hopes of composing all differences by the success of the Spanish Treaty For which purpose Sir Walter Aston was then sent Ambassador into Spain and Gondomar returned into England there to abide till the long debated Match be fully effected The Articles of Religion for securing Liberty of Conscience to the Infanta and her Family were greatly inlarged by the Commissioners designed for the Treaty and were allowed by the King of England but without a dispensation from Rome the transactions between the two Kings were but Nullities And for this cause it was expected that our King should propound such conditions for the increase and great advantage of the Roman Catholick Religion that the Pope may deliberate whether they be of that nature as may perswade and merit the dispensation To this demand the King made answer in his Letter to the King of Spain That he had done as much in favor of the Catholicks as the times would bear and promised in the word of a King That no Roman Priest or other Catholick should thenceforth be condemned upon any capital Law And although he could not at present rescind the Laws inflicting onely pecuniary mulcts yet he would so mitigate them as to oblige his Catholick Subjects to him And if the Marriage took effect his Daughter in Law should finde him ready to indulge all favors which she should request for those of her Religion Herein the Spanish Council acknowledged great satisfaction given and a Paper was conceived and drawn up by a Iunto of Canonists Lawyers and Divines to perswade the Pope to act his part IN the mean while an Army of Thirty thousand was levying in Flanders under the command of Marquess Spinola The King of England sent to know the cause of so great preparations The Marquess gave answer That he received his Commission sealed up with a charge not to open it till his Army were compleated and brought together to a Rendevouz But the King had proof enough to assure him that this Army was intended for the Palatinate Yet no more then one Regiment under the Command of Sir Horatio Vere could be obtained from him though two more were promised When Spinola had his Rendevouz where he mustered Six and twenty thousand Foot and Four thousand Horse he opened his Commission which required him to make War against all those which should be confederate with the Bohemian Rebels and he communicated the same to the Ambassador of Great Brittain At the same time the English began their march as brave a Regiment as hath appeared in any age consisting most of Gentlemen under a most worthy Leader who was accompanied with the Earls of Oxford and Essex persons innobled as well by their own vertues as by their Progenitors Other Commanders in this Regiment were Sir Edward Sackvile Sir Gerard Herbert Sir Robert Knolles Captain Stafford Captain Wilmot Captain William Fairfax Sir Iohn Burlacy Cap. Burroughs Cap. Robert Knightly c. This handful of men reached the Palatinate with some difficulty by the aid and conduct of Henry Prince of Nassau The Imperial forces became exceeding numerous by large supplies from several Countreys and Provinces The States Protestant of the Upper and Lower Austria upon the approach of the Bavarian Army seeing nothing but manifest ruine renounce their Confederacy with the Bohemians and submit to the Emperor saving to themselves their Rights and Priviledges in Religion Whereupon the Bohemians and their King being but Twenty thousand strong besides an addition of Ten thousand Hungarians from Bethlem Gabor and fearing least Bavaria and Buquoy joyning their forces should fall into Bohemia thought it best to fortifie the Frontiers and to defend their Country which they conceived they might well do if the Elector of Saxony would continue in his Neutrality The Emperor sent to the said Elector to execute his Ban or Declaration of Treason against the Count Palatine and the Bohemian Rebels The Bohemians by their Ambassadors requested him if he would not own their Cause yet at least to remain Neutral The Duke of Saxony replied to King Frederick That he had often represented to him what ruine was like to follow him by taking an others Crown and for his own part being called upon by the Emperor to execute his Ban and chastise the Rebels he could not disobey that just command The Protestant Princes sent to him again and gave him notice of Spinola's advance to subdue the Palatinate but this did nothing move him He entred Lusatia with some forces and quickly reduced a part of that Province In the Palatinate Spinola having got the start of the English by means of a far shorter march had no sooner arived but he took in divers Towns and prevailed greatly over a spiritless people yet he warily declined the hazard of Battel with the Princes of the Union Neither was the Marquess Ansbach very forward to engage or to seek or take advantages The Dutch slowness was not excusable howbeit the great access of strength to the Emperors party and this slender aid from the King of Great Brittain to preserve his Childrens Patrimony must needs dishearten the German Princes and help to dissolve the Union After a while the season of the year drew them into their Winter Quarters the Princes retired into their several Countreys and the English Regiment was disposed into three principal Garisons Sir Horatio Vere commanded in Manheim Sir Gerard Herbert in Heidelborough and Captain Burroughs in Frankendale having onely power to preserve themselves within those Walls whilest the enemy ranged round about them A Letter written from the Marquess of Buckingham to Conde Gondomar discovered the bent of the Kings minde and will touching the German War That he was resolved to continue Neuter for Conscience Honor and Examples sake In regard of Conscience judging it unlawful to inthrone and dethrone Kings for Religions sake having a quarrel against the Jesuites for holding that opinion Besides he saw the World inclined to make this a War of Religion which he would never do In point of Honor for that when he sent his Ambassador into Germany to treat of Peace in the interim his Son in Law had taken the Crown upon him And for Example sake holding it a dangerous president against all Christian Princes to allow a sudden translation of Crowns by the Peoples Authority Nevertheless he could not sit still and
strength of the Enemies Forces now in the Palatinate Moreover The King to encourage the Princes of the Union and to keep them in Arms sent them Thirty thousand pounds yet withall resolved to treat for Peace and dispatched Sir Edward Villers into Silesia to fetch the Palsgraves Submission to the Emperor upon Conditions to be conceived according to equity and conveniencie Never did the Spaniards more flatter King Iames then after the Defeat at Prague They affirm that he shall ordain according to his pleasure in the Palsgrave's Restitution and be obeyed That the Infanta's Portion was preparing and that the Pope was obliged to grant the Dispensation from whom they resolve to take no denial Cottington the Agent in Spain now attested the Honesty of Gondomar's Dispatches hither and cryed him up for a Cordial man and well deserving His Majesties favor This notable Spanish Engine had so wrought himself into the Kings affections that he gained the accoss of a Favorite rather then of an Ambassador from a Foreign Prince Some in the English Court were then suspected to be Pensioners to Spain as may be gathered from the Spanish Ambassadors Instructions received from the King his Master BEsides that which I enjoin you in your General Instructions given you for England whither I send you to reside I thought good to advertise you apart by themselves of the chiefest things of Importance which you shall there negotiate and endeavor to further and advance It is well known that I have desired and endeavored to favor the Cause of the Catholicks of that Kingdom and to further it to their best advantage as well in the time of the Queen deceased who did so much prosecute and oppress them as since the time that the present King hath succeeded yet that calamity still continues upon them by reason of the ill offices done unto them by the Puritans and Protestants of whom the greater part of that Kings Council doth consist Howbeit because it is a thing that I could not well urge or press without breeding jealousies and so cause thereby a greater harm to the Catholicks I have proceeded on my part with that wariness and dissimulation as is fit D.A. shall inform you of what hath passed in this matter as also in what estate things are at this present and how you shall govern your self for the time to come according to the orders given unto him whose example we wish you to follow And of this take special heed That although it be believed that we may be very confident of the trustiness of those Catholicks by whose means the business of the rest is undertaken that they will be secret notwithstanding lest any Heretick shall come in the name or shew of a Catholick only to make some discovery It shall be fit that in all speeches you shall have with them concerning that which shall touch the Catholicks that you tell them how much I desire to see them freed from those pressures under which Queen Elizabeth put them and that God would inspire the Kings heart that he may reduce himself to the obedience of the Roman Catholick Church And advise them to endeavor to win the King unto them by shewing themselves good and loyal and obedient Subjects in temporal duties and not to meddle any thing against his State that by their deeds he may see what security may be expected from them and may also bind himself to favor them these being things that do no way contradict the observing the Catholick Religion and are due from them to the dignity of their King and Natural Lord And for the same reason they ought to abstain from all ill practices or unfitting speech or actions against his Person as is said some heretofore have used especially seeing no good hath or can come thereof and thereby they shall justly provoke him against themselves and by holding this course they shall win the Kings good will and the Peace shall be preserved and by the Peace by little and little be won and attained that which is desired By this manner of proceeding it is certain there can come no inconvenience But in case that this your manner of dealing shall come to the Kings knowledge as possibly it may it will breed a great obligation of brotherhood and friendship between us when he shall see that I carry my self in this sort in his affairs and consequently will be the more confident of our amity and will thereby be induced the better to subdue all malice in them that shall endeavor to perswade the contrary And therefore you shall have a special care to do this dexteriously in due time and season and to inform your self very particularly from the said D. A. concerning those with whom you may deal confidently and how far you may trust the Negotiants for the Catholicks though you shall do well alway to proceed with the aforesaid caution and wariness You shall understand from the said D.A. what Pensions are allotted to certain Ministers of that King and to other persons It will be necessary to inform your self throughly of all that concerns this point and that you know both the Persons and Pensions to serve your self of them and to make the best use of them in all occasions that shall be most behoveful for your better direction in the Businesses given you in charge and all others that may be offered of consequence seeing the said Pensions were appointed to that end Whatsoever of the said Pensions you shall find unpaid for the time past D. A. is to discharge and you shall undertake for the time to come telling every one what his Pension is to the end they may be deceived of no part thereof by the Third person who conveys it unto them and let it be punctually paid at the days that their good payment may bind them to persevere and do their service punctually for the which you shall be furnished with all that shall be necessary And have a special care to advertise me how such persons employ themselves in the things that shall occur disguising their names in such manner as D.A. doth Above all You must take great care to dive into the estate of the affairs of that King What his Treasure is In what Estimation he is with his Subjects and what Correspondeneie and good meaning there is betwixt them How the English Scotch and Irish stand affected among themselves and one towards another and towards their Neighbors and how they are bent against me and my Common Estates or any of my particular Kingdoms whence they draw their Intelligences and particularly what amity and correspondencie that King entertaineth with France and with the Neutrals of Holland and Zealand and with the Venetians and upon what causes it is founded what matters they treat of what designs they have in hand All which is very necessary to be known for the attaining of which D.A. will open unto you some ways which you must follow besides those
beforehand for the defence of the Palatinate and the maintenance of his Children expelled out of their Countrey and for the raising of an Army for that recovery That he had procured a short Truce and did hope to obtain a general peace But the charges of sending Ambassadors over Christendom or an Army into the Palatinate in case a peace were not setled could not be borne but by the Grant of more Subsidies Moreover he protested before God That he would not dissolve the Parliament till the matters in agitation were finished Soon after the Lord Chancellor Bacon was proceeded against and a Conference of both Houses was held concerning him Where first the Commons observed his incomparable good parts which they highly commended secondly They magnified the place he held from whence Bounty Justice and Mercy were to be distributed to the Subjects whither all great Causes were drawn and from whence there was no Appeal in case of injustice or wrong done save to the Parliament Thirdly He was accused of great Bribery and Corruption in this eminent place and the particulars were laid open Then they concluded that this matter which concerned a person of so great eminency might not depend long before their Lordships but that the Examination of Proofs be expedited that as he shall be found upon tryal either he or his accusers might be punished After this the Marquess of Buckingham Lord Admiral declared to the House of Lords That he had received a Letter from the Chancellor expressing that he was indisposed in health but whither he lived or died he would be glad to preserve his Honor and Fame as far as he was worthy desiring to be maintained in their good opinions without prejudice till his cause was heard that he should not trick up Innocency with cavillation but plainly and ingenuously declare what he knew or remembred being happy that he had such Noble Peers and Reverend Prelates to discern of his Cause That he desired no priviledge of greatness for subterfuge of guiltiness but meaned to deal fairly and plainly with their Lordships and to put himself upon their Honors and Favors But the Charge came home upon him insomuch that he abandoned all defence and onely implored a favorable judgment in this humble Submission and Supplication to the House of Lords May it please your Lordships I Shall humbly crave at your hands a benign interpretation of that which I shall now write For words that come from wasted spirits and oppressed mindes are more safe in being deposited to a noble construction then being circled with any reserved Caution This being moved and as I hope obtained of your Lordships as a protection to all that I shall say I shall go on but with a very strange entrance as may seem to your Lordships at first For in the midst of a state of as great affliction as I think a mortal man can endure Honor being above Life I shall begin with the professing of gladness in some things The first is That hereafter the greatness of a Iudge or Magistrate shall be no sanctuary or protection to him against guiltiness which is the beginning of a Golden Work The next That after this example it is like that Iudges will flie from any thing in the likeness of Corruption though it were at a great distance as from a Serpent which tends to the purging of the Courts of Iustice and reducing them to their true honor and splendor And in these two points God is my witness though it be my fortune to be the Anvile upon which these two effects are broken and wrought I take no small comfort But to pass from the motions of my heart whereof God is my Iudge to the merits of my Cause whereof your Lordships are Iudges under God and his Lieutenant I do understand there hath been heretofore expected from me some justification and therefore I have chosen one onely justification instead of all others out of the justification of Job For after the clear submission and confession which I shall now make unto your Lordships I hope I may say and justifie with Job in these words I have not hid my sin as did Adam nor concealed my faults in my bosome This is the onely justification which I will use It resteth therefore That without Fig-leaves I do ingenuously confess and acknowledge that having understood the particulars of the Charge not formally from the House but enough to inform my conscience and memory I finde matter sufficient and full both to move me to desert my Defence and to move your Lordships to condemn and censure me Neither will I trouble your Lordships by singling these particulars which I think might fall off Quid te exempta juvat spinis de pluribus uva Neither will I prompt your Lordships to observe upon the proofs where they come not home or the scruple touching the credits of the Witnesses Neither will I represent to your Lordships how far a Defence might in divers things extenuate the Offence in respect of the time and manner of the guilt or the like circumstances but onely leave these things to spring out of your more noble thoughts and observations of the evidence and examinations themselves and charitably to winde about the particulars of the Charge here and there as God shall put into your minde and so submit my self wholly to your Piety and Grace And now I have spoken to your Lordships as Iudges I shall say a few words unto you as Peers and Prelates humbly commending my Cause to your noble mindes and magnanimous affections Your Lordships are not simply Iudges but Parliamentary Iudges you have a further extent of Arbitrary power then other Courts and if you be not tyed by ordinary course of Courts or Precedents in points of strictness and severity much less in points of Mercy and Mitigation And yet if any thing which I shall move might be contrary to your honorable and worthy End the introducing a Reformation I should not seek it But herein I beseech your Lordships to give me leave to tell you a story Titus Manlius took his Sons life for giving battel against the Prohibition of his General Not many years after the like severity was pursued by Papitius Cursor the Dictator against Quintus Maximus who being upon the point to be sentenced was by the intercession of some particular persons of the Senate spared Whereupon Livie maketh this grave and gratious observation Neque minus firmata est Disciplinae Militaris periculo Quinti Maximi quà m miserabili supplicio Titi Manlii The Discipline of War was no less established by the questioning of Quintus Maximus then by the punishment of Titus Manlius and the same reason is in the Reformation of Iustice. For the questioning of men in eminent places hath the same terror though not the same rigor with the punishment But my Cause stays not there for my humble desire is That his Majesty would take the Seal into his hands which is
help of Almighty God which is never wanting unto those who in his fear shall undertake the Defence of his own Cause He may be able to do that with his sword which by a peaceable course shall not be effected After the recess of Parliament the King by Proclamation declared his Grace to his Subjects in matters of Publique Grievance And taking notice that many great affairs debated in Parliament could not be brought to perfection in so short a time And that the Commons thought it convenient to continue the same Session in course of Adjournment And withall observing that divers of those Particulars required a speedy determination and settlement for his peoples good and that they are of that condition and quality as that he needeth not the assistance of Parliament to reform the same and would have reformed them before the Parliament if the true state of his Subjects Grievances had been made known unto him He hath determined and doth declare an immediate redress therein by his own Regal authority as in the business of Informers of Miscarriages of Ministers in Chancery of the Patents for Gold and Silver-Thread for Licensing Pedlers and Petty-Chapmen for the sole Dressing of Arms for the Exportation of Lists and Shreds and for the sole making of Tobacco-pipes Cards and the like And besides the redress of these Grievances he will enlarge his grace unto other kindes for the Subjects ease And that both his own and the ears of his Privy-Council shall be open to his Peoples modest and just Complaints Moreover a second Proclamation was issued forth against Excess of Licentious speech touching State-affairs For notwithstanding the strictness of the Kings former Command the Peoples inordinate liberty of unreverend speech increased daily Wherefore the King threatned severity as well against the Concealers of such Discourses as against the boldness of Audacious Tongues and Pens On the Tenth of Iuly Iohn Williams Doctor of Divinity and Dean of Westminster was sworne Keeper of the Great Seal of England The King was plyed from Spain and Rome to enlarge his favors to Popish Recufants For reports were then brought to Rome That the Catholicks of England Scotland and Ireland were cruelly used And besides this there went a rumor that King Iames in a Speech in Parliament had declared That notwithstanding the Marriage with Spain the English Catholicks should not be one jot in better condition But the King said no more then this That if any of that party did grow insolent let his People count him unworthy to reign if he gave not extraordinary punishment Thus was the King entangled in the ways which he had chosen For it was not possible for him at once to please his People and to satisfie his Foreign Interests About the same time the Lord Digby who was sent Ambassador to the Emperor had Audience at Vienna The principal heads of his Embassie were these That the Elector Palatine and the Children of the King of Great Britain his Master might be received into the Emperors favor and restored to all their Hereditary Goods and the Prince Elector himself to the Title which he enjoyed before the troubles of Bohemia That the Ban Imperial published against him should be revoked and the execution thereof suspended which being done the King of Great Britain will undertake that the Palatine shall render due obedience to his Imperial Majesty and submit to Conditions meet and honest To these Demands he received Answer That the Emperor had a very good will to gratifie the King of Great Britain and those other Kings and Princes that had made the same request for the Palatine But he could not grant it because the Palatine to this hour useth the Counsels of many of the Electors and Princes in opposition to the Emperor And when the Emperor had agreed to a Cessation of Arms according to the desires of the King of Great Britain and had ordered the suspending of all Hostility in the Lower Palatinate at the same time the Palatine gave Commission to raise Forces and do acts of Hostility which was put in execution by Count Mansfeld and Marquis Iagerndorf to begin new troubles in Bohemia Silesia and Moravia Nevertheless the Emperor having appointed an Assembly to meet at Ratisbone will there make known the desires of the King of Great Britain who shall know what Resolution is there taken concerning the Palatine Albert Archduke of Flanders at the request of King Iames had made intercession for the Palsgrave After his decease the Archduchess his wife continued the same mediation by Letters to the Emperor And withall the Kings Ambassador further proposed these Conditions for a Cessation of Arms and a Suspension of the Ban Imperial That Mansfeld and Iagerndorf shall observe the Agreement otherwise the Prince Palatine shall revoke their Commissions and declare them his Enemies and that their Garrisons in Bohemia shall be rendred to the Emperor The Emperor answered the Archduchess That the Archduke her husband in his life-time had exceedingly recommended the Interposition of the King of Great Britain and the great prudence of that King in not approving the Actions of the Palatine Which Recommendation as to a Treaty and Cessation of Arms he shall entertain and consult thereupon with the Deputies of the Electors and Princes of the Empire The English Ambassador departed from Vienna to the Duke of Bavaria who had then entred the Upper Palatinate and had published the Emperors Declaration against Mansfeld and his Adherents and exhorted the States and Princes there to execute the same and the rather for that he had not heard of any King Elector Prince or State no not so much as the King of Great Britain that had approved the seditious Revolt of the Bohemians except some few States and Princes who for interest did countenance the same The Ambassador found the Bavarian acting hostility and committing great spoils in the Country and resolving to reject all Propositions of Peace or Cessation Nor could the Emperor agree upon any Truce without the Duke of Bavaria First in respect of his agreement neither to make War or Peace without the consent of the said Duke which happened because upon the former Truce made with the Archduke the Soldiers that were in the Lower Palatinate and wanted employment came up into the Higher Palatinate to Count Mansfeld and much infested the Duke of Bavaria Secondly in regard the Duke of Bavaria had a great part of Austria in pledge for his satisfaction Thirdly because the Emperor was barred from all other passages but through Bavaria by Bethlem Gabor Jagerndorf and Budiani And the Duke upon receipt of the Emperors Letter touching the Truce sent the Lord Digby a deriding Answer That there was no need to labor for a Truce for the Wars were at an end in that he agreed with Count Mansfeld nor did he doubt of keeping both Palatinates in peace till the Emperor and Palsgrave were agreed So the King
received but a slender return of the Lord Digby's Embassie to the Emperor for the restoring of the Elector Palatine But the Emperors full meaning in the business may be found at large in his own Letter to Don Baltazar de Zuniga a prime Councellor of State in Spain to be by him represented to the King his Master to this effect THat beholding the admirable providence of God over him he is bound to use that most notable Victory to the honor of God and the extirpation of all Seditions and Factions which are nourished chiefly among the Calvinists lest that Iudgment which the Prophet threatned the King of Israel should fall upon him Because thou hast dismissed a man worthy of death thy soul shall be for his soul. The Palatine keeps now in Holland not only exiled from the Kingdom which he rashly attempted but despoiled almost of all his own Territories expecting as it were the last cast of Fortune whom if by an impious kind of commiseration and his subtile petitioning he shall be perswaded to restore and nourish in his bosom as a trodden half-living snake what can he expect less then a deadly sting from him who in regard of his guilt can never be faithful but will alway gape for occasions to free himself from his fears and the genius of whose sect will make him an Enemy or an unsound Friend to the House of Austria and all other Catholick Princes Wherefore firmly casting in his minde that the Palatine cannot be restored He hath freely offered the Electorate to the Duke of Bavaria a most eager Defender of the Catholick cause by which means the Empire will always remain in the hand of Catholicks and so by consequence in the House of Austria And in so doing he shall take away all hope from the Palatine and those that sollicite so importunately for his restitution And it is to be hoped that the Lutheran Princes especially the Duke of Saxony will not so far disallow this translation as to take up Arms seeing Charls the Fifth upon a far lighter cause deprived John Frederick Duke of Saxony of the Electorate and conferred it on Maurice this Dukes great Uncle Besides no less is the Lutherans hatred of the Calvinists then of the Catholicks Such were the effects which the Kings Treating had wrought with the Emperor The Parliament that was to meet November the Fourteenth the King by Proclamation adjourned to the Eighth of February and expressed the cause to be the unseasonableness of the time of the year But this long Recess was shortned and the King declared That upon Important Reasons he had altered his former Resolutions and did adjourn it for no longer time then from the Fourteenth to the Twentieth of this instant November Upon which day it Reassembled and the King being absent by reason of his indisposition in health commanded a Message to be delivered to both Houses by the Lord Keeper the Lord Digby and the Lord Treasurer In the first place he acquainted the Two Houses with His Majesties indisposition of health which was the occasion of his absence at the opening of the Parliament yet he could not say he was absent so long as he was represented by a Son who was as dear to the Kingdom as to His Majesty As to the occasion of calling the Parliament by way of Antecedent he took notice of several effects of His Majesties gracious care over the Nation since the last Recess of the Parliament in His Majesties answering several Petitions concerning Trade Importation of Bullion Conservation of Coyn in the Land and prohibiting the Transportation of Iron Ordinance and that His Majesty by His Proclamation reformed Thirty six or thirty seven several matters complained of as Publick Grievances all of them without the least Trucking or Merchandising with the People a thing usual in former times He further said That His Majesty did principally fix the occasion of the calling a Parliament upon the Declaration Recorded and divulged far and near by the Representative Communalty of this Kingdom to assist His Majesty to carry on the War to recover the Palatinate yet withal his Lordship gave an account how His Majesty was since the last Parliament encouraged to travel a little longer in his pious endeavors to procure a peace by way of Treaty and that the Lord Digby was sent Ambassador upon that occasion and since returned but not with such success as was to be hoped for He minded both Houses of one Heroical Act of His Majesties since the last Parliament in the advancement of Forty thousand pounds to keep together a Body of an Army in the Lower Palatinate which otherwise had been dissolved before this Parliament could be assembled And that unless the Parliament take further resolution and imitate rather Ancient then Modern principles and be expeditious in what they do the Army in the Palatinate will fall to the ground And lastly Told them that His Majesty did resolve that this Parliament should continue till seven or eight days before the Festivals and to be renewed again the eighth of Februaâ—â— to continue for the Enacting of Laws and Perioding of things of Reformation as long as the necessity of the State shall require the same After the Lord Keeper had done the Lord Digby having received a Command from His Majesty to that purpose gave a brief account of his Negotiation with the Archduke about the Treaty of Peace how the Archduke consented thereunto and writ accordingly to the Emperor and the King of Spain of his proceedings who also writ to Spinola for a Cessation of Arms the Archduke having the Command of the Spanish forces in Germany but the Duke of Bavaria would not consent thereunto and the Lord Digby informed the two Houses that by the carriage of the Duke of Bavaria and by other circumstances he did evidently discover That from the beginning that Duke affected to get unto himself the Palatinate and the Title of Elector He further declared That if Count Mansfield was not speedily supplied he could not keep his Army together Then he gave an account how bravely Sir Horatio Vere had behaved himself in the Palatinate and that by his wisdom and valor there was kept from the enemy Heidelburg Mainheim and Frankendale the last of which places had then endured a moneths siege He also spoke Honorably of Capt. Burroughs and concluded That the fittest Redress was to furnish and keep up the Army already there which must be done by supplies of Money and more Forces must be prepared against the next Spring that we may have there an Army of our own for the strengthning of the Palatinate and encouragement of the Princes of the Union Then the Lord Treasurer spake and acquainted both Houses how empty the Kings Coffers were and how he had assisted the Palatine and Princes of the Union with great sums which had exhausted his Treasure and that His Majesty was much in debt Nevertheless though the King
declared for War he pursued Peace and resolved to close with Spain hoping to heal the Breach by that Alliance The House of Commons before they granted Subsides resolved to try the Kings Spirit by this Petition and Remonstrance which laid open the distempers of those times with their causes and cures Most Gratious and Dread Soveraign WE Your Majesties most Humble and Loyal Subjects the Knights Citizens and Burgesses now Assembled in Parliament who represent the Commons of Your Realm full of hearty sorrow to be deprived of the Comfort of Your Royal Presence the rather for that it proceeds from the want of Your health wherein we all unfeignedly do suffer In all humble manner calling to minde Your Gracious Answer to our former Petition concerning Religion which notwithstanding Your Majesties Pious and Princely intentions hath not produced that good effect which the danger of these times doth séem to us to require And finding how ill Your Majesties goodness hath béen requited by Princes of different Religion who even in time of Treaty have taken opportunity to advance their own ends tending to the subversion of Religion and disadvantage of Your Affairs and the Estate of Your Children By reason whereof Your ill affected Subjects at home the Popish Recusants have taken too much encouragement and are dangerously increased in their number and in 〈◊〉 insolencies We cannot but be sensible thereof and therefore humbly represent what we conceive to be the causes of so great and growing Mischeifs and what be the Remedies I. The Uigilancy and Ambition of the Pope of Rome and his dearest Son the one aiming at as large a Temporal Monarchy as the other at a Spiritual Supremacy II. The Devillish Positions and Doctrines whereon Popery is built and taught with Authority to their Followers for advancement of their Temporal ends III. The distressed and miserable estate of the Professors of true Religion in Foreign parts IV. The Disasterous accidents to Your Majesties Children abroad expressed with rejoycing and even with contempt of their persons V. The strange Confederacy of the Princes of thâ— Popish Religion aiming mainly at the advancement of theirs and subverting of ours and taking the advantages conducing to that end upon all occasions VI. The great and many 〈◊〉 raised and maintained at the charge of the King of Spain the 〈◊〉 of that League VII The expectation of the Popish Recusants of the Match with Spain and féeding themselves with great hopes of the consequences thereof VIII The interposing of Forein Princes and their Agents in the behalf of Popish Recusants for connivance and favor unto them IX Their open and usual resort to the Houses and which is worse to the Chappels of Foreign Ambassadors X. Their more then usual concourse to the City and their frequent Conventicles and Conferences there XI The education of their Children in many several Seminaries and Houses of their Religion in Forein parts appropriated to the English Fugitives XII The Grants of their just Forfeitures intended by Your Majesty as a Reward of Service to the Grantees but beyond Your Majesties intention transferred or compounded for at such mean rates as will amount to little less then a Toleration XIII The Licentious Printing and dispersing of Popish and Seditious Books even in the time of Parliament XIV The swarms of Priests and Iesuits the Common Incendiaries of all Christendom dispersed in all parts of your Kingdom And from these causes as bitter Roots we humbly offer to Your Majesty That we foresée and fear there will necessarily follow very dangerous effects both to Church and State For I. The Popish Religion is incompatible with ours in respect of their Positions II. It draweth with it an unavoidable dependency on Forein Princes III. It openeth too wide a gap for Popularity to any who shall draw too great a party IV. It hath a restless spirit and will strive by these Gradations if it once get but a connivancy it will press for a Toleration if that should be obtained they must have an equality from thence they will aspire to Superiority and will never rest till they get a Subversion of the true Religion The Remedies against these growing Evils which in all Humility we offer unto Your most Excellent Majesty are these I. That séeing this inevitable necessity is faln upon Your Majesty which no Wisdom or Providence of a peaceable and pious King can 〈◊〉 Your Majesty would not omit this just occasion spéedily and eâ—â—ectually to take Your Sword into Your hand II. That once undertaken upon so honorable and just grounds Your Majesty would resolve to pursue and more publickly avow the aiding of those of our Religion in Forein parts which doubtless would reunite the Princes and States of the Union by these disasters disheartned and disbanded III. That Your Majesty would propose to Your Self to manage this War with the best advantage by a diversion or otherwise as in Your déep judgment shall be found fittest and not to rest upon a War in these parts onely which will consume Your Treasure and discourage Your People IV. That the bent of this 〈◊〉 and point of Your Sâ—â—â—d may be against that Prince whatsoever opinion of potency he hath whose Armies and Treasures have first diverted and since maintained the War in the Palatinate V. That for securing of our Peace at home Your Majesty will be pleased to review the parts of our Petition formerly delivered unto Your Majesty and hereunto annexed and to put in execution by the care of choice Commissioners to be thereunto especially appointed the Laws already and hereafter to be made for preventing of dangers by Popish Recusants and their wonted evasions VI. That to frustrate their hopes for a future age our most Noble Prince may be timely and happily married to one of our own Religion VII That the Children of the Nobility and Gentry of this Kingdom and of others ill-affected and suspected in their Religion now beyond the Seas may be forthwith called home by your means and at the charge of their Parents or Governors VIII That the Children of Popish Recusants or such whose Wives are Popish Recusants be brought up during their Minority with Protestant Schoolmasters and Teachers who may sow in their tender years the Séeds of true Religion IX That Your Majesty will be pleased spéedily to revoke all former Licences for such Children and Youth to travel beyond the Seas and not grant any such Licence hereafter X. That Your Majesties Learned Council may receive Commandment from Your Highness carefully to look into former Grants of Recusants Lands and to avoid them if by Law they can and that Your Majesty will stay Your Hand from passing any such Grants hereafter This is the sum and effect of our humble Declaration which we no ways intending to press upon Your Majesties undoubted and Regal Prerogative do with the fulness of our Duty and Obedience humbly submit to Your most Princely consideration The glory of God whose cause it is
the zeal of our true Religion in which we have béen born and wherein by Gods grace we are resolved to die the safety of Your Majesties person who is the very life of Your people the happiness of Your Children and Posterity the honor and good of the Church and State dearer unto us then our own lives having kindled these affections truly devoted to Your Majesty And séeing out of our duty to Your Majesty we have already resolved to give at the end of this Session one intire Subsidy for the present relief of the Palatinate onely to be paid in the end of February next which cannot well be effected but by passing a Bill in a Parlâ—â—mentary course before Christmas We most humbly beséech Your Majesty as our assured hope is that You will then also vouchsafe to give life by Your Royal Assent to such Bills as before that time shall be prepared for Your Majesties honor and the general good of Your people And that such Bills may be also accompanied as hath béen accustomed with Your Majesties Gracious Pardon which procéeding from Your own méer Grace may by Your Highness direction be drawn to that Latitude and Extent as may best sort with Your Majesties bounty and goodness And that not onely Felons and Criminal Offenders may take benefit thereof but that Your good Subjects may receive ease thereby And if it shall so stand with Your good pleasure That it may extend to the relief of the old Debts and Duties to the Crown before the First year of Your Majesties Reign to the discharge of Alienations without Licence and misusing of Liveries and Oustre le Maine before the first Summons of this Parliament and of concealed Wardships and not suing of Liveries and Oustre le Maines before the Twelfth year of Your Majesties Reign Which gratious Favor would much comfort Your good Subjects and ease them from vexation with little loss or prejudice to Your own profit And we by our daily and devout Prayers to the Almighty the Great King of Kings shall contend for a blessing upon our endeavors and for Your Majesties long and happy Reign over us and for Your Childrens Children after You for many and many Generations The House had sufficient cause to set forth the danger of true Religion and the Miseries of the Professors thereof in Foreign parts when besides the great wound made in Germany and the cruelties of the prevailing House of Austria the Protestants in France were almost ruined by Lewis the Thirteenth being besieged at once in several places as in Montauban by the King and in Rochel by Count Soysons and the Duke of Guise And for their relief the King of England prevailed nothing by sending of Sir Edward Herbert since Baron of Cherbury and after him the Viscount Doncaster Ambassador for Mediation The King having Intelligence of the former Remonstrance wrote his Letter to the Speaker To Our Trusty and Welbeloved Sir Thomas Richardson Knight Speaker of the House of COMMONS Mr Speaker WE have heard by divers Reports to our great grief That our distance from the Houses of Parliament caused by our indisposition of health hath imboldned the fiery and popular Spirits of some of the House of Commons to argue and debate publickly of the matters far above their reach and capacity tending to our high dishonor and breach of Prerogative Royal. These are therefore to command you to make known in our Name unto the House That none therein shall presume henceforth to meddle with any thing concerning our Government or deep matters of State and namely not to deal with our dearest Sons Match with the Daughter of Spain nor to touch the honor of that King or any other our Friends and Confederates And also not to meddle with any mans particulars which have their due motion in our ordinary Courts of Iustice. And whereas we hear they have sent a Message to Sir Edwin Sandis to know the reasons of his late restraint you shall in our Name resolve them That it was not for any misdemeanor of his in Parliament but to put them out of doubt of any question of that nature that may arise among them hereafter you shall resolve them in our Name That we think our self very free and able to punish any mans misdemeanors in Parliament as well during their sitting as after Which we mean not to spare hereafter upon any occasion of any mans insolent behavior there that shall be ministred unto us And if they have already touched any of these points which we have forbidden in any Petition of theirs which is to be sent unto us it is our pleasure that you shall tell them That except they reform it before it come to our hands we will not deign the hearing nor answering of it Dated at New-Market 3 Dec. 1621. Hereupon they drew up another Petition which they sent accompanied with the former Remonstrance Most Dread and Gratious Soveraign WE your most humble and loyal Subjects the Knights Citizens and Burgesses Assembled in the Commons House of Parliament full of grief and unspeakable sorrow through the true sence of your Majesties displeasure expressed by your Letter lately sent to our Speaker and by him related and read unto us Yet comforted again with the assurance of your grace and goodness and of the sincerity of our own intentions and procéedings whereon with confidence we can relie In all humbleness beséech your most Excellent Majesty that the loyalty and dutifulness of as faithful and loving Subjects as ever served or lived under a gratious Soveraign may not undeservedly suffer by the mis-information of partial and uncertain Reports which are ever unfaithful Intelligencers But that your Majesty would in the clearness of your own Iudgment first vouchsafe to understand from our selves and not from others what our humble Declaration and Petition resolved upon by the Universal voice of the House and proposed with your gratious Favor to be presented unto your Sacred Majesty doth contain Upon what occasion we entred into consideration of those things which are therein contained with what dutiful respect to your Majesty and your service we did consider thereof and what was our true intention thereby And that when your Majesty shall thereby truly discern our dutiful affections you will in your Royal Iudgment frée us from those heavy charges wherewith some of our Members are burthened and wherein the whole House is involved And we humbly beséech your Majesty that you will not hereafter give credit to private Reports against all or any of the Members of our House whom the whole have not censured until your Majesty have béen truly informed thereof from our selves And that in the mean time and ever we may stand upright in your Majesties grace and good opinion than which no worldly consideration is or can be dearer unto us When your Majesty had Reassembled us in Parliament by your Royal Commandment sooner then we expected and did vouchsafe by the mouths
most loving Kinsman C. P. Given at Our Palace of Saint Iames 14 Martii 1621. To the Right Honorable the Lord Balthazar of Zuniga Right Honorable and Wel-beloved Friend BEcause we have divers times been informed by your Friends of your singular propension and zeal towards our Affairs we neither will nor ought to leave you unsaluted at this time you have so well deserved of us But it will be no small accession of your good will if you continue as you have begun to promote by your assistance our concernments with his Majesty our Welbeloved Brother which by what way it may best be done our Ambassador the Baron John Digby will be able to direct you to whom we have intrusted the residue of that matter And if during his residence there he may make use of your singular Humanity and Favor with the King in his Negotiation it will be most acceptable to us and render us who were by your deservings already forward to oblige you most forward for the future to deserve well of you which we shall most willingly testifie as occasion offers not onely in word but in deed J. R. Given at our Palace of Theobalds March 14. 1621. Sir Walter Aston the Leiger Ambassador had managed that Treaty by directions received from Digby and now Digby remained at large in it and had communication of the Passages from him The Spaniards proceed in the Match with a very formal appearance for at this very time the Emperors Ambassador in Spain had discoursed of a Marriage between his Masters Son and the Infanta but was presently answered That the Kings hands were tied by a Treaty on foot with the King of Great Brittain and in this particular they seemed as said the English Agent to deal above board In the mean time the Privy Council by the Kings Commandment consulted about the raising of Moneys to defend the Palatinate They appointed the Keeper of the Records in the Tower to search for all such writings as concerned the Levies of Men at the Publick charge of the Countrey from the time of King Edward the Third until this present Likewise they directed Letters of the tenor following to the Justices of the Courts at Westminster and to the Barons of the Exchequer WHat endeavors his Majesty hath used by Treaty and by all fair and amiable ways to recover the patrimony of his Children in Germany now for the most part withholden from them by force is not unknown unto all his loving â—ubjects since his Majesty was pleased to communicate to them in Parliament his whole proceedings in that business Of which Treaty being of late frustrate he was inforced to take other resolutions namely to recover that by the Sword which by other means he saw no likelihood to compass For which purpose it was expected by his Majesty that his people in Parliament would in a cause so nearly concerning his and his Childrens interest have chearfully contributed thereunto But the same unfortunately failing his Maâ—esty 〈◊〉 constrained in a case of so great necessity to try the dutiful affections of his â—â—ing Subjects in another way as his Predecessors have done in former times by propounding unto them a voluntary contribution And therefore as your selves have already given a liberal and worthy example which his Majesty doth take in very gratious part so his pleasure is and we do accordingly hereby authorise and require your Lordships as well to countenance and assist the service by your best means in your next Circuits in the several Counties where you hold General Assizes as also now presently with all convenient expedition to call before you all the Officers and Attorneys belonging to any his Majesties Courts of Iustice and also all such others of the Houses and Societies of Court or that otherwise have dependence upon the Law as are meet to be treated withal in this kinde and have not already contributed and to move them to joyn willingly in this contribution in some good measure answerable to that your selves and others have done before us according to their means and fortunes Wherein his Majesty doubteth not but beside the interest of his Children and his own Crown and Dignity the Religion professed by his Majesty and happily flourishing under him within this Kingdom having a great part in the success of this business will be a special motive to incite and perswade them thereunto Nevertheless if any persons shall out of obstinacy or disaffection refuse to contribute herein proportionably to their Estates and Means you are to certifie their names unto this Board And so recommending this service to your best care and endeavor and praying you to return unto us Notes of the names of such as shall contribute and of the sums offered by them We bid c. Letters to the same effect were directed to the High Sheriffs and Justices of Peace of the several Counties and to the Majors and Bailiffs of every City and Town-Corporate within the Kingdom requiring them to summon all of known Abilities within their Jurisdictions and to move them to a chearful contribution according to their Means and Fortunes in some good measure answerable to what others well-affected had done before them And to make choice of meet Collectors of the Moneys and to return a Schedule of the names of such as shall contribute and the sums that are offered by them that his Majesty may take notice of the good inclinations of his Subjects to a cause of such importance as likewise of such others if any such be as out of obstinacy or disaffection shall refuse to contribute About this time George Abbot Archbishop of Canterbury began to fall into disgrace at Court his enemies taking the advantage of a late sad misfortune for shooting at a Deer with a Cross-bow in Bramzil Park he casually killed the Keeper Upon this unhappy accident it was suggested to the King who already disgusted him for opposing the Match with Spain That in regard of his eminent rank in the Church it might administer matter of Scandal which was aggravated by such as aspired unto his place and dignity The Bishop of Lincoln then Lord Keeper informed the Marquess of Buckingham That by the Common Law of England the Archbishops whole estate was forfeited to the King and by the Common Law which is still in force he is made irregular ipso facto and so suspended from all Ecclesiastical Function until he be restored by his Superior which was the Kings Majesty in this rank and order of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction To adde affliction to the afflicted said he will be against his Majesties nature yet to leave a man of Blood Primate and Patriark of all his Churches is a thing that sounds very harsh in the Old Councils and Cannons and the Papists will not spare to censure it The King made choice of the Lord Keeper the Bishops of London Winton Rochester St. Davids and Exeter Sir Henry Hobart Justice Doderidge Sir Henry Martin
