these Remains of his should be Printed and Publickly Sold cry'd up by the whole Party for an extraordinary Piece and swallow'd as such by our many superficial Readers who take what comes fresh from the Press and every New Author are brought over to his Opinion looks very daring as if they were not without great hopes of having their Good Old Cause new Bottom'd and the Rump once more set uppermost All which the Prefacer does more than intimate by giving so great a Deference to his Author and the Cause he engag'd in as if such alone made the Service of their Country the principal care of their Lives and all Government Arbritrary but in their Hands pag. 4. And to excite your Commiseration he adds that when Charles the 2d was permitted to Act his part this Gentleman who had gone through innumerable Hazards for the Liberty of England was stripp'd of his Estate and under the Odious Name of Traytor forc'd to Abandon his Native Country p. 6. Such Language as this we were forc'd to bear with when they had got the Power into their own Hands but sure we are not yet come to 48 or 59. when a company of profligate Villains the Scum and Scorn of Mankind with an Army of Ianisaries to their Assistance took such Care of England's Liberty as to make all Honest Men Slaves and Loyal Men Traytors and whoever is so easy as to believe there is one Syllable of Truth in this Prefaoer's Harangues and flourishes I wish so that others might not suffer with them they were some time under that sort of Free-Government for their better Information That this his Commonwealth-Champion was sent for to recover Ireland out of the Hands of those Papists is a Secret not known before and I fancy they that did it had rather it should have continued so or be quite forgotten than the Reception he found here To be sure the Business was done without him and if this his Admirer would have been so ingenuous as to tell what those Worthy Gentlemen in the House of Commons said when they express'd their Indignation at his Return 't would have been as well worth transmitting to Posterity as any Remarks upon that Conjuncture p. 7. Neither is it at all for his Reputation that his Family was Antient and had an Estate which plac'd him in the first Rank of Gentlemen p. 4. The English Gentry were the main support of the Royal Cause and stood by their oppressed Prince with an Unparallell'd Bravery considering the Necessities they both labour'd under Some indeed were drawn to the contrary Party by mistake or misinformation and left them in due time others persever'd too long but when it came to the Arraignmemt and Murther of the King it was their utmost and universal Detestation this well descended Gentleman had few other Associates in that Horrid Act than Draymen Coblers Tinkers c. the very Refuse of Mechanicks as well as Mankind especially as to the Army Officers who were the chief promoters thereof whilst our doughty Members whatever they thought of themselves serv'd no otherwise than as their Tools and Properties and so indeed were they Cromwell's though much regretted by them when he lay'd aside his Vizard and assum'd all to himself Since therefore this Author of theirs so basely degenerated from most others of his Quality as to become not only Rebel but Regicide I shall have so little regard for his Descent as to give him the bare Name of Ludlow Whether he writ all these Memoirs or more than these is not of moment to enquire The Vindicator of Oliver Cromwell tells us when Blood went to him at Geneva in order to engage him in New Disturbances he found him writing of a History and thought he might be much more proper for that than the Command of General which his Admirers here design'd him the other 's quick and penetrating Judgment soon discovering his blind side and that only his being of the Party gave him the Reputation of Parts And accordingly that Vindicator has as mean an Opinion of his History as the other of his Generalship And so must every one else who regards either Sense or Truth Although 't is likewise said these two Volumes are but the Abridgment of many more Reams foul'd upon this Subject which his Party and Printer thought fit to lick into somthing of Form contract and perhaps alter too as might best serve the present Design of promoting the Good Old Cause As to my particular undertaking the Vindication of our Royal Martyr I doubt not but to satisfy every impartial Reader that he writes not one Syllable of Truth yet withal is such a Common-place Recorder of Falshoods as to mention nothing but those Old Calumnies and Slanders which indeed serv'd the Faction's turn when first started and misled the Credulous Rabble but have been long since detected and evinc'd by the Clearest Demonstration any matter of Fact is capable of for the same Cheat never last's long Truth certainly prevails in the End Upon which account all such as take these indirect Courses must necessarily be qualified with a quick Invention be sure to have a New Trick at hand as soon as the Old is discovered that the Parties impos'd upon may have no leisure to reflect or otherwise discover the Iuggle And by this Artifice more especially were our 41 Confusions commenc'd and carry'd on about which time a Spirit of Calumny and detraction of Evil Speaking Lying and Slandering seem'd to be let loose as Satan in the Revelations to deceive the Nation and persecute all therein who would not worship that Gog and Magog they were going to set up with this Spirit I say our many Pulpit Beautifews and Lay Demagogues were so cursedly possest as nothing Sacred or Civil could escape their Obloquy or restrain the Madness of the People from believing their forg'd Reports or prosecuting their Rebellious Designs 't is inconceivable the Delusions they impos'd upon them the Contradictions they made them swallow till it became so habitual to the whole Party as every little Mechanick and Blew Apron'd Brother would as naturally tell a Lye for the good of the Cause as the Sale of their Wares and if discovered be as far from Shame as the Devil from a Blush Afterwards indeed the Evil Spirit was for some time conjur'd down confin'd to the Dark Cell of its own Melancholy thoughts and sad regret for disappointed Mischiefs but of late 't is broke forth again and rages most violently prevails to astonishment upon a Reinfatuated Age for from thence more especially it must proceed that Men should have so soon forgot not only God's Mercies but their own Miseries too Among the many other Allays which an impartial Judgment will find to abate much the envied Happiness of Princes 't is none of the least that during their full Gales of Prosperity they are beset with Flatterers instead of Friends their Impunity is their danger and Superiority to Laws leaves their
King making it his Business to be on the defensive till the Queen should arrive with an Army to his assistance p. 58. and when her Army was come with other Necssaries of War the King was in the hopefullest Condition of the whole Four Years for so long the contest was in dispute and had there not been Neglect Treachery or both amongst his Councils either of State or War he had unnestled the Rebels at London and put a final End to any further Blood-shed but what in due course of Law such Villanies deser'vd In relating how the Earl of Essex took Reading it must not be omitted that Sir Arthur Ashton a Papist was Governour therof to which I shall add that Sir Arthur had been brought up a Soldier in Foreign Wars a Person of good Experience who as soon as he found we were running into his Bloody Profession proffer'd his Service to the King more than once who as often reply'd that the Faction had brought such a Slander upon him in reference to those of his Perswasion it would much prejudice his Cause to imploy him at length he came to the King and shewed him a Letter wherein Essex profferd him a Command in the Parliament Army and told his Majesty plainly that he was a Soldier of Fortune and that if he could not be entertained on the one side he would betake himself to the other and by this Means he became Governour of Reading for the Parliament as they had several Papists in their Service so 't was nothing but a vile Interest made them reject the rest force them into the King's Quarters that they might have the benefit of their Estates and the King the Odium of their Company In the mean while I would gladly know whether a Loyal Papist be not a better Man ay and Christian