done in the Names of the whole by the Commons in Parliament and if it be the Duty of every English man to fight for his King if occasion require against any Party that ever shall hereafter pretend to have the Authority of both or either of the Houses to back them 13 Car. 2. cap. 6. as I humbly conceive is most plain then why may not they right his Majesty with their Pens who must do it with their Swords why may they not Approve his Cause as well as Defend it And if this be not allowed Any King of England may be Deposed and Murthered as the late King was for if there be a Blind Obedience due to all the Votes of Parliament 13 Car. 2. cap. 1. §. 2. and no man may in any Case judge them Illegal and Unreasonable then must all men absolutely Submit to them and obey them and the Consequence is if any future Parliament shall Vote any future King or or Monarchy it self a Grievance to the Nation and those that stand by them Enemies to the Kingdom if no man may Contradict such a Vote nor any Number of Men how great soever Umpire betwixt the King and his Great Council that is Defend him against his Parliament the effect will Certainly follow and as this is the natural Tendance of these Principles as we saw in the Late Troubles so I can conceive no other cause why they should be now again insinuated into the Heads of the Rabble For these Men who pretend to reverence the Three Last Parliaments at such a Prodigious rate The late Long Parliament tho filled with Danby his Pensioners The Modest Vindication of the Two last Parliaments p. 11. do traduce that which went immediately before most abominably and those who are so tender of the Votes of these care as little for the Established Lawes of the former as I do for the Decrees of the Council of Trent or of the Synod of Dort So that it is plain it is not respect to Parliaments as Parliaments that makes them thus obsequious but as made up of such a Sort of men and Driving on such Designs and Interests To return then Gentlemen from this long Digression which I have inserted only to Justifie You I will Conclude That as you have begun bravely so you must go thro with the business or Expect a Revenge from the Opposite Party equal to their Rage and tho I Know you do not fear them yet I would Advise you not to be too Secure of them but let your Vigilance Industry and Application to all Sorts of Men be equal to theirs at least and then it is Ten thousand to one you shall never try either theirs or your own Valour and as your Case is better so let it inspire you with more Resolution to Stand and Fall with it and his Most hearty Prayers for a good Success upon all your Loyal Undertakings and Designs shall never be wanting who is Your most Devoted Servant THE Third Part OF THE ADDRESS TO THE FREE-MEN and FREE-HOLDERS OF THE NATION HIS Majesty by the Blessing of GOD having Supprest the short Scotch Rebellion which in great part miscarried by the timeing of it tho no human fore-sight on their part could have prevented that His Majesty first Proroguing and then Dissolving that Parliament which seem'd to be the occasion of it with such Secrecy and Quickness that their Friends at London could give them no previous Notice of his Intentions so to do So that besides the total disappointing them of all that Countenance Ayd and Assistance they promised themselves from England many of their Friends at home whose Crimes being less had not the same necessity or whose Zeal was not of that fiery temper with theirs and therefore were prudently resolved tho they wished well to the design yet not to hazard their sweet Lives and Fortunes in it till they saw what Success these first Venturers had who hearing of the Prorogation of the Parliament and being doubtless admonished by their London Friends at the same time not to stir during this short Recess as they then thought it would be layd by all thoughts of Joyning with them and Augmenting their Numbers and the Privy Councils in both Nations attending solely to that business it was Extinguished almost as easily as it began Upon which His Majesty by his Royal Proclamation Dissolved this Parliament and Issued out Writs for another to Sit at Westminster the Seventeenth day of October 1679. Hoping his Subjects duly reflecting upon the Miscarriages of the Last House of Commons and the Danger the Nation had so narrowly escaped of Being involved in another destructive Intestine War at a time when the Victorious Arms of France hung like a dreadful Cloud over our heads and the High Discontents of the Popish Party which were inflamed and inraged both by the Discovery and Prosecutions of the late Plot lay broyling in the Bowels of the Nation would proceed with more Prudence and Caution in the Next Elections and send Him up men of Better Tempers or that at least these Gentlemen by that Act seeing He was resolved to keep the Reins in his own hands and to let them Sir or Dissolve them according as they behaved themselves would thereby be kept in better awe for the future and make use of a little more calmness in their Proceedings if it were but to continue their Being But alas His Majesty soon found himself deceived in his Expectation the common people who see with other mens eyes and follow as they are led and that is for the most part the wrong way were easily perswaded to believe in the first place that this Parliament was Prorogued and Dissolved onely to prevent the Tryal of the Popish Lords in the Tower tho the Not Trying of them was one of the greatest Causes that Moved his Majesty to it as appears plainly both by the Journals of both the Houses and his Majesties Speech in the Conclusion of that Session of Parliament and altho these Five Lords were brought to the Bar and the Commons summon'd to give in Evidence against them that very day that they were Prorogued they refused to do it And on the other side the Malecontents rejoyced greatly in it being well assured that the same Men would be chosen again and so made use of this Dissolution as a means to incense the People against the King and the Government and to increase the real or pretended fears of Men by their Loud Clamours against French Pensioners Popery Arbitrary Government and the like which both in discourse and Print the Press being now at Liberty from its former restraint they objected with equal Confidence and Falshood against the Loyal Gentlemen that had opposed them But besides these general Charges they made special use of two things that fell out in the last Parliament and that had a mighty influence upon the Minds of the populace and other Unthinking men The first of which was to
this Prince gratified them in one thing they started another Game hoping at last to ruine this Excellent Prince by his own Concessions as at length they did for these sober Protestants were resolved never to leave asking till they had brought their King to be their Equal first and at last under them This procedure did in part discover the Design and necessitated him to stretch his Prerogative to find some small Relief for his urgent and pressing Necessities by Monopolies Knight-mony Loans upon Privy Seals and at last Ship-money great parts of which Moneys were employed upon the Building Ships for the encrease of the Royal Navy which he did to that height that it was so Invincible to any Humane Power that though Sir William Batten in 1648. carried a very Considerable part of it to his Now Majesty yet the remainder of it with a small Addition beat the Dutch for all their many years Preparations Yet first all those that signalized themselves by opposing the King in these Levies most were chosen into the following Parliaments as the best Patriots and Common-wealth-men and these again made it their business in Parliament by joyning with the Rebellious Scots to involve us in that accursed War which endangered not only the ruine of our Government and Trade but our very Being In the beginning of that War the Parliament-side went down and in likelihood the King and his Party had finally prevailed if the Scots had not broke out again upon the solicitation of the English Parliament without the least cause given them by the King And during this time and afterwards too * Page 12. Sect. 19. Of the Relations and Observations upon the Parliament begun in 1640. pag. 143. Sect. 5. And in the Remonstrance of many Thousands in and about the City of London dated Mar. 22. 