Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
cause_n let_v lord_n see_v 4,698 5 3.6890 3 true
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A57925 The Tryal of Thomas, Earl of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, upon an impeachment of high treason by the Commons then assembled in Parliament, in the name of themselves and of all the Commons in England, begun in Westminster-Hall the 22th of March 1640, and continued before judgment was given until the 10th of May, 1641 shewing the form of parliamentary proceedings in an impeachment of treason : to which is added a short account of some other matters of fact transacted in both houses of Parliament, precedent, concomitant, and subsequent to the said tryal : with some special arguments in law relating to a bill of attainder / faithfully collected, and impartially published, without observation or reflection, by John Rushworth of Lincolnes-Inn, Esq. Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, Earl of, 1593-1641, defendant.; Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690.; England and Wales. Parliament. House of Commons. 1680 (1680) Wing R2333; ESTC R22355 652,962 626

There are 9 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

he stood within little distance of my Lord when he spake the words and hath not been deaf above two months and two other Witnesses concur fully with him For Doctor Duncombe whether he be the man that laid Aspersions in the North on some Noble Lords I know not but his Testimony only is that he heard so from one that spake it at the Table not upon Oath and not knowing what use would be made of it And another Witness shall be produced that will speak to the occasion and that it was not the matter of Knighting-money Sir Thomas Leyton being asked how long he hath had this Infirmity in his hearing Answered That he got a great Cold since he came to Town and had this Imperfection since Christmas and had his hearing well before Being asked how far he sate from my Lord of Strafford He Answered Four yards off My Lord of Strafford desired it might be asked the Witness Whether he sate on the Seat where the Sheriff uses to fit he answered Affirmatively His Lordship excepted against his Testimony himself sitting where the President uses to sit betwixt my Lord Chief Baron and Mr. Justice Vernon And he Appealed to my Lord Chief Baron Whether the Presidents Seat and the Sheriffs Seat be not as far distant very near as far as from his Lordships then station to the Lord Steward But the Committee observed it not to be material that there should be any Geometrical measure but be three four five six or seven yards off Here the Committee offered other Witnesses but my Lord of Strafford desired their Lordships Judgment Whether they should not bring all together which the Lord Steward declared they might as to this Point Sir David Fowles being produced was excepted against My Lords He is no competent Witnesse he lying in the Fleet on a Sentence in the Star-Chamber at my Suit being fined for divers things he had said which concerned my self which depended on this in question and conducing to it He comes not at his own Request or Suit but in a Suit that concerns His Majesty and the Commonwealth and might offer the Presidents own Rule in the Case but that the Law speaks for him that a Witness ought to be heard in this Cause though there have been particular ill affections between them and your Lordships well know how to compare him with other Witnesses and to value him accordingly This hath been Resolved in the Case of Sir Pierce Crosby that he should be sworn and then value his Testimony as the Lords shall see Cause and this may be put into the same way Sir David Fowles being sworn the Lord Steward put them in mind of the former Caution that their Lordships would judge the value of his Testimony the Committee not admitting what was excepted against him he being not to obtain any thing for himself nor his own Interest concerned but produced for the King and Commonwealth and therefore an indifferent Witness in the Case And then being Interrogated touching the words of Comparison between the King 's little Finger and the Loins of the Law whether he heard them and the occasion Sir David Fowles answered He heard him say the very same words That there were some for Law and nothing but Law but the King 's little Finger should be heavier on them than the Loins of the Law The occasion he cannot well remember but there was some discontent taken by my Lord against him he being desired by a Messenger to levy Mony to mend a Bridge he told the Messenger He could not well do it of himself for there was a Statute as he took it 24 H. 8. that appoints four Commissioners to be at the doing of such Service and he being but One durst not undertake to do it Besides he said He must see an Order or Warrant from the Sessions else he could not do it and none was shewed Some other Exceptions he took to the unlawfulness of the business and the Messenger reported this to my Lord and that he conceived was the cause my Lord broke out so violently against him But being Interrogated on what occasion the words in question were spoken He answered Before my Lord went to Ireland he made a Speech to the whole County and desired them to go on in their Service and so brake out Some are all for Law but they shall find the Kings little Finger heavier on them than the Loins of the Law And this is all he can remember Sir William Ingram sworn and examined touching his knowledge of these words Answered That he was on the Bench at that time Sir Thomas Leyton was Sheriff and he heard my Lord speak these words Some of you are all for Law but you shall find that the King 's little Finger is heavier than the Loins of the Law but he doth not remember the occasion The main point I must insist on is That the very words if they had been spoken by me as they are laid concerning which I call God to witness I have spoken the truth and the occasion It is no Treason within the Statute And that being a point of Law I crave leave to reserve my self according to your Lordships Order that my Counsel in time fitting and proper may speak as concerning that in point of Law We shall close this Article the last thing mentioned by his Lordship was spoken to before as to the words we had five Witnesses express in the Point and therefore shall expect your Lordships Judgment in that And so the Court was adjourned The Fourth day Thursday March 25. 1641. THE Third Article The Charge THat the Realm of Ireland having béen time out of mind annexed to the Imperial Crown of this His Majesties Realm of England and governed by the same Laws The said Earl being Lord-Deputy of that Realm to bring His Majesties Liege-Subjects of that Kingdom likewise into dislike of His Majesties Government and intending the Subversion of the Fundamental Laws and setled Government of that Realm and the destruction of His Majesties Liege-people there did upon the 30th day of September in the Ninth Year of His now Majesties Reign in the City of Dublin the chief City of that Realm where His Majesties Privy-Council and Courts of Iustice do ordinarily reside and whither the Nobility and Gentry of that Realm do usually resort for Iustice in a publick Speech before divers of the Nobility and Gentry of that Kingdom and before the Mayor Aldermen and Recorder and many Citizens of Dublin and other His Majesties Liege-people declare and publish That Ireland was a Conquered Nation and that the King might do with them what he pleased And speaking of the Charters of former Kings of England made to that City He further then said That their Charters were nothing worth and did bind the King no further than he pleased I Humbly move your Lordship That since diverse things were spoken by the Witnesses Yesterday which