too than a Rebel Protestant to be sure Ludlow and his Gang agreed with them in the most exploded and pernicious Doctrine was ever laid to their Charge and what but few of them and that very clandestinely have maintain'd viz. that of Deposing and Murdering Kings for which Reason I look upon him as a baser Man than Fryar Iacob or Ravillac and the whole set of Regicides the most abominable Assembly that ever met since the Scribes and Pharisees preferr'd Barabbas to be sure they brought upon the Reformation the greatest Reproach Hell its self could suggest and yet for ought I see not only the Reproach but the Practice is like to continue Though Essex was Master of the Field in Spring the King had the Command all Summer his Forces making so great a Progress in the West as to take Exeter Bristol and many other considerable places give a total defeat to Sir Will. Waller at Devizes and so clear'd all those Parts from any Enemy in a Body as indeed they had none at London hereupon it was debated in several Councils of War and private Cabals whether was best to march directly thither or to stay and take Glocester first the only place of any considerable Strength which remain'd to the Enemy in those Parts the general Vogue went for the March and very considerable Reasons urg'd for it both Essex's and Waller's Armies were crumbled away the City of London in Mutiny an Insurrection in Kent for the King the Lords voting a Treaty and the Commons in dismal Frights On the other side it was urg'd how ill it would look to leave such a place behind them that 't was ill situated and not well fortified or provided with Men so that a few Days would certainly make the King Master thereof long before the Enemy could get a Recruit much less March so far to relieve it Of this Perswasion was Prince Rupert and most of the Sword-men which made some suspect they fear'd the War would be done too soon and were the more confirm'd therein for that the Siege was carryed on at such a slow rate so that after a whole Month of precious time lost and Essex appearing unexpectedly with a considerable Army they were forc'd to raise the Siege I have been told a Passage much credited by honest Gentlemen in those times that a little before the King made that fatal halt a certain Peer finding Essex very pensive in the Lords Lobby ask'd him how Affairs went He reply'd very ill and they must be all ruin'd unless the King could be induc'd to lie down before Glocester which he hop'd by one Engine to bring about what or who that Engine was the World is yet to learn but that there were too many such about his Majesty appear'd in most undertakings he engag'd in Neither was the Battle upon their Retreat at Newberry so advantagiously manag'd as it might have been for the Royal Army having happily got Possession of the Town and consequently stood in their way to London should have been wholly upon the Defensive so plac'd their Artillery and lin'd the Hedges that the difficulty should have been on the Enemy's side to force their Passage which they must either have done or starv'd for to my certain information in the Village where they were oblig'd to stop two Miles West of the Town they had neither Bread nor Drink not somuch as Water it having been a dry Season the Ponds were little else than Puddle the Springs low and the few Wells so soon drain'd as several Officers did proffer a handful of Money for a Pint of clear Water so that it must be right down Grinning Honour as Hudibras terms it which put the Cavaliers upon attacquing them in their thick Hedges or otherwise coming within reach of their Cannon which let alone they must have try'd to Eat yet at this rate Things were carryed till having lost a great many Noble and Brave Gentlemen and their Ammunition almost Spent they withdrew into the Town and set the Enemy a free return more than they expected or to be sure deserv'd Our Author ends this Year with bringing in the Scots and relates how prettily Sir Henry Vane trick'd them In removing the last and greatest difficulty about some doubtful Words in the Covenant which was to be taken by both Nations concerning the Preservation of the King's Person and reducing the Doctrine and Discipline of both Churches to the Pattern of the best Reformed For which Sir H. found an expedient by adding to the first Clause In preservation of the Laws of the Land and Liberty of the Subject And to the second According to the Word of God p. 79 and by this Evasion look'd upon themselves as oblig'd by neither but left free to Murther their King and use the Covenant as it deserv'd He saith likewise that for their the Scots Encouragement the Lords and Commons sentenc'd and caus'd Execution upon William Laud Arch-Bishop of Canterbury their Capital Enemy Which nevertheless was not till that time Twelve-month however done it was and perhaps thought a very Christian act by such as had nothing thereof And here to put his Murthers together we are
to the Sacred Ashes of the best Man and most abused Prince that ever sat upon a Throne May not the Great God who Iudgeth right upon defect of all Earthly Powers in doing Iustice to injur'd Innocence and oppressed Virtue be hereby provok'd to Arise and Defend his own Cause Remember the Rebukes his Servants have whereby their Enemies take occasion to blaspheme his Name and slander the Footsteps of his Anointed A JUST DEFENCE OF THE Royal Martyr CHARLES I. PART I. CHAP. I. The Commonwealth Party could never agree upon any one Model OUR Author begins his Memoirs with the Ruin of his Cause the Roasting of the Rump which doubtless was a great disappointment very much to his prejudice and therefore in reference to his own dear Self we will grant he had Reason to complain That having seen our Cause betray'd and the most solemn Promises that could be made to the Asserters of it openly Violated I departed from my Native Country c. Now because this Cause of his is so much magnified throughout both his Volumes as the only Means of securing the Liberty Safety and publick Interest of the People whereas the Office of a King was Burdensom and Dangerous the House of Peers useless upon which account both ought to be Abolished and the Government settled in the way of a Common-wealth the two first Votes they made after their Execrable Parricide it will I hope be thought no improper digression to examin the Rise of this excellent Model how it came first in Power How it behav'd it self whilst so and what became of it in the end In order whereunto we must know that the Violent and Numerous Faction in that fatal long Parliament of Forty were all of one piece so long as the King was able to bear up and most implacable against all such Loyal Faithful Members as adher'd unto him some of which they turn'd out of the House and forc'd many others to withdraw as well for the security of their Persons as in Obedience to their Consciences which oblig'd them to stand by their injur'd Prince so that in Ianuary 43 the King assembled at Oxon a greater Number of Lords and Commons then sat at Westminster although the latter supply'd themselves with a sort of Cattle call'd Recruiters from such Corporations and Burroughs as were within their Quarters where they might be sure of confiding Men who would not fail to carry on the Work as they had begun But divine Vengeance designing further to scourge us with our own Rod though it gave Success to their rebellious Arms yet withal so divided them amongst themselves as they that expected most had least of the Spoil whilst the Bear and the Wolf the Presbyterian and Independent contended one cunning Fox ran off with the Prey for as soon as the Royal Cause was vanquish'd those two Iunto's fell into implacable Enmities in the House and because the Independent was smallest in Number they supply'd that Defect by the Army which had been so modell'd by Cromwell as to be all of their own Leven and undertook their Quarrel so effectually as to bring a Charge against eleven of the most leading Members on the other Side who thereupon were forc'd to absent themselves some of them for their better Security beyond the Seas But this Purge would not do there must be a stronger Dose to remove the tough Presbyterian Humour which was accordingly prescrib'd for the other Iunto finding themselves still out-voted ran away to the Army and carry'd their Speaker with them making a sad Complaint that their elder Brethren of the other Faction were obstinate and refractory