1648. to the Army is this Passage Then shall those faithful Persons who hazarded all for the Parliament and many of them lent more than their whole Estates and now live in Prison nay starve for want of it not be put to devour Cathedrals and ransack the Monuments of the Dead but be honestly paid with thanks and requitals then shall not the Publick Faith be out pawned and so little care taken to Redeem it whilst Millions of Treasure have been conveyed beyond the Seas Pag. 3. I suppose this was not all private Treasures though the loss is the same to the Nation if it were so Walker in his History of Presbytery and Independency hath acquainted us That many of the Parliament Grandees who besides their own Wealth which was great had drawn in most of the Treasure and Plate of the Nation on specious pretences and the Publick Faith sent huge sums over to the Banks in Holland and the Western Plantations that in case the King should finally prevail they might have a place of Retreat where they might enjoy the Blood and Tears of the poor deluded People in safety and security But this was not all during this War the English Trade both at home and abroad was almost totally Ruin'd many Thousands of Tradesmen were either Undone or Killed and Destroyed or forced to seek quieter Habitations beyond the Seas above one half of the Nation the West and the North were almost totally ruined and depopulated by the War and the other half by excessive Taxes Excise Sequestrations c. by all which ways I have seen an Account Printed Relation of the Parliament begun 1640. p. 8. Sect. 14. That there was about Forty Millions of Money Collected and Spent within the space of a few years by that Parliament side only not one farthing of which turned to any account to the Nation But in the interim the wise Dutch drive on the Trade of almost the whole World and only furnished the King with Armes and Ammunition for the Jewels of the Crown and dealt with the Parliament for Timber The last cited Remonstrance to the Army p. 4. which they sold of the Crown-Lands Church-Lands and the Sequestred Estates of the Gentry and Nobility which Timber the Dutch wisely employed in Building Ships to ruine the prevailing side when the War was done and then they did not question but to be the Soveraigns of the Ocean and of all the Trade and Commerce that is exercised on it and to speak the truth they had then some reason to hope it might have happened so For if England had once been brought under no other State could have disputed the point with them and England was then preparing it self for ruine by giving the Hollanders more advantages than their Modesty could have wished for And the Dutch were so confident that the Success would answer their Expectations that they grew impatient to have Possession of their almost assured Mastery and before our Internal Broyls were over and the Nation setled any way in the Year 1652. set upon our Fleet in the Downs and if the Advantage of almost two to one and an unexpected Assault had not been over-ruled by the Providence of God and the unparallell'd Valour of the English they had certainly destroyed them as they did the Spanish Fleet in the same place about Ten Years before and although the English fortune and Courage prevailed then and in the whole Course of that War and brought down the Craft Treachery and Pride of the Hollanders yet was the whole Glory of these Victories in which the Rump boasted so much next Gods Mercy to these poor Nations owing solely to the Providence of that Prince they had but a little before so basely Murdered as an Enemy to God and his People and then stiled the Tyrant As Mr. Coke hath well observed in his Preface to the fourth Treatise Of the Improvement of England To which excellent Discourses I refer my Reader All that I shall infer from hence is that I hope the Nation will never run the same hazard of losing all their Foreign Trade again by siding with factious Men against the Monarchy The Rump having beaten the Dutch found a more dangerous Enemy at home and being generally now hated by the People were without any difficulty turned out by Oliver Cromwel their Hypocritical Servant 1654. who to secure himself in his ill gotten Possession of the Government made an unsetled and dishonourable Peace with the Dutch Which they imployed in Building much larger and more Men of War than they had before to prevent the Ruine of their States by another English War which could not be concealed from Oliver who likewise encreased the English Fleet with many more and considerable Men of War as the last Cited Author tells us As O. C. lost the English the Advantage of their Naval Victories by that Peace he made with the Dutch which left the English nothing but a little unprofitable Glory and the blows they had received from the Hollanders whilst it gave them opportunity to grow rich and prepare for another Attempt So our Tyrant fell soon after into another
then supply him by a Lone in the Intervals of Parliament have we a Property in what is our own and may we not use it as we see cause without breach of Priviledge of Parliament Your Vote of the 10th of January That the Prosecution of the Protestant Dissenters upon the Penal Laws was at that time Grievous to the Subject a Weakning of the Protestant Interest an Incouragement to Popery and Dangerous to the Peace of the Kingdom is as little understood as any of the rest Why was it made To what Subject is it Grievous To the Dissenters Why then let them leave their Dissenting to the Church of England and all will be well What Protestant Interest doth it weaken for there are more Protestant Interests then one in the Nation doth it weaken that Protestant Interest which is Settled by Law Then say so But how it doth encourage Popery or endanger the Peace of the Nation is yet Harder to be understood but Suppose it did what then You may repeal the Laws and Bills you had afoot that would have Repealed them if they would have passed but you were to be adjourned and had not time to finish them And did you think to have laid them asleep by your Single Vote without the Consent of the Lords or the King You should have done well then to have told the Nation that you have the whole Legislative Power in your hands and that it is Contrary to Law for any man to Act against a Vote of the House of Commons tho in Obedience to an Act of Parliament But that I may not seem to set up my own Single Judgment against a Whole House of Commons I will insert an Authority or two Equal to them in better Times tho they be Long. The first of which shall be an Address of the House of Commons the 28. of Febr. 1663. May it please your Most Excellent Majesty WE Your Majesties most Dutiful and Loyal Subjects the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons in Parliament Assembled having with all Fidelity and Obedience Considered of the Several Matters Comprised in Your Majesties late Gracious Declaration of the 26. of Decemb. Last and your most Gracious Speech at the beginning of this presenâ— Session Do in the first place for our Selves and in the Names of all the Commons of England render to your most Sacred Majesty the Tribute of our most hearty Thanks for all that infinite Grace and Goodness wherewith Your Majesty hath been pleased to publish your Royal Intentions of adhering to your Act of Indemnity and Oblivion by your Constant and Religious observance of it And our Hearts are further enlarged in these returns of Thanksgivings when we Consider Your Majesties most Princely and Heroick Professions of relying upon the Affections of your People and Abhorring all Sort of Military and Arbitrary Rule But above all we can never enough remember to the Honour of Your Majesties Piety and our own unspeakable Comfort those Solemn and most endearing Invitations of us Your Majesties Subjects to prepare Laws to be presented to Your Majesty against the Growth and encrease of Popery and withal to provide more Laws against Licentiousness and Impiety at the same time declaring Your Own Resolutions for Maintaining the Act of Vniformity And it becomes us always to acknowledg and Admire Your Majesties Wisdom in this your Declaration whereby Your Majesty is pleased to resolve not onely by Sumptuary Laws but by your Own Royal Example of Frugality to restrain that Excess in mens Expences which is grown so general and so exorbitant and to direct our endeavours to find out fit Laws for Advancement of Trade and Commerce After all this We humbly beseech Your Majesty to believe that it is with Extream Vnwillingness and Reluctancy of Heart that we are brought to differ from any thing which your Majesty hath thought fit to propose And though we do no way doubt but that the unreasonable distempers of Mens Spirits and the Many Mutinies and Conspiracies which were carried on during the late Interval of Parliaments did reasonably incline Your Majesty * * I suppose here is a word wanting to ill humours till the Parliament assembled and the hopes of an Indulgence if the Parliament should Consent to it Especially seeing the pretenders to this Indulgence did seem to make some title to it by virtue of Your Majesties Declaration from Breda Nevertheless your Majesties most Dutiful and Loyal Subjects who are Now returned to Serve in Parliament from those Several Parts and Places of Your Kingdom for which we were Chosen do humbly offer to Your Majesties Great Wisdom That it is in No Sort Adviseable that there be any Indulgence to such persons who prefume to dissent from the Act