of an Arbitrary Power of Jurisdiction in a case of Land without any former President wherein if he be justifiable he may as well riding on the High-way determine any mans Estate and added That if my Lord of Strafford insist on this they shall prove it not only in this but in twenty more of this condition on the Reply My Lord of Strafford desiring they might bring their Proofs at once The Manager Answered That they should prove an Act of the same Nature but of a higher strain concerning a Peer of the Realm for he chased such Lions But my Lord of Strafford desiring they might be kept to that within the Charge His Lordship began his Defence in substance as followeth I confess I am Charged with Treason by the Honourable House of Commons and that is my greatest grief for if it were not an Arrow sent out of that Quiver it would not be so heavy as it is but as it comes from them it pierces my heart through not with Guilt yet with Grief that in my Grey hairs I should be mis-understood by the Companions of my Youth with whom I have formerly spent so much time If the Decree be just as it is most just I hope it will go very far in the Case That whereas it is said it was against a Peer Justice excepts not persons and I know no Priviledge Peers have in point of possession of Land above common persons The Act of Parliament read the other day against which it is supposed to be made I conceive it to be the Statute in H. 6. time and desire your Lordships to remember that by the last words the King's Prerogative is saved I have done nothing contrary to the Instructions in King Iames his time nor the Proclamation nor any thing but according to the Power of former Deputies I acknowledge my Answer is mistaken in saying the Cause depended formerly in the Chancery which was not out of cunning but a meer failing of memory I desire my Commission may be read whereby it will appear I had Power to do that for which I am now questioned The Commission was read whereby he had Authority to proceed Secundum consuetudines terrae c. From whence he observed That having so great a Power the receiving of a Petition and giving Relief to a poor body should not be so great a fault being at the most but the exceeding of a Jurisdiction but by no Construction can be made Treason That yet this is no exceeding of a Jurisdiction but was a Power always in the Deputies before his time and warranted To prove it he produced the printed Instructions whereby the Deputy and Council-Table are forbid to meddle with common businesses within Cognizance of ordinary Courts nor alter possession of Land nor make private Orders or Hearings nor make Injunctions for staying Suits in any Civil Cause Which shews that that course was in practise before the Instructions took it away viz. to alter Possessions to grant Injunctions c. To prove by Witnesses that this Power was always exercised by the Deputy in the nature of a Court of Requests in England He offered my Lord Primate of Armagh his Deposition being taken by reason of his sickness by vertue of an Order of their Lordships but for that the Commons had liberty by that Order to cross-examine and yet had no notice thereof or of the Depositions so taken the using of these Depositions was waved after much debate till the next day in the mean time the Commons may cross-examine Henry Dillon asked Whether Petitions have been usually preferred to the Deputies and in how many Governors time he hath known it to be so That these Paper-Petitions have been preferred He Answered His Father had a Lease during his own life and his Wives and the longer liver of them and fifteen years after to his Executors and Administrators which he the said Henry Dillon being come to full age enquired into and looking upon his Fathers Evidences he found a business there depending between Sir Patrick Plaintiff and his Father Defendant before my Lord Chichester in the time of his Government and he found several Orders under my Lord Chichesters Hand in that Cause that he being Executor to Maurice Fitzgerard and having occasion to peruse his Writings to see what Debts were due to him he found among them several Orders of my Lord Grandison's time one Petition of Fitzgerard as well for Debts as for Land That in the time of my Lord Faulkland he observed and hath seen several Orders made by his Lordship and one made on behalf of his Sister Mary Dillon for a Portion paid by his Father and he recovered the portion and received the Money That in the time of my Lord of Corke and Lord of Elyes being Governors there was a Petition preferred against him by my Lord of Longford for a Horse taken by him the said Henry Dillon as Sheriff of the County of Longford pretending it to be a stray and belonging to His Majesty and triable as he conceived in the Exchequer and that he did appear but my Lord of Longford died before Examination Being asked Whether the Causes were before the Deputy alone or the Deputy and Council He Answered That in the time of my Lord Chichester he knows not whether they were before the Deputy alone but he found only my Lord Chichester's Hand to the Orders In my Lord Grandison's time he saw his Hand only but where the Causes depended he knows not But that in my Lord Faulkland's time was only by my Lord-Deputy That of my Lord Corkes and Lord of Elyes he remembers not whether it was before their Lordships and the Council but the way he was called to Answer was by Pursevant before he had notice of the Suit Being asked Whether Examinations were taken He Answered That in the Case of his Sister he conceives there were Examinations taken upon Oath And that in the Cause before my Lord of Corke and Lord of Ely the Attachment was under the Hands of the two Lords Justices alone Being asked on the Managers motion Whether he hath any of those Orders to shew He Answered He knows not whether those in my Lord Chichester's time were delivered to my Lord Dun on composing the Difference or in his Custody Robert Lord Dillon was asked What he heard my Lord Grandison say in maintenance of this Judicature by my Lord-Deputy alone He Answered That he heard my Lord Grandison himself say nothing of it but he heard by others that he pretended to it as a Judicature belōnging to the Sword Being asked what he hath known of the practice of this Court before the Lord Deputy alone before how many Deputies and upon what occasions He Answered That he hath seen divers Orders of Deputies or Petitions singly signed by themselves and no other hand but the Deputies Being asked in how many Deputies times He Answered That he hath seen of my Lord Faulklands