and would not let them have their Wills in going thorough-stitch to the Ruin of King and Kingdom at leastwise would not let it go their own Way and therefore begg'd their Assistance in the Accomplishment of so good a Work whereupon they strait-way march'd up to Westminster fill'd both the Palace Yards with Soldiers and set double Files through the Hall up to the Doors of both Houses looking scornfully upon the Members which had sat in the Absence of their Speaker and threatned to pull them forth by the Ears if they did not give speedy Satisfaction so that at present they carried all before them However the Army or rather their Managers Cromwell and Ireton seem'd herein to mis-time their Design the whole Nation was allarm'd at these extravagant Proceedings that the King should be so barbarously confin'd the Parliament forc'd now they seem'd somewhat dispos'd to an Accommodation and all things controll'd by the Arbitrary Licentiousness of a Military Rabble even to a Vote of no more Addresses to the King Which first proceeded from their Motion without Doors to their Creatures within this made several Counties petition and then rise in Arms some who had been Commanders for the Parliament in Wales endeavoured to retrieve their Country from those Mischiefs their Mistakes had brought upon it And Scotland actually declaring against their Brethren's Abuse of the King provided an Army to invade them This made our Men of the Sword postpone for the present their State-Reformation and fall to their proper Calling Fairfax undertook such loyal Gentlemen and Parties in Kent and Essex as had engag'd to free their Country from an Army of Mamaluks and shut them up in Colchester whilst Cromwell's veterane Forces found a ready Conquest of the Welsh and the Scotch under such ill Conduct as if they came on purpose to acquaint him how easie it was for a Man of Resolution and good Management to subdue and enslave their Nation In the mean time whilst this kind of second War was on foot the whole Kingdom besides those concern'd in the foremention'd Engagements began to reflect what a miserable Condition they had brought themselves into The City petition the Parliament for a personal Treaty with the King they accordingly vote in their secluded Members repeal that of no Addresses and agree to a Treaty at the Isle of Wight which nevertheless met with so many Obstacles and Delays from the adverse Iunto as the Army had finish'd their Business before the Treaty could be brought to a Conclusion and were so incens'd thereat as they came up in a Rage to London took Quarters at and about Whitehall fell the second Time to reform the House whereof they actually seiz'd and committed 41 Members denyed Entrance to above 160 more besides about 40 or 50 who voluntarily withdrew to avoid their Violence so that the whole was now reduc'd to between 40 or 50 such profligate Wretches both as to Life and Principle that they would stick at no Villany the Bashaws their Masters thought fit to put upon them And this is the true Origin of what is commonly call'd the Rump of the long Parliament the End whereof is so much condol'd by our Author although it might as properly have been call'd the Excrement to be sure their Actions will make our Nation stink in the Nostrils of all good Men to
well affected to Monarchy in general as well as the Memory of those two Princes are yet prone to suspect they might have some Inclinations that way and for their Satisfaction more especially it is I give them and my self this Trouble To shew therefore how little Ground there was or is for this Suspicion King Iames call'd Parliaments as often as any Prince ever did and courted them as much perhaps more than was requisite considering the Temper they were of And so did his Son at first as Ludlow owns 'T is true he call'd some in the first Years of his Reign But then makes this malicious Reflection The People soon perceiv'd he did it rather to empty their Purses than redress their Grievances The Truth of it is there was such a Spirit of Innovation and Faction got abroad such groundless Suspicions and Distrusts every where not only whisper'd but openly proclaim'd throughout the Nation as 't is equally unaccountable how Men should have the Confidence to forge such gross Untruths and the People suffer themselves to be so absurdly impos'd upon Altho as to this latter nothing can seem incredible to such as observ'd what a Fright the whole Nation was abus'd into the other Day as if between two and three thousand Irish for that was their utmost Number could fire all their Habitations and cut all their Throats Yet by such Artifices as these altogether as groundless and improbable the People were kept up in a continual Ferment so foolishly prejudic'd and so freakishly peevish as no Reason could be heard nor Truth prevail upon them whereunto both the foremention'd Kings were too forward to appeal and too condescending in giving an Account of themselves and Actions by frequent Proclamations Declarations c. considering they had to do with the most petulant malicious Generation ever any Age or Climate produc'd As to the present Charge of affecting Arbitrary Power I cannot but remark in the first place the different Method these two Kings are suppos'd to propound in order to bring about the same King Iames by Fraud King Charles by Force As to the former whatever King-Craft he pretended to every discerning Eye hath all along discovered him to be the most open easie Prince this Nation ever had studied nothing but his People's Peace and therein his own Quiet the Enjoyment of himself Such a bold I may say desperate Undertaking must have a Prince that is active daring and resolute of a subtile Head and hollow Heart understanding all the Arts of Dissimulation and Wheadle so as to fool the People out of their Mony and therewith maintain an Army to support his Usurpation with many such like bad Qualities as opposite to Iames's Temper and Genius as one Pole to the other For to speak freely he laboured under the contrary Extream wanted Courage to exert his just Rights stoop'd Majesty too low would expostulate and reason where he ought to have commanded which blind Side the Faction in his several Parliaments once finding out grew wresty thereupon would neither lead nor drive but their own Pace and Way What I remark in the second Place is the Inducement our Author assigns of King Charles's attempting the same by Violence the nearer View of a Despotick Power in his Iourny to France and Spain What will not a Republican's Rebel Spite catch hold of His Iourny was not in but thorough France which he consummated in ten or twelve Days and riding Post had great Opportunities of being taken with Glittering Shews and Imaginary Pleasures c. And his Business in Spain was of another Nature and took up so much Time as he had little Leisure to make Observations and less Reason to be enamour'd with any thing there observ'd to be sure upon Enquiry he could not but find that the several Courts or Councils there have as great a Restraint upon the Crown as our Parliaments have here though they are a sober wise Nation and seldom or never found to extend their Privileges beyond Right and Reason I shall not reflect upon the Prudence and Policy of that Design only observe it was hard for a young Amorous Prince to attend the tedious Delays of old Statesmen wherewith having been so long kept in Suspence this Adventure was thought the only Expedient for a final Issue Desperate enough which notwithstanding he manag'd so dexterously as to weather all Difficulties and come off with Honour and Safety contrary to the Expectation of the whole World I cannot forbear to mention the Account Rushworth gives of his Deportment there The Prince for his part had gain'd an universal Love and was reported by all to be a truly noble discreet well deserving Prince His grave Comportment suited with the very Genius of that Nation and he carryed it from the first to the last with the greatest Affability Gravity Constancy and at his Farewel with unparallell'd Bounty Yet this excellent Prince we murder'd and forc'd his Sons to travel for Security of their Lives and if during that Royal Exile they depended chiefly upon Papists for their Subsistence and observ'd how a Neighbour Prince weathering the like Storm from his three Estates as their Father met with for all Rebellions do not prosper as in England took the Government solely into his own Hand I