of Uniformity and Religion Established for these Reasons We have Considered the Nature of Your Majesties Declaration from Breda and are Humbly of Opinion that Your Majesty ought not to be pressed with it any further Because it is not a Promise in it Self but onely a Gracious declaration of Your Majesties Intentions to do what in you lay and what a Parliament should Advise Your Majesty to do and No such Advice was ever given or thought fit to be offered nor could it be otherwise Vnderstood because there were Lawes of Vniformity then in being Note this Which Could not be dispeused with but by Act of Parliament They who do pretend a right to that Supposed Promise put their right into the Hands of their Representatives whom they chose to Serve for them in this Parliament who have passed and your Majesty Consented to the ACT of Vniformity If any shall presume to Say That a right to the benefit of this Declaration doth still remain after this Act passed it tends to dissolve the very Bonds of Government and to Suppose a disability in Your Majesty and your Houses of Parliament to make a Law contrary to any part of your Majesties Declaration though both Houses should Advise Your Majesty to it We have also Considered the Nature of the Indulgence proposed with reference to those Consequences which must Necessarily attend it It will Establish Schism by a Law and make the whole Government of the Church precarious and the Censures of it of No Moment or Consideration at all It will no way become the Gravity or Wisdom of a Parliament to pass a Law at One Session for Vniformity and at the Next Session the reason for Vniformity Continuing still the same to pass another Law to frustrate or Weaken the Execution of it It will Expose Your Majesty to the restless Importunity of every Sect or Opinion and of every single person also that shall presume to dissent from the Church of England It will be a cause of increasing Sects and Sectaries whose Numbers will weaken the true Protestant profession so far that it will at last become difficult for it to defend it self against them And which is yet further Considerable those Numbers which
that shame and confusion they deserve who through their sides strike at the Lords Anointed and endeavour to ruine both the Church and State by changing the Government from a Monarchy to a Common-wealth as experience taught us once before when the Crown soon followed the Miter and the Temporal Lords the Bishops On Wednesday four of the five Lords in the Tower were brought to the House of Lords and heard the Articles readagainst them and had Copies of them and were assigned their Counsel for matter of Law but not for matter of Fact and had time to answer till the 15th Instant But the Lord Bellasys not being able to appear by reason he was lame of the Gout was excused and had a Copy of the Articles sent him On Monday the 14th of April at a conference the Lords consented to pass the Bill against the Earl of Danby without any amendment Wednesday the 16th of April A Bill for securing the King and Kingdom against the growh and Danger of Popery was read the second time and commttied to a Committee The same day a Message was brought from the Lords that the E. of D. had rendered himself and was sent to the Tower And by another Message word was sent that the four Lords had Appeared had sent in their Answers to the Articles upon which they had been proceeded against which Answers they sent down to the Commons being the Originalls and the Lords desired the return of them with all convenient speed that they might consider of them And then the Commons Voted his Majesty a supply for the Disbanding the rest of the Forces not disbanded by the former Act. To be levied by a Land Tax in six Months By which all Forces raised or brought over from Foreign parts since the 29th of September 1677. were to be disbanded The Commission Officers being to be paid only to the first of this April The next day a debate arising Thursday the 17 of April whether the Mony for Disbanding the Army should be paid into the Exchequer it was carried in the Affirmative by 60 Voices A Committee of Secrecy was appointed to prepare and draw up evidence against the E. of Danby and also further Articles as they should see cause On Friday the 25th of April a Bill for prevention of raising Mony upon the Subjects but by Act of Parliament was read the first time and ordered to be read a second time A Bill for exporting Cloth to Turkie was read a first time and ordered to be read again The same day the E. of D. and John Lord Bellasys appeared at the Bar of the House of Lords and put in their several Answers which were sent down to the Commons with desire they might be returned with all convenient speed On Saturday it was resolved in the House of Commons 26 of April that they would the Friday following take into consideration how to make the law for prohibiting the importation of French Commodities more effectual William Viscount Stafford Henry Lord Arundel of Wardour and William Earl of Powis Appeared this day at the Bar of the House of Lords and retracted their former Plea's and put in their Answers which were by a Message sent down to the Commons which were read and referred to the Committee of Secrecy belonging to the said House This day the House of Commons resolved Nemine Contradicente That this House will sit to morrow to consider of the best means to secure and preserve the Kings person and also the Protestant Religion against the Attempts of the Papists both in the Reign of his Majesty and his Successors And accordingly they did sit and began the day very inauspiciously with reading an Address to his Majesty for the Execution of Pickering who as they said had been imployed by some of the Conspirators to execute their Execrable design of Murdering his Majesty and upon his Tryal was found guilty thereof as also of divers Priests and Jesuits who stood then Condemned by his Majesties Judges at the Old-Bayley and in several of the Circuits Upon which Offenders they humbly desired immediate Execution might be done to the terror of all such wicked persons who by their daily Traiterous practises do justify the prudence of their Ancestors in making such Laws and manifest the necessity of putting them in Execution And though there is nothing to be said for the men yet I wish they had not made this severe motion on a Lord's day it being none of those works of Charity and Mercy 29. Car. Cap. 7. no nor necessity neither which are commendable on that day and this might as well have been done on any other day Then they proceeded to the work appointed and Voted in the first place That a Bill be brought in upon the debate of the House to Banish all Papists or reputed Papists from London and Westminster and twenty Miles of the same for Six Months and to confine all those that live above twenty Miles from London within five Miles of their own Habitations under penalties and referred it to a Committee to draw up the same And then Secondly Resolved Nemine Contradicente That the Duke of York being a Papist and the hopes of his coming such to the Crown have given the greatest countenance and encouragement to the present Conspirators and designs of the Papists against the King and the Protestant Religion Resolved That the concurrence of the Lords be desired to this Vote Ordered that the Committee of Secrecy draw up a Narative of all such matters as concern the D. of Y. relating to the present Plot contained in such Papers as they have in their hands and present the same to the House on Wednesday next And then they adjourned the debate till Monday following The next day being Monday the 28th of March the House attended his Majesty with the said Address for the Executing Pickering c. To which his Majesty reply'd Gentlemen I Have always been tender in matters of blood which my Subjects have no reason to take exception at but this is a matter of great weight I shall therefore consider of it and return you an answer So little was this mercifull Prince exasperated by all the practises against him On Wednesday the 30th of April his Majesty sent for the Commons up to the Lords House and made this Speech to the two Houses My Lords and Gentlemen THe Season of the Year advancing so fast I thought it necessary to put you in mind of three particulars 1. Prosecuting the Plot 2. Disbanding the Army 3. Providing a Fleet for our common security And to shew you that whilst you are doing your parts my thoughts have not been misimployed but that it is my constant care to do every thing that may preserve your Religion and secure it for the future in all events I have commanded my Lord Chancellor to mention several particulars which I hope will be an evidence that in all things that concern the Publick security I