and Doctor Stuart to inform him of the nature of this cause and the scandal that might arise thereupon and to certifie what the same may amount unto whither to an irregularity or otherwise and what means may be found for redress However this consultation was managed the Archbishop was not deprived but a Plant was growing up that over-topped him whilst he lived and after his decease obtained the Primacy Doctor Laud who was first chosen to the Bishoprick of St. Davids by the Mediation of the Lord Keeper Williams and was consecrated by the Bishops of London Worcester Chichester Ely Landaff and Oxon the Archbishop in the mean time was not thought irregular for the Casual Homicide This Bishop Doctor Laud was looked upon in those times as an Arminian and a fierce opposer of Puritans and while he lived in Oxford suspected to incline to Popish Tenents as may appear by his Letter of Complaint sent to his Patron Doctor Neal then Bishop of Lincoln against a Sermon preached by Robert Abbot Doctor of the Chair in Oxford in which Letter he inclosed this amongst other Passages of the Doctors Sermon viz. That men under pretence of Truth and Preaching against the Puritans strike at the heart and root of Faith and Religion now established among us That this Preaching against the Puritans was but the practice of Parsons and Campions counsel when they came into England to seduce yong Students And when many of them were afraid to lose their places if they should professedly be thus the counsel they then gave them was That they should speak freely against the Puritans and that should suffice And they cannot intend that they are accounted Papists because they speak against the Puritans But because they indeed are Papists they speak nothing against them If they do at any time speak against the Papists they do beat a little upon the Bush and that softly too for fear of troubling or disquieting the Birds that are in it I Came time enough saith Mr. Laud to be at the rehearsal of this Sermon upon much perswasion where I was fain to sit patiently and hear my self abused almost an hour together being pointed at as I sate For this present abuse I would have taken no notice of it but that the whole University apply it to me and my own Friends tell me I shall sink my credit if I answer not Dr. Abbot in his own Nevertheless in a business of this kinde I will not be swayed from a patient course onely I desire your Lordship to vouchsafe me some direction what to do c. The Arminian Sect opposed by King Iames and by his special concurrence lately broken in the Netherlands by the beheading of Barnevalt the cheif of them began in his latter times to spring up in England and was countenanced by the said Prelate who had newly obtained the opinion and favor of the Marquess of Buckingham The Kings main design then not suffering the suppressing of that way which in common judgment was inclined to Popery or he thought to recover all his losses and to salve all misfortunes by the Spanish Match And for this cause he released multitudes of Priests and Popish Recusants then imprisoned which the Spaniards professed to be a great demonstration of the Kings sincere affection to confirm the correspondence and amity between the Crowns And that this enlargement might be the more expedite and less chargeable the King gave directions to the Lord Keeper Williams Bishop of Lincoln THat whereas he had formerly given order for the release of Recusants by removing them from the several Goals of this Kingdom to be bailed before the Justices of his Bench And finding that this course will be troublesome to the poorer sort of them he doth now require that Writs be directed to the Justices of Assizes enabling and requiring them to enlarge such Recusants as they shall finde in their several Goals upon such conditions and securities as were required by the Judges of his Bench. Accordingly the Writs were issued forth under the Great Seal and the Lord Keeper wrote to the Judges on this manner THat the King having upon deep Reasons of State and in expectation of the like correspondence from Forein Princes to the Professors of our Religion resolved to grant some Grace to the imprisoned Papists had commanded him to pass some Writs under the Broad Seal for that purpose Wherefore it is his Majesties pleasure that they make no niceness or difficulty to extend his Princely favor to all such as they shall finde prisoners in the Gaols of their Circuits for any Church Recusancy or refusing the Oath of Supremacy or dispersing of Popish Books or any other point of Recusancy that shall concern Religion onely and not matters of State But a general offence was taken at this Indulgence to Papists and the Lord Keepers Letter to the Judges which how the Keeper endevored to renounce may be seen in his Letter written to a Person of Honor. AS the Sun in the Firmament appears unto us no bigger then a Platter and the Stars are but as so many Nails in the Pummel of a Saddle because of the enlargement and disproportion between our eye and the object So is there such an unmeasurable distance between the deep resolution of a Prince and the shallow apprehensions of common and ordinary people That as they will ever be judging and censuring so they must needs be obnoxious to error and mistaking The King is now a most Zealous Intercessor for some case and refreshment to all the Protestants in Europe which were unreasonable if he did now execute the rigor of his Laws against the Roman Catholicks Our Viperous Countrymen the English Iesuites in France had many moneths before this favor granted invited the French King by writing a malicious Book to put all the Statutes in execution against the Protestants in those parts which were Enacted in England against the Papists and as they falsly informed severely executed Besides these Papists are no otherwise out of prison then with their shackles about their heels sufficient Sureties and good Recognizances to present themselves at the next Assizes and their own demeanor and the success of his Majesties Negotiations must determine whether they shall continue in this Grace But to conclude from the favor done to the English Papists that the King savors the Romish Religion is a composition of Folly and Malice little deserved by a gratious Prince who by Word Writing Exercise of Religion and Acts of Parliament hath demonstrated himself so resolved a Protestant As for his own Letter to the Iudges he said it recited onely four kindes of Recusancy capable of the Kings clemency not so much to include them as to exclude many other Crimes bearing the name of Recusancy as using the Function of a Romish Priest seducing the Kings Leige-people from the established Religion aspersing the King Church or State or the present Government All which Offences being
from us What can we look for if the whole shall be in his hands and possession who amuzing us with a Treaty of Cessation and protracting it industriously as we have reason to believe doth in the mean time seize himself of the whole Countrey Which being done our Ambassador shall return with scorn and we remain in dishonor And therefore as we have heretofore sundry times promised in testimony of the sincerity of our proceedings and of our great desire to preserve the Amity inviolable between us and the whole House of Austria that in case our Son in Law would not be governed by us that then we would not onely forsake him but take part and joyn our forces with the Emperors against him So you may fairly represent unto that King That in like manner we have reason to expect the same measure from him That upon the Emperors aversness to a Cessation and Accommodation he will likewise actually assist us for the recovery of the Palatinate and Electoral Dignity to our Son in Law as it hath been often times intimated from Spain Yet our meaning is to carry all things fair with that King and not to give him any cause of distrust or jealousie if you perceive that they intend to go really and roundly on with the Match Wherein nevertheless we must tell you That we have no great cause to be well-pleased with the diligencies used on that part when we observe that after so long an expectance of the Dispensation upon which the whole business as they will have it depends there is nothing yet returned but Queres and Objections We have thought fit to let you know how far we are pleased to enlarge our self concerning those points demanded by the Pope And further then that since we cannot go without much prejudice inconvenience and dishonor to our self and our Son we hope and expect that the King of Spain will bring it instantly to an issue without further delay which you are to press with all diligence and earnestness But if respite of time be earnestly demanded and that you perceive it not possible for them to resolve until an answer come from Rome We then think it fit that you give them two moneths time after your Audience that we may understand that Kings final Resolutions before Christmas next at the furthest Likewise the Conde Gondomar who was lately called home is roused by a Letter from England on this manner HEre is a King and a Prince and a faithful Friend and Servant Buckingham besides a number of other Friends to whom every day seems a year till the Match be accomplished all things are prepared on our parts Priests and Recusants are at liberty and the Prisons are filled with zealous Ministers Orders are published for the Universities and Pulpits that none shall hereafter be medling but that all Preach Christ crucified His Majesty never looked to the rising or falling hopes of his Son in Laws fortunes but kept in the same course that seems most agreeable to Honor and Justice and the Peace of Christendom And Gondomar did beseech the King to suffer himself once to be deceived by Spain and promised when the Match was first moved and the King perswaded to break with France That he should be prest to nothing but what might stand with Conscience and Honor and the love of his people And whereas the Pope would know what Bonum Publicum will be granted We remit it to your Conscience whither the favors daily granted to Catholicks which the King resolves to continue if not to increase be not a real publick good considering if the Match break off his Majesty will be importunately urged by his people to whose assistance he must needs have recourse to give life and execution to all Penal Laws now hanging over the heads of Catholicks According to the Kings direction the Earl of Bristol presented a Memorial to the King of Spain and from him and his Ministers received this return That for the accomplishing of the Match on their part there should not one day be lost for the dispatch thereof imported them no less then the King of Great Britain And for the Palatinate they will seek his intire satisfaction and they refer it to his own just judgment whether their forces were called out of the Palatinate with an evil intention or meerly for the defence of Flanders which otherwise had been put in great hazard by Count Mansfield That the besieging of Heidelburgh was no way by their consent or knowledge but was generally disapproved by them And if it should be taken and the Emperor refuse to restore it or to condiscend to such Accommodation as should be adjudged reasonable the King of Great Britain shall be infallibly assisted with the Arms of Spain for the restoring of the Palatine And as concerning the Match Bristol seemed so confident as to declare to the King his Master That he should not willingly give his Majesty hope upon uncertain grounds so he would not conceal what the Spanish Court professed which was to give his Majesty both real and speedy satisfaction And he affirmed If they intended it not they were falser then all the Devils in Hell for deeper Oaths and Protestations of Sincerity could not be made But in the mean while the Town and Castle of Heidelburgh were taken and the English Companies put to the Sword and Sir Edward Herbert the Governor was slain after he had broken four Pikes in charging the Enemy The besieging of Manheim and the blocking of Frankendale followed the loss of Heidelburgh King Iames provoked by the continual progress of these Indignities was impatient of staying for a Reply from Spain to his former Letters but seconded those Resolutions with a vehement new dispatch the Third of October in a peremptory stile as it well became him Commanding the Earl of Bristol to let that King understand how sensible he was of the Emperors proceedings towards him and withal not a little troubled to see that the Infanta at Bruxels having an absolute Commission from the Emperor to conclude a Cessation and Suspension of Arms should now at last when all Objections were answered and the former solely pretended Obstacles removed not onely delay the Conclusion of the Treaty but refuse to lay her Commands upon the Emperors Generals for abstaining from the Garisons during the Treaty upon a pretext of want of Authority So as for the avoiding of further dishonor he hath been forced to recal both his Ambassadors as well the Chancellor of his Exchequer from Bruxels as also the Lord Chichester whom he intended to have sent unto the Emperor to the Dyet at Ratisbone He further enjoyned his Ambassador That having delivered his sense of things he should demand of the King of Spain a promise under his Hand and Seal that the Town and Castle of Heidelburgh shall be delivered to the Palatine within seventy days after the Audience and the like for Manheim and
kept a footing in his ruined Country The Imperialists laughed to think that the English Garrison should expect Relief by the Orders sent from Spain to Bruxels And when the King had made an offer to sequester the Town of Frankendale into the Infanta's hands upon the same assurance from her which herself had offered before the loss of Manheim which was to restore the place whether a peace with the Emperor or a rupture followed she was fallen away from that proposition and would accept the sequestration only upon a simple trust to render it again at the expiration of eighteen moneths In this state of affairs the King wrote thus to his Ambassador in the Spanish Court. Concerning the unfortunate knotty affair of the Palatinate to say the truth as things now stand we cannot tell what you could have done more then you have already done Moreover he shewed That the reason of his late peremptory Instructions concerning a direct Promise of Restitution was the gross delay at Bruxels while Heidelburgh was taken and Manheim beleaguered As also Gages coming from Rome and in stead of the Dispensation presenting him with new demands to engage him in a Dispute or Treaty with the Pope which he said he never intended Wherefore at the instance and perswasion of his Council he was moved to urge the matter so as to bring it to a sudden period Not but that the precisest of them were always of opinion That if the Match were once concluded the other business would be accommodated to his satisfaction Then was the Ambassador required to stir up that King to use all effectual means for diverting the Translation of the Electorate in the present Diet Likewise to make him an offer of Frankendale by way of sequestration upon condition of restoring it in the case as now it stands whether the Peace succeed or not But in the Diet held at Ratisbone the Emperor declared the Palatine to be the Cause and groundwork of all those Wars and miseries and that the Electorate of this proscribed Enemy being devolved into his hands he had conferred it upon the Duke of Bavaria who in this Cause and service had spent his Treasure and hazarded his blood against his own Nephew the Palsgrave The Protestant Princes desired the Emperor to consider That in so high a Cause as the disposing of an Electorate and so principal a Person in the Colledge of Electors who uncited unheard and without all knowledge of the Cause hath been condemned and against all Equity oppressed by the Publication of the Ban His Imperial Majesty should not have proceeded so rigorously without the advice and consent of the other Electors as was agreed upon in the Capitulation Royal and Fundamental Law of the Empire And since the Diet was called for restoring the Peace of the Empire it were necessary in the first place ro remove the Obstacles those extreme Executions in Bohemia which may make that people desperate and which the Lutheran States following the Augustane Confession have their eyes upon And though it be given out that the severity there exercised is merely for private Justice yet it is so linked with the Publique Cause that unless it be speedily ended and the two Churches in Prague again opened and the free exercise of Religion permitted they can see no sure Peace but desolation and ruine like to follow And for the Prince Palatine seeing he is already sufficiently punished it were commendable in his Imperial Majesty to restore him upon submission to his Lands and Dignities otherwise there is no likelihood of restoring Peace And in transferring the Electorate if it must be so this main thing were to be considered Whether the exclusion of the Palsgrave's person doth exclude his Children who by the providence of their Ancestors before this act of their Father had an hereditary right thereunto Or whether that Prince's Brother or other of the Kindred who have no way offended should be in this case neglected This will be ill resented by the other Electors and Princes allied to the Palatine who have been quiet hitherto upon confidence of the Emperors clemencie But perceiving all hopes of recovering the Electoral Dignity to their Family taken away must needs have recourse to Arms. They further added That the Palatine was young and abused by evil Counsels and no way the Author of the stirrs in Bohemia Wherefore they give their advice That his restoring will quiet the otherwise endless troubles of the Empire and for ever engage him and all his Allies and the whole Electoral Colledge to his Imperial Majesty The Catholick Princes answered That the Palatinate being devolved upon the Emperor he may bestow it according to his own pleasure And that he cannot safely hold any terms of Amity with the Palatine That the impunity of so great an Offender will encourage others to offend And as for by-past sufferings there hath been little difference between his and the Emperors though the Cause were far different And that Mansfeld his General is yet in the Field and prosecutes his Cause by force of Arms. The other Party replied That the security of the Imperial Dignity and the safety of the Empire consisted in the Concord between the Emperor and the Princes Electors And if his Imperial Majesty shall use this rigor the Princes of Lower Saxony are of opinion that there can be no Peace established But this desired Reconciliation will give the Emperor a quiet possession of the Provinces recovered by the aid of the Electors and Princes otherwise there is a fair pretension left for the renewing of the War for that the Palatines Sons and Brother are passed by in the translation of the Electorate and the King of Great Britain cannot but take it ill to see his endeavors produce no better effect but that his onely Daughter and her Children are left in Exile The Emperor takes up the debate and sheweth That before the Ban was published he desired nothing more then that a Diet might be convoked which being impeded by the prosecution of the War he could do no less then publish this Proscription to repress the Palatine which some that now dispute it did then declare to be legal and necessary And this proscribed Enemy he will not restore to the Electoral Dignity nor yet defer to compleat the number of Electors Thus have we good words from Spain and miserable usage from all the rest of the House of Austria Sir Dudley Carlton Ambassador Resident at the Hague assured the Marquis of Buckingham That though the Spanish Ambassador D' Ognat in publique opposed the Emperor in transferring the Electorate yet the judgment generally made upon it was this That it was a meer Patelinage with a secret understanding to abuse King Iames his goodness Likewise the Emperor not content to have chased the Palsgrave out of Germany in the Propositions of the former Diet made this an Article to make War upon the United
as no Ceremony or other thing intervene which shall be contrary to the Roman Catholick Apostolick Religion III. That the most Gratious Infanta shall take with her such Servants and Family as are convenient for her service which Family and all persons to her belonging shall be chosen and nominated by the Catholick King So as he nominate no Servant which is Vassal to the King of Great Britain without his will and consent IV. That as well the most Gratious Infanta as all her Servants and Family shall have free use and publick Exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion in manner and form as is beneath capitulated V. That she shall have an Oratory and Decent Chappel in her Palace where at the pleasure of the most Gratious Infanta Masses may be celebrated and in like manner she shall have in London or wheresoever she shall make her abode a Publick and Capacious Church near her Palace wherein all Duties may be solemnly celebrated and all other things necessary for the Publick Preaching of Gods Word the Celebration and Administration of all the Sacraments of the Catholick Roman Church and for burial of the Dead and Baptizing of Children That the said Oratory Chappel and Church shall be adorned with such decency as shall seem convenient to the most Gratious Infanta VI. That the Men-servants and Maid-servants of the most Gratious Infanta and their Servants Children and Descendents and all their Families of what sort soever serving her Highness may be freely and publickly Catholicks VII That the most Gratious Infanta her Servants and Family may live as Catholicks in form following That the most Gratious Infanta shall have in her Palace her Oratory and Chappel so spatious that her said Servants and Family may enter and stay therein in which there shall be an ordinary and publick door for them and another inward door by which the Infanta may have a passage into the said Chappel where she and other as abovesaid may be present at Divine Offices VIII That the Chappel Church and Oratory may be beautified with decent Ornaments of Altars and other things necessary for Divine Service which is to be celebrated in them according to the custom of the Holy Roman Church and that it shall be lawful for the said Servants and others to go to the said Chappel and Church at all hours as to them shall seem expedient X. That the care and custody of the said Chappel and Church shall be committed to such as the Lady Infanta shall appoint to whom it shall be lawful to appoint Keepers that no body may enter into them to do any undecent thing XI That to the Administration of the Sacraments and to serve in Chappel and Church aforesaid there shall be Four and twenty Priests and Assistants who shall serve weekly or monethly as to the Infanta shall seem fit and the Election of them shall belong to the Lady Infanta and the Catholick King Provided That they be none of the Vassals of the King of Great Britain and if they be his will and consent is to be first obtained XII That there be one Superior Minister or Bishop with necessary Authority upon all occasions which shall happen belonging to Religion and for want of a Bishop that his Vicar may have his Authority and Jurisdiction XIII That this Bishop or Superior Minister may Correct and Chastise all Roman Catholicks who shall offend and shall exercise upon them all Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical And moreover also the Lady Infanta shall have power to put them out of her service whensoever it shall seem expedient to her XIV That it may be lawful for the Lady Infanta and her Servants to procure from Rome Dispensations Indulgences Jubilees and all Graces as shall seem fit to their Religion and Consciences and to get and make use of any manner of Catholick Books whatsoever XV. That the Servants and Family of the Lady Infanta who shall come into England shall take the Oath of Allegiance to the King of Great Britain Provided That there be no clause therein which shall be contrary to their Consciences and the Roman Catholick Religion and if they happen to be Vassals to the King of Great Britain they shall take the same Oath that the Spaniards do XVI That the Laws which are or shall be in England against Religion shall not take hold of the said Servants and onely the foresaid Superior Ecclesiastical Catholick may proceed against Ecclesiastical persons as hath been accustomed by Catholicks And if any Secular Judge shall apprehend any Ecclesiastical person for any offence he shall forthwith cause him to be delivered to the aforesaid Superior Ecclesiastick who shall proceed against him according to the Canon Law XVII That the Laws made against Catholicks in England or in any other Kingdom of the King of Great Britain shall not extend to the Children of this Marriage and though they be Catholicks they shall not lose the right of Succession to the Kingdom and Dominions of Great Britain XVIII That the Nurses which shall give suck to the Children of the Lady Infanta whither they be of the Kingdom of Great Britain or of any other Nation whatsoever shall be chosen by the Lady Infanta as she pleaseth and shall be accounted of her Family and enjoy the priviledges thereof XIX That the Bishop Ecclesiastical and Religious persons of the Family of the Lady Infanta shall wear the Vestment and Habit of their Dignity Profession and Religion after the Custom of Rome XX. For security that the said Matrimony be not dissolved for any cause whatsoever The King and Prince are equally to pass the Word and Honor of a King and moreover that they will perform whatsoever shall be propounded by the Catholick King for further confirmation if it may be done decently and fitly XXI That the Sons and Daughters which shall be born of this Marriage shall be brought up in the company of the most Excellent Infanta at the least until the age of Ten years and shall freely enjoy the right of Successions to the Kingdoms as aforesaid XXII That whensoever any place of either Man-servant or Maid-servant which the Lady Infanta shall bring with her nominated by the Catholick King her Brother shall happen to be void whether by death or by other cause or accident all the said Servants of her Family are to be supplied by the Catholick King as aforesaid XXIII For security that whatsoever is capitulated may be fulfilled The King of Great Britain and Prince Charls are to be bound by Oath and all the Kings Council shall confirm the said Treaty under their hands Moreover the said King and Prince are to give their Faiths in the Word of a King to endeavor if possible That whatsoever is capitulated may be established by Parliament XXIV That conformable to this Treaty all these things proposed are to be allowed and approved of by the Pope tâ—at he may give an Apostolical Benediction and a Dispensation necessary to effect the Marriage The Oath taken
to day were presented to them they have put themselves to the Offensive by preparing a strong Fleet which is ready to set sail to the West-Indies to the end they may at least interrupt the peaceable Annual return of the Gold and Silver of those parts by which the House of Austria do continually advance their greatness And this preparation together with their Voyages into the East-Indies will make them irreconcileable to Spain These enterprises were commended to the King as approved by all good men to be a principal means to cast down the fearful power of Spain Onely it was too vaste a design for that little Countrey but if the King were pleased thoroughly to close with them their Affections and constant interest would so binde them to him that he might absolutely dispose of them and by their forces by Sea and Land conjoyned with his own be able to give the Law to Europe And the present state of the Provinces might incite the King to this Conjunction For the last Summer if the Imperialists had joyned with the Spaniards they had undoubtedly made an irruption into the borders of that State and they are like to break in this next year except some notable Turn shall intervene and then our best Link for a Bond of Friendship is broken and those Provinces of a strong Staff will become a broken Reed Such Râ—presentations were made to the Court of England but the Counsels then prevailing were not propense to this Conjunction and Interest although we were then breaking with Spain and the House of Austria About the beginning of December when the Ratification came from the new Pope Bonfires were made throughout all Spain and the great Ordnance thundred out reports of joy And that King to satisfie his Oath made to the Prince of Wales prepared for the Espousals and a day was prefixed and all things appointed for the Solemnity according to the Magnificence of that Court The Infanta's Family was setled her Officers distinguished and the beginning of March was the time for her journey into England From the Princes departure she had applied herself to the learning of the English Tongue The English Ambassadors carried themselves like Subjects towards her as being their Masters Wife or Spouse Many rich presents had she prepared for her future Lord and Husband And the Earl of Bristol had provided many costly Liveries for his Attendants in the Solemnity of the Espousals But all things were instantly discomposed by the opening of the new commands from England to the Earl which were to procure an intire surrender of the Palatinate and Electorate before he move one step further towards the Contract In the Court of Spain there was great resentment of these new delays and they discerned a breach towards The Infanta gave over the study of English and was no more stiled the Princess of England but to the Demands from England the King of Spain replied That if a Treaty be set on foot and the Emperor and Duke of Bavaria will not come to Terms of Conformity he will joyn Arms with England to recover the Palatinate The Spaniards confessing the Demand just but unseasonable professed the Desponsorio's past the Infanta on her knees should have been a Suiter to the King to restore the Palatinate making it thereby her act and drawing the Obligation wholly to her These offers did not satisfie Bristol was called home and all was dashed to peeces It was an amazement to the Christian World that when the Match was brought to such perfection the motion should be rejected by that side which pursued it with so much eagerness and patience as being the master-peece of all their designs In the latter part of this long tedious act the Spaniard appeared real but in the former part their reality was questionable For our parts the business shall remain as we finde it a dark Riddle and Mystery The Earl of Bristol having demurred upon the new Instructions to prevent as he desired the embroiling of the whole Treaty was to make his Apology to the King his Master and for himself he thus pleaded That he understood the Infanta was his yong Masters wife or Spouse at least and that both the King and Prince infinitely desired the Match The powers were drawn by the intervention of both parties the King of Spain accepting them and the Prince legally delivering them and they were deposited with him in trust as the Ambassador of the King of Great Britain with a Publick Declaration how and when he was to deliver them and this was drawn into an Instrument by the Secretary of State According to this state of things he appeals to any Censure which were the more prudent honest and dutiful way whether to put a disgrace upon so great and worthy a Princess who was to be his Masters Wife and a scorn upon the King of Spain by nominating a day for the Marriage when the powers would be expired and not at all to insist upon making good the Publick Trust reposed in him by two so great Monarchs to the hazard and overthrow of so great and important a business or contrariwise to represent to his Majesty the state of things in Truth and Sincerity with his humble opinion of the wrong and disgrace to the Infanta by deferring the Marriage and of the indignity offered to the King of Spain and the danger of the whole Treaty by the detention of the Powers without the pretence of some emergent cause And after all this when his Majesty had declared his pleasure there was ready an exact obedience Wherefore in the confidence of his own innocencie he professeth as great a confidence of his Majesties accustomed grace and favor Bristol being called home acquainted the Conde Olivares with the Letters of Revocation and desired withall to have a day assigned him to take his leave of the King Olivares answered That he had much to say to him by his Majesties order and spake to this effect in the presence of Sir Walter Aston and the Conde Gondomar That the King had received large advertisements with what malice and rancor his Enemies did prosecute him and how powerful they are in England And in regard that the Envy which was drawn upon him proceeded from his earnest endeavors to accomplish the Match and that the particular fault laid to his charge was in point of delivering the Proxies deposited in his hands that his Majesty takes it to heart and judgeth himself touched in his honor if for this cause his Enemies shall prevail so far as to work his ruine or disgrace And therefore he will write to the King of Great Britain and send a particular Ambassador if it be needful to mediate for him for that he had served his Master with that exactness and fidelity which deserved not only to be assisted by all good offices but to be rewarded and published And his Majesty for the example of his own Subjects and for the encouragement
danger of death for want of water to quench his thirst more desired water then I thirst and desire the good and comfortable success of this Parliament and blessing upon your Counsels that the good issue of this may expiate and acquit the fruitless issue of the former And I pray God your Counsels may advance Religion and the Publick weal and the good of me and my Children Feb. 21. The Commons presented Sir Thomas Crew for their Speaker who prayed an Excuse which being denied he made this Speech SInce I cannot bring an Olive-branch in my mouth as a sign of my peace and that God in whose hands are the hearts of Kings without whose providence a sparrow doth not fall to the ground whom no man can resist hath inclined your Majesty to cast your eye of grace on me and to confirm me in this place I am taught in the best School that Obedience is better then Sacrifice And will only say with a learned Father Da Domine quod jubes jube quod vis Otherwise I have great cause to be afraid of such a Charge to be executed before so great a Majesty and in so great an Assembly but that I hope your Majesty will extend your Scepter of grace as Ahashuerus did to sustain me in my fainting Your Majesty is Princeps Haereditarius descended from both the Roses and hath united both the Kingdoms At your first entrance you wrought a wonder in the Tumult of our Cares and Cloud of our Fears happening upon the death of the late Queen by the bright beams of your Sunshine which a Poet elegantly expressed Mira cano sol occubuit nox nulla secuta est There was a David in Hebron and no Ishbosheth to disturb your peaceable entrance but the Acclamations of all your Subjects and Commons concurring to express their great contentment This was no sudden flash of joy but a constant blessing by the continuance of the Gospel and true Religion maugre the malice and hellish invention of those who would have blown up all at once but God laughed them to scorn and they fell into their own trap These things I leave to your Majesties Royal remembrance as a duty to be practised and to be expressed by our thankfulness to our holy God for it is a good thing to be thankfull Non est dignus dandis qui non agit gratias pro datis Since my designment to this place I called to mind these Statutes of late times and find two of especial note The first of 32 H. 8. which was called Parlamentum doctum for the many good Laws made for the setling of Possessions The other 39 Eliz. which by a reverend Divine was called Parlamentum pium because the Subjects thereby were enabled to found Hospitals without Licence of Mortmain or Ad quod damnum And other charitable Laws which I omit being not perpetual And I likewise called to mind many glorious offers made by your Majesty and other good Provisions at the two last Meetings Now your Majesty hath stretch'd forth your Scepter to call us to you again and hath made a Declaration that all jealousies and distractions might be removed and the memory of Parliament-Nullities might be buried And my desire is that your Majesties influence may distill upon us and you proceed in such a sweet harmony and conjunction that Righteousness and Peace may kiss each other and that Mercy and Truth may meet and the World may say Ecce quà m bonum quà m jucundum Regem Populum convenire in unum And for perfecting of this work the good Bills against Monopolies Informers and Concealers may now pass and receive strength with a general liberal and Royal Pardon according to the bounty of the late Queen That so this Parliament may be called Felix Doctum Pium which will be good to your Subjects and no diminution to your Revenue or derogation to your Prerogative which in your Majesties hands is as a Scepter of gold but in others hands is a Rod of iron I need not speak in the praise of the Fundamental Common-Laws Veritas temporis filia Time hath sufficiently justified them Monarchy is the best Government and of Monarchies those which are hereditary The best supply of your Majesties wants is in Parliament where the Subject is bound by his own consent other courses of Benevolence come heavily The Subjects enjoy the Gospel freely by your protection and your Majesty may be safe in their Loyalty Other safeties are but as Ajax his Shield a weight rather then a defence Their desire is that the good Laws for Religion may be confirmed and that the generation of Locusts the Jesuites and Seminary-Priests which were wont to creep in corners and do now come abroad may be by the execution of these good Laws as with an East-wind blown over the Sea Our late Queen Elizabeth lived and died in peace the Pope cursed her but God blessed her And so shall your Majesty having God to your Friend find safety in the Ark of true Religion and when you are old and full of days land you in Heaven And then our hopeful Prince which sprang out of your own loins shall sway that Scepter which you must leave to enjoy a Crown celestial And God in his due time will restore the distressed Princess her Husband and Royal Issue to that Inheritance which is now possessed by the usurping sword of their Enemies Whereof we are the more confident because that Country was heretofore a Sanctuary in our distress when Religion was here persecuted Cato was wont to say Hoc sentio Carthago destruenda est But I say Hoc sentio Palatinatus recuperandus est The question was put to a Lacedemonian Why their City wanted Walls Who answered Concord was their Walls Your Majesty under God is a sole and entire Monarch whose Walls are the Ocean without and fortified within with a Wall of Brass the bond of Unity and Religion And happy is that place of which it may be said as of Ierusalem It is a City at unity within it self Neither is your Government confined within the limits of this Kingdom but extends it self to Ireland where your Majesties care and pains in our late Imploiment gave divers provident Directions for the setting forth of Religion the reforming of Courts of Justice and inflicting punishment on the Disturbers of the Publick peace And I was Ocularis testis that you have made these ample Endowments of Churches out of your own Excheated Revenue as will be to your honor in all posterity But my desire is as well in the beginning as in all other our proceedings our words may be vera pauca ponderosa Therefore with your Gratious Favor according to antient Presidents we are humble Suitors That you would be pleased to allow our antient Priviledges And that for our better Attendance our Persons Goods and necessary Attendants may be free from Arrests and that we may have liberty of free Speech
other Ambassadors will do so no more I am a good Master that never doubted of him for I know him to be so good a Schollar of mine that I say without vanâ—ty he will not exceed his Masters Dictates And I trust the Report not the worse he made because it is approved by you all yet I believe an honest man as much as all the World and the rather because he was a Disciple of mine And I am glad he hath so well satisfied you and thank you heartily for taking it in so good part as I finde you have done The Lords having debated those high Matters of State which the King put into their hands delivered their opinions That his Majesty cannot with honor and safety and with the conveniency of State and Religion proceed any further in the Treaty of the Princes Marriage nor relie any longer upon the Treaty for the recovery of the Palatinate in which Vote the Commons concurred with them And in this manner both Houses Addressed themselves to the King May it please your most Excellent Majesty WE are come unto you imployed from your most faithful Subjects and Servants the Lords and Commons assembled in this present Parliament And first They and we do give most humble and hearty thanks unto Almighty God that out of his gracious goodness he hath been pleased now at last to dispel the Clouds and Mists which for so many years have dimmed the eyes of a great part of Christendom in the business whereof we do now consult And secondly We acknowledge our selves most bound unto your Majesty that you have been pleased to require the humble Advice of us your obedient Subjects in a Case so important as this is which hitherto dependeth between your Majesty and the King of Spain Which we jointly offer from both Houses no one person there dissenting or disagreeing from the rest And it is upon mature consideration and weighing many particulars of sundry natures that finding so much wanâ— of Sincerity in all their Proceedings We super totam materiam present this our humble Address unto your Majesty That the Treaties both for the Marriage and the Palatinate may not any longer be continued with the honor of your Majesty the safety of your People the welfare of your Children and Posterity as also the assurance of your antient Allies and Confederates Reasons were also presented to fortifie this Vote Whereas the Propositions of the Match were at the first no more then Liberty of Conscience to the Infanta and her Family which the King might in honor grant The Spaniards taking advantage of the Prince's being in Spain importuned a General Connivence of Religion to the diminution of the Kings Soveraignty and against the usage of other Catholick Princes in the like Treaties and to the discouragement of all his well-affected Subjects And this they have labored with the Pope being of mischievous consequence During this Treaty the Popish Faction hath mightily increased And whereas heretofore they were wont to be divided some taking part with the Secular Priests and some with the Iesuites they are united which is a matter of great consequence considering they do as well depend on Spain for Temporal matters as on Rome for Spiritual And they cannot be suppressed as long as the Treaty holds They have by this Treaty devoured our Allies and the Protestant party in Germany and elswhere to the decay of true Religion and to the jealousie of our Friends beyond the Seas During this Treaty of Love they have spoiled his Majesties Son-in-law of his Lands and Honors and notwithstanding promises of Restitution still invaded his Rights and at length turned pretended Difficulties into apparent Impossibilities They have deluded our King and offered indignity to our Prince by importuning him again and again to a Conversion contrary â—o the Law of Hospitality and the Priviledge of Princes The Insincerity of their Proceedings is to be seen by that former Overture of Marriage for the late Prince Henry which after many specious Motions was followed with a disavowing of their own Ambassador and a scornful Proposition made to the King of the Prince's altering his Religion As also by the Treaty of Bruxels where the Lord Weston found nothing but Delays and Deceit and after divers peremptory Commands from Spain for his Majesties satisfaction it wrought no other effect then the Besieging and taking of Heidelburgh insomuch that the Ambassador was forced to protest and return To these things were added the Translation of the Electorate to the Duke of Bavaria and the Letter of the King of Spain to Conde Olivares with the Conde's Answer which imported that the Match was never intended As also after the Prince had taken a hazardous Journey they devised a shift by a Iuncto of Divines to let him come home without the Lady These Reasons were presented to the King by the universal consent of the House of Commons Hereupon the King came to Parliament and made a Speech deliberative enquiring into the Condition of the War which they advised and the means to uphold and carry it on My Lords and Gentlemen all I Have cause first to thank God with my heart and all the faculties of my mind that my Speech which I delivered in Parliament hath taken so good effect amongst you as that with an unanimous consent you have freely and speedily given me your Advice in this great Business for which I also thank you all as heartily as I can I also give my particular thanks to the Gentlemen of the Lower House for that I heard when some would have cast Jealousies and Doubts between me and my people they presently quelled those motions which otherwise might indeed have hindred the happy Agreement I hope to find in this Parliament You give me your Advice to break off both the Treaties as well concerning the Match as the Palatinate And now give me leave as an old King to propound my Doubts and hereafter to give you my Answer First it is true that I who have been all the days of my life a peaceable King and have had the honor in my Titles and Impresses to be stiled Rex Paciâ—icus should be loth without necessity to imbroil my self with War far from my Nature and from my Honor which I have had at home and abroad in endeavouring to avoid the effusion of Christian blood of which too much hath been shed and so much against my heart I say that unless it be upon such a Necessity that I may call it as some say merrily of Women Malum necessarium I should be loth to enter into it And I must likewise acquaint you that I have had no small hope given me of obtaining better Conditions for the Restitution of the Palatinate and that even since the sitting down of the Parliament But be not jealous or think me such a King that would under pretence of asking your Advice put a scorn upon you by disdaining and rejecting it For you
not what way they take to become masters of them sleighting the latter day of Judgment so they may rest secured from yielding any account in this World I have no more to say but that God would be pleased to incline our hearts to do that which may be most for his glory next for the Kings service then for the Countreys happiness To the Doubts which the King propounded the Parliament gave Solution by a Committee of both Houses in the Declaration following delivered by the Archbishop of Canterbury with this Introduction May it please your Sacred Majesty WE are come to you again from your most Faithful Subjects and Loyal Servants the Lords and Commons assembled in this present Parliament And first We humbly let your Majesty know how much we hold our selves bounden unto Almighty God that he hath sent a King to rule and reign over us who is pleased in the greatest and weightiest causes to speak and to be spoken to in Parliament by his good and loving people which causeth the King to understand them over whom he beareth rule and them again to understand him And is a true Bond that tieth the heart of the Sovereign to the Subject and of the Subject reciprocally to their Leige Lord and Sovereign And next we rejoyce that your Majesty hath shewed your self sensible of the insincerity of the King of Spain with whom of late you have had a double Treaty and of the indignities offered by them unto your Blessed Son the Prince and to your Royal Daughter And that your Kingly heart is filled with an earnest desire to make Reparation to her noble Consort and her self of the Palatinate their Patrimonial Possession which is agréeable to Iustice and to all Laws of God and Man For the effecting whereof to certifie with what alacrity with what expediteness and uniformity of heart both your Houses of Parliament in the name of your whole Kingdom have borne themselves unto your Majesty with offer to give their Royal assistance we have digested it into writing lest by the verbal or vocal Delivery of any person it may miscarry or the expression of our zeal be weakned or diminished Which we humbly pray your Majesty to give leave to be read unto you Most Gratious Sovereign WE your Majesties most humble and Loyal Subjects the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled Do first render to your Sacred Majesty our most dutiful thanks for that to our unspeakable comfort you have vouchsafed to express your self so well satisfied with our late Declaration made unto your Majesty of our general Resolution in pursuit of our humble Advice to assist your Majesty in a Parliamentary way with our persons and abilities And whereas your Majesty in your great Wisdom and Iudgment foreséeing that it will make a déeper Impression both in the Enemies of that Cause and in your Friends and Allies if they shall not onely hear of the chearful Offers but also sée the real Performance of your Subjects towards so great a Work Your Majesty was pleased to descend to a particular Proposition for the Advancing of this great business We therefore in all humbleness most ready and willing to give your Majesty and the whole World an ample Testimony of our sincere and dutiful Intensions herein Upon mature Advice and Deliberation as well of the weight and importance of this great Affair as of the present Estate of this your Kingdom the Weal and Safety whereof is in our Iudgments apparently threatned if your Majesties Resolution for the dissolving of the Treaties now in question be longer deferred and that Provision for defence of your Realm and aid of your Friends and Allies be not seasonably made have with a chearful consent of all the Commons no one Dissenting and with a full and chearful Consent of the Lords resolved That upon your Maiesties Publick Declaration for the Dissolution and utter Discharge of both the said Treaties of the Marriage and of the Palatinate in pursuit of our Advice therein and towards the support of that War which is likely to ensue and more particularly for those Four Points proposed by your Majesty namely For the Defence of this your Realm the securing of Ireland the assistance of your Neighbors the States of the United Provinces and other your Majesties Friends and Allies and for the setting forth of your Royal Navy We will grant for the present the greatest Aid which ever was given in Parliament That is to say Thrée intire Subsidies and thrée Fiftéens to be all paid within the compass of one whole year after your Majesty shall be pleased to make the said Declaration the Money to be paid into the hands and expended by the direction of such Committées or Commissioners as hereafter shall be agréed upon at this present Session of Parliament And we most humbly beséech your Majesty to accept of these first-fruits of our hearty Oblation dedicated to that work which we infinitely desire may prosper and be advanced And for the future to rest confidently assured That we your loyal and loving Subjects will never fail in a Parliamentary way to assist your Majesty in so Royal a design wherein your own honor and the honor of your most Noble Son the Prince the antient renown of this Nation the welfare and very subsistence of your Noble and onely Daughter and her Consort and their Posterity the safety of your own Kingdom and People and the prosperity of your Neighbors and Allies are so déeply engaged Herunto his Majesty replied My Lords and Gentlemen all I Have nothing to say to the Preamble of my Lord of Canterbury but that he intimated something in it which I cannot allow of For whereas he said I have shewed my self sensible of the insincerity of those with whom I had lately to deal and of the indignity offered to my Children In this you must give me leave to tell you that I have not expressed my self to be either sensible or insensible of the good or bad dealing It was Buckinghams Relation to you which touched upon it by it you must not bar me nor make Iupiter speak that which Iupiter speaks not For when I speak any such thing I will speak it with that reason and back it with that power which becomes a King As for the matter of the Declaration unto my Demands which you have couched in that Paper which I now heard read unto me I confess it is without example that any King hath had such an offer And with your favor I need fear nothing in this World having so much the hearts of my people For the large offer of assistance I hold it to be more then Millions of Subsidies and indeed it is an ample reward for the trust and freedom which I have used with you But my Lords and Gentlemen you must give me leave on the one side to consider the possibility of the action For in this case I must do as a man that maketh a
ours and the Honor his XXIII His sickness at the beginning more grievous then it seemed a sharp melancholy humor set on fire though ushered in by an ordinary Tertian Ague XXIV He was from the beginning of his sickness scarce out of an opinion that he should die and therefore did not suffer the great Affairs of Christendom to move him more then was fit for he thought of his end XXV His devout receiving of the Blessed Sacrament XXVI His Regal Censure of the Moderate Reformation of the Church of England and particularly for the care of retaining of Absolution the comfort of distressed Souls XXVII His continual calling for Prayers with an assured confidence in Christ. XXVIII His death as full of patience as could be found in so strong a death XXIX His Rest no question is in Abrahams Bosome and his Crown changed into a Crown of Glory Another writes thus of that King in the Book entituled the Reign of King Charles IN the stile of the Court he went for Great Britains Solomon nor is it any Excursion beyond the Precincts of Verity to say That neither Britain nor any other Kingdom whatsoever could ever since Solomons days glory in a King for recondite Learning and abstruse Knowledge so near a Match to Solomon as he And though he was an Universal Schollar yet did he make other Sciences their most proper employment but Drudges and Serviteurs to Divinity wherein he became so transcendently eminent as he notoriously foiled the greatest Clerks of the Roman See Nor did his Theological Abilities more advantage the Cause of Religion abroad then at home they keeping the new-fangled Clergy aloof and at distance as not daring to infuse into so solid a Judgment their upstart and erroneous Fancies no nor disquiet the Churches peace with Heterodox Opinions A stout Adversary he was to the Arminians and Semipelagians whom he called as Prosper before him The Enemies of Gods Grace And as slender a Friend to the Presbytery of whose Tyrannical and Antimonarchical Principles he had from his Cradle smart experience He was an excellent Speaker the Scheme of his Oratory being more stately then pedantick and the Expressions argued him both a King and a Schollar In his Apparel and Civil Garb he seemed naturally to affect a Majestick carelesness which was so Hectick so Habitual in him as even in Religious Exercises where the Extern Demeanor is a grand part of that Sacred Homage he was somewhat too incurious and irreverent He was indulgent a little to his Palate and had a smack of the Epicure in Pecuniary Dispensations to his Favorites he was excessive liberal yea though the exigence of his own wants pleaded Retension Studious he was of Peace somewhat overmuch for a King which many imputed to pusillanimity and for certain the thought of War was very terrible unto him whereof there needs no further demonstration then his management of the Cause of the Palatinate For had he had the least scintillation of Animosity or Majestick Indignation would he have so long endured his Son-in-Law exterminated from his Patrimony while the Austrian Faction to his great dishonor cajoled and kept him in delusory Chat with specious fallacies would he in those several Negotiations of Carlisle Bristol Belfast and Weston have trifled away so vast sums the Moity whereof had they been disposed in Military Levies would have Modelled an Army able when Heidelburgh Manheim and Frankendale defended themselves to have totally dissipated all the Forces of the Usurpers to have mastered the Imperious Eagle enforcing her to forego her Quarry and reestated the Palsgrave would he so shamefully have Courted the Alliance of Spain to the very great regret of his Subjects whom his Predecessors had so often baffled and whom England ever found a worse Friend then Enemy What stronger evidence can be given in of a wonderful defect of Courage As this lipothymie this faint-heartedness lost him the reputation and respects of his people so his heavy pressures upon them and undue Levies by Privy Seals and the like alienated their Affections especially considering how those Moneys were mis-employed indeed rather thrown away partly in the two dishonorable Treaties of Spain and Germany and the Consequential Entertainments and partly in Largesses upon his Minion Buckingham Between this disaffection and contempt in his people there was generated a general disposition to turbulent and boisterous Darings and Expostulations even against his Darling Prerogative And though those dismal calamities which befel his Son were doubtless ampliated by a superfetation of Causes yet was their first and main existency derivative from those seminalities Let Court-Pens extol the calmness of his Halcyonian Reign with all artifice of Rhetorick yet can they never deny but that admired Serenity had its set in a Cloud and that he left to his Successor both an empty Purse and a Crown of Thorns Sir Francis Bacon when King Iames was living gave this Character of him WHerefore representing Your Majesty many times unto my minde and beholding you not with the eye of Presumption to discover that which the Scripture tells me is inscrutable but with the observant eye of Duty and Admiration leaving aside the other parts of your Virtue and Fortune I have been touched yea and possessed with an extream wonder at these your Virtues and Faculties which the Philosophers call Intellectuals The largeness of your Capacity the faithfulness of your Memory the swiftness of your Apprehension the penetration of your Judgment and the facility and order of your Elocution And I have then thought that of all the persons living that I have known Your Majesty were the best instance to make a man of Plato's opinion That all Knowledge is but Remembrance and that the Minde of Man by Nature knoweth all things and hath but her own Native and Original Notions which by the strangeness and darkness of the Tabernacles of the Body are sequestred again revived and restored Such a Light of Nature I have observed in your Majesty and such a readiness to take flame and blaze from the least occasion presented or the least spark of anothers Knowledge delivered And as the Scripture saith of the wisest King That his heart was as the Sand of the Sea which though it be one of the largest Bodies yet it consisteth of the smallest and finest Portions So hath God given your Majesty a composition of Understanding admirable being able to compass and comprehend the greatest Matters and nevertheless to touch and apprehend the least wherein it should seem an impossibility in Nature for the same Instrument to make it self fit for great and small Works And for your gift of Speech I call to minde what Cornelius Tacitus saith of Augustus Caesar Augusto prosâ—uens quae Principem deceret Eloquentia fuit For if we mark it well Speech that is uttered with labor and difficulty or Speech that savoreth of the affectation of Arts and Precepts or Speech that is framed after the imitation of some pattern