I desire that these matters that come on me suddenly and being no part of my Charge may not stick with Your Lordships In the business of my Lord of Baltinglasse I remember little only that my Lord Baltinglasse had forfeited his Estate to Sir Robert Parkhurst who had a clear and free Estate in the Land by Fine and Recovery and divers Conveyances The Lord Baltinglasse desired me to take the hearing of the Cause to see if I could procure from Sir Robert Parkhurst a further sum of money The Order was made with both their likings and my Lord Baltinglasse was content to perfect the whole Estate Sir Robert Parkhurst was in Possession at that time not the Lord Baltinglasse That seeing no cause to relieve him in Equity they left him to seek relief in other places That afterwards an Agreement was made 300 l. received by the Lord Baltinglasse and after 100 l. more got to be given and so there was a full Conveyance and Acquittance from Father and Son That himself hath no Interest in it but only of Trust to anothers use For that which was offered against the Jurisdiction the Proofs are Negative and contradict not what I have offered And if I might shew my Lord of Faulklands Book of Entries I could produce as much done by my Lord Faulkland alone 1623. Attachments against Body and Goods Hearings between Parties and Parties Warrants for Distresses Warrants to the Sheriff for Possession of Lands Injunctions to Judges of Assize For my Lord Mountnorris his Imprisonment I desire Your Lordships to observe that His Majesties Reference is That I shall not set him at liberty without a Submission so that he may thank himself for his Restraint For my Carriage to the Lady Mountnorris at the delivering the Petition I desire Your Lordships to hear a Witness Who being asked to that purpose Answered That he was present when my Lady Mountnorris was once with my Lord but knows not whether that were the time in question It was about 1636. That he was present when her Son delivered one before which my Lord would receive but her Son would not deliver the Reference but a Copy being so Commanded by his Lady Mother That when my Lady delivered it on her Knees my Lord told her She had done him the greatest Injury she could devise and that if she had broke his Head she should have pleased him better Being asked whether my Lord rejected the Petition He Answered That he cannot certainly remember what was done with it but my Lord said he could not do any thing on a Copy The Lord Viscount Dillon being asked to the same point Answered He was by when my Lady Mountnorris came to my Lord to the Covent-Garden with a Petition in her hand and kneeled to my Lord but my Lord desired her to rise and offering the Petition he said he would not meddle with any Petition at that time That my Lord was going abroad and led her to her Coach in Civility but received not the Petition My Lord of Strafford professeth these things be so long past that he remembers them not well nor whether she offered a Copy the second time The Manager did here observe That he acknowledged the Civility of my Lord of Strafford in this point but there is one point sticks with him as higher than any offered and then their Lordships may think he goes high enough That there hath been proved my Lord of Straffords Tyrannical Proceedings on the Life and Fortune of my Lord Mountnorris One step more the Manager said he had heard off and that was his Soul and that sticks with him more than any thing else He kept him in Prison till he should acknowledge the justness of a Sentence which in his Heart he abhorred and held unjust That all former Tyrants when they would proceed against a man have found out two false Witnesses but when a man shall be made a false Witness against himself it is much more Tyrannical And he wished this Design had kept only in Ireland and had not come into England which he hopes shall be so no more And so after a short Reply to the two particulars last mentioned the Manager closed the 6th Article conceiving that it remains as was offered That my Lord of Strafford hath determined things contrary to the Commission and Authority obtained from His Majesty The Manager added That for the present the Commons will pass by the 7th Article and proceed to the 8th concerning Arbitrary Power over the Estates of the Kings Subjects And of that the last part only concerning the Lady Hibbott But my Lord of Strafford professing his disability to endure the Toil and that he was ready to drop down in respect of his much sickness and weakness and desiring their Lordships to turn the case inward and to see in the Closet of their own Hearts if there be not reason that being upon his Life his Honour and Children and all he hath he should not be prest further and setting forth how the rest of the day after his going hence is disposed of The House was Adjourned till next day The Fourth day Thursday March 26. 1641. THE Eighth Article The Charge THat the said Earl of Strafford upon a Petition of Sir John Gifford Knight the first day of February in the said Thirteenth Year of his Majesties Reign without any Legal Process made a Decrée or Order against Adam Uiscount Loftus of Ely a Peer of the said Realm of Ireland and Lord Chancellor of Ireland and did cause the said Uiscount to be imprisoned and kept close Prisoner on pretence of Disobedience to the said Decree or Order And the said Earl without any Authority and contrary to his Commission required and commanded the said Lord. Uiscount to yield up unto him the Great Seal of the Realm of Ireland which was then in his Custody by His Majesties Command and imprisoned the said Chancellor for not obeying such his Command And without any Legal Proceeding did in the same Thirtéenth Year imprison George Earl of Kildare a Péer of Ireland against Law thereby to enforce him to submit his Title to the Mannor and Lordship of Castleleigh in the Quéens Country being of great yearly value to the said Earl of Strafford's Will and Pleasure and kept him a year Prisoner for the said cause two months whereof he kept him close-Prisoner and refused to enlarge him notwithstanding His Majesties Letters for his Enlargement to the said Earl of Strafford directed And upon a Petition exhibited in October Anno Domini 1635. by Thomas Hibbots against Dame Mary Hibbots Widow to him the said Earl of Strafford the said Earl of Strafford recommended the said Petition to the Council-Table of Ireland where the most part of the Council gave their Uote and Opinion for the said Lady but the said Earl finding fault herewith caused an Order to be entred against the said Lady and threatned her that if she refused to submit
the said Realm are restrained from seeking relief against the oppressions of the said Earl without his Licence which Proclamation the said Earl hath by several rigorous ways as by Fine Imprisonment and otherwise put in execution on His Majesties Subjects as namely one Parry and others who came over onely to complain of the exorbitances and oppressions of the said Earl April 3. 1641. Mr. Palmer Proceeded in further Maintenance of the Charge of High-Treason by the Commons of England against the Earl of Strafford and said They were now entring upon the Sixteenth Article of his IMPEACHMENT and shewed THat from the Former Articles had been represented several and divers sorts of Crimes and how that in every of them their Lordships might perceive a Power assumed by my Lord of Strafford above and contrary to the Laws and destructive to them in every part so far as concerned the Subject Matter and how these Multiplications of Acts did presuppose an Habit and evidently proved that main Charge wherewith he was Accused viz. His endeavouring the Subversion of the Established Laws and Government and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Power And that by this Article it would appear unto their Lordships that those Exorbitances that were done in Ireland were prepensed and intended before his going thither That those Oppressions were so by him done and that he might Countenance it the Article Charges him that on the 22 th of February in the 7 th year of the King he procured from his Majesties own allowance that no Complaint of Injustice or Oppression should be received in England unless the Party made first his Address himself