Danby sending a Petition to the Lords that his Counsel durst not appear to defend his case by reason of the Vote of the Commons the Lords at a Conference desired to know if there were any such Vote to which the Commons would not answer Sir Robert Howard acquainting them there had been paid from our Lady-day 1676 to the 20th of March 1679 the Sum of 252467 lb. 1 s. 9 d. for Secret Services They ordered that Mr. Charles Bertie should be taken into Custody of the Sergeant at Armes attending their House And in the Next place they ordered that all the Members that were of the Long Robe of their house should prepare themselves with Reasons against the pardon pleaded by the E. of Danby Which was very necessary now that no body durst defend it So the Lords Ordered the E. to be returned to the Tower in safety On Sunday the Lords agreed to the demand of the Commons for the appointing a Committee of both Houses to state the Preliminaries of the tryals to be had to meet the next day May 11. And then the Commons proceeded to Vote that a Bill be brought in to disable the Duke of York to inherit the Imperial Crown of this Realm and appointed a Committee to draw the same Which was in pursuance of their former Vote on Sunday the 27th of April Though the Lords who had been twise desired to concur in that vote had given no answer to it Out of an apprehension perhaps that his Majesties Life might be indangered upon this Vote they resolved Nemine Contradicente That in defence of the Kings person and the Protestant Religion this house doth declare that they will stand by his Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes and that if his Majesty should come by any violent death which God forbid that they will revenge it to the utmost upon the Papists As if it had been impossible his Majesty should be murthered by any other then a Papist or that it had been any consolation to his Majesty to have known that his death should have been revenged to the utmost on them who ever had been the cause or procurers of it This prov'd the occasion of breaking all the following Parliaments to this day and thereby to secure the Popish Lords in the Tower from Tryal and to prevent all the excellent Laws that were then under consideration against Popery from ever being brought to pass And finally it prov'd an obstacle of union between the King and the Houses to the great advantage of our Enemies at home and abroad to the great hazard of the Nation and more especially of the Protestant Religion which was pretended to be secured by it I shall say more of this Vote and the former hereafter when the effects of them will appear better then they did at first On Wednesday his Majesty sent another Message to the Commons to put them again in mind of the Fleet May 14. and let them know he would acquit himself of the evil consequences which the want of a Fleet in such a juncture might produce and that the entering upon it could be no hinderance to the other great affairs on their hands but rather a Security in the dispatch thereof Upon which a debate arising they adjourn'd the Consideration of this Message till Monday Sennight after which had the appearance of a denial On Thursday there arose a Controversy betwixt the two Houses about the Bishops May 15. for the Lords having Voted that the Lords Spiritual have a right to stay and sit in Court till the Court proceed to the Vote of Guilty or not guilty The Commons opposed it and said that the Lords Spiritual ought not to have any Vote in any proceedings upon impeachments against the Lords in the Tower involving the E. of Danby's case with the other Lords though it was vastly different And indeed from hence arose this contest the Commons imagining that the Bishops would be for the validity of his pardon and so make a major Vote in that House and therefore as they had deprived him of his Counsel before so now the business was to out the most favourable part as they thought of his Judges The same day the Bill to disinherit the D. of York was read the first time and Ordered a second reading On Saturday a Vote of the House of Lords was read in the House of Commons May 17. 16 May 1679. Resolved by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled that Thursday next be appointed to begin the Tryals of the five Lords in the Tower viz. the E. of Powis c. After which resolution the Lords Spiritual asked the leave of that house that they might withdraw themselves from the Tryals of the said Lords with the Liberty of entring their usual Protestations Upon which the Commons Resolved That it be given as an instruction to their Committee to insist upon the former Vote of this House That the Lords Spiritual ought not to have any vote in any Proceedings against the Lords in the Tower and when that matter shall be setled as they please for the Lords had setled it and the method of proceedings adjusted this House shall then be ready to proceed upon the Tryal of the E. of Danby against whom the House hath already demanded judgment and afterwards to the Tryal of the other five Lords in the Tower So here was the two Houses in their Votes point blank against one another I shall here take notice of some Arguments that passed betwixt the Lords and the Commons as they are expressed in the Lords Journal On Tuesday the 13th of May The Commons desired to know concerning the Bishops being present at the Tryals of the Lords impeached to which the Lords made this Answer That it belonged not to the Commons to be concerned in the Constituting parts of the Court upon such Tryals but that the judgment of this matter belongs entirely to the Lords and when they have adjudged it the Commons cannot alter it and therefore should not debate it Upon which the Commons acknowledged that Judgment after Tryal is in the Lords but their Lordships are not to give judgment unless the Commons demand it and that the Commons desire to know whether the Lords will proceed in these Tryals as their Lordships did anciently for if the Bishops should sit upon these Tryals they should not demand Judgment but being dissatisfied with their being there and it may be the Commons may proceed by Bill To which the Lords made Answer that after the Evidence is fully heard they are bound to give judgment of Condemnation or Acquittal but this being a matter of Judicature the Lords declared that they would impose silence upon themselves and debate it no further The Commons further desired to know whether the Bishops should be allowed to vote upon the Validity of the pardon of the E. of Danby which they account no Preliminary but the very essence of the Tryal On
future Be it Enacted by the Kings Most Excellent Majesty by and with the Consent of the Lords Commons assembled in Parliament and by the Authority of the same That no person or persons whatsoever shall from and after the First of August One thousand six hundred sixty and one sollicite labour or procure the getting of Hands or other Consent of any persons above the number of Twenty or more to Petition Complaint Remonstrance any Declaration or other Address to the King or both or either Houses of Parliament for alteration of Matters Established by Law in Church or State Unless the Matter thereof have been first Consented unto and Grdered by Three or more Justices of the County or by the Major part of the Grand Jury of the County or Division of the County where the same matter shall arise at their Publick Assizes or General Quarter-Sessions or if arising in London by the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Commons in Common Councel assembled And that no person or persons whatsoever shall repair to his Majesty or both or either of the Houses of Parliament upon pretence of presenting or delivering any Petition Complaint Remonstrance or Declaration or other Addresses accompanied with Excessive Numbers of People * * Nor. not at any one time above the number of Ten persons upon pain of Incurring a penalty not exceeding the Sum of One hundred pounds in Money and Three Moneths Imprisonment without Bail or Mainprise for every offence to be prosecuted at the Court of Kings-Bench or at the Assizes or General Quarter-Sessions within Six Months after the Offence committed and proved by two or more Credible Witnesses Provided always That this Act or any thing therein contained shall not be Construed to Extend to debar or hinder any person or persons not exceeding the Number of Ten aforesaid to represent any publick or private Grievance or Complaint to any Member or Members of Parliament after his Election and during the Continuance of the Parliament or to the Kings Majesty for any Remedy thereupon to be had or to Extend to any Address whatsoever to his Majesty by all or any of the Members of both or either Houses of Parliament during the Sitting of the Parliament but that they may enjoy their Freedom of Access to his Majesty as heretofore hath been used Now had this Act of Parliament been pursued I believe there would have been no Controversie in this case and there was great reason it should * Because By reason of the Unquietness of the Times when every thing seemed