sorts of persons might partake of the Publick Joy Prisoners for Debts were set at liberty and Pardon was granted to several Criminals as an earnest of the Kings respect and love to his Sister after this new Alliance The Duke of Buckingham was sent into France to his Christian Majesty to send away the Wife to the King of Great Britain and to be her Convoy He arrived at Paris the 24. of May with the Earl of Montgomery and other English Lords and was lodged in the Palace of the Duke of Chevereux who with his Lady was to conduct the Queen into England there to render her to the King her Husband During the seven days stay which the Duke made at Park the Feastings and Rejoicings were renewed and multiplied Bonfires shining and Canons playing but none did equalize the Feast that was made by the Cardinal of Richelieu The Second of Iune was the time appointed for our Queens departure The King of France sent to the Towns in her way to render her Majesty all due honors as if it were to himself The King of England having notice that the Queen was gone from Amiens sent a Royal Navy to Boloign to transport her the Fleet saluted the Town with a hundred peece of Canon Among other great Ladies the Duchess of Buckingham was sent to kiss the Queens hands as from the King her Husband desiring her to take her own time of coming over with most conveniencie to her own person The 22. of Iune New Stile the Queen imbarqued at Boloign and within Twenty four hours arrived at Dover And as the King was preparing to receive her she sent to his Majesty to desire him not to come till the morrow because she had been somewhat indisposed at Sea She passed that night at Dover and the next day about Ten of the clock the King was there with the Flower of the Nobility and after some Complements past caused every-body to retire and they were half an hour together in the Closet Thence his Majesty conducted the Queen to Canterbury and the same evening the Marriage was there consummated Then the Queen in testimony of her respect and love to the King her Husband made it her first suit as afterwards the King made known That he would not be angry with her for her faults of Ignorance before he had first instructed her to eschew them For that she being young and coming into a strange Country both by her years and ignorance of the Customs of the Nation might commit many Errors And she desired him in such cases to use no Third person but by himself to inform her when he found she did ought amiss The King granted her request and thanked her for it desiring her to use him even as she had desired him to use her which she willingly promised The Knights and Gentlemen of Kent together with the Trained Bands were by Order of the Council commanded to attend and receive the Queen at the most convenient places as she passed in such solemn manner and equipage as beseemed the dignity of his Majesty and the quality of her person Likewise the Magistrates of the Cities and Towns were commanded to attend at her passage in such Formalities as are used in principal and extraordinary Solemnities On the Sixteenth of Iune the King and Queen came both to London Great preparations were made and intended for her Majesties reception but the Plague then increasing those Ceremonies were laid aside A Chappel at Somerset-house was built for the Queen and her Family with Conveniencies thereunto adjoining for Capuchin-Friers who were therein placed and had permission to walk abroad in their Religious habits Thence-forward greater multitudes of Seminary-Priests and Iesuites repaired into England out of Forein parts This Summer the Pestilence raged in London At the entrance of the late King there was a great Plague in the City but this was far greater and the greatest that ever was known in the Nation For which cause a great part of Trinity-Term was adjourned from the First Return to the Fourth by the advice of the Privy-Council and the Justices of the Courts at Westminster and some few days in the beginning and ending thereof were holden for the better expediting and continuing of Causes and Suits and the returning and suing out of Processes and such like business as might be done in the absence of the Parties by their Attornies On the Eighteenth day of Iune the Parliament began at Westminster The King being placed in his Royal Throne the Lords sitting in their Robes the Commons also being present his Majesty spake thus I Thank God that the Business to be treated on at this time is of such a nature that it needs no Eloquence to set it forth For I am neither able to do it neither doth it stand with my Nature to spend much time in words It is no new business being already happily begun by my Father of blessed memory who is with God therefore it needeth no Narrative I hope in God you will go on to maintain it as freely as you advised my Father to it It is true He may seem to some to have been slack to begin so just and so glorious a work but it was his wisdom that made him loth to begin a work until he might find a means to maintain it But after that he saw how much he was abused in the confidence he had with other States and was confirmed by your Advice to run the Course we are in with your Engagement to maintain it I need not press to prove how willingly he took your Advice for the Preparations that are made are better able to declare it then I to speak it The assistance of those in Germany the Fleet that is ready for action with the rest of the Preparations which I have only followed my Father in do sufficiently prove that he entred into this Action My Lords and Gentlemen I hope that you do remember that you were pleased to imploy me to advise my Father to break off those two Treaties that were on foot so that I cannot say that I came hither a free unengaged man It 's true I came into this business willingly and freely like a Young man and consequently rashly but it was by your interest your engagement So that though it were done like a Young man yet I cannot repent me of it and I think none can blame me for it knowing the love and fidelity you have borne to your King having my self likewise some little experience of your affections I pray you remember that this being my first Action and begun by your Advice and intreaty what a great Dishonor it were to you and me if this Action so begun should fail for that Assistance you are able to give me Yet knowing the constancie of your love both to me and this Business I needed not to have said this but only to shew what care and sense I have
lending of the Ships and received fair Answers from them both But the King sent an express and strict Order to Pennington requiring him without delay to put his former Command in Execution for the consigning of the Ship called the Vantguard with all her furniture into the hands of the Marquess D' Effiat assuring the Officers of the Ships that he would provide for their Indempnity and further commanding him to require the Seven Merchants Ships in his name to put themselves into the Service of the French King and in case of backwardness or refusal to use all means to compel them thereunto even to their sinking Upon this Pennington went back to Deep and put the Vantguard into the absolute Power and Command of the French King to be employed in his Service at pleasure and commanded the rest of the Fleet to the like Surrender At the first the Captains Masters and owners refused to yield weighed Anchor and were making away but when Pennington shot they came in again but Sir Ferdinando Gorge came away with the Ship called the Neptune The Companies unanimously declined the Service and quitted the Ships all but one Man who was a Gunner and Pennington hasted to Oxford where the Parliament was Reassembled but as was voiced was there concealed till the Parliament was dissolved On the First of August the Parliament Reassembled at Oxford whether the news of the Ships lent to the French against the besieged Rochellers did quickly flie and exasperate the spirit of that great Assembly against the Duke of Buckingham The Grievances insisted upon were the mis-spending of the Publick Treasure the neglect of guarding the Seas insomuch that the Turks had leisure to land in the Western parts and carry away the Subjects Captives The Commons appointed a Committee to consider of secret Affairs and to examine the Disbursements of the Three Subsidies and the Three Fifteens given to King Iames for the Recovery of the Palatinate and they prepared to assault the Duke Also Mr. Richard Montague was summoned to appear according to the Condition of his Bond and a Committee was appointed to proceed in the further Examination of that business Mr. Montagues Cause was recommended to the Duke by the Bishops of Rochester Oxford and St. Davids as the Cause of the Church of England They shew that some of the Opinions which offended many were no other then the resolved Doctrine of this Church and some of them are curious Points disputed in the Schools and to be left to the liberty of Learned Men to abound in their own sense it being the great fault of the Council of Trent to require a Subscription to School Opinions and the approved Moderation of the Church of England to refuse the apparent Dangers and Errors of the Church of Rome but not to be over-busie with Scholastical Niceties Moreover in the present case they alleage that in the time of Henry the Eighth when the Clergy submitted to the Kings Supremacy the Submission was so resolved That in case of any difference in the Church the King and the Bishops were to determine the Matter in a National Synod and if any other Judge in Matters of Doctrine be now allowed we depart from the Ordinance of Christ and the continual practice of the Church Herewithal they intimated That if the Church be once brought down below her self even Majesty it self with soon be impeached They say further That King Iames in his rare wisdom and judgment approved all the Opinions in this Book and that most of the contrary Opinions were debated at Lambeth and ready to be published but were suppressed by Queen Elizabeth and so continued till of late they received countenance at the Synod of Dort which was a Synod of another Nation and to us no ways binding till received by Publick Authority And they affirm boldly That they cannot conceive what use there can be of Civil Government in the Common-wealth or of External Ministry in the Church if such fatal Opinions as some are which are opposite to those delivered by Mr. Montague be publickly taught and maintained Such was the Opinion of these forenamed Bishops but others of Eminent Learning were of a different Judgment At Oxford in a late Divinity Disputation held upon this Question Whether a Regenerate Man may totally and finally fall from Grace The Opponent urging the Appeal to Caesar the Doctor of the Chair handled the Appellator very roughly saying He was a meer Grammarian a Man that studied Phrases more then Matter That he understood neither Articles nor Homilies or at least perverted both That he attributed he knew not what vertue to the sign of the Cross Dignus Cruce qui asserit and concluded with an Admonition to the Juniors That they should be wary of reading that and the like Books On the Fourth of August the Lords and Commons were commanded to attend his Majesty in Christs-Church Hall in Oxford where he spake unto them in manner following MY Lords and you of the Commons We all remember that from your Desires and Advice my Father now with God brake off those two Treaties with Spain that were then in hand Well you then foresaw that as well for regaining my dispossessed Brothers Inheritance as home defence a War was likely to succeed and that as your Councils had led my Father into it so your assistance in a Parliamentary-way to pursue it should not be wanting That aid you gave him by Advice was for succor of his Allies the guarding of Ireland and the home part supply of Munition preparing and setting forth of his Navy A Council you thought of and appointed for the War and Treasurers for issuing of the Moneys And to begin this Work of your Advice you gave Three Subsidies and as many Fifteens which with speed were levied and by direction of that Council of War in which the preparation of this Navy was not the least disbursed It pleased God at the entrance of this Preparation by your Advice begun to call my Father to his Mercy whereby I entred as well to the care of your Design as his Crown I did not then as Princes do of Custom and Formality Reassemble you but that by your further Advice and Aid I might be able to proceed in that which by your Counsels my Father was engaged in Your love to me and forwardness to further those Affairs you expressed by a Grant of Two Subsidies yet ungathered although I must assure you by my self and others upon credit taken up and aforehand disbursed and far short as yet to set forth that Navy now preparing as I have lately the estimate of those of care and who are still employed about it whose particular of all expences about this preparation shall be given you when you please to take an accompt of it His Majesty having ended his Speech commanded the Lord Conway and Sir Iohn Cook more particularly to declare the present state of Affairs which
was done to this effect THat our Soveraign Lord King Iames of Famous Memory at the Suit of both Houses of Parliament and by the powerful operation of his Majesty that now is gave consent to break off the Two Treaties with Spain touching the Match and the Palatinate and to vindicate the many wrongs and scorns done unto his Majesty and his Royal Children Besides if the King of Spain were suffered to proceed in his Conquests under pretence of the Catholick Cause he would become the Catholick Monarch which he so much affects and aspires unto Also amidst these Necessities our late King considered That he might run a hazard with his people who being so long inured to Peace were unapt to War that the uniting with other Provinces in this undertaking was a Matter of exceeding Difficulty This drew him to new Treaties for regaining his Children right which were expulsed by the Friends and Agents of Spain and wherein his Majesty proceeded as far as the wisest Prince could go and suffered himself to be won unto that which otherwise was impossible for his Royal Nature to endure He considered also the many Difficulties abroad the Duke of Bavaria by Force and Contract had the Palatinate in his own possession most of the Electors and Princes of Germany were joyned with him The Estates of the other Princes most likely to joyn in a War of Recovery were seized and secured and all by a Conquering Army Besides the Emperor had called a Diet in which he would take away all possibility of recovering the Honor and Inheritance of the Palatinate thus it stood in Germany And in France the King there chose to sheath his Sword in the Bowels of his own Subjects rather then to declare against the Catholick Cause In the Low-Countreys the Sect of the Arminians prevailed much who inclined to the Papists rather then to their own safety notwithstanding that the Enemy had a great and powerful Army near them so that his Majesty was inforced to Protect and Countenance them with an Army of Six thousand from hence with a Caution of the like Supply from thence if required Moreover he sought Alliance with France by a Match for his Royal Majesty that now is thereby to have Interest in that King and to make him a Party The last consideration was his Majesties own Honor who had labored with the two Kings of Denmark and Sweden and the German Princes from whom he received but cold Answers they refusing to joyn unless they first saw his Majesty in the Field But of this he was very tender unless the League were broken or he first warred upon The Forces of an Army were considered and the way of proceeding whether by Invasion or Diversion The Charges thereof appeared in Parliament to be Seven hundred thousand pounds a year besides Ireland was to be fortified the Forts here repaired and a Navy prepared he thought it feasible to enter into a League with the French King and the Duke of Savoy and Venice Hereupon an Army was committed to Count Mansfield the charge whereof came to Seventy thousand pounds a Moneth for his Majesties part also he commanded the preparing of this great Fleet All which so heartned the Princes of Germany that they sent Ambassadors to the Kings of Denmark and Sweden and those two Kings offered a greater Army both of Horse and Foot to which his Majesty was to pay a proportion Count Mansfields Army though disastrous produced these happy effects First It prevented the Diet intended by the Emperor Secondly The German Princes gained new courage to defend themselves and oppose their Enemies Thirdly The King of Denmark hath raised an Army with which he is marched in person as far as Minden Moreover the Confederates of France and Italy have prosecuted a War in Milan and Peace is now made by the French King with his own Subjects so that by this means breath is given to our Affairs This Parliament is not called in meer Formality upon his Majesties first coming to the Crown but upon these Real Occasions to consult with the Lords and Commons Two Subsidies are already given and gratiously accepted but the Moneys thereof and much more are already disbursed A Fleet is now at Sea and hastning to their Rendezvous the Army is ready at Plimouth expecting their Commanders His Majesties Honor Religion and the Kingdomes safety is here engaged besides he is certainly advised of Designs to infest his Dominions in Ireland and upon our own Coasts and of the Enemies increase of Shipping in all parts These things have called the Parliament hither and the present Charge of all amounts to above Four hundred thousand pounds the further prosecution whereof the King being unable to bear hath left it to their Consultations His Majesty is verily perswaded That there is no King that loves his Subjects Religion and the Laws of the Land better then himself and likewise that there is no people that better loves their King which he will cherish to the uttermost It was thought that this place had been safe for this Assembly yet since the Sickness hath brought some fear thereof his Majesty willeth the Lords and Commons to put into the Ballance with the fear of the Sickness his and their great and weighty occasions Then the Lord Treasurer added That the late King when he died was indebted to the City of London 120000 l. besides Interest and indebted for Denmark and the Palatinate 150000 l. and indebted for his Wardrobe 40000 l. That these debts lie upon his Majesty that now is who is indebted upon London 70000 l. That he hath laid out for his Navy 20000 l. and 20000 l. for Count Mansfield And for Mourning and Funeral expences for his Father 42000 l. For expences concerning the Queen 40000. The Navy will require to set it forth in that Equipage as is requisit for the great Design his Majesty hath in hand and to pay them for the time intended for this Expedition 300000 l. After this Conference the Commons fell into high Debates alleaging That the Treasury was mis-employed that evil Councels guided the Kings Designs that our Necessities arose through Improvidence that they had need to Petition the King for a strait hand and better Counsel to Manage his Affairs And though a former Parliament did engage the King in a War yet if things were managed by contrary Designs and the Treasure misemployed This Parliament is not bound by another Parliament to be carried blindfold in Designs not guided by sound Counsel and that it is was not usual to grant Subsidies upon Subsidies in one Parliament and no Grievances redressed There were many Reflections upon the Dukes miscarriages likewise they reassumed the Debate concerning Montague and they resolved That Religion should have the first place in their Debates and next unto it the Kingdoms Safety and then Supplies Other particulars were likewise insisted on That the King be desired to Answer in full Parliament to the Petition
to confirm an Agreement between the King and the Copy-holders of Macclesfield in Com. Cestr. c. 9. An Act for he settlement of an Agreement of the Tenants of Chelvenham and Ashby alias Charleton between the King and Sir Giles Grival Knight The Parliament being dissolved the King followed his Design of War and resolved that the Fleet should speedily put out to Sea he also entered into a League with the United-Provinces against the Emper or and King of Spain for restoring the Liberties of Germany the States by their Ambassadors sought this Union and the Duke of Buckingham with the Earl of Holland were sent to the Hague to conclude the same as also to comfort the Kings distressed Sister with hopes of a Restitution Soon after his Majesty issued forth a Proclamation whereby he commanded the return within limitted time of all such children of Noblemen and others his natural Subjects who were now breeding up in Schools and Seminaries and other houses of the Popish Religion beyond the Seas That their Parents Tutors and Governors take present order to recal them home and to provide that they return by the day prefixt at the utmost severity of his Majesties Justice and he commanded further That no Bishop Priest or any other person having taken Orders under any Authority derived from the Sea of Rome do presume to confer Ecclesiastical Orders or exercise Ecclesiastical Function or Jurisdiction towards any of his natural Subjects in any of his Dominions and that all Statutes in force be put in due execution against Jesuites Seminaries and others in Popish Orders prefixing a day for their departure out of his Dominions not to return again upon the severest penalties of the Law In the time of the late King very many of the natural Subjects of these Dominions had by publick permission betaken themselves to the service of the Emperor the King of Spain and Archdutchess of the Low-Countries and by this means they fought against others of their Country-men that were imployed by the States of the United-Provinces and on the behalf of the exiled Palatine But now the King foreseeing how improper and unnatural it were that his own natural Subjects should upon any occasion or accident draw their swords one against the other or any of them against their own Soveraign did by advice of his Privy-Council straitly command all those his Subjects who were under the pay of the Emperor the King of Spain or Archdutchess speedily to return to their Native Countries where they should be received and imployed as occasion served according to their several qualities The dissolution of the Parliament preventing the Act of Subsidies the King drew Supplies from the people by borrowing of persons able to lend such competent sums of money as might discharge the present occasions accordingly he directed Letters of the following Tenor to the Lords-Lieutenants of the Counties Right Trusty and Welbeloved c. IT hath been so usual a thing for Kings and Princes of this Realm to make use of their Subjects good affections by borrowing some such competent Sums of Money of Persons able to lend as might supply those present occasions for Publick Service which cannot attend that length of time wherein it can be raised by contribution by the generality of our Sujects As we have not onely present occasion to make the like Trial by borrowing from some private Gentlemen and others but also of your sincerity and endeavors in furtherance of the service that is to say in taking some course either out of your own knowledg and experience or by any other Means or Instruments which you like best to make Collection of as many Persons Names within the County wherein you are Lieutenant as may be of ability to furnish us with several Sums at this time and therefore to return in a Book both the Names of the Persons their Dwellings and what Sums you think they may spare that we may thereupon direct our Privy-Seals unto them according to the form of this inclosed And for your further instruction in this Case on whose Trust we do so much repose we wish you to advise herein with your Deputy Lieutenant as those from whom we have special cause to promise our selves all good Offices of duty and affection To which we must add thus much further That we do not intend at this time to deal with any Nobleman neither are you to deal with any of the Clergy because we have reserved that Direction to the Metropolitans of the several Provinces to proceed onely with some special persons that are known to be men of wealth and ability and not meerly subsisting upon those Livings which in most places are far inferior to that Maintenance we could wish them By which course and consideration of ours though you may perceive how much we desire to procure this Loan without inconvenience to any which is only intended for the service of the Publique yet must we assure you that we had no greater cause at any time then now to make use of your integrity and industry in respect of your election of the Lenders and of your constant demonstration both of diligence and affection to the service Having now delivered unto you as much as for the present can be expected from us We will refer you for any further direction unto our Privy-Council as hereafter occasion shall require To whom our pleasure is you do return your Certificates in manner and form as is aforesaid at the most within Twenty days after the Receipts of these our Letters Given at c. The Comptroller of the Kings Houshold by the Councils Order issued forth Letters in the Kings name under the Privy-Seal to the several persons returned for the Loan of Money in form as followeth Trusty and Welbeloved c. HAving observed in the Presidents and Customs of former Times that all the Kings and Queens of this Realm upon extraordinary occasions have used either to resort to those Contributions which arise from the generality of Subjects or to the private helps of some well-affected in particular by way of Loan In the former of which courses as we have no doubt of the love and affection of our People when they shall again assemble in Parliament so for the present we are enforced to proceed in the latter course for supply of some portions of Treasure for divers Publick services which without manifold inconveniences to us and our Kingdoms cannot be deferred And therefore this being the first time that we have required any thing in this kind we doubt not but we shall receive such a testimony of your good affection from you amongst other of our Subjects and that with such alacrity and readiness as may make the same so much the more acceptable especially seeing we require but that Sum which few men would deny a Friend and have a mind resolved to expose all our Earthly fortune for preservation of the General The Sum which we
Lordships according to the unanimous Advice of all the Iudges of England and his Majesties pleasure signified therein That the First Article propounded viz. You shall do all your pain and diligence to destroy and make to cease all manner of Heresies and Errors commonly called Lollaries within in your Bayliwick from time to time to all your power and assist and be helping to all Ordinaries and Commissioners of the Holy Church and favor and maintain them as oftentimes as you shall be required shall be left out in the Oath to be given to Sir Edward Cook and shall ever hereafter be left out in all Oaths to be given to the High Sheriffs of Counties hereafter And their Lordships do likewise Order according to the unanimous Advice of all the Iudges of England That the other thrée Articles doubted of shall stand in the said Oath to be ministred to the said Sir Edward Cook and to all other High Sheriffs as heretofore hath béen accustomed and that the Lord Keeper do give order to such Officers and Clerks in the Court of Chancery to whom it appertained to make out the Oath for the time to come according to present Order The expectation of a Parliament gave encouragement to the Bishop of Lincoln who yet retained the name of Lord Keeper notwithstanding his Sequestration several moneths before from the presence of the King the Council Table and the custody of the Seal to make an Address to his Majesty for a favorable interpretation of his actions But his carriage towards the Duke at the Parliament at Oxford was fresh in memory where the Bishop told the Duke in Christ-Church upon the Dukes rebuking him for siding against him That he was engaged with William Earl of Pembroke to labor the Redress of the Peoples Grievances and was resolved to stand upon his own Legs If that be your resolution said the Duke Look you stand fast and so they parted and shortly after that he was sequestred though the Seal was not disposed from him till the Thirtieth of October at which time it was given to Sir Thomas Coventry at Hampton-Court who was that day sworn of the Privy Council and sate there and sealed some Writs and afterwards came to the Term at Reading and sate there as Lord Keeper and heard Causes The King being pressed with his own Necessities and the Cry of the Nation against the Fruitless Voyage of Cadiz summoned a Parliament to meet in February and before the time of meeting his Majesty enjoyned the Archbishops and Bishops in both Provinces to proceed against Popish Recusants by Excommunication and other Censures of the Church and not to omit any lawful means of bringing them to Publick Justice especially he recommended to their vigilant care the unmasking and repressing of those who were not professed Papists yet disaffected to the true Religion and kept close their evil and dangerous affection and by secret means and slights did encourage and advance the growth of Popery This Command was seconded by a Proclamation requiring That all Convicted Papists should according to the Laws of this Realm remain confined to their dwelling places or within five miles thereof unless upon special Licences first obtained in Cases necessary Immediately before the Parliament Bishop Laud procured the Duke of Buckingham to sound the King concerning the Cause Books and Tenets of Mr. Richard Montague and understanding by what the Duke collected That the King had determined within himself to leave him to a Tryal in Parliament he said I seem to see a Cloud arising and threatning the Church of England God for his Mercy dissipate it About the same time the King declared his purpose to celebrate the Solemnity of his Coronation on Candlemas-day at the Palace of Westminster and required all persons who by reason of their Offices and Tenures were bound to perform any Duties at the Solemnitie to give their attendance and to be furnished in all respects answerable to an action of so high State according to their places and dignities Wherefore by a Commission under the Great Seal of England Sir Thomas Coventry Lord Keeper of the Great Seal Iames Lord Say High Treasurer of England Edward Earl of Worcester Keeper of the Privy Seal Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surrey Earl Marshal of England William Earl of Pembroke Lord High Chamberlain Edward Earl of Dorset and Sir Randol Crew Cheif Justice of the Common Pleas were authorised to receive and determine the Claims exhibited by any Person concerning Services to be performed at the approaching Coronation And the more to credit the Solemnity the King resolving to make certain of his Servants and other Subjects in regard of their Birth good Service and other Qualities Knights of the Bath Authorised Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surrey and Earl Marshal of England William Earl of Pembroke Lord Chamberlain to perform in his Majesties Name and behalf all the Rites and Ceremonies belonging thereto At the same time Writs were directed to all Sheriffs in the Realm of England and Dominions of Wales commanding them to make Proclamation That all such as had Forty pounds a year or more of Lands or Revenues in their own hands or the hands of Feoffees for their use for the space of Three years and are not yet Knights do at their perils prepare to present themselves in his Majesties Presence by the One and thirtieth of Ianuary to receive the Order of Knighthood Upon the asswaging of the great Pestilence through the Mercy and Goodness of God in withdrawing and almost removing the Scourge the King by His Royal Authority ordained a Publick and General Thanksgiving to be celebrated upon the Nine and twentieth of Ianuary being the Lords day in the Cities of London and Westminster and the places adjacent and on the Nineteenth of February in all other places of the Kingdom the manner and form whereof was prescribed by a Book composed by the Bishops according to his Majesties special Direction The Contagion ceasing the restraint enjoyned to the Citizens of London from resorting to Fairs for a time was taken off The number of those that died this year within and without the Walls of the City of London and in the Liberties and Nine out Parishes from the Sixteenth of December 24. to the Fifteenth of December 25. Was in Total Fifty four thousand two hundred sixty and five whereof of the Plague Thirty five thousand four hundred and seventeen On Candlemas-day King Charls was Crowned Bishop Laud had the cheif hand in compiling the Form of the Coronation and had the honor to perform this Solemnity instead of the late Lord Keeper Williams who through the Kings disfavor was sequestred from this Service which belonged to his place as he was Dean of Westminster Mr. Iohn Cosens as Master of the Ecclesiastical Ceremonies kneeled behinde the Bishop when the Prayers were read and directed the Quire when to answer The Ceremony in going to and all the
Coronation was briefly thus THe King went that day from Westminster-Hall to the Abbey Church attended by the Aldermen of London Eighty Knights of the Bath in their Robes the Kings Serjeants at Law Solicitor and Attorney Generals the Judges Barons Bishops Viscounts and such of the Earls who bore no particular Office that day in their Parliament Robes going two by two before the King all uncovered and after them followed his Officers of State being Eight Earls and one Marquess those persons according to their respective places and offices carried the Swords the Globe the Scepter the Crown and the Lord Major of London carried the short Scepter two Bishops carried the one the Golden Cup and the other the Plate for the Communion Next before his Majesty went the Earl of Arundel as Earl-Marshal of England and the Duke of Buckingham as Lord High-Constable of England for that day The King being cloathed in White Sattin went under a rich Canopy supported by the Barons of the Cinque Ports the King having on each hand a Bishop and his Train of Purple-Velvet was carried up by the Master of the Robes and the Master of the Wardrobe At the entring into the Church Bishop Laud delivered into the Kings hands the Staff of King Edward the Confessor with which the King walked up to the Throne then the Archbishop of Canterbury presented his Majesty to the Lords and Commons there present East West North and South who gave their consent to his Coronation as their lawful Soveraign After Sermon was done the King went to the Altar where the Old Crucifix amongst other Regalia stood as also the Ointment consecrated by a Bishop to take the Coronation Oath which as is said was performed in this manner viz. SIS says the Archbishop will You grant and kéep and by Your Oath confirm to the People of England the Laws and Customs to them granted by the Kings of England Your Lawful and Religious Predecessors and namely the Laws Customs and Franchises granted to the Clergy by the glorious King St. Edward Your Predecessor according to the laws of God the true Profession of the Gospel established in this Kingdom agréeable to the Prerogative of the Kings thereof and the Antient Customs of the Realm I grant and Promise to keep them Sir will You kéep Peace and Godly Agréement according to Your Power both to God the Holy Church the Clergy and the People I will keep it Sir will You to Your Power cause Law Justice and Discretion to Mercy and Truth to be executed to Your Judgment I will Sir will You grant to hold and kéep the Laws and Rightful Customs which the Communalty of this Your Kingdom have and will You defend and uphold them to the honor of God so much as in you lyeth I grant and promise so to do Then one of the Bishops read this Passage to the King Our Lord and King we beseech You to Pardon and to Grant and to Preserve unto us and to the Churches committed to Your Charge all Canonical Priviledges and do Law and Iustice and that You would Protect and Defend us as every good King to His Kingdoms ought to be Protector and Defender of the Bishops and the Churches under their Government The King answereth With a willing and devout Heart I promise and grant my Pardon and that I will preserve and maintain to you and the Churches committed to your Charge all Canonical Priviledges and due Law and Justice and that I will be your Protector and Defender to my Power by the assistance of God as every good King in his Kingdom in right ought to protect and defend the Bishops and Churches under their Government Then the King arose and was lead to the Communion Table where he takes a Solemn Oath in sight of all the People to observe all the Premisses and laying his hand upon the Bible said The things which I have here promised I shall perform and keep So help me God and the Contents of this Book After the Oath the King was placed in the Chair of Coronation and was Anointed by the Archbishop with a costly Ointment and the Antient Robes of King Edward the Confessor was put upon him and the Crown of King Edward was put upon his Head and his Sword girt about him and he offered the same and two Swords more together with Gold and Silver at the Communion Table He was afterwards conducted by the Nobility to the Throne where this Passage was read to his Majesty Stand and hold fast from henceforth the place to which You have been Heir by the Succession of Your Forefathers being now delivered to You by the Authority of Almighty God and by the hands of us and all the Bishops and Servants of God And as You see the Clergy to come nearer to the Altar then others so remember that in all places convenient You give them greater honor that the Mediator of God and Man may establish You in the Kingly Throne to be a Mediator betwixt the Clergy and the Laity and that You may Raign for ever with Iesus Christ the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Afterwards the Nobility were swâ—rn to be Homagers to the King and some other Ceremonies were performed which being done the Lord Keeper by the Kings command read a writing unto them which declared the Kings free Pardon to all his Subjects who would take the same under the Great Seal The Ceremonies of the Coronation being ended the Regalia were offered at the Altar by Bishop Laud in the Kings Name and then reposited The Bishop of Lincoln faln into disgrace by the displeasure of the Duke of Buckingham had not received his Writ of Summons which he represented to the King with Submission to his Majesties pleasure denied as he said to no Prisoners or condemned Peers in his Fathers Reign to enable him to make his Proxy if his Personal attendance be not permitted Likewise he besought his Majesty That he would be pleased to mitigate the Dukes causless anger towards him who was so little satisfied with any thing he could do or suffer that he had no means left to appease him but his Prayers to God and his Sacred Majesty Also that in his absence in this Parliament no use might be made of his Majesties Sacred Name to wound the Reputation of a poor Bishop who besides his Religion and Duty to that Divine Character which his Majesty beareth hath affectionately honored his very person above all Objects in this World as he desired the Salvation of the World to come And he craveth no Protection against any other Accuser or Accusation whatsoever On Monday the Sixth of February began the Second Parliament of the Kings Reign The King being placed in his Royal Throne the Lords in their Robes and the Commons below the Bar it pleased his Majesty to refer them to the Lord Keeper for what he had to say The Lord Keepers Speech My Lords ANd you the Knights
presented to and answered by the King And the Commons the same day resumed the Debate again concerning the Duke and Misgovernment and Misimployment of the Revenue c. Ordered the Duke to have notice again thereof The next day the King sent a Message to the House of Commons That they do to morrow at Nine of the clock attend his Majesty in the Hall at Whitehall and in the mean time all Proceedings in the House and Committee to cease Where his Majesty made this ensuing Speech My Lords and Gentlemen I Have called you hither to day I mean both Houses of Parliament but it is for several and distinct reasons My Lords you of the Upper House to give you thanks for the Care of the State of the Kingdom now and not only for the Care of your own Proceedings but for inciting your Fellow-House of the Commons to take that into their consideration Therefore my Lords I must not only give you thanks but I must also avow that if this Parliament do not redound to the good of this Kingdom which I pray God it may it is not your faults And you Gentlemen of the House of Commons I am sorry that I may not justly give the same thanks to you but that I must tell you that I am come here to shew you your errors and as I may call it Unparliamentary proceedings in this Parliament But I do not despair because you shall see your faults so cleerly by the Lord Keeper that you may so amend your Proceeding that this Parliament shall end comfortably and happily though at the beginning it hath had some rubs Then the Lord Keeper by the Kings command spake next MY Lords and you the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons You are here assembled by his Majesties commandment to receive a Declaration of his Royal pleasure which although it be intended only to the House of Commons yet his Majesty hath thought meet the matter being of great weight and importance it should be delivered in the presence of both Houses and both Houses make one General Council And his Majesty is willing that the Lords should be Witnesses of the Honor and Justice of his Resolutions And therefore the Errand which by his Majesties direction I must deliver hath relation to the House of Commons I must address my self therefore to you Mr. Speaker and the rest of that House And first his Majesty would have you to understand That there was never any King more loving to his People or better affectioned to the right use of Parliaments then his Majesty hath approved himself to be not only by his long patience since the sitting down of this Parliament but by those mild and calm Directions which from time to time that House hath received by Message and Letter and from his Royal mouth when the irregular humors of some particular persons wrought diversions and distractions there to the disturbance of those great and weighty Affairs which the Necessity of the Times the honor and safety of the King and Kingdom called upon And therefore his Majesty doth assure you that when these great Affairs are setled and that his Majesty hath received satisfaction of his reasonable Demands he will as a just King hear and answer your just Grievances which in a dutiful way shall be presented unto him and this his Majesty doth avow Next his Majesty would have you know of a surety That as never any King was more loving to his People nor better affectioned to the right use of Parliaments so never King more jealous of his Honor nor more sensible of the neglect and contempt of his Royal Rights which his Majesty will by no means suffer to be violated by any pretended colour of Parliamentary Liberty wherein his Majesty doth not forget that the Parliament is his Council and therefore ought to have the liberty of a Council but his Majesty understands the difference betwixt Council and Controlling and between Liberty and the Abuse of Liberty This being set down in general his Majesty hath commanded me to relate some particular passages and proceedings whereat he finds himself agrieved First Whereas a seditious speech was uttered amongst you by Mr. Cook the House did not as they ought to do censure and correct him And when his Majesty understanding it did by a Message by Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered to the House require Justice of you his Majesty hath since found nothing but protracting and delaies This his Majesty holds not agreeable to the wisdom and the duty which he expected from the House of Commons Secondly Whereas Doctor Turner in a strange Unparliamentary way without any ground of knowledge in himself or offering any particular proof to the House did take upon him to advise the House to enquire upon sundry Articles against the Duke of Buckingham as he pretended but in truth to wound the Honor and Government of his Majesty and of his renowned Father And his Majesty first by a Message and after by his own Royal mouth did declare That that Course of Enquiry was an Example which by no way he could suffer though it were against his meanest Servant much less against one so neer him and that his Majesty did much wonder at the foolish insolencie of any man that can think that his Majesty should be drawn out of any end to offer such a Sacrifice so unworthy of a King or a good Master Yet for all this you have been so far from correcting the Insolencie of Turner that ever since that time your Committees have walked in the steps of Turner and proceeded in an Unparliamentary Inquisition running upon generals and repeating that whereof you have made Fame the groundwork Here his Majesty hath cause to be exceeding sensible that upon every particular he finds the Honor of his Father stained and blemished and his own no less and withal you have manifested a great forwardness rather to pluck out of his bosom those who are neer about him and whom his Majesty hath cause to affect then to trust his Majesty with the future reformation of these things which you seem to aim at And yet you cannot deny but his Majesty hath wrought a greater Reformation in matters of Religion Execution of the Laws and concerning things of great importance then the shortness of his Reign in which he hath been hindred partly through sickness and the distraction of things which we could have wished had been otherwise could produce Concerning the Duke of Buckingham his Majesty hath commanded me to tell you That himself doth better know then any man living the sincerity of the Dukes proceedings with what cautions of weight and discretion he hath been guided in his publick Imployments from his Majesty and his blessed Father what Enemies he hath procured at home and abroad what peril of his person and hazard of his estate he ran into for the service of his Majesty and his ever blessed Father and how
good or evil they are to continue or not to be And remember that if in this time instead of mending your Errors by delay you persist in your Errors you make them greater and irreconcileable Whereas on the other side if you do go on cheerfully to mend them and look to the distressed State of Christendom and the Affairs of the Kingdom as it lieth now by this great Engagement you will do your selves honor you shall encourage me to go on with Parliaments and I hope all Christendom shall feel the good of it The Commons upon the Debate of what fell from his Majesty and the Lord Keeper turned the House into a Grand Committee ordered the doors to be locked and no Member to go forth and that all Proceedings in all other Committees shall cease till the House come to a Resolution in this business His Majesty being informed that some things in his own Speeches and the Lord Keepers Declaration were subject to misunderstanding commanded the Duke to explain them at a conference of both Houses in the Painted-Chamber held for that purpose WHereas it is objected by some who wish good Correspondency betwixt the King and People that to prefix a day to give or to break was an unusual thing and might express an inclination in the King to break to remove this as his Majesty was free from such thoughts he hath descended to make this Explanation That as his Majesty would not have you condition with him directly or indirectly so he will not lye to a day for giving further Supply but it was the pressing occasion of Christendom that made him to pitch upon a day His Majesty hath here a Servant of the King of Denmark and another from the Duke of Weymer and yesterday received a Letter from his Sister the Queen of Bohemia who signified that the King of Denmark hath sent an Ambassador with Power to perfect the Contract which was made at the Hague so it was not the King but time and the things themselves that pressed a time Therefore his Majesty is pleased to give longer time hoping you will not give him cause to put you in minde of it again so that you have a greater Latitude if the business require to think further of it I am commanded further to tell you that if his Majesty should accept of a less sum then will suffice it will deceive your expectations disappoint his Allies and consume the Treasure of the Kingdom whereas if you give largly now the business being at the Crisis it comes so seasonably it may give a Turn to the Affairs of Christendom But while we delay and suffer the time to pass others abroad will take advantage of it as the King of Spain hath done by concluding a Peace as 't is though in Italy for the Vatoline whereby our work is become the greater because there can be no diversion that way As it was a good Rule to fear all things and nothing and to be Liberal was sometimes to be Thrifty so in this particular if you give largly you shall carry the War to the Enemies door and keep that Peace at home that hath been Whereas on the contrary if you draw the War home it brings with it nothing but disturbance and fear all Courses of Justice stopt and each mans Revenues lessened and nothing that can be profitable Another Explanation I am commanded to make touching the grievances wherein his Majesty means no way to interrupt your Proceedings but hopes you will proceed in the antient wayes of your Predecessors and not so much seek faults as the means to redress them I am further commanded to tell you That his Majesty intends to elect a Committee of both Houses whom he will trust to take the view of his Estate the Defects whereof are not so fit for the Eyes of a Multitude and this Committee will be for your ease and may satisfie you without casting any ill odour on his Government or laying open any weakness that may bring shame upon us abroad That which is proposed is so little that when the payment comes it will bring him to a worse estate then now he is in therefore wishes you to enlarge it but leaves the augmentation to your selves but is sorry and touch'd in Conscience that the burthen should lie on the poorest who want too much already yet he will not prescribe but wish that you who were the Abettors and Counsellors of this War would take a greater part of the Burthen to your selves and any man that can finde out that way shall shew himself best affected and do the best service to the King and State The Duke then made his Address to them in his own behalf My Lords and Gentlemen YOu were all witnesses yesterday how good and gratious a Master I serve and I shall be likewse glad that you be witnesses how thankful a heart I have And I protest I have a heart as full of zeal to serve my Master as any man and it hath been my study to keep a good correspondency betwixt the King and his people And what ever thought hath been entertained of me I shall not alien my heart from that intention but shall adde spurs to my endeavours and actions to vindicate my self from ill opinion And however I lye under the burthen of the same it lies in your hands to make me happy or not and for my part I wish my heart and actions were known to you all then I assure my self you would resume me to your good opinions When I had with some hazard waited on my Master into Spain it is well known what Testimony I gave of my Religion and no man that comes to a true and near view of my action can justly charge me Let me be excused If I give accompt of this particular when I should speak of the general for this goes near my heart and to dissemble with my Conscience no ends of Fortunes in the World can make me do it For if I had any ill inclination I had such offers made to me in Spain as might have tempted me If I would have been converted my self I might have had the Infanta to put in my Masters Bed and if my discontent should have risen here I might have had an Army to have come with me But I thought the offer foolish ridiculous and scornful in that point of Religion I will now take the boldness to speak a little in the general business and I call it boldness to speak after one who did so well the other day But I had rather suffer in my own particular then not refresh your Memories with that which is materially needful I shall not need to reflect so far back as to the beginning of those Counsels which engaged my Master into the War they are well known onely I will so far touch it as to say That the last years preparations were not Voluntary or out of Wantonness but out of Necessity My Master