say if upon these Obligations and Observations they return'd home less affected to the Protestant Religion and our Old Establishments of civil Government than could be wish'd Who can we blame but our selves Upon the Prince's Return home and making a Report to his Father what slippery Statesmen the Spaniards were especially as to his Sister 's Concerns King Iames at the earnest Request of the Parliament brake off that Match who engaging him in a War for Recovery of the Palatinate promis'd all the Assistance could be desired which was soon after by his Father's Death devolv'd upon King Charles and a Parliament thereupon summon'd de novo whom he bespake with all Affection and Tenderness imaginable acquainting them how The Eyes of all Europe were upon that his first Attempt and what a Blemish it would be to sustain a Foyl Hereupon a Supply was voted which serv'd the present turn and that was all For in the next Session which was at Oxon that unquiet Spirit which had been so troublesome most part of his Father's Reign began to let him see what little Hope there was of better Terms from them Immediately those old Cavils of Grievances evil Counsellers and what not were brought upon the Carpet and of these the first insisted upon was the Increase of Recusants the Growth of Popery which was presented in a Petition shewing the principal Causes of their Increase and properest Remedies to suppress them whereunto his Majesty gave an Answer so full and satisfactory that all undesigning Members were abundantly satisfied therewith and resolv'd to acquiesce therein and fell immediately upon a Supply which the adverse Party unable to oppose seemingly comply'd likewise but with a Back Blow
Council were generally Members in one House or other and as well able to acquaint them with the true State and Interest of the whole Nation as any particular Member of that private Burrough he Represented and were credited accordingly which produc'd an exact Concord and Harmony between every Part of the Constitution On the contrary when the Members divide and jar one with another when all the King advise with must be suspected for Enemies to the Publick tho no such thing can be prov'd and he upbraided for consulting or imploying them and that by such as affect their Places or design to abridge his just Power what an Ocean of Mischiefs must this toss us in What but a Shipwrack can be expected at last As indeed it happen'd 'T is a pretty Remark and Simile of Sir W. T. who tells us he had observ'd All set Quarrels with the Age and pretences to Reform it by their own Models to end commonly like the pains of a Man in a little Boat who tuggs at a Rope that is fast to a Ship it looks as if he resolv'd to draw the Ship to him but the Truth and his meaning is to draw himself to the Ship where he gets in when he can and does like the rest of the Crew when he is there But this would not do in King Charle's Time there was not Room enough to hold all that pull'd to come in at leastwise Provision to support them when there For however Ludlow upbraids the poor King with the Profuseness of his Court the standing Revenue of the Crown was about 400000 l. per Annum too little by far to supply his great and urgent Occasions Would they have given him Mony plentifully some new Places might have been made or other Ways and Means found to gratify their Kindness but as they knew the King's Honor and Integrity would not Stoop to such indirect Courses so 't is probable 't was considered on the other side this would put them upon a worse extream instead of giving nothing they must give more than all Nevertheless some were taken in Sir Thomas Wentworth Mr. Noy and a while after Sir Dudly Diggs who had their several Posts assign'd them and behav'd themselves with great Honor and Resolution there which so incenc'd the rest as they became more implacable than ever plotted all Ways imaginable to seize upon the Vessel which at length having obtain'd they first threw the King and his whole Crew overboard and then sunk it All which the Good Man was advis'd of long before for in the heat of their Prosecution against the Duke there was a Letter put into his Hands ab Ignoto whereof Mr. Rushworth gives only a sneaking Abridgment like a partial Somewhat as he is for the whole deserv'd to have been Transmitted as well as any one thing in all his Volumes however 't is at large in the Cabala giving him an Account of their several Parties and dangerous Designs that King Iames had given too much way to their popular Speeches and Parliamentary Harangues which since the time of Henry the VI. were never suffer'd as being the certain Symptoms of subsequent Rebellions Civil Wars and Dethroning of our Kings Amongst others he tells him the Lawyers in general fomented these Heats for that as Sir Edward Coke could not but often express our Kings have upholden the Power of their Prerogatives and the Rights of the Clergy whereby their comings in have been abated And therefore the Lawyers are fit ever in Parliaments to second any Complaints against both Church and King and all his Servants with their Cases Antiquities Records Statutes Presidents and Stories But they cannot or will not call to Mind that never any Noble Man in Favour with his Sovereign was question'd in Parliament except by the King's leave in Case of Treason or unless it were in the Nonage and Tumultuous Times of Richard II. Henry VI. or Edward the VI. which happen'd both to the Destruction of King and Kingdom And that not to exceed our own and Fathers memories in King Henry VIII's Time Wolsie's exorbitant Power and Pride and Cromwell's Contempt of the Nobility and Laws were not yet permitted to be discus'd in Parliament though they were most odious and grievous to all the Kingdom And that Leicester's undeserved Favour and Faults Hatton's Insufficiency and Rawleigh's Insolence far exceeded what yet hath been tho most falsly objected against the Duke Yet no Lawyer durst abet nor any else begin any Invectives against them in Parliament This is clear Matter of Fact an impartial Account both of the Distemper and its true Original Cause I wish he could as easily have prescribed the Cure but it was now too late to remove what was so deeply rooted and become habitual King Iames might easily have prevented its rising to so high a Crisis had he observ'd that one Maxim of the Precedent Reign kept up his Prerogative and those other Arcana Imperij which were his Peculiar with as much Majesty and Resolution as Queen Elizabeth did who found this Pragmatical Spirit at work in her Time But so observ'd and kept it down as had the same Course been continued no Danger could have accrew'd thereby To ascribe any thing of Divinity to Princes above other Mortals will I am sure at this time of Day be censured for a gross piece of Pedantry yet really there are several Inducements would go a great way to perswade that this happy Queen was so far inspir'd as to see further into the Thoughts and Designs of Men than any or all about her especially that these busy Reformers affected a Parity in the State as well as Church design'd not only the Mytre but the Crown to be under their Check and Control which made her on all Occasions exert so briskly in defence of her Prerogative and other just Rights Insomuch as Roger Coke owns there were three things she was impatient of having debated in Parliament The Succession of the Crown after her Death Her Marriage and attempting any Alterations in the Church from its Establishment in the first Year of her Reign For the last of these I have had occasion already to mention how Morris burnt his Fingers by meddling therewith and the Iournal gives the like Account about the former how one Wentworth and some others were sent to the Tower for concerning themselves with the Succession but whereas Roger Coke saith they were soon discharg'd is one of his own Maggots and a shameful perhaps willful Blunder since the Iournal would have inform'd him that the House becoming humble Sutors to her Majesty for the release of such Members as were under restraint It was answered by the Privy-Counsellors then Members of the House That her Majesty had committed them for Causes best known to her self and that to press her Highness with this Suit would but hinder those whose Good it sought That the House must not call the Queen to an Account for what she did of her