to the Deputy and this was obtained on his repairing to that Government And this was to be observed by the Secretaries here the Masters of Request and all others by whom Complaints might have passage to His Majesty and it remained as a Caution that none should be admitted It is true many specious Reasons and Arguments were subscribed to this Proposition but the effect of them was to take the Reines of Rule into his own hands to prevent the immediate access and approach of the Subjects to His Majesty in their seeking of redress for their Grievances And in the 11 th year of the King after some time spent there to prevent them of all meanes of Redress their Complaints being before Imbargued that they could not be received no person at all must come over without License There must not be a Rumour of what was done in Ireland but such as he should so Authorize To that end by colour of some Laws in Ireland concerning them that were to maintain their Lands against the Irish in times of Hostility and Rebellion and under colour of some Instruction for their keeping their Residence on their Lands as also of a Letter to that purpose from His Majesty he is Charged that on the 17 th of Sept. 11 Car. he issued a Proclamation and that Commands the Nobility Undertakers and others that held Estates in Ireland to reside there and not to depart without his Licence and so restrained them from seeking Relief against his Oppressions without his Licence To them that desired Licenses he deny'd them On them that adventur'd to repair hither without Licence he imposed Fines and Imprisonments for transgressing that Proclamation and howsoever this may be Coloured with Pretences of Instructions and Letters from His Majesty it is an Usurpation on Regality and an undermining of the Protection of His Majesty over His People For Proof thereof Iohn Loftus being Sworn Attested That the Copy of the Propositions made by my Lord of Strafford was taken out of the Clerk of the Councils Office and was a true Copy The said Propositions were Read At VVhitehall 22 th of Feb. 1631. Propositions to be considered of by His Majesty concerning the Government of Ireland These Propositions were entered according to His Majesties pleasure signified by Mr. Secretary Cooke These Propositions made to His Majesty by the Lord Wentworth Lord Deputy of Ireland and Lord President of the North were Read and Approved of at the Council Board 17 th Feb. 1631. There being Present c. THat no particular Complaint of Iustice or Oppression be admitted here against any unless it appear the Party made first his Address to the Deputy This is but Iustice to the Deputy who must needs in some measure be a Delinquent Whence Mr. Palmer Inferred It did appear that this was to be Entered and remain with the Secretaries Masters of Requests and all others whom it might concern The next thing is the Proclamation in effect as followeth 17 th of Sept. 11 Car By the Lord Deputy and Council A Proclamation That Noblemen Undertakers and others shall be Resident here After the Preamble it Imports WE therefore in Obedience to His Majesties Royal Command signified by the said Letter Do Publish Declare and make known His Princely Pleasure That all the Nobility Undertakers and others that hold Estates and Offices in the Kingdom such only excepted as are imployed in His Service in England do hereafter make their Personal Residences here And not depart to England or other place without Licence of us the Lord Deputy any former Letter to the contrary notwithstanding And in case we the Lord Deputy shall have notice of their Contempt of His Majesties Will We shall proceed against them in an Exemplary way to deter others Therefore we straightly Command all manner of persons to take notice of this Proclamation Mr. Palmer observed That by the Propositions all Complaints are prevented by the Proclamation all persons are restrayned from coming over without the Lord Deputies Licence And that in pursuance hereof several persons that have required Licences have been refused That many of their occasions to come over were Complaints against the Deputy himself That such use hath been made of this Act that the Committee of the House of Parliament there were restrained from coming over on pretence of this Prohibition Witnesses were produced And first Richard Wade being Sworn was Interrogated Whether my Lord of Esmond did not require Licence to come into England and if it was deny'd him And Whether he had not a Suit depending with my Lord of Strafford and he would not let him come over till Publication passed whereby he was prevented of examining his Witnesses He Answered That in August 1638 my Lord of Esmond sent him with a Petition to my Lord Deputy for Licence to go to make an end of the Cause wherein my Lord Lieutenant was Plaintiff That he delivered the Petition to my Lord Lieutenant himself and waited on him every day for his Answer that he could not get Licence on that Petition That after this in Michaelmas-Term 1638 as he takes it my Lord of Esmond procured the Kings Letter This Letter he delivered to my Lord Deputy by direction of my Lord of Esmond but in this could not get Licence So that he was deteined from Aug. 1638
That we were sent for by my Lord Deputy Wainsford and he put us as we conceived them several catching Questions as If they had not my Lord Deputies Licence and the Boards Whether they would repair to England or no We Answered That in obedience to the House of Commons we did intend to repair to England No sayes my Lord Deputy Answer me Catagorically Would you go or no If we would Command you not to go to this we Answered No being between two Jurisdictions both from His Majesty for we had a Command from the House of Commons and a Counter-Command from His Majesty and we were denied Licence and a restraint of Ships for that cause they conceived to restrain them Being asked whether the Deputy did know the House of Commons had ordered them to come over and yet refused He answered the Lord Deputy did know it it was apparently known to all the Kingdom Mr. Fitz-gerard being examined to the same points as Sir Robert Linch He Answered That after the the Session of Parliament 1 Octob. last and the House of Commons had travelled till the 6 Nov. in the affairs of the Kingdom the grand Committee had heard and discussed many grievances general and particular and voted them to the House That about the beginning of Nov. the House entred into consideration of those grievances and drew up a Petition of Remonstrances to be presented to the Lord Deputy which was voted in the House of Commons 7 Nov. 9 Nov. the whole House attended with the Speaker and the Speaker read it publiquely before him The grievances were of that nature that they did Humbly and of Right as he remembers petition for redress of those grievances that the House conceiving the Parliament would be Prorogued or Dissolved before Redress was given they entred into consideration of a course to present it to His Majesty And 11 Nov. made an Order that the Committee should be appointed to repair to England with a Caution That if Redress should not be had before Dissolution or Prorogation of the Parliament that Committee should not proceed 12 Nov. it was Prorogued without Redress that the next day after Prorogation the Committee was summoned to attend at the Board and there was interrogated severally on a question as far as he can remember viz. Of their intention to go into England whether they would aske leave to go into England and admitting my Lord Deputy should command them not to goe