the Princes hands might have been bound up and yet he neither sure of a Wife nor any assurance given of the Temporal Articles All which in his high presumption he adventured to do being an express breach of his Instructions and if the same had not been prevented by his late Majesties vigilancy it might have turned to the infinite dishonor and prejudice of his Majesty XI Lastly That he hath offended in a high and contemptuous manner in preferring a scandalous Petition to this honorable house to the dishonor of his Majesty of blessed memory deceased and of his sacred Majesty that now is which are no way sufferable in a Subject towards his Soveraign and in one Article of that Petition specially wherein he gives his now Majesty the Lye in denying and offering to falsifie that Relation which his Majesty affirmed and thereunto added many things of his own remembrance to both Houses of Parliament ROBERT HEATH The Earl of Bristol upon the Attorney Generals accusing him of high Treason thus exprest himself THat he had exhibited his Petition to the House April 19 that he might come up and be heard in his Accusation of the Duke of Buckingham and that thereupon he being a Peer of this Realm is now charged with Treason That he had heretofore inâ—ormed the late King of the Dukes unfaithfull service and thereupon the Duke labored that he might be clapt up in the Tower presently upon his return out of Spain That he importuned the late King that he might be heard before himself and his Majesty promised it I pray God said he that that promise did him no hurt for he died shortly after And for the Kings promise he vouched the Lord Chamberlain for a witness and he desired the Lords to take notice that their House was possessed already of his said Petition and of his Accusation of the said Duke And therefore desired first that they would receive his charge against the Duke and the Lord Conway and not to invalid his Testimony against them by the Kings Charge against him and that he might not be impeached till his Charge of so high a nature be first heard So he tendred to the House the Articles against the Duke which the Clerk received and he withdrew and his Petition exhibited the 19 of April was read and the Lords resolved upon the Question That the said Earls Charge against the Duke of Buckingham and the Lord Conway should be presently read The Earl being shortly after called in again to the Bar of the Lords House concerning his Articles against the Duke made this speech FIrst he craved pardon of their Lordships for his earnest Speeches the other day confessing them to have been in passion saying That unexpected accusation of Treason would warm any honest heart but would hereafter amend it Then he rendred their Lordships humble thanks for their manner of proceeding against him and desired to know from Mr Attorney whether that were his whole Charge or not Mr Attorney answered That he had Commandment to open no more against him peradventure upon the opening of the Charge some particulars might arise and be urged but no new matter should Then the Earl desired to know of Mr Attorney who was the Relator to his Charge and that he might understand who was his Accuser Mr Attorney answered That the King himself out of his own mouth had given him directions for his own Relation against him and corrected many things that were added Unto which the Earl answered That he would not contest with the King neither did it beseem him so to do neither esteemed he his life or his fortunes so much as to save them by contesting with his Soveraign and therefore would make no reply or answer were it not that his Religion and Honor were joyntly questioned with his life but this being to descend to his Posterity for their sakes he was an humble Suitor unto his Majesty that he would not take indignation at his own just defence yet would he be ready to make any humble submission to his Majesty and heartily desired some means might be made that he might make it personally to himself wherein he would submit himself most willingly to some such act of humiliation and submission not wronging his innocency that never Subject did towards his Soveraign And also That his Majesty would be pleased to set himself in his Throne of Justice and declare out of his Royal justice that he would have the Duke and him upon equal terms and that neither of their causes should be advanced before others These were his humble Petitions which he besought their Lordships to present unto his Majesty and to take into their considerations of how dangerous a consequence it would be if the King should be Accuser Judge Witness and should have the Confiscation As touching the Charge against him he said He had once answered it all except that of his Petition and he doubted not but to clear himself before their Lordships of every particular of it he said he expected not to have heard of this again having once answered it He rather expected to have been charged with some practise with Spain against the State or the receipt of Ten or Twenty thousand pounds for the perswading and procuring of the delivery up of some Town of which the Crown was in possession as might be the Town of Flushing the Brill or the like or for being the means of lending the Kings Ships to a Forein Nation and that against those of our own Religion or for revealing his Majesties highest Secrets which none above two or three dares know or for treating the greatest affairs as it were by his own Authority without formal Instructions in the points or for having taken Rewards or been corrupted by a Foreign Prince or to have broken his Instructions in any Ecclesiastical point or as the Law calleth it to have committed an overt Act of disloyalty and not to be charged after seven Ambassages with Discourses and Inferences Then he desired their Lordships that he might have a Copy of his Charge in writing and time allowed him for his Answer and Counsel assigned him to plead his Cause and said there was a great difference between the Duke of Buckingham and him for the Duke was accused of Treason and yet at large and in the Kings favour and he being accused but of that which he had long since answered was a Prisoner and therefore he moved that they might be put in equal condition And as touching the Lord Conway in as much as he had given in Articles against him he desired his Lordship might not meddle in that particular business nor use the Kings name against him ex officio he also besought their Lordships to be Suitors to his Majesty on his behalf that all the particular dispatches of his own Ambassages and Sir Walter Ashtons might be brought thither and that he might make use of them for his defence as his Evidence
the Articles of several High Treasons and other great and enormous Crimes Offences and Contempts supposed to be committed by him against our late Soveraign Lord King James of Blessed Memory deceased and our Soveraign Lord the Kings Majesty that now is wherewith the said Earl is charged by his Majesties Attorney-General on his Majesties behalf in the most High and Honorable Court of Parliament before the King and the Lords there And not acknowledging any the supposed Treasons Crimes Offences and Contempts wherewith he is charged in and by the said Articles to be true and saving to himself all advantages benefit and exception to the Incertainty and Insufficiency of the said Articles and of the several Charges in them contained And humbly praying that his Cause may not suffer for want of Legal form whereunto he hath not been used but may be judged according to such real and effectual Grounds and Proofs as may be accepted from an Ambassador the ground of the Charge growing thence and that he may have leave to explain himself and his own meaning in any thing that may seem of a doubtful Construction For Answer saith as followeth I. THe First Article he denieth and because the Matters contained in the said Article consist of several parts viz. The loss of the said Palatinate and the Match with the said Lady of Spain and of the several Employments as of one Extraordinary Ambassage to the Emperor and another to the King of Spain in the years 1621.22 and 23. He humbly craves leave of this most Honorable Court to separate the businesses and distinguish the times And beginning with the Palatinate first to give an account of his Ambassage to the Emperor and so to make as brief a Deduction as he could of the whole carriage in that business from the beginning of his employment to the time he left it in his Ambassage to the Emperor he propounded all things faithfully according to his Instructions and the Answers which he returned to his late Majesty of Blessed Memory were the very same and no other then such as were given by the Emperor under his Hand and Imperial Seal the which according to his duty he faithfully sent unto his said Majesty and withal did honestly and truly advertise his said Majesty what he understood and thought then upon the place but was so far from giving to his Majesty any ill-grounded hopes in that behalf that he wrote unto the Lords of the Council here in England from Vienna 26 Iuly 1624. in such sort as followeth I Am further to move your Lordships That there may be a Dispatch made presently into Spain to his Majesties Ambassador and Mr. Cottington that they deal effectually for the repairing and ripening of the business against my coming that they use some plain and direct Language letting the Ministers there know That the late Letter sent by the King of Spain to the Emperor was colder and more reserved then his Master had reason to expect I shall conclude with telling your Lordships That although I dispair not of good success in that knotty business yet I hope his Majesty and your Lordships lay not aside the care of all fitting preparations for a War in case a Peace cannot be honorably had And amongst other things I most earnestly commend unto your Lordships by your Lordships unto his Majesty the continuing yet abroad for some small time of Sir Robert Mansels Fleet upon the Coasts of Spain which in case his Majesty should be ill used will prove the best Argument we can use for the Restitution of the Palatinate And this his Advice he saith was wholly intended by his Actions by being the cause as he returned homeward out of Germany to bring down Count Mansfield whereby the Town of Frankendale was relieved by supplying of his Majesties Army then in great distress with Moneys and Plate to the value of 10000 l. meerly out of his zeal and affection to the good of the King and his Children having no Warrant or Order but that his heart was ever really bent in effects more then in shews to serve the Kings Son-in-law and his cause as by the discourse of this business will appear And how acceptable these Services were will more appear by the Letters of the Queen of Bohemia in these words following My Lord HAving understood from Heidelburgh how you have shewed your affection to the King and me in all things and in the help of Money you have lent our Soldiers I cannot let so great Obligation pass without giving many thanks for it by these lines since I have no other means to shew my gratefulness unto you Howsoever assure your self that I will never be forgetful of the Testimonies you give me of your love which I intreat you to continue in doing the King and me all good Offices you can to his Majesty You have been an eye-witness of the miserable estate our Countreys are in I intreat you therefore to solicite his Majesty for our help you having given me an assurance of your affection I intreat you now to shew it in helping of us by your good endeavors to his Majesty and you shall ever binde me to continue as I am already Your very affectionate Friend ELIZABETH Which Letters were seconded with others about the same time both from the King of Bohemia and Council of Heidelburgh to the same effect And how much satisfaction his late Majesty received in that behalf and touching that business will plainly appear several ways and particularly by his Speech in Parliament And the said Earl likewise appealeth to both Houses of Parliament to whom by his late Majesties Order he gave a just and true accompt of that employment with what true zeal he proceeded and how he pressed that single Treaty and Promises no longer be relied on but that a fitting preparation for War might go along hand in hand with any Treaty of Accommodation And for a conclusion among many of his late Majesties approbations of his carriage in this employment he humbly desireth that a Letter of the Duke of Buckinghams under his own hand bearing date the Eleventh of October 1621. may be produced being as followeth My Lord I Am exceeding glad that your Lordship hath carried your self so well in this employment that his Majesty is infinitely pleased for your Service you have done for which he commanded me to give your Lordship thanks in his Name until he see you himself You of all men have cause to commend his Majesties choice of such a man that unless your heart had gone with the business you could never have brought it to so good a pass Amongst other things his Majesty liketh very well the care of clearing his Honor whereof he will advise further with your Lordship at your next coming over I hope you will not finde your Negotiation with the Infanta of such difficulty as you seem to fear in your Letter seeing my Brother Edward hath brought with him a Letter
that publick Trust reposed in him when the Proxies were deposited in his hands with publick and legal Declaration with an instrument by a Secretary of State to the King of Spain leading and directing the use of them and the same being then instrumentum stipulatum wherein as well the King of Spain was interessed by the acceptation of the substitution as the Prince by granting of the Proxies he could not in honesty fail the publick Trust without clear and undoubted warrant which as soon as he had he obeyed So as the Case standing thus the said Earl is very confident that the supposed Countermands Directions and Restrictions when they should be perused and considered of will appear to have been very slender and insufficient warrant against the aforesaid Orders and Reasons before specified And is also as confident That what is assured out of his the said Earls Dispatches will also appear to be misunderstood and that if he had proceeded to the execution of the Desponsories before he received direct and express commandment to the contrary by the aforesaid Letters November 13. 1623. which he readily and punctually obeyed he had not under favor broken his Instructions or deserved any blame for lack of assurance of the restitution of the Palatinate and Temporal Articles And first of the Palatinate his said Majesty did not send to the said Earl express Directions not to dispatch the Desponsories until a full conclusion were had of the other Treaty of the Palatinate together with that of the Marriage as by the said Article is alledged onely his late Majesty by the aforesaid Letters of October 8. required the said Earl so to endeavor that his Majesty might have the joy of both at Christmas Whereas his Instructions of May 14. 1621. were express that he should not make the business of the Palatinate a condition of the Marriage And his late Majesties Letters of December 30. 1623. were fully to the same effect Yet did the said Earl according to what was intimated by the said Letters of October 8. so carefully provide therein as that before the Proxies were to be executed he had an absolute answer in the business of the Palatinate the same should be really restored according to his late Majesties desire and the Conde Olivarez both in his Majesties name and in his own desired the said Earl and Sir Walter Aston that they would assure his Majesty of the real performance of the same and intreated if need were they should engage their honor and life for it as by their joynt Dispatches of November 23. 1623. will appear and so much the said Sir Walter Aston and the said Earl agreed should be delivered to them in writing before they would have delivered their Proxies and so the said Earl declared it the which Answer in writing should have been the same which since was given them of Ianuary 8. 1623. And both Sir Walter Aston and the said Earl were confident therein as they by their said Letters of November 23. wrote to his late Majesty as followeth Viz. That his Majesty might according to his desire signified to the said Earl by his Letters of October 8. give as well to his Majesties Daughter that Christmas the comfortable news of the expiring of her great troubles and sufferings as to his Son the Prince the Congratulation of being married to a most worthy and excellent Princess By which it will evidently appear he meant not to leave the business of the Palatinate loose when he intended to proceed to the Marriage but he confessed that he was ever of opinion that the best pawn and assurance his late Majesty could have of the real proceedings of the Palatinate was That they proceeded really to the effecting of the Match and of the same opinion was his late Majesty also and the Lords Commissioners here in England as appeareth by his Instructions dated March 14. 1621. which opinion still continued in them as appeareth by his late Majesties Letters of Ianuary 7. 1622. And as for the Temporal Articles the said Earl saith when the Desponsories were formerly appointed to have been as he remembreth on Friday August 29. before the departure of his Majesty then Prince out of Spain which was onely hindred by the not coming of the Dispensation the Prince appointed him and Sir Walter Aston to meet with the Spanish Commissioners and they drew up the heads of the Temporal Articles wherewith the Prince and the Duke of Buckingham were acquainted and in case the Dispensation had come and the Desponsories been performed on that day there had been no other provision made for them before the Marriage but presently upon the Prince his departure he the said Earl caused them to be drawn into form and sent them to his late Majesty September 27. 1623. desiring to understand his Majesties pleasure with all speed especially if he disapproved any thing in them but never received notice of any dislike thereof until the aforesaid Letters of November 13. 1623. which put off the Desponsories So as it appeareth the said Earl was so far from breaking his Instructions or from having any intention to have proceeded to the execution of the Desponsories before his Majesty and the Prince were satisfied of this point of the Infanta entring into Religion or before convenient assurance as well for the restitution of the Palatinate as performance of the Temporal Articles that he deserveth as he conceiveth under favor no blame so much as in intention but if he had erred in intention onely as he did not the same being never reduced into Act the Fault as he conceiveth was removed by his obedience before the intention was put into execution For so it is in Cases towards God And as to the matter of aggravation against him that he appointed so short a time for the Desponsories as that without extraordinary diligence the Prince had been bound he thereto saith as he said before that he set no day at all thereunto nor could defer it after the Dispensation came from Rome without a direct breach of the Match so long labored in and so much desired yet he and Sir Walter Aston having used all possible industry to discover how the motion of deferring the Match would be taken and finding an absolute resolution in the King of Spain to proceed punctually and to require the Proxies according to the Capitulations within ten dayes after the coming of the Dispensation and that time also getting advertisement from Rome that the Dispensation was granted and would presently be there he the said Earl to the end in so great a Cause he might have a clear and undoubted understanding of his late Majesties pleasure sent a Dispatch of November 1. with all diligence unto his Majesty letting his Majesty know that it could not be possible for him to protract the Marriage above four dayes unless he should hazard the breaking for which he had no warrant But that this was no new Resolution nor the
King so straitned in time as by the said Article is pretended will appear by the said Earls Dispatch of September 28. 1623. In which upon scruple that was then made of the Infanta's entring into Religion he wrote to the same effect Viz. That if the Dispensation should come he knew no means how to detain the Proxies above twenty or twenty four dayes So that although difficulty happened until the middest of November 1623. yet it was foreseen that it must of necessity happen whensoever the Dispensation should come and then was warning of two moneths given thereof viz. from September 24. until November 29. which was the time appointed for the Desponsories So as he most humbly submits himself unto your Lordships which of the two wayes was the safer or dutifuller for him to take whether upon inferences and conjectures to have overthrown so great a business or on the otherside first to have presented unto his Majesty the truth and sincerity as he did the true estate of his Affairs with his humble opinion therein with an intimation that if his Majesty should resolve to break the Match that for the said Earl his honest discharge of the publick Trust reposed in him when the Proxies were deposited in his hands and for his sufficient warrant in so great a cause his Majesty would be graciously pleased to give him clear and express order which he had not and in the interim whilest his Majesty might take into consideration the great inconveniences that might ensue the said inconveniences might be suspended and the business kept upon fair terms that his Majesty might have his way and choice clear and unsoiled before him And as to the evil Consequences which are pretended would have followed if the said Earl had proceeded to the consummation of the Match before he had express order and warrant to the contrary he supposeth his Majesty should speedily have seen the Marriage which he so long sought to have effected that the Prince should have had a worthy Lady whom he loved that the Portion was much greater then ever was given in money in Christendom that the King of Spain had engaged himself for restitution of the Palatinate for which the said Earl conceived a daughter of Spain and Two Millions had been no ill pawn besides many other additions of advantage to the Crown of England Whereas on the contrary side he foresaw that the Prince would be kept a year longer unmarried a thing that so highly concerneth these Kingdoms he doubteth that the recovery of the Palatinate from the Emperor and Duke of Bavaria by force would prove a great difficulty and that Christendom was like to fall into a general Combustion So that desiring that his Majesty should have obtained his ends and have had the honor and happiness not onely to have given peace plenty and increase unto his own Subjects and Crowns but to have compounded the greatest differences that had been these many years in Christendom And by his Piety and Wisdom to have prevented the shedding of so much Christian Blood as he feared would ensue if these businesses were disordered These Reasons he confesseth and the zeal unto his Majesties service made him so earnestly desire the effecting of this business and cannot but think himself an unfortunate man his Majesties affairs being so near setling to his Majesties content as he conceived they were and hoping to have been unto his Majesty not onely a faithful Servant but a successful Servant to see the whole estate of his affairs turned up-side down without any the least fault of his and yet he the onely Minister on the English and Spanish side that remained under disgrace XI To the Eleventh Article the said Earl saith That the Article is grounded upon a Petition by him preferred to this Honorable House supposed to be scandalous which your Lordships as he conceiveth according to the Customs and Priviledges of the House of Peers would have been pleased first to have adjudged so to have been either for matter appearing in it self or upon hearing the said Earl for if the matter appearing in the Petition it self be not to be excepted unto it cannot as he conceiveth by Collateral accidents be taken for a Scandal till it be examined and found false For a plain and direct Answer thereunto he saith That the said Petition is such as will not warrant any such inference as by the said Article is inforced And that he hopeth to justifie the Contents of the said Petition in such sort as shall not displease his Majesty nor deserve that expression which is used in the Charge but contrarily what he hath said or shall say therein in his defence shall in all things tend to the Honor and Service of his Majesty by reducing into his Memory divers Circumstances and laying before him the passages of divers particulars which by undue practices have been either concealed from his Majesty or mis-related to him Having thus offered to this High and Honorable Court such Proofs and Reasons as he hopeth shall in your Lordships Wâ—sdom and Justice clearly acquit him of any capital Crime or wilful Offence if it shall appear that out of Errors of Judgment too much ferventness of zeal to his Majesties service or the ignorance of the Laws of this Realm wherewith he hath not been able to be so well acquainted as he ought by reason of Foreign Employments by the space of many years or by any other ways or means he hath faln into the danger of the Laws for any thing pardoned in the General Pardon made in the Parliament holden at Westminster Anno Vicesimo primo Regni Imp. Iacobi Angliae c. of Blessed Memory he humbly prayeth allowance of the Pardons and the benefit thereof with this Clause That he doth and will aver that he is none of the persons excepted out of the same although he is very confident he shall not need the help of any pardon having received many significations as well from his Majesties own mouth that he had never offended his Majesty as lately by several Letters from the Lord Conway that he might rest in the security he was in and sit still and should be no further questioned But he hopes your Lordships will not onely finde him so far from blame but that he hath served his late Majesty of Blessed memory and his most gratious Son the Kings Majesty that now is with that fidelity care and industry that your Lordships will take such course as you in your wisdoms shall think fit not onely for the upholding the Honor and Reputation of a Peer of this Realm after so many employments but likewise become humble and earnest Suitors to his Majesty on his behalf which he humbly prayeth That he may be restored to his Majesties most gratious Favor which above all worldly things he most desireth The Eighth of May the Commons brought up their Charge against the Duke which was delivered at a Conference of both Houses
and spun out two days time It was managed by Eight Members and Sixteen more as Assistants The Eight cheif managers were Sir Dudley Diggs Mr. Herbert Mr. Selden Mr. Glanvile Mr. Pym Mr. Sherâ—and Mr. Wandesford and Sir Iohn Elliot Sir Dudley Diggs by way of Prologue made this Speech My Lords THere are so many things of great importance to be said in very little time to day that I conceive it will not be unacceptable to your Lordships if setting by all Rhetorical Affectations I onely in plain Country Language humbly pray your Lordships favor to include many excuses necessary to my manifold infirmities in this one word I am Commanded by the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House to present to your Lordships their most affectionate thanks for your ready condescending to this Conference which out of confidence in your great Wisdoms and approved Justice for the service of his Majesty and the welfare of this Realm they desired upon this occasion The House of Commons by a fatal and universal Concurrence of Complaints from all the Sea-bordering parts of this Kingdom did finde a great and grievous interruption and stop of Trade and Traffick The base Pirates of Sally ignominiously infesting our Coasts taking our Ships and Goods and leading away the Subjects of this Kingdom into Barbarous captivity while to our shame and hindrance of Commerce our enemies did as it were besiege our Ports and block up our best Rivers mouths Our friends on slight pretences made Imbargoes of our Merchants Goods and every Nation upon the least occasion was ready to contemn and slights us So great was the apparent diminution of the antient Honor of this Crown and once strong Reputation of our Nation Wherewith the Commons were more troubled calling to remembrance how formerly in France in Spain in Holland and every where by Sea and Land the Valors of this Kingdom had been better valued and even in latter times within remembrance when we had no Alliance with France none in Denmark none in Germany no Friend in Italy Scotland to say no more ununited Ireland not setled in peace and much less security at home when Spain was as ambitious as it is now under a King Philip the Second they called their Wisest the House of Austria as great and potent and both strengthned with a malitious League in France of persons ill-affected when the Low-Countreys had no Being yet by constant Councils and old English ways even then that Spanish pride was cooled that greatness of the House of Austria so formidable to us now was well resisted and to the United Provinces of the Low-Countreys such a beginning growth and strength was given as gave us honor over all the Christian World The Commons therefore wondring at the Evils which they suffered debating of the Causes of them found they were many drawn like one Line to one Circumference of decay of Trade and strength of Honor and Reputation in this Kingdom which as in one Centre met in one great Man the cause of all whom I am here to name The Duke of Buckingham Here Sir Dudley Diggs made a little stop and afterwards read the Preamble to the Charge viz. The Commons Declaration and Impeachment against the Duke of Buckingham FOr the speedy Redress of great Evils and Mischeifs and of the cheif cause of these Evils and Mischeifs which this Kingdom of England now grievously suffereth and of late years hath suffered and to the honor and safety of our Soveraign Lord the King and of his Crown and Dignity and to the good and welfare of his people The Commons in this present Parliament by the Authority of our said Soveraign Lord the King assembled Do by this their Bill shew and declare against George Duke Marquess and Earl of Buckingham Earl of Coventry Viscount Villers Baron of Whaddon Great Admiral of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and of the Principality of Wales and of the Dominions and Islands of the same of the Town of Calais and of the Marches of the same and of Normandy Gascoigne and Guienne General-Governor of the Seas and Ships of the said Kingdom Lieutenant-General Admiral Captain-General and Governor of his Majesties Royal Fleet and Army lately set forth Master of the Horse of our Soveraign Lord the King Lord Warden Chancellor and Admiral of the Cinque Ports and of the Members thereof Constable of Dover Castle Iustice in Eyre of all the Forests and Chases on this side the River Trent Constable of the Castle of Windsor Gentleman of his Majesties Bed-Chamber one of his Majesties most Honorable Privy Council in his Realms both in England Scotland and Ireland and Knight of the most Honorable Order of the Garter The Misdemeanors Misprisions Offences Crimes and other Matters comprised in the Articles following and him the said Duke do accuse and impeach of the said Misdemeanors Misprisions Offences and Crimes My Lords THis lofty Title of this Mighty Man methinks doth raise my spirits to speak with a Paulò Majora Canamus and let it not displease your Lordships if for Foundation I compare the beautiful structure and fair composition of this Monarchy wherein we live to the great work of God the World it self In which the solid Body of incorporated Earth and Sea as I conceive in regard of our Husbandry Manufactures and Commerce by Land and Sea may well resemble us the Commons And as it is incompassed with Air and Fire and Sphears Celestial of Planets and a Firmament of fixed Stars all which receive their heat light and life from one great glorious Sun even like the King our Soveraign So that Firmament of fixed Stars I take to be your Lordships those Planets the great Officers of the Kingdom that pure Element of Fire the most Religious Zealous and Pious Clergy and the Reverend Judges Magistrates and Ministers of Law and Justice the Air wherein we breathe All which encompass round with cherishing comfort this Body of the Commons who truly labor for them all and though they be the Foot stool and the lowest yet may well be said to be the setled Centre of the State Now my good Lords if that glorious Sun by his powerful Beams of Grace and Favor shall draw from the Bowels of this Earth an exhalation that shall take Fire and burn and shine out like a Star it needs not be marvelled at if the poor Commons gaze and wonder at the Comet and when they feel the effects impute all to the incorruptible matter of it But if such an imperfect mixture appear like that in the last age in the Chair of Cassiopeia among the sixed Stars themselves where Aristotle and the old Philosophers conceived there was no place for such corruption then as the Learned Mathematicians were troubled to observe the irregular motions the prodigious magnitude and the ominous prognosticks of that Meteor so the Commons when they see such a blazing Star in course so exorbitant in the Affairs of this Commonwealth cannot
then to believe That the said ships were never meant or any way in danger to be imployed against the Rochellors or those of our Religion in France and herein he did great injury and disservice to his Majesty to the great scandal and prejudice of our Religion and Affairs and highly abused both the Lords and Commons by this cautelous and subtile Speech and Insinuation and thereby gave both Houses occasion to forbear Petitioning or suing to his Majesty for Redress in this Business while the time was not then passed for the ships were not as then actually imployed against the Rochellors albeit in truth they were then delivered into the French Kings power And the same time before the Parliament was dissolved Captain Pennington who could have opened the whole truth of the business for the Service of the King and the Realm came to Oxford but was there drawn to conceal himself by means of the Duke and not to publish in due time his knowledge of the Premisses as was there shortly after reported The truth whereof the Lords in this Parliament may be pleased to examine as they shall see cause the Parliament at Oxford being shortly after viz. Aug. 12. unhappily dissolved In or about September 1625. The said ships were actually imployed against the Rochellors and their Friends to their exceeding great prejudice and almost utter ruine It hath been said by some of the French that the Vantguard she mowed them down like grass To the great dishonor of our Nation and the scandal of our Religion and to the disadvantage of the great affairs of this Kingdom and all Christendom Also the Ships themselves were in eminent peril to be utterly lost for lack of sufficient Cautions If they be come home since this Parliament sate down long after the matter was here expounded and taken into examination It may be well presumed that it is by some underhand procuring of the Duke and the secret complying of the French with him to colour out the matter which the Lords may examine as they see cause The one and onely English-man that presumed to stay in one of the Ships and serve against the poor Rochellors of our Religion at his return was slain in charging a Peece of Ordnance not by him well sponged In February last 1625. Monsieur de la Touche having speech with Master Thomas Sherwell a Member of the Commons House of Parliament at Salisbury as he was coming up to the Parliament and Monsieur de la Touche going down into Somerset-shire to Master John Pawlets to Monsieur Sobysa He told Master Sherwell in the hearing also of one Master Iohn Clements of Plymouth who is now in Town the words that the Duke had spoken to him the last Summer touching these Ships and thereupon used these words Ce Duque est un meshant homme Upon this whole Narration of the Fact touching the manner of Delivery of the Ships to the French divers things may be observed wherein the Dukes offences do consist As In betraying a Ship of the Kings Royal Navy unto a Foreign Princes hand without good Warrant for the same The dispossessing the Subjects of this Realm of their Ships and Goods by many artifices and subtilties and in conclusion with high hand and open violence against the good will of the Owners In breaking the duty of Lord Admiral and Guardian of the Ships and Seas of this Kingdom In varying from the original good Instructions and presuming to give others of his own head in matters of State In violating the duty of a sworne Privy-Counsellor to his Majesty In abusing both Houses of Parliament by a cautelous Misinformation under a colour of a Message from his Majesty And in disadvantaging the Affairs of those of our Religion in Foreign parts Offences of an high and grievous nature For the proof of some parts thereof which are not the least I offer to your Lordships consideration the Statute of the 2 3 E. 6. touching the Duke of Somerset wherein is recited That amongst other things he did not suffer the Piers called the Newhaven and Blackerst in the parts beyond the Seas to be furnished with victuals and money whereby the French were encouraged to invade and win the same Aud for this offence amongst others it was Enacted That a great part of his Land should be taken from him And if Non-feazance in a matter tending to lose a fixed Castle belonging to the King be an high offence then the actual putting of a Ship Royal of the Kings into the hand of a Foreign Prince which is a moveable and more useful Castle and Fortress of the Realm must needs be held a greater offence I will forbear to cite any more Presidents of this kind because some of those who have gone before me have touched at divers Presidents of this nature which may be applied to this my part Only because the abuse of the Parliament which is the chiefest Council of State and Court of Judicature in the Realm is not the least offence in this business I shall desire your Lordships to take into consideration the Statute of Westm. 1. cap. 30. whereby such as seem to beguile Courts of Justice are to be sore judged in the same Courts and punished as by that Statute appeareth So he concluded and left the Duke to their Lordships equal Justice The Ninth and Tenth Articles were read next IX Whereas the Titles of Honor of this Kingdom of England were wont to be conferred as great Rewards upon such vertuous and industrious Persons as had merited them by their faithful service The said Duke by his importunate and subtile procurement hath not only perverted that antient and most honorable way but also unduly for his own particular gain he hath enforced some that were rich though unwilling to purchase Honor As the Lord R. Baron of T. who by practice of the said Duke and his Agents was drawn up to London in or about October in the Two and twentieth year of Reign of the late King Iames of famous memory and there so threatened and dealt withall that by reason thereof he yielded to give and accordingly did pay the sum of Ten thousand pounds to the said Duke and to his use For which said sum the said Duke in the moneth of Ianuary in the Two and twentieth year of the said lake King procured the Title of Baron R. of T. to the said Lord R. In which practice as the said Lord R. was much wronged in his particular so the Example thereof tendeth to the prejudice of the Gentry and dishonor of the Nobility of this Kingdom X. Whereas no Places of Judicature in the Courts of Justice of our Soveraign Lord the King nor other like Preferments given by the Kings of this Realm ought to be procured by any Subject whatsoever for any Reward Bribe or Gift He the said Duke in or about the moneth of December in the Eighteenth year of the Reign of the late King Iames of famous
making the same contemptible through the sale of it by the commonness of it Yet I am commanded further to observe another step of Unworthiness in this Gentleman who hath not only set Honor to sale by his Agents but compelled men likewise unwilling to take Titles of Honor upon them For the particular that Noble Gentleman that this concerns I am commanded to say of him from the House of Commons That they conceive of him that he was worthy of this Honor if he had not come to it this way They can lay no blame upon him that was constrained to make this bargain to redeem his trouble But we must distinguish of this as Divines do betwixt the Active and Passive Usurers they condemn the Active speaking favorably of the Passive And I must here observe to your Lordships by the direction of the House of Commons That it seems strange to them that this Great man whom they have taken notice of to be the principal Patron and Supporter of a Semipelagian and a Popish Faction set on foot to the danger of this Church and State whose Tenets are Liberty of Free-will though somewhat mollified That a man imbracing these Tenets should not admit of Liberty in Moral things And that he should compel one to take Honor and Grace from a King whether he will or no what is that but to adde Inhumanity and Oppression to Injury and Incivility But here I must answer a President or two which may be by misunderstanding inforced against me 5 H. 5. There was Martin and Babington and others which were chosen to be Serjeants and they did decline from it out of their modesty and doubted that their Estates were not answerable to their Place yet upon the Charge of the Warden of England they accepted it and appeared to their Writs Likewise there is a Writ in the Register That many by reason of the Tenure of their Lands may be compelled to be made Knights But this makes rather against then for this Faction For it is true that this is the wisdom and policie of the Common-Law that those that be thought fit men for Imployment may be drawn forth to be imployed for the good of the Commonwealth where otherwise they would not take it upon them But that any man for his own gain should force a man to take Degrees of Honor upon him certainly this is beyond all Presidents and a thing not to be exampled either in our Nation or any other And further I am commanded to tell your Lordships That it is dangerous that if a great Lord by his power or strength may compel a Subject to take such Honors why may he not compel them as well to take his Lands at what price he will and to sell them again as he thinks fit yea to marry his Children as it pleaseth him The conference of this is great if that it be well considered And they conceive that it is of so great a consequence that if it be not stopped it may come in time to make way for a dangerous Subversion and demonstrates a great Tyranny of a Subject under a most wise most gracious and most moderate King And thus my Lords I have done with the first Article allotted to my Charge and so I proceed to the next My Lords Before I enter into the enforcement of this Article I shall by way of Protestation from the House of Commons do in this as I did in the other Article And first for the Kings Majesty under whom we are now happily governed and placed I must by their direction say for his honor and our comfort and with humble acknowledgment confess That since his coming to the Crown there have been men of as great parts and learning advanced into Places in Church and Commonwealth as any have been heretofore And then for the first of those Lords whose names are mentioned in this Article I must say that they do not intend to reflect at all upon him nay they think his person so worthy as to be advanced to as high a place without any price at all and that he ought to have kept it longer if those that shuffled in those times had not shuffled him out Now to the matter of this Article which is the Sale of Places of Judicature being an offence And to prove this is all one as to make the glass clear by painting of it The grounds whereon I shall go shall be laid open Magna Charta cap. 29. The words are these Nulli vendemus nulli negabimus Justitiam It may be said this comes not close to my purpose Yet by your Lordships favor I shall make it good that it doth and I shall begin with the latter of the two first Nulli negabimus For if any that hath power or favor with the King should procure him to delay the making of Judges when there were Judges to take it it will not be denied that they do their best endeavor to make the King break his word For if any use their favor about the King to procure Places of Judicature for money they do what in them lies to make Justice it self saleable For it is plain that he that buyes must sell and cannot be blamed if he do sell. I shall open the evil Consequences that depend upon the sale of Places of Judicature or any Places of great trust 1. By this means unable men shall be sure of the precedence unto Places For they being conscious of their own want of Merits they must be made up by the weight in Gold 2. It must needs hence follow that Suits Contentions Brawls and Quarrels shall be increased in the Commonwealth For when men come to seats of Judicature by purchase they must by increase of Suits increase their own profit 3. Men will not study for sufficiencie of Learning to be able to discharge their Places but how they may scrape together Money to purchase Places 4. It will follow that those that have the best Purses though worst Causes will carry away the victory always 5. It will follow that when they be preferred for money to those Places they are tied to make the best of those Places viis modis And then the Great man that sold those Places to them must uphold them in their Bribery and he is tied to it because they are his Creatures nay further he is tied to support them in their Bribery to advance their Places upon the next remove 6. And lastly when good men and well deserving come to any Place they shall not continue there but they shall be quarrelled at so that there may be a vacancie in that Place and then some other shall suddenly step into the saddle by giving a competent price Upon these and the like reasons this fact of selling and buying Places and Offices of Trust hath not only been declaimed against by Christians but also by Moral Pagans Aristotle in his 5 lib. of Ethicks cap. 8. gives it as a Caveat That
said Drink or Potion to his said late Majesty who thereupon at the same times within the seasons in that behalf prohibited by his Majesties Physitians as aforesaid did by the means and procurement of the said Duke drink and take divers quantities of the said Drink or Potion After which said Plaisters and Drink or Potion applied and given unto and taken and received by his said Majesty as aforesaid great distempers and divers ill symptoms appeared upon his said Majesty insomuch That the said Physitians finding his Majesty the next morning much worse in the estate of his health and holding a Consultation thereabout did by joynt consent send to the said Duke praying him not to adventure to minister to his Majesty any more Physick without their allowance and approbation And his said Majesty himself finding himself much diseased and affected with pain and sickness after his then fit when by the course of his Disease he expected intermission and ease did attribute the cause of such his trouble unto the said Plaister and Drink which the said Duke had so given and caused to be administred unto him Which said adventrous act by a person obliged in duty and thankfulness done to the Person of so great a King after so ill success of the like formerly administred contrary to such Directions as aforesaid and accompanied with so unhappy event to the great grief and discomfort of all his Majesties Subjects in general is an Offence and Misdemeanor of so high a nature as may justly be called and is by the said Commons deemed to be an act of transcendent presumption and of dangerous consequence Mr. Wandesford deputed to enlarge and aggravate upon the Thirteenth Article commended the charity and providence of that Law which makes it penal for unskilful Empyricks and all others to exercise and practice Physick upon common persons without a lawful Calling and Approbation branding them that thus transgress as Improbos Ambitiosos Temerarios Audaces homines But he that without skill and calling shall direct a Medicine which upon the same person had wrought bad effects enough to have disswaded a second adventure and then when Physitians were present Physitians selected for Learning and Art prepared by their Office and Oaths without their consent nay even contrary to their Direction and in a time unseasonable He must needs said he be guilty albeit towards a common person of a precipitate and unadvised rashness much more towards his own Soveraign And so pious are our selves to put the Subjects in minde of their duty towards their Princes Persons so Sacred that in the attempt of a Madman upon the King his want of Reason which towards any of his fellow Subjects might have quit him of Felony shall not excuse him of Treason And how wary and advised our Ancestors have been not to apply things in this kinde to the Person of a King may appear by a President 32 Hen 6. where Iohn Arundel and others the Kings Physitians and Chirurgeons thought it not safe for them to administer any thing to the Kings Person without the assent of the Privy Council first obtained and express Licence under the Great Seal of England This Medicine found his Majesty in the declination of his desease and we all wish it had left him so but his better days were shortly turned into worse and instead of health and recovery we hear by good testimony that which troubles the poor and loyal Commons of England of great distempers as Droughts Raving Fainting an intermitting Pulse strange effects to follow upon the applying of a Treacle Plaister But the truth is Testimony tells us That this Plaister had a strange smell and an invective quality striking the malignity of the disease inward which Nature otherwise might have expelled outward Adde to this the Drink twice given to his Majesty by the Duke his own hands and a third time refused and the following Complaint of that blessed Prince the Physitians telling him to please him for the time That his second impairment was from cold taken or some other ordinary cause No no said his Majesty it is that which I had from Buckingham And though there be no President said he of an act offered to the Person of a King so insolent as this yet is it true that divers persons as great as this have been questioned and condemned for less offences against the Person of their Soveraign It was an Article amongst others laid against the Duke of Somerset for carrying Edward the Sixth away in the night time out of his own head but from Hampton Court to Windsor and yet he was trusted with the Protection of his person Presidents failing us in this point the Common Law will supply us The Law judgeth a deed done in the execution of an unlawful act Man-slaughter which otherwise would but have been Chance-medley and that this act was unlawful the House of Commons do believe as belonging to the Duty and Vocation of a sworn and experimented Physitian and not the unskilfulness of a yong Lord. And so pretious are the lives of men in the Eye of the Law that though Mr. Stanford saith If a Physitian take one into his Cure and he die under his hands it is not Felony because he did it not Feloniously Yet it is Mr. Bractons opinion That if one that is no Physitian or Chirurgeon undertake a Cure and the party die under his hands this is Felony And the Law goeth further making Physitians and Chirurgeons themselves accomptable for the Death of their Patients if it appear they have transgressed the Rules of their own Art that is by undertaking a thing wherein they have no experience or having yet failed in the care and diligence Lastly He said he was commanded by the House of Commons to desire their Lordships That seeing the Duke hath made himself a President in committing that which former Ages knew not their Lordships will out of their Wisdom and Justice make him an example for the time to come The several Articles being thus enlarged and aggravated by the said respective Members Sir Iohn Elliot was appointed to make the Epilogue to the Impeachment who spake thus My Lords YOur Lordships have heard in the Labors of these two days spent in this Service a Representation from the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament of their Apprehension of the present Evils and dangers of this Kingdom of the Causes of the same and of the Application of them to the Duke of Buckingham so clearly and fully as I presume your Lordships expect I should rather conclude then adde any thing to his charge Your Lordships have heard how his Ambition was expressed in procuring and getting into his hands the greatest Offices of strength and power of this Kingdom by what means he had attained them and how Money stood for Merit There needs no Argument to prove this but the common sense of the Miseries and Misfortunes which we suffer
Scotland and Ireland and they will tell you Sejanus pride was so excessive as Tacitus saith he neglected all Councel mixed his businesses and service with the Prince seeming to confound their Actions and was often stiled Imperatoris laborum socius How lately and how often hath this Man commixed his Actions in Discourses with ACtions of the Kings My Lords I have done you see the Man onely this which was conceived by the Knights Citizens and Burgesses should be boldly by me spoken That by him came all these evils in him we finde the Cause and on him we expect the Remedies and to this we met your Lordships in Conference to which as your Wisdom invites us so we cannot doubt but in your Lordships Wisdom Greatness and Power we shall in due time finde Judgment as he deserves I conclude by presenting to your Lordships the particular Censure of the Bishop of Ely reported in the 11 Rich. 1. and to give you a short view of his faults He was first of all noted to be Luxurious secondly He married his own Kinred to Personages of highest rank and places thirdly No mans business was done without his help fourthly He would not suffer the Kings Council to advise in Matters of State fifthly He grew to such a height of Pride that no man was thought worthy to speak unto him and lastly His Castles and Forts of Trust he did obscuris ignotis hominibus tradere his doom was this Per totam insulam publicè proclamatur periat qui perdere cuncta festinat opprimatur ne omnes opprimat Sir Dudley Diggs having made the Prologuâ— and Sir Iohn Elliot the Epilogue in the Impeachment of the Duke they were both by the Kings Command committed to the Tower Upon the Impeachment of the Duke a Paper was privately conveyed to the King importing THat this great opposition against the Duke was stirred up and maintained by such as seek the destruction of this free Monarchy Because they finde it not yet ripe to attempt against the King himself they endeavor it through the sides of the Duke The persons agreeing in this one mischeif are of divers sorts and humors First Medling and busie persons who love popular Speeches Secondly Govetous Landlords Inclosers Depopulators c. who being of the Parliament ease themselves in Subsidies and lay it on the true Commons and cry out the grievances are caused by the Duke Thirdly Recusants who hate the Duke for the breach of the Spanish Match Fourthly Persons indebted who by priviledge of Parliament avoid payment Fifthly Puritans and Sectaries though two of them scarcely agree in what they would have Haters of Government and would have the Kings power extinguished in matters Ecclesiastical and limited in Civil Sixtly Male-contents who look upon the Duke with an evil eye because themselves are not preferred Seventhly Lawyers who are very fit in Parliaments to second any Complaint against â—oth Church and King and all his Servants with their Customs Antiquities Records Statutes Presidents and Stories Eighthly Merchants and Citizens who deceive the King of Custom Ninethly Innovators Plebicolae That since the time of Henry the Sixth these Parliamentary discoursings might never be suffered as being but certain symptomes of Subsequent Rebellions Civil Wars and the dethroning of our King and no one Patriot daring to oppose them least he incur the reputation of a Fool or Coward in his Countreys Cause His Majesty therefore strengthned himself ever with some Favorite as whom he might better trust then many of the Nobility tainted with this desire of Oligarchy It behoveth without doubt his Majesty to uphold the Duke against them who if he be but decourted it will be the Corner Stone on which the demolishing of his Monarchy will be builded For if they prevail with this they have hatched a thousand other demands to pull the Feathers of Royalty They will appoint him Counsellors Servants Alliances Limits of Expences and accompt of his Revenue cheifly if they can they will now dazle him in the beginning of his raign Lastly King James and King Charls are the Dukes Accusers in all the Aspersions that are laid upon him King James for the Money destined for the Wars in his time spent in Treaties c. And his Majesty can testifie for the things done in his time And all these though actions of the King are imputed to the Duke Who if he suffer for obeying his Soveraign the next attempt will be to call the King to accompt for any thing he undertakes which doth not prosperously succeed as all men would desire it If it please his Majesty to remove and set aside all these disadvantages he shall find the Charge against the Duke very empty and of small moment And if his Majesty and the Dukes Grace think it no impeachment to their Honors all that the Parliament hath objected against the Duke except two or three things that may receive an Answer is pardoned at the Kings Coronation which benefit every poor Subject enjoyeth May 11. The King came to the Parliament and spake to the House of Peers as followeth My Lords THe cause and onely cause of my coming to you this day is to express the sense I have of all your Honors for he that toucheth any of you toucheth me in a very great measure I have thought fit to take order for the punishing some insolent speeches lately spoken I have been too remiss heretofore in punishing such speeches as concern my self Not that I was greedy of their monies but that Buckingham through his importunity would not suffer me to take notice of them lest he might be thought to have set me on and that he might come the forwarder to his Trial. And to approve his innocencie as touching the matters against him I my self can be a Witness to clear him in every one of them I speak not this to take any thing out of your hands but to shew the reason why I have not hitherto punished those insolent speeches against my self And now I hope you will be as tender of my Honor when time shall serve as I have been sensible of yours And so his Majesty was pleased to depart The same day this following Message was brought from the Commons to the Lords by Sir Nathanael Rich. THe Commons taking into serious consideration the many mischiefs and inconveniences which this renowned Kingdom doth now suffer threatening apparent danger to the King and Common-wealth have by search and disquisition into the Causes thereof found that they do principally flow from the exorbitant power and abusive carriage of the Duke of Buckingham whereof he hath this Parliament béen impeached before their Lordships by the Commons besides an accusation of a Péer in their own House who hath charged him as they are informed of High Treason They therefore with one voice make an entire Declaration That they hold it a thing of dangerous Consequence both for the present and future times that a man of so