Earl of Lindsey never attempted to break their Diques open the Passage and put in Relief All which this vile Wretch affirms in one Breath tho' every Historian even to their Authentick Rushworth positively affirm it The continued course of impudent Untruths wherewith these Weeders nay Forgers of History have so long wearied my Patience makes me at last resolve upon this I hope innocent Revenge whenever for the time to come I meet any Person relating a most improbable Malicious Falshood from me he shall not have that common Opprobrium of a Lyer but of a Fanatick Common-wealth Historian CHAP. IX Of the Palatinate Bohemia and that Queen AND here before I leave the Defence by which term I all along mean that Libel which Undertakes to Justify the Parliament of Forty and all their Adherents there is one Stretch must be taken Notice of which as Physicians term it is a Nostrum of his Own never urg'd by any of his Brother Libellers viz. That the Eight Ships for so he will have it tho' really but Seven lent the French were Equipp'd with the Subsidies given for the Relief of his distressed Protestant Sister the Electress Palatine and the poor oppressed Protestants in the Palatinate Pag. 3. 'T is in a Parenthesis and so might have been left out as likewise for another Reason because not true which nevertheless must not pass here lest it should set aside the whole Pamphlet But I would gladly know what Subsidies he relates to those granted King Iames were more than expended upon raising the 10000 Men for Count Mansfield and those of Charles's first Parliament were only Voted not Rais'd when the Ships Lent which to clear the Matter the French Equipp'd at their own Expence and paid moreover for the use of Hull and Rigging 'T is Odd in the mean while to observe what a Compass these Fellows will fetch to gain one Point of Calumny which too after all they fail to Make. But because Roger Coke likewise Throws a great deal of Dirt upon the Memory of these two Kings Iames and Charles the First in Reference to that Unhappy Enterprize and thereby that Unhappy Family I shall here take care to wipe it off in making it appear they both did what possibly could be done to Retrieve so desperate an Affair Mr. Coke very desirous to make the Prince Elector a good Title to the Kingdom of Bohemia rambles into Hungary Poland and whither not And runs into more Mistakes than he pretends to Correct and quarrels at his Friend Rushworth whom he never fails to follow but when in the Right To be sure he stumbles at the very Threshold in saying before Ferdinand Brother to Charles the Fifth That Kingdom was Elective whereas Uratislaus their first King was made so from Duke by the Emperour Henry the Fourth who always after had a right of Nomination but his Power in those troublesome Times throughout Germany being very Precarious and his Avocations elsewhere not Suffering him to attend the Transactions of so many several Districts the People or States oftentimes assum'd that Power to themselves where notwithstanding they generally had regard to the Royal Family though not immediate Successor some other more prevalent with the Mob and their Leaders carried his own Business by promising to carry theirs better Nay to shew further that the greatest Sticklers for the People's Right had regard to the Royal Line when they chose this Unfortunate Frederick Elector Palatine a Descent was fram'd for him from Sophia Sister to Ladislaus the Second 'T is likewise a gross Mistake that the German Emperours were not Chosen till the Turks became great in Europe Charles the Fourth was chosen 1346. at which time the Turks had not set one foot there and so in the same manner his Three immediate Successors Wencislaus Sigismund and Albert when he was not come nigh nor any ways fear'd by the Western Empire though very formidable to the Eastern yet these Four are produc'd as Instances thereof At which rate he runs on without any regard to Truth or History and let them that will follow him I shall not but only observe at this very time when the Elector was made the Peoples Property there had been four Kings successively of the House of Austria Ferdinand Maximilian Rodolphus and Matthias Ferdinand the Second Adopted Son of Matthias doubting the Mob's Majority got himself Nominated without them according to the Original Institution and having both Prescription and Possession two strong Titles when those others put in their Claim it was Baffled at the Swords Point and the Kingdom hath been the quieter ever since But not to think with our Enthusiasts that Success is always an Argument of Right I shall refer it to what King Iames told Archbishop Abbot 'T was a Faction in Religion set up his Son there and God would never Prosper them And so likewise the Duke of Saxony sent Frederick word That he had often represented what Ruin was like to attend him by taking another Crown and for his own part he was bound to chastize the Rebels so that it seems he look'd upon them as such and 't is probable refus'd the Crown upon that Account for it was profer'd both him and the Duke of Lorrain which tend little to the Reputation of a Calvinist Prince that he should accept what a Lutheran and Papist whether out of Conscience Policy or both thought not fit to venture upon If this new King took that Crown in hopes of Assistance from his Father in Law here he was much mistaken for whatever Mr. Coke thinks he thought better and had asserted the Right of Crown'd Heads so far as he could upon no account give way to have them transferred upon every Mob Caprice Nay supposing a just Title I cannot imagine what Supply could been have given him Mony must have come from the Parliament who had been very backward upon other Occasions and would have been soon weary here and for Men there was no way of conveying them unless some Dutch Conjurer would have undertaken it in a Cloud through the Air no Neighbour Princes care to have such Cattle march through their Country and half a Score at least must have been treated with in Order to this Expedition most if not all of which might have served us as the French and Dutch did the Ten Thousand sent under Count Mansfield give fair Words but permit them not to come on Shore till more than half were perished on Ship-board So that to spend no more Words nor time upon Suppositions as matters really stood without Good Cause Good Courage or Good Conduct what could King Iames do more than he did treat with the House of Austria for an Accomodation of the most Rash Indiscreet ay and Unjustifyable enterprise ever any Prince engag'd in whatever the Zealous party did then or hath ever since said to defend it amongst which is Arch-Bishop Abbot's Letter so carefully recorded by Mr. Rushworth which after
in mind of what Plutarch relates concerning the peoples Prejudice against Metiochus Metiochus is Captain Metiochus is Surveyor Metiochus bakes the Bread c. evil day to Metiochus So crys Ludlow the Clergy advise the King the Clergy raise the Forces the Clergy pay the Army c. evil day to the Clergy whereas the only Clergyman of our Nation whom the King consulted was Bishop Laud and they that write most in vindication of Hamilton give him a very honourable Character as to whatsoever he advised in those unhappy affairs although neither he nor any of his Majesty's Faithful Loyal Subjects of either Kingdom were satisfied with those unreasonable condescentions he was wheedled into for that it was most visibly apparent the more he yielded the more insolently they persisted in further demands being so far from setting one step forward as to stand back with the greater Obstinacy and consider what was further to be insisted upon in defiance of all Honour Right and Law for as Ludlow relates The King by Commission impowered the Marquess of Hamilton to treat them into a Submission consenting to the suppression of the Liturgy High-Commission Court and Articles of Perth but the Scots insisting upon the Abolition of Episcopacy and the King refusing his consent to it they did it themselves in an Assembly held at Glasco This is a general account and which is very much and rare True but there were several Circumstances in the management thereof very considerable As first they that understood and wish'd best to the King and Kingdoms interest thought Hamilton a very improper person to be employ'd in that affair for that several of his nighest Relations were chief of the Covenant party his Mother more especially so great a Heroine as to ride with Pistols at her saddle Bow and defie