till His Majesties pleasure was known whether they would go To all they were severally to answer and Catagorically this was my Lord Deputies word after Answer given they were ordered to withdraw and being called in again it was made known by the Lord Deputy Wainsford That he and the Lords had considered the whole matter and bade them take notice there was a Proclamation restraining all the Subjects of Ireland to make repair to England till application was made to the Deputy That he engaged them in Allegiance not to depart till he the Lord Deputy had known His Majesties pleasure whether they should goe or no which he would labour to know speedily The next thing Mr. Palmer offered was the Irish Remonstrance which was read To the Right Honourable the Lord Deputy The humble and just Remonstrance of the Knights Citizens and Burgesses in Parliament THe Petitioners do conceive great and strong fears of a Proclamation published in this Kingdom Anno 1635. Prohibiting men of Quality or Estate to depart this Kingdom without the Lord Deputies Licence whereby the Subjects of this Kingdom are hindred and interrupted from free access to His said Majesty and Privy Council of England to obtain remedies against their just grievances as their Ancestors have had since the Reign of H. 2. and great Fees exacted for the said Licences And so Mr. Palmer summed up the Evidence That by the Proposition made before my Lord Deputies going over it appeared what was intended That no complaints of oppression should be made without address First to the Deputy and what followed declares plainly the execution of it That notwithstanding the injustice and oppression done complaints could not be received By the former Article their Lordships have heard what he did there and the great causes of complaint After in time is the Proclamation their Lordships see the use made of it that those who had made complaints against my Lord himself and his Orders were refused to have Licence some that adventured to come without Licence were Fined and Imprisoned to their utter ruine The whole Parliament when the Order was well known were refused to have Licence it is true not by my Lord of Strafford but the Deputy who coloured his denial from these Acts of my Lord of Strafford what fears they had their Lordships may apprehend by the Remonstrance My Lord of Strafford assumed a great power to himself all Addresses being first made to him and the Subject thereby excluded from His Majesty till such address was made so that his Lordship is not Par negotio but Supra above all the authority committed to him not an Accessary but Principal not in the nature of a Subject but Domini and so he expected his Lordships Answer My Lord of Strafford after a little time of recollecting himself began his Defence in substance as followeth That he should only apply himself to the things in charge as near as he could and give the fairest Answer he could where by the way he alledged That he might very justifiably say he had never in his life other thoughts or intentions before his going into Ireland or during his abode there but justly and faithfully in the service of His Majesty and the Kingdom nor did he ever desire or intend any thing so much as to introduce the English Laws and Government there And whereas he is charged with a subversion of the fundamental Laws he may say he thinks with Truth and Modesty that the Laws had never so free a passage that never any Deputy gave less interruption to the proceedings of the Law than it had during all his time That it did not appear by all that hath been said that there was any stay of legal proceedings for all the Causes spoken of him came originally and primarily before they depended in any other Court and that he never hindred but gave all furtherance to the passage of the Common-Law and therefore if their Lordships find as they cannot but expect from him much Error and mistakes he besought them out of their Goodness and Nobleness to apply it rather to his Infirmity and Weakness than to any habit of ill he had got as he trusts he should make appear to their Lordships The Charge is to have procured with an intent of oppression a stop of all complaints of Injustice that none might be received in England unless it appeared That the party did make his address to him To prove this the Gentlemen have read a Proposition of his made
had been Judges and Mr. Wainsford the Master of the Rolls took occasion to speak to my Lord Deputy in his the said Sir Philips hearing and commended him for carrying himself with that caution that he had no way reflected on the Nation but the Faction in that Kingdom and had shunned the words which might reflect on the Nation And so his Lordship concluded his Defence and said he hoped that there was nothing proved that should touch him so deeply as Treason for if the obeying of the Commands of this Case be so great a crime he must confess if it were to do again being not better informed by wiser men tho hereafter he may be better informed and prevent it he should be that Trairor over again and do the self-same thing again and therefore if he had done it out of ignorance he hopes their Lordships will not look on him as having any evil intention or wicked purpose but to serve His Majesty with faithfulness which he hopes will procure an easier judgement from their Lordships than to think of a High Treason in this Article And then Mr. Whitlock made Reply thereunto in substance as followeth That in his Answer to my Lord of Strafford's Defence he shall begin with that which his Lordship was pleased to mention last and also at the beginning That this should not be accounted Treason he knows not the Illegality of it and if it were to be done again he would do it on that Command Whence Mr. Whitlock observed that his slighting or rather justifying of this offence when he is told in this great Presence that it is against Law and will be made good and appear to be against Law is a great aggravation of the offence It is well known that a new Oath cannot be Imposed without Assent in Parliament It is legistativa potestas The Oath of Allegiance is as antient as our allegiance and nothing needed to have been added to that and had it been tendered to them as it might have been by Law this would have performed the Kings Command which under favour went no farther and would have been sufficient security of what was doubted and feared But my Lord of Strafford will go farther the Oath that the Law enjoyns doth not please him he must have a new one framed by himself and published by his Authority thereby to make his Authority equal to an Act of Parliament 'T is indeed believed there were some apprehensions of dangers in Ireland by the great number of the Scots there and a Covenant in Scotland then Sworn but that Covenant is not to be medled withal now The Charge enforced against my Lord of Strafford is not his Care of preventing danger to the Kingdom but that he caused a new and unusual Oath to be Imposed and particularly that they should submit to all the Kings Royal Commands The Committee confess and think no man had ever yet a heart to doubt That the King would command any thing that should be against Law But it hath been sufficiently proved that my Lord of Strafford a Subordinate Minister under the King hath published his own Commands in the Kings Name which are not Justificable nor according to Law And that under favour might be a good cause for the Scots to be tender of taking his Oath knowing that these Commands here were not His Majesties Immediate Commands but the