in Parliament and in particular touching the Earl of Arundel whereupon we received a gracious Answer That in convenient time we should receive a fuller Answer which we have long and dutifully attended And now at this time so great a business being in handling in the House we are pressed by that business to be humble suitors to your Majesty for a gracious and present Answer Which being read was approved of by the House and the said Committee appointed to present the same unto his Majesty from the House at such time as the Lord Chamberlain shall signifie unto them that his Majesty is pleased to admit them to his presence The 11 of May the Lord President reported the Kings Answer to the said Petition That he did little look for such a Message from the House That himself had been of the House and did never know such a Message from the one House unto the other Therefore when he received a Message fit to come from them to their Soveraign they shall receive an Answer The Lord President further Reported That the Lords Committees appointed to deliver the Petition to the King did thereupon withdraw and required him humbly to desire his Majesty to be pleased to let them know unto what point of the said Petition he takes this Exception and that his Majesty willed him to say this of himself viz. The Exception the King taketh is at the peremptoriness of the Term To have a Present Answer And the King wonders at their impatience since he hath promised them an answer in convenient time Hereupon the House altered their former Petition leaving out the word Present and appointed the former Committee humbly to deliver the same to his Majesty The 13 of May the Lord President reported the Kings Answer to the Petition viz. It is true the word Present was somewhat strange to his Majesty because they did not use it from one House to another but now that his Majesty knows their meaning they shall know this from him that they shall have his Answer so soon as conveniently he can And this his Majesty will assure them it shall be such an Answer as they shall see will not trench upon the Priviledges of the House The Lords having agreed on another Petition to the King wherein they acknowledged him to be a Prince of as much goodness as ever King was The 19 of May the Lord Chamberlain signified to their Lordships That his Majesty being acquainted therewith is pleased that this House attend him at two of the Clock this day in the Afternoon at Whitehall On which day the Lords delivered the Petition to his Majesty who upon the 20 May returned this Answer My Lords I See that in your Petition you acknowledge me a King of as much goodness as ever King was for which I thank you and I will endeavor by the Grace of God never to deserve other But in this I observe that you contradict your selves for if you believe me to be such as you say I am you have no reason to mistrust the sincerity of my Promises For whereas upon often Petitions made by you unto me concerning this business I have promised to give you a full Answer with all convenient speed by this again importuning of me you seem to mistrust my former promises But it may be said there is an Emergent cause for that I have delivered a Member of the Lower-House In this My Lords by your favour you are mistaken for the Causes do no way agree for that he that was committed of the House of Commons was committed for words spoken before both Houses which being such as I had just cause to commit him yet because I found they might be words onely misplaced and not ill meant and were so conceived by many honest men I was content upon his interpretation to release him without any suit from the Lower-House whereas my Lord of Arundel's fault was directly against my self having no relation to the Parliament yet because I see you are so impatient I will make you a fuller Answer then yet I have done not doubting but that you will rest contented therewith It is true I committed him for a cause which most of you know and though it had been no more I had reason to do it yet my Lords I assure you that I have things of far greater importance to lay to his charge which you must excuse me for not no tell you at this time because it is not yet ripe and it would much prejudice my service to do it and this by the word of a King I do not speak out of a desire to delay you but as soon as it is possible you shall know the cause which is such as I know you will not judge to be any breach of your Priviledges For my Lords by this I do not mean to shew the power of a King by diminishing your Priviledges This Answer being read it was ordered That the Committee for Priviledges should meet and consider how farther to proceed with dutifull respect to his Majesty and yet so as it may be for the preservation of the Priviledges of the Peers of this Land and the Liberties of the House of Parliament The 24 of May the Lord President reported the Petition agreed on by the Lords Committees for Priviledges c. to be presented to the King which was in haec verba May it please your most Excellent Majesty WHatever our care and desire is to preserve our right of Péers yet it is far from our thoughts either to distrust or to press any thing that stands not with the affection and duty of most dutiful and loyal Subjects And therefore in all humility we cast our selves before your Majesty assuring our selves in the word of a King that with all conveniencie possible your Majesty will please either to restore the Peer to his place in Parliament or express such a cause as may not infringe our Priviledges The Petition was generally approved and ordered to be presented to his Majesty by the whole House and the Earl of Carlisle and the Lord Carlton to go presently to know the Kings pleasure when they shall attend his Majesty Who being returned reported That his Majesty hath appointed that Afternoon at two of the clock for the same The 25. of May the Lord Keeper delivered the Kings Answer unto the said Petition to be read in haec verba viz. My Lords YOur often coming to me about this matter made me somewhat doubt you did mistrust me But now I see you rely wholly on me I assure you it shall prevail more upon me then all importunities And if you had done this at first I should have given you content And now I assure you I will use all possible speed to give satisfaction and at the furthest before the end of this Session of Parliament This being read the House was moved the second time That all businesses might be laid
gracious Pardon of his now Majesty granted to the said Duke and vouchsafed in like manner to all his Subjects at the time of his most happy Inauguration and Coronation Which said Pardon under the Great Seal of England granted the said Duke beareth date the 10. day of February now last past and here is shewn forth unto your Lordships on which he doth most humbly rely And yet he hopeth your Lordships in your Justice and Honor upon which with confidence he puts himself will acquit him of and from those misdemeanors offences misprisions and crimes wherewith he hath been charged And he hopeth and will daily pray that for the future he shall by Gods grace so watch over his actions both publick and private that he shall not give any just offence to any The Duke having put in this Answer earnestly moved the Lords to send to the Commons to expedite their Reply and the Commons did as earnestly desire a Copy of his Answer The next day his Majesty wrote this Letter to the Speaker TRusty and Welbeloved We greet you well Our House of Commons cannot forget how often and how earnestly we have called upon them for the speeding of that Aid which they intended us for our great and weighty affairs concerning the safety and honor of us and our Kingdoms And now the time being so far spent that unless it be presently concluded it can neither bring us Money nor Credit by the time which themselves have prefixed which is the last of this Moneth and being further deferred would be of little use we being daily advertised from all parts of the great preparations of the Enemy ready to assail us We hold it necessary by these our Letters to give them our last and final admonition and to let them know that we shall account all further delays and excuses to be express denials And therefore we will and require you to signifie unto them that we do expect that they forthwith bring in their Bill of Subsidy to be passed without delay or Condition so as it may fully pass the House by the end of the next week at the furthest Which if they do not it will force us to take other resolutions But let them know if they finish this according to our desire that we are resolved to let them sit together for the dispatch of their other affairs so long as the season will permit and after their recess to bring them together again the next Winter And if by their denial or delay any thing of ill consequence shall fall out either at home or abroad We call God and man to witness that We have done our part to prevent it by calling our People together to advise with us by opening the weight of our occasions unto them and by requiring their timely help and assistance in these Actions wherein we stand engaged by their own Councels And we will and command you that this Letter be publickly read in the House About this time there happened at three a clock in the afternoon a terrible storm of Rain and Hail in and about the City of London and with it a very great Thunder and Lightening The graves were laid open in S. Andrews Church-yard in Holborn by the sudden fall of the Wall which brought away the Earth with it whereby many Coffins and the Corps therein were exposed to open view and the ruder sort would ordinarily lift up the lids of the Coffins to see the posture of the dead Corps lying therein who had been buried of the Plague but the year before At the same instant of time there was a terrible Storm and strange Spectacle upon Thames by the turbulencie of the waters and a Mist that arose out of the same which appeared in a round Circle of a good bigness above the waters The fierceness of the Storm bent it self towards York-House the then habitation of the Duke of Buckingham beating against the stairs and wall thereof And at last this round Circle thus elevated all this while above the water dispersed it self by degrees like the smoke issuing out of a Furnace and ascended higher and higher till it quite vanished away to the great admiration of the beholders This occasioned the more discourse among the Vulgar in that Doctor Lamb appeared then upon Thames to whose Art of Conjuring they attributed that which had happened The Parliament was then sitting and this Spectacle was seen by many of the Members out of the windows of the House The Commons agreed upon this ensuing Petition to his Majesty concerning Recusants To the Kings most Excellent Majesty YOur Majesties most obedient and loyal Subjects the Commons in this present Parliament assembled do with great comfort remember the many Testimonies which your Majesty hath given of your sincerity and zeal of the true Religion established in this Kingdom and in particular your gracious Answer to both Houses of Parliament at Oxford upon their Petition concerning the Causes and Remedies of the Increase of Popery That your Majesty thought fit and would give order to remove from all Places of Authority and Government all such persons as are either Popish Recusants or according to direction of former Acts of State justly to be suspected which was then presented as a great and principal cause of that mischief But not having received so full redress herein as may conduce to the peace of this Church and safety of this Regal State They hold it their duty once more to resort to your Sacred Majesty humbly to inform you that upon examination they find the persons underwritten to be either Recusants Papists or justly suspected according to the former Acts of State who now do or since the first sitting of the Parliament did remain in places of Government and Authority and Trust in your several Counties of this your Realm of England and Dominion of Wales The Right Honorable Francis Earl of Rutland Lieutenant of the County of Lincoln Rutland Northampton Nottingham and a Commissioner of the Peace and of Oyer and Terminer in the County of York and Justice of Oyer from Trent Northwards His Lordship is presented to be a Popish Recusant and to have affronted all the Commissioners of the Peace within the North-Riding of Yorkshire by sending a Licence under his Hand and Seal unto his Tenant Thomas Fisher dwelling in his Lordships Mannor of Helmsley in the said North-Riding of the said County of York to keep an Alehouse soon after he was by an Order made at the Quarter-Sessions discharged from keeping an Alehouse because he was a Popish convict Recusant and to have procured a Popish Schoolmaster namely Roger Conyers to teach Schollers within the said Mannor of Helmsley that formerly had his Licence to teach Schollers taken from him for teaching Schollers that were the children of Popish Recusants and because he suffered these children to absent themselves from the Church whilest they were his Schollers for which the said Conyers was formerly complained of
our Friends and Allies who must prosper or suffer with us would have led them to a due and a timely consideration of all the means which might best conduce to those ends which the Lords of the Higher-House by a Committee of that House did timely and seasonably consider of and invited the Commons to a Conference concerning that great business At which Conference there were opened unto them the great occasions which pressed his Majesty which making no impression with them his Majesty did first by Message and after by Letters put the House of Commons in minde of that which was most necessary the defence of the Kingdom and due and timely preparations for the same The Commons House after this upon the 27 of March last with one unanimous consent at first agreed to give unto his Majesty three intire Subsidies and three Fifteens for a present supply unto him and upon the 26 of April after upon second Cogitations they added a fourth Subsidy and ordered the dayes of payment for them all whereof the first should have been on the last day of this present June Upon this the King of Denmark and other Princes and States being engaged with his Majesty in this common Cause his Majesty fitted his occasions according to the times which were appointed for the payment of those Subsidies and Fifteens and hasted on the Lords Committees and his Council at War to perfect their Resolutions for the ordering and setling of his designs which they accordingly did and brought them to that maturity that they found no impediment to a final conclusion of their Councels but want of mony to put things into action His Majesty hereupon who had with much patience expected the real performance of that which the Commons had promised finding the time of the year posting away and having intelligence not onely from his own Ministers and Sujects in Forrein parts but from all parts of Christendom of the great and powerfull preparations of the King of Spain and that his design was upon this Kingdom or the Kingdom of Ireland or both and it is hard to determine which of them would be of worst consequence He acquainted the House of Commons therewith and laid open unto them truly and clearly how the state of things then stood and yet stand and at several times and upon several occasions reiterated the same But that House being abused by the violent and ill-advised passions of a few Members of the House for private and personal ends ill-beseeming publick persons trusted by their Country as then they were not onely neglected but wilfully refused to hearken to all the gentle admonitions which his Majesty could give them and neither did nor would intend any thing but the prosecution of one of the Peers of this Realm and that in such a disordered manner as being set at their own instance into a legal way wherein the proofs on either part would have ruled the cause which his Majesty allowed they were not therewith content but in their intemperate passions and desires to seek for Errors in another fell into a greater Error themselves and not onely neglected to give just satisfaction to his Majesty in several Cases which happened concerning his Regality but wholly forgot their engagements to his Majesty for the publick defence of the Realm whereupon his Majesty wrote the forementioned Letter to the Speaker dated the ninth day of June 1626. Notwithstanding which Letter read in the House being a clear and gracious Manifest of his Majesties Resolutions they never so much as admitted one Reading to the Bill of Subsidies but instead thereof they prepared and voted a Remonstrance or Declaration which they intended to prefer to his Majesty containing though palliated with glossing terms aswel many dishonorable aspersions upon his Majesty and upon the sacred memory of his deceased Father as also dilatory excuses for their not proceeding with the Subsidies adding thereto also coloured conditions crossing thereby his Majesties direction which his Majesty understanding and esteeming as he had cause to be a denial of the promised Supply and finding that no admonitions could move no reasons or perswasions could prevail when the time was so far spent that they had put an impossibility upon themselves to perform their promises when they esteemed all gracious Messages unto them to be but interruptions His Majesty upon mature advisement discerning that all further patience would prove fruitless on the fifteenth day of this present moneth he hath dissolved this unhappy Parliament The acting whereof as it was to his Majesty an unexpressible grief for the memory thereof doth renew the hearty sorrow which all his good and well affected Subjects will compassionate with him These passages his Majesty hath at the more length and with the true Circumstances thereof expressed and published to the world least that which hath been unfortunate in it self through the malice of the Author of so great a mischief and the malevolent report of such as are ill-affected to this State or the true Religion here professed or the fears or jealousies of Friends and dutifull Subjects might be made more unfortunate in the consequences of it which may be of worse effect then at the first can be well apprehended and his Majesty being best privy to the integrity of his own heart for the constant maintaining of the sincerity and unity of the true Religion professed in the Church of England and to free it from the open contagion of Popery and secret infection of Schism of both which by his publick Acts and Actions he hath given good testimony and with a single heart as in the presence of God who can best judge thereof purposeth resolutely and constantly to proceed in the due execution of either and observing the subtilty of the adverse party he cannot but believe that the hand of Joab hath been in this disaster that the common Incendiaries of Christendom have subtilly and secretly insinuated those things which unhappily and as his Majesty hopeth beyond the intentions of the Actors have caused these diversions and distractions And yet notwithstanding his most excellent Majesty for the comfort of his good and well-affected Subjects in whose loves he doth repose himself with confidence and esteemeth it as his greatest riches for the assuring of his Friends and Allies with whom by Gods assistance he will not break in the substance of what he hath undertaken for the discouraging of his Adversaries and the Adversaries of his Cause and of his Dominions and Religion hath put on this resolution which he doth hereby publish to all the world That as God hath made him King of this great people and large Dominions famous in former ages both by Land and Sea and trusted him to be a Father and Protector both of their Persons and Fortunes and a Defender of the Faith and true Religion so he will go on cheerfully and constantly in the defence thereof and notwithstanding so many difficulties and discouragements will take his
to be guided by ordinary Presidents In like manner the Lord Major and Commonalty of London petitioned the Council for an Abatement of the Twenty Ships rated upon them unto Ten Ships and two Pinnaces alleadging disability whereunto the Council gave this following Answer That the former Commandement was necessary the preservation of the State requiring it and that the charge imposed on them was moderate as not exceeding the value of many of their private estates That Petitions and Pleadings to this Command tend to the danger and prejudice of the Commonwealth and are not to be received That as the Commandment was given to all in general and every particular of the City so the State will require an accompt both of the City in general and of every particular And whereas they mention Presidents they might know that the Presidents of former times were Obedience not Direction and that Presidents were not wanting for the punishment of those that disobey his Majesties Commands signified by that Board which they hope shall have no occasion to let them more particularly understand Hereupon the Citizens were glad to submit and declared their consent to the Kings Demands and by Petition to the Council had the favor to nominate all the Officers of those Twenty Ships the Captains onely excepted the nomination of whom appertained to the Lord High Admiral of England Then there were likewise issued forth Privy Seals to several persons to others the way of Benevolence was proposed And because the late Parliament resolved to have given the King Four Subsidies and Three Fifteens the sums which the King required were according to that proportion And to prevent misunderstandings it was declared unto the Countrey That the Supplies now demanded were not the Subsidies and Fifteens intended to be given by the Parliament but meerly a free gift from the Subject to the Soveraign upon such weighty and pressing occasions of State The Justices of Peace in the several Counties were directed by the Privy Council to send for persons able to give and to deal with them singly by using the most prevailing perswasions Amidst these Preparations the Kingdom being exposed to dangers both Forein and Domestick a general Fast was observed on the Fifth of Iuly in the Cities of London and Westminster and places adjacent and on the Second of August throughout the Kingdom to implore a blessing upon the endeavors of the State and the diverting of those judgments which the sins of the Land deserve and threaten And for the defence of this Realm threatned with a powerful Invasion extraordinary Commissions were given to the Lords Lieutenants of the several Counties to Muster the Subjects of whatsoever degree or dignity that were apt for War and to try and array them and cause them to be armed according to their degrees and faculties as well Men of Arms as other Horsmen Archers and Footmen and to lead them against publick Enemies Rebels and Traytors and their adherents within the Counties of their Lieutenancy to repress slay and subdue them and to execute Martial Law sparing and putting to death according to discretion And in case of Invasions Insurrections Rebellions and Riots without the limits of their respective Counties to repair to the places of such Commotions and as need required to repress them by battel or any forcible means or otherwise either by the Law of this Realm or the Law Martial In like manner lest the deserting of the Coasts Ports and Sea Towns should expose those places to become a prey and invite the Enemy to an Invasion the Inhabitants and those that had withdrawn themselves to Inland places were required to return with their Families and Retinues and there to abide during those times of Hostility and Danger And for securing of the Coasts from Spain or Flanders some of the Kings Ships were employed in the River Elbe to prevent the furnishing of Spain from those parts with materials for shipping which occasioned a great discontent in those of Hamburgh for that their Neighbors of Lubeck and other Towns of the East Sea were free from this restraint insomuch that they resolved to force their passage by a Fleet of Fifty or threescore sail of Ships Whereupon the Lord Admiral informed the Council that his Majesties charge at Hamburgh was expended to little purpose except also the Sound could be shut up against all shipping that should carry prohibited Commodities especially since the Hamburgers send their Commodities by Land to Lubeck to be transported from thence into Spain and that the States and the King of Denmarks Ships are departed from the Elbe and have left the English alone Moreover the King prepared a Royal Fleet which was now at Portsmouth ready to put to Sea under the command of the Lord Willoughby and given out to be designed for Barbary The King of Denmark having put forth a Declaration of the Causes and Grounds wherefore he took up Arms against the Emperor declared one cause thereof to be FOrasmuch as the Elector Palatine by the procurement of the King of Great Britain and him the King of Denmark had offered his Submission to his Imperial Majesty and to crave Pardon and thereupon was in hopes to have his Patrimony with the Dignities of his Ancestors restored Yet notwithstanding the Emperor did still commit great spotles and acts of hostility in his Countrey giving no regard to the said Submission and had much damnified the Lower Saxony by the Forces which he had brought thither under Tilly. Whereupon he sayes the Princes of the Lower Saxony have desired the aid and assistance of him the King of Denmark to settle the Peace and Liberty of Germany who was resolved to take up Arms and with whom he was resolved for to joyn having the like assurance from the King of Great Britain who had déeply engaged to assist in this War for the restitution of the Elector Palatine Therefore the King of Denmark declares That séeing all Prayers Mediations and Accessions cannot prevail with his Imperial Majesty he will endeavor to procure a peace and settlement by force which he should have béen glad would have béen ordained unto him upon fair terms of Treaty In the beginning of the year divers Towns were taken by the King of Denmark and some retaken by Tilly but the Seven and twentieth of August decided the Controversie on which day the King of Denmark upon the approach of Tilly desiring to decline battel with the Emperors old Soldiers many of his own men being new levied Soldiers endeavored to make his retreat but Tilly followed so close his Rear-guard that he kept them in continual action till the King of Denmark saw no remedy but that he must either fight or lose the Rear of his Army and Train of Artillery Whereupon his Commanders advised him to resolve of a place of advantage and face about and give battel which accordingly they did and both Armies drew up near Luttern
and to lend after the rate propounded and among others certain of the Parish of Clement Danes the Savoy the Dutchy and other parts within the Liberties of Westminster who first alledged poverty Whereunto reply was made That if they would but subscribe their ability should be enquired off before any thing were levied upon them and in case they were found unable they should be discharged notwithstanding what they had under written and unto some of them the money demanded was proffered to be given them Nevertheless they afterwards absolutely refused to subscribe their names or to say they were willing to lend if able Whereupon the Council directed their Warrant to the Commissioners of the Navy to impress these men to serve in the Ships ready to go out in his Majesties service The Non-Subscribers of higher Rank and Rate in all the Counties were bound over by Recognisance to tender their appearance at the Council Table and performed the same accordingly and divers of them were committed to prison but the common sort to appear in the Military-Yard near St. Martins in the Fields before the Lieutenant of the Tower of London by him to be there inrolled among the Companies of Soldiers that they who refused to assist with their Purses should serve in their Persons for the common Defence The same Loan being demanded of the Societies and Inns of Court the Benchers of Lincolns Inn received a Letter of Reproof from the Lords of the Council for neglecting to advance the Service in their Society and to return the names of such as were refractory ANd for the advancement of the said Loan Doctor Sibthorpe now publishes in Print a Sermon Preached by him at Northampton February the Two and twentieth One thousand six hundred twenty and six at Lent Assizes entituled Apostolick Obedience This Book was Licenced by the Bishop of London who did approve thereof as a Sermon learnedly and discreetly Preached It was dedicated to the King and expressed to be the Doctors Meditations which he first conceived upon his Majesties Instructions unto all the Bishops of this Kingdom fit to be put in execution agreeable to the necessity of the times and afterwards brought forth upon his Majesties Commission for the raising of moneys by way of Loan His Text was Romans 13.7 Render therefore to all their dues Among other passages he had this And seriously consider how as Jeroboam took the opportunity of the breach betwixt Rehoboam and his Subjects to bring Idolatry into Israel So the Papists lie at wait if they could finde a Rent between our Soveraign and his Subjects which the Lord forbid to reduce Superstition into England I speak no more then what I have heard from themselves whilst I have observed their forwardness to offer double according to an Act of Parliament so providing yea to profess That they would depart with the half of their Goods And how or why can this forwardness be in them but in hope to cast the imputation of frowardness upon us and so to seem that which the Iesuite will not suffer them to be loving and loyal Subjects Also the said Sermon holds forth That the Prince who is the Head and makes his Court and Council it is his duty to direct and make Laws Eccles. 8.3 and 4. He doth whatsoever pleases him Where the word of the King is there is power and who may say unto him What doest thou And in another place he saith If Princes command any thing which Subjects may not perform because it is against the Laws of God or of Nature or impossible Yet Subjects are bound to undergo the punishment without either resistance or railing or reviling and so to yield a Passive Obedience where they cannot exhibite an active one I know no other case saith he but one of those three wherein a Subject may excuse himself with Passive Obedience but in all other he is bound to Active Obedience It is not our purpose to repeat his Sermon the Reader may at leisure inform himself more fully by the Printed Copy Doctor Roger Manwaring promoted the same business in two Sermons Preached before the King and Court at Whitehal wherein he delivered for Doctrine to this purpose That the King is not bound to observe the Laws of the Realm concerning the Subjects Rights and Liberties but that his Royal Will and Command in imposing Loans and Taxes without common consent in Parliament doth oblige the Subjects Conscience upon pain of eternal damnation That those who refused to pay this Loan offended against the Law of God and the Kings Supream Authority and became guilty of impiety disloyalty and Rebellion And that the Authority of Parliament is not necessary for the raising of Aids and Subsidies and that the flow proceedings of such great Assemblies were not fitted for the Supply of the States urgent Necessities but would rather produce sundry impediments to the just designs of Princes The Papists at this time were forward and liberal on this occasion insomuch that it was said in those times That in the point of Allegiance then in hand the Papists were exceeding Orthodox and the Puritans were the onely Recusants Distastes and Jealousies had for a while been nourished between the Courts of England and France which seemed to have risen from Disputes and Differences about the Government of the Queens family By the Articles of Marriage it was agreed That the Queen should have a certain number of Priests for her Houshold Chaplains together with a Bishop who should exercise all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in matters of Religion These with other Romish Priests within this Realm began to practise and teach That the Pope upon the Marriage Treaty assumed to himself or his Delegates the Jurisdiction of the Queens whole family especially the Institution and Destitution of the Ecclesiasticks and that the King of England had no power to intermeddle therein because he was an Heretick the Pope threatning to declare those to be Apostates that should seek their establishment from the King Likewise the Queen insisted to have the ordering of her family as her self pleased and the naming of her Officers and Servants and being therein crossed did somewhat distaste the King and unkindness grew between them These things the King represented to his Brother of France imputing the same to the Crafty and Evil Counsels of her Servants rather then to her own inclination And so declared he could no longer bear with those that were the known causes and fomenters of these disturbances but would presently remove them from about his Wife if there were nothing more then this That they had made her go to Tiborne in devotion to pray there Which action as it was reported his Majesty said can have no greater invective made against it then the bare relation yet his Majesty acknowledged That the deportment of some of them was without offence but others of them had so much abused his patience and affronted his Person reflecting most upon
to his duty To this Sir Thomas Darnell replied That such words never came into his thoughts And did humbly pray they might make no impression upon the Court to the disparagement of his Cause for he was accused of that he was in no manner guilty of Upon which Sir Nicholas Hide Chief Justice said That he had made a fair and temperate Answer And you may perceive said the Chief Justice the upright and sincere proceedings which have been in this business You no sooner moved for a Habeas Corpus but it was granted you you no sooner desired Council but they were assigned you though any Council might move for you without being assigned and should have had no blame for it The Kings pleasure is his Law should take place and be executed and for that do we sit here And whether the Commitment be by the King or others this Court is the place where the King doth sit in person to do right if injury be done And we have power to examine it and if it appear that any man hath wrong done him by his Imprisonment we have power to deliver and discharge him if otherwise he is to be remanded by us to Prison again And the Attorney-General after the Chief Justice had spoken said Though this be a Case which concerns the King in an high degree yet he hath been so gracious and so just as not to refuse the Examination and Determination thereof according to the Laws of the Kingdom Then the Court proceeded to hear the Arguments made in the Prisoners behalf Mr. Noy argued for Sir Walter Earl Serjeant Bramston for Sir Iohn Heveningham Mr. Selden for Sir Edward Hampden Mr. Calthrop for Sir Iohn Corbet who were all assigned of Council with the Prisoners by the Court of Kings-Bench upon a Petition delivered by them to that purpose After they had argued Mr. Attorney had a day appointed to argue for the King It is not our intention to take up the Readers time with the Arguments at large either by the one side or the other We shall only hint unto you some generals chiefly concerning the form of the Return of the Writ The first Exception taken by the Council for the imprisoned Gentlemen was to the form of the Return 1. For that the Return is not positive but referred to the signification made by another by the Lords of the Council 2. The Keepers of the Prisons have not return'd the Cause of the Commitment but the Cause of the Cause which they held not to be good 3. That the Return of the Commitment is imperfect for that it sheweth onely the Cause of the detaining in Prison and not the Cause of the first Commitment Lastly That the Return is contradictory in it self For that in the first part thereof it is certified that the detaining of those Gentlemen in Prison is per speciale mandatum Domini Regis And when the Warrant of the Lords of the Council is shewn it appeareth that the Commitment is by the command of the King signified by the Lords of the Council The second general Exception was to the matter of the Return and that was touching the Imprisonment per speciale mandatum Domini Regis by the Lords of the Council without any Cause expressed Wherefore said Mr. Selden by the constant and setled Laws of this Kingdom without which we have nothing no man can be justly imprisoned either by the King or Council without a Cause of the Commitment and that ought to be expressed in the Return The Law saith expresly No Free-man shall be imprisoned without due Process of the Law Nullus liber homo capiatur vel imprisonetur nisi per legem terrae c. And in the Charter of King Iohn there are these words Nec eum in carcerem mittimus We will not commit him to Prison that is The King himself will not This right said Serjeant Bramston is the onely means that a Subject hath whereby to obtain his Liberty and the end of it is to return the Cause of the Imprisonment that it may be examined in this Court whether the parties ought to be discharged or not Which cannot be done upon this Return for the Cause of the Imprisonment is so far from appearing particularly by it that there is no Cause at all expressed And the Writ requires that the Cause of the Imprisonment should be returned and the Cause ought to be expressed so far as that it ought to be none of those Causes for which by the Laws of the Kingdom the Subject ought not to be imprisoned and it ought to be expressed that it was by Presentment or Indictment or upon Petition or Suggestion made unto the King For said he observe but the consequence If those Gentlemen who are committed without any Cause shewn should not be bailed but remanded the Subjects of the Kingdom may be restrained of their Liberty for ever and by Law there can be no remedy We shall not reflect upon the present time and Government but we are to look what may betide us in time to come hereafter The Laws are called the great Inheritance of every Subject and the Inheritance of Inheritances without which we have nothing that deserves the name of Inheritance If upon a Habeas Corpus a Cause of Commitment be certified then said Mr. Noy the Cause is to be tryed before your Lordships but if no Cause be shewn the Court must do that which standeth with Law and Justice and that is to deliver the party The Commons did complain in Ed. 3. his time that the great Charter and other Statutes were broken They desired that for the good of himself and his people they may be kept and put in execution and not infringed by making any Arrest by special command or otherwise And the Answer which was given them was this That the said great Charter and other Statutes should be put in execution according to the Petition without disturbance of Arrests by special command And the King granteth the Commons desire in the same words as they were expressed in their Petition And afterwards complaining again That notwithstanding this Answer of the King they were imprisoned by special command without Indictment or other legal course of Law The Kings Answer was upon another Petition unto him That he was therewith well pleased And for the future he added further If any man be grieved let him complain and right shall be done And forasmuch as it doth not appear to the Court that there was any Cause of the Commitment of these Members no Charge against them no Indictment or Process according to the Laws Wherefore Mr. Noy prayed they might be no longer detained in Prison but be bailed or discharged Admit the Commitment of the Command of the King was lawful yet said Mr. Calthorp when a man hath continued in prison a reasonable time he ought to be brought to answer and not to continue still in prison without being brought to answer For that it appeareth
by the Books of our Laws that Liberty is a thing so favored of the Law that the Law will not suffer the continuance of a man in prison for any longer time then of necessity it must And therefore the Law will neither suffer the Party Sheriffs or Judges to continue a man in prison by their power and pleasure It doth speak of the delivery of a man out of prison with as reasonable expedition as may be And upon this reason it hath been resolved that howsoever the Law alloweth that there may be a Term between the Teste of an Original Writ and the Return of the same where there is only a Summons and no Imprisonment of the body yet the Law will not allow that there should be a Term between the Teste of a Writ of Capias and the Return of the same where the body of a man is to be imprison'd insomuch that it will give no way that the party shall have power to continue the body of a man longer time in prison then needs must so tender is the Law of the Subjects Liberty Monday the 27. of November the Attorney-General argued for the King That this was a very great Cause and hath raised great expectation and he was afraid that those Gentlemen whom it concerns have rather advised their Councils then their Councils them For the first Exception That the Return is not positive but hath relation to some others He did conceive it was positive enough For said he the words are Quod detentus est sub custodia mea per speciale mandatum Domini Regis The other words mihi significatum they follow after but are not part of the affirmation made before it And if they will have it as they seem to understand it then they must return the words thus Quod significatum est mihi per Dominos Privati Consilii quod detentus est per speciale mandatum Domini Regis And then it had not been their own proper Return but the signification of another the Lords of the Council The turning of the sentence would resolve this point the thing it self must speak for it self It is clear it is a positive Return that the detaining is by the command of the King and the rest of the Return is rather satisfaction to the Court then any part of the Return And for the other Exception That the Cause of the Cause is returned and not the Cause it self He said Among the Logicians there are two Causes there is Causa causans and Causa causata The Causa causans here in this Case is not the Warrant from the Lords of the Council for that is Causa causata But the primary and original Cause which is Causa causans is Speciale mandatum Domini Regis the other is but the Councils signification or testification or Warrant for him that made the Return And for the other Exception The Cause is imperfect because it shews only the Cause of detaining in Prison and not the Cause of the first Commitment He conceives it is sufficient for an Officer of the Law to answer That the Writ is a Command to make a Return of the detaining of the Prisoner and he accordingly makes a Return of the Detention and if the Keeper of the Prison had only said they were detained per speciale mandatum c. it had been good Then he proceeded to the matter of the Return and to answer the Book-Cases and Records that had been cited by the Council for the Prisoners and to produce Presidents on the Kings behalf which are extant in Print to which the Reader is referred Afterwards Sir Nicholas Hide Chief Justice Justice Dodderidge Justice Iones and Justice Whitlock being upon the Bench and Sir Iohn Heveningham and the forementioned Prisoners being brought to the Bar Sir Nicholas Hide Lord Chief Justice by the consent and direction of the Judges spake to this purpose That the Court hath seriously considered what hath been spoken by either side and are grown to a resolution And that his Brothers have enjoined him to deliver unto you the resolution of the whole Court And therefore said he though it be delivered by my mouth it is the resolution of us all I am sure you expect Justice from hence and God forbid we should sit here but to do Justice to all men according to our best skill and knowledge as it is our oaths and duties so to do But this is a Case of very great weight and great expectation and requires more solemn Arguments then the time will now permit The Exceptions which have been taken to this Return are two the one for the form the other for the substance First for the form because it is not returned as they say positively and absolutely but with reference to a Warrant of the Lords of the Council Now the Court is of opinion That this is a positive and absolute Return upon this reason That the Keeper of the Prison first returns that they are detained by the special command of the King And if they had ceased there it had been positive And for that which follows That it was signified to him by the Lords of the Council this is only to certifie the Court that he returned the Cause truly and not to shew us that he had no knowledge of the Cause but by the signification of the Lords of the Council There is not one word in the Writ that demands the cause why they were taken but why they are detained So that that point in the Writ is sufficiently answered which was only to certifie the cause of the detention And therefore we resolve That the form of this Return is good The next thing is the main point in Law Whether the substance or matter of the Return be good or no Where in the substance is this He doth certifie that they are detained in Prison by the special command of the King And whether this be good in Law or no is the Question Here the Lord Chief Justice did mention the several Presidents and Book-Cases cited by each side too long to be here related And concluded That that which is now to be judged by us is this Whether one that is committed by the Kings authority and no Cause shewn of his Commitment according as here it is upon this Return whether we ought to deliver him by Bail or to remand him back again Where by the way you must know that we can take notice only of this Return That when the Case appears to us no otherwise then by the Return we are not bound to examine the truth thereof but the sufficiencie of the Return We cannot judge upon rumors or reports but upon that which is before us on Record which is examinable by us whether it be sufficient or not Mr. Attorney hath told you That the King hath done it And we trust him in great matters And we make no doubt but the King if you seek to him knowing the cause why you
Friends and Allies be not sufficient then no Eloquence of Men or Angels will prevail Only let me remember you That my duty most of all and every one of yours according to his degree is to seek the maintenance of this Church and Commonwealth And certainly there never was a time in which this duty was more necessarily required then now I therefore judging a Parliament to be the antient speediest and best way in this time of Common danger to give such Supply as to secure our selves and to save our Friends from imminent ruine have called you together Every man now must do according to his conscience Wherefore if you as God forbid should not do your duties in contributing what the State at this time needs I must in discharge of my conscience use those other means which God hath put into my hands to save that which the follies of particular men may otherwise hazard to lose Take not this as a Threatening for I scorn to threaten any but my Equals but an Admonition from him that both out of nature and duty hath most care of your preservations and prosperities And though I thus speak I hope that your demeanors at this time will be such as shall not only make me approve your former Councels but lay on me such obligations as shall tie me by way of thankfulness to meet often with you For be assured that nothing can be more pleasing unto me then to keep a good Correspondence with you I will only adde one thing more and then leave my Lord Keeper to make a short Paraphrase upon the Text I have delivered you which is To remember a thing to the end we may forget it You may imagine that I came here with a doubt of success of what I desire remembring the distractions of the last Meeting But I assure you that I shall very easily and gladly forget and forgive what is past so that you will at this present time leave the former ways of distractions and follow the Councel late given you To maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace The Lord Keeper seconded his Majesty on this manner YE are here-in Parliament by his Majesties Writ and Royal command to consult and conclude of the weighty and urgent Business of this Kingdom Weighty it is and great as great as the honor safety and protection of Religion King and Country And what can be greater Urgent it is It is little pleasure to tell or think how urgent And to tell it with circumstances were a long work I will but touch the sum of it in few words The Pope and House of Austria have long affected the one a Spiritual the other a Temporal Monarchy And to effect their ends to serve each others turn the House of Austria besides the rich and vast Territories of both the Indies and in Africa joined together are become Masters of Spain and Italy and the great Country of Germany And although France be not under their subjection yet they have invironed all about it The very Bowels of the Kingdom swayed by the Popish Faction They have gotten such a part and such intercession in the Government that under pretence of Religion to root out the Protestants and our Religion they have drawn the King to their adherence so far that albeit upon his Majesties interposition by his Ambassadors and his engagement of his Royal word there was between the King and his Subjects Articles of Agreement and the Subjects were quiet whereof his Majesty interessed in that great Treaty was bound to see a true accomplishment yet against that strict Alliance that Treaty hath been broken and those of the Religion have been put to all extremity and undoubtedly will be ruined without present help So as that King is not onely diverted from assisting the Common Cause but hath been misled to engage himself in hostile acts against our King and other Princes making way thereby for the House of Austria to the ruine of his own and other Kingdoms Other Potentates that in former times did ballance and interrupt the growing greatness of the House of Austria are now removed and diverted The Turk hath made Peace with the Emperor and turned himself wholly into Wars with Asia The King of Sweden is embroiled in a War with Poland which is invented by Spanish practices to keep that King from succoring our part The King of Denmark is chased out of his Kingdom on this and on that side the Zound so as the House of Austria is on the point to command all the Sea-coasts from Dantzick to Embden and all the Rivers falling into the Sea in that great extent So as besides their power by Land they begin to threaten our Part by Sea to the subversion of all our State In the Baltique-Sea they are providing and arming all the Ships they can build or hire And have at this time their Ambassadors treating at Lubeck to draw into their service the Hans-Towns whereby taking from us and our Neighbors the Eastland-Trade by which our Shipping is supplied they expect without any blow given to make themselves Masters of that Sea In these Western parts by the Dunkirkers and by the now French and Spanish Admiral to the ruine of Fishing of infinite consequence both to us and the Low-Countries they infest all our Coast so as we pass not safely from Port to Port. And that Fleet which lately assisted the French at the Isle of Rhee is now preparing at S. Andrews with other Ships built in the Coast of Biscay to reinforce it and a great Fleet is making ready in Lisbon where besides their own they do serve themselves upon all Strangers Bottoms coming to that Coast for Trade And these great preparations are no doubâ— to assault us in England or Ireland as they shall find advantage and a place fit for their turn Our friends of the Netherlands besides the fear that justly troubles them lest the whole force of the Emperor may fall down upon them are distracted by their Voyages into the East which hath carried both Men and Money into another World and much weakened them at home Thus are we even ready on all sides to be swallowed up The Emperor France and Spain being in open War against us Germany overrun the King of Denmark distressed the King of Sweden diverted and the Low-Country-men disabled to give us assistance I speak not this to increase fear unworthy of English courages but to press to provision worthy the wisdom of a Parliament And for that cause his Majesty hath called you hither that by a timely provision against those great imminent dangers our selves may be strengthened at home our Friends and Allies encouraged abroad and those great causes of fear scattered and dispelled And because in all Warlike preparations Treasure bears the name and holds the semblance of the nerves and sinews And if a sinew be too short or too weak if it be either shrunk or strained the part becomes