to tend to the renewing of those Calamities the Act mentions in the Preface and was made to prevent But supposing it had been never so Regular what reason can be assigned why one part of the People should be freer to Petition for any thing than the other was against it if one party may for the instance Petition the King to change his Mind after he hath declared it in any cause why is not the other part as free to desire him not to change now that which may seem a publick Grievance to one County or Place may be a great Advantage to another and they are totally debarred of all means of Maintaining their present advantage if they may not Counter-Petition But in this case here the persons that Petitioned were private men and contrary to the express Letter of this Act solicited hands in an irregular way and such sort of hands as besides their Number were of No Consideration for the directions that they sent with the Petitions were That it mattered not whether they were Gentlemen or so much as Free-holders so they were Numerous Now let any man consider whether it be reasonable that a company of Rude Country Clowns and a parcel of Pragmatical Apron-men should contrary to his Majesty's Proclamation pretend themselves wise enough to Advise his Majesty when the Parliament should Sit. But if it be alledged That there were others besides these why were not these totally left out why was there such care that the Subscriptions should be so Numerous did these small Folk add any weight to the Advise No surely On the other Hand they that appeared against them were Parliament-men themselves Justices of the Peace Grand Juries at Assizes and Sessions Common-Councels and Magistrates in Corporations men full as likely to Understand what was fit to be done and as Unlikely to betray the true Liberties of the People on the one hand or to invade the just Prerogatives of the Crown on the other but then these were men true to the Religion and Government by Law established and the Petitioners were of the same sort for the most part with them that had brought on the former Calamities by this and other such specious and popular pretences to the ruine both of King and People Prerogative and Liberty and therefore the more justly suspected to be playing over the Old Game Thus much may suffice concerning the Votes And now let us see how they proceeded against the pretended Offenders And in the first place Sir Francis Withens a Member of their House being accused on this Account as an offender against the Rights of the Subject who was not then present It was Ordered That Notice should be given him to attend in his place the next Morning On Thursday October 28. Sir F. Withins appearing in his place It was ordered that the Clerk of the Peace for Westminster should attend the House the next Morning at Ten of the Clock with the Roll of the Orders for the Last Easter Sessions for the City of Westminster Then they fell upon an Information which had been given the House against Sir Robert Yeomans of Bristol and Sir Robert Cann a Member of the House That they did in October 1679 Publickly declare That there was no Popish Plot but a Presbyterian Plot. Which was attested against them by Mr. Row Sword-Bearer of Bristol and Sir John Knight a Member of the House Sir Robert Cann being to make his defence Uttered several Reproachful and Reflecting words against Sir John Knight for which he was called to the Bar and received a Reprehension on his Knees and then being ordered to withdraw they Voted he should be committed to the * Where he lay till the 8th of Novemb. then was discharged Tower and Expelled the House and that Sir Robert Yeomans should be sent for in Custody of the Serjeant attending their House This weighty affair took up the whole day and it had been well spent if the Popish Plot had been made one jot the plainer or the Presbyterian Plot ever so little taken off by it but the World was full as well satified of the truth of the former before notwithstanding what these Gentlemen had said to the Contrary and much confirmed in the truth of the latter by this Violent if not Arbitrary way of proceeding against them For if these Gentlemen had offended against any Law why were they not prosecuted in a Legal way where
Petitions and Giving an Account to the House That Sir Fra. North Chief Justice of the Court of Common-Pleas was Advising and Assisting in the drawing up and passing of the said Proclamation and a Debate thereupon arising in the House they Resolved N.C. That it was sufficient Ground for the House to proceed upon an Impeachment against him for High Crimes and Misdemeanors and order taken for an Impeachment accordingly Thus the Dissenters are encouraged to go on and break the Laws and the Judges punished for Executing them On Thursday the 25 of November Nothing Extraordinary was done but the Exhibiting Articles against Edward Seymour Esquire formerly Speaker of the House to Each of which he being required to make a distinct answer there arising a Debate upon the first Article the whole was adjourned to the next day Samuel Verdon Under-Sheriff of Norfolk was ordered to be sent for into Custody upon a Complaint of several Crimes and Misdemeanors by him committed For a Notorious Breach of Priviledge of Parliament by him committed against their House No such thing being mentioned in the Complaint Friday Novemb. 26. The Bill of Repeal of the 35 of Eliz. was read the third time and passed And the House resolved to Impeach Mr. Seymour upon 4 Articles and appointed a Committee to draw up those Articles accordingly and Referred it to them to consider of Precedents concerning the Committing of Members to Custody when Impeached in Parliament On Munday the 29 day of November the House attended his Majesty with their Address concerning Tangier which being very long I will not trouble the Reader with it at Large The whole is a Tragical representation of the Advantages that Popery had gotten over the Religion and Government Assisted as they tell us by the Treachery of perfidious Protestants which must be the Dissenters by whose assistance they obtained the Toleration broke several Sessions of the Long Loyal Parliament if Coleman's Letter to Monsieur Le Chese may be Credited and it may truly be averred that the Papists have not obtained any Advantage without the Dissenters nor the Dissenters without them They say further That the ACT of Parliament enjoyning a Test to be taken by all persons admitted into any Publick Office and intended for a Security against Papists coming into Imployment had So little effect that either by dispensations obtained from Rome they Submitted to those Tests and held their Offices themselves or those put into those Places wore so favourable to the same Interest that Popery it self has rather gained than lost ground since that ACT. Now Supposing it true that some of them did obtain such dispensations what was this to his Majesty and if any of them that gat their Offices were apt to afford them unlawful favours they might have called them to account for it with much more general Satisfaction than they did the Abhorrers but let any man that Knowes any thing of the World Judge whether the Malice or falsehood of the Conclusion be greatest They tell the King a dreadful Story of the defeating of the Presentment intended against his Majesties Brother the Duke of York under whose Countenance all the rest of the Papists shelter themselves as they say But surely his Majesty was not to be informed what they thought of this who could not but be well informed of the Fact long since and so they descend to the business of the Weekly Pacquet of Advice from Rome which Exposes Popery as it deserves say they as Ridiculous to the People and they tell his Majesty That a New and Arbitrary Rule of Court was made in his Majesties Court of Kings-Bench That the same for the future should not be Printed by any person whatsoever But then they take no Notice how that Author has made many Odious False and Scandalous Reflections upon the Religion and Government by Law Established which was the cause why it was Supprest and not any talent he had of writing against Popery Finally They tell the King that they have freed themselves from the guilt of that blood and desolation which is like to ensue which is an Expression in that place that looks like a kind of Threat or Menace for there was then No prospect of blood or desolation that could arise from any cause or persons but what must be Countenanced by the Dissenters The Conclusion is But our Onely hope next under God is in Your Sacred Majesty that by your Great Wisdome and Goodness we may be effectually Secured from Popery and all the Evils that attend it and that none but persons of Known Fidelity to Your Majesty and Sincere Affection to The Protestant Religion What Religion may be put into any Imployment Civil or Military That whilst we shall give a Supply to Tangier we may be assured we do not Augment the Strength of our Popish Adversaries nor encrease our own Dangers which Desires of your Faithful Commons if Your Majesty shall Graciously vouchsafe to grant we shall not onely be ready to assist Your Majesty in defence of Tangier but do whatsoever else shall be in our power to enable Your Majesty to Protect the Protestant Religion and Interest at home and abroad and to resist and repel the Attempts of Your Majesties and the Kingdoms Enemies But His Majesty notwithstanding continued without any Supply and by the Blessing of God preserved the Town Now it is very observable that in the former Parliament there being a Report That Tangier should be Sold to relieve the Necessities of the Crown they then Voted April 9. 