Commands of my Lord of Strafford which they saw many times so unlawful and exorbitant My Lord of Strafford hath produced diverse Witnesses to prove It was Debated on at Council-Board And that the Scots did chearfully take the Oath but in this he hath laboured to disprove his own Answer which is That the Scots came up and desired to have an Oath whereas it appears the Council-Table thought fit to send for them by Letters under his Lordships hand and it was propounded to them to take such an Oath He sayes himself put these words into the Petition In equal manner and measure with other His Majesties Subjects Which showes That my Lord of Strafford himself had the Perusal and Correction of this Petition which is a good Proof that he contrived the Oath The Petition doth only beseech my Lord Deputy That an Oath might be framed to vindicate themselves from the Faction of their Countrymen and the Covenant which they might have done by the Legal Oath the Oath of Allegiance But he put something in above what they desired and that was for submission to all the Kings Royal Commands which may extend to Liberty to Property of Goods and so is a great deal further than His Majesty was pleased to Command by His Letter wherein there was nothing but what was very fit to be commanded by my Lord of Strafford and very fit for him to obey And What if my Lord of Strafford should procure a Letter from His Majesty to do that which is not warrantable by Law the Kings considerations are far above the particular Points of the Municipal Law of this Kingdom He cannot know them but is to be enformed of them by His Ministers Now if my Lord of Strafford shall misinforme Him and desire to have that by His Authority which is not warrantable by Law the fault is my Lord of Straffords and it much aggravates the Crime but the Kings Letter doth not warrant my Lord of Strafford for he hath proceeded further He sayes concerning the Censure of Mr. Stuart That he delivered his Opinion among the rest but their Lordships may remember he went as high as to charge him with Treason It is true the Bishop of Derry conceived it might be Treason And the Primate said The Denial of the former part might be Treason but not the latter but my Lord of Strafford conceived the latter part to be Treason too And therefore surely his Opinion had more harshness and severity then the rest and being his Opinion it was of sufficient weight to carry along with him all the rest and that which was his own Act at the beginning which he Contrived and Treated with the Scotch Lords and Gentlemen That he persues in his Sentence and if others joyn with him in a hard Sentence against Law his fault is not the less but rather the greater to draw others into the same fault His Lordship says little of the Fine that is paid It is true it cannot be proved how much was paid but those that were Fined continued in Prison till very lately for that Fine And whereas he sayes Any taking the Oath might have been Released the next day It is the more Cruelly done to keep them in Prison till they take an Oath who cannot satisfie their Consciences that they may take it My Lord sayes If one refuse the Oath of Allegiance in this Kingdom he shall incur a Premunire and this Sentence was more moderate Indeed if that had been tendered they had incurred the like sentence and that might serve the turn but my Lord must stretch his
no greater measure God be praised than these are My Lords these being the words that passed from me in Ireland there are other words that are charged upon me to have been spoken in England but if your Lordships will give me leave though perhaps in no very good method I shall not fail to touch first or last the words in every Article The next Article then that I am charged withal for words is the second Article and these are the words that I should say concerning the Finger and the Loins My Lords I may alledge much new matter but I will observe your Lordships Order punctually by the Grace of God for what I may say in that case if it might be admitted I keep it to my self but the truth is they that do prove the words to be thus That I would make the little finger of the Law heavier than the Kings Loins they do not tell you the occasion of the Speech or what went before or what after for my Lords if they had told the occasion which methinks they should as well have remembred as the words it would plainly and clearly have appeared to your Lordships that Sir William Pennymans Testimony was most true for the occasion was such that to have said those words had been to have spoken against that to which I intended the discourse but speaking them as I said it makes very strong for that purpose to which I directed them which was to appease the Countrey and quiet the Discontents for having been double charged with the Knight-money and therefore it was not properly threatening them further to have provoked them My Lords you have Sir Will. Pennymans testimony that it was so and my profession who under favour will not speak an untruth to save my life I protest before God that I say I verily believe or else I will never speak it indeed and there it is they have proved it to have been said one way we another way we give the occasion of our Speech and disavow theirs and so we must leave it and howsoever these words so spoken can never be drawn as I humbly conceive as premises to prove their conclusions that therefore I am guilty of High Treason they have made me guilty of a foolish Word and that I confess and if they please I will confess it all the day long for I have been foolish all the days of my life and I hope hereafter I shall look unto my ways that I offend not with my Tongue for if I cannot rule it abroad I will rule it within doors else I will never stirr abroad but bound it so to my own business and affairs that I trust I shall give no offence The next Article that chargeth me with words is the 22 Article and these be words spoke in England The first part of them which concerns the bringing in of the Irish Army I have spoken to already but in the conclusion there are other words and shortly the said Earl of Strafford returned to England and to sundry persons declared his opinion to be That His Majesty should first try the Parliament here and if that did not supply him according to his occasions he might then use his Prerogative as he pleased to levy what he needed and that he should be acquitted both of God and Man if he took some other courses to supply himself though it were against the will of his Subjects My Lords as unto this I conceive the Charge is not proved by any Witness that hath been here produced against me and in truth my Lords I must needs say this under favour if it be an error in my Judgement I must humbly crave your Lordships pardon through the whole Cause I have not seen a weaker proof and if I had had time to have gotten my Witnesses out of Ireland I hope that should be proved and so clearly as nothing could be proved more but I must stand or fall to what I have proved and so I do my Lords the proof they offer for this as I conceive is the Testimony of my Lord Primate and his Testimony is That in some discourse betwixt us two touching Levying upon the Subject in case of imminent necessity he found me of opinion that the King might use his Prerogative as he pleased My Lords this is under favour a single Testimony it is of a discourse between him and me and there is not any other that witnesses any thing concerning it so that under favour My Lords I conceive this will not be sufficient to bring me any ways in