Council and the better digestion of Publick services there and withal to avert so ill an Omen as the choise of me in the beginning of a Parliament ordained I hope for the joy of our own and the envy of other Nations that by your gracious Command the House may reconsult and settle their better thoughts on some more worthy their Election and your Majesties Approbation But his Majesty not admitting his excuse approved of the choise Before the Commons had entred into any Debates this following Letter touching the Inconveniencies and Grievances of the State was communicated to the Members of the House and it was called A Speech without doors To my noble friends of the Lower-House of Parliament IF my Country had held me worthy to have served in this Parliament I had now been made a Member of your Lower-House as formerly I have been in sundry other Parliaments But how unkindly soever she dealeth with me I will ever shew my thankfulness to her and deliver by way of observation what I have heretofore learned in that grave and wise Assembly for admonishment to the elder and a path-way for the younger to walk in Parliaments in my time have been wont to take up some space at the first meetings to settle the House and to determine of unlawfull Elections and in this point they never had greater cause to be circumspect then at this time For by an Abuse lately crept in there is introduced a custom which if it be not foreseen and prevented will be a great derogation to the Honor and a weakning to the power of your House Where the Law giveth a freedom to Corporations to elect Burgesses and forbideth any indirect course to be taken in their Elections many of the Corporations are so base-minded and timerous that they will not hazard the indignation of a Lord Lieutenants Letter who underhand sticks not to threaten them with the charge of a Musket or a Horse at the Muster if that he hath not the Election of the Burgesses and not they themselves And commonly those that the Lords recommend are such as desire it for protection or are so ignorant of the place they serve for as that there being occasion to speak of the Corporation for which they are chosen they have asked their Neighbors sitting by whether it were a Sea or a Land Town The next thing that is required is Liberty of Speech without which Parliaments have little force or power Speech begets doubts and resolves them and doubts in Speeches beget understanding he that doubts much asketh often and learns much and he that fears the worst soonest prevents a mischief This Priviledge of Speech is anciently granted by the testimony of Philip Comines a Stranger who prefers our Parliaments and the Freedom of the Subject in them above all other Assemblies which Freedom if it be broken or diminished is negligently lost since the dayes of Comines If freedom of Speech should be prohibited when men with modesty make repetition of the Grievances and Enormities of the Kingdom when men shall desire reformation of wrongs and injuries committed and have no relation of evil thought to his Majesty but with open heart and zeal express their dutifull and reverent respect to him and his service I say if this kinde of liberty of Speech be not allowed in time of Parliaments they will extend no further then to Quarter-Sessions and their Meetings and Assembles will be unnecessary for all means of disorder new crept in and all remedies and redresses will be quite taken away As it is no manners to contest with the King in his Election of Councellors and Servants for Kings obey no men but their Laws So were it a great negligence and part of Treason for a Subject not to be free in Speech against the abuses wrongs and offences that may be occasioned by persons in Authority What Remedy can be expected from a Prince to the Subject if the enormities of his Kingdom be concealed from him Or what King so religious or just in his own nature that may not hazard the loss of the hearts of his Subjects without this Liberty of Speech in Parliament For such is the misfortune of most Princes and such is the unhappiness of Subjects where Kings affections are setled and their loves so far transported to promote servants as they onely trust and credit what they shall inform In this Case what Subject dares complain or what Subject dares contradict the words or actions of such a servant if it be not warranted by freedom of a Parliament they speaking with humility For nothing obtaineth favor with a King so much as diligent obedience The surest and safest way betwixt the King and his people which hath least scandal of partiality is with indifference with integrity and sincerity to examine the Grievances of the Kingdom without touching upon the person of any man further then the cause giveth occasion For otherwise you shall contest with him that hath the Princes ears open to hearken to his inchanting tongue he informs secretly when you shall not be admitted to excuses he will cast your deserved malice against him to your contempt against the King and seeking to lessen his Authority and so will make the Prince the Shield of his Revenge These are the sinister practices of such servants to deceive their Soveraigns when our Grievances shall be authentically proved and made manifest to the World by your pains to examine and freedom to speak No Prince can be so affectionate to a servant or such an Enemy to himself as not to admit of this indifferent proceeding If his services be allowable and good they will appear with glory if bad your labor shall deserve thanks both of Prince and Country When Justice shall thus shine people will be animated to serve their King with integrity For they are naturally inclined to imitate Princes in good and bad The words of Cicero will then appear That malicious and evil men make Princes poor and one perfect good man is able to make a Realm rich One Case I will instance that is common in the mouths of all men and generally vox Populi vox Dei One of quality in the last Expedition to the Isle of Rhee endeavored to conceale the number of men lost in the last encounter and confidently affirmed their number not to exceed three or four hundred till a Doctor of Physick out of tenderness of Conscience and duty to his Majesty could not dissemble the vulgar and true Report but acquainted his Majesty with Two thousand of his Subjects there lost This was so contrary to the first information and so displeasing to the Informer and his Designs that he caused the Physitians remove from his Highness presence who yet remains in kinde of a banished man The truth of these two Reports is easily determined by the Clerks of the Bands of each Company and is worthy to be discovered for Truth sake Truth being so Noble of it self as
it will make him Honorable that promoteth it Lyes may shadow it but not darken it They may blame but never shame it By this small President his Majesty shall see himself abused and it may be a means for him to reflect both upon men and matters The men slain are no less injured by concealing their Names whose lives were lost for King and Country The Romans would have held it the highest Honor for their friends and posterity so to die And a Parliament may fear that those that stick not so palpably to wrong a King may as unjustly cast Aspersions upon the House and other his loving Subjects There is no remedy left for these misreports but a freedom of Speech in Parliament For there is no wise man that speaks but knows what and when to speak and how to hold his peace Whilst Subjects tongues are tyed for fear they may reach him a rap whose conscience cries guilty the King and his people are kept from understanding one another The Enemy is heartened abroad and the Malignant humor of Discontent nourished at home and all for one who is like a Dragon that bites the ear of the Elephant because he knows the Elephant cannot reach him with his trunk and Princes are abused by false Reports whispered in their ears by Sycophants and Flatterers Diogenes being asked what beast bit sorest answered Of wilde beasts the Back-biter of tame the Flatterer Now to descend to Grievances which are of two kinds some concerning the Kingdom in general some in particular which have relation to the general The Grievances in general are so many in number as will serve for every Member of the House to present Two apiece to your views And because I cannot be admitted amongst you my self yet in regard I have been a Member of you I will prsume so far as to rank my self with you and to tender the number of Two unto unto your consideration My first Complaint is of Titles of Honor and in two kindes First in respect of the Parties themselves their Estates and Parentage Secondly in respect of the manner of their attaining thereunto which is mercenary base and corrupt which in reason should not hold For by Law the consideration is unlawfull Trajanus commended Plutarch for his Precepts in School when he taught that men should labor to deserve Honor but avoid the getting of it basely For if it were Reputation to have it by Desert it were Infamy to buy it for Money In that Age where Rich men were honored Good men were despised Honor is not to be valued according to the vulgar opinion of men but prized and esteemed as the Sirname of Vertue ingendred in the minde and such Honor no King can give or money can purchase He that will strive to be more honorable then others must abandon Passion Pride and Arrogancy that so his Vertue may shine above others For Honor consists not in the Title of a Lord but in the opinion people have of their vertue For it is much more honor to deserve and not to have it then to have it and not deserve it There is one of three things that commonly causeth mans advancement Desert Favor and Power The first makes a man worthy of it the other two are but abuses For Favor is but a blinde fortune an ounce of which at Court is better then a pound of wisdom Fortune never favoreth but flattereth She never promiseth but in the end she deceiveth She never raiseth but she casteth down again And this Advancement is meeter to be called Luck then Merit That Honor that is compassed by Power takes unto it self Liberty and desires not to be governed by wisdom but force It knows not what it desireth nor hath a feeling of any Injury It is neither moved with sweet words nor pitifull tears such men leave not to do evil because they have a desire to it but when their power faileth to do it The true Honor among the honorablest is where Fortune casts down where there is no fault But it is Infamy where Fortune raiseth where there is no Merit Examine the State and condition of men raised to Honor these 25 years past and whether it be desert favor or power that hath preferred them Enter into the mischief the Kingdom hath suffered and doth suffer by it and the cause of his Majesties great wants will soon appear If you collect with your selves how many hungry Courtiers have been raised to the highest top of honor After this examine their Princely expence in these Twenty five years their Estates in present and what is requisite to maintain them in their future degrees of honor to themselves and their Posterity and you shall finde his Majesties annual Revenues consumed and spent upon those unworthy persons Besides the impairing and impoverishing of the State it brings with it the contempt of Greatness and Authority it breeds an inward malice in Gentlemen better deserving of their Country and better able to maintain the degree of honor without charge to King or Kingdom and whose Houses and Alliance may better challenge it then the best of them The Character of a covetous man is that he getteth his goods with care and envy of his Neighbors with sorrow to his Enemies with travel to his body with grief to his Spirit with scruple to his conscience with danger to his soul with suit to his children and curse to his heirs his desire is to live poor to die rich But as these vices are made vertues even so is he honored for them with Title of Nobility When Philip the second King of Spain entred with Arms upon his Kingdom of Portugal and though with his sword he might have made fitting Laws yet were there some few Priviledges which the Portugals besought they might enjoy one whereof was That the King would make no unworthy person Noble or without their approbation which was granted them and to this day they hold that Freedom which keeps that Kingdom in the ancient State Honor and Dignity that is to say two Dukes one Marquis and Eighteen Earls And thus much for the point of Honor. The second Grievance I will recommend to your views is The carriage of our Wars the excessive charges vainly spent therein the unworthiness of the people imployed the grave and experienced neglected the designs not warranted by reason and discretion and the executions worse performed with many other circumstances that depend upon it But before I proceed herein I must crave leave to speak to two Points The one to declare the property and condition of Impostors and Deceivers of Princes In the other I must clear the House of Parliament of an Imputation cast upon it Abusers of Princes are they that perswade them to War to become poor when they may live in Peace and become rich when they may be loved cause them to be hated when they may enjoy their lives surely put them in hazard of cross fortune rashly and lastly having
when the end may be the service of his Majesty and the good of the Commonweale But on the contrary when against a Parliament Law the Subject shall have taken from him his goods against his will and his liberty against the Laws of the Land shall it be accounted want of duty in us to stand upon our Priviledges hereditary to us and confirmed by so many Acts of Parliament In doing this we shall but tread the steps of our forefathers who ever preferred the Publick Interest before their own right nay before their own lives nor can it be any wrong to his Majesty to stand upon them so as thereby we may be the better enabled to do his Majesties service but it will be a wrong to us and our posterity and our consciences if we willingly forego that which belongs unto us by the Law of God and of the Land and this we shall do well to present to his Majesty we have no cause to doubt of his Majesties gracious acceptation This Debate said Sir Tho. Wentworth carries a double Aspect towards the Soveraign and the Subject though both be innocent both are injured and both to be cured Surely in the greatest humility I speak it these illegal ways are punishment and marks of indignation the raising of Loans strengthned by Commission with unheard of Instructions and Oathes the billetting of Soldiers by the Lieutenants and Deputy Lieutenants have been as if they could have perswaded Christian Princes yea worlds that the right of Empires had been to take away by strong hands and they have endeavored as far as possible for them to do it This hath not been done by the King under the pleasing shade of whose Crown I hope we shall ever gather the fruits of Justice but by Projectors who have extended the Prerogative of the King beyond the just Symetry which maketh a sweet harmony of the whole They have brought the Crown into greater want then ever by anticipating the Revenues And can the Shepherd be thus smitten and the Speep not scattered They have introduced a Privy-Council ravishing at once the Spheres of all ancient Government imprisoning us without either bail or bond they have taken from us what shall I say indeed what have they left us All means of supplying the King and ingratiating our selves with him taking up the root of all propriety which if it be not seasonably set again into the ground by his Majesties own hands we shall have insteed of beauty baldness To the making of those whole I shall apply my self and propound a Remedy to all these diseases By one and the same thing have King and People been hurt and by the same must they be cured to vindicate what new things no our ancient vital Liberties by reinforcing the ancient Laws made by our Ancestors by setting forth such a Character of them as no licentious spirit shall dare to enter upon them and shall we think this is a way to break a Parliament no our desires are modest and just I speak truly both for the interest of King and People if we injoy not these it will be impossible for to relieve him Therefore let us never fear they shall not be accepted by his goodness wherefore I shall shortly descend to my motions consisting of four parts two of which have relation to our persons two to the propriety of goods for our persons first the freedom of them from imprisonment secondly from imployment abroad contrary to the ancient Customs For our goods that no Levies be made but by Parliament secondly no billetting of Soldiers It is most necessary that these be resolved that the Subject may be secured in both Sir Benjamin Rudyard stands up as a Moderator and spake thus This is the Chrysis of Parliaments we shall know by this if Parliaments live or die the King will be valued by the success of us the Councils of this House will have opperations in all 't is sit we be wise his Majesty begins to us with affection proclaiming that he will relie on his peoples love preservation is natural we are not now on the bene esse but on the esse be sure England is ours and then prune it Is it no small matter that we have provoked two most Potent Kings we have united them and have betrayed our selves more then our enemies could Men and Brethren what shall we do is there no balm in Gilead if the King draw one way the Parliament another we must all sink I respect no particular I am not so wise to contemn what is determined by the major part one day tells another and one Parliament instructs another I desire this House to avoid all contestations the hearts of Kings are great 't is comely that Kings have the beter of their Subjects give the King leave to come off I believe his Majesty expects but the occasion 't is lawfull and our duty to advise his Majesty but the way is to take a right course to attain the right end which I think may be thus by trusting the King and to breed a trust in him by giving him a large Supply according to his wants by prostrating our Grievances humbly at his feet from thence they will have the best way to his heart that is done in duty to his Majesty And to say all at once Let us all labor to get the King on our side and this may be no hard matter considering the neer subsistence between the King and people Sir Edward Cook spake next Dum tempus habemus bonum operemur I am absolutely to give Supply to his Majesty yet with some caution To tell you of Forein dangers and inbred evils I will not do it the State is inclining to a consumption yet not incurable I fear not Forein Enemies God send us peace at home for this disease I will propound remedies I will seek nothing out of mine own head but from my heart and out of Acts of Parliament I am not able to fly at all Grievances but only at Loans Let us not flatter our selves who will give Subsidies if the King may impose what he will and if after Parliament the King may inhaunce what he pleaseth I know the king will not do it I know he is a Religious King free from personal vices but he deals with other mens hands and sees with other mens eyes will any give a Subsidy that may be taxed after Parliament at pleasure the King cannot tax any by way of Loans I differ from them who would have this of Loans go amongst Grievances but I would have it go alone I le begin with a noble Record it cheers me to think of it 25. E. 3. it is worthy to be written in letters of gold Loans against the will of the Subject are against reason and the Franchises of the Land and they desire restitution what a word is that Franchise The Lord may tax his Villain high or low but it is against the Franchises
of the Land for freemen to be taxed but by their consent in Parliament Franchise is a French word and in Latine it is Libertas In Magna Charta it is provided that Nullus liber homo capiatur vel imprisoâ—etur aut disseisietur de libero tenemento suo c. nisi per legale judicium parium suorum vel per legem terrae which Charter hath been confirmed by good Kings above thirty times When these Gentlemen had spoken Sir Iohn Cook Secretary of State took up the matter for the King and concluded for redress of Grievances so that Supplies take the precedency And said I had rather you would hear any then me I will not answer what hath been already spoken my desire is not to stir but to quiet not to provoke but to appease my desire is that every one resort to his own heart to reunite the King and the State and to take away the scandal from us every one speaks from the abundance of his heart I do conclude out of every ones Conclusion to give to the King to redress Grievances all the difference is about the manner we are all Inhabitants in one House the Commonwealth let every one in somewhat amend his house somewhat is amiss but if all the House be on fire will we then think of amending what 's a miss will you not rather quench the fire the danger all apprehend The way that is propounded I seek not to decline illegal courses have been taken it must be confessed the redress must be by Laws and Punishment but withal add the Law of Necessity Necessity hath no Law you must abilitate the State to do what you do by Petition require It is wished we begin with Grievances I deny not that we prepare them but shall we offer them first will not this seem a Condition with his Majesty do we not deal with a wise King jealous of his Honor All Subsidies cannot advantage his Majesty so much as that his Subjects do agree to Supply him This will amaze the Enemy more then ten Subsidies begin therefore with the King and not with our selves This dayes Debate said Sir Robert Philips makes me call to minde the custom of the Romans who had a solemn feast once a year for their Slaves at which time they had liberty without exception to speak what they would whereby to ease their afflicted minds which being finished they severally returned to their former servitude This may with some resemblance and distinction well set forth our present State where now after the revolution of some time and grievous sufferings of many violent oppressions we have as those Slaves had a day of liberty of speech but shall not I trust be herein Slaves for we are free we are not Bondmen but Subjects these after their Feast were Slaves again but it is our hope to return Freemen I am glad to see this mornings work to see such a sense of the Grievances under which we groan I see a concurrence of grief from all parts to see the Subject wronged and a fit way to see the Subject righted I expected to see a division but I see honorable conjunction and I take it a good Omen It was wished by one that there were a forgetfulness of all let him not prosper that wisheth it not No there is no such wayes to perfect remedy as to forget injuries but not so to forget as not to recover them It was usual in Rome to bury all injuries on purpose to recover them It was said by a Gentleman that ever speaks freely We must so govern our selves as if this Parliament must be the Chrysis of all Parliaments and this the last I hope well and there will be no cause for the King our Head to except against us or we against him The dangers abroad are presented to us he is no English man that is not apprehensive of them We have provoked two Potent Kings the one too near who are too strongly joyned together the dangers are not Chimerical but real I acknowledge it but it must be done in proportion of our dangers at home I more fear the violation of Publick Rights at home then a Forein Enemy Must it be our duties and direction to defend Forein dangers and establish security against them and shall we not look at that which shall make us able and willing thereunto We shall not omit to confide and trust his Majesty otherwise our Councils will be with fears and that becomes not Englishmen The unaccustomed violences I have nothing but a good meaning â—rench into all we have To the four particulars already mentioned wherein we suffer one more may be added Lest God forbare to hear me in the day of my trouble our Religion is made vendible by Commissions Alas now a tolleration is granted little less and men for pecuniary annual rates dispenced withal whereby Papists without fear of Law practise Idolatry and scoff at Parliaments at Laws and all it is well known the people of this State are under no other subjection then what they did voluntarily consent unto by the original contract between King and people and as there are many Prerogatives and Priviledges conferred on the King so there are left to the Subject many necessary Liberties and Priviledges as appears by the Common Laws and Acts of Parliament notwithstanding what these two Sycophants have prated in the Pulpit to the contrary Was there ever yet King of England that directly ever violated the Subjects Liberty and Property but their actions were ever complained of in Parliament and no sooner complained of then redressed 21 E. 3. there went out a Commission to raise money in a strange manner the succeeding Parliament prayed redress and till H. 8. we never heard of the said Commissions again Another way was by Loan a worm that cankered the Law the Parliament did redress it and that money was paid again The next little Engine was Benevolence what the force of that was look into the Statute of R. 3. which damned that particular way and all other indirect wayes Since the Right of the Subject is thus bulwarkt by the Law of the Kingdom and Princes upon complainâ— have redressed them I am confident we shall have the like cause of joy from his Majesty I will here make a little digression The County I serve for were pleased to command me to seek the removal from them of the greatest burthen that ever people suffered It was excellently said Commissionary Lieutenants do deprive us of all Liberty if ever the like was seen of the Lieutenancy that now is I will never be believed more They tell the people they must pay so much upon a warrant from a Deputy Lieutenant or be bound to the good behavior and sent up to the Lords of the Council it is the strangest Engine to rend the Liberty of the Subject that ever was there was now a Decemviri in every County and amongst that
the best way for Reformation And will not this be a happy union if the whole body concur to reduce all into regularity if Laws be our Birth-rights we shall hereby recover them and their splendor this will have good aspect abroad and it will give courage to our men that have been despised and will prevent practises to continue divisions amongst us both at home and abroad The first Sower of seeds of distractions amongst us was an Agent of Spain Gondomar that did his Master great service here and at home Since that we have had other Ministers that have blown the fire The Ambassador of France told his Master at home what he had wrought here the last Parliament namely divisions between King and people and he was rewarded for it Whilst we sit here in Parliament there was another intended Parliament of Jesuites and other well-willers within a mile of this place that this is true was discovered by Letters sent to Rome The place of their meeting is changed and some of them are there where they ought to be if you look in your Calendar there is a day of St. Ioseph it was called in the Letter the Oriental day and that was the day intended for their meeting I speak this to see Gods hand to work our union in their division they are not more rent from us then they are from themselves I desire the meanest judgement to consider what may follow by giving precedency to his Majesty and by so doing we shall put from our selves many imputations If we give any occasion of breach it is a great disadvantage if otherwise it is an obligation to his Majesty which his Majesty will not forget Then he made a motion that the same Committee may hear Propositions of general heads of Supply and afterward go to other businesses of the day for Grievances Others preferred the Consideration of Grievances as a particular root that invades the main liberty of the Subject It is the Law said they that glorious fundamental Right whereby we have power to give we desire but that his Majesty may see us have that right therein which next to God we all desire and then we doubt not but we shall give his Majesty all supply we can The time was when it was usual to desire favors for sowing discords as Gondomar did for Raleigh's head But the debates of this day came to no Resolution The day following Mr Secretary Cook tendred the House certain Propositions from the King touching Supply and told them That his Majesty finding time precious expects that they should begin speedily lest they spend that time in deliberation which should be spent in action that he esteems the Grievances of the House his own and stands not on Precedence in point of honor Therefore to satisfie his Majesty let the same Committee take his Majesties Propositions into consideration and let both concur whether to sit on one in the forenoon or the other in the afternoon it is all one to his Majesty Hereupon the House turned themselves into a Committee and commanded Edward Littleton Esquire unto the Chair and ordered the Committee to take into Consideration the Liberty of the Subject in his Person and in his Goods and also to take into Consideration his Majesties Supply In this Debate the Grievances were reduced to six Heads as to our Persons 1. Attendance at the Council Board 2. Imprisonment 3. Confinement 4. Designation for Forein Imployment 5. Martial-Law 6. Undue Proceedings in matter of Judicature The first matter debated was the Subjects Liberty in his Person the particular instance was in the Case of Sir Iohn Heveningham and those other Gentlemen who were imprisoned about Loan-money and thereupon had brought their Habeas Corpus had their Case argued and were nevertheless remanded to Prison and a Judgment as it was then said was entred Whereupon Mr. Creswell of Lincolns-Inn spake to this purpose Justice said he is the Life and the Heart-blood of the Common-wealth and if the Commonwealth bleed in the master vein all the Balm in Gilead is but in vain to preserve this our Body of Policy from ruin and destruction Justice is both Columna Corona Reipublicae She is both the Columne and the Pillar the Crown and the Glory of the Commonwealth this is made good in Scripture by the Judgement of Solomon the wisest King that ever Raigned upon Earth For first She is the Pillar for he saith By Justice the Throne shall be Established Secondly She is the Crown for he saith That by Justice a Nation shall be Exalted Our Laws which are the rules of this Justice they are the ne plus ultra to both the King and the Subject and as they are the Hercules Pillar so they are the Pillar to every Hercules to every Prince which he must not pass Give me leave to resemble her to Nebuchadnezar's Tree for she is so great that she doth shade not onely the Palace of the King and the House of Nobles but doth also shelter the Cottage of the poorest Begger Wherefore if either now the blasts of indignation or the unresistable violater of Laws Necessity hath so bruised any of the Branches of this Tree that either our Persons or Goods or Possessions have not the same shelter as before yet let us not therfore neglect the root of this great Tree but water it with our Tears that so these bruised Branches may be recovered and the whole Tree again prosper and flourish I know well that Cor regis inscrutabile and that Kings although they are but men before God yet they are gods before men And therefore to my gracious and dread Soveraign whose vertues are true qualities ingenerate both in his judgment and nature let my arm be cut off nay let my soul not live that day that I shall dare to lift up my arm to touch that forbidden Fruit those Flowers of his Princely Crown and Diadem But yet in our Eden in this Garden of the Commonwealth as there are the Flowers of the Sun which are so glorious that they are to be handled only by Royal Majesty So are there also some Daysies and wholesom Herbs which every common hand that lives and labors in this Garden may pick and gather up and take comfort and repose in them Amongst all which this Oculus Diei this bona libertas is one and the chief one I will now descend to the Question wherein I hold with all dutiful submission to better judgments that these acts of Power in imprisoning and consining of his Majesties Subjects in such manner without any Declaration of the Cause are against the fundamental Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom The first from the great favor which the Law doth give unto and the great care which it hath ever taken of the Liberty and safety of this Kingdom To proceed therefore in maintenance of my first reasons I find our Law doth so much favor the Subjects Liberty of
yet acknowledged that the seven Statutes urged by the House of Commons are in force yet said that some of them are in general words and therefore conclude nothing but are to be expounded by Precedents and some of them are applied to the suggestion of Subjects and not to the Kings command simply of its self and that per legem terrae in Magna Charta cannot be understood for process of Law and original Writs for that in Criminal proceedings no original Writ is usual at all but every Constable either for Felony or breach of the Peace or to prevent the breach of the Peace may commit without Process or original Writ it were very hard the King should not have the power of a Constable They also argued That the King was not bound to express the cause of Imprisonment because there may be in it matter of State not fit to be revealed for a time lest the confederates thereupon make means to escape the hands of Justice Besides that which the Commons do say that the party ought to be delivered or bailed is a contradiction in its self for bayling doth signifie a kinde of Imprisonment still Delivery is a total freeing And besides bayling is a grace or favor of a Court of Justice and they may refuse to do it To this it was replyed That the Statutes were direct in Point and though some of them speak of suggestions of the Subjects yet they are in equal reason a commitment by command of the King as when the King taketh notice of a thing himself And for the words per legem terrae original Writs onely are not intended but all other legal process which comprehendeth the whole proceedings of the Law upon Cause other then trial by Jury and the course of the Law is rendred by due process of the Law and no man ought to be imprisoned by special command without indictment or other due process to be made by the Law And whereas it is said there might be danger in revealing the Cause that may be avoided by declaring a general Cause as for Treason suspicion of Treason misprision of Treason Felony without expressing the particulars which can give no greater light to a confederate then will be conceived upon the very apprehension upon the imprisonment if nothing at all were expressed And as for the bayling of the party committed it hath ever been the discretion of the Judges to give so much respect to a commitment by the command of the King or the privy Councel which are ever intended to be done in just and weighty Cases that they will not presently set them free but bail them to answer what shall be objected against them on the Kings behalf but if any other inferior Officer do commit a man without shewing cause they do instantly deliver him as having no cause to expect their leasure so that Delivery is applyed to the imprisoned by command of some mean minister of Justice Bailing when it is done by command of the King or his Councel and though Bailing is a grace and favor of the Court in case of Felony and other crimes for that there is another way to discharge them in convenient time by their trial but where no cause of imprisonment is returned but the command of the King there is no way to deliver such persons by trial or otherwise but that of the Habeas Corpus and if they should be then remanded they might be perpetually imprisoned without any remedy at all and consequently a man that had committed no offence might be in a worse case then a greater offender for the latter should have an ordinary trial to discharge him the other should never be delivered MAster Selden of the Inner-Temple argued next first making this Introduction Your Lordships have heard from the Gentleman that last spake a great part of the grounds upon which the House of Commons upon mature deliberation proceeded to that clear resolution touching the right of liberty of their persons The many Acts of Parliament which are the written Laws of the Land and are expresly in the Point have bin read and opened and such Objections as have been by some made unto them and Objections also made out of another Act of Parliament have been cleared and answered It may seem now perhaps my Lords that little remains needful to be further added for the enforcement and maintenance of so fundamental and established a Right and Liberty belonging to every freeman of the Kingdom The House of Commons taking into consideration that in this question being of so high a nature that never any exceeded it in any Court of Justice whatsoever all the several ways of just examination of the Truth should be used have also most carefully informed themselves of all former Judgements or Precedents concerning this great Point either way and have been no less careful of the due preservation of his Majesties just Prerogative then of their own Rights The Precedents here are of two kinds either meerly matter of Record or else the former resolutions of the Judges after solemn debate in the Point This Point that concerns Precedents the House of Commons have commanded me to present to your Lordships which I shall as briefly as I may so I do it faithfully and perspicuously to that end my Lords before I come to the particulars of any of those Precedents I shall first remember to your Lordships that which will seem as a general key for the opening and true apprehension of all them of record without which key no man unless he be verst in the entries and course of the Kings Bench can possibly understand In all cases my Lords where any Right or Liberty belongs to the Subjects by any positive Law written or unwritten if there were not also a remedy by Law for enjoying or regaining of this Right or Liberty when it is violated or taken from him the positive Law were most vain and to no purpose and it were to no purpose for any man to have any right in any Land or other Inheritance if there were not a known remedy that is an Action or Writ by which in some Court of ordinary Justice he might recover it And in this case of Right of Liberty of Person if there were not a remedy in the Law for regaining it when it is restrained it were of no purpose to speak of Laws that ordain it should not be restrained The Writ of Habeas Corpus or Corpus cum causa is the highest remedy in Law for any man that is imprisoned and the onely remedy for him that is imprisoned by the special command of the King or the Lords of the pâ—ivy Councel without shewing cause of the commitment and if any mâ—n be so imprisoned by any such Command or otherwise whatsoever though England and desire by himself or any other in his behalf this Writ of Hab. Corp. for the purpose in the Court of Kings Bench that Writ is to be granted to him
some satisfaction the proceeding now with our Grievances shall open the stop that hinders his Majesties affairs SIr Humphrey May added That sweetness trust and confidence are the onely weapons for us to deal with our King and that coldness inforcement and constraint will never work our ends If we compass all we desire and have not his Majesties heart what will a Law or any thing else do us good HEreupon it was ordered That a special Committee of eight persons shall presently withdraw themselves and consult together upon some heads and upon the substance of a fair representation to his Majesty which the Speaker shall deliver in his Speech to his Majesty on Monday next if the King please to give access and at the same time to deliver the Petition against billeting of Soldiers Master Speakers Speech to the King on Easter Monday Most gracious and dread Soveraign YOur dutiful and loyal Commons here assembled were lately humble suitors to your Majesty for access to your Royal presence the occasion that moved their desires herein was a particular of importance worthy your Princely consideration which as it well deserves should have been the onely subject of my Speech at this time But since your gracious answer for this access obtained by a message from your Majesty they have had some cause to doubt that your Majesty is not so well satisfied with the manner of their proceedings as their hearty desire is you should be especially in that part which concerns your Majesties present supply as if in the prosecution thereof they had of late used some slackness or delay And because no unhappiness of theirs can parallel with that which may proceed from a misunderstanding in your Majesty of their clear and loyal intentions they have commanded me to attend your Majesty with an humble and summary Declaration of their proceedings since this short time of their sitting which they hope will give your Majesty abundant satisfaction that never People did more truly desire to be indeared in the favour and gracious opinion of their Soveraign and withal to let you see that as you can have no where more faithful counsel so your great designs and occasions can no way be so speedily or heartily supported as in this old and antient way of Parliament For this purpose they humbly beseech your Majesty to take into your Royal consideration that although by antient right of Parliament the matters there debated are to be disposed in their true method and order and that their constant custome hath been to take into their considerations the common grievances of the Kingdom before they enter upon the matter of supply yet to make a full expression of that zeal and affection which they bear to your Royal Majesty equalling at least if not exceeding the best affections of their predecessors to the best of your progenitors they have in this Assembly contrary to the ordinary proceedings of Parliament given your Majesties Supply precedence before the common grievance of the Subject how pressing soever joyning with it onely those fundamental and vital liberties of the Kingdom which give subsistence and ability to your Subjects This was their original order and resolution and was grounded upon a true discerning that these two considerations could not be severed but did both of them intirely concern your Majesties service consisting no less in enabling and encouraging the Subject then in proportioning a Present suiting to your Majesties occasions and their abilities nay so far have they been from using any unnecessary delays as though of the two that of Supply were the latter proposition amongst them the Grand Committee to which both were referred hath made that of your Majesties supply first ready for conclusion And to be sure your Majesties supply might receive no interruption by the other differing from usage and custome in cases of this nature sent up of those that concern the Subjects by parcels some to your Majesty and some to the Lords to the end your Majesty might receive such speedy content as suted with the largest and best extent of their first order Sir You are the breath of our nostrils and the light of our eyes and besides those many comforts which under you and your Royal progenitors in this frame of Government this Nation hath enjoyed the Religion we profess hath taught us whose Image you are and we do all most humbly beseech your Majesty to believe that nothing is or can be more dear unto us then the sacred Rights and Prerogatives of your Crown no person or Councel can be greater lovers of you nor be more truly careful to maintain them and the preserving of those fundamental Liberties which concern the freedom of our persons and propriety of goods and estates is an essential means to establish the true glory of a Monarchy For rich and free Subjects as they are best governed so they are most able to do your Majesty service either in peace or war which next under God hath been the cause of the happy and famous victories of this Nation beyond other Kingdoms of larger Territories and greater number of People What information soever contrary to this shall be brought unto your Majesty can come from no other then such as for their own ends under colour of advancing the Prerogative do indeed undermine and weaken Royal Power by impoverishing the Subjects render this Monarchy less glorious and the People less able to serve your Majesty Having by this that hath been said cleared our hearts and proceedings to your Majesty our trust is that in your Royal Judgement we shall be free from the least opinion of giving any necessary stop to our proceedings in the matter of your supply and that your Majesty will be pleased to entertain belief of our alacrity and chearfulness in your service and that hereafter no such misfortune shall befal us to be misunderstood by your Majesty in any thing We all most humbly beseech your Majesty to receive no information in this or any other business from private relations but to weigh and judge of our proceedings by those resolutions of the House that shall be represented from our selves This rightly and graciously understood we are confident from the knowledge of your goodness and our own hearts that the ending of this Parliament shall be much more happy then the beginning and be to all ages styled the blessed Parliament for making perfect union between the best King and the best People that your Majesty may ever delight in calling us together and we in the comforts of your gracious favour towards us In this hope I return to my first errand which will best appear by that which I shall humbly desire you to hear and being an humble Petition for the House of Commons for redressing of those many inconveniences and distractions that have befallen your Subjects by the billeting of Soldiers in private mens houses against their wills Your Royal progenitors have ever held your Subjects hearts
have communicated the same to the rest of the Members of the House To this Speech Sir Dudley Diggs it being at a free Conference made Reply MY Lords it hath pleased God many ways to bless the Knights Citizens and Burgesses now assembled in Parliament with great comfort and strong hopes that this will prove as happy a Parliament as ever was in England And in their Consultations for the service of his Majesty and the safety of this Kingdom our special comforts and strong hopes have risen from the continued good respect which your Lordships so nobly from time to time have been pleased to shew unto them particularly at this present in your so honorable profession to agree with them in general and desiring to maintain and support the fundamental Laws and Liberties of England The Commons have commanded me in like sort to assure your Lordships they have been are and will be as ready to propugne the just Prerogative of his Majesty of which in all their Arguments searches of Records and Resolutions they have been most careful according to that which formerly was and now again is protested by them Another noble Argument of your honorable disposition towards them is expressed in this That you are pleased to expect no present answer from them who are as your Lordships in your great wisdoms they doubt not have considered a great Body that must advise upon all new Propositions and resolve upon them before they can give answer according to the ancient Order of their House But it is manifest in general God be thanked for it there is a great concurrence of affection to the same end in both Houses and such good Harmony that I intreat your Lordships leave to borrow a Comparison from Nature or natural Philosophy As two Lutes well strung and tuned brought together if one be played on little straws and sticks will stir upon the other though it lye still so though we have no power to reply yet these things said and propounded cannot but work in our hearts and we will faithfully report these Passages to our House from whence in due time we hope your Lordships shall receive a contentful Answer The Commons were not satisfied with these Propositions which were conceived to choak the Petition of Right then under consideration but demurred upon them Monday 28 April The Lord Keeper spake to both Houses of Parliament by the Kings command who was then present MY Lords and ye the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons ye cannot but remember the great and important Affairs concerning the safety both of the State and Religion declared at first from his Majesties own mouth to be the causes of the Assembling of this Parliament the sense whereof as it doth daily increase with his Majesty so it ought to do and his Majesty doubts not but it doth so with you since the danger increaseth every day both by effluxion of time and preparations of the Enemy Yet his Majesty doth well weigh that this expence of time hath been occasioned by the Debate which hath arisen in both Houses touching the Liberty of the Subject in which as his Majesty takes in good part the purpose and intent of the Houses so clearly and frequently professed that they would not diminish or blemish his just Prerogative so he presumes that ye will all confess it a point of extraordinary Grace and Justice in him to suffer it to rest so long in dispute without interruption but now his Majesty considering the length of time which it hath taken and fearing nothing so much as any future loss of that whereof every hour and minute is so pretious and foreseeing that the ordinary way of Debate though never so carefully husbanded in regard of the Form of both Houses necessarily takes more time then the Affairs of Christendom can permit his Majesty out of his great Princely care hath thought of this expedient to shorten the business by declaring the clearness of his own heart and intention And therefore hath commanded me to let you know That he holdeth the Statute of Magna Charta and the other Six Statutes insisted upon for the Subjects Liberty to be all in force and assures you that he will maintain all his Subjects in the just Freedom of their Persons and safety of their Estates And that he will govern according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm And that ye shall finde as much security in his Majesties Royal Word and Promise as in the strength of any Law ye can make so that hereafter ye shall never have cause to complain The conclusion is That his Majesty prayeth God who hath hitherto blessed this Kingdom and put into his heart to come to you this day to make the success thereof happy both to King and People And therefore he desires that no doubt or distrust may possess any man but that ye will all proceed unanimously to the business The Commons being returned from the Lords House Mr. Secretary Cook perswaded them to comply with the King His Majesty said he puts us in minde of the great important Affairs of the State and of his sense thereof that by effluxion of time increaseth in him and he doubts not but that it doth increase in us Ye see his Majesties moderation in the interpretation of all our actions he saith that he hopes we have the same sense he hath he is pleased to consider of the occasion of expence of time that grew from the Debates in both Houses We see how indulgent he is that however the Affairs of Christendom are great yet he omits not this nay he takes in good part our Proceedings and our Declarations that we will not Impeach the Prerogative Also his Majesty presumes that we will confess that he hath used extraordinary Grace in that he hath indured dispute so long he acknowledgeth it Justice to stand as we have done Further out of a Princely care of the Publique he is careful no more time be lost and because he sees some extraordinary course to be taken to satisfie us he observes that in the Form of Debate such length is required as the nature of the business will not indure It is to be presumed that his Government will be according to the Law We cannot but remember what his Father said He is no King but a Tyrant that governs not by Law But this Kingdom is to be governed by the Common Law and his Majesty assures us so much the Interpretation is left to the Judges and to his great Council and all is to be regulated by the Common Law I mean not Magna Charta onely for that Magna Charta was part of the Common Law and the ancient Law of this Kingdom all our difference is in the Application of this Law and how this Law with difference is derived into every Court I conceive there are two Rules the one of Brass that is rigid and will not bend and that is the Law
of the Kings Bench this Law will not bend and when it lights on Subjects fitting if it do not bend it is unjust And there comes in the Law of the Chancery and of Equity this is Application of Law in private mens Causes when it comes to Meum tuum And thus the general Government of Cases with relation to the common State of the Kingdom is from the Council Board and there they are to vary from the Law of the Kingdom Suppose it be in time of Dearth Propriety of Goods may in that time be forced and be brought to the Market We saw the experience of it in Coals in London and the Council Board caused them to be brought forth and sold. In a time of Pestilence men may be restrained If a Schism be like to grow in a Church the State will enquire after the favorers of it if there be feaâ— of Invasion and it be encouraged by hope of a Party amongst us it is in the power of Government to restrain men to their houses In the Composure of these things there is great difference What differences have been between the Courts of Chancery and Kings Bench It is hard to put true difference between the Kings Prerogative and our Liberties His Majesty saw expence of time would be prejudicial it pleased God to move his Majesty by a Divine hand to shew us a way to clear all our difficulties let us attend to all the parts of it there be Five Degrees and there is more assurance then we could have by any Law whatsoever His Majesty declares That Magna Charta and the other Statutes are in force This is not the first time that the Liberty of the Subject was infringed or was in Debate and confirmed all times thought it safe that when they came to a Negative of Power it was hard to keep Government and Liberty together but his Majesty stopped not there but according to the sense of these Laws That he will govern his Subjects in their just Liberties he assures us our Liberties are just they are not of Grace but of Right nay he assures us he will govern us according to the Laws of the Realm and that we shall finde as much security in his Majesties Promise as in any Law we can make and whatsoever Law we shall make it must come to his Majesties allowance and if his Majesty finde cause in his Government he may not put life to it We daily see all Laws are broken and all Laws will be broke for the Publique good and the King may pardon all Offenders his Majesty did see that the best way to settle all at unity is to express his own heart The Kings heart is the best guarder of his own promise his promise is bound with his heart What Prince can express more care and wisdom Lastly he saith That hereafter ye shall never have the like cause to complain May we not think the breach is made up is not his Majesty ingaged in his Royal word The conclusion is full of weight and he prayes God that as God hath blessed this Kingdom and put it into his heart to come amongst us so to make this day successful The wrath of a King is like the roaring of a Lyon and all Laws with his wrath are to no effect but the Kings favour is like to the dew of the grass there all will prosper and God made the Instruments to unite all hearts His Majesty having thus discharged himself he prayes us to proceed to the business that so much concerns him As his Majesty hath now shewed himself the best of Kings let us acknowledge his Majesties goodness and return to that Union which we all desire But this motion was not received with general acceptation and Sir Benjamin Rudyard replyed to it in these words WE are now upon a great business and the maner of handling it may be as great as the business it self Liberty is a precious thing for every man may set his own price upon it and he that doth not value it deserves to be valued accordingly for mine own part I am clear without scruple that what we have resolved is according to the Law and if any Judge in England were of a contrary opinion I am sure we should have heard of him ere now out of all question the very scope and drift of Magna Charta was to reduce the Regal to a Legal Power in matter of Imprisonment or else it had not been worthy so much contending for It is true That the King ought to have a trust reposed in him God forbid but he should and I hope it is impossible to take it from him for it lies not in the wit of man to devise such a Law as shall comprehend all particulars all accidents but that extraordinary Causes may happen which when they come if they be disposed of for the common good there will be no Law against them yet must the Law be general for otherwise Admissions and Exceptions will fret and eat out the Law to nothing God himself hath constituted a general Law of Nature to govern the ordinary course of things he hath made no Law for Miracles yet there is this observation of them that they are rather praeter naturam then contra naturam and always propter bones fines So the Kings Prerogatives are rather besides the Law then against it and when they are directly to their ends for the publique good they are not onely concurring Laws but even Laws in singularity and excellency But to come nearer let us consider where we are now what steps we have gone and gained The Kings learned Councel have acknowledged all the Laws to be still in force the Judges have not allowed any Judgement against these Laws the Lords also have confessed that the Laws are in full strength they have further retained our resolutions intire and without prejudice All this hitherto is for our advantage but above all his Majesty hath this day himself being publiquely present declared by the mouth of the Lord Keeper before both the Houses That Magna Charta and the other six Statutes are still in force That he will maintain his Subjects in the Liberties of their Persons and Proprieties of their Goods That he will govern them according to the Laws of the Kingdom this is a solemn and binding satisfaction expressing his gracious readiness to comply with his people in their reasonable and just desires The King is a good Man and it is no diminution to a King to be called so for whosoever is a good Man shall be greater then a King that is not so The King certainly is very tender of his present Honor and of his Fame hereafter He will think it hard to have a worse mark set upon him then upon any of his Ancestors by extraordinary restraints His Majesty hath already intimated unto us by a Message That he doth willingly give way to have the abuse of Power reformed by which I