both God and the King in defence of so good a cause Secondly there were several other prejudices against him which whether true or false made many honest men move with the less vigor because they expected no good Event from whatsoever he engag'd in and this was most unhappily confirmed by the Concessions he cajol'd the King into as to the Liturgy High Commission c. For after a long and fruitless Treaty with the Covenanters at Edinburgh attended with three several journeys to the English Court instead of Treating them into a Submission as Ludlow words it they Treated the King obtaining all to that time their most insolent demands What is alledg'd in his defence That he knew the Kings condition how unable he was or hard it would be to bring an Army into the Field is no ways valid for he was then as able as afterwards and delays were rather to their advantage than his and since all men of observation concluded the Scots would never give off without blows the Punctilio of first Aggressor was nonsence they never stood upon it when it would serve their turn and that their so grosly abused Sovereign should not take the best opportunity of chastising them is against all Rules of Reason and Policy whatsosoever but to speak freely the King 's great tenderness and regard to those his natural and Native Subjects as he termed them was so unfortunately misplac'd upon the most ungrateful set of people that ever trod upon God's Earth to his and their own ruine as well as all others concerned with them But if Hamilton impos'd upon the King by cajoling him into the most groundless concessions ever any Prince yielded to so doubtless the Covenanters impos'd altogether as much upon him for whether there was any correspondence between them or not as to this particular which for ought I can find remains still in the dark he could not but rationally presume it would be an eternal obligation to procure in one single Declaration a full grant of whatever all their Supplications Remonstrances Protestations c. had hitherto demanded and so indeed the Lords of the Council took it subscribing a Letter of acknowledgment to his Majesty in one of the most Rhetorical Flights I have generally met with owning that such acts of Clemency could not proceed from any Prince saving him who is the lively image of the great God Author of all Goodness Which how the most and most considerable of them kept afterwards would be unhappy to observe The Covenanters on the other side resolved to act without a vizard which they had some time before thrown quite away and for fear the People should cool and forbear assisting in the designed Rebellion repair'd to the Cross at Edinburgh erected a Scaffold under it where a great number of Earls Lords Gentlemen and others mounted with Swords in their hands and Hats on their Heads having that worthy wight Archibald Johnson who never fail'd in any villainy tho as property to Oliver Cromwell and a member in the Committee of safety to read the most Impudent Ignorant Treasonable ay and Blasphemous Protestation that ever was penn'd to make good which last charge it is there expresly affirm'd that their Covenant was seal'd from Heaven and approv'd thence by rare and undeniable Evidences whereas it looks more like a Combination from Hell the undoubted forge of all Faction Sedition and Schism Nevertheless they did not think fit to break out into open Rebellion till they had got the Blessing of their Assembly to the meeting whereof the King had likewise condescended It hath somewhat of affinity with our Convocation only in imitation of Geneva was divided into several Classes and from a Provincial choice sent up to a General These at the beginning of the Reformation play'd Rex and Pope all in one would controul and Over-rule whatever Civil Determinations they dislik'd command the King to discharge such a Minister of State otherways they would proceed to Excommunication and when once upon a time he had engag'd the Magistrates of Edinburgh to entertain the French Embassadours with which Crown he design'd to enter into Ancient Amity the little Class of that City Preachers proclaimed a Fast to be kept the same day on which three of them severaly preach'd one after another without intermisson Thundering out Curses against the Magistrates and other Noble men who attended the Embassadors Neither stay'd ther Folly here saith my Author but pursuel the Magistrates with the censures of the Church and with much difficulty were kept from Excommunication These insolencies by degrees King Iames put a Check to and for 60 years last past such assemblies were regularly summon'd in Subordination to their Bishop but now they were resolv'd to have all thrown open again and to be the surer of a Party brought the lay Elders to Vote in the Choice of their Commissioners that the sober and honest part of the Clergy which were numerous might not over Balance them in short never was any Election carry'd on with so much partiallity and confusion which continu'd all the time of their Session till the Commissioners patience was so highly
of the Irish Rebels arrived in England filling all places with the sad complaints of their Cruelties whereupon the Parliament earnestly press'd the King to proclaim them Rebels but could not obtain it to be done till many weeks and then but forty of those Proclamations were Printed and not above half of them Published which was the more observ'd and resented by reason of the different treatment the Scotch had met with who no sooner appear'd in a much better cause but they were forthwith declared Rebels in every Parish Church within the Kingdom p. 19. A very plausible story but for want of one thing and that is Truth whereof it hath not the least Syllable For first the Parliament never press'd the King for a Proclamation Secondly the Fourty Proclamations printed were not for this Kingdom but Ireland So that Thirdly there could be no ground of resentment upon the Scotch account but by such pick-thank fellows as Ludlow and his Party In short the matter of Fact stands exactly thus The Parliament as they were very inquisitive to catch at every thing which might give them an advantage against the Court having underhand information that a Warrant was sent to the Printer for the foremention'd Proclamations to be forthwith provided open'd very loud upon it Why so few Why no sooner c. The Printer was summon'd the Warrant produc'd and a mighty bustle made as generally the cry is greatest where the least Wool In the midst of which heats the Secretary of State gave this account of the matter that the Proclamations were printed at the Request of the Lords Iustices and Privy-Council in Ireland who desir'd to have twenty sign'd by his Majesty's own hand and no more who nevertheless order'd forty and sent them accordingly I do not remember the cause was given to the Parliament why so sign'd But 't is probable to invalidate that forg'd Commission whereto they had fix'd the Kings Broad-Seal granted to a private person upon a Title of Land Otherwise there had been Proclamations several from the first day the Rebellion broke out in Ireland the only place where requisite But why not in England as well as against the Scotch as our Author insinuates whereto I reply First the Scotch had seiz'd upon at leastwise assum'd the Administration of the whole Civil Power so that no Proclamation could come out against them there Secondly they had too many abettors in England who encourag'd them to begin and were resolv'd to follow the first opportunity So that thirdly the Proclamation must come from hence or not at all and was equally requisite against both What he adds farther of the Scotch being the much better Cause is only the private opinion of a fellow Rebel they were both so bad as upon an impartial scanning it would puzzle their Infernal Patron to tell which was worst Having had the confidence to averr two such impudent falshoods as aforementioned 't is strange how he comes to mince the matter so much as to the third and tell us the Rebels in Ireland pretended a Commission from the K. for what they did and his Abstract the Defence gives indeed a Copy therefore but withal goes no farther than that it was said to be given by the King to his Catholick Subjects in Ireland p. 14. Whereas there was no one Slander more confidently thrown abroad than that and continued longer nay I have met with several Fanaticks within these few years who still take it