1679. That the House was of Opinion That those who should Advise His Majesty to part with Tangier to any Foraign Prince or State or be Instrumental therein ought to be accounted Enemies to the King and Kingdom And yet now that it was in apparent hazard to be lost to the Moors the Sworn Enemies of all Christians they would grant nothing to preserve it and many of the Commons in their Speeches were of Opinion that it was the best way to desert the Town So that if any did Advise his Majesty to Sell the Place they were Enemies to the King and Kingdom but if it were lost or deserted So the King had nothing for it the Matter was not much so that the King might bear the blame tho the Commons were in the fault On TVESDAT the 30th of November the Tryal of William Viscount Stafford was began which lasted till the 7th of December of which I shall take no Notice it being printed by it Self During all which time there was nothing material done by the House of Commons except that business Wednesday the 8th and Thursday the Ninth of December were spent in Reporting of Elections and discharging persons out of the Custody of the Serjeant and Ordering others to be taken in to Supply their places But very remarkable was their Severity against Mr. Sheridon and Mr. Day who were Ordered to be taken into Custody their Papers to be Searched and that
Experience this Nation once had on the like occasion In the Reign of such a Prince the Pope will be acknowledged Supream What shall the Pope be acknowledged as the King now is Supream in all Causes as well Temporal as Ecclesiastical Can any man that will stick to his Oath be forced to acknowledg this New minted Papal Supremacy which never had any being but onely in St. Peter's Patrimony where the Pope is a Temporal Prince Must all Cases forthwith be drawn under his Jurisdiction Then Wo be to Westminster-Hall though the Subjects have Sworn the contrary and all Causes either as Spiritual or in order to Spiritual things will be brought under his Jurisdiction The Lives Had the House any Prophets amongst them to fore-see this If a Protestant Prince should have a mind to play such a Freake it would not be possible to effect it whence then shall the Popish one get so much more Power Liberties and Estates of all such Protestants as value their Souls and their Religion more than their Secular Concernments will be Adjudged forfeited To all this we might Add That it appears in the Discovery of the Plot Who invited these Princes Assistance Who used these Arguments From whom is the performance to be Expected In all the Discovery I never see the Duke Himself Charged to have Done or Said any of these things and if Coleman and the Jesuits have Treated about them in his Name but without his Order from them onely the performance is to be Expected who have no power but if the Duke had promised these things himself the impossibility of the thing will Excuse him Sufficiently from the obligation of so wicked and foolish an Engagement That Foreign Princes were Invited to Assist in Securing the Crown to the Duke of York with Arguments from his great Zeal to establish Popery and to Extirpate Protestants whom they call Hereticks out of his Dominions and Such will expect performance Accordingly We further humbly beseech Your Majesty in your Great Wisdom to Consider It is not likely but that his Majesty did think of this before this Address had a being and they should do well to Consider That the Nature and Temper of the English Nation is Such as Experience shewed us in the late Times That an absolute Monarchy may be much more Easily Set up and Continued amongst us than a Common-Wealth and therefore it is as possible that in case of Such an Opposition the Duke may prevail and become Absolute it he please as that he should be Overcome and it is much more probable that this Royal Line will finally prevail if he do not and obtain the Succession then that an Oliver Cromwell will be able to Settle it in a New Family whom all will Hate and Envy And it ought also to be Considered France may Strike in and Settle The Monarchy Duke Popery and Arbitrary Government in case of opposition which is not likely without it Or it May be may endeavour to get the Crown for himself or his Brother However Rebellion and Civil War are as destructive as Popery and therefore Never to be chosen Whether in Case the Imperial Crown of this Protestant Kingdom should descend to the Duke of York the opposition which may possibly be made to his possessing it may not onely Endanger the further descent in the Royal Line But even Monarchy it self For these Reasons we are most humble Petitioners to Your most sacred Majesty I shall in the Conclusion shew his Majesty had much better Reasons in tender Commiseration to his Poor Protestant Subjects to deny their Petition and stick to the Reservation tho I believe he may grant their Bill when it be tender'd in a Parliamentary way But as for the Association I suppose His Majesty will desire to be Excused as long as ever he is able to remember how the Associated Counties and London defended His Fathers Person and the Protestant Religion and Kingdom and how difficult it will be to give him a Competent Security That this Association against his Royal Brother shall not be turned at one time or other upon one pretence or other against himself or his Government of which no care it seems is to be taken Especially after Such a Menace to the Monarchy which I believe may be Immortal if it remains till such an Act of Parliament pass That in Tender Commiseration of your Poor Protestant People Your Majesty will be Graciously pleased to depart from the Reservation in your said Speech and when a Bill shall be tendered to Your Majesty in a Parliamentary way to Disable the Duke of York from Inheriting the Crown Your Majesty will give your Royal Assent thereto and as Necessary to fortify and defend the same That Your Majesty will likewise be Graciously pleased to Assent to an ACT whereby Your Majesties Protestant Subjects may be enabled to Associate themselves for the defence of Your Majesties Person the Protestant Religion and the Security of Your Kingdoms These Requests we are Constrained Humbly to make to Your Majesty as of absolute Necessity for the Safe and Peaceable enjoyment of Our Religion That is come what will of Tangier and Flanders the Peace of Christendome and the Power of France till Your Majesty grant us these we are resolved to concern our selves for Nothing And when his Majesty hath granted them and what follows he need as little concern himself for the remainder Without these things the Alliances of England will not be Valuable nor the People encouraged to Contribute to Your Majesties Service And as some further Means for the preservation both of our Religion and PROPERTY we are Humble Suiters to Your Majesty These two Paragraphs smell so strong of the 19 Propositions at Vxbridge that I wonder more at them then all the rest of this Address for tho they do not in terms ask the Nomination of all these Civil Military and Naval Officers yet that must be the Consequence of it for if His Majesty be Judge of the Qualities of the Men which he imployes he may say they are at present all of them so qualified as they desire and then there is no Need of this Address in that particular or if on such general terms they may be allowed to have these Changed and His Majesty shall consent to it they may Except in the same manner against any other men his Majesty shall appoint ad infinitum till his Majesty shall Nominate themselves or such men as they shall please to Nominate and Appoint and they that shall be so Nominated by the Commons will without doubt pay their respects and obedience to them from whom they receive their preferment and all others that hope to succeed them that are So appointed at first will regard the profit arising from such preferments more than the glittering splendor of a Crown and so his Majesty being deprived of the dependance and Consequently of the defence of these Officers