we may assure our selves of the performance of it Besides we binde his Majesty by relying on his word we have Laws enough it is the execution of them that is our life and it is the King that gives life and execution Sir Thomas Wentworth concluded the Debate saying That never House of Parliament trusted more in the goodness of their King for their own private then the present but we are ambitious that his Majesties goodness may remain to posterity and we are accomptable to a publique trust and therefore seeing there hath been a publique violation of the Laws by his Ministers nothing will satisfie him but a publique mends and our desire to vindicate the Subjects Rights by Bill are no more then are laid down in former Laws with some modest Provision for Instruction Performance and Execution Which so well agreed with the Sense of the House that they made it the subject of a Message to be delivered by the Speaker to his Majesty AMidst those deliberations another Message was delivered from his Majesty by Mr. Secretary Cook That howsoever we proceed in this business we have in hand which his Majesty will not doubt but to be according to our constant professions and so as he may have cause to give us thanks yet his resolution is that both his Royal care and hearty and tender affection towards all his loving Subjects shall appear to the whole Kingdom and all the World that he will govern us according to the Laws and Customs of this Realm that he will maintain us in the Liberties of our Persons and Proprieties of our Goods so as we may enjoy as much happiness as our forefathers in their best times and that he will rectifie what hath been or may be found amiss amongst us so that hereafter there may be no just cause to complain Wherein as his Majesty will rank himself amongst the best of our Kings and shew he hath no intention to invade or impeach our lawful Liberties or Right so he will have us to match our selves with the best Subjects not by incroaching upon that Soveraignty or Prerogative which God hath put into his hands for our good but by containing our selves within the Bounds and Laws of our forefathers without restraining them or inlarging them by new Explanations Interpretations Expositions or Additions in any sort which he telleth us he will not give way unto That the weight of the Affairs of the Kingdom and Christendom do press him more and more and that the time is now grown to that point of maturity that it cannot endure long debate or delay so as this Session of Parliament must continue no longer then Tuesday come sevennight at the furthest In which time his Majesty for his part will be ready to perform what he promised and if the House be not as ready to do that is fit for themselves it shall be their own faults And upon assurance of our good dispatch and correspondence his Majesty declareth That his Royal intention is to have another Session of Parliament at Michaelmass next for the perfecting of such things as cannot now be done This Message was debated the next day being Saturday May 30. whereupon Sir Iohn Elliot spake to this effect The King saith he will rank himself with the best of Kings and therefore he would have us to rank our selves with the best Subjects we will not incroach upon that Soveraignty that God hath put into his hands This makes me fear his Majesty is misinformed in what we go about let us make some inlargement and put it before him that we will not make any thing new as for the time of this Session it is but short and look how many Messages we have so many interruptions and mis-reports and mis-representations to his Majesty produce those Messages Sir Miles Fleetwood continues the Debate and said That this business is of great importance we are to accommodate this The breach of this Parliament will be the greatest misery that ever befell us the eyes of Christendom are upon this Parliament the state of all our Protestant friends are ready to be swallowed up by the Emperors Forces and our own Kingdom is in a miserable straight for the defence of our Religion that is invaded by the Romish Catholicks by the colour of a Commission which is intolerable the defence of our Realm by Shipping is decayed the Kings Revenue is sold and gone where shall the relief be obtained but in Parliament Now we are in the way let us proceed by way of Bill in pursuance of the Kings Message to establish the Fundamental Laws in Propriety of our Goods and Liberty of our Persons It was declared to us that courses by Loan and Imprisonment were not lawful let us touch them in our Bill and that all Precedents and Judgements seeming to the contrary be void and that all Commitments against the Law be remedied and that we be protected against the fear of Commitments In conclusion the Commons agree to an Answer to all the preceding Messages and present it to the King by the mouth of their Speaker The Speakers Speech to the King in Answer to several Messages Most Gracious and Dread Soveraign YOur Loyal and Obedient Subjects the Commons now Assembled in Parliament by several Messages from your Majesty and especially by that your Declaration delivered by the Lord Keeper before both Houses have to their exceeding joy and comfort received many ample expressions of your Princely care and tender affections towards them with a gracious promise and assurance that your Majesty will govern according to the Laws of this Realm and so maintain all your Subjects in the just Freedom of their Persons and Safety of their Estates that all their Rights and Liberties may be by them enjoyed with as much freedom and security in their time as in any age heretofore by their Ancestors under the best of your Progenitors For this so great a favor enlarged by a comfortable intimation of your Majesties confidence in the proceedings of this House they do by me their Speaker make as full return of most humble thanks to your Majesty with all dutiful acknowledgement of your Grace and Goodness herein extended unto them And whereas in one of those Messages delivered from your Majesty there was an expression of your desire to know whether this House would rest upon your Royal Word and Promise assuring them that if they would it should be royally and really performed As they again present their humble thanks for the seconding and strengthning of your former Royal expressions so in all humbleness they assure your Majesty that their greatest confiâ—â—â—ce is and ever must be in your Grace and Goodness without which they well know nothing that they can frame or desire will be of safety or value to them Therefore are all humble Suiters to your Majesty That your Royal heart will graciously accept and believe the truth of theirs which they humbly present as
full of truth and confidence in your Royal Word and Promise as ever House of Commons reposed in any of their best Kings True it is they cannot but remember the publique Trust for which they are accomptable to present and future times and their desires are That your Majesties goodness might in Fruit and Memory be the Blessing and Joy of Posterity They say also That of late there hath been publique violation of the Laws and the Subjects Liberties by some of your Majesties Ministers and thence conceive that no less then a publique remedy will raise the dejected hearts of your loving Subjects to a chearful supply of your Majesty or make them receive content in the proceedings of this House From those considerations they most humbly beg your Majesties leave to lay hold of that gratious offer of yours which gave them assurance That if they thought fit to secure themselves in their Rights and Liberties by way of Bill or otherwise so it might be provided with due respect to Gods Honor and the publique Good you would be graciously pleased to give way unto it Far from their intentions it is any way to incroach upon your Soveraignty or Prerogative nor have they the least thought of stretching or enlarging the former Laws in any sort by any new Interpretations or Additions the Bounds of their desires extend no further then to some necessary Explanation of that which is truly comprehended within the just sense and meaning of those Laws with some moderate provision for execution and performance as in times past upon like occasion hath been used The way how to accomplish these their humble desires is now in serious consideration with them wherein they humbly assure your Majesty they will neither lose time nor seek any thing of your Majesty but that they hope may be fit for Dutiful and Loyal Subjects to ask and for a gracious and just King to grant His Majesties Answer was delivered by the Lord Keeper Mr. Speaker and you Gentlemen of the House of Commons His Majesty hath commanded me to tell you that he expected an Answer by your Actions and not delay by Discourse ye acknowledge his Trust and Confidence in your proceedings but his Majesty sees not how you requite him by your confidence of his Word and Actions For what need Explanations if ye doubted not the performance of the true meaning for Explanations will hazard an incroachment upon his Prerogative And it may well be said What need a new Law to confirm an old if you repose confidence in the Declaration his Majesty made by me to both Houses and your selves acknowledge that your greatest trust and confidence must be in his Majesties Grace and Goodness without which nothing ye can frame will be of safety or avail to you Yet to shew cleerly the sincerity of his Majesties intentions he is content that a Bill be drawn for a confirmation of Magna Charta and the other six Statutes insisted upon for the Subjects Liberties if ye shall choose that as the best way but so as it may be without Additions Paraphrases or Explanations Thus if you please you may be secured from your needless fears and this Parliament may have a happy wished for end whereas by the contrary if ye seek to tie your King by new and indeed impossible bonds you must be accomptable to God and the Countrey for the ill success of this meeting His Majesty hath given his Royal Word that ye shall have no cause to complain hereafter less then which hath been enough to reconcile Great Princes and therefore ought much more to prevail between a King and his Subjects Lastly I am commanded to tell you that his Majesties pleasure is That without further Replies or Messages or other unnecessary delays ye do what ye mean to do speedily remembring the last Message that Secretary Cook brought you in point of time His Majesty always intending to perform his Promise to his power NOtwithstanding the intimation of his Majesties good pleasure for a Bill Mr. Secretary Cook Tuesday May 6. again pressed the House to relye upon the Kings Word saying That he had rather follow others then begin to enter into this business loss of time hath been the greatest complaint the matter fallen now into consideration is what way to take whether to relye on his Majesties Word or on a Bill If we will consider the advantage we have in taking his Majesties Word it will be of the largest extent and we shall choose that that hath most Assurance An Act of Parliament is by the consent of the King and Parliament but this Assurance by Word is that he will govern us by the Laws the King promiseth that and also that they shall be so executed that we shall enjoy as much freedom as ever this contains many Laws and a grant of all good Laws nay it contains a confirmation of those very Laws Assurance which binds the King further then the Law can First it binds his affection which is the greatest bond between King and Subject and that binds his Judgement also nay his Honor and that not at home but abroad the Royal Word of a King is the Ground of all Treaty nay it binds his Conscience this Confirmation between both Houses is in nature of a Vow for my part I think it is the greatest advantage to relie on his Majesties Word He further added this Debate was fitter to be done before the House and not before the Committee and that it was a new Course to go to a Committee of the whole House Whereunto it was replied by Sir Iohn Elliot That the proceeding in a Committee is more Honorable and advantagious to the King and the House for that way leads most to Truth and it is a more open way and where every man may adde his reason and make answer upon the hearing of other mens Reasons and Arguments This being the general Sense the House was turned into a Committee to take into consideration what was delivered to the King by the Speaker and what was delivered to them by the Lord Keeper and all other Messages and the Committee was not to be bounded with any former order the Key was brought up and none were to go out without leave first asked In the Debate of this business at the Committee some were for letting the Bill rest but Sir Edward Cooks reasons prevailed to the contrary Was it ever known said he that general words were a sufficient satisfaction to particular grievances was ever a verbal Declaration of the King verbum Regni when grievances be the Parliament is to redress them Did ever Parliament relie on Messages they put up Petitions of their Grievances and the King ever answered them the Kings Answer is very gracious but what is the Law of the Realm that is the question I put no diffidence in his Majesty the King must speak by a Record and in Particulars and not in General Did you ever
it is declared and enacted That no man shall be forejudged of life or limb against the form of the great Charter and the Law of the Land And by the said great Charter and other the Laws and Statutes of this your Realm no man ought to be adjudged to death but by the Laws established in this your Realm either by the Customs of the same Realm or by Acts of Parliament And whereas no offender of what kinde soever is exempted from the proceedings to be used and punishments to be inflicted by the Laws and Statutes of this your Realm Nevertheless of late divers Commissions under your Majesties great Seal have issued forth by which certain persons have been assigned and appointed Commissioners with Power and Authority to proceed within the Land according to the Iustice of Martial Law against such Soldiers and Mariners or other dissolute persons joyning with them as should commit any Murther Robbery Felony Mutiny or other Outrage or Misdemeanor whatsoever and by such summary Course and Order as is agreeable to Martial Law and is used in Armies in time of War to proceed to the tryal and condemnation of such offenders and them to cause to be executed and put to death according to the Law Martial By pretext whereof some of your Majesties Subjects have been by some of the said Commissioners put to death when and where if by the Laws and Statutes of the Land they had deserved death by the same Laws and Statutes also they might and by no other ought to have been adjudged and executed And also sundry grievous offenders by colour thereof claiming an exemption have escaped the punishments due to them by the Laws and Statutes of this your Realm by reason that divers of your Officers and Ministers of Iustice have unjustly refused or forborn to proceed against such offenders according to the same Laws and Statutes upon pretence that the said offenders were punishable onely by Martial Law and by Authority of such Commissions as aforesaid which Commissions and all other of like nature are wholly and directly contrary to the said Laws and Statutes of this your Realm They do therefore humbly pray your most Excellent Majesty That no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield any Gift Loan Benevolence Tax or such like Charge without common consent by Act of Parliament and that none be called to make answer or take such Oath or to give attendance or he confined or otherwise molested or disquieted concerning the same or for refusal thereof And that no Freeman in any such maner as is before mentioned be imprisoned or detained And that your Majesty will be pleased to remove the said Soldiers and Mariners and that your People may not be so burthened in time to come And that the foresaid Commissions for proceeding by Martial Law may be revoked and annulled and that hereafter no Commissions of like nature may issue forth to any person or persons whatsoever to be executed as aforesaid lest by colour of them any of your Majesties Subjects be destroyed or put to death contrary to the Laws and Franchise of the Land All which they most humbly pray of your most Excellent Majesty as their Rights and Liberties according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm And that your Majesty would also vouchsafe to declare That the awards doings and proceedings to the prejudice of your People in any of the Premises shall not be drawn hereafter into Consequence or Example And that your Majesty would be also graciously pleased for the further comfort and safety of your People to declare your royal Will and Pleasure That in the things aforesaid all your Officers and Ministers shall serve you according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm as they tender the Honor of your Majesty and the prosperity of this Kingdom Which Petition being read the 2 of June 2628. The Kings Answer was thus delivered unto it The King willeth that Right be done according to the Laws and Customs of the Realm And that the Statutes be put in due execution that his Subjects may have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppressions contrary to their just Rights and Liberties to the preservation whereof he holds himself in Conscience as well obliged as of his Prerogative On Tuesday June 3. the King's Answer was read in the House of Commons and seemed too scant in regard of so much expence of time and labour as had been imployed in contriving the petition Whereupon Sir Iohn Elliot stood up and made a long Speech wherein he gave forth so full and lively representation of all Grievances both general and particular as if they had never before been mentioned HE reduced the Cause of all our evils to Five heads Our insincerity and doubling in Religion which he exemplified by the freedome and increase of Papists by the composition with them in the North the slightness of those payments and the easiness in them by the hopes presumptions and reports of all the Papists generally by the disposition of Commanders the trust of Officers the confidence of secrecies of employments in this Kingdom in Ireland and elsewhere 2. Our want of Councel which sacrificed our honour and our men sent to the Palatinate stopping those greater supplies appointed for that Service by which it might have been made defensible this gave direction to that late expedition to Ree whose wounds are yet bleeding by means whereof the Protestants of France and their King by a necessary consequence are divided and that Countrey so prepared against us that we have nothing to promise our neighbours hardly for our selves insomuch as by the issue and success it may rather be thought a conception of Spain then begotten here by us 3. The insufficiency and unfaithfulness of our Generals Witness first the expedition to Cales where we arrived and found a Conquest ready viz. the Spanish ships fit for the satisfaction of a voyageâ— either in point of honour or in point of profit why was it neglected why was it not atchieved it being granted on all hands feasible when the whole Army landed why was there nothing attempted if nothing were intended wherefore did they land if there were a service why were they shipt again Witness secondly that to Ree where the whole action was carried against the judgement and opinion of the Officers viz. those that were of the Councel was not the first was not the last was not all at land in the intrenching in the continuance there in the assault in the retreat without their assent to say nothing of leaving the Wines and the Salt which were in our possession and of a value as they say to answer much of our expence nor of that wonder which no Alexander or Caesar ever did know the enriching of an enemy by curtesies when the Souldiers want help nor of the private entercourses and parlies with the Fort which continually were held what they intended may be
well-beloved Sir VVilliam Balfoure Knight and Iohn Dolbier Esquire or either of them for levying and providing certain numbers of Horses with Armes for Horse and Foot to be brought over into this Kingdome for our service viz. for the levying and transporting of one thousand Horse fifteen thousand pounds for five thousand Muskets five thousand Corslets and five thousand Pikes ten thousand five hundred pounds and for one thousand Curaseers compleat two hundred Corslets and Carbines four thousand five hundred pounds amounting in the whole to the said summe of thirty thousand pounds And this our letter shall be your sufficient warrant and discharge in this behalf Given under our Privy Seal at our Palace of Westminster the 30th of Ianuary in the third year of our Reign Iune the seventh the King came to the Lords House and the House of Commons were sent for And the Lord Keeper presented the humble Petition of both Houses and said MAy it please your most excellent Majesty the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled taking into consideration that the good intelligence between your Majesty and your people doth much depend upon your Majesties answer unto their Petition of Right formerly presented With unanimous consent do now become most humble Suitors unto your Majesty that you would be pleased to give a clear and satisfactory answer thereunto in full Parliament Whereunto the King replyed The answer I have already given you was made with so good deliberation and approved by the judgements of so many wise men that I could not have imagined but it should have given you full satisfaction But to avoid all ambiguous interpretations and to shew you there is no doublenesse in my meaning I am willing to pleasure you as well in words as in substance read your Petition and you shall have an answer that I am sure will please you The Petition was read and this answer was returned Soit droit fait come il est desire C. R. This I am sure said his Majesty is full yet no more then I granted you in my first Answer for the meaning of that was to confirm your liberties knowing according to your own Protestations that ye neither meane nor can hurt my Prerogative And I assure you my Maxime is That the Peoples Liberties strengthen the Kings Prerogative and the Kings Prerogative is to defend the Peoples Liberties You see how ready I have shewed my self to satisfie your demands so that I have done my part Wherefore if this Parliament have not a happy conclusion the sin is yours I am free from it Whereupon the Commons returned to their own House with unspeakable joy and resolved so to proceed as to expresse their thankfulnesse and now frequent mention was made of proceeding with the Bill of subsidies of sending the Bills which were ready to the Lords of perfecting the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage and Sir Iohn Strangeâ—â—ies also expressed his joy at the answer and further added Let us perfect our Remonstrance King Iames was wont to say He knâ—w that by Parliaments which otherwise he could never have known After the granting of the Petition of Right the House ordered that the Grand Committees for Religion Trade Grievances and Courts of Justice to sit no longer but that the House proceed only in the consideration of Grievances of most moment And first they fell upon the Commission for Excise and sent to the Lord Keeper for the same who returned answer that he received Warrant at the Councel Table for the sealing thereof and when it was Sealed he carried it back to the Councel Table The Commission being sent it was read in the House viz. CHarles By the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. To Sir Thomas Coventry Knight Lord Keeper of the Great Seale of England To James Earl of Malburg Lord High Treasurer or England Henry Earl of Manchester Lord President of our Councel Edward Earl of Worcester Lord Keeper of our Privy Seal George Duke of Buckingham Lord high Admiral of England William E. of Pembrook Lord Steward of Our Houshold Philip Earl of Mountgomery Lord Chamberlain of Our Houshold Theophilus Earl of Suffolk Edward Earl of Dorset William Earl of Salisbury Thomas Earl of Exeter John Earl of Bridgwater James Earl of Carlisle Henry Earl of Holland William Earl of Denbigh George Earl of Totnes Sir George Hay Kt. Lord Chancellor of Scotland William Earl of Morton Thomas Earl of Kelley Thomas Earl of Mellers Edward Uiscount Conway one of our principal Secretaries of State Edward Uiscount Wimbleton Oliver Uiscount Grandison Henry Falkland Lord Deputy of Ireland To the Lord Bp. of Winchester Wil. Lord Bp. of Bath and Wells Fulk Lo. Brook Dudley Ash Lord Carlton Uice Chamberlain of Our Houshold Sir Thomas Edmonds Treasurer of our Houshold Sir John Savil Controler of Our Houshold Sir Robert Nanton Master of the Court of Wards Sir John Cook one of the principal Secretaries of State Sir Richard Weston Chancellour and under Treasurer of our Exchequer Julius Caesar Master of the Rolls and Sir Humphrey May Kt. Chancellour of Our Dutchy of Lancaster Greeting Whereas the presâ—nt Conjuncture of the general affairs of Christendom and our own particular interest in giving assistance unto our oppressed Allies and for providing for the defence and safety of our own Dominions and People do call upon Us to neglect nothing that may conduce to those good ends And because Monies the principal sinâ—ws of War and one of the first and chiefest movers in all great Preparations and Actions are necessary to be provided in the first place and We are carefull the same may be raised by such ways as may best stand with the State of Our Kingdoms and Subjects and yet may answer the pressing occasions of the present times We therefore out of the experience We have had and for the trust we repose in your wisdoms fidelities and dutifull care of your service And for the experience we have of all great Causes concerning us and our State both as they have relation to Foraine parts abroad and as to our Common-wealth and People at home Ye being persons called by us to be of Our Privy Councel have thought sit amongst those great and important matters which so much concern us in the first and chiefest place to recommend this to your special care and diligence And we do hereby authorise and appoint and strictly will and require you that speedily and seriously you enter into consideration of all the best and speediest ways and means ye can for raising of Monies for the most Important occasions aforesaid UUhich without extreamest hazard to Us our Dominions and People and to our Friends and Allies can admit of no long delay the same to be done by Impositions or othâ—rwise as in your wisdoms and best Iudgments ye shall find to be most convenient in a case of this inevitable necessity wherein Form â—nd
bring in Popery and the professors of those opinions the common disturbers of the Protestant Churches and incendiaries in those States wherein they have gotten any head being Protestants in shew but Iesuites in opinion which caused your Royal Father with so much pious wisdom and ardent zeale to endeavour the suppressing of them as well at home as in the neighbour Countreys And your gracious Majesty imitating his most worthy example hath openly and by your Proclamation declared your mislike of those persons and of their opinions who notwithstanding are much favoured and advanced not wanting friends even of the Clergy near to your Majesty namely Doctor Neale Bishop of Winchester and Doctor Lawd Bishop of Bath and Wells who are justly suspected to be unsound in their opinions that way And it being now generally held the way to preferment and promotion in the Church many Schollars do bend the course of their Studies to maintain those Errors Their Books and opinions are suffered to be printed and published and â—n the other side the imprinting of such as are written against them and in defence of the Orthodox Church are hindred and prohibited and which is a boldnesse almost incredible this restraint of Orthodox Books is made under colour of your Majesties formerly mentioned Proclamation the intent and meaning wherof we know was quite contrary And further to encrease our feares concerning Innovation of Religion we finde that there hath been no smal laboring to remove that which is the most powerful means to strengthen and encrease our own Relgion and to oppose both those which is the diligent teaching and instruction of the people in the true knowledge and worship of Almighty God And therefore means have been sought out to depresse and discountenance pious and painful and Orthodox Preachers and how conformable soever and peaceable in their disposition and carriage they be yet the preferment of such is opposed and instead of being encouraged they are molested with vexatious courses and pursuits and hardly permitted to Lecture And in those places where are no constant preaching Ministers whereby many of your good people whose souls in this case we beseech your Majesty to commiserate are kept in ignorance and are apt to be easily seduced to error and superstition It doth not a little also encrease our dangers and fears this way to understand the miserable condition of your Kingdome of Ireland where without controll the Popish Religion is openly confessed and practised in every part thereof Popish Iurisdiction being there generally exercised and avowed Monasteries Nunneries and other superstitious Houses newly erected re-edified and replenished with men and women of several Orders and in a plentiful manner maintained at Dublyn and most of the great Towns and divers other places of the Kingdome which of what ill consequence it may prove if not seasonably repressed we leave to your Majesties wisdome to Iudge But most humbly beseech you as we assure our selves you will to lay the serious consideration thereof to your royal and pious heart and that some speedy course may be taken for redresse therein And if now to all these your Majesty will be pleased to adde the consideration of the circumstances of time wherein these courses tending to the destruction of true Religion within these your Kingdomes have been taken here even then when the same is with open force and violence prosecuted in other Countreys and all the reformed Churches in Christendome either depressed or miserably distressed We do humbly appeal unto your Majesties Princely Iudgement whether there be not just ground of feare that there is some secret and strong co-operating here with the enemies of our Religion abroad for the utter extirpation thereof and whether if those courses be not speedily redressed and the profession of true Religion more encouraged we can expect any other but misery and ruine speedily to fall upon us especially if besides the visible and apparent dangers wherewith we are compassed about You would be pleased to remember the displeasure of Almighty God always bent against the neglect of his holy Religion the stroaks of whose divine Iustice we have already felt and do still feele with smart and sorrow in great measure And besides this feare of Innovation in Religion we do in like faithful of charge of our duties most humbly declare to your Majesty that the hearts of your people are full of feare of Innovation and change of Government and accordingly possessed with extreame griefe and sorrow Yet in this point by your Majesties late Answer to our Petition of Right touching our Liberties much comforted and raised againe out of that sadnesse and discontent which they generally had conceived throughout the whole Kingdome for the undue courses which were the last year taken for raising of moneys by loanes then which whatever your Majesty hath been informed to the contrary there were never any moneys demanded nor paid with greater grief and general dislike of all your faithful Subjects though many partly out of feare and partly out of other respects yet most unwillingly were drawn to yeeld to what was required The Billeting of Souldiers did much augment both their fears and grief wherein likewise they finde much comfort upon your gracious Answer to our petition of Right and to that we presented to your Majesty concerning this particular Yet we most humbly beseech your Majesty that we may informe you that the still continuance and late re-enforcing of those Souldiers the conditions of their persons many of them not being Natives of this Kingdome nor of the same but of an opposite Religion the placing of them upon the Sea Coast where making head amongst themselves they may unite with the Popish party at home if occasion serve and joyne with an invading enemy to do extreame mischief and that they are not yet dismissed doth still minister cause of Iealousie in your loving Subjects For that the Souldiers cannot be continued without exceeding great danger of the peace and safety of your Kingdom The report of the strange and dangerous purpose of bringing in German Horse and Riders would have turned our doubts into despaire and our feares into a certainty of confusion had not your Majesties gracious message for which we humbly give you thanks comforted us by the assurance of your Royal word that they neither are nor were intended by your Majesty for any service in England but that they were designed for some other forreigne employment Yet the sight of the Privy Seale by which it seemeth they were to be leavied the great summe of money which upon examinations we found to be paid for that purpose gave us just cause of feare That much about the same time there was a Commission under the Great Seal granted unto the Lords and others of the Privy Councel to consider of other ways for raising of moneys so particularly by impositions gave as just cause to suspect that whatsoever was your Majesties gracious intention yet there wanted not those
that under some colourable pretence might secretly by this as by other wayes contrive to change the frame both of Religion and Government and thereby undermine the frame both of Religion and Government and thereby undermine the safety of your Majesty and your Kingdomes These men could not be ignorant that the bringing in of Strangers for aid hath been pernitious to most States where they have been admitted but to England fatal We do blesse God that hath given your Majesty a wise understanding heart to discern of those courses and that such power produceth nothing but weaknesse and calamity And we beseech your Majesty to pardon the vehemencie of our expression if in the Loyal and zealous affections we bear to your Majesty and your service we are bold to declare to your Majesty and the whole world that we hold it far beneath the heart of any free English man to think that this victorious Nation should now stand in need of German Souldiers to defend their own King and kingdom But when we consider the course formerly mentioned and these things tending to an apparent change of Government the often breaches of Parliament whereby your Majesty hath been deprived of the faithful Councel and free Aids of your people by taking off Tonnage and poundage without graunt thereof by Act of Parliament ever since the beginning of your Majesties Reigne to this present The standing Commission granted to the Duke of Buckingham to be general of an Army in the Land in the time of peace the discharging of faithful and sufficient Officers and Ministers some from Iudicial places and others from the Offices and authorities which they formerly held in the Common-wealth We cannot but at the sight of such an apparant desolation as must necessarily follow these courses out of the depth of sorrow lift up our cryes to heaven for help and next under God apply our selves unto your sacred Majesty who if you could hear so many thousands speaking together do joyntly implore speedie help and Reformation And if your Majesty would be pleased to take a further view of the present state of your Realme We do humbly pray you to consider whether the miserable disasters and ill successe that hath accompanied all your late designes and actions particularly those of Cales and the Isle of Ree and the last expedition to Rochel have not extreamlie wasted that stock of Honor that was left unto this kingdome sometimes terrible to all other Nations and now declining to contempt beneath the meanest Together with our Honours we there lost those and that not a few who had they lived we might have some better hope of recovering it again our valiant and expert Collonels Captaines and Commanders and many thousand common Souldiers and Marriners Though we have some cause to think that your Majesty is not as yet rightly informed thereof and that of six or seven thousand of your Subjects lost at the Isle of Ree Your Majesty received information but of a few hundreds And this dishonour and losse hath been purchased with the consumption of above a million of Treasure Many of the Forts are exceeding weak and decayed and want both men and Munition And here we cannot but with grief consider and complaine of a strange improvidence we think your Majesty will rather call it treacherie That your store of powder which by order of your Privy Councel dated the tenth of December 1626. should be constantly three hundred Last besides a continual supply of twenty Last a month for ordinary expences and were now fit as we conceive to be double the proportion is at this time in the Tower the present Warrants being served but nine Lasts and forty eight pounds in all which we tremble to think of And that notwithstanding this extreame scarcity of powder great quantities have been permitted to be sold out of your Majesties Store to particular persons for private Gain Whereof we have seen a certificate six Last sold sithence the 14th of January last and your Majesties store being unfurnished of powder which by a contract made with Mr. Evelyn by advise of your Lords in Parliament ought to be supplyed monthly with twenty last at the rate of three pound ten shillings ten pence a Barrel Your Majesty hath been forced to pay above seven pound a Barrel for powder to be brought in from beyond Seas for which purpose twelve thousand foure hundred pounds was impressed to Mr. Burlemack the last year and that powder not so good as that by Contract your Maiesty should have by one third part All which are most fearful and dangerous abuses But what the poverty weaknesse and misery of your kingdome is now grown unto by decay of Trade and destruction and losse of Ships and Marriners within these three years we are almost afraid to declare And could we by any other means have been sure that your Majesty should any other way have had a true Information thereof We should have been doubtful to have made our weaknesse and extreamity of misfortune in this kinde to appear But the importunate and most pitiful complaints from all the parts of the kingdome near adjoyning to the Sea in this kinde would rend as we think the stoniest heart in the world with sorrow and the sense we have of the miserable condition your Kingdome is in by reason thereof especially for that we see no possible means being now shortly to end this Session how to help the same adds such a weight of grief unto our sad thoughts as we have not words to expresse it But for your Majesties more exact information therein We beseech you be pleased to peruse the Kalender of particulars which with the Remonstrance we most humblie present unto your Majestie One reason amongst many of this decay of Trade and losse of ships and Marriners is the not guarding of the narrow Seas the regality whereof your Majestie hath now in a manner wholly lost being that wherein a principal part of the Honor and safety of this Kingdome heretofore consisted And now having absolutely neglected it the Town of Dunkirk doth so contiually rob and spoile your Subjects that we can assure your Majesty if some present and effectuall remedy be not forthwith provided the whole Trade of this Kingdome the shipping marriners and all belonging thereunto will be utterly lost and consumed The principal cause of which evils and dangers we conceive to be the excessive power of the Duke of Buckingham and the abuse of that power And we humbly submit unto your Majesties excellent Wisdome whether it be safe for your self or your Kingdoms that so great power as rests in him by Sea and Land should be in the hands of any one Subject whatsoever And as it is not safe so sure we are it cannot be for your service it being impossible for one man to mannage so manie and weightie affaires of the Kingdome as he hath undertaken besides the ordinary duties of those offices which he holds some of which
of all the Members of our Church except onely of some schismatical persons who have of late years taken the boldnesse to broach their contrary corrupt opinions we desire should not be called in question or doubt But howsoever it hath pleased your Majesty to our exceeding great comfort by many Testimonies to declare your own constant resolution to maintain the said Religion yet we see how your gracious purposes are therin crost and into what a miserable condition your whole Kingdom is likely by that means to be reduced we shall earnestlie endeavour as that which doth nearly concerne us the safety and prosperitie of your Majestie and people which are in such sort disordered that ruine thereby threatned to both may by Gods blessing be prevented being most heartilie sorrie that these occasions are offered which did thus hinder our proceedings And therefore as well for dignity and necessitie of the matter as for that we conceive it to be the most speedy and effectual way by uniting of all our hearts and endeavours to dispatch all other businesse of importance particularlie those which may seem more immediatlie to respect your Majesties profit We pray that our resolutions of preferring this businesse before all others may be acceptable to your Majestie to whom both in the matter and manner of our proceedings we desire to give all possible satisfaction Whereunto the King thus Answered GEntlemen this Answer being somewhat long may in reason require some time to reply unto it since as most of you cannot but judge this giveth no satisfaction Therefore I shall give you some short notes upon it I cannot think that whereas you alledge that the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage was brought in against the priviledge of your House That you will offer to take so much priviledge from every one of your members as not to allow them the liberty to bring in any Bill whatsoever although it be in your power when it is brought in to do with it what you think good And I cannot imagine you coming together by my power and to treat of things that I propound unto you can deny me that Prerogative to commend or offer my Bill unto you though in this particular I must confess that this Bill was not to have been offered to you in my Name as that Member of your House can bear witness As for the cause of delay in my businesse being Religion there is none of you shall have a greater care for the true preservation of it then my self which since it is confessed by your Answer You must either think I want power which cannot be or that I am very ill councelled if it be in so much danger as you affirm Though I may say much of this I will say no more but that for all this I shall not stop mine ears to you upon this subject so that in form and matter you transgresse not your limits as for Tunnage and Poundage I do not so much desire it out of greediness of the thing being perswaded you will make no stop in it when you once take it in hand as out of a desire to put an end to those Questions that do arise between me and some of my Subjects thinking it a strange thing if you should give Ear to those complaints and not to take the sure and speedy way to decide them Besides I must think it strange that this business of Religion should only be a hinderer of my Affaires whereas I am certainly informed all other things go according to their ordinary course therefore I must still be instant with you that you proceed with Tunnage and Poundage with diligence not looking to be denied in so just a desire and you must not think it strange i◠I finding you slack give you such further quickning as I shall find cause Hereupon Secretary Cook did acknowledge that at the presenting of the Bill of Tunnage to be read he said his Majesty much desired it but it was a mistake that his Majesty commanded it Wednesday the 4. of February THe House fell into debate of the Kings Declaration published in print to prohibite dispute or preaching one way or other concerning the matters mentioned in the Declaration alledging in the debate that the main end thereof was to suppress the Puritan party and yet to give liberty to the contrary side and they conceived that Bishop Laud and Bishop Montague mentioned in the last Remonstrance had advised the King to that Declaration Bishop Laud being advanced since the last Session of Parliament to be Bishop of London and Mr. Montague since that time made Bishop of Chichester And a Warrant was grantted to the Attourney General to draw up a pardon for him but whereas the Warrant was but for one the Attourney put four into the pardon viz. Bishop Montague Doctor Cosens Doctor Sibthorp and Doctor Manwaring Tuesday the 10. of February WHilst the House was in debate touching matters of Religion the Ware-house of Mr. Rolls Merchant and Member of the House then sitting in Parliament was locked up by a Pursuevant and himself called forth from the Committee and served with a Subpoenâ This gave occasion of smart debates in the House some said they were made the subject of scorn and contempt others conceived this to be a bone thrown in by them that have drawn a cloud on the true Religion to divert or interrupt them in the prosecution of that matter and they desired the messenger might be sent for and be examined by what procurement this Subpoenâ was taken forth Sir Humphrey May Chancellor of the Duchy and one of the Privy Councel assured the House that this neither proceeded from King nor Councel and therefore desired it might be searched into the bottome And it was afterwards cleared by Master Atturney General by his writing a Letter to Mr. Rolls that the serving a Subpoenâ upon him was a mistake and prayed that a favourable interpretation might be given of that matter Upon report from the Committee for Tunnage and Poundage Sir Iohn Wolstenholme Mr. Dawes and Mr. Carmarthan were ordered to appear at the Barr on Friday next and report was made to the House that Master Atturney notwithstanding his Letter did give order for the processe against Mr. Rolls and that in the Bill preferred in the Exchequer it was expressed the Merchants did plot practice and combine against the peace of the Kingdome This business being a matter of weight the further consideration thereof was appointed for another day and no member might go out of Town without Licence Thursday the 12. of February THe House was turned into a Committee concerning the business of Tunnage and Poundage and several Merchants did Petition that their goods were not only seized but informations preferred in Star-Chamber against them The Committee in their debate inclined that the Merchants might have their goods before they enter upon the Bill for Tunnage and Mr. Noy expressed himself
Protestation was published in the House viz. Whosoever shall bring in Innovation of Religion or by favour or countenance seek to extend or introduce Popery or Arminianism or other opinion disagreeing from the Truth and Orthodox Church shall be reputed a Capital Enemy to this Kingdom and Commonwealth 2. Whosoever shall counsel or advise the taking and levying of the Subsidies of Tunnage and Poundage not being granted by Parliament or shall be an Actor or Instrument therein shall be likewise reputed an Innovator in the Government and Capital Enemy to the Kingdom and Commonwealth 3. If any Merchant or Person whatsoever shall voluntarily yeeld or pay the said Subsidies of Tunnage and Poundage not being granted by Parliament he shall likewise be reputed a Betrayer of the Liberties of England and an Enemy to the same Hereupon the King sent for the Sergeant of the House but he was detained the Door being lockt then he sent the Gentleman Usher of the Lords House with a Message and he was refused admittance till the said Votes were read and then in much confusion the House was adjourned to the tenth of March according as it was intimated from his Majesty Nevertheless his Majesty by Proclamation dated the second of March declares the Parliament to be dissolved The passages of this day and the preceding day in Parliament are hereafter more fully related in the proceedings in the Kings Bench. By the King A Proclamation about the dissolving of the Parliament WHereas We for the general good of our Kingdom caused our high Court of Parliament to assemble and meet by prorogation the 20 day of January last past sithence which time the same hath been continued And although in this time by the malevolent dispositions of some ill affected persons of the House of Commons We have had sundry Iust Causes of offence and dislike of their proceedings yet We resolved with patience to trie the uttermost which we the rather did for that We found in that House a great number of sober and grave Persons well-affected to Religion and Government and desirous to preserve unity and peace in all parts of Our Kingdom And therefore having on the five and twentieth day of February last by the uniform advice of our Privy-Council caused both Houses to be adiourned until this present day hoping in the mean time that a better and more right understanding might be begotten between Us and the Members of that House whereby this Parliament might have a happy end and issue And for the same intent We did again this day command the like Adiournment to be made until the tenth day of this Month It hath so happened by the disobedient and seditious carriage of those said ill affected persons of the House of Commons That We and Our Regal Authority and Commandment have been so highly contemned as our Kingly Office cannot bear nor any former age can paralel And therefore it is Our full and absolute resolution to dissolve the same Parliament whereof We thought good to give notice unto all the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and to the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of this present Parliament to all others whom it may concern That they may depart about their needful affairs without attending any longer here Nevertheless We will that they and all others shall take notice that We do and ever will distinguish between those who have shewed good affection to Religion and Government and those that have given themselves over to faction and to work disturbance to the peace and good order of Our Kingdom Given at our Court at Whitehal this second day of March in the fourth yeer of Our Reign of Great Britan France and Ireland This Proclamation was not published till after the tenth of March. The day following Warrants were directed from the Council to Denzil Holles Esq Sir Miles Hobert Sir Iohn Elliot Sir Peter Hayman John Selden Esq William Coriton Walter Long William Stroud Benjamin Valentine commanding their personal appearance on the morrow At which time Mr. Holles Sir Iohn Elliot Mr. Corriton Mr. Valentine appearing and refusing to answer out of Parliament what was said and done in Parliament were committed close prisoners to the Tower and Warrants were given the Parliament being still in being for the sealing up of the studies of Mr. Holles Mr. Selden and Sir Iohn Elliot Mr. Long and Mr. Stroud not then nor of some time after appearing a Proclamation issued out for the apprehending of them On the tenth of March being six days after the commitment of the said Members his Majesty being set in his Royal Throne with his Crown on his head and in his Robes and the Lords in their Robes also and divers of the Commons below the Bar but not their Speaker neither were they called his Majesty spake as followeth My Lords I Never came here upon so unpleasant an occasion it being the dissolution of a Parliament therefore men may have some cause to wonder why I should not rather chuse to do this by Commission it being a general maxime of Kings to leave harsh Commands to their Ministers themselves only executing pleasing things yet considering that Iustice as well consists in reward and praise of vertue as punishing of vice I thought it necessary to come here to day and to declare to you and all the world that it was meerly the undutiful and seditious carriage in the Lower House that hath made the dissolution of this Parliament and you My Lords are so far from being any causers of it that I take as much comfort in your dutiful demeanour as I am justly distasted with their proceedings yet to avoyd their mistakings let me tell you that it is so far from me to adjudge all the House alike guilty that I knâ—w that there are many there as dutiful Subjects as any in the world it being but some few Vipers among them that did cast this mist of undutifulness over most of their eys yet to say truth there was a good number there that could not be infected with this contagion insomuch that some did express their duties in speaking which was the general fault of the House the last day To conclude as those Vipers must look for their reward of punishment so you My Lords must justly expect from me that favour and protection that a good King oweth to his loving and faithful Nobility And now my Lord Keeper Do what I have commanded you Then the Lord Keeper said My Lords and Gentlemen of the House of Commons the Kings Majesty doth dissolve this Parliament Whilst the King is preparing a Declaration of the causes and motives which induced him to dissolve this Parliament let us see what followed hereupon The discontents of the common people upon this Dissolution were heightned against the powerful men at Court and the Kings most inward Counsellors for some few days after two Libels were found in the Dean of Pauls yard one against Bishop Laud to this effect