for an undoubted truth and what they have so long entertain'd nothing but the final Iudgment can make them renounce Once for all therefore to silence this Infamous Calumny we must know the Commonalty of the Native Irish having liv'd a long time in Peace and Amity with the English were not without some Reverence to that Government and so could not in plain and direct terms be easily led into an avowed Rebellion against their King whereupon their leaders Phelim Oneil c. were forced to perswade them that they took up Arms for the King and the Defence of his Lawful Prerogative against the Puritanical Parliament in England who had invaded it in many parts and that what they did was by his Majesty's Approbation and Authority And to gain the greater Credit to that Fiction they produc'd a Commission whereto the Broad-Seal taken from a private grant was affix'd as aforesaid which made it no difficult matter to perswade rude and unexperienced people to believe it real all which in a short time was clearly detected as well by several Irish Rebels taken Prisoners as English Protestants who escap'd their fury particularly Dr. Maxwell a Reverend Scotch Divine against which Nation they were not so Savagely cruel as the English in his Examination and Deposition upon Oath at Dublin which was sent too into England declar'd That he whilst their Prisoner expostulated with them for abusing the King in so gross a manner To whom they reply'd That in all Wars Rumors and Lyes serv'd many times to as good purpose as Arms and that they wou'd not disclaim any advantage But to silence for ever that horrid Scandal of his Majesty's Commission we have an unexceptionable Evidence and Proof which will not only clear him but render our Author Ludlow were there nothing else against him a much worse Man than the bloody'st Wretch in the whole Irish Rebellion In the Year 52 our English Regicides having very nigh compleated their Conquest Erected what they termed an High-Court of Iustice in Ireland to hear and determine all Murthers and Massacres of any Protestant English or other Person or Persons whatsoever within that Nation where amongst many others the Iustice and Mercy of Heaven had reserv'd Sir Phelim Oneil to receive his deserved Doom at whose Arraignment Sentence and Execution another Reverend Divine one Dr. Ker since Dean of Ardagh by God's great good Providence was present and makes a full Deposition thereof As where the Court was kept what Iudges sat what Witnesses sworn the many Murthers and Robberies prov'd c. After which he comes to this material Evidence as to the present matter That one of the Iudges whose name he had forgot Examined Sir Phelim about a Commission he should have had from Charles Stewart as the Iudge thought fit to term late King for levying the said War he was charg'd with Sir Phelim made Answer he never had any such Commission whereupon it was prov'd in Court by the Testimony of one Ioseph Traverse and others that Sir Phelim had such a Commission and did in the beginning of the Rebellion shew the same unto the said Ioseph and several others then in Court. Upon which Sir Phelim confess'd that when he surpriz'd the Castle of Charlemont and the Lord Caulfield that he ordered one Mr. Harrison a Witness there and another Gentleman to cut off the Kings Broad-Seal from a Patent of the said Lords they then found in Charlemont and affixt it to a Commission Sir Phelim had ordered to
rais'd on purpose that their Worships might be thought to stand in need of a Guard whereas if such a thing was wanting it must be to Guard the King and Government from them In that Divine Pourtraicture of his Majesty's Solitudes and Sufferings there are two Chapters one upon the many Iealousies rais'd and Scandals cast upon the King to stir up the People against him The other upon the Insolencies of the Tumults in both which he doth so passionately set forth how abominably he and his Subjects were abus'd by their Lyes and Slanders as would Convince ay and Convert too any Reprobate whatsoever but a Republican As to the Tumults how just and reasonable is that Resentment of his I confess saith he when I found such a Deafness that no Declaration from the Bishops who were first foully insolenc'd and assaulted nor yet from Lords and Gentlemen of Honour nor yet from my self could take Place for the due Repression of these Tumults and securing not only our Freedom in Parliament but our very Persons in the Streets I thought my self not bound by my Presence to provoke them to higher Boldness and Contempts I hoped also by my withdrawing to give time both to the Ebbing of their tumultuous Fury and others regaining some degrees of modesty and sober Sense But his hopes were altogether frustrated they persever'd at the same Rebel rate till as he foretold the Just Avenger of all Disorders made those Men and that City see their Sin in the Glass of their Punishment which soon after happen'd in the same way they had offended But never was this Meteor Mob so high in Meridian Altitude as when the five Members were accus'd it was indeed the sole Support of that cursed Cause without which the King had curs'd them all to the Scaffold and so sent them to their proper Place where all Rebellions are first laid and in the end Punish'd Here then let us see how Ludlow palliates this Business which being clear Matter of Fact he had no way to flourish off but with his continu'd Impudence in reflecting upon the King whose violent Ways not succeeding he fell upon other Measures in appearance more moderate c. p. 20. and to colour his Proceedings with a Form of Law sent Sir Edward Herbert his Attorny General to accuse of High Treason in the name of his Majesty Mr. William Stroud c. and Lord Kimbolton accquainting them that he intended to proceed against them according to Law and then gives us the Articles which are foul enough yet not exact to the Original no where calling them Traytors as that justly doth But whatever he further saith as to the House of Commons is altogether a Chymera of his own there were no Foot-steps of it in all the Procedure His Words are these Upon this the House made answer to the Attorny General that they were the proper Judges of their own Members That upon his producing the Articles if they found Cause they would leave them to be Proceeded against according to Law but commanded him at his Peril not to proceed further against them or any other Member without their Consent After which they published a Declaration to the same purpose c. p. 24. upon which Relation of our Author give me leave to make these few Remarks as first This Charge of the General 's was given in to the House of Lords as a Court of Iudicature whereupon they fell to Debate 1 st Whether this Accusation of the Attorny General 's be a regular Proceeding 2dly Whether there were any such Proceedings ever before in this House 3dly Whether an Accusation of High Treason may be brought against a Peer of Parliament With some others and yet this blundering Fellow supposes all this to be done in the House of Commons and frames an Answer accordingly but any thing will pass with the Fanaticks from a confiding Brother who perhaps too will like it the better for being Preposterous and False 2 dly Supposing that to be their Answer as it was indeed the Sense of all their Votes Speeches and Declarations what Law made them Judges of their own Members From the beginning it was not so Nor 3 dly That a Member could not be proceeded against without their leave we have been told that formerly no Priviledges could secure any Member from Justice for Murder Felony and Treason but now having made Prerogative a Cypher they might add as many as they pleas'd to Multiply what they thought fit to call their Rights although in order thereunto methinks they should have repeal'd that scurvy Proverb of Asking ones Fellow whether he be a Thief 4 thly Had the Gentlemen accus'd been really Innocent they need not have made such a Noise and Pudder nothing could have been a greater Baffle to his Majesty than such an unjust Charge the contrary is therefore to me Demonstration 5 thly The Commons indeed when the King was gon fell upon the Attorny General and had him Interrogated at the Lord's Bar by a Committe of theirs whereto his Answer not being Satisfactory they made some angry Resolves but I cannot any where find he was sent to Prison for his Proceedings in that Matter as Ludlow saith Well the King finding the Lords