danger of Treason being but a single Testimony and my Lords it is to be thought and to be believed and it were a great offence for any man to think otherwise that in this case any thing can please the King he is so Gracious and Good but what shall be Just and Lawful and then there is no doubt but so far as with Justice and Lawfulness he may use his Prerogative in case of imminent danger when ordinary means will not be admitted At most he saith it was but an opinion and opinions may make an Heretick but they shall not I trust make a Traitor The next is the Testimony of my Lord Conway and the words that his Lordship testifies are these That in case the King would not be otherwise supplyed by Subsidies he might seek means to help himself though it were against the will of his Subjects Truly my Lords if I should acknowledge these words I do not see how they can be any way Capital in my case but this again is but a single Testimony and there is no other that says it but himself and if there be a good sense given to them certainly the words may very well bear it for I think it is a very natural motion for any man to preserve himself though it be to the disliking of another and why a King should not do it as well as a Subject it is such a prerogative of Kings as I never yet heard of for I thought though they had been Gods on earth yet they are men and have affections as men and should preserve themselves being not only accountable for themselves to God Almighty but also for their Subjects whose Good and Benefit is wrapt up and involved in theirs and therefore the King ought more to regard his own preservation than the Common-wealth The Third is That Mr. Treasurer says that to his best remembrance I did say That if the Parliament should not succeed I would be ready to assist His Majesty any other way God forbid this should be any offence for to say so either in him or me for I will swear if it please you that he said so as well as I therefore God forbid it should endanger either of us both for my Lords to say I will serve the King any other way it is no other than what became a good and faithful servant to do always provided the way be good and lawful
appear to a Warrant or for other contempt at Council-Table before himself did it but he offered to prove That formerly Soldiers were sent against Rebels and that after they were declared to be Rebels and that justly too and he proved an use and custom to force men to pay Contribution-money due to the King but that was by consent of the people who granted a Contribution of 20000 l. a year for increase of the Kings Revenue and that it might not be upon Record in the Exchequer and so claimed as due in time to come they consented that Soldiers should be laid upon them that refused it and the word Consent is within the Statute of 18 H. 6. Again did he prove all manner of Rents were levied by Soldiers no such thing but such Rents as were designed for the payment of the Army he proved by Sir Arthur Terringham the laying of Soldiers once for the payment of a fum of Money but Sir Arthur being demanded whether it were the King's Rents or comprehended within the same general Rule he could make no answer thereunto Your Lordships remember he says He did not know it and therefore probably it was the Kings Rents and doubtless it was so But if he had produced Precedents it could not be an authority for Treason that if people did not appear to his Orders he must levy War against the Kings Subjects and for his extenuation of the War that the same was of no great danger there being not above five or six Soldiers laid at a time I would to God the people oppressed by it had cause to undervalue it I am sure four or six Musquetiers are as strong to oppress a man as four thousand so the matter of Fact is strongly and expresly proved Besides though there came not above four or five to a house yet the authority given to the Sergeant was general he might have brought more if he had listed and in truth he brought as many as the Estate of the party would maintain And as to the not producing of the Warrant I have already answered it If it were in the case of a Deed wherein men call for witnesses it were something but God forbid that the Treason should be gone and the Traitor not questionable if his Warrant can be once put out of the way The next Article which is laid to his charge is For issuing out a Proclamation and Warrant of restraint to inhibit the Kings Subjects to come to the Fountain their Sovereign to deliver their complaints of their wrongs and oppressions Your Lordships have heard how he hath exercised his jurisdiction and now he raises a battery to secure and make it safe If he do wrong perhaps the complaint may come to the Gracious Ears of a King who is ready to give relief and therefore he must stop these cries and prevent these means that he may go on without interruption and to that end he makes Propositions here That the Kings Subjects in Ireland should not come over to make complaint against Ministers of State before an address first made to himself It is true he makes a fair pretence and shew for it and had just cause of approbation if he intended what he pretended But as soon as he came into Ireland what use made he of it he ingrosses the proceedings of almost all the Courts of Justice into his own hands and so pre-possesses the King by a colourable proposition and prevents their coming over before they had made their address to himself and then he becomes the wrong doer and issues Proclamations for the hindring of the King's Subjects to seek redress without his leave which is as great a proof of his design and as great an injury to the people governed under a Gracious Prince as a heart can conceive And what his intention was in exhibiting this Proposition it will appear in the sentence of a poor man one David who was censured and most heavily Fined for coming over into England to prosecute complaint against my Lord of Strafford It is true that this was not the cause expressed but this was the truth of the matter Your Lordships remember a clause in the Order at Council-Board whereby is set forth the cause wherefore the party is not sentenced which I never saw in an order before nor should now but that my Lord foresaw there was danger in it that he might be charged in this place for the fact and therefore puts in negatively why the party was not censured Clausula inconsulta inducit suspitionem And how defends he this Article he sayes his predecessors issued Proclamations to hinder the Kings Subjects from going over lest they should joyn with O-Neal and Tirconnell beyond Sea and so it might be dangerous to the State but because they may joyn with Foreigners shall they therefore not come to the King to make just complaint What this argument is I refer to your Lordships judgments Then he pretends a former precedent affirming that the like instructions were given to my Lord of Faulkland but was there any that none should come to their Sovereign to make their just appeal if injured Surely there was never any such Instruction before and I hope never will be again The next Article is the Nineteenth and now when he had so plentifully exercised his Tyranny over the Lives the Liberty and the Estates of the King's Subjects A man would think he could go no further But see a Tyranny exercised beyond that and that is over the Consciences of men hitherto he dealt with the outward man and now he offers violence to the inward man and imposes an Oath upon the Kings Subjects and so exerciseth a Tyranny over the Consciences of men And setting aside the matter of the Oath if he hath authority and power to impose such an Oath as he shall frame he may by the same power impose any Oath to compell Consciences He pretends a Warrant from His Majesty to do it but the Kings Ministers are to serve the King according to Law and I dare be bold to say and we have good reason to thank God for it if any of the Kings Ministers tell him that any Command he gives is against Law there is no doubt but in his Goodness and Piety he will withdraw his Command and not enforce execution and therefore if there were an error the King is free and the Ministers to be justly charged with it But there was no Command from the King to compel and enforce them to take the Oath by the power of the Star-Chamber to commit them to prison to impose heavy Fines and tyrannize over them all which he did in the Case of Steward And now one would have thought he had acted his part when he had acted as much as lay in his own power and yet he goes beyond this he was not content to corrupt all the streams which was not a diverting of the course as he spoke in his answer for he not only