and Ordered others to be drawn against Sir Francis North Chief Justice of the Court of Common-Pleas Sir Thomas Jones one of the Justices of the Kings-Bench and Sir Richard Weston one of the Barons of the Exchequer So they were resolved to find themselves work tho they had refused to do the King's Business till that was granted which was impossible to be had this Session of Parliament Thursday the 6th of January A Bill for the more Easie Collecting the Duty of Hearth-Money was read a second time and committed upon the Debate of the House A Bill for Repealing the Act for the Well-Governing of Corporations was read the second time and committed Sir Philip Skippon was Excused from being taken into Custody for his Default in not attending the House in the Call there of the Tuesday before Colonel Birch reporting from the Committee appointed to receive Informations relating to the Popish Plott in Ireland That the Committee having proceeded upon the Matters to them referred had taken several Examinations and received the Answer of Sir John Davis and had also perused several Informations transmitted from the House of Lords relating to the said Plott All which he read in his place and afterwards delivered the same in at the Clerks Table where the same were again read The House then took into Consideration the Message sent from the Lords the Tuesday before wherein they desired the Concurrence of the House and Resolved That the House did agree with the Lords with the addition of these Words That the Duke of York being a Papist and the Expectation of his coming to the Crown hath given the Greatest Countenance and Encouragement thereto as well as to the Horrid Popish Plot in this Kingdome of England And they resolved to deliver the said Vote to the Lords at a Conference and Appointed a Committee to draw up Reasons to be offered at the said Conference Ordered That the several Informations of John Macnamara Maurice Fitz-Gerrald and James Mash that day read to the House relating to the Irish Plot be forthwith Printed Resolved That Rich. Poure Earl of Tyrone in the Kingdom of Ireland be Impeached of High Treason And that the Lord Dursley do go up to the Bar of the Lords and Impeach him c. and pray that he may be Committed to Safe Custody And further Ordered That the Committee appointed to prepare the Evidence against the Popish Lords in the Tower do prepare the said Impeachment Ordered That the further Consideration of the said Report in relation to Arthur Earl of Anglesey and Sir John Davis be Adjourned to Saturday Morning next at Ten of the Clock in a full House When it was Adjourned to Munday following which was their last day and gave them occasion for other Thoughts On Friday the 7th day of January The ingrossed Articles of Impeachment against Sir William Scroggs were Read and sent up to the Lords by the Lord Cavendish A Bill to prevent Vexatious Actions was read the first time and Ordered a second reading A Bill to prevent the Symony of one person from prejudicing another was read the first time and Ordered a second reading The Bill of Discovery of Settlements of Estates for Superstitious Uses was read the second time and committed upon the debate of the House Then the House according to their Order entred into Consideration of his Majesty's Message sent to the House the Tuesday before and Voted as followeth Resolved That it is the Opinion of this House That there is no Security or Safety for the Protestant Religion the King's Life or the Well Constituted and Established Government of this Kingdom without passing a Bill for disabling James Duke of York to Inherit the Imperial Crown of England and Ireland and the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging and to rely upon any other means or remedies without such a Bill is not onely Insufficient but dangerous Resolved That his Majesty in his last Message having assured this House of his readiness to Concur in all other means for the preservation of the Protestant Religion this House doth declare That until a Bill be likewise passed for Excluding the Duke of York this House cannot give any Supply to his Majesty without Danger to his Majesties Person Extream Hazard of the Protestant Religion and Vnfaithfulness to Those by whom this House is trusted It seems the loss of Tangier and of all our Alliances abroad did not at all Hazard the Protestant Religion or Endanger his Majesties Person Resolved That all Persons who Advised his Majesty in his last Message to this House to insist upon an Opinion against the Bill for Excluding the Duke of York Have given pernicious Counsel to his Majesty and Are Promoters of Popery and Enemies to the King and Kingdome Resolved That George Earl of Halifax Henry Marquess of Worcester Henry Earl of Clarendon in the Opinion of this House are persons who Advised his Majesty in his last Message to this House to insist upon an Opinion against the Bill for Excluding the Duke of York and have therein given pernicious Counsel to his Majesty and are Promoters of Popery and Enemies to the King and Kingdom Resolved That an Humble Address be presented to his Majesty to remove Lawrence Hide Esq from his Majesties Councils and Presence and from his Office in the Treasury for ever Resolved That an Humble Address be presented to his Majesty to remove Henry Marquess of Worcester from his Presence and Councils and all the Offices and Imployments of Honour and Profit for ever Resolved That it is the Opinion of this House That Lewis Earl of Feversham is a Promoter of Popery and of the French Interest and a Dangerous Enemy to the King and Kingdom Resolved That an Humble Address be made to his Majesty to remove him from all Military Offices and Commands and from all other Publick Offices and Imployments and from his Majesties Councils and Presence for ever But here was no Addresses Voted against George Earl of Halyfax nor Henry Earl of Clarendon A Motion being made also for an Address to his Majesty to remove Edward Seymour Esq from his Majesties Council and Presence it was Adjourned to the Munday following Having taken all this care to Chastise the Great Men who as they believed had opposed them in this great business in the Next place they undertook to Chastise his Majesty Himself and if their design had taken effect as it is to be hoped it Never will his Majesty and all his Successors should have Known what it is to Anger a House of Commons However they meant well for they Resolved That whoever should hereafter Lend or cause to be lent by way of Advance any Money upon the Branches of the King's Revenue arising by Customs Excise or Hearth-Money that is all the principal Branches shall be Adjudged to hinder the Sitting of Parliaments and shall be responsible for the same in Parliament Resolved That whoever shall accept or buy any Tally of Anticipation upon
the great Pains which he hath taken With and Among them Lastly In Testimony of the High Esteem that the Inhabitants of That City had of This Gentleman they Met him with a great many Horsemen at his Return from his Persecution in London and bad him Wellcom again to the Place of his Residence with the Highest Expressions of Joy and Acclamation Sir John Lloyd's Certificate concerning Mr. Thompson under the Seal of the Office of his Majoralty WHereas Richard Thompson Vicar of St. Mary Redcliff and St. Thomas two Eminent Churches within the City of Bristol even from the time of his first appearance to officiate in those Churches hath been privily traduced and now of late openly and maliciously branded by the multiforme Fanaticks of this City for a Church-Papist and Jesuite for the Rector of St. Omers so Nick-naming St. Thomas and with many like Terms of Obloquy and Slander the Invention whereof may be reckon'd upon as the very first and peculiar gift of that Party whose great and only Master-piece it hath been and still is by like Maliciously Witty and Wicked Methods and Artifices to expose alike His Loyalty and Ministry and to lessen that Esteem and Reputation he hath thereby gained in the Hearts and Affections of all the Kings Majesties Loyal Loving Subjects within this City These are therefore at the Request of and just Due to the said Richard Thompson to Certifie unto all unto whom these Presents shall come that the said Richard Thompson is well known to me John Lloyd Knight and Major of the said City and to all the Kings Majesties Loyal and Loving Subjects therein to be a Person of most Innocent and Exemplary Life and Conversation a most Constant and Careful Dispenser of God's most Holy Word unto the People under his Charge a most Diligent and Zealous Assertor of the Kings Majesties Supremacy in all Causes Ecclesiastical and Civil in opposition to all Schismatical and Factious Persons and Principles under what Names soever they pass or prevail amongst us and also of all the Christian Doctrines together with the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England as they are now Owned and Established by Law In Testimony whereof I have caused the Seal of my Office of Majoralty to be affixed Dated the Eighteenth Day of September Anno Dom. 1679 John Lloyd Major The Dean and