afraid to burn their Fingers by questioning these Idols the Rabble so ador'd took another Course sent one Mr. Francis a Serjeant at Arms to the House of Commons to demand of them and Arrest of High Treason the five Members which was done as order'd and their Names declar'd whereupon four Members were order'd to attend his Majesty and acquaint him that the Message was a matter of great Consequence and the House would take it into Consideration with as much speed as the greatness of the Business will permit But notwithstanding their fair Words instead of complying herein Sir William Fleming and another Gentleman who by Warrant from the King had seal'd up the Studies and Trunks of the five Members were apprehended by Mr. Speaker's Warrant as Delinquents and Order'd to remain in the Serjeant's Custody till further Order so that it seems they could Commit though the King must not Neither of these Courses taking effect his Majesty resolv'd upon a Third which was to go to the House and demand them himself which he did with all the Tenderness and Regard imaginable for whatever Ludlow saith of 3 or 4 Hundred and amongst them several Desperados entertain'd at White-hall the whole number did not consist of above one the Gentlemen Pensioners in Course with other Lords and Gentlemen then in Attendance or about Court who were commanded to move no further than the Stairs nor offer any Violence though provok'd himself with the Elector Palatine only entring in where he found the Birds flown and the whole House as soon as he was withdrawn flew after them into the City with a grievous Complaint to their Protectors the Rabble that they could not speak and act Treason at Pleasure without being question'd by his Majesty
Distractions and Perplexities this Excellent Prince labour'd under it could not but be some Satisfaction to see such visible Retaliations since there was not a Member of the Covenant Class but might take up Adonibezek's Acknowledgment As we have done so the Lord hath requited us The manner of Ioyce's carrying off the King hath not one Syllable of Truth as to the Circumstances thereof in Ludlow's Relation He saith Ioyce had an Order in writing to take the King out of the Hands of the Commissioners of Parliament p. 191 whereas upon the King 's demanding a sight of his Instructions that saith the impudent Fellow you shall see presently and drawing up the best part of his Party into the inner Court as near as he could to the King say'd these Sir are my Instructions whereto his Majesty Smilingly reply'd Your Instructions are in fair Characters and Legible without Spelling Neither is it true that the King would have retracted his Promise to Ioyce upon the Commissioner's Perswasion it was by his Inducement the Guards were taken off their Lodgings and when Ioyce press'd the King to go along with him no Prejudice being intended but rather his Satisfaction upon the King's saying he would not stir unless the Commissioners went with him the other reply'd that for his Part he was indifferent Neither did the King take Horse but went in a Coach with the Earls Pembrook Denbeigh and Lord Mountague who as the rest of their Fellows were very Shagreen upon this Force his Majesty being observ'd the Merryest in the Company And when Colonel Brown and Mr. Crew return'd to the Parliament is not certain to be sure they did not go from Holmby but attended the King to Hinchingbrook tho an Express was sent from the first Notice of Ioyce's Approach The whole Passage of this Force with several others very considerable from hence forward to his Majesty's Murder is most faithfully related in the Athenae Oxon. as the Author had them from Sir Thomas Herbert a constant and sometimes sole Attendant upon the King in all those his Solitudes and Sufferings In all probability it was with no little regret to our Author before he saw whether it tended that the Army paid so great a Deference to the King suffer'd his Officers to continue and publickly own'd the Design Colonel Francis Russel and others attending the King became soon converted by the Splendor of his Majesty c. p. 193. And some Pages before 177. he inveighs bitterly against Colonel Brown the Wood-monger for that having been as great a Rebel as himself indeed much more Considerable and Mischievous he no sooner came into the King's Conversation but became a Convert which Ludlow would have the effect of a low and abject Original and Education whereas there cannot be a greater Instance of a generous Temper to acknowledge his Mistakes and beg his Majesty's Pardon when there was nothing but Obloquy and Persecution from the prevailing Power which he met withal sufficiently and was as forward to return when occasion serv'd being one of the Bloodyest Butchers of the Parliament's Friends p. 178. Indeed upon the Restauration he was very forward in apprehending and condemning the Regicides and it was by an unlucky Chance this Fellow escap'd his Hands The Devils knowing themselves under Sentence of Eternal Reprobation are never better pleas'd than to have engag'd a Man so far as to lay aside all Thoughts of Pardon of Reconciliation with God and really I never met with a Person more truly Proselyted to Hell upon that and indeed all other Concerns than our Author as having not only abandoned all Thoughts of Peace and Mercy in himself but an implacable Spite against such as were any ways inclin'd thereto on the contrary wherever his Majesty met any of such ingenuous Christian Dispositions he certainly Convinc'd them of their Mistakes and brought them over to his Party There are too many Instances of this Kind and too well known to be here set down That of Mr. Vines in Dr. Perenchief's Life is very Considerable because as rigid a Presbyterian as the rest who declar'd he had been deluded into unworthy Thoughts of the King but was now convinc'd to an exceeding Reverence of him and hoped so of others c. There was one Dell an Army Chaplain counterpart to Hugh Peters and tho less a Buffoon yet as much a Rogue they jointly giving out when their Villanies were ripe that the King was but as a dead Dog This unworthy Wretch said once in my hearing that whilst in the Army it was told him the King express'd a desire to see Dell but said the Fellow I would not come at him because we found he had a cunning way of getting into Men and making them think well of him and his Cause This indeed I find from several Particulars that the Prejudices of such Ulcerous Minds kept them off upon a false Surmise that the King could Pardon and Forgive no more than they upon which String I observe Ludlow often harping especially upon his Observation of the Army's respect in this Juncture whom he seems to laugh at for not considering how easy it would be for him to break through all his Promises and Engagements upon pretence of being under a Force p. 193. 'T is true they had violated the solemnest Oaths and Tyes imaginable in putting a Force upon him whereas he good Man was so Religious to his bare Promises as in the end it cost him his Life What he further relates of Transactions between the King and Army is as we are told from a Manuscript written by Sir Iohn Barkly and left in the Hands of a Merchant at Geneva That Sir Iohn since Lord Iohn Barkly was attending upon the King at this Time is certain and we will grant 't is his Manuscript to be sure none of our Authors being of a more polite Stile pen'd like a Man of Sense and Business so that wherever brought in it looks like a piece of New Cloth to make bold with the Parable put to an Old Garment and renders his thred-bare Stuff an abominably patch'd Business From these Papers he would have us believe that the Grandees of the Army Cromwel Ireton c. were once in so good a Mood as to design the Restauration of his Majesty whose ill Conduct in not following Sir Iohn's Directions and caressing them as expected spoil'd all And this ought to be taken into Consideration because I have met some honest Gentlemen too forward in giving Credit thereto and the Commonwealth's Men run away with it as infallible notwithstanding the quite contrary appears from Ludlow's own Relation who perhaps too hath perverted several of Sir Iohn's Expressions to the King's Prejudice for there is nothing so base and false he would not be guilty of upon that Account as when he is reported to break away from them and say Well I shall see them glad e're long to accept of more equal Terms p. 203 and that p. 205. you cannot