of former Parliaments passed the Higher House and was sent down to the Commons All which being gratiously intended by Us was ill-entertained by some disaffected persons of that House who by their artifices in a short time raised so much heat and distemper in the House for no other visible cause but because We had declared Our resolution to Prorogue as Our Councill advised and not to Adjourn as some of that House after Our resolution declared and not before did manifest themselves to affect that seldome hath greater passion been seen in that House upon the greatest occasions And some glances in the House but upon open rumors abroad were spread That by the Answer to the Petition We had given away not onely Our Impositions upon Goods exported and imported but the Tunnage and Poundage whereas in the debate and hammering of that Petition there was no speech or mention in either House concerning those Impositions but concerning Taxes and other charges within the Land much lesse was there any thought thereby to debar Us of Tunnage and Poundage which both before and after the Answer to that Petition the House of Commons in all their speeches and treaties did professe they were willing to grant And at the same time many other misinterpretations were raised of that Petition and Answer by men not well distinguishing between well ordered liberty and licentiousness as if by Our Answer to that Petition We had let loose the reynes of Our Government And in this distemper the House of Commons laying aside the Pardon a thing never done in any former Parliament and other businesse fit to have been concluded that Session some of them went about to frame and contrive a Remonstrance against Our receiving of Tunnage and Poundage which was so far proceeded in the night before the prefixed time for concluding the Session and so hastned by the contrivers thereof that they meant to have put it to the Vote of the House the next morning before We should prorogue the Session And therefore finding Our gratious favours in that Session afforded to Our people so ill requited and such sinister straines made upon Our Answer to that Petition to the diminution of Our profit and which was more to the danger of Our Government We resolved to prevent the finishing of that Remonstrance and other dangerous intentions of some ill-affected persons by ending the Session the next morning some few hours sooner then was expected and by Our Own Mouth to declare to both Houses the cause thereof and for hindring the spreading of those sinister interpretations of that Petition and Answer to give some necessary directions for setling and quieting Our Government untill another Meeting which we performed accordingly the six and twentieth of Iune last The Session thus ended and the Parliament risen that intended Remonstrance gave Us occasion to look into the businesse of Tunnage and Poundage And therefore though Our necessities pleaded strongly for Us yet We were not apt to strain that point too far but resolved to guide Our Self by the practise of former Ages and examples of Our most noble Predecessors thinking those counsels best warranted which the wisdom of former Ages concurring with the present occasions did approve and therefore gave order for a diligent search of Records upon which it was found That although in the Parliament holden in the first yeer of the reigne of King Edward the fourth the Subsidy of Tunnage and Poundage was not granted unto that King but was first granted unto him by Parliament in the third yeer of his Reigne yet the same was accounted and answered to that King from the first day of his Reigne all the first and second yeers of his Reigne and untill it was granted by Parliament And that in the succeeding times of King Richard the Third King Henry the Seventh King Henry the Eighth King Edward the Sixth Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth the Subsidy of Tunnage and Poundage was not onely enjoyed by every of those Kings and Queens from the death of each of them deceasing untill it was granted by Parliament unto the Successor but in all those times being for the most part peacable and not burdened with like charges and necessities as these modern times the Parliament did most readily and cheerfully in the beginning of every of those Reignes grant the same as a thing most necessary for the guarding of the Seas safety and defence of the Realm and supportation of the Royall Dignity And in the time of our Royall Father of blessed memory he enjoyed the same a full yeer wanting very few daies before his Parliament began and above a yeer before the Act of Parliament for the grant of it was passed And yet when the Parliament was assembled it was granted without difficulty And in Our Own time We quietly received the same three years and more expecting with patience in severall Parliaments the like grant thereof as had been made to so many of Our Predecessors the House of Commons still professing That multitude of other businesses and not want of willingnesse on their part had caused the setling thereof to be so long deferred And therefore finding so much reason and necessity for the receiving of the ordinary Duties in the Custom-house to concur with the practice of such a succession of Kings and Queens famous for Wisdom Justice and Government and nothing to the contrary but that intended Remonstrance hatched out of the passionate brains of a few particular persons We thought it was so far from the wisdom and duty of a House of Parliament as We could not think that any moderate and discreet man upon composed thoughts setting aside passion and distemper could be against receiving of Tunnage and Poundage especially since We do and still must pursue those ends and undergo that charge for which it vvas first granted to the Crovvn It having been so long and constantly continued to Our Predecessors as that in four severall Acts of Parliament for the granting thereof to King Edward the Sixth Queen Mary Queen Elizabeth and Our blessed Father It is in expresse tearms mentioned to have been had and enjoyed by the severall Kings named in those Acts time out of minde by authority of Parliament And therefore upon these reasons We held it agreeable to Our Kingly Honour and necessary for the safety and good of Our Kingdom to continue the Receipt thereof as so many of Our Predecessors had done Wherefore when a few Merchants being at first but one or two fomented as it is well known by those evill spirits that would have hatched that undutifull Remonstrance began to oppose the payment of Our accustomed Duties in the Custom-house We gave order to the Officers of Our Customs to go on notwithstanding that opposition in the receiving of the usuall Duties and caused those that refused to be warned to attend at the Councill-board that by the wisdom and authority of Our Councill they might be reduced to obedience and duty where
sufficient to raise a jealousie against our proceedings in such as were not well acquainted with the sincerity and clearnesse of them There followed another of no lesse skill for although Our proceeding before the Parliament about matters of Religion might have satisfied any moderate men of Our zealous care thereof as we are sure it did the most yet as bad stomachs turn the best things into their own nature for want of good digestion so those distempered persons have done the like of Our good intents by a bad and sinister interpretation For when they did observe that many honest and religious minds in that House did complain of those dangers that did threaten the Church they likewise took the same word in their mouth and their cry likewise was Templum Domini Templum Domini when the true care of the Church never came into their hearts and what the one did out of zeal unto Religion the other took up as a plausible Theam to deprave Our Government as if We Our Clergy and Councill were either senslesse or carelesse of Religion And this wicked practise hath been to make Us seem to walk before Our people as if We halted before God Having by these artifices made a jealous impression in the hearts of many and a day being appointed to treat of the Grant of Tunnage and Poundage at the time prefixed all expresse great willingnesse to grant it But a new strain is found out that it could not be done without great perill to the right of the Subject unlesse We should disclaim any right therein but by grant in Parliament and should cause all those Goods to be restored which upon commandment from Us or Our Councill were stayed by our Officers untill those Duties were paid and consequently should put Our Selves out of the possession of the Tunnage and Poundage before they were granted for else it was pretended the Subject stood not in fit case to grant it A fancy and cavill raised of purpose to trouble the businesse it being evident that all the Kings before named did receive that Duty and were in actuall possession of it before and at the very time when it was granted to them by Parliament And although We to remove all difficulties did from Our Own Mouth in those clear and open tearms that might have satisfied any moderate and well-disposed minds declare That it was Our meaning by the gift of Our people to enjoy it and that we did not challenge it of right but took it de bene esse shewing thereby not the right but the necessity by which We were to take it wherein We descended for their satisfaction so far beneath Our self as We are confident never any of Our Predecessors did the like nor was the like ever required or expected from Them Yet for all this the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage was laid aside upon pretence they must first clear the right of the Subject therein under colour whereof they entertain the complaints not onely of Iohn Rolles a Member of their House but also of Richard Chambers John Fowkes and Bartholomew Gilman against the Officers of Our Customs for detaining their goods upon refusall to pay the ordinary Duty accustomed to be paid for the same And upon these complaints they send for the Officers of the Customes enforcing them to attend day after day by the space of a month together they cause them to produce their Letters Patents under Our Great Seal and the Warrants made by Our Privy Councill for levying of those Duties They examine the Officers upon what questions they please thereby to entrap them for doing Our service and commandment In these and other their proceedings because We would not give the least shew of interruption We endured long with much patience both these and sundry other strange and exorbitant incroachments and usurpations such as were never before attempted in that House We are not ignorant how much that House hath of late years endeavoured to extend their priviledges by setting up generall Committees for Religion for Courts of Justice for Trade and the like a course never heard of untill of late So as where in former timos the Knights and Burgesses were wont to communicate to the House such businesse as they brought from their Countries now there are so many Chairs erected to make enquirie upon all sorts of men where complaints of all sorts are entertained to the unsufferable disturbance and scandall of Justice and Government which having been tolerated a while by Our Father and Our Self hath daily grown to more and more height insomuch that young Lawyers sitting there take upon them to decry the opinions of the Judges and some have not doubted to maintain That the Resolutions of that House must bind the Judges a thing never heard of in Ages past But in this last assembly of Parliament they have taken on them much more then ever before They sent messengers to examine Our Atturney Generall who is an Officer of trust and secrecy touching the execution of some commandements of Ours of which without Our leave first obtained he was not to give account to any but Our Self They sent a captious and directory message to the Lord Treasurer Chancellor and Barrons of the Exchequer touching some judiciall proceedings of theirs in Our Court of Exchequer They sent messengers to examine upon sundry questions Our two Chief Justices and three other of Our Judges touching their judiciall proceedings at the Gaol-Delivery at Newgate of which they are not accountable to the House of Commons And whereas Suits were commenced in Our Court of Star-Chamber against Richard Chambers John Fowks Bartholomew Gilman and Richard Phillips by Our Atturney Generall for great misdemeanours they resolved that they were to have priviledge of Parliament against us for their persons for no other cause but because they had Petitions depending in that House and which is more strange they resolved that a Signification should be made from that House by a Letter to issue under the hand of their Speaker unto the Lord Keeper of Our Great Seal that no attachments should be granted out against the said Chambers Fowks Gilman or Phillips during their said priviledge of Parliament Whereas it is far above the power of that House to give direction to any of Our Courts at Westminster to stop Attatchments against any man though never so strongly priviledged the breach of Priviledge being not in the Court that grants but in the Party or Minister that puts in execution such Attachments And therefore if any such Letter had come to the Lord Keeper as it did not he should have highly offended Us if he had obeyed it Nay they went so far as they spared not the honour of Our Councill-board but examined their proceedings in the case of Our Customers interrogating what this or that man of Our Councill said in direction of them in the businesse committed to their charge And when one of the Members of that House speaking of our
whence he came and whither to go And that the Gates of each City be shut all night and keyes kept by the Mayor or Governour 5. Also Inn-keepers to deliver the names of all unknown passengers that lodge in their houses and if they stay suspitiously at any time to present them to the Governour whereby dangerous persons seeing these strict courses will be more wary of their actions and thereby mischievous attempts will be prevented All which being referred to your Majestie 's wise consideration it is meet for me withall to give you some satisfaction of the charge and time to perform what is purposed that you may not be discouraged in the difficulty of the one or prolongation of the other both which doubts are resolved in one and the same reason in respect that in England each chief Town commonly hath a ruinated Castle well seated for strength whose foundation and stones remaining may be both quickly repaired for this use and with little charge and industry made strong enough I hope for this purpose within the space of one year by adding withall Bulwarks and Rampiers for the Ordnance according to the rules of Fortification The Ordnance for these Forts may be of Iron not to disfurnish your Majestie 's Navy or be at a greater charge then is needfull To maintain yearly the Fort I make account in ordinary pay three thousand men will be sufficient and will require forty thousand pound charge per Annum or thereabouts being an expence that inferiour Princes undergo for their necessary safety All which prevention added to the invincible Sea-force your Majesty hath already and may have will make you the most powerfull and obeyed King of the world Which I could likewise confirm by many examples but I omit them for brevity and not to confuse your Majesty with too much matter Your Majesty may find by the scope of this discourse the means shewed in generall to bridle your Subjects that may be either discontent or obstinate So likewise am I to conclude the same intent particularly against the perversnesse of your Parliament as well to suppresse that pernitious humour as to avoid their oppositions against your profit being the second part to be discoursed on and therefore have first thought fit for better prevention thereof to make known to your Majesty the purpose of a generall Oath your Subjects may take for sure avoiding of all rubs that may hinder the conclusion of these businesses It is further meant that no subject upon pain of high Treason may refuse the same Oath containing onely matter of Allegiance and not scruples in points of Conscience that may give pretence not be denyed The effect of the Oath is this That all your Majestie 's Subjects do acknowledge you to be as absolute a King and Monarch within your Dominions as is amongst the Christian Princes and your Prerogative as great whereby you may and shall of your self by your Majestie 's Proclamation as well as other Soveraign Princes doing the like either make Lawes or reverse any made with any other Act so great a Monarch as your self may do and that without further consent of a Parliament or need to call them at all in such cases considering that the Parliament in all matters excepting causes to be sentenced as the highest Court ought to be subject unto your Majestie 's will to give the negative or affirmative conclusion and not to be constrained by their impertinencies to any inconvenience appertaining to your Majestie 's Regall Authority and this notwithstanding any bad pretence or custom to the contrary in practise which indeed were fitter to be offered a Prince elected without other right than to your Majesty born successively King of England Scotland and Ireland and your Heirs for ever and so received not onely of your Subjects but also of the whole world How necessary the dangerous supremacy of Parliament's usurpation is to be prevented The example of Lewes the Eleventh King of France doth manifest who found the like opposition as your Majesty doth and by his wisdom suppressed it And to the purpose here intended which is not to put down altogether Parliaments and their authority being in many cases very necessary and fit but to abridge them so far as they seek to derogate from your Majesties Regall authority and advancement of your greatnesse The caution in offering the afore-said Oath may require some policy for the easier passage at first either by singular or particular tractation and that so near about one time over the Land as one Government may not know what the other intendeth so it may passe the easier by having no time of combination or opposition There is another means also more certain then this to bring to passe the Oath more easily as also your profit and what else pretended which here I omit for brevity requiring a long discourse by it self and have set it down in particular instructions to inform your Majesty 2. The second part of this Discourse is touching your Majestie 's Profit after your State is secured Wherein I should observe both some reasonable content to the people as also consider the great expences that Princes have now adaies more then in times past to maintain their greatnesse and safety of their Subjects who if they have not wit or will to consider their own interest so much indifferently your Majestie 's wisdom must repair their defects and force them to it by compulsion but I hope there shall be no such cause in points so reasonable to increase your Majestie 's revenue wherein I set down divers means for your gratious Self to make choice of either all or part at your pleasure and to put it in execution by such degrees and cautions as your great wisdom shall think fit in a businesse of this nature Imprimis The first means or course intended to increase your Majestie 's revenues or profit withall is of greatest consequence and I call it a Decimation being so tearmed in Italy where in some part it is in use importing the tenth of all Subjects estates to be paid as a yeerly rent to their Prince and as well monyed men in Towns as landed men in the Countries their value and estates esteemed justly as it is to the true value though with reason and this paid yeerly in mony Which course applyed in England for your Majestie 's service may serve instead of Subsidies Fifteens and such like which in this case are fit to be released for the Subjects benefit and content in recompence of the said Decima which wil yield your Majesty more in certainly than they do Casually by five hundred thousand pounds per annum at the least Item That when your Majesty hath gotten monie into your hands by some courses to be set down it would be a profitable course to increase your Entrada to buy out all Estates and Leases upon your own Lands in such sort as they be made no
of Magna Charta is That no free-man be imprisoned but by the Law of the Land And it appears by these Books that it is against the Law of the Land that the King should imprison any one 2. Admit that this be onely a signification and notification given by the King himself of the commitment of the prisoner yet it seems that that signification is of no force 1. Because the words are general uncertain for notable contempts There are in the Law many contempts of severall natures there are contempts against the Common law against the Statute-law contempts in words gestures or actions And it appears not to the Court of what nature these contempts were Notable Every contempt which is made to the King is notable Against Our Government Contempt which is committed in a Court of Record or Chancery is a contempt against the Government of the King to wit because they disobey the King when he commands them by his Writs C. 8. 60. a. Beechers case The last two words of the Return are For stirring up of sedition against Us which words likewise are indefinite and generall I find not the word Sedition in our Books but taken adjectively as seditious books seditious newes c. in the Statute of 1 st and 2 d. of Phil. and Mary cap. 3. the words are If any person shall be convicted c. for speaking c. any false seditious or slanderous newes saying of the tayles of the Queen c. he shall lose his ears or pay 100 l. There the penalty imposed upon such Sedition is but a Fine C. 4. Lord Cromwell's case 13. where Sedition is defined to be seorsum itio when a man takes a course of his own And there it is said that the words maintain sedition against the Queen's proceedings shall be expounded according to the coherence of all the words and the intent of the parties So that it is plain that there is a sedition that is onely finable and which is no cause of imprisonment without bail And what the sedition is that is here intended cannot be gathered out of the words they are so generall against Us those words are redundant for every sedition is against the King Upon the generality and incertainty of all the words in the Return he put these cases 18. E. 3. A man was indicted quia furatus est equum and doth not say Felonic and therefore ill 29. ass 45. A man was indicted that he was communis latro and the indictment held vitious because too generall So here the offences are returned generally But there ought to be something individuall C. 5.57 Specot's case quia schismaticus inveteratus is no good cause for the Bishop to refuse a Clerk for it is too generall and there are schisms divers kinds 38. E. 3.2 Because the Clerk is criminosus it is no good cause for the Bishop to refuse him 8 and 9 Eliz. Dy. 254. The Bishop of N. refuseth one because he was a haunter of Taverns c. for which and divers other crimes he was unfit held that the last words are too generall and incertain 40. E. 3.6 In the tender of a marriage and refusall of the heir he ought to alledge a certain cause of refusall Whereupon issue may be taken C. 8.68 Trollop's case to say That the Plantiff is excommunicated for divers contumacies shall not disable him without shewing some cause in speciall of the excommunication upon which the Court may judge whether it were just or no. So here And he concluded with a case that was resolved Hill 33 Eliz. Peak and Paul the Defendants said of the Pantiff Thou art a mutinous and seditious man and maintains sedition against the Queen and the words adjudged not actionable Mason of Lincolns-Inne of Counsell with Mr. Long moved also that the Return was insufficient For the first Warrant that he was committed by command of the King signified by the Privy Councill I will not argue that because it was claimed as an antient right pertaining to the Subject in the Petition of Right whereto the King himself hath given his consent For the second Warrant the Return is for stirring up sedition against Us and Our Government Sedition is not any determined offence within our Law our Law gives definitions or descriptions of other offences to wit of Treason Murder Felony c. but there is no crime in our Law called Sedition It is defined by a Civilian to be Seditio or Secessio cum pars reipublicae contra partem infurgit so that sedition is nothing but division Braeton and Glanvill have the word Seditio generally Before the Statute of 25 E. 3. chap. 2. it was not clear enough what thing was Treason what not by which Statute it is declared what shall be said Treason and that the Iudges shall not declare any thing to be Treason that is not contained within the said Statute but it shall be declared onely by Parliament And that Statute speaks not of Sedition nor the Statute of 1 H. 4. chap. 10. which makes some things Treason which are not contained within the said Statute of 25 E. 3. The Statute of 1 E. 6. chap. 12. takes away all intervenient Statutes which declared new Treasons and the said Act declares other things to be Treason but mentions not Sedition Sedition is the quality of an offence and is oftentimes taken Adverbially or Adjectively To raise tumults or trespasses is sedition Tim. 2. E. 3. rot 23. Garbart's case A man was indicted because in the high street he took I. S. there being in hostile manner and usurped over him royall power which is manifest sedition and there it was but an indictment of trespasse Mich. 20. E. 1. rot 27. One that was surveyor of the Wood-work for the King was indicted for stealing of timber and detaining wages ridding Carpenters wages by one that was but a boy and this is there tearmed Sedition and yet it was but a petty Fellony Mich. 42. E. 3. rot 65. B. R. R. Pope was appealed by the wife of I. S. because he feloniously and seditiously murdered I. S. and seditiously was there put in because it was done privily By which cases it appears that sedition is not taken as a Substantive so that it may be applyed to treason trespasse or other offences By the Statute of 2 H. 4. chap. 15. there is punishment inflicted for the raising of seditious doctrine and yet no punishment could have been inflicted for it untill the said Statute yet it was seditious as well before the said Statute as after And this appears also by the Statute of 1 and 2 of Phil. and Mar. chap. 3. which hath been cited The Statute 13 Eliz. chap. 2. reciâ—es that divers seditious and evill disposed persons c. obtained Bulls of reconciliation from the Pope which offence was made treason by the said Statute for it was not before and yet there was sedition and by the saâ— Statute the aiders and abettors
that it is but a Finable offence yet by the said Statute those which are imprisoned for open and notorious naughtinesse shall not be bayled the same naughtinesse is there intended high and exorbitant offence 2. It is fit to restrain the prisoners of their liberty that the Common-wealth be not damnifâ—ed It is lawfull to pull down a house to prevent the spreading mischief of fire it is lawfull to restrain a furious man And by the 14 H. 7. a Iustice of peace may restrain one rout Then the restraint of dangerous men to the Common-wealth is justifiable and necessary 24 E. 3.33 p. 25. Sir Thomas Figet went armed in the Palace which was shewed to the Kings Councell wherefore he was taken and disarmed before the chief Iustice shard and committed to the prison and he could not be bayled till the King sent his pleasure and yet it was shewed that the Lord of T. threatned him Out of which case I observe two things First that the Iudge of this Court did cause a man to be apprehended upon complaint made to the Council that is to the Lords of the Privy Council 2. That although he did nothing he is not mayn-pernable untill the King sent his pleasure because he was armed and furiously disposed So here UUherefore I pray that the Prisoners may be sent back again Davenport argued to the same intent and purpose and therefore I will report his Argument briefly 1. He said That the Return here is sufficient The Counsell on the other side have made fractions of this Return and divided it into severall parts whereas the genuine construction ought to have been made upon the entire Return for no violence ought to be offered to the Text. 7 E. 4.20 In false imprisonment the Defendant did iustifie and alledged severall reasons of his justification to wit because a man was killed and that this was in the County of S. and that the common voice and fame was that the Plaintiff was culpable And this was held a good plea although Bryan did there object That the plea was double or treble and the reason was because twenty causes of suspition make but one entire cause and indivisible unity in this ought not to be divided So C. 8.66 Crogates In an action of trespasse the Defendant justifies for severall causes and held good because upon the matter all of them make but one cause C. 8.117 It is said That it is an unjust thing unlesse the whole Law be looked into to judge and answer by propounding any one particular thereof and if it be unjust in the exposition of a Law it is uncivill in a Return to make fractions of it in the construction thereof especially it being a Return for Information and not for Accusation 2. Although the Counsell on the other side have taken this case to be within the Petition of Right yet this is Petitio principii to take that for granted which is the question in debate He said That he would not offer violence to the Petition of Right to which the King had assented and which shall really be performed But the question here is Whether this Return be within it and the Iudges are keepers not masters of this pledge and it seems that this Return is out of the letter and meaning of the said Statute 3. He said That this was the actuall commitment of the Lords of the Privy Councill and the habituall or virtuall commitment of the King But because upon these two matters he put no case nor gave any reason but what had been put or given in the Argument of the grand Habeas corpus Mich. 3 Caroli and afterwards in the House of Commons which was reported to the Lords in the painted Chamber all which Arguments I heard I have here omitted them And for the great respect which the Law gives to the commands of the King he put these cases 7 H. 3. Attachment of waste against the Tenant in Dower and the waste was assigned in the taking of fish out of a pond and the carrying them away The Defendant pleaded That her second husband by the command of the Lord the King took all the fish out of the said pond to the use of the Lord the King and held a good justification which proves that the command of the King there to her husband excused her of the said waste And yet it is clear that Tenant in Dower is liable to an action of waste for waste done in the time of her second husband But contrary is it where a woman is Tenant for life and took a husband who made waste and dyed no action lies against the wife for that waste And F. N. B. 17. A. If the Tenant in precipe at the grand cape makes default the King may send a UUrit to the Iustices rehearsing that he was in his service c. commanding them that that default be not prejudiciall to him and this command of the King excuseth his default be the cause true or no. 4. For the particulars of the Return it is for notable contempts against the Government But as to that it hath been said that the King hath sundry governments to wit Ecclesiasticall Politicall c. and it is not shewn against which of them This is but a cavilling exception they might as well have excepted to this Return because it is not shewen that these contempts were after the last generall Pardon that had been a better exception The last words of the Return are raising sedition against Us But as to this it hath been said That Seditio is not a word known in the Law and is alwaies taken either Adverbially or Adjectively and is not a Substantive To this he said That although it is not a Substantive for the preservation yet it is a Substantive for the destruction of a Kingdom And he said that he found the word Seditio in the Law and the consequent of it likewise which is seductio populi But it is not ever found to be taken in a good sense it is alwaies ranked and coupled with treason rebellion insurrection or such like as it appears by all those Statutes which have been remembred on the other side Therefore he prayed likewise that the Prisoners might be sent back Trin. 5 Car. B. R. THe first day of the Term upon Habeas Corpus to Sir Allen Apsley the Lieutenant of the Tower to bring here the body of John Selden Esq with the cause of detention He returned the same cause as above and Littleton of Counsell with him moved that the Return was insufficient in substance therefore he prayed that he might be bayled It is true that it is of great consequence both to the Crown of the King and to the liberty of the Subject But under favour for the difficulty of Law contained in it the case cannot be said Grand In my Argument I will offer nothing to the Court but that which I have seen with these eyes and that which
baylable And 33 Eliz. it was resolved by all the Iustices of England which I have viewed in chief Iustice Andersons Book under his own hand and it was produced in Parliament That all men committed by the Privy Councill are baylable if the commitment be not for high treason In all cases of commitment an accuser is understood Suppose that the accusation mentioned in Russel's case of sedition had been an accusation of treason then the Iudges ought not to have bayled him of right and no man will say but that the said accusation was a good cause to commit him But the discovery of the offence ought to be afterward in an Indictment Fourthly I come to the objections which have been made on the contrary 1 st It was objected That this was a case of great consequence I confesse it but this consequence is not to the King for if it be truly treason then they might have returned Treason and then the party was not to be bayled of right till there should be a failer of prosecution as was lately in Melvins case who was bailed for lack of prosecution the Return being for high treason 2 ly It was objected that there can be no conviction as this case is therefore there ought to be coercive power to restrain the prisoner This is strange newes to me that there shall be any offence for which a man cannot be convict And if there can be no conviction it hence followes that there is no offence and if there be no offence there ought by consequence to be no imprisonment 3 ly The case of 14 H. 7.8 hath been objected that a Iustice of Peace may commit Rioters without bayl I confesse it for this is by force of a Statute which ordains it 4 ly It hath been objected That if a house be on fire it is lawfull to pull down the neighbours house for the prevention of further mischief and the cases of 22 ass and 22 E. 4. that every man may justifie the coercion of a mad-man I answer That these cases are true for of necessity and no other evasion but here bayl is proffered which is body for body Fire is swift and cannot be punished and no caution can be obtained thereof But observe the true inference and consequence of this Argument If my house be on fire my neighbours house must be pulled down Mr Selden is seditious ergo Mr. Herbert his neighbour must be imprisoned 5 ly It hath been objected out of Br. Treason 24. 1 Mar. That the said Statute of 25 E. 3. is taken largely and that the detaining of a Castle or Fortresse is treason To this I answer That the bare detaining of a Castle is not treason unlesse it be with intention of the death of the King but the taking of a Castle is treason And the case there meant by Brook is Constables case Dy. 128. And I confesse 13 Eliz. Dy. 298. Doctor Story 's case that conspiracy to invade the Kingdom is treason for this cannot be without great danger of the death of the King for arma tenenti Omnia dat qui justa negat and all those Indictments were that they intended the death of the King but no such intention is expressed here 6 ly It hath been objected That this case is out of the Petition of Right because in this Return there is a cause shewed But the grievance whereupon the Petition of Right was framed was where no cause was returned It is true that the grievance goes no further but where no cause was returned for that was the grievance at that time But the words of the Petition of Right are further without being charged with any thing to which they might make answer by the Law which implies that such cause ought to be contained in the Return which being put into an Indictment the party may have his answer thereto 7 ly It was objected that the Return shall not be construed and expounded by fractions I answer That we need not make such an exposition for the joynt-construction thereof makes more for us then the severall as is shewed before 8 ly That a generall Return is sufficient and it need not have tearms of Art in it as an Indictment ought to have For answer I confesse it but I affirm as above that a Return ought to be so particular that the nature of the offence ought to appear out of it And it is not to be compared to generall Writs as Apostatâ capiendo Idiota examinando Leproso amovendo and the like for those Writs are good enough because they contain the very matter And although it hath been said that there are two kinds of Lepers yet I never heard but of one And the Writ de Haeretico comburendo is generall and good because it is but a Writ of Execution upon a Iudgment given by the Spirituall power But because they might not meddle with the blood of any man the execution is by the Secular power 9 ly It hath been objected out of 30 ass p. 19. that the King would have one drawn and hanged for bringing in into England the Buls of the Pope But the Book answers it self for he was not drawn and hanged 10 ly The Statute of Westm. 1. cap. 15. was objected But as oft as that Statute is objected I will alwaies cry out The Petition of Right the Petition of Right as the King of France cryed out nothing but France France when all the severall Dominions of the King of Spain were objected to him 11 ly A curious distinction hath been taken by Serjeant Davenport between stirring To sedition and stirring Up sedition for the first implies an inclination onely to do it the second implies an act done But this is too nice for if a man stir up sedition or to sedition if it be with intention of the death of the King the one and the other is treason 12 ly The opinion of Fortescue in 31 H. 6.10 b. hath been objected That for an offence done to the Court a man may be committed before conviction To this I answer 1 st That the Book does not say That he shall be committed without bayl 2 ly The offence being done in face of the Court the very view of the Court is a conviction in Law 13 ly There was objected the 24 of E. 3.23 Sir Fitchet's case who for going armed in the Palace was committed by this Court without bayl or mainprize which seems to be the strongest and hardest case that hath been objected But the answer to it is clear and undeniable for the Statute of 2 E. 3. c. 3. is That if any one come armed before the Iustices he shall forfeit his Armour and shall be imprisoned during the Kings pleasure so that by the expresse purview of the Statute such a man is not baylable So my conclusion remains firm notwithstanding any of those objections That the prisoner here being committed before conviction of any offence it being not possible to understand this
in tertio Caroli that generall Returns that were committed by the command of the Lord the King are not good and that those Arguments remain as Monuments on record in the Upper House of Parliament but I will not admit them for Law But I will remember what was the opinion of former times 22 H. 6.52 by Newton a man committed by the command of the King is not replevisable And the opinion cannot be intended of a Replevin made by the Sheriff because the principall case there is upon a Return in this Court 33 H. 6.28 Poyning's case where the Return was That he was committed by the Lords of the Councill and it was admitted good It is true that this opinion is grounded upon Westm. 1. cap. 15. but I will not insist upon it But the constant opinion hath alwaies been that a man committed by the command of the King is not baylable In 9 H. 6.44 it is said That if one be taken upon the Kings suit the Court will not grant a Supersedeas The contrary opinion is grounded upon Magna Charta which is a generall Law and literally hath no sense to that purpose and it is contrary to the usuall practise in criminall causes in which the imprisonment is alwaies lawfull untill the tryall although it be made by a Iustice of Peace or Constable And that a man committed by the command of the King or Privy Councill is not baylable he cited 1 Jacobi Sir Brocket's case 8 Jac. Sir Cesar's case 12. Demetrius's case 43 Rinch's case And in the case M. 36 Eliz. and 4 and 5 Thimelby's case And said that there are innumerable presidents to this purpose M. 21 and 22 Eliz. upon the return of an Habeas corpus it appears that Michael Page was committed by the command of the Lord the King but was not delivered and after was arraigned in this Court and lost his hand And at the same time Stubbs was committed by the command of the Lord the King for seditious words and rumors and he lost his hand also upon the same tryall M. 17 and 18. Eliz. Upon Habeas corpus for John Loan it was returned That he was committed for divulging sundry seditious writings and he was remanded And 7 H. 7 roll 6. Rugs case and roll 13. Chase's case where the Return was that they were committed by the command of the Lord the King and they were not delivered and this was also the opinion in this Court M. 3. Car. And after the said time the Law is not altered and so I hope neither are your opinions But to consider the particular cause mentioned in the Return I will not rely upon the first part of the words although they be of great weight but onely upon the last words for stirring up of sedition against Us But it hath been objected that Sedition is not a word known in the Law But I marvell that the signification of the word is not understood when it is joyned with the words agains Us this ought to be understood Sedition against the King in his politick capacity Sedition hath sundry acceptations according to the subject handled as it appears C. 4. Lord Cromwel's case which hath been cited If it be spoken of a man that he is seditious if it be of a company in London it shall be understood sedition in the Company if it be spoken of a Souldier it shall be taken for mutinous Mr. Littleton who argued this case very well said That Tacitus useth this word and it is true and he saies That there are two manners of Seditions Seditio armata togata and the last is more dangerous then the former But couple it with the subsequent words here against Us the interpretation and sense thereof is easie loquendum ut vulgus Mr. Littleton shewes the acceptation of this word in divers places of Scripture and I will not reject them for they make for me 20 Numb 3. the Latine is populi versi sunt in seditionem and it is Englished murmuring but clearly it was high treason against their Governour and God himselfe 26 Numb 9. in seditione Corah it is manifest that that was a great Insurrection 12 Judg. 1. Facta est ergo seditio in Ephraim The Ephramites rose against Jephta and he at the same time was their Iudge and Governour so it was the heighth of Insurrection It is true that in 15 Act. 2. Facta est seditio and in some Translations it is Orta est repughantia non parva for it may be taken in severall senses 19 Acts 40. the Town-Clerk there knew not how to answer for this daies sedition or insurrection and no doubt he was in great perill for it was a great insurrection and I wish the greater ones were as circumspect as he was 24 Act. 5. Tertullus accused Paul of sedition and doubtlesse it was conceived a great offence if you consider the time and other circumstances for they were Heathens and Romans And although he in very truth taught the Gospell of God yet he was taken for a pestilent fellow and as a perswader to shake off Government Bracton lib. 3. de Corona c. 2. rancks Sedition amongst the crimes laesae Majestatis But it hath been objected that if it be a capitall offence it ought to be felony or treason To this I say That it cannot be felony but it may be treason for any thing that appears It is true that by the statute of 25 E. 3. treasons are declared and nothing shall be said treason which is not comprised within the said Statute unlesse it be declared so by Act of Parliament But upon indictment of treason such sedition as this may be given in evidence and perhaps will prove treason And the Return is not That he was seditious which shewes onely an inclination but that he stirred up sedition which may be treason if the evidence will bear it In divers Acts of Parliament notice is taken of this word Seditio and it is alwaies coupled with Insurrection or Rebellion as appears by the Statutes of 5 R. 2. c. 6. 17 R. 2. c. 8. 2 H. 5. c. 9. 8 H. 6. c. 14. 3 4. E. 6. c. 5. 2 R. 2. c. 5. 1 and 2 Phil. Mar. c. 2. 1 Eliz. c. 7. 13 Eliz. c. 2. 23 Eliz. c. 2. 27 Eliz. c. 2. and 35 Eliz. c. 1. all which were cited before and they prove that Sedition is a word well known in the Law and of dangerous consequence and which cannot be expounded in good sense Wherefore the nature of the offence I leave it to the Court But out of these Statutes it appears that there is a narrow difference between it and treason if there be any at all 3 ly As to the Objections which have been made I will give a short answer to them 1. It was objected That every imprisonment is either for custody or punishment the last is alwaies after the judgment given for the offence and if it be but for custody the
a great downfal and may serve I hope in it self for an expiation of my faults Therefore if Mercy and Mitigation be in your Lordships power and no way cross your ends Why should I not hope of your favor and commiseration Your Lordships will be pleased to behold your cheif pattern the King our Soveraign a King of incomparable Clemency and whose heart is instructable for Wisdom and Goodness And your Lordships will remember there sate not these Hundred years before a Prince in your House and never such a Prince whose presence deserveth to be made memorable by Records and Acts mixt of Mercy and Iustice. Your selves are either Nobles and compassion ever beateth in the Veins of Noble Blood or Reverend Prelates who are the Servants of him that would not break the bruised Reed or quench the smoaking Flax. You all sit upon a high stage and therefore cannot but be sensible of the change of humane conditions and of the fall of any from high place Neither will your Lordships forget that there are Vitia temporis as well as Vitia hominis and the beginning of Reformation hath the contrary power to the Pool of Bethesda for that had strength to cure him onely that was first cast in and this hath strength to hurt him onely that is first cast in and for my part I wish it may stay there and go no further Lastly I assure my self your Lordships have a noble feeling of me as a member of your own Body and one that in this very Session had some taste of your loving affections which I hope was not a lightning before the death of them but rather a spark of that grace which now in the conclusion will more appear And therefore my humble suit to your Lordships is That my penitent Submission may be my Sentence the loss of my Seal my punishment and that your Lordships would recommend me to his Majesties Grace and Pardon for all that is past Gods holy Spirit be among you The Parliament not satisfied with this general Acknowledgment do require the Chancellor either to confess the particulars of the Charge or they would descend to proof against him Hereupon he came to an express and plain Acknowledgment even to confess his Servants receipt of a dozen of Buttons as a gift in a Cause depending before him and put himself upon their Lordships Mercy And he further said That he was never noted for an avaritious man and the Apostle saith Coveteousness is the root of all evil and hoped their Lordships did finde him in a state of Grace for that in all particular charges against him there were few or none that were not almost two years old Whereas those that have the habit of corruption do commonly wax worse and worse and for his estate it was so mean and poor That his care was now cheifly to satisfie his Debts The Lords afterwards pronounced him guilty of the Charge exhibited against him and in the presence of the Commons gave Sentence That he should undergo Fine and Ransome and be made incapable to bear office c. This Learned Peer eminent over the Christian World for his many Writings extant in Print was known to be no admirer of Money yet had the unhappiness to be defiled therewith He treasured up nothing either for himself or his family for he both lived and died in debt he was over indulgent to his Servants and connived at their takings and their ways betrayed him to that error they were profuse and expensive and had at command what ever he was master of The gifts taken were for the most part for interlocutory Orders his Decrees were generally made with so much Equity that though gifts rendred him suspected for injustice yet never any Decree made by him was reversed as unjust as it hath been observed by some knowing in our Laws About the same time Sir Henry Yelverton was accused by the Commons who by charging him rendred him the less offender and he thereby had the opportunity to speak that at the Bar which he durst not say in the Tower where he was yet a prisoner upon a late Sentence in the Star-Chamber for passing some Clauses in the City Charter when he was Attorney General not agreeable to His Majesties Warrant The matter charged against him by the Commons was for committing divers persons for not entring into Bonds to restrain their own Trades That he signed Dormant Warrants having no Authority for the same That he advised the Patents of Gold and Silver Thred to be resumed into the Kings hands conceiving the same to be a Monopoly and advised the Patentces to proceed by Contract with the King That Four thousand Quo Warranto's were granted by him touching the Patents of Inns and but two to come to trial That he commenced divers Suits in the Exchequer touching the Gold and Silver Thred but did not prosecute the same Which Charge being read unto him he said He thought himself happy in the midst of His Majesties disfavor that His Majesty was pleased to cast the Grace upon him as to send him to this Honorable House That Innocence hath her present Answer but Wisdom requires time Therefore he made it his humble suit for time to give his further Answer adding withal That the cheif Complaint against him was concerning the two Patents of Gold and Silver Thred Inns and Osteries He said That if he deserved well of His Majesty it was in that matter That the King and Subjects were more abused by that Patent then by any other and that he suffered at that day for opposing that Patent as he took it The King being informed of this passage in his Speech came in person to the House of Peers took notice thereof saying It seemed strange unto him that Sir Henry Yelverton should be questioned here upon any thing save the Patent of Gold and Silver Thred For His Majesty did not conceive that any matter was complained of against him touching the Inns and Osteries whereof he was also examined Touching which Patent Mompesson had made complaint to His Majesty that Yelverton refused to send any Proces of Quo Warranto against a multitude of Innkeepers and His Majesty accepted Yelvertons modest Answer That he misliked those proceedings against his Subjects His Majesty to clear himself did lay open the many former just mislikes which he had against Sir Henry and his gentle proceedings against him for the same And when His Majesty intended to question him Buckingham Lord Admiral besought him not to think of any private wrongs done to his Lordship His Majesty added That in the Examination of the business touching the Charter of London Yelverton had first justified himself by His Majesties Warrant and that by that Warrant he might have given away all London from him yet at length he made a good Submission in the beginning but in the end he said he had not wronged His Majesty in his Prerogative And sith that now Yelverton doth tax His
the Queen should commend unto him and make some suit on his behalf That if the Queen afterwards being ill intreated should complain of this Dear one he might make his answer It is long of your self for you were the Party that commended him unto me Our old Master took delight strangely in things of this nature That Noble Queen who now resteth in Heaven knew her Husband well and having been bitten with Favorites both in England and Scotland was very shie to adventure upon this request King Iames in the mean time more and more loathed Somerset and did not much conceal it that his affection increased towards the other But the Queen would not come to it albeit divers Lords whereof some are dead and some yet living did earnestly sollicit her Majesty thereunto When it would not do I was very much moved to put to my helping hand they knowing that Queen Anne was graciously pleased to give me more credit then ordinary which all her Attendants knew she continued to the time of her death I laboured much but could not prevail The Queen oft saying to me My Lord You and the rest of your Friends know not what you do I know your Master better then you all For if this Young man be once brought in the first persons that he will plague must be you that labor for him yea I shall have my part also The King will teach him to despise and hardly intreat us all that he may seem to be beholden to none but himself Noble Queen how like a Prophetess or Oracle did you speak Notwithstanding this we were still instant telling her Majesty that the Change would be for the better For George was of a good nature which the other was not And if he should degenerate yet it would be a long time before he were able to attain to that height of evil which the other had In the end upon importunity Queen Anne condescended and so pressed it with the King that he assented thereunto Which was so stricken while the Iron was hot that in the Queens Bed-chamber the King Knighted him with the Rapier which the Prince did wear And when the King gave order to swear him of the Bed-chamber Somerset who was near importuned the King with a message that he might be only sworne a Groom But my self and others that were at the door sent to her Majesty that she would perfect her work and cause him to be sworne a Gentleman of the Chamber There is a Lord or two living that had a hand in this atchievement I diminish nothing of their praise for so happy a work But I know my own part best and in the word of an honest man I have reported nothing but truth George went in with the King but no sooner he got loose but he came forth unto me into the Privy-gallery and there embraced me He professed that he was so infinitely bound unto me that all his life long he must honor me as his Father And now he did beseech me that I would give him some lessons how â—e should carry himself When he earnestly followed this chace I told him I would give him three short lessons if he would learn them The first was That daily upon his knees he should pray to God to bless the King his Master and to give him George grace studiously to serve and please him The second was That he should do all good offices between the King and the Queen and between the King and the Prince The third was That he should fill his Masters ears with nothing but Truth I made him repeat these three things unto me and then I would have him to acquaint the King with them and so tell me when I met him again what the King said unto him He promised me he would and the morrow after Mr. Tho. Murrey the Princes Tutor and I standing together in the Gallery at Whitehall Sir Geo. Villeirs coming forth and drawing to us he told Mr. Murrey how much he was beholden unto me and that I had given him certain Instructions which I prayed him to rehearse as indifferently well he did before us yea and that he had acquainted the King with them who said They were Instructions worthy of an Archbishop to give to a Young man His countenance of thankfulness for a few days continued but not long either to me or any other his Welwishers The Roman Historian Tacitus hath somewhere a note That benefits while they may be requited seem courtesies but when they are so high that they cannot be repaid they prove matters of hatred Thus to lie by me to quicken my remembrance I have laid down the Cause and the Proceedings of my sending into Kent where I remain at the writing of this Treatise Praying God to bless and guide our King aright To continue the prosperity and welfare of this Kingdom which at this time is shrewdly shaken To send good and worthy men to be Governors of our Church To prosper my mind and body that I may do nothing that may give a wound to my Conscience and then to send me patience quietly to endure whatsoever his Divine Majesty shall be pleased to lay upon me Da quod jubes jube quod vis And in the end to give me such a happy deliverance either in life or death as may be most for his glory and for the wholsom example of others who look much on the Actions and Passions of Men of my Place AMong those many Gentlemen who were imprisoned throughout England for refusing to lend upon the Commission for Loans only Five of them brought their Habeas Corpus viz. Sir Thomas Darnell Sir Iohn Corbet Sir Walter Earl Sir Iohn Heveningham Sir Edward Hampden In Michaelmas Term 3 Caroli a Return was made of their several Commitments To instance only in one all the rest being in the same form The Warden of the Fleet made this Return That Sir Walter Earl Knight named in the Writ is detained in the Prison of the Fleet in his Custody by special Command of the King to him signified by Warrant of several of the Privy-Council in these words Whereas Sir Walter Earl Knight was heretofore committed to your Custody These are to will and require you still to detain him letting you know that both his first Commitment and direction for the continuance of him in Prison were and are by his Majesties special commandment From Whitehall Novemb. 7. 1627. Tho. Coventry c. Sir Thomas Darnell was the first that was brought to the Bar upon that Writ where the Kings Attorney-General Sir Robert Heath did inform the Court that his Majesty told him He heard that some of the imprisoned Gentlemen for the Loan did report That the King did deny them the Course of Justice And therefore his Majesty commanded him to renew the Writ of Habeas Corpus lest they should not move for another themselves by reason the Warden of the Fleet had not returned the first according