Chapter of Sarum their Certificate OMnibus quorum interest innotescat per Praesentes Ricardum Thompson in Artibus Magistrum Vicarium de Bedminster juxta Bristoliam quamdiu apud nos commoratus est pie vitam sobrieque laudabiliter tradâ—xisse In concionibus saepe habendis sedulo curam adhibuisse strenue studiis Theologicis navasse operam Nec unquam quod scimus docuisse quicquam vel tenuisse quod Ecclesia Anglicana non etiam appobut atque tuetur Cujus praesertim Disciplinae superioribus quibuscunque ab omni parte conformem morigerumque se praestit it In quorum omnium Testimonium fidem iisdem faciendam nomina nostra cognomina plane ex animo apposuimus Sept. 13. Annoque Salutis reparatae 1679. Thomas Pierce Dec. Sarum Daniel Whitby Praecentor Sarum Ricardus Drake Cancellarius Sarum Ricardus Hill Can. Resid Sarum Franciscus Horton Can. Resid Sarum A Certificate Signed by several of his Auditors upon the Thirtieth of January 1679. being Persons of great Reputation for Loyalty as well as Fortune THese are to Certifie all whom it may concern That we whose Names are hereunto Subscribed were present at the Parish Church of St. Thomas within the City of Bristol on the Thirtieth Day of January 1679. where we then heard Mr. Richard Thompson Preach very solemnly on the Occasion of that Days Fast To which Sermon every one of us for himself doth Declare he was very attentive And we do all hereby Certifie and Declare that we do not remember that the said Mr. Thompson did then say in his Prayer or Sermon That there was no Popish Plot but a Presbyterian Plot or any thing to that or the like effect And we are ready to make Oath of the same if required But on the contrary we have heard him detest and abhor the Popish Plot. And we do further Certifie That the said Mr. Thompson is and by all the time we have known him hath been a True and Loyal Subject to our Most Gracious Soveraign and of a very Sober and Pious Life and Conversation amongst us every way suitable to his Function Witness Our Hands this Thirteenth day of November 1680. John Hicks Alderman Sir Richard Crump Ald. Sir John Knight Kt. George Morgan Thomas Davidge Edmond Brand John Broadway Walter Gunter John Hellier John Oliff John Yeomans John Combes Sheriff George Boucher Thomas Turner George Hart Sheriff James Millerd Ralph Oliff James Twyford Daniel Pym Thomas Hartwell Edmund Arundel Richard Benson Francis Yeomans Thomas Durbin Charles Allen. THE END
Exclusion of the Duke of York will onely Secure them once from a Popish Prince and make them that follow more Cautious how they discover themselves too soon and that if any Actual King of England should turn Papist which is as possible and more probable then that another Heir should do it they would then be in the same state as if the Duke Succeeded They constantly reply That it is unreasonable it should be in the power of one man to reduce us to Popery that is It is not reasonable that Kingly Government should be any Longer Continued amongst us From all which I conclude That the project of Uniting Protestants by remitting the Laws against the Dissenters is impossible and that these Consequences being Obvious and Apparent before-hand there could be no other design in the Attempt but the ruine of the Monarchy and the introducing Confusion and War amongst us at least these would certainly have followed So that the day a Toleration or which is all one an Vnion amongst Protestants upon the terms propounded is settled the Monarchy must be made Absolute or it will not Stand And Provision must be made to maintain a Standing Army bigg enough eo Keep all Parties Quiet how much soever they are averse to it or our Peace at home will not be Maintained And as to all Foreign affairs England must look on and suffer all things to go as they will for Neither King nor Common-Wealth will be in a Condition to do any thing abroad in that unsettled state things will be at home and by that time England comes to settle France if God interpose not by Miracles will have brought under So many of its Neighbours that England will be able to make no effectual resistance if it should be attacked by that Potent Kingdom Conclusion My dearest Countrymen I humbly begg you would be pleased to reflect Seriously upon this in time if it be not Now too late and Unite heartily with His Majesty our most Gracious and Sweet-Natured Soveraign and the Religion Established and not suffer your selves to be led by pretended Fears into real and unavoidable Slavery and Consusion attended with all the Miseries of War and which as much as Man can foresee must end in Popery and a French Conquest of us I have laid the Matter plainly before you not Knowing what may follow as to my Self but this I am sure of that Advantage I can have none by it I am a private person and I Expect so to live and die I have no aim at any Publick Imployment or Place of Trust nor any means to attain it if I had I am Contented with the State God hath Set me In. And the Utmost I wish for is to Leave things to my Posterity as they ought Now to be if the Laws had their due Effects and therefore I am compelled by Nothing but my Zealous affection for my Country which next God and my own Soul I love above all things to run the hazard of giving you this Advice and thereby drawing upon me the Malice and Revenge of all those that seek to Ruine and Enslave You. As to those Gentlemen of the House of Commons who may possibly take offence at What I have written for all I am sure will not I desire they would in cool blood Consider what they have done and then let them think of Me what they please For if ever Faction Anger and ill designs were entertained by so great a Body of Men as the Major part of this House was it is Apparent they were here And I will instance in but a few Particulars tho I might in more Can any mortal man produce either Precedent or Law to Justifie the Imprisonment of the Gentlemen called the Abhorrers Have the meanest people of England a right to Petition the King against his Express Command in a thing of which he is the Sole Judge by all our Laws and that by Multitudes of Hands procured by men that have no authority for that purpose and may not Grand-Juries Justices of the Peace and other such like persons oppose them or which is less disown it But suppose they did more than they ought was it fit to imprison them before they were allowed to defend themselves Gentlemen it served your turn now but it may one day be turn'd against you and then consider how you will take it The Corporations do Now most of them send Gentlemen but they may when they please lay You by and send Mechanicks Trades-men Shop-Keepers How would your high spirits brook it to be sent for in Custody and made to Kneel without being Suffered to Speak and onely for doing your duties to such men and so be sent home again I am sure no English Gentleman can brook this indignity but with such inward Resentments as befit the Generosity and Temper of that Nation or otherwise I must think we are prepared for Slavery and all that Manly Courage that hath made our People Renowned in all Countries in the World is degenerated into the Most Shameful Effeminacy and Cowardise Onely in this case Religion and Loyalty made them yield even to Injustice and Oppression As long as his Sacred Majesty thought fit to Suffer it they Submitted but with such Thoughts as would have taught you more Justice and Moderation if this had not been in the case Your styling all those Gentlemen that had been brought in to the Commission of the Peace in the room of some others displaced MEN of Arbitrary Principles and Countenancers of Papists and Popery and if you could have invented more Odious Names and Words than these you might with as much truth and ingenuity have bestowed them upon them Was it fairly done or was it not Is it one of the Priviledges of your House to Vote Me a Jew or a Turk or that I was one of those men that occasioned the Breach betwixt Charles the First and his Parliament If it be then I will say no more but that I begg your Pardon and Kneel down at the Bar of a House of Commons with the same Submission as if I believed the Speaker Infallible and every Member an Angel But if your Votes ought to be not only Consonant to Law but agreeable to the truth of things then that Passage was hastily and passionately written and not well Considered and care ought to be taken for the future to Write more Cautiously and Speak and Vote like Men that had a little respect to your Places Your Votes of the 7th of January 1680. concerning his Majesties Revenues and borrowing of Money upon them are they justifiable or no may I not lend the King 100 l. if I please without your leave and not incur the danger of being reputed an Enemy to the Sitting of Parliaments Suppose the French should Land in England or Ireland or the Papists or Dissenters rise and the King Want Money to suppress the one or drive out the other must we hazard his and our Ruine rather