by divers men that my Lord of Strafford was much offended with him and some spoke it to him by way of Threat some others by way of Advice and Friendship That he should give over moving for Prohibitions which he did not understand to be a fault since the Justice of the Kingdom was that they should be granted and it continued a matter of a year after That then he took an occasion to go to my Lords House to Gantropp and his Errand was partly to present his humble Duty and Service to his Lordship and in the second place if he could have opportunity and if his Lordship would please to speak with him to give his Lordship satisfaction in any thing he had done in that particular because it was conceived he opposed the Jurisdiction of that Court. That after he had the Favour to speak with his Lordship which was long first He was pleased to say no otherwise than thus I have nothing to say to you you are one that oppose me But at the present I have eased you of the Office of Justice of the Peace so you need not trouble your self with that That he did humbly thank his Honour for it for howsoever he meant it he took it to be no dis-favour but a Courtesie he having been in three or four years but not executing any Authority it standing not with his occasions And his Lordship added Hereafter you and I shall speak further of the businesse That afterwards his Lordship met him in London in the Inner Star-Chamber he then attending on a motion day before the Lord Keeper amongst others of his Rank That my Lord President was pleased to come behind his back and lay his hand on his shoulder and said I Command you not to depart the Town That the words were something strange to him and not understanding well what his Lordship meant by it he instantly went to his Lordship and desired that he might know his mind he not very well hearing him That his Lordship repeated the words again I Command you not to depart the Town That for a matter of a Week or such a thing he did attend under this Command And then applyed himself to his Lordship by all Means and Friends that he could He Petitioned three or four times he is uncertain which He made means by Persons of Quality to his Lordship That his Lordship would tell him the place where he was to attend or the Cause for what or the Person before whom but his Lordship was not pleased to give him any satisfaction only thus much he received That he was one that did oppose his Lordship and he should attend Seeing there was no Remedy he made his Address to a Noble Friend present and acquainted him with the business who was pleased to take the matter so to heart as to move it to his Lordship That then he conceived the fault he had committed The not paying the Knighthood money in York-shire And his the Deponents Answer was he had offered it but was not chargeable by Law for he had not 40 l. a year three years before the Coronation as the Writ did enjoyn He speaks now of that which is not in the Charge which ought not to be We desire he may proceed leaving it to Your Lordships to sever that which is material from that which is not material F. Thorpe proceeded and said He could not say he punished him for the Prohibition but he conceived all did follow because he moved sometimes for Prohibitions And that he had opposed his Authority and Power in York-shire I Appeal to Your Lordships Judgments whether it be not out of the Charge Mr. Thorpe could not search my heart to know the Ground of the Offence The Charge against my Lord of Strafford is not only the Executing of these Instructions but also the exercising of an exorbitant and unlawful Power and Jurisdiction over the Persons and Estates of His Majesties Subjects To which the matter offered by the Witnesses is material The Lord Steward speaking to the Witness said Apply your self as much as you can to the point in question F. Thorpe proceeded and said That he conceived the Question was asked him generally What he could say concerning Prohibitions or them that had to do with them That no man living hath less desire to speak of my Lord of Strafford than he had and if he had not been asked this Question on his Oath and before that Presence and on this Command he should not have said it For what he said now he never had spoke before and with what Sorrow he came now to speak it he knew and said that he spake not this to any other purpose but only That these things which were done were done on the occasion of the Prohibitions For the matter of Knighting-money though it were made the cause of staying him in London yet under favour he said That was not nor could be the Cause For he had offered it below in the Country only thus That he was not Chargeable by Law but very willing to pay it if my Lord would have him pay it so he might comply with his Lordship or serve any occasion wherein his Lordship was employed And therefore that of Knighting was the occasion taken yet he conceived that was not the true occasion And lastly that after he had been kept 12 or 14 days under this Command his Lordship was pleased on that which passed between that noble Lord my Friend and his Lordship to give him leave to go home and then he paid the money We desire the Witness may not conceal any thing but speak it and being demanded accordingly F. Thorpe answered There was another particular happened on him and though another occasion was taken part came from the said Root but he desired to be pardoned in not speaking of it Being required to speak and to set forth what time this was and what that Noble mans name was who upon my Lord of Straffords motion procured him liberty F. Thorpe answered That he conceived the time to be about the Knighting-money business and the Lords name was My Lord Goring Your Lordships may observe this was long before the Commission in 8 Car. and some two years after my Lord of Strafford came to the Place Being Interrogated further Whether he or his Clients have forborn to move in that Cause of Prohibitions out of fear of my Lord of Strafford He answered For his own particular he hath forborn and durst not adventure it nor any that had to do with him in those parts as he knew durst move till of very late For he knew very well the price of my Lord of Strafford's displeasure Being asked if he knew any thing of the Case of Leyton about a Prohibition He answered He knew nothing of it I humbly desire with your Lordships leave to interpose a Question We desire that our Witness might first be